PokerParty Blog

My experience with SKY Cig Electronic Cigarette

2010-08-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok let me start this off by saying I have been a smoker for 13 years. I have battled this addiction since the cigarette companies hooked up when I was a naive teenager. My addiction over the years has grown to a pack a day, more if I am drinking. Last month I was in the UK on business and hit up the Sportsman Poker Room in Mayfair. As usual I left my seat every hour to suck back on a "fag" as the Brits call it. Two hours into the game this guy sits down and pulls out an ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE made by a company called SKY Cig. The guy proceeded to smoke it at the table without any problems! He was a regular and smoking "SKY" as he called it was allowed at the poker table! He had been smoking this cig for 2 months and went from 12 cigarettes a day to 1 or 2, somedays he didn't have any regular cigarettes because he is used to SKY Cig and it was much easier since it didn't produce a smelly smoke so he could smoke it anywhere.

Needless to say I ordered one and had it delivered to my hotel (took 4 days) and I now have it back in the USA. I smoked it at the Seminole Casino and on the flight home! I have yet to see these in the USA and unfortunately for my buddies (who want one) SKY doesn't deliver outside of the UK.

If anyone knows of any companies in the US let me know. I actually emailed SKY Cig to see if I could get the rights to their product in the USA, doubt that will happen though ;)

I am proud to say I haven't had a real cigarette in 9 days!

Did People Act This Way 20 Years Ago?

2008-10-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

I Think KidPoker Likes Golf

2008-08-22T11:26:00.001-07:00

As well as gambling. Crazy betting from his blog...
We started the day off well hitting one close on #1 for birdie and then on #2 Christian leatherized one. Hole #2 looked like a lock win because they were playing a bunker shot which seemed like it was 400 yards out or so. Never mind that, Nick absolutely stuck one from the bunker to 4 feet and we carried again.
Hole #3 we almost blew. We played out third shot from a green side bunker and no one got close, thankfully Christian made a key putt. Hole #4 we drew first blood with a birdie and I was up $70k. Hole #5 Jimmy stuck one close and we missed our birdie putt, that had me back to +15k.
They goofed up on #7 so we won back another hole and I was up $75k. We missed the green on #8 from 150 yards (idiots!) and pushed that hole as well as #9. Front side we shot 30, they shot 31.

Both teams birdied 10 and 11 pretty easily and then Christian hit a great drive to 80 yards on 12... we all missed the green, AGAIN! Idiots! They stuck one to five feet and we figured we were totally cooked. Patrik missed the putt, but that's not all that surprising. Nick missed too, and we all figured we were just being tortured a little bit because Jimmy couldn't miss that putt in a million years... but he did! Carry to 13.

They birdied 13 and Christian hit a big drive but we got unlucky and it hit a bunker. Sam's drive was nowhere so we used Ted's and didn't have a shot at the green. We were 80 yards out again and played Christian's approach to about 16 feet. We all missed the putt, and now I'm stuck 5k 14 and 15 were easy birdie holes which took us to 16. Christian murdered a drive on the par 5 and we had 142 yards to the pin. We hit it to about 16 feet. Sam and Ted left theirs short so I hit mine with a little more face... it popped out of the hole. Yikes. They missed the green in two and hit it to 10 feet. Patrik miss... Nick miss... Jimmy, I hate that guy! The putt trickled in and we had another carry.

On to 17 and they had about 25 feet. Patrik missed, and Nick, who hadn't made even a single putt all day finally decides to wake up and he drains it. Oh well, I hit a nice approach to about 12 feet... and we missed the putt, doh! Now I'm stuck 75k. On to 18 and we made quick work of it for birdie, they had over 25 feet for theirs. Patrik missed (surprise, surprise) and then here comes the guy who made one putt in 35 holes with back to back birdies. If he missed that we would only have lose 20k on the carries. They shot a great back of 28 and we shot 30 again.

In two rounds now we have gone 60-60 and they shot 61-59. Today is rematch time and I'd like to bet we kick some butt today. I went to the range last night after the round and fixed my wedge game a bit so I plan on sticking them all close today. I drove the ball as good as I possibly can today, but unfortunately that does the team little good as even my best drives don't match up with Sam and Christian off the tee. I'm happy being a team player, though, and trying to take some pressure off the bigger hitters. I need to come up big from 100 yards in and that's what I plan to do. I started to come around the last few holes, but today, I'm not missing anything. They are so dead!

¡ʇxǝʇ uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʇɐǝɹɔ

2008-07-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

¡looʇ pǝʇɐǝɹɔ oɥʍ snıuǝƃ ǝɥʇ oʇ ʞuıl ɐ sı ǝɹǝɥ

lɯʇɥ˙dılɟ/ɯoɔ˙pɐɟʌǝɹ˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ

Ranae Shrider - Vern Sex Tape

2008-06-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Verne Troyer's live ingirlfriend, who features in a sex tape with the 2 ft 8 in tall Austin Powers and Love Guru star, has been identified as 22-year-old aspiring model Ranae Shrider.

Shrider says she is furious that the sex tape has appeared online.

Confronted by the paparazzi just as she finished having coffee in a Starbucks in LA, Shrider said, "Do I look like I should be smiling about this."

Shrider admitted that she still lives with the pint-sized star in the same apartment where the sex tape was shot.

Ranae Shrider - Vern Sex Tape

Never Enter A Bike Race In Mexico!

2008-06-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

Man Falls Asleep At The Wheel And Runs Into Group Of Cyclists!

A car collides into cyclists participating in a race in Mexico's northern border city of Matamoros, Sunday June 1, 2008. At least one person was killed and 14 injured when a driver slammed into a bicycle race. AP

Memorial Cup Falls To Pieces! Look At Their Reaction - Priceless!

2008-05-26T06:43:00.001-07:00

Will Smith Today - Whats Wrong With Celebs!

2008-05-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

I wonder what the guys who grew up with Will Smith think of him now. What a transformation!

From This:

To This:

Actor Will Smith is funding his own private school that will teach youngsters using an educational system devised in part by the Scientology cult.

The curriculum at Smith's New Village Academy of Calabasas, on which he has spent nearly £500,000, uses different educational theories including "study technology" – a learning method developed by L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology.

Websites dedicated to monitoring Scientologist activity are also claiming that at least six members of staff employed at the £6,000-a-year private academy are members of the controversial sect.

The religious organisation has raised its profile in the last few years as a number of celebrity adherents have made their beliefs public.

Smith has been surrounded by rumours that he is now a fully-fledged member of the Church of Scientology, due largely to his close friendship with the organisation's star member, Tom Cruise.

Google Company Was Doing Revnues $100M+ With Arbitrage

2008-03-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

Awesome story in the Financial Post Today

Cover story: Blown away

A record $160-million VC investment. A rich Web strategy. A quirky founder. For a few weeks last spring, Guelph, Ont.’s Geosign had it all. Then mighty Google stirred. And it was over

Kevin Hewitt
(http://www.financialpost.com/magazine/story.html?id=324817)

It started simply as another "town hall." No surprise in that - Geosign Corp. employees were used to town-hall meetings because they happened almost monthly. Staff would leave the office, pile into cars and make the short drive to the Holiday Inn on the south edge of sleepy Guelph, Ont., where Geosign was located. Once assembled, they'd typically get an earful from management about the business, new initiatives and big plans for the future.

The only difference this late May day was that the meeting had been hastily arranged, with employees directed to the hotel that morning. But why worry? Just 12 weeks earlier, Geosign had joined the elite list of hottest Web companies in the world. After operating for seven years in near-anonymity, an hour's drive from the prying eyes of Bay Street, Geosign landed the largest-ever venture-capital investment for a Canadian tech company:

$160 million, for which U.S. investor American Capital Strategies Ltd. got a "significant" minority stake. At that time, Geosign said it had more than $100 million in sales. And it was hiring new employees like crazy. At the previous town hall in mid-April, CEO Ted Hastings, who took over from Geosign's founder and chairman Tim Nye that January, discussed a new facility they were planning for all the staff, then numbering more than 250. There, they would keep building their online media "powerhouse." Geosign boasted a network of 180 websites, with consumer news and information content ranging from hockey to girlfriends to lawn furniture. It said it had created a technology that drove traffic to its sites through placements in search engines, with up to 35 million unique visitors landing each month. Given the red-hot interest in Internet advertising, American Capital managing director Virginia Turezyn said Geosign's true value lay in its "automated systems," not its content.

For everyone arriving at the Holiday Inn, the future seemed golden. But as soon as they were assembled, things turned strange. Each employee was handed an envelope. In the envelope was a piece of paper with a geometric shape on it - triangle or square. That's when the bomb dropped. Hastings told the assembly that there had been a massive change to the company's business model, brought about by search engine and Web advertising giant Google Inc. It would require massive adjustments, but Geosign would persevere, he said. Stunned employees tried to decipher what was happening. Many had just joined the company to create "webzine" content packages for its sites. What did Google have to do with their online magazines anyway?

Those with triangles in their envelopes were directed to speak with human resources staff on the premises. Regardless of their circumstance or how long they'd been with the firm, the triangle indicated their time at Geosign was over. Between 50 and 100 people were cut that day, with many more to follow. "It was awful," says one former employee. "None of us knew what was happening. It didn't make sense. The woman standing next to me had just quit her job and moved to the city to start. She burst into tears when she realized she'd just been fired."

Companies fail all the time. Sometimes with little warning. But companies that are highly profitable and only weeks removed from a record-setting venture capital investment? Not so much. Yet in Geosign's case, the cuts that began last May continued through the summer. Late last year, fewer than 100 employees remained. Today, Geosign itself no longer exists, its still-functioning website an empty reminder of its former promise. And while the national business media has, until now, overlooked the story - surprising, given the size of the investment and the fact that Google played a direct role in the outcome - within Canada's technology and venture-capital communities, the $160-million investment is known as the deal "that didn't go well." When the collapse happened, even jaded industry watchers accustomed to financial debacles in the tech sector were stunned. "I've seen a lot of meltdowns," says Duncan Stewart, a technology and investment analyst in Toronto. "But something happening like this, over just a few weeks, that's unprecedented in my experience."

The same question occurs to everyone: How did a business making $100 million a year, a company so full of promise, disintegrate so quickly? With Geosign, it turns out, there's more to the tale than anyone directly involved has so far been willing to say. And much of it revolves not around its plans for a content powerhouse, but the story of how the Guelph startup found a loophole in Google's vaunted advertising model, enabling it to make boatloads of cash - until Google decided enough was enough.

It's hard to know exactly what Tim Nye had in mind when he established Geosign in 2000, the same year Google launched its first keyword-targeted ad program, the money-spinner at the core of its enterprise. "Geosign wasn't much more than a shell at that time," says Jim Estill, CEO of Synnex Canada, a Toronto-based computer distributor, who invested in two of Nye's earlier ventures. "But it had Tim, and he's one of those consummate entrepreneurs who fails sometimes but keeps coming up with new ideas." Nye's first company, Carbotek Computing, had been a computer parts distributor. His second, a software company called CadSoft, was a "marginal success" according to Estill. Nye sold that in 1998.

Estill says Nye bucked conventions, wore his hair long, preferred jeans to suits and had bold ideas. "He's technically creative, the type who knows what computers can do," he says. "There's a tendency in the press to make everyone either a dog or a god. The truth is most people are somewhere in between. Tim is no different. He has shortcomings, but he's also a highly creative guy."

Retracing Geosign's origins through old news stories, Nye sounds like he spent considerable time searching for a business model. In early interviews, he described Geosign's business in vague terms, suggesting it was somehow linking online consumers with local businesses. "The market is connecting buyer to seller, and up to now, the consumer has been left out," Nye told the Guelph Mercury in 2001. He called his new technology "geosearching," and added that his company had inked an arrangement with an Internet search engine, but wouldn't disclose the name. Still, he told confidantes and investors that he had grand ambitions for Geosign extending far beyond Guelph, concepts that would create a business with huge upside. Not that anyone outside of a small circle knew of Nye's plans. For the next five years he stayed out of the limelight. Even in a small city like Guelph, he and Geosign garnered no media attention.

Meanwhile, as Nye tinkered away in silence, Google was doing just the opposite, laying claim to the title of most popular search engine. More significant, perhaps, was the success of its keyword-targeted ad program. To recap, Google began selling advertisements associated with keywords that would be searched by Internet users. Pricing of keywords was based on a combination of bidding and click-through use. As Google's popularity soared, so did the price it could charge for linking an ad to a keyword. For example, if your company wanted the phrase "car accident lawyer," it could cost upwards of US$38 per click to have the most prominent ad link on the Google page when that term was searched. Less common phrases cost less, as little as 5¢.

In 2003, Google made another huge leap forward on the advertising side, with the launch of its AdSense program. Essentially, this application allowed people to put keyword-targeted ad links, served by Google, on their own websites, with them and Google splitting revenue tied to the volume of user click-throughs. As its popularity grew, a cottage industry began to develop called "search arbitrage." Essentially, search arbitrage involves an individual or company buying Internet traffic through the acquisition of keywords from Google, then sending viewers who click on the ad links to a site ("landing page" in Google terminology) that appears to have content, but is actually just full of online advertising linked to the original search term. Anyone clicking an ad link there makes money for the keyword holder. For example, a company might bid for the Google rights to the phrase "small town car sales" and send traffic to a website it controls, filled with more car advertisements, called "Alltheautomotive.com." The keyword cost only 20¢, while a click on the advertising on the website might yield $1.50 return. According to Niki Scevak, an analyst at Jupiter Research in New York, the majority of those initially involved in search arbitrage were small players. "These were guys running search arbitrage out of their basements, making maybe $20,000 a month," he says.

As the possibilities of the arbitrage business became apparent, however, other more ambitious players got interested. One of them, it seems, was Geosign. While both Nye and Hastings declined to comment when contacted for this story, former Geosign insiders who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirm that the possibility of a big payoff in search arbitrage caught Nye's attention after he created Geosign. What's more, he envisioned a network of thousands of websites all automated by software linking keywords to pages filled with ads, returning millions in cash in the process.

By 2005 that was exactly what was happening. Nye crafted a maze of Internet sites that included tens of thousands of Web pages and bought up even more keywords from Google. By connecting the keywords and the websites, Geosign was indeed generating more than $100 million in annual revenue and was extremely profitable. To put a value on the company at this time, analyst Scevak points to Marchex Inc., a publicly traded company in Seattle, Wash., with a comparable business model. At its peak in 2006, Marchex had a market capitalization of US$500 million.

Meanwhile, Nye began to run Geosign like his version of a California dot-com at the peak of the investing craze in the late 1990s. He brought three Segway Personal Transporters into the office. "They didn't make any sense at all given the size of our offices," says one former employee. "But we used them anyway." Wolfgang Puck gourmet coffee makers were soon introduced, free Perrier abounded and rumours circulated that staff lunches would soon be catered. A lavish Christmas party thrown at the end of 2006 saw employees head home with iPods and gift certificates worth of up to $1,000. The grand prize was a lease on a Toyota Prius. Fittingly, Nye dressed as Santa for the event. "It was amazing while it lasted," says another former employee.

Even as the perks flowed, many Geosign employees, especially those the company hired in 2006 to start developing a new online publishing division of the business, weren't necessarily aware of where the money was coming from, especially as the websites they designed struggled to find an audience. "It didn't make any sense to me," says another former employee - one of many contacted through a Facebook group set up after the first big round of layoffs last May. "There was all this money around, but the website I was working on had like 1,500 visitors a day."

There were other oddities, as well. One Geosign staffer recalls being asked to work through weekends in late 2006, in order to add text to Web pages that appeared to be nothing but ads. "They told us it could be our B-grade writing," the ex-employee says. "We were writing for strange sites like roundtables.info and sticks.info. And we were just writing a paragraph or two. It didn't seem to matter what we wrote."

The change in atmosphere had everything to do with measures that Google was taking to rein in those doing search arbitrage. This action was a response to two main concerns. First, that the practice was becoming so widespread, it was hurting legitimate advertisers by artificially inflating keyword prices. And second, that if too many keyword-targeted ad links only took users to pages filled with other ads, that users would lose interest and faith in the online ad system. Obviously, with advertising revenue being the key to Google's finances, it had to respond. It did so by expanding the terms of service for its AdSense program (published on its website) to place greater restrictions on the way links could be used and by spelling out detailed landing page and site quality guidelines. A top priority there: relevant and original content. By these standards, a landing page full of ads is inadequate - as this text in its current guideline explains: "Provide substantial information. If your ad does link to a page consisting mostly of ads or general search results (such as a directory or catalog page), provide additional, unique content." Since most companies doing search arbitrage bought both their keywords and landing page ads through Google, it was easy for the company to isolate and monitor them. Non-compliant parties risked being banned from the AdSense program. A simpler tactic, however, saw Google target those abusing the process, raising their fees and making it too costly to continue.

For the moment, Nye and Geosign were still a step ahead. Instead of buying ads and keywords from Google, Geosign had always purchased keywords from the search engine company and directed the traffic to sites filled with ads from rival Yahoo! That meant Google was receiving millions of dollars from Geosign for access to its keywords, but didn't know where the traffic was directed. Given the amount of money flowing to Google, most in Geosign thought the search engine would turn a blind eye.

But not Nye. Geosign insiders say Nye voiced concerns that Google could eventually move against arbitrageurs utilizing the Yahoo! model. That left him with a decision - to continue running Geosign and hope Google would continue to accept the company's money even if it didn't like the business model, or to search for something that might one day replace the arbitrage revenue. With the online advertising market for content-oriented sites growing rapidly, Nye decided to move into Web publishing. He purchased still more domain names and began hiring staff to create "webzines" focused on everything from sports to travel. Nye's plan, insiders say, was to develop a legitimate content business before Google cracked down on its arbitrage angle. This explains why Geosign quickly began hiring so many reporters and editors, and why it begin to talk about itself as a big-time online media play.

Nye knew he had to move fast. He also knew he needed to make acquisitions on both the content and advertising sides of the business. That would require more cash than Geosign had on its own. Soon, Nye began seeking venture capital and private-equity investments. In early 2007, American Capital, which calls itself an "alternative asset" management firm, won out over several suitors.

The deal was announced in the first week of March. But even that had an odd twist. Nye was not available for any interviews, with the exception of some comments he gave to a couple of tech industry bloggers. In one case, he said the money was critical to his "BFE - big empire strategy. I forget what the ‘f' stands for." For his part, Hastings only spoke publicly for a very short time before he, too, clammed up.

A source inside the company says their behaviour stemmed from fears that the more they talked, the more they would attract Google's attention. For this same reason, some insiders had apparently advised against partnering up with American Capital prior to the deal, because it was a public company and therefore had to disclose the investment.

While no one at American Capital would comment for this story, sources say it was well aware of how Geosign made its money and what it was planning going forward. It was, in other words, placing a bet that Google would not take steps that would alter Geosign's lucrative business. "Since we didn't know Google like we do now, the question always was, ‘Is someone really going to shut off the kinds of dollars we were paying them?'" a former Geosign employee says. "It turns out the answer was yes."

The end came suddenly, well before Nye and American Capital could reposition the business - in fact they were still hiring new employees in the days leading up to the layoffs. Google had started to look more closely at companies like Geosign, which were buying keywords from Google and ad links from Yahoo! or another provider. And soon Geosign got word that Google would now begin penalizing its Web pages that had "a low landing page quality score" - that is, lots of ads and little or no original content. While Google won't comment specifically about Geosign, sources say it raised the prices it charged Geosign for keywords overnight. "When Google ‘shuts you down,' that isn't exactly what they do," explains Jupiter's Scevak. "Instead, what they do is start charging you $50 for what they were charging 10¢ for previously. They make the model financially unfeasible."

Sources say the American Capital deal included provisions whereby it would recover its money if things fell apart. "As any private-equity firm does, they find a way to make sure they come out OK," says one former Geosign executive. "If they are going to put $160 million into a company, they are going to make sure that if something bad happens, they are holding the keys to the castle."

Negotiations dragged on through 2007. Ultimately, American Capital reached a settlement with Nye that saw two new companies created. American Capital got control of Geosign's marketing and advertising assets and spun it off in a new company called Moxy Media Inc., with ex-Geosign CEO Hastings as chief executive. In early January, a spokesperson for Moxy Media confirmed that it has about 50 employees and had recently acquired Florida-based SWI Digital Inc. "Life goes on," says one insider. "You might not be thrilled with where it is, considering what it had been, but search marketing is still a viable business." American Capital's latest securities filings peg Moxy Media's value at US$128 million - which means the sum of Geosign's former assets are worth less than American Capital's original minority investment.

Besides remaining tight-lipped about its Geosign experience, American Capital has apparently tried to keep a tight leash on Geosign's former employees, many of whom were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement before receiving their severance. An employee who spoke with the Guelph Mercury was sent a letter warning about the repercussions of talking with the media.

As for Nye? He came away from the breakup with what one former executive describes as "assets with little value" - a few domain names, such as hockey.com and golfcourses.com, a few staff and little else. He created a new company called eMedia Interactive Inc., where he is listed as chairman.

A final attempt to contact him to see if he'd be willing to put his version of events on the record for this story yielded a short response. "As part of the transition, I signed a confidentiality agreement, which would prohibit any comment from me," he wrote in an e-mail. "I have some exciting things in the works. But I am not comfortable adding anything else at this time."

In time, he might talk about his new venture, he says, but there is "no benefit for any press at this time." Those close to Nye say he did very well financially with Geosign even before the American Capital deal, has a home in Barbados, and often uses a local service to charter private jets. Even though his dream of creating a publishing empire in Guelph seems to have ended - a handful of staff were recently let go from eMedia - those around him wouldn't be surprised if he resurfaces with another company. "There won't be any penny sales for him," says Estill, who thinks Nye could produce a lasting hit if the right concept catches his fancy. "He knew he was living on borrowed time at Geosign. He had a golden goose - it just didn't lay eggs forever."

Pocker Stars Germany Bonus Code Pokerstars.de

2008-02-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Pockerstars - pockerstars.de - pocker stars - pokerstars.de -pokerstar.de - pokerstar

See Anyones Photos On Facebook - Nice Hack

2008-02-14T11:46:00.001-08:00

As long as you know their user id you can view their photos! Don't know how long this hack will go before they stop it, so check it while you can.

tagged photos added by others: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12345678&op =1&view=all&subj=MEMBERID&id=MEMBERID

tagged photos added by themselves: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=13245678&op =1&view=user&subj=MEMBERID&id=MEMBERID

ex: Mark Zuckerberg’s member id is 4 so let's see his pictures...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12345678&op =1&view=all&subj=4&id=4

BAAAHHHAHAHAHA $85,000 Cell Phone Bill

2007-12-12T18:12:00.001-08:00

From CBC.ca
A Calgary man is disputing a cellphone bill of nearly $85,000, claiming the phone company failed to tell him using his phone to surf the internet would cost so much.

