The Nightly Turbo: NJ Internet Gambling Bill Advances, WSOP Main Event Odds, and More
It's been a very slow process, but New Jersey is making progress toward implementing an online poker platform. We're covering that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Carter Phillips, David "Bakes" Baker and Allyn Jaffrey Shulman won World Series of Poker bracelets on Monday. Which big names fell just short? Find out in the Day 23 WSOP recap.
Vincent van der Fluit is eyeing his second bracelet of the 2012 WSOP. We take a look at that story and more in Tuesday's WSOP What to Watch For.
Need something to listen to at the poker table? The PokerNews crew breaks down all of the major stories from the World Series of Poker in the PokerNews Podcast.
Poker has opened a lot of doors for Maria Ho. She talks about that and more in Part 2 of her Seat Open series.
How can poker players benefit from learning how to play golf? Lynn Gilmartin finds out in the latest edition of Stay Stacked.
Looking for a fun, behind-the-scenes perspective of life at the WSOP? The Muck has daily stories from inside the Rio, so check it out!
New Jersey Bill Moves to Assembly
A bill that would permit online gambling in New Jersey advanced through a legislative committee on Monday and will now move to the Assembly for a full vote.
TheAssembly Budget and Appropriations Committee passed A2578 by a vote of 6-0 with three abstentions. The bill allows for licensed casinos located in Atlantic City to offer authorized games — including poker — to residents of the state. Supporters of the bill believe it will help boost Atlantic City’s casinos which suffered the biggest revenue drop in the country last year at 9.5 percent. Casinos in neighboring Pennsylvania and Delaware have been siphoning business from New Jersey since 2006.
Another Internet gambling bill is making its way through the Senate, but New Jersey State Sen. Raymond Lesniak told PokerNews last month that the bill likely will not be voted on until fall because of Gov. Chris Christie's "ambivalence" on the issue. Lesniak had predicted that online poker would be up and running in New Jersey by the end of the year, but Christie has gone back and forth on Internet gambling since last year.
Read more at NJ.com.
Bet on the Main Event
We're more than halfway through the 61 events of the 2012 World Series of Poker, so the Main Event is just weeks away. If you're interested in throwing down some bets on the world's biggest poker event, several sports books have introduced betting lines to satisfy your gambling appetite.
Bovada.com recently unveiled some opening lines with some intriguing last longer matchups. It should be noted that one player must cash for each wager to have action.
Which Former World Champ Will Last Longest in 2012 Main Event?
| Jonathan Duhamel | 3/1 |
| Pius Heinz | 3/1 |
| Joe Cada | 7/2 |
| Peter Eastgate | 7/2 |
| Jerry Yang | 4/1 |
2012 WSOP Main Event Last Longer
| Howard Lederer | 3/2 |
| Chris "Jesus" Ferguson | 7/4 |
| Russ Hamilton | 2/1 |
2012 WSOP Main Event Last Longer
| Daniel Negreanu | -130 |
| Annie Duke | -110 |
2012 WSOP Main Event Last Longer
| Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | -120 |
| Tom "durrrr" Dwan | -120 |
2012 WSOP Main Event Last Longer
| Doyle Brunson | -120 |
| Johnny Chan | -120 |
You can find all of the Main Event lines at Bovada.lv.
More Action in Macau
The Asian Poker Tour has announced it will be returning to Macau's StarWorld Casino from July 25 through 31, 2012.
The 13-event series will feature its flagship HKD$25,000 Main Event, as well as a variety of formats. In addition, there will be two step satellites into the HKD$100,000 High Roller, which will kick off on July 26.
Here's a look at the full schedule of events:
| Date | Event | Buy-in (HKD) |
|---|---|---|
| July 25 | Heads Up Asian Championship | $5,500 |
| July 26 | PokerAce High Rollers | $100,000 |
| July 26 | Head Hunter | $4,400 |
| July 27 | APT Macau Main Event Day 1A | $25,000 |
| July 27 | DafaPoker Freezeout #1 | $3,300 |
| July 28 | APT Macau Main Event Day 1B | $25,000 |
| July 28 | DafaPoker Pot Limit Omaha | $3,300 |
| July 28 | Ladies of Poker | $1,100 |
| July 28 | Deep Stack Turbo #1 | $2,200 |
| July 29 | DafaPoker Freezeout #2 | $4,400 |
| July 29 | Deep Stack Turbo #2 | $2,200 |
| July 30 | Freezeout #3 | $5,500 |
| July 31 | Six-Handed | $3,300 |
For more on APT Macau, visit the Asian Poker Tour website.
Online Poker Traffic
PokerScout.com released its weekly online poker-traffic rankings on Monday. The tracking site reported an overall drop of 6.3 percent, marking the sixth consecutive week of losses worldwide.
PokerStars maintained its sizable lead over top contenders iPoker and PartyPoker, which landed at No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, respectively. 888poker and the Ongame Network rounded out the top five, all of which saw declines from last week.
Spain's regulated online poker market opened on June 5, and as expected, PokerStars has emerged as the overwhelming leader in the new space. PokerStars.es cracked the top 10 of the worldwide rankings, jumping past PokerStars.fr and into the No. 8 spot. No other Spanish site ranks in the top 25, according to PokerScout.
As for year-over-year traffic numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 21 percent since this time last year, much of that caused by the extinction of Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network. Others taking a hit since this time last year include PKR (down 42 percent), PokerStars.fr (down 33 percent) and the Merge Network (down 21 percent).
Some of the biggest gainers during the past year were Revolution Gaming (up 75 percent) and Sky Poker (up 38 percent).
Read the full report at PokerScout.com.
Mizzi's Health Challenge Update
How has Sorel Mizzi's health challenge to the poker community been going? PokerNews' Sarah Grant caught up with the poker pro to find out.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
