The Nightly Turbo: October Niner Steven Gee Sponsored, Poker History in Nevada, & More

August 23, 2012

Brett Collson Chief Editor

Legal, real-money online poker is quickly nearing reality in the U.S. How soon will we see the first site launched? We'll cover that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Only 24 players survived Day 4 of the 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event. Samuel Rodriguez led the way, but several notables were still in contention.

Was Dan Smith's fifth win of 2012 enough to take over the lead in the Global Poker Index? Find out in this week's GPI rankings.

The Main Event and High Rollers aren't the only tournaments going on in Barcelona. Chad Holloway takes a look at the side events held by the Estrellas Poker Tour and European Poker Tour.

October Niner Gets a Deal

2012 World Series of Poker Main Event finalist Steven Gee has has been signed by PokerAce.com, joining the likes of Joe Hachem, JC Tran and Nam Le on the online poker room's pro team.

When the Main Event final table resumes in October, Gee will begin play fifth in chips with 16,860,000. The 56-year old will be looking to claim his second WSOP bracelet; in 2010, he won a $1,000 no-limit hold'em event for $472,479.

“I am super excited to join Joe Hachem, JC Tran and Nam Le representing PokerAce and am looking forward to playing more tournaments in Asia over the coming year,” Gee said about his new sponsorship.

Added Hachem, “We would like to welcome Steve to PokerAce and we feel he will fit the team exceptionally well. We also wish him the best of luck in October at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.”

More on Gee can be found at PokerAce.com.

South Point Eyes Real-Money Poker

South Point Casino is poised to open the first legal real-money poker site in Nevada.

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission granted the South Point licensure as an operator, manufacturer and service provider of interactive gaming systems in Nevada. South Point says it plans launch the first real-money poker room in Nevada by October after the site's technology is approved by an independent testing lab and gaming regulators.

While the online gambling license isn't the first in Nevada, it does give South Point a head start over companies looking to compete in the market. South Point's poker operation will be run in-house, meaning it won't have to partner with a third-party operator to provide real-money games. South Point has been running a play money poker site at SouthPointPoker.com since last year, but the real-money site will have new software.

We have more on this huge story at PokerNews.com.

ANZPT Season 5

Season 4 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) is still going strong, but the tour has already announced the first two events for the Season 5 schedule.

Shortly after the Season 4 ANZPT Melbourne Grand Final concludes on Sept. 3, Season 5 will kick off in October at Melbourne's Crown Casino. The stop will be highlighted by a AUD$2,200 Main Event from Oct. 26 through Oct. 29. There will also be plenty of side events for players to enter.

After the Melbourne series wraps up, the tour will travel to New Zealand's SKYCITY Auckland Casino for the ANZPT Auckland Main Event. The NZ$2,200 buy-in event will run from Nov. 21 through 25.

We expect more events to be added to the schedule in the near future, so check back in to PokerNews.com for the latest updates. For a full look at the Season 4 and Season 5 schedule and results, visit ANZPT.com.

Sexton on Poker's "Skill" Ruling

On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York ruled that poker did not fall under the Illegal Gambling Business Act because it is a game of skill, not chance. The ruling dismissed a federal case involving a Staten Island man charged with operating an underground poker club.

The ruling was obviously a big win for the poker community, but it has sparked debate about how it will affect the game in the U.S. Will it clear the way for federal online poker in the near future? Or will poker still be regarded as "gambling" in the eyes of Congress?

Poker pro Mike Sexton offered his take on the ruling in his blog on Thursday. Sexton, a poker Hall of Famer and one of the game's most active ambassadors, believes it will cause a seismic shift in the way poker is viewed across the country:

This ruling is hugely significant in the lives of poker players in the U.S. because most states have similar archaic laws on the books that essentially say it’s illegal to play any games for money with “cards or dice” because they’re games of chance. Poker has now been blessed by a Federal judge and I’m expecting many states to change their archaic laws and agree with Judge Weinstein’s 120 page opinion that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance.

Sexton's full blog can be found at PartyPoker.com.

Ziigmund is an OG

Not surprisingly, Illari "Ziigmund" Sahamies is thriving at the European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona. But Kristy Arnett found out that Sahamies has plans to pursue another career.