TexasHoldem-Info.com News: September 2005

Friday, September 23, 2005

World Championships of Online Poker Results

Step aside World Poker Tour and WSOP, a new tournament is town and it’s breaking all sorts of records. Of course we are talking about the WCOOP (World Championships of Online Poker).

This past month (Sept. 4 th thru the 18 th) online poker room PokerStars.com played host to the biggest online poker tournament in the history of the World Wide Web. In only its fourth season, this years WCOOP generated so much attention that it was able to raise a total prize pool of nearly 13 million dollars, that’s the biggest prize pool to be had on the Internet to date (this also placed the WCOOP into the top three poker series events of the year).

What makes this event so special, compared to other Poker events, is the fact that it all takes place online, allowing players from anywhere in the world to take part. This is great for poker fanatics who have always dreamed of entering a major tournament but just didn’t have the ability to travel half way across the world to do so. Players form over 50 different countries world wide took part in the event this year, making this tournament the most international and diverse of any poker event, ever.

Also adding to the success of the tournament is the huge increase in the popularity of the game of poker (in many ways thanks to such huge televised events as the WPT and WSOP). And of course, the increase of internet use with safer, more secure, easier to use and more accessible web technologies has also helped make this years event one to be proud of for PokerStars.com. In fact, the number of participants in this years event actually doubled from last year, and PokerStars.com hopes that this trend will continue for years to come.

The 2005 WCOOP, kicked off on Sept. 4 th with a No Limit, $500 buy-in, Holdem tournament with over 3000 participants and a prize pool of just over $1.5 million. Over the next 14 days the series continued to break records for the WCOOP and millions and millions of cash prizes were rewarded to thousands of lucky players. But like all major poker events, it is the last day of the series, when the main poker event gets underway, that everyone looks forward to. In this case it was a $2500 buy-in, No Limit Holdem event that nearly 1500 participants had dreams of winning. 435 of these skilled poker players earned a piece of the $3,735,000 total prize pool. But only one player can be named the 2005 WCOOP main event champion and walk away with the big cash prize and the coveted World Championship of Online Poker bracelet. And this year the lucky player was Panella86 from Pennsylvania, USA, who took home a whopping $577, 342.

Congratulations to Panella86, all the tournament champions, all prize winners and to PokerStars.com for putting together a real “World Class” poker Tournament.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Online Gaming Prohibition Bill Fails Yet Again

This past Thursday, US Senator John Kyl's appropriation bill aiming to prohibit online gaming was defeated, again. Kyl has been fighting against this issue for nearly 10 years now and continues to be unsuccessful. The proposed bill is attacking the online gaming industry, including, casinos, poker rooms and sports books, since in recent years have together grown to become a billion dollar industry. Kyl believes that this type of spending by consumers should be used in other, more prosperous ways for the nation.

He also argues that this type of industry is very dangerous for the youth of America. He even calls online gaming the "crack-cocaine of the internet", since it is very easy for youth to take part in unsupervised and it is in turn very addictive, which can be very dangerous.

Although online gambling is technically considered illegal in the United States, no action is actually taken against the gamblers. And although, most banks and credit card institutions will refuse a player to fund their online gaming account with funds from their banks/credit cards, this does not pose a problem for people who want to play. Many third party online banking systems have been developed where players can fund these accounts via their credit cards or bank accounts and then use these accounts to fud their online casino or poker bank roll.

After many different tactics at getting this legislation passed by the Senate, Kyl's attempt this time was to attach the online gaming restriction to an annual spending bill. But due to a lack of connection between the two bills, it was quickly dismissed by the Senate and was said that maybe if the amendment had been attached to a Finance and Banking bill, it may have had a better shot of being passed.

But this is not the last we will here or see of John Kyl and his aspirations of prohibiting online gaming as he has made it very clear that he will continue with his fight and that it is not over yet.

Monday, September 05, 2005

The Poker Pro's Recommended Reads

If you are striving to become a top poker player but need a little bit of help with your game, when it comes to poker, there is no shortage of books and guides out there to lead you in the right direction. But with so many to choose from, where do you start, which are actually helpful, etc. Continue reading and you'll be well on your to becoming that top pro.

The FullTilt.com team of poker professionals, including Steve Brecher, Erik Seigel, Perry Friedman, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, have recently revealed what their favorite books and advice are that have helped them master their strategy and get them where they are today. The following are their recommendations.

Steve Brecher says that David Slansky's Holdem for The Advanced Player, The Theory of Poker (particularly his analysis of the concept of odds) are both solid reads. He also recommends, poker superstar, Doyle Brunson's book called Super System because it really emphasizes the importance of implied odds (a very important part of the game in Brechers mind).

Erik Seigel has gotten to where he is mainly on his own and declares that he hasn't really turned to the books for advice and hasn't read very many, but admits that of the few he has read, Al Alvarez', The Biggest Game in Town is definitely his all time favorite.

Chris Ferguson agrees with Steve and says that he believes that Slansky's Holdem for the Advanced Player and Theory of Poker are two of the best poker books out there. He also agrees that Brunson's Super Systems is a good one and reveals that Mike Caro's, Book of Tells has also really helped with his game.

For Perry Friedman, it's Phil Gordon who really knows his stuff. Perry has had the chance to read Gordon's new book, Little Green Book, which will be on the shelves in October. He reveals that this book, in his opinion, gives the best description on how to really think about the game. And in regards to help in tournament situations, Friedman recommends any of authors, Dan Harrington's, books.

Howard Lederer's approach is a little different than the others. Howard likes to think of poker as an art form and therefore has gotten into reading books on Zen Buddhism. These books, teach people how to master an art form. By reading these books, especially the recommended, Zen in the art of Archery, Howard as been able to help master his art, his poker game.

So hopefully this wide array of poker book recommendations, that all focus on different aspects of the game, will help you to become the best all around poker player that you can be. And also help ease the pain of decided which, of the many poker books out there, to choose from.

Also recommended by the pros are Michael Craig's, The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King, James McManus' Positively Fifth Street and the biography of Stu Ungar, entitled One of a Kind, written by Nolan Dalla.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

New in Online Poker for September - Exciting Things

Visit Poker Stars and take part in the WCOOP (World Championships if Online Poker) this month. The event will be taking place from Sept. 4 to Sept. 18. Every day, one of 15 different tournaments will be taking place including no limit and pot limit Holdem games, Omaha (hi/lo) games and Seven Card Stud. Buy-ins range from $200 to $1000 with the main event, a No-Limit Texas Holdem tournament, having a buy-in of $2500. The total guarantee of prize money that will be rewarded at this years WCOOP is at least $8,000,000 (the highest amount in online poker history) with 2.5 million of it reserved for the main event.

Sundays have gotten even bigger at Ultimate bet. For the month of September, they have increased their Sundays guaranteed prize pool event from $100, 000 to $125, 000, and this is every Sunday! Throughout the week you can win a seat in this event for as low as $3 (less than a good cup of coffee) or simply join the event every Sunday at 10pm and buy your way in for $200 +15. The more players that join the event, the higher the prize pool grows.

If you’ve never played at Poker Room, then this month is the perfect time to join. For new players (who make their first deposit by Sept. 5) not only will you receive an initial match bonus of 20% up to $100, but you will also receive free tickets to a WPT qualifier and be automatically entered in to the their Shark Cage beginners tournament.

On Sept. 19 th the World Poker Tour is coming to Atlantic City with the Borgata Poker Open. You can win your way into this televised tournament by playing at Full Tilt Poker this month. Every Saturday (until the tournament begins) at 3pm sharp you can enter their $200 +$16 qualifier tournament and if you win, you are on your way to one of the most prestigious poker events out there. Winners receive a seat in the tournament, an array of Full Tilt gear and an additional $2000 in spending cash. If you don’t have the $200 buy-in amount, then you can also win your way into the Saturday games through satellite competitions going on during the week.

For the first three Wednesday’s in September go to Doyles Room and test your skills against a poker professional. At 9 pm enter into Doyles Room ”The Bounty Tournament” ($25 +$2.5 buyin) and play against WSOP champion Todd Brunson, Poker Legend Doyle Brunson or Poker Genius Mike Caro in a $1500 guaranteed tournament. And if you manage to knock out the pro, you win an automatic $250 Bounty Prize. This is your chance to show the pro’s what you’ve got.

Last month at Noble Poker, players had the opportunity to win a cool million dollars. Well since there has been no winner to date the contest will carry through September in hopes that someone will claim the prize. The contest is called the $1,000,000 Sit ‘N’ Go Challenge, where if a player wins 7 consecutive $10 + $2 buy in Sit ‘n’ Go Challenge tournaments (in any thirty day period) they will be rewarded 1 Million dollars in cash. The contest will also reward players who win 5 or 6 consecutive tournaments with 75k and 25k, respectively. And if this isn’t enough, a number of other prizes will be rewarded to players playing in these Sit ‘n’ Go $1,000,000 tournaments.

		Party Poker		Inter Poker

		Ultimate Bet		PokerRoom

		Pacific Poker		Empire Poker

		Paradise Poker		Doyles Room

		Absolute ...		Poker Stars

		Full Tilt ...		Noble Poker

		Titan Poker		Bodog Poker

		Poker room accepts U.S. players.