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Record Breaking Weekend At PokerStars

It was an awesome weekend for members of PokerStars as the world’s largest online poker room drew its highest traffic numbers ever. Millions of dollars were awarded at PokerStars, including a special Sunday Million worth $2.5m guaranteed, upped to $3.2m due to excessive player participation.

Another major event came in the form of the PokerStars ‘Guinness World Record Tournament’ that sought to break the record for the highest participation level at any poker tournament. The seats were capped at 35,000, and that’s exactly how many players took to the tables for the grand event.

With a buy-in of only $11 ($10+$1), who wouldn’t want to compete in this historic tournament, worth a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000 that included a minimum overlay of $150k? In the end, it was “snap34powa” who took the 1st place prize of $30,000. We can only imagine what the participation levels would have been if it weren’t for the 35,000 player cap!

The special Sunday Million event saw 16,260 entries – enough to raise the expected $2.5 million guarantee to an outrageous $3,252,000. It was “lp_SakiSaki” who outlasted the enormous field to claim the awe-inspiring 1st place prize of $331,378.81 for the impressive win.

Even the Sunday Warm-Up saw a boosted prize pool guaranteed at $750k, jumping to $1,167,200 as 5,836 players joined in the action. “Mr_Herman” took the accolades in this event, pocketing the 1st place prize of $147,067.20.

The Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match also drew a great deal of attention. The 8 game mixed event saw Team PokerStars Pros battling it out for the honor of being named Captain of the PokerStars Pro Team. It came down to a heads-up finish between Victor Ramdin and Daniel Negreanu, but Ramdin would take the honors.

Other exceptional events at PokerStars this weekend included a series of eleven 10,000-seater Sit’n’Go tournaments with a $1 buy-in and $10k added to the overall prize. PokerStars finished out the year with its final weekend of 2008 drawing nearly 37,000 players at cash tables alone.

Whoopsie Daisy! Pot Shoved to the Wrong Player On Ultimate Bet

Tokwiro Enterprises sent out a press release today correcting an incorrect payout. In a hand that was played at the online poker room between DOUBLEBALLER and PHILHELLMUTH heads up at a 200/400 table at Ultimate Bet the CEREUS software ‘malfunctioned’ and shipped the pot to the wrong player.

The software malfunctioned and awarded the losing player PHILHELLMUTH the pot, instead of the actual winner DOUBLEBALLER. After learning of the incident, Paul Leggett, Tokwiro’s Chief Operations Officer stated said:

We credited the player the correct prize to his account. We then began an investigation into the malfunction. We have now completed our preliminary investigation into the software malfunction regarding an incorrect payout in hand #1162170993 on the CEREUS Poker Network.

We have concluded that the malfunction occurred because the winning player disconnected from the table at the precise millisecond when the software was awarding the pot, in conjunction with the “player’s state” data being cleared from the memory cache.

Phil Hellmuth, who was involved in this incident, said, “The only time in my life where I’ve had one pair beat three of a kind is when I made a big bluff in a poker tournament and now because of a software malfunction in online poker. I am one of the most watched players on the Internet, and all I can say is that it is pretty obvious that there was no malicious intent and even more obvious that UB handled this problem well. Sometimes these things happen on the Internet. The important thing here is that I continue to have a ton of trust in UB’s software and new management team.”

In a press release, Legget continued:

There is a prevention system in place designed to protect hand results against disconnections. However, after conducting an extensive source code analysis, we found logic in our code that we have enhanced to further ensure this malfunction cannot reoccur. We were able to reproduce the error on our testing systems by forcing a hand to disconnect its winning player at the precise millisecond the hand in question was awarding the pot and simultaneously flushing the “player’s state” data. Had the disconnection happened literally a millisecond sooner or later the error would not have transpired.

While enhancing the software to prevent this malfunction from occurring again, we introduced a new defect that caused 36 hands to award incorrect payouts. All players have been reimbursed for these hands as well.

We have implemented a new method into the code and updated the game servers. Both errors are no longer reproducible. Furthermore, we are conducting extensive tests to simulate every possible disconnection scenario to ensure this type of malfunction cannot occur in the future.

We are currently reviewing historical hands in our database to see if there ever were similar incidents in the past. Thus far, our investigation has been unable to unearth any additional historical occurrences of this malfunction. Our investigation will continue until we are satisfied that there are no additional historical occurrences.

