Poker forum archive

Anticipating the eventual legalization of online poker in America, one of the world's leading poker sites, Gold Strike Poker, has officially changed its name to GoldRushPoker.net. One-hundred per cent USA legal and nominated Poker Operator of the Year at the 2011 International Gaming Awards, GoldRushPoker.net has strategically positioned itself to be the #1 choice for poker players in the United States.

"It's not a question of if online poker will be legalized," says John George, CEO of Gold Rush Poker. "It's a question of when. We are the top choice for American players right now and we have made strategic alliances with several industry leaders to ensure GoldRushPoker.net will be a household name."

GoldRushPoker.net has embarked on a national television and print campaign that includes airplay on GSN, Bravo, and Showtime Boxing and was recently selected by the Independent Casino Online Network as its official platform for online gaming in America. Committed to supporting US troops, Gold Rush Poker has also aligned with the Gene Simmons charity Aces & Angels, as its official online poker partner.

"This is about keeping it American!" says William Moloney, V.P. of Nevada Operations for Gold Rush Poker. "For years, money, jobs and business has been shipped overseas at the expense of US poker players and our economy. That won't happen at Gold Rush. We have followed the rules and want our players to know we will continue to be accountable."

GoldRushPoker.net is the only legal 3D poker site in the United States. Players can join for less than 67 cents a day and compete against thousands of players and gain access to the largest prize vault of any poker site in the world.

Is this a monthly membership? Like how WPT.com has theirs to where you pay like 20.00 a month and play as much as you want? Or is it like Merge where you deposit as you go?

Germany has been the largest holdout when it comes to online gambling in Europe, with only federal state-sponsored lotteries and sports betting officially being allowed in the country. However, that could be changing, as local state governments may look to legalize and regulate online poker and other forms of gambling.

Schleswig-Holstein this week became the first of the 16 states in Germany to pass laws to regulate online gambling, which many believe will lead to other states following suit.

Under current German law, the federal government has a monopoly on gambling, and a ban exists for Internet wagering. However, the treaty that sets these rules is due to expire at the end of 2011, after which the new Schleswig-Holstein law will come into effect.

The law would permit most online gambling activities, but some games would still be restricted. Sports betting and exchange betting would be allowed, as would poker. Some casino games are also allowed under the law, while baccarat, blackjack and roulette are specifically prohibited. There is no limit on the number of licenses that could be awarded to operators to run sites in the state, but operators will be required to pay a 20% tax on gross profits.

While Germany has not officially allowed online gambling to flourish in the country, most experts believe that it is one of the most lucrative markets for online casinos and poker rooms in Europe. An estimate 2.2 million Germans gamble online, primarily at sites from other European countries and offshore sites. Germany’s anti-online gambling laws have been seen as being in opposition to EU policy, though no formal steps have been taken to overturn the policy as of yet.

The Caesars Cup event at this year's World Series of Poker* Europe looks to provide players with some of the most entertaining action going in poker. On Wednesday, Oct. 19, Team Americas captain Phil Hellmuth and Team Europe captain Bertrand Grospellier will bring their teams of five to battle in a series of heads-up and partner-formatted matches. The first team to three victories will claim the Caesars Cup.

In the first Caesars Cup in 2009. Team Americas, captained by Daniel Negreanu, received a severe drubbing at the hands of Annette Obrestad and the online poker aces of Team Europe. For the past two years, it seems that the trend of European dominance has continued around the world.

"Team Americas has a score to settle after what most considered a colossal upset in London," WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart told ESPN "You see a real rivalry developing as European players continue to win more tournaments around the world."

Hellmuth's first pick for Team Americas was Doyle Brunson and now he's looking at Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan, Huck Seed, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier and Ben Lamb to try to reclaim the trophy. Grospellier hasn't let any picks information leak, but he did tweet: "Go EUROPE GO, let's show them 2 years ago wasn't an "upset"! I'm so proud to be the chosen one!"

I think government should think before taking this decision because many people are using fake credit cards information in gambling and there is also a chance of dodge and cheat in it.