The Motorola Krzr model Piotr Staniaszek bought from Bell Mobility allows him to use the phone to connect with his computer; downloading data to the computer resulted in the shocking charges.

"I didn't know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake," the 22-year-old oil-field worker said of the extraordinary total.

A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek's bill in "a measure of goodwill." But he will still owe Bell more than $5,000.

A bill that large is extremely rare, spokesman Jacques Bouchard said.

"What happened is that the client used the cellphone as a modem linking it directly to the computer and downloading huge files, ... high-res movies for instance."

Staniaszek said he pays $10 a month for unlimited mobile browsing on his cellphone. "So I figured that was the same thing, but I guess not."
Continue Article

After speaking to Bell about November charges of $65,000, Staniaszek said he was informed his bill had increased to nearly $85,000 after more downloading in December.

Staniaszek said the company should have alerted him to the soaring tally. He normally pays about $150 a month for his phone.

"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like $100 over. Here, I'm $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on.

"I told them I wasn't aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me."

Bouchard said Bell cannot monitor the activities of every one of its customers.

Jiri Tlusty Naked Toronto Maple Leafs Naked Pictures On Facebook

2007-11-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

Are below

Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Jiri Tlusty Shows Off Boner

2007-11-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Jiri Tlusty caught with his pants down on Facebook! Jiri Tlusty sent some revealing pictures to his facebook girlfriend and the bitch posted them on the net!!! The Toronto media is going crazy over it! Funny shit!

Getting Old Sucks!

2007-10-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have noticed lately that everyone seems to be looking alot older to me and aged! I guess this means I'm getting older and it's depressing! Here are some celebs for you:

Poker Sites - Then and Now

2007-10-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Saw a new Poker Stars commercial last night and it was very well done. Got me thinking how crap the Poker site homepages used to look and how far they have come. Thought it would be interesting to show back then and now. Remember those old ass partypoker.net and pokerstars.net commercials with Moneymaker and his bad ass haircut!!! EEEEEEW Party Poker!

Party Poker 2004

Party Poker 2007

Poker Stars 2004

Poker Stars 2007

Ultimate Bet 2004

Ultimate Bet 2007

Absolute Poker 2004

Absolute Poker 2007

I like the AP slogan in the middle of the homepage from 2004 considering the current super user scandal "Our Mission: To continue to be the best and most trusted". I wish I could get my hands on those old Poker Stars and Party Poker commercials .but couldn't find them anywhere on the net.

I have to say AP is the most improve. What do you think?

Which side of the brain do you use? Test it!

2007-10-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Look at this image:

Does the Image spin clockwise or counterclockwise?

Most of us would see the image turning anti-clockwise.

If CLOCKWISE, then you use more of the RIGHT SIDE of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning ANTI-CLOCKWISE though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

For me it only move clockwise, no matter how long I focussed, I can't get her to spin anti-clockwise.

Found this article here:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html

NewBodog.com Bounces Back

2007-09-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, shows you the power of news on the net. I guess all news really is good news.

---------------------------------------
A neat post I found on Bill's Blog
When Bodog lost its domains and had to convert over to NewBodog.com there was much speculation over how this would impact the company. Well, now we have some answers. To be honest, I was a little surprised.

On Sept 1st, Bodog (or NewBodog . . . depending on how you look at it) slipped to its lowest point following the yanking of its domains. On Sept 1 their peak traffic (as reported by PokerSiteScout) dropped to 1636 peak players. That was down from 2024 a week prior on Aug 25. So, the immediate impact was a massive 19% drop. But if we look at how they’ve weathered the storm since then we see that a week after the Sept 1 whacking they were back up to 1924. Still short of their 2024 number but this was a 5% drop which is within the normal variance of most week over week numbers. Perhaps a more compelling story is that on Sept 11, Bodog posted peak numbers of 2474 which put them at a 22% increase from Sept 1. Of course, these are not like comparisons because we were comparing Sat to Sat numbers and now we’re comparing Sat to Tues numbers. In fact, if we go back to Aug 21st then Bodog had posted a 2535 peak which means overall Tues numbers are down instead of up. All in all though I think it demonstrates that Bodog has shown the ability to bounce back here.

Bodog.com Largest Sportsbook Just Lost Their Domain!!!!

2007-08-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Many online gamblers tried to get to bodog today and noticed the site was down. At first people thought it was just a tech issue but news is spreading that they lost the domain. So in the meantime they have moved the site to New Bodog or newbodog.com.

Apparently some dude in the USA won a lawsuit and bodog was forced to pay 50 million. They refused to pay and today the winner of the lawsuit took it to enom and got the domain. What a joke!

Here is news from www.shoemoney.com

--------------------
Earlier today the Bodog website (bodog.com) went down. Many people thought it was just technical issues. A good friend inside Bodog pinged me and told me that the site was actually yanked out from under Bodog’s hands earlier today.

Apparently, some guy in the US who was awarded a patent for something to do with taking bets online filed a lawsuit against Bodog awhile back. Bodog didn’t respond because they are not a US company. So a judge awarded a default judgment of 50 million.

Yesterday, the guy with the judgment used it to seize control of Bodog’s domain names from Enom. Almost all of their sites are now offline, and now they are going to loose all of their SERPS.
--------------------

http://www.pokerlistings.com/bodog-poker-temporarily-moves-to-new-home-17910
http://www.newbodog.com/about/why-newbodog-com.jsp

I say screw it, play at pokerstars, over 100,000 players, best software and they ain't going anywhere. I think today will be the biggest day ever at pokerstars as they are already at 106,000 last time I checked!

Here are some other links to articles and statements from the owners of bodog.

More to come.

Here are some other links as well

Play Pocker - Party Pocker and Pocker Stars

2007-06-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

The best place to play pocker online for Germans is either pockerstars or partypocker. You can also try pacificpocker. Pocker is actually poker but in some European countries they call it pocker. There are some good bonuses out there for deutsch players.

If you want a 100% deposit bonus at POCKER STARS then try this one or if your are thinking PARTY POCKER try this one.

For all the German players out there I wish you the best.

New WPT Hostess Layla Kayleigh

2007-05-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

The WPT has gone out and got itself another knockout to continue their trend. The newest WPT Hostess is a British gal by the name of Layla Kayleigh. The World Poker Tour has gone through a number of fantastic looking ladies as they continue to try and find ways to increase the viewership. Poker is still doing alright in the tv ratings and as of late I have noticed a lot more poker being on tv again. Stay tuned for further updates in the poker world.

HAHAHAHA - Windows Vista Speech Recognition Rocks!

2007-05-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Another off beat post:

Check out how cool and user friendly the speech recognition feature is in Vista! This has the be faster then the old method of typing using a keyboard!

What You Know About Math - T.I. Song Spoof

2007-05-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hilarious song put together by some University students, had to blog it!

Ram Vaswani Speaks about the rumors of Phil Ivey

2007-04-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

Well we have heard the side of the story from Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu has written about Phil's side in his blog and now Ram Vaswani has come out and talked about his side of the story.

Here is a breakdown of what went down according to Ram Vaswani:

- Ram says that when he spoke with Phil about the handicaps that would be used in the game Phil blatantly lied about where his skills were as a golfer... as he had obviously improved his game to a greater level. Vaswani feels that since he was provided with misleading information he should not have to pay a single dime of what Ivey ended up winning off of him. Ram felt that this was a game based on trust and friendship and he feels that he was cheated. Vaswani also says that Phil agreed that there relationship is definitely a friendship and that was discussed before they played the first hole.

- At the start of the match the players were discussing how much money each hole would be worth. Ram Vaswani says that he wanted to play for $10,000 a hole and Phil Ivey wanted to play for more. The sides eventually agreed upon $20,000 a hole in singles play and doubles play. Late in the round they ended up playing $25,000 a hole. You must be pretty confident in your abilities to end up playing for that kind of cash.

- The parties continued to play at these levels for the second day as well... but all the money was going to Ivey. Ram then noticed that his buddy Mark was getting real frustrated and Ram decided to take over Mark's bets and just play singles against Phil Ivey... ended up being for $50,000 a hole. Mark eventually walked off the golf course in disgust. Ram did go on to say that as gamblers they are always looking to raise the stakes and double up and that is what he was doing.

- Ram also discussed why he didn't stop playing after the first day of golf when he lost $200,000. Ram states that he felt he played real poorly and that the other guys must have been playing pretty good so he thought to himself that if I play good tomorrow and those guys have a bad day then I can get it all back. What he didn't realize and he soon found out was that he did indeed play poorly on day one but so did the other guys as they came out the second day and played brilliantly. That is when Ram knew something shady was happening to him. Ram felt extremely cheated by what was going on and he felt that after he and Phil had a conversation about the shots that were given and the money that was owed Ram felt that he wouldn't have to pay a dime.

- Phil Ivey did not want to here any of the cheating talk and wanted his money from Ram. The two did decide to set up a meeting where they would have arbitrators hear the situation and see what kind of a conclusion they could up with. The first meeting came when the poker players were in Monte Carlo. Phil Ivey showed up with Barry Greenstein and Martin De Knijff, who Ram felt were clearly on Ivey's side. The fourth person that was there for the arbitration was Richard Redmond who was a mutual friends and had played on the second day of the golf match. Vaswani says it didn't take long before they figured out that the handicaps were definitely off. From there , there was a discussion on finding out where the shots were missed and they would take that money off of the total amount owed to Ivey. Vaswani wanted no part of that because he felt if he was cheated at all he shouldn't owe a penny. There was a heated argument but because all the players were in Monte Carlo for a poker tournament the players would have to finish off there meeting at a different time because they had to go play some poker.

- Because Ram was still in the poker tournament and Phil was knocked out of the tournament they would have to meet up at a later date. They decided they would speak again in April at the Bellagio to figure out the outcome. We will hear what went down at this meeting shortly.

- All in all Ram Vaswani is sticking to his guns of not having to owe a penny because he does feel he was cheated and the game should be declared void.

Stay tuned to see what happens next in the golf poker drama.

Racial Slurs Found In a Couch

2007-04-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

Living in Canada I like to think that we are a pretty accepting country with a diverse culture. I was shocked at the below article from the Toronto Star

When the new chocolate-coloured sofa set was delivered to her Brampton home, Doris Moore was stunned to see packing labels describing the shade as "Nigger-brown."

She and husband Douglas purchased a sofa, loveseat and chair in dark brown leather last week from Vanaik Furniture and Mattress store on Dundas St. E.

Moore, 30, who describes herself as an African-American born and raised in New York, said it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out the label just after delivery men from the Mississauga furniture store left.

"She's very curious and she started reading the labels," Moore explained. "She said, `Mommy, what is nig ... ger brown?' I went over and just couldn't believe my eyes."

She said yesterday each piece had a similar label affixed to the woven protective covering wrapped around the furniture.

"In this day and age, that's totally unacceptable," Moore said.

Douglas explained the origins of the word to daughter Olivia, telling how it was a bad name that blacks were called during the days of slavery in the United States.

"It was tough, because she really didn't understand," Moore said. "She'd never heard that word before and didn't really understand the concept of it."

Moore, who has a younger son and daughter, said she's heard the word used many times, although it has never been directed in anger at her.

"But it's a very, very bad word that makes you feel degraded, like you're a nobody," she said.

Moore said she called the furniture store the following day and three other times since, and feels discouraged that no one has returned her calls.

When interviewed yesterday by the Star, Romesh Kumar, Vanaik's assistant manager, passed the buck to his supplier, Cosmos Furniture in Scarborough.

"Why should I take the blame?" he said. "I'm a trader, I don't manufacture. I sell from 20 companies, maybe 50 companies. How can I take care of all of them?"

He said that he would check similar stock and make sure other labels were removed.

"That's terrible, that's a racial ... something?" Kumar said. "This is entirely wrong, but it's not my fault. It's my job to sell good product to people."

He said the best he could do is to give Moore the telephone number of his supplier, so she could take it up with him.

The owner of Cosmos Furniture, Paul Kumar, no relation to Romesh, said he was upset to learn packing labels on products he sold carried a racial epithet.

"I import my products from overseas," he said. "I've never noticed anything like that. This is something new to me."

He passed the blame to a Chinese company, but apologized for the labels. He said he would contact the furniture maker in Guangzhou and demand they remove all similar labels.

Moore said she's not sure she wants the sofa set in her home.

"Every time I sit on it, I'll think of that," she said.

Phil Ivey Rumor Update

2007-04-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

As I had previously mentioned in a post a little while ago about the golf match between Phil Ivey and Ram Vaswani things are starting to heat up pretty good between the two of them and there are a lot of poker message boards and blogs heating up with the news. As a little bit of a refresher Phil Ivey, Ram Vaswani and Clark Badmin were playing a high stakes golf match. Now Phil Ivey was definitely handing it to these two guys on the course, and they continued to lose hole after hole but the stakes were doubling every time. Before this match Phil Ivey had lost a match with these guys and he owed them around $300k, and yes he paid them all of it, the very next day.

Now comes this event.... When this match is all said and done Ivey is up $1.8 Million dollars off of these guys and then there was a heated exchange between the three of them, and how it ended up was Vaswani and Badmin claimed the match wasn't fair even though they continued to play double or nothing.

Phil Ivey paid these guys the full amount when he lost to them and now they won't pay him his earnings. They haven't even paid Ivey the amount of money that he paid them when he lost. This will definitely not be the last that you will hear on this story as I'm sure when these guys run into one another at the poker tables something is going to go down. As professional gamblers these guys should know better than anyone about the risks involved and if you get in to deep you should just cut your losses and get out. These guys obviously did not think the match was too unfair as they proceded to continue to play double or nothing. Were these hustlers over confident in their own abilities or just dumb. I'll take the latter.

Keep checkin out the PokerParty Blog for the latest rumors regarding this story and other poker gossip.

Poker Source Online

2007-04-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

It’s been a few months coming, but Poker Source Online is finally rolling out the next installment of its Poker League. While there have only been a handful, the leagues have been a great source of bonding for the PSO community. There exists amongst the PSO members this strange juxtaposition of support and competitiveness; while everyone loves to hop in PSO’s chat room or post in the message forum to trash talk, they also are great at cheering each other on.

Things like the leagues are what make PSO what it is. Customers come for the free gifts, but stay for the community. And there is usually something new and different with each league. In the first league back in the winter of 2004, PSO started the tradition of adding guaranteed money to the prize pool each week in the form of PSO points. In addition to the prizes at the end of the league, everybody who finished higher than PSO’s big boss also received a prize.

From there, PSO held two leagues in the first half of 2005, pitting the United States versus Canada in a border war. Canada won the first one, but the U.S. regained supremacy in dominant fashion in the rematch. Hundreds of dollars worth of PSO points were awarded, as well as poker goodies.

In 2006, PSO upped the ante, giving away $10,000 in prizes in the spring, including a seat in a preliminary event at the World Series of Poker. In the fall, the World Series was already over, so that prize wasn’t going to work, but $10,000 in total were still up for grabs, as well as a seat in Absolute Poker’s $100K guaranteed tournament.

The PSO gang is at it again this spring, with thousands of dollars on the line each week. Oh, did anyone mention that it only costs $5.50 to play each week? Yeah, you’re not going to beat that. Visit http://www.pokersourceonline.com to sign up for the new league.

Brazilian Block Party

2007-03-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Another off topic post!

In many suburban US neighborhoods once a year the families in the neighborhood shut down the streets and throw a party where the kids play in the streets while the adults feast on good food and have some drinks, usually ending the night with fireworks. In Brazil it is very similar; they shut down the streets, the kids play while the parents enjoy good food, drinks and MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF COCAINE and WEED!

Warning, this video could be disturbing to some:

According to sources this video is of the PCC Gang, one of the largest terrorist/criminal organizations in Brazil. The tape was found in a police blitz on one of the PCC Gang headquarters.

Here is some more info on the PCC gang:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primeiro_Comando_da_Capital

NETeller withdraws from more markets

2007-03-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

NETeller has officially pulled out of the Canadian and Turkish markets and they will no longer provide service to online gambling merchants in these territories. The canadian government did not provide any serious action whatsoever but NETeller still decided to pull the plug on dealing with online gambling merchants. This was announced yesterday and it is effective immediately. This is another big hit to the online gambling market and more importantly to the online poker world. It will be interesting to see what happens with this latest news hitting the online gambling industry and it is the first action taken to Canadian residents. Is this the beginning of the end we will soon find out?

Making Money at Home TV Ads

2007-03-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

I keep seeing ads on TV telling me to go to some weird URL like 27hbb.com or 16income.com. It got me to thinking, why use such a weird URL that’s so difficult to remember? I did some research on the company and FIGURED out what they are doing! Essentially they send the user to the same site BUT they use these messed up domain names to track how the ad campaign performs in each city…different domain for each city. I did a reverse look up and found over 1000 domains similar to the ones above. Here is a short list:

www.101hbb.com	www.15work.com	www.28income.com	www.47hbb.com
www.105hbb.com	www.166hbb.com	www.28venture.co	www.48future.com
www.107hbb.com	www.16hbb.com	www.29future.com	www.49future.com
www.10work.com	www.16income.com	www.29gain.com	www.49hbb.com
www.110hbb.com	www.16thewahi.com	www.29venture.com	www.50future.com
www.112hbb.com	www.16work.com	www.30income.com	www.50hbb.com
www.114hbb.com	www.17future.com	www.30venture.com	www.53future.com
www.119hbb.com	www.17gain.com	www.31future.com	www.57hbb.com
www.11work.com	www.17work.com	www.32hbb.com	www.5hbb.com
www.121hbb.com	www.18future.com	www.32venture.com	www.60hbb.com
www.125hbb.com	www.18hbb.com	www.33hbb.com	www.65hbb.com
www.128hbb.com	www.18work.com	www.33venture.com	www.65venture.com
www.130hbb.com	www.18worknow.com	www.35future.com	www.66future.com
www.132hbb.com	www.199hbb.com	www.35hbb.com	www.67hbb.com
www.135hbb.com	www.19hbb.com	www.36hbb.com	www.6earnmore.com
www.136hbb.com	www.19work.com	www.38hbb.com	www.6myfuture.com
www.138hbb.com	www.1gain.com	www.39hbb.com	www.77future.com
www.13hbb.com	www.204hbb.com	www.3hbb.com	www.82income.com
www.13thewahi.com	www.20hbb.com	www.3income.com	www.83income.com
www.14income.com	www.20money.com	www.40future.com	www.8career.com
www.14work.com	www.23income.com	www.43hbb.com	www.8careers.com
www.15future.com	www.26gain.com	www.44hbb.com	www.8income.com
www.15gain.com	www.27future.com	www.45hbb.com	www.8yourfuture.com
www.15hbb.com	www.27hbb.com	www.46future.com	www.93future.com
www.15thewahi.com	www.28hbb.com	www.46hbb.com	www.9money.com

For a company to register so many domains and on top of that run these ads on TV, there must be some good money in this type of thing. Instead of buying their product people should just run similar ads!

Senator Alfonse D'Amato joins forces with the PPA

2007-03-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

The former senator of New York has takin the leap to join the Poker Players Alliance and he will be the chairman and spokesperson and try and take aim at fighting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This is a great man to have lead the charge as he has never backed down from a fight and he is definitely passionate about this fight. Senator Al is already making his voice heard and with a few more outbursts like this one who knows how deep this will go. Here is a quote from Senator Al:

Is betting on horseracing any different than playing poker? Why is there a horseracing exemption and a lottery exemption but nothing for poker? Horseracing has a powerful lobbying group. That’s all. They have a voice. Poker needs a voice and a loud one.

The poker players alliance is happy to have Senator Al lead the charge and he is presumably the voice that this organization has longed for and needed. He has arrived and it is time for him to make a stand in this ongoing fight.

Senator Al has been to Washington to check out the scene as far as the government is concerned and he has also been to London to further educate himself on the UK online regulation. Senator Al also had this to say:

I am pleased and privileged to be spokesperson for the PPA. The new legislation is like using a cannon to kill a gnat. Just like Prohibition, trying to tell 20-plus million poker players that they can’t play poker online, is not going to work.

Senator Al is the voice that Poker Player's have been waiting for and we will see if he can make any advancements to this crazy situation. Stay tuned for more updates.

Doyle Brunson Arrested

2007-02-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

The problems in online poker continue to circulate throughout the United States as it is being reported that Doyle Brunson has been taken into custody and has been placed under arrest. The charges and the actual arrest have not been made official as of yet. You can bet that this has to do with Doyle's association with online poker and the FBI continues to peg down all the big players in this industry. At this present time we only have the rumors that are floating , but rest assured as soon as something becomes official you will have all the information you will need right here. Stay tuned for more updates!

Phil Ivey Rumors

2007-01-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

MORE UPDATES HERE

Well another week goes by and there are some more poker professionals makin noise. The latest rumor floatin across the world of poker is that it looks like Phil Ivey has been workin hard on his golf game when he is away from the poker tables. Phil Ivey set out for a big time money game against fellow poker professionals Ram Vaswani, Marc Goodwin, and Eric Sagstrom. As the story goes the poker pro's were on the first tee and they were asking Phil Ivey how he has been playing of late and Ivey responds with "I haven't been able to play too much of late because I have been tied up at the poker tables". So the group sets up the handicaps and they begin the round. Seven holes into the round two of the three players (Marc Goodwin and Eric Sagstrom) take off as they were down $450 thousand dollars each. These guys apparently were extremely upset and felt that they have just been hustled. Quick question here: If these guys were so willing to play for that kind of money don't you think they should have looked into Phil Ivey's game a little bit before they put the stakes on the line? If I'm playing for that kind of money I'm not just going to take a guys word that he has only played a handful of times. Isn't there a driving range at the course, maybe you watch the guy hit a few balls first and see where he is at. Also, with these guys making a game out of bluffing and being able to read their opponents maybe they should look in the mirrors and improve on those skills.

Is it really Phil Ivey's fault that he goes out and works on his game as hard as he does at the poker tables? Ram Vaswani continued to play Phil Ivey on the course and when it was all said and done he owes Ivey $900 thousand dollars. These two have a pretty good relationship so they decided to work out a deal that would get Phil Ivey the money. Now, as far as Marc Goodwin and Eric Sagstrom are concerned they left infuriated and there will no doubt be some hard feelings towards one another the next time they run into each other at the poker tables.

