Aug 16

Gus Hansen Is, How You Say, Not So Good At The Online Poker

by Mike
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Gus Hansen

Here is Gus Hansen at a live poker tournament. You can tell it’s not an online poker tournament because there are winnings in front of him.

Here is some startling, startling news from our good friends over at the Cake Poker Blog: Gus Hansen is busting out, badly, in online poker play.

When it comes to playing online poker, Hansen prefers the high-stakes cash games against top competition like Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. His results in those games have been nearly the total opposite of those he’s compiled in live tournaments. He’s down $7.7 million since the beginning of 2007, making him one of the single biggest losers in the game over that time period, with about $800,000 of that total coming just in 2010.

I almost doubled over after seeing that number. Seven point seven million? There are National Hockey League teams that don’t even spend that much on player salaries (looking at you, Atlanta Thrashers).

Now if you’re like the many people who have read this and assumed that Hansen is flat broke….well, apparently that’s not accurate. Hansen’s live tournament winnings total nearly $7.25 million and there’s still no finite number on what he makes during random live games (and given he blew over seven million playing online poker, it’s fair to suggest that number could be astronomical) endorsement deals and regular-guy business transactions.

Still, though…$7.7 million. That’s a big piece of cake.

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Aug 16

Speculation on Harrah’s Cincinnati Casino Runs Moderately Wild

by Mike
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Harrah's

Bright lights? Big city? What can Cincy expect to see?

There’s no shortage of questions being asked with regards to Harrah’s planned casino venture for Cincinnati, Ohio. After recent news passed that Harrah’s would be doing business with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for two casinos in the big Ohio markets — Cincy and Cleveland — the local rags have gone somewhat nutty with guesswork as to what the casino will look like. Hey, it’s Cincinnati. You either speculate on future casino developments or watch the Bengals preseason games. Your call.

Anyways, here’s the latest from Cincinnati.com:

Now that the world’s largest casino company has been tapped to run Cincinnati’s future casino, the question becomes: Which of Harrah’s Entertainment’s three marquee casino brands will gamblers here see?

Harrah’s isn’t saying, but industry observers don’t expect to see a Casears Cincinnati. That nameplate is the company’s luxury brand, reserved for markets that specifically court international gamblers. Only four Caesars casinos exist in the world: Las Vegas; Atlantic City; Windsor, Ontario; and Cairo, Egypt.

“I’d be very surprised if they did the Caesars brand in Cincinnati — it’s very high-end,” said Lyle Berman, chief executive of Minnesota-based casino operator Lakes Entertainment, which has an option to buy up to a 10 percent interest in Cincinnati’s casino.

“When you open a casino in Middle America, you want to be all things to everybody,” Berman said. “You want something that appeals to a broad group of people.”

Take that, Middle America! Apparently the red-hot market of Windsor, Ontario can get a Caesar’s, but you can’t.

So instead of an Egyptian-,  Roman- or Gothic-themed casino, you’ll probably be getting a big top and carnie folk running a skee-ball machine you can gamble on.

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Aug 16

Jesse James, Kat Von D Snuggle at Vegas Casino

by Mike
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Jesse James and Kat Von D

He’s a tattooed motorcycle enthusiast. She’s a tattooed tattoo enthusiast. So their blessed union was inevitable, right?

Throw some saucy Las Vegas into the mix and yes, you’d be right.

According to the good folks at People, ex-Sandra Bullock errand boy Jesse James has been canoodling with L.A. Ink star Kat Von D. Here are all the inky, needled details:

The motorcycle mogul, whose divorce from Sandra Bullock was finalized in June, was spotted having dinner with fellow tattoo enthusiast and LA Ink star Kat Von D in Las Vegas Saturday night.

Settling into a table at Palms Casino Resort’s N9NE, the duo didn’t bother spreading out in the oversized booth, but got cozy by sitting right next to each other.

The two shared the restaurant’s signature rock shrimp and classic Caesar salad. They also both enjoyed the filet with a side of asparagus, and drank Fiji water with dinner.

Wow, Caesar salad and a Fiji water. Those celebrities sure know how to live it up! Not to be a jerk about it, but N9Ne is arguably the best steakhouse in Vegas — I’d step over my own mother for the 40 oz. Ribeye For Two (twice baked potato!) — so I’m not sure why JJ and KVD are eating like rabbits. Celebrities are weird.

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Aug 13

If You Suck At Poker, New iPhone App Could Make You Less Awful

by Mike
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iPhone3

The Apple iPhone: What can’t it do?

