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Monday, February 9, 2015

Supreme Court To Decide On Poker Legality Case Friday

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Published on February 19, 2014 by Tom Jones

A long battle has been raging and lines have been drawn in the sand regarding the legality of poker, and whether the game is one of luck or skill. That question has been asked in court rooms all across the US, but as of yet the US Supreme Court has not weighed in on the subject.

On Friday, poker enthusiasts and opponents alike will get their answer as to whether the Supreme Court will hear a case that is being appealed in the state of New York. The case involves a bicycle shop owner who was holding a poker game amongst friends in the back of his bike shop.

Authorities arrested the man and charged him with operating an illegal gambling operation. The owner, who has been convicted, is appealing his case to the Supreme Court, asserting that poker should not be illegal because it is a game of skill.

There is precedent across the US on both sides of the issue. Several courts have ruled that poker is a game of skill, while others have ruled there is too much chance in the game for it to be considered a game of skill. Each state has their own laws regarding home poker games.

In Virginia, home games are legal. In Georgia, the same games are illegal. How the federal government sees poker is a key to states that are attempting to move forward and allow home games among friends.

If the Supreme Court decides Friday to take the case, it will serve as a mini-victory for those who want the law clearly defined. A Supreme Court ruling on whether poker is a game of skill or luck could also go a long way in shaping the future of the poker industry in the US.

Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey have recently taken the game of poker to the next level, regulating online casinos. Over 100,000 poker players have already signed up for accounts at New Jersey online poker sites that host games played for real money.

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Sunday, February 8, 2015

LAPT8 Bahamas: Danchev still leads final 16, Karamalikis on the move

Level 21 has concluded and just 16 remain here in what has become a quiet corner of the Imperial Ballroom. Dimitar Danchev remains out in front with more than 2 million as the final players have recollected themselves around the last two tables.

Gathering around the last two tables

After Ireland's Gavin O'Rourke fell in 24th ($10,500), Eder Campana of Brazil open-shoved almost 100,000 from under the gun holding 6♦6♥ and was called by an opponent waiting on the button with 9♦9♣. The board rolled out 2♠A♠A♦7♣4♣, and Campana was out in 23rd ($12,440).

Ryan Rivers (Canada, 22nd) and Eddylee Martin (U.S., 21st) followed, earning $12,440 each. Then Daniel Dvoress (Canada, 20th) hit the rail to pick up $14,400.

Robert Mizrachi of the U.S. then saw his LAPT Bahamas run end in 19th ($14,400). Jose Carlos Garcia had gone all in with J♦T♦ versus Mizrachi's A♥8♥, and after the 3♣8♣7♥ flop and 7♠ turn it looked like Garcia would be the one to go. But the river was the 9♦ to give Garcia a straight and knock Mizrachi back to a short stack, and shortly thereafter he'd be eliminated.

Argentina's Daniel Ades would next go in 18th ($14,400) after his Q♣J♠ failed to improve against Jonathan Karamilikis's A♥K♣, thereby boosting the latter up over 1.5 million, with Ka Kwan Lau of Spain following in 17th ($14,400).

It sounds as though the intention will be to play two more one-hour levels, and if it appears possible at that point to get to a final table then they'll power through. Stay tuned.

Photography from LAPT8 Bahamas by Carlos Monti. Click here for live updates in Spanish, and here for live updates in Portuguese.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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EPT announces Season 10 Sanremo schedule

Ready for one of the most action-packed weeks you'll find on the Italian Riviera? Well, we have your schedule for it.

Today, the European Poker Tour put out its schedule for the EPT Sanremo Poker festival. The EPT has joined up with the Italian Poker Tour to put on 40 tournaments with buy-ins to suit every bankroll.

It all kicks off with the IPT Main Event April 9-14. Players will be able to play in all of the three €770 Day 1 flights and combine all their Day 1 stacks to start Day 2. Also on tap are the €990 5-card Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw Championships, a €4,900 PLO 8-handed tourney, a special €220 Easter "Eggstrastack" tourney, and a €990 Open-Face Chinese event.

Finally, the biggest action comes April 14-20 with the €4,600 + €300 Main Event where the EPT will crown its 98th Main Event champion.

You can find the full EPT Sanremo Poker festival schedule here.

While you're making your plans, keep in mind the Sanremo festival will run seamlessly into the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final running April 23 to May 2 in Monaco. It's a short drive down the road and will finish up a three-week poker run along the Riviera.

Satellites for those events and EPT Vienna are running now on PokerStars, so get your seats today.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

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PCA 2013: World Cup of Poker IX takes centre stage

Few words muster as much anticipation and excitement as "World Cup of Poker". The ninth running of the Cup begins today, a highlight not only of the PCA schedule, but of the poker calendar in general, for few events can compete in levels of sheer unadulterated complication as this innovative favourite.

It's the tournament that defines complexity, bringing together nine national teams in the Bahamas for two days of seat-of-your-pants poker that often eclipses the main event for tension as it goes down to the wire.

The winner of the PCA main event will likely reach the pages of newspapers around the world, but World Cup of Poker winners can enthrall an entire nation. In the streets of Taipei they still talk about the side that won in Season six, the players given hero's welcomes as they hit the tarmac.

What's the appeal in an event dominated by amateurs rather than any high profile names? Well, something in it transcends regular poker tournaments. We've seen grown men laugh, cry and nearly come to blows. Sure, there's money to be won, a full $22,500 each to the winners, with prizes for everyone. There's even a $2,500 for the Most Valuable Player. But no one would say it was a life changing amount. Instead, national pride drives the competition, which is great, because it means people more readily overlook how complicated it sometimes gets.

