WSOP Online Possible

The World Series of Poker may be coming online. The WSOP brand owners, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc may have recently struck a deal with Pacific Poker operators 888 Holdings. According to a recent report the WSOP owners approached 888 due to their specialty in creating online poker rooms, or more specifically a subsidiary firm called Dragonfish that handles that end of the business. Should the WSOP manage to float a viable online platform it could mean serious competition with the already established brand leaders in online poker, due to the world wide popularity and strength of the WSOP brand.

NFL Season has started Early at SportsBook Poker

This Sunday marks the official start of the NFL’s regular season and many football fans are extremely excited!  But SportsBook Poker isn’t waiting for Sunday to start the NFL season since they are already running a promotion called the NFL Kick Off.  Any poker players who also happen to be football fans will really appreciate this promotion since SportsBook will be giving away $75,000 in cash and NFL-related prizes throughout the rest of September.  

As far as the cash goes, SportsBook Poker will give out $60,000 in bonus money through their brand new NFL PRIMETIME ring games.  To earn a piece of this $60k in bonus cash, you just need to play at any cash game tables marked NFL PRIMETIME.  While you’re playing in these NFL PRIMETIME games, you will earn Frequent Player Points (FPP’s) which will in turn help you win a share of the $60,000 in cash.  All you have to do to find the NFL PRIMETIME tables is go to the SportsBook Poker lobby and look for the games that are listed in green.  

Just remember though that only the FPP’s you earn in NFL PRIMETIME games will count towards earning a share of the $60k.  Another thing you need to remember is that you should download SportsBook Poker through PokerWorks so that you can get the 100% deposit bonus up to $1,000 as well.  After downloading SportsBook through PokerWorks, you’ll also be eligible to earn a seat in the NFL Weekly $10,000 too!

Basically as long as you can earn at least 100 FPP’s within the allotted week, you will receive a seat in the Sunday NFL $10,000 Weekly tournament.  As indicated by the name, the Sunday NFL $10,000 Weekly tourney is a poker freeroll featuring a $10k prize pool.  There will be 3 of these poker freerolls (Sept. 13th, 20th, and 27th) throughout the month of September so you’ll have plenty of chances to get 100 FPP’s and earn a spot.

Of course, the only thing which can top the Sunday NFL $10,000 Weekly is the NFL $30,000 Primetime Final.  To get into this, you just need to earn 500 FPP’s throughout the remainder of September, and you will be eligible to play for a share of the $30k on October 4th.

If you hurry to SportsBook Poker and sign up before September 14th rolls around (Monday), you can also cash in on a $500 reload bonus and a chance at free NFL tickets.  The reload bonus is worth 100% up to $500 and you can earn this on top of the 100% up to $1,000 deposit bonus if you make a subsequent deposit and use the NFL9100 code.  When you use this code, you’ll automatically get a seat in the WIN NFL TICKETS freeroll poker tournament which happens on September 20th.  

The top 3 finishers in the WIN NFL TICKETS freeroll will earn a $3,000 NFL prize package which includes tickets to an upcoming game while the top 20 placers will get a free $100 NFL sports bet to be used at SportsBook Poker.  With all that you can win in the NFL Kick Off promotion, it’s definitely worth playing at SportsBook during the rest of September!

KGC passes judgment on UltimateBet scandal

1994 WSOP Maiin Event champion Russell Hamilton.The Kahnawake Gaming Commission released its final decision regarding the UltimateBet cheating scandal Friday.

The Commission once again confirmed that cheating did occur on the online poker site and that Tokwiro Enterprises, owner of UltimateBet, had returned a total of $22 million to its affected customers.

Tokwiro Enterprises was also fined $1.5 million over the incident.

“Despite the unfortunate circumstances that resulted in this cheating, we are satisfied that the actions taken by the Commission provided an equitable result for affected players – our first priority,” said KGC Chairman Dean Montour.

“We remain optimistic that this experience and the lessons learned from it will result in a higher standard of gaming regulation for companies licensed and regulated within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and elsewhere.”

According to the decision, the ability to view hole cards was enabled by illicit software placed on the UltimateBet servers prior to November 2005. A third party account was then used to view players hole cards and the information passed on to the offending players.

The user names on the accounts maintained by those responsible were changed often in an apparent attempt to avoid detection.

