Welcome to the Poker News Daily Weekly update, as always I am your host Sean Gibson, and I’ll be recapping the week that was in the world of poker. Lets get to the top headlines!
Our first story follows up on the Bellagio heist that occurred months ago. You might remember a man dressed in motorcycle gear with a helmet on came in and stole casino chips and zipped away on a bike.
It was estimated that he walked away with one point five MILLION dollars. Well, a man has been arrested in connection with the crime. His name is Anthony Michael Carleo who is 29 and the son of a Las Vegas judge.
Police picked up Carleo after he met undercover officers and tried to sell them the high-value chips taken in the heist.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, he faces charges of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary with use of a deadly weapon and trafficking a controlled substance.
Well we have more news in the world of crime and this time it’s over PLAY MONEY CHIPS. An IT expert from England is potentially facing jail time after stealing billions of play money chips worth in the real world around $12 million dollars from Zynga’s Texas Hold’em application inside FACEBOOK.
Ashley Mitchell, who like our Bellagio Burglar is 29 years old, pled guilty to five charges. You might think this is a petty crime but Mitchell was able to sell those play money poker chips on eBay for over eighty five THOUSAND DOLLARS before getting caught. If he had been able to sell them all on eBay at his rate he would have made over three hundred thousand dollars. Zynga sells those play money chips which is where the $12 million dollar estimation came from.
Merge Gaming Network flagship site Carbon Poker is getting a major overhaul and releasing a new software client on March first. According to information publically released, Carbon poker will go live with a brand new site, look and logo. The room will be formally changing out all of its banner advertising the day before as part of a one-week transition. Also set to change is the site’s VIP program. Atil Singh, head of the USA friendly site told us at Poker News Daily,
“Big things are coming at Carbon Poker. The brand is ready to make some moves with a new VIP program, website, and logo. It’s an exciting time for players, affiliates, and management. “
Former Player of the Year winner Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin has signed an endorsement extension deal with UB.com this week which is set to last for two years. Baldwin has been one of the most consistent high-level tournament players in the last few years and has started to gain fame via televised events. Baldwin was very happy about the outcome of the negotiations and stated he plans to be a big part of the UB.com brand,
“I’m looking forward to helping improve the software a bit and making it a better experience for players. I’m also looking forward to having more hands-on interaction with players.”
On the topic of UB.com they recently wrapped up their UBOC 6 series with the Championship event played out last Sunday. The $1,050 buy-in monster stack tournament had a one million dollar guarantee and was eventually won by “THEDECANO” who took in $231,000 for the win. It represented the largest price shelled out during the two week event’s run. UB.com’s own Brandon Cantu finished a very respectable 12th place in that event.
Speaking of tournament play, Full Tilt Poker is ready to ramp up another FTOPS starting on Sunday. FTOPS 19 kicks off with a $216 buy-in tournament that will have a one million dollar guarantee. The tournament series will run through February 20th with the Mult-Entry Main Event which will have a three million dollar guarantee and be hosted by bracelet winner Erick Lindgren.
Well, that wraps up this week in poker. As always, thanks for tuning in here at Poker News Daily and be sure to come back every day for the latest poker news. I’m Sean Gibson, wishing you deep runs in your tournaments this weekend!