Poker forum archive

With the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas having only finished a few days ago, the world’s leading poker site is already lining up their next feast of tournament action as TCOOP kicks off today.

The TCOOP series – or the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, to give it’s full name – will run for ten days until 29 January and feature a grand total of 50 fast-paced tournaments in a variety of different disciplines.

The inaugural TCOOP series begins at 17.00 GMT this evening with the first event being a $22 buy-in NLHE 6-max tournament and a $33 NL Omaha Hi/Lo, $134 NLHE knockout and a $33 NLHE event all running later in the day.

Buy-ins for the TCOOP series range from $5.50 all the way up to the $2,100 High Roller event on the final Sunday of the series, but the undoubted highlight of the first ever schedule will be a $700 buy-in NLHE main event featuring a $1.5m guarantee.

The main event will also kick off on the last Sunday of the TCOOP series at 20.30 GMT and looks set to become one of the most popular online events of the year given the tournament’s sizeable buy-in, bumper guarantee and relatively rapid nature.

Of course, no matter how big or small the buy-in, all TCOOP events can be satellite into via a range of hourly sub-qualifiers on the PokerStars client, all of which can be found in the tournament lobby under the designated “TCOOP” tab.

William Hill, the publicly-quoted bookmaker with an online poker business, today issued a trading update which indicated online poker revenue shrank in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company, which did not give a figure for the rate of decline, said, “Online net revenues grew strongly in the quarter, with year-on-year Sportsbook amounts wagered growth in line with the trends seen in previous quarters and a gross win margin in line with the previous year’s fourth quarter.

“Sportsbook, Casino and Bingo all showed year-on-year net revenue growth, with Poker declining in the quarter.”

This is a reversal of the 14 percent increase the company reported in the third quarter of 2011.

William Hill Poker operates on the iPoker network and the company entered a significant partnership with iPoker owner Playtech in 2009.

It's the sort of story that poker players that were there will be talking about for years to come: Harold "Buddy" Lockwood overcame a 2-to-1 chip deficit in heads-up play to beat Raja Kattamuri to win event #6 at the World Series of Poker stop at the Choctaw Casino Resort. His play was relentless and his focus was admirable over the two-day 372-person tournament.

However, everyone observing thought that there was no way he could take on six-time WSOP casher Kattamuri in heads-up. But he shocked everyone by winning a streak of serious pots at the start of the match and the stacks were quickly evened. He soon had the chip lead and seeming never looked up as he kept winning.

"I knew I could win when I couldn’t get through stacking my chips before the next hand started," Lockwood told WSOP.com. "I never looked up. I was always just stacking chips, taking a quick peak at my hand and then playing. After a while it dawned on me that’s all I was doing. I couldn’t even take time to count them."

The conclusion of the $345 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed tournament marks the halfway point for the World Series of Poker Circuit events at Choctaw. Six ring events remain, including a $555 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event (January 19) and the $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry event (January 21).

"A few years ago I won a World Poker Open bracelet, and I wanted to prove to myself it wasn’t just a flash-in-the-pan happening," the 66-year old retiree said. “Now at least it’s a two-time flash in the pan."

It's official: Dutch poker player Joran van der Sloot has been sentenced to 28 years in a Peruvian jail for the murder of Stephany Flores, the 21-year-old woman whose body was discovered in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima in June, 2010. In addition to this sentence, he may also be facing extradition to the United States in connection with the investigation of Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance. He was arrested on suspicion of his involvement on the island of Aruba but later released for lack of evidence.

For the moment, however, van der Sloot will be locked down after his confession about the killing of Flores. His lawyer argued that being hounded for Ms Holloway’s death caused van der Sloot to become psychologically unhinged, which resulted in Flores’ death. According to his confession, Flores and van der Sloot were playing online poker in his hotel room when she discovered his connection with Holloway's disappearance. The two argued and van der Sloot then strangled Flores in a fit of rage before leaving the country with $200 in cash and credit cards from his victim's purse.

"He was faced against the entire world for the past five years prior to the events. It was five years after the disappearance of this American citizen, and all media pointed at my client without having any evidence that he was in fact a monster," argued Sloot’s lawyer, Jose Luis Jiminez.

