PartyPoker Hosts Women’s World Open III
Several of the world’s top female poker pros will take to the felts this Sunday at Three Mills Studios in London, the site of the third PartyPoker Women’s World Open. Three days later, the $3,000 buy-in tournament will crown a champion, who will see her bank account grow by $50,000.
A total of 36 entrants are set to hit the felts, including Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, the champion of the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event in 2007. The youngster battled through a 362 player field two years ago and defeated fellow Betfair pro John “kunku wap” Tabatabai heads-up. Her first place finish was worth £1 million and a coveted gold bracelet. Online, she has multiple wins in the challenging PokerStars $100 rebuy and allegedly won a $4 buy-in 180-man sit and go on PokerStars while only looking at her cards once.
Obrestad will battle against another bracelet winner in the Women’s World Open field, actress Jennifer Tilly. She stormed through the field in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies Event held during the 2005 WSOP, winning $158,000 for her efforts. In the tournament, Tilly dueled against Anh Le heads-up, who has finished as the runner up in the WSOP Ladies tournament in two of the past four years. Sandra Naujoks, who took down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Dortmund stop for $1.2 million, will also take a seat at the Women’s World Open. In the German EPT event, Naujoks bested Holger Kanisch heads-up.
The last running of the Women’s World Open was won by Soraya Homam, who is expected to be in the field this weekend trying to repeat. Stefanie Bergener, May Maceiras, and Eliza Burnett, all of whom reached the final table when the second Women’s World Open played out in October, will return to vie for the title once again. The tournament is played as a six-handed shootout, with each of the winners moving onto the final table. The second place finishers in each heat will then battle for the seventh and final spot at the feature table. Jessie May and Obrestad will provide play-by-play and the tournament can be seen on Five in the United Kingdom later this year. Then, it will be rolled out to a worldwide audience.
The inaugural Women’s World Open took place in August of 2007 in London. In the end, Beverly Pace took home the $50,000 first place prize, defeating Jen Mason heads-up. Also at the final table was Kara Scott, whom ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad ogled over during the broadcast of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Scott took 104th in that tournament, cashing for $41,000. She finished as the runner up in the Irish Open in Dublin last month, pocketing $413,000 in an event won by 2003 World Poker Tour (WPT) Euro Finals of Poker victor Christer Johansson.
PartyPoker’s VIP club, dubbed the Palladium Lounge, sent four qualifiers to the Women’s World Open this weekend. On some of the highlights from the six preliminary heats, a statement from PartyPoker read, “There are certainly some interesting heats lined-up. The opening heat features Annette and Germany’s Christine Klecz, while the second in the afternoon features both Jennifer Tilly and Jen Mason. Heat Five on Wednesday looks to be one of the toughest on paper, however, as it features May Maceiras, who seriously impressed last year with her hyper-aggressive game, as well as Maria Demetriou and Sandra Naujoks.”
Other top female gamers who will head to London include Lynne Beaumont, Maria Demetriou, Jen Mason, Veronique Gordon, Liv Boeree, Cecilia Nordenstram, Kim Wooka, Lise Vigezzi, Colette Murphy, and Agnieska Rylik. Here is a look at how the $108,000 prize pool is divided, with the top six players finishing in the money:
1st Place: $50,000
2nd Place: $22,000
3rd Place: $14,000
4th Place: $10,000
5th Place: $7,000
6th Place: $5,000
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Update on Internet Gambling Legal Battles in Kentucky and Minnesota
With the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) now just one week away, Poker News Daily sat down with Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan to discuss the future of online poker in Kentucky and Minnesota.
iMEGA must file its brief in the Kentucky case by June 1st. The squabble surrounds the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to industry giants PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Brennan told Poker News Daily that iMEGA’s brief will likely be filed before the June 1st deadline and hit the Kentucky Supreme Court’s desk sometime next week. A bevy of amicus briefs have also been submitted from organizations like eBay, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union, Network Solutions, and the Poker Players Alliance. iMEGA’s brief has been completed for two months. Brennan explained the logic in waiting to submit it: “We sat on it because we didn’t feel the need to give Commonwealth attorneys more time than necessary. They’ll get a chance to submit a rebuttal brief.”
