Wall Street Journal Poker Ad

Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2008

I am traveling today and at some hub airport out there somewhere I picked up a used copy of the International Edition of the Wall Street Journal and saw a full page ad about poker! The ad is linked to hearings today in Washington D.C. I am still traveling so I will give you what I have.

The ad was run by Prime Table Games, a Las Vegas company; the headline is Who Will Face the Issues? Here is a summary of the highights of the ad:

"It is well known that there are off-shore based Internet gaming operators who are engaged in deceptive practices with American consumers and international players, and there is no adequate system in place to ensure full and appropriate regulation," said Derek Webb, founder of Prime Table Games. "Congress needs to take action soon, or these practices will only get worse."

The House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology will be addressing issues involving Internet gaming on April 2 at 10 a.m. EDT. Prime Table Games' published statement encourages Congress to adopt specific regulatory strategies for consumer protection in Internet gaming.

These regulatory strategies include limitations on solicitations and incentives to gamble, such as bonuses and cash backs; prohibition of affiliate relationships; standard player verification procedures. Players also should be able to self-exclude from Internet gambling sites, and those requests should automatically apply to all sites.

In addition, Internet gambling debts should not be legally recoverable, and the site operator should bear the responsibility to ensure identity verification and that the player can afford to gamble at the level played. A player not paying gambling debts should automatically be placed on an exclusion list from all Internet gambling sites.

"Internet gaming, by its very nature, has great potential for abuse," said Webb. "Site operators also should pay fees towards problem gambling treatment and research."

What Does it Cost U.S. Taxpayers to Ban Online Poker?

Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008

We all know that the United States government has been making trade concessions right and left to compensate various countries to the ban on internet gaming imposed by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. One might wish to know how much has this semi-law cost the U.S. taxpayers. Unfortunately, like so much done in a free and open society like the U.S., those numbers are not available from the government.

Well one U.S. Congressman has asked: How Much? and perhaps we will eventually get those numbers.

Congressman Peter DeFazio, a demomcrat from Oregon, has requested the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) disclose trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional approval. DeFazio's inquiry raises the possibility of Congressional intervention to void new market access commitments granted by USTR to the European Union and other complainants as compensation for a United States trade violation regarding Internet gambling.

In a letter circulated to all members of Congress last week, DeFazio encouraged his colleagues to join him in calling for the USTR to provide a copy of the concession agreement between the United States and the European Union. The USTR had recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for the same document, claiming the agreement was classified for national security reasons.

"There is a concern that the USTR may have been ambitious in its use of a ‘national security' classification to avoid any publicity of which new business sectors are to be subject to the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) treaty."

"The issue will be whether the USTR abused its authority by granting new market access to the EU without first securing the consent of the trade committees in Congress,"

said Nao Matsukata, formerly Director of Policy Planning for USTR Robert Zoellick.

"Ultimately, this could invalidate the deal with the EU and cause various WTO Members to revisit the issue of fair compensation from the United States."

Congressman DeFazio's request is an indication that the Administration's unilateral action to attempt to resolve the WTO Internet gambling dispute is in jeopardy.

"Congress should have been consulted before the US agreed to these trade concessions,"

said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

"We hope that Mr. DeFazio's colleagues will join him in demanding more transparency, communication, and consultation from the Administration on Internet gambling. A non-discriminatory market for Internet gambling in the United States will restore integrity to the international trading system."

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The DeFazio request comes following a contentious trade dispute over Internet gambling, in which the Caribbean nation of Antigua successfully challenged the regulation of Internet gambling in the United States. The European Union announced earlier this week that it will open an investigation into a possible international trade violation by the US on this issue. The investigation is the result of a Trade Barriers Regulation complaint filed by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which represents the largest remote gambling companies in Europe. The RGA claims the US is in violation of international trade law by threatening and pursuing criminal prosecutions, forfeitures and other enforcement actions against foreign Internet gaming operators, while allowing domestic U.S. online gaming operators, primarily horse betting, to flourish.

Legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), would regulate Internet gambling and resolve the international trade dispute.

