Archive for the ‘Online Poker’ Category

Europeans expected to continue thriving at WSOP

Friday, November 14th, 2014

The 2014 WSOP Main Event featured some interesting history on the European side. First off, Martin Jacobson became the first Swedish player to win the tournament, collecting a $10 million payout in the process. And with Jacobson, Norway’s Felix Stephensen (2nd) and Netherlands’ Jorryt van Hoof (3rd) taking the top three spots, this is the first time in WSOP history that Europeans have gone 1-2-3. But is this just a rarity, or something that we can expect to see more of?

There were pretty good odds that a European champion would emerge because van Hoof and Stephensen came on to the final table with the first and second-most chips respectively. However, for the Europeans to sweep the top three spots – with four Americans on the final table – is a new landmark in the game. And according to Aaron Todd of CasinoCityTimes, we can likely expect more of this moving forward.

Todd’s argument stems from the fact that much of Europe has easier access to online poker. After all, multiple nations throughout the continent have taken steps to regulate the online game. Meanwhile, the United States has seen less and less regulation, thanks to the 2006 UIGEA and Black Friday (2011). The latter was especially a big blow because it took away Americans’ access to the biggest sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Taking everything into account, it would seem like Europe has a big edge moving forward in the WSOP. “Maybe Europeans have a small advantage because online poker is still widely available,” van Hoof explained. “I guess that makes us able to practice more, so I hope America gets (online) poker back soon, so they’ll get to practice more as well.”

“I don’t want to be mean to all the Americans,” said Stephensen. “But I definitely feel like Europeans are stronger right now. You get in a lot of volume, and when you play online, it’s usually against tougher opponents than you play against (in live games). I think that has a big impact on why it’s evolving this way.”

If one isn’t convinced online poker availability could be increasing the Europeans’ presence at the Main Event final table, then consider the following stats that Todd provided:

In the last four years, 33.3 percent of the final table players have been European, 55.5 percent have been American and 8.3 percent have come from outside of America and Europe. In the previous eight years, 73.6 percent of the final table players have been American, 16.7 percent were European and 9.7 percent were from other areas.

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Daniel Negreanu fully agrees with PokerStars’ Changes

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

PokerStars has started to look like a completely different site over the past few months. They’ve dropped famous pros, increased rake for certain games, introduced Spin & Gos, added currency exchange rates and have reduced upper VIP rewards.

Obviously you don’t make all of these changes without ruffling a few feathers, which is exactly what’s happened in PokerStars’ case. Many regulars are outraged because some of the moves directly affect their bottom line. And they are pointing the finger directly at Amaya Gaming, which recently purchased Stars for $4.9 million.

But the company’s most-prominent sponsored player, Daniel Negreanu, thinks a little differently on the matter. Writing in his blog at FullContactPoker, Negreanu explained that many of PokerStars’ recent moves are meant to bring new players to the game, rather than gouge everybody for money. He also explains that most of these changes were coming before Amaya bought the site:

I wanted to clear up a few misconceptions about some of the recent changes at PokerStars and throw in my two cents. First of all, I think it’s really important to note that most of the recent changes were going to happen well before the new ownership group took over. The online poker landscape has changed over the last few years and many of these changes were inevitable in a competitive market for the company to continue to be the world leader. While I get it, nobody gets excited over rake increases, I think it’s really important to note that PokerStars remains the cheapest place to play online poker. The rake increases are still smaller than what the competition offer, and that’s before you account for the generous VIP programs.

It’s not hard to tell who’s side Negreanu is on after reading this post. So his opinion definitely won’t win him any favor with some of the die-hard regulars at PokerStars. But he and Stars both maintain that the changes are necessary to stay competitive with other poker sites and draw new players.

There’s probably definitely some truth to this, however, most of the players’ complaints about increased rake and currency fees also hold validity – especially when Stars is far and away the market leader.

