The Nightly Turbo: Royal Flush Girls Leave, Lock Poker License Confusion, and More
If you're looking to get caught up on the top poker news stories of the day, then look no further. The first bit of news, you might not be too happy with. Two Royal Flush Girls have resigned from their posts. On top of that we'll tell you about Lock Poker's license confusion, and more.
In Case You Missed It
The field at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona was whittled down to 141 players on Monday, 21 places shy of the money. When play resumed on Tuesday, Xavier Carruggi held the chip lead.
If you're on the East Coast in September, and will be looking to play some poker, there are two series you don't want to miss. Check out the East Coast Grinder for more on the Foxwoods Labor Day Holiday Special and the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open.
After a long day of play on Monday, the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker final table is set. Will "The Thrill" Failla leads the remaining six players who are all vying for the $758,085 first-place prize.
Over the summer, Annie Duke and John Vorhaus released Decide to Play Great Poker. Buzz surrounding the book was positive overall, so we decided to check it out and bring you our review.
The past week has been full of interesting news bits. In our latest edition of Five Thoughts we tackle the World Poker Tour, Parx Casino's first tournament series, and Phil Hellmuth.
*Photo courtesy of Royal Flush Girls on Facebook
Iglesias and Banzer Depart
If you're a Royal Flush Girl fan, specifically Melanie Iglesias and Michelle Banzer, you might want to sit down for this. On Monday night, both Iglesias and Banzer announced they were leaving the World Poker Tour.
Iglesias was the first to make the announcement via Twitter:
I have officially resigned from the World Poker Tour. No questions at the moment, please. Thank you.
— Melanie Iglesias (@MelanieIglesias)
Shortly thereafter, Banzer also announced her resignation:
After careful consideration I've come to a decision to officially resign from the World Poker Tour. It's been an eventful run. All the best
— Michelle Banzer (@MichelleBanzer)
The ladies received plenty of comments regarding their departure, most of their fans saying they would cease watching the WPT broadcasts. Hello guys, we know these two ladies are awesome, but you're forgetting the rest of the RFGs.
No reasons were given, Iglesias only tweeted this response to one of her followers:
@yubintherapist The 2 new girls are nice! Love them! But WPT & I had our differences along with other things I'm not allowed to speak on. =(
— Melanie Iglesias (@MelanieIglesias)
As for a statement from the World Poker Tour, it's kind of what we expected, "Melanie and Michelle were both interested in pursuing other opportunities. We thank them for their hard work during Season IX and wish them the best in their future endeavors."
Lock Not Licensed by LGA
If you were to scroll to the bottom of the LockPoker.eu website, you would see a few logos that coincide with the regulating bodies for which the online poker site is licensed. One, however, is claiming Lock Poker is not licensed by them.
The Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta released a statement recently about its logo appearing on Lock Poker's site:
"The Lotteries and Gaming Authority (the ‘Authority') would like to inform the public that the website http://lockpoker.eu/ has no connection whatsoever with the Authority and therefore any mention of the Authority or license issued by the Authority on the mentioned website is false and misleading.
The Authority advises the public to play responsibly with companies licensed by jurisdictions that have sound remote gaming regulations."
While Lock Poker isn't regulated by LGA, its network, Merge Gaming, is. The network has a Class 4 operating license under the LGA and is also licensed under the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. Lock Poker is also licensed under the Kahnawake, as well as Curaçao eGaming.
Read LGA's statement at LGA.org.
World Poker Tour Live Stream
You've been reading the recaps on PokerNews for the last few days, and if you're impatient, the World Poker Tour has just the thing for you Tuesday night. The final table of the Legends of Poker will be live streamed (on a 30-minute delay) Tuesday night at 7:00 EDT/4:00 PDT. Tony Dunst will host the live stream and viewers will be able to watch every hand, along with hole cards, chip counts, and statistics.
If you're close to the Bicycle Casino and want to watch the action in person, then you'll be treated to Ali Nejad on the mic as the master of ceremonies and you might even get the chance to hang out at the Social Bar with the Royal Flush Girls.
Find out more at WorldPokerTour.com.
WSOP PSA
This is your weekly reminder to set your DVRs to catch ESPN's coverage of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. Tuesday's coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT with Day 4 of the Main Event.
Phil Hellmuth is at the feature table for the broadcast, so of course you know there will be plenty of coverage of the Poker Brat. ESPN even ventured out to Palo Alto, California, to catch up with Hellmuth at home.
"People always tell me it's more difficult for me to win because the amateurs want to say I busted Phil Hellmuth, or I played a pot against Phil. They want to tell their grandchildren that stuff," said Hellmuth in the teaser.
Epic Poker Partners with Getty
On Tuesday, the Epic Poker League announced an exclusive partnership with Getty Images. This is Getty Images' first foray into poker.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership with Epic Poker League,” said Peter Orlowsky, vice president of business development at Getty Images. “This new professional poker league features the best live tournament players in the world and our photographers will be capturing all the excitement and drama at Palms Casino Resort. The breadth of images that we will be able to offer our customers immediately after the events will be truly fantastic and visually stunning.”
Getty Images began its photographical coverage of the EPL with the first Main Event in August, and will continue with the upcoming Main Event on Sept. 6. Getty Images will cover the Main Events for the entire first season of the EPL.
“Getty Images is the premier photography agency in the world and we’re excited to offer our league members and the poker industry exposure through their strong reach and distribution,” said Katherine Kowal, vice president of programming and league operations for Federated Sports + Gaming. “Many leading sports leagues are in partnership with Getty Images and now Epic Poker is part of its best-in-class portfolio.”
For more, read the press release.
Spanish 101
While at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Welcome Party, Kristy Arnett caught up with the partygoers to see just how much Spanish they know — and hopefully try to learn some herself. On top of things like "all-in," and "don't bluff me you donkey," (courtesy of Jose Barbero) she learned how to say "the girl eats rice" (courtesy of Lex Velhuis).
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