2008 Poker Year in Review - Part II

The world is going absolutely poker crazy, and the second half of 2008 did a great job of showing that. The World Series of Poker made its second trip to Europe, and European Poker Tour events continued to draw huge numbers of players from all over the world.

Elsewhere, events in Macau and Sydney brought poker players to the Eastern Hemisphere, and in December, PokerStars announced that it will start the Russian Poker Tour. Poker, popularized in America, continues to grow around the globe.
Here in America, poker is - and has been for a few years - as mainstream as football and baseball. Yet, organizations like the Poker Players Alliance still have their work cut out for them in 2009 to make sure that poker is protected like a national American pastime should be.

And as poker grows even more, new political poker allies are being made, and they're bringing new ways to think about the game to their colleagues who are responsible for changing the laws, and that's a good thing. Now, let us reflect.

July

At least one congressman saw online poker as something that could be used to boost Social Security programs. Rep. Jim McDermott introduced his Investing in Our Human Resources Act of 2008, which calls for online poker to be taxed and regulated, with the money collected going to "provide opportunities to individuals who are, or were, in foster care and individuals in declining sectors of the economy."

Like several other proposed bills dealing with online poker, this act died in committee and will have to be reintroduced - along with other proposed bills that didn't go anywhere - to the new Congress in 2009 and beyond.

July also saw the World Poker Tour find another home. FSN bought the 26 episodes of the WPT's seventh season after GSN decided not to renew its WPT contract.

But GSN did welcome back its popular High Stakes Poker for another season. Filming of this year's season of High Stakes Poker took place in December and featured a minimum buy-in of $200,000 for each session. New episodes will begin appearing in March 2009.

Five South Carolina men have spent the second half of the year, starting in July, in and out of their state's courts, fighting an illegal-gambling charge they received after being swept up in poker raids in 2006. They are in the slow process of getting their case tried, with the ultimate goal of shining a public and political light on the absurdity of the dated gambling laws in South Carolina. They hope their efforts will eventually force state legislators to tackle the issue in the future. A judge in December decided to let the case go to trial.

Michael Watson topped a field of 446 players to win the WPT Bellagio Cup IV and its $1.6 million first prize. David Benyamine was the runner-up. Watson, a Canadian, has cashed repeatedly since 2007 and has more than $2.5 million in tournament winnings.

August

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas decided to get into poker and opened its Poker Lounge. The room is attempting to mix the club atmosphere that attracts most people to the Hard Rock with that of a poker room. It features its own bar and table service.

Poker came to Punta del Este, Uruguay, thanks to a PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour stop. A Spanish player who started playing poker only within the year, Jose Miguel Espinar, beat Alex Brenes heads up and a field of 351 players to win $241,735.

The Poker Players Alliance held a charity tournament at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The Paralyzed Veterans of America benefited from the event, which had to be changed at the last minute because of Colorado's laws on charitable gaming and poker. It turned into a who's who party. Even Ben Affleck showed up, although he didn't show up at the same event held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention weeks later.

The PPA also did its best to get the word out on the politicians who were up for re-election in 2008. In the fall, the PPA launched a report card that graded all members of Congress, and played a part in getting several poker bills introduced at the federal level in 2008.

Men "The Master" Nguyen made The Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker his own by winning two of the preliminary events nearly back-to-back (he won a $300 hold'em event and a $500 Omaha high event, for a total of more than $85,000, only two days apart). He also cashed in a third event. Less than a month later, he'd win the $5,000 event at the World Poker Finals, good for $127,765. He cashed 24 times during 2008 up to mid-December.

John Phan won the WPT $10,000 event at the Legends of Poker, bagging $1 million. The event attracted 373 players, and was Phan's third victory in 2008. The other two garnered him World Series of Poker bracelets. He has more than $5.3 million in tournament winnings.

Scotty Nguyen had one of his greatest poker successes shown to the world when the WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event was televised on ESPN, but it was also a most embarrassing moment not only for him, but also Harrah's.

Nguyen showed an ugly side of himself while going on to capture the bracelet. He swore, berated players, and shouted his way to the bracelet and $1.9 million. The episode highlighted a lack of consistency when it comes to enforcing behavior rules at the WSOP, which is something that Harrah's promised to change.

