Reports earlier this week that a winner's
payout had been given to the loser of a
hand at UltimateBet.com have been
followed by further incidents, suggesting that
the original mispayment is not an isolated
incident. Posts on various forums like 2+2
and the UltimateBet blog
http://blog.ultimatebet.com/2008/12/hand-1162170993/#comments
indicated at least three other highly questionable
payouts to the wrong players had been made,
suggesting a glitch in the recently upgraded,
Korean made, Cereus Network software which
is used by UltimateBet and Absolute Poker.
In one incident, a player claimed that he had
been congratulated for finishing 16th in a
tourney...before the last two cards hit the table.
And at table #1165492664: Razz Normal
$0.25/$0.50 - 2008-12-22 12:55:02 (ET)
a player who was apparently sitting out was
awarded a pot.
In yet another incident, a player waiting for a
big blind was allegedly awarded part of the pot,
which appeared to be confirmed by a re-player
at Tableratings.com.
The positive side to the incidents is that both
UltimateBet owner Tokwiro and the Kahnawake
Gaming Commission have reacted to early alerts
sent by concerned players. Tokwiro C.O.O. Paul
Leggett has promised on the company blog that
the investigation is underway and will report back,
and a spokesman for the KGC confirmed that the
regulator was also studying reports and monitoring
the situation.
However, the KGC spokesman said, it was essential
that players with a genuine and substantiated issue
lodge a formal complaint with the Commission,
rather than relying on merely posting on industry
message boards. He confirmed that the player
"Doubleballer" in the original incident had now
been paid the full value of the pot, although he
had not actually submitted a KGC complaint,
and said that the Commission would investigate
all legitimate and factual complaints it was sent.
"What does slow things down is when forum
posters randomly send disparaging comments to
the KGC about an operator, but don't substantiate
any claim or provide any intel which would be of
use in opening an investigative file," he observed.
"If there are legitimate claims, I would encourage
any potentially wronged players to contact the KGC."
12/30/2008
Online Bingo to Rival Poker
Internet bohemuth Google claims that
its research has shown a rising popularity
in Internet bingo across every age group
and gender and is online poker's most
powerful rival yet. A statement from the
search engine revealed that bingo has rapidly
caught up and is now engaged in a race to
decide which game is the most dominant.
”Due to the presence of so many online
bingo operators, competition is becoming
more and more intense forcing bingo sites
to offer more and more benefits, bingo bonuses
and added benefits to ensure loyalty and traffic,”
the Google statement claimed.”
Although bingo has been considered to be a
female game in the past, the taboo has
diminished as more and more male players
are traced in the chat rooms of online bingo halls.
The wide offerings, the social community nature
of the game and the quality of the service are the
main reasons of the increasing popularity.”
Google points out that another advatage held
by bingo is that the variants of the game are
easy and straightforward to play. Unlike poker,
online bingo players do not need to wager large
amounts of money as bingo cards are generally
affordable. The online game can be played while
browsing the Internet with attention not mandatory,
unlike poker. In the modern game, play is almost
automatic, as players are not expected to call out
bingo when they’ve won. The main requirement
is to purchase cards on time before a session begins.
its research has shown a rising popularity
in Internet bingo across every age group
and gender and is online poker's most
powerful rival yet. A statement from the
search engine revealed that bingo has rapidly
caught up and is now engaged in a race to
decide which game is the most dominant.
”Due to the presence of so many online
bingo operators, competition is becoming
more and more intense forcing bingo sites
to offer more and more benefits, bingo bonuses
and added benefits to ensure loyalty and traffic,”
the Google statement claimed.”
Although bingo has been considered to be a
female game in the past, the taboo has
diminished as more and more male players
are traced in the chat rooms of online bingo halls.
The wide offerings, the social community nature
of the game and the quality of the service are the
main reasons of the increasing popularity.”
Google points out that another advatage held
by bingo is that the variants of the game are
easy and straightforward to play. Unlike poker,
online bingo players do not need to wager large
amounts of money as bingo cards are generally
affordable. The online game can be played while
browsing the Internet with attention not mandatory,
unlike poker. In the modern game, play is almost
automatic, as players are not expected to call out
bingo when they’ve won. The main requirement
is to purchase cards on time before a session begins.
New WSOP game for Nintendo Wii
Activision has released the latest version
of last year's virtual poker game hit "World
Series of Poker : Tournament of Champions"
to mixed reviews, some of which advise that
there are more serious products with better
artificial intelligence on the market for the
demanding poker aficionado.
The game builds on last year's popular version,
taking a story-based approach as it puts virtual
players on the WSOP Circuit as a newly turned
poker pro under the wing of Chris Ferguson as
his protege. Players test their skills against the
world's best poker pros in the premier Circuit
events in hopes of qualifying for the virtual
winner-take-all, invitation-only Tournament
of Champions at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas.
Along the way, players face-off against WSOP
bracelet winners and former Main Event champs.
The game gives advice on the personal tricks
and strategies that have made Ferguson
one of the world's foremost poker players,
with each successful win unlocking valuable
tools that help bring a better game to the table,
among these checking the odds of hitting
various hands at every stage of the deal,
checking the rank of hands, and viewing statistics
and percentages of the hands of opponents.
The dialogue between players is especially
noteworthy and entertaining.
Amazon's purchasing offer on the game is
interesting - it reveals that after viewing the
information on WSOP Tournament of Champions,
61 percent of visitors bought Howard Lederer's
Wii offering "World Championship Poker" instead.
of last year's virtual poker game hit "World
Series of Poker : Tournament of Champions"
to mixed reviews, some of which advise that
there are more serious products with better
artificial intelligence on the market for the
demanding poker aficionado.
The game builds on last year's popular version,
taking a story-based approach as it puts virtual
players on the WSOP Circuit as a newly turned
poker pro under the wing of Chris Ferguson as
his protege. Players test their skills against the
world's best poker pros in the premier Circuit
events in hopes of qualifying for the virtual
winner-take-all, invitation-only Tournament
of Champions at the Rio Resort in Las Vegas.
Along the way, players face-off against WSOP
bracelet winners and former Main Event champs.
The game gives advice on the personal tricks
and strategies that have made Ferguson
one of the world's foremost poker players,
with each successful win unlocking valuable
tools that help bring a better game to the table,
among these checking the odds of hitting
various hands at every stage of the deal,
checking the rank of hands, and viewing statistics
and percentages of the hands of opponents.
The dialogue between players is especially
noteworthy and entertaining.
Amazon's purchasing offer on the game is
interesting - it reveals that after viewing the
information on WSOP Tournament of Champions,
61 percent of visitors bought Howard Lederer's
Wii offering "World Championship Poker" instead.
Battle with Boris (Becker)
PokerStars marketers have come up with a
sideshow to the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure scheduled for early January,
a chance for online players to take on former
tennis star Boris Becker, who plays as a
celebrity for the site.
The idea is for seven PokerStars players
to compete with Becker in a heads up match,
with the main prize being a$10K seat to the
main event of the Caribbean Adventure in
the Bahamas.
The match will be played in a Battleship format,
which means that participants play each other
heads up and online, using laptops instead of
in front of a live dealer.
In a company statement, Becker said:
"Battleship poker gives you all the fast play
luxuries of online poker, but also allows you
to look your opponent in the eye. It's an
exciting game to play and I'm really looking
forward to competing against these players."
Four North American players have so far
been chosen for the confrontation:
Itsik Oknin of Ottawa, Canada;
Joshua Miloy of Oley, Pa.;
Keith Anderson of Quebec, Canada
Michel Dion of Quebec, Canada.
sideshow to the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure scheduled for early January,
a chance for online players to take on former
tennis star Boris Becker, who plays as a
celebrity for the site.
The idea is for seven PokerStars players
to compete with Becker in a heads up match,
with the main prize being a$10K seat to the
main event of the Caribbean Adventure in
the Bahamas.
The match will be played in a Battleship format,
which means that participants play each other
heads up and online, using laptops instead of
in front of a live dealer.
In a company statement, Becker said:
"Battleship poker gives you all the fast play
luxuries of online poker, but also allows you
to look your opponent in the eye. It's an
exciting game to play and I'm really looking
forward to competing against these players."
