Casino

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.

WPT Championship Shuffles Player Of The Year Race

2007-05-04T22:11:00.001+01:00

With a third of the 2007 tournament season out of the way, there are definitely players that have made their moves in the early going. The just completed WPT Championship, and the associated Five Star World Poker Classic preliminary tournaments that preceded it in April, have had a significant impact on the rankings in the Poker Player of the Year race and could be of importance as the remainder of the year plays out. Still reigning at the top of the mountain is J. C. Tran, who seized the POY in February. Tran continued his early season assault on the poker world by expanding his lead during the events held at the Bellagio. J. C. was able to take down one of the $3000 buy-in events, which

expanded his lead over his closest competitor to almost 1500 points. The always dangerous professional from Sacramento seems to be on the top of his game this early in the year and, with continued success, will be difficult to knock off the #1 perch. While he was able to hold onto his second place spot in the 2007 POY race, James Van Alstyne was unable to add any points to his record for the year. With four cashes during the run of the Five Star, however, he was able to push his 2007 earnings up over the $600K mark. The consistent Van Alstyne could have an impact on the remainder of the 2007 race; he will play in virtually any tournament, regardless of size or importance, and could chip away at Tran's lead if J. C. hits a cold streak at any point. A surprise player enters into the Top Ten in third place this month. Paul Lee, the third place finisher in the WPT Championship, also had two other final table finishes during the Five Star events which included one victory. With the three final tables in April, Lee expanded his bankroll by over $1.25 million and now should be viewed as potentially a major player in the POY race. Prior to the Five Star, Paul had primarily played in the multitude of tournaments in the Southern California area; with the immaculate run of success Paul enjoyed in April, he now has the ability to step into more major tournaments and be a definite "sleeper" for the remainder of the POY race. Flush from his victory (and the nearly $4 million paycheck that came with it) in the WPT Championship, Carlos "El Matador" Mortensen enters into the Top Ten this month in the fourth place slot. Mortensen's success in the WPT Championship was not a surprise; during the EPT Grand Final held earlier in the month of April, Carlos finished a very respectable eleventh, serving notice that his game was in prime shape for such a victory at the WPT Championship. Always considered one of the most dangerous players in the game, Mortensen will have plenty of opportunities to reach even higher on the POY leader board. With the WSOP around the corner and the plethora of European events that he will play in, Carlos is primed for a charge that could net him the POY honors. Quietly entering into the Top Ten this month is another player who had great success at the Bellagio. While he didn't win an event, Ted Lawson did have two final table finishes which, along with his runner up finish in March's Wynn Classic Championship Event, gives him the fifth place position. Lawson is a well known face on the tournament poker scene and, if he can continue his success of the past couple of months, could continue his quiet assault on the POY list. EPT Grand Final champion Gavin Griffin falls to sixth this month, while the runner up of the WPT Championship, veteran tournament player Kirk Morrison, enters into the Top Ten in the seventh slot. Morrison nearly had two WPT final tables, as he finished ninth at the Foxwoods World Poker Challenge in March. Signaling his return to the tournament world (Kirk is a WSOP bracelet holder from 1998 in Seven Card Stud), Morrison is on a roll and might be a player to watch. Marc Karam and Juan Carlos Alvarado hold down the eighth and ninth place slots in the POY race, while David "The Dragon" Pham is joined in tenth by the only player to win two events during the Five Star, Jared Hamby. Hamby earned over $500K for his two victories and is perhaps the first newcomer this year that has made a significant impact. These players have a huge obstacle to overcome, however; they are over 2300 points behind J. C. Tran on the leader board. There are formidable opponents in the Second Ten that bear mentioning as well. Bill Edler (eleventh), Ted Forrest (twelfth), J. J. Liu (eighteenth) and David "The DevilFish" Ulliott (nineteenth) are some of the best the tournament poker world has to offer and, with success in the upcoming WSOP, would enter into the Top Ten with a definite shot at taking down the crown. Even with the completion of the fifth season of the WPT, May will not be a slow month. With two WSOP Circuit events in Las Vegas and New Orleans, the start of the sixth season of the WPT at the Mirage Poker Showdown and the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship in Las Vegas and several smaller events both in the United States and worldwide (including the former WPT stop at the Aviation Club in Paris), everyone seems to be only gearing up for the World Series, which begins June 1st. The potential for the Poker Player of the Year list to change significantly is there as the poker world gets ready to hit another gear within the next two to three months.

World Poker Tour Championship Preview

2007-04-20T21:27:00.000+01:00

Saturday marks the beginning of the fifth WPT Championship, the finish of the Bellagio's Five Star World Poker Classic in Las Vegas and the end of the fifth season of the World Poker Tour. With its pristine location at the Bellagio, the cream of the poker world in attendance and the opportunity to get in a good groove for the upcoming World Series, the WPT Championship has grown into one of poker's top two or three events (the WSOP Main Event, and the emerging EPT Championship come to mind). A simple look at the history of the event and the players involved shows how important the WPT Championship has become. From its inception in 2003 and its 111 player field, the WPT Championship has

