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Archive for December, 2010
Friday, December 31st, 2010
With poker players flocking to Florida in droves since the state expanded their gaming industry to include higher buy-in poker games, and with the new surge of players the casino industry in Florida has been trying to keep up with the practically overnight influx of new players, many looking for poker games.
One such casino that has seized upon the opportunity is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, Florida. The casino has closed its 8,000 sq. ft. poker room –replacing the poker tables with new slot machines– and opened an even larger, more modern, 10,000 sq. ft. poker room.
The new poker room opened in the days leading up to Christmas, and players were treated to a number of promotions like free T-Shirts and prizes, and a special $100,000 freeroll tournament for the higher volume players who qualified during November.
The new poker room features a separated high-limit area, a full service bar, new cashier cages, and strategically placed 60” TV’s around the room. Players will also have access to an outdoor smoking area, and like all other Hard Rock’s around the world the Tampa poker room will feature an assortment of musical memorabilia.
Now that the limits on buy-ins and pot sizes have been lifted in Florida expect more casinos to expand their poker areas, which has turned into a major draw for new players and high-rollers – Full poker rooms are also a necessity when it comes to attracting major poker tournaments to your casino.
Tags: Free T Shirts, Hard Rock Casino, Hard Rock Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, Hard Rock Hotel And Casino In Tampa, High Rollers, Musical Memorabilia, New Slot Machines, Poker Games, Poker Players, Poker Room, Poker Rooms, Poker Tables, Poker Tournaments, Pot Sizes, Seminole Hard Rock, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, Smoking Area, Will Also Have Access
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Friday, December 31st, 2010
When a European Union court declared Germany’s current national gambling monopoly illegal in September it appeared the country’s massive online gaming market would finally be legalized and opened up to private companies, but thus far the individual states in Germany are fighting hard to retain control of their lottery monopolies –which means excluding online gaming.
EU law states that member countries cannot exclude other member states, or companies located within those countries, from offering their services to residents –thereby creating a monopoly.
According to egrmagazine.com, the European Court of Justice ruling stated:
that although monopolistic restrictions on the freedom of private internet operators to offer sports bets under EU law could be justified “by imperative reasons” in the public interest, “the German rules do not limit games of chance in a consistent and systematic manner.”
There are still a number of details to iron out in the case, perhaps the most contentious being, the statement by the court that: “[S]uch a monopoly is likely to overcome the risks connected with the gaming industry more effectively than a system under which private operators are authorised to organise bets subject to compliance with the relevant legislation.”
Which in laymen’s terms means that if a state-controlled monopoly can better control the industries compliance with laws than it is acceptable –i.e. protect underage and problem gamblers, and so on.
Tags: Court Of Justice, Games Of Chance, Gaming Industry, Gaming Market, German Rules, Internet Operators, Law States, Laymen, Member Countries, Monopolies, Monopoly, National Gambling, Private Companies, Private Internet, Private Operators, Problem Gamblers, Relevant Legislation, Sports Bets, Systematic Manner, Uch
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Friday, December 31st, 2010
After the brazen robbery that saw a helmeted man hijack a craps table at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and make off with over $1 million in casino chips, the world-famous casino has announced it will be eliminating the $25k chips it uses.
The thief was already going to have serious issues cashing in the $25k chips –which made up the bulk of his haul—considering cashing in a $25k chip (or multiple ones) raises a number of red flags and requires identification which is then cross-checked with your casino activity, and with Bellagio taking the chips out of circulation it will be even harder.
High-stakes players have until April 22, 2011 to cash in their $25k chips at the Bellagio, after which point the chips will be valueless. There is no word yet if the Bellagio will commission a new version of the $25k chip in the future, or just do away with the high-end chip entirely.
Many top poker players store these large denomination chips in their safety deposit boxes at the casino in an effort to save space –and to avoid IRS issues; they also are helpful for players who participate in high-buy-in games, since it’s much simpler to walk through a casino with 8-10 $25k chips in your pocket than a quarter of million dollar in cash.
The Bellagio thief is still at large, and has been implicated in at least one other casino robbery.
Tags: 1 Million, Bellagio Casino, Casino Chips, Casino Robbery, Circulation, Craps Table, Denomination, Dollar, Games, High Stakes, Irs Issues, Las Vegas, Poker Players, Red Flags, Safety Deposit Boxes, Thief, Vegas Nevada
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Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour, better known as the ANZPT, has been a huge success for PokerStars over its first two seasons, so much so that the recently released Season 3 schedule has a total of 8 stops slated for 2011.
