Straight ahead on the Daily Deal, we’ll talk about who the odds makers think of the November Nine, recap the Commerce Casino Million Dollar Tournament, discuss the Poker Players Alliance and the latest from Capitol Hill, and finally find out which two sites just gained French licenses.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to The Daily Deal by poker news Daily.

We’ll start off today by looking at who the odds makers are picking to win it all in November at the <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”World Series of Poker”>World Series of Poker Main Event. Online betting sites such as BetFair and BetUs have released their odds for each of the November Nine. Jonathan Duhamel opened up as a two to one favorite but now is at 3.7 to 1, with John Dolan not too far behind Duhamel in the odds. Short stack Soi Nguyen is sitting at eighteen point five to 1 and the shortest stack, <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/jason-senti-pbjaxx-2010-wsop-november-nine-13351/” title=”Jason Senti Poker Player Profile”>Jason Senti, has odds set at twenty-five to 1. You can decide who you think is the odds on favorite yourself, as coverage of the <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”wsop“>wsop starts on ESPN tonight.

The Commerce Casino Million Dollar Guarantee Championship was played out in Los Angeles over the weekend with a special buy-in of just $335. The Matt Savage creation featured five opening days and allowed players that busted from earlier days to enter back on a successive day. Three thousand three hundred players ended up entering and made for the biggest tournament field in the history of Los Angeles poker, but still fell short of the guarantee by sixty thousand dollars. A six way split of the top prize money was agreed in the wee hours of Monday, with Richard Bakovic winning the title of champion and taking home one hundred and seventy three thousand dollars.

With the regulation of online poker a hot topic on Capitol Hill this week, Poker Players Alliance chairman Alfonse D’Amato was eager to voice his opinion in support of poker players in the United States. D’Amato spoke out on subjects such as the taxation of online poker, the government acting on behalf of U.S. banks, and the intentions of our Founding Fathers. He opened his editorial by mentioning the popularity of poker and the amount of support it has received following the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Regulation of internet poker in the United States has come up in HR 2267 which is currently making its rounds in Washington.

Finally, news from France as ARJEL, issued licenses to Full Tilt Poker and PKR, who are both allowed to get back into the French market. The Full Tilt entity that was actually issued the license is cleverly named Rekop, and French customers can visit FullTiltPoker.fr to download the software. PKR France SAS was issued PKR’s license and, predictably, players can visit PKR.fr for that poker room’s offering.

That does it for today’s daily deal and as always be sure to follow us at twitter dot com slash poker news daily and also book mark our site. I’m Sean Gibson thanking you for watching and wishing you good luck at the tables.

The hearing got underway just after 10:00 a.m. ET and the committee began discussing provisions of the bill in the markup phase. This is the phase where a Congressional committee makes changes to a bill before it is voted on and eventually sent to the House of Representatives for another vote. Should the bill get the majority vote from the House of Representatives, it would then be passed along to the Senate for another majority vote, before being signed into law by the President.

Several amendments were made to HR 2267 on Wednesday. Each amendment was handled individually and voted on by the representatives in attendance. Here’s a recap of what was discussed:

Amendment 1 (Congressman Brad Sherman, Calif.): Sites that have intentionally broken Internet gaming laws cannot get a license to conduct business in the United States. This will likely affect larger online poker sites such as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the old Ultimate Bet, all of whom allowed players from the U.S. to play on their site after the UIGEA went into effect. Amendment is taken to a voice vote, where representatives are asked to motion whether they are in favor or against the amendment. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 2 (Congressman Peter King, New York): Prohibits sports betting, excluding horseracing. King and several other representatives strongly support the notion of keeping sports clean and away from anything that will undermine the integrity of the game. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 3 (Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, Ohio): Secretary of Treasury has the power to prohibit unsolicited emails and advertisements targeted to minors and problem gamblers. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 4 (Congressman Spencer Bachus, Alabama, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Minnesota): Forbids offshore sites that have illegally done business in the US, along with people who have been employed by said sites, from getting a license. Bachus aims to include everyone associated with an “illegally-run” online gambling site be banned; Frank disputes the provision, saying that a janitor or restaurant worker employed inside of a brick and mortar casino would not be held responsible for the mishandlings of upper management; the same should hold true for an online company. Bachus withdraws amendment and says he would like to resubmit. Bachus reintroduces amendment later in the day, stipulating that only those who knew they were working at an illegally-run Internet site will be banned from obtaining a license. Amendment is later voted on by roll-call.