Recently, Michael J. Divita made the poker headlines for all the wrong reasons when he apparently chose to “withdraw” from the $20,000 Epic Poker League (EPL) Main Event, having qualified via a $1,500 buy-in satellite.

Allegedly at the heart of the decision was the fact it was discovered he was a registered sex offender and the EPL considered it in the best interest of the tournament if he did not play. Divita then apparently was returned his initial $1,500 stake before being escorted from the Palms Casino Resort.

A week later, and now a few more details have emerged concerning the controversial incident following an interview by Michael Divita with QuadJacks.

According to Divita, he decided to withdraw from the EPL Main Event in reponse from pressure coming from the EPL Standards and Ethics Committee chairman Stephen Martin, in addition to the fact that since his 1991 conviction he has become accustomed to the stigma attached to his particular crime.

However, Divita has now said that he had no intention of merely walking away from his $20,000 ticket and agreed to voluntarily withdraw from the EPL tournament without objection provided he was given the equivalent amount in cash.

Divita said that his proviso was then flatly rejected and that he was told he would only receive his initial $1,500 Pro/Am buy-in fee, instead.

After Divita refused and expressed his intention to play the tournament, he was apparently told by Stephen Martin:

“We will stop you…It will get very public, and probably be very embarrassing for you…We will say that you withdrew.”

Divita then related how he felt intimidated by several security guards, didn’t feel like he was given a choice and so has now issued an ultimatum to the EPL to pay him $20,000 by September 23 or face a lawsuit. As Divita further explained:

“As an ethical man, I will not ask for anything that I do not feel that I am due. What I was due was $20,000. What I was given, was $1,500. I’d like the balance sent to me within ten (10) days… If my money is not received by that date, I will file a lawsuit against Federated Sports + Gaming, Inc., The Epic Poker League, and ALL of its partners and principals, for not only my $18,500.00, but also additional damages for many other causes of action, including civil rights violations against me.”

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Online poker has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players nationwide. Its revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 to $2.4 billion in 2005.

Once you have learned the rules of poker and have played for money or low limit real money, or you may be holding your own or losing a little. Regardless of that, I am sure you would want to improve your play and become a regular winner. This article will give you a few useful tips on how to be a regular winning poker player.

First of all, nothing beats the combination of good experience and honest analysis of your game. Ask yourself how could you have dealt differently to win more money or lose less? Which of your opponents are playing worthless hands? Always review and analyze your play while playing as much as you can.

Buy a few high quality poker books and really study the valuable information being offered. Read them over and over again so that you can gradually pick up strategies and concepts that you may have missed previously.

Poker playing software gives a level of play equivalent to an above average skilled player. This will allow you to practice more on your own with a much more realistic experience.

Lastly, if you want to be a winning poker player, you will have to integrate record keeping in your poker plays. Without this, you will just lose money indefinitely because you just keep on guessing how well you are playing. Records will give you the information that you need to analyze your win rates, discover your weaknesses, and assess your game realistically. Beginners can try a data spreadsheet such as Google docs as an excellent free option. There are also many excellent commercial products out there for record keeping.

At present, there are dozens of poker rooms on the internet available for play. Finding the right fit takes research and practice. Just persist and you will soon be on your way to becoming a competent poker player or even a regular winning poker player. Apply these tips by heart and watch your hard work pay off.

Massachusetts lawmakers are allowing the state to consider Internet poker as part of the recently approved casino bill.

The Massachusetts House approved an amendment to its expanded gaming bill Wednesday that requires the gaming commission established by the bill to analyze and develop model legislation for Internet poker in the state.

Rep. Daniel Winslow, who filed the amendment, says allowing an Internet poker industry would create high tech jobs in the state and boost tax revenue.

The Norfolk Republican’s amendment prohibiting lawmakers from working in the casinos after leaving office also was approved.

The casino bill approved by the House late Wednesday would license up to three casinos and one slots parlor.

Winslow’s amendments were some of the few lawmakers approved. The bill now moves to the Senate.

