Judge deals blow to online poker players

Game enthusiasts tried to get gambling ban overturned

A King County judge Thursday upheld a state law that bans Internet gambling in a widely watched case filed by a Renton poker player.

Lee Rousso had argued that the 2006 law, which made Internet gambling a felony, violates the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause and is cruel and unusual punishment. After the hearing, he relayed Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts’ decision to roughly 70 disappointed poker enthusiasts gathered for a rally outside the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

“That’s just the way the game is played,” said Rousso, an attorney. “The court of law is probably the biggest casino there is.” He promised an appeal.

The crowd included men who live with their parents, women with college-age children, parents with sleeping infants, and poker celebrities who showered the crowd with autographs. Most in the group wore crimson T-shirts proclaiming, “POKER is not a crime.”

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Poker: Know how to read your opponent’s bet

How you interpret the size of an opponent’s bet, especially in relation to his stack at certain points in a tournament, can give you the chance to take down a pot or tell you to get away from a loser.

Marcel Luske read it right at the $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas’ Bellagio in 2007.

With blinds at $2,000-$4,000 plus a $500 ante, players neared the money bubble, the point where those remaining in the event finish in the money, allowing aggressive players to take advantage of those who fear risk.

After a player in middle position raised to $12,000, Luske looked down to find 10-9 offsuit in the big blind. Owning a considerably bigger stack, Luske called the additional $8,000.

“The guy is not strong enough in chips to make a move,” Luske said. “In the bubble position, it’s very hard for people to play hands when they’re not that strong in chips.”

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World Series of Poker Main Event changing

The World Series of Poker, poker’s most prestigious event, will kick off in a few short weeks. The WSOP features world championships in various forms of the game, all leading up to the granddaddy of them all, the $10,000 buy-in Main Event.

This year, however, the Main Event will be just a little bit different.

Harrah’s, the operator of the WSOP, with input from the Players Advisory Council, decided to postpone the final table of the Main Event until Nov. 9 a delay of more than three months. That’s right; more than 7,000 players will start play on July 3 and battle down to the final nine on July 14, at which time play will come to a stop.

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PokerTime Goes Private

PokerTime will start to go private, with the aim of becoming a completely private Poker Room in the near future. However, they will continue to use Microgaming’s tried-and-trusted software as they believe that it is the very best available.

From 15 May 2008, all of their Hold‘Em tables with stakes of $1/$2 and below will move onto a private network. At this point, nothing will change with regards to their high-stakes tables.

“By moving our small-stakes tables onto a private network we’ll be able to immediately add value to our mass market. Our focus will be on successfully growing this community,” explains James Grant, Customer Relationship Manager of PokerTime.

This move will enable PokerTime to add value to their players in the form of bigger and better exclusive promotions, including higher-paying bonuses and more private tournaments.

It’s anticipated that such offerings will favourably differentiate PokerTime from other Poker Rooms on the Microgaming Network. Yet their players will still have access to the best of the Microgaming tournaments and software, but with the added luxury of playing in private environment. “In essence, we’ll be giving them the best of both worlds,” concludes Grant.

Tournament Winners: FTOPS VIII - Events 12, 13 and 14

Full Tilt Poker’s 8th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS VIII) crowned three more 1st place victors Tuesday, dealing out impressive prize pools that totaled more than $1.1 million. The winners, “DaEvils”, “the aviator1” and “dud711”, were each awarded with a gold FTOPS VIII jacket and gold FTOPS VIII custom avatar.

FTOPS VIII – Event #12
The first event of the day turned out to be the biggest, starting as a $200 + $16 NL Hold’em with one re-buy, one add-on and a guaranteed prize pool of $300. Hosted by Full Tilt Pro and 2007 WSOP final table finisher Lee Watkinson, an enormous field of entrants eventually jumped the GP up to $455,200.

As the tournament dwindled, Steve Berhcer was the only member of team Full Tilt to cash, taking 18th place and $1547 for his efforts, but it was “DaEvils” and “DERAJ21” who went heads-up at the final table. The skilled game play of “DaEvils” turned out to be too much for “DERAJ21”, hitting the rails in 2nd place to pocket $66,004. “DaEvils” was crowned the victor, earning the gold FTOPS jacket and avatar, along with the day’s highest payout of $104,696.

FTOPS VIII – Event #13
Full Tilt Poker commenced the 13th event of FTOPS VIII with a $500 + $35 NL H.O.R.S.E. tournament guaranteeing a prize pool of $300,000. Full Tilt Pro David Singer, final tablist in both the 2006 and 2007 WSOP $50k H.O.R.S.E. events, gained the honor of hosting the event that attracted a field of 607 participants; enough to raise the GP by an additional $3,500.

Notable cashes were awarded to 51st place finisher “fkscreennames”, winner of FTOPS VI, and Jeff Madsen, the highest cashing Full Tilt Pro of Event 13, who ended the day in 23rd position.

The final table came down to heads-up play between “the aviator1” and “OrBigEarn”. In the end, it was “the aviator1” besting his opponent for the 1st place prize of $70,381. “OrBigEarn” took home $46,283 for his 2nd place triumph.

FTOPS VIII – Event #14
This $200 + $16 NL Hold’em Turbo tournament, hosted by Full Tilt Pro Amanda “MandyB” Baker, saw an impressive field of 2,140 rounding out the entrants, hiking the expected guaranteed prize pool of $200k to a whopping $428,000.

Team Full Tilt saw several cashes in the event, including Scott Fischman in 37th, placing him in 8th place on the FTOPS VIII leaderboard, and Berry Johnston in 25th position, placing him in 22nd place on the leaderboards. When Event #14 came to a close, it was “whothedonk” topping the FTOPS VIII leaderboard, who’s cashed multiple times in the series thus far, including a 1st place victory in Event #2.

Heads-up play commenced as the final table was decreased to “dud711” and “OneUponAStar”, who eventually relented to the upper-hand of “dud711” to claim 2nd place and $56,496. “dud711” ended the day with a shiny new gold jacket, the coveted gold FTOPS VIII avatar, and $87,290.60 to roll in.

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PKR 3-D Online Poker Room Ranked #1 In UK

PKR Poker, an enormously popular online poker room established in 2006, has proved its innovative success by ranking number-one in a recent poll by Hitwise, an Internet competitive intelligence service, having received the most hits in the online poker category. The poll covers the first quarter of 2008, calculating web site hits coming from the UK.

PKR Poker has been one of the most rapidly expanding online poker rooms in the world, dues to its ground-breaking three-dimensional environment and pioneering features, like its unique ‘Emote Control System’. PKR beat out the UK’s most prevalent online poker rooms, including Ladbrokes, William Hill and VC Poker.

“We are extremely pleased with this award,” exclaimed PKR Marketing Director, Simon Prodger. “We have seen some phenomenal growth and it’s not slowing up. We have never accepted US players, so to achieve the top ranking in the UK is fantastic.”

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Canadian Student Turns Freeroll Win into Top Prize at Titan Poker’s Madrid Open

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, presented talented poker player Greg Metzak with a cheque for 40,000 Euros (more than $61,500) this week at the Eurocity Poker Tour (ECPT) in Madrid. Greg, a 23 year-old psychology student from Canada, won his seat to Madrid at an online freeroll tournament staged by Titan Poker exclusively for its top VIP Players.