Amendment 5 (Congressman Joe Baca, Calif.): Allows Indian tribes to participate in Internet gambling. Frank quickly denies the amendment as it is not germane, or relevant to the subject.

Amendment 6 (Congressman Joe Baca, Calif): Allow states/tribes to opt-in to Internet gambling. Frank emphasizes that the choice to gamble online should be up to the person, not to the state where they reside. Amendment denied by voice vote, but is later voted on by roll-call.

Amendment 7 (Congressman John Campbell, Calif): Includes several provisions: 1.) All facilities of licensees that operate and/or accept wagers be located in the US; 2.) States and tribes must have parallel authority; 3.) Bettors must be at least 21 years of age; 4.) Age and residence of bettors must be verified; 5.) Odds of winning at each game must be posted online, 6.) The identities of legal and illegal gambling sites must be verified by the treasury in order for banks to prohibit certain financial transactions; 7.) Owners must meet licensing requirements; 8.) Sites must provide loss limits for each bettor. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 8 (Congressman Brad Sherman, Calif.): States are given one full legislative session to opt out, as opposed to the original period of 90 days. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 9 (Congressman John Campbell, Calif): Internet sites who advertise towards minors will have their license revoked. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 10 (Congresswoman Melissa Bean, Illinois): Treasury is required to observe Internet sites and accordingly sanction fines and revoke licenses if minors are found gambling. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 11 (Manager’s amendment — the majority and minority member who managed the debate): Bets are to be made with prepaid cards and debit cards only; bettors will be restricted from using credit cards on Internet gambling sites. In addition, the House Financial Services Committee will have no jurisdiction on tribal rights. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 12 (Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Minnesota): Internet sites are forbidden from allowing people who are delinquent on child support from gambling on their site. Sites who don’t obey this rule lose their license. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Amendment 13 (Congressman Gary Peters, Michigan): State and tribal lotteries are exempt from licensing requirements, as long as they are intrastate activities. Currently, these lotteries are already subject to state licensing, and the Federal government should not get involved. Amendment passes by voice vote.

Following the passing of the final amendment of the afternoon, Rep. Bachus called for a roll call vote, which Rep. Frank scheduled for 3:20 p.m. ET. The first roll call vote was on the opt-in amendment by Rep. Baca, which was defeated by a vote of 37-22. The next in line was Bachus’ amendment, which was also voted down, by a vote of 43-22. Finally, HR 2267 came before the committee, and it passed by an overwhelming margin of 41-22.

Stay tuned to poker news Daily as we continue the follow the fight to regulate online poker in the U.S.

In this interview with Bernard Lee, Brunson talks about how this year’s World Series of Poker has gone. He also talks about the famous card protector, which was won by Howard Lederer. Brunson admits that he purchase the card protector back from Lederer for the sum of $8,500. Why is it so sentimental? Well, Brunson also talks about that too during the interview. He also talks about his children, specifically Todd and Pam, who are both accomplished poker pros. Pam Brunson has routinely outlasted her brother and father in the World Series of Poker Main Event for years and years, which Doyle Brunson comments about.

Doyle Brunson was the first player to win a $1,000,000 tournament and gained popularity after he won the Main Event and wrote the iconic best selling book, “Super/System” which many account as the way they learned to play poker. He has 11 bracelets to his name at the <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”wsop“>wsop, not to mention many other titles, including ones from the World Poker Tour.

Bernard Lee is a correspondent for poker news Daily and can also be found on ESPN’s Inside Deal on ESPN.com. He is also the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino and has an accomplished career as a No Limit Hold’em tournament and cash game player. This segment known as the “Hijack Seat” is a series of intervies taken at the wsop 2010.

The Full Tilt entity that was actually issued the license is cleverly named Rekop, and French customers can visit FullTiltPoker.fr to download the software. PKR France SAS was issued PKR’s license and, predictably, players can visit PKR.fr for that poker room’s offering.

As for the other companies who were awarded licenses, Ad Astra (pokersubito.fr) and FullFun (pokerxtrem.fr) will become a part of the new 888/Microgaming French market joint venture. Barriere, which owns and operates land-based casinos, hotels, restaurants, and resorts in France, will team up with France’s former sports betting monopoly, Francaise de Jeux, to offer online poker in the fall.

CanalWin (canalwin.fr or canal-win.fr) will use its new license in a sports betting joint venture with Ladbrokes and three pari-mutuel horse betting sites – Jeux 365 (jeux365.fr), Geny Infos (genbet.fr), Zeturf France (zeturf.fr) – were also issued French licenses. Zeturf plans on joining up with Unibet, although Unibet has yet to receive a license.

