Posts Tagged ‘gamble’
SuperStar Showdown: Isildur1 Silences Tony G
As per the challenge rules, Isildur1 and Tony G played 2,500 hands on PokerStars, this time half Pot-Limit Omaha and half No-Limit Hold’em at $50/$100 stakes.
The session would end if either player exhausted their $150k bankroll for the event.
Thanks to some fortunate bounces early on Tony G jumped out to a $47k lead on Isildur1 in the first hour of play.
Of course Tony G was spitting out his usual mix of trash talk throughout the session. When Tony G took the early lead in the Showdown he tried to needle Isildur1 about it.
“Tony G: u feeling ok my man?”
“Tony G: u getting owned by a total donk?”
Isildur1 responded by hitting a broadway straight to win a $47k pot, the biggest up to that point.
It didn’t faze Tony G, however, as the Lithuanian would win a $49k pot 15 minutes later. Tony G hit his own straight to take that one down.
As the clock hit 6:30 p.m. EST, Tony G was leading by more than $60k and Isildur1’s entire $150k bankroll was spread on the four tables they were playing.
Isildur1, who is still rumored to be Viktor Blom, was forced to abandon one table because he didn’t have enough to reload.
Despite the fact there were only three tables going, it was around this time that Isildur1 started to turn his fortunes around.
Isildur1 managed to win three pots that were worth $40k each and in just three minutes Tony G’s lead was erased.
From there Isildur1 shifted his game into overdrive and secured the biggest pot in the session – worth $103k.
Isildur1 won the pot with two-pair while Tony G, who 3-bet shoved, elected not to show his cards.
Despite a few comebacks by Tony G, Isildur1 never gave up the lead after that hand.
Near the end of the session Tony G started to gamble and after a few $10,000 coinflips, was actually getting close to even.
Unfortunately for Tony G his luck flipped yet again and Isildur1 started to pull away in the last 600 hands.
When the final hand was completed, after eight hours and 56 minutes of play, Isildur1 was holding on to a $44k lead. Tony G was humble in defeat.
“Tony G: well done.”
“Tony G: let me go and look for my bike.”
Isildur1 is now 1-1 in the SuperStar Showdown with a loss against Isaac Haxton and a win versus Tony G. Isildur1’s next opponent has not been chosen yet but it’s a good bet the player will be announced during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure later this week.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com
Bellagio Removing $25,000 Denomination Chips Following Robbery
The thief who stole $1.5 million in casino chips from the Bellagio has been given a deadline to try to redeem the $25,000 denomination ones he took from a craps table on December 14th. MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, gave public notice that it will be discontinuing the large denomination chip and called for all gamblers to cash them in by April 22nd.
MGM Resorts first posted notice of the redemption last week in the classifieds of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. The ad came one week after a man wearing a black jumpsuit and full-faced motorcycle helmet walked into the Bellagio, pulled a gun on a croupier, and escaped with around $1.5 million in chips ranging from $100 to $25,000. The incident took less than three minutes and the robber fled the casino on his motorcycle that he left parked outside the valet. He remains at large.
Las Vegas police and casino officials have been working diligently to find the robber, reviewing surveillance videos and camera images to get an idea of who carried out the heist. Investigators have also been keeping an eye on any unusual chip redemptions since the robbery took place.
“Obviously, anyone walking with one of the old series (chips) is going to be subject to a certain amount of questioning as to how they obtained them – assuming it isn’t someone we know,” MGM Resorts spokesman Alan Feldman told the Associated Press. “It’s pretty unusual for someone we don’t know to come strolling up with a handful of $25,000 chips.”
Feldman also told the Associated Press that the chips were switched out at the tables within an hour of the robbery and the Bellagio immediately filed to discontinue them. The $25,000 chip, which is red with a gray inlay, will be worthless after the April 22nd deadline. The question then becomes whether it will be replaced with a new chip of the same denomination or if the casino will produce a new chip of a different denomination.
By law, a casino must give public notice that it is discontinuing specific chips to allow gamblers enough time to redeem them – in this case four months. The deadline could have a major effect on high-stakes poker players who leave large denomination chips at the Bellagio to use as a bankroll. Although the Nevada Gaming Control Board has stated that poker chips aren’t money, many poker players treat chips as currency when trading for other casino chips or paying off debts. It’s assumed that several $25,000 chips are currently being stored in the lock boxes of poker players at the Bellagio, which houses the famous “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room.
While it’s unknown exactly how many $25,000 denomination chips were stolen on December 14th, the redemption notice tactic could be very effective once the regular high-stakes gamblers begin cashing them in. If the casino spots a person who wouldn’t normally be in possession of the chip, it will raise a red flag.
“If they have people that they know are players redeem the ones that they know they have, pretty much it’s process of elimination. You’re left with people who aren’t supposed to have the chips,” said David Schwartz, a former casino security guard and Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Authorities are suggesting that the same man from the Bellagio robbery may have been behind an earlier theft on December 9th at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In that heist, the robber managed to take around $20,000 in cash from a poker room cashier.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as more information on this story unfolds.
Time Magazine Tackles Poker in Florida
Ever since the Florida legislature adjusted the state’s poker laws earlier this year, people have been flooding the Sunshine State like never before. The influx of action has left a leading magazine to pose the question, “Is Florida the Next Las Vegas?”
A recent article in Time Magazine posed the question due to the increase in not only players in the state’s casinos, but also attention from major gaming outlets. The rise in interest in poker is due to the change in Florida’s gaming laws that allowed for higher stakes cash game play, richer tournaments, and more poker rooms. While players are flooding to cash games, poker’s biggest organizations are taking the opportunity to move into fertile ground.
In August, as a result of the change in Florida’s laws, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced a $10,000 buy-in Season 9 tournament scheduled for April at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. In November, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit found its opportunity to move into the state, announcing a stop at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in February.
According to the author of the Time article, Thomas Collins, the growth of poker throughout Florida isn’t limited to just the big name casinos like the Seminole Indian operation. Florida has many thoroughbred horse racing tracks, greyhound tracks, and jai alai arenas that are also taking advantage of the new laws to open or expand their poker room offerings. The new outlets for poker are expected to bring in over $1 billion to the coffers of the state.
Collins reports in his article that, although there have been overtures from Las Vegas casino operations to create a “Vegas in the Everglades,” it may be a bit early to expect such an expansion. Collins points out the many family-friendly attractions in Florida such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, where gaming isn’t a major part of the draw.
Collins quoted two Florida politicians whose views on the subject concur with his observations. State Representative Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who was at the head of negotiations with the Seminoles regarding the change in gaming laws, is quoted by Collins as stating, “The state’s just so diverse, so a Vegas-style scenario is not a natural progression.” Democrat Jim Waldman from Coconut Creek agreed with his fellow Florida representative: “I don’t think you’re going to have another Vegas. What you’re going to have are more options for people who want to gamble in Florida.”
Players have been quite pleased with the state of poker in Florida. 2010 WSOP $50,000 Player’s Championship winner and Main Event final tablist Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is quoted in Collins’ article as saying, “ (The new laws are) a dream come true. There’s nothing better than playing poker with beaches.” Mizrachi is a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker.
Message boards have also been buzzing with the changes in Florida’s poker scene. On the TwoPlusTwo forum, players have touted the higher stakes and new games that have been offered. Poster “DELUXER1” wrote, “Omaha continues to expand at Naples. When I left on Sat at about 4pm, they had two full tables of 2-5 PLO going. Also, the Sat 4-8 HK and the Fri 3-6 Omaha8 games continue to go strong.” “bocablkr” reported in the same thread, “On Wed nights, there is a 15-30 LHE game at the Isle Casino in Pompano. I played Thanksgiving Eve and it was a Mixed game of 15-30 LHE and 15-30 Omaha H/L. It was a lot of fun.”
With the one-year anniversary of the Florida poker law changes coming up in April, the full story has yet to be told. However, with the arrival of high-stakes card players and the WPT and the WSOPC in the coming year, Florida appears to be the new hotspot for poker in the Southeastern United States.
2011 World Series of Poker Begins May 31st
According to a press release sent on Wednesday afternoon, the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will begin on May 31st, one day after the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, and run for 50 days. The final table of the Main Event will be determined on July 19th, at which point the $10,000 buy-in tournament will once again be paused until November.
Despite constant rumors to the contrary, the 2011 WSOP will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go ahead and quote the press release for you: “The event, as has been its norm since 2005, will continue to be held in the Convention Center of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.” Caesars Entertainment has been rumored to be shopping the Rio, located on Flamingo Boulevard off the famed Las Vegas Strip, but so far no deals have come to fruition.
