Poker Stars

2008 WSOP

2008-11-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

I have been watching reruns of the WSOP and thought it was one of the most intriguing of the last few years. It seemed a little more fresh, and since there were a lot of new faces, brought some new life to the tourney. One thing I do know, I hate Mike Matusow. He is so annoying and such a whiner when things don't go his way, almost as bad as Phil. It seems like he gets bailed out of bad calls more than anyone I have ever seen.

What did y'all think?

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 57, Johnny Chan, Legend of Legends: Part 2, Turning Pro

2008-08-13T11:48:00.001-07:00

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 57, Johnny Chan, Legend of Legends: Part 2, Turning Pro
As we learned in Part 1, when Johnny Chan decided to turn pro and move to Las Vegas in 1978, it was a decision that met considerable resistance from his parents. Attending the University of Houston seemed to be the right path...

PPA Announces Fundraiser for Paralyzed Veterans at DNC
The Poker Players Alliance has announced a fundraiser to be held at Coors Field in Denver, amid the hoopla surrounding the Democratic National Convention held in that city later this month. The August 26th event will be called 'Poker...

Las Vegas Sees Marginal Decline in Gaming Revenue
There was more apprehension than normal pending the monthly release of Nevada's gaming revenues. Last month's release, detailing May's revenue statistics, marked the second worst year-over-year performance...

Digital poker table makes dealers obsolete

2008-06-03T08:10:00.001-07:00

From Crave

If inventors of high-tech gaming tables would only apply their formidable skills in other areas, the world would surely be a better place. Recently there have been some ingenious creations to automate parlor games, whether they deal cards or shuffle mahjong tiles.

Now there's a fully digital poker table that makes the deck of cards (as well as their dealers) obsolete. The "X10 Ten Player Automated Table" can accommodate up to 10 players in the tournament staple of Texas Hold 'Em, each with his or her own 12-inch touch screen and a 27-inch LCD in the center where the flops, turns, and rivers will show as community cards alongside the chip totals. The hands are kept private, BornRich explains, because players can "peel" the corners of their cards to take a peek.

It's a much broader version of the two-person "Heads-Up Challenge" we cited a few weeks back, combined with the concept of other multiple-player systems except they're all at the same table. If you're hosting the game, however, you'd better win some monster hands because you'll need them to pay the $29,950 price.

Not making any money playing Poker? Get a free evaluation

2008-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Final Table Set for Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit Event

2008-05-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

From the bodog Beat:

The Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit event is down to the final nine players playing for a WSOP Circuit ring. (Image courtesy of FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com)

Day 2 of the Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's New Orleans wrapped up in the wee hours of the morning when Fatolla Shahen was eliminated in 10th place to cement the final nine who would make up the final table.

Leading the way into Day 3 of the event is Timothy "TK" Miles, who moved into that position by eliminating the bubble boy. The Tallahassee, Fla., resident has a couple of WSOP Circuit prelim events wins under his belt, but a win here to take home the $382,928 first-place prize would be by far his largest career cash.

At the opposite end of the spectrum near the bottom end of the chip counts is a poker player who has made himself quite comfortable in the Harrahs New Orleans poker room. Lou Esposito is entering his third straight WSOP Circuit championship event final table held at this casino. He finished third at the Bayou Winter Challenge back in December and is the defending champion of the Bayou Poker Challenge from last May. If anyone can crawl up the leaderboard, "The Big Easy" can.

Here are the full final table chip counts:

1. Timothy “TK” Miles - 687,000
2. Ed Jatho - 406,000
3. Jeff Tims - 345,000
4. Marc Fratter - 311,000
5. Nick Ceci - 256,000
6. Gabe Costner - 166,000
7. Chuck Kelley - 142,000
8. Lou Esposito - 116,000
9. Floyd Vanderford - 65,000

The final table gets underway in about two hours and PokerNews.com will have all of your live updates, or come back to the Beat for a recap tomorrow.

Poker Stars - Frank, Paul Advise Federal Agencies Not to Implement UIGEA Regs

2008-04-24T00:30:00.001-07:00

Frank, Paul Advise Federal Agencies Not to Implement UIGEA Regs
US Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who made news last month by leading a Financial Services Committee hearing looking at the regulation of online gambling, have written a letter to the heads of the US Treasury and Federal...

Poker Stars - Finn gets free shot at million-dollar prize

2008-04-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

Finn gets free shot at million-dollar prize

Soininen won his spot in the World Poker Crown through a freeroll at Pacific Poker hosted exclusively for PokerListings.com players. All he had to do was collect five player points during the seven-day qualification period before the freeroll.

The qualification was no sweat for Soininen, who is a full-time poker player specializing in cash games. He plays poker online for a few hours a day and visits Pacific Poker on a weekly basis.

"I really like the site and the software," Soininen said about Pacific Poker. "Games there are very good. The only thing that bothers me is that I can't play more than four tables at a time."

The 29-year-old only needed to be able to play one table at a time to win his ticket to the World Poker Crown. He took down the very first PokerListings.com freeroll for the event at Pacific Poker back in February.

"There were about a hundred players, and the play was rather tight," Soininen said. "I tried to start with tight, solid poker. I had some setbacks but stayed alive."

Soininen, who plays as Mahve78 on the poker site, changed up his style to play more aggressively as the blinds increased.

"During the play, I got lucky a few times, and I managed to double up," Soininen said. "Overall, I achieved my win with a combination of good cards, good timing and aggressive play."

Soininen has been playing poker for about two years and he said he would consider this freeroll win his biggest tournament win so far.

His ticket to the World Poker Crown is worth $1,050, and gives him a chance to win part of a $3 million guaranteed prize pool. Better yet, it's a shot at the $1 million guaranteed first-place prize.

"I am very excited about playing," Soininen said. "For sure, it's life-changing money. I've tried not to think about it too much."

Going deep in the World Poker Crown could also mean a trip to Barcelona, Spain. When play gets down to the final table online, the game will be stopped so that the final players can finish the game live in Spain.

Soininen and five other PokerListings.com players won seats in the World Poker Crown through exclusive freerolls at Pacific Poker. The poker site opened up a few more freerolls for seats this week for PokerListings.com players in Italy, France, Germany and Spain as well.

Now there's one more chance for PokerListings.com players to get into the WPC without having to shell out the full $1,050 buy-in themselves.

On Friday, April 25, Pacific Poker will offer a $25+$2.50 tournament open only to PokerListings players that will guarantee one seat per 10 players. The tournament will be open to all PokerListings players who have an account at Pacific Poker, and it starts at 4 p.m. Pacific Poker Time.

The World Poker Crown begins April 26 at 10 a.m. Pacific Poker Time. The final table will take place May 6-10.

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WSOP champs: Where are they now, Part 5

The fourth installment featured Tom McEvoy, Berry Johnston and Johnny Chan who've each put their unique stamp on the poker world. This week the reign of the Poker Brat begins, plus we look at the first European to become the world champion as well as the first million dollar champion.

Phil Hellmuth (1989)

Since winning the World Championship in 1989, Hellmuth has been a dominant force in the poker world. Not only does he continue to reign as one of the best No-Limit Hold'em tournament players, he's used his popularity to enter into all sorts of business ventures as well.

Looking just at his poker career over the years, the Poker Brat has gained a reputation for his table antics, but he also has a record-setting 11 WSOP bracelets to back up his attitude at the table. Adding to that are his 12 World Poker Tour cashes, with five of those landing him at the televised final table, and the more than $10 million he's picked up through tournament play.

His success at the poker table has led to him authoring and coauthoring several poker books as well as the creation of his own poker tutoring video series and a poker camp. Hellmuth has also promoted an energy drink aimed at poker players and is a sponsored pro for UltimateBet.

In 2007, Hellmuth was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame, but he has many years of playing ahead of him.

Poker fans can be sure they'll be seeing him at televised events for years to come, and soon he may be heading to the big screen as well. A screenplay about his life has been optioned to be made into a movie.

Mansour Matloubi (1990)

Matloubi might be what some would call a "forgotten" World Champion. He won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1990, making him the first non-American player to do so. It was a sign of things to come as more and more players have made their way to Las Vegas as the game has grown in popularity.

The championship win was just the beginning of a decade of great tournament play for Matloubi. He made the money of several tournaments each year, most notably racking up 15 WSOP cashes including his win in 1990.

However, his last WSOP cash came in 2001, just a couple years before the poker boom kicked off in full force with Chris Moneymaker's Main Event win.

He has since been quiet on the U.S. tournament trail, and Iranian-Welshman is thought to be sticking to European tournaments. Even so, his only noted tournament cash since 2001 is from the Betfair Asian Poker Tour in Singapore in 2006, bringing his tournament winnings up to more than $1.9 million.

Brad Daugherty (1991)

#img: brad-daugherty_1122.jpg:left#

The WSOP Main Event first broke the million dollar mark for a first-place prize in 1991, and Daugherty was there to scoop it up and take it home.

Though he hasn't been able to duplicate that success, Daugherty continues to play on the tournament circuit. He's built his tournament winnings to more than $1.7 million now and has cashed in many prominent events over the years, including the 2007 WSOP Seniors Championship.

Perhaps his biggest influence on the poker world since becoming the first millionaire champion is co-authoring a couple poker books.

Daugherty teamed up with Tom McEvoy to write No-Limit Texas Hold'em: The New Players Guide to Winning Poker's Biggest Game as well as Championship Hold'em Satellite Strategy.

***************

Stay with us next week as we bring you three more WSOP champions and take a closer look at what they've been up to since they won the big dance.

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Shannon Elizabeth Report: Week 6

Her scores took a dip last week as the judges criticized her lack of hip movement during an awkward-looking samba. The dancing gods didn't do Shannon Elizabeth any favors this week either as she ended up with another Latin dance, the rumba.

The rumba was Priscilla Presley's downfall last week as the slower dance made it hard to hide any missteps or other mistakes. Elizabeth didn't have the same problem with it as Presley did, however.

Her footwork was good, the poses she and her partner struck were strong and the overall feel of the dance was spot-on.

However, the judges still harped on Elizabeth about her lack of hip movement during the dance. There was definite improvement from the previous week in that area, and she performed the rumba better than many of the dancers who had to perform it the week before, but the judges didn't seem to think she had fared that much better.

The best comment she got was from Len Goodman, who said, "I thought you did a very good job, and I was very pleased with your performance."

Otherwise, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba both criticized her technique, though they both also admired her tenacity in trying to improve.

Elizabeth seemed as tired of hearing about her great attitude and tenacity despite her lack of natural dance skills as Marlee Matlin probably was of hearing how good a dancer she is for a deaf woman. Elizabeth ended up in tears over the judges' comments, and wasn't all that excited about her score of 24.

The score was an improvement, if only a small, one-point increase, from the previous week, but it still left her near the back of the pack when all the dancers were done on Monday night.

The producers of the show may have taken some pity on Elizabeth on Tuesday night, however. She could have easily been in the bottom two if her voters hadn't come through for her, but instead she was the first person declared safe for the night.

Instead, it was Marlee Matlin, the lowest scorer this week, and Mario who ended up in the red lights, and it was Matlin who took her final bow.

Here's how Matlin and the others fared during performance night as well:

Marlee Matlin

Matlin was certainly not the mambo queen on Monday night. Her performance looked a bit awkward and stilted, and it's never a good sign when the judges start out talking about how good the performer looks rather than about the actual dance. Inaba pointed out that it looked like Matllin and her partner were forcing and struggling with the dance.

Score: 21

Jason Taylor

After a few weeks right on the heels of Kristi Yamaguchi and achieving his best scores so far last week, Taylor fell in the standings this week. The judges weren't as impressed with his cha-cha. There was plenty of content in the performance and they captured the flavor of the dance according to Goodman, but Taylor messed up the timing a little and it was obvious he was counting out the steps.

Score: 24

Marissa Jaret Winoker

Winoker continued her climb into the judges' good graces with a Viennese waltz this week. Tonioli pointed out all the technical moves she was able to perform in the dance. During the first few weeks Winoker seemed shaky and unsure of herself on the dance floor, but Goodman commented that she seems to have found her confidence now. Even her harshest critic is now on the "Winoker wave." Inaba loved Winoker's dance this week, saying it had all the right elements.

Score: 26

Cristian de la Fuente

Decked out in a charcoal suit with pink accents, de la Fuente was the picture of a gentleman on Monday night and his fox-trot suited him just as well. It was his best dance yet, with excellent footwork, and he finally found that middle ground where his arms aren't too robotic or too loose. "If you're in the bottom two tomorrow, I'll show my bum in the supermarket," Goodman told him. Tonioli called the performance an "unexpected treat," and Inaba said he passed from being rigid into refined this week.

Score: 27

Mario

Mario has been sizzling hot in pretty much every dance he's been giving, so the rumba was a perfect dance to harness that. Inaba's reaction to the performance was "that was better than good sex." However, she was going to have to dock them for a lift. Tonioli agreed that the performance was supremely hot, but Goodman thought it went a little over the top. The rumba is the story of a developing romance, "not of a strumpet and a gigolo," Goodman commented.

Score: 28

Kristi Yamaguchi

Before this dance was over, it was obvious Yamaguchi was going to get the first perfect score of the season for it. It was full of energy and precision footwork. There was a high degree of difficulty, plus it was a great performance to watch. Inaba called it her favorite dance so far this season. Not only did Yamaguchi nail it technically, she gave her best emotional performance as well. "It was absolutely great. It was a smorgasbord of dance - I loved it," Goodman said.

Score: 30

The remaining six celebrities will be back on the dance floor Monday on Dancing with the Stars and the next elimination will take place on Tuesday. Come back Wednesday, April 30, to see if Shannon Elizabeth continues in the competition or if she'll be sent back to the poker tables.

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Upsets, deals mark Caesars Palace WSOPC

Event 1: $500+$50 No-Limit Hold'em

Sometimes you can come to the final table with the chip lead and cruise to victory. Unfortunately for Anthony "Big Boy" Romanelli, Event 1 at Caesars Palace wasn't one of those occasions.

Romanelli, a pro player and retired brick mason, entering with over 20% of the total chips in play, appeared to have by far the best of it from the time the final table started, and his lead only grew as the table played out.

When play was three-handed, Romanelli dealt a crushing blow to WSOP bracelet holder Mike "Little Man" Sica on a strange hand. On a flop of J-2-4, Sica bet $40,000 and Romanelli called.

When the turn came a six, Sica bet $90,000 and Romanelli pushed in $155,000, thinking he was calling Sica's bet. The floor ruled that Romanelli had to raise the full amount, to $180,000, because he had put in more than half a raise.

Sica called the forced raise and then moved in with his last $65,000 on the river when a six came. Romanelli called with 8-2 for a pair of deuces, good enough to send Sica home in third place.

In all, Romanelli knocked out four of his eight opponents en route to heads-up play. By the time he faced off with Alaska high school teacher and basketball coach Brandon Blake, he was holding more than $1.2 million of the $1.5 million chips in play.

Of course, even the best-laid plans can be brought to a grinding halt by the right combination of aggression and cards, as Romanelli found out.

Just four hands after heads-up play began, he was standing on the sidelines as runner-up. His K-Q lost to Blake's A-2 to bring the chip counts back to even, and then he had the misfortune of running his A-9 into Blake's A-10 on the final hand.

The win over a field of 508 runners is certainly the highlight of Blake's poker career: his previous biggest finish was a 22nd-place finish in a WSOP $1,000 rebuy event. Newly flush with cash from the victory, he says he has his eyes on a return to the WSOP this summer.

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Brandon Blake	Palmer, Alaska	$71,454
2nd	Anthony Romanelli	Valley Stream, N.Y.	$37,696
3rd	Mike Sica	N. New Brunswick, N.J.	$19,710
4th	James Cox	Cary, N.C.	$17,247
5th	Michael Best	Lone Tree, Colo.	$14,783
6th	Lorie Bodfield	Laughlin, Nev.	$12,319
7th	Tim Frederickson	Long Beach, Calif.	$9,855
8th	John Stanfield	Overland Park, Kan.	$7,391
9th	Cristian Avendano-Barrera	Las Vegas	$4,928

Event 2: $1,000+$60 No-Limit Hold'em

Ben Fineman came to the WSOP Circuit to play poker and ended up riding a roller-coaster instead.

The 24-year-old Las Vegas-based professional poker player, originally from Philadelphia, built his starting stack up to $38,000 through the first four levels of Event 2. Then he managed to distribute the majority of those chips to his opponents, leaving him short-stacked heading into the second half of the day.

Fineman persevered, though, employing a highly aggressive style to run over his opponents and claim the chip lead heading into the final table.

Once he faced down his final eight opponents, Fineman shifted gears once again and played tight-aggressive poker. His strategy served him well, as he really only had to get involved in three big pots - one of them against former WPT Foxwoods champion Raj Patel - to make it down to the final two.

Fineman entered the heads-up match with a lead of $790,000 to Mike Peters' $160,000.

Peters managed to draw the match out for 31 hands, but he never made up enough ground to mount a serious challenge to Fineman. He got in with the best of it before the flop on the last hand, holding A-9 against Fineman's suited A-4, but a flush came for Fineman to end the tournament.

The win wasn't Fineman's first big cash at Caesars Palace. He took down a $1,000 event there in the 2007 Caesars Palace Poker Classic, good for $65,485. He also won $100,431 in last year's $3,000 NLHE event at the WSOP.

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Benjamin Fineman	Las Vegas	$73,566
2nd	Michael Peters	Toledo, Ohio	$40,461
3rd	Adam Murphy	Muskego, Wis.	$20,690
4th	Panayote Vilandos	Houston, Texas	$16,092
5th	Charles Thorneycraft	Port Harbour, Ontario	$13,793
6th	Raj Patel	Rocky Hills, Conn.	$11,495
7th	Joshua Ewing	Berkeley, Calif.	$9,196
8th	Artuyun Nalbadyan	N. Hollywood, Calif.	$6,897
9th	Yong Ho Harrison	Honolulu, Hawaii	$4,598

Event 3 - $500+$50 Limit Hold'em

Anyone who plays poker online has probably registered for a tournament at some point without realizing they'll be playing Limit Hold'em instead of No-Limit. Dan Kaesser of Las Vegas made that mistake, but he made it live at Caesars Palace - and then went on to win Event 3 of the WSOP Circuit anyway.

Only 81 players showed up for the Limit game, making Kaesser's workload a little lighter than it might have been otherwise. He came into the final table in a comfortable second place in the chip standings and never found himself in any real danger throughout the day.

Kaesser entered heads-up play with $255,000 in chips to Ronie Nesheiwat's $71,000, and held on to take down the title and top prize. The championship ring, meanwhile, went to Nesheiwat in a heads-up deal.

On a side note, Event 3 was the first WSOP Circuit event for Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, the American online phenom who finished runner-up to Gus Hansen in the 2007 Aussie Millions main event.

Fricke turned 21 just three days before the final table, making him legal and ready to start taking down prize money in U.S. casinos. His $2,750 prize for a fifth-place finish at Caesars Palace is a humble beginning to what promises to be a great live poker career in America for Fricke.

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Dan Kaesser	Las Vegas	$14,143
2nd	Ronie Nesheiwat	Tinley Park, Ill.	$7,857
3rd	Corey Edelman	Las Vegas	$4,321
4th	Scott Silverman	Lone Pine, Calif.	$3,143
5th	Jimmy Fricke	Mahomet, Ill.	$2,750
6th	Chris Winchester	Las Vegas	$2,357
7th	Erhart Edquist	San Diego, Calif.	$1,964
8th	Michael Lena	Indio, Calif.	$1,571
9th	Theodore McCollom	Seabrook, Texas	$1,179

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Full Tilt finds PL.com winners across the globe

Abbott, who lives in Leeds, England, picked up his win April 12, while Indiana native Joel Mohr picked up a win in the freeroll April 19.

Abbott is an IT project manager and has been playing poker for about five years. He said he plays probably four or five days a week at Full Tilt Poker.

"[Full Tilt Poker is an] excellent site with good user interface and some pretty loose action," Abbott said.

His play at the poker site resulted in qualifying for the weekly $3,000 freeroll for PokerListings.com players. Any player who signed up at Full Tilt Poker through a PokerListings link is eligible for the freeroll if they earn 150 player points during the seven-day qualification period leading up to the weekly freeroll.

The April 12 and April 19 freerolls both had good turnouts with 90 qualifiers showing up to play.

"I had some pretty good cards early and mid tournament and took the lead toward the end without endangering my stack with sub-premium hands," Abbott said of his freeroll.

"I used my lead to pressure the small stacks late in the tournament and was the aggressor heads-up, eventually winning despite a couple of all-in outdraws by the second-place finisher."

The April 12 freeroll final-table results were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Revielation	$960
2nd	Chucker10	$585
3rd	GrandDonkey	$420
4th	laapins	$330
5th	mdk23	$240
6th	Lhirsute	$180
7th	RiverDog24	$120
8th	Masterplan 89	$90
9th	Kobbers	$75

Abbott, who is married and has a daughter and another child on the way, didn't waste any time putting his freeroll winnings to use either.

"I have already bought a new mattress for my pregnant wife!" he said.

Mohr, a 21-year-old college student, isn't sure yet what he'll be doing with his $960 win. He was really happy to have the win because his bankroll was almost gone, and he said he's sure glad to have the extra cash now.

"I've been playing poker for about five years, I would say," Mohr said. "What got me attracted to poker was watching the '03 WSOP on TV. I just thought it was the coolest game and I've watched pretty much every WSOP episode since."

His interest in the game led him to playing online at Full Tilt Poker as well, where he plays almost every day.

"Full Tilt is a great site; they have the best pro players," He said. "I love to watch them play high stakes."

Mohr, who plays as JOELPOKERGOD at Full Tilt Poker, isn't much of a high-stakes player himself. This freeroll win is his biggest win so far.

"The freeroll playing field was interesting. I pretty much got off to a nice start early in the game [when I] had like 4,500 chips and I pretty much stayed in the top 10," Mohr said. "From there, when we got down to two tables, I became the chip leader."

Mohr didn't play a lot of hands as the playing field was getting closer to the final table, and he said play ended up being 10-handed for a grueling 30 minutes.

"When I got to the final table, I had about an average stack," he said. "People seemed to just be blowing up left and right, so I just let them take each other out and really didn't play many hands while four or five people got KO'd moving up the money ladder."

Mohr got more involved when play was down to the final four.

"I just played my game and tried not to make any mistakes," he said. "There were some ups and downs, but I eventually got the win."

The April 19 freeroll final-table results were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	JOELPOKERGOD	$960
2nd	egasMoniz	$585
3rd	reyecatcher	$420
4th	bloumi	$330
5th	Raisey_Daisy3	$240
6th	1972md	$180
7th	zejuan86	$120
8th	hiz61	$90
9th	DevilsBankroll	$75

Full Tilt Poker also hosted a World Series of Poker* freeroll exclusively for PokerListings.com players on Sunday. Out of 78 entrants, FreakshowGE1904 came out on top to pick up a $12,500 prize package for the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

The prize package includes the buy-in for the WSOP Main Event plus money for travel and accommodations.

There are seven exclusive WSOP freerolls left for PokerListings players at Full Tilt Poker. The next one is May 4 at 1 p.m. EDT, and players have from April 19 to May 3 to accumulate the 300 player points to qualify. There will also be WSOP freerolls May 18, May 25, June 1 and June 8 with a WSOP seat up for grabs.

Full Tilt Poker is upping the ante for PokerListings players in the June 15 and June 22 freerolls by offering two prize packages for each freeroll. That doubles players' chances of being able to go to the World Series of Poker on Full Tilt Poker's dime while still only having to earn 300 player points to qualify.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerListings.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

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College Poker Life: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The school year is almost over for University of Chicago students, bringing the end of many regular campus poker games. Student poker players enrolled in the small, private school have seen a reasonable amount of poker action...

PPA Tops Million Member Mark
The Poker Players Alliance, the self-described "grass roots" lobbying group formed to help forward the rights and interests of American poker players, has reached its long-stated goal of 1,000,000 members. The PPA announced the milestone...

'Poker After Dark' Releases Season Four Preview
Fresh off the April 18th wrap of filming for the upcoming season's episodes, the popular program "Poker After Dark" has released the highlights for the fourth season of the series, which will consist of ten new episodes...

Poker Stars - College Poker Life: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2008-04-23T07:15:00.001-07:00

College Poker Life: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The school year is almost over for University of Chicago students, bringing the end of many regular campus poker games. Student poker players enrolled in the small, private school have seen a reasonable amount of poker action...

'Poker After Dark' Releases Season Four Preview
Fresh off the April 18th wrap of filming for the upcoming season's episodes, the popular program "Poker After Dark" has released the highlights for the fourth season of the series, which will consist of ten new episodes...

Poker Stars - Poker Players Alliance reaches 1 million members

2008-04-22T18:45:00.001-07:00

Poker Players Alliance reaches 1 million members
Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a poker advocacy group in the United States, said in a press release today that it has surpassed 1 million members. The PPA also announced that it has launched a political action committee in advance of this November’s elections.

Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a poker advocacy group in the United States, said in a press release today that it has surpassed 1 million members.

The PPA also announced that it has launched a political action committee in advance of this November’s elections.

(more…)

Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre Announces Retirement
Calvin Ayre, the highly visible founder and CEO of Bodog, announced his planned retirement yesterday in a statement issued by the company. According to the statement, found at bodoglife.com, Ayre will also give up operational control...

E-mail containing virus falsely claims to be from Doyle’s Room
An e-mail circulating that claims to be from Doyle’s Room, an online poker site, actually contains a malicious virus and has no relation to the site. According to cardplayer.com: A malicious e-mail made to look like a customer service message from DoylesRoom.com warning that the player’s account ��...full article

An e-mail circulating that claims to be from Doyle’s Room, an online poker site, actually contains a malicious virus and has no relation to the site.

