Byran’s email included documents indicating a forthcoming change in the current Australian gaming legislation, the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. The documents included a new draft of this legislation. Recently, a Victorian regulatory review was quoted as saying that the current ban on in-play betting served “no useful purpose” due to the fact that it can already be done by phone.

This is a classic case of legislation needing to catch up with technology. Up until this point, the Australian government has so far taken up a “wait and see” approach to the issue of online gambling. They’ve been able to observe the effects of legalized poker legislation (such as that of France) as well as the anti-gambling legislation of the United States.

With any luck, the outcomes of the various case studies should prove to be very useful to Australian authorities. While the French opted to regulate online poker in their country, their legislation has resulted in high taxes as well as small and monopolized online poker sites. This is due to the legal requirement that French players are only allowed to play against other French players.

Australian brick and mortar poker games have some of the highest rakes in the world. This makes it likely that Australian players will not catch a break when it comes to the amount of rake they will need to pay in order to keep playing online.

Medium Buy in Main Event Recap

The medium buy in tournament ended up more than doubling the $1.5 million guaranteed prize amount when 3,567 players each put up $1,050 to contest the first place prize of over half a million dollars.

The final table began with ministerborg holding the lead. He held 12.9 million chips, while the next highest stack was hunwei with 10.8 million:

Seat 1: scrooch025 (5374699 in chips)
Seat 2: ministerborg (12915172 in chips)
Seat 3: hunwei (10798611 in chips)
Seat 4: PSÄ! (4699534 in chips)
Seat 5: dknight10 (4307429 in chips)
Seat 6: Korn2005 (3558888 in chips)
Seat 7: carrycakes (4699546 in chips)
Seat 8: suarez_BG (4282408 in chips)
Seat 9: IRLMedic (2868713 in chips)

The third place finisher ended up being hunwei, when his QQ in the hole couldn’t out race the Ace-King of ministerborg:

PokerStars Hand #80814918182: Tournament #2012050402, $1000+$50 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XLV (150000/300000) – 2012/05/21 19:51:50 ET
Table ’2012050402 32′ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: ministerborg (22994950 in chips)
Seat 3: hunwei (16784134 in chips)
Seat 8: suarez_BG (13725916 in chips)
ministerborg: posts the ante 37500
hunwei: posts the ante 37500
suarez_BG: posts the ante 37500
hunwei: posts small blind 150000
suarez_BG: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
ministerborg: raises 300000 to 600000
hunwei: raises 900000 to 1500000
suarez_BG: folds
ministerborg: raises 1645400 to 3145400
hunwei: raises 2554600 to 5700000
ministerborg: raises 17257450 to 22957450 and is all-in
hunwei: calls 11046634 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (6210816) returned to ministerborg
*** FLOP *** [4d 3s Ah]
*** TURN *** [4d 3s Ah] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [4d 3s Ah Jd] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hunwei: shows [Qd Qh] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
ministerborg: shows [Ad Kc] (three of a kind, Aces)
ministerborg collected 33905768 from pot
hunwei finished the tournament in 3rd place and received $296061.00.

Heads up play for the SCOOP Main Event Champion title began with ministerborg holding a 3-1 chip lead against suarez_BG. Small pots were traded back and forth, with mnisterborg winning the majority of the smaller pots, and suarez_BG a number of the larger ones.

The first all in and call since heads up started ended up with suarez_BG doubling up with Ace-Ten offsuit against the Ace-Seven offsuit of ministerborg. With that 34.2 million chip pot win, suarez_BG took a solid lead with 34.2 million in chips against ministerborg’s 19.3 million.

Ministerborg was quick to strike back, getting all in with pocket tens against suarez_BG’s Ace-King. His tens lead the whole way as the board ran out T-A-K-9-Q.

Once again it was ministerborg winning the majority of pots, mostly the smaller ones. Suarez_BG won a few large pots in a row, and suddenly the chipstacks were even at approximately 27 million chips each. Suarez_BG then went on a tear, winning pot after pot, both large and medium sized ones. On the final hand where suarez_BG held a chip advantage of 41.6M to 11.8M, he raised all in with pocket fives and was called by ministerborg’s unsuited Ace-Queen. The board failed to pair ministerborg and suarez_BG ended up the champion. He won just over $560,000 for his win, while ministerborg won $417,339 for his efforts.

Results: SCOOP 2012 Main Event – Medium buy in $1,050, $1.5 Million guaranteed
Entrants: 3,567 Prize Pool: $3,567,000

1. suarez_BG (Bulgaria) $560,019
2. ministerborg (Denmark) $417,339
3. hunwei (Australia) $296,061
4. PSÄ! (Malta) $205,102
5. carrycakes (Mexico) $152,703
6. scrooch025 (Belgium) $115,927
7. dknight10 (Costa Rica) $80,257
8. Korn2005 (Canada) $44,587
9. IRLMedic (Ireland) $28,536

High Roller Main Event Recap

The high stakes SCOOP 2012 Main Event tournament featured a staggeringly high buy in of $10,300. 517 players showed up, good enough double the $2.5M guaranteed prize pool. A number of PokerStars pros participated in this event, including: Ivan Demidov, Humberto Brenes, ElkY, Isildur1, johnduhamel, nanonoko and aakkari. The best PokerStars pro finisher was aakkari of Brazil, with a 16th place $41,360 prize finish.

Three handed with fairly even stacks, action was paused while players discussed a deal. GripDsNutz on the short stack (2.16M) was only interested in an even chop. Before PokerStars support stepped in all three players had tentatively agreed to this. But shortly after they responded, the chip leader, sp00led, at 3.19M chips said “backer said no. we have to work a better deal”.

Sp00led offered an even chop, plus playing for $80,000 as the Championship prize rather than the minimum $50,000. Still, GripDsNutz held firm on getting an even chop for the maximum amount, despite holding the shortest stack and 50% less chips than the current chip leader. Eventually they settled on $718,675 each, and paying $80k for the winner of the tournament.

