The Law

Corporate Blog: More positive license developments

I am pleased to announce PokerStars has secured a Malta Remote Gaming License and very soon we will launch www.PokerStars.eu, giving us the ability to provide enhanced service to players in several European markets.

You’ll be hearing more about our plans for Pokerstars.eu in the coming days, but its origins lie in our dedication to serving players’ needs. We expect our Malta license will immediately benefit players who have told us they want to share in the benefits – such as clarity around taxation – that some jurisdictions offer to sites with a license from European Union nations.

As countries around the world awaken to the advantages of online poker regulation, a development that PokerStars has continuously supported, the industry will continue to wind its way through the complex web of rules that address everything from online security to taxation to consumer protection to corporate finance. Sometimes these rules reflect existing regulation in other markets, sometimes they underscore the lack of clear rules elsewhere. That’s why we support a regulated marketplace and seek licenses, which provides clarity to players and operators.

Malta: Beautiful country and home to a new PokerStars license

Obtaining an online gaming license is an arduous task. It requires significant resources and a willingness to allow detailed scrutiny of company practices and procedures that examine an applicant’s credentials in important areas like integrity, security and attitudes to responsible gaming. We’re happy to submit to this, though, when there’s a clear benefit to players, the industry or our company. In particular, as far as our players are concerned, we believe that each new license we obtain underscores the reasons why they should feel comfortable playing with us. We don’t know of any company in our industry that has been licensed by as many jurisdictions as PokerStars.

We hope and expect the future will bring more certainty and more uniformity that will help players and companies alike. That’s why we were happy to see the recent reports that France, Italy and Spain are discussing regulatory cooperation and shared liquidity. And that’s why we created a Player Protection Plan and called for Europe-wide adoption of our trust arrangement in France. This Corporate Blog has written before about the importance of trust, outlining how PokerStars protects its players’ funds by keeping them in accounts that are segregated totally from our own operating accounts.

It will be a long and winding road to more unified regulations for poker around the world. Governments and the laws they introduce change all the time, but you can be assured PokerStars works tirelessly to support the regulation of this industry, to ensure our compliance with regulations in every respect and to make sure that new regulations are as advantageous to players as possible. That’s why our players trust us, and that’s why we’ll continue to seek new licenses when and where they become available. We are confident this will continue to optimize our services, help protect the integrity of the game and enhance transparency. We’ll be sure to keep you informed every step of the way.

* * * *

Eric Hollreiser is Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars

No comments

TCOOP: BackstabX_x, in front the whole way, never looks back in Event 42 ($33+R NLHE)

Yesterday, TCOOP 38 provided an object lesson on the perils of deal-making – or, more importantly, failing to make a deal. To book-end that lesson, today gave us 2012 TCOOP Event 42, $33+R No-Limit Hold’em (2x-Turbo), an event in which one player so dominated the final table that a deal was never seriously considered, despite the $80,000 top prize.

$300,000 was the ambitious guarantee that PokerStars slapped on Event 42.The players ensured that there would be no overlay. 4,772 registered to play the event, then added another 9,668 re-buys and 2,748 add-ons to the prize pool. When the double length re-buy period finally came to a close, $515,640 was in the prize pool. Almost $81,000 of that money was earmarked for the eventual champion of the tournament.

18 of the players in the field sported the red PokerStars spade next to their names, denoting their status as either a Team PokerStars Pro or a member of PokerStars Team Online. Canadians Pet Pezzin and Adrienne Rowsome each broke through for small cashes. Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth did them one-better, falling just short of the Top 100 of the event with his 113th-place finish ($567.20)

But none approached the mastery displayed by Team Pro Henrique Pinho. Pinho managed to stay right around 7th or 8th in chips all the way until the final table bubble. With 11 players left, and down to 6 big blinds, Pinho shoved pocket 5s and was called by BackstabX_x, who showed [ac][kc]. A king on the river denied Pinho a seat at this TCOOP final table and bounced him to the rail in 11th place. He collected $3,093.80, while his chips helped propel BackstabX_x to the final table chip lead.

Who else made the final table?

Seat 1: megamakar (5509370 in chips)
Seat 2: Filurn (5858476 in chips)
Seat 3: Patq74 (4963268 in chips)
Seat 4: yuanj (6628024 in chips)
Seat 5: framerica (4965084 in chips)
Seat 6: BackstabX_x (14130428 in chips)
Seat 7: MagicCoin (6296920 in chips)
Seat 8: markoes1 (2514174 in chips)
Seat 9: adkaf (5494256 in chips)

Nine different countries were represented at this TCOOP final table: Germany, Hungary, Denmark, China, Slovakia, Russia, Netherlands, Canada and United Kingdom. The blinds were up to 300k / 600k with a 75k ante as the final table began. The average stack of about 6.2 million represented 10 big blinds. With 80 large up top for the champion, quite a bit was riding on the players’ ability to play short-stacked, turbo poker. And, to be fair, their ability to run good.

It took until the last hand of 400k/800k to find the first elimination. markoes1 shoved all in for 3 big blinds from the small blind with [8s][7c]. It was an unlucky spot, as adkaf held a dominating ace, [ah][7d], and called. The board blanked out for both players, [4h][2h][5c][9c][2s], allowing adkaf to collect the pot with ace-high. markoes1 received the 9th-place prize of $4,125.12.

The elimination of markoes1 allowed the super short-stacked Filurn to squeeze one spot up the pay ladder. Filurn was all in for less than the big blind with the worst starting hand in hold’em, “The Hammer”: [7h][2c]. BackstabX_x cleared everyone else out of the pot with a pre-flop raise, then showed down [kh][td]. A ten on the turn left the unimproved hand of Filurn drawing dead and padded BackstabX_x’s chip lead over the rest of the table.

Those chips were put to good use a few hands later after yuanj shoved for 1.4 million from early position. BackstabX_x re-shoved to isolate yuanj with [ah][4h]; yuanj was drawing live with [kh][5d]. This round went to BackstabX_x as an ace flopped, [as][8c][2h]. A second deuce on the turn left yuanj drawing dead. 7th place was worth $11,601.90 to yuanj.

An unlucky spot doomed framerica (who I keep wanting to call kramerica) to 6th place during the 600k / 1.2 million level. adkaf opened with a minimum-raise from early position. framerica re-raised to 4.8 million. adkaf cold four-bet jammed from the blinds and showed down pocket aces after framerica’s last few chips were in the pot. framerica ‘s [as][kh] didn’t even come close to overtaking pocket aces on a board of [8d][3d][2s][qc][jc].

At this point of the final table, deal discussions began, but adkaf, now with a relatively healthy stack compared to two of the other players, elected to play on rather than pause the tournament. One of the short stacks was out moments later. MagicCoin made a desperation play with an above-average hand, which hit on the river when MagicCoin would have preferred it not. Take a look:

The last three eliminations were spread across just ten hands. They came so quickly that they even took the Rowsome, the host of the final table, by surprise. “omg… what… someone… anyone… I can’t type that fast!” she said. BackstabX_x went on a spree, winning 10 of the 12 last hands to pull away from the competition and knock out the other three players.

