Casino

£90,000 jackpot for online bingo player

2010-02-03T08:18:00.000Z

One lucky British online bingo player is celebrating this week after winning over £90,000 off of a five pence stake courtesy of leading site GalaBingo.com and its Cash Climber jackpot.

The 50-year-old single mother uses the pseudonym ‘theberry’ on the site and has received £90,595 from GalaBingo.com after only winning the odd £50 prize in the past.

The Dartford resident stated that she had not been aware that she had hit the Cash Climber jackpot while playing in the Sharon Club room because she had been in her kitchen making a coffee. She only realised that she was the winner of a life-changing amount of money after seeing congratulatory messages in the site’s online chat room.

“I was shocked,” said ‘theberry’.

“At first I thought it might be a practical joke from a friend who had somehow managed to set it up. So, I called GalaBingo.com and they confirmed it was true.”

The winner had some unfortunate experiences in 2009 and stated that the prize money would certainly come in handy.

“I’ve had some bad luck last year, damaging my back, having my handbag stolen and crashing my car so this is just amazing,” said ‘theberry’.

“I think it has just about sunk in. We’ve had years of being careful so I’ve just got the children a few treats but I still haven’t spent much so far as we’re still working out what we want to do with our win. I have lots of things I want done in the house and am looking forward to a nice holiday as well.”

GalaBingo.com revealed that it pays out more than £65 million per month in prizes and is currently offering new players a voucher worth £20 to test out its services.

“We’re absolutely delighted for ‘theberry’ and her family, especially as she had such a bad run of luck in 2009,” said Lesley Hall, Online Public Relations Manager for GalaBingo.com.

“Hopefully, becoming one of our 500,000 monthly winners has helped 2010 get off to a really positive start.”

All-in-One Sportsbook, Casino & Poker Site for France & UK

2009-12-29T16:03:00.000Z

ChanceRoom.com, a new G2-powered gambling site with sports betting, poker and casino games, has launched in French and English. The site features a complete range of entertainment, all with the convenience of one account and one wallet, as well as some unique and generous VIP rewards.

ChanceRoom.com players can play poker in the poker room that’s part of the largest independent European poker network, enjoy state-of-the-art casino games, and even place a bet on the ponies or footies without having to logon to separate accounts.

“We’ve come up with some great ways to reward our best players,” said John Benjamin of ChanceRoom.com. “Players are automatically enrolled in our VIP Club which gives cash bonuses based on reward points earned by wagering and depositing. And, every month, we‘ll award bonus cash to the winners of our Points Race – the top point-scorers in each casino game that month.

ChanceRoom.com is launching in both French and English. Customer Support staff fluent in both French and English will make sure that players are well taken care of.

“Both sites will offer the same wide selection of games and betting options,” said Benjamin. “But the French site will likely focus more on French horse racing while the British site will emphasize football wagers more.”

“We’ve assembled a management team with many years experience in igaming,” said Louis Harang, Director of LGH Ltd. which owns and operates ChanceRoom.com. “We’ve designed unique incentives for regular players, and we’ve chosen one of the most innovative and reputable software providers to make sure our players enjoy the best experience possible.”

“We congratulate our newest licensee on the launch of their site. They’ve got a very good selection from our games portfolio, including our most popular big progressive jackpot games like Aladdin’s Lamp and Fortunes of Egypt, and we’ll have lots of new games for them in coming months,” said Mery Blomqvist at GTECH G2. “I’m sure ChanceRoom players will appreciate the convenience of having one wallet for the sportsbook, casino and poker room.”

ChanceRoom.com is encouraging players to try their new site by offering some of the most generous deposit bonuses available anywhere. Casino players can receive up to 1200€ and poker players get a 200% bonus (up to 1000€). The sportsbook offers a 25€ First Bet Refund.

Kevin O'Leary Wins Venetian Player of the Series for the Second Time

2009-11-30T13:51:00.000Z

Kevin O'Leary Wins Second Venetian Player of the Series Title
For the second time this year, Londoner Kevin 'Lovejoy' O'Leary has been crowned the player of the series at the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza. He pulled off this unique feat first in February after winning two events plus finalling the main event and this time round he won another event (His 5th deepstack win) and cashed a further 6 times. He is both the first player to win the player of the series award twice and also holds the record for the most wins in this festival with 5.

Missing Poker Player Found Dead
Earlier this week we brought you news of the appeal to find missing London based poker player John Regan. Sadly we have to report that his body was found by the Police in a canal in north London. A post mortem examination is set to take place but the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Our deepest condolences to John's friends and family from everyone at Pokernews.

GUKPT Grand Final End of Day One
A much smaller field than perhaps expected for day 1a of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Grand Final at the Vic in London. 57 of the best players in the UK sat down for the first day, with 22 remaining for day 2. Day 1b is guaranteed to be much bigger, with 70 players already preregistered and no doubt a swarm of them will turn up at the last minute like poker players always do, making this still one of the biggest events of the year in the UK.

End of Day 1a Chip Counts courtesy of Blue Square
Richard Grace - 102,800
Andrew Teng - 101,500
Jeff Duvall - 92,400
Talal Shakerchi - 83,800
Sida Yuen - 67,700
Ian Fraser - 67,000
Simon Randall - 66,600
Peter Garrett - 66,400
Cheung Tai Law - 65,700
Anthony Thorpe - 50,400
Edward Roger - 46,800
Arshad Hussain - 41,300
Martin Davis - 39,900
Charles Mason - 38,500
Richard Fohrenbach Jr - 37,400
Jeff Kimber - 31,800
Guy Steel - 31,000
John Eames - 26,000
John Rigolli - 25,900
Robert Topp - 23,800
Moy Hoque - 20,400
Karl Limbert - 15,000

WRAPUP 2-Casino profits disappoint and outlook stirs fears

2009-10-28T11:18:00.000Z

LOS ANGELES, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Weakness in two of the world's largest gambling destinations -- Macau and Las Vegas -- and fears that casino visitors' spending will not bounce back for the rest of this year left shares across the entire sector broadly lower on Tuesday.

Yahoo! BuzzQuarterly results and outlooks at Las Vegas-based casino operators Wynn Resorts Ltd ( WYNN - news - people ) and Boyd Gaming Corp ( BYD - news - people ) disappointed investors, battering shares at both companies and sending tremors throughout the sector.

In addition, privately held Harrah's Entertainment ( HET - news - people ), the world's largest casino operator and owner of Las Vegas resorts such as Caesars Palace, said its third-quarter revenue fell 13.7 percent and property earnings dropped 12.2 percent.

Wynn posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, but the results still disappointed some investors and a downbeat outlook distressed others.

Rise Of The Poker Bots

2009-09-22T21:59:00.000+01:00

Using a computer to beat chess masters is so 1997. Today, programmers are gunning for the world's best Texas Hold 'em players. Forget Deep Blue's mastery of bishops, queens and knights. Think pocket aces, open-ended straight draws, the flop – all calculated by increasingly popular poker bots. Last month, for the first time, a computer program beat top online poker players in a contest called “Man vs. Machine.”

