E-Lottery-Jackpot.com

Money money money. It makes the world go round. Without it there would be no trees or air, all pigs would immediately expire, and tomatoes would turn blue. I think that’s right. Anyway, if you’re a fan of money, keep your eyes glued to this webpage because there’s a lot it floating about.

Worldwide Gambling Bonanza

Every click, stick, twist, and spin from last year has been totalled up and the results are in. The planet Earth generated $419 billion in gambling revenue, according to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. Poker, in particular the online variety, makes up a very small component of that figure, but I don’t think it would be going out on a limb to suggest that the U.S. getting their regulatory act together might nudge it further up the list. [OnlinePoker.net]

UK Investors in for Full Tilt

After riding into the breach on a white stallion, Groupe Bernard Tapie appear to have stopped for a picnic. In case they decide to stay where they are and play Frisbee for a while, a UK private equity firm is poised to purchase Full Tilt’s old poker software. Please note, that means only the software and nothing else. They have no interest in reopening Full Tilt and are very unlikely to cover the site’s debts. That said, you would hope that the $35 million estimated price for the client would filter back into the pockets of jilted Full Tilt customers. I’m sure we can totally trust them, right? [Gaming Awards]

WSOPE 2012 Unveils Itself

I am still seething from when Caesars’ cruelly ripped the World Series of Poker Europe from my beloved London and gave it to the French, of all people. As difficult as it is to believe, the Gauls apparently did a good job last year. At any rate, the event is heading back to Cannes from September 21 to October 4 at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière. There will be seven bracelet events in total, including the €10,450 Main Event. [ESPN]

Haxton vs. Isildur

I think these SuperStar Showdown things are really good fun. For the most part, internet sensation Viktor “Isildur1” Blom has outmatched the gamut of famous grinders laid before him, but this weekend’s re-match features one of his few failures. Isaac Haxton, him of the stylish glasses and funny voice, will be sitting down to play four tables of $50/$100 NLHE this Sunday. [Card Player]

Shuffle Master Buys OnGame

Failed Transformer ShuffleMaster has decided to dip his toe into the world of online gambling by purchasing the vacant OnGame network. What? Oh, apparently Shuffle Master make card shuffling machines. Anyway, since forming their unholy union last year, bwin.party have been trying hard to offload their spare network. They’ve finally managed to shift it in a deal worth €19.5 million, plus an extra €10 million if online gambling is legalized in the U.S. within 5 years. [Poker News]

Keeping it Illegal in Asia

China is well on its way to becoming the world’s largest economy and even if gambling isn’t an explicit part of their financial system, it has built itself a huge underground following. Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimate that illegal gambling in the country is worth $15bn to $18bn. [Intergame Online]

Meanwhile in Indonesia, gambling online means risking a lot more than your bankroll. Under the infamously harsh Sharia law, those caught wagering can be whipped up to 100 times. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mafia bosses, accustomed to taking a big cut of all illicit gambling in the country, are putting pressure on online sites to shut down their operations. [Gaming Zion]

Phew, that was a big one. I’m going to lie down until next week.

For many, the New Year means a fresh start and an opportunity to make positive changes.  Online poker rooms are no exception.  The CEREUS Network, comprised of UB.com and Absolute Poker, has revamped its Tournament Leaderboard (TLB) for 2011 and will award more money to more players.

The biggest change has been made to the Multi-Table TLB, where CEREUS will be dishing out $116,000 in prizes to the year-end leaders along with $15,000 in total to the top 20 players each month.  For the yearly TLB, the overall winner will receive $10,000 plus a $10,000 seat in the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.  The runner-up will receive $5,000 and a WSOP seat.  The rest of the top ten at the end of the year will also receive cash prizes and the top 100 will have the opportunity to play in an exclusive $50,000 freeroll.

At the end of each month, the player atop the multi-table TLB (for that month only) will win $5,000, second place will get $2,500, and third place will receive $1,000.  Fourth through tenth places will bank $500 and the remainder of the top 20 on the monthly TLB will get $300.

