Category Archives: Poker

Friday night's Hustler Casino Live stream was so entertaining that producer Ryan Feldman cut it short and will air the rest on May 25, one day prior to the show's historic $1 million buy-in poker game.

The decision to stop the stream in the middle of a juicy game didn't sit well with many fans who expressed their displeasure on social media. But, as Feldman explained in a tweet, there were "good reasons" to do so. In that high-stakes game, one player lost nearly $600,000, a mystery player showed up and became an instant legend, and poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli took down a $600,000 pot with a straight flush against the nut flush.

If there was an award for the best poker hand of 2023 thus far, many would vote for this one. In the hand in question, Mariano raised from under the gun to $500 with K10. Charles, a high-stakes regular on the show, raised to $2,000 with 87 on the button. Andy "Stacks," a legend in the Los Angeles high-stakes community who was already down six-figures for the night, made the call from the big blind with A4.

Mariano then decided to four-bet it to $9,000, which didn't convince either player to fold. Three-way to the flop they went, and it came out 9JQ.

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding me!" Hustler Casino Live announcer David Tuchman exclaimed.

With the hand being straight flush versus ace-high flush and both players having stacks of at least $300,000, there wasn't any foreseeable way to avoid blood. All three players checked to see a meaningless 3 on the turn. Andy again checked to set the trap, but little did he know Mariano, who then bet $8,000, had him drawing dead.

Charles, of course, moved out of the way with his eight-high, and then when action returned to the preflop aggressor, he raised it up to $35,000. With a straight flush, Mariano called and then a fourth diamond 6 appeared on the river. Andy bet out $120,000 before his opponent jammed all in for $257,000.

Given the board wasn't paired, Andy simply couldn't find a fold with the A, so he made the call and then found out the bad news that he had just lost a $611,300 pot.

The brutal cooler was only half of Andy's horrendous luck on Friday night. He was down $599,700 when the stream was cut about six hours into the game. How he finished the session will be revealed on May 25. Mariano was up $332,900 at the show's conclusion.

There was a mystery player named "Brad" who appeared late in the stream and became an instant legend for his gamble mentality. He made Alan Keating seem like Allen Kessler.

Brad bought in for $100,000 and immediately made his presence known when he called a four-bet jam for $85,000 total with just 43 preflop against Andy's KQ. As bad as Andy was running on this night, it was no surprise that Brad paired up on the turn and took down the pot.

Moments later, however, Brad would punt off the chips he won against Andy in a pot versus Charles. In that hand, with about $50,000 in the middle on a board of 10629, he put his opponent all in for $88,000 with A3. The bluff didn't get through because Charles, who snap-called, had 22 for a set. Brad was drawing dead and was back under his starting stack.

Within minutes, he was all in for $62,000 with 32 preflop against the 77 "Dentist Dave" held. The best hand would scoop the pot and it was time for another $100,000 rebuy from Brad.

On his second bullet, it took him little time to spin up a fortune. After taking down a decent pot, he called a three-bet to $8,000 from Mariano, who held AA, with 65. "Bobo," who has become a regular on Hustler Casino Live, made it $25,000 with AK before Mariano then five-bet to $60,000.

Brad, in character, wasn't going anywhere so he called, leaving about $72,000 behind and was covered by both players. Bobo then moved all in for about $180,000 more. Mariano and Brad both snap-called. All three players agreed to run it twice, and the first run out of J342K gave Brad a winning straight, guaranteeing he'd at least scoop half of the main pot.

No way could six-high win both run outs, right? The second board went 36627, trips for Brad, who took down the entire main pot and all of a sudden had over $400,000 in his stack. He was far from done. Shortly after, with the nut full house on the river, Andy attempted a six-figure bluff with five-high before being forced to fold when his opponent moved all in.

Following that hand, Brad was sitting on over $700,000 for a profit of more than $500,000. He'd give some of it back before the stream was cut, but he still finished with a $359,900 profit, slightly more than Mariano's score. He did so while VPIP'ing at 85%, meaning he voluntarily put chips in the pot 85% of the hands he was dealt.

The Friday evening Hustler Casino Live stream had numerous six-figure pots and the game was so intense that even Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot, usually the most active and vocal player in the game, was almost an afterthought on this night. We'll all find out how the session concluded and if Brad left Hustler Casino with money on May 25. For now, you can watch the first six hours of the show on HCL's YouTube channel.

Top 5 Hustler Casino Live Hands of 2022

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Friday's Hustler Casino Live was Bonkers and a New Poker Legend ... - PokerNews.com

Poker House Dallas, one of the top card rooms in Texas, is facing a forced closure from the city over a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) issue.

The North Texas poker club, according to a statement provided to PokerNews, is currently at the mercy of the court system as it hopes to remain open permanently. But the laws of the land could say otherwise.

Poker House Dallas is at the mercy of the court of appeals as to whether or not we will be able to continue after midnight, Tuesday May 23. Were asking for the communitys support during this unsettling time for staff and players," the statement read.

In hopes of bringing in some much needed business during a difficult time for the poker club, Poker House Dallas is offering discounts to players until judgement day.