The only tournament whose dates were laid out this week was the Main Event, which will begin on July 7th and include four starting days. In 2010, Jonathan Duhamel became its first Canadian Main Event champ ever after defeating John Racener heads-up. Three-handed, Duhamel was gifted 80% of the chips in play after Joseph Cheong 6bet all-in before the flop with A-7 when Duhamel held pocket queens. The pocket pair held, Duhamel doubled up, and Cheong was ousted several hands later.
The dates for the preliminary events have not yet been announced, but a full schedule will likely come to life in January. The 2010 version played out at the Rio between May 28th and July 17th, with heads-up play in the Main Event beginning on November 8th. The slate contained 57 tournaments including an all-new $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship won by Full Tilt Poker pro Michael Mizrachi.
Other 2010 bracelet winners included British pro Praz Bansi, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Tex Barch, Dutch Boyd, Gavin Smith, WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, and Phil Ivey, who collected bracelet number eight. Ivey took down a $3,000 buy-in HORSE event for $329,000, outlasting a final table that included math whiz Bill Chen, John Juanda, Jeffrey Lisandro, David Baker, and PokerStars pro Chad Brown.
One of the highlights from last year for Poker News Daily was following the high-stakes bracelet bets of Tom Dwan, who nearly won a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but fell heads-up to Australian Simon Watt. Dwan reportedly had millions of dollars in bracelet bets on the line, but ultimately came up short. Consequently, Mike Matusow told Watt following his win, “Thank you for saving us all millions of dollars! How does it feel to be every high-stakes gambler’s hero? They’re gonna, like, put you on the wall in Bobby’s Room.” Dwan took home $381,000.
In an important change from 2010, the 2011 WSOP will feature “hard stop times.” After 10 levels of play on any given day, the action will automatically come to a halt. The same WSOP press release explained that the number of players remaining in the tournament when 10 levels were completed was irrelevant: “Once 10 levels have been completed, remaining players will have their chips bagged and tagged and return the next day to continue on in the tournament. Regardless of how many players remain in a tournament, hard stop times will be enforced after 10 levels of play.”
We’ll have the latest WSOP headlines for you right here on Poker News Daily.
Tags: 2010, 2011, Australia, canadian, full tilt poker, gamble, Phil Ivey, poker player, pokerstars, Tom Dwan, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Poker Players Alliance: Harry Reid Bill Dead
On Thursday morning, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily that the bill introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) legalizing and regulating online poker is all but dead. A move to add the bill’s language to the tax relief act currently being debated in Congress failed to come to fruition.
Pappas told Poker News Daily that a highly charged debate over the tax measure was largely to blame: “When the tax package fell through and things became much more political for it – not related to our bill – it became clear that another controversial addition to the tax bill could sink it.” Reid’s bill would have opened the online poker market in the United States to current operators like Caesars Entertainment, which owns the rights to the annual World Series of Poker.
U.S. President Barack Obama struck a deal with Republicans on the contents of the tax relief act, which perhaps closed the door to other bills being added.
Now what? With the Republican Party taking control of the House of Representatives in 2011, pro-internet gambling allies like Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) may take a back seat. Frank, whose HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, garnered 70 co-sponsors and sailed through the House Financial Services Committee in July, will likely lose his post as Chairman. In his stead could be staunch internet gambling opponent Spencer Bachus (R-AL), whom the PPA graded an “F” in its Congressional Ratings Guide.
Looking ahead to 2011, Pappas told Poker News Daily, “The online poker bill that was floating around needs some improvement, so the PPA wants to go back to Senator Reid and talk about how we can improve on his current draft. There’s going to be a renewed focus in the Senate and we’ll be taking some of the legislation in a different direction so that’s it not focused on the Financial Services Committee, where we have a known opponent.”
Two years ago, Bachus, the current Ranking Member of the committee, erroneously quoted a study from McGill University linking internet gambling to suicide. The Alabama lawmaker asserted in a June 2008 hearing, “McGill University found that one-third – one-third – of college students who gambled on the internet ultimately attempted suicide. That is why the rate of suicide on our college campuses has doubled in the last ten years.” In fact, no such study had ever taken place.
On Wednesday night, ESPN.com published an article declaring Reid’s bill dead. Pappas told the Connecticut-based news outlet, “Sadly, some politicians remain with their heads firmly in the sand. The leadership of the Poker Players Alliance got the debate this far and we are determined to see this through.” The Hill reported that the ongoing lame duck session on Capitol Hill is scheduled to end on Friday, although reports during the week have surfaced that lawmakers may remain in Washington, DC until close to Christmas.
Last weekend, adding language legalizing and regulating online poker to a must-pass omnibus spending bill appeared to be a possibility according to Bloomberg, but Pappas explained that adding another earmark would “make things more complicated.” The Senate approved the tax relief bill on Wednesday, with the House potentially set to follow suit this afternoon.
Pappas was scheduled to tape a segment about the online poker bill with Bloomberg that will air on Friday at 11:45am ET. Pappas will speak on behalf of the 1.2 million member strong lobbying group that has become the main voice for poker players in the United States. Four years ago, the PPA stood at just 50,000 members.
Reid’s bill won’t officially be dead until the clock strikes Midnight on the 111th Congress. Pappas concluded with a silver lining: “We always knew we had a chance to pass legislation during the lame duck session, but it fell short. But, I think there’s significant momentum going forward. We’ve done a good job of convincing lawmakers that the status quo isn’t acceptable.”
Keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest developments from Capitol Hill.
Tags: 2008, 2011, aced, Barney Frank, gamble, legal, legalizing, Online Poker, poker player, Poker Players Alliance, WSOP
Full Tilt Poker Launches Short-Handed Happy Hour Promotion
Poker players can always count on Full Tilt Poker for unique promotions. At the beginning of December, the popular online poker room launched its Short-Handed Happy Hour promotion, encouraging players to jump start empty or nearly empty tables.
Running through the end of January, Full Tilt players will earn double Full Tilt Points (FTPs) by playing in short-handed cash games. For the purposes of this promotion, Full Tilt defines “short-handed” as follows:
Six-Max tables – Three players or fewer
Eight-Max tables – Four players or fewer
Nine-Max tables – Five players or fewer
Heads-up tables are not included in the promotion, and for obvious reasons. The only possible way to have a short-handed heads-up table would be to have just one player seated, which would mean there would be no game. Rush Poker tables are also not included.
There are no specific times for Short-Handed Happy Hour; tables will be marked with the traditional Happy Hour smiley face whenever they are short-handed. If they are short-handed during what would normally be a Happy Hour time, players at the table will earn triple FTPs.
Remember that these extra Happy Hour points are considered bonus FTPs and therefore do not count towards points targets for promotions such as the Iron Man Challenge nor do they count towards clearing deposit bonuses. Only base FTPs earned at the tables count.
In cash games, FTPs are earned based on the amount of money raked from the pot. For each dollar raked, 10 points are awarded to the table. Those points are then split up equally among all players who were dealt cards in the hand. Players can earn points for playing in tournaments as well, but as already stated, only ring games count for the Short-Handed Happy Hour promotion.
According to the online poker traffic watchdog site PokerScout.com, Full Tilt Poker currently ranks as the second largest poker room or network on the internet. It is a steep climb to the number one spot, however, as PokerStars has averaged 30,000 cash game players over the last seven days, compared to 17,000 for Full Tilt. On the bright side, it does not appear that Full Tilt will drop below that second spot any time soon. PartyPoker sits in third place with a seven-day average of just 3,850 cash game players, with the iPoker Network close behind with 3,750.
Recently, Full Tilt made a bold attempt to get more people playing at its tables by introducing a Rush Poker Mobile app for Android-based phones. For the most part, the app was received positively by those who tried it, although its performance was affected by the quality of the user’s cell phone signal. Unfortunately, the app was pulled from the Android Market about a week ago. Full Tilt said it was “due to maintenance,” but the real reason was likely because it allowed customers to gamble for real money. While the Android Market allows apps with gambling themes, real money gambling apps are strictly forbidden.
Poker Industry Buzzing About Isildur1 Signing with PokerStars
Yesterday, PokerStars took the unexpected step of signing the online enigma Isildur1. The Swede gained fame by multi-tabling against the world’s best players including Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Tom “durrrr” 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 television.
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 2,500 hands at stakes no lower than $50/$100. 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 a number of big names in the world of poker and asked for their impressions of the Isildur1 signing.
Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Founder of CardRunners: “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.”
Brian “BW07507” Wilbur, instructor at LeggoPoker: “I am really glad to see that Isildur1 will be playing again. I think he is great for poker and look forward to watch some of his matches with other high-stakes PokerStars players.”