Slotland Jackpot Loosens Up, Produces Second Winner in a Month

2009-08-28T20:22:00.000+01:00

Less than a month after their last big progressive jackpot winner, the Slotland.com jackpot has already been hit again. A player known as MARMOTLUV won $80,369 playing one of Slotland’s newer online slot machines, the Slotris.

MGM Mirage,

2009-08-02T20:08:00.000+01:00

with the smallest casino market share in Macau, said it’s overhauling operations and marketing at its venture in the city to boost revenue after an “underwhelming” start.
“Our Macau market share is half what it should be,” Jim Murren, chairman and chief executive officer, said yesterday in an interview in Las Vegas, where the company is based. “The other U.S.-based and other newer casinos have been more aggressive in marketing, more aggressive” in recruiting and junket relationships, he said.
MGM Mirage may consider an initial public offering for the Macau business when earnings improve, Murren said. Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. are both exploring IPOs for their businesses in the Chinese city.
Murren is refocusing on Macau, the world’s biggest gambling center, after MGM Mirage refinanced its debt in May and removed the risk of bankruptcy. MGM Grand Macau produced 5 percent of the company’s 2008 revenue, compared with more than 60 percent for Wynn and Las Vegas Sands, according to Bloomberg data.
MGM Mirage fell 17 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $7.23 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 47 percent this year.
Gross Revenue
MGM Mirage’s venture with Pansy Ho, daughter of gambling magnate Stanley Ho, generated $17 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first quarter. The company’s total property Ebitda was $371.9 million in the three months ended March 31.
“It has been very underwhelming operationally,” Murren said of the Macau business. “It hasn’t been marketed effectively, it hasn’t been operated as well as we would like, and we have, with our partner, been making a lot of changes.”
MGM Grand had less than 9 percent of Macau casinos’ gross revenue in June, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported this month, citing data from the operators. That trailed the five other companies, SJM Holdings Ltd., Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., according to Lusa.
MGM Mirage, which co-owns the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with Boyd Gaming Corp., faces some resistance to its Macau partnership from U.S. gaming regulators. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement deemed Pansy Ho to be an unsuitable partner in the Macau property, the company disclosed in May.
After a request by Gaming Enforcement staff, the New Jersey Casino Commission has reopened the 2005 casino-license renewal for the Borgata will hold a hearing on allegations contained in the report, MGM Mirage said today in a regulatory filing. No date was set.
‘Good Month’
MGM Mirage expects the proceeding to show that the company continues to meet New Jersey’s test for suitability and anticipates the process will take a year or more, spokesman Alan Feldman said in a statement. In the meantime, the company expects to operate in New Jersey and elsewhere “without disturbance,” he said.
Rising stock prices have revived interest in share sales after IPO fund raisings in Hong Kong had the slowest first half since 2003, according to Bloomberg data.
“July has been a pretty good month for us” in Macau, said Murren, who will visit next month as part of the overhaul. MGM Mirage, the biggest casino owner on the Las Vegas Strip, sent a “major contingent” of its “best operators and marketers” to assess Macau this month, he said.
The 35-story MGM Grand Macau suffered setbacks with the delayed opening of One Central, a neighboring residential development by Shun Tak Holdings Ltd. and Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd., which was planned to open in conjunction with the casino resort, Murren said. MGM’s business is located on the Macau Peninsula near Wynn Macau and many of Stanley Ho’s casinos.
Minority Stake
Las Vegas Sands said yesterday it may sell a minority stake in its Macau operations. Sands plans to apply to Hong Kong regulators for an initial public offering of shares in its Macau casinos as soon as August, a person with knowledge of the matter said July 17.
Wynn Resorts, which is opening its second Macau casino next year, said earlier this month a Macau subsidiary filed an application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to sell shares.
A Macau IPO “logically would be something that we would look at over time,” Murren said. “It’s certainly something that we’ve thought about many times in the past.
“We need to build up our market share, more importantly build up our cash flows, and we need to assert ourselves as a stronger player there before we would ever consider a capital markets transaction like that, but it’s not like that’s a unique idea to the other guys,” Murren said. “It’s something that certainly we could pursue too.”

CryptoLogic Signs Games Deal With UK’s Victor Chandler Group

2009-07-01T10:26:00.000+01:00

June 29, 2009 (Dublin, IRELAND) – CryptoLogic Limited, a world leader in Internet casino and branded gaming software, has signed a multi-year deal to provide at least 10 of its most popular online slot games to Victor Chandler Group, one of the world’s leading independent bookmaking and gaming companies. Victor Chandler is the grandson of Victor Chandler senior, who founded the original company in 1946, and is the driving force behind Britain's leading independent bookmaker.The first set of games, both branded and non-branded, are scheduled to go live in the third quarter of 2009, with a complete rollout over the remainder of the year. The games will be made available through Gaming Technology Solutions plc (GTS), the CryptoLogic partner that provides a platform for many of the world’s largest Internet gaming sites.“Today, CryptoLogic adds yet another blue-chip European gaming brand to the growing list of customers offering players an extraordinary e-gaming experience,” said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO. “This is an excellent example of CryptoLogic’s “build-once-license-often” business strategy in action – and a sign of the continued demand for our games among the world’s top operators.”From its Headquarters in Gibraltar, Victor Chandler offers a wide range of gaming products tailored to each market. Victor Chandler is supported by some of the industry’s most experienced managers and works with governments, sporting groups and local officials to reshape the international bookmaking and gaming industry. The company has customers in more than 160 countries, employs over 350 people.“CryptoLogic is one of the best in the business, so partnering with them makes perfect sense,” said Michael Carlton, CEO of Victor Chandler International. “We are committed to providing our customers with a sophisticated, multi-layered operation with easy-to-use betting platforms that will keep them coming back for more – and CryptoLogic games deliver just that blend of simplicity and sophistication.”Boasting more than 280 games, CryptoLogic has one of the most comprehensive casino suites on the Internet today, with games featuring some of the world’s most famous action and entertainment characters. CryptoLogic has earned rave reviews from industry peers and players alike, and in 2009 earned Gambling Online Magazine’s Top Casino Software award for the fourth consecutive year. Based on the votes of players around the world, it is widely considered the industry’s top honour.“Victor Chandler fits our customer profile perfectly: a respected entertainment brand, an attractive player base, and a reputation for innovation,” added Justin Thouin, CryptoLogic’s Vice President. “It’s a win-win deal for our companies – and for the players who enjoy our games.”About CryptoLogic (www.cryptologic.com)Focused on integrity and innovation, CryptoLogic Limited is a leading public developer and supplier of Internet gaming software. Its leadership in regulatory compliance makes it one of the very few companies with gaming software that is certified to strict standards similar to land-based gaming. WagerLogic Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CryptoLogic, is responsible for the licensing of its gaming software and services to blue-chip customers that offer their games to non-U.S. based players around the world. For information on WagerLogic, please visit www.wagerlogic.com.CryptoLogic’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CRY, CXY), the NASDAQ Global Select Market (CRYP) and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (CRP).About Victor Chandler (www.victorchandler.com)The Victor Chandler brand has become synonymous with the values of honesty, integrity and a pioneering spirit. These values have been built up over seven decades from a small family business to one of the most successful independent sports betting and gaming groups in the world.The Victor Chandler Group has customers in over 164 countries across the world making it a truly global operation. Since its formation in 1946, the Victor Chandler Group steady growth has been underpinned by two values that set it apart from anyone else: a pioneering spirit and a passion for sport.

