Online Poker News Blog

Phil Ivey Loses over 140k in 20 min

Phil Ivey was playing at full tilt poker and lost over $140k dollars in about 50 hands. He was playing heads up $500/$1000 NL Hold-em  poker against LarsLuzak. He lost one hand worth over 100k+ !If you would like to read more about the full tilt poker game then check out the blog post Ivey Deathmatch. The Ivey deathmatch is a new game type in full tilt poker where players can sit at a table and play heads up against Phil Ivey. LarsLuzak decided to play and had a huge payday…That is the first time I have heard of a player actually playing in the ivey deathmatch poker game. Since it is a new game at full tilt and I am sure most players don’t want to play against Phil Ivey with thousands of dollars.

Poker Stars Millions

The PokerStars.net/millions is a series of tournaments with over 110,000 cash prizes! The winner will play in the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure ($8k) and will get 7 nights accommodations at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas , $1,000 cash for travel
and poker training from Daniel Negreanu. This is a huge series of tournaments that is so big they are advertising it on TV!

If you would like to enter the tournament go to: pokerstars.com/millions and download the free pokerstars software. You will then be able to register for the satellite tournaments where you can win seats to later tournaments to win the grand prize. Every round has cash prizes so even if you don’t get a seat to the next round (there are 3 rounds) you may end up winning cash.

Euro Poker News EPT Barcelona Day Three Recap

The European Poker tour continues with the ongoing Barcelona Open where after three days of poker action a field of 56 poker players from around the world were now reduced to 8 players. Mohamad Kowssarie who is known in the poker tour as the “Terror of Sweden” currently leads the chip race, following in his shadow is past London poker tour champion Mark Teltscher of England.

The champion of this event will take the top prize of about $1,500,000. The Barcelona Open has attracted some of the who’s who of the poker world, with such notable poker players like Phil Starrs, Fabrice Soulier, Sylvester Geoghegan, Ian Woodley, Michael Greco, Bjorne Erik Glenne and Katja Thater participating in this event.

At the start of the event it is highly visible that current leader Mohammad Kowssarie is focused on this event. He was seen subdued and relaxed but with concentration as he was among the first players back on the table after the break counting on his chips.

The Barcelona Open showed not only the competitive nature of the players but the camaraderie and good nature of the players as well, Sylveste Geoghegan of Ireland was all smiles after the first break that left only 40 players in the field. There’s no doubt that they all came here to win but also to have a great time as well.

source:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/9660/euro-poker-news-ept-barcelona-day-three-recap

Orange Park’s Poker Dilemma

The citizens of Orange Park, Florida are in a quandary at the moment. The dilemma stems from the proposal to create a poker room to be part of the Orange Park Kennel Club. The residents are divided into two distinct groups – those who oppose and those who support this plan. The issue to be resolved is critical and will certainly have an impact on the future endeavors of the town.

The position espoused by the resident opposing the poker room is based on the fundamental, moral argument against gambling. Poker is one form of gambling, which should be prohibited as being against public welfare and public morality. During the assembly held at the town’s auditorium, statistics were shown on the adverse effects as well as the link between gambling activities and criminal occurrences.

Those who are in favor of the establishment of poker rooms emphasized the potential income that the operation will contribute to the community. Higher revenues generated by the Orange Park Kennel Club means higher taxes due to the local government. Furthermore, the room necessarily implies the creation of more jobs that will benefit the workforce available in the town.

The immediate resolution of this controversy is being watched closely as it can set a precedent in other towns having related issues.

Source:
MyClaySun.com (August 28, 2007)
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/083007/nec_195412042.shtml

Bodog Life.com and Bodog Life.net New Domain Names

After Bodog temporarily changed its name to NewBodog last week they have changed their name once again. Bodog will now be known as Bodog Life.com and Bodog Life.net. I was sent a letter explaining that this will be a more permanent home for the site because of their current legal troubles with the bodog.com domain name. A letter by Calvin Ayre says this domain reflects the lifestyle that bodog allows players to live. We will see how long they will use this domain name as it could be years before they get back the bodog domain name because these types of disputes are never fast…

Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS V Series Shatters Expectations

The popularity of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) V Poker event continues to grow and its garnering more support and interest from poker players and fans alike in the whole world. With over $7 million at stake in more than 14 poker tournaments, the results exceeded most people’s expectations, with each FTOPS V event drawing record setting participants that contributed to the over all pool prize money of over $10.5 million.

The FTOPS event 12, which Phil Ivey hosted, was the first time that the Full tilt Poker hosted a two day event and guarantees an outstanding pool prize of at least $600,000. A total of 648 of the finest poker players registered to join with a buy in amount of $2,500, but the popularity of the event grew and the participants increased the total pool prize balloons into a spectacular $1,600,000. Grndhg25 won this event and eventually taking home the first price amounting to over $396,000.

