In a year that’s seen Barack Obama establish himself as U.S President, we’ve also discovered that he’s a bit of a poker shark.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner joins an illustrious list of former U.S Presidents who enjoy the sport, with the likes of Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon and even legendary British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, all regularly hosting poker nights when in office.

In online poker, the world record for the number of hands played in one day was smashed twice this year.

First to break the record was Russian sensation ‘Innerpsy’, who managed to play forty thousand and eighty eight hands in just twenty four hours.

Innerpsy’s new record was then smashed again just one week later by Chicago Joey, who played an astonishing fifty thousand four hundred and seventy hands in a single day.

Staying with online poker, internet phenomenon ‘Eye Silder One’ has gone from hero to zero in a matter of weeks.

The player, whose identity still remains a mystery, shot to fame when he took millions of dollars from Tom ‘Durr’ Dwan.

Eye Silder then accumulated a further few million from a number of the biggest names in online poker before flopping against Brian Hastings in a marathon session, which saw Eye Silder lose four point two million dollars.

The figure is thought to be the biggest single-session win in poker history and Eye Silder’s loss has left his fans wondering if their hero will ever return to the circuit.

In international poker news, Cypriote Police showed no mercy when they ram-raided the house of an elderly woman who was hosting a poker night.

Forty two women aged between seventy five and ninety five were arrested at the private home game on account of illegal gambling.

Local residents alerted the police to the illegal activity after complaining about the amount of noise that the women were making. Police then confiscated one hundred euros in betting money, five hundred and thirty playing cards and five hundred and forty six playing chips.

And finally, it seems that Celebrity poker events aren’t just reserved for the ugly ones.

The likes of Mark Williams, Steve Davis and Boris Becker can be seen regularly attending celebrity events, but now Hollywood heart-throb Zac Efron has told fans that he’ll be playing with the pros next year, too.

Movie director, Richard Linklater, has warned poker pros not to be fooled by his clean cut image as Efron is a poker shark who will take your money for fun.

Well that’s it from Poker News. Join me again in January for all the latest developments in the world of poker. I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

]]> http://www.nakedpokernews.co.uk/?feed=rss2&p=20 1 http://www.nakedpokernews.co.uk/?p=9 http://www.nakedpokernews.co.uk/?p=9#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0000 Gemma Healey http://www.nakedpokernews.co.uk/?p=9 Hello and welcome to this week’s Poker News. I’m Gemma Healey.  A man who led an illegal high stakes poker club was yesterday sentenced to sixteen years in prison.

Forty eight year old Jeffrey Castardi was said to be the ringleader of the ‘Gin Rummy Club’, which began as an illegal gambling operation but soon turned into a loan-sharking and money-laundering enterprise.

Prominent businessmen, athletes, doctors and lawyers allegedly won and lost millions of dollars in high stakes games of Texas Hold ‘Em – and those that didn’t pay up were forced to by what the judge called a “complex, persistent and intimidating system of debt collectors”.

Sticking with the more unsavoury side of the sport, poker writer and reported mixed martial artist, Tony Korfman, has been accused of almost causing a riot in one of Vegas’ swankiest poker rooms.

Korfman had to be escorted off the premises after he lost his rag with a fellow opponent, grabbed the player by the neck and then attempted to choke him at the Bellagio.

Korfman has since posted a response to the incident on his website, in which he defended his actions and claimed that his young opponent deserved everything he got after accusing other players and the dealer of cheating.

One of Korfman’s book chapters is ironically called “How to make your opponent fear you” – and because of his angry actions at the table, Korfman now finds himself banned from the Bellagio until further notice.

In celebrity news, Twilight star Kellan Lutz has found himself at the centre of a strip poker controversy after pictures of him and an unnamed brunette were posted across the internet.

Kellan, who found fame as the vampire saga’s Emmett Brown, was snapped in 2005 after indulging in the L.A party scene having just arrived from his hometown in North Dakota.

Twilight fans can get a glimpse of the Hollywood heart throb stripped to his waist after the pair took off their clothes for the game – with the unnamed girl covering her modesty with nothing more than her hands.