Palacios Wins Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed

2009-05-30T21:40:00.000+01:00

Online poker player Bolivar ‘Ramux’ Palacios is especially happy this week after winning the $23,500 top prize courtesy of the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed tournament held by leading site BodogLife.com.The weekly online tournament has a buy-in of $109 and saw 558 players get almost double their money this week thanks to BodogLife.com's generous overlay.With this triumph, Palacios has now racked up more than $250,000 in career tournament winnings on BodogLife.com and the experienced player has also had success in live tournaments such as the Latin America Poker Tour Mexico.The online poker room awards more than five million dollars every month in cash prizes and stated that player 'ionlyplayAA’ finished as Sunday’s runner-up to take home $13,600. Online competitor ‘illcallyou’ crashed out in third spot to take home $9,100 followed by ‘soul ripper’ in fourth for $7,000 and ‘hotmax9’ in fifth for $5,700. Rounding out the final table, 'amaru34’ held down sixth for $4,500 followed by ‘chinaman9’ in seventh for $3,300, ‘bigbman29’ in eighth for $2,200 and 'jasdell' in ninth for $1,300.Qualifiers for the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed tournament start from as little as one dollar and BodogLife.com also offers a wide selection of other competitions alongside many different promotions.

Father and Son Win Same Jackpot for Combined Total of $2,122,213

2009-04-29T09:31:00.000+01:00

They say lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice – but apparently online casino progressive jackpots do! A British father and son have won two massive jackpots almost exactly nine months apart. Their combined winnings are $2,122,213.A player known as 'ScottishAOD' won the $1,358,857.49 Gold Mega Jackpot on the Mega Fortune Wheel. In an amazing coincidence, his father, 'Takemystack7', had also won a Gold Mega Jackpot but for $763,356.33 a year earlier on -- almost nine months to the day before his son's windfall! 'It was great telling my Dad about my jackpot win,' said ScottishAOD. 'I loved it -- he reacted with jealousy and disbelief that I had won more than he did! There is a bit of karma involved in this since my old man rubbed his win in so much -- it was simply great to win and even better to win more than him!'Asked if he was planning on buying his father a present he said with a grin: 'I'm sure I can slip him a few quid to tide him over for the next few days. I've got plenty of plans for the money. Mainly, however, I intend to invest the monies to further retirement funds. Some would say this has been the luckiest nine months of my life, however, that honour still goes to the first nine months I met my wife.'

Bodog’s Poker Game Pays Out $127,000

2009-04-01T21:28:00.000+01:00

Bodog are renowned for their casino, sportsbetting and online poker. It was the former that netted one lucky player $127,000 at the Let ‘em Ride poker game.Drew C from Texas scored the big win at the game last week. Let ‘em Ride is dealt from a standard 52-card deck but unlike regular poker, the player is competing against the house. The flop, turn and river are the same as Hold ‘em but each player has three cards.As well as this huge win, several other players at Bodog had good weekends. Leroy B. was the weekend’s top blackjack player with $12k profit and David G scored highly on the slots games, winding up $14,000 in the red.

Harrah's Announces Sixth Annual Bayou Poker Classic Schedule

2009-03-02T14:20:00.000Z

Harrah's New Orleans has announced the schedule for the sixth annual Bayou Poker Classic, one of the perennial stops on the World Series of Poker Circuit tour. The New Orleans stop runs from May 8-20, 2009, and includes 20 different numbered events, plus an additional ten "second chance" tourneys during the evenings for players knocked out from other events or unable to make the midday starts. Among the features of the 2009 Bayou Poker Classic – among the oldest recurring WSOP Circuit stops – is the inclusion of five different pot-limit Omaha events. A sixth Omaha event, Limit Omaha 8-or-Better, starts on the series' first day. Other distinctive offerings include a $1,070 no-limit hold'em
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prelim on May 14th, the $340 ladies buy-in event on May 17th, and, of course, the $5,150 Circuit Main Event itself, a three-day tourney which begins on May 18th. Harrah's New Orleans will also run satellites and super-satellites into the Circuit main event, with entries as low as $225. More information on the Bayou Poker Classic is available at www.harrahsneworleans.com, and detailed information on all WSOP Circuit offerings can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com. The Bayou Poker Classic schedule of events: 5-8 12:00 PM Event #1 - No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-8 5:00 PM Event #2 - Limit Omaha Hi-Low (8/B) (2-Day Event ) $340 5-9 12:00 PM Event #3 - No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550 5-9 5:00 PM Event #4 - Pot Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-10 12:00 PM Event #5 - No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550 5-10 5:00 PM Event #6 - Pot Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-11 12:00 PM Event #7 - No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550 5-11 5:00 PM Event #8 - Pot-Limit Omaha (2-Day Event) $550 5-12 12:00 PM Event #9 - No-Limit Hold'em (6 Handed) (2-Day Event) $550 5-12 5:00 PM Event #10 -No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-13 12:00 PM Event #11- No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-13 5:00 PM Event #12-Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha (2-Day Event) $550 5-14 12:00 PM Event #13- No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $1,070 5-14 5:00 PM Event #14- Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low (8/B) (2-Day Event) $340 5-15 12:00 PM Event #15-No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340 5-15 5:00 PM Event #16 -Pot-Limit Omaha/Rebuys (2-Day Event) $235 5-16 12:00 PM Event #17- No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550 5-16 5:00 PM Event #18 - Pot Limit Omaha (2-Day Event) $1,070 5-17 11:00 AM Event #19 - Ladies Championship No Limit (1-Day Event) $340 5-18 12:00 PM Event #20 - Circuit Championship Event (3-Day Event) $5,150

January 26, 2009 (Stockholm, Sweden)

2009-01-30T12:12:00.000Z

Jadestone Networks, the Nordic based owner and operator of multiplayer gaming networks GamArena and DiceArena, announced today that the Nordic Gaming Group owned site www.nordicbet.com has joined the growing DiceArena Network and that it’s now live and accessible.DiceArena is positioned as both a new challenger and as a more accessible complement to online poker. With a suite of multiplayer dice games, the new games network aims to attract players from a broad audience of online gamblers. DiceArena is built on a next generation technical platform, offering direct in-browser play on most popular operating systems supporting Adobe Flash.“We are very excited to be early to market with what we consider to be innovative and fresh online gaming content,” said Lars Söderlund, Business Development Director at NordicBet. “These inviting dice games address an unusually wide audience, ranging from seasoned poker pros to more casual casino players. We think they’ll deliver high levels of entertainment for many of our customers.”“We’re ramping up a brand new network, with the goal of reaching European gamers through a series of premium gaming sites,” commented Tobias Nissen, Business Development Director at Jadestone. “It makes us very pleased now to welcome NordicBet as a partner for both DiceArena and GamArena and to make our games available to all their players”.Additional information about DiceArena can be found on www.jadestone.se. There is also a consumer website with information about the DiceArena games at www.dicearena.com.

