Poker News

Online Poker Player ChicagoJoey Cracks 24 Hour Hand Record

Breaking a record that was only set a week ago, online poker player “ChicagoJoey” crushed the mark for most hands played during a 24-hour period and made some nice cash on the side to boot.

Back on November 25th, Russian online player “innerpsy” set the record for most hands played in a 24-hour period at a little over 40,000. This spurred other online grinders to try to top his record. It wasn’t until TwoPlusTwo poster ChicagoJoey, who plays online under the moniker “joeingram1,” announced his challenge on November 29th that the significance of the record became apparent.

In a thread, ChicagoJoey laid out the rules for his challenge and booked action on whether he could complete 50,000 hands within a 24-hour period. In addition to playing the required number of hands, ChicagoJoey also stated that he would have to show a profit for the session or he would lose all of his side bets. Only the hands ChicagoJoey played at the No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Hold’em stakes of $0.10/$0.25 would be counted towards the record and to ensure that it was him that was playing the entire time, the session was broadcast over the internet through a web cam.

Side betting action was laid at 2.5:1 that ChicagoJoey could actually pull off the trick and many posters on TwoPlusTwo took him up on it. By the time the wagering had ended, 26 people had bet against ChicagoJoey, with stakes ranging from $100 to $1,000. All totaled, ChicagoJoey was risking $13,180 to win $32,950 – in addition to the stakes at the tables – if he could pull off the feat.

Players debated on the forum whether ChicagoJoey could actually complete the task at hand and even put up side bets of their own outside of the action that ChicagoJoey was booking. The current record holder at that time, innerpsy, even showed up to comment prior to the action, saying to ChicagoJoey, “Beat: Playing this amount of tables of nl25 with 10ptbb/100 you still have lower $/hour than me runnin breakeven. Just joking, gl dude… I might be one of the few people who really realize how difficult it would be.”

On Monday at slightly past Noon, ChicagoJoey began the 24-hour grind and in the early going, the situation wasn’t looking good. After approximately 1,200 hands, ChicagoJoey was in the red, but he slowly began to grind his way back towards even. After approximately 5,000 hands, ChicagoJoey was able to get back into the black and never looked back from that point. After 12 hours of action, he was at just under 30,000 hands and showing a $375 profit from his play.

The railbirds at PokerStars, where all of the action took place and who verified all action, came to realize that ChicagoJoey was going to put innerpsy’s record out the door less than a week after it was set. The magic moment came after 20 hours and two minutes, when ChicagoJoey cracked the 50,000 hand mark and was ahead $850.35, sealing the new world record and roughly $33,000 in side action. ChicagoJoey continued on for another 470 hands before ending his marathon session up slightly over $800 over a 21-hour period.

ChicagoJoey, who is known in the online world as a strong online grinder, has now entered into a rare pantheon along with innerpsy and another online poker legend, Chiren. There is already a potential challenge from ChicagoJoey to battle against Chiren, who once booked one million hands in a month. As of this time, there has been no reply.

Many poker players haven’t played 50,000 hands in their lives, let alone in one day. Poker News Daily would like to extend congratulations to ChicagoJoey for setting the new 24-hour record, showing a profit from the session and his side bets and making the record one that will be difficult to eclipse.

innerpsy Breaks Record for Online Poker Hands Played in One Day

Recently, Russian online poker player innerpsy shattered the record for the most number of online poker hands logged in 24 hours, or one day. His total: a whopping 40,088, which attracted the attention of the entire Russian poker community.

Last Saturday, innerpsy sat down bright and early at 8:30am local time and, 18 hours and 33 minutes later, called it a day after battling against the online poker world over the course of 40,088 hands. The Russian told PokerStars officials following his amazing feat, “Before this challenge, I had never actually played more than 20,000 hands in a day before, but the idea came up and I just figured I could do it. It was one of the toughest things I have ever accomplished, but I am proud I managed it.”

The record-holder has purportedly been playing for “a couple of years” according to PokerStars and the Russian forum Card Game Masters hosted the challenge. A total of 10,000 rabid fans watched innerpsy’s world record attempt by way of two streaming video feeds and poker pro Max Lykov even provided commentary. Lykov knows a thing or two about high-stakes poker, having finished third in this year’s $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Shootout during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Lykov earned $145,000 in the tournament, which saw Peter “Belabacsi” Traply take home the gold bracelet.

The Russian online poker player is a regular grinder on PokerStars and explained, “I gained a lot of experience doing this and will definitely try it again in order to improve upon my result. One of my main goals is also to reach Supernova Elite status.” His bevy of Frequent Player Points (FPPs) earned during the feat will likely go a long way toward achieving Supernova Elite status.

On Sunday, TwoPlusTwo poster ChicagoJoey revealed that his goal is to play 50,000 hands of online poker over a 24-hour period and turn a profit for the session. The recap from PokerStars did not officially mention whether innerpsy won or lost during his 40,088-hand marathon, but ChicagoJoey looked to add to his bankroll. He plays as joeingram1 on the world’s largest online poker site and would head to the $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha tables to accomplish the feat. A webcam was even planned so that ChicagoJoey fans could follow the action from the comfort of their own homes.

In the thread announcing ChicagoJoey’s plans, TwoPlusTwo poster LikeUWantIt asserted that he was innerpsy and chimed in, “I might be one of the few people who really realize how difficult it would be.” In a separate thread, innerpsy explained the origins of the record-setting attempt: “i didnt do a single thing to make this article about world record appear. it was just a prop bet and stars representative got interested, so why would i protest if it actually increases my chances to get online pro?” He also revealed that he ran “cold as ice” over the 18-hour event and did not turn a profit.

Despite setting a new world record, innerpsy seemed frustrated at his losing session. He commented in a thread on TwoPlusTwo, “though i still think its kinda ridic to consider -$ session to be a world record, but still… anyway gonna make it with profit sometime soon, hope i wont catch 30bi under-ev swing that time.”

Earlier this month, PokerStars turned in a new record for number of players online at the same time at 317,000. The milestone occurred on November 15th, when PokerStars guaranteed a $2.5 million prize pool for its weekly Sunday Million in honor of $250 million in cash being awarded since the tournament was launched. The winner banked more than $360,000 in one of the largest prizes ever awarded in the history of online poker.

PokerStars happily accepts players from the United States.

Full Tilt Poker Players Rushing to Claim Holiday Hundred Bonus

Only a few days remain in the Full Tilt Poker Holiday Hundred promotion, offering online poker players a $100 bonus on the world’s second largest site. The room has seen its high-stakes action balloon in recent weeks thanks to Isildur1.

Happy Holidays from Full Tilt Poker. One month before poker players awake on Christmas morning or participate in Hanukkah and Kwanzaa festivities, Full Tilt members can claim a special $100 Holiday Hundred bonus. Players have until the end of the day Eastern Time on December 6th to cash in. All they have to do is open the Full Tilt Poker Mac or Windows client, log in, and click “Requests” on the top menu bar. Then, select “Check My Bonus Offer” and click on “Accept Offer.”

Full Tilt Poker members have 30 days to release their bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points (FTPs) in real money ring games and tournaments. Every FTP earned means that players will claim $0.06 of the Holiday Hundred bonus, which will be paid out in increments of $10. Simple math will allow you to calculate that 167 FTPs are needed to clear each $10 increment and 1,667 are required for the full bonus to be unlocked. For each dollar that Full Tilt rakes from a pot, every player who was dealt cards in the hand receives one FTP. Each $1 paid in tournament entry fees means that players will earn seven FTPs.

Now, for the fine print. Players who have never deposited on Full Tilt Poker before should sign up for the site and clear the initial 100% first-time deposit bonus by the end of the day on November 30th. Then, Full Tilt will issue the Holiday Hundred bonus by December 2nd and players must accept it by the 6th. Full Tilt Poker customers who already hold active bonuses have until the end of the day on November 30th to clear their full value. Then, Full Tilt will place the Holiday Hundred bonus in their accounts by December 2nd and it must be accepted by the 6th.

The world’s second largest online poker site has seen its high-limit table action increase since the beginning of the month after the arrival of Swedish online poker mystery man Isildur1. The newcomer has battled a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros in Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em games. His cast of opponents has included newly-minted site pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, and CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South.

According to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic, Full Tilt boasts a seven-day running average of 18,800 real money ring game players. During peak hours, the site approaches 30,000 cash game enthusiasts. It’s the second largest site worldwide behind PokerStars and happily accepts customers from the United States. Besides Ivey, Dwan, and Antonius, other members of Team Full Tilt include Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, and bad boy Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.

Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the second running of the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS), which kicks off on December 9th and wraps up 11 days later.

William Brindise Wins US Poker Championship Main Event

Despite the promise of a televised final table for both its Pot Limit Omaha Championship and Main Event, it was a small crowd at the United States Poker Championships (USPC), with only 32 players entering the Omaha event and 154 taking part in the Main Event.

The tournament series, hosted by the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, ran from November 2nd until shortly before Thanksgiving and featured a total of 24 different events with buy-ins ranging from $340 to $5,250.  Prior to the start of the series, the tournament staff announced that cable television channel Spike TV would be on hand to film a couple of the contests.

The first televised event was the $2,625 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament.  Although the field was a scant 32 players, it was packed with some big name pros, several of whom made it to the final table.  Amnon Filippi, Matthew Matros, Matt Glantz, and Allie Prescott all made the feature table, with Prescott taking home the victory worth $36,000.

