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WCOOP to Begin Sept 2 at PokerStars

PokerStars’ 2011 edition of the World Championship of Online Poker, otherwise known as the WCOOP, will kick off next month serving as some much needed online poker action for many who are in the aftermath of the WSOP. While US players won’t get to participate in the WCOOP, many other nations around the world will be represented.

The WCOOP will feature 62 individual events hosted online at poker website PokerStars. Beginning on September 4^th, the WCOOP will start off with cheap satellites that will bring many players to the tables who wouldn’t otherwise be there, making for a great opportunity for online poker players of all stature, whether you are amateur, pro, or fall somewhere in between.

Events will include the traditional No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em style that everyone loves, as well as more unique poker formats such as triple stud, which is new this year.

2010’s WCOOP Main Event winner was Tyson Marks, aka “POTTERPOKER,” who took down the nearly $2.28 million prize—the biggest in online poker history.

Even without the US poker market to sit in on the festivities, the series is expected to draw quite a crowd, and the main event will include a $5 million increase in guaranteed payouts. The entire tournament promises $30+ million in guaranteed cash.

Online Poker Pros Migrate to Canada and Europe

A new trend within the online poker profession is a migration to Canada and Europe where playing Internet poker is legal and readily available. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, a popular online poker pro, announced on Twitter that he had in fact relocated to Canada to see how it goes. Many others are following Galfond’s lead.

Others who have mentioned a moved include Daniel Negreanu (a native Canadian) and Olivier Busquet. Negreanu, who is a live poker legend, has indicated that he will move in order to participate in the World Championship of Online Poker, a very large online tournament series hosted by PokerStars, which is no longer allowed to operate in the US.

Negreanu Tweeted about his move to downtown Toronto later next month, though nothing is confirmed, as he’s mentioned Europe as well. One Tweet read, “Can’t wait for WCOOP’s on PokerStars.com in September! I’ll either be playing from TO or somewhere in Europe.”

Dan “Jungleman12” Cates was a very successful online poker player in the US before Black Friday. Now he’s unemployed and is looking to relocate; however, he’s had issues with customs in Canada. One Twitter post stated that he was leaving for Vancouver. Then later he indicated he had been deported and later clarified that he was actually just denied entry.

Poker fans can expect to see many of their favorite US-based online poker pros move to other countries where they can do their thing.

Full Tilt Hearing Tomorrow in London

The hearing for Full Tilt Poker is set for 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 in London’s Victoria Park Plaza Hotel. This hearing, which will be open to the public, will determine whether or not the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) will reinstate Full Tilt Poker’s operating licenses.

After losing the US market on April 15^th to the Black Friday massacre, Full Tilt Poker has now suffered another blow by the AGCC by stripping them of their license to provide online poker services to any players worldwide. So when the US players accounts were seized by the US Department of Justice on April 15^th, that was devastating to many faithful Full Tilt players. Now the remainder of their clientele is in a similar situation with their funds now inaccessible as well. When once Full Tilt Poker was the reigning online poker site over much of the world, it is now the plot of a sad story whose fate will be determined tomorrow.

The AGCC shut down Full Tilt Poker completely on June 29^th when they accused the online poker site of not complying with licensing regulations. Now Full Tilt Poker also faces class action lawsuits and lawsuits filed by their European investors.

Full Tilt Poker owes US players more than $150 million and now they are even more in debt to their European player base, and rumors are circulating that they can’t even sell the company. AGCC Executive Director Andre Wilsenach confirmed that player funds will be a topic of discussion at the meeting tomorrow. Hopefully some sort of restitution will be determined, but this is unlikely if their license remains revoked.

The Unfortunate State of Seized Player Funds

The PPA (Poker Players Alliance) has presented a legal guide that will assist players with getting their money back from online poker rooms that have shut down over the past three months or so. Apparently there were dates that defined when players could apply for their refund by, and these dates are closing in on players who otherwise didn’t even know they existed. Claims were supposed to be filed prior to the date.

The PPA is now helping direct players on what to do in order to go about getting their money back. They have explained that while they can’t assist in filing direct lawsuits against the poker sites on behalf of the players, they are providing information to players on how to individually hire a lawyer to represent them in efforts to retain their money. They are also recommending this action only for players who had a great deal of cash in their player accounts because class action suits like these are rather expensive and not worth the cost to players who did not have a substantial amount of money in their player accounts.