We recognize the severity of these issues and we will continue to give them the attention they deserve until we are absolutely certain that they cannot happen again.

David ‘Chino’ Rheem Inks Contract to Join “The Poker Pack”

Two Members of Successful Asian Poker Tour Backed Team Make Final Table at the WPT Five Diamond

AsianLogic Plc, owners of The Asian Poker Tour (asianpt.com), would like to congratulate two members of The Poker Pack – Steve Sung and David ‘Chino’ Rheem – on making the final table at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. Sung signed his sponsorship deal to become a member of “The Poker Pack” alongside close friends JC Tran, Nam Le and Quinn Do back in August, while November Nine member Chino has inked his contract to join the pack this week. Sung goes to the final table as chip leader, while Rheem is third in chips. If this wasn’t enough success, fellow member of The Poker Pack Nam Le also cashed in the same event!

The Poker Pack was formed in the aftermath of the Asian Poker Tour event in Macau in August with JC Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do and Steve Sung the first players to sign. Since then it has been non stop success for the newly formed group who have ripped up major events around the world. Highlights include a HK$3.7 million (US$473,915) win for Nam Le and final table for Quinn Do at a highrollers event in Macau, a huge runner’s up cheque of $943,215 for Nam Le at the WPT Festa Al Lago and a brilliant win for JC Tran, who represented the Asian Poker Tour and PKR at the recent star-studded PartyPoker.com Premier League III in London. The Poker Pack recently took part in a special bounty tournament on PKR which broke all records for the next generation site.

Newly signed member David ‘Chino’ Rheem is one of the most respected and liked professionals on the circuit and will be taking part in the Asian Poker Tour Philippines, which takes place January 27 – February 1 with fellow members of The Poker Pack. His profile increased greatly this year after finishing on the final table at the WSOP Main Event and cashing for nearly $1.8 million after finishing seventh. At the final table he received the support of many of the professional players. He now has a total of six WSOP cashes and live circuit tournament winnings of over $2,500,000. 28-year-old Chino was born in Los Angeles but moved to Florida in the late 1990’s. While living there, he took advantage of the state’s 18-year-old minimum age to play poker at a casino. He cut his teeth at the Seminole Hollywood Casino, playing with the likes of Robert and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

Chino said: “The opportunity to sign a deal with all my friends was too good to be true! I have a huge amount of respect for JC, Nam, Quinn and Steve and together as a team I think we are really going places. I already pretty much travel the circuit with the other members of The Poker Pack and to be formally signed up is fantastic.”

Steve Sung is guaranteed to become the 99th WPT millionaire at the Five Diamond as before this prestigious tournament he had $998,357 in career WPT earnings. Sung is chip leader at the final table and is now hoping to break the $2 million mark! Sung has reached two WPT final tables, with a runner-up finish at Bay 101 (March, 2008) and a 4th-place finish at WPT Barcelona (Oct, 2007) and certainly has form at the Five Diamond. 2006 saw him finish third in a $5,000 preliminary event, and then ninth in the $15,000 main event. As well as being a force on the live circuit, Sung is a feared and respected high stakes online player recognizable by his screen name ‘MuGGyLiCiOuS.’ Residing in Torrance, California since he was seven years-old, Sung was born in Seoul, South Korea and started playing on the live circuit as soon as he turned 21 years-old. After high school, he began attending the University of California at San Diego to study computer engineering and economics but left college to play poker. As well as big success at the WPT and online he has cashed significantly at the WSOP for the past two years.

Tom Hall CEO of AsianLogic Plc, owners of the Asian Poker Tour said: “Chino is a great guy and magnificent player and we’re really happy to welcome him into The Poker Pack. If you look at how much prize money all these guys have made in 2008 and how much they may make in 2009 it is scary! As individuals they are all well known players on the circuit – together the possibilities are endless! There are many teams in poker but these guys are a really unified unit. They travel everywhere together and enjoy each other’s success. Poker is in its infancy in Asia and we’re excited by what we have lined-up for The Poker Pack and what they will achieve as a group.”