In January, the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling and found that the Commonwealth did not have jurisdiction to seize the 141 domain names in question. The case has the potential to set considerable precedence regardless of how the Kentucky Supreme Court rules. On the State’s brief to its highest court, Brennan told Poker News Daily, “In our mind, they’ve broken no new ground. They haven’t strengthened their case at all. They are falling back on same arguments that were unsuccessful at the appellate level: We are bad people, we don’t deserve to be here, and sites don’t deserve to be represented by groups like iMEGA, which is simply an illegal internet gambling association.” If the State’s seizure and forfeiture are successful, the domain names in jeopardy would be inaccessible not only in Kentucky, but also around the world.
In Minnesota, the deadline is looming for 11 internet service providers (ISPs) to respond to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The government entity mandated that ISPs block access to 200 internet gambling domains, although not all of the sites in question accept customers from the United States. Brennan updated Poker News Daily readers on whether any ISP has responded: “Every one we’ve spoken to agrees that Minnesota lacks jurisdiction and authority under the Wire Act. At this time, they’re not going to reply.” iMEGA’s legal team has had extensive conversations with the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, which has agreed not to force responses from ISPs in the near future.
Brennan noted that discussions with the Attorney General’s office and Department of Public Safety in Minnesota have been anything but hostile: “They’ve acknowledged that there is some contention and they seem to be interested in getting things right. While we’re still on the other side of a contentious issue, they’ve behaved reasonably and professionally.” Brennan noted that John Willems, Director of the Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, has likely never handled a high-profile internet case before. However, upon hearing that 200 sites may be censored, “the opposition moved at internet speed.”
No strict timeline has been given as to when we may see further developments in Minnesota. Two weeks ago, iMEGA filed a lawsuit against Willems in his capacity as head of the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division. However, the organization is not rushing to seek a court order preventing a potential blockage from going into effect. Brennan explained, “We’re not all running to get in front of a Federal judge. Both sides will take a look at this and act in a reasonable timeline.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Kentucky and Minnesota.
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Chris Wallace (Fox) Interview with Poker News Daily
Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?
Wallace: I needed a distraction in my life. I needed something to focus on. When I learn things, I get very into them. I was working with exotic hardwoods and developed an allergy to them that was going to kill me if I didn’t stop, so my career was over. My marriage was over and I needed something to distract me. Poker was a good thing. I had a friend, Adam Stemple, who goes by the name “Hatfield.” He had been playing semi-pro for 20 years and I had been playing blackjack for 10 years. He said I should try poker and sold me on the idea. He loaned me a couple of books and, a week later, I had 20 books and five notebooks trying to learn the game.
PND: You’re an instructor at PokerXFactor. What separates it from other poker training sites like it in the industry?
Wallace: It’s a tough industry. It’s like the “Cola Wars” for poker training sites right now. Everybody is starting a poker training site. The tournament roster at PokerXFactor is incredible. The technology that they have available is incredible. When I ran my own site, we were a little two man operation and didn’t really put a lot of money into it. While we were good teachers, we didn’t have a lot of technology. Now, I use the PokerXFactor Replayer with all of my students. I load their hand histories into the Replayer before we start a lesson. Then, we can look through them and talk about hands.
The constant adding of technology is also big. You can watch a hand in the Replayer, stop it, and then add an audio comment. When someone replays the hand, they can hear your comments. Having Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy commenting on your hand histories – it doesn’t get any better than that.
PND: Explain how you become involved with PokerXFactor.
Wallace: I ran my own site. I think we were one of the first poker training sites ever. We were tired of being webmasters and wanted to be poker players. We wanted to teach people poker, but we didn’t want to run a website. It got to be a real pain. We got tired of trying to deal with the technical problems and all of that hassle. We knew that it was going to be the year when everyone was going to start a poker training site. There have to be 100 of them now, at least. We didn’t want to be just another site and we didn’t want to spend a lot of money to compete with the big dogs.
We were looking around trying to decide what to do. I met Scott “Mindwise” Pendergrast from PokerXFactor. He wanted to expand his cash game roster and cash games were what we did. He brought us in and bought our site. We have both primarily done cash game videos. I’m really happy about the way it worked out.
