Poker forum archive

Betfair has announced the appointment of a new CEO to replace outgoing chief executive, David Yu. According to reports, Breon Corcoran will be the new Betfair CEO, who is currently CEO of leading Irish sportsbook, current Paddy Power.

The 40 year old Irishman is expected to replace Yu who announced in June that he does not intend to renew his contract that expires in October 2012. He has filled the position of CEO for the past six years.

Corcoran joined Paddy Power in 2001 as the non-retail division head and was an integral part of the company's move into online gaming. He also played a part in Paddy Power's expansion into the Australian market. He was a board member since 2004 and was appointed to the position of CEO in August 2010.
Betfair Looking to Allay Investor's Concerns

Betfair was established in 2000 and it has since expanded to become the largest online betting firm in the UK. Just over a year ago, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but their share price has dropped from £ 13 late last year to £7.96 at present. Investors have been showing concern over the company's strategy and the more than 44 percent drop in share prices over the past twelve months.

Yu has been criticised for his lack of long-term growth strategy for Betfair, despite helping the founding shareholders of the company to realise a massive wealth on paper with its stock market listings. Betfair and Paddy Power have not commented on the move.

The Betfair Group has gambling licenses in Gibraltar, the United States, Malta, Tasmania and Italy. It released figures indicating core revenue growth for the year ending April 2011, to £330 million, an increase of 7.8 percent. This was in spite of a core revenue fall to £80.8 million - a drop of 7 percent in Q1 of 2012.

Paddy Power, on the other hand, saw an increase in profits to Euro 57 million - a rise of 15 percent in the first half of the year. Paddy Power offers online, mobile and telephone betting operations for markets in Britain and Ireland. It also operates in Australia through its subsidiary, Sportsbet and has grown to be the biggest online betting operator in Australia. 80 percent of Paddy Power's profits come from its online betting operations.

Corcoran is expected to relocate to London to take up his position as Betfair CEO.

SunFirst Bank, a Utah financial institution associated with poker’s Black Friday, was shutdown late last week by state regulators.

SunFirst Vice Chairman John Campos was named in April’s indictment that also included members of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker.

Campos allegedly processed the illegal Internet gambling transactions at the request of Las Vegas businessman Chad Elie.

The bank was experiencing financial troubles in addition to its legal ones, losing $2.7 million in the first half of 2011.

Both Campos and Elie were arrested on the morning of the indictment. Campos was released on $25,000 bail, and Elie was released on $250,000 bail.

The allegations include violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), money laundering and bank and wire fraud.

It all goes down today, and the three finishers that are going to be sitting down at the 2011 World Series of Poker* final table are going to have an unprecedented amount of information on one another thanks to video coverage of the final table's play, giving them a chance to review and re-examine not only their opponents' play, but their own.

"It’s a whole different form of poker. I have a whole team working to get me information and it’s a completely different situation," Ben Lamb told the Associated Press.

Gambling regulators in Vegas are allowing American cable sports network ESPN to broadcast the action nearly live, with players’ cards shown on a 15-minute delay. Before the changes, players had to wait months to find out what their opponents had, as play shown on TV was significantly truncated to only certain hands.

Thanks to the coverage, several of the nine finalists were seen getting up and talking to poker-playing friends during Sunday's session, walking over to the rail and getting a gander at their iPads and phones.

With $8.72m on the line for the top spot, players are using every advantage they can get in the showdown, and nobody can blame them. 22-year-old chip leader Pius Heinz of Germany, 26-year-old Ben Lamb of Las Vegas and 35-year-old Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic each represent a different style of play and it will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.

An online poker bill out of the US Congress could send Elray Gaming, Inc, an online gaming company which is traded under the name Elray Resources, Inc (OTC:ELRA), higher as investors seek out plays that could benefit from any change in US gaming laws.

Ludlow Capital, a small cap equity research firm based in New York City, issued a note to their clients over the weekend that ELRA may be positioned to experience some strong upside potential on any word that the US Congress will take up an online poker bill to legalize online gambling.

