In this new "Strip Poker" series, Card Player covers the Las Vegas poker scene — on the Strip and around the city.
During most tournaments, tension fills the air as players concentrate on every move, knowing that a wrong decision could mean their demise. However, at the JCC Celebrity Poker Shootout in the Palms Casino yesterday, the players & women poker pros were light-hearted and cheerful as more than $89,000 was raised for charity.
All proceeds from the tournament, which had a $450 buy-in with $200 add-ons, were donated to the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada. Highly respected tournament director Matt Savage donated his time to run the event. Evelyn Ng, Andy Bloch, Steve Zolotow, T.J. Cloutier, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, and Erica Schoenberg were among the 86 players who played in support of the cause. Play online poker.
Schoenberg was one of the lead organizers of the event and also the winner. She took the first-place prize of a 2008 World Series of Poker main event seat. All participants were given gift bags from the event sponsors, Full Tilt and ProPlayer.
There was also a silent auction, which took place during the poker tournament, that raised thousands more. The ultimate goal for the money generated is to build a center from which the JCC and the Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA) can operate. For more information on these organizations or to make donations go to www.jccsn.org or www.jfsa.ca.
Be sure to check out Card Player TV on Wednesday for a new Strip Poker episode filmed from this event. Stay tuned to our poker blog fro latest updates.
Annette_15, aka Annette Obrestad, finally took down a major Sunday tournament on Sunday night, outlasting the competition and taking down a first place prize of just over $117k.
Annette_15, who is arguably the most popular player in the online poker world, had recently lamented that Sunday was her worst day, and that she consistently threw thousands of dollars down the hole by playing in all of the major Sunday tournaments. When you add in all of the major Sunday tournaments, plus all of the rebuy tournaments that take place on Pokerstars, it can definitely become a very expensive day if you don't final table at least one event.
Annette started drawing attention once there were about 100 people left in the poker tournaments. Her rail started to grow, and by the time she had reached the final table, you had hundreds of people watching and cheering for Annette on the rail.
Annette_15 was near the chip lead pretty much throughout most of the final two tables, playing her usual aggressive game. Play route 66 poker. The hand that turned all the momentum in her favor and gave her the tournament came during three-handed action. The three players remaining had just about the same amount of chips. Annette_15 flopped quads (pocket sixes) and got all-in against her opponent who had pocket Jacks. Her opponent was dead after the turn, and Annette_15 soon won the tournament when her AQ held up against the A10 of her short-stacked opponent. Download poker wallpapers.
Annette_15 will surely do some major damage in Vegas when she is old enough to play there. Until then, expect Annette_15 to continue smashing her competition online. Women poker.
It's now 9 months since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act looked to have ended Americans online gambling activities. However the law is shrouded in confusion as certain poker and casino sites have continued to accept US players & women poker players.
Some of this confusion has been cleared up by two blogs ( http://uscasinos.blogspot.com and http://unitedstatesofpoker.blogspot.com ) which were set up to show US players how and where they could continue gambling.
Having the information displayed in a blog format makes it easy for the info to be correct and up-to-date as the industry is constantly changing, with sites dropping in and out of the US market every week.
Both poker blogs have easy to follow instructions on how to deposit money into your players accounts, which seems to be the hardest part for US players who want to gamble online. The blogs show you which online eWallet is accepted by each room.
The blogs also have a complete list of up-to-date rooms which will still accept US business. Although some of the major players like Party Poker pulled out straight away , when the Act came into law, a lot of big and well known rooms are still letting US players deposit and play on the site.
The confusion as to the legality of continuing to gamble is also explained fully on the blogs. While the ban does make it illegal for US financial institutions to conduct transactions with gambling sites, it is still legal for players to use the sites, if they can fund their account. The blog has recently added articles explaining all of this in more detail to reassure the player that they are not breaking the law by gambling or playing poker online.
Blog owner Brian Blessed decided to set the blogs up as a way of fighting the ban, by keeping Americans playing online to show the powers-that-be that US citizens wanted to fight the ban.
Brian commented, "I believe that the people in charge will have to change the law when they see how many people are still playing poker and using casinos online as it would be foolish to annoy so many voters before an election by taking one of their favourite pastimes away. So the more US citizens who continue playing, the stronger message we send to our lawmakers." Play $500 match poker bonus.
The site has been running for 9 months now and has received over 10000 hits from Americans so this in itself shows how many want to continue their online hobby.
For more information about the poker tournaments, please visit Free tournaments 247.
With a last name like Zogman, the latest Heartland Poker Tour winner sounds like he should have superhuman powers. He may not be able to fly or have super-strength, but Dan Zogman is invincible at the poker table.
The 47-year-old McHenry, Ill., resident took home first place in the Heartland Poker Tour Majestic Star Casino main event in Gary, Ind., last weekend.
His journey to get there included buying into a $100 satellite, which he won, propelling him into the $2,000 main event. There the Home Depot employee's invincibility continued as he took home the $227,811 top prize.
"This is incredible," Zogman said. "Winning a Heartland even has been my goal ever since I learned about the poker tournaments. We've already booked our trip to the next HPT event in Minnesota."
When Zogman made the final table, which played on Monday, his chip count was about mid-range compared to the rest of the table. As he fought his way to the top, his wife sat off to the side and relayed the action to family and friends back home. Download poker wallpapers.
