Ok-Poker!

PokerStars yesterday announced the line up for its upcoming Asia Pacific Poker Tour beginning September 1.
Joining the field of 20 world class champions in a tournament with 500 plus expected participants is poker legend Johnny پeThe Orient Expressپf Chan. There are few players on the planet who can rival his poker record, with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets to his name and more than US$6.7million tournament earnings during his career, the release said.
Johnny Chan first shot to fame in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988) and was also featured as one of the greatest poker players ever in the 1998 movie “Rounders” with Matt Damon and Edward Norton.

Key cross-bench senator-elect Nick Xenophon is calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to begin tackling the presence of poker machines in the ACT Labor Club.

He said, ''I think the PM has the moral persuasion, the authority, the leadership to start on his own home turf by tackling the issue of the 275 poker machines in ACT's Labor Club.''

The club is the ACT Labor Party's biggest donor, providing 40per cent, or $238,552, of its $587,123 annual income, according to figures from the Australian Electoral Commission.

You can count Mike Sexton, the "Ambassador of Poker" himself, among those who feel the Exaclibur's move to an all-electronic poker room last week is a trend that is here to stay.

"I think it's the wave of the future, at least as far as low-stakes games are concerned," Sexton told Casino City on Wednesday. "It just makes so much sense for the casinos and I think once the players get used to it, this is something that could be seen in poker rooms up and down the Strip."

With the World Series of Poker Main Event in a 100-day layoff until November, the poker world will turn to the World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker tournament, which starts on Saturday from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Poker's top professionals will be in attendance along with a bundle of online poker players who are members of PocketFives.com. The tournament will be covered live on PocketFivesLive.com, the home of WPT coverage.

MobilityWare, a leading developer of applications for mobile devices, has released a new application, Free Video Poker. Free Video Poker, is an ad-supported version of Video Poker, giving iPhone/iPod Touch users a free way to play video poker.

Irvine, CA, USA. MobilityWare, a leader in iPhone apps, has released a new application, Free Video Poker.

Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino announced this week that the downtown Las Vegas property has signed on to host the 2009 season of NBC’s Poker After Dark.

Sixty episodes of the hour-long show will be filmed Oct. 26 through Nov. 5 at the Golden Nugget's new event center.

“The Golden Nugget is thrilled to host the fifth season of NBC’s exciting, late-night poker program, Poker After Dark,” said Brett Kellerman, chief operating officer for the property. “The Golden Nugget has been home to several big poker productions, as well as hosted many poker tournaments and events, so bringing a top-rated program like Poker After Dark to the property just seemed like a natural fit.”

They might be one of the newer names in the industry, but BoylePoker.com are making the right kind of sounds so far. Here’s some news that will make them even more popular as well, having has added €20,000 to the prize pool of the International Poker Open 2008 as well as adding a percentage of the rake generated by players who pre-register for the tournament.

The First Hall Civil Court of Malta has handed down a judgment in favour of PokerTrillion.com, authorising the seizure of Boss Media Malta Limited and Boss Media AB servers, which will now have to cease commercial activity from 18 September 2008.

The court’s decision in this matter is final and Boss Media will not be allowed to appeal.
The ruling by Judge Gino Camilleri relates to Trillion Limited’s multi-million euro lawsuit for breach of contract against Boss Media AB and their associated companies.

It's been a wild ride but ChanPoker.com is closing its doors on Aug. 21.

Chan Poker, which is headed by back-to-back WSOP world champion Johnny Chan, was launched in 2006 with a great deal of fanfare and snappy interface.

A part of the popular Ongame Network, Chan Poker's future looked bright at a time when numerous sites were entering the market and succeeding. Unfortunately, little more than a few months later the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed, and it's becoming apparent that Chan Poker was one of the hardest-hit online rooms.

There hadn't been much news from the Chan Poker camp in the last year, and yesterday, the site left a message for its customers on its front page.

An excerpt from the letter:

Professional poker player Curtis Mayfield III Mayfield shares tips and experiences in personal blog.

