Poker News

The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is preparing to wrap up its 2009 schedule with the $6,300 AUD APPT Grand Final running from December 1st to 6th at the Star City Casino in Sydney. Team PokerStars Pros and former World Champions Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem are among the several hundred players expected to participate in the tour’s flagship tournament.

The APPT Sydney schedule kicked off with the $200 AUD Pink Diamond Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on November 22nd. Several other preliminary events are taking place before the Main Event gets underway, including a deep stack No Limit Hold’em tournament and a Pot Limit Omaha event. Once the Main Event is underway, side events include the $15,300 AUD High Roller, a $550 AUD Ladies Tournament, a $1,100 AUD team event, a $3,200 AUD Heads-Up event, and the $340 AUD Camp Quality Charity Event in aid of the Australian Children and Families Cancer Charity.

Last year, Martin Rowe defeated fellow Aussie Jason Gray for the APPT Grand Final title and $1 million AUD ($648,046) prize. The event was Aussie-dominated, as 39 of the 48 players who reached the money were from Down Under. The first ever APPT Grand Final was won by Grant Levy, who snagged USD $850,000 for his achievement and is now a member of Team PokerStars Pro Australia.

This season’s APPT champions – Dermot Blain, Simon Watt, and Dong-bin Han – won a seat to the APPT Grand Final as part of their victories. Blain collected $541,072 for his win at APPT Macau in August, while Watt earned $154,043 at APPT Auckland in October. Han took home $156,722 after claiming the APPT Cebu title earlier this month. The event in Cebu broke participation records for an event in the Philippines. The APPT Seoul event, scheduled for September 17th to 20th in South Korea, was postponed due to construction delays at the 7-Luck Casino and will be rescheduled once the construction is completed.

Overall, the APPT has been very pleased with the tour in 2009. Jeffrey Haas, President of the APPT, said: “This season’s APPT has been a great success with over a thousand players competing in the three events already held in Macau, Auckland, and Cebu. This has been made possible by massive enthusiasm for the tour right across the region. This season’s Grand Final in Sydney is set to cement the tour’s reputation for providing incredible events in great locations.”

On December 7th, the annual APPT Tournament of Champions event will take place. This invitation-only tournament features winners from the APPT as well as some of the biggest names in poker competing to help their favorite charities. The first year the tournament was held, Joe Hachem won; last season PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso took home the title.

Despite the promise of a televised final table for both its Pot Limit Omaha Championship and Main Event, it was a small crowd at the United States Poker Championships (USPC), with only 32 players entering the Omaha event and 154 taking part in the Main Event.

The tournament series, hosted by the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, ran from November 2nd until shortly before Thanksgiving and featured a total of 24 different events with buy-ins ranging from $340 to $5,250.  Prior to the start of the series, the tournament staff announced that cable television channel Spike TV would be on hand to film a couple of the contests.

The first televised event was the $2,625 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament.  Although the field was a scant 32 players, it was packed with some big name pros, several of whom made it to the final table.  Amnon Filippi, Matthew Matros, Matt Glantz, and Allie Prescott all made the feature table, with Prescott taking home the victory worth $36,000.

The second televised tournament, the USPC Main Event, drew a much larger crowd than the Omaha contest and saw substantial growth over last year’s running.  The combined appeal of a televised event plus a smaller buy-in helped to essentially triple the size of the field between 2008 and 2009.  Last year, the event featured a buy-in of $10,000 and only drew 52 runners.  Some of the 154 players who turned up to play in this year’s tournament included Matt “All In At 420” Stout, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, Allen Kessler, Michael and Nick Binger, Joe “hoodini10” Udine, Adam Junglen, Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, and Thayer Rasmussen.

The final table featured a number of notable names, including the 2001 USPC Champion Men “The Master” Nguyen.  Nguyen defeated fellow pro John Juanda heads-up in 2001 to take the $228,000 first place prize.  This time around, the tables were turned and it was Nguyen who had to settle for a runner-up finish.  Nguyen was joined at the final table by Nick Binger, <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”World Series of Poker”>World Series of Poker (<a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”wsop“>wsop) bracelet winner Brian Lemke, and online poker player Eric “avrilsharapova” Ladny.