For the next ten days, our hourly seat rate will be changed from $13/hour to $8/hour to encourage players who still have time on their account," the statement continued.

Due to strict anti-gambling laws in the state many boast as a "free state," poker rooms are forced to operate as membership clubs and cannot legally collect rake, a stark contrast to traditional card rooms across most of the US. And even the membership-based model isn't good enough for some lawmakers who argue that poker, whether rake is taken out of pots or not, is illegal according to Texas Penal Code Chapter 47.

Doug Polk, who co-owns The Lodge Card Club near Austin, is among a group of Texas poker room operators who are attempting to reword the law so as to ensure there no longer is any confusion or dispute.

But Poker House Dallas is currently facing closure over a secondary issue its Certificate of Occupancy. Or, better yet, the question of whether the club's CO is or ever was valid. According to a District Court in Dallas, the business does not have a legal right to operate a poker room in the Dallas area. The business is currently going through the appeals process in hopes of reversing the ruling.

For now, Poker House Dallas is permitted to remain open, but they've been ordered to cease operations effective May 23. If the business is able to win in the appeals court, the card club will be able to continue spreading poker games.

Poker House Dallas is one of the largest poker rooms in the state with 30 tables. They offer cash games and daily tournaments, and it's one of the most popular places to play in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. If the court isn't willing to budge, hundreds of players will need to find somewhere else to play and dozens of workers will be out of a job.

This isn't the first time a Texas poker room has faced closure due to Certificate of Occupancy issues. Texas Card House Dallas fought a legal battle in 2022 after the city went back on its word and revoked the room's CO two years after approving the business model. The room was never shut down, however, and continued to operate during the legal process.

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Popular Texas Poker Room "At the Mercy of the Court" to Remain ... - PokerNews.com

Major players are hoping that the SEC and Washington takes, what crypto watchers see as bluffs, seriously and soften the hard line that regulators have taken on the industry.

Roman Strelchenko | 500Px Plus | Getty Images

Cryptocurrency companies are playing a game of poker with the Securities and Exchange Commission, making bold threats to leave the U.S. as the regulator steps up pressure on the industry to toe the line.

Major players are hoping that the SEC and Washington takes, what crypto watchers see as bluffs, seriously and soften the hard line that regulators have taken on the industry.

Executives at firms including crypto exchange Coinbase and blockchain services company Ripple have piled on with comments laying into the SEC and signaling plans to shift business overseas, in a bid to rally support and send a message to U.S. politicians concerned that the country may miss out on a key technological innovation.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said last week that the SEC was on a "lone crusade" with its tough actions against certain crypto companies. He added that Chair Gary Gensler had taken an "anti-crypto view," despite earlier being a supporter of the industry during his time as an economics professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

"The SEC is a bit of an outlier here," Armstrong told CNBC's Dan Murphy in an interview in Dubai. "I don't think [Gensler is] necessarily trying to regulate the industry as much as maybe curtail it. But he's created some lawsuits, and I think it's quite unhelpful for the industry in the U.S. writ large."

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, also tore into the SEC this week. When asked for his message to Gensler as the company announced an expansion into Dubai, he quipped, "Who?" before later saying Ripple will have spent $200 million defending itself against a lawsuit initiated by the regulator by the time it is over.

"I find it as a company that started in the United States and as somebody who is a U.S. citizen, it's sad. I have sadness about this. The U.S. is getting passed not just by a little bit but by a lot," Garlinghouse said.

"The tough thing about this is you have a country that I think has put politics ahead of policy and that's not a good decision if you're trying to invest in the economy."

Dubai and Europe have proven to be much more favorable markets with their virtual asset regulatory frameworks, Garlinghouse said, adding: "The United States is definitely stuck."

Garlinghouse, Armstrong and other crypto bosses have made threats to leave the U.S., highlighting concern from the industry that the SEC's crackdown is becoming too harsh. The regulator has taken strong enforcement actions against companies including Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken and Paxos, accusing each of flouting securities laws.

The SEC's contention is that most tokens in the market may qualify as securities, which would subject them to much stricter requirements around registration and disclosure. Crypto firms, naturally, have denied assets they issue or list on their platforms should be treated as securities.

The question is: could they actually leave? It looks pretty unlikely.

"The U.S. is one of the largest markets for crypto, and hence it is highly unlikely that they will leave," Larisa Yarovaya, associate professor of finance at Southampton University, told CNBC via email.

"The biggest fear of crypto companies is that regulation will cause panic among crypto investors and prices will go down. To look confident (even arrogant) is a common tactic of crypto company CEOs. They think this will translate into investors' confidence, overconfidence in some cases, and will encourage further irrational behaviour among investors, e.g. HODL [hold on for dear life] even when markets are falling."

Ripple's Garlinghouse has been threatening to move his company's headquarters overseas since 2020. In October that year, he said the U.K., Switzerland, Singapore, Japan and the United Arab Emirates were under consideration for Ripple's potential move abroad.

That hasn't happened yet.

Coinbase's chief, meanwhile, suggested at a London fintech conference in April that the firm would consider options of investing more abroad, including relocating from the U.S. to elsewhere, if the exchange doesn't get regulatory clarity in the U.S.

