Silverton Casino will pay you $25 to play NL holdem

While the Silverton extension is still being finished, one of our coziest poker rooms in town has been displaced to the keno and slots area right in front of where the poker room was.

Taking a hit in traffic, Silverton offers a variety of promotions to reward their loyal locals.

We liked their no-limit game when the room first opened, but every time we return there's just one 3/6 limit running with the same faces (of course, where else can you find a packed 3/6 game running in Las Vegas?).

Now Silverton wants to lure the no-limit crowd back, and they'll pay you for the privilege. Just like a prop player, only there's 10 of 'em.

Every Monday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., be one of the first 10 players to sit down at a NL hold'em table. Put at least $175 in play, play for at least 2 hours, then when you cash out you'll receive $25.

Now what happens if you bust? Well, you can always leave without collecting your $25. But you can only pick up your $25 after 2 hours. Be sure to bring enough buy-ins just in case.

The promotion will run every Monday for the foreseeable future, and you can participate as often as you'd like.

EPISODE 029 - It's The End Of Era

Three More Arrested in Delaware 'Trooper' Poker Robbery

Three Philadelphia brothers were arrested in connection with the robbery, allegedly orchestrated by a Delaware state trooper, of a "high stakes" poker game at an upscale Delaware golf club. The three brothers, Addae C. Powell, 26, Jeffrey N. Powell, 30, and Akua N. Powell, 22, were arrested on Friday and will be extradited to Delaware to face charges of robbery, conspiracy, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The three join former NJ officer HyunJim Kim as suspects already in custody in connection to the February 22nd incident, while a fifth subject remains at large. Kim was allegedly the "inside" man at the robbery, and was connected to the crime after surveillance at a local discount store showed him purchasing the red pillowcases that were later used to cover the heads of the players being robbed. About $10,000 and assorted keys and electronic items were stolen from the players, several of which were later found in Kim's home and car.
Kim, 27, and the eldest Powell brother were linked as close friends who both attended Temple University, and later served in the military together.
Another development in the robbery at the Wild Quail Golf and Country Club involves the players themselves, many of whom have been identified as having connections to the Delaware harness racing industry. A Delaware news report identifies the victims as including harness owners, breeders, trainers and riders, which has also drawn the attention of the Delaware Harness Racing Commission. The purported high-stakes game could result in an investigation into the players and whether their activities would be deemed "illegal", and could mean a review of licenses for those involved.

Online poker news / WSOP Europe on TV in April

The first ever WSOP event to take place outside the US is going to hit the airwaves this April, giving poker fans the chance to see for themselves how the first woman, and the youngest player ever, won a championship event at the World Series of Poker Europe. The WSOP Europe event was held in September of 2007 and the winner was Annette Obrestad, who was at the time 18 years old. Sky Sports subscribers will be able to see the event spread out over eight episodes on both Channel 3 and Channel 2.

How To Play The Bubble

Most players fear the bubble. As they near the bubble after surviving several hours of tournament play, they tighten up. We’ve all been there. Finishing on the bubble is probably one of the worst feelings in poker. This is exactly why you should use the bubble to accumulate chips. Most successful tournament players anticipate the bubble for this reason. Don’t fear the bubble - use it to your advantage.
Throughout a tournament, especially during the middle stages, I pay close attention to who will defend their blinds and who doesn’t. This information comes into play near the bubble. Just as important is figuring out who likes to steal blinds. These are the players you want to make resteal moves on because they’ll be raising light many times and won’t want to get involved in a big pot with a marginal holding especially out of position. But, you can’t wait until the bubble to accumulate chips otherwise you’ll have less fold equity. Fold equity is when you have enough chips to pressure a player to fold. Players will be more willing to gamble against short stack pushes. Always look for good spots to pick up chips.
Here’s an example, with the blinds at 500/1000 you pick up Q-Jo in the cutoff. A player who’s been pretty active raises 3x from middle position. There’s 4500 in the pot and he’s got approximately 25,000 chips behind him. You have 30,000 chips in front of you and push all-in forcing your opponent to call off all his chips on the bubble. Unless he has a monster, he’ll have a difficult time calling this bet. This move may seem a bit reckless. But, you’re relying on your read and your fold equity to take the pot down. This move will remind him to slow down his aggression on the bubble when you have position allowing you to steal more blinds.
Think about how your play is affected by the bubble. Do you play scared or are you playing to win? Finishing in the money shouldn’t be your goal when you enter a tournament. Playing to reach the final table and top payouts should be what you play for.