According to cardplayer.com:

A malicious e-mail made to look like a customer service message from DoylesRoom.com warning that the player’s account has been suspended has been hitting inboxes recently. Players should not open this message, as it contains a virus.

The message contains a DoylesRoom.com banner, the words “Your account will be blocked. Please click on the link and read the document, report its decision,” several links to download software, and several phone numbers. The subject line reads “account temporarily blocked.”

Whole thing here.

The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 9: 2002 WSOP, Before the Boom, Part 1
Way back in 2002, before Moneymaker, the internet explosion, and the World Poker Tour, I was offered the Tournament Director's job at the World Series of Poker at a time that the world's most prestigious tournament was in trouble...

U.S. Representatives send letter to Treasury Dept. regarding UIGEA
U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and others sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on Monday. The letter comes soon after Frank introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would stop the UIGEA from ��...full article

U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and others sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on Monday.

The letter comes soon after Frank introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would stop the UIGEA from being implemented.

Here’s some of the letter:

Your agency and the Federal Reserve have been struggling to issue these (UIGEA) regulations, but as the hearing made clear, the underlying statute makes your job extremely difficult, if not impossible. Given the many other priorities that are pending at your agencies, including the mortgage crisis, HOEPA, and UDAP rulewriting and many other issues, we believe it would be imprudent for you to devote additional agency resources to this Sisyphean task, especially as we intend to vigorously pursue legislation to prevent the implementation of these regulations.

Whole thing here on a 2+2 thread.

More on the Frank legislation as it makes its way though Congress.

888 offers 1¢ qualifiers for WPC

Starting today, 888.com is offering 1¢ "almost freerolls" every hour on the hour at Pacific Poker, with the winner walking away with a $1,050 entry in the World Poker Crown.

Each 1¢ event opens for registration 30 minutes before it starts, and is limited to the first 500 players.

PokerListings.com players also have a shot at free seats in the WPC this week. On Monday, Pacific Poker hosted an exclusive freeroll for Italian players, with the only requirement for qualification being that they had signed up at the poker site through PokerListings.com.

Today, players from France will get that same opportunity. Players in Germany will get their shot on Wednesday and Spain on Thursday.

When the WPC kicks off on Saturday, players will be competing for a share of a guaranteed $3 million prize pool, with a $1 million top prize.

There's more at stake than just cash, however. When the online tournament gets down to the final table, play will be stopped and the finalists will be flown from wherever they are in the world to Barcelona, Spain, to finish the game live.

The final table will resume play May 6-10, and the finalists, along with their guests, will stay in a five-star hotel for the duration of the event.

There is potential for some poker pros to get in on the action as well. Dave Colclough, Julian Gardner and Michael Keiner have confirmed they'll be playing in the WPC. Shane Warne, who recently gave up cricket to represent 888.com at the poker tables, will also join in the game.

Related Articles:

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Poker Stars - Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre Announces Retirement

2008-04-22T13:15:00.001-07:00

Starting today, 888.com is offering 1¢ "almost freerolls" every hour on the hour at Pacific Poker, with the winner walking away with a $1,050 entry in the World Poker Crown.

Each 1¢ event opens for registration 30 minutes before it starts, and is limited to the first 500 players.

Today, players from France will get that same opportunity. Players in Germany will get their shot on Wednesday and Spain on Thursday.

When the WPC kicks off on Saturday, players will be competing for a share of a guaranteed $3 million prize pool, with a $1 million top prize.

The final table will resume play May 6-10, and the finalists, along with their guests, will stay in a five-star hotel for the duration of the event.

Related Articles:

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The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 9: 2002 WSOP, Before the Boom, Part 1
Way back in 2002, before Moneymaker, the internet explosion, and the World Poker Tour, I was offered the Tournament Director's job at the World Series of Poker at a time that the world's most prestigious tournament was in trouble...

Poker Stars - Calvin Ayre to retire from Bodog

2008-04-21T20:45:00.001-07:00

Calvin Ayre to retire from Bodog
BodogLife issued a press release today confirming the retirement of founder Calvin Ayre from the company. The move had been rumored in online gaming circles for some time, but the official announcement came only today. Ayre also posted a brief blog entry discussing ��...full article

BodogLife issued a press release today confirming the retirement of founder Calvin Ayre from the company. The move had been rumored in online gaming circles for some time, but the official announcement came only today. Ayre also posted a brief blog entry discussing the decision.

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Brunson issues golf challenge to Antonius

With the possibility of the two going heads-up for any stakes in any poker variation sometime in the near future, Doyle Brunson has added another game to the mix by challenging Patrik Antonius to a golf game as well.

Brunson issued the latest challenge through his blog after hearing what Antonius has been saying about their possible heads-up match. Brunson said he's been asked during interviews and by friends about the match but has tried to stay noncommittal about it.

But his friends are sending him links to interviews and what Antonius is saying, and he figured it was time to put his own opinions out there.

"I know I've got a lot more experience at most of the games I'll choose. If anyone under thirty years of age can let me pick any game at any time I want, I strongly believe I can beat them," Brunson wrote.

"If I don't, the Brunson Family has three hundred acres on the top of a mountain at Big Arm, Montana. I'll retire and move up on that mountain and enjoy the wildlife and the sunsets for the rest of my life."

Brunson said television networks have been calling about televising the match, but he's not sure the viewing public will understand the games he'll keep introducing during the match.

Then he said as long as Antonius is making challenges, he had one in return.

"I read where he has taken up golf. So, I challenge him to play for $100,000 a hole at Bali Hai Golf Club, any time from now until the end of August," Brunson wrote.

"Surely a 27-year-old ex-professional tennis player from Finland can beat a 74-year-old guy with an artificial shoulder and who has to use a crutch to walk. What do you say, Patrik?"

Patrik has already responded to the challenge in his blog, writing:

#img: patrik-antonius_19115.jpg: left: Antonius will rise to the golf challenge.#

"First of all, when the hell did Doyle Brunson start writing a blog, is it even legal for a man that old to blog? Pretty amazing for a guy that was around before TV's and telephones. And second, what is the gambling world coming to when a 108-year-old man can challenge a young man in the prime of his life to a $100,000 a hole golf match."

Antonius only took up golf a few months ago, and he said he's very happy if he can break 100 when he plays 18 holes. Brunson, however, is rumored to have hustled players such as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead over the years.

Despite that, Antonius is accepting Brunson's challenge, adding in his blog that he didn't have much of a choice, he'd "be the laughing stock of the poker world" if he backed down.

Antonius said he and Brunson met last week to discuss the upcoming heads-up poker match before playing on Poker After Dark.

"In the three years I have known Doyle, I have never seen him looking more alive and with so much energy and focus," Antonius writes.

"Mostly likely due to the fact that he thinks he has finally found the ultimate fish who is going to donate millions on the golf course and poker table."

Related Article: Brunson vs. Antonius Match in the Works

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Poker Stars - Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France

2008-04-20T06:15:00.001-07:00

Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France
I found the ideal way to make a Parisian vacation seem cheap: Start out by playing pot-limit poker at the Aviation Club. The Aviation Club is a fine private club located in the most prestigious part of Paris, on the Champs Elysees...

Poker Stars - Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France

2008-04-20T05:45:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - Brunson and Antonius to play golf for $100K per hole?

2008-04-19T18:15:00.001-07:00

Brunson and Antonius to play golf for $100K per hole?
Doyle Brunson and top online pro Patrik Antonius may be playing something other than poker for high stakes this summer. Already slated to play a high-stakes heads-up poker match this summer with more than $1 million on the line, Brunson recently posted on his blog to ��...full article

Doyle Brunson and top online pro Patrik Antonius may be playing something other than poker for high stakes this summer.

Already slated to play a high-stakes heads-up poker match this summer with more than $1 million on the line, Brunson recently posted on his blog to challenge Antonius to a golf match.

According to pokerkingblog.com:

Anyways, in his most recent blog posting on Cardplayer.com, Doyle talked some more about the challenge. He seemed to be irritated by a) the number of people talking about the challenge b) Patrik’s comments regarding the challenge c) the number of people asking him whether or not he thinks that he can beat Antonius.

So with Brunson in an already ornery mood, he issues a further challenge to Antonius - a golf match between the two players, for $100,000 a hole at the Bali Hai Golf Club, any time from now until the end of August. Brunson then tries to goad Antonius into accepting the match-up, saying “surely a twenty-seven year old ex-professional tennis player from Finland can beat a seventy-four-year-old guy with an artificial shoulder and who has to use a crutch to walk.”

Whole thing here.

Antonius already has approximately $2 million in high-stakes challenges in poker and sports already lined up for his summer, according to the blog.

WPT settles lawsuit with several top pros
The World Poker Tour announced today that they were settling a lawsuit with five of the top poker professionals in the world. The suit — which was brought by pros Chris Ferguson, Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon and Howard Lederer — focused on the player ��...full article

The World Poker Tour announced today that they were settling a lawsuit with five of the top poker professionals in the world.

The suit — which was brought by pros Chris Ferguson, Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon and Howard Lederer — focused on the player release form the WPT requires of players participating in its tournaments. There was no money involved in the suit.

According to pokernews.com:

In their original lawsuit, the players claimed that the terms of the WPTE player release would force them to violate other endorsement agreements and rights to images that the players and their sponsors had otherwise contracted for, and as a result, the players were forced to forego participating in WPT events. The action was framed in antitrust terms, alleging that WPTE and its partner casinos unlawfully conspired to eliminate competition and violated the intellectual property rights of these players. WPTE strictly denied that its standard player release was in any way “in violation of antitrust or other laws.” The modified player release, while not detailed by WPTE, likely addresses related concerns.

Whole thing here.

The settlement will likely mean of of the players listed above will be playing in WPT events again.

Former World Series of Poker main event champions Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem were originally party to the suit, as well, but had their names withdrawn.

Poker After Dark Season 4 in the Can

In the first three seasons of PAD, each game was a six player winner-takes-all freeze out. The latest season will include all of the following:

Double elimination heads-up battle between the 4 NBC heads up championships winner. Chris Furguson, Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest and Phil Hellmuth will each up $50,000, winner takes all.
Two weeks of $200/$400 cash play. Week one players: Howard Lederer, Dee Tiller, Gabe Kaplan, Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra. Week two players: Guy Laliberte, Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan, Allen Cunningham, Mike Baxter and Antonio Esfandiari.
Online qualifier Paul Featherstone will play against five of his favorite players including: Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Gavin Smith, and Mike Sexton.
Mike Matusow with a PAD record of 0-8 will have two six players freeze out matches to try and break his streak. His first try will be against: David Williams, Phil Hellmuth, Gavin Smith, Clonie Gowen and Phil Laak, all former PAD winners.
Mike's second try will be against: David Williams, Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko and Allen Cunningham, all of whom made the final table at WSOP Main Events since 2001 but did not capture the title.
The "Brilliant Minds" match featuring Bill Chen, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Brandon Adams, Jimmy Warren, and David Sklansky. All of whom are viewed as some of the game's best mathematicians.
"The Mayfair Club" will bring together the players, all of whom were regulars at the legendary underground New York club. The players in this event include: Dan Harrington, Mickey Appleman, Jay Heimowitz, Steve Zolotow, and Mike Shichtman, the manager of the club during its heyday.
Finally there will be a "Nets vs. Vets". Three successful online players will team up against veteran pros and world champions. The online players include: Tom "drrrr" Dwan, Brian "sbrugby" Townsend, and Andrew "good2cu" Robl. They will compete against: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Huck Seed.

Along with the new events and play, the "speak your mind" will let you hear from poker authorities such as: Phil Gordon, Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunson, and David Grey.

To top it all off, PAD season four introduces Leeann Tweeden as the new host. You might recognize her from her role as the host for the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

The order for the events to be shown on TV has not yet been determined, but the first episode will go on the air during the week of July 4th. Additional information on the upcoming season as it becomes available, as well as profiles of all players and some great photos of Leeann can all be found at www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/poker in the near future.

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EU discusses responsible gaming issues

The Responsible Gaming Day was set up to bring together some of the most prominent figures in the field of gaming and betting. This includes EU and national policy makers, academia, players' associations and senior representatives from private and state-owned gaming companies.

The European online gambling industry has been getting a lot of attention both from politicians and the media as the industry gains in popularity and countries try to figure out how to deal with the industry.

Concerns raised about online poker, casinos and sports betting include the security of payments, the fairness of games, the protection of vulnerable players such as minors, and the responsibility of the industry to protect consumers.

Responsible Gaming Day was created to address these issues before the EU at the European Parliament and bring together all parties involved to discuss best practices and knowledge in the field of responsible gaming.

One of the key focuses of the day was the protection of minors. During the discussions Andrew Poole, GamCare managing director, said, "There needs to be shared responsibility to minimize underage gaming. Consistent regulation across jurisdictions and proper education are key in achieving an effective industry-wide response to underage gaming."

A PartyGaming representative expressed a similar view, adding that the online gambling industry needs to be able to work with governments to achieve this.

"We want governments to help us help consumers," said Leon Thomas, PartyGaming head of regulatory compliance.

Along with protecting minors, the group talked about protecting problem gamblers as well. Academics attending the event specialize in gaming and betting behavior research and stressed the need to use scientific research rather than conjecture when talking about online problem gambling.

With online gambling, it is much easier to conduct accurate studies of problem gambling.

"The advantage of online gambling is that you can track data in real time rather than relying on self reports, which may lack reliability," said Richard LaBrie, Ed. D Harvard Medical School.

Christofer Fjellner, Sweden Member of the European Parliament, said the key for the industry to enter into national markets is consumer protection.

He added that using consumer protection "as an argument to protect monopolies is simply letting consumers down."

To achieve greater consumer protection without endangering the free flow of services set up by the EU, various arms of the industries and the government must come together.

"No matter how much we do, no matter how many rules we put into place, and no matter how good we are - no solution will be optimal if it is not inclusive and based on the full cooperation and commitment of all stakeholders," said Norbert Teufelberger, European Gaming and Betting Association chairman.

Related Articles:

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WPT World Championship brings out stars

With a $25,000 buy-in, the World Championship attracts players from all over the world and brings the winners from the other events on the tour to compete for what is potentially a multi-million dollar first-place prize.

Despite the other major tournaments taking place elsewhere, many pros have already made their presence known in Las Vegas during the World Championship's preliminary events.

The Bellagio has been offering up lucrative tournaments since April 2 during its Five Star World Poker Classic tournament series building up to the World Championship. One player who seems to have taken full advantage is Billy Baxter who conquered Event 6 and Event 12.

#img: bill-baxter_17801.jpg:left: Billy Baxter flies high in Five Star series.#

Baxter also cashed in Event 1 of the Five Star series in ninth place. He's not the only pro warming up with some wins before the World Championship either.

Scott Clements took down Event 4 and cashed in Event 2. Michael Mizrachi picked up a win in Event 7, plus a cash in Event 1. The Grinder also won one of the Super Satellites despite already having secured a seat in the World Championship with his win in Event 7.

Toto Leonidas won Event 8 for a $189,400 cash to add to his 15th-place cash in Event 7. Darrell Dicken picked up a win and $223,330 in cash in Event 10, and Michael Binger took down Event 13 for $317,280.

Allen Kessler didn't win any of the official events, but he did pick up his seat in the World Championship by winning one of the super satellites.

Other notables who've been making waves in the poker ranks at the Bellagio during the series are Shannon Shorr, who has three final tables in the series, and Scotty Nguyen with his two cashes.

Other pros who've picked up some money in the Five Star World Poker Classic are David Levi, Alan Smurfit, Jean-Robert Bellande, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Mark Seif, Justin Bonomo, Todd Brunson, Robert Mizrachi, David Pham, Jonathan Little, Erica Schoenberg, Tom McEvoy, Hevad Kahn, Erick Lindgren and more.

More than likely these will be some of the names popping up during the World Championship as well when it kicks off with today at noon PDT. With eight days of poker action on tap, poker fans can head to the Live Tournament section as our reporting team provides the best live updates, reports, interviews, photos and more from the WPT World Championship.

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Surprise Pro to Play the Next Bodog Blogger

This time last year Josh Arieh sat into the tournament, only to lose a race in the early rounds to be eliminated by abby17. Abby17 went on to finish the tournament in third place.

On Tuesday, April 22, at 9:05 pm ET, players will have a chance to take home the bounty on this year's surprise pro in the $10+1 tourney.

The BODOGLIFE.COM blogger series has seven events remaining, giving poker bloggers plenty of chances to secure their spot in the blogger top 18. The top 18 bloggers with the best results across the series will square off in a final tourney, with the winner being awarded a $12,000 WSOP Main Event package.

The surprise pro could be the two-time WSOP bracelet winner Josh Arieh again, but it is more likely to be David Williams, Evelyn Ng or Jean-Robert Bellande. No matter who gets seated, it will be a tough battle to take their bounty worth almost ten times the tournament buy-in fee.

Spots on the final 18 are anything but secured. Any blogger has a chance to claim their seat for the June 10th showdown, and play on Team Bodog in this year's Main Event. Don't have a blog? No problem, Bodog is running a number of different qualifiers and giving away a minimum of 4 WSOP seats every week for the next few months.

The $12,000 package includes the $10,000 Main Event seat, $2000 for your expenses, a head of Bodog gear, and the chance to meet the illustrious Bodog girls.

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PokerStars launches PokerStars.tv
PokerStars has announced that it is launching a new Web site, pokerstars.tv, that will host poker-themed videos and webcasts. Right now the site is still in the beta stage and has a lot of PokerStars material on it. But it is likely poised to go beyond ��...full article

PokerStars has announced that it is launching a new Web site, pokerstars.tv, that will host poker-themed videos and webcasts.

Right now the site is still in the beta stage and has a lot of PokerStars material on it. But it is likely poised to go beyond the realm of its own events.

According to pokernews.com:

The site includes a video tutorial narrated by Daniel Negreanu, which gives an overview of what the site contains and how site members can use and access the material. For instance, under the “Channels” tab at the top of the site, users will find sub-groups for major events such as the European Poker Tour, channels dedicated to each Team PokerStars pro, under which are found live-play videos, instructional comment, interviews, and behind-the-scenes peeks at each player.

Whole thing here.

The site only has videos in English, although the site intends to include videos in other languages.

Poker Stars - Poland moves toward regulation of online gambling

2008-04-18T16:30:00.001-07:00

Poland moves toward regulation of online gambling
Published reports have noted that Poland will be attempting to regulate online gambling and poker as soon as this year. The effort to regulate goes back to last year for the European country, which apparently is getting closer to totally legalizing online wagering. According to pokerpages.com: Marek Kapica, ��...full article

Published reports have noted that Poland will be attempting to regulate online gambling and poker as soon as this year.

The effort to regulate goes back to last year for the European country, which apparently is getting closer to totally legalizing online wagering.

According to pokerpages.com:

Marek Kapica, Deputy Minister of Finance, stated publicly this week that Poland will have to legalize online gambling, saying, “We cannot control this process anyway and it is better that the budget at least derives some revenues from it.”

Whole thing here.

Online poker bill in California clears hurdle
A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature. California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a ��...full article
A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature.

California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a story at pokerpages.com:

The Bill, titled “The Gambling Control / California Intrastate Online Poker Act”, was introduced Feb 15, 2008 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Chairman of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

According to Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California government and politics, Bill AB 2026 directs the California State Gambling Control Commission, in conjunction with the state Department of Justice, to perform a study regarding authorization of Internet poker for California residents, in accordance with the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which stipulates that individual states have the right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

Whole thing here.

The study, if approved, could pave the way for a future bill that would legalize online poker in the state as soon as next year.

Canadian wins EPT Grand Final
Twenty-two-year-old Glen Chorny of Ontario, Canada, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final on Thursday, outlasting a field of 842 other players to take the season-ending event. Chorny pocketed just over 2 million Euros ($3.2 million) for the first-place finish, which is believed to be ��...full article
Twenty-two-year-old Glen Chorny of Ontario, Canada, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final on Thursday, outlasting a field of 842 other players to take the season-ending event.

Chorny pocketed just over 2 million Euros ($3.2 million) for the first-place finish, which is believed to be he most money ever awarded at a poker tournament held in Europe.
(more…)

Exclusive Pacific Poker Tournament
PTP and RNB were approached by Pacific Poker with the opportunity to run a private tournament this Sunday at 2pm eastern with an absolutely insane value. Pacific does not accept US players. Here are the details:
PTP and RNB were approached by Pacific Poker with the opportunity to run a private tournament this Sunday at 2pm eastern with an absolutely insane value. Pacific does not accept US players. Here are the details:

(more…)

Brandi Hawbaker dead at 26
In news that spread quickly over the internet poker forums, Brandi Hawbaker, famous mostly for her role in the drama on those same internet poker forums and in the live poker world, committed suicide on Sunday, according to varying reports. According to bluffmagazine.com: Word of the 26-year ��...full article
In news that spread quickly over the internet poker forums, Brandi Hawbaker, famous mostly for her role in the drama on those same internet poker forums and in the live poker world, committed suicide on Sunday, according to varying reports.

According to bluffmagazine.com:

Word of the 26-year old’s death first surfaced on WickedChopsPoker.com after a poster using the nom de plume “Bob. B. Bobson” posted the following comment on a post that was 16 months old:

“You may want to know that Brandi Hawbaker (of semi-recent poker drama) died earlier this week. She was 26 years old. I do not know any more than that, including how she died or any circumstances of her death, or even if there is a funeral planned. Even if I did know, it’s nobody’s business but her family and friends.”

Whole thing here.

The news was confirmed at neverwinpoker.com by Bryan Micon, who knew Hawbaker personally.

Calif. online gambling study bill moves forward
On Wednesday, the Committee on Governmental Organization moved to approve the bill with a vote of 11-0 and passed it on to the Committee on Appropriations.

That takes the bill, AB 2026 The Gambling Control/California Intrastate Online Poker Act, one step closer to being put up for vote in the legislature.

The bill was introduced in the legislature by Assemblyman Lloyd Levin in February, and if passed, would direct the California Gambling Control Commission to work with the state Department of Justice in order to study whether online gambling for California residents would be illegal under federal laws.

What Levine seeks to have answered is whether online gambling run in California just for California residents would be legal according to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. According to the UIGEA, the states have a right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

When Levine introduced the bill, he told media that the federal law appears to leave room for states to legalize online gambling as long as the player and the server hosting the online game are both located in the state. His bill is an effort to determine if that is true.

Levine's bill will need to get approval from the Committee on Appropriations as its next step to a vote. However, if it is approved, and the study shows that intrastate regulation is legal and feasible, California could eventually look into setting up intrastate online poker and gambling for its residents.

"It would be regulated," Levine said in Capitol Weekly. "We don't know what the state's piece will be, but it will be a regulated entity."

Levine has also stated that he believes regulated online gambling in the state will ensure consumer protection for online gamblers. For instance, players will have recourse if a site refuses to pay them if they're on a legal site, playing legally.

Related Article: Online Poker Bill Introduced in California

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Forum chatter reports Hawbaker death
The first news of her death was posted at NeverWinPoker, where Bryan Micon wrote on Thursday:

"It is with great sadness that I write this story. Brandi Hawbaker to some, Naami Dea to others, took her own life on Sunday. This news has been confirmed through Brandon and Brandi's family.

"Brandon, Brandi's family, and friends have asked the poker world to respect their privacy while they grieve. When the time is right we will have Brandon's statement on NWP. This truly is a tragedy, as the whole poker world loved to watch this eccentric young lady on and off the felt. Brandi will be missed and I hope she has found some peace."

Since that posting, poker forums across the Web have been talking about the news and speculating on whether it is just a hoax.

The 26-year-old Hawbaker rose to attention in the poker world not so much for her poker skills but instead because of her eccentricities at the poker felt, as well as due to the scandals she's been a part of in the poker community.

All a person has to do is troll the 2+2 forums to see the impact she's had on the poker community - good or bad - and the many ways she's found to keep herself in the spotlight.

The person who broke the news, Micon, was one of Hawbaker's biggest nemeses, often raking her through the coals with his stories on NWP and YouTube videos.

"She did some bad stuff, we all watched. She did some crazy stuff, we all watched. She died, we all watch... She is our Marylin Monroe," Micon wrote.

Her flamboyant reputation may have been what kept her in the public eye, but Hawbaker did have moderate success in the game as well. In October 2006, the poker community first took notice of her when she cashed in a Festa al Lago V event at the Bellagio and went on to also cash in 35th place in the World Poker Tour Festa al Lago V main event.

Her most recent success was at the 2007 World Series of Poker where she cashed in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event.

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Winds of change blow on WSOP
Purists decried the supposed move and fans of change raised their voices in support, only to be let down when the official word came down from WSOP headquarters that no such policy would be enacted this year.

Even though Harrah's says the rumored change won't take place, it's worth noting that change is nothing new at the WSOP.

In fact, other than cards and chips, change has been one of the constants at the series since its inception. Here's a look back at a few of the more important changes that have taken place at the WSOP since it first began.

Champion determined by freezeout (1971)

#img: bionion_2390.jpg:left: Home of the World Series of Poker.#
The first iteration of the WSOP was held at Benny Binion's Horseshoe on Fremont Street in May 1970 as a "gambler's convention." At that time there was no tournament poker to speak of in the world; the convention was simply a continuous series of cash poker, with the title of "World Champion" going to the man voted top player by his peers. That title, of course, went to the legendary Johnny Moss.

