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Manne wrote: Here are 10 things you should know about SOHE before you sit down to play the game.

10. What is SOHE?
SOHE stands for Simultaneous Omaha and Hold'em. The game is a split-pot game, with half the pot going to the player with the best Hold'em hand and the other half going to the player with the best Omaha hand.

Each player is dealt six cards, and each player must then separate their cards into two hands, a two-card Hold'em hand and a four-card Omaha hand. The game is then played just like Hold'em or Omaha, with a pre-flop betting round, a three-card flop followed by a betting round, a turn card and betting round and the river card followed by a betting round.

9. The most important decision you will make is the first one
The key to SOHE is setting your hand correctly. Some hands are easy; get dealt Ah-Ac-6d-7d-8s-9s, and put the aces in the Hold'em hand and the rest in the Omaha hand. Other hands are a bit tricky. Ah-Jc-10d-10c-3h-3d, for instance, presents a difficult choice. Do you put the 10s in the Omaha hand and give up the suited ace? Or do you put the 10s in the Hold'em hand and give up more straight possibilities?

Personally, I'd put the 10s in the Hold'em hand here. If the game you're playing in is a tight one and not many people are seeing flops, the 10s may be good enough to win, depending on how the board runs out. If you're playing in a loose game where a lot of people are seeing flops, you're probably going to need to hit a set to win, so 10s vs. 3s may not make that big a difference, but having a suited ace is more powerful than having a Broadway draw (see number five on this list for the reason why).

I don't claim to be an expert on the best way to set a hand in SOHE, but realizing that it’s the most important decision you're going to make is the first step to learning the game.

8. Keep those cards capped
Once you set your hand, you'll need to keep a card protector on both hands and keep them separate. Moving cards from one hand to another is prohibited, and anyone that mixes their cards after they have been set will have their hand declared dead.

7. Go for the scoop
Like every split-pot game, the goal of the game is to scoop the whole pot. As a result, you should try to set your hand in such a way that you either hit a monster on the flop, or you get out of the way. That might mean splitting up a pair of aces so you have a suited ace in both hands with the possibility of big wrap draw in Omaha.

6. But be ready to adjust
While the goal of the game is to scoop, most of the time you're going to be facing more than one opponent on the flop. The board may coordinate well with one hand and completely miss the other. If you've got the nuts on one hand and you're facing multiple opponents, you need to make everyone pay to outdraw you. If you get heads up, you can slow down if your hand is one-dimensional and vulnerable to being outdrawn.

5. Be prepared to dump your straight
The problem with hitting a straight – even a nut straight – is that it often won't be the nuts at the end of the hand. If there's three of a suit on the board or the board is paired, your straight is incredibly weak, even on the Hold'em side. You'll see a lot of players throw two suited cards that don't otherwise fit in well with their hand in their Hold'em hand, so don't be surprised when an opponent turns over 9-3 suited in Hold'em and takes down that half of the pot with a flush.

If you hit a straight and it's the nuts, you should play it accordingly. But be aware that you might need to abandon ship if the board gets a little scary. And it might be worth setting your hand in such a way that you're playing for flushes and full houses instead of straights, just to make your decision-making process easier later in the hand.

4. Know when to fold'em
Don't fool yourself into thinking that you're probably going to win at least half the pot. If there are more than two people remaining in the hand and both of them are being very aggressive, there's a good chance that you're facing the nuts on both sides. Unless you have powerful draws in both of your hands that can beat the best possible holdings at the moment, let it go.

If you're heads up and your opponent is jamming the pot and you have two medium-strength hands, you might think you're probably good on one of them. He's probably got the nuts for one hand, but you could be okay on the other. Trust me, it's not worth it. Let the hand go. It's like calling down with a pair of kings in Stud High-Low against a player with an ace and two low cards showing. It's a long-term losing strategy.

3. Think about running it twice
Think PLO is a high variance game? Wait until you play SOHE. You're going to have some massive swings. If you want to even out those swings, think about running it twice or even three times once players are all in. All players have to agree to this arrangement, of course, and it can make for some complicated chip breakdowns at the end of the hand, but it will even out the swings a bit and keep people in the game longer.

2. Be okay with playing 8-10 hands an hour
SOHE is slow. Unbearably slow. But it's a tradeoff. When you have an action game where everyone wants to see the flop, it's going to take awhile to play. Add in complicated chops with tons of chips and you're going to do a lot of waiting. But those long hands are a good opportunity to study your opponents, take a restroom break on the off chance you fold preflop, or talk to your fellow players that have also managed to find a way to fold.

1. You'll either love it or hate it
I've never seen a poker game that simultaneously engendered so much love and hate as SOHE does. If you're an ABC Hold'em player that generally follows a set pattern of play, you're probably going to hate SOHE. If you like to gamble and be faced with a multitude of difficult decisions when you play poker, you're going to love it.

The next time you're at a home game, give
I am very am excited ,you have done a good work and u have posted very useful details to refer.
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The Party Poker Premiere League VII announced today that professional poker player Sam Trickett is set to take a seat at the $125,000 event taking place next month at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal.

Trickett’s extensive resume of high stakes successes includes coming 2nd in the $1m buy-in Big One for One Drop in 2012, winning the 2013 Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge, a victory in the 2011 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event and a runner-up spot to Dan Shak at Premiere League VI.

“After coming so close last year I hope to go one better this year and take down the title.” Trickett commented to the Party Poker Blog.

