Believe it or not, I’m playing online poker again. I’ve bought in three times already, so yay, it works (and is super-easy to play for real money), but cannot yet report on the cash-out process, because you know … damn river.

But now that we have online poker in Nevada definitively running and here to stay, I’ve started paying a little more attention, and it seems a lotta eyes are on New Jersey right now. Not only do you have Gov. Chris Christie making an aggressive, courts- and DOJ-challenging push for fully legalized and legitimized sports betting inside his borders, but also you have poker-loving state senator Ray Lesniak committed to making the state a global leader in online gambling (sports betting included) and start welcoming international players into the virtual borders of the Garden State without having to show a passport. Sure, Atlantic City may be closing down casinos, but sometimes you gotta get rid of the chaff. And that’s kinda what we could be seeing as two big poker tournament main events in New Jersey — one live and one online — coincide with all the semi-related New Jersey casino-world buzz.

The live tournament is the WPT Borgata Poker Open — a poker-world stalwart that has been serving up big-time televised final tables since Season 2 of the World Poker Tour. (They’re now in Season 13.) This year’s main event is a $3,500 buy-in, with $3 million guaranteed. They expect a good turnout based on preliminary events and online qualifiers that have been running on partypoker in New Jersey as well as partypoker worldwide.

But also going on simultaneously is partypoker’s Garden State Super Series — an online event open to anyone within New Jersey borders that’s shaping up to be the largest online tournament series in New Jersey history, and for that matter US history of the licensed and regulated sort. Both main events kick off on Sunday, with the GSSS guaranteeing $250,000 in prize pool — it’s a $200 buy-in — and $50,000 minimum for the winner.

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All good things must come to an end, right? And if you remember Vegas Grinders, you know we were big fans of the MegaBeat Jackpot, a progressive multi-property payout. Though none of us cashed in, the promotion was enough to draw each of us (and many of you) to various Caesars property poker rooms on repeat occasion. Anyhow, promotions naturally change, and it’s been about a year that the MB was in play, but there does seem to be some decentralization going on at Caesars- and WSOP-branded poker rooms in Las Vegas — or maybe it’s more of a recentralization? — which may or may not have anything to do with different rooms getting autonomy while others prepare for the axe. Wild speculation, but we do know that email addresses have changed recently, with a promo list like the one below coming from @caesarspalace.com instead of @caesars.com … and these sorts of changes seldom happen for no good or apparent reason.

Caesars Palace January poker room promo info below:

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Fun while it lasted … [Photo: M Resort]

M Resort closed its 14-table poker room [earlier this month] to make space for additional slot machines that will be used for tournament play.

Rina Foster, a spokeswoman for the casino, said employees displaced by the closure were offered other jobs, although she wasn’t sure how many were moved to new positions.

M Resort is owned by Penn National Gaming.

She said the space layout is still be reconfigured and M Resort has not determined how many slot machines will move in the space. Foster said the property’s customers wanted a better location for slot tournaments.

“Currently tournaments are held in a ballroom and with the new area, guests will be able to play on our floor with better access to our amenities and easy access to self-parking,” Foster said.

M Resort still plans to host custom poker events, such as the Hollywood Poker Open that was held at the end of June. The $500,000 tournament featured players who qualified at Penn National properties across the U.S.

The tournament was held in the M Resort convention area.

Foster said next year’s Hollywood Poker Open is already being planned for M Resort.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research put out some data collected from NGCB’s Gaming Revenue Reports that paints a rather interesting picture of the poker world over the past 20 years. The chart you can see here — showing the number of poker rooms, the number of tables, and total rake — pretty much tells the story of poker … and I couldn’t help but want to graph it!

What I’m not sure of is whether or not these numbers include tournament entry fees or represent only cash game collections. But either way, even with the WSOP finding creative ways to report definitive growth year over year, I’m fairly certain the shape of both graphs would look pretty much the same.

I’m tired of losing my shirt. What I could really use is a New Jersey.

This could turn out to be a momentous week in poker history … with both Nevada and New Jersey supposedly doing their part to bring online gambling properly to the American people. Of course even amid signatory celebrations, the day-to-day lives of Vegas Grinders have yet to change …

In this episode: Dave and Dan consider the implications (and a timeline) for the new Nevada law, while Andrew stays on his normal-hours kick long enough to find himself ballin’ with plumber cash. We inquire about the difference between daytime tables and nighttime tables in Las Vegas; there’s a pretty big and regular 30/60 O8 game taking shape at the Venetian; and with the Wynn Classic underway, what’s all the to-do about the latest specially named big-field tournament series anyhow? Is it like logging hours at South Point to wield a monster stack in their $125k freeroll? And is Mirage home to the softest 2/5 game in town?

