The Weekly Turbo: Bodog Changes URL, WSOP Grudge Matches, and More
Wondering what you missed this weekend? Well, Bodog changed its URL, the WSOP Grudge Match fan vote winner was announced, and more. Read on to catch up.
Bodog.eu
No, Bodog was not part of the latest round of indictments. The company has gone ahead and moved its domain from Bodog.com to Bodog.eu. The only message from Bodog on this change is on home page itself, which is the image you see right here. According to Bodog, the change was made to allow it to continue to expand into new markets, but we can't help but think it's a preventive measure — just in case.
As of Monday night, it was being reported that the newly indicted websites were beginning to show the seizure graphic. Instead of "seized by the FBI," which appears on the sites from the first round of indictments, these say "seized by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations."
2011 WSOP Grudge Match
A little over a month ago, the World Series of Poker announced its Grudge Matches. Two were already decided and the third was left up to a fan vote. Voting is now closed and a winner has been revealed. We're not going to say our debate on the Grudge Matches swayed anyone's opinion, but that's probably what it was.
According to the WSOP's Twitter account, Erik Seidel and Johnny Chan will relive their 1988 WSOP Main Event matchup on June 2. The Grudge Matches will air on ESPN on July 26 in two back-to-back episodes.
June 2 Grudge Match Lineup
- Phil Hellmuth vs. Johnny Chan (1989 WSOP Rematch)
- Chris Moneymaker vs. Sammy Farha (2003 WSOP Rematch)
- Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel (1988 WSOP Main Event)
WPT Spanish Championship
The final table of the Spanish Championship, the first event of Season X of the World Poker Tour was set on Saturday. There's a good chance that by the time you read this, the final table will already be streaming live on the PartyPoker Blog, so check out the lineup and then click the link below so you can watch all the action.
WPT Spanish Championship Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romain Matteoili | 1,336,000 |
| 2 | Artur Koren | 387,000 |
| 3 | Lukas Berglund | 619,000 |
| 4 | Markus Ristola | 297,000 |
| 5 | Jorge Duffour | 2,041,000 |
| 6 | Frederic Bussot | 224,000 |
| 7 | Guillen Usero | 1,311,000 |
| 8 | Alexander Sidorin | 308,000 |
Watching the action is way more fun than us telling you about it, so head on over to the PartyPoker Blog for the live stream - with hole cards.
Franzen Pleads Guilty
On Monday, Bradley Franzen, one of the 11 defendants in the online poker indictments pleaded guilty. Franzen, who owns a payment processing company, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaniel Fox on Monday that "he lied to banks and created fake companies and websites to hide the payments."
Franzen, who was indicted on nine charges on April 15, pleaded guilty to three counts on Monday, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. He faces up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced on August 26. According to prosecutors, Franzen can receive a shorter sentence under his cooperation agreement, and Judge Fox said that Franzen will forfeit an undisclosed amount of money that was earned while he was processing payments for the online poker companies.
Bloomberg.com has more.
Thomas Kremser No Longer with EPT
Since its debut in 2004, the PokerStars European Poker Tour and tournament director Thomas Kremser were synonymous - like peanut butter and jelly, or unicorns and glitter. Damn you, Progressive. However, it was announced in a press release on Thursday that the two would no longer be working together.
“The time is right to explore new adventures and also to adjust our business model to emphasize closer cooperation with licensed casino operators," Kremser said.
TK Poker Events, was the official consulting company for the EPT and Kremser was the Tour's tournament executive director. This parting comes in the middle of contract negotiations between TK Poker and PokerStars.
“I am excited about exploring new vistas and growing treasured relationships with casinos that have come to rely on TK as the face of professionalism, integrity and exceptional service in poker tournament operations and consulting matters," Kremser said.
TK Poker Events uploaded a video to its YouTube channel, thanking the EPT and all the players for the past seven years.
Keeping Them in Line
A Standards and Conduct Committee has just been announced for Federated Sports + Gaming's professional poker league. The committee is comprised of seven voting members - Eric Baldwin, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Joe Hachem, Nick Schulman, Matt Savage, and Stephen Martin. Annie Duke, the poker league's commissioner, is also on the committee and is the only non-voting member.
“The members who have been invited to sit on the Standards and Conduct Committee were carefully selected for their knowledge, understanding and desire to promote excellence and professionalism in poker,” Duke said.
Stephen Martin might not be a recognizable name to some of you. He is a former federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. and a corporate governance expert and ethics professor at the University of Denver.
“There is an opportunity to further professionalize the game of poker through a focus on fair play and application of the same standards of conduct expected in other professional leagues.” Martin said. “I am honored and excited to be part of this effort and work with the committee members.”
The committee will have several responsibilities, including monitoring the league member qualification and admission process, helping to develop league tournament rules and membership policies, overseeing the league's Code of Conduct, and more.
Want to know more about the committee's responsibilities? Head on over to FederatedInc.com.
Thawing Out?
An exclusive from eGaming Review has been revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice has unfrozen a Bank of Ireland account that belongs to Full Tilt Poker and Raymond Bitar. This action frees up more than a third of the money that belongs to U.S. players.
Don't get your hopes up too high, though. According to the article, a Full Tilt Poker source said players would not get their money immediately and there is still no confirmed date for a U.S. player payout.
According to the source, paying U.S. players back has become a complex issue that began with a backlog of player balances that were credited with money that was held in the seized bank accounts before Full Tilt was made aware of the seizures.
“There are a lot of factors involved. Some of that is the $60 million backlog referenced in the Franzen case, some is the bank accounts that voluntarily decided to restrain funds, and some is the status of negotiations with the Southern District. All of those issues together contribute to creating an impediment to paying players back, an impediment which wouldn’t be there if each of those things didn’t exist,” he said.
If you want to find out more on this, head on over to EGRMagazine.com.
Deep Stack Extravaganza III with Position Poker
The Venetian's Deep Stack Extravaganza III kicks off this week. Fifty events are on the docket, mostly no-limit hold'em. Buy-ins range from $340 to $5,000 for the Main Event. The event is running now through July 15.
A new event that has been added to the Venetian Deep Stacks III line up is the $550 Position Poker event on June 15. We first told you about Position Poker during the World Poker Tour Five Star World Poker Classic. In case you don't remember what it is, it's a new poker variant that adds a second button to the table. There will be one button that determines where the dealer begins pitching the cards and where the small and big blinds are. That's standard. What's new in this variant is the second button that will be placed in front of the player who won the previous pot at the table. On each street, the player with that button will act last, giving him the ultimate position in the hand.
If you want to find out more about the Venetian Deep Stack III, you can check out the full schedule of events at Venetian.com.
For up-to-the-minute news, follow us on Twitter.
