The Daily Rewind: Las Vegas Wheel, Barry G Video, Blom Rollercoaster, US News

Today we discover news about Las Vegas's latest development. There's an update from Barry Greenstein and a recap of positive US news. We take a closer look at an epic heads up PLO match and meet today's sexy hot shot.

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:

Caesars big wheel keeps on turning

The Las Vegas skyline is set to be altered dramatically after Caesars Entertainment released news that they are to start digging to lay foundations for a huge ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Mydesert reports that the "High Roller" wheel will be taller than the 443 ft London Eye and should provide a great "boost as the tourist destination continues to try to recover from the recession".

Caesars will be incorporating the giant wheel into a quarter mile long $550 million open air entertainment area called the Linq, which will hold a number of bars, shops, restaurants and nightclubs.

CEO of Caesars Gary Loveman claims "it would be the centerpiece of a trip for a lot of people" and David Schwartz who is Director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV concludes that the whole project shows "confidence that people are going to continue coming to Vegas".

Artist's impression of the Vegas Eye

Barry G update

High stakes pro Barry Greenstein has had an interesting month and was the talk of Twitter recently when he announced that his car had been stolen, cleaned and then returned to him! The always amicable Barry caught up with Pokertube in an interesting interview where he discusses his car saga as well as thoughts on US regulation, the live scene and much more.

Swings and roundabouts

We've been reporting this week about an immense rush from Viktor "Isildur1" Blom. The fearless Swede had been battering every player in his sight and had been on a monumental upswing.

That was until last night and the early hours of this morning when he encountered Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond. Blom just put in one of the most outrageous sessions of poker we've seen in a long time; starting at 9am yesterday, he had won close to $500k by lunchtime, having dismantled the likes of Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser and "socutiesf" at the PokerStars $100/$200 PLO tables.

Over the next 20 hours, Blom embarked on an insane heads-up battle with Galfond. This morning, the stats on HighstakesDB said it all: For the last 24 hours, Isildur1 was nearly down $100,000. Galfond on the other hand, was up over $460,000. You can see quite how spectacular last night was on the high stakes Richter scale by their respective graphs!

Viktor Blom's insane graph

Phil Galfond's steady climb

Positive noises coming from US over online gaming

During the past week there have been optimistic reports speculating over the state of egaming legislation in the US; on Wednesday the New York Post revealed that "a bill aimed at legalizing Internet casino gaming could find its way before Congress by the end of the year" and a source close to Washington has claimed that "there is becoming a feeling in Congress that this is something that needs to be regulated and be done".

There was more positive news from the New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak, who claims that "online gaming could offer a bridge to self-sufficiency for New Jersey's horse racing industry" and a new legislation will be formally introduced on Thursday 25th August.

Whether the United States will be a regulated online gaming space before the end of the year is anyone's guess, but these signs are at the least encouraging.

Hot shot of the day

Today's hot shot features one of Holland's hottest sports stars. Fatima Moreira de Melo is renowned for her Dutch hockey glory, notably winning Olympic gold back in 2008. She's now a member of PokerStars Sportstars team and can be found playng at PokerStars as well as at various EPTs events. 

De Melo - Good with balls, cards and snakes