 Now that our run here at Pokerblog has ended (and what a fine, fun run it was) I thought I'd take a moment to point you to other spots on the web that might help fill the void in your life created by our absence.
For tournament news, be sure to check out Spaceman's work at Bluff along with the boys at LasVegasVegas. LVV is also a great source for all things Vegas, such as the news that Harrah's is being sold. Also keep an eye on our friends over at CardSquad and Pokerworks, plus there are literally hundreds of poker bloggers cranking out pokery goodness daily. Haley has a pretty extensive list of them all on her site.
It's been a pleasure filling this site with poker news for you, and we thank for you joining us. When you think of us, do so fondly, and with a shot of Tuaca in your hand.
I too am back from a fun-filled blogger Vegas weekend, though unlike my Pokerblog counterparts, I picked up a cold along the way. Who knew Tuaca wasn't a good preventative??
- What I liked most about this article was the advertisement placed right in the middle of it. It has of course changed since I first saw it, but you can view the page as I saw it here. Alternatively, you can hit refresh a few dozen times and it'll pop up for you again... but who wants to work that hard for a joke?
- Our own PokerShrink has been reviewing the Vegas card rooms over at PokerNews.
- Chris Fargis gives a lesson in Triple Draw and Badugi.
- Philadelphia may soon legalize poker in the state's casinos. Don't everyone move at once!
- Hayden Christensen has been tapped to play a young Phil Hellmuth in an upcoming movie about his life. You probably know Hayden best for his role as a young Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequels. I'm worried by taking this role he's typecasting himself.
And cleaning out the starred items in Google Reader, I point you to:
Visit them all and show some blogger love!
I hope all of our US readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week (for the rest of you, I hope your Thursday was magnificent). I myself was traveling all week, a fun exercise that ended with me stuck on an interstate for 10 hours. Thus, I missed the final table of this past Sunday's Party 200k Guarantee, but Haley has a recap over at PokerNews. My traveling and general Thanksgiving merriment (read: passed out on couch after big turkey dinner) have put me a bit behind on the To Do list, but, operating under the premise "better late than never", I offer you my recap of the 11/19 200k tournament.
If you've never heard of professional poker player David Ross, do yourself a favor and cozy up with the 2+2 archives. Our favorite Party Poker man [bonus code Tuaca!] Bill Rini makes it easy for you, by linking to each one of David's weekly reports on his attempts to turn pro. That attempt ended up successful, and David is now a top online pro. He's also Canadian, which allows him (for now) to continue playing on Party Poker.
You no doubt remember your grade school government lessons that explained how the Congressional branch makes the laws while the Judicial branch interprets them. After the passing of the UIGEA, many people expected a legal frenzy to begin, with each challenger trying to strike out the true intent of the law.
Here comes their chance. We now have the first post-UIGEA arrests. The Associated Press is reporting that New York prosecutors have brought charges against 27 people connected with an online sports betting operation. The site, Playwithal.com was run by poker player James Giordano, however there was no poker being played on the site. Also nabbed was MLB scout Frank Falzarano, though the why is not yet known.
Assets totalling $500 million were seized, such as condos, jewelry, art and Bellagio casino chips. The DA's office has scheduled a news conference for today where they will show off the assets and hopefully shed more light on the charges, which include "enterprise corruption" [what the hell?], money laundering [those chips laying around don't help that defense much], and promoting gambling [gasp!].
It's dismaying to see an arrest coming already, before banks have even received instructions on how to comply with the new law. It's also disappointing that the "ringleader" is identified as a poker player. While it may be accurate, it just makes it that much easier for people to associate poker players with all that is unholy and evil online. Clearly if one of us is breaking the law, we all are. Not knowing a lot of details about the charges and evidence at this time, I can't offer a conjecture as to the defense. I do think this case will be watched closely and that many people in the online gaming world will use it as a benchmark for any legal challenges they might wish to make.
We'll keep you updated on this case as it develops.
 The details are still a bit sketchy, but it appears that the beloved poker "Blogfather" Iggy is with us no longer. I'm far too destraught over this development to be appropriately eloquent, but I wanted to direct his many loyal fans to the virtual memorial services currently being hosted by AlCantHang.