Next stop for The Poker Pack after the Bellagio will be the prestigious Aussie Millions at Crown Casino in Melbourne. The Poker Pack will also be out in force and playing at the Asian Poker Tour Philippines, which takes place January 27 – February 1 at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Manila. The main event has a $2,500 + $200 buy-in and there are lots of ways to qualify online. The Asian Poker Tour is supported by iPoker Network, Titan, Dafa Poker, PKR, PartyPoker, Everest, 888, JBet Poker, 32 Red Poker, Japan 3D Poker and Everleaf Network. Full details can be found at http://www.asianpt.com/

PokerStars Endeavors To Break Own ‘Largest Poker Tournament’ Record

Last summer, PokerStars hosted what became the largest poker tournament in the world, attracting 20,000 players to a single multi-table tournament. As 2008 is coming to a close, the world’s most popular online poker room is at it again, attempting to break its own world record.

“This is an official attempt at the Guinness world record for World’s Largest Poker Tournament!” boasts the PokerStars lobby. “$500,000 is guaranteed!”

PokerStars will be hosting this exclusive event on Sunday, December 28th at 3:30pm ET. The online poker room has made sure every online poker player of any bankroll size will be able to attend, requiring only a $10+$1 buy-in. However, there is a limit of 35,000 participants in the online poker tournament, so you’ll have to get in quick if you want to be a part of the record breaking endeavor.

For those of you who are mathematically minded, you’ve probably already crunched the numbers here. With 35,000 players forking over $10 a piece, that only adds up to $350,000. The guaranteed prize pool is a massive $500,000, giving players the same advantageous opportunity as an extensive overlay. Then again, to beat out 35,000 players, a lot of skill, a little luck and some cunning deception will surely be on the winner’s pallet.

The tournament will be held in near turbo fashion as, with so many players expected, PokerStars will be maintaining 3,500 tables from the start. The blind levels will increase every 10 minutes to keep the action pumping at break-neck pace.

To register for your shot at the incredible $500k GP and become a part of history, log onto PokerStars and look under the ‘Tournament > Special’ tab for “Guinness World Record Attempt [$500k gtd]”. At the time of writing this, there were exactly 3,330 players already registered. Good luck!

WORLD SERIES OF POKER ACADEMY LAUNCHES NEW CASH GAME ACADEMY

The WSOP Academy to Kick Off New Year with Two Cash Academy Events in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – While winning is how poker players earn their fame, it is cash game play where they earn their living, and beginning in 2009, the World Series of Poker Academy, poker’s premier series of instructional camps, will provide poker players of all skill levels with the foundation and tools needed to become a consistent winning cash game player with the launch of its new Cash Game Academy, a two-day, intensive poker school dedicated exclusively to No Limit Hold’em cash game play.

The WSOP Academy will present two Cash Game Academy events to kick off its busy 2009 season, the first of which will be held at Harrah’s Atlantic City on Jan. 24 – 25. Then two weeks later, the WSOP Academy will head to Las Vegas to host a Cash Game Academy at Caesars Palace on Feb. 7 – 8. Both events will feature world-class instruction from top poker pros, with Mark Seif, Paul Wasicka and Alex Outhred among the instructors scheduled for the Atlantic City event and Seif, Outhred and Michael Gracz slated for the Las Vegas event.

“The WSOP Academy has successfully helped players make it to the final table and win bracelets by teaching tournament strategy, but to become an overall winning poker player you must also become a consistent cash game player,” said Brandon Rosen of Post Oak Productions, the company that produces the WSOP Academy. “Your cash game skills and results will likely determine your success and more importantly, your longevity as a poker player. With this in mind, we created the Cash Game Academy.”
The new Cash Game Academy will teach participants winning cash game strategy through two days of in-depth seminars, live play workshops, video analysis and a cash game competition, all taught by some of the world’s top cash game poker players. The program is designed for all skill levels, be it beginner, intermediate or advance.

Featuring all new materials and teaching methods unlike any past WSOP Academy event, the new Cash Game Academy will cover topics such as the transition from tournament play to cash game play, development of reading ability and putting opponents on hand ranges, bankroll management and sophisticated plays and strategies specific to cash game play. Each event will also offer video analysis of cash game play, with instructors dissecting hands and situations and discuss alternative lines of play.

A key component of each Cash Game Academy will be a Cash Game Competition hosted on day two of each event. Players will compete against their fellow WSOP Academy participants to determine who made the most correct decisions and managed their bankroll the best during a simulated cash game. The winner will receive an all-expense trip to Caesars Palace Las Vegas for the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions just prior to the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker.

