Currently on the agenda is agreeing to a €130 billion ($172 billion) bailout for Greece before it potentially defaults on its €14.5 billion debt repayment due in March.

In return for the deal which would also see Greece’s creditors wipe out around 70% of the debt, the EU are expecting Greece to find another €325 billion in budget cuts. However, Greece is currently buckling under other austerity measures already agreed, such as increasing taxes, cutting 15,000 public-sector jobs and reducing the minimum wage by 20% to €600 per month.

The latest wrangling over further measures now threatens to derail the whole negotiations, with Unions threatening strikes and the 20% unemployed staging demonstrations.

Nowever, many Greeks believe a default may not be the worse option or that the EU wouldn’t allow Greece to fail, with Greek leader of the far-right LAOS party George Karatzaferis now refusing to support his own government and agree the bailout deal.

Using a poker analogy, Karatzaferis said: “Greece can’t go bankrupt… If Greece falls, it will drag many countries with it, in the end even the whole of Europe… Ms. Merkel has a pair of fives and pretends she has four aces.”

That view, however, wasn’t shared by German financial daily Handelsblatt, which wrote:

“During the poker game with their creditors, the Greeks have been acting as if they had a joker up their sleeve. That joker was the threat of declaring bankruptcy and triggering a panicked chain reaction among investors. … But that isn’t a trump card. The main victims of a disorderly bankruptcy would be the Greeks themselves.”

Back in November, 2011, The Economist also wrote an interesting piece entitled “The debt crisis: Playing poker with the Greeks.” In that article it was argued that despite Greece’s GDP representing only 2% of the EU total, the real danger of a default is the chaos that would ensue after investors sought to invest mostly in Germany rather than risky PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain).

As the Economist wrote: “But it’s also a game of poker; an attempt to convince the Greeks that the EU has all the cards, while the Greeks have just a pair of deuces…For all the bluster, one can’t help feeling the tough EU stance is a bit of a bluff. They can’t view a Greek exit with anything other than fear.”

Whatever the situation may be, unless an agreement is struck and agreed in Parliament soon, the next major Greek poker title making the headlines might be something like ”Greece Goes Bust As Bubble Bursts.”

At that time, DiVita had just qualified for a $20,000 EPL Main Event seat via an 8th place finish at a $1,500 satellite EPL Pro-Am event. However, when it came to taking his $20k seat at the Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, he soon found himself blocked from registering, before then being refunded his initial $1,500 buy-in fee and subsequently being escorted off the premises.

Later, Michael DiVita vowed to reclaim the balance of $18,500 still owed to him and appealed to the Nevada Gambling Control Board, as well as various poker news outlets, in order to receive the money he believed was still owed to him.

At the heart of the EPL controversy which ensued was the fact Michael DiVita has a conviction dating back to 1991 for lewd behavior on a minor. Apparently he even served a prison sentence for the crime, according to gambling911.com, but whilst appearing on a Quadjacks radio podcast Divita claimed to have had a relationship with the girl’s mother and not the minor herself.

In an apparent attempt to make light of the matter, DiVita even offered the following comment on the show; “I did poke her, but not the minor. Oh that was sooo bad.”

In 2008, DiVita was also arrested for lewd behavior on a boy aged 15, but later released  after the boy refused to testify.

However, it appears that the Epic Poker League did, in fact, overstep their mark by banning him from the competition with the The Nevada Gambling Control Board now ordering the Palms Casino Resort to pay Michael DiVita the $18,500 owed to him.

The Palms Casino Resort was held accountable as it was there that the  infraction took place, but with an unconfirmed report by EPL’s alleged owner Pinnacle Entertainment, also indicating they would not try to prevent him entering any future tournaments.

It was perhaps GBT’s frustration with the situation which lead Laurent Tapie to make the following statement to iGamingFrance:

“The poker community, and particularly that of former players of Full Tilt waiting to recover their funds, deserves to know the reality of the behavior of some major figures in poker who say sorry for the situation …who blame the former leaders, but refrain to indicate how much they have borrowed from Full Tilt, and lost, playing on the site.”

