Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Ladbrokes is currently running a $500,000 freeroll bonanza from Monday 10th November to Sunday 4th January. During this time they will have a series of freerolls ranging from $1,000 to $50,000 every day of the week. Here is the schedule for the freerolls:

Freeroll Bonanza Schedule

Monday 10th November to Sunday 21st December

• $1,000 Daily Freeroll; 19:30 GMT- 250 Player Point Buy-In; 2,500 chips and 12 minute blinds
• $25,000 Weekly Freeroll; Friday at 20:00 GMT – 1,500 Player Point Buy-In; 5,000 chips and 20 minute blinds
• $20,000 VIP Freeroll; Sunday at 20:00 GMT – 50 Seats: 5,000 chips and 20 minute blinds
• 20 places paid – Min payout $500

Monday 22nd December to Sunday 4th January 2009

• $2,000 Daily Freeroll; 19:30 GMT – 250 Player Point Buy-In; 2,500 chips and 12 minute blinds
• $50,000 Weekly Freeroll; Friday at 20:00 GMT – 1,500 Player Point Buy-In; 5,000 chips and 20 minute blinds
• $40,000 VIP Freeroll; Sunday at 20:00 GMT – 50 Seats: 5,000 chips and 20 minute blinds
• 20 places paid – Min payout $500

To take part in the Freerolls, visit Ladbrokes today!

18 year olds rejoice! Well, not quite yet. It is true though that because of the tough economic times, the big wigs that grease the wheels in Las Vegas are thinking about it.

When asked about lowering the legal gambling age in Vegas to 18, the State Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander and Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Hernhard were open to the idea. The duo are asking the new Senate Majority Leader, Steven Horsford for review.

Of course, this is going to raise many debates about the fact that it will open up a new world to 18 year olds that have never gambled before (obv never heard of Internetz Pokers). Alcohol will come into the arguments as well since it’s going to be difficult to now card everyone that walks in the door of a casino as well as when they’re seated at a table before serving them drinks.

What’s interesting is that the law actually could pass relatively quickly. Since it’s a state law and not a national law, they could sign it into legislation before next summer. Let’s just not pack our bags just yet, though. We’ll follow this and report on any updates as they occur.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1272307,CST-NWS-nevada11.article

Perhaps now, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker can begin to atone for their sins. In an attempt to push the legacy of the cheating scandals that rocked both companies farther into the abyss the PR machine for Cereus Poker, the new network that hosts the combined poker rooms, announced the official launch will be tomorrow.

Players will likely see little difference in their onscreen experience when logging into their UB or Absolute Poker account. The major difference will be that the player base has just grown exponentially and as a side benefit, the Bad Beat Jackpot will now combine from both sites. The rumor is that it may actually double tomorrow when the network goes live.

While no official press release is available at the time of this article, Ultimate Bet promises in an email to its’ player base: “CEREUS is the result of more than 12 months innovation and development to deliver a secure, responsive, and flexible online poker gaming experience for the entire UB community.”

Another area where players may benefit is in regards to the guaranteed tournaments that both sites hosted. With the poker sites now combined, there is a strong possibility that those prize pools may grow substantially. Unconfirmed reports state that the Sunday Guarantee may top $500,000 effective this coming weekend.

In summary, this is a good move and as time passes and the pain of the cheating scandal subside, there may be a silver lining in all of this for online poker players.

In yet another “ZOMG – online poker is dead” post at 2P2, some kid claims that his buddy, while 8 tabling at PokerStars, has a program that puts out a line of text that you can paste into PokerStove. Once you do that, voila! You have a range of hands to put him on and using PokerTracker, can now pwn the whole world of online poker. His logical deduction from this? Online poker is now dead. His friend can beat you regardless of your skillz and the whole industry will now implode. Thanks for the warning.

Nevermind that you couldn’t possibly enter that many text strings into a program while playing 8 tables at one time. Also, toss out the fact that despite there being more advanced programs out there are still online winners (big ones too). This is just another example of a doucheflower who is either:

[ ] On a mission to help other players
[ ] A shill for PokerTracker and PokerStove
[X] A complete dumbass

I suggest he take a long bath, get some warm milk, and have his mom tuck him into bed tonight. In the morning, he should then delete the thread and head over to PokerStars to play some real pokerz.

Let me know where this math gets fuzzy –

Eric Liu = Card Runners Instructor + Full Tilt Poker “Red Pro”

Eric Liu + PokerStars FPP’s = Featured on the PokerStars Blog when he buys a Range Rover with his FPP’s

What’s wrong with that math? If you’re Full Tilt, the whole part about press from the only poker site that’s actually larger than you are, featuring one of YOUR OWN “Red Pro” players. The article is complete with a summary written by Eric and a picture of him taking delivery of a pimped out 2008 Range Rover. He even goes on to say that he will hopefully have enough FPP’s to get a new Porsche when his other car is a few years older.

Considering FTP has dropped two larger named “Red Pro” players over the last few weeks, I think I would have opted for the Honda. Even if I just HADS to use my FPP’s to get a new ride, I likely would have asked for some privacy considering. But hey, I’m not a SuperNova Elite nor a “Red Pro” at Full Tilt. Let’s hope Howard Lederer isn’t reading this!

I wish I could get enough FPPs on Pokerstars for a Range Rover.

Enough with the Russian jokes, let’s talk poker. To be more specific, let’s talk about a player at Full Tilt called “Ilovepoka”, a Russian player at the FTOPS X Main Event final table last night.

During a key hand, another Russian player named “Supervorot” was apparently trying to collude with Ilovepoka. After a player called “Nordberg” raised, “Papham9” and Ilovepoka called to see a flop of Kd 6d Qd. The first two players checked and after a brief pause, Supervorot types into the chat box: “I had QK”.

Now let’s take a look at this, first of all it’s a clear violation of Full Tilt Poker policy (and poker ettitique in general) to NOT announce your hand or a hand you folded when other players are still left to act. We can safely assume that since only a complete idiot would do something like this at a final table where six figures were at stake, that he didn’t mean to type it into the chat box.

So what does that leave? There’s speculation by some that he “meant” to type this into his AIM account so that the other Russian player would know how to react. What evidence do we have of that? Simple, after taking a few seconds and requesting time, Ilovepoka bet out and wins the pot.

Collusion or just a moron? You decide.

Pic – http://www.flickr.com/photos/21526244@N06/3041853480/