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Bwin.Party co-CEO Questioned By Authorities in Belgium

During the Responsible Gaming Day Conference, bwin.Party co-CEO, Nobert Teufelberger, was detained by Belgium authorities for an interlude of questioning due to bwin.Party’s sustained presence in the country without acquiring the necessary licenses.

Following the incident, bwin.Party issued a statement stating that Teufelberger complied fully, and voluntarily, following the request from the authorities, which occurred as a result of Belgium Gambling Commission’s (BGC) position that bwin.Party violated the country’s gambling legislation. The interview following the detainment lasted two hours, after which the company stated that it would continue working with the authorities in attempt to resolve the matter.

According to Reuters, the questioning arose from the fact that bwin.Party was listed as one of the websites that was not supposed to accept real-money bets. Earlier on in the year, Belgium published its blacklist of banned sites, and 2012 saw strict laws introduced to regulate the gambling scene in the country, with bwin.Party biggest competitor, PokerStars, acquiring a license. The detainment of bwin.Party co-CEO is the most recent installment of bwin.Party’s continued tussles with Belgian authorities. In the month of May, bwin.Party was added to the blacklisted sites, pertaining to companies that did not have necessary paperwork required to run in the country.

It is not only the companies that were affected by the latest onslaught of legislations in the Belgium gambling scene. Belgium citizens who continue to gamble on unlicensed sites stand to be fined €25, 000. Following its blacklisting, bwin.Party switched from the bwin.com domain to www2.bwin.com in a rather blatant and peculiar attempt to evade the legislature and authorities.

The detainment of the co-CEO of the company is however proof such strategies would not subdue the long arm of the Belgium law. In fact, the move boomeranged on the company when a court saw it fit to fine them €75,000 for their deception and endeavor to circumvent the law. The recent predicament might have implied effects on bwin.Party’s latest interests in the state of Nevada where it hopes to gain an operations license.

MGM Set to Revolutionize Online Poker in Nevada Following Approval

MGM Resorts International has moved closer in its quest to offer Nevada’s gamers online poker at an intrastate level. This follows a successful approval by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The board gave MGM an initial approval as a gaming operator to go ahead with its quest to provide an online poker platform. Following Thursday’s endorsement, MGM anticipates to introduce an online poker site by the beginning of 2013. The site will be on the bwin.party platform.

Later in the month, MGM expects the Nevada Gaming Commission to award a full license.

In a separate interview with Reuters, Jim Murren the MGM CEO expressed his satisfaction with the way different states were engaged in talks. He was pleased to note that much as these states had come up with their own laws, they were willing to team up with others. It would be good for business if different states would come together. Those states that isolate themselves are making it difficult for the economy to thrive.

In October, MGM entered into agreements with Boyd Gaming and bwin.party while anticipating that gaming would be legalized. Under the terms of the agreement, bwin.party gets a 65%, MGM 25% while Boyd takes the remaining 10%. For taking the lion’s share, bwin.party is supposed to provide and maintain gambling infrastructure for its partners in the venture.

Already, Boyd Gaming has a license while bwin.party is awaiting response on its application. Bwin.party has not yet met with the regulators. According to Jim Ryan, the CEO of bwin.party, the U.S government was previously faced with the question of whether to regulate online gambling at state or federal level. While speaking to Poker News, he said that this has now changed from “if” to “when.” It is just a matter of time before intrastate gambling is made legal.

As for bwin.party, they will have to wait until the new year for their licence.

Gaming Regulations Boost Online Poker’s Performance in Spain

For a long time, Spain has witnessed the proliferation of Internet-based gambling. All the gambling sites have operated without license from the central government. That was until May 2012 when Spain enacted the Spanish Gambling Act. Since then, the industry has been regulated, resulting in a commendable growth. As a result, Spain is now a leading market for online gaming operators.

The above Act was first enforced in June. Four months later, the government has collected an upwards of €77 million. Generally, a 25% tax is levied on revenue earned from gambling. Of the €77 million collected after the enactment of the new regulation, €27.5 million was for the month of September.