The Commission named 1994 WSOP Main Event champ Russell Hamilton as the individual it believes is primarily responsible, adding that there were 31 individuals who were associated to varying degrees with Hamilton when the alleged cheating took place.

Names were not released to the public.

In total, the KGC’s investigation revealed 23 accounts with 117 different usernames were used to facilitate the cheating and the money was disbursed using player-to-player transfers on the site.

The Commission has provided the results of its investigation to law enforcement authorities, who will determine whether criminal charges should be laid against one or more of the individuals involved.

The KGC noted that UltimateBet has taken significant steps to modify its control systems to prevent cheating and other improprieties in the future.

To read the full text of the release click here.

Australia Poker Tournament

Online poker room Titan Poker is hosting satellites to an Aussie poker event. The Poker Cup Australia will run in Melbourne, and Titan Poker will be awarding lucky players prize packages that will take them down under to compete. The satellites are called the Poker Cup Australia Super Sat and cost $25 to play. The winner will get the trip to Melbourne to play in the main event, which runs near the end of September. The prize package will cover the cost of playing as well as the spending money and airfare to the event.

PartyPoker offers seats in Conrad Poker Tour

‘I’m aiming for success but also looking forward to having a top group of PartyPoker.com qualifiers to cheer on too.’PartyPoker players will have a chance to qualify for one of South America’s most lucrative tournaments this winter.

The Conrad Poker Tour final event takes place at the Conrad Punta Del Este Resort and Casino in Uruguay Dec. 4-5 with an estimated prize pool of $1 million.

The $2,500 buy-in event is one of the most highly anticipated tournaments of the year for South American players, according to Latin American PartyPoker Ambassador Felipe “Mojave” Ramos.

“This is one of the major dates on the Latin American poker circuit, which I am very much looking forward too,” said Ramos. “I’m aiming for success but also looking forward to having a top group of PartyPoker.com qualifiers to cheer on too!”

There will be four main qualifiers to the event, all of which will be open to players located in Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru or Chile.

The qualifiers will take place Sept. 11, Oct. 1, Oct. 22 and Nov. 12 on PartyPoker.

Each package won on PartyPoker will include the buy-in for the event, two nights accommodation at AWA Boutique + Design Hotel in Punta del Este, transportation from the hotel to the casino, $500 spending money and a reception dinner with Ramos at one of Punta del Este’s high end restaurants.

WSOP makes Changes

This year’s $40k celebratory poker event won’t return in 2010. The World Series of Poker hit 40 years old in 2009 and so the WSOP held a $40k no limit Texas hold’em event to celebrate. The draw was huge as was the participation, but the organizers of the WSOP said it was never intended to be a long term event. They announced that it will not return next year. Other news about the WSOP includes the addition of more $1,000 events, following the “stimulus special” that was held this year.

GUKPT Coventry Poker Victory

The winner of the latest GUKPT event is Thomas Besnier. The 33-year old Frenchman took down all comers at the Blue Square Poker Grosvernor United Kingdom Poker Tour Summer Series main event in Coventry at the G Casino. He was the last man standing out of 84 runners and took home a prize of £8,200 as well as a seat in the GUKPT £100,000 Champion of Champions tournament. The main event was a £300 no limit Texas hold’em poker tournament.

GUKPT Coventry Result – Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Coventry Completes Summer Series

The GUKPT Summer Series main event at the G Casino in Coventry has been won by 33-year old Frenchman Thomas Besnier. He defeated a field of 84 players in the £300 no-limit Texas hold’em poker tournament to take down the first prize of £8,200 and claim a seat in the tour’s £100,000 Champion of Champions tournament. Besnier, a sports agent from Tours, near Paris is the first Frenchman to win a GUKPT event, but has visited the UK on several occasions to play on the tour. His compatriot and travelling companion Julien Bardet also made the final, finishing in 8th place. Besnier commented that he likes to come to play in these events because the structure is so much better than they are used to getting in France.

His heads up opponent was Mark Deacon from Leicester, who was playing in his first ever GUKPT event. The heads up stage of the tournament went on for over two hours, but after a monster pot with A-8 versus K-T, Besnier left his opponent with not enough to make up the small blind. Two hands later he emerged victorious with an unlikely holding of 3-2 versus Q-T. A board of 4-6-J-J-5 gave Besnier a straight and brought the tournament to a conclusion.

