Poker News

Cake Poker opens diamond mine to give away $40,000

Cake Poker have a new promotion on the go beginning next week and it’s a good ‘un with over $40,000 to be given away to players at the network. The Diamond Mine opens next Monday and will feature a series of tournaments with increasing prize pools from $300 all the way up to $15,000.

Cake Poker Opens Diamond Mine on January 10th

Starting next week, Cake Poker will fire up its latest promotion, which will offer $40,000 in cash to those who participate. The Diamond Mine begins next Monday, January 10th and will be a series of tournaments with increasing prize pools. The key to enter these events will be the ever-popular Cake Poker Gold Cards that have been released to this point in 2011.

Each tournament has a guaranteed prize pool, starting with $300 for the first and running up to $15,000 for the final event on the schedule. There is no cost for players to enter save for using the Gold Cards that they have accumulated through ring game play on Cake Poker.

The 14-event schedule begins with a tournament for players who can come up with five of the two of diamonds Gold Cards from the 2011 series. These players will battle it out for one of 100 seats in the next tournament and a piece of a $300 prize pool. If a player earns one of those seats, they’ll move on to the second tournament, which is offered to those with five of the three of diamonds Gold Cards. Each event as a player moves up the ladder has a card requirement for entry and an increasing prize pool.

If a player is able to play in all 12 of the preliminary events on the Diamond Mine schedule, they’ll earn a seat in the Diamond Mine Flawless Freeroll. This freeroll offers a $10,000 prize pool and will take place one day before the final event.

The final on January 23rd, which players can earn entry to either through winning a seat in Event #12 or by having an ace of diamonds from any of the Gold Card series, will feature a prize pool of $15,000.

Knowing that players will be burning through Gold Cards for the Diamond Mine tournament series, Cake Poker is simultaneously running its Turbo Gold Card promotion. Gold Cards will be distributed at ring game tables at twice the normal rate each day from January 10th to January 23rd from 4:00pm ET to 5:00pm ET and from 8:00pm ET to 11:00pm ET. This promotion gives players a chance to build up their 2011 series Gold Card collections and get in on the $40,000 Diamond Mine tournament schedule.

For those who prefer to “wheel and deal” to get the Gold Cards they need, Cake Poker’s Gold Card Exchange is open as well.

Already running on Cake Poker are satellites to one of the longest running tournament schedules in poker history. Cake Poker is offering its players the opportunity to head to Ireland over Easter weekend to take part in the 2011 Irish Poker Open, the second oldest tournament behind only the World Series of Poker. Cake Poker is offering players a chance at a seat at the 2011 Irish Poker Open Main Event for as little as $1.10, with satellites running daily. These satellites feed into a monthly Final.

Cake Poker has put together packages for players that are worth battling for. Each $7,000 prize package from Cake Poker includes a seat at the Main Event of the Irish Poker Open worth €3,500, a five-night stay at the Irish Poker Open’s host venue (the Burlington Hotel), $1,500 cash for travel expenses, and an official Cake Poker gear pack. The opportunity to play alongside the best poker players in the world during the Irish Poker Open, however, is the biggest prize. The final day to earn entry into the Irish Poker Open through Cake Poker is March 27th.

Featuring such outlets as its own eponymous room, the Doyle Brunson-backed DoylesRoom, and Victory Poker, the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network should be a popular stop for poker players throughout the month of January with its wealth of promotions. Visit Cake Poker to learn more about the Diamond Mine tournament series.

Taylor Paur (ambiguosity) Wins 2010 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year

Earlier this week, Taylor “ambiguosity” Paur was named the 2010 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year after edging out defending titleholder Steve “gboro780″ Gross in the final days of December. Paur stockpiled an all-time record of 11,030 points for the year, besting previous winners Gross (2009), Alex “AJKHoosier1″ Kamberis (2008), and Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron (2007) in that department.

Paur, 22, won the Full Tilt Poker $75,000 Guaranteed on December 27th for nearly $25,000 to help put a stranglehold on the crown. In total, he amassed more than $1 million in online poker earnings for the year, making up more than two-thirds of his lifetime winnings. He won 13 tournaments in 2010, six of them for scores of $80,000 or more. His biggest payday came in May when he took down the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) $150 Rebuy for $192,228.90.

Paur’s biggest feat, though, may have been fending off Gross, whose accomplishments in online tournaments are simply unparalleled. Gross, who has more than $5 million in earnings since 2005, finished as the runner-up to Kamberis in the 2008 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year race before earning the honor in 2009 and finishing runner-up again in 2010. His consistency and dedication to the game have landed him among the elite players in the industry.

Rounding out the top five in the 2010 Online Player of the Year standings were Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek, Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver, and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet. Jarzabek, who helped open the online training site Tournament Poker Edge this year, totaled $782,355 in winnings to claim a spot in the Top 10 for the second straight year. Oliver, meanwhile, burst onto the scene in 2010 and spent several weeks as the #1 ranked player on PocketFives.com.

There’s a certain set of criteria for tournaments that count toward Card Player’s Online Player of the Year standings. Sites included in the rankings include PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, Cake Poker, Absolute Poker, and Bodog and only tournaments with a buy-in of $100 or more qualify. The prize pool of a tournament must be at least $100,000 and prize packages such as trips or live tournament buy-ins do not count.

Here’s a look at the Top 20 in the 2010 Card Player Online Player of the Year Standings:

1. Taylor “ambiguosity” Paur – 11,030 points ($1,099,435 in earnings)
2. Steve “gboro780″ Gross – 10,320 points ($1,023,658 in earnings)
3. Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek – 9,932 points ($782,355 in earnings)
4. Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver – 9,268 points ($854,769 in earnings)
5. Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet – 9,164 ($859,489 in earnings)
6. Zach “HustlerGrune” Gruneberg – 8,984 points ($776,347 in earnings)
7. “kirbynator” – 8,878 points ($1,143,749 in earnings)
8. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 8,874 points ($837,089 in earnings)
9. Raj “BadcardsAA” Vohra – 8,688 points ($1,319,012 in earnings)
10. Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal – 8,432 points ($739,105 in earnings)
11. Mark “dipthrong” Herm – 8,250 points ($811,208 in earnings)
12. Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen – 8,126 points ($664,588 in earnings)
13. Jordan “Jymaster11″ Young – 8,088 points ($751,593 in earnings)
14. Nick “Grippolio” Grippo – 8,044 points ($688,878 in earnings)
15. Ross “zestfullyclean” Myers – 7,960 points ($618,388 in earnings)
16. James “croll103″ Carroll – 7,898 points ($712,167 in earnings)
17. Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen – 7,792 points ($737,838 in earnings)
18. Ryan “ryanbluf” Karp – 7,712 points ($648,334 in earnings)
19. “mralan2950 – 7,710 points ($777,994 in earnings)
20. Chris “cdbr3799″ Dombrowski – 7,704 ($817,196 in earnings)

Biggest Poker Surprises of 2010

Last week, Poker News Daily ran an article recapping the top poker news stories of 2010.  This, we were charged with the task of coming up with the top ten surprises of the past year.  As fate would have it, the biggest shocker of 2010 came on December 30th, making the top surprise a no-brainer.  Read on to find out.

10) Hip-Hop Hellmuth – Normally, I wouldn’t put an attention grab by Phil Hellmuth on a list of the year’s biggest surprises, but this one was phenomenal.  The “Poker Brat” made a cameo appearance in a hip-hop music video by Ludacris donned in UB.net garb and raking in UB.net chips.  Filmed at the Palms in Las Vegas, the video’s plot was supposed to be similar to that of the hit movie “The Hangover.”  The song is called “Sex Room.”  I’ll just leave it at that.

9) No Rest for the Weary – A crazy record not many people knew about before this year was broken not once, but twice.  In June, Phil Laak set the poker endurance record by playing $10/$20 Hold’em at the Bellagio for a staggering 115 consecutive hours, breaking Paul Zimbler’s 72-hour mark from late 2009.  Nobody would ever be silly enough to try to top Laak, would they?  Of course they would.  In November, Christie Teki-Reu and man who goes by the nickname “Chopper” played for 117 hours in the casino at the Grand Hotel in New Zealand as part of an organized effort to set the record in a special charity tournament.  Afterwards, Teki-Reu slept for five hours, was up for two hours, then slept for another ten hours.  Well deserved.

Kessler Max-Cashes – Well, almost.  Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler is a very good poker player, but he is known to play to make the money in tournaments.  He has definitely gone deep in tournaments and made a couple of WPT televised final tables, but for the most part, the poker community jokes about Kessler taking the conservative route and always looking to “min-cash.”

At the 2010 WSOP, poker players and fans lived vicariously through “Chainsaw” as he not only made the money in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, but also continued to move up in the standings, making the final table and then finally reaching heads-up.  He eventually lost, but the $276,485 payday was far from a min-cash.  He finished with eight cashes, tied for most at this year’s WSOP.  Sure, some were min-cashes, but his second place run was one of the most memorable and surprising moments of the 2010 WSOP.

7) Security Fail – In May, it was discovered that the CEREUS Network had a major security hole.  The network did not have SSL encryption implemented, resulting in a vulnerability that made it possible to intercept network traffic and see an opponent’s hole cards.  In July, the same flaw was found on the Cake Poker Network.  It is unbelievable enough that one poker network could fail so miserably at something that should be so basic, but two networks dropping the ball?  Sad.

6) WSOP is Healthy – With the down economy and the struggles of online poker in the United States, it would have been reasonable to expect WSOP attendance figures to decline.  Not so.  2010 saw 72,966 players participate, the most in WSOP history by a wide margin and besting last year’s record by 20%.  The total prize money was the highest of all-time as well, reaching $187,109,850 and beating 2008′s high mark by 3.5%.  The Main Event was the second largest of all-time with 7,319 players, second only to 2006, which was the last WSOP Main Event before the UIGEA was passed.

5) Isildur1 is a Star – Isildur1, the nameless online nosebleed-stakes phenom, signed with PokerStars in December.  His signing with an online poker room isn’t all that surprising, considering that whenever he plays, he attracts scores of railbirds who love watching his million-dollar swings.  The shocker is that all of his high-stakes play has been at Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars’ closest rival.  Stars must have given him a sweet deal.

4) Resurgence of “The Grinder“ – While Michael Mizrachi had a few strong performances on the live tournament circuit in 2008 and 2009, his cachet had appeared to have worn off since he made his mark on the WPT in 2005 and 2006.  He also ran into major financial troubles this year.  But then the 2010 WSOP came along and he exploded back onto the poker map.

“The Grinder” won the $50,000 Player’s Championship for over $1.5 million, placed fifth in the Main Event for more than $2.3 million, and along the way became one of the biggest rooting interests of the summer.  To top it off, his three brothers – Daniel, Robert, and Eric – all cashed in the Main Event.  Robert also placed fifth in the Player’s Championship and made two other final tables.