“Verneer,” coach at CardRunners: “I am surprised to hear that Isildur1 signed with PokerStars since most of the elite heads-up players are all on Full Tilt. That said, I’m excited that we’ll be seeing more of the biggest high-stakes game catalyst online on a regular basis.”
Dusty “Leatherass9” Schmidt, member of Team PokerStars Pro Online: “It looks like the high-stakes action will be heating up on PokerStars! I can’t wait to sweat what will surely be some epic high-stakes matches.”
Jay Rosenkrantz, founder of DeucesCracked: “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. The SuperStar Showdown matches seem really gimmicky. What grabbed people’s attention was the mass multi-tabling against Dwan, Ivey, Antonius, and the like, so they need to deliver something on that level. Otherwise, it’s just another new addition to Stars’ ever-growing young squad of pros.”
John “JimmyLegs” Wray, CardRunners coach: “It seems odd that they’d want him representing PokerStars considering their squeaky clean image and the ongoing battle to convince the world that poker is a legitimate game of skill. As fun as he is to watch, Isildur1 comes across as a turbo-bonkers degenerate gambler.”
Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, high-stakes tournament pro: “Reading his signing in the headlines caught me by surprise because we are so used to seeing people get signed after making their name and face known on television. With that said, the mystery behind Isildur1 and his uniqueness is a great thing to market and will create a great buzz for online poker.”
The SuperStar Showdown promotion page is up on the PokerStars website and states that the winner is the one who shows a profit after 2,500 hands or wins all of their opponent’s match bankroll. Anyone can challenge Isildur1 to a match, assuming they have the bankroll, by sending in an e-mail. The matches will be seen inside the cash game lobby under “Hold’em,” “No Limit/Pot Limit,” and “Showdown.”
The first match Isildur1 will have will take place on December 19th at 6:00pm ET against a challenger that has yet to be announced. According to PokerTableRatings.com, which tracks No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha games, Isildur1 is down $2.59 million since the site began following him. He was also the first person ever to lose a seven-figure pot, but also won a $1.1 million pot against Ivey just two days later.
Although he is down over $2.59 million lifetime, he is up $2.4 million playing No Limit Hold’em cash games. Isildur1’s identity remains confidential, with many believing that his true identity is Viktor Blom. His last session of note was back on October 6th, when he lost about $50,000.
durrrr Challenge 2: jungleman12 adds $110k
This time around Cates was able to rake $110k from the Team Full Tilt pro in 346 hands of $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em.
Dwan had been slowly clawing his way out of the hole with several small victories but last night’s session essentially erased all his work.
Cates had the fortune of pulling in two pots worth over $50k each, which helped tip the scales in his favor.
The entire session took less than an hour and Dwan implied that he had been playing for over 15 hours when he finally called it a night.
In other high stakes online news last night, Gus Hansen managed to put in an impressive performance winning $172k in the $300/$600 Six-Max PLO games. Despite some positive steps over the last few weeks, Hansen is still down $1.4 million on the year.
FinnishNightmre (+$115k), luckexpress10 (+$71k), ronnyr37617 (+$67k) were also amongst the biggest winners last night.
Meanwhile gamblegambel (-$229k), DrugsOrMe (-$137k), OMGClayAiken (-$75k), Sauce1234 (-$71k) and David Benefield (-$54k) were all in the losing column.
Check below for some of the best hands between durrrr and jungleman12 last night or check our online poker stats section for more information.
durrrr Challenge 2 by the numbers:
60,288,086: Total amount wagered 60,000,000: Cost of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s new chateau in France 755,612: Amount jungleman12 is ahead 10,129: Hands played 6,161: Hands jungleman12 has won 16: Hours logged 9: Sessions recorded 4: Months since the challenge started 1: $1.5 million bonus for jungleman12 if he finishes ahead of Tom Dwan
Visit www.pokerlistings.com
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
If you’re like me, your typical online poker session will look something like this: tables on one or two monitors, internet browser on another monitor, music playing, and the television on. That’s one of the things that makes online poker so grand. You can play and do whatever else you want at the same time, provided you can stay connected to the internet.
With all of that, though, comes a problem. Many of us opt to pay attention to everything else in the room when we aren’t in a hand rather than maintaining our focus on the game. Our poker session might be more enjoyable, but the quality of our play might suffer. Knowing this, I make a conscious effort to observe my opponents at all times. Here are some of the things I observe.
Speed of Action
This is something that can be observed while actively participating in a hand, but is easier to focus on it after you fold. Since I can’t actually see my opponents thinking about their actions, I like to determine if there is any consistency to how long it takes for them to act, especially pre-flop. Players on the extreme ends of the spectrum – those who act instantly and those who tend to use every bit of the clock – are usually good targets for blind stealing.
Someone who acts within a millisecond, usually via the auto-fold button, very often has something else going on at the same time. Thus, he’s not making complicated pre-flop decisions. You’ll often be able to raise him off his blinds, but if he calls or raises, you will know he usually has a legit hand since he didn’t check the “Fold to Any Bet” button. Similarly, someone who takes forever to act pre-flop on virtually every hand is probably multi-tabling. He is distracted by his other tables and will not bother analyzing your move enough to sniff out a blind steal. This player may also simply have a bad internet connection, which is another reason not to give him a chance to check while his connection recovers.
Not Afraid of Commitment
Looking at pre-flop action timing is simple enough and doesn’t really take that much concentration. But when it comes to how certain people play specific hands, we need to be more observant, and for longer. The first people I try to pick out are those who over-commit to strong hands early on. I look for those players who have something like A-K or A-Q flop top pair and decide that’s the nuts. Or someone who thinks there’s no way he can lose when he has an overpair to the board. As you may figure, people who over-commit to solid hands early are great candidates for a slowplay if you hit the flop hard. You can just let them hang themselves.
Of course, you will want to try to keep track of your opponents to see who slowplays sets, chases draws, and so on, but for me, the ones who start spewing with top pair or an overpair are the easiest to spot. They also tend to be more consistent in their style of play, making reads on them more reliable.
Table Personality
If studying individual opponents could be considered the micro view of the table, then studying the table as a single entity could be considered the macro view. Understanding how certain opponents play helps me steal blinds and make more informed decisions when I am engaged in hands with them, but understanding their collective tendencies can help me practice intelligent hand selection, setting me up for further gains as I see flops, turns, and rivers.
At some tables, I might see that my fellow players love action. They are there to gamble. In these cases, it is best for me to be more selective with my starting hands and look to destroy the flop. If people are going to toss their chips around willy-nilly, I only want to be involved when I have them beat. Chasing draws is not a good idea at a table like this, as the price of hope is too high.
On the other side of the coin, a passive table can be run over. If it is tight pre-flop, blinds can be stolen. If it is loose pre-flop with lots of limpers, I can widen my starting hand requirements and have greater success betting people out of the pot after the flop.
Again, like I noted earlier, all of these observations can be made at any time while you are playing. It is during your down time after you have folded that you will have the best opportunity to spot trends and patterns.
Harry Reid Online Poker Bill Receives Mainstream Media Attention
This week, word circulated around the Web that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was set to introduce a bill legalizing and regulating online poker in the United States. From the Associated Press to the Wall Street Journal, the Internet Poker Act of 2010 gained a considerable amount of mainstream media attention. Read more.
Among those media outlets to take a jab at Reid was the Huffington Post. An article posted on Friday read in part, “So many priorities, and so little seriousness. And now you find out that during this very tiny window to act, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has asked his staff to work on a bill that would legalize online poker. What the what, now?” The Huffington Post pointed out that only licensed brick-and-mortar gaming establishments would be able to provide internet poker for the first two years under Reid’s measure.
Even a blog on the website of Time Magazine tackled the online poker story. The Time Magazine entry pointed out how the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed during the final moments of the 2006 Congressional session. It added, “It would be interesting to see whether the measure would resonate with the GOP’s libertarian wing – which should ideologically support a measure that gives citizens the freedom to gamble online – or others open to the idea of using additional sin taxes to help close yawning state and federal budget gaps.”
Appearing on the front page of Yahoo late Friday night was an Associated Press piece that pointed out several of Reid’s major campaign contributors: “MGM Resorts International, through its employees and political action committee, donated $192,000 to his campaign, the most of any single company, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Meanwhile, employees and the PAC at Harrah’s Entertainment chipped in an additional $83,100. Harrah’s recently changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Corp.”
