07 Apr 06
Shares Jump as Bills Lose Steam
[Proposed US anti-gambling legislation] lost some steam Thursday, as debate in the house judiciary committee for the first time showed real problems and complications with these bills, and cast a pall over their chances to progress into law. Apparently, normally a bill like this being debated in committee would have a second debate scheduled to continue discussion. At the close of the debate on these bills yesterday, no new debate was scheduled. With Congress in a short session, analysts say it is doubtful discussion on the bill will continue during this session - usually a bad sign for a piece of pending legislation.
This news sent gaming stocks soaring, as investors were driven back to the sector by the news. The leading stock of the online gaming sector, PartyGaming, gained over 10% on high trading volume, and stocks like 888 Holdings (up 11%), and SportingBet (up 9.5%) were also higher amidst heavy trading.
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07 Apr 06
MacFolk Get Free Custom Poker Room
(PRLEAP.COM) Pacific Poker's new Apple poker room will allow Mac users to play online poker for free without the aid of a Virtual PC software. Virtual PC software programs cost on average of $250. (www.mac-Pacificpoker.com)
This Apple online poker software will run in the browser for quick play modes. Pacific Poker stated they will be giving new Apple poker players up to $100 instantly upon opening a new real money account.
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06 Apr 06
High Stakes Poker Deals In Again
SANTA MONICA, California – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The legends of poker are back on GSN, the network for games, for a second season of High Stakes Poker. Based on the series solid ratings performance, the network has ordered a new 16-episode season that will feature the same minimum buy-in requirement for all invited players -- $100,000 of their own money.
Joining High Stakes Poker again are some of the best players in the world including, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreau and Sam Farha who each will risk hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars, to participate in television's only cash game series.
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06 Apr 06
Players Battle Ban
"WASHINGTON - Michael Bolcerek, president of the national Poker Players Alliance, staged some unusual events on Capitol Hill this week. He brought three big-name professional poker players to court the press, lobby members of Congress and attend an evening reception for members and their staffs ....
Congress is considering legislation that seeks either to get banks to block customers' transactions with overseas Internet gambling sites or force Internet service providers to block access to poker Web sites. Poker players say the proposed bans attack nothing less than the American way of life.
'I'd hate for 70 million poker players to wake up one day and learn that their game has been made illegal,' said Howard Lederer, who with his sister, Annie Duke, forms a sister-brother pro duo in a sport that has become a TV staple the last few years."
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06 Apr 06
No Rake?
"The World Poker Exchange yesterday announced a new pricing initiative which could completely transform the $5.5-billion online poker industry. Called ‘No Rake Poker’, the World Poker Exchange plan poses a direct challenge to standalone poker rooms that do not have access to additional revenue streams."
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05 Apr 06
Poker TV Is Not What It Appears
"While watching televised poker is an excellent way to learn how to play the game, you really need to be careful about how you interpret what you're seeing. The key point to remember is that you're watching an edited-down poker show. You're not seeing all the hands played, and that can give you a skewed version of what is really happening.
For example, you might have seen me make a bluff in a certain situation that looked foolish because my opponent called. What you might not have seen, however, is how that silly bluff paid off later in the game. There is always more to the story than what you see on television. ESPN's coverage is fantastic, but the product is basically a highlight reel of an all-day final table."
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05 Apr 06
Mizrachi 'Grinds' the POTY Competition
As the tournament poker world wraps up the first quarter of the 2006 season, Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi maintains his lead over the field in the Poker Player of the Year race, thanks to his success in recent $10,000 No Limit Hold Em Tournaments. With that said, however, several new faces have entered into the battle and are demonstrating that this could very well be a tough year-long fight instead of the runaway that Mizrachi threatened to make it.
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05 Apr 06
Party picks Poker Academy
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 5, 2006 –- Poker Academy, the leading Texas Holdem poker software developer (http://www.poker-academy.com), today announced an agreement with PartyPoker.com, the world’s largest poker room, to help train its players to improve their game at all levels.
As part of the agreement, PartyPoker.com launched a brand new “Poker Trainer,” powered by Poker Academy’s world renowned poker trainer software. A free poker training tool for PartyPoker.com players, users can play and hone their skills against computer opponents in real-time on a dedicated play money trainer table. The revolutionary software was based on work done by a team of researchers at the University of Alberta.
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05 Apr 06
Get Naked With Paddy
"This August, at an undisclosed location in Dublin, PaddyPowerPoker.com is inviting poker players to get naked.
The Ireland-based site wants to break the record for the world’s largest naked poker game, which was held by the Naturist Society of Estonia where 104 poker players bared all.
In a twist, the Estonian nudists started nude and put on clothing if they lost a hand. The officials over at PaddyPowerPoker.com decided to run their 'strip' poker tournament the same way. Players will be eliminated after they don 10 items of clothing."