Personally, I'll never forget the first time I met Iggy, in the blogger habitat known as the MGM Grand Sportsbook Bar. He shook my hand, gave me a hug, and told me he loved my blog. I knew it was just a line; something he said to all the girls to get his dwarf self in to their big girl pants, but I was flattered nonetheless. Since that magical meeting the Iggster and I have have had many special adventures, and he and I are soley responsible for turning tens of poker bloggers into degenerate roulette players.
Farewell dear Iggy... may we all be so lucky as to acheive even half of your greatness, and I'll meet you again at a casino in the great beyond. Just make sure you save me a seat at the roulette table.
ALT HED: This Election Brought to You By Bonus Code Tuaca
It's four o'clock Texas time and election day is soon coming to a close. I've got invites to results watch parties all over the city, but I think I'm going to ride this one out at home with my Republican roommate and fellow poker bloggers on the geek chat otherwise known as IRC. All these party invites got me thinking though... why is there no election night drinking game?
A friend of mine remarked, "I know I'm drinking tonight; I just don't know if it's going to be out of despair or elation." My gut says it's going to be elation, but hey; let's not take chances - let's get a good buzz going before the polls close on the West Coast.
Here's my proposed rules, add your own in the comments:
- Newscaster refers to a state as either "red" or "blue": 1 drink
- Policy wonk says "mandate", "message", or "ideology": 2 drinks
- Democrat wins a House or Senate seat previously occupied by a Republican: 1 drink
- Republican wins a House or Senate seat previous occupied by a Democrat: 2 drinks
- Sponsor or co-sponsor of the original anti-online gambling bill wins reelection: 2 drinks
Texas version:
- Kinky Friedman says something adorably dumb: 1 drink
- Carol Keeton Rhylander Strayhorn refers to herself as "Grandma": 1 drink
- Chris Bell is exciting: Quit drinking. You're clearly wasted; alcohol poisioning can't be far off.
- Rick Perry wins re-election: down the nearest bottle
Update!
- Everytime Dan Rather says some folksy, weird, kinda makes you feel uncomfortable metaphor, take one drink.
- Everytime Stephen Colbert says "truthiness", take one drink.
We here in the good old U S of A tend to be a wee bit on the self-centered side, forgetting that there are indeed other countries out there that enjoy some of the same recreation that we do. It's why the World Series (baseball version) has been won by an American team since its inception, and no one ever invites a Canadian football team to play in the Super Bowl.
In poker, we're always aware of the international aspect, but even then we forget that the show is still going on at many of the online sites that have now banned US players. Promotions have ended, like the Party Poker [Bonus code Tuaca] Sunday Million now turning to the Sunday 200k Guarantee, and the Monster jackpot rolling in to the Bad Beat Jackpot, but every Sunday there's a healthy tournament going on, full of our friends from across the pond (and those who might have an address putting them there).
 These Party Poker [did I mention Tuaca?] final tables always crack me up. As soon as the final ten players are seated, someone begins the persuasion efforts to work out a deal and usually gets a majority of players to go along with them. This time it was even more comical, as all players came to the table with fairly even chip stacks. I understand time zone differences and all make it a little late for those overseas, but once you make the final table, put on a pot of coffee and win it all!
The Swiss are traditionally known for kick-ass hot chocolate and peaceful foreign relations, but Swiss player Tiefenmuehle was having none of that, knocking out half of the final table. bb_king69 ran his pocket 9s into T's pocket Jacks, and the board was no help; sending bb home in 10th place. Next out was novpe, who pushed his short stack all-in with pocket 6s and found himself up against T's Q-9. Two nines on the board sent him out in 9th place. The Swiss Reign of Terror continued when Tiefenmuehle's A-K outlasted NannaU's all-in with A-4; neither player getting any help from the board.
Some reading material to destroy your Monday work productivity...
- Dr. Chako takes a look at a serious, hard-hitting issue affecting all poker players.
- While not getting a lot of mention in the poker world, there is a new very important poker book out - The Mathematics of Poker. Terrence Chan reviews the book and says fear of equations shouldn't keep you away.
- Lou Krieger points out the need for an online gaming PAC (you know, a real one).
- While we turn online gambling in to a crime, the Brits are making it easier than ever for you to gamboool.
- The Daily Kos has a fantastic analysis of the brick and mortar casino money trail. [Thanks to Bill for the link]
- From OnePennyGame comes an anti-gambling ban clothing line.
- Last but certainly not least, don't miss the Pokerati election guide, and most importantly, don't forget to get out and vote!!!
