Poker News – The World Poker Tour announced on Thursday that it will be returning to Mainland China to host a National Series tournament for a second straight year. Starting on Nov. 5, 2013, at the MGM Grand Sanya Resort, the WPT® National China Tournament will carry a guaranteed prize pool of ¥8,800,000 (approximately US$1,432,000) and has already received commitments from top pros like David Chiu, Liz Lieu, Xuan Liu, Maria Ho, and Johnny Chan. The WPT® National China Tournament, which carries a $1,500 buy-in, will play down to a final table on Nov. 9. The final six players will…

San Francisco Examiner – Over the past five years, the U.S. Justice Department has busted more than a dozen Internet poker sites that allowed Americans to play online for real money. Websites were shut down, operators were arrested and millions of dollars were seized, even though all the websites were run from outside the U.S. and most of the operators were foreigners. The message from the feds to the world is clear: If you run a website that allows U.S. citizens to play poker for cash, you’re breaking U.S. law and we’re coming after you.However, there seems to be an…

Card Player – Like Nevada, the New Jersey online poker system will not allow players to transfer funds to one another via the online poker software — at least for now. New Jersey plans to kick off its first games on Nov. 26 at 9 a.m. local time. The state legalized web poker earlier this year. PokerStars, which looks to be involved with New Jersey online gambling thanks to a partnership, recently asked regulators to reconsider the issue. However, the state didn’t budge. According to a regulations document released by the Division of Gaming Enforcement: “Rational Group [PokerStars and Full…

Poker Update – Apart from being cold, Norway is a country known for its economic prowess and progressive attitude to most things. Most aspects of gaming, however, have long been illegal in the northern European country, with lotteries and sports the only types of gaming allowed there. That is set to change under an initiative by Norway’s government to legalise, expand and regulate the country’s gaming market. Poker would be one of the games that would benefit under the proposed reforms, although only to a degree. While poker tournaments would be legal in Norway under the newly elected government’s planned…

Card Player – MGM, Boyd and Golden Nugget have all officially filed to get another extension on their respective Internet poker plans in Nevada. The firms — which were all approved for Internet gambling last fall — appeared on the agenda for the October meeting of the state’s three-member Gaming Control Board. According to the rules on the book in Nevada, firms apparently must move forward with their business plans within six months of being approved for the activity by state regulators. However, given the extensive testing and preparation that is needed to debut Internet gambling and poker some firms…

Poker Update – The online poker industry saw a rise in player traffic of 5% last week, the largest weekly increase since the “Road to 100 Billion” promotion at PokerStars in June. All but one of the top ten poker rooms and networks on PokerScout’s ranking of global poker sites saw a rise in cash game action for the week. Those 10 top sites retained their positions, except for Winamax grabbing the eighth slot and knocking Bodog into ninth. Reasons for the overall market rise may be cool and damp weather throughout much of Europe, which typically has a tendency…

Press of Atlantic City – Online global gambling giant PokerStars plans to make a big splash in the Atlantic City market by building a $10 million poker room as part of its Internet partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel. Company spokesman William J. Pascrell III said construction would start on the poker room immediately after PokerStars is awarded a New Jersey license for Internet gambling. “As soon as the license is in hand, they’re ready to start building,” Pascrell said. “It will be the PokerStars poker room at Resorts.” PokerStars and Resorts are looking to create synergy between their online betting…

Salon – The 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event opened to a pastiche of landmark tournament moments from the last decade starting with, of course, Chris Moneymaker’s serendipitous Main Event win in 2003.  Moneymaker – a then 27-year-old poker hobbyist with an easy going  countenance – won an online satellite tournament for a $10,000 entry fee to the Main Event, then navigated an 839 person field, “eliminating” various heady professional players on his way to a $2.5 million first place payday. The “Moneymaker Effect” was poker-prozac and ESPN replayed the 2003 Main Event highlights in multiple-hour blocks at all…