A month later, Armstrong said Coinbase "is not going to relocate overseas."

"We're always going to have a U.S. presence ... But the U.S. is a little bit behind right now," he told CNBC.

The U.S. is a huge market for the industry, with over 50 million Americans saying they own some crypto, according to a survey conducted by Morning Consult for Coinbase.

"There's a much greater focus on the international markets for those firms. But at the top end of the market, personally I just can't see that ever happening that you leave the United States market completely," Jonathan Levin, co-founder of Chainalysis, told CNBC in an interview in London.

"It's more about how much do you invest in new international expansion where maybe that wasn't as high up on the agenda, but now it's let's look at France, let's look at the U.K."

On top of this, the practicalities of moving these already large companies out of the U.S. would be tough.

"Although these industries are virtual by their nature, they still need people, and people have families, mortgages, and preferences on where they live. Replacing them with local talent in the new place may be easier said than done," George Weston, a partner at global offshore law firm Harneys, told CNBC via email.

Crypto bosses are playing up to some officials' concerns that the U.S. has become shrouded in regulatory uncertainty while other jurisdictions, like the European Union and U.K., have charged forward with proposed regulatory frameworks for digital assets.

Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the SEC, said at a Financial Times conference last week that the U.S. was "shooting ourselves in the foot by not having a regulatory regime in the U.S."

She praised the EU on its progress with waving through laws for the crypto industry.

The EU is expected to bring in the first comprehensive set of regulations for digital assets, known as Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), sometime in 2024.

"It's really commendable that Europe was able to get that done so quickly," Peirce said, according to Reuters. "If we built a good regulatory regime, people would come. I think you will see that with MiCA."

Diego Ballon Ossio, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, said other jurisdictions including the U.K. and EU are changing their legislative frameworks to create clear regulatory regimes for exchanges.

"This means that other countries are effectively providing US based exchanges an option a place to move to. It is not unthinkable that a U.S. exchange decided to create operational hubs in non-U.S. jurisdictions where the product can be safely innovated and enhanced," he told CNBC.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, recently said it has become more difficult for the company to operate into the U.S. and that it was minded to establish a regulated operation in the U.K.

Patrick Hillman, the company's chief strategy officer, said the U.S. "has been very confusing over the past six months," pointing to the SEC's actions against Coinbase as a sign of how the country is in a "weird place."

While the U.S. crypto industry might currently be throwing out empty threats right now, there could be a real issue if regulators in America don't move forward with thoughtful regulation.

"My conclusion is that I think it is more sabre rattling than a genuine desire to up and leave the U.S., but if the SEC continues down the path it is on, many firms will have no choice but to try another way of doing business. It is existential," Daniel Csefalvay, a partner at BCLP law firm, told CNBC via email.

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Crypto companies are playing poker with the SEC as agency cracks down on the industry - CNBC

Maurice Hawkins sat alone atop the World Series of Poker Circuit titles leaderboard for more than three years after winning his then-record-setting 14th WSOPC gold ring in a $400 buy-in event at the 2020 WSOPC Choctaw series. On April 17, 2023, Josh Reichard took down the WSOPC Grand Victoria Casino main event to secure his record-tying 14th ring.

Reichard and Hawkins ended up being tied for less than a month, as Hawkins managed to set a new record by winning his 15th ring on May 15. The Florida resident defeated a field of 92 entries in the WSOPC Harrahs Cherokee $2,200 no-limit holdem high roller to secure the hardware and the top prize of $54,599.

Reichard made a comment to WSOP Circuit after his recent win to tie Hawkins that seemed to downplay the race for the rings:

To be honest, I really dont care too much about records but this one is kind of cool On [the WSOPs] website, there are pictures of all the record holders and Phil Hellmuth holds the bracelet title, and I thought itd be cool if my picture was next to his because we are two Wisconsin guys. Im sure Maurices (Hawkins) picture will stay on there right now, but that just keeps me motivated to get there one day.

Put some respect on my name! I am Maurice Hawkins, thats who I am. if you are going to call me out go ahead and say it. I am not a fan of the passive aggressive fake humble act, acting like you dont care about the numbers when you clearly do, said Hawkins after he regained the lead, evidently in response to Reichards comments.

Hawkins now has more than $2.2 million in WSOP Circuit earnings, the most of any player on that tour. His nearest competitor in that category is Daniel Lowery, who recently won his 13th ring. Lowery has $1,499,471 in recorded WSOPC earnings.

This victory also marked Hawkins 142nd cash in a WSOPC event, putting him in a tie for sixth place with Ian Steinman on the all-time cashes leaderboard for the tour.

Hawkins topped a tough final table en route to his record-furthering win, with bracelet winner Will Givens finishing seventh ($6,877) and World Poker Tour champion Dylan Wilkerson placing sixth ($8,893). 2022 WSOP $3,000 no-limit holdem event runner-up finisher Toby Boas (2nd $33,744) got all-in with pocket kings facing the pocket tens of Hawkins with the title on the line, but a 9-7-2-J-8 runout gave Hawkins a jack-high straight to win the pot and the title.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: WSOP.

