Dwan and Ivey Set New TV Cash-Game Poker Record

Poker on television continues to see an increase in popularity thanks to the ridiculous pots generated by high-stakes aces who are looking to felt their opponents on every turn. Until recently, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Barry Greenstein held the record for the largest pot played out on the boob tube, but that has changed thanks to a recent hand on Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game (televised on SKYTV in Europe).

During the recent hand, Dwan tackles the man behind last year’s biggest poker story, (two World Series of Poker bracelets and making the WSOP Main Event final table) Phil Ivey. The new record sits at $1,108,500 after both players got their money in while holding straights.

The action saw Dwan, on the button and holding {7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}, create a sizable preflop pot of $33,500 against Ivey who defended his small blind while holding {a-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}. The flop came {j-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}, giving Dwan and Ivey gutshot straight draws. Ivey then led out for $35,00 with the wheel and backdoor nut flush draw. Dwan didn’t hesitate to make the call with his straight draw.

This is where things got interesting, as the {4-Hearts} fell on the river. Ivey quickly bumped the pot by $90,000 and Dwan insta-raised to $232,500. The emotionless Ivey then moved all-in, pushing the pot well past seven figures only to see Dwan insta-call with the nut straight. The river failed to improve Ivey’s hand, leaving him nothing to do but sit and stew about the way the hand played out. Ironically, it was fellow player Patrik Antonius who kept wincing at the hand results, not Ivey, who remained stone-faced despite losing the monster hand.

Party Gaming Settles with the US for $105 Million Dollars

In order to avoid prosecution in the United States PartyGaming has made $105 million agreement with the US Attorney’s Office. The company is supposed to pay the settlement over a three year period.

Before the UIGEA was in affect in the United States PartyGaming’s subsidiary Party Poker offered online poker to American players, but after the law was passed the company chose to leave the US market.

PartyGaming has accepted a Statement of Facts that the company offered online gambling services on the US market between 1997 and 2006 and that some transactions conducted by third parties for the company were against the current laws in the US.

By settling for $105 PartyGaming avoids prosecution in the US and can proceed with future endeavors and investments. PartyGaming has also agreed to stay out of the US market under current legislation.

After the news of the settlement became official the PartyGaming stock increased by 15 %.

Bodog Has Their Domain Back

Bodog.com has been down in more than one and a half year because of a prolonged court process. But as of yesterday it’s linking to the Bodoglife.com domain.

It was in 2007 that the gaming company Bodog lost control over its main domain. Bodog was sued by 1st Technology for stealing a patent. This matter has now been settled in court by Bodog’s current owner Morris Mohawk Gaming Group costing the company $48 million.

The prolonged court process has hurt Bodog badly. After loosing the main domain name Bodog went from one of the 10 ten largest poker rooms in the world to number 15. But now the main domain is once again pointing toward BodogLife. The question is, does Bodog has what it takes to rise once again?

EPT Grand Finals Begin in Monte Carlo

The EPT Grand Final is about to begin in Monte Carlo. Poker pros from all over the world gather in the tiny Mediterranean kingdom to battle it out – while enjoying life big time.

Poker has been called “a hard way to make an easy living”, and anyone who’s tried it knows that there’s some truth to this. At times, though, life in the fast lane of professional poker is just really easy.
Life is easy as hell

David Williams arrived in the Nice airport and took a helicopter to Monaco and his room at five star hotel “Le Meridien” – despite being afraid of heights.

Evelyn Ng lost a chocolate croissant to a huge seagull that flew in through the window and snatched it from her room at the Monte Carlo Bay – also five stars.

Now the Mediterranean sun has come out behind light morning clouds. Some players hit the pool while others sit down to play tournament poker. Day 1A of the EPT Grand Final is about to start.
Role model for Las Vegas

For centuries, this classic place has been providing ultra-easy life for people in the very fastest lanes of life. Luxurious hotels, fine dining, wonderful beaches and of course, ultra high stakes gambling of all kinds – Monaco truly is the elegant older brother of Las Vegas.

Usually there’s not much poker to be found in the Monegasque casinos, but when the professional poker circuit hits town, this detail is taken care of.

The buy-in to the EPT Grand Final is €10,000 (around $14,000). Besides that, the side action will go wild, and the town will get to see some ultra high stakes cash games in luxury suites of various five star hotels.
Ultra high stakes action

Expect to see sit-and-gos with buy-ins at $10,000 and China poker at $1,000 per point. That’s standard. Also, rumor has it a guy called Cheescake is setting up a game of high stakes HORSE. We’ll tell you more when we catch any news.

