Poker forum archive

In Miami, everybody's just a little bit hotter, and that includes the poker players as evidenced by the Miami Herald's profile of Ebony Kenney, a local single mother and poker pro that happens to also be a stunningly beautiful model and actress with appearances in music videos like "Rap Song" by Grammy winner T-Pain. The thing is, even with a look that has photographers and directors demanding her time, she makes more money playing poker as a full-time career, as her recent wins at the Palm Beach Poker Classic and the Isle Casino attest.

Kenney had been playing poker for almost a decade but always had a more stable job but debt caught up with her last year and she sent her kids to live with their father in New Jersey while she regrouped. She told the Miami Herald that "Financially, I just wasn't being smart." North Miami Beach pro Steven Karp was a friend and he offered to give her a free place to stay while she got herself stabilized and another supporter gave her funds to let her into a tournament, where she won $9,000 and got back on track fairly quickly.

The secret to Kenney's success now? Bankroll management. She carefully balances her budget and makes sure that winnings are kept separate from money to be used for more poker games. Scott Lang, publisher of Ante Up pointed said "She’s been in our magazine quite a lot lately. She’s been winning everything, everywhere."

Want to play online poker and have fun? Bodog's got free games along with cash games and tournament stakes for every player out there.

In an effort to appeal to the more casual online poker player, Bodog announced on Wednesday that they would be making an effort to block data mining software and sites that scrape information from their online poker room. The site is hoping that by restricting player tools, they’ll be able to somewhat level the playing field.

“These poker operator information portals are another example of how online poker is assisting in its own demise,” said Bodog representative Patrik Selin. “I have commented previously on how the operators are doing this to themselves with hand histories, HUDs, and rakeback, all of which we will be cutting out. The next tier in the process is the operator information sites.”

Some sites, such as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, have made distinctions between what is allowed and what isn’t and have listed the banned software in their Terms of Service. Bodog will be taking it upon themselves to make sure online professionals or tech-savvy users don’t get the upper hand.

“Nobody who is playing poker for fun visits these sites or probably even knows they exist,” Selin said. “They primarily exist to serve the needs of the professional players and therefore we will be implementing online protection against these sites to further aid the crucial leisure poker player.”

Though the site failed to mention how they would go about blocking the software, sites such as PokerTableRatings, PokerDB and SharkScope will most likely be their primary targets.

Bodog recently underwent a software upgrade, providing a more streamlined experience for its players. The changes included an improved log-in system, easier access to the games and lobby sorting shortcuts to speed up the playing experience.

This one made our jaws drop around the Bodog Poker offices this morning when we saw it on the newswire: a group of poker pros in Australia have been jailed after being accused of smuggling 21 kilos of high-grade cocaine into Australia on January 17th, The cocaine, worth about $4.2 million was smuggled inside of machine parts from Vancouver and followed to its source in Melbourne, poker pros David "zanderfish" Saab and Robert Reemeus, two of the highest-profile players in "the SAAB Squad."

Saab's biggest winnings were getting $280,000 in the 2008 Asian Poker Tour's $2,500 buy-in event and placing 46th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $135,100. Records show that he's earned just over a half-million on tournaments. Reemeus is mostly an online poker pro, earning around $45,000 for his play.

The SAAB Squad's Facebook pages reads as follows: "The SAAB Squad is a team of exceptional poker players from Australia that will be traveling the globe in search of success on the felt. The Squad focuses on learning the game, living the dream, and loving every minute… Well except for those times when we can all hate the game!"

Note that there's nothing about buying over $4,000,000 in cocaine or being jailed up to 25 years for it, but maybe that'll be updated soon!

The 10th annual European Poker Awards took place on Sunday night at the Queenie Club in Paris, a stone’s throw away from its previous home of the Aviation Club. The awards have got bigger every year; hence the need for a new venue, but no expense was spared at the plush VIP awards ceremony that featured some of the cream of European poker.
Rookie of the Year – Jake Cody

The UK’s Jake Cody was the stand out winner in this category, a complete unknown 12 months ago he captured EPT Deauville and WPT London in the space of 7 months. If winning over $1.6 million in those two tournaments alone wasn’t enough, he is one of the few players to take down two separate majors in one year. Rather fittingly, he wasn’t in attendance because he was winning the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour High Rollers Event in Nottingham at the time, winning himself three titles in a 24 hour period to add to his already heaving trophy cabinet.

