Daily Rewind - Tzvetkoff to Testify, Negreanu vs. 2+2 & MTT Success with Selbst
In today's Daily Rewind we see why Daniel Tzvetkoff could help sentence the Black Friday indicted, get gossip on Daniel Negreanu's spat with 2+2 and some tips for success from Vanessa Selbst.
Tzvetkoff to Testify Against Online Poker
Poker supergrass Daniel Tzvetkoff, the man arrested in April 2010 for his role in processing over $1 billion in online poker transactions, is set to testify in the Chad Elie and John Campos trial next month.
Tzvetkoff was the head of Intabill, which allegedly supplied payment processing facilities to a number of online poker sites. Having been arrested and threatened with a 75-year prison sentence, Tzvetkoff cut a deal with the DOJ in order to preserve some of his liberties.
Since then, he has kept a low profile but it is believed that he has supplied the US authorities with over 90,000 documents that highlight the financial dealings of various poker sites.
The trial is scheduled for April 9th and will form a significant landmark in the Black Friday process. Indeed, Tzvetkoff’s evidence could be a huge influence on the outcome of this trial and any future legal procedures.
2+2 = 1 Disgruntled Negreanu
A vlog, a forum thread and a Twitter argument have been keeping Daniel Negreanu busy over the last two days. Never one to shy away from a confrontation, Daniel’s hackles were raised after a thread he created about the iSeriesLIVE was removed.
A subsequent thread was created by another poster, which prompted Daniel to continue enlightening the community about the project – something he has an intimate knowledge of.
That thread was also removed and set the wheels in motion towards a temporary ban for Daniel. The final straw came after he posted a link to his vlog in the dedicated thread on 2+2. The seemingly innocent post caused the mods' ban sticks to wield their power against Negreanu.
Feeling battered and bruised, Daniel took to Twitter to air his views and question a well known mod, “Kevmath”, about the incident.
A less than positive reception seemed to incense Daniel, prompting him to write a blog outlining exactly what happened. In addition to clarifying the situation he decided to throw in some parting thoughts about 2+2 and its owner, Mason Malmoth:
“2+2 has taken a North Korean like approach to it by censoring what posters are allowed to discuss on the forum.
Clearly, and I mean CLEARLY they are completely out of touch with how social media works today, as well as the current poker landscape.
Mason is also pretty much a nutcase lol.”
iPoker Tournament Cuts
For anyone wanting some extra tournament value in April, the iPoker Network is the place for you. A series of cut-price tournament will run for one week between April 1st and April 7th.
To see exactly which tournaments will be reduced check out our preview.
Vanessa Selbst: Select for Success
With a plethora of poker tournaments taking place across the world almost every week of the month, it can often be tricky deciding which one to play. Indeed, for any tournament grinder, their tournament selection process can make or break them.
For Vanessa Selbst, success is down to desire. When asked by PokerStars Women how she plans her tournament schedule, she replied: “whatever I'm in the mood to play and makes sense geographically.”
Indeed, while it makes sense to play in the tournament you’re most comfortable with, the age old strategy chestnut: bankroll management, is also important – even to someone as successful as Vanessa.
“I'm basically a bankroll nit, and I don't love variance. The key to a successful career is about finding the best value whenever I can.”
For anyone wanting an insight into how a tournament beast like Selbst approaches the game, this blog is worth a read.
High Stakes Corner
Rumours of a revolt at the Aria’s high limit mixed game hit the forums recently with one of its regulars expressing his discontent with the poker room. Mike “RealCrazyMike” Thorpe told his Twitter followers:
“For everyone that plans on playing mix games in Las Vegas... We are no longer playing at Aria... Come join us every day at @BellagioPoker.”
The reason for the move has been blamed on Aria politics. According to Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, the Aria has forced the $300/$600 game into the high stakes area which is also filled with $125 tournaments and $10/$20 NLHE games.
A lack of space and privacy has therefore irritated the players and caused them to transfer their game to the Bellagio.
Daily Signoff
Her tournament selection may be based on playing when she feels like it, but part of Vanessa's success is her unrelenting aggression at the felt.
In this hand she may have mistimed a 5-bet bluff, but you can't fault her for trying. Indeed, while things didn't go quite the way she wanted, at least she made a new friend after the hand.
