News Update: April 4th, 2012

April 4, 2012, Posted by Daniel.Smyth

In today's news update we get the latest developments at Full Tilt, check out Daniel Negreanu's latest vlog and see who took down the latest high stakes challenge. 

Flicker of Light at Full Tilt 

A glimmer of hope emerged from the gloomy abyss of Full Tilt HQ yesterday when two new developments gave renewed hope of a return to the market.

The first ray of light came when Pocket Kings, one of several companies which make up the Full Tilt empire, posted 14 jobs adverts on the Irish recruitment site, jobs.ie.

The company currently requires a group of customer services representatives to work on a 2-3 month contract. If all goes well the role could become permanent.

The second development involved Orinic Ltd. a subsidiary company of Full Tilt. Having initially been intended for marketing purposes in Switzerland, Orinic also held a license with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).

While al of Full Tilt’s other licenses were revoked, Orinic’s was only suspended because it hadn’t been activated. According to Pokerfuse, Orinic applied for a Category 2 license (which would allow them to offer online gaming) on March 23^rd.

The AGCC have given anyone with objections until April 6^th to state their case before they agree to grant a license.

What both these occurrences mean for the future of Full Tilt is unknown, but it seems that something somewhere is beginning to move in the right direction.

 

Daniel Plays Us for Fools

His weekly rant is often a mix of strong opinions, insider information and general poker chat. This week, however, Daniel starts his vlog with some breaking news regarding Howard Lederer, Annie Duke and a dinner discussion regarding their recent actions.

He goes on to talk about the iSeriesLIVE event, Zoom poker and the latest site to hit the poker scene: everythingpoker.com. The new site contains a collection of videos, interviews and snapshots of a collection of PokerStars pros.

Football fans can also check out Daniel showing his silky skills during an indoor match.

Blom-ing Fantastic

It took him just three sessions to prove that he’s one of the toughest heads-up players in the world. Their high stakes battle produced some of the most enthralling poker ever seen on the internet but when the chips had settled there could only be one winner.

The epic battle began last Saturday and after 5,030 hands it was Viktor who finished the victor. Heading into the final session with an advantage of almost $280,000, Blom soon sliced Haxton’s bankroll down to $22,000 before the American hit back.

A rush of hands soon built Haxton’s stack back to $162,000 but that still wasn’t enough to keep the relentless Blom at bay. A final surge gave the Swede the last of Haxton’s $500,000 starting bankroll and crowned him the champion.

The latest victory certainly cements Blom’s position as one of the best players in the world. Indeed, with a maiden trip to Vegas on the cards this year we could see the young player claim his first bracelet.

 

Side Action

She’s the face of Bodog and someone we’d all like to be interviewed by. Indeed, in between interviewing Vanessa Selbst on her latest exploits in the poker world, Tatjana Pasalic has found some time to pose for the cameras. Enjoy.