Calculating the odds of various poker hands has long been the bane of card players’ existences. If you’ve ever wondered “What are my odds with a six-nine offsuit with a queen-four-three rainbow flop?” you’re not only a terrible poker player (fold already, you idiot), you’re also not alone. Many players struggle with math, percentages and odds — so thank our lucky poker stars for this handy app from the iPhone folk. Pokersoftware.com has the story:

For just $0.99, there’s a handy little application in the Apple App Store that lets you easily calculate odds for Hold’em and Omaha hands.  Poker Aid Calculator will work on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and can be purchased from iTunes or your device’s App Store application.

Once the program is started, you can pick between Hold’em and Omaha.  From there, simply enter your starting hands and Poker Aid will calculate your chances of winning the hand.  It will also tell you how strong your holding is by ranking it against all other possible starting hands.  You can improve the accuracy of the calculations by adjusting the number of opponents and their perceived playing styles.  If you can make a decent read on your opponents, then Poker Aid can calculate your chances of having the winning hand.

The only catch might be what kind of game you’re playing. If you’re at a sit-down game with a bunch of big, sketchy looking dudes, you might not want to hit up the ol’ iPhone every hand — that could be suspicious.  And last time we checked, iPhone doesn’t have a “self-defence” app available.

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Aug 13

Ontario Set For Online Casino Action

by Mike
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Ontario

Oh, Ontario Canada. Well then.

The largest province in Canada is set to make the big time (reader’s note: “big time” is in the online gaming sense) in the not-too-distant future, according to Online Casino News:

Online casino players in Canada have reason to celebrate this week following news that the eastern province of Ontario will join British Columbia in launching an Internet gaming site of its own by 2012.

The announcement was made by lottery officials earlier this week with the new site set to be operated by the Ontario Lottery And Gaming (OLG) Corporation and regulated by the province’s Alcohol And Gaming Commission.

British Columbia beat the rest of the country to the punch a short while ago with the launch of its PlayNow.com site. The BCLC has a series of lottery, sports betting and online casino games available for players; it’s believed that the Atlantic/Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Price Edward Island and Newfoundland are soon expected to follow suit.

To this we say: Way to go, Canada!

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Aug 13

Slot Machines at Aqueduct = New York City Casino?

by Mike
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New York

Doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of space for a casino. Eh, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.

Big news coming from the New York Times today — it appears that a deal to put slot machines at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens could put in motion plans for a casino in The Big Apple. The story:

The agreement this week, among the governor and the leaders of the State Senate and State Assembly, gives Genting New York, a subsidiary of the largest gambling company in England and Southeast Asia, the right to install 4,525 video slot machines at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. If the state attorney general and the state comptroller approve the deal in the coming days, work could start next month, and the slot machines could be running within a year.

“We’re trying to create a first-class, day-trip destination casino, not slots in a box,” said Jay Walker, a senior consultant to Genting New York’s Malaysian parent company, Genting Berhad.

Genting’s renderings show a two-story gambling hall with a third floor set aside for large events, but which could also be used for table games like roulette, blackjack and poker, should the state allow them. State Lottery officials have said they would like to introduce electronic versions of those games, although many gamblers find them less desirable than the real thing.

Booya. You know, my biggest complaint about New York is the shocking lack of things to do in the city. That’s why it needs — no, must have — a casino-style racetrack. Once you get past the sports teams, broadway shows, restaurants, Times Square, Central Park and all the tourist attractions, there is honestly nothing to do in New York. So here’s to you, Genting — make this dull city come alive!

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Aug 13

Mike Matusow Wins First Event in Two Years

by Felicia
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Mike Matusow

Mike Matusow won a tournament recently. But based solely on this photo, it is hard to be happy for him.

Aaah, The Mouth. He’s been around for what feels like forever, running his gums at various poker tables across the world. For the last while, though, running his gums is all he’s done.

You see, Matusow has been on a real dry spell lately. Two years to be exact. But he managed to bust the slump recently, according to Betfair’s official blog:

One of poker’s last remaining characters, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, managed to get back to winning ways over the weekend after taking down the Deepstacks Live event in the Sunshine State of Florida for a cool $103,000, his first tournament victory for nearly two years.

Even by his own admission Matusow’s career had gone off the boil in the past 18 months, with only three tournament cashes totalling $33,524 and a lack of winning sessions at online poker.

