Live Poker news
This year's "World poker congress" will be hosted in Budapest Hungary
"On October 29th and 30th poker companies will be meeting at the Marriott Hotel in the historic European city of Budapest. The idea of this event is to bring together the online poker business world with the live world of poker, to discuss the similarities and differences between the two. Clarion Gaming, organizers of the event say this conference is a necessity if we are to see poker continue to flourish as a worldwide sport.
The WPC is targeted primarily at the decision makers in the world of poker. Organizers expect to see at least 150 attendants who represent more than 80 land based and online poker companies. Previous conferences have wound up with an informative panel discussion with experienced international poker players which usually generates very useful exchanges of views and suggestions.
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October 14, 2008
APPT: Daniel Craker Wins Auckland Stop
"The inaugural Asia Pacific Poker Tour stop in Auckland, New Zealand, drew 306 entrants and broke the record for the largest poker tournament ever in the country. The total prize pool for the event was $856,000 NZD, with the top 32 players receiving prize money.
The final day of play in this three-day event saw 11 players return to battle for a first-place prize worth $257,040 NZD, and Edward Holcroft (11th) and Eric Mutrie (10th) were busted heading to the final table of nine.
Wang Che Jung was the early aggressor at the final table, taking out four opponents, Wai Kwan Yuen (ninth), Michael Mariakis (eighth), Nathanael Seet (sixth), and Dan Sing (fourth) before he finally met his doom, falling in third place in a hand that marked the turning point at the final table. There was a large slowdown in play during five-handed action, and it took a few hours for Sing to eliminate Luke Stanford (fifth). After Kiwi Daniel Craker busted Jung in third place (Craker also eliminated Jani Karke in seventh place), he made quick work of Matthew Konecke (second) during heads-up play. Konnecke got all of his chips into the middle during the second hand of heads-up play with A-9, but Craker held pocket twos, which held up to give him the victory and $257,040 NZD for the first major victory of his career.
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Hand of the final table:
Craker raised preflop and Konecke made the call. Jung reraised the pot to three bets and Craker made the call. Konecke mucked. The flop was dealt 9 3 2 , and Jung moved all in. Craker quickly called and turned over 8 8 . Jung showed down K 6 and the turn and river fell 3 and J to eliminate Jung in third place.
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October 14, 2008
Tiffany Michelle Wins Charity Tourney at MGM
"The 2008 World Series of Poker main event last-woman-standing award went to Tiffany Michelle, and at the Fourth-Annual Road 2 Recovery Charity Poker Tournament held at the MGM in Las Vegas this weekend, she was the last person standing. The event was successful in raising more than $43,000 for the Injured Riders Fund.
Sixty-seven players showed up in support, including Layne Flack, Jon Friedberg, Hoyt Corkins, Todd Brunson, Brandon Cantu, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Karina and Chip Jett, Adam Schoenfeld, and Maria Ho. Jeff Madsen, along with the Road 2 Recovery founder Jimmy Button, hosted the event, and Jamie Gold and Robert Williamson III emceed. The donation to enter the tournament was $300, and the 160 $100 rebuys and add-ons padded the total number of money raised for charity. Flack won the award for most “re-donations” at 23, but Michelle wasn’t far behind with 19.
Those rebuys paid off for Michelle. She beat Jeff Madsen heads up to win the first-place prize, which included a ""World"" model sports watch donated by Curtis & Co., a 22 lb. crystal trophy designed by Legacy Alliance, hotel suite accommodations at the MGM, as well as a $10,000 entry into the 2009 WSOP main event. Michelle pledged to donate five-percent of any winnings back to Road 2 Recovery’s Injured Riders Fund.
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October 14, 2008
"Deal" is now out on DVD
The poker movie simply known as "Deal" is now out on DVD, released on Wednesday, August 20th. The movie is about a "mysterious ex-gambler" who mentors a young kid who has some poker skill and grooms him to be the next poker superstar. Burt Reynolds plays the ex-gambler, but there are plenty of real poker talents in the movie, including Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Tilly and more. DVD buyers also get a nice poker tutorial with Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and Isabelle Mercier as a big bonus. Officially endorsed by the World Poker Tour, the movie "Deal" is out everywhere DVD’s are sold.
October 14, 2008
Online poker scams discovered at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet
It took a bit of detective work, and a lot of statistical analysis, but an online poker player Michael Josem took upon himself to uncover a huge online poker scam. After studying great amounts of data, Michael Josem uncovered a group of people winning games almost at 100% of the time, and playing much faster than normal. The scam has been going on for about 3 years.
The thieving epidemic was discovered at poker sites Absolute Poker and UtimateBet. It was an internal scam -- a group of employees working within both companies used an software exploit that allowed them to see all the cards people were holding. Knowing what everyone was holding, the scammers brazenly folded and bet with impunity, winning as many matches as the could, without trying very hard to cover their tracks.
"Every online poker hand is recorded electronically and can be analyzed after the fact. Just as the third umpire video replay can be used to enforce the rules in cricket, third-party analysis can be used to enforce the rules of poker," Michael Josem was quoted as saying. "The chances of [the investigated] players winning at those rates is approximately equal to winning a one-in-a-million lottery on six consecutive occasions," said Josem. "If you know what cards your opponent has, you'll never lose - and this is precisely what happened."
It's pretty tough to figure out how much money was scammed from unknowing players because after they become a subject of an investigation by the the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Absolute Poker went on a record-erasing rampage and destroyed all the incriminating records. The Gaming Commision fined Absolute Poker $500,000 for the cover up, and then just this week, laid another $1.5 million dollar fine in an on-going investigation.
Humorously enough, one of the top scammers (supposedly) was Russ Hamilton -- a guy considered to be a world-class, professional poker player.
October 14, 2008
Million dollar dress
Kicking off the SkyCity Festival of Poker was MTV host and former Miss New Zealand Amber Peebles, and she not only looked like a million bucks, she was wearing a million bucks. At least, that was the value of the poker chips cleverly joined together to make her dress, and a security detail was on hand to make sure Peebles and her chips were safe. The dress was made up of 200 casino chips worth $5k apiece, and was made only for this event at the SkyCity Casino in Auckland, and will never be worn again.
October 14, 2008
AT MICROGAMING 4 KINGS BEAT A ROYAL FLUSH!
MICROGAMING POKER NETWORK PLAYER LOSES WINNING HAND TO ROYAL FLUSH… THEN SCOOPS UP $54,411.87 ON THE BAD BEAT JACKPOT!
ISLE OF MAN - Microgaming, the world's largest provider of online gaming software, saw its Bad Beat jackpot snapped up yet again when an Intertops player with a four of a kind hand containing four kings lost out to a player with a Royal Flush, then hit the Bad Beat jackpot, scooping up $54,411.87!
The Intertops player started the hand with $19 and thought he was out of the running when he lost his winning hand to a Royal Flush. But he came out on top when the Bad Beat jackpot hit $155,462 sharing the whopping jackpot total with ten ecstatic players across four poker rooms.
Microgaming Poker Network powers over 40 poker rooms worldwide and as the above goes to show, even losing hands can be winners on the Microgaming Poker Network.
October 14, 2008
