Lithuania makes poker an official sport
The Lithuanian government officially recognized poker as a sport. The recognition was made by the country’s Department of Physical Education and Sports which issued a bill that formally listed the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation as an official sports federation. The move is expected to make poker a more popular sport in Lithuania.
With this recognition, LSPF will now be able to hose poker tournaments that are non-commercial in venues outside casinos in the Baltic nation. Poker enthusiasts are now hoping that this is a sign that the game is entering more doors.
Andrius Tapinas, president of the LSPF, said that the approval of the Lithuanian government is the culmination of their hard work to have poker recognized. Their international counterparts have also been congratulating them, Tapinas added.
The poker federation will organize its first official tournament next month and will be presented to a thriving Lithuanian sports media. Considering the freshness of the game and the celebrity status of Tapinas in the country, the tournament will surely get a lot of attention.
The Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation has just recently joined the International Federation of Poker. It has also received endorsements from Pokerstars.net and PokerNews.
The first LSPF tournament will be held between April 24 and April 26 in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Tapinas has already projected that this would be the biggest poker tournament in the Baltic region.
Annie Duke wins National Heads-up Poker Championship
Annie Duke showed the world that she is one of the greatest poker players in the world by winning the National Heads-Up Championship this weekend outlasting 63 other contestants.
The National Heads-Up Championship is to poker as NCAA college tournament is to basketball. Sixty-four players took part vied for the prestige of the being the champion.
It was Huck Seed versus Vanessa Rousso in the final match last year and Seed emerged as the winner. This year, Duke went heads-up with Eric Seidel, another good player she calls friend whom she defeated.
Duke said in an interview by ESPN that Seidel is a long-time friend and if she lost to him, she would have been equally happy.
This is Seidel’s sixth year in the tournament. He was eliminated during the first round in the last five years he was in the game. But Seidel is now considered one of top ten players by his peers.
The broadcast of the National Heads-Up Championship will be shown on NBC starting on April 18.
Suspected German online poker operator arrested
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a German national this week on suspicions of paying prizes for online poker. Michael Olaf Schuett, however, was charged with money laundering instead of just violating online gambling law in the US.
The FBI was tipped off by FedEx after it monitored that Schuett was sending more than 50 monetary packages to different addresses in the US. According to reports, Schuett set up accounts in different and used them as a way to pay online poker winners in the US.
Suspicions also arose from banks across the country when big checks were being cashed from an account named MCM Capital Management, Schuett’s main company. All the accounts that are related to MCM in various banks have already been frozen.
Investigations are still ongoing and the judge handling the case decline to grant Schuett bond because of imminent flight risk. Schuett’s visa to the US will not expire until April and that was what made the judge decide not to release him on bond.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act had been put in place since 2006 but it does not completely illegalize online gambling. Due to the vagueness of the UIGEA, Rep. Barney Frank had been trying to reverse it.
Heads-Up Championship has poker pros geared up
The year 2010 has so much in store for professional poker as it has gained much popularity in television during recent years. In March, the best poker players around the world will gather in Las Vegas for the much coveted National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Sixty-four players will meet each other for the event that will be held inside Caesar’s Palace. Among them are Huck Seed who took the top prize last year and Joe Cada, champion of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Other big names in the poker world are also going to show up which include Vanessa Russo, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey.
The players are going to compete for the total prize pool of $1.5 million. Their eyes, however, are set on the trophy and the bragging rights of being the Heads-Up champion.
The tournament is going to be played through single elimination much like the style used by the NCAA for college football games.
The event will start on March and will be played within four days. There will no live coverage but NBC will show the event for six weeks between April and May.
The emerging champion will be awarded $500,000 while the first runner-up will win $250,000.
Legalization of internet poker being debated in California
A committee in the legislative department of California has heard a petition to allow internet poker in the state making it the first step in the creation of intrastate internet gambling planned by card rooms and tribes.
According to the proponents of the proposal, they are hoping that California will be able to get revenue from an industry that is currently illegal. Legalizing it can mean tax would come in for the state.
