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BLACK FRIDAY INDICTED COMPANIES GET EXTENSION
2012-02-13
The latest extension notes: "Full Tilt is in settlement discussions with the United States and has requested additional time to answer or otherwise respond to the Amended Complaint.”
March 19th the new response deadline on amended DoJ complaint
After yet another in a series of deadline extensions, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, and Full Tilt Poker now have until March 19, 2012, to respond to the DoJ's Black Friday amended complaint.
What to Chose when Playing Online Poker Games
2011-02-08
Poker is one of the most popular games at casinos. And the launch of online casinos was obviously accompanied by a significant increase in the number of poker players, around the globe.
The heightened popularity of online poker games can be attributed to the number of options that it offers, to suit any and every kind of poker player. Whether an amateur wants to play a free “ring” game or a professional wants place a high stake at a tournament; whether one wants to play with a single opponent or with a few players from around the world. Online poker has it all. Moreover, the convenient availability of Internet facility allows you to play online poker games from the location of your choice; as well as at the time of your choice.
Apart from the above-mentioned factors, online poker also owes its popularity to the wide range of variations of the games, and sub variations thereon, that it offers. People who play online poker games will unanimously choose Texas Hold’em Poker as their favorite variant of the game. It involves dealing of 2 hidden “hole” cards and 5 cards that are on display. Based on the betting rules, this game further offers 3 sub-variations. The Limit Texas Hold’em is the variant in which the betting limit of each round is fixed. Then, there is a No-Limit Texas Hold’em, which has absolutely no restriction on the upper or lower limit of the bets placed. Finally there is a Pot Limit variant in which the amount that a player can bet can fall anywhere between the minimum bet size and the size of the pot. Overall this is an action packed game and involves a lot of strategy and skill.
Another action packed online poker game is Omaha. It is a game quite similar to the Hold’em except for one major difference i.e. the hole cards that a player is dealt with are four in number, unlike in Hold’em, where they are two in number. One of two sub-variants of Omaha is the Omaha Hi. In this particular variant, the high hand (comprising 2 hole cards and 3 board cards) wins the pot. However, in Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8), the pot is split between the highest hand holder and lowest hand holder; only if the low hand qualifies. In case, the low hand doesn’t qualify, the holder of highest hand takes the pot.
The third most common form of poker is the Seven Card Stud Poker. This game is most preferred by the poker traditionalists. It is a game that involves memory, strategy as well as skill. In this, every player is dealt with 3 cards (1 hole and 1 up card). After 3 more betting rounds, involving dealing of 1 card each time, a final down card and a betting round follow. In its sub-variant, the Seven Card Stud Hi, the player with the best (5) hand wins the pot, straight up.
Another of its variant is the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. It is exactly the same as the Seven Card Stud Hi, leave for one point of difference. Similar to the Omaha Hi-Lo, the pot is split between 2 players i.e. the one with the highest hand and the other with the lowest hand; on the condition that it qualifies. As in the case of Omaha, if the lowest hand doesn’t happen to qualify, the player with the highest hand wins the pot.
Razz is one other, part variant of the Seven Card Stud. It is actually a reverse of the game. Unlike in the Seven Card Stud, where the highest hand wins, the winner of Razz is the player with the lowest hand.
If you like to play online poker games, you might also want to try its other forms including Pineapple, Video poker, Triple Draw or perhaps Five Card Draw.
Head over to the home of online casino games Sportsbook.com’s Casino, the fastest growing casino for USA players today.
HARRY REID - ONSIDE FOR ONLINE POKER?
2010-12-04
Nevada Democrat is a key figure in legalising online poker in the United States
Contradictory views on where the influential Nevada Senator Harry Reid stands on internet gambling have abounded in recent months (see previous InfoPowa bulletins), but this week the Wall Street Journal reports the encouraging news that the veteran Democrat appears to be supporting legalised online poker at the very least.
The respected business journal claims that staffers for Reid, who is the Senate Majority Leader in Congress, are circulating a bill to legalise poker playing on the Internet....and that the proposal is backed by major US land casino interests.
"The Nevada casino companies pushing the measure were among the Democrat's biggest donors during his fierce re-election fight," the WSJ claims. "They argue the bill would provide consumer protection for poker players and would provide some tax revenue for federal and state governments."
Apparently the Reid initiative elicited an almost immediate and negative Republican reaction, with three Representatives headed by arch-online gambling opponent Spencer Bachus of Alabama writing to Senator Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposing any attempt to push internet gambling legalisation through Congress in the limited time that remains for the 2010 Congress - the so-called "lame duck" window as Congress winds down for the year.
