A final table battle on the high seas takes place today aboard the Party Poker Millions Cruise VI. Germany’s Dominik Stopka enters as chip leader, but only by a single chip over Alexander Jung also from Germany. The final nine also include Sweden ’s 2008 PartyPoker Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Johannes Strassmann and Mika Paasonen. All have tasted recent success on the European circuit. Amongst those to miss out on the final table include Thomas Bihl, Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Florian Langmann and Christop Haller.

For a summary of all the final table action check the PartyPoker Blog.

Here are the final table players with beginning chip counts, we will add the finishers as they bust out down to the champion.

SEAT 1 – KENNETH GREGERSEN – Denmark - 44,000 9th place

SEAT 2 – RAYMOND ESTALL – UK - 187,000 5th

SEAT 3 – JOHANNES STRASSMANN – Germany - 182,000 7th

SEAT 4 – ALEXANDER JUNG – Germany - 326,000 CHAMPION

SEAT 5 – MIKA PAASONEN – Finland - 236,000 4th

SEAT 6 – DOMINIK STOPKA – Germany - 327,000 2nd

SEAT 7 – CORY ALBERTSON – United States - 90,000 3rd

SEAT 8 – PETER STEINLESBERGER – Austria - 132,000 8th

SEAT 9 – ANDREAS JORBECK – Sweden – 182,000 6th

Poker Pro Phil Gordon did a recent interview with those folks over at Freakonomics. Phil has always been an keen observer and no-holds commentator on the real life of the professional poker player. Here are a few of this comments.

Q: What percent of your success would you say is attributable to randomness?

A: Randomness, otherwise known as “variance” at the poker table is much bigger and more important than most poker players realize. I have a simple theory: change 10 river cards in any poker player’s tournament career and I would bet that they would be a losing tournament player for their career.

You might need to set aside players like Doyle Brunson here or maybe just up the number to 20 or 30 but Phil's point is correct. There are several bookkeepers and more than ten chiropractors who would be well known poker professionals today if that one river card had gone the other way. By the same token, there are a couple of guys walking around with a WSOP bracelet on their wrist who should get out before variance brings them down to their true skill level.
___________________

Several of the questions had to do with professional players and their gambling habits, I have grouped those answers together for Phil's harsh but realistic assessment of poker professionals and money management.

Q: What percentage of professional poker players would you consider to be compulsive gamblers?

A: Ninety percent of the “professional players” I know have some serious “leaks” that affect their ability to hold on to their money.

Whether it’s playing too big for their bankroll or betting on sports or casino games, these leaks have a way of keeping many of them completely broke no matter how much they win on the tournament circuit.

One of the “requirements” to be a great player is being able to divorce yourself from money and its value. Making good decisions at the poker table means that you must have the ability to “put a Ferrari” in the pot if it’s right to do so. That lack of respect for the buying power of money leads to financial problems for many of the best players in the world.

Q: What are the finances of some of the top pros like?

A: Some: poor, reckless, with no shot at improving long-term. Others: multi-million dollar mansions, $5-plus million a year income, and no financial worries. If I had to guess, I would say about 50 percent of the “name pros” you see on television on a regular basis have a negative net worth.

As I said, harsh but true.
___________________________

And some poker advice for us from Mr. Gordon, which might run contrary to the accepted wisdom.

Q: What skill is more important in Holdem: discipline in the range of hands you play, or the ability to read the other player?

A: Hand selection is the most important in my opinion. A blind guy who has good hand selection skills could win a world championship. A guy with 20/15 vision who picked up all the tells but played every hand might never win.

Q: What is the most dangerously deceiving starting hand for an amateur player in Texas Holdem?

A: It’s a tie … AQ, KQ, and QJ. Those are death hands to be avoided at all costs, especially if your opponent has made any aggressive move pre-flop.

And you thought he would say AK or maybe JJ, right?

Two members of the European Union appear headed in opposite directions as far as regulating online poker. One country is considering abolishing existing restrictive legislation, while the other is preparing to regulate online poker for the first time.

The French appear ready to reconsider their online gambling monopoly perhaps due to pressure the European Union. France is reportedly reconsidering its policies regarding online gambling. French residents may soon get the chance to again play at a regulated online gambling sites.

French law currently states that online betting is not allowed. However, the European Commission of the EU is pressuring France to conform to the EU treaty regarding free competition with other member nations. Reliable sources have the new regulations allowing online betting on sporting events – including poker games.

Finland, on the other hand, currently does not regulate online poker but is now looking at this source of taxable income. Gambling in Finland is organized as a national monopoly, but online poker has yet to be managed by government agencies.

I widely circulated report found that Finns spend as much as 50 million Euros annually on foreign online poker sites. Finnish officials obviously feel they could or should keep a significant portion of that money within Finland and, of course, tax it. Their problem will be the same as so many other member nations have faced, the EU regulations.

In an unprecedented move, PartyPoker.com has slashed the charges for all single-table tournaments over $200 to a super-low flat fee of $10. No matter how high the stakes are above $200, the fee will be just $10 meaning there is huge value to be had for the bankroll, value that cannot be found elsewhere.

To celebrate this, PartyPoker.com has introduced a complete range of high-end STT’s with buy-in’s all the way up to $5,000. With a fee of just $10 this is great value and is simply not available at any other online poker room. For example, on a six seat $5,000 STT the typical saving is $190 and a ten seat $300 STT the saving is $10.

Check out the full list of tournaments today!

