DragTheBar News Round-Up

European Poker Tour and WSOP Circuit Event Round-Ups

The last European Poker Tour event of the year is finishing up in Monte Carlo with two more events. The Main Event is down to ten players, with Nicolas Chouity leading the way. Chouity’s previous biggest cash is just $40,000, so even if he were to finish here in tenth place for € 100,000, it would be far and away his biggest cash. However, Chouity and the remaining players have their eyes set on the much more attractive € 1.7 million prize.

Also taking place in Monte Carlo is the EPT High Roller Event, which is the last event of the season. A virtual “who’s who” in the poker world makes up the top ten early in this event, but being it’s only day one of three, it’s still wide open. Currently leading the way is Dmitry Stelmak with 200,000 chips. In second place is Luke Schwartz, followed by Jeff Sarwer, one of the newest stars in the poker world. In fourth place is Viktor “I may or may not be ‘Isildur1’” Blom.
Other names with a well above average stack include Daniel Negreanu, Tom Marchese, Dario Minieri, and Tony G.

Across the world, the World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is down to ten. Leading the way is Las Vegas professional Stephen O’Dwyer. In 6th place is the well known online professional Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger. Players are competing for a first place prize of $190,137, and bragging rights heading into the WSOP, now less than a month away.

“LuckyChewy” Wins Big Online

Before making his run to the final table of the WSOP Circuit Event, “LuckyChewy” enjoyed quite a big win online. “LuckyChewy” who was playing heads up against “Odonkor1” was able to relieve him of $300,000 playing $100/$200 in just a couple of hours.
“Odonkor1,” who has drawn comparisons to “Isildur1” for jumping on the scene with huge wins, has been humbled as of later. On top of losing $300,000, he lost to nearly $200,000 to Tom Dwan this week. Against both “LuckyChewy” and Dwan, “Odonkor1” lost major hands holding aces, showing his luck may be turning around.

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2010/04/the-online-railbird-report-dwan-and-ivey-score-odonkor1-and-8224.html

“Durrrr Challenge” Finally Sees Action

It had been over a month since Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius had played a hand in the “Durrrr Challenge,” and even in that session the two only played nine hands. Finally the two sat down for a serious session, lasting over eight hours, with 2,757 hands played.

It has been well reported that Antonius hasn’t had a good year. For starters he is down $2 million in the “Durrrr Challenge” and down a couple million more playing high stakes. Antonius has said it’s easily the worst run of his life, but he at least had a bit of an upside versus Dwan, finishing the session up around $64,000. As noted, Antonius is still nearly $2,000,000 down, and with just 14,000 hands to play in the challenge, has a long way to go to make things interesting. Fans of Antonius see this as a small victory, which will hopefully lead to bigger ones, not just versus Dwan, but for the remainder of the year versus all opponents.

http://www.durrrrchallenge.com/first-action-in-over-a-month-766/

Royal Caribbean to hold Poker Cruise/Tournament

Poker cruises are certainly nothing new, having been around for a number of years, but a major cruise company hosting them is new. Royal Caribbean has recently announced that they will host a poker cruise that will also hold a major poker tournament. The reported date that the cruise will be held is this coming January. Sponsoring the cruise, along with putting on the tournament, is Ladbrokes.

The poker cruise will take place on one of the largest cruise ships in the world, the “Oasis of the Seas,” which comfortably fits 5,400 passengers. While participating in poker action, the ship will travel to such destinations as Haiti, Jamaican, and Mexico.

http://pokernewsboy.com/live-poker-news/royal-caribbean-to-host-poker-cruise/2669

Harrah’s Selling Rio, Home of World Series of Poker

Since 2005 the World Series of Poker has taken place at the Rio, but with the announced sale of the property by Harrah’s Entertainment, that may no longer be the case. The casino will be on sale for $500 million – down from $888 million when Harrah’s bought it in 1999 – and will most likely no longer be the home to the WSOP following the sale. When the tournament moved from Horseshoe in downtown Vegas to the Rio it raised some eyebrows, mainly because of the Rio being off the strip and away from the majority of the vacationing tourists who generally opt to stay on “The Strip.”

