Poker Blog

UK Women get their own tournament

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Women's Poker Club has announced their first live tournament in Europe for women only.

To be held at the Grosvenor Casino in Walsall on June 17 the 'WPC UK Showdown' will be a No Limit Hold’em tournament, with a £50 ($100) entry fee.

The lucky winner will win her share of the prize pool, plus an additional prize of a WSOP package including entry to the World Series of Poker Ladies event, hotel and travel funds.

“Women’s Poker Club is very excited to be working with Bluesquare and Grosvenor Casinos on the first WPC tournament in the UK. We welcome and encourage all women players to join the tournament competition, and experience what is guaranteed to be a fabulous time.” Said Maryann Morrison, founder of Women’s’ Poker Club. “The added prize of a trip to the World Series of Poker, is an excellent way to show support to the growing demographic of female poker players in Europe.”

The Womens Poker Club (WPC) has been around for over 3 years and has grown to become the largest organized international group of women poker players with well over 3,000 members.
WPC is free to join and offers programs catering to all levels of players, from those just learning how to play to women who play professionally or semi-professionally.

“There are many UK women playing poker online, that would find going to a live game very intimidating. I helped to organize this event so that myself and other UK women would have a welcoming, friendly and fun experience.” Said Jacky Reynolds, Tournament Coordinator and UK Member of Women's Poker Club.

With the great response we get to our ladies only events Im sure it will be a big hit.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 8:28 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

WPT goes further north

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The North American Poker Championship has found a new home at the beautiful Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.

From October 25-29 the WPT crew and the world best players will take over Canada's luxurious new gaming mecca, A $1 billion dollar resort destination perched on the lip of Horseshoe Falls, overlooking the famous Niagara Falls.

"All of us at the Fallsview Casino are very excited to bring a premiere International Poker event like this to Canada," said Fallsview General Manager Steve Wolstenholme. "Our casino is ready to lay out the red carpet for the players, and the fans as they join us here in Niagara Falls. We plan to make the Fallsview Casino Resort the home of the premiere poker events in Canada."

As the third non-US stop on the World Poker Tour--and the most accessible to United States residents--Fallsview is definitely going to find itself in the spotlight a lot in upcoming months. But with its spacious, state-of-the-art casino, something-for-everyone appeal and stunning setting, it has potential to be a crowd-pleaser. Book your stay early, or you may find yourself camping by the waterfall when tournament time rolls around.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 11:48 PM Permalink | 6 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

It never ends!

Today's crazy email:

Playing on Poker.com is great, the dealing is almost there, but there are some flaws.
1. When one person goes all in and just one person calls, the 1st person who went all in wins, always.
2. There are specific patterns and people do pick up on the patterns, it just doesn't deal like real life poker.

I'm not trying to be negative on your system cause its been good to me, just giving my two cents worth, take it or leave it.

I have check out each and every online system and I chose Poker.com because its very very friendly with a great support staff, great job, congradulations.

We just suggested that they read this post on the differences between online and casino poker, and that they should test out their theory - go all in all the time and they should clean up!

Why would anyone play somewhere that they think is rigged?

At least they like us ...

Posted at 10:38 PM Permalink | 2 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Gavin Smith finds it aint easy

Monday, May 29, 2006

The WSOP Circuit rolled into the big easy this week where Harrah's New Orleans played the role of gracious host.

With Phil Ivey going out in 14th place when the players took their seats at the final table the only big name left was Gavin Smith, and with a commanding 3 to 1 chip lead over his nearest rival it looked like it might be his day.

SEAT 1: Allie Prescott 163,500
SEAT 2: David Babin 86,900
SEAT 3: Matt Russell 34,200
SEAT 4: Peter Feldman 223,400
SEAT 5: George Abdallah 148,900
SEAT 6: Ben Gordon 170,600
SEAT 7: Brian Townsend 102,000
SEAT 8: Gavin Smith 645,800
SEAT 9: Kenny Brown 17,600
SEAT 10: Dana Diephouse 109,400

10th Place went to Brian Townsend, who wasnt in such bad shape (there were 2 desperate short stacks at the table) when he got all his chip in the middle on a K-Q-Q flop holding A-10. Matt Russell Called with A-K and his 2 pair held up.

9th Place belonged to satellite winner David Babin who pushed all in with A-7 suited, Dana diephouse called holding A-K and was never troubled with a flop of A-K-9. Babin won his way into this event through a satellite at Harrah’s New Orleans, costing just $200. “I knew I had to catch a few hands….I knew I had to gamble,” Babin said afterward. “I did, and I lost.”

8th Place was Ben Gordon after he got tangled with chip leader Gavin Smith. Gordon (7-7) called Smith's all in raise (A-K) and was ahead when the flop helped no one, but Smith spiked an ace on the turn Gordon's day was done. “I’m a lawyer, not a poker player,” the 42-year-old attorney from Pensacola said afterward.

7th Place went out in less than exciting circumstaces when Allie Prescott got all-in against Peter Feldman with A-9 vs A-Q, the board helped no one and Feldman's queen sent Presscott out the door.

6th Place went to Dana Diephouse after he pushed all in with 8-7 low on chips, Matt Russell called with and a flop of 9-8-4 Russell holding a 9 sent Diephouse home.

5th Place was Kenny Brown who moved up several places in the money after starting the day on the shortest stack. His luck ran out though we he got all in with 7-7 against Peter Feldman with K-J, Feldman flopped a jack and Brown was out in 5th with a well-deserved prize of $96,900.

4th Place was George Abdallah who got all his chips in the middle with A-2 only to be crushed by Gavin Smith's A-Q. Smith made 2 pair to add further insult to injury and Addallah who telephoned his mentor Sam Farha seeking advice during breaks was going home with $129,200.

3rd Place went to Matt Russell who was the other desprate short stack when play began at the final table. He ground it out all day and was doing well until his A-10 ran into Gavin Smith's A-K, the fourth time at the final table that A-K had sent a player to the rail. “This was the first WSOP tournament I have ever played,” he said in a post-tournament interview. I started with just 34,000. Now, I won ($161,500). I wish I’d won, but I’m very happy.”

When heads-up play began, Gavin Smith enjoyed a decent chip lead over Peter Feldman – 1,019,000 to 682,000.

In a dramatic final table both players at times held commanding leads and looked like they might win it all, both players had their chances over several hours. Smith had lost the chip lead when his 4-4 ran into K-K, so when he made an all in call against 6-6 with a K-K of his own he must've thought it was his turn to get back on top. However in what turned out to be the hand of the tournament it could never be that easy. Feldman got one hand on the championship when he made trips with a 6 on the flop,he tightened his grip a few moments later when he made quads with the last 6 on the river.

Feldman now dominated with a 7-1 chip lead, and despite another valiant Smith fight back that got him within reach of the chip lead exactly 12 hours into the final table the last hand was dealt. Smith was dealt K-Q and re-raised all in, A-J, the final board was A-10-2-K-A gave Feldman trip aces and the tournament.

Afterwards, Smith praised Feldman for his playing: “I thought he played fantastic,” Smith said. “He was patient and played heads-up very well.”

Smith was also visibly upset with the second-place finish. “I’m never satisfied with second,” he said. “I’m disappointed….I am proud that I never gave up. On that hand with the (pocket) kings (against 4-4) I was ahead and was 4.5 to 1 as the favorite. I was that close to winning the tournament. But it didn’t work out.”

Gavin Smith earned $293,930 as the runner up.

Feldman’s victory included $532,950 in prize money. He also won the prestigious gold and diamond ring presented to all WSOP Circuit winners. Feldman also won a seat into the 2006 Tournament of Champions, which will take place in Las Vegas next month. First prize will be $1 million.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 7:39 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Sunday's Tournament Results

Well, even though there wasn’t a years worth of free cake on offer, there was still plenty of cash up for grabs in the:
- $20,000 Weekly Freeroll
- $10,000 Guaranteed
- $500 Initial Depositors Daily Freeroll…

And if the money doesn’t interest you, why not play one of Poker.com’s Daily Satellites for FREE:

- WSOP Freerolls
- Ladies ONLY WSOP Freeroll

$20,000 Weekly Freeroll
- Entrants: 985 1st Place - $4,000
Congratulations to Jasbogreen on winning today’s $20,000 Weekly Freeroll in just his fourth attempt. All the staff at Poker.com would like to wish you continued success with your newly acquired bankroll.