PARTYPOKER.COM – FLAT FEE STT’S

$5,000 + $10 6 seat Save $190
$5,000 + $10 2 seat Save $90
$2,000 + $10 10 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 6 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 2 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 10 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$1,000 + $10 2 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 10 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 6 seat Save $20
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Along with the announcement of the delayed play for the WSOP main event final table, ESPN has also released the proposed schedule WSOP broadcast events. There was some conversation during yesterday's teleconference about an extended international broadcast schedule, particularly leading up to the main event final table. The two other notable changes from last year are:

- less coverage of the $50K HORSE event, the viewing audience appears not to be so interested in watching Razz, Stud or even Omaha. So there will be only two hours of this event;
- much more coverage of the main event leading up to the virtually live coverage of the final table in November.

The tentative schedule of TV coverage for this year's event is as follows; each listed show is scheduled for two hours:

• July 22 - Event 1: $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em
• July 29 - Event 2: $1,500 no-limit hold 'em
• Aug. 5 - Event 3: $1,500 pot-limit hold 'em or Event 4: $5,000 mixed hold 'em
• Aug. 12 - Event 5: $1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys
• Aug. 19 - Event 45: $50,000 HORSE
• Aug. 26 - Event 50: $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
• Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28 - Event 55: $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
• Nov. 4 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table preview show
• Nov. 11 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table

LAS VEGAS – May 1, 2008 – The World Series of Poker® (WSOP) Presented by Milwaukee ’s Best Light today announced a groundbreaking change that will more closely align the televised presentation of the world’s largest, richest and most prestigious poker tournament with other premier sports broadcasts.

The last nine players of the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, known as the Main Event, will compete on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16.

“Our intent is to provide an even bigger stage for our players,” said Jeffrey Pollack , Commissioner of the World Series of Poker. “Now fans and viewers will ask ‘who will win’ our coveted championship bracelet instead of seeing ‘who won.’ The excitement and interest surrounding our final nine players will be unprecedented.”

This change in how the Main Event final table is staged will bring the excitement and drama of high-stakes WSOP tournament play closer to millions of fans around the globe.

All other 2008 WSOP tournament structures and schedules remain unchanged. This announcement affects only the final nine players of Event #54, the Main Event World Championship.

The chief architect of the Internet gambling ban on Tuesday said he is losing patience with the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury as they struggle to craft regulations to enforce the ban.

Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said the regulations are a year overdue, according to the 2006 prohibition statute. Kyle is quoted as mumbling:

"The longer it goes the less certainty there is. I mean, the people who are violating the law need to know that they're not going to be able the get away with it, and I think that the failure to get these regulations promulgated on time has perhaps given some hope, and it's given life even to an idea over in the House of Representatives to put a moratorium on the regulations."

Kyl was referring to a bill introduced April 11 by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. The Frank-Paul bill would block the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department from completing regulations to enforce the ban.

The legislation followed a financial services subcommittee hearing April 2 in which Federal Reserve and Treasury Department officials said the regulations are difficult to complete, partly because the 2006 ban does not define unlawful Internet gambling.

Louise Roseman, director of bank operations and payment systems for the Federal Reserve, also testified that the prohibition of Internet gambling cannot be "ironclad."

Another bill, which Frank introduced last year, would repeal the Internet gambling ban and require the Treasury Department to regulate Internet gambling in the United States .

Despite his frustration with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, Kyl said he is not worried about efforts to block the regulations and roll back the online wagering ban.

"I would be concerned if something like that were to be adopted by the House ... I'm not sure that the momentum is there to actually get it done."

Jay Lakin, vice president of Poker Source Online and an opponent of the Internet gambling ban, said he reluctantly agrees.

"While many efforts have been made on behalf of overturning (the ban), so far it's just been bills and words on paper," Lakin said. "Nothing has moved forward. Until there's a change in Washington , I don't think we'll see much of a change."

The PartyPoker Millions Cruise is set to sail this Saturday with the sixth edition of the tournament. The cruise will leave from Venice, Italy, and stops off in Greece, Turkey and Croatia before turning back to historic Venice. The ship, the MSC Poesia, is a state of the art cruise liner packed with facilities and the cabins are now full. On board there will be restaurants, bars, tennis courts, mini golf, pools, spas, discos, a cinema, shopping and more…and not forgetting a massive 24/7 card room.

The PPM tournament will be a $8,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event which will also be recorded for worldwide broadcast. Mike Sexton will be host and MC, Matt Savage and Dave Lamb are tournament directors and the highly respected Card Player Cruises team that includes Linda Johnson, Mark Tenner and Jan Fisher will be onboard running the poker room.

30 countries will be represented in the main event and amongst those fancied to make an impact include Canada’s history-making Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Sweden’s 2008 Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Brazil’s Christian Kruel, Danish sensation Soeren Kongsgaard, Germany’s Florian Langmann and Alexander Jung and Finland’s Mika Paasonen. The line-up is a united nations of next generation poker talent.

The Norwegian Poker Championship begins today in Nottingham, England. The Norwegian government has banned poker. The state governed monopoly "Norsk Tipping" does not offer poker and anyone playing poker with money could face criminal prosecution. So, the Norwegian Championship is held outside of Norway at the Dusk Till Dawn casino in Nottingham.

The Norwegian Poker Championship is Norway's largest poker tournament and is expected to attract over 500 Norwegian players. Since the event was launched in 2002, the tournament has experienced rapid growth, this is the 7th running of the event.

With a total estimated prize pool of £350 000, the winner of the Main Event will also receive a complete 2008 WSOP package. The tournament will be covered with live video blogs and full scale TV production of the Main Event final table. A special poker documentary is also planned for the whole 8 day poker festival.

Below is the complete schedule:

Japanese gambling laws are among the strictest in the world. So strict, in fact, that casinos are not even allowed to operate in the country of Japan. This has not stopped the second annual All Japan Poker Championship underway in Tokyo.

The tournament can be held because it does not make participants pay an entry fee and, in fact, no money is gambled at all. Poker tourneys that require an entry fee are illegal in Japan. The winner will get a bracelet and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

The tournament is so popular that there is even a Ladies and Senior tourney which take place before the Main Event on May 18th. Last year, Kunihiro Sakamoto won the Main Event, and the $10,000 buy-in to the WSOP, after outlasting a field that included over 2,000 people.

