They Call Me Boog

GE Profile Refrigerator Slow Water Dispenser After Filter Change

2011-10-10T18:14:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I just tried to change the water filter on my GE Profile refrigerator with the water dispenser on the outside. My fridge looks kinda like this:

I have a plastic water line in the back, and a water filter inside the fridge connected to the water line near the top right. The filter looks exactly like this:

The GE MSWF water filter costs around $28 at Amazon.

After I bought the filter, and replaced the old one in the fridge according to the instructions provided with the filter, the water dispenser started dispensing water very slowly. If I twisted the filter a little bit while dispensing the water, then the water came out a little bit faster, but still not the normal water flow. Same thing happened when I pulled on the filter a little bit while dispensing water...faster, but still not the normal water flow.

After digging a little deeper trying to find some information on how to fix this thing, I discovered a few threads:

http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/refrigerator-freezer-repair/6333-slow-water-dispenser-3.html

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1915157-water_dispenser_slow_flow_after_filter

Basically, the idea was to put a rubber washer in with the water filter, so that the water would flow normally. I didn't quite understand why this would work, but I finally figured it out.

So, here's a picture of the water filter part that's inside the fridge. I took a picture of it by sticking my iphone inside the fridge and turning it upside.

I wanted to see what the thing looked like when the water filter was taken out. The actual water filter cylinder connects to the image above. Now, do you see that little black thing on the left side? Well, that little thing is kinda like a stopper. When the water filter is connected to it, the little black thing pushes upwards and allows the water to flow into the filter. It's cheap and it's plastic, which is why I think so many people have problems with their water dispensers.

Now, here's what I did. I found a washer in my toolbox:

I placed the washer in my water filter. Here's a picture of them both next to each other:

Here's a picture of just the water filter top:

If you look at the top of the water filter where the water enters, you'll notice two little wedge things. These two wedge things push that little black piece upwards, so that the water can flow into the filter. Since the little black thing is plastic and cheap, it doesn't take much for it to break and/or split and NOT push all the way up allowing full water flow into the filter, thus causing your water dispenser to flow slowly.

So, after I put the washer into the water filter, and reconnected the water filter to the fridge, it helped, but it still didn't fully work. I had stick a small screw driver into the fridge connection and kind of "sharpen" the little black thing, so that it would protrude a little more. This allowed the little black thing to push up higher, allowing more water flow.

I know it's confusing, but it worked for me. Basically, if you're not getting good water flow from your water dispenser, it's most likely because the water flow into the filter is being limited by that little black thing.

Please comment here with any questions.

How to print from a Mac to a Canon MF3240?

2011-09-06T10:58:00.000-04:00

I received a Canon MF3240 for Christmas a few years ago. Great all-in-one printer. However, I got a Macbook Pro a short while later, and found out that this printer didn't work with my Macbook Pro. Ugghh.

Well, I finally found a solution and it works wonderfully. No, there still aren't Mac drivers available for this printer...I highly doubt that there'll ever be any available. No, I didn't hook it up to an airport express, or a network print server (even though I tried); they still don't work because there are no mac drivers available. I even tried connecting the printer to a Windows PC and sharing the printer for my Mac, but no go-ey.

The solution that I found? Well, Google has this thing call Cloud Print. In a nutshell, it's allows printing to any printer wirelessly or over the internet. Basically, you still need a Windows PC to connect the printer to, but after that, you can use the Chrome browser to connect the printer to the Cloud Print service, then use this Google supported plugin called Cloud Print Lite. Cloud Print Lite works wonderfully, and it allows you to print from any application to any of your Cloud Print printers.

So, here are the steps that you need to take in order to get your Canon MF3240 to work on a Mac:

Plug your Canon MF3240 to a Windows PC via the USB port.
Set the printer up as a regular printer on your Windows PC.
Install Google Chrome on the Windows PC.
Login to your Google account via Chrome preferences.
In the "under the hood" tab of Chrome preferences, scroll down to the bottom and enable agoogle cloud print.
On your Mac, install Chrome and login to your Google account, and enable google cloud print.
Install Cloud Print Lite from this link.
Now, open up any application, and print the page. (Make sure you click on the "PDF" button, and select "cloud print lite". This will allow you to select your google cloud print printer, and print to it.

That's it!

Penny Auction Sites - Legit or Scams?

2011-02-23T14:34:00.001-05:00

So, I've been seeing more and more Penny Auction sites pop up recently. Just upon initial inspection, I would never personally signup to one of these sites. I go by the philosophy, if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is. Well, upon further inspection, it looks like you can definitely get a good value on the items that these sites sell, however, it doesn't come without a price.

How do these penny auction sites work?

They sell bid packs. For US customers, you can buy a 100 bid pack for $65 USD. With the bid pack, you get to bid 100 times within their site. So, let's say an ipad is selling for $80 currently. The bids are placed in increments of 2 cents, so the next bid would have to be $80.02, then $80.04 and so on. By the time the product actually sells, the site could make about thousand or two thousand bucks on a single ipad, whereas the winner pays something to the tune of $90-$100 or something like that. Pretty sick. In actuality, the buyer could bid on the product 200+ times before winning, which would make the item actually cost $130 + $90 = $220. My guess it that in the end it'll actually cost more than the product itself to bid on the item.

BidRivals.com is the one site that I've been looking at. I down know how long they've been active, but they seem pretty legit to me. You can even get 10 free bids by using the coupon code: 10FREEBIDS. I think they give you 1 free bid upon registration, then if you purchase a bid pack, they'll tack on 10 total free bids on there. Here's a banner from their site:

Look at all of this COOL STUFF that you can "buy"! Ipods, ipads, PS3s, iphones, xbox 360s, etc. They advertise the products as buying them for nubs. I don't know, there's gotta be some sort of method to the madness, so that you can get one of these items for cheap.

How does Living Social make money from the Amazon gift certifcate?

2011-01-19T17:10:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, January 19, 2011, LivingSocial.com offered a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate for only $10. As of this writing (4:02pm EST), 767,975 gift certificates have been sold. That's $7,679,750 in sales in a little over 8 hours since this deal was listed. I imagine that over 1,000,000 gift certificates will be sold before the deal expires. So, how does LivingSocial make money from selling an Amazon.com gift certificate worth double the amount paid for it? Someone has to foot the bill, right?

First off, let's get to the fine print...in the text of the deal, it says "Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion." This statement tells me that Amazon.com probably has no part in this promotion. Perhaps LivingSocial decided to spend a cool $10-$15 million in hopes of gaining some advertising exposure by linking their site with one of the biggest online retailers out there? Perhaps. I mean, $15 million is not that much for a company who's expected to bring in $500 million revenues next year. Not to mention the $175 million that Amazon invested in LivingSocial, valuing their company at $1 billion. Then again, why would LivingSocial do that?

Fifteen million is still roughly 3% of their gross revenues...that's no chump change. At the same time, it's not unheard of for a company to spend $15 million dollars on one advertising campaign. I mean, just look at Anheuser Busch on Superbowl day. Then again, Anheuser Busch has a market cap of 67 billion euros ($90 billion USD); that's about 90 times the valuation of LivingSocial. So, my first theory is that this just a marketing expense for them.

My second theory is that LivingSocial has some sort of affiliate deal with Amazon where they get a certain percentage back based on the number of gift certificates purchased. Amazon routinely pays affiliates up to 8.5% of purchased items, including gift certificates, through their Amazon Associates program. At 8.5%, they get roughly $1.70 back from each $20 gift certificate purchased, which $1.7 million assuming 1,000,000 gift certificates are sold. This is another theory.

Or perhaps LivingSocial and Amazon.com split the cost? LivingSocial gets free advertising by linking itself to one of the biggest brands and Amazon gets guaranteed spending, along with the effects of viral marketing, which I've seen a lot of, from this deal. I mean, it's all over twitter / facebook. This deal is everywhere. I heard it on the radio on WTOP. And this marketing is from zero actual ad dollars spent; 100% viral marketing.

Tee Time Golf Pass 2011

2010-11-23T09:51:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Tee Time Golf Pass is out. With 529 golf courses to choose from in the Mid-Atlantic edition, you can get up to 323 free rounds of golf in 2011. There are 73 more courses than the 2010 edition. You get discounts eight states on the east coast, including Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey and West Virginia. Order before December 20, 2010, and get a free calendar.

My favorites are probably Laurel Hill in Lorton, VA for $49 in the prime season from April - October. Other include Penderbrook for $32, Pleasant Valley and South Riding for $25 including cart. There are a ton of offers. You can save enough to pay for the Tee Time book in one or two outings on the golf course. It doesn't make sense not to buy one of these things. The cost of the book is $59.95. Don't sleep on it.

Make sure you check out Tee Time Golf Pass Coupon Code for the occasional discounts as well.

CardRunners Promo Code , Referral code

2010-08-25T10:55:00.000-04:00

CardRunners.com and StoxPoker.com are two of the best online poker video training sites in the world today. Recently, they merged into one, combining the two best into one. The CardRunners pros offer the best poker videos, poker training, poker strategy, and poker blogs to new and seasoned online poker players. Sign up today to see for yourself.

How to remove battery from LG Ally cell phone

2010-08-18T11:17:00.008-04:00

I usually don't post non-poker or sports related items on this blog but this has frustrated me to death. I recently upgraded my phone to the LG Ally. This is an Android smart phone offered by Verizon Wireless. This is a nice beginner Android phone but it's not made to run many apps at once. If you are a casual user, it's a great phone but if you are a heavy user who likes to run many apps at once, you are out of luck. The phone will crash often and there are still many bugs to be worked out.

The one thing that has frustrated me the most is taking out the battery. Usually you don't have to remove your battery from your phone, but when the phone crashes, the only way to reset the phone is to take out the battery. Removing the battery from the battery from the LG Ally is the most frustrating thing ever. It's almost impossible to remove with just your fingers. You would need long, strong finger nails. I had to use a thin screwdriver to remove it. Even with the screwdriver, it took me multiple tries. The battery lacks one of those little flaps that helps you pop out the battery. Anyways, if you have a LG Ally, good luck with the battery. If you are planning on getting one, I would get a screwdriver with it.

Bot Ring on Poker Stars

2010-07-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

I've always wondered about this. Computer programs written as "bots" to play online poker. Everybody knew that it was possible, but I guess the question was how lucrative it could be.

Bot Ring on Poker Stars

Apparently, 10 "bots" were found playing on Poker Stars just recently. They played over 8 million hands and profited over $57k with over $100k in net rake generated. Just the rakeback or Poker Stars loyalty points in themselves would be worth tens of thousands of dollars. And with the help of Holdem Manager or Poker Tracker, these bots could really do some damage.

So, if bots were found on Poker Stars, one of the biggest online poker sites in the world, how about the other sites out there? Maybe one where Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager doesn't work. I guess the biggest thing is that they probably have an edge, but they're most definitely not unbeatable. A good player playing against a bot probably still has the advantage.

Ultimate Golf Pass - Promo Code: "Dealz" for 15% off.

2010-05-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

The Ultimate Golf Card / Ultimate Golf Pass 2010 - 2011 has deals at 128 golf courses in the mid-atlantic. There are many 2 for 1 deals, and free play offers. Save $10 - $40 every time you tee it up in New Jersey, New York, Pennslyvania, Delaware, Virginia or Maryland. Don't forget to the use the promo code: Dealz for 15% off the book, which gives you a discount of $7.50. Regular price for the GolfingForeU.com coupon book is $49.95.

Waggle Golf Pass

2010-05-20T11:53:00.001-04:00

Check out Golfingdealz.com to compare golf discounts at all of the different golf passes offered in the mid-atlantic deal.

Play Texas Hold'em Poker 888Poker.com

2010-05-05T10:15:00.001-04:00

888poker offers a 100% up to $400 initial deposit bonus. Their current promotions include 88 WSOP main event packages, and a $50k First Depositor's Challenge. Their rewards system and VIP loyalty program is one of the best out there. You can earn up to 36% cashback through their loyalty points program. You need 300,000 Status Points per year to earn the full 36% cashback, which will put you in their elite status of VIP Diamond.

Their online poker games include fixed limit texas hold'em, no limit texas hold'em, pot limit texas hold'em, fixed limit 7 card stud, and pot limit omaha h/l. The first three offer heads up, shorted handed and full ring games. Also, the software tracking programs, Poker Tracker 3 and Holdem Manager work

Anyways, give 888poker a try. You could be one of the 88 who win a 2010 main event WSOP package!

What Happened to AJ Benza on High Stakes Poker?

2010-02-25T23:15:00.005-05:00

What happened to AJ Benza on High Stakes Poker?

I tuned into the new season and it was just Gabe Kaplan by himself with a new lady co-host, Kara Scott. I always thought Kaplan and Benza made a good team. It's always nice to have a team in the booth. It's tough for one person to carry an entire show without a sidekick. You don't see one commentator in the NFL football booth or one commentator in the Golf booth, why is there one in the Poker booth? You always need one commentator and one analyst to analyze the action otherwise there is always a short silence between hands. Like many have already said, why fix something when it's not broken? High Stakes Poker was the #1 rated show on the Game Show Network (GSN). According to AJ Benza's own blog, he didn't know what hit him when he was left out of season 6. He's been trying to get his job back and viewers have been petitioning for him to return but who knows if the GSN producers will budge.

