Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

I have blogged about this before on Cardkings.co.uk, outlining how the whole outlawing of online poker in the states is basically a temper tantrum.  This is largely because they were making no revenue from the online casino’s, and online casino’s popularity was eclipsing brick and mortar casinos.  So what to do? They make it illegal, claiming “protection” and wait until someone comes up with a model that makes them money.  We are currently in a situation that someone has found that model.  And so, the pending “legalization” of online poker has very little to do with the lobbyist (poker players alliance), or even the average poker player, and much more to do with how well it can line the pockets of the federal and state governments.  (wow, is this a conspiracy blog all of a sudden?! jeez!)

I just came across this article from Poker News Daily, who sat down to speak with Mickey Leibner.  He is a lobbyist for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).  Realistically it has more to do with “what is a lobbyist” and less to do with “what can a lobbyist do for poker?”, but it may be worth the read.

In a nutshell they are hoping for HR 2266 (which is the bill to delay the implementation of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by one year), and through that find a way to make online poker “legal” and hey, while they’re at it, make some cash for the government!

Here is the interview: ( i was going to link to it, but I’m lazy….and I’m multi tabling…:) )

We hope that HR 2266,  – We’re hopeful that we can get something done on that as soon as we get back from the August recess. That’s the plan. Tell your readers that we’re out there every day and trying to bust our butts to get this done. We’re pretty confident and feel better than we did a year ago at this time.

Poker News Daily: How did you become involved with lobbying on behalf of the PPA?

Leibner: I work with former Congressman Toby Moffett and have been involved lobbying on behalf of the PPA since the fall of 2007. Our policy is that we won’t lobby for any causes we don’t believe in. We want to go on Capitol Hill with clients who have a good story to tell. The PPA and the poker world have a great story to tell. It’s a message of personal freedoms.

PND: You mentioned personal freedoms. Does that resonate with Congressmen when you lobby about the issue?

Leibner: It does resonate. One of the interesting things about this issue is that it truly resonates across the aisle – Democrats and Republicans. I personally am a big-time Democrat, but there are people we meet with on both sides of the aisle that like this issue for different reasons.

PND: What’s an average day for a lobbyist?

Leibner: We do a lot of preparation, like crafting memos for staff and gathering the most relevant information on an issue. One of the things we do is based on our knowledge of a particular Congressman, district, office, or staff member – We tend to tailor what we say so it will have the greatest effect. You want to make sure that you’re using the right arguments with a rural Republican Representative and those are probably different arguments than you’d use with an urban Democrat, for example.

PND: You told us earlier that your firm also lobbies on behalf of environmental issues and other efforts. Is it difficult juggling several different commitments?

Leibner: It’s not necessarily hard and it keeps it interesting. I actually like it because every day is a little bit different. I can wake up every morning knowing that everything I’m doing is something I can get behind and feel good about. That makes a big difference.

PND: How did you begin your lobbying career?

Leibner: I’ve been politically involved for a while. I graduated from college and really didn’t know what I was going to do. I wanted to be in politics. I focused a lot in college on the intersection of technology and politics, so I wrote a thesis on the world of blogs. I was looking at a number of non-profits and organizations outside of the government and I happened to get in with Toby Moffett. It’s neat because the poker issue allows me to work on the intersection of technology and politics.

PND: What is your forecast for the future of internet gambling legislation in the United States in 2009 and 2010?

Leibner: We’re very hopeful and we’re very confident that we can get these laws passed. We have a lot of powerful people on our side, including most notably Barney Frank, who is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. It just so happens that we’re in the midst of the biggest financial crisis in the past few decades. We’re confident that our message is getting through.

… because the site is full of retarded players.  Sky Poker must attract some of the biggest online poker donks out there.  Basically people sign-up and play here because they want to be on TV.  They obviously don’t care about the money or else you wouldn’t see this kind of stuff:

*** Special Offer *** Sky Poker has provided us with a special promotion for non-us players.  Instead of the standard bonus of just 500 player points, players that sign-up through BankrollBoost.com will receive a bonus up to £500 based on how many points they accumulate.  So potentially you could deposit just £10 and receive £500 for FREE!  For all details visit SkyPoker.com by clicking the banner below:

Titan Poker, the largest online poker room on the iPoker network, has this week announced its freeroll schedule for the month of May.