The second televised tournament, the USPC Main Event, drew a much larger crowd than the Omaha contest and saw substantial growth over last year’s running.  The combined appeal of a televised event plus a smaller buy-in helped to essentially triple the size of the field between 2008 and 2009.  Last year, the event featured a buy-in of $10,000 and only drew 52 runners.  Some of the 154 players who turned up to play in this year’s tournament included Matt “All In At 420” Stout, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, Allen Kessler, Michael and Nick Binger, Joe “hoodini10” Udine, Adam Junglen, Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, and Thayer Rasmussen.

The final table featured a number of notable names, including the 2001 USPC Champion Men “The Master” Nguyen.  Nguyen defeated fellow pro John Juanda heads-up in 2001 to take the $228,000 first place prize.  This time around, the tables were turned and it was Nguyen who had to settle for a runner-up finish.  Nguyen was joined at the final table by Nick Binger, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke, and online poker player Eric “avrilsharapova” Ladny.

The chip leader going into the final table was not one of the known pros though, it was William Brindise, a New Jersey local who started the final seven-handed table with more than 1.5 million chips – twice that of his next closest competitor, Nguyen.  Ladny rounded out the top three and the trio of players started and ended the day in the exact same positions on the leaderboard.  Ladny busted out in third place, setting up a heads-up match between Nguyen and Brindise.  It would be the local who prevailed over the professional, as Brindise defeated Nguyen to take down the first place prize worth $261,800; Nguyen earned $138,600 for his runner-up finish.

Although he may be lacking the experience of his formidable heads-up opponent, Brindise is no stranger to poker success.  Prior to his win at the USPC, he had nearly $130,000 in tournament winnings to his credit, including a win in a Trump Classic event in 2005, several cashes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and an in-the-money finish at the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.  With the victory in Atlantic City, Brindise’s career winnings are now close to $400,000.

Here are the results from the final table of the 2009 USPC Main Event:

1st Place: William Brindise – $261,800
2nd Place: Men “the Master” Nguyen – $138,600
3rd Place: Eric Ladny – $77,000
4th Place: Gordon Eng – $53,900
5th Place: Brian Lemke – $46,200
6th Place: Nick Binger – $30,800
7th Place: Anton Smolyanskiy – $23,100

Poker Industry Reacts to UIGEA Regulations Delay

Twenty-four hours after it was revealed that mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) would be delayed by six months, the poker industry has had a chance to react.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) was one of several organizations that successfully petitioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to push back conformity with the UIGEA rules until June 1st, 2010. The 1.2 million member strong lobbying organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release distributed on Friday, “We are thankful to our co-petitioners, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and for the dozens of members of Congress who voiced their support for this petition through letters to Secretary Geithner and Chairman Bernanke. The PPA looks forward to working with regulators and legislators to pass legislation that protects consumers and the great game of poker.” News of the extension originally broke on Wednesday.

The two horse racing outfits co-authored a letter with the PPA to Geithner and Bernanke outlining the potential for overblocking by financial institutions, which could have led to legal online wagers being denied by companies like Visa and MasterCard. According to the PPA, the possibility of an extension beyond the current six-month time frame exists. Ideally, Congress would formulate proper internet gambling legislation before June 1st.

To that end, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI) spokesperson Michael Waxman commented, “This decision is the latest evidence that momentum is building for a shift in policy and a rewrite of U.S. internet gambling laws to provide for regulation and taxation instead of prohibition. Over the next six months, Congress should act to create a framework that regulates internet gambling to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed revenue for critical federal and state government programs.”

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), whose House Financial Services Committee will host a hearing on two internet gambling bills next Thursday, gave his two cents on the UIGEA compliance date being postponed: “The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors deserve a great deal of credit for suspending these midnight regulations promulgated by the Bush administration which would curtail the freedom of Americans to use the internet as they choose and which would pose unrealistic burdens on the entire financial community. This will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law.”

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, Rich “TheEngineer” Muny, who serves as the Kentucky State Director for the PPA, broke the news early on Black Friday. While many online poker players were out hunting for deep holiday discounts, PocketFives.com member “mordan” was on the message boards candidly responding, “Everyone in the poker community just won a 30/70 with this development. Although this doesn’t guarantee regulation in the future, our odds have significantly increased with the U.S. Treasury recognizing problems with this bill.”

The future of the legality of games like online poker remains up in the air. In the PPA forum on TwoPlusTwo, poster “Distajo” questioned, “Was the delay granted more for the clarity of the UIGEA rules? Thus, being more beneficial for banks? Like don’t fund poker accounts, but allow horseracing wagers?” Past attempts to clarify the UIGEA have mandated that “laundry lists” of legal activities be created. If a bill like Frank’s HR 2267 is passed, much of the industry seems likely to be legalized and regulated in the United States.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UIGEA headlines.

UIGEA Regulations Officially Delayed Six Months

Online poker players in the United States have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. On Friday, CNBC and the Associated Press confirmed that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had granted requests to delay the mandatory compliance date of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by six months to June 1st, 2010.

Word of a potential delay first broke on Wednesday from Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan. However, no official comment had been handed down from Geithner, Bernanke, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), or the office of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Around 12:15pm ET on Friday, cable station CNBC ran a segment touting the successful six-month delay and an Associated Press article had hit cyberspace 15 minutes earlier.

The six-month delay will take the internet gambling industry to June 1st, 2010. In the interim, the theory goes that sensible legislation governing the industry in the United States will be passed. Frank introduced HR 2267 back in May. The bill, which has attracted 63 co-sponsors, establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for online gaming outfits to solicit U.S. customers.

An Associated Press article sourced both the Treasury and Federal Reserve as saying that the UIGEA’s regulations would indeed be pushed off until mid-2010. The news service explained, “The delayed rules would curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. The financial industry complained that the new rules would be difficult to enforce because they did not offer a clear definition of what constitutes internet gambling.” Since the UIGEA was approved in 2006, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stated that the legality of internet gambling may depend on state law, similar to the way that the brick-and-mortar version is governed.

Next Thursday, December 3rd, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing discussing the merits of HR 2266 and HR 2267. The former bill delays mandatory industry compliance with the UIGEA regulations by one year to December 1st, 2010. Its relevance given Friday’s confirmation that the regulations would be pushed back six months is up in the air. The hearing kicks off at 10:00am ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses for the informational hearing have not yet been announced and the proceedings can be followed via a live webcast accessible from the Committee’s website.

Potential overblocking by credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard led the PPA, two horse racing organizations, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation to petition Geithner and Bernanke, urging that the regulations of the UIGEA be shuttled back to December 1st of next year. PPA Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily, “Many believe what you’ll see is overblocking of legitimate transactions. It’s not a good thing for players. It won’t just affect poker; it’ll affect horse racing, lotteries, and other online entities.”

Around 1:00pm ET, the PPA confirmed the news. The organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release, “The PPA is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension. This is a great victory for poker, but an even greater victory for advocates of good and fair public policy.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news and events from Capitol Hill.

Poker2Nite Talks Isildur1, Annie Duke Charity Poker Tournament

The second installment of the UB.com-sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” hit televisions on Thanksgiving Eve in the United States on cable station Fox Sports Net. Scott Huff and Joe Sebok host the show.

“Poker2Nite’s” second episode began with a discussion of the $1.3 million Pot Limit Omaha hand between Patrik Antonius and Swedish online poker player Isildur1. The hand was replayed on-screen, with Antonius flopping a straight and Isildur1 calling all-in with a series of higher straight draws. However, none of them hit and Antonius raked the largest pot in the history of online poker. On the hand, Sebok commented, “Keep in mind that we’re not talking about No Limit Hold’em, which is what everyone is used to. We’re talking about Pot Limit Omaha. You have four cards, a million possibilities, and it completely changes the complexion of the hand. Truthfully, when Isildur1 got his money in, he was only a 45% dog on the flop.”

On playing poker for extreme high-stakes on Full Tilt, Sebok commented, “Sickness. Madness. I’m wondering if we’re going to fit these guys for straightjackets soon. At the end of the day, they feel like they have an edge over whoever they’re playing.” Other online poker players involved in the high-stakes action besides Antonius and Isildur1 in recent weeks have included Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Brian Townsend, Brian Hastings, Phil Ivey, and Cole South.

So who is Isildur1? That’s the question that has weighed heavily on the minds of the online poker community since the Swede burst onto the high-stakes scene earlier this month. Sebok speculated, “I think this is a kid we’re going to see more and more of. He’s already probably a top five Omaha player in the world. The only problem he’s running into is he’s playing maybe #1 and #2 with Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius.” Sebok also commented that Isildur is a character from “Lord of the Rings.”

Attention then turned to the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night benefiting Decision Education Foundation. GreasieWheels’ Lisa Wheeler organized the event, which saw Tournament Director Matt Savage oversee the operation. Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch won and was also the featured speaker as part of a Poker Skills for Life seminar. On why he was selected to speak, Bloch, the in-studio guest for “Poker2Nite,” told Huff and Sebok, “The DEF is all about teaching people to make good decisions and in poker, you have to make a lot of good, quick decisions. You have to do that in life too sometimes. In poker, you’re studying and teaching yourself how to make better decisions when you’re at the table.”

Bloch took down the event and explained what he earned for coming out on top of the pro- and celebrity-laden field: “I didn’t win any cash, but I did win a bracelet, so for everyone who makes fun of me for not winning a bracelet, I won a bracelet.” Bloch also recapped his now-infamous bet with Ivey that the “Tiger Woods of Poker” would win the Main Event: “At the end of Day 2 with about 2,200 players left, Phil Ivey had about four times the average [chip stack] and he offered me 100:1 on him winning the Main Event. I negotiated it down to 99:1 [for $20,000]. Normally, I wouldn’t worry, but $2 million is kind of a lot.” Ivey ultimately took seventh in the $10,000 buy-in tournament, avoiding a $2 million payout by Bloch.

