Online Poker Scene

Full Tilt Poker Launches Holiday Hundred Promotion

P5s Staff — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the end of the year by launching the Holiday Hundred promotion, which runs through December 6th. Grab a turkey leg, some mashed potatoes, and a heaping scoop of pie and head over to the world’s second largest online poker site to claim your $100 bonus. To claim your Holiday Hundred, just fire up the Full Tilt Poker software, log in, click on the “Requests” menu at the top of the lobby, and then navigate to “Check My Bonus Offer.” From there, click on “Accept Offer” and hit the tables to unlock it!

Anyone who has made a deposit on Full Tilt Poker and finished an active bonus by November 15th will receive a Holiday Hundred bonus as soon as they want to claim it. If you haven’t yet made an initial deposit on Full Tilt Poker, don’t sweat it. The site, which plays host to sponsored pros like Durrrr Challenge combatants Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan, has you covered. Just make your first deposit and finish off your bonus by November 30th. Then, you’ll find a present under the tree in the form of a Holiday Hundred offer by December 2nd and you can claim it anytime until December 6th.

If you still have an active bonus, then you have until November 30th to clear it. If you manage to do so, you’ll receive a Holiday Hundred offer by December 2nd and, once again, you can claim it anytime until December 6th. Full Tilt’s website succinctly explains how to figure out whether or not you have an active bonus: “To see if you have an active bonus, go to the ‘Cashier’ in the Full Tilt Poker game lobby, then click the ‘Bonus Account’ button.”

You have a grand total of 30 days to clear your Holiday Hundred once you accept it, so don’t delay. You’ll clear $0.06 of your bonus for every Full Tilt Point (FTP) you generate while playing online and the Holiday Hundred is paid out in increments of $10. The site notes that 167 FTPs will land you one-tenth of the $100 bonus and, in total, 1,667 FTPs are needed to polish off the entire gift. FTPs are earned in ring games and tournaments on Full Tilt and Happy Hour periods provide opportunities to pile on your points balance.

Players can use some of their newfound riches to take part in the upcoming Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS), which kicks off on December 9th and runs through the 20th. The first event is a $22 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament that sports a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool, while the finale is a $55 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with at least a half-million dollar purse. A total of 25 events will play out, with at least $4 million up for grabs. The MiniFTOPS schedule mirrors that of the high-stakes FTOPS XIV, but comes with buy-ins that are one-tenth of the cost.

Full Tilt Poker happily accepts players from the United States. Have yourself a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Good Kwanzaa. In the meantime, warm up with the Holiday Hundred from Full Tilt Poker.

ImaLucSac on "Growing Epidemic in Online Poker"

Dan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:11:00 GMT

If you’ve been perusing the PocketFives.com forums lately, then you’ve noticed a thread called “Growing Epidemic in Online Poker: A Letter to the Community.” In it, Dylan ImaLucSac Linde pleads with readers to avoid upsetting softer players by berating them verbally and with stats at the tables and on online poker forums like PocketFives.com. He candidly explained, “When I first got into poker, the idea of ‘not tapping the glass’ was in a lot of poker literature and just seemed to make a lot of sense to me. Obviously, I have been guilty of getting angry and saying a snide remark in the past, but we all need to make a conscious effort to stop this.”

Linde told PocketFives.com what the impetus was to begin authoring his post, which has received nine pages of responses: “I’ve been going through the largest downswing of my career as a poker player. This has caused a lot of introspection, as I think it should. Thinking about the various mistakes I have made, I was reflecting on my tilt factor. I started to notice that sometimes when I made a questionable play, someone would randomly berate me.” Linde is a Triple Crown winner on the site and hails from Idaho.

In an age when poker appears to be on the decline, Linde’s sentiments strike even more accord with professional players. He commented, “With the way the poker economy is now, it’s more harmful than ever. The people that get driven away now are far less likely to return.” The passage of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) drove several large sites out of the U.S. market, including PartyPoker and Paradise Poker. As a result, most of the American action now occurs on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which are the two largest online poker sites in the world.

