Seriously, would you ever play cards with this family?

Pokerati sources embedded in Atlantic City are reporting that the Caesar’s-AC poker room recently paid off the biggest bad beat jackpot in East Coast history … only to have that followed by some more bad beat jackpots hit at other poker rooms nearby:

The biggest bad beat jackpot in AC history went off 3 days ago for over $ 550,000. Quad threes vs Quad Aces. then on the same day 2 other bad beats went off in other casinos. Total of almost $ 1,000,000 issued.

This isn’t particularly new — has been out there since August — but it’s the first I noticed … Zynga, the free Texas Hold’em game on Facebook and MySpace and therefore one of the biggest online poker communities out there, apparently has bots growing out the ying-yang. And now, as of about a week ago, after some fixes and revisions, it’s finally working well.

The code for it is publicly available on Google-code:
http://code.google.com/p/zynga-poker-bot/

It’s already had more than 88,000 downloads. If even just 1 percent of those are installed to fruition … well that’s a lot of bots competing for your fake chips and theoretically feeding the imaginary rake.

And here’s a rockin’ video showing exactly how to install it.

Hmm, interesting. More confirmation that bots are a real issue, and will be a major factor in future online poker operations. Also kinda funny to think that bot armies are essentially being trained playing free poker … where they theoretically can eventually work their way up in stakes like a human player who gets better and better.

In yet another clear sign that America is ready for fully legal online poker … and perhaps another example of why it will take so long to get there … New Jersey is looking to jump ahead of the federal curve (and California) with a bill to allow its citizens play online poker freely … and, of course, for the state to profit from the action.

“There are probably 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone. And we’re missing out on around $100 million in revenue,” said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, the bill’s sponsor.

Meanwhile, the opposition is upping its rhetoric:

Arnold Wexler, former executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, said legalizing Internet gaming would make it easier for people to “lose their life.”

Lose their LIFE?!? Wow … He goes on to make it about the kids. Mild opponents of any online poker bill have continue to make it clear that if anything is going to move forward, they need some assurances that 13-year-olds aren’t playing on their brother’s account and developing mad skillz that will allow them to win more than $2 million in the PCA before completing their first semester of college.

And while we’re on the topic of New Jersey … CORRECTION: Despite what I may have twittered with heavy disclaimers on Tuesday, The Situation is not a poster on 2+2.

The PPA is giving a heads-up that they’ll be needing your help in coming weeks. Apparently, Barney Frank’s HR 2267 will be coming for a committee mark-up vote.

If I remember correctly, mark-up is where the committee votes yay or nay on moving the bill forward, but everyone, regardless of how they’re voting, gets to pipe in with what elements they’ll need to see in it to vote for it on the floor. So you know, maybe some sorta protection for the kids has to be included, or money for the Indians … that kinda thing.

Here’s PPA honcho John Pappas letting you know that anti-anti-poker legislation — a licensing and regulating bill — is indeed moving forward in 2010:

The entire world got a reminder about life, death, and nature this week … the Haiti earthquake gave us all at least a bit of pause to find ourselves, at least momentarily, caring about people we didn’t think we cared about.

We know how charitable poker players can be — it’s our one saving grace — and I’m sure at least a few of you have made donations already toward some humanitarian relief. PokerStars has set up “dummy tournaments” and accounts where players can transfer money to help the cause … funds the online poker site will match and send to the Red Cross. Likewise, Calvin Ayre has issued a $1 million matching-donation challenge to the entire online gambling industry.

With all the donating options out there — and the ever-present uncertainty over the difference between efficient humanitarian aid and exploitive charitable graft — I just wanted to weigh in and give a thumbs-up to one specific Haitian charity that I personally know does meaningful work AND has a little poker in its blood.

It’s called Project Medishare. They’re a bunch of doctors and volunteers who since 1995 have provided medical services, equipment, and training to some of the poorest villages in Haiti. Currently, they’re flying in trauma surgeons while helping coordinate relief with Haitian officials. And their chief blogger chronicling these efforts and helping drive online donations got her web-media start in poker.

photo: Jennifer Browning / 2006

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The rules for the 2010 World Series of Poker were released this afternoon, with the obligatory press release appearing on the next page. To alleviate the fears of Phil Hellmuth, there has NOT been a change to what logos a player can be sporting. There were some minor changes to reflect the latest rules published by the Poker TDA, as well as some changes for players who choose to register late (Rule #12) and clarification for those who registered but don’t show up (Rule #14). Also of note is there was a change to the rule regarding cell phones and electronic devices that “banned” the Iphone, Blackberry, Itouch, and similar devices has been removed for 2010 in light of the immense popularity of Twitter. One other new rule that someone pointed out on 2+2, part of rule 37 about player conduct (bolding is my emphasis):