3) Partying Has its Limits – In February, PartyPoker suddenly placed a cap on the number of play money chips members could have in their accounts.  Overnight, players with millions of chips had their accounts reset to the 250,000-chip maximum.  Party cited the sale of play chips as the main reason for the decision as well as instances of players with overwhelming numbers of chips making enormous bets and disrupting games.  The reaction was one of almost unanimous outrage by play money customers, many of whom had taken great pride in building up their accounts over several years.

2) Peter Eastgate Takes a Break – Nowadays, we have come to expect WSOP champions to serve as faces of the game and continue playing live tournaments around the world.  Not so with the 2008 champ Peter Eastgate.  Eastgate, who just turned 25, announced this year that he was taking an indefinite break from live tournament poker.  So far, it appears that it has been a break from poker in general.  His WSOP win set him up financially, which was enough for him.  To top it off, he auctioned off his WSOP bracelet in November and donated the proceeds to charity.

1) Duke and Hellmuth Leave UB – Annie Duke leaving UB, to me, was easily the most surprising moment in poker this year… until Phil Hellmuth did the same a few hours later.  Two of the biggest names in poker, the faces of UB since it was founded in 2001, left their online home on the same day.  Through all of UB’s controversy over the last few years, Duke and Hellmuth stood by the poker room and took tons of heat within the online poker community.  For better or for worse, they seemed like they were going to be with UB for life.

December 31st – Weekly News Update

Welcome once again to the Poker News Daily weekly news update. I’m your host Sean Gibson and I’ll be delivering the top headlines for the week in the world of poker – and what a week of news it was!!

Our first story rocks the world of online poker as superstars Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke are officially parting ways with UB.com for different reasons. Both have been the faces of UB.com and represented for nine years. We did get a comment from Annie Duke about HER decision to leave UB.com:

“After some thought, I made a decision to leave UB.com because I would like to explore other avenues of business and personal growth. I realized I needed to spend my time on other things.”

Duke has stated that she has no intentions of signing on with another poker site. She said that she is moving on from UB.com to persue other projects on a full time basis. Hellmuth continues to be one of the biggest names in the world of poker and his departure, although rumored in the last few weeks, still comes as a huge shock. As more develops in this story, stay tuned right here at poker news daily for the latest.

Another online poker industry icon is moving on as Lee Jones earlier this week announced his resignation from Cake Poker. Jones posted on the TwoPlusTwo forums on Tuesday:

“This is a brief announcement to let you know that, as of yesterday, I have resigned my position at Cake Poker and will not be making any further posts here. Their management has made some strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable.”

Jones, who also is a guest columnist here at our site told us that he simply wasn’t comfortable with some of the decisions that the Cake management was making. Jones refused to comment further but added that he hopes to remain in the poker industry and says he has a couple of irons in the fire. Jones rose to fame in the online poker industry originally in roles with PokerStars, the EPT and at CardRunners.

For those of you that can’t get enough Isildur1 action, the next SuperStar Showdown match has been announced. Coming off a loss to Isaac Haxton, Isildur1 will now face the notorious Tony G in a high stakes battle. You might remember that it was Tony G that supposedly staked Isildur1 for a comeback bid and reportedly knows the Swedish player’s identity. The match will take place on Sunday, January 2nd at 4pm eastern time on PokerStars. The game will be half no limit hold’em and half pot limit Omaha at $50-$100 blind stakes. Interested parties can rail the action at PokerStars by looking for tables labeled showdown under the Omaha tab or under the Holdem, No Limit all tables tab.

Jon Friedberg, known online as pokertrip will be debuting a new talk show right here, exclusively on Poker News Daily. Friedberg will host the new show, called “The Showdown” every week here at PND, and promises to feature some of the game’s most prolific names. Set to start during the first week of January, Friedberg’s first guest will be former Survivor castaway Jean-Robert Bellande. When asked about his new home here at PND, he stated:

“I see myself not as a member of the media, but rather a fellow poker player who sees eye-to-eye with players I interview. I don’t have any problems asking questions that other poker media might be scared to address. My passion is to share the lifestyles, strategies, and thought processes of poker players.”

Be sure to catch the first episode of “The Showdown” right here at Poker News Daily next week!

In recent days, Party Gaming and bwin announced merger plans to form a giant online gaming group that will become effective sometime in the first quarter of 2011. It’s expected that this merger will create the biggest largest listed online gambling business. The new company will operate worldwide with its existing brands and both bwin and Party Gaming will retain most of the core of their brands but be operated under a new umbrella company. Bwin’s CEO had this to say:

“Our products and target markets complement one another perfectly, and we can continue to expand our technology lead in all key product segments: sports betting, poker, casino, bingo, and games.”

Now that the year is over, CardPlayer has officially crowned Tom Marchese the 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year. His epic run in 2010 saw him make 11 final tables in major live tournaments to the tune of over $2 million in profits. The highlight of 2010 for Marchese was the win at the NAPT Venetian Main Event for over eight hundred thousand dollars. He beat out Dwyte Pilgrim, Sorel Mizzi and Vanessa Selbst for the award. Marchese had four six-figure paydays in 2010 with final tables at the European Poker Tour, World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker.

Well that wraps up a very exciting and busy week in the world of poker as well as our last weekly news report of 2010. Be sure to come back to poker news daily for all the latest poker headlines every single day and as a reminder, be sure to catch John Friedberg’s new show, “The Showdown” right here next week along with another episode of our weekly news recap. I’m Sean Gibson wishing you a very happy and safe new years!

Phil Hellmuth Leaves UB.com in Major Shakeup

It’s been a busy day for all of us in the online poker community. Just hours after Annie Duke announced her exit from UB.com to pursue non-poker business interests, site icon Phil Hellmuth departed as well. A statement posted on UB.com reveals that the two sides “mutually parted ways.”

Hellmuth was recently seen on ESPN’s coverage of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour’s (NAPT) Los Angeles Bounty Shootout wearing patches for the Aria Casino in Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Academy. Curiously absent were any logos for his home poker site, UB.com. Hellmuth also appeared on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” devoid of UB.com logos, leading many to believe that he was on the outs with the USA-friendly CEREUS Network room.

Duke left UB.com earlier today in order to extend her foothold in the business world. She commented in a statement posted on UB.com, “I have nothing but positive things to say about UB and my experiences with the brand, management, and the incredible people who work hard daily to deliver a terrific online poker experience.” Duke and Hellmuth had been with UB.com since 2001, the year the online poker site was launched as Ultimate Bet and two years before the modern poker boom.

Duke told Poker News Daily that she does not plan to sign with a competing online poker site; whether Hellmuth feels the same way is not yet known. Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, is one of the main faces of Full Tilt Poker, which also accepts action from the United States. Hellmuth, who is widely regarded as one of the top tournament players on the planet, could also head to a site like PokerStars or Victory Poker.

Hellmuth owns the record for the number of WSOP bracelets won at 11 and number of WSOP cashes at 79. Along the way, he’s racked up $6.2 million in WSOP earnings alone and is a rumored contestant on the 2011 installment of the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.” He’s one of the top marketable faces in the poker industry and has coined several memorable phrases including “I can dodge bullets, baby” and “Idiot from Northern Europe.”

Hellmuth won the 1989 WSOP Main Event at age 24 and, for the next 20 years, held the record as the youngest champ ever of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Before anyone knew who Chris Moneymaker was, Hellmuth had already amassed seven bracelets; in fact, he racked up three pieces of hardware in 1993 alone.

In 2009, November Niner Jeff Shulman asked Hellmuth to help him with his short-handed game in preparation for the Main Event final table. As a result, Shulman took fifth place for $1.9 million.

Today’s two high-profile departures leave UB.com stocked with a pro roster that includes PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, bracelet winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, the Last Women Standing in the 2008 and 2007 WSOP Main Events, respectively. Also remaining on the Team UB roster are Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Anthrax’s Scott Ian, among others. The group appears to have become noticeably younger sans Hellmuth and Duke.

Prior to announcing his exit from UB.com, Hellmuth Tweeted the prices of several sports tickets he was monitoring: “New Years Eve L.A. Lakers/Sixers tix, Row 5, center court trading for $460 apiece. Tix for once a year Rose Bowl on 40 yard line, 44 rows up: $350 apiece!”

Earlier this week, Lee Jones announced his resignation from Cake Poker as its Card Room Manager, citing “strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable” made by Cake management. Cake Poker Tournament Director Serge “andanthar” Ravitch followed suit in what is traditionally a slow week for poker news.

Poker News Daily has heard rumblings that UB.com may add another pro to its roster early next week. Who that could be remains to be seen, but rumors seem to indicate that it’s Prahlad Friedman. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on this developing story.

Lee Jones leaves Cake Poker

Major changes are afoot at Cake Poker with the news that card room manager Lee Jones and tournament director Serge Ravitch are stepping down.

Lee Jones Resigns from Cake Poker

In breaking news from the world of online poker, Lee Jones has stepped down as Card Room Manager of Cake Poker, effective immediately. Jones posted in a thread on TwoPlusTwo around 3:00pm ET on Tuesday, “This is a brief announcement to let you know that, as of yesterday, I have resigned my position at Cake Poker and will not be making any further posts here. Their management has made some strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable.”

Despite departing the site, Jones, who is also a Guest Columnist here at Poker News Daily, spoke highly of his former colleagues: “Please direct any questions or concerns to the Cake support staff; they are top-notch people.” Cake Poker is the flagship site of the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network.

Also departing Cake Poker concurrently with Jones is Serge Ravitch, who is known in the online poker world as “adanthar.” Ravitch served as Cake Poker’s Tournament Director and Jones affectionately dubbed him the “Minister of Tournament Arts” in homage to the Harry Potter franchise. Ravitch was one of the figureheads in uncovering the cheating scandal at Absolute Poker.

Ravitch posted in the same TwoPlusTwo thread on Tuesday, “It sincerely pains me to say that, for the same reasons, I am also no longer affiliated with Cake in any way. I wish them the best of luck going forward.” What “strategic decisions” Jones and Ravitch alluded to were not clear at the time of writing. In addition, Cake Poker has not released any statement.

Jones could only tell Poker News Daily on Tuesday afternoon, “I’m just not comfortable with some of the decisions that the Cake management was making.” However, the veteran of the poker world hopes to remain in the industry, explaining to us, “I have a couple of irons in the fire. I certainly have every intention of staying in the poker business, so I’ll have to see what pans out.” Jones formerly brought customer service to new heights while with PokerStars and also worked with the European Poker Tour and CardRunners.

In TwoPlusTwo’s “Cake Poker Feedback Thread,” which is where Jones dropped the bombshell, posters weighed in en masse. The first responder explained, “This isn’t totally unexpected. Best wishes in your future enterprises.” Another poster predicted that Jones and Ravitch would land on their feet: “Lee and ‘adanthar’ are top-notch in my opinion and won’t need luck, but agreed nonetheless.”

