HogWildPokerLeagues.com, the original online poker league community, is launching today a new program that rewards multiple players each month for their outstanding play by staking them to $500 toward live action tournament play at a casino of their choice.

But that’s only the beginning– HogWildPokerLeagues.com will also grant one player the dream of a lifetime–a $13,000 package to play in the World Series of Poker!

And here’s what’s even better…there is no fee to participate and no monthly subscription.

All that’s required is for a player to register on the HogWildPokerLeagues.com website and sign up free to play games in the HogWild Staking Series each month. Players must play eight or more games to be eligible — and Sunday and Wednesday night qualifiers are also $200 freerolls. Participants can check the Staking Series leaderboard to watch as they play their way to the top. Only a player’s best eight games are counted. Players who finish among the leading fifteen each month will receive the $500 buy-in to their chosen casino, plus HogWild(TM) Poker apparel that declares to one and all that they’re a staked poker pro.

The player with the twelve best game performances through May 31 will be awarded with the $13,000 WSOP Main Event package.

“Players in our leagues love the fact that their game improves rapidly when they compete in our league format,” says HogWild CEO Jeff Amrein. “Along the way almost every player has a dream to be staked as a pro and we wanted to give many players that experience, rewarding them for their demonstrated skill over multiple games. Nearly 50 players will live that chance in the next three months thanks to this series.”

Players who are awarded the $500 staking prize will pick their event, have HogWild Poker verify it and then the funds will be transferred. In exchange, each player who participates must commit to providing 10% of any winnings to Poker Gives, HogWild Poker’s charity of choice. Poker Gives raises funds through poker events and private donations for mainstream charities on behalf of the poker world.

HogWild Poker was the first company to socialize poker online. Conceived initially as a way to allow players to gather their friends for virtual home games, the site expanded to become the premiere provider of player-created leagues. Anyone can now start a private or open league at no cost, and set the rules. These include choosing custom blinds, determining the length and the frequency of the games, and deciding whether to keep it private or open it to all comers.

HogWild Poker does the rest– alerting all the players via email and sending them a text just before the game starts. There are a team of moderators who guide new players and keep the atmosphere respectful. All the points and statistics are accrued, and the rankings are displayed on each league’s very own leaderboard.

There are more than 1,000 leagues already established on HogWildPokerLeagues.com. And there are several reasons for the site’s rapidly growing popularity, not the least of which is that there’s no subscription package to buy, and no display ads or banners.

Built to emphasize the player-engagement aspects of poker, HogWildPokerLeagues.com offers the most sophisticated communications tools in the game–voicechat, emails and posting to Facebook-style league walls and chat rooms. Furthermore, players can engage in Prop Bets, a feature unique to HogWild Poker. Players can purchase HogWild “Hog Bucks” currency that allows them place bounties on each other or challenge their opponents to Prop Bets such as “Best Hand of The Night,” “Last Player Standing,” or “Leader at End of Round.”

In addition to unique social-interaction features, HogWild Poker has innovated a game function that actually makes the play much more like a live game – hole cards that are dealt “down. ” When a players looks at his or her hand, their hole cards “light up” — allowing for plenty of speculation as to whether that is a signal of strength or weakness.

Top players from each league automatically advance to the “Top Hog” site-wide competition where they compete against other leagues for $500. HogWild Poker also holds regular freerolls and promotions that give players a chance to win live buy-ins.

For newcomers to poker, a locally friendly game amongst pals is a perfect solution provided by HogWild Poker. But for players with a commitment to serious play, prevailing over the long haul against the competition in a series of events–not just one where a lucky draw can make a winner–proves your enduring skill and strength. Being on the top of the HogWild Poker leaderboard establishes one’s mastery of the game.

“It’s really an amazing site. If you like online poker in leagues, HogWild is a great place to play,” says legendary pro and World Series winner Phil Hellmuth.

To get staked, play in a league or create your own league for free, go to HogWildPokerLeagues.com. You can also “like” HogWildPokerLeagues.com at http://www.facebook.com/hogwildpokerleagues or follow HogWild Poker http://twitter.com/HogWildPoker.

Iowa Senate Study Bill 3164 now makes its way to the Senate State Government Committee and is reportedly on a fast track for discussion and debate, as Senate committee members are expected to consider the measure in a matter of days. With Nevada leading the way by already accepting applications for existing casino companies located within the state to provide online poker to Nevada residents, an approval by Iowa lawmakers this week would put Iowa just slightly behind the Silver State in the race to be the first state to regulate online poker.

