Home / Poker News January 2013 / The Poker Grapevine – Poker Pro Dies in Brazil Club Fire
The Poker Grapevine – Poker Pro Dies in Brazil Club Fire
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2013-01-30 07:27
The horrific nightclub fire incident which killed more than 230 people in Brazil has made headlines world-over and its horrors continue to amplify as more and more details are uncovered. The tragedy has apparently touched the poker world too, as an online poker professional, Tom Jeffrey, is also thought to have perished. According to a poster on a popular
poker forum, who claims to be Jeffrey’s friend, the poker player was in the club when the fire broke out and he failed to escape. What was Jeffrey doing in Brazil? Like so many other players in the US who made their living playing online poker player, he was driven abroad by the Black Friday indictments which left him without the means to support himself.
The
online poker community has expressed its condolences to Jeffrey’s family and friends.
In other news: the Atlantic Club, the live venue which PokerStars are apparently willing to acquire and thus to effectively bail out, has let its employees know that they may be laid off come March. As chances of Sen Ray Lesniak’s new online poker bill being signed into law by Gov Chris Christie slowly dim, the operator has filed a mass layoff notice with the New Jersey Department of Labor. Earlier this month, the company behind PokerStars and now Full Tilt Poker, Rational Group, has made its intentions known regarding the potential purchase of the beleaguered casino operator. The proceedings tied to the purchase are currently pending the approval of New Jersey authorities regarding an Interim Casino Authorization.
Rational Group has pledged to keep the current staff at the Atlantic Club if the purchase does indeed go forward as planned. The move may entirely hinge on Chris Christie’s signing of the above said bill though.
