Bar Poker League

Written by Nigel

Ever heard of the Bar Poker League? I am sure that if you have not, you are probably jumping off your chair in excitement right now, especially if you have been looking for a good group to play poker regularly with offline. To be honest, I didn’t really know much about this group until quite recently.

It does sound very intriguing and promising, doesn’t it? The Bar Poker League hosts Texas Hold ‘Em Tournaments in various bars and nightclubs. Who will not find that interesting? The thing is, their activities are mainly focused in the state of Minnesota. So if you are from out of state or worse, from another country, then you are plain out of luck.

For those who live within the area, what is in it for you? Here’s what they have to say: “Join the Bar Poker League and play seven nights a week. League members compete for $200 in nightly tournament prizes and qualify for district finals and casino-hosted state and regional championships through our poker point system. Members can win trips to Las Vegas, Tour Pro Poker Camp packages…”

Not bad. Although I am sure that there are other tournaments in many parts of the world, many poker players out there are wishing that they would have a similar set up in their area. I am going to try and look up more information on this league and share it with you if I find something.

Humans Still Superior When It Comes to Poker

Written by Nigel

Who can forget when the chess Grand Master Kasparov was defeated by the computer Deep Blue in what was dubbed the “Brain’s Last Stand?”  When Deep Blue won the match, the rest of the world commiserated with Kasparov and at the same time marveled at Deep Blue.  Last week, a similar event was held in Canada.  This time it was a match between 2 professional poker players and a computer program called Polaris.

Polaris, 16 years in the making, plays for days before a match, creating 10 different bots that each has a unique playing style.  The very concept of Polaris is enough to make anyone wonder.  Yet after four rounds of Texas Hold ‘em poker, Polaris surrendered and folded once and for all to the humans.

Interestingly enough, lest we be smug and say that poker is too complex for computers to get the hang of, we (humans) barely won that match.  According to Phil Laak (the Unabomber), “I literally felt the same feeling that you would have if you beat 500 people in a tournament and won a million dollars. We won, not by a significant amount, and the bots are closing in.”

Many others agree with the Unabomber.  It seems that it will be only a matter of time till the programmers find a way to make their machines even more powerful.  Yet for now, we can thank these two poker players for proving that man reigns supreme over machine – at least in the world of poker.

Poker Players: New Rock Stars?

Written by Nigel

I was browsing the web this morning and saw an article that made me think.  It was all about poker players being the rock stars of the modern age.  How true is this?  Here are some excerpts of the article, giving a checklist of what it takes to be a rock star and how poker players meet the criteria.

Money - check. Sure there are broke degenerates out there, and lots of them, but the top poker players are all ballin’ at a tremendous clip. The net worth of players like Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein? Massive. Even if you take a step down and look at the top online players, you have at least a 100 with a net worth of over a million dollars. Not bad for sitting at your computer.

Cool life - you can’t really beat living in Vegas for two months in a house that looks like a castle, driving to the Rio for your $2k buyin tournament in your rented Benz, and then getting stoned when you get home and winning $40k online. That’s a pretty cool life if you ask me.

Jewelry - you seen the bling that Ivey, Antonius and Mizzi are sporting?

The Girls - in typical rock star style, you got ugly guys that are good at poker pulling down ridiculous girls that they would have no chance of getting if they were an insurance broker. Plus, you got groupies in poker too (see Brandi Hawbaker)

The Fancy Car - Check out the rides of Ivey, Antonius, Ozzy87 (online) or MuckEmSayUhhh (online). Sick.

The TV Time - make a final table at the World Series of Poker and you’ll get your face seen by millions of people on ESPN, no matter how ugly or unattractive you may be.

What do you think?  I tend to agree.

Absolute Poker Beats the Bad Beat

Written by Nigel

Every poker player knows how it is like to have a bad beat.  As much as any poker player would do almost anything to avoid one, it is also a known fact that there are just times when you do get a bad beat – there is no escaping it, at least once.  So how do you behave and react when you get a bad beat?  Some just ride the tide and let it blow over.  Others get sucked in and lose even more.

