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Online poker market faced several obstacles, preventing it to know a good development during the year 2012. Among the events that highlight this problem include the closure of several online poker rooms in France. These latter had real difficulties to achieve the necessary breakeven. According to an article of Financial Mail, experts remain pessimistic about the future of the market, especially for this year 2013. English leaders of online gambling industry indeed discussed at a meeting held last week that the poker world is currently structured. It is composed of a minority of large operators and a majority of small operators trying to get a place on the market. The latter, however, had difficulties to resist and if they want to continue their business, they should regroup and gather their strength.


Among the major operators who monopolize a large share of the market appears PokerStars. This online poker site has over 50 million subscribers and by operating the new Full Tilt Poker, the group has 70 to 90% of the market. However, other operators such as 888-com or Betfair capture only a small market share of 6%. The fact that the U.S. online poker market slow to legalize is also an obstacle for the development of this industry. And apparently, it will have to wait a few years because the process of legalization of the U.S. market is difficult to achieve.



Poker News - Online poker: Towards the strengthening of market this year 2013

Ever since the movement for legalized online poker grew out of the threat from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act six years ago, the poker lobby's focus has been to obtain regulation at the federal level. This focus will change in 2013 as the future of online poker in the U.S. moves to a state-by-state basis.

The state race is already underway, with Nevada, Delaware and possibly New Jersey expected to have intrastate Internet poker operating sometime this year. Other states have been waiting to see what happens at the federal level.

The proposal last year from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and now former Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) would have regulated Internet poker while prohibiting other forms of online gambling to get support from liberals and conservatives. This proposal was the best chance for legislation at the federal level. Reid's office claims there might still be an opportunity to pass the bill this year, but passage will be difficult without Kyl in office to deliver Republican support. Poker lobbyists aren't going to completely abandon Capitol Hill, but it's become clear that their focus is better placed elsewhere.

“I think the tables have flipped, where it used to be a 70-30 focus on federal, and I think now it will be more like 30-70,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. “The PPA is really looking at the state opportunities for 2013 and making sure we are in a position to impact any bills moving at the state level.”

States that Pappas considers most likely to pursue online poker legislation this year are California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Iowa. Others, like Pennsylvania and Maryland, may emerge.

If anything does happen on the federal level, it will probably be in January and February as Congress addresses remaining issues from the fiscal cliff deal reached at the end of the lame-duck session. But Reid ran into an unwillingness to attach online poker to such legislation at the end of last year. With Kyl gone, the Republican side of the bill falls to Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who doesn't enjoy the seniority Kyl had in the party.

Kyl was against a revenue component to a federal bill, so his absence could put a revenue component that may make the idea more appealing back on the table.

“It's going to be really tough sledding to get a bill done in 2013 at the federal level,” Pappas said. “I think it's a combination of things, one being that there is no clear Republican ring leader aside from Heller, who's been great but having two people from gaming states leading this issue is probably not the combination that's going to equal success.”

As I wrote last year, going state-by-state rather than federal could be the best path. The Reid-Kyl bill was a prohibition with a poker carve-out, something longtime Internet gambling opponent Kyl saw as a way to stop states from moving on what he considered the greater evil of full gambling after being given the green light to do so by the Justice Department's decision that The Wire Act applied only to sports betting.

Even if someone doesn't have any interest in participating in other forms of online gambling, it feels hypocritical to ask for the freedom to play poker while accepting that other forms of gambling will be prohibited. But state-by-state has its drawbacks in that it will be slower to spread across the country and the rules and regulations won't necessarily align between states. Players in some states likely will see open competition from appealing sites and large player pools, while other states might offer more limited options.

The first big event of the year will be waiting to see whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signs — or at least allows to move into law — a bill that establish online gambling hosted by Atlantic City casinos in the Garden State. The bill passed through the New Jersey legislature in December, but that has happened before with Christie vetoing a similar bill in 2011.

With some changes made to address his concerns and Atlantic City more in need of help than ever after the hit in tourism caused by hurricane Sandy, there is reason to be optimistic this time around. Christie is expected to have until Feb. 7 to make his decision, though he did find a way to extend his deadline last time.

“The most important thing right now is New Jersey and getting that bill signed by the governor,” Pappas said. “It's somewhat frustrating that we don't have a clear signal on which way it's going to go. From the grassroots side, we've been pounding his office on a daily basis the last few weeks urging him to sign the bill.”

