The Week in Poker: Castaignon, Tuthill Triumph, Legal News, and a Sad Goodbye
In addition to overseeing the Los Angeles Lakers' 10 NBA titles during his time as owner, Jerry Buss managed four WSOP cashes over the years, including final tabling the $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event in 1991 where he finished third.
Recent poker news includes the crowning of a couple more champions in Remi Castaignon and David Tuthill, legal news involving Chris Ferguson and historic online poker-related legislation passed in Nevada, and a sad goodbye to friend of poker and the sports world, Jerry Buss.
Castaignon Claims EPT Deauville Title
We are reaching back a little more than a week for this news, but still wanted to report the latest from the European Poker Tour where Frenchman Remi Castaignon managed to top a field of 782 in the €5,000 Main Event to win the title and €770,000 first prize.
After carrying a huge chip lead into the final eight-handed table with nearly a 3-to-1 advantage over Walid Bou Habib in second position, Castaignon dramatically lost that lead within the first orbit of that final table before recovering to regain the lead and ultimately outduel Habib heads up for the win.
Other notables among the 120 who cashed in the event but fell shy of the final table included James Mitchell (12th, €39,000), Gordon Huntly (18th, €23,000), Sam Grafton (24th, €23,000), Lucien Cohen (28th, €19,000), Jason Koon (39th, €16,000), Ionel Anton (51st, €13,500), Pascal Lefrancois (54th, €13,500), Casey Kastle (59th, €11,500), Zimnan Ziyard (69th, €11,500), Matthias de Meulder (75th, €9,700), Fabrice Soulier (96th, €9,700), and Sandra Naujoks (116th, €8,000).
Meanwhile, here's how the final eight finished:
2013 EPT Deauville Main Event final table payouts:
1st: Remi Castaignon (France) -- €770,000
2nd: Walid Bou Habib (Lebanon) -- €475,000
3rd: Roberto Romeo (Belgium) -- €275,000
4th: Enrico Rudelitz (Germany) -- €215,000
5th: Franck Kalfon (France) -- €165,000
6th: Joseph Khoury (Lebanon) -- €125,000
7th: Noel Gaens (Belgium) -- €87,800
8th: Jeffrey Hakim (Lebanon) -- €60,000
In other news from Deauville, it was Vojtech Ruzicka of the Czech Republic winning the €10,000 NLHE High Roller event, topping a field consisting of 85 entries (with 14 players rebuying) to earn a first prize of €313,000.
Also making that High Roller final table were Martin Jacobson (4th, €83,200), Bryn Kenney (5th, €64,100), and Jonathan Duhamel (7th, €38,000).
NBA Owner, Poker Player Jerry Buss Passes
This week began with the sad news of the passing of long-time poker player and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss following a year-and-a-half-long bout with cancer. Buss was 80 years old.
Buss was best known for his ownership of the Lakers since 1979, with his teams winning 10 NBA titles during his tenure, thereby helping to be elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010. But Buss was also an avid poker player and great friend to the poker community, participating regularly in L.A. cash games and making frequent appearances at the World Series of Poker.
Buss managed four WSOP cashes over the years, including final tabling the $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event in 1991 where he finished third. Buss additionally appeared on High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark.
Tuthill Takes Down WSOP-C Caesars Palace
The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit continues to roll its way across North America, stopping at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where a new Main Event champion was crowned earlier this week. David Tuthill of St. Petersburg, Florida finished atop the 744 entries in the $1,675 buy-in event to earn a $223,197 and WSOP-C ring.
It was an all-American final table, with Tuthill outlasting A.P. Phahurat of Rogers, Arkansas heads-up for the win. Others coming close to the final table included Gavin Smith (16th, $13,783) and David "Doc" Sands (23rd, $7,968).
2012-13 WSOP-C Caesars Palace final table payouts:
1st: David Tuthill -- $223,197
2nd: A.P. Phahurat -- $137,603
3rd: Shaun Suller -- $101,444
4th: Fabio Coppola -- $75,609
5th: Brian Kay -- $57,106
6th: Jeffrey Fielder -- $43,691
7th: Ping Liu -- $33,848
8th: Steven Goldberg -- $26,550
9th: Salvatore Dicarlo -- $21,018
The WSOP-C next moves to the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida later this month.
Ferguson Settles
Following the footsteps of fellow Black Friday defendant and Team Full Tilter Howard Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson reached a settlement with federal prosecutors on Tuesday regarding charges filed against him in the amended civil complaint.
The agreement calls for Ferguson to forfeit $2.35 million plus additional funds in accounts previously seized by the U.S. government. The amount of the additional funds has not been disclosed.
Ferguson also agrees to forfeit all interest and claims in Full Tilt Poker going forward, as well as not to become involved in any online poker rooms that might serve U.S. customers in the future. Meanwhile, the settlement also allows Ferguson to admit no guilt regarding the charges levied against him and FTP in the civil complaint.
U.S. players continue to await word regarding the status of the funds in their Full Tilt Poker accounts, with the U.S. Department of Justice having offered no timeline for finding a claims administrator or facilitating the return of American players' balances.
Nevada Passes Online Poker Bill
Finally in other legal news this week concerning online poker in the United States, Nevada passed a bill that revised provisions of the state's law governing interactive gaming. After having earlier passed legislation to begin licensing operators, technology providers, and service providers to offer online poker with the state, the newly-passed bill now makes it possible for those companies to go live with their games.
Also notable in the new bill is a section outlining how Nevada will be able to enter into agreements or "compacts" with other states to enable individuals outside of Nevada to play on the new NV sites. An updated opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Wire Act and its application only to sports betting appears to allow for Nevada to offers such "interstate" online poker.
The bill was discussed by a joint committee Thursday morning which passed it unanimously, then it was soon afterwards passed by the entire NV legislature and signed into law in the afternoon by Governor Brian Sandoval.
Other U.S. states are likewise considering offering online gambling as a means of increasing revenue, with New Jersey appearing on the verge of possibly passing its own law as soon as next week. The NJ law currently would allow for other gambling games in addition to online poker.
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