The story began in 2006, where legislators in Washington state fast-tracked a law banning online poker and gambling within the state. Breaking the new law would turn online poker players into Class C felons, a legal standing equivalent to possessing child pornography or torturing an animal, with a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Since then, little has changed in terms of progress towards legalization of online poker in Washington. One form of online gambling, horse race wagering, has been legalized through approved companies. A lawsuit was filed, stating that the ban on online poker violated the U.S. Constitution, but the Washington Supreme Court upheld the original law. There has been some spotlight over professional poker players forced to relocate because of the law. I knew a few people who paid for their college tuition through online poker, a dream gone for future skilled students. While Washington is still in the dark ages, hope for legal online poker blooms across the country. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pushed to legalize and regulate online poker and gambling at a federal level. Representative Barney Frank has sponsored a measure in the House for a rollback of a law blocking transactions between U.S. financial institutions and online gambling companies. New Jersey, California, and Washington D.C. are pushing through legislature at the state level.

It is frustrating to think that the lawmakers in Washington equate online poker players to felons. Perhaps they have not figured out how to make money from the situation yet; after all, the state is in a budget crisis and spending money on mass media campaigns aimed at reminding adults to wash their hands. Some opponents suggest that online poker makes it too easy for people to gamble or play into their addiction, yet the state runs a lottery program and liquor stores. Casinos are also prevalent across the state, where money can equally be lost or made.

Luckily, the fight for legal online poker continues through organizations such as the Poker Players Alliance. I hope that in the near future, poker players in Washington can freely play online without fear of harsh penalty. Restricting all in the hopes of protecting a small few is a failed practice in which Washington legislators should come to realize with the outcry of the people. When the difference in legality is between playing in-person or online, you know something is wrong.

Every Sunday, Bodog Poker hosts its weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournaments and so far, 2011 has offered up some fantastic action for players interested in big-money games where you can get in on the action for as little as $1 thanks to our satellites. These massive all-hands-on-deck events take place at 4pm EST on Sundays and feature some of the best online poker action going. Gotchyabluff took first place this week, earning $23,600. They were followed by jin4207 ($13,600) and bell13 , who rounded out the top three spots and pocketed $9,100. Here's the rest of the final table results: lion132 ($7,000); carburetor ($5,700); MrYellowBoy ($4,500); GarrisonThick ($3,300); WillyNilly ($2,200); wannaseemynyuts ($1,300);

In addition to our show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts its regular weekly tournaments to players, and here's the winners of last week's events!

* February 7 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Fast 25 ($2,888.87)
* February 8 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Panicked ($3,025)
* February 9 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Troy111 ($2,904.00)
* February 10 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Livet ($2,949.37)
* February 13 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: sri111 ($2,798.12)
* February 13 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack m2y ($3,180.00)

Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool. Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!

Phil Hellmuth, Jr is doing something besides making sure we all know who he is this week — he's put together a fantastic poker tournaments designed to raise funds for the Starkey Hearing Foundation and Pros for Africa, a non-profit relief organization providing basic needs to the children of Africa. It all goes down this weekend: February 18th and 19th at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and Phil's sharing the spotlight with NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald Jr. (Arizona Cardinals) and Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings).

Film and television stars like Steve Martin, Don Cheadle, and Lou Ferrigno will be in attendance, along with poker pros Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, and Joe Reitman. There will also be an appearance by Starkey Hearing FOundation Ambassador Jordin Sparks and over 25 NFL players.

The $2,000 poker tournament will take place Saturday at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. Celebrities will begin arriving on the red carpet at 11:30 a.m. and play will begin at 1 p.m., with a winner announcement and after-party following the conclusion of the competition. Funds raised will assist in backing missions to Africa to provide hearing devices and basic needs to children.

The Starkey Hearing Foundation, founded in 1984, strives to change the social consciousness of hearing and hearing loss prevention. Through hearing missions, the Foundation delivers more than 100,000 hearing aids throughout the world.

Can't make it to Vegas but want to play poker online? Bodog Poker can take care of you with our great poker bonuses, terrific customer service and a selection of stakes and buy-ins that make it possible for every player to enjoy the game.

Bodog is giving its players a chance at a free $100 bonus in its Another Day, Another Dollar promotion.