B. All participants are entitled to expect civility and courtesy from one another at every Tournament table and throughout the Tournament area. Any individual who encounters behavior that is not civil or courteous — or is abusive in any way — is encouraged to immediately contact a Tournament official. This shall include, but is not limited to, any player whose personal hygiene has become disruptive to the other players seated at their table. The determination as to whether an individual’s personal hygiene is disruptive to other players shall be determined by the Tournament Staff which may, in its discretion, implement sanctions upon any such player who refuses to remedy the situation in a manner satisfactory to Rio.

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The Heartland Poker Tour is kicking off its sixth season right now … with its first ever event in Las Vegas. While an HPT series of tourneys at Red Rock might not cause too much hubbub around Las Vegas, I gotta say, for yours truly, it has re-ignited the poker dream.

When you’re surrounded by poker but aren’t winning let alone competing in the events you’re covering, you tend to lose the WSOP main-event dream that brought so many of us here in the first place. You understand the lottery component, and you just have seen up close so many people live relatively pathetic degenerate lives in pursuit of it all. However, the HPT offers something a little bit different, and seemingly a lot more attainable.

I got into a $250 satellite on a freeroll. (Pokerati has its privileges.) And I’ll be playing that tonight. The cool thing about it is that 20 percent of the field will win seats into the $1k main event. 20 percent? Hmm … I can do that. And then at that point, it’s just another tournament, conceivably against a lot of folks who may just be a little too excited about being in Vegas to win. (Heartland chartered four jets to fly qualifiers in for this event from elsewhere around the country.) And the typical 1st prize payout on the Heartland Poker Tour is anywhere from $80k to $150k … nice! While not exactly life-changing money, for a guy whose biggest cash thus far has been $11k, a six-figure payout of any sort … or even five figures for that matter, would certainly be year-changing money.

So wish me luck … and follow me on Twitter as I seek to survive today, and take it down this weekend.

For more details on HPT-Red Rock, click here. Tons of satellites running, their first ever celebrity-charity event, a funky party to go with it … and a television crew.

Oh, that’s a whole-nother story … and testament to the grind-it-out success of the Heartland Poker Tour. Look how much TV coverage they’ve finagled and see how different that is from the typical poker model on FSN.

Here’s a couple of hands from this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

The most recent hand came from the final table of the World Cup of Poker VI yesterday, as 2008 November Niner Darus Suharto is the victim of one of the worst slowrolls ever. Note: As this is a team competition, players are allowed to call a time-out in the middle of the hand.

The slowrolling came back to bite the Germans, as they were eventually eliminated by Canada, but it was the team from Taiwan Chinese Taipei who took down the title.

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Had to double-read this one … How is it possible that Kara Scott isn’t already in the pocket of PokerStars or Full Tilt? Or at least UB/Absolute! Oh well, like a late draft pick, PartyPoker — in yet another sign of their prepping to re-enter the American market — has added the new High Stakes Poker co-hostess to their start-from-scratch poker crew. Back in the day, PartyPoker prided itself on having no pros — save for Mike Sexton. But now it seems they’re clearly trying to build a real, competitive team of personalities like the American-friendly sites have been doing for years.

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The California Nations Indian Gaming Association’s 15th Annual Western Indian Gaming Conference got underway yesterday, in Palm Springs … and one hot topic of discussion seems to be dominating all others: Internet poker.

As is always the case in regulatory debates, it’s about who gets what cut. And the California Indians are split over what their involvement in it all should be, if any.

From the Palm Springs Desert Sun:

Jacob Appelsmith, bureau chief of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control, called the Internet poker initiative that could resurface in 2010 a complex, difficult issue for tribes.

It goes to the heart of tribal sovereignty, Appelsmith said. Tribal involvement in intrastate poker legislation with California card rooms also holds potential to jeopardize the exclusivity rights that tribes have to conduct gaming, he said.

The initiative already has polarized tribes, among them the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, which has not wavered in its objection to intrastate online poker with tribes and California card rooms.

And how ’bout this kicker:

Daniel Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and newly elected chair of CNIGA, the nonprofit association comprised of federally recognized tribal governments, told tribal leaders in a letter last week that the drive by members of Congress to legalize Internet gaming nationwide represents the greatest threat to Indian gaming in the past 20 years.

