Something More to be Thankful For: A Six Month Delay Expected for Implementing UIGEA

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) (pictured right) plans to make a statement that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will delay the compliance date for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by six months. It’s a compromise of sorts; the Poker Players Alliance's petition and Rep. Frank were both pushing for a one year delay.

The Poker Players Alliance is refusing comment until official word comes from either Barney Frank or the Treasury Department. But Joe Brennan, chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, said he heard from a party to the agreement that Geithner will grant a six-month delay—an eleventh hour reprieve—since December 1 is the date when banks and financial institutions would be required to block “illegal Internet gambling transactions."

Brennan was surprised at the concession, saying, "It's very unusual for any department of the government to essentially forestall an act of Congress. This is a testament to the power of Congressmen Frank. This has been his pet issue, because it is part of his core values, for some time now. If Barney Frank was not an advocate, this does not get done regardless of the efforts of the PPA and the banking industry."

Frank already scheduled a December 3 House Financial Services Committee hearing to discuss his two poker-related bills. One of them, the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, asks for a delay in implementing UIGEA until Dec. 1, 2010. If the delay wasn’t as near to a sure thing as one can expect in politics, why would a hearing be scheduled three days after UIGEA was to take effect?

When you dig into that turkey dinner, think about this for a moment. This delay is a step in the right direction, and just a little something else to be thankful for.

Redefining "Nosebleed Stakes" Poker: How Isildur1, the Mysterious Swede, Survives Wins (and Losses) or Over $1 Million a Night

Isildur1, the Swedish online poker player who’s redefining “nosebleed stakes” on Full Tilt Poker, and has won and lost millions of dollars nightly, still seems to be getting the better of his opponents, and reports have him winning about $3 million in the past five weeks. He’s been regularly beating up on Tom “durrrr” Dwan—who recouped a bit by running roughshod over Sammy “Any Two” George in a live, London version of his durrrr Challenge—and took David Benyamine for $1 million and Ilari “Zigmund” Sahamies for $1.5 during his run.

There’s an aura of mystery about him, since no one knows who he is beyond his screen name and Full Tilt railbirds prowl the site, looking for Isildur1 at the high-stakes tables.

On Friday November 20, Isildur1 took durrrr for another $800,000, amid rumors that he cleaned out Dwan’s Full Tilt account in the process. But the next night, November 21 the Swede took a huge hit to his bankroll when he took on Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey at the $500-$1,000 pot-limit Omaha tables. After a long session, Isildur1 dropped $3.3 million, with Antonius winning $2.1 million and Ivey taking $1.2 million from the mysterious Swede.

But just a few days later Isildur1 was back at it, hammering Tom “durrrr” Dwan to the tune of $650,000. Then he went after Phil Ivey, who along with Antonius is one of the only two players who seem to have gotten the best of the Swede. And after winning the second biggest pot in online poker history, flopping a full house when he held Kd-4d-5h-Kc and the board was Js-Ks-Jd, Isildur1 took $1.1 million to recoup most of his losses to Phil Ivey.

Nosebleed stakes used to imply a six-figure win or loss during any given session. Now multi-million dollar swings are becoming commonplace. At stakes like these, you can expect some uber high stakes players to eventually wind up on the rail, looking for a new stake to get them started again. I’m guessing that not many—if any—players really have the bankroll to attack these games, and just a protracted run of bad luck can break any one of them.

But while it lasts, it’s fun to watch, while we wonder just who Isildur1 really is, and how long he can continue to play and win at previously unheard of stakes.

Will Online Casinos Partner with Traditional Casinos in the Future?

According to Jim Ryan (pictured left), chief executive officer of Gibraltar-based PartyGaming, internet gaming companies can provide casinos with player data and customer tracking technology that’s far better than the technology they use now, and could become the leading edge of casino industry equipment manufacturers if the US legalizes online wagering.

"We utilize technology for e-commerce and can capture player information on a far better scale," said Ryan. "We can see ourselves becoming partners with traditional casinos."

