Ram Vaswani Responds to the Phil Ivey Golfing Controversy

First Marc Goodwin wrote a blog detailing his version of the events. Then Phil Ivey, through his good friend Daniel Negreanu, responded via Daniel Negreanu's blog. And now Ram Vaswani has responded with his version of the story. It is not surprising that everyone seems to have their own version of how the event went down. Here is what we know, based on interviewing various sources.

A good number of professional poker players also play golf in their spare time. Because they are professional gamblers, naturally they prefer to play with some money on the line. Because they are degenerate gamblers, there is often LOTS of money on the line. 

Recently in Australia, a golf game took place that involved Phil Ivey, Ram Vaswani and Marc Goodwin. Goodwin and Vaswani are both very good golfers, with Ivey being a bit of a hacker, but a hacker who is rapidly improving. 

Because Ivey is quite a bit worse than the other players, he will get strokes. So, for an average round, Ivey may get ten strokes, in order to even up the game. 

According to rumors, over the past three months, Ivey had been practicing quite a bit and employing some golf pros to help with game, thus improving his score quite a bit. 

The story goes that Vaswani and Goodwin asked Ivey if he had been playing much lately, and Ivey said no. They still couldn't agree on strokes, and finally they agreed that because Lindgren had recently given Ivey 10 strokes in a game they had recently played, that that would be the number of strokes Ivey would get. And with that, they were off. 

Over the course of 72 holes, Ivey destroyed the other players, leaving them owing 1.8 million dollars, with Vaswani owing the largest amount at $900,000. Word has it that Marc Goodwin stormed off after several holes, refusing to pay, while Vaswani finished up. 

Vaswani and Goodwin refused to pay, saying that they had been conned and that Ivey was a much better player than he had let on. Ivey said, no one forced you to play, and you could have stopped at anytime once you realized that you were going to lose. 

The players involved actually tried to settle this issue in Monte Carlo, even involving Barry Greenstein as a mediator, but nothing was solved and there are obviously some bitter feelings and friendships have been lost. 

So who is right and who is wrong here? Should Ivey have been more forthcoming about his recent golfing? Should Vaswani have just quit the game once he realized that he was getting killed? Should Vaswani and Goodwin be forced to pay?

Mike Matusow and Ted Forrest Enter Into An Unusual Prop Bet

If you follow the poker world closely, you should know that Ted Forrest is known for his outlandish prop bets. Well, on Sunday, Forrest and Matusow entered into a prop bet of their own, and it will be interesting to see whether or not Matusow can win the bet. According to Matusow, it will be a piece of cake and a slam dunk.

Forrest bet Matusow $100,000 that Matusow can not drop enough weight to weigh in at 181 pounds by this time next year. Matusow currently weighs in at 231 pounds. So if Matusow drops 50 pounds over the next year, then he wins the bet and $100,000.

According to Matusow, he has an "amazing" metabolism, and could lose 50 pounds in a month if we wanted to. Matusow claims that he spends "24 hours a day in bed playing online poker" and eats "a whole pizza and two hamburgers per day." All of this food, and Matusow claims that he has only gained 30 pounds over the last year.

When there is money involved, Matusow goes on to say, I'll drop the weight with no problem and Forrest will be paying up. If Matusow truly does eat a pizza and two hamburgers per day, then we hope for his sake that he does win this bet, or else he'll be dropping dead of a heart attack. 

June 5th, 2007 6:40 pm EST When Neteller Does Release Customer Funds, Isaac Haxton Will be the Happiest of Them All

Plenty of people have money tied up in Neteller right now. Most people have maybe $200, $300, maybe even a $1000 tied up in Neteller limbo. Some higher limit players that I have spoken with have $30,000+ tied up in Neteller. However, I believe that Isaac Haxton has the most money of anyone tied up in Neteller right now, and he will likely be the happiest when funds do eventually get released, likely sometime in late July, early August.

Let's take you back to the Pokerstars PCA, which was eventually won by Ryan Daut. Well, Isaac Haxton came in second place. Most people don't know this, but Pokerstars just deposited the winnings into Pokerstars players accounts, rather than just give them cash on the spot. So, Ryan Daut had his entire winnings deposited to his "Daut44" account, etc.