It made sense for Rio to house it though because of their large conference area, which allowed them to accommodate the large numbers of entrants after the popularity of poker took off. It’s being predicted that Harrah’s will move the WSOP to “The Strip,” to Caesars, Paris, Bally’s, Flamingo, or the newly acquired Planet Hollywood.

http://cakepoker.com/blog/En/post/Harrahs-Selling-the-Rio-Home-of-the-WSOP-559.aspx

DragTheBar News Round-Up

David Williams Wins World Poker Tour Finale

The World Poker Tour season ended in a big way, with David Williams taking down the championship at the Bellagio. With 18 remaining it seemed Faraz “The Toilet” Jaka was on his way to at least making his 3rd final table of the season, as he was a big chip leader down the stretch. However it was Williams who ended any thoughts of that when his K-Q was able to beat the un-Jaka like hand of pocket aces.

Williams climbed up the Leaderboard with that elimination, but it was David Benyamine who had the lead going into final table play with just six remaining. Benyamine was eliminated in fourth place, when Shawn Buchanan eliminated him in fourth place. Buchanan, who was the massive chip leader after day one, was able to parlay that into a third place finish, leaving Williams and Eric Baldwin to do battle for the championship.

Williams entered heads up play with close to a 4-to-1 chip advantage, and never looked back. In just over 20 hands Williams came out on top, claiming the $1,530,537 first place prize. In addition to the cash, Williams earned a WPT bracelet, Bellagio watch, and bragging rights as champion of one of the more prestigious events on the tournament circuit.

Jaka, despite having an early finish, didn’t go away empty handed, as his performance through the entire course of this season on the WPT earned him honors as Player of the Year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?columnist=wise_gary&id=5137363

Big Names Among Chip Leaders Early at EPT Grand Finale

As of this writing there are still 314 players remaining at the European Poker Tour’s Monte Carlo Grand Finale, but among that large group are lots of big names in the poker world. One semi-surprising name near the top of the list is Shaun Deeb. Deeb, who announced his “retirement” in November of last year, hasn’t quite retired but has certainly stopped playing as many tournaments (both live and online) than he was before.

The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion also seems to be heating up again, just a few months prior to defending his title. Joe Cada is currently in third place of the Day 1b group – the first “day” of the tournament was broken down into two days. Other big names near the top of the chip count are Erica Schoenberg, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Neil Channing, and Men “The Master” Nguyen.

The official prize pool and payouts are still being tallied, but with a € 10,000 buy-in, it’s sure to make the winner of the last event of the season quite happy.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-pokerstars-ept-grand-final-monte-carlo/main-event/day1a/

Big Online Weekend = Big Winners

With FTOPS in the full swing of things, on top of the regular big Sunday tournaments, plenty of money was on the line. By early Monday morning there were a total of ten people who had made over $100,000.

The top winner of the weekend was Paul “147_stars” Williams, who claimed the first place prize of $258,194.60 in the PokerStars Sunday Millions. Finishing second was “Benjamin89” for $188,684 and “the_blues57” finished third for $131,640.

The two $100,000 plus winners in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up were first place finisher Timvd19 for $141,192 and “z 0 0 t s” for $104,850 for his runner-up finish.

Winning event #9 at FTOPS XVI was “betrthanphil,” earning $193,803.85 after a four way chop. Those who joined him in the $100k plus plateau were Igor “MagicGog” Bakay earning $141,791.90 for second, “jotslexx” earning $119,660.08 for third, and “woj422” earning $120,473.45.

The other big winner this week was “LuvYouLongTime,” collecting $137,376 for winning Event #7 in FTOPS.

Grand Opening of the Ivey Room May 22

Phil Ivey will earn one of the biggest honors in poker when the “Ivey Room” will be opened in his honor at the Aria Resort and Casino on May 22. It had long been speculated that Ivey was trying to bring the “Big Game” now played in “Bobby’s Room” at the Bellagio, to the Aria, and with this news, it’s all but confirmed.

The room will open with a $1 Million Guaranteed Freeroll, with a $100,000 bounty on Ivey. Additionally, the winner of the freeroll, assuming it’s not Ivey himself, will earn a heads-up match with Ivey. If that lucky player is able to beat Ivey, he or she will win an additional $250,000.

http://pokerati.com/2010/04/19/coming-soon-the-ivey-room-at-aria-opening-may-22-with-1-million-invitational-freeroll/

DragTheBar News Round-Up

With 18 Remaining, “The Toilet” On Top at WPT Championship

The last World Poker Tour event of the year features a number of established names in the hunt, but the man leading the way with 18 left is one of the newer stars in the world of poker, Faraz “The Toilet” Jaka. Jaka has proved time and time again throughout this tournament that he isn’t afraid to get his chips in, even when he knows he is a huge underdog.