The WSOP Academy roster of pro poker players and instructors have all enjoyed tournament success and have been sharing their secrets on tournament strategy since its inception. However, before they gained fame and fortune winning tournaments, they were making a living playing cash games.

“Our pro instructors have a proven track record of being winning cash game players. They know that a successful poker career is determined by your ‘staying power’ and your ability to win at the cash game tables,” noted Rosen. “Now, much like they have done for our Tournament Academies, the WSOP Academy instructors will now impart their knowledge and expertise for cash games.”

Tuition for each of the two Cash Game Academies is $1,899.00, with a payment of only $499.75 required to secure a spot. The additional tuition payment owed will be billed each month for the three following months.

Space is limited at all WSOP Academy events, and both events are expected to sell out in advance. Additional details for the upcoming events in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are available at wsopacademy.com.

Cryptologic Opens New Distribution Channel To Gaming Operators With Orbis Technology

CryptoLogic casino games to be made available to wide array of top tier operators through leading provider of interactive gaming solutions

(Dublin, IRELAND) – CryptoLogic Limited, a world leader in Internet gaming software, today announced a strategic partnership with Orbis Technology Limited, an industry leader in the provision of interactive gaming and betting solutions. The agreement makes CryptoLogic’s best performing games available to the top-tier gaming brands in Orbis’ portfolio of customers through Orbis’ Fixed Odds Games (FOG) platform.

This partnership provides CryptoLogic with another strong distribution channel to expand the number of operators that offer the company’s market-leading casino games. In the first quarter of 2009, CryptoLogic expects to launch numerous games for SkyBet through the Orbis FOG platform, and other significant customers are expected to follow throughout the year through this channel. Orbis’ impressive customer list includes Skybet, Betfair, Paddy Power, Blue Square, and many others.

“The global Internet gaming market continues to grow rapidly, and that is why CryptoLogic’s strategy includes opening up new channels to market through the world’s leading operators,” said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO. “CryptoLogic’s new partnership with Orbis Technology enhances both our position and our optimism as we revitalize our business for growth in 2009 and beyond.”

Orbis’ OpenBet software platform features a unique ‘one account, one wallet’ solution that allows operators to let their customers bet and play in multiple languages and currencies, across multiple products and platforms. Players can access the web, mobile devices, retail outlets, call centres and interactive digital television, all with a single log-in.

“Orbis is committed to offering its customers the greatest games and the most sophisticated solutions — and partnering with CryptoLogic strengthens our offering even more,” said David Loveday, Orbis’ CEO. “By working together, Orbis and CryptoLogic will provide a very attractive package to the world’s most recognized gaming operators.”

In 2008, CryptoLogic has signed a multitude of new customers and distribution partners, including some of the biggest names in gaming as well as promising, emerging brands.

With more than 200 games, CryptoLogic has one of the most comprehensive casino suites on the Internet today. CryptoLogic has earned rave reviews from industry peers and players alike, and in 2008 earned Gambling Online Magazine’s Top Casino Software award for the third consecutive year. Based on the votes of players around the world, it is widely considered the industry’s top honour.

About CryptoLogic (www.cryptologic.com)
Focused on integrity and innovation, CryptoLogic Limited is a world-leading, blue-chip public developer and supplier of Internet gaming software. Its leadership in regulatory compliance makes it one of the very few companies with gaming software that is certified to strict standards similar to land-based gaming. WagerLogic Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CryptoLogic, is responsible for the licensing of its gaming software and services to blue-chip customers who offer their games around the world to non-U.S. based players. For information on WagerLogic, visit www.wagerlogic.com.

CryptoLogic’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CRY, CXY), the NASDAQ Global Select Market (CRYP) and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (CRP).

About Orbis Technology Limited (http://www.orbisuk.com)
Established in 1996, Orbis Technology Ltd, an NDS Group company, is the world’s leading provider of interactive gaming and betting solutions. Orbis develops pioneering front-end and back-office solutions, from unique and compelling games to sophisticated management and reporting tools.
Each of Orbis’ customer agreements includes an undertaking from the customer that its gaming operations that use Orbis’ software will not involve players in the United States or any other jurisdiction where such gaming operations are prohibited by law. To find out more about Orbis OpenBet, visit www.openbet.com.

Online Poker & Gambling Transaction Ban Passed In Norway

Similar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed by the US government in 2006, the Norwegian government has just passed a proposal to ban online poker and gambling transactions to/from residents of Norway. Enforcement of the new legislation is not excepted until the middle of 2009 at the earliest, as the government still needs to write up the regulations for the new anti-online gambling law.