The PPA is also asking players to weigh all costs and time that it would take to file suit against the potential outcome and realize that it may be difficult to establish a valid claim of the seized funds, especially in an overseas court. If you believe that the PPA’s guide will help you determine whether or not you should file suit, then by all means, check it out. The unfortunate reality though is that most players who have yet to receive refunds of their accounts are not likely to. It’s just too political at this point, and the US justice system is going to be able to do little about the individual’s player funds.

2011 November Nine

The November Nine have been determined, and it has turned out to be a very internationally diverse final table with seven countries represented. The chip leader, Martin Staszko is from the Czech Republic and has more than 40 million chips to start the final table off with in November. Next is Eoghan O’Dea from none other than Dublin, Ireland with nearly 34 million chips. Then with the third highest chip stack, we have Matt Giannetti from Las Vegas, Nevada with nearly 25 million chips and running a very close fourth place is another Las Vegan, Phil Collins with just under 24 million chips. Fifth stacked is Ben Lamb, also from the US, but not from Nevada. Lamb is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and favored by many to take the bracelet. Sixth stacked is Badih Bou-Nahra from Belize with 19.7 million in chips; seventh stacked is Pius Heinz from Cologne, Germany with about 16.5 million chips. Representing Ukraine is Anton Makiievskyi with 13.8 million in chips, and with the smallest chip stack is Sam Holden from Sussex, UK with about 12.4 million chips.

The unfortunate tenth place finisher was John Hewitt from Costa Rica, who was finally knocked out by O’Dea.

The WSOP Final Table will resume on November 5^th and will culminate on the 7^th of November when the 2011 WSOP Champion will be determined at the Rio in Las Vegas. Ninth place is guaranteed $782K, and the top eight finishers are guaranteed to become millionaires. The tournament winner will earn more than $8.7 million in cash and the coveted Main Event gold bracelet.

Poker Pro Seeks Diamonds Seized by Customs 11 Years Ago

Well-known poker pro Steve Zolotow, who has a few WSOP bracelets to his name, as well as about $1.8 million in poker winnings is looking to recover $900K worth of diamonds that were seized by customs 11 years ago. The New York City club owner allegedly failed to report the diamonds to customs when he flew from Toronto to New York. When Zolotow failed to file an appeal within the required time frame, the diamonds were sold off for an estimated $886K, according to the Toronto Sun.

Zolotow is now seeking to retrieve as much as possible of the value. The judge presiding over the case though is not so sympathetic to Zolotow’s circumstance. In his ruling, the Judge Russell Zinn stated, “Mr. Zolotow pleads that the diamonds are his and that they were never legally seized or forfeited. He seeks their return or return of the proceeds the Crown received from their sale.”

The case was then dismissed on the grounds that “absence of an allegation that the officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the Customs Act or regulations had been contravened in respect of the diamonds.”

Louisiana’s Lenaghan Leads Day Seven of the WSOP Main Event

At the end of Day Six of the 2011 WSOP Main Event last night, there were only 57 players left from the day, which began with 148 players. Ryan Lenaghan from New Orleans, Louisiana will begin Day Seven as chip leader holding 12.865 million chips. In second place, Ben Lamb holds 9.98 million chips, and he’s now surpassed Phil Hellmuth in the Player of the Year race for this year’s series.

Lady Luck was smiling down on Lenaghan, who managed to win just about every pot he touched, growing his chip stack from around 3 million to more than 12 million in only a couple hours. But as it goes in poker, anything can happen. Day Five started out with David Bach as the chip leader with 4.7 million chips, but he’s now dropped just below 2 million chips to start out Day Seven. All remaining players are now guaranteed at least $130K.

Day Five saw the end of Daniel Negreanu, Freddy Deeb, and many others.

Forty-four of the remaining 57 players are under the age of 29, so it’s likely that the November Nine, which will be determined in less than 48 hours, will once again be a young group. Also, more than half (33) are from the US, so expect to see some a lot of US players at the final table as well. Only 14 countries remain including Canada (6 players), and UK (3 players).

Day Seven will conclude around 10:45 p.m. Vegas time on Tuesday.

Chip leader Lenaghan is a graduate of LSU with a degree in general studies. He’s only been playing poker as a professional for two years.

