Lindy Librarian's blog

So You Think You Know Poker ( #1)

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:26:55 +0100

Here's a little test of poker knowledge for you. Identify what each of the following three lists represent. The answers are after the break, so no cheating.

Hint: All three lists have one thing in common.

List #1:

1st Scotty Nguyen $ 2,039,628
2nd John Juanda $ 1,777,288
3rd Michael Demichele $ 1,383,072
4th Erick Lindgren $ 1,348,528
5th Stanislav Alekhin $ 971,101
6th David Benyamine $ 941,651
7th Mike Matusow $ 937,720
8th Daniel Negreanu $ 933,149
9th Joe Commisso $ 911,855

List #2:

1st Allen Cunningham $ 6,700,086
2nd Paul Wasicka $ 6,189,966
3rd Tuan Lam $ 4,851,424
4th Mike Binger $ 4,781,887
5th T.J. Cloutier $ 4,322,878
6th Steven Dannenmann $ 4,271,489
7th David Williams $ 4,190,831
8th Erik Seidel $ 3,994,519
9th Kassem 'Freddy' Deeb $ 3,328,496

List #3:

1st David Benyamine $ 535,687
2nd Greg Jamison $ 456,961
3rd David Chiu $ 425,897
4th Mike Matusow $ 406,781
5th Sam Farha $ 398,560
6th Thang Luu $ 391,068
7th Scotty Nguyen $ 375,735
8th Frankie O'Dell $ 373,817
9th John Guth $ 367,745

World Series of Poker Europe down to 62

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:09:20 +0100

The World Series of Poker Europe main event is down to 62 players from the starting field of 362. With so few starting runners compared to the thousands in the Las Vegas WSOP, it is not surprising that the leader board is still full of big name professionals. Here are the players at the top entering day three.

1 Bloch, Andy - Las Vegas 321,600
2 Townsend, Brian - Santa Barbara, CA 290,100
3 Seidel, Erik - Las Vegas 282,300
4 Juanda, John - Las Vegas 252,500
5 Rouas, Phillippe - San Francisco 233,300
6 Elliott, Christopher - Alloa UK 231,900
7 Moorman, Christopher - Brighton UK 219,500
8 Smith, Justin - Kissimmee, FL 217,700
9 Negreanu, Daniel - Las Vegas 203,700
10 Adams, Brandon - Miami, FL 190,000
11 Sointula, Jani - Helsinki Finland 184,800
12 Sonnert, Ben - Linkoping Sweden 184,600
13 Matusow, Mike - Las Vegas 180,300
14 Demidov, Ivan - Moscow Russia 176,200
15 Moreira, Tome - Porto Portugal 165,800
16 Alekhin, Stanislav - Moscow Russia 164,000
17 Williamsson, Christofer - Gothenberg Sweden 163,500
18 Fischman, Scott - Las Vegas 152,800

Asia Pacific Poker Tour

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:55:02 +0100

Lost in the glow of the World Series of Poker Europe is the Asia Pacific Poker Tour event in Seoul, Korea. While Southeast Asia remains a difficult area of the world to bring big poker tours to, because of various national laws and controls. There is both an Asian Poker Tour and competing Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The APPT main event in Seoul is down to a final table of nine players today and unlike many tournaments, this one has not been dominated by either youthful internet players or big name professionals. While most of the "name" players are in London or on the rail here in Seoul for the final table, the field was full of internet qualifiers, but age and experience seems to have won out at the APPT, thus far. Only one player under 21 years of age will take a seat for the championship. Here is the line-up for today's final table.

Seat 1: Dan Williams, Canada (42,000 in chips): This 29-year-old is playing in his first live tournament.
Seat 2: Daniel Schreiber, Seoul, South Korea (253,500): At the age of 22, he arrived in South Korea in 2004 to compete as a professional StarCraft gamer.
Seat 4: Fam Yat, Singapore (66,500): A 28-year-old primary school maths tutor.
Seat 5: David Horvath, Szodliget, Hungary (124,000): A 29-year-old experienced poker player, who qualified online.
Seat 6: Yuji Masaki, Hiroshima, Japan (13,500): A 45-year-old pharmacist, he also qualified via an online satellite.
Seat 7: Sam Faqiryar, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (185,000): Just 20 years of age, but he calls himself a full time professional poker player.
Seat 8: Brian Kang, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (394,000): This 29-year-old financial analyist was born in Canada to Korean parents.
Seat 9: Hidenari Shiono, Tokyo, Japan (269,000): A 39-year-old president of a hardware company.
Seat 3: Yoshihiro Tasaka, Osaka, Japan (226,500): This 49-year-old service industry employee has been playing poker for over 30 year. LATE UPDATE: Yoshihiro Tasaka is the winner of the APPT Seoul Championship.