The skilled poker player was one of 66 players sent by Titan Poker to the ECPT Madrid Open, an exclusive tournament sponsored by the popular poker room at the Casino Gran Madrid, about 30 kilometers outside the city center. Poker enthusiasts from across the globe flew to Madrid this week for this exciting event.

For Greg Metzak, it was not only his first ever experience at a live tournament; it was also his first ever trip to Europe. Despite this, he succeeded in defeating experienced and professional poker players to claim the first prize of 40,000 Euros. He said: “Thanks to Titan Poker, I have had a week in Madrid and now 40,000 Euros - who could ask for more?”

Despite his outstanding victory, Greg plans to initially keep quiet about his success to his friends and relatives in Canada. He added: “I think I am going to wait until I get home and when people ask how it was, say ‘well, you know…poker’s a tough game…anything can happen…’

Titan Poker player Ingo Nassall from Germany finished in second place and took home a prize of 23,000 Euros.

A full report on the Eurocity Poker Tour Madrid Open has been posted on the Titan Poker website.

In addition to the ECPT Madrid Open, Titan Poker regularly awards players with seats to the world’s most well-known poker tournaments, such as the Aussie Millions and Various European Poker Tour events. It will be sending players to the World Series of Poker 2008 in Las Vegas and the Asian Poker Tour in Manila later this year. At the end of the month, it will also host the European Championship of Online Poker II (ECOOP) where skilled poker players will compete for a share of $3,600,000 dollars.

GSN has Yet to Order more High Stakes Poker Episodes

WPTE’s Contract with GSN Expires May 24

High Stakes Poker, which once spent four seasons as the top-rated show on GSN, has yet to put in an order for more episodes. Although President and CEO of Poker PROductions Mori Eskandani confirmed that GSN has not yet contacted his production company for new shows, he wouldn’t rule out that GSN would never buy more High Stakes Poker episodes again.

According to Eskandani, that could happen as soon as tomorrrow or a decade from now. If GSN wants new shows, he said they will produce them. He reiterated that just because GSN has yet to place a call to Poker PROductions for new episodes in the last few months, it doesn’t mean that they never will.

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Keith Wintermans Wins First World Poker Tour Canada Event

With a field that boasted some of the top Canadian poker players the Coast-to-Coast Poker Championships kicked off World Poker Tour Canada’s inaugural season last weekend at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, BC.

“The sport of poker has long been growing in Canada, fostering poker fans and creating world-class poker professionals. It was only a matter of time before WPT offered a tailored tour unique to Canadian poker fans, and couldn’t be more thrilled to finally launch it today,” Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO.

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Women’s Poker Spotlight: Liv Boeree, New European Ladies Champion

23-year-old Olivia “Liv” Boeree is more than just the new European Ladies champion; there’s an educated astrophysicist behind those darting eyes. Boeree, originally from Kent, became the UK spokesperson for Absolute Poker this past February. Eagar to jump into the poker world, Liv has won several titles in Europe and Las Vegas. Besides her work for Absolute, she has also served as the television commentator for GutShot TV at last year’s WSOP.

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Poker pro offers game tips

SAN MANUEL RESERVATION - There may be no better example that gambling continues to grow as a leading recreation for adults than the poker boot camp on Wednesday at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino.

That’s right, a camp for adults to spend $500 for a day of learning from esteemed poker pro Annie Duke.

It was a bill to pay for Josh Woods, a 25-year-old San Bernardino man who has been playing poker in casinos for about a year.

“I was losing a lot of money at poker so I thought, `Why not spend some money to learn that I’d just lose instead,”‘ Woods said.

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French Couple Travels the World on Titan Poker’s Tab

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, funded skilled poker duo Bruno Peyrou and Marise Massabo, from Marseille, France, to fly to Madrid for the Eurocity Poker Open Madrid this May. This is the third time that the couple has flown to a major live tournament thanks to their shared passion for Titan Poker’s online tournaments.

The French couple’s world poker tour began last May when Marise won a seat worth $14,000 to Pokerface 2007 in Las Vegas — and brought her husband along for moral support. A few months later, it was his turn to win them a vacation, with an $8,000 seat to the World Poker Showdown (WPS) Costa Rica in January 2008. This month, Bruno won them yet another exciting poker trip, with a $3,000 ticket to Titan Poker’s sponsored ECPT Madrid Open 2008.

The couple flew to Madrid for this elite tournament, which was staged from the 9th to the 12th of May at the Casino Gran Madrid.

Following their shared poker victories, Bruno said: “I’m very happy to find myself in this tournament in Madrid. Thanks to Titan Poker and a wink to everyone in customer service for all their help. I intend to enjoy myself to the max at this tournament, and… why not go with the wallet a little bit thicker so I can enjoy a few more of Titan Poker’s tournaments here and there.”

Titan Poker regularly rewards its players with seats to the world’s most well-known poker tournaments, such as the European Poker Tour and the Aussie Millions. Later this year, Titan Poker will be sending players to the World Series of Poker 2008 in Las Vegas, and the Asian Poker Tour in Manila. The popular poker room also frequently awards its online players with huge cash prizes. At the end of this month, the poker room will give away $3,600,000 in its second European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP II).

A change to the World Series of Poker main event

The World Series of Poker, poker’s most prestigious event, will kick off in a few short weeks. The WSOP features world championships in various forms of the game, all leading up to the granddaddy of them all, the $10,000 buy-in Main Event.

This year, however, the Main Event will be just a little bit different.

Harrah’s, the operator of the WSOP, with input from the Players Advisory Council, decided to postpone the final table of the Main Event until November 9, 2008 – a delay of more than three months. That’s right; more than 7,000 players will start play on July 3 and battle down to the final nine on July 14 at which time play will come to a stop.

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World Series Of Poker Merchandise to be Broadly Distributed by XP Events

The World Series of Poker just announced it has reached a multi-year alliance with XP Events to broadly distribute WSOP-branded merchandise across multiple retail touch points, including a new WSOP-branded brick and mortar store in Las Vegas, an online shop, and retail kiosks.

Through this agreement, XP Events, a leading retail merchandise management and fulfillment house based in Denver Colorado, becomes the official branded-merchandise provider for the globally recognized World Series of Poker brand.

XP Events will manage the officially-licensed WSOP online store, officially-licensed retail outlets throughout Las Vegas during the May 30-July 14, 2008 tournament, and manage a new Official World Series of Poker retail store, coming soon.

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Strip Poker: IFC to Host Celeb Charity Tourney at Orleans

International Fighting Championship is Putting on the Event to Benefit the Caring Place

When most people hear about the International Fighting Championships, they might think of mixed-martial arts and fighters duking it out. But on May 25 at the Orleans, the gloves are coming off, and the only fight going on will be the fight against cancer.

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World Poker Association Hosts Conference

The World Poker Association is launching their first educational event for their members. It will be held at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, on May 28 -May 29, 2008, prior to the launch of the World Series of Poker tournament that takes place in Las Vegas in July. The conference will be moderated by Mike ‘The Mad Genius of Poker’ Caro, and is titled ‘63 Money Making Tips To Win A Bundle At The WSOP’.

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RECORD REVENUES FOR EVEREST POKER PARENT

With more real money players and soaring revenues, the Taiwan firm Gigamedia, which owns the Everest online poker company, delivered good news to investors this week in releasing its Q1 2008 results.