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Maurice Hawkins Wins Record-Setting 15th World Series of Poker ... - CardPlayer.com

Phil Hellmuth is in Houston for the grand opening of the new Champions Club Texas, a poker room he co-founded at its previous location a couple years ago.

Champions Club, formerly in a different area of town, is kicking off the opening of its new location in a big way with six days of high-stakes live-streamed poker that will feature some of the game's biggest stars, including Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, Justin Young, Johnnie "Vibes" Moreno, and Dan "Jungleman" Cates, according to the card room's president, Isaac Trumbo.

Trumbo told PokerNews the room's soft opening took place April 29 with the grand opening festivities beginning May 6. The building, previously a Hampton Inn hotel, has been renovated and is a one-of-a-kind property for Texas poker rooms.

In Texas, most poker clubs are located in strip malls or stand-alone buildings. There aren't any attached to hotels, which isn't always convenient for those traveling to play cards. Well, there weren't any, but now there is one in Houston.

Trumbo said the old location "was a nice club, but it was poorly situated and hard to get to." He anticipates the new spot, located in the popular Asiatown district, will be easier for players from all over to access.

Champions Club will have some advantages over its competition, most notably the fact it has a full-scale hotel attached, something that is especially beneficial to players from outside the Houston area. Trumbo referred to the new Champions as a "warm and inviting" establishment.

The room has 20 tables and will offer both tournaments and cash games. In the future, Trumbo anticipates hosting a major poker series, but will soon have daily tournaments available. Players can also indulge in a juicy steak in the on-site restaurant and lounge, and we're told the food is on point.

Hellmuth, along with poker legend Dewey Tomko, is a partner, investor, and co-founder of Champions Club, and he's going all-in to promote his card room starting Friday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. CT when he appears on the room's live-stream for some $100/$200 no-limit hold'em action.

Deeb, who won a $5,000 buy-in tournament at The Lodge in Austin on Thursday, will make the three-hour drive to Houston to compete on the stream for at least one session. Hellmuth will play each day for the next 6-7 days on the stream for five hours, potentially longer depending when the card room decides to end the show. Beyond the aforementioned poker pros scheduled to compete this coming week on the stream, there will be a number of Texas poker regulars in the various games, including Kim Stone (Saturday) and her fianc Hayden Fortini (Tuesday).

On Saturday, the game will be $5/$10/$25 no-limit hold'em, followed by $25/$50/$100 on Sunday and Monday. PokerGO announcers Brent Hanks and Jeff Platt will handle the commentary duties all week long.

Trumbo's goal with the card room's new location is to "elevate poker in Texas overall." What he means by that is to conduct business the right way and not to cut corners or operate illegally. In Texas, it's illegal to collect rake, so the rooms that are abiding by the law charge membership and seat fees instead.

There are some influential people in the Longhorn State who take an anti-poker stance and would love for nothing more than to see every poker club shut down across the state. But Trumbo's working with some competitors on a mutual push to reword Texas Penal Code Chapter 47 so that there is no doubt in anyone's mind as to the legality of poker.

Trumbo referred to two of his biggest competitors Doug Polk (The Lodge) and Ryan Crow (Texas Card House) as "likeminded people," and praised their commitment to assisting him with the Texans for Texas Hold'em group that lobbies against anti-poker legislation.

"Doug Polk is poker's greatest influencer," Trumbo said of the poker superstar who owns the largest card room in the state.

Champions Club originally attempted to open a card room in Dallas, but ran into some zoning issues that shuttered the poker aspect of the operations. Trumbo said they're still working on eventually bringing a second poker club to the Dallas area. For now, Hellmuth's poker business will focus on building its newest location into the premiere place to play poker in Houston.

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Phil Hellmuth's Texas Poker Room is Having an Epic Grand Opening - PokerNews.com

Vanessa Selbst participates in the WSOP Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas on July 14, 2012. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

Women have been a force at the World Series of Poker since the first event for women was held in 1977.

Vera Richmond was the first woman to win an open WSOP event in 1982, and women captured an open-field event for 10 consecutive years at the WSOP from 2012 to 2021.

Here are the top five female players in WSOP history:

1. Vanessa Selbst

The graduate of Yale law school is one of four women with three WSOP bracelets for tournament victories and is the only woman to win three open-field events. Selbst has more than $2.2 million in career WSOP earnings, tops on the womens WSOP all-time money list.

2. Kristen Foxen

The Canadian joins Selbst, Barbara Enright and Nani Dollison as the only women with three WSOP bracelets. After winning the WSOP Ladies Championship in 2013, Foxen added two more bracelets in open events and has more than $1.3 million in career WSOP earnings.

3. Loni Hui

A native of Staten Island, New York, Hui owns two bracelets, both coming in open events. Hui also has won five times on the WSOP Circuit, and her career WSOP earnings of more than $1.9 million rank fourth on the womens WSOP all-time money list.

4. Jennifer Harman

One of four women to win two open-field WSOP events. Harman excels at all variants, earning her bracelets in limit holdem and 2-7 Draw Lowball. She has more than $1.5 million in career WSOP earnings and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2015.