blossomed into a 605 runner mammoth that had a $14 million prize pool in 2006. This year's event may have a slightly higher number of players, but the quality of the 2007 final table will probably be the same as in year's past. There have been legends (Doyle Brunson, David Sklansky, Men "The Master" Nguyen), current greats of the game (Phil Ivey - twice at the final table, Ted Forrest, Roland De Wolfe) and surprising newcomers who made their mark on the game (John Phan, 2005 champion Tuan Le and defending champion Joe Bartholdi) at the final table in the past five years. Predicting who will be at this year's final table is about as difficult a task as there is, but if you look at performance up to the event, you can get a possible idea of what will happen. With that said, here are five players that seem to be peaking at the right time. 1) J. C. Tran - With a victory at the WPT's World Poker Challenge in Reno back in March, J. C. is in on a freeroll for the WPT Championship. Tran has also been on fire lately, with three WPT final tables and a victory in one of the preliminary events during the Five Star. Look for him to continue his strong play and be one of the players at the final table. If he has a big stack, he could even take the title down. 2) James Van Alstyne - Van Alstyne will have to buy his way into the WPT Championship, but he certainly won't mind that. So far in 2007 he has garnered over $500K in earnings, made four final tables and cashed in nine tournaments. He has a history of strong tournament performances and should be in the running when it comes to the final table of the WPT Championship. 3) Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi - While not off to the same stratospheric start as he had in both 2005 and 2006, "The Grinder" has been quietly amassing excellent tournament finishes through the early part of 2007. Last year, the crush may have gotten to him after finishing as a runner up in one WPT event and winning one. This year, the hubbub around him is a bit calmer, which should allow him to concentrate exclusively on playing the tournament. 4) Patrik Antonius - Patrik consistently performs well at the tournaments that are held at the Bellagio. He cashed in last year's WPT Championship and was runner up in the December 2005 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic there. He definitely has the skills to be a contender for the crown and could make his first major title with the WPT Championship. Other foreign contenders could be Roland De Wolfe, Gus Hansen or Andrew Black (who has been having a great 2007 and would be good to see in the WPT Championship). 5) Kathy Liebert - While some may have thought she wasn't doing anything, Liebert's game seems to be coming around just in time for the WPT Championship. Runner up finishes at final tables in Foxwoods (during the run of WPT preliminary events for Foxwoods Poker Classic) and the Five Star indicate she is getting in shape to be a force at the tables. Other female players who have to be looked at as well include Joanne "J. J." Liu (freerolling off her Ladies' Night win) and potentially Jennifer Harman or last year's breakout star, Vanessa Rousso, who just missed last year's final table, finishing seventh. Now, the game begins. From Saturday to the final table on April 27th, the WPT Championship will once again deliver the finest in poker battling it out for the coveted WPT Championship title and the millions that come with it. PokerNews.com will be there covering all the action live in our 'live reporting' section. Come the end, we will learn whether it is a professional or a "newcomer" who will take one of the grandest titles in the poker world.

New 'Remote Gaming Duty' Casts Doubt on UK/Online Gambling Marriage

2007-03-23T21:50:00.000Z

Dreams that the United Kingdom would become the standard bearer for the online-gambling industry were dashed yesterday when UK Finance Minister (James) Gordon Brown announced a new 'Remote Gaming Duty' (tax) of 15%, a move ensuring that online firms will not move from friendlier tax havens to the UK in the near future. In addition, Brown's new budget increases the levies assessed on land-based casino operations, throwing a major wrench into the Vegas-style casino expansion popping up across that nation. The 15% remote duty called for by the new budget is miles apart from the 2-3% range online companies cited as being low enough to make relocating to the UK worth the bother; virtually no online

casino could give up an extra 12% of taxable revenues and remain competitive against firms not subject to similar fees. The announced budget leaves in serious doubt the accords championed by UK Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who led the push to legalize and regulate online gaming and chaired last October's Ascot racetrack summit conference of nearly three dozen interested nations. While the 15% tax is, on its face, a fee equal to the domestic levy charged to bookmakers and bingo halls, it may be part of a larger strike against gambling in general by Brown's Labor Party faction. Brown also stripped away the bottom tier of tax levels for the smallest land-cased casino operations, and replaced it with a new 50% rate — far over the previous top tier, which was 40%. The jump, affecting casinos such as the new Manchester casino (which are expected to post annual gross house wins of over £10 million), could impact these casinos' ability to become first-class tourist destinations. Efforts to explain Brown's surprise tax hit have moved in several directions. Some reports have focused on Brown's strict Presbyterian upbringing, said to be staunchly anti-gambling at its core, while others see this as a planned boost to Labor Party efforts to force the scrapping of government plans to allow the building of 17 new "supercasinos," the first license of which was awarded to the Manchester facility. An all-or-nothing vote on that topic is scheduled for the UK's Parliament in the very near future. As with all perceived 'sin' topics, gambling remains a hot-button concern. No country offers uniformity or agreement on gambling's regulation and governing. Even as the European Union has moved forward on the topic of gambling as a whole, the UK has stepped back from its chance to assume a leadership role.

