Main Headlines
Poker Players Protest PayPal Information Share with Iovation
Iovation founder Greg Pierson was directly implicated in the UltimateBet cheating scandal.
- Players have discovered that PayPal is sharing personal information with Iovation and they are protesting at the relationship with a company founded by executives implicated in the UB/AP cheating scandal.
- Player protests in May led to Iovation being investigated by the Nevada Gaming Control Board and to it losing its contract with Ultimate Poker.
Sheldon Adelson’s EuroVegas Project Abandoned
Las Vegas Sands withdraws proposal to construct mega-hotel and casino resort in Spain.
- According to local reports, the Spanish government would not concede to some of the demands made by the US casino group, including a smoking exemption.
- LVS also sought to limit online gambling in the country.
- The group will pursue opportunities in Asia.
Full Tilt Offers the Chance to Play Isildur1 or Gus Hansen Heads Up
“Bust a Pro” promotion offers players who can qualify, a chance to beat Gus or Viktor and win up to $50k.
- A $20 or greater deposit and the accumulation of 25 Full Tilt Points on a single day earns players a ticket to one of four $10 freerolls.
- The winners of each freeroll will get to play against Gus or Viktor on January 5.
- Starting stacks for the freeroll can be increased by earning additional points in the week of the tournament.
Picks from F5 Poker:
Poker Princess Molly Bloom Cops A Plea, Faces Up To 6 Months In Jail
High-stakes home game organizer slapped with $250k fine. Molly Bloom, the woman who organized the Hollywood Home Games that allegedly brought A-list movie stars like Tobey “Spiderman” Maguire, “Rounders” legend Matt Damon and “Wolf Of Wall Street” lead Leonardo DiCaprio to the poker table, entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of operating an illegal gambling business in Manhattan Federal Court earlier today.
EPT Prague Shoots For Record Numbers, Revisit Day 1A Action
James Hartigan, Sarah Grant provides info and highlights from Prague There are two things you should know about Prague: It’s super cold and it’s really far away.
Kara Scott Admits to Having a Lot of Baggage
Travel tips for the poker pro. Sure, this is a blatant promo piece for partypoker, but we trust you can see past that and get to the heart of the infomercial – Kara Scott’s travel tips! Whether you are headed home for the holidays, making plans to visit the LAPC or even entering the World Poker Tour Fake Girlfriends stop, one of our favorite sideline reporters has a few professional tips on making your travel days a little less stressful.
Dan Bilzerian Scolded for “Lewd Behavior”
Online mom critiques the Instagram King. Turns out, not everyone is a fan of Beardo.
Matt Matros: 75% of players are losers, don’t be one of them
Poker pro offers up strategy on self-assessment. Three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and blogger for Cardplayer Magazine, Matt Matros wants to help you get your mind right when it comes to your poker game. In his latest write up, Matros asserts that roughly 75% of poker players may be losing players and “the rake” isn’t the only reason why. The reason may be you.
WPT Champ Dan Smith: “I play my best when the money is biggest”
Aaron Jones unimpressed. Dan Smith, the 24-year old who just racked up his 3rd 7-figure score, sits down with fellow Team Ivey pro, Aaron “AEJones” Jones for a quick celebration interview after his World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic victory(lets put a few more words in that title, shall we?).
Poker Podcasts and Training Vids:
Podcast: Rabbit Hunt: 172 Rabbit Hunt
Chris and Mark discuss the big news of the week: The PokerStars application suspension by the New Jersey DGE and what that means for both Stars and the poker playing public as a whole. Then the two discuss the latest poker-related Congressional hearing, and recap the news from the first third of the year.
Training Video: $11 Freezeout – In Depth Part 3 Drag The Bar
Despite stacks becoming shallow, I manage to generate some good analysis particularly around combating careless players.
Training Video: Ghost: DJ Sensei (#38) – Bovada PLO Part 9 Deuces Cracked
DJ Sensei continues on Bovada, moving up to plo200. Subjects include considerations of 3betting vs. flatting, cbetting vs. checking back, and relative freeroll strength.
Exclusive Articles on pokerfuse PRO:
Checking Around
Pokerfuse PRO’s exclusive industry-focused summary of online poker discussions in the last week. Troll free, guaranteed. 'Sad conclusion’ to the EPT Barcelona laptop scam twoplustwo.com
Romania Gambling Tax Changes Reflect a Sense of Reality
Poker operators will be taxed at 0.1% on each hand played. A meeting with fellow industry professional in Bucharest gave Romania’s President of the National Gambling Office (ONJN), Odeta Nestor, an opportunity to discuss her plans to modernize regulation, and she also hinted at possible tax changes.
Traffic Watch
A weekly review of the online poker market: This week, the “Other Four,” Italy and Bodog. A nice reversal brings the market back in the right direction. A 1.5% gain in cash game traffic is headed by the top three sites all showing welcome gains. PokerStars picked up 2.3%, iPoker 4.4% and Full Tilt Poker, which has reintroduced a Build Your Bonus offer, saw an 8.7% gain in numbers of cash game seats filled.
Record Attendance at Svenska Spel’s Online Poker Championship
Over 7,500 entries created a main event prize pool of $200k, bucking the trend of declining poker activity. This year’s Swedish Online Poker Championship hosted by Svenska Spel turned out be a record breaker. It produced the largest number of tournament entries, biggest prize pools and highest individual prizes since online poker became subject to state regulation seven years ago.
Under the Gun
The week ahead for the online poker industry: A selection of conferences, live tournaments, online promotions and other important industry dates. Conferences
