Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Maybe in 3d? Probably not in 3D!

Pokerstars was first in the
race to announce their new show, calling it “The Big Game.”  It will
air on Fox, and looks to be a competitor and or out and out copy of
GSN’s High Stakes Poker.  Fox’s “The Big Game” will have a $200/$400
NLHE cash game with a $100,000 minimum buy in.  So far, Pokerstars and
Fox have only signed Daniel Negreanu to sit in on this game, and i’m
sure that we’ll be seeing a lot of big push advertising with him as the
main face.  This is kind of strange, because i could have sworn that
Negreanu had his own brand of poker to promote (he does, Full Contact
Poker…).  It also appears that “The Big Game” will not be a strictly
pro player paradise, instead, it will allow online qualifiers. 
Pokerstars (as it’s Pokerstar’s show) will be holding daily free rolls
until June 25th, and then the winners will move on to the Big Game
Final Round.  But it doesn’t end there!  If you make it to the top 200,
you then have the chance to send in a casting video, and make your
pitch directly to pokerstars as to why you should be on the show.  I’m
not sure i like that final twist, it seems like it takes the purity of
poker, and cheapens it with “hey, you don’t get to actually win
anything, just the CHANCE to send us a video about yourself!”  But,
hey, i’m sure it will appeal to some people.  Oh, and one final turn of
the knife from pokerstars?  If they do choose you to sit down at the
table, they’ll stake you $100,000, and you can even bring your own
money to the table (lucky us eh?), and get this? if you earn any profit
above the $100,000, you even get to keep it! If you turn a profit,
you’ll also be invited back the next episode.  Great.

When
Pokerstars announced their show, Full Tilt also announced their show. 
It is called “The Poker Lounge” and is a series of ten 6 handed sit n
go tourneys.  Each one has a $20,000 buy in, and the winner will walk
away with $120,000.  Full Tilt will also be allowing it’s players a
chance, although not through freeroll.  You will be able to win in a
$600+40 direct qualifier (next one is April 11).  Of course, you can
satellite into the $600 game.  Winners get $22,000…$20,000 for the
buy in to the tourney, and $2000 travel expenses (you have to get to
the tourney yourself!)  The Poker Lounge will be broadcast primarily in
Britain on Channel 4, and will likely make it’s way to GSN in the near
future.

Neither show is perfect, and me?  I’ll probably stick to High Stakes Poker.

I love me some newbies, especially at a table i’m playing at.  They’re
(usually) an easy source of money, and typically easy to bully or goad
into or out of a pot.  If you happen to be new to online poker, or new
to the game in general, have a look through the following list to see
what your opponents might be on the look out for.  If you are an old
hand at the game, maybe throw some of these tricks in to catch an
opponent at a silly bluff.

1. Looking at your cards as soon as you get them

Seasoned
players know that there are a lot of tells that happen when you first
see your hand.  Players will often wait until the action is on them
before glancing down at their cards.  That way, if the action is weak,
or you have good position (late, close to the dealer) you can make a decision based on what the other players are doing rather than the perceived
strength of your cards.  An example would be, if you’re on the button
(dealer) and holding a weak pocket pair (i’m thinking 66), and at the
moment 2 players have limped (only put the big blind into the pot). 
You will have a good gauge that theyaren ‘t that strong, and can raise
it a few times the pot.  This way you’ll only be playing with a much
fewer number of players, or maybe pay for your blinds for the next few
rounds.  Moral of the story: Wait until the action is on you to look at
your cards, you might give yourself an opportunity to steal the pot!

2.  Bad chip tricks / fumbling with the chips
I’ll
admit it, when i first started playing poker, i loved the rush of the
game, but MAN were those chip tricks cool.  I use to sit at my computer
playing online and practising the chip riffle, and other random tricks
that look awesome to newbies (by the time you’re a seasoned player,
you’ll still do it, but you wont be thinking about it).  So, spotting a
newbie at your table in this way is easy.  If someone is watching your
chip tricks and asking for advice…maybe try and bluff them out a
bit..or goad them into pushing all in with their pocket jacks after the
king hit on the flop.

3. Not knowing how the blinds work, or asking “how many blue ones did you put in the middle?”
If
a player is THIS new to the game, i likely wont fuck with him.  it’s
rude, and he’ll likely be the guy who takes a whack load of your money
because he justdoesn’t know how to fold.  But, if a player is asking questions that any poker player wouldn’t be caught dead asking (the “middle” is the pot dude…) he’s probably new. really new. new enough that you could scar his poker experience forever.  I leave the choice up to you.

4. Over betting the Pot
This
just makes me plain angry. I hate it when there is 300 bucks in the
pot, the average chip stack is 1500 and some jackass in early position trys
to “buy” it with a silly $800 or $1000 bet.  Then, when everyone folds
they say something like “oh wow, that was easy! no one wants to play
with me?” with a shit eating grin on their face.  No dude, i don’t want
to play with your obvious top set or over pair, but i will play when
you’re trying to hit that top set on the turn..and you’ll let me
because you’ll check/call the turn and the river..and then give me all
your money.  (i play with a lot of newbies in a local bar game… )

In 2006, WSOP decided to put a stop to their annual Tournament of Champions and discontinued the $1,000,000 free roll tournament indefinitely.  

