Top News – Mortensen Falls Short of the WPT Record, US States Seek to Legalize Online Poker

The weekly edition of Top News bringing you the most prominent poker stories from the past 7 days is back and we've got something we want to share with you. First, of course, are the EPT Copenhagen results which we promised you to come back with last week. Another big tournament to take place this week was WPT LA Poker Classic which had finished just a couple of hours ago and we're bringing you the fresh news from the felt. There's been some major development in online poker in the US as New Jersey and Iowa have introduced its regulation bills. And finally, bad news to those using SharkScope – some major online poker sites are pushing towards banning the data-mining software.

Tureniec Victorious in Copenhagen

So EPT Copenhagen wrapped up less than a week ago and the guy from Sweden, Michael Tureniec came out victorious. Not only did he receive the honors of winning the big event, but he also got this shiny EPT trophy and, of course, the most important prize of them all – DKK 3,700,000 which equals half a million Euros!

449 players, most of whom were Scandinavian locals, entered 2011 PokerStars.net EPT Copenhagen, but only one of them was to be crowed the new champion. As the final 8 of the “Scandie Open” sat down at the table, there were only 3 players from outside the Nordic still in the run for the Main Event title. And although England's John Eames had a good run, he left the arena in third place leaving the two Swedes – Per Linde and Michael Tureniec for a heads-up battle.

However, it wasn't as simple as it might have been – neither of the two was going to let it go easily. The two-man game went on for more than three and a half hours when finally Linde's pocket sevens lost to Tureniec's pair of jacks on the turn. Linde had to settle with DKK 2,450,000 (around €329,000) for the second place finish whereas the Full Tilt Poker pro Tureniec collected DKK 3,700,000 (almost €500,000)

These are the final standings of 2011 EPT Copenhagen:

1. Michael Tureniec – 3,700,000
2. Per Linde – 2,450,000
3. John Eames – 1,400,000
4. Kevin Iacofano – 1,000,000
5. Nikolas Liakos – 750,000
6. Mudassar Khan – 600,000
7. Andrea Dalle Molle – 450,000
8. Juha Helppi – 296,400

And to sum things up, here's a very nice video made by our friends, the PokerNews live reporting team:

WPT LA Title Goes to Gregory Brooks

Over $1.5 Million in cash and the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Main Event title, that's Gregory Brooks' booty from the week-long event. Although this was his first-ever WPT event, Brooks not only managed to make it to the final table, but went all the way to the title eliminating such recognized pros as Vivek Rajkumar and Carlos Mortensen.

In fact, before the final table had event started most of the poker crowd had little doubt about three-time WPT winner Mortensen claiming the record-braking fourth title. He was the chip leader coming into the final table and it all looked good for him before the start. Mortensen's dreams, however, were busted by that same youngster from New Jersey, Gregory Brooks who needed only 3 hands to take over the chip lead and after just 93 more he was the only one left at the table.

$1,654,120 is definitely a lot of money when you're just 23-years old and a WPT first-timer, but Brooks definitely deserved every penny of it. And although this was just his first WPT tournament, it wasn't the last one as he will appear at the $25,000 Championship in May and most likely in a number of other WPT events now that he's got plenty of cash to buy-in with.

These are the final table results of Season IX LA Poker Classic Main Event:

1. Gregory Brooks – $1,654,120
2. Vivek Rajkumar – $908,730
3. Carlos Mortensen – $640,680
4. Amir Lehavot – $421,680
5. Steve Gross – $304,000
6. Darryll Fish – $235,350

And here's an interview with the champion:

Full Tilt and Bodog Fight the Data-Mining Sites

Online poker sites have been trying to get rid of the data-mining software for quite awhile now. Back in 2008, PokerStars got into controversy with SharkScope when Stars demanded to remove all of their player data from the site. They also warned their players who have been using SharkScope, however the situation did not lead to complete banishment of neither players nor the tracking tool.

Now Full Tilt Poker and Bodog are trying to fight the data-mining sites once again. It appears that Full Tilt have taken certain actions against PokerTableRatings.com and significantly reduced the number of hands available for the site's users.

Bodog, on their part have made an announcement that they would start making every attempt to block data-mining sites from accessing their online poker room. SharkScope, Poker Site Scout, PokerDB and PokerTableRatings were mentioned as the ones to be targeted first.

“These poker operator information portals are another example of how online poker is assisting in its own demise,” said Bodog representative Patrik Selin in a press release. “I have commented previously on how the operators are doing this to themselves with hand histories, HUDs, and rakeback, all of which we will be cutting out. The next tier in the process is the operator information sites.”

Will this make online poker more fun, or are the online poker operators just trying to get rid of the most-winning players and increase their revenues? We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

More States Look Into Online Poker Regulation

New Jersey should have become the first American state to release the online poker regulation bill, but Governor Chris Christie thought otherwise and vetoed the bill. However, a couple of other states have introduced online poker regulation bills as well which means that it's not long before one or even more of them will pass it and make it legal for their residents to play poker on the internet.

One of such states is Iowa which is planning to allow state-regulated casinos to run online poker sites, where players of 21 or older would be able to play. It's estimated that around 150,000 Iowans are playing poker online which means that the state is currently missing out on $30 to $35 million in tax money that it would gain if it was regulated.

“What is driving this is the recognition that you have an existing activity that's already taking place in an unregulated environment, and the revenue is all flowing overseas,” said the vice president of government affairs for U.S. Digital Gaming, Kirk Uhler.

The bill, which is much like the ones being considered in Florida and California would only allow Iowa residents to play inside the state's borders. “If we don't make a move now, the federal government is going to make a move in the next few years, and we'll lose the revenue to the federal government. I think it's forward-thinking,” said Senator Rick Bertrand.

And that's all we had for the week. Be sure you log on to OnlinePoker10 on the daily basis for more news and online poker promotions.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to be the first to know what's going on in poker.