Continued here:
2012 Wynn Poker Classic

Day 1b of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Copenhagen took place Tuesday. Seven 60-minute levels lwere played, just like on Monday’s Day 1a, but that’s where the similarities ended.

On Monday, 83 players entered, whereas on Day 1b 216 players paid the DKK37,275 (€5,000) buy-in for their chance at an EPT title.

On Day 1a, it was easy for us to spot who was leading the way because Steve O’Dwyer ran away with the lead and bagged up 190,975. The lead seemed to change every 30-minutes on Day 1b, making nailing down a leader difficult. One man had to rise to the top by the end of play, however, and that was Mads Wissing. He quietly went about amassing his stack and leads the 131 who made it to Day 2 with 127,500 in chips.

Members of Team PokerStars Pro had a relatively good day. Theo Jorgensen (55,450), Johnny Lodden (77,400), Luca Pagano (44,225), Martin Staszko (23,875), and Team PokerStars Online’s Mickey Petersen (57,075) will all be back to battle on Day 2. Viktor Blom and Jude Ainsworth were the only two who didn’t make it through.

Blom was eliminated in the middle of the day after his top pair, top kicker lost to an opponent who hit a straight on the river. Ainsworth fell within the last 30 minutes of the day. He called all-in with ace-queen on the river of an board, but lost to Adam Eliasson who had flopped a set with .

It was great to see all the tables full at the beginning of play and to see so many Nordic players joking around and catching up for, probably, the first the first time this year. Unfortunately for some of them, the smiles didn’t last. Martin Jacobson, Rasmus Nielsen, William Thorson, Per Linde, Peter Jepsen, Oscar Kroon, Jesper Hougaard, David Sonelin, and Jens Kyllonen were all sent to the rail.

EPT Copenhagen Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

The players from Day 1a and Day 1b will combine to form a 179-player field on Wednesday. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be bringing you all the action when play resumes at 1200 CET (0600 EST).

On Monday, 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate became the newest member of Team Betfair Poker. The London native, who retired from the game in 2010 only to return a year later, will make his first appearance wearing a Betfair logo at the 2012 WSOP Main Event in July.

Eastgate signed on with Team PokerStars before the WSOP Main Event final table in 2008 he left the team when deciding to take a leave from the game in 2010. He even auctioned off his WSOP bracelet for $147,500, all of which went to UNICEF.

Eastgate then made his return to the game at the 2011 NBC Heads Up Championship. He’s cashed only once on the tournament circuit since then, placing 95th at the EPT Berlin Main Event last April, but it seems we’ll be seeing more of him now that he’s wearing Betfair’s colors.

In a recent interview with Betfair (see below), Eastgate stated his reasons for returning to the game that made him a world champion. “I had a 10 month hiatus where I didn’t play poker and then I felt the lust to play poker again because I still enjoy the game and there’s still a lot of challenges to the game. I’m not by any means the best player in the world so there’s still a lot of challenges.”

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Original post:
2012 WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event to Take Stage this Weekend

This past week, Daniel Negreanu recorded a rant and then final-tabled the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final, Drew McIlvain gave his side of the chip-dumping story, Jason Somerville made a big announcement, and online poker legislation failed again in the United States.

We’ve got some thinking to do.

1. Kid Poker rehashes hatred, then crushes São Paulo

On Feb. 15, Negreanu uploaded a vlog on his YouTube channel titled, “Real Talk.” During the ten-minute video, Kid Poker talks about his upcoming trips to Brazil and Ireland, the World Series of Poker schedule, and, of course, Full Tilt Poker.

“I’ve come to realize that those comments are pretty harsh,” he admits, alluding to a past blog post where he advocated for old-school Vegas punishment for Ray Bitar, Chris Ferguson, and Howard Lederer. “I’ve had some time to think about what I said, and..um…yeah! I think they’re absolutely appropriate! I do, Howard! If you’re listening and watching this, I do! I don’t think I would have any problem with somebody who had $15,000 of their hard-earned money or your site, come up to you and bash you in the nuts with a baseball bat.”

