July

Poker in the Park will come to the heart of London for a two-day poker bonanza on August 15-16 from 4pm-9pm Friday and 10am-6pm Saturday.

The event, hosted in London’s Leicester Square Park, will draw 25,000 poker players. They will be taking part in freeroll tournaments, professional poker players’ lectures and buy books and merchandise from poker’s biggest names.

Dublin  -- New research by Card Player, in the form of the "World Tracker" global poker tournament tracking system, reveals that, per capita, Denmark has the most successful tournament players in the world.

Much like the Olympics, Card Player has used an extensive list of qualifying tournaments (including WSOP, WPT, and EPT events). World Tracker awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to the countries whose citizens come first, second, and third in major international tournaments.

The top five countries in the poker tournament world are currently:

It is skill that differentiates the successful from the unsuccessful players over the long term

Surprisingly, there are striking similarities between successful fund managers and professional poker players.

Competition poker has become the latest global craze - the surge in popularity coincides with the advent of the lipstick camera, that allows viewers at home to see the cards of the players as the hands unfold.

This, and the remarkable sums of money at stake have made poker a popular spectator sport.

OROVILLE -- World Series of Poker Champion Jerry "The Shadow" Yang will be participating in a poker tournament to aid local fire victims Saturday afternoon at Gold Country Casino.

Yang's wife Susan's family lives in the greater Oroville area.

The benefit tournament provides a dream come true for regional poker fans: To meet and compete against the reigning World Champion of Poker, while helping the community as well.

Those wishing to participate can sign up by calling 538-4560 and asking for the poker department.

Senator concerned over scandal
The uncovering of two online cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet has not gone unnoticed by former US Senator Alphonse D'Amato. The New York politician who is the current chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has brought the incidents to the attention of the US Senate in an effort to legislate against this new breed of Internet crime. Both poker sites resided in the jurisdiction of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which initially did not permit inspection of these sites in order to present a clean bill of health.

Kahnawake

PokerRoom have today confirmed the appearance of popular American pop group, Pussycat Dolls at the Poker Villa on Poker Island. The stunning quintet will be performing one show and challenging the residents to a game of poker on the grounds of the luxurious Poker Villa.

Titan Poker, the pride and joy of the iPoker Network, is currently hosting Satellites and Super Satellites to the largest poker tournament in Africa – the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament. South Africa’s sumptuous Super Bowl casino in the heart of beautiful Sun City will set the scene for the region’s premier poker event this September, guaranteeing a minimum prize pool of $1,500,000.

There are two ways to make money at poker: sticking to the tournament scene or grinding it out in cash games. You'll need to learn a vastly different skill set to consistently grow your bankroll in each environment because each venue tends to attract a specific kind of player.

Recreational players are more apt to play in tournaments, whereas higher-skilled players usually favor cash games. That's an important distinction because the better-skilled your opponents are, the more creativity and sophistication you'll need to bring to the table.

Online poker rooms AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com have announced the impending launch of the new Cereus platform, which will integrate the customers and features from both to create the world’s third largest Internet poker network.

The result of twelve months’ of development, Cereus will allow both operators to retain their unique assets while sharing more players, tournaments and features alongside new features and larger promotions.

“I am so excited to announce the launch of our new poker network, Cereus,” said Paul Leggett, Chief Operations Officer for AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com.

Candywriter today announced the release of Imagine Poker 3.6 for the Mac. Candywriter teamed up with Los Angeles-based Fearnot Music Studios to bring voices to all 21 Imagine Poker Mac characters as featured in the current iPhone/iPod Touch version of the game.

If a month and a half of World Series of Poker action in Las Vegas wasn't enough to slake your thirst for poker, but the Vegas lifestyle made you need a vacation, DoylesRoom has the solution.

The poker site is giving away a tropical package to the Costa Rica Challenge taking place at the La Condesa Hotel in Monte de la Cruz, Costa Rica.