Four North American players have so far
been chosen for the confrontation:
Itsik Oknin of Ottawa, Canada;
Joshua Miloy of Oley, Pa.;
Keith Anderson of Quebec, Canada
Michel Dion of Quebec, Canada.
12/28/2008
Dwan Continues Hot Streak
Tom "Durrr" Dwan, had a hugely successful weekend, winning over $ 1,300,000 multi-tabling at Full Tilt for a few hours. He was playing NLHE $500/1000, PL Omaha $500/1000 and Mixed HA $500/1000.
He won a $209,000 pot against Patrik Antonius playing Pot Limit Omaha, $297,963 from OMGClayAiken in NLHoldem, a $433,737 holdem pot against Trex313, and a $394,297 holdem pot against Mastrblastr.
12/24/2008
'The Real Deal' is a Done Deal
I'm glad I got to see it before it
closed for good. Seemed obvious
at the time that it wasnt likely to last.
As posted on WickedChops.com .....
The Venetian Pulls Plug On The Real Deal
It's officially curtains for The Real Deal.
After an eight-week run, the folks at
The Venetian have finally pulled the plug
on its poker-themed stage show which
starred big name pros such as Daniel Negreanu,
Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen,
Gavin Smith and Antonio Esfandiari.
We could tell you that the piss poor economy,
launching the show three years after the height
of the poker boom and people's overall lack of
interest in poker-themed stage shows were
to blame but that would be glossing over the
real reason why it bombed: not having co-host
Lacey Jones appear in nothing but body paint
nightly. That would have been a hit. Huge hit.
Todd Brunson plump-ily sitting at a poker table,
not so much.
Real Deal Co-host Lacey Jones
closed for good. Seemed obvious
at the time that it wasnt likely to last.
As posted on WickedChops.com .....
The Venetian Pulls Plug On The Real Deal
It's officially curtains for The Real Deal.
After an eight-week run, the folks at
The Venetian have finally pulled the plug
on its poker-themed stage show which
starred big name pros such as Daniel Negreanu,
Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen,
Gavin Smith and Antonio Esfandiari.
We could tell you that the piss poor economy,
launching the show three years after the height
of the poker boom and people's overall lack of
interest in poker-themed stage shows were
to blame but that would be glossing over the
real reason why it bombed: not having co-host
Lacey Jones appear in nothing but body paint
nightly. That would have been a hit. Huge hit.
Todd Brunson plump-ily sitting at a poker table,
not so much.
Real Deal Co-host Lacey Jones
I should pay more attention
Considering that observation is
one of the key skills of a good poker
player, I'm a bit embarrassed that
I missed this. I would have taken the
PS Blogger Championship tournaments
WAY more seriously if I knew there was
more at stake than just qualifiing for
the final event.
EVENT # 2 Final Results
1. malice51 (United States) -- Sunday Majors Platinum Package
2. Baba_Jin (Israel) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
3. United113 (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
4. MemphisM0J0 (United States) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
5. WMZeus (United States) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
6. WILLdaHAMMER (Canada) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
7. Joppa Rd (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
8. maka818 (Spain) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
9. Would-Be83 (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
A "Sunday Majors Gold Package"
consists of TWO x $215 tournament tickets.
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2008/12/wbcoop-no-absence-of-of-malice51-in.html
one of the key skills of a good poker
player, I'm a bit embarrassed that
I missed this. I would have taken the
PS Blogger Championship tournaments
WAY more seriously if I knew there was
more at stake than just qualifiing for
the final event.
EVENT # 2 Final Results
1. malice51 (United States) -- Sunday Majors Platinum Package
2. Baba_Jin (Israel) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
3. United113 (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
4. MemphisM0J0 (United States) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
5. WMZeus (United States) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
6. WILLdaHAMMER (Canada) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
7. Joppa Rd (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
8. maka818 (Spain) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
9. Would-Be83 (United Kingdom) -- Sunday Majors Gold Package
A "Sunday Majors Gold Package"
consists of TWO x $215 tournament tickets.
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2008/12/wbcoop-no-absence-of-of-malice51-in.html
More Problems at UltimateBet - Oh Brother !
Early Saturday morning, DOUBLEBALLER
and Ultimate Bet front man PHIL HELLMUTH
were playing heads up on a $200/$400 limit
table on Ultimate Bet. However, when the hand
was over, Hellmuth scooped the pot with a
pair of deuces, despite DOUBLEBALLER
holding THREE KINGS ! Ultimate Bet issued a
press release explaining the fluke late
Tuesday afternoon.
The Tokwiro-owned online poker site
blamed the abnormality on DOUBLEBALLER
being disconnected at the exact moment
in time as the payout in the hand was
being awarded. Ultimate Bet added that
this happened “in conjunction with the
‘player’s state’ data being cleared from
the memory cache.” In essence, it appears
as if the Ultimate Bet software did not
recognize DOUBLEBALLER being seated
at the table, thus incorrectly awarding the
pot to his opponent.
Chat posted on 2+2 is in line with the story.
DOUBLEBALLER returned from being
disconnected and confronted Hellmuth
about the incident. Curiously, upon
DOUBLEBALLER’s return, Hellmuth was
seen typing phrases in the chat such as
“I play U limit, right now” and “miracle U
beat me.” Hellmuth stated in the Tokwiro
press release, “I am one of the most
watched players on the Internet and all
I can say is that it is pretty obvious that
there was no malicious intent and even
more obvious that UB handled this
problem well. The important thing here
is that I continue to have a ton of trust
in UB’s software and new management team.”
In the process of fixing the disconnection
issue, Ultimate Bet introduced a new error
onto its servers which resulted in 36 pots
being awarded erroneously. The statement
read, “All players have been reimbursed
for these hands as well.” The game types
that were adversely affected as part of
the 36 hands were in low-limit Razz, Stud,
and Hold’em.
Meanwhile, the online poker room’s
technical staff is busy combing through
past hands dealt on Ultimate Bet’s
virtual felts looking for other potential
instances where the same error that
affected DOUBLEBALLER may have
occurred. So far, no such problems
have been found from hand histories
in November and December.
The hand in question was number
1162170993. It kicked off at 4:15am ET
early Saturday morning. The final board
read K-K-J-2-9. Hellmuth held the Doyle
Brunson hand, 10-2, for a pair of twos.
DOUBLEBALLER held K-Q for trip kings.
In the end, Hellmuth scooped a $5,599
pot with his inferior hand. In chat posted
between the two players, Hellmuth
suggested that DOUBLEBALLER may
have been “booted,” which turned out
to be the root cause of the problem.
Hellmuth entered the hand with $4,495,
shy of DOUBLEBALLER’s stack of $7,494.
Ultimate Bet recently merged with
Absolute Poker to form the CEREUS
poker network. The two sites are both
run by Tokwiro Enterprises, which is
owned by Joe Norton. They were recently
the subjects of a feature piece by CBS
News program “60 Minutes,” which
focused on the cheating scandals on
each of the two sites. Ultimate Bet claimed
that the simultaneous occurrence of the
pot being awarded and DOUBLEBALLER’s
disconnect was the primary cause.
It added, “Had the disconnection happened
literally a millisecond sooner or later, the error
would not have transpired.”
**Official Statement From UltimateBet**
--------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - COO
On Saturday, December 20, 2008 we were alerted to a problem with a hand involving PHILHELLMUTH and DOUBLEBALLER.
We realize that this issue is of great concern to UB’ers and the poker community. Since we learned of the problem we have worked tirelessly investigating and fixing the software issue that was responsible for the incorrect payout. We have now released an official statement, which you can read it on our corporate site tokwiro.com.
I became aware of the problem on Saturday evening, shortly before I made my original post on this blog. I must admit that the information on twoplustwo was very helpful to me in getting up to speed right away.
I know many of you wanted information immediately after the incident happened. I did make a post on the UB blog to let everyone know we were aware of the problem and the seriousness of it. At the time I did not comment further because I wanted to make sure that we had all the facts before we made any public statements. I would hate to say something that is inaccurate or even false because I rushed it out before understanding the problem completely.
The problem is truly and honestly just a software malfunction. I do realize this issue caused a great deal of concern because Phil Hellmuth, a spokesperson for the site, benefited from the malfunction and that is quite the coincidence. For this reason we are providing the public with as much information as possible and hope that by doing so, and answering as many of your questions as possible, you will be reassured that our site is a safe place to play.