This vlog — like everything Negreanu does — received mixed reviews. Some people just can’t stand him and how open he is, while other people, including some of the Negreanu-haters, champion his stance and hatred of FTP. Unsurprisingly, Matt Glantz served as the voice of reason, tweeting the following to Kid Poker:

MattGlantz Matt Glantz At the risk of ur wrath @RealKidPoker, u would better serve ur purpose so much better without the vulgarity and inciting violence imo. February 15 2012

Negreanu will always be vocal, and that turns people off, but right now he has more support than ever because (1) he’s right, and (2) he’s playing well.

What FTP did was inexcusable, and the repercussions will be felt for a long time. That being said, advocating violence isn’t always the best course of action, Daniel. I love that you’re honest, and that you’re not afraid to be yourself, but there are times where self-censorship is necessary. Please, bash FTP all you want, but don’t tell everybody that it’s OK to bash Lederer’s genitals. There are better, more productive ways to solve this problem.

Right or wrong, Negreanu’s opinions will remain in the headlines as long as he’s producing. This year alone, Kid Poker’s finished fifth in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller, bubbled the Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller, and finished sixth in the LAPT Grand Final. That’s an impressive two-month résumé.

I’m positive that we’ll hear more from Negreanu in the future, and I am certain that one of his recurring topics will be FTP.

2. It’s not about intent

Last week, I had a chance to talk with both Drew McIlvain, the player who was banned from Harrah’s Tunica, and Seth Palansky, the vice president of corporate communications at Caesars Entertainment. McIlvain, while his interview was interesting to say the least, says he did not intend to cheat or steal “Terry’s” chips. It’s not about intent however; it’s about following the rules.

“The definition of collude in the dictionary that I have in my hands,” Palansky told me. “Is two words: conspire together.”

McIlvain admits to having multiple conversations with “Terry,” but this doesn’t allow him to plead ignorance. After the first conversation, he should’ve known something strange was going on. After the second conversation, you have to tell somebody. If McIlvain called the floor at that point, what’s the worst that could happen? They tell him he’s wrong, and when “Terry” donks off his chips, he gets to keep them.

Some are arguing that only a small percentage of players would notify the floor in this situation, and that these types of things happen “all the time.” I don’t believe either claim is true. Had these people been in McIlvain’s shoes and were told the things McIlvain was told by “Terry,” they would’ve done something about it. Likewise, this doesn’t happen regularly. Sure, we’ve all seen someone get crippled then say something like, “I’m either going to triple-up or bust in the next orbit,” but that scenario is clearly different. “Terry” and McIlvain spoke player to player, away from the table, and there was a plan in place.

McIlvain didn’t make the plan, but he didn’t turn it down either.

Should McIlvain have been disqualified? Yes. Should he be banned from all Harrah’s properties? No. Will he be banned? I don’t think so. I think he’s learned a valuable lesson, and, after the appeals process, he will be welcomed back.

I hope he’s learned something from his mistakes, however, both on and off the felt.

3. Jason Somerville is a courageous man

Upon entering the poker media at the 2009 WSOP, Jason Somerville was one of the first players I met. He was very cordial, and didn’t act like he was above me in any way. As a rookie in the game, I appreciated that greatly. And, despite making four WSOP final tables, winning one bracelet and racking up over $1.6 million in live tournament earnings since our first encounter, Somerville hasn’t changed. He’s still one of the nicest players in the game.

Last week, on his blog, Somerville admitted that he was gay. More importantly, he said that he’s “honestly happier now than I’ve ever been.”

To those of you who don’t believe this is news, I ask you to name another high-profile male poker player who is openly homosexual. OK, now can you name an openly gay NFL player? NBA player? MLB player? NHL player? Golfer?

Having trouble?

