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!
* February 14 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: johall111/strong> ($2,888.87)
* February 15 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: thecure19 ($3,025)
* February 16 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: jackroma ($2,904.00)
* February 17 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: The_Destroyer ($2,949.37)
* February 20 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: FarreX ($2,798.12)
* February 20 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack UFPokerStar ($3,180.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool. Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
Bodog keeps track of everything – all you have to do is play! You'll get regular emails from us keeping you up to date and letting you know when you hit a milestone. If you've not started playing poker for real money at Bodog, you can start earning right away when you visit the Another Day, Another Dollar poker promotion page. You'll get your usual signup bonus with us and start earning money from the moment you start to play!
Predictably the pace in the early offing was frantic but with so many players to whittle down the tournament went long into the night until the final table was reached after more than 15 hours of play. Going into the final it was Blair “blur5f6” Hinkle who held the chip lead. The 2008 WSOP bracelet winner never strayed far from the lead as one by one the players around him fell away. Once the field had dropped to three players a deal was discussed, a deal which secured Hinkle $1,162,950. With their prizes already set and $65,000 left to play for the pace shifted and Hinkle soon relinquished his chiplead and finished second to his opponent “GIAMPP.”
The final signalled the end of another successful FTOPS for Full Tilt and proved once again that the online poker room is one of the best in the business when it comes to offering high quality tournaments to its players. Final Results:
1. GIAMPP – $877,950
2. Blair “blur5f6” Hinkle – $1,162,950
3. SirMad – $805,440
4. Nayza – $451,745
5. Daniel “WiLDmAn75” Buzgon – $321,434
6. J NOCK – $230,216
7. 425wedabest – $165,061
8. beerocrat – $121,624
9. Colonel Mustard – $86,005
The increasing popularity of the competition was evident after the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) broke the 400 player barrier for the first time in its history. At the San Paulo tournament a massive R$2,391,630 (US$1,435,639) prize pool was collected from the US$3,000 buy-ins, with at least the top 64 players then getting paid.
Manzano had taken the chip lead going into Day 3 of the competition and by the time the final table of eight was set, he found himself with five local players along with an Argentinian and a Mexican. He finally worked his way to the lead position and didn't let it go.
With his victory in Brazil, Manzano became the first Chilean player to become a LAPT champion, which hopefully gives him the hometown advantage at the next leg of the tour. It goes down at Viña del Mar, Chile in mid-March.
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Further reports from the event came in on the forum as players played and chatted about the Super Bowl, which was also happening the same weekend. “He’s at 30, he just went to ‘sleep’ in his bedroom. Honestly, I doubt he’s sleeping. He had to hobble upstairs. I think he’s a huge dawg, he stopped eating/drinking for the past 5/6 miles. When I saw him in his room, he was rocking back and forth honestly I feel kinda bad for him… He is still sure he is going to win, though."
For those worried about how it ended, "Boosted J" reported the outcome on Twitter: "A very big/insane prop bet just came to conclusion. I booked action on [Griffin] to be able to run 70 miles in 24-hour window. Ding we win! He just completed it with 45 minutes to spare… He’s so sick!"
There's still time for you to ear real money with Bodog's Another Day, Another Dollar poker promotion. You can still earn up to $30 playing in the online poker promotion that rewards you just for playing like you normally would! Just earn 10 poker points on ten days before March 15th and you can get $10 back! Earn 10 points during 15 days, you'll get $20 and if you earn 10 points during each the remaining 20 days of the promotion, you'll get a tidy $30 added to your account.
Bodog keeps track of everything – all you have to do is play! You'll get regular emails from us keeping you up to date and letting you know when you hit a milestone. If you've not started playing poker for real money at Bodog, you can start earning right away when you visit the Another Day, Another Dollar poker promotion page. You'll get your usual signup bonus with us and start earning money from the moment you start to play!
I went there today and I can't get on a table.
I was looking for $1 sng. Nope
So, I tried a $2 sng. Nope
I've played games there because I have $15.
I'm baffled,
ValidHope
In fact, millhouse11 is only two wins away from a chance to play against a Bodog poker pro in heads-up action for a shot at a seat in the 2011. His victory on Thursday night took place after 30 minutes of play, when he was holding KK and got a full house enough to defeat his opponent’s king high flush.