Between Feb. 14 and Mar. 15 players need to earn 10 Bodog poker points on at least 10 days in order to earn a minimum bonus of $10. If a player earns 10 points on 30 days during the promotion, he or she will be awarded with a $100 bonus.

:thumbsup

Just because the hype for this movie wasn't making us want a time machine so we can hurtle to the future and see the damned thing already, Cogan's Trade has added Ray Liotta to the cast. He's joining Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Javier Bardem, Sam Rockwell, Casey Affleck, Mark Ruffalo, and others in the crime comedy about the title character's investigation of a robbery during a high-stakes poker game.

According to the press releases, Liotta will play Mark ‘Markie’ Trattman, the unfortunate hustler who runs the game in a motel room and finds things only going downhill from there. Cogan's Trade is an adaptation of a George V. Higgins novel written in 1974. Andrew Dominik, who wrote and will helm the movie, previously worked with Pitt and Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in 2007, which he also wrote and directed. The movie was a bit like a Coen brothers film in that it deliberately built and it will be interesting to see if Cogan's Trade goes that route or for a faster-paced, "hip" feel.

Either way, after Liotta's stunning turn in Observe and Report, we're even more excited about Cogan's Trade.

The 10th Annual European Poker Awards were handed out on Sunday night at the Queenie Club in Paris. After a decade at the Aviation Club, the event finally got too large for its old surroundings and it moved down the road a piece. In typical European style, however, the awards were glitzy as ever and it was obvious that they put their money where they mouth is.

Who won? Let's do a quick rundown. Rookie of the Year went to Jake Cody, who went from being an unknown in 2009 to capturing EPT Deauville and WPT London in a seven-month span and earning $1,600,000 from those two events alone along with a string of other successes. Andreas Torbergsen took Online Poker Player of the year after winning nearly $4,000,000 in 2010. Outstanding Tournament Performance went to James Bord who beat out Jake Cody, Liv Boeree and November Niner Fillipo Candio to claim the prize.

Liv didn't need to feel too bad, though – she took home a statue for being Europe's Leading Lady thanks to an EPT San Remo win. Player of the year also went to the Rookie of the Year – Jake Cody! It was a rare double-win but nobody could really argue.

Gus Hansen's remarkable form on the virtual felt shows no signs of ending after he booked another substantial profit on Monday.

The 2010 World Series of Poker Europe bracelet winner has been on a tear during the first six weeks of the calendar year and is on an upswing of over $2.5 million.

He continued that rich vein of form against Rui Cao at the $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha tables.

Gus Hansen ended the 113 hand session in the black by a huge $424,000. The 34 year-old has put a difficult 2010 behind him in style, leading the online money charts by some margin.

Team PokerStars sponsored pro Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom also excelled at high stakes cash games on the world's biggest online poker site.

Buoyed by his PokerStars SuperStars Showdown triumph over Eugene Katchalov on Sunday, the 20 year-old Swede booked a $103,000 profit.

Blom's trademark huge swings were present as he played out over 6,000 hands to record those figures.

The London based poker pro is now around even for the calendar year after finding himself in a $400,000 hole last month.

'Zypherin' (+$50,000), Scott 'URnotINdanger2' Palmer (+$29,000) and 'NoPasaran' (+$49,000) were the other big winners.

Shawn Buchanan (-$50,000), Josh Arieh (-$27,000) and 'wobbly_au' joined Cai (-$348,000) as the biggest losers.

Have never deposited at bodog but have been thinking about it after recieving this promo.

A heretofore unknown 23-year-old Russian woman named Natalia Nikitina took the World Poker Tour National Series stop in Paris, beating a field of 188 players and taking home a €243,830 ($330,500) first place prize. Nikitina's win makes this the first time that a woman has won a WPT National Series event. The WPT National Series tournaments are akin to the World Series of Poker Circuit games — they don't act as official World Poker Tour events and generally feature lower buy-ins, but they're still very much respected by players and frequently give players entry into the bigger events as an award.

As the €5,000 main event at the tour stop played down to its final table of eight, Natalia Nikitina had a respectable chip stack but was nowhere near the top of the heap. Four and a half hours of play went by before the first player at the final table was kicked to the curb and then the floodgates, for lack of a better expression opened up and players began dropping left and right. Nikinita managed to double up in one all-in showdown and faced down Alexandre Brivot for the top spot.

