A poker player from Manchester is going to attempt to break the world record for the longest ever poker marathon. He is going to have to play for over 115 hours to break this record and he needs volunteer poker players to help him in this five-day epic event.

Barry Denson, who plays for The Nuts Poker League, has joined up with Help for Heroes to lend a hand in raising funds for this very worthwhile cause. The record he is attempting to smash is the Longest Marathon Playing Poker By An Individual. Professional poker player, Phil Laak, set the existing record at 115 hours in Las Vegas back in 2010 in the illustrious surroundings of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino.

The guys at Guinness World Records will give Barry a five-minute break every hour but if he wishes he can bank these and take a longer break when he needs one. As an ex-Territorial Army soldier we are sure that Barry will be able to hold himself together, smash this record and set another one.

In an interview Barry stated: “One of the biggest challenges will be finding enough players to play me. Guinness World Records will only allow other players to play for up to four hours at a time so we need as many players as possible to come along and take part, especially in the early hours or the mornings.”

This great event is taking place at the G Casino in Manchester and starts at midnight on Sunday 1^st July. The casino is inviting all poker players to turn up and play for anything up to four hours. When you have finished playing you can stay and watch the record get broken. Good luck Barry! We hope you do it!

In the world of online poker, all eyes have been on Nevada as the Silver State leads the effort to bring about the first intrastate internet poker system, with regulators in that region having the biggest head start of any other area in the country. Now it appears that plans to adopt and implement a new set of policies that would allow operators to open and run real-money sites is on a fast track to the extent that the first businesses may be ready to go by this upcoming holiday season.

During a Gaming Policy Committee meeting this past Monday in Las Vegas, Mark Lipparelli, the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said that he believes that the first licences for the state’s online gambling initiative will be issued within 60 days, with the initial license holders able to open their doors an additional six to eight days after that. The majority of the process is geared towards the approval of the technology each individual site uses, with private testing having begun just a few months ago.

One of the biggest roadblocks the committee has come up against from detractors of the initiative is the concern that residents from neighbouring states would be able to go online and participate in Nevada’s online poker community. However, Bwin.party Digital Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, who gave a large presentation in front of the panel during the Monday meeting, says that the current technology being used to determine the location of the customer trying to log into the site is 99.8% accurate.

Outside of Nevada, no other state has been officially authorised to begin private lab testing, though they have achieved various levels of advancement through the actual intrastate process. At the moment though, it seems like Nevada residents will have a huge head start to enjoy online poker before the rest of the nation catches up.

The company Rank Group Plc who own BlueSq.com and the Grosvenor Casinos have stated that for £205 million they are going to buy Gala Casinos, who are part of the Gala Coral Group. Rank will be getting 23 of Gala’s casinos in this deal but the Gala Coral group will be keeping the casinos that they have in Dundee and Gibraltar.

This deal will give Rank casinos 58 operating sites and also 13 non-operating licences. Part of their plans for the rebranding of the Gala casinos is to change just nine of them to their G Casino brand and leave the rest as they are.

When interviewed the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Rank said: “We are delighted to have agreed terms with Gala Coral. This acquisition will deliver a step change in Rank‘s earnings by capitalising on our proven record of operational excellence in the British casino sector. By rolling out the G Casino format into the Gala estate and expanding the Grosvenor Casino brand into 11 new cities, we will accelerate the growing awareness of the brand and support the development of a multi-channel gaming business.”

Although the business discussions between Rank and Gala Coral ended in April of this year the deal itself is not expected to be completed until the third quarter of 2012. It is then that we can expect all the changes to come into force and hopefully we will see more venues added to the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT).

It all seems to be happening in the poker world this year with extra tours and bigger venues springing up all over the place. As they say, things can only get better!

The International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) will be hosting its very first live and online poker tournament next year. So, all you poker fans out there should mark this date in your diary because you are going to want to be there as the ISPT revolutionises the game of poker.

Novel tournament 

They have chosen the wonderful Wembley Stadium to host the tournament in May next year and will be introducing the very first online and live event ever to be seen on the poker calendar. How will they combine the two and achieve this? Well, the tournament is going to take place around real tables and there will also be a tactile tablet for the online participants.

