Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) will host an exclusive poker star-studded party at the May Fair Hotel’s Crystal Room on 15th March for the official launch of the International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT). The invite-only event comes on the cusp of announcement regarding the partnership between ISPT and DTD.

The award-winning poker operator, DTD, has agreed to licence, operate, market and guarantee the ISPT event at Wembley Stadium on 31 May until 5 June 2013.  The buy-in levels start at €300 for Day 1 or €3000 for Day 2, with a €1M GTD prize for the winner. Simon Trumper, who takes over the reins as the new ISPT tournament director, recently explained that the structure of the event will closely mirror that of the WSOP Main Event.

DTD co-founder Rob Yong commented, "Organising the Caribbean Poker Party in St Kitts has whetted our appetite for more adventures outside of our four walls. This partnership with ISPT is a great challenge for us and we wish to start its success by hosting the official launch party on Friday at The May Fair Hotel."

The invite-only party features DJ Antonio Vendone, Martini Glass Dancers, DTD girls, complimentary drinks, ISPT information point, special guests & show, not to mention a Who’s Who of the poker community. Players and press that have received invites must RSVP by Wednesday 13th March. For press contact or for more information on the party, contact alex@dusktilldawnpoker.com.

There has been such a huge scandal surrounding the fact that Members of the Board of Tiltware lined their own pockets at the expense of fans who played at Full Tilt Poker (FTP), it really is about time that everything got sorted out now. Its seems that 2013 might be the year when everything falls into place, the Department of Justice are happy, and online gambling in the USA finally becomes legal. Well…one can only hope. At the centre of the FTP scandal have been Chris (Jesus) Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Ray Bitar and Rafe Furst – well mostly these players have been mentioned.

Rafe Furst has surrendered a Trust Fund held in a Swiss Bank Account (?), plus agreed to pay the DoJ about $150 000 in fines. Howard Lederer knew that the DoJ had set their sights on his mansion, and has managed to stave off the forfeiture of this piece of property by bargaining with the authorities to take something else instead. In fact he has pledged to them, the proceeds from the sale of a property in Twin Palms Circle Las Vegas, as well as traceable proceeds from the sale of his Kingsclear Court, Las Vegas, property. So that is two Las Vegas properties he is down, and there is only something like five to go.

He has also forfeited his 1965 Shelby Cobra , plus funds a Lloyds TSB International account located on the Isle of Man. We have no idea what the amount involved with this transaction is. There is also an additional retirement account which was arranged using FTP funds, and this too has gone to the feds.

Apparently these monetary amount, plus those being surrendered by Raef Furst are going directly into the $184 (or thereabouts) owed to US online poker players; if and when they are able to process their claims with the DoJ. One would however assume that some of the funds paid to them in the FTP sale to PokerStars would have been earmarked for this process. However, we don’t know the finer details of the sale, only how many millions it cost.

It appears that only Ray Bitar and Chris Fergusson have to settle with the DoJ, which might be a faster process now that these two gamblers have fessed up and settled. It certainly goes to show that big money can keep you out of jail, as most of the deals made with the DoJ have entailed, forfeiture of vast amounts of money to admit no wrong-doing, and avoid any future prosecution. This is what PokerStars, Rafe Furst and Howard Lederer are all currently paying for. We suppose they have learned one thing from this – that crime doesn’t pay, but if you can pay, you can also get off the charges.

These charges included but were not limited to "conspiracy to commit bank, and or wire fraud, money laundering, as well as operating an illegal online gambling business." An amendment to the charges also accused these people of misrepresentation in that player funds were "safe and secure" both prior to and after Black Friday.

We have been seeing the same news for what seems to be years, and very little changes in terms of Federal regulation for the game of online poker in the USA. Certainly the State of Nevada has made this form of gaming legal and is currently issuing licenses, but this is for intrastate poker online. The Federal Government has said as much – each state must decide, and legislate for themselves.

However, in December last year, the Department of Justice changed their stance on the matter of legality for online gambling. Basically the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 was revisited, and the DoJ opinion released that only sports betting is illegal. The online poker industry has mobilized rapidly, joint ventures are in place, and Nevada has passed legislation for online poker, while the state of Delaware has made legal the full gamut of casino games for the Internet.

The American Gaming Association has released a white paper, and they represent just about every US casino operator, as well as gambling equipment manufacturers. The report states that $4 billion is spent annually by American who play at offshore casino and poker websites. They peg the potential for the online gambling industry to make between $6 billion and $10 billion annually. Is the payday close for these operators, they seem to think so, but is it time to start picking winners?

The problem is actually three-fold; the industry can only look at the potential for regulating online poker for the meantime. The potential turnover for this game would not be $6 billion and $10 billion annually, only a fraction of this. The second problem is that online poker alone, might not be all that attractive a business proposition for potential operators, and the third issue is certain states will not opt to legalize and regulate, so, it needs to happen on a federal level. In its present position the market is much too small, or too shaky to be a viable proposition.

