High Stakes Poker

I believe it’s almost official that Pokerstars is buying Full Tilt Poker after Bernard Tapie being forced out of deal by DOJ. In my opinion it is highly unlikely that it occured in this fashion. I believe Wynn and Stars were always behind Tapie to keep the deal private.

Please read more about this deal here: Pokerstars buys Full Tilt

Moviegoers and Slot Lovers, they all play on InterCasino!

The celebration of the Oscars confirms InterCasino as the premium casino brand when it comes to movie themed online slots.

MALTA, (March 1, 2012) – InterCasino turns the spotlight on one of its best slots, the silent movie themed slot: Silent Screen.

A silent movie triumphed at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, USA, winning the most coveted statuettes: best picture, best director, and best lead actor.

On February 9th, Elias D, from Lebanon, was left speechless after winning $19,459 on the Movie Mayhem Slot: Silent Screen. Silence is golden on InterCasino where slot lovers have the chance to play – and win – on this silent gem.

Set against the backdrop of the roaring 20’s, this 25 payline game takes the player back to the dawn of movie making, where true glamour and sophistication ruled the Hollywood box office.

Movie themed slots

Regis Pissot, Head of Casino at InterCasino, said: “We are featuring some of biggest blockbusters of all time with the epic Conan the Barbarian or the charismatic heroes Braveheart and Forrest Gump, both featuring the Paramount Jackpot. We also offer a wide selection of movie themed slots encompassing most genres: science fiction with Outta Space Adventure, scary movies with our Frightmare Slots: Zone of the Zombies and Vampire Bats; and romantic movies with Sunday Afternoon Classics. That the new talk of Hollywood is already playing on InterCasino says a lot about the depth of our slots offering, rich of so many gems amongst our 200+ online slot machines.”

MARVEL-ous March promotion

He added: “The superheroes from the Marvel family became blockbusters on the big screen, and some of the most popular slots on InterCasino. We will keep celebrating our movie themed slots in March when we’ll give our players a MARVEL-ous month and the chance to partake in a comic strip style promotion. The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor and Ghost Rider will be entertaining their fans on a daily basis via various slot tournaments, generous reward offers, cash prize pool and multiple match bonuses.”

Visit the MARVEL-ous March Promo Now!

The Marvel slots can be played on either the Instant Play or download
versions of the casino. Most of these games are also available in ‘play for fun’ mode at the free online games section of the website.

About InterCasino

InterCasino is the longest established online casino in the world, launched in 1996. The site provides a large variety of the most
popular and well-known online casino games, video games, and slot machines from around the world.
For more information, or to play, please visit: InterCasino.

The Seduction of Poker and a Caribbean Cruise: Compete for a Poker Cruise for Two

There’s a unique ambience to a cruise and especially a cruise that incorporates the fun, tension and excitement of competitive tournament poker. Card Player Cruises Poker Cruise for Two originates in America’s most unique city: New Orleans just after Fat Tuesday which marks the conclusion of the festive time of Mardi Gras. Then for seven days makes it’s way through the beautiful western Caribbean.

If you haven’t competed for money on a pleasure cruise centered around the sport that you love, you haven’t been part of perhaps the most unforgettable playing experience (and all-around experience) in your life.

A Poker Cruise first-time participant had this to say: “There is no other place you can combine the love for poker and the love for family and friends. You walk into a very well organized poker room which within the first second you walk in you are welcomed by all. This was an experience of a lifetime…..”

Anybody who has been on a cruise will attest that is the hassle-free, full service nature of the experience which sets it apart. Yet, as nice as that feeling of total liberation from duty can feel, people can get bored. The marriage of poker with the care-free existence is perfect, especially for the person looking to quench that competitive thirst.
If you are intimidated in any way by the concept of competing in a casino setting in a game for money, don’t be. Check out what another Poker Cruise player experienced:
“I’m not a cash player and didn’t think I would play much but I felt so comfortable playing with all those nice players that I didn’t much mind giving them my money. Seriously it was like a fun home game! The card room staff and dealers were the BEST! Thank you for this wonderful experience.”