5. Barbara Enright

A member of the Poker Hall of Fame, Enright is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner. She captured the WSOP Ladies Championship twice (1986 and 1994) and also is the only woman to reach the final table of the WSOP Main Event, finishing fifth in 1995.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.

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5 best all-time women players in the World Series of Poker - Las Vegas Review-Journal

The online poker market is an ever-growing industry, with millions of players around the world participating in cash games, tournaments, and various series every single day. But how healthy is the industry? According to a report published by Zion Market Research, its doing well and is predicted to be worth a massive $237.5 billion by 2030.

In 2003, the industry got a huge boost from the victory of a then unknown amateur player named Chris Moneymaker in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The American won his seat in an online satellite, and ended up going home with $2.5 million in prize money.

After this happened, everyone started to believe that if he could do it then so could they. The rest,as they say, is history. People were signing up to online poker sites left and right and the poker boom was born.

Smartphones and tablet use is expected to be a helpful driving force for the digital game in the coming years. Easy access to online poker and casino games around the world is benefiting the industry significantly.

Moreover, technological advancements in payment methods have made it easier for players to make deposits and withdrawals. The availability of various payment options like digital currencies, credit cards, and e-wallets have made transactions faster, secure and convenient, thereby boosting the growth of the market.

The growth of online poker has been driven by various factors such as increasing internet density, technological advancements, and easy availability of cost-effective mobile applications for betting. The use of digital currencies in online games has also contributed to the growth of the market. The growth of online poker is expected to continue in the coming years, driven by the growing popularity of mobile devices and the internet.

The lack of uniform regulations also makes it difficult for players to know which sites are safe and trustworthy. Players need to be cautious when selecting online poker sites, as some may not be licensed or regulated. This can put players at risk of fraud or other types of scams.

The online poker market is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been growing steadily over the years. The growth of the market is driven by various factors such as increasing internet density, technological advancements, and easy availability of cost-effective mobile applications for betting. The use of digital currencies in online games has also contributed to the growth of the market.

The proliferation of smartphones and the internet has made online poker more accessible and convenient, thereby increasing its popularity. The use of technologies such as VR and AI has also helped improve the gaming experience and create new potential for growth in the market. However, regulatory challenges remain a major challenge for the online poker market, and companies need to be cautious when operating in certain markets.

Overall, the online poker market is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by the increasing popularity of mobile devices.

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Online Poker to Be Worth $237.5 Billion by 2030 - HighstakesDB

My mother and I have been playing poker together for nearly twenty-five years. For Christmas recently, I wanted to give her a gift that encompassed our shared passion. I hired a bespoke calligraphist to draw something up, all curlicues and gold foil. My mother peeled open the envelope and pulled out the note. It read, Merry Christmas, Mom. This certificate may be redeemed for a weeklong, all-expenses-paid vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada, and $1,000 for use at a poker table of your choice. May you always catch on the river.

The author and his mother happened to be in Las Vegas at the same time as the World Series of Poker, the most anticipated poker event in the world.

She began to cry. A trip to Vegas to play cards: the one thing we had always talked about doing together.

My mother learned how to play as a teen, from a group of guy friends at her Massachusetts high school, and it wasnt long before she began playing competitively. She moved to Houston in her early twenties and played there, too, primarily sticking to underground games. But she stopped after marrying my father, moving near her hometown, and giving birth to me and my sister, all in quick succession. My mother abandoned that aspect of her identity in the face of new responsibilities and for the rewards of family life. But she always stowed a deck of cards in our junk drawer. She taught me how to play at our dining-room table, a flash of her former life trickling into motherhood.

The authors bespoke Christmas card to his mother.

By 2000, when I turned thirteen, my fathers tile business was flourishing. That year, he and my mother finished building a wide-set, two-story colonial with a sunny kitchen and a deck that overlooked the broad backyard: their American dream home. Then, eight months later, my father suddenly dieda stroke on the small yellow couch in the living room. He and my mother had worked for so long to save up for that house, had managed to secure a mortgage they werent quite qualified for even while he was alive. And now our family had no income.

My mother realized that the best way she could pay the bills on time was to start playing poker again. She ran the numbers: She could make more money at the card table than at the minimum-wage jobs that were the alternative. She reunited with cards like long-lost best friendspassionately, longingly, both nostalgic and hopeful. She began chasing games wherever she could find them: inside basements with underground tables in our area, in regulated card rooms in New Hampshire, at high-stakes tournaments in Connecticut casinos. She played on weekdays and weekends, logging enough hours most weeks to count it as a full-time job.

My sister and I supported her eccentric vocation. Our mother was home every day when we returned from schoola small token of stability in a household that needed it. Most evenings, she left us at home, but we didnt mind; dinner was always waiting for us in the refrigerator, our clothes were always washed and folded, the house was always clean. Most mornings, on my way out the door for school, Id spot the previous nights earnings spilling out of her purse. The routine became normal for me. She never spoke to us in such terms, not then, but family survival was what motivated herto save the home that stood as a physical manifestation of her and my fathers upward mobility, to not give up on all shed accomplished so far. And she always seemed to come out ahead, each year taking home roughly $25,000 in winnings.

The author and his parents, circa 1988.