Currently, more than 25,000 poker players have played in all 14 events of the FTOPS V series, making it as one of the best tournament series in the history of Full Tilt Poker.

Howard Lederer a team Full tilt member expects nothing but great things ahead for the FTOPS Series and that is great news for poker players around the world.
source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/8/prweb550690.htm

No Age Gap for this Grandfather-Grandson Poker Tandem

Poker can certainly bring people together, generation gap notwithstanding. This is the case of the grandfather-grandson team of Jack Ury and Seth Harrold, respectively. The former is already 94 years old while the latter is only 1/3 at 30. The age factor however is set aside once the two relatives engage in their favorite past time which is poker. The two, who are residents of Terra Haute, Indiana, even participated in the recently concluded event in Las Vegas, which was the World Series of Poker.

The duo’s exposure that was eventually shown on national television placed poker in a new light among the millions of viewers. It was definitely delightful to see a man such as Ury’s age play in such a prestigious contest. They were eliminated at an early stage though but the interest in Ury continued. Blind on one eye, deaf on one ear and a faltering vision on the other eye, his enthusiasm is not dampened as playing poker remains on a high level.

When the tournament was broadcasted later on by ESPN, only Harrold was able to see them play on television. His grandfather failed to see his TV debut as he was busy doing what he loves doing the most, these past few years, that is playing poker and winning.

Source:
TribStar.com (August 30, 2007)
http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_242232540.html

Legal Battle on Video Poker Resuscitated

The controversy involving the ban on video poker will be decided on the merits after all. This arises after the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision rendered by Judge David Norton of the US District Court.

The issue revolved upon the legality of a 1999 amendment to South Carolina’s gambling laws. In essence, the questioned provision involved the ban on video poker machines. This blanket proviso allows for the immediate seizure of these alleged illegal instruments and is subject to destruction upon determination of a local judge.

The complainant in this case, a certain Jimmy Martin filed his petition in the federal court. His arguments were based on his Constitutional right to due process as well as on the equal protection clause. He prays that the specific provision be struck down using the “void for vagueness” principle.

Defending his ruling in dismissing the complaint, Judge Norton adhered to the position that the federal courts should not interfere with State laws particularly with respect to statutes implemented and promoted for the sake of public welfare. The Federal Appeals Court, however, believes otherwise as this was an issue involving a person’s Constitutional rights versus the interest of the State.

The decision was not unanimous, though, as the final vote in reversing this case was 2 in favor and 1 dissenting in a panel composed of 3 judges.

Source:
The Charlotte Observer, posted August 29, 2007
http://www.charlotte.com/205/story/255738.html

94-Year-Old Grandfather Competes in 2007 World Series of Poker

In the World Series of Poker (WSP), who would’ve thought that a hard of hearing, almost completely blind 94-year-old would be one of the tournament’s biggest fan drawers?

That’s exactly what happened in the 2007 WSP, held just this summer in
Las Vegas, Nevada. And that 94-year-old is grandfather Jack Ury, a
Terre Haute, Indiana resident who is just crazy about poker.

Jack Ury’s grandson Seth Harrold said this about his poker-passionate grandfather: “It’s not one of those things that he played poker for the fact that it’s popular in the last 3 or 5 years. He’s been playing since he was a child”.

In fact, the day that the episode showing Jack Ury competing in the World Series of Poker was broadcasted on national television, Jack Ury was not at home in front of his TV waiting for it in anticipation. He was too engrossed playing poker on a riverboat casino to be even bothered.

Harrold further stated that his grandfather won’t be back from his riverboat casino poker trip to
Aurora, Illinois until a few days later. He said that his grandfather was apparently winning big time, so decided to extend his stay.

Both grandfather and grandson competed in the 2007 WSP tournament.

News source: http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_242232540.html The Tribune Star

Valley Poker Duo Showcased on ESPN

Legal Version of Poker to Open in Little Rock

Not even anti-gambling laws can hold back the expansion of poker.

The National Poker Challenge (NPC) will be bringing the increasingly popular game of luck and strategy to the people of Little Rock, Arkansas very soon in September. The NPC also has poker room franchises in operation in Portland, Oregon and in neighboring Memphis, Tennessee.

The poker room in Little Rock was actually set to open at an earlier date, but the NPC encountered some major setbacks and delays with the city’s anti-gambling laws in the previous month. Little Rock officials said that the NPC game of poker was in clear violation of their city’s no gambling policy.

The NPC argued that their version of poker does not break any laws and that no real gambling occurs during their poker games. They proudly market their game as “The Nation’s Only Non-Gambling Legal Poker Tournament” and they even have their own no gambling policy. However, most players do fork over some cash to have their monthly playing performance monitored and are also given the option to compete in tournaments with prize money.

The Little Rock Police Department still says that the NPC poker game is illegal and that winning anything by luck is considered as gambling. Then in that line of thought, maybe raffles and bingo games should be banned too.

News source: KATV Channel 7