Caesars gets a new partner in Virginia, the World Poker Tour meets up in Cambodia, and a poker-playing hedge fund manager accused of something called spoofing are some of the short stacks CardsChat picked up in last week’s orbit of poker news.
Tournament poker player and commodities trader Dan Shak is being accused by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of manipulating the gold and silver futures market. Again.
The CFTC’s civil complaint says Shak “repeatedly engaged in manipulative or deceptive acts and practices by spoofing — bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution — while placing orders for and trading gold and silver futures contracts on the Commodity Exchange, Inc.”
This occurred between February 2015 and March 2018, according to the CFTC. The Commission is accusing Shak of placing hundreds of orders he never intended to complete at the end of trading days in order to manipulate the market in his favor.
This isn’t the first time the hedge fund manager has gotten into hot water for these sorts of financial shenanigans.
Shak, 62, was fined $400K for attempting to manipulate the price of Light Sweet Crude Oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 2008 by doing the same thing. The penalty was levied against Shak and his former hedge fund, SHK, in 2013 and included a permanent ban from trading crude oil, as well as a two-year ban from trading during end-of-day closing periods in any market.
He was fined another $100K two years later for violating the closing period trade ban while trading gold and silver futures.
Shak is a Las Vegas-based poker regular who has nearly $2 million in World Series of Poker cashes, more than $11 million in total poker tournament wins, and has been a repeat guest on poker TV shows like “Poker Night in America.”
Meet-up game with Andrew Neeme in Cambodia
WPT ambassador Andrew Neeme is hosting a meet-up game in Cambodia on Aug. 17, as part of the World Poker Tour’s stop at Nagaworld in Phnom Penh.
Neeme’s meet-ups are poker parties that allow fans of his popular podcast to hang out and interact with players like Brad Owen and Doug Polk. It’s Neeme’s first time holding a meet-up in Asia. Those interested in playing $2/5 cash games can email the WPT at events@wpt.com for further information.
The stop in Cambodia is part of the WPT Prime series, which features lower buy-in events at casinos all around the world. After Cambodia, WPT Prime visits Spain in September and Taiwan in November before wrapping the season up at the Wynn in Las Vegas in December.
Groundbreaking in Virginia as Caesars announces a partnership
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for the $650 million Virginia Caesars casino in Danville, Virginia. Expected to open in mid-2024, the property will include a WSOP-themed poker room as part of the 500-room hotel and casino.
Caesars also announced a partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to develop the Danville project. Details about the deal weren’t released. The North Carolina tribe already partners with Caesars as the operator of Caesars Southern Indiana and owns EBCI Tech Fund 1, a gaming technology venture capital fund.
Atlantic City casinos have new leader
The Casino Association of New Jersey named Mark Giannantonio its new president on Thursday.
Giannantonio, a 35-year casino veteran, is the CEO of Resorts casino. He’ll helm the organization that advocates for the nine Atlantic City casinos and serve as the liaison between the casinos and the state’s political machine.
According to Spectrum News 1, Giannantonio succeeds Joe Lupo, the Hard Rock Atlantic City president. Lupo is moving to Las Vegas to run the Mirage after Hard Rock completes its sale and builds a giant guitar on the Strip.