"Rather than paying out millions in trade concessions, which would have an adverse impact on the American economy, the US should embrace the legislative solution presented by the Frank bill, which brings the U.S. into compliance by regulating Internet gambling and creating a level playing field among domestic and foreign Internet gambling operators,"

said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Event

Date: Sun, Mar 30, 2008

There are a lot of poker charity events, I wonder why that never comes up when politicians are gassing off about the evils of gambling?

Anyway, today is not a rant but the announcement in praise for my favorite poker charity event: The Second Annual Jennifer Harman Poker Charity Event to benefit the Nevada SPCA No-Kill Animal Shelter. One of the best run, most fun and best attended charity events in Las Vegas, this year will be held at the Venetian Poker Room, which is just the best room in Las Vegas for such events. Below are the complete details for the April 18th event. If you are intown, see you there.

The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino will host the Second Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament on Friday, April 18. The no-limit Texas hold'em poker tournament will take place inside The Venetian Poker Room beginning at 3pm. All proceeds of the tournament and live and silent auctions will benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) no-kill animal shelter. The recommended donation to participate in the tournament is $300+30. There will be optional $200 re-donations for additional tournament chips throughout three 20-minute rounds and a $200 last chance add-on. The first place prize is a $10,000 seat into the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

The Nevada SPCA no-kill shelter in Las Vegas gives comfort, food, and veterinary care to thousands of animals every year. Many of those animals thrive in environments without cages. You can find the Poker Shrink hanging out in the cat wing quite often.

"Last year we raised $130,000, allowing the Nevada SPCA to expand their facility," said Harman. "The Venetian Poker Room is a perfect venue, and their professional staff has been very gracious. This year's event promises to be bigger and better and many of my friends will be there to support this great cause."

Preceding the tournament, a red carpet reception will be held inside The Venetian Poker Room from 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Confirmed celebrity poker players include Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Jerry Yang, Marco Traniello, Jamie Gold, Hoyt Corkins, Amarillo "Slim" Preston, TJ Cloutier, Todd Brunson, Barry and Allyn Shulman, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Quin Do, Russ Hamilton, Lacey Jones, Roy "The Oracle" Winston, Freddy Deeb, Kristy Gazes, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Carmel Petresco, Daniel Alaei, Brad "Yukon" Booth, Barry Greenstein, Joanne "JJ" Liu, Layne Flack, Chau Giang, Cyndy Violette, Chris Ferguson, David Chesnoff, David Williams, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Lynette Chan, Huckleberry Seed, Jennifer "Jenocide" Leigh, Joe Sebok, Eric Mizrachi, John Phan, Jeff Madsen, Scotty Nguyen, Dan "Who's Your Daddy" Fleishman, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Steve Zolotow, defending champion Kirk Morrison, and many more.

The tournament is open to the public. Seating is limited and going fast. Please visit the NVSPCA site to reserve your poker tournament seat today, or call Lisa Wheeler at (702) 327-7250.

Other confirmed sports celebrities include ESPN commentator Lon McCarron, NFL quarterback Shaun King, Burton Snowboards David Driscoll, World Champion snowboarder Jeff Brushie, professional snowboarder Keir Dillon, Olympic snowboard medalist Ross Powers, and professional motocross rider Jimmy Button. Confirmed celebrities and entertainers include "Whale Hunt in the Desert" author Steve Cyr, local comedian Carrot Top, KVBC meteorologist John Fredericks, KXNT talk show host Alan Stock, KDWN's Heidi Harris, and Life's A Bluff comic creator Frank Frisina.

Celebrity tournament director and Tournament Directors Association (TDA) founder Matt Savage will host the tournament. TV Poker and FoxSportsNet hosts Robert Justin Huxley and Kyle Morris will emcee the event. Robert Williamson III will host a live auction during the breaks between tournament rounds, including official Burton Snowboards autographed by attending athletes, "The Simpsons Movie" memorabilia donated by Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), and personal items signed by poker professionals Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, TJ Cloutier, and Doyle Brunson.

