The World Series of Poker recently released its rulebook for the upcoming 2010 series. New to this year, players arriving after the start of the third level of play (cough cough Phil Hellmuth) will be pleasantly surprised to see they’ve been removed from the tourney and are left to drown their sorrows in crab legs and prime rib at the casino buffet. This “no show” policy removes a players chip from play and money from the prize pool, holding it at the registration cage until it is collected by the entrant.

The 2009 logo policy is still in place, which bans the promotion of firearms, drugs, tobacco, lotteries, defamatory or obscene content, pornography, libel, or “advertises any online gaming site that conducts business with U.S. residents.”

Thanks largely in part to the impact Twitter has had on the poker community, the most profound change for 2010 is  that cell phones are once again permitted back on the tables, but only for those players with cards in the muck. Guidelines state:

“All cell phones and other voice-enabled and “ringing” electronic devices must be turned off during tournament play. Players not involved in a hand (cards in muck) shall be permitted to text/email at the table, but shall not be permitted to text/email any other player at the table. If Rio, acting in its sole and absolute discretion, believes a player is communicating with another player at the table, both parties will be immediately disqualified from the tournament and face imposition of additional penalties as described in Rule 37. All players desiring to talk on a cell phone must be at least one table length away from their assigned table during all said communication. Those individuals who talk on a cell phone not at least one table length away from their assigned table shall be subject to a penalty to be determined by Tournament Staff. No cell phones or other electronic communication device can be placed on a poker table.”

View all eight pages of WSOP regulations here (Adobe Acrobat reader required). 

You may remember that in the summer, July 1, 2009, all gaming halls in the world’s biggest country were shut – putting about 1/3Million people out of work, and sending millions more to online casinos and poker rooms. Thanks, by the way, to the Kremlin for that one.

The state designated a few ‘gambling zones’ in remote areas of the country with minimal infrastructure, power, water, people, chips, dealers, etc. One of the zones is in that elusive sweet-spot that shares a border with North Korea… Nice.

Here are the official zones for legal brick and mortar gambling in Russia:

Azov City
the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea
the Altai region of Siberia
the Primorsky region of Russia’s Far East

This weekend, however, the Oracle Casino (60 miles from Rostov-on-Don – the closest city center) opened its doors, 10 table games and 200 slots. Approximately 100 gamblers showed up along with ~400 spectators. It might not be the pride of Azov City, but it’s a start.

With plans to open a luxury hotel in the summer, the Oracle will probably grow steadily. And as we know from Las Vegas, you don’t need to have the most hospitible climate to get people to show up.

Harrah’s is no stranger to debt in these hard times, being approved for a $17.7 billion private equity buyout in 2008. The purchase of Planet Hollywood is Harrah’s attempts at a foot in the right direction, buying property unloaded by the downswing while staking their claim on the southern most end of The Strip.

The following was sent via e-mail from Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman to Harrah’s employees:

“The Planet Hollywood resort is currently in default to its lenders. As a result of our purchase of their debt, we are working on a plan that also would allow Harrah’s to own and manage the property. This is an attractive proposition because of Planet Hollywood’s proximity to our other resorts on the Strip, its high-quality product offering and its strong brand name.”

Fresh out of the rumor mill, it has been alleged that after 2010’s World Series of Poker, the events are being moved from the Harrah’s owned Rio to PH. While it has all been speculation up to this point, sources close to the matter are suggesting that the move is an attempt to revitalize the Planet Hollywood brand while promoting vacancies at the Planet Hollywood condos that recently opened.

So to be clear, Harrah’s now owns:

·         PH
·         Paris
·         Bally’s
·         Rio
·         Flamingo
·         Imperial Palace
·         Harrah’s

Boys and girls, your word for the day is mo⋅nop⋅o⋅ly, noun. A monopoly is the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. All Harrah’s needs now are the title deeds to Park Place and Boardwalk and you won’t be able to move your thimble on The Strip without stepping on their properties.