I see no problems at all with Phil Ivey taking these guys down that's for sure and maybe those guys will think twice before they take on a bet of this magnitude again. Whats worse losing the money or losing the money and leaving with your tails between your legs?

MORE UPDATES HERE

Neteller officially unavailable to Americans for Gambling Sites

2007-01-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well the news came down that Neteller is now no longer accepting transfers to and from online gambling sites. This is another big blow to the online poker industry and to those online poker players in the United States. There will still be some options for those to transfer funds but the high limit players are going to take the biggest hit from this because they will now have daily limits for transfers. Neteller was great for the high limit players because they were able to transfer significant amounts of cash. Now, the smaller companies will most likely place maximum amounts allowed for transferring and they will not be that high right now or in the near future.

Again, this is a significant blow to the online poker world and it will only be a matter of time before even more companies stop the transfer of funds to Americans.

Justin Bonomo Performing Well As A Professional Poker Player

2007-01-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well Justin Bonomo aka ZeeJustin is making his name appear in the poker headlines again, but this time for his play at the live tables. He will always have the cheating scandals by his side, but if he can continue his dominance that he has shown of late he will start to attract much more positive press, and respect. Earning respect from your peers is definitely what you strive for and that is exactly what Justin is trying to do. Last month ZeeJustin made it to four final tables at the WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic, and he was being noticed by every top poker player in the joint.

This is just in as Justin Bonomo has been busted out of the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure with an impressive 11th place finish. Justin called an All-in bet with his KK and Isaac Haxton turned over his pocket aces. A tremendous run for ZeeJustin and he is quickly climbing the ranks in the world of poker.

However, there are still those that think Justin should not be allowed to play poker at all and one of those big names is none other than Phil Gordon. Phil believes he should be banned for five years for playing live events and he also went on to say he will never have him on the show or even utter the words Justin Bonomo. Phil Gordon is a poker purist and he has absolutely no time for cheaters. Regardless of what you think of this young poker prodigy, everybody has to take notice at how good of a poker player he really is.

Mansion Poker World Pro-Am Challenge

2007-01-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Professional poker player Gavin Smith came out victorious in the inaugural Mansion Poker World Pro-Am Challenge. This was a unique event as their was a tremendous mix of talented professional poker players and online amateur poker players. Each amateur poker player was paired up with a professional poker player in their corner for help and tips. The format of the event was speed poker and all the poker players involved in this tournament thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing in this televised event. The three professional coaches for the amateurs were Mike Gracz, Tony G, and Kenna James.

The Heads up battle to see who would win this event came down to Gavin Smith and an online poker qualifier from the UK, Scott Gardner. Scott Gardner had Mike Gracz in his corner and the two worked together for three days right before the start of the actual event. This obviously was a solid team effort as Scott Gardner was able to beat some well established poker professionals in his first live event experience.

This event was definitely a success and Mansion Poker continues to provide a tremendous influx of new events and ways to promote their brand. Mansion Poker will continue to adapt new strategies to continue their recent poker dominance.

Neverwin, Newhizzle, Chantel, and more Brandi Hawbaker Rumors

2006-12-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

The never ending poker rumor mill is absolutely churning these days throughout the poker forums. The latest gossip hitting the airwaves is about Neverwin from Neverwin poker and Chantel McNulty ripping off Mark Newhouse (Newhizzle) for close to $150K. Apparently Neverwin and Chantel busted into Newhizzle's online poker account and took him for $150K. Newhizzle has been down in the dumps of late because hde has been on a serious losing streak of late, but for him to lose this kind of cash has set more depression in on him. Brandi Hawbaker is the source of this latest rumor. She has been all over the poker gossip mill of late as well due to her incidents with Tom Franklin.

Newhizzle also came out and talked about his episosde with Brandi Hawbaker and her stories and he even talked about how she locked herself in the bathroom and there was blood everywhere with a big cut on her leg. Brandi has serious issues right now with depression because of the amount of money she has been losing of late in poker. Newhizzle says the reason why she was so distraught was because Newhizzle busted her for losing $30k of his money from his pokerstars account.

Some juicy Neverwin gossip also has come out and this is not poker related. It has been stated that Neverwin approached Chantel McNulty who he has been seeing and banging and apparently he asked her if she has ever been licked by a dog before. Although Neverwin wasn't talking about any lick from a dog, this poker player was talking in a sexual way. Are you kidding me! Who is this sick freak? Obviously Neverwin has some serious issues to deal with besides being a degenerate gambler, now he shows his interest in animals.

Anyways, there is going to be a lot more of these poker rumors coming out in the near future so stay posted.

Brandi Hawbaker Rumors

2006-12-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

There are some serious stories coming out in the last little while with regards to Brandi Hawbaker and Tom Franklin. First off, you always hear about poker players being backed by others in the business to get started or to get themselves out of trouble and continue to rise in the poker ranks. This latest poker story is a little off the wall and it definitely deserves some attention. Brandi Hawbaker is definitely an up and comer in the professional poker ranks and she is looking to further improve her status. She has been given offers from backers that have ranged anywhere from two year deals to sleeping with her. Now, she had turned these down because (A) she doesn't want to be tied in with people for this long as all she is looking for is a little help to get her going and she knows that once she gets going she won't need the help and (B) she doesn't want to sleep with people for money. Seems reasonable enough.

Then came along "The Captain" Tom Franklin and his sincere proposals to Brandi Hawbaker. Tom Franklin approached Brandi Hawbaker and told her that he loves to help young people get established in the professional poker ranks and that he would do everything possible to help her out. Tom also says he really becomes overjoyed when those he helps out succeed. In the beginning of this new relationship, Tom Franklin came right out and told Brandi that he truly wanted to help her out, but that she might start hearing things from the other poker players and in the poker industry. Those things being that Brandi was sleeping with Tom as part of the agreement. He told her that sometimes people say things because its an older man with a younger woman and people will believe what they want to believe. Brandi is strong willed and she said that won't bother her at all, and that she just wants to improve her poker skills.

Fast forward a little bit now that the two have been working together for a little while now, and would the real Tom Franklin please stand up. Here is how the story goes down: Tom takes Brandi out and he was continually buying shots for his young hot protege. But, he doesn't want anything out of the deal other than to see Brandi Hawbaker succeed. As the story unfolds, later that night (when Tom was buying Brandi all those shots) Tom supposedly climbed into Brandi's bed naked and tried to get into her pants. Obviously, he is no longer a father figure or just a backer this guy is a complete jackass. Brandi was beaten down mentally after all of this unfolded and she was distraught at the predicament she was in. She had won some money and she really needed this money from Tom so that she would be able to support herself, but Tom had gambled a lot of the money away and she really was left with only a few thousand dollars. Obviously not enough for her to even cover her rent and living expenses.

At Foxwoods, Brandi hit rock bottom and she confessed to trying to OD. She did receive some help from other poker pros and she even called Doyle Brunson to tell her story as Tom Franklin was being sponsored by Doyle. He listened to her but again its a she said he said kind of story and Doyle believed his buddy.

For now Brandi is in a big mess and she doesn't know what to do or where to go to get out of the funk she is now. This Tom Franklin needs to get his head shaken a bit as he has definitely ruined a promising young lady/poker player's life. Hopefully, Brandi will come out of this alright and she will get back on the right track with her life and her poker career.

There will definitely be more to follow up as this story grows. I'm sure we will here the other side of the story as well. Stay tuned for more details.

Mansion Poker the new sponsor of the Tottenham Football Club

2006-12-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

Mansion Poker continues their dominant force in the poker world. Mansion Poker has confirmed that they are indeed the main sponsor of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in the English Premiership. The deal was signed for a reported 34 million pounds. Mansion Poker is striving to become the biggest poker brand in the business and what better way to promote their business then to sponsor a football club in the English Premiership. It is obvious which market Mansion Poker is going after at this present time and it is definitely a smart move on their part. Online poker in Europe is continuing to rise and MansionPoker.net is making sure they are capitalizing on it. Having a presence in the football market is a genius idea. The guys behind Mansion Poker continue to impress those involved in the business of poker and online poker.

Remember to all the American Poker Players looking for a place to continue to play online poker you can play at Mansion Poker.

World Poker Tour and PartyGaming form a partnership

2006-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Two of pokers biggest giants have decided to team up and form an international partnership. The World Poker Tour has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with PartyGaming that will mean partypoker.com will now be visible during WPT telecasts that are now on air and future telecasts. This is not only for the actual World Poker Tour shows, but also for the Professional Poker Tour shows that will be aired. For the events that have already been aired the programs will be re-engineered and have virtual logos on the tables and in the corners wherever both parties feel works best.

The decision for the World Poker Tour and Party Gaming to join forces is to put each other in a strong position to increase their overall international market visibility. Also in this deal PartyGaming has made strong commitments towards providing online satellites to World Poker Tour events and in addition, PartyGaming will help promote the WPT academy.

All in all this is a partnership that in the end should benefit both parties and it will be interesting to see how it benefits both companies in the long run.

Mansion Poker Tournaments

2006-11-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

With the holiday season fast approaching, Mansion Poker is stepping to the plate and they are launching their added $250,000 Tournament series. Mansion Poker will be adding cash to every poker tournament starting December 4th, every day until we ring in the new year. The biggest prize pool addition will be $320 buy-in on New Years Day where Mansion will be adding $30,000 to the pot.

Mansion Poker is open to American Poker Players and they are catering these poker tournaments to the Americans with favourable starting times. Remember, this is the site you guys want to check out, and for all you online poker players take advantage of these great opportunities.

Pokerbowl

2006-11-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

The US Poker league is putting together the first ever Pokerbowl and it will take place in Las Vegas next april. The teams will be comprised of six poker players and twenty five states will be represented in this inaugural event. The prize pool is going to be set at a million dollars and along with that the players will have their bragging rights. This event is going to feature all of the biggest names in the game with the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, and many others.

This is the first event of this nature and look for this type of format to take off as the poker industry is always looking for different ways to spice up the action. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the tournament.

American Poker Players can play at Mansion Poker

2006-11-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

AMERICAN POKER PLAYERS YOU CAN PLAY AT Mansion Poker, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE 100% MATCH BONUS UP TO $1000 US!

For all those American poker players that are struggling to find somewhere to keep up their online poker skills because of the ban the United States Government has placed on them, well you can play in the MansionPoker.net poker rooms. Mansion Poker is accepting US poker players, and it is a site that you definitely want to check out.

Have you seen the Mansion Poker 100% bonus up to $1000? If not, here is a breakdown of what Mansion poker is offering. They are providing poker players with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd deposit bonuses. For a poker players first deposit Mansion will give you a 100% match bonus up to $1000 US. The second bonus is 50% match bonus up to $500 US. The third deposit bonus that Mansion Poker is providing all you poker players is a 50% match bonus up to $500 US. This is a great way to begin your bankroll or to continue your online poker dream.

Mansion Poker is fast becoming one of the premier online poker destinations and especially with them accepting and working with American Poker Players, this is going to be one of your best options to continue your online poker experience.

Mansion Poker is putting a lot of tremendous tournaments and promotions together so be sure to check them out and get in on this pokerparty.

Jamie Gold Update

2006-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Jamie Gold has made some progress as far as his lawsuit is concerned. Jamie Gold and his lawyer have submitted the paper work to get this process undergoing. Here are some tidbits from the actual report:

A) Jamie Gold states that the contract that he signed with Bodog did not require him to secure big time celebrities. Jamie Gold states that he knew that Bodog was looking for celebrities to sponsor for the WSOP and that if Leyser was able to secure A list celebrities than Bodog might be able to get Leyser a seat in the WSOP. He did not guarantee that even if he was able to get these celebrities than Bodog would get him a seat, he merely suggested it.

B) Leyser was only able to secure a couple of lesser known celebrities and that wasn't enough for Bodog to give him a seat to the WSOP. Once Jamie Gold found out who the celebrities were (Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard) that Leyser would not be getting a seat. Obviously, Leyser became disenchanted about this and became upset.

C) Once Leyser was informed by Jamie Gold that he would not be getting a seat in the main event he became real sad and depressed. From there, Jamie Gold said that he would share any of his winnings with Leyser because he felt sorry for him. It is stated in the legal document that Jamie Gold made nothing more than a promise to Leyser that he initially intended to honor.

D) As the Main Event was going on, Leyser was hounding Gold daily my multiple phone calls and text messages to make sure Jamie Gold was going to fulfill his end of the verbal agreement. As the final day came up, Leyser and his wife went to the WSOP and began spreading the rumor that Gold was going to share his winnings with him. So, Jamie Gold left Leyser a voicemail because he did not want any further distractions as all he wanted to concentrate was on poker. Here is what the phone message staid

"So please just be with me. I can't imagine you are going to have a problem with it. I just don't want any stress about any money or any of that shit going on today, or even after the end of the day. I'm sure you're going to be fine; you're going to be very well taken care of, absolutely fairly. We're just trying to handle this properly and after now I don't even want to talk [the money] about it or think about it."

Immediately following Jamie Gold winning the Main Event at the World Series he continued to get harrassed by Leyser and this further infuriated Jamie Gold.

Jamie Gold mentions that he and Leyser had communicated on the actual amount of the winnings that they would share. Gold had told him that he would give him half of his amount after taxes. Gold found out that Leyser was speaking with Mark Seif and he had a loophole where Leyser could avoid paying taxes on his share and that is why he wanted the money before tax and he was going to leave the country and avoid paying the taxes. Leyser declined to take the amount that Gold was willing to give him and the two parties continued to talk financial terms. Apparently from there Leyser filed the lawsuit on Jamie Gold before he had a chance to figure out the terms of the agreement.

That was an overview from the Jamie Gold side of things. It is definitely going to be interesting to see what exactly takes place here and who comes out on top. Jamie Gold's reputation has obviously taken a beating in the last little. Money definitely becomes an issue and it certainly has in this case. Stay tuned more details to follow.

Abraham Gray Rumors

2006-10-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

There are rumors floating around the Las Vegas poker rooms and the internet that Abraham Gray was arrested at the Wynn Casino for cheating at the poker table. The rumor is that he was marking cards and he was approached at the poker table by the gaming commission and he was immmediately handcuffed and taken out of the casino. This is a rumor that I have heard and I will have more information to come as I get it.

Pokerstars still accepting US players

2006-10-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest on the online poker sites that are going to remain open to US Citizens. Full Tilt, Bodog, Full Contact Poker, Doyle's Room, and Absolute Poker are all staying in the US and accepting US players. At the present time Ultimate Bet has intentions to continue to accept players from the United States.

In huge news, PokerStars just recently announced that they will continue to serve and accept US players even if George Bush signs the legislation. Tell Bush to beat it! This is huge news for all those involved and good for these companies for taking a stand and not conforming to want the government wants. Also, NETeller has confirmed that they will remain working in the US. These announcements are great for the American public for now anyways, it will be interesting to see what happens next.

Online Poker Ban

2006-10-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

The online poker industry has definitely taken a severe hit because of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. However, since the passing of this bill several online poker sites have come out and released statements on the passing of the bill. Some of the online gambling companies are closing up shop while others are going to play the waiting game.

Calvin Ayre from Bodog.com came out and spoke about some of the proceedings from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and he is stating that Bodog.com will monitor the situation closely as he feels the ramifications from affecting them are still a few months away. However, he feels his company is not dependent strictly on online poker to continue to run a successful business and they will be focusing on the international market. He does realize that there are other avenues that Bodog.com will have to venture into to stay a leader in the industry.

PartyGaming (the home of party poker) has felt the adverse affects of this new bill and they realize that it is practically impossible to provide their existing US players and future players access to its real money sites. Here is a quote taken from PartyGaming on the situation: "the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation."

Now, for all those players that are not US Residents the tables are open to play poker and to collect your winnings. PartyGaming is now turning their attention to further developing their existing markets that are outside of the US and to continue to work on hitting new markets and products. This is definitely a huge hit to this company and we will all have to wait and see what is going to happen next.

888 Holdings has also taken a serious step as they will also suspend US participation on their websites. They are going to implement the suspensions as soon as the legislation takes effect. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 is going to have a serious impact on their business as a whole but they like Bodog.com and PartyGaming feel they have enough resources to continue to run their business and look for opportunities in different markets.

This bill has generated a lot of angst amongst the public and company owners and it is not going to dissipate any time soon. For all those players that want to make a difference and try to keep playing online poker, make sure you sign the petition at the poker players alliance.

Professional Poker League Draft

2006-09-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Professional Poker League is getting set to get its production underway and they will be holding their live draft on October 7th at the Venetian in the city of sin. This league will consist of 64 of the best poker players in the world. This is definitely going to be an exciting PokerParty and it will definitely be intriguing to see who goes number one in the poker draft. There will be eight teams consisting of eight poker players on each squad.

The poker players will battle one another in a tournament each week and yes poker fans all of these tournaments will be televised. Each team will consist of two co-captains and at this time they have not been made public. This is adding to the hype of the event. Also, the format of the tournaments have not been made public either and they are using this as a tremendous marketing tool to try and create as much intrigue as they possibly can.

The Professional Poker League is trying to do something that nobody else has done in the world of professional poker and it definitely looks to be a nice change of pace for all of the poker fans across the world.

The Tournament Titan

2006-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

The battle of online poker rooms continues to heat up as Titan Poker has just announced that they are putting up a unique one million dollar freeroll. The best part about this freeroll is that it is only open to the first twenty players that qualify. The payoff is tremendous, by just qualifying you are guaranteeing yourself twenty-five thousand dollars.

How do you qualify for this PokerParty? Poker players must make three final tables in a row in any of Titan Poker's multi-table poker tournaments. At this present time there has been one qualifier for the event. The eventual winner of the freeroll will earn $200 thousand dollars, and if you are lucky enough to make it to the final table you will amass at least $55 thousand dollars. This is definitely a poker tournament to get in on.

Jamie Gold Rumors

2006-09-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

The rumors continue to swirl about the latest World Series of Poker Champion, Jamie Gold. The latest of a long list has him admitting to collusion during the Main Event. Here is a quote from him taken from Bluff Magazine:

"So every day I'd come to the table and everyone would freak out, and there'd be this guy sitting next to me who was practically in tears because he knew [he] could never raise a hand. So I said, "No, listen, think about it like this: No one can raise you, because they're raising me after you. You're in a great spot, and here's the deal. In return for this protection, every time I tell you to lay down your hand, you lay down your hand. And they all said okay. So I would look at my cards before the guy to my right, and then I'd say, "OK, you're cool; proceed..." or "Nope. Lay it down."

The more that comes out about Jamie Gold the shadier this guy looks. Does poker really want a guy like this being the WSOP champion. I'm sure this is not the last of the negative information we will be hearing about Jamie Gold. Looks like his PokerParty is just getting started.

SportingBet Chairman Peter Dicks Arrested

2006-09-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Another giant in the gaming world has been hit and hit hard. SportingBet PLC which is an online sportsbook and owns the poker site Paradise Poker, has suspended trading their shares on the London Stock Exchange voluntarily as one of its major chairmen was detained by the United States Government at the JFK Airport late last week. Peter Dicks is being held as a fugitive on an outstanding warrant. This is the second major arrest to gaming giants in the last couple of months. The last major arrest was that of David Caruthers, CEO of Bet on Sports, he was arrested on counts of rackateering and fraud.

With the news breaking that Peter Dicks was arrested the online gaming stocks fell (party gaming saw stocks drop 10 percent) drastically because most of the customers for online gaming and sportsbooks reside in the United States. This is getting pretty serious and who knows where the next ax will fall.

Jamie Gold Lawsuit

2006-08-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

The Legend of Jamie Gold continues to get a lot of press throughout the world and the press he is getting is not at all good. Jamie Gold made a verbal commitment that he would pay 50% of his winnings from the World Series of Poker to Crispin Leyser. Crispin Leyser is a television development executive and an instructor for the World Poker Tour Boot Camp. Crispin believes he should be receiving $6 million dollars because of a brokered deal made between he and Jamie Gold prior to the start of the prestigious Main Event at this years World Series of Poker. This is now in the hands of the Judicial System and there will be no money distributed to either man, until this has been settled.

Jamie Gold's reputation has taken a significant beating since the conclusion of the Main Event and now you have to wonder what else he is hiding. There was a reason why he was considering chip dumping the night before the final table began. He stated that he did not want all the fame that came with winning the World Series, and he would be happy to settle for second place. Now, I am curious as to what else this guy might be hiding from his past that he does not want to get out into the public eye.

Jamie Gold has definitely created a name for himself but it is definitely not for the right reasons. He is obviously a tremendous poker player, but he has some serious skeletons in the closet that will continue to come to the forefront as the days and months go by. Its too bad that people's personal lives become public knowledge once you get famous, but if you bring it on yourself that's your problem. This is one PokerParty you'll have to keep your eye on.

Jeff Madsen: A Poker Star is Born

2006-08-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

The star of the World Series of Poker did not come from the Main Event, but a star was born and the name of the star is Jeff Madsen. Jeff made a name for himself throughout the world of poker by winning two World Series of Poker bracelets and finding himself at the final table on four different occasions. Jeff is only 21 years old and he applied himself like a wylie veteran at the poker tables. During the World Series of Poker he signed on with Full Tilt Poker and now with the conclusion of the World Series he has signed on with the powerhouse poker agency; Poker Royalty. Jeff Madsen is going to be a name that will constantly be seen and heard from in future major poker events. The most impressive stat from the World Series of Poker was not only the fact that he made it to four final tables, but he made those final tables in three different games.

For those of you that are unaware of Poker Royalty they are an agency that represents poker players in a full service poker player marketing. They help the poker players make smart business decisions and help them attain a status in the poker industry that each player desires. This was definitely a wise move for Jeff Madsen as he is going to be attracting a lot of attention from his tremendous showing at the 2006 World Series of Poker.

WSOP Main Event

2006-08-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

The Main Event is the biggest draw in poker and that is especially true at this years World Series of Poker. With over 8,000 entrants into the Main Event it has become a spectacle and everyone wants to win the coveted bracelet. The only question I wonder is that whether or not it is good for the game of poker to have so many no name guys moving on, while the big time players continue to be left by the wayside. I know that like all major attractions people want to see the big names battling with each other and unfortunately at this year's WSOP Main Event there are hardly any names on the final 27 that you will recognize. Is this good or bad for poker? I would like to watch a final table of the known personalities and the best players in the world. Unfortunately this tournament does not tell you who the best player in the World truly is and that is what the Main Event should clarify.