When the world's greatest gamblers returned to the Horseshoe in 1971, Binion decided to change the format in order to generate more interest in the event. Rather than having a vote at the end of the convention, he decided to use the now-familiar freezeout format, in which the last man standing is declared the winner. Johnny Moss backed up his title from the previous year by defeating five other entrants in the $5,000.

The introduction of the freezeout at the WSOP gave birth to modern tournament poker, and was the first major change of many that would follow at the Horseshoe.

New event added (1972)

As mentioned above, the 1971 WSOP was the first to feature a freezeout. In 1972, a second event was added to the schedule: a $10,000 Five-Card Stud tournament. That it drew only two competitors is insignificant from a historical standpoint; what matters is that it set the precedent for the practice of adding new events that has persisted throughout the WSOP's history.

The WSOP's schedule has become so crowded with events in recent years that it now takes nearly two full months to play them all. Some who would style themselves poker purists have decried the dilution of a bracelet's value because of the additional events, but they miss the essential point that the WSOP's structure and schedule has been in flux almost since its inception. Change is the rule at the WSOP, not the exception.

Satellites (1981)

It is hard to imagine today, with all the readily available WSOP satellites both live and online, that there was a time when you couldn't win your way into the world's biggest tournament on the cheap. But for the first decade of the WSOP, that's exactly how things worked. The situation changed for good in 1981 on the eve of the big event.

As poker historian Gary Wise relates the story, Eric Drache, who had become the first tournament director of the WSOP back in 1973, was desperately trying to get signups for the Main Event the day before it began.

He began asking players on the floor at the Horseshoe to sign up, and eventually came to a table of 10 men who had $10,000 between them. Drache suggested to the men that they should play freezeout-style for all the money on the table, with the winner entering the Main Event. The men agreed, and Drache realized he had a winning idea on his hands.
#img: tom-mcevoy_15884.jpg: right: The first satellite winner to win the Main Event.#

The name of the original satellite winner is now lost to history. Just two years later, however, a different name would enter poker history when Tom McEvoy became the first satellite winner to claim the Main Event crown.

Outdoor final table (1997)

The first WSOP was designed to draw traffic to the Horseshoe by giving the people passing by on Fremont Street something to watch. The only problem was that they actually had to come inside to see the tournament being played. In 1997, Jack Binion and his staff tackled that problem by moving the Main Event's final table outside onto the street.

The idea proved to be ill-conceived. By the time May rolls around, Las Vegas positively swelters; holding the final table outdoors meant subjecting its participants to intense heat. To make matters even worse, the notorious gusty Las Vegas winds meant that the dealers had to slide hole cards to the players and deal the flop under a sheet of plexiglass in the middle of the table.

In addition to the problems the environment presented for players and staff, the fans in attendance found the game hard to follow. Tom Sims, reporting on the event for ConJelCo, the gambling book and software publisher, described the scene:

"From a spectator's point of view, it was very difficult to follow the action. The overhead television monitors were almost useless because of the glare and outdoor brightness, and the television crews and photographers completely obstructed my view about 75 % of the time. They did have much larger bleachers outdoors than they have had indoors, but if you can't see, more seats aren't a plus factor."

The outdoor experiment was never officially declared a failure, but the fact that it never returned was proof enough that it simply didn't work.

Hole cams (2002)

No single innovation in poker has made the game more accessible to a wide audience than the hole cam. Early television broadcasts of the WSOP, aired without any indication of the players' hole cards until they were turned up, were curiosities at best compared to today's numerous poker programs.

Often they featured a poker-playing actor such as Gabe Kaplan or Dick Van Patten, assisted by the tournament director and sometimes a professional player in the commentary booth attempting to read the action as if he were at the table; Phil Hellmuth, ever the self-promoter, often helped with this aspect of the production.

In 2002, ESPN produced the first WSOP coverage that featured hole cards. While the graphic presentation was somewhat primitive in comparison with today's TV coverage, the new information changed televised poker immediately. Rather than feeling like a documentary film about a poker tournament, the new breed of coverage had the feel of a sporting event. That sporting allure would prove instrumental in drawing hundreds of thousands of new players to the game in the next few years.

Move to the Rio (2005)

#img: rio-casino_8698.jpg: left: The new home of the WSOP.#
Since its beginning, the WSOP had always been played at the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, a natural fit for the Binion family's annual poker extravaganza. When the Horseshoe was forced to close in January 2003, it looked for a time as if the WSOP might cease to exist. Luckily for poker players, Harrah's Entertainment stepped in to purchase the casino and the now-storied WSOP.

With the event's burgeoning popularity fueled by the so-called "Moneymaker effect," and its new owners also the holders of several large casino properties in Vegas, it was only a matter of time before the event moved away from the only home it had ever known. That time came in 2005, when the event moved to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino on Flamingo Road.

The new venue was cavernous compared to the tiny Horseshoe, easily able to hold the entire 2,576-strong starting field of the 2004 WSOP Main Event. That the move was a smart one for Harrah's was underscored when the 2005 Main Event smashed the previous year's record by drawing a field of 5,619 runners and created the largest prize in tournament poker's history. In a nod to WSOP history, the Main Event final table was played out at Binion's one last time, but every hand dealt at the WSOP since then has been dealt at the Rio.

So, when purists decry real or rumored alterations to the WSOP format and schedule, it's worth remembering that the tournament series has been in flux more or less since its birth. But come what may, it's a pretty safe bet nothing will alter poker players' burning desire to snag one of its coveted bracelets.

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Canadian wins EPT Grand Final
Glen Chorny is a Timmins, Ontario, native who qualified for the EPT Grand Final at PokerStars, and turned his seat from the poker site into a €2,020,000 win.

This wasn't his first time going deep in an EPT event either. He also cashed out in 13th place during the EPT Caribbean Adventure in January. He said during an interview with PokerListings that he was never so depressed as he was that night, going out in 13th place.

Heading into the EPT Grand Final, the 22-year-old must have channeled that disappointment into determination to win this time around. By the end of Day 4 of the tournament he had separated himself from a pack of players that included many pros, and was the chip leader going into the final table.

He wasn't the only player flying the PokerStars flag at the table. Isaac Baron, another PokerStars qualifier, was hot on his heels second in the chip count, and Luca Pagano was there representing Team PokerStars.

The final table was seated as follows:

Seat Name Chip Count

1. Denes Kalo $1,190,000

2. Michael Martin $1,320,000

3. Luca Pagano $688,000

4. Valeriy Ilikyan $1,396,000

5. Antonio Esfandiari $501,000

6. Maxime Villemure $1,206,000

7. Glen Chorny $3,613,000

8. Isaac Baron $2,853,000

Antonio Esfandiari was looking to become the second player to win poker's triple crown. He has a World Series of Poker bracelet and a World Poker Tour win, but the EPT win has been out of his reach thus far.

The Grand Final wasn't his to win either as he was the first out of the final table. After more than a handful of hours of play, the final table at last came down to Chorny versus Denes Kalo in heads-up play.

By that point Chorny had amassed a stack of more than $11 million in chips, with Kalo severely short-stacked with only about $1.4 million.

It only took two hands for Chorny to add Kalo's chips to his stack as well.

On the second hand of heads-up play, Kalo open-shoved from the button and Chorny made the call. Chorny was holding #Ah-#5h against Kalo's #Kh-#Qd.

The flop was all spades with A-Q-6, giving Chorny top pair. When the #6d hit the turn, Kalo had very few outs left to him, and the 10 on the river sealed the win for Chorny.

The final-table results are as follows:

Place Name Prize

1st Glen Chorny €2,020,000

2nd Denes Tamas Kalo €1,179,000

3rd Maxime Villemure €715,000

4th Isaac Baron €589,000

5th Michael Martin €421,000

6th Luca Pagano €337,000

7th Valeriy Ilikyan €253,000

8th Antonio Esfandiari €168,000

For a more in-depth analysis of the final table plus reports and interviews with players from the PokerStars EPT Grand Final, check out the masterful reporting done live from the event in the Live Tournaments section.

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Poker Stars - Book Review: Elkan Allan and Hannah Mackay's 'The Poker Encyclopedia'

2008-04-18T02:30:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Elkan Allan and Hannah Mackay's 'The Poker Encyclopedia'
Good poker books don't have to be about strategy, despite the fact that strategy books are by far the largest segment of poker literature. Among the newer non-strategy book examples of this is the late Elkan Allan and Hannah Mackay's...

Poker Stars - Great Britain wins Poker Nations Cup

2008-04-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

Great Britain wins Poker Nations Cup
Great Britain won the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup that ended this week. The team of professionals from the United Kingdom defeated six other teams in the tag-team poker format, where substitutions were allowed for each nation’s team in each of six “heats.” According to pokerpages.com: The winning GB ��...full article

Great Britain won the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup that ended this week.

The team of professionals from the United Kingdom defeated six other teams in the tag-team poker format, where substitutions were allowed for each nation’s team in each of six “heats.”

According to pokerpages.com:

The winning GB team included team captain Roland De Wolfe, on-a-winning-streak Neil Channing, Surinder Sunar, Joe Beevers, Ian Frazer and online qualifier Charlie Durbin. Channing just came off the high of winning the Irish Open, as well as being the player that clinched the cup for their GB team.

In fact, Channing anchored team GB in a thrilling heads-up with Ireland’s Donnacha O’Dea. A turning point in the play came when Channing went all-in with 8 4 off suit, which got called by O’Dea’s 2 2. So Channing was behind on the flop and the turn only for a 4 to hit on the river which knocked O’Dea. Then O’Dea went all-in with 10c 3c, only to be called by Channing’s 10h 9h. A 10 on the turn gave Britain the cup, repeating their 2006 win.

Whole thing here.

Ireland finished second in the event, and the United States finished last out of the six teams.

Women's Poker Spotlight: History Made at WPT Bellagio
On Sunday, April 13th, the WPT Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic made poker history by offering a ladies' tournament with a record buy-in of $1,500. In the past, the WSOP Ladies Event buy-in of $1,000 was the highest ever offered...

Poker Stars - PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo Day 4: Chorny Leads

2008-04-17T09:30:00.001-07:00

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo Day 4: Chorny Leads
Glen Chorny will be chip leader, when Day 5's 'almost' final table begins. Twelve hours after announcing 'shuffle up and deal,' the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo called it a night, without reaching their eight person final table

Benyamine and ICallSoWhat coin-flip for $169,000

But first, let's investigate the nature of Omaha and compare it with Texas Hold'em.

In Hold'em, two pair on the flop is usually a straightforward hand to play unless the board consists of three suited/consecutive cards. There aren't many situations where you can possibly lay it down. If your opponent has an unfortunate set, it's just bad luck.

In Omaha, on the other hand, two pair is one of the toughest hands to play. If the pot is raised, re-raised, and you push all-in on the flop, one of two following situations is likely to occur.

Your opponent has a draw, and depending on the strength of it, you'll be somewhere between 10% ahead and a slight underdog.
Your opponent has a set and you're a big underdog.

Consequently, you rarely want to push all-in on the flop with a bare two pair - at least when the stacks are deep and you know that your opponent wouldn't risk his stack with a speculative holding.

But in Omaha, you can have additional outs to your two pair, which makes the hand a lot more valuable. The closer to the nut draw your extra outs are, the better your hand becomes. And even if your opponent has a better draw, your hand might block a few of his outs, which improves the chance of the two pair holding up.

This is exactly what happened in a hand between ICallSoWhat and David Benyamine at Full Tilt yesterday.

On the flop, ICallSoWhat held top two plus a flush draw and David Benyamine had only king high, combined with a truckload of outs though. And since Benyamine had the better flush draw, he was actually ahead when the money went in.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6059198672 TABLE : Eginton (6 max) $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - Wed Apr 16th 2008 - 3:26pm ET

Table Setup

Seat 2: ICallSoWhat ($84,396.50)
Seat 6: David Benyamine ($129,168)
David Benyamine posts the small blind of $200
ICallSoWhat posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6

Preflop

David Benyamine raises to $1,200
ICallSoWhat calls $800

Flop #Ac-#3c-#Ts

ICallSoWhat checks
David Benyamine bets $1,200
ICallSoWhat raises to $4,800
David Benyamine raises to $16,800
ICallSoWhat raises to $52,800
David Benyamine raises to $127,968, and is all in
ICallSoWhat calls $30,396.50, and is all in

David Benyamine shows #Qd-#9c-#Kc-#Jd
ICallSoWhat shows #9d-#As-#Tc-#7c
Uncalled bet of $44,771.50 returned to David Benyamine

Turn #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h

River #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h-#3h

David Benyamine shows a pair of Threes
ICallSoWhat shows two pair, Aces and Tens
ICallSoWhat wins the pot ($168,792.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens

Summary

Total pot $168,793 | Rake $0.50
Board: #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h-#3h
Seat 2: ICallSoWhat (big blind) showed #9d-#As-#Tc-#7c and won ($168,792.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 6: David Benyamine (small blind) showed #Qd-#9c-#Kc-#Jd and lost with a pair of Threes

For more big hands from this session, and more of the biggest pots won over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the MarketPulse section.

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Women's Poker Spotlight: History Made at WPT Bellagio
On Sunday, April 13th, the WPT Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic made poker history by offering a ladies' tournament with a record buy-in of $1,500. In the past, the WSOP Ladies Event buy-in of $1,000 was the highest ever offered...

Poker Stars - 2007 WSOP Europe Broadcast Schedule Announced

2008-04-16T20:00:00.001-07:00

2007 WSOP Europe Broadcast Schedule Announced
World Series of Poker Europe title sponsor Betfair has announced its upcoming schedule of 2007 WSOP-E broadcasts, anchored on the United Kingdom's Sky Sports channel and scheduled to air across much of Europe. Betfair's sponsorship...

Shannon Elizabeth Report: Week 5

It turns out that being a hot tamale on the big screen and in the poker world doesn't necessarily translate to sexiness on the dance floor, and this week's Latin dances were all about the sexiness.

Shannon Elizabeth delivered what Len Goodman called a "competent" performance, but she didn't look comfortable with the dance at all.

In contrast to her graceful Viennese waltz from last week that put her in the top three for scores, she looked awkward with the samba and returned to the problem of not really having complete control of her limbs.

What was most notably lacking from her performance was the hip action. The samba is all about the rolling hips, and Elizabeth admittedly doesn't have much for hips and couldn't find a way to make them roll and swivel, at least not that anyone could notice.

Her saving grace is that even when the dance is getting the best of her, Elizabeth still gives it her all. Even Carrie Ann Inaba commented that she goes for it 100% whether she looks awkward or not. So she needs to keep up that attitude but work on some of her "shapes" for the dances.

Her resulting score from the judges was a 23, putting her just above Priscilla Presley and Marlee Matlin and tied with Cristian de la Funte for fifth place.

It was enough to keep her out of the bottom two once the viewer votes were tallied as well. Tuesday night's elimination came down to Presley and de la Fuente, but Presley didn't get enough support to move on for another week on Dancing with the Stars.

Here's how Presley and the others made out during Monday's performance night:

Priscilla Presley

After a rule violation last week, Presley needed to find a way to bring her scores back up again. At least with the rumba there was no danger of accidently doing a lift, but the slow Latin dance did nothing but leave Presley's dancing flaws wide open for even the layperson viewer to see. Len Goodman called the performance a disappointment, and it certainly wasn't a wow of a performance this week.

Score: 21

Marlee Matlin

For the first time in the competition it was obvious Matlin couldn't hear the music. She may have a good sense of rhythm, but the samba has much more complicated movements to go with that rhythm, and Matlin had a couple stumbles and a few times where her timing was off the music. Each judge brought up how amazing it she does so well despite her deafness, but that probably wasn't much consolation for Matlin.

Score: 22

Cristian de la Funte

Even though de la Funte continues to improve this week, the judges still had criticism for his rumba. It was one of the better performances of the rumba for the evening, and de la Funte has gone from mechanically performing the steps to a dance to really getting into the flow and movement. However, Carrie Ann Inaba thought he lacked chemistry with his partner this week and Len labeled the dance as merely "competent."

Score: 23

Marissa Jaret Winoker

Winoker may have been the biggest surprise of the evening. Compared to the other female celebrities in the competition, she's probably the contestant you'd least expect to pull off a sexy Latin dance like the samba. However, this was the first time Winoker looked like she actually felt confident and sexy on the dance floor, and it showed in her dance. Inaba called it her best routine yet, and she was right.

Score: 24

Mario

Mario managed to put himself back in the good graces of the judges this week with his samba. He still needs to brush up his footwork some, but Goodman called it his best performance so far. This week Mario looked more controlled and polished on the dance floor in contrast to what Goodman called his "wildness" in weeks past. It also helps that the samba seems made for Mario, giving him a chance to be smoldering and sexy and to take advantage of the hip movements and freedom of the dance.

Score: 27

Jason Taylor

It's becoming less and less of a surprise each week that Taylor has moves on the dance floor to match what he can do on the football field. His was probably the sexiest rumba of the night, and the nitpicky judges couldn't even fault him for poor footwork and heel leads. Bruno Tonioli said the football player had the look of a "love god" during the rumba, while Goodman complimented him on his naturalness. Yet his scores dipped a little from the 29 he earned last week.

Score: 27

Kristi Yamaguchi

Once again, Yamaguchi really had nothing to worry about going into Tuesday's elimination night. Her rumba had much more expression than her previous dances, though it didn't quite have the heat and passion you'd expect for a rumba. Inaba told her she made the right choice sacrificing a tiny bit on technique to achieve more emotionally with the dance, and Len gave her a "fab-u-lous."

Score: 29

The remaining seven celebrities will be back on the dance floor Monday on Dancing with the Stars and the next elimination will take place on Tuesday. Come back Wednesday, April 23, to see if Shannon Elizabeth continues in the competition or if she'll be sent back to the poker tables.

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Massive Overlay Awaits PokerNews Players at an Exclusive WPC Satellite!
Pacific Poker continues to give PokerNews players sensational value through exclusive tournaments. On Tuesday April 22 at 19:00 GMT, a $27.50 WPC Satellite will commence that will award over $10,000 in prizes...

College Poker Life: Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Student poker players attending Washington State University have witnessed a roller coaster of a ride when it comes to poker. Though the state has 23 casinos, and Washington's state law specifically allows poker to be played...

UIGEA hearing opens criticism floodgates

The hearing was unique in that voices of parties with a direct interest in online gambling were joined by a chorus of protests from those who would become UIGEA's collateral damage.

Representatives from various industries who would be affected by the proposed regulations told Congress that implementation of UIGEA is impractical and intrusive, both for everyday citizens and for the institutions with whom they conduct business.

Wayne Abernathy, American Bankers Association vice president for financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs, summed up the situation when he described the government's proposed UIGEA regulations as "an unprecedented delegation of governmental responsibility with no prospect of practical success in exchange for the burden it imposes."

In a press release following the hearing, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesman Jeffrey Sandman noted that "U.S. banks and credit card companies, along with every other type of U.S. company involved in payment systems, would be forced spend substantial resources to force compliance with a ban on Internet gambling that can be easily circumvented by anyone in the U.S. that wants to continue to gamble online."

A more philosophical underpinning to UIGEA protest was added by Edward Leyden of iMEGA, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, in the opening of his testimony. He described the Internet as "an indispensable engine for economic prosperity and social justice," and proposed that "the inalienable rights that each of us holds under the Constitution to freedom of privacy, speech, expression, and conduct are not lessened in any way when we are using the Internet."

In a recent interview with PokerListings.com, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas was enthusiastic about what the hearing had accomplished.

"It continued to expose the folly of UIGEA and why it's a completely unworkable statute," said Pappas. "This is not coming from the gaming community. This is the banks, the regulated community, saying 'We don't want to be the policemen for the federal government, nor do we believe the payment system is adequately set up for us to do that."

Stopping the burden in its tracks

More than a few of those who gave testimony during last week's congressional hearing suggested that rather than try to prohibit online gambling, a better solution to handling its potential problems would be to license and regulate the industry through a bill such as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

That sort of legislation, says Pappas, is at the very least 12 to 18 months away from becoming a reality.

"In full candor, I think it's going to be very difficult to pass a bill. We're going to try at every level to do something, but given presidential politics and congressional politics, it's going to be very difficult to move something through," said the PPA director. "Understand this is an election year not only for the presidency but for every member of Congress. Whether it's Internet gaming, immigration reform, or health care, I think we'll see very few bills of substance make their way through Congress this year."

Until then, the best poker players can hope for is to prevent UIGEA's regulations from becoming the law of the land. To that effect, Frank and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) introduced legislation to halt that burden until a more fitting solution can be found. Frank introduced the bipartisan bill, H.R. 5767, on April 10 on behalf of himself and his Republican co-sponsor.

By Congressional standards, the bill is short and sweet: in less than 130 words it renders the UIGEA toothless. Perhaps more importantly, it sets the stage for true public debate over the best way to handle online gaming in America - debate that was missing in 2006 when UIGEA was initially passed.

Changing the debate

While stopping UIGEA is an important step toward legal, regulated online poker in America, it's only the first of many that need to be taken. Concerned citizens who enjoy the game online can influence the debate by making their views known to their representatives in the government. Pappas noted that letter-writing campaigns such as those conducted by the PPA's members have been particularly effective in motivating members of Congress to overturn UIGEA.

"I had a meeting with Rep. Rob Andrews (D-New Jersey), and he said, 'I hear from people on three issues more than any other. I hear from them about immigration, I hear from them about the war in Iraq, and I hear from them about online poker.'"

Such communications between representatives and constituents are, in effect, the anti-UIGEA: conducted out in the open, rather than in the back rooms of Congress, and encouraging debate rather than stifling it.

"We've had three congressional hearings in less than a year. These things don't just happen out of nowhere because one day a member of Congress wakes up and decides it's a good idea to hold a congressional hearing," said Pappas. "It's because he's hearing from his constituents."

In addition to encouraging its members to continue communications with their representatives, PPA also plans to register more voters for this November's elections. With a focus on swing states and key congressional districts, the organization hopes to mobilize as many as 100,000 new voters to make Washington aware that poker players are a "vocal political force."

Whatever the final outcome for online gambling in the US, Pappas thinks that the tone of the debate has definitely shifted.

"People are beginning to recognize that whether I like gambling or don't like gambling, UIGEA is not the right approach," he said. "The right approach is to license and regulate it. I think that is a message that is beginning to resonate on both sides of the aisle."

"That'll be our winning message," he concludes. "It's not a message that you need to be for poker or against poker, it's a message that you need to be for good government."

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Poker Stars - Hachem nearly gets in fight at EPT Grand Final

2008-04-16T12:15:00.001-07:00

Hachem nearly gets in fight at EPT Grand Final
Former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe Hachem is nicknamed “Salty” for a reason, apparently. With 82 players left in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, Hachem nearly got into fisticuffs with a player named Woody Deck. At the time, players were two away ��...full article

Former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe Hachem is nicknamed “Salty” for a reason, apparently.

With 82 players left in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, Hachem nearly got into fisticuffs with a player named Woody Deck. At the time, players were two away from the money bubble.

Here’s what happened, according to pokerkingblog.com:

Joe Hachem was involved in a hand with Peter Traply. On a board of A-6-J-A-3, Hachem bet out 80,000 and Traply called, showing A-10. Hachem tapped the table, said “nice call”, and mucked his hand. This is where things got heated.

Woody Deck, who was not involved in the hand, asked if he could see Hachem’s cards. Hachem objected, saying that he didn’t have to show because the winning hand had already been shown. The dealer agreed, and mucked Hachem’s cards. Deck, according to Pokernews, then asked Hachem if he was trying to angle shoot, and said “Don’t be an asshole.”

Whole thing here.

A war of words ensued and things escalated. Play even stopped at other tables to watch the goings-on. But no punches were thrown and order was restored.

We’ll have results of the EPT when the event concludes.

Stock prices tumble for Vegas casinos
Tuesday was a bad day for the major Las Vegas casinos, as many of their stock prices took big hits. The stock losses came a day after MGM Mirage said it was going to be laying off more than 400 workers. According to a story at majorwager.com, ��...full article

Tuesday was a bad day for the major Las Vegas casinos, as many of their stock prices took big hits.

The stock losses came a day after MGM Mirage said it was going to be laying off more than 400 workers.

According to a story at majorwager.com, printed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Shares of MGM Mirage, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $49.58, down $2.24, or 4.32 percent. MGM Mirage was trading at $100.50 in October. Other casino operators also fell in value during trading Tuesday.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. fell $4.97 to close at $69.05 on the New York Stock Exchange, off 6.71 percent. In October, Las Vegas Sands hit a 52-week high of $148.76. Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd., traded on the Nasdaq National Market, fell $2.63 to close at $98.06, down 2.61 percent. Wynn reached a high of $176.13 in October.

Whole thing here.

Revenues have been down in the last quarter across the Las Vegas Strip.

Poker Stars - WPT Ladies Championship down to final table

2008-04-15T17:16:00.001-07:00

WPT Ladies Championship down to final table

Leading the pack into the final table will be Vanessa Selbst. With $182,200 in chips, Selbst has a considerable lead over the pack, with her nearest competitor being Nancy Todd Tyner with $107,400 in chips.

Selbst built up her lead steadily through two days of play in the championship. She was the chip leader after Day 1 as the playing field made its way down to the top 10 players by the end of the day.

Some of the poker pro casualties in Day 1 included Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Tilly, Evelyn Ng, JJ Liu, Shirley Williams, Anjela Brunson, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Lily Mizrachi, Sabyl Cohen and Maureen Feduniak.

