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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.