These figures are a reflection of the enormous growth registered by the online poker industry. The number of online Spanish players is on the rise. The same is true for the amounts players have placed at stake. For instance, there is a monthly growth rate of around 100,000 players for people who gamble using money. Presently, it stands at approximately 700,000 players which is around 1.5% of the Spanish population.

In June, online bets for poker alone amassed €87 million. This rose to €114 then €119 and finally €131 million for the period July to September. As a result, poker represents a 36% share of the internet gambling industry. However, sports’ gambling still leads with a 42% share. Casinos and other betting games have an 18% share of the entire stakes placed.

As a result, the Spanish poker market has become extremely lucrative. Operators of online gaming sites, poker in particular, are getting good money. For instance, PokerStars had an industry growth of 30% three months ago. Presently, they are at 70% making them a dominant force in the online Spanish poker industry. PokerStars has an upwards of 1,450 players who bet with real money. The numbers show an increase of 40% from June when the regulation was enacted.

Online poker has become a huge success and shows a huge potential for growth in Spain and worldwide. The Spanish poker story heralds the benefits an economy can enjoy as a result of regulating the gambling industry. Under such conditions, players feel safe when placing bets. Companies can make use of healthy business strategies that will bring in more players to their online games, while at the same time amassing tax revenue for needy governments.

Will US Players Ever Get Their Full Tilt Poker Funds Back?

Full Tilt Poker has been restored. Online poker players internationally can heave a sigh of relief. However, that is not the case for US players. The majority of US players are still worried about unpaid player account funds from a site that is still struggling to survive.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) recently held a meeting with officials from Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Division of the US Department of Justice. John Pappas, Executive Director of PPA, together with the body’s legal counsel represented the PPA. The aim of the meeting was to discuss progress made on the matter of refunding players the money spent on Full Tilt Poker. Pappas stated that the meeting was productive but that was not enough. The US players want to hear more.

The Pappas team emphasized PPA’s stand on having all players getting full compensation. This includes medals the players won and balances from points earned before the site went under. At the same time, PPA highlighted its repayment plan to the Department of Justice. From Pappas’ point of view, the government gave a non-reassuring response. While giving the full report to the PPA members, Pappas opined that no decision has been forthcoming from the Department of Justice on repaying the money owed to players.

Hopes of US players getting anything from the government were further dashed following what Pappas terms as a lengthy repayment process. In the report, Pappas states that the federal government is yet to hire an agency empowered with the task of administering refunds. This ought to have been sorted out since it is nearly three months after PokerStars and DOJ reached a settlement.

Pappas is categorical that such developments do not augur well with anxious poker players. While acknowledging that his team cannot provide any further responses, he believes the meeting was a success.

The meeting between DOJ and PPA was the culmination of a process going way back to August. PokerStars and the Department of Justice agreed on a number of things. PokerStars was to buy Full Tilt Poker with a promise to make payment to international poker players. Compensation for players based in the US was to be handled by the federal government. Nothing has changed since that time.

What angers US players most is the fact that Full Tilt Poker is back under the auspices of PokerStars. In this regard, Full Tilt Poker is now ranked second among leading online poker sites. By Tuesday last week, it had nearly 15,000 cash paying players. Since then, there has been a drop in numbers. By yesterday the players were at 12,123 as reported by PokerScout.com. What one can gather from these figures is that despite the strong desire to get back to the site, some players have probably taken their money and ditched the site.

In the meantime, Full Tilt Poker continues as if pushing aside the problems at hand. All in all, the U.S. online poker players have nothing to gain from the report tabled by the Poker Players Alliance. Much as the PPA was able to meet with the DOJ, there is little they can do to hasten repayment. For now, US players are at the bottom of the pile while international players are rejoicing.

Greg Merson Becomes the New World Champion of Poker

Event #61 of the 2012 World Series of Poker, the Main Event, is complete, and the champion is none other than 24-year-old Greg Merson, delivering the Main Event gold bracelet to an American for the first time since 2009. After 18 hours of final table action, Merson took the $8,531,853 first place payout right out from under Jesse Sylvia, the runner up. Coming in third was Jake Balsiger.

Early Halloween morning, at around 6:00 a.m., Merson not only won the title of world champion poker player, but also rounded out the tournament with the esteemed 2012 WSOP Player of the Year title, just barely beating Phil Hellmuth.