The chip leader going into the final table was not one of the known pros though, it was William Brindise, a New Jersey local who started the final seven-handed table with more than 1.5 million chips – twice that of his next closest competitor, Nguyen.  Ladny rounded out the top three and the trio of players started and ended the day in the exact same positions on the leaderboard.  Ladny busted out in third place, setting up a heads-up match between Nguyen and Brindise.  It would be the local who prevailed over the professional, as Brindise defeated Nguyen to take down the first place prize worth $261,800; Nguyen earned $138,600 for his runner-up finish.

Although he may be lacking the experience of his formidable heads-up opponent, Brindise is no stranger to poker success.  Prior to his win at the USPC, he had nearly $130,000 in tournament winnings to his credit, including a win in a Trump Classic event in 2005, several cashes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and an in-the-money finish at the 2004 World Series of Poker (wsop) Main Event.  With the victory in Atlantic City, Brindise’s career winnings are now close to $400,000.

Here are the results from the final table of the 2009 USPC Main Event:

1st Place: William Brindise – $261,800
2nd Place: Men “the Master” Nguyen – $138,600
3rd Place: Eric Ladny – $77,000
4th Place: Gordon Eng – $53,900
5th Place: Brian Lemke – $46,200
6th Place: Nick Binger – $30,800
7th Place: Anton Smolyanskiy – $23,100

Most Americans spent Thanksgiving Day huddled around the dinner table, noshing on roasted turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and a variety of desserts. poker news Daily was able to talk to several pros to hear what they are thankful for.

Many poker players took the day off from the tables to spend time with their families. Beth Shak was quite reflective when she said, “I’m thankful for my health and the heath of my family. I’m thankful for the love from my family and friends. I’m thankful for love and laughter in my life.”

Even those who may not have originally called the United States home were able to get in on the tradition with their families and bring some of their own flair to the holiday. Marco Traniello, who sat in on Thanksgiving with wife Jennifer Harman and their children, noted, “We are very thankful for our wonderful family and friends that we have. This year, though, we substituted the turkey with an authentic Pilgrim’s dish… lasagna!”

There was even more fun in the Joe Sebok household, as one of the wittiest poker players in the game today commented on his Thanksgiving by saying, “I am so thankful for all of my peeps that I am close with, all the opportunities that I have been given this year, and yes, even the crazy world of poker that I have found myself in somehow.” After a moment of pause, Sebok added, “Oh, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, too!”

Some of the pros in the poker community talked about their activities on Turkey Day. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little headed to the ski slopes instead of watching football and commented, “I was planning on working out, but I can hardly move from skiing. I think I will have enough time to crawl to the tournament at Bellagio,” where the Five Diamond World Poker Classic will begin. Pamela Brunson thought about all the food she ate when she said, “I gobble gobbled but good! Time to start a new exercise regime! I’m starting by two-steppin’ on Friday!”

In the end, all of the players – and many Americans themselves – thought of those who couldn’t be with those they love. Eric Mizrachi, gathering with the Mizrachi clan, said, “I’m thankful for what all the people did to have such a nice country that we are living in today. I’m proud to be an American and at least I know I’m free!” The effervescent Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones enthusiastically responded to poker news Daily, “I’m thankful for our troops! And I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!”

poker news Daily wants to thank all those who responded and join with them by wishing everyone the happiest of Thanksgivings.

Twenty-four hours after it was revealed that mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) would be delayed by six months, the poker industry has had a chance to react.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) was one of several organizations that successfully petitioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to push back conformity with UIGEA rules until June 1st, 2010. The 1.2 million member strong lobbying organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release distributed on Friday, “We are thankful to our co-petitioners, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and for the dozens of members of Congress who voiced their support for this petition through letters to Secretary Geithner and Chairman Bernanke. The PPA looks forward to working with regulators and legislators to pass legislation that protects consumers and the great game of poker.” News of the extension originally broke on Wednesday.