However, some tribes living in within the boundaries of California are opposed to the new intrastate online poker proposal. According to a leader of the Luiseno Indians, the games would violate the exclusive gambling agreement between the state and the tribes.
State Senator Roderick Wright, the chairman of the committee who heard the debates on the proposal, said that the tax revenue that would come from online poker would greatly help California.
A research was submitted last week wherein it pointed out that the proposed intrastate online poker could generate as much as $536 million worth of sales, 10 percent of which would go to taxes that can be added to California’s budget next year.
According to Senator Wright, the plan to legalize internet poker could create enough stir if not approved that it can even be taken up to the court.
Cake Poker to return poker bracelet to Cloutier
On Wednesday, Cake Poker announced on its website that it has gotten hold of the World Series of Poker bracelet that T.J. Cloutier won in 2005. Cloutier won the bracelet in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em five years ago.
Cake Poker said on its site that it has acquired the bracelet from Cloutier for a selling price of $4,000. The poker pro won $657,100 along with the bracelet after defeating Steven Zoine in the final table which also saw other poker pros including John Hennigan, Dustin Woolf, and Todd Brunson.
However, quickly after its acquisition of the bracelet, the online poker network has again announced that it was returning the WSOP keepsake to the 70-year-old Cloutier “just as soon as we’re done having fun with it”.
When Cloutier was asked what could have driven him to sell his 2005 memorabilia, he only said the he “was short”. He also briefly stated that he attempted to get it back, but he was just too late. He refused to give further explanation.
Cloutier apparently also pawned another bracelet he won. The Plano Pawn Shop now has Cloutier’s 2007 Poker Challenge IV bracelet after he took down Scotty Nguyen. He reportedly sold it for $2,500 and experts estimate the bracelet to be worth around $2,350.
Taj poker tournament to raise money for murdered worker’s son
It was summer of last year when a great tragedy happened in the casino world. Ray Kot, shift manager in Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, was shot and killed by Mark Magee, a casino patron. Kot left behind his wife and son, Drew. The young Kot is now in danger of not going to college because of the absence of financial support. However, poker players and the management of Trump Taj Mahal have organized a tournament for the future of Drew.
The first poker tournament to be held annually in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino is now on the last stages of preparation. The games will start on Sunday and will fill all throughout the week. There will be 10 satellite tournaments that will go off everyday from noon all the way to midnight. The number of players in the championship will depend on how fast the satellites will be filled and how fast players will win.
The tournament was named in honor of Ray Kot. Entry to the event will only cost $25 will 100 percent of the proceeds going to Drew’s college fund. Prizes are in store to give players more motivation. First place winner will be given a trip to the Super Bowl; second place will win a flat-screen TV; and third place wins a party at the Taj.
Your “Kicker” is very important
In many games of poker you play, you will find that in a large number of them the “kicker” is the determining factor. But a lot of poker players don’t even think too much about their kicker card until they are on the losing end of a hand that is won by a top kicker hand. A very important thing to remember is to always consider your kicker when deciding to play a hand.
A “kicker” is the card which is unpaired in your hand. It determines the winning hand in the event of a tie with equal pairs. For example, if a pair of Aces was the winner, and you had Ace/King, and the other person had Ace/Jack, your King kicker would beat his Jack.
The Ace May be Weak
A commonly held belief is to play any Ace without giving consideration to the kicker. If you chose to play an Ace with a weak kicker, this is called playing a “weak Ace.” For example, if you make a play with an Ace/6 hand, and an Ace flops, you could still lose because of the weak kicker card.
If anyone else has an Ace, your chances of being the winner in the hand is not good. For someone else holding an Ace to lose, they would have to have a 5, 4, 3, or deuce for you to win against another Ace hand.
The Kicker Pairs Up
The odds are even to pair either of your cards when the flop comes. If you paired the kicker, for example, a six, you would have a small pair with an Ace kicker. However, if you chose to play a single Ace with a bigger card there could be situations where you would be better off pairing your kicker and not the Ace. For example, if you held an Ace/Queen, and the highest flop card is a Queen, you would now hold top pair with the highest possible kicker. Other players holding a Queen would surely give you action with a flop such as this. You could also gain action from opponents holding a solo Ace and are seeking another Ace on the turn or the river. Even if they do, you would win with two pairs.