Small Town Poker Tour plans for Louisiana

The Small Town Poker Tour, billing itself as “changing the world of poker one hand at a time,” announced today the launch of its “Gator Flop Series” through Louisiana.

The charity poker events, which begin in April, will culminate in October with the award of a seat at the Nov. 2008 World Series of Poker event in New Orleans. The award, which includes accomodations in The Big Easy, will be given to the player who has amassed the most points throughout the series.

There’s still room in the schedule for stops to be added, and an STPT partner commented that “any Louisiana charity can contact us to become part of this series.”

Mitchell “Moose” Antley can be contacted, either for more information about the series or to get your charity involved, at (318) 801-0168.

Scottish man loses firm’s money playing online poker

Twenty-five-year-old Chris Proudfoot of Scorguie, Scotland, has been accused of losing more than £2million pounds of his company’s money — by playing online poker.

Proudfoot worked for as a finance and credit controller for a telecommunications firm, HIGHnet.

According to a story on majorwager.com:

A pal said last night: “The word is that he was playing high-stakes poker online and got himself in too deep. It’s a shock to think that Chris has been gambling away his employers’ money. We never had him down as a gambling addict. He doesn’t go to the bookies in town and we’ve never known him to bet on anything.”

He allegedly ran up the colossal debt gambling online with William Hill. HIGHnet bosses asked Proudfoot to clear his desk five weeks ago and called in the fraud squad.

The exact amount lost by the man won’t be known until detectives conclude their investigation.

Opponents Making Mistakes

I'm playing $.10/.25 NLHE on Bodog Poker. I have A-A. I don't remember the suits, but who cares, really? I have A-A!
I have the nuts!
Who-hoo!
I raise to $1.50. It's a big raise, but I like to raise bigger before the flop with a big pair in the hopes of narrowing the field or, even better, getting my hand heads-up. Remember, after the flop, all you have is a pair, and the odds that your hand is good are reduced a great deal even with just two others in the hand.
I get two callers. OK, not bad.
The flop comes 7♣-4♠-2♥

I shove on the flop. The pot is $5 at this point and my stack is $20 left. It's a pretty big bet. But I honestly don't mind taking the pot down here. And I'll explain why I shoved in a second.
Here's why: A guy calls me with 8♣-8♠.
More and more, on late nights, especially, I've found a big bet - what some call an overbet for value - gets paid more often than it doesn't.
It's a dangerous bet to make, for sure, because people will argue it's the kind of bet that will only get called by a hand that beats me.
I used to think that too. But I don't any more.
Too many folks have called that bet for me to think otherwise.
Why people usually think a small over pair is good here, I'll never know, but they usually do. Probably because by making such a big bet, they don't think you'd have a big pair like A-A. They think you're trying to protect a hand like A-7 in this case.
I've also noticed people just don't believe you. They don't want to get bluffed off a hand, and by shoving, people think you're just trying to buy the pot.
Shoving on a hand like this forces a mistake from your opponent. And by our opponents making mistakes, we make money.
P.S. I have made a lot of money flopping sets against over pairs and pushing with them. The difference here is I was the aggressor. If you're holding A-A and a guy shoves on you after you raise him on the flop, for example, you might consider folding.

World Poker Tour net loss of $9.6 million

A year ago, the World Poker Tour was quickly growing and making money.