It was sosickPL who ended up being the first to get knocked out after the deal, when his pocket eights fell to the nines of GripDsNutz.
Now heads up, sp00led jokingly asked to chop the $80k first prize, as he was out chipped nearly 4 to 1.

The heads up battle was a good demonstration of skilled, aggressive play. Chips flew back and forth with neither player wanting to give up an edge to the other. Sp00led clawed his way back into it, nearly evening up the chip counts at 3.3 million to GripDsNutz’ 4.46 million.

Sp00led took the chip lead the first time during heads up with a great hero call against the relentless three barrel bluffs by GripDsNutz:

PokerStars Hand #80819810737: Tournament #2012050403, $10000+$300 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XXXV (20000/40000) – 2012/05/21 22:46:41 ET
Table ’2012050403 37′ 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 8: sp00led (3208217 in chips)
Seat 9: GripDsNutz (4546783 in chips)
sp00led: posts the ante 5000
GripDsNutz: posts the ante 5000
GripDsNutz: posts small blind 20000
sp00led: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
GripDsNutz: raises 40000 to 80000
sp00led: calls 40000
*** FLOP *** [Kh Kc 6c]
sp00led: checks
GripDsNutz: bets 74645
sp00led: calls 74645
*** TURN *** [Kh Kc 6c] [7s]
sp00led: checks
GripDsNutz: bets 198465
sp00led: calls 198465
*** RIVER *** [Kh Kc 6c 7s] [5s]
sp00led: checks
GripDsNutz: bets 435345
sp00led: calls 435345
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GripDsNutz: shows [9d Qh] (a pair of Kings)
sp00led: shows [3s 6s] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
sp00led collected 1586910 from pot

In the end, it was GripDsNutz who claimed the PokerStars SCOOP 2012 Main Event High Roller Championship title. Pocket sixes will surely be his new favorite hand as they propelled him to winning nearly $800,000 in the tournament!

Results: SCOOP 2012 Main Event – High Roller buy in $10,300, $2.5 Million guaranteed
Entrants: 517 Prize Pool: $5,170,000
* denotes deal altered payout

1. GripDsNutz (Costa Rica) $798,675*
2. sp00led (Canada) $718,675*
3. sosickPL (Poland) $718,675*
4. UrMySponsor (Germany) $403,260
5. wizowizo (Germany) $284,350
6. hotmark777 (Lebanon) $219,725
7. r4st4f4ri (Germany) $168,025
8. römpsä (Finland) $116,325
9. B4d3m3!st3r (Germany) $85,822

Low Buy-in Main Event Recap

In the low buy in event, the final table began with a near tie for the chip lead. Flowstone80’s 55.2 million chip stack was just barely ahead of FrandsenDK’s 54.5 million:

Seat 1: jonath3501 (18550347 in chips)
Seat 2: flowstone80 (55184415 in chips)
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (54458130 in chips)
Seat 4: luznypapa (32000000 in chips)
Seat 5: slavOuchka (36206155 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (43352424 in chips)
Seat 7: T_Dot_D (37939308 in chips)
Seat 8: MrWeesy (10663332 in chips)
Seat 9: Fiskin1 (43565889 in chips)

The first final table casualty was MrWeesy, after his Ace-three fell to the pocket jacks of T_Dot_D:

PokerStars Hand #80809650237: Tournament #2012050401, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level LIII (800000/1600000) – 2012/05/21 17:52:42 ET
Table ’2012050401 936′ 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: jonath3501 (18054392 in chips)
Seat 2: flowstone80 (46283583 in chips)
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (47033130 in chips)
Seat 4: luznypapa (27400000 in chips)
Seat 5: slavOuchka (20606155 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (86810379 in chips)
Seat 7: T_Dot_D (32014808 in chips)
Seat 8: MrWeesy (17576664 in chips)
Seat 9: Fiskin1 (36140889 in chips)
T_Dot_D: posts small blind 800000
MrWeesy: posts big blind 1600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fiskin1: folds
jonath3501: folds
flowstone80: folds
FrandsenDK: folds
luznypapa: folds
slavOuchka: folds
john_tri80: folds
T_Dot_D: raises 1615000 to 3215000
MrWeesy: raises 14161664 to 17376664 and is all-in
T_Dot_D: calls 14161664
*** FLOP *** [Ts 7c 2c]
*** TURN *** [Ts 7c 2c] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 7c 2c 5s] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
T_Dot_D: shows [Jd Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
MrWeesy: shows [Ad 3s] (a pair of Fives)
T_Dot_D collected 36553328 from pot
MrWeesy finished the tournament in 9th place and received $13276.80.

The next elimination happened shortly thereafter, when john_tri80′s unimproved Ace-King was good enough to beat slavOuchka’s Ten-Nine offsuit:

PokerStars Hand #80810857154: Tournament #2012050401, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level LIV (1000000/2000000) – 2012/05/21 18:16:58 ET
Table ’2012050401 936′ 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: jonath3501 (9504392 in chips)
Seat 2: flowstone80 (32933583 in chips)
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (41783135 in chips)
Seat 4: luznypapa (23850000 in chips)
Seat 5: slavOuchka (29622821 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (91993713 in chips)
Seat 7: T_Dot_D (81241467 in chips)
Seat 9: Fiskin1 (20990889 in chips)
slavOuchka: posts small blind 1000000
john_tri80: posts big blind 2000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
T_Dot_D: folds
Fiskin1: folds
jonath3501: folds
flowstone80: folds
FrandsenDK: folds
luznypapa: folds
slavOuchka: raises 27372821 to 29372821 and is all-in
john_tri80: calls 27372821
*** FLOP *** [4h 8h 5s]
*** TURN *** [4h 8h 5s] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8h 5s 4c] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
slavOuchka: shows [Ts 9h] (a pair of Fours)
john_tri80: shows [Kh Ad] (a pair of Fours – Ace kicker)
john_tri80 collected 60745642 from pot
slavOuchka finished the tournament in 8th place and received $19915.20.

Players continued to drop off and at three handed play talk of a deal between the remaining competitors was brought up.

FrandsenDK on the short stack wanted 150k to make a deal, which was just slightly more than the 148k his stack was worth according to ICM. Fiskin1 the chip leader was set on a chip chop only, which neither other player was interested in.

