Poker forum archive

I think you need to post more!

How2guyak you have only 3 posts (Try after 30 - 40 then we can talk)

At first, the idea of a poker tournament at the Durango Community Recreation Center in Durango, Colorado doesn't sound especially strange, until you learned that it featured 30 players all in the crystal blue waters of the facility's swimming pool, playing in the first-ever underwater Kraken poker tournament, a new addition to the town's Snowdown winter festival. The game was played with the players lying on their stomachs around a table resting on the bottom of the pool and instead of chips, players got seashells.

The fact that the game was played understate wasn't the only way that the tournament was different: cheating was encouraged on the part of participants and a pair of swimmers who acted as the titular Kraken played pranks on players and the dealers alike, at one point stealing a bucket of shells and distributing them among the players.

Organizer Kim Tucker (and co-owner of Splash Down Diving Adventures in Durango) was pleased with the event's success, noting that even at 9 a.m., participants showed up.

"When everybody’s hung over, coming in to dive isn’t probably their favorite thing to do, but this is when I get the pool," she said. "I’ve got to take pool when I can get pool."

You don't have to get wet or wear a bathing suit to play poker online at Bodog, but you can if you want. We won't tell.

The Borgata Winter Open wound down late last week and we should take a look at that underappreciated event's wrap-up, shouldn't we? The open championship event ran from Sunday, January 30th through Friday, February 4th and featured a $3,300 buy-in and $200 entry fee. The winnter was Ukranian-born Vadim Shlez, who now calls Brooklyn home. He earned $533,210 for his first-place finish after he knocked out LJ Sande in heads-up action.

"I don't know how I'm talking right now, I'm kind of speechless," Shlez told the Borgata Blog in the moments after his win. "It means a lot, but I don't know what it means yet because it hasn't sunk in yet."

Shlez's final table play was the stuff of legends: at one point he was down to just 11 big blinds but he managed a miraculous comeback that started with a pair of pocket kings that managed to gather an all-in call by third-place finisher Trevor Savage.

The tournament drew 718 players to the Borgata Hotel & Casino to create a $2,369,400 prize pool, and for the record, heree's how the final table finished up: Vadim Shlez ($533,210); LJ Sande ($310,273); Trevor Savage ($189,611); Bobby Suer ($156,286); Gil Sacks $126,407; Patrick Carney ($103,425); Steve Ryan ($82,740); Osagyefo Greene ($63,204); Allan Vrooman ($43,669); Tom Hu ($28,729.)

Want to get in on big money tournaments without leaving the house? Check out online poker tournaments at Bodog.

Which prize would you pick ?

(a) Grand Prix 2011, Monaco

* 3 nights hotel accommodation in Monaco for you and one guest
* Private yacht hospitality with a perfect view of the Circuit de Monaco race
* Fine dining and complimentary bar throughout the stay
* Professional hosts for your assistance
* Up to £1,600 per person to go towards the cost of your return flights.


(b) All Inclusive Private Island Holiday

* 6 nights accommodation at the Turtle Island resort in Fiji for you and one guest
* Fine dining and complimentary bar throughout the stay
* Full use of the island facilities including private beach and spa
* Unlimited activities including snorkelling, sunset cruise and more
* Your personal Bure Manager for your assistance
* Up to £1,600 per person to go towards the cost of your return flights.

Im mostly playing on weekends when I have some extra time and I will surely play more as milestones are reached and the billionth hand.

If I win I would go for B All Inclusive Private Island Holiday. Both prizes are cool but 6 days of luxury privacy on a secluded island is TOP.

Every Sunday, Bodog Poker hosts its weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournaments and so far, 2011 has offered up some fantastic action for players interested in big-money games where you can get in on the action for as little as $1 thanks to our satellites. These massive all-hands-on-deck events take place at 4pm EST on Sundays and feature some of the best online poker action going. bergeroo took first place this week, earning $25,500. They were followed by UFPokerStar ($15,000) and ours panda , who rounded out the top three spots and pocketed $9,500. Here's the rest of the final table results: jeffews ($7,000); dweeeb ($5,500); pdjeske1 ($4,500); StevenKarp ($3,500); zurswierding ($2,200); _I1oveMyM0m ($1,700);

In addition to our show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts its regular weekly tournaments to players, and here's the winners of last week's events!