First on the chopping block was Patq74. Patq74 was all in from the big blind for 1.3 million and a prayer. BackstabX_x against showed down king-ten to try to notch the elimination. Patq74′s “two live cards”, [js][6h], didn’t improve on a board of [3s][8s][qh][8h][kc].

By the time BackstabX_x crested 40 million in chips, adkaf and megamakar each had less than 8 million. BackstabX_x had been opening every pot. megamakar finally stood up to the bully, calling all in and tabling [ad][9d] to BackstabX_x’s [qc][8d]. Run-good was on BackstabX_x’s side as a queen but no ace flopped, [jc][qs][6d]. The turn and river bricked out to send megamakar packing 3rd place.

megamakar’s elimination left only adkaf to challenge BackstabX_x for the TCOOP 42 title. That challenge lasted exactly one hand. On the first hand of heads-up play, adkaf shoved all in for 6.3 million with queen-eight, the very hand that had treated BackstabX_x so well a moment before. BackstabX_x snap-called with two of the other 8s, [8h][8c]. A paired flop of [9s][kh][9c] gave adkaf a few extra outs, but BackstabX_x took down the pot – and the tournament – when the turn and river came [3d] and [ad].

Who needs to check your six or make a deal when you’re the big stack, you play like a bully, and you run good to boot? Congratulations to BackstabX_x on a dominant final-table performance.

2012 TCOOP Event 42 $33+R No-Limit Hold’em (2x-Turbo) results:

1st: BackstabX_x ($80,896.62)
2nd: adkaf ($60,072.06)
3rd: megamakar ($42,540.30)
4th: Patq74 ($29,133.66)
5th: MagicCoin ($21,194.70)
6th: framerica ($16,758.30)
7th: yuanj ($11,601.90)
8th: Filurn ($6,445.50)
9th: markoes1 ($4,125.12)

There’s still one more day to get in on the turbo-fueled fun of the 2012 TCOOP. Check out the TCOOP home page for more information.

No comments

TCOOP: grauito grabs a win in Event #43 ($109 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo)

Limit betting, split pots, low variance. A-2? Nice hand. Slow and steady wins the game.

This is Omaha Hi/Lo.

Preflop all-ins, slim edges, 8 big blind stacks, double eliminations. A-2? Shove! 1,200 players to one in less than two hours.

This is Omaha Hi/Lo during TCOOP. Any questions?

1,198 players came out for the final Omaha event of the 2012 TCOOP, a no-limit, short-handed hyper-turbo affair that carried a $109 buy-in. 156 players earned a share of the $128,006.30 prize pool, with first place set to earn $21,441.87. More than a dozen members of Team PokerStars turned out to split and scoop their way to fortune, two of them notching cash finishes. Liv Boeree made it all the way to 66th place and Portugal’s Henrique Pinho went out with four tables remaining, his [2c][3s][6d][Qh] falling to Jaapin’s [Ac][2h][4d][9d]. Jaapin made two pair and the nut low on the [Tc][5c][4s][Ts][8c] board, sending Pinho to the rail in 20th place.

Team PokerStars Pro Henrique Pinho, 20th place

One hour and forty minutes after cards went in the air, the final seven players were battling it out for seats at the six-handed final table. Chip leader grauito was punishing the short stacks at his table, repeatedly moving all-in to steal the blinds and antes, when he finally found a customer in Dr dakon, who had 60,000 of his remaining 137,000 committed in the small blind. Grauito shoved and Dr dakon called off his last 67,312, turning over [Ad][5h][7c][Jd]. Grauito turned over a similar hand, [Ah][5d][7s][Ks]. Although Dr dakon made trip jacks on the [Kh][Jh][Js] flop, grauito caught a third king on the river to end Dr dakon’s run in seventh place and set the final table.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: triumphticd (2,016,231 in chips)
Seat 2: driedubbel (635,602 in chips)
Seat 3: B_Lindberg (544,749 in chips)
Seat 4: Fred-wpt (274,437 in chips)
Seat 5: whyamimrpink (328,507 in chips)
Seat 6: grauito (2,190,474 in chips)

After getting quartered in a hand against B_Lindberg, whyamimrpink was left with little more than one big blind. A few hands later, he was all-in with [2h][3s][7c][9h] against grauito’s [Ah][2s][5h][8h]. Neither player improved on the [Ks][Jh][Jd][7s][Js] board, grauito’s ace playing to give him the pot. For sixth palce, whyamimrpink earned $3,840.18.

On the next deal of the cards, driedubbel open-shoved for 267,602, Fred-wpt called all-in for 168,874, and grauito shoved for 1.94 million from the small blind. Triumphticd gave up his 200,000 big blind and the cards went on their backs:

grauito: [Ah][2d][5s][9s]
driedubbel: [Kd][Kc][Qd][7h]
Fred-wpt: [Ac][2s][Tc][Th]

Grauito immediately snapped off driedubbel’s kings on the [9c][3s][2h] flop, turning an even better two pair, nines and fives when the [5d] hit. The river was the [Jh] and grauito scooped the pot, scoring a double KO. Fred-wpt had fewer chips to start the hand and departed in 5th place ($5,453.06) while driedubbel took fourth ($8,320.40). With his finish today, driedubbel became the fifth player to make two TCOOP final tables. Three days ago, he finished runner-up to Rounder63 in Event #30 ($11+R PLO 6-Max, 3x-Turbo) earning $24,237.78. As the kids like to say, must be nice.

The next hand saw triumphticd open-shove from the small blind for 1.73 million and B_Lindberg call off his remaining 1.2 million from the big. Triumphticd’s [Qc][Jh][7c][4h] rivered a queen on the [Tc][8d][2s][Th][Qh] board make queens up, besting B_Lindberg’s [Ac][Kh][Js][Jc]. He collected $12,160.59 for his third-place finish, good for an hourly rate of more than $6,000.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 1: triumphticd (3,253,474 in chips)
Seat 6: grauito (2,736,526 in chips)

It took only eleven hands to go from six players to two, and after one set of blinds and antes were traded, triumphticd and graulito decided to pause the action and discuss a deal. They quickly agreed to a 50/50 split of the remaining prize pool, leaving $2,000 in play for the winner. Final table hostess Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome’s language skills came in handy during the negotiations, where she also served as graulito’s translator.

talonchick (TeamOnline): Cada jugador tiene asegurado $17,721.32, pero deben continuar jugando para definir el campeonato y recibir 2000 USd adicionales
talonchick (TeamOnline): Se deben dejar 2,000 USD para el campeon

Four hands later, grauito had all the chips in front of him. Holding [Kc][Td][9h][6h], he open-shoved for 3.03 million and triumphticd called with [Ah][2s][9s][Ts]. Although triumphticd flopped a Broadway straight, grauito turned a flush to scoop the final pot:

Congratulations to grauito, our newest TCOOP champion! He earned $19,721.32 for the win, while runner-up triumphticd took home $17,721.33.