Sky Poker Enhances the Online Experience

2007-03-10T08:15:00.000Z

Any viewer of Sky TV will already know that there is no barrier to what can be achieved in screen graphics in this day of digital and high definition technology. No wonder then that the brand new online Sky Poker TV/internet interface is such a hit. Sky Poker is available on TV on channel 846 through the usual satellite/cable services available from Sky. Every evening, there is an incredible 3D graphical representation of live online poker being played on Sky Poker. This has somehow been transfigured from the flat computer screen into an outrageous three dimensional display apparently hovering in mid-air in front of the two live presenters who discuss the play as it unfolds. The picture on this

page does not do it justice as it is a still image but it gives you an idea nonetheless. To add more human interaction, there are guest players playing online in the studio who discuss their own plays during the tournaments. It is a clever concept. Sky Poker is available as a web-based internet poker room so no downloading of a program is necessary. Simply click Sky Poker for this new internet experience. Sky Poker TV is primarily an educational poker forum laced with entertainment, or is it entertainment laced with poker education? It's a question of interpretation and preference. Several media-hungry poker and sporting faces are involved in the presentations such as Carlo Citrone, Tony Kendall, Helen Chamberlain and Ed Giddens. Unsurprisingly, regular sporting stars also well-known for their poker prowess make regular appearances as players. The online poker room at Sky Poker is building up fast so anyone looking for new challenges in online poker can be assured of plenty of UK players and some from further afield, many of whom are likely to be novices lulled in by the glitzy TV production. The chance to have your play discussed as it happens is attractive. It has been done before of course but not like this! Sky Poker offers The Open at 9pm every night in the form of a multi-table tournament with a featured TV table discussed live by the presenters for the evening. Around 500 players are entering these tournaments and you can enter them for cash or Sky Poker Player Points. 500 Player Points will immediately be yours as soon as you open an account at Sky Poker through UK Poker News. Apart from TV poker, Sky Poker's new online interface offers plenty of cash and tournament tables for you to improve your Hold'em play. Video and other tutorials are also available online as well as the educational advice on the TV.

2007 WSOP Pre-Registration Opens; Apparel Policy Liberalized

2007-03-01T08:48:00.000Z

Pre-registration began on February 26th for the 38th World Series of Poker®, to be held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino® in Las Vegas. The 2007 WSOP begins on June 1st and runs through July 17, with rules and registration information now available at the worldseriesofpoker.com site. One notable change for this year's WSOP is the introduction of a newly-created $10,000 'WSOP' casino chip, which will be accepted for registration and will likely see common use as the payout 'lammer' for satellite-qualifier winners. The new chip joins smaller Rio chip denominations, wire transfers, cashier's checks, credit-card cash advances and cash itself as acceptable payment methods for event

registration, accompanying payment forms that can now be found at the World Series of Poker online site. Pre-registration remains open until two weeks prior to the start of any given event. The updated rules also clarify third-party registrations as well, reading as follows: "Third-party registrations for players are not permitted unless submitted by Official WSOP Sponsors; Official WSOP promotions or product licensee, or civic, charitable, business, casino and other land-based entities officially licensed to conduct satellite tournaments for the 2007 WSOP. No third-party registrations will be accepted from online gaming sites conducting business with U.S. residents." Harrah's has also extensively revamped its apparel policy, complete with an explanation of exactly what types of '.com' advertising will remain off-limits. The comprehensive rules changes clearly represent a sweeping move to bring players' appearances more in line with corporate expectations. The start of the relevant section, Rule #34, offers this: "Tournament participants may wear apparel with multiple logos, patches or promotional language. However, no individual logo, patch or block of promotional language is to be larger than 12 square inches." The rule then provides a lengthy list of prohibited forms of logos, advertising, and general apparel. The two key prohibitions relating to online gambling sites are these: "(i) Advertise a dot.com gaming site that conducts business with U.S. residents." [such advertising is prohibited] "(k) In addition, all logos, patches, and promotional language for any dot.net website must contain a clear and visible 'dot.net' suffix at least the same size as the site name." Additional clauses place a ban on any beer or liquor advertising excepting title sponsor Milwaukee's Best Light or other Miller Brewing products; place a general ban on apparel referencing drugs, tobacco, firearms, pornography, other forms of gambling; ban certain types of 'commentary' clothing that could be considered injurious to other parties, and, of course, give the final say-so to Harrah's in any matter of dispute. The "twelve square inches" rule, allowing for such things as a 3" x 4" rectangular patch bearing a logo, effectively eliminates the jersey-style advertising so prevalent on the floor of the Amazon Room last year. However, the new clarifications pave the way for poker apparel to enter the modern world of corporate and business endorsements. The World Series of Poker's commissioner, Jeffery Pollack, served up this comment on the topic: "In recognition of the endorsement agreements that provide income to many poker players, we've liberalized our policy to allow tournament entrants to wear apparel with multiple logos and patches. There are some reasonable restrictions on what is permissible, but this is definitely a far more liberal, accommodating and player-friendly policy."

Sound of music at bettercasino

2007-02-28T17:09:00.000Z

Zero isn't always the most popular number on the roulette wheel but Bettercasino.com have a promotion on Tuesdays whereby if you back and win on zero you can enter their special draw for a 1gb Ipod Shuffle - capable of holding some 240 songs and it's the world's smallest digital music player.

It's a series of special offers for each day of the week where the prize draws include a 500 piece poker chip set, a 12 month subscription to Bluff Europe magazine and a three-month subscription to the Turftrax premium service for horse racing fans looking for an added edge.

At the weekends if you hit a full house on Jacks or Better - Video Poker then you get entry into a draw for a FREE £50 Bet at Better Sportsbook!

