“The National Poker League, which despite its name is actually pound-for-pound the most international of the major poker circuits, has found a new home base at the Venetian. The Venetian poker room will host two of the league’s five events this year including its world championship event, a three-day, $15,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament scheduled for Dec. 3-5.
Posted in League, Nevada, NPL, Tournaments
“The World Series of Poker has ended, and there are still several World Poker Tour events remaining. So let us take a look at a poker tournament alternative.
The Heartland Poker Tour will start a league in September.
According to HPT publicity releases, the league will be designed to “bring more poker to the people.”
Posted in League, Tournaments
“The time has come to give the woman poker player one single place to find everything poker, including information regarding the whereabouts of ladies only tournaments. That place is right here at CardPlayer.com.
I am excited to announce that Card Player and LIPS have partnered in order to bring our readers information specifically geared toward woman poker players. Together we have created a portal for women’s poker with a variety of new and exciting programs.
Posted in Tournaments, Women
“Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) events are beginning to attract national attention. This small but growing televised poker tour emerged from the Midwest three years ago, has steadily grown in popularity nationwide, and televised HPT events continue to gain a wider viewing audience.
Although HPT events produce comparatively smaller prize pools than the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker, they can be just as exciting because local players have a chance to end up at a televised final table. The average total prize pool for an HPT event is slightly over $250,000.
Posted in New York, Television, Tournaments
“Temperatures outside regularly soared above 100 degrees during the month-and-a-half long World Series of Poker. But looking back on the Main Event, poker pro and TV analyst Phil Gordon focused on another climatic condition.
“For the championship event to get (6,358) players in the current regulatory climate that the government imposed in October is an amazing feat,” Gordon says.
Posted in Tournaments, WSOP
“Poker has had a tough year, with congressional legislation that has taken some of the big players out of the U.S. market. That in turn has hurt the turnout–the 6,358 entrants in the main event, down more than 25 percent from last year’s number. To take this further, the fewer number of people paying the $10,000 fee, means there’s less for the winner ($8.25 million vs. $12 million last year).
Despite all this, the World Series of Poker is still compelling television. Last year, ESPN averaged almost one million viewers per broadcast and I have no reason to believe that this year’s tape-delayed coverage will take a significant hit.
Posted in Players, Television, Tournaments, WSOP
“The future of poker isn’t hunkered down in a smoky card room in the back of roadside tavern. It’s not wearing a weathered face, chewing on a cigar and glaring lightning bolts from beneath a 10 gallon hat.
The future of poker is fresh-faced and fast-paced. It’s intelligent and cocky and ultra-aggressive. And it’s likely sitting in front of a computer right now, trying to take all your money.
Posted in Lifestyle, Online, Technology, Tournaments, WSOP
Only nine players will compete for the top prize of just over $8 million at the World Series of Poker’s final table Tuesday afternoon but plenty of other folks — from casino operators to chocolate makers — will cash in as well as America’s fascination with the game remains high.
A crackdown on Internet gambling and oversaturation of poker shows on television pose threats to the pop-culture phenomenon. But even as some of the more marginal programming has fallen off the cable box, top-tier poker properties such as the World Series attract thousands of would-be champs and remain in high demand with sponsors and broadcasters.
Posted in Lifestyle, Television, Tournaments, WSOP
“It is time the ladies got their very own tour and ranking system,” says Crystal Osgood, founder of the Ladies Poker Association. “The Ladies Poker Dream Weekend, the second event in the LPA Pro Tour is all about serious women playing serious poker. There are many events out there for the ladies to play at the $100-$200 level. But we wanted to give women their very own pro tour, with a standard amount of starting chips, a comfortable structure and plenty of time between rounds. Add that to the first ever Ladies Professional Ranking System, and you have a very exciting weekend of serious poker – just for the ladies.”
Posted in Tournaments, Women
“Baseball caps and dark sunglasses are back in fashion, and talk around casino hallways revolves around “bad beats” and “all-ins.” On golf courses and in hotel rooms, thousands of dollars are changing hands on whimsical proposition bets, and obscure card games are being played for rich stakes on a sea of green felt.
It must be that time of year again — it’s the World Series of Poker.
Thousands of the best players from around the world have gathered in Las Vegas, hoping to win the $10,000 buy-in main event, which last year paid $12 million to the winner…”
Posted in Nevada, Tournaments, WSOP
The Popularity of America's Card Game 