Inside Straight -- News

Poker Players Alliance Helps Virginia Poker Player Prepare for Trial
Finance Student Charged With ‘Illegal Gambling’ Misdemeanor
By Stephen A. Murphy

Another SWAT team-esque raid. Another group of poker players arrested.

Joo Kim, a finance student at James Madison University, was arrested on Feb. 9 for participating in what state police are calling “an illegal gambling ring.”

He was playing in a $2-$5 no-limit hold’em game in the basement of a house, when, according to his lawyer, “They hear some commotion upstairs, and down the stairs into the basement rushes a SWAT team. They had helmets on, flak jackets, bulletproof vests, and semiautomatic rifles.”

When the commotion died down, Kim and 11 other people were arrested for “illegal gambling” — a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of up to $500.

While the vast majority of the players pled guilty and paid a reduced fine of just $50, Kim pled not guilty and is awaiting trial.

“This is something that’s more important than a $50 fine,” said Michael Melkerson, Kim’s attorney, who was granted permission by him to talk to Card Player about his situation. “This is about protecting our Constitutional right to be able to gather in private homes to play poker.”

Melkerson further explained, “Virginia law only prohibits ‘illegal gambling’ (not all gambling), which requires proof that the ‘predominant factor’ in the game is one of chance, and not skill. If the ‘predominant factor’ is skill, the activity is not illegal, even if the activity involves some elements of chance.”

PPA Executive Director John Pappas told Card Player that the PPA would play a role in the trial.

“We have decided we will assist in the case,” Pappas confirmed. “To what degree has not been determined.”

In both Colorado and South Carolina, the PPA provided expert witnesses and legal counsel for defendants.

This is not the first time that police have raided a home poker game, but Melkerson hopes it’ll be the last time it’s done in Virginia.

“They came in with high firepower and stormed in like they were about to apprehend a serial murderer or something. It’s ridiculous,” said Melkerson. “The fact that the government sees fit to treat people who are participating in such innocent activities as if they’re common criminals is unconscionable. In our view, they need to be held accountable, and that’s what we intend to do.”

Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov Join Team PokerStars Pro
Team Grows to 35 Members
By Julio Rodriguez

PokerStars recently announced the signing of World Series of Poker Champion Peter Eastgate and runner-up Ivan Demidov to its team of pros. Both players will promote the PokerStars brand in online and live events, and will represent the site at various global poker tour circuits.

Eastgate, from Denmark, became the youngest-ever WSOP main-event champion at the age of just 22, beating a record previously held by Phil Hellmuth, who won at the age of 24 in 1989. Eastgate put college aside to focus on his online play, and it is clear that the move has paid off handsomely, to the tune of $9,152,416. He proved that he was no fluke in January of this year when he pocketed $343,000 for winning the $5,000 event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Despite finishing second, it was Demidov who really turned heads in 2008, thanks to his unprecedented accomplishment of making the final table of both the WSOP main event and the WSOP Europe main event in the same year. The 27-year-old Russian earned $608,995 for his third-place finish in Europe, and then weeks later took home $5,809,595 at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Both players represented PokerStars at the WSOP final table, and continued to do so in a limited capacity in the months thereafter. They have since been made members of Team PokerStars Pro — bringing the number of pros on the roster to 35 — joining the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, and Greg Raymer.

Both players will be playing on the site under their own names.

PartyGaming Agrees to Pay $105 Million to Avoid Prosecution
Online Gaming Company Calls it ‘An Important Day’
By Stephen A. Murphy

After nearly two years of negotiations, PartyGaming announced on April 7 that it had reached a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

As part of the agreement, PartyGaming will pay $105 million in fines, with the assurance that the U.S. government will not prosecute the company or any of its subsidiaries “for providing internet gambling services to customers in the U.S. prior to the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (‘UIGEA’) on 13 October 2006.”

PartyGaming, the online gaming giant that once had the lion’s share of the online poker market before it pulled out of the U.S. market when the UIGEA was passed, has not offered services to Americans since 2006, and agreed in the deal not to pursue these customers under the current laws.

“The resolution of our position with the U.S. authorities marks an important day for PartyGaming,” said Jim Ryan, CEO of PartyGaming. “It has been a long and complex process but we have reached an amicable solution with the [U.S. Attorney’s Office] that makes commercial sense for our business and is in the best interests of shareholders. We are now well-placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that previously were beyond our reach.”

In the agreement, PartyGaming agreed to four major statements, as quoted in a company press release:
• From 1997 until 13 October 2006, PartyGaming offered internet gaming to players located in the US, including real-money poker and casino gaming. On 13 October, 2006, the day the UIGEA was enacted, the Group voluntarily exited the US market.

• Prior to 13 October 2006, certain of the US customer transactions intended for PartyGaming that were processed by third parties, and other gaming and payment-related activity, were contrary to certain US laws.

• PartyGaming has agreed to maintain, with respect to its operations, a restriction preventing internet gambling services from being provided to customers in the US in violation of the prevailing law of the US or any jurisdiction within the US.

• If requested by PartyGaming, the USAO will bring the co-operation and remedial actions of PartyGaming to the attention of other licensing and regulatory authorities.

While PartyGaming agreed to restrict American customers based on current legislation, this deal could pave the way for the company to re-enter the U.S. market if the UIGEA is reversed.

This agreement comes just months after PartyGaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty to illegal Internet gambling, agreeing to pay a $300 million fine.

Heartland Poker Tour Locks in PokerStars as Title Sponsor
Poker Tour Entering its Fifth Season
By Stephen A. Murphy

“It gives us a lot of street cred,” said Greg Lang about the Heartland Poker Tour’s new title sponsor, PokerStars. “We’re very excited about it. I think PokerStars.net is going to provide us exposure in the poker arena in a way we haven’t been able to get yet.”

Lang, the executive producer and one of the founders of the Heartland Poker Tour, said that the new sponsorship shows how far the Tour has come since its creation in 2005.

“We’ve kind of reached critical mass,” said Lang. “We’re on in about 100 million households every week in the U.S.”

The Heartland Poker Tour will produce about 18 to 20 events this year. Lang estimates that the typical event hosts anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 players, with main events ranging from about 200 to 400 competitors. Prize pools for the Tour’s events often exceed $500,000.

The new PokerStars sponsorship will give the online poker giant access to advertising in these tournaments, which are played in states all around the country — including Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.

As the title sponsor, PokerStars will be able to advertise in the casinos where the events are held — via banners and gear and the like — as well as on the TV broadcasts. The fifth season of the Tour will now be known on TV as the “_Heartland Poker Tour,_ presented by PokerStars.”

Lang said that there are no immediate plans to run satellites online for the Tour’s events, but that he is hopeful that something can be worked out in the future.
The sponsorship deal is for one year, with an option for PokerStars to renew it for an additional two years.

“For a small company like us, it’s a really big deal,” said Lang. “The players are stoked about it.”