 Jamie Gold's lawyers have finally responded to Crispin Leyser's claim that he's owed 6 million, and Wicked Chops Poker has posted the highlights. Among them, Gold alleges that Leyser was down on his luck and looking for a handout, to which Gold, in his infinite generosity, offered to help him out. Gold claims he never offered to give Leyser a full 6 million, just that he would "help him out." However once Gold hit the money in the WSOP, Leyser started to harass him, which Gold claims led him to leave the most expensive voice mail in history. Furthermore, Gold claims that Leyser didn't want taxes or tip coming out of his share of the winnings.
Read the full breakdown over at WCP, and heck, read the full motion if you're so inclined; but note that we will mock you for having nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon. I think this motion, along with the ESPN coverage of Gold, are really helping to improve his image. I especially like how Gold makes it known that Leyser didn't want any tip coming out of his portion. It's a perfect excuse for not dropping a few dimes in the dealer tip pool.
This is, at the core, a case of he said/he said, though I doubt it would be hard to find character witnesses to back up the claim that Leyser was in financial trouble and perhaps a wee bit needy. Finding sources to back up Gold's claim that he was just trying to help a brotha out? That may be a little bit harder, given the Hollywood crowd Gold runs with. I tend to lean more on Leyser's side, just because I don't see him continuing on with this battle unless he truly believes that Gold promised him half his winnings. And for God's sake, why would you ever, in a million years, tell someone you were going to give him half if you had absolutely no intention of doing so?? He's calling and texting you all the time?? Turn off the damn phone. You are at the World Series of Poker after all, and voice mail was created for a reason...
- Any of our readers know Hoa Mahn Nguyen, from Sunnyvale, California? Paddy Power Poker is looking for him.
- As we've seen, try to take away a poker player's right to play online and you'll encounter little resistance. But try and take away a geek's right to strip a female night elf naked and dance and there will be hell to pay.
- A year ago, I sat on a friend's porch during a beautiful South Carolina night and talked poker. One of my favorite people in the world was leading the discussion, and he's written a brillant-as-usual piece about the brainstorming process we went through.
- The infamous Dr. Pauly was quoted in a recent BusinessWeek article about the online gaming ban.
- Our pal Bill Rini offers his analysis of the ban and makes a new friend in the process.
- Dan points us to a great podcast with Nolan Dalla.
The fine folks at LasVegasVegas are reporting that a 25-year old poker professional was caught marking cards and arrested. This is, of course, all rumor at this point; and I do, of course, have calls in to try and get someone to spill the beans. You heard anything Shrinky? I'm trying to think of all the 25-year old pros I know, and I only know of one.... who does tend to play at the Wynn a lot... and I haven't called him yet, so, uhh... maybe I should do that.
UPDATE: PokerShrink writes in with a link to the aptly named PokerParty Blog, which has an alleged name for alleged cheater. We'll update if/when we find out anything more.
Neteller issued a statement today clarifying their position on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. With FirePay having already announced it would pull out of the US market, players have been jumping ship over to Neteller based on a Wall Street Journal report that their business would continue as usual. The offical announcement from Neteller is yes, but maybe not forever.
The UIGEA gave banks and other financial institutions 270 days to work out plans for compliance with the Act. Neteller is stating that until the US Treasury Department comes out with the offical rules for bank compliance, they will continue to offer services as before. Once that 270 day period hits though, all bets are off.
While not a US company, Neteller clearly states that it has chosen to comply with the Act as if it were. This may seem odd, but as usual, it's all about the money. Investors don't like sinking money into a company that is clearly breaking the laws of the United States, and companies don't like scared investors. In addition, if any Neteller higher-ups ever want to visit the US, it's in the best interest to play along.
So, here's your workaround -
Neteller states that "The ability to withdraw funds will exist regardless of the customer’s location or ability to transfer to any site." Therefore, you can continue to play without fear of your money being in limbo so long as you don't donk off the remainders in your online balances. But if that does happen, all you'd need to do is find yourself a nice foreign buddy who would happily transfer you dollars from their online poker account to yours. Then you play and can still cash out like normal. This of course assumes that the online sites will continue to transact with Neteller, but given the stances announced by those who have decided to stay, I doubt we have to worry.
- In all the hoopla over the online gambling ban, we've focused on how it affects us individually - completely ignoring the plight of hundreds of poker bots who will now find themselves out of work.
