Poker forum archive

Buffalo, New York's Travell "T" Thomas won Event #6 at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Caesars Atlantic City. The 30-year old former college football player won $30,445 playing in the $750 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. This was Thomas’ third tournament victory and his biggest career win to date. He came out on top of a very tough field of 155 players on the Jersey Shore and won a well-deserved victory. This marked Thomas’ first time ever to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

The former wide receiver also got to claim his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring. The total prize pool at the event was $112,762 and the top 18 finishers collected prize money. Among the 17 others who cashed in was local poker pro Chris Reslock, a four-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner (and former WSOP gold bracelet winner).

The World Series of Poker Circuit at Caesars Atlantic City continues through March 13th, but you can play in online poker tournaments at Bodog Poker! We offer Sit and Gos, guaranteed events and more to our players every day.

A lot of people disregard Omaha High and, in fact, it is pretty much "dead," alongside Five-Card Stud and other old-style games that have been replaced by hold 'em and variants, but for some reason it keeps getting some play in Atlantic City and the most prestigious event in the game took place at Caesars as part of the World Series of Poker Circuit stop there. Event #7 was a $350 buy-in tournament in which only 90 players showed up, but while the field was composed mostly of the sort of people that remember when Omaha High was the business, it was Mun Nguyen, a 27-year-old part-time player who took the top spot and $8,380 for his efforts. He was also presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Nguyen was the runner-up in another tournament that was part of the circuit stop and his lightning-fast play was the talk of the tournament, even if most people have dropped Omaha High from their repertoire. He's also become the points leader in the Best-All-Around race. The player who accumulates the most overall points in the ten gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship, to be held in May at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Want to play online poker? Bodog Poker offers great games and tournaments with buy-ins and stakes for every player out there.

For those who thought the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) was just around the corner, sorry, but you’re going to have to wait a little longer. It should be worth the wait though, as the third annual SCOOP is bigger and better than ever, with $45 million in guaranteed prize money.

This year, the series is also moving to May, kicking off on May 8th with two tournaments boasting over $5 million in guarantees. As in past years, each of the SCOOP events will include Low, medium, and High buy-in versions of each tournament, so players of all bankrolls can participate. The action continues all the way thru the month, ending on May 22nd with a Main Event that features seven-figure prize pools for all three tiers of tournaments. The $109 buy-in Low Main Event will have at least $1 million in the prize pool, the $1,050 Medium buy-in Main Event will have at least a $3 million prize pool, and the prestigious High buy-in Main Event will have an impressive $5 million guarantee.

Last year, Ryan “toetagu” Fair won the High buy-in Main Event and earned over $1.1 million for his efforts. This year, there are plenty of opportunities for players to bank a massive score a la Fair, as there as 12 seven-figure guarantees and buy-ins ranging from $5.50 to $25,000.

Here is the complete schedule for the 2011 SCOOP. Events with an asterisk are two-day events, so be sure to plan accordingly:

Sunday, May 8 2011

1:00PM ET, Ev 01-L*: $22 NL Hold’em [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
1:00PM ET, Ev 01-M*: $215 NL Hold’em [6-Max], $750,000 Guaranteed
1:00PM ET, Ev 01-H*: $2,100 NL Hold’em [6-Max], $1,000,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 02-L*: $22 NL Hold’em, $300,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 02-M*: $215 NL Hold’em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 02-H*: $2,100 NL Hold’em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed

Monday, May 9 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 03-L*: $5.50+R NL Hold’em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 03-M*: $55+R NL Hold’em (6-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 03-H*: $530+R NL Hold’em (6-Max), $750,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 04-L: $16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 04-M: $162 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 04-H: $1,575 FL Badugi, $50,000 Guaranteed

8:00PM ET, Ev 05-L: $11 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $75,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 05-M: $109 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $200,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 05-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $350,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, May10 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 06-L: $11 PL 5-Card Draw, $25,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 06-M: $109 PL 5-Card Draw, $50,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 06-H: $1,050 PL 5-Card Draw, $75,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 07-L: $16.50 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 07-M: $162 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 07-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up Match Play), $400,000 Guaranteed