With the US Congressional 'Super Committee' set to release their plan for budget cuts, and additional tax revenues, the prospects for changes in current online gambling laws have increased with support for such changes now being supported on both Democrats and Republican sides.

ELRA Opens US Office

In March 2011, ELRA announced it had established of a U.S. office for its online gaming division, Elray Gaming, in preparation for potential changes to U.S. gaming laws. This move by ELRA comes months in advance to the news that MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE:BYD), also in preparation for the U.S. to legalize online poker, agreed to form a venture with the biggest listed Internet gambling company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc. This just shows that the online gaming market sees some sort of changes in US gaming laws on the horizon.

Entry into Forex Trading

Elray Gaming, a pure play online gambling turn-key stock, is also expanding its online gaming portfolio to now cover online Forex trading under its international footprint. In addition to its online casinos, and poker websites, Elray Gaming will expand its operations into currency trading, which trades around $4 trillion each day world-wide.

As currencies fluctuate wildly on news out of Europe, US, and Japan, traders are finding big gains trading through the Forex market, and Elray Gaming will explore how to harvest this growing market. Areas to be explored are online Forex trading, turn-key platform solutions, and managed Forex accounts for institutional investors.

Mobile Apps and Social Networking

In addition, the Company is expected to develop, and or acquire, a basket of mobile applications and social networking sites focused on gaming, and fantasy sports area to broaden their investment portfolio. Information on these new ventures are expected to be released from the company in the coming weeks.

US Online Poker Bill

With the US 'Super Committee' set to release their plan later this month, the prospects of a possible bill to legalize online poker has increased. By legalizing and regulating online poker the committee would be able to use those additional tax revenues for their planned budget cuts. Since online poker would be a new industry, the Republicans would still be able to say they have stuck to their plan to not to raise taxes, as this would be the creation and tax of a whole new industry. This could position Elray Gaming well with their now offline Nuts Poker (Welcome to Nutspoker-com ? May the Nuts be with you!) to take some market share of this expected large regulated market.

Ludlow Capital did not issue a valuation target on ELRA, but did place it on its recommended traders list as potential mover on news out of the US Congress. ELRA was last traded at a price of $0.007 per share.

About Elray Gaming

Elray is an established Global Online Gaming entity which owns and licenses Gaming Intellectual Property, Gaming Domains, Trademarks and Player Databases. Operations are headquartered in Curacao, Netherland Antilles and maintain offices, representatives and support facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Mauritius, Israel and the Philippines. Elray's business model is to offer Internet Gaming Products to non-US players in jurisdictions where online gaming is permitted. Elray Gaming - A consulting and marketing firm

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It's Election Day and our readers in Portsmouth and Southern Maine have some important decisions to make at the polls.

First, we urge all residents not to squander their right to vote. "One man (or woman), one vote" is the very cornerstone of our democracy. If you don't vote, your opinion literally is not counted. The ability to have a say in how one is governed is what so many people across the globe are fighting for and dying for. Americans have had this right for so long that many take it for granted. In our view, there is no greater expression of citizenship or patriotism than voting for the candidates and issues you support.

Portsmouth has races for City Council, School Board, Police Commission, Fire Commission (uncontested) and many ward-level positions. City voters also have a referendum question asking for approval to add language to the City Charter banning members of the City Council, School Board, Fire Commission or Police Commission from applying for or becoming a city employee until the expiration of the term for which they were elected. Passage of this question would remove conflicts of interest as well as the appearance of conflicts of interest when it comes to hiring for city jobs.

The City Council race is of particular importance because the top vote-getter will be our next mayor. Historically, the Portsmouth mayor has been the first among equals, but in recent years the position has grown both in its complexity and its importance. It's vital that our mayors not only love our community but also have the ability to fully understand the city budget and the delicate balance between providing essential services and respecting the city's taxpayers.

Voters in Maine face two significant statewide issues and a host of town-specific zoning questions.

Question 1 in Maine asks voters to repeal a bill banning same-day voter registration in the state. The last legislature passed the ban on same-day registration based on what have proven to be unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Maine has had same-day registration for nearly 40 years. In 2010, Maine ranked No. 1 in U.S. voter participation, which, observers say, was due in large part to same-day voter registration.