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the 24th largest worldwide and boasts a seven-day running average of 740 real money ring game players. Its peak traffic passes 1,100 cash game players and the family of sites happily accepts action from the United States.

Besides Cake Poker, other rooms on the Network include the Doyle Brunson-fronted DoylesRoom, Only Poker, Poker4Green, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies’ Power Poker, Red Star Poker, Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker, and Victory Poker, the latter of which joined in August.

The holidays have not been kind to the Cake Poker Network, which has not eclipsed the 1,300-cash game player mark since December 21st. In the 30 days prior, it passed 1,300 ring game players 14 times.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more developments on this breaking story.

2011 Poker Predictions

Now that another year is in the books, I get to bring out my prognosticating skills once again and dazzle you with my ability to see into the future.  What will we expect to happen in 2011 in the world of poker?  Read on to find out.

Black Card Adjustments

This is hardly a bold prediction, as we’ve been told on both the TwoPlusTwo and PocketFives.com forums by Full Tilt site rep “FTPDoug” that an adjustment for the Black Card promotion is coming, most likely in the middle of January.  The site underwent heavy criticism for altering its rakeback method, which was to the detriment to the vast majority of the player base, while rolling out what Full Tilt officials felt was a compromise in the Black Card program.

What we might see is another tier added to the Black Card program, perhaps something like a “Red Card” that rewards another Full Tilt Point multiplier for those who average 1,000 points per day.  Either way, we’ve been promised that this adjustment will be an improvement for players.

PokerStars Will Kill Short-Stacked Games

Maybe this is more wishful thinking, but the clamoring of many on the forums hasn’t gone on deaf ears.  When PokerStars decided to forge a compromise between the short-stackers and everyone else by offering three tiered games (Short, Regular, and Deep) the site did what many thought would happen and that’s kill the small- and mid-stakes full ring games.

Right now, the games are as bad as they have ever been, but by eliminating the Short buy-in tables, all will be right again with the world and the SuperNova and SuperNova Elites of the world will continue their grind.  PokerStars is aware of how its main base of regulars feels, so something will be done.

Another Merger?

We saw the merger between two superpowers in online gaming, Party Gaming and bwin, finally complete, with the two set to come together in 2011.  One trend we’ve continued to seen, given worldwide legislation, is that smaller sites aren’t growing, but rather staying the same or shrinking.  According to various industry reports, the online poker industry is shrinking at 1% annually.

According to PokerScout.com, notable gainers year-over-year include the Merge Gaming Network (up 134%), 888 (up 8%), and PokerStars (up 7%).  Notable losers include Everest Poker (down 64%), Cake Poker (down 59%), the iPoker Network (down 31%), and the CEREUS Network (down 31%).  It’ll be very hard to imagine some of the smaller networks not going belly up or merging with others in order to survive today’s shrinking market.

More Live Events

Although some casinos may not like to admit it, online poker does a great job of getting them exposure when special tournaments are held.  The PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has been a huge success in its first year, with many at PokerStars pleased at the response the series has received from their player base.  Online poker players, contrary to belief, do like to get out of the house and travel. Expect more live event tie-ins in 2011 and perhaps the start of something new with Full Tilt in the United States.

Isildur1’s Identity Revealed

In 2011, we’ll finally know the true identity of PokerStars sponsored pro Isildur1.  Everyone has speculated for over a year that it’s Viktor Blom and there’s been nothing to make us think it’s anybody else.  Although I have met quite a few big name pros who claim to know his identity and refuse to spill the beans, someone will slip up or PokerStars will pull a publicity stunt to let us all know it’s Blom.

No Legislation for the United States

With the recent election, there’s no real hope for legalized and regulated online poker in the United States in the next two years.  Just expect more talk, no action, and continued reports of payment processors being targeted by the Federal Government.  Meanwhile, there’s potential in New Jersey and California for intrastate internet poker.

2011 Poker Predictions

Now that another year is in the books, I get to bring out my prognosticating skills once again and dazzle you with my ability to see into the future.  What will we expect to happen in 2011 in the world of poker?  Read on to find out.

Black Card Adjustments

This is hardly a bold prediction, as we’ve been told on both the TwoPlusTwo and PocketFives.com forums by Full Tilt site rep “FTPDoug” that an adjustment for the Black Card promotion is coming, most likely in the middle of January.  The site underwent heavy criticism for altering its rakeback method, which was to the detriment to the vast majority of the player base, while rolling out what Full Tilt officials felt was a compromise in the Black Card program.

What we might see is another tier added to the Black Card program, perhaps something like a “Red Card” that rewards another Full Tilt Point multiplier for those who average 1,000 points per day.  Either way, we’ve been promised that this adjustment will be an improvement for players.

PokerStars Will Kill Short-Stacked Games

Maybe this is more wishful thinking, but the clamoring of many on the forums hasn’t gone on deaf ears.  When PokerStars decided to forge a compromise between the short-stackers and everyone else by offering three tiered games (Short, Regular, and Deep) the site did what many thought would happen and that’s kill the small- and mid-stakes full ring games.

Right now, the games are as bad as they have ever been, but by eliminating the Short buy-in tables, all will be right again with the world and the SuperNova and SuperNova Elites of the world will continue their grind.  PokerStars is aware of how its main base of regulars feels, so something will be done.

Another Merger?

We saw the merger between two superpowers in online gaming, Party Gaming and bwin, finally complete, with the two set to come together in 2011.  One trend we’ve continued to seen, given worldwide legislation, is that smaller sites aren’t growing, but rather staying the same or shrinking.  According to various industry reports, the online poker industry is shrinking at 1% annually.

According to PokerScout.com, notable gainers year-over-year include the Merge Gaming Network (up 134%), 888 (up 8%), and PokerStars (up 7%).  Notable losers include Everest Poker (down 64%), Cake Poker (down 59%), the iPoker Network (down 31%), and the CEREUS Network (down 31%).  It’ll be very hard to imagine some of the smaller networks not going belly up or merging with others in order to survive today’s shrinking market.

More Live Events

Although some casinos may not like to admit it, online poker does a great job of getting them exposure when special tournaments are held.  The PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has been a huge success in its first year, with many at PokerStars pleased at the response the series has received from their player base.  Online poker players, contrary to belief, do like to get out of the house and travel. Expect more live event tie-ins in 2011 and perhaps the start of something new with Full Tilt in the United States.

Isildur1’s Identity Revealed

In 2011, we’ll finally know the true identity of PokerStars sponsored pro Isildur1.  Everyone has speculated for over a year that it’s Viktor Blom and there’s been nothing to make us think it’s anybody else.  Although I have met quite a few big name pros who claim to know his identity and refuse to spill the beans, someone will slip up or PokerStars will pull a publicity stunt to let us all know it’s Blom.

No Legislation for the United States

With the recent election, there’s no real hope for legalized and regulated online poker in the United States in the next two years.  Just expect more talk, no action, and continued reports of payment processors being targeted by the Federal Government.  Meanwhile, there’s potential in New Jersey and California for intrastate internet poker.

2011 Poker Predictions

Now that another year is in the books, I get to bring out my prognosticating skills once again and dazzle you with my ability to see into the future.  What will we expect to happen in 2011 in the world of poker?  Read on to find out.

Black Card Adjustments

This is hardly a bold prediction, as we’ve been told on both the TwoPlusTwo and PocketFives.com forums by Full Tilt site rep “FTPDoug” that an adjustment for the Black Card promotion is coming, most likely in the middle of January.  The site underwent heavy criticism for altering its rakeback method, which was to the detriment to the vast majority of the player base, while rolling out what Full Tilt officials felt was a compromise in the Black Card program.

What we might see is another tier added to the Black Card program, perhaps something like a “Red Card” that rewards another Full Tilt Point multiplier for those who average 1,000 points per day.  Either way, we’ve been promised that this adjustment will be an improvement for players.

PokerStars Will Kill Short-Stacked Games

Maybe this is more wishful thinking, but the clamoring of many on the forums hasn’t gone on deaf ears.  When PokerStars decided to forge a compromise between the short-stackers and everyone else by offering three tiered games (Short, Regular, and Deep) the site did what many thought would happen and that’s kill the small- and mid-stakes full ring games.

Right now, the games are as bad as they have ever been, but by eliminating the Short buy-in tables, all will be right again with the world and the SuperNova and SuperNova Elites of the world will continue their grind.  PokerStars is aware of how its main base of regulars feels, so something will be done.

Another Merger?

We saw the merger between two superpowers in online gaming, Party Gaming and bwin, finally complete, with the two set to come together in 2011.  One trend we’ve continued to seen, given worldwide legislation, is that smaller sites aren’t growing, but rather staying the same or shrinking.  According to various industry reports, the online poker industry is shrinking at 1% annually.

According to PokerScout.com, notable gainers year-over-year include the Merge Gaming Network (up 134%), 888 (up 8%), and PokerStars (up 7%).  Notable losers include Everest Poker (down 64%), Cake Poker (down 59%), the iPoker Network (down 31%), and the CEREUS Network (down 31%).  It’ll be very hard to imagine some of the smaller networks not going belly up or merging with others in order to survive today’s shrinking market.

More Live Events

Although some casinos may not like to admit it, online poker does a great job of getting them exposure when special tournaments are held.  The PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has been a huge success in its first year, with many at PokerStars pleased at the response the series has received from their player base.  Online poker players, contrary to belief, do like to get out of the house and travel. Expect more live event tie-ins in 2011 and perhaps the start of something new with Full Tilt in the United States.

Isildur1’s Identity Revealed

In 2011, we’ll finally know the true identity of PokerStars sponsored pro Isildur1.  Everyone has speculated for over a year that it’s Viktor Blom and there’s been nothing to make us think it’s anybody else.  Although I have met quite a few big name pros who claim to know his identity and refuse to spill the beans, someone will slip up or PokerStars will pull a publicity stunt to let us all know it’s Blom.

No Legislation for the United States

With the recent election, there’s no real hope for legalized and regulated online poker in the United States in the next two years.  Just expect more talk, no action, and continued reports of payment processors being targeted by the Federal Government.  Meanwhile, there’s potential in New Jersey and California for intrastate internet poker.

Brad Daugherty WSOP Main Event Bracelet for Sale on eBay

For those looking for a Christmas gift for the poker player in your life, another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is in its final hours of bidding at the online auction site eBay.

Brad Daugherty has put his 1991 WSOP Main Event bracelet up for sale on eBay, following in the footsteps of several other former winners. Daugherty’s bracelet is somewhat different, however, in that his first name is prominently engraved on its face with each of the four suits in the corners. On the back of the bracelet, the words “1991 World Champion of Poker, Binion’s Horseshoe” are engraved.