The explanation held no water in the judge's mind, it seemed, and thus the Dutch poker player who once told Greta Van Susteren than he'd sold a 17-year-old girl into sexual slavery and then recanted on his interview will be spending a lot of time staring at men who aren't going to be impressed that he won over $12,000 in an online poker tournament

Do you think he datamines when he plays online? Like use hands from sites like handhq.com and others? Or not?

Thanks for the help!

Zynga may be weighing its odds of succeeding in the online gambling business, but the smart money is on the San Francisco company staying out of the potentially lucrative but legally murky world of online betting -- at least in the near future.

The maker of FarmVille and Zynga Poker stirred up a great deal of discussion when it issued the following statement Thursday to AllThingsD:

“We build games and experiences that our players want and love. Zynga Poker is the world’s largest online poker game with more than seven million people playing every day and over 30 million each month. We know from listening to our players that there’s an interest in the real money gambling market. We’re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.”

A Zynga spokesman would not elaborate beyond the statement. But company officials who declined to talk on the record said the social gaming company is merely exploring the option of online gambling and that it has no plans in place to dive in.

Part of what is holding Zynga back are the legal uncertainties. While some 39 states, including California, allow online betting games with cash prizes, others do not. The U.S. Department of Justice in December issued a legal opinion that stated proposals by states to sell lottery tickets online would not violate the 1961 federal Wire Act banning sports betting.

Some argued that the opinion paved the way for states to move into online gambling, but others aren't so sure the narrowly crafted opinion would extend beyond state-sponsored lotteries. Until the legal boundaries are clarified, Zynga is unlikely to cash in its virtual chips for the real deal, company executives said.

Another potential area of concern is the stigma associated with gambling. Historically, many online game companies take pains to distance themselves from online casinos and betting sites, preferring to align their brands as more wholesome, family-friendly entertainment.

That hasn't stopped some daring entrepreneurs from exploring the boundaries, including Richard Branson, who partnered with WorldGaming.com, a Canadian online start-up, to launch Virgin Gaming, which lets video game jockeys compete for cash prizes.

But Branson's move into online betting is rare within the games industry, which is struggling to prove itself as a media, entertainment and art form that is just as legitimate as movies, music or books.

Still, Zynga has broken the mold before -- by eschewing hard-core gamers and successfully going after mainstream consumers who previously had not spent much money on games. Who's to say it won't throw out a few more traditions and delve into online casinos?

Zynga is already partially there. The company last year said it was building a "casino franchise" that would aggregate its current and future competitive games such as Zynga Poker and Zynga Bingo.

For a guy expected to be the key politician involved in eventually getting Internet poker legislation passed in the United States, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has never said much on the topic.

Congressmen Joe Barton and Barney Frank are ambassadors for the cause, having given countless interviews on poker, including with PokerNews.com. They openly campaign for support.

Reid apparently does his campaigning in private. Earlier this week, he gave a rare public comment to GamblingCompliance.com when asked about the DOJ's recent opinion on the Wire Act.

"It'll give us an incentive to get something done," Reid told GamblingCompliance. "We cannot have a series of laws around the country related to [Internet] gaming. I know a lot about gaming. I'm a former chairman of the Nevada [Gaming] Commission, and I think it's very important that we have a national law."

Reid's comments indicate that lawmakers realize 2012 is the time to either move on a federal poker bill or watch some states go on without a federal framework.

"It's very positive that someone like Reid is openly talking about the need to get this done this year," John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, told PokerNews. "We're hoping we can transfer words into law. It's preferable for the players, for the business side of things, to have some clear and consistent standards across 50 states instead of a patchwork of state laws and activities that would be legal in one place but illegal somewhere else."

GamblingCompliance also indicated that Reid confirmed publicly for the first time that he is negotiating with Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on a federal bill, though he wouldn't get into any of the details.

There's hope in the poker community that Reid will attempt to attach poker legislation to the payroll tax bill next month, though that is probably optimistic. Reid and Kyl, the top Democrat and No. 2 Republican in the Senate, are still negotiating. And Reid hasn't even introduced a bill. Pappas said he didn't think Reid had a final bill yet and offered assurance that the PPA is making certain the player voice is being heard in the formulation of the legislation.

