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Poker News from Gambling911.com Get your daily poker fix right here at Gambling911.com. Find everything from the latest tournament news to scandals to all the latest updates from the European Poker Tour and World Series of Poker. Poker news will never be the same again. Online Poker Industry Fearful of Proposed 60 Minutes Expose
An anticipated piece slated to air on CBS' 60 Minutes regarding the online poker industry and a notorious "insider poker cheat" has much of the sector wondering what type of damage may occur as a result. Previous reports airing on 60 Minutes related to the industry have been fair for the most part though not entirely flattering. One investigation demonstrated "how easy it was for a minor to access an online casino with his or her parents credit card" even though the industry overall has addressed the issue of underage gambling quite well. It took a fourth attempt by the minor used to finally access an online casino that has not always proven among the most responsible - Golden Palace. They were later indicted we might add.
In September 2007, Absolute Poker began defending itself following accusations made by members of several Internet forums that the online poker room has a "superuser" account which allows one player to read the hole cards of another during a game. By October, widespread Internet allegations of cheating led to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission opening an investigation. Kahnawake is the licensing arm of Absolute Poker and many other online gambling establishments, including Bodog Life. Although allegations had been made about several accounts, one of the most remarkable pieces of evidence was a complete history of a tournament in which a player called "POTRIPPER" played. This history was far more complete than normal, and included all hidden hole cards for all players. It was sent out, perhaps by accident, when a player complained about suspicious play. Absolute Poker and Kahnawake would later confirm the "internal breach". Clooney Girl Sarah Larson a Looney Girl Who Partied With Scammers
Before she was famous, George Clooney's now famous (or perhaps infamous) girlfriend, Sarah Larson, partied with the best of them and partied with the worst of them. Gambling911.com has obtained exclusive photos of Ms. Larson partying with none other than alleged "poker scammer" Alan John Grimard, who is now widely rumored to be the focus of an upcoming 60 Minutes investigative report into the online poker industry. Larson would regularly travel around the globe with Grimard, including a trip to Amsterdam where she participated in the 2005 Casino Affiliate Convention.
Sarah Larson has been the subject of tabloid fodder all week with the premier of George's Leathernecks film. Whether Grimard can top her remains to be seen.
Poker Awards of a Different Kind
WickedChopsPoker it seems have released their own brand of "Poker Awards" with more to be announced over the coming days. We look forward to them. Among the first to be handed out....
No award for Jenny Woo this year. Bummer!
Other fine awards
can be found
here
Shannon Elizabeth Makes it to the Next Week on Dancing With the Stars
Lovable poker pro and American Pie hottie Shannon Elizabeth makes it through another week of Dancing With the Stars. But Steve Guttenberg at 15 - 1 odds of winning wasn't so lucky. Guttenberg was voted off the show Tuesday night. "Steve's mango will live forever in our hearts!" said one fan on the Dancing With the Stars posting forum. Shannon Elizabeth is a huge favorite among Gambling911.com readers as the most popular celebrity poker player. Sadly, Elizabeth's dancing partner has been hospitalized in what may be a spooky expansion of the "Dancing With the Stars Curse" that took affect last season.
E! News has learned
that pro hoofer
Derek Hough was
taken away from the
set by ambulance
following a neck
injury Tuesday.
World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Satellites Launched by DoylesRoom
DoylesRoom announced last Tuesday they are in the process of launching lucrative WSOP main event satellites, something all online poker players can get mighty excited about. As the baseball season gets underway on diamonds across America this week, poker fans won’t be waiting patiently until October to revel in real World Series action. The eyes of the poker world have their sights surgically set on a nearer target, this summer’s 2008 World Series of Poker. Entering its third decade as poker’s premiere event, the 2008 WSOP promises to be more monumental than ever before. Filled with dozens of events, the 2008 WSOP packs the power to transform relative unknowns into the next celebrity poker millionaires. While witnessing the rise of an icon on television is exhilarating enough, DoylesRoom is ratcheting up the thrills to unprecedented heights. With the launch of 2008 WSOP Main Event Satellites at DoylesRoom.com, poker fans may not only have the opportunity to witness the action live in Vegas, but they could very well take their seats at the WSOP Main Event and become poker’s next seven-figure superstars. Players can get in on the action with affordable entries, including continuous $14 + $1.40 Sit & Go Satellites, $9 + $1 Daily Turbo Satellites, and $20 + $2 Daily Satellites, as well as weekly satellites and Bi-Weekly finals.
