At least that’s my take. After reading the actual legal document, “Virtual Playing Chips in a Multiuser Online Game Network”, I gather what they are really trying to do is define and patent the purchase and flow of “Non-Redeemable Virtual Currency” as it pertains *specifically* to gambling on social networks.

 

click to enlarge

The Virtual Gaming Economy 1.0 … a One-Way Cash Flow to Social Networks
Today, virtual currency is part of a transaction model used for the purchase of virtual goods within online communities, particularly within the context of internet gaming — whether buying pixelated cocktails for your friends, cattle lanterns for your farm, or machine guns and a getaway car for your next virtual hit. In Zynga Poker, play is free, but players buy Zynga Chips to pad their play-money bankrolls, while Casino Gold (a.k.a. comps) can buy them useless crap a round of tequila for the table, regardless of such a purchase’s affect on a player’s EV.

They can buy Zynga Chips/Casino Gold using credit and debit cards, PayPal, or native social credits (like Facebook), a buying process known generically on the web as “micro-transactions”.  The best deal gets you a 480,000:1 ratio of virtual chips to the dollar.

Currently, the cash flows one-way only — into the pockets of Zynga. Players may purchase virtual currency from the network with real money, but have no method of “cashing out”, nor are they allowed by Zynga Terms of Service to buy or sell chips for actual money or trade goods from other individuals or businesses.

The Virtual Gaming Economy 2.0 … in a Legalized Online Gambling World
To my untrained legal eye, a review of the Zynga patent application reveals the company seeking to document a similar model to Zynga Poker for all casino games — poker, slots, and roulette are mentioned as specific examples. (Sports-betting is not, however.) According to TechCrunch: “Zynga is trying to patent the the ability to buy virtual currency that can’t be traded for actual currency or what happens in virtual stays in virtual.”

While there is value to be had in owning the rights to process virtual currency as it stands, the concept, expanded one step further to allow players to “cash out” wherever gambling is legal, would truly be worth owning.  Google surely must have known about this patent pending when they sunk a bunch of cash into Zynga sometime in June. The document mentions some forms of regulation and fraud detection in play, and the online poker industry, of course, is very aware of efforts to prepare them for such transactions in a future real-money world.

I had to laugh, though, at the following stipulation in the app: “transfers can be limited to players who are friends or otherwise connected within the context of an online social network (e.g. transfers are only allowed between players who are also ‘friends’ on Facebook.)”  I suppose that while Barack Obama seeks to link international transactions to taxpayer IDs, it seems sufficient in the virtual world that *we be FB-friends*.

Sale price estimates range from $182 million to $228 million (in real money). Supposedly, Google will officially announce the acquisition tomorrow.

This follows last week’s quiet confirmation from Google CEO Eric Schmidt about their partnership with Zynga – clarifying speculative reports in July that Google had “secretly” invested $150 million or so in the enormous play-money poker site.

With a current user base of 28 million budding poker degens at the ready, Zynga is primed for real-money poker with their popular Facebook app Texas HoldEm Poker. You can read more about Zynga’s interest in HR 2267 from Business Insider: JACKPOT FOR ZYNGA: Congress Wants To Legalize Online Gambling.

Conveniently, Zynga uses PayPal for a method of payment (and happens to be PayPal’s biggest client).  This method of payment — turned off years ago for anything related to gambling — could be ideal for a would-be internet gambling licensee under HR 2267 with Barney Frank’s Manager’s Amendment, which prohibits credit card transactions for gambling should his bill become law.

14 clock in Berlin’s luxury hotel “Grand Hyatt”: The European Poker elite has the honor. It is the biggest tournament in Germany. Prize money: one million euros! Even Boris Becker was as an advertising face of Pokerstars.de at the table there – until he is rausflogen on Thursday. In addition, author Charlotte Roche ( “Wetlands”). Today I want to photograph the friend of Poker Europe champion Sandra “Black Mamba” Naujoks (28). He had lost a bet, now disguised as a woman sitting at the table. So far, so ordinary.