According to the eBay specs on the item, Daugherty’s bracelet is 96 grams of 14K gold and does not have any of the jewels that you see on bracelets today. With this in mind, the scrap value of Daugherty’s 1991 WSOP Main Event bracelet is $2,484.50 at current exchange rates. It also appears that Daugherty is the man behind the sale, commenting on both the eBay auction and his own website, “This bracelet supplied by Neiman Marcus to the World Series, symbolizes my win of the 1991 World Championship, and the first ever first prize of $1,000,000.”

The WSOP bracelet is the only one Daugherty has won in his career as a poker player. It is also historic in the fact that it was awarded to the first ever winner of $1 million for capturing the WSOP Main Event championship. Daugherty is also famous for writing poker books, most notably “Championship Satellite Strategy and No Limit Texas Hold’em for New Players” with fellow Main Event champ Tom McEvoy.

What may be a bit surprising considering the scrap value of the WSOP bracelet is the price the auction is currently pulling. As of this afternoon – with less than 13 hours left in the bidding – Daugherty’s 1991 WSOP Main Event bracelet has 11 bids, with the top one coming in at $15,001. However, there is a reserve on the item that has not yet been met, meaning that if the reserve is not been reached, the seller has the right to pull the item from the auction block.

Over the course of 2010, there have been several WSOP bracelets that have found their way to eBay. At the start of the year, a bracelet won by poker legend T.J. Cloutier was sold through eBay after he pawned it to a Plano, Texas pawnshop. In the 10-day auction, 13 bids were placed before the bracelet sold for $4,006. The online poker site Cake Poker was its buyer and promptly returned it to the five-time WSOP bracelet winner.

The action for WSOP bracelets picked up towards the end of the year when 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate put his bracelet up for auction to benefit UNICEF after he announced his retirement from poker. In a frenzied auction, 116 bidders – including poker pro Tony G, who was looking to make the poker trophy into a dog collar – drove the price of the bracelet to $147,500. At this time, no one has stepped forward to publicly claim ownership.

Around the same time as Eastgate’s auction, Paul “Eskimo” Clark’s 1999 Razz bracelet was put up for auction. In the case of this bidding war, the seller was not Clark himself, but rather a mysterious owner in Ireland. Even though the seller wasn’t its original winner and the memorabilia wasn’t the jewel-encrusted version of WSOP bracelets that we see today, it still sold for $4,050.

The 1999 WSOP bracelet won by Hassan Kamoei in the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys event went through its 10-day bid process and received no action from its starting price of $3,800. Last week, the sale of Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso’s 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo on eBay ended after no one offered the asking price of $126,500.

The poker community has been discussing the recent Daugherty sale through several outlets. Over Twitter, UB.com sponsored pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin opined, “Will be hilarious how much less than Eastgate’s the bracelet goes for with a monstrous ‘BRAD’ on the front. Twisted part of me wants it.” He followed up later with a proposition for his followers, “Office pool guess on final sale price: $34,750. Anyone want in on a group bracelet timeshare?” Baldwin already holds one bracelet himself.

Buy Daugherty’s bracelet.

December 19th – Weekly Update

Welcome back to the Poker News Daily Weekly update where we highlight the biggest stories in the world of poker. I’m your host, Sean Gibson, and let’s get to the news.

Well, It’s shaping up to be an interesting last few days of the current Congressional session for members of the online poker community. On Tuesday, Politico published an article revealing that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was attempting to add a bill legalizing online poker to the measure extending tax cuts.

Politico confirmed Reid’s desires with Senator Orrin Hatch. Senator Jon Kyl, one of the masterminds of the original UIGEA, would not allow the plan to come to fruition. Kyl told Politico,

“[There is] zero chance – no chance whatsoever that would be part of the tax deal. I don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”

We’ll keep you posted on this constantly changing story.

Nearly leading the tournament wire-to-wire, Antonio Esfandiari took down the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour. Esfandiari, a Victory Poker pro, banked eight hundred seventy thousand dollars for his efforts. The tournament can be seen as part of Season Nine of the WPT on Fox Sports Net next year.

Esfandiari edged out fellow Victory Poker pro Andrew Robl heads-up when “The Magician’s” King Jack held against Robl’s Queen Ten on the final hand. Here’s how the final group of six cashed out in the ten thousand dollar buy-in tournament:

1. Antonio Esfandiari – $870,124
2. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – $549,003
3. Vanessa Rousso – $358,964
4. John Racener – $232,271
5. Kirk Morrison – $168,924
6. Ted Lawson – $126,693

Earlier this week, PokerStars took the unexpected step of signing Isildur1. The Swede gained fame by multi-tabling against the world’s best players including Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Dwan. The signing is atypical for PokerStars, which usually aims to ink established pros who have had a ton of television face time. This time around, they’ve gone with a player without an identity who has yet to play on TV.

As part of his sponsorship deal, Isildur1 will be taking part in high-stakes heads-up SuperStar Showdown matches exclusively played at PokerStars. These matches are feature a format of twenty five hundred hands at stakes no lower than fifty, one hundred. The official word from PokerStars is that these SuperStar Showdown matches will be played either as No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha.

Poker News Daily polled the online poker industry to see what reaction several pros had to Isildur1’s signing. CardRunners founder Taylor Caby had this to say:

“I’m definitely excited to see Isildur1 back in the spotlight. As a poker fan, I’ve enjoyed watching him play and I’ll be on the rail when he starts playing again.”

Jay Rosenkrantz, founder of DeucesCracked said:

“Seems like a good move for PokerStars, creating a bit of a distraction too amidst all these legislative happenings. Watching Isildur1 play nosebleeds was better entertainment than anything on television and if they can create that kind of spectacle again, I’m sure it will be a good thing for their business and for poker.”

Unleashed Poker is handing out presents to all of its players this holiday season. Players on the site will have the opportunity to earn numerous prizes as part of Unleashed Poker’s Christmas Giveaways. From now until December Twenty-First, players can pick up exclusive Unleashed Poker swag along with high-end electronics. For those partial to Apple products, iPod Shuffles, iPod Touches, and iPads will be given away.

Players on the virtual felts at Unleashed Poker will earn Frequent Player Points, which can be used for the Christmas Giveaway prizes. Unleashed Poker will give out one FPP for each dollar raked at the tables and every prize has an associated FPP level. Unleashed Poker makes its home on the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network.

Actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and former World Series of Poker Main Event champ Joe Cada will host the third annual All In For Cerebral Palsy celebrity charity poker tournament at the Venetian’s poker room on Saturday. Proceeds from the event will benefit the One Step Closer Foundation, a non-profit organization whose main goal is to ease the lives of those who suffer from cerebral palsy through financial freedom and social acceptance.

The No Limit Hold’em charity tournament will have a five hundred forty dollar buy-in with unlimited two hundred dollar rebuys for ninety minutes. Half of the prize pool will go for the tournament’s payouts, with the other half going to the foundation. There will also be sports and Hollywood memorabilia available through auctions and an after-party with free drinks courtesy of the One Step Closer Foundation. Players can register at the Venetian Poker Room cage until the end of the rebuy period.

Finally, Full Tilt Poker released a software update on Monday that addressed many of its customers’ requests. Among the new features to the software were an “Auto Add-On” button for rebuys and a “Quick Fold to Any Bet” option for Rush Poker players.

The “Auto Add-On” button was probably the most asked-for feature that Full Tilt’s software was missing up until this latest upgrade. After PokerStars inserted a clickable “Auto Add-On” box for its rebuy tournaments in June of last year, Full Tilt players requested the same. It took well over a year, but the site came through for its multi-tablers who were frustrated about forgetting to add on after the rebuy hour. Full Tilt happily accepts players from the United States.

Well, that does it for a very busy and exciting week in the world of poker. Be sure to stay tuned in to Poker News Daily for the absolute latest in poker news and be sure to follow us at twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson, thanking you for watching and wishing you a sick run this weekend at the tables!

Unleashed Poker Offers Special Holiday Promotions

Unleashed Poker is looking to hand out presents to all their players this holiday season. Players on the site will have the opportunity to earn numerous prizes as part of Unleashed Poker’s Christmas Giveaways. From now until December 21st, players can pick up exclusive Unleashed Poker swag along with high-end electronic prizes. For those partial to Apple products, iPod Shuffles, iPod Touches, and iPads will be given away. These gifts will be handed out to players who are in action on the Unleashed Poker tables.

Players on the virtual felt at Unleashed Poker will earn Frequent Player Points (FPPs) until December 21st; during this time, the points can be used for the Christmas Giveaway prizes. Unleashed Poker will give out one FPP for each dollar raked at the table. Each prize has an associated FPP level.

The grand prize, however, is something poker players enjoy any time of the year: cold, hard cash. Unleashed Poker will be holding its first ever Christmas Tournament on December 21st, which will have a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players can use their FPPs to enter the tournament (if they fall short of an Apple product) and it is expected that the tournament will give players one last shot to their bank accounts for the holidays.

Unleashed Poker is a card-carrying member of the Cake Poker Network. As such, there are five days left to go in the Turbo Gold Card promotion, where players can pick up valuable Gold Cards for playing on the cash game tables at Unleashed Poker. Gold Cards will be hitting the tables at increased intervals throughout the day, allowing players to pick them up simply for being seated. These Gold Cards afford players special entry into tournaments, can be converted into cash, or can be used in the Unleashed Exchange program, where players can swap cards for special events.

Another promotion for Gold Cards is the Match and Win program. Players who have built a healthy supply of Gold Cards can earn money by turning them into Unleashed Poker. Varying in denomination from $10 to $25,000 in cash rewards, this program should help players pay some of the holiday credit card bills come January.

For those looking for some relief from the cold, Unleashed Poker sending a squadron of players to participate in the Aussie Millions in January. Held at the Crown Casino in sunny Melbourne, the Aussie Millions is the first major event on the poker tournament circuit of the year and usually draws some of the biggest names in the game. Unleashed Poker will be offering satellites to the event, giving players the opportunity to get into a prestigious Main Event on the cheap.

Daily satellites starting at $1.10 are running for the Aussie Millions promotions, which will move players into the quarterfinals. Unleashed Poker offers two tracks in the quarterfinals, a $7.70 rebuy tournament and a $11 freezeout event that will send players to the weekly Sunday semifinals. If players can pass through the semifinals, they will be playing on December 19th for a seat in the Aussie Millions.

The winners of the seats during the Aussie Millions Finals will be getting perhaps the best Christmas present of all. Unleashed Poker will be giving out a $14,000 prize package to the winners, which includes a player’s buy-in to the Aussie Millions Main Event, a 10-night stay at the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne, and $2,500 to help with travel to Australia. It would be a great way to cap off the Christmas season for several fortunate players.

So while the weather outside may be frightful, Unleashed Poker is giving players a reason to stay inside and play poker throughout December. To get into the action, visit Unleashed Poker.

Stupid donkeys! Send them to Oxfam with Cake Poker

When we say a Christmas promotion here, we’re not just talking about slapping a Santa hat and a candy cane graphic on a $500 deposit bonus. This is one of those genuine, charitable, help-your-fellow-man Christmas things that you don’t hear about too often. And it comes courtesy of online poker network Cake Poker.

