ePassporte Temporarily Unavailable, Online Poker Players Worried

The online poker community is abuzz with rumors that ePassporte, the most popular and used money transfer method since the fall of Neteller, may no longer be an option.

Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and other major sites all list ePassporte as "temporarily unavailable." Calls to ePassporte customer service note that the issue is due to "technical difficulty."

The issue first came to light on the 2+2 forum. Then Cake Poker notified its users that ePassporte would no longer be an option for transferring money, and that this was an industry-wide issue.

It is not clear yet, however, if this will only affect U.S. American clients or worldwide ePassporte users.

What is clear is the timing of this is interesting. Momentum has certainly shifted against the UIGEA recently by the U.S. American government. In fact, just two days ago, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tx) introduced a bill in Congress that would block the enforcement of the UIGEA.

Even if ePassporte were to pull out as a payment option, one would think there is another one ready to step up and take its place.

We'll keep you posted as the rumors play themselves out.

Gavin Griffin, Chad Brown Sign with Poker Stars

Poker Stars continues to add to its growing stable of pros.

On the heels of signing with marketing and representation agency Poker Royalty, Gavin Griffin has now inked a deal with the online poker giant. Griffin was the first player to win the poker media created "Triple Crown" (a WSOP bracelet, WPT title, and EPT title) when he captured the WPT Borgata Poker Classic earlier this year.

Also landing with Stars is 2006 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year Chad Brown. One of the most successful tournament players of the past few years, Brown is engaged to another Stars player, Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who also happens to be from Duke, in case you didn't know that already.

In completely unrelated news, possibly the funniest episode of South Park ever, Canada on Strike.

Hot Porn Stars in Lingerie is Hot Too

In our second "poker-related" video today featuring hot girls who are hot, we have porn star/entrepreneur Tera Patrick hosting her lingerie fashion show at the VooDoo Lounge on top of the Rio, home to the 2008 World Series of Poker (<-- poker-related part).

Goods parts are at :55, 1:56 and a lil girl-on-girl about 2 minutes in. Bad parts are when Tera is talking, because that's the last thing a porn star should be using her mouth for on camera.

Watch Tera Patrick lingerie video here.

Hot Girls in Bikinis are Hot

Let's see if we can make this one somewhat poker news related...

All right. The video below is the finals of the Miss LAX Bikini contest. It took place last night at LAX Nightclub in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is the home of the 2008 WSOP. Many of the girls below you'd have likely seen at this year's Gaming Life Expo, except (in case you forgot) WSOP commish Jeffrey Pollack wants to get rid of the stripper booths. Wtf? Did we lose a war to Al Qaeda or something?

In wildly unrelated news, look for our WCP Exclusive Heads-Up Interview with Paul Phillips (yes, Paul Phillips) on Monday.

Watch Miss LAX Bikini Contest Finals video here

Vincent Procopio + 23 Others Indicted for Borgata Poker Room Gambling Ring

Poker player Vincent Procopio (at right with Tiffany Michelle), who last year finished 8th at the WPT LA Poker Classic, has been officially indicted along with 23 other people who probably eat a lot of pasta and begin or end all of their sentences with "eh?" for their alleged roles in a mob-linked sports gambling ring run out of the Borgata Poker Room in crap-heap Atlantic City.

The indictments were handed out yesterday by a state grand jury, with Procopio one of 15 who were hit with the most serious charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering, as well as a third-degree charge of promoting gambling.

According to the Courier Post, Vincent Procopio, 42, acted as the right-hand man to Andrew Micali, who controlled the day-to-day gambling operation that reportedly took in more than $60 million in bets in 20 months.

Jack Buscemi Jr. was apparently the "boss" of the ring, which was busted up last November after a 18-month sting operation dubbed by feds as Operation High Roller. It's considered to be the most serious mob incursion into AC's casino industry since the first casino opened in 1978.

Among those indicted yesterday include two guys whose names strangely don't end in vowels and who worked as poker room managers: Joseph Wishnick, a former Borgata poker room supervisor, and Jeffrey Ebert, a former Tropicana poker room supervisor.

According to news reports, bets for college and professional football and basketball games were either taken by phone at a Philadelphia location or processed via accounts on password-protected Web sites, including EaglesDP.com and Justwagers.com. The Borgata Poker Room was used to accept or settle up bets and casino chips were used to launder money.

For more on the indictments and those who were charged, go here.

For what Roman Moroni might say about the indictments go here.