Ryan spoke to an audience heavily laden with institutional investors at the Legends of Gaming event. When asked about legalized online gaming’s prospects in the United States, Ryan said he couldn't believe the government was letting tax dollars slip through its fingers, and questioned why the gaming industry hasn't supported Rep. Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009, a bill seeking to establish regulations allowing licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from inside the United States.

"I just don't understand why the American Gaming Association hasn't gotten behind the Frank bill, or any bill supporting internet gaming, for that matter," Ryan said.

Frank’s bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009, seeks to establish regulations for allowing licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from inside the United States.

The Flush Heard ‘Round the World!

DoylesRoom.com became the latest online poker site to offer synchronized breaks for scheduled tournaments and larger sit 'n' go events.

These synchronized breaks provide online poker players a break they can count on. Scheduled tournaments will pause for five minutes at 55 minutes past the hour, providing players with a break from the tables without the risk of losing chips or missing hands, regardless of how many tournaments they play.

Prior to this, players were forced to auto-fold hands or lose blinds to raid the fridge or go to the John. The synchronized break schedule is really designed for those playing multiple tournaments simultaneously, and automatically downloads when the software is launched.

Reflections on the WSOP's Main Event

When 21-year-old online poker phenom Joe Cada became the youngest person ever to win the poker’s largest, longest-running, richest, and most prestigious tournament, he did so with skill and huge portions of luck, and went from the verge of elimination to chip leader, then beat Darvin Moon heads-up for the championship.

With a week or so of perspective, after staying up all night to follow the November Nine online and then staying up late to follow the heads-up match two nights later, my thoughts on this year's WSOP seem to be falling into perspective.

In the process of surviving the playdown from nine to heads-up, Cada had some amazing luck, twice flopping sets with underpairs, winning with pocket fours, and other events of good fortune. He rose from being the table’s short stack who was seemingly doomed to be the next player eliminated, to the chip leader going into his heads up match with Darvin Moon—a match in which the lead changed hands four times over its course of 87 hands.

Moon’s strategy was clear: He was looking to play big pots with Cada, rather than play small-ball and have the younger, but much more experienced Cada grind him down. That strategy worked when Chris Ferguson won the WSOP by beating the vastly more experienced T.J. Cloutier. Ferguson knew his best chance was to try for a quick knockout rather than play a long, tactical match in which the edge favored Cloutier, and he was fortunate enough to catch a card he needed and win with it. He was also skillful enough to come up with a strategy that gave him his best chance for victory, Moon seemed to follow Ferguson’s model.

In heads-up play, Cada reached his low point when he raised to 3 million from the button. Moon called and the flop was 3h-5d-Ac. Moon bet 5 million. Cada paused and then pushed 13 million chips into the pot. Moon began reaching for his chips and started to shove a massive stack from his staging area toward the pot. They never got there. As soon as Moon began to push, Cada fired his cards into the muck. Moon now had a 3-to-1 chip lead over Joe Cada, with 145,200,000 chips to Cada’s 49,600,000.

But a half-hour later Moon’s failed semi-bluff and miss on the river returned the chip lead back to Cada. Cada raised to 3 million on the button. Moon called, the flop was 10c-5d-9h, and both players checked. Cada bet 3 million and moon—holding 8s-7s, for a straight draw—announced an all-in check raise. Cada agonized. He was holding Jh-9d and calling with second pair is always tough, but this call would be for his tournament life. When he called and they tabled their cards, Cada was in the lead with two pair, but Moon had eight outs a straight draw and eight outs to the championship. When the 3h fell on the river, Moon’s draw collapsed Cada was back up to a chip lead of 108 to 86 million.

Ten minutes later Moon lost another big hand to Cada, and was now trailing 2.5-to-1 in the chip count. Nearly 40 minutes later, at 1:57 a.m., Cada made his now standard raise to 3 million on the button.

Moon reraised to 8 million, Cada double-checked his cards and then said, “All-in.” Moon looked back at his own cards, and with his tournament on the line, he made the call.