“Poker2Nite” also featured the “Weekly Misdeal” with Dana Workman, which takes a satirical approach to reporting the news. Team UB.com’s Brandon Cantu getting tazed was featured as well, with the footage appearing on national television.

“Poker2Nite” airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net, although its airtime varies by market. It also replays several times throughout the week. Check your local listings for details.

UIGEA Hearing Scheduled for December 3rd in Financial Services Committee

In breaking news from the House Financial Services Committee, a hearing to discuss two pieces of legislation related to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) will be held on Thursday, December 3rd at 10:00am ET.

Interested online poker players can check out the hearing via a webcast found on the official website of the Committee. The hearing, which will be held in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building, will cover two pieces of legislation introduced by Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), HR 2266 (Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act) and HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. The longtime Massachusetts Congressman introduced the measures on the same day in May.

On December 1st, two days prior to the hearing, the financial services industry in the United States must come into full compliance with the regulations of the UIGEA, which were officially approved as midnight rules by the outgoing Bush administration back in January. Several days ago, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily that he expected a hearing to come soon: “Chairman Frank has told us that he intends to have a hearing and mark up HR 2267 as soon as he’s done with financial regulation reform bills. We think it might be in January, but there’s a good chance we could have a hearing in December. It depends on the Congressional schedule.”

Christmas has come early for the PPA, which has lobbied on several fronts for HR 2266 and HR 2267 to be marked up. It is unclear at the time of writing as to whether any markup will occur, as the proceedings next Thursday appear to be purely informational in nature. HR 2266 delays the regulations of the UIGEA by one year to December 1st, 2010. As it stands now, the industry has merely a week to brace for their effects on payment processors. HR 2266 has 53 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle, including Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ron Paul (R-TX), and Robert Wexler (D-FL).

Frank’s other bill, HR 2267, has 63 co-sponsors and creates a full licensing and regulatory framework for internet gambling and online poker outfits to solicit real money customers from the United States. A companion bill introduced by McDermott in May, HR 2268, taxes online gaming operators 2% of deposits. Although several estimates have been made as to how much revenue internet gambling could bring to the United States Government, the most recent study, which came from the Joint Committee on Taxation, pinned the figure at $42 billion over a ten-year period.

Witnesses for the December 3rd hearing and their prepared testimony were not given on the House Financial Services Committee website at the time of writing. Next Thursday will mark the first major movement on the internet gambling front in the Financial Services Committee since September of 2008, when Frank’s HR 6870 was approved by a 30-19 margin. The bill sought to clarify what activities were permissible under the UIGEA. It was not acted on during the 110th Congress and therefore was declared dead entering 2009.

A total of 41 Democrats and 29 Republicans make up the Financial Services Committee. The latter are headed by Spencer Bachus (R-AL), who, along with Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) recently authored a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urging that the regulations of the UIGEA be enforced on December 1st as scheduled. Recently, members of the Kentucky House delegation implored Geithner and company to delay UIGEA regulation enforcement due to overblocking by credit card companies, potentially stunting legal online horseracing wagers.

We’ll have more information on the December 3rd hearing as it unfolds right here on Poker News Daily.

Live Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge Kicks Off in London

Tuesday marks the beginning of the live version of the Tom “durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge, which is unfolding in London. The festivities will see Dwan battle Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Sammy “Any Two” George, and Marcelo “luckexpress” Marigliano.

The match’s format is simplistic. Dwan will take on each opponent across 500 hands of No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. The series has a buy-in of $500,000 and neither player is permitted to leave the table until they are broke or the requisite number of hands has been played. The price of poker is $500/$1,000.

Eddie Hearn, who is organizing the gala on behalf of Matchroom Sport, commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “The stage is set for Tom to make history in London this week. The opponents are ready. Tom Dwan is the biggest draw in poker and to have a TV show in his name at such a young age shows the commercial power of the man. Poker is changing and we are delighted to be at its cutting edge.”

Tuesday’s action will see Dwan tangle with George in No Limit Hold’em. Dwan will then return on Wednesday to face Marigliano, also in No Limit Hold’em. The final match of the week occurs on Thursday, with Sahamies electing to play Dwan in Pot Limit Omaha. The action runs from 2:00pm to 2:00am daily at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair. The gala will be filmed for television and can be seen on Sky Sports next year in the U.K. It is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which recently signed Dwan to its stable of sponsored pros.

On the prospects of facing one of the most hyper-aggressive players in the game today, Sahamies told Matchroom Sport, “I am always excited to play my good friend Tom. He is one of the best Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha players in the world and when I heard about the challenge, I couldn‘t wait to sign up. With the gambling, the side-bets, the partying, and the drinking in London, this is going to be a whole lot of fun.” Dwan issued a challenge to Swedish online poker player Isildur1 to take on the American in London, but, as of the time of writing, Isildur1 has not yet obliged.

The live Durrrr Challenge was originally scheduled for two months ago following the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule in London. However, Dwan reached the semi-finals of the Poker Million, creating a scheduling conflict. Las Vegas was then brought up as a possible site for the competition before Hearn and company settled on mid-November in London. Dwan finished seventh in Heat 3 of the PartyPoker World Open last month and took ninth in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March for an even $25,000.

Last week, Dwan was in Downtown Las Vegas filming the sixth season of the GSN poker franchise “High Stakes Poker” at the Golden Nugget. The series, which will air in February, was also slated to feature George, who wound up not participating. Those facing off on the sixth cycle of the popular cash game program include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis.

The online version of the Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Patrik Antonius has come to a screeching halt as a result of Dwan’s hectic schedule. After 27,185 hands, Dwan leads by $779,000. If the youngster is up by at least $1 at the conclusion of 50,000, Antonius will owe $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will pay $1.5 million. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands.

Jean-Robert Bellande Out as Bodog Sponsored Pro

Former “Survivor: China” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande is no longer a sponsored pro of Bodog, according to a representative from the online poker room. His current agreement expired at the end of October and was not renewed.

Only three sponsored pros currently appear on Bodog’s website: Evelyn Ng, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and David Williams. The runner-up in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Ladies Night Event in 2003, Ng also took 11th in the Season IV Borgata Poker Open for $64,000. That same season, Ng grabbed 39th in the WPT Championship for $73,000.

Bonomo is one of the industry’s top online poker players, but has also dominated on the brick-and-mortar felts. Bonomo won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in April for $227,000. One month later, he final tabled the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP for a colossal $413,000.

Rounding out the shrunken crop of Bodog pros is Williams, who boasts the only bracelet of the trio. Williams captured his piece of hardware in 2006 by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament for $163,000, defeating a talented final table that also included “Miami” John Cernuto and 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan. Text found on Bodog’s website still refers to “four pros,” but only three profiles appear.

“Jean-Robert Bellande’s deal with Bodog Poker expired at the end of October and the decision was made not to renew the deal. It has been an absolute pleasure having Jean-Robert as one of Bodog.com’s Poker pros and we wish him all the best,” the room’s Poker Manager told Poker News Daily. In February, Poker Royalty, which represents Bellande, boasted that the pro had renewed his sponsorship agreement with the USA-facing site. At the time, Bellande commented, “I am thrilled to continue my relationship with Team Bodog. Bodog is a fantastic organization and I am excited to continue with such a select team of world-class poker players.”

During the 2008 WSOP, Bellande finished as the runner-up to Matt “mattg1983” Graham in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout for $173,000. The final table of the marathon tournament wrapped up after 7:00am at the Rio in Las Vegas. In 2005, Bellande grabbed third in the Rio’s WSOP Circuit Event Championship for $210,000 in a contest that saw Doug Lee and Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman battle heads-up.

Bellande was one of 16 contestants to head to China for the 15th cycle of the CBS reality series “Survivor.” Bellande was the eighth player voted out of the popular program and became the second member of its jury, the group of seven castaways who selected flight attendant Todd Herzog as the show’s $1 million winner. Bellande was on the Fei Long tribe both before and after a tribal switch-up; the group then merged to become Hae Da Fung.

In 2006, Bellande made waves by competing in the WPT’s Bad Boys of Poker against the likes of Tony G, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Gus Hansen. In the end, Tony G triumphed over the invite-only six-handed table and earned $25,000. All told, Bellande owns over $75,000 from WPT felts.

According to the tracking site PokerScout.com, Bodog is the 14th largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 930 real money ring game players. It features a 24-hour peak of 1,411 cash game players and, at the time of writing, which is around 8:30pm ET on a Sunday night, 1,359 combatants have taken to its ring game felts. Bodog is the fifth largest site or network that accepts U.S. action, trailing PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, CEREUS, and the Cake Poker Network.

Joe Cada Praised by National Media for WSOP Main Event Win

Following his victory in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which aired on ESPN on Tuesday night, Joe Cada received an overwhelming amount of praise from U.S. media outlets.

The Detroit Free Press, Cada’s hometown paper, reported on their hero’s run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which ended with a heads-up showdown against Darvin Moon. The newspaper cautioned against other Michigan natives looking to strike it rich in the world of poker: “Cada wants anyone thinking about making a living at playing cards to be warned: For every high, he has experienced the lowest of lows.” Cada told the media outlet, “It definitely can be a living, but it’s one of those things: You have to be very careful when you decide to make it a living. More people lose than win.” Cada became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever late Monday night and earned $8.5 million.