It’s 2012, and while we’d like to think that things like race, creed, and sexuality don’t matter, they do. There are still stigmas, there are still arrogant people, and, above all, there is still fear.

“That same year, the second and third people I came out to were my parents (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done),” Somerville writes.

Pressing “post” on this blog was probably in Somerville’s top 10, but the response from players and fans has been overwhelmingly positive. Even Perez Hilton reached out to Somerville:

PerezHilton Perez Hilton @JasonSomerville You are #awesome! Just had to say that. February 15 2012

There may not be a ton of homosexual poker players, but if there are any who were previously afraid to be themselves, I hope that Somerville’s post will make them more comfortable. We can’t change who we are inside, but it should be mandatory for us to live life to the fullest. It’s impossible to enjoy life while living in fear, however, and I commend Somerville for his courage.

4. Gullible is written on the ceiling

The millisecond I filed last week’s Five Thoughts, I came across something — I forget if it was a tweet or an article — that basically said online poker had no chance of making it on the payroll tax cut extension. A few days later, the ship sailed, and online poker was left on the dock again.

Optimism is the worst, and I really have no reason to be optimistic. Senator Harry Reid has been rumored to save the day twice now, and both times we were woefully disappointed. Even if something was passed, it would take months for anything substantial to occur, and that would be on a state-by-state level. It’s a never-ending bureaucratic nightmare.

I’m here to formally announce that Five Thoughts will no longer be optimistic towards online gaming legislation in the United States. Five Thoughts’ official stance: I’ll believe it when I see it.

This will be a hard-line stance, and I promise it won’t change until the next rumor pops up.

5. Carnival!!!

Enjoy

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On Monday, an Iowa legislative subcommittee approved Senate Study Bill 3164, which will legalize online poker in the state by allowing “licensees authorized to conduct gambling games on an excursion boat, gambling structure, or racetrack enclosure to operate internet wagering on poker and making penalties applicable.”

The three-member Senate panel voted to send the bill to the Senate State Government Committee, which may consider passage as soon as this week. The bill explains that “Internet wagering shall be limited to wagering on poker and all of its variations,” and that the licensee must verify that players are at least 21 years old. Any existing or new gaming operation also must submit an application and meet established criteria before being allowed to conduct Internet wagering.

If passed, the legislation would provide for intrastate, interstate and international options, as well as operation and taxation details. “We have it out there. It needs to be controlled,” said Senator Wally Horn (D-Cedar Rapids).

Horn’s sentiments were echoed by Senator Rick Bertrand (R-Sioux City): “I agree something has to be done at this point. I see this as an opportunity for Iowa to get out in front of this.”

While Iowa lawmakers seem intent on pioneering an online gaming platform, there are still plenty of critics. Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference told the subcommittee, “We do believe it will result in a greater number of people getting addicted to gambling.”

Similarly, Family Leader official Danny Carroll urged the subcommittee to consider the bill’s effect on families, saying, “The people of Iowa do not want it.”

Iowa is now the fourth state in two years to consider an intrastate poker bill, joining Hawaii, New Jersey, and Nevada, with only the latter having adopted the bill and taken steps to make online gaming a reality.

To view the Senate Study Bill 3164 in its entirety, click here. For more on the subcommittee’s passage of the bill, check out the Quad-City Times.

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The far reaching effects of Black Friday have recently crossed the border into Canada where Full Tilt Poker’s disappearance has created drama regarding the Montreal Open, a charity poker tournament formerly sponsored by the online poker site. The tournament was created to raise money for the Miriam Foundation, a charity that “improves the quality of life for children with learning disabilities and their familiars through innovative and comprehensive programs.”

Now, it seems, the winners of the 2011 event may be out of luck in collecting their prizes, which were supposed to be paid out by FTP. Meanwhile, some event organizers, namely Morden C. Lazarus (know as Cookie), along with DV Sterling Enterprises Inc. and David Sachs, have developed another charity event with a new sponsor, much to the consternation of the Miriam Foundation.