Absolute Poker has come up with something new for players who get a bad beat – something to turn the tables around somehow for them.  The new Bad Beat Jackpot from Absolute Poker adds a very interesting twist to their already popular Texas Hold ‘em version.  With the Bad Beat Jackpot, players who are losing immensely just might feel Lady Luck blowing her kisses upon them.  “We’re taking away the pain delivered by bad beats by throwing money at the victims,” stated David Clainer, senior vice president for Absolute Poker.  So how does it work?

Remember, if you are having a bad beat, your hand is supposedly favored to win but you still lose.  At the Bad Beat Jackpot table, if this happens to you, you can take home a piece of the Jackpot.  To start things off for the Bad Beat Jackpot, Absolute Poker is putting $100,000 into the jackpot.  If someone hits a qualifying bad beat (four twos or better), he gets a large part of the jackpot together with the other players at the table.  Interesting, I must say.

The Poker Players Alliance

Written by Nigel

I am sure you have heard of this group – they are on our side!  In the past months, they have been actively fighting for the rights of poker players, in the light of the internet gambling ban in the U.S.  Just to give you more ideas on what they are doing:

“The major lobbying force for the online poker world, several major milestones have been reached. First, the PPA surpassed the half million member total and is rapidly approaching 550,000. The free memberships along with the addition of former three-time Republican Senator Alfonse D’Amato (pictured) to its ranks have spurred tremendous growth and visibility. Now, John Pappas, a former executive with Dittus Communications, was brought on board to spearhead the government relations efforts of the PPA. The unique expertise that he brings to the organization is a testament to the proactive nature of online poker’s leading political voice.”

Some specific activities are geared towards the betterment of the poker world:

“They include Write Your Congressman Day, a grassroots campaign to show online poker players’ discontent with the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. As a direct result of this campaign, 5,000 e-mails were sent to Congressmen nationwide on a single day last May. Several months later, when the Senate was to debate the same measure, Pappas was once again on the move, coordinating the Phone March on Washington on September 12. His success in these two movements combined with his vast public relations experience means the PPA has added another key piece to the puzzle.”

If we are about to experience some change, I am sure the PPA will be part of it.  Interested in joining them?  Just visit their website.

Kids Down Under Getting Hooked On Poker

Written by Nigel

Here’s the latest bit of news from Australia – one in five high school kids is playing card games.  A large number of these kids favor Texas Hold ‘Em Poker.  This can be attributed largely to media exposure such as Casino Royale and the World Series of Poker.  So what is the issue here?

For some concerned people, there is the fear that the youngster might fall into the trap of unregulated gambling and find themselves in financial trouble.  “They play poker with a mate over a six pack and say ‘This is easy, I’m good at this’,” Uniting Care’s Mark Henley said. “Then they see celebrity poker and the next thing you know they’re on dodgycasino@vanuatu.com and they’re in a bit of financial strife.”

It seems that people are getting stirred up in Australia about this potential problem.  What do I think about this?  I say it is a good thing that poker is getting more popular, whichever country it is.  I do have to agree, however, that unregulated gambling might do more damage than good.  I love poker – with or without money.  Then again, I am at least a decade older than those high school kids and I have my own means of income.  Those kids need to learn that poker does not have to be all about money. That is, at least until they gain some measure of control.  I suppose this would fall under the parents’ area of responsibility.  It is up to instill values in their kids.

Epassporte

Written by Nigel

With all the hassle that an avid online poker player has to go through to play for real money, people have been continuously looking for viable options to be able to do so.  One such option that has come up is Epassporte, a debit Visa account that can be obtained instantly online.  According to the company itself, their personal services include:

•    Shop online safely and securely where ePassporte Visa Cards are accepted
•    Send and receive funds between ePassporte Account Holders instantly
•    Make purchases at millions of retail locations where Visa is accepted
•    Withdraw funds at over 1 million ATM locations worldwide

It all sounds good to me.  However, reports have been coming in which undermine the feasibility of this system.  According to one user, “Since the 22th of January I have been trying to receive a ‘physical’ Visa card from Epassporte. I had already the Visa electron, but I paid the $40 dollar or so extra to get the real thing.