The Detroit News was also on-hand in Las Vegas to cover the local participant. The youngster told the paper, which noted that Cada was a severe underdog in chips at the final table, “It helped being down before and having no chips earlier at the final table. I thought about that and I continued to stay focused and tried not to make any mistakes. I just remained calm and it worked out well.” After doubling up CardPlayer Magazine Editor Jeff Shulman with A-J against A-K, Cada’s stack sank to 2.3 million, or less than five big blinds.

TIME Magazine candidly explained, “This time last year, Joseph Cada couldn’t legally order a cocktail. But today, the Shelby Township, Mich., native sits on top of the poker world as the champion of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.” Playing online, as well as trips to Canada and Costa Rica, helped fund the underage Cada’s bankroll before he turned 21.

Even the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) chimed in on Cada’s win, noting that the PokerStars-sponsored player wore the lobbying organization’s patch throughout the Main Event final table. A press release distributed by the PPA on Tuesday featured Chairman Alfonse D’Amato praising the Michigan native: “On behalf of PPA members, I congratulate Joe on his historic WSOP win and thank him for being such a strong advocate for the game, especially online poker.” Cada added, “Poker is not gambling. There is decision-making, there’s logic, there’s math, and I think that taking away online poker takes away peoples’ rights. I am very supportive of the Poker Players Alliance.”

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, poster “illinicubs23” weighed in on a debate as to whether Cada’s victory will improve or deride poker’s reputation as a skill game given his improbable run: “cada will at least continue to be seen around the tournament circuit – something moon wouldnt have done – and help promote pokerstars. hopefully he will inspire a lot more young 20 somethings to take up the game and help feed the poker economy for years.”

While online poker players salivated at the thought of new blood entering the game, the Michigan media continued to caution against those expecting the same success as Cada. Dennis Martell, Coordinator of Health Education at Michigan State University, told the Free Press, “What worries me more is that we’ve got a perfect storm going with this Michigan economy, and a point-and-click generation that wants instant gratification, that thinks they can get lucky and, in many cases, really needs the money.” In September, Michigan’s unemployment rate topped 15%, which the Free Press noted was the highest in the United States.

Prior to play beginning on Monday, Cada told Poker News Daily what it was like seeing his image plastered across Detroit newspapers: “It’s a lot different seeing the newspaper and actually seeing you in it. It’s been fun.”

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, who spent a week in Las Vegas covering the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, summed up his thoughts on the industry’s new face: “Last week, Cada was just another player from Michigan. On ESPN’s WSOP coverage, he said, ‘I’m just a kid with a dream.’ Now, he is ‘The Kid’ and a poker superstar. Congratulations on your run to WSOP gold, Joe. We’re looking forward to seeing what you have to offer as your poker career truly begins now.”

MrElPaso reigns supreme at Bodog Open IV

MrElPaso outlasted a field of 256 players and a tough final table that included "Bodog Ari" Engel to take down a first place prize of $36,337.

"With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog.com has given online poker players of all stripes the chance to win big while garnering the exposure they deserve," said Bodog poker pro David Williams.

"I'd like to personally congratulate MrElPaso for his impressive victory in the Bodog Poker Open IV. His win cements his status as one of online poker's newest stars, and I'm confident we'll be seeing him at plenty of final tables to come."

It isn't the first time that MrElPaso has had success on Bodog. In 2008, he final tabled the $100,000 guaranteed on the site and made $9,100 for coming in third.

The final table of the $500 buy-in Bodog Open VI main event was no cakewalk with notable players UFpokerStar, nevertilt22 and the aforementioned Engel. The smart money was likely on Engel who has $359,835 in live tournament earnings, but he eventually bowed out in third for $16,182.

The fourth installment of the Bodog Open drew several notable pros including Williams and Evelyn Ng. Bodog threw in an extra $25,000 to pump the overall prize pool up to $145,790.

As part of winning the Bodog Open VI championship, MrElPaso will also receive a guaranteed spread in an International poker magazine.

Here are the complete payouts for the Bodog Open VI main event:

1. MrElPaso - $36,448
2. dvbronco - $24,420
3. ari - $16,182
4. JazzyFace - $11,663
5. bklynzto81 - $8,456
6. naskoxx - $6,561
7. ello - $5,103
8. ShuMoneyTonite - $3,645
9. LIVIN LOUD - $2,478

 

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WSOP Final Table Logos: Inside Perspective

As you probably know, WSOP Final Table logos are big business. Players routinely secure six and seven figure multi year deals from the big online poker sites. The 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine were no exception. Except for the nine players, agents and poker sites, very few people ever get to look inside how logo deals happen. Poker News Daily sat down with Paul Leggett of Ultimate Bet. Leggett is the COO at Tokwiro, the owner of Ultimate Bet, and is ultimately the one responsible for making logo deals on behalf of the site. While Ultimate Bet did not have a player wearing a logo at the 2009 WSOP Final Table, the site did have significant ESPN exposure in the coverage during the run up to the final table. In addition, Leggett and UB were heavily involved in multi-month attempts to sign players at the final table.

Who were you targeting as good candidates for Ultimate Bet logos in this year’s WSOP?

Leggett: Coming down the stretch I really wanted Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari and Prahlad Friedman. To determine who to go after, we usually look at televised tables, chip counts, etc. We also focused in on Billy Kopp and Joe Cada because they fit with our pro team and they had good chip stacks. Once they got the final 27 we liked their experience from online poker and we went after both of them. Unfortunately Billy busted out a bit short of the final table and Joe ended up signing with PokerStars but we felt good about who we were going after.

When it got down to the final table the only person I really wanted was Joe Cada because he represented the young online poker player really well. We went after Joe Cada and Stars went after Darvin Moon. Cada and his agent were holding us off and delaying so I put an expiration date on the offer.

After Cada signed with Stars, I realized that Stars was going after Moon while we were going after Cada and that was one reason Cada was holding off on making a decision. Stars was insisting on a long-term pro deal with Moon but he wouldn’t budge on doing anything beyond a one-day deal because he didn’t want to have any commitments after the series. Stars wouldn’t do a one-day logo deal with Moon so they came in and signed Cada. I don’t blame Cada for holding out for a big deal. Our deals work on a sliding scale and Stars offers much larger flat multi-year deals.

So after not getting Joe Cada in September did you pursue anyone else?

Leggett: We went after Moon. He made it obvious to us that he only wanted a single-day logo deal which is worth a lot less to us. There’s still value in the logo but if he did well we obviously want him to become a part of our team. We want someone to be an ambassador and represent our site at other tournaments. So we saw a lot less value in it but we were still in back and forth discussions with his agent until the day before the final table. We made a lot of different sorts of significant six-figure offers for the one day logo deal but in the end we weren’t able to reach an agreement.

(Editors Note: Leggett declined to provide specific figures during our interview but a number of industry sources have stated that Moon was looking for $350k for a one-day logo deal at the final table. We can obviously presume that Ultimate Bet did not offer that much or else Moon would have taken it.)

How hard is it to do this when you’re competing with the Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars’ of the world?

Leggett: It’s very hard because negotiating and making these deals is a unique skill set and you have to learn from scratch and get experience. One reason it’s so difficult to make these deals is because it’s hard to put an estimate on what these deals are worth. They can backfire on you badly. There are a number of WSOP champions who we don’t want to have representing us. On the other hand, guys like Joe Cada are perfect for us.

But it’s really us just trying to put ourselves in a position to find the next Moneymaker dream winner and reap the rewards from that. We learned a lot this year and I pretty much guarantee we’ll have a logo at the final table next year.

How do Ultimate Bet’s deals generally work?

Leggett: Before the final table, it depends on whether the player is at a primary televised table or a secondary table. Based on that, they get a flat amount. In addition, they get paid for TV incentives after it airs usually based on TV exposure of full and partial logos. There are a few requirements for what qualifies as a logo exposure. In addition, should they make the final table, we offer a scaling final table deal which is relatively small for 9th and quite large for 1st. The deal for 1st is a multi-year Ultimate Bet pro deal.

What do you think about diminishing returns on logos? How important is the first logo for a site versus the second and the third?

Leggett: I care a great deal about the first especially if it’s a great player and a great story. I thought Cada and Moon had great stories and I really wanted to get at least one of them. Both of them appeal to a certain demographic. We’re selective about who we’ll spend a lot to put a logo on. We definitely want to have a logo at final tables but we’re also shooting for first or second place players to be our long-term representative. A lot of people don’t remember who finished 3rd, 4th, etc after a few years so we really want someone who has a great story and can get to heads up. That’s our goal in this process.

Do you think the 3 logo rule is a good one?

Leggett: I really do think it’s a good one. It makes sense for the WSOP because the brand is the WSOP and it isn’t the PokerStars series. It can look overwhelming and silly.

What do you think their reasoning was for that?

Leggett: Probably to combat a single site dominating.

Do you want to talk about your strategy for next year?

Leggett: We can’t do that, it’s too important. But we did learn a lot this year and we will be able to get a logo next year. We did get a ton of coverage on ESPN this year and we’re really happy with the TV exposure that we got. Our coverage was probably better than Stars even in the period leading up to the final table. We’re very happy with our exposure even though we didn’t sign Cada and we’re looking forward to getting a logo on the final table next year.

Microgaming Site Cool Hand Poker Offering Concert Tickets

Excited about the upcoming U2 tour, but can’t afford to hand over your next month’s rent for tickets? Cool Hand Poker might be your answer. The up-and-coming online poker room is giving its players a chance to win tickets worth up to $500 for a concert or live event of their choice as part of its Let Us Entertain You promotion.

Cool Hand Poker began running $0.50 satellites on November 1st, with winners advancing to the Let us Entertain You finale on November 25th. The 7:00pm GMT tournament is a $5 buy-in with unlimited rebuys for the first hour. The winner(s) will receive a $500 voucher to be used toward the concert of their choice.

The site, which caters to the casual online poker player, offers several other prizes for its members, such as MP3 players, gaming consoles, laptops, weekend getaways, and land-based tournament entries.

Of course, Cool Hand Poker has cash prizes to play for as well. The site’s flagship tournament is its $2,500 Guaranteed Sunday Fun-Day Tournament, which takes place on the third Sunday of every month at 19:00 GMT. The $22 buy-in gives players 1,500 chips to start with and optional $5 rebuys and add-ons for another 1,500 chips. Freerolls to the monthly tournament take place every two hours each day during the month. Each satellite awards five entries to the Sunday Fun-Day Tournament and costs just 10+1 Cool Points to enter.

Users have numerous daily freerolls to choose from in which they can earn money, “points freebies,” or invitations to other tournaments. Cool Hand Poker gives away more than $20,000 in freerolls each month. The site offers daily freerolls in Hold’em, Razz, Omaha, and Omaha High-Low for those looking to improve at several different forms of poker. For newcomers to the site, Cool Hand Poker runs two daily $50 freerolls that are open to any player that has started an account within the past seven days. All new players are also eligible for a 100% deposit bonus up to $350 and if a user makes a deposit within seven days of registering, they’ll also find 200 free Cool Points in their account.

Those Cool Points can be used to buy into multi-table tournaments, sit and gos, and satellite events.  Points are paid out based on the number of raked cash games hands played as well as the amount of money paid in tournament registration fees.

Cool Hand Poker’s feature promotion that began in October is the My Poker Challenge, in which players earned Cool Points based on their volume of play. Points are awarded for each raked hand on various tables, which can then be used for tournament buy-ins.

A maximum of 1,000 points can be earned each day, but if players end up with a positive balance on their cash game play, they will receive an additional 10% in points. The bonus points will be awarded to all players who earn a profit during the day.

Players that earn the maximum amount of points every day, along with the additional 10% for ending up with a positive balance, will win $10,000. Everyone who takes part in the promotion will earn some type of cash prize, but here’s a look at the top potential prizes based on the point requirements:

Prize/Points Required
$10,000/37,400 points
$1,250/32,000
$1,100/31,000
$1,000/29,000
$900/26,800
$800/24,800
$700/22,700
$600/20,600
$500/18,600

Cool Hand Poker does not currently accept U.S. customers and makes its home on the Microgaming Network.

New features added to iPoker software… finally

Just as we thought PokerStars and Full Tilt were running away with all the online poker players, Playtech, the company behind the iPoker network, has unveiled a host of new player friendly features for their sites that should keep some of the fish away from the dangers of the open ocean... for now anyway.

Amazing Race: Reaction to Eliminations of Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho

Professional poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were eliminated during the latest episode of “Amazing Race” when the pair was unable to complete a challenging test of physical strength. The only all-female team on the show decided to quit after concluding that they would never finish the challenge.

In the leg’s Detour, teams were given the choice between two tasks, Farmer’s Game or Farmer’s Dance. Michelle and Ho failed to complete either mission, as the team couldn’t hit golf balls with a wooden mallet far enough in Farmer’s Game and ring a high striker in Farmer’s Dance. Rather than checking in at the Pit Stop, Michelle and Ho announced that they were quitting the race when met by host Phil Keoghan at the golf course.

Female poker pro “PeachyMer” is a regular viewer of the show and was critical of Michelle and Ho following their elimination. “Neither one of them were putting their weight into it right,” said PeachyMer, referring to the golf-like section of the Detour. “Maria was half-heartedly hitting it so Tiffany could have another go. Tiffany almost got it a few times and although I hadn’t cared for them, I was rooting for her to get it there. I know it’s different when you are freezing, exhausted, and annoyed in that situation, but it looks like if she had thrown a little more of her weight into it and swung around longer, they would have been golden. With that money at stake, let alone the drive to win, I would have been swinging it from the ground behind me with everything I had and hope my angle hit if nothing else.”

Michelle and Ho were the only team made up of two females and at times had trouble contending in physically demanding competitions. While the duo managed to stave off elimination for several weeks, the grueling nature of this episode’s challenge proved to be too much to overcome.

“It wasn’t a very fair Detour,” said TwoPlusTwo poster “True North.” “You were screwed without upper-body strength. You put any all-female team in the history of the show on that Detour and they don’t finish it at least three-quarters of the time. They should have had just the dancing and the fish for Farmer’s Dance; the bell was what made it unfair.”

Fellow TwoPlusTwo member “Jeff M” agreed: “It really looked like the designers of the course didn’t take into account the fact that one of the teams was composed of two 90 pound women. They could barely lift the sledge, much less hit the button with any real force. And the golf game wasn’t much better. They really had no shot at hitting the ball hard enough to make par.”

Others felt a lack of effort was the reason the two poker pros couldn’t keep pace with the other teams left in the race. “This was one of the most pathetic teams ever,” said online poker player and “Amazing Race” fan “medici.” “They quit twice. And they managed to sneak in once because a team lost its travel documents… How they managed to not even finish this week when the other couple couldn’t count the bells or read their clue and incur a 30 minute penalty is beyond pathetic.”

With the elimination of Michelle and Ho, the remaining five teams will travel to Sweden for the next leg of the 15th season of ” Amazing Race.”

Poker Community Reacts to 2 Months, $2 Million Finale

Season 1 of G4’s “2 Months, $2 Million” came to a close last week and the result was an outburst of chatter in the poker community regarding the innovative reality show. The cast landed well short of its $2 million goal, but the majority of viewers seem to be pleased with the overall product that G4 presented.

Jay “SEABEAST” Kinkade, a high-stakes tournament specialist from Australia, followed the series closely all the way through the season finale and was able to relate to the lives of the cast members as a fellow professional poker player. “I think the show did a great job of striking a difficult balance and as someone who has stayed in a house in Vegas two years in a row, it rings very true to my own experiences,” Kinkade explained. “I expected the show to suck and I think it’s awesome. I think all four guys came across great on TV.”

The main subject that has generated speculation since the season finale is whether G4 would bring along the same four members for a potential Season 2 or reach into the bag of high-stakes cash players for a new group. Online poker player “QuadSuited” gave his input on the matter: “Not that I wouldn’t like to see the same cast again in Season 2, but I would like to see at least three seasons a year with a different cast of players every season. I think it would be a great move for keeping a fresh interest in the show on a consistent and growing basis. That being said, I did enjoy this season, although I would have liked to see more poker.”

Some names being mentioned as possible replacements or full-time additions include Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Aaron “aejones” Jones, both of whom made cameos during the show’s first season. Lichtenberger gained fame following one episode when he sweet-talked a female into giving him her underwear in order to win a bet against members of the “2 Months, $2 Million” crew.

“I think Krantz (Jay Rosenkrantz), ansky (Dani Stern), and flawless (Brian Roberts) are all awesome,” said poker player “ryanaw19.” “The only person I’d change would be whitelime (Emil Patel); I would swap him for someone who plays higher stakes. It would give them a better shot at actually winning $2 million. I’d go for someone like luckychewy, who plays $25/50 and higher and grinds high-stakes tournaments… chewy would also bring a ton of laughter.”

TwoPlusTwo poster “ralef” enjoyed the show, but agrees that the team should focus on reaching its $2 million goal in Season 2. “The show works because the life of super successful online poker players is interesting and fun,” ralef commented. “Want to make next season better? It’s pretty easy: play bigger against bigger names and do absurd things with your money. Maybe if you don’t want to show poker all of the time, throw in a bunch of prop bets. Also, the drama of ‘Will they or will they not reach $2 million?’ disappeared pretty fast. For most of the season, it felt like ‘Can Krantz carry them to $2 million? No, he can’t.’ Everyone else was usually up or down $10,000 to $50,000… until the last two episodes. Even then, the results depended mainly on how Krantz did.”

An issue that became a concern for many viewers was the length of each episode. “2 Months, 2 Million” ran for 30 minutes, as compared to NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker“, which air for an hour. “Next season: longer episodes,” said TwoPlusTwo member “StraddleBet.” “Everything seemed so rushed.”

As of yet, there is no news regarding another season, but Poker News Daily will be there with any updates about the future of “2 Months, $2 Million.”

Bodog Cancels Sunday Tournaments, $100,000 Guaranteed

Players logging into the popular online poker room Bodog on Sunday to play in the weekly $100,000 Guaranteed flagship tournament found the site down due to technical difficulties.

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, the trouble for many users began shortly before 5:00pm ET when one frustrated person posted, “Anyone else having problems logging into bodog?” The site’s $100,000 Guaranteed begins at 4:00pm ET each Sunday and comes with a $162 buy-in. On October 18th, a total of 469 players entered, creating an overlay of nearly $30,000. Overlays of over $20,000 are common in the event, which has become a haven for the world’s top online poker pros looking to claim their share of the dead money in the prize pool.

Players battling in the $100,000 Guaranteed at the time attempted to diagnose the problem, with PocketFives.com member “dirtydonzo” taking it upon himself to call Bodog’s customer support. The response: “Just called them. No real information. Lady said they are having technical difficulties and they are working to fix the problem. She didn’t have any specific details and didn’t know when the site might be back up.” The post was time stamped at 4:53pm ET, less than one hour into the $100,000 Guaranteed.

Meanwhile, PocketFives.com member “MarkFSU1” relayed his story, which was echoed by several other players: “I got a message saying the 100k was canceled because [there were] not enough players.” Customer support purportedly told some concerned Bodog members that the $100,000 Guaranteed would be rescheduled.

One player who attempted to log in while the melee was unfolding received an error message notifying him of maintenance: “Bodog is down for regularly scheduled maintenance and/or software upgrades. We expect to be back up shortly.” At 7:09pm ET, about two-and-a-half hours after issues were first reported, Bodog representative Rebecca “BodogBecky” Liggero appeared and claimed, “Tonight, Sunday, October 25th, Bodog Poker had to cancel all tournaments because many players were experiencing disconnection problems. Players will be compensated according to Bodog Poker rules, i.e. players will be paid a percentage of the prize pool based on their stack size when the tournament was canceled.”

According to Bodog’s Terms of Service, when a guaranteed prize pool tournament is canceled prior to hitting the money bubble, “the payout will be based on the prize pool composed of buy-ins only,” meaning that the guarantee is not factored in. Half of the purse is distributed evenly among all players remaining in the tournament, while the other half is dished out based on chip counts. Liggero instructed concerned online poker players to contact the individual Bodog licensees.

Liggero told Poker News Daily that the site is looking to right the ship this weekend. She relayed a statement from the Bodog Network claiming, “Bodog has more customers than ever and yesterday this caused some problems with our database. To repair the problems, we were forced to cancel all ongoing tournaments, including our flagship $100,000 tournament. All players have been compensated in accordance with our tournament cancellation policy. On top of that, we will invite all affected players to a $10,000 freeroll on Sunday. They will all receive an email with the details.”

A similar occurrence took place during the $100,000 Guaranteed five weeks ago. On September 20th, about 90% of players in the event were disconnected and blinded off. In a post made two days later, Liggero explained, “At 8:09pm EST on Sunday we had to restart our servers, and after that many players, but not all, were blinded out of the 100K tournament. At the time of the restart, 43 players were left in the 100K tournament, and all were already in the money. Since the tournament was not stopped, the result will stand and everyone will keep their prize money.” The statement added that Bodog officials should have halted the tournament at 8:09pm ET and so an additional 35 players would be compensated accordingly.

Players logging into the site on Monday were met with a small software update and the $100,000 Guaranteed is scheduled for Sunday, November 1st, the same day as the start of the fourth Bodog Poker Open. Bodog accepts players from the United States and features a stable of pros that includes Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande, Evelyn Ng, and David Williams.

PokerNews Playlist: Volume #13

For both serious and casual online poker players, Sundays are (hopefully) a long grind. For those who don't want to play in a meditative state, music can be the perfect middle ground between total silence and the distraction of television. Don't...

Kentucky Supreme Court Hears iMEGA Internet Gambling Case

Playing out on the floor of the Kentucky Supreme Court this morning were oral arguments in a case pitting the state’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, headed by J. Michael Brown, against the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), among other parties.

The hearing will determine the fate of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to industry giants like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Commonwealth attorney Eric Lycan took to the podium shortly after 11:00am local time and noted that the lower court ruling ordering the sites in question to halt operations in Kentucky or risk losing their domains altogether has yet to bear fruit: “None of these domain names has been stopped from operating… When this action was filed, many of them attempted to take their domain names registered with registrars in the U.S. and transfer them to another overseas registrar.”

Lengthy comparisons were made to drug seizures and pornography throughout the proceedings. In terms of whether iMEGA and the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) had standing to sue in the case, Lycan explained, “There is not a single person in this room who will claim to operate a domain name. You have illegal gambling trade associations.” One of the six justices in attendance retorted, “This is not like cocaine, which is inherently illegal.” The Kentucky Supreme Court grilled both sides with questions.

If successful, the domains would be inaccessible not only in Kentucky, but also around the world. On why the Commonwealth would remove access to the URLs for the rest of the world, Lycan explained, “That’s how Judge Wingate’s order was tailored and it’s only if they refuse to cease operations in Kentucky. It’s only those who continue to defy the Commonwealth that will be forfeited.” Lycan revealed that the domains would be put up for public auction if they were successfully forfeited.

Up for debate is whether the domain names were properly seized under the grounds that they were “gambling devices,” a term traditionally reserved for tangible objects like slot machines and roulette wheels that you’d find in an underground casino. Also argued were whether due process was violated and whether the Commonwealth had jurisdiction to act in the first place. Lycan noted that there have been instances of URLs being seized before: “They have been seized by the IRS and auctioned off. This is not a new thing that the Commonwealth has undertaken. It’s complicated by the fact that it’s not tangible property, but it’s still property.”

Lycan’s testimony lasted for 30 minutes and was followed by Bill Johnson’s oral arguments. Johnson, who represents a contingent that includes Sportsbook.com, argued that the case should not have proceeded as far as it has. He then noted that the State should have pursued a criminal case against domain name owners, not a “hybrid” civil forfeiture proceeding. Johnson also called out the Kentucky State Legislature for not clarifying the Commonwealth’s gambling laws: “Sometimes it’s necessary for the legislature to spell out what the law is. If the legislature had amended the statute, which it’s had the opportunity to do since 1974… our situation would be different.” Legal online wagering on horse racing appears to be legal in Kentucky, as TwinSpires.com, which allows such bets, is owned by the parent company of the Churchill Downs racetrack.

Jon Fleischaker, attorney for iMEGA, gave an animated argument that began with the following statement: “What the Commonwealth and what the Secretary are doing is really unheard of. They have taken a statute that has been repealed… and have tried to make it a hybrid with a criminal process for forfeiture. That is really wrong.” Fleischaker also blasted the State’s lack of due process, noting, “There has been no process. There has been no attempt at process. It was a secret proceeding. Nobody had standing at the proceedings in front of Judge Wingate.” Word spread of the seizure last September and Wingate upheld the Commonwealth’s actions in a decision released nearly one year ago to the day.

Finally, John Tate, attorney for VicsBingo.com and the IGC, asserted that the Commonwealth’s actions violated the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. He explained, “The internet did not arrive yesterday. We’ve wrestled with internet-based jurisdiction for some number of years now… The only jurisdictional bases for the assertion of in rem were manufactured by the Secretary.” Tate argued that the Commonwealth’s agents had to use an internet search to find VicsBingo.com, which should be frowned upon. Lycan countered that the appellate admitted 13,000 online poker players made their home in Kentucky as members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

The proceedings lasted about 90 minutes and iMEGA expects a decision to be handed down within four months. Rich Muny, Kentucky State Director for the PPA, said the organization, which filed an amicus brief in the case, thought a decision would be rendered within 60 days.

DoylesRoom Seeking New Members for Brunson 10

The USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom, fronted by 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, is expanding its stable of pros. The so-called “Brunson 10” currently consists of only four members.

In order to become a part of the illustrious Brunson 10, online poker players must hold an account at DoylesRoom and hit the felts in the site’s daily $5/$10 and $10/$20 cash games that take place at 7:00pm ET. Brunson and other site pros are regulars in these games and an e-mail sent to DoylesRoom players explained, “We recommend joining and chatting with them at the tables.” The online poker room is hoping to add players with “personality, integrity, and potential” and plans to fill the fifth Brunson 10 slot around the beginning of November in time for the WSOP Main Event final table.

A formal way to apply for the Brunson 10 will be unleashed in the coming weeks. The e-mail foreshadowed, “This system will eventually allow the best players to get to the top, at which point we will arrange personal interviews with Doyle and the team.” Interested players can e-mail Brunson10@doylesroom.com. A representative from the online poker site told Poker News Daily, “We are looking for live and online success in both cash games and tournaments, but personality is key too. Doyle Brunson has the final word.”

Amit “amak316” Makhija is one of the four current Brunson 10 members. The top-tier online and live poker pro is best known for finishing as the runner-up to John “The Razor” Phan in the finale of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Legends of Poker in 2008. His reward was a healthy $563,000 boost to his bankroll and a bevy of television time on Fox Sports Net. In that year’s WSOP, Makhija finished fifth in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em and earned $198,000 in a tournament that aired on ESPN. In addition, he landed in third place in a €5,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final for €85,000.

Also part of the Brunson 10 is Chris “moorman1” Moorman, who signed on with DoylesRoom just before the start of the WSOP Europe festivities in London. Moorman is a former number one player in the prestigious PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and is an eight-time Triple Crown winner on the site. He chopped an event during August’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $204,000 and made the final table of the high-stakes PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event for $113,000. He’s arguably the most respected high-stakes online grinder in the industry and adds a considerable amount of prestige to the Brunson 10.

Alec “traheho” Torelli has nearly $2 million in career earnings. His bankroll was boosted to a large degree by virtue of finishing as the runner-up to Kenny Tran in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em during the 2008 WSOP for $336,000. Later that year, Torelli was up to his winning ways again, this time banking $120,000 for taking down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the Festa al Lago. Five months ago, Torelli earned a colossal $329,000 for grabbing sixth in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP.

Rounding out the Brunson 10 is Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark. In August of 2007, he won the FTOPS Main Event for $395,000 and, in April of this year, chopped a SCOOP tournament for $390,000. Clark took third in last August’s WPT Legends of Poker, joining Makhija at the final table and earning $281,000.

