Online Poker Digest

Poker’s biggest superstar, Phil Ivey will be missing out the World Series of Poker. The reason behind such a judgment was because of his sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, who Ivey claims has not paid back player deposits after withdrawal from the U.S. market. This has made Ivey humiliated and dissatisfied.

In a statement posted on Facebook page, Ivey has said that Full Tilt Poker is facing rigorous legal hitches and the supported players of the company have been treated poorly. In returning player deposits, Full Tilt’s alleged “painful” slowness is what Ivey is protesting about. Ivey also filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt, in addition to showing his resentment by missing out in the WSOP.

The owners of FullTilt Poker have stated that Phil Ivey’s lawsuit was a “sanctimonious” action against the online gaming company and they claim that the complete thing is intended to help just Ivey, himself.

For US players, Full Tilt Poker was one of the most popular internet poker rooms. In an April crackdown on online gambling, Full Tilt was one of the three online sites shut down by the FBI. PokerStars and Absolute Poker were the two other poker sites which were shut down. On charges of tricking banks into unlawful processing payments, 11 people were prosecuted.

Via Twitter, Tom “durrrr” Dwan did mention that he thought Ivey’s announcement was “awesome.”, even though majority of Full Tilt Pros have remained silent on the matter. However, he did state that he had no issues playing the WSOP.

The tenth edition of World Poker Tour, Spanish Championship is being held in Barcelona for a week, from May 23 to 29, at the Gran Casino.

The Main Event tournament will be played from 25 to 29 of the fifth month of this year, for this new poker event. With a stack of 30,000 chips and rounds of 60 minutes each, players at this event will have to start the game and the entry fee is set at € 3,200.

At 15.00 CET on Wednesday May 25, Day 1A of the €3,200 + €300 main event gets underway. On Thursday, May 26 Day 1B will follow at the same time. On Sunday, May 29, the final table takes place at 15.00 CET and will be live streamed with hole cards and commentary on the Party Poker blog.

WPT Spanish Championship last year created a total prize pool worth €1,043,200 and attracted a record 326 players. Although allegations circulated about Ali Tekintamgac cheating, he won the tournament and the top prize of $343,307. With prize money, the top 36 players walked away. Per Linde (28th place), Casey Kastle (22nd place), and Steven Van Zadelhoff (13th place) were the notable cashes.

The first international tournament the tour has hosted since WPT Bratislava in April as the WPT Spanish Championship is the first stop of Season 10 of the WPT. The WPT promises another exciting series of tournament with this new season. The winner will take home a $25,500 entry into the 2012 WPT World, in addition to the tournament title.

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) which will be held in Cannes, France, in October, has announced the schedule for this year’s tournament series.

The 2011 World Series of Poker Europe will consist of seven bracelet events. From October 7th through the 20th, the events will be taking place at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hotel Majestic Barrière. At a WSOP Europe that is the most bracelets ever offered.

On Oct. 15th the main event, a €10,400 buy-in, will begin. James Bord, Barry Shulman, John Juanda and Annette Obrestad are the past winners in the four year history of the WSOPE.

Starting on Oct. 12th, the most unique tournament will be a four-day split format. The final table will be heads-up as the first day will be nine-handed no-limit hold’em; day two is six-handed; day 3. The buy-in will be €10,400.

On Friday, October 7 at 5:00 PM, a Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event will kick off the tournament, and feature a €2,500 + €180 buy-in and a 3-day structure.

Other events include No Limit Hold’em Shootout, a six-handed Pot Limit Omaha, a €10,000 + €400 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event, Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em.

A unique split format event is the most exciting new addition to the schedule. The final table will be contested heads up as this special four-day event will play Day 1 as 9-handed, Day 2 as six-handed, and Day 3 as Heads-Up. This will feature a €10,000 + €400 buy-in as it’s being dubbed as All-Around No Limit Hold’em Championship.

