Our regular weekly news round-up including approved online gambling legislation in Pennsylvania, Phil Ivey losing his UK Punto Banco case, and news from the World Series of Poker Europe.
Hello, America!
Who needs a federal bill to legalise online poker?
Let’s wait another century, by which time, state-by-state, we will get what we deserve.
Four and a half years after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a piece of paper that saw New Jersey join Nevada and Delaware as states sensible enough to regulate online poker, Pennsylvania is about to join them.
The Pennsylvanian officials carrying this bill around the halls of power must have holes in their shoes by now, but it will be worth it once Governor Tom signs the bill into law.
An approved HB.271 will allow gambling companies to offer their Pennsylvanian punters online casino, online poker, daily fantasy sports (DFS), and an online lottery. Also, people hanging around the state’s airports can gamble on mobile devices, truck drivers can play video game terminals at truck stops, and they have even laid the cement for regulated and licensed sports betting should there be a change in the law at a federal level.
Taxation on online poker is 16%.
Tax on online slots is 54%.
Live Tournament News 
The poker world is about to learn if the King’s Casino in Rozvadov has the kahunas to manage a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event. Thousands of poker players are expected to roll out a sleeping bag during the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and at the time of writing three of the eleven planned bracelet events are consigned to history.
Oleksandr Shcherbak won Event #1: €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em, Monster Stack. 561 entrants ensured they met the €500,000 guaranteed. The Ukrainian picked up €117,708 for the win.
Andreas Klatt won Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha. The German star who lit up Monte Carlo earlier this year, defeated 523 players to become the fourth German WSOP winner of 2017. Klatt banked €56,400 for the win.
And local lad Martin Kabrhel took down Event #3: €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter. The Czech star overcame a compact and bijou field of 325 entrants to win the €53,557 first prize.
The WSOP will also crown a new Player of the Year (POY) in the tiny Czech village. With three events in the bag, the picture is the same as the one we saw when we arrived. Chris Ferguson leads after cashing in two of the first three events.
From the WSOP to the World Poker Tour (WPT) and pilot Paul Petraglia topped a final table that housed the two-time champion Sam Panzica, and the three-time champion Darren Elias at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble. The latter was making his ninth WPT Main Event final table. Petraglia earned $315,732 for the win and a $15,000 seat into the Tournament of Champions.
And there were two WPTDeepStack Main Event winners this week.
Joe Villhauer took down the Main Event in Iowa for $29,875, and Daniel Habib won $73,775 when he topped a record field of 456 entrants winning the Main Event in Johannesburg.
John Juanda was the biggest winner of the week. The Poker Hall of Famer came out on top of 57 unique entrants and 26 re-entries in the Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event in Macau. Juanda beat Fedor Holz in heads-up action to secure the $2.8m first prize.
The High Rollers rolled onto the PokerStars LIVE Asian Poker Championship (ACOP) where Dietrich Fast (who finished fifth in the Triton event) took down a 79 entrant Super High Roller field to capture the $2.1m first prize.
In other PokerStars news, Celina Lin became the first player to win three ACOP titles when she won the Ladies Event. And Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy defeated Alexander Denisov in heads-up action to capture the first prize of $134,163 in the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event.
Online Poker News
Sticking with PokerStars, and this week saw a brand new multi-table tournament (MTT) schedule. PokerStars made the changes after conversing with the Player’s Advisory Council (PAC) in Barcelona. Amongst the changes are an increase in High Roller events, more Omania, and the Big and Hot events become Bigger and Hotter.
Bryan Paris, the second player to reach $10m in online MTT earnings, joined Natural8’s Team Hot and took down a tournament during his first day on the job, and Winamax prepared for their Italian experience after acquiring the online gambling concession of Bet-at-home, the German subsidiary of French operator Betclic Everest Group.
I shared my view that the #MeToo social media campaign could act as a wake-up call to those who believe sexism is dead in poker. The Global Poker Index (GPI) #1 ranked female player Kristen Bicknell shared her secrets in Poker Routines, and the guy who everyone in poker loves to love is currently being branded a cheat.
Phil Ivey lost his legal battle with Genting over a £7.7m Punto Banco win at Crockford’s Casino in Mayfair. The UK Supreme Court upheld the ruling that Ivey and Chen Yin Sun cheated by using edge sorting techniques to earn the money, prompting headlines all over the globe branding our beloved Phil a cheat.
Time ladies and gentlemen.
Someone just called the clock.