Jaka took the chiplead with just 21 people left (18 made the money) when his 3-9 offsuit was able to hit a flop against the pocket aces of Heather Sue Mercer. In one of those moments where poker shows itself to be the great humbler, Mercer was at first jubilated when all the money got in preflop, then seconds later in disbelief when the flop came 9-8-3 giving Jaka two pair. The turn or river didn’t help Mercer, and she was sent packing just short of the money.

Jaka ended the day with 3,117,000 in chips, a healthy margin in front of the second place player, David Benyamine, who will start day 5 with 2,350,000 in chips. However, chasing those two is one of the more impressive remaining fields seen in quite some time. Almost every player is a known name in the poker world. Below is their current position and chip stack.
1. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka – 3,117,000
2. David Benyamine – 2,350,000
3. David Williams – 2,072,000
4. Billy Baxter – 1,630,000
5. Nikolay Evdakov – 1,426,000
6. Phil Hellmuth – 1,377,000
7. Shawn Buchanan – 1,224,000
8. Olivier Busquet – 1,088,000
9. Scotty Nguyen – 941,000
10. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 880,000
11. J.J. Liu – 674,000
12. Robert Cooper – 662,000
13. John O’Shea – 495,000
14. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 458,000
15. Jason Lester – 421,000
16. Josh Arieh – 303,000
17. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 274,000
18. Tony Cousineau – 60,000

On Thursday, players will play down to ten people, with the final table being played out in front of television cameras on Friday.

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/faraz-jaka-leads-wpt-championship-entering-day-5-10193/

Liv Boeree Becomes Third Woman to Win EPT Title

On Wednesday, Liv Boeree proved she’s just not another pretty face when she became only the third woman in history to win a European Poker Tour Main Event, joining Vicky Coren and Sandra Naujoks. Boeree won the San Remo stop, along with €1,250,000 – just over $1.6 million US – conquering 1,239 runners in the process.

In addition to being only the third woman to win on the tour, she now also holds the distinction of winning the biggest European Poker Tour event ever held on European soil. She also earned an automatic seat to play in the final EPT event of the year next week in Monte Carlo.

Tom Dwan Announces New Opponent for “Durrrr Challenge”

Many railbirds have been disappointed in the “Durrrr Challenge” mainly because of how long it has taken to complete round one of the challenge against Patrik Antonius. While the delay in the completion of the challenge may be Antonius’s fault (see: bankroll issues) rather than Dwan’s, Dwan has apologized.

In the May edition of Bluff Magazine, Dwan not only apologized for the challenge with Antonius not being completed yet, but also revealed that his next opponent in the challenge will be Brian Townsend. Dwan and Townsend are not strangers, as they are both members of Full Tilt and compete with each other routinely at the high stakes tables.

Dwan expects round two of the challenge, which calls for 50,000 hands, to go much smoother. Dwan didn’t announce an exact start date, but he did say that he expects there to be days when he and Townsend will play upwards of 5,000 hands. That will be a welcome to railbirds everywhere, as some “sessions” with Antonius have lasted ten hands, or less.

http://www.durrrrchallenge.com/

http://news.bluffmagazine.com/durrrr-reveals-new-challenge-opponent-in-may-issue-of-bluff-10233/

DragTheBar News Round Up

Final Three Tables Set at EPT San Remo

The European Poker Tour’s San Remo stop is now down to just 24 players, with Allan Baekke leading the way. Baekke has already had a good year on the European Poker Tour, winning the Snowfest Main Event and finishing second in another event in Germany for combined winnings of over $730,000. If Baekke can hang on to win this tournament he will collect € 1,250,000, which equates to just over $1.6 million.

However, winning won’t be easy, as a number of solid players remain in the field. Currently in second place is Dermont Blain, followed by Dmitry Stelmak, who had been chip leader not long before Baekke. Play has resumed for the day, but will be played down to eight tomorrow. From there the remaining eight will duke it out in front of television cameras, to be aired at a later date.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-ept-sanremo/main-event/day4/

Shawn Buchanan Leads WPT Championship

Allan Baekke isn’t the only one riding a hot wave of success lately. Shawn Buchanan, fresh off a 5th place finish in the North American Poker Tour’s High Roller Event, finds himself in first place after day one of the World Poker Tour’s Championship event.

