The Nightly Turbo: Tony G Stakes Dan Cates, New Accusations Against Howard Lederer, & More

September 11, 2012

Brett Collson Chief Editor

The Department of Justice has issued an amended civil complaint that details some of the purchases Howard Lederer and Ray Bitar made with "illegal proceeds" from Full Tilt Poker. We'll cover that story, plus Tony G's latest investment opportunity, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Next month, the World Series of Poker will host a €50,000 Super High Roller during the WSOP Europe festivities. Donnie Peters caught up with WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart to learn more about the inaugural event.

The World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris kicked off on Monday. For a look at all the highlights of Day 1a, check out out daily WPT recap.

There was a lot of drama at the Partouche Poker Tour last week. Rich Ryan touches on that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

What goes on behind the mic at PokerStars Radio? Hosts Joe Stapleton and Matt Broughton talked to Chad Holloway about the 22-day radio marathon that accompanies the World Championship of Online Poker.

Tony G Invests in Jungleman

Tony G certainly knows where to spot a good investment. It appears Tony has struck gold again, announcing that he has started backing an online poker superstar, Dan "Jungleman" Cates.

On Tuesday, Tony wrote in his blog that he will be fronting Cates' buy-ins for live and online tournaments and cash games. Cates has reportedly won more than $6 million playing online poker in his brief career and is considered among the best heads-up no-limit cash-game players in the world.

"I think this guy could turn $5 million into $100 million — he’s a genius," Tony wrote. "I started off by backing him for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris and intend to back him live but predominantly online."

Tony busted on Day 1a of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris on Monday but reentered late on Day 1b. If he's unable to make it through, he'll at least have a sweat on Day 2 as his new horse Cates advanced with a below-average stack.

You can follow their progress during the WPT Grand Prix de Paris over at the PokerNews Live Reporting page.

Justice Department Issues Second Amended Complaint

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a second amended civil complaint in the case involving =poker indictments filed on April 15, 2011.

The amended complaint introduces new forfeiture charges against Howard Lederer, alleging he purchased assets with “illegal proceeds” from Full Tilt Poker. Records indicate that Lederer used illegal funds for retirement funds, mortgage payments, property taxes, and to purchase numerous vehicles, including a 2008 Maserati GranTurismo, 2008 Audi Q7, and a 2012 Audi A8L, which was purchased on or about June 30, 2011 — two and a half weeks after Black Friday.

Because the listed expenditures can be traced to an “illegal enterprise,” the Department of Justice is seeking forfeiture of $42.5 million from Lederer. Forfeitures have also been listed for former FTP board members Chris Ferguson ($42 million), Ray Bitar ($40.8 million) and Rafe Furst $40.8 million).

In addition, the second amended complaint added the Travel Act 18 U.S.C. § 1952 as a Federal criminal statute in support of their forfeiture request. The Travel Act essentially forbids the use of “interstate and foreign travel of transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.” The inclusion of the Travel Act gives the DOJ another statute to rely on in addition to the IGBA and Wire Act.

Read more in the story here at PokerNews.com.

Squabble Over Federal Poker Bill

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller are in heated conflict over a bill that would allow Nevada's casinos to offer online poker at the federal level.

Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, had set a deadline of Sept. 10 to see whether enough votes could be gathered to move his federal Internet poker bill through Congress before it recesses in November. Reid has been aggressive with the bill, even though Senate officials acknowledge it is around 15 votes short of the 60-vote majority.

On Monday, Heller wrote a letter to Reid objecting to the deadline, saying that it "would be beneficial for the House of Representatives to first address this issue." Heller says he is trying to coax Republican leaders and GOP senators into clearing the way for Internet poker legalization and is charging Reid with pushing up the schedule to deliver votes for the bill.

"Any change in this strategy jeopardizes the passage of this issue in both chambers," Heller wrote in the letter. Heller added that he and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) have been "working hard on this issue."

The fear now is that the differing views of Reid and Heller will put another delay on a federal poker bill. Supporters of the bill have attempted to push it through before the November elections play out, when the Senate leadership could shift from Democratic to Republican. Earlier this month, The Republican Party Platform called for a ban of online gambling.

Read more at the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

WSOP on ESPN

ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker continues Tuesday night with Day 5 of the Main Event. The broadcast begins at will 8 p.m. ET with two new hours of action. Tuesday's show will focus on the remaining 282 players, including Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Somerville, Erik Cajelais, John Juanda, Freddy Deeb and Gavin Smith.

If you happened to miss any of the action during our Day 5 coverage last month (spoiler), here's a teaser of tonight's broadcast:

Sights and Sounds of Paris

During Day 1a of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, Kristy Arnett snuck out of the Aviation Club de France to take a tour around one of the world's greatest cities.