Even getting knocked down to about a third of Brivot's stack didn't keep Nikitina down – her big break occurred when she used A-10 against pocket fives after going all-in and then she managed to take the rest of his chips in just a few short hands.

"That was a long and hard contest. Three hours before the end I was actually finding it hard to stay awake and keep concentrating on my game but I am delighted to win. I am going to celebrate by buying a BMW 6 Series," Nikinita said after being crowned the WPT National Series Paris Euro Finals Of Poker Diamond Championship winner.

Considering what a hub for the game that Florida has become in recent years, it seems odd that the World Series of Poker is just now coming to the land of sunshine and retirees, but here we are. The WSOP Circuit's latest stop is at the Palm beach Kennel Cub and they'll be there for two weeks. Why did it take so long to get the WSOP down there? Until very recently, Florida had a $100 cap on buy-ins for poker tournaments, making it impossible for a big money tour like the WSOP to operate in the state.

"We are very excited to have the Rolls Royce of poker tours coming to Florida and partnering up with us," Joseph Conti, tournament director for the kennel club told the Palm Beach Post.

The action kicks off today at 11AM and registration opened at 9AM. Play will take place in the recently-expanded poker room where 64 tables have been installed. The WSOP offers an immediate economic benefit to the county as well as the Palm Beach Kennel Club. They're looking at around 800 room nights for Palm Beach County, helping provide a nice boost during a natural lull in the tourist season.

Can't make it to Florida? Check out the online poker tournaments at Bodog Poker!

Since its introduction in January, poker players from all around the world have been trying out Home Games on PokerStars. More than 250,000 online poker clubs are already up and running, and even pros like Daniel Negreanu are joining in. This latest form of online poker from PokerStars gives you the chance to start a poker club online, invite friends to join your club, and play poker together on the virtual felt. The games and tournament structures are customizable, so you can play the way you want.

When you consider the concept it’s not hard to see why Home Games has the potential to be huge.

We all love a home game with friends and family. Everybody has a good time, the action moves at a relaxed pace, and the social aspect makes it even more fun. But sometimes it’s hard to get everyone together in the same place at the same time. Switch your game online and things start to become a lot easier.

Now everyone you invite gets sent all they need to know about when your games are happening and the various details. All they need is their invitation to become a free member of your club, and then they can register for any game or tournament you run. That means you can keep track of who will actually be playing, with no wasted refreshments for your friend across town who always says he’s coming to the weekly game but never shows up.

There are additional benefits to playing your home game online. No more last-minute panic when you realize you forgot to get cards and chips, no more amateur dealer mistakes, and no more excuses for your buddies not turning up. Everything can be played in front of the computer, so if your cousin is out of town but still wants to play, all he has to do is log-in, no matter where in the world he might be.

Bringing the social aspect to online poker is an innovative move, and Home Games is poised to change the virtual poker landscape.

The new professional poker league being organized by Annie Duke has announced a tentative schedule for their first season, shedding light on the format and structure of the league. The league – at least for the time being – appears to be using the name Federated Sports and Gaming.

As was already announced, the first season for the league features four events, along with a season-ending championship tournament. The first event of the year will take place from August 12-19.

At each of the four tournament stops, there will be three distinct events. Each event will have a single-day charity tournament. There will also be a $1,500 buy-in “Pro-Am” tournament that will allow players the chance to win a seat into the Main Event – essentially giving them a one-event tour card for that week. Each player who makes it to the final table at the Pro-Am will earn a seat in the Main Event, which has a buy-in of $20,000.

Finally, each event will end with the aforementioned $20,000 Main Event, which will be rake-free and open to all players with tour cards (along with those who won their seats in the Pro-Am).

The other events for the first season are scheduled for early October, early December and late January. The year-end championship – a $1 million freeroll that will feature the top 27 players in the league standings, based on their performance in tour events.

It was also revealed that each event will feature a different format, including a multi-format tournament, heads-up play, and a six-handed event.

"We decided to vary the format of our events to showcase and challenge the skill of the best live tournament players in the world," said Annie Duke, the new league’s commissioner. "Our Pro-Am events will create opportunities for break-out stars to shine."

Several details about the league have yet to be released, including the criteria that will be used to determine how players will initially be granted tour cards and which (if any) players have committed to participating in the league. It is also unknown if or when the league would have their events televised.