The two horse racing outfits co-authored a letter with the PPA to Geithner and Bernanke outlining the potential for overblocking by financial institutions, which could have led to legal online wagers being denied by companies like Visa and MasterCard. According to the PPA, the possibility of an extension beyond the current six-month time frame exists. Ideally, Congress would formulate proper internet gambling legislation in the near future.

To that end, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI) spokesperson Michael Waxman commented, “This decision is the latest evidence that momentum is building for a shift in policy and a rewrite of U.S. internet gambling laws to provide for regulation and taxation instead of prohibition. Over the next six months, Congress should act to create a framework that regulates internet gambling to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed revenue for critical federal and state government programs.”

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), whose House Financial Services Committee will host a hearing on two internet gambling bills next Thursday, gave his two cents on the UIGEA compliance date being postponed: “The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors deserve a great deal of credit for suspending these midnight regulations promulgated by the Bush administration which would curtail the freedom of Americans to use the internet as they choose and which would pose unrealistic burdens on the entire financial community. This will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law.”

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, Rich “TheEngineer” Muny, who serves as the Kentucky State Director for the PPA, broke the news early on Black Friday. While many online poker players were out hunting for deep holiday discounts, PocketFives.com member “mordan” was on the message boards candidly responding, “Everyone in the poker community just won a 30/70 with this development. Although this doesn’t guarantee regulation in the future, our odds have significantly increased with the U.S. Treasury recognizing problems with this bill.”

The future of the legality of games like online poker remains up in the air. In the PPA forum on TwoPlusTwo, poster “Distajo” questioned, “Was the delay granted more for the clarity of the UIGEA rules? Thus, being more beneficial for banks? Like don’t fund poker accounts, but allow horseracing wagers?” Past attempts to clarify the UIGEA have mandated that “laundry lists” of legal activities be created. If a bill like Frank’s HR 2267 is passed, the entire industry seems likely to be legalized and regulated in the United States.

Stay tuned to poker news Daily for the latest UIGEA headlines.

With only the main event of the U.S. Poker Championships to keep poker fans busy they were left to contemplate the identity of the rumored Swede who has taken millions off Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

There was a ton of other poker news, however, and we’re going to break some of it down for you today in our regularly scheduled poker news in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to look at PKR Live III results, another world record broken on PokerStars, an Andy Beal update and a certain young celebrity with a penchant for poker.

Billionaire poker player bids on Trump Casinos

It appears that billionaire banker Andy Beal isn’t quite done with the poker world.

The Dallas-based businessman made a bid for three bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Casinos in Atlantic City this week.

Beal was portrayed as a fearless poker player in Michael Craig’s The Professor, the banker and the Suicide King: The Richest Poker Game of all Time.

In the book, Craig chronicled Beal’s heads-up matches against the likes of Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman and Doyle Brunson, which were some of the biggest games ever played.

Under Beal’s buyout proposal, an affiliate of his Dallas-based bank would convert its $486 million mortgage on the casinos into equity.

Beal’s bid is just the latest in a series that included Trump Entertainment bondholders and Donald Trump himself.

The three properties in question are the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino.

Russian breaks world record on PokerStars

Russian online player innerpsy broke the record for number of hands played in a 24 hour span this week.

The 21-year-old poker pro somehow managed to log 40,088 hands on PokerStars in just one day.

“Before this challenge I never actually played more than 20,000 hands in a day before but the idea came up and I just figured I could do it,” he told PokerStars Blog. “It was one of the toughest things I have ever accomplished, but I am proud I managed it.”

The challenge was hosted on PokerStars by Russian forum Card Game Masters and nearly 10,000 fans logged on to watch innerpsy burn his way through more hands than some poker players go through in their lifetime.

Qualifier wins PKR Live III

A 21-year-old English man made history by winning the biggest PKR Live payout ever in London this week.

Vincent “vd12345″ Diver qualified for the event for just $5 on PKR and went on to outlast 133 players to take the first place prize of PKR Live III for $33,500.

“It’s an incredible sum to me and it still hadn’t kicked in until I saw it on my PKR account,” he said. “It has opened up a lot of doors for me.”

