Poker forum archive

Randy "nanonoko" Lew set a world record Sunday, playing the most profitable hands of online poker ever recorded in an eight hour span. Lew set the record while at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, playing in the tournament room while a PCA event went on around him.

In order to set the record, Lew played an incredible 40 tables of simultaneous online poker on a two monitor setup while a Guinness World Record judge watched his every move. In total, Lew played an incredible 23,493 hands, and finished the session with a profit of $7.65.

There was significant doubt as to whether Lew could be able to accomplish his incredible feat. At one point during the session, Lew was down around $1,200 before jumping up in stakes to $5/$10 in order to climb back into the black.

"I really was running horrible," Lew said. "But I was trying to stay focused like 'You can't let this get to you.' But I still played well and tried to play my best, and eventually it worked out. Twelve hundred was rough, though. It could've been game over, to be honest."

Eventually, Lew would work his way back to profitability, but the issue was still in doubt with only a few minutes left in his session. Up by a few dollars late in the action, and sure that he had played plenty of hands to qualify for the record, Lew began shutting down tables in order to lock in his profit.

Finally, with only one table left open, Lew found himself in a difficult spot -- being dealt pocket aces. Despite calls from the gallery for him to fold and lock in his record, Lew played the hand as he normally would. Luckily for him, the aces held up, and Lew was able to claim a new world record.

Some of the numbers coming out of Lew's world record achievement are incredible for anyone who has ever played online poker. Lew averaged over 2,900 hands per hour, or nearly 49 hands each minute. That works out to taking an average of only 1.2 seconds per hand throughout the entire session. Despite only eeking out a few dollars in profits, Lew did earn another kind of reward for his trouble; in the eight-hour session, he earned 22,784 FPPs, enough to earn at least a couple hundred dollars in bonus rewards, tournament entries or merchandise.

One year ago, PokerStars confirmed that the enigma "Isildur1" would be in attendance at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. As Viktor Blom stepped out of the shadows of his dominating online alias into the forefront of the poker spotlight, online railbirds everywhere put a face to the screen name that had six- or even seven-figure swings with regularity. The debut offered a new type of member of Team PokerStars Pro. Blom's inexperience in front of the media ensured that he wouldn't be viewed in the same light as Daniel Negreanu or Jonathan Duhamel, but Stars viewed Blom as the face of the new era of online cash games. He was their Tom Dwan. From the very start, Blom was on the precipice of greatness, but while Isildur1 continued to bring attention to the nosebleed cash games, his live tournament game failed to match the hype. Blom's online action (and success) remained his primary focus, but as the 2012 PCA rolled around, his attendance was once again required in the Bahamas. This time, Blom put up a performance nobody will ever forget as he earned the win in the 32-entry $100,000 buy-in event for a $1.2 million pay day.

"This was more fun than winning the same amount in a cash game," said Blom after his victory. "I'm not used to making it this far in a tournament. I didn't expect it. It feels great - very different to playing online."

The field of 30 players boasted the boldest the world had to offer. Putting up $100,000 to play against the toughest competitors in the world is often not +EV, but emerge with the win, as Blom did, and people will respect your abilities forever.

"It feels so good to succeed. I really appreciate this win, and I love the Bahamas," said Blom who also stated how bad he felt he played a year ago during the same interview.

Blom knocked out 2011 PCA main event champion Galen Hall in third place (A-A over 9-9) to give him the chip lead entering heads-up play. Online, Blom is a heads-up specialist, and given the edge in experience, many expected for Blom to coast to the victory. It wasn't easy, but Blom held the lead over Dan Shak throughout the short-lived one-hour match and finished the job when his top pair held against Shak's flush draw. Shak earned $846,700 for second place, the second-best cash of his career and enough to put him in the top 200 on the all-time money list.

Hall started the eight-handed final table with the chip lead as all competitors eyed not only first place, but also fifth. While most pros don't consider the bubble of many main events to be of pivotal importance, the $100,000 price tag of entry altered some perceptions. Humberto Brenes went out at the hands of Hall before Blom, who began the final table in fourth, began his ascension to the top with his elimination of Mike McDonald. The bubble approached and vanished as Hall made Scott Seiver the bubble boy in a cooler, picking up kings against jacks six handed.

The two other players to make the money was Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel. Negreanu finished second in this event last year and was eliminated in fifth in 2012, cashing in his third $100,000 buy-in out of four attempts. He earned $250,900 for the three-day effort. Duhamel, recovering from his recent domestic assault, finished in fourth for $313,600. Duhamel was one of two players who optioned to re-enter the event on Day 1. Venture capitalist Bill Perkins was the other and he was eliminated on Day 2.

"Yeah that was a good rebuy," said Duhamel on Twitter.

The 2010 WSOP main event champion also finished fifth in the $5,000 turbo side event for $17,800 on Sunday.

The next two "Super High Roller" events will take place at the Aussie Millions in a few weeks.

PCA Main Event:

No surprise here, attendance in the 2012 PCA main event was down significantly. That said, you aren't going to find many $10,000 buy-in tournaments with more than 1,000 players anywhere this year. Hall defeated the field of 1,560 in 2011 to win the $2.3M top prize. This year, the champion will emerge with a top prize of $2 million with 1,072 competitors battling for one of the most prestigious titles around.

Nearly half of the field was eliminated during the first two starting days on Saturday and Sunday. Only 544 players remain in contention with Alexey Repik leading entering Day 2. Notables holding the bigger stacks include Chino Rheem, Arnaud Mattern, 2010 champion Harrison Gimbel, Adam Levy and Victor Ramdin. The field will come close to making the money on Monday, with 160 players earning at least $15,000. The final table will take place on Friday.