Winners won’t have to go it alone. The package includes a breakfast strategy session with the venerable Doyle Brunson, where participants can satisfy their poker appetite and break bread with the master and other renowned veterans. A personally autographed two volume leather-bound set of Super System 1 and Super System 2 will give each winner the wisdom and skills to succeed while the world is watching. Package recipients will look sharp in coveted DoylesRoom swag while they mingle with their favorite buddies and online players. DoylesRoom will be there to capture the magic with an exclusive photo session featuring the legendary Doyle Brunson and other poker megastars. For more information on 2008 WSOP Main Event Satellites, visit Doyle’s Room, the only online poker room to proudly bear Doyle Brunson’s moniker, at DoylesRoom.
60 Minutes Story May Not be a Good One for Online Poker
 60 Minutes is reportedly doing a story related to the online poker industry, specifically they are investigating one Alan John Grimard - an alleged poker cheat who nearly brought down one of the industry's top poker rooms late last year working as a hired consultant. The report won't stop there, however. It is rumored that the CBS news magazine is uncovering some other "shady" business in the world of online poker. “In terms of agenda, I’ve been told that the goal is to tell the story from soup to nuts," Nat Arem of PokerHelper.com stated late Monday. "I don’t really know if that means a negative agenda for online poker, but I get the feeling that it might. That means that this story is unlikely to be a good thing for online poker on the whole." Tom Somach, a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, whose pieces have become a regular fixture on the Gambling911.com website, believes it's third time the charm for 60 Minutes, which has featured "not-so-flattering" spotlights on the industry in the past. He alludes to a segment that highlighted Jay Cohen and his World Sports Exchange online gambling venue. In reality though, that piece wasn't entirely negative. A story pertaining to underage individuals able to play with their parents credit card at online casinos was detrimental. Golden Palace, one of the world's largest online casinos at the time, allowed access to a minor. Little was made of the fact that there were three failed attempts at having the minor access other casinos before stumbling upon Golden Palace. That site was later fined. "The PR machines for some of these online poker rooms will be working triple overtimes once this segment airs," Gambling911.com Senior Editor, Payton O'Brien suggested.
Online Sportsbooks and Poker Rooms That Accept the Euro
Somewhat new to the Euro are Bookmaker.com and Bodog Life. The former takes on numerous other currencies including the Danish Krone, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar. Bodog Life now accepts British pounds. Sportingbet takes most currencies under the sun. They just won't take US customers unfortunately. Bet365 and Chili Poker accept Euros. But once again, no US customers. The US Dollar is losing so much ground against the Euro that some online gambling operators are suggesting their US customers open offshore bank accounts, whether it be to gamble or for other means.
The dollar dropped
the most against the
euro in more than
two years as traders
increased bets the
Federal Reserve will
cut borrowing costs
further to avoid a
recession while the
European Central
Bank holds rates
steady.
Swiss Poker League Collaboration With Chili Poker
Chilipoker.net in collaboration with PokerLeague.ch is running its first Swiss League which will give away a total of over $15,000 in prizes with 3 packages to attend the WSOP 09. Chilipoker.net, the free version of the leading European online poker room Chilipoker.com, recently became a partner of the Swiss Poker League official web site, PokerLeague.ch. They will be running from March and until the end of 2008 a set of over 30 tournaments where they expect around 3,000 participants, that will award a total prize of $15,500 worth in poker items, cash and great packages to a total of 18 players. As Chilipoker has now got us used to having the cherry on the cake this time couldn't be different and they will award $4,000 WSOP 09 packages for the first 3 places! The packages will comprise of $1,500 buy-in for one WSOP side event and cash for flights and expenses. The events are 100% free and are mostly played in the variant of Texas Hold'em NL although players will also have the opportunity of playing in some special freerolls where Omaha PL or Texas Hold'em PL will be played. Those freerolls will award a total of $3,000 in cash prizes to the winners. With an average of 3 to 4 tournaments per month the big final will be played on the 7th of December by 744 qualifiers from the tournaments played throughout the year and where only 18 of them will be the lucky ones.
The Swiss Poker
League has been
successfully running
since 2007 when they
awarded 2 WSOP
packages.
