Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Finally! Legal Online Poker in the USA.
The agreement, which was signed on September 7, means online poker will now be offered legally in more than 30 US states through Tribal Gaming Network.
It was made possible by a special exemption in the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which effectively banned online gambling in the US but allowed for "certain exceptions to Indian casinos, to interracial online gambling activities and to the states that allow online gambling activities under an intra-constitutional framework law."
Atlantic Group CEO Donald Bailey hailed the new agreement, calling it a solution to tribes and states facing economic problems at a national level.
Meanwhile, the battle to legalize online gaming in the US continues.
In California, an updated version of the intrastate e-gaming bill is expected to come up for a vote in the state legislature before the end of 2010.
And federally, Congressman Barney Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, better known as HR 2267, is awaiting its turn to be debated in Congress after passing through the House Financial Services Committee in August.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Phil Laak finally wins a WSOP Bracelet!
Phil Laak used a strong final day to propel him to the first World Series of Poker bracelet of his career at opening event of the 2010 WSOP Europe tournament. Laak overcame a field of 244 runners to take first place and £170,802 of a total prize pool of £610,000. Part of an illustrious field that included Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Liv Boeree, Praz Banzi and many more, Laak endured a back-and-forth heads-up with Andrew Pantling in the No Limit Hold’em 6-Max event to capture the win.
Sporting sun glasses that covered his surgically repaired right eye and a cast on his right arm that was adorned with the Union Jack, it was hard to distinguish that Laak was in a serious ATV accident only 6 weeks ago.
Anyone watching him play wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference either. Sitting in third place to start a final table that would last less than seven hours, Laak begin had an up and down start to the day. While Pantling marched over 1 million chips, Laak staved off several all-ins and began climbing, earning his way into the heads-up battle.
Although Pantling held an advantage of almost 2-to-1 over Laak going into heads-up, the momentum shifted to the “Unabomber” almost immediately. Within 90 minutes after starting, Laak pulled even with Pantling in their race to the finish. Mixing a masterful combination of bluffs and nice hands that kept Pantling guessing, Laak passed his opponent on the way to victory.
As the final hand paired up Laak’s 5 on the turn for the win, the crowd went wild. Laak announced the victory on his Twitter account, saying, “Maximum cheeze shippage. £170,802 ($267,010). Plus some gold! Holla!!” No longer lacking a WSOP bracelet, Phil Laak scored a big victory to start off the World Series of Poker Europe.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Online Poker is just a bill and only a bill...sitting here on capitol hill...
Congress reconvened Monday for its final weeks before adjourning early for this year's elections, giving online poker a small window for one final push before the regular session ends.
It's already been an unprecedented year for the advancement of people's right to play poker, with Barney Frank's bill to license and regulate Internet gambling passing through the House Financial Services Committee in July.
But progress doesn't carry over from year to year in Congress, and changes from the November election could stop poker's momentum on Capitol Hill.
The next step is for Rep. Jim McDermott's Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to advance through the Ways and Means Committee. A representative of McDermott told us the Congressman is pushing for a markup of the bill in late September.
Unfortunately, McDermott isn't in the position of Frank, who has the power to decide when a bill will be marked up as chairman of the Financial Services Committee. McDermott must convince Ways and Means chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) to call for the markup.
Congress adjourns on Oct. 8, but Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas expects the representatives to return the week after the Nov. 2 elections for an extended session.
"In past experience, they've worked all the way through Thanksgiving and through Christmas eve when I worked on the Hill," Pappas said. "I wouldn't expect anything different this time around. They have a lot of bills that need to be taken up. They don't have the appropriation bills done. The lame-duck session is going to happen. It's a necessity, no question about it."
The PPA is asking its members who live in the districts of Ways and Means representatives to send a PPA form letter asking for their congressmen to push for a markup and support the legislation. Enter your zip code on the site to find out if your representative is on the committee. Pappas doesn't believe the Ways and Means markup needs to be held in the regular session to keep up poker's momentum.
"If it doesn't happen before the elections, we feel very good we can get a markup and vote during the lame-duck session," he said.
It will take this extended session in addition to some significant political maneuvering from Frank and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for Internet poker legislation to go all the way this year.
Frank has been a champion of people's right to play online poker for years, leaving the impression that he would be willing to pull out all the stops if passing his bill was a real possibility. Reid is the most powerful man in the Senate and he comes from Nevada, where he's influenced by casinos like Harrah's that are pushing for legalized Internet poker. Though Reid is thought to have come around on the idea of poker-only legislation, he has never shown his support publicly. It would be a big leap for him to suddenly be the one to make this happen with a Herculean effort this year.
In other words, poker players should keep their expectations realistic for now. You still have a better chance of rivering that one-outer than a poker bill has of passing through both houses in the small amount of legislative time remaining this year.
But that's still a better chance than online poker has ever had before.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Phil Ivey Takes 2010 Online Poker Money Lead
Phil Ivey, the “Tiger Woods of Poker”, has quietly moved atop the leader board of the online poker world, slipping past Tom “durrrr” Dwan on the heels of an incredibly strong past week. The fact that Ivey’s accomplishment went virtually unnoticed by many poker fans is amazing, especially since poker’s top player is followed by so many of the game’s fans.
Since a $1.19 million drop two weeks ago, Ivey has been on a tear, picking up $1.66 in the past week to push his year-to-date total to $3,801,602 moving him just past Dwan’s $3,753,591. Ivey owes much of his upswing to Gus Hansen; the “Great Dane” has been dogged by Ivey’s strong play recently, handing over $1.1 million to “No Home Jerome” during the past week.
Dwan, like Hansen, has been bleeding green recently. Back in April, durrrr was sitting on a $6.6 million upswing for 2010, of which he has now given back almost $3 million. Hansen, for his part, has donated over $2.3 million back to other players at Full Tilt Poker nosebleed tables in 2010, securing his position as the second biggest loser for the year. (Brian Townsend has coughed up over $2.5 million over the same period)
Helping to secure his reputation as the world’s top poker player, Ivey has run his career online winnings to a stunning $19.5 million. Ivey has been incredibly efficient with his winnings in 2010; his gain has come over a mere 43,232 hands in 2010, while Dwan has labored through an amazing 260,345 to earn second spot on the list.
Already the top player in online poker, Phil Ivey has regained a familiar position by taking the top spot on this year’s list. With Dwan struggling through a Durrrr Challenge against Dan “jungleman12” Cates, Ivey is likely to pulling away from his top challenger even more, once again confirming his ranking as the game’s elite player
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