European Poker Tour Adds Tournaments

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:32:13 +0100

The European Poker Tour has added two events to its previously announced 2008-2009 tournament schedule. The Hungarian Open in Budapest is a new event. EPT has also put the Caribbean Adventure back on its official schedule after some talk of moving that tournament to the North American Poker Tour. The Caribbean event will again be held at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino.

Here is the current EPT 2008-2009 schedule:

Barcelona Open (Casino Barcelona) - Sept 10-14, 2008 - €8,000
London (Victoria Casino) - October 1-5, 2008 - £5,200
ADDED: Hungarian Open (Budapest) - Oct 28-Nov 1 - €4,000
Polish Open (Hyatt Regency, Warsaw) - November 15-19, 2008 - 20,000 PLN
Prague (Hilton Hotel) - December 9-13, 2008 - €5,000
ADDED: Caribbean Adventure - Bahamas - January 1-5, 2009 - $8,000
Deauville (Barrière Casino) - January 20-24, 2009 - €5,000
Scandinavian Open (Casino Copenhagen) - February 17-21, 2009 - 50,000 DKR
German Open (Casino Hohensyburg) - March 10 - 14, 2009 - €5,000
San Remo (San Remo) - April 18-23, 2009 - €5,000
Grand Final (Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort) - April 28 - May 3, 2009 - €10,000

Party Poker Launches New Table

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:22:43 +0100

You may have heard the rumours swirling around cyberpokerspace that PartyPoker is about to launch a ground-breaking new table, complete with stunning features. Well, here it is.

The slick design is a huge improvement on the previous table, which despite serving players so well over the years, had become a little dated. Players who can’t bear to part with the old design will still have an option to continue with it if they wish.

But everyone else will love to play on the slickest, most eye-catching and ergonomically-pleasing table available anywhere.

The new look is part of a major overhaul of PartyPoker.com will go live next week. There are loads of changes and new features.

Here’s just some of the improvements:

* Fine new design that makes playing easier and more user-friendly

* Now you can select your own player photo - either an image from our new, extensive library, or you can upload your own photograph

* All your action buttons are in a more logical position, and they are easier to use

* The bet slider is simpler and more responsive

* You’ve now got access to pre-set bet buttons: Min, 1/2 Pot, 3/4 Pot, Pot and Max (all-in).

* There’s an improved note-taking facility

* The chat area will be easier to read and manage

In addition, there are now new Lobby features too.

U.S. Congress Takes First Step to Killing UIGEA

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:39:58 +0100

Congressman Barney Frank's Payments Systems Protection Act has passed the U.S. Congress House Financial Services Committee on a vote of 30-19. In June, the first version of the bill failed in a 22-22 tie vote but changes in the language and some serious political arm-twisting will now lead to a vote of the full House of Representatives. When this will take place is in question, as the Congress is scheduled to adjourn to allow members to go home and campaign for the November elections.

Congressman Frank said,

“We made some changes to [HR 5767] to try to get a majority of the votes as well as a broader agreement. First, it had always been our intention to allow pro sports leagues to opt out. They asked to be opted out of the bill and we’ve done that. The bill will protect sports from being included. It also asks that a list be prepared by the Treasury of what is and isn’t acceptable. You have a right to know what the law is and this would give people the right to know what is and isn’t covered under the UIGEA.”

An amendment to the bill, also introduced by Congressman Frank, calls for professional sports leagues to be able to be exempt from the bill as well as what Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman called a “black list” to be developed to determine what activities are permitted under the UIGEA. Also in this time of financial crisis for the banks and other third party transfer sites, the onus of a poorly written law would be removed or at least clarified.

