Weekly Columns: This week in our regulation round-up outside the US: EU Parliament Special Committee report, Andorra, Spain, Alderney and Denmark.

EU

This week the EU Parliament Special Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering (CRIM) has issued its final report and made a last call for amendments before a June 26 cut off.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

Echo is presently waging a nasty war with Crown boss James Packer over which company will win a heads-up battle for Sydney casino bragging rights. Echo has promised to spend close to $1b expanding its Sydney casino into a proper integrated resort if NSW premier Barry O’Farrell will extend The Star’s monopoly past 2019. Crown wants to spend $1b building a VIP-focused casino in the Barangaroo development. Popular theories behind Crown’s Echo sell-off include Crown being more confident of (a) winning a Sydney casino license of its own or (b) regaining its Echo stake on the cheap thanks to what Echo CEO John Redmond referred to as Packer’s alleged destabilization program. Both parties have to submit their final Sydney casino bids to a government committee by Friday (21).

It’s unknown how much Crown’s sell-off may have influenced Genting’s decision to buy, nor whether the purchase means Genting is flying in the face of popular opinion that says Crown will win Sydney’s zero sum game. Even more puzzling is that Genting had the option to take its Echo stake to 10% yet chose a relatively small boost. Genting, which counts among its holdings the global casino brand Resorts World and the set-for-a-$952m-facelift Genting Highlands resort casino in its home territory, likely appreciates that (a) Echo also operates casinos in Queensland, and (b) no matter how many more regional gaming joints open, there’s little danger of thinning the hordes of Chinese tourists looking to get their gamble on.

Further evidence of the Chinese engine driving most tourism planning these days is the proposed life-size replica of Beijing’s Forbidden City an hour outside Sydney. The local Wyong Shire Council inked a deal in December to sell 15-hectares of council property to the Australian Chinese Theme Park Pty Ltd (ACTP) for $10m. The park’s half-billion dollar plans include a full-size replica of the gates to the Forbidden City, as well as a nine-story temple complete with giant Buddha. ACTP chairman Bruce Zhong told Reuters the park “will show our culture in a creative way, this is not a copy.” (Really? It will be interesting to watch China’s reaction when they discover the Forbidden City’s gates are missing.) Construction won’t get underway for at least another year, but the whole shebang will be ready for action by 2020.

Jonas Odman had been planning his recreational poker model since 2009; long before he found a home for it on the Bodog Poker Network but when he found a group willing and crazy enough to implement the dramatic changes, he knew he was home.

Once in control of the Bodog Poker Network, Odman made changes to how rake was doled out to affiliates and operators on the network. He eliminated rake back programs and, of course, launched the network-wide anonymous poker tables.

“We knew Party Poker had tried it and Microgaming had tried it but only on a small scale. Players avoided those tables like a disease. The players didn’t even want to try it and we’re going to launch anonymous tables network wide.”

The initial response from the poker community was venomous; Odman was called every name in the book with most of them questioning either a) his intelligence or b) his sanity, but Odman wasn’t deterred. “Looking at it objectively, players showed they didn’t want it but we felt it was the right thing for the ecosystem,” Odman said.

The network initially lost players with many players following through on threats to cash out and quit the site but it wasn’t to last.  Odman says, “They come back, we lost some people and I don’t want to talk too much about numbers but players came back and we’re very happy with where we are right now.

“We can see the model is working, the recreational player is getting more bang for his buck. Winning players are still winning albeit not as fast but they are still winning.”

The groups least happy with the change to anonymous poker were the multi-table grinders and players using HUDs. Their software that analyzed opponents, hands and situations no longer worked on the network taking away a major advantage these players had over their opponents.

“Some winning players are enjoying things more because they aren’t having trouble finding games. It’s different now, player can’t use their huds to make decisions, players need to make their own choices now,” Odman said.

The switch to completely anonymous poker has had some unintended benefits, as there has been a rash of targeted DDoS attacks on players playing in heads-up poker tournaments on PokerStars.

“The targeted DDoS Attacks were something we didn’t dream about happening but it was a lucky side benefit of the anonymous tables. They are protecting the players from things we didn’t even know could be a threat.”

When the Recreational Poker Model was conceived back in 2009 and again when it was launched, Odman was convinced other poker network operators would follow suit and adopt his poker model. There have been some changes from other operators and networks in the industry but to date no other poker network has followed suit with network wide anonymous tables.  It’s surprising to Odman, “I’m surprised we don’t have more followers but I’m confident someone will (follow).”

When asked if any more changes were in the works, Odman said they were always working on improving fraud detection and a few other things to protect the players but those are all in the back end, players won’t see any large scale changes.

“We have enough protections in place now we can focus on fun and entertainment. Like a circus, we have a good safety net, now lets see what kind of performance we can put on.”