Judge Gino Camilleri of the First Hall Civil Court in Malta issued a ruling yesterday, August 18, that authorized online poker room POKERTRILLION.com to seize full control of Boss Media Limited Malta and Boss Media AB Servers, which includes the Boss Poker Network (IPN).

According to the ruling, Boss Media servers must cease all commercial enterprises no later than September 18, 2008; exactly one month after the ruling was handed down. Boss Media was denied the option to appeal the court’s decision.

Dennis Phillips, the current 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event chip leader, will donate 1 percent of his tournament winnings to Prevent Cancer Foundation's "Bad Beat on Cancer" fundraiser after the Final Table event in November. PokerStars.net will match Phillips' donation to the Foundation dollar-for-dollar. As the first place payout is $9,119,517, the donation could tally $182,000 if Dennis takes the Main Event.

PokerTime, a member of the Fortune Lounge gaming group, is offering a fantastic 125% two-part offer to new players. Firstly, any deposit recieves a guaranteed 25% return in cash immediately - for example, a $10,000 deposit would net you $2,500 absolutely free. In addition, PokerTime will then match your deposit 100%.

PokerTime, as a member of the Fortune Lounge group, is a trusted and well-respected online poker room. Fortune Lounge won the 'Top Casino Group for 2005' category from the Gambling Online Magazine Readers' Poll awards.

PokerTime's 100% match bonus is applicable to all bonuses up to $100. The 25% instant bonus can only be cashed out when a player has earned a certain amount of points in the poker room.

onlinecasinonews.com

SOUTH Sydney Leagues club has delivered a humiliating defeat to Peter Homes a Court and Russell Crowe's proposal to ban poker machines - just three members supported it among more than 100 who voted yesterday.

"This was a vision that a lot of people embraced," said Souths Leagues Club president Bill Alexiou-Hucker yesterday, after the vote.

"No one - not one charity, no corporations, no community that flooded the football club with congratulations over a no-poker machine venue - ever contacted me to see how they could help us.

"We were left to do it. It was going to be a very tough ask.

"The board felt it couldn't offer the members the sorts of things that it wants to without the poker machines."

Poker, once nearly muscled off casino floors by gimmicky table games and flashy slot machines, is hotter than ever in Las Vegas, thanks to the game's popularity on TV.

Now, the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino will try to build on those winnings by staging The Real Deal!, an audience-participation show, in its Venetian Showroom, starting in October.

The show will combine the elements of a game show with comedy and celebrities, all revolving around the now-familiar poker game of Texas Hold 'Em. Since this is Las Vegas, there will be prizes, including the long-shot possibility for an audience member to win $1 million.

Brendan Mahoney grew up with a golf club in his hand, and the 21-year old Milton resident has won his fair share of competitions on the golf course.

Mahoney's also pretty good with another kind of club - the kind that helps him win poker games.

So good, in fact, that he earned a spot to play poker at the highest level. He was in Las Vegas last month, where he played at the featured table in the World Series of Poker, the renowned no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament. His time in the spotlight will be broadcast on ESPN in September.

Automated dealers have already invaded Donald Trump's Atlantic City casinos; now comes word that the program is preparing to begin trials in Las Vegas. Poker Pro, an automated poker table system developed by PokerTek, has been cleared by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to be field tested in the state.

PokerPro uses software to deal to actual players seated around a table. Because shuffling and actual handling of cards is not involved, more hands are available in a given period of time, and mistakes judging hands are eliminated. At Trump casinos, the rake has been lowered to draw players.

Players see their hands on screens set before them. The flop, turn, and river are displayed in the center of the table.

ANOTHER poker tournament could head to Singapore next year, in a bid to boost the card game’s growing popularity here.

The organisers of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) told my paper they hope to kick-off next year’s season in Singapore, in March or April.

The tour’s president, Mr Jeffrey Haas, who co-founded the tournament in 2006, was in Singapore yesterday to meet local partners Asian Poker Network, which publishes the regional poker magazine Poker Times.

This comes just after last week’s announcement that the final leg of another tournament, the Asian Poker Tour (APT), could be held here at the end of the year. It is likely to have a US$3,000 (S$4,200) buy-in fee and 700 players are expected to take part.