The new charity event, branded the Montreal PartyPoker Classic, is sponsored by PartyPoker and will help raise money for the Jodi Lazarus Fund for Hereditary Breast Cancer, despite preliminary reports indicating the new event would use the Montreal Open name. Event organizers have denied those reports but were nonetheless served a Provisional and Interlocutory Injunction and Introductory Motion for a Permanent Injunction by the Miriam Foundation, which opted to seek legal recourse to prevent the use of the Montreal Open name.

Cookie is contesting Miriam’s right to the Montreal Open name in the Province of Quebec District of Montreal Superior Court, as well as seeking monetary relief for unpaid players, claiming that the charity was unjustly enriched and has an obligation to ensure that players receive their prizes because the foundation was entrusted with the prize pool. He also alleges that it was never his intention to use the Montreal Open name for the new charity event and that the injunction was granted while he was out of the country and unable to deal with the matter, thus tarnishing his reputation.

The whole situation is complicated and has become a “he-said/she-said” affair between Cookie and the Miriam Foundation. Although both parties claim responsibility for the creation of the Montreal Open name, the real issue seems to be whether or not the Miriam Foundation has a legal and ethical responsibility to pay players after FTP was ruined.

The Montreal Open

The Montreal Open has been held every year since 2005, and the tournament awards the top 30 finishers a trip to Las Vegas to compete for 10 seats to the World Series of Poker Main Event, a prize pool worth more than $250,000. From March 27 through 30, 2011, the most recent event drew approximately 1,500 players, bringing in around $700,000, and eventually determined the top 30 winners:

Vik Artinian, Francis Bisson O’Bomsawin, Marc Boulerice, Adam Cader, Michael Crabbe, Guy Cruickshanks, Mario Defoy, Bobby Delaronde, Jamilee Fitzpatrick, Jean Gauthier, Dorothy Hector, Terry Hobbs, Ludovic Lachance, Daniel Legare, Izhak Levy, Anthony Mahoney, Philippe Morin, Maxime Nault, David Ngo, Dan Nicholis, Dov Ohana, Philippe Pion, Thunder Rice, Michael Saragossi, Terry Sellers, Jason Smith, Arman Soltani, Daniel Stewart, Robert Turcotte, and S. Nicholas Van Zant

From that list, 10 players eventually won WSOP Main Event packages, which included airfare and accommodation in Las Vegas. All players in the event had bought in for $275, though $125 rebuys and a $125 add-on were available, and all of that money was paid directly to the Miriam Foundation, though the prizes were to be paid out via FTP. Unfortunately, Black Friday and the subsequent closure of FTP has prevented the winners from receiving any prizes. Now some players are seeking relief from the Miriam Foundation with the support of Cookie, the man who originally brought in FTP as a sponsor.

Legal Recourse

While the 2011 Montreal Open winners waited patiently for word regarding their prizes, documents allege that the Miriam Foundation remained mum, inspiring some players to turn to Cookie for answers. By then, the relationship between Cookie and the Miriam Foundation had soured, as explained in court documents.

The Motion for a Provisional and Interlocutory Injunction and Introductory Motion for a Permanent Injunction was filed in December by the Miriam Foundation against Cookie, DV Sterling Enterprises Inc., and Sachs seeking to prevent the defendants from using the name “The Montreal Open” in conjunction with “poker events or any other fund raising activity for the purpose of charity.”

In response, Cookie filed a Contestation to the Motion on Jan. 19, denying Miriam’s claim to the Montreal Open name and that they never intended to poach the title. In addition, he claimed the foundation had become “unjustly enriched” given they were originally entrusted with the money and FTP was unable to pay out the prize pool, thus allowing them to keep the approximately $250,000 that was supposed to be distributed to players.

