Poker forum archive

The Nevada Gaming Control Board will begin reviewing applications for online poker licenses this week, with Bally Technologies and International Game Technology (IGT) first in line for consideration.

Of the 25 companies who have applied for online poker licenses in Nevada so far, IGT and Bally were among the first, submitting their applications in October, 2011. Both companies have applied to manufacture and run online systems and are in the market to pair up with brick and mortar casinos in the Silver State in order to offer their services.

IGT has been active in the acquisition arena recently, purchasing the Entraction poker network for $115 million last year, as well as shelling out $500 million earlier this year for Double Down Interactive, a social gaming network operating Double Down Casino on Facebook. IGT’s website informs potential U.S. partners that the company "is preparing for legalization with the launch of a U.S. poker product" and is "currently looking for existing land-based casinos" to form a partnership agreement.


Read More: Nevada Begins Considering Online Poker License Applications

If you play online poker, chances are that you know others who do as well. Now, Family Pot has launched a tool that will allow you to stay connected to the rest of the online poker community.

By creating a free account, or simply logging in with Facebook, a Family Pot user can instantly hop on the network to be connected to all of their poker friends, get updates on where they’re playing, what they’re playing and how they’re doing.

Users can also give their Family Pot friends updates on their own play, letting them know when they’ve won a big pot, cashed in a tournament, or perhaps made a final table. If you find a good game, you can choose to let your friends know. (Or keep it to yourself!) It’s fast and easy to give and receive updates thanks to Family Pot’s poker icons, which display your status without the need for texting or typing, unless you want to.

Read More: Family Pot Allows Online Poker Players To Stay Connected - Poker News

The world's largest online poker site adds a Spanish license to its growing portfolio

PokerStars has been awarded a license to operate in Spain and will launch Juegos de poker online ? Juega gratis en Internet a Texas Hold'em on June 5 to serve the Spanish online poker market, the company announced today.

"Spain is a very important poker market and features some of the best players in the world," said Gino Appiotti, President of Licensed Markets - Spain, Italy and France, for PokerStars. "As the most popular online poker site in the world, we are very happy to provide the best variety of games, the safest and most secure online play and our world-class software to the market."

Read more here: PokerStars Obtains Gaming License for Spain - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee

Do you fancy taking part in a poker tournament with a difference? A poker tournament where just by entering it you will be helping a great cause and helping a superb charity raise much needed funds? Well if you do head down to the Grosvenor Casino in Cardiff on June 13 and take part in the Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament being held there.

The event has a £20 buy-in with optional £10 rebuys available for the first three levels. Not only will your buy-ins help the charity immensely but they could also net you some serious cash, because not only is there a £1,000 prize pool on offer but the Grosvenor Casino have given the charity five seats to the next Goliath tournament; which last year had a prize pool of almost £180,000!


Read more: Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament In Cardiff | PokerNews

The World Series of Poker has trended dramatically younger over the past decade. As the "Moneymaker effect" inspired a new crop of players and welcomed the online generation to the live felt, winners' photos have been filled with 20-somethings who have dedicated most of their adulthood to perfecting the game behind a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie.

In Event 8 of the 2012 WSOP, we didn't get the expected champion. That's not to say that the man who defeated a record-setting field of 967 players in the $1,500 Omaha high-low split eight-or-better event isn't deserving, but let's just say, he doesn't fit the mold of a new poker icon; something that every bracelet winner instantly becomes. At age 71, Alabaman Herbert Tapscott emerged victorious to win $264,400 and his first WSOP bracelet as he defeated Gavin Griffin heads-up for the title. It was Tapscott's first career WSOP cash, one he'll remember forever.

Read More: WSOP 2012 - Herbert Tapscott, 71, wins first WSOP bracelet in Omaha split Event 8 - ESPN

Bovada’s series of online qualifiers and satellites for the 2012 WSOP Main Event continues and so far, 38 players have won a $12,000 prize package that will let them play in the biggest event in the game. Thanks to Bovada’s aggressive tournament schedule, you can join them for as little as $1!