My mother had first started playing poker for the fun and for the intellectual challenge. Returning to competition twenty years later, she rediscovered old pleasures. She was playing not only to make money but also as an emotional escape. At the table, she wasnt a single mother without a steady job mourning her husbands death. It was the only place she felt comfortable playing the villain, cutthroat and cruel, lying to strangers faces and getting paid for it. I love having a nemesis at the table, she once told me. It gives me purpose. To this day, at every table, she picks a player and slowly, steadily, hand by hand, tries to destroy them.

To some people, poker is just a card game, a way to pass the time. For me and my mother, its a window into our identity, our way of understanding a world that at times can seem unforgiving. I began joining my mother in basement games around town in 2003, when I was sixteen. Ever since, poker has formed a bond between us, a mutual love, a prism through which I can see her not just as my mother but as a three-dimensional person who carries deep heartache and immense responsibility. Though it took me years to realize it, I now understand exactly how high the stakes were each time she sat down at a card table: It was the only way she knew how to keep living.

She and I played together over the years, catching games when I visited from college and, after I moved to Brooklyn in 2009, meeting for weekend getaways to Foxwoods Casino, in Connecticut. By then, having borrowed against the American dream home shortly before the financial crisis hitfor her, a desperate bid to buy some time; for the bank, just another line of credit during the mortgage-backed-securities boommy mother was struggling to pay her debts. Poker no longer covered the bills; she stopped paying the mortgage. The dream homes value plummeted. Eventually, the bank took it, and she used her nest egg to buy, in cash, a tiny, very cheap fixer-upper a couple towns over.

The familys american dream home, shortly before the 2008 financial crisis that led them to lose it.

The loss hit my mother like a swinging hook after the jab of my fathers death. It crushed me to know that shed made the riskiest bet of her lifetaking that second mortgageand lost. When she moved out, I couldnt bring myself to help. Ive visited the house only once since then, in 2018, soon after I began dating my now-fiance, on a driving tour of my hometown. I nearly burst into tears as soon as I turned into the driveway, seeing all my mother had lost.

And yet, as the years passed, we kept making the time to play cards together. That longing never left us. Poker has been the only constant in my mothers turbulent life, and the thing that has kept us close.

My mother had been to Vegas beforeone of her sisters lives therebut this was the first time she was going exclusively to play cards. To compete. We chose to stay at the Bellagio, located at the bleeding heart of the Strip, boasting a card room that many players consider to be the center of the poker universe. After landing, my mother and I took a cab to the hotel-slash-casino, handed our bags to the bellhop, and looked up at the thirty-six floors towering above us, all limestone and marble. The humidity hung in the air like thick smoke. We were drawn inside, as if the building carried its own gravity, were a planet unto itself.

Coincidentally, the World Series of Poker, the games most anticipated annual event, was taking place at a neighboring casino while we were in town. Wed planned to stick to the small-stakes tables at the Bellagio, but we decided to try our luck at one of the Series many tournaments. The next morning, we walked to the banquet hall where the event was being held, each paid a $500 entry fee, and entered. Hundreds of players packed the room. The sound of chips clattering on dozens of tables filled the space. My mother wished me luck, then found her assigned seat across the room. Maybe it was because we hadnt played in a while, or maybe it was because of the intimidating glitz and glamour of the World Series, but we both played poorly, our stacks dwindled, and we quickly busted out.

The author and his mother, immediately upon arriving at the Bellagio.

We licked our wounds at a small taco stand, boasting about our most beautiful playswe each had exactly oneand brooding over our worst, of which there were many. As we ate, she opened her purse and pulled out two black poker chips, World Series of Poker emblazoned on the front. You took them off the table? I asked, shocked. We both knew pocketing tournament chips was against the rules.

She had. When the dealers attention turned elsewhere, she explained, she palmed the chips and dropped them into the strategically placed purse at her feet. Her own personal Oceans Eleven. She looked at me and smiled as she reached for another taco. Our little memento.

I beamed. These chips were a tiny symbol of the long and sometimes reckless lengths shed go to just to create memories for us to share.

For the rest of the trip, we played every night at the Bellagio. We fell into a groove; after just a few sessions, we each pocketed a neat little profit of a few hundred dollars. My mother quickly cemented a reputationnot as a little old lady, a tourist trying to make good, but as someone who commands respect. Since my father died, she has carried this ethos of fearlessness, even in the direst of circumstances. Its the thing Ive always respected about her most.

One night, the author took his mother to a restaurant overlooking the Bellagios famed water fountains.

One night, I took her out to dinner at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the Bellagios famed water fountains. We sat at a table by the window and watched the choreographed spurts and the bright lights. She explained that while things had been rocky for her recently, shed begun meditating to ease her internal pain. An insomnia that had troubled her ever since she lost my fatherfor a while, he haunted her dreamshad started abating. Through trial and error, shed found an especially useful method: She conjured up a large box into which she stuffed all her troubles, all her regrets, all the things she wished she had done differently and the things she knew were out of her control. Into the box they went, then she snapped the lid shut until the next morning, when she awoke to start living all over again.

Just then something occurred to me. You do the same thing when you sit down at the poker table, I said.

