Category Archives: Poker

This year were doing something a little different and breaking down our annual Poker Year In Review into three different parts the Flop (January-April), Turn (May-August), and River (September-December). Were wrapping up 2021 by taking a look back at some of our biggest stories, winners, and surprises that unfolded in one of the most unique years in the history of the game.

Although we were officially in 2021, some of the most important business of 2020 had yet to be decided at the beginning of January as Damian Salas and Joseph Herbert met at a mostly empty Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to play heads-up for a million dollars and determine who will earn the official title of 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.

The finale was not without its detractors as an online version of the WSOP Main Event had been played out on GGPoker earlier in 2020, but Salas who had made a previous live WSOP Main Event final table in 2017 proved to be a worthy winner, taking home an extra $1 million and the WSOP Main Event bracelet.

I dont play for the money, thats not my goal, Salas said after his win. My basic motivation is to become better and better every day and remain a member of the world-class poker elite.

READ: Desire To Remain Elite Drives New World Champ Damian Salas

While January continued to be full of interesting player news, including Chance Kornuth surrendering to Phil Galfond in the Galfond Challenge, Ilyas Muradi taking down the wildly successful WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and Jack Hardcastle winning the WPT Montreal Online Main Event for $447K, it was poker industry news that dominated the first month of the year.

READ: Chris Moneymaker Reflects on 17 Years as Pokers Everyman Ambassador

For the fourth time in 12 years, the World Poker Tour had been sold in a deal with Element Partners, LLC for more than $78 million.

This deal will allow the World Poker Tour to do a number of things that its always wanted to do, World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska said at the time the deal was announced, unable to completely expand on the nature of the takeover. What I can say, however, is that for myself and my management team, were still here and its business as usual and we look forward to this exciting next chapter of the World Poker Tour.

That same week, perhaps one of the biggest stories of the year broke when The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission in their case against the U.S. Department of Justice, reversing a revised opinion of the Wire Act. In short, it was a big win for online poker players in the U.S., setting the stage for a potential boom of online poker in the United States in years to come taking away legal barriers for would-be states to get in on the action and even join multi-state compacts to expand the total liquidity for Americans.

Almost as if on cue, PokerStars officially launched PokerStarsMI.com, becoming the first operator to offer Michiganders (and visitors to the state) the option to play online poker, legally and regulated, from inside the state.

To close out the month, Brazils Brunno Botteon kept his 2020 hot streak in tact and ended up as the Online Player of the Month for January.

February started off with a bang. The months-long heads-up grudge match between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk came to an end after 91 days and 25,000 hands. Polk wrote his name in the history books, soundly defeating Negreanu and walking away a winner of roughly $1.2 million.

Im very happy that I spent so much time preparing and I felt it really ended up helping me tremendously and that I got to execute at such a high level over such a long period of time, Polk said just moments after the last hand of the challenge.

Over the course of the match, the feud between the two seemed to morph into a respectful rivalry and Negreanu gave credit where it was due when it was over.

He deserved it. He played well. I thought he made really good adjustments. I thought he improved as the match went on. I thought he got better and better and sharper, in a lot of different lines, Negreanu said.

But that wasnt the only high-profile high-stakes poker taking place in February as Tom Dwan emerged to take a seat in the newest iteration of High Stakes Poker on PokerGO and picked up a $300,000 win. Dwans appearance was a thrill for fans who were equally excited to have the popular programming back on the air.

READ: Hellmuth Rants, Palihapitiya Wins Big On Latest High Stakes Poker

High Stakes Poker wasnt the only poker mainstay to make a return in February as, after more than a year away from Las Vegas, the World Poker Tour was back in Sin City for the first time with WPT Venetian. The final table featured the aforementioned Jack Hardcastle, as well as the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, but it was Qing Liu who took home the trophy and the $752,880 first-place prize.

Brazils Yuri Dzivielevski was climbing into contention for the worldwide #1 spot in the Online Poker Rankings (something he ended up holding for the better part of 2021) and he also walked away with Online Player of the Month honors for February.

Polk and Dwan werent done keeping the poker world entertained as the season of High Stakes Poker stretched into March and both high-profile players continued to impress. Polk made what some have called one of the best laydowns ever in a massive hand against Phil Hellmuth that had the poker world buzzing for days while Dwans domination earned him another half-million win, showing that despite not being in the public eye he wasnt showing any sign of rust.