2012 TCOOP Event #43 ($109 NL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo) results

1. grauito (Spain) $19,721.32*
2. triumphticd (Canada) $17,721.33*
3. B_Lindberg (Sweden) $12,160.59
4. driedubbel (Netherlands) $8,230.40
5. Fred-wpt (Netherlands) $5,453.06
6. whyamimrpink (Belgium) $3,840.18

*= reflects the result of a two-way deal that left $2,000 in play for the winner

The TCOOP Main Event is less than 24 hours away. Have you won your seat yet? Head over to the TCOOP page to find a satellite that fits your bankroll.

No comments

TCOOP: gabrieldin6′s deal-making brinksmanship pays off in Event 38 ($55 NLHE Ante Up)

When I was in school, I took a semester-look seminar in negotiation. The class taught me that, as much as negotiation is a science (employing myriad acronyms like BATNA to explain why people will behave in certain predictable ways during a negotiation), it’s also an art form. The science only defines the boundaries within which a deal will take place; the actual form of the deal is where the art comes in.

2012 TCOOP Event 38, $55 No-Limit Hold’em (Ante Up) provided an object lesson in deal-making: its potential and its pitfalls. And although gabrieldin6 won the tournament after a five-way deal was struck, rejecting an earlier 9-way deal almost cost gabrieldin6 several thousand dollars in prize money.

Big antes created big prizes for the final table of Event 38. With 3,814 players entering the tournament, the minimum payout at the final table was $1,525.60 – about 28 times the $55 buy-in. The winner stood to receive nearly $30,000 of the $190,700 prize pool. Once again, as has been the case throughout TCOOP, the guarantee set for this event by PokerStars ($100,000) was shattered.

It was another tough day for Team PokerStars. Nine Team Pros and Team Online players entered the tournament but not a single one cashed. Team Pro Marcin Horecki came closest, but he fell more than 500 places shy of the money. Sometimes, in this game, demonstrably high levels of skill aren’t enough to take you all the way home.

The deal-making started in earnest just moments after the tournament reached its final table:

Seat 1: LeviTheKing1 (1321973 in chips)
Seat 2: zcedrick (1241903 in chips)
Seat 3: Nyefated (613368 in chips)
Seat 4: all IQ (1441670 in chips)
Seat 5: Ilkinopoulos (2042620 in chips)
Seat 6: gabrieldin6 (4210503 in chips)
Seat 7: ImlykwagwanG (5266232 in chips)
Seat 8: german brain (1892347 in chips)
Seat 9: falldown666 (1039384 in chips)

Let’s make a deal

The blinds were fixed at 5/5, as they had been all tournament. The ante was up to 90,000, representing 23 antes against the average stack of 2.1 million. 810,000 was in the middle to start each hand, about 40% of the average stack. Nyefated took the first pot uncontested with ace-queen, then doubled up on the second hand to about 4 million by winning a traditional “ace-king versus queens” flip against gabrieldin6.

With a more dominant chip position secured, Nyefated suggested the table should discuss a deal. Surprisingly, everyone else agreed and the tournament was paused after only four final-table hands.

ImlykwagwangG: $23,535.10
Nyefated: $19,537.17
gabrieldin6: $13,200.04
Ilkinopoulos: $9,044.31
LeviTheKing1: $9,446.04
german brain: $8,368.78
all IQ: $6,342.95
zcedrick: $5,444.93
falldown666: $4,534.52

Now if you know anything about groups of 5 or more people, you know it’s difficult to get them all to agree on where to eat for lunch, never mind a deal in which almost $100,000 is up for grabs. So when the numbers came back from PokerStars support, I expected there to be a long period of dissent as each player tried to angle for a better deal. Although the dissent was muted, the bartering dragged across 20 minutes. The horse-trading that ensued produced this second suggested deal:

ImlykwagwangG: $22,835.09
Nyefated: $18,837.17
gabrieldin6: $13,200.04
LeviTheKing1: $10,000.00
Ilkinopoulos: $9,044.31
german brain: $8,194.28
all IQ: $6,342.95
zcedrick: $6,000.00
falldown666: $5,000.00

That deal got agreement from 6 of the 9 players – all but zcedrick, all IQ and gabrieldin6. zcedrick wanted $7,000; all IQ did not want zcedrick to get more than all IQ got. While gabrieldin6 continued to remain silent, zcedrick convinced the four biggest payouts to give up $250 each to make up the extra $1,000 that zcedrick wanted to receive. all IQ acquiesced, creating a third proposed deal:

It was at that moment that gabrieldin6 expressed opposition to the deal, despite the fact that gabrieldin6′s 3rdd-place chip stack would earn just shy of 3rdd-place money at a high-variance, short-stacked, turbo-paced final table. gabrieldin6 wanted to resume play, and so after 33 minutes of fruitless negotiations, play resumed, leaving eight players incredibly hot under the collar with gabrieldin6. They pestered gabrieldin6, asking what deal would be acceptable, but received no response other than, “No.”

The trials of gabrieldin6

The players got back to the action, trading antes and expressing frustration, until all IQ pushed in for 750,000 and was called by none other than gabrieldin6. all IQ’s pockets queens were ahead of gabrieldin6′s pocket 9s, but a 9 flopped to give gabrieldin6 a set and what would be the winning hand.

Again the table tried to get gabrieldin6 to agree to a deal; again gabrieldin6 refused. While the gabrieldin6-bashing continued, a three-way all in produced two more eliminations. falldown666 (8th) and zcedrick (7th) were both all in as short stacks and both hit the rail after ImlykwagwanG rivered a straight:

RSS readers: click through to see replay

The elimination of Ilkinopoulos in 6th place when [ah][5d] failed to improve against the [th][tc] of Nyefated renewed calls from the players for a deal. gabrieldin6, now in 4th chip position of the remaining five players, finally agreed to re-pause the tournament. Chip chop numbers now produced the following proposal:

ImlykwagwanG: $27,496.72
Nyefated: $23,938.60
german brain: $11,361.51
gabrieldin6: $11,265.88
LeviTheKing1: $10,993.28

In this version of the deal, gabrieldin6′s share actually dropped by $2,000 despite the elimination of four players. Everyone quickly agreed to the new deal except german brain, who requested $13,000 total. After all the previous negotiations, however, it seemed german brain’s heart wasn’t in a protracted fight. Within another minute the unmodified proposal was agreed to by all players.

Play resumed. lmlykwagwanG, as the big stack, began to play very aggressively. But nobody was knocked out until gabrieldin6 moved all in with [ac][tc]. german brain called all in for less with [ah][9c] and lost the battle of kickers on a board of [7h][2s][5c][8h][3c]. The very next hand LeviTheKing1 shoved a short stack with [as][9d] but lost the hand when gabrieldin6′s [qd][8d] made a pair of 8s, [8c][kd][2d][ks][5s]. LeviTheKing1 finished in 4th place.

Nyefated put a tough beat on ImlykwagwanG by getting all in after the flop with unimproved [ad][4h] against ImlykwagwanG’s unimproved [ac][9c]. A 4 promptly spiked on the turn, leaving ImlykwagwanG with about 6 antes. Those 6 antes wound up in gabrieldin6′s stack the next hand as ImlykwagwanG ‘s [tc][9c] couldn’t overtake gabrieldin6′s [ks][5s].