"We're at the table already," Pappas said. "We've met with their staff. We've provided input throughout the process."

With all of Reid's work behind the scenes, he could move quickly on a bill at any time. It wouldn't be shocking to see a bill go from nonexistent to attached to larger legislation without any other progress seen in public. Pappas said the PPA is hoping to see some movement in the next few months or else preparation for the election will make things difficult until the end of the year.

"I think Congress will be paralyzed coming into the summer months," Pappas said. "If something isn't done before that, the lame-duck session will be the next opportunity."

When the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced in December that it has changed its interpretation of the Wire Act, the online poker gaming world became more optimistic than ever regarding the regulation and legalization of the US online poker industry at the federal level. A federal house sub committee recently held a couple of hearings regarding the legalization of the online poker industry. Although everybody who deposed before the sub committee agreed that legalization is the need of the hour, the house committee has not yet acted on the only proposed bill at present, which is the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011, also referred to as H. R. 2366. The various challenges that online poker legalization might face were also discussed during the hearings. The Native American tribes are not enthusiastic about regulating the online poker industry because they lack the finances to compete against giant gaming companies. Even the gambling companies based in Las Vegas cannot come to a consensus regarding the subject of legalizing online poker.

Moreover, the Barton Bill is something that many online poker players dread because it actually “strengthens the UIGEA).” The Barton Bill makes an online gaming site illegal and “subject to blocking and/or seizure by the US government” if it does not have a license issued by the US federal government.

Even if the Barton’s Bill is passed, the House, which is dominated by Republican representatives, is strongly against online gambling. Some of the most ferocious opponents of all forms of online gambling are Eric Cantor, the house majority leader, and Spencer Bachus. What’s more, they are capable of blocking any pro online poker laws that come up for votes to the House. Besides, this is also the year for elections. Taking all these factors into consideration, one can safely conclude that the federal government will not be able to make any move toward online poker legalization during 2012.

The future of state wise legalization of poker is also bleak. While Gary Thompson of Caesars Entertainment and James Murren of MGM Resorts are staunch advocates of online poker legalization, Anthony Marnell of M. Resorts and Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands are staunch opponents of the same.

The DoJ’s latest interpretation of the Wire Act might have opened the door to opportunities, but federal legalization of online poker might not become a reality in the near future.

The US online poker industry is volatile, to put it mildly. The most observant players are put through the emotional ringer on a regular basis with talks of potential change in the legal protocol of internet poker as well as considering the differential viewpoints of current politicians and upcoming election hopefuls. For less retrospective players, it's not a question of who, why or when the US will fully broaden its outlook on the matter. It is simply a question of where they can play online poker, safely and securely, at the present time.

There are more than 630 recognized online poker rooms operating over the internet to date. When you subtract the number of online poker sites that are not accepting US players in 2012, that number staggers to a minuscule fraction of its former self, and a daunting number of those that continue to make the short list are not considered to be reputable operators.

With the help of one prevailing website, Americans will now find a toplist of US poker sites at americanpokeronline.com. This new online gaming site is dedicated to providing its visitors not with a jumbled mass of US friendly poker rooms, some of which may or may not be reliable destinations for online card players, but with a concise directory of only the top, most reputable internet poker sites that currently accept American players.

The website's index will consist of only three US facing poker rooms at any given time. By researching all aspects of each site and keeping the list brief, americanonlinepoker.com aims to give its visitors access to only the most reputable, safe and secure poker sites, without subjecting its readers to the hassle of sorting through a large framework of potentially advantageous operators.

The online gaming guide promises to keep its database up to date so that players are never misguided or misinformed, and does not give credit to any poker site that has been deemed or even suspected of rogue activity. Each poker site listed comes with an array of details that include preferred US player deposit methods, a complete and comprehensive review of the site as well as referral and/or bonus codes where applicable.