Shortly after play resumed, Fiskin1 lost a huge pot, and with it, the chip lead:

PokerStars Hand #80812454560: Tournament #2012050401, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level LV (1250000/2500000) – 2012/05/21 18:50:15 ET
Table ’2012050401 936′ 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (77350839 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (93808421 in chips)
Seat 9: Fiskin1 (160760740 in chips)
FrandsenDK: posts the ante 312500
john_tri80: posts the ante 312500
Fiskin1: posts the ante 312500
FrandsenDK: posts small blind 1250000
john_tri80: posts big blind 2500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Fiskin1: raises 2500000 to 5000000
FrandsenDK: raises 7800000 to 12800000
john_tri80: folds
Fiskin1: raises 147648240 to 160448240 and is all-in
FrandsenDK: calls 64238339 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (83409901) returned to Fiskin1
*** FLOP *** [Qh Tc 7d]
*** TURN *** [Qh Tc 7d] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Tc 7d Ac] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrandsenDK: shows [Qs Qc] (three of a kind, Queens)
Fiskin1: shows [4h 4s] (three of a kind, Fours)
FrandsenDK collected 157514178 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***

Fransden, with his newfound chip lead, asked if players now want to chipchop. But neither of the other players replied.

Fiskin1 ended up finishing in 3rd place after his pocket 5’s were edged out by john_tri80’s pocket sevens:

PokerStars Hand #80812517204: Tournament #2012050401, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level LVI (1500000/3000000) – 2012/05/21 18:51:38 ET
Table ’2012050401 936′ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (152826678 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (90995921 in chips)
Seat 9: Fiskin1 (88097401 in chips)
FrandsenDK: posts the ante 375000
john_tri80: posts the ante 375000
Fiskin1: posts the ante 375000
john_tri80: posts small blind 1500000
Fiskin1: posts big blind 3000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
FrandsenDK: raises 3000000 to 6000000
john_tri80: calls 4500000
Fiskin1: raises 81722401 to 87722401 and is all-in
FrandsenDK: folds
john_tri80: calls 81722401
*** FLOP *** [7c Ac Jh]
*** TURN *** [7c Ac Jh] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [7c Ac Jh 9d] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
john_tri80: shows [7s 7h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Fiskin1: shows [5c 5h] (a pair of Fives)
john_tri80 collected 182569802 from pot
Fiskin1 finished the tournament in 3rd place and received $110640.00.
*** SUMMARY ***

Now heads up, a deal was quickly struck. The final hand where the Champion was crowned and given the remaining $30,000 went down shortly afterwards, with john_tri80 making a good hero call on the river with second pair:

PokerStars Hand #80813949645: Tournament #2012050401, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level LVII (2000000/4000000) – 2012/05/21 19:26:34 ET
Table ’2012050401 936′ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: FrandsenDK (125578356 in chips)
Seat 6: john_tri80 (206341644 in chips)
FrandsenDK: posts the ante 500000
john_tri80: posts the ante 500000
FrandsenDK: posts small blind 2000000
john_tri80: posts big blind 4000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
FrandsenDK: calls 2000000
john_tri80: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ad 7s Js]
john_tri80: checks
FrandsenDK: bets 4000000
john_tri80: calls 4000000
*** TURN *** [Ad 7s Js] [2s]
john_tri80: checks
FrandsenDK: bets 9000000
john_tri80: calls 9000000
*** RIVER *** [Ad 7s Js 2s] [3h]
john_tri80: bets 16000000
FrandsenDK: raises 92078356 to 108078356 and is all-in
john_tri80: calls 92078356
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrandsenDK: shows [5d 3d] (a pair of Threes)
john_tri80: shows [8c Jd] (a pair of Jacks)
john_tri80 collected 251156712 from pot
FrandsenDK finished the tournament in 2nd place and received $187000.00.
john_tri80 wins the tournament and receives $198725.75 – congratulations!

Results of SCOOP Main Event – Low buy in $109, $1M guaranteed
Entrants: 22,128 Prize Pool: $2,212,800
* Denotes deal altered payout

1. john_tri80 (Greece) $198,725*
2. Frandsen (Denmark) $187,000*
3. Fiskin1 (UK) $110,640
4. T_Dot_D (Canada) $88,512
5. flowstone80 (Germany) $66,384
6. luznypapa (Poland) $44,256
7. jonath3501 (UK) $31,089
8. slavOuchka (New Zealand) $19,915
9. MrWeesy (Germany) $13,276

Good game all and good luck next year at SCOOP 2013!

The previous records were set by PokerStars’ SCOOP 2010 when 461,936 entrants played for a total of $64,230,010 in prize money. It should be noted that SCOOP 2010 only had 33 different events, compared to this year’s 40 events.

Despite the larger number of events, this new record is impressive since it comes just one year after Black Friday and the forced exit of US players from PokerStars and other online poker sites. It is estimated that PokerStars lost nearly one third of their traffic when the US market was locked out by the US Department of Justice. This new record shows that international online poker is still thriving. Participants in this year’s SCOOP 2012 came from all over the world; over 150 different countries were represented.

Buy ins for SCOOP 2012 ranged from $5.50 to the $10,300 high roller main event. All series long the large guaranteed prize pool amounts were being exceeded with ease. In some tournaments the prize pool ended up being triple or even four times more than the original guaranteed amount.

Day 2 of the Main Event is currently running and in a few hours will reach the final tables of each of the three tournaments. Tune into FTR News later this evening to see the results and recap of the SCOOP 2012 Main Event.

The event featured tournaments at three buy in levels, low, medium and high. The low event was a $13+13+1 buy in, $100k guaranteed drew 15,331 players, smashing the guaranteed amount and yielding a total prize pool of just under $400,000.

The remaining players made a deal during 4 handed play, giving the massive chip leader marroca5 of Columbia the lion’s share of the remaining prize pool. He locked up just shy of $22,000, which was a solid amount more than the original 2nd place prize of $18,934 and surprisingly close to the first prize of $27,297.