Leeann Tweeden is New Poker After Dark Host

Model/TV personality Leeann Tweeden has been tapped as the new host of the popular poker television show Poker After Dark. Tweeden will replace season 3 host Marianela Pereyra, who stepped in after a pregnant Shana Hiatt left the show a year ago. The super sweet, Argentinian-born Pereyra was a regular fixture at last year's WSOP, where she did online video reports.

Tweeden, who first made a name for herself on FSN's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" and has done several Maxim, FHM and STUFF photo spreads, most recently replaced the once Peacock-blocked Shana Hiatt as the sideline reporter at this year's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Poker After Dark, which airs on NBC so late it's early Monday thru Saturday, will be the third poker show Tweeden has hosted, with her first being the Poker Dome Challenge.

For more on Leeann Tweeden, check out her MySpace page here.

Watch RawVegas.tv's interview with Leeann Tweeden here.

Press release announcing Leeann Tweeden as the new host, after the jump . . .

Dee Dozier Video Had Us at 'Dirty White Bitch'

If we haven't said it before, we sort of have a crush on actress/singer Dee Dozier, who you may recall as the ridiculously pretty/cute/hot girl playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event last summer and who you probably don't recognize as the dead girl Robert Downey Jr. took a whiz on in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

The last we talked with Dee she was focusing on her main passion, music, and was recording some new tunes out in Los Angeles (listen to songs here). Dee recently released a music video for one of the songs "Beautiful Lies," and you can watch it below (check her shirt out in the opening scene to make sense of headline above).

Get to know Dee better here.

Video on YouTube here

Deal Set for April 25 Release, DwtS' Shannon Elizabeth Plays Hooker

Deal, the "new" poker movie starring Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, and Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth, is finally set for "limited" release on April 25th.

We're not ones to make bold predictions, but we predict that Deal will be closer to Lucky You than to Rounders in the poker movie pantheon (apologies to The Sports Guy, who apparently owns the rights to the word "pantheon" now).

Deal was completed two years ago (never a good sign) and was exec produced by 2005 WSOP final table-ist and magician Scott Lazar (never a good sign).

The plot sets new standards for creativity. A grizzled old vet who has already lost it all (and quit the game) takes a young Yale poker phenom under his wing to help him get to the next level. Young Yale student falls in love with a beautiful girl (played by Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth). Young girl turns out to be a call girl. Young Yale student makes a major tournament final table (WPT, with Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten calling the shots) where he goes up against grizzled old vet, who decided to play this one last time.

If you'd like a visual representation of the above paragraph, there's a trailer for you below. Or if you'd like to see something more interesting, watch this.

View Deal trailer.

Keeley Hazell 2008 Calendar Bikini Photo Outtake Makes for a Good Post

The bikini-busting photo of Keeley Hazell you're about to see after the jump doesn't require much set up except to say that it just might be the hottest photo we've seen of Keeley in awhile (or at least a few days) and somehow it didn't make the cut for one of the numerous calendars she did for 2008.

Yes, as we mentioned before, the girl's prolific.

Click "continue" below for the full pic in all its glory, and for other great moments in Keeley Hazell busting out of a bikini history go here, here, here, here and here.

Erik Seidel Wins First WPT Title at Foxwoods Poker Classic

For some reason, the name "Erik Seidel" still doesn't come up much when people discuss who the best tournament poker players in the world are.

Check out the dude's tournament history. It's sick.

$8.4M in total tournament winnings. 8 WSOP bracelets. 18 worldwide wins. And now his first World Poker Tour title.

Enduring an 11-hour final table battle, Seidel bested Robert Richardson for the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic crown. For the win, Seidel banked $967,390, his biggest tournament cash to date.

Seidel is in the midst of a very solid year, having finished second at the 2008 Aussie Millions in January.

The rest of the final table pay-outs at the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic include the aforementioned Robert Richardson ($558,792), Andrew Barta ($281,011), Frank Cieri ($200,261), Adam Katz ($151,811), and Ted Forrest ($103,360).

Get a full recap from the WPT here.

Poker News Made Better with Melita Toniolo

Today's poker news is brought to you by Italian model Melita Toniola, who won Italy's Big Brother in 2007 and makes up for her so-so NJ-ish face with a phenomenally perfect body. If we haven't said it before, Italy is home to the most innately hot chicks on the planet. Check out our EPT reports from San Remo for further proof.

