Inside Straight -- News

February Hearing Scheduled for Intrastate Online Poker in California
Commerce Casino and Morongo Tribe Amongst Entities Supporting Regulation

The cash-strapped state that has shown willingness in the past to be a trendsetter when it comes to legislative action is ready to hold a hearing on the merits of regulating online poker. California state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) told the L.A. Times in December that the state Legislature was planning to hold a hearing on the issue in February.

“I think it is workable and a potential source of new income,” said fellow state Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter). “How you structure it is the key.”

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians and Commerce Casino are two of the gaming-associated groups that are calling for regulation. Both the Morongo tribe and Commerce Casino hope to operate online poker websites if the legislation becomes law.

Lawmakers are hesitant to predict how much intrastate online poker could bring in to the state in terms of revenue, but the L.A. Times said that if the state operated poker like it does its Indian-run slot machines, more than $250 million could be generated.

However, not all groups support the proposal.

“Card game gambling on the Internet would take business away from brick-and-mortar casinos,” said Robert Smith, the chairman of the California Tribal Business Alliance.
California would become the first state to explicitly legalize and regulate intrastate online poker if this proposal becomes law.

However, the state has its share of obstacles even if the Legislature decides that this is something it wants to pursue.

The Department of Justice has long claimed that all forms of gambling on the Internet are illegal, but there is no applicable law that states such a position, and most lawyers agree that the law that the Department of Justice refers to, the Wire Act, applies only to sports betting.

U.S. law is much less vague when it comes to the operation of online gambling. State and federal laws prohibit companies from operating web-based gambling games in the country.
However, I. Nelson Rose, a gambling-law expert advising Commerce Casino, believes that the state would be exempt from federal restrictions “if the businesses were operated entirely within state lines and served only Californians,” according to the Times.

Brian Hastings Chalks Up Biggest Online Poker Session in History
College Student Wins $4.2 Million From “Isildur1” in Just Over Five Hours

In the midst of finals week last semester, one college student had a lot on his mind: studying for finals, enjoying the last few parties of the year, figuring out what he wanted to spend his freshly earned millions on, and so on. That college student is Brian Hastings, the young pro who stunned the poker world with the most lucrative online poker session in history on Dec. 8.

Hastings, a regular in the $25-$50 games on Full Tilt, decided to take a shot at the person responsible for pouring gasoline on the high-stakes games in 2009 — “Isildur1.” While the anonymous Swedish player had been a thorn in the side of many top pros, including Tom Dwan for roughly $5.5 million overall, Hastings completely obliterated him with solid play and an amazing run of cards.

“Right off the bat, I just started running really hot,” Hastings said. At the end of five hours, he was up $4.2 million — easily the most profitable online poker session in history.

The session sent Isildur1 reeling, as he fell into the red for the year on Full Tilt, while Hastings’ winnings made him one of 2009’s most profitable performers online.

James Akenhead Wins Full Tilt Poker Million VIII
British Pro Finally Captures Elusive Win

James Akenhead had an impressive 2009 by any poker player’s standards. The popular British pro made the final table of both the World Series of Poker main event and the World Series of Poker Europe main event, but ultimately exited play in ninth place in both tournaments.

But on Dec. 4, Akenhead finally captured that elusive tourney win that he had been craving for so long. The Full Tilt pro topped a tough final table at Europe’s invitation-only Full Tilt Poker Million VIII to win $500,000. It was his first major-tournament win in the live arena.

The 74-player field was full of big-name pros, many of whom were eliminated by Akenhead himself, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan. At the final table, Akenhead defeated Juha Helppi heads up for the title.

The final table was broadcast live across Europe on SKY Sports 2.

Results were as follows:
1 James Akenhead $500,000
2 Juha Helppi $250,000
3 Dag Martin Mikkelsen $200,000
4 Luke Schwartz $150,000
5 Craig Wakeham $100,000
6 Pete Vasiliou $75,000
7 Taylor Caby $50,000