Internet poker online
01 30th, 2010
The field for the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event at the Aussie Millions may have been small at only 26-runners but it was one packed full of quality and in the end it was a big name who emerged victorious.
Read more here:
01 19th, 2010
The third event of the Aussie Millions 2010 tournament series, a $1,100 Limit Hold ‘em tournament, drew just 90 competitors but it was enough to dish out a $25,650 first prize to winner Simon Morris.
Read the original here:
01 19th, 2010
The Brunson 10, a team of young pros put together for , is one short after heads-up specialist and Bluff Europe contributor Alec “traheho” Torelli has left the site in order to join Victory Poker, a new site on the Everleaf network.
Read the original here:
Viktor Kiam famously liked Remington shavers so much that he bought the company. Now an online poker room is offering a similar opportunity to poker players.
Read more here:
01 18th, 2010
Dover native Steven Gedney hit a record-shattering Bad Beat Jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City of $553,958 last Friday. The behemoth prize pool dwarfed the former largest jackpot of $361,244 and Gedney raked in $276,979 as a result of the beat.
Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City, commented in a press release distributed by the East Coast casino, “This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team. The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record-setting jackpot couldn’t be more rewarding.”
Gedney held quad threes in the memorable hand, normally a stone cold lock to scoop any pot. However, in what was likely a mix of dismay and excitement, Gedney watched as his opponent, Chris Dobrzanski, flipped up four aces, triggering the Bad Beat Jackpot. Although dropping the $400 pot, Gedney hauled in a massive $276,979 prize for suffering the bad beat. Dobrzanski, meanwhile, hauled in the $400 spoils and added another $138,489 for dishing out the misfortune. The table was nine-handed, meaning that the other seven players seated each earned $19,784 for paying witness to history, enough to buy a new car just in time for final 2009 year-end closeouts.
Under the terms of the Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot, four of a kind must go down in smoke to a superior hand. Half of the Bad Beat Jackpot is awarded to the losing player in the hand, 25% is given to the winning player, and the remaining 25% is divided equally among the other players dealt to at the table when the bad beat occurred. In 2008, the Caesars Atlantic City poker room awarded nearly $1.2 million in Bad Beat Jackpot money and is well on its way to surpassing that amount this year.
As of January 11th, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot stood at $529,436, meaning that it grew by $25,000 last week alone before being hit on Friday. At Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, the Bad Beat Jackpot was $352,873 last Monday. At Showboat, the purse for doling out a bad beat was $118,970 one week ago and, at Bally’s, the bounty stood at $137,493. After being hit on Friday, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot sat at $152,000 today at Noon ET.
The Caesars Palace Atlantic City poker room sports 20 tables and 50-inch plasma televisions to allow players to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of sports. The casino spreads favorites like $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em and $2/$4, $3/$6, and $4/$8 Limit Hold’em. The venue is ramping up to host a () Circuit Event in March. The action kicks off in Atlantic City on March 3rd and concludes with a Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on March 14th. The $5,150 buy-in Caesars Atlantic City Circuit Championship, a three-day affair, will begin dealing cards on March 12th.
Here is the schedule of events for the Caesars Atlantic City Circuit stop in March:
Wednesday, March 3rd at 12:00pm ET
Event #1: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Thursday, March 4th at 12:00pm ET
Event #2: No Limit Hold’em
$590 buy-in
Friday, March 5th at 12:00pm ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Saturday, March 6th at 12:00pm ET
Event #4: No Limit Hold’em
$560 buy-in
Sunday, March 7th at 12:00pm ET
Event #5: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Monday, March 8th at 12:00pm ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em
$560 buy-in
Tuesday, March 9th at 12:00pm ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold’em
$1,080 buy-in
Wednesday, March 10th at 12:00pm ET
Event #8: Deep Stack
$1,600 buy-in
Thursday, March 11th at 12:00pm ET
Event #9: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Friday, March 12th at 12:00pm ET
Event #10: Caesars Atlantic City Championship Event
$5,150 buy-in
Saturday, March 13th at 12:00pm ET
Event 11: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Sunday, March 14th at 12:00pm ET
Event #12: Ladies No Limit Hold’em
$230 buy-in
Read more here:
For the first time since December 2007, Nevada casino “win” increased year over year. In November 2009, revenues grew 4.35%, snapping 22 consecutive months of falling win and perhaps signaling the start of a new streak.
