Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

From time to time, I think it is important to recommend some of the other great poker resources on the Internet.  My site definetly does not have all the information, though I wish I could.

If you are an American poker player, I definitely recommend checking out CompatiblePoker.com.  They have tons of information about the current status of the online poker industry for American poker players.  This includes information on the best sites for USA Poker players, U.S. payment processors, updates on Federal bills related to regulating online poker and much more.

They update their USA page quite frequently so it is worth bookmarking or checking back on a regular basis for the latest news about online poker in the United States.

Rumours have been flying around the internet for the past few days that Absolute Poker might have a security breach.  Some absolute players have made claims that there is some kind of “Super-User” account out that gives some people the ability to see other players’ hands.

Players noticed some strange activity on some of the higher stakes games where players would call down to the river with almost no chance of actually winning the hand (see how POTRIPPER calls an all-in move with only a 10 high):
Stage #896976330 Tourney ID 1883389 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $4500 - 2007-09-13 01:43:49 (ET)
Table: 14 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 3 - POTRIPPER ($765740 in chips)
Seat 8 - CRAZYMARCO ($214260 in chips)
POTRIPPER - Ante $450
CRAZYMARCO - Ante $450
POTRIPPER - Posts small blind $2250
CRAZYMARCO - Posts big blind $4500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
POTRIPPER - Calls $2250
CRAZYMARCO - Checks
*** FLOP *** [4h Kd Kh]
CRAZYMARCO - Checks
POTRIPPER - Bets $9000
CRAZYMARCO - Calls $9000
*** TURN *** [4h Kd Kh] [7s]
CRAZYMARCO - Checks
POTRIPPER - Bets $13500
CRAZYMARCO - All-In(Raise) $200310 to $200310
POTRIPPER - Calls $186810
*** RIVER *** [4h Kd Kh 7s] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
POTRIPPER - Shows [10c 9c] (One pair, kings)
CRAZYMARCO - Shows [9h 2h] (One pair, kings)
POTRIPPER Collects $428520 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($428520)
Board [4h Kd Kh 7s 5s]
Seat 3: POTRIPPER (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($428520) HI:($428520) with One pair, kings(ten kicker) [10c 9c - B:Kh,B:Kd,P:10c,P:9c,B:7s]
Seat 8: CRAZYMARCO (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, kings [9h 2h - B:Kh,B:Kd,P:9h,B:7s,B:5s]

To add to the mess, another thread started on another message board claiming that part owner of Absolute Poker, Mark Seif, was cheating in games.  Here is what he posted:
“Play then started again……and I saw something that I never have before in all my on-line poker play: obvious manipulation. Every hand was a complete dissection based on whatever Mike was holding (third pair was capped by Seif if Mike was behind or bluffing, for example.) About 10 or 12 k was basically stolen in 15 minutes (over maybe 100 hands), and here’s the kicker: he was so pissed and beyond rational thinking that he actually wanted Mike to know what was going on! For example, Mike had K9 on one hand and flopped a boat. Seif was first to act after the flop, and FOLDED OUT OF TURN just that time. I had heard that Seif was having some personal problems, but who would’ve ever guessed that he could be capable of this. Between that possibility and the abuse that he’s taken from the pros (in chat, $ lost, and pride lost at the tables), he must’ve finally snapped and lowered himself THAT much to get some revenge. We were simply stunned, and all Mike could do at the time was leave the game and withdraw the rest of his money (which he did get already.)”

The Absolute Poker affiliate department has posted the following statement to affiliates of their site:
“Thank you for your patience in this urgent issue.

Because of the seriousness of these allegations, we have not closed the investigation and are continuing to look very closely into this matter.We will notify you if we obtain any new information regarding these claims.”

My Take on the issue:

I suspect that many of the claims posted by users to be more of a coincidence than an actual indication of wrong doing.  Some of the plays posted could either be collusion (players working together) between players, chip dumping, staged (to create these allegations), or just bad poker playing.  Unfortunately collusion happens at every poker site, and though sitesdo their best to stop it, they can’t catch everyone.  Collusion also only give the players a slight edge but is not effective 100% of the time.

Absolute Poker is one of the biggest sites on the internet and there is no reason for them or Mark Seif to cheat people out of a few thousand dollars.  These sites are constantly scuritinized and since they handle millions of dollars every day, have the highest security measures put in place.

Can I say for certain that it is not possible?  Well, no, not really.  I just think the risk for Absolute to do something like this strongly outweighs the rewards that the site or an individual (such as mark Seif) may benefit.

I have taken courses on security before (I have my CCNA) and think that it would be almost impossible for other players to intercept packets for other players without them having some knowledge.  Any program that could possibly do this would have to penetrate Absolute Poker’s computer network (which I am sure is locked down like Fort Knox), and would be very noisy and detectable on their network.