For almost three years, the online gambling market in France was owned by a state run monopoly. In April, however, a law was passed to allow for regulated gaming, opening up the market to foreign operators who follow strict guidelines and, of course, receive a license from ARJEL. While the licensing program sounds good on the surface, it has caused much discontent amongst French players, as not only are they limited to playing with their countrymen on the licensed sites, but some of the poker rooms are passing along added costs from the licensing to their players.

With the nine new companies on board, the list of ARJEL licensees now stands at twenty-seven. The first eleven licenses were issued in June, with Bwin, ChiliGaming, PartyGaming, Everest Poker, BetClic, and Paddy Power amongst those being granted the right to offer their services to French citizens. PokerStars was in the next wave of licensees, meaning that six of the seven largest rooms/networks on PokerScout.com’s cash game traffic rankings – PokerStars, Full Tilt, PartyPoker, iPoker (via Chili Poker), Ongame, and Microgaming) – now have French offerings. In fact, PokerStars.fr itself ranks ninth, ahead of Everest Poker.

D’Amato opened his editorial by mentioning the popularity of poker and the amount of support it has received following the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Said D’Amato, “Under the liberty and freedom section of the new GOP website America Speaking Out, more Americans voted to legalize Internet poker than weighed in on any other issue. That should come as no surprise. When President-elect Barack Obama solicited ideas on his new website, www.change.gov, legalizing Internet poker was one of the two top issues.”

Poker players around the country have rallied behind the PPA by calling, writing and e-mailing their State Representatives in order to have their rights protected. The PPA has even set up a pre-written letter to send to a person’s corresponding Congressman. In just a few minutes time a letter can be sent and your voice can be heard.

“It takes real passion to get people to take valuable time out of their day to log onto these websites, give up a portion of their privacy and cast their vote for an issue,” stressed D’Amato. “So it is extraordinary that making Internet poker legal consistently ranks as a top issue for the American people.”

A major problem that poker players have faced for the past couple years has been depositing and withdrawing their own money from online poker sites. Though D’Amato and fellow PPA chairman John Pappas have referred to the execution of the UIGEA as a “bump in the road,” players have seen their checks bounce and deposits have become nearly impossible to complete as online poker sites have tried desperately to weave around the forceful hand of the U.S. government.

“The fact that America has not already regulated Internet poker but has actually tried to prohibit it by deputizing U.S. banks to play the morality police is bizarre,” said D’Amato. “Proponents of the law say that it helps deter kids from playing poker in their bedrooms. But there is little evidence to suggest that this law has deterred kids from playing poker.

“In fact, playing Internet poker is still easy to do for just about everybody. Instead of playing in a more regulated industry, the law has created an environment where there is no federal oversight — because there are no U.S. companies to regulate.”

D’Amato, Pappas, and Rep. Barney Frank (House Financial Services Committee chairman) have also emphasized the tax benefits the country will receive from the regulation of online poker. With the country in turmoil over its trillion-dollar budget deficit, regulating and taxing online poker could provide some relief over the years.

Said D’Amato, “By refusing to regulate this industry, the federal government has also decided to refuse to tax it. That means that billions of dollars in potential tax revenue go uncollected. This is just about the only industry I know of that has basically begged to be taxed — only to be ignored by politicians who refuse to listen to the desires of the American people.”

Finally, D’Amato talked about where it all started in this country: liberty and freedom. D’Amato referenced the Founding Fathers in the conclusion of his article, saying, “The freedom to play poker is not one of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. But when the Founding Fathers conceived of a new nation, they never dreamed that someday Congress would dream up a law to ban that particular freedom — especially when such a ban was so clearly against the wishes of the American people.”

The House Financial Services Committee hearing on the markup of HR 2267, a bill to provide for the licensing of Internet gambling activities by the Secretary of the Treasury, was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed until Wednesday. It’s not too late to voice your opinion! Visit www.standupforpoker.com/ to send a letter to your State Representative.

Heads Up Entertainment (listed under the stock ticker “HDUP” on the OTC Pink Sheets)  last week reported that their revenues for tournament entries and corporate sponsorships have exceeded their expectations. Their July poker tournaments, including the recently completed Stampede Poker Classic, saw a 30% increase in total player registrations. According to Kelly Kellner, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Heads Up Entertainment, the growing success of the CPT should only extend up to the upcoming COPC.