READ: Tom Dwan, Bryn Kenney Star in Biggest Pots of High Stakes Poker S8

Another massive winner in March was Vanessa Kade. Coming off her high-profile social media clash with Dan Bilzerian, Kade took that energy into the PokerStars Sunday Million 15th Anniversary online event and walked away with the win for a life-changing $1.5 million payday.

Looking to replicate the same fervor of Polk and Negreanus heads-up battle, former #1-ranked online pro Fedor Holz sparked a beef with high-stakes cash game crusher Wiktor Malinowski and the pair agreed to take their feud to the felt. The feud was likely manufactured, and the heat wasnt very hot, but fans were treated to a pair of high-stakes pros dedicating some time to entertaining viewers with the four-session challenge.

Brunno Botteon lost his grip at the top of the Online Poker Rankings as Bert Girafganger7 Stevens took his third turn at the top but by the end of the month he made way for the surging Yuri Dzivielevski who took control and held on it in for the next six months.

In case you missed these popular profiles of some of pokers best we talked with Alex Butcher about becoming the #1-ranked player in the United States and the work he needed to do on himself in order to get out of his own way and be open to success.

Speaking of success, Kevin Rabichow opened up about what led him to switch gears from being one of the worlds top online cash game grinders to taking up tournaments and dedicating himself to success.

By the end of the month, Joao Naza114 Vieira took home the title of March Online Player of the Month.

One of our most popular articles of the year was published in April when PokerStars found Isai Scheinberg agreed to be interviewed for the first time after settling all of his legal troubles stemming from Black Friday. Scheinberg stepped into the spotlight and talked about the early days of PokerStars, the beginning of the poker boom, the fallout from Black Friday, and what hes doing with his life after selling the company for nearly $5 billion.

I valued privacy, but I was not secretive. Thats not the same thing, Scheinberg said talking to the media for one of the very first times. I was working hard. I was very busy and Im not the type of guy to go out and do PR.

READ: Isai Scheinberg: His Company, His Legacy, and How Black Friday Impacted Both

The heads-up craze continued in April as Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu played in the first of three High Stakes Duel matches on PokerGO. The first was, for many, the most memorable as Negreanu had Hellmuth down to a 19-1 chip disadvantage. But Hellmuth used his #WhiteMagic to spin it back up and defeat Negreanu in what was about to become a reoccurring theme for High Stakes Duel.

Both PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker and GGPokers Spring Festival took over the online poker scene, both offering massive guarantees and non-stop action in the middle of the pandemic. One person who couldnt get enough was former #1-ranked Niklas Astedt who couldnt keep himself out of the headlines, taking down multiple GGSF titles and adding to his SCOOP Legacy.

Speaking of former #1s performing in the spring, Simon C Darwin2 Mattsson picked up two SCOOP titles on the same day. Plus, Chris Moorman finally added a SCOOP title to his resume, after taking home the first SCOOP in his career.

READ: Joakim Andersson Ships GGSF MILLION$ Main Event for $1.5MREAD: SCOOP: Series Concludes As kZhh Wins $10L Main Event TItle, $878K

With an accumulation of a massive amount of leaderboard points, high-stakes legend Sami LarsLuzak Kelopuro took down the Online Player of the Month title in April.

The 2021 Poker Year In Review will continue!

Excerpt from:

2021 Poker Year In Review: Polk Defeats Negreanu, U.S. Online Poker Gets Big Boost - PocketFives

There have always been arguments about who the best player in the world might be. One thing that usually has not been argued, however, is who the best player in a given calendar year might be. Organizations like CardPlayer Magazine and the Global Poker Index have done magnificent work to trying to figure out who the best player in a calendar year might be, but of late there have been some changes in the tournament poker world that are corrupting that work. Thus, it is time that both CardPlayer and the GPI take one of two paths (both would be perfect) towards fixing their Player of the Year systems.

High Roller Events Have Corrupted the Overall Tournament Calendar

I have written about this before, but it has never been more evident than in 2021 that the High Roller events have spread like a fungus and are infecting the overall tournament poker scene. PokerGO has even gone as far as to create a touring series out of them (something that the World Poker Tour tried to do several years ago with WPT Alpha8 perhaps they were just a bit ahead of their time) in the PokerGO Tour, events with buy-ins north of $10,000 that the Average Joe poker player could only dream about getting into. That is not the way that poker is supposed to be and it certainly shouldnt dominate the regular tournament scene where someone proves their mettle.