Merson had already won one bracelet in this series back in the summer when the 2012 WSOP began. He won the $10K Six-Handed NLH event, and while that was a rush, it paled in comparison to his second bracelet win that would follow months later.

“I’ve played a lot of long cash games in my career, which helps you prepare for something like this, but this whole stage is something you can’t ever really prepare for,” explained Merson after he won the bracelet and slipped in on his mom’s wrist with tears in his eyes.

By the time the October Nine was down to the final three players, Merson had managed to move from the fifth largest chip stack to chip leader. After the 12-hour final session went long into the night, Merson finally managed to win the tournament with a rare hand, K/5 offsuit, winning with K high, beating Sylvia’s Q/J. Merson’s lucky Baltimore Orioles jerseys may just hold some lucky value after all, and you can rest assured, he will continue to sport the sports jerseys that have become synonymous with his game.

The coveted bracelet this year was designed by Jason of Beverly Hills, who presented the one-of-a-kind ornament to Merson upon his victory.

His plans now that he’s globally recognized as the world champion of poker include more poker. He said after winning, “I’m ready to go to Macau. I had already planned on going there. Obviously, this gives me some more opportunities. That’s what I am looking forward to the most, which is getting into the biggest cash games in the world and not blowing all my money. I’ll piece myself out if I have to.”

And the poker world is looking forward to hearing about more wins in the future of the new WSOP champ, as he’s picked up quite a number of fans on his journey. A recovering drug addict, Merson hopes to use his story to help others. “I feel very good about my recovery,” he says.

Where are they now? October Nine: Jeremy Ausmus

With the final hours before the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table ticking away, it’s still anyone’s game. But someone has to lose. But someone also will win. Thirty-three-year-old Jeremy Ausmus hopes it will be him who wins.

Ausmus isn’t your typical poker pro whose ideal job is flying around the world to participate in every big-money poker event he can. Instead, he’d rather grind it out at the Bellagio for 30 to 40 hours a week and then go home to his family.

Since his placement in the October Nine back in July, Ausmus has been exhaustively preparing for the today with coaches and tournament simulations. Although he’s the short-stacked of the nine, he’s not letting that get his confidence down. He says, “I’ve played the least amount of poker I’ve ever played in my life, actually. I’ve played less poker than everyone else at the table.”

And destiny does have a mind of its own. As luck would have it, Ausmus’s second child was due to be born during the same week as the final table. However, the high-risk pregnancy only went to 34 and a half weeks, putting Kai Ausmus in the world five weeks early. Because his wife had to rest, Jeremy chose to stay home and take care of her, his newborn, and his two-year-old, Calia. He didn’t mind that he had to cancel his trip to Cannes, France to play in the WSOPE. His family is a priority above poker.

“I like the change and getting a little bit of time away from poker,” he explained. “I’m a full-time pro but I have a life away from it, which a lot of these guys don’t have.”

But with the events of the past few months, Ausmus believes anything is possible, despite the fact that since the style of the WSOP Main Event went to the three-month break format in 2008, the shortest stacked player hasn’t finished better than 7^th place. Furthermore, two of the last three short-stacked players actually finished in 9^th place. He does point out, though, that he has more chips to start with than other last chipped players who finished in 9^th.

“I feel like I have less pressure than anyone else because I’m expected to go out first,” says Ausmus. He continues, “The chip leader is going to have a ton of pressure because everyone is expecting him to win, and he can’t make a huge mistake. I can’t make a mistake either, but I’m really comfortable with this stack size.”

And the fact that he stands to win at least $754,798 already probably helps to ease the sting of a possibly first elimination.

He does have one thing in his favor though. He had become a short-stack cash game specialist playing Internet poker for the few years before online poker was shut down on Black Friday.

Depending on his win, he plans to invest most of the money and add some to his bank roll without much change to his lifestyle. He likes to play poker, and he loves being close to his family, and he’s not interested in the notoriety that comes along with the game. To him, it’s a job that makes him happy. With the odds stacked against him, he doesn’t seem to mind.