Cake Poker Announces December Donkey Promotion

One of the common reactions poker players have about an opponent’s play is calling them a “donkey.” With that in mind, Cake Poker has come up with a promotion that will allow players to salute their favorite “donkey” while helping out a charitable organization with a worldwide reach.

Throughout the month of December, Cake Poker is accepting donations that will allow contributors to purchase a real, live donkey that will be gifted to Oxfam. If you’re not familiar with the organization, Oxfam provides working farm animals to families in need around the world. There are several different donation methods that can found under the “Events” tab at Cake Poker.

Players can donate from $5 to $300 towards the cause, with each donkey costing $100. If a player donates $100 for the full donkey, they will be able to dedicate the hardest working animal in poker to someone they deem worthy – an adversary on the virtual felt, a non-poker friend, or even a family member. Cake Poker will share these dedications through their blog.

January is one of the busiest months on the live tournament poker calendar and Cake Poker will be running satellites to send players to the Aussie Millions. One of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, this year’s Aussie Millions begins on January 13th and will feature 20 different events, capped off by a $10,000 Championship Event. Players can earn their seat through several satellites that Cake Poker is offering.

Daily qualifiers for Cake Poker’s Aussie Millions promotion start as low as $1.10 and can earn a pleasant trip to sunny Melbourne for those who win a seat. Cake Poker is offering players a $14,000 prize package to the Aussie Millions Championship Event, which includes the tournament’s buy-in, a ten-night stay at the luxurious Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne, and $2,500 in cash to help with travel expenses. With the Aussie Millions so close, however, players will have to hustle to earn their seat, as the promotion ends on December 19th.

Cake Poker will also be offering its Turbo Gold Card promotion from now until December 12th. For players on the cash tables at Cake, the Gold Cards that they earn will come four times more often than normal. In conjunction with the Turbo Gold Card promotion, Cake will also offer the “Match and Win” promotion, where players can turn their Gold Cards into extra cash.

Finally, Cake Poker will continue the Champions League Tournament Series. The UEFA Champions League is the annual soccer competition for the top clubs in Europe. To commemorate the event, Cake Poker will host a nightly tournament on each day of Champions League matches on December 7th and 8th. Players who finish in the money in both tournaments will receive an extra $50 beyond what they earn for cashing.

Whatever players may be looking for, Cake Poker has it throughout the month of December. Visit Cake Poker for more details.

Carbon Poker Launches Mac Client

Mac poker players can ring in the holiday season a little earlier this year. On Wednesday, Carbon Poker will unveil a fully downloadable Mac client. In addition to Carbon Poker, the Mac software will debut across the USA-friendly Merge Gaming Network.

The Mac client has been being beta tested to this point and will now be available for public consumption tomorrow night. Interested players can download the Mac version from Carbon Poker’s website or from other skins of the Merge Gaming Network. There are only a handful of sites that offer fully functional Mac clients, including Full Tilt and PokerStars. Other sites like PartyPoker and Bodog offer web-based clients that have major limitations. However, they still allow Mac users to play online poker.

Atil Singh, Head of Acquisition at Carbon Poker, told Poker News Daily on the eve of the Mac client’s launch, “Having the ability to offer potential customers a Mac version of our software is quite significant. Numerous studies have shown that Apple’s market share in the U.S. has grown to over 10% in 2010 and will continue to grow rapidly moving forward. Our affiliates can now target an unsaturated market of potential Carbon Poker players. There has never been a better time to be Mac-friendly.”

Singh added that Mac players will be impressed with the features of the new Carbon Poker client that will be rolled out on Wednesday: “Beta testing on the new client has gone very well and some of the new features have been especially popular. Tournament lobbies now open in a separate window, full screen mode has been optimized for smoother play, and improvements have been made to the software’s performance on smaller computers and netbooks.”

To this point, Mac users have had to hunt down a program like Parallels or Boot Camp in order to load Windows-based software on their computers. Now, Mac players can download the Merge Gaming software right onto their machines, most likely leading to an increase in player counts. The rollout of the Mac software is scheduled for 7:00pm ET on Wednesday.

Merge Gaming officials have also been jumping for joy this week after Monday’s update to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic. The Merge Gaming Network leapfrogged both Everest Poker and the Cake Poker Network to move to #22 worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. According to PokerScout.com, the Merge Gaming Network boasts a seven-day running average of 820 real money ring game players, ahead of Everest Poker and the Cake Poker Network’s 810.

Besides Carbon Poker, other Merge Gaming Network rooms include Aced, Big Bet Poker, Overbet, PDC Poker, PokerHost, and RPM Poker. The Merge Gaming Network is based in Australia and hosts its game servers on the Kahnawake reservation in Canada.

In December, Carbon Poker is holding a $50,000 Grand Prix, which awards cash prizes to players who rack up VIP Points on its felts. The top 500 spots will pay out and a minimum prize of $10 is up for grabs. A total of $50,000 in cash will be dished out during the December promotion, with a top prize of $3,000.

Carbon Poker and the Merge Gaming Network happily accept players from the United States.

U.S. Government Seizes eWalletXpress Funds

The truth about the “technical issues” with eWalletXpress was given new light earlier this week when the payment processing company was served a warrant from the U.S. Government. According to an article by SportsbookGurus.com, management at a major online gambling site confirmed that the warrant had been served and the seizures had already begun, although specific details have not been released. What we do know is that eWalletXpress will not be available for U.S. players until further notice.

Beginning on November 12th, eWalletXpress was suddenly unavailable to customers and the company blamed the shutdown on “technical issues.” Then, about a week later, merchants received the following e-mail from the company: “We regret to inform you that we are no longer able to continue service at this time due to a federal warrant issued to seize our funds.” On its website, eWalletXpress removed the “USA” option for new users attempting to make an account, leaving Canada as the only country to choose.

While the company has made no official statement, details are leaking in slowly as online bettors continue to ask questions. The information we do have leads us to believe that eWalletXpress will exit the U.S. market for good in order to avoid prosecution, much like Neteller did a few years ago.

SportsbookGurus.com sources have stated that account holders who currently have money on eWalletXpress can currently request to receive their funds through the e-mail address payouts@ewalletxpress.com. eWalletXpress will allegedly transfer funds back into checking accounts when the “technical issues” are resolved and officials have assured players that any money in their account is safe.

The online poker site most affected by the seizure is likely Bodog, which offered eWalletXpress as one of its primary deposit methods. Customers can now use MyPayLinQ and Digital-Pin to fund their Bodog accounts as well as bank transfers or credit cards if available. Other online poker rooms that offered eWalletXpress as a deposit option were Carbon Poker, DoylesRoom, and Cake Poker.

Back in 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice seized up to $55 million in customer funds from Neteller, which caused uproar in the online poker community. At the time, Neteller was the primary method of transferring funds to and from online poker accounts. When the firm’s two Canadian founders were arrested and charged with racketeering and money laundering, customers were blocked from withdrawing their money back to their bank accounts.

Among those who had money on Neteller was poker pro Isaac Haxton, who had more than $800,000 sitting in his account at the time of the seizure. Haxton placed second at the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas, at which point PokerStars transferred his earnings ($861,789) to his online poker account. Haxton planned to use Neteller to transfer the funds to his bank account, but while the transaction was being processed, Neteller’s founders were arrested and the Department of Justice intervened. Neteller agreed to pay a fine after about a year of negotiations and was able to release player funds.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on this story.

Poker Community Reacts to Recent WSOP Bracelet Auctions

This year has featured something that many in the poker world would seemingly find unbelievable, the auctioning of World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets on sites like eBay.

In January, one of T.J. Cloutier’s bracelets was put up for sale by a Plano pawn shop and sold for $4,006 to the online site Cake Poker, which then returned the bracelet to Cloutier.

This week, the 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet of the now retired Peter Eastgate was auctioned for UNICEF, fetching an astounding $147,500 from an anonymous bidder on Thanksgiving Day.

Currently ongoing is an auction on eBay for Paul “Eskimo” Clark’s 1999 WSOP bracelet, which he apparently had sold to a third party. At press time, bidding on Clark’s poker trophy had reached $3,850 with almost four days left to go in the auction.

With the recent wave of WSOP bracelet auctions, people might wonder if the phrase “it’s all about the bracelets” really means anything. “Just because we say it’s all about the bracelet doesn’t mean it’s about the physical bracelet,” three-time WSOP bracelet winner Barry Greenstein responded.

“It’s about winning,” Greenstein continued. “However, I am very aware of how many I have won. And I can’t remember how many finishes I’ve had that resulted in higher payouts than my wins. On the other hand, I know of several instances where people made deals to get extra money and let someone else win the bracelet. In every case I know of, the person who took the extra money regretted it later.”

Antonio Esfandiari, who won a WSOP bracelet in 2004, echoed Greenstein’s sentiments: “The bracelet means a lot. Mine is safely kept in my safe and I will never sell it – that’s for sure. However, each person has a different connection with their bracelet… To some people, it might be just a piece of jewelry and to others it might be the most valuable thing they own.”

Poker Stars pro Chad Brown, who has earned over $3 million in his career, believes that each individual places their own priority on how important a WSOP bracelet is. “(The importance of a bracelet) I feel is an individual thing and personal to each person. I would feel like I didn’t accomplish everything in my career if I didn’t win one. With that said, however, even if I had won a WSOP bracelet, it wouldn’t come close to me winning Player of the Year in 2006. For the rest of my life, I can say that in 2006, I performed better than any other player over a calendar year.”

WSOP Circuit champion Matt “All In At 420” Stout said, “I don’t believe that a few players who are broke enough or have little enough respect for the most coveted prize in poker reflect the way that most of the poker community feels about bracelets accurately. Bracelets are still extremely important to most tournament poker players and acquiring one is one of the life goals of many players, myself included.”

UB.com pro Joe Sebok took a similar viewpoint: “The talk isn’t meaningless, but we live in a society where cash is king. We have seen championship rings sold from time to time, so why not bracelets?” A multiple WSOP bracelet winner who asked to remain anonymous agreed: “If some former champions get in a bind – and I am not one of them – I can understand how tempting it might be to sell one.”

One organization that values its trophies is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which has awarded the top prize in movies, the Academy Award of Merit (otherwise known as the Oscars) since 1927. In 1950, AMPAS introduced a requirement to Oscar winners that, if they wished to sell the statuette they had won, it would first have to be offered back to AMPAS for the price of $1.

If the recipient of the award refuses to agree to this stipulation, then AMPAS keeps the Oscar statuette. In theory, this would prevent the most valued prize in the film industry from being sold on the open market.

When posed with the question of whether Caesars Entertainment, the owners of the WSOP brand, should do something along these lines with bracelets, those polled by Poker News Daily were evenly split. “I suppose it would make sense for Harrah’s to have a program in which they’d buy them back to avoid these public sales,” Stout stated. Sebok agreed: “Sure, why not? Seems like a reasonable thing for the WSOP to do. Protect the brand and the importance of the bracelet.”

