UIGEA Delayed

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is expected to make a statement Friday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner granted the Poker Players Alliance's petition to delay the compliance date for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

The Poker Players Alliance declined to comment on the possible delay until official word comes from Frank or the Treasury Department. Joe Brennan, chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, confirmed that he did hear directly from one of the parties to the agreement that Geithner granted a six-month delay. The six months would be a compromise to the year requested by the PPA and Frank.

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Word of the delay comes just days before the Dec. 1 date when banks and financial institutions were to be held responsible for making sure no outgoing transactions were made to web sites related to what was termed as "illegal Internet gambling."

"It's really surprising we got this concession," Brennan said. "It's very unusual for any department of the government to essentially forestall an act of Congress. This is a testament to the power of Congressmen Frank. This has been his pet issue, because it is part of his core values, for some time now. If Barney Frank was not an advocate, this does not get done regardless of the efforts of the PPA and the banking industry."

Frank made a telling indication that a delay will happen by scheduling for Dec. 3 a hearing in the House Financial Services Committee to discuss his two poker-related bills — including the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act that asks to delay full implementation of the UIGEA until Dec. 1, 2010. It wouldn't make sense to hear discussion of delaying a law that went into full effect two days earlier.

The six-month delay, while not a victory in itself, sets the stage for future victories by giving Frank time to address his other bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. Because of his important role in shaping the economic stimulus and health care legislation that has dominated this session of Congress, Frank had not found the time to hold a committee hearing on the bills that relate to the poker industry.

"We thought it would probably have to wait until January, so we're pleasantly surprised to see this happen in December," PPA executive director John Pappas said of the hearing. "I think Barney is sending a strong message to regulators and others that he's serious about changing this law. He's going to move forward with his plans to license and regulate this industry."

The PPA filed a joint petition along with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and American Greyhound Track Operators Assocation early in October to delay the compliance date of the UIGEA. Frank followed by hand delivering to Geithner a letter signed by 19 members of Congress supporting the petition. The request received a boost earlier this week when six Kentucky congressmen wrote a letter supporting the delay, citing specific incidents of a credit card company blocking horse racing transactions despite the sport having an exemption in the legislation.

It remains to be seen how the banks and credit card companies will respond to a delay. The situation likely will remain similar to recent months, where some are blocking transactions and some are not. But the six-month stay should prevent blocking from getting worse.

"Do I think things will automatically loosen between the banks and credit card companies?" asked Brennan. "No. They've already moved up to this point in the regulations. They're not going to tear it up and say now we have this six-month window. They're going to take a wait-and-see attitude."

2009 BC Poker champion arrested

Canadian Sophon Sek won the 2009 BC Poker Championship Sunday, but was arrested today in connection with one of the worst gang murders in the history of British Columbia.

The 30-year old Surrey man has been charged with manslaughter and break and enter in relation to the gangland murders of six people, including two innocent bystanders, in 2007.

The incident is referred to locally as the Surrey Six Slaughter.

Sek made an appearance in Surrey Provincial Court today, but was sent back into custody to await continuation of his trial Nov. 30.

He could still face additional charges in connection to the murders, according to Cpl. Dale Carr of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Sek outlasted 679 players to win this year's $2,700 (CDN) buy-in BC Poker Championships late Sunday night at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver.

Sek's $364,364 (CDN) in prize money is being held by the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation at the request of the RCMP, according to Howard Blank, vice president of media, entertainment and responsible gaming at the GCGC.

This is the fifth year the BC Poker Championships have been held in the current format and the tournament continues to draw world-renowned poker players.

This year Amazing Race stars Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho played as well as Gavin Smith, Liz Lieu, Lacey Jones, "Yukon" Brad Booth, Greg "FBT" Mueller and Scott Clements. Clements made the final table but eventually busted seventh.

Last year Daniel Negreanu, who is perhaps the biggest name in Canadian poker, outlasted all 688 players to win the event for $371,910 (CDN).

Doyle Brunson’s Poker Autobiography Now Available

“I’ve still got mixed feelings about writing this book,” Doyle Brunson commented in his blog.