Edward Sabat won the $3,200 no-limit hold'em main event at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour stop in Macau, China. He took home $453,851 after topping a massive field of 538 players. PokerStars would hold three more APPT events in 2008: Seoul (166 players, Yoshihiro Tasaka won $128,199), Auckland (306 players, Daniel Craker won $153,399), Manila (285 players, Van Marcus won $162,857), and Sydney (477 players, Martin Rowe won $648,046).

September

London became the poker capital of the universe for a few weeks when the WSOP Europe touched down there for the second year in a row. Four events were held at London Clubs International from Sept. 19 to Oct. 2.

John Juanda was the star of the Series, as he won the $17,000-plus main event (the buy-ins are strange, thanks to the currency exchange rate). He won $1.5 million by outlasting 361 players. The winners of the other three events were Jesper Hougaard ($2,600 no-limit hold'em event with 410 players), Sherkhan Farnood ($4,400 H.O.R.S.E. event with 110 players), and Theo Jorgensen ($8,900 pot-limit Omaha event with 165 players).

On the other side of the world, at the APPT event in Macau, Nam Le won the "high-roller" event. The $19,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament attracted 61 players, and Le won $474,358.

The fifth season of the European Poker Tour started in September with the Barcelona Open, which attracted a record number of players. Germany's Sebastian Ruthenberg outlasted 618 other players to win €1,361,000 (almost $2 million). This was Ruthenberg's second major victory; his first was for a WSOP bracelet a few months earlier.

Lawyers hired by the commonwealth of Kentucky talked a judge into signing a seizure order that, if upheld, would hand over the domain names of 141 online poker and gambling sites to the commonwealth. Kentucky is trying to use a law that allows it to seize devices used to gamble illegally. In this case, it's claiming the domain names are gambling devices. The case is currently tied up in an appeals process.

A former WSOP champion was named the main perpetrator of a cheating scandal that took place at UltimateBet for more than three years. Russ Hamilton was designated by independent investigators hired by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission as the main person who cheated players out of millions of dollars.

Vivek Rajkumar banked $1.4 million when he won the WPT Borgata Poker Open. The event attracted 516 players and was Rajkumar's biggest tournament cash.

October

The EPT followed the WSOP into London and held an event with a buy-in of nearly $7,000 that attracted an impressive 596 players, creating a first prize of $1.7 million. Michael Martin would take it home.

Card Player moved into the land of pirogies with the launch of Card Player Bulgaria.

Howard Lederer, Gavin Griffin, Andy Bloch, Victor Ramdin, Phil Gordon, Rhett Butler, and Dennis Phillips spent a day with about 100 wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The trip was organized by the PPA and the USO of Metropolitan Washington, DC, and was inspiring for all of the players.

"I have never been so proud or so humbled before in my life," Phillips said. "You just want to stand up and shout to the world about what an honor it is to be allowed to play cards with these heroes who sacrificed so much to protect our liberties."

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had a great year, which included winning the WPT $15,000 Festa al Lago tournament and $1.4 million. Nam Le finished second.

Barry Greenstein has shown time and time again that he is an extremely charitable person, so nothing should surprise his fans. Through his nonprofit Children, Incorporated, a gymnasium was built on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. The amount he donated was undisclosed, but now the kids there play in a gym with Barry's name on it.

November

The biggest poker event of the month was the conclusion of the WSOP main event, which was covered in the last issue in the "2008 Poker Year in Review - Part I." But during final-table play, the Poker Hall of Fame inducted two new members: Dewey Tomko, for his achievements on the poker table, and Henry Orenstein, for his work in developing holecard cameras for poker broadcasts.

The ratings of the WSOP main-event final table were up for the entire broadcast, and the decision to make the final nine players wait all those weeks to play out the tournament seemed to work. Approximately 2.4 million viewers (representing a Nielsen rating of 1.9) tuned in to watch the "November Nine" battle it out for the $9.1 million first prize and a gold bracelet. In 2007, the final table got a 1.3 Nielsen rating.