A year later, the company, traded on NASDAQ, is reporting a loss.

Revenues for the WPT were down almost 25 percent to $21.7 million in 2007 as compared to 2006. Revenues were reported at $29.3 million for 2006. WPT has a net loss of $9.6 million in 2007, after it earned $7.8 million in 2006, although those earnings were helped by the WPT’s aale of PokerTek, Inc. stock.

According to cardplayer.com:

The company had no debt at the end of 2007 and total cash, cash equivalents, and investments of around $31 million.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Lipscomb said, “2007 was a transitional year for WPT Enterprises. We have been focused on shifting our business from a traditional media and entertainment company to a multimedia entertainment and gaming company. We plan to derive future revenues from sponsorship, television, and online and mobile subscription opportunities.”

Profitability Online

Finding it difficult to make a profit playing on sites like Poker Stars, Bodog or Full Tilt?
Relax. You're not alone. Most players lose money playing online poker. In fact, some articles suggest that 95 percent of all players lose money online.
That seems like a staggering number, but poker, especially online poker, is full of pitfalls. Even the good players suffer suckouts (more, actually, than the bad ones), coolers and dead cards.
Chip Reese, perhaps the greatest cash game player of all time, said that even the best cash game players lose almost half the time.
So should you give up? No. That's why I'm here.
I'm a profitable player. Now, granted, I wouldn't be able to make a living playing poker. But I do win enough to afford the big-screen TV we just bought and take a trip to Vegas with my wife every winter. That's pretty cool to earn that much playing a game I love.
Here's how you can too.
1. Improve yourself - There are probably many leaks in your game that you may not even recognize. It's time to study the game. I know, reading books, watching videos and analyzing hands through a program such as Poker Tracker isn't as much fun as playing, but that's exactly why most players aren't profitable. They haven't bothered to study the game. Even reading a few books will put you ahead of most of the other players online.
2. Play within your level and build from there - Chris Ferguson is becoming as well-known for turning $0 to $10,000 in a few months as the many bracelets he's won at the World Series of Poker. The point is to start small and stay there until you're ready to move up. And you'll need to make sure you have at least 20 buy-ins for that level before you're ready to move up.
3. Keep the losses to a minimum - Cut down on trying to catch bluffs, the aw-fuk-its and the calls "just to see what he has." The idea is to keep your losses when you're card dead down to a minimum, so when you do get the good stretches, you'll be enjoying profits rather than trying to make up for losses.
4. Avoid tilt at all costs - You'll need to learn that suckouts will happen, as will coolers and that bad play by others will get rewarded. It's a tough lesson to learn, one I haven't fully accepted myself. But tilt destroys bankrolls. At the very least, you need to recognize when you're on tilt and learn how to stop playing when you're on it.
If you could avoid those sessions when you're mad or drunk and blow off a bunch of money, chances are you may start to become profitable right away.
5. Set a stop-loss limit - This is really important and goes hand-in-hand with avoiding tilt. I believe the biggest reason why most players lose their bankrolls is because of the nights they keep losing and can't turn off the computer. You need to make a promise to yourself that you will shut it down for the night once you reach your stop-loss limit. For me that's two buy-ins at whatever level I'm playing. This goes along with being disciplined, and bankroll management and discipline are just as important as your skill in playing the game. Yes, bankroll management is JUST as important as your actual skill playing poker. Many of these tips are about saving yourself from big losses as they are about winning big pots. Controlling your losses in poker is equal to winning big.
6. If it doesn't feel right, shut off the computer - I'm guilty of knowing that I'm going to lose a buy-in and yet continuing to play until I do. I'm starting to tilt, or I'm tired or distracted by a baby crying, and my attention isn't on the game. If you feel this, shut the game down until you're ready to play again.
7. Maximize your premium hands - You can't expect to pull ahead unless you actually get paid off on the hands you do get. Learn how to trap, slow-play and also mix up your play so it's hard to tell what you have. Make them pay for draws. And bet your hands hard if you think your opponent is on a draw. Bet as much as you can over what you think the fair price is for your opponents to call. Don't be afraid to over bet the pot.
I could go on and on, but this is a crucial part of profitability, and you're going to have to learn to adjust to the table. It means betting when you've got calling stations and trapping when you're playing with aggressive players.
8. Select the right table and target a few players - You make most of your money from a few players, not a lot of them. Try to find tables that have a high percentage of people seeing the flop and a large average pot size. That means the table is loose, and it also means you'll probably get paid when you do hit a hand. Unfortunately, tight tables with low pots are the norm these days, so you'll have to search for them. Once you're there, study the hand histories of people if they show down a hand. That will tell you a lot about what kind of players they are. If they're calling raises with mediocre hands, for instance, think about loosening your calling range for those players and put a lot of pressure on them.
9. Read blogs, Web sites and articles - Hello, self-serving comment! But the Web is chock full of free advice from players who have played hundreds of thousands of hands. Like, um, me! And everyone here. So stop by regularly and let us know how you're doing.
10. Set goals and have fun building your bankroll - Set a goal for yourself and have fun trying to match that goal. It's truly rewarding to see your bankroll grow from $100 to $400 to well into the thousands. Track your progress. Follow these steps, and I'm pretty sure you'll start to see the line inch into the green.

