Poker News

2008 WSOP

2008-11-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

I have been watching reruns of the WSOP and thought it was one of the most intriguing of the last few years. It seemed a little more fresh, and since there were a lot of new faces, brought some new life to the tourney. One thing I do know, I hate Mike Matusow. He is so annoying and such a whiner when things don't go his way, almost as bad as Phil. It seems like he gets bailed out of bad calls more than anyone I have ever seen.

What did y'all think?

Las Vegas Sees Marginal Decline in Gaming Revenue

2008-08-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

Las Vegas Sees Marginal Decline in Gaming Revenue
There was more apprehension than normal pending the monthly release of Nevada's gaming revenues. Last month's release, detailing May's revenue statistics, marked the second worst year-over-year performance...

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 57, Johnny Chan, Legend of Legends: Part 2, Turning Pro

2008-08-13T11:44:00.001-07:00

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 57, Johnny Chan, Legend of Legends: Part 2, Turning Pro
As we learned in Part 1, when Johnny Chan decided to turn pro and move to Las Vegas in 1978, it was a decision that met considerable resistance from his parents. Attending the University of Houston seemed to be the right path...

Las Vegas Sees Marginal Decline in Gaming Revenue
There was more apprehension than normal pending the monthly release of Nevada's gaming revenues. Last month's release, detailing May's revenue statistics, marked the second worst year-over-year performance...

PPA Announces Fundraiser for Paralyzed Veterans at DNC
The Poker Players Alliance has announced a fundraiser to be held at Coors Field in Denver, amid the hoopla surrounding the Democratic National Convention held in that city later this month. The August 26th event will be called 'Poker...

At poker World Series, which prevails? Skill or luck?

2008-06-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

The stock question regarding poker is: Luck or skill, which is it? Well, given a reasonable field, skill seems to still come in handy.

The first event of the 39th World Series of Poker over the weekend was a $10,000 buy-in in pot-limit hold 'em and the cost of admission kept the field to a cozy 352 players. In part because of that, the final table featured at least five well-known professionals so there must be something to this skill thing. The final table big names were Andy Bloch (finished 2nd), who was part of the famous MIT blackjack card-counting team; Kathy Liebert (3rd), one of the most accomplished woman players in the world; Mike Sexton (4th), a commentator on TV's World Poker Tour; Phil Laak (9th), the "Unabomber" and TV regular, and Patrik Antonius (7th) from Finland. The winner was a lesser-known but still formidable pro, Nenda Medic, who collected more than $794,000. Former pitcher Orel Hershiser, who went to the elite eight in the national poker heads-up championship earlier this year (he lost to Bloch), was in the field but didn't cash.
Don't expect such luminaries at the final table for Event 2. It's a much cheaper buy-in, just $1,500, attracting a record field of 3,929 (record for live non-Main Event tournament). From that kind of land-rush crowd, often it's an amateur who emerges from the pack although last year, Phil Hellmuth won his 11th World Series bracelet in a similar event in a field of more than 2,600 players.

From
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ordine/blog/2008/06/post_334.html

Not Making Any Money Playing Poker? Get a Free Poker Evaluation Today

2008-05-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Final Table Set for Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit Event

2008-05-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

From the bodog Beat:

The Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit event is down to the final nine players playing for a WSOP Circuit ring. (Image courtesy of FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com)

Day 2 of the Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's New Orleans wrapped up in the wee hours of the morning when Fatolla Shahen was eliminated in 10th place to cement the final nine who would make up the final table.

Leading the way into Day 3 of the event is Timothy "TK" Miles, who moved into that position by eliminating the bubble boy. The Tallahassee, Fla., resident has a couple of WSOP Circuit prelim events wins under his belt, but a win here to take home the $382,928 first-place prize would be by far his largest career cash.

At the opposite end of the spectrum near the bottom end of the chip counts is a poker player who has made himself quite comfortable in the Harrahs New Orleans poker room. Lou Esposito is entering his third straight WSOP Circuit championship event final table held at this casino. He finished third at the Bayou Winter Challenge back in December and is the defending champion of the Bayou Poker Challenge from last May. If anyone can crawl up the leaderboard, "The Big Easy" can.

Here are the full final table chip counts:

1. Timothy “TK” Miles - 687,000
2. Ed Jatho - 406,000
3. Jeff Tims - 345,000
4. Marc Fratter - 311,000
5. Nick Ceci - 256,000
6. Gabe Costner - 166,000
7. Chuck Kelley - 142,000
8. Lou Esposito - 116,000
9. Floyd Vanderford - 65,000

The final table gets underway in about two hours and PokerNews.com will have all of your live updates, or come back to the Beat for a recap tomorrow.

Poker News - Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France

2008-04-23T05:00:00.001-07:00

Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France
I found the ideal way to make a Parisian vacation seem cheap: Start out by playing pot-limit poker at the Aviation Club. The Aviation Club is a fine private club located in the most prestigious part of Paris, on the Champs Elysees...

Calif. online gambling study bill moves forward

On Wednesday, the Committee on Governmental Organization moved to approve the bill with a vote of 11-0 and passed it on to the Committee on Appropriations.

That takes the bill, AB 2026 The Gambling Control/California Intrastate Online Poker Act, one step closer to being put up for vote in the legislature.

The bill was introduced in the legislature by Assemblyman Lloyd Levin in February, and if passed, would direct the California Gambling Control Commission to work with the state Department of Justice in order to study whether online gambling for California residents would be illegal under federal laws.

What Levine seeks to have answered is whether online gambling run in California just for California residents would be legal according to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. According to the UIGEA, the states have a right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

When Levine introduced the bill, he told media that the federal law appears to leave room for states to legalize online gambling as long as the player and the server hosting the online game are both located in the state. His bill is an effort to determine if that is true.

Levine's bill will need to get approval from the Committee on Appropriations as its next step to a vote. However, if it is approved, and the study shows that intrastate regulation is legal and feasible, California could eventually look into setting up intrastate online poker and gambling for its residents.

"It would be regulated," Levine said in Capitol Weekly. "We don't know what the state's piece will be, but it will be a regulated entity."

Levine has also stated that he believes regulated online gambling in the state will ensure consumer protection for online gamblers. For instance, players will have recourse if a site refuses to pay them if they're on a legal site, playing legally.

Related Article: Online Poker Bill Introduced in California

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Poker News - Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre Announces Retirement

2008-04-23T04:45:00.001-07:00

Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre Announces Retirement
Calvin Ayre, the highly visible founder and CEO of Bodog, announced his planned retirement yesterday in a statement issued by the company. According to the statement, found at bodoglife.com, Ayre will also give up operational control...

Poker News - #372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship

2008-04-22T19:15:00.001-07:00

#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

Second Annual Jennifer Harman Nevada SPCA Fundraiser a Huge Success
There are many charity poker tournaments these days, but only a few of them would qualify as events. Friday at the Venetian, about 275 generous poker players saddled up to play some poker and help a great cause at the second...

Poker News - Finland wants to turn online poker into state monopoly

2008-04-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

Finland wants to turn online poker into state monopoly
Finland, which runs most of its gambling operations under government agencies, may attempt to add online poker to its roster. Everything in Finland, from slots to horse racing, comes under the purview of the state, currently. According to pokerpages.com: Following a report in Finnish newspaper Keski-Uusimaa that ��...full article

Finland, which runs most of its gambling operations under government agencies, may attempt to add online poker to its roster.

Everything in Finland, from slots to horse racing, comes under the purview of the state, currently.

According to pokerpages.com:

Following a report in Finnish newspaper Keski-Uusimaa that Finns spend as much as 50 million euros annually on foreign online poker sites, Veikkaus, Finland’s national betting agency for lottery and sports betting, said they felt they could keep a significant portion of that money within Finland and use it towards public projects.

“We could gather the majority of the revenue flowing out,” said Ilkka Juva, communications manager for Veikkaus. “Certainly not all of it, but two thirds of 50 million euro could be attainable.” Nearby Sweden’s state-owned monopoly Svenska Spel could be used by Veikkaus as a business model, should the proposal move forward.

Whole thing here.

'Poker After Dark' Releases Season Four Preview
Fresh off the April 18th wrap of filming for the upcoming season's episodes, the popular program "Poker After Dark" has released the highlights for the fourth season of the series, which will consist of ten new episodes...

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 41: Mirage Serves Up 'Texas Hold'em Plus'
If you like action, big pots, and a chance to buy one extra card for a dollar at the beginning of a hand, you need to check out two special $3/6 tables at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada, right away! As you walk into the poker room...

#370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch
To me, this is almost an anticlimax. Andy Bloch? Chris Ferguson? How could I choose between them. They both enriched the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE tremendously, and well as my own skills and my life. Two of the best...

Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France
I found the ideal way to make a Parisian vacation seem cheap: Start out by playing pot-limit poker at the Aviation Club. The Aviation Club is a fine private club located in the most prestigious part of Paris, on the Champs Elysees...

PokerStars launches PokerStars.tv
PokerStars has announced that it is launching a new Web site, pokerstars.tv, that will host poker-themed videos and webcasts. Right now the site is still in the beta stage and has a lot of PokerStars material on it. But it is likely poised to go beyond ��...full article
PokerStars has announced that it is launching a new Web site, pokerstars.tv, that will host poker-themed videos and webcasts.

Right now the site is still in the beta stage and has a lot of PokerStars material on it. But it is likely poised to go beyond the realm of its own events.

According to pokernews.com:

The site includes a video tutorial narrated by Daniel Negreanu, which gives an overview of what the site contains and how site members can use and access the material. For instance, under the “Channels” tab at the top of the site, users will find sub-groups for major events such as the European Poker Tour, channels dedicated to each Team PokerStars pro, under which are found live-play videos, instructional comment, interviews, and behind-the-scenes peeks at each player.

Whole thing here.

The site only has videos in English, although the site intends to include videos in other languages.

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo: Glen Chorny Wins
Canadian Glen Chorny was the chip leader going in to and coming out of the final day of play at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Chorny won an astounding $3,198,500 after eliminating Denes Kalo...

Poker News - PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo: Glen Chorny Wins

2008-04-21T16:15:00.001-07:00

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo: Glen Chorny Wins
Canadian Glen Chorny was the chip leader going in to and coming out of the final day of play at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Chorny won an astounding $3,198,500 after eliminating Denes Kalo...

WPT settles lawsuit with players

The pro poker players questioned the World Poker Tour's standard player's release and contracts with casinos in their lawsuit. They claimed that the releases and contracts violate federal and state antitrust laws.

According to the players' lawsuit, they had to waive rights to use their images and names to promote products and video games before they were allowed to enter a WPT tournament.

In one example, video clips of Howard Lederer playing in a WPT tournament were used in a WPT video game that directly competes with another video game, World Championship Poker, that he and his sister Annie Duke appear in.

The WPTE has denied that its casino contracts, releases or other activities violate any laws, and continues to maintain that it didn't have any liability or wrongdoing in the matter.

However, it wanted to settle its differences with the players so that the WPT can focus on its continued growth rather than litigation.

No monetary compensation was awarded in the settlement, but the WPTE and the poker players agreed to implement a new standard form release that will be provided to all players at all WPT tournaments and events going forward.

"We are glad to put this dispute behind us, and we look forward to working with all players to grow the sport of poker," said Steve Lipscomb, WPTE founder and CEO.

"We are happy to have come to an agreement that is fair to all players, and to have put in place a new release that clears up ambiguities in how players' images may be used," said Chris Ferguson.

"We are especially happy that this new release will apply to all poker players who wish to participate in WPT tournaments and events. WPTE has created some of the best poker events in the world, and we are excited to participate in them once again."

Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem had also been a part of the original lawsuit, but were no longer participating in the action.

Related Articles:

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Poker News - Online poker bill in California clears hurdle

2008-04-21T12:30:00.001-07:00

Online poker bill in California clears hurdle
A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature. California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a ��...full article

A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature.

California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a story at pokerpages.com:

The Bill, titled “The Gambling Control / California Intrastate Online Poker Act”, was introduced Feb 15, 2008 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Chairman of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

According to Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California government and politics, Bill AB 2026 directs the California State Gambling Control Commission, in conjunction with the state Department of Justice, to perform a study regarding authorization of Internet poker for California residents, in accordance with the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which stipulates that individual states have the right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

Whole thing here.

The study, if approved, could pave the way for a future bill that would legalize online poker in the state as soon as next year.

Stars return for DoylesRoom bounty tournament

The pair of stars will join the April 23 Celebrity Bounty Poker Tournament, which starts at 9:30 p.m. ET.

The bounty tournament takes place every Wednesday at DoylesRoom, giving online poker players a chance to play against some of poker's best as well as against celebrities. Often Doyle Brunson himself will take on the tournament, as will Mike Caro, "The Mad Genius of Poker."

Hilton, who is the younger sister of Paris Hilton and heiress to the Hilton Hotel Empire, has participated in DoylesRoom events in the past. According to a press release from DoylesRoom, she is also a successful model with a fledgling fashion line and is quickly gaining recognition as a "skillful and sexy poker hostess."

Best known for her role as Tony Soprano's daughter, Meadow, on The Sopranos, Sigler has been spotted at the poker tables on occasion as well.

Aside from the chance to play against some stars and perhaps some pros, the Celebrity Bounty Tournament offers up a chance at some big money. The celebrities will have a bounty on their heads of $500.

The bounty is awarded to the person who knocks a celebrity out of the tournament. If a single player knocks out two of the bounties, he will be awarded $5,000.

The big money, however, is reserved for a player who manages to knock out all three bounties. That's worth $25,000 at DoylesRoom.

On top of that, there is the prize pool built from the $27.50 buy-in, giving players all sorts of opportunities to walk away a winner.

First-time Bounty Tournament players can also play the tournament for free. They'll need to pay for the tournament up front, but the buy-in will be refunded to them once it's over.

Registration for the April 23 tournament at DoylesRoom is currently open.

Related Articles:

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Poker News - World Poker Tour Settles Player Release Lawsuit

2008-04-20T17:00:00.001-07:00

World Poker Tour Settles Player Release Lawsuit
WPT Enterprises, Inc., operators of the World Poker Tour, announced today the settlement of a lawsuit brought against it by several big-name poker players. The action, which focused on the player release form used by the World Poker...

Poker Room Review: Aviation Club, Paris, France
I found the ideal way to make a Parisian vacation seem cheap: Start out by playing pot-limit poker at the Aviation Club. The Aviation Club is a fine private club located in the most prestigious part of Paris, on the Champs Elysees...

#362 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #12 – Highlights from High Noon
In the second pair of brackets today, Clubs/Spades, all but one of the matches ended in 70 minutes and without as much weird action has the Diamonds/Hearts round of 32. I was saving up my round-up notes for the end...

#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...

#373 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #23 – Once and For All
The championship match of the Fourth NBC Heads-Up Championship is knotted at one apiece. Cards were in the air at 9:12 PM. As with the first two matches, the players started with 640,000 chips and blinds were set at 3k-6k,...

PokerRoom to host Battle of the Forums

The first step to getting involved is registering as a PokerRoom player through PokerListings.com if you haven't already done so. You can sign up through any PokerRoom link on this site.

Once signed up, players are eligible for the 100% bonus up to $1,000 that PokerRoom offers exclusively to PokerListings.com players. To be eligible, player must also make a deposit at the site.

After that, players can go to the PokerRoom Battle of the Forums page to claim a tournament ticket with the claim code TEAM9932.

The tournament ticket will be submitted directly to the players' accounts once they've submitted the claim code.

That ticket is for the first round of tournaments that will determine who represents the forum in the actual Battle of the Forums. It will be a freeroll taking place at 10 p.m. CET on Saturday, April 19, for PokerListings players only, with the top seven moving on to represent the site in the battle.

Those top seven players will take on the teams from other forums May 3-4. The Battle of the Forums will be played over four rounds, with each round consisting of several tournaments where one player from each team competes.

Five players from each team will compete during the rounds, with the two extra players available for substitutions if necessary. The first two rounds will take place May 3 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. CET. The final two rounds will take place May 4 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. CET.

The top three teams in the tournament will walk away cash prizes. The prizes are:

1st place: $25,000
2nd place: $10,000
3rd place: $5,000

The prizes will be divided equally between all seven team members.

For players who didn't make their forum team, there is a second-chance event on April 26. Players can put together their own team of five players to play in a one-off Battle of the Forums Open Qualifier Team Play event.

The event costs $25 per team, with all buy-ins going toward the prize pool. The top three teams in the qualifier will move on to play in the Battle of the Forums event as wild card entries.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker News - Asian Poker Tour gets Savage

2008-04-20T06:45:00.001-07:00

Asian Poker Tour gets Savage

Savage comes to the APT with over 350 televised events under his belt including the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour and many more. He was appointed tournament director for the WSOP in 2002 and has since seen the prize pool and the fields of the popular poker series rocket to astronomical levels.

In 2001 Savage founded the Tournament Directors Association, an organization that works to standardize tournament rules worldwide. A favorite among players, Savage was inducted as the first member of the Poker Room Manager's Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also awarded the inaugural Benny Binion award for outstanding service in the poker industry that year.

As tournament director for the Asian Poker Tour Manila leg, Matt Savage will oversee the action for all six days of the tournament, which is expected to attract approximately 400 players from around the world. A third of participants are expected to come from the Philippines, where people have started to catch the poker bug.

APT organizers also took the time to announce they've found a venue for the first leg of the tour. The Dusit Thani Manila Hotel will be the place to be during APT Manila. The Dusit Thani Manila is located in the city's central business district and provides access to accommodation, shopping malls and transport services.

The APT is Asia's original poker tour. The brand was recently acquired by Manila based gaming company ESL-Asia and there are plans for numerous expansions of the tour. This year there are four events that take place in Manila, Macao, South Korea and Singapore.

It's worth noting the APT is not associated with PokerStars' Asian ((Pacific Poker)) Tour (APPT), which saw its inaugural season last year.

Related Articles:

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#365 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #15 – Load Up on Guns and Bring Your Friends
This was a wild day of poker at the Heads-Up Championship. We’re down to eight players and what a concentration of world-class talents we have. Here’s the line-up for the Sunday quarterfinals:...

PokerStars Launches PokerStars.tv
PokerStars has launched a new video site dedicated to "offering live webcasts of major events and a unique collection of high quality poker footage." The site, currently in the beta-testing phase, is located at pokerstars.tv and includes...

Golser thrills railbirds; re-buys for $1 million

But it certainly does get the railbirds all jacked up.

Such was the case yesterday when, after dropping 10 consecutive $20k buy-ins in a session with another of the world's best Limit players, Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko, Austrian poker pro Markus Golser soiled some railbird shorts - and possibly Hawrilenko's - with a $1 million re-buy.

A pre-emptive strike on the "Golser is busto" thread? A pure showtime move for the rail? A statement to Hawrilenko about his bottomless bankroll?

We'll never know for sure. What we do know however is that he still ended the session $200k+ in the hole - although it seemed not to be much of a sweat for him, as he was more than a gracious loser in the chat with Hawrilenko after.

His only suggestion? Hawrilenko buy him a few drinks at this year's WSOP in Vegas.

Ironically, the biggest pot of the session as tracked by the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section went to Golser, shortly after his million-dollar buy-in.

The details:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6053776422 TABLE : Mirasol (six-max) $1,000/$2,000 - Limit Hold'em - Wed Apr 16 2008 - 1:45am (ET)

Table Setup

Seat 3: Hoss_TBF ($246,216.50)
Seat 6: Markus Golser ($996,494.50)
Hoss_TBF posts the small blind of $500
Markus Golser posts the big blind of $1,000
The button is in seat #3

Pre-flop

Hoss_TBF raises to $2,000
Markus Golser calls $1,000

Flop: #Kd-#3d-#Qh

Markus Golser bets $1,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $2,000
Markus Golser raises to $3,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $4,000
Markus Golser calls $1,000

Turn: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks

Markus Golser bets $2,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $4,000
Markus Golser raises to $6,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $8,000
Markus Golser calls $2,000

River: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks-#8d

Markus Golser checks
Hoss_TBF bets $2,000
Markus Golser raises to $4,000
Hoss_TBF calls $2,000

Showdown:

Markus Golser shows #Kh-#Qc for a full house, kings full of queens
Hoss_TBF mucks
Markus Golser wins the pot ($35,999.50) with a full house, kings full of queens

Summary:

Total pot $36,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks-#8d
Seat 3: Hoss_TBF (small blind) mucked
Seat 6: Markus Golser (big blind) collected ($35,999.50)

For more big hands from their session, and more of the top 100 biggest pots won online over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the MarketPulse section.

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#371 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #21 – Queens Rule – Match Two - Ferguson
Cards were in the air for Match #2 in the best-of-three format at about 7:45 PM. Andy Bloch was responsible for me meeting Penn Jillette and Jimmy Carter on the same day. Chris used to be an avid basketball and...

#368 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #18 – Chris Ferguson Has Eliminated Phil Ivey to Make the Finals of the Championship for the Third Time in Four Years
Chris Ferguson eliminates Phil Ivey to win his way into the finals. On a board of 9-4-3-5, Chris bets 100,000. Ivey moves all-in. Chris thinks about it for 4 minutes. He’s shaking his head almost imperceptibly. He doesn’t look happy....

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo Day 4: Chorny Leads
Glen Chorny will be chip leader, when Day 5's 'almost' final table begins. Twelve hours after announcing 'shuffle up and deal,' the PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo called it a night, without reaching their eight person final table

PoolStars Announces WSOP Seat Promotion
PoolStars is giving poker players a chance to walk away with a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event in their side pocket. The online billiards Web site, which offers a virtual version of the popular recreational game...

#359 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #10 – Spades Wrap-Up
We’re less than an hour from starting the second round (a/k/a “round of 32”) and I still want to post a preview of the coming matches, so let me summarize very briefly how the Spades bracket sorted itself out last...

Poker News - Online poker bill in California clears hurdle

2008-04-19T20:15:00.001-07:00

A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature.

California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a story at pokerpages.com:

The Bill, titled “The Gambling Control / California Intrastate Online Poker Act”, was introduced Feb 15, 2008 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Chairman of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

According to Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California government and politics, Bill AB 2026 directs the California State Gambling Control Commission, in conjunction with the state Department of Justice, to perform a study regarding authorization of Internet poker for California residents, in accordance with the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which stipulates that individual states have the right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

Whole thing here.

The study, if approved, could pave the way for a future bill that would legalize online poker in the state as soon as next year.

Poland moves toward regulation of online gambling
Published reports have noted that Poland will be attempting to regulate online gambling and poker as soon as this year. The effort to regulate goes back to last year for the European country, which apparently is getting closer to totally legalizing online wagering. According to pokerpages.com: Marek Kapica, ��...full article

Published reports have noted that Poland will be attempting to regulate online gambling and poker as soon as this year.

The effort to regulate goes back to last year for the European country, which apparently is getting closer to totally legalizing online wagering.

According to pokerpages.com:

Marek Kapica, Deputy Minister of Finance, stated publicly this week that Poland will have to legalize online gambling, saying, “We cannot control this process anyway and it is better that the budget at least derives some revenues from it.”

Whole thing here.

Massive Overlay Awaits PokerNews Players at an Exclusive WPC Satellite!
Pacific Poker continues to give PokerNews players sensational value through exclusive tournaments. On Tuesday April 22 at 19:00 GMT, a $27.50 WPC Satellite will commence that will award over $10,000 in prizes...

Great Britain wins Poker Nations Cup
Great Britain won the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup that ended this week. The team of professionals from the United Kingdom defeated six other teams in the tag-team poker format, where substitutions were allowed for each nation’s team in each of six “heats.” According to pokerpages.com: The winning GB ��...full article
Great Britain won the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup that ended this week.

The team of professionals from the United Kingdom defeated six other teams in the tag-team poker format, where substitutions were allowed for each nation’s team in each of six “heats.”

According to pokerpages.com:

The winning GB team included team captain Roland De Wolfe, on-a-winning-streak Neil Channing, Surinder Sunar, Joe Beevers, Ian Frazer and online qualifier Charlie Durbin. Channing just came off the high of winning the Irish Open, as well as being the player that clinched the cup for their GB team.

In fact, Channing anchored team GB in a thrilling heads-up with Ireland’s Donnacha O’Dea. A turning point in the play came when Channing went all-in with 8 4 off suit, which got called by O’Dea’s 2 2. So Channing was behind on the flop and the turn only for a 4 to hit on the river which knocked O’Dea. Then O’Dea went all-in with 10c 3c, only to be called by Channing’s 10h 9h. A 10 on the turn gave Britain the cup, repeating their 2006 win.

Whole thing here.

Ireland finished second in the event, and the United States finished last out of the six teams.

WPT World Championship brings out stars
With a $25,000 buy-in, the World Championship attracts players from all over the world and brings the winners from the other events on the tour to compete for what is potentially a multi-million dollar first-place prize.

Despite the other major tournaments taking place elsewhere, many pros have already made their presence known in Las Vegas during the World Championship's preliminary events.