The cavalcade of articles included a Bloomberg piece affectionately entitled “Senate Accused of Secret Plan to Legalize U.S. Online Gambling.” The article appeared on Thursday following the release of a letter submitted by three Republican lawmakers: Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Dave Camp (R-MI), and Lamar Smith (R-TX). The letter, which was targeted at the pending Web poker legislation, read in part, “Creating a federal right to gamble that has never existed in our country’s history and imposing an unprecedented new tax regime on such activity require careful deliberation, not backroom deals.”
Poker News Daily received a copy of the 57-page bill, which states that existing online poker sites cannot sell their “assets” to a licensed outfit. In essence, it appears that sites servicing the market like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker could essentially be shut out for two years. Then, the bill explains, “After two years from the date of first license… the Secretary may issue regulations expanding the range of licensees beyond those listed… if the Secretary makes a determination.”
We’ll keep you posted right here on Poker News Daily. In the meantime, check out a draft of Reid’s Internet Poker Act of 2010.
Texas Poker: The Early Days by Johnny Hughes
Gambling and cards seemed to always be a big part of my life. Great uncles, uncles and cousins were gamblers. We played poker and gin rummy around the house. My mother always had a bridge game going and my brother's first words were "I pass”. At Christmas, the family would have a poker game. The children would always lose their savings.
Tags: gamble
“IHateJuice” is staked to $2K/$4K Limit Hold’Em - Lost $113K to Antonius again
Patrik Antonius and the German gambler “IHateJuice” finished up their latest heads-up match on Full Tilt Poker just a moment ago. They had a lenghty session again as they played 1719 hands and they ended the session as Antonius felt tired.
Antonius won quite nicely ($113K) and he dominated the whole session. “IHateJuice” has lost almost 900,000 dollars this month already, which makes him the biggest loser on Full Tilt Poker.
Now “IHateJuice” unveils some facts about himself on 2+2 forums. “IHateJuice”, or “hasu” on 2+2, writes that he hasn’t been playing fully on his own money at the $2K/$4K Limit HE games, as some other German Limit players has been staking him (some excerpts below):
- They only do this at the $2K/$4K tables and they have never colluded there
- After a winning or losing session they use Full Tilt player transfer to even outthe score
- They only buy action on each other on Full Tilt because otherwise they could only play $1K/$2K
Looks like “IHateJuice” wrote about this already few months ago. He wanted to make sure that there’s no cheating, nor colluding among the German players.
There’s some rumors that the other players “playing” with “IHatejuice” are “deprimiert” and “O Fortuna PLS”.
Source: Pokerista.net, 2+2, HSDB
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
“IHateJuice” is staked to $2K/$4K Limit Hold’Em - Lost $113K to Antonius again
New Jersey Senate Approves Intrastate Internet Gambling Bill
On Monday, the New Jersey State Senate approved S 490, a bill introduced by Raymond Lesniak that would established the first intrastate internet gambling framework in the United States. The bill was approved by an overwhelming 29-5 margin and now must be approved by the New Jersey Assembly.
Lesniak commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “This bill would generate a minimum of $35 million in tax revenue to help build a bridge to self-sufficiency for our state’s ailing horse tracks. It would generate millions of dollars in private revenue and would give casinos a new product to capture gaming dollars from tech-savvy gamblers. Right now, internet wagering is taking place and the funds are going to offshore operators. It’s time that we give casinos the authority and the tools to keep these funds in the Garden State.”
S 490 has moved at a rapid pace as of late. Last week, the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee approved the measure by a 10-1 margin, with two lawmakers abstaining from the vote. Under S 490, games permitted in land-based casinos in Atlantic City, including poker, would be available online. Any online operators would be on the hook for a 15% tax on gross gaming revenues, down from the rate of 20% when the bill was introduced.
For those who believe that they’d be able to log into New Jersey’s internet gambling sites from outside of the state, think again. The bill is solely an intrastate measure and text found in a Press of Atlantic City article explains, “The games would not be available to all U.S. residents. Lawmakers said the technology exists to prevent out-of-state players from gaining access to New Jersey’s system.”
The bill mandates that all computer systems must be located in Atlantic City. To that end, Lesniak told the Press, “That’s a no-brainer, and the whole bill is a no-brainer. We need to be bold, to tell the Federal Government it has no constitutional authority to prevent online gaming here in our state.”
Several gambling-related bills were passed on Monday in New Jersey. In addition to Lesniak’s S 490, the Senate approved S 829, which, according to a press release distributed yesterday, would permit the following: “Bettors would be able to set up exchange wagering accounts, and two or more bettors would be able to place directly opposing wagers on the outcome of a horse race or races.”
Small-scale casinos may also be on the horizon in New Jersey, as a bill approved in the State Senate on Monday would permit construction of a small-scale casino totaling 200 rooms and 24,000 square feet of gaming space. Other bills call for the construction of off-track wagering facilities and the creation of larger pari-mutuel pools.
Also approved by the State Senate was S 2390, which “would lower the minimum requirement for the number of standardbred horse racing dates scheduled at the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway to 100 dates per season at each track.” Finally, a bill to create a “New Jersey Standardbred and Thoroughbred Racehorse Incentive Fund” was approved.
New Jersey’s gambling market has been under fire from expansion in neighboring states like Pennsylvania and Delaware and casino offerings in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The state primarily is divided into racetrack interests in the north and mega casino resorts in the south.
The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has been among those groups pushing Lesniak’s bill in New Jersey. The measure could ultimately become the model that other states interested in intrastate online wagering would follow. iMEGA is anticipating passage of the bill by the first quarter of 2011.
PCA Champ Gimbel Books WPT Florida Win
The 20-year-old South Floridian, still too young to gamble in most states, collected $330,000 for the win after striking a deal heads-up, marking the biggest poker payout in Floridian poker history.
A native of nearby Jupiter, Gimbel burst onto the live poker scene with a $2.2 million win at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure this past January at the age of 19.
His early October birthday means he will not be eligible to play in the World Series of Poker until 2012.
The $5,000 non-televised World Poker Tour Regional Series event was the WPT's first foray into Florida after the state increased betting limits in July of this year.
A total of 289 players entered the event creating a $1.4 million prize pool.
Names like Jason Mercier, Jeff Madsen, Josh Arieh, Shannon Shorr, Allie Prescott and Joe Serock all played.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com
Internet Gambling’s Deficit Reduction Benefits Emphasized
On Monday, the “lame duck” session of Congress kicked off in Washington, DC. The period may mark one last hoorah for the internet gambling industry in the United States, which will see a Republican-led House of Representatives convene in January. Also this week, the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative has been touting the budgetary effects of legalizing and regulating our industry.
Information distributed by the Initiative on Tuesday explained, “A bi-partisan commission created by President Obama is currently working on a plan to help balance our nation’s budget – projected at $1.42 trillion for fiscal year 2009. Their recommendations, due to be released by December 1st, 2010, are being crafted in part based on testimony provided by various experts and interest groups.” Licensed internet gambling, according to projections, could bring over $40 billion in much-needed tax revenue over a ten-year period.
The Initiative is asking concerned online poker players and internet gamblers alike to send an e-mail to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform at commission@fc.eop.gov. The bipartisan commission is tasked with creating ways to address the budget deficit, and internet gambling may be part of the solution.
Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson and President Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles serve as the Co-Chairmen of the Commission, whose roster also includes six Democratic lawmakers and six Republican lawmakers. Honeywell International CEO David Cote, former Young and Rubicam Brands CEO Ann Fudge, Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern, and former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin also comprise the eclectic group.
Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman told Poker News Daily on Wednesday, “While the Deficit Commission has many difficult decisions to make, putting to use the revenue generated through online gambling regulation should be a no-brainer.”
The Initiative has crafted a sample e-mail that can be accessed from its website that reads in part, “Given our nation’s economic challenges, it is time to replace a failed attempt at prohibition with a regulated environment that allows online gambling activity, protects consumers, and uses the much-needed new revenue generated to pay off our nation’s debt.” The letter trumpets legislation put forth by Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA). Both will return to the next Congress in the New Year.
Frank’s legislation, HR 2267, has picked up 70 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle and was rubber-stamped out of the House Financial Services Committee in July. Now, it awaits its time on the House floor. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, and other organizations have been pushing for the bill to be acted on during the “lame duck” session. The measure creates a full licensing and regulatory framework for internet gambling companies to solicit U.S. customers.
McDermott introduced HR 4976, the second incarnation of a tax companion bill to HR 2267, in April. The Washington lawmaker’s legislation allocates funds derived from licensed internet gambling to state governments as well as the Federal Government. It has not yet been passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Initiative’s sample e-mail notes that Americans continue to wager “$100 billion annually online in an underground marketplace” despite laws like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was attached to an unrelated port security bill and passed in 2006. HR 2267 and its tax companion may ultimately be pushed through the current Congress in a similar manner and attached as “pay-for” bills to must-pass legislation.