Nicolas Martin
and
Sylvian Girard
winners of the first
Swiss Poker League
edition won a
package each for the
WSOP 2008 that they
will enjoy very
soon. All Swiss players have now the opportunity to play for free at Chilipoker.net in this exclusive second edition and, thanks to Chilipoker get 3 WSOP packages instead of two. Chilipoker has also created daily freerolls tournaments specially dedicated to Swiss poker players. However we will need to wait until the end of 2008 to know the names of the next happy winners. Chilipoker has created a unique strategy of partnerships with poker associations, local clubs and online communities to promote poker in its nicest approach: competitions between players in order to reward the most skillful ones.
$20,000 package to visit Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker
Chilipoker offers a new $20,000 package to visit Las Vegas due to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) The leading European poker room ChiliPoker.com is promoting a new exciting offer with a $20,000 package that will allow the winner and his/her guest to visit Las Vegas to mark the occasion of the World Series of Poker. Due to the World Series of Poker, Chilipoker is giving its players a new chance to be a part of the most important of all poker tournaments. With this new $20,000 package, all players will significantly increase their odds of attending this major event live. As we have previously stated Chilipoker is already offering a $14,000 package to attend a Super Satellite Main Event and a $6,000 package to two No Limit Hold'em Side Event Super Satellites. Well, to the surprise of all, they are now promoting a new offer stackable with the other two, where they will give away $20,000 packages to the winners and their guests to attend the WSOP Main Event and be treated like authentic poker stars. Moreover, if a player wins two different packages he will be entitled to cash out one of them! The awesome package will cover 14 nights accommodation, 2 tickets for the “Blue Man Group” show, travelling money and many other surprises. You can also find other Jackpot Sit & Go's at Chilipoker such as Rio, Dirty Dozen, Maui and Fort Knox Jackpot Sit&Gos, which can award you thousands of dollars. An excellent example of these are the Fort Knox Jackpot Sit&Go's that give away a $2,000 Jackpot prize every time a player wins 4 consecutive Sit&Go's. From 1st April until 19th June, this completely new way of qualification will give all of Chilipoker's players the chance of getting this incredible prize. All they need to do is play and win four consecutive $20 + $4 “WSOP Executive – Jackpot Sit’n’Go” tournaments. Apart from this fantastic package, we can't forget the extra emotion of winning the jackpot prize which increases progressively according to the amount of players. The WSOP has been held in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1970. It is comprised of over 50 events and is the largest poker tournament in the world. The whole set of tournaments which last for over a month is a must for the best poker players. This year is the 39th time that The Entertainment Capital of the World will see the poker stars in this hard battle. The $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em is the main attraction and a dream for many poker players, as it gathers together the very best for the 13 difficult days that the Main Event lasts for. The WSOP 2007 attracted 54,288 total registrants, the most in World Series of Poker history. The Texas Hold'em Main Event began on July 6th with 6,358 players and was completed on the morning of July 18th, crowning Jerry Yang as the new World Poker Player Champion with a prize of $8.25M. Thanks to all the promotions that Chilipoker is and will be running, this 39th edition will be more accessible for all poker players and we just hope that some of Chilipoker's players can see their dream come true. About us: ChiliPoker.com has become a leading poker and lifestyle site. Chilipoker is available in 5 different languages, all providing professional and friendly support. The poker room has at your disposal 5 different poker variants to choose from. Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Stud offering $12.5M in monthly guaranteed and almost $10,000 worth in monthly freerolls. Also, Chilipoker possesses the brand ShareTheChili.com which is an affiliate program that you can easily sign up to online. Chilipoker provides a non-transferable affiliate interface which has the marketing tools you need to start offering your clients all the exclusive features and promotions from the moment of your sign up.