Gus Hansen was crushing the final table at the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas. Here is a summary of the early final table action:

Beginning Chip Counts for six-handed Final Table:

Seat 1. John Roveto - 2,720,000
Seat 2. Gus Hansen - 8,570,000
Seat 3. David Chiu - 6,050,000
Seat 4. Tommy Le - 1,950,00
Seat 5. Cory Carroll - 6,670,000
Seat 6. Jeff King - 1,305,000

Action at Final table:

Hand #12 Jeff King eliminated in 6th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #15 Tommy Le eliminated in 5th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #16 Cory Carroll elininated in 4th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #22 John Roveta eliminated in 3rd place by Gus Hansen.

Hansen rivered a ten to beat Jeff King's A-Q suited with his 10-9 suited. Hansen flopped a set of tens over Tommy Le's set of fives. Hansen rivered a seven-high diamond flush to overcome Cory Carroll's pair of jacks. And Hansen cracked John Roveto's pocket kings by rivering a jack-high straight with A-10 suited.

Heads Up Chip Count
Gus Hansen - 22,905,000
David Chiu - 4,360,000

By Hand #46 David was up to 11 Million.
On Hand #77 David won a big pot and brought the chips counts to:
Gus Hansen - 14,825,000
David Chiu - 12,450,000
Two hands later, David Chiu takes over the chiplead.

Hand #80: Gus moves all-in on the turn with two pair 10's & 8's; David calls with top pairs Aces and spikes an Ace on the river to finish a remarkable comeback.

David Chiu wins the 2008 WPT Championship.

This report is offered without commentary or critique. Readers are welcome to draw their own conclusions and scathing commentary is welcome in the comment section. There is a new form of poker being tried in several casinos. The Mirage in Las Vegas is one of the largest poker rooms to give Texas Hold'em Plus a trial run.

"Plus" is played exactly like normal Texas Hold'em except that after the hole cards are dealt and before the first round of betting, each player in turn may discard one of their down cards and replace it for an amount equal to the small blind. The "Plus" bet goes into the pot and the deal then plays out like any other Hold'em hand.

One benefit, of course, is that the house is likely to get a full rake on the game with between $0 and $10 in a $2/$4 game or up to $20 in a $4/$8 game being added to the pot pre-flop.

We observed several tables of "Plus" being played at the Mirage and the most common play was for a player to buy a new down card and then still fold the hand. In effect, as many as 50% of the players were paying a small blind in nearly every hand. Players with an Ace-rag were always willing to buy a new card to go with their Ace.

Hold'em Plus is the first patented poker game played in a poker room, as opposed to table games like Caribbean Stud and Let It Ride. Rooms wishing to offer Hold'em Plus to have to pay a licensing fee to the developer.

Party Poker is sending players to the Asian Poker Tour tournament in Manila. You read about all the places poker tournaments take place and all of the online qualifiers but Party is willing to send you to the Philippines. Now I have visited Las Vegas and London but the Philippines, man I am ready to go.

Here are the details.

PartyPoker.com is pleased to announce that online qualifiers have started for 2008’s inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Manila , the Philippines. An estimated four hundred players will take part in this showpiece event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million and PartyPoker.com has 11 packages up for grabs. Qualifiers are already online, starting from $1, but you have to hurry as the event takes place from May 27th through to June 1st.

The package is worth $6,000 and includes the $2,500 main event buy-in, seven nights at the fantastic Dusit Thani Manila Hotel and $2,500 in spending money. There will be two main $300 +$20 satellites a week with routes into them starting at $1.

"It looks as if the poker boom is surely here to stay."

No that quote and that picture do not go together. I found that optimistic quote while reading my "B" roll of poker blogs and realized it might be time to comment on the growing divide between those who believe the poker boom is still booming and those who are observing what they believe are the ripples after the shark has already reentered the water. [For the purists, I am aware that it was Fonzi what jumped the shark and the shark never jumped anything but Henry Winkler on skis is just not as compelling a picture as Carcharodon carcharias in mid-air.]

So, is interest in poker still going up or is it on the downslide? Well first, it depends. In the United States the trend is definitely on the downside. TV ratings are down; sponsors are bailing from poker shows; tournament buy-ins are off and yes, there are some poker rooms closing. There is, of course, the profound effects of the UIGEA limiting the online access of new players. But in the States the signs are still mixed, new casinos are putting in poker rooms; old rooms are still being remodeled with more space and more staff and some of the smaller tours are doing well. The problem in the U.S. is at the top of the food chain with the World Poker Tour in particular.

In Europe the boom is in full swing, despite the attempts of nearly ever national government to greedily slow down the expansion. The European Union members have been fencing over online poker rights in general and brick and mortar licensing in many instances too. Still the numbers are up on the European Poker Tour but not without some problems regarding size. The card rooms on the continent are not ready to handle 1,000 player tournaments and regional gaming regulators are clearly not as flexible as they are in the States. Remember the World Series of Poker is run in a large convention hall, far from the security of the day-to-day casino operations. Tournaments all over the United States run in big convention halls that few, if any, European casinos have access to without slow moving bureaucratic gaming commission oversight. When it comes to a poker boom; size does matter.

The Latin America Poker Tour (there were two, now one) requires the cooperation and approval of various countries and whatever governmental machinations they might wish to create, invent or impose. Same goes for the various Asian Poker Tours and the melange of countries in Asia that either oppose gambling or wish to restrict gaming within cultural and social boundaries. The boom may well be history in one part of the globe before a single hand of Hold'em is dealt in another.