The last two players, Nyefated and gabrieldin6, took turns with the chip lead. The ante by the time heads-up play started was 20,000; total chips in play were 19 million, giving the final two players about 95 antes between the two of them. They were deeper than they’d played for most of the final table, especially given that 40,000 was all in that was in the pot to start each hand.

Yet somehow all the chips went in pre-flop anyway. On the final hand, gabrieldin6 checked the small blind for 5, then called Nyefated’s all in shove of 8.2 million. Nyefated showed [3h][3d]; gabrieldin6 showed a disguised [9s][9d]. A single 9 would have been enough for gabrieldin6 after the board rolled out [8h][8d][6h][qh][6d] to overcoat Nyefated’s starting hand.

In the end, with the $2,000 set-aside for the champion, gabrieldin6 received exactly the payout under the 5-player deal as gabrieldin6 would have received under the 9-player deal – but with much more volatility and variance. It was certainly an unusual way to crown the lastest TCOOP champion.

2012 TCOOP Event 38 $55 No-Limit Hold’em (Ante Up) results (reflect five-way deal):

*1st: gabrieldin6 ($13,265.88)
*2nd: Nyefated ($23,938.60)
*3rd: ImlykwagwanG ($27,496.72)
*4th: LeviTheKing1 ($10,993.28)
*5th: german brain ($11,361.51)
6th: Ilkinopoulos ($6,197.75)
7th: zcedrick ($4,290.75)
8th: falldown666 ($2,383.75)
9th: all IQ ($1,525.60)

We’re in the home stretch of the 2012 TCOOP, but it’s not too late to get in the game. Find all the information about TCOOP that you could possibly want – leaderboards, stats, and the schedule of remaining satellites and events – at the TCOOP home page.

No comments

TCOOP: Code_version dominates and wins Event 39 ($109 FLHE 6-Max)

TCOOP logo.png What better way to prepare for the last weekend of TCOOP events (11 of them, to be exact) than to dabble in a FLHE event on Friday? There were NLHE and PLO options as well, but limit players were finally given their platform on which to shine in Event 39.

The last of the four options to start today was this $100 + $9 buy-in Limit Hold’em event with a $100K guarantee, and while many poker fans think LHE is a slow game, the turbo version and six-max tables are anything but slow. More than a thousand players ponied up more than $100 to gather and fight it out for this TCOOP title.

After an hour, registration closed with these numbers in place:

Players: 1,227
Prize pool: $122,700.00
Paid players: 156

With the guarantee left far behind, the tournament proceeded through the second hour and reduced the field to less than 150 players. Along the way, most of the PokerStars players exited the event, starting with Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin in 1,010th place. Team Pro Martin Staszko left in 857th, Team Online’s Javier “El_Canonero” Dominguez in 578th, Team Pros Alex Kravchenko in 526th and Lex Veldhuis in 523rd, Team Online’s Shane “shaniac” Schleger in 471st, and Team Pro Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby in 392nd. A bit later, Team Pros Marcin “Goral” Horecki and Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth left in 209th and 162nd, respectively.

Still going strong as the money bubble burst just before the two-hour mark, Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Berg was hovering in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

With less than 100 players remaining, Donald dropped into the top 20. A short time later, though, he hit a rough patch and exited in 47th place, which was worth $368.10.

As four tables were reduced to two, the payouts rose about $1K, and frozZy was the first to exit with $1,030.68 in cash. More players busted on the way to leaving only two tables in play, and the three-hour mark break showed only 11 players still in action.

The eliminations of ozenc in ninth place and kfasdfa in eighth brought about hand-for-hand play, and it took a very short time for short-stacked Pandakey to move all-in with [Td][Ts]. Jennndo had [Ah][Qd], and that improved to a pair of aces on the [AD][Kd][6s][2c][3s] board. Pandakey left in seventh place with $2,147.25.

Code_version controls the table

Level 35 set the stage for the final table with blinds of 60,000/120,000 and these starting stacks:

Seat 1: code_version (3,373,925 in chips)
Seat 2: maciekzbg (544,161 in chips)
Seat 3: ArmyOfLovers (670,322 in chips)
Seat 4: Jenndo (649,398 in chips)
Seat 5: kosmoposmo (280,539 in chips)
Seat 6: Big_Dady_Coo (616,655 in chips)

The first elimination came quickly. The hand began with preflop betting between kosmoposmo and Big_Dady_Coo capped. The [8d][6h][3d] flop prompted a bet from Big_Dady_Coo and all-in call from kosmoposmo with [Ks][Jd]. But Big_Dady_Coo showed [Kh][Kc], and nothing about the [3c] turn or [2s] river changed anything. Kosmoposmo departed in sixth place with $3,681.00.

ArmyOfLovers in the small blind and Jenndo in the big blind battled preflop until betting was capped. The [Ks][Qc][Kh] flop prompted ArmyOfLovers to make the all-in push with [Ac][Jd] for the straight draw and pair of kings, while Jenndo called quickly with [As][Ah] and top two pair. The [Qs] and [4c] finished the hand, and ArmyOfLovers marched away in fifth place with $5,227.02.

Despite an earlier double-up for maciekzbg through Big_Dady_Coo, the former was on a short stack again and pushed all-in from the small blind. Jenndo called from the big blind with [7s][7c], and maciekzbg was going to have to improve on [Qc][4h]. The board of [Jc][9c][Kh][Ks][6c] didn’t do it, though, and maciekzbg left in fourth place with $7,975.50.

Challenges to the chip leaders

Big_Dady_Coo scored a double-up through chip leader code_version with this hand:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Code_version still dominated, though, and Big_Dady_Coo battled the leader again. A raise and reraise led to the [8h][7h][6c] flop. Big_Dady_Coo bet, and code-version check-called. The [Ad] on the turn prompted an all-in bet from Big_Dady_Coo with [Qs][9h] and the straight draw, and code_version called with [Ah][Jd] for turned top pair. The [6s] on the river eliminated Big_Dady_Coo in third place with $11,656.50.

Code_version dominates heads-up

The last two players standing began their match with these counts:

Seat 1: code_version (4,636,958 in chips)
Seat 4: Jenndo (1,498,042 in chips)

Aggressive was the word to describe code_version, who won the first three hands of the battle. On the fourth hand, betting was capped going to the [3s][5d][7h] flop, at which point code_version bet 120K and Jenndo called all-in. Code_version showed [Kd][3d] for the pair of threes, and Jenndo turned over [Qd][Jh] for queen high. The [Ks] and [3h] completed the board and a full house for code_version, leaving Jenndo out in second place with $15,337.50.

Code_version of Denmark won TCOOP Event 39 and the $20,552.40 that went with it. Congrats!