Online Poker Weekend: Burkholder Wins $1M Guarantee at Full Tilt

2008-12-23T11:47:00.001Z

An uptick in player turnout marked action in the Sunday online majors, with Full Tilt running a special $1 million guarantee with a $500+35 buy-in, and PokerStars drawing over 8,000 players to its rich Stars Sunday Million event. The night's biggest prize went to Steven "UFman2" Burkholder, who started the final table in the Full Tilt $1 Million in seventh but stormed to the title and a payday of more than $200,000. Here's how the night's action went: PokerStars Sunday Million The PokerStars Sunday Million drew its biggest field in the last several weeks, with 8,015 entrants creating a total prize pool of $1,603,000. Among the

best finishers outside the final were Jeff "jeff710" Hakim in 10th place ($8,015), Marten "martenJ" Jensen in 11th ($8,015), Dan "WiLDmAn75" Buzgon in 23rd place ($3,206), Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy in 25th ($3,206), Dane "WatchTheSea" Miller in 50th ($2,564.80), Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick in 68th ($2,404.50), and David "malicious222" Randall in 93rd ($2,083.90). The chip counts to start the final table were the following: vuki - 26,436,817 crazylarry43 - 15,059,126 dstrung - 12,033,491 phil steve - 5,703,106 gladik - 5,689,408 DFGBOYS - 4,995,812 KopplarJocke - 4,990,670 mezyoureyez - 2,709,944 tAAggart - 2,531,626 The first casualty at the table was mezyoureyez at the 200,000/400,000/40,000 level. Chip leader vuki open-raised to 888,888 from early position and mezyoureyez moved all in for 2,629,944 from middle position with . Vuki called with and took down the pot after making a flush when the board ran out . The ninth-place finish paid mezyoureyez $11,221. At 250,000/500,000/50,000, tAAggart shipped it in from early position for 4,403,252 with and received action from DFGBOYS, who called from the small blind with . However, the board rolled out and tAAggart was sent home in eighth place for $18,434.50. The next to go was gladik, despite getting it in good with against phil steve's . The board came as phil steve made a flush and ended gladik's tournament in seventh place for $28,052.50. At 300,000/600,000/60,000 dstrung exited. Under the gun, dstrung shoved for 3,128,254 with and found action from DFGBOYS on the button with . The board helped neither player and dstrung was out in sixth for $40,876.50. The 400,000/800,000/80,000 level was DFGBOYS' last. From the button, DFGBOYS went all in for 4,544,520 with and was called by phil steve, who showed . When the board ran out , phil steve made the winning flush and DFGBOYS was out in fifth place for $50,906.50. A chip-count chop was agreed upon by the remaining four players and each was guaranteed the following, with $30,000 set aside for the eventual winner: vuki - $133,610.69 phil steve - $119,579.58 crazylarry43 - $107,565.94 KopplarJocke - $100,723.59 Vuki was the first to go after the deal at 500,000/1,000,000/100,000. After a big loss with pocket jacks against crazylarry43's pocket tens, vuki was all in with against KopplarJocke's . The board came and vuki was busted in fourth place for $133,610.69. At 600,000/1,200,000/120,000 phil steve was felted. On the button, phil steve shoved with for 12,183,171 and was called by KopplarJocke in the big blind with . The board ran out and phil steve was eliminated in third place for $119,579.58. Heads-up play began with KopplarJocke holding a 3-to-1 chip lead. Crazylarry43 battled back, but could not carry through to the win. At 850,000/1,700,000/170,000, KopplarJocke opened to 4,250,000 and crazylarry43 went all in for just over 27,000,000. A quick call from KopplarJocke revealed to crazylarry43's . The board came and it was all over, as KopplarJocke made a winning pair of sevens. Crazylarry43 finished as runner-up for $107,565.94. The winner of the Sunday Million was KopplarJocke for $130,723.59. Final results: *1. KopplarJocke - $130,723.59 *2. crazylarry43 - $107,565.94 *3. phil steve - $119,579.58 *4. vuki - $133,610.69 5. DFGBOYS - $56,906.50 6. dstrung - $40,876.50 7. gladik - $28,052.50 8. tAAggart - $18,434.50 9. mezyoureyez - $11,221 * -- four-way deal for remaining prize money; $30,000 to eventual winner

Online Poker Roundup: 'ZBTHorton', 'IfIHadItAll' Notch Major Wins

2008-11-26T20:36:00.000Z

Brian "ZBTHorton" and "IfIHadItAll" were the winners in the biggest early-week online events, taking down the Full Tilt $1,000 Monday and the PokerStars Super Tuesday, respectively. The Full Tilt event also featured deep runs by two other players who've posted other stellar finishes of late in Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen and Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka. Here's how the action unfolded: Full Tilt $1,000 Monday The $1,000 Monday on Full Tilt drew a crowd of 350 with the winner scheduled to receive $87,500. Among the best finishers failing to reach the final table were Matthias

"goodvibe" Neu in 12th place ($4,375), Anthony "holdplz" Spinella in 15th ($3,500), Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson in 17th ($2,625), Tim "Tmay420" West in 19th ($1,925) and Ryan Daut in 22nd ($1,925). The chip counts to start the final table were as follows: Brainwav - 254,602 reeping - 214,071 hucklebuck2006 - 136,818 kenneoin - 115,717 TYGOP - 108,245 Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick - 73,266 Brian "ZBTHorton" Horton - 71,084 Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen - 51,712 Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka - 24,485 At 2,000/4,000/500, Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka was the first to be sent to the rail. He shoved from middle position for 30,185 with and found action from Brian "ZBTHorton" Horton in the big blind, who showed . No deuce would find the table and Jaka was out in ninth for $7,000. The next to fall was hucklebuck2006 at 2,500/5,000/600. Brian Horton shoved from the button and hucklebuck2006 called all in with , racing against Horton's . The board came and hucklebuck2006 exited in eighth for $8,750. Reeping busted short after that. Under the gun, reeping raised to 20,000 and Brainwav, from the big blind, reraised to 60,000. Reeping then moved all in for 186,359; Brainwav called with and was well behind reeping's . However, the board ran out as reeping was left to read 'em and weep, out in seventh for $11,375. When play reached the 3,000/6,000/750 level, TYGOP was sent to the virtual rail. From the button, kenneoin shoved for 79,817 with , and TYGOP called all in from the big blind with . The board rolled out and TYGOP was eliminated in sixth for $17,500. The next hand was the last for Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen. Stamdogg moved all in from under the gun with and was called by Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick, who held . The board came and Stammen was done. His hot streak of reaching final tables continued with this one paying him $24,500 for fifth. Late in the level, kenneoin was eliminated in fourth place. On the button, kenneoin shoved for 86,757 with but ran into Brainwav's in the big blind. A third nine on the flop would win the hand for Brainwav and send kenneoin off with $32,375. At 4,000/8,000/1,000, Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick was eliminated after running his into Brainwav's . The board came and Chidwick finished third for $42,000. Heads-up play began with these chip counts: Brainwav - 825,800 Brian "ZBTHorton" Horton - 224,200 Horton was able to double up when his sevens held against sixes, and he took the chip lead. He won the match outright at the 5,000/10,000/1,000 level. He raised to 25,000, and Brainwav reraised to 94,000. Horton then shoved with the big stack and Brainwav called with , having Brian Horton's in dire straits. The board, though, came , with Horton managing to spike a river king to win the tournament. Brainwav finished runner-up for $56,00, while Brian "ZBTHorton" Horton collected $87,500 for the win. Final Results: 1. Brian "ZBTHorton" Horton - $87,500 2. Brainwav - $56,000 3. Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick - $42,000 4. kenneoin - $32,375 5. Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen - $24,500 6. TYGOP - $17,500 7. reeping - $11,375 8. hucklebuck2006 - $8,750 9. Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka - $7,000