Tournament Highlights:
Decisive Hand That Set Up Jasbogreen’s Win:

jnw220 Posted Small Blind $8000.00
NeoBahamut Posted Big Blind $16000.00
Dealing Cards
stungar All In for $27399.00
jasbogreen Raised to $38798.00
lucducharme Calls $38798.00
BB & SB both fold
Flop: 4d 8d 6d
jasbogreen All In for $136992.00
lucducharme All In for $133716.00
Turn: 4c River: Ad
Jasbogreen Shows - As Ah
Lucducharme Shows - Kh Kc
Stungar Shows - 7s 7d
Jasbogreen’s AA holds up and wins 399K pot with Full House, Aces over 4’s

Final Four Chip Stacks:
Jasbogreen - 399k Cefellone - 136k Neobahamut - 348k Jnw220 - 93k

4th Place - Jnw220
SB - Jasbogreen: 5d 5s Vs BB - Jnw220: Jd Qd
Both players all-in pre-flop
Flop: 8s Js 2s Turn: 5c River: 8c
Jasobogreen hits another decisive Full House, 5’s over 8’s.

3rd Place - Cefellone
SB - Neobahamut: Jd Jc Vs BB - Cefellone: Kd 9c
Cefellone pushed all-in for $48k after Neobahamut raised from the SB.
Flop: 10c 3c Js Turn: Ac River: 5c
Both players hit there 4 card flush, but in this case the pocket J’s were strong enough.

Final Hand:
Jasobogreen: Kc Qh Vs NeoBahamut: Ad 5h
Both players All-in pre-flop
Flop: Qc 4h 7c Turn: Kd River: 6s
Jasobogreen wins with two pair, K’s & Q’s

$10,000 Guaranteed

I apologise if I sound like I’m repeating myself, but once again the Poker.com $10,000 Guaranteed tournament has delivered the best E.V. on the web
That is twice the prize pool with half the number of entrants…
With only 113 entrants heading my call, there is still plenty of value in playing this weekly tournament.

Congratulations to Cujohouse on today’s great effort to hold off past winner Flind1. I think it’s fair to say that Flind1 has found what great value this tournament offers and is now a regular entrant.

Tournament Highlights:

Showdown for 4th Place
SB - Flind1: Ac Kc Vs BB - Madjackfox: 10d 3c
Flind1 limped in and called the BB
Flop: Qc 10s 3d
Flind1 pushes All-in trying to protect his AK, but Madjackfox makes the call with 2 pair,
Turn: Jd River: 9h

Showdown for 3rd Place
Cujohouse: Jd 4d Vs 03NASCAR08: 7d 3s
Flop: 8s 9d 5d Turn: Ad River: 6h

Final Hand:
Flind1: Qd 9d Vs Cujohouse: Ac Ah
Flop: 3c 9c 5d Turn: 5s River: 3s

And with the river being no help to Flind1, Cujohouse and his bullets were able to take out first place and the $3,000.

$500 Freeroll for First Depositors
Congratulations to all these lucky players who have managed to give their bankrolls a kick-start by winning one of Poker.com’s initial depositors freeroll.
- lebaktv - DONLemis - nutcheck1212
- maypis - ChipSlinger - Glamroxxx

Daily WSOP and Ladies WSOP Freeroll Winners
- GINAGEE - Norby72 - ElElliott
- CabbieFlush - Cardie - jimdana
- luckyGIA - jojogo22 - muzza1

See you at the tables

Liam @ Poker.com

Posted at 1:58 AM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

The Venetian puts up some serious cash

Thursday, May 25, 2006

In a bid to take a chunk out of the Bellagio's poker business The Venetian has updated it's poker room and is holding a $500,000 freeroll tournament.

Set to take place on August 11th, 12th, and 13th, players have to play 50 rated hours a month for May, June, and July, or play 200 total rated hours before July 31st to qualify.

With the top 200 places will pay out in this freeroll, and it will be very good value.

With the WSOP rolling into town in late June its the perfect time to kick off a big promotion and draw some big crowds.

Apparently the 'big game' has already been played there a couple of time stealing some serious thunder from the Bellagio.

Thats not their only promotion, they also have a double point promotion, where players will get double their point in food credits for hours logged at the room. Players playing under 30/60 will earn $2/hour in food comps as opposed to the norm $1/hour. Players playing $30/60 and up will earn $3/hour, instead of the norm $1.50/hour. Although the double points promotion was scheduled to end soon, apparently they are extending it through August to coincide with the $500,000 freeroll.

So if your in Vegas and you were planning on spending some time in a poker room, try the Venetian and you might just get a slice of $500,000.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 10:55 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

The stakes have been raised!

GSN's High Stakes Poker season 2 is in the can and will hit screens June 5 and this time there is a bit of a youth movement going on.

Hall of Famer Doyle Brunson returns and is joined by Daniel Negreanu, Sam Farha, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Todd Brunson, Daniel Alaei, Shawn Sheikhan and Ted Forrest.

They are now joined by Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, Mike Matusow, Michael Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, Amon Filippi, David Grey, Minh Ly, Brad Booth, Gus Hansen and Cory Zeidman.

The only returning amateur player is Chicago restaurateur Fred Chamanara who made a name for himself when he went head-to-head with poker legend Johnny Chan in season one.

The other changes are the game has moved to The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and the number of one-hour episodes has increased from 13 to 16, not surprising considering the quality of last seasons poker.

Just as in season 1 players buy in for $100,000 or more of their own money, and will be sweating out huge pots containing their hard-earned cash with pots often reaching several hundred thousand dollars.

Players who lose their initial buy-in can re-buy as often as they wish with fresh cash infusions of $50,000 or more each time.

In season one, players won and lost pots of over $300,000 and often went in search of the ATM for cash, look for more of the same from season 2.

The poster was enough to get me excited!

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 12:19 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Kid Poker angers minister

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

No not Daniel Negraneau and his abrasive personality, actual kid poker.

Vancouver-based Nevada North Entertainment have scheduled a two-day event for Vancouver next month that will teach children between 10 and 18 years old how to play a type of poker.

The Kids Poker Tour offers participants – at a cost $120 – a day-and-a-half of instruction followed by a half-day tournament. Prizes include education subsidies and free entry to future events.

British Columbia Solicitor General John Les is outraged “I’d like the whole tour to pass us by. I think this is inappropriate. I think this is targeting a vulnerable population.”

When told of opposition to the event Nevada North spokesman Larry Klatt said they will cancel the tournament rather than risk doing anything “out of bounds."

“We’ll revise this,” he said. “We’re not looking to do anything outside the law.”

Klatt said that the workshop will teach the kids better communication and social interaction skills, how to perform in adversity, analytical thinking, good sportsmanship and math and number skills. There will also be a discussion of the pitfalls of gambling and how to avoid them.

Kids and poker, it just doesn't seem right, playing at home with your grandmother for pennies is one thing, but an under 18's tournament seems a bit much.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 8:40 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

I hope they like cake in Massachusetts

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

After over 7 hours of play, and by his own admission through a little luck, P0kerFaceB0uy, a 26 year old student from Lawrence, Massachusetts was the last man standing and won himself $10,000 and a years supply of cake.

P0kerFaceB0uy had the following to say on his win: "The tournament was amazing. Hundreds of top notch players from all over the world and I never thought I had a chance. It took so much luck to get to the final table. I thought I was out several times in the first six hours. The final table was a whirlwind after the 6 hour marathon it took to get there. Most of it's still a blur. I got some of decent cards, bet them hard and somehow wound up with a big stack. I just kept telling myself it's like any other final table, play the cards, play the players. About halfway through I had enough of a chip lead to try to bluff a big pot with nothing after the flop. Got called with my pants down (9 10) and hit a K high straight with a J on the river. It was turning from conservative to aggressive play at final table, combined with incredible luck that let me win. Poker.com has the best tournaments and competition I've found on-line. I love playing against the crowd here. It was just my lucky day."

Congratulations to P0kerFaceB0uy from everyone at Poker.com, I'm sure he will put the $10,000 to good use, can anyone say WSOP buy-in?

