The Weekly Turbo: Full Tilt Poker Hiring, Georges St-Pierre to Play in WSOP, and More
Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you've come to the right place to get caught up. We're covering the recent job postings at Full Tilt Poker, a UFC champion set to play the WSOP Main Event, and more.
Poker Business
Now Hiring
We don't want to get your hopes up just yet, but it appears that Full Tilt Poker's reported plans to relaunch later this year are in motion. On Tuesday, Pocket Kings Ltd, the technology and marketing arm of Full Tilt Poker, placed several job listings at an Irish employment website. Full Tilt Poker's headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland.
The listings, which can be found at jobs.ie, are for customer service supervisors and representatives across a wide range of languages, including Romanian, Hungarian, Dutch, Portuguese, German, Italian and Spanish. Most of the listings contain the following text:
"Pocket Kings is hiring and has an urgent requirement for experienced multilingual Customer Service representatives. With an attractive salary, these 2-3 month contract roles may become permanent and offer an exciting opportunity to join a vibrant and energetic company."
Reports also surfaced that a Full Tilt Poker/Pocket Kings subsidiary has applied for a gaming license with the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC).
On March 23, a Full Tilt Poker subsidiary called Orinic Limited applied for a Category 2 online gambling license with the AGCC. The subsidiary previously owned a Category 1 license with the AGCC but it was suspended for six months when the AGCC revoked Full Tilt's license last September. The suspension ended on March 23, the date which Orinic applied for the new license.
To take a closer look at the job listings, check out jobs.ie.
Georges St-Pierre Signs with 888
UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is the latest MMA fighter to enter the poker world. On Thursday, 888 announced that St-Pierre has signed a one-year deal to represent Team 888 at the 2012 World Series of Poker and other tournament stops around the globe.
888 players can also find St-Pierre on the virtual felts, where he 'll be taking part in special promotions where the proceeds from the games are donated to anti-bullying charities.
"I am very excited to become a global brand ambassador for Team 888poker," said St-Pierre. "I have wanted to play poker for a while now as it is a great game of skill. It is not just your cards versus my cards; it is you versus your opponent. However, the most important aspect of my partnership with 888poker is that we are going to generate a great deal of money for my foundation that dedicates its efforts towards anti-bullying causes."
He also tweeted his excitement on Thursday.
Very excited to be joining Team @888poker! Been playing poker for a couple weeks but making it my mission to get great! http://t.co/iWcjaDAb
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre)
Read more at PokerNews.com.
Trump Eyes Online Poker Partnership
Donald Trump still has plans to stamp his colossal brand to an online poker room in the U.S. British newspaper, The Times reported Monday that Trump Entertainment Resorts and online gaming company 888 Holdings are in discussions to offer online poker once the activity is legalized and regulated in the states.
Trump announced last year that he and New York hedge-fund manager Marc Lasry planned to form an Internet gaming company if and when online gambling is legalized in the U.S. 888 would be an ideal choice; the company runs the fourth largest poker room in has already partnered with Caesars Interactive Entertainment and applied for a gaming license in Nevada.
We have more on the story at PokerNews.com.
New Jersey Senate Committee Approves Bill
New Jersey took another step toward online gambling on Tuesday when a state Senate committee passed a bill that would allow for online wagering on casino games, including poker.
New Jersey has made several attempts to push an online gambling bill through the legislature in the past year, but each of the measure was shut down by Gov. Chris Christie. However, a change in opinion by the Justice Department could open the door for New Jersey to offer online gambling to residents outside state lines.
The next step for the bill is a full Senate and Assembly vote. Read more at PokerNews.com.
Zynga and Wynn Resorts In Talks for Online Gaming Deal
The New York Post has reported that Zynga is in talks with Wynn Resorts about a potential online gambling partnership. According to The Post, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus “has been touting the company’s prospects for parlaying its popular virtual poker game into real-life betting, calling the possibilities ‘mind-blowing.’”
Zynga faces an uphill battle because most proposed state legislation restricts online licenses to those companies already licensed in the state for gaming operations. “Our goal is to help existing casino operators. We don’t know anything about Zynga,” state Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee Chair Ruben Ramos Jr. told The Post.
This obstacle could potentially be removed, at least in Nevada, if the social-media giant is able to partner with Wynn Resorts, which operates in the state. With that said, other sources have suggested Zynga may first try to test the online-friendly U.K. market. It is there that Zynga has purportedly had conversations with William Hill and Ladbrokes.