The essence really is about a vacation first. Still, for people that look at the game as one of their primary avocations, it is a pleasant, and just competitive-enough environment. It’s a seven-day cruise that departs on Friday February 25. (So you must make an early arrival to New Orleans to catch the very end of Mardi Gras the previous Tuesday.)
The costs are going to run from the mid-$600s and up. If you are looking to compete for a better deal: the better route is to compete for an all-expense paid ride on the Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Sea through the free online poker site Faceupgaming.com.
You will make three stops at exciting ports of call in places comfortably warmed by the sun, including Cozumel, Mexico. Prior to that, you will stop in both Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island.
The Voyager of the Seas is commonly described as a ‘Floating hotel’. This is because of the vast range of facilities that it offers, along with some world firsts for cruise ships when the ship was launched.

Voyager features the world’s first rock climbing wall (mounted on the funnel) and ice-skating rink at sea. Another innovative feature of Voyager of the Seas and another world first is the Royal Promenade which is a marble floored street stretching just over 3/4 the length of the ship and features shops and light dining venues.

To say there is so much to do on a cruise like this, is to condemn it with understatement. Clearly your guest doesn’t even need to be a poker player.

Ilari Sahamies Loses $500K on High Stakes Tables

Thursday was a horrible day at the high stakes poker tables at PokerStars for Ilari Sahamies. Sahamies is an extremely active poker player that puts in tons of hours at the high stakes level. Sahamies started off 2012 rough at the high stakes tables and was down the first few weeks of the year. Ilari almost broke even for the year this past week after playing several sessions with minimal profits, but yesterday Sahamies fell back into a pretty big hole for the year.

It only took about six hours for Sahamies to lose $493,000 playing high stakes PLO. Most of the action was played on the $100/$200 tables at PokerStars although Ilari was also playing a couple other stakes during the session. Sahamies is known for his big swings at the high stakes tables, but dropping roughly $500,000 in about 6 hours is a tough pill to swallow. Sahamies didn’t lose all of the money in one pot either. The entire session went terrible and he couldn’t seem to win any significant hands.
In one hand Sahamies lost about $50,000 trying to bluff “PatPatMan” out of a pot. PatPatMan opened the hand with a raise to $600 and Sahamies re-raised from the big blind to $2020. PatPatMan called the re-raise and the flop was Q/J/4 with two spades. Ilari bet $4255 on the flop, which was quickly called by PatPatMan. The turn was the K of spades and Sahamies checked. PatPatMan bet $9800 into the pot and Sahamies raised to $42,165 total, which only left him with just over $20K.

PatPatMan quickly shipped the rest of his chips into the pot and Sahamies folded the hand. Another big pot that Sahamies was lost was a $96K pot where Sahamies set lost to a straight. Two players were all-in with Sahamies after the flop. Sahamies had hit a set on the flop, but one of the other players that was all-in hit a gutshot straight on the turn. That’s the way the entire session went for Sahamies, but I’m sure he’ll be back on the virtual felt this weekend to win some of the $500,000 back.

Sahamies is now down just over $500,000 on the year, but in high stakes poker there are going to be a lot of swings. Sahamies will be able to bounce back and by the end of the year I’m sure he’ll be one of the most profitable players again. Sahamies won the most money last year on PokerStars and I’m sure he wants to try and repeat that feat by dominating the high stakes action again.
The high stakes poker action online is still alive and well, but playing high stakes US poker online isn’t possible. The poker sites with the best nosebleed action don’t accept US poker players anymore. PokerStars still boasts a lot of high stakes action and if you can’t play at PokerStars you can always take a trip to Las Vegas or Macau. If you want to watch the latest online high stakes poker you can sign-up to PokerStars and watch any of the tables that are running.

