I remember hearing about the Internet gambling case down in Kentucky several days ago and immediately dismissing it as an attempt by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to get his name in the papers (see the first post here).  After all, how could a small state such as Kentucky have the power to take away some of the biggest gambling and poker site domain names?  What reason could they possibly come up with to justify themselves - out of all of the other 50 states in the US - being able to take away property from these global companies? 

And just think, places such as Doyle’s Room service many different nationalities and many different countries yet Kentucky thinks that they have some divine right to cripple these businesses just because the government doesn’t like its residents gambling online.  Unfortunately, we live in a world that allows crooked governors to align with crooked judges to keep these circuses going.  This was revealed after Kentucky Judge Thomas Wingate ruled in favor of allowing this case to go to trial.

Never mind the fact that the only reason Steve Beshear is doing this is so that Kentucky’s long tradition of reaping money from tourists, as well as its own residents, through horse race betting can continue (this was actually one of Beshear’s platforms for getting elected).  Now how stupid is this?  Beshear wants to stop online gambling in his state, yet boost the gambling activities of his own state even more. 

It’s sad to see that this case is even going to trial and also that a state government has the power to perform an injustice such as this.  Plus the power this wields to the government is also a scary thought and this was summed up nicely by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association when they stated, “Should the actions of Kentucky’s chief executive stand, the harm to Internet freedom would be immense. What a powerful weapon would be placed in the hands of government: to arbitrarily seize politically, religiously, or culturally-based Internet domains that may run contrary to the views of those in power.”

Let’s hope that even more unthinkable things don’t arise from this case.

If you’re like me, you may be seeing recent information popping up on the Internet about the World Poker Congress and how it plans to hold a convention in Budapest, Hungary.  Or you could’ve also seen stuff about it in the past since this is the third annual meeting that the organization will be holding.  And also if you’re like me, you may be wondering just what in the hell the World Poker Congress does!

Are they anything like the Congress of the United States?  Do they have votes on different matters and hold a third of the executive powers within the poker community?  Honestly, if someone would have told me the answer to both of these questions was a resounding “yes”, I wouldn’t have known the difference.  This is why I set out to discover myself just what exactly the World Poker Congress was.

After doing some searching on various sites around the Internet, I discovered that the World Poker Congress claims to be an event that seeks to bring both the heads of online and live poker together so that they can grow in unison.  Basically, what this means is that the WPC seeks to see how both online and live poker companies can use each other to make more money.  Oh, and there’s some sweet marketing seminars on the side too.

In addition to the aspect of figuring out how to make more cash and recruit more poker players, the WPC also brings out big wigs such as WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb and (in the past) WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.  I have also noticed that a few poker pros such as John Kalmar, Michelle Lau, and Marcel Luske will be speaking at the meeting too.  But as far as I’m concerned, they won’t be speaking too much about playing poker since the convention doesn’t seem to have anything to do with that.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about the game of video poker.  And the reason being is that I just never had much interest for it because it’s one of those casino games where you’re at a machine playing against the casino.  And most of the time that’s a really bad situation for one’s bankroll.

Now sure I’ve played video poker every now and then when I’ve been in casinos but that was only to pass the time or provide myself with a little entertainment while trying to get some free drinks.  But I never thought that the game of video poker could actually be beaten or that professional video poker players existed.

But the other day I was talking to a friend and he said he heard something about how John Juanda was a professional video poker player in addition to his other exploits in the poker world.  I checked it out and didn’t really find anything about Juanda being a pro video poker player but I did find plenty on what it’s like to be a professional video poker.

And no I’m not talking about the guys who claim they can beat any Vegas game, are banned from every casino, and simply want to share their secrets with you for the low price of their book.  Rather I’m talking about a really fascenating interview I saw with a real Las Vegas video poker pro.

I found it to be extremely interesting as it’s a culture I’ve never really looked into even though it’s a sub-culture of professional poker in general.  Basically this player going by the alias of Johnny Chung (probably wanting to protect his name from view of Vegas casinos) said that he started as a card counter in Blackjack during the 70’s but found it easier to make money off of video poker when it came out in the 80’s since they always shuffled the deck or kicked him out in Blackjack.

Once he got laid off from the aerospace industry in the mid-90’s, he started getting far more serious about video poker and started playing full-time.  With his experience during the 80’s and early 90’s, and the knowledge he gained in video poker he has been playing it full-time ever since the mid-90’s.  Last year, he made $135,000 for the whole year of playing and Chung only plays 40 hours a week.

