Online Poker News

01/07: 200,000 Signatures for Poker Petition

The PPA is trying to get online poker taken out of the UIGEA Bill and have it legalized. So they have been gathering signatures in a petition up and get as many names as possible on it.

Since poker has been proven as a game of skill, they say it should be exempt. This petition has really got people in Vegas talking. A lot of the poker tournaments are held in Las Vegas.

I say if they want this done then get behind and the ones that have signed the petition behind Barney Frank. He is the one doing more for online gambling, including poker than anyone else. Get these 200,000 people to back Frank and we will get things done.

To see the Petition and read the story go here.

22/06: ‘Poker In The Park’ at the UK’s Top Poker League

This is Europe’s Largest Poker Festival and they would like to invite you to compete for one of the ELEVEN Championship Cups.

22 June 2009 (London, UK) – Market leading poker magazine Bluff Europe are teaming up with the biggest names in pub poker and are inviting thousands of poker league players to Leicester Square to partake in Europe’s biggest annual poker festival: Poker In The Park.

Now in its third year, Poker in the Park comes back to London’s Leicester Square on Thursday, August 13 (5:00pm – 9.30pm) & Friday, August 14 (12:00pm – 9.30pm) GMT.

As testimony to the increasing popularity of pub poker, Bluff Europe have joined forces with 11 major pub leagues and have invited them to host a tournament each at this year’s Poker in the Park Texas Hold’em Tent, The Poker Dome!

Leagues hosting cup events at this years Poker in the Park include:

The Nuts Poker League
Red Tooth Poker
londonpubpoker.co.uk
Big Time Poker League
Champions Poker League
Masters Poker League
londonpokermeetup.co.uk

Each hour a turbo sit-n-go tournament, sponsored by a different league, will run with up to 80 runners. This high action format is sure to provide an exciting game for players and spectators who are invited to watch the events live or via the big-screen in London’s Leicester Square.

Join in on the fun if you love poker and playing in Leagues then be there and take home the Cash!

16/06: Second Bracelet for Brock Parker

This is one guy we will be hearing a lot more about! This 27 year old is strutting his stuff at the WSOP, by winning his second WSOP Bracelet! He said and I quote: “I can't describe this," said Parker. "This is just unreal. It actually does not feel real to me."

This young man has earned $552,745 for the victory which has put him well over the one million dollar mark. He was the 125th player to accomplish this! We will see what he does in the 37 more events to come.

You can read all about this and more on the WSOP here:

I think this young man will go far in the poker world!

11/06: New York Freezes Funds of Poker Payment Processor

Well, New York state is at it again; this time they are freezing over $30M in funds that rightfully belong to poker players. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York ordered this seizure, which affected 3 Wells Fargo banks. New York contends that the processor, Allied Systems Inc., is involved in "money laundering and illegal gambling offenses," but if you ask me, that's a crock of !@#!.

Poker has NOT been deemed illegal, and in recent court cases, such as in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, Poker has been acknowledged as a game of skill, rather than gambling. Poker is also NOT covered under the UIGEA.

There may be some good that comes out of this, which is that this case may set the precedent needed to prove once and for all that by playing poker online, you are NOT breaking the law. I just hope that this case is proven frivolous, and the people that are responsible for freezing these accounts will be brought into court for either civil or criminal charges.

The only problem this is causing right now is that instant e-checks are not available at any of the poker rooms, but many other deposit options are still available. Withdrawals are being processed as normal, so there's no worry about not getting your money. Please check with the poker rooms that you play at to see which deposit and withdrawal options are available.

Source

20/05: Legalized Online Poker Closer to Reality in California

Well, it seems that California is going down the tubes, and fast. Their latest attempt to fix the budget has failed, and now they're looking at being $25 Billion in debt by the end of the fiscal year, so now they're looking for other sources of revenue, which include the legalization of online poker sites for Californians, which would be ran from any of the 60 native Indian tribes and/or 91 of the licensed offline card & poker rooms within the state.

There was a bill released in 2008 to legalize online poker in California, but due to other (unrelated) state financial concerns, and the original bill's author, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine left office after serving his maximum 2 terms, it was left at the wayside.

The good news is that Jim Tabilio, president of grassroots gaming advocacy group Poker Voters of America (PVA), has been instructed by the California legislature to continue working on this bill and get it ready for a vote. If everything goes as planned, California could introduce legal online poker to its residents as early as January 2010.

Once this happens, I'm hoping that other states will follow suit. Most all states are struggling because of the way the economy is right now, and legal online poker can and will be a cash cow for them...

Source

29/04: Poker Series Commissioner Blasts Joan Rivers

What in the world is up with Joan Rivers? Not only did she call Annie Duke a "nazi(!)", but her views about poker players are that we're "beyond white trash"! Another questionable quotes that Rivers made was "Your people, you give money with blood on it." Where does she get off saying stuff like this?