There are several issues with High Roller tournaments that are problematic. First, they are populated with about three dozen regulars that are constantly take part. Most poker people would say that, if you were playing the same 36 people all the time, if you did not learn anything about their playing styles over a lengthy period of time, you probably shouldnt be playing poker. To allow 36 people to decide who the Player of the Year is just because they have boatloads of cash to toss around is not the way that poker was meant to be.

I am reminded of something that one of the greatest poker writers of all time, the late Lou Krieger, once wrote about the game of poker. He wrote the following (and I am going to separate it away so it can be respected):

Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring, or hard and impersonal, fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just Not only is poker good for you, its the American way where winners play fair, have the right stuff, and nothing else matters except, perhaps, a bit of luck every now and then.

Note that nowhere in there did Lou state anything about spending a crapload of money. Poker is supposed to be an egalitarian game, not an elitist game. CardPlayer Magazine and the GPI can do one of two things (or both, in a perfect world) to change the way their rankings are compiled and return the game or at least how it is Player of the Year is determined back to that egalitarian goal Krieger stated.

Change #1 Set the (Player) Bar High

These High Roller events are not going anywhere, but it should actually be a tournament and not a glorified Sit and Go. In looking at some of Ali Imsirovics finishes for the year (no reason to pick on Imsirovic, but he is one of those players who almost exclusively plays the High Roller circuit), he received Player of the Year points from both CardPlayer and the GPI for tournaments that had as few as 30 ENTRIES note, that is entries, not the individual number of people. While CardPlayer does set a physical entry number limit on their POY rankings, both they and the GPI need to set that player bar higher, not as low as it is currently set.

For ANY tournament to earn points towards the POY, it should be set by CardPlayer and the GPI that there has to be a minimum of 75 PLAYERS individual players, not entries that have entered the tournament. This ensures that it is a serious event, not a little made for television (or streaming) event that is not drawing a decent number of players to contest. It is an actual tournament that puts the participants to the test rather than allowing a clique to get together to shuffle chips (and money) around. I would like to see that number set even higher, myself take it on up to 100 individual players, make sure that there is some challenge set for everyone, rather than just a small group.

Change #2 Separate Leaderboards

The GPI tried to do something like this for 2021, but they set the standards too low. The GPI does a normal POY that covers everything, but then they also compute a Mid-Major POY race that covers tournaments with a buy-in under $2500. Since they already do this, then they should take that figure a bit higher.

There should be TWO POY races established. One, of course, would be a High Roller POY that covers tournaments from $10,000 on up. The second would be the REAL POY, the players that have to routinely battle through fields hundreds (sometimes thousands) of players strong, show their skills and demonstrate that they are the BEST that poker has to offer not that they can beat 30 other people who like to torch stacks of cash.

For the REAL POY, you can make it tournaments with a buy-in of $10,000 and under. Yes, I know the High Roller POY goes $10K and up, but that is where the slight bit of overlap can occur. All $10,000 tournaments are not created equal there is a stark difference between taking on 700 players at the WPT L. A. Poker Classic and slumming at ARIA in one of their High Roller events along with 30 of your closest friends you have been playing with for years.

What Would Be the Difference?

There would be a substantial difference if you implemented these two guidelines. First off, Imsirovic would probably not be the POY of a REAL POY ranking on CardPlayer or the GPI because most of his work was done in tournaments over the $10K mark. You would see someone like a Qing Liu, who won a WPT event one night and came back the next evening to nearly do it again, or even Brian Altman, who does a majority of his dirty work in the tournaments under $10K, receive the POY honor for their demanding work.

This is not a slam against the High Roller events, Imsirovic, Bryn Kenney or a multitude of other players who seemingly play these tournaments exclusively. It is a slam, however, on the fact that they are not taking on all comers; they prefer to play the same 30-50 people that they KNOW HOW THEY PLAY. That is arguably the biggest challenge in poker is taking on people you have never even seen before, learning their tendencies, and then figuring out the right approach to take that is the egalitarian nature of poker.