The push to legalize online poker and to regulate the industry in order to protect players has received backing from a couple of heavy hitters.

Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security and former FBI Director Louis Freeh have joined FairPlayUsa in an effort to fight ineffective laws against illegal internet gambling.

“Current federal laws fail to provide U.S. law enforcement vital tools to address illegal internet gambling, enabling a ‘wild-west’ atmosphere,” said Freeh. “I am joining FairPlayUsa to improve this environment by clarifying these laws, better empowering law enforcement agencies to crack down on violators and using licensing and regulation to ensure safe and legal online poker.”

Many offshore internet gambling websites are operating in violation of state and federal laws, exposing millions of bettors to risking their money with no safeguards of consumer protection in place. One need look no further than Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker to see that regulation and protection is needed. Thousands of poker players who have account balances at those poker websites are still waiting and hoping to be paid.

Despite the Black Friday indictments of the three largest internet poker sites, Freeh and Ridge believe that existing laws on online gaming has not been effective. They support legislation that would allow authorities to oversee internet gambling websites.

“The fact is there are millions and millions of people playing the game today,” Ridge said. Congress in 2006 decided to prohibit all internet gambling. Was it well-intentioned? Yes. Has it been effective? With respect to those who thought they were doing the right thing by banning it, the answer is unequivocally no.

“Prohibiton hasn’t worked, criminalization doesn’t make a lot of sense,” added Ridge. “The alternative is to encourage Congress, with the right input from the law enforcement community, consumer protection advocates, child safety advocates, professional players, to develop a regulatory scheme to enable law enforcement to oversee lawful internet poker.”

FairPlayUsa officials said they are working with those groups to back federal regulations that define online gambling and protect consumers.

In addition to Freeh and Ridge, the advisory board of FairPlayUsa includes Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and Mike Sexton, commentator on the World Poker Tour for the past 10 seasons..

Since the US shut down its online poker market in April, 2011, more and more players have chosen to leave their country in search of the American Dream abroad.

With online poker sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt no longer operating in the US, other smaller sites such as the Netherlands-based Lock Poker and the Curaçao-based Cake Poker have moved to fill the vacuum left in the US online poker arena.

However, these sites are unable to offer the same level of choice and popularity as a site such as PokerStars, who boasts over 200,000 players at any time compared to just over a couple of thousand each for Cake Poker or Lock Poker located on the Merge Gaming Network. In addition, US players keeping large amounts of money on these sites is a risky business as no one knows where the DOJ may target next.

Consequently, many US pros have been setting-up shop in various other countries around the world tolerant to online poker, and using such services as ‘Poker Refugees‘ to assist with their relocation.

Poker Refugees is run by former Florida pro surfer Kristin Wilson, who charges around $1,000 a head for organising all the groundwork to facilitate a smooth relocation to such countries as Canada, Panama, and Costa Rica.

Two pros who have used the service to move are Matthew “All In At 420″ Stout with $2,988,045 in online earnings, and $1,032,379 playing live, and Joey “Joey Capp” Cappuccio’s with $2,216,081 online winnings and $51,777 from live play.

Now sharing an appartment in San Jose, Costa Rica, Stout commented:

“Without Wilson, we wouldn’t have been online in time for the [PokerStars] World Championship. I would have just been here banging my head against a wall.”

Without any changes to the current policy toward online poker in the States, the American exodus is only set to just keep on growing. Amongst the dozens of pros already playing from outside of the US are the following players:

Eugene ‘oogee/fishosaurusREX’ Yanayt
Jon ‘FatalError’ Aguiar
Justin ‘ZeeJustin’ Bonomo
Olivier Busquet
Daniel Cates
Ricky Fohrenbach
Phil Galfond
Steve ‘gboro780′ Gross
Brian ‘$tinger 88′ Hastings
Jonathan ‘Iftarii’ Jaffe
McLean ‘PureProfitFo’ Karr
Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy
Christina Lindley
Richard ‘nutsinho’ Lyndaker
Kevin ‘ImaLuckSac’ MacPhee
Tom ‘kingsofcards’ Marchese
Daniel Negreanu
William ‘Altrum Altus’ Reynolds
David ‘SexSeen’ Sands (aka. Doc Sands)
Vanessa Selbst
Dani ‘supernova9′ Stern
Ben ‘Sauce123′ Sulsky
Kevin ‘WizardofAhhs’ Thurman
Brian Townsend
Jon ‘PearlJammer’ Turner
Isaac Haxton