These comments were made during the latest "Celebrity Apprentice" in which both Annie Duke and Joan Rivers were participants in.

Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack mentioned that "We would love to see a woman win the main event ... unless that woman happens to be Joan Rivers," in a recent news conference that was in regards to addressing player conduct during WSOP events and how new measures will be implemented to monitor player's actions more closely, and dish out more appropriate and stiffer penalties for those that cross the line of what boils down to good sportsmanship.

Pollack was also quoted as saying "After the episode with Phil in the main event last year, we said publicly we're going to review our system of warnings and penalties. We have done that." and "We saw a couple of things last year that we weren't too pleased with or proud of and recognized that some changes needed to be made."

For those of you that missed it, here's the clip in question where Phil literally blows up and goes on a tirade that lasts for what seems like forever, berating another player. He was given a 9 hand penalty that was supposed to be served out when play resumed the next day, but yet he whined enough and it was overturned and play resumed as normal.



Here's the original article, at SFGate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/28/entertainment/e160914D06.DTL

27/04: California Working to Legalize and Regulate Online Poker

The bill, titled California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance, and Comsumer Protection Act (wow, that's a mouthful) will be great for Californians. The bill will only legalize online poker within its state walls, and operators will be limited to land-based casinos and card rooms, those of which that currently hold gambling licenses.

A few key points of this bill include:

• Mandates wagering hubs to be located within the state. (I'm assuming this means the gaming servers.)


• Only poker games already approved for offline play may be offered.


• Withdrawals may only be processed to the player by either a check and mailed to the address on file for the player or by electronic transfer, if the player is authorized to deposit via that method.


• When a player opens an account, they must impose a daily deposit limit upon themselves.

And lastly, to keep the US DoJ happy,

• This law must ensure that it is in compliance with the UIGEA

While this would mean that Californians will be able to legally play poker online, technically it's still not "legal" to do so across state lines.

I'll be keeping my eye out for more news on this, and post updates as more information is made available.

If you're interested in reading the official draft, you can find it here, on IGamingNews' website.

17/04: NBC's Poker Heads-Up championship hits the airwaves

The first 2 hour episode of NBC's poker heads-up championship hit the airwaves Sunday, April 12th, and will run on Sunday for 6 weeks, until the 3 hour grand finale on May 17th. There is $1.5M up for grabs, and those lucky enough to reach the sweet 16 are guaranteed at least $25,000; with the winner taking home a cool $500K along with the title of being the National Heads-Up Champion.

Week one featured some great matches, which included Daniel Negreanu v. Chris Moneymaker, Mike Matusow v. Dario Minieri, Mike Sexton v. Phil Hellmuth and Gabe Kaplan v. Chris Ferguson. Week 2 will feature matches between Johnny Chan & Eli Elezra, and Annie Duke & Brad Garrett.

Be sure to tune in and watch some great heads-up action!

Here's the full (remaining) schedule:

• April 19: Noon - 1PM ET/Check local listings for PT


• April 26: Noon - 2PM ET/Check local listings for PT


• May 3: Noon - 2PM ET/Check local listings for PT


• May 10: Noon - 2PM ET/Check local listings for PT


• May 17: Noon - 3PM ET/Check local listings for PT

04/04: Spring Championship of Online Poker is currently underway at PokerStars

With 4 events completed and 18 more to go, there is still millions of dollars up for grabs at PokerStars' Spring Championship of online poker.

I love what they've done with this, as there's no need to worry if you have a limited bankroll. They have 3 levels of each event - one each for low, medium, and high stakes players alike. You can play in one, two, or even all 3 if you like!

Entry fees range anywhere from $16.50 all the way up to $1,000+. The main event finishes off this series, and you can buy into this for $109, $1,050 or $10,300, respectively, or try your chances in several satellite tournaments that will be running up until it starts on April 12th at 4:30PM EDT.

Head on over to PokerStars today to get into these SCOOP tournaments, and I'll see you at the tables!

01/04: PDC Poker changes their freeroll structure

Starting today, PDC Poker is changing the way players can enter into freeroll tournaments.

The $50,000, $10,000, $2,000 & $1,000 freerolls at PDC Poker will cease to exist, but they are adding several new ones which include a weekly $50,000 freeroll as well as various $5,000 frerolls throughout each week.

Entry into different freerolls will now be based on a player's VIP level, so this new structure is somewhat similar to the rewards scheme that PokerStars has in place.

Don't fret If you have tickets for any of the freerolls that have been canceled. All outstanding tickets will be converted into VIP points today, and should be in your account by the end of today, at the following rates.

Legend:
Exchanged Coupon - VIP Point Refund

• 50K Freeroll - 1,000 points


• 10K Freeroll - 500 points


• 2K Freeroll - 200 points


• 1K Freeroll - 100 points

Accepts all Players