The Bellagio has been offering up lucrative tournaments since April 2 during its Five Star World Poker Classic tournament series building up to the World Championship. One player who seems to have taken full advantage is Billy Baxter who conquered Event 6 and Event 12.
#img: bill-baxter_17801.jpg:left: Billy Baxter flies high in Five Star series.#

Baxter also cashed in Event 1 of the Five Star series in ninth place. He's not the only pro warming up with some wins before the World Championship either.

Scott Clements took down Event 4 and cashed in Event 2. Michael Mizrachi picked up a win in Event 7, plus a cash in Event 1. The Grinder also won one of the Super Satellites despite already having secured a seat in the World Championship with his win in Event 7.

Toto Leonidas won Event 8 for a $189,400 cash to add to his 15th-place cash in Event 7. Darrell Dicken picked up a win and $223,330 in cash in Event 10, and Michael Binger took down Event 13 for $317,280.

Allen Kessler didn't win any of the official events, but he did pick up his seat in the World Championship by winning one of the super satellites.

Other notables who've been making waves in the poker ranks at the Bellagio during the series are Shannon Shorr, who has three final tables in the series, and Scotty Nguyen with his two cashes.

Other pros who've picked up some money in the Five Star World Poker Classic are David Levi, Alan Smurfit, Jean-Robert Bellande, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Mark Seif, Justin Bonomo, Todd Brunson, Robert Mizrachi, David Pham, Jonathan Little, Erica Schoenberg, Tom McEvoy, Hevad Kahn, Erick Lindgren and more.

More than likely these will be some of the names popping up during the World Championship as well when it kicks off with today at noon PDT. With eight days of poker action on tap, poker fans can head to the Live Tournament section as our reporting team provides the best live updates, reports, interviews, photos and more from the WPT World Championship.

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World Poker Tour Settles Player Release Lawsuit
WPT Enterprises, Inc., operators of the World Poker Tour, announced today the settlement of a lawsuit brought against it by several big-name poker players. The action, which focused on the player release form used by the World Poker...

Brandi Hawbaker dead at 26
In news that spread quickly over the internet poker forums, Brandi Hawbaker, famous mostly for her role in the drama on those same internet poker forums and in the live poker world, committed suicide on Sunday, according to varying reports. According to bluffmagazine.com: Word of the 26-year ��...full article
In news that spread quickly over the internet poker forums, Brandi Hawbaker, famous mostly for her role in the drama on those same internet poker forums and in the live poker world, committed suicide on Sunday, according to varying reports.

According to bluffmagazine.com:

Word of the 26-year old’s death first surfaced on WickedChopsPoker.com after a poster using the nom de plume “Bob. B. Bobson” posted the following comment on a post that was 16 months old:

“You may want to know that Brandi Hawbaker (of semi-recent poker drama) died earlier this week. She was 26 years old. I do not know any more than that, including how she died or any circumstances of her death, or even if there is a funeral planned. Even if I did know, it’s nobody’s business but her family and friends.”

Whole thing here.

The news was confirmed at neverwinpoker.com by Bryan Micon, who knew Hawbaker personally.

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo: Glen Chorny Wins
Canadian Glen Chorny was the chip leader going in to and coming out of the final day of play at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Chorny won an astounding $3,198,500 after eliminating Denes Kalo...

Poker News - Online poker bill in California clears hurdle

2008-04-19T12:45:00.001-07:00

A California bill designed to fund a study on online poker within the state got through a key committee on its way to a potential vote by the legislature.

California Bill AB 2026 received unanimous approval by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), according to a story at pokerpages.com:

The Bill, titled “The Gambling Control / California Intrastate Online Poker Act”, was introduced Feb 15, 2008 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Chairman of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

According to Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California government and politics, Bill AB 2026 directs the California State Gambling Control Commission, in conjunction with the state Department of Justice, to perform a study regarding authorization of Internet poker for California residents, in accordance with the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which stipulates that individual states have the right to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling.

Whole thing here.

The study, if approved, could pave the way for a future bill that would legalize online poker in the state as soon as next year.

Exclusive Pacific Poker Tournament
PTP and RNB were approached by Pacific Poker with the opportunity to run a private tournament this Sunday at 2pm eastern with an absolutely insane value. Pacific does not accept US players. Here are the details:

PTP and RNB were approached by Pacific Poker with the opportunity to run a private tournament this Sunday at 2pm eastern with an absolutely insane value. Pacific does not accept US players. Here are the details:

(more…)

PokerStars.net offering free seats to the WSOP

"There's nothing better than going to the World Series and playing for the biggest prize pool on earth, except getting there for free," said Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem.

Players will have the chance to qualify from April 13 to June 27 with $1 million in WSOP prize packages up for grabs. The winning package includes:

$10,000 buy-in to the 2008 WSOP Main Event
Hotel accommodation at the Palms
$2,500 for expenses

All players have to do is download PokerStars free software and register an account. The Million Dollar Giveaway Round 1 freerolls run every hour and are accessible in the PokerStars lobby.

Those finishing in the top 50 of the round 1 freerolls will win a ticket to the Million Dollar Giveaway Weekly Final.

The weekly final tournaments are held on Saturdays from April 19 until June 28 at 7:31 ET, 13:30 ET and 20:00 ET. The early event offers one seat while the later two award three seats.

PokerStars qualifiers who make it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event will automatically win a cash bonus, including an extra $1 million if they win the Main Event. Second-place winners will get a $400,000 bonus and third place earns a $300,000 bonus. Finish in fourth-fifth or sixth-ninth place and get $200,000 or $100,000 respectively.

PokerStars.com is the world's biggest poker site and is home to former world champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Hachem. Moneymaker and Raymer both qualified for their Main Event seats on PokerStars. To date 659 players have qualified to go to the WSOP on PokerStars.

The site's software is also considered some of the best in the business. To check out PokerListings' review of the site, just follow any of the highlighted links to the room.

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Forum chatter reports Hawbaker death

The first news of her death was posted at NeverWinPoker, where Bryan Micon wrote on Thursday:

"It is with great sadness that I write this story. Brandi Hawbaker to some, Naami Dea to others, took her own life on Sunday. This news has been confirmed through Brandon and Brandi's family.

"Brandon, Brandi's family, and friends have asked the poker world to respect their privacy while they grieve. When the time is right we will have Brandon's statement on NWP. This truly is a tragedy, as the whole poker world loved to watch this eccentric young lady on and off the felt. Brandi will be missed and I hope she has found some peace."

Since that posting, poker forums across the Web have been talking about the news and speculating on whether it is just a hoax.

The 26-year-old Hawbaker rose to attention in the poker world not so much for her poker skills but instead because of her eccentricities at the poker felt, as well as due to the scandals she's been a part of in the poker community.

All a person has to do is troll the 2+2 forums to see the impact she's had on the poker community - good or bad - and the many ways she's found to keep herself in the spotlight.

The person who broke the news, Micon, was one of Hawbaker's biggest nemeses, often raking her through the coals with his stories on NWP and YouTube videos.

"She did some bad stuff, we all watched. She did some crazy stuff, we all watched. She died, we all watch... She is our Marylin Monroe," Micon wrote.

Her flamboyant reputation may have been what kept her in the public eye, but Hawbaker did have moderate success in the game as well. In October 2006, the poker community first took notice of her when she cashed in a Festa al Lago V event at the Bellagio and went on to also cash in 35th place in the World Poker Tour Festa al Lago V main event.

Her most recent success was at the 2007 World Series of Poker where she cashed in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event.

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Golser thrills railbirds; re-buys for $1 million

But it certainly does get the railbirds all jacked up.

A pre-emptive strike on the "Golser is busto" thread? A pure showtime move for the rail? A statement to Hawrilenko about his bottomless bankroll?

His only suggestion? Hawrilenko buy him a few drinks at this year's WSOP in Vegas.

Ironically, the biggest pot of the session as tracked by the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section went to Golser, shortly after his million-dollar buy-in.

The details:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6053776422 TABLE : Mirasol (six-max) $1,000/$2,000 - Limit Hold'em - Wed Apr 16 2008 - 1:45am (ET)

Table Setup

Seat 3: Hoss_TBF ($246,216.50)
Seat 6: Markus Golser ($996,494.50)
Hoss_TBF posts the small blind of $500
Markus Golser posts the big blind of $1,000
The button is in seat #3

Pre-flop

Hoss_TBF raises to $2,000
Markus Golser calls $1,000

Flop: #Kd-#3d-#Qh

Markus Golser bets $1,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $2,000
Markus Golser raises to $3,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $4,000
Markus Golser calls $1,000

Turn: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks

Markus Golser bets $2,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $4,000
Markus Golser raises to $6,000
Hoss_TBF raises to $8,000
Markus Golser calls $2,000

River: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks-#8d

Markus Golser checks
Hoss_TBF bets $2,000
Markus Golser raises to $4,000
Hoss_TBF calls $2,000

Showdown:

Markus Golser shows #Kh-#Qc for a full house, kings full of queens
Hoss_TBF mucks
Markus Golser wins the pot ($35,999.50) with a full house, kings full of queens

Summary:

Total pot $36,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: #Kd-#3d-#Qh-#Ks-#8d
Seat 3: Hoss_TBF (small blind) mucked
Seat 6: Markus Golser (big blind) collected ($35,999.50)

For more big hands from their session, and more of the top 100 biggest pots won online over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the MarketPulse section.

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PokerStars Launches PokerStars.tv
PokerStars has launched a new video site dedicated to "offering live webcasts of major events and a unique collection of high quality poker footage." The site, currently in the beta-testing phase, is located at pokerstars.tv and includes...

WPT reverses decision to take percentage of prize pool for charity
The World Poker decided yesterday not to donate a percentage of the prize pool for its 2008 Ladies Championship to charity after top women’s players said they wouldn’t play in the event because of the policy. Two-time champion Susie Isaacs led a group of players who ��...full article

The World Poker decided yesterday not to donate a percentage of the prize pool for its 2008 Ladies Championship to charity after top women’s players said they wouldn’t play in the event because of the policy.

Two-time champion Susie Isaacs led a group of players who said they wouldn’t play in event because 15% of the prize pool would be given to event partner Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

According to a story at pokerpages.com:

World Poker Association Chairman, Wendeen H. Eolis explains, “The furor has centered on the WPT’s insensitivity to the varying financial means of ‘working players’ and more broadly on the decision to compel a charitable donation in an event labeled as a championship.” The WPT has never exacted such a pledge in any previous championship event. Eolis called upon the WPT to “reverse this mistake” for the future.

Today, Lyle Berman, Chairman of the Board of World Poker Tour Enterprises told Eolis, “The WPT has re-evaluated its decision to make a charitable donation a condition for participation in the WPT Ladies Championship.” He added, “In the future there will be no such requirement in a WPT championship event.”

Whole thing here.

The group of women threatening the boycott have said they don’t have a problem with donations being made to charity, as long as the decisions were made by each player and were voluntary.

World Poker Tour officials said they thought the decision to link the event to charity would increase its visibility and draw more interested.

2007 WSOP Europe Broadcast Schedule Announced
World Series of Poker Europe title sponsor Betfair has announced its upcoming schedule of 2007 WSOP-E broadcasts, anchored on the United Kingdom's Sky Sports channel and scheduled to air across much of Europe. Betfair's sponsorship...

WSOP Champions: Where are they now, Part 4

The third installment featured Amarillo Slim Preston, Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin, showing off some of the game's biggest characters and biggest legends. This week we showcase another bumper crop of WSOP champions, with the likes of Tom McEvoy, Berry Johnston and Johnny Chan.

Tom McEvoy (1983)

Tom McEvoy has been one of the most stable, solid players on the tournament circuit since he took up poker full time in 1978.

McEvoy worked as an accountant before he got into poker so obviously he never had any trouble with the math behind the game.

McEvoy burst onto the poker scene in 1982 by winning the $1,000 Hold'em event of Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker. He took down $57,600 for his efforts, but the best was yet to come.

In 1983 McEvoy won the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event of the WSOP and grabbed his first bracelet. With momentum on his side, McEvoy registered for the Main Event and went on to outlast 107 opponents and win the biggest game in town. McEvoy won $540,000 and a piece of poker immortality.

Since then McEvoy has added two more WSOP bracelets to his resume ($1,000 Razz in 1986 and $1,500 Limit Omaha in 1992) in addition to cashing in numerous WSOP events. In 2005 he won the Bay 101 Shooting Stars of Poker in San Jose when it was still a part of the Professional Poker Tour, which has since collapsed.

McEvoy has always been opposed to smoking and in 1998 he helped organize the first tournament where smoking was not allowed. Since then most major poker tournaments have banned smoking at the tables.

McEvoy also authored or coauthored over a dozen books on poker and remains a pillar of knowledge on the game.

These days McEvoy lives in Las Vegas and is still active on the circuit, as well as working as an ambassador for the game as a member of Team PokerStars. McEvoy also blogs on occasion for PokerListings.com and you can read his articles here.

Berry Johnston (1986)

Berry Johnston is a poker veteran in nearly every way possible. His first WSOP bracelet came in 1983 (the same year McEvoy won the Main Event) and he added a bracelet of the Main Event variety in 1986.

Time has not slowed Johnston down, as his WSOP wins are spread over many years. He won his third WSOP bracelet in 1990 in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em, his fourth in the 1995 $1,500 Limit Omaha event and finally his fifth in the 2001 $1,500 Razz event.

Johnston has gone onto accumulate a total of over 26 final tables in the WSOP and 52 money finishes. The record Johnston is most well-known for, however, is cashing in the Main Event a total of 10 times, which is more than any other player.

Away from the tables Johnston is known as a devoted family man who is a gentleman at all times.

In 2004 Johnston was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, where he joined some of the game's most colorful and successful players.

Johnston is still a regular on the poker tour and is also a pro with Full Tilt Poker. Johnston can be found on the site playing as "Berry Johnston."

Most recently Johnston went deep in the 2007 Main Event and managed to finish 113th for $58,570.

Johnny Chan (1987, 1988)

Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan is one of the most recognizable players in the poker industry, and if his astounding accomplishments in the poker world weren't enough, he also had a cameo in the poker flick Rounders.

When it comes to sheer number of bracelets accumulated there are three players who rise above the rest - Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. Chan and Brunson both have 10 while Hellmuth pulled ahead with his 11th bracelet in 2007.

Although Chan has been making money in the poker world for years, it was the 1987, 1988 and 1989 WSOP Main Events that turned The Orient Express into a household name.

Incredibly Chan won both the '87 and '88 Main Events and if it wasn't for Hellmuth he would have won the '89 one as well. The fields are so large in the modern Main Event it's unlikely that anyone will ever win consecutive titles again, let alone three in a row.

Since his stunning back-to-back Main Event victories, Chan has been immersed in the poker world. He continued to meet with success at the World Championship and returned to the final table in the 1992 Main Event in which he finished seventh.

After 1988 Chan would go on to win seven more bracelets, the most recent coming at the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em in 2005. It was during that year that Chan became the first player to win 10 bracelets, although Brunson would quickly catch him in 2006 and Hellmuth would eclipse that record in 2007.

Chan is still very active on the poker circuit and is invited to poker TV shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and the NBC National Heads-up Poker Challenge on a regular basis. Chan has the unique distinction of having the most victories at Poker After Dark.

As of 2008 Chan's live tournament winnings exceed $6.5 million. He lives in Las Vegas, has six children and is a consultant for various casinos and game makers. In 2007 Chan launched his own online poker room at Chanpoker.com.

Chan was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002 and continues to be a force in the poker world.

***************

Stay with us next week as we bring you three more WSOP champions and take a closer look at what they've been up to since they won the big dance.

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Barry Greenstein shines at Stars of Poker

The event, which was organized by PokerStars at the EPT4 Grand Final, featured a number of Team PokerStars pros including Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater, Dario Minieri, John Duthie, Vicky Coren, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Noah Boeken, Barry Greenstein and one PokerStars Supernova Elite Joe "bigjoe2003" Michael, who won a Supernova Elite satellite into the event.

The event, which was by invitation only, took place over the course of seven hours and with $100,000 in prize money up for grabs, no one wanted to go out first. That dubious honor would surprisingly go to "Kid Poker" Negreanu. The Canadian pro was knocked out by EPT creator John Duthie in one of those set-over-set debacles you always hear about.

Negreanu quickly had some company on the rail in the form of Noeh Boeken and Dario Minieri, who finished eighth and seventh respectively.

Coren finished sixth but got one heck of a bad beat story out of the experience. Coren went out when she got A-K against A-K and her opponent hit a flush.

Michael did well to survive that long against the sheer number of talented poker pros but eventually went out fifth when he ran JJ into AA.

French pro Grospellier didn't last much longer than Michael and ended up going out in fourth when his A-K failed him against A-J. ElkY was the unfortunate bubble boy and all three remaining players were in the money.

It was clear that Katja Thater was gunning for first place but after a long, hard-fought battle she eventually went out on a blind steal that went awry. She earned $20,000 as a consolation prize for finishing third.

The heads-up battle saw Duthie and Greenstein feeling each other out for the first bit but eventually Greenstein managed a pivotal double-up. In the final hand Duthie got all-in with #9h-#8h versus Greenstein's #As-#Ks. The big slick prevailed and Duthie had to settle for third and $30,000.

Meanwhile Greenstein took home a stunning $50,000 for seven hours of work. It's very likely Greenstein's been killing the cash games lately but his last big score came in October at the WPT North American Championships, where he won $316,638 for coming in fourth.

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Poker News - Canadian wins EPT Grand Final

2008-04-18T15:00:00.001-07:00

Canadian wins EPT Grand Final
Twenty-two-year-old Glen Chorny of Ontario, Canada, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final on Thursday, outlasting a field of 842 other players to take the season-ending event. Chorny pocketed just over 2 million Euros ($3.2 million) for the first-place finish, which is believed to be ��...full article

Twenty-two-year-old Glen Chorny of Ontario, Canada, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final on Thursday, outlasting a field of 842 other players to take the season-ending event.

Chorny pocketed just over 2 million Euros ($3.2 million) for the first-place finish, which is believed to be he most money ever awarded at a poker tournament held in Europe.
(more…)

Pacific Poker adds to WPC seats for PL.com players

But don't panic if you didn't get your shot at a free seat in the WPC. Pacific Poker has decided to add a few more chances for PokerListings.com players to win seats.

Players from Italy, France, Germany and Spain will get another shot at seats in freerolls specifically for their country.

The freerolls will take place at 4 p.m. Pacific Poker Time on the following dates:

April 21: Italy
April 22: France
April 23: Germany
April 24: Spain

As an added bonus, poker players don't have to do anything to qualify. In the initial freerolls that were open to all PokerListings.com players, players had to earn five points during a seven-day qualifying period to get into each freeroll.

All it takes now is to have signed up at Pacific Poker through PokerListings.com and be from one of the four countries listed.

What online rounders will be playing for is a seat in the WPC, which is worth $1,000+$50, but has the potential to be worth much more since the tournament has a guaranteed $3 million prize pool. Plus, the winner will take home $1 million.

The WPC is a newly created tournament from 888.com that will start out online, bringing together players from all over the world to compete. When it gets down to the final table, play will be stopped and the remaining players will be flown to Barcelona, Spain, to finish the game live.

They will be given free transportation from anywhere in the world to Barcelona, as well as five-star hotel accommodation for the duration of the final event.

The WPC online tournament will take place April 26 at 10 a.m. Pacific Poker Time. The final table will take place May 6-10.

The final table will also be filmed to air on Sky Sports 2 on May 12.

The WPC freerolls aren't the only benefit for PokerListings.com players at Pacific Poker. The poker site also hosts monthly $5,000 freerolls for PokerListings.com players and is running World Series of Poker freerolls for them as well.

Pacific Poker has also upped the ante on its bonuses for PokerListings.com players. All players who sign up at the poker site via a PokerListings link are eligible for an exclusive 125% match bonus up to $475.

Players don't need to clear the entire bonus beforehand, either. Instead they will receive 50% up to $175 as an instant bonus that will be immediately credited to their account. The additional 75% up to $300 is a pending bonus released in a lump sum once cleared.

Head to Pacific Poker to take advantage of these and many other features the poker site has to offer.

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Poker News - #373 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #23 – Once and For All

2008-04-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

#373 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #23 – Once and For All
The championship match of the Fourth NBC Heads-Up Championship is knotted at one apiece. Cards were in the air at 9:12 PM. As with the first two matches, the players started with 640,000 chips and blinds were set at 3k-6k,...

#370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch
To me, this is almost an anticlimax. Andy Bloch? Chris Ferguson? How could I choose between them. They both enriched the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE tremendously, and well as my own skills and my life. Two of the best...

Barry Greenstein wins “Stars of Poker” event at EPT
While players were battling out in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, PokerStars hosted an invitation-only table with poker pros playing for a first-prize of $100,000. Barry Greenstein won the event, outlasting a talented field, according to pokerstarsblog.com: The line-up was among the toughest you’ll see. Daniel ��...full article

While players were battling out in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, PokerStars hosted an invitation-only table with poker pros playing for a first-prize of $100,000.

Barry Greenstein won the event, outlasting a talented field, according to pokerstarsblog.com:

The line-up was among the toughest you’ll see. Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater, Dario Minieri, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, John Duthie, Vicky Coren, Noah Boeken, Barry Greenstein, and PokerStars Supernova Elite Joe “bigjoe2003″ Michael, who won a Supernova Elite satellite to the event.

Whole thing here.

In the end, Greenstein beat EPT creator Duthie heads up. The chips were shoved in the middle with Greenstein’s ace-king suited beating Duthie’s 9-8 suited.

Poker News - WPA takes on WPT Ladies Championship issue

2008-04-17T14:15:00.001-07:00

WPA takes on WPT Ladies Championship issue

Last week some players decided to cancel their plans to compete in the Ladies Championship after learning that an automatic 15% was being taken from the prize pool as a donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity organization.

Susie Isaacs became the most prominent opponent of the forced donation, stating her case in her blog as well as through media outlets.

The women weren't opposed to donating money to charity; what they didn't like was that organizers had decided to take it automatically from the prize pool of the championship event.

"The furor has centered on the WPT's insensitivity to the varying financial means of 'working players' and more broadly on the decision to compel a charitable donation in an event labeled as a championship," said Wendeen Eolis, World Poker Association chairman.

Eolis pointed out that the WPT has never exacted that kind of pledge in any previous championship event, and she called upon the WPT to "reverse this mistake" for the future.

As a result, Lyle Berman, WPT Enterprises chairman of the board, told Eolis that the organization has re-evaluated its decision to make a charitable donation a condition for participation in the WPT Ladies Championship.

"In the future, there will be no such requirement in a WPT championship event," Berman said.

#img: susie-isacs_798.jpg: left: The boycott was a winning move for Susie Isaacs.#

Isaacs has already expressed her happiness with the news. She had said in her blog that boycotting the WPT Ladies Championship was one of the hardest poker-related things she's had to do.

"I am no longer sad [about not playing] in the WPT Ladies Championship. It was worth it," Isaacs says in her blog. "I believe that the efforts of a group of women, from coast-to-coast, have made a big difference for the future of ladies poker tournaments."

Isaacs and her poker club colleagues also stressed that they are very pro-charity, and their issue wasn't about the charity itself, but about the forced donation taken from the prize pool which diminishes the playability of the tournament from a financial standpoint.

"We were completely amenable to promoting the tournament and encouraging women to contribute to SGK from their prize winnings, as appropriate to their individual bankrolls - if the WPT would just make the donations optional," Isaacs said.

Isaacs also thanked Eolis for bring the matter to the attention of the WPA Executive Committee, which helped bring the issue to a "wonderful completion for all female poker players everywhere."

According to a press release, Steve Lipscomb, WPT founder and CEO, explained to Eolis that his strategy in planning the Ladies Championship was to advance opportunities for women in poker to get television coverage while aligning the WPT and the players with a good cause.

The WPT Ladies Championship went ahead as initially planned with the 15% taken from the prize pool for charity. One hundred fifty players showed up to participate and played down to the final six last weekend.

"The WPA is pleased the (Susan G. Komen for the Cure) has been the beneficiary of a significant gift from the poker community," said the Association in a press release.

Since the WPA was created, it has also been committed to charitable giving. Last summer the WPA conducted a raffle to benefit children in need in the Las Vegas area. It also has plans for fundraisers during its inaugural conference this summer and during its Annual Membership Drive in order to raise money for worthy causes.

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Creepy Negreanu blog post: “I literally want to eat people’s brains”
The newest entry on Daniel Negreanu’s blog is entitled “Eating Brain.” And it doesn’t get less creepy after that. The posting talks about his preparation for the European Poker Tour Grand Final, which is currently taking place. But it quickly takes a turn into the strange ��...full article

The newest entry on Daniel Negreanu’s blog is entitled “Eating Brain.” And it doesn’t get less creepy after that.

The posting talks about his preparation for the European Poker Tour Grand Final, which is currently taking place. But it quickly takes a turn into the strange and macabre, tongue in cheek though it may be.

According to pokerkingblog.com:

After getting some of the more boring details out of the way, Negreanu sends out a warning shot to all of the other players who may be unfortunate enough to sit at his table.

The 140 pound vegan says that he is in “that killer mindset”, “like I literally want to eat people’s brains.”

