Phil Ivey has made his return to the felt at the largest gambling industry market of them all. The enigma was rumored to be interested in playing at the PokerStars.net APPT Macau and those in attendance weren’t to be disappointed. Often called the Tiger Woods of poker, it now feels like he really deserves this crown. He has the looks. Had the marital breakdown. Now he even has the return from an elongated break nailed down. Just to find him a caddy with the nickname “wanker.” One difference is that it looks to be taking him a lot less time to find his form. Heading towards the end of day 1a, the future Hall of Famer sat in third with a 95,000 stack before retreating back to 51,000 and making it comfortably into day 2.
An unknown player has been forced to payback over €1million under new Italian tax regulations. According to PokerUpdate.com, assets have been seized after the player that won more than €6million since 2007 was told to pay the €1.2m in back taxes. The player, based near to Milan, is the first player to be charged under a law that taxes winning from unlicensed operators at 20%. The authorities were only alerted when the player tried to transfer money from an account in Italy to an offshore one. It’s thought the accused may face additional fines and tax evasion or illegal gambling penalties. Mamma Mia!
Global casino behemoth Genting Casinos have forked out an undisclosed sum for London’s Fox Poker Club. Ian Hogg and Chris North conceived the city’s only fully licensed poker club in 2005 with a full UK casino license granted in 2008. Since it’s opening in September 2010 the club has seen over 20,000 members come through the door and driven it into profit. The club now has a 24-hour license and can lay claim to being one of London’s best venues to play poker.
It gives Genting another place at the heart of the centre of the iGaming universe, London, and adds to an impressive portfolio of 45 casino business locations across the UK. Five of these are in London and it adds to the global expansion plans that have gone into overdrive. The company will be under pressure in the capital in the coming months as London’s largest casino, Aspers Westfield Stratford City, opens next Friday and this move may go some way to combat that.