* January 31 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: VikesWin2 ($2,888.87)
* February 1 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: 67nemersis ($3,282.12)
* February 2 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ImTheJackal ($3,055.25)
* February 3 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Cooos ($3,000)
* February 6 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: The Mook ($3,000)
* February 6 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack Tcrowley ($3,000)

Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool. Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!

Between the news that clashing online poker sites meant that pros from a major room wouldn't appear this season and the fact that AJ Benza was replaced with Kara Scott, fans of High Stakes Poker were already reeling, but now six-season veteran Gabe Kaplan has been replaced by Norm MacDonald. Now, don't get us wrong: Norm MacDonald is hilarious, as his amazing old-school routine during the Bob Saget Comedy Central roast attests, but Kaplan had that balance of real poker knowledge and humor that made him a hit with a lot of people.

Some viewers on the internet have connected this change to an overall reorganization inside of the show – a cursory survey of the various forums out there indicates that feedback about Kaplan's solo commentary duties tends to slew towards the negative, and MacDonald's sarcasm and quick wit may revitalize what some are viewing as a franchise in need of a kick-start.

With the premiere of the new season just two weeks away – Saturday, February 26th at 8pm EST on GSN, at least we won't have to wait long to see if Norm falls on his face or manages to sarcastically worm his way into the hearts of millions.

Bodog's online casino is getting closer and closer to reaching its incredible ONE BILLIONTH HAND OF BLACKJACK milestone… and as the tension mounts we already have a list of winners who could be well on their way to living the Billionaire’s Experience.

So far TEN lucky Bodoig blackjack players have reached a “Millionth Hand Milestone,” which means that in a few short weeks our grand prize winner will be announced and one lucky player will experience what it feels like to Live Like a Billionaire – enjoying the high-life aboard a private yacht at the Grand Prix in Monaco, or soaking up a luxurious weekend of pampering on a private island in Fiji!

Here is the list of winners so far… Hey, the next winner could be you!

James C. 988,000,000 Milestone

Julie A. 987,000,000 Milestone

Christopher S. 986,000,000 Milestone

Jason M. 985,000,000 Milestone

Boni W. 984,000,000 Milestone

Carol D. 983,000,000 Milestone

Bradley T. 982,000,000 Milestone

Arthur K. 981,000,000 Milestone

Joseph S. 980,000,000 Milestone

Lester A. 979,000,000 Milestone

Play online blackjack today at Bodog Casino. Visit the Billionth Blackjack Hand promo page to find out how you can win cash prizes, casino bonuses & a chance to live like a billionaire.

As the countdown continues, all Bodog online blackjack players who hit blackjack will receive an entry for the final Billionaire’s Experience grand prize draw. There are only 11 million blackjack hands to go; could the next winner be you?

If you don't have a Bodog Casino account — join Bodog today. It's free. Never played blackjack before? Learn how to play blackjack for free! Then get in on Bodog’s Billionth Hand of Blackjack contest for a chance to win a Billionaire's Experience of your choosing — either the week in Monaco or the private island getaway weekend! Bodog. Be a Player and LIVE LIKE A BILLIONAIRE.

The impact of the merger between Party Poker and bwin continues to reverberate through the online poker industry. The latest tremor: Confirmation that the merger will likely result in the sale of the Ongame Poker Network.

That’s the word from a bwin spokesperson via EGR, who confirmed that the poker arm of bwin would considered redundant in the structure of the new company.

Ongame is not a minor site, consistently ranking in the top ten in traffic reports from PokerScout; if you include the .it and .fr arms of the network, it can legitimately be considered one of the top five poker networks in the world, easily outpacing major networks such as CEREUS and Merge.

It is, however, a good deal smaller than the Party Poker family of online poker rooms, a reality which apparently will lead to a rather unique opportunity in the online poker industry – namely, the chance to acquire one of the largest poker rooms in the world.