Chipleader Enhances Amsterdam’s Casino Affiliate Convention with Major Promotions and Giveaways
“Amsterdam promises to be extremely lucrative for affiliates visiting the Chipleader booth,” stated Rochelle Emerson, spokesperson for Chipleader. “With trips to Aruba, Costa Rica and Las Vegas at stake, our corner of the conference floor is going to see a lot of traffic.” Chipleader will be giving away 10 Aruba Poker Classic seats to affiliate players along with major cash prizes and incentives targeted toward the affiliates promoting the event. If an affiliate’s player wins any of the Aruba satellites, that affiliate will win an exclusive cash prize. If a player wins their way to Aruba, the affiliate tied to that player will benefit even further with a host of additional cash prizes. Players will also have the chance to win free entries to UltimateBet’s Aruba 50-Seat Satellite Giveaway, valued at $530 apiece. The 2008 Aruba Poker Classic runs from September 27th through October 4th at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino. With 750 players expected to descend on the island, UltimateBet is estimating a prize pool of over $4 million. The online poker site is also guaranteeing a first place prize of $1 million. This isn’t the first time Chipleader has offered to send their affiliates to paradise. The online poker affiliate site is currently running a Costa Rica Adventure promotion. The Top 15 Chipleader affiliates with the highest percentage of increase in their monthly gross revenue over a three-month period, from February through April, will win an all-expense paid vacation for two to Costa Rica. The package includes accommodations at luxury hotels, hiking through the jungle, waterfall and volcano tours, and exclusive tours of the Absolute Poker and UltimateBet offices.
Other promotions
expected to be
highlighted by the
online poker
affiliate site at
the Casino Affiliate
Conference this
April include
Absolute Poker’s
latest Absolute
Dream Package and
online poker
qualifiers for seats
to this years World
Series of Poker.
Economic Stimulus Package for College Students: Online Poker
College students these days may have a little more money than those of past generations and it's not all about their rich mommies and daddies. Some have been earning it themselves, even as jobs become more scarce and economic woes mount. Hunter Fritz isn't making his money working at McDonalds. The University of Minnesota sophomore plays online poker and wins. Fritz knew he'd arrived on the poker scene last year when he won a tournament that netted him $160,000 in winnings, he told the University paper, adding that he now plays about three hours per day and considers it his job.
Fritz said he'd
rather play online
than at a physical
table because he
enjoys the comfort
of his own home,
prefers to play up
to six tables at
once and thinks
non-online games
progress slowly. That paper spoke to other students, including Marketing Major Ryan Tongen, who plays online poker up to 40 hours a week and takes in a cool six-figure income each year. Needless-to-say, students like Hunter and Ryan won't have to worry too much about paying off college loans the rest of their young adult lives. For these young people, online poker represents a stable industry in an otherwise unstable economy with little sign of recovery over the next several years. PokerPulse.com estimates online poker to generate $2 billion dollars, despite the fact that some politicians and the US Justice Department have condemned the activity.
Read More Here
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Posted
April 4
2008 12:12 am by
Christopher Costigan
According
to the
Posted
April 3, 2008 10:24
am by Wicked Chops
Poker
Best
Poker Player While
Drinking Alcohol
Award: Scotty
Nguyen. Many poker
players claim they
play better while
drunk. But poker
isn’t like driving
or having sex. For
the most part,
alcohol impairs your
poker judgment and
performance, or it
at least turns you
into a first class
a-hole (Exhibit A:
Men the Master
Nguyen vs. Erick
Lindgren WPT World
Poker Open this past
January). However,
Scotty Nguyen defies
all logic here. He’s
insanely
entertaining, makes
saying “baby”
incredibly cool, and
plays some vicious
poker while downing
longneck after
longneck. The dude
even pulls off a
Jerry Curl mullet.
And he’s got a wife
that’s not bad on
the eyes. See,
drinking does really
make you more
attractive to the
opposite sex. That’s
an important life
lesson there for all
of our female
readers. 
Best
Impersonation of Al
Krux Award: Jason
Lester. Seriously,
is there any
difference between
these two guys? Can
any one tell them
apart? If Al Krux
busts out during
Level 1 of a
tournament, does he
go back up to the
cage and re-buy
claiming he’s Jason
Lester? No one would
even question this,
right?
Best
Female Poker Player:
Tie. Whoa boy.
That’s a funny one.
Best female poker
player. That’s
grand. Pretty sure
they’re all tied for
last on this one.
Posted
April 1, 2008 10:15
pm by
Jordan Bach
Obviously, most of
the online poker
rooms and sports
betting sites
operating from
Europe or for the
European gambling
will accept the Euro
but there are plenty
of Caribbean based
(and mostly North
American facing)
operations that
could embrace the
European market
better by accepting
the Euro.
Chilipoker.net
in collaboration
with PokerLeague.ch
launches the Swiss
Poker League
"It allows for a lot
of freedom," Fritz
(pictured)
said.