When you are playing and notice someone who always plays an Ace without giving importance to the kicker, you can always beat them if you only play your Ace with a strong kicker. Many players won’t fold a pair of Aces with a weak kicker even though they should. This type of player will call you all the way through to the river, only to be defeated by a strong kicker.
Use Caution With Blinds
For the players in the Big Blind, they can many times find themselves with kicker problems when they achieve top pair in a flop but have a weak kicker. Many players in tournaments are eliminated when they face this predicament. The players moved all-in with the top pair, and were then defeated by someone with the better kicker. Stop and think about your kicker before you make this play.
Always Fold Weak Hands
You should know that the best way to not get beat holding a weak kicker is not to play the hand. Fold it. Learning to fold a bad hand with a weak kicker is essential to a winning strategy. Beware when you get top pair on the flop from the blinds with nothing as back up. Be alert to the potential pitfalls that can happen by small kickers . This will greatly improve your percentage of winning hands.
Commissioner of WSOP resigns
Jeffrey Pollack, the Commissioner of The World Series of Poker has resigned his position. This comes just three days after the tournament finished with its second-most profitable competition in its 40 year history.
The 45 year old Pollack said his plans include exploring challenges in new business ventures. Pollack was commissioner of the WSOP for four years, and was a driving force in the success of the series.
Harrah’s Entertainment owns the WSOP, which is now an international event spectacular. Many circuit tournaments are conducted at various Harrah’s properties throughout the U.S. There is also a European WSOP, which has been held for the past two years in London.
This year’s WSOP had over 60,000 players from 115 countries. All were competing in a prize pool of $174 million dollars spread across the winning players. This years WSOP held 57 events over a 50 day period.
Anywhere between 4 and 10 percent of the entry fees are retained by Harrah’s. They collect 6% of fees to enter the main Event. This years Main Event drew almost 7,000 players.
During the four years of Pollack’s tenure, the WSOP awarded more than $675 million dollars, almost double that of the previous 36 tournaments.
Pollack is credited for forging the partnership between the WSOP and cable-sports network ESPN which has brought the event to a worldwide audience. ESPN has 1 contract with the WSOP and Harrah’s for the next 12 years.
A New poker Trend: Becoming a Professional Online Poker Player
Poker online and poker as a game become a mainstream fashion few years ago therefore the popularity of the poke game raise dramatically over the past few years. What makes the poker game so unique and different from other gambling games? Mathematical and statistic experts will answer that poker game involves a lot of thinking, strategy and calculates odd in a very fast and efficient way. If this assumption is true what will be the percentage of luck at poker game? We also research this issue and the result are very surprising, A straight forward calculation will give us a result of 60%-70% thinking and strategy and around 30% luck.
The most interesting evidence in our study, was the fact that attitude is a major thing in playing poker and effect your poker play in a very high percentage, a very recent research and “Missouri college for behavioral psychology”, discover that people functional problems under pressure are the same people who cannot hide stress situation that every poker player going through every session, therefore the way you act, move, talk, body language and the rest external parameters weighting a heavy load in the equation of being professional and successful poker player.
Professional online poker player – advantages:
- Online environment gives the freedom to play poker online from every spot on the world.
- Hi risk profession but also high profits when earning.
- It is not 100% luck.
- Free poker tournaments, allow to win large amount money with no investment.
- World recognition that pays off.
The research got a big turn when online poker was started to be explore and many parameters that were discussed above are not relevant to online poker because the obvious reason that online poker players cannot see each other body and faces so it is all mechanic poker game that played online with Images who represent the real poker players but if the subject is to be at the professional league of poker players, online poker is must.
Most of the professional poker players we interviewed playing online poker and offline poker, when an example to playing poker online was asked to see in action, the results were amazing to find out the each poker player play with 5-10 poker tables at the same time and that the way of making living for some people around the world.
