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Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity for everyone to take a step back from their daily, hectic lives and focus on what's really important. Although it may appear like a holiday that allows for people to go out and spend massive amounts of money, Thanksgiving is really a time to spend time with family and friends and I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy Thanksgiving and enjoys a few moments of relaxation.
Most tournament venues in the U.S. understand that Thanksgiving is a time to close up shop and send the players home for a night. As a result, we've seen the conclusion of a few tournaments around the country in preparation of the holiday. Let's go around the felt …
Anthony Ruberto wins WPT Jacksonville
The non-televised WPT stop found success in Jacksonville. A field of 393 players and a $1.2 million prize pool turned heads, making this one of the more successful tournaments of the week.
Anthony Ruberto wins, Phil Ivey returns
November, 23, 2011
Nov 23
2:01
PM ET
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By Andrew Feldman
Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity for everyone to take a step back from their daily, hectic lives and focus on what's really important. Although it may appear like a holiday that allows for people to go out and spend massive amounts of money, Thanksgiving is really a time to spend time with family and friends and I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy Thanksgiving and enjoys a few moments of relaxation.
Most tournament venues in the U.S. understand that Thanksgiving is a time to close up shop and send the players home for a night. As a result, we've seen the conclusion of a few tournaments around the country in preparation of the holiday. Let's go around the felt …
Anthony Ruberto wins WPT Jacksonville
The non-televised WPT stop found success in Jacksonville. A field of 393 players and a $1.2 million prize pool turned heads, making this one of the more successful tournaments of the week.
Anthony Ruberto
World Poker Tour"Boston Tony" earned his first major victory at WPT Jacksonville.
According to the World Poker Tour, Day 3 eliminations of Chris Tryba (10th), Connor Drinan (11th), Dwyte Pilgrim (16th) and Allie Prescott (18th) set up a tough final table that included a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a veteran rounder with previous WPT success and a ClubWPT.com qualifier who earned his spot into the tournament for absolutely nothing. That WPT veteran, Darryll Fish, couldn't use his experience to overcome his chip differential. He entered his second WPT final table as the short stack and would ultimately finish in sixth as he ran his 3-3 into Lisa Hamilton's 7-7.
Artie Rodriguez, the ClubWPT qualifier, was coolered into a fifth-place finish. After putting up a strong flight for three days and the first 62 hands of the final table, Rodriguez opened from the button with A-J and was reraised all-in by Sam Soverel from the small blind holding A-Q. Rodriguez called and watch as the board ran dry. Just two hands later, he officially was eliminated and collected his $55,077 in prize money. Not bad for a freeroll.
Nearly 50 hands followed before the fourth-place elimination of Vitor Coelho. The 2009 Borgata Poker Open $1,500 event champion entered the final table second in chips, but ran into the pocket aces of Anthony Ruberto holding 4-4. He earned $75,105. Hamilton, the 2009 WSOP Ladies' Event champion, was looking to become the first female champion of a WPT open event. Her run was stopped short in third place by the dominating Ruberto who held A-K to her A-3.
Ruberto entered heads-up play against Soverel with nearly a 5-to-1 chip lead. The two would battle for 24 hands and although Soverel was able to double up once, he couldn't make the comeback and earned $187,762 for second place. Ruberto earned $325,928, the largest single tournament cash of his career. He now has nearly $800,000 in tournament earnings.
The next WPT stop is WPT Marrakech beginning Nov. 24. The next domestic WPT stop is the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a $10,000 buy-in held at the Bellagio from Dec. 6-11.
WSOP Circuit Lake Tahoe
The WSOP Circuit main event in Lake Tahoe is never one of the larger tour stops, but with the incentive of re-entry, this year's event hosted a field of 327. According to the WSOP, Bryan Schultz, a 25-year-old part-time poker player from Carpentersville, Ind., earned his first major victory and $111,812 thanks to an impressive final table comeback.
Schultz started the final table in eighth and maintained one of the lower spots in the chip counts until six players remained. His destiny changed on one hand as he was all-in postflop against Ron Segni. Schultz held K-10 for middle pair on a 9-10-J board and was up against Segni's Q-J. Schultz needed a queen and indeed, rivered the queen to take the pot. He eliminated David Clark minutes later in sixth and, all of a sudden, Schultz had new life.
From that moment on, Schultz put on a show. He took a good portion of Hank Czarnecki's stack before eliminating Jim Atwood in fifth and moved into second in the chip counts. Czarnecki went out in fourth at the hands of the chip leader for most of the final table, Daniel Lowery, and Schultz knocked out Segni in third to create a heads-up battle that began with Lowery holding a slight edge. After voluntarily raising the blinds (neither player wanted to be too deep), the two played for less than two hours before Schultz emerged with the title.
Here's a look at the results from the final table:
1. Bryan Schultz ($111,812)
2. Daniel Lowery ($69,132)
3. Ron Segni ($50,210)
4. Hank Czarnecki ($37,087)
5. Jim Atwood ($27,843)
6. David Clark ($21,234)
7. Joe Fernandez ($16,448)
8. Chris Clark ($12,932)
9. Casey McCarrel ($10,320)
The next WSOP Circuit stop takes place at Harrah's Atlantic City from Dec. 1-12.
Ivey makes his return to the felt
Phil Ivey has found his way back to the
Most tournament venues in the U.S. understand that Thanksgiving is a time to close up shop and send the players home for a night. As a result, we've seen the conclusion of a few tournaments around the country in preparation of the holiday. Let's go around the felt …
Anthony Ruberto wins WPT Jacksonville
The non-televised WPT stop found success in Jacksonville. A field of 393 players and a $1.2 million prize pool turned heads, making this one of the more successful tournaments of the week.
Anthony Ruberto wins, Phil Ivey returns
November, 23, 2011
Nov 23
2:01
PM ET
Comments
By Andrew Feldman
Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity for everyone to take a step back from their daily, hectic lives and focus on what's really important. Although it may appear like a holiday that allows for people to go out and spend massive amounts of money, Thanksgiving is really a time to spend time with family and friends and I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy Thanksgiving and enjoys a few moments of relaxation.
Most tournament venues in the U.S. understand that Thanksgiving is a time to close up shop and send the players home for a night. As a result, we've seen the conclusion of a few tournaments around the country in preparation of the holiday. Let's go around the felt …
Anthony Ruberto wins WPT Jacksonville
The non-televised WPT stop found success in Jacksonville. A field of 393 players and a $1.2 million prize pool turned heads, making this one of the more successful tournaments of the week.
Anthony Ruberto
World Poker Tour"Boston Tony" earned his first major victory at WPT Jacksonville.
According to the World Poker Tour, Day 3 eliminations of Chris Tryba (10th), Connor Drinan (11th), Dwyte Pilgrim (16th) and Allie Prescott (18th) set up a tough final table that included a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a veteran rounder with previous WPT success and a ClubWPT.com qualifier who earned his spot into the tournament for absolutely nothing. That WPT veteran, Darryll Fish, couldn't use his experience to overcome his chip differential. He entered his second WPT final table as the short stack and would ultimately finish in sixth as he ran his 3-3 into Lisa Hamilton's 7-7.
Artie Rodriguez, the ClubWPT qualifier, was coolered into a fifth-place finish. After putting up a strong flight for three days and the first 62 hands of the final table, Rodriguez opened from the button with A-J and was reraised all-in by Sam Soverel from the small blind holding A-Q. Rodriguez called and watch as the board ran dry. Just two hands later, he officially was eliminated and collected his $55,077 in prize money. Not bad for a freeroll.
Nearly 50 hands followed before the fourth-place elimination of Vitor Coelho. The 2009 Borgata Poker Open $1,500 event champion entered the final table second in chips, but ran into the pocket aces of Anthony Ruberto holding 4-4. He earned $75,105. Hamilton, the 2009 WSOP Ladies' Event champion, was looking to become the first female champion of a WPT open event. Her run was stopped short in third place by the dominating Ruberto who held A-K to her A-3.
Ruberto entered heads-up play against Soverel with nearly a 5-to-1 chip lead. The two would battle for 24 hands and although Soverel was able to double up once, he couldn't make the comeback and earned $187,762 for second place. Ruberto earned $325,928, the largest single tournament cash of his career. He now has nearly $800,000 in tournament earnings.
The next WPT stop is WPT Marrakech beginning Nov. 24. The next domestic WPT stop is the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a $10,000 buy-in held at the Bellagio from Dec. 6-11.
WSOP Circuit Lake Tahoe
The WSOP Circuit main event in Lake Tahoe is never one of the larger tour stops, but with the incentive of re-entry, this year's event hosted a field of 327. According to the WSOP, Bryan Schultz, a 25-year-old part-time poker player from Carpentersville, Ind., earned his first major victory and $111,812 thanks to an impressive final table comeback.
Schultz started the final table in eighth and maintained one of the lower spots in the chip counts until six players remained. His destiny changed on one hand as he was all-in postflop against Ron Segni. Schultz held K-10 for middle pair on a 9-10-J board and was up against Segni's Q-J. Schultz needed a queen and indeed, rivered the queen to take the pot. He eliminated David Clark minutes later in sixth and, all of a sudden, Schultz had new life.
From that moment on, Schultz put on a show. He took a good portion of Hank Czarnecki's stack before eliminating Jim Atwood in fifth and moved into second in the chip counts. Czarnecki went out in fourth at the hands of the chip leader for most of the final table, Daniel Lowery, and Schultz knocked out Segni in third to create a heads-up battle that began with Lowery holding a slight edge. After voluntarily raising the blinds (neither player wanted to be too deep), the two played for less than two hours before Schultz emerged with the title.
Here's a look at the results from the final table:
1. Bryan Schultz ($111,812)
2. Daniel Lowery ($69,132)
3. Ron Segni ($50,210)
4. Hank Czarnecki ($37,087)
5. Jim Atwood ($27,843)
6. David Clark ($21,234)
7. Joe Fernandez ($16,448)
8. Chris Clark ($12,932)
9. Casey McCarrel ($10,320)
The next WSOP Circuit stop takes place at Harrah's Atlantic City from Dec. 1-12.
Ivey makes his return to the felt
Phil Ivey has found his way back to the
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
Poker superstar Annie Duke talked about her favorite game in a live chat Wednesday with readers.
Q. I read your book and you downplayed the importance of the Ladies event in the WSOP, especially when you won your bracelet in Omaha. Do you see a day when the Ladies event may one day be canceled and how would you feel about that?
Duke: I'm up for anything that introduces more women to poker. But separating it out on a championship stage, I find that to be saying something about women's intellectual level that I don't like.
Q. What's your favorite no-limit hand and why?
Duke: People ask me that a lot and I give a very boring answer, which is aces. I don't have a favorite hand, I just like the best hand. So I guess I'm kind of boring that way. But I would also suggest to everyone else that their favorite hand should be aces.
