by Haley Hintze

WPT, FOXSports Ink Pact

 The World Poker Tour’s new three-year deal with FOXSports assures the venerable tour of running through at least Season XIV. The new deal runs into 2017 and kicks off with coverage of the WPT Legends of Poker at LA’s Bicycle Casino in late August, with four more televised events on slate for the rest of the 2013 calendar year, the Borgata in Atlantic City, Paris’s Aviation Club, WPT Montreal, and the Bellagio’s annual Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic.

Massachusetts Online Gambling Amendment

 Jettiso ned Over Unspecified Co nstit utionality Co ncerns Attempts to tack an online-gambling amendment onto a 2014 budget measure currently progressing through the state’s legislature was yanked from debate over general concerns over constitutionality, though legislators declined to define exactly why. The amendment, had it gone through, would have granted online licenses (including poker) only to those entities which are expected to be added under the state’s controversial land-based debut, including three full-service casinos and one slots-only venue.

Technical Blunder Briefly Allows Real-Money Play on WSOP.com Poker Site

By Debbie Burkhead

Seats are still available for the second annual poker seminar, sponsored by Poker Player Newspaper, with former World Champion, Tom McEvoy, and 2008’s Online Player of the Year, David “The Maven” Chicotsky. Attendees will enjoy a full-day of poker information and lunch, with snacks and beverages served throughout the day.

The price of the seminar also includes entry into the 5 pm satellite for a chance to win a $600 seat into the Poker Player of the Year tournament. The seminar will be held in the Conference Center at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas on July 3 with the Poker Player of the Year event on July 4 at noon. The seminar will begin at 9 am-12 pm followed by lunch until 1 pm and end at 4:30 pm. The information you will take away from the seminar is worth many times more than the small fee of $390. Last years’ attendees placed high in the Poker Player of the Year tournament, proving the value of this expertise.

Results and winners photos from Events 21-25

Event 21 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $3,000
Number of Entries: 807
Total Prize Pool: $2,205,840
Number of Places Paid: 90
First Place Prize: $506,764
June 11 - June 13, 2013

1st: Martin Finger - $506,764
2nd: Matt Stout - $313,370
3rd: Matt Berkey - $199,733
4th: David Pham - $131,679
5th: Nikolai Sears - $89,402
6th: Andrew Dean - $62,458

Event 22 Pot Limit Ohama

Results and winners photos from Events 11-20

Event 11 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $2,500
Number of Entries: 924
Total Prize Pool: $2,102,100
Number of Places Paid: 108
First Place Prize: $473,019
June 4 - June 6, 2013

1st: Levi Berger - $473,019
2nd: Scott Clements - $292,339
3rd: Ben Palmer - $185,426
4th: Eddy Sabat - $121,711
5th: Jacob Bazeley - $82,297
6th: David Gonia - $57,282

Event 12 Pot Limit Hold’em

Results and winners photos from Events 1-10

Event 1 Casino Employees Event
Buy-In: $500
Number of Entries: 898
Total Prize Pool: $404,100
Number of Places Paid: 90
First Place Prize: $84,915
May 29-30, 2013

1st: Chad Holloway - $84,915
2nd: Allan Kwong - $52,318
3rd: Robert Rooney - $33,903
4th: Brian Pingel - $24,811
5th: Daniel Ellery - $18,426
6th: Sean Small - $13,868
7th: Tyrone Smith - $10,567
8th: Michael Trivett - $8,146
9th: Hieu Le - $6,348

Event 2 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em

2012 Event 1: California Blackjack Dealer Wins Casino Employees Championship

 The first World Series of Poker tournament of 2012 concluded at the tail end of a memorable Memorial Day weekend with the crowning of a new poker champion, whose victory was a surprise even to the winner.

 Chiab “Chip” Saechao, from Visalia, CA, won the Casino Employees Championship, which is a special competition limited exclusively to employees of the gaming industry. He collected $70,859 in prize money. Saechao was also presented with his first WSOP gold bracelet, which is the ultimate prize in poker.

 Saechao is a full-time blackjack dealer at the Tachi Casino, in Lemoore, CA–which is located in California’s Central Valley (near Fresno). This marked his first time to cash in a major poker tournament and first time to compete in the Casino Employees Championship.

 This was classified as WSOP schedule Event #1, since it’s the first gold bracelet of 61 to be awarded this summer in Las Vegas. The tournament was played over two consecutive days and nights, during a busy Memorial Day weekend. The final hand was a thrilling conclusion to the hard-fought tourney, as ultimate victor Saochao spiked a ten on the turn, which proved decisive, against his opponent’s top pair and top kicker. Saochao ended up making a full house–tens over queens–while the secondplace finisher closed with three-queens.

by Barbara Connors

 Tilt is an occupational hazard of being a poker player. None of us can escape it completely. The good players simply tilt less often, and less severely. Perhaps, most important of all, the best poker players continually monitor themselves for signs of tilt, which is something we should all do. Problem is, the signs of tilt aren’t always that easy to identify. Sure, we can recognize tilt when we’re bluffing off a huge stack of chips for no reason other than wanting to pulverize the guy on the other side of the table. But tilt can also be as simple and as subtle as one loose call.

 We’ve all done it. Called to see a flop with a marginal hand, bad position, lousy pot odds — or all of the above. We know we shouldn’t be in the pot, but we toss the chips in anyway. Usually this sort of thing happens when we’ve been card dead for a long time, or because we’re sick of being raised out of the pot every time we want to limp. But any way you slice it, it’s tilt.

by Donna Blevins

Florida poker does more than entertain. It gives back. For the 5th year in a row, the Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room hosted The Deep Stack Charity Classic on Derby Weekend to a sold out crowd of 653 players. According to Rabbi David Cane, “It is the largest charity poker tournament in Southeastern United States.”

 From a player’s standpoint, most charity events are more frustrating than fun and usually make me yawn; however, this one was different. The poker weekend started on Saturday with a seminar at noon, plus a separate $440 event after the Derby. The Charity Classic followed on Sunday. When I saw the final table prizes along with the poker celebrities, I decided to book a room and make it a mini-vacation.

The Delaware Harrington Casino and Raceway is holding a satellite tournament for the Poker Player of the Year event, which takes place on July 4^th at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget as part of the Grand Poker Series.

Harrington Satellite Tournament Details:  Takes place June 14^th at Noon. $125 buy-in with an additional $5 add-on, players will receive $15k in chips with with 30 minute blinds. Every 9 places get their money back with the bulk of the prize pool going to the winner for expenses.

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California Tribal Nations Hammer Out Preliminary iPoker Proposal

 Eight prominent California tribes have united in a new effort to bring intrastate online poker to the Golden State. Preliminary text for the Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2013 was released by the bill’s tribal supporters in late May. Among the proposed provisions is exclusivity for the state’s existing tribal casinos and established cardrooms, with all other gambling venues (such as pari-mutuel outlets) to be excluded. The bill also calls for the state to abstain from any federal online gambling legislation and to refrain from taking part in any proposed interstate or international online gaming compacts, such as with neighboring Nevada.

Ivey Sues Crockfords Over Frozen Punto Banco Winnings, Casino Alleges Unfair Play