TLC Enterprises, which owns Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel in Las Vegas, made the decision to close down the aging casino after some recent financial trouble.  Company spokeswoman Lisa Robinson told reporters that Binion’s hotel rooms just weren’t pulling in enough money to remain competitive in the market.  However, she also mentioned that TLC Enterprises hopes to reopen Binion’s doors in the future.

The company will keep the casino, poker room, steakhouse, and sports book open to visitors, but they have closed down the hotel, coffee shop, and keno parlor for an indefinite amount of time.  In addition to closing several areas of Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel, TLC Enterprises will get rid of 100 out of their 800 employees.

The recent closure of several Binion’s areas is the result of financial problems which date back to 1998, when Benny Binion’s daughter, Becky Behnen, acquired the business.  The hotel and casino was eventually closed in 2004 when US marshals seized money to give to Binion’s employees.  Harrah’s bailed the company out when they bought Binion’s and the WSOP; they later sold Binion’s to the MTR Gaming Group.

After the closure of Binion’s facilities, many poker personalities were disappointed such as WSOP tournament director Matt Savage.  Savage reminisced via Twitter by writing, “Binions Horseshoe was both hated and loved by poker players over the years, but it is definitely missed by those that played the WSOP there!”  The current Binion’s poker room has 10 tables, according to the casino’s website, and 11 televisions.  It’s well-known for its Gallery of Champions, which portrays the history of the 40 year-old WSOP.”

There is no word on the immediate future of Binion’s as of now.  However, people will still be able to play poker there in the meantime.

All five of these are Satellite Poker Tournament winners who will be going to a live event from online action. It’s every online players dream, and these five will be proudly sent to Melbourne, Australia for the October 2 Main Event.

The PokerNews Cup is an Australian Tourney that features nine events from September 27 – October 5th. With buy-ins that range from $100 + $15 to $2,000 + $200 (all funds in AUD, mate), you can expect a range of players, and some top-notch talent.

This is all taking place at the Crown Casino.

The CarbonPoker Players:

• impser
• xxMTVxx
• las2as
• jerem1986
• Forouzandeh

The Main Event:

• PokerNews Cup Australia Main Event
• $2,000 + $200 Buy-in
• October 2 – Day 1A @ 12:10 pm
• October 3 – Day 1B @ 12:10 pm
• October 4 – Day 2 @12:10 pm
• October 5 – Main Event Final Table @ 2:10 pm

Good luck to all those great players. If you want your shot at live event glory, check out when the next Satellites are taking place at our Satellite Tournament Schedule.

You can’t blame Fabien Dunlop for getting a little overzealous.

Having come out of relative obscurity to play to the Main Event Final Table of the World Series of Poker Europe, Dunlop was looking great going into the heads-up showdown, holding nearly a 3-1 advantage over his savvy competition, J.P. Kelly.

Presumably sweating bullets composed entirely of smaller sweat bullets, Dunlop was caught with a weak kicker early in the heads up play, allowing Kelly to suddenly double up and establish parity between the two players.

Dunlop and Kelly exchanged blows for a while, with the final major exchange coming in a nightmare scenario for Dunlop, as his suited J-2 of diamonds were thoroughly dominated by Kelly’s K-8 of the same suit.  When diamonds came on the flop the dream was truly dead, and only moments later Kelly was trying on jewelry.

Kudos to Dunlop for an impressive run—passing players like Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who bowed out at 15^th—and even more impressive £84,512 win, but especially to Kelly who has now won a WSOP bracelet on both sides of the Atlantic this year, after winning in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament in Las Vegas this year.

A casino in Atlantic City was just hit with a $5K fine for running the same beer into “Miller Lite” and “Miller Genuine Draft” kegs. For shame, Resorts Atlantic City. For shame.

This isn’t the first time that the casino did this either. Back in August, they had similar complaints over a Coors and Coors Lite.

Really? I don’t even understand how this could benefit the casino. Is it a scheme to get more carbs into their players? I’m a little lost here. Furthermore, how did anyone even catch this? As far as I’m concerned, the difference between Piss and Piss Lite is pretty negligible.

