Monthly Archives: February 2021

Hellmuth, Ivey, Dwan Highlight Throwback-Style ‘High Stakes Poker’ Episode

Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and Phil Hellmuth were all seated at the table on the latest episode of High Stakes Poker on the PokerGo app. The episode — #9 of Season 8 — was released on Wednesday and gave younger viewers a glimpse of what the show was like during the poker boom era when it aired on Game Show Network.

Tom Dwan always seems to run hot on High Stakes Poker. (Image: Poker Central)

High Stakes Poker first launched in 2006 with Gabe Kaplan and AJ Benza handling the commentary duties. The show ran on Game Show Network  until 2011, just after Black Friday. Poker Central, via its PokerGo app, rebooted the show in December 2020 for the first time in nearly a decade.

Thus far, PokerGo has released nine episodes and the most recent one was the most intriguing, at least for the old-school poker fans. Three of the biggest poker boom era stars — Ivey, Dwan, and Hellmuth — appeared. Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist worth more than $1 billion, also took a seat at the table, as did high-stakes regular Brandon Adams, an economics professor from Harvard.

Landon Tice Putting ‘Very Large Amount’ of Net Worth On the Line vs. Bill Perkins

Landon Tice admitted he’ll be selling action for his upcoming heads-up no-limit hold’em match against hedge fund manager Bill Perkins. But he also told his Twitter followers that he’ll still have plenty of skin in the game.

Landon Tice is taking a big risk against Bill Perkins. But he certainly doesn’t lack the confidence to win. (Image: seminolehardrockpokeropen.com)

The proposed match, which both parties have tentatively agreed to, calls for 20,000 hands at $200/$400 stakes. Those are the same stakes played in the recently completed Daniel Negreanu vs. Doug Polk match. In that competition, which spanned 25,000 hands, Polk won $1.2 million.

During that challenge, Negreanu lost an average of $48 per hand dealt. In the proposed Perkins vs. Tice match, if the losing player loses at the same rate, that individual would end up down $960,000. With that said, these are two different players and we won’t know the win/loss rates in the match until they actually play. But Tice, who is just 21 years old, doesn’t have the bankroll to risk losing that much of his money.

Dutch Poker Players Catch Tax Break Worth Millions

Dutch poker players are due rebates worth millions thanks to a recent decision by the national Tax and Customs Administration.

Dutch poker pros like Lex Veldhuis have caught a lucky tax break thanks to a recent ruling. (Image: Twitter/Lex Veldhuis)

Dutch news site CasinoNieuws broke the story last week that a long-running battle between players and the tax authority has come to an end.

Local pros have been fighting to overturn tax demands on money won on PokerStars.eu. With the help of lawyer and poker enthusiast Pepijn Le Heux, the players have triumphed.

GambleAware turns to Expert Link for its UK “ALERTS” system

GambleAware is on a mission. It wants to ensure that responsible gaming is at the forefront of all U.K. gambling operators’ minds at all times and is developing a new system to help it achieve that goal. As the country’s main responsible gambling advocacy group, GambleAware is always looking at how to support its objectives, and is now bringing in Expert Link to give it some additional support. The two entities are going to team up to develop GambleAware’s new ALERTS initiative. 

ALERTS, Affected Lived Experience Research, Treatment and Support Group, was devised to enhance responsible gaming initiatives in the U.K., while also supporting equality and diversity in the gaming industry. It is built around individuals with “lived experience” in gambling harm, and GambleAware is funding the program for 18 months. After that, the goal is to have the group auto-sufficient and self-sustaining, possibly even sourcing its own funding to become more independent. 

Expert Link has been brought in to co-design the platform because of its work with “marginalized communities,” according to GambleAware. It has worked with individuals who have experienced social condemnation and has been involved in the creation of policies to address social issues. It’s hoped that ALERTS, with the assistance of both GambleAware and Expert Link, will become an integral part of national gambling policies to help shape the UK’s gaming industry. Explains GambleAware Research Director Alison Clare, “We hope this new group will serve as a single, inclusive network that is representative of all people with lived experience of gambling harms across Great Britain. We know there are other lived experience groups already out there doing good work in this area, and this new group will fill any gaps and reach those who are harder to engage with. Our ambition is to see this independent network grow and develop so that it can help inform all aspects of the gambling debate, from policy and regulation, to research, treatment and prevention.”

ALERTS will work through a membership model, with those members setting priorities and internal structures. Expert Link will help establish the start-up process and will likely continue to be involved after it’s up and running to ensure it stays on track. The platform will focus on existing treatment services and act as an advisor to several entities, including GambleAware, the National Clinicians Network Forum and the National Gambling Treatment Services. 

Second casino license in the CNMI possible if IPI bites the dust

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for Imperial Pacific International (IPI), but it hasn’t been anything the casino operator didn’t bring on itself. From a chairperson who is “clueless” about certain laws to a repeated inability to pay its debts, the company behind Saipan’s Casino Palace in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has had to face one problem after another. However, at least there is some good coming out of all the drama, as CNMI lawmakers are moving to reshape the commonwealth’s gaming industry and make it more sustainable. 

One of the measures being discussed, according to the Saipan Tribune, involves separating the oversight of IPI to segregate its casino operations from its hotel operations. A bill, Senate Bill 22-09, was introduced by Senator Victor B. Hocog to allow the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) to regulate IPI’s casino activity, while all non-gaming activities would be regulated by other entities. The CCC had initially been created because of IPI’s casino license, and shouldn’t be involved in other facets of the operation, according to Hocog. 

The bill was drafted on request of IPI and found support when it was discussed by the CNMI Senate. Most of the chamber’s members signed off as it went through its first, and final, reading, but not everyone was ready to approve the measure. Senators Paul A. Manglona and Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero voted against it, while Senator Teresita A. Santos abstained from voting. 

Part of the reason the two senators disapprove of the bill could be because they have plans of their own. Manglona and DeLeon Guerrero have filed Senate Bill 22-23, which would authorize a second casino license in the CNMI. Currently, IPI has an exclusive licensing agreement in the commonwealth, which has already proven to be a huge mistake, and, should the CCC decide to revoke that license, the new bill opens up the possibility of increasing the local gaming market. IPI’s license revocation, should it occur, would allow that license to be reissued and a second one issued, according to the legislation.