What does it all mean? We are not completely sure, but we will keep on eye on the various factors pushing, pulling, and eroding the poker boom. One observation is clearly true: Insider's in the poker world have a very different view of the future of poker then does the average player. Not saying the insiders are right, perhaps they are too close to the subject but clearly, things they are a'changin'.

One of the continuing struggles in poker is to institute standardized rules for all tournament play. There is honest debate among both players and tournament directors on many of the rules. I attended last year's Tournament Directors Association meeting and was impressed with the diversity of views on how rules should be written and applied.

So it was heartening today at the start of Day Three of the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio to see some true rule cooperation. Before the cards were in the air, reknown and respected Tournament Director Jack McCelland stood up with Daniel Negreanu and asked the players their opinion of the "Show One Show All" rule. Daniel has written often in his blog that the application of the rule, particularly at Bellagio is not what was intended.

Interpretation #1: If you show your cards to one player, you must show them to all players. This is a rule everyone agrees on.

Interpretation #2: If you show one of your cards to the table, you must show both cards. This is a rule that most players do not think is appropriate.

So Jack stood up and asked the players about the #2 application of the rule. The players nearly unanimously voted against it. At which point Jack changed the rule at Bellagio.

Now that is cooperation.
___________________________________________

Later in the day another new rule:

The Bellagio has implemented another new rule for the money bubble. If a table has players who are all in, they do not reveal their hole cards until all the tables either complete their hands or also reach an all-in situation. That way, players at other tables don't have the advantage of knowing whether a short stack at another table has busted, therefore allowing them to fold into the money.

An estimated field of 400 players will gather in Manila next month for the first event of the 2008 Asian Poker Tour. The tournament is scheduled from May 27th to June 1st and carries a $1,000,000 guarantee. The tournament will have a $2,500 entry fee.

Well known tournament director, Matt Savage, has been lined up to run the event, which will be followed this year by events in Singapore, Macau and Seoul, South Korea. All four APT events for 2008 will be $1,000,000 guarantee tournaments.

Just last week in a post on the WPT, I mentioned the long running and lingering lawsuit between the World Poker Tour and five professional players. My observations was: "the WPT could have and should have settled several years ago." Well now the announcement has been made that the dispute has been settled.

The entire issue was centered on the wording of the WPT player release document and just how much control that gave the WPT to the use of player's images for the promotion of the WPT. Several different wordings had been proposed by both sides and now, finally, there has been an agreement reached.

According to Steve Lipscomb, CEO of the WPT:

“We are happy to have come to an agreement that is fair to all players, and to have put in place a new release that clears up ambiguities in how players’ images may be used.”

Chris Ferguson, speaking for the players, said:

“We are especially happy that this new release will apply to all poker players who wish to participate in WPT tournaments and events. WPTE has created some of the best poker events in the world, and we are excited to participate in them once again.”

.
It will interesting to see if Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon are in the field at the WPT Championship today.

[Note: Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch and Howard Lederer were in the field at the Bellagio today.]

My poker buddies have been having another of our periodic email conversations about a particular poker hand when the term "average stack" came up. Whenever I talk about average stack, there are always players, even very good players who are surprised by the numbers.

Average stack is simply the measure of how many chips each player would have in a tournament if you divide the total chips by remaining players. So you start an event with 10,000 chips each and 500 players, it makes sense that with 250 players remaining the average stack is 20,000. Half the players are out, so everyone should have twice as many chips. Of course, that is not how tournaments actually play and there will be a wide distribution of those 2.5 million chips.

Lots of tournament players keep track of the average stack, it is one of the statistics most good computerized tournament clocks provide. In a smaller field tournament you can keep a fairly accurate count just by knowing the starting field and how many players remain. In big events, you can just consult the tournament clock.

OK, so you have survived Day One of a multi-day tournament and you are just below average stack. What does that mean? Well, what it does not mean is that you are just below the middle of the the field, because average stack is not the middle of the field, at least not once the cards have been dealt. The way poker works is that some player build big stacks and lots of others are short stacked.

In most tournaments at the end of Day One, the average stack will be in the top quarter of the field. On average only around 25% of the field will be above average. If you keep your stack at or around average in the first three quarters of a tournament's playing time, you are actually doing well above average.

As play nears the final table, one of two things will happen to the average stack. Either the 25% rule will roughtly remain in effect and the final table will begin with several small stacks and a couple of big stacks or the big stacks will take out all of the small stacks as play approaches the final table and the final nine will be fairly equal in stacks, as they all have feasted on the short stacks equally.

Note: the longer a tournament runs, the higher the average stack percentage can go. In major tournaments of four or five days, players below average stack will at times be more than 80% of the field.

The first ever World Series of Poker Europe played last fall comes to Sky Sports television this week. This was the event that forever changed the poker insult: "You play like an eighteen year old!"

Several opportunities will be available to view all of the action:

April 21st 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 23rd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 24th 9 PM Sky Sports 2
April 25th 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 26th 11 PM Sky Sports 2
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports Xtra
April 22nd 9:30 PM Sky Sports 2

The 2nd edition of the World Series of Poker Europe will take place this year, again in London, on Sept.

Eight Hundred and Forty-One players started the European Poker Tour Championship two days ago and now 124 have survived to Day Three. Despite the dominance of Norwegian players at the very top of the leader board; there are many notable names still in the running. Here are the top 10 and other names you may know:

Oyvind Riisem Norway 441,400
Johnny Lodden Norway 380,300
Borge Dypvik Norway 296,000
Andreas Hagen Norway 276,800
Joe Hachem Australia 255,300
James Campbell USA 241,700
Luca Pagano Italy 229,000
Amit Makhija USA 219,100
Andreas Fluri Switzerland 205,900
Sorel Mizzi Canada 203,200
Benjamin Kang Germany 179,900
Freddy Deeb USA 153,300
Marcel Luske Holland 128,700
Antonio Esfandiari USA 121,400
Raymond Rahme South Africa 104,200
Eli Elezra USA 77,500
Jan Heitmann Germany 63,400
Surinder Sunar UK 51,600
Anna Wroblewski USA 51,200
Leonardo Fernandez Argentina 47,600
Alexander Kravchenko Russia 42,200
Ted Lawson USA 30,000
Mel Judah UK 19,300

Going into Day Four, the Magician leads the way.