St. Louis resident “C_SWEENZ” finished 2010 atop the multi-table TLB and won $10,000 plus a seat at the 2011 WSOP Main Event.  “Winning the 2010 leaderboard was a huge rush and great accomplishment! I’ve played a lot of hands and learned a lot,” said “C_SWEENZ” in a CEREUS Network press release.  “I’m looking forward to improving my all-around game by continuing to play all of the great tournaments on UB and making another run for 2011. Good luck at the tables everyone!”

“FUTUREPROQQ,” from Lincoln, Nebraska finished second in the TLB and will also play in the WSOP Main Event on the poker network’s dime; he also collected $5,500.

The Sit and Go TLB is divided into three groups: Diamond, Heart, and Spade.  Diamond is for players competing in sit and gos with buy-ins of $6.50 or lower, Heart is for $6.51 to $25 buy-ins, and Spade is for $26 buy-ins and higher.  For each division, a player’s highest total score for 20 consecutive tournaments is what counts, which means that you aren’t rewarded for simply playing around-the-clock.

There are only weekly TLB prizes for sit and gos.  A total of $1,000 will be split among the top 50 players every week in the Diamond group, $3,000 will be spread among the top 40 in the Heart group, and $5,000 will be chopped among the top 20 in the Spade group.  All monetary prizes are awarded in Tournament Dollars.

At first blush, the TLB formula seems complicated, but it’s really not.  For multi-table tournaments and sit and gos, points are calculated by taking the square root of the total prize pool and dividing by the player’s final position taken to the power of two-fifths.  Got that?  In other words, the two inputs that matter are the total prize pool and the final standings.

The formula was devised not to take into account the buy-in directly so that the TLB field will be level for users of all bankrolls.  The buy-ins come into play when determining the prize pool, but since more players will typically register for lower buy-in tournaments, the prize pools will tend to even out.  Higher buy-in events have tougher fields and lower buy-ins have larger fields, both presenting their own challenges.

As 2011 approaches most people that I know are making plans to celebrate with a bottle of champagne and maybe a party with friends. Many of them are also trying to locate a last minute designated driver for the evening so they can enjoy a few drinks before heading back to work the Monday after.

A select group of poker players from around the world however, are looking forward to a different kind of party, one that’s a bit more luxurious. They either had a few thousand to spare to pay their entry to this premier event or won it by playing on PokerStars. And for those players lucky enough to attend, it will be the New Year’s party of the year. At this party, no designated driver is necessary, since everything is within walking distance at one of the most luxurious resorts in the world–The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Instead of a designated driver they will need a few things however; namely flip flops, suntan lotion and a big bag of money to take home the money they are looking to win at the tournament.

Two of the people who will be making that trek are winners of a Luxury Ladies Poker Event package that they won playing satellites on PokerStars. They will be enjoying five days of what can only be described as a poker player’s dream vacation. They are looking forward to their entry into a $1k buy-in ladies tournament, expense money for airfare, four nights at the Atlantis, a poker boot camp hosted by Vanessa Rousso, and a holistic mind/body beach camp to get their mental game focused on bringing home the loot when it’s all over. The package is worth $3,480, and the two ladies profiled here won it for pennies on the dollar.

Rose Genest, a nurse from Hamilton, Ontario, will be going to the Bahamas as a result of playing a $10 rebuy on PokerStars (total investment of $30). The rebuy got her into the final where she won her seat against 70 other players. She says that she was “in total shock” when she won and when she recovered a bit, she did some “bragging” because she was so proud. It took a week or two for her to come back to earth.

She says she has never been to Atlantis and is looking forward to seeing all the things Atlantis has to offer. Besides the tournament, she is looking forward to meeting some of the women from the PokerStars Women’s League. She says, “I have made so many friends from the league and we keep in touch via emails.” She says she is also looking forward to the boot camp by Vanessa Rousso. Rose says the biggest live tournament she has played prior to this was a $300 buy-in, so she plans to play some bigger tournaments soon as a warm-up to the PCA.