In Day 2, Karina Jett, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Carson and Emeline Boich hit the bricks to leave the following ladies at the final table:

Seat 1: Nancy Todd Tyner - $107,400
Seat 2: Janice Kim - $32,900
Seat 3: Cindy Kerslake - $16,400
Seat 4: Vanessa Selbst - $182,200
Seat 5: Donna Varlotto - $68,600
Seat 6: Van Nguyen - $42,300

Selbst earned her spot in the WPT Ladies Championship by winning the WPT Ladies tournament at the Commerce Casino. She said during a WPT interview that she didn't consider anyone in particular a threat at the final table, but it was the most aggressive players who made the final table so it won't be an easy win.

#img: van-nguyen_17747.jpg: left: Nguyen makes another final table.#

Perhaps the most threatening of Selbst's opponents at the final table will be Van Nguyen. She built herself back up from being the short stack while 10-handed, and she already has a WPT win under her belt after taking down the Celebrity Invitational.

The final table will take place April 25, the day before the WPT World Championship final table, and be taped for future television broadcast.

The WPT World Championship will start Saturday at the Bellagio. Selbst confirmed she plans to buy into that event as well. Men "The Master" Nguyen is also hoping to duplicate his wife's success in the Ladies Championship with a win of his own in the World.

Stay tuned to PokerListings.com for live updates, reports and more in the Live Tournaments section when the event kicks off.

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Mike Thulson is golden at HPT event in Colorado

Thulson outlasted 401 opponents and then beat Michael Pempin in heads-up play to take down first place and a cool $180,810 at the Colorado event.

It was a shining moment for the 49-year-old, who said he would buy his wife a horse if he won the tournament.

"I had such a great time," Thulson said. "Who could have thought this would happen."

Thousands of players came out to the Golden Gates Casino to play in the satellites and qualifiers for the main event, which had to be held in three separate flights because of the massive field.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout at Colorado.

"What a phenomenal event," said HPT co-founder Todd Anderson. "All I can say is the people in Colorado really love their poker. This is why we come here twice a year."

The HPT is heating up and the next event will be held at Majestic Star Casinos in Gary, Indiana, on April 17. The last HPT event in Indiana was the HPT Championship, which saw over 1,000 players get in on the action, and organizers are estimating that the prize pool for the upcoming event could hit nearly $1 million.

The next HPT event in Colorado will start on Sept. 22 and run through Oct. 5 at the Golden Gates Casino.

Here's a look at the complete final-table payouts for HTP Golden Gates:

Player:	Prize:
Mike Thulson	$180,810
Michael Pempin	$90,405
Xue Vang	$54,243
Brian Johnson	$42,189
John Reno	$36,162
Mark Herrera	$30,135

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Inside the Tour, #88: More on Bluffing
Bluffing. What does it mean? How important is it? Can one be successful without bluffing? Unnnh… well, no. According to Dennis, you have no chance to be a winner in no-limit hold'em without bluffing. When people talk about...

MGM Mirage to lay off hundreds
MGM Mirage, which is the largest casino operator in Las Vegas, has reported that it will lay off about 440 employees. The layoffs will occur mostly in management at the corporate level, MGM Mirage reported Monday. According to a story at majorwager.com: MGM Mirage President and COO Jim ��...full article

MGM Mirage, which is the largest casino operator in Las Vegas, has reported that it will lay off about 440 employees.

The layoffs will occur mostly in management at the corporate level, MGM Mirage reported Monday.

According to a story at majorwager.com:

MGM Mirage President and COO Jim Murren said Monday that management and supervisory level staff reductions were part of a process that will save MGM Mirage about $75 million annually. Most of the local workers were told of the cutbacks Monday.

The employee reductions were companywide but the bulk of layoffs took place in Las Vegas where MGM Mirage operates 10 Strip resorts and is building the massive $8.4 billion CityCenter development. MGM Mirage also operates casinos in Michigan and Mississippi.

Whole thing here.

Earlier this year, about 150 employees were laid off at Circus Circus, one of MGM Mirage’s holdings.

MGM Mirage employs 66,000 people nationally, according to the story.

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo, Day 2: Riisem, Lodden Lead
Norway's Oyvind Riisem, fourth-place finisher in the WSOP Europe Main Event, ended Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo as chip leader with 441,400 chips. Fellow Norwegian Johnny Lodden finished...

Catch the WSOPE on Sky next week

The World Series of Poker Europe took place in London in September 2007. The series included three events: £2,500 H.O.R.S.E., £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, and the £10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event.

Next week viewers can see what it took for Thomas Bihl to become the very first WSOPE bracelet winner, along with Dario Alioto's win in the second event. What viewers may be most interested in, however, is watching Annette Obrestad win the WSOPE Main Event.

At just 18 years of age, Obrestad became the youngest winner of a WSOP bracelet and she also became the first woman to win a $10,000 Main Event of the World Series.

In an advertisement for the upcoming TV premier of the series, Obrestad said, "To find out how I did it, watch the 2007 WSOPE on Sky Sports. I look forward to seeing you at this year's WSOPE event in London on Sept. 19."

The broadcast schedule for the WSOPE is:

Date	Time (GMT)	Channel
April 21	9 p.m.	Sky Sports 3
April 22	9 p.m.	Sky Sports 3
April 23	9 p.m.	Sky Sports 3
April 24	9 p.m.	Sky Sports 2
April 25	9 p.m.	Sky Sports 3
April 26	11 p.m.	Sky Sports 2
April 27	9 p.m.	Sky Sports Xtra
April 28	9:30 p.m.	Sky Sports 2

The 2008 WSOPE, which will once again be presented by Betfair, will take place at three casinos across London from Sept. 19 to Oct. 1, with the final table taking place at the The Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square.

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CD Poker revs up another WSOP freeroll

The freeroll is open to players who signed up at CD Poker through PokerListings.com and then accumulated 200 player points during the qualification period.

The qualification period for Wednesday's WSOP freeroll ends today, but the poker site will have one more freeroll for PokerListings.com players in May.

The qualifying window for the May 14 freeroll begins today and ends on May 13.

Each freeroll will offer participants a shot at a $12,500 WSOP Main Event prize package. It includes the $10,000 buy-in to the 2008 Main Event plus money for travel and accommodation.

A free trip to play in the World Series is certainly nothing poker players are going to want to pass up. The WSOP Main Event has rocketed many players to millionaire status.

Jerry Yang picked up $8.25 million for his win last year, and Jamie Gold won a record-breaking $12 million in 2006.

Along with the cash has come quite a bit of fame for many of the Main Event winners. The CD Poker freeroll winners have the potential to join the ranks of Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Greg Raymer and others who have attained world champion status.

CD Poker isn't letting the other players in the freeroll leave completely empty handed either. The poker site is putting up $2,500 to spread deep into the freeroll standings.

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MrSmokey1 wins PokerStars Freezeout

As usual it was a poker-packed Sunday on PokerStars and hundreds of thousands of dollars were awarded. Online player graslevy was the big winner, who took home $204,562 (deals non-withstanding) for taking down the PokerStars Sunday Million. It was no small feat considering there were 7,254 runners in the event.

pitstache8888 had to do one better at the Sunday Hundred Grand because he was up against 21,424 opponents. pistache8888 did indeed overcome the competition and won $19,539 in the process. Not quite as much as the Sunday Million but a hell of a value considering pistache8888 only bought-in for $11.

In other PokerStars Sunday news, DaMadPotter beat PLAYM0NEYPRO in the $10,000+$300 heads-up challenge to win an easy $20,000 while TheTotti finished first in the Sunday Warm-Up for $108,731. Here's a look at the complete final table payouts for each event (totals do not take deals into account):

PokerStars Sunday Million

1. graslevy	$204,562
2. JTD DOG	$103,006
3. Mescalin8	$72,540
4. grabskia	$58,032
5. Caetana	$43,524
6. Purrel	$31,917
7. HittinChills	22,487
8. rainmaker AD	$13,057
9. choppermen2	$8,559

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up

1. The Totti	$108,731
2. anky213	$55,467
3. gango17	$39,853
4. Riverloser	$24,680
5. iemins	$18,258
6. QUEEN KAZU	$13,221
7. zaphrail	$13,221
8. Mazelucky	$9,310
9. styroben33	$4,910

PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand

1. pistache8888	$19,539
2. WARTHOG7	$9,769
3. dog sweater	$6,770
4. cchriztal	$3,842
5. solbaid	$2,913
6. piersonphoto	$1,949
7. 88KOOK	$1,564
8. Fatross	$1,264
9. Waterdragon8	$984

PokerStars Sunday $5,200 Freezeout (winner take all)

1. MrSmokey1

$50,000

PokerStars Sunday $10,300 Heads-up Showdown

1. DaMadPotter

$20,000

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PKR.com gets attention with 25,000 square-foot banner
PKR.com, a 3-D online poker site, is using some unorthodox tactics to attract attention and customers — the latest is a 25,000 square-foot banner advertising the site. The giant banner has been flown over London three times already. According to pokerpages.com: The giant banner is three-quarters the size ��...full article

PKR.com, a 3-D online poker site, is using some unorthodox tactics to attract attention and customers — the latest is a 25,000 square-foot banner advertising the site.

The giant banner has been flown over London three times already.

According to pokerpages.com:

The giant banner is three-quarters the size of a soccer pitch. And when trailed through the skies behind a helicopter, it can be seen for 10 miles, to an estimated 1 million people each flight.

PKR.com partnered with Helibanners Ltd. and their patented Helicopter Overcity Banner Systems to produce the huge banner and to fly it in and around London, primarily during major events.

Whole thing here.

If you’re in London, you’ll be able to see the next flight on April 26, when Chelsea plays Manchester United in soccer.

Poker Stars - PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo, Day 2: Riisem, Lodden Lead

2008-04-15T01:30:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - Did ePassporte leave net gambling game?

2008-04-14T19:00:00.001-07:00

Did ePassporte leave net gambling game?

On Friday, Cake Poker customers received an e-mail message from the poker site saying that ePassporte is unable to continue to provide the poker site with merchant e-wallet services.

Since then posts have been made in online poker forums confirming that customers at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars are also unable to use ePassporte to make deposits or withdrawals.

In the 2+2 Forum, someone posted an e-mail he had received from Full Tilt Poker announcing the change as well. It said:

"You received this email because you have made a deposit using ePassporte. We have recently been notified by ePassporte that they are no longer able to facilitate deposits or withdrawals between ePassporte and Full Tilt Poker player accounts. We apologize for this inconvenience which is unfortunately outside of our control."

There's still no official word from ePassporte stating it is getting out of the online gambling business. But there are already other e-wallet services willing to step in and take its spot.

PokerEcheck.com has already announced that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are testing them as a payment option for online players in the United States.

"Poker Echecks are as fast as credit card deposits and the funds are immediately available for play," says the company in a press release. "In some cases they can even be used to cash out."

Full Tilt Poker is also working with Instant eChecks as a deposit and withdrawal method for online poker players. The service, operated by Nexum Financial, allows users to instantly transfer funds from their personal accounts to online poker sites without having to establish an online e-wallet.

If ePassporte does leave the online gambling market for U.S. customers it will join NETeller, EcoCard, Citadel and FirePay.

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PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final: Day 1b
Sunday's second flight of the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo began play with 450 players. This puts the total starting field for the €10,000 buy-in event at 842 players, 136 more than last year, when Gavin Griffin took...

Creepy Negreanu blog post: “I literally want to eat people’s brains”
The newest entry on Daniel Negreanu’s blog is entitled “Eating Brain.” And it doesn’t get less creepy after that. The posting talks about his preparation for the European Poker Tour Grand Final, which is currently taking place. But it quickly takes a turn into the strange ��...full article

The newest entry on Daniel Negreanu’s blog is entitled “Eating Brain.” And it doesn’t get less creepy after that.

The posting talks about his preparation for the European Poker Tour Grand Final, which is currently taking place. But it quickly takes a turn into the strange and macabre, tongue in cheek though it may be.

According to pokerkingblog.com:

After getting some of the more boring details out of the way, Negreanu sends out a warning shot to all of the other players who may be unfortunate enough to sit at his table.

The 140 pound vegan says that he is in “that killer mindset”, “like I literally want to eat people’s brains.”

If that isn’t enough to send a cold chill down your spine, Negreanu continues:

“Just literally rip their brains to shreds after an appetizer of ripping their hearts out of their chests, taking a big bite out of them, and then spitting the blood back in their faces.”

Whole thing here. And you can read the blog here.

We’ll have a count on how many brains Daniel ate after the EPT event is over.

PPA lawyer gets online poker case on docket in Washington state
A Washington court is scheduled to hear a case challenging the criminalization of online poker in the state. On May 15, a case brought by Poker Players Alliance regional director Lee Rousso will bring into question the constitutionality of a 2006 law that made playing online ��...full article

A Washington court is scheduled to hear a case challenging the criminalization of online poker in the state.

On May 15, a case brought by Poker Players Alliance regional director Lee Rousso will bring into question the constitutionality of a 2006 law that made playing online poker a felony in the state.

According to pokerpages.com:

When state legal representatives for months delayed the hearing, asking for Rousso’s personal online poker information as part of their discovery process, Rousso lodged an appeal, saying the requests “were propounded to harass, oppress, intimidate and threaten” him.

After an initial defeat, many of his Fifth Amendment rights to protect his personal and confidential information were upheld on appeal by Judge Mary E. Roberts earlier in April.

Whole thing here.

Poker Stars - New bill seeks to restrict UIGEA

2008-04-13T20:45:00.001-07:00

New bill seeks to restrict UIGEA

H.R. 5767 would prohibit the Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on Internet gambling, as required by the UIGEA.

"These regulations are impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions," said Frank in a statement on Friday.

The controversial UIGEA was passed way back in October of 2006 as a part of the SAFE port act. Detractors say the act is not only impossible to enforce but the government is missing out billions of dollars of tax revenue if the industry was regulated by the U.S. government.

Paul took issue with two main points of the online gambling bill: 1. Americans should have the ability to do with their as they see fit and 2. The government should not interfere with the internet.

"This is another pernicious trend that has accelerated in the aftermath of the Patriot Act, the deputization of private businesses to perform intrusive enforcement and surveillance functions that the federal government is unwilling to perform on its own," Paul said in a statement.

H.R. 5767 already has allies including the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI) which works to protect the rights of individuals who wish to gamble online while ensuring there are proper safeguards in place.

"The Frank-Paul bill would stop the U.S. government from taking any further steps on regulations that would require all of the country's financial institions to block Internet Gambling payments," said SSIGI spokesman Jeff Sandman. "It's a bold move, but a necessary one, in light of the warnings from the Treasury and Federal Reserve that they did not know how to write regulations to solve the problems created by UIGEA."

Frank has already introduced a bill title the Internet Gambling Regulations and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046) that would essentially repeal UIGEA. The bill already has 48 co-sponsors.

"I want to get it undone," said Frank in regard to UIGEA. "If an adult in this country, with his or her own money, wants to engage in an activity that harms no one, how dare we prohibit it? Adults are entitled to do with their own money what they want."

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Carli comes close in Event 9 at WSOPC Indiana

Carli managed to finish fourth at Event 8 earlier this week but beat that accomplishment the very next day by finishing second at Event 9. It was the third final table for Carli at the WSOPC Caesars Indiana. At this rate Carli must be wishing the event series would never end.

Two players that would likely agree with Carli are Robby Frank, who actually won Event 9, and Brett Henthorn, who took down Event 10.

Here's a look at how each event played out:

Event 9, $500+$50 ½ No-Limit Hold'em, ½ Pot-Limit Omaha

Exactly 100 players came out to play in this hybrid poker variant that features half the action No-Limit Hold'em and the other half Pot-Limit Hold'em.

Insurance Firm owner Robbie Frank came to the final table of Event 9 with a commanding chip lead that saw him holding $142,000 of the $350,000 chips in play.

Incredibly Carli came to the final table with only $7,500 but managed to battle his way back into the game.

For a period of time at the final table it looked like the crowd was in for a terrific upset as Frank saw his gigantic chip lead diminish to almost nothing but instead Frank stayed calm and managed to regain the chip lead by the 65th hand.

By heads-up time Frank had the chip lead over Carli but with one quick double up the landscape could change dramatically. Instead the final hand saw Carli call all-in with A-AJ-7 to Frank's K-K-10-6. The board came K-J-4-8-Q and that was enough to seal the deal for Frank.

Despite Carli not winning he did increase his record-holding number of Circuit cashes to 28.

Here's a look at the complete final table payouts:

Player:	Prize:
1. Robbie Frank	$14,045
2. Doug Carli	$7,370
3. Russ Merrill	$4,335
4. Donnie Godsey	$3,468
5. Steve Mitchell	$2,601
6. Jason Song	$2,167
7. Mark Dreshaj	$1,734
8. Thomas McGrath	$1,300
9. Eric Dam	$867

Event 10, $300+$30 No Limit Hold'em

As expected Event 10 $300+$30 No-Limit Hold'em proved to be one of the most popular events of the 2008 WSOPC Caesars Indiana. A total of 364 players came out to get their hands dirty in No-Limit Hold'em action.

The story of the tournament was Brett Henthorn, who came to the final table with a commanding chip lead and proceeded to crush the final table, knocking out six of his eight opponents.

Henthorn is a student who was taking a brief break from his studies to play some cards at Caesars Indiana. He met Dennis Schroeder in heads-up play and in the final hand made a straight to get the checkmark.

Henthorn received $31,240 but mentioned he's not even going to be thinking about poker over the next couple of months as he will be focused on school.

Here's a look at the final table payouts:

Player:	Prize:
1. Brett Henthorn	$31,240
2. Dennis Schroeder	$16,124
3. Henry Barnes	$8,062
4. Cy Dixon	$7,054
5. Tommy "Tap" Pruitt	$6,046
6. Donald Crail	$5,039
7. Darrell Lackey	$4,031
8. Stephen Mitchell	$3,022
9. Richard Woehler	$2,015

The online world seems to have noticed and hundreds of thousands of dollars were traded back and forth in high stakes PLO action yesterday night and early this morning.

Despite the fact the session included players like Durrr, MrSmokey1, and even Markus Golser at times it was online player eighty88 who stoke the show.

eighty88 went on the mother of all heaters and managed to rack up in the upwards of $400,000 by the end of the session although he was down by substantial amounts at certain times of the day as well.

The verdict is still out on Benyamine who appeared to finish up by about $100,000 but one thing is certain - no one gets a high-stakes PLO game going quicker than the man they call Benyamine.

To learn more about the big happenings in high stakes online poker check out our marketpulse section here.

Here's a look at a pivotal hand between Benyamine and eighty88 with an $88,252 pot on the line:

Table Setup

Seat 1: tsarrast ($77,100)
Seat 2: David Benyamine ($43,897)
Seat 3: La Key U ($15,391)
Seat 4: eighty88 ($83,218.50)
Seat 5: Markus Golser ($14,192)
Seat 6: natso2 ($13,886)
natso2 posts the small blind of $200
tsarrast posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #5

Preflop

David Benyamine raises to $1,400
La Key U folds
eighty88 calls $1,400
Markus Golser folds
natso2 folds
tsarrast folds

Flop [Q 3 9]

David Benyamine checks
eighty88 bets $2,400
David Benyamine raises to $10,600
eighty88 raises to $35,200
David Benyamine raises to $42,497, and is all in
eighty88 calls $7,297
David Benyamine shows [8 A A 4]
eighty88 shows [T 8 5 Q]

Turn [Q 3 9] [5]

River [Q 3 9 5] [Q]

David Benyamine shows two pair, Aces and Queens
eighty88 shows a full house, Queens full of Fives
eighty88 wins the pot ($88,391) with a full house, Queens full of Fives
David Benyamine is sitting out

Summary Total pot $88,394 | Rake $3
Board: [Q 3 9 5 Q]
Seat 1: tsarrast (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: David Benyamine showed [8 A A 4] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 3: La Key U didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: eighty88 showed [T 8 5 Q] and won ($88,391) with a full house, Queens full of Fives
Seat 5: Markus Golser (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: natso2 (small blind) folded before the Flop

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Update on Lee Rousso vs. the State of Washington

Rousso, a lawyer and the state representative for the PPA in Washington, is challenging the constitutionality of Washington's online gambling ban. He filed the lawsuit on the first day of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event.

He regularly updates readers on his case at http://pokerplayersalliance.org and on Friday Rousso was optimistic about Robert's ruling over the discovery dispute.

"The judge agreed with me about 99%, the state only about 1%," he said. "In layman's terms, it was a rout."

Rousso remarked he has one more item left to debate with the State of Washington but it looks extremely likely he will be heading to court.

In the past Rousso has accused the state of imposing a ban on online gambling to protect its own gambling industry. That would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause forbidding individual states from passing protectionist laws against other states' business.

Rousso hit an obstacle to his case last year when the state demanded information, as part of discovery, that Rousso believed was confidential and implicated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Due to a change in court scheduling Rousso's hearing date has been moved back to May 15. Rousso is asking all Seattle area poker players to make an appearance at the court and show their support for online poker.

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Poker Stars - Some doubt remains about ePassporte pulling the plug on U.S.

2008-04-12T16:30:00.001-07:00

Some doubt remains about ePassporte pulling the plug on U.S.
While it seems likely that ePassporte is pulling out of the U.S. market, there is still a glimmer of hope for American online poker players. Yesterday, rumors began swirling that the money transfer service ePassporte would no longer be able to serve U.S. customers, which seemed ��...full article

While it seems likely that ePassporte is pulling out of the U.S. market, there is still a glimmer of hope for American online poker players.

Yesterday, rumors began swirling that the money transfer service ePassporte would no longer be able to serve U.S. customers, which seemed to be confirmed by Cake Poker. That site was telling players through their cashier screens that ePassporte could not be used in the U.S.
(more…)

WPT stock continues nosedive
Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago. The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued ��...full article

Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago.

The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued at around $30 million at its current stock price.

According to a recent entry on the blog:

The worst part of all (for WPTE management) is that no one seems to care about the stock. The stock had just 4,500 shares of volume today, and hasn’t traded more than 10k shares in the past two weeks. This is a far cry from 2005, when the stock would easily average more than 300k shares of volume per day. There are no “big” analysts covering the stock, and investors couldn’t seem to care less. WPTE seems to be marching towards penny stock status, and the company isn’t doing much to help with its declining revenues and consistent quarterly losses.

Whole thing here.

The blog goes on to theorize on the reasons for the company’s fall, from competition from other poker television shows to the end of the poker “boom.”

Trump: No A.C. smoking ban
Earlier this week Donald Trump came out vehemently against the proposed smoking ban in Atlantic City that is being considered by the city’s council. Trump, who obviously has a vested interest as a casino owner in the city, has threatened legal action if the ban is ��...full article

Earlier this week Donald Trump came out vehemently against the proposed smoking ban in Atlantic City that is being considered by the city’s council.

Trump, who obviously has a vested interest as a casino owner in the city, has threatened legal action if the ban is adopted.

According to a story at the Press of Atlantic City’s Web site:

“It’s a sad day for Atlantic City,” Trump said in an interview Thursday. “It puts Atlantic City at a huge competitive disadvantage with casinos in other states.”

Trump’s comments came the day after City Council unanimously introduced a measure that would outlaw smoking on the casino floor beginning Oct. 15, but would allow customers to smoke in lounges away from the slot machines and gaming tables. The ordinance, scheduled for a final vote in two weeks, would abolish the limited casino smoking areas currently allowed under the city’s “75-25″ law. Smoking is permitted on 25 percent of the casino floor under the partial smoking ban, now a year old.

Whole thing here.

Trump is a nonsmoker in his personal life.

Trump’s pitch against the smoking ban is a bottom line issue — he has warned that the ban could mean millions in lost revenue, which would also mean lost tax revenue for the state of New Jersey.

'A Weekend with Daniel Negreanu' Announced
Daniel Negreanu has announced a special treat for well-heeled players looking for some high-end, personal poker instruction. Negreanu's 'A Weekend with Daniel Negreanu' seminar has been set for August 8-10, 2008, and bills itself...

Deal To Be Released April 25

The next poker movie, Starring Bret Harrison; Burt Reynolds and Shannon Elizabeth, to hit the screen will see a limited release on April 25th.

Along with a slew of cameos, Antonio Esfandiari; Joe Hachem; Phil Laak; Chris Moneymaker; Greg Raymer and Vincent Van Patten are some of the big name poker players to be credited as playing themselves in the film.

No poker movie, since the release of Rounders in 1998, has been able to come close to truly capturing the essence of the game. Deal has already been reviewed as "The best poker movie since Rounders", "The real deal" and "Captures the poker world like it is" by some of the Poker stars to have rolls in the movie.

I'm not sure that people who have parts of the movie are the best, unbiased, source for a review, but I will hold off on any judgment until after I see the film.

The plot of Deal is as follows: As an ex-gambler teaches a hot-shot college kid some things about playing cards, he finds himself pulled into the world series of poker, where his protégé is his toughest competition.

It sounds like a solid pitch, as the same plot formula worked rather well in the 1986 film The Color of Money starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. (The Color of Money also has John Tuturro as part of its cast, better known to you as "Joey Knish" from Rounders)

I look forward to seeing if this movie can come through with a real, accurate and entertaining view of the poker world, or if it will fall flat like another recent film which didn't get so lucky.

Watch the trailer on the movies official website http://www.dealthemovie.com/

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Poker Stars - WPT stock continues nosedive

2008-04-12T04:47:00.001-07:00

Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago.

The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued at around $30 million at its current stock price.

According to a recent entry on the blog:

The worst part of all (for WPTE management) is that no one seems to care about the stock. The stock had just 4,500 shares of volume today, and hasn’t traded more than 10k shares in the past two weeks. This is a far cry from 2005, when the stock would easily average more than 300k shares of volume per day. There are no “big” analysts covering the stock, and investors couldn’t seem to care less. WPTE seems to be marching towards penny stock status, and the company isn’t doing much to help with its declining revenues and consistent quarterly losses.

