Is Gus Hansen Up Or Down?

Gus Hansen, one of the high-fliers of the poker circuit, is a hard one to track. In the course of a few months, the guy makes and loses more money than the GDP of small countries.






















As of April 20th, he was down $3.3 million for the month. However, 8 days have passed since then, so it's anybody's guess where he's standing now. For example, in just 24 hours on April 24th, Hansen banked $1.1 million.

Is it any wonder why fans love to watch this guy?


Poker Personality Roundup

Hansen isn't the only player making news. A few other notables have been rising (or falling) in the ranks. First up... Patrik Antonius.

He's been cranking on the tables all year with a $4.5 million profit through yesterday (625). In April so far, he's up $1.5 million which means he's leading the pack. Our man Phil Ivey, along with Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and Di "Urindanger" Dang, are also up past the 7-figure mark in April.

Spiraling the drain, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond has hemorrhaged $1.3 million, Gus Hansen has leaked $1.5 million, and Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro is down just under a $1 million.

Wrong way guys.

On a brighter note...


Yevgeniy Timoshenko Wins The 2009 World Poker Tour

Despite having an unpronounceable first name, Ukranian poker star Yevgeniy Timoshenko walked away with the 2009 WPT title recently. He also walked away with $2.1 million in prize money. Not bad for a few days' work.

















In case you're thinking Ukranians look young for their age, he's 21. That's right... barely old enough to drink (here in the U.S., anyway). Though he's plenty old enough to kick ass at the WPT.

He had this to say after the event: "I wasn’t expecting to win. I hoped to win, but in tournaments you can’t expect anything. Especially at a final table as rough as this one. I just hoped to play my best and come out ahead and luckily that’s what happened."

Apparently, he's been trained at the Bull Durham School Of Interviewing.

Good for him. Way to go Timoshenko!

Another week, another wrap. To recap...

1. Gus Hansen continues to be one of the most exciting poker players on the circuit (and it's not for Hansen's crack boxing skills).
   
2. The ranks of poker winners and losers have been shifting in April.
3. The poker circuit has a new contender to watch: Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Young, rich, and and media savvy.

As always, bringing you the poker news that's fit to print.

See you next week...

Is Bodog.com Back?

Here's some poker news that's hot off the presses...

The domain Bodog.com may once again be in the hands of the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. If you've been around the online poker circuit for awhile, you might remember that Bodog, marketed in the U.S. by Morris Mohawk, lost a bunch of property domain names in 2007. It was due to a patent infringement case filed by 1st Technology, LLC.

Apparently, everyone made nice and ownership of the bodog.com domain (and all of the other bodog.com domains like bodogfight.com and bodoggirls.com, have transferred back to Mohawk.

Alwyn Morris of Morris Mohawk had this to say...

"We are pleased to have worked constructively with 1st Technology and its principals to bring an end to this protracted dispute."






















Which we take to mean...

"We hope 1st Technology quietly implodes."

Meanwhile, Calvin Ayre, reclusive billionaire founder of Bodog, had this to say...

"..."

Actually, Ayre is living on some Caribbean island nation sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them. Chances are, with a cool billion dollars in the bank, he couldn't care less about the "small stuff."


























WPT To Poker Community: "Anyone Out There?"





















The WPT Championship launched this past Saturday and one question is on everyone's mind...

"Where the hell is everybody?!"

On the first day, only 126 people showed up. That's down from last year (and not by a little). A few more folks have trickled in since. The field grew to 338 players, down 38% from last year.

If you'd like to follow to event, CardPlayer.com is keeping a good daily rundown.


When Will The Online Gambling Ban Be Lifted?

A couple weeks ago, we mentioned that our pal and yours, Barney Frank, was trying to pull some legislative strings by April 20th to remove the online gambling ban.


















Well, here we are on April 21st and the ban is still here. According to some industry insiders, there's little reason to think the ban will be eliminated in the near future. Apparently, Congress has other things on its plate (the economy, health care, a couple of wars, etc.).

Frankly, we think their priorities are slightly out of whack. C'mon, Barney! Get it together.

Another week, another wrap. To recap...

1. Bodog gets its groove back with Bodog.com (while Calvin Ayre gets his groove on in the Caribbean).
2. The WPT Championship flickers to life... barely.
3. Legalized poker betting may have to wait a little longer.

As always, bringing you the poker news that's fit to print.

See you next week...