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Post-Blom/Hansen Full Tilt debuts New Advertising Campaign

Friday, October 24th, 2014

It’s only been a few days since Full Tilt dumped Gus Hansen and Viktor Blom. And already the online poker site has debuted their new marketing approach, which seeks to appeal to the average person, rather than skilled players who actually care about pros.

Anybody who previously read about Full Tilt’s move away from “Pro-centric advertising” shouldn’t be surprised at the angle that these commercials take. Dubbed “The Call” and “The Bluff,” these new ads are pro-free and feature amateurs trying to make important decisions.

In many ways, the commercials hearken back to the mid-2000s, when poker was seen as a somewhat mystical game where untold fortunes lay. Furthermore, the ads are all about regular guys, with one shoving all-in because he doesn’t think his opponent “has the heart,” while the other guy considers the call because he’s “not leaving without a show.”

All in all, Full Tilt should be applauded for their new approach, which is miles away from their old motto of “Learn, Chat and Play with the Pros.” Take a look at the ads for yourself and see what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOh-AZTsnE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CL01YcfwuM

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Viktor Blom, Gus Hansen dropped by Full Tilt Poker

Tuesday, October 21st, 2014

Sponsored pros were once a staple of the online poker industry. But Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom and Gus Hansen recently found out the hard way that this is no longer the case these days. Both were let go by Full Tilt Poker in a move that’s officially disbanded “The Professionals.”

Blom, Hansen and Tom Dwan were signed to be Full Tilt’s Professionals after the site’s post-Black Friday launch in late 2012. Dwan was eventually dropped by FTP in late 2013 while Isildur1 and Hansen remained with the team. However, almost one year later, they are both gone too.

Anybody who’s searching for reasons why need look no further than what’s currently happening in the online poker industry. Few sites see the use in having sponsored pros wearing their patch, given the heavy focus on recreational players. So offering lucrative contracts to players like Blom and Hansen is an archaic business model in today’s poker world.

An additional reason for getting rid of their remaining sponsored players is likely their recent performance. After bursting on to the internet poker scene in late 2009, Isildur1 has failed to recapture the magic he had back in those days. Currently, HighStakesDB shows Blom as being over $3 million in the hole at Full Tilt.

Of course, this is nothing compared to Hansen – perhaps online poker’s biggest loser ever (close competition with Guy Laliberte). The Great Dane has over $20 million in losses, and his graph shows a consistent downward spiral since the relaunch of Full Tilt.

So if the industry trend wasn’t already against these two, their lackluster results didn’t exactly convince FTP that they couldn’t do without Blom and Hansen. And don’t expect any more big signings to fill these guys’ void.

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Popular Jason Somerville gone from Ultimate Poker

Saturday, September 27th, 2014

Over the past year, Ultimate Poker has been busy slashing their roster of pro players. Once boasting over a dozen signed pros, Team U now has only a handful of players representing them. And you can count one less because Jason Somerville is rumored to be out at Ultimate Poker (UP).

This is quite strange, given that Somerville is one of the more popular poker pros in the game today. Furthermore, he just launched a webseries called “RunItUp,” which was supposed to be exclusive to UP. However, one sign that Somerville is done at the site includes the fact that he’s been uploading RunItUp episodes to his own channel as well.

As F5Poker reports, the main reason why Somerville could be done is because UP doesn’t have the money to keep sponsoring him. They just pulled out of the New Jersey market after their partner, Trump Taj Mahal, announced a tentative closing date of November 13th. Upon announcing their exit from New Jersey, UP’s parent company, Ultimate Gaming, also said that Taj Mahal still owes them $1.5 million in revenue payments – money they might never see.

Things haven’t exactly been booming in Nevada either. According to PokerScout, UP averages 60 cash game players an hour in Nevada, which trails market-leader WSOP.com and their 100 players an hour. UP’s cash game traffic has remained relatively stagnant over the past year, thus indicating little growth in the Silver State.