Seven of the twelve spots available for Premiere League VII have now been filled as previously reported participants Tony G, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Jeff Gross, Vanessa Selbst and Jonathan Duhamel are all slated to be in Montreal from November 20-26 for the globally televised event.
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The Keystone State has clearly taken a ‘watch and wait’ attitude to the idea of joining neighboring states as they gallop into the world of online poker and gambling, as stressed by authorities at the recent World Regulatory Briefing, held in Philadelphia.

One of the speakers of the conference was Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chairman William H. Ryan Jr who said: “I don’t see any real groundswell right now for Internet gaming.”

Adding his comments was the executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Kevin O’Toole who said: “We’re basically hoping to learn more about how other states, jurisdictions and even some international jurisdictions…would approach Internet gambling.”

For now, Pennsylvania seems to be focusing more on its successful brick and mortar gambling industry, which continues to act as strong competition for neighboring states.

“What we are seeing is far more interest in legislation that would give the thousands of bars and social clubs the authority to have small games of chance,” said Ryan. “The strength of the lobbying groups in those areas is probably greater. All of them have very close contacts to the representatives in both the House and the Senate.”

However, Pennsylvania isn’t ruling out online poker altogether and said it would watch how the industry unfolds in other states first before adopting its own platform.

“It may be that they will wait and see long enough to see how New Jersey makes it work and how much revenue can be produced and to see if there is going to be any damage done by Internet gaming]to the brick-and- mortar casino industry,” Ryan said.

Both New Jersey and Delaware are set to launch their own igaming industries within a month and Pennsylvania will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the progress.


Online Poker: Pennsylvania Prefers to “Watch and Wait”
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It’s only been half a year since online poker became legal in Nevada, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGC😎 is moving slowly when it comes to expansion of any kind beyond the popular card game. That being said, the Board is looking at some possible regulatory changes nonetheless.

“We’re only six months into poker,” said NGCB Chairman A.G. Burnett. “For now, we want to prove out poker first.”
Slow But Steady Wins the Race

And even with poker, the Board is not rushing anything. With only two legal sites up so far – Station Casinos-owned UltimatePoker-com and Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s WSOP-com brand – the Board is not planning to approve any more sites until the existing sites’ technology has been reviewed and assessed by independent testing laboratories, as well as the Control Board’s own in-house lab. (Obama, take note: this is how you do it.)

“Nevada is poker only,” reiterated Burnett. “That was the legislative intent from the beginning and the board has no plans to do anything otherwise.”

What the Board is looking at in terms of regulatory tuneups revolve around additional technical requirements for online poker, and also some language adjustments to match up with statutory changes that went into effect via Assembly Bill 114 during the latest legislative session.
Almost Anything Goes, In Theory

All that is technically prohibited in the bill is race and sports book wagering online; but Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, (D-Las Vegas), who sponsored the legislation, says he concurs with Nevada’s regulators about moving slowly and cautiously beyond poker, if at all.

“I believe our intent from the outcome was to take conservative steps,” Horne said of SB 114. “Nothing prohibits [the control board] from going beyond poker and we want our regulatory boards to make that decision. I think we’re taking prudent steps.”

Another important topic the Board is reviewing is the issue of interstate compacts for online poker, something that is probably going to be critical for Internet gaming to thrive in the Silver State over the long haul. With a population of just about 2,759,000 (compared to soon-to-be-competitor New Jersey’s 9 million), Nevada needs other states to be able to enter their online games legally in order to stay afloat in what will be an increasingly competitive market in the coming years. It’s expected that the Board will be asking Governor Brian Sandoval to push forward with this request, and there is no reason to expect he won’t comply.

In another few days, Delaware will join Nevada with online gaming, unfurling poker plus a few casino games for starters when they launch on Halloween. Then on November 26th, New Jersey will bring their Internet casinos into the online universe with a full selection of classic casino games, including poker, of course.

Ultimately, it could make more sense for more centralized regional servers to handle entire sections of the U.S., if state and federal legislation complies. At a recent regulatory meeting in Philadelphia, New Jersey State Assemblyman John Amodeo (R) discussed a possible new bill that would allow online gaming hardware and software to be situated outside of actual Atlantic City land casinos (as they are now required to be), opening the floodgates to a more nationwide online gaming scenario.

Speaking to the Press of Atlantic City, Amodeo suggested that “ultimately, we could see Las Vegas handle everything west of the Mississippi, and Atlantic City could handle everything east of the Mississippi.”



Just Six Months In, Nevada Gaming Commission Considers Online Changes
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Only days before launching its online gambling industry, the state of Delaware has confirmed that the new gaming schedule will incorporate online poker. Speaking to PokerFuse, the director of Delaware Lottery, Vernon Kirk said “peer to peer poker is included in Delaware’s internet gaming solution and it will be available at launch.”

Delaware is well aware that its size (less than a million residents) will play against the success of its new online gambling platform, and is therefore keen to pursue interstate online poker compacts as soon as possible.

When asked by CardPlayer this week regarding progress in negotiations between Delaware and other regulated states such as New Jersey and Nevada, Kirk said: “We have had conversations with both states, and it’s a little bit too early in the process to project how that is going to work out. My guess is that, certainly with Nevada, they are definitely anxious to compact with us, and us to them likewise.”

“Once we get up and running we will be pursuing that more aggressively,” predicted Kirk. “Right now we are just concentrating on getting our site up. But that will be one of the very first steps we take after launch.”

Kirk said that the lottery was also open to forming compacts with international locations such as the United Kingdom.

