Casino Buzz

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada and the United States should legalize and regulate online gambling to contain its potentially harmful effects because players tend to bet more frequently and aggressively than they do in casinos, a study released on Tuesday says.

The study, conducted jointly by academics of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, found that online gambling is readily accessible via the Internet even though it is outlawed or in a "legal grey area" in United States and Canada.

Online gambling is big business, the study said, estimating worldwide spending at more than C$10 billion ($10 billion) a year.

Betting online is a problem, the study says, because it has the potential to be more addictive than casino gambling. Online gamblers can hide their activity more easily than casino gamblers, and betting can quickly become a routine part of their daily lives.

"It brings out the gamblers' more competitive side," said June Cotte, associate professor of marketing at the University of Western Ontario and one of the study's authors.

"When not seen as reserved solely as behavior for an outing or a special occasion, gambling is more likely to become a pernicious, insidiously integrated component of a consumer's life."

As part of the study, 20 regular casino gamblers and 10 regular online gamblers were interviewed. Pictures were used as stimuli to find out what gambling feels like and how it is perceived by the participants.

Results show online gamblers bet more frequently and aggressively, the study found.

As one potential solution, the study's authors suggested that governments encourage large corporations like those that run the major Las Vegas casinos to enter a new, regulated online gambling market. The major Vegas operators include MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment Inc

Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah's, said the company has already supported a study looking at the pros and cons of legalizing and regulating online gambling.

Depending on how the government would structure its approach, he said Harrah's would be interested in exploring the market opportunity.

The study also suggested government sponsors in Canada might enter the market and regulate it with measures like more effective age checks when signing up, setting limits on bets and implementing mandatory "cooling-off" periods that force gamblers to stop betting for a set amount of time.
by Wojtek Dabrowski

Categories: News  

Poker books go into great detail discussing the various strategies necessary to get to the final table of a tournament. However, not as much has been written about final table playing strategy.

Take What the Table Gives

This is a simple concept but one that can’t be overlooked. In fact, this philosophy applies not only to poker, but also to sports like football and basketball.

Sometimes, late in NFL games, the team protecting a lead will often go into a prevent defense, trying to defend against the long pass. Trying to throw a bomb against that type of coverage isn’t a very good idea. Instead, the opponent takes what the defense gives, and throws shorter passes while continuing to move the chains.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant has the ability to blow right by players who guard him too closely. But, if someone lays off of him, he’ll just pull up and shoot a jump shot.

Pretend for a second you’re the Laker’s star, and the defense is playing tight and guarding the rim. Well, they’re giving you an open look at a 15-foot jumper! Would you try to drive the lane or take the easy shot?

I hope you said the easy shot.

At the final table of a poker tournament, you, too, must base your choices on how your opponents are playing -- in other words, what they’re giving you. If the table is playing passively, and everyone is waiting for others to get knocked out, that's your cue to drive the lane and play aggressively.

Conversely, if there are overly aggressive, wild players at your table, then the best course of action is to sit back and wait for them to pick each other off.

You cannot win a tournament when there are still nine players at the table. So, your goal in the early stages of final table play is to set yourself up for the short-handed battle to come.

Adjust

One of the most difficult challenges novices face at a final table is making the necessary adjustments for short-handed play.

During most tournaments, play is nine-handed all the way down to the final table. As you get down to six, five, or four players, though, the correct playing strategy will change dramatically.

It’s true that a player may succeed by waiting for premium starting cards on his way to the final table. However, if he continues playing that way short-handed, the blinds and antes will surely eat away at his stack.

Hands like A-7 offsuit, cards you wouldn't play in a nine-handed game, become raisers when play becomes short-handed. To stay afloat you need to win one set of blinds per round. If you’re playing four-handed, that means you need to pick up a pot one out of every four hands. If you fold A-7, you may not get a better chance for a while.

Play the Players and Your Stack

The cards become less important at the final table than they were in the early stages of a tournament. At the final table, shift your focus to determine who you can steal pots from and who you can trap. You’ve got to play the players.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to play the players when you don't have many chips. If you’re on the short stack, you'll be forced to sit back and wait for a good opportunity to either double up or to steal the blinds.

It’s a much rosier picture if you’re one of the bigger stacks at the final table. Now you have virtual free reign to attack and pressure your opponents. There’s no need to be reckless; the other players will be forced to respect your stack size since any hand they play could be their last.

So let’s review. Let the game come to you in the early stages. Make the necessary adjustments once play becomes short-handed. Finally, always be aware of your stack size in relation to the others.

If you focus on those three key elements, you'll often find yourself playing heads-up for the title.
By Daniel Negreanu

Categories: Poker Tips and Strategies  

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A New Jersey appeals court was just as put off by massive layoffs, bug-infested rooms and uncooperative management at the Tropicana Casino and Resort as state regulators were, and upheld the denial of the casino's license.

Tuesday's ruling affirmed last December's decision by the state Casino Control Commission to strip the former owners of the gambling resort of their license and put the property up for sale.

The Tropicana had appealed the decision, claiming the commission acted wrongly and exceeded its authority in denying the casino a new license.

Last December, regulators cited an affiliate of Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp. for laying off nearly 1,000 casino workers, causing problems with cleanliness and service, as well as for poor compliance with state regulations. The appeals court decision reached many of the same conclusions.

"The findings made by the commission that Tropicana lacked financial integrity and responsibility, as well as business ability, are amply supported by the record," the judges wrote.

The judges cited "the massive staff layoffs," replacement of senior executives with less experienced people, "the cleanliness crisis," and "intransigence" on the part of ownership in complying with important regulations in upholding the commission's decision.