And more importanly I hope likes cake, because he's getting a lot of it!

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 3:12 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Greetings From Miami

Monday, May 22, 2006

Liam and I are in tropical Miami at the moment for a conference. We held a small party Saturday night in South Beach, branding the popular Clevelander nightspot as Poker.com's for the night!

It was a great sucess. Our gathering only took up a small section of the venue, but the managemet were kind enough to project our logo using a 'GOBO' above the whole place for the entire night. Thousands of Miami party-goers danced the night away below the Poker.com logo, using Poker.com coasters for their cocktails.

Gary Payton from the Miami Heat even dropped in to the party, as did Jenny Woo from FHM.

We're in Miami for a few more days of meetings, so if there are any Poker.com players that'd like to catch up for a drink - shoot us an email.

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 6:54 AM Permalink | 4 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Poker.com 1st Birthday Tournament

Saturday, May 20, 2006

The Poker.com 1st Birthday Tournament started with 694 players, after more than 6 hours we watched the final table as the last 10 players battle it out for their share of over $50,000 of prizes.

21:30 - final table - snoopy78, Spongeey, p0kerFaceB0uy, bagelbuddy, KingChubb, thepokerpanther, JayCCW, Hist007, Sheepodog, ziegler.

Sheepodog comes in as chip leader with around $250,000 in chips. Blinds are $5,000/$10,000.

21:33 - Several hands go without seeing a flop as players move all in to steal blinds uncontested.

21:34 - Hist007 raises to 80k, sheepodog calls. Hist checks the flop and sheep moves all in. Hist007 folds.

21:35 - Spongeey is all in pre-flop for $16k, sheep calls from the 10k big blind. Spongeey AK holds up and doubles up thru Sheepodog.

21:36 - Hist007 and Bagelbuddy all in preflop. Hist007 with A6h hits his flush on the turn against Bagels JQ with 4JJ flop. bagelbuddy is out in 10th position winning $1500.

21:37 - Pokerface and ziegler see a flop for the cost of a BB. It comes out Q8Q and ziegler bets 10k, pokerface raises to 30k, ziegler re-raises to 50k and pokerface folds.

21:38 - Sheep and KingChubb enter a pot, Sheep takes it down on the turn after King folds. Sheep is now in a commanding chip lead with $370k.

21:39 - Pokerface and JayCCW all in preflop, pokerface turns AA against JayCCW 77. The Aces hold up and Jay is out in 9th position winning $1600.

21:40 - Pokerpanther doubles up thru Pokerface, KK vs AT with a K on board.

21:42 - Hist007 all in for 182k, spongeey folds on a $7500 small blind with only $1310 left. Hoping to outlast someone to move up a position during the next orbit.

21:43 - King and snoop see a flop, snoop moves all in on the flop and King folds from his BB position.

21:44 - snoopy moves all in preflop for $320,000 uncontested by a 30k raise from ziegler, he now has $370k in chips, equal to sheepdog.

21:45 - ziegler and snoop see another flop, snoop bets 30k and ziegler moves all in for 50k and is called. snoop has 55, ziegler has KJ with a J on board (top pair). The Jacks hold up and he doubles up thru snoopy.

21:46 - sheep and pokerface see a flop, 4TQ flop and sheep calls pokerface's all in with his J9 open-ended straight draw. sheep doesnt complete it and and pokerfaces JK holds up, he doubles up thru sheep putting him in chip lead.

21:47 - Sponge is all-in on the BB for 1300, with KTh against snoops J4. Snoop pairs the 4 and Spongeey is out in 8th position winning $1700.

21:48 - pokerface takes another pot, he now has $360k in chips.

21:50 - pokerface takes another pot, be now has $380k in chips, his nearest competitor sheepodog has $272k.

21:51 - snoopy and pokerface are in a pot with an all diamond flop. Its a 180k pot by the turn and pokerface bets 90k, snoop folds. Pokerface now has $470k in chips.

21:52 - Hist007 moves all in preflop for 180k with A6s. panther calls with AJos and wins, hist007 is left with 80k in chips.

21:53 - Hand 468 one of the most exciting of the touranment was a 3 way all-in. ziegler calls the BB $15k, P0kerFaceB0uy uses his chip stack and re-raises to $97.5k then KingChubb moves all-in for $17.5k. ziegler then moves over the top all in for $146368. It does not isolate KingChubb in the race as P0kerFaceB0uy quickly calls a further $63868. The cards are turned up with ziegler (Ad,Kd), KingChubb (Qs,Ah) and Pokerface with (4c,4d).

The flop comes down (4h,Jh,5h) giving pokerface the early lead spiking a set of fours.

The turn falls with a nice looking 6h giving KingChubb the Ace High flush, ensuring a cool triple up from the main pot. The river is a blank ten on spades helping no one.

P0kerFaceB0uy takes $287736 from the side pot with his trip fours, while KingChubb wins $75000 from the main pot with his ace high flush.

Ziegler is out of the race in 7th position, earning $1800 in cash.

21:54 - hist007 is all in with 63h does not hold up against pokerface with AK. He is out in 6th position earning $1900.

21:55 - Pokerfaceb0uy now has over $700k in chips and is using every one of them to take command of this table.

21:57 - Pokerface raises to 60k and KingChubb calls all-in from the button with 66. Pokerface has AJ and hits and ace on the flop. KingChubb is out in 5th position earning $2000.

21:59 - Down to 4 players, Pokerfacebouy on $730k, thepokerpanther on 113k, Sheepodog on $325k and snoopy78 with 200k in chips.

22:00 - pokerface continues his agressive play against the blinds, moving to over $750k in chips.

22:01 - Pokerface and Panther see a flop. They move all-in on the flop with K6 vs K5. Pokerface takes out another player, thepokerpanther is dominated and removed from the tournament in 4th place winning $2500.

22:02 - snoopy78 and pokerface see a KJT flop and pokerface agressively bets 50k into a 40k pot, he takes it down and hits $850k in chips.

22:03 - Pokerface uses all his chips to bully the blinds again, taking down $30k worth of blinds with an $80k raise.

22:04 - P0kerFaceB0uy posts 10k SB, Sheepodog posts 20k BB, snoopy78 folds. P0kerFaceB0uy raises to 60k, sheepodog raises to 100k, P0kerFaceB0uy calls a further 40k. The flop comes down (8d,5c,Kc) and P0kerFaceB0uy bets 50k, Sheepodog raises to 100k and P0kerFaceB0uy moves all-in for $739238, Sheepodog calls and is all-in for $107883. P0kerFaceB0uy has (9h, Th) an amazing bluff of 10 high gets called by Sheepodog with (2c, Ks) top pair with the worst kicker. The turn brings (Qh) giving P0kerFaceB0uy an inside straight draw. The river comes down with the miracle card (Js) giving P0kerFace a king high straight. Sheepodog is out in 3rd place winning $3500.

22:05 - P0kerFaceB0uy posts a 10k SB, snoopy78 posts the BB of 20k. P0kerFaceB0uy raised preflop to 70k, snoopy78 moves all-in for $170879. P0kerFaceB0uy calls him down pushing another $120879 into the pot. snoopy78 has (8c, As) and P0kerFaceB0uy has (Td, Tc). The flop comes (3d,4s,7c) the turn is (Qc) and the river a (4c). P0kerFaceB0uy wins with two pair, tens and fours. Snoopy78 is out in 2nd place winning an amazing $5000 in cash.

After a 35 minute final table battle and a gruling 7 hours and 4 minutes of tournament play P0kerFaceB0uy emerges victorious as the champion and winner of the Poker.com 1st Birthday $50,000 freeroll tournament. P0kerFaceB0uy takes home a whopping $10,000 in cash and a year's supply of cake!

Earlier in the tournament I spoke with P0kerFaceB0uy on the outer tables, he said "If I win, do I have to have the cake? I am diabetic, I can not even eat it." To his support, the players started asking whether they could trade the prize for a years worth of beer or KFC! P0kerFaceB0uy said not even diabetes would stop him from consuming beer and would prefer to celebrate the Poker.com 1st Birthday with beer!

So congratulations to P0kerFaceB0uy, your first gloucose free cake or case of beer will arrive very soon!