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This is especially important as labor issues make it look more and more like we may not see an NFL season this year and the new poker league could provide alternative programming for the network. CBS hasn’t done a lot of poker programming in the past — they aired the International Poker Championship in 2006, which featured an Olympic-style event where players competed to represent their countries. While the event was highly-rated and it featured some great action, it was never repeated.
Iowa lawmakers are following the lead of New Jersey, where legislators approved an online gambling bill earlier this year. The New Jersey bill legalizes online casinos, but the Iowa legislation would only approve online poker.
Online poker is enjoyed by millions of Americans, and all are playing at sites that are currently unregulated by the US government. Off-shore sites are gaining billions of dollars from US customers, and lawmakers in the country have started to figure out that the money would be better served i their own states.
Iowa would make it a stipulation that their age restrictions that are followed in land-based casinos would also be adhered to on the Internet. The same can be said for New Jersey, where the new law allows Atlantic City casinos to operate the online casinos.
In both states, online poker rooms would have to follow federal law. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act makes it illegal for financial institutions to process online gambling transactions, but the law does allow for online gambling within a state. That means that Iowa and New Jersey could only offer the online gaming services to residents of their state.
The way the law would work in Iowa is gamblers would be permitted to place funds in a special account. Gambling limits would then be set. The gamblers could then log in to their accounts and begin playing poker at various tournaments or cash games.
The hole in the state's budget is gaping, and legislators -- gearing up for a difficult session that begins March 8 -- are looking everywhere to shore up the nearly $4 billion deficit.
Proposed legislation would allow dog and horse tracks and jai-alai frontons to create portals to legal online poker rooms. The state would get 10 percent of each card room's revenues, the same amount it gets now from live poker rooms.
"We want to legalize it, regulate it and bring the revenue to Florida," said state Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, who proposed the initial bill. "To me it's common sense to protect our players."
The bill says up to three sites would contract with the state as a hub, and websites of Florida's 23 pari-mutuels' with card rooms would act as portals. Players would have to navigate to one of the websites to play with a pool of other Florida players. The company that runs the hubs would take a little bit from each pot and give it to the card rooms.
Daniel Francati, manager of the Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room, one of the 23 pari-mutuels, is eager to benefit from that huge market.
"I think it'll help take Internet players and try to convert them into brick-and-mortar players," Francati said, comparing it to how a newspaper can use its website to lure readers to the print version.
"You always have a question when people are playing online for money," he said. "How do you know they're paying if it isn't regulated?"
A Senate committee report last month estimated net revenue of almost $37 million by the third year of regulated poker. Abruzzo said a gaming company that studied the issue estimated even more revenue. There are 900,000 Floridians registered to play online poker, and a third of them play for money.
Popular websites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which are not regulated in the U.S., would not be involved. Instead, other companies would bid on the chance to operate the gambling.
Florida's not alone in trying to monetize a booming business. California has been looking to regulate intrastate online poker since 2008, and New Jersey is just waiting on its governor to sign its bill into passage.
In December, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., failed in an attempt to ease restrictions nationally on online gambling.
A 2009 survey reported 10 million Americans play online for money. PokerStars had more than 263,000 players online on a recent Friday evening, with almost 45,000 playing cash games, according to PokerScout.com.
Online poker's legality in the U.S. is muddled. Abruzzo spoke of it being "technically not legal." It isn't illegal to play online except in Washington State, but federal law prohibits a U.S.-based company from operating an online poker room for money. PokerStars is regulated in the Isle of Man near the United Kingdom, and Full Tilt runs a disclaimer that players should be aware of their local laws before playing for money.
PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, the two biggest online poker companies, don't think it's fair that they'll be excluded from the chance to be one of the hubs.
"What we believe is the opportunity should be available to those who qualify to try to get regulated, and if regulators decide that they're the best ones to offer services, they should be able to offer it," said John Pappas, executive director of Poker Players Alliance, a group that advocates for players and gets some support from those excluded companies. "It shouldn't be a decision made in the legislature."
Pappas wants national legalization above all else, but until that happens he wants to change the proposed state bills. Abruzzo's bill means Florida players would play against other Florida players. That won't attract the people who gamble as a career and play with a worldwide audience for a big pot, Pappas said.
"Why would I as a professional poker player even stay in the state of Florida?" said Randy Kasper, an attorney by trade who runs Poker Players International, a players agency. "I want to go to where my $1,000 will be $35,000 -- or even $100,000."
Francati wouldn't mind if the offshore companies became legal, as long as they invested in Florida.
