Pokerblog – Poker News

Harrison Gimble, 19-year-old poker player from Jupitor, Florida, pocketed $2.2 million in the Seventh PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). The youngest player to win the PCA, Harrison “gibler321” Gimble, faced Tyler Reiman in the main event heads-up finale. Reimen takes $1.75 million back home to Morton, Illinois.

Barry Shulman, Card Player Magazine owner, keeps his multi-million dollar winning streak alive after taking third place and $1.35 million. Added to his WSOPE cash last October, the 63-year-old Las Vegas poker pro has banked over $2.6 million.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PokerStars is aiming to break their own Guinness World record (again) for the most amount of players in a poker tournament.

They beat Full Tilt in July with 65,000 players, and in a few days they hope to surpass even that.

The landmark date is Dec. 27 at 11:45 a.m. (Vegas time), the cost is only $1, and $300,000 is guaranteed. First place is guaranteed $50,000. Not bad for a buck.

As of this writing, almost 47,000 players have signed up, so keeping pace looks likely they’ll achieve a new record. But even if they just tie at 65,000, that leaves a decent overlay of $235,000. Are they really hoping for 300,000 players, and during Christmas break? Would the server crash under that load?

The tournament ID is 234567890 (easy enough to remember).

We’re a sucker for a cheapo tourney, so we’ll see you there.

P.S. While looking at the tournaments, we caught a $5,000 freeroll that anyone can sign up to. It’s tomorrow, Dec. 24 at 1:15 p.m. (Vegas time) and a whopping 105,000 players are in that one. It’s a hyper-turbo tourney, so blinds go up much faster than a regular tournament. Tourney ID is 224296990. We signed up to that one too.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Special K seen playing in the 2006 Blogger’s Tournament at Caesars Palace
Poker bloggers, Falstaff and Special K, have taken to the Internet airways with the all new Gambling Tales Podcast. They already have their first installment in the can and available for listening. Listen to the premier edition of the show at http://www.gtpodcast.com. It’s 40 minutes of easy listening with an interesting analysis of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table followed by an interview with “A-list” poker blogger and math whiz, Bad Blood. The show concludes with a bit of early gambling history.Upcoming shows will feature Dr. Pauly, Lee Jones, and internationally acclaimed gambling expert Dr. David Schwartz, author of the definitive history of gambling tome, Roll the Bones. New shows will be broadcast every two weeks.

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GamblingTalesPodcast

Available on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=339814710.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Poker pro and Las Vegas resident Mike Sexton is now the 38th member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

Sexton, 62, is well known for being ambassador and commentator of the World Poker Tour, but he also has had a 30-year career as poker player, racking up $3.7 million in winnings.

Even as recently as this year, Sexton came in 420 out of 6,500 players in the main event of the World Series of Poker.

He will be honored Nov. 7 at Rio Las Vegas, which happens to coincide with the playing of the WSOP main event final table.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A lawsuit has been filed against Full Tilt Poker, claiming that they use bots to keep games running longer and to employ more luck than skill. And that the bots were created by Chris Ferguson and Andy Bloch.

The suit was filed in California by poker player Lary Kennedy, whose account at Full Tilt was closed a couple years ago because they claimed Kennedy used a bot herself, which is against the terms and conditions for the online poker site.

Kennedy’s account was locked along with over $80,000 confiscated.

Kennedy, who goes by the name sillysal in poker forums, had the 2+2 community up in arms over her case, until they found out that she also multi-accounted — playing under a different name on the same site simultaneously. That’s also a Full Tilt no-no. She used the accounts “pokergirl_z” and “greggo777.”

The story even made its rounds to TMZ.com, stating in their normal exaggerated way that “poker legends [are] sued for robot fraud.”

Kennedy’s website shows videos of her playing to prove she isn’t a bot, photos of her with poker pros (including those affiliated with Full Tilt), threads from poker forums about the situation, and the complaint.

We’re skeptical about how far this lawsuit will go, what with a sample of its 13 pages stating “a skilled player would start on-line jihads against the successful player.”

But if it does go to trial, it will be interesting to find out some of the inner workings of Full Tilt.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pitbull Poker has seemingly closed its doors for business.

Players can visit the website but are unable to login to the poker client, and sources say the owners in Costa Rica were seen moving out computers in the middle of the night.