Whole thing here.

The blog goes on to theorize on the reasons for the company’s fall, from competition from other poker television shows to the end of the poker “boom.”

Poker Stars - Griffin, Brown Join Team PokerStars Lineup

2008-04-11T09:00:00.001-07:00

Griffin, Brown Join Team PokerStars Lineup
PokerStars.net has added two more big-name players to its lineup of pro endorsers with the signing of Gavin Griffin and Chad Brown. These latest additions to Team PokerStars swell the site's endorser lineup to 25 players, including...

Poker Stars - Indictments Handed Down in Borgata Poker Room Sportsbetting Ring Case

2008-04-11T08:15:00.001-07:00

Indictments Handed Down in Borgata Poker Room Sportsbetting Ring Case
A major sportsbetting ring allegedly being run out of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa poker room has now seen indictments issued against two dozen participants. The ring, which was broken up last November after a 20-month investigation...

Leeann Tweeden Named as 'Poker After Dark' Season Four Host
Leeann Tweeden, a popular model and show hostess with previous poker credits on her resume, has been named as the host for the fourth season of the NBC late-night hit 'Poker After Dark', replacing Marianela Pereyra in the role...

Poker Stars - Harrah’s Entertainment to change its name to Caesars

2008-04-10T18:16:00.001-07:00

Harrah’s Entertainment to change its name to Caesars
Harrah’s Entertainment has decided to change the company’s name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation. Harrah’s, which puts on the World Series of Poker, will still be used as a brand name on casinos. According to pokernews.com: CEO Gary Loveman said, “Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide ��...full article

Harrah’s Entertainment has decided to change the company’s name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

Harrah’s, which puts on the World Series of Poker, will still be used as a brand name on casinos.

According to pokernews.com:

CEO Gary Loveman said, “Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide our company with greater prestige and help attract strategic business partners as we pursue expansion opportunities in new jurisdictions. The change also reflects our evolution into a full-service entertainment company that offers a rich range of gaming and non-gaming amenities to our guests.”

Whole thing here.

Harrah’s and Caesars merged in 2005.

No details yet on if this change will take place in time for this year’s WSOP, which starts next month.

Poker Stars - Erik Seidel wins WPT’s Foxwoods Poker Classic

2008-04-10T14:15:00.001-07:00

Erik Seidel wins WPT’s Foxwoods Poker Classic
Erik Seidel started the final table of the Foxwoods Poker Classic with the most chips, and he ended the World Poker Tour event with all of them. The final table — consisting of 6 players — lasted 12 hours and 229 hands, and the eight-time World ��...full article

Erik Seidel started the final table of the Foxwoods Poker Classic with the most chips, and he ended the World Poker Tour event with all of them.

The final table — consisting of 6 players — lasted 12 hours and 229 hands, and the eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner walked away with the first prize of nearly $1 million.
(more…)

Harrah’s Entertainment has decided to change the company’s name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

Harrah’s, which puts on the World Series of Poker, will still be used as a brand name on casinos.

According to pokernews.com:

CEO Gary Loveman said, “Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide our company with greater prestige and help attract strategic business partners as we pursue expansion opportunities in new jurisdictions. The change also reflects our evolution into a full-service entertainment company that offers a rich range of gaming and non-gaming amenities to our guests.”

Whole thing here.

Harrah’s and Caesars merged in 2005.

No details yet on if this change will take place in time for this year’s WSOP, which starts next month.

Antigua to reject U.S. proposal on online gambling dispute
In the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and Antigua regarding online gambling, the Caribbean nation is set to reject the Americans’ latest proposal to settle the issue. Antigua and the United States are at odds because the U.S. will not allow foreign online gambling ��...full article
In the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and Antigua regarding online gambling, the Caribbean nation is set to reject the Americans’ latest proposal to settle the issue.

Antigua and the United States are at odds because the U.S. will not allow foreign online gambling providers to have access to the U.S. market. Previously, the World Trade Organization sided with Antigua, awarding the island nation compensation because of the United States’ unwillingness to honor trade pacts on the issue.

According to pokerpages.com:

Antigua and Barbuda agreed to hold off on arbitration proceedings at the World Trade Organisation until the end of March, allowing time for the proposal to be considered and a counterproposal made. Antigua did not receive a settlement proposal back from the United States until after the end of March deadline passed.

“Cabinet has deliberated on the matter and decided on a particular course of action.” Dr. Court told the SUN. A statement is expected to be issued from the government of Antigua and Barbuda shortly concerning their decision.

Whole thing here.

With this latest round of international wrangling, the dispute appears to be no closer to a resolution.

National Heads-Up Poker Championship TV schedule released
NBC recently updated the broadcast schedule for its fourth annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Coverage of the event begins Sunday and will include action from all three days of the event, eventually won by Chris Ferguson against Andy Bloch in the best-of-three final. According to pokerpages.com: The Championship ��...full article
NBC recently updated the broadcast schedule for its fourth annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Coverage of the event begins Sunday and will include action from all three days of the event, eventually won by Chris Ferguson against Andy Bloch in the best-of-three final.

According to pokerpages.com:

The Championship was full of surprises from the beginning, as reported on NBC’s site, with first round upsets including 2007 NHPC champion Paul Wasicka losing to Freddy Deeb; “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth going all in with pocket aces, and losing, against online poker phenomenon Tom Dwan on the third hand; and Shannon Elizabeth, the Cinderella story of last year’s tournament, getting knocked out by Bloch. Other poker heavyweights eliminated in the first round were Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, and 2007 NHPC runner-up Chad Brown.

Whole thing here, which includes times and air dates for all episodes.

The final is scheduled to be aired May 18.

Georgia man has Full Tilt win on his mind
Vickers, who owns and operates a pawnshop and jewelry store in Douglas, Ga., spends a big portion of his days playing online poker and honing his poker skills.

"I am on Full Tilt seven days a week all day long," he said.

"I think it is the best online site to play poker that there is out there - bar none. I have my Full Tilt custom jersey with my nickname on back, and I am waiting for the day that I will wear it in a WSOP or WPT event. Until then it will hang in my closet new and never worn."

He plans to use his freeroll winnings to continue to improve his poker game and work his way toward a major event.

"I told my fiancée about a year ago that I was going to be good enough to compete in the WSOP and WPT one day, and she laughed," Vicker said. "Now after seeing the rapid progression my game is making she is starting to be a believer and is behind me 110%."

Vickers got his start in poker playing Five-Card Draw and luck games such as Three and Five-Card Knock when he was a teenager. Now 35, he started playing Texas Hold'em about two years ago.

"When I started to realize that real poker was more luck than skill and a game that could be mastered is when I got really interested," he said.

He gives some credit for his interest in Hold'em to it being shown on television, but it's also his competitive nature and mainly the lure of the quest to be the best that propels him to continue to improve his game.

In that quest, Vickers, who plays as mikey11773, plays online poker seven to nine hours each day.

"If I miss a day, I feel like I've lost ground and play more the next day to catch up," he said.

Vickers has seen quite a bit of improvement since he began to focus on Hold'em. He gives some of the credit for his most recent improvement to Justin Rollo and his coaching videos.

"I started watching them about a month ago, regularly, and since then have started to go deeper and deeper in the tournaments I play, winning several 90-handed sit-and-gos and numerous final tables in the last month," Vickers said.

Those final tables include a previous stint in the weekly $3k freeroll at Full Tilt Poker as well. Two weeks ago he came in second, and his previous play made him a little familiar with the playing field of the weekly event going into the April 5 tournament.

"There are some good players that play that tourney every week, but there are a lot of the guys that play in it that are pretty inexperienced and don't have the patience to get deep in a tournament," Vickers said, "and they rush their play and play bad hands and don't know when to lay them down."

His strategy this time around involved playing tight and just waiting for premium hands after he saw most of the players he went deep with the time before get knocked out early.

"I can remember one hand a little over halfway through where I got lucky and the momentum I got from that hand pretty much rolled me into the final table," Vickers said.

"A lot of the guys also didn't seem to know how to play deep-stacked with the blinds and antes so high, and I just took advantage of that and kept getting chips."

At the final table he maintained that same strategy and said he was never in danger of busting out.

"I know it sounds vain, but after the last one, I told my fiancée I was going to win this one," Vickers said. "I was way ahead in the last one and feel like I should have won it, so I had my mind made up to take it down, and I did."

The final-table results of the tournament were:

Place Name Prize

1st mikey117733 $810

2nd chockaz $510

3rd nutstrut $382.50

4th soarsoar $300

5th No Outs 1 $225

6th mike24778 $165

7th stormin618 $112.50

8th AAnKK $90

9th ror666 $67.50

Vickers qualified for the Full Tilt Poker weekly $3,000 freeroll by first signing up at the poker site through PokerListings.com.

"I visit [PokerListings.com] a couple times a month to look through the blogs and see what's happening in the poker world," Vickers said. "I think it is a very good site, and I enjoy reading the articles and info on it."

After signing up at Full Tilt Poker through pokerListings.com, all Vickers had to do was earn 150 playing points during the seven-day qualification period for the freeroll and he was in.

Get your shot at the Full Tilt Poker freeroll exclusive to PokerListings.com players by clicking on any link from our site to get to Full Tilt Poker and sign up today.

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Poker Stars - Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII

2008-04-09T10:00:00.001-07:00

Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII
More than $10 million in guaranteed prize money will be up for grabs when the Full Tilt Online Poker Series makes its eighth appearance from May 7-18, 2008. FTOPS VIII will feature 24 individual tournaments – each hosted by a Full Tilt...

888 Posts Strong Continuing Operations Growth
888 Holdings PLC, owner of Pacific Poker, announced its preliminary 2007 year end results, which in many respects mirrored the performance of the industry as a whole. Like many of its competitors, 888 posted excellent gains from...

College Poker Life: Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg,VA
Though there isn't a single licensed poker room in the state of Virginia, students attending the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, otherwise known as Virginia Tech, still have plenty of different ways to enjoy...

Poker Stars - Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII

2008-04-09T01:00:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 8: Tournament Tipping an Issue

2008-04-08T15:15:00.001-07:00

The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 8: Tournament Tipping an Issue
This issue has been a very difficult one for me to write about but I think that it is a topic that currently deserves discussion. I like to think that my reputation was built on integrity and that money has never been the most important...

PokerStars Announces 'Battle of the Planets'
Leading online poker site PokerStars has just announced a new sit-and-go (SNG) tournament leader board concept, launching its 'Battle of the Planets' promotion that will pay out over $3,000,000 per year to its participants.

The WSOP Academy: Cultivating Poker Dreams
It's a little after nine on a Saturday morning in the Olympus Ballroom on the second floor of the Caesars Indiana Hotel & Casino, and the WSOP Academy is in town. 60 or so poker aspirants have gathered here, in a quietly overstated, upscale...

Poker Stars - Sexton's Corner, Vol. 39: Archie Karas, Part 9 – According to Jack

2008-04-07T10:15:00.001-07:00

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 39: Archie Karas, Part 9 – According to Jack
Archie 'The Greek' Karas has a story that will be etched into Las Vegas gambling lore forever. As time goes by, the historical significance of him hitting town in December of 1992 with $50 in his pocket and running it up...

South Carolina Poker Raid Snares Prosecutor, 26 Others
A South Carolina raid conducted under that state's antiquated gambling statutes resulted in the arrests of 27 players, most at a Hanahan, SC home, including a deputy prosecutor who subsequently submitted his resignation in the wake...

Brian Hastings makes a bold semi-bluff

Many of today's professional players seem to prefer the pot-limit format and the higher level of complexity that four hole cards give. As a result, you often have to turn to Omaha for quality railbirding.

Sometimes, however, players get together for a game of high-stakes No-Limit Hold'em. And yesterday, Full Tilt Poker offered some great Hold'em action with several pots in the range of $100,000 and a few pots close to $150,000.

Before we take a look at a hand from yesterday's game, let's just ponder for a second what Hold'em has become.

When the game was invented, it was supposed to make it easier for superior players to outplay inferior ones. Betting on several streets and at least 60% of each player's hand exposed on the river were supposed to give the good players a clear advantage.

But back in the days, most players played fixed-limit - a game where you grind for the long run rather than take down a couple of huge pots. Today, on the other hand, No-Limit is the most common betting structure; and instead of getting an advantage due to many betting rounds, it's all about being most aggressive.

This might be a reason why players turn to Pot-Limit Omaha, where draws aren't out-priced all the time.

Now to the hand: This might seem like a pretty straightforward pot and a type of play we see almost daily. But think about it for a while. What did Sklansky say about pre-flop hand-selection and semi-bluffs? Is this the same game he described in Theory of Poker?

Full Tilt Poker Game #5931626773 TABLE : Ringer (heads up) $300/$600 - No Limit Hold'em - Sun Apr 6th 2008 - 7:12pm ET

Table Setup

Seat 1: Brian Hastings ($60,000)
Seat 2: guaranteed376 ($135,887.50)
Brian Hastings posts the small blind of $300
guaranteed376 posts the big blind of $600
The button is in seat #1

Pre-flop

Brian Hastings raises to $1,800
guaranteed376 calls $1,200

Flop #4s-#9s-#Ac

guaranteed376 bets $3,000
Brian Hastings calls $3,000

Turn #4s-#9s-#Ac-#Kd

guaranteed376 bets $7,200
Brian Hastings has 15 seconds left to act
Brian Hastings raises to $19,200
guaranteed376 has 15 seconds left to act
guaranteed376 has requested TIME
guaranteed376 calls $12,000

River #4s-#9s-#Ac-#Kd-#2s

guaranteed376 checks
Brian Hastings has 15 seconds left to act
Brian Hastings bets $36,000, and is all in
guaranteed376 has 15 seconds left to act
guaranteed376 calls $36,000

Showdown

Brian Hastings shows #7s-#3s a flush, Nine high
guaranteed376 mucks
Brian Hastings wins the pot ($119,999.50) with a flush, Nine high

Summary

Total pot $120,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: #4s-#9s-#Ac-#Kd-#2s
Seat 1: Brian Hastings (small blind) collected ($119,999.50)
Seat 2: guaranteed376 (big blind) mucked

To see more hand histories from the session, and more of the biggest Hold'em pots won online over the last day, week and month, jump over to the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section.

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Poker Stars - South Carolina Poker Raid Snares Prosecutor, 26 Others

2008-04-06T22:45:00.001-07:00

South Carolina Poker Raid Snares Prosecutor, 26 Others
A South Carolina raid conducted under that state's antiquated gambling statutes resulted in the arrests of 27 players, most at a Hanahan, SC home, including a deputy prosecutor who subsequently submitted his resignation in the wake...

Poker Stars - Jason Mercier wins inaugural EPT San Remo event

2008-04-06T15:30:00.001-07:00

Jason Mercier wins inaugural EPT San Remo event

It all could have gone so much differently had Jason Mercier decided to cancel the trip after his friend backed out of coming along a few weeks ago.

"But luckily two of my online friends told me they were coming and I could meet up with them so I decided to do it," Mercier told PokerListings.com in an interview.

Mercier is a professional online poker player, and this was only his second major live tournament. His first was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he didn't last through the first day.

After winning a seat in the EPT San Remo event at PokerStars, it wouldn't have been surprising if Mercier cashed out the prize instead of taking the trip after his PCA experience. However, he's now €869,000 richer for having the guts to try another live event.

Of course, Dario Minieri might be wishing the American from Florida had stayed home. Minieri was the favorite to win the event going into the final table as he was buoyed by the hometown crowd.

It certainly helped that Minieri had the chip lead as well, starting with $1,832,000. The starting chip counts at the final table were:

Dario Minieri $1,832,000
Jason Mercier $1,591,000
Antony Lellouche $1,192,000
Gregory Genovese $694,000
Dag Palovic $585,000
Eric Koskas $449,000
William Thorson $418,000
Marcus Bower $278,000

In what was the fastest final table in EPT history so far, it didn't take long see the first casualty of the day, and it only took about two and a half hours for the whole thing to be decided.

First to go was Marcus Bower, taken out by Antony Lellouche. Lellouche had opened the pot to $70,000 and it folded around to Bower, who decided it was time to make a move, going all-in for his remaining $155,000.

Lellouche made a quick call and showed #Ad-#Jc against Bower's pocket fours. A board of #Ks-#9h-#8h-#7s-#Ah gave Lellouche the higher pair and Bower the boot.

As the end of the first level of the day neared, a second player was eliminated. Dag Palovic raised to $96,000 after Minieri had limped into the pot. Minieri called and they saw a flop of #6d-#3d-#2s.

Palovic ended up all-in with pocket queens and Minieri made the call with pocket threes. The board finished with runner eights and Minieri sent Palovic packing in seventh place.

Mercier picked up some more chips to stay on the heels of Minieri with the elimination of William Thorson in sixth place. Thorson was all-in pre-flop with #Ah-#Qh, and Mercier called with #Ad-#Kh.

The flop dropped #Kd-#6c-#5c, giving Mercier the lead. The board finished out #Ac-#4d to seal the deal for Mercier.

Mercier took out the next player as well in a hand that started out as a three-way between him, Minieri and Gregory Genovese. After they all saw a flop of #Ad-#7s-#5d, Mercier bet out $120,000, and Minieri folded, leaving an all-in Genovese to duke it out with Mercier.

Mercier showed an #Ah-#3c to Genovese's #Th-#9c. Genovese couldn't make up any ground when the rest of the board played out with #Qs-#2h, leaving him with a fifth-place finish.

There was just no stopping Mercier as he steamrolled through the remaining players to claim the win. Next he took out Eric Koskas with an amazing call that is best related in the PokerListings.com Live Tournaments section, where details of all the final-table play can be read.

#img: dario-minieri_18947.jpg: left: Oh so close, and yet so far away once again for Minieri.#

In a surprise blow for all the Italian fans present, Mercier then took out Minieri in third place. Minieri had pocket queens up against Mercier's #Ac-#4d. When the flop brought two more diamonds and then the turn brought a #4h, Minieri and his fans were hoping to see anything but another four or diamond on the river.

No such luck for the Italian Harry Potter lookalike, as the river brought a #3d. As a result, Minieri left with another third-place finish in an EPT event, waiting for another chance to get his first win in a major live event.

Two more hands later, Mercier had the win. Lellouche had built a reputation during the game as an aggressive player and it got him in trouble on just the second hand of heads-up play.

After a raise and a re-raise, Mercier shoved all-in and got an insta-call from Lellouche. Lellouche showed pocket sevens to Mercier's #Ks-#Qd. The board came #As-#Qs-#4c-#8c-#2c, giving Mercier a higher pair and the EPT crown.

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WPA increases efforts with WSOP events

To help its efforts along, the WPA will host its first educational conference at the Rio May 28-29. Mike Caro, poker pro and author, will MC the event.

On the second day of the conference, the WSOP has agreed to host a mega-satellite tournament at the World Series of Poker.

Wendeen Eolis, newly crowned chair of the WPA Board, secured the deal soon after being named chair and convinced the tournament organizers to have nine-handed tables for the mega-satellite.

According to the WPA Web site, the organization will soon begin working with WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel in an effort to incorporate various additional rules recommended by the WPA for the mega-satellite as well.

"This is a good first step in the WPA's efforts to improve playing conditions for tournament competitors around the world," Eolis said.

#img: wpa-logo_2505.jpg: left#

Eolis has also been talking to Director Thomas Kremser, tournament rules chairman, to work on continuing to expand the WPA Tournament Rules. The rules build on those set out by the Tournament Directors Association.

"Wendeen has been the work horse of the executive committee," said Harry Thomas Jr., WPA treasurer and executive committee member. "Seldom have I seen someone do in the private sector for money what she has done for this organization gratis. Without her, Jesse Jones' vision would be nowhere near where it is now. We owe her a debt of gratitude."

Eolis previously served the WPA as the vice-chair of the board. She has had a hand in several of the major projects the association has undertaken since it was created by Jesse Jones.

Eolis oversaw drafting of an ethics code. A finalized Code of Ethics is being completed by re-appointed Ethics Chair and WSOP Champion Tom McEvoy and newly appointed Ethics Co-Chair Roger Saad for approval by the board of directors and presentation to the membership at WPA's first annual meeting.

Eolis also worked directly this past year on bylaws provisions. She has turned over the chairmanship of the Bylaws and Elections Committee to Ken Adams. Adams will oversee completion of bylaws and a board of directors slate for approval by the board of directors and presentation at the annual meeting.

"I plan to keep my foot on the pedal and our collective feet to the fire so as to provide concrete results that serve our membership's interests - sooner rather than later," Eolis said.

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Titan Poker to send players to Austria

The Salzburg Poker Cup is anticipated to attract 400 players for its Main Event as well as hundreds more to the two side events scheduled.

Not only will winners at Titan Poker get a shot at the main event, they'll also get to play in Event 2 of the Poker Cup. The $4,000 prize packages being given out at Titan Poker include the buy-ins for both events.

The prize package also includes accommodation, flights and spending money as well as the opportunity to enjoy what the city has to offer. Titan Poker will take its players on a private beer tour, provide an exclusive iPoker lunch, and give players a chance to explore the city.

The first super-satellite at Titan Poker for the Salzburg Poker cup took place April 3, and players will get their final chance to win a prize package April 10.

The super satellite has a $100+$9 buy-in and will start at 8:05 p.m. (CET). There are also ongoing and daily qualifiers for players to win their way into the super-satellite for much less of an out-of-pocket investment.

The schedule of qualifiers is as follows:

Date	Time	Event	Details
Ongoing	Ongoing	$10.90+$1 Stage 1 SNG	One seat in super-satellite for every 10 players
Daily	5:30 p.m.	$15+$1.50 Stage 1 Freezeout	One seat in super-satellite for every $109 collected
Daily	8:50 p.m.	$10+$1 Stage 1 R/A	One seat in super-satellite for every $109 collected
Ongoing	Ongoing	$1.10+20¢ Stage 2 SNG	Seats awarded to next daily Stage 1 at 8:50 p.m. (CET)
Daily	12:10 p.m.	$2+20¢ Stage 2 Freezeout	One seat for every $16.50 awarded for daily Stage 1 Freezeout
Daily	1:45 p.m.	2+20¢ Stage 2 Turbo R/A	One seat for every $11 awarded for daily Stage 1 R/A

Titan Poker hands out plenty of seats and other prizes to its players. Along with the EPT San Remo seats, the site has dished out Aussie Million, World Series of Poker, World Poker Showdown, Irish Open and other EPT event seats.

The poker site also recently signed on as the main sponsor of the Eurocity Poker Tour, which is hosting its inaugural event, the Madrid Open, in May.

The European Championship of Online Poker II will also take place on Titan Poker this May with $3.5 million in guaranteed cash spread through 10 days of events.

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PokerStars launches Battle of the Planets

The new competition is expected to pay out more than $3 million a year to SNG players as they battle their way through their favorite levels of sit-and-go tournaments.

Whether players prefer $2 games or $500 tournaments, there is a competition level on the Battle of the Planets for them.

The Battle divisions are:

Division	SNG Buy-in	Low Orbit Prize Pool	High Orbit Prize Pool
Mercury	$1-$2.99	$1,500	$1,500
Mars	$3-$4.99	$2,000	$2,000
Venus	$5-$9.99	$2,500	$2,500
Earth	$10-$19.99	$3,000	$3,000
Neptune	$20-$49.99	$3,500	$3,500
Uranus	$50-$99.99	$4,000	$4,000
Saturn	$100-$299.99	$4,500	$4,500
Jupiter	$300+	$5,000	$5,000

"One of the greatest things about the new SNG TLB is that it gives both casual and high-volume players a shot at winning," said Brad Willis in his PokerStars blog about the new feature. "PokerStars has devised Low Orbit and High Orbit competitions. Low Orbit competitors will compete in blocks of 20 SNGs at a time, while High Orbit players will fight it out in 100-game blocks. The monthly prize pools are divided equally between the two Orbits."

For the Low Orbit Leaderboard, the player's points total is recorded in blocks of 20 tournaments, with a player allowed to play up to five 20-tournament blocks per division in any given week. Only the player's best block score will count toward the Leaderboard, and only completed blocks of games will be eligible for the leaderboard.

For example, say a player takes on 42 nine-handed $5 tournaments in one week. That player will have completed two, 20-tournament blocks for the Mars Division: Low Orbit Leaderboard.

That player's first 20 games are recorded as the first block and the next 20 as the second block, while the extra two won't count because they're not part of a completed block. Of the two completed blocks, the one with the highest points will be the one that gets ranked on the leaderboard.

The High Orbit Leaderboard works much the same way as the Low Orbit, except that players are recording points in blocks of 100 tournaments instead of 20. Their highest block will count toward the High Orbit Leaderboard.

For the Low Orbit, players are limited to 20 blocks filled per week. There is no limit to the amount of blocks filled for High Orbit players and no limit on the number of division players can participate in.

Cash isn't the only thing the top players in each division and orbit will receive. Every player who finishes in the top 10 of the divisions each week will receive an exclusive ticket to a monthly tournament.

The highest-ranking players from each division will come together to fight in the Battle of the Planets, a triple shootout, for a monthly prize pool of $50,000.

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PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Final Table: Qualifier Mercier Takes Title
Jason Mercier, a PokerStars qualifier from the US, picked up $1,340,867 for his victory in the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo Championship on Saturday. Mercier, who moved to the top of the leader board on Day 2...

Poker Room Review: Santa Ana Star, Bernalillo, NM
The Santa Ana Star Casino is located in Bernalillo, a small city between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, just west of Interstate 25. It is a full service New Mexican casino, located on an Indian pueblo, with all of the limitations required...

