24 September, 2008
Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Bodog, and Doyle’s Room – 4 of online poker’s biggest and most popular poker rooms are at risk of losing ownership of their own names, as the governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, masterminds what’s being called a “hostile takeover” of the sites in order to protect his state’s thoroughbred horseracing, charitable gaming, and lottery interests.
The total list of online poker rooms that the Democratic governor hopes to remand to government control, according to the Franklin County Court civil suit he filed, amounts to 141 poker sites. Others include:
• Cake Poker
• Ultimate Bet
• Absolute Poker
• Microgaming
The state charges that these sites are in violation of the law by offering their gaming services to its residents. Rumor circulating the web currently is that if Beshear is successful in his aims, he intends to shut down said sites. Whatever he does with ownership of these popular domains, though, if this passes it will no doubt come as a huge blow to the online poker industry.
15 September, 2008
Doyle’s Room, the official poker site of the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson, has attracted several other big name poker celebrities into its midst over the years, and now it’s about to welcome another – only this one isn’t famous for his card playing skills at all, though it is his ferocious competitiveness that made his name a household word.
It’s Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer who lived up to his promise of collecting 8 Gold medals in this year’s games, bringing his Gold Medal count now up to 14. And apparently swimming isn’t the only sport he’s been practicing to near-obsessive proportions this year. It seems Doyle Brunson himself and son Todd Brunson, another poker star in his own right, have been training Phelps in the ins and outs of the game, preparing him to excel as much at the online poker tables as he does in the water.
So far, so good for the pro online poker novice, as Phelps has already won his first big poker prize. Albeit not a tournament, he has nonetheless won the honor being named by Gambling911 as the Sexiest Professional Poker Player of the year.
Doyle’s Room gives its players a unique opportunity to try and beat this unbeatable champion on more even ground.
11 September, 2008
PokerSense.com is a comprehensive resource for online poker players and enthusiasts who want to make the most of their internet poker experience. More than just an online poker resource, PokerSense.com is an online community for people interested in all aspects of the game – from how to play poker to where to play poker online for the best returns to who are the latest poker players to beat.
For newbies to the whole online poker scene, Poker Sense teaches you all the ins and outs of how to play poker and win. Learn the poker rules for Texas Holdem, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and others.
Study a comprehensive selection of poker site reviews, each giving a thorough rundown of each site’s benefits and drawbacks. A look at the Everest Poker review, for example, will show you that the maximum sign up bonus has just been doubled from $100 to $200, that around 7,000 can be found at the tables during peak hours, that Everest Poker was first multilingual poker room online, that there’s a great online poker tutorial equipped with interactive AI opponents, as well as they don’t offer a loyalty program, don’t offer telephone support, and don’t accept US players.
Once you’re ready to play poker, Poker Sense keeps tabs on all the most current online poker tournaments running (at the time of this writing the PokerStars WCOOP - World Championship of Online Poker) – from scheduling and how to enter to ongoing results updates. In terms of scheduling, PokerSense.com provides its visitors a fully searchable interface for finding the online poker tournaments that are right for you. Search by Poker Room, Game, Limit, Prize Pool, or Buy-In. You’ll even be able to stay abreast of every possible satellite tournament offering an opportunity to win a seat in WSOP (World Series of Poker), WPT (World Poker Tour), EPT (European Poker Tour) land-based events.
And it’s the same thing for freerolls – review a full calendar of the new big money freerolls happening, and review them by date and time or a selection of sortable criteria. Plus, beside each event listed is a link that will take you directly to the page of the given poker room where you can sign up to play.
PokerSense even has something to offer for when you feel like taking a break from playing poker, because PokerSense stays on top of all the latest internet poker news reports, Stay in-the-know on all the goings on in the online poker industry (including legal updates on the UIEGA and US poker sites) and at the various major (and minor) poker sites (like Everest Poker, PokerStars, and FullTilt Poker).
Rounding out PokerSense.com’s offerings is a poker school, a rundown of the best poker bonus offers currently going, poker strategy guides, reviews of poker books on the market, a bios of some of the most revered professional poker players today.
10 September, 2008
Online poker room PKR Poker announced today that they have just welcomed their 2 millionth player to their poker tables. A relatively fledgling poker site by industry standards, within 1 year of first launching in 2006, PKR Poker signed up its 1 millionth member. Now, just 1 year thereafter, they’ve doubled that remarkable feat.
Part of PKR Poker’s skyrocketing success comes from its unique characteristic of being a 3D poker room. Running its own proprietary poker software, PKR Poker features true-to-life avatars animated by an Emote Control System (ECS) that gives them behaviors and mannerisms unheard of in other poker rooms. And players victorious in certain tournaments can even add more creative versatility to their avatars.
This all in spite of the fact that, unlike the internet’s two leading poker rooms - Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars - PKR Poker does not accept players from the United States, making its accomplishment even more impressive.
4 September, 2008
In the next parlay about illegal online poker in the U.S., a new bill comes before congress to “clarify” the much-loathed and unenforceably vague UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). Introduced by Republican Congressman Pete Sessions, HR 6663 may or may not benefit US online poker players. Unfortunately the jury is still out on that one (and arguing vociferously).