However, after the deal was made, the fortune of marroca5 quickly changed and he ended up going out in 3rd place. He still ended up being the big winner of the tournament. The first place finisher, triantafill of Greece ended up with the second most winnings at $18,142.

Event 30 – SuperKnockout Turbo 6 max – Low buy in $27 ($13+13+1) Results
Prizes listed here do not include bounty winnings
* denotes deal altered prizes

1. triantafill (Greece) $18,142*
2. RiAb80 (Germany) $13,208*
3. marroca5 (Columbia) $21,985*
4. hunnia94 (Hungary) $12,824*
5. Oczar (Poland) $3,986
6. skalala (Austria) $2,391

The medium buy in tournament featured a buy in of $215 ($103+$103+$9) and $200K guaranteed. It attracted 3,664 players for a total prize pool of over $754,000. Play lasted less than 4 and a half hours, with player “neto gol” of Brazil taking down the SCOOP championship title and $48,497 in winnings.

Event 30 – SuperKnockout Turbo 6 max – Med buy in $215 ($103+103+9) Results
Prizes listed here do not include bounty winnings

1. neto gol (Brazil) $58,497
2. Runninggreat (Canada) $42,645
3. C. Darwin2 (Sweden) $31,323
4. c0mte (Findland) $20,001
5. EaX40 (United Kingdom) $12,106
6. carlitos350 $6,604

The high $2,100 buy in, $400K guaranteed event had 661 runners, including 18 Team PokerStars Pros. Some of the more well-known pros in attendance were Isildur1 (finished 544th), ElkY (finished 426th) and johnnylodden (finished 384th). Only two PokerStars pros ended up finishing in the money, Randy “nanonoko” Lew placed 47th for $2,710 and George Danzer who finished 60th for $2,303.

These high stakes players understood the important of such a large bounty on their strategy for the tournament. With a full half of the prize pool allocated to knocking out other players, there was a huge amount of gambling going on very early. Players were all trying to build the largest stack at their table, enabling them to go after the lucrative bounties. Multi-way all ins were common and players dropped like flies early on.

As the final table neared, players tightened up as this meant there was less relative value in going after the large bounties compared to the value of finishing highly. First prize was $128,729, the equivalent of more than 125 of the $1,025 player bounties.

At 4 handed play the stacks were quite even, and a deal was reached among the remaining players. Bleu329 of Thailand eventually went on to win the SCOOP 2012 Champion title and $93,438 plus his bounty prizes.

Event 30 – SuperKnockout Turbo 6 max – High buy in $2,100 ($1,025+$1,025+$50) Results
Prizes listed here do not include bounty winnings
* denotes deal altered prizes

1. bleu329 (Thailand) $93,438*
2. pmahoney22 (Mexico) $85,917*
3. FU_15 (Honduras) $85,615*
4. Gonalez259 (Germany) $75,584*
5. OBVAMENTS (Mexico) $33,876
6. G1a1u1s1s (Brazil) $21,071

It has been reported that Pokerstars is facing a €200 million tax bill, while bwin.party owes €60m and Sportingbet/Miapuesta owes €50m. Other sites with a smaller Spanish player base will owe smaller amounts in back taxes, should they choose to receive an online license to be able to continue allowing Spanish players.

The potential licensees are of course outraged by this demand, especially since Spain had no legislation whatsoever regarding online poker until February 2011. The original legislation permitted current operators to continue in Spain, before official licenses were to be issued, as long as they paid taxes beginning in July 2011.

Although Pokerstars would have to pay the most to stay in the Spanish market, they may well pay it in order to retain the lucrative market. Current online poker legislation in Spain includes a stipulation for a segregated player pool, similar to that of France and Italy. For example on Pokerstars, players located in France may only play on Pokerstars.fr against other French players. This legislation could end up giving Pokerstars a near monopoly on the Spanish online poker market. Pokerstars already has the largest Spanish player pool and the other operators may simply drop out of the Spanish market rather than pay 4 years in back taxes.

There is a chance, although very small, that this Spanish market development could open some doors for other networks to move in. Smaller networks, which currently have only a small 4-year tax bill to pay, could be poised to swoop in and offer Spanish players a solid platform on which to play online poker. This is a longshot however, as the Cara de Poker Spanish only iPoker skin just recently closed, moving all of its players over to PokerStars in December of 2011.

In all likelihood, it will be Pokerstars that will soon earn its place as the largest Spanish poker site. Although at this juncture it appears that it will cost them a very significant amount of money to do so.

There aren’t many details available concerning Lock Poker’s departure from the Merge Poker Network. In a press release, Jennifer Larson (Lock Poker’s CEO) commented:

Merge was a great stepping-stone for us, but we have outgrown them. We really need to forge our own path to continued success. The only way to do this is to stay true to our of core philosophy: partnering with our players.

Lock Poker held 40% of the Merge Gaming Network’s traffic and was its largest poker room. By combining with Cake Poker Network’s traffic, it could become 10th or 11th worldwide in terms of player traffic. Cake Poker released its own press release teasing to a major announcement in the near future:

This deal also allows Cake to focus efforts on its current European, South American, and Asian business, with another exciting announcement to soon follow.

Existing Lock Poker players should have a seamless transition to the new Revolution Gaming Network. They will simply need to install a software update on May 31st. Lock Poker will continue to process its own transactions in its cashier. This is good news since their payment processing is extremely fast. Additionally, VIP rewards are said to increase with rakeback players given an increased percentage of their rake paid back into their account.

This news is especially huge for American online poker players. The Revolution Gaming Network will most definitely be a gamechanger. New players should follow its launch and watch for any grand opening promotions. They will surely be trying their best to gain great publicity with a large promotion attracting new players.

Currently, only PokerStars.be, Partouche.be, and Casino777.be are allowed to offer online poker to Belgian citizens. These three received licenses under the Belgian Gambling Act this past February. According to PokerNews, PokerStars managed to get by thanks to a partnership with Circus Groupe, an online casino developer.