Well, Isaac Haxton, upon seeing his newfound wealth sitting in his account, decided to immediately withdraw it via Neteller. He picked about the worst time possible, as his money was frozen in Neteller just as he was going to withdraw it. $800k, just sitting in limbo for many months. For a young person, we are sure that having $800k of your money frozen can't be too fun.

However, Neteller released a statement yesterday, saying that their US customers would soon be able to withdraw their funds, and they would be providing their customers with a 180 day window to do so.

Wherever Isaac Haxton was in the world at the time, we are sure that he was doing jumping jacks upon hearing this news. 

Lesley Thornburg Disqualification Story

Now I've heard of players being disqualified during a tournament before. It happens all the time.

Maybe a player keeps using excessive and profane language, and the tournament directors finally decide to boot him.

Or maybe a player is switching tables and decides to put his chips in his pockets. It happens.

But this is the first time that I have ever heard of a player being disqualified during the final table of an event.

It was a $300 prelim event at the World Series of Poker Circuit series in Atlantic City.

Apparently Thornburg was being loud and obnoxious during the first day of play in the event, and had been given two warnings on the first day. No one wanted to play at his table, as he was being loud, obnoxious and derogatory towards his fellow players.

Anyways, there are seven players left in the tournament. Thornburg gets all of his chips into the middle holding A-7, where he is dominated by the A-Q of his opponent, Andy Santiago. Thornburg sucks out.

In a hand just a short while later, Thornburg called the all-in raise of Edward "Yank" Sullivan holding pocket fours. Sullivan held pocket sevens, but a four came on the flop and Sullivan was eliminated.

Thornburg was now chipleader, and completely lost his mind. According to various published reports, Thornburg started tossing his chips into the middle of the table instead of stacking them. Tournament officials issued several warnings, which Thornburg again ignored.

The end for Thornburg came when he pushed half of his chips in the center of the table and then said "All-in". Tournament officials had had enough of his antics at this point, and decided to disqualify Thornburg on the spot, automatically awarding him the fifth place prize money of $19,206.00.

According to various reports, Thornburg was forcibly removed from the casino. I am assuming that he will likely be banned from the casino as well.

I have never heard of a player at a final table being disqualified, let alone the chipleader. Lesley Thornburg receives the vote for Texas Holdem King Idiot of the Day. 

Lesley Thornburg Disqualification Story

Now I've heard of players being disqualified during a tournament before. It happens all the time.

Maybe a player keeps using excessive and profane language, and the tournament directors finally decide to boot him.

Or maybe a player is switching tables and decides to put his chips in his pockets. It happens.

But this is the first time that I have ever heard of a player being disqualified during the final table of an event.

It was a $300 prelim event at the World Series of Poker Circuit series in Atlantic City.

Apparently Thornburg was being loud and obnoxious during the first day of play in the event, and had been given two warnings on the first day. No one wanted to play at his table, as he was being loud, obnoxious and derogatory towards his fellow players.

Anyways, there are seven players left in the tournament. Thornburg gets all of his chips into the middle holding A-7, where he is dominated by the A-Q of his opponent, Andy Santiago. Thornburg sucks out.

In a hand just a short while later, Thornburg called the all-in raise of Edward "Yank" Sullivan holding pocket fours. Sullivan held pocket sevens, but a four came on the flop and Sullivan was eliminated.

Thornburg was now chipleader, and completely lost his mind. According to various published reports, Thornburg started tossing his chips into the middle of the table instead of stacking them. Tournament officials issued several warnings, which Thornburg again ignored.

The end for Thornburg came when he pushed half of his chips in the center of the table and then said "All-in". Tournament officials had had enough of his antics at this point, and decided to disqualify Thornburg on the spot, automatically awarding him the fifth place prize money of $19,206.00.

According to various reports, Thornburg was forcibly removed from the casino. I am assuming that he will likely be banned from the casino as well.

I have never heard of a player at a final table being disqualified, let alone the chipleader. Lesley Thornburg receives the vote for Texas Holdem King Idiot of the Day. 

Arelia Margarita Taveras Sues Casinos For Ten Million Dollars

Arelia Margarita Taveras had it all. And then, she lost it all at the tables. Now, she wants her money back from the casinos that took it from her, along with an extra $19 million dollars for her troubles.