Staying with celebrity poker news, Boyzone’s Shane Lynch will train to win an international poker tournament as he takes part in a new reality television series.

The Irish singer will be given a year to perfect his skills before he competes in the tournament that will be held in the Irish town of Killarney.

Shane has admitted to never having played poker before and the series will follow his journey as he learns from the best-known names in the business in an attempt to win big against the best.

Let’s hope that he’s as good at poker as he is at singing!

Well that’s it from Poker News today, Join me again next week for our special christmas poker review of the year.

The European Poker Tour was in Prague this week and there was a dream win for local boy, Jan Skampa, who lifted the trophy in his home city.

Skampa claimed the six hundred and eighty two thousand euro first prize and with it, became the first player since season one to make back-to-back EPT final tables.

The next EPT event takes place on January the twentieth when it comes from Deauville in France.

In World Poker Tour news, The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic kicks off on Monday at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The Five Diamond became the World Poker Tour’s very first event when it was showcased in May 2002 and has stayed on as a yearly tournament ever since.

Last year, David “Chino” Rheem took the title – and one point five million dollars – by beating Justin Young heads-up at the final table.

And this year, Chino will look to hold on to his title as he battles against some of the biggest names in the poker business.

In politics news, twenty one year old World Series of Poker champion, Ben Cada, became the latest high profile name to meet the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Ben and the Poker Players Alliance have teamed up in an attempt to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in 2006, which prevents online casinos from operating within the United States.

The law is reported to have cost legitimate poker sites hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue – and although online gambling is considered a legal practise in America, companies must operate their finances outside the nation’s borders.

The ongoing talks are described as “positive” and an amendment to the 2006 Act is expected to be announced within the first half of next year.

And lastly, Lady Gaga will finally get the opportunity to show off her ‘Poker Face’ as her number one hit becomes the official soundtrack to the Palms Hotel and Casino’s new ad campaign.

The record, which won Song of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards, contains a number of poker references and is seen as the perfect choice for the Palms’ ambitious campaign.

The link-up with Gaga will also see her perform at the Palms Pearl Theatre on December the 17^th and 18^th as part of the promotion.  Well that’s it from Poker News. Join me again next week for all the latest developments in the world of poker.

Las Vegas casinos don’t care who you are if you owe them money. That was the harsh lesson learned by former Green Bay Packer, Ross Verba, as he spent Thanksgiving in a Phoenix jail after failing to pay twenty-six-thousand dollars to the Palms Casino.

The ex-NFL pro was arrested in 2008 for a similar offence and now faces extradition back to Nevada – a state that fully supports the legal rights of Vegas casinos.

If Verba is ever welcome back in Sin City, Binion’s Hotel is one place that he won’t be staying for the night.

Credited as the birthplace of the World Series of Poker, Binion’s has announced that it will shut down the hotel side of its operation due to the impact of the recession.

And now to UK poker, where former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland soccer legend, Tony Cascarino, showed that he’s the real deal by winning the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour.

Cascarino beat one hundred and eighty three other hopefuls to lift the trophy and claim one hundred and sixty eight thousand pounds in prize money.

The former soccer player will now turn his attentions to the Champion of Champions Festival, which begins this weekend.

On the subject of champions, Swedish sensation Viktor Blom, has crushed rumours that he is the infamous ‘El Silder 1’.    (Spelt ‘lsildur1’)

El Silder shot to fame after winning big against some of the best-known names in online poker.  Many of the sport’s biggest names have publicly stated that the elusive player is in fact Viktor Blom – although his true identity still remains a mystery.

And finally, if you thought that playing careful and measured poker was the only way to win big – you may need to rethink your strategy.

Online poker sensation, Chicago Joey, has just broken the world record for the most hands played in 24 hours – making nearly thirty four thousand dollars in the process.

The poker ace played just over fifty thousand hands to smash the previous record – set just one week earlier – by an incredibe ten thousand hands.

Well that’s it from Poker News. Join me again next week for all the latest developments in the world of poker.

]]> http://www.nakedpokernews.co.uk/?feed=rss2&p=14 0