As part of the fun and entertainment, the Bodog Poker Network is sending 100 players to the WSOP and they are encouraging players to dress as Zorro to help promote their anonymous poker series. As a bonus for people willing to dress as Zorro at the WSOP, Bodog will send two players, including flights and accommodations to Manila for the final of their $100,000 Anonymous Poker Series.

Given that the network is doing better than ever and the anger has long since subsided it’s fair to ask if Odman feels vindicated, “We are definitely getting more praise now, I was confident all along but it’s nice to see the poker media coming around too.

“We even have some defenders in the poker forums. We were always open with why we made the changes that we did to implement the Recreational Model.We did it to protect the players.  They don’t all agree with the changes but at least now most respect our decisions.”

Take the year that Max Steinberg has been having as an example. He has earned $499,433 in live tournaments, so even if he is dishing 50% of that into other people’s pockets he is still doing fairly well for himself. But he is still heading to bed at night knowing that he could be a three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. So is Steinberg a happy man, or a distraught man?

Like I said, poker is a funny old game.

After losing out to Jonathan Hilton in the WSOP National Championships in New Orleans, Steinberg must have been desperate for retribution as he faced up to Isaac Hagerling in the final of Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Mixed-Max event. Both players had shown their ability to mix and match the most popular format of poker in the world, after getting through nine-handed play, six-max play and finally a series of difficult heads-up encounters.

Hagerling doesn’t have the resume of a player you would expect to find in the final of this type of event. But he came into the heads-up phase of the tournament with enough plastic things to make him the number three seed. His first round match against Markus Gonsalves was over within a blink of an eye, but his second round match-up against Nick Binger was the reverse of fortunes as it became the longest tie of the round; ace-king doing the job against the [Qh] [Th] of Binger in the final hand of that heated debate. The battle with the dangerous Ukrainian Yevgeniy turned into another marathon, before Hagerling brushed aside Jeremy Ausmus in the semi-finals to take his seat in the final against Steinberg.

Fortune favored Hagerling as luck reigned supreme in the pivotal hand of the heads-up action. Steinberg  – who had Hagerling covered – moved all-in on a [Kh] [7c] [3d] [5h] board holding [Ad] [Kc], Hagerling called with the dominated [Kd] [Tc], but a [Th] on the river fractured Steinberg’s heart and gave Hagerling the chips – and the momentum – to go ahead and finish the job.

Another WSOP Bracelet for Canada

What have those Canadians been putting in their bacon at this year’s series?

Jason Duval has carried the form that saw him finish third at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Canadian Spring Championships into the WSOP with victory in Event #28: $1,500 NLHE for $521,202.

“It feels great to finally win a big tournament and get a bracelet for me and Quebec.” Duval told PokerNews sideline reporter Sarah Grant after his victory.

It was a great performance for Duval, and a run that epitomized the ups and downs of a tournament poker player. The French-Canadian topped the Day One field that brought 2,115 players out of the woodwork, so very nearly busted on Day Two before getting a slice of luck that enabled him to grind his way back to the top of the charts after defeating Majid Yahyaei in heads-up action.

Schneider Eyeing His Second 2013 WSOP Bracelet

You don’t expect to see a donkey in a H.O.R.S.E event, but that’s exactly what we have in Event #29: $5,000 H.O.R.S.E.

All eyes are firmly fixed on Tom ‘Donkey Bomber’ Schneider as he aims to become the first player to win two WSOP bracelets at this year’s series, proving once again how important heaters are in the game of poker.

261-players entered and after four days of action we are scheduled to play until we have a winner. The three players who stand in Schneider’s way are Viatcheslav Ortynskiy, Benjamin Scholl and Greg Mueller. Schneider has a big chip advantage over the other three players, but it isn’t going to be an easy ride. Ortynskiy finished third in the smaller $1.5k H.O.R.S.E event over a week ago, Benjamin Scholl has a WSOP bracelet in his trophy cabinet and Greg Mueller has two.

Chip Counts at the time of writing: Tom Schneider (2.7k), Ortynskiy (525k), Mueller (500k) and Scholl (260k): Play has reached Level 29.

Another Bracelet for Europe?

Event #30: $1,000 NLHE is in the fourth day of action and just nine players remain with a chance of securing WSOP gold. As you would expect, we had another mammoth field, with 2,108 players all contributing to a prize pool that will see $346,332 handed to the winner.

The man who finished at the top of the counts on Day Three is still leading the final nine. The Bulgarian, Dimitar Yosifov, holds 1.155m chips with Carter Myers sitting in second with 1.3m. Jonathan Thompson (Canada) and Matt Seer (UK) are the only two non-American players remaining in the field.