Small blinds: Randy "nanonoko" Lew set the world record for playing the most hands of poker in eight hours while remaining profitable. Lew played 23,493 hands and ended up $7.65 in profit. He was down nearly $1,200 at one point. … Noah Schwartz won the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha tournament for $97,780. He defeated Chino Rheem heads-up for the title. … La Sengphet became the first woman to win three WSOP Circuit titles. Sengphet defeated a field of 377 in the $345 no-limit hold 'em event at the Bicycle Casino. She earned $25,242. … It was David Shallow who enjoyed the WPT's debut in Ireland most. Shallow won the WPT Ireland main event title worth $289,031. His previous top tournament cash was worth $12,398 at the 2005 EPT London main event.

There is not a good poker player out there that has not come across a donkey. They are everywhere in the poker world. We need them in the poker world. These players we call donkeys are the lifeblood to the money supply of good players the world over. They think they can play poker, they have the money to play, and more importantly to lose. The trick for the rest of us is to keep them coming back. You will see some players go ballistic on a donkey when they suck out a hand. That, being understandable, is an extremely bad thing to do. Getting sucked out on by a donkey is frustrating. The really good players understand this is going to happen from time to time. Going off on a donkey is counterproductive to what you are trying to do. You want that donkey in the game, you want him to make bad plays.

If you are going to play this game, there are some things you must accept. You will lose with some really good hands. You will win with some really bad hands. To be successful, you must learn to adjust to the style of play in the game you are in. If donkeys are present, learn to adjust to them rather than go off on them.

Let the donkey catch you bluffing early in the game. The blinds will be small, the bets will be smaller, praise him for calling you down. Make sure you show your bluff, remind him about it a few hands later when you take a small pot from him. Tell him things like, you don't always bluff, but he caught you on that one. You want him to think he can chase you down.

The check raise is a good tool to use when you have a donkey on your table. Wait till you have a high pocket pair, raise pre-flop to get the other good players out of the hand. Then check, when the donkey bets, make a large check raise, if he calls, do it again on the river. This is a way to extract a large amount of chips at one time. Be willing to lose some chips here, occasionally the donkey will hit the card they need too. If it works out for you the reward is worth it.

Slow play them when you flop a monster. If you have a small pocket pair and happen to flop a set, slow play it. Bet the minimum to give them a chance to raise. If they do raise, don't re-raise, just call. On the turn bet the minimum again, this time if they raise, re-raise big. No need to let them see the river if they will pay you on the turn.

You may need to tighten up your starting hands if a donkey is on a streak. If they are hitting cards on bad hands, you have two choices. One, try to out donk the donkey, play weak hands hoping they hit. This seldom works, and will play into the donkeys game. Two, tighten up and be patient, this will be the better option. Eventually luck runs out and the good players will end up with the money.

To sum it up, when a donkey is at the table be thankful, be patient, show a bluff or two, and check raise like a wild man. Be prepared to lose some hands, maybe even a tournament or two. But never lose site of the fact you need that donkey, we all do. Don't berate them for bad play, don't even let them know it was a bad play. Look at it like that is an interest bearing savings account that you are playing with.

J. Brackston is a veteran of three World Series of Poker appearances, two World Series of Poker circuit events in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and an appearance in The River Poker Series in Oklahoma. Has won many local poker tournaments since beginning playing competitively in 2004.

In the midst of a rapidly changing gaming industry, Nevada regulators are looking for some help to keep the state competitive.

Silver State officials announced Thursday in an industry notice that they will begin drafting regulations and accepting applications for private testing labs, which would inspect and help certify online poker sites, as well as other gaming devices in the casino industry.

A bill signed into law this past summer essentially gives regulators the power to allow more businesses to enter into the equation for an online-poker system. The Gaming Commission will collect fees from such companies.

The law’s purpose was to speed up the process of bringing games to the market. The state legislature was also concerned with maintaining a “balance” between regulators and business interests.

Dr. David Schwartz, Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said that there has been a “bottleneck” in the state’s understaffed testing labs. Regulators have said that the bulk of the scrutiny in licensing online poker sites would take place in the lab.

The state budget deficit that online poker is expected to mitigate won’t allow for new public sector jobs to police gaming, Gaming Control Board member A.G. Burnett said in October.

Schwartz pointed out that interest in taking some of the burden off of regulators was around well before the ball got rolling with online poker this past March.

Regulations for commercial labs must be adopted before May 1, 2012. According to the industry notice, the level of interest has been increasing, despite rules not yet being in place.

In addition to the lab testing component of an intrastate online-poker industry, regulators are still hashing out language that covers rules and requirements for software and equipment, segregated funds, player registration and player-collusion safeguards. Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said last month that the rules will be fine-tuned before an application is sent to the Commission for final approval. There hasn’t yet been any formal action on the seven applications already submitted.

The core set of online-poker regulations were finished in late December.

Regulators have been tight-lipped about giving a time frame for web poker. Schwartz said the goal is to have sites operational by the spring.

Chairman Lipparelli wasn’t available Monday or Tuesday for comment regarding private labs and their role in Nevada’s online poker plans.

Kids, never think you can’t make a difference. There were those who scoffed at the idea of poker players rebelling against PokerStars because of the site’s changes to its VIP program and rake structure. After all, Stars is the largest online poker room in the world; it won’t miss a handful of players who are mad that a business wants to make money. Where are they going to find games? Somewhere that’s not the world largest online poker room?