The era of dealers, cards and clattering chips is over - at least in the Excalibur in Las Vegas. As one of the first casinos world-wide it is going to shift its poker room to fully automated tables.

Up and coming Japanese poker star Kim Wooka is living the dream in Osaka, Japan this month as she gets ready to compete in two of the most important Asian poker tournaments, the Asian Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

Osaka, Japan  -- Everest Poker sponsored player, Wooka Kim (also known online as --icebeer--), Japan's female poker champion will be playing this August in Macau in two of the most important Asian poker tournaments, the Asian Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

$1.2 million winnings claim abandoned in Isle of Man court
 
The Isle of Man-based online poker company Poker Stars.com will not have to face one of its players in court over a disallowed winnings claim worth $1.2 million after the plaintiff withdrew her case this week.
 
The case arose from poker action in the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) organised by Poker Stars and won by account holder TheVOid - an account owned by Natalie Teltscher, the sister of a poker professional. Main event winnings of over $1.2 million were disallowed when it appeared that tournament rules had been breached through someone other than Teltscher herself playing on the account.
 

Trump Plaza, which towers 39 floors above Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, opened its East Tower Poker Room, featuring twelve, automated PokerPro® tables where hands are dealt electronically to players seated at a traditional-style poker table. There is a clear view of the pot size and chip count during this interactive game.

PokerPro® is expected to attract traditional poker players as well as those who have been curious about the game, but didn’t have an opportunity to get into some of the city’s bustling poker rooms—until now.

Time is running out to qualify for the largest guaranteed prize pool poker tournament in Bodog Poker history. The $250,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament takes place this week and qualifiers are running almost 24/7 for a chance to win a seat for as little as $1.

Between now and tournament time there are 12 Qualifier tournaments running that start at $1 and range up to $8. Then, there are 10 Semifinal tournaments before the cards are dealt on Sunday, with direct buy-ins running from $18 + $2 and $54 + $4 12 qualifiers. Add that to the PTS buy-in sit 'n' go tournaments that are running constantely and the opportunities to qualify for the event are almost endless.

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has announced that the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson, will be attending the APT's Macau tournament.

VIENNA, Austria - For the abandoned US poker players whose online poker accounts were closed by the gaming operators as a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

There is now a new way to stay in touch with what is happening in the poker world. PlayPing.com of Austria is a new Web 2.0 gaming community, bringing together poker players from all over the world including the US.

Every member has various methods to communicate with other members at his disposal and receives additional member benefits like a welcome gift, personal profile webspace, blogs, private messaging box, picture sharing, live chat, instant messenger or free classified ads.

Rather then trying to compete with online giants PokerStars & Full Tilt, Sun Poker have adopted a different philosophy for success.

As they write on their website: “We realize we may never be the 'biggest' poker room in the world, but our players know the mission of SunPoker.com is to make sure you have FUN!” This is certainly achieved through an excellent community atmosphere between management and players that is almost unrivalled in the modern poker industry.

The countdown has begun for hundreds of ordinary Australians trying to beat the cost of living doom and gloom.

Across the country, people from all walks of life are playing free poker to qualify for the last remaining seats available in the APL Tournament of Champions (TOC) - a three-day poker extravaganza set to take place in Sydney from August 8 to 10.

NSW man Rodney Davidson walked away with a $300,000 first prize last year, after qualifying at a free poker event in Bega.

Before the tournament Rodney had only $20 in the bank and had to borrow the money for his train fare to get to the event.

Hopefuls who have already qualified for this year’s APL TOC range in age from a 78-year-old grandmother to an 18-year-old student.

Russia may be listed among the countries likely to receive the most gold medals at the 2008 Olympics (+1400 or 14/1 odds at SBG Global), they have even better odds to win another big world even this coming November - The World Series of Poker.

That's because Russia's Ivan Demidov was listed with +425 odds at BetCRIS.com to win the 2008 World Series of Poker. Demidov had the second largest number of chips coming into the delayed final.