This year’s PKR Live required a buy-in of $1,000 and took place at the Loose Cannon in London. The event has grown in every year of its existence.

Grandmothers arrested for playing poker in Cyprus

Forty two women between the ages of 75 and 95 were arrested at private home game in Cyprus this week.

The police raided the house where the games took place in Ayios loannis and proceeded to charge the women for illegal gambling. The police also confiscated €100 in betting money, 546 playing chips and 530 playing cards.

The women were playing poker and gin rummy.

Playing cards for money is illegal in Cyprus and the police regularly conduct raids at clubs, betting ships and various associations.

The raid took place on Sunday at 6 p.m. after a series of complaints from neighbors about noise.

Zac Efron a poker pro?

Renowned director Richard Linklater says teen heartthrob Zac Efron is a poker shark.

Linklater told the UK’s Press Association that although Efron looks clean cut, he will take your money if you play poker against him.

Linklator is currently directing the young star in Me and Orsen Welles, which sees Efron play teenager Richard Samuels who ends up working with a young Orsen Welles.

Efron has never played the popular WPT Celebrity Invitational, which takes place every year at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.

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Isildur1, the unknown Swedish player named after a character from Lord of the Rings, showed up on the high-stakes scene Sep. 16th. Two weeks later, he began to tear it apart.

His first two weeks on Full Tilt were rather uneventful. In fact, he seemed like just another new fish for the $25/$50 No-Limit Hold’em regulars to destroy.

One of his first real matches came versus Haseeb “INTERNETPOKERS” Qureshi.

After playing for a while at $25/$50, the two players eventually moved up to $100/$200 where Isildur1 took Qureshi for close to $500k.

This was the first big win for unknown Swede, and it was the fuse that lit the fireworks about to come.

Isildur1 spent the next few days playing some of the most well known players on Full Tilt. He picked apart UgotaBanana for $300k and went on to play some heavy sessions of $200/$400 and $300/$600 Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha.

During that time he took over $700k off of Cole South, and lost small amounts to Brian Hastings and Brian Townsend.

But after a few days, Tom “durrrr” Dwan finally showed up on the scene. It was the moment high-stakes railbirds were waiting for and all bets were on Dwan breaking the Swedish fish in short order.

Over four days of action - the majority of which was played at $500/$1,000 - Isildur1 won over $3 million, putting Dwan into a bankroll tailspin.

With his newly found riches, Isildur1 has played at the highest stakes available online almost every day since and the action has been ground breaking

While he has taken over $5.2 million from Dwan, Isildur1 has lost $3 million to Phil Ivey, $1.1 million to Townsend, $840k to Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies and $578k to Patrik Antonius.

And in his sessions with Antonius and Ivey, Isildur1 has been involved in all ten of the largest online pots ever played.

First Antonius and Isildiur1 teamed up to break the one-year-old record for the largest pot in online poker history when they tangled over a whopping $878,959.

Isildur1 then became the first person to lose a seven-figure pot online when he and Antonius broke their own record for the largest pot ever played less than a week later. This $1,356,947 pot went to Antonius after his flopped straight held up on the river.

Just two days, later Isildur1 beat Ivey in a pot worth $1.1 million, making him the only player online to have both won and lost a million dollar pot.

Seven of the ten largest pots in online poker history have come in the last week, all between Isildur1 and either Antonius or Ivey.

However, through all of this action, Isildur1’s true identity is still unknown. The high-stakes world has come up with a variety of theories, the leading one being that he is Blom90.

Viktor “Blom90″ Blom burst onto the high-stakes Euro-site scene in early 2009 building a massive bankroll before virtually disappearing.

Many sources have claimed Isildur1 is Blom90, but to this day, Blom has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors.

Others have claimed he is the same person behind the “martonas” account, another player who burst onto the high-stakes scene earlier this year before dissapearing.

There have even been rumors he is retired Swedish footbal legend Henrik Larsson.

The only thing that can be confirmed is the action created by Isildur1 has completely re-arranged the look of the year’s biggest winners and losers online.