Bachus is the ranking Republican member of the House Finanacial Services Committee.
Approached by the Wall Street Journal for comment, a spokesman for Senator Reid declined to make a statement. The Senator is known for playing his cards close to his chest, and in the past has opposed online gambling. However, WSJ sources say that Reid now favours legalising internet poker and could be planning on attaching his proposal to another and not necessarily related bill in order to get it through the current Congress...a stratagem used to pass the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act back in October 2006.
Despite the lack of official comment, the Wall Street Journal has obtained access to a draft of the new Reid proposal, which it reports carries language that would allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes, which could limit the ability of other companies to enter the market or compete in the United States market.
There is also apparently provision to outsource oversight to individual state regulators, another move supported by existing land casinos that do not want to see the federal government become overly involved in regulating the industry. Tax would go to both state and federal governments.
One land casino spokesman, Alan Feldman of MGM Resorts International, voiced the hope that a bill such as that reported could be rushed through in the last remaining weeks of Congress, noting that "....a lot of things happen in this kind of time frame."
In a similar report, the Bloomberg news agency says that the letter to Reid from Bachus and two other Republican Representatives objects to "a secretive, closed-door, undemocratic” effort in the Senate to pass legislation that would legalise and tax some Internet gambling before Congress adjourns this year.
Bloomberg identifies Bachus's supporters as Representatives Dave Camp (Michigan) and Lamar Smith (Texas), both likely to be committee chairmen with oversight of online gambling when Republicans take control of the House in January. The trio said they have learned that the Senate may attach a measure to “must-pass” legislation during the current lame-duck session.
“Creating a federal right to gamble that has never existed in our country’s history and imposing an unprecedented new tax regime on such activity requires careful deliberation, not back- room deals,” the lawmakers said in their December 1 letter to Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“We also are concerned that this new rush to embrace Internet casino gambling might be partially motivated by one of the gravest sins that afflicts this Congress: desperation for more tax dollars to pay for ever-increasing federal spending,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
The House Financial Services Committee has already passed Congressman Barney Frank's extensively amended proposal to legalise online gambling, although the bill has not thus far progressed any further.
Bloomberg reports that following the Republican victory in the House of Representatives mid term elections, Bachus, Camp and Smith are in line to be chairmen of the Financial Services Committee, the Ways and Means Committee and the Judiciary Committee, respectively. Each panel would have some jurisdiction over the measure.
BRIT PLAYER NARROWLY MISSES ANOTHER WSOP BRACELET (Update)
2010-06-16
And still no gold for Dwan
Day 19 saw another action-packed session at the 41st World Series of Poker as new bracelets were won and fresh events kicked off, with UK player James Dempsey narrowly missing his second bracelet and serial side better Tom Dwan still hunting for his first.
By the completion of Day 3 play around 9pm Vegas time Tuesday in event 24, a $1,000 No-limit Hold'em competition, a final table had been formed from the nine survivors of an original field of 3,289, with JD McNamara holding the lead on 2,393,000 ahead of Kiet Tran Tuan (2,311,000) and Blake Kelso (1,166,000).
Other members of the final table, which will play to a conclusion on Day 4, were John Tolbert, David Cai, Denis Murphy, Greg Pohler, Michael Gross and Jeffrey Tebben.
The event saw 512 players start Day 2 (see previous InfoPowa report) but only 30 of them lasted through to the start of Day 3. Casualties along the way included a multi-tournamenting Tom Dwan and UK female ace Liv Boeree.
Poker pro Sammy Farha was jubilant as he achieved his third WSOP bracelet after a 16 hour final table jam-packed with top players in event 25 – the $10 000 buy-in Omaha/8 contest. Four hours of the final table were taken up in the tough heads up struggle with never-say-die Brit player James Dempsey, whose pursuit of a second bracelet ended in a runner-up prize of $301,790.
Farha put on a masterful display of discipline and talent in besting the skilled and determined Dempsey before the contest ended in his $488,237 victory at 7am in the morning.
In event 26 – the $2.500 buy-in NLHE/Six Handed competition, Day 1 saw a total of 1 245 players start out, with only 156 of them making it into Day 2. Among the survivors were Daniel Negreanu, Jeff Shulman, Annette Obrestad, Jerry Yang and Amnon Filippi.
Less fortunate and crashing out on Day 1 were names like Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth.