Antonio Esfandiari USA 1,198,000
Robin Keston UK 916,000
Denes Kalo Hungary 642,000
Johnny Lodden Norway 623,000
Maxime Villemure Canada 600,000
Mostafa Belkhayate Morocco 523,000
Gerasimos Deres Sweden 494,500
Henrik Gwinner Denmark 487,000
David Shade Kruger USA 486,500
Thomas Boekhoff Germany 465,000
Luca Pagano Italy 279,500
Joe Hachem Australia 214,500
Freddy Deeb USA 140,500
Raymond Rahme South Africa 133,000

I have been thinking a lot about the World Poker Tour this past week. In formulating this "Report Card" I have tried to not come off as completely negative and critical. To be fair the WPT has done a lot for poker but therein lies the first problem. The chief spokesperson for WPT is Steve Lipscomb: the founder, CEO, public relations spokesperson and all around face of the WPT. Let me say what everyone in the poker community knows: Steve Lipscomb does too much and says too much without benefit of a cool, calm, trained public relations staff and that invariably leads to trouble.

The infamous "Open Letter to the Poker Community" from a few years back is only the most notorious of his PR gaffs or was that his comments about Capitalism in Communist China? Either way, it is all well and good to promote your product, even to the point of some exaggeration but honestly does anyone except Steven Lipscomb believe that the WPT sole-handedly created the world wide poker phenomenon? Certainly, the televised WPT poker tournaments were a major factor in the increased public interest in poker; there really is no need to inflate that fact beyond all reason.

I will leave to the various poker forums the high and low lites of: WPT and Traktor Poker in China, WPT having "never made a profit"; WPT Academy and other spinoffs; WPT and the revolving hostess; WPT on the Game Show Network or the Travel Channel. To my mind the World Poker Tour does two things: they put on poker tournaments and they produce them into a television program. So I will stick with those two central items.

First, the tournaments. Other than the ongoing dispute with several professional players, which the WPT could have and should have settled several years ago. Other than that, I think the WPT tournaments have addressed most ongoing issues rather well. The ever changing schedule is a fact of life in the ups and downs of the current poker landscape. I have no issue with the schedule nor its reliance on Bellagio in Las Vegas for five tournaments. After all, it would make sense to go where the players live and where the tournaments are consistently well run and well attended. Say what you will about Jack McCelland's interesting tournament rules, he and his staff at Bellagio run a player friendly event with style and minimal sideshows.

The WPT was slow to respond to the player's complaints about the small chip stack to blind structure at the WPT final tables. But respond they have and as of now the WPT final tables offer the finest example of big stack professional poker of any tour or tournament structure. Props where props are due and the WPT has done well with this critical aspect of tournament poker.

Now to the televised show. The show as it now is presented on GSN has not kept up with the changing face of poker. This is not a harsh criticism, simply because editorial and directorial decisions about the show are really tough calls. Clearly though, I have some suggestions.

First a question: Is the show aimed at more new audience members or at the continuing audience from the first five years? The answer is probably: both! And therein, lies another problem. Too much basic information, annoys and bores the poker literate audience; not enough and new viewers get lost in the subtleties of professional poker. But the show needs some new blood. Here are my suggestions.

Do not fire Mike and Vince, but quit wasting their time by having them sit through and talk through the live event. You don't use 90% of what they say live anyway. It is in post-production when they can see the hole cards where you get the bulk of their commentary, so drop the pretense and get them out of there. If you want some live quotes, Linda Johnson's live commentary is always entertaining; oh wait, you lost Linda Johnson; now that was a mistake.

Second, if you are going to put microphones on the players at the final table; then you need to use that dialog in the show. A most recent example will illustrate. During Bellagio Cup III, Mike Matusow carried on a six hour conversation about deep stack poker. He was praising the new structure of the WPT, so good promotion for the tour from one of the best known and most critical players in the world. And his comments were very informative about how deep stack poker is different from other types of poker, he illustrated by commenting on several key hands. At times the other players joined in the conversation with Mike (I know I was there), it would have been perfect for Mike Sexton and Vince to build a entertaining and informative conversation around those comments. But all we hear of this, in the televised show, are two or three of The Mouth's comments, all of which are being talked over by Vince on some completely different topic.

When Bellagio Cup III got down to heads up, a lot of talk table was aired between Mike and Kevin Saul; but that had been going on all night. Another strong and entertaining thread to make this final table unique and different from all the other WPT final tables. All I am saying is that the WPT format has gotten stale but they actually have a unique and fresh product if they would only choose to show it. Quit trying to force the broadcast into some formula that makes all the final tables look the same.

So overall, on this report card, I give WPT a B minus. They can do better, they have shown the ability to adjust to the changing market but the market is changing again. Who if anyone will catch the second wave of the poker boom and who will get swamped by the splash of the already descending shark?

Just when all the cynics were lined up to disregard, dismiss and trash talk the U.S. Congressional hearings from last week; it appears there is new legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress that would effectively prohibit the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act.

The new legislation, H.R.5767, would prohibit the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System from "proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on Internet gambling, as required by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" (UIGEA). The bill was introduced April 10th by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The new legislation appears to be in direct response to the testimony heard before Congress last week that "financial services institutions would face serious regulatory burdens in attempting to enforce UIGEA and related regulations" and the unmistakable fact that the UIGEA has not prevented millions of Americans from engaging in internet gaming.