Former FBI director Louis Freeh has joined Fair Play USA, a coalition backed by Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International that is pushing for Congress to adopt federal regulations allowing online poker.

The group, which also includes former Department of Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge and Internet safety advocate and attorney Parry Aftab, also seeks a clearer definition of illegal gambling, saying it would allow law enforcement to more effectively crack down on black market websites and other illegal operators.

Fair Play held a media event today on Capitol Hill to discuss its goals, which include educating "policymakers and the public about the current ambiguous laws in the U.S. that have led to a $6 billion a year illegal gambling market led by rogue offshore operators."

Freeh served as FBI director from 1993 to 2001 and was involved in several major investigations during his tenure at the agency, including prosecuting a drug trafficking case in the 1980s involving organized crime.

He has since become a corporate consultant who has served on multiple boards of directors. He founded the Delaware-based risk management company Freeh Group International Solutions in 2007.

Years after resigning from his FBI post, Freeh criticized the 9/11 Commission that investigated the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, saying the U.S. government previously knew the identity of the bomber who piloted the plane into one of the Twin Towers.

The state house approved a bill to allow casinos in Massachusetts Wednesday evening, thanks in part to the support of two Stoneham representatives.

The bill, which calls for licensing of three resort-style casinos and one slot parlor to Massachusetts overwhelmingly passed through the state House of Representatives Wednesday with a vote of 123-32.

Rep. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, voted in favor of the bill.

"I supported the bill taken up by the House of Representatives this week because I believe that on balance the benefits to Massachusetts will outweigh the costs," Lewis said. "This is not a decision I took lightly, and I recognize that the costs will include an increase in gambling addiction and the serious social problems that accompany this illness."

According to Lewis, with state unemployment still over 7 percent, the House needs to capitlize on every opportunity to put residents back to work. The bill would also require the winning bidders to make a capital investment of $500 million.

"No other economic development opportunity offers this kind of private investment potential at a time when the capacity for investment of public taxpayer dollars is extremely limited," Lewis said. "It is estimated that this investment will create 7,000 new construction jobs, and another 7,000 permanent jobs once the casinos are up and running.

"The bill will also generate significant new revenue for the Commonwealth, including more than $200 million in up-front licensing fees and annual revenue of $200-400 million. A significant portion of this new revenue will go towards education and local aid, and will be in addition to the funds that our schools and communities already receive from the state. Finding new ways to support public education is vital to the future of our communities."

The bill is expected to move to the Senate later this month.

"In the final analysis, whether each of us supports or opposes casinos, we have to concede that gambling is already a pervasive part of our culture," Lewis said. "Millions of Massachusetts residents play the lottery, bet on sporting events, play online poker, and travel to casinos in other states. I believe the bill that passed the House of Representatives recognizes this reality, and will address the social costs of gambling while bringing new jobs and revenue to our state."

Casino corporations that advocate legalizing Internet poker rolled out some big guns this week to advance their cause.

An industry-funded coalition introduced former FBI Director Louis Freeh and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to bolster the argument that federal regulation of online poker would protect consumers and allow authorities to police sites that sponsor games. Freeh has joined Ridge on the board of FairPlayUSA, an effort launched this summer with startup funding from Caesars Entertainment Inc. and MGM Resorts International to build support to legalize online poker.

Despite indictments this spring targeting three of the largest online poker companies, the former federal law enforcers said current law on Internet gaming has been ineffective.

