Posts Tagged ‘jackpot’
Titan Poker Upgrades Software
Titan Poker launched the new 9.6 version of its online poker software this week featuring a host of new features and functionalities.
Included are an updated Flash version compatible for Mac users, Razz games and five additional languages, including Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese and Romanian.
The site also unveiled a radically revamped website, sleek new brand logo and the Titan Poker Academy, a comprehensive poker strategy guide providing valuable insights for both beginner and veteran players on odds calculations, money management, positioning, bluffing and more.
With nearly 30,000 online players at peak hours, Titan Poker has grown into the number one online poker room in Europe.
The site guarantees $16,000,000 in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $100,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments.
Click the banner below for more information on the changes at Titan Poker.
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Andras Koroknai Wins WPT L.A. Poker Classic
After a one-day delay, the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic resumed on Thursday with its six-handed final table. After 94 hands, Andras Koroknai emerged victorious and banked $1.8 million.
Koroknai earned the largest first place payday awarded so far during Season 8 of the WPT. His prize package included $1.8 million in cash, a WPT bracelet and watch, a Commerce Casino trophy, and a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship, which will play out next month from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Koroknai had a rowdy Hungarian rail during the L.A. Poker Classic’s final table and told WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque that his plan was to spend his newfound riches.
Koroknai edged out Raymond Dolan heads-up. Michael Kamran, the short stack entering the final table, was the first person sent packing. Kamran moved all-in pre-flop with 10-7 of diamonds for eight big blinds and George Kasabyan made the call with A-J. Kamran picked up a straight draw when the flop came 9-8-5 and turned a seven to take the lead in the hand with a pair. However, Kasabyan hit an ace on the river to end Kamran’s heroics. He picked up $246,000 for his run through the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.
The second player eliminated was J.C. Moussa, who picked up $321,000 for his fifth place showing. Moussa shoved over the top of a re-raise by Tri Huynh with A-9. Huynh flipped up A-Q and the board ran out 10-6-2-K-5. Huynh made a flush by the time all was said and done and sat with the second largest stack at the table.
Dolan scooped a 2.6 million chip pot shortly thereafter to take the chip lead before a long battle ensued to see who would become the tournament’s fourth place finisher. Kasabyan called all-in with A-7 on a board of A-9-8, but ran into Huynh’s A-9 for top two pair. Kasabyan hit a seven on the turn for one of his outs needed to win the hand, but a river nine gave Huynh a full house. Kasabyan, who hails from Armenia and was rooted on by Chris "The Amenian Express" Grigorian throughout the final table, collected $450,000.
The trio remaining was fairly even in stack sizes following Kasabyan’s exit, but Koroknai doubled through Dolan to claim 60% of the chips in play. On the 93rd hand of final table play, Huynh was bounced after calling all-in with pocket jacks against Koroknai’s A-K. I bet you can guess how this hand ends. A king hit on the flop to send the tournament’s eventual winner out in front and no help came on the turn or river. Entering heads-up play, Koroknai held a 10:1 edge in chips.
Heads-up action lasted all of one hand, as Dolan called off his remaining chips with Q-4 and found himself up against Koroknai’s Q-8 of hearts. The action flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts, giving Dolan bottom pair and Koroknai a flush draw. The turn was a seven, adding even more drama and giving Koroknai even more outs. Sure enough, the king of hearts hit as the jackpot card on the river and Koroknai took down the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic. Here were the final payouts:
1. Andras Koroknai - $1,788,040
2. Raymond Dolan - $1,002,710
3. Tri Huynh - $665,140
4. Gevork Kasabyan - $450,580
5. Jean-Claude Moussa - $321,840
6. Michael Kamran - $246,740
Next on tap for the WPT is the Bay 101 Shooting Star event from San Jose, California. The unique bounty tournament kicks off next Monday, March 8th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.
PaddyPowerPoker.com to sponsor poker fundraiser for Irish homeless charity
Handling the Baddest of Beats
You feel the rush of jumping out of the airplane. Wind and all manner of force is in your face as you speed down towards the earth.
As you fall closer to the ground the time comes for you to pull the rip cord and it fails.
When Tyler Reiman spiked a queen all in pre-flop against John Duthie's aces at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure this past January with 12 people left and enough chips in the middle of the table to send the winner of the pot through to the final table with a massive chip lead, Duthie says that's exactly what it felt like.
"I equate it to that," Duthie said on Day 1 of the World Poker Tour's L.A. Poker Classic. "The feeling the skydiver feels at that point is exactly how you feel I would imagine."
With Duthie practically guaranteed second or third-place money had he won the pot, the value of the beat made it all the more devastating.
"The situation really made it the worst beat that I've ever had or will ever have in the game of poker," he said. "It was literally like losing $1.5 million in one hand when you are an 87 per cent favorite."
Duthie says taking a beat like that can definitely have an effect on your psyche and, therefore, your game.
"The horrible thing is you start expecting to lose these hands even when you are a massive favorite," he said. "What you end up trying to do is keep the pots much smaller. Not take as many big risks."
But as time goes on, you have to put the bad beat behind you, no matter how big it was.
"You actually don't want to play poker for a long time," Duthie said. "You might even say I'm never playing poker again, but a good sportsman doesn't stop playing the game just because he gets beat.
"I'll never forget that hand, but the impact is diminishing. Life goes on and I'm a great believer that it's only a patch. I'm just going through a phase at the moment.
"I'm not an unlucky person. I know it won't last forever and as long as I keep telling myself that, it will be alright."
The worst bad beat story Daniel Negreanu says he ever heard was from a $1-$5 Stud game.
Two players were heads up showing a king-high straight flush against a queen-high straight flush. With a $300,000 bad beat jackpot on the line, the entire table was already counting the money when the player with the queen-high straight flush drew the king on Seventh Street to chop the pot.
"Think of these guys playing $1-$5 Stud," he said. "All they all have is $100 to their name and they are going to win a sick jackpot. That's bad."
But in the end, that's poker.
"Those are the exact two words you chalk it up to," Negreanu said. "That's poker. Weird stuff is going to happen to you all the time. You have to have mental strength and emotional stability. If you don't you are in the wrong environment.
"Other people struggle through much worse things in their lives. If the worst thing you have to complain about is a bad beat and you only ended up in fourth place - Sorry about your luck. Some people have no arms. Some people have been paralyzed from the waist down. Other people have it worse. Think about real bad beats, put it in context and you realize your life's not so bad."
In the World Poker Tour's first Season, Mark Seif had aces cracked in a pot for the chip lead at the final table to bust in fourth at the Legends of Poker main event.
Four years later, in the pot that gave Vivek Rajkumar an insurmountable lead at the WPT Borgata final table, all the money was in the middle with Seif holding aces against Rajkumar's tens before a ten flopped.
"That one still sits with me," he said. "It's been a year and a half now and I still think about it."
But despite lingering thoughts, Seif said he tries not to let it affect his game or his outlook on life.
"I've been extremely unlucky at very unfortunate times," he said. "But I look at it as though I did what I was supposed to do. My job is to get the chips in when I have the best hand. I got all the chips in pre-flop with two aces against two tens. That was my job.
"The fact that I was so unlucky might devastate other people and, as I told you, I still think about it. But at the end of the day, I look at my life in general, and I'm so lucky.
"I get to play poker for a living, I live in a really great house and I have two beautiful little girls. I just live a really great life and, in the big picture, I can't mope around and feel like I'm unlucky."
In the end, even bad beats are all about perspective.
The WPT's L.A. Poker Classic continues through March 2. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Paddy Power Poker player scoops $110,000 Fort Knox jackpot
Paddy Power Poker player scoops $110,000 Fort Knox jackpot
Doyle Brunson in Good Spirits Following Dental Surgery
Poker News Daily has learned that 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson is in good spirits following dental surgery on Tuesday. He is expected to make a full recovery.