8:00PM ET, Ev 08-L*: $11 NL Hold’em, $100,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 08-M*: $109 NL Hold’em, $300,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 08-H*: $1,050 NL Hold’em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, May 11 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 09-L: $22 Mixed Hold’em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 09-M: $215 Mixed Hold’em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 09-H: $2,100 Mixed Hold’em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 10-L: $33 7-Card Stud High, $25,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 10-M: $320 7-Card Stud High, $50,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 10-H: $3,150 7-Card Stud High, $100,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, May 12 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 11-L: $22 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $50,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 11-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 11-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 12-L*: $27 NL Hold’em (Knockout), $200,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 12-M*: $265 NL Hold’em (Knockout), $400,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 12-H*: $2,600 NL Hold’em (Knockout), $600,000 Guaranteed

Friday, May 13 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 13-L*: $16.50 NL Hold’em (Ante Up), $100,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 13-M*: $162 NL Hold’em (Ante Up), $200,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 13-H*: $1,575 NL Hold’em (Ante Up), $300,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 14-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 14-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 14-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $225,000 Guaranteed

8:00PM ET, Ev 15-L: $16.50 NL Hold’em (2X Chance, Turbo), $150,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 15-M: $162 NL Hold’em (2X Chance, Turbo), $400,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 15-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em (2X Chance, Turbo), $750,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, May 14 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 16-L: $22 NL Hold’em - Quadruple Shootout (10-Max), $125,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 16-M: $215 NL Hold’em - Triple Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 16-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em - Double Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 17-L: $16.50+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 17-M: $162+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 17-H: $1,575+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $400,000 Guaranteed

8:00PM ET, Ev 18-L: $22 Triple Stud (Turbo), $25,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 18-M: $215 Triple Stud (Turbo), $50,000 Guaranteed
8:00PM ET, Ev 18-H: $2,100 Triple Stud (Turbo), $75,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, May 15 2011

1:00PM ET, Ev 19-L*: $22 NL Hold’em, $300,000 Guaranteed
1:00PM ET, Ev 19-M*: $215 NL Hold’em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
1:00PM ET, Ev 19-H*: $2,100 NL Hold’em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 20-L*: $22 NL Hold’em, $350,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 20-M*: $215 NL Hold’em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed
5:00PM ET, Ev 20-H*: $2,100 NL Hold’em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed

Monday, May 16 2011

2:00PM ET, Ev 21-L: $16.50 NL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $75,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 21-M: $162 NL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $150,000 Guaranteed
2:00PM ET, Ev 21-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $300,000 Guaranteed

5:00PM ET, Ev 22-L: $33 NL Hold’em (4-

The World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Caesars Atlantic City wound down this weekend with the final three events playing out. Greg "Fish" Fishberg took the top spot in event #8, a $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em Tournament. The 35 year-old professional card player received $46,657 for his first-place finish. He was soon joined by Vincent Basilicata, who defeated 288 other players in Event #9, the $350 Turbo No-Limit Event and got $20,113 for his efforts.

The big winner, though was Brian Ali, a retired 51-year-old former telecom woker who's making his way in the world of poker, even if he doesn't consider himself a pro yet. He netted $139,284 for beating a pack of 442 players in the Event #10 aka The Main Event aka the $1,500 buy-in no limit tournament. If that sounds like a lot of people competing in a game in Atlantic City, it was – the market there is a bit woozy – but it's way, way up from last year's 174 players.

The winner of Event #7, Mun Nguyen, from Pittsburgh, PA won the race for the Best All-Around Player at the Caesars Atlantic City series. With his first and second-place finishes in two gold ring tournaments, he received a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship.

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Accused game plagiarists (Farmville and Café World) and kings of Facebook poker Zynga are hosting their first-ever Zynga Poker fan event in Los Vegas this week and while many online poker fans sneer at the company's take on the game, it boosts 38 million players every month with an average of 7,000,000 logging in on any given day, which means that surely a few thousand are going to make their way to the showcase.

Zynga PokerCon will take place at the Palms Casino Resort over two days: March 18 and 19 and a veritable host of poker legends will be attending, including Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Gavin Smith, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso and Mike Sexton. Fans of Zynga are also going to get a chance to attend a special event: Zynga Poker University, led by Annie Duke, where she'll discuss her strategies for the game.