After reading “The Godfather of Poker”, poker fans won’t have similar problems with mixed feelings.

Instead, they’ll be glad that the game’s living legend chose not to hold back and, with sharp detail, went ahead and dealt out a book rich in narrative and stories that encapsulate his pioneering poker life and contributions.

While some poker biographies are short on meat, Brunson’s is packed with vivid recollections and memories of the people, events, and places that have shaped his high-stakes life.

Mike Cochran, whom Brunson has known since 1954 during their college days at Hardin-Simmons University, helped assemble the book. Cochran previously spent four decades chasing colorful feature stories for the Associated Press. In “The Godfather of Poker,” Cochran has helped Brunson organize and articulate a brilliant poker story. It covers not only Brunson’s own life, but also traces the birth of the high-stakes poker world that people obsess over daily.

“The Brunson story is one for the ages,” Cochran says in the introduction, “a classic paradox, beginning on a hardscrabble, dry-land cotton farm in West Texas and playing out seventy years later in the glitzy casinos of Las Vegas and the flashy cardrooms across the country and around the world.”

That story takes the reader from Brunson’s boyhood home of Longworth, Texas, to Fort Worth’s Exchange Avenue, where “shootings, knife fights and fistfights happened every day.” It then goes further, to the back roads of the Texas poker circuit, where Brunson, Johnny Moss, Sailor Roberts, and Amarillo Slim Preston earned their fame before pulling into early Las Vegas.

As Brunson leads you along his life journey, he introduces you to a cast of colorful characters, the world-class conmen and gangsters who dominated the high-stakes world he frequented. Minnesota Fats, Bill Boyd, Archie Karas, Jimmy Chagra, Titanic Thompson, Tony Spilotro, Lefty Rosenthal, Benny Binion, Puggy Pearson, Stu Unger, and Chip Reese, just to name a few, are all legends whom Brunson rubbed shoulders with. And the stories that Brunson shares from these assorted personalities make “The Godfather of Poker” a hard book to put down.

Readers also get a peek into Brunson’s personal life and the tragedies he’s faced, including the death of his first-born child and a freak injury that ruined his opportunity at a career in professional sports. Throughout the book, he chronicles how he’s survived the years, going from being broke to betting $1.6 million on a round of golf. It was all just another day at the office. Brunson is candid and brave throughout.

In one of the book’s more humorous chapters, Brunson goes into detail about his ventures in business. “A lot of my business exploits headed south faster than a gaggle of geese,” he says. If you name it, Brunson threw money at it — including attempting to raise the Titanic, uncover Noah’s Ark, buying gold and emerald mines, and funding Christian television networks — and it probably didn’t go too well.

In the latter part of the book, Brunson talks about how the game has morphed into a “cultural phenomenon” thanks to online poker, television, and celebrity endorsement.

Brunson, a two-time World Series of Poker main-event champion, admits to throwing the 1972 title in “The Godfather of Poker.” He dumped his chips to Amarillo Slim because, as he says, “I was afraid of the publicity that winning this event would bring, and the terrible shame it would bring to my family.” My, how perceptions have changed three decades later.

Near the end of “The Godfather of Poker,” Brunson says, “I’ve come to realize that life’s experiences are ours to keep and cherish permanent gifts, like diamonds that sparkle in your head.”

Thankfully, because Brunson chose to share his experiences, the previously oral-only history of poker’s wild-west days now exists in written form for everyone to cherish.

“The Godfather of Poker: Doyle Brunson”

An Autobiography with Mike Cochra

College Dropout Earns $8.5 M in Poker Win

(CBS) Who says you have to have a college degree to make money?

Joe Cada doesn’t.

A college dropout, Cada's now a multimillionaire after winning $8.5 million Tuesday in Las Vegas. Cada, 21, is the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker.

Cada, surrounded by his millions, said on "The Early Show" from Las Vegas that the money is "pretty sweet."

How did he do it?

Cada won the tournament in a preflop.

