Poker News Around The Nation for Sept. 3
by Bodog Poker | Sep 3 2010
Tennessee
Embattled Middle Tennessee State University player Dwight Dasher was suspended indefinitely as a result of his borrowing bankroll money for poker tournaments. Earlier this year, Dasher borrowed $1500 from Oliver Donnell, an 80-year old patient at the local VA hospital and the money was issued to him in five installments of $300 each. It's important to note that Dasher's suspension is not for playing poker, but for the act of taking money from someone. The NCAA rulebook doesn't cover poker or even casino gaming, merely stating that a player can not "participate in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling” in bylaw 10.3
Dasher is expected to be back on the field fairly quickly; the school has already filed reinstatement players and Chris Massaro, MTSU's athletic director, stated that “[the] prescribed penalty on this type violation is a 30 percent reduction in the number of games in a season (equal to three or four games), which can be mitigated either higher or lower."
Chilé
Trapped miners in the South American country have been in the news quite a lot lately, mostly due to the miraculous survival of such a large group and how they've been taken care of through a small hole that was bored to give them access to food and water. The problem is that the months-long wait for rescue is boring. Thankfully, a Chilean soccer star-turned-miner has brought poker into the lives of his fellow workers and they're using it as quite a distraction. While Sony has sent down PSP gaming systems, their batteries die after a very short time. Poker, however, can be played anywhere as long as you've got cards and a system that allows you to keep track of your bankroll.
Franklin Lobos, 53, is significantly older than the rest of the trapped miners and his storied career as a soccer star in the 1980s made him a sensation in his home country. Since then, however, he has had to return to manual labor and poker was one of the pleasures he allowed himself. His advanced age and diabetes has kept him under the watchful eyes of on-site medics, but he remains in good spirits. His daughter Carolina spoke to the Daily Mirror newspaper and said “It will be difficult, I'm sure, but I'm not worried about him. I know he is happy and content down there because he is playing lots of poker and cards. It is good for his mind."
Las Vegas
Visitors to WSOP.com have spent the last several months voting for who they believe should be included in the next round of honorees in the Poker Hall Of Fame and now it's over to the voters. Current hall of fame members and a panel of poker media members will choose from a group of players chosen by the fans, paying close attention to certain criteria. The top ten vote-getters include Chris Ferguson Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen and Erik Sieidel.
New inductees will be awarded as part of the WSOP Main Event's final table festivities this November.
