Daniel Negreanu's Top 10 Rookie Mistakes

1 PLAYING TOO MANY HOURS

Your brain just doesn’t function very well after 22 hours sitting at the table. Rather than getting some rest and coming back fresh the next day, most rookies end up playing too many hours trying to chase their money back. In the process, they end up throwing away even more money. Your mind plays tricks on you after too many hours and you’ll often convince yourself that you’re playing really well,when the chances are you’re not!

2 QUITTING WHEN AHEAD

There is no ‘system’ for when you should get up and leave. The worst system that many rookies use is when they ‘hit and run’ – quitting a game after very small wins, but continuing to play when they’re far behind. If anything, that’s the exact opposite of what you should be doing. When you are winning, you have a powerful table presence that you should look to exploit. When you are losing your table image is tarnished and it can have a negative effect on your confidence.

3 PLAYING IN TOUGH GAMES

Rookie players will often find themselves sitting in games with competition that they just can’t handle. Rather than playing in smaller stakes games with opponents of comparable skill, they prefer to go head to head with the pros – and you can guess how that turns out...

4 PLAYING TOO HIGH

Nothing is more detrimental to your confidence – and your bankroll – than playing for money that you can’t afford to lose. You simply can’t make smart and unbiased decisions when you also have to think about how you’re going to pay the rent if the Qs doesn’t bail you out on the river. It’s absolutely crucial that you play within the limits you feel comfortable with – that way you’ll be able to focus on the game you’re in, without worrying about the financial implications.

5 PLAYING TOO MANY HANDS

Most beginners play more hands than they should and fail to understand the importance of starting off with premium hands in premium situations.

6 WATCH OUT FOR YOUR EGO

You’re not as good as you think you are! The day you realise that you know nothing about poker is the day you might start learning a thing or two. It’s important to be objective about your poker skills and where they might need improvement.

7 LACK OF PATIENCE

To play poker properly you’ll find that you go through long stretches of sheer boredom waiting for good cards. Rookies often don’t have the patience to wait, so they play hands that they know they shouldn’t out of sheer boredom.

8 BLUFFING TOO MUCH

Many rookies have seen too many movies and think that poker is all about bluffing. They think that if they keep betting everyone will get out of their way. The problem is that the habitual bluffer is identified by opponents early and then they are on to him.

9 GOING ON TILT

Playing more hands with less focus, a tilted player will lose all faith in his gameplan and chase inside straight draws, when he knows he shouldn’t.

10 DRINKING WHILE PLAYING

You need to have all your wits about you to make quality decisions at the table. It’s no coincidence that casinos will offer you free alcohol – it clouds your judgement.

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Sky Poker UK Tour

The last event of the first season of the Sky Poker UK Tour (SPUKT) wrapped up at the Dusk Till Dawn poker club in Nottingham, with players after their share of the £56,000 prize pool. There were 280 players and the first place prize of £17,322 went to Robbie Fisher-O'Brien. Second place went to heads up competitor Alex Mcwhinnie, who snagged £10,127 for his efforts, with Pete Winter taking £6,076 for third place. Fourth went to Wayne Barber for £4,264, and rounding out the top five was Toby Lewis for £3,198.

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The Check Is Good

Online poker rooms like Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars have been having trouble with payments to members recently, thanks in part to the seizure of more than $30 million in funds from the United States Department of Justice recently. However according to threads opening up on popular online poker forums across the internet, poker players are now having some success in depositing the checks they are receiving form these poker rooms, and having them clear without a problem. This includes checks being processed by the Instant ECheck option, one targeted by the US DOJ.

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Heartland Poker Tour in Black Hawk

While the big poker events are running in Las Vegas, like the World Series of Poker, the middle of the country is looking forward to the arrival of a different scene. A poker tournament is coming to Black Hawk, Colorado, and the TV cameras are warming up. The venue will be the Golden Gates Casino and Poker Parlour in Black Hawk, and the event is the Heartland Poker Tour, which will arrive in July. The largest cash payout in five years is what the Heartland Poker Tour officials are predicting, thanks to recent attendance records.

