23 Mar 06
Largest Online Tourny Announced
March 23 - A $5 million guaranteed online poker tournament will kick of on the Ongame Poker Network next week, making it the largest online poker tournament in history. The winner will receive a massive $1 million.
Players can ONLY enter through qualifying rounds held on Ongame Network operators' websites.
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22 Mar 06
WPT IV Wraps
"The World Poker Tour wraps up Season IV with its grand finale being hosted at the Bellagio Hotel Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Bellagio’s 2006 4th Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic kicks off April 5th with two-day no-limit hold’em tournaments, including a seniors event and 'a last chance to qualify' super satellite. On April 18th, the $25,000 championship will begin, with final table filming on April 24th."
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22 Mar 06
Ten (US) Tax Tips for Gamblers
"Taxes for gamblers is a complex area. There is no such thing as 'one size fits all.' Here, though, are my top ten tax tips for gamblers.
#10. The $1,000,000 freeroll at paradise Poker Tax Court recently made a very positive ruling for all gamblers. In Castagnetta v. Commissioner (T.C. Summary 2006-24), the Court held that non-professional gamblers can, in some instances, deduct other expenses incurred while gambling. These expenses include ATM fees, office supplies, and admission fees.
The Court also held that a professional gambler does not have to be solely engaged in gambling. That has been the position of the IRS in various appeals cases. Instead, the Tax Court said that gambling must be, 'the intended livelihood source...[and pursued] for income or profit.'
Unfortunately, this is a Summary Opinion and is not precedential. However, it does indicate how the Tax Court would likely rule in similar cases."
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21 Mar 06
Poker Radio: The Nuts Tune In
Bobby Spade revs up the internet broadcast (worldpokerradio.com) of California Poker Radio every Saturday from Noon until 1 PM from a San Diego studio with a series of openers: 'California Poker Radio: where the Nuts Tune In.' And, 'California Poker Radio: from San Diego to Eureka, from the flop to the river.' Bobby is introduced as, 'What you get when you mix Rush Limbaugh with Howard Stern.' The show can also be picked up as a podcast through iTunes."
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21 Mar 06
UK Students to Duke It Out
"Although the popularity of poker across university campuses has generally been highlighted as an American phenomenon, UK students seem to have caught the poker bug as well. Evidence of this is the appeal of the UK Student Poker Championship. UKStudentPoker.com, a site that serves to bridge the gap between the various universities' poker societies, is spearheading the UK Student Poker Championship for the second year in a row, with help from the University of St. Andrews and online gaming site Betfred.com. The organization was also behind the tournament's inaugural run, in 2005."
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20 Mar 06
Party Bets On New Boss
"MITCH GARBER is this week expected to be named as the new chief executive of Party Gaming, the online poker company, on a potential £9m a year pay-and-share-options package that will make him one of Britain’s best-paid bosses.
Garber, who has just stepped down as executive chairman of Fire One, the online payment firm, is understood to have agreed in principle to become chief executive, succeeding Richard Segal."
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20 Mar 06
Poker Ad Dooms Fad
"The once white-hot gambling fad sailed right past ubiquity into sellout-infested waters with a Diet Pepsi commercial currently in rotation featuring professional players Daniel Negreanu, Scott Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth losing to a sweating cola can.
... But in terms of television ratings, poker's downward spiral has already begun. The audience for Bravo's 'Celebrity Poker Showdown' has fallen to an average of 134,000 viewers this year from a high of 364,000 viewers in 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research."
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20 Mar 06
Marching Under The "Ban It!" Banner
"There is continued movement in the halls of Congress in the United States to attempt to enforce or outright ban Americans participation in online gaming and poker. Arizona Senator Jon Kyl has made it almost an annual crusade to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to gamble online and recently Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte's revamped bill from 2000 was sent to committee. Another bill that has been introduced has recently moved out of committee and could be slated for action soon."
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20 Mar 06
Practicing Safe Poker?
Eric Wason, president of AEM Enterprises, has launched a line of poker condoms at www.pokercondoms.com. The site suggests the prophylactics can serve double duty 'as a poker chip at your next party game with friends.'
"The poker condoms are FDA-approved and are packaged in a foil wrapper bearing classic poker chip designs. Wason, a self-dubbed poker aficionado, has aimed to create something of an all-in compendium to everything condoms and poker, with both condom and poker news, as well as tips in both areas, included in the site. Wason has also promised to funnel up to 15 percent of the site's profits to AIDS research."
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20 Mar 06
Blog Your Way To Glory
"BloggerPokerTour.com has begun accepting registrations for the inaugural Blogger poker season, which will see $25,000 in cash and prizes being given away to the blogging community.
Top prize in the first season is a $12,500 package, which sees the best poker playing blogger sent to the 2006 World Series of Poker, where they will be eligible to win as much as $10,000,000 from the expected record prize pool."
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17 Mar 06
Titan Poker Launches VIP Club
(PRWEB)--The Titan Poker VIP Club rewards players for their game play at Titan Poker's ring games and tournaments. Players are automatically assigned to a VIP Level, and are entitled to all the benefits and promotions available for players of that level.