Gigamedia’s chief executive Arthur Wang re-emphasised the importance of the company’s deal with Harrah’s for high profile World Series of Poker sponsorship by the Everest brand, pointing out that the poker spectacular is beamed into 350 million homes through television coverage.

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PKR to Produce Advanced Poker Magazine for its Players

PKR announced it has signed a year-long deal with Dennis Publishing to produce a quarterly magazine aimed at advanced PKR poker players, with an inaugural issue coming June 2008.

It will be distributed free of charge to an international selection of PKR customers.

The name of the magazine has not been revealed yet. Dennis Publishing already publishes a range of gambling titles, including Inside Poker and Poker Player.

Tim Farthing, commercial director at Dennis, said: “Dennis Publishing has already established themselves as the world’s leading gambling publisher. This perfectly places (us) to bring PKR into the print spectrum as we have a long and successful working relationship with them.”

Simon Prodger, marketing director at PKR, added: “PKR has been a great success in the digital world, and we are pleased to offer our online players more content with this new print magazine. This partnership is a good opportunity to enhance the relationship our brand has already formed with our loyal players and to build on the huge success of our online output.”

Full Tilt Poker Awards Bounties for Busting its Team of Pros

Win Your Buy-in Back Up to $200 for Each Pro You Send to the Rail

Full Tilt Poker started offering its Knockout bounty tournaments recently, but the site has had prices on the heads of its red-named sponsored pros for quite some time. Players have a chance to win their buy-ins back in virtually any scheduled multitable tournament on Full Tilt through this ongoing promotion — which goes along quite nicely with the bragging rights.

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Danish Supreme Court Ruling Encourages Poker Players

After five months of worrying about the future of Danish poker, the game’s enthusiasts finally have received some good news. The Supreme Court in Denmark has decided to bring up the case where the question is: Should tournament poker in private clubs be legal in Denmark or not? The second highest legal body in Denmark, its Landsretten, decided to vote against legalisation, and after an appeal put together by Frederik Hostrup and the Danish Poker Federation, the Supreme Court is ready to handle the case.

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Poker’s Top Asian Pros Eye Top Plum at APT Manila

Manila, Philippines - The top professional poker players with Asian heritage are aiming for nothing less than the top prize at the upcoming Asian Poker Tour Philippine leg this coming May 27 to June 1.

Korean-born Steve Sung, Vietnam-native Quinn Do and Vietnamese-American Nam Le are all hoping to be the last man standing at the finals table of the 2008 Asian Poker Tour’s first leg to be held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel. The three poker pros of Asian-descent will duke it out with over 400 other pros for a chance to win the first prize chunk of the guaranteed prize pool of US$ 1 million.

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Ladies World Series of Poker Academy Reconvenes June 6 and 7

The second annual World Series of Poker Academy for Ladies will be held June 6 and 7 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, with experienced poker instructors Annie Duke and Alex “The Insider” Outhred grooming participants to dominate Event#15- $1,000 WSOP Ladies - No Limit Hold’em World Championship event being held the next day, Sunday June 8.

Also, FBI “tells expert” Joe Navarro, insightful author of Read ‘Em and Reap, will be unveiling a brand new seminar focusing on female specific non verbal behavior, to give participants an extra ammunition in their arsenal at the table.

The Academy is limited to 100 players, and promises to teach poker skills, strategies and applications through live hand demonstrations, seminars with Q and A, and tournaments.

Private WSOP Academy tournament is included in the course, and according to their official website, the top five finishers will be awarded $1000 entries to the WSOP Ladies World Championship event in Las Vegas the following day.

For more information, or to register, visit http://www.wsopacademy.com

Poker After Dark gets “romantic” with get dumped theme

Poker pro Marco Traniello will be appearing with significant other Jennifer Harman on this week’s episodes of Poker After Dark.

NBC’s hit late-night poker show, Poker After Dark, always has a theme for a week of episodes and, obviously, this week is no different.

However, with this week’s match-ups it looks like PAD is aiming for a “dump” or “get dumped” theme.

For the next five nights, or mornings depending how you look at it, three of poker’s power couples will sit down at the felt and play for the winner-take-all $120,000 prize: Jennifer Harman and Marco Traniello, David Benyamine and Erica Schoenberg and Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly.

Now, we’re not so sure how the dynamics of a poker relationship work, but at our houses if you bust your significant other out of a possible $120,000 payday, look for somewhere else to sleep.

This would leave us with two options, dump the crap out of those chips so that you, yourself, don’t get dumped.

We’re sure that they are all consummate poker professionals who will not take any grudges away from the table but whatever, $120k is $120k.

Catch all the action Monday through Friday at 2:05 a.m. EST, followed by a special “Director’s Cut” edition on Saturday at 1 a.m. EST, following Saturday Night Live.

Initial Poker Signs Boss Deal

Initial Poker, one of the world’s largest dedicated suppliers of promotional merchandise and reward programmes for the gaming industry, has announced that it has signed a deal to become a preferred supplier of loyalty point redemption stores for licensees of Boss Media.

Boss Media stated that it is the first poker network to proactively encourage its licensees to offer players loyalty point redemption stores and the new deal will allow customers to choose from a generic template that features a small selective range of products. Alternatively, licensees may chose Initial Poker’s fully bespoke loyalty point redemption store that can be fully skinned and offers a host of products from branded chipsets and playing cards to laptop computers and LCD televisions.

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Poker Tournament Schedule Ruins Integrity: Joe Saumarez-Smith

May 12 (Bloomberg) — Organizers of the World Series of Poker, the game’s top competition, have thrown players a curve ball that threatens the integrity of the multimillion-dollar tournament.

This year Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. has changed the event so that instead of playing over two weeks in July, those who make the final table of nine players will be asked to come back and finish during two days in November.

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Cahokia man loses at Casino Queen, grabs chips and runs

EAST ST. LOUIS –
After playing a last hand at a blackjack table Sunday at the Casino Queen, a 27-year-old Cahokia man grabbed some poker chips and tried to run, police said.

He didn’t get far. Alert security personnel nabbed him before he could get off the boat.

William McGhee, of 403 E. Fifth St., was held overnight at the East St. Louis jail and charged Monday with theft over $300. His bail is set at $40,000, and he is expected to be transferred today to the St. Clair County Jail.

Police responded to the Casino Queen, located at 200 S. Front St. at 10:12 a.m. Sunday to investigate the theft, Detective Michael Floore said. Police learned McGhee had played his last hand for $25.

“He walked away from the table, then he turned around, went back to it and grabbed 20 purple chips valued at $500 and one white one valued at $5,” Floore said.

World Poker Association holding first conference before WSOP

The World Poker Association is holding its first-ever conference on May 28 in Law Vegas, just before the start of this year’s World Series of Poker.

The WPA has made its mission “to promote poker as a sport by advocating professionalism and uniform rules and standards of conduct, and by helping to create increased economic opportunities for players,” according to its Web site.

According to Bluff Magazine:

The conference will open with the first-even WPA membership meeting where the slate will include the election of Directors of the WPA for the new membership year, which begins June 1. Nominees include Adams, Michael Binger, Doyle Brunson, Joe Hachem, Jesse Jones, Thomas Kremser, J.J. Liu, Victor Ramdin, Blair Rodman, Roger Saad, Harry Thomas Jr. and Roy Winston.

