Following the devastating quake several poker rooms instigated fundraisers promising such features as matching any donation made by poker playing customers. This way, poker players could give to the cause knowing that their donation would be met unconditionally. Players give, the gaming rooms match, simple as that. The figures that piled up were jackpot worthy indeed, Full Tilt Poker received approximately $264,000 donations from players, which when matched rose to an awesome $528,000 in donations to the earthquake victims. Poker Stars also received approximately $475,000 from players and a match of $475,000 from the poker room bringing the take-away pot to an impressive $950,000.

This jackpot was one that players and sponsors alike could both feel happy about handing over. Nobody likes feeling like they’ve lost everything, but there is a big difference between losing everything at the table and really losing everything. The success of these donations programs really looks well upon the gaming crowd and gaming establishments. It’s good to know that when people are really in need, even those holding the best hands are willing to fold and hand over the pot to those who need it the most.

The 172-page bill amendment put forward by the Massachusetts House Speaker, Robert DeLeo, calls for the sections that criminalize online poker and all other forms of Internet gambling to be struck from the bill. Where, before, any wager or bet given or received by any telecommunication device such as cell phones, Internet or telephone was punishable by two years behind bars and a $25,000 fine. With such a hefty threat looming over one’s head, it makes life pre-Internet and pre-temptation seem far more appealing, especially for those already apprehended on charges of online gambling. With the odds stacked against poker playing fans in the United States, it would seem that the news of House Bill 4591 has come as a breath of fresh air and provides a Mecca for online poker enthusiasts who wish to pursue their passion legally.

For those who support the great American pastime a big hand is deserving to State Representative Brian Dempsey who proposed the amendment in the first place and the 25,000-plus members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) who stepped forward as a single force to push it through the various stages of approval. This mass support was lobbied through emails that were sent out calling all brothers and sisters of online poker playing and gambling to arms over the issue of banning the activity from the state. Panic-stricken, an army of over 25,000 poker-playing enthusiasts inundated their local attorneys and lawmakers with phone calls and emails.

While the Massachusetts State Senate has yet to approve the bill, PPA Kentucky State Director Rich Muny is confident that the bill will enjoy an easy passage. House Bill 4591 seems to have enough support behind it to bypass any veto by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who opposes the bill on the grounds that it also calls for the expansion of slot machines, which do not contribute to job creation. This claim didn’t hold firm as the PPA move adamantly forward with their next project involving House Bill 4069. Proposed by State Representative Brian Wallace, this bill calls for the game of poker to be recognized as a game of skill, effectively putting it in a different category to other casino games, which are ones of chance. This could spell a far more promising future for the legalization of online poker gaming and its entire associated industry.

In the meantime, the House Bills are reaping the heat as dedicated opponents appeal for a counter movement. One such opponent, Ruth Balser, openly reduced the debate to a choice between heaven and hell, life and death and housed or homeless. It remains for the rest of the Massachusetts inhabitants, and possibly in the future, the United States, to deliver their verdict on the matter.

For countries with legal online poker rooms, sign up for rakeback where customers, not the pot, are priority.

Shannon Elizabeth has been an avid fan and member of the poker tables and poker playing community respectively, for several years now. Her poker playing resume consists of an impressive number of tournaments ranging from several high-profile celebrity ho-downs to some of the world’s most prestigious premier events. 

This year’s World Team Poker is the next great challenge Shannon Elizabeth has set for herself, which is set to kick off next month on the 19th of May in the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. Certainly not a player to be under-estimated, the luscious actress has four cashes under her belt won from the past four years’ worth of World Series of Poker* events (WSOP*) and has stretched her playing skills from outside the game of No Limit Hold’em to other poker playing disciplines such as Omaha High-Low and Stud poker.

Together with some of the world’s most esteemed poker players such as WSOP* champion Freddy Deeb and veterans Mark Betor and Joe Awada, Shannon Elizabeth is rumored to be part of a team heralded as the dark horse of the upcoming World Team Poker tournament. Together, the players announced for Team Lebanon have scrapped up a total in poker tournament earnings of over $7.5 million. Other whisperings from inside the World Team Poker headquarters tell of a possible broadcast of the event on LiveStream.com for poker enthusiasts to enjoy.

