REAL POKER MASTERY

Less than a day after winning this year’s British Columbia Poker Championship and earning the first place prize of $364,364, 30 year-old Sophon Sek was arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering.  As a result, his prize money is being held at the casino at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and there is a chance it will be confiscated from Sek altogether.

Sek is the sixth person arrested in connection with the Surrey Six murder case.  In October of 2007, six people were shot in the head and killed in the Surrey area high rise apartment building Balmoral Towers.  The murders are believed to be an act of gang violence, as four of the six victims were known to be part of the British Columbia drug trade.  The men suspected in the murders are members of the Red Scorpions, one of the largest and most influential gangs in British Columbia.  The Surrey Six slayings are considered to be one of the worst instances of gang violence in modern British Columbian history.

The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that Sek is believed to be an associate of the Red Scorpions as well.  Statements from Corporal Dale Carr of the police force gave little insight on why Sek was arrested and faced lesser charges than the other five men previously detained in the killings, but the Sun reported that Sek is not believed to be one of the murderers. According to the paper, the RCMP believe that it was Sek who let the perpetrators into the high rise, though it is still unclear whether or not he was aware of their intentions.

Howard Blank, Vice President of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, reported that the RCMP requested Sek’s winnings from the $2,700 (CDN) buy-in event.  Sek outlasted a field of 679 players including poker pros Gavin Smith, “Yukon” Brad Booth, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who made the final table, finishing in seventh place.

Sek was set to return to River Rock Casino in Vancouver, the site of the event, to pick up his winnings Monday, but his arrest prevented him from doing so.  He is currently being held in custody until his trial date on November 30th.  His lawyer, Alan Ip, spoke to the British Columbia Globe and Mail about the seizure of Sek’s winnings.  According to Ip, unless the money was taken as evidence in the case, it was unjustly seized.  Carr told the Sun he was not aware of the RCMP’s request for the casino to hold the funds and could not provide an explanation as to why the money would be seized in relation to the case.  Ip also emphasized how saddened his client was at the prospect of losing his tournament earnings, as he planned to pursue his love for poker and play in other events in the future.

One of the five other suspects in the case, Dennis Karbonavec, has already pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.  Following his admission of guilt, three others were arrested in relation to the case in April of 2008 and have been in pretrial custody ever since.  The charges against the men include first and second degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and various firearms-related charges.

This is not the first time Sek has had a run in with the police.  He was previously charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in July of 2008.

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Online poker players in the United States have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. On Friday, CNBC and the Associated Press confirmed that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had granted requests to delay the mandatory compliance date of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by six months to June 1st, 2010.

Word of a potential delay first broke on Wednesday from Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan. However, no official comment had been handed down from Geithner, Bernanke, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), or the office of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Around 12:15pm ET on Thursday, cable station CNBC ran a segment touting the successful six-month delay and an Associated Press article had hit cyberspace 15 minutes earlier.

The six-month delay will take the internet gambling industry to June 1st, 2010. In the interim, the theory goes that sensible legislation governing the industry in the United States will be passed. Frank introduced HR 2267 back in May. The bill, which has attracted 63 co-sponsors, establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for online gaming outfits to solicit U.S. customers.

An Associated Press article sourced both the Treasury and Federal Reserve as saying that the UIGEA’s regulations would indeed be pushed off until mid-2010. The news service explained, “The delayed rules would curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. The financial industry complained that the new rules would be difficult to enforce because they did not offer a clear definition of what constitutes internet gambling.” Since the UIGEA was approved in 2006, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stated that the legality of internet gambling may depend on state law, similar to the way that the brick-and-mortar version is governed.

Next Thursday, December 3rd, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing discussing the merits of HR 2266 and HR 2267. The former bill delays mandatory industry compliance with the UIGEA regulations by one year to December 1st, 2010. Its relevance given Friday’s confirmation that the regulations would be pushed back six months is up in the air. The hearing kicks off at 10:00am ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses for the informational hearing have not yet been announced and the proceedings can be followed via a live webcast accessible from the Committee’s website.

