Ranking the Top 30 Poker Cities

Super-smart high-stakes player Brandon Adams (@badams78 on Twitter) ranks the places in the world where the action is best.

New York ranks sixth, despite there being no legal games.

Greg Oden at Jason’s Terry’s charity poker event, as posted on Oden’s Facebook page. He’s got a major tell.
Pop-upView Separately

Greg Oden at Jason’s Terry’s charity poker event, as posted on Oden’s Facebook page.

He’s got a major tell.

(via 24seconds)

Source: facebook.com

The final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event is set. Whittled down from 6,885 players, the November Nine will continue their quest of the $8.71 million first prize after four months of hype. The chip leaders heading in: Martin Staszko (40,175,000) Eoghan O’Dea (33,925,000)
 Matt Giannetti (24,750,000)
 Phil Collins (23,875,000) Ben Lamb (20,875,000)
 Badih Bounahra (19,700,000)
 Pius Heinz (16,425,000)
 Anton Makiievskyi (13,825,000)
 Samuel Holden (12,375,000) Once again, the final table lacks a big TV name from the mid-2000s poker boom. But that’s the state of the game. Top competition now springs from every corner of the globe, and part of the November Nine concept is to allow time to get to know the combatants well enough to gain a rooting interest. (Four-year history of November Nine on Wikipedia)
Pop-upView Separately

The final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event is set. Whittled down from 6,885 players, the November Nine will continue their quest of the $8.71 million first prize after four months of hype.

The chip leaders heading in:

Martin Staszko (40,175,000)
Eoghan O’Dea (33,925,000)

Matt Giannetti (24,750,000)

Phil Collins (23,875,000)
Ben Lamb (20,875,000)

Badih Bounahra (19,700,000)

Pius Heinz (16,425,000)

Anton Makiievskyi (13,825,000)

Samuel Holden (12,375,000)

Once again, the final table lacks a big TV name from the mid-2000s poker boom. But that’s the state of the game. Top competition now springs from every corner of the globe, and part of the November Nine concept is to allow time to get to know the combatants well enough to gain a rooting interest.

(Four-year history of November Nine on Wikipedia)

Source: pokernews.com

Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce doubled his chipstack to 62,750 at Day 1C of the World Series of Poker Main Event. And that’s The Truth. Exactly 2,802 of the 6,865 entrants remain in the chase for the $8,711,956 first-place prize (live chip counts). Pierce currently stands in 457th place. The top 693 will get paid.
View Separately

Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce doubled his chipstack to 62,750 at Day 1C of the World Series of Poker Main Event. And that’s The Truth.

Exactly 2,802 of the 6,865 entrants remain in the chase for the $8,711,956 first-place prize (live chip counts). Pierce currently stands in 457th place. The top 693 will get paid.

Source: Yahoo!

Poker shocker: Phil Ivey sues Full Tilt’s software & marketing co. over unsettled player accounts and boycotts the entire 2011 World Series of Poker.
View Separately

Poker shocker: Phil Ivey sues Full Tilt’s software & marketing co. over unsettled player accounts and boycotts the entire 2011 World Series of Poker.

Source: pokernews.com

What are online poker whizzes going to do now that the U.S. has shut down the industry at home? According to Daniel Negreanu, they’re going to take jobs from people outside of the poker industry. In an interview with Covers.com, Negreanu said: I think you’re going to see a whole bunch of young, 20-something guys who are really geniuses entering a job market that is already crowded and taking jobs from other people. So this isn’t just going to affect poker players, it’s going to affect other people who are going to be less qualified than some of these really intelligent guys.  We’ve really screwed up in a monstrous way; it’s not just the 100,000 people out of jobs in this country, it’s all the other people who are going to be shut out of jobs. No doubt that winning online poker players are smart dudes, and some of Negreanu’s logic works here. But I don’t know if it plays out with a bunch of poker nerds barnstorming office buildings and throwing has-beens out of their corner offices. I’ve played thousands of hours of poker, both online and in casions, and I want and expect online poker to be available to U.S. players in the future. But if these guys are so brilliant, maybe it’s not such a bad thing for them to produce in other areas.
View Separately

What are online poker whizzes going to do now that the U.S. has shut down the industry at home? According to Daniel Negreanu, they’re going to take jobs from people outside of the poker industry.

In an interview with Covers.com, Negreanu said:

I think you’re going to see a whole bunch of young, 20-something guys who are really geniuses entering a job market that is already crowded and taking jobs from other people.
 
So this isn’t just going to affect poker players, it’s going to affect other people who are going to be less qualified than some of these really intelligent guys. 
 
We’ve really screwed up in a monstrous way; it’s not just the 100,000 people out of jobs in this country, it’s all the other people who are going to be shut out of jobs.