The Clonie Gowen / Full Tilt Battle Continues

According to Poker King, a few tongues have been wagging about Clonie Gowen's case against Full Tilt Poker being thrown out.

That hasn't happened... yet. A judge will listen to FullTilt's motion to dismiss on the 27th of this month.

Astute readers might remember that Gowen claims she was offered 1% of the company. She accepted because... y'know, she'd be crazy not to. With some folks speculating that FullTilt's value is around $4 billion, her 1% stake would be worth a cool $40 million. She's looking to collect.

By the way, we're not saying Clonie ain't crazy...





















But, if FullTilt offered us $40 million, we'd take it, too.


j.thaddeus SCOOPs The Big Game

PokerStars recently held their Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tournament series. Buy-ins ranged from $5.50 up to $25,500 across 3 categories (low, middle, and high stakes). Over 500 players bought into the Main Event to take a shot at the guaranteed $5 million prize pool.

When the smoke had cleared, Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth was the last man standing, clearing $963,338.

53 other players were also in the money, including Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker who took home a paltry $715,350 consolation prize. Yes, we feel very badly for him.

























durrrr Challenge Update

Last item on the agenda: the durrrr Challenge.

This challenge has really been creeping along. To review, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Patrik Antonius have been squaring off for the past few weeks. The goal is to play 50,000 hands. At the end, if Antonius is up at least $1, Dwan will pony up $1 million. If Dwan's up $1, Antonius has to give him $500,000.














As of today, they've played 12,114 hands and Antonius is up $84,544.

This kind of thing doesn't bother Dwan. He's used to big ups and downs on the tables. In fact, he dropped $4 million during the first two months of the year only to come back $3.5 million since the beginning of March.

Sheesh. Kids today.

Another week, another wrap. To recap...

1. Clonie Gowen hasn't given up her case against Full Tilt ("possibly crazy" and "lots 'o gusto" go together).
2. j.thaddeus wins the big prize at the PokerStars SCOOP tournament.
3. The durrrr Challenge is putting much of the online poker world to sleep.

As always, bringing you the poker news that's fit to print.

See you next week...

PartyGaming Gives The Feds $105 Million

Some of you may remember a little poker room called PartyPoker a few years back. I'm sure you remember the PartyPoker.net TV Commercials they used to play on TV They used to accept players from the U.S. and basically controlled the majority of the online poker market.











Then, right before the government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), they bailed. They gathered their stack of chips and left for more hospitable ports.

Of course, the Feds weren't quite done with them and threatened legal action for some shenanigans they were allegedly involved in. We won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan just agreed to pay the U.S. government $105 million.

It probably didn't help his case when co-founder Anurag Dikshit (seriously, that's his name) admitted stepping all over the Wire Act of 1961. For the past couple of years, the poker industry has been waiting to see how the case would turn out.

Well, now we know. (Nice going, Dikshit.)












Apparently, PartyGaming shareholders were excited by the news. They pushed the stock up 13% on the London Stock Exchange.

On a semi-related note...


Barney Frank Wants Your Poker Chips

Barney Frank has always liked the idea of online gambling in the U.S. We like to think that he's been skulking around the low stake tables on Full Tilt as "MaryJaneXXX" or something similar. In any case, he's promised to deliver legislation by April 20th that will remove the U.S. online gambling ban.

We'll believe it when we see it.
















"Seriously guys. My stack was like... this high. No, I'm serious."


Rousso Playing Poker For Poverty

Last year, Vanessa Rousso wanted to feel useful. "Being a poker player can sometimes feel like a selfish way to make a living," she said. So, Rousso created the No Limit No Profit Initiative (that doesn't actually roll of the the tongue, does it?).

Her mission? Cure worldwide poverty.


















Actually, she just wants to make a little dent in it. And she's hoping to convince others to pony up some cash through charity tournaments.

If you're interested in learning more about it, visit NoLimitNoProfit.org. This is what could be waiting for you...
















Just kidding, of course. Way to go Rousso!

Another week, another wrap. To recap...

1. PartyGaming and their shareholder let out a major sigh of relief as they finally negotiated an agreement with the U.S. Feds.
2. Barney Frank (who may be "MaryJaneXXX" on Full Tilt) wants to lift the ban on internet gambling. Go Barney!
3. Rousso wants to fight poverty. She also looks great in red.

As always, bringing you the poker news that's fit to print.

See you next week...