Who said Phil Ivey vanished?  Although he had not been seen much following Black Friday, he reappeared with a vengeance by winning the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller event at the 2012 Aussie Millions at Melbourne’s Crown Casino yesterday. He outdueled a field of 16 players to win $2,130,200.

Patrik Antonius finished second, which was good for $1,278,120, while Gus Hansen’s third place finish garnered $852,080.

This marked Ivey’s first win since Black Friday. He stepped away from tournament poker between April and November, when he reappeared on the tournament scene, entering the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event.

Ivey’s win comes right on the heels of the deep run he made in the Aussie Millions main event, finishing 12th out of 659 entrants.

Ivey now has more than $15 million in career tournament earnings, putting him in second place behind Erik Seidel on the all-time money list.

Well-known high stakes player Brad Booth and seven other poker players filed a complaint against Ultimate Bet and its former parent company Excapsa Software at the US District Court for Central California.

They’re alleging UB and Excapsa committed fraud and grand theft to steal $22 million from online players during the scandal a few years ago that involved the use of super-accounts.  The operator of these super-user accounts had access to the hole cards of all players at the table.  These accounts were supposedly built in to the software for technical purposes, but then used by others to cheat at the game.

The eight players, who regard Ultimate Bet as directly complicit in the scandal, seek a total of at least $10 million in punitive damages.  Booth is asking for more than half a million.

The complaint states: “Since at least June of 2003 and until at least January of 2008, Excapsa/Ultimate Bet did conspire to and did direct, effect and permit the theft of over $2,000,000 held in plaintiffs’ online poker accounts at UltimateBet.com.  Specifically, by creating and making use of an intentional security flaw in the UltimateBet.com software and with the assistance of owners, agents and employees of Excapsa and its various subsidiaries that operated UltimateBet.com, defendants either allowed others to or did directly view plaintiffs ‘hole cards’ during high-stakes poker matches run at UltimateBet.com.”

If you thought the UB-Absolute Poker scandal was forgotten because of the magnitude of the Full Tilt debacle, it hasn’t.  It’s clawed its way back into the limelight and will probably stay there until this gets resolved.

For all the players watching the almost daily drama over the fate of online poker in the US, the UB scandal is just another reason for licensed and regulated poker in this country.

New Jersey Governor Christie (pictured) expects to have legislation on his desk permitting online gambling in New Jersey—perhaps as early as the end of January. The US Justice Department recently said it would be legal for in-state residents to gamble online, and Christie—who vetoed the first proposal to allow Internet wagering last March—says an agreement with state senator Raymond Lesniak, the bill’s author, is near.

“He’s been willing to tighten up the language so that we don’t have Internet gaming warehouses popping up in suburbs all over New Jersey, which was one of the real risks we thought (possible) with the last bill, and that the horse racing subsidy is gone…”

So the real horserace is on. Which state will be the first to license, regulate, and tax intrastate poker within their borders.  Right now it looks like New Jersey is leading, but Nevada could make a charge any day now, and even though Gov. Christie expects to see a bill reach his desk in the next few weeks, politics offers few guarantees.

Nevertheless, New Jersey would make a terrific test bed for intrastate online poker because it is populous enough to have enough of a player base to support a variety of games.  And when that first state comes online and other states see its revenue stream, there’ll be a rush to bring poker to other cash-strapped states (that’s probably all of them) in short order.

According to a Reuters report issued earlier this week, casino revenue in Macau surged 42 percent in 2011.  The result, a slight slowdown in growth from 2010 when revenue soared a staggering 58 percent, has taken place during a worldwide global economy and credit squeeze.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony located an hour from Hong Kong by ferry and the only place where casino gambling is allowed in China, now has revenues that are five times larger than Las Vegas.

You read that right.  If you thought Las Vegas was big and getting bigger, Macau’s gambling revenues are five times those of Las Vegas.  FIVE TIMES!

There are some differences, however.  Macau’s non-gaming revenue is less than five percent of its total, while Las Vegas’ show, convention, and dining revenues are more than half its total.  But no matter how you slice it, Macau is bigger—much bigger.

I knew Macau generated bigger gaming revenue than Las Vegas, but every time I read a story like this, the impact of the size difference is staggering.  Maybe that’s because we read and talk about Las Vegas on a daily basis, but few of us have been to Macau to see and experience it for ourselves.

Its revenues are five times bigger than Las Vegas.  Yikes!

Nevada became the first state in the country to adopt online gaming regulations when the Nevada Gaming Commission passed rules to control online poker.

The state legislature mandated that the gaming commission adopt regulations before the end of January 2012. Nevada’s goal is to continue being the gold standard for gaming in the United States.

Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said the state is now ready for the future of gaming.  “We’re not sure if it’s going to happen or when it’s going to happen, but we want to be ready when and if it’s appropriate,” Bernhard said.

The idea behind adopting online poker regulations is to make sure Nevada is able to get the business when it’s legalized. Although the regulations went into effect immediately, “There’s not going to be anyone turning on machines to gamble on the Internet, either interstate or intrastate, in poker in the near future,” Bernhard said. “But at least the framework is there to allow the process to continue so we’re ready when and if an applicant before us meets our standards.”

Applicants for online gaming licenses have to prove their sites are safe, will prevent crimes like money laundering, and help stop problem and underage gambling.

Carol O’Hare of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling says regulating online poker is the right play.

“We know people gamble online with or without regulation so with the fact Nevada is creating a regulatory framework and the fact that framework includes concern about underage and problem gambling,” O’Hare said. “I don’t think that’s scary. I think that’s appropriate and I think it’s definitely going to set a standard for the rest of the country to consider.”

The gaming control board has already received a few applications for online gaming licenses although it’s still illegal on the Federal level. The regulations adopted today could pave the way for poker sites that operate strictly in Nevada for people living here.

Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Brent Beckley, Absolute Poker’s director of payment processing, pled guilty to conspiracy to engage in unlawful internet gambling and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.  The fraud counts were in connection with a scheme to deceive US banks and financial institutions by using them to process tens of millions of dollars in payments for Absolute Poker.

Beckley, a US citizen who had been residing in Costa Rica where Absolute Poker is based, returned to the United States voluntarily in connection with charges relating to the illegal operation of three internet poker companies.

He faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison—although sentencing guidelines in his plea agreement recommend 12 to 18 months in prison. Beckley is scheduled to be sentenced on April 19, 2012.

Four additional defendants have also appeared in the United States to date, including Bradley Franzen, Ira Rubin, Chad Elie, and John Campos.

Franzen pled guilty last May and awaits sentencing. Trial for the remaining defendants is set for March 12, 2012.

The Tropicana Las Vegas recently announced that 2006 WSOP main event winner Jamie Gold was named the casino’s poker spokesperson and that their redesigned poker room will be named “The Jamie Gold Poker Room.”

I think this is a terrific move.  Gold—a guy with personality plus—was born for a role like this.  And his unique ability to chat with anyone and his sense of humor and poker background will go a long way to providing a unique identity to the Trop’s redesigned room.

Gold plans to be on hand at the Tropicana every day until the mid-January re-launch of the poker room and will return at least once per month thereafter.  The poker room will offer the opportunity for anyone to actually sit down and play against Jamie Gold for as little as a $100 buy-in.

“This deal with Tropicana covers everything I could have ever wanted in a relationship with a major Las Vegas Strip resort and it will serve as my anchor and the conduit to all of my future poker and philanthropic endeavors,” Gold said. “I really couldn’t be more excited!”

The Trop has been undergoing a $100 million remodel, which includes a new poker room, and will offer free daily poker lessons at 9 a.m. and hold daily tournaments at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.  While most of the games spread are hold’em, razz is offered on Tuesdays, HORSE is offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and dealer’s choice games are offered on Saturdays.

Sunday was “Installation Day” for me.  I got a new PC to replace my existing computer, which was nearing five years old and sounding like a bad used car whenever I turned it on. So I ordered a new Dell and spent the day loading software and transferring files, while running back and forth to my laptop that was on the dining room table, where I was editing the upcoming issue of Poker Player Newspaper, which was set to go to the printer.

I’m also in the process of saying goodbye to my old Verizon landline phone. I installed Ooma yesterday and the sound quality is terrific. I am in the process of porting my existing landline phone number from Verizon over to Ooma, which reportedly takes three weeks to complete. When that’s done I can say goodbye to landline phone bills, yet still have a landline phone for just a couple of bucks a month in taxes.

I had initially planned on getting Magic Jack, but everyone I know who has one complains about the sound quality and truncated conversations, but everyone on the BARGE list who commented had nothing but good things to say about Ooma—so I got one, installed it, and now I’m just waiting until I’m able to cut the cord with Verizon.

It was a tiring day, but the end result was worth it. Now I’m busily getting used to Windows 7, which is quite a bit cooler than Windows XP (lucky me: I completely avoided Windows Vista).

In the end, the only software I didn’t bother to install on my new computer were online poker sites.  Why bother?  ::sigh::

World Series of Poker officials yesterday that 22 players have committed a $1 million buy-in, enough to stage what will be the most expensive card tournament ever.  It will be an official bracelet tournament that counts toward series earnings and title records.

In a statement to the Associated Press yesterday, WSOP spokesman Seth Palansky said that if seven more players enter the tournament it would yield pokers richest ever pay day, exceeding the $12 million Jamie Gold won at the WSOP’s 2006 main event.

If the field stays at 22 players, as it is now, first place would pay $8.89 million, which is $173,000 more than Pius Heinz took down when he won the WSOP’s main event last month. But if seven more players pony up the $1 million buy-in, the winner will immediately become the WSOP’s all-time leading money winner.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is organizing the tournament, and it includes an 11 percent charity donation.  But it does not include a 10 percent rake series officials usually keep in fees for hosting the tournament. Poker professionals who have said they will enter include Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan, Johnny Chan and Jonathan Duhamel.

Other notable entrants include MGM Resorts International executive Bobby Baldwin, a four-time gold bracelet winner who won the main event in 1978, and billionaire Treasure Island casino owner Phil Ruffin.

Barry Tanenbaum passed away yesterday.  Although you never saw him on TV, he was a legendary limit hold’em player and a fixture at the $30-$60 limit games and above at the Bellagio.

But more than that, Barry was a friend and inspiration to everyone who knew him, and I doubt that he had an enemy in the world.  Everyone loved him.  He cared about everyone he met.  Whether beginner or expert, Barry treated everyone as a valued friend.

His poker seminars were incredible, as Barry—about the size of Danny DeVito, and blessed with his same sense of timing and comic delivery—had the ability to make poker concepts as clear as a fresh mountain stream.  He is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy and the co-author of Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, and wrote regularly for Card Player Magazine.

Barry and I both did some work for Poker School Online during poker’s pre-Chris Moneymaker days and we were both regular attendees at BARGE every year.  In the annual team competition Barry, his wife Betty, and I played on the same team, the Coney Island Whitefish.  So we became very good friends and I always learned something new each time I was in his company.

Each year during the World Series of Poker, psychologist, poker-player, and author, Dr. Al Schoonmaker always organized a poker breakfast for the usual suspects, a group that included Al, Barry, Bob Ciaffone, Jim Brier, Nolan Dalla, and me.  We’d usually meet at 11 a.m., eat, and talk poker so long that we’d generally leave the restaurant when they were gearing up for the dinner crowd.

I raised my own poker knowledge more during those get-togethers than anywhere else, and will always be grateful for the opportunity to sit and talk poker for hour upon hour with that group.   Barry and Betty, who is also a gifted poker player, were major influences in my poker life.

Among the Coney Island Whitefish, we had an expression that became the team’s motto:  “Once a Whitefish, always a Whitefish.”  And that’s still true. Even now. Even after Barry’s untimely departure from this earth.  He was my friend at and away from the poker table, and I shall miss him in years to come as I do today.  R.I.P.