It was the most watched poker episode on ESPN since 2004, and the second most watched final table in history, according to WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky.

President George W. Bush is on his way out the door, and he spent his last few months in office making sure things were left the way that he wanted them left. Part of that was expediting the rules of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act through the proper channels so that it would be set to go by his last day in office. Unless something changes, banks will have to follow the rules of the UIGEA by this December.

Daniel Negreanu headed to his home country and took home more hardware when he won the British Columbia Poker Championship. Negreanu outlasted 689 other players in the $2,500 no-limit hold'em main event, and won $371,910.
Negreanu had a decent year, cashing a dozen times for $889,941. He won two events, including one at the WSOP.

December

PokerStars, already extending its brand through the EPT, LAPT, and APPT, announced that it will launch a poker tour in Russia. The Russian Poker Tour is slated to start Jan. 25 in St. Petersburg with a $5,000 buy-in event. The price of poker goes up on Feb. 22, when Moscow hosts the second RPT event with a $10,000 buy-in. So far, only two events are scheduled.

It's become obvious in the last two years that Russia has gone a little poker crazy. The last two WSOP main-event final tables featured players from Russia, giving poker instant credibility among the sporting public there.

The PPA hit Capitol Hill hard in December with an ad campaign that placed pro-online poker advertisements in a handful of Washington DC newspapers, including Roll Call, The Politico, and The Hill. These publications are read heavily by our elected officials and their staff members.

An Italian was the winner of the EPT event held in Prague. The event attracted 570 players, and Salvatore Bonavena ended up with all the chips and the $975,240 top prize.

And December wouldn't be December without the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic. The $15,000 event won't conclude until after we go to press with this issue. Check the next issue or CardPlayer.com to find out who won and how they did it.
From all of us at Card Player, have a fabulous 2009.

Proposed Poker Legislation Abounded in 2008

Although there were no watermark poker laws passed at either federal or state levels in 2008, there were several attempts at getting laws introduced that would help the poker industry.

In Texas, state Rep. Jose Menendez reintroduced a bill that would create a poker gaming commission under the state's lottery wing that would oversee the cardroom industry in Texas. The owner of any bar or restaurant with a liquor license issued by the state can apply for a commercial license, as can existing pari-mutuels and social clubs.

California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine introduced a bill that would create, tax, and regulate an intrastate online poker industry. AB 2026 got through one legislative committee and was moved to the state's Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal review, where it remains.

And in Colorado, voters approved a referendum that raised the betting stakes of all casino games, poker included, to $100. The referendum also raised the amount of taxes that Colorado can collect from casinos and cardrooms, and the extra money generated from this will go to the state's community college system. In 2007, a similar raising of the stakes and increased operating hours were signed into law, and the state's poker industry has grown tremendously.

On a federal level, there were a few attempts to define poker as a game of skill and to get rid of the UIGEA, but all of these proposed laws will have to be reintroduced when the new Congress convenes in 2009.

Going for More Gold

Michael Phelps, the aqua-god who was the undisputed star of this summer's Olympics, said he plans on playing more poker now that the grind of the Olympic Games is over. He's no poker champion yet, but he took steps in that direction in October when he finished ninth in a $1,500 event at the Caesars Palace Classic, earning a little more than $5,000.

Here's what he said about the event and about the game: "It's good, it felt really good. I was confident, I was happy, I was excited. I had the table down; I knew the players who were in the final 18 with me and at the final table. I was just really confident about it; I got it in good, and I picked my spots. I'm learning more from my friends, some of the big-name guys online, and some of the [live] pros, so it's been cool."

Monster Pots

2008 saw some giant pots won online, and some of the largest of the year took place on Full Tilt. The largest of the year - and possibly in the history of online poker - was one that was worth $723,938. It happened in a hand between Di "Urindanger" Dang and Tom "durrrr" Dwan on Oct. 26, at a $500-$1,000 no-limit hold'em table.

Dang started the hand with $359,971, and Dwan, $443,538. Dang held aces and Dwan had kings, and on a flop of 9 high, all of the money went in. With no help for Dwan on the turn or river, the biggest pot of the year was sent to Dang.