This is promising to be one of the biggest and best tournaments ever held and with people able to take part from all corners of the globe it also looks likely to be one of the largest and best prize pools ever seen. They have announced that there will be a €600 Buy-in and anyone, yes anyone, can enter. For this first ever tournament the organisers are expecting a massive turnout, which will create a prize pool of over €20 million. WOW!

Classic poker venue

It was Laurent Tapie and Prosper Masquelier who dreamt up this venture and when interviewed Tapie stated: “We hope that this event will be fondly remembered by the participants and that it breaks all records in the matter.”

They wanted an exceptional place to hold the event and could not have chosen better than Wembley, which can hold at least 30,000 people.

This is going to be big, so make a note of 31^st May 2013 and clear your diary for the week!

So much time and effort is spent agonising over hand selection and positioning that it’s not uncommon that other important elements of poker strategy, such as actions including checking, go unnoticed. Making an improper check, even by accident, can completely alter the way a hand progresses, to the point of ruining any potential chip extraction techniques you may have been preparing to implement. Luckily, these are errors that can be easily avoided in the future as long as you take a moment to make yourself aware of them in the first place.

Missed opportunities

If I had to narrow down the greatest checking offence, it would have to be that many players check far too quickly whenever they miss their hand, whether it’s on the flop or even at the end on the turn. Checking is already seen as a major sign of weakness, and speed checking is even worse because most players won’t quickly check a premium hand, even with the intention of trapping.

Another big problem with checking is that you could end up giving an opponent a free card in a situation where a bet would have won you the pot, as Andrew Brokos explains in his latest CardPlayer.com blog.

“A mistaken check can be expensive,” says Brokos. “Checking can also cost you a bet from hands that would have paid off on the turn but not on the river, and in worst case scenarios it can cost you the pot when a hand that would have folded gets to see the river for free.”

There are many top players that would argue that checking is only good for times when you have completely missed the flop and are up against an aggressive opponent that is not likely to yield to a bet, even a continuation bet. It serves little to no tactical benefit, so make sure that you are confident that you are not in position to win the hand by any other means before you check.

The Dusk Till Dawn sees the return of Black Belt Poker as the Black Belt Nottingham Live II takes place in their hallowed halls. The tournament will be held between 10^th – 12^th August and features all the usual added value games, which include the pro bounties and Belt bonuses too.

Looking after the players

Some of the Black Belts have already confirmed that they will be playing; Richard Ashby, Sam Razavi and Neil Channing to name but a few. All the players love returning to the DTD as they understand their needs and wants, and in an interview Channing stated: “Luckily, DTD understand that looking after the players is the solution and that’s why we’re delighted to go there again.”

So that they are able to accommodate all bankrolls they have made sure that satellites are available from 28^th May until 1^st August and they are going to guarantee four seats every week. If you are an Orange Belt or higher you are going to be treated to some free-rolls, but check it out first on their site.

Bigger prize pool 

Last year’s event saw Stuart “The Dyson” Hyson become Champ, he took on the 492 field and beat all of them to take the crown and the $15,500 winner’s purse.  This year they have increased the buy-in on the No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Main Event to $200 + $20 and are hoping to get an even bigger prize pool.

To play these satellite games you will need to have an online account at Black Belt Poker. Apparently the software is easy to download, you just need to follow the step-by-step guide. If you have already got an account with them you can register now in the card-room lobby. This looks like it is going to be a good one!  Good luck guys!

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is getting ready to produce its most extensive live coverage that has ever been seen at one of their largest and most renowned poker events in Las Vegas this month.  The only event not to be shown will be the $10,000 Buy-in Hold’em Main Event, which is due to be aired later in the year.

The tournament, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino kicks off on Sunday 27^th May in the Amazon Room with the $500 Buy-in Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em game, and the live streaming starts at the final of this event on the following day.

All in all there will be at least 45 days of streaming at this tournament and with at least 34 gold bracelets being given out to the winners of the games it is sure looking good for all us poker fans who like to watch a good, on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of game.

David Tuchman has been chosen to host these shows and has stated that he is very excited at the thought of hosting this event. He also said that: “It doesn’t get bigger or better than the World Series of Poker. I am excited and humbled to be working with the WSOP to bring the live stream to a hungry and growing audience.”