Q. Royal flush to win the World Series of Poker or hearing Donald Trump tell Joan Rivers, "You're fired!"
Duke: (Laughs). Winning the World Series of Poker has much more impact on my real life, so I'll take something that impacts my real life rather than something that is a fake game for a fake job.
Q. What is the best part of your job, and what is the worst part?
Duke: The best part of my job is that I get to do what I'm incredibly passionate about, and I get to play this amazing game that you never master and is really an intellectual challenge. The worst part of the job is that there is a grind to it, and you're spending hours and hours and hours and you're not always in the mood to play, and that can be really tiring.
Q. I read your book and you downplayed the importance of the Ladies event in the WSOP, especially when you won your bracelet in Omaha. Do you see a day when the Ladies event may one day be canceled and how would you feel about that?
Duke: I'm up for anything that introduces more women to poker. But separating it out on a championship stage, I find that to be saying something about women's intellectual level that I don't like.
Q. What's your favorite no-limit hand and why?
Duke: People ask me that a lot and I give a very boring answer, which is aces. I don't have a favorite hand, I just like the best hand. So I guess I'm kind of boring that way. But I would also suggest to everyone else that their favorite hand should be aces.
Q. Royal flush to win the World Series of Poker or hearing Donald Trump tell Joan Rivers, "You're fired!"
Duke: (Laughs). Winning the World Series of Poker has much more impact on my real life, so I'll take something that impacts my real life rather than something that is a fake game for a fake job.
Q. What is the best part of your job, and what is the worst part?
Duke: The best part of my job is that I get to do what I'm incredibly passionate about, and I get to play this amazing game that you never master and is really an intellectual challenge. The worst part of the job is that there is a grind to it, and you're spending hours and hours and hours and you're not always in the mood to play, and that can be really tiring.
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2006/12/07
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29893
Every week, Bodog hosts thousands of poker tournaments, ranging from single table events to our massive $100,000 guaranteed tournaments. There's no way we can cover all of them, but we want to make sure you keep up with who won the biggest of the big games.
Who took the top spot in the $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament held this past Sunday, November 20? T_CRAMEZZZ took first place this week, earning $23,600. They were followed by Pet_Monster ($13,600) and Hasn82 , who rounded out the top trifecta while earning $9,100. Here's the rest of the final table results: ilmagowalter ($7,000.00); 13tx ($5,700); brains ($4,500); epc781 ($3,300.00); loudlarry33 ($2,200) and 51lankydang ($1,300).
In addition to show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts a series of regular weekly tournaments for players, and here's the winners of last week's events!
November 14 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ciscouno ($3,932.50)
November 15 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: DickButkus ($4,111.25)
November 16 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Greenklen ($4,152.50)
November 17 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: EstyzBallin ($3,918.75)
November 20 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ItalianStalion ($4,070.00)
November 20 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: phamb ($6,215.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool and with more players getting in on the action every week, that means there's more to be won !Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
Who took the top spot in the $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament held this past Sunday, November 20? T_CRAMEZZZ took first place this week, earning $23,600. They were followed by Pet_Monster ($13,600) and Hasn82 , who rounded out the top trifecta while earning $9,100. Here's the rest of the final table results: ilmagowalter ($7,000.00); 13tx ($5,700); brains ($4,500); epc781 ($3,300.00); loudlarry33 ($2,200) and 51lankydang ($1,300).
In addition to show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts a series of regular weekly tournaments for players, and here's the winners of last week's events!
November 14 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ciscouno ($3,932.50)
November 15 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: DickButkus ($4,111.25)
November 16 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Greenklen ($4,152.50)
November 17 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: EstyzBallin ($3,918.75)
November 20 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ItalianStalion ($4,070.00)
November 20 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: phamb ($6,215.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool and with more players getting in on the action every week, that means there's more to be won !Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
You may not know the name, but Chicago-based pro Bryan Schultz has made an impression on all the right people in the last few years as he's slowly but surely accumulated tournament cashes across the midwestern US. However, a tournament victory eluded him until he flew 2,000 miles to play at the World Series of Poker* Circuit Main Event Championship at Harvey's Lake Tahoe in Northern Nevada.
Schultz took on a stunning field for the event — 326 other players came out in inclement weather and came close to setting a new record for the championship, for which they ponied up a $1,600 entry fee. For his efforts, Schultz pocketed his very first 6-figure score, earning the 25-year-old a tidy $111,812 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring after a miraculous comeback that was a testament to his patience and skill.
The odds were stacked against him from the very start, as he played an array of former WSOP gold bracelet winners and Circuit ring bearers before going from eighth to first at the final table after overcoming a 2:1 chip disadvantage to beat final opponent Daniel Lowery.
This year's WSOPC stop at Harvey's Lake Tahoe marked the eighth consecutive year the event was held there and Schultz's cinderella story, along with Mark Rosenbach's remarkable run for "Best All-Around Player" (three final tables, two gold rings) and Nicholas Long's status as the only four-time cashier at Lake Tahoe is going to make sure it's talked about for some time to come.
Schultz took on a stunning field for the event — 326 other players came out in inclement weather and came close to setting a new record for the championship, for which they ponied up a $1,600 entry fee. For his efforts, Schultz pocketed his very first 6-figure score, earning the 25-year-old a tidy $111,812 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring after a miraculous comeback that was a testament to his patience and skill.
The odds were stacked against him from the very start, as he played an array of former WSOP gold bracelet winners and Circuit ring bearers before going from eighth to first at the final table after overcoming a 2:1 chip disadvantage to beat final opponent Daniel Lowery.
This year's WSOPC stop at Harvey's Lake Tahoe marked the eighth consecutive year the event was held there and Schultz's cinderella story, along with Mark Rosenbach's remarkable run for "Best All-Around Player" (three final tables, two gold rings) and Nicholas Long's status as the only four-time cashier at Lake Tahoe is going to make sure it's talked about for some time to come.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
If you were looking for something to put on your Christmas list this year, bespoke jewelers STAHL of Sweden have you covered with a completely over-the-top, gem-encrusted poker chip set that'll be perfect for the next game you play against Bruce Wayne and Scrooge McDuck. Now, there have been stunning poker sets before — Geoffrey Parker recently created one that had a retail price of $7.5 million — but this one has something that puts it over the top: meteorite shards! Here's a quote from the solicitation text:
The concept is based on an asteroid that circled around in our universe for billions of years before landing in northern Sweden approximately 800.000 years ago and thus becoming a meteorite. An ancient remain from Big Bang that is now exhibiting its uniqueness in “The Meteorite Set”. This is the closest mankind ever gets to the cooled core of a planet. In the production of the chips a solid piece of Muonionalusta meteorite has been used. Its original weight was 13,7 kg.
So, not only is every chip covered in diamonds, Burmese rubies and sapphires from Sri Lanka. Not only is every chip encased in 18k white gold. Each chip contains a chunk of space rock and of course a set like this comes with a leather briefcase. This one's made of calf skin and the interior is lined with reindeer calf suede, highlighted with 18k white gold and a large circular slice of the Muonionalusta meteorite on the inside of the lid. So, it's obviously worth the estimated $100,000-$150,000 that Christie's thinks it will get.
Of course, if you're not in the market for a poker chip set that probably costs as much as your home, there's always online poker at Bodog.
The concept is based on an asteroid that circled around in our universe for billions of years before landing in northern Sweden approximately 800.000 years ago and thus becoming a meteorite. An ancient remain from Big Bang that is now exhibiting its uniqueness in “The Meteorite Set”. This is the closest mankind ever gets to the cooled core of a planet. In the production of the chips a solid piece of Muonionalusta meteorite has been used. Its original weight was 13,7 kg.
So, not only is every chip covered in diamonds, Burmese rubies and sapphires from Sri Lanka. Not only is every chip encased in 18k white gold. Each chip contains a chunk of space rock and of course a set like this comes with a leather briefcase. This one's made of calf skin and the interior is lined with reindeer calf suede, highlighted with 18k white gold and a large circular slice of the Muonionalusta meteorite on the inside of the lid. So, it's obviously worth the estimated $100,000-$150,000 that Christie's thinks it will get.
Of course, if you're not in the market for a poker chip set that probably costs as much as your home, there's always online poker at Bodog.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
We’ve got some bigtime weekend winners to report and let’s just say that they’re cup runneth over with lots of casino winnings.
First we’d like to announce our top winner Michael C. who managed to rack up an extraordinary amount of cash totaling $118,140 playing a few Bodog Casino favorites including Paradise Dreams, Realm of Riches and Mermaid Queen.
Other big winners for the weekend included:
Carolyn L. won $54,713 playing Crystal Waters and Rain Dance slots.
Norry N. won a total of $44,138 while spinning the European Roulette wheel.
Bradley S. of PA won $33,403 playing LER and Realm of Riches slots.
David A. of IL was having his way with Roulette when he won $33,196.
Pamela H. of WA won $18,333 playing Caesars Empire slots.
David T. of CO won $16,568 playing Dirty Martini slots.
Nandit M. of PA dove deep to claim his own Suken Treasure and won $13,410.
Robert M. of NC won $12,953 while playing in the casino.
Kathy M. of CA won $12,925 playing Cleopatra’s Gold slots.
Edward S. AZ walked away from the Blackjack table with a grand total of $12,919.
Way to go Bodogers! What a great weekend it was for our casino players who really seemed to be in tune with their casino gaming skills.
Want to try out some of Bodog Casino’s hottest casino games? With only a few clicks you could be on your way to becoming one of our top winners. Good luck!
Join us for more and more daily casino action here at Bodog Casino. Find over 70 online casino games that pay out day after day. Make a name for yourself at Bodog Casino today! Welcome:
First we’d like to announce our top winner Michael C. who managed to rack up an extraordinary amount of cash totaling $118,140 playing a few Bodog Casino favorites including Paradise Dreams, Realm of Riches and Mermaid Queen.
Other big winners for the weekend included:
Carolyn L. won $54,713 playing Crystal Waters and Rain Dance slots.
Norry N. won a total of $44,138 while spinning the European Roulette wheel.
Bradley S. of PA won $33,403 playing LER and Realm of Riches slots.
David A. of IL was having his way with Roulette when he won $33,196.
Pamela H. of WA won $18,333 playing Caesars Empire slots.
David T. of CO won $16,568 playing Dirty Martini slots.
Nandit M. of PA dove deep to claim his own Suken Treasure and won $13,410.
Robert M. of NC won $12,953 while playing in the casino.
Kathy M. of CA won $12,925 playing Cleopatra’s Gold slots.
Edward S. AZ walked away from the Blackjack table with a grand total of $12,919.