Paul @ Poker.com

Posted at 11:53 PM Permalink | 5 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

New Blonde on the Block

Thursday, May 18, 2006

With the first WPT event of the season came the first look at new hostess, Sabina Gadecki.

The actress, model, former Miss Polonia and former Miss Western Massachusetts, has replaced Courtney Friel in the hostess role maker her the 3rd hostess in 5 seasons of WPT.

Its been quite a ride for Sabina, about five years ago, while on a trip to New York, she was plucked out of the audience of MTV's 'Total Request Live' and asked to audition for some modeling jobs. She has appeared in the pages of Seventeen, and Redbook.

Sabina Gadecki joins us as an exciting, fresh, new face for the all-new World Poker Tour to debut with a new set, look and feel in Season Five." WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb told PokerNews.com "We chose Sabina from hundreds of applicants. She emerged as the right fit because of the star qualities she naturally exhibits."

While I must admit to being a brunette kinda guy, she most certainly is beautiful, it will be interesting to see how she fits in with hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 6:57 PM Permalink | 3 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Stans the Man at the Mirage

In what was an up and down day of poker Satelite winner Stan Wiess has turned his free entry to the main event into $1,294,755.

After a slight delay in the start of play as Gavin Smith was presented with the Season 4 "Player of the Year" award play got underway.

Robert Mizrachi was the first to be eliminated when his pocket queens couldn't improve against Stan's pocket kings.

Steve Frederick went soon after when he pushed all in with A-K with his short stack. David Williams made the call with 9-5 and when the Steve spiked an ace on the flop he looked set to double up, but luck was on David's side, he caught runner runner, 9-5 to make two pair and eliminate Steve.

My pick to win it all only lasted 2 more hours, but at least went out in exciting fashion. David Williams moves all in on a flop of Kc-Jc-10h Devin Porter thought for a moment before calling with Kh-3h. David flips over J-6 and will need to improve which he does when the turn is the 6h, giving him two pair. That was where is luck ended though, Devin caught a K on the river to make trips and David was eliminated in fourth place.

My next great hope was next to go, crushing my predictions completely. Devin was crippled when he pushed all in with Kc-6c, Harry Demetriou made a great call with pocket 9s and with no help from the board Devin was left with just 30,000 chips. He did battle back, doubling and tripling up but his aggressive comeback was short lived when his Q-6 got no help from the board again, and Harry clearly Devins nemisis (Phil Ivey would have liked this) made 2 pair with T-9.

Heads up play lasted an hour an a half, with lots of folding and few risks taken by either player. Finally back in the chip lead Stan played tight and Harry eventually took a chance pushing in with K-6, Stan called and flipped over K-5 and Harry looked in good shape, the river had other ideas and delivered Stan a five and first place, wrapping up a very sucessful little trip to the Mirage Stan.

I will definatly be looking forward to seeing a couple of these hands once this makes it to TV.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 2:53 AM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Satelite winner leads at the home turn

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Twelve days after winning his entry in a satelite tournament Stan Weiss is leading all comers as play concludes at the end of day 3.

Having first come onto the rader early on day 2 Stan has been in the chip lead or near the chip ever since.

Two young guns are well placed, David Williams has been strong all tournament, and Devin Porter who took down 4th place in Aruba has looked menacing ever since his brutal removal of Phil Ivey.

The final table seats and chip counts are as follows.

Stan Weiss $2,437,000 5
Robert Mizrachi $2,019,000 2
Devin Porter $964,000 1
David Williams $921,000 6
Harry Demetriou $822,000 3
Steve Frederick $545,000 4

My tip is for the young guns to get to heads up, and for Williams to shake off his recent scandal in the best possible fashion with a big tournament win.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 1:00 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Day 2 at the Mirage is a different kind of Life Exotic

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The leader board at the end of day 2 of the Mirage Poker Showdown was still exotic at the pointy end but not they way we hoped.

With the last of the lovely ladies eliminated late in the day when Kristy Gazes went out in 29th the day closed with Harry Demetriou, Robert Mizrachi, Stan Weiss, Matthew Keikoan, Darrell Dicken, Shane Schleger, Tam Van Nguyen and Farzad Bonyadi topped the chip counts.

Day one dominator David Williams had his stack decimated but has fought back to be in the mid pack, the other big name scrapping to stay in it is John Juanda, who at one point was left with $40,000 in chips but has since fought back to a medium stack.

The beautiful Erica Schoenberg outlasted the likes of Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu but they all joined the growing early casualty list that included Chip Jett, Josh Arieh, John Spadavecchia, David Sklansky, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Gavin Smith, Ted Forrest, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed and Kathy Liebert.

Ivey may have a new nemisis with Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter mortaly wounding and then knocking out Phil with two big hands inside 10 minutes. First Devin came over the top of a $30,000 Ivey bet after with flop with a $115,000 raise forcing Phil to muck his hand. A few minute later on a flop of Ad-Kd-6s, Phil bet and Devinpushed all in. Ivey immediately called with Ac-Qs while Porter shows Qd-Jd. The turn was the 6d giving Porter the flush, with no help on the river Phil was eliminated.

UPDATE

The final table is set and David Williams has ominously surged back to the chip lead.

David Williams $1,370,000
Robert Mizrachi $1,160,000
Harry Demetriou $997,000
Stan Weiss $945,000
Tam Van Nguyen $868,000
Steve Frederick $587,000
David Singer $550,000
Champie Douglas $527,000
Devin Porter $321,000
Alan Goehring $205,000

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 6:41 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Billy Crystal and The Grinder join forces to bring credibility to the Clippers.

Monday, May 15, 2006

With the playoffs heating up it was only a matter of time before someone traded their poker branded jersey for some NBA colors, and off all the teams to get public support who would have thought it would be the clippers.

Day one of the Mirage Poker Showdown saw Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi sporting a LA Clippers Elton Brand jersey, possibly hoping to bring some Elton style intimidation to the tables.

With the usual LA Playoff team stuggling now that Kobe has no friends the Clippers have gone from neverwins, to the darlings of LA, all while doing so with one of the tightest owners in the leage, Donald Sterling.

Cross town owner Jerry Buss, best known to us poker folk for his appearances on High Stakes Poker could only dream of spending so little and winning so much.

Now of course in every office at least some people have teams, so as the second round winds up, here is how our teams are holding up.

Kris's Kobe's, I mean Lakers, crashed out when the player who thinks he can pump his fist like Jordan, unfortunatly couldn't close a series out like the before mentioned superstar.

Liams Mavs, are going well, locked 2 all with Spurs in what is a great matchup. Fancying himself as a skinny version of Dirk Nowitski, Liams looking for a deep run in these playoffs, or he might just ahve to get back in game shape and show them how its done.

Scott whilst being a big bball fan cant bring himself to watch the NBA, only because his beloved Adelaide 36ers dont play in the league.

Beaner, our man in accounts is backing the Pistons, he loves a band wagon, and he's gonna ride this one until they lose (2-2 with the Cavs isn't a great start!)

I took two horses into this race and Im not looking good form here. My Nuggets fell to pieces when my boy Kenyon lost his head and decided that the team wasn't as important as he is.

And now my real team the Nets (I honestly gave up on them when they let Kenyon go and then traded for Vince, but they proved me wrong) are in a 3-1 hole against Miami, as the Dwayne Wade show rolls on.

So looking to the next round it looks like it will be between Beaner and Liam, sounds like one of our staff tourneys!

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 11:47 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Poker.com Tournament Review

This weekend has been total tournament mayhem at Poker.com. With our first Ladies WSOP package being won, as well as our major weekly tournaments, Poker.com had a tournament to suit everyone's taste.

$20,000 Weekly Freeroll
Today's freeroll gathered a field of 910 eager players who all had their minds focused on the task at hand… I know what you are thinking, but its not the $4,000 for first place… It’s the prized Poker.com $20K accolade.

Therefore, congratulations must go to GaryPowers who claimed his first trophy… as well as $4,000.