Instead of rewarding the 30-50 people playing High Roller tournaments, give them their little tour and their own POY. Reward the hardworking people who ply their trade in Florida, or Los Angeles, or Las Vegas, or Baltimore, or any of the other places where the poker COMMUNITY gathers to enjoy the game. That is what a Player of the Year award is supposed to do, not reward who had the most money to fling around at a given time. Hopefully CardPlayer and the GPI will institute these new changes the minimum player numbers and the separation of the tabulations so we can have a true indicator (or, at least as close as possible) of who had the best year.

Read more:

How to Fix the Player of the Year Rankings - Poker News Daily

December 21, 2021Chad Holloway

Theres no denying Dan Bilzerian has been a polarizing figure, both in poker and in the real world.

Regarding the latter, the King of Instagram has made plenty of headlines, right or wrong, for blowing shit up, his myriad of dalliances with women, and even tossing a pornstar off a roof.

In poker, the GGPoker Ambassador has reportedly won tens of millions, caused a controversy when he called a well-known female player a hoe, and has been known to rub elbows with some of the biggest names in the game.

For me, Bilzerian has been a mixed bag. Id be lying if I said I, like millions of other men, wasnt fascinated by his lifestyle and adventures, but Im also not a fan of some of the things he does (i.e. the aforementioned hoe incident). Primarily, my biggest reservation with Bilzerian was his claims of poker success without much to back it up.

Granted, high-stakes poker games, especially cash games, tend to be shrouded in mystery, but for someone to claim theyve won as much as Bilzerian did, well, how can one verify that? Did he really win that much or was it just false bravado, another poker player embellishing their results?

Ive been around the poker world for more than a decade and feel pretty well-connected, so if I was unaware of even the rudimentary details, how true could it be? That has been my thinking for a while I was skeptical of Bilzerian as a poker player because there were so many unanswered questions.

I was hoping some of those questions might be answered in his new self-published autobiography The Setup, and much to my surprise, they were. I obtained a copy of his book, which I assumed would be ghostwritten but was actually penned by the man himself, during the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and it made a helluva impression on many levels.

The Setup is an intimate look at all things Dan Bilzerian. From his life as a kid to his unprecedented rise to fame on social media. Its a raw, no-holds-barred look at a man many consider an enigma.

More succinctly, The Setup is Bilzerians philosophy towards life and women. Love him or hate him, has there ever been someone who epitomizes the Austin Powers mantra Women want him, men want to be him than Bilzerian, at least in this day and age of social media?

Bilzerian guides the reader through his life by breaking his book into five parts:

Throughout, there are color photos, screengrabs of social media posts, and testimonials from famous friends including Steve Aoki, BJ Baldwin, rapper Meek Mill, and country music superstar Jake Owen, as well as poker players like Dan Fleyshman, Jennifer Tilly, Antonio Esfandiari, Bobby Baldwin, and Mike The Mouth Matusow.

The book itself is NSFW with both explicit content and images. Dont be shocked when you read about Bilzerians detailed sexual exploits, varied drug use, and brushes with danger and even death.

Look, I read The Setup looking to validate my skepticism, especially in regards to his self-proclaimed poker prowess, but thats not what happened. Instead, Ive got to admit I enjoyed the hell out of The Setup. It was vulgar and graphic, yet raw and entertaining.

One might expect Bilzerian to write a book thats essentially an ode to his ego, but thats not the impression with which I was left. Bilzerian writes about both the good and bad. Sure, he shines a positive light on himself often, but he also puts in tons of stuff that does the opposite. I was actually shocked at some of the stuff he shared shoving drugs up his ass, getting caught masturbating, and losing his virginity to a prostitute are a few that come to mind but I found his willingness to just put it all out there added authenticity to The Setup.

Instead of coming off as a self-serving megalomaniac playboy many might expect (myself included going in), Bilzerian leads with a sense of vulnerable genuineness, one demonstrative of a layered individual. If whats read is to be believed, theres more to Bilzerian than what might meet the eyes of his nearly 33.3 million followers on Instagram.

"If whats read is to be believed, theres more to Bilzerian than what might meet the eyes of his nearly 33.3 million followers on Instagram."

Bilzerian loves powerful guns and fast cars, but hes also got an introverted geek side complete with some of the insecurities you and I might have ourselves. Many of his fans see Bilzerian as a god, but he takes it upon himself to show readers that hes just a man. By sharing details regarding his childhood struggles, as well as the trials and tribulations he faced in his quest to become a Navy seal, its hard not to empathize with Bilzerian, at least from the start.