If Christie allows the bill, the first online poker sites are expected to go up within six months. That would place it in the middle of the year, about the time Nevada and Delaware are expected to have their sites operational.

This year could also mark the return of PokerStars to the U.S. market. The world's most popular poker site is rumored to be interested in purchasing an Atlantic City casino.

The PPA's main focus will move from Capitol Hill to Sacramento, where California is the most populous state with the most potential online poker players. California clearly has enough liquidity on its own for a thriving market, something Nevada and Delaware lack.

“The big crown jewel of all of this is California, so I think a lot of emphasis will be made on doing serious grassroots in California to demonstrate to lawmakers there that there is a voter appeal to these types of proposals.”

California State Sen. Roderick Wright once again is trying to push an online poker bill. Strife among the state's Indian tribes on the issue has derailed his attempts in recent years.

“One thing that has always hurt the chances in California is infighting between the tribes,” Pappas said. “Unfortunately, we don't have much control over how that plays out, but I've heard from a number of sources that a lot of the tribal dys

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Wellcome!!

Wow, this is really very nice.

The main aim of lobby groups in America has been to get Federal officials to pass some sort of legislation that would permit online gambling and in particular online poker in the USA. A great deal of money and time has been spent to convince the elected senators that online gambling is possible in America in a controlled and responsible manner.

The argument has pointed out the revenue generating aspects of legalization and has also made everyone aware of the safety regulations provide for consumers and problem gamblers. Unfortunately the differences that Tribal casino operators and various state representatives have voiced have kept the ball from moving in any direction. The Poker Players Alliance has spent enormous amounts of cash to lobby for changes at the federal level in America to no avail. They have realized that there is little hope of finding a majority for consensus at the Federal level. The new direction for the PPA is to lobby for legislation on a State by State basis. Executive Director for the PPA John Pappas commented. We will be largely focusing our efforts on passing player-friendly bills in the states where legislative action is brewing. It certainly is cooking in the States of Nevada Delaware and now New Jersey which is awaiting the signature of their governor Chris Christie to secure its place in the historical and slow changes to the legal landscape for online poker players in the USA.

The PPA is not giving up on Washington D.C., Pappas confided. Pappas indicated that the dominance of the big casino and resort operators in Nevada is an issue that was bound to take place. Caesars Interactive has also lobbied to a great degree to have some sort of legislation passed in Congress. Nevada and Delaware are the only states that have passed forms of online gambling legislation. Nevada permits only poker and the state will be the first to offer legal online poker sites which are expected to be launched in early 2013.

Pressure for Online Poker Legislation Hits Individual States

After federal poker legislation failed to pass in 2012, the Poker Players Alliance is turning its focus to the states.

Executive Director John Pappas says he has no plans to abandon his headquarters in Washington, DC, but he acknowledges “the fight for Internet poker is moving to the states.”

“[W]e will be largely focusing our efforts on passing player-friendly bills in the states,” Pappas wrote in The State of Poker in 2013.

In late 2011, after the Justice Department revised its stance on Internet gambling, states started “sending strong signals that they intend[ed] to push for Internet poker legislation,” Pappas stated.

However, in spite of efforts by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to include a carve-out for online poker in a federal bill that would have sought to ban other forms of online gambling, no legislation was formally introduced in 2012.

“t has become clear that last year’s dysfunctional Congress was a huge obstacle in our mission to secure safe and regulated Internet poker,” Pappas remarked. “Sadly, the prospects of the partisan Congress working together in 2013 does not look promising.”

Nevada and Delaware have already approved online poker, while New Jersey's governor could decide this month on the legalization of web poker. In California, a state senator is reviving the long-debated issue and Iowa legislators could be faced with a decision soon.

Even concerns that most states lack the liquidity needed to maintain a successful online poker ecosystem are being addressed.

The New Jersey legislation allows the state to combine its player pool with other states where online poker is legal, and Nevada lawmakers recently introduced an amendment that would allow the governor to approve interstate compacts for online poker.



PPA Confirms: Focus is Now on State by State | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Nevada is looking to legislatively authorize its governor to perhaps one day enter into partnerships with other states in order to create liquidity for online poker sites.

The efforts during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Feb. 4, will be at the request of gaming regulators, as well as Assemblyman William Horne, who was behind Nevada’s online gaming bill that became law during the summer of 2011.

Horne told Card Player that the proposed change in the language was something he wanted to include in the last session, but his plan was amended in order to get the bill passed.