Since Black Friday, there are still high stakes poker games going on but not not as often and not as high as before. However, as long as Isildur1 is at the tables, there is sure to be action! Viktor Blom Aka Isildur1 is a high stakes poker machine! Win or lose, Viktor is always exciting to watch and gets the railbirds crazy… Just look at the cash flow graph on his stats from Pokertableratings:

I really think Isildur1 is a poker player with an Omaha problem. I don’t agree with his bankroll management when it comes to high stakes poker and playing Omaha. PL Omaha is a game with tremendous swings and I think it should only be played at stakes 10/20 and below unless you are a multimillionaire. Some people might scoff at me but that’s my opinion. I’ve watched so many players go broke in high stakes because they could not handle the massive swings. I think Isildur1 is playing higher and more screens because of his win at the PCA Super High Roller for $1.25 Million! The top five was riddled with Pokerstars Pros :

1. Viktor “Isildur1” Blom – $1,254,000
2. Dan Shak – $846,700
3. Galen Hall – $470,400
4. Jonathan Duhamel – $313,600
5. Daniel Negreanu – $250,900

Another active player in the High Stakes Games is Ilari Sahamies aka Ilari FIN. Ilari is another poker pro famous for his big swings. This last year he did a bit better and has recouped a large amount of his previous losses. Now he is ranked 20th all time on the Highstakesdb.com:

Phil Ivey $19.242.744
Patrik Antonius $11.837.531
OMGClayAiken $7.865.837
Urindanger $7.411.127
jungleman12 $7.003.234
trex313 $5.571.517
theASHMAN103 $4.850.074
EazyPeazy $4.160.304
Brian Hastings $3.890.941
howisitfeellike $3.591.245
KaiBuxxe $3.186.718
skjervoy $3.150.219
Mark Vos $2.966.122
La Key U $2.672.097
pr1nnyraid $2.456.218
durrrr $2.402.039
Jeans89 $2.343.258
FinddaGrind $2.341.627
refaelamit $2.293.130
Ilari FIN $2.020.772

Ilari used to play under the Screen name Ziigmund at Full Tilt Poker. He playing a high volume of poker hands every week. Here is an old video of him on Full Tilt Poker getting to a million:

You will notice that high stakes poker pro Phil Ivey is first on that list. Expect big things from Ivey in cash games because he’s on a tournament tear. He recently won $2,000,000 in the Aussie Millions 250k buy in event. He is the best player in the world and I don’t think anyone will deny or contest that. He is a pro’s pro but needs to quit playing high stakes craps. It is possible that he quit but he’s so private nobody will know.

Ole Kristian Nergard Photo

Another name to look out for is Ole Kristian Nergard. He’s doing well in tournys and is being labeled by members of Two Plus Two as the next Isildur1.

Look for legalization of online poker within 2 months. Look for higher stakes when this happens and look for the return of Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius.

Phil Ivey, arguably one of the world’s most accomplished poker players, once again takes center stage with a first-place finish on January 27, just days shy of his 36th birthday. His participation in the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship No Limit Hold ’em $250,000 Challenge has garnered him earnings of a cool $2,058,948.

This victory is a refreshing break to the controversy in which Ivey has been embroiled since Black Friday. Phil Ivey had a good thing going as one of Full Tilt Poker’s sponsored players. In addition to earnings from international tournaments, sponsored players receive a monthly base salary, hourly wages, rakeback, as well as logo and other marketing bonuses. It’s a sweet deal no matter how you slice it.
Everything went well until the dreaded Black Friday of online poker. It was on April 15, 2011, that the Department of Justice indicted online poker’s Big Three, i.e. PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, charging all three companies with illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering.

The Department of Justice barred the online companies’ access to their sites for five days–it wasn’t until April 20 that they were permitted to use their domain names in order to pay out funds the company held for their US players. While PokerStars swiftly paid their players and had processed more than $100 million of pay-outs by May 13, FTP was dragging its feet.
“What exactly does that have to do with Phil Ivey?” you ask. Full Tilt didn’t hold any of Ivey’s money. Quite the opposite–at the time, Ivey owed Full Tilt a generous amount of money. Word has it that it’s in the neighborhood of $10 Million. Whether that count is accurate is not entirely clear, but certainly it’s a sum far beyond anything the average person would ever lay eyes on.