A silent auction sponsored by Triumph sports includes a "Pete Rose & Jennifer Harman" dinner package with all proceeds going to the Nevada SPCA, a Joe Montana "Stephen Holland" limited edition framed giclee print, a Muhammad Ali & Joe Frasier limited edition framed photo, an "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" official baseball autographed by Pete Rose, as well as official helmets and memorabilia signed by Dan Marino, Dick Butkus, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Emmit Smith, Bill Parcels, Phil Simms, LT Adams, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, John Elway, Ladainian Tomlinson, Fred Biletnikoff and Jim Plunkett.

Sponsors and supporters of the Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament include The Venetian, PocketFives.com, Poker Players Social Network (PPSN), Triumph Sports, Who's Your Daddy Energy Drink, Howard and Suzie Lederer, PokerNews.com, The Cartwright Foundation, Poker Road, WPT Boot Camp, NettieScrub, CardPlayer, TinyPrints, Poker School Online, Fundraisers.com, Sabre Design, and Life's a Bluff Frank Frisina.

If you are unable to attend this red carpet affair but would like to make a donation to the SPCA, here is the link. For information on other ways you can directly support the Nevada SPCA no-kill animal shelter contact Doug Duke at (702) 873-7722 or email the NevadaSPCA@aol.com.

Party Poker Nations Cup 2008

Date: Thu, Mar 27, 2008

PartyPoker is proud to announce that the third annual PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup will take place in Cardiff, Wales, between the 7th – 10th April. The team event features line-ups from Germany , Great Britain , Ireland , Sweden , Holland and the United States. The winning team will scoop $100,000 in this unique tournament that sees players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honour of representing their home nation.

The tournament sees one PartyPoker.com VIP qualifier on each team playing alongside five world class poker professionals from the same participating nations. Each player pays a buy-in of $5,000 making a total prize pool of $280,000 ($100,000 added by PartyPoker). Over six heats, each player will compete once to score points for their team, and individual match winners scoop $20,000 for themselves for their efforts. All six teams will then compete in a “tag” final where each team captain’s judgement is vital, as it is up to them to make tactical substitutions and strategic “time outs.” The size of the team chip stacks for the tag final depend on the points gained by the players in the six heats. The triumphant nation will be the last with a player standing.

Defending champions Sweden will be again captained by Bo Sehlstedt and feature William Thorsson, Johan Storakers, Mats Rahm and last year’s hero Anders Henriksson. Joining them is an online qualifier with serious form in Johan Ocklind, who locked horns with the likes of Patrik Antonius, Tony G and Ilari Sahamies at the Scandinavian Poker Masters cash game last year. He got to sit down with $50,000 in the shark pool and handled himself admirably after qualifying online at PartyPoker.com.

The British team is captained by Roland de Wolfe and features reigning Poker Million champion Joe Beevers, 2008 Irish Open champion Neil Channing, format specialist Ian Frazer and the inimitable Surinder Sunar. Joining them is qualifier Francis Durbin. Captain for the past two years, Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott is unavailable as he is in the United States . Ireland make a welcome return to the competition and are captained by legend Padraig Parkinson, joined by fellow Irish poker giant Donnacha O’Dea, 2007 Irish Open winner Marty Smith, WSOP bracelet holder Ciaran O’Leary and 2007 PartyPoker European Open champion Liam Flood. Darren O’Brien joins the team as the qualifier.

Team USA is captained by Robert Williamson III and will feature $12 million 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold, the one and only Freddy Deeb, the iconic Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson and Chad Brown . With there being no qualifier from the USA , captain Robert Williamson III has drafted in television host Montel Williams to make his European poker debut. Williams may be better known as a chat show host but he was the leading the WSOP Main Event for a period in 2007.

The German team is captained by Michael Keiner and the former plastic surgeon has moulded together a very strong team. Andreas Krause, one of the top European players last year is a key figure in the line-up as is Benjamin Kang, inaugural PartyPoker German Open winner Sebastian Ruthenberg and WSOP Europe bracelet winner Thomas “Buzzer” Bihl. Thomas Potzal is the qualifier joining this glittering role call of top pros. The Dutch team is captained by Marcel Luske and features Thierry Van der Berg, Eric Van der Berg and Daan Ruiter with Quirijn Van Der Peet the qualifier. Marcel still has one selection to make.