- Wicked Chops Poker underwent a transformation this week and will now focus on good, wholesome, completely legal state lotteries.
- Busy the first weekend in November? A march on Washington is planned for November 3-4 to protest our recent loss of freedoms.
- Check out this post from RGP entitled "Ode to Party":
O Party, thou hast cleft my heart in twain!
With thee, I spent a thousand sleepless nights,
In ecstasies of pleasure and of pain,
So splendid were thy succulent delights!
Thy epic tournies, rife with jousting donks,
Did rescue me from abject destitution;
Now Dubya and his idiotic wonks
Do invite my bloody retribution!
How dare they say with whom you can transact,
And cordon you from he who loves you most?
I swear this day a solemn, sacred fact;
Election Day, those fuckers will be toast.
But if that fails, there's but one thing to do:
To Canada! Where we begin anew.
- Now that your online poker options have been limited, perhaps some of you will turn to professional Rock-Paper-Scissors. The World RPS Society has a fun profiler quiz that will identify the type of player you are.
- The folks over at Card Squad have been turning out some fantastic strategy pieces.
- Oh, and we're all going to hell.
 ...I think. In what may be the most confusing press release ever, Impact Wrestling is reporting that tonight's episode of Extreme Championship Wrestling will feature the ECW Divas in a strip poker game. Per the Impact site, the show airs on the SciFi Network, which I found to be a little odd. Is this a Ferengi versus Federation smackdown? Does a geek in a stormtrooper costume battle it out with Hulk Hogan? A click over to the SciFi site confirmed that indeed, ECW airs at 10/9 central, smack in the middle of the network's standard geek fare, and appears to be your standard run-of-the-mill wrestling show.
So, how does a strip poker game make it in to all this? OK sure, that's a stupid question. My real question is, why is it EXTREME Strip Poker? It is possible to get EXTREMELY naked? Since this is the SciFi Network, does extremely naked mean that someone sheds their skin, a la "V"? Do I really want to watch that? [As a fan of the series, it would appear the answer is yes, yes I do.]
I moused over to the ECW site for more information about tonight's game, and found a soft-core porn site that offered little more insight in to the game than suggestive pics, videos, and spelling errors. (Don't all click at once, boys) You'll notice on the front page that the deck they're using has six Aces, which leads me to believe they acquired some Harrah's WSOP surplus.
Gentleman, set your Tivos...
 The body isn't even cold and already Bill Frist is singing his own praises to his consituent base, getting them primed and ready for his 2008 Presidental bid. An ice cube has a better chance of lasting on the Las Vegas Strip than Frist does of getting the Republican nomination, but he thinks he's got a chance and he's using the pre-election Congressional break to make sure those he serves know what a good boy he's been.
Today Frist sent a letter to the Southern Baptist Convention telling them "Before it wrapped up business in late September, Congress passed an important new law to make it easier to crack down on illegal Internet gambling." Uhh...right...emphasis on the LATE September, and I think you're using "Congress" a wee bit loosely there Bill.
Frist then goes on to state "Internet gambling has grown out of control. Although four major federal laws and hundreds of state policies already make it illegal to gamble on the Internet, enforcement has proven almost impossible." Well it's a good thing this new law has all sorts of enforcement mechanisms spelled out then!! Oh, wait...
Full Tilt players received a reassuring e-mail in their In boxes this evening. The text of the message is below, but to sum it up, Full Tilt essentially states the law is pointless, doesn't affect poker, and business will continue to run as usual.
These "line in the sand" type statements should rapidly expand the Full Tilt player base as players with closed accounts cash out and load up there. The result? More hot marshmallow peep sex for the rest of us.
E-mail text after the jump:
Despite my liquor bribe last week, I still find myself title-less for my weekly link round-up column. Dan has the best one (InstaPoker) over at Pokerati, and my original idea was simply not going to work. The simple solution then is to swipe something from somewhere else - in this case, myself. It's a phrase my co-blogger and I have used for years, as code for "something big/cool/funny just happened to me and instead of telling you directly, I'm telling you to read my blog and find out all about it." Cause we're dorks like that. Here it'll point you to web gems you might have missed.
