I secretly fear that the regulations online pokerers are fighting for could provide the foundations of a 21st Century global Internet police force that I would probably strongly oppose. Starts as an issue of taxation … then before you know it we’re talking freedom, death rays, and war!

But meh … we can deal with that later, as the internet tyrants will likely need consultants the way armies need bot programmers and access to our online funds.

Still … You can see the roots of such oppression in a land known for slippery slopes, as Norway thinks about blocking ISPs to keep out offshore purveyors of online gambling.

This technology seems to be wow-level — with the potential to change the dynamic of the “televised” game. An Australian guy developed an RFID-enabled poker table that is now ready for market … allowing just about any game to be “broadcast” in real-time, complete with instant card-showing and hand percentages that viewers have come to expect.

The only downside I can see is dealers having to relearn how to pitch.

Read more about the do-it-yourself kit that makes it possible here.

I definitely want one. Oh, and I gotta know … can the software handle PLO?

Tim Chilcote

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OP-ED

Machines have always been the enemy of man, at least in movies and on television, yet somehow we never see our A.I. overlords coming until it’s too late.

Case in point, in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Doctor Miles Bennett Dyson spends a lifetime developing artificial intelligence as part of the Skynet project, only to discover that his work is more suitable for evil than for good – the price? His life. You remember the scene: Dyson detonates his own lab, and in doing so blows himself up, sacrificing himself to save us from an army of Schwarzeneggers.

With the computer Watson now a winning contestant on Jeopardy!, the man v. machine debate has been rekindled, and it would seem that we’re in danger again, if not for our lives (yet), then for pride. In a recent Slate article, “Jeopardy, Schmeopardy: Why IBM’s next target should be a machine that plays poker“, author Chris Wilson asks whether the next logical progression from Jeopardy!’s Watson is a poker playing robot, and suggests that robots have a lot to teach us about poker, and might even be — gasp! — better.

Bots sound dangerous, and it would be easy to infer that their skill is only going to grow and that their dominance of the poker world is a forgone conclusion.

Poker bots have been hot topic in online poker for years. The fervor usually stems from a fear of the unknown. Gambling robots reached a fever pitch in 2007 when Phil Laak and Ali Eslami played against the Polaris poker bot. At the time I asked myself the obvious question – is Polaris the next terminator, and if not, then what’s the point of this experiment and why should I care? I sat down that summer with computer-poker researcher Darse Billings of the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group to have him explain how Polaris actually worked and to see what he thought was the point of his poker robot experiment, just to put my mind at ease.

More…

Carter Gill, 24, a top-ranked online poker pro, may be offline for a while, as he says he’ll be reluctantly turning himself in to authorities in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, to begin serving a 14-day jail sentence. The charges stem NOT from his arrest in September for public drunkenness at WinStar Casino, where he had to leave his chipstack behind in The River main event after being hauled away in a police cruiser (but still took 90th place in absentia, winning $4,540). Instead, he’s answering to the courts for various other unrelated crimes, including a DUI.

Gill is known for his unashamed belligerence, politically incorrect rants, and a “FUCKITALL” attitude. I totally dig this guy, partly because he’s virtually a male copy of myself (so I “get him”) and partly because I respect his game. But a recent Facebook status update shed some new light on his true vagina character: “I really don’t want to go to jail… 14 days is going to be brutal,” he whimpered.

Shortly after publishing that comment, Gill’s ballsack threatened to tear itself off and run away in shame. I was really disappointed to see the him panicking over two short weeks behind bars. Let’s put this in perspective…getting fisted by Edward Scissorhands is brutal.  A coathanger abortion is brutal. Two weeks in a hillbilly jailhouse isn’t so much brutal as it is inconvenient

Keep your chin up, Carter; I’m sure the two weeks behind bars will come and go as fast as your bankroll does.

DonkDown Radio:

The guys over at DonkDown are known for their pursuit in getting to the bottom of things in the UB Poker scandal. This weeks show gets off to an unexpected start when Travis Makar calls into the show. For those not familiar with Travis he was linked to the scandal in the report put together by our friends over at Wicked Chops. Travis makes mention of the missing hand histories and recordings that are being used in a federal case. For those that are interested in just the UB part of the show should skip ahead to the 30:30 mark and enjoy the ride for around the next hour. You can listen to the show at the DonkDown site or subscribe and download it via iTunes.