Way to go Bodogers! What a great weekend it was for our casino players who really seemed to be in tune with their casino gaming skills.
Want to try out some of Bodog Casino’s hottest casino games? With only a few clicks you could be on your way to becoming one of our top winners. Good luck!
Join us for more and more daily casino action here at Bodog Casino. Find over 70 online casino games that pay out day after day. Make a name for yourself at Bodog Casino today! Welcome:
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Two Congressional hearings on the future of online poker in the US, which were held last week, were extremely promising. However, poker analysts are skeptical about the Congress ever coming to a consensus regarding online poker. Almost every hearing gives listeners the impression that the lawmakers are more concerned with figuring out the best ways to license and regulate the online poker gaming industry and not with attempting to find out if it should be regulated.
The focus at the hearing of the Indian Affairs Committee was the demand of the tribes to be involved in all gambling bills and to be given equal opportunities as Nevada-based casinos to offer online poker services.
On Friday, the hearing of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade had Barney Frank joining Frank Wolf and John Campbell on the panel. Frank Wolf, an anti-poker witness, stated that gambling is dangerous and addictive and that any attempt to legalize and regulate online poker will be extremely profitable to online gambling companies while wrecking American homes and taxpayers.
Neutralizing Wolf’s arguments for poker by simply pointing out he is co-sponsoring Wolf’s bill to launch programs to prevent, treat, and research problem gambling, Barney Frank said that regulating the online poker industry will help deal with problem gambling in a more effective manner than preventing people without gambling problems from playing poker online.
Frank said: “Enacting legislation to license, regulate, and tax online gambling as well as implement problem gambling programs, would bring this industry out of the shadows, benefit consumers, create American jobs, capture revenue and allow adults to enjoy freedom from unnecessary government interference.”
The second panel comprised Frank Fahrenkopf, the president of the American Gaming Association; Mark Lipparelli, the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board; Charles McIntyre, the executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission; and Rachel Volberg, a researcher at the Chicago University who specializes in problem gambling—all supporting online poker.
Speaking for the cause of regulating the online poker industry, he said that, although the AGA had opposed legalizing online poker in the past, it now feels that technology can be utilized to protect US players. He said: “At the last hearing, you asked whether licensing and regulation of online poker is a safe bet. Our industry believes it is. The risky bet would be to leave unchanged current law that leaves consumers, minors and those with gambling problems vulnerable to unregulated offshore companies.”
The focus at the hearing of the Indian Affairs Committee was the demand of the tribes to be involved in all gambling bills and to be given equal opportunities as Nevada-based casinos to offer online poker services.
On Friday, the hearing of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade had Barney Frank joining Frank Wolf and John Campbell on the panel. Frank Wolf, an anti-poker witness, stated that gambling is dangerous and addictive and that any attempt to legalize and regulate online poker will be extremely profitable to online gambling companies while wrecking American homes and taxpayers.
Neutralizing Wolf’s arguments for poker by simply pointing out he is co-sponsoring Wolf’s bill to launch programs to prevent, treat, and research problem gambling, Barney Frank said that regulating the online poker industry will help deal with problem gambling in a more effective manner than preventing people without gambling problems from playing poker online.
Frank said: “Enacting legislation to license, regulate, and tax online gambling as well as implement problem gambling programs, would bring this industry out of the shadows, benefit consumers, create American jobs, capture revenue and allow adults to enjoy freedom from unnecessary government interference.”
The second panel comprised Frank Fahrenkopf, the president of the American Gaming Association; Mark Lipparelli, the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board; Charles McIntyre, the executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission; and Rachel Volberg, a researcher at the Chicago University who specializes in problem gambling—all supporting online poker.
Speaking for the cause of regulating the online poker industry, he said that, although the AGA had opposed legalizing online poker in the past, it now feels that technology can be utilized to protect US players. He said: “At the last hearing, you asked whether licensing and regulation of online poker is a safe bet. Our industry believes it is. The risky bet would be to leave unchanged current law that leaves consumers, minors and those with gambling problems vulnerable to unregulated offshore companies.”
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2006/12/07
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The recent Congressional hearings that have debated the issues of online gaming and poker legislation have shown that the voices opposing the regulation of online poker in the U.S. are few, and that many lawmakers are seeking ways to legalize the game of poker on the internet.
“Most people, including members of the subcommittee, seemed to be supportive of the concept of a poker-only bill,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who proposed HR2366, one of the bills being debated by legislators that would legalize internet poker in the U.S. through various state agencies. The bill has 25 cosponsors among House and Senate members.
One of the minority of anti-gambling advocates is Frank Wolf (R-VA). In last week’s House subcommittee hearing, Wolf testified on how he feels the evils of gambling are detrimental to society, saying, “I know that many members of this committee are aware of my strong concerns about the spread of gambling in our society. I could spend all day cataloging story after story of ruined families, bankruptcies, suicides, and official corruption. Gambling is a dangerous activity and study after study has shown that for many in our society, there is no question that it is strongly addictive.”
Barton, in addressing Wolf’s concerns about problem gamblers, cited statistics that show that less than two percent of gamblers can be categorized as having an addiction to gambling, making it an issue that proposed legislation should consider, “but not an overwhelming one.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) also spoke up about Wolf’s fears that gambling is dangerous and reminded Wolf that he co-sponsored Wolf’s bill aimed at establishing and implementing programs to research, prevent and treat problem gambling, and that legislation would properly address the issue while allowing the vast majority of gamblers without a problem to partake in an activity that they would desire.
“Enacting legislation to license, regulate, and tax online gambling as well as implement problem gambling programs, would bring this industry out of the shadows, benefit consumers, create American jobs, capture revenue and allow adults to enjoy freedom from unnecessary government interference,” Frank said.
Other than the stance against gambling taken by Wolf, many poker industry observers felt that the hearings made great strides in regulating online poker in the U.S.
“The hearings were great for us,” said Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Vice President of Player Relations Rich Muny. “They were also completely different. The October House subcommittee hearing didn’t mention anything about the morality of playing poker. Last week, Frank Wolf talked about morality, but his points didn’t connect with anyone. No one really referenced his comments throughout the rest of the hearing. Everyone else was talking about how we’re going to regulate it.”
Muny was hoping that poker legislation would find its way onto a bipartisan supercommittee’s bill that had a Monday night deadline to propose recommendations for reducing the U.S. budget deficit. Poker insiders felt that the taxation of online poker had a chance to be part of the bill due to the massive deficit and lawmakers need to find additional revenue. But the supercommittee voted instead to implement a succession of automatic budget cuts.
“It seemed like a tough sell to get them to create anything,” Muny said about the supercommittee’s failure. “Everybody on the supercommittee is the leader in the House or Senate and so I viewed any work we did to reach out to them as a 100% carryover for other pieces of legislation. On Monday, we wanted to give a final push that they’d remember. It certainly would have been nice for poker to be included in the supercommittee’s recommendations.”
Online poker advocates are again shifting their focus on Barton’s HR2366. “The next step for Barton’s bill would be a markup,” Muny said. “We’ve had two hearings on internet gambling in the House subcommittee, so we’re hoping to be at the next step. It would be nice if we could get it in this year, but if that doesn’t happen, it could happen early next year. It has to be voted through somewhere.”
Some internet poker proponents would like to see HR2366 attached to another bill and pushed through as legislation as was done with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. The UIGEA was a rider to a port security act and completely changed the internet poker industry in America overnight.
On the possibility of Barton’s bill being tacked on to another bill, Muny said, “Last year, Harry Reid’s (D-NV) proposal was for an online poker bill to be attached to something. That’s a feasible route and something that could happen to legislation down the road. It could also be passed as a freestanding bill. Those are the two ways for it to go through, but we’re pushing for it to go through in a markup.”
Most online poker players in the U.S. just want internet poker to be regulated as soon as possible, whether its through a supercommittee, a rider to another bill or Barton’s HR2366. To that end, progress is being made, albeit slowly.
“I think we moved the ball forward and are getting closer to making this bill a law,” Barton said. “I think the votes are there in the subcommittee, the whole committee and on the House floor.”
“Most people, including members of the subcommittee, seemed to be supportive of the concept of a poker-only bill,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who proposed HR2366, one of the bills being debated by legislators that would legalize internet poker in the U.S. through various state agencies. The bill has 25 cosponsors among House and Senate members.
One of the minority of anti-gambling advocates is Frank Wolf (R-VA). In last week’s House subcommittee hearing, Wolf testified on how he feels the evils of gambling are detrimental to society, saying, “I know that many members of this committee are aware of my strong concerns about the spread of gambling in our society. I could spend all day cataloging story after story of ruined families, bankruptcies, suicides, and official corruption. Gambling is a dangerous activity and study after study has shown that for many in our society, there is no question that it is strongly addictive.”
Barton, in addressing Wolf’s concerns about problem gamblers, cited statistics that show that less than two percent of gamblers can be categorized as having an addiction to gambling, making it an issue that proposed legislation should consider, “but not an overwhelming one.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) also spoke up about Wolf’s fears that gambling is dangerous and reminded Wolf that he co-sponsored Wolf’s bill aimed at establishing and implementing programs to research, prevent and treat problem gambling, and that legislation would properly address the issue while allowing the vast majority of gamblers without a problem to partake in an activity that they would desire.
“Enacting legislation to license, regulate, and tax online gambling as well as implement problem gambling programs, would bring this industry out of the shadows, benefit consumers, create American jobs, capture revenue and allow adults to enjoy freedom from unnecessary government interference,” Frank said.
Other than the stance against gambling taken by Wolf, many poker industry observers felt that the hearings made great strides in regulating online poker in the U.S.
“The hearings were great for us,” said Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Vice President of Player Relations Rich Muny. “They were also completely different. The October House subcommittee hearing didn’t mention anything about the morality of playing poker. Last week, Frank Wolf talked about morality, but his points didn’t connect with anyone. No one really referenced his comments throughout the rest of the hearing. Everyone else was talking about how we’re going to regulate it.”
Muny was hoping that poker legislation would find its way onto a bipartisan supercommittee’s bill that had a Monday night deadline to propose recommendations for reducing the U.S. budget deficit. Poker insiders felt that the taxation of online poker had a chance to be part of the bill due to the massive deficit and lawmakers need to find additional revenue. But the supercommittee voted instead to implement a succession of automatic budget cuts.
“It seemed like a tough sell to get them to create anything,” Muny said about the supercommittee’s failure. “Everybody on the supercommittee is the leader in the House or Senate and so I viewed any work we did to reach out to them as a 100% carryover for other pieces of legislation. On Monday, we wanted to give a final push that they’d remember. It certainly would have been nice for poker to be included in the supercommittee’s recommendations.”
