Senator Alfonse D'Amato joins forces with the PPA

Date: Tue, Mar 6, 2007 Internet

The former senator of New York has takin the leap to join the Poker Players Alliance and he will be the chairman and spokesperson and try and take aim at fighting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This is a great man to have lead the charge as he has never backed down from a fight and he is definitely passionate about this fight. Senator Al is already making his voice heard and with a few more outbursts like this one who knows how deep this will go. Here is a quote from Senator Al:

Is betting on horseracing any different than playing poker? Why is there a horseracing exemption and a lottery exemption but nothing for poker? Horseracing has a powerful lobbying group. That’s all. They have a voice. Poker needs a voice and a loud one.

The poker players alliance is happy to have Senator Al lead the charge and he is presumably the voice that this organization has longed for and needed. He has arrived and it is time for him to make a stand in this ongoing fight.

Senator Al has been to Washington to check out the scene as far as the government is concerned and he has also been to London to further educate himself on the UK online regulation. Senator Al also had this to say:

I am pleased and privileged to be spokesperson for the PPA. The new legislation is like using a cannon to kill a gnat. Just like Prohibition, trying to tell 20-plus million poker players that they can’t play poker online, is not going to work.

Senator Al is the voice that Poker Player's have been waiting for and we will see if he can make any advancements to this crazy situation. Stay tuned for more updates.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Doyle Brunson Arrested

Date: Mon, Feb 12, 2007 Internet

The problems in online poker continue to circulate throughout the United States as it is being reported that Doyle Brunson has been taken into custody and has been placed under arrest. The charges and the actual arrest have not been made official as of yet. You can bet that this has to do with Doyle's association with online poker and the FBI continues to peg down all the big players in this industry. At this present time we only have the rumors that are floating , but rest assured as soon as something becomes official you will have all the information you will need right here. Stay tuned for more updates!

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Phil Ivey Rumors

Date: Mon, Jan 29, 2007 Internet

MORE UPDATES HERE

Well another week goes by and there are some more poker professionals makin noise. The latest rumor floatin across the world of poker is that it looks like Phil Ivey has been workin hard on his golf game when he is away from the poker tables. Phil Ivey set out for a big time money game against fellow poker professionals Ram Vaswani, Marc Goodwin, and Eric Sagstrom. As the story goes the poker pro's were on the first tee and they were asking Phil Ivey how he has been playing of late and Ivey responds with "I haven't been able to play too much of late because I have been tied up at the poker tables". So the group sets up the handicaps and they begin the round. Seven holes into the round two of the three players (Marc Goodwin and Eric Sagstrom) take off as they were down $450 thousand dollars each. These guys apparently were extremely upset and felt that they have just been hustled. Quick question here: If these guys were so willing to play for that kind of money don't you think they should have looked into Phil Ivey's game a little bit before they put the stakes on the line? If I'm playing for that kind of money I'm not just going to take a guys word that he has only played a handful of times. Isn't there a driving range at the course, maybe you watch the guy hit a few balls first and see where he is at. Also, with these guys making a game out of bluffing and being able to read their opponents maybe they should look in the mirrors and improve on those skills.

Is it really Phil Ivey's fault that he goes out and works on his game as hard as he does at the poker tables? Ram Vaswani continued to play Phil Ivey on the course and when it was all said and done he owes Ivey $900 thousand dollars. These two have a pretty good relationship so they decided to work out a deal that would get Phil Ivey the money. Now, as far as Marc Goodwin and Eric Sagstrom are concerned they left infuriated and there will no doubt be some hard feelings towards one another the next time they run into each other at the poker tables.

I see no problems at all with Phil Ivey taking these guys down that's for sure and maybe those guys will think twice before they take on a bet of this magnitude again. Whats worse losing the money or losing the money and leaving with your tails between your legs?