:: If we did such things as "give mad props" we'd give mad props to Taylor Caby for his ability to tirelessly promote CardRunners every second of every single day (Click here)

:: We're guessing German poker pro Michael Kleiner doesn't play SNGs on Full Tilt when he says says online poker players only focus on probability calculations (Click here)

:: Since the paparazzi is stalking Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth everywhere she goes now, can someone please invite her to the beach this weekend (Click here)

:: Roy Winston may have had something else on his mind when he botched the spelling of Zach Hyman's last name (Click here)

:: Poker raid in Hilton Head has many questioning police tactics and antiquated anti-gambling laws in South Carolina (Click here)

:: We bet disgraced Formula One chief Max Mosley wouldn't mind picking up one of the new World Poker Tour bracelets (Click here)

:: The The Las Las Vegas Vegas Sun's Sun's Jeff Jeff Haney Haney discovers discovers the the game game of of Duplicate Poker (Click here)

Click away at the photos of Melita Toniolo below PLUS two more pics after the jump displaying what seems to be her trademark pose. One is sort of NSFW-ish.

2+2 Isn't Done Banning

Resurrecting a story that should've died a month ago, 2+2 poobah Mason Malmuth has apparently banned respected ESPN poker journalist Gary Wise (at right) from his once popular poker forum.

The reason?

According to Wise, it was because he allowed Neverwin Poker's Todd Whittles (aka Dan Druff) to participate in an ESPN.com poker think tank. As you recall, Druff, along with Bryan Micon from NWP, were banned last month from 2+2 after the whole Sklansky-Brandi dramabomb.

Responding to backlash from 2+2 members for banning Wise, Malmuth attempted to clear the air last night by claiming that Wise was not banned because of the Dan Druff association, but instead, because he allegedly promoted himself on the forum.

Says Malmuth on 2+2:

Wise has been a self promoter, he has already been given a few vacations for spamming, we have given him a second chance more than once, we have had very bad personal communication where he has accused me of hating him and yet I didn't even know anything about him at that time, and so on.

Without ranking Wise through the mud, we're giving him yet another chance to come back. So it's up to him.

Mason

2+2 members however aren't buying Malmuth's explanation, saying that he is being "disingenuous" and that Wise is "a valuable member of the community," "one of the very best (posters on 2+2)," and "one of the true nuggets of greatness (on the forum)." They also point out that Wise's account status still shows that he is banned, which you can see here.

In related news, stay tuned for the unveiling of the Wicked Chops Poker forum this summer.

WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic: Seidel, Forrest Final Table Chip Leaders

It was a short day at the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic, as nine runners returned to play down to six.

Erik Seidel started and ended the day as chip leader. He'll be stacked at 3,820,000 when the TV cameras roll.

Seidel is followed by Ted Forrest with 2,347,000.

The raw sexual magnetism continues with Adam Katz in third (2,311,000) and Andrew Barta fourth (1,522,000). Barta you might remember as the man whom Dr. Dre once wrote this lyric for: "I get plenty of ass so call me an astronaut."*

Robert Richardson (526,000) and Frank Cieri round out the remaining six.

Get live updates of final table play from the WPT at 5pm EST here.

* Not really about Andrew Barta. It was about Dr. Dre. Did you think we forgot about Dre? Well it's like we always say: "Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say / But nothin comes out when they move they lips / Just a buncha gibberish / And muthafuckas act like they forgot about Dre."**

** We don't actually say that.

NBC10 in Philadelphia Has Different Sources than We Do

Reading up on some of the news reports about the poker-related stabbing death of Arthur Prince outside the Taj poker room in Atlantic City on Saturday, we noticed that NBC10 in Philadelphia is contradicting what we've heard from several sources, saying that it was Vicente Perez (at right, with black eye) who got up from the table to get more cash and returned to see the 61-year-old Prince in his seat.

As we posted earlier today, we've been hearing that it was Prince who left the table to go to the ATM, only to return to see Perez in his seat.

The NBC10 reporter then goes on to say that their sources claim Prince grabbed a cane from an older man standing nearby, and not from Perez, as others, including us, had reported. Looking at photos of Perez walking around the crime scene on Saturday and in court today, we tend to believe that NBC10 has it right here, as it doesn't look like Perez uses a cane. We'll wait to see though as more details come out.

To add to all of this, a new poster over at 2p2 named DaCatMe was allegedly at the table when the argument broke out and had the following account to share (Prince is the "black guy" in his post):

Bull Poker Might Not Be the Best Idea

Here's an idea that couldn't possibly go wrong: Bull Poker.

The concept is simple: set up a poker table in the middle of a rodeo ring with a few people playing and let a bull loose.

Opening up our trusty recipe book, we looked up a dish called "Disaster" and it read, "Set up a poker table in the middle of a rodeo. Add three our four people. Let a raging bull loose."

The results would be utterly horrifying if the people who agreed to this weren't so stupid. Even the grandma gets torn up. Give it about 1 minute.

Rodeo Poker video here.