Because of the down economy and the volcano eruption in Iceland wrecking havoc on air travel from European countries, the event only has about 160 runners, compared to over 300 last year. However, organizers have decided to keep late registration open to the end of round two, to hopefully give a chance for those who have been impacted by the travel restrictions to make the event. However, those that did make it include the last three champions of the event, all of which are above average chip stack. Last year’s winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko is fourth in chips, with 2008 winner David Chiu and 2007 champion Carlos Mortensen hanging in as well.

Other big names in the top ten include David Benyamine sitting in third, and Phil Ivey in 8th.

http://www.pocketfives.com/online-poker-scene/yevgeniy-timoshenko-jovial-gent-fourth-in-wpt-championship-after-day-1-5410074

WSOP Announced Top-20 Vote-Getters for 2010 Tournament of Champions

This past week World Series of Poker organizers released the top-20 vote earners for their 2010 Tournament of Champions. The voting, which is taking place at http://www.wsop.com/TOC/ will determine 20 of the 27 players who will make up the field of the tournament.

Five of the 27 have already received automatic bids. Those names include Joe Cada and Barry Schulman for winning the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events in 2009, and Annie Duke, Mike Matusow and Mike Sexton earned spots for winning the Tournament of Champions in previous years.

The final two spots will be determined at a later date, but how and when those two will qualify has not yet been announced by tournament organizers.

Below is a list of the top 20 vote-getters to this point. They are listed in alphabetical order:

Doyle Brunson
Johnny Chan
T.J. Cloutier
Allen Cunningham
Antonio Esfandiari
Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstein
Joe Hachem
Jennifer Harman
Dan Harrington
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
John Juanda
Howard Lederer
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Greg Raymer
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel

Mystery Swede “Isildur1” to Reveal Himself at 2010 EPT Monte Carlo?

No, this isn’t a retread from news a few weeks ago. It is indeed another rumor involving the biggest mystery the world of online poker has ever seen: “Isildur1.” A Swedish blogger named Lina Olofsson has confirmed that “Isildur1” has already registered for the European Poker Tour’s final stop at Monte Carlo on April 25.

Just two weeks ago Tony G. reported that “Isildur1” would be showing up at the PartyPoker Big Game IV, but just a day before the event was scheduled to start, he backed out.

http://wickedchopspoker.com/isildur1-to-play-ept-monte-carlo-grand-final/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WickedChopsPoker+%28Wicked+Chops+Poker%29&utm_content=Bloglines

Women in Poker Hall of Fame Accepting Nominees

For the first time in the history of the Women in Poker Hall of fame, they are accepting nominees via online voting. Between now and April 30th the public can select nominees at the website http://womenspokerhalloffame.com/nomination.php. On May 11th the official nominees will be announced. Like the nomination process, the voting process will then become open to the public.

The induction ceremony will take place at the Golden Nugget Casino on September 3rd. Tickets are on preorder sale for $75 and will be available for $90 at the door.

http://womenspokerhalloffame.com/index.shtml

DragTheBar News Round-Up

Drag the Bar’s Dusty Schmidt Impresses in Commentating Debut

While Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt had hoped to spend a little more time at the table of PartyPoker’s “Big Game IV,” but instead had a chance to shine in another field. Before heading off to play in the “Big Game,” Schmidt thought he might provide commentating for a few hours, but instead he would lend his expertise for 24 straight hours alongside host Jesse May. Most amazing about Schmidt’s feat was that he had never once provided commentary for any poker show. After providing insight into the minds of the world’s best players, it’s only natural to wonder if Schmidt may be ready to add the role of “commentator” to his already impressive resume.

The big winner of the show turned out to be David Viffer. Viffer was down £40,000 in just a couple hours of play, while displaying an aggressive, almost maniac-like style of play. However, it was that same play that would see him up £147,275 at the end of the session. His £147,275 score was easily the biggest win ever posted in the history of the “Big Game.” Additionally, while every player talked about maybe playing the entire 48 hour session, only two were able to do so. They were Viffer and Neil Channing.

Jason Mercier Wins NAPT Mohegan Sun High roller Event

Jason Mercier outlasted 35 of the world’s best players in route to winning the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout. Mercier eliminated an amazing seven players in route to securing the $450,000, with $350,000 of that coming from the “winner take all” format. Both the number of bounties he collected and the prize money won were both far and away the highest in the tournament. Earning the second most money was Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who earned $80,000 for his four bounties. Second place finisher Sam “KingKobeMVP” Stein earned $75,000 for his three bounties.