Well, as it turns out, they are finding games elsewhere. According to PokerScout.com, the go-to site for online cash game traffic analysis, PokerStars.com and PokerStars.fr, its France-only site, lagged behind the rest of the top online poker sites for the first week of January. PokerScout directs the blame for their early year struggles at the player protests of the last week and a half.

Of the top ten sites in terms of cash game traffic, only one – PokerStars.fr – lost players on the week. Its 10 percent dip in ring game players caused it to drop from seventh to ninth in the rankings, falling behind the independent room Winamax.fr in the competition for largest French internet poker room. It appears that a strike by angry players is the immediate cause of the traffic decrease. Organized on the site clubpoker.net, the strike involves over 120 of some of the highest volume players at PokerStars.fr, including some Supernova Elites, the site’s highest VIP level. The players who have refused to play at PokerStars.fr since the start of 2012 reportedly raked more than €5 million last year.

A player representative from clubpoker.net plans to meet with PokerStars representatives at their offices in the Isle of Man this week to discuss the issues at hand. A similar meeting is in the works for players at PokerStars.com.

As for PokerStars.com, it did actually see a 5 percent increase in cash game traffic last week, but that is still far lower than its competitors in the top ten. PartyPoker.com saw its traffic rise an amazing 29 percent, though PokerScout.com attributes that to a VIP rake race promotion which started January 2nd. The iPoker network’s traffic rose 12 percent. The aforementioned Winamax.fr, as well as PartyPoker.fr, rose 10 percent.

All of the commotion stems from changes PokerStars made to its VIP program, effective January 1st, as well as rake changes that it planned to make, but postponed due to push back from the poker community. The biggest issue was the change from the “dealt” method of VIP Player Point (VPP) calculation to the “weighted contributed” method. In the former method, which had been in place for years, every player who was dealt cards in a cash game hand received an equal share of the VPPs allocated to the table. In the new, “weighted contributed” method, only players who put money in the pot are awarded VPPs, and they are awarded in proportion to how much money they actually risked. For example, if by the end of a hand, a player had contributed $5 into a $20 pot, he would receive 25 percent of the VPPs. Those who folded pre-flop without putting in any money would receive nothing.

This change made high volume players angry, as most high volume players play a very tight style of poker, folding pre-flop more often than not. With the new system, they will lose out on thousands of VPPs that they would have received in the old system. On top of that, the upper level VIPs, such as those of Supernova Elite status, receive many more Frequent Player Points (FPPs) per VPP than those on the lower end of the VIP scale. Those FPPs can be redeemed for cash and valuable tournament entries, which means that high volume players will lose out on even more.

Many players see the change as a “cash grab” by PokerStars, as the site will profit from the difference between what high level players will lose and what lower level, mostly recreational players, will gain (these players typically play a looser style, which will mean that they’d earn more VPPs with the new system).

Many PokerStars players participated in a “sit-out” protest on the site at noon on January 1st. In this protest, players opened up the maximum number of tables, took a seat, and then sat out, the goal being to prevent hands from being dealt. Since it was organized on public forums, PokerStars knew it would happen and quickly kicked players off tables and restricted them to one table at a time.

PokerStars also planned to lower rake across the board to make up for some of the VPP losses, but postponed these changes, as well as proposed rake cap changes, in response to player objections.

Every week, Bovada hosts thousands of poker tournaments, ranging from single table events to their massive $100,000 guaranteed tournaments - and that includes the holidays! There's really no way we can cover all of them, but we do want to make sure you keep up with who won the biggest of the big games so you know how hot the action is there.
So, who took the top spot in this past Sunday's $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament? Matthew D took first place this week, earning $21,616.03, and he was followed by Joseph B ($14,410.50) and Naim R , who rounded out the top trifecta while earning $10,974.15. Here are the rest of the final table results: Travis L ($8,036.62); Alan N ($5,764.20); Sterling S ($4,323.15); Jamie G ($3,214.65); Daniel A ($2,161.57) and Allen N ($1,441.05).
In addition to show-stopping Sunday events, Bovada hosts a series of regular big-money weekly tournaments for players, and here are the winners of last week's events!

January 2 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Benjamin R ($3,216.40)
January 3 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Jody D ($2,897.97)
January 4 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Joseph L ($2,783.01)
January 5 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Colin M ($2,662.00)
January 6 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Jonathan S ($2,734.61)
January 7 — $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: JThomas G ($2,920.94)
January 8 — $15k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: Qinghai P ($3,588.00)
January 8 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Ervin M ($2,645.00)
January 8 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Jarrod P ($2,920.24)

Bovada's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool and with more players getting in on the action every week, that means there's more to be won! Play poker online at Bovada and get your share!

Grass grows, Jay-Z raps, and the Bovada Casino pays ... big!
In a weekend where Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos collected a monster check for upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bovada's casino players did the same. Starting with the Ronin slot machine!
Ronin was the game of the weekend... especially for Kelvin M of IL as he took in $30,288 in the online casino. 30 grand! That's as good as any Tebow touchdown!

Other big winners for the weekend included:

- With the $25,345 Bill V. of CA took in on the Food Fight slot he can go ahead and have his own money fight.

- Erica H of PA cashed in big with a whopping $21,944 spinning outta control with the Outta This World slot.

-$20,870 was cashed in by Albert L of NJ, you best believe he's a big fan of Double Jackpot Poker now.

- He loves gooooooold! Kelvin M of IL won $20,595 playing Goldbeard.

- Forget HBOs True Blood, Brad G of FL was having his way with the Reel Blood slot when he won $15,350.

- Another winner Outta This World! Nandit M PA was raking it in next, winning $9,289.