For the time being, the games offered, including poker, will be provided by 888 Holdings. Kirk also said that there would be ”some video lottery terminals, some video poker, some slot machines.” He said that the lottery was working with other software providers with the aim of integrating them onto the new online gambling platform, however, “it will still be a while.”


Delaware Keen to Pursue Interstate Online Poker Compacts
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You just flopped straight-over-straight on a wet board against a maniac who has plenty of chips to lose. How good is it to be you?

Everyone knows this is a great situation. But we live in a post-Moneyball world; it’s time we knew exactly how great.

In the last decade, online poker has produced enough data to provide meaningful empirical answers. In this article we introduce a method for calculating a “Situation Score” and suggest two uses.
Calculating a Situation Score

The concept is straightforward: find players who have been in similar situations, and keep track of how much those players ended up winning (or losing) in the hand. Their average end-of-hand outcome is your Situation Score.

You can intuit why big data is required—there are many considerations in finding a similar situation: players’ positions, effective stacks, hole cards, prior actions, and images/tendencies; community cards, the pot. More data means more similar situations.

Here’s an example: you’re playing low limit heads up with 100 big blind effective stacks. For the past half hour, both you and your opponent have been playing snug. You’re dealt red Kings in the small blind, and your opponent is dealt red Aces.

This is a terrible situation for you. We queried a billion-hand database and found that players in your situation lose, on average, 57 big blinds. Thus, your Situation Score is -57 big blinds.
Using Situation Scores to Measure Luck and Performance
Measuring Luck

Imagine you flopped set-under-set after checking a small pair from the big blind. Your Situation Score before the flop was negligible—on average, small pairs don’t earn or lose a ton of chips. Your Situation Score after the flop is disastrous—on average, being on the wrong end of set-under-set costs most of your stack.

If you know your Situation Score immediately before and immediately after the flop, you can determine exactly how much the flop changed your expected end-of-hand outcome. (Call it your “Luck Score” for the flop.) This method also applies to the initial deal, the turn, and the river. It’s a simple but holistic way to capture precisely how much the cards helped or hurt.
Measuring Performance

Imagine your opponent shoves the river with the nut flush, and you gracefully lay down a medium flush. Your Situation Score before folding tells you how much players tend to lose in your shoes. After you fold, you know how much you actually lost.

By comparing your actual outcome to your Situation Score, you can finally ask and answer the right question: not how much money you lost, but how much better you performed than the average player in your shoes. In future articles, we’ll develop this notion into a Skill Score.

You can see Luck Scores in action in the “Luck Means More Than Bad Beats” post on OneBillionHands-com. For an example of a Skill Score, see “If Money Saved Is Money Earned, How Much Did Newhouse Earn?



Situation Scores: Using Big Data to Value a Poker Situation | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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About a week ago Delaware’s gaming chief said the state would launch real-money online gambling, including poker, on Halloween. Everything appears to be set for that to happen tomorrow, which would make the state the second in the U.S. with licensed and regulated Internet gambling.

It is worth stressing that the games are fully authorized by a U.S. jurisdiction. Several times the federal government has cracked down on offshore sites taking bets from Americans. Delaware, like Nevada and New Jersey, will not allow offshore operators to be involved.

According to the AP, the Delaware debut was just recently described as a “soft launch.”

Delaware’s progress into the online space hasn’t been easy.

“It has been a challenge,” Delaware Lottery Director Vernon Kirk told Card Player in an interview. “I think smoothly might overstate the case. It is a pretty big technological challenge and our schedule has been pretty aggressive. There are just a lot of moving pieces to this. All of the stuff that the public will never see, but stuff that is really important.”

The state legalized online gambling in mid-2012.

Delaware has been offering free-play games as a sort of trial run before the real thing. Those free games are run by online casino DoubleDown, owned by IGT. The real-money games will provided and managed, on behalf of the state’s three brick-and-mortar casinos, by 888 and Scientific Games. IGT should, eventually, again provide game content to the state.

As alluded to above, Nevada and New Jersey are the two other states with legalized web gambling. Nevada already has online poker running — games from Ultimate Poker and the WSOP — while New Jersey is putting the finishing touches on its plans to launch in less than a month.

All three states could very likely strike some sort of deal to share players in order to create greater liquidity for online poker. Delaware has less than a million people.

Going forward, online poker may be sort of an ambiguous term since states will offer Internet versions of video poker machines, for example. Like Nevada and New Jersey, Delaware will offer online poker that pits customer against customer, in games such as Texas hold’em.

The industry in each state is considered “intrastate,” which means that only those physically within the borders of the state may play. One doesn’t need to live there.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer-com for more updates on Delaware’s venture into the online space.



Delaware To Launch Real-Money Online Poker Tomorrow
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The Casino Control Commission and the Office of the Governor of the Virgin Islands this week made public a big development for Internet gambling there.

It was determined that the “Virgin Islands Internet Gaming and Internet Gambling Act” is legal. The act was passed in 2001, but apparently underwent years of analysis.

“This marks a turning point in the diversification of our gaming industry from land-based casinos and racinos, to Internet gaming and gambling…The implementation of this Act will fulfill our mission of attracting very successful global Internet gaming companies to the Virgin Islands, and encourage new investments to our struggling economy,” the governor said.

The jurisdiction’s attorney general stated that “the territory [should] utilize systems and programs that would permit only adults to utilize the Internet for gaming purposes in jurisdictions where such gaming and gambling are permissible as a matter of law.”

More on the reason for the recent move?