With the $40,000 price tag, the $40K No-Limit Texas Hold’em event is packed with big names, bigger swings and a $1,891,012 payout to go with the gold bracelet. This is Lunkin’s second bracelet after he won the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em title last year.

Outlasting some of the biggest names in poker, Lunkin was up against some sharp players in the final table. Isaac Haxton (chip leader coming into the final table), Noah Schwartz, Ted Forrest, Greg Raymer, Lex Veldhuis, Alec Torelli, Justin Bonomo, Dani Stern all had a shot, but fell to the Russian.

In the heads-up showdown, Lunkin eventually took out Isaac Haxton with pocket aces and an all-in push against Haxton’s bottom pair with a flush draw. Haxton took down $1,168,566 for his troubles, so I think he’ll be fine.

Our WSOP coverage will go all month long as we track the 2009 winners, losers and top stories at the Rio.

It almost looked like one our youngest team members, DperfeitoC, was going to miss the start of the event due to mechanical problems which kept his flight delayed by 24 hours. But thanks to Melbourne’s finest cab driver, we were able to whisk him through customs and on the gaming floor with all of 3 minutes to spare.

Now, you might be wondering why our regular blogger Jason is not reporting on today’s action. Well, after he managed to fluke his way to the final table in an earlier satellite, Jason actually won himself a seat to the main event. Great for him, but unfortunately now your stuck with my less than elegant blogging.

Speaking of Jason… Being that today is only his second ever poker tournament (Tuesday’s satellite was his first) I was expecting him to ease in to the game and not really contest to many pots early on… How wrong was I! The very first hand of the day saw Jason in the big blind, with only the small blind calling.

Flop: 5h 6d Ac
- Small Blind bets $200
- Jason just smooth calls
- Turn: 4s
- Small blind bets $200
- Jason calls
- River: Jh
- Again the Small blind bets $200
- Jason re-raises to $600

After a slight hesitation the SB released his hand and our little rookie Jason, politely showed his 78 for the eight high straight. Must be his lucky ugg boots working their magic!

As for our other players, Gunner7 and DperfeitoC pulled seats next to each other as well as poker pro Lee Nelson. Hopefully, our guys can use Lee’s own words of wisdom against him and send the “Kill Phil” author packing.

More updates to follow!

Vos having won some huge pots at his table was probably feeling rather confident and when the cute reporter in the red dress passed his table, He must have felt like he had the nuts there too and moved all in for the lay down. Picking her up and twirling her so her skirt flung up a flash of skin for all those nearby to see. A word of caution from a pit boss and the drama was averted for now.

Round 2 – after previous efforts were thwarted by meddeling casino head honchos, Mr Vos now out of the tournament and no doubt on a raging tilt, decided once again he had the nuts to make the call and moved all in. The first obstacle – the observer barricade was quickly folded by a leap and then the unsuspecting young girl playing a cash game was accosted by the drunken red head on tilt. Thinking his pick up and twirl maneuver was a sure fire way to win her over he proceeded to do just that. Catching the eye of a junior pit boss, who immediately made the call and also moved all in, the pretty brunette quickly folded in the front of such stakes and it was now heads up. Pit Boss vs Mr Vos. While asking Vos to leave in a distinctly firm but polite fashion, words were exchanged as Vos was sent reeling on the back foot. The argument was that if any other player did that they would have been dragged by the scruff of their neck out to the pavement by burly steroid abusing security. This was true, and earned many kudos from onlookers, such behaviour was a disgrace and frankly deserved such treatment. However then the floor managers had caught wind of the ongoings and intervened, more on Mr Vos’s side, desperately trying to save their high roller.

That was basically the end of the incident, but it did illustrate a worthy point. Such behavior isn’t tolerated at the tables, and how much money you have shouldn’t really matter. Congratulations to the Pit boss who was doing his Job and doing it well.

Today sees flight 1 of the Main Event commence and I will have plenty of updates as the day progresses