The Nightly Turbo: Regulations in Costa Rica, Hellmuth Hosts a Charity Tournament, and More
It's that time again. You're between hands and wondering what happened in the poker world today. Well, here it is, all laid out for you so you can get back to the grind sooner.
Celebrity Charity Event
The first inaugural Jerry Yang Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament will take place September 5 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemore, Calif. The tournament will benefit the Ronald McDonald House. The tournament is set to begin at 10 a.m. (Does a poker player's alarm clock even have a 10 a.m.?) The buy-in is $300, $100 of which will go to the charity. Christina Lindley and Maria Ho will make an appearance as will actor Stephen Baldwin.
To find out more, check out Tachipalace.com.
Costa Rican Regulations
The Costa Rican economy has been fueled by the online gaming industry for the past ten years. Now, Costa Rican Finance Minister Guillermo Zu?iga introduced a bill that would tax all online and offline gambling operators based in Costa Rica. There would be a 2% tax levied on all revenues generated by the operators.
There has been no official word on as to whether the bill has passed, but many people believe the bill could impede the new economic situation in Costa Rica. There is an economy class being formed with an expendable income that has become a niche clientele for big retail and food stores. Many gambling operators are threatening to move to neighboring Panama if the tax is approved.
Coinflip.com has more of the story.
Hellmuth Hosts Charity Tournament
Phil Hellmuth has been announced as the host for a charity poker tournament to honor fallen law enforcement officers. Hold'em for Heroes will take place in November to benefit the TASER Foundation for Fallen Officers. The organization provides financial support to local, state and federal officers lost in the line of duty.
"My friends and I are grateful to these brave men and women and we��re proud to help out," Hellmuth said.
The three-day charity event begins November 19 at Fort McDowell Casino, Fort McDowell, Ariz.
For more information, head over to Taserfoundation.org.
Partouche Update Day 2
November Niner, Antoine Saout is continuing his dominance in the Partouche Poker Tour (PPT) Main Event. Saout is yet again the chip leader following Day 2 as he managed to build an impressive stack of 535,000. Saout does have competition though; Swedish Full Tilt Pro Michael Tureniec was closes Day 2 with 479,000 chips. His typically aggressive style of Scandniavian play has many players saying Tureniec will be the the man to watch on Day 3, particularly if he keeps amassing chips.
Joining the chip leaders, however, on Day 3 will be 125 other players. Familiar names still in include, JJ Liu with 173,000, Ivan Demidov with the just above average stack of 156,000, and Alex Kravchenko holding onto his stack of 63,000.
It seems that the success of the WSOP Main Event Final Table delay has drawn some fans here in the form of imitation. The PPT Main Event will play down to nine players on September 5 and then return on November 21 when a winner will be crowned from the remaining nine. The delay is meant, like the ESPN WSOP broadcast, to coincide with the EuroSport broadcast of the Main Event and, as it has been assumed by many, to build some much needed hype and brand recognition in Europe where the PPT is up against the EPT and the ever expanding WPT brands. Some players, choosing to remain off the record, are concerned that the final table broadcast delay may become common in large buy-ins and stretch tournaments into even longer time commitments. Even so, if Saout continues his hold on the chip lead, he may have two final tables in November.
Thanks to Gloria for the update.
In Case You Missed It
Our little bird on the rail has come away from the Full Tilt Poker high-stakes tables with some news on the biggest winners and losers of August. Wanna find out who they were? Check out the Online Railbird Report.
The 2009 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) began today. PokerStars kicked things off with a $215 buy-in $1,250,000 guarantee six-max No Limit Hold'em event. The other event in the line-up today was a $215 Razz event with a $200,000 guarantee. We made some predictions on who we think would take home a WCOOP bracelet. Check it out and see if you agree with us.
The Aruba Poker Classic gets underway in October. So there is still time to win your seat through Ultimate Bet. With Matt Savage and company running the show down there, why wouldn't you want to go?
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