Poker Stars - American qualifier wins EPT San Remo

2008-04-06T08:15:00.001-07:00

American qualifier wins EPT San Remo
The European Poker Tour San Remo final table featured four players who had made it to EPT final tables before. But an American who qualified online beat them all. Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier won the event, cashing for $1.34 million in winning his first live poker tournament ��...full article

The European Poker Tour San Remo final table featured four players who had made it to EPT final tables before. But an American who qualified online beat them all.

Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier won the event, cashing for $1.34 million in winning his first live poker tournament win.

The final table took just three hours from first hand to last.

Here’s how heads-up play went, according to wickedchopspoker.com:

Anthony Lellouche finished in second place for $779,215. Mercier had a big chip lead entering heads-up play, and the heads-up battle only lasted two hands. The two players got all of their chips in the middle with Lellouche holding a pair of sevens and Mercier holding K-Q offsuit. The flop was a great one for Mercier as it came A-Q-4 with two spades, giving him middle pair and the highest spade in case running spades came on the turn and river. The turn and river ended up being the harmless 8 and 2 of clubs, and Mercier secured the victory.

Whole thing here.

Dario Minieri, who gained fame at last year’s World Series of Poker main event, entered the final table as the chip leader but finished in third place for $443,767. He was eliminated by Mercier.

Poker Stars - PaddyPower Poker Turns 1 Billion

2008-04-05T12:15:00.001-07:00

PaddyPower Poker Turns 1 Billion

Every 200,000 hands in the countdown to 1Billion is a "Countdown hand", while every 5million hands is a "Jackpot Hand". Cash players who participate in one of these hands can win prizes up to $14,000. The winners of the Jackpot hands also win ECOOP II tickets.

All players participating in the final 100 hands leading up to the Billionth hand gain entry to a special $10,000 freeroll. And that's not all:

The Billionth Hand

If you're fortunate enough to be part of the Billionth hand, not only will you get a seat in the $10,000 freeroll, but you will also receive $30,000. If you happen to WIN the 1 Billionth hand, you will be awarded $50,000, and have a $2,500 bounty put on your head for the $10,000 freeroll.

Starting at cash table hand ID 950,000,000, PaddyPower Poker will give out cash prizes to Countdown and Jackpot hands

Countdown Hand Bonus

Table Stake	Winner Takes	Participants In Hand Split
Micro	$65	$65
Low	$250	$250
Medium	$1000	$1000
High	$3,500	$3,500

Jackpot Hand Bonus

Table Stake	Winner Takes	Participants In Hand Split
Micro	$250	$250
Low	$1000	$1000
Medium	$4000	$4000
High	$14,000	$14,000

Table Stake Definitions

Table Stake	Fixed Limit	NL / PL
Micro	$0.02/$0.04 - $0.10/$0.20	$0.01/$0.02 - $0.05/$0.10
Low	$0.25/$0.50 - $1/$2	$0.10/$0.20 - $0.50/$1
Medium	$2/$4 - $5/$10	$1/$2 - $2/$4
High	$10/$20 and up	$3/$6 and up

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LAPT = Poker Tour of the Americas

Vega's Latin American Poker Tour Expands to 'Poker Tour of the Americas'

The Latin American Poker Tour has decided to break new ground for itself, and take the tour in a new direction according Vega's CEO Michael Herron.

The PTA was contemplating the idea of starting a second tour to focus on North America, but decided to merge the idea into their existing LAPT tour. PokerStars has recently began its own LAPT, and in the spirit of avoiding confusion, Vega re-branded their tour the PTA - Poker Tour of the Americas.

The Company is currently negotiating with venues in several Latin American countries, including Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. New potential Tour stops include venues in the United States and Canada, with a season ending Tournament of Champions to crown the champion of the "Poker Tour of the Americas."

With all the new venues on board, the PTA will become one of the world's largest poker tours, and should draw the attention of many, if not all of the biggest names in the game. All PTA tournaments will be structured as invitational events with players able to win seats though satellites online or live.

The tournaments are planned to be aired throughout North and South America with Vega acting as the executive producer for the programming.

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Mike Sexton Chosen to Headline the World Open IV

Even with Sexton being the headliner, the PartyBets.com 16/1 favorite for the event is the recent Irish Open winner Neil Channing, while Sexton is going for 28/1 for the win.

A PartyBets.com spokesman said: "There was no choice but to make Neil Channing favorite to win considering his form but he does have a strong heat featuring his pal Mick McCool. 16/1 may be far too short a price to back for the man they used to call 'Bad Beat'".

The $8000 buy-in event will put 72 players in the running for a first prize of $250,000. Each winner of the 12 heats will move on to the semi-final stage. The runners up from the 12 heats will do battle in "last chance" turbo heats for the remaining two semi-final spots.

Last year's event was won by a 45-year-old former Sidcup betting shop owner Anthony Hardy. His final table win saw him triumph against Ian Cox, Ram Vaswani, David Rudling, Ian Frazer and eventual runner-up Ian Woodley.

The Matchroom Sport organised event will be broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK later this year and distributed internationally. Other familiar faces to look out for this year include recent PartyPoker.com European Open IV winner Nick Slade, Theo Jorgensen, Ian Frazer, Ross Boatman, Marty Smyth, Roberto Romanello, Jon Kalmar, Jon Magill, Thomas Bihl, Roy Brindley, Surinder Sunar, John Tabatabai, Pippa Flanders and Liam Flood.

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Second Annual Harman SPCA Charity Event

The tournament itself is a No-Limit hold'em with a recommended donation of $300+30 to participate. There are optional $200 re-donations for extra chips during the first three 20min rounds, and a $200 last chance add-on.

The winner of the event takes home a seat for the 2008 WSOP Main Event, but will have to wade through a field thick with poker superstars. Preceding the tournament, a red carpet reception will be held inside The Venetian Poker Room from 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Poker Players Confirmed for the event include:

Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Jerry Yang, Marco Traniello, Jamie Gold, Hoyt Corkins, Amarillo "Slim" Preston, TJ Cloutier, Todd Brunson, Barry and Allyn Shulman, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Quin Do, Russ Hamilton, Lacey Jones, Roy "The Oracle" Winston, Freddy Deeb, Kristy Gazes, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Carmel Petresco, Daniel Alaei, Brad "Yukon" Booth, Barry Greenstein, Joanne "JJ" Liu, Layne Flack, Chau Giang, Cyndy Violette, Chris Ferguson, David Chesnoff, David Williams, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Lynette Chan, Huckleberry Seed, Jennifer "Jenocide" Leigh, Joe Sebok, Eric Mizrachi, John Phan, Jeff Madsen, Scotty Nguyen, Dan "Who's Your Daddy" Fleishman, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Steve Zolotow, defending champion Kirk Morrison, and many more.

Robert Williamson III will host a live auction during the breaks between tournament rounds, including official Burton Snowboards autographed by attending athletes, "The Simpsons Movie" memorabilia donated by Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), and personal items signed by poker professionals Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, TJ Cloutier, and Doyle Brunson.

Along with the live auction, a silent auction will be held by Triumph sports allowing participants to bid on a variety of mainly sport oriented memorabilia:

"Pete Rose & Jennifer Harman" dinner package with all proceeds going to the Nevada SPCA, a Joe Montana "Stephen Holland" limited edition framed giclee print, a Muhammad Ali & Joe Frasier limited edition framed photo, an "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" official baseball autographed by Pete Rose, as well as official helmets and memorabilia signed by Dan Marino, Dick Butkus, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Emmit Smith, Bill Parcels, Phil Simms, LT Adams, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, John Elway, Ladainian Tomlinson, Fred Biletnikoff and Jim Plunkett.

The tournament is open to the public, but seating is limited. Please visit www.nevadaspca.org to reserve your poker tournament seat today, or call Lisa Wheeler at (702) 327-7250.

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PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 3: Minieri to Head Final
31 players returned to Casino San Remo for Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo championship, including WSOP bracelet holder Todd Brunson, Italian superstar Dario Minieri, and chip leader Jason Mercier, an American...

Poker Stars - PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 3: Minieri to Head Final

2008-04-05T05:00:00.001-07:00

PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 3: Minieri to Head Final
31 players returned to Casino San Remo for Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo championship, including WSOP bracelet holder Todd Brunson, Italian superstar Dario Minieri, and chip leader Jason Mercier, an American...

Poker Stars - PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 2: Mercier Leads, Minieri Makes Charge

2008-04-04T16:45:00.001-07:00

PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 2: Mercier Leads, Minieri Makes Charge
Of the 207 players who started Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo Championship, only 32 remained at the end of the day. As the day began, some of poker's biggest celebrities were in the field, including Liz Lieu...

The PokerNews Interview: Jennifer 'Jennicide' Leigh
This week, online poker player Jennifer 'Jennicide' Leigh made her appearance in the current issue of Playboy Magazine. PokerNews caught up with Jennifer for an interview just before she hit the stands...

Online gambling ban appears in new Massachusetts bill
A bill that would have allowed casinos in Massachusetts is dead, but a possible online gambling ban in the commonwealth is not. Just a few weeks after Governor Deval Patrick’s casino bill was stopped in the legislature, a new bill has surfaced that would allow slot ��...full article

A bill that would have allowed casinos in Massachusetts is dead, but a possible online gambling ban in the commonwealth is not.

Just a few weeks after Governor Deval Patrick’s casino bill was stopped in the legislature, a new bill has surfaced that would allow slot machines at racetracks. However, the bill includes the same wording that appeared in the casino bill, which would lead to an online gambling and poker ban in Massachusetts.
(more…)

Poker Network Player Wins T6 Poker €250K Guaranteed Event
When the alarm clock rang at 6:55am on Monday March 24th, Jarrad Dale awoke from his peaceful slumber, unaware that the emerging day would change his life completely. Jarrad was born and raised in Canberra...

PokerXFactor acquires PokerFox
PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors. According to a press release from PokerXFactor: The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced ��...full article

PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors.

According to a press release from PokerXFactor:

The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced poker instruction to the PokerXFactor (PXF) Training Center library, plus numerous articles and blogs aimed at helping poker players win. In addition, Chris Wallace, who is recognized as a top poker coach today, will focus on teaching PXF subscribers bankroll building, cash games, poker software and tools, and general poker best practices. Adam Stemple will become PokerXFactor’s lead instructor on mixed games. Both instructors will play active roles in the PokerXFactor community.

Whole thing here.

Both old and new content from PokerFox instructors will appear at PokerXFactor early this month.

Poker Stars - Future of the poker industry: Part 3

2008-04-04T11:15:00.001-07:00

Future of the poker industry: Part 3

The first two parts of the series discussed how an overall organizing body and standard for rules could help the game of poker in general and the various casinos and tours involved in the game. For the businesses involved, the biggest incentive is probably the potential profit increase.

That's a pretty big incentive to become more organized, though. The Professional Golfers' Association was started for just that reason in 1916.

Department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker invited a number of golf professionals and leading amateurs of the era for lunch at the Taplow Club in New York City in January 1916. His belief was that golf professionals could enhance equipment sales if they formed an association.

His idea was quickly realized, as the players came together in the PGA, started a tour and found a myriad of ways to promote the game of golf. Along the way the PGA found ways to benefit the players of the game as well.

Scheduling

From a look at the PGA Tour schedule, it's obvious golf enthusiasts don't have to worry about major events overlapping on the schedule. Usually there are a few days in between events as well. For example, the PGA Tour schedule for January was:

Jan. 3-6: Mercedes-Benz Championship, Hawaii
Jan. 10-13: Sony Open, Hawaii
Jan. 16-20: Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, California
Jan. 24-27: Buick Invitational, California
Jan. 31-Feb. 3: FBR Open, Arizona

It's important to note the locations of the tournaments as well. The PGA has scheduled tournaments in a way that makes it easier to travel from one to the next as well. As discussed in Part 2 of this series, this allows the players to take part in as many of the events as they want to.

In contrast, part of the schedule for poker players in January started with the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, Australia, then took players all over the world with a World Series of Poker Circuit event starting in the United States before the Aussie Millions was even finished, and then a World Poker Tour event.

It wasn't long after that that another WPT event got under way, and it overlapped with the start of the European Poker Tour German Open.

Poker players would have had to bounce all over the world to be able to take in all the events in January. Even if they did give it a shot, doing well in one event would mean missing out on whatever other major event happened to overlap it.

Cash in hand

Working out a better schedule for the various tournaments among the major tours and the casinos leads to a benefit anybody can get behind: more money.

It's not necessarily about the possible increased cash flow from tournament winnings either. Yes, players will have a better shot at winning more money if they can actually play in more of the events, but there are more surefire ways players will see their profits go up.

The first is from lower travel expenses. Let's say the PGA tournament schedule above is actually a list of poker tournaments.

Players will spend the money to fly to Hawaii, where they can then participate in two different tournaments. Then they're off to California where there are two more tournaments to play in, followed by a short trip over to Arizona for the next.

Even if the actual poker events that took place in January weren't overlapping, poker players would still have had to fly to Australia for one event, then to Tunica, Miss., where they could take in two events, followed by a trip to Atlantic City and on to Germany.

It would cut down tremendously on travel costs if the different, competing poker tours would schedule geographically close events in succession.

Fewer travel costs equals more profit when a player actually does make the money or win a tournament.

The other guaranteed cash benefit comes from the increased exposure poker players will get if they can participate in more major tournaments. Just as it pays to be a popular athlete in just about any sports league, it pays to be a well-known player on the circuit.

The only way to get there is to build a name on the major circuits. If a player does well at major events, he gets more TV time and more media coverage. That leads to recognition from the general public and the more popular a player is, the more likely he's going to get endorsement deals.

Increased legitimacy

Even if players are getting more exposure, the game of poker is still working to shake off its shady past. The game has come quite a way in the eyes of the public, going from shady, illegal backroom games to a worldwide phenomenon, but it's not like General Mills is beating down the door of any poker players to endorse Wheaties.

The World Poker Association hopes to bring the game to that last level where it is considered a completely legitimate pastime. It has drafted an ethical code that all its members are asked to adhere to.

The code includes general provisions relating to following the rules and the laws vis-à-vis poker, as well as provisions for relationships among players, the relationship between players and dealers, player and tournament or game management relationships, and how players should behave away from the table.

"The Ethics Committee devoted many hours to the development of language that integrates standards of sportsmanship as well as integrity into the WPA's Code of Ethics," said Wendeen Eolis, now Chairman and CEO of the WPA Board of Directors, when the Code of Ethics was released.

It is the WPA's mission to promote professionalism in poker worldwide and support the highest standards of ethical conduct in tournament poker activities. Members of the organization believe they need to unite to affect the future of tournament poker to protect the players, promote the game and unite all related tournament poker entities.

The idea is that by having players dedicate themselves to following a high set of ethical standards, it will elevate the game of poker as well. The general public will see how the game and the players have transformed.

Golf doesn't have quite the same sordid past that poker does. There aren't a whole lot of stories of golfers being killed during a game like there are for poker, but the two have a similar disorganized past.

Golf started out as just a fun hobby, a simple activity to pass the time. It became a "sport" after the PGA was formed and the players banded together to bring more attention to the game. Their organized tournaments, and a code of ethics created in the 1930s, helped lend more legitimacy to the game and helped build a fan base for the game to make it the spectator sport it is today.

Learning just one set of rules

One of the other goals the WPA has it to create a uniform set of rules for all tournaments. As has been discussed previously, different casinos and different poker tours have different sets of rules.

There are differences in tournament structures, differences in payout structures, differences in etiquette and more. It's amazing that players don't have crib sheets just to keep track of these vagaries when they travel from tournament to tournament.

A unified set of rules would eliminate that problem. Players would always know what's expected of them and what they're getting into.

"Tournament organizers and casinos are sitting up and taking notice as the WPA makes headway in its mission to become the guiding force in setting standards, rules and procedures that reflect professionalism and promote poker as a respected sport," said the WPA in a press release.

The WPA worked with the World Series of Poker this year to set up a mega-satellite to the WSOP Main Event that conforms to the rules they're trying to promote. The poker operations director at the Venetian also expressed interest in hosting a WPA mega-satellite during its Deep Stack Tournament this summer.

This is just the beginning for the game of poker, however. The game is still growing and there are new markets opening up for the game all over the world both online and live, but an overall organizing structure for the game and its players can take it even further.

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Poker Network Player Wins T6 Poker €250K Guaranteed Event
When the alarm clock rang at 6:55am on Monday March 24th, Jarrad Dale awoke from his peaceful slumber, unaware that the emerging day would change his life completely. Jarrad was born and raised in Canberra...

Poker Stars - Women's Poker Spotlight: Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher on Poker in Singapore

2008-04-03T07:45:00.001-07:00

Women's Poker Spotlight: Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher on Poker in Singapore
When one hears the names Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, they're almost as common as water and ice. The two names are so synonymous with poker one expects them to be in attendance at any major poker event. Linda and Jan are currently trying...

Opponent of Washington’s online gambling ban drops out of governor’s race
Lee Rousso, a Washington attorney who has been waging a legal battle against the state’s law that prohibits online gambling, has dropped out of the governor’s race. Rousso is also a state director for the Poker Players Alliance, and had been planning to run as a ��...full article

Lee Rousso, a Washington attorney who has been waging a legal battle against the state’s law that prohibits online gambling, has dropped out of the governor’s race.

Rousso is also a state director for the Poker Players Alliance, and had been planning to run as a Democrat against incumbent Chris Gregoire. His main reason behind running was to overturn the law that makes online gambling a felony in Washington state.

According to cardplayer.com:

He knew he was a long-shot, at best, but he hoped to attract enough Republican voters in the primary to put pressure on the incumbent and raise awareness of the online poker law. Voters in Washington State can vote for any candidate they choose, Republican or Democrat, in their primaries.

Rousso dropped out after a United States Supreme Court ruling forced changes to Washington State’s election law. When Rousso filed, the election rules sent one person from each party’s primary to the main election. Rousso was counting on attracting “crossover” voters from the Republican party who were angry with Gregoire’s policies. But since the March ruling, election rules changed the primary to a “top-two” format, meaning the top-two vote getters, regardless of their party affiliations, now advance to the general election.

Rousso also said he is dropping out because he has a currently active case in the Washington state system challenging the online gambling ban. The case had been inactive, but it now appears that it will be heard in court, perhaps this spring.

PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 1b: Stars Out in Force
Day 1b of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo Championship was even bigger than Day 1a, with superstars such as Daniel Negreanu, Lee Nelson, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Todd Brunson and Chad Brown joining the field...

Rousso Abandons Washington State Gubernatorial Bid
Washington attorney Lee Rousso has decided to give up his long-shot hopes of becoming governor of that state, based on changes to an election law affecting that state's primary process. Rousso, the Renton, WA attorney...

Poker Stars - Florida Poker Expansion Bill Passes State Senate Committee

2008-04-02T01:30:00.001-07:00

Florida Poker Expansion Bill Passes State Senate Committee
A bill designed to liberalize poker offerings in Florida successfully passed through a state Senate committee earlier today. The bill, designed to improve the selection and availability of poker at Florida parimutuels, was sponsored...

PokerStars.net EPT San Remo Day 1: Stars Qualifier Nyman Leads Way
337 players descended upon Italy's Casino San Remo for Day 1a of the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour San Remo Championship, including a plethora of former EPT champions and poker superstars from over 20 nations. Among the champions...

Poker Stars - More Congressmen call for details on U.S. gambling settlements

2008-04-01T16:45:00.001-07:00

More Congressmen call for details on U.S. gambling settlements
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have requested more information from the United States Trade Representative on U.S. concessions regarding foreign online gambling and poker operators. The two high-ranking Congressmen want to learn more about ��...full article

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have requested more information from the United States Trade Representative on U.S. concessions regarding foreign online gambling and poker operators.

The two high-ranking Congressmen want to learn more about a deal brokered with the EU, Japan and Canada to award compensation for the United States’ lockout of gambling interests, which went against the country’s trade agreements.
(more…)

Congressmen request trade settlement details

A letter from Frank (D-Mass.) and Paul (R-Texas) to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab was posted on the House Committee on Financial Services Web site last week.

The letter, dated March 14, reads:

"We are writing to request details of the trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, Japan and Canada that was negotiated in December to compensate these nations for withdrawing our GATS gambling commitments under Article 21.

"Press reports have indicated that new trade opportunities will be provided in the postal and courier, research and development, storage and warehouse, and testing and analysis sectors, but no dollar amount has been attached to these new concessions, and very few specifics have been provided.

"Furthermore, as indicated in the attached article, it is our understanding that your agency has cited 'national security' in refusing to release details about this agreement in response to a FOIA request. We find this unacceptable.

"If, in fact, there are some additional trade concessions that were made that do have national security implications, we request a secure briefing on those issues. However, if this is merely an attempt to avoid revealing the cost of these trade concessions, either because they would be viewed as too costly by the United States or not costly enough by the negotiating countries, this FOIA denial on the grounds of 'national security' would appear to be a misuse of the FOIA process.

"It is my understanding that, prior to this settlement, some trade experts estimated that the trade concessions could cost the United States many billions of dollars in compensation.

"We need to know how much the United States government has conceded in furtherance of this ill-advised policy, in addition to the losses we have already sustained at the WTO, and we expect a prompt response to this request."

It took several months for the U.S. Trade Representative to reach agreements with the nations in question after the United States announced its intention to withdraw from World Trade Organization commitments regarding online gambling and betting services.

This is the second request from a member of Congress asking to see the details of the agreements. Rep. Peter De Fazio also circulated a letter in mid-March encouraging members of Congress to join him in efforts to get a copy of the agreements.

Having Congress look into the deals the USTR made could put the settlement agreements in jeopardy.

Nao Matsukata, formerly director of policy planning for USTR Robert Zoellik and now Alston & Bird LLP senior advisor, said after De Fazio sent out his letter that the USTR may have abused its authority by granting new market access to countries without first getting consent from Congress' trade committees.

Having Congress look into the matter could invalidate the deals that were made and take the United States back to the negotiating table all over again.

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The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. #7: Dewey Tomko, Part 2
I always enjoy spending time with Dewey as we have the same interests for the most part -- poker, golf, and as it turns out we are equally picky about food, although it doesn't look that way. He has some of the greatest stories...

Poker Stars - Sexton's Corner, Vol. 38: Archie Karas, Part 8 – Mini-Streaks

2008-03-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 38: Archie Karas, Part 8 – Mini-Streaks
When Archie Karas lost his $40,000,000, there were rumors he must have gone off and committed suicide. No one saw him around Las Vegas for four or five months. After all, how much strain and pressure could any one man's brain take...

Win a PokerNews Exclusive seat to 888.com's World Poker Crown $3 Million Guaranteed tournament!
888.com is giving you three exclusive opportunities to be at their $3 Million guaranteed World Poker Crown tournament - all for as little as $1.10. The first qualifier begins Friday April 11 at 20:00 GMT and as always, is exclusive to PokerNews players...

2008 Norwegian Poker Championships Relocated to United Kingdom
Differences regarding poker's legal status in various European locales have again been demonstrated with the announced relocation of the 2008 Norwegian Poker Championships, which won't be held in Norway at all, but will instead take place...

WSOP-C Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Harrah's New Orleans Schedules Announced
The World Series of Poker has released the full schedules for its Circuit series stops at Caesars Palace Las Vegas and Harrah's New Orleans. The two series are part of the WSOP's ongoing tour to Harrah's properties across...

Poker Stars - WSOP-C Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Harrah's New Orleans Schedules Announced

2008-03-31T13:00:00.001-07:00

WSOP-C Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Harrah's New Orleans Schedules Announced
The World Series of Poker has released the full schedules for its Circuit series stops at Caesars Palace Las Vegas and Harrah's New Orleans. The two series are part of the WSOP's ongoing tour to Harrah's properties across...

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 38: Archie Karas, Part 8 – Mini-Streaks
When Archie Karas lost his $40,000,000, there were rumors he must have gone off and committed suicide. No one saw him around Las Vegas for four or five months. After all, how much strain and pressure could any one man's brain take...

Poker Stars - Poker Room Review: Sandia Resort and Casino, Albuquerque, NM

2008-03-30T07:15:00.001-07:00

Poker Room Review: Sandia Resort and Casino, Albuquerque, NM
There are many poker rooms in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area. Each has its charms and special qualities. All are worth visiting if you have the time to do so. That being said, there is only one room in the area for the serious mid-stakes...

Congressional UIGEA Hearing Confirmed for April 2nd
An important and long-delayed Congressional hearing regarding implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) has now been confirmed for April 2, 2008. The hearing will be conducted by the Subcommittee on Domestic...

Poker Stars - Poker Room Review: Sandia Resort and Casino, Albuquerque, NM

2008-03-30T06:15:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - Montel Williams Joins US 2008 PartyPoker Nations Cup Roster

2008-03-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

Montel Williams Joins US 2008 PartyPoker Nations Cup Roster
Cultures will clash on the poker felt when the cards fly at the third annual PartyPoker Nations Cup, which features teams from six countries competing for cash and their nation's pride. The tournament takes place April 7-10 in Cardiff...

Titan Poker Sending Players East

Sunny Manila, the capitol city of the Philippines, is set to host the APT event starting on the 29th of May, with the final table on June 1st. The tournament forecasts for over 400 players to compete for the winners share of a guaranteed $1 million prize pool.

As of now, you can find daily satellites running for as low as $3.30 + ¢3 to win a seat in one of the ATP Manila Super Satellites. The super satellites, running from March 31st to May 12th, cost $250 + $18 to buy in directly.

The winners of the super satellites will be rewarded a $6000 APT Package for the Manila event, including:

$2500 main event buy-in.
$3500 for flights and spending.