Bwin purchased Ongame in 2005 for 474m pounds, back when the room still accepted US traffic; Ongame stopped offering poker to US customers post-UIGEA.

Expect this story to get more interesting as word of potential suitors begins to emerge.

Some questions that quickly come to mind: How will the newly merged Party / bwin entity handle the sale of what would almost immediately become one of their largest competitors in the online poker sphere? Would a current major network like Full Tilt be interested, and will Party / bwin even entertain offers from companies such as Full Tilt given Party’s hyper-conservative approach to mollifying US regulators? Is Ongame the chance that a US operator is looking for as regulation approaches in that country, and would Ongame’s history of taking US customers pre-UIGEA pose any hurdle to such a buyer?

Didn't see this listed anywhere on there website, poker software or website, not sure if its worth trying or not

We sat down with Jonas Odman, VP of Bodog Network and asked him a couple of questions about the recent decision made to ban certain poker trackers from Bodog's online poker room.

Hi, Jonas and thanks so much for your time. Right off the bat, we want to know: What was the thinking behind your decision to eliminate some of the big poker trackers from the site?

Poker trackers were originally a tool for players to analyze their own play; to identify weaknesses and improve their play. A player could draw conclusions like “I should stop playing low pairs from the Small Blind position—I lose a lot of money doing that”.

With time poker trackers evolved into identifying other players’ weaknesses by analyzing databases of hand histories. Instead of being an educational tool for players to improve their game, it became a tool for winning players to win money from weaker players faster than they otherwise would. This is bad for the net depositing players and as part of our strategy of giving net depositing players a better experience, we will do everything we can to prevent this.

This decision isn't without controversy – how do you address the concerns of players that feel they should have access to such tools?

By removing the screen names from our hand history, players can still run their hand history through poker tracker software to analyze their own play but they cannot use it to profile other players.

We are going to continue to make it difficult to use poker trackers and similar tools. Our focus is on tools that profile other players and also on tools that give advice during game play.

Amongst all the other news, we missed this sad item from last week: Jack Ury died at his home in Terra Haute, Indiana. Jack is fondly remembered in the poker community as being the oldest-ever participant in the World Series of Poker Main Event. His first trip was in 2007 when 94-year-old travelled to Vegas with his grandson. Despite being wheelchair-bound and only having only 20% of his vision in one eye, he managed to take on the first day's 16-hour marathon with nary a blink.

He was eliminated from the tournament early in Day 2, but everybody who was there remembers his words as he left. "I can’t walk, I can’t see, can’t hear, but I can still play poker! I’ll be back again next year… if I’m still alive!"

And he was. The affection the poker world had for him only grew when he slow-rolled Stephen Friedlander in the 2009 WSOP Main Event on day 1D with a superior full house and got coverage on the World Series of Poker broadcasts that year.

Jack was married to his wife Elizabeth for over 60 years before her death in 2008 and the two had an extended family that ran into great-great-grandchildren. He served in the Navy during World War II and afterwards became a postal worker.

Rest in Peace, Jack. If only we all get to experience what you did in our lifetimes.

Wow i wasnt aware of the capabilities of using a tracker.i dont use them personally

We've been getting more and more excited as more of the cast was announced, but we're now pot-committed to the poker crime comedy Cogan's Trade, written and directed by Andrew Dominick with the announcement that Richard Jenkins is rounding out a cast that already includes Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell and James Gandolfini. Jenkins is one of those "that guy" actors who brings a certain weight and world-weary humor to every role and his ascendancy began in earnest after he was cast as the deceased father in Six Feet Under. He was a featured performer in several movies by the Coen Brothers, including the underrated CIA comedy Burn After Reading and earned international acclaim as the lead in The Visitor.

Jenkins will be playing a lawyer with inside information about the card game that's at the center of the story and may be trying to keep Brad Pitt from discovering the truth about who robbed the poker game even as he provides clues. Cogan's Trade is based on the novel by George V. Higgins. Writer/director Dominik also directed Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In addition to Pitt, Rockwell, and Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, bella Heathchoate, Javier Bardem and Casey Affleck are all cast.