For the first time in the nine-season history of the tour, the World Poker Tour is scheduled to take place in Florida for a major televised tournament this week. On Wednesday, April 27, the $10,000 no-limit hold’em WPT main event commences at the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown and it will crown a champion on Monday, May 2 in Hollywood, Florida. At the Seminole Hard Rock, the WPT will also host a Regional Series event and it will run from Aug. 19-22.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 one can be a part of history as Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack will kick-off the first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit Events in the State of Pennsylvania. With buy-ins ranging from $50 for the Super Satellite event to $1,500 for the No-Limit Hold’em Championship, the World Series of Poker Circuit schedule for Harrah’s Chester will comprise of 38 tournament events. An automatic seat to the WSOP Circuit National Championship can be earned by the winner of the $1,500 buy-in, championship event. This is scheduled to be held on May 27-29 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In another poker news, the honor to host a major event of the international poker circuit will be availed by the Aviation Club de France once again. For ten days, this new poker appointment in Paris will run and it will be held from September 1 to 11, 2011. Many tournaments will be played at the program of this event and during six days of September 5 to 10 with two Day 1, the most popular, the main event of € 7,500 buy-in that will take place.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee in Florida USA dismissed efforts to bring online poker into the lawful and taxable world. For a long time, Florida has been endeavoring to make legal internet poker, recognizing the online gambling trend, which is undeniably growing at a gargantuan rate.

The bill initiated by Republican rep from Miami, Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla was tied vote of 2 against 2. Through an intranet system operated out of the pari-mutuel card rooms already existing, the bill would have regulated online poker games.

Thanks to a suggested 10 percent tax on gross receipts, the bill, sponsored by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, would have brought in an estimated $10.5 million a year, with another 4 percent going to assist parimutel horse and dog tracks in the state.

SB812 was successfully killed by voting, which resulted in a 2-2 tie. Florida Sheriff’s Association and the Poker Players Alliance powerfully resisted the measure and the bill created an unfair domination that promoted only the state-run parimutel card rooms. Had the bill passed from existing offshore poker sites, it would have successfully barred outside competition.

Lobbyist for the internet poker operators, Gus Corbella said that to go up against the bill, 80,000 Floridians have called lawmakers since it is “severely limiting the access that Florida players currently have” and it is “monopolistic and unfair”. He said that the law is “unclear at best” for online poker, while the federal law makes sports betting illegal.

In the PokerStars Superstar Showdown, Daniel Negreanu commemorated his triumph over Isildur1 by leaping into the top ten at the World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship at Rincon outside of San Diego Monday.

Negreanu finds himself in eighth position with 18 players remaining and Kwinsee Tran leading the way. Dwyte Pilgrim, Scott Montgomery, Todd Terry, Ali Eslami and a red-hot Tim West are the other familiar names still in contention. Tim has won the 2011 Wynn Classic main event recently.

Creating a $950,600 prize pool, the $10k WSOPC Rincon Regional Championship drew just 98 players.

Pilgrim will start Day 3 second in chips with 236,500 and he is in a huge position to pick up yet another WSOP-C title. He pursues only chip leader Kwinsee Tran in the counts. For Pilgrim, a win here would mean a record-tying fourth ring. He certainly has history on his side, as two of his three rings came from this very casino.

While others saw their run end on Day 2, Pilgrim, Negreanu, and others flourished. Over the course of the day, Phil Hellmuth, LAPC Champ Gregory Brooks, Jonathan Little, Adam Levy, David Williams, Mike Baxter and Zachary Clark were just a few of the eliminations.

On Tuesday, play will resume at Noon local time and it will be brought to a close when the televised final table of nine is in place. The nine players who reach the final table will be rewarded a seat to the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship and the top 12 will also be paid. The $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship will be played from May 27 to 29th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The two most prominent players at the final table endured to the heads-up final at the final day of the Big Event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California, which saw a dream set-up play out. For the title of The Big Event champion and the $500,000 first-place prize, battled team PokerStars pro members Joe Hachem and Victor Ramdin

Ramdin persists to be one of the most benevolent players on tour, in spite of a lack of a major triumph as of late, he regularly gave back to those in his home country of Guyana. For his career, his $500,000 payday gives him $3.3 million and his first six-figure score in five years. To Guyanese charities, Ramdin contributes at least 25% of his tournament winnings and often goes above and beyond this amount. For Ramdin, the triumph may also have come just at the right time, as the roster of PokerStars pros is dwindling. He will be under limelight with this win for just a little bit longer.

In career tournament earnings, Hachem now has over $11.3 million. Since his win in the 2006 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic, a conquest has marked Hachem’s first major tournament victory at The Big Event.

The tournament was a great sensation, in spite of the lack of NAPT branding. A unique view into the minds of some of game’s most familiar players was offered to the fans with the live coverage. PokerStars pro members Joe Hachem and Victor Ramdin headed their separate ways after the tournament ended. Ramdin was back in action less than 12 hours later in the $10,000 Bounty Shootout event, while Hachem left Los Angeles to fly back to Australia.