The two separate court documents agree on a few details but vary drastically in regard to others dating back to the event’s creation. According to the injunction motion, Warren Greenstone, executive director of the Miriam Foundation, became the lead staff member on a poker committee to establish a charity poker tournament in 2005 to raise money for the foundation. The committee then consulted with Cookie, who was able to use his ties in the poker industry to secure sponsorship by FTP. The motion states, “the Poker Committee came up with the name ‘The Montreal Open’ and registered a domain name.”

As part of their sponsorship agreement, FTP was to pay the prize pool to the winners of the tournament. From 2005 to 2010, the event went off without a hitch. In March 2011, the tournament ran as scheduled, but soon faced complications as a result of Black Friday.

The motion explained that after Black Friday, the Miriam Foundation reached out to FTP to inquire about payment to the winners of the 2011 Montreal Open. On June 2, 2011, FTP emailed the foundation and explained that all winners had been paid directly into their FTP account, with the exception of one player, though the Foundation later found out that the said funds were unavailable and inaccessible to the players. As the motion states, “The Foundation then concluded that the winners of the Poker Tournament may have been victims of a fraud and that they would never be paid by Full Tilt.”

By this time, some of the winners of the Montreal Open had begun to inquire about their winnings, and requested that the Miriam Foundation provide relief. In an email, Cookie, who had been contacted by many of the players, suggested “the Foundation had a moral if not legal obligation to pay Mac Productions if Full Tilt failed to do so,” as well as the players.

In response, the Miriam Foundation “was taken aback by Cookie’s suggestions as there was no legal obligation for the Foundation to either pay . . . the winning players as they had contracted with Full Tilt.” The Miriam Foundation contends that FTP was solely responsible for distributing the winning prize pool to the players, and since the site was running a “Ponzi scheme,” as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the winners were victims of fraud and the foundation had no responsibility to make them whole.

In regard to the Montreal Open, both Cookie and the Miriam Foundation have laid claim to the name, with the former having organized another charity event purported to be using the name but benefiting a different charity; hence, the Miriam Foundation’s motion for an injunction. The motion, filed by Heenan Blaikie, lawyer for Miriam, prohibits the defendants, including their collaborators (i.e. Playground Poker Club and PartyPoker) from using the Montreal Open name, as well as “from posting content or making verbal statements that refer to Miriam Foundation.”

Cookie vehemently denies using the Montreal Open name for the new event, before addressing the topic of players’ prizes in his contestation: “Cookie further adds that Plaintiff had sole ownership and control of the monies realized from the Poker Tournament and received all of the proceeds generated therefrom, including the ‘entry fees,’ ‘rebuys,’ and ‘sponsorship’ monies, and has as a consequence thereof, the legal and moral obligation to pay the winning players the proceeds of the ‘Prize Pool,’ as advertised and represented by the Foundation.”

He went on to say: “that the Foundation has simply taken the steps to terminate ‘The Montreal Open’ poker events from their agenda and to close their web site and at the same time, they have been asking persons to help them set up a new 2012 Montreal Open . . . without paying the players and/or resolving the current situation.”

What’s Next?

Basically, two issues are being contested. The first is about who has right to the Montreal Open name; the second questions whether or not the Miriam Foundation has responsibility to pay the winners of the 2011 event, though only the first issue is being addressed in court. With that said, the latter remains a hotly contested affair, with rumors circulating that a lawsuit against the Miriam Foundation may be in the works by Cookie and the unpaid players, though all aren’t on board with the idea.

“I’m not interested in suing a foundation that does great things for people,” said Dan Nicholis, one of the winners in 2011. “I’ve expressed this to the Montreal finalists. They are collectively putting together a lawsuit with Cookie Lazarus, but I have declined the option of joining the lawsuit.”