It’s in the small and de facto-French town of Monte Carlo that Season 5 of the European Poker Tour will end in a big bang grand final in the days to come. It’s about to start right now. The roof just opened to allow sunlight and fresh air into the fancy parlor. What a show!

The last days of competition will be sent live over the internet on Poker Stars TV. That’s poker television at its very best.

Internet Data-deletion Debate Heating Up

The European Parliament is worried about your data sitting dormant on websites of all kinds and last week began formal discussions to further regulate personal data on the Internet. Greek Member of the European Parliament Stavros Lambrinidis is preparing a report for a plenary session in Strasbourg calling for “more stringent and efficient means of user data protection.” Australia, China, Singapore, and Japan also had similar legislative stirrings in recent weeks.

The industry spent a dozen years fighting US Congressman Ed Markey’s (D-MA) efforts to regulate the Internet. Markey, though, just passed the chairmanship of the House Subcommittee responsible for telecommunications, technology and the

Internet to one of the House’s most tech-savvy Congressmen, Rick Boucher (D-VA).

As the 1960 boatlift Cubans in Miami claissically lamented, “We prayed for the overthrow of Batista; then we got Castro!” High on Boucher’s list of priorities is a bill to regulate privacy of Internet users. Of most concern to online gaming businesses will be a specific “opt-in” clause for users before data can be shared with other providers.

Why the sudden activity? Congress, Parliament and most governmental bodies seize their opportunities from headlines. This has been quite a few weeks with scandals providing fuel. NBC News reported recently that a back door existed in many popular music file-sharing programs that could allow hackers into one’s computer to download tax forms, university applications and personal bank account information.

Recently, Minnesota Senate candidate Norm Coleman’s website allowed anyone to download his entire donor database, including addresses and credit card numbers. MSNBC’s interviewed data security expert Adria Richards, who found the security issue and reported it on her blog. The Coleman gaffe could crimp his plans to continue his challenge against Al Franken for that long-disputed Senate seat. Could you imagine a solicitation letter for Coleman’s legal challenge fund including the line, “Sorry, please send more money and by the way, you need to get a new credit card?”

Elsewhere, Facebook was thrown into a crisis over a minor change in its website Terms and Conditions (T&C) allowing them to keep your data indefinitely — mostly because it is too difficult to erase from 115 million users. So loud was the uproar that they changed it back to their original terms.

This type of change could affect your poker/gaming sites. What can you do to protect your data already out there on the Web? If you cease doing business with a gaming site, make sure to delete your account and all personal info. Write to the company and ask them to delete your account and all personal information. Same for the payment agencies they use.

No matter where you play, change and update your info regularly. Don’t automatically store passwords; use a simple password saver program and auto-generator.

Examine what data is stored on your ‘my account’ page and is no longer needed and can be deleted. I’ve left five or six online poker sites during the last three years and never thought much about the issue of data protection; my personal info, including a faxed copy of my passport’s main page, sits in one site’s office.

Also, check your computer’s msconfig file periodically to see what programs start automatically and run all the time. Aside from improving speed and performance of your machine, there is no need for a lot of these programs to run 24/7 and some of these are where trojans and other malware programs can attach themselves and compromise your files.

A change of this magnitude could, conceivably, affect security on the operator side, making it more difficult for sites to find bots, colluders and multi-accounting players, and thereby make it more difficult to keep the online game safe and fair for all. In the UK, data-protection laws are interpreted with such strict, minute detail that even trying to arrange a furniture delivery, if my wife purchased it, is impossible, because, “They must speak to the person who placed the order.”

With the US, EU and Asia looking independently at the issue, any result will have little impact on those who steal data for a living; they will simply find another way. It could, though, create a confusing maze of tougher standards for all and would be difficult to maintain and implement.

For an industry deeply involved in a fight to overthrow UIGEA, this issue is among the thorniest. Since Congress, Parliament and regulators are not known for taking smart action, this is one fight to watch and weigh in on early.