Daniel Negreanu to Play in Movie

The upcoming X-Men spin off movie will have a poker pro playing a cameo. The Hugh Jackman movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will have poker pro Daniel Negreanu playing himself, as well as poker, with the character of Wolverine. The movie, which is set to come out in 2009, will cover the origins of the X-Men’s most iconic character, the indestructible mutant Wolverine. Phil Hellmuth was also offered a role to play in the movie but had to decline the offer due to scheduling conflicts. All that is known at this point about the scene is that Wolverine and Daniel’s game is going to be interrupted by an attacker.

New Mexico election decided by poker game

Only in the United States could an election be decided by a poker game. Surprisingly, though, it wasn’t in Nevada.

Josie Richards won a game of five-card stud — with a pair of nines — to claim the seat of town trustee in Estancia, New Mexico.
Richards and her opponent Michelle Dunlap, another woman, ended up in a draw after a vote for the position, and under New Mexico law, in the event of a tie, the winner is chosen by a game of chance.
This wasn’t the first time poker has settled an election draw in Estancia. In 2001, the mayor of Estancia James Farrington was re-elected to the town’s top job when he won a single hand of poker against JoAnn Carlson, a woman, with an ace-high flush. She drew a 10-high flush.

For a video of the game, go here.

New slogan For Las Vegas unveiled

The recent economic slowdown has caused the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to ramp up their promotion of our fine neon city in an effort to draw more tourists and remind businesses there's still plenty of convention space to be rented.

The $11 million planned for a new marketing campaign was moved up two months and will contain commercials featuring a new slogan.

"What happens in Vegas..." no, not that one, but it's still being kept.

"Your Vegas is showing..." not that one either, but it also will still be used.

Hey, if you spent millions on a slogan, you would keep 'em too.

The new slogan is "Vegas, Right Now."

As in, get your butt over here today to help out our poor casinos.

By our rough estimate, that boils down to $3.67 million per word.

Commercials will soon be touting the new multimillion-dollar slogan in major cities across the U.S.