The Issue:
As we explained in our press release, the incorrect payout was caused by a software malfunction. The software malfunction occurred when the winning player was disconnected from the hand at the precise millisecond the software was determining whom to award the prize. This in conjunction with the “player’s state” data being cleared from memory caused this extremely improbable incident to occur.
Originally we were unable to reproduce the error in our test environment, until we programatically forced a disconnect to happen at the precise millisecond the hand was being awarded.
We have never had an issue like this reported previously and we have reviewed all of our database and application logs for December and November and have been unable to find any historical occurrences. We are continuing to go back further into the historical data to ensure no hands from the past need to be corrected. Analyzing this data takes time but we will continue to go back further and further into our history to ensure no one else was affected.
The second, related issue:
During the weekend we released an update to our game servers which included new business logic to prevent the first incident from ever happening again. The new update unfortunately created a new logic issue resulting in 36 hands with incorrect payouts. The 36 hands affected were lower limit razz, stud, and hold’em hands. Upon learning of this problem, we were able to addressed it quickly and the affected players were refunded immediately. We are extremely confident that everything has been corrected and order has been restored but we’re continuing to monitor the system and are performing extensive tests to ensure there are no incorrect payout or disconnect issues in the future.
An unrelated issue:
Another player made a comment on our blog (Mark) and emailed our support team about a tourney (212042 where 700 chips were mysteriously deducted from his stack mid tourney. What happened was his chip stack was reset to his starting chip amount (3000 chips). This happened because he won a satellite into the very tourney he was already playing in . This uncovered the unrelated problem, where the system reset his chip stack to the starting amount. This software issue was addressed immediately and Mark’s account was refunded.
Our company takes a lot of pride in our work and i think it’s safe to say we are embarrassed by these issues. We have an amazing software development team who have accomplished so much this year. I assure you they take this very seriously and I’m confident they have dealt with these issues professionally and I do not expect anymore problems to occur.
Our company is committed to being the most transparent site on the net and to providing our players with a personal touch that other sites do not. I speak to many players myself, I grant a lot of interviews, we offer phone support and our security team speaks with players on a daily basis. We hope that you start to notice the improvements we are continually making to improve our service and transparency.
I will try to blog and respond to your comments/questions the best I can over the holidays.
Happy holidays everyone!
Cheers,
Paul Leggett
and Ultimate Bet front man PHIL HELLMUTH
were playing heads up on a $200/$400 limit
table on Ultimate Bet. However, when the hand
was over, Hellmuth scooped the pot with a
pair of deuces, despite DOUBLEBALLER
holding THREE KINGS ! Ultimate Bet issued a
press release explaining the fluke late
Tuesday afternoon.
The Tokwiro-owned online poker site
blamed the abnormality on DOUBLEBALLER
being disconnected at the exact moment
in time as the payout in the hand was
being awarded. Ultimate Bet added that
this happened “in conjunction with the
‘player’s state’ data being cleared from
the memory cache.” In essence, it appears
as if the Ultimate Bet software did not
recognize DOUBLEBALLER being seated
at the table, thus incorrectly awarding the
pot to his opponent.
Chat posted on 2+2 is in line with the story.
DOUBLEBALLER returned from being
disconnected and confronted Hellmuth
about the incident. Curiously, upon
DOUBLEBALLER’s return, Hellmuth was
seen typing phrases in the chat such as
“I play U limit, right now” and “miracle U
beat me.” Hellmuth stated in the Tokwiro
press release, “I am one of the most
watched players on the Internet and all
I can say is that it is pretty obvious that
there was no malicious intent and even
more obvious that UB handled this
problem well. The important thing here
is that I continue to have a ton of trust
in UB’s software and new management team.”
In the process of fixing the disconnection
issue, Ultimate Bet introduced a new error
onto its servers which resulted in 36 pots
being awarded erroneously. The statement
read, “All players have been reimbursed
for these hands as well.” The game types
that were adversely affected as part of
the 36 hands were in low-limit Razz, Stud,
and Hold’em.
Meanwhile, the online poker room’s
technical staff is busy combing through
past hands dealt on Ultimate Bet’s
virtual felts looking for other potential
instances where the same error that
affected DOUBLEBALLER may have
occurred. So far, no such problems
have been found from hand histories
in November and December.
The hand in question was number
1162170993. It kicked off at 4:15am ET
early Saturday morning. The final board
read K-K-J-2-9. Hellmuth held the Doyle
Brunson hand, 10-2, for a pair of twos.
DOUBLEBALLER held K-Q for trip kings.
In the end, Hellmuth scooped a $5,599
pot with his inferior hand. In chat posted
between the two players, Hellmuth
suggested that DOUBLEBALLER may
have been “booted,” which turned out
to be the root cause of the problem.
Hellmuth entered the hand with $4,495,
shy of DOUBLEBALLER’s stack of $7,494.
Ultimate Bet recently merged with
Absolute Poker to form the CEREUS
poker network. The two sites are both
run by Tokwiro Enterprises, which is
owned by Joe Norton. They were recently
the subjects of a feature piece by CBS
News program “60 Minutes,” which
focused on the cheating scandals on
each of the two sites. Ultimate Bet claimed
that the simultaneous occurrence of the
pot being awarded and DOUBLEBALLER’s
disconnect was the primary cause.
It added, “Had the disconnection happened
literally a millisecond sooner or later, the error
would not have transpired.”
**Official Statement From UltimateBet**
--------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - COO
On Saturday, December 20, 2008 we were alerted to a problem with a hand involving PHILHELLMUTH and DOUBLEBALLER.
We realize that this issue is of great concern to UB’ers and the poker community. Since we learned of the problem we have worked tirelessly investigating and fixing the software issue that was responsible for the incorrect payout. We have now released an official statement, which you can read it on our corporate site tokwiro.com.
I became aware of the problem on Saturday evening, shortly before I made my original post on this blog. I must admit that the information on twoplustwo was very helpful to me in getting up to speed right away.
I know many of you wanted information immediately after the incident happened. I did make a post on the UB blog to let everyone know we were aware of the problem and the seriousness of it. At the time I did not comment further because I wanted to make sure that we had all the facts before we made any public statements. I would hate to say something that is inaccurate or even false because I rushed it out before understanding the problem completely.
The problem is truly and honestly just a software malfunction. I do realize this issue caused a great deal of concern because Phil Hellmuth, a spokesperson for the site, benefited from the malfunction and that is quite the coincidence. For this reason we are providing the public with as much information as possible and hope that by doing so, and answering as many of your questions as possible, you will be reassured that our site is a safe place to play.
The Issue:
As we explained in our press release, the incorrect payout was caused by a software malfunction. The software malfunction occurred when the winning player was disconnected from the hand at the precise millisecond the software was determining whom to award the prize. This in conjunction with the “player’s state” data being cleared from memory caused this extremely improbable incident to occur.
Originally we were unable to reproduce the error in our test environment, until we programatically forced a disconnect to happen at the precise millisecond the hand was being awarded.
We have never had an issue like this reported previously and we have reviewed all of our database and application logs for December and November and have been unable to find any historical occurrences. We are continuing to go back further into the historical data to ensure no hands from the past need to be corrected. Analyzing this data takes time but we will continue to go back further and further into our history to ensure no one else was affected.
The second, related issue:
During the weekend we released an update to our game servers which included new business logic to prevent the first incident from ever happening again. The new update unfortunately created a new logic issue resulting in 36 hands with incorrect payouts. The 36 hands affected were lower limit razz, stud, and hold’em hands. Upon learning of this problem, we were able to addressed it quickly and the affected players were refunded immediately. We are extremely confident that everything has been corrected and order has been restored but we’re continuing to monitor the system and are performing extensive tests to ensure there are no incorrect payout or disconnect issues in the future.
An unrelated issue:
Another player made a comment on our blog (Mark) and emailed our support team about a tourney (212042 where 700 chips were mysteriously deducted from his stack mid tourney. What happened was his chip stack was reset to his starting chip amount (3000 chips). This happened because he won a satellite into the very tourney he was already playing in . This uncovered the unrelated problem, where the system reset his chip stack to the starting amount. This software issue was addressed immediately and Mark’s account was refunded.