According to poker player Daniel Negreanu, The World Series of Poker has always attracted a competitive international field. Interestingly, this year's WSOP featured more players from Russia than ever before.

The second “Macau Cup” charity poker event sought to raised funds for coal charity Caritas.
Held at Pokerstars Macau on the CotaiStrip, each of the 59 participants was required to donate HK$1,500 to the charity, which resulted in a total contribution of HKD $88,500 for social services use in Macau.

Kim Lee from Hong Kong beat player Christopher Kai-Shin’s single pair of 8s with two pairs of 8s and 10s. He won the entry to the second season of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, which will be held in September in Macau.

Other events of the Macau Cup weekend included a HKD $1,000 buy-in Deep-Stack event, a HKD $10,000 buy-in Red Dragon event and a $500 Challenge event.

With the first event getting underway last night, the Party Poker Irish Poker Championship Tour has kicked off at Eglinton Card Room and Casino, its first stop of eight across the island.

 "The 2008 Irish Poker Championship was seen as a big success and still attracted 298 runners, despite the fact that Ireland was engulfed in a snowstorm at the time that limited the options of many to get to Galway." Said a spokesman from Party Poker.com.

"The introduction of the Irish Poker Championship Tour this year shows just how much this tournament is on the up-and-up. There are stops all over the Emerald Isle and online qualifiers will be introduced on PartyPoker.com later in the year that will give players from all over the world the chance to witness the famous Galway hospitality."

Winners, and set number of runners up, from each stop get an invite to the first major UK tournament of 2009, the 2009 Irish Poker Championships

A group of east Montgomery poker players got a surprise Friday night when police officers busted in.

They were playing inside a business at 64 Bell Road that was licensed as El Camino, a scooter sales company, police said.

However no scooters were being sold, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday night games of Texas Hold 'Em were being played, according to police. The poker games were illegal because the house was making a profit, police said.

The poker business was under the name Red Stag and was exclusive. It required patrons to fill out an application, have a membership card and ring a buzzer to gain entrance to the business near the intersection of Bell Road and Atlanta Highway, police said.

Poker in the Park will come to the heart of London for a two-day poker bonanza on August 15-16 from 4pm-9pm Friday and 10am-6pm Saturday.

The event, hosted in London’s Leicester Square Park, will draw 25,000 poker players. They will be taking part in freeroll tournaments, professional poker players’ lectures and buy books and merchandise from poker’s biggest names.

Dublin  -- New research by Card Player, in the form of the "World Tracker" global poker tournament tracking system, reveals that, per capita, Denmark has the most successful tournament players in the world.

Much like the Olympics, Card Player has used an extensive list of qualifying tournaments (including WSOP, WPT, and EPT events). World Tracker awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to the countries whose citizens come first, second, and third in major international tournaments.

The top five countries in the poker tournament world are currently:

It is skill that differentiates the successful from the unsuccessful players over the long term

Surprisingly, there are striking similarities between successful fund managers and professional poker players.

Competition poker has become the latest global craze - the surge in popularity coincides with the advent of the lipstick camera, that allows viewers at home to see the cards of the players as the hands unfold.

This, and the remarkable sums of money at stake have made poker a popular spectator sport.

OROVILLE -- World Series of Poker Champion Jerry "The Shadow" Yang will be participating in a poker tournament to aid local fire victims Saturday afternoon at Gold Country Casino.

Yang's wife Susan's family lives in the greater Oroville area.

The benefit tournament provides a dream come true for regional poker fans: To meet and compete against the reigning World Champion of Poker, while helping the community as well.

Those wishing to participate can sign up by calling 538-4560 and asking for the poker department.

Senator concerned over scandal
The uncovering of two online cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet has not gone unnoticed by former US Senator Alphonse D'Amato. The New York politician who is the current chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has brought the incidents to the attention of the US Senate in an effort to legislate against this new breed of Internet crime. Both poker sites resided in the jurisdiction of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which initially did not permit inspection of these sites in order to present a clean bill of health.