The nine pages of responses are mixed, but largely positive. Linde told us what reaction he has received in Private Messages and Instant Messages: “I have had a few random PMs on PocketFives.com saying basically that they are behind what I said 100% and usually citing some example of them not doing it. Nowadays, even the $50 freezes will have four or five solid players in them. Those are the people that are the biggest culprits, I think, so we are seeing more and more rude behavior at the tables.” He added that while rude behavior is a no-no, quoting ROIs and other mathematical figures is even more of a cardinal sin.

One dissenting response came from The Worm, a poker player from Ithaca, New York. He commented in the thread, “When was the last time you berated someone and they instantly started playing better? When was the last time you talked shit and they got up and left? If anything, when you start talking shit, it encourages the people to keep doing what they are doing.” Others noted that berating players in the chat box serves as a coping mechanism, ultimately leading to better play themselves once they’ve blown off some steam. The question of whether slow rolling should be included in the discussion also came up.

In the middle of writing his final paragraph, Linde told PocketFives.com that he had a realization of sorts. He recalled his Zen moment: “We both know it’s hard to appeal to online players to help others, but you can get them to help themselves. I was listening to a little coaching by Tommy Angelo and he discussed how if you do not allow the pain (and joy) of poker to become overwhelming while you are playing, you will be far more likely to play your A game. While I have never been a big berater, in chat, you can imagine some crazy things that have gone through my head at the same time.”

Where do you weigh in? Visit Linde’s post in Poker Discussion and voice your choice.

Joe Cada Joins the PocketFives Podcast

Dan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:21:00 GMT

This week, the PocketFives.com Podcast sponsored by Carbon Poker is pleased to welcome the youngest champion ever of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, newly-minted millionaire Joe jcada99 Cada (pictured at right), who took down the 2009 installment over Darvin Moon. Cada earned $8.5 million at the tender age of 21 and celebrated his 22nd birthday on November 18th. He resides in Michigan and has been the buzz of the poker world ever since his victory in the early morning hours of November 10th and even appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” earlier this week.

Many in the industry questioned what the role of the next WSOP Main Event champion would be. Would he continue to be active in the game of poker or would he ride off into the sunset forever? Cada told PocketFives.com what his presence in the poker community would be going forward: “Once I get a chance, I’ll be back grinding online. I still played my tournaments on Sunday and plan on playing most Sundays too.” On what part of being the WSOP Main Event champion he’s looking forward to the most besides the seven-figure payday, Cada remarked, “I want to see poker grow, so I want to see the field get a little bit bigger next year. I’m also looking forward to that banner being hung [in the Amazon Room].”

Cada had the rowdiest cheering section by far at the Rio’s Penn and Teller Theater throughout play in the Main Event; decibel level-wise, there was no comparison. The now-22 year-old told the PocketFives.com Podcast how the crowd influenced his play: “I can’t tell you how awesome that crowd was. I had tons of friends and family that all came out from school and work to support me. They were rooting me on the whole time, when I had no chips and when I had a lot of chips. They helped me hold my head up and get back into things.” Cada was down to less than five big blinds before storming back for the win over the nine-handed final table.

Cada crippled Frenchman Antoine Saout (pictured at left) with pocket deuces against pocket queens when the flop came 7-2-9, giving Cada a set. Four hands later, he’d send Saout to the rails in third place with A-K against Saout’s pocket eights when a king hit the river. Both hands pushed the limits of epic poker and Cada commented on his adversary’s play: “I thought Antoine played excellent at the final table. I thought he was one of the best there. It was unfortunate what happened to Antoine, but that’s poker. It would suck if I were in his shoes, so I know how it feels. I thought Antoine had a great game and it was tough having him on my left.” Saout earned $3.5 million for his efforts.

Post-mortem, Cada and his friends partied at the youngster’s suite at the Rio. Cada explained that Moon (pictured at right) showed up for the festivities: “When we were partying after the Main Event, one of my friends found him at the blackjack table and told him to come by the room. He came by the room and partied with all of my friends. We said congratulations and talked to each other about the heads-up match for a little bit. Darvin Moon was a great guy and a good sport.” Moon could be found battling against the house in Texas Hold’em Bonus at the Rio casino frequently throughout the Main Event.

Finally, Cada gave us his goals in live tournament play following his monumental win earlier this month: “I want to do well in live tournaments and I want to win another major live tournament. Winning one tournament doesn’t say anything about you. It’s a good start, but I want to win another tournament. I plan to play more high-stakes poker and bigger cash games. I want to succeed in those.”