MORE UPDATES HERE

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Neteller officially unavailable to Americans for Gambling Sites

Date: Thu, Jan 18, 2007 Internet

Well the news came down that Neteller is now no longer accepting transfers to and from online gambling sites. This is another big blow to the online poker industry and to those online poker players in the United States. There will still be some options for those to transfer funds but the high limit players are going to take the biggest hit from this because they will now have daily limits for transfers. Neteller was great for the high limit players because they were able to transfer significant amounts of cash. Now, the smaller companies will most likely place maximum amounts allowed for transferring and they will not be that high right now or in the near future.

Again, this is a significant blow to the online poker world and it will only be a matter of time before even more companies stop the transfer of funds to Americans.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Justin Bonomo Performing Well As A Professional Poker Player

Date: Tue, Jan 9, 2007 Internet

Well Justin Bonomo aka ZeeJustin is making his name appear in the poker headlines again, but this time for his play at the live tables. He will always have the cheating scandals by his side, but if he can continue his dominance that he has shown of late he will start to attract much more positive press, and respect. Earning respect from your peers is definitely what you strive for and that is exactly what Justin is trying to do. Last month ZeeJustin made it to four final tables at the WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic, and he was being noticed by every top poker player in the joint.

This is just in as Justin Bonomo has been busted out of the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure with an impressive 11th place finish. Justin called an All-in bet with his KK and Isaac Haxton turned over his pocket aces. A tremendous run for ZeeJustin and he is quickly climbing the ranks in the world of poker.

However, there are still those that think Justin should not be allowed to play poker at all and one of those big names is none other than Phil Gordon. Phil believes he should be banned for five years for playing live events and he also went on to say he will never have him on the show or even utter the words Justin Bonomo. Phil Gordon is a poker purist and he has absolutely no time for cheaters. Regardless of what you think of this young poker prodigy, everybody has to take notice at how good of a poker player he really is.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Mansion Poker World Pro-Am Challenge

Date: Tue, Jan 2, 2007 Internet

Professional poker player Gavin Smith came out victorious in the inaugural Mansion Poker World Pro-Am Challenge. This was a unique event as their was a tremendous mix of talented professional poker players and online amateur poker players. Each amateur poker player was paired up with a professional poker player in their corner for help and tips. The format of the event was speed poker and all the poker players involved in this tournament thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing in this televised event. The three professional coaches for the amateurs were Mike Gracz, Tony G, and Kenna James.

The Heads up battle to see who would win this event came down to Gavin Smith and an online poker qualifier from the UK, Scott Gardner. Scott Gardner had Mike Gracz in his corner and the two worked together for three days right before the start of the actual event. This obviously was a solid team effort as Scott Gardner was able to beat some well established poker professionals in his first live event experience.

This event was definitely a success and Mansion Poker continues to provide a tremendous influx of new events and ways to promote their brand. Mansion Poker will continue to adapt new strategies to continue their recent poker dominance.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Neverwin, Newhizzle, Chantel, and more Brandi Hawbaker Rumors

Date: Thu, Dec 21, 2006 Internet

The never ending poker rumor mill is absolutely churning these days throughout the poker forums. The latest gossip hitting the airwaves is about Neverwin from Neverwin poker and Chantel McNulty ripping off Mark Newhouse (Newhizzle) for close to $150K. Apparently Neverwin and Chantel busted into Newhizzle's online poker account and took him for $150K. Newhizzle has been down in the dumps of late because hde has been on a serious losing streak of late, but for him to lose this kind of cash has set more depression in on him. Brandi Hawbaker is the source of this latest rumor. She has been all over the poker gossip mill of late as well due to her incidents with Tom Franklin.

Newhizzle also came out and talked about his episosde with Brandi Hawbaker and her stories and he even talked about how she locked herself in the bathroom and there was blood everywhere with a big cut on her leg. Brandi has serious issues right now with depression because of the amount of money she has been losing of late in poker. Newhizzle says the reason why she was so distraught was because Newhizzle busted her for losing $30k of his money from his pokerstars account.

Some juicy Neverwin gossip also has come out and this is not poker related. It has been stated that Neverwin approached Chantel McNulty who he has been seeing and banging and apparently he asked her if she has ever been licked by a dog before. Although Neverwin wasn't talking about any lick from a dog, this poker player was talking in a sexual way. Are you kidding me! Who is this sick freak? Obviously Neverwin has some serious issues to deal with besides being a degenerate gambler, now he shows his interest in animals.