- Anthony K of AZ probably doubled his money with the Double Double Bonus Poker game, he won $9.050.

- The cards were definitely going in Tim M. of CT's favor when he cashed in $7,892.

- David N of TX found some Aztecs Treasure! He takes in $6,565 for the huge find!
***
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Grab your jackpot in the Bovada Casino today!

The Bovada Casino has become like Oprah Winfrey's "Favorite Things" episodes from the back in the day: "You get a jackpot, and you get a jackpot, and you get a jackpot ... you all get a jackpot!"

Awesome, and in case you think we're fibbing we've got another list of winners from January 10. Get in on the slots while they're hot people, players are gettin' paid!

Bovada's online casino saw Wilma W. of KY become the biggest winner of the day with a $11,400 payday on the Slots

Other big Bovada Casino winners from yesterday included:

- Wesley H. of CA who won $9,474 playing Red Sands.
- Timothy F. of PA became the second big winner from the Achilles slot when he won $8,598.
- Timothy A. of LA won $6,951 at Blackjack. 

- Kerry J. of IN decided to taste the Crystal Waters and won $6,527
.
- Glenn K. of CT was another person who showed they know how to play Blackjack as he won $5,682.

- Joseph H. of IN also got paid out by the Blackjack Table Game for $5,505

- Steven H. of CA was another player who became successful in the Casino winning $5,489 playing Blackjack
.
- Mary F. of VA won $5,342 on the Jackpot Piñatas slot.

:dance:

You can add Ohio to the list of states exploring Internet gambling, thanks to a Dec. 23 policy statement by the U.S. Department of Justice that could pave the way for states to launch new options, from poker to lotteries to progressive slots.

“We’re exploring this topic,” said Dennis Berg, interim director of the Ohio Lottery Commission . “We want to be in the forefront of being able to generate revenue for the lottery commission. But it’s a policy decision that we will not make on our own.”

Berg said any foray into Internet gaming would be made in consultation with the Kasich administration. He offered no timeline for when a decision would be made.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Virginia Seitz penned the opinion that set the gaming world on fire just before Christmas. The ruling states that the Wire Act, which shut down all forms of Internet gambling in the U.S., only applies to sports betting.

Berg said the ruling may not be a “100 percent green light” for online gaming, many observers have predicted an explosion of Internet gambling in 2012.

That would be a seismic shift for Ohio, where casinos and slots parlors at race tracks are preparing to compete for the first time. The new competitors include the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, now under construction near downtown, and a relocated Lebanon Raceway, which is considering a new race track and video lottery terminals (VLT) facility on 120 state-owned acres near the Lebanon Correctional Institution.

Experts say online gaming is $35 billion industry and the U.S. could reach $10 billion over time.

That’s about $4 billion more than all casinos generate on the Las Vegas strip each year. Ohio has been projected to be a $2 billion gambling market. If Internet gambling was to develop in the Buckeye state, the Ohio Lottery Commission would be the most logical entity to pursue it, since it has constitutional authority to offer multiple kinds of games. Berg said lottery vendor Intralot has expressed a willingness to develop Internet games in Ohio. It already offers such games in Europe. But Berg said a variety of factors would have to be considered, including the VLT industry over which the lottery commission has regulatory authority.

“There’s a lot going on in Ohio at the moment with other gaming initiatives,” he said. “We’ll have to see how it fits into the entire puzzle.”

One thing he’s not worried about is competition from other states.

“Other states would need to contain interstate business within their borders,” he said. “An Ohio resident could not sit on their computer and play the New York games. So, from that perspective, we don’t see a large competitive threat.”

10. Players who always chop in the blinds, unless they have a big pocket pair.

The player reserves the right to decide whether or not they want to chop every time the action folds around to the blinds preflop. That being said, you can’t change your mind just because you’ve been dealt aces. If you “always” chop, then you “always” chop. Not just when you don’t like your hand.

9. People who wear headphones at the table and can’t follow the action.

There’s nothing wrong with listening to some music at the table to pass the time, but when it affects the flow of the game, perhaps you should consider turning it down or freeing up an ear to keep tabs on the action. If we can hear your music from across the table, then you certainly can’t hear the dealer telling you how much more it is to you.

8. People who act like dealers, to the detriment of the game.

It is the dealer’s responsibility to split pots, take rake and bring in the bets, not yours. Also, believe it or not, most dealers don’t like it when you move the button, especially when you don’t tell them you are doing it. They follow a specific process for each and every hand and messing with that process only slows down the game.

7. Players who intervene when they aren’t involved in the hand.

When someone asks for another player’s count, let that player answer and stay out of the situation. Sometimes, it’s not the actual chip count we are looking for, but rather the way our opponent answers the question. The one-player-to-a-hand rule applies in many situations, including decision making, showdowns and potential deals.

6. Beginners who don’t understand how the blinds work or when it is their turn.

This may fly in the face of our no. 1 pet peeve, but most poker players would agree that while we enjoy amateurs at the table, we wish they at least understood how the game was structured. After a few orbits, even first timers should get that there are two blinds to the left of the button — one small, one big.

5. Players with poor personal hygiene.

We understand that eight-hour sessions can quickly turn into 16-hour sessions, especially when you are stuck, but for the good of the game, please take a break to freshen up and pop a breath mint. Also, don’t forget to wash your hands after visiting the restroom or eating. We all have to touch those cards and chips at some point.

4. Cash game players who leave the table for big chunks of time.

Most casinos allow a player to be absent for two and a half dealer rotations before before their stack is picked up. That’s one hour and 15 minutes in most rooms. Players who leave the table to play the slots or pit games, or even have dinner, are being inconsiderate to the others who now have to play short handed. To combat this, most card rooms have a third-man walking rule, but it does little to prevent most roaming players.