H.O.R.S.E. Poker Strategy: In the Mix -- The Danger of Danglers

2008-10-27T16:33:00.001Z

Take typical hold'em players and sit them down in a limit Omaha hi/lo game for the first time, and their initial reaction will most likely be to marvel that they are dealt four cards, instead of two. With so many starting cards, it quickly becomes easy for such a player to find a reason to play just about any hand. Several hours later, absent incredible luck in connecting with the board, they will leave the table several buy-ins lighter in the wallet, not quite sure what went wrong. While it's true that players in Omaha are dealt twice as many cards as players in hold'em, it's not true that they have twice as many hand possibilities. They actually have six times as many hand possibilities!

An example should make this readily apparent: if a player is dealt , he can make the following two-card hands: , , , , and . The four cards in his hand combine to make six different possible two-card combinations -- and since Omaha requires players to use exactly three cards on the board and exactly two cards from their hand in order to make a five-card hand, thinking about a starting hand in terms of its two-card units is not merely an academic exercise. The ideal starting hand in Omaha has all four cards working together in some way. Very often players are dealt hands in which one of the four cards doesn't really work with the other three in any meaningful way. For example, a player might be dealt . Absent a miraculous board, the doesn't add any value to this hand; it's as if this player is only playing with three cards. Those oddball cards that don't work with the rest of the hand are called "danglers", and playing hands with danglers can wind up costing the player a significant amount of money over a long session. Why are danglers such a problem? Isn't playing with three cards sufficient? Of course not -- not if your opponents are all playing with four cards. But there's a bigger, more mathematical reason why hands with danglers should be avoided. By effectively playing with only three cards, a player does not reduce the number of (meaningful) two-card hands he can make by twenty-five percent; he reduces them by fifty percent. In the example above, by ignoring the seven of diamonds, the only two-card combinations that are possible are , , and . That's three combinations, instead of the six that are afforded when playing four cards that interact with each other in meaningful ways. Of course, like everything else in poker, there's no blanket rule that should be followed which says that "All hands with danglers must be folded before the flop." Poker is a situational game, and situations repeatedly arise where playing danglers may make sense. Obviously, in a H.O.R.S.E. tournament, a player has a finite amount of time to accumulate chips. His stack size relative to the blinds may dictate taking a few chances by playing danglers (if he's a short stack) or attempting to punish the short stacks by aggressively playing lots of pots (if he's a big stack). Even in a cash game, there are times when playing danglers may not be the worst decision. Sometimes the three other cards in a player's hand have enough value on their own to make the decision to play correct. A hand like , for example, has enough two-way value in its ability to make the nut low (with counterfeit protection), a wheel straight, and the nut flush that it can be profitably played. Contrast that starting hand with the example given above, . The seven does not add anything meaningful to this hand except an emergency low that will only be good if no other player is gunning for low, while the three other cards in the hand have some high-card value and the ability to make a few Broadway straights and not much else. Even when a dangler improves a player's hand, it usually only does so in a very marginal way. If the in the above example were the , it would give the player the nut heart draw. Since generally speaking, players should be drawing to the nuts after the flop (especially in a game where three or more players are routinely going to the flop), having a nut draw is useful. But the would not contribute anything else of value to the hand, making it a very close decision whether to play or fold before the flop. At the end of the day, even despite the situational parameters of any given hand, Omaha players should be folding hands with danglers more frequently than playing them. A hand with three good starting cards may look tempting -- after all, it makes three times as many playable hands as two good cards do in hold'em. Just remember what such a hand gives up by not having an additional fourth good card -- a whopping fifty percent of the hand's possible playable two-card combinations. Poker players needlessly handicap themselves all the time. This is one handicap that's easy to avoid with just a bit of discipline.

The PokerNews Profile: Patrik Antonius

2008-09-28T20:45:00.000+01:00

Don't hate him because he's beautiful. And wealthy. And multi-talented. When Patrik Antonius walks into a poker room the ladies swoon and the men clench their jaws, suck in their stomachs, and wonder what it must be like to be him. Though he's now enjoying unparalleled success at the tables, both actual and virtual, not all in life has been smooth sailing for the 27-year old Finnish sensation. Antonius was born December 13, 1980 and grew up in the Helsinki suburb of Vantaa, Finland. He grew up far from wealthy and both of his parents worked to support Patrik and his sister. Patrik was naturally athletic and took to sports as a youth, playing soccer, hockey and tennis. It was the latter