If that isn’t enough to send a cold chill down your spine, Negreanu continues:

“Just literally rip their brains to shreds after an appetizer of ripping their hearts out of their chests, taking a big bite out of them, and then spitting the blood back in their faces.”

Whole thing here. And you can read the blog here.

We’ll have a count on how many brains Daniel ate after the EPT event is over.

Poker News - WSOP Champions: Where are they now, Part 4

2008-04-17T09:00:00.001-07:00

WSOP Champions: Where are they now, Part 4

The third installment featured Amarillo Slim Preston, Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin, showing off some of the game's biggest characters and biggest legends. This week's crop of WSOP Champions is just as ripe with the likes of Tom McEvoy, Berry Johnston and Johnny Chan.

Tom McEvoy (1983)

Tom McEvoy has been one of the most stable, solid players on the tournament circuit since he took up poker full time in 1978.

McEvoy worked as an accountant before he got into poker so he obviously never had any trouble with the math behind the game.

McEvoy burst onto the poker scene in 1982 by winning the $1,000 Hold'em event of Amarillo Slim's Superbowl of Poker. He took down $57,600 for his efforts but the best was yet to come.

In 1983 McEvoy won the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event of the WSOP and grabbed his first bracelet. With momentum on his side McEvoy registered for the Main Event and went on to outlast 107 opponents and win the biggest game in town. McEvoy won $540,000 and a piece of poker immortality.

Since then McEvoy added two more WSOP bracelets to his resume ($1,000 Razz in 1986 and $1,500 Limit Omaha in 1992) in addition to cashing in numerous WSOP events. In 2005 he won the Bay 101 Shooting Stars of Poker in San Jose when it was still a part of the Professional Poker Tour, which has since collapsed.

McEvoy has always been opposed to smoking and in 1998 he helped organize the first tournament where smoking was not allowed. Since then most major poker tournaments have banned smoking at the tables.

McEvoy also authored or coauthored over a dozen books on poker and remains a pillar of knowledge on the game.

These days McEvoy lives in Las Vegas and is still active on the circuit and works as an ambassador for the game as a member of Team PokerStars Pro. McEvoy also blogs on occasion for PokerListings.com and you can read his articles by clicking here.

Berry Johnston (1986)

Time has not slowed Johnston as his WSOP are spread over many years. He won his third WSOP bracelet in 1990 in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em, his fourth in the 1995 $1,500 Limit Omaha event and finally won his fifth bracelet in the 2001 $1,500 Razz event.

Away from the tables Johnston is known as a devoted family man who is a gentleman at all times.

In 2004 Johnston was inducted into the poker hall of fame where he joins some of the game's most colorful and successful players.

Johnston is still a regular on the poker tour and is also a pro with Full Tilt Poker. Johnston can be found on the site playing as "Berry Johnston."

Most recently Johnston went deep in the 2007 Main Event and managed to finish 113th for $58,570.

Johnny Chan (1987, 1988)

Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan is one of the most recognizable players in the poker industry and if his astounding accomplishments in the poker world weren't enough he also had a cameo in poker flick Rounders.

When it comes to the number of sheer bracelets accumulated there are three players that rise above the rest - Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. Chan and Brunson both have 10 while Hellmuth pulled ahead with his eleventh bracelet in 2007.

Although Chan has been making money in the poker world for years it was the 1987, 1988 and 1989 WSOP Main Events that turn The Orient Express into a household name.

Since his stunning back-to-back Main Event victories Chan has been immersed in the poker world. He continued to have success at the World Championship and returned to the final table in 1992 Main Event where he finished seventh.

Chan is still very active on the poker circuit and is invited to poker TV shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and the NBC National Heads-up Poker Challenge on a regular basis. Chan has the unique distinction of having the most victories at Poker After Dark.

Chan was inducted into the poker hall of fame in 2002 and continues to be a force in the poker world.

***************

Stay with us next week as we bring you three more WSOP champions and take a closer look at what they've been up to since they won the big dance.

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Hachem nearly gets in fight at EPT Grand Final
Former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe Hachem is nicknamed “Salty” for a reason, apparently. With 82 players left in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, Hachem nearly got into fisticuffs with a player named Woody Deck. At the time, players were two away ��...full article

Former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe Hachem is nicknamed “Salty” for a reason, apparently.

With 82 players left in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, Hachem nearly got into fisticuffs with a player named Woody Deck. At the time, players were two away from the money bubble.

Here’s what happened, according to pokerkingblog.com:

Joe Hachem was involved in a hand with Peter Traply. On a board of A-6-J-A-3, Hachem bet out 80,000 and Traply called, showing A-10. Hachem tapped the table, said “nice call”, and mucked his hand. This is where things got heated.

Woody Deck, who was not involved in the hand, asked if he could see Hachem’s cards. Hachem objected, saying that he didn’t have to show because the winning hand had already been shown. The dealer agreed, and mucked Hachem’s cards. Deck, according to Pokernews, then asked Hachem if he was trying to angle shoot, and said “Don’t be an asshole.”

Whole thing here.

A war of words ensued and things escalated. Play even stopped at other tables to watch the goings-on. But no punches were thrown and order was restored.

We’ll have results of the EPT when the event concludes.

WPT Ladies Championship down to final table

Leading the pack into the final table will be Vanessa Selbst. With $182,200 in chips, Selbst has a considerable lead over the pack, with her nearest competitor being Nancy Todd Tyner with $107,400 in chips.

Selbst built up her lead steadily through two days of play in the championship. She was the chip leader after Day 1 as the playing field made its way down to the top 10 players by the end of the day.

Some of the poker pro casualties in Day 1 included Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Tilly, Evelyn Ng, JJ Liu, Shirley Williams, Anjela Brunson, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Lily Mizrachi, Sabyl Cohen and Maureen Feduniak.

In Day 2, Karina Jett, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Carson and Emeline Boich hit the bricks to leave the following ladies at the final table:

Seat 1: Nancy Todd Tyner - $107,400
Seat 2: Janice Kim - $32,900
Seat 3: Cindy Kerslake - $16,400
Seat 4: Vanessa Selbst - $182,200
Seat 5: Donna Varlotto - $68,600
Seat 6: Van Nguyen - $42,300

Selbst earned her spot in the WPT Ladies Championship by winning the WPT Ladies tournament at the Commerce Casino. She said during a WPT interview that she didn't consider anyone in particular a threat at the final table, but it was the most aggressive players who made the final table so it won't be an easy win.

#img: van-nguyen_17747.jpg: left: Nguyen makes another final table.#

Perhaps the most threatening of Selbst's opponents at the final table will be Van Nguyen. She built herself back up from being the short stack while 10-handed, and she already has a WPT win under her belt after taking down the Celebrity Invitational.

The final table will take place April 25, the day before the WPT World Championship final table, and be taped for future television broadcast.

The WPT World Championship will start Saturday at the Bellagio. Selbst confirmed she plans to buy into that event as well. Men "The Master" Nguyen is also hoping to duplicate his wife's success in the Ladies Championship with a win of his own in the World.

Stay tuned to PokerListings.com for live updates, reports and more in the Live Tournaments section when the event kicks off.

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Stock prices tumble for Vegas casinos
Tuesday was a bad day for the major Las Vegas casinos, as many of their stock prices took big hits. The stock losses came a day after MGM Mirage said it was going to be laying off more than 400 workers. According to a story at majorwager.com, ��...full article

Tuesday was a bad day for the major Las Vegas casinos, as many of their stock prices took big hits.

The stock losses came a day after MGM Mirage said it was going to be laying off more than 400 workers.

According to a story at majorwager.com, printed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Shares of MGM Mirage, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $49.58, down $2.24, or 4.32 percent. MGM Mirage was trading at $100.50 in October. Other casino operators also fell in value during trading Tuesday.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. fell $4.97 to close at $69.05 on the New York Stock Exchange, off 6.71 percent. In October, Las Vegas Sands hit a 52-week high of $148.76. Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd., traded on the Nasdaq National Market, fell $2.63 to close at $98.06, down 2.61 percent. Wynn reached a high of $176.13 in October.

Whole thing here.

Revenues have been down in the last quarter across the Las Vegas Strip.

Benyamine and ICallSoWhat coin-flip for $169,000

But first, let's investigate the nature of Omaha and compare it with Texas Hold'em.

In Hold'em, two pair on the flop is usually a straightforward hand to play unless the board consists of three suited/consecutive cards. There aren't many situations where you can possibly lay it down. If your opponent has an unfortunate set, it's just bad luck.

In Omaha, on the other hand, two pair is one of the toughest hands to play. If the pot is raised, re-raised, and you push all-in on the flop, one of two following situations is likely to occur.

Your opponent has a draw, and depending on the strength of it, you'll be somewhere between 10% ahead and a slight underdog.
Your opponent has a set and you're a big underdog.

Consequently, you rarely want to push all-in on the flop with a bare two pair - at least when the stacks are deep and you know that your opponent wouldn't risk his stack with a speculative holding.

But in Omaha, you can have additional outs to your two pair, which makes the hand a lot more valuable. The closer to the nut draw your extra outs are, the better your hand becomes. And even if your opponent has a better draw, your hand might block a few of his outs, which improves the chance of the two pair holding up.

This is exactly what happened in a hand between ICallSoWhat and David Benyamine at Full Tilt yesterday.

On the flop, ICallSoWhat held top two plus a flush draw and David Benyamine had only king high, combined with a truckload of outs though. And since Benyamine had the better flush draw, he was actually ahead when the money went in.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6059198672 TABLE : Eginton (6 max) $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - Wed Apr 16th 2008 - 3:26pm ET

Table Setup

Seat 2: ICallSoWhat ($84,396.50)
Seat 6: David Benyamine ($129,168)
David Benyamine posts the small blind of $200
ICallSoWhat posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #6

Preflop

David Benyamine raises to $1,200
ICallSoWhat calls $800

Flop #Ac-#3c-#Ts

ICallSoWhat checks
David Benyamine bets $1,200
ICallSoWhat raises to $4,800
David Benyamine raises to $16,800
ICallSoWhat raises to $52,800
David Benyamine raises to $127,968, and is all in
ICallSoWhat calls $30,396.50, and is all in

David Benyamine shows #Qd-#9c-#Kc-#Jd
ICallSoWhat shows #9d-#As-#Tc-#7c
Uncalled bet of $44,771.50 returned to David Benyamine

Turn #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h

River #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h-#3h

David Benyamine shows a pair of Threes
ICallSoWhat shows two pair, Aces and Tens
ICallSoWhat wins the pot ($168,792.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens

Summary

Total pot $168,793 | Rake $0.50
Board: #Ac-#3c-#Ts-#5h-#3h
Seat 2: ICallSoWhat (big blind) showed #9d-#As-#Tc-#7c and won ($168,792.50) with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 6: David Benyamine (small blind) showed #Qd-#9c-#Kc-#Jd and lost with a pair of Threes

For more big hands from this session, and more of the biggest pots won over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the MarketPulse section.

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UIGEA hearing opens criticism floodgates

The hearing was unique in that voices of parties with a direct interest in online gambling were joined by a chorus of protests from those who would become UIGEA's collateral damage.

Representatives from various industries who would be affected by the proposed regulations told Congress that implementation of UIGEA is impractical and intrusive, both for everyday citizens and for the institutions with whom they conduct business.

Wayne Abernathy, American Bankers Association vice president for financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs, summed up the situation when he described the government's proposed UIGEA regulations as "an unprecedented delegation of governmental responsibility with no prospect of practical success in exchange for the burden it imposes."

In a press release following the hearing, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesman Jeffrey Sandman noted that "U.S. banks and credit card companies, along with every other type of U.S. company involved in payment systems, would be forced spend substantial resources to force compliance with a ban on Internet gambling that can be easily circumvented by anyone in the U.S. that wants to continue to gamble online."

A more philosophical underpinning to UIGEA protest was added by Edward Leyden of iMEGA, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, in the opening of his testimony. He described the Internet as "an indispensable engine for economic prosperity and social justice," and proposed that "the inalienable rights that each of us holds under the Constitution to freedom of privacy, speech, expression, and conduct are not lessened in any way when we are using the Internet."

In a recent interview with PokerListings.com, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas was enthusiastic about what the hearing had accomplished.

"It continued to expose the folly of UIGEA and why it's a completely unworkable statute," said Pappas. "This is not coming from the gaming community. This is the banks, the regulated community, saying 'We don't want to be the policemen for the federal government, nor do we believe the payment system is adequately set up for us to do that."

Stopping the burden in its tracks

More than a few of those who gave testimony during last week's congressional hearing suggested that rather than try to prohibit online gambling, a better solution to handling its potential problems would be to license and regulate the industry through a bill such as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

That sort of legislation, says Pappas, is at the very least 12 to 18 months away from becoming a reality.

"In full candor, I think it's going to be very difficult to pass a bill. We're going to try at every level to do something, but given presidential politics and congressional politics, it's going to be very difficult to move something through," said the PPA director. "Understand this is an election year not only for the presidency but for every member of Congress. Whether it's Internet gaming, immigration reform, or health care, I think we'll see very few bills of substance make their way through Congress this year."

Until then, the best poker players can hope for is to prevent UIGEA's regulations from becoming the law of the land. To that effect, Frank and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) introduced legislation to halt that burden until a more fitting solution can be found. Frank introduced the bipartisan bill, H.R. 5767, on April 10 on behalf of himself and his Republican co-sponsor.

By Congressional standards, the bill is short and sweet: in less than 130 words it renders the UIGEA toothless. Perhaps more importantly, it sets the stage for true public debate over the best way to handle online gaming in America - debate that was missing in 2006 when UIGEA was initially passed.

Changing the debate

While stopping UIGEA is an important step toward legal, regulated online poker in America, it's only the first of many that need to be taken. Concerned citizens who enjoy the game online can influence the debate by making their views known to their representatives in the government. Pappas noted that letter-writing campaigns such as those conducted by the PPA's members have been particularly effective in motivating members of Congress to overturn UIGEA.

"I had a meeting with Rep. Rob Andrews (D-New Jersey), and he said, 'I hear from people on three issues more than any other. I hear from them about immigration, I hear from them about the war in Iraq, and I hear from them about online poker.'"

Such communications between representatives and constituents are, in effect, the anti-UIGEA: conducted out in the open, rather than in the back rooms of Congress, and encouraging debate rather than stifling it.

"We've had three congressional hearings in less than a year. These things don't just happen out of nowhere because one day a member of Congress wakes up and decides it's a good idea to hold a congressional hearing," said Pappas. "It's because he's hearing from his constituents."

In addition to encouraging its members to continue communications with their representatives, PPA also plans to register more voters for this November's elections. With a focus on swing states and key congressional districts, the organization hopes to mobilize as many as 100,000 new voters to make Washington aware that poker players are a "vocal political force."

Whatever the final outcome for online gambling in the US, Pappas thinks that the tone of the debate has definitely shifted.

"People are beginning to recognize that whether I like gambling or don't like gambling, UIGEA is not the right approach," he said. "The right approach is to license and regulate it. I think that is a message that is beginning to resonate on both sides of the aisle."

"That'll be our winning message," he concludes. "It's not a message that you need to be for poker or against poker, it's a message that you need to be for good government."

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Poker News - WSOP-Circuit Caesars Indiana Main Event, Day 1

2008-04-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

WSOP-Circuit Caesars Indiana Main Event, Day 1
117 players gathered round the felt at Caesars Indiana for the World Series of Poker Circuit Championship, including Circuit regulars Louie Esposito, Doug 'Rico' Carli, Eddie Corrado and Philip Sparta. They were playing for a prize pool...

Massive Overlay Awaits PokerNews Players at an Exclusive WPC Satellite!
Pacific Poker continues to give PokerNews players sensational value through exclusive tournaments. On Tuesday April 22 at 19:00 GMT, a $27.50 WPC Satellite will commence that will award over $10,000 in prizes...

Freeroll Your Way to Fame at Hollywood Poker

The promotion began March 19 and will run through May 31 with a weekly freeroll for depositing players running each Saturday at noon (EDT).

The freerolls require no fee or points to play; according to Hollywood Poker, they are simply a special "thank you" to all of the poker site's depositing players. And that "thank you" comes with a $300+$20 qualifier ticket to get the freeroll's winner into three weekly WSOP Package give-away events.

The rest of the players in the weekly freeroll final table will also receive a $30+$3 qualifier ticket, giving them a free shot in the WSOP qualifier event.

Hollywood poker has a couple different WSOP packages up for grabs. The first is the $16,000 Premium Package that includes:

$10,000 WSOP Championship buy-in
12-day extended accommodation at the Venetian
Airfare
Transportation
HollywoodPoker Clothing and Merchandise

The site also has $13,000 WSOP Side Event packages that have all the same travel and accommodation coverage, but give the winner $8,000 for WSOP side tournament buy-ins instead of a Main Event buy-in.

"It's all about star treatment at Hollywood Poker, and this is our way of rewarding loyal members who do what they love with us," said Vince Van Patten, Hollywood Poker spokesperson.

Poker players at Hollywood Poker will want to sign up for the weekly freerolls quickly. Space is limited to the first 4,000 players to sign up, and there are probably a lot of players hoping to get their hands on a qualifier ticket to potentially win one of nearly 40 WSOP packages offered at the poker site.

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College Poker Life: Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Student poker players attending Washington State University have witnessed a roller coaster of a ride when it comes to poker. Though the state has 23 casinos, and Washington's state law specifically allows poker to be played...

Robinson beats Lee to win WSOPC Indiana Event 11

In Event 11, the final prelim before the main event, Lee outlasted 240 players only to be beaten by Dale Robinson in heads-up play.

Lee has been working on the tournament circuit for some years now as a blogger for ESPN and is one of the most well-known guys on the circuit. He came to fame when he finished 13th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event and cashed for $400,000.

Approximately one year later Lee proved it was no fluke by winning the $4,800 No-Limit Hold'em event at the World Poker Finals in Mashantucket. He took down $368,919 for his efforts in the 'tucket. In 2007 he won another big event at the World Poker Finals and it seems only a matter of time before he takes down a major poker tournament.

Lee appeared primed to win the WSOPC Caesars Indiana Event 11 outright and held the chip lead at the final table numerous times. Instead it was Robinson, an insurance man from Otisca, Ind., who managed to pull ahead after winning the majority of the later hands at the final table.

Robinson entered heads-up play against Lee with nearly $1 million to Lee's $193,000. After making a private arrangement the two played the required final hand and Robinson's 605 beat Lee's 105.

Despite coming in second, Lee has had an incredible start to his 2008 poker season. He's already made three final tables and cashed a total of four times, which has earned him over $100,000 in poker winnings this year.

Here's a look at the complete final-table payouts for Event 11:

Player:	Prize:
1. Dale Robinson	$73,154
2. Bernard Lee	$40,237
3. David Dao	$20,576
4. Jason Benanzer	$16,003
5. Ed Koppe	$13,717
6. Matt Sterling	$11,431
7. William Johnson	$9,145
8. Caleb Banks	$6,859
9. Mike Aberle	$4,572

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PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo, Day 2: Riisem, Lodden Lead
Norway's Oyvind Riisem, fourth-place finisher in the WSOP Europe Main Event, ended Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo as chip leader with 441,400 chips. Fellow Norwegian Johnny Lodden finished...

Poker News - Carli comes close in Event 9 at WSOPC Indiana

2008-04-16T06:15:00.001-07:00

Carli comes close in Event 9 at WSOPC Indiana

Carli managed to finish fourth in Event 8 earlier this week but beat that accomplishment the very next day by finishing second at Event 9. It was the third final table for Carli at the WSOPC Caesars Indiana. At this rate Carli must be wishing the event series would never end.

Two players who would likely agree with Carli are Robby Frank, who actually won Event 9, and Brett Henthorn, who took down Event 10.

Here's a look at how each event played out:

Event 9, $500+$50 ½ No-Limit Hold'em, ½ Pot-Limit Omaha

Exactly 100 players came out to play in this hybrid poker variant that features half the action as No-Limit Hold'em and the other half Pot-Limit Hold'em.

Insurance firm owner Robbie Frank came to the final table of Event 9 with a commanding chip lead that saw him holding $142,000 of the $350,000 chips in play.

Incredibly, Carli came to the final table with only $7,500 but managed to battle his way back into the game.

For a period of time at the final table it looked like the crowd was in for a terrific upset as Frank saw his gigantic chip lead diminish to almost nothing, but instead Frank stayed calm and managed to regain the chip lead by the 65th hand.

By heads-up time Frank had the chip lead over Carli but with one quick double-up the landscape could have changed dramatically. Instead the final hand saw Carli call all-in with A-A-J-7 to Frank's K-K-10-6. The board came K-J-4-8-Q and that was enough to seal the deal for Frank.

Despite Carli's loss, he did increase his record-holding number of Circuit cashes to 28.

Here's a look at the complete final-table payouts:

Player:	Prize:
1. Robbie Frank	$14,045
2. Doug Carli	$7,370
3. Russ Merrill	$4,335
4. Donnie Godsey	$3,468
5. Steve Mitchell	$2,601
6. Jason Song	$2,167
7. Mark Dreshaj	$1,734
8. Thomas McGrath	$1,300
9. Eric Dam	$867

Event 10, $300+$30 No-Limit Hold'em

As expected, Event 10 $300+$30 No-Limit Hold'em proved to be one of the most popular events of the 2008 WSOPC Caesars Indiana. A total of 364 players came out to get their hands dirty in No-Limit Hold'em action.

The story of the tournament was Brett Henthorn, who came to the final table with a commanding chip lead and proceeded to crush the final table, knocking out six of his eight opponents.

Henthorn is a student who was taking a brief break from his studies to play some cards at Caesars Indiana. He met Dennis Schroeder in heads-up play and in the final hand made a straight to get the check mark.

Henthorn received $31,240, but mentioned he's not even going to be thinking about poker over the next couple of months as he will be focused on school.

Here's a look at the final-table payouts:

Player:	Prize:
1. Brett Henthorn	$31,240
2. Dennis Schroeder	$16,124
3. Henry Barnes	$8,062
4. Cy Dixon	$7,054
5. Tommy "Tap" Pruitt	$6,046
6. Donald Crail	$5,039
7. Darrell Lackey	$4,031
8. Stephen Mitchell	$3,022
9. Richard Woehler	$2,015

Rousso, a lawyer and the state representative for the PPA in Washington, is challenging the constitutionality of Washington's online gambling ban. He filed the lawsuit on the first day of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event.

He regularly updates readers on his case at http://pokerplayersalliance.org, and on Friday, Rousso was optimistic about Robert's ruling over the discovery dispute.

"The judge agreed with me about 99%, [with] the state only about 1%," he said. "In layman's terms, it was a rout."

Rousso remarked he has one more item left to debate with the state of Washington but it looks extremely likely he will be heading to court.

In the past Rousso has accused the state of imposing a ban on online gambling to protect its own gambling industry. That would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause forbidding individual states from passing protectionist laws against other states' business.

Rousso hit an obstacle to his case last year when the state demanded information, as part of discovery, that Rousso believed was confidential and implicated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Due to a change in court scheduling Rousso's hearing date has been moved back to May 15. Rousso is asking all Seattle-area poker players to make an appearance at the court and show their support for online poker.

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Lawyer: “Poker tournaments aren’t gambling” in PA case
A lawyer who has been charged with operating illegal poker games is saying they aren’t illegal at all. Larry Burns, 63, of Westmoreland County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was charged last year with misdemeanors for running poker tournaments and earning a profit from them. He wants gambling charges ��...full article

A lawyer who has been charged with operating illegal poker games is saying they aren’t illegal at all.

Larry Burns, 63, of Westmoreland County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was charged last year with misdemeanors for running poker tournaments and earning a profit from them.

He wants gambling charges against him dismissed, saying poker is not actually gambling, in the latest court case that tries to distinguish poker from other types of wagering.

According to a story at majorwager.com:

“There are, however, a number of reported decisions of various courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that define the terms ‘gambling’ and ‘unlawful gambling’ in ways that do not proscribe such conduct and which specifically state that wagering on poker or playing poker for money or other prices is not ‘gambling’ or ‘unlawful gambling’ within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Burns’ defense attorney David Millstein wrote in a brief filed Thursday.

Whole thing here.

The motion to dismiss will likely be heard later this year.

Poker News - PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo, Day 2: Riisem, Lodden Lead

2008-04-15T02:00:00.001-07:00

PokerStars.com EPT Monte Carlo, Day 2: Riisem, Lodden Lead
Norway's Oyvind Riisem, fourth-place finisher in the WSOP Europe Main Event, ended Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo as chip leader with 441,400 chips. Fellow Norwegian Johnny Lodden finished...

Poker News - Robinson beats Lee to win WSOPC Indiana Event 11

2008-04-15T00:15:00.001-07:00

Robinson beats Lee to win WSOPC Indiana Event 11

In Event 11, the final prelim before the main event, Lee outlasted 240 players only to be beaten by Dale Robinson in heads-up play.

Robinson entered heads-up play against Lee with nearly $1 million to Lee's $193,000. After making a private arrangement the two played the required final hand and Robinson's 605 beat Lee's 105.