Online poker advocates are again shifting their focus on Barton’s HR2366. “The next step for Barton’s bill would be a markup,” Muny said. “We’ve had two hearings on internet gambling in the House subcommittee, so we’re hoping to be at the next step. It would be nice if we could get it in this year, but if that doesn’t happen, it could happen early next year. It has to be voted through somewhere.”
Some internet poker proponents would like to see HR2366 attached to another bill and pushed through as legislation as was done with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. The UIGEA was a rider to a port security act and completely changed the internet poker industry in America overnight.
On the possibility of Barton’s bill being tacked on to another bill, Muny said, “Last year, Harry Reid’s (D-NV) proposal was for an online poker bill to be attached to something. That’s a feasible route and something that could happen to legislation down the road. It could also be passed as a freestanding bill. Those are the two ways for it to go through, but we’re pushing for it to go through in a markup.”
Most online poker players in the U.S. just want internet poker to be regulated as soon as possible, whether its through a supercommittee, a rider to another bill or Barton’s HR2366. To that end, progress is being made, albeit slowly.
“I think we moved the ball forward and are getting closer to making this bill a law,” Barton said. “I think the votes are there in the subcommittee, the whole committee and on the House floor.”
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Seven of the world’s top 10 online poker websites have shown a decrease in traffic during the past week, according to PokerScout.com.
Additionally, there has been an overall worldwide downturn in visitors to poker websites of 0.2% during the same seven-day period. Of course, that is a tiny decrease and will most certainly not be of major concern to the websites.
What will perturb websites is the year-on-year decrease in traffic, with a worrying slump of 29% recorded from this time in 2010.
Much of this drop can be credited to the uncertainty following the events of Black Friday in April, when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) closed down several big-name websites in the North American country.
The Cereus Network and Full Tilt Poker were hit hard by that DoJ decision and their absence from the market has definitely had a massive impact on the latest yearly figures.
But other sites not directly affected by that April bombshell have also seen their visitor figures collapse since last November and include the likes of the International Poker Network (IPN), which is down 34%, the Entraction Network (-43%) and EverestPoker.fr (-20%).
Many poker sites will be hoping that the slow increase in overall traffic recently will herald a poker boom next year, although, with the world economy in such a fragile state, it does seem rather hopeful.
However, the globe’s biggest real-money website PokerStars has, as usual, bucked the trend to show a gain of 2.5% in traffic during that week.
Many of PokerStars additional visitors will have been attracted to the site as they are in the middle of celebrating their 10th and have supplied some very attractive freerolls, as well as a $10 deposit bonus.
This week will also see a ring game leaderboard promotion start, which will undoubtedly see a further increase in traffic.
Also bucking the trend – if only modestly against yearly losses – were IPN with gains of 2.5%. With the site’s bad beat jackpot sitting at more than €550,000, it is likely that this upward trend will continue until the jackpot is won. Thereafter – who knows if that growth can be sustained?
Other notable gains over the past year were made by 888poker (up 78%) and Merge Gaming Network with sites like Carbon Poker, Lock Poker and PokerView (up 71%), while Action Poker Network showed a massively impressive boost of 195%, although they are a minor player in the market.
But there wasn’t such good news for PartyPoker, which has dropped down to third place in the rankings behind the iPoker Network following eight weeks at No.2 in the chart.
PartyPoker have witnessed a 4% decrease in visitors to their site – even with their World Domination promotion which sees players trying to collect 72 cities in a Monopoly-type game that earns competitors rewards – although they are still extremely close to iPoker in the chase to remain in second spot to the all-conquering PokerStars.
However, PartyPoker will be concerned that their World Domination promotion has failed to capture the interest of many customers, especially as it does not come to a conclusion until the year ends.
Meanwhile, Bodog has once again shown massively significant traffic figures with the latest year-on-year result being a 61% leap that takes the site up one spot into 12th place in the rankings. It’s only two weeks back that Bodog Poker was down in 15th, so this site is most definitely one to watch.
With iPoker.it dropping three places to 15th, International.it and PeoplesNetwork.it also moved up one spot each to 13th and 14th respectively, while losing two places to drop to 20th has seen Evert Poker (18th) and Svenska Spel (19th) overtake PartyPoker.fr (20th).
Additionally, there has been an overall worldwide downturn in visitors to poker websites of 0.2% during the same seven-day period. Of course, that is a tiny decrease and will most certainly not be of major concern to the websites.
What will perturb websites is the year-on-year decrease in traffic, with a worrying slump of 29% recorded from this time in 2010.
Much of this drop can be credited to the uncertainty following the events of Black Friday in April, when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) closed down several big-name websites in the North American country.
The Cereus Network and Full Tilt Poker were hit hard by that DoJ decision and their absence from the market has definitely had a massive impact on the latest yearly figures.
But other sites not directly affected by that April bombshell have also seen their visitor figures collapse since last November and include the likes of the International Poker Network (IPN), which is down 34%, the Entraction Network (-43%) and EverestPoker.fr (-20%).
Many poker sites will be hoping that the slow increase in overall traffic recently will herald a poker boom next year, although, with the world economy in such a fragile state, it does seem rather hopeful.
However, the globe’s biggest real-money website PokerStars has, as usual, bucked the trend to show a gain of 2.5% in traffic during that week.
Many of PokerStars additional visitors will have been attracted to the site as they are in the middle of celebrating their 10th and have supplied some very attractive freerolls, as well as a $10 deposit bonus.
This week will also see a ring game leaderboard promotion start, which will undoubtedly see a further increase in traffic.
Also bucking the trend – if only modestly against yearly losses – were IPN with gains of 2.5%. With the site’s bad beat jackpot sitting at more than €550,000, it is likely that this upward trend will continue until the jackpot is won. Thereafter – who knows if that growth can be sustained?
Other notable gains over the past year were made by 888poker (up 78%) and Merge Gaming Network with sites like Carbon Poker, Lock Poker and PokerView (up 71%), while Action Poker Network showed a massively impressive boost of 195%, although they are a minor player in the market.
But there wasn’t such good news for PartyPoker, which has dropped down to third place in the rankings behind the iPoker Network following eight weeks at No.2 in the chart.
PartyPoker have witnessed a 4% decrease in visitors to their site – even with their World Domination promotion which sees players trying to collect 72 cities in a Monopoly-type game that earns competitors rewards – although they are still extremely close to iPoker in the chase to remain in second spot to the all-conquering PokerStars.
However, PartyPoker will be concerned that their World Domination promotion has failed to capture the interest of many customers, especially as it does not come to a conclusion until the year ends.
Meanwhile, Bodog has once again shown massively significant traffic figures with the latest year-on-year result being a 61% leap that takes the site up one spot into 12th place in the rankings. It’s only two weeks back that Bodog Poker was down in 15th, so this site is most definitely one to watch.
With iPoker.it dropping three places to 15th, International.it and PeoplesNetwork.it also moved up one spot each to 13th and 14th respectively, while losing two places to drop to 20th has seen Evert Poker (18th) and Svenska Spel (19th) overtake PartyPoker.fr (20th).
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
BODOG is by no means a new brand to the European online gambling market, it is however a new UK licensee. They recently also closed their doors to players from the USA. While their move to get out of the US market may have come a little late for this brand to earn credibility as a possible licensee when the US marketplace becomes legal; they still have plans afoot to grow online in the EU. They also have a new Marketing Chief on-board and he is eager as all heck to make a big difference.
Dee Dutta is the new BODOG marketing big-wig, and he comes with a whole host of experience from Visa and Sony Ericsson. (Dutta will take on the role as Bodog Europe’s Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for marketing the world’s most popular gambling brand to the European market.) His European ambitions include; preparation to launch a new slew of online gambling services which is backed by a multi-million pound marketing budget. The aim of the game is to secure a larger slice of the highly lucrative UK online casino and sports betting pie. To accomplish this they want to attract both the eye and the trust of the British punter.
A new UK entity is on the cards for BODOG in the early New Year; they have already been granted 3 UK licenses – note; these are not offshore licenses. They are from the UK Gambling Commission. Horse racing is being added to the sports betting offering and will be available in just a few weeks, while the online casino is being updated with a live dealer product; a product which is proving to be increasingly popular these days.
This expansion is being overseen by a doubled up marketing team which has been expanded from 20 – 40 members, whom are to receive support from creative agencies. These agencies are currently in the vetting process. Dutta says ~ “The UK is the largest regulated market in the world today and we want to be part of that!”
Dee Dutta is the new BODOG marketing big-wig, and he comes with a whole host of experience from Visa and Sony Ericsson. (Dutta will take on the role as Bodog Europe’s Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for marketing the world’s most popular gambling brand to the European market.) His European ambitions include; preparation to launch a new slew of online gambling services which is backed by a multi-million pound marketing budget. The aim of the game is to secure a larger slice of the highly lucrative UK online casino and sports betting pie. To accomplish this they want to attract both the eye and the trust of the British punter.
A new UK entity is on the cards for BODOG in the early New Year; they have already been granted 3 UK licenses – note; these are not offshore licenses. They are from the UK Gambling Commission. Horse racing is being added to the sports betting offering and will be available in just a few weeks, while the online casino is being updated with a live dealer product; a product which is proving to be increasingly popular these days.
This expansion is being overseen by a doubled up marketing team which has been expanded from 20 – 40 members, whom are to receive support from creative agencies. These agencies are currently in the vetting process. Dutta says ~ “The UK is the largest regulated market in the world today and we want to be part of that!”
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Poker players who move from cash games to tournaments should learn to adjust their strategy, says the Main Event winner at the first Pittsburgh Open.
Remembering opponents' betting patterns, using "controlled aggression" and knowing when to expand the range of hands you play are ways to increase your chances of going deep in a tournament, says Main Event champ Wei Chang, 32, a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business.
Chang won $18,200 at this month's Pittsburgh Open at Rivers Casino. The six-day series of tournaments featured competitions in Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, Limit Hold 'Em and the No Limit Hold 'Em Main Event, which had a buy-in of $1,100.
Chang says players should have a feel for whether opponents might be tired or impatient, whether the payout level is near or has been reached, and how their chip stack compares with others at the table.
"After three or four hours, there are so many factors to consider when making a decision," he says.
Rivers Poker Manager Mike Chapman says the Open will become an annual event and might expand to 10 days in 2012. The opening tournament, a "triple chance" rebuy event, drew more than 80 players, while each of the others had about 50, he said.
The demand for poker remains high. Presque Isle Casino in Erie opened its nine-table room in October, offering $3 to $6 limit and $1 to $3 no-limit Hold 'Em, with pricier games when enough players show interest. Manager Christine Stacy says tournaments began this month.
Rivers has a 30-table poker room, and The Meadows Casino in Washington County has a 26-table room.
Televised broadcasts, especially the completion this month of the $10,000-per-seat Main Event at the World Series of Poker, stoke interest in tournaments.