The World Series of Poker always has a few stories that come out of it and this years is no different. The latest bickering is coming from two poker stars in Daniel Negreanu and Greg Raymer. Greg Raymer called out Negreanu for his part with the WPT and then Negreanu fired right back by telling Raymer to "go breast feed some hungry children in Africa". There is always going to be some hostility when you put two big time ego's up against each other but let's solve this at the tables. I would rather enjoy seeing the two of these guys going up in a heads up battle and then they can talk all the trash they want. Now keep in mind this is not going to be a Matusow versus Hellmuth rant that's for sure but it would be entertaining nonetheless. I personally think Raymer would take down Negreanu in a heads up battle and as well in a street fight. These guys should set up a poker "I quit" match. Love to see it.

Today the World Series of Poker's main event will play down the final twenty seven players until they reach the final table. It should make for an interesting day. Stay tuned to this PokerParty.

Party Poker announces "The Monster" biggest freeroll in the history of online poker

2006-08-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Party Poker has taken a huge step in gaining exposure to their site. Party Poker has just unveiled that they are going to have the largest freeroll in the history of online poker. The question that most players have about these freerolls is how do I get in to play for all the cash, and exactly how much cash can be won. Well as far as the cash is concerned, there will be a grand total of $16.2 million dollars awarded over the next eleven months. You heard that right! What an incredible amount of money up for grabs. Party Poker is looking to make head waves in the industry once again and this is an unbelievable step on their part to make sure this gets done. Party Poker's "Monster" is going to involve 32 $100,000 weekly freerolls, 8 monthly $1 million dollar freerolls, and then it will all wrap up with the Monster Finale, with over $5 million dollars up for grabs. For all the players interested in being apart of this history making event be sure to check out Party Poker and get into the qualifiers and the events to be apart of something special. The final event will have the final table broadcasted live and there will be six players battling it out to be the Party Poker "Monster".

The Monster finale will take place on June 7th, 2007. Make sure you get into this once in a lifetime PokerParty and see if you can walk away with some cash and a piece of history.

Phil Hellmuth making a run for his Tenth WSOP Bracelet

2006-07-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

The notorious poker player Phil Hellmuth is making a significant run to capture his tenth bracelet at this years World Series of Poker. He has come so close and he is now sitting at the final table in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em rebuy event. He is one bracelet behind the living legend Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for the all-time bracelet winners. Phil is a tremendous poker player but his reputation as a poker player has been hurt a little bit in the past by his antics on and off the poker tables. Phil Hellmuth seems to have simmered down a little bit and that will be a good thing. He will still lose it when he takes a bad beat, and he will always think that he is above and beyond the best poker player in the world. To me that's not a bad thing as confidence is a major factor in demonstrating your poker ability. The brash confidence that Hellmuth shows can at often times be very frustrating for the other poker players at his table but at times that will work in Hellmuth's favor.

Play will resume at 2pm Vegas Time today and as it stands right now Phil Hellmuth is the chip leader going to the final table. It would definitely be nice to see Hellmuth put his name ontop of the all time bracelet winners list.

This years World Series of Poker has seen a lot of first time winners and the excitement level continues to get bigger with each passing day as the Main Event approaches. We'll have to wait and see how it all shakes down.

PokerStars joins forces with Aston Martin Racing Team

2006-07-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

If there wasn't enough advertising in poker already, well now PokerStars has branched out even further to enhance their product by joining forces with the Aston Martin Racing Team. This is definitely a solid move for this company and it is only going to further enhance their spot as the leader in the poker industry. With the new laws being brought down pretty hard in North America to ban online wagering, PokerStars knows that they had better hit up the other markets and what better market to hit up than car racing. Racing is such a huge force in Europe and the PokerStars brand is going to be seen all over the racing world. Smart move by PokeStars. One thing is for sure, there will be a major PokerParty if one of these cars happens to cross the finish line first. PokerStars continues to get one step ahead of everybody else and it is no surprise to anyone that they have crossed the finish line first by hitting up this type of industry.

Gavin Smith runs the tables at the Mansion

2006-07-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Gavin Smith continues to make tremendous strides in his professional poker career as he just recently won the Mansionpoker.net Pro-Am challenge. This poker tourney drew some of the biggest names in the game. At first Gavin had to make it through the qualifying table which was a daunting task in its own right since he had to go up against the likes of Tony G, Scott Fischman, Mike Gracz, Marcel Luske to name a few. This was all to get to the final table which featured three professional poker players and three amateur poker players. The other pro's at the final table were Todd Brunson and John Gale. Gavin Smith's victory earned him a nice little prize of $500 grand. Not bad for a few days work. By the way this event was just aired on Fox Sports Net as part of a four hour show. Mansion Poker is quickly making a name for itself in the poker industry. They just recently went live and they are making a major impact with all the tremendous shows and opportunities they are providing poker players with. Look for MansionPoker.net to continue to rise through the ranks!

Don't forget to check out the latest PokerParty action at the WSOP.

An Italian PokerParty

2006-07-10T07:21:00.001-07:00

The Italians had a big Sunday yesterday and I'm not just talking about the Italian soccer team that won the World Cup I'm also talking about Max Pescatori as he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet. He took home the first prize in the $2,500 No Limit Event. You can surely see that the Italians would have had a World Cup after party and in Vegas there was surely to be the same, and you can throw in a serious PokerParty to go along with it. This years World Series has been one of excitement thus far and there has been a tremendous mix of rookies and veterans taking home the bracelets. This is only going to continue to be exciting to watch and let's see if the veterans can take down the rookie poker players.

In other news, Todd Brunson has introduced "Team Brunson" at this years World Series of Poker. Team Brunson will compete in every televised World Series of Poker Event. Todd Brunson hand picked each poker player to be a part of this team. Members of Team Brunson are: Cyndi Violette, Max Pescatori (just one his first WSOP bracelet), Hoyt Corkins, David Levi, Sam Grizzle, Dewey Tomko, Jennifer Leigh, Marco Traniello, Jeffrey Freedman, and Thomas Franklin. These teams are becoming ever more popular and I'm sure you will start to see more and more of these as the years progress. You could probably start to see tournaments starting up to have a team versus team event. This would be a great idea and a lot of fun to watch as you would have two star studded teams battling it out. Stay tuned for further poker stories and rumors.

Will Dutch Boyd pay back the money he owes now that he won an event!

2006-07-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Russ "Dutch" Boyd has won his first ever World Series of Poker bracelet, but more importantly he won $425,000 and what is he to do with those winnings. If you remember all the madness that was going on in the poker world a few years back when Dutch Boyd and Pokerspot.com hit rock bottom, its time for that to reappear. It will be interesting to see if he does in fact pay back those players that lost money on his site due to his inability to run an efficient business. I guess time will tell but it is definitely a story to keep posted on.

For those that don't remember what happened, here is a little reminder from this great article written by Eric Rosenberg:

Russ "Dutch" Boyd to Open a New Online Card Room

The former owner of the now defunct PokerSpot.com has announced plans to open another online card room, a move that is getting strange looks from much of the poker playing community.

This story begins on August 17, 2000, when a post from "WJR" appeared on the poker newsgroup, rec.gambling.poker (RGP), stating that he was having trouble receiving his cashout from PokerSpot.com, a new online poker room. Shortly after, the post was replied to by Russ Boyd, CEO of PokerSpot. Boyd wrote, "...we did not receive your cashout request. I am not sure why, and we are still investigating, but we have no intention of keeping your money. This is a very isolated incident, and I think you'll find very few complaints regarding our customer service."

Ahh, but as time would tell, this was not an "isolated incident" and there were not "very few complaints", there were many.

The posts on RGP started to build up. One after another complaining (and warning others) that their cashouts were not getting processed. And just as quickly as the complaints rolled out, so did the excuses from PokerSpot support, excuses like, "We are reworking our entire cash out system, and this has delayed all cash outs by a week or two."

One PokerSpot member, John Buchanan, who played under the username "MS Sunshine", claimed that Russ Boyd and PokerSpot owed him and his wife "over $56,000".

What was going on at PokerSpot? Did Russ Boyd and company run off with the money? The players wanted to know.

In February of 2001, Russ Boyd finally came forward with another address to RGP:

"As many of you are aware, we've been faced with some recent problems at Pokerspot. ... Due to a situation with Net Pro Ltd., the company that until recently processed our credit card deposits, a large amount of our funds, which includes player funds, has been stalled." Boyd went on to say, "As far as money owed to players, Pokerspot will make good on all pending cashouts."

But PokerSpot never did "make good" on all pending cashouts as Boyd promised. Some that did receive checks were out of luck when they reported that their checks failed to clear the bank.

In a recent email interview, Boyd said, “Net Pro told us that they hadn’t gotten the funds that they processed for us from their bank.” He says that after six weeks, Net Pro eventually avoided his calls and PokerSpot never saw any of the money that players had deposited. Boyd went on to tell us that many of the 1000 or so players were able to charge back their credit cards, but there was no way for them to claim any winnings that may have occurred.

This was not a new story. In fact, it was similar to the post that he had made in February 2001 on RGP. Boyd says that he is aware that much of the poker community doubts his story, “A lot of people naturally assume that I took all of that money and partied, buying a big house in the Caribbean and breast implants for a blonde girlfriend. But that isn’t true. When Pokerspot failed, it ruined me. I didn’t have a way to pay my rent, I didn’t have a job anymore, and I had no idea how I was going to turn it all around.”

Boyd says that he had filed a law suit against Net Pro to try and recover the funds, but claims that the company was judgment proof, “They didn’t have any money to collect.”

In our interview, Boyd never did discuss why he wasn’t up front with the players in the first place. He did not mention the excuses about not receiving cashout requests or his customer support team saying that the system was being reworked. Now, nearly three and a half years after we heard the first complaint about PokerSpot, Boyd is trying to get back into the online poker spotlight with the launch of a new card room called RakeFree.com.

While working as a consultant to a sportsbook who wanted to implement poker tables, Boyd says that he came up the new idea of a rake free card room, “I tried to get the sportsbook behind it, but they didn’t see the business sense in giving up a potential $50 million a year in rakes. But I thought it had a lot of potential, so I came back to the states to work on it in May.”

While the idea may have potential, Boyd realizes that he has an uphill battle to retake his place in the online poker world. Boyd said, “I can’t promise that Rakefree.com is going to be successful. I have a lot of critics who have made it clear that they would never play [at] a site I was involved in.”

Having graduated from law school when he was barely old enough to legally play poker, some believe that Russ Boyd is boy genius. He never did tell us whether he thought he was a that was true or not, but he did say, “I sometimes get real moments of clarity that even surprise myself.”

Perhaps it was one of those moments of clarity when Boyd tried to put himself in the shoes of his critics and said, “If I was on the outside looking in, I’d be skeptical too. And I wouldn’t be rushing to deposit money at Rakefree.com.

Article by Eric Rosenberg

Here are some commments on the subject over at 2+2.

Has anything been done on this situation to rectify it or has it slipped through the cracks. With all of this new found money that Dutch Boyd has earned thanks to his performance at the 2006 World Series of Poker thus far, it looks to me as though he has a little bankroll now to pay back all those that are still owed some money from the days of pokerspot.com. Dutch Boyd said in his own blog that he would do what he could to pay those back. Let's see if he does what he said he would do. Or is this just another broken promise. We'll have to wait and see how it all shakes down.

Phil Hellmuth All-Time WSOP Cashes Leader

2006-07-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Phil Hellmuth is known for a lot of things, some good and some bad. This past weekend he became the WSOP's all-time cashes leader by cashing in for the 50th time. Phil Hellmuth is a tremendous poker player and it is probably a shame that he is more known for his outbursts than he is for his ability to play poker.

Hellmuth finished in 67th place (out of 2,776 poker players) in the $1500 No Limit Hold'em event. I'm sure he had something to say as he made his way away from the tables and into the parking lot. One thing is for certain, he is a tremendous poker player and he is fun to watch whether or not you like him.

In other news, Dutch Boyd has made a major impact on the poker world at this years WSOP as he collected his first World Series of Poker Bracelet and restoring his name and the Crew back into the poker spotlight. Dutch Boyd won the $2,500 Short Handed No-Limit event to capture his bracelet. Keep your eye on him for the remainder of the World Series of Poker as he has been playing real well of late, and the other poker pro's have him on their radar screens.

Clonie Gowen to be featured in Maxim

2006-06-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Maxim Magazine's July issue will feature a spread of the poker glamour girl Clonie Gowen. The issue will have a cover shot of Clonie Gowen and a spread of the WSOP PokerParty. Clonie Gowen is a member of Team Full Tilt and she will be playing in numerous events at this years World Series of Poker. She is not only known for her good looks but she is a stellar poker player and she will look to add to her legacy over the next month.

In related news, Clonie Gowen challenged Miss Paris Hilton to a one hundred thousand dollar heads up match with all proceeds being donated to charity. Full Tilt is putting up the money for this winner take all match. This should be quite interesting. Will Paris put all her chips in if she is dealt the Hilton Sisters? We'll find out soon enough!

So enjoy the latest issue of Maxim starring Clonie Gowen and for those of you planning on attending the WSOP, good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker table.

The Intercontinental Poker Series

2006-06-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

With the World Cup going on right now, and all of the countries showing their national pride what a perfect time for the poker world to televise their rendition of the World Cup by introducing the Intercontinental Poker Series. This past saturday on CBS was the first of 8 episodes to be aired. This poker event is not live as it was played out this past April at the Palms in Las Vegas.

You will see 21 poker players representing 21 different countries in the Intercontinental Poker Series. The format of this poker tournament is as follows:

Thanks to Cardplayer Magazine for the excerpts below:

Twenty-one players are divided into three tables of seven through a random draw. Each table plays a freezeout style tournament with that table’s winner advancing to the second round. The eighteen players who did not advance are divided into three tables of six players and compete for a second-chance freezeout. The three winners from each freezeout advance with the initial three into the second round.

In the second round, the six qualifying contestants play another freezeout, with the winner advancing to the final round. As in the first round, the remaining five players get a second-chance. Two winners advance to the finals.

The two finalists go heads-up in the best-of-three matches to determine the winner. The runner-up receives $150,000. The champion takes home $350,000, a trophy, and the right to be named the Intercontinental Poker Champion for his country.

This is a great format and it is definitely nice to see some changes being made to keep poker on television exciting. This will definitely be a must see event and make sure you check your local listings to see all of the poker action unfold.

Here is a list of all the entries and the countries that are represented:

Australia: Antanas Guoga
Canada: Daniel Negreanu
China: Johnny Chan
Costa Rica: Humberto Brenes
England: Dave Ulliott
France: David Benyamine
Ireland: Don O’Dea
Israel: Eli Elezra
Italy: Marco Traniello
Japan: Yosh Nakano
Lebanon: Sammy Farha
Mexico: Refugio Quintero
Norway: Thor Hansen
Pakistan: Hasan Habib
Russia: Ralph Perry
Spain: Carlos Mortensen
South Africa: Stephen Wolff
South Korea: Jimmy Cha
Sweden: Chris Bjorin
United States: Doyle Brunson
Vietnam: Chau Giang

Well until next time, good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker tables.

WSOP Main Event going live on Pay Per View

2006-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

ESPN has stepped up in the poker television rights for the WSOP and more importantly the Main Event. ESPN has agreed to a new contract that will give them the sole television rights through 2010. Along with this comes the right to broadcast every minute of the final table on pay per view until there is a winner. This is huge news for the poker enthusiast as now you will not have to wait to see the action unfold as you will have it brought to you live. Last year, I remember I was continuously refreshing my browser on a few certain websites to see the live updates, but that won't need to be done this time around, now that there is a way to see this action live.

ESPN is going to continue its delayed versions of the events for those that do not want to get the pay per view or for those that want to watch the other events as well. These events will begin airing on ESPN every tuesday beginning on July 18th. For those that are living in Canada and cannot receive ESPN, TSN has yet to announce its television schedule.

My suggestion to you is go out and get this pay per view and watch the tremendous poker players go to work at the biggest poker tournament in the business.

WSOP H.O.R.S.E Event

2006-06-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

This event will be the first of its kind in the World Series of Poker and this could legitimize the greatest poker player alive. This event combines the skills of a poker player in all facets of the game. H.O.R.S.E is a combination of (in Limit form) Texas Holdem, Omaha Holdem, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and either Omaha eights or better or seven card eights or better. Obviously this will show which player has a complete game and not a focus in only one game. This will definitely test the players and their ability to understand and dominate each type of poker. If a player is weak in one of these skill sets they had better get their act in gear before they put in the entry fee of $50 thousand dollars. You read that correctly, the buy-in for this event is Fifty Grand. With this amount of a buy-in you are only going to see the greatest poker players on the planet sign up for this one. This will be one exciting PokerParty to watch and see the action unfold.

I'll throw the question out there, Is this event going to take over the "Best Player" classification instead of the Main Event? It will take a little time to make this classification, but it will no doubt challenge the main event for most exciting PokerParty final tables, no doubt.

Main Event PokerParty

2006-05-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Who are the early favorites to win the main event at the World Series of Poker? The main event is obviously the toughest tournament to win and not necessarily means the best player wins this event. You will hear the same names every year as favorites, whether it be Phil Ivey, Phil Helmuth, Howard Lederer or Doyle Brunson. These names are as big as they come but this year like the last few years will be loaded with online poker players. There was a rumor that there was going to be a cutoff of 8,000 people for the main event, and that has been squashed as there are already bookings for over 9,000 players for the grandaddy of them all. Obviously this PokerParty is not losing any steam whatsoever.

Well two of the main big wigs at Party Gaming, Anurag Dikshit and Vikrant Bhargavar have quit the board of directors. What will this do for the online gaming giant, we'll have to see what happens. That's all for this
PokerParty and I'll see ya next time, oh yeah good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker tables.

MansionPoker.net Poker Dome Series

2006-05-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well all the waiting will finally come to an end as the television program brought to you by MansionPoker.net is going to be on air this coming Sunday May 28th.

The new poker series has established some differences in the way the show is going to be aired, and here is a little sneak peak as to what you can expect:

This is from PokerNews.com

"The Dome has added a couple innovations to the standard TV poker formula, with a studio audience that can see the players hole cards, but cannot be seen or heard by the players at the table. The players are enclosed in a glass 'dome', with soundproof one way mirrors encasing them in their own little world".

The basis of this show is that each week there will be six players at the table vying for that week's title and the winner will take home $25 grand and they will move on to the next PokerParty, which is the semi-final table. The semi-final table will have six players as well and the winner of that will take home $50 grand and a seat in the winner take all final table. The final table will be a winner take all tournament for one million dollars.

The MansionPoker.net Dome Challenge seems to be a breath of fresh air to the world of poker television. We will find out whether or not poker is still on fire on the tube , once the ratings come out, but at least there is a change in the way poker is being televised and at least it has something different to offer. We'll find out what this PokerParty is all about!

WPT Bringing The PokerParty to Canada

2006-05-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

The World Poker Tour has announced that the North American Poker Championship is going to be coming north of the border and set up shop at the Niagara Fallsview Casino, October 25th-29th. In the past this event has been played at the Bellagio, so this is a huge move for the Tour and great news for Canadian Poker fans. It is about time that a prestigious event is going to be played on this side of the border.

I'm kind of surprised that it has taken this long for a major poker tournament to be played here but the boys and gals at the Fallsview will be ready to throw a tremendous PokerParty. I'm hoping to get out there and do some live reporting for this event. It should be a lot of fun and especially with the Fallsview in my backyard I will have a blast covering this poker tournament.

A Pokerparty Lowdown

2006-05-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

Is poker a sport? There have been a few stories and notions on this topic of late and as far as I'm concerned there is no way poker is a sport. I'm guessing that a lot of the premise on this idea stems from the notion that since poker is being televised on ESPN that it should be considered a sport. First off, there is absolutely no physical assertion being used whatsoever at the poker table and therefore it is not a sport. I'll admit mentally, that poker is right up there with golf as far as being worn down. But, that does not classify it as a sport. Really I don't see the big deal with it having to be classified as a sport. Like who cares, it is a game and you can throw a PokerParty whenever you feel like it.

Let's just enjoy the game of poker as we know it and don't worry about having to find a classification for the game. The professionals don't care about being called athletes and that's good because they are not. The only athletes in poker are those that come from a sports background and that's it.

Poker is a game, and its a great game but it sure is not a sport.

Don't forget the bonus code 20BR at partypoker the next time you are looking for a PokerParty.

WPT Sets All-Time High PokerParty

2006-04-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

The poker industry continues to strive with main event after main event. The WPT Championship that is going on right now has broken all records with their being 605 players entering the event with a $25,000 dollar buy-in. What a PokerParty? This escalates the prize pool to be over $15 million dollars and the lucky winner will take home a nice pay cheque of $3.7 million dollars. Man oh man, these pots are getting astronomical and it seems that they are only going to continue to grow.

This tournament will pay out the top 100 players in the field, and the top three finishers will all earn over a million dollars. Obviously with the buy-in being set at such a huge ticket this event only garners the best of the best, and therefore has to be the hardest PokerParty to win, based on talent alone. Obviously the main event at the World Series has a boatload of players in it, but the caliber of players will not be as significant as this one. Especially since a large portion of the field in the Main Event are online qualifiers.

For those of you that are interested in seeing who is going to win the inaugural Daniel Negreanu protege sweepstakes, it all comes to an end on Sunday, April 30. This promotion has been a tremendous success and I'm sure this won't be the last one. You can watch the final table webcast at 9 o'clock eastern time at Full Contact Poker.

This post was brought to you by the partypoker bonus code 20BR.

World Poker Tour Championship Day 1

2006-04-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

The action in the Bellagio poker room will begin today as it is Day one of the WPT Championship. This event is the grandaddy of all the WPT events. The buy-in for this bad boy is $25,000. This tourney brings out the best of the best and you can get all the action right here. I'm gonna have to pick a few of my favorites to do well at this event, and it starts with Phil Ivey. This guy is due for a big time win and I think this is gonna be his time to shine. Obviously, anyone can win a poker event but I've gotta put my money on Phil Ivey. I wish I was a railbird for this event, and see the action unfold before my eyes.

In other news, the online gaming giants PartyGaming unleashed their first quarter trading report, and some of the numbers that came out are astounding. PartyPoker averaged 155,000 players a day, and they averaged $2.9 million in revenue per day. That my friends is simply unbelievable. Obviously you know where the number one online PokerParty is at.

Speaking of a PokerParty, there was a bust in my hometown of Toronto on the weekend. A couple of bars downtown had been raided by the cops and they seized $12,000 and made five arrests. These guys had their PokerParty cut short and they will find themselves in some serious trouble in the coming days and weeks ahead. I'm sure this will not be the last bust we will hear about in the GTA.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget the partypoker bonus code 20BR.