Once again U.S. poker players (and other interested parties) are reminded to let your voice be heard either by directly contacting Congress or by using the Poker Player's Alliance directed action letters.

The World Poker Tour has been making some news recently; let's see what they have been up to. First, they announced that as part of the WPT Championship of the current season six, currently underway at Bellagio in Las Vegas; as part of that celebration, they would be giving all former winners (96 of them!) a WPT Championship bracelet. There will be a big ceremony and nearly everyone has said: "So what? The WSOP gives bracelets, why is the WPT coming out with a copycat bit of bling at the end of six years of tournaments?"

Next, WPT Enterprises announced that Grup Peralada's Casino Barcelona will host its second World Poker Tour event May 21 – 27, 2008. But it really isn't on the official WPT schedule, it will not be taped for television and, well and what? Seems a bit like a placeholder and not a real tour stop.

Finally, there was the announcement of the World Poker Tour Canada. A completely separate Canadian WPT, which will begin on May 5th with the Coast to Coast Poker Tournament at the River Rock Casino Resort. The Coast to Coast Poker Championships will be the first stop for World Poker Tour Canada but no further sites or dates have been announced.

Perhaps before the World Series of Poker gets underway late next month, perhaps we should take a look at the World Poker Tour and see just how well they are doing. Time for a World Poker Tour report card. Coming next week.

Yesterday at this time all the talk was about the Ted Forrest vs. Erik Seidel showdown at the Final Table of the 2008 Foxwood's Poker Classic. Well it was a classic but not the way most pre-game observers imagined. Ted Forrest was an early elimination when he was dealt two pocket pairs (99 and JJ) only to run into bigger pairs (KK and AA). The plot was not going to play out the way the "pro watchers" had planned.

In fact, Erik Seidel had a roller coaster ride to the victory but he eventually (12 hours and 229 hands) took down the title. Here is a bit of 'day after' mathematical analysis.

The players began the final table with these chip stacks:

Seat 1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000
Seat 2 - Frank Cieri - 403,000
Seat 3 - Robert Richardson - 526,000
Seat 4 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000
Seat 5 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000
Seat 6 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000

Percentage-wise it looked pretty obvious that the short stacks needed to move early and often to stay alive.

Erik Seidel - 31.6% of chips in play
Frank Cieri - 3.9%
Robert Richardson - 5.1%
Ted Forrest - 22.6%
Andrew Barta - 14.7%
Adam Katz - 22.2%

So they started the final table in these chip positions:

1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000
2 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000
3 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000
4 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000
5 - Robert Richardson - 526,000
6 - Frank Cieri - 403,000

....but they finished:

1 - Erik Seidel - 3,280,000 First Place
2 - Ted Forrest - 2,347,000 Sixth
3 - Adam Katz - 2,301,000 Fifth
4 - Andrew Barta - 1,522,000 Third
5 - Robert Richardson - 526,000 Second
6 - Frank Cieri - 403,000 Fourth

Anyone have Robert Richardson in the Heads Up finish?

Final money results for the 2008 Foxwood's Poker Classic Final Table:

1. Erik Seidel - $992,890
2. Robert Richardson - $558,792
3. Andrew Barta - $281,011
4. Frank Cieri - $200,261
5. Adam Katz - $151,811
6. Ted Forrest - $103,360

Erik Seidel also wins a seat in the WPT Champpionship at Bellagio later this month.

When the Latin America Poker Tour was first announced it was hard not to notice that about half of the tournaments were going to be played in South America. Now if I remember correctly the term "Latin America" refers to a particular portion of the geography of the Americas and some residents of South America are a bit touchy about being included under the designation of "Latin" America. Well now that has all been remedied because the promoters of the LAPT have announced they will be adding tournaments in the United States and Canada. Apparently Mexico has been left out because the tour directors couldn't find it. Hint: Look in the southern portion of North America, just north of Latin America but do not use the map provided above. Oh nevermind. Here is the official sounding announcement.

Vega Promotional Systems announced it is expanding its Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) to include North American venues. The name of the Tour has changed to become the "Poker Tour of the Americas" (PTA). As a result of increased interest from cities all over North and South America, Vega has agreed to expand the Tour's reach to include cities in the United States and Canada.

The plan for the inaugural season remains the same. The company is currently negotiating with venues in several Latin American countries, including Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.

The World Series of Poker can make you and the big stage of the WSOP can break you. Apparently some of the new faces from last summer's Series are more than just one hit wonders.

Dario Minieri and you thought he was just a pretty face with a collection of wild scarves. Check out the final table at today's EPT San Remo.

Dario Minieri (Italy) - 1,832,000
Jason Mercier (USA) - 1,591,000
Anthony Lellouche (France) - 1,192,000
Gregory Genovese (Italy) - 694,000
Dag Palovic (Slovakia) - 585,000
Eric Koskas (France) - 449,000
William Thorson (Sweden) - 418,000
Marcus Bower (USA) - 278,000

Hevad Khan is another face, voice, ass? from last summer we all remember, even though in his case most of us wish we had not. But like Dario, Hevad may be with us for awhile. Hevad picked up a cool $108,000+ taking down a NLHE preliminary event this week at Foxwood's.

Let us suppose that the United States Government abandoned the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act tomorrow. There would be world wide web complications of enormous potential:

What does the World Trade Organization do with the Antigua/US dispute?

Does anyone care about the UK "White List" if the US opens its cyber-doors to everyone?

Of course, the U.S. is not going to abandon the UIGEA anytime soon but the Congress did hold hearings yesterday and listening in might be of some educational benefit, but congressional hearings are boring, so let's just go for the high and low points:

“The UIGEA and the Proposed Rules do not provide a rational path towards halting unlawful Internet gambling,” said Wayne Abernathy, American Bankers Association’s executive vice president. “The path leads to an increased cost and administrative burden to the banks and an erosion in the performance of the payments system, but it will not result in stopping illegal Internet gambling transactions. Imposing this enormous unfunded law enforcement mandate on banks in place of the government’s law enforcement agencies is not likely to be a successful public policy.”

