The Ashes

The blunder around T.J. Cloutier’s Bracelet appearing for sale on eBay is still swarming as it sold for a measly $4,006. What we are now finding out is that the purchase came at the hands of the online poker room Cake Poker. A representative of Cake Poker was responsible for purchasing the bracelet when it was on sale. The strange thing behind this whole mess is that Cloutier would like his bracelet back, and it appears that Cake Poker is willing to do so out of good nature. Yet this brings the question to why the bracelet was put up for sale on eBay in the first place.

Deloitte have published a new report this week stating that the betting industry in UK is worth £6bn which employs nearly 100,000 people. These figures are equal to the 0.5% of UK’s GDP and 0.3% of UK’s total employment. Apart from that the retail betting industry has also revealed that fact that it alone generates £700 million taxes every year, £700 million for the wages paid to their staff and £800 million profit for the company before interest and tax.

The industry have also been contributing significantly to the economy of Britain – but it is now subject to the intense international competition. Also because of the growth in internet and mobile betting it is challenge for government to balance the regulations effectively.

The $1K Monday took place last night, and it’s easy to see that all the regulars returned from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. 373 hungry poker players hit the $1K felt last night making the prize pool a healthy $373,000. Full Tilt Poker pro Isaac Baron fell short of the final table finishing in 14th place. The player who didn’t fall short of anything was ‘LEADBOOTS’ who shipped the event and won the first place prize of $93,250.00. Well played LEADBOOTS. LEADBOOTS went heads up against ‘Pwnasaurus’ who walked away from the table $59,000 richer. The PokerStars Super

As we all know the country and the people of Haiti suffered a devastating 7.0 earthquake on January 12th. The earthquake left the country in rubble, people fighting for their lives, and brought death to thousands of people. Like many online poker rooms Full Tilt Poker is trying to lend a hand in the relief efforts. Full Tilt hosted the ‘Aid For Haiti’ tournament today where they donated and matched the tournaments fees. ‘Nabing’ was the fortunate individual to walk away the winner of this fund raising tournament. If you missed the tournament, but would still like to contribute to Haiti relief players can transfer funs to the account called ‘Aid For Haiti’. Any donation will help benefit the people of Haiti.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Rollers event heads into day 3.  Three Team PokerStars Pros are still alive, and two just happen to be WSOP main event champions.  Current champion Joe Cada, former champion Greg Raymer, and PokerStars pro Sandra Naujoks are still alive.  Sandra is currently in 5^th place, Cada is right behind sitting in 6^th place, and down a couple spots is Raymer  currently sitting in 11^th place.  Yet they all trail Adolfo Vaeza (Uruguay) who currently has 530,000 in chips with the blinds at 2,500-5,000.  Stay tuned with Poker777 for more information on this High Rollers event.

The annual MBA Poker Championship is back and it has found a familiar home.  This year’s MBA Poker Championship, to be held January 15^th through the 17^th, will take place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  The MBA tournament draws in players from the top college academies in the country.  The events will include a $65 no limit Hold’em event, a $225 no limit Hold’em tournament, and a $150 MBA Poker Championship main event.  The tournament is only open to MBA students, and it is looked upon as great way for the students to network and learn of the gaming industry.

After breaking the world record in December 2008, and once again in July 2009; PokerStars plans attempts to break the world record for the largest online poker tournament ever played. The Guinness World Record, which stands at 65,000 players, is scheduled to be broke once again on December 27th. The Tournament starts at 2:45 PM EST with a $1 buy-in. PokerStars is guaranteeing the first place prize of $50,000, and a total prize pool of $300,000. Usually a dollar can only get you a McChicken, but why not test your luck with this record tournament. Come be a part of history.

It’s hard to read about poker online these days, and not see the name Isildur1 on the screen. He has been taking over the poker airwaves as of late considering the stakes he’s been playing, and the cash game swings he has been experiencing. Isildur1 and Brian Townsend went toe to toe once again, but this time the limits were $300/$600. In the 1.5 hour session, Townsend was fortunate enough to once again walk away the winner. Townsend took $262k off of the unknown Swede as the two battled for roughly 1,000 hands. I can’t wait to see the buzz around Isildur1 when his identity is finally known.

Full Tilt Poker’s MiniFTOPS is back, and this December you have your shot at a share of the $4 million in guaranteed prize money. MiniFTOPS, which starts next Wednesday (December 9), will kickoff their 25 event promotion with a NL Hold’em 6 max tournament. MiniFTOPS is design for the players that don’t exactly have the bankroll for the original FTOPS (i.e. me). Tournaments will run daily all the way up until the main event which is set to take place Sunday, December 20th. Start playing the satellites today and I’ll see you at the Full Tilt tables.

Before the WSOP Main Event champion was decided Full Tilt Poker wanted to make some news of their own. Full Tilt Poker made that news by signing free agent Tom “durrrr” Dwan as the newest member to team Full Tilt (contract and signing bonus is unknown). Full Tilt held a press conference to make the announcement and joining Dwan were Full Tilt members Chris Ferguson, Patrik Antonius, and Howard Lederer. Now that Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius are a part of the same Full Tilt team maybe they can get through this “durrrr challenge” just a wee bit faster.