PND: There is a big debate in the poker software industry as to whether PokerTracker or Hold’em Manager is the better program. Which do you prefer and why?
Wallace: I probably hear that question once per day. I even made a video comparing the two on PokerXFactor. They’re remarkably similar. They both took a lot of cues from a lot of modern programming. PokerTracker 3 and Hold’em Manager are a quantum leap from what we’ve had in the past. They’re remarkably better. The two are so similar that it’s tough to pick one.
What I tell everyone is that they both have a free trial where you can run some hands and see how it works on your computer. They were designed on different systems, so some people have bug problems with the Heads-Up Display in PokerTracker 3. People also have problems importing hands. Some people have problems with Hold’em Manager, which doesn’t run on their computer. I tell everyone to download them both because one of them is going to be the most important piece of software that runs on your computer. See which one works better and which one makes the most sense to you.
PND: What advice do you have for newcomers in the game?
Wallace: Study. There are so many resources available to you now. Originally, there were a couple of books. “Super System” was the big one. You could talk to your friends and try to learn the game, which was tough. If you didn’t have any natural talent, you weren’t going to make it. When I got started around 2002, there were a lot of books and I bought them all. I have a huge shelf full of poker books. I studied really hard and, right from the beginning, I was a winning player. The first time I deposited, I was winning. I’ve never had to re-deposit on a site. I’ve only deposited when I try out a new site.
Now, we have an incredible amount of information. Join a training site and become active. Be active in the TwoPlusTwo forums. Be active on PocketFives. Be active on FlopTurnRiver. Become a member of a poker training site and a part of that site’s community. There’s a chat room on PokerXFactor where you can drop by at 3:00am and there may be no one else except for me in there. That means you’re getting a free one-hour lesson with me. If you want to study, there’s so much information out there and the training sites give you such an advantage. I don’t know how people survive without being a member of these training sites.
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WSOP To Offer Players Ability To Help Charities
Over the past five years, poker players have stepped to the forefront for a variety of charitable causes. Online tournaments have raised funds to assist the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other deserving organizations. The Heartland Poker Tour makes contributions to the Disabled American Veterans. There is even an organization – founded by Poker News Daily guest columnist Mike Sexton, tournament directors Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher and philanthropist Lisa Tenner – called Poker Gives, that focuses on using poker to assist in fundraising for charities. Now the World Series of Poker will step up and take poker philanthropy to the next level.
For the first time in its forty year history, the WSOP will offer players who cash during each event on this summer’s schedule the opportunity to donate part of their winnings to an organization that the WSOP has aligned itself with. All that a winning player has to do is to ask the payout clerk to leave one percent of their winnings to the Nevada Cancer Institute and the WSOP will arrange to transfer the funds to the Institute. As with many charitable donations, they are tax-deductible and contributors will receive a letter from NVCI for accounting purposes.
During the run of the tournament schedule, a special VIP lounge will be set up for players who pay a membership fee to be able to use the room. The “Aces Club” will be donating a large portion of each membership taken for access to the room to the Nevada Cancer Institute. As of press time, there are still memberships available and anyone who wishes to access the “Aces Club” should visit the area during the first few days of the WSOP.
One of the most popular fundraisers during the last few years at the World Series has been the “Queens of Heart” that play during the Ladies’ Championship Event. Featuring such players as former WSOP Ladies’ Champion Jennifer Tilly, poker professional Kristy Gazes and actresses Mimi Rogers and Cheryl Hines, the team has raised large amounts of money for women’s causes over the past few years. This year, the WSOP has created a special line of poker clothing for women, available at the Rio and on their website, WSOP Shop. The proceeds from sales of the “Queens of Heart” merchandise will go to the Nevada Cancer Institute, continuing the tradition the team has driven while playing on the felt.
There will be two special charitable tournaments during the run of the WSOP. “Ante Up For Africa” – the cause promoted by actor Don Cheadle and poker professional Annie Duke – will be back for their third annual event. The $5,000 buy in No Limit Hold’em tournament is open to anyone 21 years or older and this year, for the first time, will be a part of the ESPN broadcasts of the WSOP. For the Media Charity Event this year, the players who reach the final table will have donations made in their name to the Nevada Cancer Institute.