Two Plus Two Pokercast:

This week the guys have one of the new team PokerStars members, Andrew Brokos, on the show but the main feature of the show is Eugene Katchalov. Eugene comes on and discusses his move to the US and some day trading before getting into the SuperStar Showdown that did not got his way. Eugene talks about how he prepared for the match by playing against Daniel Negreanu and then how the match actually went. Finally he discusses his Super High Roller win from the PCA. Listen to the show at the Two Plus Two Pokercast site or download it on iTunes.

PocketFives Podcast:

After giving you guys two podcast that have run times of over two hour each here is one that just eclipses the thirty minute mark. The guys over at PocketFives are joined by Lauren Kling this week to discuss her recent success, along with how she got started playing poker. Lauren also discusses how trying to make it in the poker world as a female can be difficult due to guys not wanting to give her the credit. Overall it is a good and short interview full of information from Lauren, check out the PocketFives Podcast on their site or via iTunes.

Not super-pokery, but poker players definitely like to bet on sports … and the gamble-wonky might find it interesting what the following data reveals about the economy … let alone the role of sports betting in American culture and the spread.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released the state’s take on the Super Bowl last week from its 183 sports books. $87.5 million. Not a totally shocking number — bigger than the last two years but nowhere near the glory days of 2006 … and the state lost money in ’08. But what was surprising to me is how much Nevada won — a mere $724k … less than 1 percent of money wagered, and the second smallest amount won by the state in the past decade. I mean she-ot … that’s less than a single Phil Ivey prop bet!

Check out the stats, and discern for yourself …

Greetings from sunny Southern Florida. I’ve finally thawed myself out from the permafrost of this New York winter, and I’m looking forward to the WSOPC’s first stop down in Florida. In the meantime, let’s look at what’s happened this week.

Vinnie Vinh Makes Day 2, Shows Up, Wins
LAPC – Los Angeles, California
Vinny Vinh is an enigma in the poker world over the last several years, and rumored debts and drug issues have caused some well-publicized incidents at the World Series of Poker. On two separate occasions, Vinh made Day 2 of a WSOP event, only to no-show under mysterious circumstances. This year’s LAPC is a different story, though, as Vinh decided playing a tournament to completion might be a novel idea, and it worked out pretty well for him. Vinh took down Event 29 last week for a cool $12,000. If you still don’t believe that Vinnie Vinh is anything beyond a figment of your imagination, here he is taking with the great Matt Savage.

In other LAPC news, Tony Ma took down the Tag Team Championship with Restituto Bagaygay, defeating the Road Warriors with a double powerbomb 82 other teams in the process. Jamie Shaevel is on fire, winning three different events at LAPC to lead the Player of the Series race, overtaking Brian Brubaker and David Levi, who won a PLO8 event this week, at two wins each.

Pokerati Player Gets a Ring, too … Circuit Ring, That Is
WSOP Circuit – Tunica, Mississippi
Team Pokerati juggernaut La Sengphet got matching rings this Valentine’s Day weekend, but La earned it on the felt. After her boyfriend David Clark won a WSOP Circuit event in Choctaw a few weeks ago, La won Ring Event #8 in Tunica, pocketing more than $30,000 and becoming the first woman in nine months to win an open WSOPC ring event. La also ran deep in the Tunica main event, finishing 10th — just a bad beat away (A10 < K10) from another final table and a chance to lock up her seat in the WSOPC million-dollar freeroll.

Fossilman Beats DC Politicos
Washington, D.C.
Most of the attention that Greg Raymer has received in the last few weeks has been about his departure from PokerStars, but it hasn’t stopped him from continuing the cause for the legalization of online poker. At last week’s CPAC conference, the PPA ran a charity event to help raise awareness and preach limited government to conservatives. It remains to be seen how effective this message was, but Raymer, as per usual, just seems to keep on winning, no matter what he plays.

Gareth Walker Steals From Rich, Gives to Self in Nottingham
UKIPT – Nottingham, England
This UKIPT £500 Main Event set a record with 1,058 players, the biggest field ever for a tournament on British shores. There were no Robin Hood sightings, but there was quite a bounty for Gareth Walker, who walked away with £109,000, the biggest prize in the history of the UKIPT.

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza Draws Big Names
Las Vegas, Nevada
At the moment, the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza is the biggest game in town when it comes to tournaments, and some big names have made some deep runs in these events. James Van Alstyne finished second in a $1,000 event for just under $20,000, with Dennis Phillips finishing in the money in 13th place in the same event. Joanne “JJ” Liu seems to cash wherever she goes, finishing third in an Omaha 8//b event for over $4,000.