The Initiative’s endorsers include the UC Group, Baker Tilly, eCOGRA, Secure Trading, the Remote Gambling Association, GamCare, and the European Gaming and Betting Association.
Tags: 2009, 2010, Barney Frank, european, gamble, legal, legalizing, Online Poker, poker player, Poker Players Alliance
Party Gaming Files Motion to Dismiss Kentucky Internet Gambling Case
Party Gaming has filed a motion to dismiss a complaint against it in the Kentucky internet gambling case. According to court documents obtained by Poker News Daily, Party Gaming argues that “insufficiency of service of process, failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and lack of standing” warrant the complaint against the gambling behemoth being dismissed.
Kentucky attorneys are seeking to recoup funds lost by state residents on the virtual felts of several major internet gambling sites. The case was originally filed against Full Tilt Poker owners Pocket Kings in April, but it has since been amended to include Party Gaming and Microgaming. Party Gaming’s counsel argues, “Plaintiff failed to comply with the requirements for service of process set out in the Hague Convention… Nothing in the Hague Convention permits a Plaintiff to effect service of process by sending a copy of the summons and initial complaint via registered mail.”
The motion adds that Commonwealth Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown does not have standing to bring about the lawsuit. Party Gaming explains, “The responsibility to initiate such a lawsuit is vested with the Attorney General, who has not, to date, made an appearance or participated in the filing of this action on the Commonwealth’s behalf.” Jack Conway is Kentucky’s Attorney General. Brown also brought legal action against the owners of 141 internet gambling domain names; that case is still ongoing after being sent from the Kentucky Supreme Court back to the trial court in September.
Furthermore, Party Gaming asserts that attorneys in the Bluegrass State have neither singled out a “loser” nor given an amount lost by anyone in the state: “Plaintiff has failed to identify a single purported ‘loser,’ a single quantifiable loss, and a single date on which an alleged loss has occurred.” It added, “Plaintiff has alleged no facts and, indeed, can allege no facts sufficient to assert that Party Gaming is a ‘winner’ under the statute from which relief can be sought.”
The London-based company argues that in order to be a winner, an entity must also risk becoming a loser. However, “In Plaintiff’s own words, Party Gaming collected only a ‘rake’ or ‘commission’ from participants in poker games… a participation fee that could not be ‘won’ or ‘lost’ and was not affected by the ultimate ‘winner’ or ‘loser’ of the hand.”
If its arguments about standing, the Hague Convention, and winners and losers aren’t enough to sway a court, Party Gaming added that the law involved was not designed to apply to online gaming. The company asserts, “The Complaint should be dismissed because Plaintiff is attempting to invoke a statute that 100 years of authority in the Kentucky courts illustrates was designed to serve a very different purpose – to protect gamblers and their families from becoming wards of the state and to prevent illegal gambling by rendering void and unenforceable the gambling contract itself and certain related agreements.”
Following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, Party Gaming, a publicly traded company, vacated the U.S. market entirely. The company signed a non-prosecution agreement with the United States Department of Justice in April 2009 and forked over $105 million to settle its past transgressions. Why would Kentucky file suit against it, then? Party Gaming’s court documents note that the litigation is “an aggressive attempt by private attorneys litigating on a contingency basis to utilize an antiquated statute with no applicability to the facts or circumstances of the matter.”
The case is numbered 10-CI-0505. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest poker legislative and legal headlines.
Full Tilt Poker adds draw poker to line-up.
The man who knew Jack Ruby
In 1963 I formed a strange friendship with this old gambler named Soft Shoe O' Shea, or just Shoes. He was a regular fixture around the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel, the fanciest hotel in all of Texas.
Tags: gamble
Texas Poker Wisdom
In 1963 I formed a strange friendship with this old gambler named Soft Shoe O' Shea, or just Shoes. He was a regular fixture around the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel, the fanciest hotel in all of Texas.
Tags: gamble
Super Turbo Sit-and-Go’s: Elementary Strategy
Nowadays, even though I make a living in the poker industry, I don’t have much time to play poker. It’s a bit unfortunate, but sometimes life just gets in the way. On the bright side, winning nothing is better than losing something. Recently, however, I decided to find the time at least a few nights a week, even it was only for a few minutes. One problem presented itself, though. How do I have any fun playing poker for less than a thousand seconds?
Solution: the super turbo Sit-and-Go
Not long ago, I would have cringed at the thought of playing a super turbo. I would not be classified as a loosey goosey poker player. Blind levels the length of average work days are more my style. But I’ll tell you something, super turbos can be fun, even for this nit.
Before I tried out these ultra fast nine-handed tournaments, I figured it would just be a shove fest with any Ace, pair, or two Broadway cards. With starting stacks of 300 chips (I’ve been playing on Full Tilt) and three minute blind levels starting at 15/30, there isn’t much room for starting hand selection. My initial thoughts were half right. Most players do push all-in with anything that looks halfway decent. But even though it’s a super turbo, this isn’t really the right tactic in the early stages of the tournament.
Believe it or not, there is actually a tiny window in which you can wait for an opportunity, rather than just shoving the first Ace that comes along. Depending on quickly the action moves, you do have an orbit or two to find a good hand. For me, a good hand is A-J or higher and a pair of Tens or higher. I prefer A-Q, A-K, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces, but like in any poker game, position and the actions of the players in front of me may allow me to play A-J or Tens. The point is, you want to make your move with a hand that will usually be favored, even if only slightly. With blinds already so high in relation to stacks at this stage of the game, you are going all-in whenever you decide to commit any chips to the pot. Thus, at least for an orbit or two, you don’t really want any coin flips.
Super turbos are really just an exercise in short stacked bubble play. If you’re good at surviving as a short stack on the bubble in a regular Sit-and-Go, you’ll probably be good at super turbos. The difference is that in the first couple orbits, as I already said, you don’t want to just be going all-in with anything resembling a decent hand. While you have plenty of fold equity in a super turbo (after all, the stack you’re shoving with is the same size as everyone else’s), your opponents are going to be more likely to call in the beginning because they aren’t in that “afraid to bust out on the bubble” zone. That and the fact that super turbos are usually filled with players who just want to gamble.
Whereas in a regular Sit-and-Go, your goal in the early stages may be to just stay ahead of the blinds, your goal in a super turbo needs to be to double up quickly. Again, you can still use some sort of hand selection, but it is imperative that you do more than just steal the blinds as soon as possible. The blinds go up so fast that just staying even will put you in a bad situation. And limping is not an option, unless you are planning on calling an all-in or pushing on the flop. You cannot afford to waste any chips. You must hang on to as much fold equity as possible.
After the first couple orbits, there will almost assuredly be at least one person, and likely two or three, already eliminated. If you haven’t made your move yet, you will need to find something and go for it. If you have built up a stack, you can start putting pressure on your opponents, just like you would with a big stack on the bubble of a regular Sit-and-Go. Remember, it’s still a nine-handed tournament and it still pays like any other Sit-and-Go, so the goal is to win. Doubling or tripling up early may be the initial goal, but it’s just a means to an end. Use that stack to force your opponents to either fold their already short stacks or commit to a sub-par hand.
You may be thinking to yourself that super turbos seem like they would be high variance. And you would be right. Even the best players are going to find themselves all-in many times as only slight favorites. So yeah, you are going to bust out without winning or even cashing frequently. But because super turbos finish so quickly and require very little thought, it is very easy to play several at a time and even out some of the short-term variance with high volume. You’re ROI will be low, but you can make some solid money by simply playing a ton of tournaments. Plus, like I said earlier, the majority of players in super turbos aren’t very good, so with some practice, you will be ahead of the competition in no time.
Betfair IPO Shares Covered After One Day
The online betting company Betfair has generated enough orders from investors to cover all shares offered on the London Stock Exchange, just a day after the company set a price range for its initial public offering (IPO). Betfair said it would sell a 10% stake to public investors at between £11 and £14 ($17.50 and $22.30) per share, valuing the company at up to £1.48 billion ($2.35 billion).
According to sources, bankers working on the Betfair listing sent a message to their sales desks on Friday morning to say that the order book for the deal had been covered. The offer of around 10% of Betfair was oversubscribed after the first day of bookbuilding, which launched on Thursday.
The percentage of the stock being offered for sale is lower than usual. Newly listed companies normally have to offer 25% of their shares for sale, but Betfair is being exempted due to the diverse shareholder base it already has.