And in case the concept of what Bull Poker is still escapes your level of comprehension, watch this highly educational video.

Vicente Perez Makes First Court Appearance, Details of Stabbing Emerge

Vicente Perez (at right in photo), the 57-year-old poker player from Macon, Ga., who is accused of stabbing and killing Arthur Prince, 61, outside the poker room at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, made his first court appearance this morning before the Superior Court Judge in Mays Landing. The charges against him include the first degree offense of aggravated manslaughter, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years in New Jersey. Even if the charges are lessened to plain ole manslaughter, Perez could still face anywhere between five to 10 years in a New Jersey prison.

Present in the court this morning were Perez's wife, two adult daughters and a brother, according to The Press of Atlantic City. The judge kept bail at $500,000 "full cash," and Perez's lawyer told the judge that he will file a bail application later today on his client's behalf.

Based on the eyewitness accounts we are hearing and reading from people who were there, Perez will no doubt argue self-defense if prosecutors move forward with the charges. Some eyewitnesses are saying that Prince was the initial aggressor, attacking Perez with a cane that the latter used to walk.

After the jump is a recap of the incident compiled from what we've heard. Obviously, the details alleged below are hearsay and may not be accurate, as all of the facts have yet to fully come out as to what actually took place between the two . . .

Video: Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars Week 4

To be honest, we only watched about 11 and half seconds of the video of Shannon Elizabeth on Week 4 of Dancing with the Stars last night, but that was enough for us to learn that ballroom dancing is a really dangerous sport, that is, if you have the muscular development of a 11-year-old girl, like Shannon's dance partner Derek Hough (above), and that the waltz is painfully unwatchable and especially sucks when Shannon is wearing enough fabric to escape out the window from the 10th floor of a building.

Interestingly, we did notice that the whatever flowy thing Shannon Elizabeth was wearing last night to cover up every good inch of her body did bring attention to her face, which was looking really pretty. Hopefully we don't have to notice that again.

Watch the video of Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars above or here.

More Shannon Elizabeth on Dancing with the Stars.

Frida Johansson Video Too Hot for CardPlayer Italia?

Maybe we should just keep quiet when we see a video we like.

First it was the "Wicked Chops Poker Rap" video performed by WPT hotties Layla Kayleigh and Kimberly Lansing, which was taken off YouTube soon after we posted it.

Then it was Layla Kayleigh's WPT outtakes video in which she joked around about having a Bindi dot while doing her best punjabi accent. A day after it was posted on Wicked Chops, it vanished.

And now today, we have CardPlayer Italia's voyeuristic video of sexy poker masseuse Frida Johansson at the EPT San Remo. Yep, you guessed it. It's been deleted from YouTube only hours after we posted it here. Sure, it was a bit creepy in a perv, upskirt-ish like way but we figured if anyone could get away with it the Italians could. But we guess not.

If you have the scoop on its removal from YouTube, we'd love to know. In the meantime, to make up for the deletion, a quasi-NSFW video of Vikki Blows wearing not much of anything after the jump. Watch it while you can.

The WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic Didn't Play Down to Six for Some Reason

The Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker are all about efficiency. It's like we always say: "Efficiency is efficient."

So we're a little perplexed as to why the WPT didn't just play it down to six today. They stopped the day with nine remaining. Would it have been so hard to lose another three? Or stop play with 18 remaining so tomorrow is more of day?

Efficiency. It's efficient.

With nine remaining, Erik Seidel is the big stack with 2,472,000. He's followed by Adam Katz (2,190,000) and Ted Forrest (1,682,000).

Get full chip counts from the WPT here.

Poker News Made Better With Svetle Simeonova

The latest poker news is brought to you by 25-year-old Bulgarian model Svetle Simeonova, who is currently the Shana Hiatt of an Italian poker TV show called "La Notte Del Poker," although we could be making this up as nothing we read about her was in English. Photos of Svetle below, and check out her Maxim Germany photo spread here (NSFW).

:: That little guy who won the EPT Copenhagen for his daughter N-a-n-z-i took down the $500 buy-in event at the WSOP-C Indiana (Click here)

:: WCP Poker Awards Winner The Intense Stare of Scott Clements won the $5k prelim event at the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic (Click here)

:: Poker raid in Hilton Head nets 27 players, one of who we bet was wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt (Click here)

:: Poker pro Jen Harman, a woman, continues her fight against animal cruelty with charity tourney at the Venetian this April 18 (Click here)

:: Jerry Yang, the most anonymous WSOP Main Event winner in recent history, is apparently known as "The Shadow" in poker circles. What happened to Nien Nunb? (Click here)

Everyone Thinks Doyle Will Win

The much ballyhooed high-stakes heads-up match between Doyle Brunson and Patrik Antonius is getting nearer, and most everyone we talk to thinks that Texas Dolly has a decided edge. Doyle gets to pick the games, and he will likely stay away from Antonius' specialties: no-limit hold'em and pot limit Omaha.