Last year Sweden triumphed over the USA in a rollercoaster tag-final, while the year before there was glory for Great Britain . PartyBets.com make Sweden 3/1 favourites to win again with the USA second favourites at 7/2, Great Britain at 9/2, Ireland at 5/1, Germany at 6/1 and Holland the outsiders at 13/2.

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

“The array of talent on display for the 2008 PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup is brilliant. Sweden have to be favourites to retain their title as their line-up of pros is unchanged and are used to the format and they are arguably strengthened by their online qualifier representative. That said, the USA will take some stopping with the likes of Gold, Ferguson Deeb and Brown on board while Great Britain boasts so many form players in their team. Ireland is a bit of a wildcard but there is little doubt that they have strength in depth in their side while Germany appear much stronger than previous years. The Dutch side led by Marcel have to be seen as the underdogs – the names don’t jump out as much at you as they do with the other line-ups.”

"Professional" Poker?

Date: Wed, Mar 26, 2008

The word "professional" usually comes up in poker when we talk about the players. There are "professional poker players", "professional wannabes", and the rest of us. However, true "professionalism" in poker comes from the management side not the player side. How tournaments and cash games are run with a "professional" style and uniformity comes from the individual card rooms, casinos, poker tours, poker room managers and floor staff. Recently, there have been several examples of how the management of the game is not keeping up with the game itself.

RENO: Today marks the first day of the World Poker Challenge in Reno, Nevada. This annual event formerly played at the Reno Hilton and now at the Grand Sierra (same casino, new owners). When the players were seated today, they were given seats based upon when they registered; so the normally late arriving "professionals" were all put at the final four tables and the many satellite winners over the last several months were all seated together. This pattern of registration is nothing new and is handled with a random draw by every other casino we have encountered in the last three or four years. But without some "professional" standards, this unnecessary situation arises. We can only assume new casino ownership, new poker room staff because we know the former poker room manager and he never would have allow this to happen.

EPT: The European Poker Tour has grown too fast. So far they have had to limit the number of seats in most events because they simply cannot accommodate more players. So there is a black market in tournament seats. As the numbers get close to the cutoff, some local entrepreneurs have been buying seats, only to offer them to late arriving professionals at a premium. Scalping seats to the EPT, a good line of work until they institute the "you buy it, you play it" rule, which has been around on other poker tours for years. It is not necessary to re-invent the rules, just look at how other successful tours deal with such situations or hire one of the several highly qualified tournament directors, who have the necessary experience.

TDA: The tournament directors association has been doing a very good job of seeking to standardized rules for running a poker tournament. The problem is that they have not and will not venture outside of that narrow area of concern. They do not feel they should be addressing issues such as the two mentioned above. TDA wants to focus on the actual running of the tournament from "Shuffle Up and Deal" to "We have a Winner." The problem is that many other issues that affect the players are outside of their self-appointed mandate and there is no other organization to address those issues of "professionalism" in poker.

Irish Open Reaches Final Table

Date: Sun, Mar 23, 2008

Two Hundred and Sixty-Seven runners began the 2008 Irish Open Poker Championship last week. Now they are down to the final six for tomorrow's final table. Among the starters were: Last year's Irish Open champ Marty Smyth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland De Wolfe, Alan Smurfit, Teddy Sheringham, Jon Kalmar, Andy Black, Todd Brunson, John Duthie, Bruno Fitoussi and Ian Frazer, Sorel Mizzi, Padraig Parkinson, Conor Tate, Surinder Sunar. Of those big names exactly zero made the final table, which goes off on Monday at the Citywest Hotel card room in Dublin.

Here is how the final six will stack up tomorrow. Chip counts are approximate.

Seat 1: Neil Channing 2,700,000

Seat 2: Tim Blake 850,000

Seat 3: Kai Paulsen 650,000

Seat 4: Thomas Dunwoodie 875,000

Seat 5: Edwin Troupier 525,000

Seat 6: Donal Norton 1,000,000

Irish Open Reaches Final Table

Date: Sun, Mar 23, 2008

Two Hundred and Sixty-Seven runners began the 2008 Irish Open Poker Championship last week. Now they are down to the final six for tomorrow's final table. Among the starters were: Last year's Irish Open champ Marty Smyth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland De Wolfe, Alan Smurfit, Teddy Sheringham, Jon Kalmar, Andy Black, Todd Brunson, John Duthie, Bruno Fitoussi and Ian Frazer, Sorel Mizzi, Padraig Parkinson, Conor Tate, Surinder Sunar. Of those big names exactly zero made the final table, which goes off on Monday at the Citywest Hotel card room in Dublin.