A release date for the film has not been announced.

Start playing online poker today at Bodog! Take advantage of our great deposit bonuses and great free poker action and find out why millions have hit the felt at Bodog!

It was the largest poker tournament ever held in Venice, but that didn't keep Alessio Isaia from being the first home countryman to take down a major World Poker Tour title. He beat a 523-strong field at the World Poker Tour Venice stop and managed to endure a grueling heads-up challenge against Hungaraian Szabolcs Mayer that lasted a record-setting eight hours, 20 minutes.

Isaia claimed more than just the €380,000 first-place prize — he also got a $25,500 seat at the World Poker Tour World Championship and a very nice Tiffany bracelet. After the win, the online poker room pro said "I’m very happy. I’ve been trying to win a big tournament for three or four years. I came close in the EPT but I never achieved it. I’m even more happy to win it in Italy, my home country, it is really special…"

Here's how the final table went: Alessio Isaia (€380,000); Szabolcs Mayer (€228,99)0; David Vamplew (€149,910); Emmanuel Rodrigues (€101,960); Adrien Camille Garrigues (€73,180); Luca Fiorini (€57,830); Max Lykov (€43,370); Renato Paolini (€31,960); Paolo Della Penna (€22,820); Andrea Ferrari (€15,210.)

Taking a cue from Jay-Z, Peter Eastgate's retirement from poker lasted a scant 8 months before it was announced that he'd be appearing on the upcoming installment of NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship program. He wrote a post on another online poker site's blog that explains his reasoning.

Sometimes in life a person can feel lost and wake up one morning not recognizing who he is. Last summer that was how I felt. Prior to winning the WSOP in 2008, my life was very much a good solid routine of playing online poker and hanging out with my friends and family. Winning the WSOP changed that. I relocated to London and started a new life, the life of a high profile poker pro. For almost 2 years I was in a constant spotlight, travelling from poker tournament to poker tournament, doing thousands of interviews and never had a chance to catch my breath. In the whirlwind that followed winning the WSOP I lost track of the most importing thing in my life, myself.

It could be easy to mock the man's choice, but there's something about poker that both elevates and burns out even the best players. Personally, I'm glad to see that he's back on the field because with the sale of his bracelet and the large charity donation it netted, Eastgate has proven that he's one of the classiest players out there.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Internet Poker Act of 2010 has been dead for nearly two months now, placing a hold on any chance of federal online poker regulation in the United States in the next year.

Though there are reports that Rep. John Campbell has partnered with Barney frank to introduce a House bill that will regulate online poker, it appears that shifting Congressional power towards the GOP will hurt any chance the bill has of getting off the ground. With Arizona Senator and staunch online poker opponent Jon Kyl announcing retirement, only time will tell when another push is made at the federal level to legalize and regulate online poker.

That being said, the push for legislation at the state level remains strong in a few key areas of the country. Here, we get an updated look at what’s happening on the political front lines.

New Jersey

The New Jersey legislature made history in early January, becoming the first state to pass legislation in favor of an in-state internet gambling system. Under the proposed bill, Atlantic City casinos would be able to offer online gambling both internationally and to New Jersey state residents.

In addition to poker, the legislation allows for the offering of games such as blackjack, craps, slots, roulette, baccarat and pai gow. According to a study commissioned by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), a New Jersey intra-state gambling system could raise up to $250 million in revenue and bring in an additional $55 million in taxes.

All that left to make it official is the signature of Governor Chris Christie, which would make the bill a law. Joe Brennan, chairman of iMEGA stated in January, “We are very close, tantalizingly close right now and I think within the next month, you will likely see New Jersey become the first regulated iGaming market in the U.S.”

Though most industry experts are optimistic that the bill will become law, Brennan was hesitant to lean one way or the other. “Governor Christie has become the subject of an awful lot of speculation within the industry right now. I would suggest that probably 95 percent of the speculation is probably completely off target. We’ve been most active on this and if you asked me today which way Governor Christie would vote, I would honestly have to say I don’t know with certainty.”