NBC Heads Up Championship

2006-04-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

First off Happy Easter! For those of you are going to be sitting around this afternoon and looking for something to do before you diverge your body inot a mad feast you should check out the NBC Heads Up Poker Championship. Today is the first day that this PokerParty will be airing on national television. Most of you poker fans i'm sure already know who came out victorious in this event, but at least you can see the action unfold right in front of your eyes. In todays coverage you will see Phil Hellmuth, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Jennifer Tilly, Paul Phillips and many others.

Don't forget to check out this PokerParty and use the bonus code 20BR at partypoker.

Gavin Griffin Exposed

2006-04-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well its about time some poker gossip hit the airwaves. It has been a little quiet since the online kids JJprodigy and ZeeJustin got busted. Here is another story that is unfolding all over the internet about poker professional Gavin Griffin. This story is bizarre, embarassing, and outright hilarious. Check out why Gavin Griffin was found with his pants down.

The story was found in the NeverwinPoker forums and here are some of the excerpts:

I was playing in a mid-day 11 rebuy tournament on Stars. My avatar is/was a decently attractive blonde, hot but not hot enough to not be a real girl. Regardless, at my opening table, I see the screen name WSOP2004 and a picture of Gavin.

We started chatting it up, and he assumed I was a real girl. Of course, all the railbirds were saying stuff like "she's probably some 40 year old dude trying to scam money, etc." but I played it off very well. He ended up giving me his screen name (griff98199) and told me I should IM him sometime. Already having the scam in my head, I decided I would see if it was worth anything, being ecstatic if I even got a c-note off of him since I could tell the story to my friends.

I told him my name was Ashley Rannebarger, from Columbus, OH. I told him that I was 22, and that I was an aspiring model at some agency here in Columbus. He asked me which one, so I google'd one up and told him. He asked me for more pics of me, so I started freaking out. I knew that if I didn't send more pictures this was basically a bust. Since I'd pulled my avatar pic off of some random porn site I was browsing, I just put it on there. I started frantically searching my roomate's hard drive for pictures of blonde girls, and lo and behold, the cocksucker got some girl to send him like 6 studio pictures of a blonde who had a striking resemblance to the one in my avatar. I sent him all the pics, and he really started to believe it was me.

I find it real amusing that somebody would actually fall for something like this. It's also real crazy that this guy had come up with this plan to screw Gavin Griffin.

I told him that I only had about $150 in my poker account and that the rent was overdue and I had no way of paying it. He asked about the modelling agency and why I wasn't getting paid from them, and I told him that during the summer the agency is completely booked and it's really hard to get a gig, and he fell for that one, too.

So after assuring him I wasn't into him for his money, telling him I'd pay him back as soon as possible, etc, he transferred me $1000, and told me it wasn't that big of a deal. Really fucking weird, but whatever. I played for another day and then transferred the entire $1000 back to him, knowing that this would instill confidence in me.

Here is the first of two emails that Gavin Griffin sent to this guy:

From: Gavin Griffin Mailed-By: yahoo.com
To: XXXXXX@gmail.com
Date: May 5, 2005 5:05 PM
Subject: hey
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Add sender to Contacts list | Delete this message | Report phishing | Show original | Message text garbled?

Hey sweetheart. Just wanted to write to say hi! I got your transfers, but I was thinking the backing deal would be going for longer... NBD though, hopefully you can do something with the money you have in there now. I'm not gonna be on tonight, but I'll talk to you soon. Write me back.

Gavin

Here is the best email

From: Gavin Griffin Mailed-By: yahoo.com
To: XXXXXX@gmail.com
Date: May 6, 2005 5:34 AM
Subject: I'm sick...
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Add sender to Contacts list | Delete this message | Report phishing | Show original | Message text garbled?

You better like these!

I don't have time to resize the images now, but I uploaded them, and should you DESIRE to look at another man's penis, here is the link to the photo album...If you DO go to the site, notice the file names. I didn't doctor these, and so it's apparent that those aren't the ONLY pictures he took of his beaster, and apparently didn't take them that night just for "Ashley." Sick fuck. ASDASD

Moving on...after he sent me those, what was I supposed to do? I played it off like I liked it. Once again, call me sick, but...I say fuck you, I was hustling. He then sent me $3000 in one fell swoop, saying that we would sign an "e-agreement." In this agreement, I was expected to pay him back when I could, I couldn't steal the money, I was liable for the money...a fucking e-agreement? HAHAHAHA. So, after he transferred me that, I quit talking to him for like 4 days.

Here is the link to the discussion over at NeverwinPoker

Can you believe this! Gavin Griffin sends this dude pictures of his penis. Hahaha. Man oh man what an embarassment. All in all this kid got $6500 out of Gavin
Griffin to continue is PokerParty and he has images that he is posting all over the internet. That is the worst, and I wonder how Gavin Griffin is feeling about having this story come out to the public.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR at PartyPoker.

MansionPoker.net is coming soon

2006-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have not heard of MansionPoker.net get ready to hear this name a lot throughout the online poker world starting in the next week. These giants are getting ready to unleash their new poker site and with the opening of this website will come some unbelievable promotions and opportunities to enhance your online poker experience.

If you haven't heard already the guys behind MansionPoker.net are putting together the biggest televised poker event to date. There will be six top poker players competing for a winner take all event; $60 million dollar prize pool. The players will put in $10 million dollars apiece and play for the biggest pot ever (Phil Ivey is one of the players confirmed for this event). This event will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net, so make sure you don't miss it.

Also, MansionPoker is going to have qualifiers throughout the summer leading up to a huge online poker tournament. The final table will be televised and the prize pool is going to be astronomical. Stay tuned as more details are to follow on this exciting event.

Make sure you keep your ears peeled to for more news and the unveiling of MansionPoker.net. This is one online poker site that you are going to want to check out for your next online PokerParty.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR at PartyPoker.

World Poker Exchange is Rake Free

2006-04-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Its about time an online poker site has come through for us online poker players. The crew at World Poker Exchange is offering Rake Free Poker. They are eliminating all rake fees across the board for all cash games and tournaments. World Poker Exchange will refund all rake fees into your account that are induced from your play at the completion of each week. This is tremendous news for all those looking to save some extra bucks. Now you can use that money to continue to establish your bankroll.

The reason why this site is able to afford to do this, is because with the primary resources coming from their online sports betting, they hope that the players will take advantage of the savings on poker and hop on board into the world of sports betting. It's up to you now to take advantage of this great opportunity and start your PokerParty experience at the World Poker Exchange.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR at Party Poker.

Joe Sebok vs. Gavin Smith

2006-04-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Alright the first big bet of the 2006 WSOP has been announced between Joe Sebok and Canada's own Gavin Smith. Obviously there are a lot of side bets that go on between players not only at the WSOP, but at all major events and cash games. However, this particular bet looks to be a solid one, with some major humiliation thrown in the mix.

Here's the deal: The two players (Sebok and Smith) will add up the total amount of points that they accumulate during all of the events at the World Series of Poker leading up to the Main Event. Trust me, the money that will be at stake will be fairly substantial, but you don't want to lose this bet because of the money, its because of the humiliation that they will endure. Check it out, for each day the loser of this bet is alive in the Main Event, that player will have to dress up as a different superhero for the entire day of play. Each day you remain in the tournament you will represent a different superhero. Now, for the very first day of the Main Event, the losing player will have to dress up as anything the other player picks out. That's right, anything. I can envision some crazy costumes being brought into play for this bet. I'd love to see it.

Obviously these players do not want to lose this PokerParty. At least these guys are having some fun with all of this. It is a rivalry, and it will only continue to gain further momentum as the World Series of Poker moves along. Stay tuned for the results of this string bet.

Don't forget the bonus code 20BR the next time you fire up a PokerParty at Party Poker.com

PokerStars World Cup of Poker

2006-04-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well it's time for PokerStars to run another one of their major online poker tournaments. This event is the PokerStars World Cup of Poker, and this event is different from all the rest because it is a team competition with representatives covering the globe. This tournament is a Heads Up No Limit Hold'em tourney where you will see countries battling it out against one another to become the World Cup of Poker Champions.

The field of this tournament will be represented by 39 countries and a total of 46 teams. The prize pool is fairly substantial for this event, but it all comes down to national pride. Who wants it? These kinds of events are great to be a part of as you get to represent your country, and hopefully bring the title to your native homeland. Once the field has been cut down to the elite eight, those teams lucky enough to still be in it will be flown to Barclona, Spain to complete the tournament and see who is going home with the title.

Are you looking for a spot into this elite field? Well, if you are you need to start playing at PokerStars and earn your spot in this field. Each country will hold two, 50 frequent player point buy-in heads up qualifiers on PokerStars. The winner of each of these will earn themselves a spot onto their national team. If you are players in the United States or Canada, there will be additional qualifying rounds to get your seat on the team (Click here for US and Canada).

Players who finished in the top two of the Tournament Leaderboard in each of the qualifying countries in 2005, also receive an automatic invite to the event. This is a big time event, so if you do not have an automatic invite you need to get into some of these qualifiers to get a chance at becoming a national poker hero.

This type of event is fantastic and exciting for all of those involved. I'm so glad that there is this type of event in poker nowadays, and there definitely should be a live poker event with this same format, for the poker professionals. You tell me that wouldn't be a tremendous event to see live on television. An event like this would generate so much interest all over the poker world, and not to mention what kind of an outstanding
PokerParty this would turn out to be. Could you imagine the teams that would be represented in this field. Obviously the US would be stacked, but so would a lot of other nations. It has to happen!

I'd have to have Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Phil Ivey as Team USA, Daniel Negreanu and Steve Paul-Ambrose representing Canada, the Danes would be led by Gus Hansen and Rehne Pederson, the Aussies would have Joseph Hachem and Mel Judah, the English would be represented by the Devilfish David Ulliott and Surinder Sunar.

Leave some comments and let me know who your dream teams would be.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget the bonus code 20BR the next time you log on to Party Poker..

ZeeJustin Makes a Statement

2006-03-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

Well ZeeJustin is back in the news again and this time he came out and gave an apology for his actions. Good for him for coming out and giving the real side of the story. He knows what he did was wrong, and I'm sure there are a bunch of other guys out there right now doing the same thing he and JJProdigy did, and just haven't got caught. I would like to think that these guys would stop now that they know they can be caught and the penalties that will follow. Even with ZeeJustin's apologies his fellow online poker player's are not going to forgive him or his actions any time soon, and when you think about it why should we. He took potential prize money away from all of us who are playing the game legitimately. Online poker is tough enough to win and be successful in its own right let alone having to deal with guys cheating. Trust me if this guy cost me a bunch of money playing in tournaments I would not accept his apology. However, I am glad that he decided to come out and give the rest of the online poker world an explanation for his wrong doings.

Here are some excerpts from ZeeJustin's statement:

For those of you that aren’t aware of the situation, I recently got caught by PartyPoker and PokerStars using multiple accounts in tournaments. There were six different PartyPoker accounts that I used. For big tournaments, I would often use these accounts to enter a single tournament with four entries. (I used all six once or twice, but generally used four) I did this by exploiting a bug which let you open multiple PartyPoker clients on your computer simply by clicking on the icon rapidly. On PokerStars, I had a single extra account which was mostly used by people other than me, but occasionally I did use it to double enter large PokerStars tournaments.

At that time, I unfortunately did not realize that what I was doing was unethical. For starters, many of the poker players that I have learned from were using the same practice. This obviously doesn’t make it ok, but I wasn’t questioning it at the time. Until recently; this wasn’t a well hidden fact. People seemed to accept it as ok and talked about it in the open.

Also, the idea was NOT to collude or chip dump with myself in any way. I only multi accounted in tournaments with thousands of players where it would be very unlikely for me to ever end up at the same table as myself. If the goal was collusion, I would have multi-entered smaller tournaments like sit’n’gos. This is something that I have never done.

I don’t think Party handled the situation as well as they could have. The money taken from me was won legitimately, almost entirely from sit’n’gos. None of the other accounts I used had any big tournament scores; in fact, they lost money overall in the few tournaments that they entered. Party has a zero tolerance policy which in my opinion is unfair. If I had only double entered a single $10 tournament, by the same policy, that would be grounds for them to confiscate $100,000 from me which seems unreasonable. The punishment was arbitrary, and no investigation was done to determine a reasonable adjustment. I feel like the amount of my punishment has been determined by what was in my account, rather than by what a thorough investigation would have determined.

Some players have begun to question my two recent tournament wins. Lee Jones publicly stated the following, “His big tournament win on PokerStars was legitimate (we checked it carefully).” PartyPoker has not made any similar statements, but my second place finish in the million guaranteed was legitimate as well. I have the hand histories to prove this.

I have many friends that have multi-accounted tournaments in the past. To my knowledge, they have all stopped, but I want to encourage them to talk to me if they still do it. I will explain to them exactly why it is wrong on both an ethical and practical level.

For starters, it is against the spirit of the game. In poker, there should be no situation where you have knowledge of more than one hand. Even the chance of this occurring is against the spirit of the game. It doesn’t matter if there’s a 9/10 chance or a 1/10,000 chance of ending up at the same table as yourself; that chance existing is against the spirit of the game.

It also leads to many gray areas in terms of ethics that should not exist at all. How many accounts is it ok to play with? Is two any better than fifty? What number of players in the tournament makes it ok? It’s obviously wrong in a 10 player tournament, but what about 100, 1,000 or 10,000? There is no one number at which you can draw a line and say, with 673 players or more it’s ok. Also, if you do happen to wind up at the same table as yourself, what is proper protocol? Should you try to play normal? Should you sit one account out? What if there are 5 people at your table each with two accounts making up ten players? Is there any way that game can be on the level? The answer to these questions isn’t important. What’s important is that you should never have to ask these questions in poker. There should be no gray area.

Most importantly, I’ve been thinking a lot about my character. In general, I’m a nice guy. I always try to be respectful of other people, and I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I’ve always wanted to be viewed as an ethical citizen, and up until recently, I believe I’ve deserved that view. Because of my actions, that’s no longer the case. My reputation has always been extremely important to me, but now I’ve compromised that. I’ve been getting a lot of heat lately, and I deserve it. I’ve been a huge hypocrite, and I didn’t realize it until recently. There is now a cloud over my poker accomplishments, and I vow to be the person I need to be to earn back trust in the poker community.

As for what the future holds, I’m not entirely sure. No matter what, I will return to poker. Poker has been my passion, and I can’t picture myself doing anything else. I hope that I can one day reclaim my reputation. Obviously this will take years and not days, and I accept this.

Obviously, whenever you see ZeeJustin's name come up in a discussion or a topic on any of the message boards you will see a lot and I mean a lot of comments on the topic. With this latest statement the message board community was going wild and here are a few the topics:

TwoPlusTwo Forums

NeverWin Poker

PocketFives

Full Contact Poker

Well another PokerParty at the expense of ZeeJustin has occurred and I hope that for all those chiefs still out there multi accounting you get busted and harsher penalties delivered to you. Multi accounting is flat out wrong and I hope someone is able to finally put a stop to it all.

This blog post was brought to you by the bonus code 20BR on PartyPoker.

Poker is not Dead

2006-03-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

For all those people that continue to believe that poker is dying, or atleast in its dying stages are completely off. There was the great news reporter from the New York Post, Ryan Berger, and he came out and said because poker has hit the main stream (ie. the Pepsi Ad) it is now doomed. That is another great observation coming from the writers at the Post and it couldn't be further from the truth. Anyways, poker is not dying and if you look at last years online poker stats you will see that it is not dying. Here is an excerpt from Wil Wheaton's blog on the stats in the last year.

"Poker had its biggest year ever in 2005 reaching total Buy-ins of over $376 Million. Poker continued on its record setting pace to start 2006, with back to back record months. February buy-in dollars reached $25.8 Million, the best February ever recorded. This record comes on the heels of the fifth biggest month all-time in poker as January 2006 buy-ins grew 36% over January 2005 with buy-ins of over $38 Million."

So, Ryan Berger the next time you come up with some assinine article, maybe you should, just maybe, check the stats first. Stats don't lie, and these stats show that poker is continuing to skyrocket.

For those that frequent the discussion boards at pocketfives.com you should be glad to hear that the poker podcast is pretty much ready to go. They are going to be having segments on online poker, with special guests appearing on the podcast. The guests will mainly be online poker sensations and you will be able to pick their brain and listen to what they have to say. If you want to improve your online poker game, you should definitely check it out.

I was checking out Neverwin's Poker forums and I came across this cool post for those players looking to make real money playing online poker.

Do you want to make a living playing online poker?

Online poker is continuing to rise and that's a good thing for all those involved as that only helps with the increase in tournaments, prize money, and notoriety for all the player's looking to make their mark.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR the next time you fire up a PokerParty at Party Poker.

$5 Million-Guaranteed Online Poker Tournament

2006-03-27T06:53:00.000-08:00

For those that are ready to have an online PokerParty you had better keep your eyes and ears open and start reading this blog post. There is a combined 20 poker rooms involved in this tournament to create what would be the largest guaranteed prize pool in the history of online poker (in case you didn't read the title, $5 million guaranteed). This tournament is being put on by the Ongame Network, and the only way you can get your hands on a chance at history is to compete in one of the many satellites that will be run on Ongame's poker software (that means the online poker sites that use this software, i'll have a list up at the end of this post).

You can start trying to get into this tournament today, since today is the first day the satellites are up and running. Now the overall winner of this tournament will win over $1 million dollars. The Ongame Network Poker Classic will begin online at the end of the summer, and it will continue as long as it takes until there are 45 players remaining in the field. This is the cool part, once the online poker field has been dwindled down to 45, play will then stop and those 45 remaining players will then be flown by the Ongame Network to the Casino de Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain. The players will then play live and battle it out for the first prize. Now the players do not have to pay a dime for their travel expenses to Spain as all the expenses are being picked up by the Ongame Network (a package worth over five grand).

Here is a list of some of the participating sites where you can find satellites to enter and get your PokerParty started:

AmericasCardroom.com, Caribsports.com, checknraisepoker.com, CherryCasino.com, CasinoEuro.com, EuroPoker.com, Eurobet.com, FullContactPoker.com, HoldemPoker.com, HollywoodPoker.com, and PokerRoom.com.

This tournament is going to have a lot of exposure and hopefully some of you guys will have some luck, and qualify for this grandaddy of them all online poker tournament.

This blog was brought to you by the partypoker bonus code 20BR.

Online Poker Player Rankings

2006-03-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone who plays online poker has a couple of goals in mind when they first start up playing. The first is to make money (which is obvious), and the second is to become the best online poker player on the world wide web. Both of these are very difficult to achieve but they can be done. There are a lot of players that are making six figure incomes playing online poker and I'm like many of you wondering what it takes to hit that extra gear and take the next level. I am a big fan of online poker, and I like to check out sites and players, and see who is the best online poker player in the world. The best website that I have come across and one that I am constantly checking out is PocketFives.com. I give these guys huge props for what they do, and for establishing themselves such a tremendous online poker resource. If you want to become a recognized player in online poker check out pocketfives ranking system and see if you can get your name up on top of that leaderboard.

First off, the guys over at PocketFives go through a tremendous amount of detail to come up with their ranking system. They not only continually check out the tournament leaderboards at all the major sites but they also collect opinions on fellow players from the most respected online poker players in the game today. This in itself is a huge honor for some players, as that is what everybody wants, and earns for, and that is the respect of your fellow online poker players. This is just where these guys begin. Again, if you are looking to become the best player in online poker today and you want to see your name on the PocketFives Leaderboard, then you had better follow the ranking guidelines that they have put forth.

The first thing that they look for is to determine whether or not you are the next Mariano Riviera. For those that aren't baseball fans that means are you able to close the deal when you get the opportunity. If and when you get to a final table in a tournament, are you able to shut down your opponents and come out victorious. If so, this will go a long way in establishing yourself in the rankings. Secondly, they want to see how often you separate yourself from those large fields that you enter, and make it to the final table. Not only does this help your ranking, but it also helps in establishing your bankroll.

Another major factor that the staff at PocketFives looks for is how often you play online poker tournaments. You will not get ranked if you play in a couple of tournaments, you have to be a frequent player. This is the way it should be, and I really like the way these guys go about the ranking system. For the golf fans out there, this is how the PGA tour does their rankings as well. They base the rankings on number of tournaments played and the strength of the field in that tournament, and where you finished. This is the best, and only way it can be done.

The last factor they look at is the size of the prize pool that you play in. If you only frequent the $11 buy-in on Party poker you will not see your name anywhere near this list. They want you to enter atleast the $100 buy-in tournaments, and that is only fair because that is where all the good players play. Remember if you want to be the best you have to beat the best! Now the guys putting together this ranking system are not just guys working for pocketfives, they are regular players in online poker tournaments, and they are well respected in the online poker world. The tournament sites that they put the major focus on is PokerStars, UltimateBet, PartyPoker, ParadisePoker, and Full Tilt. So, if you are not playing at one of these sites and you want to get ranked you might want to make the switch, as this is where the best action is being played out.

Here is the latest top five ranked online poker players:

Thanks to PocketFives for this.

1. JohnnyBax: Schnorkus on Paradise. Hardly disputable as the top online tournament player for the year 2005. Won the Stars Yearly TLB. Won a WSOP bracelet in the $1500 7 card stud event.

2. TheBeat: Pete Giordano in real life. PeteTheBeat on Paradise and TheRealBeat on Party. Top 5 on PokerStars TLB in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Made final table of Foxwoods WPT. Few match his consistently excellent play.

3. Ari: BodogAri on most sites. James Taylor on UB. Known as a top cash player on Bodog, but has recently expanded to tournament play on several sites, with a lot of immediate success.

4. SamENole: Another top young player, who plays tournaments on all major sites on a daily basis. A very streaky player--he will often emerge to win several tournaments in a very short time. Took 2nd in the last event of the 2005 WSOP, which was worth about $100k.

5. iMsoLucky0: Yahtzee0 on Party. Has had some huge wins this year, including first place in the Party Friday Special for nearly $40k, first in the UB $150k for nearly $40k, and 5th in the Million Guaranteed on Party for $50k.

Online poker has taken over many people's lives and why not try to get some recognition for one of your favorite hobbies. These guys do a tremendous job and you guys should check them out. I just want to give these dudes there props for doin a kick ass job, and keeping the online poker world updated.

Don't forget the bonus code 20BR for your next PokerParty at PartyPoker.

Is Poker Finished?

