Blogs

PokerStars yesterday announced the line up for its upcoming Asia Pacific Poker Tour beginning September 1.
Joining the field of 20 world class champions in a tournament with 500 plus expected participants is poker legend Johnny پeThe Orient Expressپf Chan. There are few players on the planet who can rival his poker record, with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets to his name and more than US$6.7million tournament earnings during his career, the release said.
Johnny Chan first shot to fame in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988) and was also featured as one of the greatest poker players ever in the 1998 movie “Rounders” with Matt Damon and Edward Norton.

Key cross-bench senator-elect Nick Xenophon is calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to begin tackling the presence of poker machines in the ACT Labor Club.

He said, ''I think the PM has the moral persuasion, the authority, the leadership to start on his own home turf by tackling the issue of the 275 poker machines in ACT's Labor Club.''

The club is the ACT Labor Party's biggest donor, providing 40per cent, or $238,552, of its $587,123 annual income, according to figures from the Australian Electoral Commission.

You can count Mike Sexton, the "Ambassador of Poker" himself, among those who feel the Exaclibur's move to an all-electronic poker room last week is a trend that is here to stay.

"I think it's the wave of the future, at least as far as low-stakes games are concerned," Sexton told Casino City on Wednesday. "It just makes so much sense for the casinos and I think once the players get used to it, this is something that could be seen in poker rooms up and down the Strip."

With the World Series of Poker Main Event in a 100-day layoff until November, the poker world will turn to the World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker tournament, which starts on Saturday from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Poker's top professionals will be in attendance along with a bundle of online poker players who are members of PocketFives.com. The tournament will be covered live on PocketFivesLive.com, the home of WPT coverage.

MobilityWare, a leading developer of applications for mobile devices, has released a new application, Free Video Poker. Free Video Poker, is an ad-supported version of Video Poker, giving iPhone/iPod Touch users a free way to play video poker.

Irvine, CA, USA. MobilityWare, a leader in iPhone apps, has released a new application, Free Video Poker.

Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino announced this week that the downtown Las Vegas property has signed on to host the 2009 season of NBC’s Poker After Dark.

Sixty episodes of the hour-long show will be filmed Oct. 26 through Nov. 5 at the Golden Nugget's new event center.

“The Golden Nugget is thrilled to host the fifth season of NBC’s exciting, late-night poker program, Poker After Dark,” said Brett Kellerman, chief operating officer for the property. “The Golden Nugget has been home to several big poker productions, as well as hosted many poker tournaments and events, so bringing a top-rated program like Poker After Dark to the property just seemed like a natural fit.”

They might be one of the newer names in the industry, but BoylePoker.com are making the right kind of sounds so far. Here’s some news that will make them even more popular as well, having has added €20,000 to the prize pool of the International Poker Open 2008 as well as adding a percentage of the rake generated by players who pre-register for the tournament.

The First Hall Civil Court of Malta has handed down a judgment in favour of PokerTrillion.com, authorising the seizure of Boss Media Malta Limited and Boss Media AB servers, which will now have to cease commercial activity from 18 September 2008.

The court’s decision in this matter is final and Boss Media will not be allowed to appeal.
The ruling by Judge Gino Camilleri relates to Trillion Limited’s multi-million euro lawsuit for breach of contract against Boss Media AB and their associated companies.

It's been a wild ride but ChanPoker.com is closing its doors on Aug. 21.

Chan Poker, which is headed by back-to-back WSOP world champion Johnny Chan, was launched in 2006 with a great deal of fanfare and snappy interface.

A part of the popular Ongame Network, Chan Poker's future looked bright at a time when numerous sites were entering the market and succeeding. Unfortunately, little more than a few months later the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed, and it's becoming apparent that Chan Poker was one of the hardest-hit online rooms.

There hadn't been much news from the Chan Poker camp in the last year, and yesterday, the site left a message for its customers on its front page.

An excerpt from the letter:

Professional poker player Curtis Mayfield III Mayfield shares tips and experiences in personal blog.