Where are they now? October Nine: Robert Salaburu

With the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table only hours away, the remaining nine players have already won at least $754,798, with payments ranging between that increase at least $215K with each spot, up to the first place prize of $8.5 million. No pressure.

Twenty-seven-year-old Robert Salaburu, hailing from San Antonio, Texas chose professional poker as an alternative to spending his early 20s at a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle. Apparently, he made the right choice because he will take his rightfully earned seat at the final table today.

Salaburu says, “There’s no doubt that the money is big, but at the end of the day, the money comes and goes. I have the chance at poker immortality. That’s what I’m gunning for.”

He began playing poker about 10 years ago in high school. Through college, he began to realize that he was making more money playing poker 15 hours a week than he would ever make with a college degree. His mom, a college Spanish professor gave him her blessing to drop out of college and find his calling. She said, “I simply wanted Robert to find his way in life and he has done that totally on his own. Robert is an independent thinker and an astute observer of human nature.” These are two great traits of a successful career poker player, and they’ve brought him all the way to the WSOP Main Event Final Table.

When play commences, Salaburu will have a 15.155 million chip stack – the seventh largest at the final table, the exact position that Pius Heinz, last year’s WSOP Main Event champion, sat in when the final table resumed.

If he wins, Salaburu will be the first Texan to win the title since 1982 when Jack Straus won the event.

“The main thing I get pride from is that I did it my way,” says Salaburu. “People told me that I was crazy and that I should stop when I was losing money. But at the end of the day, it’s nice to not have a boss, and the freedom is priceless.”

Does he have what it takes? We will soon find out.

Where are they now? October Nine: Steve Gee

With the World Series of Poker Main Event final table commencing tomorrow, Monday, October 29^th, it may seem that the October Nine would be trying to do everything they can to de-stress and prepare themselves mentally for the big day. But not 57-year-old Steve Gee. He has just relocated his entire life to Las Vegas, a move he has been considering for about a year now. Previously residing in Sacramento, California has made it hard for him to continue his career as a pro poker player. Making the final nine back in July has given him a lot to think about. He took possession of his new home in Vegas on October 17^th, but he says he won’t actually be doing any moving until after the final table. Still, it’s a lot to process.

He hopes to have a big reason to celebrate with a housewarming party after it’s all said and done with, and he has a lot of supporters expected to show up to support him. He admits he’s used the full 85 ticket allotment from WSOP. His last win was at the 2010 WSOP when he defeated a 3,000-player field and won $470K at a NLH event. Gee claims this is completely different though.

And because Gee hasn’t been featured very much on ESPN, his friends and family have a joke that he’s not even in the final table, and he’s just been pulling their leg. “I have been watching the coverage, but all my friends and family have said, ‘Steve are you lying to us? Did you make the final table?’ Every single Tuesday they say, ‘Steve we haven’t even seen you yet.’”

As coverage continued, he did eventually make the cut, and while he first was resentful towards his younger counterparts, deeming it disrespectful that they wouldn’t feature him as much, he’s now realized that there’s less tape for his opponents to analyze of his play in the WSOP. On the other hand, Gee has been watching the tapes of the other players, but that’s about the extent of his preparation. He’s not prepared to overhaul his multiple-decade strategy that’s brought him this far.

He’s also decided to make the switch from cash game player to tournament player. “I’ll tell you,” he says, “I think from this point forward I am going to have to be a tournament player. Cause after the final table, the hardest thing is going to sit down and grind.”

Where are they now? October Nine: Russell Thomas

The 2012 WSOP Main Event final table is almost upon us. Less than 24 hours away, it is likely that the October Nine are experiencing the most nerve racking anxiety they’ve ever know. It is expected that 24-year-old Russell Thomas from Hartford, Connecticut will have the biggest fan base of any of the nine final tablists at the big event, who expects to have at least 100 people cheering him on from the rails. That’s got to help with some of the stress, or will it just add to the pressure?

Among his supporters will be Thomas’s highly acclaimed poker coach, poker pro Jason Somerville. Thomas, an amateur poker player who works a day job at Aetna Insurance, told WSOP reporters, “I have co-workers coming—some that know nothing at all about poker. One of the ladies who works there, I didn’t expect her to want to come to the final table, but now she’s reading a book about poker, and she’s going to come (to Las Vegas). It was a little unexpected.”

