The Daily Rewind: Gabe Kaplan, FTP, PKR, Gobboboy, Isildur1
Today we hear news about Gabe Kaplan. There's more misery for FTP but big celebrations for PKR. Jimmy Fricke speaks out about the Bellagio and we report on a masterclass from Viktor Blom. We're back to glamorous hot shots today too...
The Daily Rewind is your one-stop-shop for a sharp review of the day in poker. Join us here for a mix of the latest news and a more irreverent insight into the poker world. Today we discovered the following topics for you:
Kaplan offers winnings back
Poker commentator, player and all round funny man Gabe Kaplan has allegedly offered back half of the winnings he made in the infamous Hollywood poker games featuring Tobey Maguire and notorious Ponzi scheme felon Bradley Ruderman.
Gossip site TMZ reports that "according to court documents filed last week -- Kaplan won a total of $62,000 from Ruderman ... but as part of a settlement he's agreeing to return $27,900 to the trustee".
Spiderman star Tobey Maguire is said to be "fighting the lawsuit against him and has refused to hand over any of his winnings".
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| Kaplan says he'll take half |
Full Tilt facing more legal troubles
EGR today report that Full Tilt's legal woes just took another turn for the worse, as a "new class action lawsuit has been brought against Full Tilt Poker, more than one month after four poker players brought a similar suit against the suspended operator".
The case has been put forward by two Canadian poker players, Zayn Jetha and Donald Whelan. Unlike FTP's lawsuit, this case names just three individuals, namely Ray Bitar, Nelson Burtnick and Howard Lederer.
The report states that "a summons was issued to the individuals and companies concerned on 9 August".
Gobboboy marks his words
Well known poker pro Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke has recently issued a damning criticism of the poker room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
On his Twitter account, Fricke remarked that "every single ace of spades is marked at Bellagio and no one gives a shit at all. I've pointed it out in 10ks and big cash and no one cares".
The man best known for his runner up spot in the 2007 Aussie Millions claims the cards are "all warped because of the way they're stored" and even professes to taking advantage of the situation himself. Fricke admits entering "into a pot where I know my opponent has the As after I've told the table they're all marked. I feel like a cheater".
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| Gobboboy makes a good read at Bellagio |
PKR celebrates 5th birthday
This week popular poker site PKR celebrated its fifth birthday. A post on the PKR site reflected that in that time PKR has "welcomed more than 4 million of you to our tables, from 238 countries across the globe. You've played nearly 2 billion hands and won tens of millions of dollars in tournament prize money".
Interestingly PKR report that on the first day that the site opened on the 17th August, 2006, just $2,591.48 was bet in total during the course of the day. How things have changed, seeing as a whopping $2,244,605.25 was bet on the 17th August 2011,!
High stakes corner – Blom on the rampage
One noticeable absentee from this week's carnage at the high stakes PLO tables has been Viktor "Isildur1" Blom. That was until he burst to life yesterday in the usual cavalier, explosive manner which we've come to expect of him.
Yesterday we reported that he was in the midst of a match with Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies. The two Nordic warriors had agreed to play stakes of $50/$100 PLO with a mandatory 3bet, meaning that the blinds were effectively $300/$900 every hand.
As expected, a bloodbath followed, and it was Sahamies who was left licking his wounds after a short match, after Blom battered him for over $130,000.
Amazingly Blom had stayed away from the $100/$200 and $200/$400 games, and put on a masterclass within a 24 hour period at $50/$100 and $25/$50 PLO, winning $137,000 from Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky and $115,000 from Rui "PepperoniF" Cao.
To sum things up, Viktor Blom is back, having decimated the PokerStars PLO tables yesterday for $382,000. The railbirds must be licking their lips at the action which will ensue…
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| Blom is back for now |
Hot shot of the day
Today's hot shot features none other than American heiress and media icon Paris Hilton. Ms Hilton isn't exactly known for her intellectual capacity; couple this with her glamorous looks and here's one woman everyone would want at their poker table!
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| Paris at the table | Paris off the table |
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| Paris on a table | |