For now, controversy abounds on the matter. PartyPoker and iPoker, two major players in the internet gaming industry, have been particularly vocal in their criticism of the Belgian government. Due to unresolved taxation questions within the law itself, they have dubbed the current legislation to be unenforceable.

Several other poker sites have already found their names on the blacklist. Among these are ChiliPoker, TitanPoker, EverestPoker, and 888Poker. As of yet, there has been no word on the possibility of further licensees.

Event 13 Low buy in $20+$5 bounty+$2, $200k gtd

An astounding 17,806 players participated in the smallest buy in tournament of this event. Final table play began with agahlol holding a substantial lead with over 28 million in chips. Sitting in second place was GRneau with nearly 15 million in chips, with the next closest opponent, yvydendyvy, holding 8.5 million chips.

Seat 1: TRootwalla (6294762 in chips)
Seat 2: yvydendyvy (8555853 in chips)
Seat 3: black666 (5416284 in chips)
Seat 4: agahlol (28277914 in chips)
Seat 5: floodgates1 (7039416 in chips)
Seat 6: persii (7914987 in chips)
Seat 7: SwaggaBear (3498832 in chips)
Seat 8: GRneau (14976997 in chips)
Seat 9: 111malik111 (7054955 in chips)

The action was non-stop and just 60 hands later it was heads up with 111malik111 at 46.5 million holding a slight lead over agahlol and his 42.5M.

The first two dozen hands ended mostly preflop, with agahlol taking them down with relentless aggression. 111malik111 then doubled up when his trip kings turned into a rivered boat, to beat agahlol’s turned straight. 111malik111 gained a huge 3.5:1 lead thanks to a lucky river.

Agahlol then took his turn to double up a few hands later, when his A5 held up against 83 suited. The stacks were essentially even again. The action slowed and the players traded small pots back and forth. Neither player wanted to make a mistake now that it was anyone’s game.
The lull in the action didn’t last for very long. The final hand saw numerous raises and both players getting all in on an innocuous flop of 653 with two spades. 111malik111 was in the lead with pocket tens, but agahlol was in great shape, holding J-5 of spades. The turn bricked, but the river was a spade. The winner was agahlol, who took down the SCOOP Champion title along with $41,661. 111malik111’s second place finish earned him $30,270.

Results: Event 13-Low $20+$5 bounty+$2 fee, $200,000 Guaranteed prize pool
17,806 entrants Total Prize pool: $356,120. Total Bounty pool: $89,030 (Prizes listed do not include bounty wins)

1. Agahlol $41,661
2. 111malik111 $30,270
4. GRneau $23,147
5. Persii $16,025
6. SwaggaBear $12,464
6. Yvydendyvy $8,903
7. floodgates1 $6,054
8. black666 $3,205
9. TRootwalla $2,136

Event 13 Medium buy in: $200+50+15, $300k gtd

The Final Table of the medium stakes tournament began with javiklet holding the lead with 4.9 million in chips. The average chip stack was 1.85M. One PokerStars Team Pro made it to the final table, Chirstophe de Meulder “chrisdm”, of Belgium, with a slightly below average 1.7M chips.

Seat 1: trujustrus (1731787 in chips)
Seat 2: harif1988 (1602807 in chips)
Seat 3: soandre (1198177 in chips)
Seat 4: wasylekk (759261 in chips)
Seat 5: javiklet (4930505 in chips)
Seat 6: allucan3at (2049164 in chips)
Seat 7: Mikaroc (1483190 in chips)
Seat 8: chrisdm (1725169 in chips)
Seat 9: BOOOOMMMMMMM (1164940 in chips)

During 5 handed play, chrisdm ended up all in from under the gun in what would turn out to be the biggest pot of the tournament thus far. However, his pocket jacks received no help against the pocket kings of trujustrus. His 5th place exit earned him $28,629. Play was paused briefly while players quickly came to a deal for the remaining funds. With most of the money locked up, the 4th and 3rd place finishers were soon decided.

Heads up play started with Trugustrus and Javiklet in a dead heat. Javiklet had a slight edge with just below 8.4 million chips, vs Trugustrus’ 8.25 million. The SCOOP 2012 Event 13 Champion was decided in just 11 hands after heads up play began. Trujustrus was gaining momentum and chips as he won the majority of the pots leading up to the final hand.

Javiklet, sitting on a 3.4M chip stack, made a minimum raise with A-J from the button. Trujustus continued his aggression, with a large all in from the big blind. Javiklet called and they were off to the races with AJ against Trujustus’ K-Q.

A king on the flop, followed by a second king on the turn put the last nail in Javiklet’s coffin. His second place finish earned him $73,421. Trujustus walks away with the SCOOP Champion title and $82,379.

PokerStars Hand #80295571568: Tournament #2012050132, $200+$50+$15 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XLIII (60000/120000) – 2012/05/11 18:41:39 ET
Table ’2012050132 304′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: trujustrus (12991615 in chips)
Seat 5: javiklet (3653385 in chips)
trujustrus: posts the ante 15000
javiklet: posts the ante 15000
javiklet: posts small blind 60000
trujustrus: posts big blind 120000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
javiklet: raises 120000 to 240000
trujustrus: raises 12736615 to 12976615 and is all-in
javiklet: calls 3398385 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (9338230) returned to trujustrus
*** FLOP *** [Ks 7c 8c]
*** TURN *** [Ks 7c 8c] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 7c 8c Kh] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
trujustrus: shows [Kd Qc] (three of a kind, Kings)
javiklet: shows [Ad Jh] (a pair of Kings)
trujustrus collected 7306770 from pot
trujustrus wins the $50 bounty for eliminating javiklet
javiklet finished the tournament in 2nd place and received $73421.48.
trujustrus wins the tournament and receives $82379.28 – congratulations!

