“Full Tilt down?” That short query has become a sort of inside joke in the online poker community over the years, as whenever players had trouble logging on to Full Tilt Poker, a number of threads would be started almost simultaneously on internet message boards asking about the status of the company’s game servers. Today… Read more »
Month: June 2011
Ben Lamb wins WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
Ben Lamb is known as one of the best Pot-Limit Omaha cash game players around. It might be about time to remove the “cash game” qualifier from that description. Coming off a runner-up finish in the $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) just a week ago, Lamb did himself… Read more »
Federated Sports and Gaming Names New Pro League
Its first event less than forty days away, Federated Sports and Gaming (FS&G) has finally come up with a name for its new professional poker league. After what must have been countless brainstorming sessions, “Epic Poker League” was selected as the name of choice. “This is no ordinary tournament league,” said FS&G Chief Operating Office… Read more »
PokerStars Big Game Returns Monday, June 27
Many televised poker programs in the U.S. were casualties of Black Friday, but the popular PokerStars Big Game is set to return next week on PokerStars.tv. The show, which is hosted by Joe Stapleton and Scott Huff, will be broadcast every weekday at Noon ET on PokerStars.tv for the next six weeks, starting June 27… Read more »
Rep. Joe Barton Introduces Online Poker Bill
Representative Joe Barton of Texas introduced a bill Friday that would allow for the legalization of online poker in the United States. The bill, named the “Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011,” would allow individual states to choose whether they want to allow residents access to online poker rooms.… Read more »
InterPoker Hosts Bad Beat Jackpot
The biggest Bad Beat Jackpot in online poker is underway. It is hosted by InterPoker and sports a massive jackpot of €870,000 ($1,250,000) which officially makes it the largest prize pool ever. All you have to do to win is loose a hand with a four of a kind that are 10s or higher. The… Read more »
Tobey Maguire Sued for Underground Poker Winnings
Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire is among at least 11 people being sued by trustees for his winnings in a series of high-stakes Hollywood poker games, Star magazine reported Wednesday. Maguire, as well as former High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan and professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, have been accused of taking winnings from Brad Ruderman,… Read more »
2011 WSOP on Record Pace
So who predicted that the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) would be on a record-breaking pace at its halfway point? You did? Liar. After the United States online poker market imploded as the result of the U.S. Department of Justice indictments of eleven principals at Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker, the WSOP… Read more »
Eric Rodawig Wins $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship; Phil Hellmuth Second
Considering he has a record eleven World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelets, the old saying “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” wouldn’t quite be appropriate, but it must feel like that for Phil Hellmuth this summer. Early Tuesday morning, Hellmuth fell just shy of his twelfth bracelet for the second time at the 2011… Read more »
Barton Poker Bill May be Coming This Week
According to the Washington, D.C. Insider website TheHill.com, Rep. Joe Barton (R – Texas) could introduce his new online poker bill as early as this week. The bill will start in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Barton is the chariman emeritus and senior ranking Republican. It is thought that it will be… Read more »
Mike Sexton Falls Just Short of WSOP Bracelet #2
Hall of Famer Mike Sexton might best be known for his unparalleled wit as the voice of the World Poker Tour. But at the core Sexton is a poker player. He’s proven his knack for playing cards for more than three decades, and this week he was inches away from claiming his second ever World… Read more »
World Poker Tour TV Ratings Up 35%
The vast changes made to the broadcast of the World Poker Tour during its ninth season are apparently paying off. According to a WPT press release this week, FSN’s coverage of the popular program has increased in ratings by 35 percent over last season, with an average number of weekly viewers at 669,000. The WPT… Read more »
Frenchmen Bertrand Grospellier (ElkY), Elie Payan Win WSOP Gold
With titles on the World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour to his credit, along with numerous online accomplishments, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is considered one of the most talented No Limit Hold ’em tournament players on the planet. The Team PokerStars Pro has accrued more than $7.5 million in live earnings, plus another $2 million… Read more »
PokerTracker 4 Announced
It wasn’t exactly a tightly kept secret, but the team at PokerTracker officially let the cat out of the bag Monday with the announcement PokerTracker 4 (PT4). Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, PokerTracker will launch public beta testing of its new release late in the third quarter of 2011, with commercial sales scheduled for the… Read more »
Frank, Campbell Back Barton Bill
We are not going to tell you to get your hopes up because, as we all know by now, lawmakers have a knack for inflicting soul crushing blows upon the poker community, but it looks like there may be a glimmer of light on the online poker legalization front. A glimmer. Nobody overreact, please. As… Read more »
Push It Poker
Since April 15th, it’s become much harder for most people to play poker with their friends. Sure, you can try to organize a home game, but those are never easy to put together and can end up costing you a ton of money in food, beer and make-up gifts to your wife or girlfriend (or… Read more »
More First-Time Winners at 2011 WSOP
The story at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) over the weekend was the incredible battle between all-time greats John Juanda and Phil Hellmuth in the $10,000 2-7 No-Limit Draw Lowball Championship. It would have been interesting enough had it just revolved around Juanda winning his fifth gold bracelet, but the attention of the poker… Read more »
John Juanda Denies Phil Hellmuth of 12th Bracelet
Phil Hellmuth was so close to winning his 12th bracelet on Saturday night you could virtually hear the cork pop on the Dom Pérignon. Hellmuth absolutely punished the final table of the $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship to reach heads up play with another legend of the game, John Juanda. The “Poker Brat”… Read more »
Phil Hellmuth Approaches Bracelet #12
There are several fascinating storylines going into the final day of the World Series of Poker $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship. The stacked field of nine features two former WSOP Main Event champions, a former WSOP Europe Main Event Champion, and the winner of last year’s 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship. Eight of the nine remaining… Read more »
Viacheslav Zhukov Wins WSOP Omaha High-Low Split Championship
Russia’s Viacheslav Zhukov entered the $10,000 Omaha High-Low Split Championship this week as one of only a few unfamiliar faces in the tournament. But the 22-year-old poker pro, playing in his first World Series of Poker, never felt threatened playing in one of the most star-studded fields of the WSOP. Zhukov bested 201 talented players… Read more »
Timex – Training Video from Cardrunners
Another great video from the instructors at Cardrunners.com. This time around Mike “Timex” McDonald explains a few hands and provides great information for certain situations at the poker tables. Improve your poker game with CardRunners. CardRunners offers all the tools you need to learn poker, including new videos released daily, strategy forums, pro interviews and… Read more »
Indicted Payment Processor Denied Bail
A magistrate judge in New York has denied bail to one of the 11 men indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on Black Friday. Judge James Cott refused bail to 53-year-old Ira Rubin, one of the alleged payment processors that assisted PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in “tricking” banks by disguising payments as transactions… Read more »
Police Receive $470,000 Worth of Seized Online Gambling Funds
Remember that scene in the movie Rounders when Mike McDermott cleans up at the Binghamton police officers’ poker game (until Worm comes along and ruins everything)? Well, if you live in Maryland and lost money when the United States federal government indicted two online gambling companies in May, seizing ten domain names along with player… Read more »
WSOP Monday: Bracelets Aplenty
There was no shortage of action at the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on Monday, as three bracelets were clinched in three entirely different events. To be fair, the final days of two of the tournaments were actually started on Sunday, but the bracelets were won after the clock struck midnight, so we’re going… Read more »
Behind the Scenes – BOOM
Many in the poker industry have been buzzing over the recently released trailer to “BOOM” which is being produced by the same group that produced the “From Busto to Robusto” series. As many of you know, I was the first person to be featured in the trailer and appeared alongside legends of the game, discussing our thoughts and personal stories with the industry. Read more »