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04 Apr 06
Poker Stars Passes 5M Members
"In a historic event, Poker Stars has announced they have passed 5,000,000 members to their poker website.
This comes on the heels of their announcement to have a weekly tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of one million dollars."
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04 Apr 06
Poker under attack from legislators
By Barry Shulman, Card Player Chairman - 2006-04-04
With the re-introduction of the "Internet Gambling Prohibition Act" by US Congressmen Rick Boucher (R-VA) and Bob Goodlatte (D-VA), online poker is once again under attack from legislators who don't believe online poker should be considered legal.
We believe it is crucial that players and fans have a voice that can be heard. To facilitate that, Card Player is providing an online system where users can send letters to their appropriate Congresspersons to speak out against this legislation.
All you have to do is enter your name, address, and zip code and we’ll do the rest. Make sure your officials know that your vote matters!
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04 Apr 06
Poker Wins Hands Down
"According to the latest figures from Nielsen//NetRatings, which tracked the ten 'stickiest' Web sites for February 2006, PokerStars.com was over three times as sticky as the next closest site."
'Stickiness' refers to the number of hours per month spent on the site. AOL ran a distant second to PokerStars.com
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03 Apr 06
Simon Captures WPT Title
"The next to last event prior to this year's World Poker Tour Championship event in Las Vegas wrapped up Thursday evening with the crowning of a new champion during the World Poker Challenge in Reno. Competition was fierce throughout the tournament as 592 players came to the felt in the $5,000 Main Event with early surprises and a final table that showcased some of the great "unknown" poker players around today. ... For now, however, Mike Simon has the poker world applauding his efforts as the latest million dollar champion of the WPT."
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03 Apr 06
Dominoes: The New Poker?
"The New York Times reported today that ESPN are looking to popularize dominoes in the same way they popularized poker.
Dominoes is a celebrated game in Latino communities in New York City and, according to the New York Times, ESPN is trolling NYC neighborhoods looking for skilled players and exciting venues for it's coverage."
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03 Apr 06
Negreanu Wins Table at PSIT-3
"Daniel Negreanu outlasted his table of six to win his first qualifying match during the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament (PSIT 3) that was aired last night on Fox Sports Network.
He earned $10,000 and 10 points, tying him with Mike Sexton, Jeff Shulman and Antonio Esfandiari at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first round of qualifying matches. The second round of five of the qualifying matches starts to air next week."
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03 Apr 06
Crypto Releases New Tourney Software
"CryptoLogic Inc. has announced the latest tournament enhancements to its Internet poker software released through WagerLogic Limited.
The new upgrade mainly addresses the tournament side of poker with the introduction of a new Super-Satellite feature. Their new software also features new high-speed Thunder Tournaments, which shortens the blinds, reduces player timers and promises fast-paced poker excitement."
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31 Mar 06
It didn't happen overnight
(PRWEB) March 29, 2006 -- Our player's real-life name is Trey, but he won't reveal any of his online poker screen names for our article. He started playing online poker in early 2004, and has put countless hours into perfecting his online poker skills. Although he is now making more in one month than he used to make in one year, it didn't happen overnight. ...
His advice: make yourself a promise to become a winning player. Learn by reading, playing, and never giving up. Only then could you become the next one to beat the game of online poker.
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31 Mar 06
Simon Wins the WPC
cardplayer.com -- Mike Simon entered the day as the slight chip leader. Despite that, it did not seem like many people where giving him much of a chance to take down the title. However, after more than ten hours of grueling play, Simon was able to prove the doubters wrong and capture the title at the World Poker Challenge.
For his victory, Mike Simon not only earned the $1,052, 890 first place prize and the $25,000 entry into the World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio next month, but he also has earned the respect of players and fans alike.
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31 Mar 06
Cold Blooded Poker
bluffmagazine.com -- Interpoker.com recently hosted it's second annual Extreme Poker Challenge. The tournament was played on the frozen Arctic Sea in temperatures reaching -10 Fahrenheit, and players were given the option of repurchasing lost chips in exchange for their coats, leaving some competitors wearing only t-shirts.
Robert Varkonyi, 2002 World Series of Poker Champion, won the event, despite losing many of his chips, along with his coat, within the first few hands. Varkonyi even resorted to running laps of the table in between hands in order to stay warm.
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30 Mar 06
Poker Gets Dramatic
"In the evil galaxy of schadenfreude where theater resides, nothing's better than a darkly funny play about hopeless wankers full of big talk and even bigger dreams that you know will never be realized because of their cycles of obsession and addiction, whether it's drugs, sex, or, in the case of Patrick Marber's Dealer's Choice, the pissing away of a last quid in some poker game held in the dank basement of a London restaurant.
This is exactly what the happy evil theatergoer gets in Dealer's Choice, which opened convincingly last week at Mosaic Theatre: a gambling scrum."
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