Poker Art

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:30:23 +0100

Sometimes the visuals are enough. Today a look at Art in Poker or Poker Art.
.
First: Gods Playing Poker. Try the link and hit enlarge to see what the buddha is holding when he moves all in.

One of my personal favorites: Trout Playing Poker. These are all for sale, this site for Trout.

Another favorite from a really interesting collection at Nostalgia Art.

And finally in the category of Something Completely Different from the Etsy.com website.

Greek Poker Championship

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:46:48 +0100

What do you do when you want to hold a national poker championship in a country that does not allow public poker tournaments?

The answer is: go to Nottingham and play at the Dusk till Dawn club. When the Norway Poker Championship needed a home, they played at Dusk till Dawn and now the Greek Poker Championship will be played there.

All players who must prove national origin from Greece or Cyprus will be able to compete in a eight no limit hold'em events over three days: November 14th-16th. One event each day will be "Greek Only" including the main event of November 15th.

I wonder how Dusk till Dawn feels about the European Union's slow progress on resolving online gaming disputes among member nations. One has to think they are one of the few beneficiaries of the slow political process.

Sneak Preview of Nation's Cup

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:27:17 +0100

Coverage of the popular PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup starts on Channel 4 in the UK at midnight on Tuesday 16th September/Wednesday 17th September but ahead of transmission four hands from the action are available to view as a sneak preview. The prestigious team event features line-ups from Germany , Great Britain , Ireland , Sweden , Holland and the United States. The winning team will scoop $100,000 in this unique tournament that sees players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honour of representing their home nation.

Here are links to the four preview video clips:

Van Der Peet (Holland) vs Kang (Germany)
Sunar (Great Britain) vs O'Dea (Ireland)
Luske (Holland) vs Kang (Germany)
Gold (USA) vs Ocklind (Sweden)

The tournament saw one PartyPoker.com VIP qualifier on each team playing alongside five world class poker professionals from the same participating nations. Each player paid a buy-in of $5,000 making a total prize pool of $280,000 ($100,000 added by PartyPoker.com). Over six heats, each player competed once to score points for their team, and individual match winners scooped $20,000 for themselves for their efforts. All six teams then competed in a “tag” final where each team captain’s judgment was vital, as it was up to them to make tactical substitutions and strategic “time outs.” The size of the team chip stacks for the tag final depended on the points gained by the players in the six heats. The triumphant nation was the last with a player standing.

Defending champions Sweden were captained by Bo Sehlstedt and featured William Thorsson, Johan Storakers, Mats Rahm and last year’s hero Anders Henriksson. Joining them was an online qualifier with serious form in Johan Ocklind, who locked horns with the likes of Patrik Antonius, Tony G and Ilari Sahamies at the Scandinavian Poker Masters cash game last year. He got to sit down with $50,000 in the shark pool and handled himself admirably after qualifying online at PartyPoker.com.

The British team was captained by Roland de Wolfe and featured reigning Poker Million champion Joe Beevers, 2008 Irish Open champion Neil Channing, format specialist Ian Frazer and the inimitable Surinder Sunar. Joining them was qualifier Francis Durbin. Ireland made a welcome return to the competition and were captained by legend Padraig Parkinson, joined by fellow Irish poker giant Donnacha O’Dea, 2007 Irish Open and recent WSOP® bracelet winner Marty Smith, 2006 WSOP® bracelet holder Ciaran O’Leary and 2007 PartyPoker.com European Open champion Liam Flood. Darren O’Brien joined the team as the qualifier.

Team USA was captained by Robert Williamson III and featured $12 million 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold, Thomas ‘Thunder’ Keller, the iconic Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson and Chad Brown. With there being no qualifier from the USA , skipper Robert Williamson III drafted in television host Montel Williams to make his European poker debut. Williams may be better known as a chat show host but he was the leading the WSOP® Main Event for a period in 2007.

The German team was captained by Michael Keiner and the former plastic surgeon moulded together a very strong team. Andreas Krause, one of the top European players last year is a key figure in the line-up as is Benjamin Kang, inaugural PartyPoker.com German Open winner Sebastian Ruthenberg and WSOP® Europe bracelet winner Thomas “Buzzer” Bihl. Thomas Potzal was the qualifier joining this glittering role call of top pros. The Dutch team was captained by Marcel Luske and featured Thierry Van der Berg, Eric Van der Berg, Hans Ritburg and Daan Ruiter with Quirijn Van Der Peet the qualifier.