Check out the rest of this week’s PocketFives.com Podcast featuring 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe jcada99 Cada.

30% rakeback, an exclusive $15,000 rake chase, and a 150% up to $1,000 sign-up bonus are just a few of the reasons to check out Carbon Poker, a USA-friendly site that makes its home on the Merge Gaming Network. Spreading a healthy array of poker games, the site also offers a weekly $20,000 Guaranteed tournament. USA players, head to Carbon Poker today.

Ultimate Bet Relaunched as UB.com

Dan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:54:00 GMT

On Tuesday, UB.com was launched, replacing Ultimate Bet. The new site, which features a revamped logo and retooled lobby design, went live as part of a software update issued during the early morning hours. PocketFives.com fired up our Mac version and we were met with an 8,600 KB update, which took about two minutes to pull from the UB.com servers upon launch. You can check out the new yellow and black UB.com logo to the right of this paragraph. Let’s take a look at what else is new.

2009 marks Ultimate Bet’s tenth year in operation and, as such, the time was ripe for an extreme makeover. Tokwiro Chief Operating Officer Paul Leggett commented in a press release distributed by the site on Tuesday, “The launch of UB.com is not just a new domain with a different logo, it's much more than that. It's a complete new direction for UB. It's software built with the serious poker player in mind. It's a new television show that is truly about poker, not just another reality or game show. And finally, it's tournaments and promotions that poker players care about.” UB.com will sponsor “Poker 2Night,” which debuted on Fox Sports on Wednesday night.

The tournament schedule is being overhauled, with 30 new guaranteed tournaments adding $1 million to the purse up for grabs on UB.com each month. Upon logging into UB.com, you’ll notice its new logo in the upper left corner with player and table totals given right below it. In addition, color-coded icons appear next to each table in the lobby, with a legend at the bottom of the master list for reference. There are a variety of lobby filters now available, including the maximum number of players (heads-up, four, six, and nine), stack sizes (50 min BB, Deep Stack, and Standard Stack), and table type (Turbo, Normal, Bad Beat Jackpot, Ante, and 7-2). You can also elect to hide full and empty tables.

Other filters include number of players to the flop and number of players at each table as well as the stakes and maximum buy-in. Off to the right of the cash game lobby, you can scope out the details of the players seated at each table. Right below that is a link to Ultimate Buddy, which retains its old name. In the upper left of each table are text links for Lobby, Cashier, Hand History, Options, and Blackjack, the latter of which is written in red. A generic square UB.com logo serves as the avatar for those players who have not yet uploaded one.

In October, UB rolled out synchronized breaks, following a precedent set by sites like Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Breaks take place at 55 minutes past every hour and give players a chance to walk away from their computers to grab a snack, take the dog out, or catch up on the real world without missing any hands. In September, UB introduced a downloadable Mac version as well as an Instant Play option that launches the online poker site’s software in a web browser.

Ultimate Bet has been referred to by its two-letter acronym for quite some time now, leading to Tuesday’s permanent changeover. In response to the move, the PocketFives.com community has been buzzing, with online poker player dandickau chiming in, “The new look will take some getting used to but it looks alright. It sucks that you can no longer see your account balance in the lobby. I use that to record how much I won/lost during my sessions and I probably look at it like 20 times per session.” Some PocketFivers have experienced compatibility issues with Windows 7, while others have been clamoring for a layout manager to arrange tables for them. Those with the former issue were asked to uninstall and reinstall UB.com, which seemed to do the trick. Check out a UB.com thread in Poker Discussion.

Joe JoeSebok Sebok (pictured at right), Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth front UB.com, which, along with its sister site Absolute Poker, makes its home on the CEREUS Network. The latter pro, an 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, commented in a press release, "In the ten years since I have been involved with the UB brand, I have never been prouder to represent the company as much as I am right now. We have great people captaining the ship, we have a great vibe, and some serious swagger. I look forward to the day when we are the largest poker site on the planet." Hellmuth is a centerpiece of the annual UB.com Aruba Poker Classic, which plays out each year from the Radisson Resort on the tropical island.

Visit Ultimate Bet today to check out the brand new UB.com.

