Author Jennifer Newell's poker week in review for April 15-21.

Our consolidation of the week's news is quick and to the point — seven stories, to be exact — for the week ending April 21. Let's go.

No. 1 — Former Full Tilt CEO Guilty with Time Served

Ray Bitar finally got his day in court, and it resulted in a sentence of time served. The decision to keep Bitar out of jail going forward was because Judge Loretta Preska deemed it a death sentence, as it was revealed recently that Bitar only has a 50% chance of living through the next year if he doesn't receive a heart transplant. His attorneys requested time served, and the prosecutors agreed, as he would not be eligible for a transplant if he were in prison. It would "impose a death sentence," said the judge.

Bitar pled guilty to felony charges of wire fraud and violating the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). He apologized to the court, saying, "I regret my actions. I know they were wrong and illegal." Among the wrongs to which he admitted were disguising payment transactions to stay in the U.S. market and directing his employees to tell players their funds were segregated and safe, which they were not. He agreed to forfeit $40 million in assets, including homes.

No. 2 — U.S. Federal Agents Bust High-Stakes Poker Ring

The U.S. government has been busy with crackdowns on gambling operations recently, this time going after a high-stakes sports-betting and gambling ring that operated out of New York City. The Department of Justice claims that there are ties to Russian organized crime, and many of the charges revolve around gambling, racketeering, and extortion, as well as violating the UIGEA and the Wire Act. More than 30 defendants were named, and the location of a New York poker game was raided.

The indictments included many names familiar to poker players, such as Bill Edler, Peter Feldman, Abe Mosseri, and Justin Smith. Also named was Alexander Katchaloff, who is the father of Team PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov. The Trincher family includes Vadim and Ilya, who are recognizable to some who follow poker tournaments, and Molly Bloom is accused of being the high-stakes game’s organizer, bringing many famous athletes and celebrities to the games.

No. 3 — Full Tilt Offers New Player Options

With many online poker sites separating new players from experienced ones by the numbers, Full Tilt Poker decided to take a different route. The new feature rolled out last week includes "New to the Game" tables. Players can use them to learn games, from hold'em to pot-limit Omaha, without the fear of going broke in the process. The games run slower than normal, hand strength is shown, and other tips are offered along the way.

Players at these tables can play up to 2,000 ring-game hands and 75 tournaments before having to move on to regular tables. This applies separately to each, as well as to each variant. The initial rollout includes mostly cash games, but tournaments are said to be in the works.

No. 4 — Online Gambling Book and Movie Set Release Dates

Most people recognize Ben Mezrich as the author of books like Bringing Down the House and The Accidental Billionaires, both of which were made into movies. He is now ready to release another book, this one called Straight Flush, about the rise and fall of Absolute Poker. The focus is on the University of Montana frat brothers who started the company and made millions of dollars. Poker fans have questioned whether the book will go into the scandals that plagued the company and took it down, but Mezrich has not answered. The book is due for wide release on May 28, 2013.

On the movie scene, the writers of Rounders have prepared a new film called Runner Runner, featuring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake. This film, directed by Brad Furman, the director of The Lincoln Lawyer, is about a man who runs a Costa Rica-based online gambling business and a Princeton college student who makes his money on the site. After losing money and feeling cheated, the student travels to the site's office to investigate. The film is due in theaters on September 27, 2013.

No. 5 — PartyPoker Changes Direction

In an effort to cut down on unnecessary spending, bwin.party recently decided to block new player signups from 18 countries, many of which are unfriendly to online poker or markets that are simply not growing. However, bwin.party only revealed that the removal of the site from these countries was for "commercial reasons."

The countries from which PartyPoker is no longer accepting signups are Greece, Finland, Serbia, Poland, Cyprus, Romania, Armenia, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. Affiliates are being told to remove marketing material by the deadline of April 30. Players already on the sites will be allowed to maintain their accounts and continue play as usual.

No. 6 — Caesars, PokerStars Move in New Jersey

It hasn't taken long since the legalization of online gaming in New Jersey for companies to jockey for position and start applying for licenses. Caesars Interactive Entertainment applied for its casino license in New Jersey, which is the first step toward making headway in the state.

Meanwhile, PokerStars' parent company, Rational Group, finished its application for casino authorization regarding its intention to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. The company now enters a 90-day review period that gives the Division of Gaming Enforcement time to investigate Rational and PokerStars and evaluate them for suitability of casino operation. That final review will be due on July 9, at which time there will be a Casino Control Commission hearing for the final authorization. It is not yet known if the American Gaming Association will be allowed to participate in that part of the process.

No. 7 — AGA Appoints New President and CEO

The American Gaming Association recently announced that Frank Fahrenkopf was stepping down as the head of the lobbying organization after 17 years. He will stay on as a consultant until the end of the year to help with the transition. A successor already was named last week. Geoff Freeman will take over at the AGA on July 1, 2013, as the president and CEO.

Freeman spent the last seven years as the U.S. Travel Association, with his most-recent position as executive vice president and CEO. Before that, he worked at APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs company.

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