Here is how the final six will stack up tomorrow. Chip counts are approximate.

Seat 1: Neil Channing 2,700,000

Seat 2: Tim Blake 850,000

Seat 3: Kai Paulsen 650,000

Seat 4: Thomas Dunwoodie 875,000

Seat 5: Edwin Troupier 525,000

Seat 6: Donal Norton 1,000,000

Poker Skill or Luck: Real Data

Date: Sun, Mar 23, 2008

The Poker Shrink wants to remind you that his position of skill versus luck in poker is that there is no luck in poker. None! There is variance that arises from the random distribution of cards in a standard poker deck but what some call luck is only a statistical anomaly that will disappear with successive trials.

That being said; there has been way too much argument, particularly in front of legislatures and courts on the question of: Poker, game of skill or game of luck. Why debate something that can be empirically verified? I mean you wouldn't debate whether a "heart pill" would cure you or kill you. You would expect testing and so would the governmental agencies involved. So why not simply run the tests?

Well, a group at Case Western University has done just that. The test was quite simple: they took some students with little knowledge of how to play poker and gave half of them a brief history of poker and the other half some basic strategy guidelines (like what are good starting hands in Hold'em). Surprise, surprise; the group with the strategy tips did better than the uninstructed group. Furthermore, the groups each improved as they played more hands and self-deduced better playing strategies. Even in the short term timespan of these trials: some skill won out over simply the "luck" of the draw.

Read the full article here.

Fox Sports TV to Broadcast Aussie Millions

Date: Fri, Mar 21, 2008

Fox Sports Television will begin coverage of the 2008 Aussie Millions tournament next month. The Aussie Millions cash game with a $100,000 entry stack by each player will begin airing on Fox Sports Saturday March 23rd. Times will vary on different cable providers with all Fox Sports programming.

There will be four one hour episodes of the Big Cash Game at Aussie Millions. This year's cash game included: Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Tony G., Tom Dwan, Brian Townsend, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer and John Juanda. The Aussie Millions main event tournament will follow the four weeks of cash game coverage.

Antigua Ups Ante in Poker Trade Dispute

Date: Fri, Mar 21, 2008

In the ongoing saga of David vs. Goliath (Antigua vs. U.S.), it appears the big, bad United States government seems to think they can violate World Trade Organization rules and still dictate the actions of other countries. Afterall, several countries have settled with the U.S. over the banning of online gaming by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. It would seem only natural that the behemoth U.S. should think that other nations would take the meager settlements and move on. Taking on the U.S. in any legal action can have dire consequences in other areas.

Antigua & Barbuda was the first country to step up and demand the U.S. honor WTO regulations and allow online gaming access to the U.S. market. The U.S. trade commission ignored the WTO suit filed by Antigua and lost the hearing and subsequent appeals. Finally, after a massive reduction in the original award, the U.S. semi-agreed to the $3.2 million compensation offered to Antigua. The U.S. further went on to attempt to specify how Antigua could collect such compensation.

Well it appears David is not listening again Goliath and now it appears that Antigua may be leading the way in an all out assault on the arrogant position of the United States.

As reported by the leading U.S. entertainment newspaper, Variety:

"The government of Antigua is likely to abrogate intellectual property treaties with the U.S. by the end of March and authorize wholesale copying of American movies, music and other 'soft targets' if the Bush administration fails to respond to proposals for settling a trade dispute between the two counties.

"The Motion Picture Assn. of America has been closely following the case with tremendous concern fearing that the copying could be extensively damaging and that -- worse -- a dangerous precedent could be set for other small countries angry at U.S. trade policy."

"It is not our preferred option to punish the MPAA or others for the U.S. government's intransigence, but the U.S. has refused to negotiate fairly,"

said Mark E. Mendel, who represents Antigua. Goods and materials that would be copied include

"virtually everything from pharmaceuticals to music, anything with IP protection that can be duplicated, though we'll go for softer targets first."

