New Jersey gaming regulators have approved billionaire Carl Icahn’s takeover of Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino.

On Wednesday, the state Casino Control Commission approved Icahn’s plan to rescue the Taj Mahal from bankruptcy court. Icahn, who held $292m of the property’s debt, reached a deal with Taj creditors in February that gave him control of the company. Having already thrown the Taj a $20m lifeline in December, Icahn has promised to spend a lot more whipping the Taj back into shape.

Icahn also controls the Tropicana Casino, giving him one-quarter of AC’s downsized market. But the Taj ranks near the bottom in terms of revenue generation. Trump Entertainment CEO Robert Griffin told the Associated Press that the property could use a $40m makeover, if only to counter the perception that the Taj was living on borrowed time

The Taj still needs to resolve its longstanding dispute with its unionized workers, who are understandably still a bit miffed about the scrapping of their beloved pension and benefit schemes. A federal appeals court is currently weighing whether to restore the benefit plans, leaving the Taj still officially mired in the Chapter 11 file.

Daniel Chutrov has won the Unibet Open Main Event in Glasgow after beating Chen Wenbin in heads-up action to take the £43,000 first prize in Celtic Park.

I know it’s difficult to believe, but there are poker players in existence that don’t come to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Some of these crazy folks headed to Celtic Park for the inaugural Unibet Open Glasgow, and a Bulgarian

[Image Credit: PokerNews]

called Daniel Chutrov walked out with a bigger smile than anyone.

Lee Davy continues to let you peek into his World Series of Poker diary where he reveals the universes urge to make him watch pornography, a one time chip lead performance in the Millionaire Maker, and an over friendly air-con guy called Billy.

Have you ever tried running on a treadmill with a hard on?

It has it’s problems, the worst of which was the speed kept increasing without me touching a button.

I quit watching pornography over a year ago, and since then I see sex everywhere. Take the other morning as an example. I enter the gym at my condo and there is a woman working out in there. I deliver the pleasantries and then get started on the treadmill.

Multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Dominik Nitsche, has joined the 888Poker stable where he will act as an ambassador both live and online.

“He’s a great player…plays everything.”

I was in Vienna for the European Poker Tour (EPT). It was my first gig as a live reporter, and I only knew one player in the field. My mentor was leading me through the tables, pointing out players whilst I feverishly jotted their names on my note pad.

I had a system for recognizing players. I would pick out a distinguishable feature and write it next to their name. The ‘great player’ remark was made as we passed Dominik Nitsche. I jotted his name down and beside it wrote the words: ‘Skinny Little Kid From Germany.’

Electrical Engineer Adrian Buckley wins the Millionaire Maker in his first-ever World Series of Poker cash, and Matthew Elsby defeats Gabriel Nassif, in heads-up action, to take the crown in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is many things to many people. There are those that have lofty goals. They enter each year with the expectation that they will one day win a bracelet. Then there are those who just flick it in. It’s an opportunity to cross something off the bucket list. The opportunity to experience the electricity of the greatest poker tournament in the world. Adrian Buckley falls into the latter category.

The 27-year old electrical engineer has won the Millionaire Maker. It was his first-ever WSOP cash, he defeated 7,527 players, he topped a final table that included four previous WSOP bracelet winners, he came back from as low as 6bb, and he won $1,277,193. It’s little wonder Buckley called his experience ‘the run of the century.’

It was the sixth largest field in live tournament history, and unusually for such a large crowd, it produced a sumptuous final table. Mike Sexton, Erick Lindgren, David Miscikowski, and Justin Pechie had all been there before, done it, and wore the slinky gold bracelet, whilst Olivier Busquet is one of the most exquisite performers on the world scene.

Trinidad & Tobago’s proposed new gambling legislation is getting the gears from opposition politicians over the harshness of some of its penalties.

The new Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Bill, 2015 seeks to overhaul the nation’s existing Gambling and Betting Act. The new bill addresses everything from casinos to pari-mutuel betting and calls for the establishment of a proper Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Commission to regulate the industry.

The current session of the Trinidadian parliament adjourns next week but the bill was only introduced into the House of Representatives on May 22. Opposition senators claim they aren’t being given enough time to debate the bill’s merits, let alone its perceived flaws. Among these flaws are some truly harsh penalties for anyone who fails to observe the new rules.

Case in point: the legislation says a person has committed an offence if he or she “does anything in Trinidad and Tobago or uses remote gambling equipment situated in Trinidad and Tobago for the purpose of inviting or enabling a person in a prohibited territory to participate in remote gambling.” Prohibited territories are defined as any country other than Trinidad and Tobago.