Judge Gino Camilleri of the First Hall Civil Court in Malta issued a ruling yesterday, August 18, that authorized online poker room POKERTRILLION.com to seize full control of Boss Media Limited Malta and Boss Media AB Servers, which includes the Boss Poker Network (IPN).

According to the ruling, Boss Media servers must cease all commercial enterprises no later than September 18, 2008; exactly one month after the ruling was handed down. Boss Media was denied the option to appeal the court’s decision.

Dennis Phillips, the current 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event chip leader, will donate 1 percent of his tournament winnings to Prevent Cancer Foundation's "Bad Beat on Cancer" fundraiser after the Final Table event in November. PokerStars.net will match Phillips' donation to the Foundation dollar-for-dollar. As the first place payout is $9,119,517, the donation could tally $182,000 if Dennis takes the Main Event.

PokerTime, a member of the Fortune Lounge gaming group, is offering a fantastic 125% two-part offer to new players. Firstly, any deposit recieves a guaranteed 25% return in cash immediately - for example, a $10,000 deposit would net you $2,500 absolutely free. In addition, PokerTime will then match your deposit 100%.

PokerTime, as a member of the Fortune Lounge group, is a trusted and well-respected online poker room. Fortune Lounge won the 'Top Casino Group for 2005' category from the Gambling Online Magazine Readers' Poll awards.

PokerTime's 100% match bonus is applicable to all bonuses up to $100. The 25% instant bonus can only be cashed out when a player has earned a certain amount of points in the poker room.

onlinecasinonews.com

SOUTH Sydney Leagues club has delivered a humiliating defeat to Peter Homes a Court and Russell Crowe's proposal to ban poker machines - just three members supported it among more than 100 who voted yesterday.

"This was a vision that a lot of people embraced," said Souths Leagues Club president Bill Alexiou-Hucker yesterday, after the vote.

"No one - not one charity, no corporations, no community that flooded the football club with congratulations over a no-poker machine venue - ever contacted me to see how they could help us.

"We were left to do it. It was going to be a very tough ask.

"The board felt it couldn't offer the members the sorts of things that it wants to without the poker machines."

Poker, once nearly muscled off casino floors by gimmicky table games and flashy slot machines, is hotter than ever in Las Vegas, thanks to the game's popularity on TV.

Now, the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino will try to build on those winnings by staging The Real Deal!, an audience-participation show, in its Venetian Showroom, starting in October.

The show will combine the elements of a game show with comedy and celebrities, all revolving around the now-familiar poker game of Texas Hold 'Em. Since this is Las Vegas, there will be prizes, including the long-shot possibility for an audience member to win $1 million.

Brendan Mahoney grew up with a golf club in his hand, and the 21-year old Milton resident has won his fair share of competitions on the golf course.

Mahoney's also pretty good with another kind of club - the kind that helps him win poker games.

So good, in fact, that he earned a spot to play poker at the highest level. He was in Las Vegas last month, where he played at the featured table in the World Series of Poker, the renowned no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament. His time in the spotlight will be broadcast on ESPN in September.

Automated dealers have already invaded Donald Trump's Atlantic City casinos; now comes word that the program is preparing to begin trials in Las Vegas. Poker Pro, an automated poker table system developed by PokerTek, has been cleared by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to be field tested in the state.

PokerPro uses software to deal to actual players seated around a table. Because shuffling and actual handling of cards is not involved, more hands are available in a given period of time, and mistakes judging hands are eliminated. At Trump casinos, the rake has been lowered to draw players.

Players see their hands on screens set before them. The flop, turn, and river are displayed in the center of the table.

ANOTHER poker tournament could head to Singapore next year, in a bid to boost the card game’s growing popularity here.

The organisers of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) told my paper they hope to kick-off next year’s season in Singapore, in March or April.

The tour’s president, Mr Jeffrey Haas, who co-founded the tournament in 2006, was in Singapore yesterday to meet local partners Asian Poker Network, which publishes the regional poker magazine Poker Times.

This comes just after last week’s announcement that the final leg of another tournament, the Asian Poker Tour (APT), could be held here at the end of the year. It is likely to have a US$3,000 (S$4,200) buy-in fee and 700 players are expected to take part.

