Current number-one-ranked golfer Eldrick “Tiger” Woods declined a US$75 million sponsorship offer from Ireland-based online poker site Paddy Power. Woods has recently lost a number of sponsors, including business consulting firm Accenture and sports drink manufacturer Gatorade, since reports came out that he had conducted a number of extramarital affairs, including one with a former adult film star and another with a Las Vegas casino hostess.
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Veteran poker pro Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth has enjoyed unprecedented success at the World Series of Poker. He won the WSOP Main Event in 1989; at the time, the youngest player to do so, and has another ten championship bracelets in his collection.
One of the few accolades that has eluded him in his long and illustrious career is a win on the World Poker Tour. This weekend, he has the chance to add a WPT title to his resume.
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Paul Leggett, the chief executive officer of the online poker company Tokwiro Enterprises, announced that his company was canceling their plans for this year’s event on the island of Aruba. The popular poker site Ultimate Bet, purchased by Tokwiro in 2008, had been sponsoring the tournament since 2002.
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Officials at the London-based Matchroom Sport promotions firm have announced that the fourth annual Women’s World Poker Open will start on 23 March. The tournament features a buy-in of US$3,000 and will show some of the most talented female poker players in the world. Among the twenty-four participants who have signed on for the event is 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad.
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The US National Council on Problem Gambling has announced the start of National Problem Gambling Awareness Week on 7 March. The Council, along with affiliated councils in thirty-five of the fifty US states, is promoting the events of this week in an effort to raise awareness and discussions about the nature of gambling addiction, as well as informing those players who may have issues where they can get help.
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Annie Duke, one of the top female poker players in the world, cemented her reputation by winning the Sixth Annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship. She defeated former World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up Erik Seidel two matches to one in their best-of-three series for the title. Duke won the first prize of US$500,000, while Seidel earned US$250,000 for his second-place finish.
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A gang of four robbers disguised in black motorcycle masks robbed the Grand Hyatt Berlin hotel in a daring daylight robbery during the European Poker Tour poker tournament. The robbers pointed handguns and long knives at a cashier, escaping through a crowded shopping mall with over ‘
Hungarian Andras Koroknai outlasted a field of the top players in the game to win the World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic US$10,000 buy-in Main Event.
Koroknai went into the final table as the chip leader and went wire-to-wire to win the US$1.78 million first prize. Raymond Dolan, a Huntington Beach resident and regular on the Southern California poker scene, finished second and took home just over US$1 million.
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Another state may be working to legalize online poker within its boundaries. Following the announcement by Iowa legislators that they are working on a bill to tax and regulate online poker, officials in Florida are debating the state’s Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act.
Florida State Representative Joseph Abruzzo of Wellington, the bill’s sponsor, said that the measure could create US$200 million in taxes and other revenue after twelve months.
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Executives with Las Vegas Sands Corporation announced that they would restart construction on a planned hotel alongside their casino in suburban Philadelphia. The announcement comes at the same time that officials with the Pennsylvania state gaming commission announced that they would allow table games like blackjack, craps and roulette alongside the slot machines at the Sands Bethlehem and the rest of the state’s casinos.
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After a Day 5 field at the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic that looked like a “Who’s Who” of the game, the final table of the US$10,000 no-limit Texas Holdem event now looks like a “Who’s He?” list.
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Former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Juan Carlos Morentsen is the chip leader after Day 4 of the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino. Mortensen has nearly 1.67 million in chips, well ahead of Day 3 chip leader Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse’s 1.31 million. Another former Main Event winner, two-time champion Johnny Chan, is still in contention for his first WPT title; he is seventeenth out of the twenty-two remaining players with 406,000 chips.
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Online poker pro Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse has the chip lead at the end of Day 3 of the US$10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic. Newhouse has a slim lead of only nine thousand chips over fellow online poker veteran Chris Moore. Newhouse is also going after his second career WPT title; he also won the Borgata Poker Open Main Event in Atlantic City, New Jersey in September 2006.
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In the ongoing battle between online poker sites and government jurisdictions, lawmakers in the state of Iowa are working on a truce. Legislators in that Midwestern state are considering a proposal to legalize internet poker for its citizens. The idea also has the support of the state’s casino industry, since players would be required to deposit cash into an account with one of their gaming facilities in order to play online poker.
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San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker has signed an endorsement contract with the French online poker site BetClic. Parker, whose mother was Dutch and father was American, was born in Belgium and raised in France. He played basketball professionally in France and for the French national team before signing with the Spurs in 2001. Parker’s signing marks the first time that an active NBA player has endorsed an online poker site.
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Next month, college basketball won’t be the only sport displaying signs of “March Madness”. The 2010 NBC National Heads-up Poker Challenge is also slated to start in the month of March. The single-elimination, invitation-only no-limit Texas Holdem tournament will feature sixty-four players, including poker pros, celebrities and online qualifiers, competing for over a first prize of US$500,000.
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Officials with the Missouri Gaming Commission may force the President Casino near downtown St. Louis to close its doors by revoking its state gambling license. The revocation would not serve as punishment for violation of any state gaming laws; rather, the state would pull the President’s license because its income streams have not met with expectations. The riverboat casino has under-performed for several months and has not produced the level of tax revenue the state desires.
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The final table of the North American Poker Tour Venetian US$5,000 Main Event has a mix of internet youngsters and Vegas veterans, with one legendary name still clinging to a chance at the US$827,600 first prize. Sam Stein has vaulted from the mundane world of $5/$10 no-limit Texas Holdem games in local casinos to the top of the leader board with over six million chips.
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Another veteran of the online poker world has taken the chip lead after Day 3 of the North American Poker Tour Venetian Main Event. Eric “EricB09″ Blair leads the field of twenty-four remaining players with over 3.7 million in chips. Sam Stein sits just behind him on the leader board with 3.2 million. The final eight players will meet on Day 5 to compete for the US$827,646 top prize, which will be shown on ESPN2 this spring.
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Online poker veteran Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger stands as the chip leader after Day 2 of the North American Poker Tour Venetian Main Event. Mr. Lichtenberger will go into Day 3 of the US$5,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Holdem event with a slim lead over Andy Seth.
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