“Right now, we’re ahead of schedule with player registrations for the COPC compared to past years,” Kellner stated in an exclusive interview with poker news Daily. “Everything is looking very good for the COPC, but there’s always some concerns that you have directing such a big event. I constantly am thinking, ’what if no one shows up,’ and then the next minute thinking, ’what if everyone shows up’. There’s no point of happiness until the tournament goes off,” Kellner said with a laugh.

The news from player registrations has been exceptionally good. Heads Up Entertainment expects a complete sell out for the COPC, which will put total revenues from just the COPC and the Stampede Poker Classic at around $250,000 (Canadian dollars). Overall revenues from events that have been held by the CPT have passed $400,000 to this point in 2010.

Several corporate sponsors have stepped up to support the COPC in August. Kellner stressed the importance of those sponsors in not only being critical to the bottom line, but also important in working with the local community. “We have lined up three major sponsors for the COPC,” Kellner told poker news Daily. “Big Rock Brewery is a local Calgary company and one of their best products, Gopher Lager, is also a part of the COPC. Joining those companies is another quality sponsor in Dank Energy Drink.” Kellner also stated that he is “continuously” looking for other sponsors that want to be a part of such a prestigious tournament.

With the fields for the COPC poker tournaments quickly filling up, Kellner stressed the importance of early registration to ensure players can get into the events they want. “Pre-registering for poker tournaments can be done on the tournament’s website and players don’t have to prepay for any event other than the Heads Up Championship,” Kellner says. “It is definitely looking like this year’s COPC will surpass everyone’s expectations.”

Kellner also noted that Heads Up Entertainment is looking to improve its standing as a publicly traded company. “We are going through the processes to become a fully reporting member (reporting in-depth financials quarterly is a must for any publicly traded company) and, as such, to be able to move from the pink sheets to a higher level of investment,” Kellner reported. “Heads Up Entertainment is a solid organization and a good opportunity for investors.”

The COPC is Canada’s version of a national championship, with their penultimate event, the $5000 Heads Up Championship, serving as their Main Event. From August 19th to the 29th, eleven events will take place (including the $5K) over three casinos located in Calgary. The Deerfoot Inn and Casino, the Grey Eagle Casino and the Cash Casino will all be running events during the COPC. Satellites will run at all three casinos, with different events during the COPC schedule to be held at each casino. Buy ins range from $170 for satellite poker tournaments to the $5000 Heads Up Championship.

The COPC has been popular with everyone in the poker world, from grinders looking for an inexpensive event to top pros looking for a major championship. Over the past few years, such players as former COPC Heads Up Champion Huck Seed, former World Champions Phil Hellmuth and Joseph Hachem, Canadian poker professionals Brad Booth, Gavin Smith and Greg Mueller, and other poker pros such as Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly have played in COPC events. Because of the strength of the fields throughout the ten day schedule – and the entertainment organized by Heads Up Entertainment during off nights – it is extremely likely that this year’s COPC will be one of the largest poker festivals in Canadian poker history.

In this interview Michelle talks about what went on during Day 1A of the Main Event and how thing may not have gone smoothly but she survived the day. She is then asked about how all the young women in poker always bring her up in interviews and if she is actually the president of a secret poker sorority. She admitted that she was, or at the very least, wanted that bit of rumor to be true. Another topic that came up during the interview was some of the events that occurred at the UB <a href=”http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/articles/wsop/” title=”wsop“>wsop Party which was at the Sky Lounge at the Mandarin Hotel which is part of the Aria / CityCenter complex. She talked about how Trichelle Cannatella professed her undying love for Michelle and was so wasted, planted a “big one” on Michelle before the night was over. They also talked about the famed proposal between a UB prop bet winner and one of the UB Suite booth models.

Unfortunately for Tiffany Michelle, she did not go on the cash at the Main Event, but she had plenty of followers and was extremely courteous to fans for photos and autograph.

After making the final table Dolan was humble about his accomplishments in poker.

“I think there are a lot of kids just like me,” he said.

Born and raised in Bonita Springs, Florida, Dolan’s story is indeed similar to many other players. He started by playing $5 and $10 home games in college and then transitioned into online poker, playing as JRD312.

“I lost at first, like everyone else, obviously,” said Dolan.

For a time Dolan even worked as a dealer and the first <a nofollow=”false” target=”_blank” href=”http://www.pokerlistings.com/live-poker tournaments/wsop“>wsop event he ever cashed in was the 2007 Casino Employee’s event.

Dolan eventually learned to play better and met a few key people that helped him work on his game. After a couple big wins when he was 20, Dolan was able to start a bankroll.