In Canada, placing bets on “single sporting events” (e.g., money line and straight bets) is supposed to be tightly circumscribed. Paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Criminal Code effectively excludes “bookmaking, pool selling or the making or recording of bets … on any race or fight, or on a single sport event or athletic contest” from provincial lottery offerings. That is, the provinces are generally charged with conducting and managing lottery schemes (including traditional lotteries, casino games, bingo, poker, and sports betting), but not even the provinces are allowed by the Code to offer up wagers on single sporting events or athletic contests. As a result, provincial lottery corporations in Canada offer only parlay wagers where bettors must pick, for example, two or more outcomes of their wager correctly in order to win. (Ontario Lottery and Gaming offers Pro-Line, where bettors must wager on the outcome of from 3 to 6 different matches on a parlay to win.)

Joe Comartin, Member of Parliament for Windsor-Tecumseh, has been trying to change this for awhile. Last Friday, he introduced a Private Member’s Bill to do it. The bill (C-627 – An act to amend the Criminal Code – sports betting) is short; its one paragraph provides that paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Code is deleted in its entirety. This would have the effect of removing the single event carve-out; the provinces implicitly would be able to offer single game or event bets. Comartin’s electoral district is in Windsor, Ontario, across the Canada-US border from Detroit and adjacent to the riding in which is found Caesars Windsor, one of the casino resorts in Ontario. Comartin wants to make this legislative change to attract more business from Ontario and Michigan to a major employer in Windsor.

Paragraph 207(4)(b) was first enacted as part of the 1985 amendments to the Part VII (Disorderly Houses, Gaming and Betting) provisions of the Code. While there are no decisions of the Canadian courts on paragraph 207(4)(b) with respect to sports betting, it would clearly be open to a court to infer that the prohibition on single game sports betting was to minimize the risk of match-fixing.

Bill C-627 is what’s called a “private member’s bill.” As to the House of Commons, these are measures introduced by MPs that are not ministers of the government. They don’t authorize the expenditure of public funds – only government bills can do that - and they cannot order the government to take action. They are merely “an expression of opinion by the House.” Private members’ bills must address a subject under the heads of power (or the residual power) reserved to the federal government under the Constitution Act, 1867. The time allotted to debate private members’ bills in Parliament is also restricted. Private members’ bills, as a result, don’t pass that often, although, statistically, they pass more often in a minority government setting. (The Conservative Party is currently running a minority government in the House of Commons.)

This bill likely won’t pass, but it should. It will not fix the problems with provincially-run sports betting in Canada. For example, sophisticated bettors have long complained about the poor odds on offer from the provincial monopolies, among other things. Smart gamblers are already placing bets using private offshore Internet sites, and this amendment won’t change that. Nor does this measure address the continuing tension between the provisions of the Code and what certain First Nations groups in Canada claim (convincingly) is a constitutionally-protected right to conduct and manage Internet gaming and betting.

However, Bill C-627 at least goes some way towards acknowledging that the Internet sports betting industry exists and must be having an effect on the provincial monopolies. It adds some measure of reality to the criminal law in Canada which, with each passing day, seems more anachronistic as it relates to Internet gambling.

{democracy:68}

Is it too early to call La n DC the Dwyte Pilgrim of poker couples? Don’t wanna jinx anyone … but Team Pokeratiers La Sengphet and David Clark … I’m tellin’ ya … players to watch.

While DC won the first WSOP-circuit ring of 2011 (and $51k) at WSOP-Choctaw, La followed suit at the next circuit stop — Harrah’s Tunica — becoming the first female to win a ring this year. A Pokerati fave from back in the Dallas days, she won a $555 event with 278 players yesterday — paying her $32k. La, of course, finished 7th in the major-league WSOP ladies event this past summer (making her Team Pokerati’s 2010 WSOP MVP), and took 2nd in a non-bling-added ladies event at Choctaw two days after David’s victory.

Adding to the niftiness of this final table … Andy Nguyen, the second-place finisher, is a good friend of La n DC’s and drove with them to the tournament from Dallas to Tunica for his $20k score. The lucky threesome (La does credit hitting a gutshot as a key hand in her victory) say they’re headed to Florida next for the inaugural WSOP-circuit stop at the Palm Beach Kennel Club.

Click here for official deets from the final table.

Pokerati Flashback:
Tao of Pokerati at the 2010 WSOP
Episode 26: La La FTW!