For players switching to tournament games, the first thing to understand is price structure. The buy-in typically appears as three figures. A $100+$20+$15 tournament would have a total buy-in of $135, with $100 going to the prize pool, $20 to the casino and $15 for staffing, or "kind of a tip amount" for chip runners, cashiers and everyone else involved, explains Meadows poker manager Billy Takacs.
Sometimes, organizers add a fourth figure, a "dealer tip" that gives players additional chips.
Takacs says players should look for 70 percent to 75 percent of the total buy-in going to the prize pool. Some books advise holding out for 85 percent, but few tournaments meet that level, he says.
Entrants also should look at how many chips they start with and how frequently blind levels change. Blinds that rise quickly -- such as every 20 minutes -- force players to get lucky to stay in the tournament.
Blind levels of 45 to 60 minutes allow players more selectivity in the hands they play. At the World Series Main Event, each blind level lasts two hours.
"After the blinds go up, your chips get shallower and shallower, so you adjust your strategy," Chang says.
In a tournament's early stage, position is most important, he says. Players in late position decide whether to call, raise or fold after their opponents have acted.
"For the late stage, your chip stack is more important," Chang says.
To him, tournaments are "more dynamic" than cash games.
"You have a deep stack in the beginning, but your stack will shrink to 20 or 30 big blinds. At that point, you need to pay attention to the stack size."
Another difference is that cash games usually have a full table. When a tournament table has six or fewer competitors, smart players widen the range of hands they bet, he says.
Chang says "controlled aggression" is essential in poker. Raising pre-flop is aggressive, as is a "continuation bet" after the flop. If the opponent calls the continuation bet, think about what that might mean.
"You have to analyze your opponent and the cards on board," Chang says. "If you get resistance from your opponent, you need to look for analysis and control your aggression. Maybe he paired up or has a strong hand and is slow-playing you."
Chang says his favorite hand other than a big pocket pair is eight-10 suited.
"It's more deceptive," he explains. "It's not big cards, but sometimes it has a lot of equity in terms of the straight or the flush."
Poker room doings
Rivers poker room plans to start a league next year. Top finishers in daily tournaments will earn points toward free-roll tournaments every three months and at the end of the year.
Chris Moneymaker, winner of the 2003 Main Event at the World Series of Poker, will be at the Presque Isle poker room on Dec. 14-15. He'll play in a tournament and have a question-and-answer session.
The Meadows used up its $10,000 pool for payments to cash-game players with at least 40 hours of play this month. The promotion will return in December.
Money trail
Slot players lost $43 million at Pennsylvania's 10 casinos during the week that ended Nov. 20, the Gaming Control Board said. That's up from $40.1 million in the comparable week last year.
The state takes 55 percent of that "gross terminal revenue," or what's left after all jackpots are paid.
Statewide, slot machines have a 90.1 percent payout rate since the fiscal year started in July. For every $100 bet, the machines return $90.10. Payout rates at Western Pennsylvania casinos:
89.85 percent: Rivers; weekly revenue of $5.03 million, up from $4.29 million last year.
89.73 percent: The Meadows; weekly revenue of $4.35 million, down from $4.5 million last year.
90.47 percent: Presque Isle in Erie; weekly revenue of $2.77 million, down from $3 million last year.
Remembering opponents' betting patterns, using "controlled aggression" and knowing when to expand the range of hands you play are ways to increase your chances of going deep in a tournament, says Main Event champ Wei Chang, 32, a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business.
Chang won $18,200 at this month's Pittsburgh Open at Rivers Casino. The six-day series of tournaments featured competitions in Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, Limit Hold 'Em and the No Limit Hold 'Em Main Event, which had a buy-in of $1,100.
Chang says players should have a feel for whether opponents might be tired or impatient, whether the payout level is near or has been reached, and how their chip stack compares with others at the table.
"After three or four hours, there are so many factors to consider when making a decision," he says.
Rivers Poker Manager Mike Chapman says the Open will become an annual event and might expand to 10 days in 2012. The opening tournament, a "triple chance" rebuy event, drew more than 80 players, while each of the others had about 50, he said.
The demand for poker remains high. Presque Isle Casino in Erie opened its nine-table room in October, offering $3 to $6 limit and $1 to $3 no-limit Hold 'Em, with pricier games when enough players show interest. Manager Christine Stacy says tournaments began this month.
Rivers has a 30-table poker room, and The Meadows Casino in Washington County has a 26-table room.
Televised broadcasts, especially the completion this month of the $10,000-per-seat Main Event at the World Series of Poker, stoke interest in tournaments.
For players switching to tournament games, the first thing to understand is price structure. The buy-in typically appears as three figures. A $100+$20+$15 tournament would have a total buy-in of $135, with $100 going to the prize pool, $20 to the casino and $15 for staffing, or "kind of a tip amount" for chip runners, cashiers and everyone else involved, explains Meadows poker manager Billy Takacs.
Sometimes, organizers add a fourth figure, a "dealer tip" that gives players additional chips.
Takacs says players should look for 70 percent to 75 percent of the total buy-in going to the prize pool. Some books advise holding out for 85 percent, but few tournaments meet that level, he says.
Entrants also should look at how many chips they start with and how frequently blind levels change. Blinds that rise quickly -- such as every 20 minutes -- force players to get lucky to stay in the tournament.
Blind levels of 45 to 60 minutes allow players more selectivity in the hands they play. At the World Series Main Event, each blind level lasts two hours.
"After the blinds go up, your chips get shallower and shallower, so you adjust your strategy," Chang says.
In a tournament's early stage, position is most important, he says. Players in late position decide whether to call, raise or fold after their opponents have acted.
"For the late stage, your chip stack is more important," Chang says.
To him, tournaments are "more dynamic" than cash games.
"You have a deep stack in the beginning, but your stack will shrink to 20 or 30 big blinds. At that point, you need to pay attention to the stack size."
Another difference is that cash games usually have a full table. When a tournament table has six or fewer competitors, smart players widen the range of hands they bet, he says.
Chang says "controlled aggression" is essential in poker. Raising pre-flop is aggressive, as is a "continuation bet" after the flop. If the opponent calls the continuation bet, think about what that might mean.
"You have to analyze your opponent and the cards on board," Chang says. "If you get resistance from your opponent, you need to look for analysis and control your aggression. Maybe he paired up or has a strong hand and is slow-playing you."
Chang says his favorite hand other than a big pocket pair is eight-10 suited.
"It's more deceptive," he explains. "It's not big cards, but sometimes it has a lot of equity in terms of the straight or the flush."
Poker room doings
Rivers poker room plans to start a league next year. Top finishers in daily tournaments will earn points toward free-roll tournaments every three months and at the end of the year.
Chris Moneymaker, winner of the 2003 Main Event at the World Series of Poker, will be at the Presque Isle poker room on Dec. 14-15. He'll play in a tournament and have a question-and-answer session.
The Meadows used up its $10,000 pool for payments to cash-game players with at least 40 hours of play this month. The promotion will return in December.
Money trail
Slot players lost $43 million at Pennsylvania's 10 casinos during the week that ended Nov. 20, the Gaming Control Board said. That's up from $40.1 million in the comparable week last year.
The state takes 55 percent of that "gross terminal revenue," or what's left after all jackpots are paid.
Statewide, slot machines have a 90.1 percent payout rate since the fiscal year started in July. For every $100 bet, the machines return $90.10. Payout rates at Western Pennsylvania casinos:
89.85 percent: Rivers; weekly revenue of $5.03 million, up from $4.29 million last year.
89.73 percent: The Meadows; weekly revenue of $4.35 million, down from $4.5 million last year.
90.47 percent: Presque Isle in Erie; weekly revenue of $2.77 million, down from $3 million last year.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Sam Trickett jumped six places into the Global Poker Index (GPI) top 10 this week following his Partouche Poker Tour (PPT) main event victory that earned the Englishman €1million.
Sam Trickett has enjoyed a good year with his win in the Palm Beach Casino, Cannes, his third seven-figure success of the year to add to the AUD$1,400,000 he collected for finishing second in the AUD$250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament and the AUD$1,525,000 he secured for winning the AUD$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at January’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old now sits at seventh in the GPI top 300 on 2,121.17 points, with American Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla (1984.21) dropping out of the leading 10 to be placed 11th.
While Trickett broke the top 10 in dramatic fashion, the remaining top 10 places remained pretty stable, with another American, Erik Seidel, dropping a few points due to his $100,000 Super High Roller event win from the Five Star World Poker Classic dropping into Period 2.
However, Seidel stayed ahead of the gathering pack in first place on 2,560.94 points to ensure that Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier remains in second on 2,493.71. The gap is closing, but can the Frenchman return to the top spot any time soon?
The top five places on the GPI are completed by another American in Jason Mercier (third on 2,398.58), Ukraine’s Eugene Katchalov (fourth on 2,371.55) and Shawn Buchanan (fifth on 2,331.45), of Canada.
So there’s no change in the leading pack, but yet another States star, Sam Stein, gained one place to end the week in sixth spot on 2,178.26 points.
Of course, with Stein and Trickett gaining places, others had to drop down – and the losers were Canadian Sorel Mizzi (down two spots to eighth on 2,107.57 points), Frenchman Fabrice Soulier (down one to ninth on 2,018.48) and Matt Waxman (down one to 10th on 2,003.46), of the USA.
Just four players broke into the top 300 this week, with Stephane Benadiba’s 10th place at last week’s €3,000 buy-in main event at the Hold’em Series in Paris taking the Frenchman to 232nd on 1,137.74 points.
Youcef Benzerfa – another Frenchman – also made a dramatic entrance to the top 300 by coming in at 241st with 1,121.65 points, while American Kyle Loman (1,019.63) and Belgian Kevin Vandersmissen (1,019.20) fill the 299th and 300th spots respectively.
That means four players dropped out of the rankings. Eric Baldwin’s drop was particularly sensational as the American had been sitting at 228th last week. However, his massive drop came as a result of his first place at last November’s North American Poker Tour (NAPT) LA Bounty Shootout moving into Period 3.
Also falling out of the top 300 were Ruben Visser, of the Netherlands, Irishman John O’Shea and American Kenny Hicks.
Cary Katz recorded the biggest leap up the rankings by moving from 299th to 210th on 1,164.35 points.
While the American has not been able to record any impressive results lately, he did have some spare to be added to his Period 1 account. Katz does, in fact, have just one result included in Period 2 and that was his fourth place from May’s $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament at the Five Star World Poker Classic.
Other big movers included American Justin Bonomo, who gained 67 spots to sit at 134th on 1,326.03 points, while Ukrainian Oleksii Kovalchuk leapt 50 spots to hold the 148th place on 1,289.78.
