The Nightly Turbo: Greenstein's Full Tilt Poker Loan, Prague Poker Festival, and More
Before you kick off your weekend, we're here to bring you Friday's biggest stories around the poker world. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're covering the latest on Barry Greenstein's Full Tilt Poker loan, the schedule for the Prague Poker Festival, and more.
In Case You Missed It
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.
Jason Mercier sat atop the Global Poker Index again this week. Which pros are eyeing a spot in the top 10? Mickey Doft breaks down the biggest movers and shakers of the GPI.
Paying Off Debts
Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein says he intends to repay the $400,000 he borrowed from Full Tilt Poker a few years ago.
Greenstein's debt to Full Tilt Poker was made public by Groupe Bernard Tapie in February. According to GBT attorney Behnam Dayanim, Greenstein and several other high-profile pros borrowed a combined $18 million from the embattled poker room before it was shut down on Black Friday. The debts were discovered while GBT was investigating Full Tilt's financial situation before purchasing the company.
Now that PokerStars has acquired the assets of its former rival, the community is asking questions about the debts of the high-stakes players.
"I was always going to have to pay whoever owned Full Tilt," Greenstein said in a thread at TwoPlusTwo.com this week. "Clearly, PokerStars will own Full Tilt in a few days or a little longer, and finally I will know who to pay. I'm curious if they will try to collect from anyone else."
Others involved in the alleged FTP loans include Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren and David Benyamine. While the exact debts of each player haven't been made public, an Excel spreadsheet created by Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar has been given to PokerStars. The spreadsheet breaks down the amounts owed by each player, according to sources who have seen the document.
Read more on Greenstein at TwoPlusTwo.com.
Prague Poker Festival
The schedule for the 2012 Prague Poker Festival has been released. The festival kicks off on Nov. 27 with the World Sit 'N' Go Masters and will be followed by events from the World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, and Grand Series of Poker (GSOP), all of which will be played at Corinthia Hotel and Casino in Prague.
In addition to the poker tournaments, event organizers Living it Loving it and Mind Sports (International) Ltd. will launch the inaugural Prague Mind Sports Festival from Dec. 1 through 4. Poker players will have the opportunity to compete in games such as Backgammon, Scrabble, Risk and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in an exciting tournament format.
Here's a look at the preliminary schedule for the Prague Poker Festival:
| Date | Event | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 27-30 | World Sit 'N' Go Masters | €2,200 |
| Dec. 1-2 | 888 Bounty | €888 |
| Dec. 3-9 | World Poker Tour Main Event | €3,300 |
| Dec. 7-8 | Kings High Roller | €20,000 |
| Dec. 8-9 | Win365 Bounty | €440 |
| Dec. 9-14 | European Poker Tour Main Event | €5,300 |
| Dec. 12-15 | GSOP Live Main Event | €1,100 |
For a complete look at all of the events, check out PraguePokerFestival.com.
Meoni Wins PokerStars IPT San Remo
The PokerStars Italian Poker Tour San Remo Main Event came to a close this week. The €2,200 buy-in event was won by Italian Alessandro Meoni, who bested fellow PokerStars SuperNova VIP Raffaele Bertolucci for the title and the €166,000 top prize.
Meoni, who plays professionally as “Cippino1” on PokerStars, defeated 375 players over five days en route to his biggest career victory on the live circuit. In his previous trip to the IPT San Remo last October, Meoni took ninth place for €10,280.
On the final hand of this year's tournament, Bertolucci moved his short stack all in preflop with 10♣9♦ and Meoni called with A♠K♣. The board provided no help for Bertolucci, who exited in second place with €129,000.
Here's a look at the final table results from IPT San Remo:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alessandro Meoni | €166,000 |
| 2 | Raffaele Bertolucci | €129,000 |
| 3 | Julien Norbert Dolay | €71,500 |
| 4 | Nicolo Allisiardi | €53,500 |
| 5 | Andrea Dato | €36,000 |
| 6 | Omar Rodriguez | €29,000 |
| 7 | Johnatan Maisonneuve | €21,000 |
| 8 | Giuseppe Zarbo | €14,000 |
The Italian Poker Tour's next stop will be in Campion from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3. Visit the PokerStars Blog for more info.
Golden Nugget Eyes Real-Money Online Poker
Online poker players in Nevada are gearing up for legalized real-money games.
A recent survey conducted by GoldenNuggetPoker.com revealed that 86 percent of the site's free-play customers would convert to real-money play once Internet poker is available in the U.S. The Golden Nugget submitted an online gaming application in Nevada in February and believes it will be one of the first interactive gaming operators in the state.
In February, the Golden Nugget teamed up with ChiliGaming in a deal that would see ChiliGaming launch a free-to-play online poker site. However, Chiligaming sold its business-to-business gaming platform to Bally Technologies later that month. GoldenNuggetPoker.com now uses Bally's online gaming platform.
Bally recently received the first online gaming license in Nevada as service provider for Internet poker operators. The company is having its technology tested by the state before it is given authorization to provide real-money games.
Read more at the Golden Nugget Poker Blog.
