Poker News @ ICUFISH

In December, a hearing was held in the chambers of the House Financial Services Committee. The topic at hand: discussing the merits of legalizing and regulating the internet gambling industry in the United States. On the docket was Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, HR 2267. The bill establishes a comprehensive framework for licensed online gambling outfits to solicit U.S. customers. Now, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is looking to extend its momentum with a February markup of the bill.

HR 2267 is up to 65 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle, setting up what could be a landslide vote in Committee. In a video posted on the official website of the PPA, the organization’s Executive Director, John Pappas, told viewers, “We really need to work double time to make sure we enact and move forward positive legislation that will help license and regulate internet poker.” Pappas’ message follows a November decision by officials from the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to delay mandatory industry compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by six months to June 1st. The regulations originally held a December 1st compliance deadline.

Pappas noted that support for bills like HR 2267 is widespread: “Around the board, people were supportive of the idea of licensing and regulation. We expect that… most likely in the month of February, there will be a Committee vote on this legislation. This is a very critical and important vote for the PPA as well as the poker community. We need everyone to step up to make sure their voices are heard.” Frank (pictured at left) introduced HR 2267 to the world last May and December’s hearing marked the first time in over a year that internet gambling was discussed in the House Financial Services Committee. Prior to that, the Committee had been consumed by the lackluster U.S. economy.

Pappas continued, “This will be the first time ever that there will be a vote on the licensing and regulation of internet poker and internet gaming in general. In the past, it’s always been votes to prohibit it and those have passed by overwhelming margins. We need to make sure that the chance we have to license and regulate it also passes by an overwhelming margin.” The PPA was successful in September 2008 in pushing Frank’s HR 6870 through the House Financial Services Committee. The measure, which would have clarified what was permitted under the UIGEA, passed by a 30-19 vote.

Contrastingly, the UIGEA was approved in the House of Representatives in 2006 by a 3:1 margin. In the Senate, the bill was attached to an unrelated port security measure, which was approved by unanimous consent. Pappas explained, “Get ready to advocate for poker.” There are 42 Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee and 29 Republicans. The latter party is led by Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL, pictured at right), who has emerged as the strongest opponent of legalized internet gambling in the Committee.

The PPA offers free memberships in addition to $20 premium memberships. The latter gives players access to the PPA Litigation Network, a PPA card protector and window decal, discounts on PPA Gear, and the ability to donate to PokerPAC, the PPA’s political action committee. Premium members can also receive $300 off the price of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Academy training package and online shopping discounts. The lobbying group boasts well over one million members and recently brought 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe jcada99 Cada to Capitol Hill to rally support for HR 2267.

Visit PPA.org for more information and stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest poker legislation news.

On Saturday, a $109 No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys event played out as part of the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC). A total of 514 players threw their hats into the ring, creating a prize pool of $160,900, or an average contribution of just over $300 per player. Taking second in the rebuy was Mike SowersUNCC Sowers (pictured at right), who earned $26,000 for his efforts. Heads-up, Sowers fell to the aptly-named I AM CLUTCH, who came out on top for $31,000. A three-way deal was struck.

Sowers finished second in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $10,300 High Roller event in September for a colossal $448,000, about double what he took home for being the runner-up in a $1,060 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) tournament last February. One year ago, Sowers final tabled the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic for $654,000 and also owns recent victories in the Full Tilt Poker $100 Cubed and PokerStars $100,000 Guaranteed. Since the beginning of August, he’s amassed $657,000 in tournaments that are tracked for the Online Poker Rankings.

In the final hand of Saturday’s UBOC event, Sowers was all-in with 7-9 against A-J. The board ran out 5-4-2-3-5 and I AM CLUTCH scooped the pot with a wheel. Taking fourth in UBOC Event #17 was Jim Mr_BigQueso Collopy (pictured at left), who earned $11,000. Collopy won the PokerStars Sunday 500 in September for $88,000 and took down the Full Tilt Poker $100 rebuy on the same day for another $41,000. Collopy finished as the runner-up in the former poker tournament in May for $63,000.

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Finishing fourth and scooping a $9,200 payday was Cali greenerbels1 Trees. The PocketFives.com member from Chicago finished fourth in the $2,500 UBOC $1 Million Guaranteed (Event #8) for $102,000. Other January scores include a win in the PokerStars $55 rebuy for $41,000 and a runner-up showing in last weekend’s Sunday Mulligan for $34,000.

Three other members of PocketFives.com reached the final table of UBOC Event #17. Floridian nutserrytime finished sixth for $7,600, while Kevin kice32 Iacofano (pictured at right) landed in seventh for $6,000. Iacofano is fresh off a final table showing in the Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guaranteed for $54,000 and generously donated a portion of his winnings in that tournament to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Meanwhile, nutserrytime is four days removed from winning the Full Tilt $100 Cubed for $35,000.

Rounding out the nine-handed Turbo final table was Canada’s Alex AWice Wice, who pocketed $3,100. Wice is a former champion of the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up, a tournament he took down in August 2008 for $135,000. Here were the results from UBOC Event #17, reflecting the three-way chop:

1. I AM CLUTCH – $30,678
2. SOWERSS – $26,336 (SowersUNCC)
3. NIKOBALAKHOF – $23,033
4. MR_BIGQUESO – $11,263 (Mr_BigQueso)
5. GIT PAPER – $9,252 (greenerbels1)
6. ALL_DAY_DHI3 – $7,643 (nutserrytime)
7. KICE32 – $6,034 (kice32)
8. BULLD07 – $4,425
9. AWICE – $3,138 (AWice)

Kicking off at 4:00pm ET on Sunday is the UBOC 4 Championship Event. The one-day tournament features a $1,050 buy-in and guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. Eleven-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will serve as the contest’s host and plenty of top-tier online poker players are expected. Visit UB.com for full details and to get registered.

The Weekly Turbo is bringing you the week’s top poker news stories including how Phil Ivey got to the top spot, a new WSOP bracelet owner and what they plan on doing with it, and more.

In the January 24th running of the PokerStars Sunday 500, longtime PocketFives.com member Russell rdcrsn Carson emerged victorious after a heads-up chop, pulling down $79,000 for the win. He outlasted 1,022 players and the final table featured fellow PocketFivers Joe Joey Capp Cappuccio, Steven SteveyBallGame Merrifield, and Ohio’s becomelegendary. Carson sits at #16 worldwide in the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and owns both Triple Crown and Monthly PLB accolades.

Before we get into the interview with the Sunday 500 winner, here is how the final table stacked up that fateful day:

1. rdcrsn – $79,000 (rdcrsn)
2. MaltLiquor40 – $74,000
3. emily4 – $48,545
4. Joey Capp – $35,566 (Joey Capp)
5. muratfb – $25,295
6. $teveyMoney – $20,185 (SteveyBallGame)
7. hanitz – $15,075
8. celofyz33 – $9,965
9. plz be live – $5,621 (becomelegendary)

PocketFives.com: Congratulations on the $79,000 bankroll boost courtesy of PokerStars. Can you walk us through the chop heads-up against MaltLiquor40?

Russell Carson: I didn't have a huge chip lead or big edge in my eyes. MaltLiquor40 was playing really well and I don't make a habit of playing heads-up for $25,000. Normally, I like to chop it up and leave a little on the table to play for or just go to bed. The chop numbers were actually $78,000 and $74,000, with $1,100 for the winner. We said we'd just go all-in until somebody won and I took the first hand down. I was wired for a bit, but went to bed shortly after that.

PocketFives.com: You’re coming off wins in the Full Tilt Poker $150 rebuy and UB.com $150,000 Guaranteed Deep Stack in recent months. Tell us about your ongoing success.

Russell Carson: It feels good. The big ones are always nice. I’m close to having our house paid off, so this helps accomplish that and a few other things. I haven't put much time in lately because the holidays only gave me a few sessions, so it’s good to get back at it. I feel like last year was pretty slack and wasn't as good as it probably should have been, so it’s good to get off to a proper start this year. I need to cash for $10,000 on a Sunday just to break even pretty much; it’s silly expensive these days.

PocketFives.com: Talk a little bit about the typical PokerStars Sunday 500 field.

Russell Carson: The Sunday 500 always has a pretty tough field. You always see a lot of names towards the end. I think the week I won had fewer names than normal, but there were still plenty of regulars. When I looked up some folks at the final the table, everybody was a winning player. You don't see that too often.

I tend to play reasonably straightforward in that tournament. I had quite a few chips from 35 people down, so I was able to open pots and maintain my stack size. I made one bad river call, but other than that, I think I played really well. I picked my spots well and had the cards when I needed them. All told, it was a solid day. I had another final table in the PartyPoker High Roller, so my expenses were pretty much covered at that point. It’s always nice when you are freerolling on a Sunday.

PocketFives.com: You said that you needed to cash for $10,000 just to break even on a typical Sunday?

Russell Carson: I did. I haven't added up my buy-ins exactly, but it's definitely around $10,000 and more on some days. It depends how the big rebuys go for the most part. In Canada, we have access to a lot of the Euro sites as well. There's a $200 rebuy, eight $100 rebuys and cubes, four $50 rebuys and cubes, four to five $500s, and that doesn’t include all of the smaller rebuys and freeze outs. The high-stakes MTT player these days is dropping a ton of cash every day. Midweek isn't that much better if you put a full session in.

The 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event has a champion. Tyron Krost is keeping the title in Australia for the second straight year. The 23 year-old battled 746 players over five days to take the title back home to Sydney, along with the $2 million AUD…