TCOOP Event 39 ($109 FLHE 6-Max) Results:

1st place: code_version ($20,552.40)
2nd place: Jenndo ($15,337.50)
3rd place: Big_Dady_Coo ($11,656.50)
4th place: maciekzbg ($7,975.50)
5th place: ArmyOfLovers ($5,227.02)
6th place: kosmoposmo ($3,681.00)

There a few days left to get in on the TCOOP action. Check out the main page for updates, leaderboard information, and a full schedule of events.

No comments

TCOOP: flaszeczka outflanks the competition in Event 36, $82 NLHE (6-max)

When you get all-in with pocket aces in a hold’em game and find yourself up against a smaller pair, you’re roughly a 4-to-1 favorite to win the hand. Most of the time you’ll win the hand, but sometimes you’ll find yourself looking at the board and realizing that the unlikely has just become reality.

Such was the case with today’s tournament, a rare instance of a TCOOP overlay. Most of the tournaments during this series have broken their guarantees – often wildly exceeding them – but Event 36 became the exception to the rule. At 3,289 players, the field was about 50 players shy of breaking the guarantee. And so that guarantee – $250,000 – became the official prize pool, with $39,375 set aside for the winner.

eureka poker tour nova gorica_day 1b_gregorz_mikielewicz.jpg

Mikielewicz was the only Team Pro to cash today

The players fell away from their shorthanded tables fast enough that the money bubble burst just as the second break was beginning, with Hulk9950 of Brazil falling short and anarhist69 of Russia taking home $135 in 420th place for becoming the first player to bust in the money. The only member of Team PokerStars Pro to cash – Grzegorz ‘DaWarsaw’ Mikielewicz – busted shortly after play resumed, finishing 405th ($135).

A familiar name

A third hour of poker reduced the field to just 49 players. Sitting in the lead was Denmark’s jojoha0999 with 963,554 chips, followed closely by 2009 WCOOP Main Event winner Daniel “djk123″ Kelly with 919,666 chips. Kelly had been outside the top five just before the break but leapfrogged thanks to his proficiency at getting three streets of value out of top pair:

With blinds already up to Level 33 (8K/16K/2K) and a big stack to wield against his much-shorter-stacked opponents, Kelly was in exactly the kind of environment where he tends to thrive. Yet djk123 couldn’t get a big confrontation to go his way for the next few levels – the closest was a coin flip with pocket fours that doubled up the United Kingdom’s thekevilfish, who had shoved with [Jh] [8d]. While Kelly managed to stay just ahead of the structure, his neighbor, the Ukraine’s egor B52, charged into the chip lead thanks to two consecutive pots – one worth 539K with [Ad] [Kh] to knock out Australia’s united3058 in 30th place ($1,000), and the other worth 882K when his [Ac] [Jh] spiked an ace on the river to send the UK’s cianus-ie, holder of pocket queens, home in 27th ($1,000).

While egor B52 was busy contending with Kelly, the Netherlands’ ullicha was busy climbing to the top of the leaderboard with three tables left, stacking up to 2.88 million chips thanks in part to picking up pocket aces when ARARATLI (16th, $1,650) held [Ah] [Kc]. Poland’s flaszeczka also spent some time in the top spot after picking up pocket queens against Norway’s angellk1 (15th, $1,650), who was all-in for 389K holding pocket sevens.

Two tables

The blinds had reached Level 39 (30K/60K/7.5K) when play reached the final two tables, with ullicha in the lead and egor B52 close behind. ullicha expanded that lead by knocking out the Netherlands’ AfterBeatMSc (12th, $2,187.50) to jump over 3.5 million chips. Next out was Kelly (11th, $2,187.50), the former WCOOP champ who shoved for 608K under the gun with [Ac] [4c] only to run into k345′s [As] [Qs]. Spain’s Nyefated (10th, $2,187.50) then became the second player of the late game to fall to ullicha’s pocket aces when [As] [Qh] didn’t get any help from the board. Then jojoha0999 reclaimed the chip lead for the first time in quite a while thanks to this hand against ullicha:

Spain’s flan16 (9th, $3,000) became the next to bust after running [Ad] [Kc] into the [As] [Ah] of thekevilfish. Then another Spaniard, fontainerote (8th, $3,000), hit the rail after losing two consecutive pots – one worth 1.3 million chips and the other worth 1 million – to flaszeczka. That left seven players on Level 42 (50K/100K/12.5K) with just six seats waiting at the final table. Two of the players who had been fighting back and forth for the chip lead – ullicha and egorB52 – both suffered setbacks on the bubble, with egorB52 doubling k345 up despite being ahead when he called and ullicha dropping a 5.44-million-chip pot to jojoha0999 on a runner-runner flush. Neither would bust, though, as egor B52 made the final elimination when his pocket sevens held up against Kot_Spartac‘s [As] [6h] to send the Russian out in 7th ($3,000) and this event to a final table.

The final countdown

As the fourth hour drew to a close, the final table was set with 60K/120K blinds, 15K antes and this lineup:

Seat 1: flaszeczka (2,192,803 in chips)
Seat 2: egor B52 (2,577,656 in chips)
Seat 3: thekevilfish (1,627,737 in chips)
Seat 4: jojoha0999 (7,550,562 in chips)
Seat 5: ullicha (562,406 in chips)
Seat 6: k345 (1,933,836 in chips)

The first casualty was, unsurprisingly, the short-stacked ullicha, who called all-in for 509K on the big blind with [As] [Qh] for a coin flip against the pocket tens of k345. The flop came [Th] [8s] [2s], though, and the set of tens was all it took to bust ullicha in 6th ($4,437.50). The other short stack, egor B52, was the next to go after having the bad fortune to pick up [Js] [Jd] on the same hand that saw flaszeczka pick up [Qc] [Qh]. With no help from the baord, egor B52 was out 5th ($8,705).

Three hands later the field was reduced further when the action folded to thekevilfish in the small blind; the UK player shoved for 2.33 million holding [Kc] [9h] and got called by jojoha0999 in the big blind with [As] [9s]. As if being dominated preflop weren’t bad enough for thekevilfish, the flop came down [Ad] [Td] [Ac]. The [4h] turn and [3d] river were formalities that sent thekevilfish out in 4th place ($13,625).

That boosted jojoha0999′s stack to 10.72 million chips with the blinds at 100K/200K and antes at 25K. That was far ahead of flaszeczka’s 3.83 million and k345′s 1.88 million, but things quickly turned around for the short stack. Seven hands later an all-in confrontation holding [As] [2d] against jojoha0999′s [Ah] [9s] ended well after the board came [8c] [4d] [4h] [2s] [Kd], bringing k345 up to 4.46 million chips. Another seven hands went by before the two players clashed again, the time with k345′s [Qs] [9h] running down jojoha0999′s pocket sevens for a 4.875 million-chip pot, one which gave k345 the lead with 8.08 million chips.

Despite none of the players trying to make a deal, the play among the final three was far from aggressive. There were plenty of flops, most of them seen after one player had previously min-raised and another had called. After k345′s survival hand in the early going, another 28 hands would pass before the next all-in confrontation. It came on the 200K/400K/50K level, when jojoha0999 shoved on the button for 3.6 million with [Qd] [5c]. K345 overshoved from the small blind holding[Ac] [Kh], which stayed ahead only until the [Qh] [8d] [6h] flop. The [3c] turn and [Js] river kept play three-handed; just four hands later, heads-up play was set after k345 (3rd, $21,000) shoved holding [Kc] [8h] but couldn’t outrun jojoha0999′s [Kd] [Jh].