New players start out at Titan Poker at the Bronze Level but can quickly move up to the Silver Level if they earn the appropriate number of Points, Titan Poker's unique player points. Players with a higher average of Points are assigned to the Gold Level, and players with the highest Points averages are listed as Platinum and Titanium players.
The higher the player's VIP Level, the more benefits to which he is entitled, according to the new VIP Club's set-up.
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17 Mar 06
April is THE Tourney Month in Las Vegas
"Two major poker tournaments are on their way to Las Vegas for an April 5 start of the Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic that continues through April 26. Two days later on April 28, the World Series of Poker Circuit stops at the new poker facility at Caesars Palace. This kind of scheduling makes it easy for the poker party to continue almost uninterrupted next door at Caesars Palace for more major tournament poker action through May 11. This kind of marathon scheduling will make April a most interesting month in Las Vegas."
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17 Mar 06
Boom Times for 888
Online casino and poker operator 888 Holdings PLC announced a healthy rise in profit for the 2005 fiscal year, driven in part by astounding growth on the company's online poker front. 888 Holdings boasted a 59 percent rise in after-tax profits for the year, with gamers running to the 888-brand Pacific Poker and its online casinos, Casino-On-Net and Reef Club Casino. This growth has a good deal to do with the success of 888's online poker operations, with Net Gambling Revenue (NGR) for poker rising 179% to $109.8 million. This figure is indebted in part to the 2.3 million newly registered poker member accounts that were opened.
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16 Mar 06
Player of the Year rankings debut
(PRWEB) March 16, 2006 -- InternetTexasHoldem.com (ITH) announced today the launch of the first ever Internet Player of the Year rankings. The Internet Player of the Year ranking will track and rank internet poker players from the current premier online poker tournaments. The tracked tournaments include top buy-in and prize pool events from online poker sites such as Party Poker, Poker Stars, and Bodog Poker, among others.
“As the poker industry has exploded, so has internet poker”, says Matthew Hilger, owner of InternetTexasHoldem.com and author of the best-selling book, Internet Texas Hold’em. “Many of the best poker players in the world are internet poker players. With 2 of the last 3 reigning WSOP Main Event Champions coming from the internet, we recognized a gap in the current Player of the Year rankings”. At the end of 2006, ITH will announce the first ever Internet Player of the Year Award.
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16 Mar 06
The New 'Brat Pack'?
"In a game of bluffs and blinds, they’re the brashest.
All younger than 30, all winners of at least $1 million in a single poker tournament. World Poker Tour observers have dubbed them the tour’s 'brat pack.'
We sat down with seven of professional poker’s young millionaires. ..."
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15 Mar 06
Women's Poker Mag Delivers Class And Substance
Poker magazines seem to be popping up left and right these days. ... One of these magazines is 'Woman Poker Player Magazine'. Printed in Canada, overseen by Maryann Morrison and edited by poker professional Barbara Enright, the magazine does a great job of approaching the game through the eyes of the female players. While doing this, they also are able to present a classy publication that anyone who reads it would be able to keep up with the latest news in the poker community and better their game through the strategy sections.
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15 Mar 06
Students queue up for "Extreme Poker"
LONDON, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- University students looking for a chance at fame, fortune and a place in poker history will have the chance of a lifetime today, as InterPoker.com officially opens online qualifying tournaments for the InterPoker.com University Poker Clash. In the latest program to tap the excitement of live poker, the University Poker Clash combines the intense strategy and action of Texas Hold 'em with the intrigue and drama of reality television.
The InterPoker.com University Poker Clash tracks the emotional journey of 71 college students, each with the lofty goal of becoming the next international poker celebrity. Contestants will receive tips and pointers from globally renowned professionals, compete in "Extreme Poker" challenges and fight one another (on and off the poker felt) to prove once and for all that they have what it takes to live a life of wealth and luxury on the professional poker circuit.
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14 Mar 06
Legends of Poker - Scotty Nguyen
March 14, 2006 -- Al Moe -- "If you call, it's gonna be all over, baby." Whether a confident boast or an enticing bluff, Scotty Nguyen made the comment during the final hand of the 1998 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship to Kevin McBride. Full of the aggression, playfulness, and overall confidence always exuded by Nguyen, it was just what McBride needed to hear and it convinced him to call-off the rest of his chips on a hand he had been the aggressor on all the way to the river. McBride called, and the tournament was over for him as Nguyen's full-house of nines-over-eights won him $1 million dollars and a gold bracelet. It was a dream come true for Scotty, and another milestone accomplished.
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14 Mar 06
Pepsi Commercial Stars Three Poker Greats
What do Jackie Chan, P. Diddy, Jay Mohr, and poker players Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth have in common?
They all have cashed checks written by Pepsi.
The three popular poker players are coming to a small screen near you in Diet Pepsi’s latest commercial that has Mohr playing the blue can’s cocky agent, recommending it to take roles that are seemingly out of its league.
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14 Mar 06
Gordon Exits Celebrity Poker
"After 42 episodes as host, Phil Gordon is leaving the Bravo Channel tournament broadcast.
'Our last tapings were in April, 2005. In November 2005, I determined that I wanted to go in a different direction with my television career,' says Gordon through a press release. 'I am ready to move on as I no longer have any contracted obligations to the producers of the show.'"
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