Pitbull was originally launched under WSOP.com, a domain registered by former Binions employee Federico Schiavio, who wrote poker software entirely in Flash for his website. Pitbull may have used that software.

Recently Pitbull Poker had been accused of having “superuser” accounts, similar to the Absolute Poker scandal, in which one player can see everyone else’s hole cards.

Suspicious moves come about when a player calls a bet on the river with a high card to win, checking or folding when beaten, folding a high pocket pair when against a higher, etc. Checking hand histories can bring up other quirks.

Pitbull had also stopped sending hand histories and responding to emails.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Playing online poker without a random number generator?We stumbled on Real Deal Poker’s site (not to be confused with limited-run The Real Deal poker show at The Venetian), which professes to use a brand new shuffled deck for every hand and uses burn cards. Pictured above is the contraption used to shuffle.

The player even has an opportunity to cut the deck if they choose.

While the “rigged” comments would stop, we can’t wait to see the vitriol when there’s a machine malfunction during a hand.

Signups are being taken at their site, with a $50,000 freeroll when they launch.

We don’t know when they plan to shuffle up and deal, but their site has been around since early this year.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you have an extra $5,200 to spare, PokerStars’ WCOOP Main Event takes place this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (Vegas time).

The two-day tourney is hosted by Steve Paul-Ambrose

The cost is $5,000 plus a $200 tourney fee, with a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.

As we write this, 540 people have entered, giving you a $7.3 million overlay! Okay, we’re sure it won’t be that much come tourney time, but it could be significant. Last year’s prize pool was $10,925,000 with player ckingusc winning first place for $1,265,432.23.

Satellites are running around the clock, where you can enter for as little as $1 (but must win multiple times to get an entry to the Main Event).

We will be sitting this one out (unless our friends at Stars want to float us a buy-in… hello? hello?), but best of luck to all entrants.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A reminder that Nancy Cartwright will be hosting the 4th Annual Monte Carlo Night to benefit PALS Youth Center at her “home that Bart” built in Northridge, CA. A week from this Saturday, October 3, the doors will open to the grand event beginning at 5 PM for the Poker Boot Camp led by 2007 WSOP champion Mary Jones and a 5:30 PM Blackjack Boot Camp headed by Dorian Harewood. The Charity Poker Tournament gets under way at 6 PM followed by a party and entertainment.

Hollywood stars and Poker Pros will combine to insure players of a fun time while they’re doing a great service for the community. 100% of the proceeds go to the Devonshire Police Activities League Supporters for the benefit of the children through the construction and operation of youth centers.

This year’s theme is Denims and Diamonds so dress down and bling up. Use this link for complete details and to purchase your tickets now or call 818.882.7336. All donations are tax deductible. Tickets are $125 for dinner and dancing to the Cody Bryant Band or $250 for everything including a Poker Tournament entry. The winner will go home with an entry into a 2010 WSOP satellite tournament.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taking a page out of Annie Duke on “Celebrity Apprentice,” professional poker players (and Best Friends Forever) Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle team up to compete in the 15th season of “The Amazing Race.”

Ho came in 38/6358 in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, while Michelle came in 17/6844 in 2008’s WSOP.

Ho and Michelle will use their poker skills to outwit fellow contestants on the race-around-the-world show to claim the ultimate prize $1 million.

“The Amazing Race” premieres Sept. 27 on CBS.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Make your plans now and get your tickets early for the poker social event of the year. Nancy Cartwright, alter-ego and voice of Bart Simpson, is opening her Northridge home October 3rd to all those poker players out there seeking a great time while contributing to a great charity. The 4th annual Monte Carlo Night hosted by the Devonshire Police Activity League Supporters will feature a Denim & Diamonds theme this year so dust off the jeans and grab the bling for an unforgettable evening that will leave you feeling good about yourself and with any luck a little richer.

Bring your “A” game for the no-limit hold’em poker tournament and maybe you’ll walk away with one of the 2010 WSOP Satellite seats going to the top five finishers. Rub shoulders with the stars of the entertainment world and the professional poker circuit. Jamie Gold, 2006 WSOP Main Event Winner, will once again be the Poker Chairman and will be joined by poker pros Jerry Yang (WSOP 2007 Main Event Winner) along with Susie Isaacs, multi-tournament winner Kenna James, and TV star Brad Garrett.

