Poker

Records are made to be broken, and PokerStars players do just that with astounding regularity. Eighteen months ago, PokerStars celebrated its tenth anniversary and the surrounding festivities included its fourth World Record tournament, where 200,000 players played for a $250,000 prize pool. But after Thursday's bombastic 100 Billionth Hand celebration (don't think about how big 100 billion is, it will either trigger an existential crisis or make your head explode) did you really think we weren't gonna take the opportunity to smash that record again? By game time, a capacity crowd of 225,000 players had gathered, officially breaking the record for the largest poker tournament ever played. Their $1 buyins contributed $225,000 to the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool, PokerStars kicking in a $75k overlay to sweeten the pot even further. 60,000 players earned a share of it with first place set to earn $25,000. After only an hour of play, the crowd thinned to 28,000 and another hour later only 2,595 remained. Hour three saw the field reduced to 190, and with five minutes left before the fourth break, the final table bubble hit and play went hand for hand. With the blinds up to 3M/6M with a 750k ante, chip leader Mr.SlavaPro opened for a min-raise to 12 million. With 3.75 milllion of his remaining 4.1 million already committed in the small blind, MattDooms called all-in and Ravic77 folded his big blind. MattDooms' [5h][Ts] was already drawing thin against Mr.SlavaPro's [Kd][Kc], but went completely dead on the [Kh][Ks][5c] flop. Mr.SlavaPro raked in the 19 million pot with quad kings and sent us to the final table, while MattDooms exited in eleventh place. Final table chip counts Blinds: 3,000,000/6,000,000, ante 750,000 Seat 1: johnnykara75 (17,560,748 in chips) Seat 2: SOY PATO355 (14,065,727 in chips) Seat 3: Evgeniy33377 (3,729,288 in chips) Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (87,268,525 in chips) Seat 5: KARI#9 (64,386,794 in chips) Seat 6: Ravic77 (17,422,024 in chips) Seat 7: jpstef06 (13,712,929 in chips) Seat 8: 1star09 (52,884,148 in chips) Seat 9: Tormenter85 (34,974,394 in chips) Seat 10: jmmetra (31,495,423 in chips) johnnykara75 doubles with aces, Evgeniy33377 eliminated in tenth It took 11 minutes and only 20 hands to distribute the $73,000 in remaining prize money. The jumps were huge and the stacks extremely shallow, the chip average only 6.25 big blinds as the final table began. On Hand #1, jmmetra picked up [9h][9c] and moved all-in for 30.7 million on the button, only to have johnnykara75 wake up with [Ac][Ah] in the small blind. Johnnykara75's aces held and he doubled to 47.1 million, leaving jmmetra on only 14.5 million (2.5 bb). However, jmmetra's situation wasn't quite as dire as Evgeniy33377's. On Hand #2, Evgeniy33377 was all-in for 1.97 million in the big blind while SOY PATO355 had 4 of his remaining 7.3 million committed in the small blind. Johnnykara75 limped in for 8 million on the button, SOY PATO355 called all-in and the cards went on their backs. SOY PATO355 [Qc][9h] Evgeniy33377 [3c][3h] johnnykara75 [Td][4h] SOY PATO355 snagged the lead on the [As][9s][6c] flop and held onto it, the turn and river falling the [Jc] and the [Ac] to send Evgeniy33377 to the rail in tenth place ($1,000). Ravic77 out in ninth, jmmetra exits eighth Evgeniy33377's elimination left jpstef06 as the table short stack. On Hand #3, jpstef06 moved all-in for 11 million from UTG+1 and KARI#9 called the 3 million balance from the big blind. Jpstef06's [As][Qh] held up aganist [6c][7h] and he doubled to 35 million, only to move all-in from UTG on the next deal. Ravic77 called all-in for 5.67 million more with [Qs][Js] in the big blind, but did not improve against jpstef06's [7s][7c]. For ninth place, Ravic77 took home $1,500. With only one more hand to go before he'd be committed in the 8 million big blind, jmmetra pulled the trigger with [Qc][Td] and moved all-in for 9.9 million from UTG+1. 1star09 called with

@AgentMarco @ftrainpoker @OPReport it's Japan: b/m gambling bill=billions4Shelly; moves fwd only w online opposition

Here's a recap of the #rewards we're giving away in #Zynga #Poker today! (Remember you can get one type of reward per day.) http://zynga.tm/fr7 http://zynga.tm/jqu http://zynga.tm/rPB <-- Poker chips!

