Coming up this July 3rd is the fourth annual charity event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.  Organized by poker professional Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle, the event will help support relief efforts in Africa’s most hard hit regions such as the much talked about Darfur. The charity organizers work with the WSOP I marketing and coordinating the event.
The event is not officially a part of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, it is housed in the same hotel at the same time to help ensure maximum attendance. The combination of poker professional and Hollywood faces should encourage all large bankrollers to participate in the hope of both helping those less fortunate and enjoying some big payouts. The rumor is the winner of the tournament could walk away with six figures in earnings.
Online reports indicate that Annie Duke and Don Cheadle will definitely attend along with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ray Romano, [...]

Yes people the poker tournament of the year is still going. Starting back in late may, it’s been over a month since the 2010 WSOP Main Event began and it’s been an interesting year to say the least. We’ve had some expected winners and some major surprises; not to mention the record breakers. Here are the results of the last twelve games.

No.
Event Title and Type
Winner
Earnings,

36
No-Limit Holdem
Scott Montgomery
$481,760

37
HORSE
Phil Ivey
$329,840

38
Pot Limit Holdem Championship
Valdemar Kwaysser
$617,214

39
No Limit Holdem Shootout
Steven Kelly
$381,922

40
Seven Card Razz
Frank Kassela
$214,085

41
Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
Steve Jelinek
$245,871

42
No Limit Holdem
Dean Hamrick
$604,222

43
HORSE Championship
Ian Gordon
$611,666

44
Mixed Holdem
Gavin Smith
$268,238

45
No Limit Holdem
Jesse Rockowitz
$721,373

46
Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
Chris Bell
$327,040

47
Results Not in

$

48
Mixed Event
Sigurd Eskeland
$260,497

There are only a few events to go and many of them are already in progress as I write this blog. A few folks have the holiday off but some will be playing through. Here’s a list of the events still in progress as the [...]

Event 25: Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better Championship. This one went to Sam Farha of Houston, Texas and gave him not only a bracelet but $488,237. This was a three day tournament with 212 entrants and a $10,000 buy in.
Event 26: Six Handed No Limit Holdem. William Haydon from the United States won this event against Jeffrey Papola of New York. Both men held aces but Haydon’s Jack beat Papola’s six of hearts and brought him a whopping $630,031 in prize money. There were 1,245 entrants with a buy in of $2,500.
Event 27: Seven Card Stud H-Low-8 or Better.  There was a $1,500 buy in and winner David Warga of Tempe who took home $208,682 as the last one standing of 208 competitors.
Event 28: Pot Limit Omaha. It was Miquel Proulx of Canada with a pair of Queens who took this victory back to his hometown of Quebec. He earned over $315,000 in prize [...]

The number of online casinos continues to grow. Every time I browse the web I find another potential online gaming site. With so much choice it can be difficult for a newbee poker player to know where to start. All the sites seem to have celebrities. All the sites seem to have bonus codes. All the sites seem to offer freerolls. So how can you narrow down your search and what should you look for in an online casino?
Start with the basic s and only choose sites that accept American players and American credit cards or bank cards. I’m not being funny here; a lot of sites don’t accept American players, especially those based in Europe operating under different banking and monetary systems. If you want to down the line you could set up a foreign account but to start out stick close to home.
Look at sites that offer the type of poker you want [...]

When you sign up for an online poker site, you are always asked to pick a screen name and an avatar. An avatar is an image or character meant to represent you in the online casino. When you look at the screen it is your chosen avatar that plays your hand. Some days I get sick of playing poker with cartoon sharks, fluffy white puppies and 1930s spy movie characters. But are these annoying images meant to be just that? Annoying?
I guess I’m boring. My avatar kinda looks like me. You know in Yahoo or Facebook where you can create a digital version of yourself by picking hair and eye color, clothing and skin color? Well I try and make the digital me look as much like the real me as possible. I’m all for truth online and don’t see any reason to hide. So I choose “boring” avatars that look like real people.  Am [...]

If you are reading this expecting a ton of tips and tricks on how to beat your opponents at online gaming you are about to be disappointed. This is a survival guide. You know, how to beat the fatigue of online poker play, stay focused and on your game? This advice is based solely on my own online casino experiences and I’d love to hear other suggestions.