Esfandiari, however, thought the idea of Harrah’s maintaining a “buy back” clause was absurd: “Of course not… That is ridiculous. You win your bracelet and you keep it. What you do with it is entirely up to you. You want to sell it, go ahead… It’s your prerogative.”

Nolan Dalla, the Media Director of the WSOP since 2002, agreed with Esfandiari, saying, “The players win the bracelets and they are free to do with them as they please. Out of the approximately 890 gold bracelets that have been awarded over 41 years, the overwhelming majority are cherished possessions.”

Eastgate’s selling of his 2008 Main Event bracelet for the charitable organization UNICEF was generally viewed as acceptable. “Peter Eastgate made a nice charitable gesture and his bracelet is going for a lot more than it would have been sold for if not for the charity,” our anonymous multiple bracelet winner stated.

Stout agreed somewhat: “I do commend Eastgate for donating all of the profits to charity. At least his decision to quit the game and show no respect for the bracelet is going to benefit some people in need.”

Then again, maybe the uproar over three bracelets appearing on an online auction site is much ado about nothing. Dalla succinctly explained, “What’s the total number of gold bracelets sold? Three? Maybe a few more than that? That’s less than 1% of all the WSOP gold bracelets that have been awarded in history. In other words, more than 99% of gold bracelets are in possession of the winners or their families. You ask, ‘Is all the talk about the bracelets meaningless?’ The real question you should be asking is, ‘Why are there not more people selling their gold bracelets?’ The reason is obvious: Because they are such coveted prizes to everyone who plays poker.”

Peter Eastgate’s WSOP Bracelet Passes $100,000

Hold the phone. Bidding on 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Peter Eastgate’s bracelet has crossed into six-figures. With just less than a day remaining before the witching hour strikes on the bidding, the asking price stands at a balmy $100,100. Buy it now.

This morning, the price of Eastgate’s bracelet ballooned from $82,000 all the way to over $100,000. The bidding could escalate considerably further from here and whoever strikes gold may receive their bracelet just in time for the holidays, as the estimated delivery date is between December 24th and January 6th.

On TwoPlusTwo, posters were trying to rationalize the astronomically high asking price for Eastgate’s heirloom. One poster recalled an Olympic swimmer who took the same approach as Eastgate, who is donating all proceeds to UNICEF: “In a similar move to Eastgate’s, back in 2005 swimmer Anthony Ervin auctioned off his Olympic gold medal for charity. Obviously his medal’s not as valuable as one from Michael Phelps or Marc Spitz, but it still brought $17K. Any true Olympic medal would bring a decent amount at auction. I think a WSOP ME bracelet, the most valuable piece of poker memorabilia ever on the market, would certainly fall into that category.”

Meanwhile, posters were guessing how much Eastgate’s bracelet would ultimately sell for. Estimates from $102,000 to nearly $150,000 were tossed out, which seem like strong possibilities now. One poster explained, “There have been only 41 WSOP ME bracelets won. 41 in the whole world. Yes, a lot of collectors would love to have this bracelet to put beside their other collectibles from baseball, boxing, tennis, golf, football, and auto racing… Good for you, Peter.”

Then there’s Tony G. The PartyPoker pro told the world that he was entering the frenzy for Eastgate’s bracelet in order to give his dog a shiny new collar. Interestingly, Tony G seemed to have predicted the going rate for a 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet in a blog when bidding first opened: “Carry on bidding, this bracelet is going to go for six-figures. I respect Zasko too much to not pay what it takes, but I do have limits. For $2 million, I could buy him his own private jet!”

As to who could land the bracelet in the end, an online poker site like PokerStars or Full Tilt would make sense. Each could put the bracelet in their respective points stores or give it away through a tournament. When T.J. Cloutier‘s bracelet was put up on eBay in January, Cake Poker came away with the hardware and promptly returned it to its rightful owner. Word also broke this week that Eskimo Clark is selling his 1999 WSOP bracelet.

In case you’re still in the running, here’s the full description as given on eBay’s auction site: “Stamped 18 k, white gold ‘World Series of Poker 2008’ Main Event winner’s medal bracelet. Consisting of 291 small ‘Brilliant’ cut diamonds set on a center medal, which is held on an 18k white gold wristwatch style bracelet. Carat: Total Diamond. Weight: 2.81ct. Clarity: VS. Color: Colorless. Total gold weight: 168 grams. Manufactured by Corum.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the results.

Eskimo Clark’s 1999 WSOP Bracelet for Sale on eBay

While the bidding for Peter Eastgate’s 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event bracelet is hitting the homestretch, another former bracelet winner’s trophy has made its way to the auction block.

On Sunday, an eBay auction began for the 1999 WSOP bracelet won by Paul “Eskimo” Clark in a $1,500 Razz event. The bracelet is one of three that the veteran poker player has won, but it appears from the auction information that Clark is not the one who is selling the priceless memento. A quick look at the seller, “anarcnub,” reveals that the person or organization putting the bracelet up for auction is located in Ireland, meaning that Clark, who calls Las Vegas home, may have sold the bracelet to someone else already.

The 1999 bracelet is devoid of the diamond encrusted versions that we see for WSOP bracelets nowadays. At that time, the bracelets were simply carved with the words “World Series of Poker” and the year. The bracelet is 117.1 grams of gold, which by current standards of roughly $44.20 per gram would mean its melted down price would come to slightly over $5,175.

The auction is in its early stages, with over eight days left to go. The bidding for the 1999 WSOP bracelet started at $1,000 and, at press time, had received action from two bidders and generated six bids. The current price is $2,076.39, but there is a reserve on the item. This means that, unless the auction reaches a certain unstated price, the bracelet would be removed from sale and stay with its current owner. At the moment, the reserve has not been met.

The TwoPlusTwo forums have been abuzz about yet another WSOP bracelet hitting the auction block. Some have posted that Clark’s bracelet looks less than impressive considering what it was awarded for and wonder about the authenticity of the item. Poster “Treehorn” commented in one of the threads generated about the sale, “Those bracelets really look tacky and cheap.” Poster “TB303” agreed by adding, “Did they let him engrave it himself?” The auction for Clark’s bracelet will end on December 1st.

On the other end of the spectrum, Eastgate’s bracelet from his victory in the Main Event in 2008 ends on the morning of Thanksgiving. Eastgate, who stated earlier this year that he was leaving the tournament poker scene, put his Main Event bracelet on eBay, with the proceeds from the sale benefiting UNICEF. Over the past week, the action on the item has soared into the stratosphere as bidders look to capture another priceless poker item.

As of today, the auction is sitting at a whopping $100,100, with 87 bids received on Eastgate’s bracelet. Over 30 different bidders have been in action on the item, including poker pro Antanas “Tony G” Guoga. The PartyPoker sponsored pro has stated that he is looking to win the ongoing eBay battle for the bracelet and have it made into a dog collar for his German Shepherd, Zasko. In his latest blog, Guoga states, “I may not appear to be there (monitoring the bidding on eBay) but there is always a presence… a guiding hand.”

Earlier this year, a Plano pawn shop put six-time WSOP bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier’s 2005 $5,000 No Limit Hold’em bracelet up for sale, getting $4,000 for it from the online poker room Cake Poker. The poker room then gave it back to Cloutier, something that is unlikely to happen with either Eastgate’s and Clark’s poker trophies.

Peter Eastgate Auctioning Off 2008 WSOP Main Event Bracelet

If you have ever wanted to own a piece of poker history, now is your chance.  This week, 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate put his gold bracelet up for auction on eBay.  But before you wonder if he is “busto,” it should be noted that the sale is an eBay Giving Works charitable listing and the proceeds from the auction will benefit the United States Fund for UNICEF.  Buy it now.

In a translated press release, the young Dane said, “Of course, I still have great pride in my title, but I will never use the bracelet.  I thought they (UNICEF) could better benefit from the bracelet.  Hopefully it will do a lot of people good.”

Swiss luxury watchmaker Corum manufactured Eastgate’s bracelet.  It is made from 168 grams of 18-karat white gold and set with 291 diamonds.  According to pokernyhederne.com, an independent jeweler valued the bracelet at £10,000, or $15,990.  As such, Eastgate set the minimum bid on eBay at $16,000.  As of the time of writing, there has been one bid placed on the collectable for the minimum and the next valid bid must be $16,100 or higher.  The current high bidder appears to be new to eBay, as he or she has no past bid history.  The auction will end at 9:04am ET on November 25th.

While the sale of a WSOP Main Event bracelet may come as a shock to most people, it is not completely out of character for the 2008 champ.  In July, Eastgate announced that he was taking an indefinite leave from live tournament poker.  In a statement, he said in part, “When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I achieved that by winning the WSOP Main Event in 2008.”

He continued, “In the 20 months following my WSOP win, I feel that I have lost my motivation for playing high level poker along the way and I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

Eastgate had originally planned to compete in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, but changed his mind, opting to attend the World Cup in South Africa instead.  He had already made the decision to not participate in any preliminary events, as he did not care about winning another bracelet.  He felt the only motivation to win more events was if he had side bets with other pros, but he opted against that because he is really only a Hold’em player, something that would put him at a disadvantage in any sort of bracelet competition.

The sale of a WSOP bracelet from any event is rare, but not unprecedented.  In January, T.J. Cloutier pawned his bracelet from the 2005 $5,000 Limit Hold’em event at the Plano Pawn Shop in Texas.  The store turned around and auctioned it off on eBay, with online poker room Cake Poker buying it for just over $4,000.  Cake Poker eventually returned the hardware to Cloutier.

UNICEF, the organization that will receive the proceeds from Eastgate’s auction, was formed in December 1946 by the United Nations to provide aid to children in war-torn China and Europe.  The organization now works to provide basic needs and protect the rights of children in developing countries around the world.  CharityNavigator.org rates it as a four-star charity, which is the highest mark the site offers.  According to the watchdog site, over 91% of UNICEF’s revenue goes to its aid programs.

Cake Poker introduces new market – The Exchange

Last week Cake Poker announced the launch of The Exchange where players on the network can buy and sell ‘Gold Cards; tokens randomly given away at cash game tables that can unlock all kinds of benefits.

Cake Poker running Champions’ League promo in November

The UEFA Champions’ League is up and running and sports fans at Cake Poker can get a little extra even if their favourite team doesn’t make the cut. On each day of Champions’ League action Cake Poker will host a tournament with a $10 buy-in running four times in November.

Aussie Millions 2011 Schedule

The wonderful world of poker is preparing itself for the biggest poker
event in the Southern Hemisphere, the Annual Aussie Millions!!