“I live with Mike 'Timex' McDonald and he kept telling me it was going to be a sweet tournament and that I had to go,” said Buddiga.  Despite never playing a tournament that even approached the buy-in size of the GDAM Millions, Buddiga outlasted 64 players to finish in eighth place and take down $772,870. Niklas Heinecker won the tournament for $4.4 million. “I got a lot of people asking me why I was playing this tournament,” he said. “They were like ‘You’ve never played this big before.’” According to Buddiga, people forget about other factors that make a tournament worth playing. “I think a lot of people don’t understand that it’s not just about the buy-in of the tournament,” he said. “It’s about the value of the tournament. There were a lot of recreational players in GDAM.” GDAM Offers a Better Field than Other High Roller Tournaments Not who you want to see at your table.   Buddiga, who is a former Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion, compared it to the upcoming $25,000 6-Max at the 2013 WSOP in Las Vegas. “The $25k 6-max is going to be waay harder, than the $100k,” he said. “If you have to choose between two tournaments you should play the $100k. You are obviously going to have to sell a little more action but the value is way higher.” Even still, Buddiga had never been to Macau and wasn’t sure what to expect when he booked his ticket for the PokerStars presented tournament. “PokerStars said there were going to be a lot of players but you never know until you show up,” he said. “It might just be a bunch of Steve O’Dwyers and Dan Smiths and you’re like, ‘Well this sucks.’” Instead Buddiga had a great experience and went home $772k richer. “It’s a really well run tournament,” he said. “Hopefully they run more in the future because I’d love to go back there.”Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Seven were hunting another piece of gold when Day 3 of Event #23 $2,500 Seven-Card Stud kicked off. The final table was a poker fan's dream as veteran poker pro David Chiu won his fifth WSOP title — his first in eight years — and kept...

A total of 29 BOM packages are up for grabs across the two sites, including buy-in, 5-star hotel accommodations and spending money. The Battle of Malta is a four-day No-Limit Hold'em tournament held at the Portomaso Casino perched above the sparkling Mediterranean. With an affordable €550 buy-in and a €200,000 guaranteed prize pool this event is designed to give recreational poker players the chance to compete in a world-class event and take a shot at some serious cash. The 2013 Battle of Malta will be hosted by Kara Scott and will include a special VIP party exclusively for qualifiers. Each BOM package includes: €550 entry into Main Event Four nights at 5-star Corinthia Hotel Malta (check-in 26/09, check-out 30/09) Daily breakfast and daily buffet lunch at the casino Airport & hotel transfers Invitation to opening VIP party Access to special side events Five Packages a Day for Five Days on Full Tilt Poker The recently-revamped Full Tilt Poker is stumping up a grand total of 25 trips to the Battle of Malta for its players. Get your piece of more than €200,000 at the Battle of Malta.   Full Tilt will host one tournament per day July 3-7 with the top five finishers in each event all winning an $1,800 BOM package. Find the Battle of Malta qualifiers on Full Tilt Poker and buy-in directly for your chance at hitting the Mediterranean this September. InterPoker Gives You Two Ways to Win InterPoker is giving away a total of four BOM packages between now and August 11, and the first way to win begins tomorrow. One trip to Malta plus $1,000 will be awarded through a points race running June 20 to July 15. Players who make the top 25 on the leaderboard will also have a chance at $650 in Battle of Malta satellite tickets. The other three packages will be won on August 11 in the BOM satellite final. Players will have the chance to buy-in to the final directly for $108, or win their way in through a series of step-satellites starting at $0.50. Get more info at InterPoker. Join Kara Scott at the Second-Annual Battle of Malta Check out our BOM promo video for a taste of what it's like. Head to our How to Qualify for the Battle of Malta page for more information.Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Results and winners photos from Events 26-30 read more

image: Mashable I’m thinking of a number … State gaming regulators cautioned the casino industry Monday about the use of Google Glass by customers, saying the wearable computers could be used as a cheating device by gamblers. In a memo published last week on the Gaming Control Board website, Enforcement Division Chief Jerry Markling said casinos were encouraged “to prohibit the wearing and use of Google Glass, or devices with similar capabilities, while on the gaming floor or while playing any gambling game.” Recently, casinos in several states said they were blocking customers from using Google Glass, which is designed to be attached to eye glass frames. Caesars Entertainment Corp., and MGM Resorts International have already said they were prohibiting customers from using Google Glass while on the casino floor. Google Glass has the ability to display information, take pictures, record video, and transmit and receive data via the Internet. In its one-page memo, Markling said while there is nothing illegal regarding possession or wearing the devices, “the potential for inappropriate and/or illegal use in a casino does exist.” The control board cited poker or table games where the users of Google Glass could share card information between players, which would give them an unfair advantage or allow them to cheat. Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

You don't have to enroll in Bankroll-Building-101 to learn the tips and tricks of searching for great value in an online poker room or promotions and bonuses. Stick with us and we'll walk you right through the procedure. We've got some...

By Debbie Burkhead On April 30 Ultimate Poker launched the first regulated real money poker site in Nevada. I was thrilled to be able to sit on the couch and play poker again, feeling secure that my money was safe because the site is regulated by the Nevada Gaming Commission. With that said, I started playing the following day, but I was somewhat disappointed in the software after playing on more sophisticated sites prior to Black Friday. Even though the site had some areas that needed improvement, it was still nice to be able to play from the comfort of my home. After a few days of playing, I called my contact at Ultimate Poker and voiced my concerns. The Ultimate Poker Team was more than cordial and agreed to answer the following questions. Q: Did Ultimate Poker launch a strip down version just to be the first legal, real-money poker site in the country? read more