There’s been plenty of news coming out of Las Vegas over the past week, but the rest of the poker world continues to roll along. In this edition of “In Case You Missed It,” the Global Poker Index is making moves in their drive to become a major player in the industry and Michigan courts have blocked the efforts of the Michigan Casino Gaming Board to further curtail the charitable poker room industry.
Global Poker Index Purchases European Poker Awards, More Surprises Coming
Yesterday the owner of the Global Poker Index, Zokay Entertainment‘s Alexandre Dreyfus, announced the completion of a deal that saw the GPI purchase the European Poker Awards, the prestigious awards program honoring the best in European poker for the last 13 years. Not content to sit back on that accomplishment, Dreyfus also announced that there would be a U. S. compatriot, the American Poker Awards, for the EPA coming in 2015. “Without a North American counterpart, it always felt like something was missing,” Dreyfus stated during the announcement.
The site of the inaugural American Poker Awards will be Los Angeles, CA, sometime during the month of February next year (an exact location has not been announced yet). “The choice of location was easy. Los Angeles is already home to some of the world’s most iconic ceremonies – the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and others – and we don’t think poker deserves any less,” Dreyfus stated.
Dreyfus has been aggressively moving the GPI into a more prominent place in the international poker community. Along with the purchase of the Hendon Mob database earlier this year, the GPI has also entered into the publishing field with a new magazine that made its debut just before the World Series of Poker began. The eponymous publication’s first issue (available both digitally and in print) features (now) three-time WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst on the cover as well as other information for poker aficionados.
According to his Facebook feed, Dreyfus isn’t done yet when it comes to big news from the GPI. “Tomorrow, I’m going to break an important business rule,” Dreyfus teased earlier this morning. “Never send two important press releases the same week. The American Poker Awards is great, but (this is) going to be super good, too.” Considering the aggression that Dreyfus and the GPI have shown since he purchased the ranking system in 2012, it is fair to assume we can expect that the news will be blockbuster.
Michigan Courts Block Michigan Gaming Control Board’s New Regulations
In a hearing completed last week, the Michigan Court of Claims granted the injunction from a group of charities to block the efforts by the Michigan Gaming Control Board to further regulate the charitable poker room industry in the state.
Court of Claims Judge Pat Donofrio issued the stay on May 30, stating that, if the new MGCB regulations were to be implemented, that some of the petitioners would be unduly affected by the new rules. In granting the stay, Judge Donofrio also cited that the MGCB may have circumvented the laws in pushing their new regulations forward and that they may be unconstitutional.
The first decision by Judge Donofrio was based on statistics provided by the plaintiffs in the case. If the new regulations remained in effect, the plaintiffs stated that charities would earn about $9 million less in 2014 than last year, a 75% drop in revenues. The continued effects of the regulations would also force many of the charitable poker rooms out of business due to the restricted days of play (only open four days per week) and the restrictions on charity licensing that would bring in fewer events.
Judge Donofrio’s second decision is based on the fact that, in March, the MGCB suddenly removed executive director Rick Kalm’s revised regulations before they were to be heard by the Michigan General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (the group that would have had to approve the changes). As the hubbub subsided on the issue, Kalm and the MGCB suddenly reversed course and reintroduced the draconian regulations without allowing for public hearing on the issue only a week later. Those new regulations went into effect in May but have now been shut down with Judge Donofrio’s stay.
As of today, the MGCB has not indicated what their future actions will be. A bill is pending in the General Assembly that would protect the charitable poker industry, but it is bogged down in parliamentary wrangling and may not make it out of the body (the Senate passed the bill unanimously, but the House has yet to even bring it to a vote in committee). Although the battle has been going on for almost four years now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight in the Michigan fight.