While so much can get lost in Google translation, sometimes it spits out pure poetry. The robbers haven’t even gotten there yet, and it would be Theater of the Absurd if it weren’t about to become so real.

For a firsthand account via second-hand language filter, the translated version of Benjo’s blog also becomes must-read, obv:

And that’s exactly what it is: a story that I tell surely in abundance in my back, emphasizing the amusing details. But on the stroke during the two minutes that lasted the confusion, I fear the belly.

tied up hands and feet
lesbian poker
naked fat chick
joe cada is a jew?
hogtied men
the novembrists
oliver tse
are maria and tiffany gay
are the poker girls amazing race gay
(and lots of variants of the above theme)
joe cada shirtless
pictures of amy calistri nude
mitch garber asshole
hot boys guy donkeys
hookers at the commerce casino
óòðî
chau giang rub titties

LOL. Seriously … who are you people? And were you able to find everything you’re looking for?

Crap, if he’s moving in I guess I gotta get an airbed?

The economy is definitely taking a toll on everybody, but unlike many people, Norm Zada took a chance and became a millionaire–by gambling! Norm made $100,000 in one year which he eventually turned into $100 million by playing poker. Watch him talk about his journey on TV Land Prime’s new original series “How’d You Get So Rich?,”- hosted by gossip diva Joan Rivers- which premieres on August 5th at 10pm. Multi-millionaire Norm is able to live every man’s dream in a lavish 11 bedroom house surrounded by famous neighbors and beautiful women serving as his employees.

WTF? That’s what MTV (parent network of TV Land) is saying … even though this Norm Zada character has no listing in the Hendon Mob database nor on Pocket 5s. So who is he really?

For one, he is founder of the implant-free porn magazine Perfect 10 (nsfw). He’s the same guy who sued Google (and won) over their use of thumbnail images from his publication. He’s also the author of a book, Winning Poker Systems, which was a follow-up to his not-so-heralded paper, “Theoretical efficiency of the Edmonds-Karp algorithm for computing maximal flows.”

Prior to poker (and porn), he apparently taught mathematics and computer science at Stanford, Columbia, and UCLA. And then he tried to start money management competitions called the U.S. Trading Championship and the U.S. Investing Championship … essentially the World Series of Finance? In 1996, he supposedly made the claim that balancing the US federal budget would lead to “economic disaster” — and offered $400,000 to anyone who could prove him wrong.

Zada, a Ph.D., is the son of famed UC-Berkley mathematician and computer scientist Lofti Zadeh, who received the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering for “inventing and developing the field of ‘fuzzy logic,’ in which a system applies a quantitative assessment to inherently ambiguous ideas, thus providing a new paradigm to improve artificial intelligence and automated control systems.”

Oh, and he’s part Iranian.

For those that don’t care to click ahead, follow the live updates over at www.wsop.com and I’m sure Pauly and Dan will be providing updates on their run to Dream Team Poker glory.

2009 World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
Official Report
Event #57
World Championship
World Series of Poker Main Event
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $10,000
Number of Entries: 6,494
Players Remaining: 185
Total Net Prize Pool: $61,043,600
Number of Places Paid: 648
First Place Prize: $8,546,435
July 3–November 10, 2009

Tournament Highlights:

Day 5 Headlines
1. World Series of Poker Continues – 185 Dreams Remain Alive in Main Event
2. Warren Zackey (Johannesburg, South Africa) is the New Chip Leader Going into Day Six
3. Many Well-Known Poker Players Still Alive – including Tom Schneider, Phil Ivey, Fabrice Soulier, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Blair Hinkle, Jeff Shulman, Antonio Esfandiari, Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Joe Sebok, Blair Rodman, David Benyamine, J.C. Tran, Kenny Tran, Prahlad Friedman, Chris Bjorin, and Joe Hachem
4. Two Former World Champions Still Alive in Main Event – Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem
5. Two November Nine Finalists Still Alive in Main Event – Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips

The Main Event Continues

– The 2009 WSOP Main Event continued with the play and conclusion of Day 5. The day included a deep run into the money, as the tournament field size was more than cut in half. All 407 players who started play were already guaranteed $27,469 in prize money. Now, after ten days and 40 hours of tournament play, all finishers are guaranteed at least $36,626 in prize money.