Christie has not publicly commented on the bill, but his 45-day deadline is fast approaching. Should he simply choose to ignore the bill, it will automatically be passed into New Jersey law.

Florida

If New Jersey does indeed become the first state to license and regulate online poker, Florida may not be far behind. With a target of July 2011, state legislators are currently investigating a number of ways to expand into the online gambling market.

The current push is for state pari-mutuel facilities to begin to offer online poker through existing third party websites. The facility would then takes it’s cut and the state would earn revenue through the taxes paid on the rake.

According to Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, the bill’s author, regulating online poker in Florida is just one of many ways the state can cut into it’s $3.6 billion deficit.

“It’s common sense,” he said. “There are hundreds of thousands of players in Florida in unregulated and unprotected offshore sites. Why not legalize, regulate and bring in revenue from something that’s already occurring?”

Of course, there are other obstacles to deal with besides the obvious anti-gambling groups. By law, the Seminole Indians are permitted to offer any form of gambling that is legal in the state. The state recently negotiated a compact with the Seminoles to allow them to offer blackjack in exchange for real, uncapped poker. Previously, players were forced to buy-in for no more than $100 in any game. Before that, each bet was limited to just $2.

Should pari-mutuels earn the right to offer online poker through third party sites, the Seminoles would likely do so as well. With less legal loopholes to jump through, they’d probably be the first up and running, hurting the state’s chances for a big tax revenue windfall.

California

While the talks heat up in New Jersey and Florida, California keeps finding roadblocks in their path towards online poker regulation. In an effort to chip away at the state’s $26 billion deficit, Senator Lou Correa authored Bill 40, also known as California First, The State Funding, Job Creation and Online Gaming Accountability Act.

According to the bill, only existing card rooms and California tribal governments in the state would be able to offer iPoker on the state’s only approved network. State residents would be legally allowed to play on the network, as would current California visitors, but allows their winnings to be transferred into a player’s bank accounts.

A second piece of legislation, Bill 45, was introduced by Senator Rod Wright. While Bill 40 focused mainly on online poker, Bill 45 leaves open the possibility for licensing other types of online gambling. If either bill should pass, Californians would be completely cut off from the current off-shore sites that offer poker.

According to an economic impact study, an online poker system in California would earn roughly $1 billion in tax revenue and bring in 1,100 new jobs over the next decade. Though most politicians are in favor of some form of legislation, deciding the specifics of who to include in the carve out is taking longer than initially anticipated.

:dirol

The World Series of Poker Europe is going continental. For the first time, the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe will be moving away from London and will take place in France, marking the first change in venue in the five year history of the event.

The 2011 WSOPE will be held in Cannes, at two different venues: the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière. This will allow the tournament to accommodate 75 tables, giving it twice the capacity that it has previously enjoyed at the Casino of the Empire. The 2011 edition of the WSOPE will feature seven bracelet events, compared to five in 2010.

“This is a unique agreement between two casino leaders with great brands,” an ESPN.com report quoted Mitch Garber of Caesars Interactive Entertainment as saying. “Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos is a well-run organization and we are excited to work with them to access the French market with high-quality and reputable poker events both in their hotels and casinos, and online with BarrierePoker.fr.”

In addition to the hosting arrangements for the WSOPE, the two brands will also be cooperating in the development of the Barriere Poker Tour, a regional tour that will feature eight different stops throughout France. Tour events will be held in Toulouse, Nice, Lille, Dinard, Enghien, Trouville, Bordeaux, and will finish up in Cannes with the WSOPE.

Perhaps the most lucrative portion of the arrangement is the development of WSOP.fr, a real money online poker site that will operate in the newly regulated French online gaming market. The site will be a skin of BarrierePoker.fr, featuring WSOP branding and satellites into WSOP events in Europe and in the United States.

The World Series of Poker Europe was first held in 2007 to expand the WSOP brand into Europe. The 2010 Main Event was won by James Bord.

On Thursday, HighStakesDB published an article lauding that Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen is up an amazing $5 million since the beginning of October. $5 million! He’s played about 100,000 hands over the last four months and, despite his first World Poker Tour (WPT) title coming nine years ago in 2002, Hansen has remained atop the industry.