The organizers for the event promise that Zynga PokerCon will give players more than just a gathering: they'll be hosting panels, meet-and-greets and a live freeroll tournament with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. There will also be exclusive parties just for players with names form the world of pop and rock performing.

For the second year running, the Louisville Palace is going to be hosting a charity poker tournament and celebrity meet-and-greet during the weekend of that most cherished event in the world of horse racing, The Kentucky Derby. Curious poker players will get face time with Phil Hellmuth and Robert Williamson III and get to rub elbows with BasketballHall of Fame coach Denny Crum. The event takes place on May 5 and money raised at the event directly benefits Louisville-based Blessings In A Backpack and the Health and Climate Foundation.

Blessings in a Backpack is an organization designed to feed elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal program, and have little to no food on the weekends. According to the organization's web site, better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program.

The Health and Climate Foundation was established to help increase the well-being of people by supporting better understanding of the connections between health, climate and other environmental factors, and by supporting the use of this knowledge at national and local levels to combat disease and poverty.

Hellmuth will serve as Master of Ceremonies and the event is expected to attract an array of other poker pros and celebrities that happen to be in town to watch the horses run. In addition to the tournament, the event will also feature themed food and drink stations, music, live performance artists showcasing their skills and other Derby-esque entertainment.

The 2010 event drew 110 players in the tournament and approximately 200 spectators and raised almost $50,000 for the charities.

He's only 18 years old, but he's managed to turn $30 into $2,000,000 after his initial deposit on an online poker site. José Macedo came out to the users of the Two Plus Two poker forum, giving up his origin story to an audience that was understandably very curious about the young poker phenom. Raised by his widowed mother, Macedo didn't know his father very well, but his poker philosophy came from the old man: "My Mum would always tell me that my father admired brave men, that he admired men who took risks and took life by the horns."

At age 16, Macedo started playing the game after seeing Tom "Durr" Dwan and the young math whiz discovered his calling. He sat down to learn all the he could about playing poker, reading up on the game and playing hand after hand in free games online and against his computer using software. When he turned 18, one of the presents he gave himself was a $30 deposit. He started to grind at 1¢/2¢ cash tables at one site and reached the $2,500 mark within a month an a half.

He began working his way up in the stakes until he reached $5/$10 no limit hold 'em games where his system began to falter, but he sat down and talked to some pros and coaches and soon found himself profitable again. In addition to talking about himself, Macedo went into unprecedented detail about hands played and how he maximized his profits.

It's a fascinating story that, if it proves to be true (it is the internet, so, you know,) can shed light on how to maximize your poker profits while mitigating risk.

Some details are finally starting to leak about that professional poker league that Annie Duke, Jeffrey Pollack and Federated Sports and Gaming are working on. The league's schedule will kick off with four prelimatry tournaments and a $20,000 buy in Main Event, all running in the last four months of this year with the championship event taking place in early 2012. As far as who's going to be invited into it, Duke says they're working on an “objective based criteria” in order to avoid any second-guessing, cronyism, and opinion-based arguments. Players will be measured using three different metrics outlined by Duke and her associates and while there's no official statement that tells players who's who and what's what, they are promising a mathematically-sound process.

The Palms in Las Vegas will serve as the host for the Federated Sports and Gaming festivities. Each tournament series is going to span about a week, with Pro-Am, Charity, and Main Events taking place. The inaugural event kicks off on August 12th and runs through the 19th. The Pro-Am tournament runs from August 12th to 15th, with a charity event occurring on August 14th. The very first Federated Sports and Gaming League Main Event will take place between August 16th and 19th.

September, December and January of 2012 will also see events being held with a $1,000,000 freeroll taking place January 29-30 with the top 27 players on the league's leaderboard participating.

You don't have to be one of the top 200 players in the game to play online poker at Bodog! We've got free games and cash tables with tournaments of all sizes, perfect for every player out there!