In semi-related news …

Caesars Palace to hold Valentine couples tourney on Sunday

Coincidence that they announced this special tournament yesterday, about 30 minutes into La’s heads-up match? Probably so … but seems like it should be a fun event for poker lovers … not to be confused with far more common poker-lovers.

Tomorrow — Sunday, 13 Feb 2011, starting at 1 pm. Buy-in is $160 per couple … 7,500 starting chips. Caesars Poker management explains:

This tournament will feature a structure where you and your partner will switch every 15 minutes playing 30 minute blind levels. At the final table couples will switch every 20 minutes playing 40 minute blind levels.

Hmm, sounds like a PR email I got for Las Vegas Swingers Ball during AVN …

No word on whether or not Caesars expects a rash of gay commitment ceremonies among local Vegas grinders — nowhere else to be on Valentine’s weekend, obv — who might see a competitive advantage for any two dudes willing to hold each other’s hand while sharing chipstacks.

Gah, another juicy newsbriefable thingy to speculate wildly on with little information or context when we all could just make a phone call or send an email to find out what’s up) … yet no Poker Beat to break it down.

Anyhow, check it out and decide with minimal information for yourself … Daniel Negreanu, “caught” on webcam via screencap … playing on a site that isn’t PokerStars?

It’s something new called PokerView — which looks like just about any other online poker site except instead of avatars you have webcam video. Very tell-revealing you might think in straight-up play. And Negreanu obviously isn’t making any effort to hide his identity any more than he’s actively trying to promote this new endeavor.

So many stories potentially in play here. Is Negreanu going the way of Hellmuth, Duke, Raymer, and Maven … seeking a new poker home? Does this new site have any connection to PokerStars (the biggest online poker company in the world, save for maybe Zynga)? Could this technology be a major step forward in TOS security, giving a real-time glimpse of who’s really playing and what else might be going on in their seat. Could you mix it with Rush Poker to create online poker’s version of chat roulette? And with that in mind, serious question … how long before people start showing their junk and contend it’s merely a strategic maneuver if your schlong got the other guy to fold?

ALT HED: Show Me Your Nuts

(Thanks, DL, for the tip!) (Shame on you, DL, for trying to play me a chump!)

CONFIRMED: Not a real Daniel Negreanu endeavor.

Women’s Poker Hour:

Host Amy Zupko and Jennifer Shahade are joined by Donna Houle to start off this weeks show. Donna is one of the founders of the Pink Ladies Poker Tour. They then move on to discuss the Women’s Poker League on PokerStars before briefly discussing the PCA women’s event. If you want to keep up with some women in poker or ladies only events then check this podcast out. You can listen to the show on WomanPokerPlayer.com or download it directly on iTunes to listen on your iPod later.

Wicked Chops:

With no This Week In Poker this week the entities come together for a TWIP style podcast this week. Just like with TWIP Jess Welman comes on to do “Poker Headlines” before getting into the feature of the show. That feature this week is Erik Siedel who comes on to discuss his recent success, his appearance on “The Micros”, and Rounders 2. Listen to the show on the Wicked Chops site or download it on iTunes.

The Poker Edge:

Eric Siedel is making his rounds this week joining Phil Gordon on The Poker Edge. Before Siedel makes his appearance Andrew Feldman gives this weeks headlines, he is followed by Matt Savage who comes on to discuss the LA Poker Classic and the future of poker. Siedel comes on to close out the show to discuss the high roller cashes that he has enjoyed since the first of the year. The guys finish off the show by handicapping most of the top players chances at winning a WSOP bracelet in 2011. You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

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Come check it out and have some fun…for free. Visit and Like the official application fan page here or go directly to the game here.

A while back we were hearing that some 60 million Americans played poker. We have since learned about 36 million of those are really just playing on Facebook. But here in Vegas, some 20 a month are learning to play better anyway. Doing the really loosely conservative math (is that an oxymoron?) that makes for about 1 player out of a million taking the active steps to become a winning (or more-winning) player … as apparently just reading a book doesn’t quite cut it anymore.

David Chicotsky’s and Ari Engel’s next 3-day boot camp is March 4-6. I really hope a few Pokeratizens sign up … because a) both guys are good Pokerati people; and b) the more who do, the more shit I can give “the maven” about putting the one guy wearing Ed Hardy as the frozen-screen image on his YouTube commercial.

Click here for more info on what The Maven Training entails … or, since most of you already know the basics of what that’s all about (his alumni can already claim more than $2 million in tournament winnings — an average of nearly $20k per student), you can just go here to make a deposit and reserve your seat for the March sessions.