Kahnawake

PokerRoom have today confirmed the appearance of popular American pop group, Pussycat Dolls at the Poker Villa on Poker Island. The stunning quintet will be performing one show and challenging the residents to a game of poker on the grounds of the luxurious Poker Villa.

Titan Poker, the pride and joy of the iPoker Network, is currently hosting Satellites and Super Satellites to the largest poker tournament in Africa – the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament. South Africa’s sumptuous Super Bowl casino in the heart of beautiful Sun City will set the scene for the region’s premier poker event this September, guaranteeing a minimum prize pool of $1,500,000.

There are two ways to make money at poker: sticking to the tournament scene or grinding it out in cash games. You'll need to learn a vastly different skill set to consistently grow your bankroll in each environment because each venue tends to attract a specific kind of player.

Recreational players are more apt to play in tournaments, whereas higher-skilled players usually favor cash games. That's an important distinction because the better-skilled your opponents are, the more creativity and sophistication you'll need to bring to the table.

Online poker rooms AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com have announced the impending launch of the new Cereus platform, which will integrate the customers and features from both to create the world’s third largest Internet poker network.

The result of twelve months’ of development, Cereus will allow both operators to retain their unique assets while sharing more players, tournaments and features alongside new features and larger promotions.

“I am so excited to announce the launch of our new poker network, Cereus,” said Paul Leggett, Chief Operations Officer for AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com.

Candywriter today announced the release of Imagine Poker 3.6 for the Mac. Candywriter teamed up with Los Angeles-based Fearnot Music Studios to bring voices to all 21 Imagine Poker Mac characters as featured in the current iPhone/iPod Touch version of the game.

If a month and a half of World Series of Poker action in Las Vegas wasn't enough to slake your thirst for poker, but the Vegas lifestyle made you need a vacation, DoylesRoom has the solution.

The poker site is giving away a tropical package to the Costa Rica Challenge taking place at the La Condesa Hotel in Monte de la Cruz, Costa Rica.

For as little as $4.80+50¢, poker players at DoylesRoom can work their way up through satellites to win a $4,000 grand prize package that includes the $2,300 buy-in for the Costa Rica Challenge main event plus $1,700 for travel and accommodations.

If you were in search of more evidence to the growing popularity of poker, the Venetian has announced that the poker themed stage show "the Real Deal!" will open in the fall. While it's not quite Blue Man Group meets the felt, audience members will not only get to watch some of the biggest names in poker history on the main stage, but play against the pros from their seats for cash and prizes.

The cast of pros includes Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Todd Brunson, Gavin Smith and Eli Elezra. The cast has combined tournament earnings nearing $50 million, 35 total WSOP bracelets and eight WPT titles.

NEW JERSEY, USA -- Bad beat in poker is when you have a good hand that is a favorite to win beaten by another hand. "Most of the time it is a hand that caught a miracle draw on the river that should not have been played to begin with. 

This is more common in low limit games because many players have the any two cards can win mentality". Said Robert, WalkerPoker professional advisor. 

"Many players will play any ace and a few players will play any suited cards regardless of the rank. Some players are calling stations that will enter the pot with marginal or terrible hands and then call all the way to the river in hopes making their draw. Occasionally they do make their hands and you suffer a bad beat." 

If you play poker at any competitive level then you know the name Phil Hellmuth. A poker player extraordinaire, Phil was the youngest Main Event winner in 1989, holds 67 cashes, and holds the record for the most cashes, which incidentally, includes four from this year’s World Series of Poker. A true Master of the Bluff, Hellmuth walked up to the WSOP table escorted by eleven military clad models each of whom represented one of the 11 championship Texas Hold'em bracelets he currently holds.

Citizens Restoring Congamond, a group of lake residents from West Suffield and Southwick, Mass. dedicated to protecting and maintaining the Congamond Lakes, is hosting its second annual Poker Run Aug. 9. Betty Ayotte of West Suffield, treasurer of the group and organizer of the poker run, said they raised $5,300 last year.

Poker is experiencing unprecedented national popularity, as reported yesterday in The Courant. The Mohegan Sun is reintroducing live poker at its new 64,000 square-foot Casino of the Wind when it opens Aug. 29.