Thankfully, this year Harrah‘s Entertainment (WSOP Owners) have decided to “reinvent” and revive it starting this year.  The tournament will take place this June 27, at The Rio.  They will play down to a final table of 9, and then reconvene July 4th to play out the final table.  It will be broadcast on ESPN.  This year, first place will pay $500,000, the runner-up gets $250,000, third place earns $100,000 and the fourth through ninth place finishers will earn $25,000 each.

“The Tournament of Champions brand has heritage in delivering the big moments,” said Harrah‘s VP Ty Stewart.  “We’re thrilled to reinvent it around a model that should elevate the game by engaging millions of poker fans.” 

Entry into the event is a little different than it has been in the past, focusing more on popularity than on win rate, however usually the most popular poker players are guys with a personality and a good win rate! All living WSOP bracelet holders are eligible for votes on WSOP.com, and voting happens between March 15 – June 15.  The top 20 vote getter’s will have free entry into the tournament.  Five players will not need to get any votes, however.  Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Joe Cada and Barry Shulman.  All have either won a TOC, a World Series of Poker Main event, or a European Main event.  2 Other seats are up for grabs, but full details on how to get those seats are still being released (it looks like they will go tosponsors, who will likely give them out in contests…) 

“Tournaments like the Tournament of Champions help elevate poker to the level it deserves and I am honored to participate,” said winner Annie Duke. “Winning the Tournament of Champions marks one of the most memorable events in my poker career and I’m ecstatic that the WSOP is hosting this prestigious event.”

Forums and Poker Blogs are swirling with the unconfirmed story that an 8 year old named “littlepokerwizard” has won $500,000 on an unidentified poker site. 

The story originated from a Tumblr.com blog, and has snowballed from there.  Absent are any details that can be verified, the current claim is that there is a legal suit running in New Delhi that pits and 8 year old “poker prodigy” against an unidentified online poker site.  The complaint?  They are refusing to pay out a win of 22,912,500.38 Rupees ($500,000) due to account fraud.  ApparentlyAashish Nanak signed up to the poker site through his uncle, although how he won the money is another detail left out of the original post. 

The case is (apparently) in an unspecified court as the poker site is refusing to pay due to a breach of standard industry Terms of Service re: underage play and account fraud.  However, the legal team for the 8 year old argues: “that the registration details belong to Aahish’s uncle and that at no time was it stated that Aashish could not play in the games.”  The lawyers for the gambling website, however state “that legally they do not have to pay out the winnings, as Aashish is under age, and are accusing him of entering false details.”

Is this an early April Fools joke? Is this an 8 year old poker prodigy?? I’m not really sure yet….given the lack of information and vagueness of the information that was given, i’m going with early April fools joke!

It seems that as the NEW UIGEA deadline approaches (Yeah, June 1st isn’t that far away folks); forcing American banking into compliance with the law and giving power to prosecute any firms that process financial poker transactions. But Online Poker Rooms are starting to fight back, protecting their profits and standing up for the player.

Leading the charge is DoylesRoom. Founded by Doyle Brunson in 2004 (in Costa Rica) DoylesRoom is one of the few sites that still welcomes players from within the USA. Along with Full Tilt and Pokerstars (who, combined, account for %70 of the US market) they are keeping their main operations out of the USA, but maintaining a very real hold on the online poker market there. By continuing to operating inside the US, with largely no consequences as yet, they are making the statement that by doing nothing the US government is making it legal. DoyleBrunson has even gone as far as to say that he believes online poker in the US is legal.

These are not the only poker rooms out there however. After the initial UIGEA ruling and first round of changes in 2006 (credit card companies and banks were no longer allowed to process online gambling fund transfers, and it was implied that in 2009 all online gambling would becompletely outlawed) PartyGaming pulled out of the US market. Recently PartyGaming has admitted to breaking the law, made a non-prosecution agreement with US Agencies and handed over $105 million.

Stark contrast, and a still unknown future for online gambling in the states. And once again we’re on the road to June when UIGEA will once again be up for heated debate and scrutiny while the US and the rest of the world try to find ways out of this global economic downturn. It’s funny when the answer is staring your in the face.

With the casino business of Atlantic City taking a beating over the tough economic times the New Jersey Government has become the first state to seriously explore online gambling (poker) revenue. Senator Raymond Lesniak introduced the S3167 Senate Bill that would permit Atlantic CIty Casinos to provide online versions of their games. Permitted games would be BLackjakc, Baccarat and of course, online poker.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission would be the regulatory body for the new iniative under a new division of Internet Wagering. Anyone is able to set up their own online gambling site, but for the with the costs involved only major Atlantic City Casino’s are expected to take advantage of the new proposed laws.

How Much Will It Cost?

Up Front Fee $200,000

Non-Refundable Deposit $100,000

Yearly Renewal $100,000

Problem Gambling Levey $100,000

Benifits

There are barrieres to setting up this type of business, but with little overhead and approx. 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone this could be a huge win for online gambling, and for Atlantic City Casinos. Giving it a chance could showcase the amount of revenue that the states have been denying themselves (Senator Lesniak estimates $100 million), as well as profiting from a higher tax rate on online gambling revenue (20% instead of the 8% on gross revenue currently incured by brick-and-mortar profits).

Drawbacks

The new regulations would allow for anyone to play online poker and gambling games, provided they were in a “restricted area of a casino hotel or a secure facility off the premises of the casino hotel.” Terminals would also be placed at racetracks. Sadly, not all New Jersey residents will be able to get their hands on legal online poker, should the bill pass. The law only applies to those people “within the territorial limits of the Atlantic County.”