"I raised it up to $3 million, he made it $8 million, and I moved in for like $60 some million, and he called," Cada said. "I was kind of too scared to look so I just had my back turned, hoping it would work out for the best."

Cada had two nines, trouncing his opponent who held just a jack and a queen of diamonds.

A first-time player in the World Series of Poker, Cada said he'd looked forward to turning 21 for years so he could participate. Cada said he got his start playing cards with his friends at a "young age."

"I was really excited to play," he said. "It's a really long shot because there's 6,500 people in the tournament. But I was still looking forward to playing in it."

However, Cada said playing for up to 12 hours straight some days was "pretty surreal."

"You kind of get in the zone after a while," he said. "The tournament lasted for about 10 days total. Once you start playing for a long time, it was just like you had to wake up and go and play another day."

During the tournament, Cada said he was up and down with his success. At the beginning of the tournament he had the most chips of any player, but on the eighth day he was getting low on chips.

"Fortunately everything worked out well," he said.

As for support, Cada's said his mother, Ann, was skeptical of his involvement in gaming and the tournament because she works as a blackjack dealer at a casino in Detroit.

"She'd always see people gambling and you know, lose money, so she was always kind of nervous about me playing poker for a living," he said. "It brought her to tears when I won the thing. She said she was really proud of me."

So does Cada plan to go back to college now that he can afford it?

He told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that isn't his plan, saying he isn't going back "any time soon."

Joe Cada, Poker's New Champion

This time last year, Joseph Cada couldn't legally order a cocktail. But today, the Shelby Township, Mich., native sits on top of the poker world as the champion of the World Series of Poker's "Main Event." Cada, who turns 22 next week, took home $8.5 million early Nov. 10 when he outlasted Maryland logger Darvin Moon (and 6,492 other competitors) at No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em to win the sport's biggest prize. TIME contributor Matt Villano caught up with Cada in Las Vegas to talk about preparing for the final table, what he's learned by playing poker online and what's next for history's youngest champ.

First off, how did you celebrate your monumental win last night?

Right after the match [at the Penn & Teller Theater inside the Rio Las Vegas] ended, there were like 2½ or 3 hours of interviews, photos, autographs and stuff like that. Then a bunch of us went back to our suite at the Palazzo. My family had come out to be with me, and I had about 100 friends who came out from Michigan to cheer me on too. We were up pretty late.

Starting today, how do you plan to represent poker as the new champion?

At this point, all I can say is that I'll do my best. Poker has been my life for a while now, so obviously I want to see it grow. Whatever the community needs me to do, I'll do. I'm psyched about the responsibility.

You've been playing professionally for six years. At what point in your career did you start thinking you could win the Main Event?

I had dreamed about it — I think every poker player does. But I always knew winning the Main Event was a big long shot. I mean, coming out on top of a field of 6,500 players is pretty rare. This summer [when the first eight days of the Main Event were played], once it got down to about 180 people, I started thinking that I might actually be able to do it. Then, when I made the final nine, I knew it was within reach.

With three months off before the final nine resumed play this weekend, how did you prepare?

I didn't really do anything special. I just continued the same lifestyle that had gotten me into the final nine. I played a lot of live events, both in person and online. I went out with friends — stuff a typical 21-year-old would do. I also traveled a lot and visited London and Barcelona.

Any regrets from the final table?

I'm pretty critical of how I play, and I'm not afraid to admit when I think I've played badly. When it got down to two of us, I had $135 million in chips, but I think Darvin definitely outplayed me at first. There was a point where he had me down to $40 million in chips. Thankfully, I came back. I knew if I just made good decisions, I could turn things around.

You shared final-table felt with poker legend Phil Ivey. Which longtime pros do you consider to be your mentors? And after whom would you say you've modeled your game?

Definitely Ivey. Tom Dwan. Both of these guys are so unpredictable that it's hard to put them on certain hands. What I've learned from them is that you have to play solid poker and keep people guessing at the same time. It's a powerful combination.

Peter Eastgate, then age 22, won this tournament last year, and you've taken the bracelet this year. To what extent do you think the "old guard" has been displaced by young guns?