3. Players who consistently act out of turn.

It’s fine if you do it once, or maybe even twice, but if you are consistently acting out of turn, or even telegraphing your intentions before it is your turn, you are hurting the game. It isn’t fair to the others in the hand to give away information. This problem is bigger later in the hand, when one player is attempting to apply some pressure against two opponents, but one has made it clear he has no intent to continue.

2. People who Hollywood and take forever to make simple decisions.

Back in 2003 when everyone was representing a premium hand, it made sense to “Hollywood” in order to protect your tight, aggressive image. These days, it’s just a waste of everybody’s time. We all know you are raising with garbage and now that you’ve been caught, dump your hand and quit slowing down the game.

1. Players who tap on the glass.

If you are a poker player, do us all a favor and don’t tap on the glass. That is, don’t scare away the fish. This may be hard for some of us to remember, but the first time you sit down at the poker table can be a pretty scary experience. Don’t make it worse for the beginners by telling them how to play the game “properly” or even worse, berating them for playing “badly.” The games are hard enough and we need all of the fish we can get.


:dirol

Daniel Negreanu has set some lofty goals for the 2012 season, including moving up to the top spot on the all-time live tournament money list.

Negreanu, the all-time winningest Canadian poker player, currently sits at second on that list, having won over $14.9 million in his illustrious career. However, he sits nearly $2 million behind the player who sits atop the list: Erik Seidel, who has won almost $16.9 million in his career. Other players close behind Negreanu are Phil Ivey and Phill Hellmuth.

Negreanu has noted some other goals for the year, inlcuding making more than $1 million in tournament earnings. He's off to a good start in that regard, having already won over $250,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller tournament.

One of Negreanu's planned poker tournaments for 2012 has a good chance of accomplishing both of those goals in one fell swoop. Negreanu has already committed to playing in the "Big One for One Drop" tournament, which will be help at this year's World Series of Poker and requires an incredible $1 million buy-in from each player. Negreanu has mentioned that he may sell up to $600,000 of his action in order to allow him to play in the tournament.

In total, Negreanu has set ten different goals for himself in 2012. Along with regaining his spot at the top of the all-time money winner's list, he has also made a point of wanting to regain his place as the #1 all-time winner on the World Poker Tour. He also wants to win both a WSOP bracelet, as well as at least one major tournament win outside of the World Series.

"Any major win counts [toward this goal],
" Negreanu said, "and since I only really play major events, pretty much any win outside of a WSOP bracelet counts."

One of the more humorous goals on Negreanu's list is #8: Have a better year than Jason Mercier. Given that Mercier has not only played incredibly well over the last few years, but he has run well, too, putting up some results that have been hard for other top pros to match.

Other goals for Negreanu include ending on the Top 10 of the major Player of the Year lists, and "following [his] personal tournament rules religiously."

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This will be interesting to follow!

Faraz Jaka was back atop the leaderboard after Day 4 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. Jaka was kind enough to join the PokerNews Podcast crew after a busy day at the tables.

Phil Collins had an incredible run at the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, taking fifth place for more than $2.3 million. Collins joined the latest Strategy with Kristy podcast to talk about some interesting spots he encountered during the tournament.

The United States is inching closer toward an intrastate online poker platform. U.S. Digital Gaming's Richard Bronson believes online poker will be operating in at least one state in 2012. Find out more in the latest edition of The Insiders.

In the recent Global Poker Index rankings, Jason Mercier remained at No. 1. Find out where Galen Hall landed after a huge climb in the rankings, thanks to his great start to 2012.

The 2012 Aussie Millions got under way with $1,100 Opening Event on Thursday. Read about the action in our Day 1 recap.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Aussie Millions will be hosting a Tournament of Champions during the festivities this month. Crown Poker officials gave PokerNews a rundown of what to expect.

The largest stakeholder of Wynn Resorts has sued the company to get access to its financial records. Inside Gaming has more on that story and the latest business news from the industry.

Only 17 players were left standing after Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Bicycle Casino Main Event. Brandon Crawford was leading the way with more than 2.2 million chips.

PokerStars Pros Cleaning Up the Side Events at PCA

There's certainly no shortage of side tournaments running for players who have busted out of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. The PCA is hosting 41 tournaments in the Bahamas this month, and several Team PokerStars Pros have already found their ways into the winners circle.

On Wednesday, 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel outlasted a 158-player field in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em event to collect nearly $240,000. Duhamel had to weave through a loaded final table that included fellow Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier and Pius Heinz, as well as online superstars Keven Stammen, Laurence Houghton, Kenny Hallaert and Owen Crowe.

Duhamel's predecessor, 2009 world champ Joe Cada, also won an event this week. Cada took down the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event for $175,000. It marked his biggest cash since his victory at the WSOP Main Event for $8.5 million.

Team PokerStars Online member Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome won her first-ever live event by claiming victory over a 24-player field in the $1,000 Omaha 8/Stud 8 High-Low event. The part-time poker pro collected $10,900 after defeating Norway's Iversen Torsten heads-up for the title.

Results from the PCA side events can be found at the PokerStars Blog. And, of course, PokerNews.com is your best source for the latest updates from the PCA Main Event.

Epic Poker League Hits TV Screens in Europe

Amid reports that it is in negotiations with a potential buyer, the Epic Poker League has announced a partnership that will bring the league's televised action to millions of homes across Europe.