– Day 3 began with 407 players. The day ended with 185 survivors.

– Prize money payouts increase at various intervals. Every player still alive in the tournament (185th place and higher) is now guaranteed at least $36,626 in prize money.

– This was the 45th day of the WSOP. Play continues for three more days, plus the finale to be played in November.

– Tomorrow (Monday) begins at noon and is expected to include five levels of play.

– Play on Day 5 began on July 12, 2009 at 12:05 pm.

Humorous Moments at the WSOP

– About an hour into play, Assistant Tournament Director Jimmy Sommerfeld announced to all players and spectators: “The player who just busted off Table 34, Seat 5 – you left your shoes.” The player did not return to claim his property. A size 10 pair of Salvatore Ferragamo sandals remains unclaimed at the WSOP lost and found.

– As players bust out, tables are broken down and consolidated. This requires players to pick up their own chips and transfer to new tables. Deep into Level 18, a player was walking across the room and accidentally bumped into a camera crew. Two full racks of assorted chips crashed to the floor and rolled off in different directions. There was a mad dash by the player and tournament staff to recover the stray chips. After a few minutes, all chips were gathered and the player finally took his new seat. Mischievous-minded Jimmy Sommerfeld decided to have some fun at the player’s expense. As the player was re-stacking his chips into neat rows, Sommerfeld put on his best stone face. He informed the player that any chips that hit the floor would be ruled technically out of play. After a momentary expression of shock, the player quickly figured out he was the target of a gag and play resumed.

– Sommerfeld continued his folly. After players were allowed back into the tournament room following a 20-minute break, Sommerfeld jokingly announced to the crowd who were strolling slowly back in, “Cards are back in the air in 15-seconds!” After a few screams of panic and players dashing madly to re-take their seats, Sommerfeld smiled and announced the players still had two minutes to take their seats.

Play on Day 5

– Defending champion Peter Eastgate survived. He remains very much alive in the 2009 Main Event. He is presently in 82nd place, which is slightly ahead of the pack. It’s been another incredible run for the Danish poker pro. On Day 2, he was down to just 8,000 in chips, but went on a monster rush during the final hour and ended up with about an average-sized stack. On Day 3, he held steady and also finished the day. On Days 4 and 5, Eastagte remained alive with an average stack, seemingly taking a low-profile strategy to the reaching the final table. Eastgate is primed to make the best run by a defending champion since Greg “Fossilman” Raymer’s 25-place finish in the 2005 Main Event.

It should be noted that Eastgate was ranked 12th (out of 79 players) after Day 5 last year, and went on to win the championship.

– Former world champions who continued play on Day 4 included – Bobby “the Owl” Baldwin (1978), Dan Harrington (1995), Joe Hachem (2005), and Peter Eastgate (2008). Baldwin and Harrington were eliminated. Hachem and Eastgate both survived.

– Players competed for three complete levels. Play ended after Level 20. When play resumes tomorrow at Level 21, blinds will be 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante. The average stack size is 1,053,081.

– Day 5 started with a field of 407 players and ended with 185 survivors. This means only about 2.8 percent of the original 6,494 starters survived past the fifth day.

– Seven females started the day. Entering Day 6, only two females remain alive. They are Nichoel Peppe (Long Beach, CA) who is in 35th place. Leo Margets (Barcelona, Spain) is in 135th place. Note: Nichoel Peppe’s name is spelled correctly.