Poland’s flaszeczka was behind with just 4.66 million chips to jojoha0999′s 11.77 million, but within moments that deficit had been erased. On the third hand, flaszeczka shoved with [8d] [6d], was called by jojoha0999 with [Ah] [9c], and caught enough of the [3s] [Th] [Tc] [Kc] [8c] board to jump into the lead with 10.46 million chips. Then, on the very next hand, came the final confrontation:

Congratulations go to flaszeczka, who came from behind to win the tournament through patience, perseverance, and a little bit of well-timed card luck. And congratulations as well to the rest of the final tablists, whose accomplishment in making the final table from a 3,289-player field shouldn’t be underestimated.

TCOOP Event 36 – $82 No-Limit Hold’em (6-max)
3,289 entrants, $250,000 prize pool

1st place – flaszeczka (Poland) – $39,375
2nd place – jojoha0999 (Denmark) – $28,750
3rd place – k345 (Russia) – $21,000
4th place – thekevilfish (United Kingdom) – $13,625
5th place – egor B52 (Ukraine) – $8,705
6th place – ullicha (Netherlands) – $4,437.50

Just like that, another TCOOP tourney is in the books. If you blink you might just miss the rest of this tournament series – so go check out the full schedule for a rundown of this weekend’s remaining events.

No comments

TCOOP: Black Friday refugees cashing in

Until 2011, for many young American poker players Mexico was a vacation spot. It was the place they spent their Spring Break holidays or a couple of regrettable nights in Tijuana. It was never the place they intended to call home. That all changed on April 15, 2011.

“I was coming into form at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011,” said Nicholas “Rounder63″ Carrillo. “April 15th was a really bad day for me.”

Like American poker players from coast to coast, Carrillo lost his ability to make a living playing online poker overnight. Though he had Los Angeles’ Commerce Casino nearby, Carillo’s real profit and living money came from grinding tournaments online.

“It ruined my entire WSOP planning and completely put me into a mental lapse,” Carillo said.

To people outside the online poker community, it was hard to understand. But for anyone who paid their bills with poker money, it wasn’t hard to see how Carillo’s life started to get out of control.

Sean “wcsquad3″ Pramuk is one of those people who can understand.

“Due to Black Friday, I have been unemployed for the last few months and just recently had to relocate to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with friends,” Pramuk said.

Shores of Cabo San Lucas courtesy Stan Shebs

Pramuk has been playing professional poker for the past four years. Now 26 years old, his move to Mexico came at the beginning of this month. Like Carillo, it’s already proven to be a good decision.

Just a few days ago, Parmuk won $85,000 in Event #25 of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker. A day later, Carillo won $30,000 in Event #30.

Pramuk–a near-scratch golfer–is finding a measure of relief south of the border. He’s getting in a few rounds on the links and learning more about poker than he ever expected.

Though Black Friday upended both TCOOP winners lives, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating Mexican poker think tanks. No longer isolated in their hometowns and bedrooms, America’s displaced poker players find themselves constantly surrounded with like-minded and talented pros.

“I just try and get better all the time,” Pramuk said. “Being down here in Mexico with all these great poker minds definitely helps with that.”

Carillo is in the same situation. A lifelong football player and coach, at 32 years old Carillo found his favorite form of competition stripped from him in one day. Now, albeit with a move to another country, Carillo has found a new drive and spirit. Once again, he’s optimistic.

“I want to able to care of myself and make sure that my wonderful mother doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Carillo said. “I dream of one day making a charity foundation that gives back to underprivileged kids in sports.”

In the world of TCOOP, things move quickly. Tournaments can be up and down in a matter of a couple of hours. For American poker players, there is no easy fix. Nothing moves quickly, it seems. A move to Mexico is part of the long game. For some like Pramuk and Carillo, it’s paying off quickly.

“I moved to Mexico with lofty goals and this win puts me even closer to my goal,” Carillo said. “This win is nice because of the money, but mentally it’s like a bunch of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

No comments

TCOOP: Without question, Sisnleicht? wins Event 35 ($55 PLO 4-Max)

TCOOP logo.png The inaugural TCOOP series is more than halfway to its completion, so you can be sure the final days will be packed with as much turbo online poker action as possible. Today, players were able to choose from NLHE two ways, Razz, and this particular Omaha option.

With the continuously growing popularity of Omaha as a player’s game of choice, variations on the game are becoming more standard as well. Combine those PLO desires with a general interest in short-handed play, and we present Event 35. And putting PLO action together with the faster pace of four-max tables and the turbo structure of five-minute levels was sure to pique interest.

It all came together nicely. The $50 + $5 buy-in with a $75K guarantee resulted in these numbers:

Players: 2,414
Prize pool: $120,700.00
Paid players: 320

Players busted rapidly through the first 1.5 hours of the tournament, and the money bubble approached about 10 minutes later. Hand-for-hand play resulted in a few minutes of tension before the elimination of as1025 in 321st place. SoteriaDos was the first player to cash for $90.52, and the field thinned drastically from there.

The group of Team PokerStars Pros in this event didn’t fare so well. In fact, only one of them made it into the top 1,000 and cruised through the money to the top 100. In fact, Team Pro Alex Kravchenko moved into the top 50, then the top 30.

Finally, in the process of trying to climb further, Kravchenko was eliminated in 26th place, which was worth $633.67.

Just past the three-hour mark, five tables turned to three in the blink of an eye (or about 15 minutes, truth be told). As the 3.5-hour hit, there were six players, but that was quick to change. On Table 232, ALEX VDV pushed all-in with [Ac][8s][7d][2h] against the [Ad][Qh][Qs][6h] of TeHKai. The board came [5h][Jd][Qc][Th][6s] and left ALEXVDV out in sixth place with $3,621.00.

At the same time on Table 424, halifax and meamemet got into a preflop raising war that ended with halifax calling all-in with [AD][Qh][Qd][2s]. Meamemet showed [Qc][6s][7c][8c] and accumulated two pair on the [Ah][Th][6d][5c][7d] board. Halifax departed in fifth place for a $3,621.00 payout.

Meamemet meets final table in chip lead

The final table was set in Level 39, with blinds of 80,000/16,000. Players starting stacks were listed as follows:

Seat 1: meamemet (4,937,301 in chips)
Seat 2: TeHKai (1,909,246 in chips)
Seat 3: moonwatch79 (1,995,654 in chips)
Seat 4: Sisnleicht? (3,227,799 in chips)

Only a few hands into the action, moonwatch79 moved all-in after an initial raise from TeHKai. Moonwatch79 showed [As][Qd][5d][2h], but TeKHai had [Ac][Ad][9h][4h]. The board of [6h][Kc][7c][Jc][Qc] only gave moonwatch79 a pair of queens, which wasn’t good enough for the double-up. Fourth place and $4,984.91 went to moonwatch79.