“We don’t have the population to make online gaming possible,” Horne said, “but we do have the regulations.” Nevada’s Gaming Commission adopted rules for the upcoming industry in December 2011, the first move of its kind in United States gambling history.

Officials believe Nevada has a lot to offer since it has the regulatory framework already in place. Thus, a potential partner wouldn’t have to draft its own online gaming rules.

“They will be seeking expertise,” Horne said of other states looking at online poker.

Assembly Bill No. 5 is a byproduct of the Gaming Policy Committee meetings from last year, as well as the federal government not acting on the issue during 2012, according to Horne. A bill from Nevada Sen. Harry Reid didn’t come to fruition last month on Capitol Hill.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment, one of Nevada’s future web poker operators, echoed sentiment similar to Horne’s. The success of the industry hinges on interstate possibilities.

“We applaud the foresight and initiative Nevada’s leaders are taking to create the first robust online poker business in the United States,” a spokesperson for Caesars Interactive told Card Player through email. “We believe the opportunity for state compacts will be important from both regulatory standard and liquidity standpoints.”

Real-money online poker has not yet commenced in the Silver State, but some firm could be offering games during the first quarter of 2013, if technology testing is successful.


Nevada Could Turn To Partnerships For Web Poker

Figures released today by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show that state casinos took a huge hit at the end of 2012, with November revenue down more than 11 percent from the year before. This as the state finalized regulations for online poker, granting licenses to major casinos like MGM and Caesars to run online poker sites within the state, after proposed legislation by Sen. Harry Reid for federal regulation failed to win support during the Senate's December lame-duck session. Reid's bill, which would exclude poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (the provision of the SAFE Port Act that made operating an online poker room a felony, and resulted in the April 15, 2011 shutdown of the U.S. operations of three major online poker sites, a day that's come to be known as "Black Friday" among poker players) was perhaps the last federal-level effort to legalize and regulate online poker, as Reid's Chief of Staff David Krone confirmed: "Our goal is to definitely try again next year but Senator Reid's feeling is that after a while there comes a time when you've lost momentum, you've lost the consensus you've built. There will be a window next year, but I don't see it going long."

Meanwhile, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), formed after the passage of the UIGEA, has confirmed that its focus for 2013 and beyond is now on state-by-state legalization. As PPA Executive Director John Pappas recently told Poker Fuse: "It has become clear that last year’s dysfunctional Congress was a huge obstacle in our mission to secure safe and regulated Internet poker. Sadly, the prospects of the partisan Congress working together in 2013 does not look promising."

So far Nevada and Delaware are the only two states to have approved online poker, yet the New Jersey State Senate recently passed S1565, a bill which, in part, allows Atlantic City casinos to offer online gambling to state residents. The bill will become law unless Gov. Chris Christie vetoes it before the Feb. 3 deadline (but that doesn't look likely, considering Christie's recent supportive comments). Other states are in talks about similar legislation and it looks like 2013 will be the year wherein a patchwork of states, all having legalized online poker, will come together in a shared market, no doubt forcing the federal government to sort out its stance once they realize just how much money they're missing out on. Both S1565 and a recent Nevada amendment leave open the option for "interstate compacts," the legality of which is lost on me, so we'll have to see how it plays out once Nevada's poker sites are up and running sometime in the next couple of months. Still, poker players rejoice, it looks like 2013 may well be our year.


Will 2013 Be The Year For Online Poker? | Digital | SPLICETODAY-com

After winning the most in the online poker world in 2012, Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky is down more than $1.2 million to start this year, according to data from HighstakesDB.

A lot of his losses have come to Viktor Blom. The Swede took Sulsky for a ton earlier in the week, and then Sulsky got some back. However, on Thursday, the two faced off again, and Blom crushed the American.

Altogether, Sulsky dropped $1 million on the day to multiple opponents.

The 25-year-old New Hampshire native started playing poker in high school, and after a short break from the game, he managed to turn a meager bankroll into one that was capable of sustaining sessions at $500-$1,000 no-limit hold’em on Full Tilt Poker.

Sulsky told Card Player back in 2010 that he used to grind at Turning Stone Casino in New York, which is an 18-and-older brick-and-mortar property.

“I’d go there and sleep in my car all weekend, because I was playing $1-$2 and was really interested in turning a profit for the weekend,” Sulsky said. “I realized that I was spending $60 on gas and another $40 on food, so I needed to sleep in my car. I would be out there in upstate New York in December, freezing my ass off, going to bed at 6 a.m. after playing for 25 hours.”