Additionally, Mercier was wearing the same shirt he wore when he captured his first live title at the 2008 European Poker Tour’s San Remo stop. Many thought the shirt was bringing him luck, especially when he hit a queen to double up with a straight when he was all in against a pair of aces against Sam Stein early on at the final table. However, Mercier has proved time and time again this year that luck has very little to do with the success he has had, and showed that once again as he dismantled the final table on way to this victory.

EPT San Remo Underway

Speaking of the European Poker Tour’s San Remo Event, the 2010 version is underway. Day one has started, with players just having their first dinner break as of this writing. The event started with 585 runners, but is already down to 448.

The early leader in the event is Dave “Doc Sands” Sands, with 110,000 in chips. Other well known names near the top of the Leaderboard are Dario Minieri, Allan Bakke, and Erick Lindgren.

The prize pool and payout are still being calculated.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-ept-sanremo/main-event/day1a/

DragTheBar News Round-Up

“Isildur1” a No Show at the “PartyPoker Big Game IV”

When the news came out just a couple of weeks ago that the mysterious online cash game phenomenon “Isildur1” would be participating in the “PartyPoker Big Game IV” televised cash game, reactions were mixed. For starters, many wondered why he would choose to make his true identity known since he has obviously made every effort he can to do the opposite of that. Additionally, the news of his appearance in the “Big Game” first showed up right around the time of April Fool’s Day. Well, it turns out in the end that “Isildur1” changed his mind, deciding not to show just days before the event, which is currently taking place.

Poker professional Tony G. had keep readers updated on his blog on the comings and goings with “Isildur1.” It was Tony G., who is sponsored by PartyPoker, who first said that “Isidur1” would be playing in the game, and also said that he would be staking the unknown Swede. Just this weekend, Tony G. reported that he got a text message from “Isildur1” that simply said, “Sry for not coming, take care bud.”

This means the railbirds will have to continue to wait for “Isildur1” to make his identity known, that is, if he ever chooses to do so.

http://www.bluffeurope.com/poker-news/en/Isildur1-says-no-to-Big-Game-IV_7229.aspx

English Poker Professional Marcus Bebb-Jones Facing Murder Charges

Marcus Bebb-Jones had been making a name for himself as a poker professional based out of England, but now there is entirely different reason all eyes are on him. Bebb-Jones has been charged with the murder of his wife, who disappeared over 12 years ago.

In 1998 Bebb-Jones returned to his native UK, after refusing to be questioned by police in relation to the disappearance of his wife. The couple had been living in Colorado, where they owned a hotel. All that was known at the time was that there were reports of the two fighting, and one day while on an outing to a Dinosaur National Monument in Grand Junction, Denver, Marcus Bebb-Jones returned, while his wife did not.

The case was believed to be closed, but in 2004 a farmer was clearing out some of his fields, not far from where the couple was last reportedly seen together, when he found a human skull. Testing proved the skull to be that of his wife, and the case was reopened. Finally, prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to have Bebb-Jones extradited from the UK to face trial for murder.

In the 12 years following her death until now, Bebb-Jones became a regular on the English poker circuit. His biggest victory was over $120,000 in came in a Grosvenor Grand Prix Pot Limit Event in 2007. The win earned him fame in his home country. In addition to securing a number of significant live scores, Bebb-Jones has also reportedly had success with online poker, winning “thousands of dollars” there as well.

Bebb-Jones is currently in custody in the United Kingdom awaiting the outcome of his extradition case.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8552166.stm

Vanessa Selbst Cruises to NAPT Mohegan Sun Title

The final table at the North American Poker Tour’s Mohegan Sun featured a number of well known players, but from the very start it was the Vanessa Selbst show. From the second day of the five day tournament, Selbst performed in dominating fashion, including holding an 18,810,000 to 2,755,000 chip lead when heads-up play began.

On paper, it seemed Selbst would have a tough time winning the championship. The final table featured two very well known online players, Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy. However, both of those players would be the first two eliminated at the final table, with Aguiar finishing eighth, and Josephy finishing seventh. The next two to go were Derek Raymond and Alistar Meville. Despite five people remaining, Selbst held more chips than the other four players combined. Finishing in fourth was the well respected Scott Seiver, with Michael Woods finishing third. As mentioned, Michael Woods needed what would have been a small miracle to overcome his chip deficient, which didn’t come, earning him second place honors. The overpowering Selbst cruised home to the victory, pocketing $750,000.