At first Dolan’s parents weren’t fond of his new career but after he made a few large scores they started to understand his talent.

“Now they are extremely supportive and helpful,” he said. “I don’t think my Dad left the computer for two days when they found out I was going deep in the Main Event.”

As of 2010 Dolan already had over $1 million in <a nofollow=”false” target=”_blank” href=”http://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-poker tournaments“>poker tournament earnings including a side event win at the 2009 Gulf Coast Championship another side event win at the 2009 Winter Bayou Challenge. Dolan also won the Full Tilt $1k Monday event for $100,000 and the PokerStars Sunday Warm Up for $86,000 playing online.

Dolan had his best wsop ever this summer making a final table in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, eventually finishing sixth.

Perhaps the defining moment of John Dolan’s Main Event will be how he played the final table bubble. While many players tightened up, both Duhamel and Dolan got aggressive and by the time the six-hour bubble was complete they were 1-2 in chips.

 ”At first I really wasn’t doing much, I was just kind of seeing how it was going. Then I was fortunate enough to pick up a few hands and chip up. After I got up to over 30 million chips I was just able to build without going to showdown.”

Dolan will likely need a different strategy at the final table in November.

“I definitely feel like I did learn a little about each player, however, I don’t think the final table will play quite that tight. I don’t think that was a good reflection of how they will actually play.”

Interestingly Dolan was initially vehemently opposed to the November Nine format, which sees play paused for four months once the final table of nine is set, but he’s starting to understand the value.

“It’s nice to get a break because it was a long eight days leading up to the final table,” he said.

As a member of the 2010 November Nine it appears the under-the-radar Dolan will be unable to avoid the limelight any longer.

Still he’s going to try and keep it simple over the next four months.

“I’m going to go back to Florida and relax,” he said. “I’ll probably play a few poker tournaments here and there.”

The 2010 wsop Main Event final table begins Nov. 6, with a winner crowned on Nov. 8.

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The series begins Jul. 28 with a $400,000 guaranteed No Limit Hold’em $335 re-entry event, allowing players who get knocked out to re-enter each day.

This year’s Legends will also feature a variety of poker tournaments including H.O.R.S.E., Omaha 8, 2-7 Triple Draw and Stud.

Players will also have a chance to play for a $250,000 seat into the biggest buy-in poker tournament in the world - The International Poker Players Association Monte Carlo Championship, held from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2 in Monte Carlo.

The series culminates with the always popular <a target=”_self” href=”http://www.pokerlistings.com/live-poker tournaments/wpt”>WPT Legends Championship, beginning Friday, Aug. 20.

Last year, Southern California’s own Prahlad Friedman took home the title and $1,009,000 first-place prize.  

This year, with a $5,000 entry fee, the Bike is expecting more players and a $3.5 million prize pool.

The final table will be filmed for broadcast on Fox Sports Net Wednesday, Aug. 25 at starting at 4 p.m. PT.

A number of satellites will be run throughout the entire month at the Bike and, once again, L.A. Lakers team owners Jerry Buss and Frank Mariani will host their annual Buss/Mariani No Limits Hold’em Open Aug. 17 to benefit the Lakers Youth Foundation.

Online registration for events is now open.

For details on all the upcoming events, check out the Bike’s website at www.thebike.com.

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“It’s the thrill of a lifetime,” said Bakovic, who has been playing five poker tournaments a week for the past five years, but never cashed for more than $22,000.

“It just goes to show that if I can do it, anyone can.”

A unique feature at Commerce Casino, this event gave players the option of entering or re-entering on any of the first five days. The top 27 players advanced each day to the final, leaving 135 to battle it out for the big money.

Famous faces like John Phan, Bruce Buffer, Shannon Elizabeth, Maria Ho, Joe Tehan, Archie Karas and former L.A. Poker Classic winner Eric Hershler all played.

David “Dragon” Pham, Nam Le and “Miami” John Cernuto made it to the final day, but not the final table.

Despite a $59,500 overlay, Commerce officials say this event will be back on its schedule.

“Clearly our initial Guaranteed Million Dollar Summer Tournament was a major hit, and we are thrilled that so many players responded to a tournament that was just announced a couple of weeks ago,” said Casino Manager Jeff Harris.

“With this demonstration of interest in a low-buy-in, high-payout summer event, Commerce Casino has already committed to another Guaranteed Million Dollar event for summer 2011, following on the heels of the L.A. Poker Classic opening event in February.”

Next up on the Commerce schedule is the Hold’em Series beginning Sept. 1.

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