The procedure lasted six hours and Brunson returned to his Las Vegas home afterward. A source close to Brunson told Poker News Daily that the industry icon “sailed” through surgery, is in good spirits, and will play in tonight’s Bounty Tournament on DoylesRoom. In a blog posted on the official website of DoylesRoom dated February 4th, Brunson told readers that he’d be undergoing “a 5 1/2 hour surgery on my teeth and gums. That is going to require a lot of change in my schedule.” Brunson was originally slated to play in this weekend’s PartyPoker Premier League; Phil Laak will serve as a last-minute replacement.
Brunson also hinted at axing appearances at the Commerce Casino for the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Celebrity Invitational and L.A. Poker Classic as well as the North American Poker Tour’s (NAPT) stop at the Venetian. Despite the possibility of being sidelined until the 2010 WSOP in May, Brunson quickly returned to his blonde joke-telling self on Wednesday, Tweeting the following: “A blonde's house caught fire and she called the fire department. They said ‘calm down, how do we get there?’ blonde.. duh, in a big red truck.”
On Monday, Brunson told Poker News Daily in an e-mail, “2 hours and counting. Not looking forward to it,” referring to his procedure. Brunson’s final Tweet prior to the surgery came on Monday and was directed at UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke: “Palin used cheat notes written on her hand. Obama uses a teleprompter for everything:-) I'm not supporting her by the way.”
Brunson had previously found himself in hot water for a President Barack Obama-related Tweet that read, “The Democrats say ‘give Obama time.’ Us Republicans agree, 25 to life seems appropriate!” The gaffe was posted on January 20th and led to an outcry from some customers on DoylesRoom who preferred that Brunson refrain from commenting on the political arena.
Tonight, Brunson will return to the virtual felts of his USA-friendly online poker site to compete in the weekly $50,000 Bounty Tournament. The Bounty takes place every Wednesday night and this evening’s installment features Brunson, recent WPT Southern Poker Championship winner Hoyt Corkins, and “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro. First-time Bounty players can receive a full refund of their $27.50 buy-in and the festivities kick off at 9:30pm ET. Knocking out a single bounty earns a player $1,000, while eliminating two bounties means a $10,000 bankroll boost. Finally, knocking out all three bounties results in a $50,000 jackpot.
When we will next see Brunson on the live felts is anyone’s guess. In the same blog post, the poker pro noted that he didn’t want to invest time and money while not feeling up to snuff: “There is no use playing unless you are at your best. The competition has gotten so good you need to feel good physically as well as mentally to have a chance to win.” Brunson is tied with Johnny Chan for the second highest number of bracelets all-time at 10, trailing only Phil Hellmuth’s tally of 11. Brunson has nearly $3 million in career WSOP earnings dating back to 1976.
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, jackpot, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, tournament, usa, vegas, WSOP
iPoker player claims he was denied jackpot
Record Breaking Bad Beat Jackpot Won at Atlantic City!
Steven Gedney, 52, from Dover, Del., was pretty much speechless after winning the biggest Bad Beat Jackpot in Atlantic City history at Caesars. His Wife however called it good karma, good things happening to good people.
Gedney with literally huge check!
Huge jackpot was attracting players from other casinos to play at Caesars. Because the jackpot was so large, there was a 31/2-hour wait to get a seat at a game in the poker room.
The jackpot at Caesars had risen to $553,958 and lucky loser Gedney got half of it. Previous bad beat jackpot record in Atlantic City was $361,244. Winner of the hand, Chris Dobrzanski, didn’t have to go home empty-handed, as he won 25% chunk of the jackpot, $138,489, and of course the actual pot worth of about $400. The other seven players sitting at the table received $19,784 each.
Gedney’s wife, Tabitha, said her husband’s win was “meant to be.” Gedney owns JW’s Sports Bar in Dover and the business wasn’t going so well lately.
“He was going to let some people go, but said ‘I can’t do it, it’s Christmas time. These people have families, these people have kids,’” Tabitha Gedney said about the good deeds of his husband for the Press of Atlantic City.
“It’s karma, it really is,” Tabitha Gedney added. Karma or not, Steven Gedney and his poker hand of four threes gave his family and his business much needed cash in just the right time.
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
New Jersey Gaming Revenues Fall 13.2% in 2009
According to figures released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, gaming revenues in Atlantic City dipped 13.2% during the 2009 calendar year compared to 2008. All told, area casinos raked in $3.9 billion.
Revenue derived from slot machines and table games were both hit hard. Funds pulled from the one-armed bandits dropped 13.1% in 2009 to $2.72 billion, while table game revenue fell 13.5% to $1.22 billion. Casino Control Commission Chair Linda Kassekert commented in a press release, “Casinos continued to suffer in 2009. The weak national economy, growing competition across our borders, and the partial ban on smoking in casinos combined to depress gaming revenues.” Officials in New Jersey are eyeing gambling expansion in Pennsylvania and Delaware as additional competitive pressures. In response, New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak recently introduced a bill to allow intrastate internet gambling.
Despite the rapidly increasing competition and shrinking sources of revenue, Kassekert remained optimistic that Atlantic City’s uniqueness would continue to attract visitors to its casinos: “Atlantic City has a lot to offer visitors in addition to gambling. When the economy improves and people have more money to spend on entertainment, Atlantic City will draw more and more people interested in visiting our shops, enjoying a concert, dining in our fine restaurants, and relaxing on our beach.”
During the 2009-2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit schedule, Atlantic City plays host to a pair of events. In December, Harrah’s Atlantic City held a slate of 17 poker tournaments. Its $5,150 buy-in Main Event saw Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki best a field of 195 players to earn $215,000. Heads-up, Klodnicki defeated fellow online poker player Kyle kwob20 Bowker, who pocketed $128,000. The WSOP Circuit returns to the New Jersey city in March for the Caesars Atlantic City festivities. The casino is fresh off awarding a record-setting $553,000 Bad Beat Jackpot to Delaware native Steven Gedney.
New Jersey casinos’ taxable gross revenue in 2009 was $3.7 billion, which meant that gaming establishments paid $295.3 million to the State. The funds, which represent 8% of taxable gross revenue, go directly to the Casino Revenue Fund, which benefits senior citizens and New Jersey residents with disabilities. Casinos also coughed up $49.3 million in reinvestment costs. On that cash outlay, the Commission explained, “They are required to reinvest 1.25 percent of taxable gross revenues in projects approved by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.”
In December, casino revenue slid 9.8% year over year to $272.1 million. Hit hardest during the final month of the decade was Trump Marina, whose revenues plummeted by 25.2% to $10.1 million. The second largest decline was seen at Trump Plaza, where revenues skidded 18.9% year over year to $13.0 million. At the Atlantic City Hilton, the news on casino “win” was equally poor, as revenues dipped 17.3% in December 2009 compared to December 2008 to $11.7 million. Caesars Atlantic City, contrastingly, saw a 4.4% rise in revenue in December.
For the 2009 calendar year, every single casino in Atlantic City posted lower revenue than in 2008. Three locales – Atlantic City Hilton, Trump Marina, and Trump Plaza – saw win dive by 20% or more year over year. Virtually untouched amid the sagging economy was the Borgata, whose revenues of $695.3 million in 2009 trailed its 2008 figures by just 5.9%. Only one other casino’s revenue fell by single-digits year over year, the Trump Taj Mahal. Beginning on Wednesday at the Borgata is its annual Winter Poker Open, which runs through February 5th. The Main Event, which has a $2 million guaranteed prize pool, begins on January 31st.