Another winner from last year, Michael Saragossi, didn’t mention the possibility of a lawsuit, but did address not being paid: “I was delighted that I was able to make the top 30 in Vegas for the Montreal Open in 2011. I was more so disappointed that I didn’t receive my money as of yet. My money was deposited, but to my knowledge, that was ‘phantom’ money and there was no intention to pay anyone out during the whole FTP and online poker debacle. A true shame that this has tarnished what has become a very successful event for a worthy cause.”

Even though these issues are far from resolved and the Montreal Open seems to be on hiatus, the Montreal PartyPoker Classic will take place from March 25 to 28 at Le Windsor in Montreal. As a good-will gesture, PartyPoker and event organizers have invited the unpaid Montreal Open players to the Montreal Party Poker Classic as VIP guests.

“The most important message is that one charity shouldn’t ruin a charity poker tournament for a lot of other worthy causes in Montreal,” said Dan Vigderhous, producer and co-tournament director of the upcoming Montreal Party Poker Classic. “Poker is a great event, and we are moving on from last year’s fiasco. We are confident that the event will be even better than any of the previous Montreal charity events, and The Montreal PartyPoker Classic is a new and exciting event for a very worthwhile cause, hereditary breast cancer research.”

It’s also worth noting that the Montreal Party Poker Classic will have their top finalists travel to the Bellagio in Las Vegas and compete for World Poker Tour packages.

Clearly Black Friday has had far-reaching consequences, and the issues surrounding the Montreal Open are far from over. As always, PokerNews will bring you any and all developments as they happen.

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Don’t miss your chance to qualify for Titan Poker’s $3,500 DeepStack Freeroll. Sign up for a Titan Poker account through PokerNews now!

What’s better than free money? Nothing as far as we’re concerned, which is why you should be excited for an offer by Titan Poker exclusive to PokerNews players. Throughout February, you have the opportunity to qualify for the special $3,500 DeepStack Freeroll, which will be held on March 5 starting at 2000 CET.

What do you need to do to qualify?

It’s simple, just sign up for Titan Poker through PokerNews, make a deposit, and proceed to earn a minimum of 30 Titan Points. The qualification period runs from Feb. 13 (0001 CET) to March 3 (2359 CET), so earning the required amount of points should be a breeze.

To learn more, visit Titan Poker. You can also sign up for a Titan Poker account through PokerNews and receive a special bonus of 200% up to $2,000, just use bonus code “POKERNEWS.”

_{If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.}

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Season 4 of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour concluded this week with Daniele Nestola taking home the title. The timing for the Grand Final in Brazil could not have been better. In a country that needs no excuse for a party, there’s no better excuse for a party than Carnival, and it arrived alongside the Grand Final in full confetti and papier-mache regalia. It’s the biggest week of the year on the Brazilian calendar, and it came paired with the nation’s most prestigious poker tournament. A total of 367 players paid 4,000 reais apiece for a ticket to LAPT São Paulo, and the four-day event culminated in Monday’s final table.

The marriage of poker and party brought notables from as far away as Canada and Northern Europe, and the temptations were even enough to lure Daniel Negreanu to play. His influence has spread far south of the equator, and his presence alone put a notable mark on Brazilian poker. Luckily enough for fans gathered ringside, Negreanu was chatty and playing mostly fantastic poker, and he picked his way all the way through the field and into the final eight.

Daniele Nestola began the final table as the big stack and wasted no time wielding that in a pot that ended the run of Argentina’s Juan Gonzalez. They were playing 12,000/24,000/3,000 when there was a raise and a flat-call in front of Nestola’s small blind and decided to squeeze in a reraise from 54,000 to 148,000. In the big blind, Gonzalez four-bet shoved for 549,000 holding . The other two players folded out of the way, but Nestola called with , and the race was on. The board ran , and the early quads were the first sign that the day would belong to Nestola. Gonzalez was the first player to fall in his wake, earning R$26,340 for eighth place.

The final Brazilian fell in seventh place when Vitor Torres lost the last of his chips. He’s an imposing man at the table, but his short stack found him shoving into Felipe Morbiducci’s . The flop was not at all good news for the native and was awarded R$35,560 as he left the stage to a warm ovation.

