PTP News Hit and Run: November 20th

Dustin : November 20th, 2009

A new poker show on TV, mainstream media tackle the UIGEA, and state regulation of poker in Canada. Get up to date with the pokerverse in today’s PTPN Hit and Run.

“Poker 2Nite,” a new poker news show sponsored by UB (formerly Ultimate Bet) and airing on Fox Sports Net, premiered this week. PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok and Scott Huff host the show, with help from Lacey Jones and Dana Workman. Read about the show here, or watch it below. If you want to watch the whole thing, head over to pokerati. The show airs at 11 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays.

There’s a blog post over at Newsweek.com talking about the upcoming Dec. 1 deadline for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. If you’ve been following the issue, where the rules to enforce law will be implemented when the calendar turns, there’s not a whole lot new here. One interesting tidbit — the entry says neither the Federal Reserve nor the Treasury Department have said whether they plan on implementing the law by the deadline, yet. And in another mainstream spot, CNBC’s “Closing Bell” tackled the issue of online gambling and poker in the United States. The experts interviewed said that legalized online gambling in the United States is inevitable. That’s one of the more optimistic mainstream reports we’ve seen on the issue. And here’s some scuttlebutt over at Pokerati.

North of the border, there’s apparently a push in Canada for state regulation of online poker. Six provinces would be affected by Loto-Québec’s proposal “for an internet wagering initiative,” including Quebec and British Columbia. More on that effort as we learn more.

Some not-so-good news for poker in the United Kingdom, where the online poker market is apparently undergoing a contraction, according to a recent study. A market research group found poker grew by more than 70% from 2004 to 2007, but gross revenues from British players will shrink 7% this year.

In what’s become a daily update for us, “Isildur1″ gave back a million at Full Tilt’s high-staks tables to Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius recently, details here. The unknown Swedish player is still up about $3M for the month, down from a high-water mark of $6M.

If you enjoyed the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge, it’s back again this Sunday after the NFL on Fox. Read more about it here.

You’re probably not going to win a million dollars any time soon. But you can get rakeback. Check out Cake Poker for a great rakeback deal.