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We're trying to get you caught up on the week's top poker news stories. In this edition of the Weekly Turbo, you'll get a look at Full Tilt Poker's latest statement, the newest member of Team PokerStars Online, and more.
Full Tilt Poker Statement
On Wednesday, Full Tilt Poker released its latest statement to PokerStrategy.com. The statement touches on the the financial issues the company is facing and how it is positioning itself to deal with them. According to the press release, approximately 250 positions at Pocket Kings Ltd. could be affected by the new cost optimization program.
Bekannte fake news beispiele Europa casino slots 888 casino app Online casino sucht Ares casino bonus code 2019 Spiele kindergeburtstag 3 geburtstag 100 freispiele ohne einzahlung Casino konstanz kleiderordnung Spielbank bad neuenahr kleiderordnung Zertifizierte online casinos 888 bonus codes Slotracing carrera Online casino mit amazon. Scheinberg, a federal criminal case against the founders of the three largest online poker companies, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Cereus Poker Network (Absolute Poker/Ultimatebet), and a handful of their associates, which alleges that the defendants violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and engaged in bank fraud and money.
Here is the statement in its entirety:
'On April 15th 2011 the United States Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment against a number of individuals employed by major online poker operators. After the issuance of that indictment and a related civil case brought by the United States government, Full Tilt Poker withdrew from the US market. Then in a related action, on June 29th, 2011, Full Tilt Poker had its operating licenses suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.'
The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has reportedly made a number of amendments to its draft gaming legislation. Full Tilt's Alderney licence suspended. Alderney Gambling Control Commission has suspended the gambling licence of Full Tilt Poker, requiring it to suspend all operations with immediate effect. Online Casino and Gambling News: 2012. New Jersey Governor Pressured To Sign Online Gambling Law. Phil Ivey Rolling On PokerStars And Full Tilt Poker. Gaming operators who hold internet licenses in the German state of Schleswig Holstein have been warned by officials that their permits are restricted to just the single state and not valid.
'As a result, Pocket Kings Ltd. (provider of marketing and technology services to Full Tilt Poker) has adopted a cost optimization program and estimates that they need to reduce their costs by approximately €12m. This program is intended to streamline the company’s operations in order to better position itself for future growth and profitability in Full Tilt Poker’s markets outside of the U.S.'
'If all of the required cost savings were to be achieved through redundancies, approximately 250 positions could be affected; however the exact number cannot be confirmed until the conclusion of a consultation process with its workforce.'
'Notwithstanding the foregoing, Pocket Kings firmly believes it has a very strong future in Full Tilt Poker’s Non-US Markets, and is fully committed to ensuring Full Tilt Poker restores the site and repay players in full. To this end, Full Tilt Poker has retained Sea Port Group Securities, LLC as its financial advisor with regard to raising capital and/or assisting in securing a strategic partner in order to fund continued operations of Full Tilt Poker's non-U.S. business. The Company is in active discussions with several parties and will provide a further statement in due course.'
Sporting the Red Spade
Even though the Team PokerStars Pro roster may be getting lighter, the Team PokerStars Online roster just added a heavy hitter. Mickey 'mement_mori' Petersen is the newest member of Team PokerStars Online.
Petersen, much like David Williams and Justin Bonomo, got into poker after playing Magic: The Gathering. Can someone get us one of those decks? Maybe we'll get better at poker if we start playing MTG.
'I see signing with world's biggest online site as the next logical step in my career and hopefully I'll be able to build on my resume live as well as online and promote both PokerStars and the game in a positive light,' Petersen said .
It didn't take long to add to his resume. The newly minted member of Team PokerStars Online final tabled WCOOP Event #24 on Monday night, and finished in third place, good for $10,868.25.
The PokerStars Blog has more.
Behind Closed Doors
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission will hold its hearing regarding Full Tilt Poker on Sept. 19 — four days after its 'deadline.' The public may have been allowed at the first hearing in July, but there will be no such luck this time around. The AGCC released a statement today announcing that the hearing will take place 'in camera,' which we guess is a fancy way to say 'behind closed doors.' We're pretty sure the public is a little fired up about this, but there's also someone else who doesn't agree with this decision, executive director of the AGCC, Andre Wilsenach.
“I am pleased that the FTP hearing will continue as scheduled, as was argued on my behalf. However, I am disappointed with the tribunal’s decision that, notwithstanding my arguments to the contrary, the hearing will be held in private. I believe the public has a right to know the reasoning behind the decisions to suspend FTP’s licences and call a hearing, and to hear the evidence that will be put forward on my behalf,' Wilsenach said in the press release.
'It is my understanding that the tribunal conducted a difficult balancing exercise of the interests of the various parties, taking into account the legal arguments for and against further postponing the hearing, and for and against allowing the public to attend the proceedings.”
GamblingControl.org has more.
World Poker Tour Paris High Roller
On Friday, the €15,000 buy-in high roller kicked off at the 2011 World Poker Tour Rendez-Vous à Paris. Among the 36 players who entered was last year's winner, Freddy Deeb, and last year's runner-up, Sorel Mizzi. Would history repeat itself? A €521,100 prize pool was created and €234,495 was reserved for first place.