Editor’s note: Contributing columnist Denis Campbell brings an independent and experienced eye to poker’s political scene. Campbell has worked closely in the past with former Cabinet Secretaries in the Carter and Clinton administrations, Ambassadors and members of Congress. He offers commentary on US and UK politics for the BBC and Huffington Post, and is currently the editor-in-chief of UK Progressive Magazine. Here, Denis offers his insights on matters affecting poker. Denis’ views do not necessarily reflect those of PokerNews.

Poker News Cup Alpine Begins

Satellite play began yesterday and action kicked off today in the first event of the PokerNews Cup Alpine in Salbaach-Hinterglemm, Austria, near Salzburg, a destination famous for its world-class skiing but playing host to a different sort of world-class competition for the next week. Hundreds of players are expected to be on hand for several of the events, with a complete overview of the PNC Alpine offering.

The schedule of events is highlighted by a “high rollers” pot-limit Omaha tourney on Tuesday, March 24th, which features a €4,700+300 buy-in. The PNC Alpine Cup Main Event (€1375+125) begins on Wednesday, March 25th and runs for three days. A number of high-profile players have already confirmed their attendance, including Marcel Luske, Sandra Naujoks, Noah Boeken, John Duthie, David Saab, Tristan Clemenceau, Markus Golser, Erich Kollman, and of course, PokerNews’ own Team Captain, Tony G.

Live coverage of PNC Alpine events at PokerNews.com begins tomorrow and will run through the duration of the event schedule. For more information on the structures of the various events.

The complete 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine schedule of events:

Day/Date Starting Time Event # Title (Buy-in)

Sat 3/21 6:00pm #1 NLHE Welcome Event (€100+10)
Sun 3/22 2:00pm #2 NLHE w/ rebuys (€50+5/€50 rebuys)
Mon 3/23 2:00pm #3 NLHE w/ bounties (€100+10)
Mon 3/23 7:00pm #3b NLHE Sat. to Event #5 w/ rebuys (€100+10/€100 rebuys)
Tues 3/24 2:00pm #4 PLO (€270+30)
Tues 3/24 4:00pm #5 High Rollers PLO (€4,700+300)
Wed 3/25 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Day 1 (€1375+125)
Thurs 3/26 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Day 2
Fri 3/27 2:00pm #7 NLHE (€100+10)
Fri 3/27 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Final Table

Dream Table III Begins Tonight on ‘Poker After Dark’

South Carolina Senator Introduces Bill to Allow Private Poker Games

A South Carolina legislator has introduced a new bill to legalize social gambling and gambling-themed fundraisers, thereby reversing the state’s two-plus century old law against such activities. Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) has introduced the bill to allow for gambling in private homes when there is no house profit, as well as to allow churches and other non-profit organizations to hold “casino night”-style fundraisers that do not involve slot machines, video gambling, or sports betting.
In introducing the bill, Sen. McConnell referred to the state’s 207-year-old anti-gambling law that bans “any game with cards or dice,” a law which, if taken literally, would outlaw board games such as Monopoly. Sen. McConnell, who chairs the state senate’s Judiciary Committee, believes the government should not be in the business of preventing a group of friends from gathering around kitchen tables to play cards. He also added that updating the law would give charities a “much-needed tool for fundraising” during a period when the recession has negatively affected donations.

Last Friday, John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, said the PPA lauded McConnell’s bill, noting that South Carolina was one of only a few states that currently did not allow “friendly games of poker” to be played in private homes.

The bill comes less than a month after five South Carolina poker players were found guilty of illegal gambling in a Mt. Pleasant court, despite the fact that the municipal judge in the case agreed with the argument that Texas hold’em is in fact a skill-based game. The defendants in the case had participated in a privately-run hold’em tournament with a $20 buy-in. The ruling in that case will be appealed.

Sen. McConnell will likely face a difficult battle to push his bill forward. Sen. Wes Hayes (R-Rock Hill) referred to the relatively recent struggle over video poker in the state, which underwent an arduous legislative fight before the state finally banned video poker in 2000. “It’s a delicate balance,” said Hayes, noting that he’d rather have outdated laws than open up the possibility of allowing unwanted forms of gambling to return to the state.

Two years ago, a similar bill to allow private poker games was introduced by former House Rep. Wallace Scarborough (R-James Island) in response to the Mt. Pleasant raid, but that bill never made it out of committee. Other attempts to legalize raffles have failed as well, with the only legal raffle currently allowed in South Carolina being the state-run lottery.