"The other guys want to have their cake and eat it," he said. "They don't pay taxes, have no employees -- if they want to play they should have an investment in the state of Florida."
If the bill passes, it's likely the regulation will bring in new players. That troubles Pat Fowler, who, as executive director of the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, has seen people, especially young males, struggle with online gambling.
Many people who bet online play alone, where it's difficult to notice they're wagering a large chunk of real money. And because they're alone and not observed by friends or workers trained to spot problem gamblers, it can quickly become an issue.
"People tell us they lose track doing online gambling, and it's more like a game than real until a credit card bill comes in," Fowler said.
About 15 percent of the more than 5,000 callers to the council report problems with online gambling, but she thinks more have a problem but don't know who to call.
State Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, said it's too early in the legislative process for him to take a position on the bill.
"It's a very interesting concept, and I'll have to see what it does before I can fully support it," he said.
Abruzzo said he's thinking about raising the state's cut of revenues to 20 percent instead of 10 percent.
When he filed the bill, it was assigned a doubly lucky number -- 77.
"I think it's a very good omen," Abruzzo said.
Bodog keeps track of everything – all you have to do is play poker like you normally would! You'll get regular emails from us keeping you up to date and letting you know when you hit a milestone. If you've not started playing poker for real money at Bodog, you can start earning right away when you visit the Another Day, Another Dollar poker promotion page. You'll get your usual signup bonus with us and start earning money from the moment you start to play!
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"I’m feeling very happy," Tureniec told the press after the final hand was dealt. "It’s been a good day. I’m glad I managed to win against such tough opponents. I’m very proud. It’s such a tough field here with a lot of Scandinavian players. My plan now is to first get a driver’s license, then get a nice car."
A total of 449 players entered the EPT Copenhagen main event in the Danish Capital, 141 of whom won their seat in online poker tournaments.
Also on-hand at the event? Peter Eastgate, who seems to use Jay-Z's definition of "retirement."
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!
* February 21 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Etsyzballn ($3,267.00)
* February 22 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: hugsformeth ($2,873.75)
* February 23 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: metsfan189 ($2,949.37)
* February 24 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Spiroach ($2,843.50)
* February 27 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: StevenKarp ($2,843.50)
* February 27 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack Paradigm331 ($3,120.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool. Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
Ned Chiodois a lobbyist for some of the gambling interests that’re pushing for creation of an online poker network for Iowans. ”It’s a growing industry overseas, and most of the play is from the United States,” Chiodo says.
If the bill is adopted, Iowa could become the first state in the nation to legalize internet gambling. Chiodo suggests up to 150,000 Iowans currently play online poker, even though it’s currently illegal.
“It would behoove the State of Iowa to regulate it in a manner that would protect Iowans, make sure Iowans know who they’re doing business with, know who they’re playing with, know that they are getting a fair game,” Chiodo says, “know that they will get paid if they win.”
Under the bill, the state’s existing casinos would run the online poker games like “Texas Hold ‘Em” and the profits would be taxed like any other casino revenue. Chiodo estimates the state could collect as much as $35 million a year from an online poker operation.
But online gambling is only a part of the bill. The legislation includes language that would settle a dispute between the horse racing industry and the state’s three race tracks. In addition, it eliminates the requirement that county voters approve gambling referendums every eight years to keep a local casino open. Wes Ehreckeof the Iowa Gaming Association says that’s a welcome change for the state-licensed casinos, but Ehrecke worries the bill may become a catch-all for other gambling-related proposals.
“We are very concerned about any kind of a tax increase or anything that could be tied to this bill,” Ehrecke says.
Governor Branstad has proposed raising the tax on the state-licensed casinos to 36 percent, up significantly from rates that are now in the 22 to 24 percent range. Others have been pushing to ban smoking on the casino floors. The Senate State Government Committee is scheduled to debate the gambling bill Wednesday.
Following closely behind are Casey Abrams, who Randy Jackson had hailed the most musical performer on Idol ever, and Paul McDonald, an eccentric 26-year-old musician who gave an quirky rendition of the Beatles' "Blackbird" during a duet with with fellow finalist Kendra Chantelle. Bodog's oddsmakers have given both Abrams and McDonald 8/1. Kendra Chantelle isn't too far behind them with 15/1.