After becoming a final contestant for the Main Event, Thomas signed with 888 Poker and has been traveling the world sporting their brand ever since. He’s been to the EPT in Barcelona, Spain and Cannes, France for the WSOPE. But he is clear this is all been business and “No fun trips. Fun is after the Main Event,” he says.

Thomas and Somerville, the 69^th finisher in the Main Event, have been working hard together analyzing hands and watching each other play. Thomas has also done something to prepare that may actually give him a leg up on the competition. He has played a mock final table with exact chip counts of his opponents and emulating how he thinks the others will act. He’s primarily a cash game player, so a lot of his prep has been in tournaments. “I just trying to stay focused. I went out quite a bit right after I made the Main Event final table, but I’m just trying to stay focused. I don’t want any regrets about my preparation,” Thomas says.

Currently on a leave of absence at Aetna, Thomas says the outcome of the final table will determine whether or not he returns to work. When asked what motivates him the most, the money, the bracelet, or the win, he answered, “I think all three.” He continued, “The difference between second place and third place, how long is it going to take me to make that money? 20 years? I don’t know. The money is obviously huge. Then I’d want to get first to win the bracelet because then you’d be a legend.”

While Thomas is focused on winning the $8,527,982 first place prize, if he finishes 9^th, he’ll still win $754,798. He’s already picked out the car he plans to buy if he makes enough money in the Main Event. “If you’ve seen the Audi R8 out front (of the Majestic Barriere), with the matte blue. I love that car. That car is just amazing, so maybe that exact one. I was thinking instead of the blue, it could be black,” Thomas explains. One thing is for sure. Thomas is just as prepared, if not more so, for the final table as any of his fellow October Nine players. Play picks back up tomorrow.

Where are they now? October Nine: Jesse Sylvia

With the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table only days away, what exactly are the October Niners doing to prepare mentally for the big day, and what are they up to? Chip leader Jesse Sylvia, hailing from the quaint and exclusive seaside town of Martha’s Vineyard, USA, is a much deeper thinker than most other 26-year-olds.

According to a recent WSOP interview, he has much to say and it’s not simply what he says but how he says it, with “careful thought and obvious passion.”

Sylvia explained that after he was officially a member of the elite October Nine, all he did for the first week was relax after the stress he had incurred during his intense stint in Las Vegas. He says, “I tried to watch some poker videos to keep sharp when I got back, at sites like CardRunners and DeucesCracked. But the first few weeks back home for me was a time to try and unwind and enjoy the moment.”

Sylvia was an overnight sensation, one day being an unknown poker player, the next being chip leader at the biggest final table in poker when at once everyone who knew anything about poker knew his name.

He explains, “I guess it’s that even if you’re away from poker, or try to get away from it like I did, when you are in the spot I’m in, you are never really quite away from it.  Know what I mean?  Because wherever you go, that’s all you get asked–’how do you feel about being the final table,’ things like that.  It’s just always with you.  I mean, the island was a sort of sanctuary for me, not just geographically but also s a place that’s isolated, which I think is good.  But in some ways, always being connected to poker regardless of what I do makes me continue to think about the game all the time.  I need to stay as sharp as possible, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

But any way you look at it, poker pulses through his veins just as much as anything else he’s compassionate about. In fact, he says during the series, he didn’t even realize he was playing up to 60 hours a week, just playing in everything he could. He says, “My girlfriend was the one who woke me up to the fact I was playing so much. But I am used to grinding long hours, so it didn’t affect me in a negative way.”

As far as his play style goes, he has tried to be more of an “instinctual player,” trying to go beyond the theory of the game. He also believes in the ten-thousand-hour rule, as explained by Malcom Gladwell in his books Blink and Outliers. This concept is based on the fact that if you put in at least ten thousand hours into something that you basically master it and become very in tune with it. And surrounding himself with people whom he respects and can learn from, which he calls “collective knowledge,” is another strategy that he employs. There’s no doubt about it—Sylvia will be a force to be reckoned with come Monday.

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