For me, my favorite part of the book was when he detailed his gambling adventures. Bilzerian talks about how he discovered the game and his rise through the ranks. Much to my satisfaction, he talked specifics when it came to his big wins, even showing a picture of a wire transfer confirmation for $10.8 million and outing Alec Gores as the rich businessman hes relieved of tens of millions.

Speaking of which, Ive been told Gores was upset to discover he was named in the book, which was the catalyst for him challenging Bilzerian to a $100,000,000 heads-up match, which PokerNews previously wrote about here. Whether or not that match actually happens remains to be seen, but the history between the two men is clearly highlighted in the book.

I was thoroughly impressed by The Setup. Bilzerian has writing talent and did an excellent job in constructing and organizing the book, which was highly entertaining and alleviated any skepticism I had regarding his history in poker. He laid it all out there for anyone to verify, and thats something I respect.

Dan Bilzerian may not be someone you want to get to know better. Perhaps you are plenty content hating him as is or living vicariously through him via Instagram. Hed tell you thats fine if he actually cared. But if youre interested in knowing whether or not theres more to him than meets the eye, you might want to give The Setup a try.

You can get a copy of The Setup in both soft cover and hardback, as well as an eBook edition, at dbthesetup.co.

Neither PokerNews nor the author received any consideration for this review.

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Dan Bilzerian's The Setup Book Filled w/ Sex, Drugs, and Plenty of Poker - PokerNews.com

The Perth Casino Royal Commission (PCRC) is calling for submissions from members of the public to a discussion paper on the regulation of poker machines and electronic gaming machines (EGMs).

The paper, Regulation of Poker Machines and EGMs, was released today and is open for comment until 20 January 2022. It is available on the PCRCs website under Publications, Practice Directions and Rulings.

A spokesperson for the Commission said the paper explores the existing regulatory framework governing the use of poker machines in licensed casinos in order to consider whether and, if so to what extent, that framework applies to the electronic gaming machines (EGMs) used at the Perth Casino.

The PCRC wishes to provide the interested parties and the public the opportunity to express their views on any matters raised by this paper, the spokesperson said.

The PCRC is required to inquire into, report and make any recommendations related to:

The paper has been prepared to inform the Commissions enquiry and does not express any final or concluded views.

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Perth Casino Royal Commission - Discussion Paper on Regulation of Poker Machines and EGMs - Government of Western Australia

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz are the subjects of a new biopic titled Being The Ricardos. It stars Nicole Kidman as Ball and Javier Bardem as Arnaz, the real-life married couple behind the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy. The duo was a powerhouse in the entertainment industry because of their talent and creative ideas. But it was their business acumen that helped them build their wealth.

Arnaz was also a big-time gambler who according to legend won a piece of land in a poker game and then built a weekend home on top of it. The man they hired to design their Palm Springs oasis was someone who wasnt allowed in the neighborhood.

After appearing in dozens of B movies early in her career, Ball and her Cuban-born bandleader husband became household names when they created and starred in I Love Lucy together. For six seasons, the duo played Ricky and Lucy Ricardo a middle-class New York City housewife who wanted to be in show business, and her singer/bandleader husband who performed in nightclubs.

RELATED: Desi Arnaz Described His Final On-Air Scene with Lucille Ball: It Was the Last Time We Would Be Lucy and Ricky

For four of its six seasons, I Love Lucy was the number one TV show in America. And, it was the first series to end its run while still at the top of the ratings. The series was groundbreaking, as Ball insisted that Arnaz play her husband despite the objection from CBS. The network execs were convinced that audiences wouldnt buy an All-American girl married to a Latin man.

Ball and Arnaz proved CBS wrong, and they did it by putting their own money on the line. The couple agreed to take a $1,000 per week pay cut in order to shoot their series from Hollywood and produce it on film. In return, they demanded and were given 80 percent ownership in the I Love Lucy films. This turned out to be a genius financial move.

As they earned their fortune via their Desilu Studios, the couple fell in love with the Palm Springs area of California and decided to build a home and make it their weekend getaway. According to Outsider, legend has it that Arnaz won the land they built the home on in a poker game.

The Palm Springs lot that Arnaz won was located near the 17th fairway of the Thunderbird Country Club. The home that he and Ball built was the first residence completed in the clubs development.