And don't forget if you haven't signed up at Bettercasino yet there is a GBP50 welcome bonus waiting for you at bettercasino.com.

Blackjack chart

2007-02-21T17:56:00.000Z

Below is the basic blackjack strategy for the typical rules found at online casinos. You may want to print a copy of the blackjack strategy for reference.

Your Hand Dealer's Up Card
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
5,6,7,8 H H H H H H H H H H
9 H D D D D H H H H H
10 D D D D D D D D H H
11 D D D D D D D D D H
12 H H S S S H H H H H
13,14 S S S S S H H H H H
15,16 S S S S S H H H H H
17,18,19,20 S S S S S S S S S S

Soft 13,14 H H H D D H H H H H
Soft 15,16 H H D D D H H H H H
Soft 17 H D D D D H H H H H
Soft 18 S D D D D S S H H H
Soft 19,20 S S S S S S S S S S

A-A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
2-2,3-3 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
4-4 H H H SP SP H H H H H
5-5 D D D D D D D D H H
6-6 SP SP SP SP SP H H H H H
7-7 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
8-8 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
9-9 SP SP SP SP SP S SP SP S S
10-10 S S S S S S S S S S

H=Hit, S=Stand, D=Double down, SP=Split

Florida Poker: Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track

2007-02-12T22:25:00.001Z

Once you get outside of the major poker hotspots of Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Atlantic City, it can be a little difficult to find a game. Indian casinos can offer some respite for poker players but, in most areas, it is verboten to even play the game. So when you have the opportunity to step to the felt for a game, you definitely have to take the time! Recently I was in Florida, which has been an interesting area of the poker spectrum. At the beginning of 2006, No Limit poker tournaments were ruled to be against the state law that limited betting to $2 increments in a limit format. The assorted Indian casinos and the dog tracks (where poker is a good deal of the attraction) abided by the

decision, albeit reluctantly. After much discussion, this decision was reversed later in the year and No Limit tournaments could be conducted in the licensed locations across the state. With all of this in mind, I decided to take a look at one of the local dog tracks where poker was offered and found a very vibrant poker scene, although there were some drawbacks. The Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track, located between the two cities, was bustling on the evening I was there. The age range ran the gamut from college aged men to an older crowd and there were also some good female players among the group. The poker room opens at noon every day and closes at a rather early midnight, but this is because of the shutdown of the dog track at the same hour (otherwise the poker players would probably stay all night!). The poker room carried (much to my surprise) twenty four tables which carried a variety of activity throughout the night and, amazingly, the poker room's glass enclosure prevented the sounds of the track from invading the space. There were many tables that carried differing games and, as I learned through the players there, the tournament action was substantial. Multi-table tournaments are offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and usually have a very large attendance. With a $45 buy-in (which is the case for all of the tournaments offered), this can allow for some rather large payouts to the final table finishers. On the particular night I was there (a Wednesday), the MTT brought out around 175 players for the 7PM tournament. There are special three table SNGs offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays for those in attendance and, finally, single table SNGs are offered during the hours of operation seven days a week. In addition to this action, there were cash games that abounded at the track. Because of the state laws limiting betting to $2 limits, the best game you will find in any official poker room in Florida is blinds of $1/$2. There are four bets to the cap preflop or afterwards but the betting limits cannot exceed $2, thus the max you can get in the hand on a betting round is $8 (you would normally see an increase to $4 limits on the turn and river in many other locations). The Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track does offer an assortment of games from normal Texas Hold 'Em to Omaha (both Hi and Hi/Lo) and Seven Card Stud (again, both the Hi and Hi/Lo versions). One interesting variation I found, though, was something that was called "Action" Hold 'Em. In this game, all players anted $2, with the blinds adding in their normal $1 and $2. After this, the game was normal Texas Hold 'Em (with the same betting restrictions) and the "action" part of the game comes into play. As was the case I found with most of the players there, normally everyone will stay in the pot due to the low limit nature of the game, even with hands that should have headed straight to the muck. It was not uncommon to hear the call of "Capped!" from the dealer on each street of certain hands as the players jostled for the pot. As you can imagine, this led to very sizeable pots and chip stack swings between the players! A skillful player would be able to work this game fairly well, but also would have to be prepared for some off the wall bad beats along the way. The rake was also quite high in comparison to the poker venues that most might have visited previously. In the single table SNGs, only two spots are paid ($220/$100) and the three table SNGs pay three spots ($500/$300/$160). This translates out to roughly a 29% juice as part of the $45 dollars paid, which is unbelievably high (it is normal to see upwards of 10% in many other poker arenas). The cash games are also a bit high on the rake, taking 10% of the pot up to $5, but I was definitely more surprised by the tournament vig. The blind structure of the SNGs was also a concern. With a starting chip stack of 2000, the blinds were set at 100/200 (a miniscule ten big blinds) and players only had fifteen minute levels to work with. This was done perhaps to move more SNGs through the room during the hours of play, but it would be good to see the skill of the game emphasized rather than the luck factor because one bad hand in the early going would leave you seriously depleted for battle. Even with all of this, though, I still enjoyed my visit with the Florida poker scene at the Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track. If you are looking for some poker action in the state and are nearby, it is worth the look. Just be prepared for some things to happen that you wouldn't normally see in a Las Vegas or Los Angeles poker room and you should be fine and do well. For more information on the action at the Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track, call (239) 992-2411.