2006-03-20T06:40:00.000-08:00

I was checking out some newspapers over the weekend for some interesting poker articles and I came across this article from the New York Post that pretty much said poker is done. I know that these come across all the time and the naysayers are far and few between. This article makes its judgement on the fact that there are professional poker players (Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth) starring in a Pepsi Ad. The theory on poker is that this sport is an underground movement and the author of this article states that "once underground movements gain mass acceptance, it typically signifies the beginning of the end". I'm not so sure I believe this statement at all, especially when I am in the midst of an online PokerParty and there are forty thousand other players havin a PokerParty at the same time. You know what I mean! That is just the players online from one site. Sure poker became a huge hit, but I don't think that it is necessarily true to believe that poker is finished because Pepsi inserted three poker players into a commercial. That's a bit drastic!

Now there were some good points in this newsprint that showed a decline in the number of viewers that are actively watching poker. Here is a couple of excerpts showing this:

"The audience for Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" has fallen to an average of 134,000 viewers this year from a high of 364,000 viewers in 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research."

"ESPN's "Poker" has lost 193,000 viewers in the two years it been on the air. And the Travel Channel's marquee "World Series of Poker" has seen its average audience drop to 464,000 this year from a peak of 583,000 in 2004."

Obviously the writer should proof read his work a bit as he would know that the World Poker Tour is the program that is on the Travel Channel. There is a bit of a decline in the numbers per say, but also when these shows first came on air this is all the poker we had the opportunity to watch. Nowadays there are so many different poker tournaments to watch that it is tough to keep up with them all. I would still say that poker is on the up, and this writer did not look at all the facts before making this judgement. Will poker eventually decline or fade out? I'm sure it will as does most things, but that doesn't mean it is going to fall off the planet. Look at the number of entries into the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, and you tell me there is a decline. Thank you very much.

This blog is brought to you by the partypoker bonus code 20BR

Internet Gambling Ban

2006-03-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's news you may or may not have heard that a U.S. House Committe approved a bill that would crush the Internet Gambling Industry, and its $12 billion dollar revenue. The main piece of this legislation is to stop the online gambling companies from accepting payments made either by credit cards, wire transfers, checks and electronic funds transfers (for example neteller and paypal to name a few) for gambling transactions. This would be a major blow to this industry, and to your PokerParty experiences. Now this is not only intended for online poker, it also includes sports wagering or any wager that is considered illegal. There have been some exceptions made in this legislation, with the likes of horse racing and fantasy sports being on the list.

This legislation would affect all those that live in an area that prohibits wagering of any kind by state or federal law. Who knows if, and when this will all take place, but it will definitely be a huge bombshell when it hits. This bill will now go to the House Floor for consideration and we will all find out whether we will be able to continue playing online poker.

For those players that want to have a say in the matter, make sure you check out the Poker Players Alliance. What is the Poker Player Alliance?

The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players’ rights.

They have set up a section on the website strictly for these bills and you can act on these matters by reading through the material and filling out a form that will go to the Senate. Atleast you are taking a stand on this matter.

This proposed shut down of online poker is a substantial threat towards not only the companies that run these sites, but I know that a lot of people around the world make a pretty nice living through playing online poker. So, if you do not want to have your dreams broken because of this legislation, its time to do something about it.

Stay tuned for any further updates, and don't forget the partypoker bonus code 20BR for your next PokerParty.

A PokerParty at PokerStars

2006-03-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

With the World Series of Poker fast approaching again, an online poker room giant continues to step up its efforts to send the most players to the main event. PokerStars is throwing a major league PokerParty on Sunday July 16th at 4:30pm. Normally at this time on a Sunday at PokerStars, players are playing in the Sunday Million dollar tournament, but this event will be put aside for one Sunday. PokerStars has announced that they will be hosting a tournament where there will be a record 150 seats available for the WSOP. This is a $1.8 million dollar guarantee, now if you are looking to buy-in to this tournament the buy-in is set at $370 dollars. PokerStars will also be holding Satellites for this event as well. If you are looking to get yourself a seat into the main event of the World Series then mark this day on your calendar, and get ready for a Pokerparty.

Here is how you can win a seat to the PokerStars Sunday Millions

The PartyPoker Million V has set sail and the action is underway. There are a lot of big names in this years field and make sure to continue to check out the blog for the latest news on this PokerParty ship. The PartyPoker Millions is one of the few large-scale tournaments that is actually played as Limit Hold'em rather than the infamous No Limit Hold'em. Players either paid $10,200 to enter, or won one of the many satellites that have been running on Party Poker. With the large number of players in the field, Day One of the tournament has been divided into two flights.

Here are some results after the conclusion of Day 1A.

Chip Leaders after Day 1A:

Ali Eslami $78,000
Richard Predham $64,000
Victor Ramdin $61,500
Ville Vainio $59,000
Steve Godwin $54,000

What's Phil Hellmuth been up to?

This blog post has been brought to you by the partypoker bonus code 20BR. Don't forget to use this the next time you log on to partypoker.

Bodog.com:PokerParty House Raid

2006-03-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

BoDog.com's CEO and founder Calvin Ayre's house was raided by Costa Rican police on Saturday night because they suspected there was illegal gambling taken place. There was a PokerParty" taking place at Calvin's mansion at the time for a wrap up party for the television show that is being produced by Bodog.com. Lucky for Calvin the reports that the officers had received were innacurate and at no time did he get arrested or detained. Bodog.com could have taken a big hit if these reports were accurate, but the Bodog.com PokerParty will continue to rock the world wide web.

Here is a statement made by Calvin Ayre:

“Yesterday evening, local Costa Rican law enforcement agents arrived at my residence during a wrap-up party for my television show that is being filmed in San Jose, the nation's capital city. The agents arrived at the Bodog Compound on inaccurate suspicions of illegal gambling."

One of the main reasons for the police to show up at Calvin's house, was because there were conflicting reports that part of the poker aspects of the new poker show might have been filmed at his house, but according to him, that never happened. The police found nothing.

~~

The world’s wealthiest also continue to find new ways to make money and get their names on the Forbes wealthiest people list. The appearance of online gambling creators have cracked this most impressive list. PartyGaming, the company that operates PartyPoker, turned three of its founders into overnight billionaires. Among the three is American Ruth Parasol, the list’s only new self-made woman. It's apparent that the poker industry is absolutely booming and also on the Forbes Billionaire list is Bodog.com founder, Calvin Ayre.

Stay tuned to this poker blog of mine and don't forget the partypoker bonus code 20BR for your next PokerParty.

PokerParty Stories

2006-03-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

Being a professional poker player is obviously risky business and especially for those players that like to engage themselves into the highest stake
PokerParty cash games. Some pro's have a difficult time covering their entry fees, or at least they do not want to put up their own cash to get into the event. For these players, they try and locate some other player to back them, and if they find someone who is willing to stake them, the payback is typically arranged in sharing the player's earnings. In some cases, if a player does not finish in the money in a particular event and if there was a no strings attached deal in place, then the player does not have to pay the player back. In other circumstances they definitely have to get the money back to the player. This is obviously some risky business, and you will see some friendships won and lost under these circumstances.

Below are some excerpts about poker players staking one another and the
PokerParty outcomes:

Poker players “stake” other players and they pay a portion of their tournament entry fees in exchange for a portion of their winnings—all the time. But players with a financial interest in each other don’t end up meeting at the final table of a major tournament every day, like the story below.

In November 2004, Hasan Habib and Tuan Le flew together from Los Angeles to Connecticut to play in the World Poker Tour’s Foxwoods tourney. They decided to take a piece of each other (Habib’s piece much bigger), so if either (or both) cashed, they’d share the profits. Since
Le won the whole thing for $1.55-million, there were lots of profits to go around. And with the win, Le also earned a seat in the WPT season finale championship event at Bellagio. So as part of their gentlemen’s agreement, the “piece” would carry over to the April ’05 tourney.

Not only did Le win that one too, but he did so having personally ousted Habib from the final table in third place.

Before assuming the worst, know that prior to play at the final table, Le and Habib had the integrity to disclose all of the details of their arrangement to WPT CEO and founder Steve Lipscomb and the other four players at the final table. Everyone was fine with their arrangement
and how it played out.

But nobody could have been happier about it than Habib, who staked his way to an extremely profitable WPT season.

This is one circumstance where the deal came through significantly for both players. Tuan Le is an unbelievable poker player and he obviously made the poker world very aware of his name this past season on the WPT. He was Card Player's player of the year.

Here is an excerpt from the book "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King" speaking about the big game and Ted Forrest's introduction to playing in the big game.

"What's the biggest game in the room?" Ted expected to hear that an afternoon $400-$800 game was getting started, which would have been just big enough to draw him into the room.

After a pause, the floorman said,"Ten-and-twenty-thousand Texas Hold 'Em."

Ted must have heard wrong. The biggest game ever at the Bellagio had been $4,000-$8,000, and this was more than twice that size. A game that large doesn't just materialize on a Wednesday afternoon.

"Are you sure that's right? Ten-and-twenty thousand?"

"Yeah," the floorman answered, unemotional. "That's what they're playing."

Ted struggled to clear his head as he drove toward the Bellagio. His palms had gone cold and clammy.

His heart was pounding, as if to drown out any remaining doubts. He had just enough money-his entire bankroll-to buy into the biggest poker game of his life and be at a significant disadvantage in chips.

Five hundred thousand dollars sounded like a lot of money, but it wasn't. When it came out of the box, it was income. You could buy things with it, invest it, even give it away. Then, it was a lot of money. While it was in the box, however, it was working capital, and even mom-and-pop operators would tell you that a half-million dollars was not much working capital for a capital intensive business.

To me it's crazy that these guys think that five hundred thousand dollars is not a lot of money. I sure could use five hundred thousand dollars right about now, but who couldn't right?. This just goes to show you the value of a dollar to a professional poker player is completely different than the value of a dollar to everyone else. Even if you have a boat load of money, five hundred thousand dollars is a substantial amount to present the opportunity of giving it away.

Ted sat down in Seat Six, to Chip Reese's left and across from the dealer. The best seat was the empty seat between the stranger and Chip, Seat Three. Position is important in Texas Hold 'Em and Seat Three would put Ted to the left of the stranger, acting after him throughout the hand,
two-thirds of the time. Forrest and Reese would be trying to win money from each other, but they had played each other for years and knew each other's expert skills. Both expected their profit to come from the businessman. Reese, however, obviously left Seat Three open to give him
and the stranger a little space, not as an invitation for someone to take over that prime position (as if anyone other than Ted Forrest would just wander into a $10,000-$20,000 poker game).

I thought this was a pretty cool segment as this is the introduction of Andy Beal to the big game and his name has surfaced a lot around the poker world in the last month or so (Andy Beal is the businessman). Obviously he was getting his poker fix in awhile ago and he will not go unnoticed anymore.

Ted decided not to start the game with a confrontation. Anybody with the minimum buy-in could sit in any open seat in the Bellagio poker room. Reese would have objected, however, and it wasn't worth starting the game with a fight. It was enough that Ted felt the butterflies in his stomach he hadn't felt since his $15-$30 stud days, when he was putting most of his bankroll on the line whenever he played.

Against an unfamiliar opponent, Ted Forrest tried to keep an open mind. He respected their bets until he learned how they played. This was not a matter of courtesy. For Ted, it was good strategy. Too many pros assumed an unfamiliar player didn't know how to play, refusing to give him credit for having a big hand when he led the betting. In the end, the pro would learn the new player's style and adjust, but underestimating a new player's ability was the more expensive error. If he overestimated a player's skill, he would get that money back when the player continued believing he could bluff Ted Forrest off his hand. Not giving the new player proper respect, however, could cost a lot of bets in the short term.

In $10,000-$20,000 Texas Hold 'Em, the blinds are $5,000 and $10,000. With three players, it was costing Ted a minimum of $15,000 every three hands just to sit at the table. It was an excruciatingly expensive way to get a read on the new player, a Texas banker named Andy Beal. Beal was very aggressive, playing nearly every hand, raising most of the time. It was costing Ted $20,000 per hand to see the flop, and his bankroll was taking a beating. After twenty minutes, Ted was down to his last $100,000, and he hadn't even gotten involved in many pots.

Oh, my God, he thought, what am I doing? Why did I sit down?

I couldn't imagine the stress that would go on in my mind if I just saw that much money just disappearing without even really getting a chance to act. Obviously, these guys play for enormous amounts of cash and they have no qualms backing themselves (as with the latest Andy Beal defeat of 16.6 million dollars). I don't know how these guys are able to do it, but good on them and I look forward to hearing more and more stories about these guys and the big game.

Don't forget the partypoker bonus code 20BR for your next
PokerParty.

Heads Up Poker Championship

2006-03-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

Three days of poker spread out over sixty three matches led to the crowning of a new PokerParty champion in the 2nd Annual National Heads Up Poker Championship early this morning. The poker that was played this past weekend at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas was action packed and also provided many surprises. In the end, bigtime cash game player Ted Forrest was able to hold off the charge of the best players in the game today to walk away from the green felt with the Heads Up Title.

Thanks to Cardplayer Magazine for this excerpt:

Chris Ferguson, last year’s runner-up, faced Ted Forrest in the final three matches of the championship event. The players started off with $640,000.00 in chips each, and the blinds started off at $5,000 - $10,000 in the first round.

After two rounds were played, Forrest had secured a 4 – 1 lead with over a $1,000,000 in chips. But Ferguson came back (as he always does), doubled up twice and reduced Forrest’s advantage to less than $60,000.

Thirty minutes later, Ferguson was ahead and he proceeded to move all in with Ah – 9h. Forrest called and showed pocket tens. The flop came Kc – Jd – 7h and Forrest had the lead. The turn, 8c, didn’t help Ferguson and he needed a ten to complete the straight, or he could hit an ace which would give him the higher pair, to win the match. The river, the Ace of Spades, paired Ferguson and the players prepared themselves for another match.

Ferguson was on a roll heading into the second session, and he won six of the first seven hands that were played. But, Forrest came back for a 2 – 1 chip lead by the end of the first round.

The blinds increased to $15,000 - $30,000 and Ferguson decided to make a move, and he moved all in from the button. Forrest called and showed As – 4c. Ferguson had Jh – 7s and the flop came 6h – 5d – Qd, the turn was a 2h and Ferguson needed a jack or 7 to survive, but the 10 of diamonds fell on the river, and Forrest won the match with ace high.

The champion would have to be determined by the third and final round of the championship event.

The table was reset and the cards went into the air at 12:22 a.m. PST. The challengers had been competing for over twelve hours, with breaks, dinner and tape changes eating up the day. By the end of the first round, Forrest had taken a moderate lead and the blinds went up to $10,000 - $20,000

Forrest took down a monster pot and gained a $290,000 lead going into round three. The blinds increased to $15,000 - $30,000 and both players rallied back and forth until their stacks were almost even.

When the blinds were $20,000 - $40,000, Forrest won a huge pot. He made a set of sixes to win the hand, which built his stack to over $1 million.

Forrest held the advantage until both players went all in before the flop. Forrest had K – J and Ferguson had Q – 7. Forrest made trip kings on the river to win the hand and both rounds making him the National Heads-Up Champion,and awarding him $500,000. Not a bad pay day, but with all the money being tossed around on the felt nowadays it seems like this tournament should definitely have a bigger prize pool.

In an unusual display of emotion, Forrest threw his hands up in the air when he realized he had won the hand and the championship. He was out of his seat and pacing the stage. Forrest had shown no emotion throughout the tournament, so his hoopla caught everyone off guard, but Forrest deserved a release after conducting himself like a true gentleman and proving poker isn’t just for “bad-boys”.

Chris Ferguson was runner up for the second year in a row and took home $250,000. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson truly is a remarkable poker player and he will win this championship at some point. He is definitely at the top of the poker class and he is a player to be reckoned with.

The tournament will be broadcast on NBC as part of a ten hour package of poker that begins on April 16th and ends in late May. Last year NBC repeated broadcasts on their cable outlet CNBC as well, so there will be many opportunities to see the entirety of the tournament and the many twists and turns that occurred during the run of the tournament and some of the incredible action between the greatest players in the game today. For now, it's time to congratulate Ted Forrest as the new National Heads Up Poker Champion.

The Heads Up Championship was another tremendous pokerparty and I can't wait too see the poker action unfold on the television. I hope you enjoyed the recap here and be sure to stay tuned to this blog and look for all of the breaking news in the poker world.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR for your next online Pokerparty at Partypoker.

Scott Fischman Rumor

2006-03-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

There were some rumors floating around the message board community about Scott Fischman borrowing a substantial amount of money from Thomas "Thunder" Keller to enter into some major poker tournaments and enjoy the PokerParty. Here is the rumor brought to you by 2+2 Forums:

"A very respected and well-known top tourney and cash game player told me the following: Apparently, Thomas Keller backed Scott Fischman for 400k in tourney buyins since August of last year. The deal was 65/35 to Fischman w/ makeup. Which means that Keller gets paid back whatever buyins he stakes Scott for, then Scott keeps 65% of the profits.

At some point, another guy offers Scott a staking deal. Scott takes that deal, leaving Keller out 400k, with no payback when Scott hits his next score.
Now, apparently Scott claims there was no makeup condition in this staking arrangement, and Keller claims otherwise."

Here is Scott Fischman's reply to this situation:

"ok,
I will try to make this breif....hopefully this will; be my first and last post ever on here, as i usually dont like to entertain these type of childish high school gossip crap. I am aware by now that my position as a public figure forces people to talk about me quite often whether good or bad it usually never bothers me but this one happen to hit me in the wrong spot and i think it is because some of my close friends are involved in the rumor circulation. I am really hoping that "eldiablo" is not todd arnold because if it is then i would appreciate a phone calll when you read this. Also, quickly, and without reading the whole thread (i read like the 1st 20 replies) i would say thank you shaniac for being honest and shedding some light on the situation...Ebolivia, although you were honest and said nothing good or bad about me, i am a little disappointed that you wouldnt let me know this issue was on here and also that you should know this is [censored]!!! ok anway, i dont want to be too dramatic but let me try to settle this.
1. I was backed by thomas
2. i LOST and it was a hefty figure... NOT 400k and also NONE of anyones business.
3. there was no CONTRACT whatsoever. and this deal was terminated for various reasons. NONE of which any of you are entitled to hear.
4. I dont know where you guys get the idea that i owe thomas the "400k" back but that is very silly. The whole idea of being backed is that you do not put up your own money and if you lose that is the risk that the backer assumes. Why on earth would i get backed and give up 35% of my winnings but then pay thomas back if i lost???????? make any sense to anyone?
i think that pretty much sums up what i want to say, and i doubt i will be on hear to read the replies or post again, so i would apprecitae a phone call from shania, ebo or eldiablo if there are any more burning questions or rumors that u think i should give my attention to. thank you
oh one more thing. eldiablo...WHO IS THE VERY RESPECTED WELLKNOWN TOURNEY AND CASH PLAYER THAT TOLD YOU THIS BOLLOCKS??????"

For those of you that are interested in checking out the No Limit Heads Up Championship you can check out the 64 man field below:

Check out the Heads Up Poker Championship Bracket

Is your favorite poker player not going to be at this major PokerParty, check out who was snubbed from the 64 man field.

Thanks for coming by and reading the blog don't forget to use the partypoker bonus code 20BR the next time you are having an online pokerparty.

UltimateBet's Latest Promotion

2006-03-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this great pokerparty promotion brought to you by UltimateBet.com.

This March is your chance to prove you’re the best.

UltimateBet is looking for UltimateBet.com’s best poker tournament player. And they are going to be sending them to play in the WPT Championship at Bellagio.

All you have to do is win any tournament on UltimateBet with a buy-in of $30 or more between March 1st and March 31st and you’ll be entered into their exclusive Tournament of Champions freeroll on April 3rd at 9pm EST.

The winner of the No Limit Hold’em freeroll will win a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship at Bellagio + $2,500 travel money.

The second and third place finishers in the freeroll will win an entry into the $2,500 Super Satellite and $1,000 travel money.

*The one stipulation that they have set up is that players can only be entered into the Freeroll once, no matter how many events they win in the month. The Bellagio main event starts April 18th, with the Super Satellite running on April 17th.

Also, UltimateBet is looking to extend the PokerParty and here is what else they have been up to.........

They are Looking For Their Next Pro. And that will happen In Aruba.

This September, they invite you to join them for a week of good times and great poker in Aruba for the 5th Annual Ultimate Poker Classic.

And if you’re one of the first 150 players to win your seat to the 2006 Ultimate Poker Classic in Aruba through UltimateBet.com, you better get ready to be treated like royalty because you’ll be one step closer to becoming the newest member of Team UB. That's because you will automatically qualify for the chance to be a part of the Ultimate Aruba Freeroll. The winner will walk away with a spot on Team UB for 2007.

What a fantastic opportunity this is poker fans, so make sure you give yourself a chance at this once in a lifetime PokerParty.

Don't forget the bonus code 20BR the next time you check out partypoker.

WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Event

2006-03-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars saw 268 players (25 of them Shooting Stars) compete for a chance to advance to Day 3 and a step closer to the $1,172,800 first place prize purse (and a seat to the WPT Championship). Two of the same incentives used on Day 1 were also in effect for Day 2. This is one Pokerparty you do not want to miss the results for.

25 poker pros were labeled “Shooting Stars” and given $5,000 bounties. Any player that busted out a “Shooting Star” would receive 5k in cash, and that money would be paid on the spot. Another incentive for the player's to strive for is to become the Day 2 chip leader at the end of the day. The poker player that finishes the day in first place would receive a $10,000 bonus. Again these are great incentives for the players to try and achieve and enhance their pokerparty experience.

Some of the “Shooting Stars” that didn’t make it past Day 2 were…

Shannon Elizabeth
Mike Matusow
Erick Lindgren
Tuan Le
Toto Leonidas
Paul Darden Jr.
T.J. Cloutier
Josh Arieh
Barry Greenstein
John Juanda
Phil Laak

One of the things that the “Shooting Star” bounties created was interesting showdowns as players tried to bust out Poker Pros and earn the $5,000 reward. James Woods felt the consequence of that twist as he was called 11K (All-in) by Webber Kang who was holding K2 of spades. Woods flipped his cards over and showed QJ and he then had to wait for the card gods to seal his tournament fate. Kang's chip stack was at 20k and he committed more than half of his chip stack to challenge Woods. As the flop, turn and river all came, Woods tournament was sealed as spade after spade gave Kang a K-high flush, and in the process eliminated Woods from the tournament.