Visitors will also find a section of the website that revolves around online poker for Mac users. At this time, according to americanpokeronline.com, there is only one distinguished, US friendly online poker room that is compatible with Mac computers. In the future, as more online poker operators venture into the US market, and current US facing operators expand their gaming platforms, the poker guide will update its catalog accordingly.

One underlying concern for many Americans is not so much where to play online poker for real money, but how they are going to fund their accounts. US player poker deposit options have undergone a roller coaster effect over the last few years. While only a few viable deposit methods remain, and even fewer withdrawal options, the new online poker guide itemizes and defines each of the available deposit methods for American poker players.

With so many old-fashioned blueprint replicates of online poker guides floating around the world wide web, the developers of AmericanPokerOnline believe that online poker players in the United States are sure to find the new concept design of their website both refreshing and greatly beneficial.

Every online poker player has seen the little banner at the bottom of the page advertising the Bad Beat Jackpot. Very few really pay attention to it. For those of you who do not know where the Bad Beat money comes from, it accumulates from the players. Each hand played on a live cash game will contribute to it. Once a pot reaches five dollars, fifty cents will go to the Bad Beat Jackpot.

This money will accumulate until some unlucky yet very lucky player gets a really premium hand beat. Normally this is something like four of a kind being the hand getting beat. Have that happen and you win the Bad Beat Jackpot. One player does not win it all, every player on the table gets a piece. The website itself also gets a portion. In this case Merge took 10% for its share, and 20% went to the next Bad Beat Jackpot. The players split the remaining $714,179 of the record $1,014,549 pot.
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The losing player, Eulson, got the biggest percentage. On Merge it was 50% of the player's portion or $355,092. The player that won the hand, 123maryc, got the next biggest share, 25% of the player's pot $177,546. The other players at the table get the remainder, $25,363 each for being at the table.

The way the hand played out is as follows. After the cards were dealt, 123maryc raised with pocket queens. Eulson re-raised from the small blind with pocket sevens, 123maryc then three bet, Eulson called. The flop came 7-Q-Q, giving Eulson a boat and 123maryc quads. She checked, allowing Eulson to make a bet that she just called. The turn came a seven, giving Eulson quad sevens, he bet and 123maryc reraised, the reraising continued back and forth until 123maryc went all in with Eulson calling. The river came an ace, the cards were shown and quad queens beat quad sevens.

Normally this would be a really bad beat, not this time. Eulson will be telling anyone who will listen about this hand for a long time. Every other player on the table will no doubt share the same story over and over. Sometimes as the old saying goes, "In poker it pays to be lucky, not good."

In December 2011, Joe Hachem and PokerStars announced they were parting ways. On Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, Hachem held a press conference at Crown Casino, where he announced his new working relationship with the AsianLogic Group.

“After many years working extensively around the world, I made the decision that my next venture would keep me closer to home, would allow me to spend more time with my family and was something that presented me with a wider range of opportunities,” Hachem said in a press release.

“I am delighted to announce that I have decided to partner with a consortium comprising the AsianLogic Group and some of their contemporaries. I will be working with the group in several areas, initially as a new ambassador for the Asian Poker Tour to further the growth of poker and to assist them with several strategic opportunities in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region.”

AsianLogic, established in 2002, is a major player in both the online and land-based gaming industry in the Asia-Pacific market. The group, which was featured on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 before going private two years later, “is involved in the development, operation, management and/or marketing of online casinos, online poker, multiplayer P2P and Asian Games, online and land-based sports betting, including live videos tream casino gaming across the region.”

“We are delighted to be working with Joe who is without a doubt one of the most recognizable and respected poker players in the world,” said Tom Hall, non executive chairman of AsianLogic.

“I can’t think of a better venue, the Aussie Millions, in Joe’s hometown of Melbourne, at this fantastic venue, the Crown Casino to announce our partnership with Joe. Joe brings much more to the table than just his poker playing skills. His knowledge and understanding of the gaming industry both domestically and internationally will be invaluable to us going forwards. The Asian Poker Tour is already widely recognized as Asia’s only independent tour and we feel Joe will be able to help us expand this business. AsianLogic and its partners are also involved in a number of poker and gaming projects and Joe is helping us with some of these, particularly those in Australia and New Zealand.”

