Welcome to the first edition of Sunday Summary, a new regular feature on the 'fuse, a light-hearted look back at the week that was and a place to store the stories that didn’t quite make the cut.
And until today, it had been a comparatively quiet seven days. There’s always news from Full Tilt Poker, of course: on Tuesday, the KGC renewed Full Tilt’s secondary CPA license and on Friday, the AGCC announced that FT had settled their outstanding debt for due license fees.
And we were busy making our own waves. Monday saw the launch of a new section, “The Spark,” where we pose one question to the poker community at large. And Thursday we finally launched the first edition of our weekly newsletter, which prominent news-making trendsetter NoahSD called no less than pretty baller. You’ll probably want to subscribe to the newsletter right now to be sure you don’t miss out next week.
But today, as the sleepy poker media rose on a quiet Sunday afternoon, the largest story of the week was laid out before them: Portuguese Poker Prodigy “Girah” admitted to running a $30k scam. The story is still gathering steam, as many members of the high stakes poker community are chiming in. Along with the story itself, it has re-ignited the perennial debate over “sweating” or ghosting, and sparked a fresh controversy over the incestuous world of “vouching” in the high stakes poker community. This story is likely to stretch well in to the week ahead.
But we digress – what stories didn’t quite make it on to the front pages of the 'fuse?
- World-wide poker traffic for the week prior took a nosedive, according to PokerScout’s Monday traffic summary, largely attributed to the end of PokerStars 65bnth hand promotion and Boss Media’s BBJ hit for €1.25m.
- The regulatory process in Belgium is progressing: this week saw PokerStars trialling their dot.be poker room ahead of September’s deadline. Expect an in-depth feature on pokerfuse in the coming days, once we have a chance to catch our breath.
- Financial woes at St. George bank, which astute 'fuse readers may remember as the bank implicated in the Black Friday indictments, is struggling to stay afloat.
- Further developments in the Spanish quarter Tuesday: an agreement on how gaming tax would be distributed is signed under the proposed new Spanish regulations.
- A French Court in Toulouse ruled that poker is a game of skill, contradicting previous French law. The judgement is set for appeal.
- Greece is rushing through their own online gaming regs.
- The Epic Poker League website launches under much fanfare, boasting poker celebrity bloggers galore.
- The Poker Godfather, a new poker room on the Entraction network, opened its doors this week.
- D.C. schedules public meetings to discuss its controversial internet gambling regulations.
Phew! So much for a quiet news week.
