Archive for the ‘news’ Category

Poker Game Leads to Unexpected Stabbing

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

Poker players are usually serious about the game. When one sits down at the felt, it’s game on. Players focus and try to read their competitors to be able to get a feel as to how they should progress in game play. Poker is a fun game but one that players do take very seriously. Some may take the game a little too seriously and when this happens, it is never good. A recent story out of India proves just how crazy it can get when you take the game a little too seriously.

Two men were partaking in a home poker game in North Delhi, India just a few days ago when things really got out of hand. One man was stabbed to death after he got into a fight with a friend over the amount of cash in the poker pot. There were $2.90 in the pot and the players got into a heated argument, so much so that one player was stabbed and died.

According to a police officer on the scene, the victim was drinking and playing cards with friends. An argument broke out over who the cash and the attacker when to the kitchen and got a knife and then repeatedly stabbed the victim. The victim was stabbed several times in the abdomen and chest area before he was taken to the hospital.

Sadly the victim was pronounced dead from the wounds inflicted. This is just one crazy story as to how poker can be taken too seriously, especially when money is involved. Add drinking into the mix and you get a stabbing with one person dead and another facing serious penalty for his actions.  The group has now lost two friends over a measly $2.90 after a round of drinking.

TwoPlusTwo Forum now includes Ultimate Poker Sponsored Support Option

Thursday, October 31st, 2013

Every poker player knows that the TwoPlusTwo forums are THE place to go to find out the latest goings on in the poker industry across the globe. The poker forum has over 300,000 members and are affiliated with top online poker rooms as well as groups that provide information on a variety of topics. Players can start their own threads about whatever they like from gossip to online poker rooms and so much more.

TwoPlusTwo is also home to sponsored support forums so players can view information about their home poker room. In the United States, the WSOP online poker site has already created an option so players can ask questions or find out information about the site. WSOP launched their TwoPlusTwo support option on launch day and now it seems as though, Ultimate Poker is following suit.

Ultimate Poker has now paid for a sponsored support forum at TwoPlusTwo and will be able to offer answers to questions and concerns that players may have. UP has already been active at the poker forum, offering information on upcoming changes or features to the site as well as helping players who have questions.

A long general discussion thread has now been moved to a new support forum specifically for Ultimate Poker. Terrence Chan is the representative of the site and he has created other threads for Ultimate Poker such as Promotions, Feature Requests and more. Players will find a section for any question they may have and should receive response fairly quickly.

The TwoPlusTwo forums have long been a go-to option for poker players who seek advice, input or just want to vent. By providing this outlet for players, Ultimate Poker is allowing members to be able to receive resolution for any issues, questions or concerns they may have.

Pot Limit Omaha added to Ultimate Poker

Thursday, October 24th, 2013

Ultimate Poker launched back in April in the state of Nevada and since that time, players within the states borders have been able to enjoy real money poker games. The site has been limited to what they offer and players have been anxiously awaiting new additions. The site has now announced they have launched real money pot limit Omaha games that are available now.

The cash games began yesterday and will have limits of $1-$2 with pot limit Omaha. There will be six-handed tables and those who want to play with lower stakes can hit the $0.10/$0.25 tables. The site is expected to launch even more stakes as well as poker games in the future. The site is basically the guinea pig for the region, not to mention the US. States are waiting to see how well the site does before launching their online poker sites.

Ultimate Poker is not the only site available to residents in the state of Nevada. WSOP kicked off their real money gaming site just a few weeks ago and they began with Omaha, seven card stud and of course, hold’em.

The state of Nevada is currently the only one in the US to offer online poker options for real money but Delaware and New Jersey are close to launching. Delaware plans on offering real money poker options online on October 31st and then on November 26th the state of New Jersey will launch not only online poker but online casino games as well.

The United States is slowly entering the online gambling industry as the three states emerge as the first to try the option. Other states are watching to see how well the others do before following in their footsteps. Either way, US gamblers are starting to have gaming options and this is an exciting time!

Sands Casino Operator Wants Stricter Punishment for Underage Gambling

Friday, October 18th, 2013

We all know that there are age limits to everything. From smoking and drinking to gambling, there is a certain age you have to be to be able to legally do these things. However, there are young people who try to get by with breaking the rules and will try to enter and gambling at a casino despite the rules. This can get the gambling facilities in major trouble and heavy fines must be paid. A Pennsylvania casino owner would like to see the punishment for underage gambling be made much stricter so that young people will not try to enter the casinos.