Florida Poker: Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track

2007-02-12T22:25:00.000Z

Station Casino Management Make Buy Out Offer

2007-01-25T20:36:00.000Z

Station Casinos announced yesterday that it had received a buy-out bid of $82/share or $5.15 billion on December 2nd from its chairman and CEO, Frank Fertitta. The bidding investment group, Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, includes Frank Fertitta, his brother Lorenzo, president of Stations, and Colony Capital LLC. Additionally Delise Sartini (Fertitta's sister) and her husband Blake, former Station Casino CEO, have also provided equity funding for the bid. Station Casinos has appointed a committee of independent directors to evaluate the deal. The offer represents a 19% premium above Station's stock price on Friday. Station Casino stock was already trading up 17% this morning on the announcement. Publicly traded casino companies

are hot commodities these days. Previously unrecognized by Wall Street for their real estate valuation and great cash flow potential, casino properties have recently struck a chord with private equity firms. In October, Harrah's Entertainment received a $15.5 billion bid from two private equity firms representing a record breaking offer in the industry's history. Kirk Kerkorian's investment company Tracinda Corporation recently divested its long standing position in General Motors to up its majority ownership of MGM Mirage to 61.1 percent. While Tracinda has not made any formal statement about taking MGM private, the investment community is speculating that may be the case. The Station Casinos offer, however, puts a bit of a twist on current the casino buy-out trend. While many understand the motivation for management to potentially take the company private, avoiding the constant pressure of Wall Street expectations, a management-led buy-out introduces any number of conflict of interest issues. But unlike the Harrah's offer, where the private equity acquirers face many new regulatory hurdles, both the Fertitta family and Colony Capital are old hands at the gaming regulatory hoop. Although a private equity firm, Colony Capital has successfully acquired a number of casino operators and properties, including Harveys Casino Resorts, Resorts International AC, the Las Vegas Hilton and a number of Harrah's properties. While it is uncertain whether Fertitta's bid will pass the scrutiny of Station's advisory committee, the bid will clearly heat up the already hot rumors relative to other casino property buy-outs.

Poker and British Law

2007-01-12T08:33:00.000Z

Currently a trial is taking place about whether the Gut Shot Club in Clerkenwell is breaking the law by spreading poker and charging the players.

It partly hinges on whether poker is a game of chance and gambling or a game of skill. There is little doubt it is all of these. Poker is clearly a game of great skill. But in the short term there is a considerable luck element. The prosecutor is talking nonsense when he states that shuffling the cards means therefore the game is one of chance. Bridge would be regarded as gambling under this criterion and that battle was won over 20 years ago.

Winning poker players do not want the court to rule that poker is solely a game of skill. If that were the conclusion, players would eventually become subject to tax on their winnings. That would be a disaster.

The truth is that poker is unlike other casino games and it should not be lumped together with roulette, slot machines, craps or punto banco. Professionals should want the game to be regulated intelligently by the government - but not as an uneasy bedfellow with the casino games.

Friday Nite on the Strip, Part III: Wynn, Venetian and Paris

2007-01-11T18:42:00.000Z

I began this Friday night on the East Side of Las Vegas Boulevard in the high rent district. The plan was to park at the Wynn and stroll down the Strip to The Venetian and Paris. After some ring game play, I would reverse course and catch the rooms again in the midnight hour. I want to say something here about 'the best laid plans on a Friday night in Las Vegas' but what happens in Vegas often gets forgotten in Vegas.

At 7 PM the poker room at the Wynn was already hopping. There were eight no-limit tables in action with blinds from $1/$3 up to $10/$20 and the interest list for the $25/$50 NL game was getting close to a full table. Limit tables ran from $4/$8 to $30/$60 and the $60/$120 games was beginning to draw signups. One of the standard games at The Wynn is a $10/$20 Omaha8 and it was full with a short wait list. By far the longest wait list was for the $30/$60 mixed game, I watched that game for awhile and confirmed the rumors that "gamble" was the operative word in this mix. Resisting temptation to join the line of players taking seats, I moved out through the Winter Wonderland that is the Wynn's holiday entrance to the crisp Las Vegas evening full of tourists and poker seekers.

A brisk walk south down the 'Las Vegas Construction Zone' that is the central Strip these days takes us to the Venetian and its new poker room. If you have ever enjoyed the décor or space or ambience of a poker room then image all of these great qualities in one room. Nine tables of NLHE were in play by 8 PM, evenly spread among $1/$2, $2/$5 and $5/$10. Plenty of $4/$8 limit games were going but the only other interest list was for $40/$80 limit. There seems to be gap in the player pool at the Venetian; the mid-limit games are simply missing and the big Stud game was not to be found. Perhaps it was just too early for the Canal Walk players to be hitting the felt. Maybe later?

Another long Las Vegas Boulevard block brings me to Paris and a room in transition. Right now the poker space at Paris is out in the middle of the casino floor. However, as with so many rooms there is a new space in the near future. Paris should have its new room operational within 60 days. For now the room is nearly full but not with ring games. Paris has the most interesting tournament schedule in all of Las Vegas; here they run a NLHE event every two hours. Yes, there are 12 tournaments a day in Paris, actually 13 with the daily 7 PM Omaha event. NLHE tournaments begin on the "odd half hour" at 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 -- take two drinks and repeat. So there is always a tournament going and the ring games are full of players who have busted from that tournament or who are waiting for the next one. Tonight this was exactly the case with the 7 PM tournament down to three tables and the 9 PM just about to start and closing all of the cash games as the players took their tournament seats. Wait two hours and repeat.