Question 2 and Question 3 aim to add more casinos to the state. The Herald has long been fundamentally opposed to fixing state financial problems with gambling money. Voters should remember the golden rule when it comes to casinos: The house always wins. Always. States need to keep their spending in line with their revenues. Gambling revenues are an addictive drug that state lawmakers find hard to quit. Across the nation, as casino revenues shrink, casino operators demand a bigger piece of the smaller pie and legislators give it to them because they cannot live without the gambling money and the government spending it supports. Let's solve our fiscal problems with hard work and intelligence, not games of chance.

In Eliot, voters face questions about guns and dog-leash laws. Both issues, not surprisingly, have spurred passionate debate. For the record, there is simply too much confusion about the changes to where certain firearms can be used in town to support the gun ordinance question, and leashing dogs in public spaces is just a matter of courtesy and common sense.

South Berwick has a contested race for Town Council, and York has a number of zoning questions pertaining to the siting of cell towers, surfing and other land-use issues.

Every week, Bodog hosts thousands of poker tournaments, ranging from single table events to our massive $100,000 guaranteed tournaments. There's no way we can cover all of them, but we want to make sure you keep up with who won the biggest of the big games.

Who took the top spot in the $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament held this past Sunday, November 6? johall111 took first place this week, earning $23,600. They were followed by eisenhower1 ($13,600) and edgie212 , who rounded out the top trifecta while earning $9,100. Here's the rest of the final table results: Sabol27 ($7,000.00); dcbandicoot ($5,700.00); Flash_Kidd ($4,500.00); KidVegas11 ($3,300.00); ccbuckets ($2,200.00) and bo_girls ($1,300.00).

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He Poker Hall of Fame officially inducted its two newest members on Tuesday evening. Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson were inducted as part of the November Nine festivities in front of friends and family.

Johnson was inducted by 2009 HOF inductee Mike Sexton who praised Johnson’s skills at the table but was quick to point out that her contributions go far beyond what her Hendon Mob entry reads.

“There’s not one person on the planet that’s done more for the poker industry than Linda Johnson. Linda has a love of the game and passion for poker like no one I’ve ever seen,” said Sexton. “When it comes to having had an impact on the poker industry, with the exception of Benny and Jack Binion, there’s not one person who belongs to be in there more than Linda Johnson.”

Johnson, who purchased CardPlayer Magazine in 1993 and turned the business around, spoke about what poker has given her – after she left steady job as a post office employee to play poker full time.

“Poker’s enabled me to see the world. I’ve gotten to play in 3o countries. Poker’s allowed me to give back,” said Johnson, who is one of the founders of PokerGives.org. “Poker’s made me believe that you’re never too old to learn. These young guys have taught me to three-bet and four-bet with air.”

Greenstein was inducted by good friend and fellow high stakes cash game regular Doyle Brunson. Greenstein has won three WSOP bracelets and cashed 52 times – good enough for 11th all-time. On the World Poker Tour, Greenstein has won two WPT titles. In Season One he won the World Poker Open and in Season Four he won the WPT Invitational.

“Most of my accomplishments are the result of battles across the poker table,” said Greenstein. “Normally I wouldn’t be that thrilled about getting an award as a result of a vote. However, after seeing the great year Erik Seidel after getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, I’m kinda looking forward to that Hall of Fame rungood.”

Greenstein’s first career win came in the 1997 California State Championship when he bested the 81 player field in a $500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. The final table included T.J. Cloutier, Men Nguyen and John Bonetti. His lifetime earnings are $7,547,179. Over his career he’s cashed 117 times including eight wins – the last coming in the 2008 WSOP when he won the $1,500 Razz event.

The Poker Hall of Fame now has 42 members.

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"I was going to quit poker and go to college!" is what 2011 World Series of Poker* Main Event Champion Pius Heinz declared to reporters late last night after winning a stunning $8.72 million prize for defeating Martin Staszko in heads-up play. The 22-year-old German pro had a rough patch in the gap months between July and November, but it looks like he was burning up all of his bad karma early on so he could win with ace high, just nine hands after using the same hand to leap forward against 35-year-old Staszko.

