Online Poker News

According to a recent news story released by Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter, the screenwriters who brought us the classic poker flick “Rounders” (Brian Koppelman and David Levien) as well as several other hot hitting movies (like “Ocean’s Thirteen”) are teaming up once again to write yet another gambing flick - this one about the world of Costa Rica based online poker rooms. The big news about the movie hit the presses today as its star had just climbed on board - that being none other than Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie is currently untitled and has no script. DiCaprio is working closely with Koppelman and Levien to help write the script.

From the sound of it, poker fans who also enjoy the high-action, Hollywood thrill-ride this film is sure to offer will probably be the film’s greatest fans and promoters. And if they don’t, they can always pop “Rounders” back into the player.

Popularity: 10% [?]

In addition to their already generous 50% signup bonus (up to a $200 max) and 5 chances to compete in their $20,000 New Depositors Freeroll, throughout the month of June Titan Poker is offering poker lovers yet another incredible reason to join the site: the $35,000 Year of World Poker promotion.

The Year of World Poker promotion is just what it sounds like - a unique opportunity to “Play Poker Around the World”. Many poker sites offer players a chance to satellite into a free seat in one of the year’s many land-based tournaments with large cash prizes, but with this promotion, Titan Poker is going to give one lucky (and skillful) player a free seat in 5 major land-based poker tournaments, including the Main Event of the 2010 World Series of Poker.

The other 4 free tournament entries included in this prize package are:

* APT Macau
* EC Poker Tour
* Irish Open
* Irish Winter Festival

New Titan Poker player making their first deposit into the real-money account will receive 4 tokens worth 4 chances at winning this unparalleled prize of prizes.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Poker

Well, as far as most people are concerned, online poker is already everywhere. It’s really old news to read posts that talk about the growth of online poker. What is interesting to note is the places where poker played online is legal and where it is not. 888 poker is very vibrant in the Asia pacific, particularly in Australia. New Zealand currently has relaxed laws pertaining to online poker. Various promotional campaigns unique to the Asia Pacific prove very successful, utilizing both sports and television personalities from the respective countries. This can be seen in the recent poker ashes.

It’s very important when discussing this topic to refer to the skill game nature of poker, as opposed to the chance luck games of casino, i.e. craps, roulette and blackjack.

Arrests made over the legality of online gambling were rampant over the past few years. The arrest of BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers in Texas in 2006, followed by Bwin CEO’s arrest in France in the same year. Bush’s piggy backing of the UIGEA on to the Safe Port Act in 2006 was viewed adversely by many avid gamblers and admirers of the culture alike.

Yet again, we gaze back upon the events transpiring in the arena of online gambling, and one question pops up … What’s changed?

Pictures of 888 events can be viewed here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_w/3474953449/in/photostream/

Popularity: 25% [?]

Absolute Poker is sending at least one lucky player to the coveted Playboy Mansion, Los Angeles home of Hugh Hefner himself and his lovely Playmates, as a special VIP guest at its exclusive Kandyland Party, promised to be “A Night of Hedonism” at its best.

The No Limit Holdem tournament takes place on Wednesday, May 20 and the top prize package includes:

* 2 VIP invites to the Kandyland ball on June 6, which includes a private cabana, your own personal waitress, champagne and all the Grey Goose vodka you can drink
* a VIP tour of the grounds by a Playboy Playmate
* 3 night’s accommodations
* $2,000 in travel money

The party features latex body-painted entertainers, costumed performers, music by celebrity DJs, and performances by the exotic Karma Kandies.

AbsolutePoker is running free qualifier tournaments now for entry into the May 20 Play to Party tournament finals. There are some prizes that even money can’t buy, and this special invite-only event - the Kandyland Party at the Playboy Mansion - is one of them.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Not all members of Congress are anti-poker - not by a longshot. Just look at Representative Barney Frank of Massachussets. In the face of the oppressive and unfair UIGEA making legal US poker an oxymoron, Frank faces-off against the morons amongst colleagues who supported the act with an act of his own - the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. This bill, if passed into law, would set up a framework for licensing and regulating poker sites online and online casinos.

And, thankfully, Frank is not alone. Authoring a companion measure designed to levy a tax on internet gambling is Representative Jim McDermott of Washington state. This bill seeks to impose a 2% of the gross receipts of online gaming sites licensed under Frank’s bill.

Put the two bills together and you see a vision starting to take shape that is a boon to online poker players and the economically ravaged U.S. government alike.  One site that has not folded under the USA pressure is Aced.com poker.  They continue to operate even with the current UIGEA regulations.

Popularity: 35% [?]

