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Poker News Round-up: Week #45

By Adam Noone, 07/11/2008

A first foray into Budapest for the EPT proved to be a successful one as the initial cap of 500 runners for the €4,000 Hungarian Open had to be extended to an eventual total of 532 players in order to satisfy demand. Of that total only 71 were representing the host nation but one of their number, Zoltan Toth, managed to make the final table as chip leader. Within the first hour though his stack had been decimated as he lost a big three way all in pot to Martin Jacobsen along with Johnny Lodden, and soon afterwards the Hungarian crowd had lost their local hero. Jacobsen in turn went on to lose those chips to Romanian Ciprian Hrisca, who had the chip advantage as he took on England’s Will Fry heads up for the title.

A frantic session of all in moves from both players was eventually settled when Hrisca ran his ace rag into Fry’s pocket jacks which managed to dodge the Romanian’s outs. As inaugural Hungarian Open champion Fry collects €595,839 and becomes the seventh English player to collect an EPT title. Although Fry is a professional this is a great result for him as he has previously been a cash game player and is only just starting to venture onto the tournament scene. He will now definitely be back for more, including the grand final in Monte Carlo for which he is now guaranteed a place.

Meanwhile American counterpart WPT continues to struggle, having just posted their figures for the third quarter of 2008. Revenue was down 36% against the same period last year, with a loss of $4.4 million for the quarter bringing the annual deficit to in excess of $11 million. WPT’s share price was $8 when the company went public in 2004 and rocketed to a high of $29.50 during the period when Doyle Brunson was rumoured to be launching a takeover bid, but at present is languishing at around just $0.40 a share. Clearly something needs to be done, and the latest idea is to get Full Tilt on board. A television sponsorship deal has been announced which gives Full Tilt title sponsorship as well as brand integration on the broadcasts of the 26 WPT season seven episodes which are due to air on new host network Fox Sports in America. With Pokerstars already having an affiliation with the EPT it was perhaps predictable that the other big poker tour would hook up with the other big poker site, but will it be enough to save the ailing WPT Enterprises?

Hall Of Famer Dewey Tomko

With the final table of the WSOP main event just days away, the poker world’s attention is turning towards the Penn And Teller Theatre within the Rio where the champion will be crowned. Before the final table begins though a ceremony will be held within the theatre to honour the two new inductees to the Poker Hall Of Fame. Joining the previous 35 distinguished members this year are Duane aka Dewey Tomko and Henry Orenstein. Tomko is in some respects the nearly man of the WSOP having been runner up in the main event twice to Jack Straus and Carlos Mortensen, but even so his achievements are pretty awesome. 24 WSOP final tables have yielded three bracelets, and in recent times of mammoth fields Tomko has posted multiple cashes in each of the past five series. One criterion for entry into the Hall Of Fame is that the player must have stood the test of time, which can certainly be said of Tomko as he holds the record for the most consecutive years in attendance at the WSOP main event at 35 years.

The other new member is Henry Orenstein who has achieved success as a player with a WSOP bracelet in 1996, but it is one of the other criteria for entry into the Hall Of Fame which most applies to him. Non-players may be selected if they have contributed to the overall success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results. Orenstein’s contribution is that he holds the US patent for the hole cam technology which made television coverage of poker events much more appealing to the general public and helped to create the poker boom of several years ago. He has also brought poker into the homes of millions as the owner of Poker PROductions which produces shows such as High Stakes Poker.

And finally, the cheating scandal at Ultimatebet would appear to be almost behind us at last as the compensation payments have now been completed. Around $6 million worth of repayments had previously been made to players but it became apparent that the extent of the cheating had been much greater than originally thought. Now the new owners of Ultimatebet, Blast Off Ltd, have been awarded $15 million via a court settlement from the previous owners, Excapsa Software Inc, as damages for selling on corrupted software which allowed the cheating to take place. This will enable Blast Off to pass on another $9 million to players as further compensation payments, whilst Ub management strives to rebuild its tarnished image.

Has anybody seen this man?

With these repayments now complete, the only outstanding issue is whether there will be any criminal prosecutions. Former world champion Russ Hamilton has been named as the central figure behind the scam, and having initially said that he would be happy to do interviews when the story first emerged he has gone rather quiet recently. Maybe he just feels that he needs to make the most of his last few days as a free man, but sadly nobody can say with any certainty at the moment what punishments might be imminent, nor even exactly what charges can be brought against him. Perhaps the new administration in America might like to consider proper regulation for the online poker industry now.

Adam Noone is a Full Tilt Pro, Play with him and the Mob at Full Tilt Poker

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