discipline that Patrik truly excelled at, and his coaches declared him a prodigy by his early teens. It was at his tennis club where Antonius got his first exposure to poker, playing with other tennis students after school. Antonius loved these games, and won his fair share of extra spending money from his peers. When he turned 18 and was of age to play live, Antonius ventured out to the Casino Helsinki and won the first no-limit hold'em tournament he bought in to. After graduating from high school, Antonius chose to focus solely on tennis, with the goal of becoming a professional player. Tragically, though his promising career was cut short with a serious back injury that rendered him unable to train. Sidelined indefinitely from the court, Antonius decided to trade the clay for the felt and began playing poker in earnest. The low-limit pot-limit Omaha games at the Casino Helsinki were his initial stomping grounds, and he ground himself up a bankroll. With the explosion of internet poker in 2003, Antonius took his game online. Though he zeroed out his initial deposit several times before finding success with the online game, Antonius eventually earned himself an $80,000 bankroll via multi-tabling. He treated it like a job, at times playing more than twelve hours a day. Meanwhile, his back injury had healed enough that he decided to give tennis one more try. He got a year-long scholarship to Averett University in Virginia, and moved to the United States to train. Though resuming his training regimen meant less hours to play poker, Antonius pushed his bankroll over the six-figure mark by playing a limited online schedule. After winning an online satellite to the 2004 WSOP Main Event, though, Antonius finished out his year in Virginia, packed his bags for Vegas, and never had to look back. In January 2005, Patrik Antonius won a satellite to the PokerStars Carribean Adventure and ended up finishing 12th for $34,600, his first cash on the World Poker Tour. He made his second two months later at the Bay 101 Shooting Stars Event, coming in 15th and banking another $40,000. He made three cashes at the 2005 WSOP in no-limit and pot-limit hold'em events, then headed back to Europe at the end of the summer. It was there that Antonius' tournament game really caught fire. After winning the Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championships in Stockholm, he finished third at the EPT Barcelona for $145,068. Less than three weeks later, on October 6, 2005, Patrik Antonius won his first EPT title at the Baden Classic. Antonius bested a final table loaded down with tough Scandi players such as Gunnar Ostebrod, Christian Grundtvig, and Torsten Iversen and added $343,366 to his skyrocketing bankroll. Antonius came tantalizingly close to a World Poker Tour title in December 2005, when he finished second to Rehne Pedersen at the Bellagio's Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He did, however, become a WPT millionaire, banking $1,046,470 for his finish. He cashed two more times on the WPT that season and made five cashes at the 2006 WSOP including a ninth-place finish in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. By now, everyone knew Antonius' name, and he continued to flourish in high-stakes online play where he played under various identities including "Finddagrind" and "Luigi66369." Antonius would play pretty much any game, for any stakes, and was making millions at it. Perhaps more meaningful than any tournament accolades, though, was Antonius becoming a father. His fiancé Maya gave birth to a daughter, Mila in May, 2007. The threesome settled down in Monte Carlo, Monaco, though Antonius continued to travel globally on the tournament circuit. He also appeared numerous times on the Las Vegas-based NBC program "Poker After Dark" and took down a PAD title during "International Week." Perhaps his most notable television appearance was on GSN's "High Stakes Poker" where he played what was then the show's largest pot ever, a $998,000 hand against Sam Farha. Antonius held for top pair on the flop and Farha the for overs and a flush draw. After much negotiation, Farha and Antonius agreed to run the turn and river four times, Antonius winning three out of four times for a $749,100 win. In June 2008, Patrik Antonius signed with Full Tilt Poker, becoming the 14th member of the elite Team Full Tilt. He has his own set of private nosebleed-stakes tables on the site, including $2000-$4000 six-handed H.O.R.S.E, $200-$400 six-handed deep stack pot-limit Omaha, $2000-$4000 six-handed limit Omaha 8 or better, and a six-max $500-$1000 NLHE table cheekily named "Rail Heaven." When he's not traveling the circuit, Antonius continues to divide his time between his residences in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo.

CryptoLogic Grinds Out Second Quarter

2008-08-20T11:57:00.001+01:00

The fourth quarter of 2006 was a tough one for the online gaming software provider CryptoLogic. With the passage of the UIGEA and the loss of one its key poker licensees, Betfair, Cryptologic has worked hard to better position the company for growth. But in its recent earnings report, the Dublin-based company was still only able to show marginal improvement year-over-year. Total revenues were up 3.4% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, while poker-related revenue was down 27%. The company's second-quarter loss of $1.5 million was better than the loss of $2.6 million incurred in the second quarter of 2007, but the 2007 results also included $4 million in restructuring

and relocation charges. The company's half year comparison was essentially flat. But despite their lackluster performance, the company was optimistic about the future. Much of their optimism hinges on the seven new customers CyrptoLogic was able to attract over the last few months, including new three-year licensing deals with UK- based Sky Betting & Gaming and Gaming Media Group Limited, owner of The Poker Channel and PokerHeaven.com. But all is not completely rosy on the licensee front. CryptoLogic licensee World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) recently announced that it was rethinking its languishing online money gaming business. CryptoLogic currently receives a minimum of $500,000 per year from WPTE, a figure that was scheduled to increase to $750,000 with the addition of a broader casino offering later this year. "While seasonality made this a more challenging quarter, at CryptoLogic we remain committed to our goals - and confident in our growth," said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic's President and CEO. "While modest growth is encouraging, aggressive growth is our goal. With an upgraded technology platform and five new customers signed in the last quarter, CryptoLogic's challenge is to execute with excellence - and that should lead to significant revenue and earnings growth from both Europe and Asia."

Top Asian Poker Pros Look To APT Macau

2008-07-28T10:21:00.000+01:00

The list of renowned poker pros competing in the inaugural Asian Poker Tour is ever-growing, with new stars setting their sights on the top prizes in the east.David Saab, 2008 APT Philippines Champion, placed 46th in the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event and has told various sources that he will be present in Macau for the second leg of the tour.Four big Asian pros have also verified that they will compete in China – JC Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do and Steve Sung already played the Philippines event and will be looking to stop Saab making a repeat first place finish.JC Tran is currently the top-ranked player in the Bluff Magazine power rankings with over $6.7m in tournament earnings. Nam Le has a series of high finishes in prestigious events with over $4.3m in tournament winnings under his belt. Quinn Do and Steve Sung are also successful players with around $4m in winnings between them.APT Macau will be held at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino from August 27th to August 31st. The guaranteed prize pool is $1,500,000 with the winner taking home at least $500,000.

Poker Room Review: Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, Coconut Creek, FL

2008-06-30T15:40:00.001+01:00

The poker room on the second floor of the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino has a barren and isolated feel to it. For those looking for a glittering, casino-like atmosphere, it's a disappointment. There is no foot traffic or gambling anywhere near the poker room. But for those looking for poker without any other distractions this might be just the spot. The poker is lively, with 15 tables. Four were going full blast at 8:00 on a recent Tuesday morning. This is a great room for low-stakes no-limit hold'em. There's some limit hold'em action as well – principally $2/4. There's never stud – though they offer it officially. And there's an occasional $2/4 Omaha-8 game. The room offers $55

sit-'n'-goes, though those seldom go off. And unlike many of the other rooms in south and central Florida, there are never any multi-table tournaments. Based solely on my three hours of morning play, the action games are the $1/2 and $2/5 no-limit games. As with all Florida games, as per state law, they have a $100 maximum buy-in. (They even offer a $5/5 blind game as well – with that crazy maximum, as well – though none was going while I played.) This is a bare-bones room, with grungy chairs, a few small-screened televisions on the wall, and dirty felt. The carpet was a nauseating orange color, and very dirty. There are no windows. I got the feeling that the management of the casino gives poker a low priority, tucked away as the room is away from all the action. Even so, the poker room management tries to make the best of a bad situation. They try to get things going early by offering all players a free breakfast from 7:00 – 10:00 AM. The prices for food are exceptionally inexpensive even without this freebie. There's an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $4.95 and a lunch buffet for $7.95. Single breakfast offerings are $2 or $3. They also keep the rake low by delaying it until the pot reaches at least $10. That may seem like a small concession, but I can tell you that the quick rake of $1 that some other poker rooms have even when the pot is uncontested pre-flop, greatly increases the difficulty of beating a tight game. When I played there was a player-funded bad beat jackpot and high hand bonus. The jackpot stood at $57,000 – which might explain the plethora of no-action rocks I had at my table. The high hand bonus was $500. In the early hours that I played, the game was very loose and passive. Hands were typically unraised pre-flop. On the few occasions when I decided to raise I got very little action. I was told that if I wanted action I should move to $2/5. So I did. Sure enough, in the hour or so that I played $2/5 I saw many players going all in – catching and not catching – and often laughing at whatever the result might be. It was a game I truly enjoyed – and profited from – at least for a while. When my $2/5 table got a little too lively for me, with players routinely going all in preflop, I moved back to what had become a very juicy $1/2 game. I left considerably ahead for the session. This is the only room in the Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area that's open early in the day. I got the sense that many regular players came here first (maybe for the free breakfast) and then as the day wore on, they made their way to the bigger rooms like the Hard Rock in Hollywood. If I lived down here on the southeast coast of Florida, I might well do the same thing.