Citing the dangers of gambling and the belief that online poker legislation would eventually lead to all forms of online gambling being available to Iowa residents at their fingertips via the advancing technology of mobile devices being used for internet wagering, opposition to the Iowa bill is substantial, the Quad-City Times reported.

“This is just the beginning,” said Danny Carroll, a former state legislator, now affiliated with the Family Leader organization that aims to protect Iowa families. “The people of Iowa do not want it,” he added, alluding to state polls indicating an anti-gambling stance by many state residents.

Iowa State senator Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls) is proposing the bill that would bring an estimated $3 to $13 million to the state in tax revenue based on a recent study that found that internet poker in Iowa would generate an expected $13 to $60 million annually. Danielson was prompted to move on his proposal by the U.S. Department of Justice’s ruling issued in December that found that the 1961 Wire Act is applicable only to wagering on sports.

“Because of the DoJ’s opinion, we believe you’ll see very quickly multi-state compacts,” Danielson said. “We believe by the end of this year you will see a handful of states continue to authorize it [online poker legislation].”

Danielson’s legislation calls for establishing an online poker network and providing a structure of regulations to implement and tax its operation. The measure would first permit intrastate wagering, followed by interstate and worldwide arrangements. Casinos licensed by the state would operate the online sites with allowances made for partnerships with hub operators controlled by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. Players must be at least 21 years of age and within state borders to log on and play.

The Iowa Gaming Association, like many poker players and lobbying groups such as Poker Players Alliance and the American Gaming Association, prefer federal legislation to address internet poker on a national level. But with the diminishing likelihood of that happening in an election year, it is apparent that states such as Iowa and Nevada will continue to move forward with their own online poker regulations.

Iowa could potentially become a Midwest hub for online poker should a system be put in place similar to that of the multi-state Powerball lottery.

From the Quad City Times:

A late-arriving bill to bring illegal online poker activities beamed into Iowa from offshore operations under state regulation is expected to get fast-track consideration in subcommittee on Monday.

The likelihood of Monday being the target day seems highly unlikely since it is a nationally observed holiday across the U.S. (President’s Day).

Iowa is one of around a dozen states now considering legalizing Internet poker after the U.S. Justice Department decided it would no longer apply the Wire Act to any form of gambling other than sports betting. This sudden change of stance – arrived at last September but only made public in late December – essentially provided state governments with a green light to legalize Web poker and other online casino games without fear of violating federal law.

- Chris Costigan

Jonathan Duhamel’s WSOP Bracelet FoundWe have just learned that Jonathan Duhamel`s stolen bracelet was found late on Wednesday night in a dumpster. The bracelet was only found by chance, it seems, as the dumpster was being hosed down following a street cleaning operation near the Ville-Marie tunnel in Montreal. An employee of Entretiens J.R. Villeneuve Inc. Reported it when he saw a shiny object covered in mud fall to his feet.

Following his discovery, he chose to inspect the bracelet and found that it was in fact WSOP winner Jonathan Duhamel`s missing bracelet.

The now 24 year old Duhamel was violently beaten in a home invasion last December. The coveted WSOP bracelet, his rolex watch and tens of thousands in cash were taken.

Duhamel`s agent has been contacted and he is expected to have his bracelet returned in short order.

While Everleaf is yet to release an official statement, the company abruptly stopped allowing U.S. players last Thursday without notice. Customers were literally shut out of their accounts. News quickly surfaced that funds belonging to a payment processing company connected to Everleaf had been seized last October. That information was confirmed on Wednesday with the seizure affidavit going public.

Funds from a Liechtenstein-based payment processor were seized by a Task Force of the Secret Service field office in Seattle, Washington following a lengthy investigation begun around February 2009. The seizure affidavit specifies that online gambling is illegal in the state of Washington. In fact, Washington is the only state in the U.S. that makes playing online poker a Class C felony.

Only three of the Everleaf Gaming Network’s rooms were mentioned in the Seizure affidavit, including the network’s own room. While Everleaf card rooms appeared to use the processor, Causash Establishment, exclusively, Everleaf itself did not seem to have been the target. The same field office went after payment processors utilized by both BetUS.com and PokerStars a year earlier.

It is interesting to point out that Everleaf ceased sending bank wire withdrawals around the same time the affidavit seizure request was sent out but it is also interesting to note that the company appeared to utilize Western Union almost exclusively after last April’s high profile indictments of executives from the three largest US-facing online poker companies, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and UB.com. Only a limited number of players appear to have received bank wires over the post-April 15 period and this is well documented in the seizure warrant whereby the actual amount of funds seized is quite nominal.

The website PokerAddict.net wrote a riveting piece on why non-US players should be worried.