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Utah Transit Authority Cracks Down on Internet Gambling

According to a story that appeared on Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is cracking down on its riders’ internet usage. Now, viewing pornography or gambling online will result in a $300 fine.

Fox 13’s Arikka Von broke the story, which appeared last week. When asked why UTA management implemented the new rules, Von explained, “UTA says it’s not because they had a bunch of complaints. The old ordinances are just that: old, at least 10 years old, so they have some new policies that include some of the new services like free WiFi.” On a national scale, online poker players have faced the same difficulties interpreting age-old laws like the Wire Act, which was enacted in 1961, nearly 50 years ago. The Wire Act, although passed before the advent of the internet, has been largely extended by the U.S. Department of Justice to include many forms of internet gambling.

Von noted, “A train ticket gets you free internet once you agree to the Terms of Service. That means no online gambling or viewing pornography. The UTA now has a new ordinance that fines passengers for illegal or offensive internet use on the train. The first violation is $300. Do it again and it could cost you $500.” The UTA is one of a growing number of transit systems to include internet onboard. American Airlines recently debuted Gogo Inflight Internet on cross-country trips. The service is available for a fee.

Enforcement of the UTA’s ban on internet gambling and pornography is done by the organization’s police force. Fox 13 noted, “These are real police officers,” and explained, “An officer will always try to educate first and foremost. Riders say they’ve never seen anyone watching porn on the train.” UTA has enacted a full appeals process if riders feel they were targeted unfairly. A representative of the transit system admitted that identifying what is acceptable and what is not can be a complicated process: “The definition can be very difficult to pin down for everyone.”

Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan told Poker News Daily, “I’m surprised that they’re going to waste anyone’s time enforcing internet gambling. I’m also disturbed with the constant association with pornography. Our opponents try to make that linkage constantly between gambling and pornography. All you have to do is look at the acceptance of all things gambling. There is no comparison between the two activities.” The term “internet gambling” is mentioned in the Fox 13 story just once, while references to pornography pervade the rest of the two and a half minute piece.

With regards to enforcement of the UTA’s guidelines through law enforcement personnel roving the trains, Brennan commented, “They’ll have police officers looking over the shoulders of riders. This announcement is someone grandstanding politically. The claim on internet gambling is dubious. The claim on pornography is also misguided.” Brennan added that viewing pornography is typically done in private, not in the middle of a commuter train in a major metropolitan area.

According to text found on the UTA’s website, the internet service provided by the transit system filters content automatically: “UTA’s service providers use content-filtering software that attempts to restrict access to offensive sites; however, no content-filtering software is totally effective. Please use the same precautions you would use accessing any public wireless network.” The service is available for riders age 18 and over.

iMEGA is fresh off filing a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS), which attempted to force the censorship of 200 internet gambling domains by its residents. The DPS served notice to 11 of the world’s largest internet service providers (ISPs) calling for the blockage. However, after iMEGA’s suit, it rescinded its notice.

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Bankroll Management

Let’s talk about bankroll management. But let’s talk about it in a different way than most advice-lenders do. Most articles about bankroll management discuss it from the perspective of a professional player, or at the very least, a semi-pro. What I want to do is discuss proper bankroll management for the casual player. The kind of player who plays to have fun first and to make money second. As a casual player, you may have dreams about that big score and winning that huge tournament, but in the end, you are happy if you can enjoy yourself at the poker table and scratch out a small profit in the long-run. Of course, if you are a more serious player, this article isn’t for you. Move along, there’s nothing to see here.

Poker Money is Poker Money

First and foremost, never, ever, ever, ever, never, never, ever, ever mix your poker bankroll with the money you need for everyday expenses. Your poker bankroll is just that – your poker bankroll. For you, the casual player, poker is an entertainment expense (true, you might never lose, but let’s be realistic), just like going to the movies, going to a baseball game, or attending a concert. Just like you wouldn’t skip a mortgage payment to go on a trip to Costa Rica, you shouldn’t skip a mortgage payment to reload your online poker account.

