Card Player – The prostitution-related charges against Greg Raymer in the state of North Carolina have been dropped, according to media reports over the weekend. The poker pro was arrested back in March. Raymer reportedly completed 75 hours of community service. Police said that Raymer responded to an online advertisement posted by undercover police. He was arrested at a Wake Forest hotel along with five other men. Raymer won the 2004 World Series of Poker main event for $5 million. Over his lengthy poker career he has cashed for around $7.5 million in tournaments. He is from Connecticut. The 49-year-old…

iGaming Business – The Norwegian government’s plans to legalise the country’s gaming market will only lead to relatively small stakes being wagered during poker contests, according to a report. The PokerUpdate.com website, citing a government report on gaming, said that while poker tournaments would be legal in Norway under the newly-elected administration’s planned reforms, those tournaments would only be allowed to feature “low stakes”. “The government will continue to pursue policies that take account of gamblers and ensure that revenues from gambling in Norway shall accrue profit purposes,” the government report said. “[The] government will examine the issue of licensing…

Macau Business Daily – PokerStars Macau has announced that PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams will host the 20th instalment of the Macau Poker Cup in January. The schedule will include an HK$8 million (US$1.03 million) guaranteed prize pool for the Red Dragon main event. The tournament will run from January 10 to 21 at Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd’s City of Dreams resort on Cotai. The buy-in for the Red Dragon event is set at HK$11,000. That, combined with the size of the guaranteed prize pool, means 800 players will be needed to cover the prize money. In April…

Poker Fuse – Those that were registered with Full Tilt Poker as affiliates are now able to submit a claim to be considered for remission, according to the Garden City Group. Until now, affiliates were among those groups that were excluded from participating in the remissions process put in place by the US Department of Justice to reimburse victims of Full Tilt Poker after it was discovered that the site did not have sufficient funds to cover player deposits. Other groups that remain ineligible include, past or present employees and members of Team Full Tilt. Affiliates that meet the standard…

Full Tilt Poker – The Full Tilt Poker Montreal Festival has succeeded to the hilt. After a mouth-watering 1,625 entries, a Playground Poker Club record, only the champion, Henri Balcazar of Kitchener, Ontario remained, holding an oversized cheque written out to the amount of $194,044. Seven days of poker has been witness to countless unbelievable plays, stacks amassing as if in a fast-forward time-lapse, only to blow away, dust in the wind. The big names came out, and fell, one by one. From Gus Hansen to Gavin Smith, Tom Dwan to Martins Adeniya, Antonio Esfandiari to Dermot Blain, Sin Melin…

Poker News – Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas is satisfied with how the final New Jersey Internet Gambling regulations turned out from a player’s perspective. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) released a draft of the regulations last week, also announcing a start date of Nov. 26 for Internet gambling within the state. The final regulations become effective Oct. 21. “I think there are more encouraging signs out of the final draft regulations than need for concern,” Pappas told PokerNews. “I think players are certainly enthusiastic about them getting off the ground and sticking to the…

Card Player – Poker player Antanas Guoga, a.k.a. Tony G, announced Monday on Facebook that he will be running for a seat in the European Parliament next year via the country of Lithuania. In his more than decade-long poker career, Guoga has racked up $3,648,645 in lifetime tournament earnings. His largest score was in the 2005 European Poker Championship for about $450,000. In addition to his poker play, the 39-year-old has been an active businessman in Lithuania. Guoga is the owner of PokerNews and was once involved with PartyPoker. “I have packed up the bike and I am going to…

Poker Fuse – Full Tilt Poker announced the creation of “Full Tilt Poker Pro Battle“, a new television show which gives online qualifiers from the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltics the opportunity to go heads up against FTP Professional Gus Hansen. Qualifiers will battle against professional poker players including Team PokerStars Pros Alexander Kravchenko, Ivan Demidov, Maksin Lykon and Eugene Katchalov for a total prize pool of $150,000. Full Tilt will be awarding 12 prize packages worth over $3,000 to bring players on set in Kiev, where the show will be shot. The overall winner of the season…