DoylesRoom is a member of the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network and holds a weekly $50,000 Bounty Tournament. Members of the Brunson 10, along with Todd Brunson, Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro, and Hoyt Corkins, serve as the bounties in the high-stakes contest.

PokerNews Playlist: Volume #12

For both serious and casual online poker players, Sundays are (hopefully) a long grind. For those who don't want to play in a meditative state, music can be the perfect middle ground between total silence and the distraction of television. Don't...

PIC Club, Merge Gaming Network Dissolve Relationship

When the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 was enacted, the goal was to prevent online gaming enthusiasts from financing their accounts. With credit cards unusable and online processors such as Neteller no longer accepting gaming transactions, online poker players looked for other outlets to finance their accounts. In the time since then, PIC Club has stepped up to fill that void.

PIC Club is an online payment processor created last year that allows a player to invest in the company while playing poker at several different sites at the same time. One dollar is deducted from each deposit and put in a special account and represents the player’s investment in the company. A player can put their bankroll on PIC Club and, depending on where the best games are, move their money to different rooms with little or no delay. Over 130 different sites accept transfers from PIC Club for players to use in cash games and tournaments. In addition to offering a deposit option, the service also boasts Team PIC Club, a group of top professional poker players such as former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion and recent Tournament of Champions victor Tom McEvoy, the legendary T.J. Cloutier, and Poker Hall of Fame member Barbara Enright.

In a recent e-mail to members, PIC Club stated that its business arrangement with the Merge Gaming Network would be terminated. The Network is made up of over 40 poker rooms, including Carbon Poker, Poker Nordica, and ACED, and is currently the 17th most populated worldwide according to PokerScout.com. According to PIC Club, “Transactions to or from the rooms on the Merge Network will cease at 11:59PM (Eastern Time) on October 18th, 2009.”

The e-mail, signed by PIC Club Chief Executive Officer Chuck Kidd, addresses several issues that may face players who remove their money from Merge Gaming Network rooms: “If you choose to withdraw funds from any Merge Room back to PICClub, they will remain in a pending status, subject to review and approval by Merge management and if approved will only be released from the pending status when we receive the funds from the Merge Gaming Network to cover your withdrawal.”

No reason is given in the e-mail for the ending of the relationship, but Kidd’s statement seems to put the onus on the Merge Network: “We regret the dissolution of this business relationship. However, we believe it is in the best interest of PICClub and our Valued Members.” Kidd also states that PIC Club will enter negotiations with the individual rooms on the Network to provide PIC Club’s services to them directly.

Bodog to crown online poker’s next king

The Bodog Poker Open IV tournament series, running Nov. 1-8, will feature a $470 buy-in Championship Event with $25,000 in added prize money and the chance for the winner to be featured in an international poker publication.

"With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog.com is giving online poker players of all levels a chance to strike it rich and gain major exposure as the next Bodog Poker Open Champion," said Bodog Pro David Williams.

"It takes a great deal of patience and skill to run deep in this tournament and any poker player who can take down the Championship Event deserves not only the huge cash prize, but also the recognition that comes along with it."

The week-long Bodog Poker Open IV actually includes two different tournament series running at the same time.

A lower-stakes "Contender Series" will feature several guaranteed prizepools with each event finalist winning a seat into the Contender Series $2,500 added Championship Event and each winner taking home $500 in tournament dollars to buy into the "Championship Series" main event.

The "Championship Series" will include higher buy-ins and $60,000 in added prize money.

"With the chance to rise through the ranks, from contender to Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, the Bodog Poker Open IV promises to be one of the biggest and best tournament series in Bodog.com's 15-year history," Williams added.

For more details, check out the Bodog's poker page.

Visit PokerListings.com

PlayersOnly Opens its Doors to the World

At a time in the online gaming industry when internet casinos and online poker rooms are shutting their doors to American players, one site has gone the opposite route and started to accept players from around the world.

It was announced recently that PlayersOnly, which in the past had only offered its wares to online poker players in the United States and Canada, would start to accept customers from the remainder of the world. PlayersOnly, part of the Cake Poker Network, apparently found that limiting itself to just the action from North America kept the site from achieving its full potential. With the change to accepting players from the rest of the world, PlayersOnly should be able to improve its market share.

PlayersOnly has been in existence since 2006, or just about the time that the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in the United States. Its move at the time to accept only USA players probably enabled it to garner a great deal of traffic, as players, unable to access sites such as PartyPoker or 888, looked for new places to deposit. It was also a pleasant surprise for many that PlayersOnly accepted credit card transfers, which were virtually shut down after the UIGEA’s signing.

As part of the Cake Poker Network, PlayersOnly offers several of the standard games that you will find online. For No Limit cash games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha High-Low are the two disciplines that can be played. For those who have a penchant for taking to Limit tables, a full slate is featured with Texas Hold’em, Omaha (both High and High-Low), and Seven Card (both Stud and High-Low). When it comes to Pot Limit games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha (both High and High-Low) once again step to the forefront.

Tournaments are plentiful on PlayersOnly.com as, with its association with the Cake Poker Network, there are sizeable paydays at stake. In a previous article on Poker News Daily, changes that multi-table tournaments on the Network will undergo over the next six months were laid out. These changes, according to Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Cake Poker Room Manager Lee Jones, will encompass more freezeout tournaments and fewer rebuys and also feature better scheduling. Check out the recap of Cake Poker Network tournament changes.

Of the top ten online poker sites or networks in the industry, there are only four that accept action from the United States. The two at the top, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, have long been among the leaders in the industry and those that are arranged behind them will have sizeable problems trying to knock them from that perch. The third place slot belongs to the iPoker Network, which features Titan Poker, Chili Poker, and Mansion Poker, among others. The fourth place site or network worldwide is the former industry leader, PartyPoker.  Both do not accept American players.

The CEREUS Network, the third network that accepts all players, encompasses Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker and has been battling to regain its past momentum after the Russ Hamilton-led scandal and ownership change. The CEREUS Network, according to PokerScout.com, is the ranked sixth in the industry in terms of the number of real money ring game players. The Cake Poker Network, with over 40 rooms, currently sits in tenth place with a 24-hour peak of around 2,700 cash players (versus the 45,173 players in the same 24-hour period for PokerStars).

Brandon Hall, Robert Mizrachi Chop Aruba Poker Classic

The seven-handed final table of the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic concluded with a chop between online poker player Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall and Robert Mizrachi. Each banked $414,000 plus a percentage based on their chip counts.

Matt “_cwp394_” Ross was the first to go from the final table of the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, sent packing in seventh place for $41,000. Ross shoved pre-flop with a wired pair of sevens, but ran into Jose Santos’ A-K, setting up a race situation. An ace hit the flop, sending Santos into the lead for good in the hand, while another hit the river to improve Ross’ opponent to trips. Next to go was 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) dual bracelet winner Brock “t soprano” Parker, who was all-in pre-flop with A-K against Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin’s pocket queens. The board came five cards 10 or lower and Parker walked away with $66,000 for his sixth place showing.

Santos was bounced in fifth place, earning $92,000. Chase Steely bet enough to put Santos all-in on a board of 3-K-5-4-K and Santos called. Steely tabled 6-7 for the nut straight, while Santos quickly mucked; fifth place was worth $92,000. Baldwin was eliminated in fourth place from the 2009 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic despite getting his chips in with A-Q against Mizrachi’s A-7. The flop came seven-high, propelling Mizrachi into the lead in the hand, and no help came for Baldwin on the turn or river.

Steely hit the skids in third place for $218,000. He pushed pre-flop with pocket queens and Mizrachi made the call with K-J. The flop came A-10-9, giving Steely a straight draw, which hit when a queen fell on the river. Live coverage found on Poker News painted the picture of the scene at the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino when Mizrachi spiked his queen: “Steely bent at the waist as Matt Savage announced that Mizrachi had hit a straight on the end. Mizrachi looked sorry for Steely as he got up from his seat and shook his hand, wishing him a good game.”

Heads-up, a chop was agreed to whereby both players would pocket second place money, $414,000, and divide up the remaining prize pool based on chip totals. Then, Mizrachi and Hall would play on for $30,000 and the title of 2009 Aruba Poker Classic Champion. It took all of 15 minutes for the tournament to come to an end after a deal was agreed to, as Mizrachi pushed all-in with 9-6 on a flop of 8-9-2. Hall made the call, gambling with J-10 for an open-ended straight draw. The turn came a jack, giving Hall top pair, and a queen on the river improved him to a straight.

Here were the official payouts from the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic’s seven-handed final table:

1st Place: Brandon Hall - $753,330
2nd Place: Robert Mizrachi - $414,680
3rd Place: Chase Steely - $218,860
4th Place: Eric Baldwin - $126,710
5th Place: Jose Santos - $92,150
6th Place: Brock Parker - $68,810
7th Place: Matt Ross  $41,470

A post on Ultimate Bet’s blog praised Hall for his victory: “Hall said he’d just endured a rough patch of play before turning it around recently and posting some solid results online. He can now add a major live tournament score to his poker resume, as Brandon Hall is the champion of the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic.” Hall won the $200,000 Guaranteed on Ultimate Bet for $45,000 in early August and finished second in the PokerStars Super Tuesday nine days later for $63,000.

PokerNews Playlist: Volume #11

For both serious and casual online poker players, Sundays are (hopefully) a long grind. For those who don't want to play in a meditative state, music can be the perfect middle ground between total silence and the distraction of television. Don't...

