Welcome to the BLUFF Daily Buzz, where we scour the entire internet for all the latest news in and around the world of poker. If it involves chips and cards, or people known to associate with chips and cards, we’re there.

New 24-hour record for American online poker player

Regular readers will remember that last week I told you about “innerspy,” the young Russian online pro who broke the world’s record for most hands of poker played in a single day when he logged just over 40,000 in under 19 hours. But just like every Cold War-era film involving a seemingly unstoppable Russian beast, a plucky American has risen to the occasion to declare “game on” – his name is “joeingram1” and he is the new owner of the world record after a 21-hour, with 50,470-hand session.

In online poker, as in Rocky movies, the Russian loses.

The new challenge started when joeingram1, who posts on the 2+2 forum as ChicagoJoey, set up a challenge on that forum which would require him to not only play the required 50,000 hands, but also to turn a profit while doing so. Only hands of no-limit or pot-limit hold’em played on tables with stakes of at least $.10/$.25 counted, and the entire session was broadcast over a webcam to verify that only joeingram1 was playing every one of the logged hands. Not only did he complete the challenge by booking a win of a little more than $800, but he won more than $32,000 in side bets from other 2+2 posters who booked action with him at a price of 2.5-to-1.

Like all records, this one is just waiting to be broken again – and in the fast-paced world of online poker, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it cracked a time or two before Christmas rolls around. Let’s just hope that everyone who makes a run at the record has the proper equipment in place beforehand.

(Online Poker Player ChicagoJoey Cracks 24-Hour Hand Record – Poker News Daily)

Barney Frank’s anti-UIGEA bills get hearing tomorrow

The poker world was understandably elated last week when the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve decided to delay implementation of the UIGEA regulations by six months, but now it’s time to get down to the business of exactly what to do to stop UIGEA altogether. On that note, poker’s best and most powerful friend in Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), is holding hearings tomorrow to try and move forward with two bills he has proposed that would counteract the infamous law that has turned online poker upside down since its midnight passage in 2006.

As Chariman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank has called a hearing for noon tomorrow on the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (IGRCPEA) and the Reasonable Prudence Regulation Act (RPRA). The first bill would scrap UIGEA altogether and create a framework for taxing and regulating online gambling with the United States, while the second bill would delay the UIGEA for another year. Witnesses both for and against the two bills will be given the chance to testify before the Committee as it considers whether to recommend that the bills be considered by the full House of Representatives.

Among those who will appear before the Committee are the Honorable Robert Martin (Tribal Chairman, Morongo Band of Mission Indians), Ms. Parry Aftab (Executive Director, WiredSafety), Professor Malcolm K. Sparrow (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University), Mr. Keith S. Whyte (Executive Director, National Council on Problem Gambling), Mr. Jim Dowling (Dowling Advisory Group), Mr. Samuel A. Vallandingham (Chief Information Officer and Vice President, The First State Bank on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America), and Mr. Mike Brodsky (Executive Chairman, Youbet.com).

No vote is expected at tomorrow’s hearing, but public testimony in favor of the bills would push them a little closer to becoming law. The entire hearing will be streamed live on the House Financial Services Committee website starting at 10 a.m. ET.

ESPN ranks the best poker players in the world (with a little help from their friends)

ESPN’s Andrew Feldman today published a new monthly feature called “The Nuts,” a list of the current top ten players in poker. It’s not so much a list of the game’s all-time greats as a list of who’s great right now; think of the “power rankings” that are so popular in sports like football and basketball and you’ve got an idea of what Feldman’s working with. Everyone in the game knows that choosing such a top ten is purely subjective, so Feldman asked our own editor, Lance Bradley, and a handful of other poker media types to help him compile the list.

There are plenty of familiar names in the top ten, including a November Niner and a certain online star whose name rhymes with “bur,” but like any such list there will be some controversy over its composition. More than a few players who you might expect to make the cut didn’t, and there might even be a name or two that you think doesn’t belong there. Luckily ESPN has reserved space for comments on the list – so make sure to let them know what you think of The Nuts.

(ESPN.com ranks the top 10 poker players – ESPN.com)

So when he said he was “grinding,” he meant something else entirely…

And finally, if you’re not supposed to play online poker at work, it’s probably a good idea to refrain from hitting the virtual felt while you’re on the clock. And if for some reason you decide to go ahead and multi-table instead of performing your assigned duties, it’s probably a good idea not to do anything to draw attention to yourself. And if you’re going to draw attention to yourself, you might want to consider doing via some other route than accessing pornographic websites on your work computer. Alas, not a single one of these things occurred to poor Anthony Stewart, 33, who was fired from his job as a sales manager at one of Britain’s leading real estate agencies for spending hundreds of hours over a number of years looking at porn and playing online poker instead of doing his job.

Stewart decided to pursue legal action against his former employer, Lloyd’s, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed. In his statement he said that the only reason he looked at porn while at work was to “distract him from his addiction to online gambling,” and he also noted that his bosses knew the staff accessed the internet for personal use and that the company had no policy in place against either poker or porn. The employment tribunal overseeing his case apparently decided that policy or not, Stewart was being paid to perform a job that didn’t involve either of his two favorite pastimes. Stewart now works at another real estate agency, where presumably he has either learned to curb his habits or is taking advantage of some very, very liberal policies on work computer use.

(Manager viewed porn for hundreds of hours – Bournemouth Daily Echo)

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