Online Poker

$0.00. It’s a daunting number. No one wants to see those digits staring back at you when you check the balance of your online poker account. Losing all of your bankroll is a troubling experience. Sometimes, going broke is too demoralizing and players give up the game for good. Others have the desire to take another shot online, but for either financial reasons or due to the murky political climate, they are unable to reload.

There has been much talk of bots in the online poker industry over the years, as the technology to create computerized programs that can beat the odds is technically possible. And it is a reality too, as artificial intelligence programs at various universities have developed poker-playing bots and pitted them against human players for experimental purposes, as well as for entertainment.

Poker is just one of those mental pursuits where even the best in the world can turn to jelly in seconds. I’ve seen it happen in real life to pros, to my friends, and to myself. When you begin to slide into the depths of tilt ... it’s all over.

If you don’t watch High Stakes Poker, then you missed one of the slickest bluffs seen in a very long time. Tom “durrrr” Dwan was the bluffer; Phil Ivey was the victim.

They continue to do it, somehow believing that they will not be caught using more than one account on an online poker website. But players who blatantly ignore the rules of the sites, not to mention the very public reports of others caught and punished for doing so, almost always get caught. This time it was Nick Grudzien, the founder and head coach of StoxPoker, an online poker training website.

Just as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) opened its doors at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, last month, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) raised the curtain on its evolving policies in the new environment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).  

GCB Packs a Powerful Punch       

The North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has attracted a curious crowd of observers at its website this week. They have fixed their eyes on the steadily ascending number of days on the "NAPT Next Event Count Down Clock."
 

The high-stakes cash game tables were in full swing on Full Tilt during the opening three months of 2010 with Tom “durrrr” Dwan sitting on top of the world. Actually, he was sitting on a big pile of cash while sitting on top of the world. Durrrr logged more than 2,000 individual cash game sessions for a $2 million profit in fewer than 90 days. He won more than $1 million at the HORSE tables at the end of January, but donated all of it back.

Online poker legislation has proven to be a tricky and unpredictable spectacle. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed by Congress in the middle of the night in the sneakiest of ways. Since that time, the online gaming industry discovered many friends in the halls of Congress, some of whom are willing to fight for our cause and denounce UIGEA at every opportunity. But despite the support for repealing UIGEA and the heavy push by several lobbying organizations for legislation to license and regulate online gaming, it seems no closer to reality than it was in 2006.

The "durrrr" Challenge resumed and Patrik Antonius and Tom "durrrr" Dwan might actually finish their heads-up battle by the end of 2010. The two are almost two-thirds of the way through their arduous 50,000-hand challenge. Right now, Antonius' chances of winning are not looking so good-he's nearly $2 million in the hole after Dwan's most recent dominating upswing.