DoylesRoom $25,000 November Rake Race Continues, Bounty Returns

P5s Staff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:36:00 GMT

The largest rake race we’ve ever held on the virtual felts of the USA-facing online poker site DoylesRoom has been playing out during the month of November. With 12 days remaining until we turn the page to December, spidey2301 leads the pack, hauling in MGR of $14,000. Several other rakeback affiliates besides PocketFives.com are involved in the promotion, which pays out $3,500 to the top racer of the month. In total, 150 spots will finish in the money. Read more in our official thread in Poker Discussion.

The smallest MGR total to appear on the DoylesRoom $25,000 Rake Race leaderboard at the time of writing is $111, which belongs to Fibonacci61 and TexMexRex11. Spots 136 to 150 will earn $50 for their efforts during the 30-day period, while the top 118 will secure at least a three-figure payday.

Second place overall will earn $1,500, while the third place finisher will boost their bankroll by a cool $1,000. All you need to do is sign up for DoylesRoom rakeback through PocketFives.com to be eligible to play and as a side note, if DoylesRoom does not ask you for a Promo Code when signing up, you can go straight through after clicking our link and you won't have a problem.

A total of $25,000 will be paid out and PocketFives.com offers 33% rakeback on DoylesRoom, which resides on the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network. You can also score a 110% up to $600 sign-up bonus for registering and bonuses are not deducted from rakeback. The Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide with a seven-day running average of 1,920 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com.

Here are the top 10 racers at the time of writing. You can also check out the current DoylesRoom $25,000 Rake Race leaderboard:

Taking place on Wednesday night at 9:30pm ET on DoylesRoom is the weekly Bounty Tournament, which gives players a shot at earning $50,000. Pros that will take to the felts this evening with bounties on their heads are Todd Brunson, Zachary CrazyZachary Clark (pictured at right), and Mike Caro, who play as TBRUNSON, CRAZYZACH, and MIKE_CARO, respectively. The Bounty has a buy-in of $27.50, which is refunded to first-time players regardless of whether they make the money.

DoylesRoom players that bust one bounty will earn $1,000. Knocking out a pair of bounties will increase your net worth by $10,000, while claiming all three bounties up for grabs means that $50,000 will be headed your way. As a caveat, only a Brunson 10 pro, Pam Brunson, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Mike Caro, and Hoyt Corkins count for the $10,000 and $50,000 prizes. Eliminating the elder Brunson with his signature 10-2 hand will earn you $5,000 and the Bounty’s victor, in addition to the prize money, pockets $500 in DoylesCasino chips.

Multi-table tournament and sit and go satellites to the Bounty are available according to the following schedule:

$0.27 Satellites
12:00am ET to 6:00pm ET
Feeds to $2.75 Super Satellite

$2.75 Super Satellite
Nightly at 8:00pm ET

$5 Bounty Satellite
Wednesdays from 12:00am ET to 7:30pm ET

DoylesRoom recently added synchronized breaks to scheduled tournaments and sit and gos. These will give players a five-minute reprieve at 55 past every hour, in line with the schedule on other online poker sites. A software update released this week added synchronized breaks to DoylesRoom tournaments.

The Brunson 10 includes Clark, Chris moorman1 Moorman, Alec traheho Torelli, Amit amak316 Makhija, and its newest member, Dani ansky451 Stern, who was announced during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table festivities in Las Vegas earlier this month. The group represents a handpicked crop of online poker stars selected by “Texas Dolly” himself. In total, 10 men and two women will join the site's ranks.

Visit DoylesRoom today and start racing.

Rankings Update: Englishman "badpab2" Enters Top 10

dhubermex — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:13:00 GMT

This week's PocketFives Rankings update features Paul "badpab2" Foltyn of the United Kingdom (pictured), who debuts in the Top 10 at #9 worldwide thanks to his extremely consistent results at the online poker tables in 2009. Last month, Paul took down the Full Tilt Poker $50k Guaranteed for just over $47k, and also has a recent victory in the PokerStars $250k Guaranteed for $78,300. Paul has also overtaken fellow rival and world-class pro Chris Moorman as the top PLB earner for the United Kingdom. David Doc Sands of the United States moves up one spot to #5 this week after picking up two key cashes for approximately $90,000 each in recent months, as California's brainwash enters the Top 10 due in part to his impressive results in September, in which he earned nearly $120,000 from his three best online tournament cashes.

