Devilfish Poker And Devilfish Travel

Online poker room Devilfish Poker recently launched a new service called Devilfish Travel. This feature is a way for poker players to arrange for poker playing trips around the world to select locations and select tournaments. Poker players can log on to Devilfish Travel and spend their VIP points, select an event such as the Aussie Millions or the Irish Open, and Devilfish Poker will take care of the arrangements...

World Poker Tour Say Bye, To CryptoLogic Inc

The partnership of the World Poker Tour and online poker platform software provider CryptoLogic Inc is drawing to a close according to a notice filed Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Both WagerLogic and its parent company CryptoLogic were notified by the WPTE that the agreement would be terminated as of November 14th. This leaves the WPT branded online poker room without support, and would indicate that it is being shut down as well. There has been no word on how much the WPT will have to pay CryptoLogic for the early termination of their agreement, initially a three year agreement that was extended to seven.

Bluff Poker Tour

A new series of online poker tournaments is on the way as recently announced by poker magazine Bluff Magazine. Bluff, along with Players Investment Company, are putting together the Bluff Poker Tour, which is said to be modeled after the World Poker Tour, but online. The series of online poker tournaments will win cash but also choices from a selection of prizes worth $10k. The Bluff Poker Tour will run across various poker rooms online, as opposed to various live brick and mortar casinos like the WPT. DoylesRoom and TruePoker are two that have been named.

Phelps Makes Final Table

The world’s greatest Olympian, US swimmer Michael Phelps, is making good on his threat to bring his skills to the sharks of Las Vegas and the online poker world. Phelps, who had before been linked to online poker room Doyles Room, played in a $1,570 buy-in event at the Caesars Poker Classic and made it to the final table, a respectable finish for the poker novice. He cashed for $5,213. He’s been seen around Vegas with some heavy duty poker company as well, such as the Brunsons and recently showing up at the WPT Festa al Lago following Phil Hellmuth around.

McFadden's at Rio hosts party with porn stars Sunny Leone, Hanna Hilton

 

The newish Irish bar McFadden's at Rio (which took over for oldish Irish bar Tilted Kilt) is hosting a Lingerie Party on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10 p.m.
And not just any lingerie party, mind you: a lingerie party with porn stars.
Adult film stars Sunny Leone and Hanna Hilton hostess the night and keep the festivities going, including a sex trivia contest, sex toy giveaways, and $3 sex shots.
Come in your best, "most scintillating," sexiest lingerie and you could win $500 cash.
Entry is $10 for women and $20 for men, which is good for bottomless drinks between 10 p.m. and midnight. Then drinks are $3 until close.
Women drink free champagne all night.

The Real Deal! Poker Show Opens at The Venetian Las Vegas

The Venetian Showroom will be filled with poker's elite next Tuesday evening, October 21, at 7 PM for the premier of the The Real Deal! interactive poker-themed stage show. Hosts for the event are funnyman Paul Rodriquez and insult-style comedian Vinny Favorito. They will be joined by The Real Deal! poker pros -- Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Gavin Smith, Eli Elezra, Scotty Nguyen, and Todd Brunson.

According to the press release, "...a completely original live show format combines fast-paced action and humor with the latest in wireless technology and abundant prizes, including a chance to win $1,000,000."

That's right, $1 million in cash. The entire audience can interact with the players on stage through the magic of wireless technology so you may be one of the lucky winners just by being in the audience. The show was created Merv Adelson and Emmy™ Award-Winning producer Gary Smith.

Times for the show are 5 PM Tuesday through Sunday with 8 PM primetime shows added on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ticket prices for the shows at 5 PM are $75 and $85 for the 8 PM primetime performance. VIP packages are available and include an opportunity to meet the poker stars afterwards. Of course, you must be 21 years of age for stage participation. A special section without wireless interaction is available at $45 for underage guest. Call The Venetian Box Office at 1.866.641.SHOW or 702.414.9000 for ticket purchase information. You can also visit the website for tickets.