Eric Rodawig Leads Event #31: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-or-Better

Event 31 attracted a big field of 936 players and Eric Rodawig found himself leading at the end of Day One. Rodawig took down the $10k WSOP Stud Hi-Lo Championships in 2011 where he waded through a final table containing John Racener, Ted Forrest, David Benyamine, Joe Tehan and Ali Eslami. Rodawig pipping none other than Phil Hellmuth to the title after heads-up play.

But that was so two years ago…back to the present and Rodawig is joined in the Day Two field with 128 other hopefuls that include Barry Greenstein, David Sands, Jason Mercier and Mike Matusow.

WSOP updates: Check out the action from the World Series of Poker here. Tom Schneider already closed out his bid for a fourth bracelet and his second this summer in the HORSE event.

Also at the WSOP:
–Dan Kelly talks about the eight cashes he’s already got in the bank so far.
–Kelly is catching up with Daniel Negreanu in the player of the year race.
–PokerNews.com catches up with Annette Obrestad:

–Photo blog.
–By the numbers.

Quick hitters:
–A great roundup of what’s going on in all the U.S. states as far as online poker regulation.
–More on the PokerStars Zoom tournament that will guarantee a million dollars.
–The latest in players’ fight against the Lotteries & Gaming Authority in Malta.
–And Juicy Stakes isn’t very good at paying players, it appears.

It was Schneider’s second bracelet of the summer, fourth overall, with both coming in the multiple-game H.O.R.S.E format. The Arizona-native couldn’t have been happier to win another H.O.R.S.E. title.

“If you’re just a No-Limit Hold’em player, you really don’t learn a lot of skills that are valuable in poker,” he said.

“[Learning H.O.R.S.E.] makes you think really hard about how to play certain games and gives you an edge in all games.”

Schneider took down a $258,000 first-place prize for winning his fourth WSOP bracelet.

Back in 2007 Schneider put together a spectacular run that included three final tables and two WSOP bracelets. It was enough to earn Schneider WSOP Player of the Year.

Considering Schneider now has five cashes at the 2013 WSOP and two bracelets, he’s certainly in the running for this year’s POY. Daniel Negreanu is currently in the lead with just 20 more points than Schneider.

Mueller Nearly Misses Becoming 8th Canadian Winner of the Year

Greg Mueller

 

The final four of Event 29 also featured Greg Mueller, Benjamin Scholl and Viatcheslav Ortynsiky but Schneider held a massive chip lead.

The entire event was extended by one day when the final four were still battling it out until 2 a.m. yesterday.

Mueller had a shot at becoming the astounding eighth Canadian to win a bracelet in this year’s series but instead busted in third place for $129,600.

Schneder isn’t done either. He was already thinking about taking a run at third bracelet of the summer just minutes after winning his second.

“I feel really good about it,” he said.

“I really do. I don’t know what it is. It’s like there’s something in the water or something. I feel like I’m playing well and I’m sensing what’s going on with other players.”

Here’s a look at the complete final-table payouts:

Undaunted, Paddy appealed the Council’s ruling, and on Monday, Thames Magistrates’ Court sided with the bookies. District Judge Paul Goldspring rejected the Council’s argument that the addition of one more betting shop would cause Syria-like carnage to break out on the east London borough’s streets. Goldspring said the Council had failed to prove “that the granting of the license would not be reasonably consistent with the objective of preventing crime and disorder.” Goldspring found it “significant” that the local police hadn’t objected to the application and said that ‘in light of the evidence before me,” the Council’s rejection of Paddy’s application had been “wrong.”

Paddy was magnanimous in victory, pledging to donate the £33.9k in costs it was awarded via the decision to Newham charities and saying it remained committed to maintaining a “close working relationship and open dialogue” with all local councils. But Paddy also welcomed “the fact that the confusion surrounding primary activity has been clarified, with Newham conceding during the proceedings that the 2005 Gambling Act relates only to whether an operator provides genuine facilities for betting.”

Newham Council was understandably bummed, with Councilor Ian Corbett saying the ruling “exposed a serious problem” with the “toothless” 2005 Gambling Act, which “will not prevent the march of the high street bookmakers.” The Council hasn’t ruled out seeking a judicial review of Goldspring’s ruling. Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy criticized the ruling, saying it would act as a “red rag to bookmakers to go for it, and take the opportunity to move into high streets up and down the country in even bigger numbers.” Newham already has some 80 betting shops within its borders – the third highest rate in the country – but as it’s been pointed out, with one in eight high street shops already sitting vacant, bookies are only filling a void other retailers appear reluctant to enter.

The Newham v. Paddy tiff had been viewed as a test case by those staunchly opposed to the spread of FOBTs, which are the latest in a long line of technical innovations to be saddled with the ‘crack cocaine of gambling’ epithet. The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) praised Goldspring’s ruling, saying it was based on “empirical evidence and common sense.”