Thus far five of the eight stops have been finalized, with three other stops still ironing out the final details. The only detail known regarding the ANZPT Melbourne, Darwin, and Queensland tournament series is the host casino: Buy-ins and dates are still to be determined for the events. Here is a look at the PokerStars ANZPT schedule for Season 3 as it stands right now:
· ANZPT Adelaide: Adelaide Casino
AUD $2,400 buy-in
February 2nd to 6th, 2011
· ANZPT Perth: Burswood Casino
AUD $2,500 buy-in
March 23rd to 27th, 2011
· ANZPT Sydney: Star City Casino
AUD $2,200 buy-in
April 13th to 17th, 2011
· ANZPT Gold Coast: Jupiters Hotel & Casino
AUD $2,500 buy-in
May 17th to 22nd, 2011
· ANZPT Canberra: Casino Canberra
AUD $2,200 buy-in
June 10th to 13th, 2011
· ANZPT Queenstown: SkyCity Queenstown
TBD
· ANZPT Melbourne: Crown Melbourne
TBD
· ANZPT Darwin: SkyCity Darwin
TBD
PokerStars may want to reconsider naming the tour the “Tony Hachem ANZPT” considering the brother of 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem has won the Player of the Year award on the tour in both Season 1 and 2!
For more information on Season 3 of the PokerStars.net ANZPT head on over to PokerStars.com.
Tags: 2005 Wsop Main Event Champion, Adelaide Casino, Burswood Casino, Casino Canberra, February 2nd, Gold Coast, Ins, Joe Hachem, Jupiters, March 23rd, Melbourne, Perth, PokerStars, Queensland, Season 1, Season 3, Skycity Darwin, Star City Casino, Two Seasons, Wsop Main Event
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Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
In the completely out of the blue category, Lee Jones has announced he is leaving Cake Poker over recent strategic decisions the site’s management has made. Jones disclosure came on the 2+2 poker forums where he posted the following in the “Cake Poker Feedback Thread”:
“This is a brief announcement to let you know that, as of yesterday, I have resigned my position at Cake Poker and will not be making any further posts here. Their management has made some strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable.”
Jones later told PokerNewsDaily: “I’m just not comfortable with some of the decisions that the Cake management was making… I have a couple of irons in the fire. I certainly have every intention of staying in the poker business, so I’ll have to see what pans out.”
Following Jones out the door will be Cake Poker tournament director Serge Ravitch, better known to the poker world as adanthar. Ravitch joined the Cake Poker team after he was an integral part of uncovering, and sorting out, the Super-User scandals at Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, and is considered one of the best online poker tournament directors in the industry. Ravitch reiterated Jones initial sentiments, saying, “It sincerely pains me to say that, for the same reasons, I am also no longer affiliated with Cake in any way. I wish them the best of luck going forward.”
As of yet, there has been no word from Cake Poker on the departure of two high-profile members of upper management, and Jones and Ravitch have been unwilling to go into any greater detail in the matter.
Tags: absolute poker, Best Of Luck, Disclosure, Feedback, Forums, Intention, Irons In The Fire, Online Poker Tournament, Out Of The Blue, Poker World, Ravitch, Scandals, Sentiments, Serge, Strategic Decisions, Tournament Director, Tournament Directors, Ultimate Bet, Upper Management
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Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Christmas 2010 will hold extra meaning for UB Poker pro Annie Duke and her longtime boyfriend, actor Joe Reitman, considering Joe popped the question to Annie over the holidays. Duke reported the news via her Twitter account, with the simple yet completely transparent statement of: “I said Yes!” The accompanying picture of the two, with Annie showing off some bling on the ring finger of her left hand corroborated the tweet.
The two have been together for a number of years –following Reitman’s divorce from actress/poker player Shannon Elizabeth in 2005.
Duke is considered one of the top poker players in the world with her resume including a WSOP bracelet, a Tournament of Champions victory, and a NBC National Heads-Up Championship. Duke became a mainstream face for poker following her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice where she clashed with Joan Rivers all the way to the show’s finale.
Reitman has had parts in numerous television shows and movies, including American Pie 2, The Perfect Storm, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and has recently started doing work behind the camera as a writer, producer, and director. Reitman’s poker resume is obviously less impressive than Duke’s, but he does have three WSOP cashes to his credit, as well as a $266,000 score in the UB Poker $1 million guaranteed tournament from back in 2006.
Tags: American Pie, American Pie 2, Annie Duke, Cashes, Celebrity Apprentice, Director Reitman, Jay And Silent Bob, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, Joan Rivers, Joe Reitman, National Heads Up Championship, Nbc National Heads Up Championship, Perfect Storm, Poker Player, Poker Players, Ring Finger, Shannon Elizabeth, Silent Bob Strike, Tournament Of Champions, Tweet
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Monday, December 27th, 2010
From January 5th through the 30th players at Party Poker have the opportunity to win $1,000,000 simply by collecting Party Points. The popular online poker room has brought back the Party Poker Million Dollar Hand promotion which rewards players with a random ‘card’ for every 15 Party Points they collect, and can be redeemed for cash prizes.
At any time during the promotion you may cash-in a 5-card poker hand for a cash prize, provided the hand contains at least a pair or better – the better the hand the higher the cash value you will receive. Any player lucky enough to collect a Royal Flush will be in for a very nice prize: $1,000,000!
The $1 million jackpot will be divided between every player who cashes in a Royal Flush during the promotion’s time period, so if five players have redeemed a Royal Flush they will each pocket a cool $200,000.
Here is a look at the cash prizes for each redeemed hand (remember you must cash in FIVE cards to win a prize):
Acquired poker hand Cash prize paid
Royal flush $1 million
Straight flush $10,000
Four of a kind $1,000
Full house $150
Flush $100
Straight $50
Three of a kind $20
Two pair $10
Pair $3
Party Poker is also giving every registered player with a real money account a single card free to begin the promotion, so you may only be 60 Party Points away from your share of $1 million!
