Vanquishing three former World Poker Tour champions – including a former WPT and World Series of Poker World Champion – Asher Conniff broke through to earn his first major championship ever in taking down the WPT World Championship at the Borgata in Atlantic City Wednesday night. Conniff was in a good operating position as the… Read more »
Month: April 2015
Nevada AG Slaps SwC Founder Bryan Micon with Illegal Gambling Charge
Bryan Micon, founder of SwCPoker.eu, is a wanted man in the United States. First reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Nevada Attorney General’s Office has issued an arrest warrant for Micon, charging him with one count of operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system. Should he be arrested and convicted, Micon could face up to… Read more »
WPT World Championship Final Table Set
There is one more day remaining in Season XIII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) as the WPT World Championship final table has been set. It is a very strong final table, as three of its six members have won World Poker Tour titles previously. Alexander Lakhov leads the way with 4.11 million chips, almost… Read more »
Online Poker Bill Advances in California Legislature
For years, proponents of online poker in California have been trying to get something going in the state legislature, only to have every bill die before it can even get on its feet. Yesterday, though, one bill finally took its first step. The California State Assembly Governmental Organization (GO) Committee passed AB 431 by a… Read more »
2015 WPT World Championship Day 3: Money Bubble Bursts, Asher Conniff Leads
The money bubble burst late in the day Monday as just 23 players remain in the Season XIII World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship. Today’s goal is to make it all the way down to the final six players. Asher Conniff appears to have the best chance to reach the final table, as he is… Read more »
Anti-Online Gambling Bill Introduced in Pennsylvania
A new anti-online gambling bill has been introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, aiming to make all online betting illegal in the Commonwealth. Introduced by State Representative Thomas P. Murt (R – District 152), it is the polar opposite of the two pro-online gambling bills that are currently before the House. Murt’s bill is… Read more »
WPT World Championship Day 2: Michael Rocco Leads, Anthony Zinno Clinches POY
The much-anticipated 2015 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship kicked off this weekend, marking the beginning of the end of WPT Season XIII. High Roller events aside, the WPT Championship is the most expensive tournament of the season with a $15,000 + $400 buy-in. 234 players signed up on Saturday with another five registering late… Read more »
Is Twitch The Next Fertile Ground For Poker?
I’ll be honest with you. Prior to the inaugural American Poker Awards earlier this year, I had vaguely heard of the online channel Twitch. I knew that the site was making inroads in broadcasting online video game competitions – and making quite a stir in driving competitive video gaming into respectability – but, other than… Read more »
WPT World Championship to Begin Today
After what has been an exciting Season XIII roster of tournaments, the World Poker Tour is looking to cap off their season with one more bit of excitement for its fans. Beginning this afternoon, the WPT is in Atlantic City, NJ, for the traditional finale of each season, the WPT World Championship. From their inception… Read more »
Griffin Paul Captures Million Dollar Prize in Winning WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Maintaining the sizeable chip lead he carried into the final table was going to be difficult, but 22-year old Griffin Paul managed to maneuver well through his opposition, eventually defeating Joe Ebanks for the championship of the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Paul came to the final table with nearly a four… Read more »
2015 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event Final Table Set
It was a relatively quick day at the 2015 World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event as the remaining field of eighteen was trimmed to just six. Action still lasted nearly seven hours, but for a major tournament, that’s not bad at all. Thus, the final table has been set and… Read more »
APPT Nanjing Millions Shut Down by Local Police
The 2015 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Nanjing Millions event in Nanjing, China was shut down by local law enforcement officials on Friday, leaving players and poker fans searching for reasons why. World Global Magazine originally broke the news of the raid, which had police officers blocking the entrance to the tournament’s venue, the Wutaishan… Read more »
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Day 3: Ely Levy, Griffin Paul Head Final 18