Here's your chance locally to enjoy playing a hand of poker, possibly win the $10,000 grand prize and help keep Congamond Lake clean. I'd call that a winning 3-of-a-kind.

Players on AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com will soon notice the tables are little busier. The two online poker sites announced Thursday plans to merge the two independent rooms to form the CEREUS network.

The newly-formed network will combine the players from both sites onto one platform. The move is meant to offer increased liquidity to current players and integrate features from each site onto one platform. Players will still play at their favorite sites as they have no plans to combine into one singular brand.

Titan Poker, the largest online poker room on the iPoker Network, is preparing to send a delegation of its finest poker players to the Asian Poker Tour in Macau (APT Macau) this August. Nine players have already qualified for this exciting event and, with Super Satellites awarding seats to China twice weekly, this exclusive poker team is expected to grow considerably before the Main Event starts next month.

Players from across the globe have been competing for the chance to play poker in this exciting and exotic location. The current team of qualified players will be flying from countries all over the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Japan and the Czech Republic.

After a moment of suspense the Game Show Network has announced it will be airing the fifth season of High Stakes Poker, which is scheduled to begin filming in September.

The announcement comes as a bit of a relief for the largest cash game shown on TV because GSN had already opted not to renew the contract of the World Poker Tour.

“GSN has picked up the option on the fifth season of ‘High Stakes Poker’ and continues to enjoy poker on its air,” said Jennifer Minezakil, director of public relations at GSN.

Many High Stakes Poker fans will be happy to hear that Gabe Kaplan and A.J. Benza will be returning as hosts, offering their dry yet witty humour to the programme.

Bodog Poker is once again giving its online poker players the chance to freeroll their way to poker stardom and riches while traveling to exotic locations in total Bodog style. The Asian Poker Tour event in Macau, held Aug. 26-31, is guaranteeing $1.5 million in prize money, and Bodog Poker is now running freeroll qualifier tournaments where the winner receives entry to the APT Macau plus an all-expenses paid trip to the exciting gaming destination situated along the Pearl River Delta in China.

GigaMedia Limited today announced that the World Series of Poker -- sponsored by GigaMedia's Everest Poker product -- has successfully completed the first portion of the main event and will begin showing this week on ESPN television broadcasts.

Some time ago, rumours were heard in the poker world that the popular TV show 'High Stakes Poker' (HSP) would be dropped. The moderator AJ Benza of all people got the discussions going. GSN now discounted such rumours and announced that they exercised the option on a fifth HSP season.

After taking the poker world by storm just a short while ago by making it through an enormous field at this year’s World Series of Poker main event to finish 17th, Tiffany Michelle is not the subject of controversy over loyalty to Pokernews, her employer and sponsor for the event.

Apparently the 24-year-old actress turn poker player from Los Angeles wore an Ultimate Bet logo, in addition to the Pokernews logo, during the WSOP main event, though she had an exclusive agreement with Pokernews.

Michelle believes she did nothing wrong because many other players at the event could be seen wearing multiple logos, and claims that Pokernews is slandering her.

Many detractors thought they might not have been around to celebrate it, but Party Poker are celebrating their 7th birthday on Sunday the 10th of August. The top European poker room has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and are topping off the celebrations with a $1,000,000 guaranteed Birthday Party bonanza tournament.

You can buy in directly to this $640 event with a championship style blind structure. As usual you can also win your seat on Party Poker from as little as $1 or even just 15 partypoints. For more information go to the main Party Poker website.

Entraction Holding AB Solna, Sweden (21 July 2008). Entraction announces that it has signed a deal with yet another established poker operator, Bet1128, to supply them with poker software and access to the Entraction poker network. Bet1128 is a successful poker site focusing on the Italian market, and will start the migration to Entraction in August.

Bet1128.com's players appreciate the Italian poker "32-card draw", which guarantees good action when Entraction launches its 32-card draw in the autumn.