Understandably, the number one topic around the web this week is the online gaming ban. You've no doubt been keeping up-to-date with most of the news on the topic, but here are some sites you might have missed:
OK yea, I'm sure it's legit, but do you think maybe if you're the number one payment processor for US residents to move money into quasi-legal offshore betting companies, you'd reschedule your planned maintence for sometime not right after Party announces they're closing accounts?
2+2 freak out begins....now.
As Monday morning dawns across the pond, we're hearing word about how many of the online poker sites intend to respond to the US legislation. The first offical announcement appears to be from Party Poker, stating that they will cease doing business with US customers once the bill is signed into law.
After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming's online gaming sites for the Group's US free play customers will be unaffected. Access for all of PartyGaming’s non-US customers will also be unaffected.
Read the full Party release here. Rumor has it that PokerStars will soon follow, though Ultimate Bet will continue business as usual.
5,060 players decided to kick off their October by taking a shot at a $156,860 first place prize. A final table recap is forthcoming; in the meantime, here are the payouts for the top 10 finishers:
TipTripTrap - $156,860
ThePope7979- $85,615
G_Becks - $53,130
DwightSchrute - $43,010
Poly_Baller - $35,420
ZMAN01 - $27,830
doublmeup1 - $20,240
Okla_State21 - $15,180
MagicMarker3 - $10,120
pokerMan505 - $5,060
All around the nation today, degenerate gamblers are waking up, logging on, and finding out that their entertainment options have just become severely limited. I'm curious as to what everyone's thoughts are, and how you think your poker-playing will change.
 I half-joked with my roommate last night that we needed to install a security camera over the front door and set up a poker club in our empty front room. Being a law-abiding citizen, he quickly shot down the idea, but you can rest assured there will be many many others who won't. For most of us, it's illegal to play in these games, but that's where the action is going. Just like Prohibition forced drinkers to the underground, poker players are now going to have to put on some pants and actually leave the house in order to get a game.
And just like Prohibition lead to increased crime, so will this ban on online poker. New poker rooms will spring up across the country, and they won't all be running safe, secure, clean games. Already we hear tales of armed robbers busting in on games, and of players being assulted on their way home. I would expect we'll hear more and more of these in the coming months. I doubt they will prompt any effort to repeal the ban; at least not until there is a major high profile case (i.e., some Senator himself gets robbed).
I know many would disagree with me, but I do think there is a chance for repeal. I don't think it will happen soon, and no, I don't think Democrats taking over the House and Senate will be the panacea we're all looking for. [But full disclosure - I will always encourage you to vote Dem, so by all means, give it a shot.] What I think will make the biggest impact is the money train. Harrah's, for example, has a lot of it laying around (as we know), and if this ban even remotely hurts their profit margin (which I expect it will), the next step would be to use that cash for some Congressional influence. Though again, I don't see that happening soon.
I would also expect to see more people making trips to Las Vegas, if not moving there. We'll have to see if we get an influx of fish or if a proportional number of sharks swim in too. And knowing that we have no other options available, are we going to get better service? There's even more motivation to cut corners and perks now.
I think many of the big name online sites are taking a wait-and-see approach, giving their legal teams time to review the legislation and come up with options. I won't be surprised to see more sites closing U.S. accounts. I also won't be surprised when we start seeing ads on Craiglist offering to set up a foreign address and bank account for would-be online gamblers.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think the ban will last? Do you plan on altering your playing habits as a result of it, making more trips to Vegas or other local casinos, or playing in more home-run card rooms? Do you think more states will legalize gaming in an effort to pick up some of the lost revenue? Or do you think the fish will give up the game forever now that it's not so easy to play it, and poker as we know it has come to an end?
cont. from here
10:57pm - Right now the House is debating the Port Safety bill, and should be moving to a vote soon. The Senate has apparently not voted yet, but we can expect that soon.
Read the bill here. This is a conference report, which means it's a mix of the version that the Senate and House both already passed. The Dems wanted provisions for rail, buses, and other forms of mass transit. They're understandably pissed that their Port concerns were not included, but the internet gambling bill was.
I love that the Republicans are being called out on this, but remember, this is a Port Security Bill, and we're in an election year. Short of a governmental miracle, this is passing.
Rep. Shelly Berkley, D-Las Vegas
"Can he [King] please explain to me, if this is a Port Security bill, that we can't put protection and security for our buses, and Amtrak, and mass transit, and our railroads, how it is that we managed to put a ban on internet gaming?"