“The fact is there are millions and millions of people playing the game today,” Ridge said at a media event in the U.S. Capitol. “Congress in 2006 decided to prohibit all Internet gambling. Was it well intentioned? Yes. Has it been effective? With respect to those who thought they were doing the right thing by banning it, the answer is unequivocally ‘no.’

“Prohibition hasn’t worked, criminalization doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Ridge added. “The alternative is to encourage Congress, with the right input from the law-enforcement community, consumer-protection advocates, child-safety advocates, professional players, to develop a regulatory scheme to enable law enforcement to oversee lawful Internet poker.”

Officials with FairPlayUSA say they are building a coalition of those groups to support a federal law to define Internet gambling and provide umbrella protections they say will not be possible if states are allowed to enact individual poker laws.

Continuing year’s trend, July visitor numbers up

The Las Vegas visitor industry continued its climb out of recession in July at much the same clip it has for the entire year.

A statistical report Monday by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority shows that the nearly 3.5 million people who came to town during the month marked a 4.3 percent gain from a year ago, almost exactly same pace set during the first seven months of 2011.

As a result, the hotel occupancy rate rose

4.3 percentage points, to 88.3 percent, and the average room rate rose 9.9 percent, again nearly the same as the year-to-date rate.

The city is on track to match its peak of

39.2 million visitors set in 2007. However, industry officials say spending continues at a lower pace than in the boom times.

The average daily room rate that year was $132.09, compared with $104.59 now. The occupancy rate of 90.4 percent was ahead of this year’s 85.3 percent. However, the 148,000 rooms now on the market amount to an increase of more than 15,000 in the past four years.

The anomaly in the July statistics came in the often-volatile convention sector, where attendance dropped 17.9 percent even as the number of meetings increased 30.2 percent, indicating a swing to smaller groups.

Foreclosure notice filed on Las Vegas Hilton

A notice of foreclosure has been filed against the Las Vegas Hilton.

The decision to file the notice of foreclosure on Sept. 2 was made about a month after Colony Resorts LVH Acquisitions LLC, owner of the 2,950-room hotel-casino, disclosed it was in default on its $252 million loan.

Colony Resorts LVH, a subsidiary of the privately held equity firm Colony Capital LLC, said in an earnings report released Aug. 10 that it had opted not to make monthly payments totaling $3.5 million for June, July and August.

Colony Resorts LVH said the decision to default was made “to conserve liquidity for operating and other needs.”

Caesars Palace’s Octavius Tower set to open Jan. 2

Caesars Palace said Wednesday it will open the 668-room Octavius Tower on Jan. 2.

Construction of the tower was halted two years ago during the financial crisis.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced earlier this year it would complete the hotel tower, which will give the Strip casino more than 4,000 hotel rooms.

The tower will have a private entrance, separate hotel lobby and direct access to the Garden of the Gods pool and gardens.

The tower’s completion is part of an

$860 million expansion to Caesars Palace that includes new restaurants, the transformation of the Centurian Tower into the Nobu Hotel, Restaurant and Lounge, and new entertainment.

SBE Entertainment acquires mortgage of closed Sahara

The ownership of the Sahara said Thursday it had acquired the mortgage covering the shuttered Strip hotel-casino.

SBE Entertainment of Los Angeles and San Francisco-based Stockbridge Real Estate Funds said they finalized the debt purchase, which was used to buy the Sahara in 2007.

No price was given.

“We’ve invested substantial new equity to acquire the note, allowing us complete flexibility to re-envision this property,” SBE Chief Executive Officer Sam Nazarian said in a statement.

The Sahara was closed in May, just shy of the Rat Pack-era hotel-casino’s 60th birthday.

The ownership also announced that it hired global architecture firm Gensler Architects and the Las Vegas-based Penta Building Group to evaluate options for the Sahara site.

Gensler was one of the designers behind CityCenter. Penta has developed projects hotel and retail projects in Las Vegas.