To be fair, not everyone agrees that internet gaming is harmless:

Spencer Bachus (R-AL) shared his never changing position that

“illegal internet gambling ruins lives and tears families apart.”

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He once again cited his favorite statistic

“74% of those who have used the internet to gamble have become addicted to gambling, and many of these gambling addicts have turned to crime to support their habit.”

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Both the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve had statements, you can read them here if you like. The condensed versions are: "The law cannot be enforced the way it was written without imposing a heavy financial burden on banks and slowing the commercial processing of payments and credits with the U.S. cyber economy."

The Poker Players Alliance offered up this statement:

“We commend the House Financial Services Committee for holding today’s hearing to better understand the burdens UIGEA places on the banking industry. As many banks have commented, UIGEA is completely unworkable and puts undue strain on the financial industry’s relationship with its customers. Banks should not be deputized by the federal government to enforce unclear laws that prevent their customers from enjoying lawful Internet poker. Even the Federal Reserve in its testimony agrees that the myriad of gambling laws are ‘not well-settled and can be subject to varying interpretations.’ If the regulators don’t know what an ‘unlawful internet gambling’ transaction is how can the banks be expected to know?

“The proposed UIGEA regulations are troublesome but the trouble started with the statute. It is not practical, nor is it sound federal policy to try to prohibit adults from engaging in games of skill on the Internet. We urge members of Congress to reconsider this legislation and move towards regulation of online poker that will protect children and problem gamblers, fight fraud and abuse and collect billions in federal and state tax revenue."

Here is the "Summary Quote" many pro-gaming articles have used:

“Testimony from the federal regulators and representatives of the financial services community made clear today that the prohibition on Internet gambling isn’t working now and will not work in the future,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “U.S. banks and credit card companies, along with every other type of U.S. company involved in payment systems, would be forced spend substantial resources to force compliance with a ban on Internet gambling that can be easily circumvented by anyone in the U.S. that wants to continue to gamble online.

“Rather than trying to implement a ban that is unclear, burdensome and doomed to fail, Congress should instead look to regulate Internet gambling in order to protect consumers and collect billions of dollars that is being lost to offshore Internet gambling operators.”

I am traveling today and at some hub airport out there somewhere I picked up a used copy of the International Edition of the Wall Street Journal and saw a full page ad about poker! The ad is linked to hearings today in Washington D.C. I am still traveling so I will give you what I have.

The ad was run by Prime Table Games, a Las Vegas company; the headline is Who Will Face the Issues? Here is a summary of the highights of the ad:

"It is well known that there are off-shore based Internet gaming operators who are engaged in deceptive practices with American consumers and international players, and there is no adequate system in place to ensure full and appropriate regulation," said Derek Webb, founder of Prime Table Games. "Congress needs to take action soon, or these practices will only get worse."

The House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology will be addressing issues involving Internet gaming on April 2 at 10 a.m. EDT. Prime Table Games' published statement encourages Congress to adopt specific regulatory strategies for consumer protection in Internet gaming.

These regulatory strategies include limitations on solicitations and incentives to gamble, such as bonuses and cash backs; prohibition of affiliate relationships; standard player verification procedures. Players also should be able to self-exclude from Internet gambling sites, and those requests should automatically apply to all sites.

In addition, Internet gambling debts should not be legally recoverable, and the site operator should bear the responsibility to ensure identity verification and that the player can afford to gamble at the level played. A player not paying gambling debts should automatically be placed on an exclusion list from all Internet gambling sites.

"Internet gaming, by its very nature, has great potential for abuse," said Webb. "Site operators also should pay fees towards problem gambling treatment and research."

We all know that the United States government has been making trade concessions right and left to compensate various countries to the ban on internet gaming imposed by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. One might wish to know how much has this semi-law cost the U.S. taxpayers. Unfortunately, like so much done in a free and open society like the U.S., those numbers are not available from the government.

Well one U.S. Congressman has asked: How Much? and perhaps we will eventually get those numbers.

Congressman Peter DeFazio, a demomcrat from Oregon, has requested the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) disclose trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional approval. DeFazio's inquiry raises the possibility of Congressional intervention to void new market access commitments granted by USTR to the European Union and other complainants as compensation for a United States trade violation regarding Internet gambling.

In a letter circulated to all members of Congress last week, DeFazio encouraged his colleagues to join him in calling for the USTR to provide a copy of the concession agreement between the United States and the European Union. The USTR had recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for the same document, claiming the agreement was classified for national security reasons.

"There is a concern that the USTR may have been ambitious in its use of a ‘national security' classification to avoid any publicity of which new business sectors are to be subject to the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) treaty."

"The issue will be whether the USTR abused its authority by granting new market access to the EU without first securing the consent of the trade committees in Congress,"

said Nao Matsukata, formerly Director of Policy Planning for USTR Robert Zoellick.

"Ultimately, this could invalidate the deal with the EU and cause various WTO Members to revisit the issue of fair compensation from the United States."

Congressman DeFazio's request is an indication that the Administration's unilateral action to attempt to resolve the WTO Internet gambling dispute is in jeopardy.

"Congress should have been consulted before the US agreed to these trade concessions,"

said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

"We hope that Mr. DeFazio's colleagues will join him in demanding more transparency, communication, and consultation from the Administration on Internet gambling. A non-discriminatory market for Internet gambling in the United States will restore integrity to the international trading system."