Results: SCOOP Event 13-Med $200+$50 bounty+$15, $300,000 Guaranteed Prize pool
3,329 entrants, Total Prize pool: $665,800. Total Bounty pool: $166,450 (Prizes listed do not include bounty wins)
* denotes a deal altered payout

1. Trugustrus *$82,379
2. Javiklet *$73,421
3. Mikaroc *$58,132
4. Harif1988 *$62,054
5. Chrisdm $28,629
6. BOOOOMMMMMMMM $21,971
7. Allucan3at $15,313
8. Soandre $8,655
9. wasylekk $5,326

Event 13 High buy in: $2,000+$500+$100, $400k gtd

The Final Table bubble of the high buy in tournament lasted quite some time, but eventually it was K_0_S_T_Y_A of Russia whose fate was sealed as “bubble boy”. Final table play began with whereisdonny holding the chip lead at 572k chips. The average chip stack at this point was 278k.

Seat 1: whereisdonny (572460 in chips)
Seat 2: UhhMee (437228 in chips)
Seat 3: JBT449 (458968 in chips)
Seat 4: Fiskin1 (70628 in chips)
Seat 5: ROSTBURK (302314 in chips)
Seat 6: WushuTM (296396 in chips)
Seat 7: Ansgar2000 (115205 in chips)
Seat 8: zugzwang16 (99594 in chips)
Seat 9: Mafews (152207 in chips)

Three handed there was no shortage of action at this high stakes final table. Chips were flying around the table in pair over pair confrontations pre-flop, as well as post-flop such as in the 1.25 million chip pot where ROSTBURK’s flopped trips with K5 on a Q-5-5 two diamond board had to fade two cards against the A-7 of diamonds held by whereisdonny.

PokerStars Hand #80298365164: Tournament #2012050133, $2000+$500+$100 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XXXI (6000/12000) – 2012/05/11 19:45:46 ET
Table ’2012050133 51′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: whereisdonny (1462508 in chips)
Seat 5: ROSTBURK (620498 in chips)
Seat 6: WushuTM (421994 in chips)
whereisdonny: posts the ante 1500
ROSTBURK: posts the ante 1500
WushuTM: posts the ante 1500
WushuTM: posts small blind 6000
whereisdonny: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
ROSTBURK: raises 12000 to 24000
WushuTM: folds
whereisdonny: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [5s Qd 5d]
whereisdonny: checks
ROSTBURK: bets 28500
whereisdonny: raises 41500 to 70000
ROSTBURK: raises 65450 to 135450
whereisdonny: raises 1301558 to 1437008 and is all-in
ROSTBURK: calls 459548 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (842010) returned to whereisdonny
*** TURN *** [5s Qd 5d] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [5s Qd 5d 9c] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
whereisdonny: shows [7d Ad] (a pair of Fives)
ROSTBURK: shows [Kh 5h] (three of a kind, Fives)
ROSTBURK collected 1248496 from pot

Despite all the action, 3 handed play lasted quite some time. Chips seemed to move around and around the table, with the lead changing hands multiple times throughout the course of the shorthanded final table.

Eventually there was another casualty. ROSTBURK raised pocket sixes from the small blind and WushuTM shoved his short stack all in with AK. The board was no help and WushuTM found himself exiting in 3rd place, netting $102,280. With that win, ROSTBURK solidified the chip lead, with 1.7 million in chips to whereisdonny’s 806,000.

It took over 75 hands of heads up poker to determine the eventual winner. ROSTBURK 3bet from the big blind against whereisdonny’s opening raise. Whereisdonny took a little time and then called in position. The flop came A-7-3 rainbow and ROSTBURK lead out for a little under 40% the size of the pot and whereisdonny called. The turn brought an 8, which put two spades on the board. ROSTBURK now checked, then whereisdonny chose to make a small bet, which ROSTBURK called.

The river brought an interesting 6 of spades up, completing possible straights and back door spade draws. ROSTBURK checked once again, to which whereisdonny then made a pot sized bet all in for the rest of his stack. ROSTBURK snap called with the nut flush, the A-5 of spades, while whereisdonny showed a helpless bluff, Q-9 offsuit. ROSTBURK is the winner of the SCOOP 2012 Event #13 high buy in event! He takes home a solid $190,380 and the championship title.

PokerStars Hand #80301401032: Tournament #2012050133, $2000+$500+$100 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XXXIV (10000/20000) – 2012/05/11 21:14:49 ET
Table ’2012050133 51′ 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: whereisdonny (1209330 in chips)
Seat 5: ROSTBURK (1295670 in chips)
whereisdonny: posts the ante 2500
ROSTBURK: posts the ante 2500
whereisdonny: posts small blind 10000
ROSTBURK: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
whereisdonny: raises 21400 to 41400
ROSTBURK: raises 61100 to 102500
whereisdonny: calls 61100
*** FLOP *** [3s Ad 7c]
ROSTBURK: bets 81500
whereisdonny: calls 81500
*** TURN *** [3s Ad 7c] [8s]
ROSTBURK: checks
whereisdonny: bets 142000
ROSTBURK: calls 142000
*** RIVER *** [3s Ad 7c 8s] [6s]
ROSTBURK: checks
whereisdonny: bets 880830 and is all-in
ROSTBURK: calls 880830
*** SHOW DOWN ***
whereisdonny: shows [Qh 9s] (high card Ace)
ROSTBURK: shows [As 5s] (a flush, Ace high)
ROSTBURK collected 2418660 from pot
ROSTBURK wins the $500 bounty for eliminating whereisdonny
whereisdonny finished the tournament in 2nd place and received $140280.00.
ROSTBURK wins the tournament and receives $190380.00 – congratulations!

Results: SCOOP Event 13-High $2000+$500 bounty+$100 fee, $400,000 Guaranteed Prize pool
501 entrants, Total Prize pool: $1,002,000. Total Bounty pool: $250,500 (Prizes listed do not include bounty wins)
* denotes a deal altered payout

1. ROSTBURK $190,380
2. whereisdonny $140,280
3. WushuTM $102,705
4. Ansgar2000 $78,156
5. UhhMee $55,110
6. JBT449 $42,585
7. Mafews $32,565
8. Fiskin1 $22,545
9. zugzwang16 $16,633

As with all SCOOP events, there were three concurrent tournaments played for this event, one at each buyin level. The Low tournament was a $27 buy in ($13+$13 bounty+$1 fee), the Medium tournament was a $215 buy in ($103+$103 bounty+$9 fee) and the High tournament was a $2,100  buy in($1,025+$1,025 bounty+$50 fee).