Here's a look at the complete final-table payouts for Event 11:

Player:	Prize:
1. Dale Robinson	$73,154
2. Bernard Lee	$40,237
3. David Dao	$20,576
4. Jason Benanzer	$16,003
5. Ed Koppe	$13,717
6. Matt Sterling	$11,431
7. William Johnson	$9,145
8. Caleb Banks	$6,859
9. Mike Aberle	$4,572

The WSOP Academy is heading back to Vegas for another edition of its popular poker training courses. This time around experienced players may want to take note, as for the first time an Advanced No-Limit Hold'em Academy is on offer.

There will be no shortage of poker talent there, either. Well-known players Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke and Alex Outhred will all be taking on teaching roles, while poker tells expert Joe Navarro will also be in attendance to shed some light on the psychology of the game.

This is the first WSOP Academy that will concentrate exclusively on advanced No-Limit Hold'em theory and strategy. It is set to take place April 18-19 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and participants will get a chance to learn firsthand from some of the world's top pros how they took their game up a notch or two.

"If you've ever attended a poker camp before or you're a serious student of the game, now is the time to graduate to the next level," said Jeff Goldenberg of Post Oak Productions, the company that produces the WSOP Academy. "With our team of world-class instructors, our No-Limit Hold'em Advanced Academy is the sure-fire way to elevate your game to new heights."

The seminars have proven extremely educational in the past. Last year, Sally Ann Boyer took what she learned from the WSOP Ladies Academy and parlayed it into WSOP gold at the ladies event in 2007.

The WSOP Academy goes beyond just poker instruction, in-depth seminars, live hand analysis and interactive workshops: it actually gives away two $10,000 Main Event seats to winners of private tournaments held at the end of each day of classes.

The WSOP Academy's No-Limit Hold'em Advanced Academy is expected to sell out well in advance. For more information or to register for the course go to www.wsopa.com.

Related Articles:

The promotion began March 19 and will run through May 31 with a weekly freeroll for depositing players running each Saturday at noon (EDT).

The rest of the players in the weekly freeroll final table will also receive a $30+$3 qualifier ticket, giving them a free shot in the WSOP qualifier event.

Hollywood poker has a couple different WSOP packages up for grabs. The first is the $16,000 Premium Package that includes:

$10,000 WSOP Championship buy-in
12-day extended accommodation at the Venetian
Airfare
Transportation
HollywoodPoker Clothing and Merchandise

"It's all about star treatment at Hollywood Poker, and this is our way of rewarding loyal members who do what they love with us," said Vince Van Patten, Hollywood Poker spokesperson.

Related Articles:

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England wins PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup

Captained by Rolande de Wolfe, Team Great Britain steamrolled their way to victory at the 2008 PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup and overcame upstart Ireland in the heads-up finale of the prestigious poker tournament.

The team event featured line-ups from Germany, Holland, Sweden and the USA but no one could beat the England team which featured recent Irish Poker Open winner Neil Channing, Surinder Sunar, Joe Beevers, Ian Frazer and PartyPoker.com online qualifier Charlie Durbin.

Indeed it was the man of the moment, Neil Channing, who eventually brought the cup home for jolly old England after a tense heads-up battle with Ireland's Donnacha O'Dea.

"I'm absolutely delighted," said team captain de Wolfe. "In many ways it is even better to win a team event for your country than win an individual title. I am so proud that the selections of my team were vindicated."

All six teams competed in a "tag" final were each team captain's judgment was vital as it was up to them to make tactical substitutions and strategic time outs.

Channing was positively brimming with excitement over the big win.

"I am as proud of this as I am of my win in Ireland," Channing said. "It was an honor to be picked to represent my country and great to be chosen to play the crucial final leg for the team.

After six heats Britain arrived at final table sharing second place in chips with Holland just behind leaders Germany. Things got off to a bang with Holland's Quirijn Van der Peet winning a massive pot against Germany's Benjamin Kang which ended up changing the dynamics of the final table.

Ireland used their entire quota of substitutions in short order and it nearly paid off with Donnacha O'Dea playing the majority of the final table.

Surprisingly Team USA, which seemed stacked with the likes of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Robert Williamson III, Chad Brown, Montel Williams, Thomas Keller and Jamie Gold was sent to the rail first.

Defending champions Sweden were next to go and after and Germany shortly after them. Holland was the next go when their dramatic swings in play finally caught up with them. Holland team captain Marcel Luske was in the game for their final hand which was #10s-#9s against O'Dea's A-K. Despite just missing the money Luske was pleased with his team's performance at the international poker competition.

It was Ireland vs. England in the final and, with Channing's help, England walked away the victor. This is the second time England has won the Poker Nations Cup as they did it in 2006 as well.

The event will be produced for Channel 4 in the U.K. with the likes of Vicky Coren, Joe Beevers, Jamies Gold and Paidraig Parkinson all handing the commentating duties.

Related Articles:

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The next poker movie in the works, Deal, starring Bret Harrison, Burt Reynolds and Shannon Elizabeth, will see a limited release on April 25.

The film features a slew of cameos by, among others, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Phil Laak, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Vince Van Patten.

No poker movie since the release of Rounders in 1998 has been able to come close to truly capturing the essence of the game. Deal has already been reviewed as "the best poker movie since Rounders" and "the real deal" by some of the poker stars who appear in it, who also claim that it "captures the poker world like it is."

It remains to be seen whether people involved in the making of the movie are an unbiased source of reviews.

The plot of Deal is as follows: As an ex-gambler teaches a hot-shot college kid some things about playing cards, he finds himself pulled into the World Series of Poker, where his protégé becomeshis toughest competition.

It sounds like a solid pitch, as the same plot formula worked rather well in the 1986 film The Color of Money, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. (The cast of The Color of Money also featured John Turturro, better known as "Joey Knish" from Rounders.)

It will be interesting to see if this movie can come through with a real, accurate and entertaining view of the poker world, or if it will fall flat like another recent film that didn't get so lucky.

Watch the trailer on the movies official website http://www.dealthemovie.com/.

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#359 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #10 – Spades Wrap-Up
We’re less than an hour from starting the second round (a/k/a “round of 32”) and I still want to post a preview of the coming matches, so let me summarize very briefly how the Spades bracket sorted itself out last...

#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

Poker News - Lawyer: “Poker tournaments aren’t gambling” in PA case

2008-04-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

Lawyer: “Poker tournaments aren’t gambling” in PA case
A lawyer who has been charged with operating illegal poker games is saying they aren’t illegal at all. Larry Burns, 63, of Westmoreland County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was charged last year with misdemeanors for running poker tournaments and earning a profit from them. He wants gambling charges ��...full article

A lawyer who has been charged with operating illegal poker games is saying they aren’t illegal at all.

Larry Burns, 63, of Westmoreland County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was charged last year with misdemeanors for running poker tournaments and earning a profit from them.

He wants gambling charges against him dismissed, saying poker is not actually gambling, in the latest court case that tries to distinguish poker from other types of wagering.

According to a story at majorwager.com:

“There are, however, a number of reported decisions of various courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that define the terms ‘gambling’ and ‘unlawful gambling’ in ways that do not proscribe such conduct and which specifically state that wagering on poker or playing poker for money or other prices is not ‘gambling’ or ‘unlawful gambling’ within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Burns’ defense attorney David Millstein wrote in a brief filed Thursday.

Whole thing here.

The motion to dismiss will likely be heard later this year.

Bill to suspend internet gambling ban introduced in U.S. Congress
House of Representatives bill 5767, which would serve to lift the ban on online gambling and poker in the United States, was introduced in the United States Congress yesterday by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas). The new bill would basically prevent the ��...full article
House of Representatives bill 5767, which would serve to lift the ban on online gambling and poker in the United States, was introduced in the United States Congress yesterday by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The new bill would basically prevent the Department of the Treasury from enforcing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
(more…)

Freeroll Your Way to Fame at Hollywood Poker
The promotion began March 19 and will run through May 31 with a weekly freeroll for depositing players running each Saturday at noon (EDT).

The freerolls require no fee or points to play; according to Hollywood Poker, they are simply a special "thank you" to all of the poker site's depositing players. And that "thank you" comes with a $300+$20 qualifier ticket to get the freeroll's winner into three weekly WSOP Package give-away events.

The rest of the players in the weekly freeroll final table will also receive a $30+$3 qualifier ticket, giving them a free shot in the WSOP qualifier event.

Hollywood poker has a couple different WSOP packages up for grabs. The first is the $16,000 Premium Package that includes:

$10,000 WSOP Championship buy-in
12-day extended accommodation at the Venetian
Airfare
Transportation
HollywoodPoker Clothing and Merchandise

The site also has $13,000 WSOP Side Event packages that have all the same travel and accommodation coverage, but give the winner $8,000 for WSOP side tournament buy-ins instead of a Main Event buy-in.

"It's all about star treatment at Hollywood Poker, and this is our way of rewarding loyal members who do what they love with us," said Vince Van Patten, Hollywood Poker spokesperson.

Poker players at Hollywood Poker will want to sign up for the weekly freerolls quickly. Space is limited to the first 4,000 players to sign up, and there are probably a lot of players hoping to get their hands on a qualifier ticket to potentially win one of nearly 40 WSOP packages offered at the poker site.

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Hollywood Poker Puts Up WSOP Packages
Player Heads to Copenhagen Via Hollywood
Hollywood Poker Ups the Grand
Sizzling New Calendar from Hollywood Poker

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Griffin, Brown sign on as PokerStars pros
Both players have made some noise on the poker circuit, with Gavin Griffin becoming the first to achieve the Triple Crown of poker and Chad Brown having made a steady living from his tournament winnings since 1993.

Gavin Griffin

Griffin first materialized as a blip on the poker radar in 2004 when he won a World Series of Poker bracelet in the $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. Since then he's accumulated nearly $4.5 million in tournament winnings, including adding two more major event wins to his record.

The first was his PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final win in 2007, propelling him even further into the public eye of the poker world. Then he won the 2008 World Poker Tour Borgata Open, making him the first player to achieve a WSOP, EPT and WPT win.

Griffin's biggest win was the $2.4 million he received for winning the PokerStars EPT Grand Final. He qualified for the tournament at PokerStars via a $600 double shoot-out satellite. Now he'll be representing the poker site as a member of Team PokerStars.

"This is the team I want to play with," Griffin said. "Team PokerStars Pro has nine other gold bracelet winners and the best online players in the world. I am proud to be a part of this lineup."

John Duthie, EPT director, said he was looking forward to seeing Griffin return to the EPT Grand Final to defend his title this weekend.

"The PokerStars EPT Grand Final has a deserved reputation as a showpiece poker tournament, and given the high level of advance entries, I am confident this will be the biggest, richest and most competitive poker event ever staged in Europe," Duthie said.

Chad Brown

#img: chad-brown_18755.jpg: right: Chad Brown#

Brown might be a familiar face to some people outside of the poker world. After growing up in New York City, Brown made his way to Hollywood in the early '90s in pursuit of an acting career.

While finding acting jobs here and there in films and on television, Brown supplemented his income playing poker at casinos across California. In 1993, he went deep to cash in a World Series event and has been cashing in major tournaments around the world on a regular basis ever since.

He's run up more than $2 million in cashes on the poker circuit, including eight cashes in the 2007 WSOP and cashes in WPT and EPT events as well.

His success has also extended to the online poker world. In 2006, he won the $5,200 H.O.R.S.E. event in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, earning $223,150.

"I'm ecstatic to be with Team PokerStars Pro," Brown said. "I am obviously familiar with the team from the tournament circuit and it's great to be on a team that includes legends like Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem. I am looking forward to winning a few bracelets and contributing to the team."

Some of PokerStars other pros include Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Bertrand Grospellier and more. Brown can be found playing at the poker site as "ChadBrownPro," and Griffin will play under the name "GavinGriffin."

Related Articles:

International Flavors Abound at PokerStars Events
PokerStars Launches Battle of the Planets
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up Gets RaiN'ed Out

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#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...

New host for
Tweeden has been a show host and sports reporter on the Fox Sports Network for the past seven years. She's performed Sports Emmy- and Telly Award-winning work covering everything from mainstream and extreme sports to news and entertainment.

Now she'll be working on Poker After Dark interacting with and interviewing some of poker's biggest stars for the viewers.

This isn't Tweeden's first foray into the poker realm either. She was a co-host and exit interviewer on the Mansion Poker Dome Challenge that aired on the Fox Sports Network in 2006. Poker fans will also find her hosting the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship when it begins airing Sunday.

With her new stint on Poker After Dark, she replaces Shana Hiatt, who was hosting the show up until the beginning of this year, when fans noticed Marianela Pereyra had taken over as host but Hiatt's photo still remained on the Poker After Dark Web site.

Hiatt had left the show to have a baby, and now she will be officially replaced as host by Tweeden.

Poker After Dark features one exclusive tournament each week bringing together six of the world's best poker players at a time to play for a $120,000 prize. The tournament is broadcast over six consecutive nights on NBC, allowing viewers to witness not only how the cards play out but also the table banter and the occasional tantrums.

The players who've tried their luck on the show include Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Vanessa Rousso, JJ Liu, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Clonie Gowan, Cyndy Violette and more.

Check your local listings to find out when the show airs in your area.

Related Articles:

Hansen Takes On the Ladies on Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark -Champion Style
Gavin Smith on Poker After Dark

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#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

Epassporte reportedly pulling the plug on US poker players - updated
What started off as a rumor yesterday now appears to be fact, at least for the time being - e-wallet provider Epassporte has closed its doors to US players. The story broke yesterday in a thread over at 2+2. Original post excerpt: Apparently, epassporte has pulled the ��...full article
What started off as a rumor yesterday now appears to be fact, at least for the time being - e-wallet provider Epassporte has closed its doors to US players.

The story broke yesterday in a thread over at 2+2. Original post excerpt:

Apparently, epassporte has pulled the plug on US poker players, effective 1:00 pm PDT this afternoon.

Whole thread here. The poster, nic MiltonFriedman, declined to identify his source.

(more…)

Debate flares over WPT Ladies Championship
The WPT Ladies tour, which officially kicked off this January at Borgata in Atlantic City, will also conclude with a $1,500 championship event at the famed Las Vegas poker destination. What the event lacks in buy-in compared to the big tourney is already being made up for in controversy, thanks to a chunk of the prize pool being set aside up front for charity.

What's wrong with charity?

For the inaugural WPT Ladies Championship, the WPT chose to partner with Susan G. Komen for the Cure (SGK), a breast cancer charity which the WPT has supported in the past. While the charitable cause is a good one, the method of donation has raised some eyebrows: rather than soliciting donations from the players, the WPT chose to withhold 15% of the prize pool for a donation to SGK.

The WPT's decision to use the prize pool as a charitable trust has upset some players so much that they have decided not to play in the event at all.

Former WSOP Ladies Event champion Susie Isaacs was one of the first to step forward and declare that she would not play in the WPT Ladies Championship. In a post on her blog titled The World Poker Tour Ladies Championship Controversy, Isaacs said:

"As a working player who would gladly have donated 5% of any win I may have taken, I am very disappointed that this event is no longer on my schedule. With the 15% and the juice I don't believe it is playable from a financial point of view."

Lisa Adams, poker player and host of the radio show Poker Talk America, has joined Isaacs in boycotting the event because of her perception that withholding charity funds from the prize pool is unfair to players.

Both women have made it clear that they feel any event with part of the prize pool withheld for charity should be advertised as a charity event, not as a championship.

"No good deed goes unpunished"

For his part, WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb says his company is just trying to do a good deed.

"We're trying to promote women in poker and promote a good cause," Lipscomb said on the Wednesday episode of Poker Talk America, where he appeared as a guest along with Isaacs.

Lipscomb placed great emphasis on the fact that WPT Ladies was designed to give women poker players something that their male counterparts don't have - an exclusive event - and that the WPT hoped to encourage women to play poker by airing the Ladies Championship on television.

He said that the WPT would realize no monetary gains from hosting the Ladies Championship, even claiming to have faced angry opposition from shareholders to his decision to run the event. With his ladies tour now facing new opposition from part of the women's poker community, Lipscomb said on Poker Talk America that "no good deed goes unpunished."

Add it up

While nobody is questioning that the WPT has partnered with a good cause or that it hopes to encourage women to play poker, Isaacs and company are concerned over the equity of the situation.

In addition to the 15% being withheld for SGK, an additional 3% of the WPT Ladies Championship prize pool is being withheld for the tournament staff. Another $25,500 is being withheld to provide the winner of the tournament with a seat in the WPT Championship, according to the tournament structure posted on the WPT Web site.

If the tournament were to draw 300 players, that would add up to a whopping $106,500 being taken from the $450,000 prize pool before a single card had been dealt.

This week Jesse Jones, founder and chairman emeritus of the World Poker Association, wrote a letter to the WPT in support of the women choosing to boycott the Ladies Championship. In it, he said:

"I believe you are taking advantage of women, especially novice women who have no idea about prize pools and their equity in an event. I don't believe for a second, as Steve denied on air, that there is some long or short term gain for the WPT in offering a WPT Ladies Championship."

On Poker Talk America, Lipscomb said that the WPT would reconsider the charity element of the Ladies Championship next season - if, in fact, the WPT decides to bring it back. That decision won't be made until well after this year's tournament is finished.

Meanwhile, the tournament is still on track to proceed as scheduled. The WPT organizers said they are "thrilled to move forward with the 15% donation to benefit Komen to help end breast cancer forever."

That makes it the only championship event in poker to donate part of its prize pool to charity. However, the WPT is taking into consideration all the feedback their getting to consider for future events.

One such suggestion comes from Jones, who brought up the idea of the WPT making a donation to the Foundation from its own coffers for each player entering the tournament, while also asking the players to make a matching donation.

It was an idea the WPT said it would certainly consider for future events, and it would also "absolutely" be open to withholding part of the prize pool from one of its other poker tournaments, such as the WPT Championship in order to make a donation to an affiliated charity.

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Poker News - WPT stock continues nosedive

2008-04-13T22:45:00.001-07:00

WPT stock continues nosedive
Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago. The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued ��...full article

Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago.

The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued at around $30 million at its current stock price.

According to a recent entry on the blog:

The worst part of all (for WPTE management) is that no one seems to care about the stock. The stock had just 4,500 shares of volume today, and hasn’t traded more than 10k shares in the past two weeks. This is a far cry from 2005, when the stock would easily average more than 300k shares of volume per day. There are no “big” analysts covering the stock, and investors couldn’t seem to care less. WPTE seems to be marching towards penny stock status, and the company isn’t doing much to help with its declining revenues and consistent quarterly losses.

Whole thing here.

The blog goes on to theorize on the reasons for the company’s fall, from competition from other poker television shows to the end of the poker “boom.”

EPT: Modest beginnings to major prestige

This Saturday the poker world turns its eyes to the French Riviera and the tiny principality of Monaco, home of the Sporting Club at Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and host of the fourth annual European Poker Tour Grand Final.

In four short years the Grand Final has become one of the richest and most prestigious tournaments in the world.

With a price tag of €10,000, it sports the fourth-highest buy-in of the world's major multi-table tournaments, coming in behind the $50,000 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event, the $25,000 WPT Championship, and the £10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Given the high buy-in and prestige associated with the title, the event is sure to draw a large field. Tour sponsor PokerStars confirms on its Web site that 241 players have already qualified through the online poker room.

Last year's Grand Final drew a record field of 706 players, more than twice the number of entrants in the 2006 event. American Gavin Griffin defeated Canada's Marc Karam in the heads-up match to claim the €1,825,010 first prize.

Looking back at the EPT

The EPT does big business today, but it started off modestly. The first season consisted of seven tournaments which featured relatively small buy-ins ranging from €1,000 to €4,000, fields averaging 210 players, and first-prize purses averaging €225,000. Inaugural Grand Final winner Rob Hollink topped a field of 211 players to take home €635,000.

After the success of the first season, the EPT responded to the demands of the marketplace by raising its buy-ins to create richer prize pools. The first six events on the Season 2 schedule had buy-ins of €4,000, while the Grand Final remained at €10,000. The average number of players (287) and the average first prize (€440,000) were both up from the first season, signaling both the growth of the European poker market and the popularity of the EPT itself.

It was Season 3 that set the stage for the biggest changes in the EPT's young history, with the expansion of the tour's schedule. The German Open was added to the list of events before the season ever began, but a more important expansion took place after the French Open was cancelled.

The event was shut down, in the words of PokerStars, "as a direct result of last-minute intervention by the French authorities making it impossible for the Lucien Barrière group to run a poker tournament on their premises in Deauville." Rather than leaving a slot in its schedule open, the EPT created a new event: the EPT Polish Open in Warsaw. The €4,000 tournament was a success, drawing 284 players and crowning Peter Jepsen champion with a €325,633 first prize.

The tour's third season finished with its highest-yet averages for number of players (435) and first prize (€730,000), capped off by Griffin's victory at the record-setting Grand Final.

	Total no. of players	Total prize pool
Season 1	1,468	€4,780,972
Season 2	2,009	€9,824,000
Season 3	3,481	€19,571,000
Season 4*	5,060	€30,701,688
TOTAL	12,018	€64,877,660

* Numbers include all Season 4 tournaments except EPT Grand Final

Fourth-season success

The fourth season of the EPT has capitalized on the success of the previous seasons by playing on its strengths. The buy-ins went up yet again, ranging from €5,000 to €8,000, and the tour saw a rise in the number of players - each tournament averaged 506 rounders.

The expansion of the tour schedule continued as well. Following on the heels of the third season's stop in Warsaw, the EPT returned there and also added stops in Prague, Czech Republic, and San Remo, Italy. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, recently orphaned from the World Poker Tour, also found a new home on the EPT and drew a record field of its own. With the tour now rivaling the WPT in terms of prize pools, player turnout and prestige, its future can only get brighter.

The Grand Final expects yet another record-breaking turnout and looks set to draw the fourth season of the EPT to a close in style. Be sure to join the PokerListings.com all-star tournament reporting team for all the action in our Live Tournaments section beginning tomorrow, April 11, at 1:00 p.m. (CET).

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Some doubt remains about ePassporte pulling the plug on U.S.
While it seems likely that ePassporte is pulling out of the U.S. market, there is still a glimmer of hope for American online poker players. Yesterday, rumors began swirling that the money transfer service ePassporte would no longer be able to serve U.S. customers, which seemed ��...full article

While it seems likely that ePassporte is pulling out of the U.S. market, there is still a glimmer of hope for American online poker players.

Yesterday, rumors began swirling that the money transfer service ePassporte would no longer be able to serve U.S. customers, which seemed to be confirmed by Cake Poker. That site was telling players through their cashier screens that ePassporte could not be used in the U.S.
(more…)

Indictments Handed Down in Borgata Poker Room Sportsbetting Ring Case
A major sportsbetting ring allegedly being run out of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa poker room has now seen indictments issued against two dozen participants. The ring, which was broken up last November after a 20-month investigation...

Poker News - #370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch

2008-04-13T05:45:00.001-07:00

The best way to describe how amazing it would be to take part in this weekend is to show you the itinerary.

August 8th:

?:??pm - Arrive in Las Vegas.

?:??pm - Take a limousine to the Venetian Hotel, and check in to your home for the weekend.

6:00pm - Board an SUV limousine to Negreanu's Las Vegas home for a meet and greet BBQ

August 9th:

9:00am - Catered Breakfast

10:00am - Seminars lead by Daniel (See below for seminar topics)

1:00pm - Catered Lunch

2:00pm - Seminars lead by Daniel (See below for seminar topics)

6:00pm - Break

8:00pm - Have a VIP night on the town, complete with a private dinner and exclusive table service at one of the city's top nightclubs.

August 10th:

9:00am - Catered Breakfast

10:00am - Seminars lead by Daniel (See below for seminar topics)

1:00pm - Catered Lunch

2:00pm - Private poker tournament

6:00pm - End of weekend

Seminar Topics: pots and implied odds, bluffing, reading opponents, tournament strategy, cash game strategy and online poker concepts.

Along with the seminars, you will get the chance to participate in live workshops work with Daniel at the poker tables with detailed feedback and video analysis. Because of the 18 person limit, Daniel is able to guarantee ample one-on-one time with every participant.

It's one thing to learn poker from a book, it's quite another to learn it from the person who wrote the book. Along with being a 3 time WSOP bracelet winner with over $9.6 million in tournament winnings, Daniel is one of the most respected, and feared, cash game players.

"If you're a serious poker player looking to improve your game, I invite you to join us for 'A Weekend with Daniel Negreanu", said Daniel, "Not only will you leave a better player, but you will have a great time and live the life of a high stakes poker player".

'A Weekend with Daniel Negreanu is limited to only 18 participants and costs $15,000 per player. For more information or to reserve your spot, call 702-387-2353 or email weekendwithdaniel@gmail.com

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Griffin, Brown sign on as PokerStars pros

Both players have made some noise on the poker circuit, with Gavin Griffin becoming the first to achieve the Triple Crown of poker and Chad Brown having made a steady living from his tournament winnings since 1993.

Gavin Griffin

Griffin first materialized as a blip on the poker radar in 2004 when he won a World Series of Poker bracelet in the $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. Since then he's accumulated nearly $4.5 million in tournament winnings, including adding two more major event wins to his record.