A report by the Morning Call states the the President of the Sands Casino-Resort Bethlehem located in Pennsylvania wants to see the level of punishment for underage gambling to be increased. The president is asking for a suspension of drivers license for those who enter any Pennsylvania casino that are underage.

The casino has already had to pay $56,000 just this year as four different instances of underage gambling took place. The casino is trying their best to keep the kids from the gaming floor but they are somehow slipping through.
Anyone caught currently in one of the twelve Pennsylvania casinos underage can face a small fine, but that’s it. While the casino faces huge fines for the young people’s actions. Robert DeSalvio, the President of the Sands, commented during a recent licensing hearing:

“It’s a technology arms race and the fakes are getting better. i think for a first offense, a person should lose their license for a year. i think that would be an excellent deterrent…i know we’ve had to pay our penalties in the form of fines. But i’m frustrated that our security staff has to constantly keep up with fraudulent IDs, fake IDs and IDs from brothers, nephews and cousins.”

Florida Casino to host Large World Poker Tour Event

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013

Just yesterday it was announced that Hollywood, Florida will be home to a major World Poker Tour event in 2014. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will be hosting a $10 million guaranteed main event which is sure to bring players from across the globe to compete.

The Main Event will have a buy-in of $5,300 and the announcement is not yet ‘official’ as the WPT has yet to release an announcement. However, Matt Savage the Executive Tour Director of the World Poker Tour retweeted the event from the Seminole Hard Rock.

This will be the second time the casino has hosted a massive guaranteed event. The casino just got finished hosting the Poker Open which had a $10 Million Guarantee Championship Event, which offered the same large guaranteed prize pool.

The event should take place in April 2014 and would take place at the same time as other major events including the EPT Sanremo and the PokerStars and Monte Carlo EPT event. The WSOP will also be hosting an Asia-Pacific event.

Savage also stated on Twitter that the event will have the same re-entry format as the Poker Open did in August. The event will have one hour long levels that will continue until Day 3 based on the standard structure of the WPT. The tour event will also include side events that will be a mixture of games.

With such a large guarantee, there are sure to be many players competing. Top pros as well as amateurs who earn a spot in the event will be ready to compete and hopefully win a nice first place prize. We will stay on top of all the action and keep our readers updated on the latest information on this upcoming World Poker Tour.

Ten Finalists Chosen for Poker Hall of Fame Consideration

Thursday, September 26th, 2013

It’s that time of year again. The poker industry is getting ready to induct the latest members of the Poker Hall of Fame and this year ten finalists are being considered. It is most likely that only two players will be chosen as finalists for induction. The induction is based on a vote of the Hall of Fame members and a media panel. The voting process is scheduled to end on October 11th.

There are several who have been chosen for nomination that is very well known in the industry. Jennifer Harman is up for induction and is considered to be the best female player ever to play the game. She has a long standing career in cash game play and has earned close to $2.5 million in tournament game play.

Mike Matusow is another player who is well-known in the poker industry. He is one of the big personalities of the game and known specifically for his Mouth! The pro is known to trash talk competitors and can back up his ‘mouth’ with four WSOP bracelets and over $8.5 million in earnings.

Huck Seed is also up for induction and is known for being a top live competitor. Scotty Nguyen, yeah baby, is up for induction and is also one of the most recognizable players in the game. The pro has earned around $11.7 million playing the game.

Also nominated is Carlos Mortensen, a forty one year old Spanish poker player. Mortensen is considered a top tournament player and has earned just over $11 million as well in game play. He even finished in 10th place during the 2013 main event of the WSOP.

Other players nominated for induction are:

Chris Bjorin

Humberto Brenes

David Chiu

Thor Hansen

Tom McEvoy

 

Borgata To Host World Poker Tour Championship

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

The World Poker Tour has just announced that in 2014, the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa will play host to the $25k WPT World Championship. The Atlantic City Casino will be hosting the event for the XII Season. The event has taken place in the state of Nevada for over a decade now, so the move is a big opportunity for the state of New Jersey.

With the Borgata hosting the event, this will be the first time if twelve years that the championship event did not take place in Nevada at the Bellagio Casino. The Borgata working with the World Poker Tour comes as no surprise as the two will be launching an online poker site soon, Borgatapoker.com, in the state of New Jersey. This site will be powered by bwin.party.

bwin.party is the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming from 2011. The group acquired the World Poker Tour around four years ago.  And not only will the championship event be moving to a new location but the tour will now have a new sponsor for the event with the signing of PartyPoker.

Party Poker is now the official sponsor of the new World Poker Tour seasons World Championship event. This is not the only time that the WPT will be working with Party Poker. Just last week, the World Poker Tour announced that they had partnered with Party Poker to host a five stop tour in the UK.