Poker is all about situations

I'm playing on Poker Stars, $25 NL.
A player I'm targeting raises to .50. That's what he's raised to every hand. So even though I don't have that great of a hand - it's exactly the kind of hand, in fact, I would pitch if a tighter player raised - I call.
Everyone else folds. Even better. An easily dominated Ace is not the kind I want to play against more than one player.
The flop is pretty good - A♦-10♣-2♠.
This guy was spewing chips left and right, which is why I was targeting him. So when he bets more than the pot, $2.50, I'm hardly worried. I call right away.
The turn brings an 8♥. Perfect.
He shoves the rest of his stack in, and I call right away.
That's not a call I would easily make in another situation. I still might, even against a tight player, but I would have to think about it.
Here, I'm sure I'm good. He's exactly the kind of player who would overvalue a hand like top pair. It's even possible that he has two-pair here as well. If he has A-10, then that's poker, and I'll quit and blow up some stuff in Grand Theft Auto.
I doubt he has a set. He'd probably try to get more chips out of me.
Sure enough, he shows A-2, and I take a nice pot.
This is a classic example of adjusting your play to the player. I'd normally never call even an aggressive player's raise with A-8, and I'd certainly pause before I called an all-in shove, but in this case, I knew I was good.
Poker is all about situations, and fortunately I found the right one to get all my chips in the middle.

Justin Bonomo calls out Men the Master for cheating

Professional poker player Justin Bonomo called out Men “The Master” Nguyen in a blog post today, accusing the well-known tournament player of cheating in various events. Similar accusations have been raised against Men in the past, and are primarily centered around charges of chip passing between Men and other players that he stakes in tournaments.

Excerpt from Bonomo’s post:

The main reason I’m writing this, is because on a radio show with Gary Wise, I said something to the effect of, “I don’t really know the details of Men, so I’m not going to speak out on the issue. I know he was punished for cheating, and I don’t know if there have been any incidents of him cheating since. I’m under the impression that he’s not allowed to play at Foxwoods ever again.”

Well since then I’ve researched the issue, and even seen some of it first hand.

Whole thing here.

Pamela Anderson seeking annulment for fraud Archives

The whirlwind marriage ended just as fast as it began for Pamela Anderson's third trip down the aisle.

We hate to tell Pammy we told her so, but we predicted a quickie divorce even before they officially married.

Marriage #3 to Rick Salomon began Oct. 6 in a quick Las Vegas wedding (at The Mirage) between performances of her magic show with Hans Klok at Planet Hollywood.

Separation occurred Dec. 13.

Then a divorce filing citing the ever-popular "irreconcilable differences."

Then Anderson took that back in an attempt to work things through, and now she's filed papers in Los Angeles seeking to annul their two-month marriage, citing "fraud."

We don't know what the "fraud" entails (the last fraud anullment we remember is Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney), but Anderson intends to keep it private by enlisting a retired judge to handle the dirty work, hoping to keep both her and Salomon's income separate with no alimony.

Her once-reliable blog has been down since her denial that anything was other than wedded bliss.

Anderson was last spotted on Valentine's Day doing a striptease at the Crazy Horse (that would be the original one in Paris).

Top 5 Strip Clubs in Las Vegas Archives

I always get asked what is my favorite strip club in Las Vegas. Well, here's my top 5!

1. Sapphire: Las Vegas strip clubs are very popular attractions. Most of them are always crowded it's impossible to get a lot of personal attention from dancers on the weekends. However, Sapphire is the largest strip club in Las Vegas, so that's not a problem. There's also a wide selection of women to choose from.

2. Spearmint Rhino: The Rhino is a popular brand in adult entertainment with locations spread out all over America and all over the world. The Las Vegas location is a popular destination for both bachelor parties and celebrity sightings. In the past, Howard Stern, George Clooney, and random NBA players have been seen at The Rhino.

3. Olympic Garden: In the mid 1990s, the OG set the standard for Las Vegas strip clubs. OG quickly became the premiere club in town due to their a spacious area and the fact that they had the hottest girls in town. Although the OG no longer the jewel of Las Vegas, I've been a couple of times and have never been let down.

4. Cheetah's If you want cheap booze and sleazy strippers, then Cheetah's is the place for you. Cheetah's is a popular location for bachelor parties and the spot where a lot of new and young dancers start out in Las Vegas. Cheetah's has beer specials from 6am to 2pm. Here's an interesting bit of trivia... the 1995 film Showgirls was filmed on location inside Cheetah's.