Additionally, Marc Inizan (1,311.59) continued his upwards momentum to gain 40 places for 139th after last week moving 102 spots, Ilan Boujenah (1,291.24) jumped 35 places to 147th, Salman Behbehani (1,733.56) moved from 58th to 36th, Dan Buzgon (1,136.62) sits at 233rd after gaining 17 places, Allen Kessler (1,575.77) added 14 spots for 63rd, Paul Berende (1,080.54) climbed from 269th to 259th, ad Mustaphha Kanit (1,476.71) added nine places to claim 91st.
This week’s biggest dropper was American Bernard Lee (1,101.10), who lost 68 spots to be placed at 252nd. The New Yorker’s fifth place at last November’s Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) main event in Soaring Eagle dropped from Period 2 into Period 3, so ensuring his big drop.
Other notable fallers included Dominik Nitsche (1,241.16), who lost 53 places to now sit at 178th, Maria Ho (down 39 to 222nd on 1,152.47 points), Men Nguyen (down 35 to 288th on 1,042.09), Marvin Rettenmaier (down 27 to 87th on 1,495.76), Per Linde (down 23 to 174th on 1,248.26), Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi (down 22 to 48th on 1,682.43), David Williams (down 21 to 119th on 1,365.66), Matt Jarvis (down 19 to 278th on 1,058.90), and Jean Thorel (down 18 to 226th on 1,147.45).
Next week should see former dealer Juha Helppi drop further down the rankings from his current 29th place.
The Finn’s runner-up spot at the €10,000 buy-in High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona last November will fall into Period 3, although he does still hold two more six-figure scores within Period 2.
Sweden’s Kent Lundmark – who is at 164th this week – will also see his ranking hit hard next week as his victory from the EPT Barcelona main event will also drop into Period 3.
Having collected $1,127,604 from that success, the Scandinavian does not hold a single six-figure cash. While he does have some five-figure results, it is the loss of the Barcelona triumph that will see him drop down dramatically – maybe even as many as 100 spots.
The top 10 in the GPI 300:
1. Erik Seidel (USA) – 2560.94
2. Bertrand Grospellier (France) – 2493.71
3. Jason Mercier (USA) – 2398.58
4. Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) – 2371.55
5. Shawn Buchanan (Canada) – 2331.45
6. Samuel Stein (USA) – 2178.26
7. Sam Trickett (UK) – 2121.17
8. Sorel Mizzi (Canada) – 2107.57
9. Fabrice Soulier (France) – 2018.48
10. Matt Waxman (USA) – 2003.46
Sam Trickett has enjoyed a good year with his win in the Palm Beach Casino, Cannes, his third seven-figure success of the year to add to the AUD$1,400,000 he collected for finishing second in the AUD$250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament and the AUD$1,525,000 he secured for winning the AUD$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at January’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old now sits at seventh in the GPI top 300 on 2,121.17 points, with American Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla (1984.21) dropping out of the leading 10 to be placed 11th.
While Trickett broke the top 10 in dramatic fashion, the remaining top 10 places remained pretty stable, with another American, Erik Seidel, dropping a few points due to his $100,000 Super High Roller event win from the Five Star World Poker Classic dropping into Period 2.
However, Seidel stayed ahead of the gathering pack in first place on 2,560.94 points to ensure that Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier remains in second on 2,493.71. The gap is closing, but can the Frenchman return to the top spot any time soon?
The top five places on the GPI are completed by another American in Jason Mercier (third on 2,398.58), Ukraine’s Eugene Katchalov (fourth on 2,371.55) and Shawn Buchanan (fifth on 2,331.45), of Canada.
So there’s no change in the leading pack, but yet another States star, Sam Stein, gained one place to end the week in sixth spot on 2,178.26 points.
Of course, with Stein and Trickett gaining places, others had to drop down – and the losers were Canadian Sorel Mizzi (down two spots to eighth on 2,107.57 points), Frenchman Fabrice Soulier (down one to ninth on 2,018.48) and Matt Waxman (down one to 10th on 2,003.46), of the USA.
Just four players broke into the top 300 this week, with Stephane Benadiba’s 10th place at last week’s €3,000 buy-in main event at the Hold’em Series in Paris taking the Frenchman to 232nd on 1,137.74 points.
Youcef Benzerfa – another Frenchman – also made a dramatic entrance to the top 300 by coming in at 241st with 1,121.65 points, while American Kyle Loman (1,019.63) and Belgian Kevin Vandersmissen (1,019.20) fill the 299th and 300th spots respectively.
That means four players dropped out of the rankings. Eric Baldwin’s drop was particularly sensational as the American had been sitting at 228th last week. However, his massive drop came as a result of his first place at last November’s North American Poker Tour (NAPT) LA Bounty Shootout moving into Period 3.
Also falling out of the top 300 were Ruben Visser, of the Netherlands, Irishman John O’Shea and American Kenny Hicks.
Cary Katz recorded the biggest leap up the rankings by moving from 299th to 210th on 1,164.35 points.
While the American has not been able to record any impressive results lately, he did have some spare to be added to his Period 1 account. Katz does, in fact, have just one result included in Period 2 and that was his fourth place from May’s $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament at the Five Star World Poker Classic.
Other big movers included American Justin Bonomo, who gained 67 spots to sit at 134th on 1,326.03 points, while Ukrainian Oleksii Kovalchuk leapt 50 spots to hold the 148th place on 1,289.78.
Additionally, Marc Inizan (1,311.59) continued his upwards momentum to gain 40 places for 139th after last week moving 102 spots, Ilan Boujenah (1,291.24) jumped 35 places to 147th, Salman Behbehani (1,733.56) moved from 58th to 36th, Dan Buzgon (1,136.62) sits at 233rd after gaining 17 places, Allen Kessler (1,575.77) added 14 spots for 63rd, Paul Berende (1,080.54) climbed from 269th to 259th, ad Mustaphha Kanit (1,476.71) added nine places to claim 91st.
This week’s biggest dropper was American Bernard Lee (1,101.10), who lost 68 spots to be placed at 252nd. The New Yorker’s fifth place at last November’s Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) main event in Soaring Eagle dropped from Period 2 into Period 3, so ensuring his big drop.
Other notable fallers included Dominik Nitsche (1,241.16), who lost 53 places to now sit at 178th, Maria Ho (down 39 to 222nd on 1,152.47 points), Men Nguyen (down 35 to 288th on 1,042.09), Marvin Rettenmaier (down 27 to 87th on 1,495.76), Per Linde (down 23 to 174th on 1,248.26), Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi (down 22 to 48th on 1,682.43), David Williams (down 21 to 119th on 1,365.66), Matt Jarvis (down 19 to 278th on 1,058.90), and Jean Thorel (down 18 to 226th on 1,147.45).
Next week should see former dealer Juha Helppi drop further down the rankings from his current 29th place.
The Finn’s runner-up spot at the €10,000 buy-in High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em tournament in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona last November will fall into Period 3, although he does still hold two more six-figure scores within Period 2.
Sweden’s Kent Lundmark – who is at 164th this week – will also see his ranking hit hard next week as his victory from the EPT Barcelona main event will also drop into Period 3.
Having collected $1,127,604 from that success, the Scandinavian does not hold a single six-figure cash. While he does have some five-figure results, it is the loss of the Barcelona triumph that will see him drop down dramatically – maybe even as many as 100 spots.
The top 10 in the GPI 300:
1. Erik Seidel (USA) – 2560.94
2. Bertrand Grospellier (France) – 2493.71
3. Jason Mercier (USA) – 2398.58
4. Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) – 2371.55
5. Shawn Buchanan (Canada) – 2331.45
6. Samuel Stein (USA) – 2178.26
7. Sam Trickett (UK) – 2121.17
8. Sorel Mizzi (Canada) – 2107.57
9. Fabrice Soulier (France) – 2018.48
10. Matt Waxman (USA) – 2003.46
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2006/12/07
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Canadian-poker reports that troubled online poker site Full Tilt Poker has finally come to an agreement with French investor Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT). The conclusion of this highly anticipated negotiation, in which GBT will pay $80 million to acquire Full Tilt Poker and assume the company’s debt toward players in Canada, is the first concrete step toward former fans of the site being repaid. Lawyers estimate that Canadians are still waiting for $10-15 million from Full Tilt, and that thousands of players have been affected by Full Tilt’s retreat from the Canadian market.
“I had hoped online poker companies like 888 Poker and Party Poker would be the ones to eventually buy Full Tilt Poker,” said Leon Daniels, Canadian-poker spokesperson. “These companies could have gained a huge share of the Canadian market by doing so. On the other hand, these companies are publicly traded, 100% legal establishments. They couldn’t risk entangling themselves with Full Tilt’s legal issues. In fact, their decision not to get involved may prove to have been right – both 888 and Bwin.Party are more popular than ever in Canada since the events of April 15, when Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and other online poker rooms were shut down.“
888 Poker, a steadfast and reputable online poker provider for Canadians, seems to have known all along what it could achieve without acquiring Full Tilt’s resources. “Readers love 888,” Daniels said. “This company worked hard to satisfy players long before Black Friday but now, following April 15 events, they finally had a chance to prove it, and now 888 is our readers’ top choice.”
Party Poker has also maintained prestige in Canada thanks to their highly respected, publically traded parent company responsible for their operation. “Canadians will not be fooled again with big names and massive ad campaigns. They are now looking carefully at the operation behind their chosen online poker room, and chose to play on poker rooms run by public companies,” concludes Daniels.
“I had hoped online poker companies like 888 Poker and Party Poker would be the ones to eventually buy Full Tilt Poker,” said Leon Daniels, Canadian-poker spokesperson. “These companies could have gained a huge share of the Canadian market by doing so. On the other hand, these companies are publicly traded, 100% legal establishments. They couldn’t risk entangling themselves with Full Tilt’s legal issues. In fact, their decision not to get involved may prove to have been right – both 888 and Bwin.Party are more popular than ever in Canada since the events of April 15, when Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and other online poker rooms were shut down.“
888 Poker, a steadfast and reputable online poker provider for Canadians, seems to have known all along what it could achieve without acquiring Full Tilt’s resources. “Readers love 888,” Daniels said. “This company worked hard to satisfy players long before Black Friday but now, following April 15 events, they finally had a chance to prove it, and now 888 is our readers’ top choice.”
Party Poker has also maintained prestige in Canada thanks to their highly respected, publically traded parent company responsible for their operation. “Canadians will not be fooled again with big names and massive ad campaigns. They are now looking carefully at the operation behind their chosen online poker room, and chose to play on poker rooms run by public companies,” concludes Daniels.
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2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
If you’re a fan of discounts, then you’ll love the offer being put forth by Advanced Poker Training. This unique poker training site that allows you to practice online poker against skilled bots is offering a steep discount for PokerSoftware readers. Normally, six-month memberships to Advanced Poker Training run $99.97. But from now until December 2nd, Advanced Poker Training is offering PokerSoftware users a six-month membership for just $49.97. Just use the code POKERSOFTWARE when you sign up.