The first was his PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final win in 2007, propelling him even further into the public eye of the poker world. Then he won the 2008 World Poker Tour Borgata Open, making him the first player to achieve a WSOP, EPT and WPT win.

Griffin's biggest win was the $2.4 million he received for winning the PokerStars EPT Grand Final. He qualified for the tournament at PokerStars via a $600 double shoot-out satellite. Now he'll be representing the poker site as a member of Team PokerStars.

"This is the team I want to play with," Griffin said. "Team PokerStars Pro has nine other gold bracelet winners and the best online players in the world. I am proud to be a part of this lineup."

John Duthie, EPT director, said he was looking forward to seeing Griffin return to the EPT Grand Final to defend his title this weekend.

"The PokerStars EPT Grand Final has a deserved reputation as a showpiece poker tournament, and given the high level of advance entries, I am confident this will be the biggest, richest and most competitive poker event ever staged in Europe," Duthie said.

Chad Brown

#img: chad-brown_18755.jpg: right: Chad Brown#

Brown might be a familiar face to some people outside of the poker world. After growing up in New York City, Brown made his way to Hollywood in the early '90s in pursuit of an acting career.

While finding acting jobs here and there in films and on television, Brown supplemented his income playing poker at casinos across California. In 1993, he went deep to cash in a World Series event and has been cashing in major tournaments around the world on a regular basis ever since.

He's run up more than $2 million in cashes on the poker circuit, including eight cashes in the 2007 WSOP and cashes in WPT and EPT events as well.

His success has also extended to the online poker world. In 2006, he won the $5,200 H.O.R.S.E. event in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, earning $223,150.

"I'm ecstatic to be with Team PokerStars Pro," Brown said. "I am obviously familiar with the team from the tournament circuit and it's great to be on a team that includes legends like Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem. I am looking forward to winning a few bracelets and contributing to the team."

Some of PokerStars other pros include Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Bertrand Grospellier and more. Brown can be found playing at the poker site as "ChadBrownPro," and Griffin will play under the name "GavinGriffin."

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WSOP champions: Where are they now, Part 3

We've looked at the eight champions who have died since becoming poker's world champion, but there are plenty of winners left who continue to make a mark on the poker world.

This week explores the earliest living winners who took down the Main Event in the '70s, including Amarillo Slim Preston, Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin.

Amarillo Slim Preston (1972)

There have been many champions over the years and many "characters" in the game of poker, but Amarillo Slim was one of the first to get noticed by the mainstream public.

The self-proclaimed best gambler who ever lived won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1972, taking out Puggy Pearson in heads-up play. The top prize was a now-paltry $80,000, but Slim managed to parlay his win into fame and popularity.

He turned his reputation as a golden-tongued gambler into lucrative sponsorship deals following his win. He also made appearances on national television shows such as 60 Minutes and Good Morning America.

It was rare in those days for someone involved in such a shady occupation as playing poker to be welcomed by the mainstream media as Preston was. In that way, he played a big part in bringing the early years of the WSOP to the attention of the average public.

Some of the results of his fame included the introduction of his own "Super Bowl of Poker" tournament that ran for years at a few locations in Nevada, plus the release of his book Play Poker to Win in 1973. He also made a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's film California Split.

After years of being a prominent figure in the game of poker, which includes winning four WSOP bracelets, Preston has been quieter on the poker scene in more recent years.

In 1992 he was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame, but he continued to cash in WSOP events and other tournaments around the world. In 2002 he nearly made the final table of two different Omaha events, hitting the rail in 16th and 17th place. It wasn't until 2007 that he made his mark at the WSOP once again with a cash in the Seniors event.

He may not be the face of the game that he once was, but Amarillo Slim continues to play the game that made him famous. According to an interview at the 2007 WSOP, Preston has played in nearly all the championship events of the WSOP since it began. Even if there were good odds given, it's probably not safe to bet against Amarillo Slim being at the 2008 WSOP as well.

Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977)

#img: doyle-brunson_17654.jpg: left: Doyle Brunson#

If you polled the poker players of the world, there's probably not much doubt whom they'd list as the top living legend of the game. Doyle Brunson has lived and breathed poker for pretty much his entire adult life, and winning back-to-back WSOP championships in 1976 and 1977 was just the start of an amazing tournament career for him.

Only two other players have been able to duplicate his back-to-back wins - Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan - which just goes to show the caliber of play it takes to achieve such a triumph. His mark on the World Series extends way beyond the double championship win, however.

Doyle is also a 10-bracelet winner, a record he shares with Johnny Chan, which is only surpassed by Phil Hellmuth. What's really impressive is that he's won bracelets both pre- and post-poker boom.

His first six bracelets were all picked up within four years. The two years he won the championship, he also won another event each year, giving him four, and he followed that up in 1978 and 1979 with a win each year.

He won two more bracelets in the 1990s, and then the poker boom hit with Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP Main Event in 2003. That same year, Brunson picked up his ninth bracelet and could very easily have retired from tournament play a legend at that point, thereby avoiding the increased pressure of larger player fields and younger players.

Retirement, Brunson says, will come when he quits winning. In 2005, he proved that his game could evolve and compete among the growing playing fields by winning his 10th WSOP bracelet.

His success at the World Series and other tournaments around the world isn't the only mark Brunson has made on the poker world. The Texas Dolly has also penned a few poker books over the years. The first, Super/System, published in 1979, is considered a must-have for any serious poker player.

Since then he's published Super/System 2 as well as a book of memoirs and a book about the greatest hands he's ever seen.

Brunson's interests have also expanded from live poker and the publishing world into the Internet realm. He owns and endorses an online gaming site, DoylesRoom.com, where he and some of the other top players of the game play on a regular basis.

Brunson has proved that an old dog can learn new tricks, as he's managed to stay relevant and influential in the poker industry. However, he once told PokerListings.com in an interview, "I don't consider myself to be anything besides a poker player. I'm just fortunate that I've been able to survive all this time and seen it all evolve to this point, and I just feel very grateful."

Bobby Baldwin (1978)

#img: bobby-baldwin_10208.jpg: right: Bobby Baldwin#

A shrewd poker player, Bobby Baldwin knew how to play his cards right both at and away from the poker table.

In the late 1970s he took the tournament poker world by storm. He'd been on the Vegas cash game scene for a few years, taking on some of the biggest names in poker. Brunson once joked that he couldn't wait to get Baldwin across the table from him, but after their first meeting he was stuck $40,000.

His appreciation for the young player grew, and Brunson asked Baldwin to write the Limit Hold'em section of Super/System. By the time the book came out in 1979, Baldwin had picked up two WSOP bracelets in 1977 and won the 1978 Main Event.

Winning three events in two years and authoring a section of a poker legend's book is quite an accomplishment for a 26-year-old. And Baldwin didn't stop there.

In 1979 he picked up a fourth bracelet at the World Series of Poker and cashed in six more WSOP events by the end of the 1982 series before surprising his poker peers by taking a job with Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget.

There he influenced the world of poker from a different angle with the shaping of casinos. He started out his new job by revamping the casino's cardroom and then took on other projects from there. In 1984 he was promoted to president and CEO of the Golden Nugget.

In 1989 he was given even more responsibility with the design, development and operation of three major properties on the Las Vegas Strip: The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio. He held that position until May 2005.

Baldwin was also appointed president and CEO of Mirage Resorts Inc. when Steve Wynn sold his holdings in the company to Kirk Kirkorian in 2000. It's been reported that Baldwin's bonus for signing a contract to stay with the company once Kirkorian took over was more than $7 million.

The casinos under Baldwin's purview as the president of Mirage Resorts are Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island, New York-New York, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Slots-A-Fun and Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, all in Las Vegas; Circus-Circus and Silver Legacy in Reno, and Gold Strike and Beau Rivage in Mississippi.

Baldwin was also appointed to the MGM Mirage board of directors in 2000, where he continues to serve as a board member.

One of Baldwin's current projects at MGM is overseeing the creation of Project CityCenter, a multibillion-dollar, mixed-use urban development project under way on the central Las Vegas Strip.

Project CityCenter is the largest privately funded development in U.S. history, according to MGM Mirage, and will create a mini-city with a casino resort and high-rise residential areas, with its own fire station, on-site power plant and lots of pedestrian space.

It is a project that could revolutionize the city of Las Vegas, and Baldwin is the man at the wheel who can make it happen.

You would think all his work for MGM would have left him with very little time for poker. However, he did continue his tournament play for several years and met with a fair amount of success. Between 1986 and 1995 he had six more cashes at the World Series of Poker.

He was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame in 2003, and though he may not always be at the tournament felt, you can occasionally find Baldwin playing some cash games at the Bellagio where he takes a seat with Brunson in his namesake poker room, Bobby's Room, to play in the "Big Game."

The early days of the WSOP produced many players who would be considered legends now. Next week, we'll take a look at the impact Tom McEvoy, Berry Johnston and Johnny Chan have had on the poker world since attaining champion status.

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Poker News - Harrah's undergoing name change

2008-04-12T23:45:00.001-07:00

Harrah's undergoing name change

Harrah's announced today its board had approved the name change and it is now pending regulatory approval.

"Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide our company with greater prestige and help attract strategic business partners as we pursue expansion opportunities in new jurisdictions," said Gary Loveman, Harrah's chairman, president and CEO.

"The change also reflects our evolution into a full-service entertainment company that offers a rich range of gaming and non-gaming amenities to our guests."

According to a Harrah's press release, the name change is designed to capitalize on the high international name recognition enjoyed by the Caesars brand and to appeal to customers attracted by its connotation of opulent luxury and world-renowned entertainment, dining and shopping options.

Harrah's owns and operates several casino brands including Harrah's, Harveys, Caesars, Paris, Bally's, Flamingo, Rio and more.

In its announcement, the company said Harrah's will continue to be one of its three primary casino brands, along with Caesars and Horseshoe. The name change also won't alter the company's culture or its adherence to a Code of Commitments that governs its relationship with employees, customers and communities.

"Our employees will remain dedicated to the innovation, customer-service excellence and corporate citizenship that have been hallmarks of our company for decades," Loveman said. "But this re-branding of the corporate name can open exciting new opportunities for us in the future."

Harrah's was created in Reno, Nev., more than 70 years ago when Bill Harrah opened up a bingo parlor. It has since grown to be the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment.

The company now owns and manages casinos on four continents and operates the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio in Las Vegas.

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WSOP Freeroll Update I: See what massive freerolls are in store for you this week!
PokerNews is delighted to announce $75,000 worth of World Series Freerolls coming up this week. The first freeroll kicks off on Sunday April 13 at 19:05 EST/20:05 EDT and is exclusive to PokerNews players…

Conflicting Reports in Taj Poker Stabbing
Reports on the poker stabbing on Saturday at the trump Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City that left one player dead continue to offer varying and sometimes inconsistent reports on the incident. What is known is that an argument between...

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Leeann Tweeden Named as 'Poker After Dark' Season Four Host
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Griffin, Brown Join Team PokerStars Lineup
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WSOP champions: Where are they now, Part 3

We've looked at the eight champions who have died since becoming poker's world champion, but there are plenty of winners left who continue to make a mark on the poker world.

This week explores the earliest living winners who took down the Main Event in the '70s, including Amarillo Slim Preston, Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin.

Amarillo Slim Preston (1972)

There have been many champions over the years and many "characters" in the game of poker, but Amarillo Slim was one of the first to get noticed by the mainstream public.

After years of being a prominent figure in the game of poker, which includes winning four WSOP bracelets, Preston has been quieter on the poker scene in more recent years.

Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977)

#img: doyle-brunson_17654.jpg: left: Doyle Brunson#

Doyle is also a 10-bracelet winner, a record he shares with Johnny Chan, which is only surpassed by Phil Hellmuth. What's really impressive is that he's won bracelets both pre- and post-poker boom.

Retirement, Brunson says, will come when he quits winning. In 2005, he proved that his game could evolve and compete among the growing playing fields by winning his 10th WSOP bracelet.

Since then he's published Super/System 2 as well as a book of memoirs and a book about the greatest hands he's ever seen.

Bobby Baldwin (1978)

#img: bobby-baldwin_10208.jpg: right: Bobby Baldwin#

A shrewd poker player, Bobby Baldwin knew how to play his cards right both at and away from the poker table.

Winning three events in two years and authoring a section of a poker legend's book is quite an accomplishment for a 26-year-old. And Baldwin didn't stop there.

Baldwin was also appointed to the MGM Mirage board of directors in 2000, where he continues to serve as a board member.

One of Baldwin's current projects at MGM is overseeing the creation of Project CityCenter, a multibillion-dollar, mixed-use urban development project under way on the central Las Vegas Strip.

It is a project that could revolutionize the city of Las Vegas, and Baldwin is the man at the wheel who can make it happen.

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Griffin, Brown sign on as PokerStars pros

Gavin Griffin

"This is the team I want to play with," Griffin said. "Team PokerStars Pro has nine other gold bracelet winners and the best online players in the world. I am proud to be a part of this lineup."

John Duthie, EPT director, said he was looking forward to seeing Griffin return to the EPT Grand Final to defend his title this weekend.

Chad Brown

#img: chad-brown_18755.jpg: right: Chad Brown#

Brown might be a familiar face to some people outside of the poker world. After growing up in New York City, Brown made his way to Hollywood in the early '90s in pursuit of an acting career.

He's run up more than $2 million in cashes on the poker circuit, including eight cashes in the 2007 WSOP and cashes in WPT and EPT events as well.

His success has also extended to the online poker world. In 2006, he won the $5,200 H.O.R.S.E. event in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, earning $223,150.

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Poker News - 888 Posts Strong Continuing Operations Growth

2008-04-12T13:45:00.001-07:00

888 Posts Strong Continuing Operations Growth
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Poker News - #372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship

2008-04-12T11:45:00.001-07:00

#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

Debate flares over WPT Ladies Championship

The WPT Ladies tour, which officially kicked off this January at Borgata in Atlantic City, will also conclude with a $1,500 championship event at the famed Las Vegas poker destination. What the event lacks in buy-in compared to the big tourney is already being made up for in controversy, thanks to a chunk of the prize pool being set aside up front for charity.

What's wrong with charity?

For the inaugural WPT Ladies Championship, the WPT chose to partner with Susan G. Komen for the Cure (SGK), a breast cancer charity which the WPT has supported in the past. While the charitable cause is a good one, the method of donation has raised some eyebrows: rather than soliciting donations from the players, the WPT chose to withhold 15% of the prize pool for a donation to SGK.

The WPT's decision to use the prize pool as a charitable trust has upset some players so much that they have decided not to play in the event at all.

Former WSOP Ladies Event champion Susie Isaacs was one of the first to step forward and declare that she would not play in the WPT Ladies Championship. In a post on her blog titled The World Poker Tour Ladies Championship Controversy, Isaacs said:

"As a working player who would gladly have donated 5% of any win I may have taken, I am very disappointed that this event is no longer on my schedule. With the 15% and the juice I don't believe it is playable from a financial point of view."

Lisa Adams, poker player and host of the radio show Poker Talk America, has joined Isaacs in boycotting the event because of her perception that withholding charity funds from the prize pool is unfair to players.

Both women have made it clear that they feel any event with part of the prize pool withheld for charity should be advertised as a charity event, not as a championship.

"No good deed goes unpunished"

For his part, WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb says his company is just trying to do a good deed.

"We're trying to promote women in poker and promote a good cause," Lipscomb said on the Wednesday episode of Poker Talk America, where he appeared as a guest along with Isaacs.

Lipscomb placed great emphasis on the fact that WPT Ladies was designed to give women poker players something that their male counterparts don't have - an exclusive event - and that the WPT hoped to encourage women to play poker by airing the Ladies Championship on television.

He said that the WPT would realize no monetary gains from hosting the Ladies Championship, even claiming to have faced angry opposition from shareholders to his decision to run the event. With his ladies tour now facing new opposition from part of the women's poker community, Lipscomb said on Poker Talk America that "no good deed goes unpunished."

Add it up

While nobody is questioning that the WPT has partnered with a good cause or that it hopes to encourage women to play poker, Isaacs and company are concerned over the equity of the situation.

In addition to the 15% being withheld for SGK, an additional 3% of the WPT Ladies Championship prize pool is being withheld for the tournament staff. Another $25,500 is being withheld to provide the winner of the tournament with a seat in the WPT Championship, according to the tournament structure posted on the WPT Web site.

If the tournament were to draw 300 players, that would add up to a whopping $106,500 being taken from the $450,000 prize pool before a single card had been dealt.

This week Jesse Jones, founder and chairman emeritus of the World Poker Association, wrote a letter to the WPT in support of the women choosing to boycott the Ladies Championship. In it, he said:

"I believe you are taking advantage of women, especially novice women who have no idea about prize pools and their equity in an event. I don't believe for a second, as Steve denied on air, that there is some long or short term gain for the WPT in offering a WPT Ladies Championship."

On Poker Talk America, Lipscomb said that the WPT would reconsider the charity element of the Ladies Championship next season - if, in fact, the WPT decides to bring it back. That decision won't be made until well after this year's tournament is finished.

Meanwhile, the tournament is still on track to proceed as scheduled. The WPT organizers said they are "thrilled to move forward with the 15% donation to benefit Komen to help end breast cancer forever."

That makes it the only championship event in poker to donate part of its prize pool to charity. However, the WPT is taking into consideration all the feedback their getting to consider for future events.

One such suggestion comes from Jones, who brought up the idea of the WPT making a donation to the Foundation from its own coffers for each player entering the tournament, while also asking the players to make a matching donation.

It was an idea the WPT said it would certainly consider for future events, and it would also "absolutely" be open to withholding part of the prize pool from one of its other poker tournaments, such as the WPT Championship in order to make a donation to an affiliated charity.

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Poker News - Harrah's to Become Caesars Entertainment

2008-04-11T06:31:00.001-07:00

Harrah's to Become Caesars Entertainment
Harrah's Entertainment, rights holder to the WSOP, announced that its Board of Directors had approved changing the company's name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation. CEO Gary Loveman said, "Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment...

Titan launches countdown to billionth hand

The countdown to the billionth-hand milestone begins at Titan Poker with the 950 millionth hand dealt. From that point on, players have several opportunities to win cash prizes during specific countdown hands and jackpot hands.

Countdown hands will occur every 200,000 hands according to the consecutive hand IDs. The winner of the hand will receive a cash prize, and the rest of the players in the hand will split a prize as well.

The prizes are split as follows:

Table Stake	Winner gets	Participants split
Micro	$65	$65
Low	$250	$250
Med	$1,000	$1,000
High	$3,500	$3,500

The jackpot hands during the promotion will occur every 5 millionth hand. As with the countdown hands, the winner will get a prize and the other participants in the hand will split a prize as well. The prizes are:

Table Stake	Winner takes	Participants split
Micro	$250	$250
Low	$1,000	$1,000
Med	$4,000	$4,000
High	$14,000	$14,000

The winners of the jackpot hands will also receive tickets to the upcoming European Championship of Online Poker events.

If the hand is in a Pot-Limit or No-Limit Hold'em game or Seven- or Five-Card Stud, the winner will receive a ticket to ECOOP Event 3, worth $310. Winners from a Limit Hold'em game will receive a ticket to Event 7, and Omaha winners will get a ticket to Event 9, both a $268 value.

If the winning hand is in Omaha Hi-Lo, the winner gets a ticket to ECOOP Event 2 worth $109. In the case of a split pot, the winner closest to the dealer button will receive the ticket.

The table stakes for the countdown hands and jackpot hands are broken down as follows:

Table Stake	Fixed Limit	No-/Pot-Limit
Micro	2¢/4¢ - 10¢/20¢	1¢/2¢ - 5¢/10¢
Low	25¢/50¢ - $1/$2	10¢/20¢ - 50¢-$1
Med	$2/$4 - $5/$10	$1/$2 - $2/$4
High	$10/$20 and up	$3/$6 and up

"We want all of our players to be a part of this race, because without their loyal game play we wouldn't be reaching this landmark event," a spokesperson from Titan Poker said.

The big payoff will come for the players who end up in the billionth hand at Titan Poker. The winner of the hand will receive $50,000, and the rest of the participants in the hand will split $30,000.

The winner of the billionth hand will also receive tickets to all the ECOOP events, which are worth $3,420.

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Poker News - The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 8: Tournament Tipping an Issue

2008-04-11T04:00:00.001-07:00

The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 8: Tournament Tipping an Issue
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#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

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Atlantic City to ban smoking in casinos?
Atlantic City’s city council will try to ban smoking on casino floors today. This is the second time in two years that the issue will come before city council. According to majorwager.com: An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Wednesday night would still let smokers light up, but only ��...full article

Atlantic City’s city council will try to ban smoking on casino floors today.

This is the second time in two years that the issue will come before city council.

According to majorwager.com:

An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Wednesday night would still let smokers light up, but only in smoking lounges where there are no gambling tables or slot machines.

The change would eliminate a compromise worked out last year in which smoking was restricted to no more than 25 percent of the gambling floor.

Whole thing here.

Poker News - WPT winds down with POY race still open

2008-04-10T20:00:00.001-07:00

WPT winds down with POY race still open

Now that the Foxwoods Poker Classic has been written into the history books, the eyes of the tournament poker world turn to Las Vegas, where the sixth $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship begins at Bellagio on April 19. Along with the standard monster prize pool, there's something else up for grabs: the WPT Player of the Year title.

Getting to the top

The formula for determining the winner of the POY award is straightforward: award points based on final-table finishes, add up the points, and the player with the highest total wins. The points for each tournament are distributed as follows:

1st place: 1,000 points
2nd place: 700 points
3rd place: 600 points
4th place: 500 points
5th place: 400 points
6th place: 300 points
7th place: 200 points

In the running

#img: jonathan-little_18252.jpg: left: It could be a little too late for players to catch up with Jonathan Little.#

Currently sitting atop the Season 6 POY standings with 1,900 points is Jonathan Little. The Pensacola, Fla., native terrorized WPT fields early in the season, adding first-place (Mirage Poker Showdown), second-place (North American Poker Championships) and seventh-place (Gulf Coast Poker Championship) finishes to an already-impressive tournament resume.

Just behind Little is Phil Ivey, arguably one of the greatest players poker has ever known. Ivey finished fifth at the Mirage tournament Little won to kick off the season, earning himself 400 points in the POY race. Then he took down the title at the LA Poker Classic in February, adding another 1,000 points for a total of 1,400.

Steve Sung sits in third place despite not having won a Season 6 event. His second-place finish at Bay 101 and fourth-place finish at the WPT Spanish Championship give him 1,200 points heading to Bellagio.

David "The Dragon" Pham is familiar with POY honors, having won the Card Player POY award in 2007. His 1,100 points come from a second-place finish at the Legends of Poker and a fifth-place finish at the World Poker Challenge.

Rounding out the field of potential contenders with 1,000 points are the season's other champions, including newly crowned Foxwoods Poker Classic champion Erik Seidel. Also in contention with 1,000 points is Mike Matusow, who totaled 1,000 points by finishing second at Bellagio Cup III and sixth at the Borgata Poker Open.

Danny Wong, who accumulated 900 points with a third-place finish at Bellagio Cup III and sixth place at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, could tie for the title with a win at Bellagio.

The possibilities are (somewhat) endless

To some degree, every player in the running for the POY title controls his own destiny at Bellagio next week.

That's certainly the case with front-runner Little. If he finishes in third place or higher, he puts himself out of reach and seals up the POY title. Even a fourth-place finish would give him 2,400 points, meaning he could do no worse than tie for the honors.

If Little finishes worse than fourth at Bellagio, a number of scenarios may develop in which someone else wins the title.

#img: phil-ivey_18587.jpg: right: If anyone can do it, Ivey can.#

For instance, if Little takes fifth place to leave himself with 2,300 points, Ivey would secure the title by winning the WPT Championship. A sixth-place finish by Little (2,200 points total) would open the door for Steve Sung to tie with a Bellagio win, while a seventh-place finish would give Pham a chance to tie by winning the final event.

If Little fails to make the top seven, the race opens up even further. Ivey could win the title outright by finishing in third place or higher, or tie by taking fourth. Sung could win outright by winning the tournament, or tie for the honor by finishing in second place. Pham, meanwhile, would need to win the WPT Championship and have Ivey finish in third place or worse.

Should Little not pick up any points but still manage to stay ahead of his three closest competitors, he could still be knocked out of the top spot by a win from any of the season's champions. Dan Harrington, Gavin Griffin, Bill Edler and Brandon Cantu, along with the rest of the season's winners and two-time Season 6 final-tablist Matusow, would total 2,000 points and secure the POY crown with a win at the WPT Championship.

How important is the award?

To be sure, the five players who have previously won the title - Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith and J.C. Tran - form an elite group. But the impact of winning the WPT's Player of the Year title can't be summed up neatly, mostly because the award's true importance depends on who comes out on top.

If anyone but Little wins, the mystique of having come from behind to win the POY race by taking down the second-richest poker tournament in the world will forever be attached to their name.

#img: steve-sung_18607.jpg: left: Could Sung sneak into the top spot as well?#

Should either Little or Sung win the title, the WPT would have its youngest-ever Player of the Year. Both players would further enhance a growing reputation for consistency at the table. It's even possible that a POY win for Little could give him the kind of PR boost needed to overshadow for good his recent loss of sponsorship at Full Tilt Poker.