5. Crazy Horse Too: The Crazy Horse Too is the legendary strip club where Jenna Jameson and Dita got their starts in the adult industry before moving over to porn. In the film Ocean's Eleven, the strip club scenes were shot on location at Crazy Horse Too.

Full Tilt Ends Sponsorship with Jonathan Little

On Tuesday, March 4th, Full Tilt Poker made the announcement that Jonathan Little would no longer be a  member of the Full Tilt team of players, and his online account was closed. After only four months of sponsorship by the site, the online player known as “FieryJustice” was dismissed on the basis that he allowed others to play on his account.
The following statement was released on the Full Tilt Poker forum:

"Despite having a great year on the WPT, Jonathan Little is no longer affiliated with Full Tilt Poker. He violated the terms and conditions of Full Tilt Poker by allowing other players to play his account. While we encourage our pros to play as much as they can, we do not allow them to share their account with any other players.
When a player on Full Tilt Poker plays against and chats with a red pro on the site, it is imperative that they be able to trust that it is really the advertised pro playing the account. Given that Mr. Little violated that trust, we have decided to sever his ties to the site and close his account.
Full Tilt Poker values the trust of its players and will deal with any violation of that trust swiftly. We apologize to any of our players who may have been misled during the past few months by Mr. Little’s actions.”
It seems that Little was on record as having played 1,227 sit-n-go’s during the first week of March. While this would be difficult under normal circumstances, the pro was spending time playing at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship during that week as well. Full Tilt deduced that he allowed other people to use his account to play.
Whether Little let others play his account for the sake of friendship or the 100% rakeback and additional $35 hourly rate he received for playing on the site, or even to achieve a solid position on the tournament leader board, is unknown. Little has yet to speak about the dismissal of his Full Tilt Poker agreement.
The pro seemed to be on the road to a lucrative career as a live and online pro with nearly $2.5 million in live tournament winnings and numerous online accomplishments. However, his demeanor in the poker community has been questioned on a number of occasions. His boastful words after his fifth place finish at the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure received some backlash from the community, though he appeared to have learned a lesson. But the 24-year old also wrote a blog about Chris Ferguson engaging in “100% classless celebration” at the recent NBC Heads-Up event.
While some of Little’s actions can be attributed to his age and inexperience, his recent sponsorship deal with Full Tilt should have put him on notice that his behavior, especially with regard to fellow Full Tilt pros, should be kept in check. In the end, breaking the rules of the site itself was the end of the deal.

WSOP Circuit Leader Disqualified

A Richmond, VA poker player was ejected from the final table of the World Series of Poker circuit event at Caesars Atlantic City for unsportsmanlike conduct. Lesley Thornburg was the chip leader and apparently wanted the rest of the table to feel the power of his position. After several warnings for baiting tactics and loud comments to other players on the two previous days, a final warning was given to Thornburg. At the time he sat on the largest chip stack in the event. He pushed his luck when he began shoving chips in the pot in a confusing manner, and was ejected from the game. At the time there were five players left, and so he was awarded fifth place money.

Smart Poker Software Tracks Behavior

When poker players sign up for a poker account they choose a username. Players can easily create new accounts with different names, which can make it hard to stop cheaters who simply activate new accounts after they are caught the first time. A new poker software will read players’ behaviors to give them a virtual "fingerprint" of sorts, helping the poker rooms keep track of poker fraud and fake accounts. In addition the software can help stop the growing trend of poker bots, software programs that play and masquerade as human players.

Doyle Brunson Makes Political Support Statement

The man known as the Godfather of Poker decided to share his endorsement for the US Presidential race, which is now in the primary stage, by siding with newcomer Barack Obama. While Doyle Brunson’s endorsement was made known in a February 16th posting on his blog, other sources are picking it up and using it as a sign that poker players should endorse and support Obama over Clinton or McCain, the other serious contenders in the race. One major reason for the support is that Obama is a known poker player, and those who make their living on the game see him as their best case scenario.