In our last edition of the “DTB News Round-up” we pointed out that 2004 World Series of Poker runner-up David Williams had a top stack, but in the end he was only able to sneak into the money.

http://espn.go.com/sports/fantasy/blog/_/name/poker/id/5075314/napt-mohegan-final-table-blog

Tom “Durrrr” Dwan Continues Hot Start to the Year

The only possible complaints that one can have when it comes to Dwan’s game of late is coming from the railbirds regarding the “Durrrr Challenge.” In over a year of the first leg of the competition, Dwan has only completed 33,000 hands of the 50,000 he agreed on with Patrik Antonius. However, he was way ahead, and the issue of Antonius’s depleted bankroll may be more to blame than Dwan’s unwillingness to continue the challenge. As recent results show, Dwan certainly doesn’t have a depleting bankroll issue.

For the year of 2010, Dwan is up an amazing $5.6 million. This weekend he booked a $1.6 million profit, playing a total of 11,500 hands. If he continues at this rate he is on pace to eclipse $20 million for the year.

On the other end of the spectrum is of course Antonius. Despite making a respectable $260,000 this week, it is reported that he is still down $2.5 million for the year. Right behind him in terms of losses is Brian Townsend, who has lost a reported $2.2 million.

http://www.pokernewsheadlines.com/2010/04/12/tom-dwan-continues-to-crush-full-tilts-high-stakes-tables/

World Team Poker Roster for Team USA and Britain Complete

On May 19 the inaugural World Team Poker event will take place at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The format features 8 teams from different countries participating in a series of shootout events, with the winner now only earning hefty prize money, but also bragging rights the world over. Recently Team USA and Team Britain completed their rosters.

Team USA:
Doyle Brunson (Captain)
Phil Hellmuth
Mike Matusow
Jennifer Harman
Erik Seidel
Annie Duke
Howard Lederer
Chris Ferguson
Allen Cunningham

Team Britain:
Ben Roberts (Captain)
Dave Ulliot
James Akenhead
Surinder Sunar
Peter Costa
Ram Vaswani
Joe Beevers
Dave Colclought

“Isildur1” and Tom Dwan the Hot Topics Among Aprils Fools Jokes

As expected, a slew of poker related April Fools’ jokes made their way around the internet this year. One of the jokes actually seemed to hold a little water in the online community, while another was obviously a joke from the start.

The one that caused some people to actually think it could be real regarded the true identity of high stakes poker player “Isildur1.” The Cake Poker Blog posted a story on March 31st that “revealed” former NHL player Mats Sundin as the mysterious Swede. In an instant the news hit poker forums. Some were quick to point out that Sundin is listed as a “friend of PokerStars” so it wouldn’t make sense for him to be playing on Full Tilt, which is where “Isildur1” became famous. However, others pointed out that whoever “Isildur1” is has clearly gone out of their way to keep their identity a secret, so what better cover-up than that?

Well just 24 hours later Cake Poker came clean, saying their blog was just a joke, and if it is Sundin then they don’t know about it. They also posted Sundin’s stats, which were subpar, to say the least, in an effort to show even more so it couldn’t possibly be Sundin. In other words, the mystery continues.

http://www.onlinepoker.net/poker-news/poker-law-industry-news/full-tilt-poker-probed-breaking-money-laundering-laws/5299

Grand Jury Investigating Full Tilt Poker

A grand jury in Manhattan is investigating whether or not Full Tilt has broken gambling and money laundering laws. While the official details of the investigation are still being worked out, it appears that a number of well known players, also part owners of Full Tilt Poker, will be brought in for questioning. Among the names expected to be talked to include Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Phil Ivey.

In the past few weeks both Ferguson and Lederer have filed a motion to dismiss the civil case, but both were denied. How the Full Tilt professionals feel about the investigation is unknown, as none of the poker professionals have made a comment regarding the situation.

If any of the professionals who make up the team at Full Tilt are found guilty it could result in criminal charges that could include millions of dollars in fines, or even significant jail time.