Vegas Grinders 1.3
[audio: /VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders20130228.mp3]

All that and more … because while we may not be in iTunes yet, we do have listeners already, and they write in to ask about, er, actual poker hands? That’s right, Vegas Grinders break it down for you … this week exploring the nuance of playing pocket 10s as a local vs. any potential value-shove from a probable tourist. At least I think that’s what we’re talking about. Boo-yah. Have a listen and a nice day!

Just what poker needs … another podcast! Yep, I know … but this one is different, it’s special … Vegas Grinders we’re calling it — featuring yours truly @Pokerati with @AndrewNeeme and @RandomPoker …just a few dudes grinding out a life in poker, telling you what’s going on at the local tables.

This week we talk about Michael Phelps’ residence in Vegas and his play at Aria and the Palms; and we compare and contrast the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Palace and the Venetian Deep Stacks, both of which were playing at the same time in February. Andrew, as it turns out, may or may not be on tilt after bubbling the $365 WSOP-Caesars PLO. We also take a look at the recently released 2013 WSOP schedule, and question the hairiness factor in the new variable buy-in “ladies” event. All that, plus the Millionaire Maker and LOL the tag-team charity tourney this weekend at Binion’s. We wanna know, will Dave ever get there on his heart draw?

Have a listen to episode 1. And if you don’t like it, well, you know … you really probably should!

Super Bowl Sunday is arguably one of the best days of the year for a Vegas grinder. In this town, the game is one big gamble, as evidenced by the pages and pages of prop bets offered exclusively on the NFL championship.

Super Bowl gamblers often spill into the poker rooms, and it’s hard to go wrong picking a place to play. But if you’re looking to pad your stack or you lost a bundle on your coin flip bet, there are a few places in town offering special promotions during the big game. (Kickoff is set for 3:30p PT.)

If you’re playing at Mirage, you’ll be hoping that there’s as much action on the felt as inside the Superdome. They’ll draw a seat number after just about every big play. An interception is worth $50, a fumble is worth $75, a play of 76 yards or more is worth $100. Field goals are worth $25-$100, depending on the distance and touchdowns are worth $100. There are also four pre-game drawings for the four hours before kickoff: $125, $100, $75 and $50.

Players at Excalibur earn can earn raffle tickets before and during the game. They’re paying $50 for field goals, $100 for touchdowns, and $400 for safeties, along with a drawing for $100 at the end of the first three quarters, and another for $200 at the end of the fourth quarter.

The Monte Carlo promo could end up costing you money if you play favorites. They’re giving away raffle tickets for full houses, and players must place their tickets in either a 49ers bin or a Ravens bin. When either team scores, they’ll pull a ticket for $50 for field goals, $100 for touchdowns and $200 for safeties.

The Luxor is giving out raffle tickets every hour for the first four hours before the game and every quarter during the game. Then there’s a drawing after each field goal for $25 and after each touchdown for $50.

At Mandalay Bay, they plan to give away $500 for the high hand of each quarter. The minimum qualifying hand is 10s full, and if no one hits, the prize jumps $250 more for the next quarter.

The oft-overlooked Circus Circus (because they rarely have much more than a 3/6 limit game) is offering $100 to the high hand every quarter, and $100 for the high hand of the hour from  8 p.m. to midnight.

Instead of cash, the Flamingo will splash pots with hats, T-shirts, hoodies, and polo shirts after each score and after each quarter.

Every so often poker players should give something back to ease the take take take mentality. I’m pretty sure that’s why the charity tournament was invented.

So if you’re in an altruistic mood this weekend and looking to feel good about your game, there’s the $125 buy-in Ante 4 Autism event at Golden Nugget this Sunday, January 27. Cards go in the air at 7 p.m. 

The tournament benefits Autism Speaks, a real charity that preeminent Vegas poker hostess Karina Jett says is “very dear to my heart.”

“In the United States, autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed now in one in 88 children and one in 54 boys,” says Doug Krinsky, the event founder.