More about Nichoel Peppe: She is a professional poker player, who has been playing in live games for about five years. Her normal cash game is $5-10 NLHE at the Bicycle Club Casino in Los Angeles. She is 30-years-old and is newly married to fellow poker pro Tad Jurgens, whom she met in a poker room. Jurgens took second place in this year’s $1,500 HORSE event. He also lasted until the third day of the Main Event, coming up short of the prize money.

– Actor Lou Diamond Phillips was eliminated on the final hand of the day. He ended up finishing in 186th place.

– Two time WSOP gold bracelet winner and 1995 world champion Dan Harrington was eliminated in 252nd place.

– Former gold bracelet winner Keith Lehr was eliminated in 266th place.

– Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Vitaly Lunkin was eliminated in 346th place.

– Four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and 1978 world champion Bobby Baldwin was eliminated in 352nd place.

– Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Thor Hansen was eliminated in 387th place.

– Players who survived Day 5 will return to continue their quest for the 2009 world poker championship gold bracelet and $8.5 million in prize money on July 13th, starting at noon.

– Play on Day 5 ended at 6:45 pm.

Day 5 Chip Leader (Warren Zackey)

– The chip leader is Warren Zackey, from Johannesburg, South Africa. He began the day with 732,000 in chips and ended up ranked in first place going into Day 6. Zackey is a 42-year-old business owner who sells plumbing supplies.

– Zackey cited Fellow countryman Raymond Rayme’s third-place finish in the 2007 WSOP Main Event as an inspiration. The broadcast of Rayme’s accomplishment was shown multiple times on ESPN in South Africa, which created more interest in the game and the WSOP. Last year, the number of South Africans who came to the WSOP amounted to 23. This year, there were 32, according to officials with the Piggs Peak Casino.

– Zackey won his seat via a tournament held at the Piggs Peak Casino, located in Swaziland (a nation adjacent to South Africa). There are four major tournaments held there each year. Zackey won his $10,000 entry in May.

A Short Interview with Warren Zackey

Question: How much of an inspiration was Raymond Rahme’s final table appearance at the WSOP two years ago?

Zackey: Poker took off 100 percent after that. Rahme made many players start playing in poker tournaments in South Africa. He was excellent for the country.

Question: So, how did you get to play in the WSOP?

Zackey: I am from Johannesburg. I came second in the All Africa series, which is the biggest poker tournament in Africa. I won a seat into the WSOP at the Piggs Peak Casino. I decided to take my chances, instead of selling it away.

Question: Is this your first time to play at the WSOP?

Zackey: Yes. It’s brilliant. Excellent. If I tell somebody in South Africa what it is like, they are not going to believe me. They have to come here. Las Vegas is unbelievable.

Question: How did you end up with the chip lead?

Zackey: I got some really good hands….I tripled up on the first day. I doubled up again and again (on the next two days). I think I started with 730,000 today and then went up from there.

Question: If you win the Main Event and collect over $8.5 million, are you going to go back selling plumbing supplies?

Zackey: No, I have a family. I’d go back to it.

Question: What does your family think about this?

Zackey: My wife follows me. My kids follow me every step of the way. My wife is with me in Las Vegas. My children are (back home) following on the Internet.

Question: What do you expect to happen over the next few days?

Zackey: I’m not too sure. I will think about it tonight. But I am going to take it easy unless I get some decent cards.