Back in 2001, Taveras had it all. She had a bustling and thriving law practice. She was making lots of money (an estimated $500k per year). She was appearing on television on an expert commentator and was also a published author. Taveras had it all.

In 2003, Taveras started visiting Atlantic City to escape the pressures of her law practice. It was here, at casinos such as the Taj Mahal and Tropicana Casino Resort, that Taveras developed his compulsive gambling habit.

According to her lawsuit, Taveras would sometimes spend days at a time at the tables, refusing to leave and surviving on Snickers and orange juice. During one gambling binge, Taveras remained at the tables for five days straight before becoming so tired that she couldn't see straight.

Taveras started dipping into her clients accounts to raise money for her gambling habits. She ended up being disbarred for this and losing her practice. She lost her apartment, her parent's home and her practice. She apparently owes the IRS almost $60,000. And now, representing herself, she is suing to get it all back.

She has filed a $20 million dollar racketeering lawsuit against six Atlantic City casinos and one Las Vegas casino, alleging that they had a duty to cut her off, and didn't do so.

The casinos, of course, deny any wrong-doing. They say that they had no way of knowing that she was a problem gambler and that the responsibility should lie at the feet of the gambler and not the casino.

This would obviously open up casinos to a huge amount of liability if this lawsuit were to be successful. I just don't see how she has a case here. There has to be some level of responsibility that people should have to shoulder - it can't ALWAYS be someone else's fault.

We will keep an eye on this case. Taveras is now living in Minnesota, working at a telephone call center. She is 37 years old. 

Some Famous Poker Prop Bets

The World Series of Poker is known as being a haven for all sorts of degenerate bets involving multi-millionaire poker players.

Can Erick Lindgren play four rounds of golf, back-to-back-to-back-to-back, from the pro tees, in the scorching hot Las Vegas sun while walking and carrying his own bags, and still shoot under 100 each round?

Can Mike Matusow drop a ton of weight over the course of one year, and weigh in at 181 pounds by the beginning of the 2008 World Series of Poker?

Can Huck Seed learn how to do a standing back flip in just two months?

Can Howard Lederer (a vegan) eat a hamburger for $10,000?

These are some of the bets that have taken place over the past couple of years. A great deal of betting is also done on the golf course, where millions of dollars are won and lost on a weekly basis in Las Vegas. The action really heats up during the summer months while the World Series of Poker is taking place. You'll have six figure golfing bets, tennis bets, and a wide assortment of other bets. The bottom line is - poker players love to gamble, and they'll gamble on anything and everything.

As mentioned, the NY Times published a humorous article a couple of days ago, detailing some of these ridiculous bets.

They mentioned the Mike Matusow bet. Matusow was cruising towards winning the bet, but then went on a cruise with his girlfriend. Wanting to enjoy himself on the cruise, he offered Ted Forrest (who bet him $100k that he couldn't get down to 181 pounds by the start of June) the chance to buy himself out of the bet for $70k. Forrest refused, and Matusow ended up gaining seven pounds on the cruise. This left Matusow having to lose a whopping 15 pounds in just nine days. The article points out that Matusow "didn't eat for the last five days, did a master cleanse and spent time in the Jacuzzi". He ended up winning the bet, weighing in at 179 pounds. The weight seems to be rapidly coming back on though, and apparently Matusow made a bet with Erick Lindgren that he would weigh less than 200 pounds by January 15th, 2009. The funny part of the story is that Matusow conducted the interview with the NY Times while eating a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets meal.

In regards to the other bets that were mentioned at hte top of this article:

Yes, Erick Lindgren won the golf bet.

Yes, Mike Matusow won his weight bet with Ted Forrest.

Yes, Huck Seed managed to learn how to do a standing back flip in just two months.

And yes, Howard Lederer ate a hamburger for $10,000, even though he was a Vegan.

Just another summer in Las Vegas.

The Mike Matusow Weight Loss Bet

By now, you've probably heard that Mike Matusow won a $100,000 weight loss bet with Ted Forrest.

What you may not know is how this bet came to be, and how close Matusow came to losing the bet.

