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

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

A plumber from Toronto has won 888’s prestigious poker title, the World Poker Crown, after beating a tough field of over 2,000 online and then dominating a live final table in Spain.

Fellow Canadian Michael Lawson finished second, with another finalist also hailing from the North American country.

The final hand played out dramatically after Lawson had worked away at Hinchley’s chip lead. Lawson held a pair of tens in the hole and Hinchley an offsuit KQ. The flop was K-J-6, all hearts, and Lawson went all in with his pair which included a ten-high flush draw. Hinchley called with top pair and hit another king on the river after a blank turn to take down the prize.

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

"I am certain that we will reach another result than the one we received in Landsretten. This is a good day for Danish poker. It can make a big difference for everyone who loves poker," says a very Ladbrokes Poker pleased Hostrup, according to a Danish report.

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

Today in court: poker player Lee Rousso will take the side of legal online gambling, backed by supporters from the PPA and elsewhere around the world.

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

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

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

NBC's popular late-night poker series, "Poker After Dark," has excelled at late in creating unique themes and interesting matchups in the series' weekly six-player sit-'n'-go tourneys. The latest twist in the "Poker After Dark" theme is this week's "Love at First Raise," which features three well-known poker couples vying against each other – and their romantic mates – for the week's winner-take-all prize.

Competing in this week's "Poker After Dark" (Episode 29) matchup are these famed poker couples:

Jennifer Harman and Marco Traniello David Benyamine and Erica Schoenberg Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly.

I recently returned from a glorious and profitable seven-day poker cruise with my sister, Barbara and several of my best friends. The entire group had a great time, sightseeing, shopping, tanning, and playing poker. The poker room offered three poker tournaments throughout the seven-day trip, though I was unable to attend the first event. I made the money in the second and third events, finishing in fifth place, which paid $540 and then I chopped first and second place money with fellow cruiser David Garrison, in the final event for $1,590 each.

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

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

Exciting final table aboard cruise liner
 
The cruise liner MSC Poesia proved a pleasant venue this week for the final table of the Party Poker Million VI tournament and its winner, Alexander Jung. The German player beat an initial field of 171 to enter the final nine, and then outplayed them all to take the $358 000 main prize and the beautifully crafted glass trophy.
 

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

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

Now, thousands of amateur poker players make the pilgrimage to Las Vegas each summer to compete in the WSOP main event.

Let’s travel back in the time capsule to remember the hand that changed poker forever.

Support for World Series of Poker decision to move final table to November

The Ada Youth Shelter hosted their First Annual Biker's Poker Run Saturday. KTEN's Meredith Saldana reports.

Everyone from the organizers to the bikers agreed that the poker run was more than successful and they are already planning on having another one next year.

The Ada Youth Shelter is a a non-profit organization that provides 24 hour emergency care for kids, who don't have another option for living arrangements.

This was the first poker run for the organization that has been serving Pontotoc and Coal counties since 1971.

Executive Director of the youth center, Jim Begin says, "Well this is the first time we ever had a poker run. Essentially what it's doing is raising funds and allows us to provide services beyond what we normally would."

One of the reasons online poker remains classified as illegal is because of the luck factor in the game. It's a small factor, but still there to keep poker from being purely a skill game. Duplicate Poker is changing all that to give players a purely skill-based online poker option.

Duplicate Poker is based on a concept with its roots in tournament bridge. Players in corresponding seats at different tables are dealt identical poker hands and prove their skill not by how lucky they are but by how well they play each hand in comparison with other players who have the same cards.

Major investment in special WSOP bonuses by Brit online poker website

The online poker division of major British gambling group Ladbrokes has made a significant investment in World Series of Poker special bonuses as an incentive for its sponsored players to achieve high finishing spots in the main event of the poker spectacular organised by Harrah's Entertainment.

In addition to a number of WSOP seat sponsorships, the UK company has announced Main Event finishing position packages that include a million dollars for any Team Ladbrokes sponsored player who wins this year's main event; $500 000 for a second or third placing in the main event and $250 000 for finishers in 4th to 9th positions.

KENT, WASHINGTON -- A case in which plaintiffs will try to eliminate felony penalties against playing online poker in the state of Washington will be heard May 15th. Lee Rousso, an attorney in Washington state, has sued to challenge the law.