Longshots include the 40/1 red-headed Brett Loewenstern, an early standout during auditions who took the last spot for the guys, edging out Jacee Badeaux and Colton Dixon. Rachel Zevita, who has a penchant for vintage wear and facial bling also stands as a 40/1 longshot. Joining Loewenstern and Zevita in Bodog's longshot pool is Tatynisa Wilson, who flubbed the lyrics in Hollywood as she sang Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance," but redeemed herself later with a pitch-perfect rendition of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart."
Other notable contestants include Tim Halperin, who has 12/1 odds. Halperin, despite the fact that he wasn't a unanimous selection after his Los Angeles, sealed the deal when he sang "Something" in Las Vegas with Julie Zorrilla, who is also a strong contender at 15/2. Channeling Adam Lambert, 22-year-old unemployed James Durbin has 20/1 odds to win. Mildly autistic with a high and powerful vocal range, Durbin is hoping his stint on the show will help him afford diapers for his infant.
Who is your favorite contestant? Who do you think will prevail on American Idol? Get your American Idol betting in the Bodog Sportsbook while they're hot!
After three days of friendly-enough questioning, Alameda County prosecutor Michael Nieto abruptly took the gloves off on Tuesday and used a big-screen TV to project images of Scherer's mother, Charlene Abendroth, who suffered multiple bruises and stab wounds before dying on the floor of her Castlewood Country Club home.
According to local reports, Nieto's first question was equally hard-hitting: "Good afternoon, Mr. Scherer Did you give your mother the opportunity to say your name before you hit her the first time?"
Scherer replied: "I did not hit my mother,"
Nieto fired back: "Did you give her the opportunity to ask why?"
"I did not hit my mother," was Scherer's response before the cross-examination began in earnest and the prosecution began hammering home their theory about the double-murder.
Sheriff's deputies on March 14, 2008, found local tax hawk and political rabble-rouser Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and his wife Charlene Abendroth, 57, savagely beaten and stabbed. The prosecution team alleges that Scherer III killed his parents on the night of March 7 or early in the morning on the 8th with a youth baseball bat and one of his father's Turkish swords, which was later discovered to be missing from the house.
However, there's some fierce competition he'll be going against: Vivek Rajkumar is only 50,000 chips behind him with 5,185,000 and Amir Lehavot has 4,115,000 in third place. Gregory Brooks has 2,300,000 in chips and Darryll Fish is right on his tail with 2,275,000. Rounding out the final table is Steve Gross, who's got 1,230,000.
What makes this WPT especially exciting is that if Mortensen can win, he moves into fifth place in the all-time money list, beating Phil Hellmuth. We'll see how it all goes down starting at 4:00PM pacific on Wednesday, where the blinds begin at a stunning 25,500-50,000.
Riordan began playing online poker free-money games when he was 13 and he made his first deposit at a sitewhen he turned 18 and began competing in higher and higher stakes games as his bankroll and skillet grew. He now sits down and plays in $200/400 pot-limit Omaha games with $40,000 and he's a familiar face at cash games around South Florida.
Until the Circuit came to Florida, Riordan’s tournament options were severely limited. In fact, he had no live tournament resume whatsoever before the WSOP and due to his age, he wasn’t able to play in most other tournaments held throughout the United States. Riordan won’t be eligible to compete in the WSOP held in Las Vegas until the year 2013, which should provide some relief to those of you who are afraid that the next Tom Dwan or Phil Ivey has shown up.
The reasons for the change haven't been given, but there was a sharp dip in the ratings of the 2010 broadcast. While there's been no official word on whether or not the commenting team of Norman Chad and Lon Mcearchen, Phil Hellmuth has been doing what Phil Hellmuth does and hinting that he may be brought in to work with ESPN "in some capacity." Of course, Hellmuth also hinted that he'd be on Dancing With The Stars this season and unless he's wearing an absolutely amazing Kirstie Alley costume, the Poker Brat is stuck watching it at home just like the rest of us.
Instead, players were told by the NFL that they couldn't participate in the charity poker tournament and if they wanted to be at the event, they could just stand on the sidelines and cheer. That is something each and every player who came to Vegas for the event did, and it's to be admired.
The tournament was eventually won by poker novice Debbie Gostowski, who walked away with a 2011 CSM No. 2 Shelby Mustang. Other final table prizes included iPads and all expenses paid trips to Africa, South America and Mexico as part of Starkey Hearing Foundation missions.
NFL players and amateurs alike can play online poker at Bodog.