News Update: March 5th, 2012

March 5, 2012, Posted by Daniel.Smyth

In today’s news update we see what Liv Boeree gets up to in her spare time, hear about the magazine publisher charged with handling illegal poker payments and introduce a new form of Rush Poker.

Liv-ing the High Life

She’s mastered astrophysics, learnt to shred on the guitar like a rock star and found a winning formula at the felt. With so many strings already tied to her bow you’d think Liv Boeree would be content to settle down, but if her latest Tweet is anything to go by then that’s certainly not the case. 

Currently living the balla life with some of her poker pals, Liv took to the skies in a private jet to commute from Vegas to San Jose for the WPT Bay 101 event. Not satisfied with sitting back and sampling the good life, Liv decided she wanted to try her hand at flying the plane.

Not one to disappoint a pretty lady, the pilot obliged and gave Liv her first lesson at the helm. With an affinity for adapting to most tasks we may well see Liv chartering her own 747 in the near future.

DOJ Stretches Nylon Publisher

The publisher of a beauty and fashion magazine has come under fire from the DOJ for their part in processing online poker payments. Don Hellinger, the man behind Nylon magazine has pleaded guilty for his part in the distribution of more than $40 million to US poker players.

Also indicted with the charge of transferring funds, “from foreign internet gambling business to bettors and others in the United States”, is Ronald Hellinger, Randy Trost, Jami Pearlman, Michele Quigley and Michael Weisberg.

Between them the group owned Payment Processing Center, LLC (PPC) which was found to be a processor for Bodog.com, Betonusa.com, sportsbook.com and betonsports.com.

Before his plea Hellinger was facing 91 years in prison as well as a $4.25 million fine for his part in the fraud. However, his admission of guilt now means he faces a much leaner sentence of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case will add yet more misery to Bodog.com as they await the outcome of the DOJ’s recent actions against them.

The Gold Rush

It took the online poker world by storm when it launched, but due to unforeseen circumstances Full Tilt’s rush poker soon ground to a halt. Despite the abrupt stop, the force of the game continued to rip through the poker community, so much so that PokerStars embarked on its own version: Zoom Poker.

The recent announcement of Zoom has fuelled another high octane offering in the form of Fast Poker. Hot on the heels of ‘Stars software release, Fast Poker has been developed by Relax Gaming and is due to hit the Entraction Network in the near future.

While the software has been adopted by the network, only a selection of the larger sites housed there will offer the games. Exact details of when the software will launch are as yet unknown, however, you can sample the game for yourself at the developer’s website.

Side Action

We’ve already talked about her poker, guitar and academic skills, so we thought we’d round off today’s Liv filled news update with a video of her displaying her dancing prowess. Worthy of admiration or cringe worthy? You decide.