And wouldn't you know it; there was a seat open in that 9 PM Paris tournament. So after my kings were not liberated and my time in Paris was drawn out; I made my way back north to Venetian where the action had picked up but still low limit with the $40/$80 game still looking for a few more players. The Wynn was buzzing at midnight, both high and low limit were full and the mixed game had grown to two tables.

Was this the end of another Friday night on the Strip? Play or call it a night? Play or call it a night? Oh look, is that the sun coming up?

Poker Room Review: Red Rock Casino, Las Vegas

2006-12-21T19:06:00.000Z

Post a comment The poker room in Las Vegas that everyone is talking about is the room at Red Rock, clearly the best and brightest of the new Off-the-Strip rooms. Red Rock is, in fact, on a par with some of the best of the big rooms on Las Vegas Boulevard. It is worth the trip out Charleston Blvd. to see what is arguably the best of the 'outer ring' casinos. Take some time to have a drink at the very classy and very well appointed Lucky Bar and do not miss the barbeque at Salt Lick, all the way from Austin the "Q" stands up to the Texas original, or so my Austin buddies tell me. Red Rock is simply a great casino and what would you expect from a great casino but an equally great poker room.

Park right off of the 215 West at Charleston and pull into the lot, park near the entrance to Salt Lick and you will walk right into the poker room. The kiosk log-in will get you on one or more waiting lists in less than 30 seconds and you are ready to play some poker. There is an interesting mix of games spread at Red Rock. The standard of the room is a $4/$8 limit hold'em, which comes complete with a half kill. On nearly any weekday night there will be 3 or more of these tables up and running. Generally speaking there will also be a table of $6/$12 limit, also with the half kill and plenty of $1/$2 and $2/$5 no limit. They do spread a $2/$4 limit game without the kill and usually also with multiple tables.

Unlike many rooms that say they will open an Omaha game, the Red Rock has a very strong Omaha-8 following and there will always be one table and often two running. I would add that the Omaha hi-lo game is often a high, even a very high volatility game. On my last visit, early on a Tuesday evening, there were several $200+ pots and many more $100+ pots in this game in just my first hour. The Omaha-8 is spread at $4/$8 with a half kill on scooped pots over $30.

Red Rock does not run any tournaments (they don't have to) the room always has action. Oh by the way, one little warning; the weekend at Red Rock often means a full room but the turnover is usually fairly brisk and waits are not long.

Also Red Rock is one of the Station Casino Group, which means they participate in the largest running Bad Beat Jackpot in Las Vegas. The Jackpot almost always is over $100,000 and when it hits everyone playing in any Station card room at a hold'em table gets a piece of the action. Last time each player took home about $300 with the actual loser of the bad beat hand getting $45,000 and the winner $25,000. The Omaha-8 games also have an in-house Bad Beat, which was about $7,000 for a quad jacks or better beat.

Unlike many of the 'neighborhood' or non-Strip card rooms, the tables are Red Rock are not generally filled with rocks. Although the daytime play is a bit more conservative than it is when the sun goes down (and the drinks go up); this is not a locals only room, there are many tourists staying at Red Rock and a good many poker players from around the area and around the country who are taking at least one shot at the Rock while in Las Vegas. The action in the Red Rock poker room is quite good at most of the tables up and down the limits.

I like the room at Red Rock and make a point of playing it on a regular basis; I recommend you do the same.

Lotto: Ticket sellers 6 times more likely to win

2006-12-14T22:45:00.000Z

Lotto players don’t like their odds.

Residents don’t like their odds when purchasing lottery tickets from B.C. retailers. People selling lottery tickets are six times more likely to win a jackpot than the general public, according to internal B.C. Lottery Corp. documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun.

Abbie Merkley, a receptionist, said she finds “the whole lottery thing is a little bit shady.” But, she added that retailers winning more often than most won’t deter her from buying tickets. BCLC spokesperson Paul Smith said the corporation is considering turning 70 per cent of its retail distribution sites into self-serve ticket machines in 2007. When asked about the alleged discrepancies between lotto retailer wins and the general population, Smith said winners of prizes over $10,000 are carefully screened. BCLC is currently conducting a review of its lottery system. BCLC says self-serve machines currently being considered.