Now I’m not saying I’m going to drop everything and go for the prospected of riches in video poker but I did find this story amazing since I’ve never thought of video poker in this light. 

I’ll be the first to admit that I, like many other people in the poker world, was excited when Michael Phelps made mention of wanting to play in the World Series of Poker (see my post here).  I thought to myself, “This is great, one of the most famous Olympic athletes ever is interested in our game of poker.”  But looking back on all of the other stuff that he said in hindsight, I’m starting to wonder how serious he really was about this statement.

Now I don’t doubt that he plays the game as many have attested to this but I do remember some of his comments made during the Olympics.  One of Phelps’ first statements after his incredible feats in China was that he wanted to hang out with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.  Next up, he was an avid Young Jeezy fan and said he wouldn’t mind meeting him either.  Then came the comments on his poker desires and this set many in the game in a frenzy.

Even some of the biggest organizations in the business got extremely excited over Phelps such as the APT which had bigwig Jeff Mann send Phelps a wordy letter that had such gems as the following comments designed to woo him:

Some have said you are a ‘human dolphin’ but we’re keen to know if history’s greatest swimmer is really a fish. You may have feet that can reach angles others cannot to give you the ultimate swimming technique but just you wait until you’ve got sharks like Vegas poker legend Doyle Brunson chasing you. We’ll see how fast you really are then when they smell blood - get some flippers on those size 14’s!

Don’t bring your goggles, bring a pair of sunglasses - dive in at the deep end and we would love it if you showed us your hand. You’ve almost certainly got more chance of making good money from our $1,500,000 prize pool than securing any commercial deals! Your homecoming to a delirious country can wait.

Go all-in Michael! We’ll even get some special one-on-one lessons for you from poker’s greatest players. If it makes you happier we’ll even bring in Mark Spitz too and you can play heads-up! Some have campaigned for poker to become an Olympic sport. The fact that you are a ‘human dolphin’ doesn’t mean you will necessary get a gold medal for Texas Hold’em! 

Way to quote human dolphin twice!  Anyways, I know that ever since medal number 8 was Phelps for the claiming, tons of offers have been thrown his way from Hollywood and others despite what Jeff Mann’s letter indicates.  I just hope that all of the courting the poker world is currently doing isn’t going to turn Phelps off from playing poker in the future if he is interested.  Unfortunately, I think organizations like the APT may as their behavior reminds me of an overzealous guy chasing a girl all over who shows even the slightest interest in him. 

I, like a lot of people out there, started off playing the game of poker at the limit levels - especially Texas Hold’em.  Unlike those who jump into the game of Texas Hold’em at the no-limit level because that’s what their idols on TV do, I found comfort in the fact that people couldn’t just jump all-in at pretty much any point against me.  Plus I didn’t have to go all-in either (except for when my chip stack was next to nothing).

But eventually the game of limit Hold’em can get a little tedious and one finds them self wanting to step out of the limit Hold’em boundaries and into the world of no-limit.  I have recently begun undertaking this task too in an effort to see if I can win any money on the no-limit side.  Along the way, I’ve also begun finding out some differences between the two versions of Texas Hold’em as well. 

While the games remain quite similar, one thing I’ve noticed is that top pair is a dangerous hand in no-limit Hold’em.  I used to go to the showdown quite often with top pair in limit Hold’em, however, a lot of hands that go to the showdown in no-limit are better than a top pair.  It especially becomes dangerous when one has to commit their whole stack in order to face off against a showdown opponent.  The only time I take top pair to the showdown now is if I can do it as cheaply as possible.

I’ve also noticed that implied odds rule over pot odds in no-limit Hold’em.  In limit Hold’em I was using pot odds exclusively but now, I’ve noticed that a small bet early on can be worth breaking the pot odds rule as bets often get bigger and bigger into the later rounds.  If I’m able to catch something along the way, these small bets can definitely pay off.

The last thing that I’ve really taken note of as of late is that the size of one’s stack really plays a big part in no-limit as opposed to limit Hold’em.  In limit, I wasn’t really too conscious of what my stacked looked like in comparison to others at the table.  But in no-limit, looking at your stack in comparison to others stacks at the table is crucial.  The way that you play a hand can be affected totally by your stack compared to another person.  In a small stack vs. big stack, medium stack vs. small stack, and a medium stack vs. big stack setting, chip amounts are sometimes everything.

These are a few of the things I’ve learned so far and I know that there’s still quite a ways to go but hopefully I will pick up some more knowledge as I go on.