A win by Ivey would be another notch on a belt already notched aplenty. Considering Ivey finally got the WPT monkey off his back with his Commerce win in February, coming out on top of the POY race would cement Ivey's status as one of poker's all-time greats.

Likewise, a POY win for Pham would be another trophy on the shelf for one of the most consistent tournament players over the last few years.

Unfortunately for Pham and Sung, any immediate boost in marketability from such a win is questionable; even the most successful Asian poker players haven't seen the same sort of windfall from sponsorships during the poker boom as some of their fellow champions from Caucasian or African-American backgrounds.

At the end of the day, the only sure thing about the WPT's Player of the Year race at this point is that it holds the potential for a lot of drama at Bellagio next week. If you ever needed another reason to follow the tournament with our star reporters here at PokerListings.com, consider yourself justified!

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Poker News - Brad Garrett to host charity tournament

2008-04-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

Brad Garrett to host charity tournament

The event will also feature Ray Romano, Mimi Rogers, Cyndy Violette, Joely Fisher, Anthony Anderson, Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli playing in what is slated to be a fun-filled day of poker, laughter and celebration.

"Brad will be hosting a Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament, and each hand played will be a strong step forward in ending the violence against women and children," said 1736 Crisis Center in a press release.

The 1736 Crisis Center operates an emergency youth shelter in Hermosa Beach and four shelters for domestic violence victims and their children at confidential locations throughout Los Angeles County.

"Homeless children, runaway teens and beaten wives/mothers are housed and protected completely free of charge," said Garrett in a letter on the 1736 Crisis Center Web site.

"They are given food, clothing, daily therapy, legal help, transportation, case management, and most important a home where they can thrive and feel safe with loving reinforcement from counselors and therapists in a 24-hour helpful, nourishing environment; something that every human being deserves, yet tens of thousands never receive."

The Center's five shelters, three clinics and five 24-hour emergency response stations, and its associated outreach services, helped approximately 25,000 abuse victims and children in 2007.

To provide these services, the Center relies 100% on grants and donations, and all the proceeds from the charity poker tournament will go to benefit the Center.

The tournament starts at 1 p.m., on April 20, and will have a $350 buy-in.

"And if you play like I do, you'll appreciate the opportunity to purchase additional buy-ins at only $100," Garrett said. The event will offer the $100 rebuys for the first hour of the tournament.

Not only will the 1736 Crisis Center benefit from the event, participants have a shot at prizes as well. The winner of the tournament will receive $10,000 cash, and the second-place finisher will get a seat in the 2009 World Poker Tour Invitational.

The final 10 players will receive prizes as well.

"I am grateful for your consideration. If you can't make it, please consider a donation," Garrett said. "There are also sponsorship opportunities for businesses that can further your company's goals while being charitable to this wonderful organization."

Buy-ins or donations can be sent to:

1736 Family Crisis Center
Attn: Poker Tournament
2116 Arlington Ave., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90018

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WSOP champions: Where are they now, Part 3

Now that we've taken a look at the eight champions who have died since becoming poker's World Champion, there are plenty of winners left who continue to make a mark on the poker world.

This week explores the earliest living winners who took down the Main Event in the 70s, including Amarillo Slim Preston, Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin.

Amarillo Slim Preston (1972)

There have been many champions over the years and many "characters" in the game of poker, but Amarillo Slim was one of the first to get noticed by the mainstream public.

The self-proclaimed best gambler that ever lived won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1972, taking out Puggy Pearson in heads-up play. The top prize was a now-paltry $80,000, but Slim managed to parlay his win into fame and popularity.

It was rare in those days for someone involved in such a shady occupation as playing poker such as Amarillo Slim to be welcomed by the mainstream media. In that way, he played a big part in bringing the early years of the WSOP to the attention of the average public.

Some of the results of his fame included the introduction of his own "Superbowl of Poker" tournament that ran for years at a few locations in Nevada, plus the release of his book Play Poker to Win in 1973. He also made a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's film, California Split.

After years of being a prominent figure in the game of poker, which includes winning four WSOP bracelets, Preston has been quieter on the poker scene in more recent years.

In 1992 he was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame, but he continued to cash in WSOP events and other tournaments around the world. In 2002 he nearly made the final table of two different Omaha events, hitting the rail in 16th and 17th places. It wasn't until 2007 that he made his mark at the WSOP once again with a cash in the Seniors event.

He may not be the face of the game that he once was, but Amarillo Slim continues to play the game that made him famous. According to an interview at the 2007 WSOP, Preston has played in nearly all the Championship events of the WSOP since it began. Even if there were good odds given, it's probably not safe to bet against Amarillo Slim not being at the 2008 WSOP either.

Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977)

#img: doyle-brunson_17654.jpg: left: Doyle Brunson#

If you polled the poker players of the world, there's probably not much doubt who they'd list as the top living legend of the game. Doyle Brunson has lived and breathed poker for pretty much his entire adult life, and winning back-to-back WSOP championships in 1976 and 1977 was just the start of an amazing tournament career for him.

Only two other players have been able to duplicate his back-to-back wins - Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan - which just goes to show the caliber of play it takes to achieve that. His mark on the World Series extends way beyond the double championship win, however.

Doyle is also a 10-bracelet winner, a record he shares with Johnny Chan and is only surpassed by Phil Hellmuth. What's really impressive is that he's won bracelets both pre- and post-poker boom.

He won two more bracelets in the 1990s, and then the poker boom hit with Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP Main Event in 2003. That same year, Brunson picked up his ninth bracelet and could very easily have retired from tournament play a legend at that point and avoided the increased pressure of larger player fields and younger players.

Retirement, Brunson says, will come when he quits winning. In 2005, he proved that his game could evolve and compete among the growing playing fields by winning his 10th WSOP bracelet.

His success at the World Series and other tournaments around the world isn't the only mark Brunson has made on the poker world. The Texas Dolly also penned a few poker books over the years. The first of which was Super/System in 1979 which is considered to be a must-have for any serious poker player.

Since then he's published Super/System 2 as well as a book of memoirs and a book about the greatest hands he's ever seen.

Brunson has proved that an old dog can learn new tricks as he's managed to stay relevant and influential in the poker industry, however, he once told PokerListings.com in an interview, "I don't consider myself to be anything besides a poker player. I'm just fortunate that I've been able to survive all this time and seen it all evolve to this point, and I just feel very grateful."

Bobby Baldwin (1978)

#img: bobby-baldwin_10208.jpg: right: Bobby Baldwin#

A shrewd poker player, Bobby Baldwin knew how to play his cards right both at and away from the poker table.

Winning three events in two years and authoring a section of a poker legend's book is quite an accomplishment for a 26-year-old. And he didn't stop there.

There he influenced the world of poker from a different angle with the shaping of casinos. He started out his new job by revamping the casino's card room and then took on other projects from there. In 1984 he was promoted to President and CEO of the Golden Nugget.

The casinos under Baldwin's purview as the president of Mirage Resorts are Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island, New York-New York, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Slots-A-Fun and Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, all in Las Vegas: Circus-Circus and Silver Legacy in Reno; Gold Strike and Beau Rivage in Mississippi.

Baldwin was also appointed to the MGM Mirage board of directors in 2000, where he continues to serve as a board member.

One of Baldwin's current projects at MGM is overseeing the creation of Project CityCenter, a multi-billion dollar, mixed-use urban development project underway on the central Las Vegas Strip.

It is a project that could revolutionize the city of Las Vegas, and Baldwin is the man at the wheel to make it happen.

You would think all his work for MGM would have left him with very little time for poker. However, he did continue his tournament play fairly successfully for several years. Between 1986 and 1995 he had six more cashes at the World Series of Poker.

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Poker News - Atlantic City to ban smoking in casinos?

2008-04-09T20:30:00.001-07:00

Atlantic City to ban smoking in casinos?
Atlantic City’s city council will try to ban smoking on casino floors today. This is the second time in two years that the issue will come before city council. According to majorwager.com: An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Wednesday night would still let smokers light up, but only ��...full article

Atlantic City’s city council will try to ban smoking on casino floors today.

This is the second time in two years that the issue will come before city council.

According to majorwager.com:

An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Wednesday night would still let smokers light up, but only in smoking lounges where there are no gambling tables or slot machines.

The change would eliminate a compromise worked out last year in which smoking was restricted to no more than 25 percent of the gambling floor.

Whole thing here.

Poker News - Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII

2008-04-09T04:16:00.001-07:00

Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII
More than $10 million in guaranteed prize money will be up for grabs when the Full Tilt Online Poker Series makes its eighth appearance from May 7-18, 2008. FTOPS VIII will feature 24 individual tournaments – each hosted by a Full Tilt...

South Carolina Poker Raid Snares Prosecutor, 26 Others
A South Carolina raid conducted under that state's antiquated gambling statutes resulted in the arrests of 27 players, most at a Hanahan, SC home, including a deputy prosecutor who subsequently submitted his resignation in the wake...

#362 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #12 – Highlights from High Noon
In the second pair of brackets today, Clubs/Spades, all but one of the matches ended in 70 minutes and without as much weird action has the Diamonds/Hearts round of 32. I was saving up my round-up notes for the end...

#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

The WSOP Academy: Cultivating Poker Dreams
It's a little after nine on a Saturday morning in the Olympus Ballroom on the second floor of the Caesars Indiana Hotel & Casino, and the WSOP Academy is in town. 60 or so poker aspirants have gathered here, in a quietly overstated, upscale...

Poker News - #361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One

2008-04-08T19:30:00.001-07:00

#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...

PokerNews Cup Austria Update V: Five Final Freerolls For Your Chance at the PokerNews Cup Austria!
PokerNews reminds our loyal players of the final five freerolls to the 2008 PokerNews Cup Austria. All packages are exclusive to PokerNews and qualification is already underway!

Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS VIII
More than $10 million in guaranteed prize money will be up for grabs when the Full Tilt Online Poker Series makes its eighth appearance from May 7-18, 2008. FTOPS VIII will feature 24 individual tournaments – each hosted by a Full Tilt...

Canuck wins WSOP seat at Full Tilt

Cuthbertson, a head golf professional and general manager at a golf club in Morinville, Alberta, won his seat in the 2008 Main Event online through an exclusive freeroll for PokerListings.com players at Full Tilt Poker.

After signing up at Full Tilt Poker through PokerListings.com, all it took for Cuthbertson to qualify for the freeroll was to earn 300 player points during the qualification period before the freeroll.

That wasn't too difficult a feat for Cuthbertson, who said he plays three to five days a week online during the winter months.

"I rarely play in the summer due to the hours required for my job, [and] for the most part, I'm just a recreational player," Cuthbertson said.

Still, the 35-year-old checks in at Full Tilt Poker almost daily, whether he actually plays a hand or not. He likes to head to the site to see what's going on, read the pro tips and watch the pros play online.

"I love the Full Tilt site," he said. "The graphics are great and the action is fantastic. You can always find a game no matter what your limits are."

He also heads to PokerListings.com almost daily to read the blogs and advice as well as to take a look at the Question of the Day.

"It has been very helpful," Cuthbertson said. "I love to read the tips from the different pros as well as read the forum for the discussions on poker."

All the reading up on strategy paid off for Cuthbertson as he took on the 110-person playing field in the Full Tilt Poker WSOP freeroll Sunday.

"The tables I played at, for the most part, seemed like fairly good players," Cuthbertson said of the freeroll playing field. "There were very few times that any one player really went crazy."

The playing field got tougher as play got down to the top 20. Cuthbertson commented that players were well aware of what was at stake at that point. But when play got down to the final table, things sped up.

"It seemed like the first five players to be knocked out of the final table went quickly," he said. "Four-handed, things went back and forth for about 40 to 45 minutes before two players were eliminated and heads-up began."

That's when Cuthbertson, who plays under the name jcmd at Full Tilt Poker, took on Tilt Bluffer for the top prize. Cuthbertson had a small chip lead starting out the heads-up matchup, but it still only took two hands to eliminate Tilt Bluffer.

On the final hand, Cuthbertson was in the small blind with pocket queens and made a minimum raise to make it look like he was trying to steal with a weak hand. Tilt Bluffer re-raised all-in for his remaining $68,000 in chips.

"I made a fairly quick call," Cuthbertson said. "He had Q-T suited. The flop left Tilt Bluffer no flush possibilities, but a three-card straight."

The turn gave Tilt Bluffer a gut-shot straight possibility, drawing to four outs, according to Cuthbertson. But the river blanked, allowing Cuthbertson's pocket queens to hold up.

"It actually left me stunned when we both turned our cards over," Cuthbertson said. "I'm still trying to believe that it happened."

Not only was this his biggest win ever, live or online, Cuthbertson said winning a seat for the World Series of Poker Main Event is like a dream come true. His closest contact with the event so far has been to watch the coverage online and on TV.

"I have always said that someday I will play in the Main Event but never expected it to happen like this," Cuthbertson said. "I am already trying to figure out how to arrange my schedule to take the days off from work."

In the Main Event, Cuthbertson could end up facing some of the game's top pros and legends, something he's very much looking forward to. He said he would be excited to go up against Doyle Brunson just because of who he is and what he has meant to the game of poker.

#img: phil-ivey_17645.jpg: right: Care for a game of golf, Phil?#

"I'm also a big fan of Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey," Cuthbertson said. "I figure if they bust me at the tables, maybe I can get them out on the golf course. I also hope to see Phil Hellmuth explode in a rant. That would make for a great trip!"

Cuthbertson said he isn't all that nervous about taking on the championship event, however, just excited at the opportunity.

"After all, I'm getting to play for free," he said. "Can it get any better than that? I guess only if I cash."

Of course, winning the event would be even better. The Main Event has made millionaires and now multimillionaires of its winners for years, with the biggest first-place prize going to Jamie Gold when he won $12 million for his 2006 win.

If he won, Cuthbertson said he would first thank PokerListings.com and Full Tilt Poker. But a win would not necessarily send him into a professional poker career.

"That kind of money would allow me to take a chance at playing tour golf for a living," he said. "It would be fun to know that all the bills are paid while trying to work my way up to one of the big tours. Also, the doors that this would open in the poker world would be fun to explore as well. I think almost everyone who takes the game serious[ly] wonders what it would be like to be a professional poker player."

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerListings.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

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Poker Room Review: Santa Ana Star, Bernalillo, NM
The Santa Ana Star Casino is located in Bernalillo, a small city between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, just west of Interstate 25. It is a full service New Mexican casino, located on an Indian pueblo, with all of the limitations required...

Poker News - #361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One

2008-04-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...

#370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch
To me, this is almost an anticlimax. Andy Bloch? Chris Ferguson? How could I choose between them. They both enriched the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE tremendously, and well as my own skills and my life. Two of the best...

#364 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #14 – Special Delivery
I had to delay writing this because after the last round ended I was standing talking with Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow and Phil started asking about food. What’s around here? I was thinking of getting a slice of pizza...

WPA increases efforts with WSOP events

To help its efforts along, the WPA will host its first educational conference at the Rio May 28-29. Mike Caro, poker pro and author, will MC the event.

On the second day of the conference, the WSOP has agreed to host a mega-satellite tournament at the World Series of Poker.

Wendeen Eolis, newly crowned chair of the WPA Board, secured the deal soon after being named chair and convinced the tournament organizers to have nine-handed tables for the mega-satellite.

According to the WPA Web site, the organization will soon begin working with WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel in an effort to incorporate various additional rules recommended by the WPA for the mega-satellite as well.

"This is a good first step in the WPA's efforts to improve playing conditions for tournament competitors around the world," Eolis said.

#img: wpa-logo_2505.jpg: left#

Eolis has also been talking to Director Thomas Kremser, tournament rules chairman, to work on continuing to expand the WPA Tournament Rules. The rules build on those set out by the Tournament Directors Association.

"Wendeen has been the work horse of the executive committee," said Harry Thomas Jr., WPA treasurer and executive committee member. "Seldom have I seen someone do in the private sector for money what she has done for this organization gratis. Without her, Jesse Jones' vision would be nowhere near where it is now. We owe her a debt of gratitude."

Eolis previously served the WPA as the vice-chair of the board. She has had a hand in several of the major projects the association has undertaken since it was created by Jesse Jones.

Eolis oversaw drafting of an ethics code. A finalized Code of Ethics is being completed by re-appointed Ethics Chair and WSOP Champion Tom McEvoy and newly appointed Ethics Co-Chair Roger Saad for approval by the board of directors and presentation to the membership at WPA's first annual meeting.

Eolis also worked directly this past year on bylaws provisions. She has turned over the chairmanship of the Bylaws and Elections Committee to Ken Adams. Adams will oversee completion of bylaws and a board of directors slate for approval by the board of directors and presentation at the annual meeting.

"I plan to keep my foot on the pedal and our collective feet to the fire so as to provide concrete results that serve our membership's interests - sooner rather than later," Eolis said.

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Tim Vance takes down WSOPC event

Vance, who won a European Poker Tour event in February, returned to his home country to take down the WSOPC event. He is joined by the winners of Event 4 and Event 6.

Event 4, $300 No-Limit Hold'em

Event 4 at the WSOPC Caesars Indiana stop was number one for Tim Laws as he registered his first win after quitting his job in December to play professional poker.

Laws, 29, is from Columbia, Miss., where he worked previously installing granite and marble in home kitchens and bathrooms. Since January, he's played in eight WSOPC events and made two prior final tables.

His best finish was third in a $300 event at Council Bluffs, Iowa, but now he's got a win under his belt as well, winning an official $49,239 after having made a deal when the final table got down to heads-up play.

Laws wasn't the favorite heading into the final table. He was second in the chip count, but the leader, Justin Scott, had more than double his chips with $560,000 to Laws' $214,000.

As the table played out though, Scott ended up in third place, while Mark Wright and Laws were left to duke it out heads-up. However, Laws had more than a million of the $1.573 million chips in play, and he and Wright took a break to discuss a deal.

When they came back to the table, a couple of hands were played to make the ending official and Laws had the win.

The final-table results were:

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Tim Laws	Columbia, Mo.	$49,238.56
2nd	Mark Wright	Nashville, Tenn.	$25,498.54
3rd	Justin Scott	Redford Twp, Mo.	$14,068.16
4th	Dan Hill	Mason, Ohio	$12,310.64
5th	Matt Ready	Cincinnati, Ohio	$10,551.12
6th	Brian Tweedie	Independence, Mo.	$8,792.60
7th	Stephen Raz	Fort Wayne, Ind.	$7,034.08
8th	Thaddeus Haas	Naperville, Ill.	$5,275.56
9th	Douglas Carli	Alliance, Ohio	$3,517.04

Event 5, $500 No-Limit Hold'em

Another Tim came to the forefront during the $500 No-Limit Hold'em event as Tim Vance took down the event for a $61,020 win.

That's pocket change for Vance, who won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open in February to earn more than $1 million.

This win came a little more easily for the Illinois resident, however. Coming into the final table in the middle of the pack, Vance worked his way to heads-up play against Brian Roberts, from Indiana.

In Copenhagen, Vance had to endure a grueling four and a half hours of heads-up play before claiming his EPT win. This time it only took 10 hands and he had another title to add to his resume.

The final-table results were:

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Tim Vance	Milstadt, Ill.	$61,020
2nd	Brian Roberts	Ridgeville, Ind.	$32,747
3rd	Bob Miller	Dubois, Ind.	$16,272
4th	Chad Hahn	Indianapolis, Ind.	$14,238
5th	Cy Dixon	Lexington, Ky.	$12,204
6th	Bill Varga	Paris, Ky.	$10,170
7th	David Cupps	Bedford, Ill.	$8,136
8th	Pat Peercy	Fortville, Ind.	$6,102
9th	Daniel Numan	Johnson City, Tenn.	$4,068

Event 6, $200 Ladies Only

From the looks of the final table, it seemed that Patty Till should have had an easy win in the Ladies Only event of the WSOP Caesars Indiana. She entered the final table with $235,000 in chips, while her nearest competitor, Kelley Kiser, was sitting with $92,000.

As the final table played out, however, Kiser started to close the gap as she and Till took turns taking out most of the other players at the table. Kiser even pulled ahead in the chip count when the table was four-handed, and when she entered heads-up play against Till, she had a 3-2 chip lead.

After 10 hands of play heads-up, the two players were nearly neck and neck again. They took a short break, and when they returned, they played one hand all-in.

Till had pocket fives, while Kiser had J-8. Initially it looked like Till's pocket fives were going to hold up, but an eight on the river gave Kiser the win.

The final-table results were:

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1st	Kelley Kiser	South Bloomfield, Ohio	$12,879
2nd	Patty Till	Avon, Ind.	$7,083
3rd	Janet Branson	Greenfield, Ohio	$3,622
4th	Jennifer Legowski	Poplar Grove, Ill.	$2,817
5th	Carrie Oster	Greenwood, Tenn.	$2,415
6th	Rita Davison	Loveland, Ohio	$2,012
7th	Rikki Herriman	Indianapolis, Ind.	$1,610
8th	Amanda Zeger	Galion, Ohio	$1,207
9th	Linda McDonald	Columbia, S.C.	$805

Related Article: Fast play, major comebacks at Indiana WSOPC

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The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 8: Tournament Tipping an Issue
This issue has been a very difficult one for me to write about but I think that it is a topic that currently deserves discussion. I like to think that my reputation was built on integrity and that money has never been the most important...

PokerStars Announces 'Battle of the Planets'
Leading online poker site PokerStars has just announced a new sit-and-go (SNG) tournament leader board concept, launching its 'Battle of the Planets' promotion that will pay out over $3,000,000 per year to its participants.

Poker News - PaddyPowerPoker deals 1 billionth hand

2008-04-07T13:30:00.001-07:00

PaddyPowerPoker deals 1 billionth hand

Every 200,000 hands in the countdown to 1 billion is a "Countdown Hand," while every 5 millionth hand is a "Jackpot Hand." Cash players who participate in one of these hands can win prizes up to $14,000. The winners of the Jackpot Hands also win ECOOP II tickets.

All players participating in the final 100 hands leading up to the billionth hand gain entry to a special $10,000 freeroll. And that's not all:

The Billionth Hand

If you're fortunate enough to be part of the billionth hand, not only will you get a seat in the $10,000 freeroll, you'll also receive $30,000. If you happen to win the 1 billionth hand, you will be awarded $50,000, and have a $2,500 bounty put on your head for the $10,000 freeroll.

Starting at cash table hand ID 950,000,000, PaddyPower Poker will give out cash prizes to Countdown and Jackpot hands as outlined below.

Countdown Hand Bonus

Table Stake	Winner Takes	Participants in Hand Split
Micro	$65	$65
Low	$250	$250
Medium	$1,000	$1,000
High	$3,500	$3,500

Jackpot Hand Bonus

Table Stake	Winner Takes	Participants in Hand Split
Micro	$250	$250
Low	$1,000	$1,000
Medium	$4,000	$4,000
High	$14,000	$14,000

Table Stake Definitions

Table Stake	Fixed Limit	NL/PL
Micro	$0.02/$0.04 - $0.10/$0.20	$0.01/$0.02 - $0.05/$0.10
Low	$0.25/$0.50 - $1/$2	$0.10/$0.20 - $0.50/$1
Medium	$2/$4 - $5/$10	$1/$2 - $2/$4
High	$10/$20 and up	$3/$6 and up

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Titan Poker to send players to Austria

The Salzburg Poker Cup is anticipated to attract 400 players for its Main Event as well as hundreds more to the two side events scheduled.

Not only will winners at Titan Poker get a shot at the main event, they'll also get to play in Event 2 of the Poker Cup. The $4,000 prize packages being given out at Titan Poker include the buy-ins for both events.

The prize package also includes accommodation, flights and spending money as well as the opportunity to enjoy what the city has to offer. Titan Poker will take its players on a private beer tour, provide an exclusive iPoker lunch, and give players a chance to explore the city.

The first super-satellite at Titan Poker for the Salzburg Poker cup took place April 3, and players will get their final chance to win a prize package April 10.

The super satellite has a $100+$9 buy-in and will start at 8:05 p.m. (CET). There are also ongoing and daily qualifiers for players to win their way into the super-satellite for much less of an out-of-pocket investment.

The schedule of qualifiers is as follows:

Date	Time	Event	Details
Ongoing	Ongoing	$10.90+$1 Stage 1 SNG	One seat in super-satellite for every 10 players
Daily	5:30 p.m.	$15+$1.50 Stage 1 Freezeout	One seat in super-satellite for every $109 collected
Daily	8:50 p.m.	$10+$1 Stage 1 R/A	One seat in super-satellite for every $109 collected
Ongoing	Ongoing	$1.10+20¢ Stage 2 SNG	Seats awarded to next daily Stage 1 at 8:50 p.m. (CET)
Daily	12:10 p.m.	$2+20¢ Stage 2 Freezeout	One seat for every $16.50 awarded for daily Stage 1 Freezeout
Daily	1:45 p.m.	2+20¢ Stage 2 Turbo R/A	One seat for every $11 awarded for daily Stage 1 R/A

Titan Poker hands out plenty of seats and other prizes to its players. Along with the EPT San Remo seats, the site has dished out Aussie Million, World Series of Poker, World Poker Showdown, Irish Open and other EPT event seats.