Don't forget you can always find a great online poker room at www.boogster.com

Internet gambling again in play - washingtonpost.com

2010-02-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

Internet gambling again in play - washingtonpost.com: "Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.) and other Democrats are using the six-month reprieve to push ahead with legislation that would legalize and regulate poker, mah-jongg and other online betting games -- pastimes that have exploded in popularity in a country that accounts for more than half of the $16 billion global Internet gambling market. The federal government, which rarely prosecutes online gambling, would net billions of dollars in tax and licensing revenue if it were legalized, proponents say."

Ever since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was passed, online poker rooms have lost tons of customers. There were times when you couldn't even find an open table to play some hold'em. Poker rooms like Pokerstars, Ultimate Bet, Party Poker and Pacific Poker were loaded with players. A majority of these players were from the United States. Once the UIGEA passed and it forced some poker rooms to shutdown and it made US players find other ways to play hold'em.

It's good to know that Rep. Barney Frank is working on this revised bill. He's got some clout in Congress and it seems that it might have some legs. I'm sure Obama's administration can use some of the taxes that might come from online gambling. The deficit is growing by the minute and a companion bill could generate in excess of $42 billion in tax revenues over 10 years.

Hudson Valley Golf Pass

2010-02-01T21:55:00.001-05:00

Hudson Valley Golf Pass

It's simple to save. Just bring the golf pass coupon book with you to the course and have them mark off your book before you pay for the round.

Save on more than 60 courses in the NY, NJ, PA, CT area! Here's a quick list:

Architect’s Club . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .
Ballyowen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Great Gorge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Grossinger’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Tee Time Golf Pass 2010

2010-01-13T19:48:00.004-05:00

Tee Time Golf Pass 2010

Save $10 - $40 on over 480 golf courses in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are. Buy the 2010 Mid-Atlantic edition today for $59.95:

I buy one of these coupon books every year. Since I play so much golf, it probably saves me a few hundred bucks a year. They've been adding more and more courses every year too, so there's definitely a lot of value in this book.

My favorite deals are probably Penderbrook for $29 M-Th before 8am and after 11am including a lunch buffet. Penderbrook is not the best course, but you can't beat 18 holes for this price, including lunch. Crazy. The Tee Time book has a nice coupon for Laurel Hill Golf course as well, where it's $49 M-F in the offseason. Laurel Hill doesn't offer very many discounts, so this coupon will save you about $20 itself. Westfields, Raspberry Falls, Pohick, South Riding...you name it and this book has it. Be sure to get one before you head out to the golf course. Trust me, it will save you a ton of money.

9/11 cop wins cool $1M in poker challenge - NYPOST.com

2009-12-20T00:53:00.000-05:00

9/11 cop wins cool $1M in poker challenge - NYPOST.com: "Kosowski, a 53-year-old amateur card-player, won $1 million on the FOX poker game show PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge after beating one of the world’s top pros in a head-to-head game."

I caught this Pokerstars show a few times when it first started and it was quite boring. A heads up match between a pro and a stranger off the street isn't very interesting. It looks like someone finally beat Daniel Negreanu for the million bucks. I can't help but think that Negreanu set this up a bit because who would watch a show if no one ever won. What's a better story line than having a 9-11 NYPD cop winning the million? The show will be aired on FOX Dec. 27th at 5pm.

Hastings Torches Isildur1 for up to $4.2 Million in Epic Poker Match - Poker News - CardPlayer.com

2009-12-09T14:34:00.001-05:00

Hastings Torches Isildur1 for up to $4.2 Million in Epic Poker Match - Poker News - CardPlayer.com: "At the end of a five-hour session that saw the two players battle at $500-$1,000 pot-limit Omaha, Hastings was up anywhere from $3.2 million to $4.2 million. (That discrepancy comes from the tenuous poker tracking sites out there, which give a good sense of what’s going on but fail to be completely accurate.) While the exact amount may not be known, it is clear that Hastings crushed him."

Please tell me how a kid from Cornell who plays $25-$50 NL Hold'em can parlay his money into $4.2 million against one of the top online poker players? That's exactly what Brian Hastings did against Isildur1 at Full Tilt Poker. You have to go on a pretty sick run to beat someone that badly. If I was Hastings, I would just quit going to classes and hire someone to go for me. I mean, why would you waste your time getting a degree when you can make $4.2 million playing online poker. If he was smart, he would just pocket that money and live on it for the rest of his life. Of course, we all know that won't happen. I'm sure this guy will likely lose some of it back playing poker and end up bring a lawyer (making $150k) when he graduates from Cornell.

Jordan Crawford dunk over Lebron James

2009-07-22T22:12:00.007-04:00

I thought they destroyed all the videos of Lebron James getting dunked on, but it looks like someone smuggled out a copy. The guys at Nike didn't want this video to get out because they thought it would ruin King James' reputation. All they did was cause a big hoopla about it and brought more attention to the situation. If they would've just let the video out, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. After watching the video, it wasn't even that big of a deal. It wasn't like Jordan Crawford served up a facial to Lebron.

My Son’s Gamble: By LUCY FERRISS

2009-07-01T00:10:00.002-04:00

Here's a great article published in the New York Times. It's a bit lengthy, but a very nice read. It talks about the mindset of online poker addicts -- how the normal human being cannot imagine what goes on in their heads. It also brings attention to the UIGEA or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is great, considering this is a national newspaper column.

I don't play online poker that often anymore, but during the hay-day, I could spend all night playing online poker. If they had online poker when I was in college, this could have been my story. I could've been the guy who spent all night play poker and eventually doing it for a living. I imagine that there are thousands of "Dan's" out there today who have very similar stories. Here's an excerpt from the column by Lucy Ferriss:

“And in life, I don’t wonder if I have two aces,” he agrees. “But the deeper processes apply. Like, what do I want this person to do, or what am I going to do because they’re thinking this or that? When I’m dealing in real life with something I want to accomplish, I focus on what the other person’s thinking and try to react positively to get what I want. Plus my whole outlook has matured. I keep better control of my emotions. I know how to combine factors to make the most levelheaded decision. That’s what life is, isn’t it? Using pros and cons to make the best decision you can?”

Well, no, I think. That isn’t life. Life is more than winning, more than manipulating others. I remember another opinion Dan has ventured — that young men find poker more exciting and successful than young women because women think, Do I have cards that can win? whereas men think, How can I get this person to think I have the best cards? Not knowing anything about my cards, I step onto land-mined turf. What about relationships? I ask Dan. What about people you care about, people you don’t want to beat?

He thinks a minute. Then he says: “Playing poker does help you focus more on what other people might need from you. You might not be right all the time, but that’s where your thought process goes. If you care about someone else’s goal, then you can help them.”

"durrrr" Challenge update: A Marathon Session

2009-06-30T23:25:00.002-04:00

Pokernews has a great recap of the Durrrr Challenge. Dwan plays in the highest limit online poker games and he usually plays multiple high limit tables against multiple opponents. Here's a brief recap of one of the biggest hands between Tom Durrrr Dwan and Patrik Antonius. To read more about Durrrr's night, check out the post from Pokernews.

"If you thought that pot was huge, the one that unfolded only minutes later was even more of a monster, at over 1000 BB. Sitting on a $204,000 stack, Antonius opened for $1,200 from the button, Dwan, with over $310,000 behind, three-bet to $3,600, and Antonius called. Dwan led out for $4,800 on the {9-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds} flop, Antonius raised to $21,600 and Dwan called. The turn fell the {5-Spades} and Dwan checked. After a bit of a think, Antonius settled on a bet of $50,400. Dwan came over the top, re-potting to $201,600 and Antonius called all in for $128,597. Dwan held {8-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{7-Clubs}{6-Spades} for a nine-high straight while Antonius needed the board to pair on the river with {A-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}{9-Spades}{9-Hearts} for a set of nines. The {10-Clubs}, however, fell on the river, Dwan improving to a ten-high straight and earning the $408,394 pot in the process."

Leo DiCaprio's New Online Gambling Concern

2009-06-16T16:41:00.000-04:00

This could be a good follow up to the movie Rounders. There have been many poker movies in the past few years that just couldn't compare to Rounders. However, if Leo DiCaprio is in it, you can bet that it's going to be a decent movie. I'm particularly interested in this movie because I know folks from the poker world down in Costa Rica. Some are hiding from the US government and some are just making money from poker down there. Hopefully this movie sheds some new light how they are living large down there.

Leo DiCaprio's New Online Gambling Concern - Yahoo! News:
"Erik Pedersen Erik Pedersen – Tue Jun 16, 10:28 am ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) – As celebrities go, Leonardo DiCaprio seems a safe bet.

So while you're still shuddering over the scary Shutter Island trailer, Variety reports that DiCaprio has doubled down to produce and star in a new project: a film about online casinos based in Costa Rica.

OK, maybe online gamblers—often unfairly characterized as PJs-wearing shlubs tapping away at their PCs—don't sound as sexy as the guys in Oceans Eleven. But with Leo and the writing team behind Rounders and—hello!—Ocean's Thirteen, the odds look good on this one."

150 seats to the WSOP Main Event

2009-06-12T01:26:00.006-04:00

Full Tilt is giving away 150 seats to the main event this year. If you don't have $10,000 to spend on the main event, check out their tournaments for a chance to contend for the big prize.

150 Seat Main Event Guarantee

Every player dreams about taking their seat at the World Series of Poker* Main Event and playing for the most prestigious title in all of poker. Make your way to the Main Event with a $12K prize package by playing in the 150 Seat Main Event Guarantee.

At Least 150 Seats to the Main Event Will Be Awarded

It doesn't matter if you finish first or 150th, you'll win a $12K prize package to the WSOP Main Event in July. The prize package consists of a $10K buy-in to the Main Event, along with $2,000 in spending money. If you go on to win the Main Event after qualifying for your seat online at Full Tilt Poker, you'll earn a $10 million bonus with $10 Million Main Event Mania.

$1.8 Million Guaranteed

The 150 Seat Main Event Guarantee starts at 18:00 ET (23:00 GMT) on Sunday, June 21st. At least 150 $12K Main Event prize packages will be awarded - that's $1.8 million in guaranteed prize money. You can buy in directly for $500+$35 or satellite your way in for as little as $1 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

‘durrrr Challenge’ Update: Antonius Up by Nearly a Half Million | PokerNews.com

2009-05-06T23:50:00.000-04:00

‘durrrr Challenge’ Update: Antonius Up by Nearly a Half Million | PokerNews.com: "It took less than an hour of play for the “durrrr Challenge” to take its biggest turn to date. Patrik Antonius booked a $328,406 win over Tom “durrrr” Dwan to take the lead in the $200/400 heads-up pot-limit Omaha match, by a $488,133 margin."

This is a good battle between two very good live players. "Durrrr" Dwan still has about 37,000 hands to make his comeback.

Lawmakers Bet on Internet Gambling Legislation - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com

2009-05-06T23:46:00.000-04:00

Lawmakers Bet on Internet Gambling Legislation - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com: "Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online."

Barney Frank is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. His dirty hands was all over the financial meltdown but you have to praise him for trying to pass this legislation.

High Stakes Poker

2009-04-08T13:53:00.003-04:00

I finally had a chance to catch up on some old High Stakes Poker episodes. This season appears to be somewhat different than the past seasons. They brought in some new online internet pros like Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, the young WSOP winner, Peter Eastgate, and "Zig" Sahamies - some Finnish poker pro. Dwan is clearly one of the better players at the table even with the likes of Doyle, Kid Poker and Barry Greenstein. Without Dwan, there really wouldn't be a season 5. He brings action to the table and he is not afraid to dump $100k into the pot. On the other hand, you can tell Eastgate is not a great cash game player. He looks scared at times. He is read easily by some of the other players and he seems to be afraid to lose his money. You can't sit at a $500/$1000 NL table with all pros and be afraid to lose your money. Most WSOP winners aren't great cash players but they got lucky on the way to winning the main event... ala Moneymaker, Gold, Raymer.

As for Zig, he's like the guy you want at your table. He would chase several hands and then lay it down on the river when he didn't hit his draw. He would put $20k, 30k 50k into the pot on a bluff and then take his foot off the pedal on the river and just check it down. He's a pro Pot Limit Ohama player but i think he needs a few lessons in NL hold'em.

Doyle Brunson has gotten tighter than ever. I think as you get older, you are not as loose and you just play smarter. Doyle probably has the most money of anyone at the table but when he laid down his pocket 10s after a $20k bet, i realized he's just there to win money. He's been through it all over the years and I don't blame him for just being there for the money.

Kid Poker, Daniel Negreanu, has just gotten worse and worse every season. He's constantly making bad plays, bad calls and just giving his money away. The hand in season 5, episode 3, where he lost to quad 4s was a very bad call. Benyamin hit his quads and took like $200k+ from Daniel. Not only is he making bad calls, but his etiquette at the table is terrible. He was called out by Gabe Kaplan after laughing when Eastgate accidentally put in a $25k chip. Eli Elezra picked up on it and bet like $140k... which led Eastgate to fold. That was $25k down the drain.

Anyways, I still believe this is the best poker show on TV. Some guys I enjoyed watching in the past seasons include Brian Townsend, Phil Laak, Hellmuth, Mike Matusow (for entertainment purposes only) and Farha. They have to bring some of those guys back.