Our company takes a lot of pride in our work and i think it’s safe to say we are embarrassed by these issues. We have an amazing software development team who have accomplished so much this year. I assure you they take this very seriously and I’m confident they have dealt with these issues professionally and I do not expect anymore problems to occur.
Our company is committed to being the most transparent site on the net and to providing our players with a personal touch that other sites do not. I speak to many players myself, I grant a lot of interviews, we offer phone support and our security team speaks with players on a daily basis. We hope that you start to notice the improvements we are continually making to improve our service and transparency.
I will try to blog and respond to your comments/questions the best I can over the holidays.
Happy holidays everyone!
Cheers,
Paul Leggett
12/23/2008
Caesars LV Raises Rake to 10%/$5 max +$1
Reprinted post by LasVegasMichael
on AllVegasPoker.com, 21 Dec 2008 06:27
Hello all,
It has been confirmed that Caesars Palace
has officially raised its rake to 10%/$5 max,
plus $1 jackpot on all its games.
This now means that all Harrahs owned
properties are raking at the $5 max level.
Up until now, Caesars, Harrahs flagship
property and premier poker room, had kept
its rake at the Vegas industry standard of
10% / $4 max plus $1 for high hand jackpot.
AVP has learned on good authority that
the decision to keep the rake at a $4 max
was directly correlative to Caesars offering
only well drinks in their poker room.
The room management apparently decided
that in lieu of raising their rake, they would
rather limit poker players to non-premium
cocktails. However, now that the rake has
risen to the Harrahs standard 10%/$5 max,
the premiums are NOT being brought back
to the supposed "Premier" poker room.
This means that one can get better quality
cocktails at the lesser properties (Imperial
Palace, Harrahs, Ballys) and pay the SAME
RAKE then one can get at Caesars Palace,
the supposed flagship Harrahs property.
Furthermore, Harrahs poker room, located
accross the street from Caesars Palace,
offers Red Bull in the can in addition to
premium cocktails, complimentary, and has
3 cash games in the morning when Caesars
is ususally either dark or running a single
cash game (8-11AM).
Of the premier poker rooms in Las Vegas
(Venetian, Wynn, MGM Grand, Mirage, Bellagio,
and Caesars Palace), Caesars is the only room
that does not offer premium cocktails, rakes
at 10%/$5 max, and takes a jackpot drop.
on AllVegasPoker.com, 21 Dec 2008 06:27
Hello all,
It has been confirmed that Caesars Palace
has officially raised its rake to 10%/$5 max,
plus $1 jackpot on all its games.
This now means that all Harrahs owned
properties are raking at the $5 max level.
Up until now, Caesars, Harrahs flagship
property and premier poker room, had kept
its rake at the Vegas industry standard of
10% / $4 max plus $1 for high hand jackpot.
AVP has learned on good authority that
the decision to keep the rake at a $4 max
was directly correlative to Caesars offering
only well drinks in their poker room.
The room management apparently decided
that in lieu of raising their rake, they would
rather limit poker players to non-premium
cocktails. However, now that the rake has
risen to the Harrahs standard 10%/$5 max,
the premiums are NOT being brought back
to the supposed "Premier" poker room.
This means that one can get better quality
cocktails at the lesser properties (Imperial
Palace, Harrahs, Ballys) and pay the SAME
RAKE then one can get at Caesars Palace,
the supposed flagship Harrahs property.
Furthermore, Harrahs poker room, located
accross the street from Caesars Palace,
offers Red Bull in the can in addition to
premium cocktails, complimentary, and has
3 cash games in the morning when Caesars
is ususally either dark or running a single
cash game (8-11AM).
Of the premier poker rooms in Las Vegas
(Venetian, Wynn, MGM Grand, Mirage, Bellagio,
and Caesars Palace), Caesars is the only room
that does not offer premium cocktails, rakes
at 10%/$5 max, and takes a jackpot drop.
12/21/2008
WBCOOP Update
To quote Nelson from the Simpsons...
"I feel like such a tool".
I got caught up watching football on
Sunday afternoon and forgot about
the Blogger Championship finals on
PokerStars.
I finally remembered almost 2 hours in,
but I had been blinded down severely by
then. Only 137 (?) players left.
I shoved with AT in the cutoff and
the big blind woke up with AQ. No help
for me, Out. Not that I deserved to win
or make a big come back, its a fair result
considering my absent mindedness.
Oh well, its only another 12 months until
the next one.
"I feel like such a tool".
I got caught up watching football on
Sunday afternoon and forgot about
the Blogger Championship finals on
PokerStars.
I finally remembered almost 2 hours in,
but I had been blinded down severely by
then. Only 137 (?) players left.
I shoved with AT in the cutoff and
the big blind woke up with AQ. No help
for me, Out. Not that I deserved to win
or make a big come back, its a fair result
considering my absent mindedness.
Oh well, its only another 12 months until
the next one.
12/20/2008
Congrats to Ron Fahner
Ron Fahner came in 2nd place
(of 130+) at the Red Hot Poker Tour's
TOC event a couple weeks ago.
Ron won entry to a $1500 WSOP event.
Many of you will remember Ron
as a very solid player from the
Poker In Canada & Premier Poker
Tour events in London.
(of 130+) at the Red Hot Poker Tour's
TOC event a couple weeks ago.
Ron won entry to a $1500 WSOP event.
Many of you will remember Ron
as a very solid player from the
Poker In Canada & Premier Poker
Tour events in London.
12/16/2008
PokerStars WBCOOP
I just qualified for the Championship Final
of the WBCOOP at pokerstars this sunday.
At the first break, I was in 2nd or 3rd and
decided to more or less just sit on my
chips and wait for about 400 more players
to bust out.
I figured the tourny would just stop when
we got to 72 players (top 72 received
entry to the final). It kept going, and so
did I, despite having nothing really to play for.
Finished 6th out of 559 horses.
I might play a couple of the other events
just for practice.
12/14/2008
New Poker After Dark Episodes
Some new PAD's coming up soon.
