Lee Davy brings you his usual colorful round-up of the weekly poker news, including an appearance in Big Brother for Vanessa Rousso, a second bankruptcy filing for Erick Lindgren, a potential ban of third party software on PokerStars.
Vanessa Rousso has been unveiled as a contestant on Big Brother 17. The show will air on CBS, and if Rousso can avoid being axed during the first eviction scheduled for Thu, July 2, then the former Team PokerStars pro will miss the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
14 contestants have been named, and Rousso is not the only one connected with the poker industry. It seems CBS read my Ghosts of the WSOP article, and decided poker dealers needed their five minutes of fame. LA Dealer Da’Vonne Rogers will also have her number two’s shown to the whole wide world.
One man who wouldn’t have minded a few months in the Big Brother house is Erick Lindgren. E-Dog is once again center stage after it was revealed he took steps to apply for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection for the second time in the past three years.
PokerStars were successful in their attempts to block his first motion. I am sure they will have plenty to say about this next one. Despite Hendon Mob showing Lindgren earning over $10.2m in live tournament cashes, court papers showed he had a debt load in excess of $10m, and only had $50k in assets.
So what do you do when the whole world is after what little money you have?
You hide of course.
You find a cave and don’t take a candle.
Not Lindgren.
He decided to enter the Millionaire Maker, and earned $193,675 for finishing seventh. Only another $10m+ to go.
At the opposite end of the Erick Lindgren spectrum there is Sam Trickett. The most prolific live tournament marksman in Europe is not short of a few bob, but he will have to pull those purse strings a little tighter, after being released from his contract by Everest Poker. The pair agreed terms on a one-year deal prior to the 45th Annual WSOP, and they have both decided to move in a different direction now the year has passed.
We will finish the weekly news round up with a smattering of stories from two of the games giants: PokerStars and the WSOP.
First PokerStars and this week they created a new online poker advocacy group called Californians For Responsible iPoker, with the Morongo and San Manuel Bands of Mission Indians, the Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, and the Commerce Club.
The idea of the new scrum is to promote the ideal that people are already gambling online in the state, so it’s high time that a new regulatory framework was launched to pull it in tight. Keep your eye out for the North American PokerStars Team Pros like Daniel Negreanu, Jason Somerville and Vanessa Selbst to get involved in this one.
PokerStars job hasn’t been made any easier by a series of allegations of cheating, and misuse of third party software, plaguing the image of the world’s largest online poker room this week. News surfaced that a Russian bot ring had amassed a $1.5m fortune by cheating in the $0.50/$1 and $1/$2 Pot Limit Omaha games, and London-based player Skier_5 may well be responsible for a whole host of third party software being banned on the site, after it was revealed that his software allowed him, and a small band of merry men, to win a fuck ton of money.
Fortunately, there has been no cheating scandals at the 46th Annual WSOP this week. The series has reached the midway point. WSOP officials are heavily promoting an increase in numbers, but everyone is due cognizant of the fact that over 20,000 players entered the Colossus. Now that’s quite a statistical game changer if there ever was one.
On the bracelet front, Phil Galfond bagged his second while Jason Mercier his third, Jeff Madsen bagged his fourth, and Christian Pham won one by accident. Yes it’s true, even in the highest echelons of poker power, a player can enter an event he knows fuck all about (in this case 2-7 Draw Lowball No-Limit), by accident, and somehow go wire-to-wire as the chip leader on his way to a bracelet win.
Time, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Someone has just called the clock.