The origins of the bet can be traced back to the 2007 World Series of Poker. It was no secret that Matusow was packing on the pounds - he seemingly weighed more with every passing tournament. This fact was not lost on others, who usually took every opportunity that they could to razz Matusow about his ever-expanding waistline.

At the time, Matusow weighed about 241 pounds, according to an article that was recently published in the New York Times. During a 2007 WSOP tournament, Matusow casually mentioned that he used to weigh 181 pounds. Somebody mentioned that there was no way Matusow would ever weigh that again, especially considering the fact that he seemed to gain more weight every month. Ted Forrest and Matusow quickly agreed on a bet - if Matusow could get down to 181 pounds by the beginning of the 2008 World Series of Poker (June 3rd, 2008 to be exact), then Forrest would pay Matusow $100,000 (actually $60,000, as Matusow already apparently owed Forrest $40,000).

The bet was on. Matusow started shedding pounds, and appeared noticeably thinner throughout the year. He was running, he was eating better, and he was spending time in the sauna.

As the 2008 World Series of Poker drew closer, Matusow appeared to be headed for a sure victory. He only needed to drop eight pounds in 19 days to win the bet - a drop in the bucket for a 6'0 man who needs to drop weight in a short period of time, especially with six figures on the line. However, Matusow was soon going on a cruise with his girlfriend, and wanted to enjoy himself.

The NY Times article (link below) goes on to say that Matusow asked Forrest to settle the bet for $70,000, so that Matusow could enjoy himself on the cruise. Forrest, surely seeing an opportunity for Matusow to pack on the pounds and miss making weight, said no. I mean, who doesn't pack on weight during a cruise?

The cruise was a disaster for Matusow in terms of his bet with Forrest. He gained a whopping seven pounds over just seven days, which left him just nine days to lose 15 pounds. That, obviously, is a whole lot harder to do than eight pounds in nineteen days.

But he did it. According to Matusow, he didn't eat for five days, did a "master cleanse" (whatever that is), and "spent time in the Jacuzzi".

On June 3rd, 2008, Matusow weighed in at a svelte 179 pounds, winning the bet by a full two pounds. Many people at the WSOP remarked that Matusow looked like a walking skeleton, but don't worry - the pounds are quickly coming back on. According to the article in the Times, Matusow conducted the telephone interview while sucking back a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets meal. Erick Lindgren apparently bet Matusow that he wouldn't weigh under 200 pounds by the start of 2009. In Matusow's own words - "Right now, Erick is looking pretty good."

Poker Room of Sahara Casino Robbed

Las Vegas police are investigating a robbery of the Sahara Hotel and Casino poker room that apparently took place at 6 pm on Friday night.

Police are saying that one or more robbers robbed the poker room itself, and not the individual players sitting at the tables. One can only assume that this is because the robbers had very limited time to make their getaway, and robbing individual players would have been far too time-consuming. Also, players would have likely gotten much better looks at the robbers, which would have made their identification by patrons of the establishment that much easier.

There has been no indication as of yet as to how much money was stolen. Las Vegas casinos are usually pretty tight-lipped with this information, as they don't want to let would-be robbers know how much money is in the establishment.

Police have also not yet revealed what type of weapon was used.

Many people are surprised that such a robbery took place, given the amount of security (and security cameras) that are utilized in Las Vegas. Independent Vegas sources claim that the Sahara was chosen due to the fact that it is a slightly older establishment and might not have top-of-the-line security, especially compared to rooms like the Bellagio or Wynn.

Was this a very budget version of Ocean's 14?

Robberies of poker rooms in Vegas. Multiple home game robberies. Is it any wonder that more and more people are just choosing to stay home and play online?

We'll have more on this story as more details become available. 

Amarillo Slim Beaten, Robbed of $8,000 Cash

Thomas Preston, better known to poker fans as "Amarillo Slim", was recently the victim of a savage attack/robbery that forced him to check into the hospital with multiple injuries.

"Amarillo Slim" was owed $3,000 for a gambling debt, and had agreed to take a four-wheeler as collateral.

He was lured to a field, where he thought that he would be collecting his collateral.

Instead, he was beaten and robbed. During the vicious attack, "Amarillo Slim" suffered multiple injuries, including a broken hand, thumb and jaw.