Even if the World Series of Poker is already underway, there are still plenty of qualifiers and satellites taking place for the Main Event at Bovada and you can start playing your way to Vegas right away. You can choose from regular, turbo or Sit and Go qualifiers all week long to earn a seat in the weekly satellite or go for the gusto with Last Chance qualifiers that start as low as $25 + 2.50 on Satellite Sunday! On top of everything else, Bovada’s daily cheap seat events let you win your way into a quarterfinal for a dollar.

Here’s a list of winners that you could be joining as soon as this Sunday at 4:35 PM ET :

April 9: Pete M; Steve S; Nandit M; Michael H
April 15: John I; Michael T; John F; Doug S; Craig S
April 22: Steven K; Bryan O; Joseph J; Erik G
April 29: Erik S; Brian H; Michal S; Thomas C
May 6: Jesse O; Doug L; Travis K; Stewart K
May 14: Thomas P; Randen H; David B
May 20: Alec A; Kyle G; Thomas F
May 28: Santosh V; Joshua G; Randall J
June 3: Michael H; Josh P; Gary Y; Steven H; William W; Lance T; Jeffrey S; Ken K

Winners from the weekly satellite get more than just a seat in the Main Event. They'll live large thanks to a $12,000 prize package that includes the $10,000 buy-in along with money for airfare, accommodations and a healthy dose of Bovada’s famous hospitality.

Visit Bovada's WSOP Main Event online qualifiers and satellite page and see just how easy it can be to find yourself in Las Vegas for the big show.

PokerStars will begin operating in Spain today, Jun. 5, with PokerStars.es, after the company announced it had been awarded a license to serve the Spanish online poker market.

Other operators who obtained a license include bwin.party, Ladbrokes, 888 and Sportingbet.

This follows on from recent social media rumours regarding the signing of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, which the site’s head of corporate communications, Eric Hollreiser, declined to address.

Read More: PokerStars Launches Spanish Online Poker Site Today - European Poker News

An out-of-the-blue measure to create an intrastate online poker network serving Illinois residents garnered surprising strength after being attached to a much-debated casino expansion bill. A half dozen new casinos in locations including downtown Chicago and the state’s second-largest city, Rockford, garnered support from a bipartisan majority, clearing Illinois’ state Senate with ease, but facing negative comments from Democratic Governor Pat Quinn. Illinois faces massive budget shortfalls and the bill, backed by the state’s existing casinos and racetracks, is being pitched as a tool for jobs and revenue generation. State Senate officials claim having enough votes to possibly override a Quinn veto.


Read More: www-pokerplayernewspaper-com/content/poker-news-online-poker-uigea-2-hpt-and-more-12154

One of the most volatile poker bankrolls in the world has made its way to Las Vegas.

Online cash game professional Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom registered for the $10,000 heads-up event Tuesday at the World Series of Poker — his first tournament ever on American soil. The 21-year-old Swede has won and lost millions on the virtual felt prior to being of legal age to gamble in the U.S.

Blom came late to his second round match against former online tournament grinder Tommy Chen. Blom was blinded out for a few hands. “He’s playing real slow for his online standard,” Chen joked.

Blom’s wavy blonde hair was blowing around in the Rio air conditioning as he made his way to his seat. He sat down and asked how many hands he missed, and then said, “Alright, cool,” when he found out it wasn’t many.


Read More: Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom Debuts at World Series of Poker

Fast poker variant, Blaze Poker, has been launched at BetVictor Poker and is available to players in Israel, Canada, Norway, and Russia, initially at sixhanded tables.

This speedy version allows up to 300 hands to be played per hour – four to five times more than the usual. Breaking from the traditional online format, “Blazers” get randomly seated from a communal pool of players and when their hand is completed or folded they are reseated elsewhere with a new hand immediately in front of them ready to play.


Read More: BetVictor Poker Announces Blaze Poker - European Poker News

If you are wondering whether poker pros live the high life – here’s your answer: Daniel Negreanu is one of a handful of poker pros who has a tricked-out trailer and he’s parking it right outside the Rio in Vegas while playing in the 2012 World Series of Poker.

If you’re at the Rio, then you know then you know all about the plethora of trailers parked outside the building. Apparently, Negreanu rents one every year, and this one looks pretty swanky.