Finally, the Championship Event of the World Series will also have a way for players to make their mark in a charitable way. Poker pro Phil Gordon’s charitable cause “Bad Beat On Cancer” and the Nevada Cancer Institute will both benefit from players who donate, much like earlier in the tournament schedule, one percent of their winnings to charity. All contributions are tax deductible and will benefit research into the cure for one of mankind’s worst diseases.
With the WSOP adding in this charitable aspect to their poker schedule, the poker world is once again proving that, while there may be no charity at the poker table, there is a charitable heart inside all who play the game.
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Celebrity Apprentice to Return Mid-Season, Retain 9:00pm ET Time Slot
NBC’s hit reality show, Celebrity Apprentice, will return mid-season in 2010, according to a recent article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. The show’s second season, and eighth overall, saw poker pro Annie Duke reach the finals and square off against comedian Joan Rivers.
The finale of Celebrity Apprentice, which played out on Sunday, May 10th, averaged 8.73 million viewers, according to TV Guide. It ran against stiff competition, as the season finale of CBS’ Amazing Race aired from 8:00pm to 9:00pm ET and drew 10.43 million. Lawyers Tammy and Victor earned the “W” on that show’s 14th installment. Also airing during the first of three hours of the Celebrity Apprentice season finale was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which generated 8.2 million viewers. During the 9:00pm ET hour, the Donald Trump-led reality series had to contend against both Cold Case and Desperate Housewives. The two shows saw 11.78 and 12.13 million viewers, respectively, tune in.
The final hour of Celebrity Apprentice, which included about a half-hour of live programming from New York City, attracted an audience of 10.24 million. It “trumped” the season finales of The Unit and Brothers and Sisters, outdrawing both shows by at least 500,000. Celebrity Apprentice ran during the season from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET, being truncated to one hour on just one occasion, which was for the series premiere of Southland, a drama from the creators of E.R. According to the Tribune, Dateline NBC will occupy the 7:00pm to 8:00pm ET time slot in early 2010. It will be followed by The Marriage Ref, which airs from 8:00pm to 9:00pm ET. Celebrity Apprentice will then be beamed into homes around the country for two hours.
In its Fall 2009 schedule, NBC will air Sunday Night Football in the time slot previously occupied by Celebrity Apprentice. Its pre-game show, Football Night in America, will run from 7:00pm to 8:20pm ET, with kickoff of the feature game occurring shortly thereafter. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will have the call every Sunday. Collinsworth replaces football legend John Madden, who recently retired. Celebrity Apprentice fans may also have to wait until after the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will emanate from Vancouver and air between February 12th and 28th.
Duke raised over $730,000 for her charity, Refugees International, during NBC’s second season of Celebrity Apprentice. She raised $460,000 in the final episode alone, which challenged Duke and Rivers to hold a silent auction featuring celebrity experiences prior to a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. The task also entailed incorporating the event’s corporate sponsor, Kodak. In the end, the two finalists were judged on five criteria, with Rivers winning Kodak integration, celebrities in attendance, and overall guest experience. Duke won by a 3:1 margin in money raised and also won charity incorporation.
In a recently blog, 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson remarked, “The Celebrity Apprentice is over. What a joke! If Donald Trump was really hiring someone, who do you think he would pick? I think that when Joan Rivers threatened to not come back, Trump assured her she would be the winner.” Time will only tell if the third installment of Celebrity Apprentice will feature a poker player. Duke is one of several to appear on a major reality series. In 2007, Bodog Poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande appeared on CBS’ Survivor: China. Bellande was the eighth person voted out and became the second member of the jury. In Survivor, ousted contestants choose the winner of the $1 million first place prize. Flight attendant Todd Herzog took down Survivor: China, besting Courtney Yates and Amanda Kimmel in a three-way final tribal council.