Every Sunday, Bodog Poker hosts a weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournament and you can get on the action for as little as $1 thanks to our aggressive satellite schedule. These massive all-hands-on-deck events take place at 4pm EST on Sundays and feature some of the best online poker action going.

Who won during came out on top in the most recent tourney? Farsan took first place this week, earning $25,000. They were followed by stoyamajelly ($15,000) and Vida_1973 , who rounded out the top three spots while taking away $9,500. Here's the rest of the final table results: milkdudjud55 ($7,000); jarlop ($5,500); Solkanar ($4,500); rplsjl ($3,500); RAMFA ($2,200); PYCB ($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!

* March 7 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: johall111 ($3,191.37)
* March 8 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: 011jp ($3,000)
* March 9 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: relyks ($2,750.00)
* March 10 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Poooch ($3,000)
* March 13 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: thecure19 ($3,000)
* March 13 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack Moneystop ($3,000)

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

This is obnoxious and awesome at the same time, sort of like Charlie Sheen's meltdown and the hilarious aftermath: Geoffrey Parker, a bespoke game and gift maker in the UK has created a poker chip set that sells for $7.5 million dollars The set includes 384 poker chips made with 18 karat white gold and inlaid on both sides with shagreen stingray skin. Of course, each chip is embossed with its value according to the currency and denomination of the client’s choice at no additional charge.

Because you wouldn't want a seven and a half million dollar poker chip set to have an additional charge.

Anyway, each chip's edge features a precious stone that's chosen specifically: white diamonds for the white chips, sapphires for the blue, rubies for the red, emeralds for the green and black diamonds for the black while the dealer button is an 18k white gold chip. All told, the set has about 22,360 stones in it with a total value of over 1,013 carats.

Just to make things, you know, a bit classy, there are four platinum-plated decks of poker cards.

The luxurious creation comes packed in a genuine alligator skin case that’s finished in a client-specified color. In addition, the case features an 18 karat white gold combination locks and hardware and the suede lining of it flaunts an 18 karat gold and diamond frame.

You don't need a $7.5m chip set to enjoy playing online poker at Bodog!

I've considered playing here, but have had nothing but bad beats and the software is borderline annoying to me. Any one have thoughts on this, or is it just me, and perhaps not the right poker room for me?

I feel that it's a good site and the software is fine but I never seem to do well there so I hardly ever play. They still have $500 freerolls every day and you can't say that about other sites these days. I've only cashed in them two or three times but they are there so give them a try and then decide if you want to deposit. :thumbsup

Since the new upgrades the site has improved.i play the freerolls but you just have to be patient and weed your way through the allin donkfest in the beginning.bad beats are gonna come at any site.have to remember bad beats are alot of the time just bad calls plays etc.i will say that you will get better play in the cash buyins etc.gd luck.

His name and mysterious persona galvanized a lot of the online poker world, but now that he's out in the open, Viktor "Isildur1″ Blom has had difficult getting traction at the very site that hired him as a pro after he became known as the king of their nosebleed tournaments. One site that tracks big-money games shows that Blom is currently down by over $433,000 since he signed on as a pro.

Blom won around $325,000 on his debut day before losing $652,000 on January 29th and since then his wins and losses have looked like a cardiogram. He was $537,000 in the black by the end of February but since then as plummeted downward to his current balance of -$433,314. It's important to note, however, than Blom's play in 2009 saw him making profits of over $6,000,000, largely at the expense of two pros that are normally close to unbeatable: Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius.

Even with his obvious skills, Blom's proven to have a tendency to override common sense when it comes to bankroll management and in a single week, he went head-to-head with Phil Ivey three times at $500/$1000 no-limit tables and dropped $3.2 million into Ivey's lap.

Is Blom just in a downward cycle or will he get back on the horse again soon?

While it's no replacement for real online poker action, Microsoft's Full House Poker has managed to fill the hole in our hearts that was left by the dearly departed 1 vs 100 with some pretty innovative tricks. Instead of allowing players to bet with real money or Microsoft Points, the game gives players experience points to use at the tables instead. Here's what's interesting: you get experience for pretty much everything you do, including taking down other players and even folding when the time is right.

