News, Reviews And Interviews From Around The Poker World

California Senate Holds Session to Discuss Online Poker
Lengthy Confab Lays Out Variety of Different Proposals
By Stephen A. Murphy

On Feb. 9, a California Senate committee met to discuss the merits and obstacles of an intrastate online poker system in California.

“It was sort of an introductory session, a fact-finding session,” said Steve Miller, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) California director. “It was meant to inform the legislators about what the issues are.”

PPA Executive Director John Pappas was one of approximately 35 experts who testified before the California chamber, calling on the committee to respect consumer wishes and to keep an open marketplace in any kind of online poker system.

“A conservative strategy is the favored approach when considering the future of online poker regulation in California,” said Pappas. “It would be unwise to push ‘all in’ on an intrastate monopoly that favors a consortium of interests when it is the consumers who ultimately hold the best hand.”

Pappas was referring to a proposal offered by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, who reiterated the desire to launch an online poker system in conjunction with a number of land-based casinos in California, including Commerce, Hollywood Park, Hawaiian Gardens, and The Bicycle Casino. That proposal would shut out current online poker sites.
Several Native American groups such as the Pechanga tribe oppose Internet expansion, however, as they are fearful of the impact that it might have on their land-based casinos.

But it’s not just an issue of which tribes do and do not support online poker in the state. It’s also a matter of whether or not it’s even legal under Indian gaming compacts.
Leslie Lohse, the chairwoman of the Tribal Business Alliance, said that she had “no doubt” that an intrastate poker agreement would break those compacts. A lawyer for the Morongo tribe disagrees with Lohse’s interpretation.

In terms of what’s next, Miller said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see this go to the courts.

“It seems to me that this would end up in the courts. It didn’t appear that the legislature was willing to risk violating the pact and losing the $350 million that California gets now from tribal gaming in the state,” said Miller.

Gaming analysts report that the California government could rake in as much as $650 million over the next five years if it decided to regulate online poker.

Michael Phelps Returns to Poker at Borgata Winter Open
Makes Deep Run in Heads-Up Event, But Fails to Cash
By Julio Rodriguez

Fourteen-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps recently played at the Borgata Winter Open, his first public appearance on the poker felt in about a year.

It’s no secret that Phelps enjoys poker and has many friends within the poker community. Although his handle is anonymous, past reports have indicated that he not only plays a fair amount of online poker, but also might have taken down a tournament or two in 2009. In fact, he made the final table of a $1,500 event at the Caesars Palace Classic in late 2008.

However, after a photograph of Phelps using a bong at a South Carolina party appeared in the British tabloid News of the World, the Olympic swimmer significantly cut down his public appearances and avoided live poker, for the most part. But in late January, he was back.

Although he failed to cash in the heads-up event at Borgata, he did manage to make it to day 2, getting a bye in the first round before winning his second-round match. After losing in the third round to Jeff Madsen, Phelps beat both Paul Wasicka and Adam Gerber in the losers bracket to put himself within two victories of the money. However, his run ended when he was defeated by Basilios Diakokomninos.

Bay 101 Poker Players to Receive Poker Books and DVDs
At the conclusion of this year’s World Poker Tour Shooting Star tournament at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, Bay 101 will be hosting Player Appreciation Week, featuring tournaments from Monday, March 15, through Thursday, March 18. These four tournaments will start at 9:30 a.m., with a $65 buy-in and one optional $50 rebuy. All players who register for one of these tournaments will have their choice of a book or DVD from well-known poker player and author Mike Caro. There are five different items to choose from, so players can receive a different one on each day that they play. In addition, players will receive food vouchers when they register that can be redeemed for a variety of breakfast and lunch items that will be offered each day.

Bay 101 recently finished running a tournament points series in which players could qualify for this Player Appreciation Week. As a result, there are 50 players who are already registered, as they won seats via these qualifying tournaments. Player Appreciation Week offers open registration for everyone, so large fields are anticipated for all four days, and prize pools should not disappoint.

Bay 101 also hosts three graveyard tournaments each week — on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 12:45 a.m. These tournaments feature a $120 buy-in, and players begin play with 10,000 in chips. During Player Appreciation Week, all players who enter the graveyard tournaments also will receive their choice of the Mike Caro books or DVDs.
 
For more information, please visit Bay101.com or call (408) 451-8888.

Bodog Searching for the Next Great Female Poker Player
Site Taking Applications Now
By Stephen A. Murphy

In the last decade, a number of female poker pros have risen out of anonymity and proven themselves at the highest levels of the game. Now, Bodog is searching for the next great female poker player to represent the site in future tournaments.

“Bodog Poker is on the lookout for female players to sponsor and send off to the biggest poker tournaments in the world, so you could not only be a sponsored pro, but also win yourself stack-loads of cash … just for playing cards!” the site announced in a recent press release.

A few women — like Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, and Kathy Liebert — established themselves as top competitors in the game even before the poker boom came along, and they continue to impress the community with their consistent results.

But many new faces — including Vanessa Rousso, Vanessa Selbst, Annette Obrestad, Liv Boeree, Tiffany Michelle, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Tilly, and Kara Scott, just to name a few — have exploded onto the poker scene in the past few years, often earning recognition for the poker sites with which they have been associated.

Bodog is hoping to find the next big female name in poker with its new search.

Any woman who is interested needs to start an account at Bodog and e-mail [email protected] with her username, a photograph, and a short biography. The e-mail’s subject should be “Female Pro Submission.”

For more information, call Bodog’s International Press Office in London at +44-7825-064776.

Quebec Government to Regulate Online Poker
Canadian Players Will Likely See New Site in 2010
By Stephen A. Murphy

The Quebec government has given its approval to the province’s lottery commission to establish online-poker and sports-betting sites this year.

“I believe this to be an efficient way of fighting the underground economy,” said Raymond Bachand, Quebec’s finance minister.

The new online-poker site will be conducted by the gaming company Loto-Quebec. It will be accessible only to residents within the province’s borders; however, players will be allowed to compete against players in “other participating jurisdictions,” according to The Gazette newspaper.

Loto-Quebec says that its new site will contain age-verification methods to ensure that underage citizens are not able to play, as well as self-exclusion options, deposit limits, and additional methods that could entirely ban problem gamblers.

“[Many] online gambling sites obviously do not offer an assistance program for vulnerable players,” said Loto-Quebec CEO Alain Cousineau. “[This] leaves the state to pick up the costs of problem online gambling without reaping any benefits.”

In the next three years, the Quebec government hopes to make at least $50 million through online poker. Government officials said that a new, regulated online-poker site was more practical than trying to ban and cast out all existing gaming sites.

“In the first four hours when Swedish poker got online, they got 20 percent of the market,” said Cousineau, obviously hoping that Canada repeats that performance.
The new site is expected to be up and running by the fall.