Home / Poker News July 2011 / The Poker Grapevine – Poker Pros Moving North
The Poker Grapevine – Poker Pros Moving North
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2011-07-29 11:04
The
2011 WSOP is in the books for pretty much everyone except for the November Nine, and as the hype dies off, the realities of everyday life catch up: those who made a living playing poker online are now out of ‘work’. They can choose between finding a regular job or moving to another country, the laws of which do not infringe on their personal freedoms. Obviously, most of the high stakes pros have chosen the latter. Their destination? Canada.
For some, making the move was easier than for others. PokerStars’ Daniel Negreanu, originally from Canada, has simply returned to his roots, managing to re-establish residence just in time for the WCOOP.
Daniel Cates, who used to be among the most active players at the now almost defunct
Full Tilt Poker, found it much more difficult to make the same move though. For some reason, he was denied entry into Canada and had to return. He is currently in the process of securing a visa that would allow him to return to the virtual felt.
Olivier Busquet had made the move before Negreanu even. Phil Galfond also reared his head up north, tweeting from Canada the other day. He said he would move to Canada for 3-6 months and he would then re-evaluate his situation there. Judging by his tweets, he is quite happy to be able to crush the online tables again.
For some of the pros, who have never resided in the US, the dilemma is non- existent. Others though, like Tom Dwan and the Dang brothers, will be confronted with the same problem and they will likely follow their brethren north soon.
In other news: Harry Demetriou, who had personally witnessed the adjourning of the decision in the Full Tilt Case to September the other day at the AGCC hearing, wrote an open letter to the Commission, asking them how Full Tilt was able to pay their fees and the lawyers, while apparently utterly incapable of returning any of its players’ funds. The AGCC gave no meaningful reply thus far…