Another interesting showdown saw John Juanda go ALL-IN Pre-flop and he instantly was called by Andy Miller. Juanda showed his A7 and Miller turned over a 10 and a 5. Flop showed 642, and the turn showed a 4, and the River brought a 3. Miller makes his straight and the $5,000 bounty.

The six pros that advanced to Day 3 are Jennifer Tilly, Salim Batshon (Huck Seed’s last minute replacement), Dan Harrington, Layne Flack, Carlos Mortensen, and John Cernuto.

A total of 59 players survived 10 levels of play with Vineet Sharma finishing in first place with $134,700 in chips and taking home $10,000 for his first place chip lead. On Day 3, 119 players (60 from Day 1 and 59 from Day 2) will play until there are 36 players left. The levels on Day 3 have been lengthened from 1 hour to 90 minutes.

The bounties will be in effect until the completion of the tournament on Friday. It will be interesting to see if some of the players will continue to pursue the bounty as they get closer to the money. Will there be a challenge to a “Shooting Star” for a chance at $5,000 or will they bite the bullet and fight for the bigger prize? A first place finish in this event is worth $1,172,800 and a seat to the WPT
Championship (buy-in is worth $25,500). You might be seeing less of the player's trying to take down the poker pro's as that first prize is really substantial. Stay tuned as this PokerParty is only going to continue to heat up as the tournament approaches its conclusion.

Here are the top chip leaders going into day three:

(There are 119 players remaining going into Day 3 action)

1 Vineet Sharma 134,700 Chips
2 Stuart Fahmy 125,100 Chips
3 Robert Mizrachi 115,800 Chips
4 Farzad Bonyadi 107,600 Chips
5 Kirk Morrison 104,600 Chips
6 Larry Elliot 100,600 Chips
7 Tom Henning 91,900 Chips
8 John Smith 91,500 Chips
9 Jason Stern 89,100 Chips
10 Brad Booth 88,700 Chips
11 An-Nan Chen 88,200 Chips
12 Layne Flack 86,100 Chips
13 Yakoub Bellawala 85,300 Chips
14 Jennifer Tilly 84,900 Chips
15 Todd Arnold 83,600 Chips

Notables

22 David 'Chip' Reese 68,400 Chips
24 Gus Hansen 65,100 Chips
40 Gabriel Thaler 49,000 Chips
42 Allen Cunningham 47,500 Chips
43 Minh Nguyen 47,300 Chips
70 Doyle Brunson 30,500 Chips
74 Juan Carlos Mortensen 29,000 Chips
89 Dan Harrington 23,600 Chips
101 David Williams 18,800 Chips
The average chip stack is at $43,529

Make sure to check back for the latest PokerParty updates on the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Event. Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR for your next PartyPoker experience.

Challenge to Mike Matusow

2006-02-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

The online poker world has some tremendous players and they are quite capable of taking on the bigtime players on the professional circuit. There have been a lot of online poker player's making significant moves in the major tournaments and they are making names and headlines for themselves; whether it be good or bad. The latest online poker player that's name has cropped up of late is BicycleKick, and the reason his name has received some notoriety of late is because he has layed out a challenge to Mike Matusow in a heads up limit hold'em any stakes competition.

Check out this post from 2+2 Forums on the challenge:

"For those that don't know, I was in LA this past weekend and Mike Matusow joined our $400/800 hold-em game and was rippin on for a play I made that he thought was bad. No big deal and I didn't think much of it. He is on a radio show on cardplayer and in an interview with Liz Leau he asks her what she thought of that red headed kid who thinks he can play and then says he'd like to play him every day for the rest of his life. Well, here I am. I'll play you heads-up limit holdem for any stakes you want. I know you hate online, so we can play live. I hope we can play at least $400/800 as that was the limit we were playing when you were talking. I'm pretty sure you're just a big talker and would never agree to this, but it's just too much possibility for big $$$ for me to not at least make an offer. Put your money where your mouth is."

Be sure to check out the final table preview (mp3) audio clip from Card Player.

Some Mike Matusow Quotes:

"Limit hold'em is for idiots that can't play poker(31:10 in the interview)" said Mike. Later Mike say's ,"(32.24) Nowadays, let's be honest, in limit holdem, nobody folds any pair, ever."

"Not at the limit I play," says Liz. Mike continues saying, "I play at the biggest game there is and they never fold any hand so I don't know what game you're in... "Because it's you! That's because it's you!", interrupts Liz .

Here's Mike Matusow's comments on the kid that challenged him:

Mike: "do I think you're a donk?, yeah I do. If you wanna play me No Limit hold'em Heads Up then i'll give you 10% of your money back. We'll play as high as you want."

Mike: "limit holdem, game for morons who can't play poker. Any idiot can win in limit hold'em Heads Up."

Mike: "you see Andy Beal, he just played the best in the world and took 'em for 15 million. I just made the comment the other day because I saw two plays I thought were **** so I said ' just another internet kid who thinks he can play.'"

Here are some quotes from Neverwin on his Poker Forums on BicycleKick and Matusow:

NEVERWIN SAYS "I was playing in the 1k-2k game right behind u, and I came over and looked at your game a few times when it was short handed before Mike sat down. I was too stuck in my game to come play 4-8, but I was thinking about it when I saw u had a lot of chips and I never seen or heard about u before, so I thought about teaching u some short handed lessons, but even if I busted u at that point, all I would do was get about even so I stayed and lost 97k in the game I was in. When it got 3 handed with Todd brunson and Allan Cunningham, the game broke, I said Im not a big enough fish for u guys to play, they said, nope, u too strong man. I said thank you for the compliment. Your game was broke, otherwise id come over then"

DANDRUFF CHIMES IN: "I'm surprised bicyclekick would be willing to play 2k/4k stakes. I didn't think he had the roll for that. I would never play stakes like that unless there was a megadonk there. As far as bicycle being up against Matusow, I don't know who would be the favorite. I haven't seen enough of Matusow's heads up Limit Hold'em game to judge. By the way, sounds like the high stakes game at Commerce this past weekend were lousy. Allen Cunningham and Todd Brunson?! Were there even any semi-donks at the 4-8 game? And what about the 1k-2k game where Neverwin lost 97k? I'm guessing everyone there was good, as well.

Here is a solid quote on the Big Game and it is a good read and very informative on some of the poker player's involved:

NEVERWIN SAYS "Druff the game was not all that good except when I entered the game, everyone at the table was stuck. the game started out at 400-800, and was 800-1600 when I sat down. The game was me, Chau Chaing, Caddy, Frank Kong, Steve Wolfe, lot of action so the game was good. Shortly after Caddy talked everyone into bumping it to 1k-2k. Later Eskimo Clark sat down and hit and ran for 40k, then Don Z sat down very shortly hit for about 20k. Chau went on a huge heater and went from being stuck 80k to about a 100k winner. It wasn't till the next day that Phil Ivey joined the game, but only played for about 20 minutes because caddy said he would play props with him. Caddy got stuck 50 dimes in props when Phil added a prop of K of spade being worth 30k, the very next hand Phil had the K of spade, it put Caddy into a complete frenzy and then Doyle, Caddy, and Phil started a 4k-8k game. At this point Grinder/David Williams enter the game and borrow 50k, then Todd Brunson jumps in. So it was kinda short handed for a little bit, then at the very end Allan Cunningham joins in, and Frank and Steve leave making it 4 handed. This game lasted no longer than about 45 minutes, when Grinder/David Williams lose 100k total in the game, the game broke.

NOW THEY START RIPPING PHIL HELLMUTH

"Phil Hellmuth tried to convince me that he had made over 1M in online LHE the other day."

"I guess he just conviently has a big downswing everytime there are observers."

DANDRUFF SAYS "That's why the game immediately fills up as soon as he sits down on Ultimate Bet. Of course, he probably attributes that to his fame."

It is great hearing stories about the professional poker player's stories and their big wins and losses and their reputations from fellow poker player's. Stay tuned for my next post as there is going to be more gossip coming from the poker circuit and the online poker world. Thanks for checking out my blog and don't forget for your next pokerparty to use the bonus code 20BR for your next partypoker experience.

Phil Ivey vs. Andy Beal

2006-02-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

Andy Beal two weeks ago quit poker for good, and then he came out of retirement five days later to take on the corporation in a $10 Million dollar heads up poker challenge. Andy Beal surprised everyone and came out victorious. Now, another week goes by and Andy Beal finds himself in a challenge against Phil Ivey. Do you know how this turned out? Well check out the results below.

Thanks to CardPlayer for this article.

What is the sum of two players and a game of limit Texas hold’em, divided by three days of intense heads-up action? The answer is 16.6 million dollars. Over the years, mathematical theorist Andy Beal has applied probability to the game of poker
and found new fame by repeatedly challenging the elite in a spirited game of limit Texas hold’em.

“Beal’s conjecture,” otherwise known as the “Beal problem,” became just that for The Corporation — a team of professional poker players who aggregated their $10 million and matched it against his $20 million in a series of private sessions. Since early February, the event became a virtual roller coaster ride for players and fans alike, with financial swings, false retirement claims, and multiple challengers adding to the excitement.

At the midmonth break of a nail-biting two-week competition, The Corporation had depleted their $10 million bankroll. The members dusted themselves off and prepared for Thursday’s L.A. Poker Classic event in California. The game was paused until the two teams could coordinate their schedules.

On Monday night, Feb. 20, 2006, Beal was back on a plane to Las Vegas and checked himself into the Wynn Resort upon arrival. He returned to play a third week of high-stakes Texas hold’em poker against a new challenger, the Corporation’s long time team member, Phil Ivey.

Ivey is known for his aggressive play and unwavering focus at the tables. At the recent Card Player Player of the Year awards, he took home three top awards, best no-limit player, best heads-up player, and most-feared player. Ivey continues to play the highest-stakes cash games in the world in addition to the tournament circuit.

Tuesday, Feb. 21:

Play began in the late afternoon and blinds were set at $30,000-$60,000, lower than the previous $50,000-$100,000 of weeks past. Ivey seemed to hold the lead throughout the day’s match. Spectators in the high-limit section of the Wynn poker room, who witnessed much of the action, shared their thoughts with Card Player. Most felt Ivey had exhibited an aggressive approach. In typical fashion, he sat blank-faced, focused, and with his mouth agape.

It’s the same expression that also won Ivey the “Flushies” award, for the best poker face, during the 2005 World Series of Poker. Ivey has an intense and intimidating nature at any table and the one-on-one competition with Beal only seemed to magnify this trait.

Play ended at around 7 p.m. PST and it appeared Ivey was up several racks. It was confirmed by a member of The Corporation that the number was $2 million in Ivey and The Corporation’s favor.

Phil Ivey played a very, very aggressive style, and very effectively. Whether
Andy was timing him wrong or Ivey was getting good cards at the right time, Phil was a step ahead for most of the session. For the first 45 mins, Andy was letting Phil run over him, picking his spots, and Ivey was withdrawing.

But then Ivey took control, winning lots of pots without a showdown and always seeming to have Beal when the hands went to the end. Sometimes, Phil had big cards and won that way. Other times, Andy called him down with 4th pair and Phil had 3rd pair. One step ahead.

Phil ended up $2 million ahead for the group. There was also a $25,000 coin flip after the day's play, won by Ivey. (He called heads)

Wednesday, Feb. 22:

First thing Wednesday morning, Ivey and Beal were again heads-up at the felt on table No. 3 at the Wynn. Blinds remained at $30,000-$60,000 and again Ivey seemed to have an advantage over Beal. In less than eight hours of heightened competition, Ivey ended the day with another monetary gain of $4.6 million.

They were playing $30,000-$60,000. The only good news in all this for Beal was that the stakes were lower. Phil Ivey played a very aggressive heads-up game. It's arguable whether Andy Beal had an answer to it; there were periods where it seemed like Phil was rolling over him, and periods where it seemed like he was picking Phil off, getting paid for slowplaying, waiting until Phil got the money in the pot with nothing to make his move, etc.

Phil had the lead for most of the day, though Andy tied the match at 1:25 PM. After that, Phil accelerated, helped by some very good cards. The luck has run both ways in the Andy's games with the pros and the last 2-3 hours were favorable ones to Phil. Again, it's arguable he was outplaying Andy and had Andy playing defense all day long, but whatever Phil was doing right - and it was arguably plenty - was aided by hitting big cards at the right time.

In the last few hours, there were periods where almost every pot was multiple-raised and Ivey was winning a large portion of those. Some, of course, were the result of Beal making a move, but Phil had the goods an extraordinarily high percentage of the time. When Andy had a big day against Jennifer Harman, she was playing (generally) the same style game as Phil, but she had periods where she was card dead and had no defense when Andy played back. It appeared Andy had enough to play back ... Ivey had enough to win all these big showdowns.

That puts the group (The Corporation) ahead about $6.6 million for the two days. The match is scheduled to continue tomorrow. (It appears Phil Ivey again and a 9 AM start at the same stakes, but that could possibly change.)

They flipped a coin for $50,000 at the end of the day. Andy called heads. When it came up tails, he said, "Who didn't know how that was going to come out?"

To re-emphasize, Ivey played an excellent game, arguably one that Beal didn't have a good answer to. But that kind of aggressiveness is helped enormously by good cards, and Phil got them where, in other situations, Andy got them and was able to demonstrate the superiority of his "style".

This is speculation/analysis/etc. but it would be too easy to look at the results and say, "Phil Ivey is just too much for Andy Beal." Maybe it's true. Phil played very tough. But it's hard to defend against a super-aggressive player when you take your shots to look him up and, as happened to Beal in one instance, your opponent shows you quads.

Ivey and Beal left the table of the poker room together while they conversed amongst themselves.

Thursday, Feb. 23:

At 9 a.m. Beal and Ivey met for a third and final session. Ivey was in seat two, at the long end of the table, with his back against the wall. Beal sat in seat six, at an angle so as to face Ivey. To Beal’s left (in seat seven), sat his long time friend and representative, Craig Singer and next to him was Michael Craig (author of the book The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King), in seat nine. The two players discussed the possibility of raising the stakes while the witnesses remained silent. It took only moments for Ivey and Beal to come to an agreement and the blinds
would indeed be raised to the original level of $25,000 – $50,000, increasing the limits to $50,000 – $100,000.

At around noon, the players took a short break and Craig Singer explained that Beal had developed a reserved curiosity over the media’s need to share information regarding the private high-stakes matches. Back in Texas, Singer had printed a recent article and placed it on Beal’s desk for his review. Suddenly, the break was over and Singer was due to return to his seat. He informed us Beal was up almost $2 million. “We’re doing better today.” He said as he returned to the game about to resume.

From the rail, one could see Beal reaching repeatedly into his rack for chips. Within a few hands it appeared Ivey had reversed his deficit and was back to even. The dealer was tapped out and a new one took his place. When that dealer was swapped-out, he shook his head, as in disbelief while walking from the table. The already intense face-off had become an action packed, raise-to-the-river spectacle.

Members of The Corporation began to arrive and could be seen on the sidelines, talking discretely amongst themselves. They were careful to keep a respectful distance from the table so as not to distract the players. It was just after 1 p.m. when both players suddenly rose to shake hands. After approximately four hours of play, Ivey had recovered his initial loss and won an additional $10 million.

The Corporation had recovered their $10 million loss since Feb 1, and earned another $6.5 million in revenue through Ivey's efforts.

Andy Beal complimented members of The Corporation for their sportsmanship and announced he would be heading home to Texas.

Andy Beal also mentioned that he was done with poker.

Here is some more detail on the final day's action courtesy of Bluff Magazine

1. They played $50,000-$100,000. Ivey wanted the higher limit and, of course, Beal wanted it. Ivey convinced the pros, who I think were very divided about it. And even though Andy lost $10 million today, he made a point of thanking Phil at the end and saying, completely sincerely, "Thanks for getting the stakes raised to fifty and one hundred." Not sarcastically, but honestly.

2. Andy was ahead by $1-2 million for the first half of the match. Like the first two days, Phil controlled the action by always raising, always betting, but Andy had him timed very well for picking him off.

3. In a space of 3 hands, Phil made back most of that deficit. Big pots, concealed strength, wicked rivers, etc. etc. etc. But Phil took over the lead and just ACCELERATED.

4. He made the $10 million in about 4 hours.

5. The game became wild, reckless, and unrelentlessly aggressive. The timing Andy had in picking Phil off had failed. Andy got some river suck-outs but, now behind, probably became dispirited when he was the victim. (Phil, in contrast, was not affected in the least when Andy sucked out. So I can't tell you if Andy took more bad beats or just got affected by it more.) But with constant reraising and nobody folding, the river will decide a lot of hands. Phil won more of those, which made the game just that much more out of control.

6. Andy said he's done with poker for ever. One of the pros said he would bet that Andy will be back within six months.

7. Andy was a total gentleman, and so was Phil Ivey, and so were the several pros in the room, who came because they were concerned about how their investment was doing but kept discretely hidden so not to appear to be gloating over the result.

Well this has been the latest update on the Andy Beal vs. The Corporation and it has been brought to you by the PokerParty blog and the Bonus Code 20BR for Party Poker.

BREAKING NEWS...........

2006-02-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Some Breaking News on another huge cheating bust on Partypoker.

For those of you that have played on PartyPoker, you would have heard the name ZeeJustin, and he is the latest individual to get busted for cheating.

Here is a copy of an email sent to MR. Bonomo from PartyPoker yesterday morning:

"Dear Mr Bonomo, This communication is to inform you of the findings of an investigation launched internally by partypoker.com into six accounts originating from your own location and computer. These are the accounts in question: ZeeJustin IBLUFFUOUT 69jwilson 55vapoker 58mehsab greenb272. These accounts have been systematically used to enter the same Multi Table Tournaments as a ýteamý, in a deception that is in direct violation of our Terms and Conditions. Although registered in different names, these accounts have been created with the sole intention of playing as multiple accounts in the same tournaments. All six accounts were consistently logged into at the same time from the same IP/System and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person. A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close these accounts permanently and confiscate all funds. I would ask that you do not attempt to open any further accounts with our company, as these will be closed and any monies therein will be deemed forfeited. Furthermore, please be informed that we have withdrawn your PPMV Cruise Package and you will no longer appear on the passenger list."

Steve Winter, Manager, Investigations Team

Here are ZeeJustin's comments on what happened to him.

"Yes, it’s true. I did use these accounts to enter multiple accounts in the same multi table tournaments. I have never done this in a tournament with less than 1,000 players."

"I have been at the same table as myself. For what it’s worth, my standard protocol has been to increase my number of tables when this happens. As most of you know, I will very rarely be playing fewer than six tables at a time. If I had 6 tables open and two of my accounts were brought to the same table, I would simply open up 4-6 more SNGs. I felt that this would negate my unethical advantage. With 10 tables open, I just play tight and solid. I can’t even remember the hole cards one account folded after the flop, and I’m certainly unable to pay special attention to that table. After talking to Curtains, I realize my standard play should have been to sit one account out when this happens, but I want to make it clear that I never used collusion to my advantage, never chip dumped, or did anything of the sort."

However, what Party emailed me is wrong on several subjects.

First of all, the accounts were NOT created solely for MTT use. They were originally created for SNG play. It got to the point where everyone knew that ZeeJustin would steal the blinds often, and everyone called him liberally. I created these accounts to erase this loose image. Everyone would be readless against me, and it was a huge advantage. These accounts all did very well in the big SNGs on PartyPoker.

N82 referred to a hack that let you open multiple Party clients. I have no clue how no one has mentioned this yet, but no such hack was necessary. This is important, so listen up.

All you had to do was click the PartyPoker icon on your desktop very rapidly. If you did that, multiple clients would open up. Using this bug, I was able to play multiple accounts on the same computer at the same time. I would be in a step 5 on one name, while playing a mini step 5 on another, and no one would ever suspect that it was me.

All of the money that was seized from me was from sit’n’go play where nothing unethical was done. I never entered multiple accounts into the same sit’n’go, never colluded with anyone, never soft played anyone and never chip dumped with anyone.

The other accounts I used never had any big MTT scores. Combined, I am pretty sure they were all long-term losers in the few MTT’s they played. Despite this, almost $100,000 was seized from my accounts.

For those of you that feel safe because my money was taken, open up your eyes. This money will not be returned to the players in any way. PartyPoker is keeping it because they can, just like they did with JJProdigy’s $40,000, and just like they will do to you when you get caught.

I know what you’re thinking right now, “I won’t get caught, because I didn’t do anything wrong.” First of all, that doesn’t matter. PartyPoker reserves the right to take your money for any reason at any time (although I should point out that
this does not make it legal).

Secondly, almost all of you have broken the rules at some point. How many of you have created a second account for rakeback? Neither creating a second account nor receiving rakeback is allowed. Both are expressly forbidden. Maybe you’ll see things my way once all your money is seized for doing that. If I’m a cheater, so are you.

If you are a saint like CSC claims to be, kudos to you. You are in the minority, and are certainly upstanding citizens. I commend you on following Party’s rules and not receiving rakeback. Most of us are too greedy to pass up money that easy. Furthermore, I would like to point out, that I did NOT break the rules.

TRUE IDENTITY AND ONE ACCOUNT.

The name on your Account must match your true and legal name and identity and the name on your Account registration must match the name on the credit card(s) or other payment accounts used to deposit or receive monies in your Account. You are prohibited from holding more than one Account. If you have more than one (1) Account or Accounts in different names, then you must contact us immediately to have your Accounts managed so that you only have one (1). If you have lost your Account name or password, please contact us for a replacement.

I have one account. That account is named ZeeJustin. My brother also has an account named Bernard61 (formerly jwilson55), and I have used that account quite often. No where in Party’s rules does it say you cannot use someone else’s account. I’m sure many of you have used friends’ accounts before, and there is nothing wrong with this. People will often take over MTT’s for friends that have unforeseen obligations.

I do think what I’ve done is unethical, and I certainly regret doing it, however, I need to point out that no where in Party’s rules is it stated that you cannot enter multiple accounts into the same tournament. Not only do they not forbid it, but to open multiple clients on the same PC, all you have to do is click the icon a bit more rapidly than normal. Great work PartyPoker.

Stay Tuned for more info on this story as it will continue to grow.

The next time you have a PokerParty don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR at Party Poker.

JJProdigy: PokerParty Busted

2006-02-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

By now pretty much everyone who follows online poker has heard the name JJProdigy. But where did he come from? Out of the blue one day, he won the Triple Crown. Then he was ranked on PocketFives.com. And then he went on a heater in August and beat out the best players on the net to win the heralded TLB crown (Tournament Leaderboard at PokerStars)and an extra $5k courtesy of nip/tuck.