The era of dealers, cards and clattering chips is over - at least in the Excalibur in Las Vegas. As one of the first casinos world-wide it is going to shift its poker room to fully automated tables.

Up and coming Japanese poker star Kim Wooka is living the dream in Osaka, Japan this month as she gets ready to compete in two of the most important Asian poker tournaments, the Asian Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

Osaka, Japan  -- Everest Poker sponsored player, Wooka Kim (also known online as --icebeer--), Japan's female poker champion will be playing this August in Macau in two of the most important Asian poker tournaments, the Asian Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

$1.2 million winnings claim abandoned in Isle of Man court
 
The Isle of Man-based online poker company Poker Stars.com will not have to face one of its players in court over a disallowed winnings claim worth $1.2 million after the plaintiff withdrew her case this week.
 
The case arose from poker action in the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) organised by Poker Stars and won by account holder TheVOid - an account owned by Natalie Teltscher, the sister of a poker professional. Main event winnings of over $1.2 million were disallowed when it appeared that tournament rules had been breached through someone other than Teltscher herself playing on the account.
 

Trump Plaza, which towers 39 floors above Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, opened its East Tower Poker Room, featuring twelve, automated PokerPro® tables where hands are dealt electronically to players seated at a traditional-style poker table. There is a clear view of the pot size and chip count during this interactive game.

PokerPro® is expected to attract traditional poker players as well as those who have been curious about the game, but didn’t have an opportunity to get into some of the city’s bustling poker rooms—until now.

Time is running out to qualify for the largest guaranteed prize pool poker tournament in Bodog Poker history. The $250,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament takes place this week and qualifiers are running almost 24/7 for a chance to win a seat for as little as $1.

Between now and tournament time there are 12 Qualifier tournaments running that start at $1 and range up to $8. Then, there are 10 Semifinal tournaments before the cards are dealt on Sunday, with direct buy-ins running from $18 + $2 and $54 + $4 12 qualifiers. Add that to the PTS buy-in sit 'n' go tournaments that are running constantely and the opportunities to qualify for the event are almost endless.

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has announced that the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson, will be attending the APT's Macau tournament.

VIENNA, Austria - For the abandoned US poker players whose online poker accounts were closed by the gaming operators as a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

There is now a new way to stay in touch with what is happening in the poker world. PlayPing.com of Austria is a new Web 2.0 gaming community, bringing together poker players from all over the world including the US.

Every member has various methods to communicate with other members at his disposal and receives additional member benefits like a welcome gift, personal profile webspace, blogs, private messaging box, picture sharing, live chat, instant messenger or free classified ads.

Rather then trying to compete with online giants PokerStars & Full Tilt, Sun Poker have adopted a different philosophy for success.

As they write on their website: “We realize we may never be the 'biggest' poker room in the world, but our players know the mission of SunPoker.com is to make sure you have FUN!” This is certainly achieved through an excellent community atmosphere between management and players that is almost unrivalled in the modern poker industry.

The countdown has begun for hundreds of ordinary Australians trying to beat the cost of living doom and gloom.

Across the country, people from all walks of life are playing free poker to qualify for the last remaining seats available in the APL Tournament of Champions (TOC) - a three-day poker extravaganza set to take place in Sydney from August 8 to 10.

NSW man Rodney Davidson walked away with a $300,000 first prize last year, after qualifying at a free poker event in Bega.

Before the tournament Rodney had only $20 in the bank and had to borrow the money for his train fare to get to the event.

Hopefuls who have already qualified for this year’s APL TOC range in age from a 78-year-old grandmother to an 18-year-old student.

Russia may be listed among the countries likely to receive the most gold medals at the 2008 Olympics (+1400 or 14/1 odds at SBG Global), they have even better odds to win another big world even this coming November - The World Series of Poker.

That's because Russia's Ivan Demidov was listed with +425 odds at BetCRIS.com to win the 2008 World Series of Poker. Demidov had the second largest number of chips coming into the delayed final.

According to poker player Daniel Negreanu, The World Series of Poker has always attracted a competitive international field. Interestingly, this year's WSOP featured more players from Russia than ever before.