Paris Las Vegas closes poker room

Paris Las Vegas quietly closed their poker room last week.

This time for good.

Bouncing around from gambling pit in the open to its own room next to the sportsbook, Paris' poker room was battered about after having its hours significantly cut and reduced to just tournaments. If you went looking for the poker room, you often couldn't find it, and some employees even thought it was already shuttered.

We could never quite get a fix on Paris and sister casino Bally's operating under the same management (which itself operates under Harrah's). Chips are interchangeable between both casinos, slot tickets can be read and cashed at both, and both properties even shared some of the same managers.

When Bally's Diamond Lounge closed in favor of consolidating into Paris' lounge, we figured more consolidation would be going on. Moving the poker room into its own room from the casino floor just ended up being in a part of the sportsbook.

It was only a matter of time before the room died a slow death. What dealers were left were offered shifts at the Bally's poker room.

R.I.P., Paris poker room. At least you went out without going electronic.

Full Tilt's FTOPS X Scheduled for November

Online poker site Full Tilt has just released the schedule for the tenth installment of its tri-annual event. The Full Tilt of Poker Series (FTOPS) is scheduled to get underway November 5th, with 25 events taking place over 11 days. FTOPS X will be upping the prize money yet again, this time guaranteeing roughly $16 million spread throughout the series.

The complete FTOPS IX schedule (all starting times ET):
# Date Time Buy-in/Event Guarantee
#1 11-5 21:00 $200+16 NL Hold'em 6-max $1,000,000
#2 11-6 14:00 $240+16 PL Omaha/8 Knockout $200,000
#3 11-6 21:00 $500 + $35 NL Hold'em 3x Shootout $300,000
#4 11-7 14:00 $300+22 NL Hold'em (1R / 1A) $600,000
#5 11-7 21:00 $200+16 Limit Hold'em 6-max $150,000
#6 11-8 14:00 $500+35 PL Omaha 6-Max $350,000
#7 11-8 16:00 $100+9 NL Hold'em $600,000
#8 11-9 14:00 $240+16 NL Hold'em 6-Max Knockout $600,000
#9 11-9 18:00 $300+22 NL Hold'em $1,500,000
#10 11-10 14:00 $300+22 Mixed Hold'em $250,000
#11 11-10 21:00 $1000+60 NL Hold'em $1,500,000
#12 11-11 14:00 $ 200+16 HA (half PL Hold'em, half PL Omaha) $150,000
#13 11-11 21:00 $ 500+35 HORSE $300,000
#14 11-11 21:00 $ 200+16 NL Hold'em Turbo $500,000
#15 11-12 14:00 $ 200+16 Omaha 8-or-better $150,000
#16 11-12 21:00 $ 300+22 NL Hold'em 6-Max Rebuy $1,000,000
#17 11-13 14:00 $200+16 NL Hold'em 4x Shootout 6-max $250,000
#18 11-13 21:00 $300+22 Razz $150,000
#19 11-14 14:00 $200+16 NL Hold'em $400,000
#20 11-14 21:00 $200+16 Stud 8-or-better $100,000
#21 11-15 14:00 $500+35 NL Hold'em Heads-up $500,000
#22 11-15 14:00 $5000+200 NL Hold'em 6-max $2,000,000
#23 11-15 16:00 $100+9 PL Omaha Rebuy $400,000
#24 11-16 14:00 $120+9 NL Hold'em Knockout $500,000
Main Event (#25) 11-16 18:00 $500 + $35 NL Hold'em $2,500,000

Dream Team Poker Debuts

A new form of tournament poker is on the schedule at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, "Dream Team Poker." This tournament poker game is, as the name suggests, team based and it starts with a private invitational tournament on November 7-9. The new team poker tournament model uses a scoring system (patent pending) that helps to determine the winner. Team strategy comes into play in a game that is traditionally an individual competition. One of the benefits of this form of poker is that it allows inexperienced players to benefit from their teammates’ greater skills to learn the game while still participating on a winning team.