Ultimate Bet Bad Beat Jackpot

2009-03-29T15:25:00.003-04:00

Here was a typical hand from one of Ultimate Bet's Bad Beat Jackpot (BBJ) tables. You can read more about the Bad Beat jackpot at Ultimate Bet's website. It's a ongoing promotion that they run that awards players a portion of a jackpot when one player gets beat by quad 8s or better. Go to Ultimate Bet's webpage and read the qualifications carefully. I will tell you why later on. See the hand below:

Stage #1324603887: Holdem No Limit $0.50 - 2009-03-20 23:56:45 (ET)
Table: BATTLEFORD DR (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - OWPTOUR ($34.50 in chips)
Seat 3 - WUHAAA ($60.05 in chips)
Seat 4 - XMAN9 ($28.05 in chips)
Seat 5 - DANIELMARIO ($49.82 in chips)
Seat 6 - RELOADNGO ($57.82 in chips)
Seat 8 - MITZU ($32.55 in chips)
Seat 9 - THE_TAZZ ($51 in chips)
Seat 1 - ROCNRON ($17.50 in chips)
WUHAAA - Posts small blind $0.25
XMAN9 - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to THE_TAZZ [10c 2s]
DANIELMARIO - Calls $0.50
RELOADNGO - Raises $2 to $2
MITZU - Folds
THE_TAZZ - Folds
ROCNRON - Folds
OWPTOUR - Folds
WUHAAA - Folds
XMAN9 - Folds
DANIELMARIO - Calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [7c Qh Jh]
DANIELMARIO - Checks
RELOADNGO - Checks
*** TURN *** [7c Qh Jh] [10h]
DANIELMARIO - Checks
RELOADNGO - Checks
*** RIVER *** [7c Qh Jh 10h] [8c]
DANIELMARIO - Checks
RELOADNGO - Checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DANIELMARIO - Shows [9h 8h] (Straight flush, queen)
RELOADNGO - Shows [Kh Ah] (Royal flush)
RELOADNGO Collects $4.55 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($4.75) | Rake ($0.20)
Board [7c Qh Jh 10h 8c]
Seat 1: ROCNRON Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: OWPTOUR (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: WUHAAA (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 4: XMAN9 (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: DANIELMARIO HI:lost with Straight flush, queen [9h 8h - B:Qh,B:Jh,B:10h,P:9h,P:8h]
Seat 6: RELOADNGO won Total ($4.55) HI:($4.55) with Royal flush [Kh Ah - P:Ah,P:Kh,B:Qh,B:Jh,B:10h]
Seat 8: MITZU Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: THE_TAZZ Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Now that you've read the hand and the Bad Beat Jackpot qualifications, what is it missing? At the time when these two players were in this hand, the BBJ was at $350,000. Yes, that's correct, $350K. DANIELMARIO missed out on approximately $114,000 and RELOADNGO lost out on $57,000. DANIELMARIO, who had a straight flush was beat by RELOADNGO, with a royal flush. He ended up taking home $4.55 from the pot.

Why did they miss out on the BBJ?

If you look at the hand above carefully, the total pot was only at $4.75. They were a $0.25 short of the jackpot qualified pot which is $5. If the pot does not get to $5, it does not qualify. DAGGER! Because these two donkeys didn't put another quarter into the pot, they each missed out on a lot of money. If you play at Ultimate Bet, make sure you check out the Bad Beat Jackpot tables. You can make some good coin.

FREE SEAT to PCP $100,000 GTD DEEP STACK CHALLENGE!

2009-03-17T10:12:00.001-04:00

Promotion: FREE SEAT to PCP $100,000 GTD DEEP STACK CHALLENGE!

Date: 17th of March 2009 until 25th of March 2009.

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Good college prank at College Park Maryland

2009-03-04T14:51:00.003-05:00

This is pretty funny stuff. It's cruel when 25,000+ people are in on a prank and you are the one being pranked. This was a prank put together by College Humor.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Beckham to stay at AC Milan until the end of the season

2009-03-02T23:55:00.000-05:00

Milan, Galaxy near deal to let Becks stay in Italy - Soccer- nbcsports.msnbc.com: "Milan, Galaxy near deal to let Becks stay in Italy"

It looks like David Beckham is going to stay with AC Milan until the end of the Serie A season. He's going to miss at least the first 17 games of the MLS. This obviously will be a big blow to crowds attending LA Galaxy games. He draws a huge crowd whenever he plays so the MLS will be taking a hit.

When I watch him play with Milan and with Galaxy, it's like night and day. With Milan, it's like a true, world class team. With the LA Galaxy, it's more like playing on a JV practice squad.

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Episode 1 on Youtube

2009-03-02T09:38:00.005-05:00

If were like me, you missed High Stakes Poker last night because you called Cox at 8:55pm and tried to order the GSN channel. I realized it was in one of those packages that I didn't have. I already pay $150+ for cable but I didn't have the Game Show Network. I turned to GSN and it said "If you want to order GSN, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx. I called the number at 8:55pm. I went through 5 minutes of automated prompts and got nowhere. Then I called back and kept saying "Agent, agent, agent, agent..." Apparently if you are going through prompts, keep saying "agent" or "customer service" and eventually you will reach someone with a pulse. I finally got some slumming CSR working on a Sunday night and she said, I can't help you. SHOCKER! She said "let me forward you to the billing department." I'm like, "I know and YOU know there's no one in that department on a Sunday night, so why would you forward me there." There was a 30 second pause. She said, "hold on one second. Ok, I checked and you're right, there's no one there." What a joke. She wanted to forward me to someone else and let me wait on hold for hours. I know bad customer service when I hear it.

I pleaded with her to give me access to no avail so I missed last nights episode. Luckily, I check YouTube today and the entire season 5 episode 1 is on there.

It's a 4 parter:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

High Stakes Poker is back on the Game Show Network (GSN)

2009-03-01T12:01:00.002-05:00

GSN: The Network For Games - watch. play. win.: "HIGH STAKES POKER™'s fifth season minimum buy-in of $200,000 is the largest for an entire run of a television series"

Don't sleep on the best poker show on television. High Stakes Poker is back on TV tonight at 9pm on The GSN (Game Show Network). Some of the usual suspects are back including Doyle, Eli Elezra, Kid Poker Negreanu, the Unabomber - Phil Laak and the magician, Esfandiari. Some new folks this year that I will be looking out for are Tom "Durrrrr" Dwan, Joe Hachem and the professor, Howard Lederer. Dwan is the online high stakes player that makes millions playing online. I'd be interested to see how he handles playing the pros in live poker. The last guy that did fairly well in high statkes poker was SBRugby aka Brian Townsend. He made the game interesting a few seasons ago. he played good poker and wasn't afraid to put big money in the pot. As I recall, he was the first to buy-in for one million dollars.

Howard Lederer will also be interesting since I consider him a fairly tight player. He's a smart player and it will be interesting to see how many hands he plays.

I always thought Joe Hachem was one of those true internet era WSOP winners. What I mean by that is that he's actually had great success in other tournaments after his win in the 2005 World Series of Poker. Some of the other donkeys who have won haven't done much after their win including Robert Varkonyi, Moneymaker, Raymer and Jamie Gold.

Make sure to tune in tonight as this is the best poker show on tv. Here's a clip from the biggest hand in High Stakes Poker history.

Matusow Admits Losing Millions to Hamilton on UltimateBet

2009-02-27T12:03:00.000-05:00

Matusow Admits Losing Millions to Hamilton on UltimateBet - Poker News: "“Now I play so tight and solid and I’m afraid to pull the trigger because I’m always afraid of getting called because of the fact that every time I made those moves I got called by bottom pair or no pair and all that stuff while I was getting cheated out of all that money. With the mental aspect … it’s basically a lot of what my lawsuit is possibly going to be about.”"

It looks like Mike Matusow got duped big time by the infamous Russ Hamilton. He's the donkey that cheated tons of Ultimate Bet players by spying on their hole cards. Ultimate Bet paid some of the players back but it still caused a lot of harm to Ultimate Bet's business and to the players that got cheated. According to Matusow, now only did he get cheated in thousands of dollars but his poker skills were diminished at the same time. He's saying that his calls and reads were screwed up.

I have to agree with Matusow. If you catch a few bad beats and make a few bad calls, it can really set you back. Can you imagine getting cheated in all the big hands? It would really affect your game.

One thing I have to point out is that Matusow only comes out with this info at the same time he's promoting his new book. Why didn't he come out with this stuff when it happened, when they caught the cheat Russ Hamilton? So I wouldn't be surprised if he exaggerated some stuff.

Bernard Madoff Scammed Professional Poker Player

2009-02-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Bernard Madoff Scammed Professional Poker Player | Gambling911.com

News just came out that Lyle Berman, a known poker professional, was one of those unlucky ones who got scammed by Bernie Madoff. As you recall Madoff ran a ponzi scam that bilked an estimated $50 billion (BILLLION) from investors. These included many once wealthy individuals and many charities.

If you remember Lyle, he appeared on several episodes of WPT and also has won 3 WSOP bracelets. He's the co-owner of the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas and is also the co-founder of Grand Casinos and Lakes Entertainment.

ESPN to broadcast WSOP Europe

2009-01-26T16:26:00.000-05:00

ESPN to broadcast WSOP Europe - Poker - ESPN: "ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker-Europe will debut on February 1 with the first four episodes beginning at 6 p.m. ET. There will be an encore presentation of the first two episodes on ESPN2 at 10 p.m."

Make sure to set your Tivo and DVRs for this one. This is the first time ESPN will be broadcasting the European event. It should be interesting seeing how different it is from WSOP Europe and WSOP USA. There should be some key differences including a smaller, cozier, playing area and the use of a mobile hole card camera. I'm surprised that the mobile webcam hasn't been introduced in the USA. First place is only $1.5 million while in the US, the winner of the last main event earned a little over $9 million.

Tournament play - Bad Beat

2009-01-20T23:35:00.004-05:00

Recently I played in a sit and go tourney on Full Tilt Poker, about 75 players. It was down to about 16 players and I was in the middle of the pack somewhere. I was playing fairly tight with about 8000 chips behind me. The chip leader had around 30k chips. Here's how the dagger hand went down:

At this point of the tournament, there was a $50 ante and blinds were 50/100. So preflop, there's about $550 on the table. I was holding pocket 5s in the small blind. One player before me raises the pot to $300, I call the additional $250. Two other players between us are in the pot. The flop comes out at 3s 5h Jc. I hit my trips and I check the flop, and it goes back to the raiser. His stack is at $25000. he bets out 1500. I raised him to $3k. I'm laying out the sticks for him to fall right in. He pushes me all in. I call him instantly. He flips over Kh Jh. Jack high with a possible back door flush. I'm still feeling really good at this point with my trip 5's. Turn is a 8h. River is a Qh. I'm like, "oh shit". He hits his flush and I'm finished. I bust out in 16th place.

What a joke. I haven't played many sit 'n gos lately but this stuff happens all the time. When stuff like this happens, I feel like the online poker room just wants to move things along. I always feel like I played the hand 100% correct. I would probably play it like this every time. I'm sure some would disagree but those folks are usually the ones who give me all their money.

How much does Full Tilt Poker pay professional poker spokespeople?

2009-01-09T14:59:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered how much poker pros get paid for representing the big online poker sites? I was always interested in what sites like Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars pay the poker pros. I've always noticed a few things. Poker pros seem to have tons of money. I could never figure out how some of these people play in million dollar games or how they can basically throw money away gambling. How much does Chris Moneymaker get paid for being the face of Pokerstars? Or how much does Phil Ivey make from Full Tilt poker? How much does Phil Hellmuth get for representing Ultimate Bet?

Anyways, I read this article recently in Poker News Daily and I couldn't believe what these guys get paid. My guess is that the poker pros have to appear in a few commercials, wear the gear during their public appearances and play a certain amount of hands online -- at the very low limit tables.

From this article, it appears that some pros for Full Tilt get paid 1% of the site's online revenues. According to the article, Full Tilt made $4 billion last year. You know what 1% of $4 BILLION is? That's $40 million for each of these poker pros. And Full Tilt has a lot of them like Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen and several others. They have a bunch of people on the payroll. Now I know how these guys can play in some of these high limit games. I don't care how good you are, but if you play like Gus Hansen, you are bound to be on the losing end in the long run.

I'm pretty sure Chris Moneymaker doesn't make that much from PokerStars. From what I've read, you can find him at the $2/5 NL Hold'em tables. Now that's slumming for a past WSOP winner.

Full Tilt Files Motion for Dismissal in Clonie Gowen Case: "After she was summarily dismissed from Full Tilt as a professional representative for the site on November 11th, Gowen filed the suit, seeking up to $40 million (the 1% of the estimated $4 billion that Full Tilt and its relative entities are worth, according to Gowen and her attorneys) in compensation."

Gnuf Casino - Cashback: Play Mon to Weds Risk-Free!

2009-01-09T14:39:00.003-05:00

Gnuf Casino is offering a free cashback deal from 00:00 CET Monday January 12, 2009 until 24:00 CET Wednesday January 14, 2009, where you can get all of your losses back up to $50, if you lose the money in the casino.

Here are the terms of the promotion:

Cashback: Play Mon to Weds Risk-Free!

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High Stakes Poker Season 5 Will Premiere March 1

2008-12-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

High Stakes Poker Will Premiere March 1: "“This is the real thing,” said Eskandani. “This is what poker is all about.”"

There was a lot of talk about High Stakes Poker not coming back. I always thought it would've been a big mistake since this is the show I tune in to watch every week. This past year, I didn't make the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour, Must See TV. One show I always made an effort to watch was HSP on the GSN network. This show is where the pros play with their real money.

The first four seasons were great. You saw all the top guys in action like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth, Dan Negreanu, Brian Townsend, and Barry Greenstein, amongst many other great professional poker players.