The first 100 players will receive an free T-shirt and Autism Speaks pin. The top five finishers receive special prizes — including a queen-size gel-infused memory foam bed set, and a leather recliner — while the winner gets a plaque, cash prize (which he may or may not choose to donate back to the charity) and warmth around his heart.

“The Golden Nugget has welcomed our event with open arms and we hope to announce shortly other professional poker players that will be joining us as well,” co-host Scott Graham said.

In the previous four years, this tournament has raised a total of $46,014, including a record $22,239 last year. Find more information about Ante 4 Autism at the Golden Nugget here.

Or on Facebook here.

All Caesars poker rooms across Nevada launched the Mega Beat Progressive Poker Jackpot earlier this month. It started with $200k to be paid out if some luckbox got his quad aces cracked. For every $100k more dumped into the drop, the qualifying hand also drops. So at $300k, all you need to lose with is with quad kings, at $400k quad queens …

I tried to hit it last week — flopped quad bullets at Planet Hollywood with two fish betting into me — but couldn’t lose to win.

After I relayed the story to a math-minded pro friend who told me that, because of the board, there was no possible hand that could have beat me and I should have raised at some point prior to the river.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Answers told me the odds of losing with a hand as weak as quad eights (see: $800k on the Mega Beat scale) are “not good.”

But for this new Caesars Megabeat Jackpot, it doesn’t have to be you: 20 percent of the jackpot goes to the player with the losing hand, and 10 percent to the player with the winning hand; But 70 percent is distributed to players at all Caesars properties in the state. Because of this promo, they’re not offering high hand bonuses. Which means I was a few days late for being good enough to actually win with quads. Is that a bad beat?

Goodbye Rakeback
For most of last year, poker players in Las Vegas could find at least one place to earn something of an hourly wage on top of the chips they collected at the table. But that trend has all but vanished in 2013. Poker rooms have essentially stopped encouraging grinders to fold all day long.

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Here’s some video the new Multi Action Poker game Dave is talking about at Aria in action. While one player at the other end of the table is telling the creator of the game how it should be played, our @RandomPoker reporter in the field is seen quietly taking down a pot.

Props to @ProPoker for capturing the rare moment of Dave winning a hand! (Or was that just half a hand?)

One player per hand!? Dave’s multi-stacks at the debut spread-limit hold’em multi-action game @AriaPoker.

Aria Poker launched Multi Action Poker yesterday, a game designed to woo those tired of playing just one hand at a time in a live setting, and perhaps those who miss the concept of multi-tabling online.

In forums and at the tables, players questioned whether the game would succeed. Even some Aria dealers said they knew little about how it would be played. But the game’s inventor, Timothy Frazin, is counting on a hit. He said he’s conducted several trial runs and worked out many of the concerns.

Though a table with two dealer cutouts and wooden slats protruding from the rail might look confusing, the game is simple at its core. Each player is dealt two separate hands, placed over a red spot and a blue spot, separated by a wooden slat, for the respective hole cards and chip stacks.

There are nine players, two dealers facing each other in the center of the table, four decks (two being shuffled, two in play), and ideally two differently colored chip stacks.

“It’s like a football field,” observed one player checking out the new table for the Multi-Action game.

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Greg Raymer has been tearing it up on the Heartland Poker Tour.  With four wins out of the last six HPT events, it’s starting to get hard to see why the other players even bother to show up.  We take a look inside his historic run with this graphic.

Read more at BonusCodePoker.com.  Graphic by Chris Grove.

Here’s a quick rundown of some opinions from the past week or so from various corners of the internet that got me thinkin’ one way or another … all raising plenty of interesting questions that various poker people are sure to wrestle with in the future.

Opinion
Poker Shot Clocks Coming?
There seems to be some growing buzz for it, especially since so many of us found ourselves glued to a TV for 12 hours watching totally enjoyable poker but realizing we can’t be tryng to be the next Cricket if we expect TV to help our game grow. So how much longer do we have to wait for poker technology to catch up with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? [InsideSTL Sports]

Opinion
Free Willy?
While Vegas grinders want Aria and other MGM Resorts to ban Howard Lederer, across the country in Atlantic City players are trying to get Caesars to unban a player who goes by “the poker monkey.” No idea what the story behind this one is and whether or not the dude’s a table shithead or unfortunate victim of poker room imperialism … so you decide what to do with William Souther, who apparently has enough fans to get a petition encouraging Caesars to reconsider forbidding his presence on their properties. [Change.org]


Opinion
Bitcoin Revolution?
Here’s a piece that says why our Donkdown radio cohort Bryan Micon may or may not be a genius as per his dedication to an open-source, bankless digital virtual currency that is apparently all the rage with Somali pirates, drug traffickers, and of course, online casinos. [CalvinAyre.com]

(For optional reading, here’s a bonus non-poker Bitcoin opinion from Al Jazeera … and a recently released assessment from the European Central Bank, who have been through it before with Lindens and Second Life.)