She nodded, still watching the water fountains. Yes, she said. Youre right.

Playing poker with my mother has made me realize that life isnt anything more than a series of well-timed bets, and that sometimes things dont work out and theres nothing you can do about it. A run of bad cardsduring a poker game or in lifecannot be escaped, only endured.

Which is why our trip to Las Vegas was so special, so necessary. So much had changed since my father died and my mother resumed playing poker. Gone were the dreams of small-town entrepreneurship that shed shared with my father, and with them the baton of upward mobility. The only thing made real for her over the past two decades was this: It was a fallacy to think that youd be rewarded for doing everything right, that class could easily be transcended, that hard work and a plan would always pay off. Our trip to Las Vegas taught me that I play because I want to but she plays because she must. For her, money isnt the only thing on the line; in this zero-sum game, her identity is, too.

On our last night in town, we joined a lively session. Everyone at the table bet big. By 11:00, I was up by more than $1,000 and my mother was close behind. On the next hand, my mother locked horns with two other players, who quickly raised the stakes as the hand progressed, culminating with both of them going all-in before the river, as the last communal card is known, was dealt.

My mother knew that if she caught the card she needed, shed win. She pushed all her chips into the middle. I call, she said. She turned over her hand: a king and a ten, both diamonds.

The dealer peeled the river: the eight of diamonds. Which meant my mother had a flush, the best hand at the table. She jumped out of her chair, thrust her arms skyward, and yelped with joy.

After stacking her chips into neat little pilesshed won nearly $600she leaned over and whispered into my ear, Just like you said in your note, honey: May you always catch on the river. We smiled at each other, placed our bets, and began the next hand.

IanFrisch is a Brooklyn-based journalist and the author of MAGIC IS DEAD: My Journey Into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and New York Magazine, among others.

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My Mother, the Poker Shark - Esquire

Alabama lawmakers are cashing out their poker chips on gambling and lottery legislation before the dealer calls a game.

Not one gaming-related bill has been introduced this spring requesting a vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize any form of gambling after repeated attempts over the past decade and two years after a comprehensive gaming package almost squeaked out of the Legislature during the waning days of the session.

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It is now close to a quarter century since voters last got a chance to decide if the state should have a lottery. Only five states remain without one.

With only nine legislative days left, I dont anticipate any gaming package introduction this session, said state Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, who Alabama House leadership assigned to handle issues related to gambling initiatives.

Whitt said a group of around nine House lawmakers are formulating a plan perhaps, for the 2024 session -- that could represent a breakaway from the previous comprehensive gambling strategy backed by the Alabama Senate.

Could that finally mean a vote on the lottery for the first time since 1999?

All future bets are on the table, Whitt said.

Our approach is detailed, open to new ideas and not driven by the desires of gaming interests and their lobbyists, Whitt said. Previous gaming study commissions have tried and failed, so we will use those failures as a roadmap of what not to do. In all candor, the previous legislative efforts were driven by what best served the gaming interests, and their high-paid lobbyists, but this effort is being driven solely by what will best serve the people of Alabama.

He added, Rather than taking a 10,000-foot view of Alabamas gaming options, our group is looking at the issue through a microscope and determining the pros and cons of each option.

Whitts comments come after State Senator Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, continued to push for the Alabama House to originate a proposal. He said that previous gaming measures were backed in the Senate, only to flounder when they got to the House, including the 2021 package.

The Senate has done our job, he said. We have on several occasions. Unless the House takes it up and at least give it a debate time, there is no need for us to waste our time on it.

Albritton said he was surprised, however, that not one bill was introduced this session.

Not much has been said about the issue, either, from legislative leaders or from Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys office. Ivey was vocal about her support for the 2021 legislation.

I was under the impression there would be several bills, Albritton said. One bill to allow sports gaming and a bill prepared to do online gaming. There was a bill to do a straight lottery that was also being worked on.

Whitt said there is no timetable for rolling out a new proposal. He said his group was told to take the time necessary to get a full picture and then to suggest a commonsense, comprehensive, workable plan, and build the support necessary to pass it through both chambers.

Indeed, with all gambling options off the table, Alabama will continue to be among the few states without legalized gambling of any form that produces revenues for state and local governments.

Gambling expansion opponents such as Greg Davis, president and CEO of Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), an organization that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of churches say the pause is only temporary.

He anticipates the push for gambling to heat up in 2024, ahead of the November presidential elections when the issue could appear on the ballot for the first time since 1999.

Davis said he believes opponents will be able to get their say in quashing future considerations.

Davis said he is not surprised by a lack of any gambling bills introduced this session.

He noted that newly appointed Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, signaled in February there was no momentum for a gambling package this spring. Part of the hesitation is due to the large freshman class in the Alabama House 31 of 105 House members are new.

Albritton told AL.com in February that he did not believe the influx of political newbies was a good enough excuse, noting that gambling has been before lawmakers for more than two decades.

The heavy hitters on the issue are still angling for a comprehensive package, though they realize nothing is happening this year.

The 2021 plan included a lottery, six new casinos, sports betting, and a statewide regulatory commission.