Nevada Jacks Poker Chips

2008-10-29T13:29:00.000-04:00

I've heard of Nevada Jacks poker chips before, but I've never actually seen or used them. Our competitor PokerSource.com offers them in their store. It's listed as the number 1 seller on their "Top 10 Free Poker Gifts" list.

Anyways, I was asked to review their chips, which I should be receiving soon. I can't tell you much about them right now, but I do know that they've received very good reviews from the various poker forums.

I will have a full review after I receive the Nevada Jacks Skulls 300 piece chip set.

Secret Santa Random Name Generator

2008-10-27T09:54:00.002-04:00

Boogspace.com offers a free Secret Santa Generator. It's pretty simple to use. All you have to do is enter your name, email address, then enter the names of all of the participants in the Secret Santa gift exchange. The name picker will automatically pick the names of your secret santas, and email the recipients their picks.

Boogspace.com is the "Ultimate Gift Exchange Website" for Secret Santa, Christmas, birthdays, Secret Santa, graduations, weddings, baby showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Hanukkah, housewarming parties, Yankee Swap, White Elephant, etc. Create your own groups, and never give or receive a bad present ever again!

There are other sites out there that review all of the online secret santa generators out there. Check this secret santa generator review site for all of the best sites out there.

New England Patriots: The Bigger The Hands, The Larger The ... Wristband

2008-09-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

New England Patriots: The Bigger The Hands, The Larger The ... Wristband

This is a funny image of the New England Patriot's back up QB, Kevin O'Connell.

Boogster.com - Bodog Tourney Saturday, September 20th @ 4:35PM ET - $218 Added!

2008-09-19T09:05:00.000-04:00

Boogster.com - Bodog Tourney Saturday, September 20th @ 4:35PM ET - $218 Added!

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Brian Townsend "SBrugby" admits to playing under multiple accounts at FTP and Pokerstars

2008-09-06T16:52:00.000-04:00

Brian “SBrugby” Townsend, a well respected Full Tilt red pro, has admitted to using multiple accounts on both PokerStars and Full Tilt. Full Tilt has already suspended Brian from Red Pro status over the next six months. PokerStars has yet to make a decision as to what course of action to take.

Brian Townsend, a CardRunners.com instructor and one of the most popular young internet poker pros around, admitted last week to playing under multiple accounts at both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. At PokerStars, he played under his most well known screen name, “aba20,” as well as “makersmark66.” At Full Tilt, he played under his own name, “Brian Townsend,” as well as “Stellarnebula.”

Townsend, who is a very well known poker pro, has had tremendous success playing online and in large cash games. He's appeared in High Stakes Poker and played well against some of the best cash players around. I thought he dominated at times and clearly showed that he had the stacks of high society to show for it. He always started with a million dollars and always had bricks of $100 bills in front of him.

It's hard to imagine why Townsend had to "cheat" to get by in online poker. He made his name by making tons of money playing online. I guess even the best players hit losing streaks while playing and needs something to mend the holes in their pockets. Multi-accounting is clearly outlawed in the terms of service for all of the major sites. It’s puzzling that he would even attempt this considering he has a lot more to lose than to gain from making such a dumb decision. To his credit Townsend did come out with an apology and alleges that he never used the accounts for collusion. Obviously that is up to those that play with him whether that is true or not. The following is a brief excerpt from Brians public apology:

“I hope that people can not only look to me for poker education but also for the way to live their lives. I made a mistake and I am willing to take responsibility for it. I am willing to stand up and face the music. I apologize to entire the online community. I will never partake in this type of activity in the future. This post should act as a full admission of my guilt, and I sincerely apologize to anyone that I’ve wronged.”

Pokerstars' WCOOP - World Championship of Online Poker

2008-09-06T16:32:00.000-04:00

PokerStars’ seventh annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) kicked off Friday with the first of thirty-three events, the $215 buy-in six-handed no-limit hold’em tournament. A gigantic field of 7,217 began play at 2:30pm ET, making the prize pool over $1.4 million. First place will win $212,179.81 and nobody at the final table will bow out with less than $23,686.20. All told, the 2008 WCOOP will hand out $30 million in guaranteed prize money, but if this first event is any indication, the total prize pool across all of the tournaments may easily eclipse that mark. Last year, PokerStars guaranteed $15,000,000 across twenty-three events, but the total prize pools soared to over $24,000,000. A player who goes by the screen name “ka$ino” won the Main Event and more than $1,378,330.50, the first prize to top the million dollar mark in WCOOP history.

If you are interested in making poker history and couldn't make it to the main event in Vegas, here's your chance.

PokerStars

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker combine into ONE

2008-09-06T16:26:00.000-04:00

The management of the two most controversial online poker rooms, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, announced Thursday that the sites will be joining forces in August, forming the Cereus poker network. These two sites have been downward spiraling for several years now after being on top for a short while. The deal have been in the works for over a year now and will remain separately branded.

A press release from the companies states that Cereus will instantly become the internet’s third largest poker network, although it is not known exactly how this number was determined. According to PokerScout.com, Cereus would barely rank in the top six for cash game traffic. Regardless of the rankings, however, there is no doubt that the combined network will have more player traffic than the two rooms have on their own.

Both Ultimate Bet and Absolute have been rocked by major cheating scandals over the last several months and because the cheaters were company insiders (although, according to both sites, the cheaters were not executives or primary owners), the sites have become pariahs in the online poker community. There has been talk about new management and the possibility of change, so hopefully this is the start of something positive for the two rooms and online poker in general. Said Chipleader Vice President of Affiliates, John Adams, in a communication to PocketFives.com, “Cereus…enables our company to improve our operations and deliver significantly better value, service and security to our customers and affiliates.”

Incentivized Poker Affiliate Program

2008-08-16T08:46:00.005-04:00

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Earn up to $200 CPA (Cost per acquisition) for each player that signs up through your links. The rates that we offer are much better than the standard rates that you'll get and the best thing is that you won't have to deal with a dozen different affiliate managers. We do all of the work for you. Click on the register button above to see all of our commission plans.

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Boogster.com - Bodog Tourney Saturday, August 15, 2008 @ 4:35PM ET - $327 Added!

2008-08-15T18:54:00.000-04:00

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Buy-in: $10 + $1 NL Hold'em

Prize Pool: All Buy-ins + 3 free seats to the $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday at 4PM EST ($109 value)

Password: boogst100k

Don't forget that we offer 9,000 boogster points for signing up to Bodog Poker. All you have to do is deposit a minimum of $20 and earn 400 bodog points. Click here if you are interested.

Boogster.com - Bodog Tourney Saturday, August 2nd @ 4:35PM ET - $327 Added!

2008-08-01T12:54:00.000-04:00

Where: Bodoglife.com - Boogster's $100k Qualifier

Time: Every Saturday @ 4:35PM ET

Buy-in: $10 + $1 NL Hold'em

Prize Pool: All Buy-ins + 3 free seats to the $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday at 4PM EST ($109 value)

Password: boogst100k

Don't forget that we offer 9,000 boogster points for signing up to Bodog Poker. All you have to do is deposit a minimum of $20 and earn 400 bodog points. Click here if you are interested.

Stinky poker player kicked out of the Borgata casino

2008-07-30T22:41:00.002-04:00

This is no surprise to me at all. The Borgata in Atlantic City is my "home court" for LIVE poker and I've seen people there for 24+ hour sessions. These folks have no where to go. Most of them just drive up for the day and play until they lose their bankroll or they fall asleep. The Borgata should have a shower built into their poker room... sort of like those you see at the pool. That should help clean up the place.

If you've never been to the Borgata poker room, you should check it out. It's probably the largest on the east coast. There's good competition and always full of players. There's only one thing about it that bothers me - it's like 60 degrees in there. They keep that place like an ice box. You gotta go in with a parka and some earmuffs. It's great when the girls walk around but awful when you are trying to bluff at a pot.

Stinky poker player kicked out of the casino Michael Wax, a Brooklyn limousine company owner, has filed a complaint against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City for kicking him out due to body odor. Wax, 54 years old and weighting in 440 pounds, is the first to admit that he stunk after playing poker for 17 hours at the Borgata Casino, but he did not think twice to file a complaint against the AC casino for kicking him out.

According to reports, Wax spent over 17 hours at the poker table and patrons began to complain about his body odor. The gambler asked the casino management for a free room to freshen up, after the long day of gambling, but the casino not only refused, but escorted Wax out of the gambling hall. Wax has since filed a formal complaint with the Casino Control Commission, which will be reviewed to determine whether any state gambling laws or regulations were violated."

Poker After Dark, Heads up Challenge

2008-07-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

Don't miss Poker After Dark this week. The past four champions battle each other in a heads up double elimination tournament for $200,000. Each champ puts up $50k of their own money and they battle each other for winner takes all.

Competing are the 2005 winner Phil Hellmuth, 2006 champion Ted Forrest, 2007 victor Paul Wasicka, and 2008 champ Chris Ferguson. These four players are extremely well-known in the poker community, have huge fan bases, are among the top 31 live tournament money winners of all time, and possess extraordinary abilities to put their opponents on hands.

The match will begin airing on NBC late night Monday at 2:05 a.m., July 28, and will continue for five consecutive nights in the same time slot. A special program called the “Director’s Cut” will air late night Saturday, August 2, at 1:00 a.m., right after Saturday Night Live. This show will feature Leeann with a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and insightful player interviews.

Viewers can also watch the match at www.nbcsports/msnbc.com/poker, which has recently undergone an upgrade that visitors are sure to enjoy. Be sure to bookmark this link and check back often for the latest updates on the players, including all those scheduled to play this season which are now posted with pictures.

My prediction is that Chris "Jesus" Ferguson will take the $200,000. He was runner up in the first two tournaments and won it this year. It's hard enough to make it past the first round but this guy made it to the finals 3 of the 4 years. He has a great read on people and no one seems to be able to read him. Wasicka has become a great player and is like a brick wall, but he's still a bit of a rookie amongst these four goliaths. Hellmuth will be great for TV and he has a great shot of winning this thing. But for some reason, he rarely seals the deal in these big events. My money is on Jesus.

WNBA Brawl between Candice Parker and Detroit Shock

2008-07-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

There's not much news these days in sports so I'm posting something about the WNBA. Yes, there is such a basketball league. It's the woman's version of the NBA. Take a look at this brawl between rookie all-star Candice Parker and several members of the Detroit Shock.

A few things to look for:
1) Cheryl Ford going down with knee injury
2) Bad Boy Rick Mahorn shoves Lisa Leslie to the ground
3) the entire LA Sparks team attacking Rick Mahorn (but could only reach his shoulder)

Danica Patrick and Milka Duno argue in Pits

2008-07-21T13:18:00.000-04:00

Danica and Milka argue in Pits

What is this world coming to? Two lady drivers fighting over driving. If you haven't seen this, take a look. It would've been much better if they were both fighting in bikinis though.

ESPN TV Shedule for the 2008 World Series of Poker

2008-07-14T12:55:00.000-04:00

Below is the TV schedule for the 2008 WSOP. I'll definitely put the Aug. 19th H.O.R.S.E event on my schedule along with the $10,000 main event. I believe this will be the first time they broadcast the H.O.R.S.E event which is the premiere event amongst the poker professionals.

July 22 -- 8-10 p.m.
$10,000 pot-limit hold 'em

July 29 -- 8-10 p.m.
$1,500 no-limit hold 'em

Aug. 5 -- 8-10 p.m.
$5,000 mixed hold 'em

Aug. 12 -- 8-10 p.m.
$1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys

Aug. 19 -- 8-10 p.m.
$50,000 HORSE

Aug. 26 -- 8-10 p.m.
$10,000 pot-limit Omaha

Sept. 2 -- 8-10 p.m.
$10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event

Sept. 9 to Oct. 28 -- 9-11 p.m.
$10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event

Nov. 4 -- 8-10 p.m.
WSOP main event final table preview show

Nov. 11 -- 9-11 p.m.
WSOP main event final table"

Phil Hellmuth eliminated from WSOP main event

2008-07-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth eliminated

Sunday, July 13, 2008

You gotta give it to Phil, lasting this long is a huge feat. Whenever he's in a big tournament, his head is on everyone's target the moment he arrives late and sits down. I mean, who wouldn't want to tell their buddy that he knocked out the poker brat from the WSOP main event? It's probably just one step down from actually the event itself.

Phil Hellmuth finishes in 45th place for his best result since finishing 27th in 2003.

Phil Hellmuth moved all-in from under the gun for $405,000. The action folded around to Andrew Rosskamm, who then made the call.

The final hand was a coin flip: Hellmuth flipped over Ah-Qd vs Rosskamm's Jh-Jc. Hellmuth got up and turned away from the table to talk to his wife. With the TV cameras in place, Hellmuth barely flinched when the Tournament Director announced the flop of Kd-4h-3h. Hellmuth was dejected, turned around and chants for the 10 of hearts came from his fans who wanted to make sure the river counted. Amazing, the 10h did spike on the turn, giving Hellmuth a flush draw, a gut-shot straight draw and two overcards. Hellmuth had a total of 16 outs and still had some life in the main event. The dealer turned over the river and the 2s is flipped over. Phil's tournament is over and the execs at ESPN were crying.

Hellmuth earned $154,400 for his 45th place finish.

You can say what you want about Phil, but he's one of the best tournament players of all time. Rarely does he make bad calls and his knack for reading other players are a rare skill. He still has eleven bracelets and I'd put money on it that he gets a few more before his time is up at the tables.

