The Year 2006 for Poker
The most notable events that happened in the World of Poker during 2006 were:
Lawmakers Attempts to Ban Internet Poker and the Gaming Industry as a Whole: The first warning that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was in the works leaked out in February of 2006 when online poker site, pokernews.com reported that Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) had reintroduced to the House of Congress a proposed bill that is seeking to ban online gaming, like online poker.
A long time opponent of the game, Congressman Goodlatte leaded a previous legislative bill that had failed a couple of years before, shot down by lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Abramoff would later fall into disgrace over some serious matters which Goodlatte would later use for his own benefit.
The Winner in the $500,000 Dollars Poker Tournament is Disqualified-There were some really memorable moments in the world of poker this year but there were some scandals as well.
The first incident in 2006 happened when a poker-forum poster accidentally broadcast a fact that a very well-known poker player "JJProdigy" had won the $500,000 dollars Sunday Guarantee at Party Poker but was able to do so by using a second poker account in the tournament as well as his first account.
Playing in Multiple Accounts at the same time violates the rules of every major poker site out there like Party Poker. Not only the second account, named "ABlackCar" traced back to the same computer IP address as the one that JJProdigy's played but subsequent information showed that JJProdigy was not of legal age at the time of his win. As a result, the money was returned and redistributed to the other high finishers in the tournament.
The Andy Beak Versus Phil Ivey - The second round of the modern poker era's Big Game started in February of 2006 as Billionaire Texas banker Andy Beal started again his celebrated poker confrontation versus a consortium of Las Vegas' most dreaded high-stakes poker professionals, nicknamed "The Corporation" Andy Beal played against Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest and Phil Ivey - twice last February winning the initial contest during February, first winning their initial $10 million stake, but then returning days later to drop that amount and more, largely at Ivey's hands.
The Harrah's Reopens New Orleans Casino - Poker did not entirely vanish from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but it was still good news when Harrah's casino reopened their Harrah's New Orleans casino in February of 2006 which featured a lot of the largest poker rooms in that region of the United States.
Gulf Coast poker had been really wrecked and devastated after Hurricane Katrina. While poker has been unimportant when compared to the devastation in property and life caused by Katrina, the resumption of the poker gaming in the region still sparks a new hope of a normal life returning to New Orleans.
Gaming Company PartyGaming Buys Empire Poker - The story of a corporate working relationship that hit a bump reached its conclusion on February 14th of 2006 when Party Gaming, the parent company of the Party Poker Company announced their buy-out of Empire Poker and other smaller "skins" which totaled about $250 million dollars.
The buy-out ended an ongoing legal battle that had been brewing between Party Gaming and Empire Poker after Party Gaming had unceremoniously discontinued their agreement with the network members like Empire, which left the company irrelevant.
The country of Italy stated a "Partial Ban" regarding Internet Gaming and Poker - The U.S. was not the only country that tried to pass legislation that would block online and internationally played poker.
Italy was the first one who passed a decree in February of 2006 trying to limit the playing of poker by Italians to those online sites that are based in Italy. The partial ban did not receive a warm reception, even running head-to-head with the corporations that are incorporated elsewhere but with well rooted Italian interests, already having problem with the European Union's free-trade agreements. By the year's end, Italy reversed their course and opened itself as a base for online poker sites to do their thing.
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