PokerStars has announced that it will be hosting a charity poker event called “Ante Up For Africa Europe Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament”. This will be a star-filled event now added to the weeklong schedule of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with the money raised to go towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

One day before the PokerStars EPT Season Five Grand Final Main Event, on April 27, 2009, a slew of poker stars will come out in droves to support this great cause, including members of Team PokerStars itself, like Joe Hachem, Vanessa Rousso, and Daniel Negreanu. The No Limit Texas Holdem event has a €4,000 buy-in and the winner of the event will receive a free seat in the PokerStars EPT Bahamas Event in January 2010.

Ante Up for Africa, the organization running the event, has held two similar charity poker tournaments in the past, both as part of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Popularity: 44% [?]

I read a recent blog posting asking whether legal online gambling in the U.S. was a state or a federal affair. My answer is that it seems to be both. On a federal level Massachusetss Representative and Chair of the House Finances Committee Barney Frank tries to get a bill through Congress effectively knocking down the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) and making online poker legal for U.S. players again.

But as we all eagerly await his (imminent?) success, the states aren’t waiting at all. Lawyer and Washington State Director of the Poker Players Alliance sadly failed in his effort to get a Washington court to repeal a state ban on internet gambling as it was a violation of certain constitutional rights. But the court upheld the ban, and the fight in Washington goes on.

Meanwhile, Californians (including Governor Arnold) tries to make CA the first state to legalize online poker and online gambling, and allow the state to collect a revenue from it by regulating it.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Everyone’s aware of the iPhone craze that’s swept the planet over the past year or so. And most people know that the world’s most popular smartphone has its own store now where users can download applications to their iPhones (some free, others not) to add extra functionalities and capabilities to their devices. So it should come as little surprise that now there’s an iPhone app that count cards.

The card counting iPhone has been such a problem for land-based casinos that they’ve begun banning iPhones from their card rooms, imposing stiff penalties for noncompliance. And that is why so many of these iPhone-owning poker players have turned to the internet, where no one can see them (or you) messing with your iPhone while you play.

Between this, the smoking ban in many land-based casinos, and the extra costs of travelling to and from a brick-and-mortar poker room, it is believed that more poker enthusiasts than ever are becoming online poker enthusiasts. And online poker rooms are reporting a steady increase in player deposits (which means more fish for all you sharks out there who know that there’s a huge difference between playing in person and playing online).

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for online poker players no doubt depends on what mobile device you use.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Full Tilt Poker has commenced its 2009 season of World Series of Poker satellites and qualifiers.

For $200 + $16 up to 81 players at a time can compete in a twice-daily shootout (at 3:30 pm and 9:30 pm ET) with the top prize being a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker main event. For a varying range of buy-ins and stakes, Full Tilt will also be running 5 weekly WSOP qualifiers, one each on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

There will also be ways to win one of 50 free seats in the 2009 World Series of Poker main event for free, with an ongoing series of daily freerolls. Win a round 1 freeroll and then place in the top two in a round 2 freeroll and you’ll qualify to compete in the Main Event Race Finals Freeroll held each Sunday. A $12,000 WSOP main event prize package will be awarded to the players coming in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each.

And finally, on Sunday, June 21, Full Tilt will be running a one-time only tournament awarding $12,000 main event prize packages to the 150 top finishers. Buy-in is $500 + $35.

Party Poker WSOP Satellites are also running now to give you even more opportunities to qualify for this years Main Event.  Party Poker has slightly different WSOP qualifiers and you can find more about them at this post: Party Poker WSOP.

Popularity: 46% [?]

All of a sudden the web seems abuzz with “news” stories of poker bots. Although these crafty little creatures–software programs that play on behalf of (and supposedly much better than) their human owners–have been around for a long long time, they haven’t hit the presses in quite a while.

So what does the media have to say on poker bots? Let’s see…

Well, some latecomer “journalists” are merely predicting that these emotionless statistics spitters are poised to take over the online poker world. But as we already know, poker sites are wise to their ways and ever-savvier in singling them out and banning the players who use them.

Still other writers are pointing out, with plenty of evidence to back their theories up, that the makers of poker bots are constantly devising better machines, and whereas human poker pros once had a decent shot against a poker bot, the ones they’re coming up against now seem almost impossible to beat.

What to know about poker bots as a player?

1. They’re legal - in the sense that you can’t get prosecuted, sued, or taken to jail for using one
2. They are, however, unethical–and using them does qualify as cheating
3. And they do violate poker sites’ terms of use and can therefore hold onto any profits you’ve won on the site but haven’t yet cashed out, and worse get you banned not just from the site on which you use the bot but on every site in that particular poker room’s network

So the bottom line on poker bots is: Bot-er Beware!

As for all you ethical players out there, a word of advice: Bots are best at heads-up limit and pot limit games. To minimize your risk of playing against a poker bot, pick No Limit multiplayer games.

Popularity: 48% [?]