Felipe improved Montenegro of Costa Rica advances two spots to #15, HITTHEPANDA is up three to #18 worldwide, and James P0KERPR033 Campbell is now ranked #19; up four spots from last week. Recent PocketFives Podcast guest and veteran forum member Jon apestyles Van Fleet (pictured) has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with victories in the Stars $100 and $200 rebuy events for a combined total of $80,000. In August, he placed 3rd in the Sunday Warm-Up for $67,650 and is now ranked #22 in the world at online tournament play. Bjorn kleath Kleathersson is up six to #25, 1SickDisease leaps 18 to #29 upon taking down the Full Tilt $200 rebuy for $81,000 over the weekend, and taypaur continues his rise through the rankings, arriving at #32 worldwide following the most recent rankings update.

Peter Belabacsi Traply of Hungary (pictured) cashed for $173,400 in the PokerStars WCOOP $10k NLHE High Roller event in September (5th place), and followed that up with a 3rd place showing in the Sunday 500 tournament for $48.3k, and is up 19 to #41 accordingly. PocketFivers blizair and THAY3R have risen to #42 and #49 respectively, while szusza84 climbed 23 to #57 for the 15 victories he has in tournaments tracked by PocketFives since August. Steven PiKappRaider Burkholder (up 18 to #63) continues to solidify his status as one of online poker's elite tournament talents, earning over $100k for his FTOPS Event #20 victory a week ago.

PocketFives veteran member Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul (pictured) took home $337,900 in September for his 3rd place finish in the WCOOP $10k NLHE High Roller event, and earned another $68,200 for 2nd place in the Sunday 500 a week ago. He re-enters the Top 100 at #64 this week, while p0cket00 moves up to #65 worldwide due in part to his 4th place finish in the Titan Poker $1m Guaranteed for $60,000 in September. There are a number of players who are back in the rankings this week, including croll103 (#69), titantom32 (#71), siola (#81), and supa4real (#84). IamSound is new at #88, Bry23 re-enters at #94, whitE_mAmbA is at #96, donkcommited checks in at #98 and ArgentinaBoy is now ranked #99 worldwide in online tournament play.

* To view hi-res photos of your favorite online poker players, visit the Image Search page of PocketFivesLive.com!

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Be sure to check out the Online Poker Rankings next week for continued coverage of the world's best online tournament players. For information on how the PocketFives Online Tournament Player Rankings are calculated, visit our Rankings FAQ page.

Isildur1 Tears Up High-Stakes Online Poker Scene

Dan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:25:00 GMT

Who is Isildur1? Is he a former iPoker Network whiz who has taken the USA-facing Full Tilt Poker by storm? Is he an up and coming online superstar? Who is this masked man? Whoever he is, Isildur1 has taken the online poker world by storm and recently dropped the largest pot in online poker history at the hands of Patrik Antonius. The PocketFives.com community has been buzzing about the sudden surge in action in high-stakes play on Full Tilt, creating threads daily about Isildur1, Antonius, Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Let’s take a look at some of the action.

In the richest pot in online poker history, which took place at a $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha table, Antonius put in a check-raise to $21,000 after a flop of 5-7-Q with two hearts holding A-Q-9-6 with two hearts of his own. Isildur1 called to see the ace of diamonds hit the turn and the Swede put in a raise to $192,000 holding A-K-Q-10 for aces-up, the same hand that Antonius held. Antonius promptly shoved for $367,000 and Isildur1 made the call. The river was the eight of diamonds, making the final board 5-7-Q-A-8 and shipping a colossal $878,000 to Antonius with a straight for the largest pot in online poker history.

According to Poker Table Ratings, whose President told PocketFives.com that his site has seen an explosion in traffic ever since Isildur1 emerged onto the scene, Isildur1 posted his best day ever on November 11th, boosting his bankroll by $1.4 million. Five days later, his net worth went the other way, as he dropped nearly $1.6 million on the virtual felts.