I wouldn't say we've displaced them, but the Internet has certainly leveled the playing field. Playing cards is all about experience. Online, you can see 40 times as many hands in one hour as you would in a live game. Because of that, a 21-year-old could gain more experience in one year than someone who has been playing live for 25 years. You also don't need to go to a physical place to play — you can wake up and open up your laptop.

Legislators have made online poker illegal in the U.S. As someone who's played online for years, how do you see this issue being resolved?

I support the right to play poker online. Poker isn't gambling. It's a hobby, an activity, a game. It's not about luck — it's about logic, decision-making, math. We all should be able to play poker on the Web if we want to, and I believe that making it illegal strips us of our rights. This is an important issue, and hopefully we'll see it resolved soon.

$8.5 million is a lot of money. Short of going to Disneyland, what do you plan to do with it?

I haven't really thought about it yet. Since Saturday [when the field was winnowed down to two], I didn't want to look past the heads-up match with Darvin. I'm sure at least some of those winnings will go back into my bankroll, though. There's always another tournament to play.

Poker: Wsop Final Table Starts

11/8/09 - Three months and 23 days after the composition of the final table of the World Series of Poker main event was decided, the much-anticipated grand finale kicked off at the Rio in Vegas Saturday.

The opening ceremonies boasted all the Vegas razzmatazz we have come to expect from this multi-million dollar spectacular as some 600 railbirds crammed into the Penn and Teller theatre at the Rio to cheer on their favourites and ogle legendary players in the game.

Spotted among the crowds were Greg Raymer, Jen Harman and Marco Traniello, Phil Gordon, 2008 November Niners Dennis Phillips, Ylon Schwartz and 2008's youngest to date world champion Peter Eastgate; Daniel Negreanu and 2004 world champion Greg Raymer; Jeff Shulman and his WSOP coach Phil Hellmuth; Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, TJ Cloutier, Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

And to give a flavour for the value of this biggest competition in international poker, consider these numbers released by the organisers:

First prize in the 2009 WSOP main event: $8 547 042
Indianapolis 500: $3 048 005
Daytona 500: $1 530 390
U.S. Open (Tennis): $1 600 000
U.S. Open (Golf): $1 350 000

Final tablers presented to the crowd were:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon (58 930 000)
Seat 2: James Akenhead (6 800 000)
Seat 3: Phil Ivey (9 765 000)
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel (12 390 000)
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter (29 885 000)
Seat 6: Eric Buchman (34 800 000)
Seat 7: Joseph Cada (13 215 000)
Seat 8: Antoine Saout (9 500 000)
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman (19 580 000)

Average age at the table at that stage was 34.8, with printer Kevin Schaffel the oldest at 52 and Joe Cada the youngest at 21 (he turns 22 on November 18th)

This year's big surprise, 46-year-old Maryland logger Darvin Moon headed the chip counts, unbagging over 24 million more chips than his nearest rival Eric Buchman.

Tournament director Jack Effel and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack controlled proceedings, starting on the rather sombre note of a moment's silence for Hans 'Tuna' Lund who recently passed away.

Then the raucous crowd chanted and yelled for their favourites and displayed T-shirt slogans that ran from Darvin Moon's "Bad Moon Rising" to Schaffel's rather clever play on words "Schaffel Up and Deal" as the players were introduced, photoflashes sparkled and high-powered video lights glared.

Moving to the Amazon Room around 1pm local time, the big event was launched this year by poker legend Doyle Brunson, who made the famous "Shuffle up and Deal" call, accompanied on stage by last year's champ and currently the youngest ever WSOP winner, Peter Eastgate. The poker veteran came up with a typically Brunson quip after surveying the noisy railbirds: "This looks like a football game!"

The action began at a slow pace as players cautiously felt each other out.

French engineering student Antoine Saout was noticeable for his selective aggression which created excitement in a clash with Moon that proved to be very expensive for the logger. At hand #45 Saout called the Marylander's all-in bluff to double up to 22 million at Moon's expense, lifting the Frenchman into the mid-field and leaving a rather embarrassed looking Moon to ponder his massive, if affordable, loss.