Four of the casinos would have been at the states greyhound tracks in Birmingham, Mobile, Greene County and Macon County where parimutuel and some video racing is already allowed. A casino would have been placed in Houston County. The sixth would have been in northeast Alabama and operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians under a compact with the state.

The longer this issue is not addressed, unregulated, illegal gaming will continue, said Kristin Hellmich, spokesperson with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized Indian tribe in Alabama and the only operators of gambling casinos.

The tribes Wind Creek Hospitality group operates hotels and casinos in Atmore, Wetumpka, and Montgomery. All three are on sovereign territory and are authorized for Class I and II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) bingo and non-banked card games.

The state does not receive revenues from the bingo games.

As a result (of a lack of a legislative gambling plan), Alabamians will continue to not benefit from hundreds of millions in tax revenues that are being lost each year, Hellmich said.

Some lawmakers say the timing isnt ripe for a gambling push. They said the state is flush with revenues, noting an all-time high Education Trust Fund that includes a whopping $2.8 billion surplus.

Its hard to do gambling at a time when you have plenty of money to spend, said state Senator Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro. Thats the essence of it. The gambling bills (in the past) have come with the ability to fill gaps for different funding sources.

He added, Weve got $2.8 billion in the education budget, and (approximately) $1.3 billion in General Funds. We got more money than gambling could bring to us.

Said State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, We have huge budget surpluses and the need, if you will, for additional revenue from gaming is not nearly as great as it has been in the past. Thats dampening the enthusiasm as there was in the past.

Alabama, according to a 2020 report from a gambling policy study group, is leaving a lot of money at the table by not having casino or online gambling, sports betting, and lottery.

Danny Sheridan, the legendary oddsmaker and Mobile native, said too much money is leaving Alabama to surrounding states that have casinos and lotteries. He advocates for lawmakers to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for $500 million a year or open up casino gambling and sports betting to competition.

If you dont have competition, you cheat the state out of hundreds of millions of dollars, Sheridan said.

Read more on this topic: Alabamas future with gambling: Dont bet on it

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Where are the gambling bills? Alabama cashes out its poker chips before political game begins - AL.com

The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) stop at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the Kingdom of Cambodia has determined a winner in the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event. Out of a field of 476 entries, Chao-Ting Cheng and Junnie Pamplona shared the biggest slice of the $623,322 prize pool after cutting a heads-up deal.

It only took 13 hands from there on for Cheng to overcome a small chip deficit and claim the golden shard trophy that had still been up for grabs along with $94,448 for the efforts. Runner-up Pamplona won his seat in a PokerStars LIVE Manila live qualifier for 6,600 Philippine Pesos ($120), which included the tournament entry and hotel package, and made it almost all the way to victory with just one bullet to claim $101,647 for the efforts.

Pamplona narrowly missed a career-best score on the live poker circuit, which he previously set in the 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event right here in the grand ballroom at Naga 1.

Ting-Yi "Eric" Tsai and Hua-Wei Lin also represented Taiwan on the final table, finishing in third and seventh place respectively. Colombia's Jimmy Torres followed up an 18th place in the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event with another deep run while on a poker and vacation trip to Asia alongside fellow countryman Mauricio Salazar Sanchez.

Final Result 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event

*denotes ICM deal of the final two players

The final nine players returned to their seats at 1 p.m. local time, and the average stack was very deep, yet it took just six and a half hours to determine a champion. Especially the opening stages brought several all-in showdowns, and the field was already cut down to just four contenders on the first break with the short stack holding 48 big blinds to their name.

Vietnam's Bien Mai, who already had two runner-up finishes and a win to his name in the last two months in the Asia-Pacific region, was the first to bow out. In the third hand of the final table, Mai's king-queen suited flipped versus pocket eights, and Cheng made quads.

Curtis Lim aimed to parlay the same pocket pair into success but Jimmy Torres held up with pocket queens to reduce the field to the final seven in a matter of minutes. Hua-Wei Lin was outflipped by Eric Tsai, and Kien Tat Heng swiftly followed when he ran with jack-nine suited into the pocket kings of Cheng. Evgenii Nekrasov lost a portion of his stack to end up second-best with tens against Pamplona's king-queen.

That wrapped up the first two hours of frantic poker action, and the deep-stacked part of the final table commenced. Tsai pulled ahead of the pack by some margin before a pivotal all-in showdown unfolded. Torres had dropped to a short stack and open-jammed with eight-seven suited, which Tsai called. Pamplona found another premium pair in pocket kings to isolate, and Tsai folded as Pamplona soared to the top of the leaderboard.

Cheng was on the verge of becoming the third-place finisher after his stack plummeted to a mere 12 big blinds. However, he doubled back into contention through Pamplona and chipped up. The inevitable clash between both contenders from Taiwan then followed in which Cheng's ace-queen rivered a flush to crack the pocket queens of Tsai.

Ten hands into heads-up play, Cheng's pocket queens secured a large double against the flopped top pair of Pamplona, and it was all over three hands later. Pamplona slow-played pocket aces in the big blind with a min-raise, and Cheng flopped quads to lock up the victory.

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Chao-Ting Cheng Wins the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1500 Main ... - PokerNews.com