Source: Metro Vancouver

Friday Night on the Strip

2006-11-30T20:39:00.000Z

So you are coming to Las Vegas for a weekend and want to play some poker? With all the new and old card rooms—where should you play? This is part one of a series which will take a look at what is actually going on at each and every one of the poker rooms on the Las Vegas Strip on a typical Friday night. For our first "Friday Night on the Strip" I started at the southern most end of the Las Vegas Boulevard where I began injecting, inspecting, detecting and rejecting the card rooms at: Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, and Tropicana. Here is what the action and inaction looked like in these four poker rooms on a recent Friday Nite. Mandalay Bay I began and finished my evening at Mandalay Bay. You

gotta park the car somewhere, and with the tram from Mandalay to Luxor and on to Excalibur and then an over-the-Strip walkway to Tropicana, I was not going to get a lot of exercise between casinos tonight. Mandalay Bay has a ten table room which at 7:30 had nine tables in action. Like nearly all of the small and medium size rooms in Las Vegas these days, the action was 'all Hold'em all the time.' Limit and No-Limit, of course, and all of the tables were low-limit, nothing over $4/$8. Also like most of the rooms on the weekend, the tables are filled with players staying at the property. At Mandalay Bay about 70% of the players were staying on site, another 20% were staying at nearby properties and less than 10% were locals who consider this room to be their own private fishing hole. This split of players is fairly typical of many rooms. This means that some players at nearly every table know each other and are in Las Vegas to enjoy themselves. On this night I played three different tables at Mandalay Bay and played with two couples from Chicago and an entire family of four from Atlanta. A bit surprisingly, the action was actually a lot tougher after midnight when usually the alcohol factor has set in. The room was full by 11 PM and the wait for a seat got as long as 30 minutes by midnight. Luxor Just a short tram ride or a moving sidewalk away is the Luxor poker room, but these two rooms (Mandalay & Luxor) are nothing alike. Again, it's all Hold'em at the Luxor but they spread an interesting No-Limit game. The buy-in in $50 maximum with $1/$1/$2 blinds. Basically, this is a no fold'em Hold'em no-limit game and there were plenty of tables going on Friday night. You can only rebuy if you go bust, so any short stacks are pushing with borderline hands to either get back in the game or rebuy back to $50. These are very loose games, which make the room a lot of fun to play if you like loose and loose-aggressive games. No-limit with a low buy-in is a strange concept to get used to and many of the players never do. I walked the room around 11 PM and found only one player at any of the no-limit tables with a stack larger than $200. There was also a lot of table talk at the Luxor tables, about poker, about politics, about sex: "The Luxor ['working girls'] have better bodies than those at MGM." I am only quoting here, I have no evidence to offer a personal opinion. Excalibur Next it was on to Excalibur. The first thing you will notice at Excalibur is a lot more local players. The old room here was a local favorite for many years and the property still draws a fair number of locals. One reason is the $2/$6 spread limit game. There is a real added skill in having the option to "make it six" anytime. Also the room at the Excalibur seems to have a faster turnover; a fair number of players are sitting down for short sessions and the turnover makes for less reads and more cards-only play. On most nights at the Excalibur the games are a bit more conservative than at the more tourist oriented rooms, so if your game is tight and right, this may be the room for you. Tropicana Many rooms have become all Hold'em; the Tropicana has become all no-limit Hold'em. The only game dealt in the six table Trop room is $1/$2 no-limit Hold'em. Rumors are that the big face-lift in store for the Tropicana casino will include a new poker room but until then this is a small and quiet room with generally only one or two tables in action and several long-time players who make a living in this tropical pond. If you need no-limit lessons, you can get them here but you will pay.

Mansion Poker is Pouring Money Into Player's Bankrolls

2006-11-20T15:19:00.000Z

Since the dawn of the online poker age, no online poker room has launched to more fanfare than Mansion Poker. The company has pulled out all the stops to get players attention, and add value to their bankrolls. The company has a weekly television show in the U.S., broadcast from its own state of the art TV poker facility – the Poker Dome. Now, the company has taken its 'add to player value' philosophy to a new level. Between December 4th, and January 1st, Mansion is adding $250,000 to the prize pools of tournaments. This isn't $50 added to a bunch of different tournaments, either, this is at least $5,000 added to one tournament each day, every day until the first day of the new year. There are

no 'catches' to this promotion – anyone can enter the tournaments, and the added money is there for the taking. Mansion will add $5,000 to its 7:00pm (U.S. Pacific Time) $50+5 buy in tournament on December 4th, and won't look back from there. Each Sunday during the promotion, Mansion will add $10,000 to its 7:00pm (Pacific) $100+9 tournament. Each Monday during the promotion, Mansion will add $20,000 to its 7:00pm $200+15 buy in tournament. This all leads up to the big $300+20 buy in tournament on January 1st, where Mansion will add $30,000 to the prize pool. The fields for these tournaments will not have thousands of players in them, either. A good percentage of the prize pool will be added money, so the value to players is really high. Sign Up today, and take advantage of this big offer. Can't wait until Dec 4th? You're in luck. On December 3rd at 9:00pm GMT, Mansion are hosting an Aussie Millions Super Satellite with a $300+20 buy in that guarantees seven packages that are valued at $14,000 each. Each package includes an entry into the tournament, $2,500 for travel, AND 12 nights hotel accommodation. Mansion has far and away the best Aussie Millions package of any site out there. It's also very likely that there will be an overlay in the Aussie Millions satellite. Mansion have come out swinging from day one to try and get players the most value of any room out there, and its clear with this new promotion, they aren't going to let up any time soon.