The 2009 schedule looks like this:
* December 29: (Close but no Cigar)
Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko,
David Williams, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow
* January 5: (Speak your mind)
Todd Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon,
Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, David Grey
January 12: REPEAT (Mission Impossible)
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth,
David Williams, Clonie Gowen, Gavin Smith
January 19: REPEAT (Dream II)
Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Sexton,
Jennifer Harman, Gavin Smith, Paul Featherstone
January 26: REPEAT (Mayfair Club)
Jay Heimowitz, Howard Lederer, Mickey Appleman,
Dan Harrington, Steve Zolotow, Mike Shichtman
February 2: REPEAT (Cash game II)
Patrik Antonius, Dee Tiller, Howard Lederer,
Doyle Brunson, Gabe Kaplan, Eli Elezra
* February 9: (Brilliant Minds)
Brandon Adams, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch,
Bill Chen, Jimmy Warren, David Sklansky
* February 16: (Nets vs. Vets Cash Game)
Taylor Caby, Cole South, Gabe Kaplan,
David Benefield, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra
February 23: REPEAT (WPT Multiple winners)
Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu,
Michael Mizrachi, Gus Hansen, Tuan Le
March 2: REPEAT
Phil Laak, David Williams, Annie Duke,
Andy Bloch, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen
March 9; REPEAT (MEGA $50,000 Buy-In)
David Benyamine, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey
Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra
March 16: REPEAT (Close but no Cigar)
Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko,
David Williams, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow
* March 23: (Dream Table III)
Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, Arnold Thimons,
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu
* March 30: (International III)
Brad Booth, Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine,
John Juanda, John Phan, Ivan Demidov
April 6: REPEAT (Speak your mind)
Todd Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon,
Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, David Grey
April 13: REPEAT (Brilliant Minds)
Brandon Adams, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch,
Bill Chen, Jimmy Warren, David Sklansky
April 20: REPEAT
Alan Boston, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Sexton,
Mike Matusow, Jamie Gold, Paul Wasicka
April 27: REPEAT (Show Open)
Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson,
Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen
* May 4: (Hellmuth Bash Cash Game I)
Tom Dwan, Kenny Tran, Phil Laak,
Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Bob Safai
* May 11: (Hellmuth Bash Cash Game II)
Tom Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran,
Phil Hellmuth, Bob Safai, Phil Laak
May 18: REPEAT (Dream Table)
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman,
Mike Matusow, Scotty Nguyen, Ken Light
May 25: REPEAT (World Champions)
Chris Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Berry Johnston,
Jamie Gold, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed
June 1: REPEAT (19th Hole)
Gavin Smith, David Oppenheim, Erick Lindgren,
Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu
June 8: REPEAT (International)
Patrick Antonius, Johnny Chan, Roland de Wolfe,
Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, John Juanda
* June 15: (Sit-n-Talk)
Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari,
Jean-Robert Bellande, Vanessa Rousso, David Grey
* June 22: (Celebrities and Mentors)
Barry Greenstein, Jason Alexander, Phil Gordon,
Orel Hershiser, Don Cheadle, Gavin Smith
June 29: REPEAT (Dream Table III)
Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, Arnold Thimons,
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu
July 6: REPEAT (International III)
Brad Booth, Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine,
John Juanda, John Phan, Ivan Demidov
The 2009 schedule looks like this:
* December 29: (Close but no Cigar)
Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko,
David Williams, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow
* January 5: (Speak your mind)
Todd Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon,
Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, David Grey
January 12: REPEAT (Mission Impossible)
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth,
David Williams, Clonie Gowen, Gavin Smith
January 19: REPEAT (Dream II)
Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Sexton,
Jennifer Harman, Gavin Smith, Paul Featherstone
January 26: REPEAT (Mayfair Club)
Jay Heimowitz, Howard Lederer, Mickey Appleman,
Dan Harrington, Steve Zolotow, Mike Shichtman
February 2: REPEAT (Cash game II)
Patrik Antonius, Dee Tiller, Howard Lederer,
Doyle Brunson, Gabe Kaplan, Eli Elezra
* February 9: (Brilliant Minds)
Brandon Adams, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch,
Bill Chen, Jimmy Warren, David Sklansky
* February 16: (Nets vs. Vets Cash Game)
Taylor Caby, Cole South, Gabe Kaplan,
David Benefield, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra
February 23: REPEAT (WPT Multiple winners)
Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu,
Michael Mizrachi, Gus Hansen, Tuan Le
March 2: REPEAT
Phil Laak, David Williams, Annie Duke,
Andy Bloch, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen
March 9; REPEAT (MEGA $50,000 Buy-In)
David Benyamine, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey
Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra
March 16: REPEAT (Close but no Cigar)
Andy Black, Lee Watkinson, Dewey Tomko,
David Williams, Allen Cunningham, Mike Matusow
* March 23: (Dream Table III)
Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, Arnold Thimons,
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu
* March 30: (International III)
Brad Booth, Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine,
John Juanda, John Phan, Ivan Demidov
April 6: REPEAT (Speak your mind)
Todd Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon,
Gabe Kaplan, Cory Zeidman, David Grey
April 13: REPEAT (Brilliant Minds)
Brandon Adams, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch,
Bill Chen, Jimmy Warren, David Sklansky
April 20: REPEAT
Alan Boston, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Sexton,
Mike Matusow, Jamie Gold, Paul Wasicka
April 27: REPEAT (Show Open)
Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson,
Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen
* May 4: (Hellmuth Bash Cash Game I)
Tom Dwan, Kenny Tran, Phil Laak,
Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Bob Safai
* May 11: (Hellmuth Bash Cash Game II)
Tom Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran,
Phil Hellmuth, Bob Safai, Phil Laak
May 18: REPEAT (Dream Table)
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman,
Mike Matusow, Scotty Nguyen, Ken Light
May 25: REPEAT (World Champions)
Chris Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Berry Johnston,
Jamie Gold, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed
June 1: REPEAT (19th Hole)
Gavin Smith, David Oppenheim, Erick Lindgren,
Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu
June 8: REPEAT (International)
Patrick Antonius, Johnny Chan, Roland de Wolfe,
Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, John Juanda
* June 15: (Sit-n-Talk)
Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari,
Jean-Robert Bellande, Vanessa Rousso, David Grey
* June 22: (Celebrities and Mentors)
Barry Greenstein, Jason Alexander, Phil Gordon,
Orel Hershiser, Don Cheadle, Gavin Smith
June 29: REPEAT (Dream Table III)
Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, Arnold Thimons,
Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu
July 6: REPEAT (International III)
Brad Booth, Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine,
John Juanda, John Phan, Ivan Demidov
12/12/2008
Huge Pots at FTP High Stakes Tables
www.HighStakesDB.com reported this week
that a new record in chip stacks was set, with
Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond enjoying big success
in the 6-max games on www.FullTiltPoker.com .
At one point during a remarkable session over
the weekend, Galfond was sitting on a stack of
$1.5 Million at a $500/$1,000 NLHE 6-max table.
The $1.5 million stack is believed to be the largest
stack at a single table in online poker history.
Despite experiencing a couple of big hit reversals,
Galfond left with $1,266,264, also a new record.
During the action Galfond apparently won 3
seperate pots each valued at well over $400,000.
Over the past week the action around risk-taker
Tom "durr" Dwan had some exciting moments, too.
On December 5th playing Hold'em NL $500/1,000
he achieved a very impressive profit of $955,000
having totally dominated all opponents including
formidable names like Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen
over a 24 hour period. He left the tables with
$455,000 and $772,000 stacks for an overall
profit of +$955,000.
On December 6th, Dwan was at the tables again,
this time pushing his 24 hour winnings up over a
million dollars by winning his largest hand ever,
$657,000.
The other side of the coin was a staggering
$1.4 Million loss for player "Ziigmund" in a
NLHE game on December 7th, when the player's
successful run in recent days came to an abrupt
and expensive end.
He wasn't alone, player "Elmariachimacho"
took a $750,000 hit, too. The losers shipped it to
the still successful OMGClayAiken (+ $613,000)
durr (+ $501,000) and Urindanger (+ $409,000).
that a new record in chip stacks was set, with
Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond enjoying big success
in the 6-max games on www.FullTiltPoker.com .
At one point during a remarkable session over
the weekend, Galfond was sitting on a stack of
$1.5 Million at a $500/$1,000 NLHE 6-max table.
The $1.5 million stack is believed to be the largest
stack at a single table in online poker history.
Despite experiencing a couple of big hit reversals,
Galfond left with $1,266,264, also a new record.
During the action Galfond apparently won 3
seperate pots each valued at well over $400,000.
Over the past week the action around risk-taker
Tom "durr" Dwan had some exciting moments, too.
On December 5th playing Hold'em NL $500/1,000
he achieved a very impressive profit of $955,000
having totally dominated all opponents including
formidable names like Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen
over a 24 hour period. He left the tables with
$455,000 and $772,000 stacks for an overall
profit of +$955,000.
On December 6th, Dwan was at the tables again,
this time pushing his 24 hour winnings up over a
million dollars by winning his largest hand ever,
$657,000.
The other side of the coin was a staggering
$1.4 Million loss for player "Ziigmund" in a
NLHE game on December 7th, when the player's
successful run in recent days came to an abrupt
and expensive end.
He wasn't alone, player "Elmariachimacho"
took a $750,000 hit, too. The losers shipped it to
the still successful OMGClayAiken (+ $613,000)
durr (+ $501,000) and Urindanger (+ $409,000).
12/05/2008
Tough Times in Vegas
Just another sign of how hard the
recession is hitting Las Vegas.
This Saturdays highly anticipated
Oscar DeLaHoya vs. Manny Pacquaio
fight at the MGM Grand hasn't sold out.
Not only that, tickets are now half-price ! !
Blue: $750 +$50 fee (were $1,500 each)
Pink: $500 +$50 fee (were $1,000 each)
Green: $375 +$35 fee (were $750 each)
Orange: $250 +$25 fee (were $500 each)
Only the $20,000 ringside seats haven't
been discounted. I guess that the super-rich
aren't as adversely affected by the economic
down turn as the plain well-off folks are.
recession is hitting Las Vegas.
This Saturdays highly anticipated
Oscar DeLaHoya vs. Manny Pacquaio
fight at the MGM Grand hasn't sold out.
Not only that, tickets are now half-price ! !
Blue: $750 +$50 fee (were $1,500 each)
Pink: $500 +$50 fee (were $1,000 each)
Green: $375 +$35 fee (were $750 each)
Orange: $250 +$25 fee (were $500 each)
Only the $20,000 ringside seats haven't
been discounted. I guess that the super-rich
aren't as adversely affected by the economic
down turn as the plain well-off folks are.
12/04/2008
I'm a PokerStar
Because I'm so awesome, I have been invited to play in the
PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker !
Only bloggers can play in this exclusive online poker tournament.
Registration code: 978237
12/03/2008
$5 Charity Tourny on Full Tilt tonight
Help Erick Lindgren help the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
in memory of Mindy Trinidad.
There's a $5+5 charity tourny on
FullTilt tonight at 7pm.
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
in memory of Mindy Trinidad.
There's a $5+5 charity tourny on
FullTilt tonight at 7pm.
If you're not yet a FullTilt member, click one of the banners on the side of this blog to download the software.
Five dollars will go towards prize pool with the other $5 benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society/Southern Nevada.
The winner of the event will receive the first place cash prize plus a "World" model Curtis & Co. watch valued at $2,200.
Located in the Private section Date: Dec 3 19:00 Format: $5+5 NL Holdem
Tournament # 70441231
Password: charity
Pro's attending include: Allan Cunningham,
Andy Bloch, Brad Booth, Erick Lindgren,
Cyndy Violette, FBT Mueller, Joe Beevers,
Lee Watkinson, Mike Matusow, Berry Johnson and more.
11/26/2008
Speaking of Hellmuth...
I'm not sure if everyone will find
this as funny as I do, but I was killing
myself.... cracking up big time.
Phil, ever trying to gain more worldwide
exposure for himself, appears in his
Bollywood bigscreen debut.
http://www.pokerjunkie.com/bollywood-poker-video-phil-hellmuth
this as funny as I do, but I was killing
myself.... cracking up big time.
Phil, ever trying to gain more worldwide
exposure for himself, appears in his
Bollywood bigscreen debut.
http://www.pokerjunkie.com/bollywood-poker-video-phil-hellmuth
Hellmuth Clothing Line
Now you too can dress like
"a goofball who catches cards"
(Sam Grizzle describing Phil)
Phil Hellmuth has launched a
new line of apparel under the
brand name Poker Brat Clothing Co.
"We've worked with artists in
Las Vegas, Missouri, and West
Hollywood, and I told them to create
whatever their hearts desired and,
man, did they create some great
poker designs!", says the Phil.
Personally, I think the designs are
kind of ugly... but I guess its better
than a cliche design like a royal flush
or worse yet, Phil's face on them.
www.PokerBrat.com
"a goofball who catches cards"
(Sam Grizzle describing Phil)
Phil Hellmuth has launched a
new line of apparel under the
brand name Poker Brat Clothing Co.
"We've worked with artists in
Las Vegas, Missouri, and West
Hollywood, and I told them to create
whatever their hearts desired and,
man, did they create some great
poker designs!", says the Phil.
Personally, I think the designs are
kind of ugly... but I guess its better
than a cliche design like a royal flush
or worse yet, Phil's face on them.
www.PokerBrat.com
11/25/2008
2008 BC Poker Championships
On Sunday, Daniel Negreanu won
the 2008 BC Poker Championships
Main Event ($2,500 buy-in) at the
River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC.
Daniel took home $371,910 for
winning the four day long event.
He's been on a hot streak this year.
He cashed 5 times at the 2008 WSOP,
including a bracelet win for $204k in the
$2,000 Limit Hold'em event and a 7th place
finish in the $5,000 PLO r/b for $123k.
He also finished in 13th place in $50k HORSE.
Danny followed this up with three cashes at
the 2008 WSOP Europe, including making the
final table at the main event. He ended up 5th
and cashed for almost $400k. Since the
beginning of June, Daniel Negreanu has approx.
$1,000,000 in tournament winnings and says
he's playing some of the best poker of his career.
From PokerStars Blog:
"Negreanu, as usual, had some side action
going to keep things interesting. He and
Gabe Kaplan had a $2,500 last-longer bet.
If either of them made the money, the other
player would pay $10,000. If either player
made it to the final table it was another $25,000.
And so, late yesterday Kaplan was stuck $37,500.
As it turns out, though, there was an escape
clause in the bet. If either Kaplan or Negreanu
won the event, all bets were off and the winner
of the event paid the other $2,500. As we've
already noted, Negreanu won. Kaplan went
from being stuck $37,500 to winning $2,500
and Negreanu swung $40,000 in the other direction."
From Daniels Blog:
"690 players showed up for the tournament,
the biggest field I'd ever beaten. To do it in
Canada was legitimately special and I think
it's going to make for great TV when it airs.
I'm really hoping that this might help spark
an even bigger buy in event at the River Rock
next year. I genuinely believe they could hold
a 10k buy in and get 300 players easy, especially
if they have online qualifiers. I'm looking forward
to returning next year. They treated me very well
and I had a great time.
After it was over a bunch of all went to dinner.
I noticed that Adam, the second place finisher
was having dinner with five of his friends.
I invited them all to join us and picked up the tab.
After dinner we changed and a large group of us,
including Adam and his friends went to a club
called Republic. Brad Booth hooked us up with
a huge area to chill and we hung out there till
pretty late. With dinner, and paying the bar tab,
the night ended up being pretty expensive for me
but it was all worth it.
Now I plan on... sleeping. I just finished doing some
TV stuff and really need to catch up on some
R and R and am already looking forward to the
$15,000 Bellagio event. That event has been very
good to me in the past and I'm coming in on a roll
feeling very confident. With the Bellagio structure
being so deep on the first three days I always feel
great about my chances to do well there."
the 2008 BC Poker Championships
Main Event ($2,500 buy-in) at the
River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC.
Daniel took home $371,910 for
winning the four day long event.
He's been on a hot streak this year.
He cashed 5 times at the 2008 WSOP,
including a bracelet win for $204k in the
$2,000 Limit Hold'em event and a 7th place
finish in the $5,000 PLO r/b for $123k.
He also finished in 13th place in $50k HORSE.
Danny followed this up with three cashes at
the 2008 WSOP Europe, including making the
final table at the main event. He ended up 5th
and cashed for almost $400k. Since the
beginning of June, Daniel Negreanu has approx.
$1,000,000 in tournament winnings and says
he's playing some of the best poker of his career.
From PokerStars Blog:
"Negreanu, as usual, had some side action
going to keep things interesting. He and
Gabe Kaplan had a $2,500 last-longer bet.
If either of them made the money, the other
player would pay $10,000. If either player
made it to the final table it was another $25,000.
And so, late yesterday Kaplan was stuck $37,500.
As it turns out, though, there was an escape
clause in the bet. If either Kaplan or Negreanu
won the event, all bets were off and the winner
of the event paid the other $2,500. As we've
already noted, Negreanu won. Kaplan went
from being stuck $37,500 to winning $2,500
and Negreanu swung $40,000 in the other direction."
From Daniels Blog:
"690 players showed up for the tournament,
the biggest field I'd ever beaten. To do it in
Canada was legitimately special and I think
it's going to make for great TV when it airs.
I'm really hoping that this might help spark
an even bigger buy in event at the River Rock
next year. I genuinely believe they could hold
a 10k buy in and get 300 players easy, especially
if they have online qualifiers. I'm looking forward
to returning next year. They treated me very well
and I had a great time.
After it was over a bunch of all went to dinner.
I noticed that Adam, the second place finisher
was having dinner with five of his friends.
I invited them all to join us and picked up the tab.
After dinner we changed and a large group of us,
including Adam and his friends went to a club
called Republic. Brad Booth hooked us up with
a huge area to chill and we hung out there till
pretty late. With dinner, and paying the bar tab,
the night ended up being pretty expensive for me
but it was all worth it.
Now I plan on... sleeping. I just finished doing some
TV stuff and really need to catch up on some
R and R and am already looking forward to the
$15,000 Bellagio event. That event has been very
good to me in the past and I'm coming in on a roll
feeling very confident. With the Bellagio structure
being so deep on the first three days I always feel
great about my chances to do well there."
11/21/2008
WSOBP (Beer Pong)
by Karl Popper
The fourth annual edition of the
“World Series of Beer Pong”,
a frat style drinking game recently
turned popular, is coming to Las Vegas
in 2009.
Hundreds of teams are expected to gather
at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino from
January 1st- 5th to battle for the
$50,000 grand prize.
The five-day event, presented by BPong.com,
will be the largest of its kind, the 2007
tournament attracted almost 600 contestants
from 39 states and three different countries.
In addition, twenty-one satellite competitions
will be held in several locations inside the U.S.,
with the final satellite taking place in New York
on December 16th, 2008.
“It's a pastime with a very loyal following.
We introduced beer pong to the Las Vegas Strip
a couple of years ago at O’Sheas Casino and it
continues to be immensely successful for us.”
said Flamingo’s VP of marketing, Suzanne Trout.
“Beer pong” involves two teams that face-off
from opposite ends of a long table. Each team
has 10 plastic cups arranged in a triangle
at their side of the table, then both teams
take turns attempting to throw ping pong
balls into the other team’s cups.
The first team to full all the cups with at least
one ping pong ball wins the match.
In most frat-style “Beer Pong” games,
all cups are filled with beer and a member
of the defending team has to drink a cup’s
contents when the opposing team lands
a ball in it, however, drinking is not
mandatory during the “WSoBP”.
During a BPong.com-regulated game,
twenty-four ounces of beer or water is split
between six of the 10 cups .The remaining
four cups are filled with water and no one
drinks the water from these cups during
a regulation game. According to the
tournament rules, all cups may be filled
with water instead of beer and competitors
can choose if they want to drink the
contents or not.
2008 world champion beer pongers,
Jeremy Hughes and Mike Orr, are
expected to make their best effort to
defend the title, regardless of what
the cups are filled with.
The tournament is open to anyone,
ages 21 or older. All teams are welcomed
to register online before December 5th,
the Tournament’s registration is set at
$1,000 per team, and includes four nights
at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
The fourth annual edition of the
“World Series of Beer Pong”,
a frat style drinking game recently
turned popular, is coming to Las Vegas
in 2009.
Hundreds of teams are expected to gather
at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino from
January 1st- 5th to battle for the
$50,000 grand prize.
The five-day event, presented by BPong.com,
will be the largest of its kind, the 2007
tournament attracted almost 600 contestants
from 39 states and three different countries.
In addition, twenty-one satellite competitions
will be held in several locations inside the U.S.,
with the final satellite taking place in New York
on December 16th, 2008.
“It's a pastime with a very loyal following.
We introduced beer pong to the Las Vegas Strip
a couple of years ago at O’Sheas Casino and it
continues to be immensely successful for us.”
said Flamingo’s VP of marketing, Suzanne Trout.
“Beer pong” involves two teams that face-off
from opposite ends of a long table. Each team
has 10 plastic cups arranged in a triangle
at their side of the table, then both teams
take turns attempting to throw ping pong
balls into the other team’s cups.
The first team to full all the cups with at least
one ping pong ball wins the match.
In most frat-style “Beer Pong” games,
all cups are filled with beer and a member
of the defending team has to drink a cup’s
contents when the opposing team lands
a ball in it, however, drinking is not
mandatory during the “WSoBP”.
During a BPong.com-regulated game,
twenty-four ounces of beer or water is split
between six of the 10 cups .The remaining
four cups are filled with water and no one
drinks the water from these cups during
a regulation game. According to the
tournament rules, all cups may be filled
with water instead of beer and competitors
can choose if they want to drink the
contents or not.
2008 world champion beer pongers,
Jeremy Hughes and Mike Orr, are
expected to make their best effort to
defend the title, regardless of what
the cups are filled with.
The tournament is open to anyone,
ages 21 or older. All teams are welcomed
to register online before December 5th,
the Tournament’s registration is set at
$1,000 per team, and includes four nights
at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
Eric Lui buys Range Rover with Stars fpp's
Not a big deal normally. These pros on
PokerStars who play big $, they rack up
the Frequent Player Points like crazy.
Thing is, Eric Lui is a Full Tilt Red Pro !
Maybe not for long ...lol
I'm sure FTP wants him to get his name
out there, but not by posing for pictures
and writing articles for their biggest competitor.
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2008/11/vip-club-liu-snags-car-with-fpp.html
11/20/2008
Tropicana Closing its Poker Room
The poker room at the Tropicana Hotel
in Las Vegas will be closing down
permanently as of November 30th.
The rooms 19 employees were notified
today of the closing date and layoffs.
The poker room consisted of 6 tables
spreading $1/2NL and 2/4L holdem.
in Las Vegas will be closing down
permanently as of November 30th.
The rooms 19 employees were notified
today of the closing date and layoffs.
The poker room consisted of 6 tables
spreading $1/2NL and 2/4L holdem.
11/19/2008
Sarnia SitnGo's
Point Edward Charity Casino is running
"Touchdown Sundays SNG Tournaments"
until January 04, 2009. Sundays Noon-8pm.
Watch football and play poker.
Buy-in is $25+$5, starting when 10 players
sign up. Play up to 3 SNG's per day.
Payouts: 1st - $125, 2nd - $75, 3rd - $50
Blinds go up every 15 minutes.
Levels: 5/10, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100.
Neil Millson, his wife Gloria and their
daughter Linda have had great success
at these with numerous cashes.
Had to post this picture of Neil winning a PPT
event with what is fast becoming one of my
favourite cash game hands, the Four-Deuce.
"Touchdown Sundays SNG Tournaments"
until January 04, 2009. Sundays Noon-8pm.
Watch football and play poker.
Buy-in is $25+$5, starting when 10 players
sign up. Play up to 3 SNG's per day.
Payouts: 1st - $125, 2nd - $75, 3rd - $50
Blinds go up every 15 minutes.
Levels: 5/10, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100.
Neil Millson, his wife Gloria and their
daughter Linda have had great success
at these with numerous cashes.
Had to post this picture of Neil winning a PPT
event with what is fast becoming one of my
favourite cash game hands, the Four-Deuce.
Medic, Benyamine, and Clonie
Canadian WSOP bracelet winner
Nenad Medic is still playing at FullTilt
despite (for undisclosed reasons) losing
his Red Pro status. Medic has seen playing
under his old username "Serb2127"
on $100/$200 Pot Limit Omaha tables.
Nenad has also been removed from the
FTP website showing all of the FTP pros.
Another notable pro missing his red status
is David Benyamine. David is rumoured to
be moving to another site although he
continues to play at FTP. Its hard to find
bigger action anywhere online, so I suspect
he'll continue to hang around as long as his
new site allows him.
Last but not least, Clonie Gowan is
no longer a Full Tilt pro. Further to that news,
Cycalona 'Clonie' Gowen has filed a lawsuit
in Nevada Court against Tiltware LLC,
Full Tilt Poker, and most of the big name
pros associated with FTP including Howard
Lederer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson,
John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren,
Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman-Traniello,
Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham,
Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius.
The basis of the lawsuit stems from oral
contracts which Clonie believes entitle her
to a percentage of the profits earned by
Full Tilt. She admits that no written
contract exists but is seeking $40,000,000
which is approximately 1% of the $4 Billion
that Full Tilt may be valued at.
Clonie needs the money for..... ? ? ?
Nenad Medic is still playing at FullTilt
despite (for undisclosed reasons) losing
his Red Pro status. Medic has seen playing
under his old username "Serb2127"
on $100/$200 Pot Limit Omaha tables.
Nenad has also been removed from the
FTP website showing all of the FTP pros.
Another notable pro missing his red status
is David Benyamine. David is rumoured to
be moving to another site although he
continues to play at FTP. Its hard to find
bigger action anywhere online, so I suspect
he'll continue to hang around as long as his
new site allows him.
Last but not least, Clonie Gowan is
no longer a Full Tilt pro. Further to that news,
Cycalona 'Clonie' Gowen has filed a lawsuit
in Nevada Court against Tiltware LLC,
Full Tilt Poker, and most of the big name
pros associated with FTP including Howard
Lederer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson,
John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren,
Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman-Traniello,
Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham,
Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius.
The basis of the lawsuit stems from oral
contracts which Clonie believes entitle her
to a percentage of the profits earned by
Full Tilt. She admits that no written
contract exists but is seeking $40,000,000
which is approximately 1% of the $4 Billion
that Full Tilt may be valued at.
Clonie needs the money for..... ? ? ?
11/12/2008
Vegas Wednesday (END)
WEDNESDAY NOV 12
Checkout day. Up before 10am.