888 have launched a revolutionary “pokercam” option for 888 Poker. As one of the world’s most admired gaming entertainment companies, it has innovated again to grant players with something that they have not experienced before.

The poker cam tables will be offered from the main lobby and while playing a Texas Hold’em Cash game, it will permit players to see their rivals. The poker cam tables will be powered by a leading video communication service provider, ooVoo, which is admired for its best-in-class mobile video chat solution. A further dimension to 888′s social play has been added by the addition of the “Teams Tournament” feature. In a standard tournament layout, this inventive type of tournament gives players the alternative of joining a virtual team. However, a part of the prize is assigned to all of the players that belong to the winning team, in addition to the conventional prize-pool, players score points for their team.

Hili Shakked, Director of Poker Offering, 888Holdings said that he is delighted to offer this innovative and amusing attribute to the existing and new customers of 888poker. He is thrilled with the outcome and he guaranteed that by simply downloading the new software on a computer with a standard webcam, players could look forward to enjoying an absolutely new and dissimilar poker experience. He added that the bigger challenge will be when one gets pocket aces and one has to hide big grin.

According to the website, it provides an immersive social experience for players to work together with each other, such as the use of personalized avatar, thereby building on the sturdy social aspects of the 888 poker rooms.

Two straight years of declining gaming revenues was ended by Nevada by the slightest of margins. In gaming revenues in 2010, the Gaming Control Board said that casinos statewide collected $10.4 billion, an increase of 0.1 percent, or roughly $12 million, compared with $10.39 billion in gaming revenues reported in 2009.

Casinos reported gaming revenues of $5.77 billion on the strip, which was an increase of 4.1 percent compared with $5.55 billion collected in 2009. Those results also ended a two-year slump. For Nevada, the figures are rare good news, which continues to have the nation’s highest unemployment and foreclosure rates and was particularly hard hit by the recession. According to Michael Lawton, financial analyst for the commission, the rise only brings revenues back to about 2004 levels.

A closer look also reveals that the Las Vegas Strip, which increased by 4.1 percent, accounting for $5.8 billion of the state’s total gaming revenue was the only area seeing an uptick in 2010. Decrease in gaming revenues last year was witnessed by downtown Las Vegas, Reno and other areas.

Lawton said that from table games such as poker, craps and baccarat, a “high-roller” game played by international visitors, comes the Las Vegas Strip’s take mostly. In 2010, Baccarat’s take was $1.1 billion, most of it on the Strip. As the dominant table game, Baccarat surpassed 21.

In Washoe County, the year-end gambling report showed revenues were down 4.3 percent, 2.3 percent in Elko County and less than 1 percent in Clark County. For the year, Casino winnings on the Las Vegas Strip rose 4.1 percent, but fell 0.3 percent in December to $500.7 million.

After gamblers wagered $12.1 billion at slots and table games, December’s “casino win” is the amount left in casino coffers. From the same month a year ago, the $9 billion wagered at slots was up 1.1 percent, while table game wagers of $3.1 billion were up 3.8 percent. Revenue from slot machines was down everywhere, dropping 2.7 percent statewide last year and reaching the lowest total since 1997.

“Isildur1” Blom, on in his SuperStar Showdown series seems that Team PokerStars Pro has no shortage of big name players waiting to take him on. Viktor “Isildur1” Blom has a new challenger to face. The online poker wunderkid is now set to face Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, after having lost to Isaac Haxton and beaten by Tony G. Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, won the most money playing nosebleed cash games online in 2010.

The match will take place on Sunday, January 30 at 530 pm ET on PokerStars.com and it was announced on Wednesday by PokerStars.

Four tables of $50/$100 No Limit Hold’em will be played by the two. Against a series of challengers who have come forward since he signed on with PokerStars, Blom’s challenge series has pitted the high stakes star. Blom was still playing anonymously under the Isildur1 screen name at the time the series began.

For Blom, “Jungleman” might be the toughest opponent. With Tom “durrrr” Dwan (the aptly named Durrrr Challenge), Cates is currently involved in an even higher stakes challenge. He currently holds an overwhelming lead of $819,000.

Blom has shown a minor profit, since PokerStars launched the SuperStar Showdown. In the first match with Isaac Haxton, he lost around $40,000, but then won around $44,000 in the game against Tony G. Blom, who has copped to his real identity and he has stepped out of the shadows, since that time. This will be the first time they have faced off on PokerStars in such a public setting.

So for all the action, tune in Sunday night.