Hachem concluded, “The Group are already very successful gaming operators and have a carefully thought out strategy for poker and my role within this will be announced publicly later this quarter. There are separate elements here in light of potential regulatory change in Australia, which requires a different focus from that adopted for the general international poker market.

"I considered offers from several other brands, but this partnership was the best fit for me as it gave me an active role and the ability to participate as the businesses evolve. The Asia Pacific poker market is still in its infancy and has in my opinion, huge potential for growth relatively to the European more mature markets. The United States are also going through an important phase and it will take a little time before things come into place and operators emerge. Working with a partner in the same time zone makes life a lot easier and whilst I am still going to be traveling to the major poker tournaments, being able to spend more time at home is fantastic.”

Hachem is currently in Melbourne for the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, and so is the PokerNews Live Reporting Team. You can follow all the action from the $10,000 Main Event, $100,000 Challenge, and $250,000 Super High Roller by visiting our live reporting section.

In December, I played the main event at the World Poker Tour's Five Diamond series. I had yet to finish a tournament in the money during my WPT employment, despite about 15 previous attempts, for I am a very skillful player. The streak was finally broken at the Bellagio.

On Day Three, when the bubble burst, I held a stack a little below average. Not long after, I was fortunate to win a large pot when I went all in with 9-9 against J-J and hit the necessary 9, giving me the chips needed to make a deep run realistic.

Late in Day Four, we were down to 18 players and redrawn to the final two tables. On my left was chip leader and WSOP main event final table-ist Soi Nguyen, sitting on more than $3 million in chips. On my right was one of the toughest players remaining, Vanessa Selbst, who had about $900,000. I was also holding $900,000, my biggest stack up to that point. A couple orbits into play, the three of us became involved in a major pot.

Action folded around to Vanessa on the button, who raised the $6,000-$12,000 blinds to $26,000. I was next to act in the small blind, holding As Qs, and I had a decision to make. Because I had no history with Vanessa, and a player as aggressive as her likely perceives me as being on the tighter side, I didn't think it was correct to three-bet to something like $70,000 and go all in against her if she were to four-bet to about $140,000-$150,000. Not only was it a great deal of chips to risk in relation to her four-bet, but, more concerning, I didn't think she'd four-bet me with that many weak holdings.

I also thought it was possible that if I called, Soi would use the might of his stack to three-bet as a squeeze with many weaker holdings -- which Vanessa would probably also realize. Then Vanessa might four-bet us to perhaps $175,000-$200,000, and with a wider range of hands.

I decided to call and hope that both Soi and Vanessa put in raises, in which case I would move all in over the top, making my hand appear stronger than it actually was. (Besides, even if I got called, I had A-Q suited; I was sucking out for sure.) It's a pretty clear example of how, at the highest levels, you have to think through many potential courses of action and how your opponents might react to them.

Soi did his part in following my plot, raising to $72,000, but Vanessa failed at hers and folded. Now I had a new decision to make against Soi. Again, I could consider four-betting, but since the two of us had no history, and Soi isn't known for being especially aggressive pre-flop, I thought it better to call with the intention of calling down on a number of run-outs, because I believed he had many bluffs in his range pre-flop.

I made the call, and we saw a 4-2-2 rainbow flop. I checked, and Soi bet $75,000, which I also called. The turn brought a harmless 6, and when I checked, Soi checked behind. It's a situation where he would almost always bet all his mid or high pocket pairs, meaning it was now far less likely he held such a hand.

The river was an ugly-looking K, and when I checked, Soi thought it over and bet $135,000. I knew the king was a bad card for me, but I also knew it was the kind of card that would tempt Soi to fire with his bluff holdings. I mulled it over a little before calling with my ace-high, and I was disappointed to see Soi's K-Q offsuit.

An unfortunate result, and though I lost the hand, I'm still comfortable with the call. If only Vanessa had put in the four-bet.

Congratulations to those who have worked their ass off to have US be accepted on such Poker network.

_________________

Oh so good!!