Sisnleicht? surges

Sisnleicht? then made a move against meamemet and scored a big double to take the lead:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Several hands later, a number of preflop raises and reraises prompted TeHKai to move all-in with [Ah][Ad][3c][2h]. Sisnleicht? called with [Qh][Tc][8c][8d]. The flop of [4s][9s][As] gave TeHKai the three aces, but the [Td][Jd] to round out the board made a straight for Sisnleicht?. TeHKai was out in third place with $6,940.25.

A pair of heads-up hands

The final two players started with these counts:

Seat 1: meamemet (3,129,502 in chips)
Seat 4: Sisnleicht? (8,940,498 in chips)

On the first hand, Sisnleicht? raised to 400K, and meamemet folded.

The second hand started with a raise from meamemet and call from Sisnleicht? to see a [2s][4c][7c] flop. Sisnleicht? checked, but meamemet bet and Sisnleicht? raised. Meamemet responded by moving all-in with [Jh][Ts][9s][4h], and Sisnleicht? called with [8d][6d][5c][2c]. That flush draw hit on the [Tc] turn, and the [Qc] on the river only made it a higher flush. Meamemet had to depart in second place with $10,561.25.

Sisnleicht? of Austria claimed the TCOOP title and $17,803.87 in cash. Congrats!

TCOOP Event 35 ($55 PLO 4-Max) Results:

1st place: Sisnleicht? ($17,803.87)
2nd place: meamemet ($10,561.25)
3rd place: TeHKai ($6,940.25)
4th place: moonwatch79 ($4,984.91)

There a few days left to get in on the TCOOP action. Check out the main page for updates, leaderboard information, and a full schedule of events.

No comments

TCOOP: WorDn lays down the law in Event #34 ($215 NLHE, 2x-Chance)

TCOOP Event #34, a $215 NLHE double chance soiree, not only produced the second-largest prize pool the series has seen, but resulted in our first six-figure winner. Although Event #25 listed a $112,000 first-place prize, champion wcsquad3 made away with $85,652.01 after a four-way deal. Tonight, Germany’s WorDn cracked the century mark, taking home $100,373.88, for his victory after reaching a deal with runner-up OBVAMENTS.

2,459 players came out for Event #34, 986 of them taking advantage of the second-chance single rebuy. 324 players earned a share of the $689,000 prize pool with first place set to earn $110,240.00. Fifteen Red Spades were in the field, with Team Online’s Bjorn “Bjoerni89″ Schneider (266th) and Team Pro’s Alex Kravchenko (235th) notching cash finishes.

With ten players remaining, chip leader WorDn shoved all-in from under-the gun with [Ad][Jh] and Sirocko called off his remaining 1.98 million with [9h][9c]. Although the nines held up through the turn, the [Ah] spiked on the river to make WorDn top pair, Sirocko’s elimination sending us to the nine-handed final table.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: mcfaroe (3,227,566 in chips)
Seat 2: Starsky25 (1,097,126 in chips)
Seat 3: badboypony (472,771 in chips)
Seat 4: GALATON (951,344 in chips)
Seat 5: yor77 (433,088 in chips)
Seat 6: OBVAMENTS (1,874,694 in chips)
Seat 7: Tae Joon Noh (559,652 in chips)
Seat 8: WorDn (6,111,979 in chips)
Seat 9: mcnallyville (2,496,780 in chips)

Rivered!

The final table’s first hand resulted in its first elimination. With the blinds up to 70,000/140,000, mcfaroe opened for 420,000 in the cutoff and GALATON three-bet shoved for his remaining 933,844. Although mcfaroe’s [Qs][4s] was well behind GALATON’s pocket tens, a queen on the river sent him to the rail in ninth place.

Starsky25 was the next to go, after open-shoving for 974,626 with pocket fives. OBVAMENTS called with [Kd][Js] in the big blind and for the third consecutive elimination, the river card did the deed, the [Jc] falling to send the pot to OBVAMENTS. For eighth place, Starsky25 took home $9,990.50.

The next deal of the cards had Tae Joon Noh all-in for his last 97,000 in the big blind. Although he showed down the best hand ([Ah][7s] against mcfaroe’s [Qs][Ts]) and had his opponent down to seven outs on the river, (the [Kc][8h][9h][2h] board gave him the nut flush draw along with his ace-high), “RiverStars” struck again, the [Qc] falling to eliminate Noh in seventh place ($16,880.50).

Extreme short stackaments

With the final table down to six, OBVAMENTS broached the subject of a deal. However, some of the larger stacks weren’t quite ready to run numbers, seeing as two players were hanging on with the smallest of stacks; badboypony held only 350,000 and yor77 had 411,000 with the blinds up to 125,000/250,000.

Although badboypony and yor77 scored a double-up apiece to hang on just a bit longer, the latter ended up falling to OBVAMENTS in a blind-vs-blind hand. Yor77 found [Ad][Th] and moved in for 1.1 million from the small blind only to have OBVAMENTS wake up with [Qc][Qh] in the big. No lucky rivers here, the jack-high board sealing yor77′s elimination in sixth place. A few hands later, more than half of badboypony’s chips were committed in the big blind. Mcfaroe min-raised from the small blind with [5s][5h], badboypony tossing his case 169k with [Ks][Ts]. The pocket pair held and badboypony rode off into the sunset in fifth place, collecting $31,005.00.

Mcnallyville was the only short stack remaining at this point and although he doubled through OBVAMENTS with pocket eights against [Ac][6s], those chips ended up in WorDn’s stack a few hands later. WorDn open-shoved from the small blind with [Ks][4d] and mcnallyville called with [Ac][Js]. WorDn hit a four on the flop and mcnallyville couldn’t catch up, the board running out [4h][2h][2s][Qc][Td] to send him home in fourth place.

The blinds rose to 150,000/300,000, leaving OBVAMENTS with less than nine big blinds. OBVAMENTS doubled through mcfaroe when his [8h][8s] held against [2c][2h], taking his stack up to 5.6 million while mcfaroe was left with only 2 million. The last of mcfaroe’s stack went in the middle six hands later, his [Js][Td] trailing OBVAMENTS’ [Kd][Qs]. A king hit the flop and another came on the turn, ending mcfaroe’s run in third place. He earned $58,565.00 for his finish.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 6: OBVAMENTS (8,080,856 in chips)
Seat 8: WorDn (9,144,144 in chips)

OBVAMENTS finally got his wish when WorDn agreed to pause the action in order to discuss a deal. They quickly agreed to an even split of the remaining prize pool, leaving $8,000 in play for the winner.

With each player sporting a 21 big blind stack, it was a quick match. Although OBVAMENTS chipped up to 10.2 million after the first few hands, WorDn scored a double-up when his [Qc][Kc] flopped top pair against OBVAMENTS’ [Ah][Th]. OBVAMENTS’ last ten big blinds went in a few hands later with [Jd][8c] and WorDn called with [Ah][5c], an ace hitting the turn to seal the deal:

Congrats to WorDn on winning a TCOOP title and $100,373.88! For his runner-up finish, OBVAMENTS banked $92,373.87.