Tags: 1 Million, Card Poker, Cards, Cash Prize, Cash Prizes, Cool 200, Dollar, Full House, Jackpot, Money Account, Nice Prize, online poker, Party Poker, Poker Hand, Poker Million, Poker Room, Random Card, Real Money, Royal Flush, Time Period
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Monday, December 27th, 2010
Tom ‘KingsofCards’ Marchese has officially locked up one of the most prestigious awards in all of poker, the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award, which is given to the top live tournament player of the year.
Marchese, a tournament rookie in 2010, was able to consistently churn out cash after cash and make an impressive 11 final tables on his way to the POY award, as well as capturing the inaugural PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Main Event which took place at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Here is a look at Marchese’s major cashes in 2010:
· 3rd place in the $3,300 Borgata Winter Open for $190,027
· 1st place in the $5,000 NAPT Venetian Main Event for $827,648
· 4th place in the $5,000 NLHE tournament at the Wynn Classic for $73,356
· 4th place in the $25k High-Roller tournament at the EPT Grand Final for $350,125
· 6th place in the $10k Pot Limit Holdem Championship at the WSOP for $123,264
· 7th place in the $5,000 EPT London Main Event for $156,490
· 3rd place in the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Open Championship for $211,759
· 1st place in the $1,000 NLHE tournament at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic for $45,958
In all, Marchese cashed for an astounding $2,114,491 in 2010 according to thehendonmob.com database.
Marchese overtook Dwyte Pilgrim in late October, and was able to cruise across the finish-line, leaving Pilgrim over 1,100 points in his wake by the close of 2010.
Tags: American Poker, Card Player Magazine, Cashes, Doyle Brunson, Finish Line, High Roller, Main Event, Marchese, Open Championship, Pilgrim, Pot Limit, Poy, Prestigious Awards, Tournament Player, Vegas Nevada, Venetian, World Poker, WPT, WSOP, Wynn
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Friday, December 24th, 2010
While it is not the full schedule of events, Harrah’s did release a preliminary schedule for the 2011 World Series of Poker, including the Main Event dates, as well as the total number of tournaments that will take place.
The 2011 WSOP will begin on Tuesday, May 31st, and will run through July 19th –when the final table of the WSOP Main Event will be finalized. The tournament series will run for a total of 50 days.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the WSOP will once again be played at the Rio All Suites, not at Caesars Palace or another Harrah’s property. In the press release from Harrah’s the company maintained their commitment to keep the WSOP at the Rio: “The event, as has been its norm since 2005, will continue to be held in the Convention Center of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.”
The press release also revealed an interesting twist in the structure of the 2011 WSOP tournaments, introducing “Hard Stop-Times”. No longer will tournaments play-down to a certain number, instead each day will play 10 levels and then end, as the press release stated: “Once 10 levels have been completed, remaining players will have their chips bagged and tagged and return the next day to continue on in the tournament. Regardless of how many players remain in a tournament, hard stop times will be enforced after 10 levels of play.”
Tags: Caesars Palace, Chips, Contrary, Harrah, July 19th, Las Vegas, Norm, Press Release, Rio All Suite Hotel, Rio All Suite Hotel And Casino, Series Of Poker, Vegas Nevada, World Series, World Series Of Poker, Wsop Main Event
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Friday, December 24th, 2010
Even though Isaac Haxton beat the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro to the tune of $41,000 over their 2,500 hand session of $50/$100 No Limit Holdem, the man who goes by the handle of ‘philivey2268’ on PokerStars had nothing but kind words for the defeated Isildur1, telling the PokerStars.com blog:
“No one has ever more consistently made me miserable when playing against them, I guess I’d put (Phil) Ivey in second for that, but it’s honestly not that close. Isildur’s brand of over the top–but carefully balanced–aggression is unlike anything I’ve played against and really takes me out of my comfort zone in a lot of situations… As someone who’s probably played half a million hands of high stakes HUNL, that’s saying something.”
Most of Isildir1’s opponents over the past year have echoed Haxton’s thoughts when asked about the mysterious high-stakes poker player from Sweden –including Patrik Antonius in an Interview with Phil Gordon which can be found over at the Full Tilt Poker Academy.
So the question remains; why does Isildur1 constantly lose? His losses seem to come from a combination of, tilt, a disdain for his opponents, and possibly a lack of work ethic away from the tables (based on his comments of how “lucky” his opponents are).
What did Isildur1 have to say about Haxton? Well, the mystery man threw a couple of bombs Haxton’s way, telling the PokerStars Blog, “I want to play this guy again, because I didn’t feel he was so good… I dont think he deserved to win.”
Tags: Aggression, Antonius, Bombs, Com Blog, Comfort Zone, Disdain, Full Tilt Poker, Half A Million, High Stakes Poker, Isaac Haxton, Isildur, Losses, Mystery Man, Opponents, Phil Ivey, Poker Player, Pokerstars Blog, Sweden, Work Ethic
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