Amongst those pros alleged to owe money to the beleaguered poker room are Phil Ivey ($4m), Erick Lindgren ($4m), David Benyamine ($2m), Barry Greenstein ($400k), Layne Flack and Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow ($700k).

Naming the alleged players involved was probably designed to put extra pressure on the pros to come forward and settle their accounts. Following GBT’s announcement, for instance, Barry Greenstein felt compelled to offer an explanation as to the delay in his repayment. Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow is a different case altogether, though, and offered his take on the debt issue via twitter when he wrote:

“For all my fans out there just to let u all know i dont owe full tilt anything why my name is mentioned i dont know.”

That opinion would seem to be in direct contradiction to what GBT’s attorney Behn Dayanim said to news source  PokerUpdate, when he explained:

“Nearly $700K. Mr. Matusow has not responded to our attempts to reach him to discuss the matter.”

Whatever the truth of the matter may be, it would seem to be business as usual for Mike Matusow who is currently playing $400/$800 mixed games at the Palomar Card Club in San Diego, and was $20k up at one stage before breaking for the day with a $2k profit.

In the meantime, the Full Tilt Poker saga is set to carry on unabated.

The action took place at a $0.25/$0.50 6-Max NL table where ‘Poohbah911′ had been dealt pocket aces to the 3d-2d of his opponent ‘ Toptrainer.’

With the other players folding, Poohbah911 on the cutoff opened for $1.50 with Toptrainer making the call from the small blind. The 4d-Ah-Ad flop then saw Toptrainer check with Poohbah911 also checking behind with quad aces, and when the 5d came on the turn making Toptrainer a straight flush, both players decided to check their monsters.

A harmless 6h on the river then compelled Toptrainer to lead out for $1.88, which was re-raised to $5.64, with Toptrainer re-shoving all-in and Poobah911 making the call.

There may have been nothing high stakes about the amounts bet, but it was then big bucks all round for all the players around the table. Taking the lion’s share of the ‘Bad Beat Jackpot’ was Poobah911 who collected $175,232 for the indignity of having his quad aces cracked.

Next, Toptrainer received $116,809 for the winning hand, while the remaining four players at the table took home $14,605 a piece for just being there.

Commenting on the huge win at Americas Cardroom, ACR spokesman Julius Maxwell said:

“We were all celebrating in the office here even though he took us for nearly $200k. The native Californian opened his account less than a week ago turning his $100 deposit into a $175k payday. Talking about a great sign up bonus.”

In an extra stroke of good fortune, one of the players at the table nicely demonstrated repeatedly catching lightning in a bottle after claiming a share of a Bad Beat Jackpot three times in 12 months. Back in December ‘Word Son’ won $37,224 followed by $8,089 the same month, and now another $14,605 in February.

The former member of pop group ‘Take That,’ is estimated to be worth around £100 million, but admitted to having a “self-destructive character” and battling many a personal demon throughout his life, including substance abuse, alcoholism and depression.

Having overcome his addictions, Williams says he still allows himself the odd game of cards with the wife and friends and so, to Robbie, starting his own card room may seem to be a logical progression.

Giving his troubled background, however, the launching of Robbie’s poker site has already received a cool reception from anti-gambling campaigners, most notably Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt, who said:

“Robbie Williams of all people should be sensitive to the problem of addiction. I don’t believe there is anything harmless about gambling in this way. The problem is escalation, and he must know what this is like… It directly targets his fans, including a new generation of children.”

Robbie Williams Poker claims to be the “new home for free fun poker” where players can compete for a whole range of prizes including the chance to win Robbie Williams related merchandise, concert tickets and a chance to meet their idol in person.

However, despite expounding that its “great to play and be social,” it also appears players will have to pay for certain tournaments, with the site stating that:

“Many tournaments require a buy-in to participate…because if you aren’t risking anything then why are you playing!?”

The new site has also drawn similar criticism from Robbie fan forums, who seem to believe it is a strange thing for a recovering addict to endorse. It is further seen as potentially damaging to the singers reputation, with the site appearing to condone gambling in order to encourage fans to get closer to their idol.

As Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt concludes: “I hope he puts every single penny he makes from it into addiction charities or to help victims over this kind of problem. I’m very surprised he is doing this. I think it is awful.”

Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee is a highly successful poker pro with $2,038,562 in winnings from live tournaments, and a further $4,315,008 won online, while poker babe Liv is ranked number 7 on the ‘Women’s All Time Money List’ with $2,136,684 in earnings, and a further $359,752 won online.

The couple have been dating for over a year now, and apparently first caught each others eye in November 2010 while playing at the $5k NAPT Bounty Shootout in Los Angeles. Seated next to one another, Boeree with pocket sevens got into a raising war with MacPhee (A-10) in a hand eventually won by him when he made quad aces.

The next week Boeree and MacPhee were in Barcelona separately with a group of friends, who then bumped into each other and started hanging out. A Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant followed by a night on the town was the beginning of their romance and a few weeks later they travelled to Prague together. Then at Christmas, after a month of dating, MacPhee’s flight back to Idaho was cancelled and so he spent the holidays with Liv and her parents in the UK.

Their romance has continued to blossom ever since and Kevin MacPhee says “my Liv” is also his “best friend,” while Liv, talking about Valentine’s Day, says that “as long as I spend it with him, then I’m happy.”

The couple further mentioned that they are happy to have someone else there who understands you and the game, can support you through its emotional swings, and is part of the same friendship group. Boeree also said they mostly play games against each other for fun these days, and on the felts would prefer not to be seated near one another. As Liv explains:

“Whilst it’s nice to have a friendly (and handsome!) face at the table to look at, we prefer not to be seated at the same table, as we don’t want to take each other’s chips!”

Happy Valentine’s Day to Kevin MacPhee and Liv Boeree, and to all the other poker couples, which include Scott Montgomery and Annette Obrestad, Erick Lindgren and Erica Schoenberg, Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly, Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman and Chip and Karina Jett.

On December 21, 2011, Duhamel opened his front door to a man holding a package, only then to be put upon and overpowered by a second assailant. After being tied up with duct tape and threatened, Duhamel gave them his safe’s combination, with the men subsequently making off with around $160,000 of his money, a Rolex Submariner watch, and his WSOP winners bracelet.

Speaking at the time, the 24 year-old said: “After they threatened to kill me I gave them all I had. They then tied me up and beat me, hitting me in the face and all over my body before leaving my house…I am exhausted, both physically and mentally but I’m happy to be alive.”

Now, however, Jonathan Duhamel has even more reason to be happy, after an anonymous tip-off has lead to detectives in Longueuil, Quebec, to finding half his stolen cash hidden in an envelope inside a disused mail box near his home. Police have since confirmed that the currency and denominations accurately matched Duhamel’s stolen cash.

Four people have now been arrested in connection with the crime, including Jonathan Duhamel’s ex-girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse, 20, (pictured right).
If found guilty, she will likely face a lengthy prison sentence when her preliminary hearing begins on February 21st.

Justice Pierre Belisle has already noted that the crime was; “…shocking, well-planned, and carried out in cold blood against a vulnerable man, using extreme violence to rob a large sum of money.” and that “as the conspirator, she has to take responsibility for her actions.”

The Canadian poker pro was on his way back from competing in the Aussie Millions, when he discovered the break-in, and tweeted:

“Important: Do NOT send me any emails the account appears to have been hacked. Just landed in LA nice news.”

KidPoker then later confirmed that the perpetrator had been joyriding his PokerStars account while still on the airplane travelling back from Australia. Daniel Negreanu had $100,000 resting in his account, which the hacker proceeded to throw around at the $100/$200 NL tables, losing more than $46,000 over 400 hands or so.

In the meantime, the fake Negreanu’s erratic play was picked-up by members of the poker playing community, with one hand drawing particular interest in the forums.

