The Nightly Turbo: Mizrachi Stiffed on Prop Bet, Ultimate Bet Documentary, and More
Looking for the day's biggest poker stories? You've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're covering Michael Mizrachi being stiffed $100,000 on a prop bet, an upcoming documentary about the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal, and more.
In Case You Missed It
PokerStars came to the rescue on Tuesday by purchasing the assets of Full Tilt Poker. Rich Ryan touches on that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.
David "ODB" Baker still sits atop the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings. Mickey Doft broke down this week's top 10.
What's the proper way to attack the money bubble during a poker tournament? PokerNews' Nicki Pickering asked a number of pros during the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.
This summer, PokerNews' Chad Holloway had the opportunity to film for an episode of Pawn Stars. You can read about Holloway's experience in The Muck.
Chupack Wins WPT Regional in Wisconsin
From July 29 through 31, the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin held the first-ever World Poker Tour Regional: Mid-Summer Classic.
The $500 buy-in event had a 200-player cap, which was reached weeks in advance. However, after four players sneaked in as alternates, the total number of entrants reached 204. One of them was WPT co-host Vince Van Patten, who had a $500 bounty on his head. Colin Gordon collected the bounty after eliminating the WPT ambassador, but the top prize of $37,820 went to local high-stakes Omaha player Scott Chupack, who claimed the largest score of his career after defeating Jeremy Farkas in heads-up action.
WPT Regional Mid-Summer Classic Results
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Chupack | $37,820 |
| 2 | Jeremy Farkas | $21,960 |
| 3 | Suey Wong | $14,030 |
| 4 | Suren Dharanikota | $9,882 |
| 5 | James Malan | $7,625 |
| 6 | Ben Berlowski | $5,795 |
| 7 | Michael Miller | $4,514 |
| 8 | Jeffery Brown | $3,355 |
| 9 | Rudi Hunek | $2,379 |
| 10 | Jesus Hernandez | $1,891 |
| 11 | Daniel Ratajczyk | $1,891 |
| 12 | Tom Paulowske | $1,891 |
| 13 | Sinisa Angelovski | $1,586 |
| 14 | Bryan Andrews | $1,586 |
| 15 | Nicholas Chareas | $1,586 |
| 16 | Eric Zavodnik | $1,403 |
| 17 | Ross Obbink | $1,403 |
| 18 | Patrick Mayhew | $1,403 |
For a closer look at the Wisconsin Mid-Summer Classic, visit the World Poker Tour Blog.
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Ultimate Beat
The cheating scandal that occurred on Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker between 2004 and 2008 is arguably the worst case of fraud the online gaming industry has ever seen. Years later, though, many in the community are still left wondering what exactly happened behind the scenes.
Enter Scott Bell. A former poker pro who was affected by the cheating incidents, Bell has since spent years investigating the real story behind the scandal. Now, he's set to release a documentary, appropriately titled Ultimate Beat. Here's a sneak peak that was released on Thursday:
Bell and production company DoubleHead Pictures are still shooting interviews for the film, so if you have an interesting story involving the scandal be sure to contact the team at doubleheadpictures.com.
Nevada's Online Poker Race
South Point Poker is scheduled to meet with the Nevada Gaming Control Board next week to discuss recommendation for an operating license in Nevada. If approved, South Point will seek final license approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission and possibly become the first operator to offer legalized and regulated real-money online poker in the U.S.
South Point's hearing with the NGCB is set for Aug. 8 in Carson City. Monarch Interactive, another one of the 30-plus companies that have applied for online poker licensing in Nevada, will meet with the NGCB on the same day.
South Point CEO Mark Gaughan told eGaming Review last month that his real-money online poker site would be ready to launch as early as September. Gaughan says his gaming platform has already been approved by an independent testing laboratory, meaning it can go live as soon as it is licensed to do so. South Point currently offers a free-to-play site at SouthPointPoker.com, but Gaughan says the real-money site will have brand new software.
Slot machine suppliers IGT and Bally Technologies were the first companies to receive licenses to act as service providers for Internet poker operators, but it could take up to six months for their technology to be tested by the board and the state.
Read more about the NGCB hearing at gaming.nv.gov.
EPT Renews Deal With Shamballa
Just days after the European Poker Tour locked up a new sponsorship deal with Slyde by HD3 watches, the tour renewed its partnership with Shamballa Jewels as the official bracelet sponsor of the EPT Season 9 High Roller and Super High Roller events.
Shamballa Jewels will provide the six winners of the €10,000 buy-in High Roller events with a bracelet worth €5,000, while the EPT 9 Grand Final High Roller event winner will receive a bracelet with a retail value of €8,000. The bracelet design will include a centre pavé bead embellished with precious black diamonds combined with 18ct rhodium plated white gold.
“The partnership between the European Poker Tour and Shamballa Jewels is a natural fit, since both share a similar brand vision that embraces both tradition and innovation," said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. "We are delighted to be working with them again for a third year, and look forward to awarding the winners of the EPT Season 9 High Roller and Super High Roller events with these beautifully crafted bracelets to celebrate their success.”
Season 9 of the EPT kicks off in Barcelona on Aug. 15. PokerStars Global VIP Host Garry Gates said Wednesday that 35 players have been confirmed for the €50,000 Super High Roller, and he's optimistic that the event will attract 50 players.
There will also be €25,000 High Roller and €100,000 Super High Roller tournaments at the PCA in the Bahamas and Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
Further details about EPT Season 9 can be found at PokerStars.com.
Stiffing The Grinder
When Michael "The Grinder Mizrachi was at the final table of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship in June, he had more on the line than the $1,451,527 top prize.
Before the start of the World Series of Poker, Mizrachi was offered 5-to-1 odds on $20,000 by Giorgio Medici that he wouldn't win a bracelet in 2012. As you probably know, Mizrachi went on to win the Poker Players Championship (for the second time in three years). But when it was time to collect his $100,000 from the prop bet, Medici said he couldn't pay.
Apparently, Medici filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 6, claiming $36.2 million in liabilities. On page 25 of the bankruptcy filing, Medici listed his debt to Mizrachi under “unsecured nonpriority claims.”
Mizrachi was steaming about the bet on social media outlets last month. His main reason for coming forward about the bet was to warn others. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” he posted on Twitter.
Mizrachi recently spoke with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about the situation. Click on the link for more info.