All told, statewide revenue was $873.2 million in November 2009, an increase of 4.35% from the $836.8 million recorded in November 2008. For the fiscal year to date, which began in July and now runs through the end of November, revenues in the state of Nevada are $4.3 trillion, down 7.91% from the $4.7 trillion recorded one year prior. The figures, reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, are two months behind, meaning that November’s revenue figures are reported in January.
Casino owners in Clark County finally had something to cheer about. After watching revenues drop for 22 straight months, Clark County casinos hauled in $750.8 million in revenue in November, a bump of 6.86% from the $702.6 million recorded in the same period in 2008. On the famed Las Vegas Strip, which features poker-friendly casinos like the Wynn, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace, revenues were $473.8 million in November 2009, up a solid 8.26% from the $437.7 million recorded in November 2008. For the fiscal year to date, revenues on the Strip are $2.3 trillion, down 5.45% year over year.
In Downtown Las Vegas, which includes the home of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and NBC’s “Face the Ace,” the Golden Nugget, revenues in November totaled $47.4 million, down just 1.27% year over year. Over the fiscal year to date, Downtown casinos like Binion’s, the former home of the annual (), have seen revenues drop 8.41% collectively to $214.4 million. Recently, Binion’s shuttered its 365-room hotel.
In North Las Vegas, casino win rocketed 20.72% year over year in November to $23.4 million. The area of the state was the only one to report a growth over the fiscal year to date, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, as its win of $112.4 million since July surpassed its $104.2 million recorded in 2008 by 7.83%. In Laughlin, whose casinos include the Flamingo and Harrah’s, revenues were $39.5 million in November 2009, down 5.58% year over year.
Also making its home in Clark County is the Boulder Strip, whose casino owners had the Star Spangled Banner going off in their heads, as () Host Vince Van Patten would say. Boulder Strip revenues weighed in at $65.3 million in November, up 18.98% from the $54.9 million recorded in November 2008. In Mesquite, however, the news was not as gleeful. Revenues of $9.7 million in November represented a 15.53% drop from the same period in 2008. For the fiscal year to date, the Boulder Strip and Mesquite have seen their revenues fall by 3.55% and 16.59%, respectively.
In Washoe County, revenues of $65.3 million in November 2009 represented a 4.24% drop year over year. Its epicenter of gambling is the “Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno, whose revenues of $47.9 million meant a 4.02% slide year over year from the $49.9 million recorded in November 2008. For the fiscal year to date, Reno’s revenues have tumbled 14.77% to $251.6 million. In Sparks, revenues of $10.4 million in November 2009 were off 9.56% from the $11.5 million raked in one year before. The final reported area of Washoe County is North Lake Tahoe, whose revenues of $1.7 million in November were down 16.24% year over year.
South Lake Tahoe casinos took the largest hit of any area broken down by the Board. Its revenues of $15.9 million in November 2009 were down a whopping 26.67% year over year from the $21.7 million recorded in November 2008. For the fiscal year to date, South Lake Tahoe casinos are down 25.91%. In Elko County, whose main gambling center is Wendover, casinos saw their win slide 8.76% to $20.9 million two months ago. Finally, in the Carson Valley Area, which the Board defines as Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and all other areas of Douglas County except South Lake Tahoe, revenues were off 10.55% in November to $7.5 million.
The State of Nevada collected $57.0 million in fees from casinos in December 2009 based upon revenues in November. Accordingly, the number represented a sizable 28.31% increase, amounting to $12.6 million of real money.
Here’s a look at the dramatic 22-month slide in revenue year over year in Nevada:
November 2009: +4.35%
October 2009: (11.56%)
September 2009: (8.99%)
August 2009: (9.32%)
July 2009: (12.48%)
June 2009: (13.82%)
May 2009: (8.34%)
April 2009: (14.07%)
March 2009: (11.61%)
February 2009: (18.12%)
January 2009: (14.62%)
December 2008: (18.94%)
November 2008: (14.80%)
October 2008: (22.33%)
September 2008: (5.44%)
August 2008: (8.10%)
July 2008: (12.97%)
June 2008: (1.11%)
May 2008: (15.17%)
April 2008: (5.05%)
March 2008: (1.52%)
February 2008: (3.93%)
January 2008: (4.75%)
Read the original here:
01 17th, 2010
The official rules for the 2010 () were handed down this week, with tournament organizers adopting a cell phone rule that permits text messaging and Twittering at the table.