In Las Vegas, casino gambling revenue rose in November year over year, posting the first monthly gain in nearly two years. In Atlantic City during the same month, revenues slid 13.4% compared to November 2008.
Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, bad beat, cent, Chair, internet gambling, jackpot, king, Las Vegas, law, New Jersey, Online Poker, online poker player, Pennsylvania, player, Poker, poker player, Pro, Senator, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Bad Beat Jackpot hits for half mil at Caesars
Man Sets New Poker Bad Beat Jackpot Record
Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot Hit for $553,958
Dover native Steven Gedney hit a record-shattering Bad Beat Jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City of $553,958 last Friday. The behemoth prize pool dwarfed the former largest jackpot of $361,244 and Gedney raked in $276,979 as a result of the beat.
Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City, commented in a press release distributed by the East Coast casino, "This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team. The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record-setting jackpot couldn't be more rewarding.”
Gedney held quad threes in the memorable hand, normally a stone cold lock to scoop any pot. However, in what was likely a mix of dismay and excitement, Gedney watched as his opponent, Chris Dobrzanski, flipped up four aces, triggering the Bad Beat Jackpot. Although dropping the $400 pot, Gedney hauled in a massive $276,979 prize for suffering the bad beat. Dobrzanski, meanwhile, hauled in the $400 spoils and added another $138,489 for dishing out the misfortune. The table was nine-handed, meaning that the other seven players seated each earned $19,784 for paying witness to history, enough to buy a new car just in time for final 2009 year-end closeouts.
Under the terms of the Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot, four of a kind must go down in smoke to a superior hand. Half of the Bad Beat Jackpot is awarded to the losing player in the hand, 25% is given to the winning player, and the remaining 25% is divided equally among the other players dealt to at the table when the bad beat occurred. In 2008, the Caesars Atlantic City poker room awarded nearly $1.2 million in Bad Beat Jackpot money and is well on its way to surpassing that amount this year.
As of January 11th, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot stood at $529,436, meaning that it grew by $25,000 last week alone before being hit on Friday. At Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, the Bad Beat Jackpot was $352,873 last Monday. At Showboat, the purse for doling out a bad beat was $118,970 one week ago and, at Bally’s, the bounty stood at $137,493. After being hit on Friday, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot sat at $152,000 today at Noon ET.
The Caesars Palace Atlantic City poker room sports 20 tables and 50-inch plasma televisions to allow players to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of sports. The casino spreads favorites like $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em and $2/$4, $3/$6, and $4/$8 Limit Hold’em. The venue is ramping up to host a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event in March. The action kicks off in Atlantic City on March 3rd and concludes with a Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on March 14th. The $5,150 buy-in Caesars Atlantic City Circuit Championship, a three-day affair, will begin dealing cards on March 12th.
Here is the schedule of events for the Caesars Atlantic City Circuit stop in March:
Wednesday, March 3rd at 12:00pm ET
Event #1: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in
Thursday, March 4th at 12:00pm ET
Event #2: No Limit Hold'em
$590 buy-in
Friday, March 5th at 12:00pm ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in
Saturday, March 6th at 12:00pm ET
Event #4: No Limit Hold'em
$560 buy-in
Sunday, March 7th at 12:00pm ET
Event #5: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in
Monday, March 8th at 12:00pm ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold'em
$560 buy-in
Tuesday, March 9th at 12:00pm ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold'em
$1,080 buy-in
Wednesday, March 10th at 12:00pm ET
Event #8: Deep Stack
$1,600 buy-in
Thursday, March 11th at 12:00pm ET
Event #9: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Friday, March 12th at 12:00pm ET
Event #10: Caesars Atlantic City Championship Event
$5,150 buy-in
Saturday, March 13th at 12:00pm ET
Event 11: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Sunday, March 14th at 12:00pm ET
Event #12: Ladies No Limit Hold'em
$230 buy-in
Dover Man Wins Largest-Ever Bad Beat Jackpot
56-year-old Steve Gedney was awarded $276,979 of the $553,958 jackpot when his quad threes were beaten by an ace on the river giving Bridgwater, New Jersey’s Chris Dobrzanski four aces.
Dobrzanski took home $138,489 and the remaining seven players at the table were each awarded $19,784.
There was roughly $400 in the pot.
"This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team," said Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City. "The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record setting jackpot couldn't be more rewarding.”
The progressive bad beat jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City is paid when four-of-a-kind is beaten. Like most, the prize is split among all players sitting at the table with 50% going to the losing hand, 25% to the winning hand, and 25% equally divided amongst the remaining players at the table.
The previous record for the largest-ever live bad beat jackpot was $361,244, also set at Caesars Atlantic City.
The largest bad beat jackpot of all time is $1.2 million, recorded online on Carbon Poker in February 2009.
Visit PokerListings.com
Dover Man Wins Largest-Ever Bad Beat Jackpot
56-year-old Steve Gedney was awarded $276,979 of the $553,958 jackpot when his quad threes were beaten by an ace on the river giving Bridgwater, New Jersey’s Chris Dobrzanski four aces.
Dobrzanski took home $138,489 and the remaining seven players at the table were each awarded $19,784.
There was roughly $400 in the pot.
"This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team," said Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City. "The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record setting jackpot couldn't be more rewarding.”
The progressive bad beat jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City is paid when four-of-a-kind is beaten. Like most, the prize is split among all players sitting at the table with 50% going to the losing hand, 25% to the winning hand, and 25% equally divided amongst the remaining players at the table.
The previous record for the largest-ever live bad beat jackpot was $361,244, also set at Caesars Atlantic City.
The largest bad beat jackpot of all time is $1.2 million, recorded online on Carbon Poker in February 2009.
Visit PokerListings.com
United Kingdom Poker Tax Laws Changing
Online gaming operators such as Ladbrokes and William Hill fled to Gibraltar last year in order to escape U.K. government gambling taxes and become more competitive with overseas operators. Now, it appears the relocation could be all for naught.
The U.K. government’s Department of Culture, Media, and Sport this week announced proposed reforms to the regulatory gambling structure that will likely force offshore operators currently licensed outside of the U.K. to apply for a license from the U.K. Gambling Commission if they want to provide services or advertise in the U.K. Until now, operators located in “white listed” offshore tax havens such as Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, and Malta were allowed to advertise in the U.K. while avoiding levies, but this situation will most definitely change with the enforcement of licenses from the Commission.
Other modifications include the enforcement of new regulations that would demand that all offshore operators have active systems through their applications that would share information about suspicious betting patterns with governing authorities in the U.K.
"Online gambling has changed significantly in recent years with many European countries taking new approaches to regulation," said Gerry Sutcliffe, U.K. Sports Minister. "It would be wrong of us to stand still where many things are changing around us – especially where the protection of British consumers is at stake."
Last year, Italy introduced gambling licenses for all online poker and bookmaking sites, setting business tax ranging from 2% to 5%. The Italian government has subsequently seen tax revenues rise across the industry.
Right2bet, a European consumer-led campaign behind the idea that it is a citizen’s right to choose, stated that it hopes the U.K. does not follow suit by blocking operators from the market or burden consumers with extra charges passed on from the high tax regime.
PokerStars Team Pro and The Guardian newspaper columnist Vicky Coren has also recently voiced her opposition to changing tax laws in U.K. card rooms, particularly the Victoria Casino in London. Coren hypothesized that the regular games at the casino will die due to “a stupid, greedy, ill-thought-out change to the tax rules.” The 2009 budget introduced a tax on poker games on top of the conventional hourly fee despite the fact that customers play against each other and not the house.
"This is the same government that wanted super-casinos and unlimited fruit-machine jackpots. So they want to encourage dangerous, mindless gambling but punish a game of skill? It's idiotic," Coren wrote. "All poker-lovers should resolve, next year, to write to their MPs and the chancellor about this punishing tax. It must be removed, for the survival of big casino poker rooms and the future of the live game in this country."