The top six players were: Place Name Hometown Prize Money 1st Dan Zogman McHenry, Ill. $227,811 2nd Jimmy Kasputis Jr. Rockford, Ill. $113,906 3rd Scott Bohlman Horner Glen, Ill. $73,225 4th Kenny Nguyen Lynwood, Ill. $54,919 5th Mark Owens Chicago $44,749 6th Greg Monaldi Davie, Fla. $38,647
It was a big one to win as well considering this HPT event drew record-setting participants for the tour. In all, 1,481 players & women poker players showed up to play in the qualifying rounds with 442 taking on the main event.
The HPT keeps the cost of entry within the reach of most people, which has resulted in so many participants that the prize money is reaching major tournament levels. The tour is also filmed for television, making it nearly like playing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, but for the average person.
"Dan Zogman epitomizes what the Heartland Poker Tour is all about," said Todd Anderson, HPT producer. "The HPT was created for poker players in local casinos and neighborhood card rooms around the country. Like the Minor Leagues, it was designed and developed to give players everywhere a chance to make the big time." Play online poker.
Dom Niro, Majestic Star poker manager, said they were overwhelmed by the amount of players who showed up for the latest event.
"The turnout for this event was phenomenal," he said, indicating that the casino may have to find more room before the HPT returns there in December. Stay tuned to our poker blog for latest updates.
The next stop on the HPT is the Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, Minn., Aug. 20-27. The $2,000 main event will start Aug. 26.
"KillerKenny" takes home $25,000 for winning the Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.
Yesterday, Bodog Poker's Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament drew 912 entrants to compete for one of the largest prizepools in online poker. Emerging victorious from the huge field was Bodog regular "KillerKenny". He entered the final table with the chip lead and after swatting down cash game specialist Aaron "Kos" Kosdrosky ("Tse Tse Fly") after a very short heads-up match emerged victorious to take down the $25,000 first-place prize. Play route 66 poker.
In related news, "KillerKenny" has been contacted by the government to go to Africa and aid them in handling an outbreak of the sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies.
"KillerKenny" already had nine top 25 finishes under his belt on Bodog.com this year in several different buy-in level poker tournaments including two wins in the $30 NLHE tourney. This is the biggest tournament win for the online poker player on Bodog so far.
The tournament continues to draw some of the biggest names in online poker. After winning last week's tournament, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner almost made the final table again just barely missing in 11th place. Another noted internet gun Scott "SCTrojans08? Freeman finished on the final table bubble in 10th place. Download poker wallpapers.
Here are the full final table placings and payouts:
Head over to Bodog.com and qualify for as little as a dollar for your chance at winning one of the largest prizes in online poker in the Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.
"KillerKenny" takes home $25,000 for winning the Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.
Yesterday, Bodog Poker's Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament drew 912 entrants to compete for one of the largest prizepools in online poker. Emerging victorious from the huge field was Bodog regular "KillerKenny". He entered the final table with the chip lead and after swatting down cash game specialist Aaron "Kos" Kosdrosky ("Tse Tse Fly") after a very short heads-up match emerged victorious to take down the $25,000 first-place prize. Play route 66 poker.
In related news, "KillerKenny" has been contacted by the government to go to Africa and aid them in handling an outbreak of the sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies.
"KillerKenny" already had nine top 25 finishes under his belt on Bodog.com this year in several different buy-in level poker tournaments including two wins in the $30 NLHE tourney. This is the biggest tournament win for the online poker player on Bodog so far.
The tournament continues to draw some of the biggest names in online poker. After winning last week's tournament, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner almost made the final table again just barely missing in 11th place. Another noted internet gun Scott "SCTrojans08? Freeman finished on the final table bubble in 10th place. Download poker wallpapers.
Here are the full final table placings and payouts:
Head over to Bodog.com and qualify for as little as a dollar for your chance at winning one of the largest prizes in online poker in the Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.
The Dynamic Gaming Systems Network and all 13 poker rooms that are current members will soon be able to take advantage of the PIC-PAY service from PIC-Club.com. The PIC Club is the Players Investment Company website, an outfit that will work as an online payment processor for customers of online poker rooms. The goal of the PIC Club is to open the US poker market in terms of smooth and secure payment processing. The company will be offering branded ATM cards, online bill pay services and other features not normally attached to online payment processors. Play route 66 poker.
November Will Be Next World Poker Congress Meeting
The World Poker Congress will be following up last year’s successful inaugural gathering with a second one this year. The WPC will gather at the Westin Dragonara Resort in St. Julian’s, Malta in order to discuss items of interest to the world’s poker industry players. The keynote speakers will be World Poker Tour founder Steve Lipscomb and World Series of Poker head Jeffrey Pollack. Talking points for the WPC will include rake, running poker tournaments, and how to expand a product range in today’s financial climate. The WPC is open to anyone intresetd in becoming more educated about the poker industry.
US Star Stymied at Aussie Poker Event
American Pie actress turned woman poker pro Shannon Elizabeth showed up in Melbourne, Australia this week to play at the Victoria Poker Championships, but ran into a little trouble when she tried to take her seat in the casino. The 33 year old actress was stopped by security, who asked to see her ID. According to reports she seemed shocked that she wasn’t recognized and that she was being carded. She did not have ID on her person, and so was turned away. It is unknown at this point if she managed to find her ID in time to start the event. Download poker wallpapers.