All cell phones must be turned off during play. However, as the WSOP regulations note, “Players not involved in a hand (cards in muck) shall be permitted to text/email at the table, but shall not be permitted to text/email any other player at the table.” Twittering of chip counts and memorable hands were staples of the 2009 WSOP, when the social media outlet exploded in popularity. Even poker legends like 10-time bracelet winner have become engulfed in Twitter, with “Texas Dolly” now able to spit out additional blonde jokes while seated at the table of any 2010 WSOP event.
Any players who wish to talk on their cell phones must be at least one table length away from their seats while gabbing. Meanwhile, the WSOP logo policy in 2010 will remain the same as it was in 2009. No logo will be permitted that promotes drugs, handguns, lotteries, obscene material, pornography, libel, or “advertises any online gaming site that conducts business with U.S. residents.” Nearly every logo shown on ESPN television cameras in 2009 featured the dot-net version of the site’s URL. Meanwhile, , which had sponsored pro at the final table of the 2009 Main Event, served as the on-felt sponsor of the tournament series. Everest Poker does not accept players from the United States.
Posters on TwoPlusTwo were quick to critique the 2010 WSOP rules, which incorporated revisions made by the Tournament Directors Association. One point of contention concerned late registration. The rule reads, “Any player registering for an event after all initial tables allocated for that tournament have been filled will begin play at the start of the subsequent level.” In the WSOP Main Event, for example, that could mean a player sitting out as long as two hours, the length of one blind level.
Fans of UB.com poker bad boy may see the 11-time bracelet winner show up on time in 2010 thanks to a rule that governs “no shows,” players who fail to show up by the start of the third level of play. The rule mandates, “These players will have their chips removed from play and will not be eligible to participate in that event. The buy-ins for ‘no shows’ will be removed from the prize pool and placed on safekeeping in that player’s name at the main WSOP registration cage after the second level of play.”
Some posters on TwoPlusTwo questioned whether the “no show” clause meant that if a player saw they had a tough table draw, they could simply un-register by not showing up. Member “pineapple888” explained the dilemma: “It seems like you can register, wander by your table an hour into the event, and if there are too many pros/tough players for your liking, or there aren’t enough chips on the table, or whatever (no hot chicks at the table or railbirding), just wander away and claim your refund later without penalty.”
The action gets underway in the 2010 WSOP with the annual $500 buy-in Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em event on May 28th. Also to be held on that date is the brand new $50,000 buy-in Player’s Championship, an Eight-Game mix of Limit Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better, No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. It takes the place of the $50,000 HORSE Championship, which drew a meager 95 players in 2009 after having 148 in 2008.
Also new on the docket in 2010 is a $25,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event that starts on June 30th. Many in the industry have questioned WSOP officials introducing a richer No Limit Hold’em tournament than the Main Event, whose buy-in is only $10,000. Nevertheless, the $25,000 Six-Handed contest is sure to attract some of the top names in the worlds of live and online poker.
Check out the official .
Read more here:
01 16th, 2010
I hope you all are enjoying the new year! 2009 ended incredibly well for me at a party at the Spinetti house in Las Vegas. In addition to some top-notch entertainment, hanging out with great friends, and enjoying some delicious food, there was a poker tournament. I managed to hang in long enough to be part of a final table chop and still make it to the rooftop in time to watch the fireworks launched from many of the Strip hotels at the stroke of Midnight.
A post-Midnight conversation among some of the party attendees who are poker dinosaurs like I am had us reminiscing about the differences in poker tournaments from 1980 to 2010. I’m sure some of today’s young players would scoff at the conditions 30 years ago. First of all, we didn’t have all of the conveniences of modern technology such as a tournament clock. Instead of being able to look on a screen and see how much time was left in the round, time was kept on a small timer worn on the tournament director’s lapel. If you wanted to know when the limit was going to go up, you had to hunt down the tournament director and glance at his kitchen timer.
