The Nightly Turbo: Franzen Pleads Guilty, PokerStars Problems in Australia, and More
Doomsday came and went with very little fanfare. Since we're all still here, you're probably looking for some news, so we're going to give it to you. Bradley Franzen, one of the eleven defendants in the online poker indictments from April 15 has pleaded guilty. We'll give you the scoop on that, what problems PokerStars may be facing in Australia, and more.
In Case You Missed It
On Sunday, the final champion of the 2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit was crowned at Harrah's New Orleans. If you want to find out how the final table went down, read the WSOP-C recap.
Another Sunday has passed, which means that we've got another round of results from the biggest online tournaments. The Sunday Briefing has them all.
The 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker is nearing its end. The first day of the two-day Main Event was completed on Sunday, and Toby Lewis leads the $10,000 buy-in Main Event.
The seventh season of High Stakes Poker has ended. Check out the HSP recap to find out who was the season's biggest winner and whether Daniel Negreanu got the monkey off his back.
The ninth season of the World Poker Tour continued on FSN on Sunday. Here's your look at the action from the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational.
The seventh season of the PokerStars European Poker Tour came to a close in Madrid recently. If you missed any of the results from the 13 stops, you can check out our recap of season seven of the EPT.
The U.S. Attorney of Maryland handed down indictments Monday to online gambling sites. Find out which sites are now implicated.
Franzen Pleads Guilty
On Monday, Bradley Franzen, one of the 11 defendants in the online poker indictments pleaded guilty. Franzen, who owns a payment processing company, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaniel Fox on Monday that "he lied to banks and created fake companies and websites to hide the payments."
Franzen, who was indicted on nine charges on April 15, pleaded guilty to three counts on Monday, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. He faces up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced on August 26. According to prosecutors, Franzen can receive a shorter sentence under his cooperation agreement, and Judge Fox said that Franzen will forfeit an undisclosed amount of money that was earned while he was processing payments for the online poker companies.
Bloomberg.com has more.
Problems Down Under?
According to EGRMagazine, PokerStars could be facing problems in Australia. One of PokerStars' subsidiaries, GP Information Services, owned by Oldford Group, could be in breach of Australia's Interactive Gambling Act. The Oldford Group is also in hot water in the U.S. It is one of the companies sought for forfeiture by defendants in the April 15 online poker indictments. GP Information provides marketing services for PokerStars in Australia.
The Interactive Gambling Act makes it illegal for companies to advertise interactive gambling, making it punishable with a fine up to AUD $1.1 million per day, although no company has ever been charged.
According to Australian newspaper The Courier-Mail, the Australian Crime Commission is trying to get the Australian government to ban online poker sites that are trying to get around this law by using different marketing tactics.
To find out more, head on over to EGRMagazine.com.
Poker Game Robbed
On Friday, two armed men wearing ski masks and hooded sweatshirts robbed a poker tournament in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska state troopers say the two men barged into the garage of a business around 10:30 p.m. Friday night. The 15 players were ordered to lay facedown on the floor while the gunmen took their wallets, money and jewelry. According to reports, the armed men also threatened to shoot one of the female players if the group didn't cooperate.
The robbers took off in a dark-colored vehicle. State troopers are still looking for the suspects.
KTUU.com has more.
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Deep Stack Extravaganza III with Position Poker
The Venetian's Deep Stack Extravaganza III kicks off this week. Fifty events are on the docket, mostly no-limit hold'em. Buy-ins range from $340 to $5,000 for the Main Event. The event runs from May 27 to July 15.
A new event that has been added to the Venetian Deep Stacks III line up is the $550 Position Poker event on June 15. We first told you about Position Poker during the World Poker Tour Five Star World Poker Classic. In case you don't remember what it is, it's a new poker variant that adds a second button to the table. There will be one button that determines where the dealer begins pitching the cards and where the small and big blinds are. That's standard. What's new in this variant is the second button that will be placed in front of the player who won the previous pot at the table. On each street, the player with that button will act last, giving him the ultimate position in the hand.
If you want to find out more about the Venetian Deep Stack III, you can check out the full schedule of events at Venetian.com.