For as little as $4.80+50¢, poker players at DoylesRoom can work their way up through satellites to win a $4,000 grand prize package that includes the $2,300 buy-in for the Costa Rica Challenge main event plus $1,700 for travel and accommodations.

If you were in search of more evidence to the growing popularity of poker, the Venetian has announced that the poker themed stage show "the Real Deal!" will open in the fall. While it's not quite Blue Man Group meets the felt, audience members will not only get to watch some of the biggest names in poker history on the main stage, but play against the pros from their seats for cash and prizes.

The cast of pros includes Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Todd Brunson, Gavin Smith and Eli Elezra. The cast has combined tournament earnings nearing $50 million, 35 total WSOP bracelets and eight WPT titles.

NEW JERSEY, USA -- Bad beat in poker is when you have a good hand that is a favorite to win beaten by another hand. "Most of the time it is a hand that caught a miracle draw on the river that should not have been played to begin with. 

This is more common in low limit games because many players have the any two cards can win mentality". Said Robert, WalkerPoker professional advisor. 

"Many players will play any ace and a few players will play any suited cards regardless of the rank. Some players are calling stations that will enter the pot with marginal or terrible hands and then call all the way to the river in hopes making their draw. Occasionally they do make their hands and you suffer a bad beat." 

If you play poker at any competitive level then you know the name Phil Hellmuth. A poker player extraordinaire, Phil was the youngest Main Event winner in 1989, holds 67 cashes, and holds the record for the most cashes, which incidentally, includes four from this year’s World Series of Poker. A true Master of the Bluff, Hellmuth walked up to the WSOP table escorted by eleven military clad models each of whom represented one of the 11 championship Texas Hold'em bracelets he currently holds.

Citizens Restoring Congamond, a group of lake residents from West Suffield and Southwick, Mass. dedicated to protecting and maintaining the Congamond Lakes, is hosting its second annual Poker Run Aug. 9. Betty Ayotte of West Suffield, treasurer of the group and organizer of the poker run, said they raised $5,300 last year.

Poker is experiencing unprecedented national popularity, as reported yesterday in The Courant. The Mohegan Sun is reintroducing live poker at its new 64,000 square-foot Casino of the Wind when it opens Aug. 29.

Here's your chance locally to enjoy playing a hand of poker, possibly win the $10,000 grand prize and help keep Congamond Lake clean. I'd call that a winning 3-of-a-kind.

Players on AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com will soon notice the tables are little busier. The two online poker sites announced Thursday plans to merge the two independent rooms to form the CEREUS network.

The newly-formed network will combine the players from both sites onto one platform. The move is meant to offer increased liquidity to current players and integrate features from each site onto one platform. Players will still play at their favorite sites as they have no plans to combine into one singular brand.

Titan Poker, the largest online poker room on the iPoker Network, is preparing to send a delegation of its finest poker players to the Asian Poker Tour in Macau (APT Macau) this August. Nine players have already qualified for this exciting event and, with Super Satellites awarding seats to China twice weekly, this exclusive poker team is expected to grow considerably before the Main Event starts next month.

Players from across the globe have been competing for the chance to play poker in this exciting and exotic location. The current team of qualified players will be flying from countries all over the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Japan and the Czech Republic.

After a moment of suspense the Game Show Network has announced it will be airing the fifth season of High Stakes Poker, which is scheduled to begin filming in September.

The announcement comes as a bit of a relief for the largest cash game shown on TV because GSN had already opted not to renew the contract of the World Poker Tour.

“GSN has picked up the option on the fifth season of ‘High Stakes Poker’ and continues to enjoy poker on its air,” said Jennifer Minezakil, director of public relations at GSN.

Many High Stakes Poker fans will be happy to hear that Gabe Kaplan and A.J. Benza will be returning as hosts, offering their dry yet witty humour to the programme.

