The Nightly Turbo: Rio for Sale, Full Tilt Poker Court Case Dismissed, and More
Harrah's has put the Rio on the chopping block, we've got an update on a Full Tilt Poker court case, and more, and it's all in tonight's Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Day 1b of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final saw 497 players take the field ― not all survived. The Day 1b recap has the story.
We recently caught up with David "GhettoFabolous" Randall to talk poker, coaching and golf. Check it out.
The start of the World Series of Poker is just about a month away, and we've got a list of players that haven't played before. You know how we like our lists. The first Rookie is Jeff Sarwer ― the chess pro turned poker pro will be making his first appearance on the WSOP felt and we've got a preview.
Moneymaker on Break
Gloria Balding caught up with Chris Moneymaker on the break of Day 2 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final. They talk about how his day is going (he was the chip leader for a bit during the day), why he's content playing the stakes he's playing, and his EPT schedule.
Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news and be sure to add us on Facebook.
World Team Poker
The World Team Poker event at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas is just a few weeks away now and more team lineups have been released.
Eli Elezra will be known as the captain of Team Israel. Josh Arieh, David Levi, brothers Robert and Michael Mizrachi and Abe Mosseri will make up the team.
Team China has two team captains, Johnny Chan and David Chiu. The team is comprised of Maria Ho, Chau Giang, Winfred Yu, and Yuegi "Rich" Zhu.
The event is open to the public, so if you're in Vegas on May 19, head on over to the Golden Nugget to check it out. PokerNews will be bringing you all the updates from the felt as well.
Check out WorldTeamPoker.com for more.
Full Tilt Poker Dodges Bullets
Full Tilt Poker has had plenty of legal worries, but the company is now minus two of them. A court case involving Lary Kennedy and Greg Omotoy, in which the two sued FTP for false advertising, libel, and fraud was thrown out by the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. The two had alleged that the company had taken over $80,000 out of their accounts. Full Tilt dismissed the claims as "frivolous" and "baseless."
The second case, in Kentucky, involved parent company Pocket Kings. A Franklin Circuit Court declared that Pocket Kings had not been served in a timely fashion and therefore discovery could not be permitted. It's not out of the woods yet ― "As of entry of this order, the only named defendant, Pocket Kings Ltd, has not been served. The Court finds that allowing discovery here would be premature until Pocket Kings has been served, and until the Court has reviewed any responsive pleadings that Pocket Kings may file."
RecentPoker.com has more.
New Ringleader at the Rio?
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Harrah's Entertainment is seeking to sell the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Two companies are submitting bids on the property: Starwood Capital Global LLC and Colony Capital LLC. The bids are valuing the Rio at around $500 million. This comes just months after Harrah's purchased Planet Hollywood. There have been no comments from Harrah's or either bidding company.
What does this mean for the future of the World Series of Poker? We know the Rio will be home for many of you this summer ― but there is no word on any subsequent WSOP.
You can read more about the Harrah's/Rio story at BusinessWeek.com.
Absolutely Scandalous
We know the Absolute Poker scandal happened a while ago but it has come to our attention that some information has been confirmed. Haley Hintze has posted a pretty long blog uncovering the identity of the person associated with the "Potchopper" account, which was the "observer" account that monitored the "PotRipper" account. There are screen shots that are said to be "unphotoshopped" that tie the account to Scott Tom, one founder of Absolute Poker. The blog goes into the PotRipper account history, as well.
Hintze alludes to more news on the AP and UB scandals, which we'll presumably hear about in future posts, but for now, check out the latest one at Haley's Poker Blog.