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is known for its unfriendliness to the online gambling industry. Only a handful of the innumerable online casinos are actually safe, secure, and reliable. Online players in the US, therefore, need to be very cautious about registering at an online casino, making a deposit, and playing for real money. Following the federal crackdown on Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and PokerStars in mid-April last year, the DoJ has frozen a number of online poker accounts held by US online poker players. These developments make online gaming very risky for online poker players based in the US. Owing to the vague and unfriendly gambling laws in the US, a number of online casinos have withdrawn their services from the US market. Although PokerStars players in the US complain that their online poker gaming accounts have been frozen by the DoJ, the DoJ justifies its move by stating that anybody wagering on real money poker games on PokerStars within the US are violating the country’s online gambling laws. The online gaming industry in the US is, therefore, suffering.

Following the federal crackdown of mid-April last year, the DoJ had signed an agreement with PokerStars, according to which the online poker room will not accept real money bets from any US player. The agreement also prevents any player from the US to play real money games. Existing PokerStars players can withdraw existing funds from their PokerStars accounts, but can no longer make any more deposits with the purpose of playing real money games.

Players who try to play real money games on PokerStars by providing a false location will be prosecuted for breaking the terms of the agreement. Players who used virtual private networks to gain access to their real money accounts on PokerStars have been the most affected by the federal crackdown on PokerStars. Although their location is not revealed while playing at PokerStars, it will be revealed when they log out.

PokerStars has made it quite clear that it will forfeit the funds of anybody who plays real money games by providing a false location or any other false information. Players, therefore, are advised to get familiar with the gambling laws of their respective countries before registering at any online casino or online poker room. Players are required to thoroughly research gambling laws and individual online gambling sites before they spend their hard-earned money there.

Online poker players will enjoy the intuitive and friendly navigation menus, the quick seat and my favorite functions, and the bonus redemption progress stats.

Leading online poker room Titanpoker.com, has upgraded its poker software to improve loading and performance capabilities. As part of ongoing efforts to enhance its gaming environment, Titan Poker's software lobby was completely redesigned with a clean look and feel.

The new lobby, re-sized at an easy-on-the-eyes 1000x700 pixels, provides online poker players with an intuitively easy navigation menu, allowing them to quickly find the cash tables and tournaments that they would want to join. The menu includes easy access to a graphical listing of the player's favorite games, tables, and tournaments, as well as a "quick seat" function that makes it possible for a player to choose an appropriate table within seconds.

In the redesigned lobby, poker players are able to easily follow the progress statistics of their player point accumulation, hands played, and bonus redemption status.

Players nostalgic for the older version of Titan Poker's lobby design can switch back to that earlier viewing mode with the click of a button.

The redesign of the Titan Poker lobby is the latest step of the online poker room's ongoing efforts to improve the gaming experience it offers players. In the coming weeks, Titan Poker will introduce new and exciting types of tournaments, alongside an ever-changing schedule of innovative promotions and gaming activities that will interest novice and veteran poker players alike.

Online poker players alike are invited to try out the free poker software download at Titan Poker and experience the redesigned lobby and enhanced features of Europe's most exciting online poker room.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has given online poker players fresh hope for federal legislation that would legalize their games.

Reid told a reporter for a gaming news service that the Department of Justice ruling that has some states angling to operate poker websites will also impel Congress to get moving on a bill to set regulations at the federal level.

“It’ll give us an incentive to get something done,” Reid told Gambling Compliance website reporter Tony Batt, who camped outside NBC studios in Washington while the Senate majority leader was taping “Meet the Press” last Sunday. Batt previously wrote about gaming policy from Washington for the Review-Journal.

“We cannot have a series of laws around the country related to gaming,” Reid said. “I know a lot about gaming… I’m a former chairman of the Nevada (Gaming) Commission and I think it’s very important that we have a national law.”

Reid’s remarks were notable in part because he has said next to nothing publicly while forming potential online gaming legislation with input from Nevada casino giants like Caesars Entertainment Corp., and MGM Resorts that are hungry to tap the Internet for revenue.

Reid told Batt he was “making progress” with negotiating partner Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., but declined to tip his strategy, including whether he might try to insert gaming provisions into an upcoming bill to extend a reduction in Social Security payroll taxes.