Tags: 2009, 5, cent, Columnist, Dang, EUR, Europe, european, jackpot, king, law, London, online gaming, Online Poker, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, skill, United Kingdom
Exercise your brain with online Sudoku
Tags: jackpot
Poker News in Brief: Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 2010
Essentially it was pretty quiet in the poker world.
Despite the lack of news there were still a few stories that didn’t make the front page and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we’ve compiled them below.
This week we’ll take a look at a rising online star, UB.com making a deal with an NHL team, a huge payout on the International Poker Network and more.
UB.net Signs Deal With Calgary Flames
UB.net is getting put on ice.
The company announced this week it has inked a deal with the NHL’s Calgary Flames that will see the UB.net logo displayed on Pengrowth Saddledome’s boards throughout the month of January.
A tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 2, 2010, will mark the debut of the advertisement for the free poker site.
To celebrate the Calgary collaboration, UB.net is giving away four pairs of tickets to the Flames and Ottawa Senators’ game on March 11.
To qualify players can participate in one of the eight daily UB.net online satellite tournaments with the top 100 players from each qualifier winning a seat into the Sunday main event scheduled for 15:00 ET.
Each main event will award two tickets to the Flames and Senators and $1,000 cash for travel expenses.
The promotion is open to Canadian and U.S. players. Check the UB.com website for more information.
XBLINK Closes In On $1 Million
In the spirit of Isildur1 and Martonas, UB.com has its own run-up story in the form of online player XBLINK.
According to PokerListings’ Online Poker Stars section XBLINK has made $741,864 playing No-Limit Hold’em in the past two months and consistently ranks in the top 10 biggest pots on UB.com.
What’s even more impressive is that TwoPlusTwo forum member 89blist outed himself as the aforementioned XBLINK and said it all started with an $11 tournament for the last of his bankroll.
XBLINK said he won the tournament and then went on the mother of all heaters, complete with some questionable bankroll decisions. He's no Martonas or Isildur1 but poker fans are starting to take notice.
SC Attorney General Appeals Poker Case
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has launched an appeal against a Judge’s decision to overturn a conviction of five Mount Pleasant poker players.
The incident occurred back in 2006, when the five players were arrested for taking part in a home game.
Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis threw out the case saying that Hold’em in a private residence does not violate the state’s gambling laws. He went on to say that poker was clearly a skill game.
Now McMaster says that it’s irrelevant whether skill or luck is involved and that it was the legislature’s goal to ban all gaming for any amount of money in designated locations.
No timetable has been set for when the case will be heard.
IPN Awards €507,144 Jackpot
The International Poker Network, which is home to BetClic and PokerHeaven, awarded a €507,144 bad beat jackpot this week.
Online player 72osRocks! Saw his quad kings get cracked by Nogis22’s Royal Flush, which was enough to earn the entire table a huge payday.
72osRocks earned €177,500, Nogis22 picked up €88,750 while the other three players at the table each pocketed €29,583.
Despite the recent payout, the bad beat jackpot on BetClic and IPN is already back up to €146,469 as of mid-week. For more information check the BetClic website.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 15, 2010, 5, bad beat, canadian, cent, EUR, jackpot, Judge, king, law, martonas, member, Mount Pleasant, no-limit, Online Player, Online Poker, player, Poker, poker player, poker site, Pro, qualifier, satellite tournaments, Senator, skill, South Carolina, The Sun, tournament
The Top Winners and Losers of 2009
Below are summaries of the top five money earners, and top five losers of the year, including a month-by-month graph of their results.
To see more stats and hand replays from throughout the year, head to MarketPulse.
Patrik Antonius
It only makes sense to have the year’s top earner at the top of the list, so without further ado, we bring you the 2009 story of Patrik Antonius.
Patrik Antonius just might have hit the life jackpot. He was at one-time a model and tennis pro, before becoming one of the most respected, and feared, poker players in the world. He made the list of the top 10 top profit earners in 2007 under the username FinddaGrind with over $1.3 million earned.
In 2008, he made another $1.3 million, this time as part of Team Full Tilt.
This January Antonius made over $2 million and never dropped below that point. His year was filled with million dollar swings, but in the end, the Finnish pro always found a way to come out good.
On top of being the most profitable player on the year, Antonius was also busy breaking the records for the largest pots ever played online. Despite all of his profits, Antonius has fallen behind in the durrrr Challenge and needs to make close to $1 million in the second half to have a chance.
However, he finished 2009 as the top earner with a massive profit of over $8.9 million.
Phil Ivey
This year Phil Ivey has done exactly what Phil Ivey does every year: Win. In 2008, Ivey was the top online earner with over $7.3 million in profit. In 2007 he was the third largest earner with $1.9 million and this year he ends in second place with $6.3 million.
His story is the same every year: Any players, any game, any stakes. He’ll sit, and most of the time he’ll win. But even Ivey isn’t immune to the swings, starting off the year in the red he had to spend a couple of months getting back to even.
After an $800k loss in May, it was pretty much profit from that point on. Add these winnings to his two WSOP bracelets, Main Event final table appearance and prop bets won, and you have one hell of a good looking year.
Brian Hastings
CardRunners pro Brian Hastings has had one of the most interesting years out of anyone online. He started the year with a backing deal for playing the nose-bleed stakes against Gus Hansen.
Even with Hansen bleeding chips for months, Hastings struggled to get even for the majority of the year, finally showing a profit come August.
Come the end of November, it started to look as though Hastings would be having a positive year, but nothing too spectacular, or worth talking about. That was until he sat down with Isildur1 for possibly the biggest session in online poker history.
By the end of the single session with the game’s most explosive player, Hastings had made $4.2 million in profit; effectively ending Isildur1’s run at Full Tilt’s high-stakes tables.
The win was steeped in controversy when information came to light that Hastings, along with two fellow CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South, merged their hand history databases together to allow for an in-depth study of Isildur1’s heads up game.
For the full scoop on this controversy, head to: Full Tilt Suspends Brian Townsend.
theASHMAN103
Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin is only 20 years old, and began playing poker seriously in high-school. His downfall has always been bankroll management and tilt issues.
After a series of massive swings he went broke right at the beginning of the year, but Griffin finally got his head in the right spot coming in to April of 2009 when he was forced to get a stake to get back in the game.
Thanks to winning a prop bet for making $500k playing nothing higher than $25/$50 No-Limit immediately before the event was set to start, Griffin was able to enter into the $25k heads-up shootout, which he went on to win for another $500k.
Griffin’s heater continued over the next two months going from broke to the fifth most profitable player on the year. To read a full interview with Griffin about his heater, and life in poker, head to: Ashman103: The Interview Transcript.
Ilari Sahamies
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is one of the most well-known and entertaining online players in the world. Above all else he seems to have a love for gambling with sick amounts of money.
For a few days, Sahamies had convinced a few of the nosebleed players to convert the $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tables into $3,000/$9,000. Along with all the massive flips Sahamies played over the year, it’s safe to say he is the biggest gambler at the tables.
But despite his love for gambling, Ziigmund is still one of the most profitable players in the world. The occasional swing aside, Ziigmund’s graph is mostly un-eventful, hovering around the $2-$3 million mark for the majority of the year.
It wasn’t until Ziigmund set his sights on Isildur1 that his graph took a violent swing upwards. After taking a few million from the unknown player, Ziigmund finished his year up an impressive $3.2 million.
Isildur1
True identity still unknown, Isildur1 showed up on the poker scene Sept. 16. He splashed around in medium to high-stakes for about a month before starting to take shots in the nosebleed games.