According to the press release, “At a time of unprecedented fiscal crisis, the implementation of Internet Gaming and Gambling will attract gaming related technology companies to the territory, creating new jobs, while transforming St. Croix and the Virgin Islands into a gaming leader in the Caribbean.” It is only the fourth U.S. jurisdiction to authorize web gambling.

“The Virgin Islands is open for business and the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will begin to implement the act immediately,” the governor and the commissioner said in closing.

It’s unclear which companies would be involved in the industry there.

Right now, Nevada and Delaware are the only two U.S. jurisdictions with their own Internet gambling sites taking action from those within their respective borders.



Online Poker: Virgin Islands 'Open For Business'
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MGM Resorts International Chairman and CEO Jim Murren was in a pretty good mood Thursday, even after his company reported a $31.9 million third-quarter loss.

The reason: The company’s finances are headed in the right direction, with a 22 percent increase in revenue in Macau, a new resort planned there for 2016, improving trends on the Strip and a 2014 convention calendar that already is 88 percent full.

Murren even extended an offer to the Boston Red Sox, winners of the World Series, to come to the Bellagio to lose a little — facial hair, that is.

“It pains me to say this, but congratulations to the Red Sox,” Murren said Thursday. “I think the least we could do is to invite the entire team to Bellagio to spend a couple of days here and meet Johnny the Barber and get rid of the horrendous beards. Dustin Pedroia looked like an evil elf.”

Also on Murren's mind: MGM Resorts' plans in Macau, rebound on the Strip, gaming in Massachusetts and online poker.

Macau was the star again this quarter.

Macau had a great quarter. We picked up some strong business and are off to a great start in the fourth quarter.

We’re right on schedule for MGM Cotai. We’ll be done with the pilings by the end of the year, and we’ll start working on the basement and the tower infrastructure.

The big news there is that we added (French architect) Jacques Garcia to the team. He’s done many beautiful European hotels.

What’s the resort's theme?

It’ll have a Portuguese flair to it, given the heritage of Macau.

How much will it cost?

With land costs, design and building, financing and other costs, it’s about a $3 billion project. It will have 1,600 guest rooms and be called MGM Cotai. We’ll open in early ’16. We can’t wait.

Las Vegas numbers also looked pretty good.

We’ve got 88 percent of the convention space booked for next year. Usually by the end of the year, you’re at about 80 percent, so we’re ahead of where we typically are. We’ll be sold out by early ’14. It’s great for us, and it’s great for Las Vegas.

The first quarter is going to be extremely strong because there are a number of citywide conventions coming back and there’s new business, both corporate and trade, coming into the market. That will bode well for all properties in Las Vegas, not just ours.

MGM also booked several special events, right?

The Pac-12 basketball tournament, which we did for the first time last year, was so successful that it's coming back. That also stimulated interest from other basketball and hockey events.

I think you’re going to see Las Vegas become a larger participant in college sports. It’s great for the fans, the alumni and the coaches, as well as MGM.

There also are a number of concert tours that are going to kick off here and some major acts that we haven’t announced yet. I think we get every rocker over 50, and several of them are going on tour next year.

There are going to be one or two major fights next year. Floyd Mayweather is on quite a roll, and if you want to see him fight, you have to see him at MGM because he hasn’t ever fought anywhere else, and I don’t think he ever will.

The I Heart Music Festival is getting bigger every year. Music festivals in general are going to be more frequent, and we opened that new festival lot across the street from Luxor. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of volume we saw.

What about construction on the site between Monte Carlo and New York-New York?

We’re developing a park between those two resorts that will be a host for outdoor events, concerts and festivals. It will lead into a plaza anchored by a gorgeous arena we’re developing with AEG. That opens in 2016.

What about your competition, the Linq?

(Caesars Entertainment’s) Linq project is terrific. I think it will be a big success for Caesars and Las Vegas. It all points to more visitors in ’14 than this year. I’m thinking more than 41 million people, which would be a record.

Where will all those tourists stay? Your occupancy rates already top 90 percent.

This is one of the reasons most people root for companies like MGM, Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands. If we’re able to raise room rates and improve room quality, there’s a drafting effect that everyone benefits from.

We have a proven ability to almost fully occupy these buildings. If we are able to increase our mix of convention and retail customers, that means we’ll have fewer rooms for the leisure customers. That’s still an important market for us and always will be, but it means those customers are going to be more likely to shop around and may find lower prices at other properties.

The average customer visits five or six properties on each trip, so it’s not as important to them where they stay. You could argue that mid-priced properties could benefit even more because of the convention spillover effect.

Should developers consider adding capacity?

I think we’re in a good place from the supply-and-demand perspective because we haven’t recovered to pre-recession levels of room rates. In fact, we’re only about halfway there. If we get higher visitation in ’14, that should result in higher margins and cash flow for all the existing properties. I expect that to be the trend over the next few years.

It won’t be until three or four years from now that we see a small increase in supply. As large as Resorts World Las Vegas will be, it’s a small number of rooms relative to the number of rooms we have in the market.

At MGM, we have no plans to add any rooms to the market. We already own 42,000. I don’t think Wynn, Sands or Caesars will be adding rooms, so there’s a fairly limited amount of supply that will come into this market in the next few years — SLS at the old Sahara site and Resorts World at Boyd’s Echelon site. That’s about it.

You’ve got new social media games rolling out next week. What’s planned?

(Former Wynn Resorts executive) Andrew Pascal is our partner, and he’s a tech
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Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was nearing the red on the year just a month or so ago, but thanks to a phenomenal October, the poker pro is back to huge profits on the year.