That’s right – you’ll get a 50% discount just for signing up for Advanced Poker Training using the code POKERSOFTWARE. That works out to less than $9 per month for some of the top poker training on the planet. However, you must sign up no later than December 2nd to take advantage of it. After that, it’ll be gone forever.
Our review of Advanced Poker Training explains why this Recommended Program is one of our favorites: “This poker training site is a lot different than what you might be used to. Instead of sitting back and watching videos, Advanced Poker Training has an interactive training method that runs you through various hands and situations, all the while keeping tabs on your play. When you are done, you’ll receive a score showing how you fared.”
Advanced Poker Training’s bots are unique in that they’ll actually adjust to your playing style. Moreover, you’ll receive scores for your overall session, pre-flop play, flop play, turn play, river play, c-betting, and more. Text found on Advanced Poker Training’s website details, “We take a lot of things into account and we provide this rating to our members for every session they play, both overall and on each street. We also provide many other statistics that can help you pinpoint the precise areas of your game where you can improve the most.”
You can play in a wide variety of simulations, culminating in KGB’s Dungeon, which showcases the simulation software’s toughest opponents. Unregistered players and free members can only play at the beginning level. To play higher levels with higher quality opponents, you must be a full member. And remember, you can get a six-month license for less than $50 by using the code POKERSOFTWARE at checkout.
When you play, Advanced Poker Training’s software will allow you to view a basic profile of your opponent, which is helpful since it’s similar to how you might classify your tablemates in a real poker game. In-game options include the ability to select your advisor, select your hand types, select your position, peek at your opponents’ hole cards, save hands from a session, receive advice, and save stats from a session.
In April, Advanced Poker Training one-upped itself by introducing a six-max simulator. Short-handed play is one of the most important aspects of poker, especially in the latter stages of tournaments. In addition, six-max cash games are the hunting ground of poker’s top players, so you’ll want to come armed to the felts with all of the insight you possibly can. Advanced Poker Training can make that possible.
Regular memberships to Advanced Poker Training run $19.97, but you can get a six-month license for just two-and-a-half times that amount by using the code POKERSOFTWARE when you create an account. It’s an important tool to use in conjunction with traditional poker coaching or, if you can’t afford to hire an instructor, Advanced Poker Training can help steer you in the right direction.
That’s right – you’ll get a 50% discount just for signing up for Advanced Poker Training using the code POKERSOFTWARE. That works out to less than $9 per month for some of the top poker training on the planet. However, you must sign up no later than December 2nd to take advantage of it. After that, it’ll be gone forever.
Our review of Advanced Poker Training explains why this Recommended Program is one of our favorites: “This poker training site is a lot different than what you might be used to. Instead of sitting back and watching videos, Advanced Poker Training has an interactive training method that runs you through various hands and situations, all the while keeping tabs on your play. When you are done, you’ll receive a score showing how you fared.”
Advanced Poker Training’s bots are unique in that they’ll actually adjust to your playing style. Moreover, you’ll receive scores for your overall session, pre-flop play, flop play, turn play, river play, c-betting, and more. Text found on Advanced Poker Training’s website details, “We take a lot of things into account and we provide this rating to our members for every session they play, both overall and on each street. We also provide many other statistics that can help you pinpoint the precise areas of your game where you can improve the most.”
You can play in a wide variety of simulations, culminating in KGB’s Dungeon, which showcases the simulation software’s toughest opponents. Unregistered players and free members can only play at the beginning level. To play higher levels with higher quality opponents, you must be a full member. And remember, you can get a six-month license for less than $50 by using the code POKERSOFTWARE at checkout.
When you play, Advanced Poker Training’s software will allow you to view a basic profile of your opponent, which is helpful since it’s similar to how you might classify your tablemates in a real poker game. In-game options include the ability to select your advisor, select your hand types, select your position, peek at your opponents’ hole cards, save hands from a session, receive advice, and save stats from a session.
In April, Advanced Poker Training one-upped itself by introducing a six-max simulator. Short-handed play is one of the most important aspects of poker, especially in the latter stages of tournaments. In addition, six-max cash games are the hunting ground of poker’s top players, so you’ll want to come armed to the felts with all of the insight you possibly can. Advanced Poker Training can make that possible.
Regular memberships to Advanced Poker Training run $19.97, but you can get a six-month license for just two-and-a-half times that amount by using the code POKERSOFTWARE when you create an account. It’s an important tool to use in conjunction with traditional poker coaching or, if you can’t afford to hire an instructor, Advanced Poker Training can help steer you in the right direction.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
After seven months of absence in live poker tournaments, the best poker player Phil Ivey is back. Indeed, after his disappearance on gaming tables since the Black Friday in the month of April, the Tiger Woods of poker was back in Macau to compete for the title of the tournament Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). The start of the main event of the tournament was held on November 23, 2011 and 269 players took part in the Day 1A. Since the beginning of the game, the rumor in the poker room of the Casino Grand Lisboa already said that Phil Ivey will attend the event. And the prodigious poker player effectively entered in the room during the level 2, which created a big excitement as well as on players as on the public.
According to this first day, Phil Ivey didn't lost his talent for the game because at the end of the first qualifying day, he managed to rank 5th with 95,000 chips in hand. As a reminder, the last tournament I which Phil Ivey participated was the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship. Since that, he only appeared in cash game tournaments that take place in casinos of Macao. With this comeback, the poker community hopes to see him regularly in major events. Note that top players like Johnny Chan, Sam Trickett and Tom Dwan were also part of the starting field of the main event. The place of chipleader was occupied by Shih-Chieh Su holder of 171,800 chips.
According to this first day, Phil Ivey didn't lost his talent for the game because at the end of the first qualifying day, he managed to rank 5th with 95,000 chips in hand. As a reminder, the last tournament I which Phil Ivey participated was the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship. Since that, he only appeared in cash game tournaments that take place in casinos of Macao. With this comeback, the poker community hopes to see him regularly in major events. Note that top players like Johnny Chan, Sam Trickett and Tom Dwan were also part of the starting field of the main event. The place of chipleader was occupied by Shih-Chieh Su holder of 171,800 chips.
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2006/12/07
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29893
A Newport News man scored his own Black Friday deal when he won $100,000 on a $20 poker bet at a New Jersey casino.
Seventy-two-year-old Richard Wood got the payout when he won the "Three Card Poker 6 Card" bonus jackpot at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.
Wood, a frequent visitor to Atlantic City, won the money by getting a royal flush in hearts around 3:50 p.m. Friday. He didn't realize his good fortune at first, then said he "almost had a heart attack" when casino staffers told him what had happened.
The promotion offers gamblers various cash prizes if they draw a royal flush. The payouts they receive depend on the amount they bet and whether their royal flush occurs in diamonds, hearts, spades or clubs.
Seventy-two-year-old Richard Wood got the payout when he won the "Three Card Poker 6 Card" bonus jackpot at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.
Wood, a frequent visitor to Atlantic City, won the money by getting a royal flush in hearts around 3:50 p.m. Friday. He didn't realize his good fortune at first, then said he "almost had a heart attack" when casino staffers told him what had happened.
The promotion offers gamblers various cash prizes if they draw a royal flush. The payouts they receive depend on the amount they bet and whether their royal flush occurs in diamonds, hearts, spades or clubs.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
It’s an honour to represent your country and one of my regrets is that more than once in the past, I have done so with a hangover that would kill two small villages. I decided a few years ago that that wouldn’t happen again and if Ireland ever appoints a decent captain that can be guaranteed by not picking me. But as a nation we’re not that clever yet. Thank you God.
The hospitality extended by the IFP was unbelievable which makes the way they were subsequently treated by some of the players even more embarrassing than it was – if that’s possible. The Park Plaza hotel was great and I nearly cracked up a few days into the weekend when the charming lady who was sorting out all the rooms asked if it met with my approval.
She’d obviously never seen a picture of the El Cortez, struggled through the glue they called a carpet in the Plaza, or dared to look under the bed in Binions. The night before the duplicate event, the craic in the bar was great. Amazingly, the poker players were pretty sober (let’s just assume Andy Black isn’t a poker player) whilst a bunch of suits who were attending some function or other were absolutely slaughtered and behaving in a manner that would have made a lap dancer blush. Changed times! Barny Boatman forgot he was the captain of the English team and joined the Irish contingent. I was surprised to see Barny’s team drinking beer as most of them didn’t look old enough to be served a milkshake. When asked why he’d picked such a young team Barny explained that the London Eye (in which day 1 of the tournament was to be played, believe it or not) was rather expensive and that none of the English kids had been up in it, so the selection was a nobrainer. We felt a little envious as not so much thought had been put into selecting the Irish team.
The next day I had to put on a suit and attend the IFP congress with Derek Kelly. I was under instructions to shake hands with the Chinese, bow to the Japanese and tell the English to fxxx off but unfortunately, I got a bit confused. I hope nobody’s too upset. The whole thing was hilarious. The highlight was when Brazilian geezer started off by apologising for his poor English and waffled for about 40 minutes that seemed like a month and a half. Halfway through I mentioned to Derek that I was considering standing up at some stage, announcing that English wasn’t my first language either before asking that if it was proved that poker was a game of skill could we still tell bad beat stories. He didn’t think that would be a great idea. He was probably right.
Then came the London Eye bit where 11 countries that I’ve heard of and a country called Zynga set about playing duplicate poker to demonstrate that poker is a game of skill. They may not have accomplished that on the night but they proved irrefutably that turning on the heat in a pod on the Eye and finding your seat in a tournament are both highly skillful manoeuvres, the difficulty of which is underestimated. For example the real nice guy from Zynga seated on my right swore his name was Geoff though he was listed as Jennifer.
We called him Jennifer for 4 days anyway. There was great excitement later on when the qualifiers for the following days final were announced, especially from the Spanish team. They went out on the town to celebrate. A while later it was announced that the scores were a little inaccurate so we’d have to do it all again in the morning. The Irish were particularly amused at the thought of the surprise in store for the Spanish when they poured themselves back to the hotel. Personally I think that that was particularly childish though in the interests of team spirit I refrained from saying so at the time.
The next morning’s captains meeting was a great laugh if you like that kind of thing. As we were to replay the first round in the County Hall rather than in the Eye, I helpfully suggested they turn off the heating and open the windows to recreate the ambience of the evening before. My suggestion was ignored and I decided that if that was their attitude, I would stop helping them out. I bet they were sorry about that.
Then everything went assways. So far it’d been fun and everyone seemed to accept that such a marvellously ambitious project might be subject to the odd hiccup. So what? It was history in the making. Then the inexplicable and unforgivable happened. When play recommenced, all six players at one table agreed to flip blind for 100 BBs (the max) in the first hand.