Once in awhile you hear a story that is so disturbing you have to wonder how a person with this mentality has functioned in a civilized world for so long. Online poker player Michael Gallagher from Redcar, East Cleveland was an avid poker player who was no good at the game, which was obvious to anyone reading the original story, which detailed how much money he lost playing poker at an unnamed online poker room. The total losses he accumulated was over 18,800 pounds and not being able to deal with the fact that he lost that much money playing poker he decided he’d threaten to visit the headquarters of the poker site with a sawed off shotgun and kill the entire staff if they did not hand over £31,000 to clear all of his losses that he incurred over the year!

Michael Gallagher sent accusatory emails to the main office of the company, which is located on the Isle of Man with his crazed warning back in May of this year. The very next day, Gallagher sent another email apologizing for his actions and insisted he only wrote the threatening email because he was drunk. Not believing his explanation for the threats, Gallagher was arrested and charged with blackmail, but with a lawyer’s advice before the trial, he pleaded guilty to “the offense of electronic communication conveying a threat”. The judge in the case will be sentencing Gallagher next month but first Judge George Moorhouse has granted probation so a report can be gathered on Gallagher’s background before sentencing is made. Gallagher’s lawyer, Rachel Dyson requested that the judge just sentence Gallagher immediately because he was experiencing high levels of anxiety over his fate but the judge would not hear of it. So let this be a lesson to anyone who can’t afford to lose when gambling, if you can’t afford it, don’t bet it!

The Partouche Poker Tour Cannes main event final table has been set, but in similar fashion to the World Series of Poker main event, a champion will not be crowned until November.

When play resumes on Nov. 12 it will be the UK’s Sam Trickett leading the way with 2.6 million in chips. He will be one of nine fighting for the top prize of €1,000,000 ($1,379,699).

Here are the final nine and their chip counts:

1. Sam Trickett 2,605,000

2. Alexandre Coussy 2,473,000

3. Salman Behbehani 2,446,000

4. Mads Wissing 2,144,000

5. Mustapha Kanit 2,047,000
6. Roger Hairabedian 1,890,000

7. Oleksii Kovalchuk 1,626,000

8. Ilan Boujenah 1,241,000

9. Alexander Dovzhenko 944,000

The Casino Palm Beach in Cannes, France saw a total of 570 players register for the €8,500 buy-in main event and now only nine remain.

Here is what they are playing for:

1st: €1,000,000
2nd: €600,000
3rd: €379,760
4th: €300,000
5th: €230,000
6th: €190,000
7th: €160,000
8th: €130,000
9th: €100,000

Richard Bryan's goal since grade school was to enter politics so he could serve as an advocate for the people he represented in Nevada.

His goal was achieved several times on a state level from the early 1970s through the 1980s, first as a member of the state Senate, than as Nevada's attorney general before serving two-time terms as governor.

The lifelong Democrat then represented Nevada in the U.S. Senate from 1989 until 2001. Along with politics, Bryan has had a passion for the law. In 1964, he began his legal career as a deputy district attorney in Clark County. Within two years he was named Clark County's first public defender.

Today, Bryan's a shareholder in Las Vegas-based law firm Lionel Sawyer & Collins. He also remains an advocate for the state he's called home since 1942.

"We are in very challenging times," Bryan told members of the American Bankruptcy Institute Sept. 9 during a keynote speech at the 19th annual Southwest Bankruptcy Conference at the Four Seasons.

Bryan said the region's economic growth for years had been driven by tourism and gaming. That growth led to the unprecedented demand for construction workers.

He estimated that before the recession took hold in 2008, 12 percent of Southern Nevada's population worked in construction, compared with the national average of 5 percent.

"No other place in the country has been impacted more than Las Vegas," he said.

Although the national economy is rebounding, Bryan described the recovery in Las Vegas as "tentative at best."

"Visitor counts, convention attendance and room rates are going up, but it's never going to be like it was in the late 1990s and earlier this decade," Bryan said.

So what's the next great challenge for Nevada?

For gaming, he said, it's the Internet. Bryan admits he's changed is position and is now advocate for Nevada becoming the hub for regulating Internet gaming once online poker is approved federally.

"I admit I was late to the party. I wasn't enamored with Internet gaming," he said. "No question that there is the potential for billions of dollars of revenues to be generated by online poker."