Someone gave Josh $100 to start playing on PartyPoker in Fall 2004, and he began playing the $25 max NL games, and he built his bankroll up to about $2k. “I have no idea how,” he said in retrospect, "I was the biggest fish". He moved on to the $200 max game, and his bankroll fluctuated for a while between $2k and $5k. Then he won an entrant into a 2 table Step 5, which he won for $9k. A few days later, in January 2005, he got 6th in $200k guaranteed for just over $10k.

Josh now plays at least a couple tournaments every day, although during that August TLB race, he was playing as many as 250 tournaments a week! He’s slowed down since, and he prefers not to force himself to play if he’s not feeling into it. He does pretty much always play the Stars 150’s and the daily “Super” tournaments on Party Poker. Also on Sunday, “all of them are musts,” he says.

When he’s not playing multis, he spends his online poker time playing $200 and $500 turbo sit-n-go’s on Poker Stars, and the Step 5’s and mini-step 5’s on Party Poker. He plays a fair amount of $10-20 No Limit Hold'em and some $50-100 and $100-200 Limit Hold'em. Recently, he’s been trying to play some $30/60 Omaha 8/b. Out of all of this, sit-n-go’s are the only thing he plays every day.

That was a little history on the beginning of JJProdigy. His name has popped up all over the internet and if you are a frequent visitor to poker message boards you will see a lot of heated debates on this young man. For those of you who have not heard the news about JJProdigy let me enlighten you a little bit. On Sunday, February 12, 2006 PartyPoker held the weekly $500K Guaranteed tournament, JJProdigy was signed up under his account and he also logged in from a second account titled ABlackCar (which he claimed to be his grandma's account). So, he was playing in this tournament under two aliases, and he eventually won the tournament under his second account: ABlackCar. Needless to say there were a lot of rumblings going on once the tournament had come to a conclusion, and that indeed this account (ABlackCar) was JJProdigy. People had filed complaints to PartyPoker as JJProdigy let it slip that he was playing under two accounts and that cost him dearly financially, and it definitely hurt his reputation.

Here is his JJProdigy's statement on exactly what happened!

This was posted in the 2+2 Forums.

"The account 'ABlackCar' was not made for multi-accounting. It was intentionally made for my grandma for her birthday present. However, it was never given to her. So, I had an extra account. Yes, I multi-tabled. Yes, it is incredibly easy. Yes, many
people do it was . You really have no idea about the situation. About 2 months ago, I thought it was just a really bad idea like everyone else. A lot of my friends did it, and I always gave them a hard time for it. But, I had a conversation with a player where we decided it would be a lot of +EV to not be known when you are playing MTTs. So, basically, I had a spare account with tons of +EV in it. So many poeple did it with no repercussions. I know someone who had over 10 accounts in a recent million guaranteed.

Party Poker has no idea. So, back to the day of the win. When there was about 30 left, I started telling all these people I was in. I was too much caught up in the moment, and it was a really stupid thing to do in hindsight. It slipped out, and everyone knew. The account was in the name of my grandma, and it was intended for her to play in, so that was the easiest excuse for me. I apologize for lying to everyone. I really do. When such a large amount of money is on the line, it's really tough to be loyal to morals.The next morning, both accounts were closed. Today, they took away all the money. The roughly 40k in JJProdigy, and the 140k in ABlackCar."

This is the statement that Josh AKA "JJProdigy" received from PartyPoker:

Josh,

The PartyPoker.com investigations team opened an investigation on accounts JJProdigy and ABlackCar relating to suspicious activities during the February 12th $500K Guaranteed Tournament. The investigation was initially triggered by the investigations team as a result of a common information alert, IP and computer. Although the investigation was initiated internally, customer service began receiving complaints/concerns regarding this situation starting on February 13th. With this investigation, the complaints and alerts pointed to multiple accounts being played
from the same location in the same tournament.

The accounts involved in the investigation:
Account JJProdgy was created on November 4th, 2004.
Account ABlackCar was created on December 31st, 2005.

Note: The account ABlackCar was not created until December 31st, 2005, therefore all previous data was not used in the investigation unless found
to be relevant.

When investigating the location of where an account is played from, there are two identifying factors that are taken into account.A specific computer is traced by a unique computer identification number. An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the address that an internet service provider uses to identify and trace the location of a computer.

From December 31st, 2005 until February 11th, both accounts only used the IP address xxxxxxx, which traces to xxxxxx, CA. Both accounts only used a
computer with the same identifier. These are referred to as the xxxxxx IP and computer.

Account ABlackCar was created from the Home IP and computer on December 31st, 2005. On dates of January 1st, 3rd, 5th, 15th and February 6th, 7th and 9th ABlackCar logged into the Home IP and computer and registered and played in a total of nine tournaments. All of these tournaments had a buy-in of $100 or more.

Account JJProdigy was logged into from the Home IP and computer on the same dates and registered and played in the same tournaments. Both of these accounts were played from the same computer and the same IP address in the same tournaments.

The tournament in question took placed on February 12th. At 13:54 ET account JJProdigy logged into a different computer, but from the Home IP, and registered for the $500k Guaranteed Tournament. That account then logged out and back in on the Home computer at 15:18. $215 was transferred to account ABlackCar at 15:27. At 15:32 account ABlackCar logged onto the Home IP and computer and registered for the same $500k Tournament.

Both accounts started playing the $500k Tournament from the Home IP and computer.

Summary:

This indisputable evidence led to the conclusion that both accounts had played several tournaments together from the same computer located in the same
location.

Account ABlackCar, although registered in a different name, is believed to have been created with the sole intention of playing multiple accounts in the same tournaments. Both accounts were consistently logged into at the same time and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person.

Conclusion:

A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close both accounts and confiscate all funds. Funds gathered by this deception will be refunded to the players that were affected.

First off, for anyone who doesn’t know, this type of behavior has become quite common in the online poker world. There are numerous high profile online players entering multiple accounts into poker tournaments. It has been reported in the media that some players enter as many as 10 different accounts into one tournament. I don't know about you, but I think this kind of gives them an unfair advantage, don’t you?

If you have multiple accounts entered into the same tournament, there becomes a very real possibility of chip-dumping if you have multiple accounts playing at the same table. Multiple accounts in online poker is just not fair and certainly not virtuous.

That's all for now, but make sure you check out the blog as I am going to put up a post on the challenge proposed to Mike Matusow by an Online Poker Player.

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR for your next PokerParty at Party Poker.

2006-02-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

ANDY BEAL UPDATE

Thanks for checking out this cool poker blog!

CardPlayer Article on the Andy Beal vs. The Corporation below:

Over the years, mathematical theorist Andy Beal has applied probability to the game of poker and found new fame by repeatedly challenging the elite in a spirited game of limit Texas hold’em.

“Beal’s conjecture,” otherwise known as the “Beal problem,” became just that for “The Corporation” — a team of professional poker players — who aggregated their $10 million and matched it against his $20 million in a series of private sessions. Over the next two weeks, the event became a virtual roller coaster ride for players and fans alike.

A year had passed since the burgeoning aerospace entrepreneur had gone heads up with The Corporation, but Beal returned to Las Vegas and the Wynn Hotel Casino to challenge poker professionals Jennifer Harman, Todd Brunson, David Gray, and Ted Forrest.

This is a recap of the two-week span of events. With its twists and turns and highs and lows. It was an exhilarating ride and an amazing story.

Wednesday, Feb. 1:
The high-limit area of the Wynn poker room was roped off, open only to Beal, members of The Corporation and Michael Craig (author of The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King).

The stakes were negotiated and the Corporation opted for $30,000-$60,000 limits, but Beal insisted the blinds be set at $25,000-$50,000 with $50,000-$100,000 limits.

The first player, celebrating the biggest win during last year’s union, was heads-up specialist Todd Brunson and after five hours of intense counteraction, Beal was up $1.6 million.

Thursday, Feb. 2:
Jennifer Harman challenged Beal until the dinner break, winning $1 million. David Grey and Ted Forrest took their turns at the felt, losing the $1 million gain and essentially breaking even for the day.

Friday, Feb. 3:
Ted Forrest was back and Beal employed a more aggressive style, but Forrest was unaffected by Beal’s change in technique and ended the day with a $2.5 million surplus over the past three days.

Saturday, Feb. 4:
Forrest returned, but Beal appeared focused and determined not to suffer a similar slide to the day before. Play ended at about 7:30 p.m. with no substantial gains for either side.

Sunday, Feb. 5:
The short session with Todd Brunson broke around 4 p.m and Beal was down $3 million for the week.

That evening, Beal boarded a plane to Texas. It wasn’t clear if he would return for another round of one-on-one matches, but none were prepared for the events that would transpire over the next few days. Craig Singer, who represents Beal, issued a shocking statement. “Andy is done with poker … for good.” The news quickly resonated throughout the press and created a wave of intrigue and confusion.

In a popular poker forum (The 2 + 2 Forum), Todd Brunson responded. “Andy has made these claims before. He is very eccentric and he may be back to Vegas tomorrow, or we may never see him again. Who knows?”

On Saturday, 11 February, Beal boarded a plane back to Las Vegas.

The local press began reporting and poker enthusiasts around the world were starved for updates. Soon the national press had their own distant coverage and poker forums were alive with speculation, chatter, and gossip.

When informed that he’d developed an enormous fan base, Beal replied, “I’m glad to hear that. It makes me feel good.”

Sunday, Feb. 12:
Jennifer Harman returned to the felt with Doyle Brunson by her side. She’d accumulated almost $2 million at midday, but by session’s end she was down $5 million.

Monday, Feb. 13:
Todd Brunson had won $2.5 million for the Corporation, but with an hour until break, Beal battled back for a $1.2 million surplus in his favor.

Tuesday, Feb. 14:
Forrest was able to regain $7 million of the previous losses, but with two hours remaining, Andy had profited $3.5 million.

“It’s been going great,” Beal said. “But you always want to win more.”

Wednesday, Feb. 15:
Ted Forrest was shortstacked and unable to gain momentum. It wasn’t long before his chip racks were empty.

The Corporation had depleted their $10 million bankroll and the game was over, for now. They dusted themselves off and prepared for the L.A. Poker Classic, to commence on Thursday in California.

The Corporation still holds a net gain over the course of several years, but Beal came closer to evening the score and made a reputable comeback.

Partypoker Platform Changes

Partypoker has announced a few player friendly site changes to the lobby section, tournament section, tables, and accounts.

The tournament changes are as follows:

"From now on, Sit-and-Go players will be awarded $2,000 in chips, Multi-Table players will be awarded $3,000 in chips, and "Events" players will receive $5,000 in chips. Sit-and-Go levels are now based on time, not on hands played, and entry fees for all tournament events have been included in the buy-in".

The changes that were made to the Partypoker Lobby are:

"The Lobby at PartyPoker.com has been updated to display a player's available cash and PartyPoints balances. Games will be listed by blinds instead of by the maximum buy-in. Cash games have been split into No-Limit, Pot-Limit, and Limit, while tournaments are divided into groups for easier navigation. In addition, the news ticker has been made more prominent, tables are named instead of numbered, hands per hour are displayed, and filters are available to narrow down table choices".

I'm sure these changes will most definitely help out your online poker playing experience. This humble poker blog is here to help you keep up to dates with the poker world so keep on checking it out as you will learn something new every time you visit.

Until your next pokerparty don't forget to use the Partypoker bonus code 20BR.

Andy Beal vs. The Corporation, Partypoker solidifies itself as the Online Poker Giant, and more

2006-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

Party Gaming the company that owns Partypoker has finally ended its dispute with Empire Poker and they have officially taken over the Empire Poker Brand. Party Gaming purchased the company for a quiet $250 Million dollars. This purchase/take over will further solidify the strength of this company in the online poker world. At the present time there have been no announcements made as to what Partypoker is going to do with Empire Poker but it is widely assumed the two will just consolidate into one brand. Stay tuned for further developments on this story.

Don't forget to support your favorite blog and use the bonus code 20BR at Party Poker.

~~

Thanks to Bluff Magazine for the update on the Andy Beal vs. The Corporation. Here is a little excerpt from this past Sunday's Events:

"Andy Beal Had a HUGE day at the tables. Play resumed today, at 11PST. I guess last week was just a lead in, because there were fire works today. From the looks of things Jennifer was playing very agressively all day, and Andy countered that agression with a relentless attack of his own. There were many more showdowns, and heavily contested pots.

With both sides starting with 4 racks (10 million) It looked like Andy Beal has erased his loss from last week, and pulled ahead. Word is that, Andy while ahead all day, finsihed the day up almost 2 Racks, or 5 Million dollars. Jennifer battled back from being down most of the day, but everytime she was ready to pull even, Andy would find a way to win a big pot. It seems to me this was by far the most spirited match of the 6 days of play.

In Attendance were some familiar faces. David Grey, Johnny Chan, Minh Ly were all in the room for some parts of the match. Also making his first appearance at Wynn, was none other than the man himself Doyle Brunson.

Doyle Brunson will be playing Andy Beal tomorrow morning!!"

Finally some insight being brought to us on some of the big games. I mentioned yesterday how Andy Beal had packed it in for five days and now he is back and by the looks of it he is back in a big way. I'll keep my ear to the ground and as soon as I hear more info on Beal vs. Corporation games I'll let you all know.

Well that's all for now but thanks for checking me out and don't forget the next time you fire up a PokerParty to use the bonus code 20BR at Partypoker.

Bodog.com introduces new poker show

2006-02-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

Bodog.com has stepped up as the latest online poker company to start up a new television reality series. This series titled "Are you the Next Poker Superstar" will begin March 4-11. The CEO of Bodog.com Calvin Ayre will host the six-episode show from his luxurious Central American estate, called the Bodog Compound, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

This is how the show is going to go:

"The poker TV series will present the journey of 40 individuals – 10 celebrities, 10 poker professionals, and 20 Bodog.com poker players – as they compete for a $500,000 grand prize. Every episode will feature a poker game, where the winner will take the US $50,000 first place prize and a spot at the sixth and final table for a chance to win the $500,000 grand prize".

Sounds like it should be pretty entertaining but ya never know how this will fare as there have been numerous attempts by various companies to grab the poker spotlight and they have come up empty. So we will have to wait and see on this one.

So if you are serious about taking your game and Pokerparty to the next level than you can sign up for this show at Bodog.com. Remember if you are a fan of online poker don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR at Partypoker.

~~

Now back to the on again off again drama of poker player Andy Beal. It was confirmed a little over a week and a half ago that Andy Beal had packed up his poker chips and his poker career was done. Well just like many before him he didn't last too long being out of the game well make that five days he was done for and he has landed back in Vegas and he is stationed at the Wynn playing for the big time cash he has been accustomed to playing. You wonder what goes through these guys minds when they say they are done with poker and then not even a week goes by and he's back. Is it the addiction or is it the pride factor. You really have to wonder what these guys think about? Well good luck to Andy Beal as I'm sure he'll be alright as he is one hell of a poker player.

~~

Who is getting ready to board the Party Poker Million V cruise ship and compete for thousands and thousands of dollars. The guys at partypoker come up with the ultimate ideas for prizes and such, even though the partypoker Million cruise has been going on for awhile what a great idea. Imagine playing poker on an unbelievable cruise ship for seven days like Christ sign me up. I'm all for poker but who's kidding who here get me on that bloody cruise ship. Especially with the coldness that's been in my neck of the woods of late, please partypoker hook a brother up. Anyways if you guys are looking for some poker, good weather, and a rockin good time check out the qualifiers and get your ass on board the almighty cruise.

I truly feel that it must be hard for these other online poker companies to compete with the likes of partypoker, FullTiltPoker, Ultimate Bet, and Poker Stars. I mean those are no doubt the three giants and I just don't get how the others are able to even stay close to these guys. Especially with the prizes and the tournaments that these guys offer, they are above and beyond and i'm going to say PartyPoker.com is the leader of the pack.

Thanks for checking out the Kid's blog and don't forget the bonus code 20BR for your PokerParty at Partypoker.

Later.

One big PokerParty

2006-02-10T07:12:00.000-08:00

The World Poker Tour is at it again as they continue to expand their huge corporation. "The WPTE introduced its new Events division and the hiring of two powerhouses in the event industry. The new Events division will now be offering corporations, meeting planners, charitable organizations and a host of other businesses, professional, top-flight, poker events". These guys are looking to dominate the poker world and they are already well on their way as this poker phenomenon continues to lead the way.

"This is the design of the new proposed MGM City Centre"

For those Vegas fans and the Lord knows I'm one of the biggest, there is news that the MGM city center has increased their budget to $7 billion dollars to create the ultimate city centre. This project is going to turn this empire into a 66 acre masterpiece. When all is said and done this place is going to be the largest privately financed development in all of America. The City Centre will be larger than New York City's Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and SoHo combined. Now that is huge! This structure is aimed to be ready in 2009 and I can't wait to see it. I can only imagine what Vegas is going to be like in ten years from now.

For all those fans of the Heads up Poker Challenge that was on NBC last year well get ready cause they are coming back with it. I was a huge fan of this format and I am pretty stoked about it. The tapings for this show are set for March 4,5,and 6th. They will air the event again on NBC for six sundays in a row starting on April 16th. This folks is a Pokerparty you do not want to miss.

Thanks for checkin out my blog and keep on checking me out for your PokerParty updates. Oh yeah don't forget the bonus code 20BR for party poker.

Mr. Anonymous I'm Calling you out Biatch

2006-02-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Alright here we go! The Bus rolls into Detroit and "Git's r done". That's for my anonymous buddy from the good ol USofA. I love guys like this who decide to sign up as an anonymous person and then go off in your blog comment section. You know what these guys are fucking ass clowns cause they are scared as hell to show there face for what they write. You know what I write blogs and this blog in particular cause I love to write, I have opinions and this is a great way for a person to just rant and write in an open forum. To have an ass clown like this guy criticize me and my knowledge go for it, but I'd love for you to say it to my face (or sign in so I can check your sorry ass writing skills out) and call me a Canadian sucker or whatever you want. I don't mind at all calling him an American Ass Clown because (A) he is one and (B) I have balls and he knows where to find the Kid, and the Kid will rock his ass like Lidell rocks Couture's ass. Oh wait, now he's probably going to complain that Couture slipped and that's the only reason why Lidell beat him. Hahahaha. I hope this goof comes back cause I'd love to have more chats with this Ass Clown (see if he wants to go a few rounds in the Octagon, it would be embarassing how much of an ass whooping he'd take but it would be fun). One more thing to our Seahawks fan: The Steelers Win, The Steelers Win and the Bus is going to Disney World and the Seahawks get to go home and wine about having to beat the refs. Hahahaha. Go play some online poker and have yourself a solo poker party since you probably have let me think zero buddies to hang with. As one wrestling legend used to say "That's the bottom line cause The Kid Said so", now Beat it!

"I guess your right Mr. Anonymous the Bus and the Steelers didn't Git R Done"

~~

Fo Shizzle Dizzle my Nizzle! The D.O. double G is staging his own poker tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of two million dollars. The Event is called the $2 Million dollar Rappers challenge, and this tourney is going to take place on The Big Easy which is a casino boat. The tournament buy-in is fifteen grand and along with the buy-in you get a room and an airline ticket, now that's not........ it's not....... Too Brad! Snoop and his peeps are guaranteeing that there will be atleast two rappers/celebrities at each table. The best thing about this tourney is probably going to be the party before the tourney. This is one Pokerparty I want to check out!

"Snoop thinks they Git R Done, how about you Mr. Anonymous"

Thanks for checkin out the kid's blog and don't forget the bonus code 20BR for your next pokerparty. I hope you come back too Mr. Anonymous!

Pokerparty vs. Super Bowl Party

2006-02-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's official the Bus rode into Detroit with one thing in mind and he and his teamates "Git r Done". What a game and what a year for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With living in Canada we were unable to see some of the new commercials that debuted in last nights Superbowl but I don't think there is as much hype or great commercials as what there used to be. I used to love seeing the new budweiser commercials. Those things were fucking hilarious. The Wassup guys were hysterical. I'm sure there were some good ones I'm not saying that I'm just thinking that the hype is not at the height it once used to be at.

~~

You are Canadian When:

You understand the phrase "Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield."

- I know some of the American crew are like what the fuck is poutine, well it might not be what you think it is, but y'all need to try it out, that shit rocks.

You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.

- Yeah cause the last time I checked the bar is made out of chocolate not candy. God! Idiots!

You drink Pop, not Soda.

-Damn Straight!

You know that a Mickey and 2-4's mean, "party at the camp, eh!!!"

You don't care about the fuss with Cuba. It's a cheap place to go for your holidays, with good cigars and no Americans.

You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.

You drive on a highway, not a freeway.

You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.

You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.

You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.

You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion, Michael J. Fox, John Candy, William Shatner, Tom Green, Matthew Perry, Mike Myers, Neve Campbell, Pamela Anderson Lee & many more, are Canadians.

- Oh and don't forget about Steve Nash, the best point guard in the world baby! We proud of our boyz!

You know that the CEO of American Airlines is a Canadian.

You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

- not soo much, here we go again, like it doesn't snow in fucking buffalo or minnesota. Last time I checked that's in America Biatches.

You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced "Zed".

Your local newspaper covers national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.

You know that the four seasons mean: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road work.

- Again enough with the winter jokes. Maybe its time to come up with something new on us Canadians.

You know that when it's 25 degrees outside, it's a warm day.

You understand the Labatt Blue commercials.

You perk up when you hear the theme song from 'Hockey Night in Canada'.

You are in grade 12, not the 12th grade.

"Eh?" is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite than, "Huh?"

You say "aboot" instead of "about"

Your Beer Case handles Are Big Enough To Fit Your Mitts

When you own 5 pairs of hockey skates and only one pair of shoes.

You know that we don't all live in igloos and ride polar bears to work.

Every murder is reported.

You can understand Jean Chrétien (most of the time, anyway)

You froze your tongue to something metal and survived to tell about it.

~~

I love being canadian and it's fun to see how others perceive us, but sometimes I do get very pissed at the things that comes out of peoples mouths. One thing I hate is how athletes (especially basketball players) perceive playing in our hometown of Toronto. Ya know what come to Toronto and see what it's all about before you diss it. I'd love to live in LA as well but I can't deal with all of the stuck up son of a bitches. Toronto is a fucking unbelievable city and if you have never been here before come check it out, then you can determine whether you like it or not. I'll guarantee you one thing, there will be more people who like it than dislike it. That's because its one of the greatest cities in the world baby!

Don't forget to use the bonus code 20BR for the next time you are having a PokerParty.