Potential overblocking by credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard led the PPA, two horse racing organizations, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation to petition Geithner and Bernanke, urging that the regulations of the UIGEA be shuttled back to December 1st of next year. PPA Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily, “Many believe what you’ll see is overblocking of legitimate transactions. It’s not a good thing for players. It won’t just affect poker; it’ll affect horse racing, lotteries, and other online entities.”

Around 1:00pm ET, the PPA confirmed the news. The organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release, “The PPA is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension. This is a great victory for poker, but an even greater victory for advocates of good and fair public policy.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news and events from Capitol Hill.

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The second installment of the UB.com-sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” hit televisions on Thanksgiving Eve in the United States on cable station Fox Sports Net. Scott Huff and Joe Sebok host the show.

“Poker2Nite’s” second episode began with a discussion of the $1.3 million Pot Limit Omaha hand between Patrik Antonius and Swedish online poker player Isildur1. The hand was replayed on-screen, with Antonius flopping a straight and Isildur1 calling all-in with a series of higher straight draws. However, none of them hit and Antonius raked the largest pot in the history of online poker. On the hand, Sebok commented, “Keep in mind that we’re not talking about No Limit Hold’em, which is what everyone is used to. We’re talking about Pot Limit Omaha. You have four cards, a million possibilities, and it completely changes the complexion of the hand. Truthfully, when Isildur1 got his money in, he was only a 45% dog on the flop.”

On playing poker for extreme high-stakes on Full Tilt, Sebok commented, “Sickness. Madness. I’m wondering if we’re going to fit these guys for straightjackets soon. At the end of the day, they feel like they have an edge over whoever they’re playing.” Other online poker players involved in the high-stakes action besides Antonius and Isildur1 in recent weeks have included Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Brian Townsend, Brian Hastings, Phil Ivey, and Cole South.

So who is Isildur1? That’s the question that has weighed heavily on the minds of the online poker community since the Swede burst onto the high-stakes scene earlier this month. Sebok speculated, “I think this is a kid we’re going to see more and more of. He’s already probably a top five Omaha player in the world. The only problem he’s running into is he’s playing maybe #1 and #2 with Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius.” Sebok also commented that Isildur is a character from “Lord of the Rings.”

Attention then turned to the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night benefiting Decision Education Foundation. GreasieWheels’ Lisa Wheeler organized the event, which saw Tournament Director Matt Savage oversee the operation. Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch won and was also the featured speaker as part of a Poker Skills for Life seminar. On why he was selected to speak, Bloch, the in-studio guest for “Poker2Nite,” told Huff and Sebok, “The DEF is all about teaching people to make good decisions and in poker, you have to make a lot of good, quick decisions. You have to do that in life too sometimes. In poker, you’re studying and teaching yourself how to make better decisions when you’re at the table.”

Bloch took down the event and explained what he earned for coming out on top of the pro- and celebrity-laden field: “I didn’t win any cash, but I did win a bracelet, so for everyone who makes fun of me for not winning a bracelet, I won a bracelet.” Bloch also recapped his now-infamous bet with Ivey that the “Tiger Woods of Poker” would win the Main Event: “At the end of Day 2 with about 2,200 players left, Phil Ivey had about four times the average [chip stack] and he offered me 100:1 on him winning the Main Event. I negotiated it down to 99:1 [for $20,000]. Normally, I wouldn’t worry, but $2 million is kind of a lot.” Ivey ultimately took seventh in the $10,000 buy-in tournament, avoiding a $2 million payout by Bloch.

“Poker2Nite” also featured the “Weekly Misdeal” with Dana Workman, which takes a satirical approach to reporting the news. Team UB.com’s Brandon Cantu getting tazed was featured as well, with the footage appearing on national television.

“Poker2Nite” airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net, although its airtime varies by market. It also replays several times throughout the week. Check your local listings for details.

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