It was only a few years before Sulsky was playing the biggest online games in the world.

Suslky also explained what has made him so successful in poker:

“I am not afraid to be aggressive when I should be. I do a lot of work away from the tables and am very self-critical of my game […] [M]y game has gotten pretty good from rigorously looking at hands every day and putting in a lot of time. I also just love the game, and don’t mind putting in the hands or taking shots, and moving down when I have to. I am not stuck in my ways, at all.”




Online Poker: Ben Sulsky Down More Than $1M In 2013

If senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl delay to obtain the right answer on their desire to introduce a bill for federal regulation of online gambling in the United States, fans of online poker can claim victory because the intrastate regulation is undergoing a huge success. Indeed, in Nevada, several operators have already won their approval and it only remains for them to follow some legal and administrative order to begin their operation. This expectation will still last a few months for passionate, until March or April but the delivery appears to be close. In Delaware, the bill to legalize online casino gambling was adopted in June 2012. Everyone must await the outcome of the project.


But in New Jersey, the process of legalizing online gambling market is in an excellent way. In December of the past year, the Senate passed the bill and the text is in the hands of the Governor, who may also adopt within 45 days. We must say that the frequent change of opinion of Governor Chris Christie makes players quite skeptical. However, after the election result, the Governor may lean toward formal ratification of the text. Iowa and California are also in the process of legalizing online poker market and sports betting. In Iowa, the President of the Gaming Commission expressed his desire to resolve the problem affecting this domain and announced that elected persons are the only master of the decision. In California, a new text will be studied this year. Note that federal regulation is not far from reality given the efforts made by the Poker Players Alliance and the divisions of opinion within the Republican camp.



Poker News - United States: The regulation of intrastate online poker progresses

After a one-year hiatus, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship will return to Caesars Palace this spring and will be televised on both NBC and the NBC Sports Network.

The tournament features 64 players competing in one-on-one games of No Limit Hold’em and is styled after the NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket. The players are seeded and then compete in a single-elimination format.

A player wins a match and advances to the next round; wins six matches and becomes the National Heads-Up Poker Champion.

The reigning champion is eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Erik Seidel, who defeated 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker to win the title in 2011.

The Heads-Up Championship had been sponsored by online poker companies before the federal government’s crackdown on illegal Internet poker. The World Series of Poker (WSOP-com) is the new presenting sponsor.

Three original airings on NBC and three on NBC Sports Network will begin March 14. The championship match will be televised on NBC on April 20.

This year’s event marks the eighth installment of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Heads-Up Poker Championship competitors have included Phil Hellmuth Jr., Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari.




National Heads-Up Poker Championship returns to Caesars Palace - Inside Gaming - ReviewJournal-com

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Wellcome!!

It's lamentable that Congress failed to act on Internet poker legislation before wrapping up its work for 2012. The global nature of online poker cries out for a federal solution, and a bill prepared by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and (now former) Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would have been a good start toward resolving the regulatory mess created by the Office of Legal Counsel, which decided in 2011 - at variance with long-held interpretation - that the Wire Act prohibited only interstate gambling on sporting events.

Nevadans have long known the importance of strict, transparent and enforceable gambling regulations. Our system of regulation has made Nevada a sought-after model worldwide for properly ensuring fair betting, and it has led to a thriving gambling industry that for decades has led the nation.

But now, absent legislation that exempts poker from the federal Internet gambling ban, individual states are seeking to pass regulations that would allow online poker within their respective borders. It's consistent with federal law, but it has the potential to create a confusing patchwork of rules and regulations that may frustrate both companies offering online poker as well as gamblers.

This is far from ideal. Sen. Reid and Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., should make the passage of online poker legislation a top priority for 2013, no matter the difficulty in dealing with lawmakers who would prefer to ban all online gambling and be done with it. The proliferation of offshore poker websites demonstrates that a head-in-the-sand approach is both ineffective and short-sighted.

However, in the meantime, it's not in Nevada's interest to simply wait for a federal law that may never come, or may come in a form disadvantageous to the state's primary industry.

A move is under way to create interstate compacts, in which an online poker system available initially only to Nevada residents is made available to residents in other states that have moved to legalize their own in-state poker games.

