Over the summer Iowa put its online poker legislation on hold and commissioned a study to be completed by the end of this year on the affect online poker could have on Iowans. In November the University of Northern Iowa said there wasn’t enough data to complete the study, which is a bit confusing. Online poker has been around for at least a decade. Even if it wasn’t regulated, some data must exist.
Also, other countries have regulated online poker and have been earning tax revenue from it. Data from these countries surely exists. This report should’ve been fairly easy to pull together.
Debate over online poker is expected in January.
HPT AT MESKWAKI: The first week of November I found myself at Meskwaki Casino in Tama for the Heartland Poker Tour. Though I had a disappointing 50th-place finish, I had a great time and was treated well by the poker team from Meskwaki and the HPT. There was no shortage of satellites for the main event and many good cash games were going on the side.
There were 214 players for the HPT main event, a strong improvement over the past couple of HPT events at Meskwaki. When the dust settled, top prize went to Ken Rosheisen from Janesville, Wis. Rosheisen entered through a $360 satellite and took home $90,598 for the win. This was his second TV table out of 10 attempts on the HPT.
Runner-up Tim Thompson earned $45,299 (he said he’ll buy his wife a new car). Jon Lapczenski was third, turning his $45 super-satellite investment into $21,139.
— Ken Warren is the Ante Up Ambassador for Iowa. You can email him at anteupken@gmail.com.