To conclude, if you are worried about the chance that their may be something going on at Absolute, don’t play there.  Try one of our Top 7 Poker Sites.  I make no effort to promote Absolute Poker, as I have personally never thought much of their site.  I have never played there personally, but many players do love that site because they have some great promotions, including their massive bad beat jackpot, it just isn’t one of my favorites.  If you are worried about playing at online poker sites in general, sure, something could go wrong, but it is extremely unlikely.  But, you have the same chances of something going wrong when you walk in the door of your favorite local casino, except you have the safety of your own home!

Annette Obrestad (or “Annette_15″ as she goes by online) won the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) yesterday making her both the first female to win a WSOP Main Event, as well as the youngest player to win a WSOP Main Event.

Annette_15 is a well known name in the online poker world.  She became popular after becoming one of the winningest and best online poker multi-table tournament players.

She has had several major cashes for over $100,000 and is currently ranked as the 3rd best online poker player by pocket 5s.

Annette played an amazing tournament knocking out several players.  On the last hand she put John Tabatabai when she spiked a set of 7s on the flop, against Tabatabai’s two pair (6s and 5s).  It was a tense moment, but her set held up making her the champ and as many sites reported, the “Queen of Europe”.

There’s a rumor that Annette started playing online poker at the age of 15, hence the screen name Annette_15. She got her first exposure to poker from her father who taught her how to play five-card stud and seven-card stud as a young girl. She eventually signed up for an online poker account and as the legend goes, her mother refused to let her fund an account with a credit card so Annette_15 ended up winning $9 in a freeroll and has not looked back since.

WSOPE Main Event Final Table Money Winners:
1 - Annette Obrestad - £1,000,000
2 - John Tabatabai - £570,150
3 - Matthew McCullough - £381,910
4 - Oyvind Riisem - £257,020
5 - Johannes Korsar - £191,860
6 - Dominic Kay - £152,040
7 - Magnus Persson - £114,030
8 - Theo Jorgensen - £85,070
9 - James Keys - £61,540

Annette Obrestad picture above from Pokernews.com

I guess getting away with murder wasn’t enough for O.J. Simpson. 

O.J. Simpson was arrested this weekend in Las Vegas for armed robbery and assault.

Simpson is accused of having directed several other men in an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia in a room at a Las Vegas hotel room.

Las Vegas authorities said they have no information leading them to believe Simpson was carrying a firearm during the alleged incident at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino.

Simpson recently wrote a book originally titled “If I Did It” and had planned to publish it himself, but a public outcry led to the cancellation of his book deal.

If I ever got off a murder charge I would never do anything remotely illegal.  You know there are many people out there just waiting for a reason to fry him, and now O.J. has given them one.  

Let me end this with one of my favorite quotes: “I drink grape juice, because O.J. kills“

I know this isn’t poker related, but there is nothing I love more than a good prank.  This is probably one of the best most hilarious pranks that I have ever seen!

Prank Proposal

Brian Townsend’s latest blog entry mentions that he has been on quite a roll playing Pot Limit Omaha since May 1st of this year.  Brian posted that he is up approximately $2 Million dollars on all of his accounts.  Even when the times were tough and Brian was down over $4 Million, he said that his “happiness never changed”.

Shortly after this post, he continued the winning over at Full Tilt Poker on the $200/$400 tables.  Here is one of the hands where his Queens strongly dominate Thomas Wahlroos’ 2 pair.

Full Tilt Poker Game #3582885290: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 17:28:48 ET - 2007/09/16
Seat 1: Ziigmund ($112,203)
Seat 2: CryMeARiver8 ($40,000)
Seat 3: smask ($8,091)
Seat 4: Thomas Wahlroos ($32,783)
Seat 5: sbrugby ($78,591)
Seat 6: David Benyamine ($61,502)
smask posts the small blind of $200
Thomas Wahlroos posts the big blind of $400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
sbrugby raises to $1,400
David Benyamine folds
Ziigmund folds
smask folds
Thomas Wahlroos calls $1,000
*** FLOP *** [Qs 3d 9h]
Thomas Wahlroos bets $2,400
sbrugby calls $2,400
*** TURN *** [Qs 3d 9h] [6h]
Thomas Wahlroos has 15 seconds left to act
Thomas Wahlroos bets $6,000
sbrugby raises to $25,800
Thomas Wahlroos raises to $28,983, and is all in
sbrugby calls $3,183
Thomas Wahlroos shows [5d 4s 3s 9d]
sbrugby shows [8d 8h Qc Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 3d 9h 6h] [Kc]
Thomas Wahlroos shows two pair, Nines and Threes
sbrugby shows three of a kind, Queens
sbrugby wins the pot ($65,764) with three of a kind, Queens
Thomas Wahlroos stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $65,766 | Rake $2
Board: [Qs 3d 9h 6h Kc]
Seat 1: Ziigmund (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: CryMeARiver8 is sitting out
Seat 3: smask (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Thomas Wahlroos (big blind) showed [5d 4s 3s 9d] and lost with two pair, Nines and Threes
Seat 5: sbrugby showed [8d 8h Qc Qd] and won ($65,764) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 6: David Benyamine didn’t bet (folded)

Watch Brian play live over at Full Tilt Poker (Bonus code BANKROLLPLUS will get you up to $600 free on your first deposit!)