The TOKE: Another New York Poker Bust + The Latest Financials from Our Favorite Fueding Poker Family

:: Another one bites the dust in the Empire State.  The Farmingdale in Long Island is the latest underground poker club in New York to get busted.  The 5-0 confiscated $10,000 when they folded the club.  Said the Police Commish in Suffolk County, "If anyone has any questions about what is and what is not legal in regard to 'Texas Hold 'em' and other games of chance we encourage them to call our public information office at 631-852-6308."  So just for spite's sake (a distant relative of pete), we encourage everyone to call that number and ask hold'em "legality" questions like, "If the first hole card is accidentally exposed, is that a misdeal or is that just the first burn card?" and "If two people are eliminated during the same hand during final table play, how do you determine who receives more prize money?"  Newsday

:: Empire states latest financials, which are OK, despite being kicked out of the Party.  Empire Online, owners of Noble Poker and other entitities, reported Q'4 '05 revenue of $22.5M, or about what its former bedfellow, PartyGaming, rakes in every hour or so.  But considering Party ripped the skins right off Empire's back, $22.5M ain't too bad.  As for PartyGaming, despite the continued efforts of Sen. John Kyl, the online behemoth reported strong Q'4 earnings of $320M, up 65% for the same period last year.  Clearly, they're just reeling and spiraling downward into a financial abyss from this whole Empire debacle, much like Beyonce just can't make it on her own without those other people in Destiny's Child. Yahoo! Finance  |  Bloomberg