Some of the information that came out of the meetings seems to have made an impression on some of the powers that be. One very interesting fact was a research project that had been done on the Poker Stars site in reference to how many of the hands actually go to showdown. This was done to show that poker is not a game of luck, but one of skill that makes the player rely on instincts to get out of a bad situation and limit their losses. This is something that one cannot do when they make a wager in any other form of gambling.

The stat that was rather enlightening that after tracking well over 100,000,000 hands, they found that a mere 25% actually went to showdown. This number made lawmakers take a step back and take a look at the game of poker as a game of skill.  If the laws are going to get passed in poker’s favor, this is a huge step in the right direction. Now all we need to do is catch President Obama and some of his cronies sitting around the table with chips and cards in front of them!

Another feather in the cap of the PPA was that they managed to bring to light the ‘good’ that poker has brought to many organizations. It is not uncommon for a local charity or church to hold a poker tournament as a way to raise money. This is not to mention the millions of dollars that the major poker players have donated over the last few years.  It is not uncommon for any of them to drop 6 figures into the basket when it is passed around.

As with anything else though, only time will tell if all of this lobbying is going to be successful. It would however seem as though poker is slowly but surely starting to tilt the scales in their favor. Hopefully we will see this trend continue because once the United States officially gets on board, the poker world is sure to benefit.

Knowing that they need to beat 35,000 players, both sites ramped up their efforts and added a ton of cash to the tournaments.  Poker Stars was up first with a $1 buy in.  This made it quite easy to draw players and when the final starting bell went off, 65,000 players had made their way to their computers to be a part of history.  The winner of the tournament was “004 license” and he managed to put $13,000 in his account about 10 hours after he put up his buck.  Not a bad day.

Full Tilt was next, but had a cap of 50,000 players on their tournament.  However, their tournament had a $5 buy in with $500,000 guaranteed.  That was enough to have everyone, including myself, ante up and take a shot at the massive $45,000 first place prize.  No luck on my end as two suckouts had me heading to the rail before the second hour, but that was hardly the case for “breo40” who ended up the eventual winner and added the large bounty to his account.

There is still some debate as to who will get the title because while Poker Stars had a much larger field, the tournament at Full Tilt had a larger prize pool.  In all likelihood, Poker Stars will hold the title, but I doubt if Full Tilt will take this one lying down.  They spent a ton of cash promoting this and will more than likely take another shot and open the next one up to 100,000 players if they have to in order to beat their main rival for internet poker.

Tournaments like this are a lot of fun to play in because the chips are usually flying pretty freely.  If you can get any kind of a run, you can coast into the money and possibly a payday that you would not be able to get in other tournaments on a small bankroll.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next round of the “Record Breaker” tournament at both sites.  Their rivalry is our gain as both will probably ante up plenty of extra cash to hold the title.

paddypowerpoker.com today announces the S’n’G Soda promotion, in which prizes will be awarded to Single Table Tournament (STT) players. $2,000 in cash and tournament tokens will be won over a 2 week period, running from 00.00 on July 15th to 23.59 on July 28th.

Prizes will be awarded to STT players in two categories (dependant on buy-in, $1 – $10 and $11+) and a points boost will be available to those who play 50 or more games in the counting period.

“Players loved our Double Up STT promo, which focused on STTs with Double Up payouts, so we decided it was time to reward players who prefer standard STTs”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker. “Cold hard cash is what’s on offer; I’m sure our players will approve!”

10-player and 6-player STTs (also known as Sit’n’Gos) run on Paddy Power Poker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition to the televising of the World Series of poker, the movie Rounder’s brought this once taboo game of poker out into the limelight. There is rarely a poker game that goes by where someone does not quote Teddy KGB by saying “I stick it in you.” Good news all you poker movie fans, because Brian Koppelman and David Levien are at it again.

While there is no working title out on the wire as of yet, the draw to the movie is that the one and only Leonardo DiCaprio has apparently been signed to play the lead role. The rumor mill has it that the movie is based on the experiences related to an online casino that is based in Costa Rica.

Without a working title or any leaks as to the meat of the script, it is a little difficult to see where the picture would go, but with the popularity of online poker and the success that these players are having at the World Series of Poker, the possibilities are endless.

Will it be the story of a successful young gambler that makes the transition from online to live play or will it be more desperate like the ending of Catch Me If You Can or the Basketball Diaries? It is quite easy to picture DiCaprio playing a desperate gambler who has maxed out all of his credit cards and is now trying to find a way to get back into action.

Something else that could be explored here is the recent scandal that involved Absolute/UB. It would be quite interesting to see the story behind the people that were involved in that mess. Only time will tell though as everyone is being very tight lipped about the project. One thing is for sure, poker players will flock to the theaters to see how Hollywood portrays their world this time around.