The company’s 14 largest shareholders currently hold about 75% of Betfair’s stock and have agreed to sell shares in the offering alongside Betfair’s board members and senior management team. Betfair said that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will act as bookrunners and joint sponsors for the IPO, while Numis and Barclays Capital will help solicit investors as co-lead managers.
The final IPO price will be set on October 22nd and the stock will start trading conditionally that day. Unconditional dealing will start around October 27th.
In a company press release, Betfair said, “Betfair currently has a diverse shareholder base including a group of 14 major investors holding approximately 75% of the company’s fully diluted share capital. Based on indications received to date, Betfair expects the offer to comprise the sale of shares by over half of the group of major shareholders, Betfair’s board members, and senior management team of shares representing at least 10% of Betfair’s fully diluted share capital.
The company’s statement continued, “In addition to the group of major shareholders, Betfair has approximately 600 other shareholders, and approximately 25% of the company’s fully diluted share capital is held by shareholders who have holdings of less than 1% each. These shareholders are also being given the opportunity to sell shares in the offer and their forms of instruction are required to be submitted by Noon on October 15th, 2010. Betfair does not intend to issue new shares as part of the offer. The final number of shares being sold in the offer will be confirmed prior to admission.”
Betfair, started in 2000, is the world’s largest sports exchange with about three million registered users betting on sports events and playing online poker and other games. The company was founded by JP Morgan trader Edward Wray, internet entrepreneur Josh Hannah, and professional gambler Andrew Black. Betfair has since seen revenues climb a steady 10% year-over-year, with Wray and Black now owning 23% of the company. Hannah left the Betfair Group in 2004.
As of April 30th, Betfair had seen a 13% gain in 2010 and listed its revenue at £340.9 million ($543 million).
Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship Playoff Field Set
On Saturday, the 16-person playoff field was determined in the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship on GSN. The show airs new episodes every Saturday at 9:00pm ET. Over the weekend, the final two qualifying matches for the playoffs were held.
Teammates alternate action by street on Doubles Poker and cannot talk strategy at the table if they have cards. Instead, each team is given one 30-second time out to banter about a hand. Each player bought into the made-for-television tournament for $50,000 and David Tuchman and Full Tilt Poker pro Brandon Adams have the call of the action.
In the first match, Tony G teamed with Phil Gordon, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar teamed with Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen paired with Johnny Chan, and Carlos Mortensen teamed with Erik Seidel. The group consisted of three former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champs. Chan was a perfect 3-0 in preliminary matches and players jockeyed to get to 35 regular season points, which would likely be needed to make the playoffs.
Mortensen folded pocket jacks pre-flop to try to allow Seidel to climb up the points ladder and avoid a fourth place finish, but it wasn’t meant to be, as they were eliminated first after flopping top pair with 9-4 on a board of 8-2-9. Tony G and Gordon held pocket tens for an overpair and Seidel and Mortensen were sent packing with zero regular season points.
Then, Hansen 3bet all-in pre-flop with A-4 and Tony G, a PartyPoker pro, made the call with a wired pair of queens. Chan and Hansen could not improve and they were eliminated in third place. As a result of the four-point boost, Chan secured his position atop the overall leaderboard at 64 points.
To end the first match of the one-hour show, Rajkumar and Hellmuth took down the title after their pocket sevens held against Gordon and Tony G’s 5-4 on a flop of 3-J-4. The turn was an ace and the river was a ten, giving each of the winners 20 points towards the regular season standings. As a result, Rajkumar, Tony G, Gordon, and Chan all eclipsed the 35-point plateau and earned a playoff birth.
In the second qualifying match, Andy Bloch teamed with Nick “The Takeover” Schulman, David Chiu paired with Phil Laak, Howard Lederer teamed with Greg Mueller, and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond teamed with Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari.
In just the second hand of the match, Bloch and Schulman elected to gamble with A-Q all-in pre-flop and ran into Chiu and Laak’s Big Slick. However, Bloch and Schulman flopped a queen and no king came for “The Unabomber” and Chiu on the turn or river to save the day. They busted in fourth place, leaving Laak to lament that he hadn’t even played a hand.
Galfond and Esfandiari got it in with 9-7 on a board of 10-10-8 with two clubs. After some deliberation, Bloch and Schulman called with J-9 for an open-ended straight draw of their own. The turn was another club and, with Bloch and Schulman holding the only club, the card left Galfond and Esfandiari drawing thin to the river. The final card was a blank and Galfond and Esfandiari hit the rail in third place.
Mueller and Lederer ultimately won the match and Bloch came up short of his must-win bid for a playoff spot. Now, the post-season field is set in the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship on GSN. Here are the pairings:
Johnny Chan and Erick Lindgren
Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad
Greg Mueller and Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar
Nick Schulman and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger
Tony G and David Benyamine
Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham
In addition, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, and Toto Leonidas, who are all knotted at 35 points, will play a match to break the tie and two of them will move on to form the final playoff team.
You can catch new episodes of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship every Saturday at 9:00pm ET on GSN.
WPT Texas Hold’em Poker Offering WPT Boot Camp Seats
Last week, word broke that the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Texas Hold’em Poker on Facebook had launched a promotion to give players seats to the WPT Boot Camp. The promotion runs through Wednesday and Poker News Daily caught up with David McCaman, Senior Director of Marketing for Hands-On Entertainment, to break down the unique opportunity. Remember, you only have a few days left to win your way in by purchasing Texas Hold’em Poker chip packs.
Before we get to the interview, you should know that users of WPT Texas Hold’em Poker will soon be able to take advantage of live chat, buddy lists, private tables, and sleek avatars as part of a new software update. The game has also made its way to the Nintendo DSi and is available for 500 points in the Nintendo DSi Shop. The developers behind the software are quickly growing its player base, which has cemented WPT Texas Hold’em Poker as one of the top free programs in the industry.
Poker News Daily: Talk about where the idea for the WPT Boot Camp promotion came from and what’s involved for WPT Texas Hold’em Poker Facebook players.
David McCaman: The game that we’re doing on Facebook has been tremendous. We’ve seen steady growth and a lot of returning users.
Since the WPT is a trusted and inspirational brand for players, having that same type of inspiration through a Facebook game is where we were going to separate ourselves from some of our competitors initially. We’ve had a long history as a licensee of the WPT and doing the mobile game for them. We had the first Web-to-wireless experience in 2005. We worked with the WPT Boot Camp in past promotions and thought it’d be a great way to bring it into the Facebook game. We can give people a chance to up their own poker games in the process as well.
The promotion has been received really well so far and the players are excited. We ask people to buy a chip pack, which runs from $1.99 to $20, to get a chance to win. In all of our press about it, we also let people know that you don’t necessarily have to purchase anything to qualify. If you want to send in a postcard to enter, you can do that too.
PND: Explain the allure of playing poker on Facebook.
David McCaman: When you’re playing on Facebook, it’s exciting because you can practice your poker skills and gamble without real money. We offer an avatar system, which has been received well, where people can design their own poker persona and come to the table. Facebook is social and poker is also social, so it’s a great complement to the experience.
PND: What stats can you share regarding the use of the WPT’s Facebook interface?
David McCaman: We’re at nearly 40,000 daily users, so there are a lot of people coming back every day. We also have 300,000 monthly users. The thing about Facebook games is that they’re services; every day we work with our engineers to come up with new items and get feedback from our users.
PND: Explain how Hands-On became involved with the WPT initially.
David McCaman: We started working with them when they first came onboard and were looking at a mobile poker game. We worked with them to brand it and worked with the big cell phone carriers to implement it. Poker is a great game to play on the go and it’s a great social experience, so it made sense.
PND: How can users take part in the WPT Texas Hold’em Poker promotion?
David McCaman: Go to Facebook and search “WPT” to find us. You’ll see the game pop up and there’s a picture of Alison Waite there with some cards. It’s a free program that takes a minute or two to load. You get 20,000 in chips for free.
PND: How challenging is it to survive in the competitive Facebook game market?
David McCaman: Ninety percent of these games are free, so you’re relying on a small percentage of people to make money. It’s definitely challenging and the environment rewards companies that can figure out the best ways to do that. There are lots of ways to get people to enjoy the experience and want to pay for aspects of your product.