The true story of Isildur1 started on Nov. 7 when he began his first serious upswing by crushing well known players like Haseeb Qureshi and UgotaBanana. After these wins, Isildur1 seemed fearless, willing to play anyone at any stakes.
Soon Isildur1 set his sights on Tom “durrrr” Dwan and over the next three days he absolutely destroyed him for over $4 million. At his highest point on Nov. 15, Isildur1 sat with over $5 million in profit, only to lose it all, mostly to Ivey and Antonius, by the 21st.
After making another quick run back up to almost $3 million in just one week, Isildur1 began his largest downswing.
It was during the downswing where Isildur1 shattered all the records for the largest pots of all time. He first broke the record with an $878k pot versus Patrik Antonius, only to break that record a few days later losing the first pot worth over a million at $1,356,947.
Mostly a result of losing over $4.2 million in a single session to Brian Hastings, Isildur1 saw his roll get almost entirely crushed, sitting down over $2 million for the remainder of the month.
With his only hands being played at the medium stakes tables, it appears at this point as if Isildur1’s run at the highest stakes games online is through.
David Benyamine
In 2008, David Benyamine was the sixth most profitable online player in the world. He finished the year having made almost $3 million profit and had snagged himself one of the most beautiful girls in poker, Erica Schoenberg.
At the very end of 2008, Full Tilt Poker dropped Benyamine as a red-name pro. As a result, he began 2009 playing under the username “MR B 2 U SON”. He played under that username until July of 2009 when his Team Full Tilt status was re-instated.
At the time of the username switch, Benyamine was down $731,128 on the year. Things continued to get worse for the French pro as he struggled throughout 2009, finishing down $2.9 million. To top it all off, many sources have reported an end to his relationship with Schoenberg.
All in all, 2009 might just have been the worst year in Benyamine’s career.
LarsLuzak
Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro is a 22-year-old Finnish poker pro who showed up on the high-stakes scene in 2007. He made over a million dollars in both 2007 and 2008, plus a rumored large profit from $250/$500 No-Limit sessions played on Betfair poker.
Despite hopes of cementing his name as one of the top players in the world, 2009 turned out to be a complete disaster for Kelopuro.
Starting the year with an $810k loss, Kelopuro was almost able to grind his way back to even in February before beginning a landslide of losses.
At no point in 2009 did Kelopuro show a profit, despite his continued efforts at the games highest stakes. After reaching nearly $4 million in losses on the year, Kelopuro disappeared from the high-stakes games, sparking rumors of a busted bankroll.
With a laundry list of impressive results from both cash games and tournaments, it’s safe to assume the poker world will hear more from Kelopuro in 2010.
Tom “durrrr” Dwan
Tom Dwan has to be considerd one of the most entertaining poker players in the world. As a result, there has been more time spent talking about Dwan in 2009 than any other online player.
His year began by losing over $4 million in the first two months, only to grind back up to over $1.4 million in profit just four months later. However, the massive swings were only one of Dwan’s many stories on the year.
The first came with the introduction of the durrrr Challenge. After almost two months of speculation and rumors, Patrik Antonius stepped up as the first competitor, and the challenge was underway.
After a short period of consistent play between the two competitors, the Challenge took a hiatus as both players chose to focus on busting a new fish splashing around at the highest stake tables available.
It didn’t take Dwan, and the rest of the online regulars, long to bust a new fish calling himself Martonas, and the challenge seemed as if it would resume.
But it wasn’t long before another new face showed up on the scene and began stirring the pot. Luke “fullflush1” Schwartz proved to be as strong at the table as he was mouthy, focusing the majority of his insults at Dwan, including the now infamous “cork it durrrrballs”.
Schwartz successfully made over $700k at the tables before cashing out, and buying a house with his profits.
The next big story for Dwan came with the third unknown player to splash around in the big game. Unfortunately for Dwan, this player, Isildur1, would end up taking him for over $5 million, before giving it all away to everyone else.
Shortly after losing the majority of his online roll, Dwan became the newest member of Team Full Tilt, and began grinding his way back towards even. By the end of 2009 Dwan had brought himself back to -$4.3 million from his November low point of -$6.8 million.
On the bright side, he is ahead in the durrrr Challenge by over $937k.
Gus Hansen
This year’s story for Gus Hansen is simple: He made $3 million in the first month, mostly off Tom Dwan, then proceeded to lose almost exclusively for the remainder of the year. Although there were months in which he showed a profit, Hansen’s graph on the year is anything but encouraging.
Due to his consistent negative results, Hansen has become one of the most popular online players amongst the other regular high-stakes grinders. As he explained in an interview with PokerListings, the high-stakes games on Full Tilt simply follow him from table to table.
As a result, Hansen chose to play almost exclusively 7-Game for the remainder of the year, at times killing absolutely all high-stakes action for all other variants.
For a look into high-stakes, and how some of the other players in the game view Hansen, head to: State of the High Stakes Poker Nation.
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Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, ashton griffin, Brian Hastings, Brian Townsend, Cole South, David Benyamine, durrrr, Erica Schoenberg, full tilt poker, gamble, Gambler, Gus Hansen, high stakes, High Stakes Poker, Ilari Sahamies, interview, jackpot, king, martonas, member, model, no-limit, nosebleed, Omaha, Online Player, online players, Online Poker, online poker history, online roll, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, player, Poker, poker player, Pro, runner, Tom Dwan, tournament, WSOP
IPN Poker Network pays out whopping €507,144 Bad Beat Jackpot
Poker News in Brief: Dec. 14-20, 2009
There were a few other big poker stories with Harrah’s releasing the official 2010 WSOP schedule and Mangas Gaming acquiring Everest Poker but for the most part the poker world has started to get quiet as the lead up to Christmas begins.
Fortunately there are always a few stories that don’t make the front page here at PokerListings and we compile them for you every week in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.
This week we’ll look at a PokerListings player winning a trip to Australia, another World Series of Poker Circuit winner, the Aria Poker Room opening its doors and more.
PokerListings Player Wins PartyPoker Aussie Millions Package
PokerListings player gimeyoursbr capitalized on an exclusive PartyPoker freeroll in a big way last week.
The 35-year-old Brazilian won a $15,000 package to the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere – the 2010 Aussie Millions.
“I will try my best and see where it takes me,” he said after winning. “I am very excited about getting to know Melbourne and the nearby cities but once I am playing at the Aussie Millions I will be 100% concentrated on it.”
gimeyoursbr has been playing poker professionally for three years now and once hit the jackpot on PartyPoker for a large score. Suffice to say he’s a fan of the site.
“They are pretty good and getting big again,” he said. “That is terrific.”
PartyPoker is making a huge push to send players to the Aussie Millions this year with more than 27 packages already awarded.
Chris Klodnicki wins WSOPC Harrah’s AC
Poker pro Chris Klodnicki finally found the tournament victory he’d been looking for at the 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City main event this week.
Klodnicki outlasted 194 players to win $215,915 and a WSOPC ring.
“I feel great,” said Klodnicki. “I was having a pretty off year and this ended the year on a great note. I was starting to lose my confidence and this picked it up a lot.”
Noted online player Kyle Bowker finished in second place for $128,357.
Outside of a Borgata side event win, Kodnicki’s list of career cashes is full of second place and third place finishes. Klodnicki is perhaps most well known for coming in 12th place in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for nearly $600,000.
Aria Poker Room Opens
Poker players have yet another place to frequent in Las Vegas as the multi-billion CityCenter development opened its doors for business this week.
The 61-story ARIA holds the development’s casino and poker room. The poker room offers 24 tables complete with a closed off high limits room. Players will find limits of $1-3, $2-5, $5-10 on a daily basis although the room will spread higher ones based on demand.