Not only is keeping your poker bankroll segregated from your household accounts the responsible thing to do, but it will also make your poker playing more enjoyable. Poker can be a stressful enough game to play under normal circumstances, even if you are primarily playing for fun, but having your child’s tuition hanging in the balance adds a whole new layer of pressure.

If you hit a bad stretch and have no more discretionary income with which to play poker, just stop playing for a while. It’s just a game. It’s not worth taking food off the table to play another hand.

Play Comfortably

When it comes to choosing table stakes, I recommend playing at a level that will make you comfortable, not one at which you think you “should” play. There are formulas out there that determine what blind levels you should play at based on the size of your bankroll, but I don’t really buy into that. Play at a level where you can handle the competition and where you won’t break into a cold sweat when all pf your chips are on the table because you can’t bear to lose that money.

That doesn’t mean play at stakes so low that they don’t mean anything. The element of risk is one aspect of poker that makes the game fun. You do want to be a little nervous, but you don’t want your stakes to be so high that it would severely damage your poker bankroll if you dropped a buy-in or two.

Many people would look at my poker bankroll compared to the low stakes that I play and consider me crazy. I should move up, they would say. But you know what? I’m not a pro. While I try to make money when I play, profitability isn’t the end all, be all for me. I could probably move up and do okay for myself, but I enjoy playing low-stakes because I feel comfortable there. The tables where I play allow me to make a moderate profit while having fun and not fretting on the occasions when I get stacked (those are rare, right?).

That all said, if you want to “take a shot” once in a while, then go for it. It can be fun to try your hand at a richer, tougher game on occasion, but don’t make it a habit and don’t shoot so high that it will drain your roll if you lose. Tournaments are a great way to take a shot while limiting your downside potential.

Reward Yourself

For the longest time, I would deposit and withdraw over and over and various online poker rooms, just building my poker bankroll. Through winning play or deposit bonuses, I pretty much grew my bankroll with no real goal in sight. But recently, I had part of my house remodeled and decided to pull out some of my poker bankroll and put it towards the construction. However lame it might have been, I finally used some of my winnings to reward myself.

Many players probably do the same thing I had been doing. Their poker winnings went right back into poker. And that’s fine. You want to keep building that roll, but you should treat yourself, too. What good is all of that money sitting in your poker accounts if you can never do anything with it besides play poker? Take some out and buy yourself something. Heck, pay down some debt that you wouldn’t have otherwise paid down if that’s your style. Reward yourself for your success.

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After Cashout Issues Traffic For Online Poker Sites Are?

Traffic on PokerStars, the largest online poker site in the world, has slipped 9% in the last two weeks, likely due to potential cashout issues for its players, according to PokerScout.com. PokerStars has recommended bank wires for players seeking cashouts.

On the first Thursday of June (the 4th), PokerStars saw a peak of 37,523 real money ring game players. By June 11th, one week later, that number had dropped to 34,692, a fall of 8%. Yesterday (June 18th), the site hosted a peak of 34,207 cash game players, representing a 1% decline week over week and 9% drop since June 4th. As further evidence of a slowdown, on June 13th, PokerStars recorded a peak player count of 28,455, the first time it had slumped below 30,000 since December 31st, 2008.

However, traffic on the site is up during the first 18 days of June in comparison to the same period in May despite the ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP). During the first 18 days of May, PokerStars boasted an average peak player count of 34,626 at its virtual cash game felts. In the same period this month, it has seen an average of 34,872, a boost of nearly 1%. Throughout the month of May, PokerStars had an average peak volume of 34,886 players. An article released by PokerScout on June 14th noted that traffic on Stars had fallen 5% in the last week alone to the “lowest level so far this year.” Year over year, however, the world’s most popular online poker site has experienced a 54% growth in activity.

