The Nightly Turbo: Poker Player Convicted of Fraud, World Series of Poker Video Game
Miss any of the day's biggest poker stories? You've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're bringing you a former poker player convicted of fraud, a new World Series of Poker-branded video game, and more.
In Case You Missed It:
Scott Seiver, Vanessa Selbst and Dimitar Danchev won the big events at the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. But there were many other champions crowned during the two-week poker festival. Chad Holloway takes a look at the winners of the PCA side events.
Backing deals are still a big part of the high-stakes poker community these days. For the latest edition of the Strategy With Kristy podcast, Kristy Arnett recorded a PCA Q+A session with Daniel Negreanu and Jason Somerville talking about staking.
The DeepStacks Poker Tour is expanding into Europe this year. Read about the tour's upcoming trip to Barcelona.
A new poker room in Montreal signed a number of poker pros to its Pro Ambassador Team this week. Eugene Katchalov, Mike Leah and others will be representing the VIP Poker Room for its grand opening next month.
Want to win a trip to Vegas and hang with the Ship It Holla Ballas!? Check out the newest sweepstakes here at PokerNews.com.
The MiniFTOPS Main Event is just a few days away. If you're able to play at Full Tilt Poker, you won't want to miss out on Saturday's PokerNews-exclusive freeroll with 100 seats to the Main Event up for grabs!
Achilleas Kallakis Found Guilty
Business tycoon and former poker player Achilleas Kallakis could face substantial jail time after being convicted of defrauding Allied Irish Banks (AIB) for £740 million ($1.18 billion).
Kallakis, 44, along with co-conspirator Alexander M. Williams were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud from 2003 through 2008 after taking cash from the bank using fake property guarantees.
The pair was convicted of faking deeds of guarantee from Hong Kong-based estate agent Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) that supported the reasoning for AIB to lend money to buy 16 British properties, including the headquarters of the Daily Telegraph.
In addition to the lump sum taken from AIB, Kallakis and Williams borrowed more than £26 million ($34.5 million) more from the Bank of Scotland – money they later used to convert a passenger ferry into a super yacht for personal use.
According to the UK Serious Fraud Office, the fraud money was used for a fleet of chauffeur-driven Bentleys, a private jet, helicopter, luxury yacht in Monaco, and a collection of high-valued art.
After pleading not guilty, both Kallakis and Williams will be sentenced on Thursday with confiscation proceedings to follow.
Kallakis hasn't been around the poker circuit much of late, but he accumulated more than $300,000 in live tournament winnings between 2005 and 2009. His biggest score came at the 2005 Pacific Poker Open, where he took third place for $100,000.
Bloomberg has more.
Experience the WSOP in Your Home
On Wednesday, Microsoft Studios announced that a free-to-play World Series of Poker-branded video game will be available for Xbox and Windows 8 users this spring. ”World Series of Poker®: Full House Pro” will bring poker's most prestigious event straight to your home, allowing players to build their bankrolls as they compete against opponents from around the world while showing off flashy avatar accessories and chip tricks inside real-world casinos.
The game takes the Xbox LIVE Arcade hit “Full House Poker” to a new level by adding commentary from World Series of Poker on ESPN announcers Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, giving gamers the feel as if they were on ESPN playing in the WSOP. There are several different game modes, including single-table games and multi-table tournaments, giving users a wide variety of action to select from.
Check out the trailer for the new game:
Polito Wins WPT National Paris
Laurent Polito was crowned the 2013 World Poker Tour National Paris winner on Monday after topping a field of 229 over four days for €74,500 ($97,313).
Polito's win in Paris follows up his victory last August at the European Poker Tour Barcelona High Roller for €270,229 ($332,017). With his latest achievement in France, his live earnings have jumped to $910,743. Polito entered the week ranked 262nd in the Global Poker Index, and he's sure to get a boost after his big score in Paris.
Polito, who started the final table third in chips, faced a tough table that included 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event third place finisher Antoine Saout, who ended up finishing fourth for €24,750.
After 90 minutes of heads-up action between Polito and Stéphane Benadiba, it was Polito who took the title, the prize money, and a €7,500 ticket to the WPT Grand Prix de Paris.
The final-table payouts were as follows:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurent Polito | €82,000 |
| 2 | Stéphane Benadiba | €52,000 |
| 3 | Omar Lakhdari | €33,400 |
| 4 | Antoine Saout | €24,750 |
| 5 | Huicun Qiao | €18,600 |
| 6 | Yossi Iffergan | €14,850 |
| 7 | Florent Estegassy | €12,340 |
| 8 | Damien Lhommeau | €9,900 |
Atlanta Hawks Casino Night
The NBA's Atlanta Hawks have announced the official date for their annual Casino Night at Opera Nightclub in Atlanta. Every member of the Atlanta Hawks team and coaching staff will participating in the evening's activities on Sunday, March 10 from 6 to 10 p.m. All guests of the event will enjoy a variety of casino games — including poker — as well as award-winning food from A Legendary Event, music, and a silent auction.
Guests will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Lou Williams and the entire roster of Hawks players, as well as former team legends like Dominique Wilkins. Autograph signings and pictures with players will be available. All proceeds from the event go directly to the Atlanta Hawks Foundation for community programming and grant giving throughout the state of Georgia.
For more, visit the Atlanta Hawks website.
Hollywood Poker Open Championship
Later this year, the M Resort in Las Vegas will play host to the Hollywood Poker Open Championship, a $2,500 buy-in tournament with $500,000 guaranteed running from June 28 through 30.
Beginning on Jan. 25, the M Resort will be hosting satellite qualifiers to the HPO Championship, giving players a chance to win a seat for as little as $125. One satellite will run daily from Jan. 25 through 27 at 2 p.m., and all three will be awarding seats for the HPO Championship Event.
| Date | Buy-in | Guarantee | Seats Added | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 25, 2 p.m. | $125 | $10,000 | 5 | Click Here |
| Jan. 26, 2 p.m. | $225 | $20,000 | 5 | Click Here |
| Jan. 27, 2 p.m. | $335 | $40,000 | 2 | Click Here |
For more information on the series, check out the article here at PokerNews.com.
acoimbra: A Short Film
Portuguese poker pro Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra is the latest member of Team PokerStars Online to be featured in a short documentary about his life as a poker player. Coimbra, the first player from Portugal ever to reach Supernova Elite status on PokerStars, got into poker after winning the Magic: The Gathering World Championship in 2009, is now among the top online poker players in the world.
In addition to the release of his documentary, Coimbra announced this week that he is starting a bankroll challenge on PokerStars. Coimbra will attempt to turn $100 into $100,000, with all of his earnings going to charity.
For more on Coimbra, visit the PokerStars Blog.