The EPL has teamed up with The Poker Channel Europe to broadcast more than 70 hours of Epic Poker tournament coverage to more than 30 million viewers in Europe and a global audience online.

"Expanding our television coverage into Europe is a step forward for building a global fan base for Epic Poker," said Katherine Kowal, Vice President of League Operations and Programming for Federated Sports + Gaming. "Poker Channel Europe, with quality distribution and broad reach, will help us introduce our content to a very important market and audience."

The Epic Poker League will make its official television debut on The Poker Channel on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A full TV schedule with previews and programming details can be found at pokerchanneleurope.com.

Joe Hachem, Shane Warne Host Charity Event

The 5th Annual Joe Hachem and Shane Warne Charity Poker Tournament will make its way to Crown Casino on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m. during the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship.

Players can hand over the $1,000 tournament fee to rub elbows with superstars in poker and sport, as well as a handful of celebrities expected to take part in the event.

In addition to Warne and Hachem, the list of attendees already includes the following: Tony G, Atlanta Braves pitcher Peter Moylan, television personality Fifi Box, poker player Clonie Gowen, boxer Jeff Fenech, and rugby players Brendon Goddard, Luke Hodge, Jason Akermanis, Jimmy Bartel, Dermott Brereton and Leigh Montagna.

The winner of the event will receive a Las Vegas High Roller package which includes an entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event. Two seats into the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event will also be awarded.

Proceeds from the charity tournament will go toward the Shane Warne Foundation, which raises money to help enrich the lives of children and teenagers in Australia.

Full Tilt Poker Releasing Player Information?

According to a recent thread at PokerNetwork.com, former Full Tilt customers have been receiving "snail mail" sent to addresses that only Full Tilt had knowledge of.

Selling customer data to third parties is a common practice in the business world. Advertisers use the data to better target consumers, and businesses use it for market research. Full Tilt Poker's Privacy Statement states the that it uses each player's personal for specific purposes such as age verification, providing customer support, statistical analysis and market research, and advertising and marketing activities.

It adds, "We may be required to disclose your personal information to third parties for purposes other than to support your customer relationship with us, such as in connection with a sale of our company, business or assets

The Nevada Attorney General’s office has begun studying the U.S. Department of Justice’s surprising new interpretation of online gambling to determine what effects it might have on the state.

What's certain is that the race to offer online poker play has begun among several states and that Nevada has a lead, thanks to last month's approval of new regulations.

But even more states are likely to jump in as well, leading to the prospect of different states providing games with different legal and regulatory standards and tax rates — exactly what the gaming industry didn’t want.

The Justice Department since the George W. Bush administration had concluded that the federal Wire Act prohibited gambling over the Internet across state lines, and many industry leaders have lobbied for federal lawmakers to approve legislation legalizing, regulating and taxing online poker play.

But on Dec. 23, in response to inquiries from Illinois and New York on whether they could sell lottery tickets to out-of-state residents over the Internet, the department issued a letter saying the Wire Act applied “solely to sport-related gambling activities in interstate and foreign commerce,” leading most in the industry to conclude that online poker was allowable.

Now, many industry leaders are renewing their call for lawmakers to pass legislation regulating poker play to head off an expected rush of offshore companies introducing poker websites.

Among those calling for federal legislation is Mark Lipparelli, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, who fears that a lack of clarification could lead to online pandemonium.

“A piece of federal legislation is going to be a necessity,” Lipparelli said. “What we’re afraid of is that somebody’s going to do it in a way that has an unattractive outcome. The question is how we create a common set of standards and rules.”

He compared the prospect of states having different online poker standards to the confusion that would result if every state maintained its own unique system for purchasing products online from a retailer like Amazon.com.

In light of the new interpretation, Lipparelli expects there will be some form of online poker play before the end of 2012, but what it’s going to look like will depend on whether federal lawmakers act.

Lipparelli said Nevada legal experts were carefully reviewing the Justice Department opinion, written by Deputy Attorney General Virginia Seitz. Lipparelli is hoping an interpretation will be available by February to guide the Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission on licensing applications that already have been filed by companies that initially looked to offer intrastate poker play after the commission’s Dec. 22 approval of new and amended online poker regulations.

“The structure is in place and people can apply now. And if they meet the standards, we have the ability to approve them,” said Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard, who was cautious in evaluating whether online poker would be a reality anytime soon.

“It could be a major change, or much more of the same,” Bernhard said.

The American Gaming Association, which represents more than 60 commercial gaming companies and organizations in the United States, also renewed its call for federal legislation of online poker.

“The Department of Justice’s interpretation regarding the scope of the federal Wire Act validates the urgent need for federal legislation to curb what will now be a proliferation of domestic and foreign, unlicensed and unregulated gaming websites without consistent regulatory standards and safeguards against fraud, underage gambling and money laundering,” the association said in a statement issued after the Justice Department release. “Federal legislation that protects states’ rights can establish uniform safeguards to protect U.S. consumers, keep children from gambling on the Internet and provide the tools law enforcement needs to shut down illegal Internet gambling operators.

“Federal guidelines also would prevent fraud and money laundering, address problem gambling and ensure players aren’t being cheated. These federally mandated protections are vital no matter the interpretation of the Wire Act, and they must be enacted in order to avoid a patchwork quilt of state and tribal rules and regulations that would prove confusing for customers and difficult for law enforcement to manage.”

But prominent gaming attorney I. Nelson Rose, who writes commentary on the industry on his website remains pessimistic that federal lawmakers will address the Internet gambling issue despite the prospect of additional confusion coming as a result of the ruling.

