UB recently announced that they are canceling the Aruba Poker Classic to focus on launching their new $500k weekly guaranteed tournaments. This is good news as it marks the beginning of a new serious of tournaments along with another does of the UB Online Championships that have been so popular. UB is planning on holding the Online Championships twice a year now which puts them on par with similar series on Pokerstars and Full Tilt. UB has also indicated that they will continue to qualify players for major land based tournaments such as the WPT and WSOP.

I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous. Seriously, who wants a professional golfer that is not necessarily associated with his gambling exploits right now to endorse their casino? Apparently online poker room Paddy Power does.  TMZ is reporting that Tiger Woods was offered $75 million to become a sponsored player on the site. The details of the offer are not known but one would think that Paddy Power is raking in quite a bit of money making offers like this.

The kicker is that Woods turned down the deal post haste! Now how may people would do something like that unless they are ridiculously rich? On a more serious note the deal is probably not to Tigers benefit to take at the moment considering his circumstances. I also have to consider the source. TMZ is known for exaggerating stories but my curiosity got the best of me on this one.

Is international online poker coming to an end? That’s seems to be the consensus on Two Plus Two. With countries like Italy, France and now Switzerland either already limiting or preparing to limit online play to only with their own countries this does not bode well for the rest of the online poker countries that are smaller. It likely wouldn’t have nearly the same effect with larger countries like the US but it still is not good for the game. My guess is that it would lead to some of the top tier online players from other countries moving to the US or Germany in order to continue to play against the top competition.

Clearly the United States is looking into legalizing online poker seriously for the first time since the UIGEA went into affect. Obviously the hope of US poker players would be to participate world wide against competition wherever it may be with the ability to play in any and all online poker rooms unrestricted. However, the precedent being established by the smaller countries may influence the decision making in a way that I am not too thrilled with. The US government has been very narrow minded about learning how the business of the game works and why the players want to be free of restrictions on where they can play. If they simply put in the tiniest efforts in understanding the players and began to listen instead of dictate it would go a long way in bridging the chasm between online poker and the US government as we move forward towards legalization.

Like it or not the bad economy is the best thing that could have happened for online poker. No longer can the clowns in D.C. ignore the potential revenue like they have been in the past. Online poker will be legal sooner than later in the U.S. Let’s just hope they get it right the first time.

Once again our government is poking its nose into the poker world and has corralled yet another “person of question” regarding online poker monies. This newest incident took place in Florida with the arrest of  Michael Olaf Schuett’s in relation to online poker money transfers and payments. So far no charges have been made but he is being held nonetheless. The interesting part of this scenario is that Florida has begun looking into online poker and its revenue potential.  Schuett is known for living the “high life” and this may or may not turn out to be poker related. Who knows what this guy is really doing to peak the Secret Services interest. Whatever it is it looks like he could be in big trouble. Hopefully this turns out for the best in regards to the poker world. Unfortunately, the Secret Service is investigating how online poker players get paid for cash outs. I will keep you posted as this story develops.

More and more I am seeing younger poker playing that seem to not be satisfied with playing the game itself. It used to be the older players were the ones doing all the prop betting but now I am seeing kids do it on a regular basis spending almost two and three times their buy-ins on prop bets. It seems like prop betting, making side bets on various activities related to your particular game, are gaining in popularity. Prop bets are nothing new to the game but it used to be only hard core gamblers were into that kind of thing.

In any event I tend to look at prop bets as a fun way to say you have leaks in your game. It makes no difference whether it’s a roulette wheel, black jack or the craps pit. Ultimately those activities take money away from your bankroll and that is why they are called leaks. Conversely, there is nothing inherently wrong with playing any of those games but when you have to do it each and every time you play poker for extended periods of time it becomes a leak and something you need to shut down. Remember, your bankroll is your lifeline. Without it you are out of action and that’s no fun. Protect your bankroll as if it were a new born baby at all times.

Here we go again. It looks like the FBI is sticking their hands back into the world of online poker again. The first time it was with payment processors based in New York. This time around it appears that the FBI has been contacting various Full Tilt customers inquiring as to how they are paid.

No doubt they are either in the process of or have already begun putting together another so called “money laundering” case against the banks that provide checks to online poker players. To say that this is nauseating would be an understatement. Does this mean that U.S. players on any site will now be subjected to being probed by the FBI or other government agencies? This is a tremendous waste of time considering that online poker  will be legal in the very near future. Just take a look at what is happening in California if you are still not sure about the future of online poker in the U.S.

One would certainly think that the FBI has much bigger fish to fry than worrying about an online poker room when there are crimes of epic proportions being commited around the country on a daily basis. Hopefully this too shall pass and the online poker world and those of us that enjoy playing in it can get back to doing what we love to do without being deterred.

“Bring back A.J. Benza!” So goes the cry in the Two Plus Two poker forum. Apparently over 600 forum posters have put together a petition for the return of Mr. Benza. Kara Scott just is not cutting it to put it in a nutshell. This comes as no surprise to me as I have watched the current season and Gabe Kaplan without a “straight man” is rather boring. True, the HSP action is second to none but A.J. brought something to the show that is sadly missed right now. Kara has a lot of experience but very little knowledge about the game itself in my opinion. She is there to dress the show up but brings no additional substance. Her interviews are uncreative and lack depth.