Thanks to the $3 million he’s won from Isildur1, Ivey tops the charts with over $6.3 million, $600k ahead of Antonius, who is now at $5.7 million.

In third place on the year is Sahamies with $5.7 million. Fourth place belongs to Ashton “theASHMAN103″ Griffin who has remained at $3.6 million ever since his original heater in early August.

Thanks to the $1.1 million he’s won off Isildur1, Brian Townsend sits in fifth place with $3.3 million. And finally, in sixth place is Isildur1 himself, who who has made just over $3 million to date.

The majority of the money made by the top earners has come from Isildur1’s profit off of Dwan, who is the year’s top loser, down a whopping $6.8 million so far. Gus Hansen takes up second place with $5.8 million, $2 million ahead of third place loser LarsLuzak.

Finally, in fourth sits French professional David Benyamine and his $2.3 million in losses.

To see all of the largest pots played by Isildur1 since his arrival on the scene, head to MarketPulse.

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Check the list below for upcoming <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll events, or head to the main <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freerolls page for full details on all <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freerolls coming to your favorite poker room.

The following <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freerolls are open to all PokerListings.com players. Qualify in the specified qualification period, then take your seat to win a fistful of free cash.

If you’re not a PokerListings registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site’s name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.

Pacific Poker

Just deposit as a PokerListings.com player and receive entry into Pacific Poker’s weekly <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll.

• Date: Dec. 1, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $500
• Qualify with: Deposit and play

Paradise Poker

Paradise Poker is offering an exclusive <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll to win cash prizes, including packages to the Paradise Series of Poker (London).

• Date: Dec. 2, 19:30
• Value: €2,500
• Qualify with: Rake €15
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

William Hill Poker

With just 100 points you can play in William Hill’s next exclusive <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll worth $2,500.

• Date: Dec. 3, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $2,500
• Qualify with: 100 Points
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

Full Tilt

Full Tilt offers weekly <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freerolls to all PokerListings players. Qualify with 100 points earned the week before the event to grab your seat.

• Date: Dec. 5, 13:00 GMT
• Value: $1,500
• Qualify with: 100 points
• Qualify between: Nov. 28 - Dec. 4

Titan Poker

The weekly $1,000 <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll from Titan is set for Dec. 5. You only need 1 point to qualify for a seat.

• Date: Dec. 5, 18:00 GMT
• Value: $1,000
• Qualify with: 1 point

PokerStars

PokerStars is offering a $20,000 Caribbean Adventure satellite <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll on Dec. 6. You need to collect 100 points before the end of November for your seat.

• Date: Dec. 6, 15:00 EST
• Value: $20,000
• Qualify with: 100 points
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

Titan Poker

The monthly $5,000 <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll from Titan is set for Dec. 6. You only need 25 points to qualify for a seat.

• Date: Dec. 6, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $5,000
• Qualify with: 25 points

Pacific Poker

The next Pacific Poker monthly <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll is set, and ready to give away $1,000. Just 100 points to qualify.

• Date: Dec. 6, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $1,000
• Qualify with: 100 Points
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

RedKings Poker

Exclusive to PokerListings.com players, RedKings is putting up $2,100 to any player to deposit and play one hand of real money poker.

• Date: Dec. 12, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $2,100
• Qualify with: Deposit and play

Sportsbook Poker

For first time depositors only. Register through PokerListings, deposit and play one real money hand of poker to get your seat.

• Date: Dec. 13, 19:00 EST
• Value: $2,000
• Qualify with: Deposit and play
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

bwin Poker

For first time depositors only. Register through PokerListings, deposit and collect 50 points to get your seat.

• Date: Dec. 13, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $2,000
• Qualify with: 50 points
• Qualify between: May. 31 - Dec. 11

Party Poker

Collect 100 points as a PokerListings player for your seat in Party Poker’s exclusive $2,000 cash <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll.