With $1million being the highest guaranteed prize pool ever offered in Asia, the Manila APT event promises to deliver a world class poker experience, and a chance for another online satellite winner to make their mark in the world of live poker.

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PokerTek Obtains $3 Million in Loans
PokerTek, Inc., licensor of automated poker tables, announced a needed infusion of cash this week. PokerTek's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed taking out a $1 million loan from UBS in exchange for a lien...

Lee Markholt Earns His First "W"

Until this event, Lee Markholt has cashed 14 different times in various WPT events, with never having made a final table. Lee set a precedent by winning the first hand on the final table, and kept the pressure turned on as he worked his way to the win.

261 players entered the $7,500 buy in tourney making the prize pool a healthy $1,873,275, with the winners share just short of half a million including his $25,000 seat for the WPT championship event.

Lee held the chip lead over Devo going into the final hand. Both players flopped top pair on a #4s-#3h-#2s board, with Markholt's Jack out kicking Devo's 8. The turn brought the #Jd giving Markholt top two, leaving Devo drawing dead.

Lee couldn't have called Bryans final all-in bet any quicker before turning over the winning hand.

The tournament field was filled with pro's with names such as Phil Ivey and Michael Mizrachi both finishing just shy of the final six, making the short stacked David "The Dragon" Pham the biggest name to be seated at the final table.

The final table:

Place	Player	Amount
1st	Lee Markholt	$493,815
2nd	Bryan Devonshire	$271,625
3rd	Zachary Hyman	$149,862
4th	Jason Potter	$103,030
5th	David Pham	$93,664
6th	Jeff Dewitt	$84,297

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Poker Stars - PokerTek Obtains $3 Million in Loans

2008-03-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

PokerTek Obtains $3 Million in Loans
PokerTek, Inc., licensor of automated poker tables, announced a needed infusion of cash this week. PokerTek's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed taking out a $1 million loan from UBS in exchange for a lien...

Poker Stars - Unibet Appeal Denied in Netherlands Court, EU Action Looms

2008-03-28T19:15:00.001-07:00

Unibet Appeal Denied in Netherlands Court, EU Action Looms
Ahead of a scheduled vote wherein Dutch legislators will consider UIGEA-style legislation designed to restrict access to the Dutch online gambling market for international court, a Netherlands Court has denied an appeal...

Hollywood Poker puts up WSOP packages

The premium package class package promotion kicked off this week with the first of two weekly satellites that will run through June 15. The first satellite was on Tuesday and they will run each week on Tuesdays and Sundays, awarding a $16,000 Main Event Package each time.

The Main Event Package includes:

$10,000 buy-in for the WSOP Championship
12-day, extended accommodation at the Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino
$2,500 for travel expenses
Transportation
HollywoodPoker Clothing and Merchandise

The satellites have a $300+$20 buy-in and begin play at 8 p.m. (EDT). For that same buy-in, players at Hollywood Poker can also take a shot at winning a $13,000 Side Events Package.

Starting Saturday, March 29, and running each Saturday through May 31, the poker site will host a tournament at 8 p.m. (EDT) during which players have a shot at a $13,000 prize package that includes:

$8,000 for WSOP side tournament buy-ins
Eight-day, extended accommodation at the Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino
$2,500 for travel expenses
Transportation
HollywoodPoker Clothing and Merchandise

There are also plenty of qualifiers for the satellites, offering Hollywood Poker players a chance to get into the satellites for as little as $1+20¢.

Players can also trade in the bounties they win in the Celebrity Bounty Series through June 1 for qualifier tickets to get into the satellites, and the winners of the weekly Hollywood Poker Celebrity Classic will also win entry into one of the WSOP premium package satellites.

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Inside the Tour, #86 — Inside 'Sit'n Go Strategy'
Continuing our review of various works that I can recommend and think are useful for the professional player brings us to 'Sit'n Go Strategy' by Colin Moshman (Two Plus Two Publishing, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2007). Of course, one does not...

Full Tilt awards more money to PL.com players

This week it was intergross who came out with the largest chunk of the prize pool after toppling a field of 94 players.

Each of them earned their way into the freeroll by accumulating 150 player points during the week prior to the freeroll. For intergross, that meant picking up $960 without having to shell out another dime of his own money.

The 34-year-old is a self-described professional gambler. Usually he's a backgammon player, but he said poker is his new interest.

He's been playing the game for about six months now, and was attracted to it because of the potential for big money. In fact, even though he says he's just a beginner in the game, his biggest win so far is $10,000.

Still, he said he was "very lucky" when asked how he achieved his win in the Full Tilt Poker freeroll. intergross is getting plenty of practice, though, which could also account for his win.

He says he plays poker online every day, and every day he's playing at Full Tilt Poker, which he considers one of the best poker rooms. He also checks out PokerListings.com on a daily basis, and says he finds the best information online about poker there.

Now intergross plans to use his extra $960 to play in other tournaments and continue playing poker professionally.

The final-table results of the freeroll were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	intergross	$960
2nd	dglizda	$585
3rd	coke1978	$420
4th	beloumi	$330
5th	Zephyr Indigo	$240
6th	tymmyk4	$180
7th	stormin618	$120
8th	sb007ck	$90
9th	SaintGabriel	$75

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Josh Arieh taken out of blogger tourney by Abby17

Josh Arieh didn't get much of a chance to make any moves in the tournament however, as Abby17 took him out fairly early to collect the $100 bounty.

Abby17 found his chance to take out Arieh when the Team Bodog pro decided to make a move with pocket sevens. Abby17 called him down with A-Q and won the race when an ace hit the river.

Arieh went out in 47th place, and Abby17 put his chips to use to earn himself a third-place finish in the tournament.

Coming out on top of it all, however, was StinkyBritches, who won $156 plus T$109 for first place.

The final-table results were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	StinkyBritches	$156 + T$109
2nd	TripJax	$104 + T$109
3rd	Abby17	$62.40 + T$109
4th	RecessRampage2	$52 + T$109
5th	emptyman	$41.60 + T$109
6th	Newinnov	$33.80
7th	JL514	$28.60
8th	raisydaisy22	$23.40
9th	TheDutchster	$18.20

Not all the players outside the money walked away empty handed either. The five bubble players received their buy-ins to next week's blogger tournament as well.

The blogger tournament costs $11 to enter and takes place each Tuesday at 9:05 p.m. (EDT). The weekly tournaments make up the 18 qualifying tournaments of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series.

The first event took place in early February and the last one is scheduled for June 3. The top 30% of each weekly tournament will be awarded points based on their finish and ranked over the four months.

At the end of the series, the top 18 players will play in the Final Tournament June 10, in which the first-place winner will receive a $12,000 World Series of Poker prize package.

The prize package includes the $10,000

Bloch, a former member of the team, sets the record straight on his Web site: He wasn't involved with the movie in any way, shape or form. He does admit to working on a blackjack script of his own with friend Jeremy Levin, but that project came to a halt when Bloch and Levin couldn't come up with a "creative, exciting, yet believable" conclusion for the story.

The writers of 21 solved the problem with an Ocean's 11-style plot twist that, according to Bloch, "reinforced the team ethic" and "ultimately won me over."

In a recent phone conversation, I asked Bloch how important that team ethic was to his and his fellow MIT card counters' success.

"It was very important that we trust each other," Bloch said.

"In most businesses you can pretty easily check up on your employees and figure out whether they're doing their jobs right and whether they're stealing from you. With (team) blackjack, we can test people and make sure that outside the casino they're playing well, but we can't watch everything that everybody does. So we really have to trust people. Feeling like you're part of a team really helps with that."

During his time with the team, Bloch only recalls the group having to discipline or ban two people because of trust issues.

"Given that there were dozens of people involved, that's a pretty low number. That says a lot."

Lessons from the games we play

#img: andy-bloch_17744.jpg: left: Poker is now Bloch's game of choice.#

These days Bloch's team is Full Tilt Poker, not MIT, and his main game is poker instead of blackjack. I asked him if there is any crossover in the skill sets required for success at each game. Bloch says there is, but the crossover is not so much in the specific skills as it is in good habits.

"The biggest thing you learn from blackjack is bankroll management," Bloch said.

"With the MIT team, we always figured out our bets in proportion to our bankroll at the time. In poker, you should always play according to your bankroll. You don't go jump into the biggest game in town where you might not have an edge and play against the toughest players. You want to know what your edge is and structure how much you risk."

So if we can take lessons from blackjack and apply them to poker, can we apply lessons from poker to other aspects of life? Could we even use poker as a teaching tool, in a manner such as that proposed by Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson and his Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society?

"I think there's a lot of things you can learn from poker, and most of them aren't being taught in other ways," says Bloch. "Poker is a simple game, but you're constantly faced every hand with having to make decisions based on imperfect information. We teach people in math class or your other subjects by giving perfect information. What do you do in a world where you don't know everything? How do you figure out what to play and what not to play?"

And then, of course, there is the human element of the game.

"(In poker) you're playing against a specific opponent - you're not playing against nature or the computer," Bloch said. "If you want to play your best you have to figure out how they play and adapt yourself to that. So it's a game of reading people and not being readable yourself, and that's very important in the world."

"There's definitely hope"

Despite all of poker's positive aspects and potential as a learning tool, the game's opponents are hell-bent on making it illegal for the public to enjoy the game on the Internet. Poker enthusiasts prone to believing the sky is falling, especially in the wake of the UIGEA, might want to take note of Bloch's expert opinion.

"There's definitely hope," said the ever-analytical Bloch. "I think things are going to change."

First, he says that most people who enjoy online poker play for either play money or small stakes because for them poker is "like going to a movie - with the chance that you might actually make some money." Having the majority of online players playing for relatively tiny sums of money could make any further limitation of the people's rights seem absurd.

#img: andy-bloch_1515.jpg: right: Most online players are there for entertainment, playing with nickels and dimes.#

"There's 10¢ buy-in tournaments," says Bloch. "How can playing in a 10¢ tournament be a crime? That just seems to me completely ridiculous that that would be a crime. That's something the federal government or state governments shouldn't be involved in. We have better things to worry about."

Bloch's second reason for hope is that the arguments for regulations to protect American consumers are compelling.

"The major sites are very careful, and are trying to be as responsible as they can be," Bloch says. "But if they detect someone with a gambling problem, that person can go play on another site." If there were a regulation scheme in place, he says, a person who needed help with a gambling problem could exclude themselves from every licensed and regulated gambling site.

With the Poker Players Alliance now boasting a membership of nearly one million and implementing a new grassroots organizing campaign, Bloch feels good about the chances of having online poker regulated and licensed within the United States.

Bloch's final argument is more philosophical. A game of poker, he says, is essentially a contract with others over a somewhat uncertain event, and any contract that isn't harmful shouldn't be banned.

"To me it seems to be one of the most basic rights of contract or business that the government is not going to look in and say, hey, this contract you have isn't valid because we consider this too much an act of luck."

"There are no externalities involved, other than the amount of money you win or lose," Bloch said. "That's true with any contract. So if they can make gambling illegal, they can make anything illegal. And I thought we had a constitution that prevented that."

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Unibet appeal of Netherlands gaming act violation is denied
Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto. According to pokernews.com: Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act ��...full article

Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto.

According to pokernews.com:

Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act and infringing upon the market rights of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto (The Lotto). The October, 2007 ruling called for Unibet to pay De Lotto €100,000 per day, up to a maximum of €3,000,000, plus legal costs, for continuing to serve the Dutch market in offering wagering on amateur soccer games in the Netherlands. The recent denial upheld the decision in favor of De Lotto.

One report notes that this is the 17th time that competitors to De Lotto’s market interests have been struck down in court rulings.

The ruling comes as the Netherlands considers legislation like the United States’ Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Poker Stars - Montel Williams to play for Team USA in Poker Nations Cup

2008-03-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

Montel Williams to play for Team USA in Poker Nations Cup
Talk show host Montel Williams will represent the United States on the felt. Williams was selected by team captain Robert Williamson III to join Team USA for the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup, which will be held in Cardiff, Wales, from April 7-10. He joins teammates Jamie ��...full article

Talk show host Montel Williams will represent the United States on the felt.

Williams was selected by team captain Robert Williamson III to join Team USA for the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup, which will be held in Cardiff, Wales, from April 7-10. He joins teammates Jamie Gold, Chris Ferguson and Chad Brown.

According to cardplayer.com:

Williams will compete in the $5,000 buy-in event against Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, and Germany for a team prize of $100,000 while the winners of individual matches will take home $20,000. Party Poker have added $100,000 to the prize pool.

There are six heats and players score points according to their finish in the heat. The final sees the team captains make tactical substitutions and strategic time outs.

Whole thing here.

Sweden won the event last year and has been installed as this year’s favorite by oddsmakers.

Inside the Tour, #86 — Inside 'Sit'n Go Strategy'
Continuing our review of various works that I can recommend and think are useful for the professional player brings us to 'Sit'n Go Strategy' by Colin Moshman (Two Plus Two Publishing, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2007). Of course, one does not...

Unibet appeal of Netherlands gaming act violation is denied
Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto. According to pokernews.com: Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act ��...full article

Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto.

According to pokernews.com:

Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act and infringing upon the market rights of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto (The Lotto). The October, 2007 ruling called for Unibet to pay De Lotto €100,000 per day, up to a maximum of €3,000,000, plus legal costs, for continuing to serve the Dutch market in offering wagering on amateur soccer games in the Netherlands. The recent denial upheld the decision in favor of De Lotto.

One report notes that this is the 17th time that competitors to De Lotto’s market interests have been struck down in court rulings.

The ruling comes as the Netherlands considers legislation like the United States’ Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Poker Stars - Bwin's Core Businesses Pay Off in 2007

2008-03-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

Bwin's Core Businesses Pay Off in 2007
Although online gaming company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG won't release its final full-year results until next month, the company's preliminary fourth quarter and annual 2007 release validated the company's continued focus...

Online poker developer not worried about proposed Canada ban
GigaMedia Limited, which develops and licenses online poker and casino software, said in a statement that it was not worried about the possibility of a ban of online poker and gambling in Canada that may be on the way. Canada has been considering laws — ��...full article

GigaMedia Limited, which develops and licenses online poker and casino software, said in a statement that it was not worried about the possibility of a ban of online poker and gambling in Canada that may be on the way. Canada has been considering laws — similar to what the United States has in place regarding online gaming — to stop online gambling operations in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.
(more…)

Women's Poker Spotlight: Shannon Elizabeth, Dancing On
Just the mention of her name makes the young men drool. We've seen her on the silver screen and at the poker tables, and now Shannon Elizabeth has taken yet another chance in a career that's been speckled with risk...

Antigua: New US Offer Soon in WTO Online Gambling Flap
Recent news reports from the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda state that its country's officials are expecting a new offer from the United States concerning the continuing disagreement between the two nations over online gambling...

Poker Stars - Poker-Themed '2008 World Series of Golf' Announced

2008-03-26T11:30:00.001-07:00

Poker-Themed '2008 World Series of Golf' Announced
A poker-themed twist on a traditional gambler's game returns in May when Las Vegas's Mirage Casino co-sponsors the 2008 World Series of Golf®, to be held at the Pete Dye-designed Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. The 2008 edition hopes to build...

U.S.-Antigua online gambling impasse near end?
The United States is planning to propose a settlement that would end a bitter trade dispute regarding online gambling between the U.S. and Antigua and Barbuda. The settlement, which should be offered by the end of the month, could end five years of acrimony and legal ��...full article

The United States is planning to propose a settlement that would end a bitter trade dispute regarding online gambling between the U.S. and Antigua and Barbuda.

The settlement, which should be offered by the end of the month, could end five years of acrimony and legal wrangling on an international scale.
(more…)

College Poker Life: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Another school year nears its close at Iowa State University and student poker players there have seen quite an incredible year of poker. As summer break nears, campus poker action for students at ISU might end, but other poker...

Elvis to Go Upscale at FX's Planned $3.1 Billion Vegas Casino
FX Real Estate and Entertainment has detailed the redevelopment plans for 17.72 acres, known as the Park Central site, adjacent to the MGM Grand on Las Vegas Blvd. In its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing, FX...

Massachusetts to go ahead with gambling study
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has said a $189,000 study on the possible impact of casinos in the commonwealth will still be conducted — even though the state legislature has tabled a bill that would have licensed three casinos in Massachusetts. The bill, which would have also ��...full article

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has said a $189,000 study on the possible impact of casinos in the commonwealth will still be conducted — even though the state legislature has tabled a bill that would have licensed three casinos in Massachusetts.

The bill, which would have also banned online gambling in Massachusetts, will not come to a vote again until next year.

According to pokerpages.com:

Spectrum Gaming Group of New Jersey won the state contract late February and has been working on the analysis for the past month. It was expected to complete the analysis 60 to 90 days after winning the contract.

The Patrick administration brought on the consultant to help sell the casino plan after critics questioned the validity of the governor’s estimates on revenue and jobs. Gov. Patrick had predicted his three-casino plan would raise more than $400 million annually for property tax relief and construction projects and create 20,000 permanent jobs. The administration backtracked on a claim of 30,000 construction jobs this month after the number was questioned by The Boston Globe. The governor testified last week it would create more than 10,000 construction jobs.

Whole thing here.

Spectrum Gaming was not involved in committee hearings and debate in the Massachusetts legislature last week before the bill was tabled.

Poker Stars - Poker-Themed '2008 World Series of Golf' Announced

2008-03-25T23:00:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - Mid South Poker Classic to hit Cherokee

2008-03-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

Mid South Poker Classic to hit Cherokee

Now the casino has announced the creation of another tournament schedule to join its other popular tournament events.

David Stewart, the CEO of Cherokee Nations Enterprises (which operates the Cherokee Casinos in Oklahoma), recently announced the inaugural Mid South Poker Classic, which will start on May 15.

The 20-event schedule has a lot going for it: it will encompass almost every discipline in poker, and buy-ins will be quite reasonable, from $120 to $550, which also includes the entry fee. The tournament will culminate on May 25 with a $1,000+$80 championship event, with the final table of that tournament playing out on May 26.

For those who want to attempt to satellite into the tournament, Cherokee Casino will start offering single table satellites May 1. There are four levels of buy-ins for those events - $45, $85, $125 and $230 - which will help those on a tighter poker budget gain a crack in the bigger events.

"Our poker tournaments keep getting bigger and bigger," said Stewart. "We know that regional poker players are looking for better competition, more opportunities and more convenient locations to play poker. We are able to offer them that."

The Mid South Poker Classic joins three other tournaments on the Cherokee's roster. Its most recent event, the Oklahoma State Championship of Poker in February, set records for both attendance and prize pools.

The Cherokee's other two tournaments, the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge (named after resident "house" professional Scotty Nguyen) and the Cherokee Poker Classic, have enjoyed great success during their runs and only promise to get bigger.

With the World Series of Poker on the horizon, the new Mid South Poker Classic at the Cherokee could be a way for players to build a bankroll to take to Las Vegas this summer.

For more details on the Cherokee Casino or the Mid South Poker Classic, visit CherokeeCasino.com, where you can also register for events on the upcoming Mid South Poker Classic schedule.

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Josh Arieh to play in Bodog blogger event today

Josh Arieh will play the part of a bounty in the tournament, meaning that the player who takes him out will be awarded $100. However, Arieh is a tough tournament pro who could also go on to win the event himself and get an extra $100 to keep for himself on top of the first-place prize.

Arieh has more than $4 million in tournament winnings. He is well known for his aggressive, unpredictable style of play, and it will be on display for bloggers to see in today's blogger tournament starting at 9:05 p.m. (EDT).

The tournament costs $10+$1 to participate. Bodog Poker will also be beefing up the prize pool by awarding T$109 to the top five players in the tournament that can be used to buy in to Bodog's $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament, which takes place every Sunday at 4 p.m. (EDT).

The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series began in early February and is composed of 18 qualifying tournaments that run every Tuesday. The series ends June 3.

The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish. Those points are used to rank players over the four months of qualifying, and when all is said and done, the top 18 players on the tournament leader board will play in a final tournament for a $12,000 World Series of poker prize package.

The final tournament will take place June 10.

For poker players who don't have a blog but would still like a shot at being a part of the Bodog Poker team for the 2008 WSOP Main Event, the poker site is hosting a number of online qualifiers for the WSOP.

Bodog Poker guarantees four WSOP seats will be awarded each week in March and April, and five each week in May and June.

The 2008 WSOP Main Event prize packages include the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event plus $2,000 for travel expenses, Team Bodog gear for the trip, meeting the Bodog Girls and much more.

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Student tackles luck versus skill debate

Michael DeDonno, a doctoral student in psychology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, conducted two studies at the university that have caught the attention of the Gaming Law Review. It published an article by DeDonno, coauthored with Case Western psychologist Dr. Douglas Detterman, in which he details the results of the two studies.

His conclusion is likely unsurprising to most poker players, but may come as news to government regulators.

"This article provides empirical evidence that [poker is a game of] skill and not luck," DeDonno indicated.

In the first study, DeDonno took 40 students with little to no poker background and had them play roughly 200 hands among them on the Wilson Turbo Texas Hold'em software.

Half of them were briefed on basic poker strategy, including starting hand charts and the logic of professional players to play only about 15% of their hands. The other half were only told about the history of the game and were not given any of the statistical or analytical information.

At the end of this experiment, the two found that those players who had the strategic lessons performed better at the felt than their uninformed compatriots.

To confirm these findings, DeDonno and Detterman ran the same experiment again, upping the number of hands played to over 700. While all the players steadily improved with the extra practice, noted DeDonno, those who had the strategy background still did better than the players making their decisions in the dark.

"If it had been pure luck in winning, then the strategies would not have made a difference for the two groups," said DeDonno.

DeDonno is convinced the results of his study have applications beyond the felt. He believes his theory can be applied to help people facing real-life situations in which only partial information is available, such as investments and home-buying. He also contends that the poker simulation has applications in psychological testing for decision making and risk taking.

The results of DeDonno and Detterman's study could have an effect on the way the legal system looks at the game of poker. If it could be firmly established that poker is a game of skill, it would remove it from the "games of chance" laws that many areas of the United States have on the books.

For a full look at the PDF file where DeDonno and Detterman report their findings in Gaming Law Review, go to LiebertOnline.com.

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Study: Massachusetts loses gambling revenue to neighbors
Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision. The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling ��...full article

Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision.

The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling establishments in Connecticut and Rhode Island last year. The two New England states generated more than $230 million in tax revenues from gambling conducted by Massachusetts residents.

According to a Boston Herald story:

[The study] found that Bay State citizens spent $846 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and $195 million at Twin River and Newport Grand in Rhode Island in 2007.

The fifth annual study by professor Clyde Barrow says Massachusetts residents made more than eight million visits to gambling facilities in other New England states in 2007.

Whole thing here.

Poker Stars - The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 6: Dewey Tomko -- Sometimes Nice Guys Finish Second

2008-03-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 6: Dewey Tomko -- Sometimes Nice Guys Finish Second
Coincidences in life are sometime hard to understand and many times they are blessings in disguise. When I called Dewey Tomko out of the blue about a restaurant recommendation in Kingman, Arizona, the conversation changed to our upcoming...

Study: Massachusetts loses gambling revenue to neighbors
Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision. The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling ��...full article

Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision.

According to a Boston Herald story:

[The study] found that Bay State citizens spent $846 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and $195 million at Twin River and Newport Grand in Rhode Island in 2007.

The fifth annual study by professor Clyde Barrow says Massachusetts residents made more than eight million visits to gambling facilities in other New England states in 2007.

Whole thing here.

Poker Stars - 2007 WSOP champ makes another big donation

2008-03-24T14:00:00.001-07:00

2007 WSOP champ makes another big donation
2007 World Series of Poker main event champion Jerry Yang is donating 10% of his winnings to the charity Feed the Children. The donation is one of many Yang has made since his victory in the biggest tournament in poker. According to pokerpages.com: Yang will help the international ��...full article

2007 World Series of Poker main event champion Jerry Yang is donating 10% of his winnings to the charity Feed the Children.

The donation is one of many Yang has made since his victory in the biggest tournament in poker.

According to pokerpages.com:

Yang will help the international hunger relief organization distribute three semi tractor-trailers full of boxes of food and personal care items.

Before the items are distributed, Yang, a psychologist and social worker from southern California, and Feed The Children Founder and President Larry Jones will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 29th.

Whole thing here.

Poker After Dark, WPT make season debuts
Two television poker shows are set to make their return to the small screen. NBC’s Poker After Dark starts up again at 2:05 a.m. Eastern with a new episode featuring six pros competing in a tournament for $140,000, all of which goes to the winner.

Two television poker shows are set to make their return to the small screen.

NBC’s Poker After Dark starts up again at 2:05 a.m. Eastern with a new episode featuring six pros competing in a tournament for $140,000, all of which goes to the winner.

(more…)

UltimateBet.com signs Anthrax guitarist

The Anthrax guitarist is UltimateBet's newest online pro and will represent the online poker room in both internet and live games.

"We're thrilled to add Scott Ian to our roster of online poker professionals," stated UltimateBet.com spokesperson George MacLean. "Scott represents a new breed of poker player that both Texas Hold'em and music fans can relate to."

Ian's rose to fame in the poker world by winning VH1's Rock Stars of Poker Tournament and receiving a seat into the 2007 Aruba Poker Classic. Ian has since discounted his victory at the VH1 tournament as beginner's luck.

"I had no idea what I was doing," he said. "My first tournament win was most because I had amazing cards. My instinct was all I had."

Things have changed considerably since then, however. Ian received personal training from both Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke while he was in Aruba to upgrade his game.

Hellmuth and Duke were just the beginning and Ian went on to learn what he says was the equivalent of 10 years of poker lessons from UtimateBet's online pros. He learned from guys like Shawn Rice, KrazyKanuck, P0ker H0 and Debo34 and now he's on that roster.