Heinz called an all-in bet from Staszko with an AK. Staszko held a 7T of clubs. The board was 5c2d9sJh and 4d, meaning neither player was helped so an ace-high hand won the day.

Staskzo won $5.43 million for second place, a nice consolation prize, but it comes without a bracelet — the prize given to WSOP event winners and deeply coveted by poker players around the world. Staszko started off as a chess whiz, working in an auto paint shop to help make ends meet for a while as he learned his way around poker. Still, he believes his run will help poker get a higher profile in the Czech Republic.

"I’m never happy if I don’t win," Staszko said. "But it’s not too bad. Second place is OK."

Staszko was responsible for the elimination of American poker pro Ben Lamb early on Tuesday night after four hands of play. Lamb pushed all-in right off the bat with KJ, hoping to induce Staszko to fold pocket sevens, but Stazsko held his ground and won with a weak pair. This wounded Lamb to the point where an all-in push three hands later earned him nothing but air.

"I got the sense he wasn’t like super strong, but he actually was stronger than I thought he was," Lamb said of his elimination.

The game was played in front of a crowd of hundreds at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino near the Las Vegas Strip, in the same theater where magicians Penn & Teller regularly perform. Television cameras were also on hand to record every moment of the game, which was broadcast on a 15-minute delay,

"Honestly I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the money," Heinz told reporters after winning. "Probably my family is going to get a couple gifts."

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Congress will hold a pair of hearings next week on online poker and gaming, the latest news in efforts to regulate the industry in the United States.

First up will be a hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Nov. 17. The hearing is called “The Future of Internet Gaming: What’s at Stake for Tribes?” According to the committee website, there will be a webcast of the hearing. The hearing is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Eastern.

A witness list for the hearing has not been released, although PokerNews.com is reporting that Poker Players Alliance Chairman Al D’Amato will testify.

The issue of online gaming has been a hot-button issue for Native American tribes that offer gaming at brick and mortar establishments across the country.

The next day, on Nov. 18, there will be a hearing in front of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. That hearing, a follow up to a hearing last month, is called “Internet Gaming: Regulating in an Online World.” A witness list has not been released; the hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Eastern.

The committee hearings are the latest good news for interests in the United States that are pushing for regulation of online poker and gaming in the wake of actions by the Department of Justice against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and other online gaming interests earlier this year.

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New York-based artist Zefrey Throwell has created a poker-centric piece of art that's definitely not the same painting of dogs propped up around a table that's haunted bad sitcom gags for the last few decades. No, "I'll Raise You One…" opens at Art In General in Tribeca this Saturday and it features seven men and women (including the artist) playing strip poker. The game is going to run 7 1/2 hours a day for the next week and it's likely that some people are going to be angry about it because it will be visible from the street.

In an interview with site DNAinfo, Throwell said that he sees strip poker as a metaphor for the economy with clothing symbolizing money. Even if you're a good player, if you show up with less money, you're working from a smaller chipstack and against great disadvantages. "Wealth is unequally distributed — yet we're all expected to play by the same rules," Throwell said. "It's a political and economic criticism."

The Art In General website describes the work as a "continuous strip poker game performed in the public realm. At the end of each round, when the participants typically exit and private affairs begin, playing members will get dressed and begin again, creating a nonsensical repetitive pattern that continues round after round," helping to establish "a world of absurdity and purposelessness, letting the casual onlooker join in a guilt-free voyeurism, while teasing out a different outlook on our personal interactions and day to day routines."

I don't know much about art, but I know what I like, and this definitely fits the bill. In the meantime, of course, if you can't make it to New York City, you should play free online poker at Bodog and sharpen your skills for your next strip poker game!

For a brief moment at last week's World Series of Poker finale, the game's past and future shared the stage at the Rio.

Doyle Brunson, poker's 78-year-old patriarch, received a warm ovation as he took part in the night's Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

As the festivities ended and the final three players for the Main Event took their seats, Brunson passed 22-year-old German college student Pius Heinz. In a matter of hours, Heinz would be crowned poker's newest world champion.