Pick a name and avatar you really really like because you are stuck with it. Staring for hours at an animated shark or psychic princess that is supposed to be a virtual version of yourself gets old really quick. If you picked a goofy gaming name, you are pretty much stuck with it unless you change casinos. Take time with these two aspects of gaming as bad decisions will haunt you every time you deal in.

Learn to use the bathroom in ninety seconds or less. Most sites give you [...]

Everybody knows California is broke. Is that why they are looking to the state’s million strong online poker players as potential tax revenue? The proposed bill would bring legislation to the world of online poker for Californians and (as proponents argue) make the game safer. Of course, it will give this troubled state economy a much needed boost.
The proposed bill (Bill SB 1485) is being held up by numerous dissenters including the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Many Native Americans in California feel the bill will encroach on their tribal profits. As many tribes rely heavily on the poker economy, competition could jeopardize health and human services programs on Californian reservations.
Some of the details of the bill in its current form include legal prosecution for those who try and play poker on illegal websites, 20 percent of gross poker income being turned over to the state, all poker players being 21 or older and the [...]

I love taking the results of the 2010 WSOP Main Event and viewing it as the poker Olympics. The WSOP site calls it the world rankings but I see it more as the number of gold medals each nation has so far and who look to take home the title of best nation. Or should I say nation with the best poker players?
Well, here are the results and rankings as researched on the WSOP home page.

COUNTRY
RANKING
BRACELETS
PRIZE MONEY

America
1
32
$67,680,685

Canada
2
4
$6,897,918

United Kingdom
3
5
$5,783,278

Russia
4
1
$3,085,894

Germany
5
0
$1,732,629

France
6
1
$1,352,211

Hungary
7
2
$912,030

Sweden
8
0
$631,627

New Zealand
9
1
$629,056

Brazil
10
0
$621,846

It’s interesting that America has the most high ranked poker players. I mean it’s not like we have more people than the Chinese or more game playing history than the Europeans. Could having Sin City in your back yard really make that much of a difference? Or is it more likely professional poker is both encouraged and promoted in America as something to aspire to, a chance at a lucrative career and of course, getting to play [...]

The holiday is almost here and online poker always enjoys its busiest day on the Fourth of July. The summer holiday celebrates independence, freedom and for many, the world of online poker. Here’s a heads up on the promotions and specials offered by the major online casinos this 4th of July weekend.

PokerNews $1500 freeroll: Begins July 4. Apply before midnight June 30, 2010 Absolute Poker First Deposit Match up to $1200.
PokerNews $1500 freeroll: Begins July 4. Apply before midnight June 30, 2010 Ultimate Bet Poker First Deposit Match up to $1200.
Party Poker $200 freeroll: Begins July 4. Need 50 party points to register.
Noble Poker $250 freeroll: Begins July 5.  Need Bankrollmob account registration.
Carbon Poker $First deposit freeroll: Begins July 5.
Carbon Poker $100 freeroll: Begins July 4. Must be a Green VIP.
Carbon Poker $1000 freeroll: Begins July 4. Must be a Gold VIP.
Carbon poker $250 freeroll: Begins July 4. Must be a Bronze VIP.
Absolute Poker $1,500 [...]

I’m all in favor of the fans getting a say in the poker line up. The game of poker is so all about chance and skill that opinion doesn’t usually come into play. But for some of us, the professional poker players are celebrities in their own right, people that got famous for something other than looking pretty, being rich or being able to act or sing. Players are known by their skill and their fans are well aware of those abilities.
So when it was decided that the fans would vote for the players in this year’s WSOP Tournament of Champions to take place on June 27, 28 and July 4th. It’s the only time the fans have a say and the fans have certainly spoken.
Thousands upon thousands of votes were cast and the results as publish on the WSOP home page are as follows:

1
PHIL IVEY

2
DANIEL NEGREANU

3
DOYLE BRUNSON

4
PHIL HELLMUTH

5
CHRIS FERGUSON

6
ALLEN CUNNINGHAM

7
JOHNNY CHAN

8
SCOTTY NGUYEN

9
BARRY GREENSTEIN

10
JOHN JUANDA

11
ERIK [...]