11:09pm - House just voted. Passed with Yeas vs. Nays. Now moving to a recorded vote. Make note of who votes Yes, take it with you in November.
11:21pm - It's all formalities now. The Senate is going to pass this, they're just waiting for the House to end the Roll Call vote. Right now two people have voted Nay - one Republican and one Democrat. Once we the Thomas website is updated and we can find out who those are, I'll post it here. If you live in their districts, vote for them. If you don't, send an e-maill, make a phone call, whatever - let them know that you appreciate their courage.
Some of my favorite posts from 2+2:
I guess it is time to buy some seeds and grow pot. Thats legal right?
gg poker. thanks for the memories.
they can still change their votes, right?
I think we can still runner runner runner runner runner this.
11:55pm - Senate still has not received the bill, but again, it's just a formality. Up for Poker has a great post up where Otis analyzes the wording of the bill - give it a read, and expect legal minds to have thoughts on this soon. I for one, think it's time to join Otis in the drinking to excess plan. I'll leave you with this post from 2+2:
Just remember, bills can be repealed.
Vote Democrat in November!
The House Rules Committee passed the conference committee report that included the anti-gambling measures. You can read it here, starting at page 214.
Senate is currently debating a Parental Notification Bill (well, actually, they're debating on how much longer to debate on the bill). We can assume the Safe Ports bill will be up soon. It is highly unlikely that it will not pass.
You can keep tabs on things with industry insiders over at 2+2, or follow along on C-SPAN2
9:35pm (central) - Senate is talking about bill now. Frank Lautenberg from NJ is questioning why Democratic provisons were taken out of the bill but the online gambling part was put in. We love him.
"They stripped out important provisions, but made sure that it was illegal to play Texas Hold'Em poker games on your computer."
9:42pm Susan Collins, R-Maine, is speaking now. No mention of the ban, just tooting their horn.
9:56pm - Quorum Call - checking to see who's in.
10:03pm - Call over. Back to discussion, though now they're referring to the earlier measure that was passed, putting a fence up on the border.
Loved this post from 2+2 -
Great 2 day stretch for our government...legalize torture, get rid of habeus corpus, and it turns out the speaker of the house knew that the congressman in charge of the committee on missing and exploited children was having dirty AIM chats with 16 year olds, let's now deal with a real threat...internet gambling.
10:11pm - Sounds like something is up. Quorum calls are a great way for Senators to have private discussions under the pretense of offical actions. That room is empty, they know there's no quorum. And now we're not talking about the Port Security act at all, but it'll be back.
10:23pm - Passed Senate, 80-19. House apparently still debating it.
10:29pm - Leach now talking about ban.
"One of the most important pieces of family legislation ever considered."
"Never has it been so easy to lose so much, so quickly, at such a young age."
10:35pm - Rep. John Dingell, D-MI is talking about how the bill was drafted without Democratic input, how many of the measures the House wanted were left out. It's maddening to be sure, but I don't think it's going to be enough.
10:44pm - Loretta Sanchez, D-CA
"If you have time to stick internet gambling in our port bill, then I think you could have held a meeting today, or tomorrow if we had to stay an extra day, or tomorrow if we had to stay an extra day, to make our country safer."
10:47pm - Richard King, R-NY is now speaking about how awesome the bill is because everyone worked together, and he just can't understand why people are pissed. Apparently he missed the speech from Rep. Sanchez that clearly said they were pissed because they took out the rail security, didn't allow admendments, but put in this internet ban.
10:52pm As I told Dan, it's these last minute governmental clusterfucks that just confirm my decision to never get in to government.
Here's the deal - CSPAN2 ran a ticker saying the Senate had passed the bill. But the Senate website isn't showing that. Maybe it's late. Maybe the guy manning CSPAN is drunk. [Actually, that ticker probably referred to their passage of the previous bill, before it went to the conference committee that created this new bill.] Right now the Senate is engaged in another quorum call. Perhaps they're out kicking puppies.
Alert from the PPA -
The U.S. Congress is Trying to Ban Online Poker TODAY!!!
THIS IS NOT A TEST -- Call Your Senator Now
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is attaching the Internet Gambling
Prohibition Act to a bill that is expected to be approved by the Congress
early this evening. PLEASE call your Senators today and tell them that
they should oppose the Internet gambling bill being part of Port Security
legislation.