Washington State Supreme Court Upholds Internet Gambling Law
In breaking news, the Washington State Supreme Court has upheld a law that makes playing online poker a Class C felony. Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Washington State Director Lee Rousso, a lawyer by trade, sued to declare the harsh law unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
The Court’s opinion opened by noting that the Washington state legislature had not yet legalized online poker; therefore, it was not the job of the State Supreme Court to second-guess that judgment: “It is not the role of the judiciary to second-guess the wisdom of the legislature, which enacted this ban. The court has no authority to conduct its own balancing of the pros and cons stemming from banning, regulating, or openly permitting internet gambling.” Instead, its assessment focused mainly on whether the statute violated the Commerce Clause.
After evaluating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and Wire Act of 1961, the Washington State Supreme Court asserted, “The statute prohibits internet gambling evenhandedly, regardless of whether the company running the website is located in or outside the state of Washington. The effects imposed on in-state and out-of-state entities engaging or that would engage in internet gambling are the same… The dormant Commerce Clause only prevents a state from discriminating based on whether the business is in-state or out-of-state.” Therefore, the Washington law does not discriminate against foreign and out-of-state online gambling interests.
The Court then dove into a moral evaluation of internet gambling, explaining in its decision, “Internet gambling introduces new ways to exacerbate these same threats to health, welfare, safety, and morals. Gambling addicts and underage gamblers have greater accessibility to online gambling – able to gamble from their homes immediately and on demand, at any time, on any day, unhindered by in-person regulatory measures. Concerns over ties to organized crime and money laundering are exacerbated where online gambling operations are not physically present in-state to be inspected for regulatory compliance.”
The decision accordingly read in part, “Washington has a legitimate and substantial state interest in addressing the effects of internet gambling.” The State Supreme Court justices argued that online poker and internet gambling outfits could merely exclude its residents from play to comply with the law.
Rousso told Poker News Daily on Friday that he plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Whether the nation’s highest judicial body would take the case remains to be seen.
PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato commented in a press release distributed by the organization on Thursday, “We are extremely disappointed in the State Supreme Court’s ruling given the clear evidence that the state legislature never sought to regulate internet poker as it does in-state brick-and-mortar card rooms and internet horse racing, but instead simply banned internet poker and, even worse, criminalized the players. This law is still a mistake and we will continue to fight to have it overturned.”
The PPA submitted an amicus brief in the case arguing that other jurisdictions have successfully legalized and regulated online poker. While Rousso was giving oral arguments to the court in May, the PPA staged a large-scale rally on the courthouse steps.
The decision in Washington marked the second major legal development for our industry this week. Also on Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the case involving the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names should head back to the trial court level. There, Judge Thomas Wingate will determine whether the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) have standing. No date for oral arguments has been set.
Read the entire Washington State Supreme Court decision. Stay tuned for the latest legal headlines right here on Poker News Daily.
PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge Season 2 Premieres
Season 2 of the PokerStars.net-powered “Million Dollar Challenge” debuted on Sunday flanking the NFL on FOX. Longtime sports commentator Chris Rose served as the host and also tackled play-by-play duties, while Michelle Nunes dished out details on a special online freeroll.
The first challenger of the new season was Jessica Cupini, a single mom attending West Virginia University who is an aspiring law school student. PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu, a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner who serves as the star of the show, came out and explained the rules. Cupini’s first round celebrity challenger was “Dancing with the Stars” host Brooke Burke.
Players began with 20,000 in chips in each of the three rounds of play. In the first round, Negreanu sat by Cupini’s side and was able to give advice, but could not see her hole cards. In addition, Cupini was allotted one time out to talk strategy in private with “Kid Poker.”
Burke came out swinging, winning the first two pots shown until Cupini doubled up with pocket tens against K-7. After a flat call by Burke pre-flop, Cupini used her time out to consult with the bona fide poker pro, who told her to be aggressive with the pocket pair. Cupini moved all-in for 16,000 and Burke called off half of her stack with K-7. The board ran out 6-Q-8-4-4 and Cupini doubled up to take a 4:1 chip lead. She claimed victory in the match on the very next hand shown and won a trip to the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas worth $5,000.
The second “Million Dollar Challenge” match pitted Cupini against a PokerStars pro with $25,000 in cash on the line. The student’s boyfriend and uncle were taken to the “Poker Buddies” room, where they could see all of the hole cards and the action from the felt. Negreanu, meanwhile, was moved to an isolation booth where he too could view Cupini’s hole cards and coach her through an earpiece.
Enter reigning World Poker Tour Championship winner David Williams, a newly minted PokerStars pro who donned a black and white bowtie. Williams could invoke the “Dome of Silence” twice during the match, blocking all communication between Negreanu and Cupini.
After flopping two pair with J-8 on a board of J-8-K, Cupini led out for 2,200 and Williams used his first “Dome of Silence” to force the challenger to play the rest of the hand on her own. Williams, holding Q-J for middle pair, called and the turn was a deuce. Williams check-called a bet of 3,000 and the river was a three. Williams checked, Cupini bet 5,000, and Williams asked her if she could beat two pair. Despite the ruse, Williams folded, shipping a pot of 17,000, about half of the chips in play, to Cupini.
In the final hand of the match, Williams looked down at an ace and pushed all-in for 10,500. Cupini called with pocket threes after Negreanu told her to gamble and Williams flipped over his other hole card, which happened to be a deuce. No help came for the former Bodog pro and Cupini banked $25,000 to go along with her Bahamas vacation.
Rose asked Cupini if she wanted to play Negreanu heads-up for $100,000 or take the $25,000 and run. With the audience and her loved ones encouraging her to go for broke, Cupini squared off against Negreanu for $100,000 and a seat in the Table of Champions later in the season. Perhaps as an omen of things to come, Negreanu admitted that he had Cupini figured out as the two took their seats.
Cupini called pre-flop with A-4 and Negreanu checked his option with Q-6. Both players checked the flop of J-10-9 and the turn was an eight, giving “Kid Poker” a straight. Negreanu checked and Cupini errantly shoved all-in for 12,500 after much deliberation. Negreanu called in a heartbeat and the board paired on the river to give him the win, shipping $10,000 to his charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The PokerStars.net “Million Dollar Challenge” returns this Sunday before or after the NFL on FOX. Check your local listings for details.
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies earns $815,000 at PLO
Online Gambling Traffic Up 40% in UK
Global information giant Nielsen Media Research recently published a study that showed that despite the global economic downturn, online gambling traffic in the United Kingdom was up 40% year over year.
While online poker has without a doubt been popular, it is actually online lottery sales that have been driving the growth. Topping Nielsen’s list of online gambling sites in the UK was national lottery operator Camelot, which saw its number of unique visitors explode from 4.4 million to 9.4 million between July 2009 and July 2010, an increase of 114%. According to the Camelot website, national lottery sales were £5.149 billion during the 2008/2009 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2009. This represented an increase of 3.6% over the previous year.
Party Gaming sits in the eighth spot on Nielsen’s list. PartyPoker, the company’s renowned poker arm, drew 870,000 more unique visitors than the previous year, an increase of 174%. PartyCasino saw a similar growth rate, 186%, which translated to 1.2 million new visitors.
Despite these positive figures, having more visitors doesn’t necessarily mean more players. PartyPoker reported a 12% increase in new real money player signups in 2009 (496,100), but a decrease of 12% in active player days. The average number of players each day also fell 12%, while the yield per active player day dropped 18%. The combined dip in active players and yield per player resulted in PartyPoker’s average daily net revenue sinking 28%.
PartyCasino’s figures were better, with active player days and daily average number of players dropping just 6%. But with the average yield per player climbing by 20%, the average daily net revenue for the casino was up 12%. PartyCasino turned a much smaller percent of its new visitors into real money customers than PartyPoker, with 103,000 testing their luck with real money.
PartyPoker currently ranks as the third largest online poker room/network in terms of cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com. With a seven-day average of 3,750 players, PartyPoker is just ahead of the iPoker Network, which has a seven-day average of 3,500 cash game players. Neither site accepts customers from the United States.
Some of the more interesting facts that Nielsen uncovered were about the demographics of the UK’s online gambling population. Almost half of online gamblers make a good living, earning at least £30,000 ($49,717) per year. Women also make up almost half – 46% – of the online gambling population and many sites are taking greater strides in catering to the fairer sex.
Despite the strong female presence, they are not the ones fueling the gambling sites. Nielsen’s Neil Beston said, “While the phenomenal growth in gambling sites over the last two years has been driven by men and women of all ages, it appears to be powered particularly by middle-aged men, the well-educated, and high-earning households.” Beston added that this is a change from historical norms, which had senior citizens and lower income households contributing more to the online gambling economy.