He was also robbed of $8,000 in cash, as well as a diamond ring worth $85,000.

There is no word as of yet as to whether or not the culprit(s) have been apprehended.

They shouldn't be too hard to find, as "Amarillo Slim" clearly knew the identify of his attackers.

"Amarillo Slim" is a legend in the poker world - he won the 1972 World Series of Poker, and has 4 WSOP bracelets. He has approximately $630,000 in total lifetime tournament cashes. His last sizable cash came in May of 2000, when he placed second in the $2500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the World Series of Poker.

His reputation was permanently tarnished in 2005 when he was indicted on three charges of indecency with a 12-year-old child. The indictment alleged that he inappropriately touched a 12-year-old member of his family three times - he later admitted that this was true.

Was this attack an unfortunate occurrence, a disgusting act of violence against an 80 year-old man?

Or was it karma? 

Kentucky Appeals Latest Ruling In Online Gambling Domain Case

The online gambling industry scored a victory on Tuesday when the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a suit to block the forthcoming seizure of 141 of the most-trafficked online gambling domains in the world.

In a 2-1 vote, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Kentucky did not have the jurisdiction to seize the domains, and that domain names did not qualify as "gambling devices".

The state wasted no time in filing an appeal, and the matter will now be heard by the Supreme Court of Kentucky.

A number of organizations have lent their support to the industry in this case, including the ACLU, PPA, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Network Solutions and iMEGA.

Many people outside of the industry are keeping a close eye on this case, as these rulings could end up impacting many other online industries throughout the world.

In October, Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that the state of Kentucky could seize 141 online gambling domains based on the fact that they were "gambling devices".

This ruling targeted some of the most popular online poker sites in the world, including Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars.

It is expected that the state of Kentucky will have an uphill battle on their hands as they try to overturn the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruling. Many believe that the State's argument is flimsy at best and won't hold up at the Supreme Court level.

It will likely be a few months before this case reaches the Supreme Court of Kentucky. When it does, we'll post another update on this site. 

As of right now, the domain names have not been forfeited and will (temporarily at least) remain with their rightful owners. 

Scottish Man Steals $1.3 Million To Fund Addiction To Poker

Christopher Proudfoot, 28, is facing substantial jail time after admitting to embezzling 936k pounds (about $1.35 million dollars USD) from his firm to pay for his expensive online poker addiction.

Proudfoot lost the money over a three-year period. It is believed that he lost a substantial sum of the money on William Hill, which is a major online gambling website that caters mostly to European players.

The prosecutor in the case said that all of the money had been lost, and Proudfoot had no means of paying any of it back.

How does a person steal that much money from a company?

Proudfoot was the finance and credit controller at the company, meaning that he had access to the company's books (and could alter them). An accountant who is skilled at the art of deception could conceivably avoid detection for a long while, and this is exactly what Proudfoot did.

The walls started crumbling in around Proudfoot about a year ago. His company started to suspect that Proudfoot was siphoning off money from the company, and terminated him. They also called in the police and fraud detectives, who immediately started going through the books of the company (Highland Network).

They quickly came to the conclusion that Proudfoot had stolen nearly a million pounds from the company over a three-year period to fuel his addiction to online poker. Proudfoot fled his parent's home and went into hiding - he was captured soon after.

Christopher Proudfoot has now admitted to stealing the money, and is bracing himself for a substantial prison sentence. He is currently out on bail (and hopefully not playing online poker). 

Cake Poker Bans JJProdigy

Josh "JJProdigy" Field has been booted from yet another site.

Cake Poker has apparently banned the infamous "JJProdigy" from their site. "JJProdigy" is now banned from practically every major online poker room, including Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker.

According to Field, Cake Poker banned him for letting someone else play on his account.

"JJProdigy" says that he was "letting a stakee use my account", and that Cake Poker felt that Field was "trying to deceive other players".

Field goes on to say that he felt as though Cake Poker was closely monitoring his account, and that they were looking for the smallest infraction as a reason to toss him off of the site.

"JJProdigy" made headlines in early 2006 when he was caught multi-accounting on Party Poker.

He won the Party 500k Guaranteed under an account of "ablackcar", but it was later revealed that he had also entered his "JJProdigy" account into the event as well.