The Borgata will be hosting three of the World Poker Tour events that will be filmed for television. These events will be for Season XII and will include the current event, the Borgata Poker Open which is already taking place. This event will finish up soon and players will move on to the next stop on the tour.

New Tournament Option Launches at Americas Cardroom

Thursday, September 12th, 2013

Americas Cardroom is one that is available to United States players which makes it unique in the online poker industry. The online poker site offers a nice selection of gaming opportunities and recently announced they are adding a new option for tournament players. On Demand is the latest tournament option and can be found in both MTT and SnG game play.

AmericasCardroom-TableThe On Demand option can be found in the tournament lobbies of SNG and Multi table gaming. The new option will allow players to compete with a minimum number of gamers who are entered into the tournament. However players are allowed to register late for a certain amount of time. With new players joining the prize money will increase the prize pool and allow for players who were already busted out to reenter.

Americas Cardroom will kick off the launch of the new tournament style with guaranteed prize pools to get players to try the new option. Full Tilt Poker launched a similar tournament format and has seen great success. This new option is great for players as it gives more opportunity to compete if knocked out as well as more money in the prize pool.

Americas Cardroom not only added the new tournament feature but also decided to upgrade with other improvements. The site now offers a automatic timebank features as well as the player option to see folded cards by hovering over their screen name with the mouse. The site has also offered additional preferred seating and much more.

Players can check out the new tournament format with On Demand by signing in to Americas Cardroom today. The guaranteed prize pools for the new tournament option is set to last for some time so players can easily get in on the action and expect to see nice prize pools, especially as players take advantage of registering later in the event.

 

Americas Cardroom Phases Out Bad Beat Jackpot

Friday, August 30th, 2013

AmericasCardroom-TableBeginning in September, Americas Cardroom will be phasing out their promotion in regards to the bad beat jackpot and trading the idea out for something new. Currently, the site pays players a jackpot for competing at the bad beat jackpot tables and losing with a pair eights or a better hand. Once the 1st of September arrives, this option will no longer be available.

From this point, the site will not require a fee for players to play the bad beat jackpot, yet the jackpot will still be in play. Americas Cardroom released a statement on the subject via Michael Harris, which read that the company had decided to respond to feedback of game play by delivering a certain type of experience for ‘diehard’ players. Players wanted changes with the Bad Beat Jackpot and America’s Cardroom decided to change the concept of how players would earn the cash.

The change will see the jackpot frozen and players will be able to earn a piece of the jackpot. Players can compete for the jackpot once September arrives with no fee to compete. As of this point, the fee taken from the Beast category will only go towards The Beast when normally the fee fed the Bad Beat and The Beast.

Right now the site takes $0.25 in fees for stakes of $1/$2 as well as $0.08 from lower stakes for the bad beat. $0.13 and four cents is taken for the Cash option of The Beast and the Tournament Race of The Beast. Higher takes take out even more cash to pay for The Beast and bad beat competitions.

Once the changes take place, $0.25 will be the maximum fee taken off for every stake level. This amount will be taken from the Beast tables and a portion will go toward the Cash Race and a portion will go towards the Tournament Race. The site will then host a point’s race and the jackpot will be awarded at the end of the month to the top players.

Revolution Network Loses Poker Room to Microgaming

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

The Revolution Gaming Network has had a rough go over the past few months. The network has seen a sharp decline in player traffic as well as cash out speed issues and the problems are now worsening. The network, which is US friendly, recently lost Red Star Poker to the Microgaming Network.

Microgaming will now gain Red Star Poker on their poker network and Revolution will most definitely be impacted. The poker network had already seen a decline in poker traffic and now they will lose even more. The total numbers will not be visible until a few days after the site is removed from the network.

Revolution had come under scrutiny by Juicy Stakes and Lock Poker players for slow payment processing but Red Star did not seem to have these issues. Red Star worked under their own cashier which allowed the site to process their own payments separate from the network. Red Star has yet to announce why they made the move and players were not given any information as to their motivation.

It could be that the online poker room wanted to distance themselves from Revolution so they would not become wrapped up in the network’s issues. Also to consider is that the Microgaming Network offers better options. The Microgaming option provides both additional features that Revolution does not as well as better average traffic.

Microgaming can offer fast fold and other features that would enhance the gaming experience for Red Star players. The network also has at least two times the amount of average traffic as Revolution and the traffic seems to be much more stable than Revolution.

As for now, we can only wait and see what Red Star announces, if they do at all, as to why they made the move. The impact for Revolution will also be seen in the coming days.