He’s played against some of the high-stakes world’s best. According to Poker Table Ratings, Isildur1 is up $2.9 million on Dwan (pictured at left) alone. Others whom Isildur1 has gotten the better of include Haseeb Qureshi (+$452,000), David Benyamine (+$297,000), UgotaBanana (+$293,000), Cole South (+$201,000), Phil Ivey (+$140,000), Observer84 (+$110,000), jungleman12 (+$46,000), I Win Flips (+$45,000), and Spirit Rock (+$43,000). The $2.9 million taken from Dwan is nearly double the sum of the other eight players combined.

On the flip side, and mostly due to dropping the largest pot that the online poker world has ever seen, Antonius remains Isildur1’s biggest nemesis. In fact, the Full Tilt Poker pro has cost Isildur1 nearly $1.4 million singlehandedly. Others who have gotten the best of the unknown newcomer include trex313 (-$144,000), Brian Hastings (-$130,000), Ziigmund (-$128,000), Brian Townsend (-$36,000), KObyTAPOUT (-$34,000), OMGClayAiken (-$34,000), Niki Jedlicka (-$30,000), EskaborReturns (-$25,000), and Richard Ashby (-$22,000).

Threads developing on PocketFives.com question when Isildur1’s luck would run out, if ever. Online poker community member zander chimed in, “This guy runs absurd. Patrik just overshipped 140k on the turn and he called with 3rd pair and a flush draw and binked the nuts on the river with only 10k behind, started hand with 200bbs.” Other massive pots have seen Isildur1 defeat Dwan’s A-K with A-A for $694,000 and the newcomer losing with aces against Dwan’s 8-2 for $570,000. Throngs of observers have taken to the tables to watch the action unfold.

Dwan is in the midst of hosting the first ever live Million Dollar Challenge in London, facing Sammy George, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies (pictured at right), and Marcelo “luckexpress” Marigliano in $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em. Each challenger must buy in for $500,000 and compete in heads-up matches against Dwan. No player can leave the table unless they go broke or 500 hands are completed. Leading up to today’s opening round against George, Dwan issued a challenge to Isildur1 to participate. However, the Swede did not respond.

Dwan asserted in a press release distributed by Matchroom Sport, "We have had some tough games over the last few days and the action just keeps on coming. I hope [Isildur1] can make it to London for the challenge so we can play some high-stakes live games as well." Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond commented in his blog, “I've read a bit about theories on who he is and the way he got to where he's at right now. Seems like no one is positive about him or his back-story, at least publicly. No, I don't have any more info than you guys do.”

Check out one of the livelier Poker Discussion threads about Isildur1.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Filmed at Golden Nugget

P5s Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:25:00 GMT

Last week, the sixth cycle of the GSN franchise “High Stakes Poker” was filmed at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. On hand were a bevy of poker superstars piecing together what will likely be a lively series when it airs beginning on February 14th, 2010 on GSN. Among those who turned out were Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry barryg1 Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis.

Last season featured the arrival of Dwan, who took the “High Stakes Poker” felts by storm after scooping a $919,000 pot at the expense of Greenstein (pictured at left). The Team PokerStars Pro member told PocketFives.com what his strategy was during the GSN series’ last cycle against Dwan and the rest of the cast: “You start with $200,000. I wanted to get ahead, so I started firing and trying to build it into a big win. If I had won the last big pot I played, I would have been up $1.2 million. If you get ahead, it takes the pressure off. I try to get ahead and run over people who are afraid of getting run over.” Greenstein has appeared on every season of “High Stakes Poker.”

Meanwhile, fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Negreanu (pictured at right), who played on the first of three days of “High Stakes Poker” filming, noted, “I was unlucky in the sense that I sat to Durrrr’s right. Since he’s an active player, being on his left makes a significant difference. I was on his right on Day 1 and it was a tough table. There was some crazy action. Durrrr is so active and fearless that he forces you to hit hands. If you hit hands, though, you’ll get paid.” Negreanu has been famous for running into quads several times on “High Stakes Poker,” but has still participated in each of its six seasons.

Among those making their first appearance on “High Stakes Poker” during the show’s latest edition is Veldhuis (pictured at left), who final tabled the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) this year for $278,000. Veldhuis told PocketFives.com, “I heard about the opportunity to compete a couple of weeks ago and was shell shocked. Negreanu put in a good word for me. He watched WSOP footage and then asked me to be on the show. The first time I watched ‘High Stakes Poker,’ I was playing $0.01/$0.02 online. It’s my favorite show now and it was my favorite show then.”

