Online hk prize Hearing set for October 25th
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee for Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing on online gaming tomorrow. Topics addressed in this hearing will include the safety of online gaming and likely a discussion of Congressman Joe Barton’s bill HR 2366. This bill seeks to legalize and regulate the online poker industry at the federal level.
This debate is an important step towards the future of online hk prize in the United States. Of the current law, Barton says “it’s lose-lose for everyone – the public, the taxpayer, the banking industry, and the people who want to play online poker openly and honestly on the internet”.
Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Chairman Alfonse D’Amato has been invited to this hearing as a witness. D’amato will testify on behalf of poker players, voicing concerns regarding important industry areas such as the need for independent audits of game fairness and segregation of player funds from other poker site capital.
Republican Congressman Joe Barton’s proposed bill HR 2366 sets a framework for legal online poker, with a strong emphasis on protecting the consumer and the accountability of licensed operators. The bill actually strengthens the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by strictly prohibiting online gambling, while creating exceptions for poker, lotteries, horse betting and other skill games. The bill also includes strict penalties (up to three years in prison) for collusion and use of bots.
However, there are some drawbacks and unaddressed issues in this bill. The bill only applies to online poker, not online casinos or other games. Under this bill credit cards would also be prohibited for use as payment. The use of Heads-up Displays (HUDs), tracking software and even multiple account use aren’t mentioned either.
Although we are still a long ways off from returning to pre-Black Friday era online poker, this is great news and shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel. D’Amato views this hearing as “good for building momentum” in the struggle for safe and legal online poker in America.
First ever event on the RPT St. Petersburg won by Oleg Suntov
Sit back, relax, and watch the big stacks eliminate themselves. Occasionally, make a move to get a few chips. But most of all, conserve your chips, and really really nurse your dead or dying stack back to life. This was Oleg Suntov‘s game plan, as he was on his way to incredibly take down the first ever Russian Poker Tour held in St. Petersburg just last week.
Upon arriving at the final table, Oleg’s stack was just a dismal 64,000 in size. To put this in perspective, the chip leader on the final table’s outset, Dimitru Gaina from Moldova, had 500K. Oleg would have to double up 3 times to have as many chips as the chip leader had.
But again, like every true underdog, he defied all odds to achieve the improbably: win it all.
Many hours, and eight eliminated players later, he rose to prominence and went home with a prize of 10,000,000 rubles (equivalent to about $300K). The winning hand was Suntov’s QQ vs Vadim Markushevsky‘s K9 all-in on a 6-9-3-5 board. Suntov covered. River came a blank (it’s kind of beautiful seeing a favorite hold up, you know), and Suntov wound up in the record books as first ever winner of the Russian Poker Tour. Congratulations to Oleg, who successfully defended his home turf.
Alex Kravchenko and Vanessa Rousso both made it fairly deep in this tournament.
Next Stop: Moscow. The event starts on February 25th. Be sure to qualify today!
More upcoming events you can qualify for playing at poker stars:
EPT Copenhagen
EPT Dortmund
LAPT Punta Del Este
EPT Monte Carlo
Qualifiers are running around the clock. Play on PokerStars, and qualify today! You too can convert a single dollar into hundreds of thousands!
I swims with the fishes
Yes, it’s bad grammar. Duh.
Ok, so when I started this poker journey, it was more of a fluke. Maybe that is why I am now shown as a fish on Sharkscope. It’s true, look me up. I don’t pretend to be great or hide from my mediocrity. I am what I am.
That in mind, Yesterday I started over. Yesterday I set a goal. That goal is to have made $50 in profit in poker by the end of March. This is a hefty goal for me starting out, as I just invested my second $50 buy in to FTP yesterday as well. My stats are incredibly fishy, my playing skills seem to be struggling and I still slug my way through it. I think my win percentage is almost nill at this point. But I’m working on a plan. You can tell me I’m crazy and should give up, actually, that might be helpful 😉
The plan: On Feb 25th, invest $50 into your FTP account, bringing total investment to $100. (Completed)
Play 1-3 $2 SNG standard 9-person events at FTP each poker day (not every day is a poker day). Review hand histories and details on what happened and why. Develop course of action each session to resolve struggles, challenges, and then implement that plan.
So today is day 2. Tonight when I get home I will read my hand histories from yesterday and see where I screwed up. I played 3 events yesterday, all within the plan and all failed. One was a bubble out, one was 5th place and one was around 6-7th.
My bubble out I know was lack of aggression. Aggression is something I’m struggling with, as when I tend to get too aggressive I get smacked, obviously I’m picking the wrong cards to be aggressive with.
Lessons learned yesterday:
1) Calling a weak player’s all-in when you are short stacked but holding A-K0 doesn’t always work out, he drew out to 4 Sevens.
2) My percentage of hands played is small, but I’m not clearning enough chips in those hands to stay in the running. Need to play bigger hands more aggressively to pull more chips (hopefully).
3) Position play is incredibly important, yet the A-rag donks will play from any position, and sometimes you have to play A-Ts from early position when your M is low.
Ok… so that is where we are at. I am officially a FISH at this point. I want to lose the fish and at least become a break even player before the end of March. Can I do it? Stay tuned, advice encouraged and appreciated.