To design their home, the couple turned to architect Paul R. Williams. With his signature California Style, Williams designed a 4,400 square foot house with six bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a lanai-type signature Williams space that combined and expanded the use of interior and exterior areas.

RELATED: Lucille Ball Said Desi Arnaz Was the Kindest at Work but Would Blow His Stack at Home

While Ball and Arnaz were some of his more famous clients, Williams designed at least 1,000 houses and commercial buildings around the world.

He was the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects. And because he was a minority, he wasnt allowed in the nearby Thunderbird Country Club. Because he was Cuban, Desi Arnaz was actually denied admission to the club despite his celebrity status.

In response to the prejudice, Arnaz bought property nearby and opened the Indian Wells Resort Hotel, which did not discriminate against minorities and Jewish people. He also did just fine in his Hollywood career and made a fortune.

Williams was also incredibly successful during his career, and architect Evan Galen admits thats surprising given the time period he practiced in. Galen is actually amazed that Williams designed homes for the wealthy in the 1950s.

In that era, for rich white people to trust a black orphan to determine their social status through his work well, obviously, Paul Williams must have been very, very special, Galen told The Sun Sentinel.

According to Williams granddaughter Karen Hudson, the architect taught himself to draw upside down. And she believes that was one of the keys to her grandfathers success.

Back then, it was unheard of for a black man to lean over white clients, even if he was showing them plans for their future home, Hudson explained. At the time, some people might have found that offensive.

RELATED: Lucille Balls Legacy Includes Being the First Woman to Run a Production Company

She says that Williams ability to draw upside down became a marketing gimmick. Once they found out he could do it, everybody wanted him to draw upside-down for them, too.

The home that Williams designed for Ball and Arnaz was extensively remodeled in 2002. But the gorgeous mid-century design is still standing. The lot that Arnaz won in the poker game has since been divided into smaller parcels, and seven one-story homes were built on the property.

Being The Ricardos premieres on Amazon Prime Video on December 21.

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Lucille Ball's Palm Springs Home Was Built on a Lot That Desi Arnez Won in a Poker Game By a Man Who Wouldn't Be Allowed in the Neighborhood - Showbiz...

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Video Poker - Free Video Poker Online, No Download Required!

ST JOHNS, Antigua--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It is the most wonderful time of the year but there is something that could make it even better a series of Holiday Season Poker tournaments. If you agree, then you need to head to Everygame Poker where you can unwrap plenty of festive promotions.

The Everygame Poker Holiday Season gets underway on Christmas Eve (24 December) with a Merchandise Freeroll that starts at 5:15pm Eastern. This is followed by an Xmas Day $3,000 GTD tournament on the 25 December at 5:10pm. Santa hats are mandatory, of course.

The festive fun does not stop there with a Boxing Day Special Progressive Bounty Tournament taking place on 26 December at 7:30pm. Make sure you dont party too hard on New Years Eve as the next tournament in the series is the New Years Day $3,000 GTD that starts at 7:30pm on 1 January.

If thats not enough poker action to get you through the Holiday Season then fear not, Everyday Poker has brought back its legendary Wipeout Series and will be boosting the prize pot even further between 27 31 December in what has been dubbed Wipeout Week.

During the week, the standard $1,250 GTD daily prize will be increased to $2,000. Tournaments run every day of the week you can find the full tournament details below:

Wipeout XL - $2,000 GTDTexas Holdem NLMonday to SundayStarting time: 8:30pm ESTBuy-in: $20 + $2Blinds: 10 minStarting stack: 3,000

John Murphy, Manager at Everygame Poker, said: As much as we all love Christmas, it is nice to take a break from the turkey, mince pies and mulled wine and to take part in some truly incredible Holiday Season Poker tournaments with huge prizes up for grabs. And that is exactly what we are offering.

We have even boosted the prize pot for our Wipeout Series so that this years Holiday Season is one to remember for all of the right reasons. So, make sure to step away from the festive feast and put your poker playing skills to the test at Everygame Poker.

ENDS

Editors notes:About Everygame Poker:https://poker.everygame.eu/

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The Everygame Poker Holiday Season Starts Tomorrow - Business Wire

ST JOHNS, Antigua--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Are you an online poker bounty hunter that likes to put your skills to the test and fight for your share of big-money prize pots? If you answered yes, then head straight to Everygame Poker where you can compete in Daily Bounty tournaments.

