Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

I have been thinking about this for a little while now, but with the pending release of the Ipad, and the fact that Ipad and Iphone are virtually the same operating system, i’m wondering if we will soon see the major online poker companies release an app for the Ipad.

I’m Not Crazy

I realise that this has been talked about by many a fanboy – “wouldn’t it be SICK If i could play online poker while i’m on my commute, or waiting in line at the bank!” but the reason i’m bringing this up now is specifically because of the release of the IPad, and the updated Ipod OS 4 release coming this summer.  Why?  Because the Ipad isn’t a phone.  It is a tablet PC, that is meant to be portable, and have 3g capabilities (not the first version, but the IPad v2 release will), but at it’s core it’s a personal computer.  If i’m sitting in my chair, watching the wife watch a movie, and i’ve chosen my Ipad
instead of my laptop, i want to be able to play online poker with it. 
There is a market here, and I’m shocked to see that Full Tilt,
Pokerstars all haven’t yet pushed an app out….even to the Jailbroken community!

Why Ipad poker = Iphone poker

I say again, the Ipad and Iphone are both operating with the same operating system.  If the poker companies make an app for the IPad, you will likely be able to download it to your iphone
without too much hacking / messing with things most people are
comfortable messing with.  It could potentially open up a whole new
revenue / customer base for all of the major online poker / casino
groups and realistically it’s something most people i’ve spoken with are foaming at the mouth for.  So..where is it??

It’s
shocking that it’s taken this long, with the only online poker apps in
the app store being “Free” or poker tracking type software, but
hopefully an oasis ofonline poker while waiting for your wife to try that third outfit on in the changing room isn’t far away.  My fingers are crossed!

Hmm..so, has anyone ever heard of the World Team Poker Event?  Me
either.. But apparently it’s a pretty big deal, and it’s happening on
May 19th. 

The tourney will take place at The Golden Nugget,
and will have team representation from China, Australia, Israel,
Vietnam, England, Brazil and Greece.  As you can imagine, some of the
biggest names in poker will be representing their countries.  The
events will be PLO, LimitHoldem and No Limit Holdem, but no word yet on structure, or weight of the games, weather cumulative, or if the No limit game will crown the best in the world.  

The team from the USA will have many well known faces as well, and be anchored by Phil Helmuth and Doyle Brunson. 
Phil brings the most World Series of Poker bracelets to his name (11 of
them!) to the team while Doyle, who is largely considered the
“Godfather” of modern poker brings years of experience and some recent
major tournament wins.   Unfortunately, Phil Hellmuth has been on a bit
of a down swing these past 2 years, and his last bracelet win was in
2007.  If it were me, i would be choosing a more stable player to
co-anchor with Texas Dolly.  The total bracelets for Team America is 47
and includes these huge poker names: Jennifer Harman, MikeMatusow, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, and the brother/sister combination of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.

It’s a shame that Canada hasn’t announced a team yet.  Come on Negranu!

Because this is a tournament that is suppose to be determining the best in the world, there will be no satellites to the event, but as always you can satellite into World Series of Poker at any of the major poker rooms!

The
even will also be broadcast on TV but as yet, no one holds the rights
to broadcast. But seriously, has anyone ever heard of this?

Well it appears that Estonia, which garnered headlines in recent months for legalising and legislating online casino and poker websites, has made the move to start blocking any online gaming sites who do not comply with their new Gambling Act.  This is the first step in a 2 tier strategy to implement the new legislation, and the block only applies to websites that do not yet have the licenses to operate in Estonia.  Currently the only group to be granted a local license is the Olympic Group (Playtech-powered casino), and so Estonian gamers are facing low traffic to the sites, fewer games and low profit potential for the tax man.

Estonia made the decision to legalise online gambling / poker to help out their struggling economy, and as part of their battle to keep Estonian money flowing into the government coffers, have closed Estonian gambling right until 2011.  In 2011, Estonia’s gambling market will be opened up to foreign investors, and i would imagine that Estonian’s will then see “Estonian state online poker portal, now sponsored by Party Poker Gaming!”  Their decision has drawn criticism from the European Commission, EU trade legislation as regards gambling are particularly vague and so Estonia’s decision is likely to proceed without any outside interference. Estonia is also claiming that its protectionist policy is temporary and necessary to iron out the precise details and rules required to operate a successful and legitimate international online gaming operation.

