Last November, Turkish-born poker player Ali Tekintamgac was unceremoniously booted from the final table of the Partouche Poker Tour (PPT) event in Cannes because organizers claimed he was cheating. After studying video tapes of the event, organizers felt Tekingtamgac was receiving hand signals from a couple strategically placed “journalists” in the audience. (One of these alleged accomplices, fellow Turk Kadir Karabulut, was recently booted from the €1,500 Holland Casino Dom Classic under similar circumstances.)
However, Tekintamgac has sufficiently recovered his nerve to announce that he is suing the PPT for wrongly besmirching his good (if unpronounceable) name. Tekintamgac’s hand was strengthened when subsequent analysis of the Partouche videos by French police resulted in the authorities declining to press charges. Now Tekintamgac wants €1.5m and his lawyer Filiz Tinas thinks his client “has very good chances of winning.” Hmm… Wonder if there will be ‘journalists’ covering the trial.
The PokerStars’ Sunday Million tournament turns five years old this March 6. To celebrate, PokerStars is upping the guaranteed prize pool to a cool $5m, with $1m of that going to the overall winner. The champ also gets to drive off in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP460-4. (We’re assuming it’s not the one Vanessa Rousso put up on eBay in December.) Best of all, the stakes may be overly dramatic but the buy-in remains the same $215. Expect a crowd.
Speaking of high drama, the Dallas Voice recently profiled Pocket Rockets, a traveling card tournament that offers gay players in Texas the chance to improve their live poker skills in a non-threatening environment. Well, to be clear, their games aren’t entirely devoid of threats. As one participant noted, some Pocket Rockets players “take their game so seriously that you’d think the Super Bowl was going on.” Or perhaps the final episode of Project Runway? Nevertheless, there’s lots of in-jokes about hands that feature multiple queens and the possibility of getting your ass handed to you takes on a whole new dimension. Good fun.