Day 3 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event is in the books and just two tables of nine players each remain from an original starting field of 1,476. A cool million dollars is the ultimate goal as today is the day we will find out who makes the… Read more »
Lock Poker Has No Vital Signs, Appears Closed
The unnecessarily long, stupid saga of Lock Poker has come to an inglorious end. While the online poker site has not issued any sort of formal statement (and we would expect nothing less), it appears that it has shut its doors for good. According to USPoker’s John Mehaffey, Lock Poker has been down since the… Read more »
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Day 2: Raj Vohra Leads, Faraz Jaka Survives
It was carnage on Day 2 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown as the field of 554 that entered the day was slashed to just 92 players as the tournament got another day closer to the final table. Raj Vohra emerged as the chip leader, bagging 1.675 million chips Sunday… Read more »
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Day 1C: Paul Balzano Takes Day’s Chip Lead, Barry Hutter Still Overall Chip Leader
The World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, FL, didn’t fail to meet expectations with their final Day One on Saturday. After another lengthy day of play, Paul Balzano emerged as the chip leader but was unable to knock Day 1A chip leader Barry Hutter from his perch as the overall leader… Read more »
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Day 1B: Another Massive Field of Entries, Ryan Rivers Takes Day’s Chip Lead
It was going to be difficult for the players amassed in Florida for Day 1B of the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood to meet the numbers of the previous day. Although the Day 1B runners wouldn’t crack the 502 entries that Day 1A generated, they still put their mark on… Read more »
Judge Rules on Federal Agents Tactics in Paul Phua Case
After weighing the issue for several months, the judge in the federal case facing poker player/businessman Paul Phua has issued a ruling as to the tactics employed by federal agents last summer in Las Vegas. Judge Andrew Gordon, responding Friday afternoon to a motion by Phua’s attorneys that the method of obtaining evidence violated Phua’s… Read more »
Pennsylvania Online Gaming Hearing a Positive for Pro-Gaming Forces
After passing a resolution on Tuesday informing the U. S. Congress of its opposition to the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), or HR 707, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ House Gaming Oversight Committee held a key hearing yesterday on the subject of online gaming. Throughout the run of the lengthy hearing, it became apparent… Read more »
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Day 1A: Barry Hutter Holds Lead over Large Opening Day Field
After a sizeable outpouring of entries for the first day of a tournament, longtime grinder Barry Hutter has emerged as the leader of Day 1A of the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, FL. Under the format of the tournament (which will also be used on the two other Day Ones… Read more »
Full Tilt Poker Slashes Games Roster
Full Tilt Poker made some drastic changes Tuesday, eliminating a slew of games from its roster in order to make the game lobbies more manageable. This is the biggest culling in the online poker industry since the UIGEA was passed in 2006. Here are the games that Full Tilt Poker has purged, as listed on… Read more »
Pennsylvania House Passes Anti-RAWA Resolution
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday urging the United States Congress to toss out Sheldon Adelson’s H.R. 707, better known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). RAWA would make all online gambling in the United States effectively illegal, scuttling Pennsylvania’s future internet gaming industry before it even starts. The Pennsylvania… Read more »
NYPD Sergeant Convicted in Illegal Gambling Probe
This guy HAD to know he was going to get nabbed someday, right? On Thursday, retired New York Police Department sergeant Ralph Mastrantonio was convicted of operating an illegal gambling house on Staten Island. The venue, dubbed “5th Street,” was located in a gym on Arthur Kill Road. According to the New York Daily News… Read more »
DDoS Attacks Plague Online Poker Once Again
Online poker rooms were under attack again this past weekend, but it wasn’t from Sheldon Adelson and his hangers-on (well, I guess we don’t know this FOR SURE…). This time, unfortunately, a number of poker rooms were once again the targets of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, rendering their games unplayable for a few… Read more »
LexisNexis Approved for Player Verification Services in New Jersey
LexisNexis Risk Solutions announced last week that it has been approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) to provide age and identity verification services for the state’s online gambling industry. LexisNexis already has plenty of experience in the gaming industry, though it does not publish a list of its gaming clients on… Read more »