“The conference is a winning trifecta ticket, allowing members to sharpen their tournament skills, network at the must-be-seen opening cocktail party, May 28 and then prove their bragging rights in the WPA Mega Satellite, May 29,” said WPA Chairman Wendeen H. Eolis.”

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Titan Poker’s Nine-Man Delegation Spices up the Salzburg Cup

Popular online poker room Titan Poker sent a delegation of its top players to compete in the historical city’s newly renovated casino.

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, sent a delegation of nine players to compete in the Salzburg Poker Cup 2008 in Salzburg, Austria. The internationally renowned online poker site was represented at the tournament, which took place in April, by players from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

The players received all-inclusive prize packages, including accommodations, flights, buy-in to the tournament’s Main Event and a side event.

Nelson Rodrigues, from Madeira, Portugal, was excited to have the chance to celebrate his 27th birthday with fellow Titan Poker players at the tournament welcome party. He has been playing poker for three years and this was his biggest live tournament to date.

Fellow player Frederic Arhanchet, from France, was the Titan Poker star of Salzburg, finishing in 19th place with a win of 930 Euros. Chris Royston, from the U.K, who is a rookie at poker with only six months experience, said that it was “my first time in a casino this week!”

All players were able to experience the joys of Salzburg as they explored the city’s numerous historical sites. The city is not only famous as the birth place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but also for its scenic beauty. Titan Poker’s players were also treated to a private beer tour and an exclusive lunch.

A blog listing the experiences of Titan Poker’s players was posted on its website.

Titan Poker is sponsoring the Eurocity Poker Tour Madrid Open this May and has sent players to the Aussie Millions and various European Poker Tour events. In addition to awarding players seats to the World Poker Showdown in the Dominican Republic in May, Titan Poker will host the European Championship of Online Poker II (ECOOP) where skilled poker players will compete for a share of $3,600,000 dollars.

Ontario man wins $1 million at poker tournament in Barcelona

An Ontario man who captured the million-dollar first prize at a poker tournament in Barcelona on the weekend says his only goal was to win enough cash to put his granddaughter through university.

Jack Hinchey of Oshawa says his 10-year-old granddaughter Victoria was on his mind throughout the competition, where he faced off against some of the best poker players in the world.

After winning the World Poker Crown, Hinchey came home Sunday night and was greeted by friends and family.

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Gold and Kardashian Host Celebrity Poker Fundraiser May 17 at Playboy Mansion

2006 World Series of Poker main event winner Jamie Gold and Khloe Kardashian from E!’s show ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ will host the third-annual Celebrity Poker Tournament and Casino Night fundraiser for the Urban Health Institute, at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills California on 6pm Saturday, May 17. Over $50,000 worth of prizes will be awarded to top finishers in the tournament.

The Urban Health Institute (UHI) provides direct care, medicine and medical equipment in response to natural and man-made disasters

The buy-in for the tournament is $1,500, which includes general admission; general admission alone costs $500. Other casino-style events will also be available, as well as a silent auction which includes items such as a private poker lesson from Gold.

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Historic ’03 hand changed poker forever

Can you believe it’s been five years since Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee playing in his first live tournament, arrived in Las Vegas as an unknown and left as a poker icon?

Qualifying online at Pokerstars for only $39, Moneymaker participated in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, outlasted 838 other players and inspired generations of poker enthusiasts. This aptly named young gentleman fulfilled the dream of every aspiring poker player to become WSOP world champion.

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Online Poker: FTOPS VII Heads-Up Event Goes to “GoToChurch”

Shortly before the seventh installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series began Full Tilt Poker’s management announced the addition of the shootout tournament format to their site’s offering. The new format also allowed the site to begin offering large field heads-up tournaments and that’s exactly what Event #8 of FTOPS was.

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ESPN to Televise Enhanced Two-Day World Series of Poker Final Table Format on November 11

May 1, 2008 — ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the 2008 World Series of Poker® Presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light will feature a new enhanced format for the Final Table. The final nine players of the Main Event (the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em) will compete on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16. ESPN will televise coverage of the Final Table in a two-hour program on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 9 p.m. ET.

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Full Tilt Poker to Offer $25K Heads-Up Tournament

Players looking for ways to spend their Full Tilt Online Poker Series winnings, or those just looking to sit down for one-on-one matches with the pros, now have the option of entering the Full Tilt $25K Heads-Up World Championship.

The event will take place on Saturday, May 24th and Sunday, May 25th, just a week after the FTOPS VIII concludes, and will go down as the most expensive online buy-in tournament in history.

The event kicks off at 3 p.m. EST on the 24th and will be hosted by 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Champion Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. Team Full Tilt stars Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer and Jennifer Harman will also be in attendance, while the biggest names in live and online poker are expected to flock to the record setting tournament.

The maximum field size will be 64 players, with ‘no byes’ rules, so players are encouraged to buy-in early to avoid being refunded. If the field doesn’t sell out, the max will drop to 32 or 16 entries, if necessary. If the $25K buy-in is a little steep, Full Tilt is offering a couple of $500+$35 qualifiers at 3 p.m. EST on the 22nd and 23rd.

PKR Confirm Return Of Poker Festival

PKR, successful online poker room and ‘the future of online gambling’, announced that their Super Series of tournaments will be starting this year on June 14.

As well as the usual array of tournament games one would expect at a poker festival, PKR have devised some new hotly-anticipated structures such as the Terminator; the Deep and Steep and various Bounty tournaments.

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Poker Strategy: When NOT to Raise

As a beginner to poker, one of the fundamentals of the game you learn is this : if you have a big hand and feel you probably have the best of it, raise. It is a crucial principle to play by, but as you develop as a player, you will realise there are a number of spots in which it best to go against this advice. Our example by which we will illustrate this principle will be of interest; if you agree with the reasoning, you will see that even the highest rollers can make a costly mistake.

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World Poker Tour Loses $2.8 Million

America’s World Poker Tour (WPT) Enterprises Incorporated has reported a ten percent overall increase in quarterly revenues compared to the same period last year but a $2.8 million net loss for the quarter.

The Nasdaq-listed firm stated that online gaming revenues decreased from $600,000 over the first quarter of last year to $200,000 for the most recent period, reflecting the lower levels of player activity on the Cryptologic network versus the site operated by WagerWorks in 2007.

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Qualify Cheaply for Three Absolute Poker Main Events

Absolute Poker is giving its players a chance to get into its three flagship tournaments much more cheaply with its Triple Header promotion. Players can win $1,796 worth of tournament entries for as little as $6.60.

The $200+16 Triple Header tournament runs every Monday at 20:30 ET. Seats in the Saturday $150,000 guarantee ($500+$30), the Wednesday $100,000 guaranteed pro bounty ($1,000+$50), and the Sunday $75,000 guarantee ($200+$16) are awarded as a three-pack for every $1,742 in the prize pool. (A bit more than one out of every nine entrants will snag the three-seat package.)

Players can qualify for the Triple Header for $6.60 in a satellite wherein one seat is guaranteed.

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CryptoLogic Increases Poker Presence in Core European Market With OPoker

CryptoLogic to increase poker liquidity with delivery of top online poker solutions to Scandinavian market

CryptoLogic Limited (TSX: CRY)(TSX: CXY)(NASDAQ: CRYP)(LSE: CRP), a leading software developer to the global Internet gaming market, through its wholly owned subsidiary WagerLogic, today announced an exclusive three-year licensing agreement with OPoker.com, a new online poker site launched by a group of Scandinavia’s leading Internet poker executives.