Here are this week’s deciding hands:
5th Place: Fettoki55en
Fettoki55en - Ad 8h Vs 01Hawkeye - 6s 7h
Board: 8h 10s 9c Turn: 7d River: 5c

4th Place: Blakebrommer
Blakebrommer - Ad 7c Vs 01Hawkeye - Js Jh
Board: 5d 3s 7h Turn: 6c River: 8h

3rd Place: OnTilt247
OnTilt247 - Ad Qs Vs GaryPowers - 8d 8s
Board: Qh 8c 3h Turn: 10h River: 4h

2nd Place: 01Hawkeye
01Hawkeye - Ac 10h Vs GaryPowers - Js 5d
Board: 10s 3s Jc Turn: 8c River: Qh

Winner: GaryPowers

$10,000 Guaranteed

Every Sunday afternoon at Poker.com, we hold our $10,000 Guaranteed tournament that is only $50 + $5 to enter or $5 if you win your entry via our daily satellites… But it gets even better… How's this for value: $10,000 / $50 = 200 Players to create that size prize pool…
At Poker.com last Sunday, we had 107 players. That means there is nearly double the amount of cash on offer, but with half the normal number of players needed for that much cash.

You'll have a hard time finding another tournament online with that kind of E.V. So, don't waste your time looking, instead why not go and register for the $5 satellite and have your coupon ready for next week.

Here are this week’s deciding hands:
4th Place: Adrian1891
Adrian1891 - 6s 5 c Vs Hardknockz- Kd Qs
Board: 9c Qh 4c Turn: 5d River: Jc

3rd Place: Hardknockz
Hardknockz - 10c 10s Vs Jojogo22 - Kc 5d
Board: Kd Qh Ac Turn: 3s River: 7c

2nd Place: StarConch
StarConch - 4d 5d Vs Jojogo22 - As 5c
Board: 10d 10s 5s Turn: 7h River: 8h

Winner: Jojogo22

Congratulations to Jojogo22 on today’s victory against the ever strong StarConch (a previous winner of the $20,000 freeroll).

$500 Freeroll for First Depositors
Congratulations to these players who have not only won cash prizes in their first week at Poker.com, but have also earned entry into our first $50,000 Birthday Freeroll.

Good Luck winning a year’s supply of cake:
dscottr17, jones1980, snoopy78, LaMorocha1, Kafittt, BigPermH, MnVikings84, Vinnie1dog, showboat4, crazycanuck13, Rumoney, BensBail, Cabavi, Tmorgan, Whateverest, GonFishing, Xsf49erX

Daily WSOP Freeroll
Poker.com wants to give as many of our loyal players the chance of a lifetime… To play the 2006 WSOP Main Event FREE…

Poker.com now has daily WSOP Freerolls for real money players. All you need to do is earn 400 comp points in 24 hours and you will receive an entry coupon for the following day’s WSOP Freeroll. Each daily Freeroll will award one lucky player with entry, valued at $275, into our next Grand Final on May 21 @ 15:00.

Ladies Only WSOP
Congratulations to LosLobos on her outstanding victory in Poker.com's first Ladies WSOP Final.

LosLobos will be flying to Vegas later in the year for her chance to compete as the 2006 Ladies WSOP Champion. On behalf of all the Poker.com Staff, we would like to wish you the best of luck and a safe trip.

Poker Quote:
“To Master poker and make it profitable, you must first master
patience and discipline as lack of either is a sure disaster
regardless of all the talents, or lucky streaks.”
-Freddie Gasperian-

Good luck at the tables!

Liam @ Poker.com

Posted at 7:51 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Mirage lives up to its slogan

Life Exotic is what they have to say about themselves at the Mirage Las Vegas, and its no different when the WPT rolls into town for the Mirage Poker Showdown.

We love exotic life here at Poker.com and with the likes of Evelyn Ng, Vanessa Rouso, Jean Gluck and Erica Schoenberg lined up we knew the Mirage would certainly have our attention for the next few days.

With day one is in the bag the exotic stakes have taken an early blow with Evelyn Ng and Vanessa Rousso making exists.

Other big names are out of the running for the $1,294,755 firt prize include Jen Harmon, Layne Flack, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow, Tuan Le, Joe Bartholdi, T.J. Cloutier, Freddy Deeb, Carlos Mortensen, Scott Fischman, Dan Harrington, Erick Lindgren, Lyle Berman, Todd Brunson, David "The Dragon" Pham, and Antonio Esfandiari.

With 384 entries there are still plenty of big names left, unfortunatly none are as beautiful as the like of Ng and Rousso.

David Williams is the early leader with $180,000 in chips, nearly double his nearest opponent, Robert Mizrachi who has $105,000

Other big names coming back on day two are John Juanda, Huck Seed, Minh Nguyen, Gavin Smith, Barry Shulman, John Phan, Kenna James, Eli Elezra, Phil Ivey, Josh Arieh, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu, Chip Jett, and good old Robin Hood Barry Greenstein.

There is no word on weather my new favorite poker player, the beautiful Jean Gluck is still alive, since I haven't seen her name listed as being eliminated I'm holding on to the hope that she is still there.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 12:25 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Poker.com Has Visitors

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Working in the online industry and being based in Australia means it’s not everyday we get to meet our players face to face. Therefore, when we received an email that two of our players were heading to BrisVegas, we jumped at the chance to show them around town.

Our special visitors came all the way from Squaw Valley, California (for all you Sci-fi fans out there, it’s where the ewoks in Star Wars lived) and were none other than the recently married MountainBoy & MountainGirl.

The honeymooner’s had already been to New Zealand and arrived for some sight seeing in Brisbane. While they were in town we were lucky enough to meet and show the couple around the workshop (relax it’s an office) and load the lovely newlyweds with Poker.com gifts.

Surprisingly MountainBoy was more interested in the red hotpants than the mousepad… Funny that, they would look much better on MountainGirl…

So, after some quick photos and the office tour it was time for everyone to get back to work and let Mr & Mrs Mountaineers race off to the airport for the final leg of their honeymoon… a visit to the Great Barrier Reef and kicking back on the beautiful beaches of North Queensland… I wonder how MountainBoy is handling the surf in his hotpants?

If you are ever thinking of visiting Australia and end up in the neighbourhood, be sure to let us know… We love visitors!

Liam @ poker.com

Posted at 8:45 PM Permalink | 2 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Credit Cards & Chargebacks Online

Players tend to ask us one main question about using their credit card online.

Why do we sometimes ask for verification of their identity when they make a certain number or value of credit card deposits?

Most people don't really understand how credit card processing really works. To break it down simply there are 4 parties to any credit card transaction. The cardholder (players), the cardholders' bank, the merchant (Poker.com) and the acquring bank (Poker.com's bank).

The cardholder submits a tranaction to the merchant, who uses their acquiring bank to settle the transaction with the cardholder's bank. In the middle of all that is Visa or Mastercard - the credit card company. Sounds simple right? It usually is...

Issues arise online when a cardholder claims they did not make a particular transaction. This is known as a 'chargeback'. Visa & Mastercard's rules usually require that a signature is recorded as proof of a valid transaction. But - it's not possible to record a signature online is it....

Because of this loophole, some banks make it very easy for their customers to dispute a transaction that was completed online. The banks and Visa and Mastercard have been very reluctant to adequately address this issue. They have made a couple of half-hearted attempts at it, but for now they leave the responsibility with the merchants. If we, as the merchant don't have a signature, Visa, Mastercard automatically think we are to blame for the dispute and often allow the transaction to be reversed. They also then fine the merchant in the case of any disputes and if there are too many chargebacks in a certain period, they close down your merchant facility, removing your ability to process credit cards.

As you can imagine, this is a potential nightmare for an online poker site. If a player lost their money to another player, then disputed a transaction, we would have to return the amount of the disputed transaction, still pay the player that won AND then pay a fine to Visa. Not to mention the staff time wasted doing all of that and conducting an investigation....

This is why we complete verification on players using a credit card to deposit, and why we encourage players to use payment options other than credit cards. If you are a Poker.com player and have used a credit card you have probably had to complete some form of verification.

Although our verification measures do not always satisfy Visa & Mastercard when it comes to disputed transactions, the lengths we go to ensure we are only dealing with authorized cardholders sure does satisfy most courts & judges around the world.

