Winners and Losers: Australia and Iowa Win, More Online Poker Losers

Photo: PokerNews.com

Topics: Winners and Losers, Dan Smith, Online Poker, Ultimate Bet, Aussie Millions, Black Friday [+]

Things calmed down a bit from a player perspective last week, with but with the Aussie Millions Main Event on the way and various WPT and WSOP Circuit events coming up it won’t be long before tournament news dominates the headlines. For now though, the majority of the news continues to come from off the table, from senators looking to expand the game of poker in the United States, to a reminder of why the game is closed to Americans in the first place, and lastly to a player that wants to see changes in the new post-Black Friday online landscape. Even if the tournament results are scarce, it’s still a busy week for poker.

Winners

Dan Smith – That said, there is some tournament news to report, as the Aussie Millions held its own A$100,000 Challenge over the past week, and 22 players felt the need to put that much money on the line to win the tournament. As is usual for this level of buy-in, the elite players were well represented, and the final table, from Sam Trickett to Joe Hachem, proved to be an incredibly tricky minefield to navigate. Dan Smith, a Las Vegas poker pro, was the last man standing in the shark tank, collecting over A$1 million in the process. He defeated Mikhail Smirnov heads up in what proved to be quite a lengthy battle for first place, and assuredly ending up a million (Australian) dollars richer as a result is a fitting reward for topping a tough field.

Iowa State Senator Jeff Danielson­ – When we talk about states that are looking into legalized online poker, the first states that come to mind are Nevada, New Jersey, and maybe California. But Iowa? About a decade ago, someone bet professional gambler John Hennigan that he couldn’t spend a month living in the Des Moines city limits. Within a few days, Johnny World was begging to buy his way out of the bet.

Times have changed, but when you see a state senator from Iowa of all places take up the cause for legalized online gambling in his state, you still have to be a little surprised. While Iowa is certainly one of the smaller states to take up this issue, the DOJ’s interpretation of the Wire Act opens up the possibility of partnering up with other states to create a wider player pool and, ideally, a wider base for generating revenue. Danielson hopes to take this issue to the Iowa State Legislature this year, and on behalf of American players we wish him the best of luck, because the more states that adopt this line of thinking the better.

Phil Galfond – Galfond actually posted his blog in time for last week’s column, but its impact is still being felt now. Last week Phil Galfond wrote a lengthy blog discussing the changes he would like to see in the online poker scene in order to increase play while making the game more enjoyable for regular and recreational player alike. While many people have bemoaned the fact that games are getting harder, Galfond argues that the current state of affairs just isn’t acceptable, and this appears to have grabbed the attention of PokerStars, who on its twitter feed acknowledged the blog and suggested they’d consider Galfond’s words. Even if you don’t have online poker available in your country of residence (yet), you have to take his words into account; you never know when you will be clamoring for the same things suggested in the blog.

Losers

Ira Rubin – Black Friday news is almost never good, and this is no exception. Ira Rubin, one of the payment processors accused of, among other things, bank fraud in the Black Friday indictments, pled guilty to the conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud charges on Tuesday. Rubin, who was present to submit his plea, is expected to face an 18-24 month prison term as a result of a plea agreement. As some of the payment processors signal their intent to admit guilt on some of the charges in the indictment, it remains to be seen how the three CEOs, Scheinberg, Bitar, and Tom, will be dealt with, as they are less likely to appear in US court for the time being.

6356095 Canada, Inc. (formerly Excapsa, Inc., former owners of UB) – Just like news of Black Friday not being positive, you can be sure that the embattled UB site isn’t going to get off easy either when they make the news. Eight poker players filed a complaint in Federal Court in relation to the superuser scandal that rocked the site a few years back alleging, and among other things, violations of the RICO act, unfair business practices, fraud, and negligence. The plaintiffs are seeking millions of dollars in damages, and while it may be difficult to get money from a company that was forced to liquidate, they do list as co-defendants ten John Does in connection with the scandal. While this is still in its early stages, and the plaintiffs are only out for their own interests (this is not a class action suit), it will be up to the courts to see if this case moves forward.