I like this promo and seams as though it should be fairly easy to at least get 10 bucks. I'm hoping the time played points will be included it this which will make it even easier.

A Deadwood gambling spot is sponsoring what it calls the state poker championship that could pay up to $100,000 to the winner.

The Silverado-Franklin Historic Hotel & Gaming Complex will host the Texas Hold 'em event May 13-15.

Managing partner Tom Rensch said it will be limited to 320 players with a buy-in price of $1,100 each. He said if all seats are filled, the total payout for the championship will be $320,000, with $100,000 to the overall winner.

Player liquidity and consolidation have been two key words in the online poker industry for a number of years now. Player liquidity has been the ultimate goal and driving force for many companies, and it has been repeated so many times that is has become a "truth" nobody challenges. Another similar buzz word is consolidation. For how many years have we heard that consolidation of the online gaming industry is around the corner? In a way, the two are related - consolidation is a very effective way to create big player liquidity quickly.

However, Bodog Poker Network believes the industry is now heading in the opposite direction; balkanization instead of consolidation, with player liquidity will no longer being viewed as the key to success.

The PWin merger is, ineivtably, big news in the industry but may not, as many think signal a consolidation phase. As Steven Stradbrooke pointed out in his analysis of the merger (Inconvenient truths about the Pwin merger), there are a number of question marks around how successful this merger will be and the driving forces behind it. More recently, the stock market has given its verdict.

Striving for player liquidity has been a way of catering for the winning players. Remember, that before Bodog Poker Network opened up the debate about depositing players versus winning ones (Solution to rakeback issue in online poker is available, says Bodog Network | eGaming Review), these winning players were considered "high rakers" and everyone was competing for them. Having a large pool of net depositing players was a way of competing for these winning players, but the user experience of the net depositing players was not seen as important.

As a natural consequence of focusing on player liquidity, everyone has expected the online poker industry to enter a consolidation phase. However, Patrik Selin challenged the consolidation issue more than a year ago (Why poker consolidation is a bluff | eGaming Review) as did Kim Lund, an e-gaming analyst, in a series of articles on liquidity in October 2010 (Liquidity is overrated part one : Infinite Edge Gaming).

Of course, to run a successful poker room you need a critical mass to keep the games going, but after you have achieved that level of players, liquidity is not key anymore. The battlefield of the future is in entertainment and since different players have different ideas of what entertainment is, we will, for the first time in the short history of online poker, start to see differentiation in poker rooms.

Some players may find it important to be able to chat in their own language, others may want a user experience close to what you can get playing a video game. Some players may find tournaments with huge fields more entertaining than small fields. For those players, player liquidity will continue to be an important entertainment factor, but for the majority of players, liquidity has only a small part to play of the total entertainment package.

Bodog Poker

Just in case you thought that it wasn't hard enough playing against today's online poker generation, it may be time to worry about a new threat: cute European women who play chess. Almira Skripchenko and Dinara Khaziyev competed in the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational this past weekend and each of them is now lined up to play in the final table on March 2, alongside Minnesota lawyer and model Damon Schramm, Davidi Kitai, Dan Heimiller and George Rechnitzer.

Skripchenko, who hails from France, is the daughter of a Russian father and Armenian mother, both of whom were chess coaches, meaning she began playing when she was six years old and has accrued quite a reputation in the chess world as a fierce player and ambassador of the game. In 2009, she finished seventh in a World Series of Poker No Limit Hold'em tournament, winning $78,664.

25-year-old Dinara Khaziyev may not have quite as storied a career yet, but the Russian-born Canadian citizen represented her adopted country in multiple Chess Olympiads as well as the the World Girls Junior Championship in 2000 & Under-12 Championships in 1998.

The glitzy freeroll event drew 482 players to the Commerce Casino in the suburbs of Los Angeles this weekend. Poker pros like Scotty Nguyen, Liv Boeree, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, and Phil Laak were joined by stars that included Bound stars Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon alongside Lou Diamond Phillips, Don Cheadle (who adds class to every event) and Shannon Elizabeth to walk the red carpet and play a little cards in the name of charity.

For the second year running, Chrysalis, an organization that helps the poor and homeless find jobs with education, training and career counseling, received the proceeds from the event.