Brunson learned the game on the back roads of Texas. When in Las Vegas, he is often found playing in the high-stakes cash game rooms at Bellagio and Aria.

Heinz learned the game on the Internet at home in Cologne, Germany. A member of Team PokerStars Pro, Heinz spends much of his free time competing in online poker tournaments.

Brunson is never seen without his signature cowboy hat. Heinz wears a hoodie.

Brunson won the first of his 10 individual event championship bracelets at the World Series of Poker in 1976. "Texas Dolly" has cashed in 34 tournament events, earning more than $2.9 million over 35 years.

Heinz won more than $8.715 million early Wednesday morning.

Brunson owns two Main Event titles. His last came in 1977, 12 years before Heinz was born.

Heinz symbolizes the game's future.

Before winning the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em World Championship, Heinz cashed in one World Series of Poker event, earning $83,286 in June for a $1,500 buy-in no limit game.

His previous success came on the Internet. The activity is legal in much of Europe.

Internet poker -- or the lack of opportunity to play online legally -- could be a reason U.S. players seem to be losing their foothold on a game considered historically American.

Access to Internet poker shrank considerably in April when federal prosecutors indicted the operators of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker and cut off their contact to U.S. citizens.

Full Tilt and Absolute Poker did not refund U.S. gamblers money they had on account with the websites. Both companies ceased operations.

PokerStars refunded Americans more than $100 million, and continues to flourish in Europe.

American poker players have a few options -- play on unregulated, shady poker websites; venture into traditional casino poker rooms; or try free-play poker platforms, such as Facebook and Yahoo.

The Internet, however, has become the training ground for poker champions.

Four of the past seven World Series of Poker Main Event winners are from countries outside the United States where Internet poker is legal (Joe Hachem, Australia, 2005; Peter Eastgate, Denmark, 2008; Jonathan Duhamel, Canada, 2010; and now Heinz). All got their start or found success on the Internet.

Even Michigan resident Joe Cada, the 2009 champion, said he learned the game on the Internet.

Only three Americans made this year's Main Event final table of nine players, which had representatives from seven countries. Of the overall starting field of 6,865 players, 66.6 percent were from the United States.

Ben Lamb was the only American player who began play Tuesday along with Heinz and the Czech Republic's Martin Staszko.

"I've played against Lamb, I don't know the other two," Brunson said, when asked about the final three.

Lamb, who was sponsored by Aria, is a regular player in the CityCenter resort's high-stakes poker games. So it figures he'd sat across the table from Brunson at least a few times. Before April, Lamb said he played Internet poker.

Brunson isn't what you would consider an Internet poker aficionado.

Several years ago, he licensed his name and likeness to DoylesRoom.com, an Internet poker website based in Cyprus.

However, according to Card Player Magazine, he was pulling his name from the site last May when a federal grand jury in Baltimore indicted the operators of DoylesRoom for allegedly running an illegal gambling business and money laundering. The domain has since been shut down.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., which owns the World Series of Poker, has been the gaming industry's leading advocate for Congress to legalize Internet poker. Others, such as MGM Resorts International, Boyd Gaming Corp., Fertitta Interactive and developer Donald Trump have joined the effort.

If they fall short, an important learning tool for American poker players may be lost.

The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Blackpool at the G Casino Sandcastle has reached its final table.

Around 250 players ponied up the £1,000 + £70 buy in event sees a number of well know names among the final nine including chip leader Ben Jackson, Jack Ellwood and former GUKPT winner Rupinder Bedi.

The final nine are:
Benjamin Jackson — 580,500
Mark Physick — 566,500
Daniel Corbett — 550,500
Jack Ellwood — 426,000
Paul Bracken — 388,000
Adrian Eley — 376,500
Rupinder singh Bedi — 359,000
Andrew Peters — 289,500
Mark Livesey — 252,500
Jamie O’Connor — 141,000

The final table payouts are:
1: £72,020
2: £47,820
3: £31,440
4: £19,000
5: £14,150
6: £11,530
7: £8,910
8: £7,200
9: £5,240
10: £3,930

Cake Poker has officially announced that they will allow players to take advantage of heads-up display programs, ending a long-time policy that prevented players from using programs such as Poker Tracker or Hold’em Manager.