“I’m a vegan, so I have a fridge full of stocked foods with a microwave so I never have to worry about going hungry, and also in between breaks I’m double dipping a lot of these tournaments,” he wrote in his blog.

“So like today I played a new tournament and I was out by two o’clock, the next tournament wasn’t until five, so I could go home and come back, but it’s a bit of a hassle and there’s nowhere to hang out. I’m not gonna hang out in the hallways, so this is kind of a secluded little quiet area where I can veg.”

Negreanu added, “The biggest perk of having this trailer is also the location of it, you’re right next to the poker room so every break you can come out here, better parking, really just relaxation and comfort because this is a grind. Like three weeks in, everyone is angry and mad at each other because we’re here, and this gives me sort of a home away from home.”

Perhaps these trailer rentals are good luck for Negreanu, who boasts 52 cashes, four bracelets and millions in WSOP winnings. Want to pull your giant trailer up to the Rio? Qualify for a seat at the WSOP with Sports Interaction’s online WSOP qualifiers.

I enjoyed meeting all of the other Team Online members at the PCA this year, but Richard “Tzen1” Veenman was one of my favorites. As you might imagine, these grinders were not the most extroverted bunch. It generally fell either to Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome, the only woman among us, or to Richard to play the role of social director and event organizer for our little group. Richard is a confident and gregarious fellow who carries fun with him wherever he goes, so I was eager to meet up with him and his girlriend when my girlfriend and I visited his home country of the Netherlands.


Read More: NoHo Fo? Sho: Travels With Tzen - Andrew 'Foucault' Brokos Blog

If it is possible to have a heads-up battle that determines a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet winner be a bit anticlimactic, then Monday’s match between Aubin Cazals and Joseph “subiime” Cheong may have been just that. After Cazals won a record-breaking marathon contest the day before, he took “only” five hours to defeat Cheong in the finale of Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max to win his first ever major title.

Let’s go back a day for a moment to set the stage. On Sunday, there were just four players remaining in the tournament. Cheong took on Hugo Lemaire in one semi-final while Cazals faced Warwick Mirzikinian in the other. Both pairs began play at 1:00pm. Cheong dispatched Lemaire fairly quickly, taking just two or three hours. Cazals needed longer. Much longer.

In all, Cazals and Mirzikinian played poker against each other for 9 hours and 25 minutes, simply destroying the previous record set when David “Chip” Reese defeated Andy Bloch heads-up in the $50,000 Poker Player Championship at the 2006 WSOP.

But then there was this little detail of playing the final match. Cazals was understandably exhausted and it was late. Cheong was playing in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry event. It didn’t seem plausible to play the final as scheduled. The two men discussed it and decided that Tuesday would be a good day to fight for the bracelet. Unfortunately, they were informed that according to Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) rules, the structure (and thus schedule) of the tournament cannot be changed once it is submitted to the NGC. Postponing until Tuesday was not possible. Eventually, all parties agreed to a 9:00am Monday start, though that got moved to noon after Cheong was eliminated from the other tournament.

Read More: Aubin Cazals Wins WSOP Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max

Bovada Casino says, "Fire up the season with the Casino Summer Sizzle." From June 4 to July 1, Bovada Casino players can wager on slots, blackjack and other casino games for a chance to win the $3,000 grand prize. In addition they can get up to $300 in match bonuses when they purchase casino chips. The winner can heat things up with "the ultimate pool party, BBQ party, just-got-over-this-hangover party, or whatever, to keep you going all season".

The Casino Summer Sizzle promotion at Bovada Casino will consist of four weekly periods, each beginning Monday and ending Sunday. Each week will offer a match bonus for slot games and the bonus will get more attractive with each week. In the first week, from June 4 to June 10 there will be a 40% match bonus up to $40. In the second week, from June 11 to June 17 there will be a 60% match bonus up to $60. In the third week, from June 18 to June 24 there will be an 80% match bonus up to $80. In the fourth week, from June 25 to July 1 there will be a 120% match bonus up to $120.