The tournaments will offer players the opportunity to win their share of $63,000 in prize money as well as getting the chance to try to win 2 luxury prizes of a Peugeot 207cc car and a huge 2009 World Series of Poker package.

The new freerolls have been created to try to encourage new players to make their first deposit in the month of May into their account, with entry into these fantasic tournaments only been given to players who deposit.

With $63,000 in prize money been offered over the number of tournaments that will span the entire month, players are sure to want to place their funds into the site.

The Peugeot 207cc car carries a list price of $30,000, meaning that the winner of the freeroll will cash in significantly. With the freeroll been scheduled for June 5th the site is giving players every opportunity to fund their accounts in time.

The other prize that will carry a huge amount of interest is that of the 2009 World Series of Poker package that is on offer. Carrying a value of $13,000 the package consists of the $10,000 buy in for the WSOP Main Event as well as travel to Las Vegas, 7 nights luxury accommodation at the Rio, Las Vegas from July 4th until July 11th, registration fees for the tournament and spending money for the trip.

With the sheer size of the World Series of Poker tournament series, the competition for the 2009 WSOP tournament package is going to be extremely fierce, with some players looking to deposit into the site with the aim to win the package.

The award winning online poker room is also offering new depositing players their generous first time deposit match bonus. This means that if a player was to deposit $50 into their player account, Titan Poker will then credit your bonus with the ability to unlock $50 in free bankroll.

To unlock your free bankroll couldn’t be easier, with players only have to gain points that are calculated from the amount of rake that they generate within a hand.

The fastest way for you to unlock your bonus would be to take a seat at the heads up tables within the highest stake that you can afford with your funds.

Playing at the heads up tables means that the action is fast and frequent, meaning that your points will be aquired in no time.

As always, Bankroll Boost has some great specials like our 150% up to $500 sign-up bonus code for Titan Poker.  Get started by visiting Titan Poker now!

With every poker player having the same aim, regardless of if they are a live player or online player, Betfair have opened a promotion that is going wet the mouth of any poker player.

Betfair have announced that they are going to offer a freeroll for a huge $1 million tournament as the first event within the World Series of Poker Europe tournament schedule.

The tournament will be broken down into 15 regions, with 15 tournaments leading into one main event, with the winner of the tournament a guaranteed millionaire.

The tournaments begin Monday 13th April and will be played out over an 18 week period, with daily tournaments taking place.

The top 18 for each region will then contest against the other region finalists from the other regional qualifiers in a bid to be the winner of their region, meaning that they will then represent their region in the live main event.

The tournament boasts about its ease of entry to the tournament that will be life changing for one lucky winner, taking home a huge $1 million in prize money.

Ok so you know about the tournament but how do you get your shot at making your money?

Up to the 16th of May 2009, players have unlimited attempts to try to win their way through the tournaments to progresses but Betfair has warned players that from the 18th of May 2009 players will have to start to use their Betfair points in order to gain entry, meaning that if players don’t have the points to buy into the tournament they simply miss out on this huge opportunity.

For more information about Betfair, read our Betfair Poker Review and use our special Betfair Promotion Code to get a nice $600 FREE on your first deposit!

Thought this would make for a good post.  Found this video on RawVegas.TV of strippers playing some poker.  The girls of Rick’s Cabaret in Vegas take over the Hard Rock to play in a poker tournament with $10k on the line.  Here is the video:

I came accross this video about some poker players that are living in Phuket, Thailand on Bill Rini’s blog and thought it was pretty funny and worth sharing.  Over the past few years many poker players have started moving to various inexpensive places around the world for the better life.  The two most popular are probably Thailand and Argentina.

I spent last winter in Buenos Aires, Argentina and have to say that it was an AMAZING place and if you are a poker player looking to relocate, I would go there.  The girls are wayyyyyy better looking than the thai ones and its just an all around fun place with people from all over the world.

Anyway, here is a video that a couple poker players living in Thailand made about their daily routine.  It takes a while to get to the point, but its still a cool watch with a nice soundtrack.