The poker site also recently signed on as the main sponsor of the Eurocity Poker Tour, which is hosting its inaugural event, the Madrid Open, in May.

The European Championship of Online Poker II will also take place on Titan Poker this May with $3.5 million in guaranteed cash spread through 10 days of events.

Related Articles:

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#362 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #12 – Highlights from High Noon
In the second pair of brackets today, Clubs/Spades, all but one of the matches ended in 70 minutes and without as much weird action has the Diamonds/Hearts round of 32. I was saving up my round-up notes for the end...

Poker game leads to stabbing death in Atlantic City
A disagreement at a poker table led to a stabbing death Saturday at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. According to a story at majorwager.com: Vicente Perez, 57, of Georgia, began arguing with another man at a Taj poker table, Vitale said. They stepped ��...full article

A disagreement at a poker table led to a stabbing death Saturday at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City.

According to a story at majorwager.com:

Vicente Perez, 57, of Georgia, began arguing with another man at a Taj poker table, Vitale said. They stepped out of the casino and into the valet parking area of the garage near the Virginia Avenue entrance, where the argument descended into violence.

The victim, whose identity was not released pending the notification of his family, was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m. at AtlantiCare Medical Center in Atlantic City.

Whole thing here.

Perez is in custody and faces charges of aggravated manslaughter and two weapons charges.

Poker News - iMEGA to challenge dismissal of lawsuit against UIGEA

2008-04-06T22:45:00.001-07:00

iMEGA to challenge dismissal of lawsuit against UIGEA
The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association filed notice that it plans to challenge the dismissal of its lawsuit against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States. iMEGA has said that the UIGEA infringes upon basic constitutional rights and that criminalization of ��...full article

The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association filed notice that it plans to challenge the dismissal of its lawsuit against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States.

iMEGA has said that the UIGEA infringes upon basic constitutional rights and that criminalization of financial transactions can be illegal in some instances.

According to pokerpages.com:

Earlier this month, though Judge Mary L. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed the overall case, she countered a major government challenge to iMEGA’s suit by ruling that iMEGA did indeed have “legal standing” to pursue challenging UIGEA further, which was a strategic victory (click here for related article).

Commenting on important elements within the ruling, Eric M. Bernstein, Esq., attorney for iMEGA noted that “Judge Cooper’s ruling holds that, even with the passage of UIGEA, online gambling is only illegal in states where a statute specifically says it is.” Joe Brennan Jr., the chairman of iMEGA noted another significant aspect of the ruling, saying, “Judge Cooper found that banks, credit card companies and other payment system instruments are exempt from criminal sanctions under UIGEA, significantly undercutting UIGEA’s enforcement mechanism. Her ruling echoes the growing consensus of opinion that UIGEA is a fundamentally flawed statute.”

Whole thing here.

iMEGA’s recent filing is only the first step in the appeals process for its case against the UIGEA.

American qualifier wins EPT San Remo
The European Poker Tour San Remo final table featured four players who had made it to EPT final tables before. But an American who qualified online beat them all. Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier won the event, cashing for $1.34 million in winning his first live poker tournament ��...full article

The European Poker Tour San Remo final table featured four players who had made it to EPT final tables before. But an American who qualified online beat them all.

Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier won the event, cashing for $1.34 million in winning his first live poker tournament win.

The final table took just three hours from first hand to last.

Here’s how heads-up play went, according to wickedchopspoker.com:

Anthony Lellouche finished in second place for $779,215. Mercier had a big chip lead entering heads-up play, and the heads-up battle only lasted two hands. The two players got all of their chips in the middle with Lellouche holding a pair of sevens and Mercier holding K-Q offsuit. The flop was a great one for Mercier as it came A-Q-4 with two spades, giving him middle pair and the highest spade in case running spades came on the turn and river. The turn and river ended up being the harmless 8 and 2 of clubs, and Mercier secured the victory.

Whole thing here.

Dario Minieri, who gained fame at last year’s World Series of Poker main event, entered the final table as the chip leader but finished in third place for $443,767. He was eliminated by Mercier.

PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 3: Minieri to Head Final
31 players returned to Casino San Remo for Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo championship, including WSOP bracelet holder Todd Brunson, Italian superstar Dario Minieri, and chip leader Jason Mercier, an American...

Poker game leads to stabbing death in Atlantic City
A disagreement at a poker table led to a stabbing death Saturday at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. According to a story at majorwager.com: Vicente Perez, 57, of Georgia, began arguing with another man at a Taj poker table, Vitale said. They stepped ��...full article

A disagreement at a poker table led to a stabbing death Saturday at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City.

According to a story at majorwager.com:

Vicente Perez, 57, of Georgia, began arguing with another man at a Taj poker table, Vitale said. They stepped out of the casino and into the valet parking area of the garage near the Virginia Avenue entrance, where the argument descended into violence.

The victim, whose identity was not released pending the notification of his family, was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m. at AtlantiCare Medical Center in Atlantic City.

Whole thing here.

Perez is in custody and faces charges of aggravated manslaughter and two weapons charges.

Mississippi considers bill that will try to retain Florida gamblers
The state of Mississippi is considering measures and tax breaks that would help keep Florida gamblers coming back to the state. Mississippi is reacting to casino expansion by the Seminole Tribe and new Florida laws that will expand poker and greyhound racing in the state. According to ��...full article

The state of Mississippi is considering measures and tax breaks that would help keep Florida gamblers coming back to the state.

Mississippi is reacting to casino expansion by the Seminole Tribe and new Florida laws that will expand poker and greyhound racing in the state.

According to pokerpages.com:

This week, Florida’s poker expansion bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, passed the Florida Senate committee with an 8-2 vote. It paves the way for high-stakes and celebrity tournaments at parimutuels. It would also expand gaming to 18 hours a day on weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends, reports the Miami Herald. Current law allows card rooms to operate for no more than 12 hours a day.

The bill would also allow parimutuels to host and broadcast celebrity or charity poker tournaments like the ones that have become television mainstays in recent years. They could also have high-stakes tournaments in which up to 1,000 players each pay up to $10,000 in entry fees.

Whole thing here.

Mississippi is concerned about its gambling industry — nearly a quarter of the visitors to its casinos came from neighboring Florida last year. That could mean a loss in revenue of up to a quarter of a billion dollars for Mississippi, according to the story.

Mississippi’s legislature is now considering a bill that would give tax breaks for casinos that build attractions for non-gamblers.

PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors.

According to a press release from PokerXFactor:

The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced poker instruction to the PokerXFactor (PXF) Training Center library, plus numerous articles and blogs aimed at helping poker players win. In addition, Chris Wallace, who is recognized as a top poker coach today, will focus on teaching PXF subscribers bankroll building, cash games, poker software and tools, and general poker best practices. Adam Stemple will become PokerXFactor’s lead instructor on mixed games. Both instructors will play active roles in the PokerXFactor community.

Whole thing here.

Both old and new content from PokerFox instructors will appear at PokerXFactor early this month.

Poker Room Review: Santa Ana Star, Bernalillo, NM
The Santa Ana Star Casino is located in Bernalillo, a small city between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, just west of Interstate 25. It is a full service New Mexican casino, located on an Indian pueblo, with all of the limitations required...

Poker News - #370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch

2008-04-06T20:00:00.001-07:00

#370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch
To me, this is almost an anticlimax. Andy Bloch? Chris Ferguson? How could I choose between them. They both enriched the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE tremendously, and well as my own skills and my life. Two of the best...

#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...

Mississippi considers bill that will try to retain Florida gamblers
The state of Mississippi is considering measures and tax breaks that would help keep Florida gamblers coming back to the state. Mississippi is reacting to casino expansion by the Seminole Tribe and new Florida laws that will expand poker and greyhound racing in the state. According to ��...full article

The state of Mississippi is considering measures and tax breaks that would help keep Florida gamblers coming back to the state.

Mississippi is reacting to casino expansion by the Seminole Tribe and new Florida laws that will expand poker and greyhound racing in the state.

According to pokerpages.com:

This week, Florida’s poker expansion bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, passed the Florida Senate committee with an 8-2 vote. It paves the way for high-stakes and celebrity tournaments at parimutuels. It would also expand gaming to 18 hours a day on weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends, reports the Miami Herald. Current law allows card rooms to operate for no more than 12 hours a day.

The bill would also allow parimutuels to host and broadcast celebrity or charity poker tournaments like the ones that have become television mainstays in recent years. They could also have high-stakes tournaments in which up to 1,000 players each pay up to $10,000 in entry fees.

Whole thing here.

Mississippi’s legislature is now considering a bill that would give tax breaks for casinos that build attractions for non-gamblers.

Women's Poker Spotlight: Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher on Poker in Singapore
When one hears the names Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, they're almost as common as water and ice. The two names are so synonymous with poker one expects them to be in attendance at any major poker event. Linda and Jan are currently trying...

Deadline passes for U.S. to settle online gambling dispute with Antigua
The United States is apparently not interested in settling its dispute with Antigua regarding online gambling — at least not right now. The U.S. had a deadline of April 1 to offer a proposal that would rectify its dispute with the Caribbean nation via the World ��...full article

The United States is apparently not interested in settling its dispute with Antigua regarding online gambling — at least not right now.

The U.S. had a deadline of April 1 to offer a proposal that would rectify its dispute with the Caribbean nation via the World Trade Organization. The WTO had ruled earlier that the United States was breaking trade agreements by not allowing Antigua’s online gambling and poker operations access to the U.S. market.

According to the pokerpages.com:

Neither Mark Mendel, Antigua and Barbuda’s attorney, or the local Directorate of Gaming had received any communication from US officials, the Antigua Sun newspaper reported.
The paper relayed that, “In a process that has seen many delays and missed deadlines, the apparent failure of the US to put forward a settlement proposal by the end of the month was apparently met with an air of resignation in Antigua and Barbuda, with officials continuing to adopt a “wait and see” approach to the protracted negotiations process.”

Whole thing here.

The WTO had granted Antigua a sanction of $21 million a year against the U.S., which could mean that Antigua could ignore U.S. copyright restrictions as part of that settlement.

#363 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #13 – Clubs and Spades Finish Without Incident
Seriously, compared with the action that came before, the second round of the Clubs/Spades bracket was not especially exciting. All but one of the matches were over in 70 minutes and the all-in-fest that started 30 minutes in usually featured...

#368 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #18 – Chris Ferguson Has Eliminated Phil Ivey to Make the Finals of the Championship for the Third Time in Four Years
Chris Ferguson eliminates Phil Ivey to win his way into the finals. On a board of 9-4-3-5, Chris bets 100,000. Ivey moves all-in. Chris thinks about it for 4 minutes. He’s shaking his head almost imperceptibly. He doesn’t look happy....

#364 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #14 – Special Delivery
I had to delay writing this because after the last round ended I was standing talking with Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow and Phil started asking about food. What’s around here? I was thinking of getting a slice of pizza...

#367 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #17 – The Other Quarterfinals, or, It’s a Tilt-Eat-Tilt World
The two semifinalists from the morning round, Andy Bloch and Huckleberry Seed, are both red pros. Three of the four in the afternoon quarterfinals are Team Tilters, Ivey/Hansen and Chris Ferguson. Jonathan Little is also wearing the colors. So when...

Poker News - #362 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #12 – Highlights from High Noon

2008-04-06T05:45:00.001-07:00

#362 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #12 – Highlights from High Noon
In the second pair of brackets today, Clubs/Spades, all but one of the matches ended in 70 minutes and without as much weird action has the Diamonds/Hearts round of 32. I was saving up my round-up notes for the end...

PokerStars.com EPT San Remo, Day 3: Minieri to Head Final
31 players returned to Casino San Remo for Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo championship, including WSOP bracelet holder Todd Brunson, Italian superstar Dario Minieri, and chip leader Jason Mercier, an American...

PokerXFactor acquires PokerFox
PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors. According to a press release from PokerXFactor: The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced ��...full article

According to a press release from PokerXFactor:

The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced poker instruction to the PokerXFactor (PXF) Training Center library, plus numerous articles and blogs aimed at helping poker players win. In addition, Chris Wallace, who is recognized as a top poker coach today, will focus on teaching PXF subscribers bankroll building, cash games, poker software and tools, and general poker best practices. Adam Stemple will become PokerXFactor’s lead instructor on mixed games. Both instructors will play active roles in the PokerXFactor community.

Whole thing here.

Both old and new content from PokerFox instructors will appear at PokerXFactor early this month.

#366 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #16 – The First Quarterfinals
GAME FACE In the first pair of matches in the quarterfinals, everybody has their game face on. Seed v. Benyamine, Bloch v. Hershiser....

#372 - Chris Ferguson has won the NBC Heads-Up Championship
Details to follow immediately, 9 44 PM....

Poker News - #359 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #10 – Spades Wrap-Up

2008-04-05T09:01:00.001-07:00

#359 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #10 – Spades Wrap-Up
We’re less than an hour from starting the second round (a/k/a “round of 32”) and I still want to post a preview of the coming matches, so let me summarize very briefly how the Spades bracket sorted itself out last...

Poker News - RaiNKhaN wins Foxwoods event, and is on a roll

2008-04-05T05:30:00.001-07:00

RaiNKhaN wins Foxwoods event, and is on a roll
On Wednesday, Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan won the $2,000 buy-in no limit hold’em preliminary event at the 2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic, winning $108,000. Khan, who gained fame in reaching the final table of last year’s World Series of Poker main event, beat a field of 192 ��...full article

On Wednesday, Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan won the $2,000 buy-in no limit hold’em preliminary event at the 2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic, winning $108,000.

Khan, who gained fame in reaching the final table of last year’s World Series of Poker main event, beat a field of 192 people to win the event. But that is just part of Khan’s recent string of success, according to pokerkingblog.com

Anyways, the last month has been a particularly good one for Khan.

First he took 14th in the main event of the WSOP Circuit event in Atlantic City. This was good for $13.4k, but Khan was just getting started. A few weeks later, Khan outlasted 2503 other players and took down the Sunday Warm-up on Pokerstars for $98k, which was his biggest online cash ever. As you can imagine, Khan used his subdued and calm nature to patiently navigate his way through the tournament.

Whole thing here.

Khan, who got a lot of TV time last year for his antics at the WSOP, may have to be more subdued at this year’s events — new rules have been made to try to curtail excessive celebration.

The notice is a preliminary step for iMEGA before it files a full brief regarding its appeal. The notice was filed by Eric Bernstein, iMEGA's chief counsel, and a copy was sent to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Coleman Snead of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division in Washington D.C.

iMEGA's lawsuit is based on its belief that the UIGEA is a bad law and violates Americans' constitutional rights because it prevents them from engaging in their fundamental right to conduct their lives however they wish to.

The UIGEA prevents people from exercising that right because it is designed to stop online gambling by preventing the electronic processing of money from financial institutions and credit cards to or from online gambling sites.

In early March, U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper dismissed the lawsuit based on her finding that the UIGEA had been legally enacted and doesn't violate the Constitution.

"We believe Judge Cooper missed the opportunity to affirm Americans' online privacy rights and we plan to appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals," Bernstein said when the ruling was release.

In her ruling, Cooper did give iMEGA legal standing to challenge the UIGEA. As an association acting on behalf of its members who could potentially be affected by the UIGEA being implemented, iMEGA has the right to continue an appeal or possibly file a new action against the law on different grounds.

Related Articles:

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PokerXFactor acquires PokerFox
PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors. According to a press release from PokerXFactor: The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced ��...full article

According to a press release from PokerXFactor:

The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced poker instruction to the PokerXFactor (PXF) Training Center library, plus numerous articles and blogs aimed at helping poker players win. In addition, Chris Wallace, who is recognized as a top poker coach today, will focus on teaching PXF subscribers bankroll building, cash games, poker software and tools, and general poker best practices. Adam Stemple will become PokerXFactor’s lead instructor on mixed games. Both instructors will play active roles in the PokerXFactor community.

Whole thing here.

Both old and new content from PokerFox instructors will appear at PokerXFactor early this month.

Poker News - #368 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #18 – Chris Ferguson Has Eliminated Phil Ivey to Make the Finals of the Championship for the Third Time in Four Years

2008-04-04T01:00:00.001-07:00

#368 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #18 – Chris Ferguson Has Eliminated Phil Ivey to Make the Finals of the Championship for the Third Time in Four Years
Chris Ferguson eliminates Phil Ivey to win his way into the finals. On a board of 9-4-3-5, Chris bets 100,000. Ivey moves all-in. Chris thinks about it for 4 minutes. He’s shaking his head almost imperceptibly. He doesn’t look happy....

iMEGA to challenge dismissal of lawsuit against UIGEA
The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association filed notice that it plans to challenge the dismissal of its lawsuit against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States. iMEGA has said that the UIGEA infringes upon basic constitutional rights and that criminalization of ��...full article

iMEGA has said that the UIGEA infringes upon basic constitutional rights and that criminalization of financial transactions can be illegal in some instances.

According to pokerpages.com:

Earlier this month, though Judge Mary L. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed the overall case, she countered a major government challenge to iMEGA’s suit by ruling that iMEGA did indeed have “legal standing” to pursue challenging UIGEA further, which was a strategic victory (click here for related article).

Commenting on important elements within the ruling, Eric M. Bernstein, Esq., attorney for iMEGA noted that “Judge Cooper’s ruling holds that, even with the passage of UIGEA, online gambling is only illegal in states where a statute specifically says it is.” Joe Brennan Jr., the chairman of iMEGA noted another significant aspect of the ruling, saying, “Judge Cooper found that banks, credit card companies and other payment system instruments are exempt from criminal sanctions under UIGEA, significantly undercutting UIGEA’s enforcement mechanism. Her ruling echoes the growing consensus of opinion that UIGEA is a fundamentally flawed statute.”

Whole thing here.

iMEGA’s recent filing is only the first step in the appeals process for its case against the UIGEA.

Four-time World Poker Tour title winner Gus Hansen will have his hands full at the Poker After Dark tables this week as he takes on five of poker's most prominent female players.

With more than $5 million in tournament winnings, and six previous appearances on the show, including one win, Hansen may prove to be a tough opponent for the women lined up against him this week.

However, these aren't ladies who will be easy to steamroll at the table, either. Clonie Gowen has made three appearances on Poker After Dark as well, winning twice and finishing in fourth place just behind Gus Hansen in a February 2007 session of the show.

Vanessa Rousso has also made a couple of appearances on the show as well. Plus she has nearly $800,000 in tournament winnings, much of which has come from World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour cashes.

The remaining three ladies heading to the table are new to Poker After Dark, but they all have fairly impressive poker pedigrees.

Erica Schoenberg switched from professional blackjack to Texas Hold'em in 2005. Since then she's racked up nearly $600,000 in tournament winnings. That includes cashes in three WPT and three WSOP events.

Beth Shak also hasn't been playing that long, though she has the advantage of also being married to professional player Dan Shak. She has two WSOP final-table appearances on her resume and not quite $400,000 in tournament winnings to her name.

Perhaps one of the more formidable ladies at the table will be JJ Liu. Not only has she cashed in more than 40 major tournaments around the world, including several WSOP and WPT events, she also became the highest-placing female in a WPT event in 2007 with her second-place finish at the Bay 101 Shooting Star event.

Her tournament career has added up to more than $1.6 million in winnings, putting her the closest to matching Hansen's accomplishments.

The question is will Hansen have what it takes to conquer the ladies at the poker table, or will he find that his status as one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people in 2004 means nothing when it comes to female pros gunning for a $120,000 prize?

Play begins tonight on NBC and will continue with episodes all week long and a recap on Saturday night. Check your local listings for times.

Related Articles:

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Poker News - House Hearing Examines Burdensome UIGEA Regulations

2008-04-04T00:01:00.001-07:00

House Hearing Examines Burdensome UIGEA Regulations
On Wednesday morning, a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee convened to discuss 'Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden without Benefit? The hearing came as federal regulators continue to consider comments made...

Poker News - #365 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #15 – Load Up on Guns and Bring Your Friends

2008-04-03T05:45:00.001-07:00

#365 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #15 – Load Up on Guns and Bring Your Friends
This was a wild day of poker at the Heads-Up Championship. We’re down to eight players and what a concentration of world-class talents we have. Here’s the line-up for the Sunday quarterfinals:...

#366 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #16 – The First Quarterfinals
GAME FACE In the first pair of matches in the quarterfinals, everybody has their game face on. Seed v. Benyamine, Bloch v. Hershiser....

Poker News - College Poker Life: New York University System

2008-04-03T00:15:00.001-07:00

College Poker Life: New York University System
With just a few weeks left in the school year for students attending New York University, those students have enjoyed a healthy year of poker options, ranging from many campus-sponsored events to local home and dorm tournaments...

Florida Poker Expansion Bill Passes State Senate Committee
A bill designed to liberalize poker offerings in Florida successfully passed through a state Senate committee earlier today. The bill, designed to improve the selection and availability of poker at Florida parimutuels, was sponsored...

Playboy issue featuring Jennicide is on newsstands
The poker community has known for some time now about Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh’s appearance in the May issue of Playboy, and the wait is now officially over. The May issue has hit newsstands, according to neverwinpoker.com:

The poker community has known for some time now about Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh’s appearance in the May issue of Playboy, and the wait is now officially over.

The May issue has hit newsstands, according to neverwinpoker.com:
(more…)

#371 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #21 – Queens Rule – Match Two - Ferguson
Cards were in the air for Match #2 in the best-of-three format at about 7:45 PM. Andy Bloch was responsible for me meeting Penn Jillette and Jimmy Carter on the same day. Chris used to be an avid basketball and...

#370 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #20 – The Brain Trust - Match One - Bloch
To me, this is almost an anticlimax. Andy Bloch? Chris Ferguson? How could I choose between them. They both enriched the FULL TILT POKER STRATEGY GUIDE tremendously, and well as my own skills and my life. Two of the best...

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Highlights Upcoming Jennifer Harman Nevada SPCA Fundraiser
Jennifer Harman and friends, both human and canine, met on the grounds of the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) no-kill animal sanctuary Monday afternoon for a ribbon cutting ceremony and press conference...

The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. #7: Dewey Tomko, Part 2
I always enjoy spending time with Dewey as we have the same interests for the most part -- poker, golf, and as it turns out we are equally picky about food, although it doesn't look that way. He has some of the greatest stories...

#364 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #14 – Special Delivery
I had to delay writing this because after the last round ended I was standing talking with Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow and Phil started asking about food. What’s around here? I was thinking of getting a slice of pizza...

Poker News - More Congressmen call for details on U.S. gambling settlements

2008-04-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

More Congressmen call for details on U.S. gambling settlements
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have requested more information from the United States Trade Representative on U.S. concessions regarding foreign online gambling and poker operators. The two high-ranking Congressmen want to learn more about ��...full article

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have requested more information from the United States Trade Representative on U.S. concessions regarding foreign online gambling and poker operators.

The two high-ranking Congressmen want to learn more about a deal brokered with the EU, Japan and Canada to award compensation for the United States’ lockout of gambling interests, which went against the country’s trade agreements.
(more…)

Montel Williams to play for Team USA in Poker Nations Cup
Talk show host Montel Williams will represent the United States on the felt. Williams was selected by team captain Robert Williamson III to join Team USA for the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup, which will be held in Cardiff, Wales, from April 7-10. He joins teammates Jamie ��...full article

Talk show host Montel Williams will represent the United States on the felt.

Williams was selected by team captain Robert Williamson III to join Team USA for the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup, which will be held in Cardiff, Wales, from April 7-10. He joins teammates Jamie Gold, Chris Ferguson and Chad Brown.

According to cardplayer.com:

Williams will compete in the $5,000 buy-in event against Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, and Germany for a team prize of $100,000 while the winners of individual matches will take home $20,000. Party Poker have added $100,000 to the prize pool.

There are six heats and players score points according to their finish in the heat. The final sees the team captains make tactical substitutions and strategic time outs.

Whole thing here.

Sweden won the event last year and has been installed as this year’s favorite by oddsmakers.

Asian Poker Tour releases 2008 schedule

There will be events in Macau, South Korea and Singapore after that. The venues and dates for those legs of the tour haven't been announced yet.

Each tournament on the APT will offer a $1 million guaranteed prize pool this year, which the APT says is sure to attract poker players from all over the world. There will also be online qualifiers to each event to ensure online poker players will get a shot to play against some of the game's top pros in a live setting.

During the 2007 APT, pros such as Liz Lieu and Johnny Chan made their way to some events. Tony G even won the Singapore event in 2007.

"The Asian Poker Tour will definitely be a top-class brand. This is such an exciting time for poker players in Asia and we feel that with our expertise and skills, we can make the APT a bigger and better series of events each year," said Chris Parker, AsianLogic CEO.

"From the four events that will take place this year, the APT plans to expand to a total of six events in 2009. We are continually working to set up some of the world's most exciting and prestigious poker tournaments."

Online gaming company ESL-Asia, a subsidiary of AsianLogic, took over the APT and will organize all the online and land-based tournaments associated with the tour, as well as handling brand management for it.