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The DeFazio request comes following a contentious trade dispute over Internet gambling, in which the Caribbean nation of Antigua successfully challenged the regulation of Internet gambling in the United States. The European Union announced earlier this week that it will open an investigation into a possible international trade violation by the US on this issue. The investigation is the result of a Trade Barriers Regulation complaint filed by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which represents the largest remote gambling companies in Europe. The RGA claims the US is in violation of international trade law by threatening and pursuing criminal prosecutions, forfeitures and other enforcement actions against foreign Internet gaming operators, while allowing domestic U.S. online gaming operators, primarily horse betting, to flourish.

Legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), would regulate Internet gambling and resolve the international trade dispute.

"Rather than paying out millions in trade concessions, which would have an adverse impact on the American economy, the US should embrace the legislative solution presented by the Frank bill, which brings the U.S. into compliance by regulating Internet gambling and creating a level playing field among domestic and foreign Internet gambling operators,"

said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

There are a lot of poker charity events, I wonder why that never comes up when politicians are gassing off about the evils of gambling?

Anyway, today is not a rant but the announcement in praise for my favorite poker charity event: The Second Annual Jennifer Harman Poker Charity Event to benefit the Nevada SPCA No-Kill Animal Shelter. One of the best run, most fun and best attended charity events in Las Vegas, this year will be held at the Venetian Poker Room, which is just the best room in Las Vegas for such events. Below are the complete details for the April 18th event. If you are intown, see you there.

The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino will host the Second Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament on Friday, April 18. The no-limit Texas hold'em poker tournament will take place inside The Venetian Poker Room beginning at 3pm. All proceeds of the tournament and live and silent auctions will benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) no-kill animal shelter. The recommended donation to participate in the tournament is $300+30. There will be optional $200 re-donations for additional tournament chips throughout three 20-minute rounds and a $200 last chance add-on. The first place prize is a $10,000 seat into the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

The Nevada SPCA no-kill shelter in Las Vegas gives comfort, food, and veterinary care to thousands of animals every year. Many of those animals thrive in environments without cages. You can find the Poker Shrink hanging out in the cat wing quite often.

"Last year we raised $130,000, allowing the Nevada SPCA to expand their facility," said Harman. "The Venetian Poker Room is a perfect venue, and their professional staff has been very gracious. This year's event promises to be bigger and better and many of my friends will be there to support this great cause."

Preceding the tournament, a red carpet reception will be held inside The Venetian Poker Room from 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Confirmed celebrity poker players include Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Jerry Yang, Marco Traniello, Jamie Gold, Hoyt Corkins, Amarillo "Slim" Preston, TJ Cloutier, Todd Brunson, Barry and Allyn Shulman, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Quin Do, Russ Hamilton, Lacey Jones, Roy "The Oracle" Winston, Freddy Deeb, Kristy Gazes, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Carmel Petresco, Daniel Alaei, Brad "Yukon" Booth, Barry Greenstein, Joanne "JJ" Liu, Layne Flack, Chau Giang, Cyndy Violette, Chris Ferguson, David Chesnoff, David Williams, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Lynette Chan, Huckleberry Seed, Jennifer "Jenocide" Leigh, Joe Sebok, Eric Mizrachi, John Phan, Jeff Madsen, Scotty Nguyen, Dan "Who's Your Daddy" Fleishman, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Steve Zolotow, defending champion Kirk Morrison, and many more.

The tournament is open to the public. Seating is limited and going fast. Please visit the NVSPCA site to reserve your poker tournament seat today, or call Lisa Wheeler at (702) 327-7250.

Other confirmed sports celebrities include ESPN commentator Lon McCarron, NFL quarterback Shaun King, Burton Snowboards David Driscoll, World Champion snowboarder Jeff Brushie, professional snowboarder Keir Dillon, Olympic snowboard medalist Ross Powers, and professional motocross rider Jimmy Button. Confirmed celebrities and entertainers include "Whale Hunt in the Desert" author Steve Cyr, local comedian Carrot Top, KVBC meteorologist John Fredericks, KXNT talk show host Alan Stock, KDWN's Heidi Harris, and Life's A Bluff comic creator Frank Frisina.

Celebrity tournament director and Tournament Directors Association (TDA) founder Matt Savage will host the tournament. TV Poker and FoxSportsNet hosts Robert Justin Huxley and Kyle Morris will emcee the event. Robert Williamson III will host a live auction during the breaks between tournament rounds, including official Burton Snowboards autographed by attending athletes, "The Simpsons Movie" memorabilia donated by Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), and personal items signed by poker professionals Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, TJ Cloutier, and Doyle Brunson.

A silent auction sponsored by Triumph sports includes a "Pete Rose & Jennifer Harman" dinner package with all proceeds going to the Nevada SPCA, a Joe Montana "Stephen Holland" limited edition framed giclee print, a Muhammad Ali & Joe Frasier limited edition framed photo, an "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" official baseball autographed by Pete Rose, as well as official helmets and memorabilia signed by Dan Marino, Dick Butkus, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Emmit Smith, Bill Parcels, Phil Simms, LT Adams, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, John Elway, Ladainian Tomlinson, Fred Biletnikoff and Jim Plunkett.

Sponsors and supporters of the Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament include The Venetian, PocketFives.com, Poker Players Social Network (PPSN), Triumph Sports, Who's Your Daddy Energy Drink, Howard and Suzie Lederer, PokerNews.com, The Cartwright Foundation, Poker Road, WPT Boot Camp, NettieScrub, CardPlayer, TinyPrints, Poker School Online, Fundraisers.com, Sabre Design, and Life's a Bluff Frank Frisina.

If you are unable to attend this red carpet affair but would like to make a donation to the SPCA, here is the link. For information on other ways you can directly support the Nevada SPCA no-kill animal shelter contact Doug Duke at (702) 873-7722 or email the NevadaSPCA@aol.com.