Dusk Till Dawn 'helping to make Nottingham a poker centre'

2008-04-29T19:26:00.000+01:00

The UK's only licensed poker club Dusk Till Dawn is one of the main factors behind the rise of Nottingham among the country's poker strongholds.At least this is the opinion Barry Carter, a journalist, who wrote in a Poker News article that it is possible that the midlands area is "fast becoming the capital city for poker players in the UK".Mr Carter suggested that the high density of big tournaments taking place in Nottingham at the moment could show the city is overtaking London, which has been the traditional centre for British poker.Indeed, London has staged a European Poker Tour (EPT) event during each season of the prestigious tournament series and is home to a number of top UK players including Victoria Coren.Nottingham is not without its stars, however, with Mr Carter mentioning EPT titlist Julian Thew as a notable resident who does a good job representing the sport within the country.

Major new gambling laws in force

2007-09-02T10:12:00.000+01:00

It is doubtful whether online gaming firms will relocate to BritainSweeping gambling laws have come into force in Britain bringing casinos, bookmakers and online betting under a new regulatory body.
For the first time, operators will be able to advertise on TV and radio.
Opposition parties attacked the measures, saying they would trigger a growth in people addicted to gambling.
But Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said the act provided "unprecedented powers" of control and protection for children and vulnerable gamblers.
All gaming operators based in Britain will be required to show they meet strict conditions to win a licence from the new watchdog - the Gambling Commission - to trade.
Failing to comply with conditions such as prominently displaying information about responsible gambling, will result in steep fines and even prosecution.
Radical upheaval
The act overhauls legislation dating from 1845 and covers all forms of gambling - worth more than £91bn to the UK economy in 2006 - from high-end casinos to arcades.
The Gambling Act allows the creation of more regional casinos, and bigger slot machine payouts. The National Lottery and spread betting will continue to be regulated by separate bodies.
There is already too much social damage and cultural pollution caused by gambling. Advertising it on TV will be ramming it down our throats. Stop the adverts!
Matt KilfeatherSwansea
Send us your comments
'My struggle with gambling'
British-based online gaming sites will be governed by the regulator.
But with betting duty set at 15%, doubts have been cast as to how many firms based offshore will relocate.
The Conservative spokesman on gambling Tobias Ellwood questioned whether the act "has the teeth" to manage new types of gambling such as internet gambling and games that could be sent to children's mobile phones.
GAMBLING ACT 2005: FAST FACTS
New codes governing TV and radio advertising in a socially responsible way
Internet gaming will be regulated for UK-based firms
Local authorities can impose sanctions on operators
The membership requirement on casinos will be lifted
Poker clubs will be limited to a stake of £10 per game
Betting firms will have to display gambling helpline information online and in shops
Betting shops will be able to open from 0700 to 2200 all year round
Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Many online gambling companies will be advertising on our TVs, probably from 9pm tonight, but will already have moved to Gibraltar."
The Liberal Democrat culture spokesman, Don Foster, said the government had "failed at every opportunity" to bring internet gambling companies onshore where they would pay tax and face proper regulation.
But Peter Dean, chairman of the Gambling Commission, said the act aims to tighten industry regulation and ensure the young and vulnerable are not exploited.
He said gambling services would "have to satisfy us that their games are fair and open and crime is kept out, and that there is proper protection for children".
£1m prize
The act will see 6,000 fruit machines in premises such as takeaway food shops and mini cab offices, where children could play with them unsupervised, be phased out by 2009.

Casinos said the act was an chance to clear up misconceptions
Bingo halls will also no longer have to return all stakes as prize money. They will now be able to keep some money behind to offer as rollover prizes. A top prize of at least £1m has already been announced as a result of the new laws.
But the biggest change is the lifting of the ban on TV and radio adverts, which allows gambling emporiums to reach bigger audiences.
They will be subject to a code of practice, including a 2100 watershed.
National helpline
One casino operator said the changes were a chance to clear up some of the "misconceptions about the industry" that have been allowed to fester.
However, the new act has attracted criticism from charities including the Salvation Army which said it feared the changes would "normalise" an addictive activity.
"The results can be devastating on the individual, their friends, family, and on society," a spokesman said.
The new ads will carry the address of a website promoting responsible gambling.
But charity GamCare, which runs the only national helpline for problem gamblers, said the government "missed an opportunity" and should have insisted its telephone number was also included.
The new laws come two months after plans for a super-casino in Manchester were put on hold due concerns over its impact.

Dario Minieri Surges as Cash Bubble Bursts

2007-07-13T21:39:00.000+01:00

797 players survived the six days that made up Days 1A-D, Day 2A and Day 2B of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. 621 of them made the money in the highest-profile poker tournament of the year, and 337 of them survived to play on Day 4 and work closer to the final table and poker history. Day 3 was a day of tension and waiting, as short stacks tried to hold on to cash, and big stacks tried to bully them around and build bigger towers of chips. When the day was finished, five former World Champions were still standing, testament to the skill required to play large-field tournaments year in and year out. Robert Varkonyi, Berry Johnston, Huck Seed, Carlos Mortensen and Scotty Nguyen all made