RIVIERA's Kiosk Checkout was easy.
Headed downtown to BINIONS to cash in
our comps in the gift shop.
The Real Deal playbill had a coupon for
"1 free book" from Cardoza publishing,
the guys who print Doyles and Daniels
books. The ad shows SuperSystem,
Caro's Book of Tells, Poker Tournament
Formula, etc. Being the gullable type guy
I am, I made the assumption that I could
choose from one of the books shown
in the ad. Wrong. The free books are
actually booklets on offbeat topics or
contain only rudimentry content.
AVERY CARDOZA, did you approve this ?
Do you realize how many people you are
going to piss off ?
Remember the potential prop bet with
Sonny involving the fruit plate from
Peppermills ? Gina and I thought it would
be funny to send Sonny a fruit basket.
We hit the Walmart Super Centre and bought
a basket, clear wrapping and fruit galore.
Along with a watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas,
bag of apples, there were a bag of lemons,
a coconut, and an onion...lol. Got a few strange
looks putting it all together on the trunk of
our car in the parking lot.
The Wynn employs 50 Full-Time pastry chefs !
Too long without food so we hit the
WYNN buffet. Gina earned 2 free buffets
earlier so we wanted to use them up.
Excellent food as before. Desserts are superb.
Tremendous selection. I love that they
have bathrooms located inside the dining area.
Most buffets, you have to leave and use facilities
on the gaming floor. Their bathrooms actually
have private rooms with real locking doors,
not just partial metal walls.
Headed back up to SLOTS'O'FUN to use our
$15 for $10 coupon. Crapped out and headed
next door to CIRCUS CIRCUS, to use the same
offer there. Half hour of play and left with an
overall +$7 in profit between Gina and I.
Woohoo !
3pm.
Went to the VENETIAN to cram some
poker in on our last day. Saw TEDDY
"The IceMan" ONROE. He holds the record
for most WSOP television coverage disproportionate
to his results. et up with high school chum ANDY
BRUINEWOUD and his wife GLORIA in the poker
room. They are vegas veterans and gave me
the scoop on what they saw of the WSOP
final table from inside the P&T Theatre.
Played at the V until 8pm (+ $76).
Headed to the MGM and left the fruit basket
for Sonny at the Bell Desk. Would have been
way funnier if we could have gotten into his room
and filled his room with fruit, but we didnt
have time. Dropped off the rental car and
headed for the plane.
Overall, great trip. Left + $1500 so I can't
complain. Bye Vegas, see you next time
(hopefully in a few months).
Checkout day. Up before 10am.
RIVIERA's Kiosk Checkout was easy.
Headed downtown to BINIONS to cash in
our comps in the gift shop.
The Real Deal playbill had a coupon for
"1 free book" from Cardoza publishing,
the guys who print Doyles and Daniels
books. The ad shows SuperSystem,
Caro's Book of Tells, Poker Tournament
Formula, etc. Being the gullable type guy
I am, I made the assumption that I could
choose from one of the books shown
in the ad. Wrong. The free books are
actually booklets on offbeat topics or
contain only rudimentry content.
AVERY CARDOZA, did you approve this ?
Do you realize how many people you are
going to piss off ?
Remember the potential prop bet with
Sonny involving the fruit plate from
Peppermills ? Gina and I thought it would
be funny to send Sonny a fruit basket.
We hit the Walmart Super Centre and bought
a basket, clear wrapping and fruit galore.
Along with a watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas,
bag of apples, there were a bag of lemons,
a coconut, and an onion...lol. Got a few strange
looks putting it all together on the trunk of
our car in the parking lot.
The Wynn employs 50 Full-Time pastry chefs !
Too long without food so we hit the
WYNN buffet. Gina earned 2 free buffets
earlier so we wanted to use them up.
Excellent food as before. Desserts are superb.
Tremendous selection. I love that they
have bathrooms located inside the dining area.
Most buffets, you have to leave and use facilities
on the gaming floor. Their bathrooms actually
have private rooms with real locking doors,
not just partial metal walls.
Headed back up to SLOTS'O'FUN to use our
$15 for $10 coupon. Crapped out and headed
next door to CIRCUS CIRCUS, to use the same
offer there. Half hour of play and left with an
overall +$7 in profit between Gina and I.
Woohoo !
3pm.
Went to the VENETIAN to cram some
poker in on our last day. Saw TEDDY
"The IceMan" ONROE. He holds the record
for most WSOP television coverage disproportionate
to his results. et up with high school chum ANDY
BRUINEWOUD and his wife GLORIA in the poker
room. They are vegas veterans and gave me
the scoop on what they saw of the WSOP
final table from inside the P&T Theatre.
Played at the V until 8pm (+ $76).
Headed to the MGM and left the fruit basket
for Sonny at the Bell Desk. Would have been
way funnier if we could have gotten into his room
and filled his room with fruit, but we didnt
have time. Dropped off the rental car and
headed for the plane.
Overall, great trip. Left + $1500 so I can't
complain. Bye Vegas, see you next time
(hopefully in a few months).
11/11/2008
Vegas Tuesday
TUESDAY NOV 11
Had GOLD COAST lunch buffet using 241
LasVegas Advisor coupon. $9.03 total for two.
Very slow drink service. It was busy, Veterans Day.
6x points so there were seniors galore.
Used a $5 matchplay from ACG on Roulette.
Will + $10. Gina + $10. Free lunch !
Back to the VENETIAN poker room. Got two more
free REAL DEAL tix from Mr. Bill, the floor guy.
I love this room !. + $251 playing 2pm-6pm.
Headed over to the ORLEANS for Dinner buffet
and brought Tom with us. $7.53 each with ACG
coupons. Great buffet as usual. Didnt use the RD tix,
couldnt make it back from buffet in time.
Dropped Tom off at the MGM and headed
downtown to BINIONS to play poker.
Had plenty of good starting hands,
just couldnt hit the board to save my life.
Was down $ most of the evening but hit
Quad Deuces to get back to even.
8:30pm-1am. Left minus - $10.
Earned + $9 in comps so we'll call it even.
I played Zeus, HootLoot and Shopping Spree
slots (+ $8) while Gina was playing Pai Gow.
She was doing well so I popped across the
street to the NUG to check out the poker room.
Sat down at a $1/2 table with 3 russians.
$2400, $1600, and $800 stacks. Very suspicious.
They were the only ones who ever won a pot.
I sat for 2 orbits then left. Talked to a guy at a
limit table on my way out. He said I'm the first
person all night who left the table with money,
they knocked out every single player who
sat in the game. Not sure what was going on,
something didnt seem right. Walked back over
to Binions and convinced Gina to leave
with a + $50 profit at Pai Gow.
Had GOLD COAST lunch buffet using 241
LasVegas Advisor coupon. $9.03 total for two.
Very slow drink service. It was busy, Veterans Day.
6x points so there were seniors galore.
Used a $5 matchplay from ACG on Roulette.
Will + $10. Gina + $10. Free lunch !
Back to the VENETIAN poker room. Got two more
free REAL DEAL tix from Mr. Bill, the floor guy.
I love this room !. + $251 playing 2pm-6pm.
Headed over to the ORLEANS for Dinner buffet
and brought Tom with us. $7.53 each with ACG
coupons. Great buffet as usual. Didnt use the RD tix,
couldnt make it back from buffet in time.
Dropped Tom off at the MGM and headed
downtown to BINIONS to play poker.
Had plenty of good starting hands,
just couldnt hit the board to save my life.
Was down $ most of the evening but hit
Quad Deuces to get back to even.
8:30pm-1am. Left minus - $10.
Earned + $9 in comps so we'll call it even.
I played Zeus, HootLoot and Shopping Spree
slots (+ $8) while Gina was playing Pai Gow.
She was doing well so I popped across the
street to the NUG to check out the poker room.
Sat down at a $1/2 table with 3 russians.
$2400, $1600, and $800 stacks. Very suspicious.
They were the only ones who ever won a pot.
I sat for 2 orbits then left. Talked to a guy at a
limit table on my way out. He said I'm the first
person all night who left the table with money,
they knocked out every single player who
sat in the game. Not sure what was going on,
something didnt seem right. Walked back over
to Binions and convinced Gina to leave
with a + $50 profit at Pai Gow.
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