Bryan told a receptive audience that there may be an opportunity for Nevada to license Internet poker sites if the federal government overturns its current ban on Internet poker. Although Bryan supports legalizing Internet poker, he opposes online casinos.

"Maybe we can get some of the new revenue generated by online poker," he said.

He said Nevada's gaming industry is still dealing with the fallout from the legalization of tribal gaming. In 1988, Congress approved and President Ronald Reagan signed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which cleared the way for the construction of multimillion-dollar resorts on tribal lands nationwide.

Bryan said the "taboo" associated with gambling has been broken. He noted that 48 of the 50 U.S. states have some sort of legalized gaming, with the exceptions being Utah and Hawaii.

He said many of the tribal casinos, especially in California, are very nice places to stay, have a meal and gamble.

"That's had a tremendous impact on Nevada, especially on Laughlin and Reno," he said.

Although the valley faces many challenges with its economy and educational system, Bryan remains amazed at its growth from 10,000 people in 1942 to close to 2 million in 2011.

Bryan reminded a room full of bankruptcy attorneys that when he graduated from high school in 1955, Las Vegas High School was the only high school in town.

"Looking at a room like this with this many people, it does bring a tear to my eye," the retired politician said. "I wish I could have generated a crowd like this when I was running for public office."

Thirty-five-year-old Michael Gallagher from the UK (Redcar, East Cleveland) reportedly lost somewhere in the neighborhood of £19,000, which is about $30,000 US dollars, at an unnamed online poker site before losing it and giving “going on tilt” a whole new meaning.

Gallagher lost his money between June of 2010 and May 2011 before finally losing his cool on May 25th when he emailed the website’s head office located in the Isle of Man with a threatening message. He wrote that he would be visiting the office with a sawed off shotgun and would shoot as many people as possible unless they paid him £30,000 (or $50K US dollars) for his losses.

The following day, Gallagher followed up with a second email that explained he was drunk when he wrote the email and apologized for his actions. However, the online poker site wasn’t so sure, so they notified the police and Gallagher was later arrested and is now charged with blackmail.

Following the advice of his lawyer, Gallagher plead guilty to conveying a threat via electronic communication. He will be sentenced next month, despite requests by his lawyer for an earlier sentence. The presiding Judge Georg Moorhouse explained he needed more time to decide sentencing, saying, “I think a report is required because of the very nature of the threat.”

Currently out on bail, Gallager awaits his fate.

If you've never heard of the Punta Cana Poker Classic: here's what you need to know.

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It takes place November 8th to 13th, 2011
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That's right – we're sending thirty online poker players to fun in the sun while the rest of us try to deal with the autumn blues.

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You can win your way to a seat at the Punta Cana classic for as little as $.55 thanks to our cheap seat tourneys held every day. You can also buy directly into semifinal events for $35+.3.50 or the satellite events for $230+20. We're also offering two players the chance to qualify through a draw held by Bodog!

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Sam Trickett has had, for lack of a better word, a stunning year at the poker tables. He's won over $3,000,000 so far this year in live poker play and his latest hit proves that he's going to give everyone a run for their money. He's reached the final table of the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event and is in the chip lead with over 2.6m in front of him. He'll be going back on November 12th to finish the game up.

Trickett started Day 5 of this year's event with with 512,000 chips, enough to place him in 13th place with 18 players remaining but shortly after the restart he doubled up to 1,200,000 after being on the right side of an aces versus kings scenario.

Everyone at the final table is guaranteed at least €100,000 with the top spot earning €1,000,000.

For the curious, here's a list of the final tablets and their chip counts.

Sam Trickett (2,605,000)

Alexandre Coussy (2,473,000)
Salman Behbehani (2,446,000)
Mads Wissing (2,144,000)
Mustapha Kanit (2,047,000)
Roger Hairabedian (1,890,000)
Oleksii Kovalchuk (1,626,000)
Ilan Boujenah (1,241,000)
Alexander Dovzhenko (944,000)

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