“I’m not going to get into how we’re going to get it done,” Reid said. “We’re going to work together to get it.”

The Justice Department ruling on Dec. 23 shook up the gaming world. In it, the department revised its interpretation of the federal Wire Act of 1961, previously thought to make all forms of Internet wagers illegal.

Justice attorneys now say the federal restriction applies only to sports betting, a softer reading that analysts say opens the door for states to sell lottery tickets online, and more.

2011 was a good year of UK poker pro Sam Trickett and 2012 looks like it might already by on track to make good again. It was last year's $100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions that got him started and it looks like it may all be happening again as the gregarious pro is sitting at the final table of this year's Challenge, once again.

This year's tournament attracted 16 fewer players than 2011's, but that still means there were 22 of the best poker players in the world in attendance, including Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and Phil Ivey. How competitive is the $100,000 Challenge? Those four players all busted out on the first day. By the way, speaking of four playersy: only four finalists will cash in this event. The top spot sees $1.01 million; second place gets $616,000; third earns $330,000 and the fourth-place finisher sees $242,000.

Trickett's currently at the bottom of the roster, which is set up as follows:

Seat 1: Tony G (102,000 chips)
Seat 2: Gus Hansen (567,000 chips)
Seat 3: Nam Le (79,500 chips)
Seat 4: Sam Trickett (73,000 chips)
Seat 5: Mikhail Smirnov (265,000 chips)
Seat 6: Joe Hachem (538,500 chips)
Seat 7: Sorel Mizzi (228,500 chips)
Seat 8: Dan Smith (346,500 chips)

As you can see, he's got a long way to go, and a short time to get there as blinds are now at 2,500/5,000, but if last year's streak proved anything, it's that Trickett can do the seemingly impossible.

Do you want to complete in tournaments where you can get your share of up to $100,000? Check out Bovada's online poker tournaments today!

Do they also open their rooms to Asia or on other parts of the world?


_________________

One hell of a game😡

Merge and Cake seems to be working out simultaneously. This is awesome.


_________________

One hell of a game😡

Casino boss and online gaming opponent Sheldon Adelson has given another $5 million (now $10 million total) to a super PAC for surging GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, according to Politico.

According to the New York Times, Gingrich is a longtime friend and patron to the billionaire’s Las Vegas properties. Gingrich also backed legislation more than a decade ago to preserve tax breaks for the casino industry.

Updated Tuesday at 1 PM: Card Player spoke with Dr. Kenneth Fernandez, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He said that it’s unlikely Adelson’s donations will “have any real influence” on Gingrich’s policy decisions were he to become president. He said that there is too much scrutiny on presidential candidates.

Adelson has long been a backer of conservatives, having made contributions to Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl — who supported the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.

Despite expanding his casino interests to Asia, Adelson has been against online poker in the U.S. because he believes underage gambling can’t be prevented.

Brian Greenspun, president and editor of the Las Vegas Sun, harshly criticized Adelson in December, writing that ordinary Nevadans “don’t have Asia to promise them vast riches” and that he hopes the casino boss can understand “that the technology available on the Internet is very good and uses active measures to prevent underage gambling.”

Dr. David Schwartz, Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, was evenhanded in analyzing Adelson’s influence on the issue last month.

“He’s one owner, and there’s a lot of different voices there. I don’t think his opinion invalidates the opinions of other folks — Wynn, Caesars, MGM — who are in favor of [online poker],” Schwartz said. “Obviously if you have an opponent it’s not going to make it easier, but I don’t think it’s insurmountable. If it forces the proponents to take a closer look at the age verification and explain what they are doing, and make a stronger case, in the end I think this is a good thing. I think that ultimately someone will be able to demonstrate age verification to Mr. Adelson’s satisfaction, and he may support it after that.”

Adelson’s views don’t completely align with the American Gaming Association — the industry’s top lobbying group in Washington — who is fully behind federal legislation for online poker. Mike Leven, President of Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp., serves as a member of the AGA’s board of directors.

Nevada is currently in the process of finalizing the minimum internal control and technical standards, which will address age verification strategies.