Vanessa Rousso Poker News

Vanessa Rousso can speak three languages. She’s a citizen of two countries, graduated from Duke in two and a half years, and one look at her academic resume (debate team, business club, mock trial, volunteer work and the Alpha Delta Pi sorority) conjures an image of an overachieving young woman not unlike Election’s Tracy Flick. Rousso has a knack for achieving her goals in record time and her rise in the poker world came on just as quickly. With less than three years of professional play behind her, Rousso has already earned close to $2 million playing tournament poker both live and online — all while earning a law degree on the side. Not bad for a 26-year-old.

Vanessa Rousso was born on February 5, 1983 in White Plains, NY. She grew up in Paris, living there until she was 10, when her parents divorced and her mother decided to return to the United States. Vanessa went with her and after moving around the east coast quite a bit, they finally settled down in Wellington, FL, where her mom worked as a high school guidance counselor. In high school, Vanessa showed advanced academic aptitude and graduated as her class valedictorian, earning a full scholarship to Duke University.

Rousso majored in economics and minored in political science at Duke. Several courses in game theory also drew her interest. She began playing backgammon and chess to apply the skills she’d learned in the classroom, but soon found herself taken with the mathematical and psychological aspects of poker. On track to graduate three semesters early, Rousso began playing online while she was applying to law schools. She was accepted to the University of Miami, and was offered a full scholarship. While at law school, Rousso turned 21 and was finally able to play live. The Hard Rock Seminole Casino was a short trip down the freeway and Rousso began making frequent trips, building her bankroll and gaining experience by playing $65 single-table sit-’n'-goes.

After completing her first year of law school in May 2005, Rousso traveled to New Orleans to play in a WSOP Circuit side event. She ended up finishing seventh in the $200 no-limit hold’em event, earning about $6,400. Buoyed by her success in the Crescent City, Rousso decided to hit up the World Series of Poker that summer. She cashed the ladies event in 45th place, and picked up an extra couple of grand when she won one of the Palms’ daily tournaments. In the fall she returned to law school, but played poker whenever she had a chance—either online or traveling to small buy-in tournaments on breaks. She made three cashes and two final tables in early 2006, her biggest score coming in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event at Atlantic City’s WSOP-Circuit stop where she banked $17,550. That’s when Vanessa Rousso got a funny idea in her head — she wanted to play in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championships.

To buy in directly would have nearly leveled her bankroll, so Rousso sought out backers, selling shares of herself to a number of friends to come up with the $25,000. With nothing more than a dream and a whole lot of chutzpah, Rousso sat down amidst poker’s elite and much to everyone’s surprise, she ground her way to a seventh-place finish and a $263,625 score, busting on the TV final-table bubble when her A-K fell to James Van Alstyne’s A-J. Her breakout performance at Bellagio put her on everyone’s radar, and soon she was signed to a sponsorship deal as a member of Team Poker Stars Pro. It’s also where she met the man who would become her fiancé, Chad Brown, who finished the tournament right behind her in ninth place.

Rousso cashed three times at the 2006 WSOP, her best finish coming in $5,000 Short-handed No-Limit Hold’em, where she finished eighth. She cashed the 2006 WPT Legends of Poker in 42nd place and appeared on the WPT’s Ladies Night Out IV, where she finished fifth. Returning to the east coast in September, Rousso ended up taking down her first major event, winning the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Borgata Poker Open. The win was Rousso’s largest-ever live score, at $285,540.

In the two years that followed, Rousso added three WPT cashes, three WSOP cashes, and two WSOP-Circuit cashes to her growing C.V. She also made her largest tournament cash ever – via an online event – when she finished second in the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event for $700,000. Rousso also made several appearances on NBC’s “Poker After Dark,” winning $120,000 in a six-handed, winner-take-all sit-’n'-go with the theme “Gus and the Ladies” featuring Gus Hansen, J.J. Liu, Erica Schoenberg, Beth Shak, Clonie Gowen, and Rousso. She also started traveling on PokerStars’ Latin American and European Poker Tours, notching a tenth-place finish at the 2008 LAPT-Punta del Este and a 39th-place finish at the 2008 EPT London. It looked like Rousso was headed for her first WPT final table at the 2009 Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi last month, but she ended up with another break-your-heart seventh-place finish, bubbling the televised final table once again.

When she’s not living out of her suitcase on the tournament circuit, Vanessa Rousso lives in Las Vegas with her husband-to-be, Chad Brown.