What do you get for your efforts? Little in-game rewards. The thing is, it works – your interest stays in the game even if you're losing pretty often and while there's a few jerks, the $10 asking price and skillet needed seems to be keeping out a lot of the griefers that appear in many online poker games.

One aspect of the game needs improvement, however: the live events. While it's a great idea to offer events where there's bonuses and incentives, they only last a half-hour and there's nothing at stake. Anyone who's played any poker knows that you can easily go a half-hour without seeing a playable hand so these events feel truncated and weird. The regular tournaments are definitely better for the experienced poker player looking to just goof around.

This is going to make those of you who play the game to make ends meet very, very happy: poker pros can now deduct their business expensive when filing tax returns. In the past, players were stuck with travel and expenses being in a gray area when it came to their taxes but a decade-long California court case involving a horse bettor has established that you can, indeed write off your expenses.

Previously, professional poker players were only allowed to deduct expenses up to the amount they won but now following the landmark ruling will be permitted to adjust their past three years’ of returns, accordingly.

However, a key caveat to the law is that a player must be considered a "professional gambler." In other words, most of their income should be derived from gaming in some form or another and online poker is not currently included in the legislation.

Poker tax expert Ann-Margaret Johnston had this to say:
"The recent ruling is a victory for poker players for a change. This makes it where we can finally treat the expenses by pros as actual write-offs even though they may not have income…All we need now is a ruling that losses can be taken when they exceed income and we will have it made!"

It’s only day one of the NCAA tournament and the Madness is already on full display with upsets like No. 11 Gonzaga over No. 6 St. John’s, No. 13 Morehead State over No. 4 Louisville and No. 12 Richmond over No. 5 Vanderbilt.

But March Madness isn’t just about upsets, it’s about cool contests involving your favorite NCAA schools, and the Bodog Casino is joining the madness by giving away tons of cash prizes!

The Bodog Casino March Madness contest is simple:

1. Pick your favorite “top seed” college team — you know like Duke, Pittsburgh or Ohio State.

2. Play and earn points in the casino throughout the tournament: You get 2.5 points for every $100 in handle you gain on slots and 1 point for every $100 handle you earn on all other games.

3. Then depending on how many points you’ve generated and how well your chosen team does you win free cash.

Let’s say you chose Ohio State and earn 500 points. If the Buckeyes win it all you’ll win $750! If they reach the Final Four you win $500! All you gotta do is choose a solid pony in this race and free cash can be yours.

You have until March 19 to pick your team, after that you’ll have to rely on your broken bracket like everyone else.

March Madness is only here for so long and madness would be missing out on a great contest like this!

Newlywed Shania Twain just may be sharing the spotlight with songstress Celine Dion at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas after news of a possible deal being in the works for her to headline while Celine is away or on break. Celine, who has just kicked off a three-year residency at Caesars and recently gave birth to twins, may just need a little down time every now and again and that’s exactly where Shania will fit into the big picture.

Can Shania draw in the crowds that Celine does? Well, if Caesars is even considering her for short stint then odds are that she probably can. Her first album to truly establish her as a country/pop goddess was Come On Over in 1997, which produced 11 hits on the Billboard charts including “From This Moment On” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”

She has truly established herself as a star but we haven’t heard much from her lately because she just got married to Swiss businessman Frederic Thiebaud in January of this year and surely she’s enjoying time with her hubby.

For now, Shania has her own television show on the Oprah Network, OWN, called Why Not?, claims Gather. The show deals with some of her life’s toughest moments including her failed marriage as well as dealing with her new one. It’s all about all of the tough times she’s been through and how she’s making her way back to the top.

Headlining at Caesars Palace isn’t such a bad place to start over so let’s hope the deal comes through.

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Talk about a final table I cannot wait to see on television. The Bay 101 Shooting Star not only will feature Vivek Rajkumar making his second consecutive World Poker Tour final table, but also Mike Matusow, making his fifth WPT final table (with no previous wins) and the voice of the WPT and poker ambassador, Mike Sexton. With $1 million up for grabs for first place, the dynamic trio will all be chasing chipleader Steven Kelly who is making his first WPT final table, and first cash, after five previous early exits on the WPT. Kelly owns a WSOP bracelet from the $1,500 no-limit hold 'em shootout event as well as one other final table at the Festa al Lago series last October. This is his first televised final table and with the top stack, he's in great position to earn his first WPT title.