This is an extremely unprofessional way to change a company policy. Players still have not been emailed with an explanation, and there have been no press releases made by Everleaf Gaming. Everleaf Gaming licensees have only been given limited information.

While Everleaf Gaming claims that business will continue outside the US, players in other countries are reporting slow payouts. Many cashout requests to European ewallets such as Neteller and Moneybookers are over a month old. Only small cashouts have been processed to non US players in 2012, and there has only been one reported successful cashout since Everleaf Gaming banned U.S. players.

In essence, this may not be a U.S. problem. Players around the world should have learned a thing or two from what transpired with Full Tilt Poker. First it was the U.S. players getting screwed, later it was everybody else.

Unlike Full Tilt Poker, Everleaf is made up of over a dozen independent poker skins that relied on the network for its processing. Licensees appear to be in the same boat as their customers. Two rooms, Luvin Poker and Minted Poker, are working to keep their players informed of developments but, truth be told, it may be out of their hands at this point.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com

VEVO, a music portal owned by a few major record labels in the US reportedly had a pirated NFL playoff game playing on screens throughout its ‘PowerStation’ venue at last week’s Sundance festival, according to TechCrunch.

One of the record execs tried to explain the situation away on the VEVO blog. Rio Caraeff wrote:

A guest of our lounge asked for an NFL game to be aired. We said no. There was a laptop hooked up to VEVO.com that fed into the large TV screens around the bar. Unfortunately, the laptop was easily accessible to the public. That was our mistake for not making sure the laptop was more secure. While VEVO staff was in other areas of the venue, the game was put on – via a website transmitting ESPN’s broadcast of the NFL game – without our permission or knowledge.

As soon as we realized the game was airing to the room, we removed it and went back to playing VEVO videos. The game was not aired in its entirety. Rest assured, we rectified this mistake as soon as we became aware what was going on.

What happened was unfortunate and we can’t take back what happened.

Around this very same time, the U.S. Justice Department was seizing over 300 website domains alleged to be illegally streaming NFL games and/or selling knockoff merchandise. Even New England Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady admitted he had patronized one of the seized websites in order to gain access to last year’s Super Bowl while in Costa Rica on vacation.

The record companies themselves have been behind efforts to pass legislation in Congress that would allow easy seizures of websites engaging in free file sharing and streaming of music and videos.

Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch.com cast doubt on Caraeff’s explanation:

I don’t have any proof to indicate that what Caraeff writes is incorrect, but I’m raising my eyebrow at this explanation. The game was playing the entire time I was at the PowerStation — this wasn’t just a brief blip — and it was playing on several screens, so it was hard to miss, too. After all, one of the key aims of this event was to feature VEVO videos, it wasn’t as if these screens were hidden in a corner.

The online gambling sector was the first to get caught up in the website domain seizure war. Its battle-ready attorneys, some of the best in the biz, prevented over 150 industry-related domains from seizure by the Kentucky Commonwealth in 2008 only to have three of the largest Internet poker room domains – Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and UB.com – seized last April by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

- Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com

There Are Donkey Moves Everywhere, Even at the Highest Level

Chris Klodnicki of Philly won the third Epic Poker League main event at the Palms in Vegas for $800k, but that’s not what they’re talking about. They’re talking about a bizarre move on the money bubble by well-known Vegas pro Joe Tehan.

No doubt Tehan would say he doesn’t give a crap about the money bubble (and the $51,000 guaranteed money that went with it). He would say he just cares about winning. That’s big talk. That’s pro talk. But there is no way that this move even remotely makes sense on any level. It makes no more sense than the guy who called my huge preflop shove in a recent Florida donkament with 10-5 offsuit, saying: “I’m drunk and it’s my birthday.” (Yeah, he got runner-runner straight, of course, to beat my overpair.)

There’s should be a poker axiom that states: “He who doesn’t care about a $51k money bubble will one day be living in a Motel 6 and playing $1-2 in an off-Strip casino.” And that’s true even if you are a WPT champ like Tehan.

Here’s how it went down: Faraz Jaka open-shoved his short stack from under the gun, and it folded around to Vanessa Rousso. She made a small raise to isolate, and the action came to Tehan in the big blind. He pushed all-in, putting Rousso to a decision for all of her chips. Tehan had her covered, but if she called and won she would be above the chip average and within striking distance of the lead. She eventually called, and while her Q-Q and Jaka’s A-A didn’t really surprise anyone, the 2-4 that Tehan turned up was unbelievable. Jaka was poised to triple up, while Rousso would pick up a rather sizable side pot and add a lot of chips.