Other hotels at CityCenter include the 400-room Mandarin Oriental resort and the upscale non-gaming hotel Vdara with Harman boutique hotel opening late next year.
Bonus Blizzard coming to Pacific Poker
Pacific Poker is giving its players a reason to be jolly over the Christmas season.
The online room will be running its “Bonus Blizzard” promotion during certain hours from Dec. 16-22.
If players are at the Pacific Poker tables during the right hours they could potentially receive a bonus of $8 all the way up to $888 just for being there.
Players can keep an eye out for Bonus Blizzards in a countdown timer in the main lobby. There’s no limit to the amount of bonuses that players can win and players who are multi-tabling will have an even better chance at taking home a hefty bonus.
PartyPoker Introduces $25/$50 PLO Table
PartyPoker launched a $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha table this week in an effort to kick-start the high stakes games on the site.
The gamble seems to have paid off as the room has since added several other high limit tables to keep up with player's requests.
“Demand meant we recently introduced a new $25/$50 Pot Limit Omaha table but since then we have had to open up more tables for high stakes action,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson.
“We used to have big limit games but this is the biggest game we have had at PartyPoker.com for a long time. The high stakes action has picked up.”
UB.com Set to Run Bubble Buster Promo
Players who make the money in UB.com’s upcoming Ultimate Bet Online Championship 4 will have the opportunity to win up to $1 million in extra cash.
As part of the Bubble Buster promotion any player that cashes at least twice in UBOC 4 will have shot at winning anything from a seat in a $10,000 freeroll all the way up to a $1 million cash giveaway to a player who makes 11 cashes in UBOC 4.
With over $4 million guaranteed, UBOC 4 is the biggest online tournament series available on UB.com. The series will run Jan. 20-31 with the $1 million guaranteed $1,050 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31.
PKR Teams Up with Nuts and Loaded
PKR poker announced a partnership with IPC Media, publisher of mainstream UK men’s magazines Nuts and Loaded, this week.
Players on PKR poker will now have the option of playing their favorite games while being surrounded by images of women in the popular magazines.
Players will also have the opportunity to customize their avatars with Nuts or Loaded t-shirts.
Meanwhile magazine readers will benefit from poker trips from Team PKR Pro as well as trip reports from high stakes tournaments around the globe.
"We think that the collaboration with IPC Media is a perfect matchup of brands,” said PKR marketing director Simon Prodger. “Nuts and Loaded readers are spot on for us, and by having branded environments within our game, we offer them a unique poker experience."
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Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, Australia, Brazil, cent, freeroll, gamble, high stakes, jackpot, king, Las Vegas, Omaha, Online Player, online tournament, PartyPoker.com, player, Poker, poker player, Poker.com, Pro, tournament, trips, UBOC, vegas, women, WSOP
Party Gaming 2009 Revenue in Line with Management Expectations
In a trading update released to the London Stock Exchange on Friday, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, announced that its revenue was in line with Board expectations, while Clean EBITDA would likely surpass estimates.
Party Gaming is now anxiously awaiting legislative developments in three key markets: France, Italy, and the United States. On the latter country, which has been effectively shut off for the publicly traded company since 2006, the statement released by Party Gaming concludes, “Combining the strength of the PartyPoker brand with the trade and assets of the World Poker Tour that we acquired in November 2009, we believe we are well-positioned should the U.S. government elect to regulate online poker.”
As it stands now in the United States, the primary hope for legalization and regulation of the game is Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, HR 2267. The measure outlines a framework whereby licensed online gaming companies can solicit real money action from U.S. customers. A companion bill introduced by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), HR 2268, taxes companies 2% of deposits and could raise as much as $40 billion in revenue over a ten-year period. HR 2267 boasts 63 co-sponsors, while HR 2268 has four.
Party Gaming’s attention seems to be focused squarely on poker given its recent acquisition of the World Poker Tour (WPT), a longtime industry staple. Party Gaming CEO Jim Ryan commented, "Returning poker to growth has been a key focus for us. We are pleased to see that the initiatives introduced throughout the year are now feeding through into both operational and financial performance with increased player numbers and average net daily revenues versus the previous quarter, despite continued competition from illegal U.S.-facing sites and the difficult macroeconomic climate.”
PartyPoker introduced its Monthly Million poker tournament earlier this year, a $640 buy-in event held on the first Sunday of every month. In December, PartyPoker member “ireadursoul” took down the Monthly Million to the tune of $200,000.
Also announced in Friday’s trading update was that Party Gaming had taken out a £35 million three-year loan to be applied towards mergers and acquisitions. Discussion of a possible merger between Party Gaming and bwin has dominated poker news headlines this week, although the company has not confirmed that any deal is imminent. bwin is also a publicly traded company and can be found on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Shares of Party Gaming closed the week trading at 254 pence in London, down 4.6 pence on the day, or 1.8%. In the beginning of November, shares of Party Gaming’s stock (PRTY) had sunk as low as 214 pence before rebounding. In January, amid the worldwide economic doom and gloom, Party Gaming was fetching a lowly 157 pence a share.
Also helping to keep revenues afloat in recent months has been Party Gaming’s Bingo and Casino arms. PartyBingo’s business was boosted by the acquisition of Cashcade back in July, while a $5 million jackpot payout in the casino earlier this month drew a considerable amount of attention.
Ryan remained optimistic that a strong 2010 would be in store for the company’s investors: "Despite the challenges presented by the prevailing macroeconomic environment, we have not been distracted from the execution of our strategic plan. With the prospect of a number of new and large regulated markets in front of us, an expanding portfolio of B2B customers, and a return to growth in our core business, we remain confident about the Group's prospects."
Read the entire Party Gaming Trading Statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Tags: 15, 2009, 2010, 5, Barney Frank, cent, CEO, Congress, France, internet gambling, jackpot, legal, London, member, online gaming, Online Poker, player, Poker, Pro, tournament, U.S. government, United States, World Poker Tour
PartyPoker Launches Full House Promotion
Throughout the month of December, PartyPoker will be holding the Full House promotion. The three-pronged promotion covers the worlds of cash games, sit and gos, and multi-table tournaments. PartyPoker does not accept players from the United States.
The first component of PartyPoker’s Full House promotion is the $50,000 Cash Game Race. The site’s Bronze, Silver, and Gold players are eligible for the five-figure purse and the top prize is $3,000. The top 500 players on the points-based leaderboard will walk away with cash, with the minimum payout being $10. The top seven players will earn over $1,000, while the top 200 will take home at least $100. The $50,000 Cash Game Race runs between December 3rd and 23rd and only Party Points earned at ring games will count.
At the time of writing, the top player on the $50,000 Cash Game Race, “luckboxing47,” has luck boxed his way to 6,466 Party Points and, if the promotion ended today, would be in line for a $3,000 payday. The 500th player, “alfie1906,” has 348 points. PartyPoker’s Palladium Lounge members are not eligible to battle in the $50,000 Cash Game Race.
The Jackpot Hunter is geared towards sit and go aficionados on PartyPoker. This part of the promotion, which runs all month long, offers a colossal $160,000 in potential payouts. One $50,000 prize is available for any player who manages to take down not one, not two, not three, not four, but five $55 buy-in or higher sit and gos in a row. Three $20,000 prizes are available for players who can accomplish the feat in $12 to $54 buy-in sit and gos and five $10,000 jackpots are available for sit and gos ranging in buy-in from $3 to $11. All wins must be consecutive.
Jackpot Hunter prizes are awarded on a first come, first served basis. PartyPoker’s website explains the redemption process: “Once you’ve won five consecutive STTs at a particular level, e-mail your account name to info@partypoker.com immediately.” This part of the Full House promotion began on December 1st. Here’s the fine print: all five sit and gos won must be of the exact same buy-in and only 10-seat single-table tournaments are eligible. Double-or-Nothing events do not count and players can claim as many jackpots as they can achieve.