Everygame Pokers Bounty Hunter series offers both classic and progressive formats. In the former, part of your buy-in makes up the bounty on your head while in the latter, you also collect part of the bounty from any players you knock out.

The good news is that from 20 December to 6 January, Everygame Poker is making these fun and thrilling tournaments even more exciting by giving players the chance to win their share of an additional $3,000 prize pot. Nice!

Players must knock out as many opponents as possible. The more players they knock out, the higher up the leaderboard they will rank come the end of the promotion. Prizes are paid out to the first 30 places with first receiving $480, second receiving $420 and third receiving $350.

Everygame Poker may be best known for being the number one poker room in North America, but it also offers a top-class online casino should you want to mix and match poker play with a few spins on some of the most exciting slots in the market.

You can also take advantage of a range of online casino promotions, including the Betsoft December Slot of the Month bonus where you can unlock up to 270 Free Spins on the providers festive themed slot, Take Santas Shop.

The bonus takes the more you deposit the more Free Games you can unlock format. You can find a full breakdown of the promotion below:

Deposit $25 and receive 30 Free Spins on Take Santas Shop with the bonus code ELF01Deposit $50 and receive 60 Free Spins on Take Santas Shop with the bonus code ELF02Deposit $75 and receive 80 Free Spins on Take Santas Shop with the bonus code ELF03Deposit $100 and receive 100 Free Spins on Take Santas Shop with the bonus code ELF04

Codes can be used in any order, but each code can only be used once. Free Spins are added to your account 24-48 hours after you make a qualifying deposit, or you can contact the customer support elves (poker@everygame.eu) and they will add them straight away.

ENDS

Editors notes:About Everygame Poker:https://poker.everygame.eu/

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Everygame Poker: Calling all online poker Bounty Hunters - Business Wire

December 22, 2021Poker Strategy

There are some times in No-Limit Holdem when you know youre holding the stone-cold nuts and your only decision comes down to, how much money can you extract from your opponent on the river? Its an enviable position to be in, to be sure, but knowing how much you can bet on the river to maximize your win isnt always an easy question to answer.

Lets say you were dealt A K under the gun in an eight-handed $1/$2 No-Limit game. Youve been playing for about 30 minutes and have more than doubled your $300 buy-in to about $700 thanks to a hand against a maniac early in the session. He left after you busted him.

To keep this example simple, lets say that you dont know any of the players at the table, nor their proclivities; nor do they know yours.

In this hand, you just call the big blind from your early position, as did two other players. The cutoff raised to $15, the big blind called, as did you and one other limper. Four of you see the flop 9 J Q and theres $61 in the pot.

The flop is good for you; you hit the nut flush draw and pick up a gut-shot draw for the nut straight. The big blind checked and you bet $35. The next player folded, the preflop bettor called, and the big blind folded. Youre now heads up with $131 in the pot.

The turn is a complete blank the 3. With two overcards to the board, the nut straight draw and the nut flush draw, you figure you have 18 outs to hit the best hand (figuring your opponent would have raised if he had two pair or trips), making you roughly a 3 to 2 underdog to hit the winning card on the river.

Assuming you have some fold equity, you semi-bluff $75 hoping for a fold, but with a back-up plan expecting to improve to a winning hand nearly 40% of the time on the river. Your opponent, who has you covered with a stack of about $1,000, calls and theres now $281 in the pot.

The river is the beautiful 10, giving you both the nut straight and the nut flush and, possibly, making your opponent a good, but inferior hand as well. Your thoughts turn toward maximizing your certain win.

So, what do you bet here? From what Ive seen, most reasonably good, rational players without a history with their opponent will typically bet something around half the pot in this situation. Their thinking is, generally, that they dont want to bet too big, lest they scare their opponent into folding. Better, they reason, to keep the bet to half-pot, or even smaller, in an effort to entice a call.

While I understand the logic behind the standard play, I would argue that an over-bet betting roughly double the pot by shoving your remaining $565 is often the better play. (And, again, you would surely be affected by your knowledge of your opponents.)

Sure, your opponent might well decide that the bet is too much and fold, depriving you of the money you might have won if you had bet smaller. But I think theres enough of a chance that hell call for the shove to be worthwhile. Let me explain why.

For one thing, your opponent might view your shove as an indication of weakness more than strength. From your opponents perspective, the shove is a polarized bet either you have a monster or youre bluffing. A smaller bet might well be seen as a value bet and be less likely to seem like a bluff. Ironically, by betting more, you may well be increasing the chances that your opponent will call with a semi-strong range like two pair, a set, or even top pair/top kicker as a bluff catcher.

Theres also something about a shove that signals desperation, especially to a seasoned player. The shove itself might trigger a call even more than a pot-sized bet.

But, youre not basing your shove on the conclusion that your opponent is more likely to call it than they would a small bet. Even if you conclude that the shove is more likely to produce a fold than a smaller bet would, all other factors being equal, youre still usually better off shoving than betting small.

Players often err in this decision by failing to properly contrast the two options. They compare the likelihood that their opponent will call the two bets, but they fail to consider the relative reward each bet provides.

In this example, the call of the shove is worth considerably more than the call of the smaller bet. By shoving, you make the villains error of calling considerably greater than his error of calling a much smaller bet.

Lets round off the numbers in this example to make the math simpler. Imagine your shove is $600 and your smaller value bet is $200. If thats the case, youll win three times as much if the villain calls your shove as you would if he calls your small bet. Accordingly, if your opponent is likely to call your shove more than one-third as frequently as he would call the $200 bet, you should shove.

The amount you win with a shove will more than make up for being called somewhat less frequently than you would be by making the smaller bet.

When making a bet-sizing decision, its critical to consider all parts of the equation, including the risk and the reward. In this admittedly simplified example, the risk of your opponent making the correct fold when faced with your river bet must be viewed in the context of your potential reward if he errs and calls.

While your intuition may dictate that a small bet would likely suck him in, when properly considering all the factors in the decision and the potentially outsized reward if he calls an over-bet the correct play is almost always to make a very large bet.

All other things being equal, the bottom line is when youre unsure of the relative effectiveness of a small bet vs. a large bet, go large.

Written by

Ashley Adams

Venerable grinder, 7-stud enthusiast, host of "House of Cards Radio" and author of Winning Poker in 30 Minutes a Day (D&B Publishing, 2020).

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In keeping with Americas Cardrooms charitable reputation, the online poker room is hosting an online poker tournament to raise funds for the Dresden community, after a devastating tornado.

Americas Cardroom has spent this holiday doing charitable acts, and they just keep the good deeds coming! Tonight, the online cardroom will be hosting an online poker charity bounty tournament in support of tornado victims.

The tournament will begin tonight, December 23, 2021, at 6PM EST. It is a turbo tournament with a $16.50 buy-in.

There is a $5,000 prize pool for the event. The winner will also receive a ticket worth $2,650 into the Venom the biggest event for American online poker players, with a $10 million guarantee.

This event is a bounty tournament, and team ACR Pros will be taking part. Each pro will have a $200 Venom fever ticket as their bounty!

You can watch the tournament being streamed on the Twitch channel for Americas Cardroom and, it will be hosted by Chris Moneymaker and Drew Gonzalez. During the stream, there will be hourly raffles where viewers can win tournament tickets.

I have been with the company almost 9 months and we have run multiple promotions to help various causes. Makes me feel good working with a company that cares and gives back to the community Chris Moneymaker, Team ACR Pro

The charity poker tournament will be raising funds for the Dresden Rotary Club Tornado Relief Fund. This was set up by the rotary club to help raise funds for those affected by the tornado outbreak that travelled across the Southern United States.

Of the several tornados that took place, one of the most intense hit Dresden. In the town that has just 3,500 people, over 140 homes were destroyed. The womens shelter, City Hall, newspaper offices and fire department were also destroyed as well as numerous businesses, churches, banks and restaurants.

The idea for the event was brainstormed by a member of the Americas Cardroom Twitch community who goes by ZoesDad79. He recognized how powerful of a platform ACR has, and worked with the cardroom to launch a tournament in support of those affected by those devastating event.

This month, Amercas Cardroom set out make a positive impact with its pro team members doing good deeds. Over the course of the past week, weve seen:

There are still a few more days of good deeds left. By retweeting the pros posts about their charitable acts on the day, youll be entered into a draw where five users will win $22 tickets.

Will you be tuning in on Twitch tonight at 6PM? Its a great opportunity to support a great cause, and win some tournament tickets while youre at it!

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Charity Bounty Poker Tournament Tonight at Americas Cardroom - Beat The Fish