Did Tehan shove all those chips in just to get Rousso’s small raise, knowing that he would lose most of it back to Jaka, who surely had him crushed? The upside was small, but the downside was huge if she calls. Tehan would not only lose to Jaka – the probable bubble boy – but also drop a ton of chips to Rousso, who would then be back in the hunt.

The flop came 9-6-4, giving Tehan five outs. The camera crew, media, and players not involved in hands crowded around to see the turn card, and the four that appeared blew the roof off the place. Tehan’s trips would win everything. He now had the chip lead and would eventually finish third. Rousso left in stunned silence. The moral is that if you think the donks (and beats) are bad where you play, remember that you’re not alone.

Nils Jarefjäll from Sweden has won the first European Masters of Poker season IV title at the Card Casino in Prague, Czech Republic.

He beat 230 opponents and took down €52,277 after striking a deal heads up for €42,227 based on chip counts then winning the additional €10,000 left in the pot. His opponent Pim van Wieringen won €41,963 for finishing second in the €1,000 + €100 buy in tournament.

Van Wieringen started heads up as chip leader with just over 3 million chips to Jarefjäll’s 1.5 million but after 90 minutes play the Swede had ground the Austrian down and the final hand saw van Wieringen raise with As Qh and Jarefjäll go all in with 3d 3h and get called. The board ran out 6c 5h 5c 2d 7s and EMOP found its first champion of season four from Sweden.

The final table payouts were:

1: Nils Jarefjäll (Sweden) – €52,277
2: Pim van Wieringen (Austria) — €41,963
3: Martin Safarik (Czech Republic) — €23,560
4: Kevin Spillane (Ireland) — €14,320
5: Pavel Býma (Czech Republic) — €11,080
6: Roman Ondrusek (Czech Republic) — €9,000
7: Sven Bahnsen (Germany) — €7,850
8: Connie O’Sullivan (Ireland) — €6,690
9: Martin Dragún (Slovakia) — €5,540

The European Masters of Poker now gears up for stop two in Lisbon, Portugal from March 29 to April 1.

Qualification for the €1,000 + €100 buy-in main event in Lisbon is now underway on all poker sites on the IGT Poker network for as little as €2 or 200 VIP points.

There are also dozens of daily satellites feeding into the main weekly qualifiers which take place each:

Tuesday 20:40 (CET) – €75 buy in with three €2,000 packages guaranteed
Thursday 20:40 (CET) – €75 buy in with three €2,000 packages guaranteed
Sunday 20:40 (CET) – €150 buy in with four €2,000 packages guaranteed

Those familiar with the poker events previously hosted at Le Windsor will remember that 2011 marked the 6th Annual Full Tilt & Miriam Foundation Montreal Poker Open, also a charity event but in support of those with Autism. Much like PartyPoker has planned for their own 2012 version, online satellites on Full Tilt Poker helped cap the 1500 player field and reports indicated that in excess of $700,000 was ultimately raised for the cause. The events of poker’s “Black Friday” had a snowball effect however, and it wasn’t all sunshine and flowers for all of the players, practically the biggest winners, after that…

In the previous format, all winnings had to be paid out through a players Full Tilt account; this included the ten top prizes of WSOP Main Event packages. In addition, a some of the prizing was “entry into the 2012 Montreal Poker Open”, which of course now doesn’t technically exists. Players started the tournament in Montreal for “qualifying rounds”, then the top thirty received airfare and accommodations to fly to Las Vegas over Victoria Day weekend and fight it out for the majority of the cash in the prize-pool.

This did go forward as planned; unfortunately for the players though, just a few weeks later the AGCC made the decision the pull Full Tilt Poker’s gaming licenses. As most know by now, the site shut down and players could not access their funds going forward. Others who also won money and packages over the same period as the Montreal Open “finals” were unable to “cash-out” in time for the WSOP Main Event. Whether or not special arrangements were made to accommodate these accounts is yet to be confirmed.

Using www.wsopdb.com, a tool that searches all available WSOP official reports and had proven to be extremely accurate, it appears less than half if those players who were supposed to have won Main Event packages didn’t play. Several did, but along with other events and could have very well bought in on their own dime. What is most interesting is that the first place winner, who was also supposed to receive “Red Pro” coaching as part of the top prize, did not play the $10,000. Several others in the top ten did not play at the WSOP at all. ”

In the mean time, what we do know is for sure is that later in the year, the official site of the event (www.themontrealopen.com) went “down” for several months. Full Tilt Poker does not appear as a sponsor and reference to a “7th Annual with Future Dates to Be Discussed” now appears. Several attempts for comments and clarification from the Miriam Foundation have been made regarding FTP and last year’s prizing, though several months later no “official statement” on the subject has yet to be returned.