Famous for his prop bets on “High Stakes Poker” is Laak, who told PocketFives.com that, despite a crackdown on the one-off bets this season, he’s still looking forward to watching the festivities air on GSN in February: “This is the greatest honor. People ask me what would I prefer, winning a bracelet or getting to play the next season of ‘High Stakes Poker.’ It would be close. Playing ‘High Stakes Poker’ is as much of a rush as you can have.” Laak added that the sixth season featured a considerable amount of turnover in comparison to years past, ensuring high-octane action. He was an alternate on the show.

Finally, roving the halls of the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas was Phillips, who will be making his “High Stakes Poker” debut during Season 6. Phillips finished third in the 2008 WSOP Main Event behind Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. On facing off in the world of cash games, which is where he got his start in poker, Phillips told PocketFives.com, “I’m just going to play my game. They know me and I know them, so it’ll be fun. We’ll see who is going to play to the cameras.”

“High Stakes Poker” will air on Sunday night beginning on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, at 8:00pm ET.

Kentucky Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown Recaps Internet Gambling Hearing

Dan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:40:00 GMT

On October 22nd, lawyers from Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet assembled in the state’s Supreme Court in Frankfort to take on proponents of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging some of the poker industry’s staples like Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, and PokerStars. Bringing the legal action against the owners of the domain names was Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown, who sat down with PocketFives.com to give his take on the 90-minute proceeding.

Brown saw lawyers representing the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), and several of the sites in question take to the courtroom last month. The Kentucky Cabinet Secretary gave his take on the affair: “I can’t say that there was anything that took me by surprise. The court struck on some of the key themes in the case. One is that what was being asked for in the Appeals Court was really a form of extraordinary relief in that all of the proceedings in the lower court had not been concluded.”

In September, news of the seizure broke across the internet gambling newswires and organizations like iMEGA, the IGC, and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) mobilized their legal teams. However, Judge Thomas Wingate quickly upheld the actions of the Commonwealth, led by Brown and Governor Steve Beshear (pictured at left). Soon afterwards, the internet gambling industry sought the involvement of the Court of Appeals under the grounds that the damage caused by the websites’ forfeiture would be irreversible. The Court of Appeals agreed and issued a positive decision in January for iMEGA and the IGC, ruling by a two-to-one margin that the State did not have jurisdiction to act. Commonwealth attorneys immediately appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The issue of whether the Commonwealth had jurisdiction to act is a convoluted one. The domains were seized as “gambling devices,” a phrase that historically refers to dice, slot machines, and other tangible objects. Brown told PocketFives.com, “We’re talking about an in rem action, which is taken against a thing and not a person. The question becomes what is due process for the thing in question. It goes back to its owner coming forth and asserting his or her property rights. That’s what we didn’t have in this case.” Instead of the actual owners of domain names appearing in the Kentucky Supreme Court, trade organizations served the role.

Many in the industry have candidly suggested that the Kentucky State Legislature take up the issue of internet gambling to set the record straight on whether the online version is legal within the Commonwealth. A September ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on a national level indicated that the legality of internet gambling is ultimately up to each state and reinforced the industry’s stance. Brown explained, “My belief is that the forfeiture hearing would have brought out a number of facts. You never know what might encourage the legislature to act.”

The PPA has submitted an amicus brief in the case arguing that poker is a game of skill and therefore not illegal gambling under Kentucky state law. Brown revealed, “This is where the argument on the other side appears circular. It might be something that gets flushed out in a factual hearing, but the other side wants to prohibit the hearing.” Other parties that have weighed in include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Commerce Association, eBay, and Network Solutions.

In response to the pending legal action, several sites purchased alternate domain names, including Full Tilt Poker, which acquired FullTilt.com. In addition, Ultimate Bet recently procured UB.com. If the Commonwealth were to be successful, the 141 domain names would be inaccessible not just in Kentucky, but also all over the world. New legal action would have to be brought against each additional domain name outside of the 141.