Duke will re-enter the poker spotlight during the 2009 WSOP, which kicks off next week from the Rio in Las Vegas. A $5,000 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting Ante Up for Africa will take place on July 2nd in the Amazon Room and be televised by ESPN. Celebrity Apprentice contestants Dennis Rodman and Herschel Walker are both confirmed to appear in the event, which raises money for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by Duke, actor Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein.
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Team RPM Poker Features Internet’s Top Players
RPM Poker, a new site on the popular Merge Gaming Network, has unveiled its team of poker pros. The squad features some of the top names in the world of online poker, including Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal and Mark “dipthrong” Herm.
A total of 19 players comprise the original Team RPM Poker. The group will travel to live events and represent the Merge Gaming Network site, which accepts customers from the United States. Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal has wins in the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday and PokerStars $100 rebuy, the latter of which boasts one of the most competitive fields for any recurring tournament. In January, Agarwal took down the $200 rebuy, which also plays out on PokerStars, for $48,000. He’s also a regular on the live poker scene, having taken 15th in the 2007 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Open for $34,000.
Mark “dipthrong” Herm took the online poker world by storm when he won not one, but two Sunday major tournaments on the same day last July, the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed and Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed. The week before, Herm was the champion of the Sunday Mulligan. In December, he took down the Full Tilt Poker $100 rebuy and finished as the runner up in the site’s Sunday Brawl on February 1st for $54,000. He regularly backs fellow online poker players and is allegedly a top-tier beer pong talent.
Dan “djk123” Kelly is one of the top-ranked players in poker. Last November, he took down a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Turbo event during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $104,000. In February, he was up to his winning ways once again, taking third place in a $300 Rebuy Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em FTOPS event for $116,000. He has multiple wins in the PokerStars $100 rebuy and took down the $500 buy-in $100,000 Guaranteed on Ultimate Bet earlier this month for $26,000. He sits in seventh on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings.
Also a part of Team RPM Poker is Randy “Randers” Haddox. In September, he took down a $320 buy-in Six-Max No Limit Hold’em event held during the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), banking $73,000. In March, he won the challenging Full Tilt $100 Cubed (one rebuy plus one add-on) for $19,000. The Texan also finished 11th in a $1,000 rebuy event during last year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $36,000 in a tournament ultimately won by Michael “worldsgrtest” Banducci. At 29 years-old, Haddox is one of the elder statesmen of Team RPM Poker.
Steven “Zugwat” Silverman can regularly be found playing $200/$400 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em with the top players in the game. The Maryland native won a $1,060 buy-in FTOPS event in February for a colossal $350,000. In November, he took down the PokerStars $100 rebuy. Silverman is fresh off a 12th place showing in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final for $126,000.
Other members of Team RPM Poker include Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, Stephen “Stevie444” Chidwick, Dan “KingDan” Smith, Chris “cdbr3799” Dombrowski, Jim “Mr_Bigqueso” Collopy, Terry “Asiandude7” Eischens, Daniel “Luie Sojo” Santoro, Brent “astrolux85” Roberts, Anthony “holdplz” Spinella, Jeff “jpapola” Papola, Russell “rcrane082985” Crane, Shawn “jordankickz” Busse, Brett “threatnasty” Switzer, and Kory “s00tedj0kers” Kilpatrick.
Team RPM Poker will battle against players on other Merge Gaming Network sites such as ACED, Carbon Poker, IronDuke, Poker Nordica, and Rumble Poker. The Merge Gaming Network is the 17th largest worldwide in terms of cash game volume with a seven day running average of 345 players, according to PokerScout.com. It is the sixth largest site or network that accepts players from the United States.
Max Speidel, Operations Manager at RPM Poker, commented in a press release unveiling the group, “We’re thrilled to have some of poker’s most recognizable young players as a part of our team. Their results speak for themselves. They’re all world-class players that represent the next generation of poker and they’re all well-respected by their peers and fans. We couldn’t be happier with the team that we’ve assembled.”
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Dream Team Poker Announces Tournament During 2009 WSOP
Dream Team Poker will present the third tournament in its history in July. Fresh off a sold out event at Caesars Palace, the team gaming concept will make its way to the Rio from July 12th to 13th during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). The buy-in is $560 per person, or $1,680 per three-man team.