Bodog Poker is once again giving its online poker players the chance to freeroll their way to poker stardom and riches while traveling to exotic locations in total Bodog style. The Asian Poker Tour event in Macau, held Aug. 26-31, is guaranteeing $1.5 million in prize money, and Bodog Poker is now running freeroll qualifier tournaments where the winner receives entry to the APT Macau plus an all-expenses paid trip to the exciting gaming destination situated along the Pearl River Delta in China.

GigaMedia Limited today announced that the World Series of Poker -- sponsored by GigaMedia's Everest Poker product -- has successfully completed the first portion of the main event and will begin showing this week on ESPN television broadcasts.

Some time ago, rumours were heard in the poker world that the popular TV show 'High Stakes Poker' (HSP) would be dropped. The moderator AJ Benza of all people got the discussions going. GSN now discounted such rumours and announced that they exercised the option on a fifth HSP season.

After taking the poker world by storm just a short while ago by making it through an enormous field at this year’s World Series of Poker main event to finish 17th, Tiffany Michelle is not the subject of controversy over loyalty to Pokernews, her employer and sponsor for the event.

Apparently the 24-year-old actress turn poker player from Los Angeles wore an Ultimate Bet logo, in addition to the Pokernews logo, during the WSOP main event, though she had an exclusive agreement with Pokernews.

Michelle believes she did nothing wrong because many other players at the event could be seen wearing multiple logos, and claims that Pokernews is slandering her.

Many detractors thought they might not have been around to celebrate it, but Party Poker are celebrating their 7th birthday on Sunday the 10th of August. The top European poker room has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and are topping off the celebrations with a $1,000,000 guaranteed Birthday Party bonanza tournament.

You can buy in directly to this $640 event with a championship style blind structure. As usual you can also win your seat on Party Poker from as little as $1 or even just 15 partypoints. For more information go to the main Party Poker website.

Entraction Holding AB Solna, Sweden (21 July 2008). Entraction announces that it has signed a deal with yet another established poker operator, Bet1128, to supply them with poker software and access to the Entraction poker network. Bet1128 is a successful poker site focusing on the Italian market, and will start the migration to Entraction in August.

Bet1128.com's players appreciate the Italian poker "32-card draw", which guarantees good action when Entraction launches its 32-card draw in the autumn.

Hevad Rain Khan kept his mouth shut as he walked away from his seat at the No Limit Hold’em World Championship at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Known among poker circles as the most animated and excitable player on the World Series of Poker circuit, Khan would shout some kind of nonsense and put a chair on his head, play invisible basketball, or just run around screaming each time he won a sizable pot.

Last weekend, there would be no screaming, no chair on the head, no invisible basketball, no running around — and ultimately, no sizable pot.

All he could do was quietly walk away as all of his remaining chips were passed to Tiffany Michelle.

Nashville, TN .- Griffin Technology Inc., creator of all things iPod and iPhone, today announced the availability of its first game for iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch. The Vegas-style video poker game is called 5 Card Touch, and will be offered exclusively on Apple’s App Store website.

5 Card Touch is the first in a series of applications that Griffin will be rolling out for the App Store. Griffin apps will be available for download directly onto iPhone -- giving users the convenience of accessing the game at all times, even when iPhone is in Airplane Mode.

LAS VEGAS -- Chris Gibbons and Scott Erickson are two of the best bowlers in the Madison area.

Gibbons is a former pro who won a title on the Pro Bowlers Association Regional circuit -- pro bowling's minor league. And he and Erickson are on the team that ended up third in the top event at the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.

That said, neither has much interest in putting up the entry fee of a few hundred dollars to compete in tournaments against top pros like Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber in the few open PBA Tour events.

As the final cards were being dealt  at this year's World Series of Poker* in Las Vegas , three Bodog online poker players were already being dealt seats to the  2009 WSOP* Main Event. The three seats are the first to be awarded by any  online poker site and were won in the final tournament of the Bodog Poker Mini  Series, a 25-tournament series mirroring the Holdem events at the World Series  in Las Vegas but with buy-ins equal to just one percent of the actual buy-in of  the WSOP* Main Event.