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All of this because some right wing politicians don't want us to play a little online poker. Makes you want to run right out and participate in the politial process, doesn't it?

Sky Sports to Air WSOPE 2007 in April

Date: Thu, Mar 20, 2008

If you weren't in London last fall for the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe, Sky Sports is bringing you all the action in April on eight consecutive nights.

Even if you were there in London, the three events of the 2007 WSOPE were played across three different casinos and catching all the action was impossible. So here is a chance to view the highlights of the tournaments and have a ringside seat for all three final tables.

Each one hour episode will show twice each evening on the various Sky Sports Network channels. Here is the schedule of 2007 WSOPE:

Episode---Date ----Time -----Channel
# 1 ---21/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 1 ---21/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 2 ---22/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 2 ---22/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 3 ---23/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 3 ---23/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 4 ---24/04/08 ----21:30 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 4 ---24/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 5 ---25/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 5 ---25/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 6 ---26/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 6 ---26/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 7 ---27/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports Xtra
# 7 ---27/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports Xtra
# 8 ---28/04/08 ----21:30 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 8 ---28/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital

Sweden Ends Poker Prohibition

Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2008

In a classic example of changing a law by not enforcing the law, the government of Sweden has ended it monopoly on online gaming by advising all state prosecutors to halt cases against media organizations accepting ads from foreign online gambling companies, which means that many online poker operators may now decide to begin advertising in Sweden, competing openly with state-supoprted Svenska Spel. And if you can advertise, then apparently you may also operate and accept customers.

The case under consideration had to do with advertising but the ruling signals the government's decision to halt its previous position to allow gaming only with the state sponsored site. The continuing pressure of the European Union was, of course, a strong influence on the decision.

The ruling to open Swedish media to foreign gambling operators acknowledges the European Commission action against Sweden challenging their protectionist practices against foreign gambling operators. But whether my law, or enforcement or wax-sealed letter ruling, it appears one of the major nations in defiance of the EU gaming policy has capitulated.

"It seems that the courts in Sweden are finally starting to accept the changes taking place in Europe and in EC Law,"

one legal counsel said.

World Series of Poker Europe 2008

Date: Tue, Mar 18, 2008

The second year of the World Series of Poker of Europe will not include an expansion beyond the size, scope or location of last year's inaugural tournament. London will again be the location for the WSOPE and the tournaments will again be shared between the same three casinos: St. James (Fifty), Leicester Square (The Casino at the Empire) and Marble Arch (Sportsman).

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe will be held from September 19th to October 1st, 2008 in London, England. Last year the WSOPE consisted of three events in same number of days: a HORSE tournament, a Pot Limit Omaha event and the Championship No Limit Hold'em tournament. We should expect a similar schedule this year.

WSOP 2008 Rules Changes

Date: Mon, Mar 17, 2008

The new, modified, reemphasized and yes, even unchanged, rules for the 2008 World Series of Poker have been released. Here are a few highlights from my first pass at the rules.

In 2007, there was a poorly enforced rule called: "Show One, Show Both", which simply said a player mucking their hand could show no cards or both cards in Hold'em; no cards or all four in Omaha. They players hated the rule, no one saw any reason for the rule and now the rule has been abandoned. "Show One, Show All" is still in place but now you can "Show One" or I guess in Omaha, show "One, Two or Three".

What is being called the Hevad Khan rule, there is a new statement of what will be considered "excessive celebration":

"excessive celebration through extended theatrics, inappropriate behavior, or physical actions, gestures, or conduct may be subject to penalty." ...."any player that engages a member of the tournament staff during the celebration or utilizes any property of Harrah's will be penalized… Harrah's property includes but is not limited to chairs, tournament tables, and stanchions."

We find no mention of abusing or terrorizing Mr. Peanut, as Mike Matusow did last year.

The Cell Phone rule is finally clear. You use it, you lose your hand. You must be one table length away from your assigned table to make a call, take a call or text and anything else. If there is a question, your hand is dead.

There are also new rules on logos and patches but basically, who cares. If you make a final table, fear not, someone will give you lots of money to wear their stick-on logo.