New Poker Channel Europe

The Poker Channel in Europe has announced they have relaunched their online version, Poker Channel Europe.com, along with online video company Brightcove. Brightcove will help facilitate video content from the Poker Channel to viewers for free. They will achieve this online by supporting the video with advertising. Flash based video browsers and the delivery of content are some of what Brightcove is bringing to the table. Short and long form video clips will be available for viewing, streamed from the Poker Channel Europe.com website. The site will have local language and local poker promotions in the future, according to a recent press release.

WSOP Spots for Sale on eBay

Yet another poker pro is offering up some advertising space on his clothing for the upcoming World Series of Poker final table for 2008, but this time its for charity. Unlike the pro putting up an eBay ad for multiple spots, chip leader Dennis Phillips is hosting an eBay auction for one spot and one spot only, and he will donate the proceeds from the auction to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The auction will run from October 16-26, 2008. The final table will run in early November.

There is no question that the nine players that will be fighting at the final table of this year’s World Series of Poker main event in November are in an enviable position. On top of this one player has decided to capitalize early by offering space on his clothing for sponsors to put their names and logos. Ylon Schwartz has an ad up on Ebay offering companies the chance to bid for space on his hat, chest and sleeves, and at least one bid is in the tank for more than $35,000.

John Juanda Wins World Series of Poker Europe

The second annual World Series of Poker Europe has come to a close, and the winner of the coveted main event is an American poker pro, John Juanda. The buy in was £10,000 and 362 players took part, creating a prize pool of £3,620,000. Juanda, the first American to win a WSOP main event outside of the United States, took home £868,800 ($1,598,587) as his first place prize. Juanda outlasted the rest of his final table comrades - including many top poker pros, such as Daniel Negreanu, in a final table battle of 19 hours and 10 minutes.

North Carolina Police Raid Poker Game

The Southern state of North Carolina in the United States has had yet another poker raid, with police closing in on a tournament in Fayetteville, shutting down a game that had forty or more people involved. In addition to the poker chips and cash police found - when searching the vehicles of the players - crack cocaine, marijuana, handguns and Oxcyontin pills. Chris Lusardi of Fayetteville, the alleged game operator, was taken into custody and charged with running a gaming operation; his home was also raided and $3k in cash seized.

US State Seizes Doyle’s Room

It is business as usual at online poker room Doyle’s Room, except for one thing: they technically don’t own their domain name anymore. That might be a temporary situation, but Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate voted in favor of the state of Kentucky to seize control over the Doyle’s Room’s URL, as well as the domain names of three other sites. The judge says, however, that Kentucky can’t interfere with the domains until after his final ruling on October 15.

Pam Brunson Wins Hard Rock Poker Event

The new poker room at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino and Hotel started things off with a VIP poker tournament with a lot of big name pros, such as Evelyn Ng, Chip Jett and Hoyt Corkins. Doyle Brunson was there as well as his son Todd Brunson. But it was the lady Brunson, Todd’s sister Pamela, that won the day, taking down the eighteen table tournament and winning a Hard Rock custom motorcycle as her prize.

Duplicate Poker Goes Bye Bye

One of the more unique takes on the online poker format came to a halt today with the closing of Duplicate Poker. Duplicate, which operated openly in several US states as a result of it’s original approach to poker, announced the closing in a brief statement on the room’s website:

Duplicate is sadly bidding farewell to its players. Caught in the middle of the global financial situation the company is not able to continue to provide service. We are a small victim of the global financial crisis.

Regretfully as of the today, October 5th, 2008 we are closing our service. We thank our players for being with us. Hopefully at later time and in a better economic climate Duplicate Poker will re-appear.

Sincerely,
The Duplicate Poker Team

At Duplicate, players were pitted against opponents not only at the same table, but also against an opponent at another table that received the exact same cards. Whichever player won the most (or lost the least) with the shared hand won money. The formula never really seemed to catch on with the serious or casual player base.