If the Port Security bill passes, with the Internet gambling language
included, your ability to enjoy poker online will be at serious risk.
Each member of the Poker Players Alliance has two Senators which are
listed below. They need to hear from you RIGHT NOW! Let them know
that you care about your rights to play poker.
Please Call!!! Tell your Senators to oppose attaching Internet gambling to
Port Security!
Numbers after the jump
In the deep dark archives of my personal poker blog is a collection of posts where I pointed readers to the very best blog posts from the past week. I began doing it per a request; as I had massive amounts of free time on my hands and could use it to weed through the grass, pluck the prettiest flowers, and present them in a vase. And in spite of that dorky analogy, I'll be doing something similar here at Pokerblog.
Here's where I need your help. I am terrible at coming up with post titles, typically choosing to select a line from whatever song I happen to be listening to at the moment. It works fine when writing about random crap, but not so much for column names. The only one I can come up for this column clearly references the "mothership", as my co-bloggers refer to it, and something tells me that won't go over well. So, hit me with your ideas. If I use yours, the next round of Tuaca is on me.
Links after the jump!
This was a final table where negotiaton skills were far more valuable than card smarts. Party Poker has a great deal-making system that allows players to agree to discuss deals, work out all the details, then confirm a deal and end the tournament - all without ever having to track down a support person. Willingness to talk deal is indicated by players marking a "Yes" or "No" button found at the bottom of their screen. I always find it interesting to keep an eye on the number of players willing to discuss a deal. While you don't know who has selected what, you can make educated guesses; then find out for sure once someone is knocked out or doubles up and the willing tally changes. Almost always, it's the short stacks that are interested in deals, while the big stacks prefer to pick off the little guys and give themselves a shot at the first place money.
At this week's table, no one came in with a huge chip lead over the others. An all-in by a 1.5 million short stack was still going to cost a big stack 1/3 of their chips if they called and lost. Still, I was a little surprised when talk of a deal began almost immediately.
Imagine walking in to your favorite poker room and seeing a table with only four players occupying seats. You ask the floor man if you can join that game and are told sorry, no seats open. Confused, you take a closer look and see that the empty spaces are being dealt cards, the dealer is apparently betting chips for them, and sometimes rakes the pot for these ghost players! Is this where old poker players go to die? And continue playing?
There is, of course, a more obvious explanation, and it's called "physical object connection". Those ghost stacks really do have players attached to them, and the dealer is tossing out chips based on commands received from the players themselves. Where are these players? Relaxing in the comfort of their living rooms, of course.
ZDnet is reporting about a patent application submitted last week that would enable you to play at your favorite casino without setting foot in it. Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the cards and chips, and sophistacted brodband connections, it is possible for a player miles away from Vegas to take a seat in any casino game and play along with live players. Cards would be dealt to your seat and the RFID would tell you exactly what they were. Video monitors would let you know when it was your turn to act, as well as what previous players had done. You would then relay your desired action and the dealer would carry it out for you. The chips would be weighted to a precise amount that would allow a computer to quickly tally your balance ($1 chip weighs 1 once, $5 weighs 1.2 ounces, etc.) and transfer your winnings to your account. Anything you lose to a live player is in the form of chips, which they would then cash in at the cage like normal.
Since you'd be playing a live game, action would be slower than in a traditional online poker game. However, you'd never again be able to blame the continually shuffling RNG for those bad beats - you'd be getting dealt cards exactly as they were meant to appear. You'd also have access to the drunken tourist fish, a common species known for its remarkable ability to shed money. Free cocktail service would not be available though, at least until someone invents the replicator.
While the rest of you are apparently out boozing sleeping, I'm hard at work conducting intense internet research. While checking out my MySpace page (shut up) I noticed that I had a personal* message from none other than Mr. Phil Gordon. At the time I was checking out friend requests and wondering if that 21-year-old's father knew about the whorish pictures she was sending all over the internet, but of course for Phil I drop everything, so I went to check out his message.
Turns out that on Sunday, October 15th, he's hosting a $10 charity tournament to raise money for his pet charity, the Bad Beat on Cancer. Here's your chance to play with the pros and in the process raise money for a great cause. You can get full details on Phil's site, and I'll see ya there.
*And by personal, I mean me and the other 5,689 people he sent it to. And I'm a little hurt that Rini makes his Top 8, but not me.
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