If a player is stupid enough to dispute a valid transaction made at Poker.com we charge them with fraud and send debt cllectors after them to recover not only the amount of the disputed transactions, but also the amount of any fines and $500 per disputed transaction as an admin fee. Their bank (and Visa) may have allowed them to dispute the transaction, but what many people don't realise is that that their bank and Visa do not make laws. Their guidlines are simply that - guidelines.... Disputing valid credit card transactions is a federal offence in the USA and is actually investigated by the FBI.

Why am I posting about this? Mainly because I want as many people as possible to understand that disputing any online transaction is really no different to disputing any offline transaction. You wouldn't dispute a credit card transaction made at Walmart, where they have you on camera walking out of the store with that new microwave oven. What is the difference, just because a transaction was done online? We have just as much proof of a valid transaction as one caught on camera. IP addresses, PC fingerprints, Phone Numbers - they all prove who made the transaction.

There has been a disturbing trend recently of people think it is okay to dispute online transactions. One lady's bank teller even told her do it! I'm not sure I'd be taking legal advice from a minimum wage teller, but thankfully she saw the light when we explained the true ramifications of her actions and she is now one of Poker.coms most loyal (and credit card savvy) players.

Basically I just wanted to share the reason why we ask for verification of credit card users. Some players don't like to verify their ID details because they are worried about Identity theft etc, but really, all we asking is for them to verify what they have already told us. We never ask for anything new. Everyone tells us their name, address and phone number when they sign up - Is it too much to ask for proof that it's correct? Anyone who refuses to provide verification has their account closed - Poker.com is without doubt THE SAFEST place to play online because of the lengths we go to to prevent fraud.

We are doing our part to protect our existing players and our business from the fraudulent use of credit cards. We are not here to steal anyones identity!

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 12:52 AM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Google Poker Trends

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Google has released another product of their labs department - Google Trends. Trends allows you to see what the world is searching for.

I did a trend search for poker, and the results were pretty much what I expected. A big spike when the World Series of Poker is on. Google even highlights the news story about Joe Hachem winning as being significant to the spike in searches.

Another peak is around Christmas time - everybody looking for poker related gifts I bet!

It's fun to play around and see the countries that search the most for each term and how current events effect what people are searching for. Type in WSOP and see the HUGE jump in traffic during July.

There's still time to qualify for your spot in the world's biggest ever poker tournament. Poker.com has started daily freeroll tournaments that give players a FREE shot at making it to this year's World Series of Poker. That's right - FREE!

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 9:46 AM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Blogger Poker Tour Event #5

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Event # 5 of the Blogger Poker Tour is on this Saturday at 15:30 Poker.com time. (16:30 EDT)

Dutch Boyd is hosting a tournament, to be held outside in the spring air. It's a $500 freeroll as always, and all of the $25,000 in major prizes are still up for grabs so if you have a blog and haven't joined the BPT yet - what ae you waiting for?!

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 9:23 PM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Joe hasn't changed

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

An Aussie paper ran a story on Joe Hachem today, so I thought I'd post the link. It talks about how his life hasn't changed except he is now a target at the poker tables.

You can read it here >> Sydney Morning Herald.

You could be facing Joe at the World Series courtesy of Poker.com. Starting soon we are launching a daily World Series of Poker FREEROLL.

Every day, as long as you have earned 300 comp points in the previous 24 hours, you will be able to play in the freeroll that gives away a seat to our Main Event Satellites.

Look for the tournament soon in the Poker.com software.

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 11:48 PM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Conspiracy Theory # 234

Today we got a good one. Apparently the Poker.com software gives winning hands to different seats at different times of the day.

A phyics professor (they always are) contacted us with his theory of how depending on what time it is a different seat at the table will win every hand. He included a screenshot of the winning timezones for each seat and said he had complied 3 years of data, even though it is only Poker.com's 1st birthday this month..... Oops...

We told him he was cazy and wished him luck. If his theory was correct he should win millions by switching to the 'winning seat' every hour.

Then he got on live chat and pretended to be from an Australian Gaming Commission. Little did he know that the particular organisation he was representing only deals with horse racing and slot machines.....

Anyway - just another day in the life of working at Poker.com, dealing with the crazies yet to understand how everything really works. As I told one of our our favorite forum posters - they'd be better off hunting the Sasquatch or men from Mars - bag one of those suckers and you'll be rich!

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 9:54 PM Permalink | 3 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Sunday is Pay Day at Poker.com

Monday, May 08, 2006

Have you ever heard the old poker saying, “Don’t get caught all-in with a Queen in your hand before the flop?”

Well, luckily for Fran2006 this old saying didn’t stand true in this weeks Poker.com $20,000 Freeroll and she was able to walk away with a cool $4k.

You only need to earn 2,000 comp points in 7 days to receive your free coupon, so why are you waiting. Start racking up the comp points and you might even find yourself in Poker.com’s $50,000 Birthday Freeroll.

Bust Out Hands
5th Place: RiverMeToday
Hoackie3 - Qc Qd Vs RiverMeToday - Ah 8d

Board: 3s 2h 6c Turn: 7s River: 5d

4th Place: DaimonJack
DaimonJack - Kd 8h Vs Lithrandon - 4d 2c

Board: Qs 9d 7c Turn: Qc River: 2h
The might 2’s held up, quack quack!

3rd Place:
Fran2006 - Ah Jc Vs Hoackie3 - 6s 7c

Board: 8h 8d Js Turn: Ac River: Jh

1st Place: Fran2006
Fran2006 - Ah Qc Vs Lithrandon - Ac 4s

Board: Kh Jc 10h Turn: 10d River: 9s

$10,000 Guaranteed - We are giving away money!
Every week it makes me jealous that I can’t enter the Poker.com $10,000 guaranteed tournament... I mean think about the + E.V. on your $50 investment!

The prize pool is more than double what the buy-in’s generate and with only 94 entries, it has to be the BEST value on the net.

What’s that, you need more incentives…Well you don’t even have to buy-in for the full $50. Players can earn their entry by simply playing one of our $10K satellites.

Bust Out Hands
4th Place: Sliekas
Mpgabriel - Ah Jd Vs Sliekas - Ks 10c

Board: 3c 6h As Turn: 3s River: 10s

3rd Place: Mpgabriel
Mpgabriel - Qh 10c Vs Megasss - Ad Js

Board: 9s Jh Ac Turn: 7s River: 10h

1st Place: Megasss
Megasss - Kh 10s Vs Underdog57 - Kd Qs

Congratulations to Megasss on their great game and best of luck at the tables with your new bankroll.

$500 Freeroll for Initial Depositors
This tournament is the easiest way to start building your onine poker bankroll. I have even seen some players win the initial depositors Freeroll up to 3 or 4 times in their first week, giving them a bankroll of over $600 and all without even having to spend one cent of their initial deposit!

Congratulations to these players who have not only won cash prizes in their first week at Poker.com, but have also earned entry into our first ever $50,000 Birthday Freeroll.

Good Luck winning a year’s supply of cake.

1st: Xsf49erX - $150 + $50K Birthday Freeroll
2nd: 00000007 - $100 + $50K Birthday Freeroll
3rd: Garceau - $60 + $50K Birthday Freeroll

Showdown Poker Tour
These 3 lucky players accepted the challenge and have made the most of Poker.com guaranteeing all remaining satellites.

Anri82 - $55 Grand Final Coupon
Bjoernskov - $55 Grand Final Coupon
TheRealSlimJim - $55 Grand Final Coupon

Good Luck on May 13, Saturday @ 13:00, in the Grand Final

Ladies Only Qualifier
At Poker.com, we wanted to try and send as many of our lovely ladies to Vegas as possible. So here is our solution - Poker.com will be running 2 x daily WSOP Ladies Only Freerolls which will provide 2 lucky players with free entry (valued at $55) to Poker.com's Ladies Final. All you have to do is complete our simple photo verification process and you will receive access to our Ladies Only password page.

Be sure to register for our first Ladies WSOP Final at 15:00 this Saturday, May 13.

Liam @ Poker.com

Posted at 8:33 PM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Get amongst the $10k guaranteed

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Every Sunday afternoon at Poker.com there is a $10,000 guaranteed tournament that is only $50 to buy into, and is usually undersubscribed by 50%!

Yes, that means that only around 100 players enter, when you would normally need 200 players to cover such a large prize pool... You have a chance at a share of $10,000 against only 100 or less players..... That's great odds!