it through Day 3, leaving only 2000 Main Event Champ Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson on the rail. Two players that survived Day 3 have already won bracelets in 2007. Alex Kravchenko and Bill Edler picked up bracelets in preliminary events, and are now trying to win the biggest prize in poker for the first time. Internet superstars had a good day Wednesday, as Sorel 'Imper1um' Mizzi, Jared 'Waco Kid' Hamby, Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken, Hevad 'Rain' Khan, Matt 'Mattster24' Sterling, and Peter 'Nordberg' Feldman all made it through to Day 4. Young Italian star Dario Minieri of PokerStars fame had the biggest Day 3 of all, amassing a huge stack of chips by the end of night's play. But Day 3 wasn't good to all the poker celebrities, as Robert Mizrachi, Todd Brunson, Cliff 'JohnnyBax' Josephy, Amnon Fillipi, Gavin Smith, Chip Jett and Tony Hachem all went to the rail. The Mizrachi surname had been in the forefront of tournament poker for several years now, and at this World Series, it was Robert taking the lead, winning his first bracelet and outlasting brothers Michael and Eric to cash in the Main Event. The Williams household was also represented, as mom Shirley cashed in her first Main Event while son David (2004 Main Event runner-up) watched from the rail. But as everyone knows, there's never been a bigger name in poker than Brunson, and there were still two Brunsons in the Main Event at the beginning of Day 3. Todd Brunson busted first, when his pocket queens were out-flopped by an opponent holding . An ace on the flop left Todd's sister Pamela as the last Brunson in the hunt, but she was eliminated when her fell to her opponent's , again when an ace flopped. The field of celebrities at the 2007 Main Event included movie stars, musicians, hockey players, retired baseball players and writers. At the end of Day 3, three of those celebrities remained: actor Tobey Maguire ("Spider-Man"), musician Sully Erna (lead singer, Godsmack), and television writer/producer Sam Simon (co-creator of "The Simpsons"). Maguire and Erna spent time at the same table thanks to the random redraws, and Erna caught a miracle card during hand-for-hand play to survive into the money. In Erna's big hand, the button raised and Erna called from the small blind. Erna check-raised all-in on the flop of , and his opponent called with . Erna turned over for middle set and was ahead until the gave his opponent the gutshot straight. Erna faced elimination on the bubble until the came on the river to make Erna's full house and move him into the money. "That's why I play poker!" Erna shouted as the pot was pushed his way. The bubble was the story of the day, as players tried to make moves to increase their stack, or just survive as the magic number of 621 came ever closer. Lee Watkinson had a big stack as hand-for-hand play began, and he used it to bully his opponents and increase his lead over his table. With eight short stacks surrounding him, Watkinson raised blind to 150,000 every hand, forcing players clinging to chips near the bubble to go all-in to call him. Watkinson did this all fifteen hands of hand-for-hand play, putting on a textbook display of big-stack bubble play. Brian Senie was the other end of the bubble spectrum, with just enough chips to post his small blind and ante as applause broke out over the room, and he heard the sweetest sounds a short stack in the Main Event can hear, a floor person yelling "Congratulations, everybody!" Senie's luck was John Sigan's downfall, as Sigan lost to Vandy Krouch's gutshot straight and exited as the bubble boy of the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Hal Lubarsky quickly became one of the best stories at the Main Event when he reached Day 3, and then became the first blind player to cash in the WSOP Main Event. Lubarsky was diagnosed years ago with retinitis pigmentosis, and he became the second blind player to play the Main Event when he played Day 1d. Lubarsky sat with an assistant to read his cards and whisper the action to him, and made it through Day 3 in the middle of the pack. Gus Hansen started the day as the chip leader, and finished just outside the top ten in chips after a typically active day for him. Hansen eliminated EPT founder John Duthie and crippled internet legend Cliff 'JohnnyBax' Josephy in quick succession in mid-day. Hansen caught an ace on the flop to crack Duthie's queens and send him to the rail, then showed the nut full house against Josephy's smaller boat to cripple Josephy, who was eliminated a few hands later when he made a stand with K-9 and ran into pocket kings. Hevad Khan started the day with one of the biggest stacks, and finished up the same way, due in part to skill honed at the online tables. Khan once had to send a videotape to PokerStars to prove he wasn't a poker bot when he was logged playing up to 28 sit-'n'-go tournaments at the same time. In one notable hand, Khan moved all-in pre-flop and was way behind when his opponent turned up pocket aces versus Khan's . Khan, though, caught a perfect . The on the turn sealed the win and the double-up for Khan, who finished Day 3 with well over a million chips. When play concluded for the evening, the 337 players were led by Minieri, who had accumulated nearly 2.4 million in chips. The leader board at the end of Day 3 is as follows: Dario Minieri — 2,398,000 Jeff Weiss — 1,533,000 Jon Kalmar — 1,410,000 Hevad Khan — 1,319,000 Kenny Tran — 1,175,000 Steven Jacobs — 1,127,000 Brock Parker — 1,089,000 Robert Neitrayan — 1,058,000 William Spadea — 1,057,000 Nicolas Atlan — 1,057,000 Other players of note in the top 50 include Hansen, Rep Porter, Conor Tate, Isaac Haxton, Kirk Morrison, Francois Safieddine, Lee Watkinson, Sverre Sundbo and Bill Edler.

Dustin Dirksen – A Player on the Move

2007-06-15T09:55:00.000+01:00

To a casual poker player, Dustin Dirksen is probably not a name one would recognize. However, to the thousands of poker fans who observe online high-stakes games, 'Dustin_Dirksen' or 'John Smiley', as Dirksen goes by on Full Tilt and PokerStars, respectively, are two of the most familiar handles around. While Dirksen typically lays low from the tournament scene and has had only a few minor cashes in live tournaments, he is currently a big chipleader after Day One in Event #22, $5,000 No Limit Hold'em. Dirksen has honed his game by playing thousands of hours against some of the most famous high-stakes cash-game players in the world, such as Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, and John

D'Agostino. Dirksen typically brings tens of thousands of dollars to any given online table, so don't look for the pressure of the $5,000 WSOP event itself to get to him. Dirksen joins a trend of online players doing extremely well in this year's tournament. Some players who have already had a breakout tournament include Event #1 winner Steve 'MrSmokey1' Billirakis, an accomplished online tournament player, Sorel 'Imper1um' Mizzi, who has already gone deep in several events, and Jordan 'iMsoLucky0' Morgan, who came close to capturing bracelet gold in Event #9. For those that follow online play, it will be exciting to see how Dirksen and others fare in trying to translate over their massive success online to the live arena. Young online stars have fared well in recent live events, and there's little reason to believe the remainder of the WSOP will be any different.

U.S., Germany, Sweden Involved in Online-Gambling Legal Issues

2007-05-25T14:14:00.000+01:00

Several legislative events in recent days continue to define Internet-based gambling as a battleground between national interests and the market freedom inherent within international trade compacts. The United States, as expected, allowed the World Trade Organization's deadline to pass without filing a final appeal in its ongoing trade dispute with Antigua & Barbuda over online gambling. This officially opens the door for Antigua to escalate other trade sanctions and penalties, and Antigua seems poised to waste little time in pursuing the matter. The International Herald Tribune quotes Antigua Ambassador John Ashe today from WTO home city Geneva, as follows: "Not only do we think that

members should press claims for compensatory adjustments as a matter of economic self-interest, but we also believe it is important that the process is made as difficult as possible for the United States." It's an open invitation to all WTO members to pursue financial penalties and other sanctions against the United States. Elsewhere, a ruling from a German court has resulted in the throwing out of a case between the German state of Bavaria and Austrian online bookmaker bWin. Late last year a Bavarian law was passed attempting to prevent bWin and other firms from marketing their services in competition with official state-supported outlets, but that ban was prevented from being put into effect by a higher court pending resolution of the case. Now, the entire case has been thrown out, again freeing bWin to accept Bavarian wagers. A state-supported gambling business was also in the news in Sweden. Several published reports indicate that Sweden, already cited by the European Union for its failure to open up its market to outside interests, will not break down Svenska Spel, the state-run monopoly. Instead, in an end run reminiscent of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (and soon to be Prime Minister) Gordon Brown, Sweden will officially end the monopoly but implement stringent fees and requirements intended to discourage any real competition to Svenska Spel. Whether this passes EU muster remains to be seen.