Sexton's stack is 11 times smaller than that of Kelly's and he'll enter play as the short stack with only 18 big blinds. As he is well aware, crazier things have happened on the WPT than to figure he's out of the running.

"Anything might happen," said Sexton to the World Poker tour. "Who knows what might happen. I'm happy to be there."

The critical hand that put Sexton on the short stack came against Matusow. Sexton picked up pocket kings and raised preflop. Matusow, who Sexton said was "playing like a rock", called. The flop came J-6-5 rainbow and Sexton bet, Matusow raised, Sexton reraised and Matusow moved all-in. Sexton believed that Matusow could never be bluffing in that spot and let go of his kings, putting Matusow on a set or aces. Matusow, whether being truthful or not, told Sexton he had aces and that hand was enough to bring him into the top three in chips heading into Friday's final table.

Alan Sternberg is in second-place behind Kelly and is also making his first WPT cash in four events. The New York native has five previous live cashes including a 621st-place finish in the 2010 WSOP main event, but this is his first score of 2011. Sternberg may be at a slight disadvantage with the lack of the final table experience, but his chips should make up for that factor.

As the next edition of ESPN's The Nuts comes out next week, it might be time to consider Vivek Rajkumar for the rankings. Rajkumar, in fourth heading into the final table, is on fire in 2011 and could overtake Andy Frankenberger for the Player of the Year lead with a first or second-place finish in the event. He is the sixth player in WPT history to make back-to-back final tables and with $908,730 already in his pocket in 2011, Rajkumar is set to have his biggest career year ever on the live tournament circuit. He already owns a WPT title and is the only player at that final table who can say that.

In fifth with a stack just slightly larger than Sexton's is Casey McCarrel who is playing in his seventh WPT event. He has one previous cash during the Season 5 stop at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, but the majority of his success has been found outside the WPT and at the WSOP. McCarrel has eight WSOP cashes which includes a 442nd-place finish in the 2005 WSOP main event. That $16,055 payday was the largest live score of his career and with being from the area, he'll be in front of a home crowd.

Payouts on Friday will range from $148,000 for sixth to $1,039,000 for first. Matusow and Sexton, as Shooting Stars, are also bounties in the event with $5,000 going to any player that knocks each one out. Obviousy at this point, that money is negligable as there is a lot more on the line.

With Sexton making the final table, the question I posed yesterday will be answered. During a typical World Poker Tour broadcast, Sexton and Vince Van Patten call the action, but clearly, things will be different on Friday.

During his interview, Matt Savage asked Sexton about what may happen with the broadcast.

"You know, what? I don't know," said Sexton. "Vince might be by himself. They may find somebody. I'm, there playing for a million, let the WPT worry about it. I'm off tomorrow!"

Sexton also joked that the pay at the table is much better. On Friday, one of the other hosts of the WPT, Kimberly Lansing tweeted, "I'll be anchor! Maybe [Tony] Dunst?". It only makes sense that the entire WPT team would fill in for Sexton who has led the ship for all these years.

It could be a historic day on the World Poker Tour and will definitely be an experience to watch Sexton playing for his first WPT title. Here's a look the final table chip counts with the blinds starting at 10,000/20,000 and a 3,000 ante:

1. Steven Kelly (4.1 million in chips)
2. Alan Sternberg (3.7 million)
3. Mike Matusow (2.1 million)
4. Vivek Rajkumar (1.6 million)
5. Casey McCarrel (430,000)
6. Mike Sexton (363,000)

The world’s largest online poker site, facing big obstacles in winning congressional approval of Internet poker, has set its sights on a smaller target: getting Nevada lawmakers to approve online poker for state residents.

And the groundwork has been laid in the Legislature allowing such a decision.

But the effort may be doomed because casino giants MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment — and presumably many other casinos — oppose the proposal.

“Has there ever been any bill passed directly affecting gaming over the opposition of the leading casinos in the state? I would bet no,” said I. Nelson Rose, a gaming attorney and industry consultant based in California.