The last time out, 148 teams and 444 players mobbed Caesars Palace for a sold out tournament, the first one held by Dream Team Poker that was open to the general public. In the end, Team ACED, which consisted of then-ACED Poker pro Jamie Gold, Ashley Nataupsky, and Houston Waldie, dominated the field and banked nearly $60,000. Other teams that finished in the money included The Claddaghs (second place for $33,300), The Clones (third place for $15,984), Party at the Mansion (fourth place for $10,656), and the Hellmuth Busters (fifth place for $6,660). Players who hit the felts included Bodog Poker pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Ultimate Bet personality Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, David Williams, Paul Wasicka, and T.J. Cloutier. Needless to say, the poker world was out in full force.
Dream Team Poker CEO Daniel Delshad will now bring his popular concept to the world’s largest stage: The 2009 WSOP. The tournament will take place concurrently with the end of the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, which will air as part of ESPN’s coverage of the festivities. Delshad told Poker News Daily, “After the success of our Caesars Palace event, we were able to get some time with WSOP officials and discuss an opportunity to bring Dream Team Poker to the Rio. To be able to get a turnaround that quickly is a testament to our success and the WSOP bringing new ideas to their game.” The Main Event will play down to its final table on July 15th and then be paused until November for the second straight year.
The first 300 teams that register will receive customized jerseys to don when they hit the Dream Team Poker felts. Although the number of tables that the tournament will have available has not yet been determined, a crowd surpassing the 444 players who showed up to Caesars is not out of the question. Delshad was elated at the event’s timing: “It gives us a lot more time to promote it. For us, the real excitement is to be in the Amazon Room at the same time as the Main Event. It’s a step higher than just being at the WSOP.” Registration for Dream Team Poker’s WSOP tournament will open on July 3rd. The organization will also have space in the halls of the Rio throughout the seven week WSOP festivities.
Among those who have expressed interest in creating a team is Jason Lilly, the individual winner in Dream Team Poker’s inaugural tournament, which was held at the Hard Rock in November. In addition, Joe Sebok has asked for Dream Team Poker officials to reserve him a spot. The tournament’s rules will remain much the same as they were in March and November. Delshad told Poker News Daily, “People will still be wearing jerseys, but we’ll be on a bigger floor. We are still going to have time outs for players to talk to teammates who have been eliminated. We look at this as a good opportunity for people to continue to learn about the strategy of team gaming.” Taking down the invite-only Hard Rock event was Team Bluff, which consisted of Bonomo, Eric Morris, and Matt Parvis.
Delshad revealed to Poker News Daily that Dream Team Poker has plans to take the brand outside of the United States. It has revolutionized the notion that poker is an individual sport. Team scores are determined by adding up the position that each player finished in. Only the two best scores are counted and the team with the lowest tally wins. Teammates are not seated at the same table until 14 to 16 players remain and any team that makes the final 27 runners receives a time out. Players also compete for individual prize money in addition to banking on their team’s success.
Poker News Daily would like to thank Delshad for giving our readers a unique insight into the Dream Team Poker concept.
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PlayerGPS Upgrades and Pricing Model Announced
PlayerGPS.com, a website that offers the ability to add players to an alert list and receive notifications when they sit at a cash game table, announced a slew of updates as well as its final pricing model. The site has been under a fully functional beta period where players could set up an account and use the site for free. This free period will end on June 1st, when the new pricing model will take effect.
The site allows a user to enter in the screen name of a player at either PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker to an Alert List and assign them a customizable category. Whenever that player sits at a cash game table, the PlayerGPS.com user would receive an SMS text message or e-mail. In the past week, PlayerGPS.com has upgraded its services to include the ability to have AOL Instant Messager (AIM) send a notification if you are logged into the chat client.
Also available from within the account settings area is a bulk action feature that allows the alert configurations to be set for all players at once; previously, users would have to configure each and every person inside their alert list individually, which could take a long time. Now, a user can simply bulk turn on or off any (or all) of the alert features. This global configuration adds to the site’s ease-of-use.