The start of the series was met with excitement and participation by many of poker elite players. With a $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize pool for Event 1, players came swarming in by the thousands. Event # 1, which was hosted by none other than Full Tilt Pro and Co-Founder Howard Lederer, kicked off on Wednesday, February 4th at 9:00pm ET. The buy-in of a reasonable $200+$16 and 6,275 entrants, meant that Full Tilt more than met there $1,000,000 Guarantee, bringing in $1,255,000 in prize money.

Event #1 brought hours of play amongst some of online pokers elite. Overall 738 players made in the money. The event saw host, Howard Lederer, sneak into the money taking down $326.30 in 697th place. A few notable Full Tilt Professionals made deep runs into the tournament, with Brandon Adams finishing in 229th place and Lee Watkinson busting out in 211th place. But in the end only one of the many could be crowned the first event champion in 2009. That place belonged to “muckducks,” who took home the $216,512.60 first place prize. His best previous finish in the Full Tilt series was for just $787. Needless to say, the last few days have proven to be some of the best days of David “muckducks” Cairns life.

Event # 2 began today, February 5th at 2pm ET and is nearly half way over. This event is a Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit tournament. Full Tilt Pro Ringo Mathis is hosting the event and Full Tilt has guaranteed a prize pool of $200,000. This event drew a crowd of 1,428 entrants. With a buy-in of $240, Full Tilt easily reached the guarantee, with $285,600 in the total prize pool. There will be 162 places paid and the lucky winner will take down $61,404 in prize winnings. As I write this article, the event is at Level 11 with blinds of 150/300. Ronny2100 is leading the pack of 739 players remaining with a stack of 42,536. Full Tilt Professional Martin Klaeser is currently in 3rd with 33,215. You can follow the action live or get involved in one of the many tournaments, at FullTiltPoker.com.

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series continues throughout the month of February with events taking place every day through February 15th, with many days seeing two to three events. The series culminates with the Main Event taking place Sunday, February 15th at 6:00 ET. This event is hosted by John Juanda and guarantees a prize pool of 2.5 million dollars. This event is sure to draw thousands of players, hoping to get their share of the riches. Make sure to check back each day, as I keep you updated on one of the years biggest events in the online world.

Paddy Power Poker today announces the European Championship of Online Poker IV (ECOOP IV), scheduled from May 25th to June 7th 2009. ECOOP IV features fourteen tournaments and a guaranteed prizepool of $4.55 million.

The tournaments include Texas Hold’em , Omaha and 7 Card Stud events with buy-ins ranging from $100 + $9 to $2,500 + $100. The ECOOP IV $1,500 + $80 Main Event takes place on Sunday, June 7th and features a $1.5 million guaranteed prizepool. Satellites to the ECOOP IV tournaments run daily on paddypowerpoker.com, with buy-ins as low as $1.





“We are thrilled to give our players the opportunity to play in the amazing series of tournaments that make up ECOOP IV” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker at paddypowerpoker.com. “One of our better-known players, Eoghan ‘Intruder123’ O’Dea, took down the ECOOP III Main Event last year, so we’re hoping for a repeat of this performance. An ECOOP victory is something that most players only dream about – now is the time to start setting these dreams into motion!”

To register for an ECOOP IV tournament or qualifier, open the poker software lobby; select ‘Scheduled Tournaments’ and then ‘Specials’. Choose ‘ECOOP’ from the different options beneath Specials, then sort the tournaments by name or date and select the tournament of your choice.

Note to editors: For further information on ECOOP IV, please visit: http://www.paddypowerpoker.com/tournaments/ecoop4.php

The opening event for the Classic started in great fashion, as thousands flocked to the 200K Guaranteed tournament. Event number 1 is a No-Limit Hold’em event with a $300 Buy-in. The relatively small buy-in brought about many amateurs, as well as some less known but very savvy professional players. The final entries into the event was a stunning 1,592 participants, which is one of the largest fields for this event ever. The large increase in players, brought about a big jump in the prize pool. The total prize pool doubled the guaranteed 200K, with $463,272 on the line. The winner would take home six figures, after risking only $300 to enter.

The tournament began with a very fast pace, with many players risking and losing their stacks in the early levels. This one day tournament is designed to have a fast paced structure, as they have to bust 1,591 players before finding their champion, but the large prize pool and small entry fee had players gambling to try and double up early. As the day grew older and night crept in, the classic had it’s first final table of 2009. With a mix of seasoned veterans and amateurs, including Khang Pham and Steve Cho, the final table was bound to create some fireworks. After a few hours, Eugene Tito emerged victorious. Tito, who is a less well known professional, has been grinding out a living in the smaller buy-in events for a few years now. The Championship makes it Titos 3rd in as many years in the tournament circuit. The prize of $124,985 is Titos largest cash to date.