The approach is similar to agreements Nevada has struck with other Colorado River states for the use and storage of scarce water resources, in lieu of a more comprehensive rewriting of water laws at the federal level. But unlike water - which flows only through certain states - online poker has no geographical limits. Residents of next-door California would be able to gamble at online Nevada casinos just as easily as residents of far-off New Jersey, and vice versa.

Such a strategy would be good for Nevada casinos, and good for online gamblers who want choices and competition. But to do it, Nevada's Legislature must pass Assembly Bill 5, devised by Nevada's Gaming Control Board and the governor's office. The measure would allow Gov. Brian Sandoval to sign compacts with colleagues in other states that have legalized online poker.

Lawmakers should make passing AB 5 a top priority after the first gavel descends in Carson City next month.

The Poker Players Alliance will be focusing its efforts on state regulation of online poker in 2013, rather than on federal regulation, the lobbying group’s executive director said this week.

John Pappas, the PPA’s director, noted in a recent letter to members that while progress was made this year toward a federal bill in the United States, state regulation of online poker may be the most realistic goal for the short term:

There is much to looks back on with pride and strong reason to look forward to our future. With the latest federal effort behind us, it has become clear that last year’s dysfunctional Congress was a huge obstacle in our mission to secure safe and regulated Internet poker. Sadly, the prospects of the partisan Congress working together in 2013 does not look promising.

More and more, the fight for Internet poker is moving to the states. In the wake of the Justice Department decision that the Wire Act does not apply to online poker, states are sending strong signals that they intend to push for Internet poker legislation, including California, Massachusetts, Iowa, New York, and Illinois. It is likely that, as state legislatures reconvene in the coming weeks, several more will follow! Thusly, we will be largely focusing our efforts on passing player-friendly bills in the states where legislative action is brewing.

Pappas went on to say that federal lobbying efforts will not be entirely abandoned, noting that the PPA will continue to be headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Also this week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote an editorial that advocated for regulation of online poker across state borders, specifically the passage of a bill that would allow Nevada to enter into agreements with other states that allow online poker.

The editorial, while it calls for passage of a federal bill, notes that Nevada facilitating interstate online poker would be a step forward for regulation:

However, in the meantime, it’s not in Nevada’s interest to simply wait for a federal law that may never come, or may come in a form disadvantageous to the state’s primary industry.

A move is under way to create interstate compacts, in which an online poker system available initially only to Nevada residents is made available to residents in other states that have moved to legalize their own in-state poker games.

But to do it, Nevada’s Legislature must pass Assembly Bill 5, devised by Nevada’s Gaming Control Board and the governor’s office. … Lawmakers should make passing AB 5 a top priority after the first gavel descends in Carson City next month.





Poker Players Alliance Turns Lobbying Efforts to States

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is now focusing on state-level legalization and regulation of the online poker industry since the US federal government failed to implement any online poker bill in 2012. The entire online poker gaming community, including several key players in the online poker industry and advocates of online gambling legalization, had hoped that the online poker bill would be passed during the lame duck session of the Congress, but there was no such luck. Online poker legalization at the federal level refused to become a reality in 2012.

Speaking on the issue, John Pappas, executive director for PPA, said that he does not plan to leave his Washington DC headquarters, but acknowledged the fact that “the fight for Internet poker is moving to the states.” In 2013, Pappas stated in The State of Poker: “We will be largely focusing our efforts on passing player friendly bills in the states.” The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced in late 2011 that it has re-interpreted the Wire Act of 1961, according to which the law no longer applied to online poker gaming and online casino gaming, but only to online sports betting. As soon as the DoJ made this announcement, states began “sending strong signals that they intend to push for Internet poker legalization,” stated Pappas.

Senators Jon Kyl and Harry Reid made powerful efforts to push an online poker bill that would have legalized online poker while making all other forms of Internet gaming illegal. In spite of their strongest efforts, no poker law was implemented at the federal level in 2012.

Pappas remarked: “It has become clear that last year’s dysfunctional Congress was a huge obstacle in our mission to secure safe and regulated Internet poker. Sadly, the prospects of the partisan Congress working together in 2013 do not look promising.”

The states of Delaware and Nevada have already legalized online poker. The governor of New Jersey is expected to reveal his final decision on the issue of legalizing Internet poker in New Jersey. In Iowa, a senator is bringing back to life the Internet poker debate and lawmakers in Iowa could be forced to make a decision at the earliest possible.

The law in New Jersey permits the combining of state player pools with player pools in other states that have legalized online poker. Recently, lawmakers in Nevada announced that interstate compacts for Internet poker could be approved.



