1/03/2009

Mini TR: Point Edward Casino



I headed down the 402 towards Sarnia
Friday afternoon searching for somewhere
new to apply my poker trade.

Arrived at the Point Edward Charity Casino
in Sarniatown around 3:30pm.

It has a small poker room, 5? tables or so.
2 full tables running. All $1/2 NL 100max.
Nice tables although the material wasnt
speed cloth, more like suede ? Cards dont slide,
they stick/bite when pitched across the table.
No cup holders, but tables available.
Chairs were simple, but not uncomfortable.

Dealers were technically skilled although
they seamed to lack control of the game
at times. There was way too much table talk
and the informal chatter between the dealers
and the regulars was inappropriate at times
(foul language, etc). It seemed more like a
home game than a casino atmosphere.

Poker managers were attentive and polite.
Drink service was a little hit and miss,
long gaps in between visits. Actual servers
were excellent, propt with orders and polite.

The entire session, there was never less than
7 regulars at my table, all knowing each other
by name and how each plays to a good extent.

The game itself was fairly straight forward.
Mostly tight passive. The odd lagtard.
A couple good players, a couple not so good
and some average players. A couple of the
weaker players hit some cards and were up
with $6-700 in front of them. They realized
that they were lucky and if they stuck around
they'd only lose it back, so they bailed.


Its nice that Pt. Ed is a shorter drive than Niagara, but i'm not sure there's enough action here to make it a worthwhile regular stop. I might check it out on a Saturday evening to see if they get more tables going and some more casual traffic, rather just the same regulars passing money$ back and forth.


( I left around 6:30pm + $45 )


1/02/2009

New Years Trash on the Vegas Strip

Just after midnight on the Vegas strip.


Photo credit: flipchip

12/30/2008

More Glitches Reported at UltimateBet

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.