The big online poker rooms are starting to announce their programme of satellites, and the size of their prize packages. First off the mark were Cake Poker and Doyles Room, as reported in our topical Cake Poker Review and Doyles Room Review. If previous years are anything to go by other online poker sites will be letting us know how to join them down under very very soon so watch this space for up to the minute reporting – as soon as we know, you’ll know!

So, here’s what you have been waiting for, the schedule for the Aussie Millions 2011:-

Date	Time	Event	Tournament	Buy-in
Thursday 13th January	7.10pm	1	Opening Event - No Limit Holdem Day 1 Flight 1	$1,100
Friday 14th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm		Opening Event - No Limit Holdem Day 1 Flight 2	$1,100
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.10pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Saturday 15th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm		Opening Event - No Limit Holdem Day 1 Flight 3 (Re-Repechage)	$1,100
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	6.15am		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Sunday 16th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12:30:00		Opening Event - No Limit Holdem Day 2
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	4.15pm	2	PokerPro No Limit Holdem Shootout	$550
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Monday 17th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm	3	Pot Limit Omaha (2 Day Event)	$1,100
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Tuesday 18th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm	4	No Limit Holdem Shootout (2 Day Event)	$1,100
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	4.00pm		Pot Limit Omaha Day 2
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Wednesday 19th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm	5	8 Game Mixed Event (2 Day Event)	$1,100
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	4.00pm		No Limit Holdem Shootout Day 2
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Thursday 20th January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm	6	No Limit Holdem - 6 Handed (2 Day Event)	$1,100
	4.00pm		8 Game Mixed Event Day 2
	4.15pm		Phase 3 Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Friday 21st January	10.15am		Phase 1 Satellite	$65
	12.30pm	7	No Limit Holdem - Rebuys (2 Day Event)	$1,150 /Rebuys
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	4.00pm		No Limit Holdem - 6 Handed Day 2
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Saturday 22nd January	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	12.30pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	2.15pm	8	$100,000 Challenge (2 Day Event)	$100,500
	4.00pm		No Limit Holdem - Rebuys Day 2
	4.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite - Main Event	$250
Sunday 23rd January	10.15am		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	12.30pm	9	Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 1 Flight 1	$10,600
	2.00pm		$100,000 Challenge Day 2
	2.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite
	4.15pm	10	No Limit Holdem Teams Event	$550
	6.15pm		Phase 3 Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
	10.15pm		Phase 2 Satellite	$250
Monday 24th January	10.15am		Last Chance Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 1 Flight 2	$10,600
	2.15pm		Last Chance Phase 2 Satellite	$250
	4.00pm		High Stakes Cash Game	$200,000 Minimum
	6.15pm		Last Chance Supershot Satellite - Main Event	$1,150
Tuesday 25th January	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 1 Flight 3	$10,600
	4.00pm		High Stakes Cash Game	$200,000 Minimum
	4.15pm	11	No Limit Holdem	$550
Wednesday 26th January	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 2
	12.45pm	12	Pot Limit Omaha	$5,300
	2.15pm	13	Australia Heads Up Championship - (32 Players Max	$10,500
	4.15pm	14	No Limit Holdem	$550
Thursday 27th January	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 3
	12.45pm	15	8 Game Mixed Event	$10,500
	4.15pm	16	No Limit Holdem	$550
Friday 28th January	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 4
	12.45pm	17	No Limit Holdem 6 Handed	$2,200
	2.30pm		Australian Heads Up Championship - Finals
	4.15pm	18	No Limit Holdem	$550
Saturday 29th January	12.30pm		Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 5
	12.45pm	19	Feature Event - No Limit Holdem (Bounties) Day 1	$1,650
	2.00pm		No Limit Holdem 6 Handed Day 2
Sunday 30th January	12.45pm	20	Turbo No Limit Holdem	$1,100
	2.00pm		Feature Event - No Limit Holdem (Bounties) Day 2
	9.00pm		Aussie Millions Farewell Party

Poker King Joins Cake Poker Network

The latest addition to the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network is Poker King, managed by SunGame. The latter company is an Asian-facing internet gambling outfit that “provides a variety of online gaming experiences such as online live dealer, sports book, keno, slots, finance bets, and more of the hottest games,” according to a press release sent by the Cake Poker Network last week.

According to the poker traffic site PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is the 18th largest worldwide in terms of ring game activity with a seven-day running average of 970 cash game players. Its traffic is slightly higher than that found on Everest Poker and the family of sites includes DoylesRoom, Intertops, Only Poker, Power Poker, and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker. Cake Poker serves as its flagship site and, according to PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is headquartered in Curacao.

Last year, SunGame released a movie about poker appropriately dubbed “Poker King.” A company spokesperson commented in the same press release, “We are very excited and proud to launch our new poker product and we are very thankful for the incredible support of the Cake Network. It is so gratifying to work with Cake as they support our Asian currencies and Asian languages as well as our views on marketing.” The live poker circuit in Asia includes the Asian Poker Tour (APT) and PokerStars-backed Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT).

“Poker King” debuted in August 2009 in Macau during the city’s APT stop. Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun directed the movie, which stars Ching Wan Lau and Louis Koo, among others.

Cake Marketing Director Andrew Turner welcomed Poker King into the fold: “We are excited to welcome SunGame and their players to the Cake Network. SunGame is a great partner for us as they expand the geographic reach of the Cake Network with their aggressiveness to bring the real poker experience to Asia.”

The Cake Poker Network recently made a splash by signing Victory Poker, which launched on the Everleaf Network. Victory Poker, which is fronted by Antonio Esfandiari, also features pros like Andrew “good2cu” Robl, former Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood, and James “Andy McLEOD” Obst. In terms of cash game traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the fourth busiest worldwide that accepts USA players.

In other news from the Cake Poker Network, users can now view their account information in their home currency. This includes account balance, buy-ins, bet amounts, and pot sizes, making for a well-rounded experience in a player’s native money. A screen shot provided by Cake showcased the software in action with Chinese currency, complete with Chinese language spoken in the chat box and Chinese commands printed on the betting buttons.

Arguably the most famous poker player to come out of Asia is 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Johnny Chan, who hails from China. Chan won the Main Event in 1987 and 1988 before nearly three-peating in 1989. That year, he lost to then-24 year-old Phil Hellmuth heads-up. Chan’s last piece of hardware came five years ago in a $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament for $303,000. Other players with Chinese roots include former World Poker Tour Championship winner David Chiu and high-stakes cash game pro Chau Giang.

Doyle Brunson, Online Qualifiers Heading to Dominican Republic

The nice thing about online poker is that you can play cards from anywhere.  Rain or shine, hot or cold, weekend or weekday, it makes no difference as long as you have a reliable internet connection.  But sometimes it’s fun to pack a suitcase and travel somewhere with natural sunlight, even if it is just to play poker.  Enter ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Doyle Brunson and his online poker room, DoylesRoom.

Each Sunday this month, Doyle’s Room will be awarding valuable prize packages for the Punta Cana Poker Classic, which will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in the Dominican Republic.  The Classic will take place Wednesday, November 10th through Sunday, November 14th in the popular resort city on the eastern tip of the Caribbean nation.  Brunson will be there, of course, as will many of DoylesRoom‘s top pros and the Brunson 10.  The latter group is comprised of up-and-coming online poker phenoms hand selected by The Godfather of Poker himself: Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, Amit “amak316” Makhija, Dani “ansky” Stern, Chris “moorman1” Moorman, Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Dan “djk123” Kelly, and David “Doc Sands” Sands.

Each Sunday at 4:00pm ET leading up to Punta Cana Poker Classic, DoylesRoom will hold a $150 + $12 qualifier in which it plans to award a $3,100 prize package.  The package includes the $1,000 + $100 buy-in to the $100,000 Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event, $1,000 for travel (players will need to make their own flight arrangements), four nights at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino, shuttle service to and from the airport, all-inclusive food and beverage, 24-hour room service, admission to the “Dominican Night” opening event, a 50% discount on golf fees, and additional discounts on spa treatments.  While the prize pool for the Main Event is guaranteed to be $100,000, it is expected to reach at least $250,000.

One item of note is that while most online qualifiers award “at least” one prize package no matter how many players register, this is not the case for the Punta Cana Finals at DoylesRoom.  If the prize pool does not reach $3,100 (21 players), no prize package will be awarded.  In that case, the prize pool will distributed as if it were a normal tournament.

For those who do not want to shell out $162 for a shot at the Punta Cana Poker Classic prize package, there are lower buy-in satellites with which to start.  Sub-qualifiers will be held every four hours starting at 1:00am ET and will cost $2 + $0.2.  These will feed into the $20 + $2 semi-finals, which will also run every four hours each day starting at 2:00am ET.  An alternate daily semi-final will also be held every four hours starting at 2:00am ET.  This one will be a $10 + $1 rebuy tournament.  Both semi-finals will feed into the finals, which, as stated earlier, will commence each Sunday at 4:00pm ET.

DoylesRoom makes its home on the U.S.-friendly Cake Poker Network.  According to PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network, which is also home to Power Poker, Phil Laak‘s Unabomber Poker, Victory Poker, and its namesake Cake Poker, is the 19th largest network/poker room on the internet.  It is technically tied for 18th with Everest Poker in terms of seven-day average cash game game traffic, but Everest’s daily peak is higher.  The Cake Poker Network has fallen on tough times over the past year, losing a couple of key skins to the Merge Gaming Network and weathering a security problem with its software.  As a result, the network’s cash game traffic has declined 49% year over year.

DoylesRoom anticipates volume to pick up with the recent unveiling of its new Doyles Rewards program, which replaces the network-wide Gold Cards and Gold Chips.  The poker room bills it as the most generous rewards program in the industry, boasting valuable cash prizes, bonuses, and a multitude of store items for the poker room’s loyal patrons.?

New York Times Article Notes Casinos Warming To Regulated Online Gaming

An article in the Sunday edition of the New York Times notes that the land-based casino industry, for quite some time a vehement opponent to legalized online gaming and poker, is beginning to warm to the idea.

The article, written by Barry Meier, inaccurately points out that online gaming and poker are illegal (the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, only made financing an online account an actionable offense), but it does bring to light that many in the casino world are now open to the idea of legalized online gambling. After initially seeing it as a threat to their bottom line, Meier now notes that several companies’ concerns are beginning to thaw in the current economic landscape.

Meier’s article points out that, as recently as the end of 2009, the American Gaming Association (AGA) – the organization that counts such casino operations as Harrah’s Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts, among others – was in opposition to the idea of a legalized online gaming industry. That mood changed this spring, when the AGA changed its stance after the markup of Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank’s proposed bill to regulate the online gaming industry (HR 2267). After getting concessions from Frank, including a ban on those that had violated the UIGEA from being active in the online gaming market in the United States, the AGA reversed its stance and supported a regulated industry.