With an impressive line-up of the world’s best and the promise of riveting, skillful poker playing from all 16 teams representing, the rumoured presence of Shannon Elizabeth is sure to only add to the hype and fantastic poker playing this world tournament is promising.

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with RakeTheRake or its partners, products, services promotions or tournaments.

The Induction ceremony for this prestigious event is to be held in Las Vegas over the Labour Day weekend. Nominations were accepted until the 30th April and as we type, the winners are expected to be announced. So what does it take to be considered as an inductee into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame? Well, you have to have been active in poker circles for at least 15 years and contributed to the global poker community in some significant way. According to press releases, this means “either winning major poker tournaments or by making significant contributions to the industry.” 

Well, as any women that has dedicated 15 years of their life to the sport will say; “I have made my significant contribution! Look at my bank statements for the past 15 years!” I, as a woman, also played poker once, lost significantly and so that was my significant contribution to someone else’s pocket. However, in spite of this critical take on the situation, at the end of the day this endeavor is highly commendable. It is fantastic that people are stepping forward and recognizing that women can also play a highly-skilled game of chance while conniving and bluffing their way to the top and that they deserve the same amount of recognition as men do.

And so, in conclusion, women in poker have the induction ceremony to look forward to and if their luck wasn’t coming through on the poker table, perhaps their sacrifices will be recognized at the official Women In Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Party Poker’s parent company, PartyGaming, signed an interesting (and semi-confusing) deal that will be called www.partypoker.fr.  The deal was signed with PMU, France’s pari-mutual horse racing company, and it calls for PartyGaming to help PMU set up an online poker site.  But rather than branding the site under the PMU name, PartyGaming will also lend their Party Poker brand to the company as well.

For those of you who aren’t confused yet, the PMU poker site will allow their users to share the network with other Party Poker players.  In essence, the PMU site will basically be the same as a Party Poker site and the members of the room will be able to take advantage of the same 40% rakeback deals that members of any Party Poker site have access to. 

PartyGaming’s CEO, Jim Ryan, talked about the French site deal by saying, “Today’s agreement with PMU is consistent with our stated strategy of securing a small number of high value partners in regulated markets.” 

This particular deal definitely falls in line with PartyGaming’s strategy of trying to open sites in big poker markets across the world.  PartyGaming recently opened an Italian poker site called www.partypoker.it and they have plans to start up sites in other countries with large poker playing populations as well. 

PartyGaming is hoping that these deals help them post a profit in 2010 after having a miserable year in 2009.  As reported throughout poker news outlets everywhere, PartyGaming lost $26.5 million in 2009 after posting a $66.1 million profit in 2008.

It seems that this regulation has finally been recognised as unfair and a bill has been proposed to the French government that would mean more access to foreign casinos and tournaments for French players. This news will certainly make a lot of our French poker playing friends very happy but what has prompted this change of heart? It seems like the French government has realised that by forbidding legal companies from the UK and elsewhere outside of France has just resulted in a feeding frenzy by the less than savory casinos.

These foreign casinos that have been catering to the French online poker market have been operating illegally and so, in most cases, are not regulated by any governing body. The result of this is that players have been given, at best, bad service and have, at worst, been swindled by these illegally operating websites.

By re-evaluating their stance on overseas casinos they will be opening up the legal online gaming world to residents of France. This means better games, better websites and fair treatment for French poker players. This is definitely a step in the right direction for competitive gaming online, but the whole process of getting this bill passed and implemented is a long battle.

This is great news for the French but also for the rest of us as this move by France to clean up online gaming has come at a time when trust in online gaming is low. A study done by PayPoint.net has come back with some shocking results. It seems that 81 percent of us are concerned about security risks and 61 percent surveyed worry about what to do if they have a problem regarding their account. We are most concerned when it comes to revealing our banking details online in the sign up process. These figures don’t really surprise us here as, unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people out there.

All the more reason for us to take care when signing up to play poker online and to make sure that the online betting companies we deal with have adequate online help for members. The most efficient way to ensure safety is to research the betting sites you are looking at playing with and to check that they have good security, and are legal.

When you sign up for games and tournaments with companies such as Betfair Poker or Cake Poker you can be sure of the highest level of security regarding your account and 24 hour online help. All that and a chance to profit from playing with rakeback!

Source: news.bbc.co.uk