Over the past 30 days, the Swede won around $3.5 million, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB. Those are also his overall profits on 2013.

He had a handful of hiccups along the way in October, including losing more than $1 million between Oct. 26 and 27, but overall managed to crush his opponents.

Much of Blom’s most intense action comes at the nosebleed heads-up no-limit hold’em tables. Despite his winnings, he did manage to lose the largest pot of the month, a $490,000 cooler versus high-stakes regular Doug “WCGRider” Polk.

Polk was a big winner on the month thanks to crushing Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky in their heads-up challenge, but Blom took the Vegas pro for seven figures and put a huge damper on what had been a sweet year for Polk, who recently ascended to the nosebleeds.

Behind Blom, Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar had the second-best month, winning $1,011,027.

Dan “jungleman12” Cates and Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker both had solid months, winning six-figure sums. Heinecker is up $3.2 million online in 2013. He also won $4,456,885 in a live poker tournament in June. He might be the biggest winner in all of poker this year.

Earlier this week we reported that Gus Hansen reached $12 million in lifetime losses on Full Tilt. Over the past couple of days, the Dane has dropped another $700,000 or so.

He is approaching a $13 million deficit on the site, which is the deepest hole in the history of (tracked) online poker, according to HighstakesDB.

Rumors in the poker world say that Guy Laliberté dropped massive sums on the Internet when he was grinding there years ago. However, there’s no clear dollar amount on his losses.

Hansen is stubborn. On Friday morning, he was still going at it, playing a couple of tables of $2,000-$4,000 limit deuce-to-seven triple draw. Despite his performance online, he is a sponsored Full Tilt Poker player. He is still one of the most successful live players ever.

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene each lost around $500,000 in October.


Online Poker: Viktor Blom Has $3.5 Million October
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Manne wrote: Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was nearing the red on the year just a month or so ago, but thanks to a phenomenal October, the poker pro is back to huge profits on the year.

Over the past 30 days, the Swede won around $3.5 million, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB. Those are also his overall profits on 2013.

He had a handful of hiccups along the way in October, including losing more than $1 million between Oct. 26 and 27, but overall managed to crush his opponents.

Much of Blom’s most intense action comes at the nosebleed heads-up no-limit hold’em tables. Despite his winnings, he did manage to lose the largest pot of the month, a $490,000 cooler versus high-stakes regular Doug “WCGRider” Polk.

Polk was a big winner on the month thanks to crushing Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky in their heads-up challenge, but Blom took the Vegas pro for seven figures and put a huge damper on what had been a sweet year for Polk, who recently ascended to the nosebleeds.

Behind Blom, Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar had the second-best month, winning $1,011,027.

Dan “jungleman12” Cates and Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker both had solid months, winning six-figure sums. Heinecker is up $3.2 million online in 2013. He also won $4,456,885 in a live poker tournament in June. He might be the biggest winner in all of poker this year.

Earlier this week we reported that Gus Hansen reached $12 million in lifetime losses on Full Tilt. Over the past couple of days, the Dane has dropped another $700,000 or so.

He is approaching a $13 million deficit on the site, which is the deepest hole in the history of (tracked) online poker, according to HighstakesDB.

Rumors in the poker world say that Guy Laliberté dropped massive sums on the Internet when he was grinding there years ago. However, there’s no clear dollar amount on his losses.

Hansen is stubborn. On Friday morning, he was still going at it, playing a couple of tables of $2,000-$4,000 limit deuce-to-seven triple draw. Despite his performance online, he is a sponsored Full Tilt Poker player. He is still one of the most successful live players ever.

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene each lost around $500,000 in October.


Online Poker: Viktor Blom Has $3.5 Million October
That's a Lot of Money.
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kennex wrote: That's a Lot of Money.
I think its crazy. Do they really now its money the playing with?!
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Gus Hansen is drifting deeper and deeper into the Mariana Trench of the online poker world.

The past few days have seen Hansen drop around $600,000 on Full Tilt, which brings his losses on the week to around $1.9 million, his deficit for the past 30 days to around $2.8 million, and his lifetime hole on the software to an unbelievable $13.5 million.

Those figures are according to tracking from HighstakesDB.

To give you some context on just how bad the “Gus Hansen” account has fared on Full Tilt Poker over the years, consider that the second-worst account ever is unknown “noataima” — inactive since 2009 — which lost just $7 million.

Hansen has played around 1.35 million hands on Full Tilt since taking the screen name.

The Dane plays a lot of limit Omaha eight-or-better and limit deuce-to-seven triple draw these days. Despite the limits being fixed, the stakes are huge, and can easily result in massive swings. Hansen keeps getting crushed for six-figure sums in most of his sessions.

The negative $13.5 million mark comes after Card Player reported this past Wednesday that he had reached negative $12 million, which was then his lowest point ever.

It doesn’t appear that Hansen will take a break anytime soon. He is one of the most stubborn online poker players in history. He should be back soon, trying to claw back.


Online Poker: Gus Hansen In Free Fall, Now Down $13.5 Million
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Amid accustaions that PokerHost is banning winning players on orders from Merge, it has also brought its VIP program and P2P transfer policy into line with the network.

For the last week or so, players at PokerHost (PH), a poker room on the Merge Gaming Network, have been reporting that their accounts have been cancelled because they are winning too much.

From the player posts on several poker forums, it appears that PokerHost is not implementing a blanket ban on winning players, rather banning individuals on a case-by-case basis.