It’s already starting to pain me not to have The Poker Beat to re-speculate wildly with limited knowledge on real people’s lives. Not sure who said what on previous episodes, but I can almost guarantee you one of us said this retirement would never stick, one said yes it would forever because we just know, and another panelist probably went “meh”. Oops, now the secret formula to award-quality podcasting is out …

Surely a newsbrief for the next episode … words coming directly from the WSOP champ himself via his PokerStars keepers … Peter Eastgate is Isildur1 back on some sort of probationary re-entry deal, obv. Rumor has it from unconfirmed unverifiable sources that he turned down inclusion of a WSOP ’11 main event buy-in in exchange for starting a Danish “home game”:

“Sometimes in life a person can feel lost and wake up one morning not recognizing who he is. Last summer that was how I felt. Prior to winning the WSOP in 2008, my life was very much a good solid routine of playing online poker and hanging out with my friends and family. Winning the WSOP changed that. I relocated to London and started a new life, the life of a high profile poker pro. For almost 2 years I was in a constant spotlight, travelling from poker tournament to poker tournament, doing thousands of interviews and never had a chance to catch my breath. In the whirlwind that followed winning the WSOP I lost track of the most importing thing in my life, myself.

Last summer I decided that I wanted to stop playing poker and catch my breath and find out who I am and what I want to do with my life. Over the last 8 months I have had a chance to reconnect with my friends and most important, my family. I have spent quality time with my family and really had an opportunity to figure out who I am and what I want to do with the rest of my life. When there is no financial pressure it can sometimes be hard to get motivated to move forward as a person.

I truly enjoy playing poker. I love the competitive element and the mental challenges of tournament poker. I feel it is important to constantly grow as a person and for a while I didn’t feel I was moving in the right direction. Having had time to think about my life and future I feel I have figured out how I can combine playing poker with a healthy life outside of poker.

I do not consider this a comeback, as I always knew there was a good chance I would play poker again. During my hiatus from poker, PokerStars have been very supportive. Therefore, I am pleased that I will start out with playing two events where I will be sponsored by PokerStars. First, I will be playing the PokerStars.com EPT Copenhagen which of course means a lot to me, since it is on my home ground. Then I will play the NBC Heads Up Championship. I am fortunate that PokerStars have the best online tournaments, so I have an opportunity to get back in tournament shape.

There have been some questions about the sale of my WSOP bracelet. I was not trying to devaluate the WSOP name. It was not sold to make any kind of statement. It was sold to raise money for UNICEF and I am very proud and thankful that the sale raised £100,000 to UNICEF.”

- Peter Eastgate

Interesting + cool … now the first ever November Nine winner can be more like all the rest who have come since then, but different because two months ago he became the only November Nine-era champion old enough to rent a car in Vegas.

NOTE: Turns out “devaluate” is a real word. Who knew?

Photo © James Berglie / BePhotography

Rep. John Campbell isn’t ready to just throw his hands in the air over the uncertain future of online gambling in the US.

Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) intends to take the lead in a Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on the internet gambling debate by bringing forth legislation similar to what Barney Frank (D-MA) has been pushing for years, according to Gambling Compliance.

Frank has reportedly signed on as the lead Democratic co-sponsor.

You may remember Campbell from his efforts to remove sports betting from last year’s Frank bill.

Campbell will be on hand in San Francisco in May as a keynote speaker for GIGSE 2011. The Global iGaming Summit and Expo was once one of the pre-eminent “annual” gaming conferences in the world, but went on a two-year hiatus after a move from Montreal to Malta. Returning to North America, and specifically US soil (California, no less!) seems to be a big deal for the conference and the gambling industry overall.

GIGSE says it has no political agenda — though its 2011 lineup of speakers suggests licensed and regulated online gaming in the US really is a matter of when not if. In addition to Campbell and likely supporters of his bills such as the PPA, conference speakers will include representatives from the Department of Justice, California Indians, other Native American gaming interests, Caesars Interactive, iMEGA, the Kentucky horse racing industry, various lottery interests, Jeffery Pollack’s Federated Sports+Gaming … and several others who have long found themselves at opposing ends of mutual interests.

Sounds to me like this could be the biggest think-tank confab of people shaping our lives ever. Or, at a minimum, if they can’t all put their heads together to reach the same overall endgame, it could turn into a massively awesome battle royale that could include the throwing of chairs.