The pressing questions now are; Did the players get paid? Should the beneficiary of the event, the Miriam Foundation, be on the hook if not? Will PartyPoker step up and honor the prizing that was awarded as entry into this year’s event, or will there actually still be another Montreal Open with the Miriam in Montreal this year? Is any of this in bad taste, given that at least a few players are sure to have winnings they won in a live charity event inaccessible and in limbo.

It’s a touchy subject. Taking away from the charity and it’s budgets isn’t necessarily the best option or even reasonable, as technically everyone has “been paid” and they really are not the bad guys here. They may not be able to cash out now, but how would the charity recover these funds if and when they do. The same holds true for PartyPoker. The bottom line is that this type of situation is not normally encountered with events held in licensed Casinos, so why do we need the extra risk with online sponsors?

PartyPoker is expected to do things a lot differently here, to rebuild the confidence in the playing community that this can’t happen again. You can be sure, future press on the event will include just how.

The truth is, online satellites help to build a bigger prize-pool, provide a cheaper alternative and attract players who might ordinarily pass. Playing in an event that is “branded” by one of the big guys also carries a certain “prestige” for some and the larger marketing budgets and resources can also really help. All in all online involvement usually does more good for the player and the event than the opposite.

This year, the top finalists in the PartyPoker Montreal Classic will play it out at the Bellagio and compete for World Poker Tour packages instead of the WSOP packages previously offered in the Montreal Open.

Hopefully, when everything finally does settle, this will all come back to a great cause and players having a good time competing at the felts.

The Ifrah Law firm today announced they have won a favorable ruling on behalf of Full Tilt companies and the individual poker professionals who were named as defendants in the first class action suit brought by former U.S. players in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York last summer. The suit, which involved complex fraud issues arising out of claims of conversion and civil RICO, was the result of Plaintiff’s demand for the return of U.S. player funds that were held in Full Tilt player accounts after the government shut down on Black Friday. Ifrah Law was able to obtain a dismissal of ALL claims against the individual poker pro defendants, as well as all RICO claims against the corporate defendants.

The lawsuit demanded not only a return of Plaintiff’s money under a conversion claim, but it also accused the defendants of racketeering, which would have entitled Plaintiffs to treble damages (or three times the amount owed). Plaintiffs alleged that the only reason players suffered losses was because executives and others associated with Full Tilt companies willfully committed wire and bank fraud and money laundering.

In his January 30, 2012 Order, U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand held that Plaintiffs did not have standing to institute their RICO claim. Specifically, Judge Sand found that it was not clear at this point in the litigation “whether the direct cause of Plaintiffs’ injuries was the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s office to temporarily shut down the Full Tilt Poker website and seize the company’s assets or was instead, as Plaintiffs’ conversion allegations suggest, the subsequent decision by one or more of the Defendants to halt player withdrawals from the Full Tilt Poker website.”

As to Plaintiffs’ conversion claim, Judge Sand held that the claim could proceed with respect to Pocket Kings Limited, Vantage Ltd., and Filco Ltd. only. Judge Sand granted Plaintiffs leave to amend the conversion claim with respect to Tiltware LLC and Pocket Kings Consulting because the current complaint, as stated, did not allege that these corporate entities played some role in the conversion. As for the individual poker pro defendants, Judge Sand dismissed the conversion claim outright, without leave to amend.

The Order not only represents a victory for the individual defendants in this case, but it also represents a victory for the individual defendants in the other class action cases pending in New York that still remain. A key finding in Judge Sand’s Order was that there were no facts to support jurisdiction against the individual defendants in this court. The court stated that not only do the allegations fail to demonstrate that any of the individual defendants committed a tortious act in New York, but that the individual defendants did not commit a tortious act of any sort at all.

Although this case will proceed with respect to some of the corporate defendants, Judge Sand’s Order represents a victory for them as well. The dismissal of the RICO claims against the corporate defendants signals to other plaintiffs that the events leading up to Black Friday and post-Black Friday may not be as clear cut as they may appear in the pending criminal indictments. The dismissal also limits the types of damages to which these defendants may have been exposed had the court allowed the claim to proceed.

Jeff Ifrah, founder of Ifrah Law hopes the Court’s decision will incentivize others to quickly abandon their law suits. “The Court’s decision recognizes that relief for the players is being pursued by the United States. There is no compelling basis to open additional doors for private class action lawyers to pursue that very same relief.”
Jack McAdoo