Cada was in the lead, with 9c-9d. Darvin Moon has two suited overcards, Qd-Jd, and would have to hit to win.
The flop of 8c-2c-7h was a complete whiff. Moon stood up behind his chair. Cada wouldn’t watch and was back in the stands. The turn was the Kh, and another miss for Moon. Now Cada was one card away from victory, and Moon would need a queen or a jack on the river to stay alive.

With tension continuing to mount, the dealer flipped over the 7c on the river. Cada’s pair of nines faded the board and after two hours and 21 minutes, 87 hands of heads-up play, and four lead changes, it was all over. Cada won the main event championship and the $8.1 million that goes along with it, while Moon took home a consolation prize of more than $5.1 million for his second-place finish.

In the online webcast that accompanied the final table, Phil Hellmuth said he thought that Joe Cada would be regarded as the luckiest winner in WSOP history. After all, he went from short-stacked and all-in twice with underpairs—only to flop sets both times—when the November Nine were playing. He was all-in against Moon and survived too. Then Hellmuth added that Cada’s run of good luck didn’t mean he wasn’t a skillful player. Hellmuth, the all-time leader in WSOP bracelets won, said that he considered Cada a very skillful player, but the WSOP is not won on skill alone. To win it, you have to get lucky at key times, and support that luck with skillful play and good decisions.

Joe Cada did all of that, survived an extremely skillful November Nine, and defeated a very tough Darvin Moon to win it all.

After the match Cada said, “I definitely plan on playing in all the big tournaments, and traveling, and continue to play professionally. When asked about his goals for the future, he added, "To win it again next year, to win back to back." And while Cada may be the luckiest WSOP winner ever, you don't win tournaments without a nice run of luck. But that's not enough. What's also needed is the skill to make the most of those opportunities that Lady Luck delivers to your doorstep.

Rep. Jim McDermott's Committee Finds that Online Gaming Would Generate $42 Billion in Revenue Over 10 Years

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that an analysis by Rep. Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) Joint Committee on Taxation found that HR 2267, introduced by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA), pictured left, would generate nearly $42 billion over 10 years.

According to Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokeperson Michael Waxman, "This analysis further reinforces the fact that a regulated environment will generate billions in new revenue to offset the costs of health care reform or other vital government programs."

He added, "We believe this tax revenue analysis will encourage immediate discussions and consideration of pending legislation to regulate Internet gambling. With everyone acknowledging that attempts to prohibit the activity have failed, this provides even more incentive for Congress to act."

Since its introduction in May, Frank’s bill has attracted a bipartisan group of more than 60 co-sponsors has signed onto the bill, which would allow licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from individuals in the US, and put consumer protections into place to safeguard against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud, and identity theft. The bill also offers each state the right to determine whether to allow Internet gambling within their own borders.

McDermott's companion bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (HR 2268), proposes to raise revenue through individual and corporate taxes and license fees on regulated Internet gambling.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan Drops $2.6 million in a Week

While the much ballyhooed, 50,000-hand match between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius is moving along at a snail’s pace and losing much of the compelling interest it originally generated among the poker-playing public, with only about half the hands completed in the eight months since the match began, durrrr is now engaged in another series of nosebleed stakes poker games online.

Durrrr has been playing “Isildur1” and getting his clock cleaned in the process. After four sessions, durrrr is stuck almost three million dollars for the week against Isildur1—the otherwise unidentified Swedish online pro. But it’s not really as bad as it looks at first glance. Durrrr had a winning session against Ilhari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, bringing his losses for the week down to a mere $2.6 million.

Durrrr lost a $700,000 pot against Isildur1, when he went all-in with Ac -Kc against the Swede’ Ah -Ad . The board was 10h-9c-8h-9h-8s and the Swede’s pocket aces kicked Big Slick to the curb.

If durrrr keeps on going this way, he won’t have the jack to finish his match with Antonius—whenever that occurs.