The property, which includes New Jersey's largest hotel at 2,129 rooms, is up for sale, but still open. A first round of bids was rejected because they were too low.

Tropicana president Mark Giannantonio is running the day-to-day operations of the casino under the supervision of a state-appointed trustee, retired state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein. Giannantonio said the ruling will have no effect on the casino's operations.

"I work for the judge now; we severed ties (with Columbia Sussex) on Dec. 12," Giannantonio said. "We're just trying to do the best we can in a very difficult market."

Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the Casino Control Commission, said she was pleased by the decision.

The court ruling allows the thus-far unsuccessful effort to find a new buyer for the Tropicana to continue.

Stein has said it is likely the casino eventually will be sold through a pre-planned filing under Chapter 363 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. It would allow the eventual buyer to obtain clear title to the property, free from any liens or lawsuits, and would be quickly completed, Stein said.

Categories: News  

In Week 4 of the World Series of Poker, the pros continue to dominate as they show the world the skill that exists in tournament play.
In the last week or so, young gun John Phan picked up his second bracelet of 2008, Layne "Back-to-Back" Flack won his sixth bracelet, Barry Greenstein won his third bracelet, top pro David Benyamine picked up his first bracelet in his third 2008 WSOP final table, Italian pros Dario Minieri and Max Pescatori picked up bracelets, Kenny Tran picked up a bracelet, longtime pro Mike Rocco won his first bracelet and longtime Dutch pro Rob Hollink won his first bracelet.

We now have more than 20 pros who have won events during the 2008 WSOP at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, I have been shut out. We are entering the final week of the WSOP, and I'm so frustrated I can hardly stand it.

It was only last year that I smiled tolerantly as the other pros made excuses for not making final tables. They focused on excuses rather than improving their game. Then those same pros skipped valuable WSOP tournaments because they couldn't handle not winning or because they couldn't handle the constant pressure to play mistake-free poker. Many were psyched out because of subpar first-week results.

I once heard 18-time golf major champ Jack Nicklaus say, "In the majors, I went to the golf course with the idea of winning. I went to the course a week early to eliminate all my excuses for not winning. I let the other guys complain about the course conditions, like the speed of the greens or the thickness of the rough."

I love Nicklaus' philosophy, but now that I've had a subpar WSOP, I need to keep that "No excuses" philosophy at the forefront of my mind. My lack of success has me feeling down and out, and my results haven't been anywhere close to what I hoped for (at least two bracelets in 2008).

Still, I need to show up every day ready to play. I need to write off that I haven't been tearing it up.

The WSOP is long and grueling, with 55 poker tournaments that happen back-to-back-to-back over six weeks with sometimes two tournaments in one day. Ideally, you find a way to finish in the money (roughly the top 10% of the field), then you find a way to make a final table (generally the final nine players) and then you dig down deep and find a way to win a bracelet.

If you play great poker and get eliminated, then come back the next day and play great poker again.

The WSOP eventually rewards great poker, so my daily mantra is, "Play great poker, play great poker, play great poker." And I'm telling myself, "Phil, keep your head held up high. Show up, stand up, buck up under the pressure and the spotlight and be all that you can be."

Should I be feeling down and frustrated? I've been in the money twice this year. I did make one final table, and I still have the big three WSOP records: most cashes (65), most final tables (40) and most wins (11). Most important, we have the future to consider.

One more week of poker remains here at the WSOP. That's about seven more tournaments.

I entered the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E tournament — a combination of Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Seven-card Stud and Stud Eight or Better — but I was eliminated early.

H.O.R.S.E. was designed to crown the world's greatest all-around poker player, and in 2006 it seemed to work when the late great David "Chip" Reese won it.

For many years, Chip was considered the best all-around poker player in the world, and his winning H.O.R.S.E. seemed to confirm his greatness.

Besides Chip winning it all, we had a star-studded final table that had a few of the guys who play in the biggest side games in the world every day, including Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Barry Greenstein.

However, there were some at that final table who had never even played some of the games before. In 2007, we had a few surprises at the final table as well.

A few surprises should be expected each year because the H.O.R.S.E tournament is limit poker, and in limit poker there is more luck than there is in no-limit poker, where you can bet any amount at anytime.

Still, when it comes to showing the world a great final table, H.O.R.S.E is as good as it gets. You can bet that there will be at least four known great players at the final table this time.

Looming large is the Main Event, which starts next Thursday. Just writing about the opportunities in the next few weeks makes me feel like running to the gym, losing this massive load of frustration, turning my attitude into a champion's attitude, playing perfect poker and winning another bracelet.
By Phil Hellmuth

Categories: Poker Stories & News  

Before the World Series of Poker began, Daniel Negreanu was looking to give anyone 5-1 odds that he'd win a bracelet this year.

Negreanu found a customer in fellow top pro Phil Ivey, although they settled on a different kind of bet: One pays the other $200,000 for each bracelet won.

So it's no surprise that Negreanu could be heard shouting "Me 1, Ivey 0" after winning Event No. 20 ($2,000 limit hold'em) by defeating Ugur Marangoz in heads-up play and outlasting 479 other players.

For Negreanu, it's his fourth career WSOP bracelet and already his third cash at this year's World Series. He'll pocket $204,874 to push his career tournament earnings to more than $9.7 million -- third most all-time behind past WSOP main event champions Jamie Gold and Joe Hachem.

And, he's one up on Ivey in one hefty prop bet.

Categories: Poker Stories & News