Bodog tourney this Saturday, July 12th at 4:35pm EDT. Password is boogst100k.

2008-07-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

Where: Bodoglife.com - Boogster's $100k Qualifier

Time: Saturday, July 12th @ 4:35PM ET

Buy-in: $10 + $1 NL Hold'em

Prize Pool: All Buy-ins + 3 free seats to the $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday at 4PM EST ($109 value)

Password: boogst100k

Boogster.com - Bodog Tourney Saturday, July 5th @ 4:35PM ET - $327 Added!

2008-07-04T12:19:00.001-04:00

Happy July 4th! There were only 16 players in this tournament last week:

Where: Bodoglife.com

Time: Saturday, July 5th @ 4:35PM EST

Buy-in: $10 + $1 NL Hold'em

Prize Pool: All Buy-ins + 3 free seats to the $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday at 4PM EST ($109 value)

Password: boogst100k

Our Bodog account rep is adding $327 ($109 x 3) to the prize pool in the form of tournaments credits to the $100k guaranteed on Sunday, so $327 overlay for this tournament. Only 16 players last week, so chances are pretty good of winning $109 tournament credit, so long as you place in the top three.

Don't forget that we're giving away 9,000 boogster points for signing up to Bodog Poker. If you or any of your friends don't have an account yet, now is the time to start it up! Good luck everyone!

Scotty Nguyen takes $50,000 HORSE WSOP event

2008-07-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

Scotty Nguyen, one of the greatest tournament poker players of all time, took the most coveted event of the 2008 World Series of Poker. He took down the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event and took home close to $2 million. The H.O.R.S.E. tournament is named after the late Chip Reese, who won the inaugural event. It's considered the most coveted, even more so than the Main event because it's mainly played by pros and it's $50,000 buy in weeds out the common folks, including those from online poker sites. The professional poker players consider this the top tournament because it requires skills in many different poker games, including Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, and Razz.

Scotty outplayed a star-studded final table beating out guys like Huck Seed, Matt Glantz, Erick Lindgren, Greenstein, Lyle Berman, Patrick Bueno, and Michael DeMichele. Scotty went heads up with Michael DeMichele holding onto a 4 to 1 chip lead. Scotty had 12,140,000 in chips and DeMichele had only 2,660,000. On the final hand, DeMichele raised pre-flop with A-3 and Nguyen quickly put him all in with his A-10. Scotty, said "It's going to be all over baby" and DeMichelle put all his chips in the pot. Scotty took the pot and it was game over.

"Keep the Michelob coming"

Bodog $10 + $1 Tournament on Saturday, June 28th at 4:35pm

2008-06-27T22:08:00.000-04:00

Here are the details:

Where: Bodoglife.com

Time: Saturday, June 28th @ 4:35PM EST

Buy-in: $10 + $1 NL Hold'em

Prize Pool: All Buy-ins + 3 free seats to the $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday at 4PM EST ($109 value)

Password: boogst100k

Basically, our Bodog account rep is adding $327 ($109 x 3) to the prize pool in the form of tournaments credits to the $100k guaranteed on Sunday.

Last time, we only had 14 players, so chances were pretty good of taking home a $109 tournament credit. That'll give you an entry into the big overlay Sunday $100k guaranteed. Winner of that tournament gets about $30,000 to $40,000.

World Series of Golf

2008-06-15T16:23:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if this will ever take off, but the first time I heard about it, I said no chance. Now that it's on CBS, it might have a slight chance. Full Tilt Poker is sponsored the 2nd annual World Series of Golf. There's a $10,000 entry fee in this tournament. Players make bets on each hole and the player who wins all the group's money, wins the round. Guys like Phil Gordon, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Chris Ferguson are all participating. Other stars participating are Ray Romano and Penn Jillette.

Darren Rovell's SportsBiz: Laker Vujacic’s Meaningless Shot Costs Bettors $100 million? - Sports Biz with Darren Rovell - CNBC.com

2008-05-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

Darren Rovell's SportsBiz: Laker Vujacic’s Meaningless Shot Costs Bettors $100 million? - Sports Biz with Darren Rovell - CNBC.com

This is a little off topic but it talks about gambling. Anything related to gambling is related to poker. I remember that shot by Chris Duhon back in college. I think college kids have an excuse because they don't know better but if you are a professional player, you should never do something meaningless like this to affect bettors. Anyone remember Escobar's own goal for Columbia's national soccer team?

ESPN - Poker's Power 20 - Poker

2008-04-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

ESPN - Poker's Power 20 - Poker

Here's a list of the power poker 20 put together by bluff magazine. In my opinion, there's no chance I'd put Chris Moneymaker on the list. He got lucky winning the WSOP and he's not a very good poker player. He's not even in my top 100. I know his win in the WSOP created the internet poker wave but he doesn't belong on this list. One big omission is the movie Rounders. At the time, most people didn't even know what Hold'em was but it's arguably the greater poker movie ever made. Other omissions include Johnny Chan and CardPlayer magazine. It's funny how Bluff made it but CardPlayer didn't.

Also, www.boogster.com should've been on there. They filled the online poker rooms by sending them tens of thousands of customers. :)

Don't Waste Time on Online Poker Lawmakers tell Treasury

2008-04-25T14:44:00.000-04:00

Don't Waste Time on Online Poker Lawmakers tell Treasury
Fri, Apr 25th, 2008 @ 12:00am

A bipartisan group of House Financial Services Committee members have warned U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve officials not to waste any more time trying to implement a ban on online poker and online gambling.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the panel, along with Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Pete King (R-N.Y.), sent a letter Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke requesting them not to waste any more time trying to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), because the house financial services committee hearing on 2 April "made it clear that the regulations are unworkable.".

As reported in Tuesday's edition of The Hill, which reports on legislative issues in Washington, DC, the letter says, "The regulations, like the underlying legislation, fail to define the term 'unlawful internet gambling', leaving it to each financial institution to reconcile conflicting state and federal laws, court decisions and inconsistent Department of Justice interpretations when determining whether to process a transaction."

The letter adds that at least some of the information would be "likely unavailable to banks because customers or financial institutions in foreign jurisdictions will likely be unwilling or unable to provide it."

"We believe it would be imprudent for you to devote additional agency resources to this Sisyphean task, especially as we intend to vigorously pursue legislation to prevent the implementation of these regulations," members said in the letter.

Referring to the legislation that Frank and Paul introduced to prohibit the implementation of the law's regulations, the letter concludes by urging readers to co-sponsor the prevention of UIGEA regulation implementation.

The letter was sent the same day that the Poker Players Alliance announced that its membership had reached 1 million. The group also announced the launch of a voter registration program and a political action committee.

Article originally published by The Hill authored by Susan Crabtree.

Calvin Ayre Leaves BODOG, MMA arm is finished

2008-04-22T12:45:00.000-04:00

For those of you who know who Calvin Ayre is, it looks like he's resigning from Bodog. He's got tons of money and use to be a big name in the poker world. A few years back, he was wanted by US law just like the other sportsbetting CEOs. Those other CEOs were unlucky and got caught on flight layovers. Ayre was smart enough to stay in Costa Rica. My guess is that he waited for the dust to settle and that he's sick of life in Costa Rica and wants to come back to the United States. Although, I don't know if resigning from his company will make him immune from getting arrested.

- CALVIN AYRE LEAVES BODOG, MMA ARM FINISHED - MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more: "Bodog on Monday announced the retirement of Calvin Ayre from the company. In recent years, Ayre served in large part as the face of the company and reportedly was not all that involved in the day-to-day operations.

“You’ve likely heard the rumblings and rumors… and for once…. it’s true… I’m packing it in! Well, who am I kidding?” said Ayre in a blog entry on his web site on Monday. “…I was really more of a brand ambassador for Bodog the past while anyway – but it was fun while it lasted.”

Operationally speaking, Ayre’s exodus is expected to have little effect on the company, which is now under the ownership of the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group based in Canada. The company is, however, undergoing a restructuring, returning its focus to gaming.

Although no official word has yet emerged from Bodog, most sources indicate that Bodog Fight – the arm of the company that was involved in sponsoring and promoting mixed martial arts events – is all but defunct.

One executive, when asked recently what Bodog Fight was currently working on, told MMAWeekly.com, “I’m sitting in an empty office.”"

ePassporte is done in the US --- similar to Neteller

2008-04-19T17:32:00.000-04:00

ePassporte No Longer an option for Online Poker Transfers in US

In recent days, news has been traveling online that the third party broker, ePassporte, is out of business in the United States. ePassporte was a way for online players to transfer money back and forth to their poker operator without breaking the rules of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. With the passing of this act players have found it extremely difficult to get money to their online operators and receive money since the UIGEA stops all money transactions from online gambling sites. A letter has been making its way around the online world that was written by ePassporte to online poker site Pitbull Poker. Gregory Elias from ePassporte states in the letter that Pitbull Poker’s account has been suspended and the agreement the Company had with ePassporte has been terminated. The letter goes on to state that they (ePassporte) does not believe that the transactions they receive and process are illegal but they are not going to take a chance with the US Government. Elias also says that the New York Office of the United States District Attorney is investigating the Company.

The termination happened on Friday April 11th at 1:00 PM PDT and the letter was signed by the Managing Director, Gregory Elias, and the United International Trust, NV Managing Director. It is really unclear of why ePassporte quickly exited the US market. It could be because the “just” found out about the investigation but I do not believe this is true. The Company had been handling Netellers ex-customers for a while so they had to know eventually something would be coming their way.

It could be other reasons but with the recent testimonies made by people from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department as well as the Banking sector that claimed their was a lack of definition of the UIGEA not to mention the movement being made by Barney Frank and other representatives that would overturn the UIGEA. Hopefully this whole mess will be resolved soon and all types of money transfers will be available for United States players to play on any internet gambling site.

Those who used ePassporte to deposit money into Full Tilt Poker will need to find other options. This could be a big hit to FTP's business. We'll have to wait and see what kind of hit it takes in the next few months.

Taj Poker Argument Results in Stabbing Death

2008-04-07T17:54:00.000-04:00

From Pokernews.com:

April 07, 2008
Haley Hintze

An argument between two players in the Atlantic City Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort poker room continued after the players left the game, escalating into violence in the nearby valet area outside the casino that left one of the players dead from a stabbing wound and the other player under arrest. Unofficial reports suggest that the argument started over a seat in a $1/2 no-limit game in the 70-table room at the Taj; the seat had been occupied by one player and then was given to the other when the first player departed momentarily to obtain more money.

The confrontation continued outside where one of the two players had gone for a break, with the stabbing incident, according to police reports, taking place at 2:46 pm on Saturday. The stabbing victim, who has yet to be named pending notification of kin by authorities, was pronounced dead at 4:05 pm at Atlantic City's AtlantiCare Medical Center.

Vicente (some reports list 'Vincente') Perez, 57, of Georgia, now faces three felony charges: aggravated manslaughter; unlawful possession of a weapon; and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Perez is now being held on $500,000 bond as the investigation into the incident continues.

Take a look at Eli Elezra's house

2008-03-23T10:08:00.002-04:00

I just watched this on CardPlayer TV. It shows you the inside of Eli Elezra's house. It's sick. His house is over 10,000 square feet with 10 bedrooms and 9 baths. He's got a 74" TV and a special TV room that's built like one of those sportsbooks in Vegas. Or if you've seen Two for the Money, it's just like that. One big television in the center with 6 TVs all around it.

I've seen Eli on High Stakes poker and other tournaments but I never thought he was a great player. He was definitely a good player with big money but he was also aggressive and reckless at times. I guess when you have money, you can play like that but in my opinion he's an above average player, not in the same category as players like Hellmuth, Negraneau or Esfandiari. Although, I guarantee you he has more money than all those guys combined. Eli has over 20 retail businesses in Vegas and owns a night club in Vegas called Seven. So I don't think his house is from his poker winnings but from his business ventures.

Take a look at the video of his house here.

Phil Ivey Smashes "Seda1" On Full Tilt Poker; Wins At Least $600k

2008-02-22T00:17:00.000-05:00

Phil Ivey Smashes "Seda1" On Full Tilt Poker; Wins At Least $600k: "Before today, Ivey was down approximately $473k in the high stakes NLHE games on FTP so far in February. 'seda1', an opponent he has tangled with quite regularly recently, was up approximately $220k. This was all about to change.

The two played a couple of sessions on Tuesday. Phil Ivey completely dominated, and when the game was over, he left with a stack of over $800k. He bought in for $200k total ($100k to start, $100k reload), and took the other $600k off of 'seda1'. The two were battling on their usual $500/$1000 'Ivey Deathmatch' Table on Full Tilt Poker."

Here's a recap from Poker King of Phil Ivey's high limit poker game against an online player by the name of "seda1".

If you want to sit down and battle with Ivey, sign up to Full Tilt Poker here.

Shawn Sheiky Sheikhan faces deportation

2008-02-18T01:40:00.002-05:00

ReviewJournal.com - News - Iran immigrant faces deportation

You probably remember Shawn Sheikhan from WSOP 2005 or from his appearances on High Stakes Poker. He was the loud mouth who sparred with Mike the Mouth at the final table of the main event in WSOP 2005. He also appeared on NBC's Heads up championship and Poker After Dark. On TV, he's always a cocky son of a bitch but that's what makes him great for TV poker along with guys like Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth.

Gambling911.com has some additional details regarding his molestation case with underaged girls.

SI.com - The Models - 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photo Gallery

2008-02-17T17:53:00.000-05:00

SI.com - The Models - 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photo Gallery

Those of you who haven't seen the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, take a look online.