But that didn’t stop Ivey from filing a suit against FTP in June 2011. The suit contends that his affiliation with Full Tilt damaged his reputation beyond repair. The problem, according to Ivey, was not only the site’s failure to pay the players, but also its conduct and the fraudulent methods the operators of the site employed.
When Ivey announced that he would boycott 2011’s World Series of Poker in order to turn the public eye toward the player’s pay-outs, detractors commented that if he were really so concerned about other the other players, he should repay the millions he owes to Full Tilt.

Still, Ivey’s absence at the WSOP was deeply felt by many of his fans. They, for one, are happy that he’s back on the circuit, and back with a bang. While the issue is not forgotten, Ivey has since dropped the law suit along with the $150 million in damages he was seeking.

Have your heard the rumor regarding PokerRoom.com? You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, PokerFuse put out an article claiming that the online poker room PokerRoom might be reopened. This article was based off of a simple tweet made by an SEO manager with bwin.com

Granted, this would be considered a solid source in today’s media, but that “source” soon started backpeddling when challenged. Of course, that challenge came from PokerRoom on Twitter. Seemed to me like a bit of clever spilling of the beans if you might.

A friend of mine, James Guill, writes for PokerNewsBoy and has some connections over at bwin. He wrote an article that basically stated that his contact told him that they were “considering” whether to open the site or not. Granted, James doesn’t usually post garbage, so chances are that he gave a direct quote there.

Here is the deal. The website is currently being updated for the first time since Bush was President. They now miraculously have a twitter and a Facebook page. I think it is pretty safe to assume they are reopening.

But why? This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me unless they are thinking that the US is going to legalize online poker soon. James has pissed off a lot of people with his predictions that online legalization won’t be until 2014, so do the online sites know something that we don’t or is this wishful thinking? Personally, I think they know something that we don’t.

If you started playing online poker since 2006, you probably don’t know about PokerRoom. They are as old school as they come. They started in 1999 back when online poker games were free money only. I think the PC term now is “social media site.” Anyway, they took the plunge in the real money world and were one of the only sites for a while that weren’t a bunch of crooks.

Of course, they are on Ongame, so they won’t be available to US players. Of course, if the US ever gets off the backsides and legalize the game, PokerRoom could be a player once again.

bwin Poker is a part of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and their roots go all the way back to 1999. Since the merger with Party Poker they have become the largest online gaming site. Being licensed by the government of Gibraltar and with twenty years of online gaming experience, bwin poker is the safest place for online poker real money play. bwin Poker is also a part of the Ongame Network which gives players access to the best poker traffic on the Internet.

How to Sign Up for bwin Real Money Poker Play

bwin Poker makes is very easy to sign up so you can start playing real money poker and free online poker right away. The home page, shown below, give you access to the sportsbook and casino, as well as poker room. You can log in from either the top of the home page or you can first navigate to the poker room from the tab at the top of the page.

Navigating to the Poker room first will take you to the following screen.

Clicking on the “Register Now!” link at the top of the page will start the registration process and you will see a screen that looks like this:

You will need to fill in the personal data and account data sections and you will find that only the mobile number and extra security question are optional. In the confirmation section you must use the checkbox to verify that you are at least eighteen years of age, and the checkbox that requests a welcome bonus and signifies acceptance of the sites terms and conditions. Finally you will need to enter the displayed security number in the empty box to the right.

You will also be given an opportunity to fund your new account and fortunately bwin gives you some of the best deposit options.

The wide selection of deposit options makes it simple to fund your account and to become ready for real money poker play. bwin makes it simple to not only deposit in to your account, they also make it simple to withdraw funds from your account. Be certain to review all of the deposit and withdrawal options to determine the ones that best suit your needs. In some instances the available deposit and withdrawal options are affected by your country of residence.

After completing this registrations process bwin takes a few more security steps to insure that you are protected. A e-mail will be sent to the address that you used upon your new registration.

Once you receive this e-mail you need to click on the link that is provided in the e-mail, and your account set up will be complete. To notify you that the registration is complete, you will get another e-mail confirmation.

bwin Poker is a state of the art online poker room and they make playing real money poker easy and available to most everyone. There are free poker room downloads for both the Windows and Mac operating systems.

For players that have a Linux operating system or who play at many different computers, there is an Instant Play version that opens in your web browser and does not require any download.