• Date: Dec. 19, 20:00
• Value: $2,000
• Qualify with: 100 points
• Qualify between: Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

Titan Poker

Start earning points now to qualify for your seat in the massive $15,000 Titan <a href=”http://www.freerolls24.com”>freeroll, open to all PokerListings players

• Date: Dec. 20, 19:00 GMT
• Value: $15,000
• Qualify with: 750 points

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Less than a day after winning this year’s British Columbia Poker Championship and earning the first place prize of $364,364, 30 year-old Sophon Sek was arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering.  As a result, his prize money is being held at the casino at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and there is a chance it will be confiscated from Sek altogether.

Sek is the sixth person arrested in connection with the Surrey Six murder case.  In October of 2007, six people were shot in the head and killed in the Surrey area high rise apartment building Balmoral Towers.  The murders are believed to be an act of gang violence, as four of the six victims were known to be part of the British Columbia drug trade.  The men suspected in the murders are members of the Red Scorpions, one of the largest and most influential gangs in British Columbia.  The Surrey Six slayings are considered to be one of the worst instances of gang violence in modern British Columbian history.

The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that Sek is believed to be an associate of the Red Scorpions as well.  Statements from Corporal Dale Carr of the police force gave little insight on why Sek was arrested and faced lesser charges than the other five men previously detained in the killings, but the Sun reported that Sek is not believed to be one of the murderers. According to the paper, the RCMP believe that it was Sek who let the perpetrators into the high rise, though it is still unclear whether or not he was aware of their intentions.

Howard Blank, Vice President of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, reported that the RCMP requested Sek’s winnings from the $2,700 (CDN) buy-in event.  Sek outlasted a field of 679 players including poker pros Gavin Smith, “Yukon” Brad Booth, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who made the final table, finishing in seventh place.

Sek was set to return to River Rock Casino in Vancouver, the site of the event, to pick up his winnings Monday, but his arrest prevented him from doing so.  He is currently being held in custody until his trial date on November 30th.  His lawyer, Alan Ip, spoke to the British Columbia Globe and Mail about the seizure of Sek’s winnings.  According to Ip, unless the money was taken as evidence in the case, it was unjustly seized.  Carr told the Sun he was not aware of the RCMP’s request for the casino to hold the funds and could not provide an explanation as to why the money would be seized in relation to the case.  Ip also emphasized how saddened his client was at the prospect of losing his tournament earnings, as he planned to pursue his love for poker and play in other events in the future.

One of the five other suspects in the case, Dennis Karbonavec, has already pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.  Following his admission of guilt, three others were arrested in relation to the case in April of 2008 and have been in pretrial custody ever since.  The charges against the men include first and second degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and various firearms-related charges.

This is not the first time Sek has had a run in with the police.  He was previously charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in July of 2008.

Online poker players in the United States have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. On Friday, CNBC and the Associated Press confirmed that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had granted requests to delay the mandatory compliance date of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by six months to June 1st, 2010.

Word of a potential delay first broke on Wednesday from Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan. However, no official comment had been handed down from Geithner, Bernanke, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), or the office of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Around 12:15pm ET on Thursday, cable station CNBC ran a segment touting the successful six-month delay and an Associated Press article had hit cyberspace 15 minutes earlier.

The six-month delay will take the internet gambling industry to June 1st, 2010. In the interim, the theory goes that sensible legislation governing the industry in the United States will be passed. Frank introduced HR 2267 back in May. The bill, which has attracted 63 co-sponsors, establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for online gaming outfits to solicit U.S. customers.

An Associated Press article sourced both the Treasury and Federal Reserve as saying that the UIGEA’s regulations would indeed be pushed off until mid-2010. The news service explained, “The delayed rules would curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. The financial industry complained that the new rules would be difficult to enforce because they did not offer a clear definition of what constitutes internet gambling.” Since the UIGEA was approved in 2006, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stated that the legality of internet gambling may depend on state law, similar to the way that the brick-and-mortar version is governed.

Next Thursday, December 3rd, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing discussing the merits of HR 2266 and HR 2267. The former bill delays mandatory industry compliance with the UIGEA regulations by one year to December 1st, 2010. Its relevance given Friday’s confirmation that the regulations would be pushed back six months is up in the air. The hearing kicks off at 10:00am ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses for the informational hearing have not yet been announced and the proceedings can be followed via a live webcast accessible from the Committee’s website.