The players that play every week are doing a great job of not letting anyone else know about the tournament, so they can reap the rewards of the + ev prize pool every week. But sorry guys, I'm letting the cat out of the bag and am going to reminding everyone from now on.

We want this tournament to grow so we can give away even more cash every week. Get in there and register now, it's a great way to cap off your weekend.

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 8:18 AM Permalink | 4 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Celebrity Poker Showdown gets a new Phil

Thursday, May 04, 2006

With the 8th season about to launch Phil Gordon has been replaced by none other than my favourite pokerbrat Phil Helmuth.

Host Dave Foley returns and brings a mixed bag of celebrities including Jason Alexander, Kevin Sorbo, Fred Savage, Jen Tilly, Andy Dick and Macy Gray.

To be honest Ive only watched one episode of previous seasons, the poker play wasnt really to my liking, but it seemed Foley and Gordon had some good chemisty, it will be interesting to see how my boy fits in.

If nothing else Hellmuth will at least make the series interesting, he may spend the whole time talking about himself and not the celebrities, but I can promise you this: by the end of this series, we will know who Phil Hellmuth is. He wants us to be able to feel it.

The full celebrity line up is as follows:

Game 1: Jorge Garcia, Michael Ian Black, Andrea Martin, Greg Behrendt, and Kim Coles.
Game 2: Jason Alexander, Kevin Sorbo, Bryan Cranston, Jamie Bamber, and Susie Essman.
Game 3: Fred Savage, Jennifer Tilly, Doug E. Doug, Brett Butler, and online tournament winner Ida Siconolfi
Game 4: Jenna Fischer, Mario Cantone, Rocco Dispirito, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key.
Game 5: Andy Dick, Macy Gray, Christopher Meloni, Joy Behar, and Robin Tunney.

Shane @ Poker.com

Posted at 6:35 PM Permalink | 2 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

What makes online poker different from casino poker?

With the boom in online poker, there are lot of players taking a seat at a virtual table for the very first time. Poker has always been a popular game offline, so most new online players have experienced home or casino games before they ever buy in for $50 and try their luck against 'JuggernautOwnz' from Denmark and 'RebelYell67' from Kentucky at an online poker room like Poker.com.

They think they know what to expect. They know how to play poker, so they'll have no problem playing online.... But is that really the case?

Do you think Kobe Bryant would be the world's best Xbox basketballer? Cordination, reacting to visual cues and responding to in-game situations are all talents that would be valuable both on the court and with wireless controller in hand. But when it comes to the matchup of Kobe Vs Kim Moon from Korea one on one on the big screen, I'd be putting my money on the 11 year old from Seoul every time! Anyone who plays online poker for the first time, expecting everything to happen exactly as it does at their local casino or home game is kidding themselves.

There are many differences between online poker and real life poker, and a lot of new or inexperienced players don't seem to realise this. Their failure to account for the differences can often lead to them making bad decisions or going on tilt and therefore not being as succesful playing online as their previous experience playing with real cards would lead them to expect.

So what are the main differences between online and live poker?

You can't See your Opponents
Okay, call me captain obvious, but you have to think about ALL the repercussions of this. Sure you can't see your opponent's physical tells - everyone realises that. But what about how not being visible affects your opponenet's play from a psychological perspective?

Everyone who took undergrad psych at college had to sit through lectures and probably experiments dealing with audience effects, or how knowing that someone is watching affects behaviour. If you know that you won't have to sit through the visual grilling from your opponent, are you more likely or less likely to try and bluff? If you know that nobody knows what you look like and will not be able to think of you as a donkey forever more, will you be more likely or less likely to call with your middle pair with a possible flush on the board? Perceived anonymity has a big influence over decisions online.

You just can't always use the same tricks you could use in a real poker game, because people simply do not have the same fear of failure, or wish to uphold their reputation as they would in person. They will call you with weaker cards than they would if you were sitting two feet away with 8 other players and a grumpy dealer watching.

So lesson #1 for players new to online play is - Adjust your game to allow for more weak hands being played than you would normally expect. Weaker cards being played for longer, leads to more 'bad beats', as hands that you would not normally consider to still be alive, will be. But in the long run it leads to solid strategy being MORE successful than it would be offline.
Your bankroll is intangible
Whoever invented the first set of casino chips was a genius. Whenever you have a handful of colourful plastic discs, are you thinking about paying the phone bill with them or buying gas for the car? No - you're thinking about which game you can try you luck at! Actual money and what you need it for is the last thing on your mind - that's why casinos are fun.

Poker players are typically a lot more protective of their chips than your average weekend blackjack warrior as your chances at a poker table rise and fall according to the size of your chip stack. But what happens when you don't have those piles of colorful little noise makers to play with?

Online, you have a number in a box - nothing tangible to touch & feel. Bankroll management becomes just that little bit harder when the only thing between you and risking all your chips is a quick click of the mouse. Humans rely on their senses a lot more than we often realise and the simple fact is most of us are more inclined to risk something that we cannot touch and hold. You'll call off that river bet knowing that you are beat just because it's only 'virtual' chips right? Wrong - that mouse click costs you real cash!

Lesson #2 for new players - guard your chips more ferociously than you would at any real casino. Don't drop your concentration and forget that you are playing with real money here!
The Stakes are usually lower
Typically in a casino the lowest games available will be $3/$6 or $4/$8. Online you could be playing for anything from 2c/4c. This is not the case for everyone, as there are online games up to $500/$1000, but for most of us who play online for some fun we are playing with bankrolls a lot smaller than we would walk into a Vegas poker room with. Walk up to the cashier at the Bellagio and ask them to transfer $25 from your NETeller account so you can sit at a game and see what they say....

Playing with less money = playing with less fear & caution = playing loosely

You may be playing for pennies, but if you are going to play online for fun it doesn't mean you should be throwing money away!

Now, not everyone does this, but everyone has played AGAINST someone who does. This is the flip side of this situation and another factor that contributes to the prevalence of loose play online. If you think people are playing too loose at the limit you are playing, then maybe you need to move up a rung to where the amounts bet mean more to the players and you can get better reads.

A lot of 25c players might be scared to play at $1 table because they think that it is too much money, but what you might find is that you will have a much better game at that slightly higher stake because the bets actually mean more to the people playing.

Lesson #3 for new players - make sure you are playing at a stake that you, and your opponents are taking seriously. That will help you make good reads, good bets, and help ensure you don't get complacent and waste your chips.
The games are quicker
Online there is no waiting for the dealer to shuffle, no waiting for cashouts and the waitress to deliver the guy on the button's 7&7. Online poker is much, much quicker than playing in real life.

This is probably THE BIGGEST difference between online and casino poker. Playing one hour online will often be the equivalent of spending an entire night at your local card game. You will see 60 or more hands in an hour online, but how many would you see per hour when you take all of the Saturday night casino delays into account? No shuffling, no counting pots, strict time limits, no wait service, no delays.

We've all heard an online newbie say 'I've never seen so many river winners as I do online'. That's because you are playing ten times as many hands ya jackass!

You'll readily admit that Bill, the town drunk, out-drew you twice on the river in your home game last Tuesday night - so what happens when you multiply Bill's two suckouts by the factor of how many more hands you would have played online? Bill would have fumbled your chips onto the top of his dirty chip stacks 10-15 times!

Lesson #4 for new players - you will be seeing more hands. Remember that always, and don't let that fact affect your usual strategy too much until you are used to playing faster. If you are a player that usually eeks out plus or minus 1 BB per hour in your local limit game, then expect to multiply that by however much faster the online game is. Your swings will be bigger and they will happen quicker.
Online Poker is a worldwide game
At any one time at an online poker table, you could be playing people from 10 different countries and timezones. This is not an insignificant point.

One of my favorite places to play is a predominantly British poker site (I can't play at Poker.com!). And I always choose to play just after the pubs are closing all over London. Relieving lagered up Englishman of their pounds sterling before they pass out on a Saturday night is one of my favorite, and until now - secret - poker pastimes...

