Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

AMVETS is a non-profit group that hosts fund raisers all across the country to assist veterans, cancer organizations, and children with disabilities. So you’d think that that these guys would be ok running a non-profit poker tournament, right? Wrong.

Despite having applied for an being approved to host a poker tournament to raise money at an event in Kentwood, Michigan the town officials now say “no” to poker. Because of an antiquated law on the books they’re now being told that because the host location (a small bistro) also serves alcohol, that it violates the law and the event cannot be held. The law says that “gaming operations” can’t exist inside of an establishment that serves alcohol.

So now the small group is out their $200 fee to register for their permit and stuck trying to find a new location to host their event. The original location was being donated for their use at no charge.

The constant news of small non-profits getting the door slammed in their face when trying to host a poker game is getting old. Do the officials truly fear that the game will get out of hand? Maybe a cash game will break out and rip apart the moral fabric of the community? Not likely. The reality is that the conservative nature of so many of these states officials overrides any common sense. The prevailing wisdom is that poker is bad and regardless of who is hosting the event, it’s bad for the “community”.

Someone needs to tell these folks it’s the 21st Century and there are far worse things in life than a friendly poker game.  These guys don’t really look so bad….

In a lame attempt to get more old folks to play slot machines at their Seminole Casino Hollywood, the management thought they’d revive the old strip poker concept. Only this time it doesn’t involve real people stripping down. Nor does it really involve live poker.

Instead they’re giving old coots that join their Players Club the chance to pick envelopes that are stuck to a larger than life image of a hot chick on the wall behind some slot machines. To be 100% politically correct they also have a guy version as well. If your name is pulled from a random drawing you get to pick five envelopes from the poster sized hot chick on the wall. Inside the envelope is a poker hand and based on the hand (pair, two pair, flush, etc) you can win up to $75,000.

So far nothing naughty has been uncovered on the image and it appears that they are wearing underwear and a bra. I’m sure the old folks would freak out to see a boob or perhaps the dude’s manscape anyway so the tamer version is likely appropriate. So if you find yourself driving by this place and think “hey, it’s strip poker!”, just keep driving on home and fire up a real game somewhere like Poker Stars. At least there you can strip down all you like.

A Dutch Professor is doing everything possible to prove that poker is in fact a game of skill. Ben Van Der Genugten, a professor of mathematics hailing from the Netherlands has made statements in his retirement address supporting the notion that poker is a game of skill and can be proven as so using a formula that the Dutch government already uses when assessing other games of skill and chance. An official Dutch court decision in 1998 ruled that poker was not a game of skill and it has had an effect on gaming in the nation ever since, specifically restricting poker to being offered only through one venue in the country, The Holland Casino.

Van Der Genugten used a fairly simple formula to rate the amount of skill necessary in a given game. Assisting him in this task was Peter Borm, a professor of game theory. The two professors used the following formula in their work:

Skill = Learning effect/ (Learning effect + Chance effect)

In the formula a game with a skill rating of zero is a game that requires no skill and is determined purely by chance or luck. The learning effect on the other hand is defined as the difference in play between a complete beginner and someone with the highest level of experience possible. Van Der Genugten found that poker had a skill rating of .04 which is actually quite high and even surpasses the ever popular fantasy sports games that have taken the world by storm over the past five years.

The two professors hope that their findings will force the Dutch government to head back to the tables and to re-evaluate their standing on poker. With poker growing by leaps and bounds, it would be to the advantage of the Dutch government to explore other options of regulating and licensing poker rather than the super restrictive method they currently have in place.

Twenty two hours was the duration of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event final table. Well over 400 hands of poker were played before our friend the ex-bible salesman John Juanda took down the crown or house if you prefer. Since John’s last name is pronounced “Ja-wan-da” (ya-wanna) we couldn’t resist the humor with the title of this post. All kidding aside, the fact that he was able to go from last place in chips at one point to the ultimate winner is astounding. The focus to go for twenty two hours straight playing cards is nuts, to come out the winner is off the charts crazy.

Juanda faced two tough opponents once it was three handed, with two Russians playing the role of potential spoilers. One of them was Ivan Demidov who ironically enough, is also going to play the live final table of the WSOP Main Event in the US come November. We don’t know where this guy came from but he’s definitely no joke when it comes to poker and expect to see much more out of the young poker player.

After taking home the roughly $1.5 million US money for first place along with the Betfair Sponsored WSOPE bracelet, we have to assume that John slept a good bit before heading down the street to play in the EPT London event sponsored by Poker Stars. Time will tell if he’s able to repeat this epic performance in the EPT.

Four men were indicted today in a grand scheme that involved computers, marked cards, and wireless communication devices to apparently cheat a high roller out of tens of thousands of dollars. Using two rented rooms at the Borgata in Atlantic City, the bad guys were planning on running a fixed Chinese Poker game as well as Backgammon and Chess.

Two of the four defendants have been sentenced in the past for fraud schemes including a deal in 1990 when they cheated the Trump Castle Hotel and Casino out of $225,000 playing Blackjack.

The alleged ring-leader, Joseph Ingargiola had this to say “I don’t think I’m a threat to society, I’m a totally nonviolent person”.

After trying to cheat some high roller out of tens of thousands of dollars, I don’t think I’d advertise the fact that I’m nonviolent. Between the guy you cheated and jail, those two fists may come in handy one day very soon.

It’s being reported that Guinness has just certified Dave Cain’s attempt to “shatter” the world record for playing poker. Apparently the old record was a mere 72 hours set by Larry Olmsted at Foxwoods in 2004. He was allowed breaks every 15 minutes to stretch, brush his teeth(!), and change clothes when he felt the need.
Dave Cain set out to break that record. So along with a team of doctors, nurses, and IT support(?) he sat down at the Library Bar in Lincoln, UK and began playing heads up poker with a string of would-be opponents. He eventually beat the old record of 72 hours under the supervision of the medical staff and Guinness.

I don’t get it. 72 hours? THAT is the world record? And it required a team of doctors, nurses, IT support staff, and lord knows what else to accomplish? What about the old record that Larry Olmsted held? He got to change clothes and brush his teeth? Are you serious? And how many more sentences can I write here that end with a question mark?

All I’m trying to say here is that 72 hours is not a marathon poker session. I’ve had longer at home games. We didn’t change clothes, didn’t brush our teeth, and certainly didn’t have a doctor on hand in case we got a cramp. There are multiple stories floating about that mention days at a time that a player will play online. The same goes for live games, with Doyle Brunson telling stories of playing for almost a week at a time. Sorry Dave, beating the record of 72 hours under these circumstances doesn’t impress me much!