Norway’s Financial Services Association, along with several other prominent financial institutions, were opposed to the bill’s passage, claiming that it would only serve to cause a multitude of problems for the country as a whole; but that didn’t stop legislators from voting it into law earlier this week.

Again, just like the US government’s claims when passing the UIGEA, Norway justifies the online poker and gambling ban by stating it will protect problem gamblers. According to the European Commission and many expert analysts of the Internet gaming industry, however, the real reason behind the anti-online gambling ban is to protect its own interests; those being the state-run gambling monopoly of Norske Tipping.

The European Union has already dealt Norway much criticism of the Internet gambling ban, and one of the country’s senior legal advisors is forecasting that the bill will end up in the European Court of Justice once it is approved.

PayNoRake Poker To Host Free $250 Tourney For 4Flush Forum Members

PayNoRake Poker, a brand new online poker room on the Action Poker Network, is presenting members of the 4Flush Online Poker Forum with the opportunity to participate in a free $250 poker tournament, scheduled for December 27th at 6pm ET. The tournament is exclusive to active 4Flush members who enter the appropriate code when downloading the PayNoRake software and signing up a new account.

PayNoRake.com, recently launched on the Action Poker Network, and is presenting members of the 4Flush.com Online Poker Forum with an exciting evening of free tournament play worth $250. The free $250 GTD tournament will take place at 7pm ET, December 14th.

To take part in this exclusive event, you must be an active member of the 4Flush Online Poker Forum. Participants must download the PayNoRake poker client and sign up a new account, entering the correct password in the process. Doing so will grant the player ‘1 Promo Buck’; the entry fee for the free $250 4Flush Poker Tournament.

All that is required is that when a player down loads the Pay No Rake client he enters the code 4flush when he/she puts this info in and he will be credited with 3 gold bars this is the buy in for the private 4flush freeroll tourney.

PayNoRake Poker crept silently on the scene in mid-November under the ownership of Ecom Enterprise N.V., but with such an exceptional promotional offering – the ability for players to earn up to 100% Rakeback – there was no need for an extensive advertising campaign. Online poker fans began flocking to PayNoRake.com almost instantly, and the traffic has continued to climb at a massive rate ever since.

The opportunity to receive a 100% Rakeback is unheard of in the Internet poker world; but then again, PayNoRake Poker was developed with the goal of being innovative and incomparable in the online poker industry.

Ecom Enterprise N.V. CEO Ben Johnson said, “Rakeback is the natural evolution for the game of poker. First, market participants compete on product and offering, but after a while everybody has the same offering… I truly believe that www.paynorake.com will take the industry by storm over coming months.”

The rewards are doubly true for 4Flush Online Poker Forum members as they prepare to embark on the fantastic prospect of sharing in a free $250 prize pool. In order to activate the $250 prize, there must be at least 15 players registered and seated when the tournament begins. The certainty of those numbers are without question as in late November, 4Flush forum members were privileged to previous free poker tournament, hosted by Absolute Poker. More than 100 4flush members showed up for the event.

4Flush.com was launched in 2005 by Cathy Roberts, an avid online poker player with a passion for tournament play. Since that time, 4Flush has grown into a premier poker news magazine, popular poker forum and un-biased examiner of the online poker industry. Members of the 4Flush Online Poker Forum have found themselves privy to a series of free poker tournaments in recent weeks, and 4Flush promises there is much more to come as the poker forum continues down an unsullied path of abundant growth.

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Titan Poker ECOOP III Main Event Goes To Intruder123

Titan Poker’s third European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP III) has been jam-packed with frenetic action and intense value, especially the Main Event, which concluded yesterday when Irishman Eoghan “Intruder123” O’Dea wiped the tables clean, claiming the ECOOP III crown and an awesome prize of $315,000.

A field of 1,283 converged on the Titan Poker tables Sunday evening to battle it out in the epic poker tournament. With a buy-in of $1,000+$60, the participation levels brought in less than $1.3 million of the guaranteed $1.5 prize pool. While every online poker player fancies an overlay, operators aren’t so fond of them. Titan Poker had to fork over an additional $217k to make up for it.