With only thirty positions to last before the money bubble, Day 2 got off to a brisk start Tuesday afternoon with William Haydon as chip leader with 179,300 chips, followed by Luigi Caramatti (171,400), Timothy Begley (167,700) and Erik Cajelais (163,000).
By midnight Tuesday names like Annette Obrestad, Marco Traniello, former WSOP champ Jerry Yang and Steve Billirakis had all been eliminated, and the field was down to just 18 players, led by Taurean Davis on 810,000, chased by William Haydon (760,000) and Martins Adeniya (760,000).
644 contestants faced off in event 27, a $1 500 buy-in Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better competition which attracted well known players like Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Haschem, Mike Sexton and recent stud bracelet winner Men the Master Nguyen.
The money bubble was set at position 64, and with plenty of side bets between the pros there was a definite buzz as the cards hit the air. By the end of Day 1, Odette Tremblay led the field and the money had still not been reached, with 196 players bagging up for another day of action Tuesday. Howard Lederer was not among them, having busted out in Day 1, but Tom Dwan was still in the hunt as Day 2 started.
Other top pros still alive included Jeff Lisandro, John Juanda, and Marcel Luske.
By 10.30pm Tuesday night Vegas time there were still 51 players fighting it out at level 15, with Kevin MacPhee holding the chip lead. Odette Tremblay was further down the field, as was Phil Ivey and Annie Duke. Notable departures were John Juanda and 2002 WSOP main event winner Robert Varkonyi.
Midday Tuesday saw the start of event 28, a $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha competition. This year’s entry field was some 160 players larger than last year at 596 and included Erik Seidel, Lee Watkinson, Michael Binger, Joe Sebok, Robert Williamson III, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, T.J. Cloutier, Kirill Gerasimov, Mike Sexton, Scotty Nguyen, Jonathan Little, Andy Black, Scott Seiver and Tom Schneider.
By 11pm Vegas time Tuesday level 10 had been reached and 124 survivors were still battling it out, with Eric Rabl holding a slim lead over Brit star Richard Ashby and Norman Collingsworth somewhat further back.
Departures in Day 1 included Chip Jett, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Nam Le, Eric Baldwin, Mike Beasley, Vivek Rajkumar, Sigi Stockinger and Jason DeWitt.
Event 29 is another world championship contest and started at 5pm Vegas time Tuesday. The event is a $10 000 buy-in Limit Hold'Em competition and attracted a starter field of 171 - lower than last year’s field.
Seen taking their seats were Erick Lindgren, Barry Shulman, Nikolay Evdakov, Doyle Brunson, Mike Mizrachi, Shaun Deeb, Eli Elezra, Vitaly Lunkin, Phil Hellmuth, Vanessa Rousso, Isaac Haxton, John Monnette, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Alex Kravchenko, Carlos Mortensen and Greg Mueller.
By 11pm Tuesday, Day 1 play had reached level 6 with 166 players still very much in the running, led by Shaun Deeb on 79,000, pursued by Michael Mizrachi (60,000), Jameson Painter (58,100) and the legendary Doyle Brunson (54,500).
Departures included Liz Liu, Nikolay Evdakov, Noah Boeken, Howard Lederer and Soheil Shamseddin.
CALIFORNIA TRIBES OPPOSE LEGALISED ONLINE POKER (Update)
2010-02-09
Nine tribes tell state government "no deal."
Nine tribes in California notified the state government Monday of their opposition to proposed intrastate Internet poker, reports the Desert Sun newspaper, which has been monioring developments on the issue.
The tribes sent a joint letter to members of the Senate Governmental Organisation committee a day before its informational hearing on the proposed online poker initiative from card club interests and tribes that include the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
“We are writing to clearly state our strong opposition,’’ the notification says, rejecting arguments that legalised intrastate poker would financially benefit the state. Opposition tribes called it an “ill-conceived” proposal with fundamental flaws, among them the potential risk to exclusivity provisions for tribes that negotiated new or revised Indian gaming compacts with the state of California.
Signing the letter were tribal chairs of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians near Temecula; Jackson Rancheria of MiWuk Indians; Lytton Band of Pomo Indians; Pala Band of Mission Indians; Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians; Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians; United Auburn Indian Community; and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians.
The Senate Governmental Organization Committee begins an informal hearing today [Tuesday], and many members of land-based casinos will be present. Among those that are scheduled to be heard from are ISP's, tribal leaders, and problem gambling representatives.