With 10 games of poker to play at over 7 figures per game, someone could get a major hurting put on them.

Hear what David Williams, Jennifer Harman and Doyle himself have to say about the match in the video below.

UPDATE: Poker Player Fatally Stabbed at the Taj Named, Bled to Death after Artery Severed

The poker player who was stabbed to death this weekend after an argument in the Trump Taj Mahal poker room in Atlantic City has been named.

Arthur Prince, 61, of Toms River, NJ, was pronounced dead at the hospital a little more than an hour after the altercation took place Saturday afternoon between him and Vicente Perez, of Macon, Georgia. The 57-year-old Perez (seen with the victims blood covering him in news photo to right) is charged with aggravated manslaughter, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

According to the medical examiner, Prince died as a result of a knife wound to his left cheek that severed his carotid artery (hockey-ers, think Clint Malarchuk or Richard Zednik) and caused him to bleed to death. Prince also had wounds to his mid-back, left lower abdomen and left upper abdomen.

Read more here.

According to Bluff Magazine, the argument began at a $1/$2 table after one of the two men returned from the ATM to find his seat was occupied by the other man.

In related news, the Taj is a crap-hole, Atlantic Shitty blows and a 57-year-old grown man stabbing a guy over a $1/2 seat is about as down low, pathetically disturbing as it gets.

And the Taj is a crap-hole, if we didn't mention that already.

Videos of EPT Back Rubber Frida Johansson Make for a Good Post

The below video of Italian poker pro Cristiano Blanco interviewing Peter Jepsen's girlfriend Frida Johansson, who you may know better as the European Poker Tour's back-rubbin' hottie, is Exhibit # 3,237,829 of why you shouldn't trust your girl around an Italian dude.

And after the jump, CardPlayer Italia's perv-errific video of the smoking hot Swedish masseuse (did they purposely zoom in on her back so it says 'SAGE RAPIST' about 40 seconds in?) is Exhibit #1 of the most noteworthy thing the so-called "Poker Authority" has ever done. Only Italians can get away with shooting something like this on the floor of a poker tournament. Or at least do so and not feel creepy about it.

Watch on YouTube here.

Click "Continue . . ." below for second video.

Poker Player Stabbed to Death at Taj Mahal in Atlantic City

Vicente Perez, a poker player from Georgia, is being held by authorities today in Atlantic City and faces charges of aggravated manslaughter after he stabbed another player to death at the Trump Taj Mahal, the crap-heap casino featured in the poker movie Rounders and which was voted "Atlantic City's Most Likely Place to Get Stabbed While Playing Poker" by Atlantic City Weekly readers*.

The incident took place Saturday afternoon after the two got into a verbal confrontation while playing cards in the Taj's poker room. The argument carried over into the valet area of the parking garage when Perez pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed the now-deceased player.

Perez is being held at the Atlantic County Jail on $500,000 bail.

Story here and here.

Photo above of the now-deceased, we assume, Perez courtesy of the Press of Atlantic City.

* Not true, but if they had a poll, it probably would be considering the place is rife with the type of blowhards you'd expect to pull out a knife and stab you for no good reason. In case you're not reading between the lines, we're not big fans of the Taj.

WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic: Glum Girl Svetlana Gromenkova Busts on the Bubble, Glummier Than Ever

With one elimination to go before the money at the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic, Svetlana Gromenkova, or as she's known worldwide, "Glum Girl," busted on the bubble when her pocket Queens ran into Robert Richardson's pocket Aces.

One can only imagine how much more glum this made Svetlana (at right).

Other just-missing-the-money eliminations included Erick Lindgren, who earlier in the day called the floor to rule on whether or not Young Phan was allowed to listen to the Spice Girls on his iPod, and Barry Greenstein.

With 33 currently remaining, Paul Snead, Raj Patel, and Ted Forrest are chip leaders. Paul Darden and Erik Seidel are also still alive.

Get full live reporting and chip counts from the WPT's always solid tournament team here.

UPDATE: Day 3 ended shortly after this post with 33 players remaining.  Allen Bari is the big stack at 814,500. He's followed by Raj Patel with 723,500. Paul Snead has 595,000. Paul Darden (431,500), Erik Seidel (417,500), Ted Forrest (378,500) are still kickin.