Seeing as how the poker room doesn’t seem to be gaining much ground, it’s a wonder if their remaining pros will be around in another year. Antonio Esfandiari, Danielle Andersen and Dan O’Brien are still sponsored by the Nevada-based company. But these three can’t be cheap – especially Esfandiari – and UP continues to struggle in an American online poker market that hasn’t quite taken off yet.

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Joe Cada’s Split with PokerStars foreshadows Grim Future

Thursday, September 25th, 2014

The death of the sponsored poker pro is something that’s been discussed frequently over the past few years. But Joe Cada’s recent split with PokerStars has hammered the point home that sites are increasingly moving away from sponsored pros.

In Cada’s case, all he wanted was 100% rakeback from PokerStars to continue representing them. And this seems like a reasonable request from a former Main Event champion. Amazingly, Stars saw this as too high a price, as you can see from Cada’s tweets:

If everyone is wondering what happened with Poker Stars and myself it’s pretty simple. I asked for 100percent rake back, they said no.

I asked for zero money. I just wanted the rake back that I used to get.

Cada added that he’s never heard of a company asking somebody they sponsor to pay for their product. Seeing as how Stars wouldn’t keep the 2009 Main Event winner on their roster, it seems highly likely that they’ll continue dumping more pros over the coming years.

This trend already began weeks ago when Humberto Brenes, Jose “Nacho” Barbero and Angel Guillen didn’t get their contracts renewed. A PokerStars spokesman came out and said that these players were from countries where they don’t hold live tournaments. So Stars felt there was little reason to sponsor these players any longer.

But Cada is arguably more marketable than any of these guys because he has worldwide recognition as a Main Event champ. He is, however, from Michigan, yet another spot where PokerStars had no live presence.

The world’s largest poker site will always have some players representing their brand like Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand Grospellier and Liv Boeree. But it’s becoming obvious that they aren’t interested in having dozens of signed pros from every corner of the world.

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Randy “Nanonoko” Lew uncovers Secrets of Multi-Tabling

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Randy “Nanonoko” Lew is perhaps the most legendary multi-tabler of all time. The online poker pro has made millions from his ability to handle numerous tables at once and still make profits. And recently, Lew was in the sharing mood as he offered up some great tips on how players can become better at multi-tabling. Here’s a quick synopsis on the five pieces of advice that Nanonoko offers:

1. Add Tables Slowly

One of the biggest faults of multi-tablers is that they try to move up tables too quickly. But rather than worrying about how many tables you’re playing, you should concentrate on win rate and move up slowly.

2. Use a Heads-Up Display (HUD)

When playing 10 tables or so, you don’t have time to analyze each player at every table. So HUDs can help you quickly identify which players are loose and tight.

3. Limit Distractions

Keep your phone away, TV off and distance yourself from any other distractions. After all, it’s nearly impossible to focus on many tables when you’re worried about what your latest text says.

4. Use Hotkeys

Rather than wasting time clicking the bet, fold and check buttons in the exact spot, hotkeys help you do this with a simple keystroke. Using hotkeys can even be helpful for bet sizing, such as a 3 big-blind bet for example.

5. Tile your Tables, rather than Stack Them

Tiling tables is better because it gives you a better visual of all the action. Stacking, on the other hand, makes it more difficult to follow each street on every table.

If you’d like to see Nanonoko explain these tips in their entirety, please visit PokerListings and watch the multi-tabling video.

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Poker Scammer steals $280k – Confesses after speaking with God

Saturday, September 20th, 2014

What do you do when you’ve stolen $280,000 from the poker community? For most, the answer would be to hide out and try to get away with the crime for as long as possible. But for Justin Archuleta, the answer was to confess his sins to the TwoPlusTwo community and offer up a list of everybody whom he’s scammed.

Archuleta outlined his activities by explaining how he used everything from Keyloggers to Chase Quickpay Scams to steal thousands of dollars from various players. He also worked with another individual, whose name he doesn’t know, to rip off TwoPlusTwo users.

So what made Archuleta decide to come clean and work out a plan to repay the defrauded? Here’s one excerpt from his confession:

I am in no way, shape, or form proud of what I have done.

I have repented seriously with God in July and cried hard. I feel really bad for what I’ve done and wish that all my victims give me a chance to make things right. I’ve come a long long way to get to this point. My last scam was last year around August for $8000 to young_bluffkin.

Please forgive me, I was desperate, lacked self control, and didn’t know the seriousness of what I was doing.

It’s obvious that Archuleta wants to try and make things right for the crimes that he committed. However, there are also some people who were seriously affected by these scams and aren’t quite ready to forgive him. As you can read in the TwoPlusTwo thread, there are hundreds of posts admonishing Archuleta for what he did. But while his crimes are truly terrible, at the very least, it’s good that he came forward and has promised to pay people back.

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Greg Merson signs with WSOP.com

Thursday, September 18th, 2014

In a day and age where sponsored poker pros are becoming an endangered species, Greg Merson managed to land a sponsorship deal with WSOP.com. The 2012 Main Event champion will become the gaming site’s first-ever sponsored player.

Merson gained international fame after winning the 2012 Main Event along with $8,531,853. That same year, he also won a WSOP $10k Six-Handed NL Hold’em tournament along with $1,136,197. Thanks to these massive scores and others, the 26-year-old has already accumulated $10,962,188 in live tourney winnings.

Another great thing about Merson is that he’s not just some donk who luckboxed a big tournament. He also frequently makes a killing in live cash games on the East Coast. Based on everything Merson brings to the table, it’s no wonder why WSOP.com Head of Online Poker, Bill Rini, was so enthusiastic in the following statement:

Greg is a terrific ambassador for the game of poker. He loves the game, is passionate and opinionated about its future, and he will help us spread the word about our offerings and ensure the poker playing community has a respected, experienced voice to help shape WSOP.com moving forward.

Rini’s words are a total 180 from what Ty Stewart, Executive Director of WSOP, said when asked about if their iGaming operation would sponsor players. Here’s a look at what Stewart had to say on the matter:

On the land based side of the WSOP, we’ve always shied away from signing personal endorsements with individual players. As an organizer who has a key role in…the outcome of the game we see ourselves in the league function, aimed to be impartial and to have maximum trust and integrity.

Perhaps the WSOP operation felt that Merson was special and decided to alter the policy that Stewart discussed. Whatever the case may be, it’s nice to see an elite player like Merson finally land his first sponsorship deal.

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PokerStars Return to US draws Closer

Friday, September 12th, 2014

What once seemed like it was years away appears to be drawing very close as PokerStars is poised to enter the United States again. The world’s largest online poker site has been out of America ever since Black Friday. However, according to New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak, PokerStars should be in the US within the next few weeks.

Lesniak has been a catalyst behind New Jersey’s online gaming efforts all along, and he sees Stars as a major boon to the state’s operation. Furthermore, the senator envisions the Garden State as an international hub for internet gaming, with PokerStars playing a key role in all of this.

Assuming what he says is true, Stars could help out the ailing Atlantic City, which has already lost four casinos this year alone. Here’s a look at what Lesniak told PokerNews:

It’s going to be soon and it’s going to be huge. PokerStars is going to make a huge investment in Atlantic City, not just in Internet gaming but in their brand and in bringing attractions to Atlantic City.

Of course, one huge reason why Stars is suddenly being welcomed by the New Jersey government is because they were sold to Amaya Gaming for $4.9 billion. Amaya brings a clean reputation to the matter since they had nothing to do with PokerStars’ pre-Black Friday operations in America.

The Garden State could definitely use a shot in the arm since their iGaming operation has only netted a disappointing $83 million through August. If they are to turn up the pace and generate more money, their iGaming will need better products, advertising and promotions.

Lucky for them, PokerStars figures to bring all of this to New Jersey. Additionally, Stars should cause other iGaming operations to step up or risk becoming obsolete. But first thing’s first, the Division of Gaming still needs to announce PokerStars’ acceptance into New Jersey.

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