Poker

What are some of the hottest headlines in the world of poker? Here you will find all the latest juicy stories along with other important news and tournament results. A must read for the poker enthusiast with articles published throughout the day.

Tribes in California Craft Own Draft Legislation for Internet Poker

Tribes in the state of California have put together their own draft legislation to legalize online poker.

The proposal would allow Tribal casinos and the state’s 88 card rooms to license Web poker sites. 

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley are currently pushing the draft legislation. 

State Senator Rod Wright (D-Ingelwood) has introduced his own bill (Senate Bill 51) that would permit horse tracks to hold such licenses.

Submitted by Gilbert Horowitz on, May/15/2013

DOJ Freezes Accounts Between Bitcoin Exchange and Dwolla: Maryland Center Stage

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday froze accounts belonging to one of Bitcoin’s most prominent exchanges, Mt. Gox.

BetOnline

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, May/15/2013

Tiger Woods to Host $10k Buy-in Poker Tournament This Weekend

The world number one golfer Tiger Woods is set to host a $100,000 buy-in poker tournament this coming weekend in Las Vegas.

The two-day charity tournament, known affectionately as “Tiger Jam”, has raised approximately $14 million to benefit college access programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Poker pros joining Tiger will include Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Sexton, among others.

Submitted by Patrick Flanigan on, May/15/2013

Iovation Investigated by Nevada Officials: Company Linked to Poker Cheating Scandal

Nevada State Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett has stated in an email that regulators are looking into identification verification firm Iovation and its relationship to licensed online poker company UltimatePoker.

Iovation had ties to an insider cheating scandal at UB.com, a now defunct online poker site.

Submitted by Ace King on, May/15/2013

Minted Poker Moves to Fledgling Plutos Poker Network

Everleaf Poker Network’s flagship room, Minted Poker, has jumped ship to the newly started Plutos Poker Network.

Minted has offered a 100 rakeback deal to long time Minted Poker players who have been unable to play as a result of Everleaf’s reported insolvency.  The company claims that Everleaf owes it a substantial amount of money.

Submitted by Ace King on, May/15/2013

Hedge Fund Tycoon Talal Shakerchi Loses £850,000 in Poker

A London tycoon, Talal Shakerchi, has lost more than £850,000 in a poker game held over the past weekend.

The 49-year-old head of hedge fund, Meditor, staked 500,000 euros (£424,112) along with five other players for an unofficial game at the European Poker Tour in Monaco this past weekend.

Submitted by Ace King on, May/15/2013

Jason Mercier Leads at Final Table of 2013 Super High Roller EPT Grand Final

Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, who bust the Main Event in seventh place two days ago for €137,000, is chip leader for the final table of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final €100k Super High Roller.

Mercier, who also won the Open Face Chinese tourney for €48,000 at the start of the festival, leads a star-studded final which includes PCA Super High Roller champion Scott Seiver, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, who was runner-up in the PCA $25k High Roller and EPT Barcelona Super High Roller finalist Mike Watson.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/14/2013

Paul Leggett Hiring by Amaya Under Review by Nevada Gaming Commission

Former UB.com COO Paul Leggett has been tagged as the next head of gambling firm Amaya but the Nevada Gaming Commission might not be too happy.

UB.com closed shop following a 2011 indictment by the US Government owing millions of dollars to players. 

The website LegalPokerSites.com begged the question, with so many other folks from the online gambling sector unemployed, why bring on Paul Leggett?

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, May/14/2013

Atlantic Club Claims it Knew Nothing About PokerStars Running Afoul of US Law

Responding to a lawsuit filed by PokerStars, Atlantic City casino The Atlantic Club insists it knew nothing about PokerStars legal problems in the United States despite extensive mainstream press surrounding the matter.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, May/14/2013

Interview With Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson Part II

Gambling911.com continues its interview with Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson, who addresses the departure status of two pros.  Additionally, Ms. Larson responds to concerns over Lock’s communications process, which she describes as a “work in progress”.

In case you missed Part I of this interview, you can find it here.