The final part of the Full House promotion on PartyPoker consists of $1 Million Multi-Table Tournament Jackpots. Running all month long, the Multi-Table Jackpots require players to buy into daily $5,000 prize pool tournaments with a price tag of 20 Party Points. The top 200 players in each $5,000 event move on to a $250,000 Grand Final on January 3rd. PartyPoker players who fail to qualify for the Grand Final can pony up 1,000 Party Points to enter. Any player who wins two of the $5,000 events will earn $100,000 and, if a player can snag titles in any three of these tournaments, they’ll earn a life-changing $1 million.
The wins in $5,000 events don’t have to be consecutive and PartyPoker customers must e-mail the site if they’re eligible to win the $100,000 or $1 million prizes. Jackpots are awarded on a first come, first served basis.
PartyPoker is the fourth largest online poker site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 4,700 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout Europe, well north of 7,000 cash game players can be found on its felts. PartyPoker is the second largest site or network to accept U.S. players behind the mammoth iPoker Network, whose family of rooms includes Titan Poker, CelebPoker, Mansion Poker, Paddy Power Poker, and William Hill.
Three ways to win are available this month as part of the PartyPoker Full House promotion. Visit the site for more details.
Party Poker’s Full House of Promotions
Party Poker are offering their playing the chance to bag over $1 million this December with this excellent 3 in 1 promotion. You choose which part of this promotion appeals to you and get playing 1, 2 or ALL 3 of them. Nice one PartyPoker!
Whatever is your favourite Poker game you can take part and be in the money with the $50,000 Cash Race game. The race starts at 5am on 4th December UK (Midnight 3rd December New York) and finishes at 4.59am on 24th December UK (11.59pm 23rd December New York) and is simplicity itself, the more points you earn the higher you will climb on the leaderboard. You can check you position on the leader board with a click of your mouse, the leaderboard will be updated hourly.
CAUTION: checking where you rank on the leaderboard can become additive!!
The top 500 will be in the money! The winner of the $50,000 Cash Race will pocket a generous $3,000 decreasing to $10 consolation prizes for those finishing 401st – 500th. The cash prize will be in your poker account within 48 hours of the end of the race.
Sit and Go fans are in for a festive treat trying to Track down a fortune with the Jackpot Hunter, there are huge jackpots to be won including a massive $160,000 for any player who wins 5 consecutive (in a row) single table tournaments.
The Jackpot Hunter will run from 5am on 2nd December UK (Midnight 1st December New York) until 4.59am 1st January UK (11.59pm 31st December New York), and the prizes are:-
- $50,000 for the Gold Jackpot – just one prize - $55 buy in
- $20,000 for the Silver Jackpot – three prizes - $12 to $54 buy ins
- $10,000 for the Bronze jackpot – five prizes - $3 to $11 buy ins
Show off your sit and go skills with the Jackpot Hunter and bag yourself a top cash prize from PartyPoker!
There will be daily $1 million Multi Table Tournament Jackpots running Monday to Saturday at 7pm UK (2pm New York) with $5,000 up for grabs and the buy in will be just 20 PartyPoints! Bargain!!
The top 200 players from each daily $5,000 MTT will go onto play in the Grand Final which will be held on Sunday 3rd January 2010 at 7pm UK (2pm New York) where the prize money will be a huge $250,000. You will be able to buy in direct to the final for 1,000 PartyPoints.
This is a fantastic promo and, in addition, if you win in two of the daily tournament you will be awarded $100,000 – triumph in three and you will take home the top prize of a cool $1,000,000! Good wages!
If you have not got yourself a Party Poker Account just yet, do so NOW to take advantage of this generous promotion. You’ll be joining Europe’s biggest poker site with Euro friendly times for their biggest tournies. We have a choice of Party Poker Bonus Codes for you, choose the bonus which suits your level of play. Our unbiased, informative review and Party Poker Bonus code page will give you all the facts about this top site.
PartyPoker Awards 96 Aussie Millions Seats
“We added great incentive for the most dedicated players,” said a PartyPoker spokesman. “If they earned 1,000 points every day for the full 30 days a player secured a seat at next year’s Aussie Millions worth $10,500 (AUD).
“Ninety-six fearless warriors proved themselves to be gladiators and are entitled to this fantastic bonus. We are delighted with the popularity of this promotion and would like to congratulate the thousands who were rewarded by it.”
The promo ran for all of November and players who generated at least 10 PartyPoints a day for five days straight received entry into a $5,000 freeroll. PartyPoker also offered a variety of cash prizes for frequent players ranging from $10 to $3,000.
The site now starts its Full House promotion, which will be comprised of three components including a cash game race, jackpots for sit & go players and a $1 million potential jackpot for tournament players.
The cash game race will offer $50,000 in prizes to players who finish 1-500 on the race leaderboard.
The sit & go portion will reward players who win five consecutive single-table tournaments in a row. The site will offer five $10,000 jackpots to players in the $3-$11 buy-in range, three $20,000 jackpots to players in the $12-54 range and one $50,000 jackpot to the first player to win five consecutive sit-in-go tournaments in the $55+ buy-in range.
PartyPoker is also offering players a series of $5,000 guaranteed tournaments for a buy-in of 20 PartyPoints throughout the month. If any player wins two of these tournaments they will win a $250,000 jackpot and if any player manages to win three they will receive a $1 million jackpot.
The Full House promo will run all of December, check the PartyPoker website for complete details.
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Tags: 5, cent, freeroll, frequent player, jackpot, leader, PartyPoker.com, player, Poker, Poker.com, Pro, tournament, tournament player, usa
PartyPoker giving away millions
"There's a full house of promotions running on PartyPoker.com throughout December that will be attractive to all kinds of players," said a spokesperson for the site. "For bronze, silver and gold players there is a $50,000 Cash Game Race, while for the Sit & Go specialist there is up to $160,000 to win through the Jackpot Hunter.
"Making up the Full House promotion is the chance to win $1 million through multi-table tournament jackpots with a buy-in of just 20 PartyPoints."
The Cash Game Race runs from Dec. 3-23 for bronze, silver or gold level loyalty members only. PartyPoints earned on cash games will be tracked and the top 500 finishers will receive anywhere from $10 to $3,000.
Running all month, the Jackpot Hunter will award a jackpot worth $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the buy-in level, for players that win five Sit & Go's in a row. There is one $50,000 gold jackpot available for $55+ Sit & Go's, three $20,000 silver jackpots for $12 to $54 Sit & Go's and five $10,000 bronze jackpots for $3 and $11 Sit & Go's.
Finally, the Full House $1 million Multi-Table Tournament Jackpot has the site hosting daily tournaments with a $5,000 prize pool with a buy-in of just 20 PartyPoints.
The top 200 players in each will win entry into the Grand Final Jan. 3 featuring a $250,000 prize pool. Players can also buy in to the Grand Final for 1,000 PartyPoints.
If a player is able to win two of the $5k daily tournaments, they will win a $100,000 bonus and should someone be able to win three, PartyPoker will award them $1 million.
For more on the PartyPoker Full House Promotion click here.
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UB.com Launches, Rebranding of Ultimate Bet Complete
Tuesday signified a landmark day in the online poker industry, as Ultimate Bet, a USA-facing site on the CEREUS Poker Network, rebranded itself UB.com. The two-letter acronym has been the site’s nickname since its launch 10 years ago.
“Raise, Stack, Own” becomes the new mantra of UB.com, which retains the gold color theme of the old Ultimate Bet, but adds a baby blue hue as well. “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok become the front men of the new site, which can be accessed by visiting UB.com or UltimateBet.com. A software update went live this morning and players’ user names and passwords will remain the same as they were prior to the UB.com transition.