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The huge hit probably contributed to Moon's vulnerability at hand #107, when Buchman took the chip lead, leading Moon by almost 5 million in chips, a situation that Moon was to reverse later in the game.

A daring all-in move by Phil Ivey also set tongues wagging when he put his tournament life on the line with over 8 million chips and pulled it off to strengthen his rather weak chip count at that point. By the dinner break he was fifth in chip counts.

The short-stacked 26-year-old Brit pro James Akenhead had one narrow escape against Buchman, but it wasn't enough to save him from being the first player to be eliminated at hand #59 after around four-and-a-half hours of play.

Akenhead ran kings into Kevin Schaffel's aces and found himself short. He put threes up against Schaffel's nines and headed for the exit in 9th place, collecting $1 263 602 for his time and trouble.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed, but I went in as the short stack and I had to get it in and gamble," Akenhead said. "I gambled and got lucky once, and busted out ninth anyway. It was bit more harsh, but it wasn't my day. Kings against aces, what can you do?"

Half an hour later, at hand #68, Schaffel was himself eliminated by Eric Buchman, pocketing the 8th placing prize of $1 300 231.

"What are you going to do?" asked Schaffel. "I got it in with aces against kings twice. I was right back in it. I was down to seven and a half million, I got up to 15 and then 19. I think I was counting my chips to like 43 million and I would have been right behind Darvin.

"There's just nothing you can do. It was a sick flop. I still had six outs if the board didn't pair after that, but we all know what happened."

Shortly after seven-handed play commenced, Buchman rose to leader prominence following a Moon vs. Stephen Begleiter big-bet clash which saw Moon check-raise Begleiter to 15 million on a four high flop with two spades and almost 11 million chips in the pot, only to fold when Begleiter shoved for just six million more.

That put Buchman in the lead and Begleiter second with Moon trailing in third. Moon improved his position later to second and by dinner break the chip counts looked like this:

Eric Buchman: 54,725,000
Darvin Moon: 41,250,000
Steve Begleiter: 38,100,000
Antoine Saout: 28,725,000
Phil Ivey: 14,900,000
Joe Cada: 10,700,000
Jeff Shulman: 7,175,000

By hand #153 Frenchman Antoine Saout, with some truly audacious play, had doubled up through Begleiter as well to become chip leader on 52 775 000 ahead of Buchman and Moon. And alarmed Phil Ivey fans were pointing to his low-stack position on the table with only 8 million in chips.

Hand # 175 saw the popular Phil Ivey dismissed from this year's WSOP as he was eliminated in 7th place ($1 404 014) by that man Moon. Showing little emotion, the poker pro departed as the table - and the 1 200 strong spectators - applauded.

Shortly after Ivey's departure, the chip counts were updated to show:

Eric Buchman - 55,500,000
Antoine Saout - 53,075,000
Darvin Moon - 39,325,000
Jeff Shulman - 17,275,000
Steven Begleiter - 16,150,000
Joseph Cada - 13,450,000

Twelve hands later, at # 187, it was Begleiters' time to depart with a 6th placing cheque for $1,587,160 - another victim of the cool and calm Moon in a 23.25 million pot that gave the logger the chip lead again at 63.9 million.

When we went to press the action was paused whilst security men piled a mountain of currency onto a table, topped by the much respected and coveted main event winner's bracelet - a significant incentive for the remaining five men around the table.

Chip counts were:

Darvin Moon - 63,925,000
Eric Buchman - 53,250,000
Antoine Saout - 51,725,000
Jeff Shulman - 15,525,000
Joseph Cada - 10,350,000

On Poker: A Main Event, final table primer

Enough with the waiting, it is time to shuffle up and deal.

After a four-month hiatus, final table play of the 2009 world series of poker is set to resume at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Penn & Teller Theater at Las Vegas' Rio Hotel & Casino.