On Full Tilt Poker, the average peak player volume over the first 18 days of May stood at 16,801. In June, that figure has ballooned to 17,736, a growth of nearly 6%. During the same period when traffic on PokerStars fell by 9%, player counts on Full Tilt grew by 2%. The site will bring back its Sit & Go Madness promotion this weekend, offering nearly $200,000 for players competing in the popular single-table tournaments. Between April 19th and May 10th, the peak number of cash game players on Full Tilt Poker exceeded 18,000 just once. During the first 18 days of June, the 18,000 plateau has been breached eight times, including four straight days between June 15th and June 18th. Year over year traffic at Full Tilt Poker is up by 59%.

At the CEREUS Network, which includes Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, cash game traffic has remained steady. During the first 18 days of May, an average peak of 3,144 real money ring game players could be found on the CEREUS Network. Over the same period in June, that number grew slightly to 3,148. Over the last 30 days, the Network has hosted fewer than 3,000 real money ring game players just five times and has not attracted a peak of fewer than 2,000 since April 30th. According to PokerScout, CEREUS is the fifth largest Network worldwide with a seven day running average of 2,300 real money ring game players.

Finally, traffic on PartyPoker, which does not accept players from the United States, is up significantly. PokerScout.com claims the spike in player volume by the longtime industry staple may be due to the Million Dollar Hand promotion. During the first 18 days of May, the average peak cash game traffic was 7,351 players. During the same period in June, the figure skyrocketed to 9,410, a jump of 28%.

Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan gave Poker News Daily his reaction to the drop in traffic on PokerStars: “Operators know the burden is on them to make sure the players have the money due them. Any operator that would have problems would likely lose share to companies that don’t. But, it’s too early to say any one company is having major problems and no reason to think that all of the operators who have been affected aren’t working overtime to resolve slow pay problems. There is no need to panic.” iMEGA has not yet become involved in the situation legally. So far, it has allowed the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the main lobbying force for the poker industry, to take the lead.

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EPISODE46 - Lesbian Poker Player Killers

Our first theme show! Slade came up with the title and we ran with it. Tonight's show was about lesbian poker players (or that we want to be lesbian) that kill at the game of poker. Remember POKERDONKEYS LOVE LESBIANS! So this show is dedicated to them. We also talk about cleaning up our language for sponsors and have a brief interview with D. Negranau (kinda) on his recent outburst at the WSOP! Enjoy the show degenerates it's our third new show in a row!

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Lord of the Dance back to Las Vegas

The Lord of the Dance will return to Las Vegas this summer.

Michael Flatley and his group were a mainstay of Vegas before leaping into a world tour.

And now they'll be back at the Steve Wyrick Theater (at Planet Hollywood) for a limited time, beginning June 25 and running through Aug. 16.

Flatley was the co-creator of the enormously successful Riverdance before branching off on his own with Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and his latest Celtic Tiger.

The show first began in Dublin, Ireland, before settling into Las Vegas for 5 years.

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Mike Tyson Gets Married

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, fresh off a hilarious lengthy cameo in the Las Vegas-based movie The Hangover, married Lakiha Spicer at the Las Vegas Hilton over the weekend.

This is Tyson's third marriage, exchanging vows in the Hilton's La Bella Wedding Chapel.

The ceremony was low-key without guests.

Two weeks ago, Tyson's 4-year-old daughter Exodus (from his previous wife) was killed in a freak treadmill accident when the cord wrapped around her neck.

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Cheap Trick lands gig at Las Vegas Hilton

Cheap Trick is setting up shop at the Las Vegas Hilton.

In between Barry Manilow's dark times (when he's not performing at the theater, not referring to his mood), Cheap Trick will be onstage for a limited engagement. And if it's a smash? Expect them to return regularly.

We have no doubt it will be a smash, because the show will not just be a Cheap Trick concert but Sgt. Pepper Live -- a live concert of The Beatles' album of the same name.

Not your ordinary concert, the shows will also feature a symphony orchestra and set design.