Bodog Poker Open Schedule

2008-02-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

Below is the schedule for the upcoming Bodog Poker Open. These look like some reasonable tournaments - by reasonable, I mean it's affordable to the lower limit players (.50/1, 1/2, 2/4 NL). This is their inaugural tournament. This schedule of preliminary tournaments lead up to the series' championship, the $500 buy-in BPO Main Event, held on Sunday, March 9.

The tournament schedule for the BPO is as follows:

Date Event Type Buy-In Added
Mon., March 3 Event #1 No Limit $250 + 20 $10k
Tues., March 4 Event #2 No Limit 6-Handed $300 + 25 $10k
Wed., March 5 Event #3 Rebuy $100 + 10 $10k
Thurs., March 6 Event #4 Pot Limit $200 + 15 $10k
Fri., March 7 Event #5 Limit $150 + 10 $10k
Sat., March 8 N/A Satellite Day Various N/A
Sun., March 9 Event #6 Main Event (NL) $470 + 30 $25k

To sign up for Bodog Poker and enter this tournament, click here.

World Poker Tour Announces season 6 on GSN

2008-02-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

(Los Angeles, CA) – Tuesday, February 12, 2008 – WPT Enterprises, Inc. and its new network partner, GSN, announced today the sixth season television schedule featuring 23 two-hour World Poker Tour® (WPT) episodes. The season premieres in its new timeslot on GSN Monday, March 24 at 9 PM ET/PT kicking off with the Mirage Poker Showdown.

The new season features three new tour stops, more than 20 new WPT Poker-Made Millionaires and new hostess, Layla Kayleigh. Making Monday nights the ultimate destination for poker entertainment, the WPT will follow GSN’s popular HIGH STAKES POKER “cash game” series.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have GSN as our partner and the new home of WPT,” said WPTE President, Founder and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “GSN and WPT are dedicated to collectively broadening the poker experience for fans and viewers and cannot wait to kick off our best season yet.”

“The WPT is one of the strongest brands on television, and poker fans will enjoy the action every Monday night on GSN,” said Jamie Roberts, Senior Vice President of Programming, GSN. “With the popularity of our original cash game HIGH STAKES POKER and the WORLD POKER TOUR, there is no better place to watch poker on television.”

As the new home of the WPT, GSN will televise tournaments from the most prestigious casinos and locations around the world including Barcelona, Spain; Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies; and Niagara Falls, Canada. The WPT schedule begins with two events from Las Vegas and continues to feature popular stops at The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, Bellagio in Las Vegas, Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, Foxwoods Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Conn. and many others.

Returning for their sixth season is the popular announcing team of Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. Joining them this season is new hostess, Layla Kayleigh, who is making her poker debut and will be reporting from the sidelines with updates and player interviews. Layla has previously appeared on G4 and Fox Sports Net. WPT live update online hostess, Kimberly Lansing, will also make her debut on GSN providing a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament action that led up to the final tables.

Other highlights from the WPT on GSN this season include Barry Greenstein and contender for WPT Season VI Player of the Year, Jonathan Little, colliding at the final table of the North American Poker Classic, WPT Ladies Night following Mother’s Day in May, the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in June, the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio, the popular WPT Celebrity Invitational at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles and the season ending WPT World Championship airing August 25.

The WPT on GSN will feature encore showings Monday nights at Midnight ET/PT and the following Sunday nights from 7 to 9 PM.

World Poker Tour Season VI Television Schedule

Date	Event
March 24, 2008	Mirage Poker Showdown
March 31, 2008	Bellagio Cup III – Part 1
April 7, 2008	Bellagio Cup III – Part 2
April 14, 2008	Legends of Poker
April 21, 2008	North American Poker Classic
April 28, 2008	Mandalay Bay Poker Championship
May 5, 2008	Borgata Poker Open
May 12, 2008	WPT Ladies Night V
May 19, 2008	Turks and Caicos Poker Classic
May 26, 2008	Gulf Coast Poker Championship
June 2, 2008	WPT Spanish Championship
June 9, 2008	Foxwoods World Poker Finals
June 16, 2008	Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic
June 23, 2008	World Poker Open - Part 1
June 30, 2008	World Poker Open - Part 2
July 7, 2008	Borgata Poker Classic
July 14, 2008	L.A. Poker Classic
July 21, 2008	WPT Celebrity Invitational
July 28, 2008	Bay 101 Shooting Star
August 4, 2008	World Poker Challenge
August 11, 2008	Foxwoods Poker Classic
August 18, 2008	WPT Ladies Championship
August 25, 2008	WPT World Championship

Did I make the right play in 1/2NL?

2008-02-12T10:55:00.000-05:00

I played a home game this past week. It's been a while since I've played a home game, probably 1 - 1.5 years. I definitely had some rusty moments. Not raising when I should have and giving others free looks at free cards when I'm ahead.

But I am certain I played this hand correctly. This hand caused about an hour of debate after the hand ended. Some thought it was the right play and some disagreed. This hand was the turning point of my entire night.

This was a 1/2 No Limit game with 8 players.

Here's how it went down:
Preflop: I am holding A9os. The player to my immediate right raises preflop to $8. I call. Two other players call. (pot $50 = $48+BB)

Flop: A-9-5 rainbow. Player to my right checks, I bet out $15. Player to my left calls. One guy folds. Player to my right check raises to $45. I just call the $30. Player to my left folds so it's just heads up now. Me and the aggressive player to my right. (pot $155)

My thought process after the Flop:
I have this guy right where I want him. I've got two pairs, As and 9s and I know for sure he doesn't have AA. With an $8 preflop raise, he's NOT holding AA or AK, but something like AQ or AJ.

Turn: K comes on the turn. A-9-5-K on the board. He checks to me. I have $88 behind me and I bet out $50. If my read is right, I have a 85%/15% advantage at this point and all I want to do is maximize my winnings. He calls me and reraises all in. I call. (pot: $331)

My thought process during the Turn:
My read hasn't changed. I still put him on AQ or AJ. No chance he has AA, AK or KK. I already have an Ace and I don't see him reraising the pot after the flop with either of those three hands. I figure that a $50 bet would get the call and I would push my remaining stack of $38 on the river (he would be priced in).

River: K comes on the river. A-9-5-K-K DAMN!. My two pairs now became worthless. I now have two pairs, Aces up with a 9 kicker. At this point, I knew I had lost it. He had 6 outs and he hit the River. He flips over AQ and takes down the $331 pot.

I still think I made the right move by betting $50 on the turn. I had a huge advantage and took my chances on winning more. My $50 bet enticed a call and it worked. I wanted to maximize the pot with the best hand. Every now and then it will backfire but I would take that 85/15 odds anytime.

Let me know your thoughts.

Annie Duke & Phil Hellmuth Poker show starts tonight

2008-02-11T21:53:00.000-05:00

UltimateBet.net today announced that its much talked about reality poker series, Best Damn Poker Show, will begin airing on Monday, February 11th at 9pm, 11pm and 12:30am local time on Fox Sports Net. The ultimate poker reality series follows 18 poker players on two teams led by world poker champions Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke as they battle it out over seven weeks. More than just money is at stake in this televised battle. Egos are on the line as the two poker pros try to prove who’s the better poker professor.

Despite the endless heads-up Texas Hold’em battles between Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke at UltimateBet.net’s online poker tables, it’s unlikely that the age-old debate regarding which pro is the better poker player will ever be settled. Best Damn Poker Show aims to discover who can better teach the game and mold ordinary poker players into champions.

Online poker players at UltimateBet.net fought for a spot in the L.A. audition process by creating and submitting an audition video that demonstrated why they deserved to be on the innovative poker reality series. The online poker site also invited Texas Hold’em fans to take part in a series of qualifiers where spots in the televised audition process were up for grabs.

Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke each handpick.

For more poker rooms, check out Boogster.com

The Canadian Press: 18-year-old from Waterloo, Ont., pockets $1.4-million poker jackpot

2008-02-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Canadian Press: 18-year-old from Waterloo, Ont., pockets $1.4-million poker jackpot

The young pro - who is still sporting braces and hasn't finished his post-secondary schooling yet - has parlayed countless hours of playing poker online into two major payouts.

It's pretty amazing that an 18 year old Canadian kid can win a big tournament. This kid won $1.4 million in a European poker tournament. It's even more amazing considering you can't gamble legally in the United States until you are 21.

American poker player loses $30,000 win to mugger | The Australian

2008-01-21T20:51:00.000-05:00

American poker player loses $30,000 win to mugger | The Australian: "A YOUNG American poker professional has been fleeced of $30,000 in cash - not playing high stakes cards inside Crown casino, but walking home."

Read more about Jason Potter here

The 2008 Borgata Poker Open is under way

2008-01-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

[Press Release]ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (January 16, 2008) – The 2008 Borgata Winter Poker Open (WPO) kicked off yesterday with the start of Event #1, the $300 +$50 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Building on the success of the last year’s event, which featured the biggest poker tournament in Atlantic City history, the 2008 WPO is set to break last year’s Championship Event record of 571 players and top the monstrous prize pool of $5.5 million.

In a unique twist to the traditional Borgata WPO-WPT Main Event first-place cash, Borgata has upped the ante of this year’s WPO Championship Tournament by giving the first-place winner a custom-built Harley Davidson Street Glide motorcycle from Harley-Davidson Millville/Wildwood.

Featuring a 17-day tournament, the Borgata WPO runs January 15 to 31, 2008, when it culminates with the Borgata Poker Classic, a WORLD POKER TOUR® (WPT) $10,000 buy-in Main Event. In addition to the 17 Main Event tournaments, this year’s WPO tournament features a new line-up of tournaments, created to give players more opportunities to get in on the action. Featuring 75 tournaments, including No-Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, super satellites, and single table tournaments, this 2008 WPT event offers players plenty of action.

Enhancements to this year’s WPO include Borgata’s Modified Shoot-Out, which provides players with a chance to enjoy single-table play, while participating in a traditional tournament setting. The Borgata Ladies No-Limit Hold’em tournament on Sunday, January 20, which will debut a new WPT Ladies League, and the addition of 20 revamped poker tables in the Borgata Event Center , offer players a further elevated gaming experience.

Televised nationally on the Game Show Network (GSN), the Borgata Poker Classic is one of the premier stops on WORLD POKER TOUR's 17-tournament tour. Featuring the world's top poker players and local fan favorites, this year’s WPO championship event will provide fans with plenty of fireworks.

On-site registration for all events is available until January 29 at 2 p.m. Special hotel room rates are available to tournament players Sunday through Thursday at $129, Friday at $199 and Saturday at $239. Call 1.866.MYBORGATA for more details. For the complete tournament schedule, blogs and more, visit theborgata.com.

About Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

Borgata is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) and MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM). Located at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City, it features 2,000 guest rooms and suites, 161,000 square feet of gaming, 200 gaming tables, 4,100 slot machines, 14 destination restaurants, 11 retail boutiques, a 54,000 square foot spa, 70,000 square feet of event space, and parking for 7,100 cars.

For more information on Borgata or to obtain a copy of this press release, please visit theborgata.com or use AOL keyword: borgata. Additional news and information on Boyd Gaming can be found at boydgaming.com; additional information on MGM MIRAGE can be found at mgmmirage.com.

What happened to Party Poker?

2008-01-17T00:42:00.000-05:00

PartyPoker Continues to Struggle in the online poker market

It's incredible how PartyPoker fell from the top of the world in online poker to pay dirt. Back in June of 2005, Party Gaming went public and immediately made the founders instant millionaires. The company was valued around 8 billion dollars. It had the most online poker players and it was way ahead of the competition. They were making companies like PokerStars, Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet each their dust. You would see PartyPoker ads everywhere. It was on ESPN on the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, any televised tournament and even at B&M poker rooms. All it took was one dumb stinking piece of legislation to ruin the empire. What a turnaround.

Party Gaming is now the #3 online poker room, below Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt has about 1000 more real money platers per week than Party Poker. Pokerstars is the leader of the pack with almost double the size of Full Tilt, with an average of 14,000 real cash players on average. Not to mention that the iPoker network is creeping on the #3 spot. The iPoker network includes poker rooms like Fair Poker, CD Poker, Noble Poker, Titan Poker and Tony G Poker. It'll probably be only a matter of time before they overtake Party Gaming.

I think the main problem was with PartyPoker's main reliance on the US market. Once that legislation passed, US players flocked and Party banned US players from playing on their site.

It's going to be interesting to see what Party will do to fix this problem before it goes under. The key about online poker rooms is that if you have players, then you make money. As the tables start getting empty, it'll be harder to find good games and players will just move on to the bigger sites.

What Proposed UIGEA Regulations Mean For Poker Players

2008-01-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is such a joke. The basically destroyed online poker. Online poker was one of the largest movements on the internet and just because one Congressman thought that it was helping fund terrorist activity, the entire sport of poker came to a halt. This not only affected US players but all players around the globe; not to mention a bunch of great online poker rooms.

Poker Player :: Articles :: What Proposed UIGEA Regulations Mean For Poker Players:
"What Proposed UIGEA Regulations Mean For Poker Players
by I. Nelson Rose filed under Poker News on 2008-01-06 [Originally appeared in the January 7, 2008 issue of Poker Player]

Last October, Congress passed the unworkable Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which I call Prohibition 2.0. It required federal regulators to write regulations requiring money transferors, including banks, credit card companies and e-wallets, to identify and block funds for illegal Internet gambling. Faced with an impossible task, the regulators punted: They issued proposed regulations that tell the banks, etc., 'It's your problem. You shouldn't block legal online gambling transactions. But if you transfer funds for an illegal bet, you will be fined, or worse.' The immediate impact of these proposed regulations for poker players is ... nothing. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change, for many, many months.