Here is a preview of things to watch for:

The lineup: Chip leader Darvin Moon will occupy Seat 1 with $58.9 million in (rounded) chips, followed by James Akenhead ($6.8 million), Phil Ivey (9.75), Kevin Schaffel (12.4), Steven Begleiter (29.89), Eric Buchman (34.8), Joe Cada (13.2), Antoine Saout (9.5) and Jeff Shulman (19.6) in clockwise seat assignments around the table.

Where the action stands: Players will be welcomed with minutes to play in Level 33 of the tournament structure with blinds of 120K/240K and a 30K ante, leaving everybody outside of Akenhead reasonably well stacked.

Odds favorite: Bookmakers back the big stack, which is why Moon is the favorite with 2-1 odds despite his clear amateur status. The Maryland logger has never played a hand of online poker and qualified for the tournament by winning a $130 satellite in West Virginia.

Gamblers looking for value may eye former Bears Stearns executive Begleiter, who despite entering play with the third-largest stack has 11-2 listed odds.

Fan favorite: Ask any professional whom they fear most, and the answer is consistently the same — Ivey. No Main Event since its numbers entered the thousands has had a player of Ivey's star power run this deep.

Yeah, former champion Dan Harrington's back-to-back final tables in 2002 and 2003 were impressive, but he doesn't have legendary stories of $10 million single-day wins or 72-hour playing sessions without sleep bantered about like Ivey does.

But does Ivey have enough chips to make a run and play creatively?

Watch out for: Shulman and his stack of nearly 20 million, which is dangerous enough to chop the chip-leader in half or send five others to the rail. This is Shulman's second Main Event final table in 10 years, but he'll be more prepared this time around. Shulman hired Phil Hellmuth, arguably the best tournament player in poker, to coach him in the months leading to Saturday.

Shulman is also riding a bit of a family rush. His father, Barry, recently won Europe's World Series of Poker Main Event.

Money talks: The $8.5 million check to the winner will be the third-largest award in tournament poker history. Second-place money is $5.2 million, with payouts trickling all the way down to $1.25 million for ninth. Every player at the table received that money when play was halted in July.

Tune in time: ESPN will air a two-hour telecast of the action on Tuesday at 8 p.m., mere hours after the champion has been crowned. In response to criticism of last year's broadcast, expect to see more than two heads-up hands played for the championship.

Predictions: Moon will play quiet and ride his starting stack to the final three. Ivey will be brilliant but will flame out in the middle. Shulman will be photographed in front of the cash at the end.

‘High Stakes Poker’ New Hostess Named As Kara Scott

It would seem that the rumours which started circulating concerning AJ Benza’s replacement on GSN’s hit show ‘High Stakes Poker’ might finally be laid to rest as it was announced today on Pokernews.com that Kara Scott would be the new co-presenter on the show.

Kara certainly has the experience to take on the role having spent a great deal of her working life in and around the industry. In 2005 Kara was the host of a series called ‘High Stakes Backgammon’ and also hosted the “World Series of Backgammon” in 2006.

However, poker is where Kara’s heart lies and she soon became the main host of tv show “Poker Night Live” whilst also writing articles for ‘Flush’ magazine and ‘Poker Player Magazine.’ In 2007/08 Kara hosted the European Poker Tour but after a 104th place finish at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 buy-in Main Event for $41,816 Kara announced she would be leaving the show she was then working on, Sky Poker on the Sky Television channel, to concentrate on a career as a poker professional.

The following year, at the 2009 WSOP, Kara Scott finished 238th at the same event for $32,963 and in so doing became only the second woman ever to cash at consecutive WSOP Main Events.

Kara has enjoyed success in her poker career having earned $537,797 from live tournament wins including her biggest victory to date, a second place finish at the 2009 Irish Open for an impressive $443,594 pay day. Following that win Kara commented:

“I know a lot of people don’t think I can play and there are always going to be people who say I can’t. But I have made the final of a female championship, I won a Sports Star Challenge, I went deep in the World Series of Poker Main Event and now I’ve come second in the Irish Open.I think my game is improving.”

We wish Kara all success in her new role of ‘High Stakes Poker’ co-presenter.