“I don't think there is any chance Congress will do anything,” Rose said in an email. “After all, no substantive law, other than some tinkering with patent laws, has passed both houses since the Republicans took over the House in January.”

Lipparelli disagrees, saying the prospect of a new revenue source for the federal government would be too great to pass up. Experts believe online poker could be a $5 billion industry in the United States.

The need for additional tax revenue should drive state governments to jump into the online poker fray, and Rose predicted California would be quick to consider it.

“Nevada and (Washington) D.C. should start up very soon, and I expect Iowa, California and New Jersey to legalize at least Internet poker and for New Jersey, online casino games, in 2012, with other states to follow,” Rose said.

Other analysts noted additional possible repercussions as a result of the new interpretation.

Bill Lerner, of Union Gaming Research in Las Vegas, said the ruling could lead slot machine manufacturers to develop wide-area progressive jackpots — a type fed by players at multiple sites through machines that are linked electronically — that not only would appeal to players but generate more revenue for the companies.

“To date, wide-area p

The PKR.com WPT Ireland concluded on Sunday January 8 with victory for Englishman Dave Shallow, who defeated a final table which included PKR online qualifier Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin. The EUR2,500 buy-in main event attracted a field of 338 poker players including 46 PKR online qualifiers. Eventual winner Shallow collected EUR222,280 for first place, but it was Swedish fourth place finisher and PKR online qualifier Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin who created headlines of his own. The 27-year old, who qualified for a $5,000 WPT package for $54 at PKR.com, is best known for his consecutive 1st, 1st and 3rd place finishes in PKR's flagship online tournament, the $270 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed Masters, for which he was inducted into the PKR Hall of Fame in 2009. For his fourth place finish at his first WPT final table, Vestlin earned EUR52,600, the biggest result of his career.

The performance of PKR qualifiers

PKR sent a record 46 online qualifiers to the WPT Ireland, many of whom won their $5,000 WPT Experience package, which included entry to the EUR2,500 main event and a number of PKR VIP events, through freerolls. The 46 included players from Europe, Russia and South America, and featured winners of the PKR Masters, members of the PKR Hall of Fame and PKR TV presenter Ashley Hames. From the 46 who began Day 1, 28 reached Day 2 and six reached the money on Day 3. Just one of the six, Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin, reached Day 4 and the final table, though he was unable to emulate the success of Team PKR Pro Vladimir 'Beyne' Geshkenbein, winner of EPT Snowfest in 2011. In all, the PKR online poker qualifiers made up 16% of the field and cashed for EUR84,720.



PKR qualifiers in the money
4th Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin / Norrkoping, Sweden (PKR qualifier) /
EUR52,600
15th Dwayne 'Barkieboy' Sluis / Hoorn, Netherlands (PKR qualifier) /
EUR8,520
17th William 'BrotherMuzone17' Dorey / Bighton, UK (PKR player, direct buy-
in) / EUR7,040
21st Ashley 'ashleyhames1' Hames / London, UK (PKR qualifier) / EUR6,300
27th Denis 'denham365' Hamilton / Arona, Spain (PKR freeroll qualifier) /
6,300
31st Tom 'tompazak' Ahlberg / Vaasa, Finland (PKR qualifier) / EUR5,500
36th Steven 'panasonyste' Stead / Leeds, UK (PKR freeroll qualifier) /
EUR5,500

For the first time all Team PKR Pros met including the latest signing Jake Cody who played alongside his six fellow Team PKR Pros - James 'james666' Sudworth, Sofia 'welllbet' Lovgren, Sascha 'locodice' Walter, Marc 'Waswini' Bariller, Scott 'PKR_Scott' Shelley and Vladimir 'Beyne' Geshkenbein. The best performance came from Frenchman Marc 'Waswini' Bariller, who was eliminated just before the money.


PKR.com WPT Ireland Final Table payouts
1st - David Shallow (UK) - EUR222,280
2nd - Charles Chattha (UK) - EUR111,130
3rd - Ronan Gilligan (Ireland) - EUR74,090
4th - Patrick Vestlin - PKR online qualifier (Sweden) - EUR52,600
5th - Steve Watts (UK) - EUR39,270

Next chance to qualify online for a PKR Experience package

The next opportunity for PKR players to take on the world's best poker players will be in June at this year's World Series of Poker, where another record field of PKR qualifiers will earn WSOP Experience packages. Details of PKR's 2012 WSOP Experience satellites will be released soon.

High-stakes poker and Survivor have a lot in common: they require nerves of steel, the ability to effortlessly deceive and most of all, a willingness to go shirtless and do ridiculous things for the top spot. You may not be familiar with Albert Destrade or Jim Rice, but they've both played and found success on the felt. Destrade's a baseball coach who makes the majority of his money in South Florida's bustling scene and Rice is a legalized marijuana distributor from Denver who's managed to score in multiple tournaments, including a $116,555 win in a $2,000 buy-in Festa Al Lago preliminary event.

The goal of Survivor is to outwit and outlive a field of 16-20 opponents while building a society in a remote location. Along the way, they're playing game where they vote out one of their own every three days and once the numbers hit a certain point and then the evicted players vote for the champion, who receives $1,000,000 for their trouble. n a lot of ways, it's like poker: winning takes patience and guts as well as skill.

"There is never a concerted effort to cast any specific type of profession on 'Survivor', but I don't think it's a coincidence that poker players make for such great characters," Survivor host/executive producer Jeff Probst told ESPN in an email interview. "'Survivor' is the social politics equivalent of poker. It's a game about reading other people, learning their tendencies, showing them only as much as you want them to see, but letting them think they are seeing more than they should. In the end, as we say on the show, 'only one will remain' -- that is the essence of 'Survivor' and poker."