The long-run impact is not as rosy. There will be plenty of ways to get around whatever procedures are eventually put into place to identify and block funds transfers for unlawful gambling. But all American financial institutions, and their large counterparts overseas, are not going to take chances: They will block all gambling transactions, even legal ones.
So poker players will be forced to open foreign bank accounts, use foreign credit cards and e-wallets, or use slower and sometimes even less reliable means, such as snail-mailing paper checks or using phone cards. The Act had been rammed through Congress by the failed politician, then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-TN). Frist attached it to the SAFE PORTS Act and told Democrats that if they didn't like it, they could vote against it, and be seen as being soft on Islamist terrorism. Although Prohibition 2.0 scared the bejesus out of publicly traded poker companies, it actually does only two things: It creates one new crime, being a gambling business that accepts money for unlawful Internet gambling transactions, and requires new regulations for payment processors.

What it doesn't do is make it a crime to play poker on the Internet. It doesn't directly restrict players from sending or receiving money. It doesn't spell out what forms of gambling are "unlawful." Specifically, it does not do what the federal Department of Justice ("DOJ") wanted, which was to "clarify" that the Wire Act covers Internet casinos, lotteries and poker.

The new felony it creates is greatly limited. Only gambling businesses can be convicted, not players. Bizarrely, for a law designed to prevent money transfers, the financial institutions involved in those transfers, including e-wallets, are expressly defined as not being gambling businesses and so cannot be convicted of this new crime. The proposed regulations have finally been issued, four months late. The general public now has until December 12 to make comments. The agencies will then make changes in the proposed regulations. The final versions will then be published, supposedly giving everyone six months to set up their procedures.

This is not going to happen.

The proposed regulations put the burden entirely on the payment processors to come up with procedures for identifying and blocking restricted money transfers. But this can't be done in six months. In fact, it can't be done at all.

The problem is defining "unlawful Internet gambling." Take, for example, poker.

It is unclear whether online poker violates any federal law. Some states, like California, do have specific prohibitions on unlicensed commercial poker, but it is unclear whether these apply to foreign operators.

And 157 years of bad cases and obscure statutes make it a crime to participate, as a player, in any poker game where the pot is raked more than four times. How many payment processors even know what it means to rake a pot four times?

The problem for players is there is no law forcing U.S. banks to transmit funds for legal gambling, while there will be penalties for transmitting funds for what turns out to be an unlawful bet.

Germany bans online gambling

2008-01-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Bloomberg.com: Germany: "Online gambling will be banned in Germany as of Jan. 1 after German states ratified an accord that preserves the country's state monopoly for lotteries and most forms of betting."

It looks like Germany is jumping on the "Ban online gambling" bandwagon. First the USA, now Germany. It's only a matter of time before other European nations follow suit. Off the top of my head, I don't know any famous professional poker players so you likely won't miss seeing any players at the WSOP.

Full Article Here

37 Invites to 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship

2007-12-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

NBC has sent out 17 more invites to join the 20 already invited to the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship that begins Feb 28th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The tournament is a $20,000 buy-in invitation only event that runs a bracket style system (like NCAA basketball tournament) and will be contested over a span of three days. The overall winner will claim $500,000 and the heads up title that proves they bested one of the most difficult fields of professional poker players assembled into one tournament.

So far, first time invites are 2007 Bluff magazine’s Player of the Year, Bill Edler, Card Player magazine’s Player of the Year, David “The Dragon” Pham and Kenny Tran who had great runs at the WSOPE Event and the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. WSOP Main Event.

The 37 invitees so far are: (these players have received invites but none have yet to be confirmed)

Doyle Brunson
Shannon Elizabeth
Annie Duke
Johnny Chan
Chris Ferguson
Antonio Esfandiari
Jamie Gold
Ted Forrest
Jennifer Harman
Barry Greenstein
Howard Lederer
Phil Ivey
Jonathan Little
Erick Lindgren
Scotty Nguyen
Mike Matusow
Brian Townsend
Gavin Smith
Jerry Yang
Paul Wasicka
Chad Brown
David Benyamine
Freddy Deeb
Todd Brunson
Eli Elezra
Bill Edler
John Juanda
Clonie Gowen
Daniel Negreanu
Phil Laak
Greg Raymer
David Pham
Erik Seidel
Kenny Tran
David Williams
Vanessa Rousso
Shawn Sheikhan

Some notable guys missing from this list include: Phil Gordon, Sammy Farha, Chris Moneymaker.

There are 24 more invites that should be sent by the end of the month. The final three spots will go to players from online and Caesars Palace qualifiers.

Cheating Scandal Investigation at Absolute Poker Coming to an End

2007-12-24T13:07:00.000-05:00

When Absolute Poker conducted an internal investigation, it found that an employee had breached the security system to play unfairly on the site for a period of 40 days.

PokerListings article

A while back a user account at Absolute Poker cheated other players by being able to see the other players hole cards. It was determined that this user account was from within Absolute. So someone was using this account to swindle other players. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission checked into this and reviewed hand histories from this player. The investigation is done and the commission will be issuing a ruling soon.

Major search engines settle with DoJ over Gambling Advertising

2007-12-20T16:37:00.000-05:00

Article from Pokernews.com

Online Portals Settle with DOJ over Gambling Ads
December 20, 2007
Amy Calistri

In 2004, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google stopped running advertisements for online casinos under pressure from the US Department of Justice, but apparently that didn't go far enough to quell the DOJ's ire. Yesterday the DOJ announced that the three search engine companies had agreed to pay a total of $31.5 million to settle allegations that they "aided and abetted" illegal gambling under their former ad policies. Under the terms of their settlements, the companies neither admit nor contest any charges.

Microsoft has agreed to pay a total of $21 million, $4.5 million of which is a direct forfeiture to the government. The International Center for Missing and Exploited Children will receive $7.5 million from Microsoft, and the remaining $9 million will go to a public-service advertising campaign aimed at college-level or younger people, with the message that online-gambling enterprises are illegal. Yahoo will forfeit $3 million to Uncle Sam and contribute $4.5 million to the public service ads. Google's share of the settlement is $3 million.

These settlements are not the first time media companies have settled with the US relative to online gambling advertising. In 2003, the Disney Channel forfeited millions of advertising dollars associated with dot-com online gambling companies. In 2006, The Sporting News agreed to a $7.2 million settlement with the DOJ relative to their print, web, and radio gambling advertisements.

The recent deal with the three internet companies was announced by Catherine Hanaway, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. Hanaway is fast becoming the Department of Justice's poster girl in its battle against online gambling. Hanaway represented the DOJ during last month's House Judiciary Hearing on Online Gambling. It was also Hanaway's office that settled a civil case against BetOnSports last year whereby the company agreed to stop accepting bets from US residents.

Card Player launching a new poker room - Spade Club

2007-12-16T21:18:00.000-05:00

It looks like Card Player is finally getting into the online poker market. They appear to be a few years late. Although, they have a new concept. Pay $19.99 a month to join and play in as many freerolls as you can to win $100,000 prize money. I'm not sure if this will work considering if you don't play $20 in tournaments a month, it won't be worth it. It's tough enough to get people to play at your poker room, how are you going to make them pay $20 a month and play?

I'm going to guess that they'll need at least a year to build up their client base, but they better have deep pockets to last that long. The main goal of these poker rooms is to build that base so you can make money off the rake. They must be banking on their reader base to sign up for this service. I personally don't like it and it'll be interesting to see how this business model will last.

Card Player Launches SpadeClub Beta Today

Full Article Here

BY: BOB PAJICH | bob.pajich@cardplayer.com

Players Can Win Their Share of $20,000 Over the Course of the Beta Period
Screenshot of a SpadeClub tableToday, Card Player is launching a beta version of its new online poker room SpadeClub, which, once out of the beta phase, will be a subscription-based poker community wherein members will play for $100,000 in cash prizes each month.

Sign-up is free during the approximately two-month-long beta phase. During this phase, we invite Card Player readers to sign-up for free, play in any of the weekday and weekend freerolls, and win their share of the $20,000 that will be given away during this period. The only thing we ask the beta players to do is give feedback about the site and the software.

Click here or visit www.SpadeClub.com to sign up.

The freerolls are scheduled to take place each and every day. A $75 daily freeroll runs each weekday at 6 p.m. PT. The winner of each one receives $25, and the top nine entrants get paid.

A $500 freeroll takes place every Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. The winner of this event receives $200, and the top 50 entrants receive money.

And on each Sunday during the beta-testing period, a $1,000 freeroll is scheduled wherein $300 goes to the winner and the top 50 entrants also get paid.

After beta testing is over, membership to SpadeClub costs $19.99 a month. Members will have access to a monthly slate of tournaments where they’ll play for their share of $100,000. SpadeClub is different from a typical online site in that all of the tournaments are freerolls with no cash buy-ins.

Again, visit SpadeClub.com, sign-up, and get in on the ground floor of this exciting new poker site. There’s free money to be won out there, so go and get it.

Don't forget to check out Boogster for great online poker deals and promotions.

PokerStars now supports MAC users!

2007-12-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

Mac users can now play at PokerStars!

PokerStars are trying to jump on the increasing MAC user base. They now offer MAC users the opportunity to play at this online poker room. The software is still in the beta test stage, but it is almost fully functional.

To download the new Mac software, simply go to PokerStars.com, click on “Poker Room” and then “Getting Started.”

Make sure to use the Boogster.com link so you get rewarded for it.

Software Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later

Hardware Requirements:

Minimum system configuration
· PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel Mac
· 512MB RAM
· 1024x768 screen resolution or higher
· 60MB free disk space
· 56k dial-up Internet connection

Recommended system configuration
· PowerPC G4 1Ghz or faster, PowerPC G5 or Intel Mac
· 1024MB RAM
· 1024x768 screen resolution or higher
· 100MB free disk space
· 128kbps or faster DSL or Cable Internet connection

The Associated Press: Poker Player Reese Dies at 56

2007-12-05T10:05:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press: Poker Player Reese Dies at 56

Chip Reese wasn't see on television a lot but he's regarded as one of the best cash game players by a lot of his poker peers.

Brian Townsend aka sbrugby

2007-12-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Brian Townsend, aka sbrugby (online screen name), is probably one of the best known online poker players. He isn't known by everyone because he doesn't usually play in the WSOP. In my opinion, those games are usually too low limit for him and he's probably a much better no-limit hold'em cash game or omaha player. He was on the third season on High Stakes Poker and I thought he was one of the best players there. He would show up with $1 million in cash, while the rest of the table has $500k or less. He would intimidate the table because he really didn't care about losing money. He made a lot of good bluffs, good tough calls and made good laydowns against top players like Negreanu, Brunson, and Farha.

Here's a good excerpt from an interview on Cardplayer about him:

BT: You know, people always talk about that, and I really haven’t noticed it, yet. I’ve made more money since the Act was passed than before. So, I didn’t really notice that; there are still tons of terrible players playing poker, and I always think there will be. It just kind of draws them in. People have that petrifying fear that, “Oh, the games are drying up, they’re so much tougher.” That’s just not the case, in my opinion.

Full Interview from CardPlayer here

Atlantic City's Taj Mahal offers online poker registration

2007-09-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

Atlantic City's Taj Mahal offers online poker registration -- Newsday.com

Interesting new concept. As much as I hate ticketmaster, this isn't a bad idea. I've had to get to the poker room early before to register for tournaments. I've at times had to gain my seat off the waiting list.

On another note, I always wondered who invented that poker room queuing system that you see on the LCDs across every poker room. I figure that guy must be loaded at this point. Whenever I stare at the LCD waiting for my name to pop up on the waiting list... I ask myself why couldn't I have thought of this?

"The Unabomber" Phil Laak Rumors

2007-09-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

This is a crazy story about Phil Laak, one of the more popular professional poker players on the circuit. I don't believe it but this guy Tom Grant sure makes it convincing. Although I think it's just a publicity stunt.

The story involved Laak supposedly hitting two children while riding a motorcycle in Thailand. Grant helped Laak out with the police and afterwards the two went into an import/export business together. One variation of the story says it was actually drug trafficking. A deal went sour and Grant ended up with $15,000 of Laak's money. One month later Grant heard that Laak had paid $15,000 to have him and his wife killed. Grant in turn worked out a deal with the contract killer to preserve his and his wife's lives.

Full story here

Jean-Robert Bellande Competes on Survivor: China

2007-08-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

Poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande will compete in Survivor China. If you remember WSOP 2005, this guy was at several final tables. He was great for TV. He made it entertaining and spoke his mind. Now he will compete in Survivor China. I'm a big fan of that show and I'm not sure if Jean-Robert can make it. I'm not sure if a guy who sits at the poker tables 16 hrs a day can survive the heat and nature of the outdoors. Over/Under for his stay in China is 13 days.

Jean-Robert Bellande Competes on Survivor: China

On September 20, poker players around the world will get to see one of their own hit the mainstream. Professional poker player Jean-Robert Bellande will appear as a competitor on Survivor: China, the fifteenth season of the hit television program.

In an interview for the show, Bellande recalled being approached about the show. “Initially, when it was suggested to me to consider doing Survivor, I thought no way. I’m used to comfortable hotels and casinos with air conditioning. I’m not really the outdoors type,” he said. “I just started thinking about it. I thought you know, this is a great challenge. This is a great opportunity. Sixteen players and a chance for a million dollars. That’s as good of any odds as you can expect in any kind of game situation.”