Mizzi moved into the second day of play as the chip leader, and when five players were left on Sunday, Mizzi tweeted:
Chip leader w/ 740k of 1.8 Million in play in high roller... 5 left! Also big congrats to @matthew_waxman for shipping WPT, kid was due!!!
Schleswig Holstein Germany Genealogy
— Sorel Mizzi (@sorelmizzi)Sure enough, it was déjà vu for Mizzi and Deeb, but this time, there was a twist. On a flop of Deeb shipped his remaining stack in the middle holding . Mizzi snap-called, tabling . The turn and river blanked for Deeb, giving Mizzi the title and the €234,495 first-place prize.
Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival
Winner winner chicken dinner ship the 234,495 euros n the trophy! Revenge is sweet! Freddy plyed gr8 http://t.co/DsUSHff
— Sorel Mizzi (@sorelmizzi) WPT Paris High Roller Results
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Sorel Mizzi | €234,495 |
2 | Freddy Deeb | €130,275 |
3 | Nichlas Matsson | €78,165 |
4 | Jerome Zerbib | €52,110 |
5 | Christopher Lastiwka | €26,055 |
Read more at FR.PokerNews.com.
South Point Going Online
According to GamingToday.com, South Point Casino owner Michael Gaughan is launching an online poker site in the 'next couple of weeks.' The site will be a free-play poker site on the ZEN Entertainment network.
'This is an experiment for me,' Gaughan told GamingToday. 'I’m just getting my feet wet but I expect that down the line I am going to be applying for an intrastate license.'
Las Vegas-based ZEN Entertainment has also partnered with Jamie Gold for his new online poker site, the UFC's online poker site. If you recall, the UFC is owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who also own Station Casinos. See the connection?
Will these free-for-play online poker sites be popping up more frequently? With land-based casinos attached to them? Only time will tell.
Read more at GamingToday.com.
Saab Gets Booked
In January, we told you that David Saab was busted in Australia for attempting to import 21 kilograms (~46 pounds) of cocaine. Saab, along with Francis Hughes and Robert Reemus tried to smuggle the cocaine in a shipment of steel machine parts that were boated in from Vancouver.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the three men were given a combined 30-year jail sentence after pleading guilty. Reemus and Hughes were given eight-year jail sentences with a minimum of five years. Judge Liz Gaynor sentenced Saab to a 10-year minimum sentence and pointed him out as the 'chief organizer of the operation,' noting that he stood to gain $110,000 for the shipment.
According to the Herald Sun, Gaynor told Saab 'the 'illusory world you have constructed for yourself' had been shattered by his arrest, as had his 'delusions of wealth.'
Find out more about the sentencing at HeraldSun.com.au.
German State Legalizes Online Poker
Germany has 16 states, or Länder. One of them, Schleswig-Holstein, recently passed legislation that will legalize and regulate online poker.
The new legislation allows for betting exchange, sports books, poker and all casino games except roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, according to eGaming Review. The law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012, and licenses will be valid beginning March 1. The state will also impose a 20 percent tax on gross profits.
After the news, Befair released a statement saying, “Schleswig-Holstein’s new online gambling treaty is a welcome piece of legislation geared towards creating a genuinely open, transparent and responsible online gambling market in Germany. We are pleased that it has today passed through the state parliament and we look forward to applying for a license to operate there.'
'We are now hopeful that the other 15 German states will make the required amendments to their proposed State Treaty, in order to bring it into line with EU law and with the law passed in S-H today,' it continued. “Betfair is committed to participating in the online gambling market in Germany, ready and willing to pay taxes there and offer German consumers competitive, innovative and safe products.'
History Of Schleswig Holstein
Read more at EGRMagazine.com.
Let's Get Ready to Ruuummmbbblllleeeee!
Manny Pacquiao and the Asian Poker Tour are joining forces. From Dec. 7 through 12, the APT is holding Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event at the Pan Pacific Hotel's Asia Poker Sports Club in Malate, Philippines. The deal was signed last week, and will become an official APT Accredited Event given the approval from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“The APT is obviously proud to be ensuring its popular and trusted protocol is followed at the Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event. I’m sure it will be a pleasure working with such a respected personality as Manny and we’re looking forward to seeing a large turnout come December 7,' said APT tournament director Lloyd Fontillas.
Pacquiao, who is a ten-time world boxing title holder, is a supporter of poker in the region. The event will feature a PHP 500,000 High Roller, PHP 11,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event, and PHP 50,000 buy-in Main Event.
If you want to find out more, check out TheAsianPokerTour.com.
LGA on LockPoker.eu
Last month, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta announced that LockPoker.eu had 'no connection whatsoever with the Authority' and the LGA logo on LockPoker's website was 'false and misleading.'
The LGA issued another announcement regarding LockPoker on Thursday, clarifying some things.
'Lockpoker.eu is a website which has now been notified to the Authority as an intermediary of Alfard Malta Ltd (holder of a Maltese Remote Gaming Licence LGA/CL3/694/2010) which is to be operated on the Merge Gaming Malta platform (holder of Licence LGA/CL4/693/2010). Although duly licensed in Malta Alfard Gaming Ltd does not yet have the authorization to go live from Malta as currently Merge Malta Limited is in the process of finalising its technical setup in accordance with the Maltese Regulations, a process to be concluded shortly.'