The new rule took effect on November 9th. Card Player reported a statement from Intertops Poker that confirmed the change.

“In a live game players are permitted to take notes on any opponent that they play against,” the reported quoted Intertops Poker as saying. “In the past we always provided this capability for our players but we never allowed any 3rd party software vendors that gave players enhanced note taking and hand history information.”

In the past, the Cake Poker Network has been one of the least friendly networks to HUD users. While other networks and sites had taken steps such as offering anonymous play tables to players who chose to use them, Cake was likely the largest network to ban the programs outright.

In recent months, Cake Poker had begun to allow PokerTracker on a limited basis in an attempt to see how the measure would be received by players. During the trial period, players could only track the statistics of other players over the course of a single session.

While the new rules do allow for the use of tracking programs, network officials were quick to point out there are still several ways in which players can limit their exposure to the HUDs, and that there are still rules in place that limit their use.

“As always players are encouraged to change their nickname every 7 days to combat any form of tracking if they wish. We are still 100% against any form of HH sharing or reselling.”

Professional German poker player Pius Heinz won an $8.7 million jackpot in the World Series of Poker championship, the third highest payout for a poker champion in history, organizers said on Wednesday.

Heinz, 22, became the first German to win poker's most prestigious title, coming out on top of a field of more than 6,800 players from 85 countries, a statement on the World Series of Poker website said.

It said Heinz, who has played full-time poker for about four years, was also given a World Series of Poker gold and diamond bracelet, the game's most coveted prize, after his win in the final championship round at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

"This is the happiest day of my life, obviously. I really am speechless right now. I could not imagine this would ever happen to me," he said after his victory, according to the World Series of Poker website.

Heinz, of Cologne, had entered the final round of the tournament on Sunday with a lower chip stack than all but two of his eight opponents, but ended the night as chip leader, the statement said.

When play resumed on Tuesday, only three players remained. American Ben Lamb, winner of the 2011 World Series of Poker 'Player of the Year' race, was eliminated in the opening moments of the final table's last stages, the statement said.

That left Heinz to battle Czech player Martin Staszko, who had the least live poker experience of the final trio, in a six-hour duel.

"The final hand was dealt when Heinz bested Staszko holding ace-king. Neither player made a pair, which meant Heinz's ace-high played as the winning hand," the statement said.

Staszko came away with $5.4 million for second place while Lamb, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, netted $4 million for third.

Reading about Zynga and it new antics on the internet what with the rumours that are presented as positioning in the public domain you have to wonder how is this going to affect the online gambling industry. It is simple all of the positioning is a massive move towards making Zynga bigger and better and more capable.

This company steps into its own big space every time it launches something, the incredibly fun success of Farmville on Facebook and of course the huge Zynga Poker Network. Imaging the possibilities is not a stretch for anyone watching the stock market on this potential.
Now the Zynga firm is being accused of being less than ethical. Apparently Zynga has requested that early employees who put their faith in the company back when, give their shares back. It fact some authors are saying demanding that the early stock be repatriated back home.
In the face of the Initial Public Offering filed this July 2011 the boss of Zynga is attempting to retrieve the generosity of his loyal early employees. A recent Wall Street Journal article says Chief Executive Officer Mark Pincus has demanded that certain early employees return their stock or face termination.

According to the various news sources the Zynga boss has fought back with the comment “We have nothing to hide in our past and present policies and I am proud of the ethical and fair way that we’ve built this company.” The spin on the issue is big and has it has a lot of journalists digging deep for the scoop.
According to the Fortune blog ‘Term Sheet’, Zynga which has registered its new casino games domains is just looking to adjust the amount of stock options employees get based on their contributions to the company. A portion of a possible billion dollar IPO is all the firm wants from those ‘under-achievers’ at the company that’s all.