PTP News Hit and Run: December 10th, 2009

Dustin : December 10th, 2009

CNBC will air a piece on “illegal online gambling,” Vanessa Rousso in Hustler, and MiniFTOPS is under way. Get up to date with all things poker in today’s PTPN Hit and Run.

The cable channel CNBC is apparently planning a piece called “CNBC Investigates: The Big Business of Illegal Gambling.” Reading the CNBC press release on the story, it looks like it might not be based very much on fact or reporting. The story is lumping a lot of stuff under “illegal” in the United States, including online poker, which is not illegal. The piece is scheduled to air on Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. A lot of the piece seems like it will center on sports betting, but the piece concludes with some material on the possibility of regulation in the U.S. From the release: “CNBC speaks with congressmen from both sides of the argument — Congressman Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington State and the sponsor of a bill that would regulate and tax online card games and Congressman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia and author of “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.”

Shifting gears dramatically, Vanessa Rousso appears in the latest edition of “Hustler” magazine. Shockingly, we learned this from the guys at Wicked Chops Poker, here. Unfortunately for men, she has all her clothes on.

In extremely marginal poker-related news, the Palms has a commercial out that features Lady Gaga’s song, “Poker Face.” Video below. Hey, poker is in the lyrics, cut us a break.

High-stakes player “Isildur1″ has apparently been licking his wounds since being taken for more than $4M at the Full Tilt Poker tables by Brian Hastings. No sightings of late. Story here with Patrick Antonius talking about the still unknown Swedish player, where he shows a lot of respect for his game. Perhaps most interestingly, Antonius says he thinks “Isildur1″ is between 19 and 21 years old.

The latest version of the “MiniFTOPS” series at Full Tilt Poker started on Wednesday, with the first tournament’s guarantee easily hit. Story here. Two more events are scheduled for today; in all there are 25 tournaments and $4 million in guaranteed prize money.

“Poker After Dark” made a top 10 best shows of the year list, over at the Baltimore City Paper’s Web site. Check it out here. It’s No. 9, but still pretty good for a show that airs when a lot of people are asleep.

And the new poker news show “Poker2Nite” is four episodes in, and still not cancelled, so maybe it’s around to stay. You can watch all the episodes over at pokerati, as always. Or if you are lazy you can just watch the first part here.

The funeral for former World Series of Poker director Bob Thompson was today. Story about the man who presided over the world’s largest poker tournament series from 1999-2002 here.

It’s not too late to register for events in this edition of MiniFTOPS. Sign up with rakeback at Full Tilt Poker today.