How will she handle the pros she’s bound to run up against at the tournament? “With class, professionalism, and respect. I would treat them as if they were any other poker player.” To help out on that end, she says she has been preparing by watching videos and studying their “moves and style of play.” She says that if she wins she would “play more poker, which is what I enjoy doing.” She would plan to play more events at the WSOP and possibly an NAPT event.

Another qualifier who won her seat on PokerStars is Jennifer Shahade. In addition to being a writer for PokerStars Women (Jennifer writes strategy articles for the site), she is a world class chess player, and a winning poker player. Jennifer has played the Ladies Event at the WSOP and cashed twice, once in 2007 in 17th place, and again in 2008 in 33rd place. Jennifer won her seat in the first tournament she entered on PokerStars, so it looks as though she takes her own advice and knows how to play these things!

Jennifer was hesitant to play the tournament after getting knocked out of a previous tournament on a bad beat. She debated about whether to play, because she was concerned that the result of the previous tournament might influence her play. But apparently, it spurred her on instead, and she went on to win the only seat. The first thing she did after winning was to call her dad. Later that night, she also called her brother, who is a poker pro, to “go over some of the hand histories and discuss some of the key decisions.”

Jennifer has never been to the Bahamas, and in addition to “exploring the Atlantis and walking on the beach,” she looks forward to “meeting ladies from the PokerStars Women’s League at Vanessa Rousso’s boot camp.” She’s also looking forward to experiencing one of the legendary PokerStars parties at the end of the event.

On playing against the pros she comments, “There will be lots of differences in the way I approach a hand against someone I recognize as a professional than with an unknown. For instance, if I’m playing with a big time pro who normally plays in much higher buy-in tournaments, I’ll know that they’re not very concerned with bubbling, which may influence some of my decisions.” During the tournament, she says she “doesn’t like to think of the chips as money, because that would make me play way too tight.” And if she wins? She says “It would go right back into the poker bankroll! But I’d take some out to buy a round of drinks for everyone at the final table.”

And finally, there is Elizabeth Bennett-Martin. Elizabeth will be playing the Main Event at the PCA as a three-for-three winner in the satellites. Elizabeth won her seat for the third year in a row by playing the $11 rebuy on PokerStars. The first year she qualified (in 2009) she was one of only seven female satellite winners, and she cashed in 25th place for $40,000. She was one of only fourteen women in the entire tournament that year, playing against 1,333 men.

Elizabeth’s overall investment in the last three years to win three packages has totaled less than $1500. Her first year’s buy-in was earned with a $21 investment on her first try. The last two have cost a bit more, but an investment of under $1500 for packages that total in excess of $45,000 is a pretty incredible return on investment. (Packages include the main event buy-in, seven night’s hotel, and expenses for airfare and food. This year’s package is worth $15,780).

She has brought her entire family along each year, so it is becoming a ritual that they all look forward to. As a matter of fact, her kids check in periodically with her on weekends when she plays poker, anxious to get the green light to start packing again for the Bahamas! She says they give her good luck charms and keep her fortified with Diet Cokes.

In addition to the tournament, what is she looking forward to the most? “My family loves all the water activities and the slides, and we enjoy eating at all the restaurants,” Elizabeth says. She also likes going into town to explore and shop at the Straw Market.
Elizabeth considers herself a “serious recreational player,” who doesn’t plan to play professionally. She is an attorney and loves her job, so would never give it up to play poker. She also coordinates a charity called CLEW (Cambodian Legal Education for Women) that pays for the education of young girls to attend law school in Cambodia. They are currently supporting 25 girls at university. If she cashes again, she plans to donate some of the money to the charity.

These are just a few of the skilled (and lucky!) women who will be playing the PCA in January. We will check in with many more of them during the event and keep you informed of their progress. Until then, play some satellites and win your seat so you can join us there! It’s going to be a blast!

More information: PokerStars Luxury Ladies Event.

Despite US President Barack Obama’s speech today, little is likely to change since there are no real consequences for banks that have behaved badly.