PPA to Focus on State Level Online Poker Legalization

After about a $5-million upswing to start the year on Full Tilt Poker software, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was decimated Sunday by Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond to the tune of $1 million, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB.

Blom had dominated Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky — online poker’s biggest winner last year — in the early stages of 2013 and had actually won some against Galfond recently, but Sunday spelled disaster for the 22-year-old Swedish poker professional.

Over about a couple thousand hands, Galfond put an end to the latest successes of Blom’s relentless aggression. One of the biggest hands of the session was at $200-$400 PLO.

Blom had the button and raised to $1,200. Galfond three-bet to $3,600. Blom called.

The flop came 8Diamond Suit 5Spade Suit 2Club Suit, and Galfond fired $4,248. Blom bumped it up to $12,400, and Galfond just called. The 4Spade Suit landed on the turn.

Galfond checked to his opponent, who bet $23,600. Galfond requested “time” before eventually shoving for $94,247.50. Blom quickly called the all-in bet.

Galfond exposed the 6Club Suit 4Diamond Suit 8Club Suit 7Diamond Suit, which had coolered Blom’s 10Heart Suit 6Diamond Suit 3Club Suit 2Spade Suit. The river brought a meaningless KHeart Suit, and Galfond raked in the $220,494.50 pot.

The two continued to battle until Blom eventually decided to call it quits.



(However, Swede Still Up $4 Million To Start 2013)







High-Stakes Online Poker: Phil Galfond Crushes Viktor Blom For $1 Million

Team PokerStars pro wins $25k “high roller” tournament for $1.5m as PCA 2013 draws to a close.

The 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure wrapped up its record-setting run with one of its own Team PokerStars pros, Vanessa Selbst, making history .in capturing the PCA’s series-ending $25,000 “High Roller” tourney—and in the process becoming poker’s all-time women’s leader in career poker tournament earnings.

Selbst’s triumph over 197 other entrants brought her $1,424,420 in winnings, and pushed her well past Kathy Liebert into the leading spot among women players, with $6,996,315. The win continues a huge start to 2013 for Selbst, who only days before announced her engagement to partner Miranda Forster.

Selbst’s series-ending headlines were far from the only big stories emerging from Nassau, however. All told, five players won over a million in individual events, including PCA Main Event champion Dimitar Danchev and $100,000 Super High Roller winner Scott Seiver.

Seiver’s win, worth $2,003,480, held up as the highest single payday of the 2013 PCA, while runner-up David “Doc” Sands collected $1,259,320. Six of the eight finalists in this one were Americans, including eventual sixth-place finisher Greg Jensen.

Jensen, an options trader who received his $100,000 buy-in for the event as a birthday present from another executive of his firm, ended up cashing for $286,000. Jensen donated the prize money to the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy.

The PCA main event looked to be a US-v-Canada affair, with three players each from those countries taking up most of the seats at the final table. But it was unknown Bulgarian online qualifier Dimitar Danchev who notched the breakthrough win.

Danchev’s life-changing score of $1,859,000 came at the expense of American Joel Micka, who had to settle for a second-place payday of $1,190,000.

The 37 other events that filled out the busy ten-day slate produced other good stories as well. The first-ever major open-faced Chinese tourney was held at the PCA, with Canada’s Peter Jetten claiming top honors and a $52,280 payday. Among other well-known winners in the PCA’s side events were Team PokerStars pro Marcel Luske (who won twice), Grant Levy, John Racener and John Dibella.

All told, the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure paid out $28,239,728 in prize money, almost 30% more than the 2012 series. Nearly 1,600 players participated in at least one PCA event, generating 6,101 tournament entries, another record.

According to PCA director David Carrion: “Our goal for this tenth PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was to create an amazing poker experience that everyone would enjoy and no one would ever forget! We know from player feedback throughout the festival that we have truly exceeded people’s expectation and have delivered on our promise to provide the 'best ten days of poker on the planet.’





Vanessa Selbst Becomes All-Time Women's Tournament Earnings Leader | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

As part of the implementation of a good regulation of online gambling market, the Gaming Commission of Nevada is considering a bill called the "Assembly Bill 5," a bill that aims to implement a common liquidity between American states that have already legalized online poker market. With the current law, operators licensed in this state may have difficulty to have profit because the market is rather small. In fact, Nevada has only 2.7 million inhabitants. And anyone know how many of them are keen of online poker and how many are willing to play in the internet version of this game. Thus, local authorities will discuss about this new bill on February 4. If it gets a majority vote, the Governor of Nevada will conduct the search for a common agreement with other governors of states with regulated online poker how this sharing of liquidity can be integrated in terms of tax and administrative.