In the hand in question, the hacker five-bet called with A-5o, prompting some posters to assume that the top tournament player was probably hungover and playing badly. Negreanu then posted a response on TwoPlusTwo, stating:

“Some of you NVGtards really thought that was me??? Man HSP has really done wonders for my image ”

Kid Poker is the biggest loser in the history of High Stakes Poker, having lost $2,182,850 after seven seasons of the high-stakes cash poker TV show.

Apparently, PokerStars will now return Daniel Negreanu’s money, but the poker community was still baffled why the Team PokerStars Pro hadn’t taken bigger precautions to protect his account, by having an RSA token, for instance. As one poster by the name ‘timfbmx,’ wrote:

“From what I hear it’s really easy to get into other people’s cpu’s at airports, restaurants, hotels, ect. Some guy was having a blast on the plane ride that’s for sure lol…why don’t you have a rsa token silly?”

UPDATE: It would appear that the WSOP hint that the November Nine would not be returning was, in fact, ambiguous.

The WSOP have now confirmed that the 2012 Main Event will be held one week earlier on Sunday, October 28th, probably in order to accomodate for the U.S. Presidential Elections.

          ———————————

On Tuesday, the World Series of Poker announced a number of changes to their 2012 schedule, with the biggest surprise involving scrapping the November Nine format. As the  WSOP Twitter account read:

“A few hints on WSOP schedule coming tomorrow…you won’t find the November Nine returning.”

The four month Main Event final table delay was originally introduced in 2008 as a means to build excitement ahead of the  tournament’s recorded televised show, while also ensuring the viewers’ enjoyment wasn’t spoilt by knowing the result before the programme aired.

Another spin-off from the November Nine delay included enabling the finalists to play their best game by providing them with recovery time from the punishing Main Event schedule. Additionally, finalists could use the time to study their opponents, while also securing lucrative sponsorship deals.

Nevertheless, despite being theoretically sound, the November Nine concept ran into a great deal of criticism as it was seen as  changing the overall dynamics of the tournament.

One of its most outspoken critics was none other than the WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky, while 2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz also launched an attack on the format, when he stated:

“It ruins the integrity of the tournament. The purity of old-time Las Vegas is gone. The antiquity and purity of the tournament have been liquidated into pure greed and capitalism.”

However, since 2011 when the WSOP and ESPN introduced full final table coverage with just a fifteen minute delay, the November Nine concept was subsequently rendered obsolete.

Full details of the 2012 WSOP schedule is expected to be released soon, but other details hinted at by the organization via their twitter account include the following:

“The 43rd Annual WSOP will take place from May 27 to July 16, 2012 at @RioVegas. Full schedule comes at 1 PM ET Wednesday.”

“For the 2012 WSOP, an expected 470 poker tables will be utilized…nearly 100 more than last year!”

“Another good change coming to WSOP in 2012…no off day during Main Event.”

Negreanu cashed in at his first live tournament in 1997 and is currently ranked number three on Poker’s All Time Money list with $14,901,459 in winnings. 

Over the years Negreanu, possibly more than any other player, has done his best to keep up with the changing trends in poker but says he fears that the game now lacks the sort of characters who brought poker to the public prominence in the first place. Talking to online site  ’pokerplayer,’  Negreanu explained:

“When poker became popular you had people like Devilfish, Sammy Farha, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey. Today the story is: ‘I dropped out of college and I grinded 20 tables to build my bankroll.’ The story isn’t sexy. People won’t care about them, because they are not interesting.”

According to Negreanu, the problem was further highlighted by the 2011 WSOP which was less fun to play in, let alone to watch on TV, consequently doing little to attract new audiences to the game. Explaining that fun TV coverage was crucial to growing the industry, the 37 year-old, Negreanu hailed Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari as good TV, while players such as Mike Matusow,  Tony G and Phil Hellmuth may be jerks, but were at least memorable ones.

Apparently, a big part of the problem lies in the antisocial nature of the online world, where old-school etiquette is sacrificed in favour of cut-throat competition. This doesn’t translate well to TV audiences, and as Negreanu concludes:

“Take Justin Bonomo. He was on our show, and he played well but he said nothing and I doubt anyone is going to remember him. A lot of these young guys don’t realise you need to make an impression if you want to get invited back.”