Opinion
4 More Pokers?
Zack Tracy thinks Election Day couldn’t have gone better for US poker players, with the stars finally ready to align for Americans who have too long borne the brunt of bad poker news. [Pokerfuse]

Fully Tilted? Nick DiVella is still waiting for his roll from a player sometimes seen in the Ivey Room at Aria.

Howard Lederer might be re-emerging in the nosebleed cash games of Las Vegas, but some players are so upset about the former Full Tilt leader’s return to the felt that they began circulating a petition to get him banned from live poker.

“We believe the casino has a moral and ethical obligation to bar Howard Lederer from playing in the poker room and should Aria casino fail to take immediate action we, the poker playing community, will be forced to boycott the poker room,” the petition reads.

Local pro Nick Divella, 24, crafted this plea to fellow players at Aria, asking them to boycott the room if Lederer was allowed to play there again.

Aria management, however, had “a long talk” with him explaining why they had to remain neutral and couldn’t allow him, or anyone for that matter, to solicit signatures on their property.

DiVella, a regular in the 5/10NL and 10/20NL games, said he had talked to upwards of 50 players who already had agreed to sign it, and has since taken his cause online.

Read the petition here.

“It tilts me to no end,” explained DiVella, who says he loves playing at Aria but but doesn’t want to see the disgraced Full Tilt empresario sitting behind big stacks in his favorite poker room, as it would almost certainly have a negative impact on his own non-Ivey Room play.

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The WSOP crowned its newest champion this week, but that doesn’t mean tournaments around town are done for the year.

Heartland Poker Tour makes its next stop at Palms. The tournaments run today (Friday, Nov. 2) through Nov. 11, culminating with a $1,650 main event.

This is probably a good series of events for those who want to try their hand tourneys, or players like me who don’t want to spend a bunch on donkaments. It’s essentially a group of at least 7 satellites every day leading up to the big one.

There are single-table sit-n-go qualifier tournaments that start as low as $60 and a $120 “nightly turbo,” all the way up to a $375 “last chance qualifier.”

With former 2004 WSOP champ Greg Raymer winning 3 HPTs already this year, it should be interesting to see how many other well-known pros turn out to give the series a shot. We know from Gavin Smith’s twitter that he’s a lock: “It seems like every day I get one day closer to @HPTPoker at the palms, it is kinda like Christmas only this Santa is real!”

Ante Up Magazine’s new poker tour starts later this month at Thunder Valley Casino Resort near Sacramento, where the main event comes with a $200,000 guarantee. They’re also hosting events in Minnesota and Oklahoma leading up to a world championship at Hard Rock Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Man, tournament players might have a higher variance grind, but at least it can be exotic.

Ante Up also announced its next Vegas event would be held at Red Rock Casino from Jan. 21-27. The event schedule has yet to be released, but the series will culminate with a $1,100 main event with three Day 1s, which will “spill over into the Rocks Lounge,” according to the magazine. Sounds like they might have more than a few splashed pots.

My best shot at a bracelet just passed me by.

Jokers Wild Casino closed its poker room! The home of the practically secret monthly bracelet tournament in Henderson played its last hand on Halloween night.

They didn’t give a reason for the shutting down, but cash games there were often hit or miss, and staff members told me that some of their regulars had been rounded up by nearby Club Fortune Casino.

And it wasn’t the only locals poker room on the outskirts of Las Vegas to close this week.

The former Aliante Station, now Aliante Casino and Hotel, also shuttered its poker room after being taken over from Aliante Gaming LLC. The North Las Vegas casino was sold as part of Sations Casino bankruptcy and reopened under the new name Thursday.

I never played in their poker room, but if they ever decide to re-open — a la Silverton — I might have to check it out.