Rousso had a short-lived gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. He sais he ran only to draw attention to the absurdity of poker laws and penalties.

Rousso withdrew from the race for governor when it became likely he could get a hearing in court on the law. He is challenging the constitutionality of the law, which was passed in 2006.

Eighteen is old enough to play poker, according to Iowa's Meskwaki tribe.

Continuing a long tradition of relative independence from government dictates, the Meskwaki Tribal Council recently approved a plan that would allow players aged 18-21 to play card games such as No-Limit Hold'em.

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

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

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

"New Hampshire now has the biggest poker rooms — with the exception of Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut — at Rockingham and Seabrook," he said.

Guide Dogs of the Desert will jump start its first Desert Dog Run on Saturday when motorcycle riders will travel a multi-city route to raise cash for the organization that trains guide dogs for the blind.

The ride will take form as a poker run where cyclists - and participants riding in cars - will make pit stops to draw one card from each venue in hopes of flashing the best hand at the end.

Winner takes all: $150.

Raising the ante will come easy at the final stop at Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace in Pioneertown.

The riders are expected to reach the facade of saloons, stables and jails at about 6 p.m., the ride's finishing time.

Despite the protests against and March defeat of his bill to build three casinos in Massachusetts and ban online poker and Internet gambling, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick said that his casino proposal to shore up ailing state coffers may yet make a comeback.

"There's a lot of interest in it, and issues that die in one session don't die a permanent death," the Boston Globe reported Patrick saying. "They tend to come back over time."

CryptoLogic Limited, a leading software developer to the global Internet gaming market, through its wholly owned subsidiary WagerLogic, today announced an exclusive three-year licensing agreement with OPoker.com, a new online poker site launched by a group of Scandinavia's leading Internet poker executives.

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

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

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

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

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

Liv Boeree bested 51 of Europe's top female tournament players, including WSOPE winner Annette Obrestad, Bev Pace, Louise Duffy, Michelle Orpe, and Katherine Hartree, last year's winner Jackie Meecham, poker journalist Shelley Rubenstein and Abi Titmuss, to become the new Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Champion. In addition to the title, the Absolute Poker-sponsored pro is taking home the $30,000 first prize and a seat in the WSOP Main Event.

Last week Caesars Palace hosted the latest WSOP Circuit series of events. I attended and played the ladies event for a buy-in of $330. 169 players, including name pros such as J.J. Liu and Barbara Enright, participated. Barbara made an astounding comeback and won the event in the wee hours. Congrats, Barbara!

While at this event, as I often do, I take the opportunity to speak to many of the lady players to find out what is going on with their games and poker in general. Some are happy with their games, some are disenchanted with the changes poker is undergoing, and some were flat-out bursting at the seams to speak up on current poker issues.

QUESTION: Is there any point when the player actually has an edge over the house in video poker? -- Vic D.

ANSWER: Yes. Play on a full-pay machine, use an optimal playing strategy against that select machine, play progressives over a certain amount and take full advantage of the goodies casinos give away.

iDeal - poker dealer

ideal is the new automatic poker dealer. Uses infrared sensors, looking for bike reflectors mounted on stands, to determine how many players are at a table and ultrasonic detection to know how far to throw a card to them.

iDeal is programmed with a variety of poker variants from Texas Hold 'em, to Gin rummy and Omaha. With iDeal you can get rid of all your suspicions that the house is trying to cheat you.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Quarterfinal action in NBC's 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship takes place this Sunday, May 11, as the remaining eight players each try to win their bracket and advance to the semifinal round. This is a 2-hour segment, with the first hour devoted to the Hearts and Diamonds brackets, and the second to the Clubs and Spades brackets. Each player is now assured of a $75,000 payday, and those who advance to the semifinals next week will be guaranteed $125,000 in their quest for the title.

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

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

Sit and Go Satellite Bounty Challenge awards 32 players per week with free entries into major online poker events

Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 7, 2008 -- Just days after launching a bold new poker tournament schedule created by Annie Duke and following up that announcement with two major online poker promos, UltimateBet has enhanced its poker offering yet again. The online poker site today announced the addition of the Sit and Go Satellite Bounty Challenge promotion, an enticing weekly contest featuring 32 separate leader board competitions.