Once the action got underway, it was a non-stop battle to the finish that lasted an arduous 15 hours. Chip stacks piqued, only to be overthrown by cunning maneuvers from unlikely foes. As the number of railbirds grew consistently higher, the final table of 10 was ultimately decided.

Just making the final table in such a renowned online poker tournament is a remarkable feat for most, but that doesn’t quell the sting of disappointment for being the first eliminated. That searing honor went to “Saxhoe”, earning $15,000 for the late finish.

With one down, the remaining participants began to falter. “kainrydhalls57” was the next to exit, collecting $21,000 for the 9th place finish. Next fell “Sedoj77” with $30,000 for 8th, followed by 7th place finisher “BolS4ns”, worth $45,000.

“ZionTribe” showed great strength throughout the ECOOP III Main Event, but fell to the rails in 6th for $60,000. Soon to follow was “Heffasauren”, who’s 5th position ending earned $75,000. The subsequent elimination of “marinelou”, pocketing $90,000 in 4th, and then 3rd place finisher “jornxx” with the first 6-digit paycheck of $120,000, finally brought about the long-awaited heads-up play.

It came down to “piccajo” and Eoghan “Intruder123” O’Dea, waging a one-on-one battle for supremacy. In the end, it was the impeccable skills of the Irishman that overpowered. The impressive 2nd place finish earned “piccajo” a bountiful reward of $165,000, while O’Dea walked away with $315,000 and a custom designed 18 carat gold, jewel-encrusted bracelet crafted specifically for the winner of the Titan Poker ECOOP III Main Event.

One could say Eoghan O’Dea was ‘born to play poker’, being the son of PL-Omaha WSOP bracelet winner Donnacha O’Dea. Eoghan will be taking his fine-tuned skills under the lights of London’s studio cameras later this week as he prepares to duel with some of the top names in the poker world at the Ladbrokes Poker Million. 16 players, including O’Dea and Ciaran O’Leary, will be competing for what could become the Irishman’s largest career tournament cash; a 1st place prize of $1,000,000.

Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi Picks Up First Live Tournament Victory

Canadian poker pro Sorel Mizzi, better known for his online poker prowess as “Imper1um”, picked up his first live tournament victory Wednesday for taking down Event #5, $3,000 NL Hold’em, at the Bellagio’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

Mizzi whisked his way through a field of 135 players in Las Vegas, including some very impressive names like Brandon Cantu, Yosh Nakano and Marco Johnson. The extraordinary win awarded young Sorel with a 1st place prize of $143,050; one of the larger cashes in his lucrative poker career.

At just 22 years of age, Sorel has been playing online poker professionally for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until April of 2007 that he made the dynamic switch to live tournament play. That same month, he finished 15th at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $154,705.

Mizzi has seen profitable success in the Irish Open, finishing in 3rd in 2007 and 2008, worth €210,000 a piece. In September, Mizzi took 2nd place in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Event #3, £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, pocketing $240,070, his largest cash to date. Wednesday’s victory at the Bellagio brings Sorel’s career total live tournament earnings to over $1.14 million.

Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi can be found playing poker at numerous online poker rooms, including Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Party Poker, UltimateBet and PokerStars, where he goes by the username (“zangbezan24”). Mizzi has racked up around $235k in online poker tournament cash, not to mention his substantial cash game winnings.

Online Poker Cheating Segment On CBS Opens Eyes To US Legalization

For the online poker community, the potent segment on CBS news giant ’60 Minutes’ concerning the Absolute Poker and UltimateBet cheating scandals was mostly old news, but to the rest of the United States who watched the broadcast, it opened a lot of eyes to what’s been going on in US legislation.

Online poker players, including many Americans, were essentially ripped off to the tune of about $20 million dollars. It was not the managers of the online poker sites, or the software auditors, who discovered the vast scale of cheating; but rather the online poker players themselves who finally caught on.

The general consensus coming from many Americans, not just online poker players, is this; were the US to legalize and regulate the online poker industry, situations like the Absolute Poker/UltimateBet cheating scandal would not occur, or at least would have been uncovered in a more timely fashion. Certainly before $20 million in poker chips had been schemed from thousands of unsuspecting players.

The US government has an opportunity to protect its citizens by regulating the online gambling industry in the United States. Instead, they are currently turning in the opposite direction. The UIGEA may tell us that online poker is illegal in the US, but regardless, thousands upon thousands continue to play poker over the Internet. If prohibition isn’t working (has we learned anything from the past), the only proper solution is to legalize and regulate, for the protection of the people.