Most in the casino industry think regulated Internet gambling in this country is inevitable, but many don’t want to share the business with a juggernaut like PokerStars.

Among the people in its corner: Randall Sayre, a former Nevada gaming regulator.

Sayre, a PokerStars consultant, says it is shortsighted for Nevada to sacrifice, in the name of protectionism, a golden opportunity to become corporate headquarters for Internet gambling operations in the United States.

“If we don’t approach this in a rational fashion this legislative session, by the time we meet again in two years ... we will be left on the sidelines, which is not a good thing for the traditional gaming industry in Nevada,” Sayre said.

By adopting regulations in Nevada, every casino in the state could get a head start should the federal government allow Internet gambling nationally, he said.

Alongside federal lobbying efforts, which include the revival last week of last year’s defeated bill to legalize Internet gambling, PokerStars has been pressing state lawmakers to legalize Internet poker for residents of certain states.

Although small Nevada casinos don’t necessarily want more competition, giant resorts want federal regulation. They argue it doesn’t make financial sense to limit poker to Nevada residents because the state’s population is too small, and other gambling options too plentiful, to support a major Internet gambling enterprise. Absent a federal framework, it would be difficult for both regulators and operators to police a patchwork-quilt system of state rules for an Internet activity that’s interstate by nature, they add.

For now, the Nevada Gaming Control Board is sitting out this debate.

Partly, though, board members are waiting for direction. The 2001 Legislature passed a bill authorizing regulators to craft Internet gambling regulations — authority that has so far gone unused while companies debate financial and regulatory uncertainties. Before the American Gaming Association came out in favor of Internet gambling a year ago, some casino companies weren’t sure they could control Internet wagering to regulators’ satisfaction, such as preventing minors from gambling — or that profits would be forthcoming.

After years of indecision, no gambling enterprise has presented Nevada regulators with a comprehensive business plan for operating a Nevada-only online gambling system, Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said. Because Nevada’s law doesn’t compel state officials to adopt Internet gambling regulations, the Control Board has held off, preferring not to begin the arduous process of determining security controls and other rules without knowing whether it’s a real prospect that makes financial sense, Lipparelli said.

PokerStars expects to answer that as soon as this week when it presents tax and job estimates to Nevada officials.

Although PokerStars’ earnings aren’t public, the decade-old company controls about half of the global online poker market, with at least 36 million player accounts worldwide. Licensed in the Isle of Man and a growing number of European countries that have developed regulations, PokerStars does business in places that haven’t taken a position on Internet gambling. Some growth has come because competitors dropped out of the U.S. market after Congress in 2006 outlawed processing online wagers. By flouting the federal ban, calling it legally flawed, PokerStars grew its U.S. business into a brand advertised on television and endorsed by celebrities.

Sidelined casinos call that unfair, although some have discussed with PokerStars and other Internet gambling companies how to profit from the company’s technology, said Richard Perkins, a former Nevada Assembly speaker lobbying for the bill.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s short-lived bill in Congress last year to legalize Internet poker reflected something of a compromise. Reid’s bill would have subjected companies already accepting U.S. wagers to a waiting period on licenses to give American casino companies time to catch up to their Web-based counterparts in technology, infrastructure and customers.

If passed, the Nevada bill could roll out the welcome mat for PokerStars.

It would require regulators to establish Internet poker regulations and would also prevent regulators from shooting down PokerStars and other Internet gambling companies for a license simply because they take bets from Americans.

PokerStars would pay a 6.75 percent tax on the so-called rake that poker rooms collect from the pot for hosting the games. That’s the same percentage Nevada casinos pay on gross gambling revenue, before expenses, and could yield a “significant amount of money” for a state in financial straits, Perkins said.

Poker makes little money for casinos, although it attracts gamblers who often wager on more profitable casino games such as blackjack. Thus, a bigger carrot for lawmakers: For the privilege of hosting online poker games for Nevadans, PokerStars is offering to pay a 4 percent tax in Nevada on the rake collected from the rest of its customers around the world.

Lipparelli wouldn’t take a position on the bill. The Control Board, though, would probably fight any provision that restricts regulatory discretion on a subject a