UB and its sister site, Absolute Poker, are both owned by Tokwiro, whose CEO, Paul Leggett, commented in a press release, “The launch of UB.com represents a turning point for our company. We have assembled a great group of professionals who are passionate about poker to build the UB brand. Our goal is to create products and services that poker players really want. We are trying to listen very carefully to both our players and the poker community to help us achieve this goal.”
New lobby filters made their debut on Tuesday as part of the software update to UB.com. Omaha tables can now be filtered, making finding a game even simpler. In addition, the new update added color-coded icons to the tournament and ring game lobbies. In the former, special designations are given for Turbo, Ultra Turbo, Rebuy, Deep Stack, Bounty, Six-Max, Four-Max, and Heads-Up formats. In cash games, color-coded icons exist for Turbo, Jackpot, 7-2, Deep Stack, 50 Minimum Big Blind, and Ante tables on the virtual felts of UB.com. At the bottom of the lobby, a horizontal legend reminds users of what the new icons signify.
The lobby takes on a sleek yellow feel and the total update when we ran Ultimate Bet’s Mac version was 8,600 KB, which took about two minutes to download. The upper left corner of the lobby features the sleek UB.com black and yellow logo with the player and table counts given right underneath it written in white block lettering. The Mac version, which was rolled out in September along with an Instant Play option, is still limited to a maximum of four open tables. The Instant Play version requires the latest version of Java to be installed on the Mac or Windows device.
The new cash game filters include the maximum number of players, stack sizes, and table type. In addition, you can specify the number of players per flop and the number of players per table to ensure that only desired tables come up in the search. A total of 30 new tournaments featuring $1 million in guaranteed prize money have been introduced as part of a gradual overhaul, quickly establishing the USA-friendly CEREUS Network as one of the top around.
Hellmuth, who has long served as the face of the popular online poker site, talked about the movement from Ultimate Bet to UB.com: “In the ten years since I have been involved with the UB brand, I have never been prouder to represent the company as much as I am right now. We have great people captaining the ship, we have a great vibe, and some serious swagger. I look forward to the day when we are the largest poker site on the planet.”
According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the CEREUS Network is the sixth largest worldwide with a seven-day running average of 2,750 real money ring game players, about one-tenth of the traffic of PokerStars, the largest site in the industry. UB.com made waves in late October by changing its raise logic and launching synchronized breaks in its larger tournaments at 55 minutes past each hour, in line with the precedents set by PokerStars and Full Tilt.
Mike Sexton to Host Poker Game Show Shuffle Up and Deal
Most of the poker on television today shows top professional players wagering large amounts of money, either in a tournament or a high-stakes cash game. In many cases, this is money that the Average Joe just doesn’t have to put up and, as such, it excludes them from the game. A new poker-themed game show is coming to television, however, that is looking to change that situation.
Poker Hall of Fame inductee and World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton will serve as the host for “Shuffle Up And Deal,” a poker themed game show that will air on the MyTV network in 2010. The half-hour program has been tapped for 13 episodes and, along with Sexton, will feature another poker program veteran in Brandi Williams, who was last seen as the hostess on the syndicated “Ultimate Poker Showdown.” The MyTV network is available in over 50 million homes across the United States and features such programming as the highly popular “WWE Smackdown.”
Billed on its website as “TV’s First Family-Friendly Poker-Themed Game Show,” the program doesn’t focus on high-stakes play. Instead, it will give amateurs the opportunity to use their skills, intuition, and luck in a fast-paced game that will give each episode’s winner a shot at a progressive jackpot that can total up to $1 million.
In each episode, amateur poker players choose their own cards from an electronic board that the viewing audience sees and the turn of each card either helps the contestant’s hand or hurts their chances of winning. The objective of the game is to finish with the highest cash winnings among the five players that are competing. The player who wins each episode advances to the bonus round and plays for a progressive jackpot that starts off at $250,000 and goes up $10,000 for every episode that the jackpot isn’t hit.
As an added attraction for the show, “Shuffle Up And Deal” will offer an interactive feature for the viewing audience. By using their phones, viewers are invited to “Follow the Ace” by picking one of five cards that are used in that particular viewer’s game. If the viewer is correct and picks the card that is the ace, they will be entered into a random drawing that gives each winner $10,000.
“Poker has been a great source of entertainment for many people for many years, but in order to grow and continue to be the most popular game of all time, poker needs to reach out to a whole new audience,” Sexton stated during the announcement of the new program. “Shuffle Up and Deal does just that and I’m proud to be a part of this new movement.”
Another unique part of the “Shuffle Up And Deal” franchise is the opportunity for players to take part in casinos across the country, much like the popular “The Price is Right” franchise has done with its Las Vegas show. A traveling road show is in the works that will take the game to those who aren’t able to be a part of the television production. Another top poker professional, Chad Brown, has signed on to serve as the emcee when the live version visits local casinos across the United States.
There is already a great deal of buzz about “Shuffle Up And Deal.” Other than the website, a Facebook group has also been created that is approaching 1,000 fans who are eager to see the program take flight. With such support, “Shuffle Up And Deal” looks to be the next hot poker property that fans will see not only on their television screens, but also in casinos in 2010.
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Fair Poker Absorbed by Noble Poker
Two sites on the iPoker Network have merged into one, as members of the online poker room Fair Poker have had their accounts transferred to Noble Poker. Players on Fair Poker recently received a notice informing them of the change and offering a deposit bonus as a welcome to the new site.
The e-mail from Fair Poker assured users their username and password would remain unchanged and the entirety of their Fair accounts would show up once they log into Noble Poker. Fair Poker’s website has already been re-branded as Noble Poker and makes no mention of why the changeover occurred. Gibraltar-based Noble Poker set up shop in 2004 and offers users a range of Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha High-Low cash games, sit and gos, and multi-table tournaments.
Noble offers a daily $100,000 Guaranteed tournament, a monthly Sunday tournament with a $1 million prize pool, weekly Sunday tournaments with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000, and satellites to other major iPoker Network events like the European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP).
This change comes just before the launch of ECOOP V, hosted by fellow iPoker site Titan Poker. The online tournament series gets underway on November 23rd and satellites are already running on Noble and other iPoker affiliates. The upcoming two-week long series features 14 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100 to $2,500 and there will be more than $4.5 million in guaranteed prize money up for grabs. Satellites for the event have been running since September 21st and players can win their way in for as little as $1.50. Sites on the iPoker Network, run by Playtech, currently do not accept U.S. customers.
Fair Poker, also established in 2004, was best known for its Jackpot Sit and Gos and loose action at the cash game tables. Noble Poker, which is a substantially larger site than Fair Poker, also has a reputation for juicy cash game tables in addition to its ever-growing multi-table tournament schedule.
According to the official e-mail to Fair Poker customers, iPoints earned will transfer over to Noble. Those points will go towards eligibility in Noble’s VIP Crown program, which rewards loyal customers with a player points store, monthly freerolls, VIP rake races, and other special promotions. There are six VIP Crown levels based on how many points that players earn each month, with the highest level reserved for those who rack up at least 35,000.
Other than the e-mail to customers, which referred to the Noble Poker transfer as an “upgrade,” none of iPoker’s sites offer any explanation as to why the Antigua-based Fair Poker closed its doors. It was one of the smaller rooms on the iPoker Network, which hosts over 30 online poker rooms including Titan, Noble, Chili Poker, William Hill Poker, and Expekt. Neither Playtech’s nor iPoker’s websites featured any press release detailing the change. Fair Poker is still listed on iPoker’s site as one of the poker rooms in its expansive network, but the link to sign up for Fair Poker directs users to Noble Poker information.
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