The opening leg of the APT is slated to be a poker tournament of world-class standards, according to an APT press release. More than 400 players are expected to battle it out at the felt during six days of poker in Manila, Philippines.

The buy-in for the event is $2,500, and the other three events are expected to have the same buy-in and same $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

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Hansen takes on ladies on

Four-time World Poker Tour title winner Gus Hansen will have his hands full at the Poker After Dark tables this week as he takes on five of poker's most prominent female players.

With more than $5 million in tournament winnings, and six previous appearances on the show, including one win, Hansen may prove to be a tough opponent for the women lined up against him this week.

The remaining three ladies heading to the table are new to Poker After Dark, but they all have fairly impressive poker pedigrees.

Her tournament career has added up to more than $1.6 million in winnings, putting her the closest to matching Hansen's accomplishments.

Play begins tonight on NBC and will continue with episodes all week long and a recap on Saturday night. Check your local listings for times.

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Poker News - U.S. misses net gambling proposal deadline

2008-04-02T07:30:00.001-07:00

U.S. misses net gambling proposal deadline

According to the Antigua Sun, up to late Monday neither Mark Mendel, Antigua's attorney in the WTO matter, nor the local Directorate of Gaming had received any word from the U.S. Trade Representative in the matter.

Mendel had said last week they were anticipating a proposal from the United States on Monday, but they were adopting a "wait and see" approach. There was no indication what the U.S. proposal might be if it were to show up, and Antigua hadn't submitted a proposal of its own.

During the five-year online gambling trade dispute, the process has seen many delays and missed deadlines. The United States has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines on actions imposed by the WTO after its ruling that the online gambling ban flouted trade regulations.

The United States stopped fighting the ruling in 2007, giving Antigua the opportunity to ask for compensation in the dispute. The United States also decided to pull its commitments with the WTO in regards to online gambling, which opened it up to compensation claims from other nations that allow the industry.

Antigua took its initial compensation claims to a WTO arbitration panel which awarded it $21 million per year in trade sanctions. It has also requested arbitration for its second claim for the United States pulling out of agreements.

Mendel had told the Antigua Sun last week that any proposal put forth by the United States would cover both compensation claims to bring both aspects of the dispute to a close.

Several other countries have filed claims against the United States since it announced that it was withdrawing online gambling from its WTO agreements. Costa Rica was the latest to reach a settlement agreement with the United States, along with Canada, Japan and the European Union.

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Prime Table Games weighs in on net gambling

The ad, placed by Prime Table Games, was timed to coincide with the House subcommittee hearing on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act taking place Wednesday in Washington D.C.

The statement in the Wall Street Journal is titled "Who Will Face the Issues" and outlines the regulatory problems with international Internet gaming. According to a press release from the company, the primary concerns are gaming fraud, consumer protection and protection of intellectual property rights.

"It is well known that there are off-shore based Internet gaming operators who are engaged in deceptive practices with American consumers and international players, and there is no adequate system in place to ensure full and appropriate regulation," said Derek Webb, founder of Prime Table Games. "Congress needs to take action soon, or these practices will only get worse."

Prime Table Games' ad encourages Congress to adopt specific regulatory strategies for online gambling consumer protection. The company believes those regulatory strategies should include:

Limitations on solicitations and incentives to gamble, such as bonuses and cash back
Prohibition of affiliate relationships
Standard player verification procedures
Giving players the ability to self-exclude and have it automatically apply to all online gambling sites
Site operators assume responsibility for identity verification

Prime Table Games would also like to see the Internet gambling sites verify that players can afford to gamble at their chosen level. Internet gambling debts shouldn't be legally recoverable, and players who don't pay gambling debts should automatically be placed on an exclusion list.

"Internet gaming, by its very nature, has great potential for abuse," Webb said. "Site operators also should pay fees towards problem gambling treatment and research."

On Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology will meet to discuss the proposed UIGEA regulations that help further ban online gambling by preventing money transactions to online gambling sites.

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. and will include testimony from representatives from the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Several representatives of financial institutions are also listed on the witness list, including Harriet May, who will be speaking on behalf of the Credit Union National Association; Wayne Abernathy, representing the American Bankers Association; Leigh Williams, from the Financial Services Roundtable; and Ted Teruo Kitada, on behalf of Wells Fargo & Co.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) already has a bill before the House that would take the United States away from an online gambling ban and put in a regulatory system instead. He introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act last year and has been working on gaining support for the bill.

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EPT lands in Italy Tuesday

According to the EPT Web site, the event is already sold out despite it being the first time the tour has staged an event in Italy. Among the players signed up to play are Team PokerStars pros Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Vanessa Rousso, Raymond Rahme, Lee Nelson, Dario Minieri, Luca Pagano and Katja Thater.

There are plenty of online players heading for the live event courtesy of PokerStars as well. More than 160 players qualified for the EPT event at PokerStars.

Some prominent online players who will be in attendance include Ryan "Daut44" Daut, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan, among others.

With a full 500-person playing field expected for the €4,700 buy-in plus €300 fee event, the prize pool should top out at more than €2 million. Prize pools for EPT events have reached €2 million or more at eight out of the nine events on the tour so far this season, leaving the winners with €600,000 or more.

This event is the final leg of the tour before the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. The Grand Final is scheduled for April 12-17.

The winners of the Season 4 EPT events thus far are:

Barcelona Open: Sander Lylloff
London: Joseph Mouawad
Baden Classic: Julian Thew
Dublin: Reuben Peters
Prague: Arnaud Mattern
Caribbean Adventure: Bertrand Grospellier
German Open: Mike McDonald
Copenhagen: Tim Vance
Warsaw: Michael Schulze

Play in the San Remo event begins at 3 p.m. local time for Day 1a. The second half of the playing field will begin play on Wednesday with the tournament scheduled to crown a winner April 5.

PokerListings.com will be on the scene to bring you the best live updates, reports, interviews, photos and more from the Casino San Remo. Check it out in the Live Tournaments section.

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Free minds, free markets - and free poker!

"Poker Night At Reason HQ" will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 local time at the magazine's offices, located at 1747 Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C.

In attendance will be Team Full Tilt pro and former MIT Blackjack Team member Andy Bloch and 2000 WSOP Main Event champ Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. The two poker pros will join Reason for a panel discussion on a wide variety of poker topics before joining the attendees in a game.

Hosting Reason's poker night is Radley Balko, a senior editor at the magazine. Balko testified before Congress on the issue of Internet gambling last year, and has been a consistent critic of local police departments' use of SWAT teams to break up private poker games across America.

According to Balko, more than 100 individuals have sent RSVPs so far, and press outlets such as the Washington Post, Washington Times and the Associated Press will be on hand for the event.

"We've gotten a very favorable response," he says, noting that the magazine's small office will likely be filled to capacity - no surprise given the star power of the pros in attendance.

I talked to Balko today about the Reason poker night, the legal state of online poker, and how the poker community can best pitch its case to the public.

The future of online poker

The cloud of negativity that hung over the poker community after the passage of the UIGEA has begun to lift in recent months thanks to a number of factors, including the WTO's rulings in favor of Antigua and the slow but steady progress of pro-online legislation such as Massachusetts representative Barney Frank's proposed Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. The sense that legal online poker is coming back to the United States has been hard for some poker aficionados to shake.

For his part, Balko doesn't seem to think it's quite as close.

"I think Rep. Frank is doing great work, and we have seen some Democrats defect over to the pro-legalization side. But my general perception is that we're still a long way from the Frank bill being passed."

Among the other bills currently before Congress that would benefit online poker is the Skill Game Protection Act, proposed by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.). Rep. Wexler's legislation would carve out an exemption for skill-based games like poker and backgammon without touching the rest of America's shaky legal framework with regard to online gambling.

"The Wexler bill is a little problematic in this idea of drawing distinctions and carve-outs for skill-based games," says Balko.

"If you try to carve out exceptions like that they can be revoked as easily as they can be passed. [A carve-out] is certainly better than a prohibition. But I do think it's important to make the broader-principled argument that it's none of the federal government's business and [prohibition] is not going to work anyway."

With what Balko describes as a "moral crusade" on the right and a "Nanny Statist mentality" on the left lined up against online poker's supporters, the push for legalization is bound to be a tough one.

"Your best hope here is to win over some libertarian-minded Republicans and the Democrats like Frank who still sort of understand the importance of civil liberties," say Balko. "But I think in general we're a long way from any kind of legalized regulatory scheme. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see it in the near future."

'Scary stuff'

A number of larger problems surround the legal issues currently of concern to poker players. Balko says that the government's proposed regulations for enforcing of the UIGEA, which PokerListings.com summarized a few weeks ago, has some of the most disturbing possible consequences.

"This idea of deputizing financial institutions to start monitoring your transactions - that's scary stuff," say Balko. "They're basically asking your bank to become a cop to monitor everything you do."

Then there's the issue of state laws attacking free speech, such as the statute in Washington state that put the act of publishing hypertext links to gambling Web sites into the category of "aiding and abetting" a crime.

But most dangerous of all, according to Balko, is the use of violent force against nonviolent citizens to enforce the law.

As the author of the Cato Institute's Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America, which profiles the use of SWAT teams and other dangerous tactics by police departments against American citizens, Balko is familiar with the local crackdowns on poker games across the country.

I asked him if there was much public awareness about the police using violent tactics against citizens playing low-stakes and charity poker games.

"I don't think there is," says Balko. "I think there would be a lot more outrage if people were more aware of it. We're trying to do our part [at Reason] to make people aware. We've written on the issue and produced a video with Drew Carey specifically on the American Legion outpost in Texas that was holding charity poker games and raided by a SWAT team. We're trying to draw attention to the issue."

Balko notes that the SWAT response that started with the War on Drugs has moved on not only to poker players, but also to others.

"We had a guy here in the D.C. area [37-year-old optometrist Salvatore Culosi] who was shot and killed in a SWAT raid. He was under investigation for nothing more than betting on football games with his friends. He had no prior criminal history and wasn't a violent guy.

"These SWAT raids are ridiculous. These are non-violent crimes, [involving] people who are getting together to have fun and are being subjected to these really excessive, overkill police actions."

Getting the word out

Balko says that the lack of public outrage regarding legal issues of importance to the poker community can be countered by getting the word out.

"I think the poker community could do a better job of publicizing when these raids happen," he says. "When we did the Drew Carey video… we got dozens of offers from lawyers to represent the people at the club who were facing charges pro bono. If you look at even non-poker sites like reddit and digg that linked to the video, the reaction was pretty one-sided against those sorts of tactics."

Most importantly, says Balko, the poker community needs to emphasize that it's everyday citizens who are being targeted in such raids.

"When people hear the words 'underground poker game,' they think of The Sopranos or some sort of shady dealings with armed guards at the door. I think it's important to get it out that these raids are happening to regular people who enjoy the game."

Even with all the forces aligned against the average poker player, Balko still thinks the game has a bright future in America.

"I think the good guys in this debate have the winning argument," he concludes. "I just think they need to do a better job of getting it out."

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NYU discussion on poker, business today

The discussion is co-sponsored by the NYU-Stern chapter of the student-led Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, the NYU Professional Development Society and the Quantitative Finance Society.

It is part of an ongoing series of forums, summits and speaking engagements by some of the top poker experts and players in the world, put on by the GPSTS.

Caby will talk about how he has used the strategies that make him a winning poker player to create a thriving online business. The 24-year-old is a highly successful online poker player, and since graduating from college he also co-founded a poker education company online.

"We are absolutely thrilled to host Taylor Caby at our NYU-Stern chapter. Mr. Caby is exactly the type of individual that the GPSTS is interested in, in that while he has found success at the poker table he has found even greater success in applying the strategies he learned playing poker to the wider business world," GPSTS Executive Director Andrew Woods said.

"He has a highly informed sense of how poker simulates behaviors in the boardroom and at the negotiations table."

The GPSTS was founded by Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson in 2007 to organize student poker societies at major universities and help them promote the use of poker as a teaching tool.

The GPSTS believes that poker teaches and sharpens important life skills, making it more than just a fun game. So the group is dedicated to sharing the poker strategic thinking philosophy, staging strategic poker matches between chapters and schools, hosting conferences and seminars that explore the strategic thinking inherent in poker and exploring new ways to use poker as a life skills educational tool.

Past participants in GPSTS seminars have included poker celebrities such as Jim McManus and Mike Sexton.

Today's seminar with Taylor Caby will take place in Room UC60 of Tisch Hall at 40 West 4th St., New York, N.Y.

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Asian Poker Tour releases 2008 schedule

There will be events in Macau, South Korea and Singapore after that. The venues and dates for those legs of the tour haven't been announced yet.

During the 2007 APT, pros such as Liz Lieu and Johnny Chan made their way to some events. Tony G even won the Singapore event in 2007.

The buy-in for the event is $2,500, and the other three events are expected to have the same buy-in and same $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

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Ladbrokes Poker brings back ELC

"The European Ladies Championship is the FA Cup of the poker circuit. Amateurs pit their wits against some of the best online poker players around for a shot at the title and the glory," said Samantha Alleyne, Ladbrokes Poker PR manager.

"It's a really prestigious event and the beauty of the tournament is like the FA Cup, it's an unmissable tournament guaranteed to deliver a few shocking results!"

Some of the best female poker players in Europe will be playing, including Annette Obrestad from Norway.

"This year's ELC line-up includes 19-year-old Annette Obrestad, who last September at just 18 won the £1,000,000 first prize in a poker tournament with a majority male field," Alleyne said. "We've got women from all walks of life playing in the tournament including an astrophysicist, housewives, an array of businesswomen and a 19-year-old student. If this does not show that poker is for everyone nothing will."

Qualifiers so far include:

Louise Duffy, Central London
Dawn Jones, East London
Jackie Meecham, - Leytonstone (Defending champion)
Helena Gannon, East London
Liv Boeree, South London
Jacqui Terry, North London
Helena Gannon, Essex
Bev Pace, Kent
Cheryl Burton, Oxord
Kelly Jackson, Birmingham
Kat Hartree, Shropshire
Michelle Bennet, Yorkshire
Tina Ainsworth, Mansfield
Helen Aspinall, Leeds
Kim Wheatley, Cheshire
Pauline Ring, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Elizabeth Costa, Anwick, Lincolnshire
Hazel Birchnall, Tyne & Wear
Louise Rumsey, Wales
Kate Barnbrook, Newport
Anne McDonnel, Co.Antrim, N.Ireland
Patricia McClean, N.Ireland
Lorna Mcdermid, Scotland

The ELC has proved to be very popular since its initiation, according to Ladbrokes Poker. Initially the tournament was developed as a way to introduce women to playing live poker, but the tournament has now established itself as a mainstay on the poker circuit.

There are four weeks left to qualify for the ELC at Ladbrokes Poker, and the tournament will take place May 3-4 at the London Studios.

The qualifiers for the tournament take place weekly on Mondays at 9 p.m. (GMT) at Ladbrokes Poker. It has a $250 buy-in but players can win their way into the qualifiers for as little as $5.

Winners of the weekly qualifier will receive a $2,500 prize package that includes:

$2,000 ELC buy-in
Two tickets to the ELC Party on May 2
Accommodation for two in London
Four Green Room passes for London Studios
Transport between the hotel and the studios

The ELC will have a guaranteed $100,000 prize pool. The highest-placing Ladbrokes Poker qualifier will also receive an added $14,000 Ladbrokes WSOP package sending them to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

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Hansen takes on ladies on

Four-time World Poker Tour title winner Gus Hansen will have his hands full at the Poker After Dark tables this week as he takes on five of poker's most prominent female players.

With more than $5 million in tournament winnings, and six previous appearances on the show, including one win, Hansen may prove to be a tough opponent for the women lined up against him this week.

The remaining three ladies heading to the table are new to Poker After Dark, but they all have fairly impressive poker pedigrees.

Her tournament career has added up to more than $1.6 million in winnings, putting her the closest to matching Hansen's accomplishments.

Play begins tonight on NBC and will continue with episodes all week long and a recap on Saturday night. Check your local listings for times.

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Josh Arieh taken out of blogger tourney by Abby17

Josh Arieh didn't get much of a chance to make any moves in the tournament however, as Abby17 took him out fairly early to collect the $100 bounty.

Abby17 found his chance to take out Arieh when the Team Bodog pro decided to make a move with pocket sevens. Abby17 called him down with A-Q and won the race when an ace hit the river.

Arieh went out in 47th place, and Abby17 put his chips to use to earn himself a third-place finish in the tournament.

Coming out on top of it all, however, was StinkyBritches, who won $156 plus T$109 for first place.

The final-table results were:

Place	Name	Prize
1st	StinkyBritches	$156 + T$109
2nd	TripJax	$104 + T$109
3rd	Abby17	$62.40 + T$109
4th	RecessRampage2	$52 + T$109
5th	emptyman	$41.60 + T$109
6th	Newinnov	$33.80
7th	JL514	$28.60
8th	raisydaisy22	$23.40
9th	TheDutchster	$18.20

Not all the players outside the money walked away empty handed either. The five bubble players received their buy-ins to next week's blogger tournament as well.

The blogger tournament costs $11 to enter and takes place each Tuesday at 9:05 p.m. (EDT). The weekly tournaments make up the 18 qualifying tournaments of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series.

The first event took place in early February and the last one is scheduled for June 3. The top 30% of players in each weekly tournament will be awarded points based on their finish and ranked over the four months.

At the end of the series, the top 18 players will play in the Final Tournament June 10, in which the first-place winner will receive a $12,000 World Series of Poker prize package.

The prize package includes the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event plus money for travel and accommodation.

The hearing is titled "Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden without Benefit?" and will take place at 10 a.m. (EDT) in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C.

The Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology subcommittee is a part of the House Financial Services Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Frank has been an outspoken opponent of the UIGEA and even introduced legislation last year that would overturn the new law.

His bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, seeks to legalize online gambling and set up a system to regulate the industry rather than trying to ban it.

Frank's bill includes provisions that licensing requirements would include protections against underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money laundering and fraud. It also gives the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the authority to establish regulations and license Internet gambling operations including poker and casino Web sites.

In order to operate legally in the United States, online gambling site operators would have to apply for a license. During the process, they would be subject to review of their financial condition, corporate structure and criminal background checks.

The companies would have to agree to be subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and those that obtain a license would also have to agree not to accept any type of bet or wager that is initiated or terminated in a state or tribal land that prohibits that type of Internet gambling.

The UIGEA is currently in the implementation stages as the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve work together to come up with a set of regulations to put the new law in place and enforce it.

In the meantime, the law has continued to face criticism from the online gambling industry as well as organizations such as the Poker Players Alliance.

The list of witnesses and speakers at the hearing has not been released yet, but it is likely that many of the UIGEA's detractors will be on hand to weigh in.

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Poker News - Titan Poker sending players east

2008-04-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

Titan Poker sending players east

Sunny Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is set to host the APPT event starting May 29, with the final table taking place on June 1. The tournament forecast calls for over 400 players to compete for the winner's share of a guaranteed $1 million prize pool.

Right now, you can find daily satellites running for as low as $3.30+3¢ to win a seat in one of the APPT Manila Super Satellites. The super-satellites, running March 31 to May 12, cost $250+$18 to buy in directly.

The winners of the super-satellites will be rewarded with a $6,000 APPT package for the Manila event, including:

$2,500 main event buy-in
$3,500 for flights and spending

With $1 million being the highest guaranteed prize pool ever offered in Asia, the Manila APPT event promises to deliver a world-class poker experience, and the chance for another online satellite winner to make his or her mark in the world of live poker.

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Norwegian Poker Championships moved to England
Norwegians won’t be able to play their country’s poker championship in their own country. Because poker’s legal status is uncertain in the Scandinavian country, officials for the Norwegian Poker Championships have decided to move the event, scheduled for April 28 to May 5, to Nottingham, England According ��...full article

Norwegians won’t be able to play their country’s poker championship in their own country.

Because poker’s legal status is uncertain in the Scandinavian country, officials for the Norwegian Poker Championships have decided to move the event, scheduled for April 28 to May 5, to Nottingham, England

According to pokerpages.com:

Several police raids on live poker events last year and Norwegian authorities declaring poker to be ‘illegal’ under current Norwegian lottery law have prompted the move. Widespread media coverage of Norwegian success stories such as the meteoric rise of Annette Obrestad who at 18 won the 2007 WSOP Europe, also served to put poker in the spotlight, making it a clearer target for poker foes as well as increasing its popularity.

Whole thing here.

The event still expects to draw about 500 players, according to the story.

D.C. think tank slams UIGEA
With a Congressional hearing on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act scheduled for this week, a conservative think tank released a paper that says the law is bad for the United States. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s white paper on the UIGEA highlights problems with the law ��...full article

With a Congressional hearing on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act scheduled for this week, a conservative think tank released a paper that says the law is bad for the United States.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s white paper on the UIGEA highlights problems with the law and its applications in the United States.
(more…)

Poker News - Unibet appeal of Netherlands gaming act violation is denied

2008-04-01T01:45:00.001-07:00

Unibet appeal of Netherlands gaming act violation is denied
Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto. According to pokernews.com: Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act ��...full article

Unibet lost an appeal in a Netherlands court this week, in which the online sportsbook and gaming site was deemed to be infringing on the market of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto.

According to pokernews.com:

Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act and infringing upon the market rights of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto (The Lotto). The October, 2007 ruling called for Unibet to pay De Lotto €100,000 per day, up to a maximum of €3,000,000, plus legal costs, for continuing to serve the Dutch market in offering wagering on amateur soccer games in the Netherlands. The recent denial upheld the decision in favor of De Lotto.

One report notes that this is the 17th time that competitors to De Lotto’s market interests have been struck down in court rulings.

The ruling comes as the Netherlands considers legislation like the United States’ Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

EPT lands in Italy Tuesday

There are plenty of online players heading for the live event courtesy of PokerStars as well. More than 160 players qualified for the EPT event at PokerStars.

Some prominent online players that will be in attendance include Ryan "Daut44" Daut, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan and others

With a full 500-person playing field expected for the €4,700 buy-in plus €300 fee event, the prize pool should end up at more than €2 million. Prize pools for EPT events have reached €2 million or more eight out of the nine events on the tour so far this season, leaving the winners with €600,000 or more.

This event is the final leg of the tour before the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. The Grand Final is scheduled for April 12-17.

The winners of the Season 4 EPT events thus far are:

Barcelona Open: Sander Lylloff
London: Joseph Mouawad
Baden Classic: Julian Thew
Dublin: Reuben Peters
Prague: Arnaud Mattern
Caribbean Adventure: Bertrand Grospellier
German Open: Mike McDonald
Copenhagen: Tim Vance
Warsaw: Michael Schulze

Play in the San Remo event begins at 3 p.m. local time for Day 1a. The second half of the playing field will begin play on Wednesday with the tournament scheduled to crown a winner April 5.

PokerListings.com will be on the scene to bring you the best live updates, reports, interviews, photos and more from the Casino Sanremo. Check it out in the Live Tournaments section.

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Ladbrokes Poker brings back ELC

"It's a really prestigious event and the beauty of the tournament is like the FA Cup, it's an un-missable tournament guaranteed to deliver a few shocking results!"

Some of the best female poker players in Europe will be playing, including Annette Obrestad from Norway.

"This year's ELC line-up includes 19-year-old, Annette Obrestad, who last September at just 19 won the £1,000,000 first prize in a poker tournament with a majority male field," Alleyne said. "We've got women from all walks of life playing in the tournament including an Astrophysicist, housewives an array if business women and a 19-year-old student. If this does not show that poker is for everyone nothing will."

Qualifiers so far include:

Louise Duffy, Central London
Dawn Jones, East London
Jackie Meecham, - Leytonstone (Defending champion)
Helena Gannon, East London
Liv Boeree, South London
Jacqui Terry, North London
Helena Gannon, Essex
Bev Pace, Kent
Cheryl Burton, Oxord
Kelly Jackson, Birmingham
Kat Hartree, Shropshire
Michelle Bennet, Yorkshire
Tina Ainsworth, Mansfield
Helen Aspinall, Leeds
Kim Wheatley, Cheshire
Pauline Ring, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Elizabeth Costa, Anwick, Lincolnshire
Hazel Birchnall, Tyne & Wear
Louise Rumsey, Wales
Kate Barnbrook, Newport
Anne McDonnel, Co.Antrim, N.Ireland
Patricia McClean, N.Ireland
Lorna Mcdermid, Scotland

There are four weeks left to qualify for the ELC at Ladbrokes Poker, and the tournament will take place May 3-4 at the London Studios.

The qualifiers for the tournament take place weekly on Mondays at 9 p.m. (GMT) at Ladbrokes Poker. It has a $250 buy-in but players can win their way into the qualifiers for as little as $5.

Winners of the weekly qualifier will receive a $2,500 prize package that includes:

$2,000 ELC buy-in
Two tickets to the ELC Party on May 2
Accommodations for two in London
Four Green Room passes for London Studios
Transport between the hotel and the studios

The ELC will have a guaranteed $100,000 prize pool. The highest placing Ladbrokes Poker qualifier will also receive an added $14,000 Ladbrokes WSOP package sending them to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

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