A Heads-Up Controversy

The world of internet poker is never lacking for controversy. The latest involves arguably the most respected online poker room in the industry, PokerStars.

Recently, the site held its annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $215 Heads-Up Pot-Limit Omaha “second chance” tournament. When the tournament was down to 16 players, “Anti-Matter”, along with his opponent, “arbianight”, agreed to sit out for a while so that they could both watch a big boxing match on television. According to Anti-Matter, after about 20 minutes, he was declared the loser and arbianight advanced to the quarterfinals.

Upon chatting with PokerStars support, Anti-Matter, arbianight, and any railbirds in attendance found out that if two opponents in a heads-up multi-table tournament sit out for 250 consecutive hands, it would be automatically declared completed. In this case, since both players were sitting out and one player had to move on in the tournament, arbianight got lucky because he had slightly more chips than Anti-Matter as a result of the order in which their blinds had been passed back and forth. Despite both Anti-Matter´s and arbianight´s pleas, PokerStars would not allow them to play on. Anti-Matter requested he at least be paid what he calculated to be his equity in the tournament, but at that point, PokerStars was unable to do anything besides give him his payout for making the round of 16.

As frequently happens when an online poker player feels slighted by a poker room, Anti-Matter took his case to the community at the TwoPlusTwo forums. And, as frequently happens next, a mess ensued, with opinions flying from all angles.  Here are my thoughts on what each party did wrong in this situation:

Anti-Matter

He sat out during an important part of a lucrative tournament in order to watch a boxing match. Television programming took precedent over being one of the final 16 players in a heads-up tournament. Plus, both he and his opponent agreed to do this, making it look even worse. They did not have any intention of delaying the tournament or harming the players in any way, but they looked pretty bad for doing what they did.

Granted, PokerStars does have a rule on its website that states, “There is no rule against choosing to sit out; a player doing so will continue to have blinds and antes posted and cards dealt”, but in reality, the two players broke the spirit of the rule. This statement was made for cases where someone needs to take a bathroom break or answer the door, not so that two opponents in a heads-up tournament can watch a sporting event that could take an hour to complete. Put simply, it´s just not cool.

While the extremely deep stacks, slowly escalating blinds, and quality of players remaining made it likely that all of the matches would take a long time to complete, the fact of the matter is that Anti-Matter and arbianight might have held up the other players. Who´s to say that the other contests would not have ended relatively quickly? The two boxing fans might have caused the other advancing players to wait for more time than necessary.

Additionally, Anti-Matter accused PokerStars of “ripping him off” in the subject line of his forum post, saying that the site refused to pay him the approximately $900 he felt he was owed to make up the difference between his equity in the tournament and the amount he actually won. While his correspondence with PokerStars was fairly civilized, the way he made the issue public was not the correct approach.

PokerStars

It´s simple. PokerStars failed to make it known anywhere, be it on its website or in the poker software, that if the two opponents in a heads-up tournament match sit out for 250 hands, it will end automatically. In fact, as I mentioned above, Stars´ site explicitly states that players may sit out. Making this known, even if it was in the fine print on the website, would have made the whole debate unnecessary.

To be fair, there is a reason for the unwritten rule. In the past, PokerStars had found that there were often tables where both players didn´t show up, usually in play money tournaments. As a result, the matches would go on and on and on with no end in sight until other players noticed and got in touch with the tournament staff. What happened with Anti-Matter – two players sitting out for a long time deep in a high buy-in tournament – was unprecedented.

But if PokerStars is going to program the poker software to have such a dramatic effect on the tournament, that information should be posted somewhere. Better yet, post the rule and pop-up a big warning message should the players start getting close to the 250 hand mark.

Aftermath

It took a few days for PokerStars to come to a decision, but the poker room did pay Anti-Matter the extra $900 he requested. It has also added the rule to its website, although the part that reads “Two or more players may not make any agreement to sit out simultaneously whether at the same table or different tables”, brings into question whether or not an agreement to sit out for a very short period of time, say, if someone has to use the facilities, would really be a violation of the rules. I suppose it would be, according to the letter of the law, but it is doubtful that something like that would be enforced.

For his part, Anti-Matter apologized for the accusatory thread title and requested that a moderator change it.

Cake Poker Announces New Tournament Schedule, Mobile Option Improvements

One of the top online poker sites in the industry, Cake Poker, has announced that it is making changes in two critical areas of its product.

On Monday, Cake Poker announced the start of a new multi-table tournament schedule. These changes, which will be implemented incrementally, were a direct result of analysis of some of Cake’s competitors’ tournament lineups as well as consultation by Lee Jones (the Card Room Manager of Cake Poker) and noted online players Serge “adanthar” Ravitch and Eric “rizen” Lynch.

“We found the most popular $50 tournament on the Internet and parked our $50 tournament right behind it,” noted Jones, who also is a Guest Columnist for Poker News Daily and detailed some of the changes in a recent article. “Now, our players can play at Cake along with our competitor’s event.” The changes to the multi-table tournaments will be rolled out through the early parts of 2010 and will eventually include a longer late registration period and reduction in the number of rebuy and add-on tournaments. “We are putting much more emphasis on freezeout tournaments rather than on rebuys and add-ons. We believe this is better for most players and they seem to prefer it,” said Jones.

In addition to the ongoing changes in the Cake multi-table tournament lineup, the site is also looking to make changes to its mobile offering. As one of the few online poker rooms that offer the ability to play on your cell phone, Cake Poker is constantly trying to improve the performance of its mobile offering. The changes that have been made make the Cake Poker Mobile a viable option for online poker players who don’t have the ability to get to their computers.

Some of the new features that the Cake Poker Mobile option offers are in the lobby, where the percentage of players seeing the flop has been added. As to the play at the tables, users now have the ability to play with a four-color deck and take advantage of an in-game rebuy option. Future changes to the Cake Poker Mobile option will include Blackberry and Symbian compatibility, a top-down view of the table, and tournament options.

The recent changes have also cured some of the problems that the Cake Poker Mobile option had. Disconnections from the site have been reduced and are handled better than in the past and, if a player is sitting out, the ability to observe the play at the table has been enabled. With these improvements on not only the mobile option, but also on the web site, Cake Poker is looking to offer something for everyone.

Full Tilt Poker Sued Over Bot Use

The legal woes keep piling up for Full Tilt Poker, as the site now has a third lawsuit on its hands to go along with pending legal action from former pro Clonie Gowen and former employee Jason “JDN” Newitt.  Unlike the previous two cases, this suit comes from a customer rather than someone with inside knowledge of how the company works.

Heads-up online poker player Lary “pokergirl z” Kennedy and former Full Tilt customer Greg Omotoy filed their complaint on October 1st and levied accusations of fraud, libel, slander, false advertising, and racketeering against the popular online poker room.

Kennedy and Omotoy sought legal action after Full Tilt Poker confiscated more than $80,000 spread across the two players’ accounts because the site believed they were using bots, which is against its Terms of Service.  Shortly after her account was frozen in 2007, Kennedy posted her story on the popular TwoPlusTwo online poker forum seeking advice.  As the thread developed, news broke that Kennedy was multi-accounting, logging into Full Tilt on Omotoy’s account in an attempt to elicit more action at the heads-up tables.

The official complaint against Full Tilt alleges that a player known on the site as “TheComplainer” accused Kennedy of being a bot and suggests that his good standing with Full Tilt resulted in her being booted off the site.  TheComplainer, known among the TwoPlusTwo community as “Crazy Mike” and “Gatorade,” had a reputation as an anti-bot poker crusader and accused several other players of being bots as well.

In addition to seeking restitution and damages in relation to the confiscated funds, the lawsuit accuses the site of a number of other crimes and makes insinuations about the inner workings of its management team.  The suit is filed against the companies Full Tilt Poker and Tiltware as well as several individual members of Team Full Tilt.  The list of individuals named in the claim includes Howard Lederer, Raymond Bitar, Phil Gordon, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Perry Friedman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, John Juanda, Gus Hansen, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Allen Cunningham.

Within the claim, Kennedy and Otomy’s representation explains that Full Tilt originally consisted of two separate companies, Tiltware and Vert Enterprises.  It suggests that, despite Full Tilt’s assertion that they are separate entities operating out of California and St. Kitts and Nevis, respectively, the two companies are one in the same and even suggests that Vert Enterprises actually ran an office out of Los Angeles for over two years.  When describing the roles of the individuals named in the suit, the claim also argues that Bitar, Lederer, and Ferguson all play major executive positions in the company.

The suit accuses Ferguson and Bloch of creating bots to populate slow cash game tables on the site and increase the profits of the company.  The bot accusation and the contention that Team Full Tilt and Full Tilt Red Pros are playing with “house money” are used in the claim to depict Full Tilt as an online casino rather than cardroom and, as such, in violation of California state law as well as online gaming laws in several other states.

These illegal online gambling charges are joined by accusations of fraud, unfair competition, and false advertising.  The complaint also invokes the Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), which has historically been used to levy criminal charges against organized crime syndicates, but is used in private suits as well in part because it enables plaintiffs to receive triple the amount of damages.  Kennedy and Otomy’s claim suggests that Full Tilt has willfully committed hundreds of illegal gambling transactions that fall under RICO’s definition of racketeering.

Full Tilt has yet to issue a response to any of the charges issued in this most recent suit or in the pending litigation involving Newitt and Gowen.  While the latter two are remaining mum about their cases against the company, Kennedy has taken her story to the Web and posting the complaint against Full Tilt on her official pokergirl website.