State Trooper Involved in Poker Heist

When a Delaware country club high stakes poker game was held up by three armed men, the victims were forced to don red pillowcases on their heads. One of the players, a state trooper, left before police arrived, and when the police found surveillance tapes at a local Wal Mart where those pillowcases were sold, they found the trooper making the purchase. Trooper First Class Hyun Jin Kim, 27, has been arrested and charged with 11 counts of robbery as well as various other charges. Kim is being held on a cash bond of $240,000.

Poker winners must do tax form

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Starting Tuesday, it's going to get harder for poker tournament winners to bluff the tax man.

Casinos will be required to report winnings of $5,000 or more to the Internal Revenue Service, and will hand gamblers a tax form to record the payout.

It's actually a compromise from an original IRS proposal that would have made casinos withhold 25 percent of tournament winnings for tax purposes.

“There was such an outrage and outcry from the community, to suck all that money out” that the government changed its mind, Marissa Chien, a gambling tax expert in Las Vegas, told The Press of Atlantic City for Monday's newspapers.

“It allows the IRS to keep track of poker players, because poker is real big now,” said Chien, who is co-author of the book “Tax Help For Gamblers.”

Kevin Lillo, a shift manager at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, said the new rule will be little more than “a slight inconvenience.”

“It's always been the law” to report winnings, he said. “All they're doing is making the casino enforce it. They're seeing money that's falling through the cracks.”

Bruce Kramer of Voorhees has never won $5,000 in a single tournament, but he could see how it would be a problem for serious players.

Gamblers across the country are already required to report all their winnings, whether it's from tournaments, slot machines or table games.

“If you're already reporting your income and being truthful and honest, this shouldn't affect you one bit,” Chien said. “But for those who try to stay off the radar, this is going to make it that much harder.”

Win WSOP Seats from Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker

The two largest online poker rooms chose the same day to launch dueling promotions for the richest tournament series in poker - The 2008 World Series of Poker. Both Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars revealed their extensive satellite schedules for a broad range of WSOP events today.

For a full list of Full Tilt promotions, click here.

For a full list of Poker Stars promotions, click here.

Both rooms have developed a satellite schedule that caters to just about every conceivable bankroll level.

It remains to be seen whether or not the aggressive promotion of the WSOP by these two rooms can reverse the declining attendance trend witnessed last year.

Jean-Robert Bellande joins Team Bodog

Jean-Robert Bellande will join fellow poker professionals David Williams, Josh Arieh and Evelyn Ng on the rapidly growing Team Bodog.
Bellande has been playing poker for a number of years but is perhaps best-known for his recent stint on the hit CBS reality show Survivor: China. Although Bellande only lasted eight weeks on a desert island he's had a lot more success at the poker tables.
Bellande's biggest poker cash was coming in third at the $10,000 WSOP Circuit Championship Event in 2005. He earned $210,900 for his efforts in the tournament.

"I'm completely thrilled to be on Team Bodog and to join my friends Josh, David and Evy," said Bellande on signing with Bodog. "I'm planning to make a lot of noise in 2008 for myself and Bodog."

Since appearing on Survivor Bellande, or Action Bob as he is sometimes known, has had several cashes, most notably at the 2007 North American Poker Championship where he placed 39th for $21,109 and spent much of the time as chip leader.

"We're extremely excited to have Jean-Robert join our select team of world-class poker players," said Bodog North American CEO Alwyn Morris. "With his charismatic personality and his prowess as a poker player, Jean-Robert embodies the Bodog lifestyle. He is a perfect fit for Team Bodog."

Most recently Bellande played in the prestigious NBC National Heads-Up Championship, where he was eliminated in the first round by Sam Grizzle.