He initially claimed that he was taking over for his Grandma, but later admitted that this was a lie. He was subsequently banned from a number of the major online sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker.

He returned to the headlines a few months ago when Pokerstars took the step of banning a number of players that had ties to Field. A number of players were apparently helping Field to continue to play on the site. Field was playing under a number of different accounts that were either dormant or borrowed, and his friends were assisting in the transfer of funds in and out of Field's accounts.

"JJProdigy" has publicly admitted that he continued to multi-account on these aforementioned sites long after they had banned them. 
Just add Cake Poker to the long and distinguished list of poker rooms that will no longer deal with Josh "JJProdigy" Field. 

Dane Cook and Erick Lindgren Get Into Shouting Match

A rumor started making the rounds a few days ago, that had Erick Lindgren getting into a dispute with Dane Cook.

Erick Lindgren is a well-known poker player and member of "Team Full Tilt".

Dane Cook is a comedian who has appeared in movies such as "Employee of the Month" and "Good Luck Chuck".

Anyways, apparently Erick Lindgren and some of his buddies decided to check out Dane Cook at one of his comedy shows.

After 10-15 minutes, Lindgren and company decided that Cook wasn't very funny, so they decided to leave. They didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so they tried to exit as quietly as they could.

At this point, Cook noticed that they were leaving the venue and screamed "Where the hell are you all going?"

Lindgren responded that they were going to go down the street to try and find a funny comedian to watch.

Cook asked the group to "walk back out that door to the unemployment line". At this point, Lindgren mentioned that he is in fact unemployed, and that he makes more money than Cook does.

Security had intervened at this point, and were aggressively escorting Lindgren and his friends out of the building.

Lindgren later confirmed on Full Tilt Poker that this did in fact take place, and that he had gotten into a verbal confrontation with Dane Cook.

This incident led to a discussion online of who in fact had more money, Dane Cook or Erick Lindgren.

Dane Cook has appeared in a number of movies, has released some platinum-selling comedy albums and tours the country doing comedy shows. He is certainly a millionaire and has plenty of money (well, if you include the money that was apparently stolen from him by his half-brother).

Erick Lindgren was one of the original investors/stakeholders in Full Tilt Poker, backs many successful cash game and tournament players, and has over $7 million dollars in lifetime tournament winnings. I've also heard from multiple sources that Lindgren is very smart with his money, and has many business interests.

Just based on his stake in Full Tilt Poker alone, Erick Lindgren easily wins this net worth battle. 

Ernie Scherer III Booked on Murder Charges

Ernie Scherer III, long considered a person of interest in the murder of his parents, was formally booked on murder charges earlier this week.

Scherer III called himself a professional poker player, and managed to amass around $340k in total lifetime tournament winnings during the course of his career. His biggest cash came in 2005, when he managed to finish in 7th place in the Festa Al Lago IV "Doyle Brunson" North American Poker Championship.

Investigators in the case contend that money was the prime motivator for the two brutal murders. Ernie Scherer, Jr. and Charlene Abendroth were murdered in their home and discovered a week later by their daughter.

Scherer III and his wife, according to investigators, were falling behind on their property tax and mortgage payments. They were already $40,000 in debt, and were recently declined for a loan.

Scherer III was apparently of the opinion that he would be entitled to $1.5 million dollars in inheritance money if his parents met their demise. Scherer III apparently drove from Las Vegas to his parents' Castlewood Country Club home, murdered them in cold blood, and then drove back to his home.

There was mounting evidence that pointed to Scherer III as the perpetrator of the murders, as well as increasingly erratic behavior from the suspect himself. Those close to him say that Scherer III was extremely paranoid about the fact that he was being considered a suspect in the murders.

Scherer III was apparently a compulsive gambler, and certain members of his family felt that it would be a mistake to give him any inheritance money. According to multiple published reports, Scherer III was originally supposed to receive his inheritance money when he turned 30, but the arrangement was later changed at the behest of his father.

Scherer III apparently acted alone in these murders - there is absolutely no indication that his wife had any knowledge whatsoever of her husband's plans.

We'll keep an eye on this story as it develops, but the case against Scherer III seems pretty solid and there is no indication at this time that police are looking at other potential suspects.