Bellande went on to say that while he is not in very good shape, something that may put him behind the eight ball for some of the physical challenges, he does feel that his poker skills will give him an advantage in the contest. He feels he is good at identifying the strong and weak players, and can make adjustments to his strategy as the game progresses.

Bellande has accumulated almost three quarters of a million dollars in poker tournament winnings. His biggest score came in 2005 when he placed third in the $10,000 WSOP Circuit event at the Rio, cashing for $210,900.

Great day of soccer tomorrow

2007-08-21T19:52:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are soccer fans, tomorrow is a FIFA international soccer day... meaning all club teams take the day off to let their top players play in international friendlies.

Here are some of the great soccer matches for Aug. 22nd.

Fox Sports Channel (FSC)
12:30 PM EST - Brazil vs Algeria - how can you not like watching Ronaldinho and Kaka
2:30 PM EST - United States vs Sweden - Landon Donovan will try to be the all time leading scorer for the US
5:00 PM EST - England vs Germany - best matchup of the day... England has a full squad and we'll have to wait and see if Beckham gets the nod at midfield

Rattlesnakes used as hit men to collect on a gambling debt

2007-08-20T20:38:00.000-04:00

"Why hire hitmen when you can just use rattlesnakes." Here's a crazy story about two men trying to collect money owed to them from the owner of the Amateur Poker Tour using rattlesnakes.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. —
Two Lakewood men have been arrested on suspicion of trying to use rattlesnakes as hit men to collect on a gambling debt.

The men were allegedly trying to kill Matthew Sowash, owner of Amateur Poker Tour in Wheat Ridge because he owed them $60,000, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Arrest affidavits say Sowash's company stages Texas Hold'em-style poker games in Denver area bars.

Jim Shires of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office confirmed the arrests.

An investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation led to the arrest of Herbert Paul Beck, 56, Thursday night in Raton, N.M., and Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, Wednesday night in Lakewood.

Bail for each suspect was set at $500,000 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion. Beck is being held in Raton and Steelman in the Jefferson County Jail in Golden.

Investigators said Steelman told them the two men discussed ways to kill Sowash and Beck suggested rattlesnakes. Beck allegedly told investigators he invested $36,000 in the company last December, and with interest was due $60,000.

The plan was to build a wooden box for Sowash to stand in that would hold the snakes, and "the lid was to be built to allow Sowash's legs to be put inside but not pulled out." The plan was to leave the rattlesnake-bitten Sowash on a hiking trail.

"The final and most disturbing method to Steelman was Beck wanting to kidnap Sowash's children and use them as leverage to get the money from Sowash," according to the affidavits.

Sowash contacted the CBI after getting threatening e-mails.

Both defendants have extensive arrest records.

888.com - The World's Number One Online Casino

2007-08-15T08:05:00.001-04:00

With the expanding horizons of Internet technology and changing trends of life styles, the entertainment grounds have also undergone a wide range of development in the form of online games and other activities. When it comes to online gaming, one of the first names that comes to mind is 888.com, world’s number one online casino, offering a variety of games including Poker, Roulette, Blackjack, Caribbean Poker, Baccarat and many more. 888.com’s lead in online casinos is the ultimate outcome of it’s vision and efforts to make the online gaming arena more player oriented. The terms are very clear, with easiest process either to download the Casino or play on the no download version.

With a growing network of affiliates and over 25 million registered poker and casino players, 888.com has become a trademark in the Online Gaming Industry, which requires it to keep consistency in its future performance in order to maintain the market.

PartyGaming and 888.com About to Write Blank Checks to US Government?

2007-08-13T23:39:00.000-04:00

PartyGaming and 888.com About to Write Blank Checks to US Government?: "ThisIsMoney.co.uk claimed Monday that sources claim the US Department of Justice could try to recoup all profits made by the two companies in America. This would amount to nearly $900m (£445m) in the case of PartyGaming and $120m for 888."

Phil Hellmuth's million dollar golf game

2007-08-10T16:04:00.000-04:00

Here's are some excerpts from Hellmuth's blog.

"The match I play August 14th—to be shown on ESPN--is for $9 million total, $3 million a team, and $1million a man. It is $500,000 a hole, with three teams consisting of three players apiece."

I'm a big golf fan so I'll be watching this when it comes on ESPN. I doubt Phil can break 100 though. He doesn't see like the athletic type.

"I lost $350 in the no limit in 100 seconds, then we started a $150-$300 with online poker legend "Piejay." I won about $3,500, then I had to take a phone call. I came back later and won $10,000 more. Then Rolande de Wolfe pinged me on "AIM" and challenged me to play Chinese poker. I agreed to play for $500 a point, and when the smoke cleared I was up $25,500, or 51 points."

I have to admit that Phil probably makes a lot of money gambling. Not only in hold'em tournaments but any type of gambling. He has the discipline and patience to be a good gambler. He doesn't make a lot of stupid moves like most gamblers do.

"And how about Ivey being in the right place at the right time and beating me out of $109,000 while WATCHING the final table!!"

I guess I was wrong my my last post. It wasn't $89K. It was more like $109K. That's funny considering he only made a little more than half of that for placing 6th in that $3k NL Hold'em WSOP event. I always knew Ivey was a big gambler but it was good to actually see the action during the broadcast on ESPN the other night.

http://www.philhellmuth.com/phil-hellmuth-poker-blog.html

Phil Hellmuth is great for poker

2007-08-09T09:44:00.000-04:00

Anyone watch the WSOP $3,000 NL hold'em event on ESPN the other night? Hellmuth was at the final table with a bunch of nobodies. There was one lady, Beth Shak, at the final table and the rest were 20 yr olds. It's amazing how this was Hellmuth's 39th final table. I don't care how much you hate the guy or how much you disrespect the guy, he's a great poker player. He's a great player because he can lay down a hand. He made several moves on players that night but he was able to lay his hand down when those folks came over the top. He ended up placing 6th in the tournament and made $76,000. That's like pocket change for him. I think he lost like $89K to Phil Ivey while Ivey was giving Hellmuth insurance on his hands. Hellmuth got screwed b/c he didn't have a side bet with Ivey on the hand he lost.

Anyways, if this was a regular WSOP event on TV, I'd probably watch bits and pieces of it. But when Hellmuth is at the table, he makes the game interesting for TV. His rants are great and his brat-like attitude makes you want to punch him in the face. But it's entertaining. He's marketed himself very well and in my opinion, he's the most successful poker player in the history of poker... on and off the table.

Results of the $3K NL Hold'em Event
1. Shankar Pillai, $527,829
2. Beth Shak, $328,683
3. Jason Song, $212,274
4. Dustin Holmes, $141,516
5. Benjamin Fineman, $100,431
6. Phil Hellmuth, $76,464
7. Perry Friedman, $57,063
8. Brett Richey, $42,227
9. Daniel Corbin, $30,814

Phil Hellmuth WSOP Profile

2007-05-17T08:06:00.001-04:00

Quick facts
Name: Phillip J. Hellmuth Jr.
Born: July 16, 1964 - Madison, Wisconsin
Resides: Palo Alto, California
WSOP Bracelets: 10
WSOP Winnings: Over 4.7 million
Nickname: Poker Brat

WSOP Titles

1989: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship
1992: $5,000 Limit Hold'em
1993: $1,500 Limit Hold'em
1993: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
1993: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
1997: $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em
2001: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em
2003: $2,500 Limit Hold'em
2003: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em
2006: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys

Phil Hellmuth is known for many things in the world of poker. Sometimes referred to as "Hell Mouth," and known as "The Poker Brat," he is at the very least a verbal straight-shooter. At best, he is perhaps the best that's ever been. There's really no way in judging a poker player's skill beyond what they can do at the table, and in regards to the chatty Hellmuth, he has consistently put his money where his mouth is. He sits atop the rest of the poker world with only two other players who have won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets; poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. Phil Hellmuth is truly one of the best Texas Hold'em players ever.

Hellmuth was the youngest player (24) to win the $10,000 no limit texas holdem Championship, when he defeated Johnny Chan head to head in 1989; spoiling Chan's attempt to make poker history with a main event 3-peat. Over the next 15 years, Hellmuth continued to enjoy success at the WSOP, amass stories he would later publish and a reputation that proceeds him. Hellmuth hates to lose; he hates losing even more if it comes at the expense of a bad beat. He's not shy about speaking his mind, and at times has been known to be quite offensive. Regardless, it's this mix of slight arrogance, cockiness and Midwestern charm that has created a table image that has become iconoclastic and earned him his appropriate nickname.

Hellmuth has published three books on the game of poker; offering advice to the player as well as sharing several stories from his personal experiences of playing with the world's best. He is also presently at work on another book; an autobiography entitled, Poker Brat. His fan base enjoys him as a commentator as much as they do watching him in action at a table. In 2006 he became a commentator on Celebrity Poker Showdown, where he offers his expertise as well as a few low blows to celebrities who are playing poorly. He is a walking texas holdem calculator, and he spouts out poker fact and opinion so quickly that viewers can also enjoy the show as poker education.

Beyond the world of poker, Phil enjoys spending time with his wife Kathy, and two sons Phillip III and Nicholas.

AGLOCO.com Update...

2007-03-30T14:21:00.000-04:00

I'm over 1000 members now:

The greatest thing about this site is that I have spent very little time in promoting it and I am risking absolutely nothing. The reward is yet to be seen, but if my risk is zero, then any reward is a good one.

AGLOCO - Get paid to surf the net!

2007-02-01T23:27:00.000-05:00

So, the AGLOCO viewbar comes out in a few weeks here. I don't know exactly how much money can be made on this thing, but if it does explode, then it could potentially be a huge money maker for those who got in early. From what I've read, 30,000 people have already signed up for this thing...that's nothing...they're expecting over 2 million by July. Also, there are over 1,000,000 pages on the internet that talk about AGLOCO already. And guess what...I don't think they've spent a dime on marketing. This "thing" is spreading by word of mouth, which is the most cost effective type of marketing. I mean, look at myspace.com, youtube.com, and facebook.com. All of these sites did very little marketing early on and all of them are worth over 500 million a piece. AGLOCO is a simple idea that could be next "new thing".

If you haven't already gone to the website, here's the basic idea behind the company. You sign up, download this software called a Viewbar, which is an addon to your browser, and then refer your friends to do the same. Ad companies pay for text links on this Viewbar and any search that is performed through the Viewbar, google pays them for that search. It's a pretty simple idea. Companies similar to this is Mozilla Firefox. They offer their software for free, but do you know how they make money? Well, there's a google toolbar installed by default and every search that is performed through the google toolbar is a paid search. Firefox makes the majority of their money through google's adsense program! They made over 52 million in 2005. That's right...$52 million! Pretty sick if you ask me.

So, John Chow has about 455 direct referrals right now, with over 6000 users in his network. I signed up through him. Apparently there's a guy out there that has over 12000 users in his network. The greatest thing about AGLOCO is that once you get started, there's really no work involved. That's the beauty of viral marketing. Very little work, much money.

Here's what the Viewbar looks like:

Anyways, if you're interested in signing up, please do so through my link:

http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBL8267

Everything that I make from this thing will be used to bet on sports via a sidebar poll. And the amount of money that I make will be posted on my blog. I'm very curious to see how this actually works out.

Here's an updated on the amount of users in my network. I'm in the top 4% baby!

How to Handle Aggressive Opponents in No Limit Hold'em

2006-12-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

If you are relatively new to no limit holdem, (make sure you know the Texas Holdem rules properly) one concern you may have is what to do against a very aggressive player. One of the exciting aspects of no limit Texas holdem is that any player can put you at risk for all their chips at any given time, which is an extreme amount of pressure. Many players, especially new ones, prefer not to put all their chips at risk, but there are certainly many players who move chips in with seemingly reckless abandon. What can you do against such an opponent?

First, it is possible to determine how aggressive a table is before you ever sit down. If one or two players at a table have very large stacks, it is likely that it is an aggressive table. The big stacks are not necessarily the aggressive ones, although they could be. It is possible that one or more players have rebought several times. Tables with smaller overall stacks are likely to be less aggressive, although the game may have just started or the composition of the table may have changed. You can also determine how aggressive a table is by observing it for several hands before you sit down.

If you are at a table with an aggressive player, try to make sure that player is on your right. If this is the case, they will act before you almost every hand. Your having position on them, and knowing what they are doing before you act, will counteract some of the effects of their aggression. If you combine that with only playing premium hands, you will be in a good position to combat this player. When you have a strong hand, it is often correct to slow play against a player like this, checking and calling their bets. While it is possible this may allow them to draw out on you, many more times they will simply bluff off all or most of their chips to you. If you have a drawing hand, you should bet “on the come” less often, because reopening the betting may invite them to move you all in and force you to fold. On the other hand, if you appear weak, they may try to represent the hand that you in fact have if your card comes.

Be sure to have a bankroll that supports the game you are in. You will probably be in an all-in situation some time over the course of your no limit holdem session. Make sure you have enough money that you can comfortably rebuy if you lose. Aggressive players will pick up on the fact that you are overly protective of your stack if you cannot afford to lose it and take advantage of this very quickly. For more articles andonline poker reviews, check out PokerShopping.com

Texas Hold'em Rules and Online Poker Reviews!

2006-12-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some good links to online poker reviews and Texas Holdem rules! Check them out!