Poker players are invited to take in all the festivities for a donation of $250 and that includes your buy-in into the tournament. Those guests wanting to attend but don’t play poker only donate $125 for the dinner and dancing to the Cody Bryant Band. There will also be an auction, other casino style games, entertainment, raffle, and open bar. Use this link for complete details and to purchase your tickets now or call 818.882.7336. As always, your donations are tax deductible.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A story riddled with rumors surfaced today regarding the death of Andreas Oscarsson.

Oscarsson, who founded the PokerListings online poker site, was found dead at his Trollhattan, Sweden home last week on Aug. 3.

Police report that the 36-year-old was murdered by a gunshot to the head (suicide has been ruled out), but that’s as far as they go.

Oscarsson’s 2-year-old son was present at the time of the shooting but was unharmed.

Oscarsson lived with his wife, who stayed behind in their SoHo home in New York City.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

photo courtesy of hard rock tulsa
Guests are greeted with the all-new stunning Hotel Lobby decorated with more than $2 million in music memorabilia
Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation’s highly successful Casino Resort stands poised to enter the next phase of success when it becomes only the seventh Hard Rock Casino & Hotel and the only Hard Rock in the heartland of America. The grand opening ceremonies begin at 1:00 PM Tulsa Time (CDT) with keynote speeches from the Cherokee Nations Principal Chief Chad Smith and Cherokee Nation Entertainment CEO David Stewart. On-hand will be Hard Rock corporate officials and music superstar Toby Keith will be opening his newest Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill.Cherokee Nation Entertainment is synonymous with world class entertainment and now moves to the next level with the Hard Rock branding of their casino resort. A new tower adds 200 rooms to the existing hotel bringing the total number of rooms to 350. In the mix are new Hard Rock Suites and the ultra opulent Chief’s Suite for those that require the finest in accommodations, impeccable service, and mandatory luxurious amenities.

Five restaurants insures a menu for every taste with the McGill’s on 19, a penthouse located fine-dining venue, providing an intimate dining experience of unmatched culinary delights. Five nightclubs offers entertainment options to please everyone. From the Center bar with its 80 foot long frozen bartop to the urban sheik, metro style Friction Lounge.

The resort combines the rich history and unique art of the Cherokee people, the long-established musical heritage of Oklahoma, and the rock n’ roll tradition of the Hard Rock to provide an unsurpassed vacation destination in the Mid-South. More than 2,300 modern slots are located in the 125,000 square feet of casino and 70 table games including 36 live-action poker tables are available 24/7.

An award winning 18-hole, par 70, Cherokee Hills Golf Club championship golf course is situated next to the resort on 170 beautifully landscaped acres. A Las Vegas style swimming pool area is set to open this Fall.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa is wholly owned and operated by Cherokee Nation Entertainment and offers employment opportunities to more than 3,400 people including 2,380 Native Americans. Oklahoma and surrounding areas are the recipients of more than a billion dollars annually from the revenues produced by Cherokee Nation Entertainment. Casino profits are divided with 70% going into expansion efforts and 30% going directly into the Cherokee community for government services including, but not limited to, schools, medical centers, social services, modern communications, and improved living conditions.

Additional details are available at Cherokee Nation Entertainment and Cherokee Nation.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So you invest $5 into a 50,000-player tournament on Sunday, win 1st place for $45,000, and what do you do?

Go back to grinding a $10 heads-up sit’n’go.

That’s what Chicago-based breo40 did, coming down off Full Tilt’s largest tournament in their history, which lasted almost 9 hours (the final table alone was 90 minutes).

That’s dedication. We don’t know if we’d have that much restraint and discipline not to jump into a higher limit game, you know, to parlay.

But the 30-year-old will continue to play his regular low-limit sit-n-go games, though he conceded he’d go as high as $100… non-turbo.

During the marathon session, he never fell below average stack and his Aces held up. He led the final table with a 3:1 chip lead, and his final hand was A9 vs. 34. A9 held up.

He doesn’t yet know what he’ll do with his newfound windfall, but for now he’s content playing the same games he did before.

And trying to get the money out of his account as fast as possible.

Full Tilt informed breo40 that at least a dozen players attempted to hack into his account after his win. His account is currently being monitored for any fraudulent activity.

Asking the instant online poker celebrity what he did as soon as he won, breo40 said: “bout crapped my pants.”

And by the way, he lost the heads-up SnG but jumped into a 6max $6 SnG.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)