Get caught up to date on the latest news by visiting the Poker Legislation forum.

zhiv Wins FTOPS XIV Main Event After Three-Way Chop

Dan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:44:00 GMT

On Sunday, the Main Event of the 14th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) played out and a mob of 5,471 players descended upon the $535 buy-in tournament. A total of $2.7 million was on the line and the contest concluded in a three-way chop, with PocketFives.com member zhiv officially coming out on top for $418,000. He forged a deal with ItsTime2Win and Adam Junglen, who finished second and third, respectively. Let’s recap the action from Sunday on Full Tilt Poker.

zhiv hails from Austria and final tabled the Full Tilt Poker $60,000 Guaranteed two weeks ago for $6,200. One month prior, he grabbed third in the PokerStars $55 Cubed for $4,700. He plays as zhivago2 on Full Tilt and recorded his first six-figure payday in style, taking down the FTOPS XIV Main Event as part of a three-way deal.

Two other members of the online poker community reached the final table, as kinheim took fifth for $131,000 and bankrollme87 (pictured at left), 10 days removed from winning the site’s $100 rebuy for $54,000, claimed $90,000 for sixth place. kinheim won the PokerStars $11 rebuy back in July for $13,000 and earlier this month, the poker player from the Netherlands won Full Tilt’s $18,500 Guaranteed. Massachusetts native bankrollme87, meanwhile, final tabled the Sunday Brawl eight months ago for $48,000.

Here’s a look at how the wealth was spread at the final table of the FTOPS XIV Main Event:

1. zhivago2 - $418,839 (zhiv)
2. ItsTime2Win - $316,554
3. Adam Junglen - $290,419
4. dfunks222 - $175,072
5. kinheim - $131,167 (kinheim)
6. bankrollme87 - $90,272 (bankrollme87)
7. nuts7878 - $58,813
8. Valuechecking - $41,033
9. Dr Fill Good - $28,723

The second portion of the FTOPS Two-Day Event also occurred on Sunday, with PocketFives.com member supa4real falling to obiedman heads-up. The victor ultimately earned $539,000 for his efforts, while supa4real claimed a $340,000 consolation prize. You might recall that supa4real final tabled the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event in September for $182,000. He also placed third in the Sunday Warm-Up for $73,000.

Joining supa4real at the final table of the FTOPS XIV Two-Day Event was Telefonkiosk, a former Triple Crown winner here on PocketFives.com. Telefonkiosk calls Sweden home and grabbed seventh place along with its corresponding $70,000 payday. He finished third in the Sunday Mulligan two months ago for $26,000 and took 13th in the kickoff event of the 2009 WCOOP for $10,000. The FTOPS XIV Two-Day event shook out as follows:

1. obiedman - $539,350
2. Supa4real - $340,025 (supa4real)
3. Timvd20 - $252,088
4. Gary Jones - $193,463
5. the_real_magic - $146,563
6. TheAlligatorNo1 - $105,525
7. Ahvall - $70,350 (Telefonkiosk)
8. DanOBrien - $54,873
9. Rabbit_hunterSA - $39,865

Last, but not least, a $129 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament played out on Sunday and attracted nearly 10,000 players. The event’s prize pool swelled to $983,000 and, when the smoke cleared, a three-way deal saw little chief17 corral $125,000 and the win. Dinhjo (pictured at right) finished in fourth, earning $52,000. The Aussie was the runner-up in the Titan Poker $250,000 Guaranteed in August for $30,000, about $5,000 less than the payday he received for final tabling the PokerStars Sunday 500 in May.

Also reaching the final table of the Knockout event, the 24th on the FTOPS schedule, was deucewolf32, who finished in sixth place and cashed for $27,000. Rounding out the group was boltsva, who landed in eighth place for $14,000. One year ago, boltsva won the Full Tilt $27,500 Guaranteed for $10,000. Here’s how the final table stacked up:

1. little chief17 - $125,960
2. cristinalindley - $106,460
3. SNG Ninja - $95,969
4. Dinhjo - $52,306 (Dinhjo)
5. Alcatraz27278 - $38,345
6. bethwolf22 - $27,530 (deucewolf32)
7. BikStik8585 - $19,664
8. boltsva - $14,060 (boltsva)
9. Al-Extrem1 - $9,940

Visit Full Tilt Poker for full details. Congratulations to all members of the online poker community who finished in the money in FTOPS XIV tournaments.