While the gambling firms are likely happy about Nielsen’s findings, not everyone is jumping for joy. Problem gambling support charity GamCare still has the same concerns that critics of online gambling have always had. Adrian Scarfe, GamCare’s Clinical Training Director, told Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper, “The internet is readily available, it’s 24/7 and it’s right in the heart of a home. The vulnerable groups are those who are less risk-averse – young people and women, and no one knows if you’re drunk.”
Many online poker rooms, including PartyPoker and PokerStars, have links to GamCare on their websites.
Former Full Tilt Poker Employee Jason Newitt Subpoenaed by Feds
According to Wicked Chops Poker, former Full Tilt Poker employee Jason “JDN” Newitt has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and is scheduled to appear today. The reason for his subpoena was not disclosed. Read the article here.
In September 2009, word came to pass that Newitt was filing suit against Full Tilt Poker, Pocket Kings, and Tiltware alleging that “he was unfairly fired and that his distribution payments were unfairly ceased. Defendants then took control of his ownership.” He parted ways with Full Tilt Poker following a well-publicized e-mail leak involving Full Tilt front man Howard Lederer and Newitt discussing Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, who finished second in the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Whether Newitt’s rumored appearance at the Southern District of New York involves his Full Tilt Poker lawsuit or the online poker room in any way remains to be seen. The involvement of the Southern District with the internet gambling industry has primarily been on the payment processing front. In April, Intrabill head Daniel Tzvetkoff was arrested and charged with money laundering, gambling conspiracy, and bank fraud in Las Vegas. A Dow Jones Newswire report indicated that the Southern District brought on the arrest of the Aussie and was focusing on “hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with U.S. gamblers between February 2008 and March 2009.”
Last September, word broke that government officials had seized six bank accounts in Maryland related to the internet gambling payment processor Forshay Enterprises. The legal action followed similar seizures of funds belonging to Electracash and HMD, two other intermediaries.
Perhaps the most famous case involving the Southern District involves its investigation of Account Services, which was linked to providing payment processing for Full Tilt and PokerStars, the two largest online poker sites in the industry. Account Services front man Douglas Rennick, a Canadian, was hit with a potpourri of charges including bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling.
The Account Services sting was part of a larger assault on the internet gambling industry by the Southern District in which $30 million was seized. The money in question was destined for over 20,000 online poker players and, as a result of the disruption, sites like PokerStars gave cash bonuses to players who were affected when their checks bounced. The Poker Players Alliance, one of the main lobbying voices of the poker industry, filed an amicus brief on behalf of Account Services.
Wicked Chops’ namesake Steve “Chops” Preiss told Poker News Daily on Tuesday, “In general, subpoenas are not overly specific in nature. It’s no secret the DoJ has been investigating the online poker industry, and when J.D. Newitt sued Full Tilt Poker, he certainly opened himself up for some follow-up from the government. We simply won’t know if the subpoena is specifically targeting Full Tilt Poker or part of a larger and broader investigation of online poker until after the fact.” Newitt’s appearance could also be wholly unrelated to the industry.
Preiss speculated as to what the subpoena could mean for the online poker community: “This certainly isn’t ‘good for poker.’ But it might not necessarily be bad either. The DoJ has been consistent in their efforts in going after payment processors instead of site operators, and this is potentially just an exploratory measure on their part.”
A rumored grand jury investigation of Full Tilt Poker may be in the works as well. The Financial Times reported the investigation in April, although no further action has occurred.
Other recent lawsuits involving Full Tilt Poker include Brandon McSmith suing for the rights to the poker television series “Face the Ace” and Clonie Gowen suing for her own monetary distributions. The latter suit was dismissed in February, while McSmith’s legal squabble is ongoing. McSmith told Poker News Daily that officials from the FBI have contacted him.
Tags: 2008, 2009, canadian, full tilt poker, gamble, legal, Online Poker, poker player, Poker Players Alliance, pokerstars, vegas
WSOPE 2010 Debuts with Poker’s Hottest Game
The first Six-Max World Series of Poker bracelet event on this side of the Atlantic drew a respectable 244 players, selling out the tight confines of the Leicester Square casino with alternates filling the empty seats as early gamblers hit the rail often, thinning the field to less than a third of its size in the late going.
But this £2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event sits as just the latest example of the online born-and-raised poker variant’s gaining popularity.
The WSOP’s $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit event grew from 1,459 runners in 2009 to 1,663 this summer, while the $2,500 jumped from 1,068 to 1,245.
This despite the most of rest of the numbers at the series staying stagnant or dipping.
In fact, even the tamer sounding $2,500 Limit-Hold’em Six-Max saw a bump from 367 to 384.
Much of its popularity comes from a younger generation who grew up on a steady diet of the game online.
But self proclaimed “poker dinosaur”, grandfather and 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, who made 3rd in the WSOP’s $25k Six-Max this summer, says the game appeals to everybody.
“To me, and in a lot of ways and maybe this is contrary to what a lot of people think, but I think No-Limit Hold’em is one of the more boring poker games out there. If you’re not catching cards and you are not involved in a lot of hands, you may as well take a nap,” he said.
“But six-handed, your hand values change, starting hands change; you have position about half the time. You’re just playing a lot more hands and it’s just a lot more fun.”
2010 November Niner John Racener built a stack in the early going Tuesday and although the 25-year-old Floridian said his poker experience includes a lot more full-ring tournament experience; he loves the up-tempo pace six-handed.
“There are not as many pauses between hands,” he said. “I can loosen up my range and sometimes you don’t even have to look at your hand. Because it’s short-handed, you can just play position. It’s fun stuff.”
Racener believes the gaining popularity of the game is in part due to its allure to cash game players.
“There’s more action and it’s what everyone is playing online these days in the cash games; no one plays full ring anymore,” he said.
“Cash game players, if they’re going to pick a tournament to play, it's going to be the Six-Max event.”
One of the most feared online cash game players on the net, Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger says nothing beats short-handed play and that’s why poker players are flocking to the game.
“The fewer players the better,” he said. “Heads-up is my favorite, followed by Four-Max, which has started coming in on the Internet a little bit now, the way Six-Max did a few years back, and I love Six-Max - There’s a bit more post flop play and people just play more hands.”
But regardless of the reason No-Limit Six-Max is on the rise, Kassela says it’s obvious the trend will continue.
“It’s more interesting,” he said. “There’s a lot more action. I think it tends to favor more skilled players and frankly, you are just more comfortable. There’s more room at the tables; it’s a much more luxurious game to play.
“I’d rather play a six-handed tournament than No-Limit.”
Visit PokerListings.com
John Hennigan – Poker Player Bio
In his thirteen-year poker career, John Hennigan has been just as successful as many of the top players in the game. He is recognized by his peers as an astute and difficult player, capable of anything on the felt. Even though he has this reputation, however, he is perhaps one of the most underrated players in the poker world because of his low-key demeanor.
The Philadelphia, PA, native who now calls California home has been part of the poker world since the late 1990s, when he earned his first cash at the World Poker Finals at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. Since that time, Hennigan has moved on to become one of the most feared players in the game, with none other than Daniel Negreanu admitting he was a formidable foe. In an interview with PokerLizard.com, Negreanu is quoted as saying, “I most like to play with John Hennigan because when he is focused, he is the best I’ve ever played with. He thinks on another level that few could understand.”
Prior to stepping into the tournament arena, Hennigan made a name for himself grinding the cash games of Atlantic City’s casino scene. He quenched his thirst for competition (Hennigan early in life was a professional pool player) by earning a nice living from those cash games. Although he was successful, John still craved more adventurous battles on the felt, which led him to tournament action.
Known as “World” because of his propensity to gamble on pretty much anything in the world, Hennigan has had significant success in several disciplines of poker, from No Limit Hold’em to Seven Card Stud to H.O.R.S.E. His first World Series of Poker cash came in 1999, when he finished 19th in the $10,000 Championship Event, and he has been able to take home two prized WSOP bracelets. He won his first in 2002 (in the $2000 H.O.R.S.E. event) and picked up his second in 2004 in the $5000 Limit Hold’em tournament. His last cash at the WSOP came this year in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, which was the eleventh career cash at the WSOP.
On the World Poker Tour stage, Hennigan has been able to maintain his history of success. He made his first WPT final table in 2002 at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio – where he finished fourth – and finally broke through to win his first WPT event in 2007 at the Borgata Winter Open in Atlantic City. His $1.79 million in earnings on the WPT place him among the Top Fifty in WPT history in money won. All totaled, Hennigan has earned over $3.2 million in his tournament poker career.
On the felt, Hennigan uses his quick analytical skills to size up his table and their play. Not above making a play against his opponents, he also normally will be quite strong when in a hand. His unassuming style is perhaps the main reason why he has not drawn much attention from poker fans or the media.