Ian has had a career in music that has spanned over three decades. As a founding member of Anthrax Ian helped create the new wave of American heavy metal and has won numerous awards for his musical talent.

As a member of UltimateBet Ian will be featured every Sunday in UltimateBet.com's $200,000 Guaranteed poker tournament with a bounty on his head. The online poker player that knocks the Anthrax guitarist out the tournament will win their $215 buy-in back.

UltimateBet.com is one of the web's premier poker sites and offers a variety of high stakes games. To learn more about the site click here.

Related Articles:

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Offering Great Deals

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Poker Players Alliance launches litigation support network
The Poker Players Alliance announced today that it would be launching its Litigation Support Network, which will provide legal advice and refer members to attorneys who have expressed interest in helping with poker-related issues, according to a press release on the PPA’s Web site. The resource ��...full article

The Poker Players Alliance announced today that it would be launching its Litigation Support Network, which will provide legal advice and refer members to attorneys who have expressed interest in helping with poker-related issues, according to a press release on the PPA’s Web site.

The resource will be free to PPA members:

According to the release:

“As both the popularity of poker and the membership of PPA continue to grow, the Litigation Support Network is an opportunity to provide even more value to our members,” said PPA Chairman Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato. “With the myriad local, state and federal laws impacting poker, the Litigation Support Network is an important service that our members can and should use, and I encourage attorneys who want to defend poker players and this great American game of skill to join this effort.”

Whole thing here.

The attorneys being linked to this service are also prepared to litigate that poker is a game of skill, not of chance. The network is being headed by Patrick Fleming, who also heads the PPA’s efforts in New Hampshire.

Visit www.pokerplayersalliance.org/legal for more information.

PokerStars’ Sunday Hundred Grand gets even bigger
PokerStars’ giant weekly tournament, the Sunday Hundred Grand, just got bigger and shows no signs of slowing down. PokerStars’ increased the field to 22,500 people for this Sunday’s edition of the tournament, an $11 buy-in. And the field was still full. When the tournament first started, ��...full article

PokerStars’ giant weekly tournament, the Sunday Hundred Grand, just got bigger and shows no signs of slowing down.

PokerStars’ increased the field to 22,500 people for this Sunday’s edition of the tournament, an $11 buy-in. And the field was still full. When the tournament first started, it had a cap of 10,000 players.

Pokerkingblog.com put together some amazing statistics about the tournament:

-Pokerstars makes $22,500 in total rake every time this tournament runs

-the total prize pool is an incredible $225k

-first place gets paid $20,250.00, making this tournament an incredibly attractive proposition for a low limit grinder

-the top 3375 players get paid

Whole thing here.

The blog also notes that some top pros are starting to play the tournament every week because of the huge prize pool.

Poker Stars - Three More Arrested in Delaware 'Trooper' Poker Robbery

2008-03-23T22:45:00.001-07:00

Three More Arrested in Delaware 'Trooper' Poker Robbery
Three Philadelphia brothers were arrested in connection with the robbery, allegedly orchestrated by a Delaware state trooper, of a 'high stakes' poker game at an upscale Delaware golf club. The three brothers, Addae C. Powell...

Poker Stars - Poker Room Review: Isleta Casino and Resort, Albuquerque, NM

2008-03-23T13:30:00.001-07:00

Poker Room Review: Isleta Casino and Resort, Albuquerque, NM
The Isleta poker room, located about ten minutes south of downtown Albuquerque, right off Interstate 25, is one of the oldest rooms in New Mexico. I first played there in 1998, well before the huge poker boom and the resulting expansion...

UNC 'Hold Em For Hunger' Fundraiser Canceled
Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were disappointed recently when the school's 'Hold Em For Hunger' charity poker tournament was canceled due to legal concerns that the tournament would break state...

Poker Stars - MansionPoker.com Giving Away WSOP 2008 Packages

2008-03-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

MansionPoker.com Giving Away WSOP 2008 Packages

Satellites for the $16,000 Main Event package will take place on Tuesdays and Sundays at 20:00 (CET) from Tuesday March 25 2008 until Sunday June 15 2008 with satellites for the $13,000 Side Events package taking place on Saturdays at 20:00 (CET) and running from Thursday March 27 2008 to Saturday May 31 2008.

Each package includes first class accommodation with $2,500 spending money, and entry for the WSOP. Last year's WSOP Main Event prize pool was a massive $63.5 million.

Check out PokerListings.com review of MansionPoker.com to take advantage of all the exclusive PokerListings.com player bonuses and incentives.

Visit PokerListings.com

Two top pros host successful fundraisers

On March 13 in San Francisco, Todd Brunson hosted a charity poker tournament that benefited the Leo Brien Foundation. The organization's main cause is Camp Okizu, which is a retreat for children who have cancer. Both professional poker players and online sites came out in force to support the Leo Brien Foundation.

World Poker Tour champions Roy "The Oracle" Winston and Hoyt Corkins were part of the proceedings, and they were joined by Kathy Liebert, Layne Flack and Allen Kessler. Online poker rooms such as Doyle's Room, Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet provided gift bags for all the participants, who enjoyed not only the poker tournament but also a silent auction that raised a good deal of funds for the organization.

As much as to benefit an excellent organization, what attendees were eager for was the chance to play poker against some of the best in the game. The final table came down to Kathy Liebert and amateur Doug Fowler.

Liebert took the second-place prize, a WSOP Academy package and a 1,500-piece Full Tilt Poker chip set, and joked about how the Academy will help her game. Fowler, for winning the tournament, will fly to Las Vegas to spend a weekend with Todd Brunson, complete with travel and accommodation.

Overall, the tournament and the silent auction raised nearly $20,000 for the Leo Brien Foundation. For more information on the work of the Foundation or to make a contribution, visit LeoBrienFoundation.com.

Last Sunday night (March 16) saw thousands come together online to support another charitable organization and one of its strongest voices, Jennifer Harman.

#img: jennifer-harman_16104.jpg: left: Jennifer Harman#

The Jennifer Harman Animal Lovers Poker Tournament was an online event sponsored by Full Tilt for the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The $10 tournament, with half of the entry fee going to the organization, was expected to draw around 1,000 to 1,500 players for the event. By the time registration had ended on Sunday, an astounding 3,009 people showed up to support a cause that Harman holds in high regard.

Perhaps the star power of the tournament is what drew the large crowd. Professionals such as Harman, her husband Marco Traniello, Erik Seidel, Clonie Gowen, Andy Bloch and many other professionals on the Full Tilt roster were at the tables and they were joined by several stars from the extreme sports world, including two-time X Games champion Ross Powers and wakeboarder Parks Bonifay.

While online player "Jzeeee" was the eventual champion of the tournament, taking a nice payday of $2,235, the real winner was the animals at the no-kill shelter of the Nevada SPCA. The 3,009 players provided a $15,000 donation to the group and Full Tilt matched that amount, making the total haul for the Nevada SPCA over $30,000.

Harman will be hosting another poker tournament to benefit the Nevada SPCA on April 18, following the inaugural tournament she sponsored last year. Last year's live tournament raised $130,000 for the Nevada SPCA and it is expected to have many of the same players donating their time and funds for a worthy cause. Visit NevadASPCA.org to learn more about the group or to make a private donation.

These two events demonstrate that poker can be a force for the good. Top professionals in the world of poker will no doubt continue the positive trend.

Visit PokerListings.com

Playboy Mansion a hotbed for charity poker

Hugh Hefner and his Girls Next Door are set to open the Mansion grounds up for the tournament Saturday, May 18, with the event running from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.

General admission for the night is $500, complete with access to hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, casino night table games and the "infamous Grotto." (The tournament Web site suggests you bring your own swimwear.) There will also be a silent auction on the grounds throughout the night.

For those who want to have a little poker with their Playboy Mansion experience, a seat in the tournament will cost $1,500. All proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Urban Health Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization "founded to provide direct care, medicine and medical equipment in response to natural and man-made disasters."

Early registration is available until March 31. To register, or to get more information about the Celebrity Poker Tournament, contact Yvette McNally at yvette_mcnally@sbcglobal.net or visit the event Web site.

As has been the case in the past, first prize for the tournament is a $10,000 seat in the WSOP Main Event. Second prize this year is a Bermuda vacation for two with travel and four-star hotel accommodation, while third prize is a set of Giovanna Wheels and a Koko Kuture Bezel System.

The past two years have both seen celebrity poker players crowned champion at the charity event. Long before his involvement with Ante Up For Africa at the WSOP, actor Don Cheadle won the UHI Playboy Mansion tournament in 2006.

Last year it was actress and 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship semifinalist Shannon Elizabeth who took down the title while helping UHI raise money for its charity programs.

Confirmed to attend so far are Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Pam Brunson, and Hoyt Corkins. If the past two years are any indication, the list of confirmations will blossom as the event grows nearer.

According to the UHI Web site,"the organization enlists pro-bono participation from local health care professionals to provide public health education and information about the availability of health-related and specialty care resources within disadvantaged communities around the globe."

Some of UHI's past activities have included administering medical relief to victims of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, tending to New Orleans residents evacuated from their homes to the Astrodome in Houston, participating in local health fairs and sponsoring youth sports programs, and providing medical exams, medications, and supplies to communities in Nigeria and Belize.

Visit PokerListings.com

World Series of Golf 2008

For almost as long as people have been playing golf, people have been betting on it. Golf had the image of a somewhat seedy gamblers game until a few bright minds put together the PGA. After a couple seasons of the PGA, golf was no longer considered seedy, or even a means to gamble to most. It was a professional sport, a skill game.

Poker is on the same route as golf. Poker was a seedy game, for seedy people to be played in the back rooms of seedy pubs. In the last decade, the game has grown into itself, and has come a considerably long way along the road to being accepted along with professional sports.

The Word Series of Golf is an annual golf tournament held in Las Vegas Nevada. Like the World Series of Poker, the entrance fee for this event sets each player back $10,000. Each player is given a set amount of chips for their buy-in, and is paired up with a player of similar skill for their first round on their way to the $250,000 first prize.

Unlike the standard forms of golf, where winning the round is 100% dependant on your skill with a club, The WSG allows for players to use poker strategy on the course.

Each pair of players tee off on a hole as per normal. After the tee off, the players are now able to check, bet, raise, call or fold on winning the hole. Same as poker, once you fold or lose the hole the opponent wins all the chips in the pot.

Once you lose all your chips, you're out of the tourney. Unlike in real golf where you can always make up strokes on later holes, there is no way to get back your chips once you go bust. What was a simple putt on the practice green can becomes a battle with nerves once your opponent puts all their chips across the line.

A few of the poker players to enter in last year's WSG include: Phil Ivey, Phil Gordon and Rhett Butler. With the interest other poker players have shown for the event on high stakes poker tables, this year should have the largest count of professional poker players in attendance.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker Stars - Kentucky Derby Poker Championship at Caesars Indiana Announced

2008-03-22T05:31:00.001-07:00

Kentucky Derby Poker Championship at Caesars Indiana Announced
After watching the thoroughbreds make a run for the roses, players can make a run on the poker oval with the "Poker Brat" and "Mr. Omaha". Noted pros Phil Hellmuth Jr. and Robert "Mr. Omaha" Williamson III will host the Kent

Poker Stars - PokerStars Announces Plans to Award Over 1,000 WSOP Seats

2008-03-21T07:00:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - PokerStars Announces Plans to Award Over 1,000 WSOP Seats

2008-03-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

PokerStars Announces Plans to Award Over 1,000 WSOP Seats
PokerStars has announced an impressive schedule of events and qualifiers on its site with the end goal of sending over 1,000 players to this summer's WSOP. In the promotion, running for the next several months, PokerStars qualifiers...

He Said, She Said, Vol. 9: Jamie Gold vs. Sam Farha
The hand (from an entertaining episode of "High Stakes Poker") -- Blinds: 300/600 with a 1200 straddle. Gold's stack: ~$391,000; Farha's stack: Over $391,000. Neither player's stack is actually given specifically during the hand...

Scottish man loses firm’s money playing online poker
Twenty-five-year-old Chris Proudfoot of Scorguie, Scotland, has been accused of losing more than £2million pounds of his company’s money — by playing online poker. Proudfoot worked for as a finance and credit controller for a telecommunications firm, HIGHnet. According to a story on majorwager.com: A pal said last ��...full article

Twenty-five-year-old Chris Proudfoot of Scorguie, Scotland, has been accused of losing more than £2million pounds of his company’s money — by playing online poker.

Proudfoot worked for as a finance and credit controller for a telecommunications firm, HIGHnet.

According to a story on majorwager.com:

A pal said last night: “The word is that he was playing high-stakes poker online and got himself in too deep. It’s a shock to think that Chris has been gambling away his employers’ money. We never had him down as a gambling addict. He doesn’t go to the bookies in town and we’ve never known him to bet on anything.”

He allegedly ran up the colossal debt gambling online with William Hill. HIGHnet bosses asked Proudfoot to clear his desk five weeks ago and called in the fraud squad.

The exact amount lost by the man won’t be known until detectives conclude their investigation.

Whole thing here.

William Hill made headlines earlier this month when the site was taken to court by a man who claimed he was allowed to go £2million into debt, even though he had asked the site to exclude him. That case was thrown out.

Poker Stars - PPA names state directors

2008-03-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

PPA names state directors

The State Directors program is part of the PPA's comprehensive strategy to become a player in national and state-level policy debates to protect the rights of poker players across the nation.

"With close to one million members, the PPA is fortunate to have a dedicated and active membership base, but we need eyes and ears on the ground to help us," said PPA Chairman and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato.

"With the state directors program, we will have a leader in each state who can update us on local news stories or legislation and who can quickly mobilize their fellow local PPA members to help carry the PPA banner in their home state. We are proud of the state directors we have named today and look forward to working with them."

More an 1,000 applicants were considered for the state director positions, and according to the PPA, the people chosen were not only active PPA members, but also leaders in their communities who can advocate on behalf of the PPA.

A few positions haven't been filled yet, but the state directors are:

Alabama: Bret Atiyeh	Alaska: Wayne McGregor
Arizona: Steven J. Yeager	Arkansas: Jennifer O'Steen
California: Steven Miller	Colorado: Gary Reed
Connecticut: James Freehan	Delaware: TBA
District of Columbia: Norman Smith	Florida: Dick Campbell
Georgia: Kelli Mix	Hawaii: David Wallace
Idaho: Wendy Nutting	Illinois: Steve Brubaker
Indiana: Lynda Morgan	Iowa: Jim Hudson
Kansas: Susan Thacker	Kentucky: Rich Muny
Louisiana: Brian Brinser	Maine: Curt Fletcher
Maryland: Bruce Seidel	Massachusetts: Randall Castonguay
Michigan: Dave Crocker	Minnesota: Matt Werden
Mississippi: Bill Goff	Missouri: Nancy Krause
Montana: Mike Barger	Nebraska: Dave Willman
Nevada: Ken Illgen	New Hampshire: Patrick Fleming
New Jersey: Bill Brottman	New Mexico: TBA
New York: Vincent Papasodero	North Carolina: Paul Boome
North Dakota: Todd Anderson	Ohio: Donshey Peoples
Oklahoma: Greg Peters	Oregon: Nick Wellman
Pennsylvania: Tripp Amick	Rhode Island: Andrew Knutton
South Carolina: John Ridgeway	South Dakota: Vincent Amato
Tennessee: Dwayne Mann	Texas: TBA
Utah: Ryan Wilkinson	Vermont: C. David Sawyer
Virginia: Jeff Gregson	Washington: Lee Rousso
West Virginia: Robert Walker	Wisconsin: Steven Verrett
Wyoming: Daniel Prevedel

The directors will be responsible for monitoring poker-related issues and events in their states and alerting the national PPA office to emerging trends or issues. Part of their job will also be to recruit new members for the PPA, organize groups of local PPA members to attend poker-related events or rallies, contact their elected officials and serve as a spokesperson for local media.

The PPA also plans to help state directors set up state PPA committees that will help strengthen the organization's grassroots efforts in the future.

The State Directors program is one component of the PPA's aggressive campaign to boost member benefits, augment its grassroots efforts and position the organization and its members as a strong voice in national, state and local policy debates.

To further enhance its campaign for poker rights, the PPA will be launching a political action committee, a voter registration campaign, a new Web site and new membership incentives later this spring.

Currently the PPA, which is a nonprofit membership organization, has more than 900,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiasts as members who have joined together to promote the game of poker and protect poker players' rights.

Related Articles:

Visit PokerListings.com

Back for Moore: Wynn Classic finds winner

In the starring role was Chris Moore, who finished in third place at the 2007 Wynn Classic. The online cash game player from Illinois got his money in with two pair last year against eventual champion Zachary Hyman's pair and straight draw. The river brought an ace to send Moore home without the title.

Apparently that stuck in his craw.

Moore emerged victorious at the Wynn this year, but his path was a difficult one. He entered the final table in third place, trailing Larry Wright and chip leader Ryan Young.

The latter won one of six $1,500 NLHE bracelets up for grabs at last year's WSOP after coming in with the chip lead and employing solid, well-timed aggression to stay ahead of the pack. Moore would need to rock the same kind of game if he wanted to avenge his loss the year before.

Moore doubled up short stack Jace Markgraf just before the end of the day's first level, losing a race with A-K to Markgraf's TT. Markgraf then scored the first scalp of the day, sending professional poker player Eugene Todd out in ninth place with QQ to Todd's TT.

Young continued to build his lead by picking up orphan pots and showing down strong hands, until Moore changed the tenor of the proceedings altogether. With a pot the size of the average stack in the middle of the table and the board reading #Td-#Ts-#9d-#5s-#Jc, Young checked and Moore wasted no time moving all-in.

The bracelet winner went in the tank and eventually mucked; Moore sent a statement to both his opponent and the table when he flipped up Q-3 for the stone cold bluff and scooped his way into the position of the chip leader.

The rest of Level 17 consisted of big pots featuring Ryan Young as he scrambled to get back ahead of the pack. He doubled up Ardavan Yazdi when his jacks failed to hold up, doubled back up into contention with AA against QQ, and doubled Markgraf's stack with K-9 against Markgraf's A-J.

Despite all the action there were no knockouts until the middle of Level 18, when freeroll winner Alemu Tesema moved his three-big-blind stack in with J-9 and fell in eighth place to Blake Cahail's T-3.

Ryan Young's roller-coaster ride continued in that level with a lucky break. Ricky Chow got his money in good with JJ to Young's TT, but the ten on the flop left Chow with seventh-place money.

Young then came out on top of a pre-flop raising war against Moore, narrowing his chip lead some and setting the stage for later confrontations.

Larry Wright was next to go in Level 18. Despite coming into the day second in chips, Wright was inactive at the table and found himself short-stacked and surrounded by aggressive players. He got in on the wrong end of a coin flip with K-Q to Cahail's 8-8, finishing in sixth place when he failed to improve. Wright's elimination closed out the level.

The tournament's 19th level began with a bang. The $10,000/$20,000 blinds and $2,000 antes built an enticing pot on every hand. Markgraf lost his tournament life in an attempt to steal, open-shoving with Q-8 and being called down by Young's K-Q to finish in fifth place. Then Yazdi tried to pick up the pot pre-flop with 3-3; he ran into Cahail's QQ to wind up taking fourth place.

Down to the final three, Moore found himself in a different position than he had the previous year. He held a solid chip lead over Young and Cahail, and even more importantly he had position on the aggressive Young. His situation improved further when Cahail missed a chance to bluff and Moore took down a substantial heads-up pot from him with just jack-high.

When play became heads-up, though, it was Young who held the chip lead after doing the dirty work of eliminating Cahail in third place with JJ against Q-T. The $472,000 difference in chips wouldn't last long, though.

Just a few hands into heads-up play, Young fell victim to the designs of fate. Pokerlistings.com's veteran tournament reporter Matthew Showell described the hand:

"In one of the first hands of heads-up play Ryan Young has been crippled in a rough setup of a hand. Young opened from the button to $50,000 and Moore made the call from the big blind. The flop came down #Js-#8d-#5s and Moore checked. Young bet out $100,000 and Moore check-raised to $400k.

"Young then moved all-in and Moore snap-called, laying #Jd-#5d down on the felt. Young was behind with #Ah-#Jh for top pair, top kicker, and would need a lot of help to win the hand. The board finished out with no help whatsoever for Young and Moore is good for the double. He's now in a commanding position with $3.2 million to Young's $500,000."

Moore never let his foot off the gas after the big swing in momentum, finishing Young off with KK against A-5 for the win.

In the end the chips fell as follows:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Chris Moore	$692,286
2nd	Ryan Young	$355,020
3rd	Black Cahail	$177,510
4th	Ardavan Yazdi	$95,855
5th	Jace markgraf	$71,004
6th	Larry Wright	$53,253
7th	Ricky Chow	$44,378
8th	Alemu Tesema	$35,502
9th	Eugene Todd	$31,952

You can relive all the magic of Chris Moore's redemption song, from Day 1 to the final table, in Matthew Showell's updates in our Live Tournaments section.

Visit PokerListings.com

Book Review: Gus Hansen's 'Every Hand Revealed'
Few players on the professional circuit invite as much scrutiny for their playing style as does Gus Hansen. The debate began with the very first episode of the World Poker Tour's Season 1 in which the 'Great Dane' was shown taking...

Massachusetts Casino Bill Receives Negative Committee Recommendation
Wednesday, the Massachusetts House Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies voted 10-8 to reject Governor Deval Patrick's proposed bill to build three casinos and criminalize online poker in the state...

A Successful Night at the Montel Williams MS Foundation Gala and Poker Tournament
When I was invited to be a part of the Montel Williams MS Foundation's Gala and Poker Tournament, I jumped at the chance. My step-daughter lives with MS every day of her life, so I saw this opportunity to give back to the community...

Poker Stars - A Successful Night at the Montel Williams MS Foundation Gala and Poker Tournament

2008-03-20T08:15:00.001-07:00

A Successful Night at the Montel Williams MS Foundation Gala and Poker Tournament
When I was invited to be a part of the Montel Williams MS Foundation's Gala and Poker Tournament, I jumped at the chance. My step-daughter lives with MS every day of her life, so I saw this opportunity to give back to the community...

Poker Stars - Poker News Bytes, March 18, 2008

2008-03-19T06:45:00.001-07:00

Poker News Bytes, March 18, 2008
Austria's bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, one of Europe's leading Internet-based gambling services, was disheartened by the German Federal Court of Justice's dismissal of a motion to suspend enforcement proceedings against bwin...

College Poker Life: The California State University System
The California State University has campuses located throughout California and student poker players fortunate enough to attend classes at any of the 23 campuses won't have hard times finding ways to satisfy their poker appetites...

Poker Stars - Poker News Bytes, March 18, 2008

2008-03-19T02:30:00.001-07:00

Poker Stars - Poker Movie Review: 'The Grand'

2008-03-18T12:45:00.001-07:00

Poker Movie Review: 'The Grand'
When any big movement happens in pop culture, you can expect movies that base their story on or around this movement. Producers and studios see a trend, and they often look to cash in on this trend at the box office. The 'Grunge' music...

2008 World Series of Poker Europe Dates Announced
Harrah's Entertainment has officially announced the dates and sites for the second annual World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair. The 2008 edition of Europe's WSOP outpost will again be held at the same three London Clubs...

NETeller Posts $185.7M Loss for 2007
NETeller Plc has announced a sizeable loss for the 2007 fiscal year, with the largest share of the company's $185.7 million in red ink attributable to the online payment processor's withdrawal from the US market...

Poker Stars - NETeller Posts $185.7M Loss for 2007

2008-03-18T04:45:00.001-07:00

NETeller Posts $185.7M Loss for 2007
NETeller Plc has announced a sizeable loss for the 2007 fiscal year, with the largest share of the company's $185.7 million in red ink attributable to the online payment processor's withdrawal from the US market...

Poker Movie Review: 'The Grand'
When any big movement happens in pop culture, you can expect movies that base their story on or around this movement. Producers and studios see a trend, and they often look to cash in on this trend at the box office. The 'Grunge' music...

Poker Stars - Poker Players Alliance Names State Directors

2008-03-17T11:15:00.001-07:00

Poker Players Alliance Names State Directors
The Poker Players Alliance has furthered its intentions to continue growing as a "grass roots" organization with the announcement that 50 PPA members have now been selected as State Directors, one for each state. The PPA's...

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 36: Archie Karas, Part 6 -- Shooting Dice
The mystique and intrigue that will forever surround the legendary story of Archie "The Greek" Karas includes the sky-high stakes for which Karas played dice at Binion's Horseshoe. These were the highest limits in the world then...

Swedish Decision Halts Net Gambling Media Prosecutions
A decision by an agency within Sweden's Prosecution Authority has been made to halt prosecutions against Swedish media companies who accept advertising from Internet gambling services. The new court order, issued by UC Malmö...

Player:	Prize:
1. Dale Robinson	$73,154
2. Bernard Lee	$40,237
3. David Dao	$20,576
4. Jason Benanzer	$16,003
5. Ed Koppe	$13,717
6. Matt Sterling	$11,431
7. William Johnson	$9,145
8. Caleb Banks	$6,859
9. Mike Aberle	$4,572

Seat	Name	Chip Count
1.	Denes Kalo	$1,190,000
2.	Michael Martin	$1,320,000
3.	Luca Pagano	$688,000
4.	Valeriy Ilikyan	$1,396,000
5.	Antonio Esfandiari	$501,000
6.	Maxime Villemure	$1,206,000
7.	Glen Chorny	$3,613,000
8.	Isaac Baron	$2,853,000