It is even possible to download free poker software to your compatible smart phone, allowing you to win at poker with real money play while you are on the go.

Name: José Macedo
Alias: Girah
Born: 1992
Age: 18
Home: Portugal
The young man was born into a loving home with two incredible parents. When he was four, he lost his father and watched on as his mother struggled and strived to keep things positive for them both. He attended an international school, and with the lessons he learned by watching his mother, he worked hard and studied hard. He entered numerous writing and mathematical competitions, winning many of them and enjoying that feeling; he continued to press forward with that in mind. Every year he finished at the top of the class or better .
He found a love for football (soccer for Americans) and dreamt of becoming a professional player. Practicing obsessively, his skills improved despite the moments of missing his dad as he bettered his game. He became competitive enough to play with a youth team in Lisbon, and later the national team. He also enjoyed playing tennis, however when he turned 13, he had a bad injury that barred him from continuing in the sports arena. This was a major setback in his mind at the time.

When he was 16 he found his interests shifting. Dreaming big, he found a home in Hawaii that he wanted to purchase for he and his mom and his close friends. Around the same time, a friend told him about Tom Dwan, a college kid who started with nothing and worked hard to learn the intricacies of the game. This captivated José and he began his quest to read everything he could get his hands on about the game. Not having money available and not being able to tell people about the game, he would sneak into the bathroom with books and read them, cover to cover. He began to study any poker show he could find and watch. Asking the same questions someone trying to learn would, ‘Why make that choice? What would have been better? Why did or didn’t that work’ he continued to approached the game with scrutiny. Then he began to test his theories on play money tables. In time, as his theories became proven, he accumulated millions in play chips and money.
After he became confident enough in the efforts he was making, he pressed into the real money. Begging his mother for his initial deposit, he put 30 Euros on Betfair. Starting at the 1 and 2 cent tables for 6 to 10 hours a day, he focused his efforts on learning the game and improving his skill. Like a chess player does, he would review his hands and the tables after each game and analyze how the concepts he had been learning elsewhere applied to a given situation. Doing this continued to improve his game.
To the surprise of most, within a month, José Macedo turned 30 Euros into 2500 dollars. At this point in his game play, poker was still a secret to his family. Continuing his venture, he pushed forward into a heads up arena. Playing in a new format, he honed his skills for what was to come. In his first venture into the 200NL realm of play, he found this to be a heart racing experience. By the end of his first venture into the bigger game, he came out on top and found a revived competitive energy for poker.
After spending months competing and improving his game through hard work and study, he hit his first major bump. Running low on his success rate, he searched for a coach and found one via Two Plus Two. He searched the forum repeatedly and started to talk to many people about their game, quietly. He found himself talking across many venues and to many people who were at various levels of success, but his targets were the top of the poker world. José found himself finally understanding the aspects of the game he was barely grasping at before.

When he was confident enough, he ventured into the high stakes tables. José’s first major win was closely followed by a loss that erased the win. Ups and downs are normal for most poker players, but few poker players are dealing with the ups and downs while finishing high school. This did not deter him from purchasing a house in Hawaii. As things seemed to go well, he was scammed by someone close, learning a difficult lesson in the worst possible way. He’s grown from the experience and his competitive edge has proven to still be sharp.

Expect to see this impressive international student continue to make waves in the poker community. His goal is the top and his record and drive shows that this is possible to achieve.

Indiana lawmakers approve high stakes tournament events
On Wednesday, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill allowing casinos to use hotels or other owned property where a casino is located for a live poker tournament. The motivation is to allow the land based casinos to hold high stakes poker tournaments. The tournaments are a draw for tourism and revenue in multiple facets.
Opponents of the bill voiced concerns over children’s safety, as some might be wandering the halls of a hotel during one of these events. It appears their perception is that a parent is unable to contain or be responsible for their child and they must step up to protect them.
Lawmakers who spoke in favor of the bill believe the casinos need to be able to host larger poker events. By authorizing them to utilize the fullest extent of their own property, the government is enabling the casinos who wish to achieve this. The bill passed by a 58-41 vote.
Governor Mitch Daniels will have the final say on the bill soon.