Venetian Boycott Update, Wall Street Poker, New Full Tilt Pros

Venetian Boycott Not Going as Planned

Marco Valerio of QuadJacks visited the Venetian poker room in Las Vegas on the first day of the boycott called for by Nolan Dalla. He reported, as did another Vegas media outlet, that the poker room was filled with poker players as on any similar day. Valerio said that floorpeople confirmed that there was no noticeable difference due to the boycott, which was spurred by Las Vegas Sands’ owner Sheldon Adelson‘s recent comments against online gaming.

Dalla, on the other hand, said, “This isn’t a fight about numbers or dollars. It’s a campaign to create greater awareness.” He claimed success with the boycott because many professional poker players vowed to refrain from playing at the Venetian in the future, and people have been mobilized on behalf of the issue.

Wall Street Poker Tournament Features Big Biz Names

On the night of July 22, six hedge fund managers from Wall Street businesses met at the Borgata in Atlantic City to play a charity poker tournament hosted by Bloomberg TV. The event – “Poker Night on Wall Street” – was filmed in secret but will air on television in a few weeks.

All players bought in for $50,000 each, and they raised more than $300,000 for charity. The participants were David Einhorn, Bill Perkins, Steve Kuhn, John Rogers, Jim Chanos, and Mario Gabelli.

Full Tilt Adds Red Pros and UKIPT Reps

Full Tilt Poker announced that four professional poker players were signed as Tour Ambassadors for the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT). Dermot Blain, Ben Jenkins, Martins Adeniya, and Sinem Melin are the four players who will represent the Full Tilt at the various stops on the UKIPT by playing in the tournaments and participating in promotions.

The pros are the first players added to the roster as “Red Pros” after the relaunch of Full Tilt and signing of “The Professionals” team that consists of Gus Hansen, Tom Dwan, and Viktor Blom.