In these days of account hijacking and computer hacking to gain password information, some players are using PlayerGPS.com as a form of security by adding themselves to their alert list and making sure all notifications (AIM, SMS text message, and e-mail) are turned on. That way, if your account is accessed and you sit at a cash game table, you’ll be notified. If this happens while you’re not at your computer, you’ll immediately know that your account has been hijacked so you can take immediate action to stop it.
The pricing structure at PlayerGPS.com is now posted on its homepage. Originally, the pricing was criticized as being too high; however, site staff noted that the pricing model hadn’t been set and that it was under review. The good news is that the new pricing model is well below what was originally posted and looks to be affordable for players of most bankrolls.
The “Balla’” account allows access to scan for all levels of cash game play at $0.25-$0.50 games and up for Hold’em, Omaha, and Mixed games. The cost is $24.99 per month.
The “Shark” account allows access to scan for all levels between $0.25-$0.50 and $10-$20 in Hold’em, Omaha, and Mixed games. The associated cost for the “Shark” account is $14.99 per month.
For players with small bankrolls or specific needs, the “Grinder” account gives access to scan tables between $0.25-$0.50 and $1-$2. All Hold’em, Omaha, and Mixed games are included with this account, which runs $7.49 per month.
Poker players on PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker are encouraged to check out PlayerGPS.com for free through the end of May to see if the services are to their liking. If they are, the pricing model will take effect on June 1st and requires users to set up a payment method.
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WSOP Commissioner talks to PND about the Impending 2009 WSOP
The 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will kick off in exactly one week on May 27th. The traditional $500 Casino Employees event is the first to play out, followed by the new $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. Poker News Daily sat down with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack to gauge the mood at the Rio with just seven days remaining.
A total of 57 bracelet events will play out inside the mammoth Amazon Room at the Rio. This year, the festivities are presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, which just signed on for a multi-year agreement. Pollack described the mood inside the all-suite hotel in Sin City: “The mood is really good. Operationally, it’s been a smooth year for planning and preparation. We started last summer and the work is paying off. From a sponsorship standpoint, the partnership with Jack Link’s is tremendous. We can have a lot of fun with them.”
Daily at 2:20pm, bracelets will be awarded to winners of the previous day’s tournaments in front of the gathered crowd in the Amazon Room. The national anthem of the winner’s country will be played in a scene that is likely to be reminiscent of the Olympics. Pollack explained the rationale for adding in the daily bracelet ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at the end of the first break: “I’ve said that we need to do a better job of promoting our bracelet winners. We’ll do an awards ceremony every day. If you win in the middle of the night, you’ll receive you bracelet in the spotlight in the Amazon Room.” It is not uncommon for tournaments to wrap up during the pre-dawn hours. Now, winners will receive their time in the sun.
Pollack confirmed that next Sunday, Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth will participate in special training with tournament staff. Last year’s festivities were marred by Hellmuth’s public tirades that played out on ESPN as well as Scotty Nguyen’s verbal abuse of players and Rio staff during the $50,000 HORSE Championship. According to the WSOP Commissioner, those incidents will be distant memories in 2009: “We’re going to be tracking penalties and warnings. Our officials will keep a more watchful eye than ever before. The result will be a greater degree of stability on the tournament floor. This is all just for a handful of people. The vast majority of players conduct themselves proudly and with respect.” A database will log infractions and identify repeat offenders.
Pre-registration numbers are up in 2009 in comparison to 2008. The number of hotel room bookings is also up year over year. Pollack explained, “We view those as very good indicators. Generally, the economic mood is a little better overall now than it was a few months ago.” Meanwhile, Nevada gaming revenues fell for the 15th straight month in March year over year. This time around, casino “win” dropped by 11% statewide.
When the festivities play out on ESPN, four tournaments will air: The $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event, the WSOP Champions Invitational, the Ante Up for Africa charity gala, and the Main Event. Pollack noted that the driving force behind this year’s programming has been the 40th running of the high-stakes tournament series. He explained, “A $40,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament will produce a final table for the ages. The Champions Invitational will be a truly historic event. Someone will walk out of that as the Champion of Champions. Because community relations are so important, Ante Up for Africa is a good addition. We think it’ll be a strong television year for us.” Tournament coverage on the cable station begins on July 28th.