The World Cup of Poker about to start

Rumour has it, that the rules to the World Cup of Poker were originally the result of an infinite number of monkeys hitting keys at random on an old typewriter for an infinite amount of time. The outcome, printed in black and white, is the format for this year's cup, which today will play out as follows:

At 12pm today the five-player shorthanded sit & gos will begin (nine in total)

At 3pm today nine player full table sit & gos will commence (five in total)

At 6pm today nine player full table sit & gos (five in total). Two of these will be played in pot-limit Omaha, with team captains choosing the participants.

Who are those participants? Let's meet the teams:

Team Canada - Captain Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome
John Schindler, Robert Hordejuk, Bradley E.Marsh and Justin Mackay

Team Brazil - Captain Andre Akkari
Tiago Cecilio, Victor Hugo Cativo, Douglas Ferreira Souza and Pablo Brito Silva

Team Germany - Captain Jan Heitman
Stefan Ludwig, Matthias Frost, Michael Forster and Pascal Hartmann

Team Bulgaria - Captain Svetoslav Yordanov
Stoyan Danailov, Velizar Yordanov, Tonyu Tonew and Mihail Stoykov

Team Belgium - Captain Christophe de Meulder
Kevin Callebaut, Philippe Daemen, Leandro Gaone and Quentin Dellis

Team Russia - Captain Ivan Demidov
Dmitriy Kulikov, Anton Yakuba, Ismael Erkenov and Maksim Tyurin

Team Tajikistan - Captain Maksimov Andrey Dmitrievich
Parvin Sharifovich Majidov, Akmal Sultanov, Firuz Khasanov and Shamshold Niyatbekov

Team Japan - Captain Naoya Kihara
Ippei Nishiyama, Susuma Toge, Yoshiihiko Kanno and Nobuyuki Tanaka

Team France - Captain Julien Brecard
Hugo Roger, Jerome Arnoux, Fabien Flahaut and Matthieu Holveck

The scoring is simple. No it's not. Each player will score points for their team depending on their finishing position. In the heads-up round a win is worth 5 points with 10 points for a team victory. If a team sweeps another it's worth 15 points.

The winner's trophy

In the sit & go rounds points will also be awarded to players according to finishing position, with 10 points to the winner, down to one point for the ninth place finisher. A similar system works in the short handed sit & gos, with levels in each round 15 minutes long and starting stacks of 3,000 chips.

Play will end for the day after each of the three rounds are completed. Players will then return tomorrow to play more rounds which will determine the new champions.

If it sounds fantastic it's because it is fantastic, without anyone being able to nail down why. Either way, it's game on.

Stephen Bartley is a PokerStars Blog reporter

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ANZPT6 Melbourne Day 3: Caruana misses FT; Bryce runs into rockets

The craziness of the final table bubble finally came to an end with the elimination of Michael Caruana.

His final hand saw Vincent Chua open to 75,000 before Caruana moved all for 560,000 from the button. The blinds folded and Chua gave the decision some thought.

"This might be it boys!" Chua yelled to his pals who have been sweating all the action in between hands on the nearby 20/40 Limit Omaha table.

Chua made the call with pocket nines and found himself in great shape against Caruana's pocket sevens. The dealer spread a seven-less board and Caruana was out in tenth place much to the delight of Chua's support crew as well as the remaining nine players.

The clock was paused and ANZPT Melbourne final table seats were drawn as follows:

Seat 1: Vincent Chua - 1,485,000
Seat 2: Edison Nguyen - 850,000
Seat 3: Wayde Rickhuss - 400,000
Seat 4: Dennis Huntly - 1,700,000
Seat 5: Dylan Honeyman - 995,000
Seat 6: Corey Kempson - 1,455,000
Seat 7: Gabriel Messo - 1,635,000
Seat 8: Cameron Bryce - 415,000
Seat 9: Luke Spano - 1,170,000

The 2014 ANZPT Melbourne final table

With a forty-minute dinner break to think about things, the players returned and it didn't take long for fireworks to erupt on the final table.

The short-stacked Cameron Bryce moved all in from early position with pocket sixes, Vincent Chua flat-called before Dennis Huntly moved all in over the top. Chua gave it some thought but eventually got out of the way as Huntly tabled pocket rockets!

Cameron Bryce watches on as the dealer cuts out the all-in bets

The board bricked out and Bryce would have to be content with $18,550 for his ninth place finish.

So we're down to eight and Dennis Huntly has increased his chip advantage over the field. He's up to 2,500,000 chips and gunning for the top prize of $253,000.

Heath "TassieDevil" Chick is a Freelance Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.

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Forfeited Online Casino Money Offered by US to Kaplan Customers

A required US government post gives ex-players at BetOnSports a chance to claim the millions forfeited by the online casino's founder.

After Gary Kaplan, founder of BetOnSports, agreed last week to accept a plea deal from the US government that includes a forfeiture by him of $43.6 million in what is acknowledged as illegitimate gains, officials are giving former members of the online casino a chance to get a refund. Bettors and players at the Internet sports betting website will have first claim on the seized funds.

Conditions for acquiring a share of the money are still murky. It is expected by gaming industry observers that players involved in the $16 million owed by BetOnSports when legal investigations forced the site closed will have top priority amongst petitioners.

Those wishing to apply for an award from the online casino forfeiture must file in writing with the federal court in St. Louis. The information regarding procedure for claiming can be found at www.forfeiture.gov.

"The United States hereby gives notice of its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct," says the written notice posted by the government.

"Following the Court's disposition of all petitions filed, or if no such petitions are filed, following the expiration of the period specified above for the filing of such petitions, the United States shall have clear title to the property and may warrant good title to any subsequent purchaser or transferee," the document concludes, there by establishing the US government can do what it wants with remaining funds.

Published on August 19, 2009 by A.J.Maldonado

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