On the Pro-HR 6663 side, analysts assert that it:
• clarifies the law as applying solely to US-operated online sports books (the unspoken presumption being the online poker rooms are exempt from its restrictions);
• protects sites like Pacific Poker and PartyPoker and the US players they accepted (and still retain) before the UIGEA was instituted in October 2006.
On the Anti-HR 6663 side, analysts argue that the bill will never pass as the UIGEA was most definitely intended to control online casino-style gambling (including online poker) as well as sportsbetting. (Decrying that, unfortunately, “clarifying” and “redefining” are not the same thing).
Will the lack of support from the Poker Players Alliance help or hinder the passage of HR 6663? And what will the repercussions of either be on US internet poker players? Our representatives in Washington are still figuring that out.
25 August, 2008
Michael Schwaiger is one happy guy.
He gets to go to South Africa to compete in the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament, and he doesn’t even have to pay for it. What’s more, he’s also got his own seat in the Titan Poker $2.5 Million Guaranteed Tournament (the online poker room’s biggest ever).
The 21-year-old, Austrian online poker player achieved this great accomplishment by winning two Titan Poker satellite tournaments after having played there for only 8 months.
The $10,000 Sun City Million Dollar Tournament prize package includes buy-in to the tournament and $2,500 for flights there and back, and accommodations at the Palace of the Lost City Hotel for 7 nights.
The Titan Poker $2.5 million guaranteed tournament takes place on September 7 at 7 pm GMT + 1. And it’s still not to late to claim your seat. There are 2 ways to enter:
- Pay the $1,580 buy-in
- Qualify in a satellite tournament like Michael Schwaiger did for as low a buy-in as $2.75 + $0.20
18 August, 2008
In an obvious effort to attract new players, Cake Poker has just increased the guarantees it offers in its Guaranteed Prize Pool tournaments.
The weekly Sunday Guaranteed tournament will now be raised to $25,000.
The Gold Card Tournament is now at $100,000. It has also been rescheduled to a more convenient time slot, that being 5 pm ET.
And the big guaranteed tournament held on the last Sunday of the month now sports a $250,000 prize pool. The first of these will be held on August 31 at5 pm ET.
This is just the latest of Cake Poker’s gambles to rise above the relative anonymity of most poker rooms in an industry inundated with competition, as little-known Cake Poker is nonetheless renowned for:
- soft players
- a generous 33% rakeback deal
- big bonuses
And, quite possibly the best appeal of all, Cake Poker is a US-friendly online poker room.
11 August, 2008
They may not be snatching bodies, but they could be snatching up your chances to legitimately win some pots. They’re poker bots, and one look at the online poker news of the day will show that they’re the scourge of the game.
Programs that aid players in improving and fine-tuning their poker playing skills is one thing. But these new programs are being designed and used to actually play the game for you and beat out your human opponents with surprising consistency.
But while this certainly sounds appealing for people’s wallets, its ethics are questionable (at best) and its increasing prominence at the online poker table is widespread enough that it’s starting to turn many players off to the game. If this trend continues, it bodes poorly for the entire industry as it will surely herald the shutting down of many poker rooms stricken by the sudden and rapid decline in their player base.
If using poker bots sounds appealing to you, watch out - because they’re officially banned at pretty much all online poker rooms. The big problem these sites face, however, is in enforcing that rule, due to the near-impossibility of distinguishing a human player from a poker bot in the eminently anonymous world of online poker.
What’s to come? How are online poker rooms to battle this spreading enemy? And what do you think of the growing threat?
6 August, 2008
Today, Wednesday August 6, FullTilt Poker launches its 2008 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), one of the esteemed poker room’s most eagerly-anticipated annual events and a favorite with all its loyal online poker players.
This is the 9th installment of the FTOPS, and promises to dole out $15 million in cash winnings, spread out over a total of 25 nail-biting events.
Tonight’s kickoff tournament – a $200 + $16 No Limit Texas Holdem freezeout tournament – promises a cool 1 million to the winner. It begins at 9:30 pm ET and has Team FullTilt Poker pro Allen Cunningham hosting. And that’s just to get things started.
The 2008 FTOPS runs through August 17, all leading up to the $2.5 Million Guaranteed Main Event.
There are two ways to enter the FTOPS IX:
- pay the buy-in
- win a free seat in any of Full Tilt’s many FTOPS satellite tournaments scheduled up until the main event
Find out who was the FTOPS IX Main Event Winner.
28 July, 2008
Two online poker leaders owned and operated by the same parent organization, Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, have merged to form the Cereus Poker Network, making them the third-largest online poker network worldwide.
Expected to launch in August, the Cereus Network will integrate the players and gaming platforms from both online poker rooms. The tournament lineup, currently being reorganized by UltimateBet poker star Annie Duke, will be the same for both sites.
This move is in part an effort to rebuild both sites’ good names as their reputation suffered serious blows from cheating scandal allegations making headlines throughout the previous year. The integration of the two sites is also an effort to compete with the reigning King and Queen of online poker rooms – PokerStars and FullTilt Poker.
Of course, if Team UltimateBet and AbsolutePoker really want to compete with Poker Stars and Full Tilt, though, what they need to do is match those sites’ commitment to accepting U.S. players. That, along with the creation of the Cereus Poker Network, should be enough to take them over the top.