This brings up an interesting point. Lithuania has recently legalised online poker, and we have yet to see any of this type of action from them, but to be fair, Estonia did this months ago, and is only now coming out and blocking the competition.  Could Estonia be leading the way yet again, and by acting in such a protectionist way be setting the standard?  Will this be how all online “legalisation” will go, and you’ll only be allowed to play online poker against people in your own geographic area to satisfy the Government tax situation? Could that limit the games, or the competition? It’s an interesting take on the matter.

Estonian professional poker player Imre Leibold said:

“The possibility that online poker gaming could be restricted is not good news for us. If things get tough, one may have to consider moving residence or start working abroad like Estonian builders in Finland.”

The way Isildur1 plays, it almost seems like he doesn’t care.  Last week, he was up 2.1 million on his Pot Limit Omaha skills.  This week however, his bankroll took a giant $1,790,744 hit, and most of it to the man who took $4.2 million from him last year.

Isildur1 was up $845,000 at the close of the weekend, but then sat down at the table with Brian Hastings.  The two have a long history (4.2 mil last year to Hastings; Isildur took some of his 2.1 last week from Hastings), and when they start playing usually a lot of money switches hands.  Isildur1 was down $150,000 in the first 1500 hands of $500/$1000 PLO, and over the next 1200 hands Isildur1 dropped $1.6 million to Hastings.  But he wasn’t done yet.

Isildur1 sat down with Ilari Sahamies and while initally looking good and wining %65,000 on $200/$400 stakes, when they made the switch to $300/$600 stakes Isildur1′s cards ran cold and he dropped $350,000 to his opponent.  At this point Isildur1 dropped down in stakes and played Cole South on the $25/$50 tables, and again was bested.  This time for a paltry $30,000 (i’m kind of being sarcastic there…30,000 is what a lot of people live on in a year…that blows my mind.)

With his total losses nearing 2 million, i’m wondering if we’re going to see another hiatus for Isildur1.  When he lost his 4.2 million last year, he disappeared from the tables for a while.  If he does take a break, i’m sure it wont be for long.  The man likes to throw his money around.

I dont want to mislead anyone, Isildur1 hasn’t exactly left the tables.  After taking a Five Million dollar hit in the highly publicised few weeks when he was playing anyone and everyone who wanted a piece of the action, Isildur1 had kind of faded.  Little to no news of his wild swings, or taking a pro down a few pegs.  That has changed today.  And it has changed on Pot Limit Omaha.

Over the last two days playing the highest stakes tables at PLO (pot-limit Omaha) Isildur1 has taken more than 2.2 Million from the very pros who were lining up when he started to run bad a few months back.  His first victim was Cole South.  They started at the $100/$200 PLO table, but with Isildur1 never dropping below his buy in, they quickly moved up the $300/$600 tables.  South blinked after losing more than $700,000 to Isildur1 before calling it quits. Isildur1 then upped the stakes and went after Brian Hastings.  At the $500/$1000 table Hastings dropped $500,000 before calling it a night. 

Isildur1′s identity is still a mystery, however it is well known that he hails from Sweden.  In the past, NLHE has been his game of choice, so it’s nice seeing him switch up his games and having so much success!  Isildur1′s fame rose when he played Tom “Durrr” Dwan over multiple days in the “nosebleed” section of Full Tiit Poker’s high stakes tables.  Isildur1 seemed unstoppable…until he was stopped…repeatedly by a line-up of seasoned pros that were able to take him apart piece by piece. 

I wonder how this new run of luck / skill will play out for the Sweed?

So, the European Poker Tournament was live streaming to the internets, when 6 armed men showed up and robbed the place.

Here is the link to the youtube video, i will try to embed it, but it hasn’t worked for me in the past.

Long story short..it’s not just home games that can be robbed when there is a lot of money and very little security.