– Here’s how the previous end-of-day chip leaders have fared:

Day 1-A: Redmond Lee (London, UK) – eliminated, did not cash

Day 1-B: Brandon Demes (Tempe, AZ) – eliminated, did not cash

Day 1-C: Joseph Cada (Shelby Township, MI) – currently in 104th place

Day 1-D: Troy Weber (West Terre Haute, IN) – eliminated, did not cash

Day 2-A: Andrew Gaw (Philippines) – eliminated, did not cash

Day 2-B: Amir Lehavot (Weston, FL) – CASHED IN 226th PLACE

Day 3: Bertrand Grospellier (Nancy, France) – currently 82nd place

Day 4: Matt Affleck (Seattle, WA) – currently in 7th place

Day 5: Warren Zackey (Johannesburg, South Africa) — TBD

WSOP Main Event (Cashing Records)

MOST LIFETIME CASHES IN MAIN EVENT:

10 – Berry Johnston
7 – Doyle Brunson
7 – Humberto Brenes
7 – Jay Heimowitz
7 – Phil Hellmuth (updated to include this year’s cash)
7 – Mike Sexton (updated to include this year’s cash)
7 – Bobby Baldwin (updated to include this year’s cash)

MORE ON BERRY JOHNSTON:

Berry Johnston’s cashes in the Main Event include:
113th in 2007
16th in 1996
21st in 1995
17th in 1992
5th in 1990
29th in 1989
32nd in 1987
1st in 1986
3rd in 1985
3rd in 1982

MOST CONSECUTIVE CASHES IN MAIN EVENT:

4 – by three players
Theodore Park (2005 – 2008) *did not cash this year
Bo Sehlstedt (2004 – 2007)
Robert Turner (1991 – 1994)

Notable Players

– Here is the current status of all former WSOP world champions who played in this year’s Main Event. Six champions have/will cash. However, only two former champions remain still alive:

1972: “Amarillo Slim” Preston – eliminated on Day 2
1976/1977: Doyle Brunson – eliminated on Day 1
1978: Bobby Baldwin – CASHED IN 352nd PLACE
1983: Tom McEvoy – eliminated on Day 1
1986: Berry Johnston – eliminated on Day 2
1987/1988: Johnny Chan – eliminated on Day 2
1989: Phil Hellmuth – CASHED IN 436th PLACE
1993: Jim Bechtel – eliminated on Day 3
1995: Dan Harrington – CASHED IN 252nd PLACE
1996: Huck Seed – eliminated on Day 1
1998: Scotty Nguyen – eliminated on Day 2
2000: Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – CASHED IN 561st PLACE
2001: Carlos “the Matador” Mortensen – eliminated on Day 3
2002: Robert Varkonyi – eliminated on Day 2
2003: Chris Moneymaker – eliminated on Day 1
2004: Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – eliminated on Day 3
2005: Joe Hachem – STILL ALIVE (137th place, with 540,000)
2006: Jamie Gold – eliminated in Day 1
2007: Jerry Yang – eliminated on Day 1
2008: Peter Eastgate – STILL ALIVE (83rd place, with 927,000)

— Here is the current status of all current and former WSOP “Player of the Year” champions who played in this year’s Main Event:

2005: Daniel Negreanu – eliminated on Day 1
2006: Allen Cunningham – eliminated on Day 2
2007: Tom Schneider – STILL ALIVE (currently in 4th place, with 3,168,000)
2008: Erick Lindgren – eliminated on Day 2
2009: Jeffrey Lisandro – eliminated on Day 3

– Here is the status of those players with notable results from this year’s WSOP:

David Bach (HORSE World Championship winner) – eliminated on Day 2
Alex Bolotin (“Ante-Up for Africa” championship winner) – eliminated on Day 3
Darryll Fish (cashed 7 times at this year’s WSOP) – eliminated on Day 2
Jeffrey Lisandro (won three gold bracelets this year) – eliminated on Day 3
Ville Wahlbeck (finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th in four events) – eliminated in Day 4
Greg Mueller (won two gold bracelets this year) – eliminated on Day 4
Phil Ivey (won two gold bracelets this year) – STILL ALIVE (currently in 45th place, with 1,380,000)

– Here is the status of notable non-pro celebrities from this year’s Main Event:

Chuck Pachenco (movie producer) – CASHED IN 612th PLACE
Jason Alexander (actor) – eliminated on Day 3
Scott Ian (musician with band “Anthrax”) – eliminated on Day 3
Shane Warne (world famous cricket player) – eliminated on Day 3
Torrie Wilson (female wrestler) – eliminated on Day 1
John Salley (former NBA basketball player) – eliminated on Day 1
Patrick Bruel (French actor and singer) – CASHED IN 428th PLACE
Lou Diamond Phillips (actor and singer) – CASHED IN 186th PLACE
Marlon Wayans (actor) – eliminated on Day 2
Jordan Farmar (NBA basketball player) – eliminated on Day 3
Sam Simon (Hollywood writer and producer) – eliminated on Day 3
Joseph Kahn (music video producer) – eliminated on Day 1
Ray Romano (actor) – eliminated on Day 1
Sully Erna (musician) – eliminated on Day 1
Shannon Elizabeth (actor) – eliminated on Day 1
Brad Garrett (actor) — eliminated on Day 1
Jennifer Tilly (actor) – eliminated on Day 1
Orel Hershiser (former major league baseball player – eliminated on Day 1

Historical Footnote: The highest Main Event finish by a celebrity was actor and comedian Gabe Kaplan, who finished 13th in the 1991 championship. The highest Main Event finish for a (non-poker) celebrity was actor Telly Savalas, who finished 21st in the 1992 championship.

– Here is the current status of last year’s “November Nine” (2009 Main Event Final Table participants). Three of the nine players will cash:

Ivan Demidov – eliminated on Day 2
Peter Eastgate – STILL ALIVE IN 83rd PLACE
Kelly Kim – CASHED IN 423rd PLACE
Craig Marquis – eliminated in Day 1
Scott Montgomery – eliminated on Day 2
Dennis Phillips – STILL ALIVE IN 78th PLACE
David “Chino” Rheem – eliminated on Day 1
Ylon Schwartz – eliminated on Day 2
Darus Suharto – eliminated on Day 3

– Of the remaining players who are still alive going into Day Six, 68 are international (non-American) players. This represents 37 percent of the field.

US – 117 players remain
UK – 14 players remain
Canada – 12 players remain
Australia – 6 players remain
France – 5 players remain
Germany – 5 players remain
Italy – 4 players remain
Finland – 3 players remain
Denmark – 2 players remain
Netherlands – 2 players remain
Spain – 2 players remain
Argentina – 1 player remains
Austria – 1 player remains
Bulgaria – 1 player remains
Israel – 1 player remains
Norway – 1 player remains
Panama – 1 player remains
Peru – 1 player remains
Turkey – 1 player remains
St. Kitts – 1 player remains
South Africa – 1 player remains
Slovakia – 1 player remains
Russian Federation – 1 player remains
Romania – 1 player remains

– Daily elimination percentages are as follows:

DAY ONE: 68 percent of the original starters in this tournament survived the first day / 32 percent were eliminated.
DAY TWO: 31 percent of the original starters survived the second day / 27 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.
DAY THREE: 12 percent of the original starters survived the third day / 60 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.
DAY FOUR: 6.2 percent of the original starters survived the fourth day / 48.2 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount
DAY FIVE: 2.8 percent of the original starters survived the fifth day / 55 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount

A Judge in Washington State has made a ruling in the Betcha.com online gambling case involving our old friend, Nick Jenkins! Plus, we cover industry news from the United Kingdom about Google’s online gambling advertising policy, and the Toronto Sun article about which finally covers the Absolute Poker cheating scandal.

We have online gambling news from the UK as Google loosens advertising restrictions for our industry. Also, what can US poker players do right now to help their cause?! Plus, we start to put the pieces of the Cardspike puzzle together!

And earlier in the week … Are we finally starting to learn the truth about Cardspike? Yes! But is it the whole truth? That’s still to be seen. See the latest “confessions” from those involved in the Cardspike scandal. Plus a visit to the Affiliate Summit and take a brief look inside!

More at APCW.org