The play money guy from that place Zynga won which was kinda fair because he was the guy that was getting huge +ev. The others were showing total contempt for their team-mates, those who’d have been proud to play for their country, the organisers and sponsors who’d treated us like kings and the game of poker. In my opinion all six teams involved (including Ireland) should have been thrown out of the tournament and sent to bed with no supper. I was talking to Mr Greenstein about it the next day. He said “At least you only had to travel from Ireland for that nonsense”. I gather he wasn’t pleased!
The hospitality extended by the IFP was unbelievable which makes the way they were subsequently treated by some of the players even more embarrassing than it was – if that’s possible. The Park Plaza hotel was great and I nearly cracked up a few days into the weekend when the charming lady who was sorting out all the rooms asked if it met with my approval.
She’d obviously never seen a picture of the El Cortez, struggled through the glue they called a carpet in the Plaza, or dared to look under the bed in Binions. The night before the duplicate event, the craic in the bar was great. Amazingly, the poker players were pretty sober (let’s just assume Andy Black isn’t a poker player) whilst a bunch of suits who were attending some function or other were absolutely slaughtered and behaving in a manner that would have made a lap dancer blush. Changed times! Barny Boatman forgot he was the captain of the English team and joined the Irish contingent. I was surprised to see Barny’s team drinking beer as most of them didn’t look old enough to be served a milkshake. When asked why he’d picked such a young team Barny explained that the London Eye (in which day 1 of the tournament was to be played, believe it or not) was rather expensive and that none of the English kids had been up in it, so the selection was a nobrainer. We felt a little envious as not so much thought had been put into selecting the Irish team.
The next day I had to put on a suit and attend the IFP congress with Derek Kelly. I was under instructions to shake hands with the Chinese, bow to the Japanese and tell the English to fxxx off but unfortunately, I got a bit confused. I hope nobody’s too upset. The whole thing was hilarious. The highlight was when Brazilian geezer started off by apologising for his poor English and waffled for about 40 minutes that seemed like a month and a half. Halfway through I mentioned to Derek that I was considering standing up at some stage, announcing that English wasn’t my first language either before asking that if it was proved that poker was a game of skill could we still tell bad beat stories. He didn’t think that would be a great idea. He was probably right.
Then came the London Eye bit where 11 countries that I’ve heard of and a country called Zynga set about playing duplicate poker to demonstrate that poker is a game of skill. They may not have accomplished that on the night but they proved irrefutably that turning on the heat in a pod on the Eye and finding your seat in a tournament are both highly skillful manoeuvres, the difficulty of which is underestimated. For example the real nice guy from Zynga seated on my right swore his name was Geoff though he was listed as Jennifer.
We called him Jennifer for 4 days anyway. There was great excitement later on when the qualifiers for the following days final were announced, especially from the Spanish team. They went out on the town to celebrate. A while later it was announced that the scores were a little inaccurate so we’d have to do it all again in the morning. The Irish were particularly amused at the thought of the surprise in store for the Spanish when they poured themselves back to the hotel. Personally I think that that was particularly childish though in the interests of team spirit I refrained from saying so at the time.
The next morning’s captains meeting was a great laugh if you like that kind of thing. As we were to replay the first round in the County Hall rather than in the Eye, I helpfully suggested they turn off the heating and open the windows to recreate the ambience of the evening before. My suggestion was ignored and I decided that if that was their attitude, I would stop helping them out. I bet they were sorry about that.
Then everything went assways. So far it’d been fun and everyone seemed to accept that such a marvellously ambitious project might be subject to the odd hiccup. So what? It was history in the making. Then the inexplicable and unforgivable happened. When play recommenced, all six players at one table agreed to flip blind for 100 BBs (the max) in the first hand.
The play money guy from that place Zynga won which was kinda fair because he was the guy that was getting huge +ev. The others were showing total contempt for their team-mates, those who’d have been proud to play for their country, the organisers and sponsors who’d treated us like kings and the game of poker. In my opinion all six teams involved (including Ireland) should have been thrown out of the tournament and sent to bed with no supper. I was talking to Mr Greenstein about it the next day. He said “At least you only had to travel from Ireland for that nonsense”. I gather he wasn’t pleased!
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The question pops up frequently, especially since playing cards is a component of ESPN programming: Is poker a game or a sport?
The definition of sports competition implies physical dexterity, which would exclude poker players. Yet, the combination of skill, strategy, competitive spirit, and cerebral input it takes to play the game successfully just may place poker in a sporting category all its own.
Surely there are qualities about tournament poker that are unlike any competition in which you can be involved. The object is to eliminate and win. It's an endeavor that engages participants mentally and physically, when you take into account marathon playing sessions over the course of a number of days, even weeks.
The famous quote widely attributed to NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing", may be one quality that separates poker from traditional sports.
Ultimately, winning a poker tournament is the only thing, but along the way there has to be some losing to set the stage for the outcome.
Every hand that makes up a poker game or a tournament is a competition all its own with a beginning and an end. There are winners and there are losers.
It's the combination of those decisions which determine the ultimate decision, but because there are so many strategic layers involved in getting there, the correlation of poker to sports gets complicated.
The mechanics of the game create the tempo for the playing experience. The subtleties which revolve around timing and decision making are what give it life as a sport.
In tournament poker, just as in team or individual sports competition, success seems to feed on success, or better yet, a position of strength.
The bigger stacks of chips, the more daring you can be and the more gambles you can take. The damage created by mistakes is minimized by the cushion you enjoy over your opponents.
Conservative play, or playing with "scared stakes", dilutes the disciplined, tactical behavior that is required to succeed consistently under tournament conditions. One mistake can spell defeat.
Failure in poker feeds on impulsiveness and desperation. When you are compelled to gamble big on one hand to get back in the game, hoping that luck will be on your side instead of relying on skill and strategy, you set yourself up for defeat.
The general consensus of opinion among poker experts is that the biggest mistake players make is playing too many hands.
Waiting for the opportune moments and then striking while the iron is hot gives credence to the genuine philosophy behind winning poker: Patience ... plus some nerves of steel!
The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach him at [email][email protected][/email]. John Brokopp's Beat the Odds tips air Sundays at 8:20 a.m., 2:50 p.m. and 10:42 p.m. on WBBM Newsradio 780.
The definition of sports competition implies physical dexterity, which would exclude poker players. Yet, the combination of skill, strategy, competitive spirit, and cerebral input it takes to play the game successfully just may place poker in a sporting category all its own.
Surely there are qualities about tournament poker that are unlike any competition in which you can be involved. The object is to eliminate and win. It's an endeavor that engages participants mentally and physically, when you take into account marathon playing sessions over the course of a number of days, even weeks.
The famous quote widely attributed to NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing", may be one quality that separates poker from traditional sports.
Ultimately, winning a poker tournament is the only thing, but along the way there has to be some losing to set the stage for the outcome.
Every hand that makes up a poker game or a tournament is a competition all its own with a beginning and an end. There are winners and there are losers.
It's the combination of those decisions which determine the ultimate decision, but because there are so many strategic layers involved in getting there, the correlation of poker to sports gets complicated.
The mechanics of the game create the tempo for the playing experience. The subtleties which revolve around timing and decision making are what give it life as a sport.
In tournament poker, just as in team or individual sports competition, success seems to feed on success, or better yet, a position of strength.
The bigger stacks of chips, the more daring you can be and the more gambles you can take. The damage created by mistakes is minimized by the cushion you enjoy over your opponents.
Conservative play, or playing with "scared stakes", dilutes the disciplined, tactical behavior that is required to succeed consistently under tournament conditions. One mistake can spell defeat.
Failure in poker feeds on impulsiveness and desperation. When you are compelled to gamble big on one hand to get back in the game, hoping that luck will be on your side instead of relying on skill and strategy, you set yourself up for defeat.
The general consensus of opinion among poker experts is that the biggest mistake players make is playing too many hands.
Waiting for the opportune moments and then striking while the iron is hot gives credence to the genuine philosophy behind winning poker: Patience ... plus some nerves of steel!
The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach him at [email][email protected][/email]. John Brokopp's Beat the Odds tips air Sundays at 8:20 a.m., 2:50 p.m. and 10:42 p.m. on WBBM Newsradio 780.
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2006/12/07
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The Boylepoker.com International Poker Open has been won in Dublin by Dutchman Luke Martens who lifted €51,350 for his victory over local player Paul Purcell.
A total of 1,388 players took part in the IPO at the Regency Hotel, Dublin in late October and the final eight reconvened at Ken Doherty’s Snooker Academy in the city to play down to a winner yesterday.
The final table payouts were:
1: Luke Martens — €51,350
2: Paul Purcell — €36,100
3: Rory Brown — €25,000
4: Guy Webster — €20,130
5: Laurent Galaup — €15,405
6: Rik Snoeijink — €12,840
7: Mark O’Connor — €10,270
8: Daniel Watson — €7,700
Last year the event attracted 1,293 players and was won by John Gray.
A total of 1,388 players took part in the IPO at the Regency Hotel, Dublin in late October and the final eight reconvened at Ken Doherty’s Snooker Academy in the city to play down to a winner yesterday.
The final table payouts were:
1: Luke Martens — €51,350
2: Paul Purcell — €36,100
3: Rory Brown — €25,000
4: Guy Webster — €20,130
5: Laurent Galaup — €15,405
6: Rik Snoeijink — €12,840
7: Mark O’Connor — €10,270
8: Daniel Watson — €7,700
Last year the event attracted 1,293 players and was won by John Gray.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
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The eight-time bracelet winner has been off the poker radar since April 15’s indictments against operators of the major offshore poker companies. In May he decided to sit out the entire 2011 World Series of Poker in response to the specific allegations against Full Tilt Poker.
He also filed suit against his former employer, citing disappointment and embarrassment that players were not paid their account balances. Ivey was also seeking more than $150 million for “injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages.”
The company soon fired back at the superstar, stating that he was only trying to help himself and he had declined to pay back a large sum owed to the site.
He later withdrew his lawsuit when rumors began circulating in June that European investors were seeking to purchase the site.
Major news outlets reported last week that a French firm reached a deal with the Justice Department to acquire the company if it is able to settle its civil case. Authorities will not confirm statements from Groupe Bernard Tapie’s attorney.
Full Tilt Poker owes about $150 million to U.S. players and about the same to its foreign base, after allegedly becoming insolvent in the operation of a Ponzi scheme.
In September, Manhattan’s U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara accused Full Tilt Poker’s board members Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst of working with CEO Ray Bitar to defraud poker players out of more than $440 million over a four-year period.
Ivey’s name has never appeared in a Justice Department filing and has not been accused of a crime.