Coverage of the 2008 event was produced for Channel 4 in the UK by Presentable and presented by Vicky Coren. Following its transmission in the UK the coverage will be distributed internationally.

Sweden's Gaming Laws Remain Muddled

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:49:26 +0100

If any EU member nation is going to be the "test case" for online gaming, it will be Sweden. Not only has Sweden been "out of compliance" with the standards of the EU Commission; the Swedish response has often been in the complete opposite direction of Commission mandates. The most recent report on the state of online gaming in Sweden remains a muddled mystery.

Gambling Intelligence Group reported that the current "investigation" will propose that Sweden introduce a licensing system for online sports betting providers. But "may not" recommend online poker be opened to competition or remain the government monopoly of Svenska Spel.

Reactions have been mixed to the early details of the report, which is now scheduled for a December release.

"This is a step in the right direction, but ultimately the way forward for Europe is not through a country by country licensing system, but a solution for the whole of Europe."

"This appears as a positive move, but I believe it is a big bluff to ease the pressure from Brussels. The EC-court has threatened Sweden with legal action and I believe these premature comments on the report are designed to lift that threat."

Sweden has repeatedly been accused of stalling, the longer it takes to resolve these issues, the longer the Swedish government collects revenues from their monopoly, Svenska Spel. The entire issue of member states with such monopolies as opposed to members with bans or restrictions on certain aspects of online gaming remains another area of murky mystery regulation.

RFID Poker Table

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:59:26 +0100

Just released today a peek into the future of televised poker. The Video Poker Table using Radio Frequency Identification chips. If you go to the Video Poker Table website, I must tell you it runs slow, possibly because it was just released today and they are getting lots of downloads. The video demonstration is interesting, particularly the "luck rating" analysis done at the end of the hand.

"On the surface it looks like a regular poker table. Hidden underneath is a complex system of hi-tech RFID and video processing electronics that track the movement of playing cards between players, and superimpose that information on a live video feed."

This appears to be a functioning RFID table. The problems in the past have been that a laboratory version of such devices, could not stand up to the rigors of actual play. Spilled drinks and players pounding the table after a bad beat would send the sensitive computer works into spasm or worse. But with several companies working on the technology, improvements were bound to happen.

Notice the RFID chips in this version are in the cards; while many casinos await the embedding of the ID tags in chips. The casinos want to track bets at the gaming tables in the casino and poker rooms want to be able to display up-to-the-moment chip counts at the tables. This table does real time what now takes a lot of post-production editing, with a perfected RFID table the World Series of Poker final table could be shown on a two week delay and it meet the hype of the "World Cup" or "Super Bowl" of Poker.

EU vs. EU & EU vs. US: Online Gaming Updates

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:21:31 +0100

According to several published reports, the European Union (EU) plans to resume trade talks with the United States Trade Representative's office over the US Department of Justice's pursuit of online-gambling firms and officials. The immediate problem is that the US representatives have repeatedly delayed scheduled meetings, the last one as recently as mid-August. Meanwhile, online companies, their employees and private citizens linger in a semi-illegal limbo; waiting for governmental officials to do their job.

The leader in keeping pressure on EU trade negotiators has been the Remote Gambling Association, which has also been the most reliable source of up to date information on the incredibly slow progress being made to resolve these trade issues that so strongly effecting the ability of citizens in the EU and US to legally access online poker sites. The EU has repeatedly stated that they intend to pursue this action and would even take the dispute to the World Trade Organization, however, inaction has been the hallmark of the entire negotiating process and it is at times difficult to discovery which side is dragging their collective feet the hardest.

The EU position is further complicated by the refusal of EU member states to respond to their own defiance of Commission regulations. It is difficult to hold the US to a standard that EU member nations will not comply with. Yet the EU Commission contents they are acting on all fronts to resolve these disputes and open the online markets to all consumers no matter where they or their servers reside.

Here is the most recent and comprehensive statement from the Remote Gambling Association.

