Campos, Elie Fire Back with Lawsuits Against DOJ
Following in the wake of Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar’s lawsuit filed last week , both John Campos and Chad Elie have filed separate motions in federal court alleging the indictments are invalid on several grounds including the fact online poker is “not a gambling business.” Campos, a former Vice Chairman of the Board and part-owner of SunFirst Bank in Utah, was charged with six counts of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, violating the Illegal Gambling Business Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering for accepting cash to process online poker transactions. Elie, a payment processor who is accused of lying about the nature of the transactions, is charged with nine counts including violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the Illegal Gambling Business Act, money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. Both have plead not guilty to all charges
Owais Ahmed Out-Grinds Mizrachi to Win First WSOP Bracelet
With a massive cheering section and his second WSOP bracelet in the balance, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi watched his heads-up chip lead crumble as Ahmed, a Hi-Low specialist, surged to victory in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low event. Ahmed has been playing Stud-8 and Omaha-8 for a long time and has clocked plenty of hands both live and online, where he plays under the screen name “oerockets”.
Former Online Pro Wilder Wins Big at WSOP
He proved he has what it takes to succeed in the live arena as well, however, when he won the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP last night.
The Fight: Attorney General Defends Black Friday Indictments, PPA Announces Fly-In
This week’s edition of The Fight features the US Attorney General defending the Black Friday indictments and the Poker Players Alliance stepping up their lobbying efforts just before the World Series of Poker. On May 3, US Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to discuss a variety of topics regarding the Department
ESPN Plans Live WSOP Broadcast
From July 14-19, ESPN will present the live broadcast, on a 30-minute delay, in HD on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com. This marks the first time ESPN will be offering daily coverage of the WSOP Main Event and the network plans to show every hand unedited with hole cards post-flop for players still in the hand
PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker Founders Indicted
The founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and UB/Absolute Poker were all named in the indictment and the FBI subsequently seized domains for each site. Among the defendants named were Isai Scheinberg, Raymond Bitar, Scott Tom, Brent Beckly, Nelson Burtnick, Paul Tate, Bradley Franzen, Ira Rubin, Chad Elie and John Campos. The defendants are being indicted on charges of bank fraud, money laundering and bank fraud. Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, had this to say in the indictment: “As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” he said.
Stars Heat Up L.A. Poker Classic Prelims
The series is approaching its 50th event and some rather big names are starting to emerge at the top of the leaderboards. Tuesday, Claremont, California’s Parviz Razavian took down the $2,575 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event, outlasting a field of 123.
On Whining About Bad Beats
Bad beat stories have been discussed to death on chat rooms and poker forums. A consensus has emerged: I