One player recounted a telephone conversation he had had directly with PokerHost: “PH told me Merge is determining who is a 'non’ [recreational] player and they tell PH which players to ban. asked how many have been banned and why. PH said about a [dozen] that Merge told them were not [recreational] players.”

PokerHost has also switched its VIP program to the same format announced by Carbon Poker last month.

The new scheme at Carbon and Aced Poker—now adopted by PokerHost—has three VIP levels, with the top level being invitation only. Players are grandfathered into the new scheme based on lifetime earnings of VIP points.

Some players were angered by the reduction in levels, which was accompanied by a drop in the average dollar to VIP point conversion rates. Because no advance notice was given players saving point to cash out at a higher exchange rate must now accept a lower rate.

In an additional move, the poker room has cancelled player to player transfers, “in order to comply with the new established network rules to create a recreational environment.” according to a PH representative. These have been unavailable on Carbon Poker and Aced for some time.




PokerHost Accused of Banning Winning Players | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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One of the most anticipated days on the poker calendar has arrived as the Final Table of the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event resumes tonight. After four months of promotion and preparation the final nine participants, along with the eyes of the poker industry, return to the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to finally crown a champion.

Of course, it is more than just the title of Main Event Champion at stake. Over 120 days ago, 6352 people ponied up their $10k to get their shot at a piece of what would become a nearly $60m prizepool. While each of the final nine are guaranteed to walk with a hefty payday, all of them already receiving $733,224, the action at the final table will award 7 of the final 9 over $1m with $8,361,570 going to the eventual winner.

Here’s a look at the 2013 November Nine, their position at the table, their chip stacks and the odds on them winning it all (from the Rio Sportsbook):
Seat 1 Sylvain Loosli 19.6m 11/2
Seat 2 Michiel Brummelhuis 11.275m 8/1
Seat 3 Mark Newhouse 7.35m 14/1
Seat 4 Ryan Riess 25.875m 7/2
Seat 5 Amir Lehavot 29.7m 3/1
Seat 6 Marc-Etienne McLaughlin 26.525m 4/1
Seat 7 J. C. Tran 38m 11/5
Seat 8 David Benefield 6.375m 12/1
Seat 9 Jay Farber 25.975m 5/1

*Wagers on the WSOP Main Event Champion close at 4:30pm PST.

The Big Stacks

JC Tran not only enters the Final Table with the most chips but also as one of the most accomplished November Niners ever. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner, WCOOP winner, World Poker Tour Champion and dedicated family man has a clear experience edge that should serve him well under the bright lights of poker’s biggest night. Tran is also headed in to the final table with an extra boost of confidence as he recently took 2nd in the WPT Alpha8 tournament in August for over $500k.

Amir Lehavot is right behind Tran, both in chips and experience on the felt. Lehavot is also a WSOP bracelet winner and multi-time 6-figure cash machine. While this will be his biggest score, Amir’s steady poker grind since 2007, massive Final Table stack and patience style of play could find this Bay 101 regular in the mix deep into the night.

Marc-Etienne McLaughlin is often paired with friend and WSOP Main Event Champ Jonathan Duhamel, but this Canadian is currently working on his 3rd top 100 finish in the WSOP Main Event since 2009 and now boasts nearly $1.5m in live tournament earnings headed into tonight. With his current guaranteed score here he jumps to #40 on the Canadian All-Time Money list, which is ahead of Doug Lee mind you, and should he go all the way–=he’ll become a Canadian poker legend, 3rd only to Daniel Negreanu and Duhamel on his country’s All-Time List.

Middle of the Pack

Jay Farber is a bit of an unknown commodity with his exposure on ESPN focusing on his hard-partying ways and tattooed “guns”. But with poker minds like Ben Lamb on his rail and over 60 big blinds, Farber could be 8 players away from throwing one of the largest parties the WSOP has ever seen.

Ryan Reiss knows what he’s doing. The 23 year-old WSOP circuit grinder burst on to the scene with a 2nd place finish in the 2012 WSOP Circuit Main Event for almost $240k and was a virtual “beast” at the 2013 LAPC. His Final Table appearance marks his 4th cash of the Series and with his guaranteed prize money for the Main Event, this one-time Michigan State business major, and poker dealer, is going to have over $1m in live tournament earnings to put to work.

Sylvain Loosli might be your pick if you were looking to put your money on an “online guy.” The 26-year old Frenchman may have virtually no previous live tournament resume, but the 25/50 NLHE online grinder is being compared to a host of previous Main Event Champs, like Peter Eastgate, Duhamel and Pius Heinz in both background and previous live tournament experience. With just about 50 big blinds behind once play starts, there’s plenty of time for Sylvain to make his move to try and bring the bracelet back to the EU.

Seats in the Back

Michiel Brummelhuis is finally making a name for himself outside of his home turf. The Dutch poker pro has taken down a 1k WCOOP and had 7 previous WSOP cashes on route to claiming the #9 spot on the Netherlands All-Time Money List, but prior to this he has been a pros pro. He has already surpassed Marcel Luske in being the only Dutchman to make the Final Table, but should he come back from being in the bottom 3rd in chips, he might just be able to go from feel good story to the most popular player in the Netherlands.

Mark Newhouse was perhaps previously best known for his 2006 World Poker Tour title and the $1.5m first place prize that came along with it. But that was a long time ago and since then Mark’s bankroll and reputation have taken a hit. Now, the Ivey Poker sponsored player is looking to get back in the spotlight by grinding his 8th place stack back into contention. For being only 28, the polarizing Newhouse has been to the top of the mountain and back down again and is hoping to turn this opportunity into a new life changing event.