Tickets begin at $65 and go on sale June 13 at the Las Vegas Hilton box office.

Shows are Sept. 13-15, 17-19, ad 21-23.

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Dateline: Vegas Undercover

If you see Chris Hansen in Las Vegas and you aren't a child predator, you should still run.

Famous for his "To Catch a Predator" series, Hansen is back with a new TV special focusing on crime in Las Vegas.

Called "Vegas Undercover," the "Dateline" show delves into year-long undercover operations by Metro involving the purchase of stolen items, posing as prostitutes, counterfeiting money, and arresting car thieves.

In one segment, thieves show police how to counterfeit money and then pass on the bills, with one of the places including a local casino.

The show airs tonight at 10 p.m. on NBC.

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Heather Graham Poker Ace

Actress Heather Graham recently let it be known that she is something of a poker ace, although she would be worried about playing in some of the big games organized by fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt. She likes to go to poker clubs and has hosted home games for years, but to date has managed to avoid losing a lot of money. Other Hollywood stars that have a professed poker prowess include Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Ben Affleck, who won the California State Poker Championship a few years back, thanks in part to the tutelage of Annie Duke.

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Poker Seizure a Gamble

Recently the United States Justice Department allegedly seized $34 million belonging to online poker players in various banks and online payment processors, and a senior professor at Whittier Law School says it is a big gamble. Prof. I. Nelson Rose was quoted as saying the Department of Justice and their actions could actually lead to a court ruling that supports online poker, rather than harms it. Online poker rooms affected by the US DOJ actions have been reacting in different ways, with some ignoring the problem and others going out of their way to make good on their payments to clients.

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Red Cherry Poker Ads “socially irresponsible”

An online poker room heavily linked to pornography and casual sex recently got upbraided by the Remote Gambling Association and the Advertising Standards Authority for a number of ads that have been called socially irresponsible. The ads, according to complaints, link gambling to getting lucky with sex and seduction. One example of an ad by the poker room, formerly Swank Poker but now Red Cherry Poker, promises serious erotic action and a promise that the poker room girls will make wildest fantasies come true.

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BodogLife.com Is Dead, Bodog.com Is Back

In breaking news from the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, that Bodog.com will once again become the central domain name for the online poker room’s operations in the United States beginning today. The Kahnawake-based company regained control of the domain name in April. On April 21st, Bodog settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Las Vegas-based 1st Technology, LLC and in the process regained control of the domain name Bodog.com. Previously, despite its team of pros including Evelyn Ng, David Williams, Jean-Robert Bellande, and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo donning gear with “Bodog” on it, the site made its home on the domain name BodogLife.com. Now, players will be able to revisit the USA-friendly online poker room’s original domain starting on Wednesday.

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Poker Show to Debut on Playboy TV

Television producer Sam Simon, who is best known for his work on “The Simpsons” animated series, will bring his home game to Playboy TV, according to the Associated Press. The show is uncensored and features some of the entertainment industry’s marquee names.

Simon described his home game to the Associated Press: “The stakes aren’t the biggest, the players aren’t the best, but the game is definitely the funniest.” The show, dubbed “Sam’s Game,” currently airs on Thursday nights on Playboy TV and was filmed at the Palms in Las Vegas. Poker fans will remember that the off-Strip casino played host to the second season of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” ESPN followed Simon in paparazzi fashion during his World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event run in 2007, which ended with “The Simpsons” producer hitting the exits in 329th place for $39,000.

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A Thriller-themed Casino in Las Vegas

An odd Michael Jackson rumor goes hand in hand with Las Vegas.

While he was living here, there was talk of Jackson staging a comeback, in residency at a casino. That didn't happen, but he did announce a tour in the UK.

Another rumor had Jackson installing a giant replica of his face in the Nevada desert, big enough for landing plans to see.

Now, Jackson wants to open a Las Vegas casino themed around his hit song "Thriller." The horror-branded casino would contain zombies and songs from the multi-platinum album.