Hevad Rain Khan kept his mouth shut as he walked away from his seat at the No Limit Hold’em World Championship at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Known among poker circles as the most animated and excitable player on the World Series of Poker circuit, Khan would shout some kind of nonsense and put a chair on his head, play invisible basketball, or just run around screaming each time he won a sizable pot.

Last weekend, there would be no screaming, no chair on the head, no invisible basketball, no running around — and ultimately, no sizable pot.

All he could do was quietly walk away as all of his remaining chips were passed to Tiffany Michelle.

Nashville, TN .- Griffin Technology Inc., creator of all things iPod and iPhone, today announced the availability of its first game for iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch. The Vegas-style video poker game is called 5 Card Touch, and will be offered exclusively on Apple’s App Store website.

5 Card Touch is the first in a series of applications that Griffin will be rolling out for the App Store. Griffin apps will be available for download directly onto iPhone -- giving users the convenience of accessing the game at all times, even when iPhone is in Airplane Mode.

LAS VEGAS -- Chris Gibbons and Scott Erickson are two of the best bowlers in the Madison area.

Gibbons is a former pro who won a title on the Pro Bowlers Association Regional circuit -- pro bowling's minor league. And he and Erickson are on the team that ended up third in the top event at the 2008 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.

That said, neither has much interest in putting up the entry fee of a few hundred dollars to compete in tournaments against top pros like Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber in the few open PBA Tour events.

As the final cards were being dealt  at this year's World Series of Poker* in Las Vegas , three Bodog online poker players were already being dealt seats to the  2009 WSOP* Main Event. The three seats are the first to be awarded by any  online poker site and were won in the final tournament of the Bodog Poker Mini  Series, a 25-tournament series mirroring the Holdem events at the World Series  in Las Vegas but with buy-ins equal to just one percent of the actual buy-in of  the WSOP* Main Event. 

The nine finalists have been selected in the World Series of Poker at Rio. Now comes an extended break. The event's conclusion doesn't happen until November and will be broadcast on ESPN. In fact, the change in the game from a relatively straight marathon to this suspenseful bridge was created for ESPN, according to the Review-Journal, "so ESPN can televise the results in a two-hour prime time special on a same-day taped coverage basis." In other words, a  gambling tradition was changed because of the obscure demands of cable television. That is fine; the tradition was designed to promote gambling, and ESPN is helping the cause.

Age is no barrier to becoming a Poker Pro as 21-year old Michael Schwaiger from Austria discovered last month when he made Titan Poker history as one of the youngest first prize winners of the weekly $250,000 Guaranteed Prize tournament.

With his win still rippling throughout the Poker world, 21-year old amateur poker enthusiast Michael Schwaiger has defied the odds and proved that you don't need to be a veteran of the tables to win big with Titan Poker, the largest online poker room on the iPoker Network.

He didn’t win the championship, but a Nova Scotia man will be bringing home a hefty cheque from the World Series of Poker. Dartmouth’s Owen Crowe placed 15th at the annual no-limit Texas hold’em in Las Vegas Monday night. He’ll take home more than $463,000.

LAS VEGAS -- Chris Moneymaker is widely credited as the catalyst of the American poker boom, his rise from unknown amateur to unlikely World Series of Poker champion unleashing a flurry of interest in the game.

The former accountant from Nashville won his $10,000 buy-in to the 2003 Main Event by winning an online tournament with a $40 entry fee. He bested a field of 829 with a mix of bluffs, luck and unrefined skill, knocking out such poker luminaries as Phil Ivey and Dan Harrington at the final table on his way to the $2.5 million first-place prize and coveted bracelet.

ESPN cameras caught every moment of the drama.

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, has improved its generous range of prizes for its new players. All first-time depositors are automatically awarded with free entry into one of Titan Poker's New Depositors Freeroll tournaments - which are staged five nights a week. Winning players were previously able to choose from one of five fantastic digital prizes, including an iPod Touch, 8.0 Megapixel Digital Camera and a Mini Home Theatre System.