The guaranteed prize pool amounts for each of the tournaments were easily surpassed. The low buy in had a guaranteed prize pool of $100k, but brought in nearly five times that amount ($488,000) from the 18,757 entrants. The medium buy in had a guarantee of $200k and achieved double that amount ($403k) from the 3,913 entrants, while the high buy in ($400k guaranteed) reached $580k thanks to its 566 participants.

The action was fast and furious, with plenty of gambling early on in attempts to knock out the smaller stacks and earn half of a buy in for each casualty caused. Building a large stack early in a tournament is always a goal, but with the huge size of the bounties, it was even more important in this event.

The Low stakes buy in tournament was the first to reach the final table. Players dropped like flies as the table soon became shorthanded. Delaney_kid ended up finishing in fourth place (good for just shy of $11,000) when his AJ fell the the pocket queens of carnic777. Three handed play began with fairly even chip counts:

Seat 8: carnic777 (36002552 in chips)
Seat 3: SilverSurfR1 (32053867 in chips)
Seat 6: mgog358 (25728581 in chips)

With just 3 players remaining and a $26k first place prize hanging in the balance, players fought hard to build their stacks, none of them wanting to give an inch. In the 8th hand since starting 3 handed play, we witnessed a confrontation between SilverSurfR1 and mgog358, with the pocket 3′s of SilverSurfR1 holding up all in preflop against the A9o of mgog358.

Seat 3: SilverSurfR1 (37903867 in chips)
Seat 6: mgog358 (12478581 in chips)
Seat 8: carnic777 (43402552 in chips)
SilverSurfR1: posts the ante 100000
mgog358: posts the ante 100000
carnic777: posts the ante 100000
mgog358: posts small blind 400000
carnic777: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SilverSurfR1: raises 800000 to 1600000
mgog358: raises 10778581 to 12378581 and is all-in
carnic777: folds
SilverSurfR1: calls 10778581
*** FLOP *** [Jc 4s 8h]
*** TURN *** [Jc 4s 8h] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 4s 8h Ts] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mgog358: shows [9d Ah] (a pair of Jacks)
SilverSurfR1: shows [3d 3c] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)

We began heads up play with SilverSurfeR1 holding a very slight lead over his opponent, carnic777:

Seat 3: SilverSurfR1 (51282448 in chips)
Seat 8: carnic777 (42502552 in chips)

The players traded tiny and small pots back and forth for a dozen hands before a break at the 15th hour of play. During the break we witnessed the following chat:

carnic777: silver wanna split it?
SilverSurfR1: nah
carnic777: im to tired man
SilverSurfR1: sry
SilverSurfR1: gl

Play continued with carnic taking down half a dozen pots in a row, uncontested. SilverSurfeR1, having folded so many hands in a row, then reraised all in and won his first pot since the break. The hand after that we saw fireworks, with SilverSurfeR1 min raising to 2 million chips, carnic777 shoving all in, and SilverSurfeR1 making the call for his tournament life for 21.5M more. SilverSurfeR1 flipped over the preflop nuts, aces, and carnic777′s 66 received no help from the board.

Seat 3: SilverSurfR1 (23582448 in chips)
Seat 8: carnic777 (70202552 in chips)
SilverSurfR1: posts the ante 125000
carnic777: posts the ante 125000
SilverSurfR1: posts small blind 500000
carnic777: posts big blind 1000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SilverSurfR1: raises 1000000 to 2000000
carnic777: raises 68077552 to 70077552 and is all-in
SilverSurfR1: calls 21457448 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (46620104) returned to carnic777
*** FLOP *** [Th 4c 4d]
*** TURN *** [Th 4c 4d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 4c 4d Jh] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
carnic777: shows [6c 6d] (two pair, Sixes and Fours)
SilverSurfR1: shows [As Ah] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
SilverSurfR1 collected 47164896 from pot

With that huge pot, the stacks became dead even, with SilverSurfeR1 holding a tiny lead of 47.2M chips vs his opponent’s 46.6M. SilverSurfeR1 extended his lead with a well timed all in move, to which carnic777 folded.

Seat 3: SilverSurfR1 (50039896 in chips)
Seat 8: carnic777 (43745104 in chips)
SilverSurfR1: posts the ante 125000
carnic777: posts the ante 125000
SilverSurfR1: posts small blind 500000
carnic777: posts big blind 1000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SilverSurfR1: raises 1000000 to 2000000
carnic777: calls 1000000
*** FLOP *** [2s 3s 2d]
carnic777: checks
SilverSurfR1: bets 1600000
carnic777: raises 4400000 to 6000000
SilverSurfR1: calls 4400000
*** TURN *** [2s 3s 2d] [Ad]
carnic777: checks
SilverSurfR1: bets 7000000
carnic777: calls 7000000
*** RIVER *** [2s 3s 2d Ad] [Jh]
carnic777: checks
SilverSurfR1: bets 34914896 and is all-in
carnic777: folds
Uncalled bet (34914896) returned to SilverSurfR1
SilverSurfR1 collected 30250000 from pot
SilverSurfR1: doesn’t show hand

A few hands later, carnic777 shoved over SilverSurfeR1′s preflop raise with A3 of diamonds. SilverSurfeR1 made the call with AJo. The flop was an excellent one for carnic777, bringing a pair on the board along with two diamonds. He had a good chance to hit his flush or for a split pot, but the turn and river both bricked out. We had our first Event #8 winner, SilverSurfeR1 of Sweden with a win of $26,312, plus his bounty winnings.

PokerStars SCOOP Event #8-Low $100k Guaranteed (does not include bounty winnings)

1. SilverSurfeR1 $26,312
2. carnic777 $20,726
3. mgog358 $15,849
4. delaney_kid $10,972
5. acamrash $8,534
6. bayernconny $6,096
7. Mondayafter $3,657
8. ChrisTheDonk $2,194
9. RastyCZE $1,463

In the medium buy in event, the last two players came to a deal of $55,000 for the chip leader (SenoiPomidor) and $51,435 for blujays888, along with $4,000 and the SCOOP champion title left for the winner.