Submitted by C Costigan on, May/13/2013

Blue Monday’ Online Gambling Beneficiaries Jailed, Forced to Resign

It’s been nearly two years since close to a dozen online gambling domain names were seized as part of a payment processing sting operation. 

Submitted by Alejandro Botticelli on, May/13/2013

Jason Mercier Leads Super High Roller EPT Grand Final 2013

Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, who bust the Main Event yesterday in seventh place, is chip leader in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final €100k Super High Roller at the end of Day 1. Mercier has 1,183,000 with Sorel Mizzi currently second with 885,000. There were 41 players today, with seven re-entries. 30 players made it through Day 1 but those who were eliminated today have until play starts tomorrow at noon to re-enter.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/13/2013

Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke Revealed as Part Owners of Defunct UB.com Poker Site

Shocking revelations have come out over the past week regarding poker pros Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke’s affiliation with shuttered UB.com.  While both were well known as the faces behind the company, taped conversations released in recent days shows that the two players actually had part ownership in UB.com

Submitted by Ace King on, May/13/2013

Crockford’s Claims Phil Ivey Exploited Cards: Won’t Pay £7.8m in Winnings

Following news that poker pro Phil Ivey has sued London’s oldest casino, Crockford’s, that establishment has fought back claiming that Ivey won £7.8m by 'reading' the back of cards.

Crockford’s refuses to pay out the £7.8m.  Ivey insists he did nothing wrong.

The Daily Mail explained how the alleged scheme transpired:

Submitted by Ace King on, May/13/2013

Lock Poker Exploring Bitcoin Options

One of the largest US-facing online poker rooms has confirmed they are exploring a Bitcoin payment platform.  This is the biggest online gambling company to date that has announced plans to offer the digital currency.  

“We are indeed looking at Bitcoin as an alternative (payment solution),” Lock Poker Founder and CEO Jennifer Larson tells Gambling911.com. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, May/12/2013

Gambling911.com World Exclusive: Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson Interview

In her first ever sit down interview, Lock Poker Founder and CEO talks about recent concerns surrounding her company and the strategy moving forward.

Lock Poker last year migrated to the newly formed Revolution Gaming Network and the growth pains have been felt ever since.  Compounding these growing pains is the lack of payment processing available.  This has led many to question the company’s financial stability. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, May/12/2013

Steve O’Dwyer Wins EPT Grand Final Main Event 2013 and €1,2 million

Steve O’Dwyer has won the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event for a massive €1,224,000 first prize after what many consider to be the best final table in history.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/12/2013

EPT Grand Final High Roller 2013 Winner Will Receive €1,211,600

The winner of this season's PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final €25k High Roller will receive a whopping €1,211,600 first prize. There were 121 players in the event which, combined with 37 re-entries, means a total of 158 entries - creating a €3,871,000 prize pool.

As well as their cash prize, the winner will also receive a stunning bracelet worth €8,000 from Shamballa Jewels, Official Bracelet Sponsor of EPT Season 9.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/11/2013

Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier at Final Table of EPT Grand Final 2013

Two of the biggest names in poker, Daniel Negreanu and Jason Mercier, will represent the final table of the EPT Grand Final 2013.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/11/2013

Andrew Pantling Leads for Day 5 of EPT Grand Final

Canadian player Andrew Pantling won a massive pot against Norwegian Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden in the last few moments of Day 4 to take the lead in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final. He has 2,248,000 and Lodden is down to 1,352,000. Pantling, 30, from Ontario, won the €5k heads-up tourney here at the Grand Final three years ago, and was third in the 2009 Irish Open.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/10/2013

Heartland Poker Tour Schedules Record Year

Nationally-Televised Event Announced at Indigo Sky Casino in October

Submitted by Press Release on, May/10/2013

Gus Hansen Approaching $10 Million Lifetime Losses on Full Tilt Poker

Gus Hansen is nearing the $10 million mark in poker, but unfortunately he’s in negative territory.

Data goes back to 2007.  Full Tilt Poker was shut down for nearly 9 months this past year.

From CardPlayer.com:

Submitted by Ace King on, May/10/2013

Chris Moneymaker Back on Top

Former World Champion Chris Moneymaker last night won the €1,100 8-Game for €12,000 and a lovely shiny PokerStars trophy. Okay, it's not the $2,500,000 that he won back in 2003, nor is it going to boost his $3,488,787 in live winnings radically, but a win's a win.

Moneymaker, whose WSOP win is partly credited with kicking off the online poker revolution, topped a 1-2-3 podium finish for Team PokerStars Pro beating Matthias De Meulder and Chad Brown to the trophy.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/10/2013

Large Number of Skrill Payouts for Lock Poker Players Thursday: CEO Speaks

Good news for Lock Poker players following quite a bit of anxiety in recent weeks as several customers outside the US have reported receipt of Skrill payouts, some of which were several thousand dollars, others of which were requested only within the past two weeks.

Submitted by Ace King on, May/09/2013

Daniel Healey Wins First US Legal Real Money Online at Ultimate Poker

Flagship $10,000 Sunday Tournament featured 200 players on Sunday, May 5

LAS VEGAS, NV – On Sunday, May 5, amateur poker player Daniel Healey of  Las Vegas, NV came in first place at Ultimate Poker’s first $10,000 Sunday Tournament at UltimatePoker.com, making history as the winner of the first legal, real money online poker tournament to be held in the United States.

The historic $10,000 Sunday Tournament capped at 200 players, with Healey taking home a first place prize of $4,173. 

Submitted by Press Release on, May/09/2013

Lock Poker Clarifies P2P Transfer Withdrawal Policy

Curacao May 9th, 2013

Through a detailed investigation over the past few weeks the Lock security team uncovered a large group of persons that were abusing the P2P transfer policy and creating a large network of mule accounts to move and withdraw funds without any play at all taking place.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/09/2013

Win Big with the 100 Billion Hands Celebration at PokerStars

Yesterday morning if you just so happened to be passing by a certain €10k tournament in Monaco you would have seen a big booming presentation. Was it a trailer for this year's summer blockbuster? No, but it certainly could have been mistaken as such.

It was an explosive teaser about the upcoming 100 Billion Hands Celebrate PokerStars are giving away a whole load of stuff up to and including hand #100,000,000,000.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/09/2013

Gambling911.com Exclusive: Lock CEO to Address Player Concerns

Lock Poker Founder and CEO Jennifer Larson has agreed to a sit down interview with Gambling911.com to address recent player concerns revolving around its new player-to-player transfer policy and payment processing issues.

Various media outlets and posting forums have expressed concerns over the solvency of Lock in recent weeks.  Larson insists her company is in top financial standing and hopes to have payment processing issues resolved in the coming weeks. 

In a precursor to the upcoming interview, Ms. Larson elaborated on the player-to-player transfer controversy.

Submitted by C Costigan on, May/09/2013

Two Players in Race to Become First PokerStars ‘Triple COOP’ Winner

ONCHAN, ISLE OF MAN – The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker 2013 festival gets under way on May 12 with two players on the brink of a poker first. Alex ‘AlexKP’ Petersen and Jonathan ‘MONSTER_DONG’ Karamalikis both have WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) and TCOOP (Turbo Championship of Online Poker) titles to their names, but will be gunning to become the first player to win the PokerStars ‘Triple COOP’ by taking down a SCOOP event in May.

Submitted by Press Release on, May/09/2013

Queen’s Speech: ‘All UK Gambling Companies Must Have License’

Online gambling companies will not be able to advertise their products in the UK without the proper license.

BetOnline

The Queen’s Speech outlined the new requirements.

Submitted by Gilbert Horowitz on, May/09/2013

Breaking News

Types of online casino games: exploring the different variants of online gamble

As online casino gaming gains ground, so does the variety and number of games available to explore. Today it is pretty normal for an online casino to offer thousands of games at once. Going through this vast selection we'll be highlighting some of the most popular options available. These are standard games that meet the regular players' demand anytime. Read on.