David Benefield, the online beast known as “Raptor”, had once “quit” poker. Well, he’s back and while his live tournament resume may not have bracelets and WPT titles included, there’s no denying the experience of this one-time Poker After Dark player. Perhaps no one at the Final Table is coming in with as much momentum as Benefield. He has been on a tear since the WSOP hiatus began and has racked up nearly $600k in tournament earnings in 4 months. Benefield may be sitting on only 16 big blinds, but there are few that doubt that he will know exactly what to do with them.

Here’s the remaining tournament payout structure:

1st – $8,361,570
2nd – $5,174,357
3rd – $3,727,823
4th – $2,792,533
5th – $2,106,893
6th – $1,601,024
7th – $1,225,356
8th – $944,650
9th – $733,224 (all 9 participants have already collected this payday)

Play is
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After 171 hands of poker action last night at the Rio All Suite Hotel in Las Vegas, the $10,000 WSOP Main Event final table is now down to just two players battling it out for tournament poker’s most prestigious honour, as well as the $8,361,570 first-place prize. Here are some tweets from the poker pros as the November Nine was reduced to just Jay Farber and Ryan Riess:

Ryan Riess

“Everyone was playing really solid and the cards ran my way today. It worked exactly like I envisioned it. I was kind of thinking it would be me and Farber.”

JC Tran

“I’m not 100 percent happy with the way I played, but when you’re put on the tough side of hands, it’s tough to overcome it.”

Jean-Robert Bellande

“Mad propers out to @Jay_Farber_LV for making great decisions all night and making it to heads-up. Go go go! #breakingallpros”

Vanessa Selbst

“Confirmed most boring final table ever. Also, @Jay_Farber_LV is a boss and he is dominating! Seriously he is only one playing exciting poker.”

Eric Froehlich

“Was that an attempt at a scumbag angle shot by Loosli? I guess Loosli is a genius. And the biggest piece of shit on Earth and I hope he gets what he deserves. Or, maybe, he’s just a huge moron! I think that angle shots like Loosli is taking are just going to become a ‘thing’ at future FTs if they don’t put a stop to this shit soon..I love Loosli’s interview talking about how he played perfectly after the fact. “All my bullshit angles worked to perfection”…lol #french”

Jon Eaton

“somehow, i know if this tournament took place in france, that loosli would have won. i hear they run LEGIT tournaments there.”

Shaun Deeb

“What a f**king day two heros playing hu for bracelet tonight both decided to go clubbing 1st.”

Bernard Lee

“Day 1 @WSOP FT stats: 171 hands played; @RyanRiess1 won 32 of 41 hands he played (78%), 4 KO’s; @Jay_Farber_LV 31 of 40 (78%), 3 KO’s#fb”

Erick Lindgren

“I would have enjoyed some Mortensen vs Mclaughlin battles at this final table. #WSOP”

Jason Mercier

“20 questions #JasonMercier..Ok ready for more questions… Im watching this WSOP final table and it feels insanely slow. @DWBenefield already out in 8th :/ GG buddy..Signing off… Didnt realize how exhausted I am. Good night guys!”




Latest Tweets From WSOP 2013 Final Table
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Manne wrote: Top 10 Biggest Live Poker Winners

1. Antonio Esfandiari (USA) - $25,115,021
2. Sam Trickett (GBR) - $19,601,960
3. Erik Seidel (USA) - $18,522,942
4. Daniel Negreanu (CAN) - $18,335,975
5. Phil Hellmuth (USA) - $17,426,845
6. Phil Ivey (USA) - $17,286,409
7. John Juanda (USA) - $14,881,796
8. Michael Mizrachi (USA) - $14,328,185
9. Jamie Gold (USA) - $12,231,699
10. Jonathan Duhamel (CAN) - $11,858,220

Top 10 Biggest WSOP Poker Winners

1. Antonio Esfandiari (USA) - $21,102,878
2. Phil Hellmuth (USA) - $12,273,964
3. Jamie Gold (USA) - $12,073,694
4. Sam Trickett (GBR) - $11,201,382
5. Greg Merson (USA) - $9,828,344
6. Jonathan Duhamel (CAN) - $9,444,965
7. Peter Eastgate (DEN) - $9,430,506
8. Joe Cada (USA) - $9,277,026
9. Pius Heinz (GER) - $8,821,326
10. Jerry Yang (USA) – $8,268,066

Top 10 Biggest WPT Poker Winners

1. Carlos Mortensen (SPA) - $6,447,960
2. Daniel Negreanu (USA) - $5,711,615
3. Michael Mizarachi (USA) - $4,666,683
4. Tuan Le (USA) - $4,514,063
5. Gus Hansen (DEN) - $4,051,782
6. Alan Goehring (USA) - $3,968,724
7. Joseph Bartholdi (USA) - $3,760,165
8. David Chiu (CHI) - $3,655,866
9. Jonathan Little (USA) - $3,616,001
10. Nick Schulman (USA) – $3,523,856

Top 10 Biggest EPT Poker Winners

1. Glen Chorny (CAN) - $3,170,600
2. Pieter de Korver (NED) - $3,032,352
3. Poorya Nazari (CAN) - $3,000,000
4. Bertrand Grospellier (FRA) - $2,673,262
5. Steve O’Dwyer (IRE) - $2,625,606
6. Dimitar Danchev (BUL) - $2,603,436
7. Sebastian Ruthenberg (GER) - $2,454,846
8. Gavin Griffin (USA) - $2,429,103
9. Michael Martin (USA) - $2,397,730
10. Nicolas Chouity (LE😎 - $2,367,723
Biggest All-Time Online Poker Winners





Top 10 Biggest All Time Live Poker and Online Poker Winners - The Ultimate List | PokerUpdate
Thank you, those details are great and really helpful!
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I've never been a big fan of online betting. For sports, I'd rather bet with a bookie or, when in Nevada, wager at a sportsbook and watch the games on giant TV screens.