Negreanu was down in the realm of 20 to 25 big blinds as the blinds went up in the second level of the day and made it clear that he was playing for the win. Unfortunately, his first bid for a double went afoul at the hands of Carlos Ibarra. Negreanu was the preflop raiser, and Ibarra called in late position to go heads-up to the flop. When it came , Negreanu continued out for 102,000. Ibarra wanted to play for 300,000 though, and his raise effectively put “Kid Poker” to a decision for all his chips. Negreanu had 575,000 left behind, and he chatted up Ibarra a bit before committing with . Ibarra had been working with though, and Negreanu was two cards from the exit. The turn and river were no use, and Negreanu’s sixth-place consolation prize was R$48,730.

That put Ibarra within striking distance of Nestola’s chip-leading stack, and the two men traded spots a couple of times before Nestola really began to turn the screws. He found the same Ibarra had used to tally a knockout of his own, and it earned him the bounty of Ecuador’s Jonathan Markovits. The latter stuck his short stack in with the respectable , but he could not overcome Nestola’s rockets, leaving in fifth place with R$64,540.

Morbiducci, from Chile, was the next to run aground at Nestola’s expense when the two got it in with and respectively. Morbiducci had his tournament momentarily extended by the flop, but the turn drew Nestola right back into the lead. The river was the , and the blank sent the first of two Chileans off to the exit in fourth place with R$89,570.

Gaspernio Nicolas had been biding his time as the price of poker had been growing, and he really began to mount a charge during three-handed play. He overtook Nestola briefly, but his time at the top was short-lived. Nestola once again found those friendly in a big pot against Nicolas, and the Nestola’s chip lead began to grow once again as he knocked his opponent down a notch.

Nicolas managed to take care of Ibarra, the other Chilean, in third place, but he was still facing an uphill battle. Ibarra’s elimination came when he bluff-shoved his short stack with on a flop. Nicolas’ was good enough to send him on his way, and he earned the first six-figure payout with a check for R$148,840 and a respectable third-place result.

Nestola and Nicolas agreed to chop R$500,000 of the remaining prize pool in half and play for the remaining R$39,300, and it didn’t take long at all for Nestola to claim that remainder and the trophy. The heads-up battle was short and lopsided, and it was a seemingly innocent limped pot that ended the day. Nicolas flopped top pair with on the , and Nestola called a bet with his drawing at the open-ender. The came right on fourth street, and the rest of the money got in right there. Nicolas was already drawing dead to the river, and he took a quarter-million Reais back home to Venezuela with him.

From start to finish, the whole tournament took just over four hours, and Nestola was likely headed out for a night of partying Carnival-style in the streets of São Paulo. He has 289,300 reasons to celebrate, and he was smiling broadly as he posed for his winner photo with the winning hand, the trophy, and all the chips.



2012 LAPT Grand Final São Paulo Results

Still hungry for live reporting? Check out the updates from EPT Copenhagen. Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team was scattered all over the world during the weekend covering events from the European Poker Tour, Latin American Poker Tour, and the brand new DeepStacks Poker Tour. One tournament we weren’t on hand for was the UKIPT Main Event in Galway, but we have the results in this edition of the Nightly Turbo. We’ve also got news about an alleged Black Friday payment processor, Iowa’s progress in legalizing online gambling, and more. And when you’re done, if you want more, check out the Nightly Turbo’s little brother, the Inside Shuffle, on PokerWorks.

In Case You Missed It

Daniel Negreanu reached the final table of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final. Where did he rank in the chip counts? Find out in our recap from Brazil.

How did 2011 November Nine Phil Collins get his start in poker. Find out that and more in the latest edition of Open Seat.

William Vogel won the inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Main Event on Sunday evening. Read about his road to the title in our final table recap.