Make a date in your diary for the 28^th May as that is when the coverage starts. There is about a five-minute delay on the feed but it is as near to live as we are going to get without flying to Vegas to get up close and personal. As all the streaming has to follow the gaming rules we won’t be shown any hole cards.

If for any reason you are not able to view the live streaming, do not worry because the official stream provider, Veetle, will be creating archive material for you to watch at your convenience.

In one of the odder news items to come across my desk in some time, members of the poker community have stepped forward recently asking why US President Barack Obama hasn’t come out in support of online gambling, despite openly voicing his concerns on what many feel are far more controversial issues.

President Obama recently gave an interview revealing that he supports same-sex marriage, which triggered a mix response across the country and has now lead to others using the opportunity to try and bring light to their issues.

The most vocal and well-known poker pro to speak up so far is Barry Greenstein, who announced on his Twitter page on Thursday that he believes that the President Obama does indeed back the efforts of those trying legalise online poker, but won’t admit it publicly.

“(President Obama) admitted he thinks gays should have equal rights,” Greenstein posted. “Will he also admit poker players deserve their personal freedom?”

Obviously it was just a simple Twitter post, but already other members of the poker world are calling Greenstein’s words into doubt, saying that the two issues bare practically no similarities.

“My problem is with the implication that the two rights are somehow equivalent,” said gaming attorney Stuart Hoegner. “I support both rights, but they aren’t the same, nor are they equivalent. One is a fundamental issue of civil rights and human dignity.”

So was Greenstein really trying to start a fire and ignite even more controversy? Unlikely, but it just continues to show that the reach of social media outlets has indeed grown far. Greenstein has yet to post any follow-up to his original comments, but given his track record of sticking to his guns, we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for an apology.

Well, we thought we had seen it all in the poker world but poker-playing Buddhist monks are a new one on us. Apparently there is a secret video recording showing Buddhist monks playing high-stakes poker whilst smoking and having a drink as well.

This video was shot at a luxurious lakeside hotel in South Korea and was released just days before the country celebrated one of its holiest days in their religious calendar, the birth of Buddha himself. These were not just your every day run of the mill monks; they were six leaders of the largest Buddhist order in South Korea and because of this video they have been forced to resign from their order and indulge in some good old-fashioned self-repentance.

Monk apologises

After the film was shown on the TV networks the head of their order issued a public apology stating “We deeply apologise for the behaviour of several monks in our order. The monks who have caused public concern are currently being investigated and will be punished according to Buddhist regulations as soon as the truth is verified by the prosecution.”

Apparently there can be lots of conflict between Buddhist monks, and they play their games just like politicians. Chung Yoon-sun who is Secretary General of the Buddhist Solidarity for Reform stated: “It’s just like politics, if there’s a conflict in interest between two groups, they make a deal or they fight.”

Secret poker film

Someone secretly filmed these monks doing something they should not be doing and then passed the memory stick to someone who knew what to do with it. It looks like they know how to fight dirty. Of course, the monks were wrong to do what they did, but were they set up or was it a regular event for them?  As they are out of a job now perhaps they will take to the professional poker circuit!

As the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) comes to a close there are a number of British and Irish poker players who can hold their heads high and say we were there. Although they may have missed out on gaining a SCOOP crown, their bank accounts will show that they did well.

Chop pot shares

One of the biggest cash winners was Sam “SamSquid” Grafton who took home a whopping $234,194 for his third place, which was all thanks to a five-way deal made in the game.

There were three Brits at the final table of the $215 (Medium) game and one of them, Heminsley, won the event and managed to bag the $123,868.99 winner’s purse. Again another deal had been struck with the final four players so another Brit, jonwayne69, got himself just over $90,000 for his fourth place, not a bad payday at all!

Of course the $2,100 (High) game attracted a lot of attention from the big guns in poker and guaranteed massive prizes for the winners. Two of the UK’s poker faces did really well, with Fiskin1 winning a little under $32,000 for his eighth place, and “raidalot” who lasted out for a third place and took home a very grand $156,800.

UK and Irish poker players score

This just goes to show that the UK and Ireland have some fantastic online poker players who are coming up through the ranks of the better-known players. Maybe in the near future these names will stand out just as much as the London-based Viktor “Isildur1” Blom does. Well-done guys and keep up the good work!