The Nightly Turbo: Hawaii Gambling Bills Fail, Terrence Chan's MMA Fight, and More
If you're looking for the day's biggest poker stories, you've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're bringing you the latest from the legislation efforts in Hawaii, a big fight coming up for Terrence Chan, and more.
In Case You Missed It
Andrew Robl is set to square off against Tony G in the PartyPoker Big Game VI next month. Rich Ryan tackles that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.
Mark "Pegasus" Smith has won a record five World Series of Poker Circuit rings during his career. How did it feel to win the first one? Chad Holloway finds out in the latest edition of My First.
Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren got engaged this week. Read the details over at The Muck.
Another One Bites the Dust
On Tuesday, Hawaii Representatives Joseph Souki and Angus McKelvey told PokerNews that a group of bills aimed at legalizing online gambling in Hawaii have been put to rest, temporarily ending the state's hopes for an online poker platform.
Earlier this year, House Bill 2422 was introduced in the Hawaii state legislature. The bill intended to create an Internet lottery and gaming corporation, and the state-run lottery would then be authorized to offer games of chance and games of skill, including poker and casino games, on the Internet.
The bill, which was co-sponsored by Representatives Souki, McKelvey, and Faye Hanohano, failed to advance in the legislature.
Hawaii and Utah remain the only two states without any form of gambling. While Hawaii has made efforts to legalize the activity, Utah has been strongly opposed to any gambling measure. Rep. Stephen Sandstrom recently introduced a bill intended to prevent online gaming in Utah if and when the U.S. Congress legalizes online gaming.
Hawaii, Mississippi, Iowa and the District of Columbia have failed to pass online gaming measures this year. Washington, D.C. was the first U.S. jurisdiction to approve and operate a Web wagering system, but the legislation was repealed last month.
A One-Two Punch
Some poker players enjoy some down time before the long grind of the World Series of Poker. A relaxing vacation, maybe some lounging on the couch.
Not Terrence Chan.
On Tuesday, Chan announced via Twitter that he has accepted an MMA fight in the Legend Fighting Championships on March 30 in Hong Kong. Chan, who has a few MMA fights under his belt, will fight Alex Lee, whom Chan says is "bigger, stronger and taller" and has more experience in the ring. Chan will also have very little time to train as he was offered the fight just last week.
"Make no mistake, I am probably the underdog here," Chan wrote in his blog. "This is going to be a tough fight. Doing a quick search, my opponent is a veteran of over 20 ring fights in Muay Thai, boxing and karate. He fought in Legend 4 in January of last year where he lost by first-round rear-naked choke, but nearly KO'd his opponent twice."
For more on the fight, including ticket and live stream information, check out Chan's blog.
Bet on Poker in Real Time
Yesterday, Poker Royalty LLC announced the launch of a new interactive poker series called iSeriesLIVE, which gives viewers the opportunity to watch the game's top players — with the hole cards exposed in real time — and bet on the action as it happens.
The first event will take place in Dublin, Ireland, on April 5 with a winner-take-all 10-person sit-and-go featuring Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Maria Ho, Carlos Mortensen, Faraz Jaka, and others. Live betting will be offered by online sportsbook giant PaddyPower, which has already released dozens of betting lines for the tournament.
"For poker to continue to grow, the game needs to become more immediate to our fans," said Hellmuth, who is listed at 13/2 to win the sit-and-go. "By allowing fans to view a poker event as it actually happens, with hole cards exposed, and bet on the action just as they would on football or horse racing, iSeriesLIVE can help take our game to the next level."
Take a look at the full betting lines at PaddyPower.com.
Online Poker Traffic Report
On Monday, PokerScout.com released its online poker traffic rankings for the previous week. The tracking site reported a drop of 3.5 percent, marking the sixth straight week of losses at online poker rooms worldwide.
There was no change in the top 10 of the rankings as PokerStars continued its domination over the competition. The world's leading site saw its attendance drop by 1.1 percent, but the introduction of Zoom Poker could see an influx of players in the coming weeks. PartyPoker, the iPoker Network, 888poker and Ongame rounded out the top five in the rankings, respectively.
Bodog dropped another spot in the rankings to No. 17 this week. The site was ranked as high as No. 12 earlier this year, but the seizure of the Bodog.com domain name and the indictment of the brand's founder have likely been factors in the poker room's falloff. The site also introduced anonymous tables in January to the chagrin of many regulars on the site.
As for year-over-year traffic numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 32 percent since this time last year. Along with traffic extinction at Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network, the International Poker Network (down 47 percent) and EverestPoker.fr (down 32 percent) have seen a significant decline.
The biggest movers over the past year were the Merge Gaming Network (up 72 percent), 888poker (up 64 percent) and Bodog (up 31 percent), although all three sites declined by more than 5 percent last week.
Get the full report at PokerScout.com.
DeepStacks Poker Tour Teaser
On Tuesday, the production team over at Blue Fusion released another teaser for the upcoming television debut of the DeepStacks Poker Tour, which featured stars like Michael Mizrachi, Mike Matsow, Karina Jett and Randal Flowers. The Western New York Poker Championship will be the first televised poker tournament in western New York when it airs locally next month.
Here's a look at some of the footage:
PokerNews is the official media partner of the DeepStacks Poker Tour and was in Niagara Falls providing updates for the event. Check out our live reporting page for a recap.
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