Whatever the case the producers wanted to freshen the show up and this is what we have left. Hopefully the producers of the show will listen. Time will tell.

Yes, it’s that time again. I will be playing in the Majestic Star Deep Stacks poker tournament this coming weekend in Indiana. The tournament usually has around 70 players. The structure has 30 minute levels and starts you out with $9000 chips and $50 / $25 blinds. Its about time for me to break through to the final table having bubbled twice in five tries. I’m looking forward to it!

Foxwoods casino signed Bernard Lee to a sponsorship deal. This is a huge development because it marks the first time that a professional poker player has been signed by a land based casino. Could this be the beginning of a new trend in the poker world? I certainly think it has been long overdue. One would think that this would be yet another enticement for casinos to get in the ongoing marketing game against the all so hated online poker rooms. You can believe that Foxwoods will not be the last of the land based casinos to make this kind of deal.

Bernard Lee is the host of a radio show called “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” and is a well known poker journalist that happens to be a pretty good poker player too with over $750k in tournament winnings. This is great news for the poker world and we wish Bernard the best in his new endeavors as a sponsored player.

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It looks like the party poopers at MasterCard  are at it again. They have discovered how the online poker sites are processing online transactions and decrypted the code. That means for those US poker players that were using MC to deposit can no longer do so. My guess is that Visa is not far behind. Your best choice for depositing online if you are a US poker player is Western Union or e-Wallet. They are both easy to use and your deposit will show up in your online poker account in a matter of minutes.

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Yes, that’s what the rumblings are in the cyber poker world. It looks like former NBA world champion Dennis Rodman is a possible online poker host for Online Poker. Dennis can be seen on “Rehab with Dr. Drew.” That’s not exactly the kind of segue you want to see in a potential host but to each is own. I hope they know what they are getting themselves into.

After a delay that appeared to signal the end of the Challenge Dwan has hooked back up with Patrick Antonius to continue the Challenge. He was already up over $700k+ before both players took a lengthy break from the Challenge. The break occurred in part because Dwan lost $5 million dollars to Isildur1. At that time Dwans bankroll was estimated at around $3 million dollars. Again, those were estimates and only Dwan knows what kind of swings he can and can’t handle.

Obviously losing a fortune like he did will severely affect what kind of games you intend to play from that point on. Rumblings suggest that Dwan is in over his head bankroll wise and needs to drop down a few levels to re-establish himself. Losing $5 million to anyone playing online poker would certainly indicate a major problem in money management even if it’s over several sessions. Hopefully Dwan puts away a few million for his future before it’s too late.

It looks like all of the speculation was true. Long time poker professional T.J. Cloutier put his 2005 WSOP bracelet up for sale a couple of days ago in an effort to pick up a few dollars. This is a sad story indeed considering Cloutier has won millions of dollars in his poker career but it should be a lesson to the younger generation. No matter how well you run you always need to be preparing for the future and that means investing half of your winnings in something outside of poker when you make a large score. Fortunately for Cloutier Cake Poker, the purchaser of the bracelet, plans on returning the bracelet “to it’s rightful owner.”

My hope is that whatever troubles Cloutier may be experiencing he is able to  somehow overcome. Kudos to Cake Poker for doing the right thing. Besides, what person in their right mind would wear a bracelet they didn’t earn?

Over the past couple of weeks Rush Poker has been one of the hottest topics in online poker. I have watched a few games and it is indeed an experience to see and play.  The idea is to get your hand, make a decision and as soon as that decision is made the hand is played out as you normally would. There is no waiting around for hands. When you fold a hand you are immediately moved to another table. Every player that plays Rush Poker is put into a player pool and assigned tables accordingly when you fold.  It’s a great game and speeds up the game even more without distorting the play.

So if you enjoy a fast paced style of play where you never sit in one place for any length of time then Rush Poker is for you. You can only find it on Full Tilt for now but I get the feeling that it will begin popping up in other forms VERY soon on other sites.

Enjoy!

I just got through reading the latest issue of Bluff Magazine and I have to tell you that this has really gotten stupid. First, we watched Joan Rivers call Annie Duke “Worse than Hitler” and that all of her friends were “Mafia friends.”

Really Joan? Really?

As if those moments of stupidity on Celebrity Apprentice were not enough she let loose with another tirade against poker players last November. This time it was Doyle Brunson who was the target of Joan’s wrath on Miami’s Sports Talk 790 radio suggesting that Doyle should “Go and die under a deck of cards!” Doyle certainly doesn’t need my help defending himself against the insecure Joan Rivers but that crosses all lines of decency in my book. Whatever her opinion may be on those of us that play the game of poker she certainly could have expressed it without suggesting that someone meet the ultimate fate. To add insult to injury she suggested Doyle was trying to ride her coattails to acquire fame.

Doyle simply laughed it off and suggested it was better than dying under a pile of manure. Good for you Doyle!

Joan River’s has absolutely NO CLASS. She is attempting to shoot down people that play this game with absolutely no understanding of those of us that play it. Pathetic!