Daily Rewind: Online Poker In Nevada, NFL Referee, Phelps Plays Poker In London

Today in the Daily Rewind, you can find out about a big step forward for online poker in Nevada, learn about a rollercoaster day for Ilaris Sahamies, and see a video from Polish PokerStars Team Online Pro DaWarsaw.

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:

Real money poker in Nevada getting closer

Online poker in Nevada took a huge step forward yesterday, as South Point Casino received a preliminary approval to offer real-money online poker. They will be seeking a final license approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission on August 23.

If the company receives the license, it will complete an inspection of the technology before it can begin operating. They already operate a free play online poker room, but are expected to be using new software for the real-money site.

South Point Casino in Las Vegas

NFL Ref in hot water over playing poker

Shannon Eastin

Poker has once again been painted in a negative light on the other side of the Atlantic, as an NFL official has come under fire for playing poker. NBC Sports has reported that Shannon Eastin, who is set to become the first female official to work in an NFL game, played in the WSOP in 2007.

The league is currently involved in a law suit to prevent gambling on NFL games, and they are in strict opposition to gambling. Officials are prohibited from entering a casino during the NFL season or associating with gamblers. Their policy states:

“Gambling is an unacceptable activity for Game Officials in the National Football League. Such activity constitutes conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public trust in, the NFL.  Because it is the responsibility of the Game Officials to ensure the fairness of NFL play, including the complete confidence of the fans in the legitimacy of the game, it is critical that NFL Game Officials maintain the appearance of the highest ethical conduct.”

As Shannon Eastin has only just been employed by the NFL, and she played the WSOP in 2007, it is not yet known whether this will merit action from the NFL, or if this is just speculation from the US sports media. 

Michael Phelps visits poker club in London

Luckily for Olympic legend Michael Phelps, now he has officially retired from swimming he is not likely to come under the same sort of pressure as Shannon Eastin. The 18-time gold medalist let his hair down this week at the Fox Poker Club in London, which is just a few tube stops away from all the Olympic action.

It is well known that Phelps is a keen poker player, and good friends with a lot of the big American players like Phil Hellmuth. Joining him at the Fox Club this week were Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak.

Now that Mr Phelps has got a lot of free time on his hands, how long before we see him getting signed up by a major poker room? 

18 gold medals and now a dealer button

High stakes corner

Move over Isildur1, somebody else wants to take your title of swingiest nosebleed player. Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies has had a rollercoaster 24 hour period, which saw him win $500k, only to lose almost all of it, in quick succession.

The action has really heated up at the $200/$400 PLO tables recently and on Tuesday Sahamies went on a real heater to win nearly $520,000. By the end of the day, however, he managed to drop almost $420,000 in a really short space of time.

The Fin ended the day with a profit of $100,000, but had he managed to keep onto his earlier winnings, he would have almost got out of the -$582,359 downswing he is experiencing in 2012.

Ilaris FIN on a rollercoaster

Daily Signoff

The latest in the short documentary series of PokerStars Team Online players has just been released, this time focussing on Grzegorz "DaWarsaw" Mikielewicz: