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According to an article on the Wicked Chops Poker Insider section (which resides behind a $3.99/month pay-wall) the Epic Poker League is in talks with gaming giant Pinnacle Entertainment over the possible sale of the Epic Poker League and all of its assets.

According to the article, Epic Poker League co-founder Jeffrey Pollack and current Pinnacle Entertainment executive Ginny Shanks have known each other since working together at the WSOP, and the relationship may have been the genesis for the acquisition.

The Epic Poker League has been both praised and derided in its brief existence, with everything from Standards & Ethics Committee controversy (the number of controversies surrounding the S&E Committee is now up to three by my count) to a postponement of future tournaments which the Epic Poker League claims the players asked for –others in the industry point to lackluster attendance numbers and so-so TV ratings as the cause of the postponement.

Wicked Chops stated that the sale talks have been confirmed by multiple industry sources, and there may be a potential sale within the next 60 days if all goes to plan. Wicked Chops also reached out to the EPL comment but have yet to receive a response (which given the press-happy history of the EPL leads me to believe the story has some teeth). There is no telling what this would mean for the Epic Poker League as we currently know it, or what Pinnacle has planned for the EPL.

Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson is one of the online poker world’s staunchest opponents and least-liked personalities; a strange place for a casino mogul to wind-up for sure. Now Adelson is throwing his political support and vast resources (Adelson is listed as the eighth richest person by Forbes Magazine) behind presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, reportedly donating $5 million to the candidate’s Super-Pac.

Adelson recently came out publicly against online poker after a number of his counterparts in the casino industry started moving from opponents to advocates after the seemingly inevitability of online poker becoming legalized in the US (in one form or another). Adelson was quoted by Global Gaming Business Magazine as saying, “…Unofficially, I am vehemently against it because I am convinced that the technology that would prevent kids from gambling isn’t enough,”

With the news that Adelson is throwing his support behind Gingrich, poker players and poker advocates should take a serious look at what the former Speaker of the House of Representatives stance on online gaming is, and precisely what influence Adelson’s $5 million donation (with a reported further $15 million being held in reserve) means.

While Adelson’s donation may very well buy him the ear of Gingrich on online poker, it would seem more likely that the two are politically aligned over Israel’s relationship with Palestine, which is admittedly a far more pressing topic than online poker! Still, Adelson’s influence and clout does not begin and end with Newt Gingrich, and he remains a major obstacle in the path of online poker legislation in the US.

In 2009 Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier set a world record by playing 62 Sit & Go tournaments in the span of an hour (while remaining in profit); late in 2011 PokerStars broke their own world record for the largest online poker tournament in the history of the game; just a week later PokerStars broke another one of its own records, this time for the largest prize-pool in online poker history; and this past Sunday Team PokerStars Online player Randy “nanonoko” Lew set another world record by playing over 24,000 hands of online poker in an 8-hour session.

Lew had to make a valiant comeback as he found himself down some $1,200 at one point of the session, but by the end of the 8-hours his PokerStars account was back in the black, but not by much. When all was said and done Lew had banked a small win of $7.65 –like ElkY’s record from 2009, remaining in profit was a stipulation of Lew’s record attempt.

When asked about the record Lew stated, “This is a great feeling. I finished it… I had a crowd. Everyone clapped for me. I was reading chat while I was playing. I probably shouldn’t have. But people were like ‘Go, Randy, go!’ So, it kept me pumped, and it is a good feeling when people want you to win.”

Here is a look at the stats from the historic session courtesy of the PokerStars blog:

• Hands: 23,493
• Hours: 8
• Hands per hour: 2936.63
• Hands per minute: 48.94
• Seconds per hand: 1.23
• Hours of live poker (at 30 hands per hour): 783.10
• FPPs earned: 22,784
• Profit: $7.65

This weekend Lock Poker continued their push to become a major player in the world of online poker as well as to carve out a niche in burgeoning European markets, by signing yet another big name European player, this time in the form of European Poker Tour (EPT) Snowfest runner-up Kevin Vandersmissen.

Vandersmissen, who resides in Belgium, joins an already stacked roster of Lock Poker Team Elite players that includes Chris Moorman, Leo Margets, Matt Stout, and Casey Jarzabek and Poker Room Manager for Lock Poker Eric Lynch amongst others.

The 23 year-old Vandersmissen has already tallied over $865k in live tournament winnings in his career, including his $368k score for finishing second at the 2011 EPT Snowfest. Playing under the online screen-name of “Civelus” Vandersmissen has also banked over $500k in online tournament winnings.

In a press release from Lock Poker, Vandersmissen stated, “I am really proud and happy to be welcomed to the Lock family; this is a new era for me as a player and I’m looking forward to representing Lock Poker all over the world,” while Poker Room Manager Eric Lynch seemed equally excited about the addition of “Civelus” to the Lock Poker Team, saying, “I’m super excited to have Kevin as a part of the team. Not only is Kevin an amazing player, but he brings us a unique perspective to poker and is truly one of the great ambassadors of the game. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with him further in the future”

It will be interesting to see if the signing of the Belgian is an indicator that Lock Poker (part of the Merge Gaming Network) is seeking an online poker license from the country. Thus far only Partouche, PokerStars, and 777 have garnered licenses from the Belgian Gaming Commission.

It seems there is a new twist and turn in the home invasion and robbery of 2010 WSOP Champion Jonathan Duhamel each day, and what began as a simple case of robbery has grown into a bizarre case worthy of a Hollywood script. In the latest news coming out of Canada regarding the home invasion that lead to the theft of over $100,000, a custom Rolex, and Duhamel’s 2010 WSOP Championship bracelet the defendants were in court for a bail hearing when testimony started be presented.

The main player in the case seems to be Bianca Rojas Latraverse, a former girlfriend of Duhamel, who not only planned the robbery but also was loose-lipped about it, sending a number of text messages detailing her intentions. It was these text messages, as well as Duhamel’s assertion that his ex had something to do with the robbery that eventually led to the arrests.

In court evidence was presented that showed Rojas Latraverse conspired in the crime, as well as a seemingly off-topic story involving Duhamel, Rojas Latraverse, and the unnamed woman who supplied police with the damning text messages. According to the Montreal Gazette:

“…the woman went to visit them at his condo in Boucherville. During the visit, Duhamel was alone in a room watching sports on television and later joined the two women in his bedroom. He started kissing both, Lapolice said, adding Rojas Latraverse became upset and argued with the other woman about what had transpired. Despite the argument, the two women kept in touch, Lapolice said.”

The judge hearing the case seemed nonplussed with some of the flippant answers the defendants were providing, but we won’t know whether the trio of defendants will receive bail, and what amount will be required, until later today.

Duhamel’s Rolex has been recovered as well as some of the stolen cash, but his coveted WSOP Championship bracelet is still missing at this point; the 2010 WSOP Champion is currently in the Bahamas participating in the PokerStars PCA tournament series.