Reminds me of Texas vs. Oklahoma legal battles … and the Californindians are still deciding which side to fight for.

The Full Tilt legal battles are heating up … and this time they are on the offensive, suing Cycalona Gowen in federal court.

Full Tilt (specifically Tiltware, LLC, out of California) is not seeking money from her beyond court costs and attorney fees. But they do want a clear declaration that she does not have the 1 percent ownership interest she alleges.

Click here to read Tiltware’s compaint against Gowen, filed on Friday.

So why would they be doing this? Well according to the Nevada lawyers I’ve spoken to, that’s hard to say …

Essentially, they’re looking for the court to rule against her without having a trial. She goes to court again on February 1, for the third and last time, with the court deciding if her Third-Amended Complaint has merits to proceed. But if Full Tilt wins, and the judge says, yeah, sorry, we can’t waste a jury’s time with this … then maybe they don’t win enough?

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First we had Kiplinger’s embracing the poker religion, and now Time Magazine is getting on board … with a story that probably will do more to change my game than 76 poker books:

From Time’s Health & Science department:

How Winning Can Mean Losing — in Poker and in Life

Doh!

It’s really a great article, looking at a Cornell University doctoral student’s sociological study of millions of online poker hands (via PokerTracker) to draw conclusions about the human propensity for risk in relation to rewards. In a nutshell, the more hands you win, the bigger loser you tend to be overall.

So what does this have to do with you if you don’t gamble? It’s the wrong question because, actually, you do. Investing, driving, buying a house and merely crossing the street are all acts that involve discernible risks and uncertain rewards. The more small returns you get from your small investments in stocks, the likelier you are to make — and lose — a big investment. The more times you get behind the wheel and speed a little bit, the likelier you are to speed a lot — with deadlier consequences.

“These kinds of calculations are made every day,” says Siler. “Adultery is another good example. People get away with it countless times but they get caught just once and they lose everything.”

Whoever woulda thunk it … that the first big winner of 2010 would’ve graduated high school with the Class of 2009?

But Harrison Gimbel, 19, now a freshman at the University of Alabama, became the youngest PCA champion ever, winning $2.2 million by besting a record field of 1,529 in the $10k main event.

Gimbel-Gamble: I went to the Bahamas and all I got was this lousy PokerStars-dot-net T-shirt.

But Gimbel — now arguably the Doyle Brunson of Generation Z — didn’t come out of nowhere. He began playing poker at age 13 … and hit the Florida poker rooms at 18 (the legal age there) while still a student at a tony Palm Beach prep school. In June of last year, during the 21-and-up World Series, he won the Florida State Championship — a $900 main event that paid $65k. He followed that up during the November Nine, final tabling a PokerStars Sunday Million for $47k, and then the next week taking down a $125 tourney on Stars for $25k.

He won his way into the PCA via a $1,000 live satellite. On Day 1, he got it all-in pre-flop with 4-6 offsuit to crack Barry Greenstein’s Aces.

* He plays online as Gibler321.
* He’s been a member of Daniel Negreanu’s Full Contact Poker community since 2006.
* The NAPT-PCA champ will be too young to compete in the NAPT-Venetian event.

Barry Shulman, the only actual grandpa at the final table, btw, finished 3rd, booking his second million-dollar tournament win in the past four months.

CORRECTION: Turns out Gimbel dropped out of Alabama three weeks into school. Way to go, kiddo! You have chosen the right career path, as nowhere but in poker is dropping out of school more celebrated.

You know, we may wanna start paying attention to Europe. Here in the US, we’re screaming pretty constantly, re: poker, “regulate, regulate, regulate!” And yet across the pond these days, there seems to be a lot of, “whoa, maybe not so much!”

One current hotspot in the European poker theater: Hungary. So much so that players are staging protests — peaceful poker tournaments in Budapest subway stations — to express their dismay with recent amendments to Hungary’s Gambling Act.

photo: Veronika Gulyas

Apparently, the Hungarian Poker Association is a bit tilted by new regulations put on poker clubs, and a new tax on poker winnings … that some say are meant to push players out of the clubs and force them into Hungarian casinos. (They’ve already got five, and a new Hard Rock Casino is set to open in 2012.)

Interestingly enough, according to the Wall Street Journal “New Europe” blog linked to above, the one kinda poker you can play tax-free is mobile-phone poker, where it costs just $2/day for the right to play for real money.

UPDATE: A video of the protest (in Hungarian):

(Thanks, PokerString!)