Potential overblocking by credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard led the PPA, two horse racing organizations, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation to petition Geithner and Bernanke, urging that the regulations of the UIGEA be shuttled back to December 1st of next year. PPA Executive Director John Pappas told poker news Daily, “Many believe what you’ll see is overblocking of legitimate transactions. It’s not a good thing for players. It won’t just affect poker; it’ll affect horse racing, lotteries, and other online entities.”

Around 1:00pm ET, the PPA confirmed the news. The organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release, “The PPA is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension. This is a great victory for poker, but an even greater victory for advocates of good and fair public policy.”

Stay tuned to poker news Daily for the latest news and events from Capitol Hill.

The second installment of the UB.com-sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” hit televisions on Thanksgiving Eve in the United States on cable station Fox Sports Net. Scott Huff and Joe Sebok host the show.

“Poker2Nite’s” second episode began with a discussion of the $1.3 million Pot Limit Omaha hand between Patrik Antonius and Swedish online poker player Isildur1. The hand was replayed on-screen, with Antonius flopping a straight and Isildur1 calling all-in with a series of higher straight draws. However, none of them hit and Antonius raked the largest pot in the history of online poker. On the hand, Sebok commented, “Keep in mind that we’re not talking about No Limit Hold’em, which is what everyone is used to. We’re talking about Pot Limit Omaha. You have four cards, a million possibilities, and it completely changes the complexion of the hand. Truthfully, when Isildur1 got his money in, he was only a 45% dog on the flop.”

On playing poker for extreme high-stakes on Full Tilt, Sebok commented, “Sickness. Madness. I’m wondering if we’re going to fit these guys for straightjackets soon. At the end of the day, they feel like they have an edge over whoever they’re playing.” Other online poker players involved in the high-stakes action besides Antonius and Isildur1 in recent weeks have included Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Brian Townsend, Brian Hastings, Phil Ivey, and Cole South.

So who is Isildur1? That’s the question that has weighed heavily on the minds of the online poker community since the Swede burst onto the high-stakes scene earlier this month. Sebok speculated, “I think this is a kid we’re going to see more and more of. He’s already probably a top five Omaha player in the world. The only problem he’s running into is he’s playing maybe #1 and #2 with Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius.” Sebok also commented that Isildur is a character from “Lord of the Rings.”

Attention then turned to the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night benefiting Decision Education Foundation. GreasieWheels’ Lisa Wheeler organized the event, which saw Tournament Director Matt Savage oversee the operation. Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch won and was also the featured speaker as part of a Poker Skills for Life seminar. On why he was selected to speak, Bloch, the in-studio guest for “Poker2Nite,” told Huff and Sebok, “The DEF is all about teaching people to make good decisions and in poker, you have to make a lot of good, quick decisions. You have to do that in life too sometimes. In poker, you’re studying and teaching yourself how to make better decisions when you’re at the table.”

Bloch took down the event and explained what he earned for coming out on top of the pro- and celebrity-laden field: “I didn’t win any cash, but I did win a bracelet, so for everyone who makes fun of me for not winning a bracelet, I won a bracelet.” Bloch also recapped his now-infamous bet with Ivey that the “Tiger Woods of Poker” would win the Main Event: “At the end of Day 2 with about 2,200 players left, Phil Ivey had about four times the average [chip stack] and he offered me 100:1 on him winning the Main Event. I negotiated it down to 99:1 [for $20,000]. Normally, I wouldn’t worry, but $2 million is kind of a lot.” Ivey ultimately took seventh in the $10,000 buy-in tournament, avoiding a $2 million payout by Bloch.

“Poker2Nite” also featured the “Weekly Misdeal” with Dana Workman, which takes a satirical approach to reporting the news. Team UB.com’s Brandon Cantu getting tazed was featured as well, with the footage appearing on national television.

“Poker2Nite” airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net, although its airtime varies by market. It also replays several times throughout the week. Check your local listings for details.