After a drawn-out battle, blujays888 ended up taking down the tournament when his A2 knocked off SenoiPomidor’s J4 of spades.

PokerStars SCOOP Event #8-Med $200k Guaranteed (does not include bounty winnings)

* deal made

1. blujays888 *$55,435
2. SenoiPomidor *$55,000
3. skrilla602 $33,250
4. Bigstar666 $23,174
5. 00psiedaisy $17,129
6. Cieve $13,098
7. thehempy $9,068
8. Eetu100 $5,037
9. die linken $3,224

Meanwhile, 6 handed in the high buy in tournament, a huge pot was brewing. Mr. Tim Caum and Betudontbet had both been very active at the table, with Betudontbet winning four of the previous five pots. The hand in question began with blinds of 3500/7000 and an ante of 875,  Mr. Tim Caum raised from middle position to 15.6k. Betudontbet continued his aggression with a 3bet to 25,678. The big blind (upstrick77), likely having had enough of the aggression from these two, then cold 4-bet to just over 40k chips. Mr. Tim Caum bowed out, but then Betudontbet made a tiny 5-bet to a total of 70k chips. Upstrick77 made the call.

The flop brought K, 6, 6 rainbow. Upstrick77 checked, Betudontbet bet just under 60k into the already large 164k pot. Upstrick77 made the call. The turn was a 7, completing the rainbow. Both players checked. The river came an interesting Ace. With 284k in the pot, Upstruck77 then shoved all in. Betudontbet snap called the rest of his stack. Upstrick77 showed an unlikely trips with 65 of clubs, but he was bested on the river by the AA which boated up on the river. Betudontbet dragged in the largest pot so far of the tournament, just under 800k, and along with it, the chiplead.

After this it was spirox21 who went on a tear, winning a number of pots without a showdown to regain the chip lead. He then knocked out YrrsiNN in 6th place when his 99 held up against YrrsiNN’s AK. The very next hand spirox21 won yet another large pot, this time on the river when he shoved all in over top of a bet from upstrick77. Spirox21 was sitting comfortably with the lead at just over 1 million in chips a little ways ahead of the player in second place, SirWatts, who had 746k.

Spirox21 then extended his lead a couple hands later when his pocket tens knocked off upstrick77′s A4o after they got all in preflop. Now 4 handed, Spirox21 held a commanding lead of 1.36M chips, nearly half of the total chips in play.

Seat 2: Betudontbet (563097 in chips)
Seat 4: SirWatts (744439 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr. Tim Caum (165699 in chips)
Seat 9: spirox21 (1356765 in chips)

On the hand just before the 16th hour break, play was 4 handed with blinds of 4k/8k and a 1k ante. Mr. Tim Caum was on the short stack with 167k and he brought it in under the gun for 16.8k. SirWatts re-raised, and Mr. Tim Caum called all in for the rest of his chips. SirWatts was in a dominating position with KQ vs Mr. Tim Caum’s KJ, and his hand held up after the board ran out 8T882. Mr. Tim Caum finished in 4th place for $45,251. Spirox21 still held the lead with nearly 1.27 million in chips, vs SirWatts’ 875k and Betudontbet’s 687k.

Betudontbet was the next casualty when his AK couldn’t outrace the pocket tens of SirWatts. Betudontbet finished 3rd and received $59,465, plus his accumulated bounties, for his efforts. Going into heads up the chipcount was virtually even.

Seat 4: SirWatts (1506935 in chips)
Seat 9: spirox21 (1323065 in chips)

spirox21 slowly accumulated more chips and had a good lead over SirWatts. Then in a huge 2.3 million chip pot, SirWatts got all in with AQ against spirox21′s QJ on a QJ88 board. He hit a miracle ace on the river to double up and take a commanding lead.

Not long after, SirWatts went for the knockout blow, but his AQ fell to spirox21′s pocket sixes, giving spirox21 a much needed double up. SirWatts’ lead still remained, with him holding about twice as many chips as his opponent.

After a very long heads up battle spirox21 of Isreal emerged the victor, taking down the first place prize of $110,228 and SCOOP Champion title! SirWatts’s second place finish earned him $81,221.

PokerStars SCOOP Event #8-High $400k Guaranteed (does not include bounty winnings)

1. spirox21 $110,228
2. SirWatts $81,221
3. Betudontbet $59,465
4. Mr. Tim Caum $45,251
5. upstrick77 $31,908
6. YrrsiNN $24,656
7. rogI_MS $18,854
8. Big Huni $13,053
9. sh4rk1e $9,630

This partnership is important for both parties, as each brings a significant amount to the table. Bwin.Party is a leader in the online poker industry. They have quality software and have many years of experience in the virtual poker market. The UAIC’s tribal status would allow them to obtain the necessary licenses to operate an online poker operation within the state of California under the currently proposed legislation. Their agreement is for a 10-year term, beginning on the date that they launch their online poker operation.

The currently proposed California online poker bill (SB 1463) was introduced in February, and is still waiting for its first committee hearing. There has already been some controversy over this bill, mainly by the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN). They are “strongly opposed” to the bill because they fear it will negatively affect the “unique government-to-government relationship between the State and California’s tribal governments”. By this they mean that they worry that the exclusive provisions for the running of poker games in brick and mortar casinos by tribes in California may not carry over into the online arena. Under the wording of SB 1463, online licenses would not be limited to only those groups who are already authorized to offer poker games in their brick and mortar establishments.

Even if bill SB 1463 does pass, there will be no immediate online poker for Californians, due to current federal law. However, the approval of SB 1463 could encourage changes in federal law. At the very least, it would prepare the state for online poker by already having licensing laws in place if and when federal law is changed.

It is estimated by proponents that legalized online poker could generate $200 million or more per year in revenues for the state of California. The proposed tax rate under SB 1463 is 10% of the gross gaming revenue. With the recent monetary troubles of the California government, it is expected that they will approve some form of online poker in the near future.