The Nightly Turbo: Poker & the First Amendment, Asante Samuel Charity Event, & More
Depending on who you ask, the Philadelphia Eagles have either been running poorly or performing horrendously on the football field this season. Eagles Pro Bowlers Asante Samuel and DeSean Jackson are set to showcase the opposite at the poker table next month, and we'll give you all the details in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
The World Poker Tour Foxwoods World Poker Finals kicked off Thursday with its $10,000 buy-in Main Event. Get all the details from Day 1 in our daily recap.
How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week's biggest winners and losers.
Sunday is almost here and that means football. Find out which teams are good, bad and ugly this week in the latest Pigskin Diaries.
Poker Royalty's Brian Balsbaugh is one of the most influential figures in the poker industry. Read about what Balsbaugh had to say about Donald Trump and the future of online poker in the latest edition of The Insiders.
Miss anything this week? Kristy Arnett and Laura Cornelius get you caught up on the latest news, views and gossip in the PokerNews Weekly.
*Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated
Poker Not Protected by First Amendment
A defunct poker club in Wallkill, N.Y., received some unfortunate news from the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. The court rejected arguments that the poker club's activities were protected under the First Amendment, and agreed with a lower court ruling that the poker club’s lawsuit against the town of Wallkill should be dismissed.
The AK Tournament Play club alleged that by interfering with their Texas hold'em tournaments, the town of Wallkill violated their first amendment right to "Freedom of Association."
It claimed that the town unsuccessfully tried to condemn a portion of the commercial space it occupied in 2007 and engaged in additional "threatening and coercive conduct." The club, which at one point had 130 members, discontinued its activities after its membership dwindled following the town's legal action.
“Even assuming arguendo that there might be some circumstances under which a poker club’s activities could involve sufficiently expressive or political content to merit protection under the First Amendment, plaintiff’s conclusory and vague complaint fails to set out facts from which a court could draw that conclusion here,” the appellate court found, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
More on this story can be found at the Wall Street Journal.
Play Poker with the NFL's "Dream Team"
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel is offering fans a chance to play poker with him in a charity poker tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The event will be held at the Whisper nightclub in Philadelphia and proceeds will benefit the Bring It Home Single Moms Foundation.
Samuel will join Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, tight end Brent Celek and longsnapper Jon Dorenbos at the event, which will run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. NBA players Udonis Haslem and Keyon Dooling will also participate in the charity tournament. Tickets range from $100 to the elite level of $1,000, which will guarantee you a seat at the table with a professional athlete.
Samuel, a two-time Super Bowl champ, founded the Bring It Home Single Moms Foundation this year. In May, he made a $25,000 donation to the Habitat for Humanity office in Miami and did some of the physical labor on a new home for a single mother with two children. Samuel created the foundation as a tribute to his mother, who raised him as a single mother in Miami.
Read more on the charity tournament at the event's Facebook page.
CEREUS Network Proposes Plan to Reimburse Players
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission released a statement Thursday saying that the CEREUS Network has proposed a plan to the U.S. Department of Justice to allow the reimbursement of all of players from Absolute Poker and UB. Blanca Games, which acquired the CEREUS Network in August 2010, has purportedly been in "close and regular discussions" with the KGC about a solution to facilitate the payments, a process that's been ongoing since Black Friday
The CEREUS Network has been virtually silent since it came to an alleged agreement with the Department of Justice on May 10. However, with a deadline of Oct. 31 to respond to the amended civil complaint filed last month, it was only a matter of time before we heard from the embattled company.
Read the full release at the KGC's website.
Support Cerebral Palsy at the All-In for CP Charity Event
The Fourth Annual All-In for CP charity tournament will take place on Dec. 9, 2011, at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The event, which attracts many top poker pros and several celebrities, will raise funds to ease the lives of those with cerebral palsy.
The All-In for CP will feature a buy-in of $540 with unlimited rebuys for the first 90 minutes. Among the celebrities and poker pros expected to attend are Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth, Montel Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. Antonio Esfandiari, Dan Fleyshman, Dennis Phillips, Phil Laak, and Barry Greenstein.
Get more on this story at PokerNews.com.
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