Under the agreement, CryptoLogic will be OPoker.com’s sole provider of gaming software designed for the Scandinavian market, as well as customer support services, e-cash management and business service support.

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Poker: Sometimes it pays to follow your instincts

The betting of a hand and the cards that hit the board might tell you one thing, but your instincts might tell you another, and a lot of the top players go with their gut. It is what allows a top pro such as Brad Booth to call down an opponent’s big bet with only a king-high.

At the World Poker Tour’s $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas’ Bellagio in 2007, Booth drew king-jack offsuit under the gun. With blinds at $50-$100, he raised to $400. Action folded to aggressive pro John Phan, who called from the cutoff.

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Popular Blackjack and Poker Game Sites on Alert for Identity Theft

LONDON, May 9 /PRNewswire/ — Online companies are now on high alert after the recent identity theft case where Fouad Mourtada was sentenced to three years in jail by the Moroccan government for opening a false Facebook profile in the name of the Moroccan Prince, Moulay Rachid. Recently, BackgammonMasters Mexico found several users in their systems that opened accounts with names of famous persons such as Prince William, Madonna and Tom Cruise. After checking the activities and locations of these users they found them to be fake.
Spokesperson for http://www.backgammonmasters.com says, “We’ve seen a trend in the industry for people to register popular names, as we call them “Gold usernames” such as backgammonking, pokerking, blackjack-king and celebrity names which are just as popular. We see people in game forums even buying and selling these usernames. For these people its status, kind of like having a custom license plate. As long as the games are for fun, we are not concerned.”

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CITY V PALACE POKER SHOWDOWN

Ahead of the crucial Championship play-off semi-final second leg between City and Crystal Palace - fans of both clubs are being given the chance to take part in a free to enter poker tournament.

The tournament - exclusively for City and Palace supporters - will take place on Monday, May 12th at 9pm - a day before the two sides do battle at Ashton Gate.

It’s one supporter’s chance to claim bragging rights and some signed goodies at the same time.

The event will be held on club partners Party Gaming’s platform. City and Palace will go head-to-head, with the outright winner picking up a signed shirt and a Party Gaming chip set.

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E!’s Khloe Kardashian and Poker Champ Jamie Gold Host 3rd Annual Urban Health Institute Celebrity Poker Tournament Fundraiser on Saturday, May 17

A-List Celebrities, Top Poker Pros and Ace Physicians Converge on the Legendary Playboy Mansion in a High Stakes Night for Charity

Don Cheadle, Anthony Anderson, Aaron McGruder, Salli Richardson Whitfield, Dondre Whitfield and Special Guest DJs Idris Elba, Spinderella Among Confirmed Celebs

Los Angeles, CA (BlackNews.com) - On Saturday night, May 17, 2008, what happens in Vegas stays at Beverly Hills’ famed Playboy Mansion when the Urban Health Institute presents its Third Annual Celebrity Poker Tournament and Casino Night hosted by Khloe Kardashian from the hit E! reality show Keeping Up with The Kardashians and 2006 World Series of Poker Champion Jamie Gold. $50,000 worth of prizes, beautiful Playboy bunnies, the most recognizable sports and entertainment personalities and authentic Vegas-style competition will make this night an unforgettable experience - all for a worthy cause.

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He’s a hands-down winner Hampstead man is N.H. poker champ

HAMPSTEAD — He’s already the New Hampshire state poker champion and now Richard Hewett is looking for sponsors willing to bet on him succeeding in even higher-stakes play.

He would like to represent the Granite State at the U.S. Championships in October in Atlantic City.

Hewett has been playing poker for fun ever since he was a youngster, but just started competing seriously in the last couple of years. He credits his move to competitive poker to a change in the state’s gaming laws — and his job as technology manager at Seabrook Greyhound Park.

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Negreanu on Poker: Interrogating an Opponent

Table talk is a part of the game, and frankly, it’s the part of the game that I enjoy most. How players react to questions that you ask can give definitive information as to the strength of their hand. Even an opponent who says nothing at all might be sending a silent signal. A mere shrug, an awkward smile, or even a frozen stare can be meaningful.

To begin your interrogation, make sure that your line of questioning makes sense. And be prepared to use different approaches because not all opponents will respond in the same manner.

One approach is to try to catch your opponent off guard, hoping to get him to relax and give a genuine reaction. Try asking a question that is non-confrontational. Here’s one that I like: “From the way you’re playing this hand, you must be from Sweden. Swedish players are nuts and so is this hand! You didn’t take lessons from Gus Hansen, did you?”

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Full Tilt Online Poker Series Has Begun

Full Tilt kicked off the eighth instalment of its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) yesterday with a $216 buy-in six-handed no-limit Hold’em event with a $750,000 guarantee.

The first of 24 events running from now until 18th May, the online casino is guaranteeing ten million dollars in prizes and stated that at least five events will have guarantees of one million dollars or more.

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$15 Million Invested Into Legal US Online Poker Room

When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in late 2006 by the US government, online poker operators located in the United States went running for the hills, relocating their offices to legal jurisdictions. Most cut off US players as well, resulting in what was supposed to be a dead US market.

What really happened was that online poker players in the US found other online poker rooms that would continue to accept their deposits. While these are steadily dwindling in numbers - ePassporte just cut off their payment processing services between US residents and online gambling operators - one online poker room remained behind.

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How to profit from online poker bots

Poker, with its outlaw image and Midwest jargon, is an oddball sort of game. But it’s also uniquely academic, in that the game remains ‘unsolved’.

While algorithms exist that can play more-or-less unbeatable games of chess, backgammon and draughts, poker – at least, today’s popular ‘No Limit’ version – remains something only humans can fathom.

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Las Vegas Introduces Its New Asian Games Network

Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc. (the “Company”) or (”LVFH”) (TSX VENTURE: LVH)(OTCBB: LVFHF)(BERLIN: LVH)(FRANKFURT: LVH) is pleased to announce that it is marketing its Asian Games Network (the “AGN”), www.asiangamesnetwork.com. The AGN will act as an aggregate host site to other online poker, sportsbook and casino operators who would like to offer the Company’s Asian multi-player games to their respective customers. Licensees will be able to offer the Company’s full suite of games, which include Mahjong, Big 2, Chinese Poker, Fight the Landlord and other games or alternatively, be able to select specific games.

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UltimateBet Ignites Competition with New Sit and Go Poker Promotion

Just days after launching a bold new poker tournament schedule created by Annie Duke and following up that announcement with two major online poker promos, UltimateBet has enhanced its poker offering yet again. The online poker site today announced the addition of the Sit and Go Satellite Bounty Challenge promotion, an enticing weekly contest featuring 32 separate leader board competitions.

“Nothing prepares Texas Hold’em players better for final table action than UltimateBet’s Sit and Go satellites,” stated David Clainer. “With 32 weekly leader board competitions awarding loads of online poker tournament entries, there’s even more incentive to take a seat.”

The 32 weekly leader board competitions reward players with entries into the most popular online poker tournaments at UltimateBet, including the online poker site’s World Series of Poker* 25-seat and 50-seat guarantees.