I’m not going to tell the whole story again, but I didn’t receive it. At the end of March I called Epassporte for the 3rd time or so and then got to speak to a lady, who told me that according to them I should have received the card, because it had been sent a couple of weeks ago already. Since I had not, they blocked the old card and sent me a new one.”

There are some good comments too, though.  I suppose this has not been tried and tested yet.  I will wait till it stabilizes, I think.

Cashless Poker Machines?

Written by Nigel

A news headline for today really caught my attention as it read “NSW To Introduce Cashless Poker Machines.”  Well, yeah, I know – the other day I was just talking about poker being fun even without having cash at the table.  However, I was talking about a group of people coming together to play.  When it comes to poker machines, though, it just seems a bit silly not having to play for cash, doesn’t it?

The rest of the news item gave me a clearer picture – the poker machines (cashless, mind you) does not mean that the player will not get any winnings.  It is just that with the new system, NSW poker players will get their winnings in the form of a ticket and then redeem that for cash at a booth or counter.

So what is the point in this system?  One, authorities say that having to stand up from the machine to collect winnings will force gamblers to take a break.  According to Peter Newell (Chairman of Clubs New South Wales), “the new system will force gamblers to take a break and, while not a cure for problem gambling, is a step in the right direction.”  More so, he says that “It also removes a level of cash out of the system so it makes clubs less of a target for armed robberies which is an ongoing problem as well.”

Point taken.  Then again, I wonder how NSW poker machine fans will react to this?

Looser Poker Laws in Florida

Written by Nigel

For those of you living in this part of the world, there’s more good news:

The maximum betting limits at a poker table in the state of Florida has been $2, with players being able to raise three times in a given playing round, but that will soon all change as a bill has passed through both the Senate and the House, leaving only the Governor, Charlie Crist to veto the bill.

It is not expected that the Governor would take the veto action, which would mean the new law would go into affect the first day of July, 2007.

The new law seems to coincide with a progressive movement being made in the state towards building a mecca for gamblers, much like in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Many believe this law is just the next step toward the ultimate goal of having complete gambling freedom, with full access to table games such as craps, blackjack, and roulette, which are currently still illegal in the state.

This latest law will have current casinos scrambling to provide table games with these new maximum limits at their poker tables. The most likely scenario is having many $1-$2 no limit tables, in addition to $5 buy in and $5 betting max limit games. Although that does not sound like much, a player could conceivably have $20 around in per round per hand, which means players could be in for $65 a hand(including their buy-in).

Again, nothing is set in stone but it seems to me that this is quite promising.  What do you think?

Poker for PS3

Written by Nigel

Here’s more for us poker lovers.  It seems to me that this is an exciting year for poker!

Sony Online Entertainment is developing High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition for the PlayStation 3. The game is anticipated to be available for digital download through the PlayStation Network this Winter for US$10.

High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition will give players a chance to show off their skills in Texas Hold’em, Super Hold’em, Billabong, Tahoe and Shanghai. Each of the five different styles of poker can be played as limit, pot limit or no limit poker. Multiplayer is available for all games, and will allow up to six people to play together on one table at a time, in high definition up to 1080p.

“Being among the first PlayStation Network publishers to release a game that takes advantage of the EyeToy USB Camera (for PlayStation 2) and other PC compatible USB cameras is not only exciting, but also puts the player into a realistic game play setting featuring live audio and video feed,” said Michael Lustenberger, VP of Marketing for Sony Online Entertainment.

Players have the option to log in for a quick match or play through a whole season. The game also offers a Turbo Mode to power through the tournament circuit to advance a player’s career. In addition, players can track their stats and see how they compare to others through online leader boards, and used points earned to unlock items for their customisable character.

For those who have PS3s (who doesn’t want one???) then this should be something to look forward to!

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