You know things are tough when you can’t even win an online poker tournament. Not to dismiss the interweb poker enthusiasts out there, but if you hang around a site long enough, you’ll probably find some player named “PokerDood92″ that’s playing like an idiot. And you know what you do when you find him? YOU TAKE HIS BANKROLL, MIKE MATUSOW. Do that enough times and you’ll never have another two-year losing streak. Ever.

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Aug 13

Teenage Girl Wins Lottery, Still Living With Parents

by Mike
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Stacey Bywater

Stacey Bywater raises a glass to living in the basement.

For most 18-year-olds, winning over a million dollars in the lottery is a dream come true. Check that — it’s beyond a dream. It’s unfathomable. You can do all kinds of crazy stuff (because you’re 18, you see) and spend money in a variety of ways. You can buy a castle to live in and furnish it with Hello Kitty paraphernalia. You can buy a boat and live on that, even if you don’t know how to boat (just leave it up on blocks!).

Stacey Bywater is having none of that. From the Mirror.co.uk:

She’s got enough cash to buy a whole street, but lucky Lotto winner Stacey Bywater won’t be moving out of her parents’ home anytime soon.

The generous teenager is planning to buy them a plush pad to replace their modest council house after scooping £1.1million.

The 18-year-old, who lives with mum Linda, 52, dad Gary, 49, and younger sister Gemma, 14, in Scholes, near Holmfirth, West Yorks, said: “It didn’t really sink in at first, I just thought I had won some money and then when I found out I rang my family and they were crying down the phone.”

I suppose it’s nice that Bywater is buying her parents a new place. Certainly more generous than I’d be. If I was an 18-year-old living at home, I’d send my parents all-expenses-paid to Florida for two weeks. Then when they came back, they’d have to come visit me in my Hello Kitty castle.

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Aug 13

Poker News: Seven-Year Old Is Probably Better Than You

by Felicia
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Alexa Fisher

Don’t let that cute smile deceive you. This girl will take all your chips.

Our good friends over at The Cake Blog have a cool story on Alexa Fisher, the seven-year-old poker prodigy that’s all the rage right now. It’s not hard to see why she’s so popular; she’s not morbidly obese (see: Greg Raymer) or a huge jagoff (see: Phil Hellmuth). People love adorable kids, too. Until they steal all your money:

Fisher’s interest in poker started when she saw it being played on TV when she was just three years old. Her dad had been using playing cards and chips to teach her how to count, and she had mastered the rules and basic strategy of Hold’Em by the time she was five.

This summer she took a trip to the WSOP, where she chatted to some of the game’s biggest names, including Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. She was interviewed by Poker News Daily, got some autographs, and was considered a lucky charm by a bunch of top pros.

These days she divides her time between elementary school, and learning the ins-and-outs of Badugi and double-flop Hold’Em. She already knows all the rules of every game played at the WSOP, and has shown off her skills by outlasting half the field at a charity tournament for Homes For Pets, in Texas. Most of the time, though, she plays at home. But never on a school night.

All together now: AWWWW, THAT’S SO ADORABLE.
By the way, any seven-year-old that knows how to play Badugi is a genius. Have you ever played Badugi? It’s bloody confusing.

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Aug 13

Harrah’s To Build Casinos in Ohio

by jake
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Ohio

Ohio. Big state, new casinos!

The Wall Street Journal reports that entertainment giant Harrah’s is set to build a series of casinos in two of Ohio’s biggest cities. Ohio is kinda like Las Vegas, minus all the fun and lights. Here’s the story:

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. is negotiating with an Ohio developer to build casinos in downtown Cleveland and Cincinnati, the company said, as it seeks new sources of cash to address its sizable debt and dig out of a challenged U.S. gambling market.

Harrah’s is making a bet on a new market, Ohio, as its casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey suffer slowing business, and it has yet to gain entry into the booming Macau casino market.

Under the agreement in principle announced Thursday, Harrah’s would make a minority investment in both Ohio projects, while developer Rock Gaming would retain majority ownership. The developer is a subsidiary of Rock Ventures LLC, an investor group formed by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.

No surprise that Dan Gilbert — who recently had his heart ripped out by LeBron James — is trying to lighten up the mood in Cleveland. Have you seen that place since LeBron left town? It’s more depressing than a David Lynch movie. Anyways, Gilbert’s plans seem pretty huge. His investment is reportedly at $400 million for 20 acres of vacant land in Cincy, and a $600 million price tag for the lot in Cleveland.

Good news for the Buckeye state. Go Ohio!

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