Las Vegas Hilton robbery suspects still at large

 

Since the robbery, not much more has come out about the two suspects who robbed the sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Both are about 5'6" and 150 pounds each and were wearing dark clothing and motorcycle helmets (pictured above is one of the suspects leaving the scene after the robbery took place). Their getaway car was a stolen Durango, possibly driven by a third unknown suspect.

Both were armed.

The heist reportedly took up to half a million dollars from the casino.

There's a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest. Call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.

p.s. O.J. was heading to court at the time.

Shooting, attempted robbery at The Orleans

The bad economy is bringing out the worst in criminals.

Or maybe everyone is just getting inspired by OJ.

This morning at The Orleans, four people (two men and two women) gathered together at a bar before heading to one of The Orleans' hotel rooms.

A few minutes later, one of the women (possibly a prostitute) left the room, then returned with another man who attempted to rob the people in the hotel room.

A gun was fired and shot one of the men in the stomach, then the gunman and the woman who led him to the hotel fled.

The man who was shot was rushed to the hospital and is expected to recover.

If you were at The Orleans and can possibly identify the suspects or have any information, call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.

Harrah's 10 percent bonus for poker players

Harrah's is offering an interesting bonus for morning poker players that amounts to much more than rakeback or $1/hour comps. Daily beginning Monday, Sept. 15, play in the Harrah's poker room for at least an hour between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. You'll then receive a 10 percent buy-in bonus for your next visit to the poker room. A voucher will be given for 10 percent of your buy-in, up to $30, which you can cash in on your next trip. There's seemingly no limit on the amount of times you can do this, but presumably your next visit needs to be the following day.

CardRunners offers free 24-hour pass

Online poker training site CardRunners is celebrating their merger with StoxPoker by offering free limited passes.

We enjoy CardRunners videos (particularly GreenPlastic's) and have picked up a few tricks here and there that we still use today at the no-limit table.

To pick up your pass which gives you full access to the site for 24 hours, text "cardrunners" on your cell phone to 32075. You'll then receive a text back telling you to go to this link to register as a guest and a special code.

Offer expires Sept. 30.

I Ask For More Poker On TV This Is What I Get

If there is one thing this poker show does not suffer from it is shyness; with a name like The Best Damn Poker Show, it is no wonder. The second season of this show will begin on FSN October 27, with filming currently taking place in California at the San Manuel Resort and Casino. The show represents a challenge between Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke to see who can train online poker players into champions. There are 18 poker players all competing for the first place position, and all are likely to get plenty of attention once the show airs.

Full Tilt Poker Signs Blind Poker Player

When poker player Hal Lubarsky sat down to play in the World Series of Poker he had an unusual challenge - he could not see the cards. Hal is blind, and through special consideration was allowed to have a caller, an assistant who would tell him the cards he held, what the board cards showed, and the actions of his opponents. Recently the rumor was floated, and then substantiated, that Hal was signed on as a pro with online poker room Full Tilt Poker. Some concern has been broached on various poker sites about how a blind person could manage online games.

Is Poker Popularity Dying

Over the last two years the popularity of poker has dropped among the young, according to the research of a social trends organization. With its origins in the UIGEA in the United States, online poker has taken a number of hits in recent years, including a drop in TV ratings, tournament sponsorship and fewer overall online poker rooms to play at. While none think online poker is going away in a permanent fashion, it is apparent that the heyday of online poker from 2005 has come and gone. The study also said that poker popularity has not dipped among long term players.

New WPT Poker Show Called ClubWPT

The FNS network has joined forces with the WPT to launch a new poker show, a series based on a subscription poker site. The ClubWPT will be the show and is the name of the site, a US positive effort by the World Poker Tour that does not require gambling to play and win cash and prizes but rather a monthly subscription. The show will feature six amateur poker players from the US and Canada. The players are chosen from the winners of special TV Tournaments on ClubWPT.com. Qualified players will get roundtrip airfare to Los Angeles.