Another big difference in tournaments over the past 30 years is the specific poker game of choice. Many of the tournaments in 1980 were Seven Card Stud or Draw Poker events. Hold’em became popular in the early 1980s and quickly became the favorite tournament game, but of course I’m talking about Limit Hold’em. Other than at the (), one could not find a No Limit Hold’em tournament. Around the mid-1980s, Omaha/8 was introduced to Las Vegas and became a popular form of tournament poker, but when I first started playing, Omaha was only known as the capital of Nebraska.
In 1980, there weren’t nearly as many tournaments to choose from as there are today. Card rooms in Las Vegas usually spread one or two tournaments a week and the buy-ins were low - $22, $33, $44, or occasionally $55. There was only one $10,000 buy-in a year and it was the Main Event of the WSOP. There was no (). There were no such things as what I call “tournament mills” – card rooms that offer four or more tournaments in a day.
Today’s youngsters would laugh to learn how few chips we used to get in tournaments. There was no such thing as “deep-stack” events; if you paid $400 to enter a WSOP event, for example, you would start with $400 in tournament chips.
Tournament conditions have changed quite a bit in the past 30 years. If you couldn’t tolerate smoke, you couldn’t play, since every card room allowed smoking. I can remember how brutal it was to be stuck between two smokers for hours at a time. The atmosphere wasn’t nearly as pleasant 30 years ago as it is today. There was no penalty system for abuse, so you had to have thick skin to play. Some players didn’t respect dealers and they had to get used to bobbing and weaving as cards were thrown at them.
All of this contributed to having very few women play in the old days. Today, of course, almost every card room in the world is non-smoking, abuse has been greatly curtailed, and there are lots of women who enjoy a very non-threatening poker environment.
There was no such thing as the Tournament Director’s Association (TDA) in 1980. Tournament rules were far from standard, so every time you went to a different locale, you had to ask how many raises were permitted, whether they used a forward-moving or a dead button, etc. Players were allowed to expose cards to get a read on their opponents. They could even discuss the contents of their hands. You didn’t have to table your cards when you were all-in with no more action possible. Today’s players take for granted that TDA rules apply in almost every tournament venue in the country.
One of the rules that I was instrumental in changing through the power of the pen as publisher of CardPlayer was in regards to the chip race. In the 1980s, when it was time to color up, players received one card for each odd chip, just like they do today. However, instead of coloring up the odd chips into higher denomination chips and then giving a maximum of one chip per player, the player who ended up with the highest card at the table received all of the new higher value chips.
Getting the high card could affect the outcome of the event since it was such a huge win. For example, if they were coloring up 23 $100 chips, one player would get $2,500, which often was more than the starting chip stack. In today’s events, five players would each get one $500 chip instead of one player getting all five $500 chips.
In 1980, we played poker. There was no tweeting at the table, no iPods, and no cell phones. Sometimes I miss the good old days. Happy 2010!
Read more here:
01 6th, 2010
The schedule for this year’s Euro Finals of Poker in Paris has been announced with a total of 14 titles to be won. A variety of events are scheduled for the Aviation Club de France including Limit Hold’em, No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and H.O.R.S.E tournaments. Buy-ins range from €150 to €5,000 so there’s something to suit all bankrolls.
Read more here:
01 5th, 2010
The 2009 () concluded with the completion of the second November Nine. The crowning of as the 2009 WSOP Main Event champion culminated 57 bracelet events this year.
However, the 2010 WSOP is now on the minds of every poker player with the recent release of the new schedule. Beginning May 28th, the poker universe will once again center on the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. To begin the next decade, the WSOP will have a 51-day schedule where players will compete for 57 WSOP bracelets.
