PROFILE Name: Sam Holden Age: 22 Hometown: Canterbury, Great Britain Online Handle: SAMDMND Sam Holden is the lone Brit — and the short stack — at the 2011 World Series of Poker final table. Still, you can almost guarantee his rail will be the most rambunctious at the Penn and Teller Theater in November. Poker… Read more »
PROFILE Name: Ben Lamb Age: 26 Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma Online Handle: benba In 2011, Ben Lamb put together one of the most impressive performances the World Series of Poker has ever seen. And with a date at the Main Event final table set for November, Lamb’s fairy-tale series is far from over. The 26-year-old had… Read more »
The inaugural $20,000 Epic Poker League Main Event is down to three six-handed tables as the loaded field of 137 has been trimmed down to 18. Each remaining member of the star-studded field is guaranteed a minimum payday of $43,190 with the winner receiving a cool $1 million in the first of four “epic” Main… Read more »
According to report from Poker Affiliate Solutions, the Merge Gaming Network will begin allowing new players from the United States to sign up at its member poker rooms within the next week. One of the rooms on the network, Sportsbook.com, started accepting new U.S. customers yesterday. We reported back in July that it did appear… Read more »
The first day of the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event kicked off on Tuesday and when the players bagged up their chips, it was New York’s Eugene Katchalov that sat in the lead. With 356,300 chips, Katchalov has almost a 70,000 chip lead over his closest opponent. With blinds and antes about to be… Read more »
As the first Main Event of the new Epic Poker League gets set to kick off at the Palms Resort Hotel in Las Vegas, Steve O’Dwyer might find it hard to concentrate. O’Dwyer, a 29-year old poker pro, won the league’s first Pro/Am tournament yesterday, besting 189 competitors and pocketing $23,810 plus the $20,000 seat… Read more »
I know what you have been thinking. “Online poker needs another juicy cheating scandal. The World Series of Poker is on hiatus until November and the excitement surrounding Black Friday has died down. We need something to talk about.” Well, if you have been thinking that, you’re in luck! And this one involves one of… Read more »
Starting this coming Friday, Party Poker players will be able to take the first step on a possible trip to Germany to join in one of the world’s most famous parties. Through the first week of September, Party Poker will award 16 packages to the 201-year old Oktoberfest, held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Beginning… Read more »
Every day of our lives, our well-being hinges on the trust we put in others. We trust that the pharmacist gave us the correct medication, we trust that our children’s pre-school teacher will keep them safe, we trust that the house cleaner isn’t pocketing our loose change, and we trust that online poker rooms will… Read more »
PROFILE Name: Phil Collins Age: 26 Hometown: Aiken, South Carolina Online Handle: USCPhildo No, he’s not that Phil Collins. But you will hear dreadful versions of the popular musician’s songs during the WSOP Main Event final table, as Collins’ rowdy friends will definitely create an entertaining atmosphere for the 26-year old pro in November. It… Read more »
The eighth season of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) has its first champion. Switzerland’s Ronnie Kaiser became the country’s first EPT winner by running over the field at Tallinn this week to earn a first-place prize of €275,000. Kaiser claimed the chip lead on Day 3 and maintained the pole position nearly the rest… Read more »
PROFILE Name: Matt Giannetti Age: 26 Hometown: Austin, Texas Online Handle: hazards21 Poker pro Matt Giannetti is a Longhorn through and through, but the 26-year old makes his home in Las Vegas, the Mecca of the poker world. Giannetti left the University of Texas in 2006 in order to focus on poker, where he played… Read more »
On Friday, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) released a statement regarding Full Tilt Poker’s overdue licensing fees that were disclosed during the hearing in London last month. The AGCC said that Full Tilt has paid the fees, which were reported to be around $410,000. The statement reads: “As a result of the AGCC’s investigations… Read more »
PROFILE Name: Eoghan O’Dea Age: 26 Hometown: Dublin, Ireland Online Handle: intruder123 Poker isn’t a hobby in the O’Dea family. It’s a legacy. Irishman Eoghan O’Dea followed in his father’s footsteps by reaching the final table of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event in July. The 26-year-old poker pro from Dublin amassed 33,925,000… Read more »
Huck Seed hasn’t cashed in a poker tournament since last September, but the former World Series of Poker Main Event champ is finding other ways to hit six-figure scores at the casino. Seed won $670,665 playing video poker when he hit a Royal Flush at Aria in Las Vegas this week. The 42-year-old was putting… Read more »
PROFILE Name: Martin Staszko Age: 35 Hometown: Trinec, Czech Republic Online Handle: filfedra Martin Staszko seemingly came out of nowhere to claim the chip lead going into the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event final table. The pro from the Czech Republic takes 40,175,000 chips into November and is one of the more mysterious… Read more »
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is being investigated by Major League Baseball for his participation in a high-stakes poker game that included A-list celebrities such as Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Rodriguez, currently on the disabled list following knee surgery, could face a suspension if his participation in the… Read more »
On Tuesday, just three days before its inaugural event, Federated Sports and Gaming’s (FS&G) Epic Poker League has released its policies regarding logo use by players. While the rules are strict, they are laid out clearly and not left open to interpretation. Of particular note are rules for online poker logos. As one would expect,… Read more »
PocketFives.com, one of the most popular destinations for poker players on the internet, announced on Tuesday that it would no longer promote online poker rooms that still accept customers from the United States. In a statement post on the site, PocketFives co-founder Adam Small wrote, in part: “We’re planning a lot of positive changes to… Read more »
On Friday, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) announced that it has granted Full Tilt Poker a renewal of its Secondary Client Provider Authorization (Secondary CPA). Full Tilt, once the second largest poker room on the internet, had its primary license suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) on June 29th and has not spread… Read more »
With the storm winds of the United States’ financial mess swirling through Washington, D.C. the last few weeks, it would seem that poker would be the last thing on elected officials’ minds, but online poker did receive a public word of support Monday from a member of Congress, the same day the House passed the… Read more »
ESPN released the latest edition of its “The Nuts” poker player rankings on Friday, using the recent results from the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) as voting fodder. As usual, there were both big movers and players who stayed in place, and like always, there is no shortage of debate. But first, let’s explain… Read more »
As the saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” While the online poker industry has been attempting to weather a serious storm over the last few months, one constant still remains: the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). The world’s largest online poker room (smaller, but still the largest)… Read more »