Unfortunately, neither Rice nor Destrade won. Rice claimed 12th place while the handsome, charismatic Destrade finished third on Survivor: South Pacific, the twenty-third installment of the reality show.

He has no chance this is just bullshit

While a recent Department of Justice ruling brings legalized online gambling in the United States closer, players won't be clicking their bets anytime soon, a noted gambling lawyer says.

"This can't possibly be done that fast if it takes action of the legislature," says Professor I. Nelson Rose, a longtime gambling-industry consultant and distinguished senior professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif. He referred to the New Jersey legislature's failed attempt last week to approve an online measure before a lame-duck session ended.

Pennsylvania and other states with legalized gambling have the option to offer Internet gambling -- poker, slots and any casino games other than sports betting -- based on a U.S. Department of Justice ruling released just before Christmas.

In response to inquiries from the Illinois and New York lotteries about the legality of selling tickets online, the Justice Department says the federal Wire Act forbids only sports-related gambling in interstate and foreign commerce. Previously, the department interpreted the act as outlawing all forms of gambling.

"This ruling says the main federal statute doesn't apply to gambling that is legal under state law, except for sports-betting interstate," Rose tells Player's Advantage. "Therefore, we're going back to the way things have always been historically and traditionally -- which is, it's up to the states to decide their public policy, not the federal government to impose its public policy on the states."

Since the federal government's crackdown on offshore Internet poker sites nine months ago, gambling advocates have pushed for legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States. Proposals for federal regulation seemed to gain traction for a time; Nevada, New Jersey and other states started preparing their own versions.

Rose says he doesn't know of any move toward legalizing online gaming in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Allison Roberts says the agency is studying the fiscal and social effects of selling tickets online, including the impact on retail outlets. Ultimately, the governor's office and Legislature would decide whether to pursue online sales.

A spokeswoman for state Rep. Curt Shroder, chairman of the Gaming Oversight committee, says his office has not had a chance to talk about online gaming since the ruling was released.

Before any state launches online gaming, Rose says, officials will have to address several issues: which games to allow, how many licenses to award, how much they will cost, how sites will be regulated, who will operate them, the tax rate and whether to allow bettors from other states -- or countries -- access.

Although the Justice Department says states may regulate online gaming, the debate appears far from over.

FairPlayUSA, which backs federal regulation and was funded by casino giants MGM Resorts and Caesar's Entertainment, released this statement from former FBI Director Louis Freeh, a member of its board of advisers:

"This (ruling) proves the need for federal legislation, because unlicensed and unregulated sites will now proliferate more than ever, without safeguards against fraud, underage gambling and money laundering. Further, we will have multiple state regimes without consistent regulatory standards for activity that takes place electronically across state lines. States do not possess the necessary law enforcement tools to enact such regulatory requirements in a border-less Internet. Only strict and comprehensive federal regulation will ensure that play is safe, secure and confined to players among jurisdictions that permit the practice."

Professional player Robert "Chip Burner" Turner, credited with introducing the game of Omaha to casinos, says he supports online poker but thinks software is not advanced enough to protect players from cheats. He questions whether states would be able to regulate gamblers or operators outside their borders.

Rose doubts that opponents of online gambling can get the ruling overturned because court precedents support the new Justice Department interpretation. "It's already decided," he says.

Online poker sites want as many players as possible, and Rose predicts on his blog, Gambling and the law, that states will allow operators to take bets from residents of other states and countries that also have legalized online gaming.

The revenue potential is huge. In California alone, online poker could generate $1 billion a year for operators, Rose says. At a 20 percent tax rate, the state could reap $2 billion or more in 10 years.

"Because there is so much money involved," he says, "(Internet gambling) will be done."

With all the various ranking systems in place for poker players it is often difficult to keep up with all the tables. We have Player of the Year awards on Bluff and CardPlayer, then there is the Global Poker Index but one still grabs this humble scribblers attention despite being around for what seems like forever, the Pocket Fives World Wide Rankings.

I remember discovering the rankings when I first started playing poker and I used to look at the scores of the players listed in awe, dreaming that one day I could see my name displayed alongside theirs. Unfortunately that is about as likely as the Queen asking me round for afternoon tea but that is a completely different story. Earlier today I was having a look at the rankings and thought to myself, "I recognise that name there, the one ranked second best in the entire world for online poker tournaments," and I did indeed recognise the name NigDawG because it belongs to a fellow Brit, it is the online alias of a certain Chris Brammer.

Brammer took over the number two spot when the leaderboard was last updated on Wednesday 11 January and he has the current number one, Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger firmly in his sites. A large part of Brammer's meteoric rise up the rankings is down to the excellent November and December he had at the virtual felt. In November he finished second to POKENSTORE in the €1,000 FCOOP Main Event on the French version of PokerStars, a result that netted him more than $236,500! Then in December he won his first Triple Crown (won three tournaments on three different site within a week) by taking down tournaments on the iPoker Network, PokerStars and the Ongame Network. In fact Brammer almost won a second Triple Crown the following week!

Pushing Brammer all the way in 2012 will be Chris Moorman who said on his Lock Poker blog that he was aiming to regain the number one spot in the rankings but there are also a whole host of extremely talented British players who could easily mount a charge up the rankings including former world number two Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis, Kevin "scarface2911" Howe, Rick "TheClaimeer" Trigg and Paul "badpab2" Foltyn.

Stay tuned over the next 12 months to see if Brammer or any other Brit can lay claim to being the number one ranked online poker tournament player in the world!