During the last four months, Hansen has pulled in nearly $2 million in $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha Cap games, nearly half of that total coming at the expense of Durrrr Challenge combatant Dan “jungleman12” Cates. He’s also pulled in nearly $500,000 courtesy of Full Tilt’s David Benyamine.

In one Pot Limit Omaha hand, Hansen raised to $2,700 under the gun and received calls from the likes of Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and Scott “URnotINdanger2” Palmer. Then, Benjamin “psychobenny” Spindler pushed the action to $15,000 and Hansen, Galfond, and Palmer all called.

The flop came J-4-8 rainbow and Hansen immediately fired out a bet of $61,500. Galfond moved all-in for his last $42,000 and Spindler committed his last $12,000. When the cards were shown, Hansen held 5h-7d-4c-6c for a straight draw, Galfond held Jc-Kc-Ac-6s for top pair, and “psychobenny” tabled 2d-Ah-Ad-9s for a pair of aces. A pot of $158,000 was up for grabs.

The eight of diamonds and the seven of hearts filled out the board, giving Hansen a straight and allowing the “Great Dane” to scoop the massive pot and add to his $5 million in winnings over the last four months. HighStakesDB described the hand as “a classical example of a pot where so much money goes in pre-flop that all the players involved are committed when they hit a small piece of the flop.”

During his recent run online, Hansen has been on a tear on the live felts as well. In December, he won the Full Tilt Poker Million IX for an even $1 million. That tournament saw Hansen defeat a talented group that included Tony Bloom, reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champ James Bord, and Hendon Mob member Barny Boatman.

Hansen was a legend during the first two seasons of the WPT. He won three tournaments over that span for a combined $1.5 million, as he took down the Five Diamond World Poker Classic and L.A. Poker Classic during Season I and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure during Season II.

Hansen final tabled the Season III Bay 101 Shooting Star stop for $320,000 and the Season VI WPT Championship for $1.7 million. He has a little over $4 million in WPT earnings to his name, the fifth highest total in the series’ history. Carlos Mortensen, the only player ever to win the WSOP Main Event and WPT Championship, is the WPT’s all-time money leader at $5.7 million.

Hansen has been traveling extensively in recent weeks and is set to go on a “Religious Rampage” according to his Twitter. Among his recent destinations have been Thailand, Hong Kong, Budapest, and Denmark, the latter of which he spent the holidays in.

He was also spotted at the Australian Open tennis event last month rooting on Caroline Wozniacki.

You can play with Hansen and company at Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest online poker site.

The World Series of Poker Europe has been unable to command the type of respect that the WSOP in Las Vegas achieves on a yearly basis. After five years of holding the event in London, organizers decided it was time for a change.

In 2011, the WSOP Europe will be held in France. In an effort to get more players to the tables, the WSOP has expanded the amount of tournaments it will offer, and has nearly doubled the amount of available tables for these tournaments. The changes all signal how the WSOP is expanding.

The casinos chosen for the 2011 WSOP Europe are the Casino Barriere de Cannes Croisette and the Hotel Majestic Barriere. The event, held in Cannes, will offer seven tournaments, two more than the WSOP Europe held in London in 2010. Organizers are excited about the changes.

"This is a unique agreement between two casino leaders with great brands," said Mitch Garber of Caesars Interactive Entertainment. "Lucien Barriere Hotels & Casino is a well-run organization and we are excited to work with them to access the French market with high-quality and reputable poker events both in their hotels and casinos, and online with BarrierePoker.fr."

The 2011 WSOP in Las Vegas is also expanding this year. With over fifty tournaments and bracelets being given out, this year's event may be the biggest ever for the WSOP. The new tournament already creating a buzz is the 250 person Heads-Up event. Previously, the only Heads-up tournament featured invited professional players. Any player can enter the new Heads-up tourney.

The format for the WSOP remains the same this summer. The main event will be played until a final table is reached. Once the final table is determined, play will then stop and the participants will have a few months off before returning to Las Vegas in November to complete the tournament.