This can backfire on you too! Plenty of times I have gotten all my chips into the middle with the best hand, only to see the drunken Brit call with his pair of 2s and hit his set on the river, probably whilst munching on a kebab and laughing at the stupid Aussie he sucked out on! It's another factor that can lead to both bad beats and solid winning sessions depending on the time and opponents you are playing. I'm confident that I will have a good winning percentage against geezers with a skinful, so I keep playing at that time and place.

Lesson #5 for new players - Consider where the people you are playing against are actually located, what time it is where they are, and what their probable level of awareness and state of mind is. It can come in very handy to take note of this sort of thing, and it can also contribute to loose play by your opponents.
When do you play online poker?
Now I know I'm a fully fledged internerd, but I spend about 70% of the time that I am not sleeping, in front of a computer. This means that I could fire up a quick heads up sit and go at just about any time in my day. If I'm slaving over a hot spreadsheet, I might play a game on the side just to have something to multitask and stop the numbers and columns from sending me crazy.

What about everyone else? Do you set aside specific times to play poker online? Or do you do it on the spur of the moment when you have some time to kill or fill?

Nearly everyone, apart from those of us lucky to live in Vegas, would plan real life games ahead of time. Would you ever drop everything to play a cash game at the board room table with your CEO? Probably not....

People often play poker online with a much different state of mind, and less preparation than they would play a real life game of poker. This is a BIG factor in how they play and the decisions they will make. If you're sitting at the Bellagio and want a coke - you call the waitress. If you're at home you have to run to fridge, trip over the dog, grab some ice, answer the phone and then struggle to move your mouse to that little button on the screen, move your slider and make a bet that makes sense despite just having missed seeing the action from every player that acted before you!

Lesson #6 for new players - Plan when you are going to play poker online, and make sure you can devote enough attention to the game. If you are playing while cooking dinner or studying for an exam, you're not going to play as well as you possibly can.

Once again this point affects every player in reverse also. How can you make a good read on someone if their baby is crying and they only went all in to buy themselves 30 seconds of cuddle time? All of these factors affect the players you are playing against also!
You know nothing about your opponent
Now this is not true for players who have been online for a while as we all keep great notes on every opponent we face right? Sure we do....

But this is definitely the case for new players. They have no idea who the person they are playing is, how they play, how much of a bankroll they have etc etc

At a real table you could get a read on an opponent straight away. If they're wearing a Rolex and diamonds with more sparkles than Wayne Newton's smile you're probably not going to try and bluff him with a $5 raise are you?

Until you get some experience online or a good read on your opponent you have no idea if you are playing the Bill Gates of online poker or someone that is down to their last $1. So be cautious - there are plenty of sharks out there that have thousands in their account but will sit at a 5c/10c game to chase the smaller fish.

Lesson #7 - Be careful of how quickly you assume you 'know' an opponent, keep good notes and always play with a lot of patience. You could be playing against the lastest teenage pro from Sweden, or Barney the Dinosaur for all you know. Patience and calculated decisions will help you play a winning game. Remember if you never go all in, you will win the tournament....
Limit V No Limit
No limitHold'em is apparently the 'cadillac of poker' if you listen to Vince & Mike, but if you walk into a casino poker room, limit games will dominate the play board. Online a lot more people tend to play no limit which means all of your chips can be risked a lot more easily.

If you usually play limit poker offline, why would you suddenly start playing no limit as soon as you log into an online site? They are totally different styles of games.

Lesson #8 for new players - Wet your feet online playing limit games first, so you keep your possible risk at a minimum. Don't jump into the deep end of the pool straight away with low stake No Limit Hold'em games - they are the craziest games online.

Now this post has gone on far too long and there are a few more differences I could talk about, but I think I've illustrated that online poker and real life poker are very different games. Sure they have the same rules, but if you want to be successful at both versions of the game you need to adjust the way that you play and consider all of the points that I've mentioned.

You can still get a 'feel' for an online game just like you can at a real table, but the things you look for are different and your strategy to take advantage of these cues will be different also. But that's a blog post for another day.

Just remember one thing and you'll be fine. We all play poker for fun - if it's not fun, then what are YOU doing that's stopping it from being fun?

If you are a new player, complaining about how online poker is rigged or not 'as good' or 'realistic' as your regular home game, then expect to hear some sniggers and giggles of joy from the experienced online players around you waiting to take your money.

They already know that online poker is is every bit as fair, fun and 'realistic' as any live casino game - it just takes different skills and some online experience to be successful. The fact that you haven't realised that yet paints a big bullseye on your virtual chip stack.

Kris @ Poker.com

Posted at 6:59 AM Permalink | 5 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

Free $20 turns into a WSOP Seat @ Poker.com

Monday, May 01, 2006

If somebody gave you $20 for free, could you go and turn it into a WSOP package valued at $12,500?

Well, with the help of Poker.com, Clorebomb did just that!

Poker.com’s latest WSOP Grand Final winner, Clorebomb, not only managed to win Sunday’s tournament and secure his Vegas package, but was able to achieve all of this thanks to $20 that Poker.com gave him.

Don’t get me wrong, the tournament victory was due to Clorebomb’s consistent and skilled poker play. However, if it had not been for the cash gift from Poker.com then this once in a lifetime opportunity may never have happened.

Clorebomb’s Path to the WSOP:
- Poker.com gives gift of $20 to get started
- Clorebomb hits the low stake cash games and starts building his bankroll
- Takes his winnings and enters 8 seated WSOP Semi Final SnG
- Places second in Semi Final and receives entry into Grand Final
- Wins April’s Grand Final

Now Clorebomb is off to Vegas to compete for the World Series…. It’s that simple at Poker.com.

Grand Final Summary
Entrants: 84
Duration: 2:46 hrs

1st - Clorebomb
2nd - Zman523
3rd - MrMixx
4th - Slaport

Bust Out Hands

Zman523 - Ad Kc Vs Slaport - Ad 2c

Board: Jh 7c Js Turn: 6c River: 4d

3rd place hand:
Clorebomb - 7h 7d Vs MrMixx - Ac Jc

Board: 7s 8h Jh Turn: 9s River: 9c

Tournament Winning Hand:
Clorebomb - Qc Qs Vs Zman523 - Ac 9h

Board: 2d 5d 7s Turn: Kc River: 7c
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$20,000 Weekly Freeroll
Poker.com’s biggest weekly freeroll hosted a field of 816 players who were all eager to battle it out for the first place prize of $4,000. I wish I could spend a lazy Sunday afternoon earning that kind of cash from the comfort of my own home.

Firtly, congratulations must go to Sharil on an outstanding game, especially the final hand.

Bust Out Hands :
Booter - Ah 2c Vs Sharil - Ac 6d

The Board: 7s Kd 6s Turn: 8c River: 5d

Winning Hand:
Sharil - Qs 4s Vs Wahine - Kh 9h

The Board: Qh Qc Qd Turn: 5h River: 2s

What a time to flop quads!
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Sunday $10,000 Guaranteed
Every week I say it, and every week the opportunity goes begging. In case you did not know, every Sunday Poker.com holds a $10,000 Guaranteed Tournament and if there was just one tournament I could play (if I was allowed), THIS WOULD BE IT!

My Reasons to Play:
• Less than 100 entries, but is guaranteed for 200. That’s less than half what the field is guaranteed for, so it's a 100% +ev investment on your money.
• Unbelievable return on your $50+$5 buy-in
• You can earn entry via our $5 satellites

Congratulations to Twopairacesnaces on a terrific win and from all the staff at Poker.com we wish you continued success with your newly acquired bankroll… $3,000 to be exact.
Bust Out Hand:
Loopoo - Kc Jc Vs Js 10h

The Board: 2c Kd 10s Turn: As River: 5s

Deciding Hand:
Twopairacesnaces - 8d 8c Vs Loopoo - Ac 2c
The Board: 6h 10c 3s Turn: 3d River: Jc
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$500 Daily Freeroll for New Depositors

Congratulations to these players who have not only won cash prizes in their first week of playing at Poker.com, but have also earned entry into May’s $50,000 Birthday Freeroll.

Good Luck winning a year’s supply of cake.

Slick00, Fittemus, Takinurdollars, Jasllew, Countryboymo, KKoshh, Slickhik, Andrew70024, zeke414.
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That's another Sunday tournament wrap from Poker.com. See you next week!

Liam @ Poker.com

Posted at 7:35 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum

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