As I looked over the schedule, I had the following comments, questions, and suggestions:
$1,000 events: Last year during the opening weekend, Harrah’s held its first $1,000 buy-in No Limit event, nicknamed “The Stimulus Special.” With 6,012 players participating, it was a rousing success. With the state of the economy, Harrah’s promised more $1,000 buy-in events for 2010. As seen in next summer’s schedule, Harrah’s definitely delivered with a $1,000 event every weekend and one right before the Main Event (six in total). Players will each begin with triple the buy-in chips ($3,000) at level 25/25. However, be forewarned! The blinds increase quicker than you think and the eliminations are fast and furious once you get to the middle stages of the tournament. Overall, these lower buy-in events will definitely increase the number of participants over the weekends, helping the Rio not only fill hotel rooms, but also improve their cash games.
Mid-level buy-in events ($2,000 to $5,000): Although Harrah’s has catered to the casual player with numerous lower buy-in events such as the $1,000 and $1,500 versions, the reduction of the mid-level buy-in events hurts professional players like myself. These events still have tremendous value (fewer players, but larger buy-ins), more starting chips (thus, more chance to play without a short stack) and fewer participants (thus, a better chance, albeit slight, to win). Besides the $5,000 (June 8th) and $2,500 (July 2nd), all of the preliminary No Limit Hold’em events are $1,500 and under. I understand that it is harder to get participants for the mid-level events; however, Harrah’s scheduled two $2,500 Six-Handed Hold’em events, a $2,500 Mixed event, and a $5,000 Six-Handed Hold’em event. Instead of six $1,500 No Limit events, I believe they should have replaced a few of these with mid-level buy-in events, such as a $2,000, another $2,500, and a $3,000.
Players Championship: This year, Harrah’s decided to replace the $50,000 HORSE event with this Eight-Game event. The final table will be exclusively No Limit Hold’em, specifically so it can be television-friendly. Although I do not agree that tournament officials should change the game just for the final table, at least one of the games played during the early levels will be No Limit Hold’em. I always found it ridiculous that during the inaugural year in which won, the WSOP had the HORSE final table play only No Limit Hold’em when it was not even one of the five games (only Limit Hold’em is played in HORSE). Nevertheless, with the return of this event to television, the Players Championship will most certainly have more players than last year’s disappointing 95 registrants.
$25,000 Six-Handed Event: With the elimination of the $40,000 No Limit event and the moving of the Players Championship to the beginning of the series, the WSOP felt it needed another big event before the Main Event. Thus, the $25,000 Six-Handed event was born. Although this will attract some of the best players – live and online - I’m not sure why this is a $25,000 buy-in. Why not make this event a $10,000 Championship event like the other ten $10,000 events?
No play on July 4th: I believe that this was an excellent modification to the WSOP schedule. Over the past couple of years, the day with the fewest number of participants was often July 4th. This year, Harrah’s decided to begin the Main Event after the holiday so players can focus solely on it.
More room: In 2010, Harrah’s will increase its capacity for each event, especially with the inclusion of the additional $1,000 events and to avoid the WSOP Main Event Day 1D debacle. This year, almost all of the Rio convention rooms will be reserved for the WSOP. You’ll need a map just to figure out where you are playing, especially during the first few days. Therefore, if you are just coming in for a few events, make sure you know exactly where you are playing the night before so you aren’t wandering for the first 15 to 30 minutes of the event.
Avoid sell-outs: Last year, the WSOP had a record 10.25 sellouts (the 0.25 is for Day 1D of the Main Event). In an attempt to avoid sellouts, Harrah’s is increasing the space for additional tables. However, there are ways to avoid being shut out, especially for the first $1,000 No Limit event being held on Saturday, May 29th.
1. Always register early. Make sure you register not just hours, but days in advance, especially the low buy-in events. Last year, the Stimulus Special sold out the night before, even though it had two starting days.
2. For events with higher buy-ins ($2,000 and greater), you often can wait until the morning it starts since they usually do not sell out. However, my advice is to register the night before. I usually go to the cage just before I go to bed and I have never waited more than a couple of minutes. Additionally, I can sleep in or have a nice breakfast and not worry about having to get my seat. I’m always amazed at the people waiting in the huge lines just before the event.
If you can’t arrive days early, make sure that you pre-register via WorldSeriesofPoker.com, which will ensure you a seat. Unlike at some other tournaments across the country, you cannot have someone else register for you.
Well, after all this thinking about the biggest poker event of the year, I am already looking forward to the 2010 WSOP. Good luck to everyone and I hope to see you there.
Read the original here: