A Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) study revealed that the United States would have the potential to collect at least $8.7 billion and up to $17.6 billion in the next 10 years if it taxed and regulated online gambling, including poker. And those figures don't include potential sports wagers.
The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship brings together all of the elements that make televised poker exciting. A stacked lineup of pros and hefty cash prizes - a total of $1.5 million and $500,000 awarded to the winner - make this unique heads-up bracket-style competition poker's premier invitational event.
George Orwell first used the term "cold war" in his essay "You and the Atomic Bomb" in October 1945, 10 weeks after Nagasaki and a year before publishing Animal Farm. The essay described a totalitarian state much like the USSR "in a permanent state of 'cold war' with its neighbours." As usual, Orwell foresaw what was coming before nearly everyone else did. The Soviets wouldn't test an atomic device until August 1949, but when their hydrogen bombs, designed by Andrei Sakharov, were deployed in the early '50s, the nuclear arms race heated up quickly. The Cold War got colder and almost infinitely more perilous.
In recent years, video training sites for poker have been flourishing. Numerous sites have popped up offering hand-for-hand analysis of both tournament and cash-game play, and the Internet's top players have teamed up with these sites to give students an inside track to their mad genius. Most Internet poker pros, when asked, will cite video training sites as being instrumental in their development.
David Oppenheim has been a profitable cash-game player since he was 19 years old. He lives in Los Angeles and plays in the biggest cash games he can find, though he tries not to play poker more than four days a week. Oppenheim recently began to play tournament poker, but cash games are still where he makes the most money.
Recently, I saw the tape of the final table where I won my record-setting 11th gold bracelet. I remember how special that day was for me, and how remarkably the number 11 informed the occasion. First of all, I was going for my 11th World Series of Poker win. Second, the final table was held on June 11. And finally, my younger sister, Molly, for whom the bracelet was promised years earlier, was born on 11/11/1971. Of course, Molly e-mailed me to remind me that I was destined to win because of all of those elevens. Thanks, Molly, that e-mail helped me believe I would win! (It was kinda freaky!) That 11th bracelet now resides in New York City with Molly.
Is this Tunica's last hurrah? There's no official word as of yet, but I do hear things not everyone hears. No one wants to confirm anything, but MGM/Mirage has not renewed its contract for the '09 season with the World Poker Tour for its Tunica tournament held at the Gold Strike.
Greetings, Card Player fans! I have been given the opportunity to share my thoughts on poker with you, and I am really looking forward to challenging you with my ideas. You will be able to find my blog on www.CardPlayer.com at least every Friday, and in most weeks, with several additional updates.
I am known as a tight-aggressive player. I play relatively few hands, but tend to play quite aggressively when I do. Of course, I adjust to my opponents' tendencies and play hands differently against different opponents, but my general style is tight-aggressive.
Playing out of position in no-limit hold'em puts you at a big disadvantage. Consequently, I recommend avoiding it as much as possible. Does that bully in seat 4 keep raising your blind? For the most part, I say, let him have it. When you're playing with $200 stacks, a measly $2 blind isn't a big deal. And it's quite easy to lose a nice chunk of your stack by trying to "take a stand" with a hand like J-7 after a 7 flops. So, I usually just fold the J-7 and wait until I have the button.