Andrew O’Flaherty from Leeds, who has previously graced an EPT main event final table, finished in third place, while Rotherham’s Paul Rayner was fourth. John Exley from Barnsley who finished 5th, was the only player on the nine-man final table to have previously made a final table on the GUKPT. Chris Gavriel, Barry MacDonald, Julien Bardet and Dilbir Sahota completed the final table line up, finishing in 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th places respectively.

The Summer Series is now complete for 2009, but the main tour continues this week at the Grosvenor casino in Cardiff, which plays host to the 7th leg of this year’s tour. The last time the tour visited Cardiff was in 2007 where former Eastenders actor and PokerPlayer writer Michael Greco claimed victory. The festival starts on Monday 31st August with a £200 no-limit hold’em freezeout, while the £1,000 main event gets underway on Thursday 3rd September.

Big Losses for Mystery Online Poker Player

At the online poker room Full Tilt Poker mystery player Martonas suffered big losses. Martonas has received a lot of attention from his high stakes wins and losses, causing players to speculate as to his real life identity, which so far remains a secret. Recently he played a match with Tom Dwan, known as durrr, losing nearly one and a half million dollars. Two pots provided the bulk of that loss, totaling over $700k. On the other hand players like THEASHMAN103 wound up way ahead; this player found a profit of nearly one million in one week.

The Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival is Coming Soon!

Do you have a little Irish in you? Want to test your ‘luck o’ the Irish’ in a big way? If so, dust off that four leaf clover, grab that rabbits’ foot and get ready for the Irish Poker Festival. The action takes place at the Irish National Events Centre (INEC) in Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland for three days this October 2nd through- 4th and Ladbrokes Poker wants to send you there!

Be right in the thick of things because the INEC is at the center of the busy hotel and leisure complex and players who win prize packages will be staying at the Gleneagle Hotel, which is right by the bustling INEC. So when you take a break from the poker tables, soak up some Irish hospitality with a wide range of night-life filled with Irish music and having the craic -all within walking distance! And just what does having a craic mean? It is a traditional Irish word defining what you will be doing in Killarney; having fun, enjoyment, abandonment, or lighthearted mischief – often in the context of drinking or music!

This year, the three day Irish Poker Festival will showcase the €550 Main Event which will feature a real pot ‘o gold – a whopping €250,000 guaranteed prizepool! And players will have plenty of time to make their best moves with a $15,000 chip starting stack and one hour blinds. Plus players will also earn European ranking points for participating! The Festival also includes two side tournaments: a two day €270+30 buy-in tournament on Saturday, October 3rd and a one day €150+20 buy-in tournament on Sunday October 4th. And of course when you win your trip on Ladbrokes Poker, you will have exclusive access to Ladbrokes hospitality facilities with a game room offering pool and darts to help you relax in between all those winning hands!

Last year every event at the Irish Poker Festival was a complete sell-out, setting a European record with 832 players competing in the Main Event. When the smoke cleared after three days of non-stop poker action it was lucky Irish local lad Jimmy McSweeney who walked away with 1st Place bragging rights and €100,000. And this year promises to be even bigger and better!

But why not plan to be there to get in the action yourself? You can for as little as just €3 + 0.30! A limited number of Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival Main Event Packages are available for €1,000 (€950 + €50) but thanks to Ladbrokes Poker, you can get your seat way cheaper by winning one of these satellites:

•    Monday – Saturday Satellites held throughout the day for just €3 + 0.30
•    Monday – Saturday Satellites Daily Final at 20:30GMT for €20 + 2
•    Sunday Weekly Final at 20:30 GMT for a buy-in of €100 +10

With all of these satellites running until September 20th, now is the time to start playing to win one! And when you come out on top, you will win a prize package that includes your €550 buy-in to the Main Event and three nights B&B at the Gleneagle hotel.

If you have ever wondered why Ladbrokes Poker is number one in the UK and Europe, now you know – because they offer great promotions to major live events like the Irish Poker Festival all year long! Don’t miss the chance to take your seat at the biggest poker tournament on the European Poker Circuit – by winning your Irish Festival Prize Package today – only at Ladbrokes Poker!

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