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

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

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Final Table Set for Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit Event

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

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

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

#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

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...