A convicted child predator that the US Government wants to deport back to Iran; a man convicted of trying to sell cocaine to undercover cops - These are the individuals participating in the 2008 World Series of Poker, and either men could be heading to the final table.  Add to this reports that one of this year's spectators is a main "person of interest" in the gruesome double homicide of

RoundersBuzz.com is a new social news and voting site just for poker content. During beta, members have submitted poker strategy articles, poker humor, poker news and other poker tips. With today's release, anyone can join the site and begin reading and sharing great poker content.

LAS VEGAS—An influx of international players has helped the World Series of Poker increase its numbers this year even as general visitation and gambling numbers have declined in Las Vegas.

Tournament spokesman Seth Palansky said Wednesday that the series attracted more players from other countries than ever before, giving it a boost despite a weak U.S. economy.

Players from 118 countries the series' 55 events, up from 55 last year. Scattered throughout the 6,844 total participants in the $10,000 buy-in main event were players from 72 different countries besides all 50 U.S. states.

Last weekend, a computer system called Polaris outperformed seven top online poker players at a human-vs.-machine competition held in Las Vegas. The score was computer 3, people 2, and one draw in the Texas Hold'em matches.

You'd think with the human element playing such a big role in Texas Hold'em, that it would be harder for a computer to beat humans than in chess or checkers. Think again!

"Poker is a completely different game," said computer scientist Michael Bowling, the leader of a Computer Poker Research Group at the University of Alberta in Canada.

The Borgata Casino has announced details of the sixth annual Borgata Poker Open, a 16-day tournament series running from September 3-18.

The series consists of 40 events and will end with the $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open Championship, a five-day tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $5 million and a minimum winner's share of $1,424,500.

NEW YORK -- DuplicatePoker.com, one of the fastest growing online poker communities will add cash games to its growing repertoire of playing options beginning today Moshe Davidovich announced today.

The popular online poker room had an extraordinary day of awarding cash and prizes to its skilled players.

Titan Poker, the largest poker room on the iPoker Network, awarded thousands of dollars and a trip to the Asian Poker Tour Macau to winning players as a part of its 'Day of Freerolls' on June 30th.

The first set of freeroll tournaments were targeted at first depositors from April or May 2008 who earned the required number of Titan Poker Points for entry. A total of $4,400 was awarded.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) just announced the official schedule for its 2008-2009 season of circuit events, which are played the year at casinos that Harrah's owns throughout the United States.

The high-stakes poker tournaments provide poker enthusiasts of all levels the opportunity to compete on a regional basis in a variety of events that include the opportunity to win a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

Once you've learned to interpret a player's betting patterns, try to figure out how his personality traits might reveal the kinds of poker decisions he will make. Focus on poker fundamentals first. Then learn to get inside other players' heads and use the information you gather to make solid decisions. Here's how to do it.

When you watch me play on television, you'll notice that I engage my opponents in conversation by asking routine questions: Where are you from? How long have you been playing poker? Do you play on the Internet? What do you do for a living?

It’s too late for you to cash in on the more than $180 million dollars in prize money handed out by this year’s World Series of Poker, but for anyone who wants to follow the action online or catch the ESPN coverage starting July 22, here’s a primer on the richest event in “sports”.

The World Series of Poker Main Event is underway, where players are already analyzing the action and dreaming of winning poker’s most prestigious tournament. First place for the WSOP Championship is 9.12 million with a field of 6,844 and a total prize pool of 64.3 million.

EDMONTON - A computer created by a group of U of A programmers changed the face of poker on Sunday night, when it defeated some of the best players in the world.

In the second man-versus-machine competition held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas over the weekend, Polaris II narrowly defeated seven players from the online poker training site stoxpoker.com.

"We're very excited," said Michael Bowling, head of the U of A team. "I think there's no question that we're playing on the level of the absolute best human players in the world at the game of heads up limit hold 'em."

The computer emerged from the weekend with a record of three wins, two losses and a draw.

Melbourne (PTI): What cricket could not give Shane Warne, finally poker has. The retired spin legend is realising his long-cherished ambition of captaining an Australian team in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

The flamboyant tweaker always wanted to captain the Australian cricket team but his off field misdemeanors meant that the dream remained unfulfilled.