Other’s feel that the chance of this going to the Supreme Court is slim and it is instead an example of the Department of Justice showing they mean business, and they expect the major online sites that allow Americans to play to comply to their rules and regulations. In other words, the grand jury and talks with the likes of Ivey, Lederer, and Ferguson, may just be a ploy to “scare” these sites into following protocol. However, the definition of the DOJ’s rules and whether online poker is legal or not are nowhere close to matching each other.

http://www.onlinepoker.net/poker-news/poker-law-industry-news/full-tilt-poker-probed-breaking-money-laundering-laws/5299

DragTheBar News Round-Up

Two More Poker Robberies

Over the course of the last two weeks there have been two more poker robberies. The first one happened in Austin, Texas, where a group of about 24 sat down early Saturday Morning to start their poker session when they were mobbed by masked men. The men ordered all the players to get down on the ground and hide their faces, as they stole watches, cash, and cell phones from the scene. In the middle of the robbery shots were fired, and the players feared the worse, as they couldn’t see what was happening. Luckily the robbers were just attempting to shoot through a closet door that had additional money in it. No one was seriously hurt.

http://www.pokernewsheadlines.com/2010/03/28/poker-robbery-in-austin-texas/

Across the world, another casino heist took place, this time in Switzerland at the Basel Grand Hotel. Ten men, arriving in silver Audis stormed through the casino brandishing machine guns. The group ordered the casino goers onto the ground, while firing warning shots into the air. The group then emptied cash registers and stole what money they could from nearby table games. The group attempted to break into the safe, but was unable to do so after several minutes.

Estimates vary on what the group was able to get away with. Some reports have the gang walking away with close to a million bucks, while other reports have a more conservative $200,000, or so.

After leaving the casino, the group got back into their cars and headed for the French border, just a short drive away. To date there are no leads, but hopefully it’s just a matter of time before eyewitness accounts land this group in jail in much the same fate the EPT group now shares.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8591624.stm

“Isildur1” to Make First Public Appearance?

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke, and we promise, there will be none throughout the rest of the News Round-Up. It is indeed true that “Isildur1” will be making his first televised appearance on the “PartyPoker Big Game IV”.

It has been questioned in the poker world if “Isildur1” is being backed by Lithuanian pro and outspoken Tony G., and to add fire to that rumor it’s been reported Tony G. will be backing the mysterious “Isildur1” in this high stakes cash game.

There are also rumors swirling that even though “Isildur1” will be playing in front of a live audience and cameras that he won’t actually show his identity. Tony G., who is sponsored by PartyPoker, has said that PartyPoker has left that decision up to “Isildur1,” but he also said that he is leaning towards revealing himself to the world.

Other players scheduled to sit at the “Big Game” are Tony G., Phil Laak, and Jennifer Tilly, with more names to be announced shortly. “PartyPoker Big Game IV” will be played at Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair from April 11 to April 14, with portions to be televised at a later date in the UK.

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/isildur1-will-play-in-partypoker-big-game-iv-9444/

Two States Ponder Legalizing Online Poker

With the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act set to come into effect June 1, many states are deciding what stance they will take when it comes on online poker. A number of states have already shown they are willing to at least give online poker a chance to become legal, and two more states have recently announced the same.

In Florida, Democrat Joseph Abruzzo filed a bill that would allow online poker to be legal in the state in order to generate revenue. The other state considering virtually the same idea is Iowa. Iowa hopes that if they legalize online poker it will help cut into the state’s 400 million budget deficit.

If recent trend is to suggest anything, it seems that every state in the country could eventually have their own rules regarding online poker, especially if the UIGEA is eventually done away with.

http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/viewarticle.php?id=3701

“Ante Up For Africa” Heading to Washington D.C.

Even though the legality of poker has been in question for quite some time, particularly in the Nation’s Capital, it’s not stopping the “Ante Up For Africa” event from coming to D.C. “Ante Up For Africa” was founded by Annie Duke and Don Cheadle, and has been one of the more popular events on the World Series of Poker Schedule for the last three years because of the cause it supports and the number of celebrities it draws to the event.

For the last year “Ante Up For Africa” has been putting on charity tournaments outside of Vegas, and for the first time they will be in Washington D.C. Cheadle and Duke will be co-hosting the event alongside politicians Robert Menendez and Jim McDermott, both who are strong supporters of online gamblers’ rights, and the Poker Player Association.

The event will be held April 14 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The buy-in is $500, with all proceeds going to the cause. However, the event will have prizes, with the first place finisher winning a free ticket to the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Players scheduled to appear are Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, and poker player/writer Jim McManus.

http://www.onlinepoker.net/poker-news/general-poker-news/ppa-organised-ante-africa-held-washington-april-14th/5266