Jackson has over $100 million in debt, and along with his tour, he's looking for ways to pay it down.

If it happens, it would come at a time when Las Vegas casinos are moving away from themes.

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Guy Laliberte to go into space

Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil (which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year), plans to go into space.

At a cost of $35 million, Laliberte will take a trip on an international space station aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-16 to raise awareness for his ONE DROP Foundation, an organization centered around environmentalism and water conservation.

The mission aboard the 3-person spacecraft is expected to last about 2 weeks beginning Sept. 30.

Laliberte will become the seventh private citizen to pay his way to fly to the orbiting station. If you have $35 million to spare, you can be the eighth. Simply write your check to Space Adventures and set up a press conference.

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Online Poker Room faces Fraud Charges

The development of an online poker room was the root cause of the charges leveled against a Texas father and son recently, as they face security fraud charges from the Texas State Securities Board. Martin Graham Tyson Sr. and his son, Martin were indicted by a Hidalgo County grand jury for misleading the backers of their online poker business. The claims include that the men to notify investors of an ongoing civil fraud suit against the company. Investors lost around $300,000 in the venture, according to the indictment filed in the case.

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Poker Robber gets 66 Years

When a high-stakes poker game at a Delaware country club was robbed six men were involved, and all six recently turned down a plea bargain during their trials. One man, 22 year old Philadelphian Akua Powell, was convicted of 11 counts of first-degree robbery and possession of a firearm during a felony plus other charges, earning him a total of 66 years in prison. A former state trooper, Hyun Jin Kim, was involved and himself sentenced to 6 years in prison. The men robbed a dozen high stakes poker players at the Wild Quail Country Club near Dover.

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ECheck Gone From Online Poker Rooms

Some online poker rooms offer their players the ability to use Echeck, an online money transfer system that works like drawing money from a checking account using an electronic check. Two major poker rooms, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, suddenly lost the ability for US players to use Echeck with no explanation on Thursday. The reason behind this move is unknown but a lot of speculation has been floated on the poker forums that it may the first step towards limiting US players all together. Players can still use their funds at these poker rooms, however.

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Pueblo man decided not to testify

The informant in a case against a Pueblo man decided not to testify, resulting in the charges of illegal poker gambling being dropped. The two misdemeanor gambling charges will not be pressed and Larry Lee Wittman, the target after raids by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, will go free. The CBI claims that Wittman was running illegal card rooms for at least five years. Not all defendants have benefit from this stroke of luck, however as William Benjamin Gradishar will still face misdemeanor gambling charges; the result of a raid conducted in 2007. His trial begins in July.

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Players Alliance (PPA) declared victory…?

Poker News Daily has learned that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division has sent letters to 11 of the world’s largest internet service providers (ISPs) rescinding its notice to block 200 internet gambling websites. The news comes four days after the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) declared victory in the state.

In April, John Willems, Director of the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, served notice to 11 ISPs, including Charter, Comcast, Qwest, Sprint, and Verizon, calling for the blockage of 200 sites by Minnesota residents. The list, which was initially kept under wraps, included a bevy of online poker, sports book, casino, and Bingo sites and was pulled at random from a larger sample. In addition to USA-friendly online poker rooms like Players Only, Bodog, and Full Tilt Poker, the list also included a handful that do not accept action from the United States. Headlining this group was Everest Poker, which is the official on-felt sponsor of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Also appearing was Titan Poker, one of the largest sites on the iPoker Network.

Shortly after the list of 200 sites was made public, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) filed a lawsuit against Willems. The organization charged that Minnesota did not have jurisdiction to act, that the First Amendment was trampled on, and that the State’s actions represented a breach of the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. iMEGA also authored a letter to the 11 ISPs in question urging non-compliance. The State contended that the Wire Act of 1961 applied to internet gambling, while the law has traditionally applied to online sports betting and “common carriers,” a term used to describe companies that provide home telephone service.

iMEGA and the Minnesota Attorney General’s office then began working towards a conclusion, culminating in today’s proclamation that the censorship order had been rescinded. The letter sent to ISPs, authored by Willems and obtained by Poker News Daily, reads, “I believe it may be more appropriate to resolve this problem by working to create clear and effective governmental policies concerning regulation of gambling.” In addition, iMEGA has agreed to withdraw its civil court case against Willems in his capacity as Director of the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division.