“The existing government prohibition on Internet gambling is a failure and a mistake,” says Jeffrey Sandman of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “The millions of Americans who continue to gamble online are vulnerable to being defrauded by offshore operators who exploit U.S. prohibition policies, leaving U.S. consumers without legal protections when they make a bet or play poker online.”

Alfonso D’Amato of the Poker Players Alliance said, “The federal government cannot continue to abdicate this basic responsibility to the millions of its citizens who choose to play poker on the Internet. Like it or not, the phenomenon cannot be wished away. The American market has spoken.”

Legalizing online gambling in the US would have substantial benefits for the country as well, in the form of taxation. According to estimates from PricewaterhouseCooper, an independent auditor of online gaming operators, the Us would generate anywhere from $9-$40 billion in tax dollars annually.

There’s no clear resolution in site for the future of the online poker industry in the United States, but John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, strongly believes that “whether it’s next year or five years from now… it’s going to happen very soon.”

Kentucky IP Addresses Blocked by Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet

Online poker players Connecting to Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet from IP Addresses in Kentucky won’t be able to get to their accounts on Absolute Poker and UltimateBet internet poker sites.

Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG (Tokwiro), who owns Absolute Poker (AP) and Ultimate Bet (UB) two of the few online poker sites that still allow United States players, announced today that, in order to fully comply with the Franklin County (Kentucky) Circuit Court’s recent orders, they will be restricting access to Tokwiro’s sites by Kentucky residents.

From the press release:

In complying with the Court’s orders, Tokwiro has agreed to implement an IP Block across its Absolute Poker and UltimateBet websites (both .net and .com), plus utlimatebet.tv. The Block will prevent players with IP addresses originating inside the Commonwealth of Kentucky from playing using AP and UB software, logging in or registering a new account, making deposits to the cashier, and transferring or receiving funds from other players. The IP Block will allow players with IP addresses originating in Kentucky to make withdrawals of existing account funds, but these players will not be able to make any new deposits or transfers.

Paul Leggett, Tokwiro’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We have taken this action in order to ensure that the vast number of our customers, who do not reside in Kentucky, continue to have access to our sites and to enjoy playing online poker without disruption or inconvenience.”

About Tokwiro – Tokwiro is a registered Mohawk sole proprietorship, proudly rooted in the Mohawk community of Kahnawá:ke. Tokwiro has operations in Kahnawá:ke, Costa Rica and Panama. Tokwiro owns and manages the online poker sites Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, which are among the top ten largest poker rooms on the internet.

60 Minutes and the Washington Post Look Deeply Into Cheating Scandals

The largest online gambling scam in the history of online poker has finally really reached mainstream media. 60 minutes and the Washington Post have both been looking into, and shedding light on what’s known commonly among poker players as the Absolute Poker Scandal.

The cheating scandal actually included Absolute Poker and sister site Ultimate Bet Poker. There’s been no accusations of cheating on other sites such as ClubWPT that use the same software as Ultimate Bet.

Steve Kroft explains how online poker players who suspected cheating were forced to successfully ferret out the cheaters themselves. Further explained in the video is the lack of accountability here.

The United States has refused to step up to the plate and regulate online gambling. The servers the games are played on are located in a ‘nondescript’ building on soverign Indian ground within the Kahnawake Reservation.

The Kahnawake Reservation says that they will back up anyone who wants to nail these cheaters, but.. they’re the ones with the jurisdiction.

Millions of dollars stolen, and noone even seems to be investigtating. It’s the perfect scam.

Those cheaters were never revealed by authorities at the Kahnawake gaming commission, or by the companies they cheated.

The Washington post also recently ran a story on the cheating scandal, which followed earlier stories that hit the New York Times blog and The Register, in addition to several more amatuer stories on poker related news blogs, magazines and websites such as this one.

The Internet Poker world is begging the United States to step in and take their cut of the rake, and offer some accountability, some regulation, some rules. Members of the poker community would ultimately just be relieved that their freedom to gamble away all their damn money in their own living room as they choose with whatever of their own credit cards they like is returned. Until then however, until we can go on singing the Land of the Free, perhaps PokerStars, a publically traded, and trusted company is the better choice for online poker players, them, or sites like ClubWPT, tell ‘em LadyHoldem sent ya, so don’t rip ya off.

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