2012 TCOOP Event #34 ($215 NLHE 2x-Chance) results:

1. WorDn (Germany) $100,373.88*
2. OBVAMENTS (Mexico) $92,373.87*
3. mcfaroe (Faroe Islands) $58,565.00
4. mcnallyville (Mexico) $41,340.00
5. badboypony (Sweden) $31,005.00
6. yor77 (Netherlands) $23,770.50
7. Tae Joon Noh (South Korea) $16,880.50
8. Starsky25 (Canada) $9,990.50
9. GALATON (Russia) $6,201.00

*= reflects the result of a two-way deal that left $8,000 in play for the winner

Only three days remain before TCOOP comes to a close. Do you have your Main Event ticket yet? Head over to the TCOOP page for a full schedule and satellite information.

No comments

The Puppeteers of America

By Pauly
San Francisco, CA

One of my favorite political writers is Matt Taibbi, columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, who also penned a few books such as The Great Derangement, which included an astute observation about politics and Big Business…

“You don’t elect politicians to commit crimes; you elect politicians to make your crimes legal.” – Matt Taibbi

Black Friday more than put a wrinkle into the lives of American poker players, it decimated the entire online poker landscape. On April 15th, we all discovered that we could no longer play on our favorite online poker sites. Just the day before on April 14th, Americans went about their lives with the ease and comfort knowing their bankrolls were safe in a virtual bank somewhere overseas. We were under the impression that we could exercise our right to gamble… or choose not to gamble… because after all, we’re adults protected under the Constitution of the United States. We have the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Online poker could be one of those, or it could be all three. I know I spent too many hours logged onto a different online poker site bogged down in the pursuit of happiness, only to get sucked out by a one-outer, which sent me on mega-LAGtard-Scandi-tilt.

Online poker was a short-term escape from the harsh reality that we live in corporatocracy. Our nefarious politicians are pwned by oligarchs and plutocrats, all of whom don’t give a rat’s ass about your personal liberty to engage in any sort of activity (gambling or otherwise) on the internet. If you haven’t been paying attention to SOPA or the NDAA, then you should get off your ass and do some research. Uncle Sam and Big Brother are now one in the same while a shadowy cabal of international banksters are pulling the strings.

Remember that scene from The Godfather, after the ailing Don handed over the reigns of the Family to his son, Michael Corleone?

“You are like me,” mumbled Don Corleone. “We refuse to be fools, to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by other men.”

I’m still trying to figure out why some activities in America are considered a crime and why other things are permitted, but then again most laws these days defy all logic. We’re living in a rigged political system that is rotten to the core. Corruption is the grease that keeps the wheels of Big Business churning. Corruption is what re-balances the manipulated scales of justice.

Who were the real culprits behind online poker prohibition in America? After doing some research and “following the money” trail, I pointed fingers in a post titled Black Friday, Vampire Squids, and 1,000 Masturbating Monkeys. Almost eight months later, I continue to search for more concise answers. Sure, we have the names of the unscrupulous politicians leading the witch hunt, but like Don Corleone explained, someone else is tugging at those puppet strings.

Who are the puppeteers?

Why did they cock block us?

What is so terrifying about online poker?

What kind of crimes against humanity did we commit by sitting around in our underwear and playing cards?

How did the simple act of playing online poker become threatening to the Establishment?

I guess the answer to my last question is this: poker players are rebellious in nature and free thinkers. Many of us would not have taken the courageous leap into the virtual waters at online poker sites unless we were strong-willed, determined, and seeking an alternative way to live our lives. Online poker provided income, happiness, purpose and validation instead of following the herd and the Master Plan (college > job > marriage > mortgage > kids > college fund > retirement) that had been beaten into our heads since birth. We were conditioned to conform from the moment we popped out of our mother’s womb. We’ve been corralled into institutions like cattle, stripped of any semblance of individuality, brainwashed into living a life that we think is what we’re supposed to do — obey, consume, reproduce — all of this without questioning authority and expressing an independent thought. The moment any of us stray from the path, we’re ostracized and marginalized, and if that doesn’t deter us, then agents of the state (paid by our tax dollars) will beat the shit out of us until we get back in line. And those whom stay on the path and do not upset the herd are thrust into a fabricated world in which the entire point of existence is to…

1. Become obedient cubicle slaves exploited by corporate overlords.

2. Generate tax income for the bloated state.

3. Create profits for the banking cartel in form of debt creation — credit cards, car loans, school loans, small business loans, mortgages and second mortgages.

4. Buy cheap stuff (Made in China) that we don’t need, which proliferates ginormous profits for Big Business.

5. Breed children so a new generation of consumers and debt slaves will continue this maddening cycle.

I was drawn to poker because of its anarchist nature, but since then it’s been bastardized both economically and politically. Do you want me to scare the shit out of you? Many pundits vehemently against online poker are convinced online poker sites (and other online gambling sites) launder money for terrorist networks. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed the other day, which gives the military the green light to scoop up American citizens and detain us indefinitely as an enemy of the state if we’re suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist groups and anti-American organizations. Say goodbye to “innocent until proven guilty.”

“Theory of Poker” translated into Farsi
Under the NDAA, our totalitarian government can demonize anyone, including online poker players, by simply labeling them enemy combatants. Many of you thought not being able to play in the Sunday Million sucked, just wait until the military shows up at your front door, bags a black hood over your head, then whisks you away to Gitmo or some other secret prison, where you’re forced to do the naked pyramid with other freshly-detained Jihadists.

What the hell has this country come to? It’s poker, for fuck’s sake! It’s just a card game. A game. An all-American game. Texas Hold’em. The Cadillac of Poker. “It takes seconds to learn and a lifetime to master,” according to Mike Sexton, the ubiquitous ambassador to poker, whose name will now pop up on the FBI’s Watch List in between Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah and Husayn Muhammad al-Umari.

Any way you look at it, unsuspecting Americans were squeezed by the government and we all got caught up in this shakedown when the UIGEA passed in 2006. Our last hope is to sway politicians to alter the laws, just like Matt Taibbi said in his famous quote… “You don’t elect politicians to commit crimes; you elect politicians to make your crimes legal.”

The sobering reality is that all the letters and emails in the world won’t change the mind of our licentious elected officials. The poker industry dusted off hundreds of millions in a concentrated effort to lobby Congress, yet those we trusted to get the job done dropped the ball time and time again. We must think outside the box to solve the problem, and resort to drastic measures in order to re-install the freedom to fire up online poker sites once again. It will take a shitload of cash and gold to persuade the immoral muppets in DC to end online poker prohibition. If bribes don’t work, then we’ll have to call in a favor with the wiseguys. Because all it takes is just one severed, bloody horse’s head in the right politician’s bed to shape policy in our favor. Then, and only then, will we be able to play online poker again.

While we wait for the proverbial horse’s head, the time has come to say farewell to a couple of dear friends. RIP online poker. RIP America.

Support indie writers by buying Pauly’s book Lost Vegas.

No comments