Read more on NYPost.com.
Online Poker
Blom Cruises Past Haxton in $1 Million SuperStar Challenge
Twelve hours. A little more than 5,000 hands. That's all it took for Viktor "Isildur1" Blom to scoop $500,000 from Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton in the latest PokerStars SuperStar Showdown.
The two players hit the virtual felts on Saturday and began playing four tables of heads-up $200/400 no-limit hold'em with one goal in mind: take it all. Each began with half a million dollars and, after three separate sessions, Blom had the full $1 million in front of him, effectively ending the match.
Blom had lost the two prior matches to Haxton, but his recent win pushes his over SuperStar Showdown record to 10-4. His profit in those matches is now $1,034,090.
For an in-depth look at the $1 million match, check out the recap by Chad Holloway.
Bodog Adds a New Pro
On Monday, Bodog announced Jennette “Jay” Tan as the newest member of Team Bodog. Tan is coming off a pair of impressive results at the PokerStars Macau Poker Cup where she took second in the HKD$4,500 Knockout Bounty (HKD$120,000) and fifth in the HKD$10,120 Main Event (HKD$315,000).
Tan joins Evelyn Ng and Tatjana Pasalic on Team Bodog. She will represent the brand when it enters the Chinese poker market as Bodog88.
"The Bodog brand is all about having a good time and they are never afraid to take on the establishment and I like to think that's me too," said Tan, who is also a proficient Mahjong player. "Bodog88 also seems to really understand the Asian market ... poker is relatively new to Asia where Mahjong is still king and I hear Bodog88 will have that online very soon. I've never seen anybody else have Super 6 Bacarat online before either — this is huge in the Macau casinos right now. It shows a real understanding of the region."
Born in Los Angeles, Tan relocated to Hong Kong to begin a career at Goldman Sachs. It was then that she saw Daniel Negreanu playing poker on television and decided to give the game a try. She quickly became a winning player and quit her job to play poker full time.
More info about Tan can be found in Bodog's press release.
Poker Tournaments
High Rollers Flocking to Monaco
We're still three weeks away from the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monaco, but PokerStars announced Tuesday that 20 players have already registered for the €100,000 Super High Roller event, which begins on April 25.
The tournament, one of 37 on the slate from April 23 through May 1, will be the first six-figure buy-in poker tournament on European soil. The prize pool is already guaranteed to be $2 million, and many more players are expected to take part in the event.
“We’re extremely pleased to have such a fantastic response to the first ever European Super High Roller event and we look forward to welcoming some of the biggest names in international poker," said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. "It’s fitting that such an historic tournament is taking place in Monaco — the spiritual home of high stakes gaming. I’m expecting that it will be an action-packed tournament and will prove worthy of its place in poker history.”
The list of players who have already put up the €100,000 buy-in includes the following:
| Daniel Negreanu | Eugene Katchalov |
| Jason Mercier | Scott Seiver |
| David Sands | Dan Shak |
| Tony G | Artem Litvinov |
| Leon Tsoukernik | Tobias Reinkenmeier |
| Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | Masa Kagawa |
| Patrik Antonius | Jason Somerville |
| Sorel Mizzi | Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier |
| Jonathan Duhamel | Dan Smith |
More info can be found at europeanpokertour.com.
The Latest SCOOP
The finalized version of the 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) was released on Thursday. PokerStars is guaranteeing $30 million across 120 SCOOP tournament from May 6 through 20, including a $2.5 million prize pool for the $10,300 Main Event.
Among the variants on the schedule are no-limit hold'em tournaments, limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, no-limit Omaha, 8-Game mix, and Badugi. Each of the 40 events on the slate has a low, medium and high buy-in.
You can find the complete schedule at PokerNews.com.
Get Ready for the Melbourne Poker Championships
It may not have the flair and panache of the Aussie Millions, but the popular Melbourne Poker Championships will be returning to the renowned Crown Poker Room in May.
The 11th installment of the series will run from May 3 through 14, 2012, featuring 10 tournaments, including two championship events. The first event on the schedule will be $550 buy-in Joe Hachem Deepstack Series. The other championship event is the $1,100 Melbourne Poker Championships Main Event. Last year, Scott Peels bested a field of 502 players to collect the Main Event title and $114,230.
One exciting twist to the schedule is Event No. 3. The $300 no-limit hold'em turbo event will be open to teams of two or three players. Teammates will then be able to change after each orbit on their table.
For tournament details and entry forms, visit www.crownpoker.com.au.
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