Did you miss Sunday’s World Poker Tour coverage on FSN? Read our WPT recap to get caught up.

Steve O’Dwyer led the way after Day 1 of the PokerStars.com EPT Copenhagen Main Event. Former EPT champs Roberto Romanello and David Vamplew also survived the day.

_{*Photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.}

Johnson Tabbed as Online Poker Payment Processor

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah businessman Jeremy Johnson hid the $51.4 million he earned processing online poker payments in the U.S. by moving funds through a variety of shell companies.

A court-appointed receiver found that Johnson tried to conceal the funds after the Federal Trade Commission sued Johnson and his companies for scamming consumers out of at least $275 million. Investigators uncovered 65 previously unknown entities that were “involved in moving funds and concealing” assets, according to the report.

“A majority of these entities do not appear to have generated any business income and were used as conduits to reroute funds and to commingle and hide funds,” the report said.

Johnson wasn’t named in the indictments on Black Friday, but he has ties to John Campos and Chad Elie, both of whom are set to stand trial next month after a motion to dismiss the charges against them was denied by a federal judge.

Read the full story at the Salt Lake Tribune.

Emmett Mullin Wins UKIPT Galway Main Event

Emmett Mullin took down the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Main Event on Monday, besting a field of 698 players for a top prize of €100,000. Mullen, a poker pro from Ireland, bested fellow Irishman Ronan Gilligan heads up to add a live tournament title to his many online victories playing as “mully_85″ on PokerStars.

“It’s unbelievable,” Mullin told the PokerStars Blog. “I’ve actually won a tournament as big as this, with such a tough field … It’s been a bit of a drain but there’s a buzz at the minute. We’ll have a few drinks tonight.”

The big story going into the day was Nick Abou Risk, who reached his third UKIPT final table and was going after his third title. However, it wasn’t meant to be for the Canadian, as Mullin knocked him out in seventh place with against .

From there, Mullin knocked out everyone else at the table to secure the win. Here’s a look at the final table results from Galway:

UKIPT Galway Final Table Results

For in-depth coverage of the entire UKIPT Main Event, check out the PokerStars Blog.

Iowa Lawmakers Discuss Online Gaming

On Monday, a legislative subcommittee in Iowa discussed Senate Study Bill 3164, an Act that could help pave the way for online gaming within state lines.

A measure to legalize gambling came up during last year’s legislative session, but it was delayed in order for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to conduct a study to determine the practicality and potential income Internet poker could generate for the state. The objective of the report was to give the legislature information to work with if it ultimately decided to set up an online poker infrastructure in the next session.

The study revealed that $13 million to $60 million dollars a year could be raked by operators in the state. Assuming a tax rate of 22 percent, the projections indicate approximately $3 million to $13 million in potential tax revenue for the state annually, according to the IRGC.

Read more at PokerNews.com.

Negreanu Reading Minds

Daniel Negreanu seems to be everywhere lately. After his well-received video blog got nearly 60,000 views last week, Negreanu finished sixth out of 367 players in the LAPT Grand Final Main Event. Then, on Monday, he made a brief appearance on The Score with Renee and Norm:

Wynn Classic Returns This Week

The 2012 Wynn Classic kicks off Thursday, Feb. 23 with the first of 16 events on the schedule. The first event is a $550 no-limit hold’em event with a $250,000 Guarantee that features three separate starting days plus an opportunity to reenter on Day 2.

The series culminates with the $5,170 Wynn Classic No-Limit Hold’em Championship from March 12 through 15. Last year, Tim West defeated Annette Obrestad heads-up to win the Main Event for $318,738. Matt Waxman, Max Steinberg, Eric Froelich, Carter King and John Kim also made the final table.

For a look at the full Wynn Classic schedule, visit wynnpoker.com.

Greetings from Copenhagen

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team has arrived in Denmark for the European Poker Tour Copenhagen Main Event. Sarah Grant explored some of the city’s top destinations.

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