Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

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!

Here is the press release that just went out from Kahnawake in relation to the whole UB/AP Scandal:

(MOHAWK TERRITORY OF KAHNAWAKE – September 29, 2008) Kahnawa:ke Gaming Commission (”KGC”) Chairman Dean Montour today announced the initial findings of the audit conducted on licensee Ultimate Bet, as well as the sanctions to be imposed.

For more information, please contact:
Murray Marshall
Senior Advisor
Kahnawa:ke Gaming Commission
450-635-1076
murray.marshall@mck.ca

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear thinks its wrong for the people in his state to make up their own mind when it comes to online gambling. Beshear is currently in the process of getting the latest nanny-state bill passed through that would block access to online poker and other gambling sites for the residents of Kentucky.

According to Forbes.com, Beshear’s administration has “asked a Franklin County Circuit Court judge to give the state control of 141 gambling Web site domain names”. On this list are many of the biggest online poker sites, including: FullTiltPoker.com, BodogLife.com, Pokerstars.com and many others.

“Unlike casinos that operate on land or on riverboats in the United States, these operations pay no tax revenues, provide no jobs and yield no tourism benefits,” Beshear said at a Capitol press conference. “They are leeches on our communities.”

His goal is to “protect the signature industry”, meaning that he is whining that the local casinos and horse racing locations are suffering due to the rise from online poker sites.

Such sites “siphon off money from regulated and legal games such as Kentucky’s thoroughbred racing industry, our lottery and charitable gaming activities,” Beshear said.

Well Steve, if this is the case, why don’t you go the route of regulating online gaming and create a state run site instead of just taking away the rights of people?

According to Point-Spreads.com, Beshear has already had two domains seized that were run by persons located in Kentucky.  On their site they stated that, “Earlier today Point-Spreads.com reported that LuckyPyramidCasino.com was seized and now a second domain name HighRollersLounge.com has its administrative contact information listed as Eric Lycan from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Justice Cabinet.”

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday to see if this goes through, so in the meantime if you live in Kentucky, I’d reccomend giving your ol’ pal Steve a call to see what the hell is going on.  Otherwise, poker might be banned for good in Kentucky!