Anyways, there is going to be a lot more of these poker rumors coming out in the near future so stay posted.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Brandi Hawbaker Rumors

Date: Tue, Dec 19, 2006 Internet

There are some serious stories coming out in the last little while with regards to Brandi Hawbaker and Tom Franklin. First off, you always hear about poker players being backed by others in the business to get started or to get themselves out of trouble and continue to rise in the poker ranks. This latest poker story is a little off the wall and it definitely deserves some attention. Brandi Hawbaker is definitely an up and comer in the professional poker ranks and she is looking to further improve her status. She has been given offers from backers that have ranged anywhere from two year deals to sleeping with her. Now, she had turned these down because (A) she doesn't want to be tied in with people for this long as all she is looking for is a little help to get her going and she knows that once she gets going she won't need the help and (B) she doesn't want to sleep with people for money. Seems reasonable enough.

Then came along "The Captain" Tom Franklin and his sincere proposals to Brandi Hawbaker. Tom Franklin approached Brandi Hawbaker and told her that he loves to help young people get established in the professional poker ranks and that he would do everything possible to help her out. Tom also says he really becomes overjoyed when those he helps out succeed. In the beginning of this new relationship, Tom Franklin came right out and told Brandi that he truly wanted to help her out, but that she might start hearing things from the other poker players and in the poker industry. Those things being that Brandi was sleeping with Tom as part of the agreement. He told her that sometimes people say things because its an older man with a younger woman and people will believe what they want to believe. Brandi is strong willed and she said that won't bother her at all, and that she just wants to improve her poker skills.

Fast forward a little bit now that the two have been working together for a little while now, and would the real Tom Franklin please stand up. Here is how the story goes down: Tom takes Brandi out and he was continually buying shots for his young hot protege. But, he doesn't want anything out of the deal other than to see Brandi Hawbaker succeed. As the story unfolds, later that night (when Tom was buying Brandi all those shots) Tom supposedly climbed into Brandi's bed naked and tried to get into her pants. Obviously, he is no longer a father figure or just a backer this guy is a complete jackass. Brandi was beaten down mentally after all of this unfolded and she was distraught at the predicament she was in. She had won some money and she really needed this money from Tom so that she would be able to support herself, but Tom had gambled a lot of the money away and she really was left with only a few thousand dollars. Obviously not enough for her to even cover her rent and living expenses.

At Foxwoods, Brandi hit rock bottom and she confessed to trying to OD. She did receive some help from other poker pros and she even called Doyle Brunson to tell her story as Tom Franklin was being sponsored by Doyle. He listened to her but again its a she said he said kind of story and Doyle believed his buddy.

For now Brandi is in a big mess and she doesn't know what to do or where to go to get out of the funk she is now. This Tom Franklin needs to get his head shaken a bit as he has definitely ruined a promising young lady/poker player's life. Hopefully, Brandi will come out of this alright and she will get back on the right track with her life and her poker career.

There will definitely be more to follow up as this story grows. I'm sure we will here the other side of the story as well. Stay tuned for more details.

Read Full Poker Blog Post

Mansion Poker the new sponsor of the Tottenham Football Club

Date: Thu, Dec 14, 2006 Internet

Mansion Poker continues their dominant force in the poker world. Mansion Poker has confirmed that they are indeed the main sponsor of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in the English Premiership. The deal was signed for a reported 34 million pounds. Mansion Poker is striving to become the biggest poker brand in the business and what better way to promote their business then to sponsor a football club in the English Premiership. It is obvious which market Mansion Poker is going after at this present time and it is definitely a smart move on their part. Online poker in Europe is continuing to rise and MansionPoker.net is making sure they are capitalizing on it. Having a presence in the football market is a genius idea. The guys behind Mansion Poker continue to impress those involved in the business of poker and online poker.

Remember to all the American Poker Players looking for a place to continue to play online poker you can play at Mansion Poker.

Read Full Poker Blog Post