2006 February 05 Poker News, Events and Happenings - Page 2

Ari Paul’s dorm room at the University of Pennsylvania has the trappings of the contemporary collegiate male: acoustic guitar, Hooters calendar, supersize bag of tortilla chips on the floor, and dual flat-screen computer monitors at which he’s playing three simultaneous hands of online poker.

The stereotypical poker player drinks whiskey and smokes cigars. But not Tom Eversgerd.

In December last year we reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating a $700 million offer for California-based WPT Enterprises (World Poker Tour) made on behalf of Doyle Brunson by the Las Vegas law firm Goodman & Chesnoff PC. This week the news surfaced that the SEC has now subpoenaed Wallace Nakano, the operator of DoylesRoom.com, twice as part of it’s investigation.

Michael Mizrachi, also known as "The Grinder", has won the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, only one week after finishing second in the WPT Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica. The soon-to-be father took home $1,173,373 in cash, a Cadillac Escalade and an entry into the WPT championship for his efforts.

The Travel Channel and WPT Enterprises have resolved their dispute regarding the Professional Poker Tour. The Professional Poker Tour will now air on the Travel Channel after completion of World Poker Tour’s Season IV. WPT Enterprises originally had plans to sell the Professional Poker Tour to ESPN, but the Travel Channel claimed WPT Enterprises had no authority to sign such a deal.

888 Holdings, the owner of the world’s largest online casino 888.com (Casino on Net), and the fourth largest online poker room Pacific Poker, reported excellent results for the quarter ending 31 December, 2005. Casino revenues were only up one percent, but poker revenues soared to $36 million, an increase of 22 percent.

Amidst rumors that Ladbrokes has refused a GBP 4 million take-over bid by a private equity firm, and a "bidding war" is imminent, the Hilton owned company made a significant step forward in it’s battle against European state-licensed betting monopolies.