Full Tilt Hearing Called

The Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has called for a public hearing on July 26th regarding the Full Tilt Poker accusations. They will likely be asked about the on goings of their company, why they have been so secretive about things, and where players’ funds are.

Hopefully Full Tilt Poker executives will reveal some more details on the rumored possible sale of the company, as well as why players’ funds were mixed with operating funds. Other issues are likely to be addressed as well.
The statement issued by the AGCC follows:

Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) will hold a public hearing regarding the future of Full Tilt Poker at 10am on 26 July at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in London.

The purpose of the hearing will be to make public evidence from both AGCC and Full Tilt regarding the suspension of Full Tilt’s licence and to adjudicate the findings transparently.

Full Tilt’s licence was suspended last month by AGCC following an indictment by the US government and its subsequent failure to satisfy AGCC that its activities inside and outside the US were in order.

Executive Director of AGCC, André Wilsenach, said: “AGCC’s choice to hold a public hearing in to the future of Full Tilt Poker demonstrates our willingness to act transparently and we will welcome members of the public and the media. As ever at all times, our primary concern is the protection of the player.”

WSOP Day 4 Starts Now

The World Series of Poker Main Event has completed Day 3, and there are now less than 900 players remaining. Day Four, which picks back up tonight, will take players into the money when the 693rd place is guaranteed to receive at least $19,359. The game starts back up at noon Las Vegas time today.

Yesterday marked the first ever WSOP semi-live television coverage when ESPN aired Day 3 of the WSOP with a 30-minute delay. This semi-live coverage will continue through July 19th when the November Nine will be determined. In addition, every Tuesday night ESPN will air an additional 34 hours of semi-live coverage.

When play ended last night, Patrick Poirier from New York was chip leader with 1.3+ million in chips. In the past, Poirier has cased twice and earned about $6,700, so the pressure is on. Former WSOP champions Joe Cada, Huck Seed, and Tom McEvoy were eliminated, but some former champs still remain in the running including Carlos Mortensen, Robert Varkonyi, Berry Johnston, and Phil Hellmuth.

Other well-known players still in the tournament include Todd Brunson, Daniel Negeranu, Vanessa Rousso, Humberto Brenes, and many more.
The Main Event champion is set to win more than $8.7 million for winning the tournament.

On Day 1-A, former WSOP champs Jerry Yang, Greg Raymer, and two-time champ, Doyle Brunson were eliminated, as was 2006 WSOP Player of the Year, Tom Schneider. Day 1-B took down Michael Mizrachi. On Day 1-C, former WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker got knocked out of the tournament, as did Ray Romano, David Benyamine, Robert Mizrachi, and several hundred others.

WSOP 2011 – A Success

More than 100 countries were represented at the 42nd annual installment of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada this year. Across 58 events, a record number of registrants participated at 75,672, making for a total prize pool of $191,999,010—the biggest yet. This is the 7th year that the prize pool totaled more than $100 million, and in the history of the series, $1.4+ billion has been awarded in cash prizes for events.

This year, the series saw amateurs and pros alike, peppered with celebrities and sports figures. The youngest player is from Cocoa, Florida, Logan Deen. His 21st birthday was Day 1-B of the Main Event, so he was just barely old enough to play. On the other end of the spectrum, the oldest competitor in the 2011 WSOP was Ellen Deeb, 91, who also played in the Main Event.

Ty Stewart, WSOP Executive Director, said, “This summer underscores the appeal of the game and the power of this event. We’re so thankful for all those who came from around the world to demonstrate that poker continues to grow.” He continued, “All across the board at the 2011 WSOP, from our signature gold bracelet events to cash games to satellites and daily tournaments, records were made to be broken.”

Despite speculation that attendance to the Main Event would suffer this year in light of the Black Friday events and those thereafter, this year’s Main Event growth was in line with percentages from past years.

The biggest single event attendance was Event #30, the $1,500 event that say 3,752 players attend. Daytona Beach, Florida’s Tony Cousineau has actually cashed 49 times in the history of the WSOP, including this year, but is yet to win a single event. Brian Rast won two bracelets, and was the only one to do so.

While Phil Hellmuth did not win any bracelets this year, he added to his all-time cashes with 84 (he holds the record for the most WSOP cashes) and final table appearances (43).

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