No doubt that winning online poker players are smart dudes, and some of Negreanu’s logic works here. But I don’t know if it plays out with a bunch of poker nerds barnstorming office buildings and throwing has-beens out of their corner offices.

I’ve played thousands of hours of poker, both online and in casions, and I want and expect online poker to be available to U.S. players in the future. But if these guys are so brilliant, maybe it’s not such a bad thing for them to produce in other areas.

PokerNews takes a closer look at online poker’s Black Friday, a day that resulted in Department of Justice indictments against owners of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. Matthew Kredell says that the short-term outlook for online poker in the U.S. is “grim,” adding: PokerStars already has stopped serving the U.S. market. I expect Full Tilt Poker and probably Absolute Poker to follow. I would not expect these sites to serve the U.S. market again until after online poker is officially legalized, licensed and regulated in the country. Even then, the chances of these sites obtaining a license have been severely impacted. Americans with money on the sites likely will get it back eventually but, as it did when the Neteller founders were indicted, it could take a while. I have around $9,000 on PokerStars, plus a ton of loyalty points that used to be redeemable for ~$1,500 in retail gift certificates. I’ve paid taxes on my winnings for a few years, and I don’t expect there to be any long-term issue getting my money back. There are a LOT more U.S. players with a LOT more money on the three services than me, and I don’t think the U.S. wants to piss us ALL off, just the owners of the sites who are making bank but not sharing with Uncle Sam. In the long run, I’d like to see online poker regulated in the U.S, as it could bring in a much-needed wave of new players. Short-term, I suppose we’ll see more action in the brick-and-mortar poker rooms around the country, but since online poker players are generally more skilled than live counterparts, the games might get even tougher. And they’re already flooded with grinders. I suggest following Poker News as well as the 2+2 Forums for more perspective as this situation develops.
Pop-upView Separately

PokerNews takes a closer look at online poker’s Black Friday, a day that resulted in Department of Justice indictments against owners of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.

Matthew Kredell says that the short-term outlook for online poker in the U.S. is “grim,” adding:

PokerStars already has stopped serving the U.S. market. I expect Full Tilt Poker and probably Absolute Poker to follow. I would not expect these sites to serve the U.S. market again until after online poker is officially legalized, licensed and regulated in the country. Even then, the chances of these sites obtaining a license have been severely impacted. Americans with money on the sites likely will get it back eventually but, as it did when the Neteller founders were indicted, it could take a while.

I have around $9,000 on PokerStars, plus a ton of loyalty points that used to be redeemable for ~$1,500 in retail gift certificates. I’ve paid taxes on my winnings for a few years, and I don’t expect there to be any long-term issue getting my money back. There are a LOT more U.S. players with a LOT more money on the three services than me, and I don’t think the U.S. wants to piss us ALL off, just the owners of the sites who are making bank but not sharing with Uncle Sam.

In the long run, I’d like to see online poker regulated in the U.S, as it could bring in a much-needed wave of new players. Short-term, I suppose we’ll see more action in the brick-and-mortar poker rooms around the country, but since online poker players are generally more skilled than live counterparts, the games might get even tougher. And they’re already flooded with grinders.

I suggest following Poker News as well as the 2+2 Forums for more perspective as this situation develops.

New World Series of Poker Champion Crowned

For the third straight year, an early 20s poker pro/whiz kid has been crowned World Series of Poker main event champion.

Jonathan Duhamel, 23, from the Montreal suburbs, became the first Canadian to win the title and takes home $8.94 million, minus taxes and whatever he might owe anybody who help staked the $10,000 entry fee.

The poker community likes to debate whether certain main event results and other big news are good for poker. Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP title was the best thing that ever happened to poker, as the public saw him turn a $40 online satellite tournament ticket into a seat at the main event, which eventually led to a $2 million score.

This result, I’d say, won’t attract new U.S. players and perhaps won’t bring in many new Canadians, as the game is already popular there, and native Daniel Negreanu is one of poker’s most recognizable and well liked personalities. Like 2008 and 2009 champs Peter Eastgate and Joe Cada, Duhamel represents the new breed of player who is a product of the wealth of strategy books and online training that, coupled with the ability to play more hands online in a year than Doyle Brunson has in his life, make it possible for a 23-year-old to master the game.

That’s not to say that last night’s result or Duhamel himself is bad for poker. It’s not his fault he’s young and great and that hard work is paying off handsomely. These are things we celebrate in America. But the public isn’t going to look at him and think, “If he can do it, I can do it” like they did when an amateur like Moneymaker battled mostly older professionals in a far smaller field of players. They’re going to see that countless hours of practice and study, reasoned thinking and the ability to control emotions far outweigh a lucky run to fortune, and those attributes are not what attracts new gamblers.