Overseas we see that online poker sites are closing their doors on a regular basis. While we see PokerStars doing well, they actually monopolizing the marketplace because of their massive liquidity. A good example would be IGT’s purchase of Entraction, only to find that they were compelled to close this poker network. Regulation in Europe is also a tricky task to breach. The Italian industry is failing, France is a nightmare of regulatory red tape, Will Hill Poker is losing business as is Bwin.party and others. Fortunately for 888 Poker, they also seem to be doing something right and their business has grown.

But what we are seeing is that online poker alone is not financially viable in many instances. Operators need to be able to offer the whole range of online gambling games. So, with the exception of Delaware which state apparently sees the bigger picture, very little can change if the Federal Government does not come to the party, and offering online poker without the addition of other Internet gambling games, simply won’t cut the mustard.

The Irish Poker Awards, presented by Bluff Europe and sponsored by BoylePoker.com, were held at the Regency Hotel, Dublin, on Sunday night, with the cream of Irish poker in attendance to honour their peers and celebrate a great year for Irish poker. Bluff Europe editor Philip Conneller and former Irish Open Champion Neil Channing were on hand to call the shots and distribute the gongs, with Eoghan O’Dea picking up the coveted "Player of the Year" award and an emotional Padraig Parkinson voted "Irish Poker Legend".

Also among the awards winners were Chris Dowling, who took "Best Cash Player"; Jason Tompkins, "Best Tournament Player"; Jude Ainsworth, "Best Online Player" and Niall Smyth, "Breakout Player". Dara O’Kearney was on hand to pick up two awards, "Best Blogger" and "Best Social Media User", while Phil Baker won "Personailty of the Year" and JP McCann took "Best Tournament Director". Lastly, "Irish Poker Boards" won "Best Forum" while The Fitzwilliam took "Best Card Room".

Host Philip Conneller said, "The Irish poker scene is unique in the sense the sense of fun and the party atmosphere that surrounds the tournaments. Everyone else takes themselves way too seriously. It’s that uniqueness were here to celebrate, as well as praising the skill of the Irish. The winners were voted for online, completely democratically, which is important because it means there are no politics involved in the event and that gives the awards credibility. The people have spoken and congratulations to all our winners."

A brand new Facebook Poker app seems to be hot in the news – driven by actor Kevin Pollak and his apparent love for this game. For those of you who don’t know who Kevin Pollak is don’t feel alone, neither did we. However, after conducting a little research we found that he certainly has a very well-known face; claims to fame roles in A Few Good Men, The Whole Nine Yards, The Wedding Planner and more. He hosted the first season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, and regularly invites friends over to his house for poker nights.

Anyway it seems he is also the host for the brand new Facebook poker app, which has been aptly named – Hollywood Poker. The app debuts on the 8th October, 2012, and basically offers players a chance to win into star-studded poker games. This is not a “play for real money” game, but apparently does offer great prizes.

So far the names being dropped include: James Woods, Dennis Quaid, Peter Facinelli of Twilight fame (he plays Dr. Carlisle Cullen), John O’Hurley from Seinfeld, Scott Baio, Tim Busfield of The West Wing, Dean Cain of Las Vegas, Rob Riggle of 21 Jump Street, and of course plenty more. While we did not see Ben Affleck or Matt Damon on the list, and they are well-known for their celebrity poker antics, there is still a whole load of shining stars who seem keen to participate in this game, and have also committed themselves to playing Hollywood Poker.

While Hollywood Poker launches on Facebook on the 8th October, the tournament won’t start right away. Members will be playing their best game of poker to win entry into the first tournament which takes place on the 20thOctober. It offers a "rare and exciting chance to play Texas Hold’Em Poker" with Kevin Pollak and his chosen celebrity friends. Three lucky winners will get to play in this single table event. What a rush?!

This is one of the first poker games to be launched by Facebook themselves, and no poker player worth their salt is going to want to miss out on the chance. It is their first ever celebrity games, and over 160 stars of movies, TV, Sports and Media have pledged to play Hollywood Poker. Films and shows such as Too Big to Fail, Saturday Night Live, Vegas, Vampire Diaries, Revolution, News Radio, Charles in Charge, 7th Heaven, Melrose Place, 30 Rock and more to be confirmed will be represented.

Hollywood Poker is easy to use – its designed this way – and fun for everyone. Fans get to interact directly with stars, rub virtual shoulders and chat with them, while playing poker. Visitors can follow the action, as well as become a member, and prizes include trips to star-studded events. This game is playable on most devices which includes mobile for iPad, with support for iPhone and Android being well on their way.