The Nightly Turbo: Jonathan Duhamel's Ex Pleading Guilty, GPI Player of the Year, & More
While The Lederer Files continued here at PokerNews on Wednesday, one of Full Tilt Poker's key executives pleaded guilty to conspiracy and gambling charges. We'll bring you that story, plus another update in the court case involving Jonathan Duhamel, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
PokerNews released two more segments of an exclusive interview with Howard Lederer on Wednesday. Check out Part 3 and Part 4 of The Lederer Files right here at PokerNews.com.
Orson Young took the lead on Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open on Tuesday. Have a look at the other notables still in contention in our WPT Borgata recap.
The World Poker Tour Malta Main Event played down to 26 players on Day 2. Jackson Genovesi was on top with the money bubble looming on Day 3.
How did Team PokerStars Online member Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman pick his nickname? Find that out and more in the latest Q&A with hosts of the World Championship of Online Poker.
The PokerNews Podcast crew was minus Kristy Arnett this week. But Rich Ryan and Donnie Peters still provided plenty of entertainment, including an interview with Octo-Niner Greg Merson.
Tony G and Phil Hellmuth began their triathlon on Wednesday. Kristy Arnett was on hand to see how the basketball round and the swimming competition played out.
Rojas-Latraverse Pleading Guilty
Bianca Rojas-Latraverse, the ex-girlfriend of poker pro Jonathan Duhamel, is expected to plead guilty to plotting the attack and robbery of Duhamel last December.
Rojas-Latraverse is accused of being the mastermind behind the break-in at Duhamel's home in which the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champ was tied up and severely beaten before robbers escaped with his WSOP bracelet, a Rolex watch, and cash from his condo. In January, Rojas-Latraverse pleaded not guilty to charges of grand larceny, kidnapping, breaking and entering, assault and battery, and conspiracy.
However, the lawyer for Rojas-Latraverse said this week that her client had a "change of heart" and wanted to start off with "a clean slate."
Rojas-Latraverse's trial date was scheduled for last Friday, but it was postponed because of an alleged incident of violence at the Tanguay Detention Centre. The trial was postponed again on Tuesday because Rojas-Latraverse reportedly decided to plead guilty to some of the charges.
The Montreal Gazette has more.
Global Poker Index Player of the Year
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings were released on Wednesday with Dan Smith in the top spot for the fifth consecutive week.
Smith, who has five major wins on the tournament circuit this year, added another nice score to his résumé this month when he finished seventh in the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event. He is the first player to eclipse 1,000 Player of the Year points and leads his next closest competitor, Andrew Lichtenberger, by nearly 200 points.
Lichtenberger jumped three spots this week after making deep runs at the Partouche and the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris Main Event. Lichtenberger has three final tables this year, including a third place finish at the World Series of Poker $1,500 2-7 Lowball Event.
Others making moves in the top 10 this week were Kyle Julius and Mohsin Charania. Julius moved up five spots to No. 4 after have similar success to Lichtenberger, cashing at Partouche and WPT Paris. Charania, meanwhile, finished fifth at WPT Paris for $119,119, and is coming off his biggest career win at the European Poker Tour Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final for $1,782,343. He climbed 34 spots to No. 8 this week.
Here's a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:
| Place | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Smith | 1010.74 | -- |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 819.75 | +3 |
| 3 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 802.42 | -1 |
| 4 | Kyle Julius | 796.94 | +5 |
| 5 | Jonathan Duhamel | 741.23 | -2 |
| 6 | David Baker | 715.90 | -2 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | 713.43 | -1 |
| 8 | Mohsin Charania | 669.91 | +34 |
| 9 | Daniel Negreanu | 661.97 | -2 |
| 10 | Justin Bonomo | 650.79 | +8 |
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has the strongest performance in live tournaments during the calendar year, according to the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to GlobalPokerIndex.com.
Burtnick's Plea Agreement
One of the men responsible for the financial fiasco at Full Tilt Poker is facing up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and gambling charges in a Manhattan, New York City, court on Wednesday.
Nelson Burtnick, the former payment processing director for Full Tilt Poker, admitted to the court that he authorized illegal online poker transactions for both FTP and PokerStars between 2006 and 2011. Burtnick, along with Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar, were among the 11 men indicted by the U.S. government on April 15, 2011.
Burtnick's sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19, 2012.
Read more in the story here at PokerNews.com.
Sailor Roberts' Hall of Fame Support
The finalists for the 2012 Poker Hall of Fame were announced last week, and the lobbying has already begun for the 10 nominees.
One finalist who appears to be a lock for October induction is the late Brian "Sailor" Roberts. The 1975 WSOP Main Event champion was close friends with Hall of Famers Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim. The three poker legends traveled throughout the South and Midwest in search of underground poker games and became known as the famous "Texas Rounders." Roberts became one of the most beloved gamblers in the world before passing away in 1995.
Brunson has been using social media to promote his friend's contributions to the game. According to Brunson, at least eight members of the current Hall of Fame will have Roberts on their ballot, including Jack Binion, Bobby Baldwin, Mike Sexton, and Erik Seidel.
On Wednesday, World Series of Poker Media Director Nolan Dolla blogged about the growing support of Roberts. Dalla revealed email recently sent to him by Brunson and fellow Hall of Famer Cradell Addington, revealing some perspectives about Roberts that most of the poker world probably didn't know.
Said Brunson, "The best recommendation I can give Sailor is that outside of Chip Reese, Sailor was the best player in multiple games that I have ever seen. True, we didn’t have the variety of poker games that are out there today. But we didn’t have any limit games anywhere either.
"He was also the most popular player in our era — especially with the women," Brunson continued. "Most people considered me to be the best player in the infancy of hold’em. But I always considered Sailor to be as good, maybe better, than myself. In fact, because he was a few years older than me, I considered him as my mentor as well as my best friend."
Other finalists for the 2012 Hall of Fame class are Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Eric Drache, Thor Hansen, George Hardie, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, and Scotty Nguyen.
Read more at NolanDalla.com.
WPT Cocktail Contest
Can Kristy Arnett mix a better drink than the Royal Flush Girls? Poker pros Vanessa Selbst and Anton Wigg act as impartial judges in a cocktail-making contest at the WPT Malta player party.
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