Apart from Nevada, Delaware is the only U.S. state where online poker is already legal. The bill was signed by the Governor in June 2012. It remains therefore to continue the legal process to realize the project. In the other hand, California and New Jersey are in negotiations. In New Jersey, the final decision belong to the Governor Chris Christie who already opposed once to the regulation of the market. His verdict will be unveiled within 45 days.




Poker News - United States: Towards a common liquidity on online poker in Nevada

Bridgewater Associates CEO Greg Jensen manages one of the biggest hedge funds in the world with assets of $130 billion. The 37 year old was also out in The Bahamas recently enjoying the sun and a bit of recreational poker at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

When asked to describe his poker background, Jensen replied: “I’m just an amateur player and played a little bit when I was younger. I just play for fun.”

However, fun to one of the world’s richest men includes entering a $100,000 PCA Super High Roller event with a field consisting of some of the world’s best players. These included the likes of Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Jason Mercier and Vanessa Selbst to name just a few.

Nevertheless, there are certain transferable skills between playing poker and many other business activities and as Greg Jensen explained prior to entering the $100k event: “There’s a bit of similarity. I work a lot with probabilities and such. Being able to stay calm helps.”

Greg Jensen also acknowledged he’d have to “get lucky to win,” and although he didn’t finish victorious in the 47 player event, he did still reach the final table, eventually finishing 6th to add $286,200 to his poker tally. Apparently one of his friends bought him the $100k tournament buy-in as a birthday present. Jensen not only managed to grow that fund too but he then promptly donated the whole of his winnings to the victims of the Newtown school shootings. An impressive performance all round, then, by the finance wizard.

Internet gaming firms may be having some issues trying to enter the United States online poker market, but it appears that one may be about to enter the brick-and-mortar arena. Rational Group, parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, has entered into an agreement to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in Atlantic City from Resorts International Holdings.

According to an article in The Press of Atlantic City by Donald Wittkowski, the Rational Group has filed an application with New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement to begin the process of interim casino authorization. Once that process is completed, it will still be up to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to give final approval. The Division of Gaming Enforcement’s investigation can last a maximum of 90 days, while the Casino Control Commission will have 30 days to complete its end of things.

“The acquisition of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel will secure up to 2,000 jobs and maintain the economic benefits the casino brings to New Jersey,” the Rational Group said in a statement along with the casino’s COO Michael Frawley.

The Rational Group has also expressed its commitment to rehabilitating the casino’s business, saying, “Rational US is a willing and enthusiastic prospective purchaser, and it intends to improve the financial viability of the property, and, therefore, the offerings available in Atlantic City.”

The Atlantic Club is one of Atlantic City’s oldest casinos, built in 1980 by Steve Wynn’s Golden Nugget Companies and Michael Milken (it was originally named the Golden Nugget). It was the sixth casino built in Atlantic City, which had only legalized gambling four years prior. Wynn sold the property at Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk in 1987 to Bally Manufacturing, which changed the name to Bally’s Grand. The casino’s name changed once again when Hilton Hotels Corporation bought Bally Entertainment and it became known as the Atlantic City Hilton. The casino was sold again in 2005 to Resorts International Holdings and was renamed to Atlantic Club in 2012, when it was renovated and marketed as a locals casino.

Atlantic Club has been struggling financially, seeing a $13.6 million gross operating loss through the first three quarters of 2012. Its 2012 gambling revenue dropped 11 percent to $127.2 million, ranking it 10th of the 12 Atlantic City casinos.

This deal might not have been were it not for a late edit to the bill that passed through the state legislature in December that would permit online gambling in the state. Added was a section that permits offshore gaming firms to apply for New Jersey casino licenses, something that was not originally in the legislation. Thus, Rational Group can begin its approval process.

This is not the company’s first foray into brick-and-mortar gaming. In October, PokerStars entered into a deal with the Hippodrome Casino in London to upgrade and renovate its poker room and then rebrand it with the PokerStars name. In December, PokerStars inked a partnership with Casino Gran Madrid to build a new PokerStars-branded poker room in the Spanish casino.






PokerStars Agrees to Buy New Jersey