Whilst a rigorous process within the European Commission (Commission) has been instituted to protect the EC Treaty, questions are now being raised about whether this process is working. Twelve to fifteen months after having received a Reasoned Opinion, the Commission’s final warning before the seizure of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), several Member States have still not taken any concrete legislative measures to amend their gambling laws and put an end to breaches of the EC Treaty. Instead, these States continue to unfairly restrict the free movement of services across the EU, strictly enforcing the domestic laws that are being challenged by the Commission through the infringement proceedings.

Despite having had several recent opportunities to do so, the Commission has failed to take the next step and bring these non-compliant Member States to the ECJ. The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) the leading trade associations in Europe, are disappointed by these delays especially after the strong criticism voiced by the European Ombudsman in 2006, confirming that, regardless of political sensitivity, sports betting cases must be dealt in due time by the Commission, including the College of Commissioners.
Additionally, during an exchange of views with Members of the European Parliament on the 27th May 2008 within the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee, Commissioner McCreevy confirmed his duty to enforce the decisions of the ECJ and to act when he receives a complaint. He also said “I am frustrated with the lethargy in moving forward with these
proceedings”.

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA comments “Gambling has become a real test of the Commission’s ability to resist national protectionist pressures. More generally, it is the functionality and credibility of the Institution as Guardian of the EC Treaty that is at stake.”

According to Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA “Well-established and responsible online gaming and betting companies in the EU have had to endure unfair restrictions, discriminations and missed business opportunities for nearly a decade. Each undue delay to bring non-cooperative Member States before the ECJ distorts the internal market, restricts consumer choice and results in incremental costs and damages to many European companies. More than ever, the Commission needs to demonstrate that it can and will enforce the Treaty that it was put in place to protect.”

8 August 2008 Press Release (USA)

26 June 2008 Press Release (EU)

10 March 2008 Press Release (USA)

20 December 2008 Press Release (USA)

#1 Poker City: Dublin

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:21:19 +0100

Dublin has been awarded the title of European Poker Capital 2008 by Bluff Europe Magazine. The Irish capital outranked London, Vienna, Amsterdam and Barcelona for this year's title. Dublin has a fine collection of poker clubs with lively tournament action.

Dublin finished second in last year's poll, due to the first World Series of Poker Europe held in London, but Dublin is home to the Irish Open, the oldest tournament in Europe.

“Last year, in recognition of the inaugural WSOPE and the general health of its burgeoning poker scene, we chose London as the place to be. This induced a lot of snickering from across the Irish Sea, where they’re rightfully very protective of their fantastic poker scene,” said Philip Conneller, Editor of Bluff Europe. “But this year there was really only one candidate.”

Online Poker Legal in Italy

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:43:52 +0100

Italy has become the latest country to legalize online poker. The country had new laws go in effect and on September 1st cash games began being played legally throughout the cyber-country. Of course, Italian players have been playing online for years but now players they will do so without having to worry about the government seeking hard drive evidence against them.

In fact, now that online poker is being regulated in the country, residents can now take comfort in knowing that companies who enter the market must be licensed. That means the Italian government will ensure customer protection against cheating or not getting paid. How this will be done is an interesting question yet to be clearly answered.

The average Italian card players, of which there may be as many as two million, has spent over 650 Euros a year playing poker online. That figure is sure to increase now that players no longer have to worry about the cyber-secret police.

Spam a Politician for Poker

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:10:15 +0100

I hate spam and I would never solicit anyone to send spam but in this is really more like poker activism or perhaps simply Enlightened Governmental Expression.

The Republican Party in the U.S. has had this plank in their presidential platform for the last two elections.

"We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet."

Now I know a lot of poker players who really want the government to get the hell out of our living rooms and our laptops but... they are not single issue voters and cannot bring themselves to vote for a democrat even though the republicans are against online poker. So there is a solution: TELL THEM!

The folks writing the 2008 republican party platform are soliciting input from voters and since email cannot be traced to a city, state or country... Everyone should feel free to let them know what you think on this issue.

It's easy, here's how to let them know you are watching:

* Go to this site to register.(you’ll receive an email with your password for the site).
* Click "Submit Text Entry" (at the top right) to submit a typed message.
* Write a short pro-poker message, choose a category, then click submit. It's that easy!

For any non-poker readers, there are lots of other topics to sound off about. I gave them a piece of my mind on stem cell research while I was there.