Gossip, twitter, etc.
Reacting to the decision by the United States Supreme Court, the state of New Jersey – the state the brought the lawsuit that pushed the decision by the SCOTUS – has been quick to bring to life their sports betting industry. Casinos are having to make some moves also, such as the decision by the… Read more »
It seems of late that the “Gray Lady,” the venerable New York Times, has been paying a great deal of attention to the world of poker. A couple of weeks ago, the Times featured an article on “retired” poker professional Vanessa Selbst’s new life as a hedge fund manager. Now the Times is going the… Read more »
The world of poker is one that has been in a state of flux for some time. In its early days on the Mississippi riverboats where the game was arguably born, the 20-card pack (Aces through tens of the four suits) dictated that the game of poker was a four-player game. As the U. S.… Read more »
Former professional basketball player Charles Oakley pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his arrest for cheating at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He will not receive any jail time. Oakley played for five teams in his NBA career, but he was best known for his decade with the New York Knicks. He… Read more »
For a good part of the past decade, there has been the occasional murmur that Caesars was looking to sell the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, the home of the World Series of Poker. Late last week, the rumors kicked up again, this time via the Las Vegas happenings blog, VitalVegas.com. On Thursday, Vital Vegas… Read more »
Poker players are known for their love of prop bets, so here’s a fun one: poker pro Antonio Esfandiari will be taking on comedian and actor Kevin Hart in a boxing match in March 2019. The two agreed that Hart is a massive favorite, so Hart gave Esfandiari 35-to-1 odds. The two men are basically… Read more »
It’s been quite an exciting six months of poker for Justin Bonomo. Since the start of 2018, Bonomo has been on a tear in the High Roller world, winning ten championships and making 19 final tables. That tear has brought in $24,811,941 (thanks Hendon Mob!) in just seven months…or maybe less, if you extrapolate Bonomo’s… Read more »
In the entirety of her poker career, Vanessa Selbst has been a focal point of the game because of her skills on the felt. One area that she seemed to lack in, however, was the general (read: non-poker) media, even though she was arguably one of the most successful players in the game. In fact,… Read more »
While it might not be as popular as it once was, reading someone’s guidelines for success in business, athletic endeavors or life in general through a book is a great way to learn. Picking up these useful tools as recounted by successes in that field is also popular in poker, but it has been a… Read more »
California poker pro Seyed Reza Ali Fazeli pleaded guilty to a charge of federal wire fraud for stealing $6.2 million from “investors” in a ticket resale scheme. The 49-year old Fazeli was originally indicted in March on two counts of wire fraud. Fazeli created a ticket selling company called Summit Entertainment and from May 2016… Read more »
This is slightly old news, but with the 2018 World Series of Poker having occupied our thoughts for a while, forgive us if we missed this. Aussie poker pro James Obst announced this month that he plans to ditch that “pro” designation, effectively retiring from full-time poker. Most young poker pros – Obst is just… Read more »
On the whole, behavior by players at the World Series of Poker is good. While there might be occasions that arguments, disagreements and other altercations break out, floor staff and security are usually quick to snuff it out. Two situations have come to light recently, however, which demonstrate either the difficulty of the floor personnel’s… Read more »
There was a great deal of hand wringing from Caesars Entertainment officials prior to the start of the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship Event. Would the “Main Event” continue to be the draw that it had been in the past, they wondered. Would the “Main Event” continue the upswing that they had seen… Read more »
The Main Event isn’t the only news coming out of the 2018 World Series of Poker this week as the Poker Hall of Fame has announced the list of ten finalists for this year’s induction class. The finalists were determined by a public nominations process followed by a review by the Poker Hall of Fame… Read more »
In an incident on social media that occurred earlier this week, poker professional and 2016 World Series of Poker champion Ryan Laplante was the victim of what appears to be a gay bashing attack. In this particular case, it is another poker player who wrote the unfortunate words. It All Started with a Tweet… On… Read more »
A two-year old staking dispute between poker pro and World Series of Poker Circuit event destroyer Maurice Hawkins and attorney Hal Lewis that became a legal battle has ended amicably, according to recently filed court documents. The issue goes back to early 2016 when the two men met in Jacksonville. After they got to know… Read more »
The summer of 2018 has seen several states step up to offer sports betting – both live and online – to their constituents. But one thing that some thought would be swept up in the passage of sports betting regulations – the regulation of online casino gaming and poker – has failed to materialize. Rhode… Read more »
In a move that surprised some in the casino and gaming industry, American Gaming Association Chief Executive Officer Geoff Freeman has decided to step down as the head of the powerful trade organization. “The AGA accomplished many important successes during Geoff’s tenure, most notably the recent Supreme Court ruling declaring the Professional and Amateur Sports… Read more »
After facing the slings and arrows of the poker community – especially over the past year as he captured the 2017 World Series of Poker’s Player of the Year award – poker professional Chris Ferguson has issues what he believes was an apology for his actions with Full Tilt Poker and “Black Friday.” In a… Read more »
Have you ever heard of the Boomtown Casino Hotel in Reno, Nevada? Well, the casino execs probably wish you hadn’t right about now because they are in some shit. On May 15th, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) filed a complaint against Boomtown’s parent company, BCH Gaming Reno, LLC for putting affiliate links on its… Read more »
Citizens of the States of America can have the tendency to think that they’re the only country that matters. This creates a bit of animosity, especially when the international community is called the “rest of the world.” With this in mind – and with the World Series of Poker around the corner – we here… Read more »
With his absence being one of the biggest mysteries over the past couple of years in tournament poker, one of the legends in the game, poker professional Phil Ivey, has stated that he plans to participate in this year’s World Series of Poker. In an interview with Frank Op de Woerd and Laura Cornelius of… Read more »
Last week’s big news in poker circles was the lawsuit filed by professional poker player Gordon Vayo against PokerStars in U.S. District Court. We covered it, every poker media outlet covered it (mainstream news site, Forbes, covered it before everyone), and the poker internet message forums are talking about it. On Monday morning, The Stars… Read more »
After more than a week with little to no information or developments in the case, popular high stakes poker player/businessman Bill Perkins is dipping into his own pocket to offer a little incentive for information. Perkins, who routinely is found in some of the biggest High Roller tournaments around the world and in the biggest… Read more »
Gordon Vayo, the runner-up in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event, has filed a lawsuit against PokerStars (more specifically, Rational Entertainment Enterprises Limited (REEL), but for our purposes, it’s PokerStars) in the U.S. District Court Central District of California Western Division because the online poker room has refused to pay him nearly $700,000… Read more »