Like readers of Poker News Daily, Pollack was closely following NBC’s hit reality series Celebrity Apprentice, which culminated with poker pro Annie Duke falling to comedian Joan Rivers. Many have questioned what impact Duke’s appearance on the highly rated network television show would have on WSOP attendance, if any. Pollack speculated, “I don’t know that we’ll see a bump because of it. However, poker has been re-injected into our pop culture thanks to Annie. We would have liked to see her win, but making it to the final two is no small beef. She will loom large at the WSOP this year.”
The 2009 WSOP Main Event begins on July 3rd with the first of four starting days. It will once again wrap up in November after a four month delay.
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Poker Bill HB 222 Removed from Agenda in Texas
Legalized poker will have to wait in Texas, at least for the foreseeable future. HB 222, which was introduced by Representative Jose Menendez, would have legalized poker and recognized it as a game of skill. The bill is now officially labeled as “Postponed” on the Texas Legislature’s website.
In April, HB 222 was approved in Committee by a 6-3 margin. However, citing a propensity by the state’s Governor, Rick Perry, to veto the legislation, Menendez shelved the bill. The Dallas Morning News quoted the Representative on his rationale for no longer pressing ahead: “You need to know when to hold them and you need to know when to fold them.” HB 222 would have clarified poker as a game of skill under Texas state law. Its text noted, “The development of regulated poker gaming in this state will benefit the general welfare of the people of this state by enhancing investment, development, and tourism, resulting in new jobs and additional revenue.”
Licensing fees were explicitly laid out in HB 222 and a tax of 16% would have been levied on commercial gaming establishments’ gross receipts; charitable poker tournaments were to be taxed at 5%. Money derived from poker would then be used to fund various social projects, including renovation and operation of homeless shelters, medical counseling for the homeless, and assistance helping those without shelter find a permanent residence. A special Poker Gaming Commission would be established to oversee the game, which included extensive provisions for the use of electronic tables.
The newspaper also noted that HB 222 needed effectively 100 votes to pass out of 150 in order to withstand a veto. It added, “Gambling opponents say it’s easy to blame the bill’s failure on a budget bailout. But they argue that the real reason gambling gets no traction session after session is because it’s bad policy.” Among those coming out against HB 222 was the Baptist General Convention’s Christian Life Commission, which questioned the upside of passing the legislation. Menendez may reintroduce a pro poker bill in two years. In the meantime, the State of Texas will anxiously await money due from the Federal bailout.
The Commission established in HB 222 would decide how many poker tables each licensed location can operate. Mandatory approval was given to establishments with Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission licenses, pari-mutuel licenses, or that filed as outlined in the bill. Poker tournament buy-ins were capped at $100 with tournament fees of no more than $30. Regulations for Bad Beat Jackpots were also outlined, with poker rooms able to award up to $250 on site; the Commission would dole out the residual.
An article in the San Antonio News-Express last month noted that 60 to 65 lawmakers said they would support legislation like HB 222 in 2007, with 55 up in the air. That year, a measure by Menendez “to open the door for gaming licenses to be awarded to horse racing tracks and neighborhood bars” failed to see a vote. The lawmaker represents the 124th District of Texas, which includes parts of San Antonio. He was originally elected into office in 2000.
A spokesperson for Menendez, Don Jones, told Poker News Daily that this was the Representative’s third time introducing legislation: “The first one was a touchy-feely bill in 2005. During the last session, it was a more concerted effort. This session, word came down from the Governor’s office that they would veto any expansion of gambling. They didn’t want to hear any arguments that poker was a game of skill versus a game of chance.” Jones did not know if Menendez would consider introducing another measure next session. Menendez told the Houston Chronicle that fighting an inevitable defeat of HB 222 would create ill will in the future: “Sometimes you flush good will if you put a dead bill out on the floor.”
Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily, “The legislature had an opportunity to not only legalize poker, but also to tax and regulate it so that all Texans could benefit from the popularity of this game. Governor Perry deliberately prevented the legislature from fixing these laws by telling representatives that he’d refuse to sign the bill. It’s a shame for the poker community and for the taxpayers who have to pay for Perry’s heavy-handed stall tactics.”
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