'The Authority, however, denies spins by certain sections of the media. This was a case of having failed to notify the Authority of an intermediary arrangement in a timely fashion. The Authority, ever vigilant in the public interest, took immediate action as it does in all similar cases, irrespective of the nature of the infringement.'
It seems as though it was all a misunderstanding.
Read more at LGA.org.mt.
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Volker Dahne
If you're in Germany, you're probably left wondering what kind of poker games you're actually allowed to play. Currently, the confusing legal situation in the country is not helping anyone answer that question.
With norms to regulate online poker left in the hands of 16 different Länder (German Federal States) and home games partially allowed after a recent ruling from the German Federal Administrative Court, playing poker in the country that produced champions like Marvin Rettenmaier and 2013 GPI Player of the Year Ole Schemion is far more difficult than one would guess.
So, while German players keep crushing one international event after another, let's have a quick look at how things work in Europe's largest national economy.
Live poker in Germany: What is allowed, and what isn't?
In Germany, only state casinos are allowed to host poker cash games or tournaments. All sorts of real-money gambling poker outside of casinos (like home games, card clubs, etc.) is forbidden, and police raids of underground games are not unheard of.
![Schleswig holstein war Schleswig holstein war](/uploads/1/2/5/1/125190560/688287960.png)
There are however a few exceptions: playing for very small stakes in home games is not prosecuted, and sometimes it is also possible to find particular tournaments allowed to be organized by non-state casino hosts.
On Jan. 27, 2014, the German Federal Administrative Court ruled that tournaments with very low buy ins (around €15) do not constitute illegal gambling. This law applies so long as the buy-ins are mainly used to cover the costs of the event and are not redistributed among the players.
Despite the fact it does not refer to events with significant figures, the ruling was widely welcome by Germany’s poker community as the country has a rather vivid scene of those very low buy-in tournaments.
The most prominent host for that kind of events is the PokerBundesliga, a circuit which offers €15 tournaments where the participants can win entries to other tournaments. Their yearly final in Leipzig regularly attracts over 1,000 players.
In Short: Poker in casinos is allowed, low-stakes home games are OK, and low-stakes tournaments are also OK.
Online Poker in Germany: Where things get confusing
It is difficult to have a complete understanding of Germany’s online poker regulation. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that each one of the 16 German Federal States has its own laws regarding online gambling and does not request to work together with the others to build a homogeneous, national system.
![Holstein Holstein](/uploads/1/2/5/1/125190560/767017100.png)
What we do know is that 15 of the 16 German states do not allow to for the providing of online poker services, even though none of those 15 different pieces of legislation mention whether it is allowed to play online poker or not.
Up until now no player has ever been prosecuted in Germany for playing online poker, but legal certainty regarding online poker is not provided by the legislation in those 15 states.
Currently, all German states are working on an amendment to the current gambling law, which in its current revision reinforces the strict prohibition of all forms of online gambling with the exception of the federal lottery.
But as the European Court of Justice has already decreed in 2010, that such a broad prohibition is against EU law, it seems likely that this new revision will be overruled once again.
One German Federal State, Schleswig-Holstein, is the only one that tried to differentiate from others and decided to allow both online gambling and sports betting in mid-2011.
Schleswig-Holstein started issuing licenses in early 2012 for some companies to offer online gambling to Schleswig-Holstein residents. Among the first rooms to secure a license from the state are industry leaders PokerStars, 888 and Ladbrokes.
Unfortunately for poker players, right after Schleswig-Holstein passed this online regulation, the state government was voted out of office, and the newly elected governor of Schleswig-Holstein announced his intention to revoke the whole piece of regulation.
All this said, up until now the new state government did not follow through on that announcement, even if the current situation in Schleswig-Holstein is a stalemate since neither players nor providers have any legal certainty that online poker stays legal and regulated in the state.
In short: Providing online gambling is not allowed (with the current exception of Schleswig-Holstein), and playing online is not prosecuted.
Poker’s tax heaven … until you win
In general, poker players do not have to pay taxes in Germany as gambling winnings are non-assessable. Up until 2010 poker was considered a game of chance by the German jurisdiction.
Broadly this still holds true to date, even if Cologne's Financial Court ruled in October 2012 that under certain circumstances revenues generated via poker tournaments are taxable.
In the now famous Eddy-Scharf-Ruling, which forced the two-time WSOP bracelet holder to pay taxes on his winnings as 'they counted as commercial income as they were linked to his personal skills,' the Cologne court decreed that a person who regularly generates income via poker games has to pay regular income taxes on those revenues.
Thus, now many professional poker players reside in Austria or England to avoid having to pay income taxes. For the average casino player the Cologne verdict has no consequences, though, as long as poker is not his main source of income.
In short: As long as poker is not your main source of income, your winnings are not taxable. If you win big, you better live elsewhere.
*Lead photo courtesy of fc02.deviantart.net.
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