Poker Room Review – Binions

2006-11-13T08:36:00.000Z

Binions, formerly The Horseshoe and/or Binion's Horseshoe, in downtown Las Vegas is the most recognized poker room in the United States, if not the entire world. For the first 30 years Binions was the home of the World Series of Poker but the Binions of old is not the Binions of today. Sure lots of poker players make the trek to this revered poker mecca when they travel to Las Vegas. We all have "played at Binions" just to say we have. The room itself is still dark and often dank. The dealers still have an average age of at least seventy-four and bad behavior at the tables is treated with a decidedly less politically correct attitude than in the kinder, gentler corporate casinos. But Binions, too, is a changin'. Today

Binions is all about hold'em and even more all about tournament hold'em. On a normal day they hold four tournaments. The events are $60 buy-ins and go off at 10 AM, 2 PM, 8 PM and 2 AM. The 8 PM event gets boosted to $125 on the weekend. On the first Sunday of every month the winners of each daily event meet in a Tournament of Champions event for the previous month. But that's not all! For the next year (Oct. 2006-Sept. 2007), the Ultimate Poker Challenge runs at Binions every Saturday, Sunday and Monday. This tournament is in addition to the regularly scheduled daily events. On Saturday and Sunday the UPC is a $340 NLHE event, the Monday tournament is a $660 buy-in. The events have been drawing crowds in the 125-150 range and the televised final table goes off the very next day. That's right! A TV final table is taped at Binions every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The Ultimate Poker Challenge is the quickest, fastest way to get your face on the tube squeezing out a pair of pocket rockets. The TV face time also draws name professionals to the Binions events on a regular basis, look for familiar faces in the Monday event every week and less often in the Saturday and Sunday tournaments. I did spend an hour sitting across from Kenna James this past Saturday. There is a less than two week delay between the taping and first air-time, so play today and be semi-famous tomorrow. Sure there are still cash games spread at Binions but you had better want hold'em. Limit and no-limit hold'em are spread 24/7. The games range for the always available $2/$4 and $4/$8 to a $10/$20 game that goes off most nights and, of course, a wide range of games on the weekend. The No-Limit action tends to be at the $1/$2 tables but $5/$10 is also available and is sometimes a big, big game. Even though you can get the brush to start an interest list on any game you name; I have not seen an Omaha or Stud game at Binions in any of my recent visits. This is not Benny Binion's room anymore but the good news is that it's not Becky's either. Major upgrades are under way. The new mahogany floor is going in, new carpeting is on the way and to the dismay of olde timers the red flocked wall paper will be gone by the new year; rumors have it that an "establishment" in Pahrump has bought the wall paper for their "All-In" theme room. A brand new sports book will open November 16th, right in the poker room. All of these changes and upgrades mean the Binions poke room is now 35 tables including the permanent Ultimate Poker Challenge TV final table set-up. The room, in fact the entire end of the building, is non-smoking. One final note on playing at Binions. While I would not call the games fishy. I will say that it is still true that many players in town for poker, vacation or business still like to say they have visited and played at the historic Binion's on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. This is true of the low-limit cash games but it is also happens to some extent in the tournaments and not just the $60 buy-ins. Last weekend I played the UPC events on Saturday and Sunday, I can say without hesitation that these were not the types of fields one might expect to encounter on the way to a television appearance. That being said, you will notice I am not announcing any broadcasts dates for my final table.

The Ayn Rand Institute Weighs in on the Online Gambling Bill

2006-11-04T08:51:00.000Z

It should come as no surprise that the Ayn Rand Institute has formally weighed in against the UIGEA. In a press release issued this month, executive director Dr. Yaron Brook called the measure "an infringement on our rights." The Ayn Rand Institute is a non profit organization that provides outreach and educational programs that are synergistic with the philosophies of Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was a novelist-philosopher best known for her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and the creator of the philosophy of Objectivism. Like her novels, Objectivism celebrates man's rational self-interest, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism. The institute's position relative to the UIGEA is consistent with its views

on the role of government. In her book, The Virtue of Selfishness, Rand wrote, "Since the protection of individual rights is the only proper purpose of a government, it is the only proper subject of legislation: all laws must be based on individual rights and aimed at their protection." The Institute's press release went on to say, "Why do supporters of the law deny individuals the freedom to spend their hard-earned money on gambling? Because, they say, people will bet and lose more than they can afford. In other words, individuals are inherently incapable of making rational decisions, and thus it is the government's job to protect us from ourselves. This vicious, paternalistic idea has no place in a free society." While Rand's individual-centric philosophy is applicable to many regulatory laws and issues, its ideology is particularly salient to the discussion of online poker. In many ways poker is the perfect Objectivism gambling metaphor. Rand would have argued that altruism is as misplaced in society as we know it to be at the poker table. As a poker player, our goal is to insure our own personal success. While poker rarely makes society's short list of moral activities, Rand would have disagreed. She felt that a person's "pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life." While anti-UIGEA sentiment has been expressed by a number of unlikely sources, The Ayn Rand Institute's position is as expected as a minimum of five pre-flop callers in a low limit hold'em game.

Genting's takeover of Stanley - Is it good news ?

2006-10-27T16:40:00.000+01:00

It's the most dramatic development in the British casino industry for a generation with roughly a third of Britain's operations passing into Malaysian ownership.Around 5,000 gaming and non gaming staff will be directly affected by the deal.So the latest Poll question on Gamingfloor.com is...Will the takeover of Stanley Leisure by Genting International be good for the British Casino industry ?I thought carefully about the answers and came up with...Yes - New Player, New money, New ideasHopefully - Fingers crossedNo - Things were fine just as they wereThere are of course dozens of other possible answers !So what do you think. Is the takeover (going to be) good or bad news ?Your thoughts are very welcome.