In California, sports betting isn't legal, so many people turn to online gambling sites. The legality of betting via offshore sportsbooks remains in question, but for now online wagering is popular and generally unobstructed by federal authorities.

I chose Bovada.lv because I'd long followed it to get odds on games and futures, and it has a good reputation for customer service. A reviewer of online gaming sites, MyTopSportsBooks-com, says Bovada - which used to be called Bodog - has the "best customer service in the industry" and the "best mobile betting."

Most enticing, Bovada offers a 50 percent signup bonus, up to $250. Here's how it works: Say you bet $200 on the 49ers at even money. If you win you get $500 ($200 in winnings, $100 in bonus plus your original wager).

So a few weeks ago I took the plunge and authorized a $250 deposit on my credit card. But I hit a snag: The charge was denied as "irregular." Visa sent a text alert warning me of possible fraud. I texted back to note the charge was legit, but I still had to call Visa to authorize the charge. (While this was a problem a couple of years ago, it's reportedly not as widespread an issue today.)

Then I started betting. The odds are standard: Typically you have to bet $110 to win $100, and the site is relatively easy to use. Bovada also offers proposition bets on everything from NBA scoring leaders to Academy Award winners, but the site keeps a larger proportion of money bet on props, typically 25 percent. (That's true in Nevada casinos as well - given the odds, props, including futures, should be small wagers made for fun.)

I put my entire $250 on Indianapolis, giving three points, to beat San Diego on Oct. 14, but the Colts lost, so I didn't get to see how quickly Bovada would pay. I've had problems in the past getting my cash out of another online betting site, but reports are that Bovada pays promptly. A reviewer on MyTopSportsBooks said, "When I've requested a payout ... they come quick."

Other leading online betting sites include BetOnline-com, TopBet-com and GTbets-com.

It can be easy to get carried away betting online because you're not handling money. But if you bet responsibly, it can add a thrill to watching games, wherever you are.




Online betting: Bovada's good reputation for service - SFGate
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Ryan Reiss, the 23-year old Las Vegas by way of Michigan poker pro, defeated Jay Farber, the Las Vegas VIP club promoter, last night to win the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event title and $8,361,570 in first place prize money.

It took roughly 3.5 hours and 91 hands of heads up action to determine a winner, and even though Farber started the evening with a 20 million chip advantage over Reiss, “The Beast” never truly found himself in any trouble throughout the evening.

Reiss, a former poker dealer himself, demonstrated both the luck and the skill that it takes to win a massive tournament like the WSOP Main Event. The broadcast demonstrated that not only did he take away orphaned pots when he knew his opponent was weak, he was also catching an amazing run of cards which helped propel him to victory.

The tournament looked to be coming to a conclusion even earlier on multiple occasions, but thanks to one well executed big time bluff and a timely double up before the first break, Farber was able to extend the match for as long as he did.

Tears swelled in the eyes of Reiss as he watched the board run out in what was to be the final hand of the match. As the final card hit the felt, securing him the win, Reiss emotionally embraced his family and enthusiastic rail in celebration.

“It feels amazing. First, I want to thank god, without god I wouldn’t be able to be here. I want to thank my family, my friends for the best rail in the entire world and everybody who’s been supporting me. A big hats off to Jay, he played good and he’s a tough competitor.” Reiss commented to ESPN’s Kara Scott after his victory.

When asked how he came by his confidence to overcome the odds of becoming champion Reiss replied, “I just think I’m the best player in the world.”

Farber, and his adopted stuffed panda icon, is still able to throw a massive Las Vegas party as he walks away with $5,174,357 for his runner-up finish.

Reiss, who guaranteed his victory to the ESPN cameras, called his shot and did what he said when he outlasted the rest of the November Nine and bested the field of 6352 runners to secure his place in poker history as the 2013 World Series of Poker Champion.



Ryan Reiss Victorious In WSOP Main Event | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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Richard Schuetz (pictured), head of the California Gambling Control Commission, believes it likely that the state may only be able to legalise online poker amid fears that i-gaming could “cannibalise” the tribal land-based casino market.

In an interview with onlinepokerreport-com, Schuetz also said that the population of California meant it would not need to rely on interstate compacts.

"We have 38 million people,” said Schuetz. “We’re the eighth largest economy in the world. We’re bigger than Canada, so it’s not a case like Nevada that has 2.7 million people.” He added: "We have more poker tables in the state of California than every other state in the nation.

"This is a game about numbers. If the numbers aren’t there, all the wishing and hoping is not going to make it work. In some regards, it’s like a state saying, ‘We want to be an oil producer.’ Well, you better have oil.

"For a small state to try and develop a game that involves big numbers is a problem. So California is in a unique situation with its 38 million-plus people.”

There was also caution from Schuetz, highlighting the fact that passing an online gambling bill in California in 2014 – an election year in the state – would be problematic. He also said that he could not rule out completely the possibility of interstate compacts.



Online poker only for California? | News | i-Gaming | InterGame
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