The letter sent from iMEGA to the ISPs explained, “Because website operators are not subscribers of yours, have no contracts with you, and are not provided facilities by you, you should be aware that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety is attempting to mislead you into believing you are bound by federal law.” The casino arm of Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, was also targeted. However, its parent company recently inked a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Government in a New York courtroom and agreed to shell out $105 million over a three and a half year period. In addition, one of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, admitted to violations of the Wire Act in December and faces up to two years behind bars.

Whether the Minnesota legislature elects to develop internet gambling legislation remains to be seen. iMEGA is also a central party in the case that pits the organization and the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) against the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. In October, Judge Thomas Wingate upheld an order by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear calling for the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 domain names belonging to some of the world’s largest online poker sites and internet gambling outfits including Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars, Cake Poker, and Doyle’s Room. Several sites have since blocked new Kentucky sign-ups.

In January, the Kentucky Court of Appeals in Louisville overturned Wingate’s decision by a two to one margin, causing the State to appeal to its own Supreme Court. iMEGA filed its brief to Kentucky’s highest court two weeks ago and the State’s attorneys are in the process of filing a response brief. No date has been set for a possible Supreme Court hearing. The organization is also suing to declare both the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional.

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Rule Change On Heads up Cash Game At Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker released a rules change today that has online poker forums buzzing - effective immediately, players are now restricted in the number of heads up tables they can sit at waiting for an opponent. This rule change should, in theory, dramatically reshape the HU Cash portion of the FTP lobby, which is currently populated by a few regulars sitting alone at dozens of tables.

Excerpt from the email sent by FTP announcing the change: “Due to increasing complaints of players occupying many tables alone, Full Tilt Poker will be introducing limitations on the number of heads-up cash games that a player can be sitting at while waiting for an opponent.

Effective immediately, a player is permitted to wait at only one table for each betting level and game type, and at most four tables in total.

For example, you may sit and wait for an opponent at $5-10 NL Hold’em, $5-10 PL Hold’em, $10-20 NL Hold’em, and $10-20 PL Hold’em, but you may not sit and wait at more than one table of any one type, and not more than four tables in total.

The limitations only apply to the practice of occupying many tables while waiting. If you are actively playing at a heads-up table, you may then begin waiting at another table of the same type. There is no restriction on the number of tables you may play (other than the normal limitations on active games).”

The rule seems to be enforced manually at this point, but we’d imagine that future software upgrades will full automate the process.

Full Tilt, perhaps recognizing the potential for this new rule to create a wave of multi-accounting, also offered a reminder of the consequences of multi-accounting and a MA amnesty for any player who would like to combine multiple accounts, no questions asked or penalties applied: “Heads-up cash game players are also reminded of the strict policy against using more than one account. The use of multiple accounts (to hide one’s identity, or circumvent restrictions) is considered to be cheating, and can result in severe penalties, including permanent loss of all playing privileges.

If you have more than one account, and wish to have them merged into a single account without penalty, please contact support@fulltiltpoker.com immediately.”

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2009 WSOP Bracelet

Crown Jewel of Poker, WSOP Main Event Championship Bracelet
2009 Edition

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Flying Dutchman Video Blog

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WSOP Stimulus Special Event

The World Series of Poker event number Four has picked up the nickname of “Stimulus Special”, offering players a chance to play in a WSOP bracelet event for only $1,000 without having to belong to a special group, like casino employees, senior citizens or women, three groups that get special discounted events offered to them. The first part of the event pulled in 2,992 players with only 376 of them surviving to go on to the next round. Players often say winning the bracelet is more important to them than the money – which, even in this discounted event is not inconsiderate.

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