The success of the tournament did not stop with the first event. The second event of the classic, which took place on January 23rd, was a $500 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em event. While drawing a smaller field of 473 this larger buy-in event still offered a 100x investment opportunity for the winner. The lucky winner of the $59,640 first place prize was David Plastik. Plastik, who is a Las Vegas based professional poker player, outlasted the field including Tuan Nyguen and many other strong players to take down the prize. The win takes Plastik’s lifetime tournament winnings to $2,287,315 and moves him to #87 on the 2009 Player of the Year Rankings. Plastik, who also cashed for $1,100 in event 1, is hoping to make the Classic a very good month for himself.

With many other events already completed, the L.A. Poker Classic has gotten the world of tournament poker off to a great start here in 2009. As I write this article the No Limit Hold’em Event 15, $500 buy-in is just beginning. Make sure you check back in, as I keep you updated on one of the Nation’s top Tournaments.

Senators and Governors have argued for years that Online Poker should be illegal for many different reasons. They argue that the pitfalls of gambling cause many American citizens to get into debt or to become addicted to a type of environment that causes degenerate behavior. While these arguments do have merit and the pitfalls of gambling are relevant, poker has been proven to be a game involving mostly skill, with a combination of luck: very far from the degenerate gambling involved in many casino games.

If slot machines, roulette, betting on dogs, and various other forms of gambling, such as poker, are legal at institutions such as Casinos, Dog Tracks, Horse Tracks, then why should online poker be prohibited. Poker is just a game, with money simply being used to keep the score. While I do admit, that there are some pitfalls to any sort of betting and that certain types of people, with addictive personalities should not participate, overall online poker is not a harmful game.

It is estimated that over 15 million Americans play online poker for money every year, with over $170 million being wagered online by Americans, as far back as 2005. While the 2008 numbers have yet to be verified, it is estimated to be as much as five times this amount. With over half a billion dollars being spent or exchanged each year, why wouldn’t the Government want in on this action?

While it is possible that with the changes occurring in the US Government, changes could occur within the Online Poker world as well. As Obama and his cabinet are looking to fund many new projects, there is an abundance of wealth to be made from the online world. Obama, who admits to being an avid poker player, is aware of the vast amounts of money exchanged on the internet and knows of the potential that legalizing online poker could provide for the Government.

Alfonse D’Amato, who is a former Republican Senator from New York and serves as chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, has brought the subject of the legalization of online poker back into the eyes of Washington’s decision makers. In his recent article in “Roll Call”, which goes out to almost all congress members and senators, D’Amato has put the pressure on Washington to heed the request of millions of Americans and legalize online poker.

In the last paragraph of D’Amato’s article he summed up the opportunity that awaits the US Government with the following quote. “Obama is purported to be a skillful poker player, an expertise that should be an unwritten job requirement for all would-be U.S. presidents. Poker teaches you patience, and it trains you to calculate the odds and avoid unnecessary risks. If Obama applies his poker skills to his job in the White House, he will reject politically unpopular and economically untenable tax increases and look seriously at other potential revenue streams like Internet poker.”

With the economic pressure and the voices of millions of Americans, we can only hope that the legalization of Online Poker is right around the corner. Will 2009 be a historic year for Online Poker? I think it just might be!

Rick Wisler, the NH State Lottery Executive Director, stated, “We could end up losing some significant revenue from this. It can amount to a million dollars a year or more to the Lottery if credit cards are not allowed.” He also stated that they were “caught in the cross-hairs of over-regulation.”

The UIGEA went into effect officially on January 19th of this year. Many banks are chosing to block any transaction that is coded as gambling in order to save any headache regarding the UIGEA. Lotteries are supposed to be exempt from the policy, but as in the case of the NH lottery, this does not appear to be the case.

The UIGEA is supposed to put restrictions on banks and financial institutions regarding various forms of gambling. Poker lobbyists are trying to get poker an exemption like the one that state lotteries have received.

Many websites have dropped out of the US market due to the UIGEA regulations. Other sites such as PokerStars.com and Full Tilt Poker have continued operations.

WickedChops Poker released contents on an email they received. It stated, “While U.S. American broadcasts aren’t overtly distinguishable as a Full Tilt production, foreign markets receive a more branded version of the program.”

This will affect some of the players that have played on the show in the past. Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Joseph Hachem, and Peter Eastgate are all sponsored players by PokerStars. This ban also extends to the celebrity players as well, so don’t expect to see Jason Alexander or Orel Hersheiser on the show.

Poker After Dark is NBC’s hit show where players put up 20,000 in a winner takes all shootout tournament. The format has changed some over the last couple of years and more cash games and alternate formats such as heads-up play are also now incorporated. The show airs six times a week. The tournament or cash game is played Monday through Friday and Saturday is a “Director’s Cut” of the show with player interviews and highlights.