Poker rivals spitting chips

A poker war has erupted between Melbourne poker king Joe Hachem and the latest champ, Mark Vos. The fiery Queenslander surprised the gaming world this week, winning $1.08 million in a poker tournament in Las Vegas. He has now revealed he and Hachem are arch enemies and don't talk. Vos this week became an instant millionaire after beating the world's best at a World Series of Poker tournament. Just a day earlier, Joe Hachem finished second in another Las Vegas World Series of Poker tournament and collected $345,000.

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Vos's and Hachem's successes just 24 hours apart have intensified a long rivalry between Australia's top two players. The dispute is believed to have started over a message sent on an internet poker site, which escalated to heated comments between the pair over the past few months. Poker sources say the two high-rollers cannot stand each other. Vos and Hachem are to compete against each other several times in the next few weeks in a series of poker tournaments in Las Vegas.

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Hachem is on the hunt again

The Australian media were jubilantly reporting the latest World Series of Poker triumphs of last year's multi-million dollar champion Joe Hachem this week, as the 2006 action on the world's biggest poker event ran the opening competitions in its 45 event schedule.

The Melbourne-based poker king is in the money again after winning $345 000, albeit as a runner up this time in a No Limit Hold Em WSOP event. The former chiropractor, who won $10 million playing poker almost a year ago, outlasted 822 poker players to finish runner-up in this week's event, and expressed disappointment at not clinching the top spot and the $649 000 prize purse that went with it.

No kids' poker

The promotion of a Texas Hold 'Em "camp" for kids as young as 10 years old has prompted Solicitor General John Les to tighten up gambling regulations in B.C. The amendment defines any commercial effort to train minors to gamble as a "gaming service," requiring the provider to register under the Gaming Control Act. Registration can be refused, and companies operating without it can be fined as much as $100,000.

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The B.C. Problem Gambling Program operates an awareness effort in schools, funded out of the $4 million per year the province pays out of gambling revenues to support responsible gambling.

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