The first 16 leader board competitions rank the poker players who have earned the most RAI$E Status Points by playing in Sit and Go direct entry satellites for 16 separate events over a one week period. Depending on the event, the poker player who ranks first can secure up to a week’s worth of buy-ins for the corresponding event.

The next 16 leader board competitions mirror the first 16. However, instead of ranking RAI$E Status Points, poker players will be competing for the top spot based on most wins.

Full details on all the Sit and Go Bounty Challenge are available at UltimateBet.com.

About UltimateBet
Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world - Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke - UltimateBet provides the best poker games available on the net. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from these pros to learn the sport or to enhance their playing strategy. UltimateBet currently has over 2 million registered players.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (”Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with, UltimateBet or its products, services, promotions or tournaments

VC invests in legal online poker site

PurePlay has announced the closing of Series C equity financing round for $15 million. The company claims to be the first and the largest online, legal non-gambling poker site with a record 1 million users and to-date has given away $3 million in cash prizes. The funding will allow PurePlay to increase marketing and expand infrastructure to handle the rapid growth.

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‘dhc2lovr’ Hits Ultimate Bet Bad Beat Jackpot - Twice!?

The well known online poker room Ultimate Bet has found its way into the headlines on numerous occasions due to its lucrative Bad Beat Jackpot promotion. Past cases have been happy, congratulatory messages to the winner, but this time, the story comes with an interesting, if not distressing, twist.

Yesterday, May 6th, online poker player ‘dhc2lovr’ was awarded a massive Bad Beat Jackpot at Ultimate Bet, pocketing $448,920.71 for losing with an extraordinary hand at a Bad Beat poker table. Only 1-1/2 months ago, on March 25th, ‘dhc2lovr’ accomplished the same feat, claiming an Ultimate Bet Bad Beat Jackpot of $171,498.31.

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Titan Poker Gears Up to Host First “Land Based” Tournament

The largest poker room on the iPoker Network, Titan Poker, is busily preparing for its first sponsored “land based” tournament, which will be staged between May 9th and 12th in Madrid, Spain. Titan Poker is sending a delegation of 66 players to the inaugural event of the Eurocity Poker Tour (ECPT).

Qualifying Satellites for the ECPT Madrid Open have been staged since the end of February as Titan Poker players scrambled to win the $3,000 prize package granting them attendance at one of poker’s most elite tournaments. The ECPT Madrid Open will take place at the prestigious Casino Gran Madrid.

Poker players from all over Europe as well as one from Canada will be packing their bags and flying to Madrid for a sophisticated poker experience. Not all participating players are seasoned poker professionals, yet through this opportunity all those attending are being afforded the opportunity to pursue their love of poker.

“Thanks to Titan Poker I have been able to cultivate my passion. I particularly enjoy playing at Titan Poker, one of the safest, most serious and reliable poker rooms,” commented Massimiliano Assini, an Italian qualifying player.

In addition to the ECPT Madrid Open, Titan Poker is presently offering a wide array of opportunities for its players in May. Other qualifying players will be taking off to such destinations as the Dominican Republic for the World Poker Showdown Ocean World, as well as the Asian Poker Tour in Manila in the Philippines.

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Cake Poker Room Review

Cake Poker Review
First impression

Cake Poker has a great website with all the information you need, and it’s easy to find. The site is also very nicely designed.
Player traffic

As the site is still fairly new as compared to all the major poker rooms, Cake Poker traffic is smaller with about 1900 player playing at peak hours
Features in detail

Cake Poker is a great site for the newer poker players and they have designed the site with beginner players in mind. Everything is very crisp and clear and all information is right there for you. Cake Poker does not allow data-mining and statistical programs to be used on their site. This keeps an equal playing field amongst everyone on their poker site.
Software

The graphics are really great, the game play is fast, and everything on Cake Poker is easy to use.
Support

Right now Cake Poker only offers support by email. But they are very quick and professional to respond.
Security

Cake Poker is highly secure, considering they spent two years on the development of software.
Banking

Cake Poker accepts: Visa, Mastercard, Money Bookers, ePassporte, and FirePay.
Summary

Cake poker is a very well designed site with great graphics and good functionality. The site offers great promotions and exciting games to play in, an excellent site for the beginner poker player.

Play Texas Hold’em. Get up to $100 Free with First Cash Deposit.
Skill-based games are U.S. legal. DuplicatePoker.com

PurePlay Hits VCs Up For More Cash: Legal Online Poker in the US?

Remember when the US government was engaged in a very public battle with the rampant boom of online poker channels established both inside and outside the country? Of course, suits in Washington only looked scathingly on such activity because it had not found an effective way to tax virtual casinos. And the high-rolling hotels in Vegas and places elsewhere in the States were none too thrilled with the rather sudden establishment of a parallel industry almost entirely independent of themselves and which they could not easily influence.

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Wild Jack Online Casino Deals New Casino Poker Game

KAHNAWAKE, QC — 05/07/08 — Wild Jack Casino (www.wildjack.com), a member of the Jackpot Factory Group and one of the world’s largest video poker and table game-focused casinos on the web, has launched a stylish and sophisticated casino poker game titled Multi-Hand Hold’Em High Gold.

A brilliant addition to Wild Jack Casino’s first class selection of table games, Multi-Hand Hold’Em High Gold allows players to play one to five hands at a time. The payouts can reach up to 75,000 credits and the highly entertaining game includes side bets that allow the experienced online casino

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Play Texas Hold’em. Get up to $100 Free with First Cash Deposit.
Skill-based games are U.S. legal. DuplicatePoker.com

WPT Enterprises, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Financial Results

WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 30, 2008. Business highlights for the quarter included the delivery of seven episodes of Season VI of the World Poker Tour® (WPT) television series; the premiere of Season VI on the GSN Network; continued progress in the development of the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour™; the launch of ClubWPT.com; and the amendment of our agreement with Cryptologic Inc. to provide for the launch of a full suite of online casino games and the development of Spanish and German language online gaming sites, which are expected to go live by June 2008.

Financial Results. Revenues increased 10% in the first quarter of 2008 to $5.0 million, compared to $4.5 million in the same period in 2007. The increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 was primarily due to an approximate $0.9 million increase in hosting and sponsorship revenues, primarily driven by international television sponsorship revenues that did not exist in the prior year period.

Domestic television license revenues were $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2008, compared to $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2007. The decrease was due to lower per episode license fees under the GSN contract, as compared to the Travel Channel agreement. International television licensing revenues increased 69% to $0.8 million compared to $0.5 million in the prior year with the increase due to lower than expected third party distribution costs (as international television revenues are recognized net of the distributor’s costs). Product licensing revenues decreased to $0.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 compared to $0.9 million in the first quarter of 2007. Online gaming revenues were $0.2 million in 2008 compared to $0.6 million in 2007 reflecting lower levels of player activity on our site on the Cryptologic network in the 2008 period versus the site operated by WagerWorks in the 2007 period.

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Play Texas Hold’em. Get up to $100 Free with First Cash Deposit.
Skill-based games are U.S. legal. DuplicatePoker.com

A Turn of Luck

Bad luck. That’s to what I attribute my last performance in a Poker tournament. Things started out okay, and for a while I was chip leader, but as it will sometimes happen in a game of chance, luck can turn sour. No matter how skillful a player you are, luck is everything.

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LATIN AMERICA POKER TOUR WON BY A DUTCHMAN

19 year old Hollander Julien Nuijten prevails in inaugural Latin American contest

The inaugural Latin American Poker Tour organised by online poker giant Poker Stars.com ended in victory for the nineteen year old Dutch player Julien Nuijten this week. The Hollander prevailed over an entry field of 314 poker fans who travelled to Rio for the event, either stumping up the $2 500 buy-in, or winning entry packages online through Poker Stars satellites.

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Online Casino CasinoUnreal Introduces New Games

Online casino operator CasinoUnreal.com has announced the introduction of two new slot games for online gamblers. Super Road Trip and Super Texas Gold are both available now for players.

Each game is five reels, with nine pay lines. Auto-play allows for as many as 100 spins per turn. the games feature large bonus payouts, and bonus rounds pay ten times more than before. The games feature instant-play mode, avoiding lengthy download times.

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Nevada Poker Players Alliance Director Tells Kyl UIGEA is Too Flawed

Nevada director for the Poker Players Alliance, Ken Illgen, lost no time firing back a salvo in response to an article last week in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in which Senator Jon Kyl, chief architect of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), said he is losing patience with the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury as they struggle to develop regulations to enforce the Internet gambling ban.

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Poker Tourneys to be Held for Urban Health Institute

Both Full Tilt Poker and the Playboy Mansion Will Serve as Hosts of Events to Raise Money for the Organization

The Urban Health Institute (UHI) is a non-profit organization that was founded to provide medical treatment and care for those in need from natural and man-made disasters, and the poker community is coming together in two special events to help ensure that the UHI has what it needs to do so.

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Play Texas Hold’em. Get up to $100 Free with First Cash Deposit.
Skill-based games are U.S. legal. DuplicatePoker.com

Poker Pro Matthew Hilger Wins Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament

Matthew Hilger, poker author, poker publisher, and poker pro, won the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament this past Sunday evening giving him over $132K for first place. When asked about playing at Full Tilt, Hilger admitted “I’ve actually done very well in this particular tournament. In 9 or 10 tries this year, I have 3 top 100’s, 2 final tables, and now the big win”.

Matthew now has his eyes set on the World Series of Poker (WSOP), where he has cashed three of the last four years in the main event and nine times overall. The WSOP has exploded in popularity over the last few years, thanks in large part, to the support of online poker sites where many of the players win online satellites in the WSOP main event.

Hilger became inextricably associated with Internet Poker when he released his best-selling book, ‘Internet Texas Hold’em’ aka “ITH” at the dawn of the explosion the Internet has brought to Texas Holdem. Following the book, Hilger created an online community, poker forums, read strategy articles, and get exclusive poker bonuses.

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Online gambling is illegal, right? Not quite; the poker is still going on PurePlay

It’s pretty rare that venture capitalists will bet on a company that shows a hint of impropriety. Yet happens occasionally, for companies that don’t push the envelope too far.

In March, for instance, soft-porn site Zivity got $7 million from two prominent firms. The latest is PurePlay, a poker and proto-gambling site that today announces $15 million in funding from Bay Partners and prominent investors including Ron Conway, Peter Thiel and Owen Van Natta.

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Online Poker Room Signs Bonomo

Online gambling brand Bodog has announced that American player Justin ‘ZeeJustin’ Bonomo has become the latest member of its Team Bodog and will now represent the site at poker tournaments and in marketing campaigns.

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FTOPS VIII Online Poker Series to Begin Wednesday

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) is back with the FTOPS VIII, and it will feature a massive 24-event schedule, including three so-called mystery tournaments. Full Tilt is guaranteeing more than $10 million in prize pools over the course of the event, which will run from this Wednesday, May 7, to Sunday, May 18. There will be at least five events with guarantees of $1 million or more.

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Titan Poker Players Clock Up Cash as Billionth Hand Countdown Begins

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, has started distributing cash to its players as the countdown to its highly anticipated Billionth Hand began last week.

The popular poker room is giving away a total of $350,000 in cash as it counts down towards dealing its one billionth poker hand. The cash countdown started when the 950,000,000th hand was dealt. Hundreds of dollars in cash were awarded to players as Titan Poker reached this crucial hand and hundreds more have been distributed every day since.

From this point on, players have a daily chance to hit a ‘winning hand’ and claim their share of the cash. The winning hands are part of two countdowns that are now running simultaneously, entitled ‘Countdown Hands’ and ‘Jackpot Hands’. ‘Countdown Hands’ occur every 200,000 hands, awarding players up to $3,500 each. Players can win up to $14,000 on Jackpot hands, which occur every 5,000,000 hands.

Players can track the progress of the countdown to the Billionth Hand by logging on to the Titan Poker website, which publishes the hand number currently being played. Titan Poker players also receive regular updates of the countdown progress and are immediately informed when they start to play on a winning hand.

Titan Poker regularly rewards its players with huge cash prizes. At the end of this month, the poker room will give away $3,600,000 in its second European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP II). It also frequently awards its players with seats at the world’s most well-known poker tournaments. Titan Poker will be sending players to the World Series of Poker 2008 in Las Vegas, and the Asian Poker Tour in Manila. In May, it will sponsor the Eurocity Poker Tour Madrid Open - an elite poker tournament open to just 200 players.

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WPT Canada(TM) Launches Today with Coast to Coast Poker Championships at River Rock Casino Resort

WPT Canada(TM) (WPTC) tour kicks off today with its first stop–Coast to Coast Poker Championships, presented by British Columbia Lottery Corporation–at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia. WPTC is the dedicated tour for Canada, a country where some of the world’s greatest poker professionals call home and poker is booming in best-in-class casino properties nationwide.

“Canada is an incredible destination for poker, which we have experienced first-hand during three successful Canadian events on the main WPT tour,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “The sport of poker has long been growing in Canada, fostering poker fans and creating world-class poker professionals. It was only a matter of time before WPT offered a tailored tour unique to Canadian poker fans, and couldn’t be more thrilled to finally launch it today.”

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Online Poker: Iron Henry Wins Sunday Million

The PokerStars Sunday Million resumed its normal $200 buy-in event last night (after last week’s monthly $500 buy-in version) with an almost round 7,001 entrants. That number meant a prize pool of $1,400,200 and a first-place prize barely falling below $200,000, at $197,000. This attendance was actually a slight drop from the entry numbers at the last $200 buy-in event two weeks ago, which had 7,176 entrants.

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US Customers Not Receiving Payments From Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker, the second largest online poker room in the world, has long been known for it’s continuous acceptance of US players. It would seem, accepted or not, many US players have decided to leave Full Tilt behind, at least for a little while, as they have not received any withdrawals requested since the middle of April 2008.

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PurePlay Raises Series C Round, Bringing Funding to $15 Million

PurePlay, the first and largest U.S.-compliant play-for-cash online poker destination, today announced the completion of a Series C equity financing round. Led by Bay Partners, this round brings the company’s total funding to $15 million. PurePlay investors also include Ron Conway, James Joaquin and other prominent Silicon Valley investors.

PurePlay announced in March of this year that it has reached a record 1 million players and it has given away over $3 million in cash prizes to date — more than any other non-gambling poker site. The current funding round will enable PurePlay to expand its marketing efforts and build out its infrastructure to dramatically scale an already rapidly growing business.

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P5s’ Nat Arem: More news coming on AP and UB cheating

Pocket Fives administrator Nat Arem, one of the people responsible for uncovering the superuser scandal at Absolute Poker, said in a post at P5s that more details likely will be uncovered regarding cheating at AP and UltimateBet and said he wouldn’t blame people who don’t want to play at either site.

He was fairly vague in his post, but Arem is about as plugged into the situation as one can get.

Here’s some of what he said:

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Casino Aztar parent files for bankruptcy

Tropicana Entertainment LLC, parent of Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., said Monday it has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

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8 Commandments for All Online Casino Sites

Sometimes, an online casino is right on. Everything goes right for it, from the download through the help and obviously the games. Other times, the site may be a complete disaster. We’ve devised these 8 Commandments All Online Casino Sites Should Obey:

#8 Thou shalt come equipped with positive reviews
It isn’t enough just to have reviews written about you, though that is a step in the right directions. Write-ups must be positive and fellow online gamblers should recommend the casino too. While players can simply read reviews, online casino sites must earn them.

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US Online Casinos: Who is still in the game?

Are there any U.S. online casinos left or do most of them now ban U.S. players from their virtual gambling lobby? Of course there are plenty of U.S. online casinos left (that is casinos which allow Americans to gamble, not casinos operated in the United States), but at the same time, there are plenty of U.S. online casinos which are out for the quick buck and to take advantage of the current situation created by (as usual) sort-sighted lawmakers.

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Poker Pro Justin Bonomo Joins Team Bodog; Josh Arieh Out

Bodog Poker will announce Monday the signing of Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo to their roster of Team Bodog pros that represent the online poker company at poker tournaments and in marketing campaigns.

Bonomo joins David Williams, Evelyn Ng and Jean-Robert Bellande on Team Bodog. Meanwhile two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Josh Arieh is no longer a member of Team Bodog having been informed last week that the company wished to go in a different direction. That direction appears to be younger.

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Everest Poker ‘Hugely Supportive’ of New WSOP Final Table Scheduling

Everest Poker, who recently signed a multi year deal to brand all table felts and the inner rung of the final table at the World Series of Poker, is delighted with the new November 2008 schedule for the final table.

“This move is a masterstroke for the WSOP’s global profile and will undoutedly make the build up to the final table the most dramatic yet,” said Jennifer Joyce, Chief Marketing Officer, Everest Poker. “From both a commercial and personal point of view I am hugely supportive of the scheduling and from a European perspective it gives everybody a much better chance to see the biggest event in world poker.”

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Canada’s Coast to Coast Poker Championship Starts Today

The Coast to Coast Poker Championship kicks off today at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, pitting East versus West and featuring 7 events over 9 days, with an estimated 2,650 players and $2.4 million prize pool. The main event offers a top prize of $377,300 based on a sell-out.

The Coast to Coast Poker Championships will be the first stop for WPT Canada and the tournament will be filmed to produce four one-hour episodes, which will air nationally in Canada. The style of broadcast will reflect the WPT.

“We are proud to host the first-ever Coast to Coast Poker Championships, which brings some of the best poker players in Canada while adding an East versus West rivalry to the classic game,” said Darryl Schiewe, BCLC’s vice president of casino gaming. “We have such good poker in Canada and with great poker rooms, tournaments and players there is no reason to leave Canada to play.”

For more information, visit www.riverrockcasino.com.

Day 2 Latin American Poker Tour Ends- Final Table Now Set

The first stop of the Latin American Poker Tour began May 3rd with 314 players, then 113 players started Day 2, and after a long grueling day of play the final nine players have emerged (listed below). They will return Monday May 5 at 2pm to determine who goes home with the LAPT Champion title and the $222,940 top prize money.

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Highlights for All Africa Poker Channel: May 5 -May 11

The All Africa Poker Tournament

Watch legendary poker moments as formidable poker pro’s and celebrities from across the globe, throw down the gauntlet, to be crowned the next poker king or queen, at the leading poker tournament in Africa- the All Africa Poker Tournament.

This phenomenal tournament has not only made more than a dozen millionaires, but has been the platform from which many local poker players have been elevated into international poker stardom. Experience all the poker thrills first hand.

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Duplicate Poker launches World’s Biggest Online Poker Glossary

Ever since poker’s best kept secret was revealed in September 2007, it is now well known in the gaming world of poker that Duplicate Poker Online is the only site to visit for unlimited fun and a variety of chances to win real cash.

But for those who are yet to know, Duplicate Poker is the innovative game that works with more of a player’s skills than it’s got to do with luck.

Duplicate Poker now pokes more fun to its teeming members and online visitors by giving them access to its large glossary of poker terminologies which also doubles as the world’s biggest online poker database.

“This is where poker players all over the world would turn to, as the one-stop resource for them to have a good idea of what a poker word means,” says Pinhas Romik, the CEO of Duplicate Poker.

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Online Poker: billytk01 Wins Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed

The Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed had an overlay this week of $40,800 with a field of 3,546. Coming out on top this week was billytk01 who earned a cool $132,787.50 for coming in first place. When final table play began he was the only player to have above 2 million in chips and was one of only three players above 1 million. Here is how the final table played out:

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Poker and money go hand in hand at casinos only

Editor’s Note: The Evening Guide presents the second of a two-part series on the growing popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em poker and the legalities involved.

The only place any poker game involving money is legally allowed is in a casino, says a spokesperson for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

The commission does not license any charitable organization in licensed establishments to hold poker games particularly if “it’s going to be for money,” Ab Campion said in an recent interview.

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Poker Table Materials Launches E-Commerce Website

Poker Table Materials provides products for the poker table building industry at both the wholesale and retail levels.

Poker Table Materials is a new full service, consumer friendly e-commerce website with a shopping cart and resource pages containing industry information. The company is built around the fundamentals of great customer service, high quality products and competitive pricing. The product line includes fabrics, vinyl, foam padding and accessories for gaming tables. These products are sold at both the wholesale and retail levels. All of the products are available for purchase directly from the website and will normally ship out to the customer on the same day the order is placed.

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DonkeyGear.net Re-Brands and Introduces a New Poker Mascot

The uprising of the hottest poker fashion and apparel website, DonkeyGear.net, seems to have surprised even its founders. Launched only a few months ago, DonkeyGear.net caters to a variety of poker needs, although it’s their poker t-shirts and apparel specialties that have separated them from their competition and have gotten people in casino poker rooms to take notice.

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Titan Poker Plan To Fill Annual Lull

Each yeah, there is a lull of activity in the online poker world; occurring in the immediate run-up to the World Series of Poker.

As well as running several promotions throughout the next month, they will be hosting the second annual European Championship of Online Poker.

Titan will also host two super-satellites for the Asian Poker Tour Manila, with a chance to win a $2,500 seat at the event for just $258. The events will take place on May 5 and May 12.

These satellites will pay out prize packages of $6,000 in total value, covering all accommodation and travel costs. Four of these prizes can be won.

The ECOOPII tournament will feature ten days of poker action and prize pools of $3.6m. Satellites to the events are running now.

Poker Players Opt For Jury Trial

In America, five defendants in a case brought against players participating in home poker games have requested a trial by jury after growing angry with laws that ban any form of entertainment using cards or dice.

The defendants in South Carolina were charged under a state law passed in 1802 following raids early last month. The affair was the culmination of a ten-month investigation by police where four houses were watched. Officials stated that high-stakes games were taking place and arrested 27 people and seized $62,000.

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