In his article, Meier points out the often contentious debate that has existed among those in the “brick and mortar” casino industry. Meier correctly states that some, such as Harrah’s, have actively lobbied for a regulated online gaming industry while investing heavily in such activities overseas. On the other side, Wynn Resorts has continually stated that it is against the regulatory idea, believing that it couldn’t be adequately policed. Meier asks those in charge at Wynn for a current stance on the issue. “Wynn Resorts monitors any legislative activity, federal or state, that pertains to our industry,” Meier reports was the reply. “We make judgments after such legislation is passed.”

The reason for the change of heart among those in the casino industry may be due to online poker being the main driver behind the regulatory actions. Meier points out in his article that poker in the casinos only amounts to 2% of the activity in a land-based gaming operation. If regulation were to only be for online poker, it is thought that the casino industry would not view that as a threat to their operations. If the possibility of full fledged online casinos came into play, however, there is a chance that the casino industry could have some issues with legalization and regulation.

Another possibility for the AGA’s change of stance could be the revenues generated by online poker. Meier points out in the article the results of a study by Poker Analytics, a consulting firm in New York, that says the online industry’s biggest player, PokerStars, brings in over $1 billion per year. Add to that the other U.S. facing operations such as Full Tilt Poker, the CEREUS Network, and the Cake Poker Network (among others) and it is conceivable that online poker revenues could approach up to $5 billion per year, generating tremendous revenues through regulation and taxation. All of the above noted operations, however, have been actively courting American poker players during the life of the UIGEA and may be excluded as the current legislation is written.

Currently, the push for regulation may be on life support. Frank has stated he is “not optimistic” about the passage of HR 2267, as the bill has yet to come to a vote on the House floor. With the Congress in recess until after the midterm elections in November, the issue will not be looked at until the “lame duck” session. Even if it is passed out of the House, Frank’s bill lacks the taxation legislation covered by fellow Congressman Jim McDermott’s HR 2268 and also lacks a companion bill ready for a vote in the Senate, although Senator Robert Menendez has a bill in committee. If the legislation doesn’t move through the Congress during the “lame duck” session, the bill would die when the new Congress is seated in January.

Poker News in Brief: Sep. 27- Oct. 3, 2010

So busy, in fact, the PokerListings news team may have let a few stories slip through the cracks.

Fortunately, we've collected them all in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature below.

This week, UB gives away Anthrax tickets, Cake offers some fun in the sun, an Italian wins the latest PokerStars IPT stop and a whole lot more.

Irish Masters Last Chance

Paddy Power Poker is giving players one last chance to qualify for the Irish Winter Festival.

The site’s final group of online super satellites for the Irish Masters will guarantee a specific number of Irish Masters entries, including 20 packages up for grabs Oct. 10.

The IWF Last Chance Saloon will run through Oct. 21.

"The Last Chance Saloon satellites have always been a favorite for our players but now there's an even bigger incentive to get involved with an enormous 60 seats guaranteed over the 12 day period." said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com.

The Irish Winter Festival 2010 will take place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin Oct. 22-25.

UB Anthrax Giveaway

UB has branded Anthrax frontman and Team UB pro Scott Ian’s tour bus and is giving away two tickets to every concert on the Anthrax tour through Oct. 21.

At 1 p.m. local time at each tour stop, UB will ask followers to throw a specific picture up on the UB Facebook wall. Fans will have 90 minutes to do so and a winner will be randomly selected to receive the tickets.

UB shwag is also up for grabs for the first three people to post a picture of themselves standing in front of the tour bus on each stop.

Titan Sending Winners to Vienna, Marrakech

Titan Poker is offering players the chance to win seats in the DeepStack Open Vienna 2010 and DeepStack Open Marrakech 2010.

Titan Poker is hosting an online qualifier satellites series to both events, with Stage 3 Sit & Go satellites starting from €0.22 + 0.02.

Packages include cash for flights, accommodations and buy-ins.

The DeepStack Open Vienna 2010 tournament will be held at the Montesino Casino in Vienna, Austria, Oct. 14-17, while the DeepStack Open Marrakech 2010 tournament will be held at the Casino de Marrakech in Morocco, Nov. 20-22.

UB Gets Low

October promises to be a boon for low-limit online poker players on UB.

Tagged as the Perfect Play, UB's month-long line-up of micro-stakes tourneys and contests is offering up to $100,000 in prizes to small stakes players.

There is a wide range of promos including a tournament leaderboard, deposit bonus; double loyalty rewards points on designated cash game tables and more.

For more information check out UB.

Cake Offers Punta Cana, Aussie Millions Seats

Cake Poker is running satellites for the Punta Cana Poker Classic and the 2011 Aussie Millions this month.

The $250,000 guaranteed Punta Cana Poker Classic is set for Nov. 10-14 in the Dominican Republic and Cake is offering the chance to win a $3,100 prize package, including the $1k buy-in, $1,000 in cash to help with travel expenses and four nights hotel accommodations at the Moon Palace Hotel and Casino,

Plus, Cake is also offering seats to the 2011 Aussie Millions held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia this January.

These $14,000 packages include the main event buy in, ten-nights at Crown Promenade and $2,500 for travel expenses.

"With the weather turning cooler, we're all thinking about getting away to warm places,” said Cake Card Room Manager Lee Jones “Punta Cana and Melbourne, Australia have great weather with fantastic poker action.”

For more information check out Cake Poker.

Italian Wins IPT Nova Gorica

A 23 year-old Italian took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica main event Tuesday.

Luca Topazio, whose previous best cash was for €2k at a tournament in Sharm el Sheikh, got the better of the 384-player field to collect a €190,000 first-place prize.

He beat fellow Italian Luciano Prevedello Dellisanti heads-up, leaving Dellisanti with €120,000 for second.

Sixty-one players won their seats to the event on PokerStars and with 384 players total; the prize pool reached €744,960.

The next stop in the IPT’s second Season is in San Remo Oct. 13-19.

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2010 Poker Hall of Fame Nominations by Lee Jones

Poker News Daily asked me for my thoughts about the ten finalists for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame. This caused me some angst as I decided what criteria I should use in giving my input.

I mean, let’s consider the Baseball Hall of Fame. Back in my youth, I lived and breathed baseball, so I know a little about the game. There are some interesting problems that come up in selecting candidates there.  For instance, people still argue whether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. His results on the field are beyond dispute, but then he sullied the entire game with his subsequent gambling problems.

As I thought about that, I decided that if I had a vote (which I don’t), I would have to include a component that I wasn’t embarrassed to see that person in the Hall of Fame, no matter what his or her accomplishments were on the felt. If it helps gauge my attitude about this, in my record book, Hank Aaron is the home run leader.

So here are this year’s candidates, broken into a few groups.

Ship them this year, please

Chris Ferguson: Chris is arguably the most recognizable poker player in the world (who doesn’t live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). He helped develop the software for Full Tilt and via his sponsorship by them has appeared on what seems like virtually every poker TV show in history. And he’s got five bracelets. Chris is soft-spoken and a bit of an introvert, but he is always pleasant and polite with the fans that surround him begging for autographs.

Dan Harrington: Another guy who has been around forever and has made himself relevant at the tables and as a writer. It is strong enough that he won the 1995 WSOP Main Event. However, his back-to-back final tables in the 2003 and 2004 Main Events, the latter of which had a post-boom field of 2,576 players, may make him the “Johnny Vander Meer of Poker.”

While many others had reached consecutive final tables in the sub-100 player fields of the early days, Harrington may well be the only person who will ever do it when the average field of the two consecutive events was over 1,500. Away from the tables, Dan has been a prolific and highly influential writer, perhaps best known for quantifying the “M” value of stack size in a tournament.

Linda Johnson: Linda isn’t a regular participant in the tournament tour (she’s too busy running poker cruises), so you’re not going to see her racking up a room full of tournament trophies, her bracelet in Razz notwithstanding. But her true value to the game has been twofold:

1. She nurtured the game through its dark times and never slowed down after the boom. Even with her busy schedule, she hosts poker meetings, answers e-mail questions about poker, makes appearances, teaches classes, and acts as the ultimate poker ambassador.

2. Her generosity, both through poker and outside of it, is unimaginable. Linda and I are friends and much of what she does is under the radar. She has shared her good fortune with more people than anybody (including her) could count.

Tom McEvoy: Tom won the WSOP Main Event 27 years ago. And then last year he won a made-for-TV tournament of former champions. He still cashes in major events and made himself relevant in the online poker world early with his representation of PokerStars. On the ambassador front, he is unfailingly polite and gracious (and in fact was one of the first people to push for non-smoking poker tournaments).

Erik Seidel: Erik is my sleeper. He is one of those folks (along with Barry Greenstein) who truly understands poker’s place in the greater world. He’s got a family and spends enough time away from them with his Full Tilt duties as it is. So, he doesn’t choose to play in every cash game and TV show that he could. In short, if Erik Seidel devoted every waking minute to poker and promoting himself, the writers would be climbing all over each other to vote for him.

His famous battle with Johnny Chan was in the 1988 WSOP Main Event – 22 years ago – and he’s won eight bracelets since. In short, I suspect that poker Hall of Famedom is not high on Erik’s list of life priorities. Sort of the “Cal Ripken of Poker,” Erik has simply gone out and done his job, incredibly well, for over two decades. Oh, and he’s been a gentleman throughout, from the baseball cap right down to the running shoes. I’d stand up and cheer at his Hall of Fame induction.

Just wait, they’ll be in

Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, and Jennifer Harman: These three are getting in – it may just take a little time. The internet has made time compress, but remember we’re talking the Hall of Fame, not All-Star, balloting here. For instance, unless a meteor strikes the Earth and envelops the planet in a two-year smoke cloud that destroys life as we know it, Phil Ivey is going into the Poker Hall of Fame at some point. But another five years won’t change that and will likely only add to his already near-immortal resume.

Greenstein and Harman have been mixing it up in the biggest poker games in the world for the last decade or so; they have no difficulty there. And Harman was the go-to person when the big game denizens needed help in their match against Andy Beal. Furthermore, both have recently turned their attention to charitable work – that’s huge in my book. I just want to let their cakes bake a little while longer.

Honorable mention

Scotty Nguyen: Forgive me, but his antics take him off my list (as they did for fellow PND writer Dan Cypra). Scotty certainly has the poker (and crowd-attracting) chops to get into the Hall of Fame, but until he gets his behavior under control, he’s not on my list.

Daniel Negreanu: So I really like Daniel. He’s a great guy and fun to talk to. And given another few years, his tournament and cash game record would almost certainly merit Hall of Fame consideration. But he needs to learn to control his rants. Maybe that means realizing that he doesn’t really have “off the record” as an option when he’s standing around a reporter. Perhaps it’s just letting some old stuff fade out of his life and fully embracing the extraordinary fortune that the game of poker has brought him. I’m not sure, but I hope he’ll find whatever it is.

Lee Jones is the Card Room Manager for Cake Poker and has been in the online poker business since 2003. He is also the author of “Winning Low Limit Hold’em,” which is still in publication over 15 years after its first printing.