To qualify for these slots bonuses, the Bovada Casino player must redeem the code for the given week and purchase casino chips. Each weekly match bonus will be valid during the corresponding week only. Each code can be redeemed only once. The bonus plus chip purchase amount is subject to a 25 times rollover requirement only on slot games before withdrawal.

The same weekly divisions apply for the blackjack and other casino games bonuses. The bonus in the first week is 30% match up to $30. The bonus in the second week is 50% match up to $50. The bonus in the third week is 70% match up to $70. The bonus in the fourth week is 100% match up to $100. The process for redeeming the bonuses is the same as that for slots bonuses. However, the rollover requirements are different. The bonus plus chip purchase amount is subject to a 40 times rollover requirement before the chip purchase and bonus amount can be withdrawn. Wagering on Single Deck Blackjack, Double Deck Blackjack, baccarat, Sic Bo, craps and roulette does not count towards meeting rollover requirement.

In order to be eligible for the Grand Prize draw Bovada Casino players need to redeem at least one weekly match bonus. Then for every dollar in casino chips purchased during the weekly period when the code is redeemed players will get one ticket to the Grand Prize draw. Players can earn tickets in more than one week provided that they redeem the weekly codes in those weeks. The Grand Prize draw will be held within 48 hours of the end of the Casino Summer Sizzle promotion. One winner will be chosen at random and will win the entire $3,000. This prize does not have any rollover requirements.

Bovada Casino is powered by software from Realtime Gaming and is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

Gov. Bobby Jindal issued three vetoes Tuesday night, taking aim at legislation involving video poker.

The governor nixed bills that the Louisiana Family Forum opposed on the grounds they would deregulate video poker.

The Louisiana Family Forum characterizes itself as a voice for traditional families.

“We believe gambling hurts Louisiana families and that the associated social costs far outweigh the financial benefit that state and local governments gain from the industry,” the Louisiana Family Forum wrote in a letter to the governor.

The organization also provided supporters with the email address for the governor’s chief of staff, Stephen Waguespack, to aid them in petitioning for the vetoes.

Jindal now has vetoed four bills from the 2012 legislative session.

He also announced Tuesday signing House Bill 61, creating a 401(k)-type pension plan for future state employees, and two business tax breaks.

HB61 was one of the few retirement bills from the governor’s legislative package to make it to his desk.

Jindal also announced signing 92 bills late Tuesday bringing the total number of measures signed to 556, according to a press release.


Read More: Jindal vetoes video poker legislation | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Bovada casino is also a great place to play casino games. Single Deck Blackjack has the biggest payout for all online casino players which is very good offer.

The World Series of Poker isn’t the only place where the game is making history this summer. On Wednesday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board agreed to allow Bally Technologies, Inc. to run intrastate online poker.

Attorney Ellen Whittemore said the company expected a “unique investigation” while regulators prepared to issue the first license of its kind in U.S. gaming history.

“Nevada is ready to go. Bally is ready to go,” said Mark Lerner, another attorney for the company.

Read More: Nevada Approves First Online Poker License

Aubin Cazals topped 409 players, including a final heads-up battle with Joseph Cheong, in order to win the first ever $5,000 no-limit hold’em mix max event for $480,000 and his first gold bracelet. Card Player TV caught up with him in this edition of Battle for the Bracelets


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After several years of absence, the WSOP has decided to rehang the huge banner of UltimateBet superuser Russ Hamilton on the wall of its Amazon Room, along with other WSOP Main Event winners.

Russ Hamilton worked as a consultant for online poker room UltimateBet when he masterminded an online poker scam which cheated customers out of $22 million of their funds. Incredibly, despite the Kahnawake Commission finding “clear and convincing evidence” that Hamilton was the main person behind the cheating scandal, he was never arrested and continues to wander free in his hometown of Las Vegas.

Subsequently, the disgraced 1994 WSOP Main Event winner had his Champion’s banner hidden at the Rio All-Suite Casino with the WSOP even discluding him from the Main Event winners invitational 40th Anniversary tournament.

Read More: Poker Cheat Russ Hamilton's Banner Back Up At 2012 WSOP

Bovada casino had a good promo called Invasion Online Slot. This was really very entertaining for all slots players. I am great fan of slot games to spin.