News Archive

The poker world has a hall of fame and is quite proud of those that are inducted, but many people – even very advanced and long time poker players – are unaware that there is an official Women in Poker Hall of Fame that regularly inducts members to enshrine in ceremonies each September. Founded by the Ladies International Poker Series with sponsors including Card Player Magazine, the hall of fame is designed to honor the females who have not only achieved a high level of success in the world of poker, but who have done a lot to contribute to the community in a positive way. The first members were inducted back in 2008 and since then, the group has gone a long way towards recognizing the contribution of women in the gaming industry. In order to qualify for an induction, potential candidates must undergo very rigorous scrutiny and then be voted in. Not only must they have been involved in the industry for more than 15 years, but they must also have given to the industry in a meaningful way. It could come as a win in a big event, or through business leadership.

Many feel that this hall of fame could help push forward the goal of bringing more talented ladies into the world of poker and for this reason, part of the induction criteria is that the lady in question, either through playing poker or not, must be supportive of the women’s poker events around the world. However, the strict requirements mean that big names like Annette Obrestad and Vanessa Selbst are not yet eligible to be considered. Currently, the women who are being considered include Annie Duke and Jennifer Harman.

Reality TV shows have been big business for quite some time, with the viewers in the United States regularly supporting a whole range of competing shows. One of the first of those shows was Survivor, which pits a number of guests against each other in an effort to survive in sometimes hostile conditions while trying to outwit their opponents, but still work together as a team in order to get through the show’s events. This most recent season, Survivor: Nicaragua, is said to be featuring a poker player. The CBS show has had another poker pro in the past, so this is hailed as proof that poker stars are now going even more main stream and coming into contact with larger parts of the entertainment world. This is good news for the poker industry which is able to get free publicity by these stars and it can help build the level of active participants in the games, as well.

The news comes from a source inside the CBS organization that has requested to remain anonymous, but goes on to say that the company had been on the look out for a high stakes poker pro who could heat up the show and bring a different mindset that might be able to refresh the series. According to the source, a number of poker pros are looking as if they may be up for consideration. These include Shaun Deeb, Alex Kamberis, Tom Dwan and Tony Dunst. Already, the poker world is abuzz with hope that this projection will become a reality.

As much of the world continues to adjust to the changes brought on by the sudden rise of online poker as a massive sector of the online gaming industry, several nations have been considering if or how they plan to regulate their citizens taking part in the games. In Australia, it appears that the local authorities are coming to favor the concept of poker online and a recent study by an independent advisory group for the Australian federal government, known as the Australian Productivity Commission, has put forth a report that it believe the games should be allowed. According to this report, the government is being advised to repeal the Interactive Gambling Act and allow for the passing of a number of new laws that will protect this vital and growing sector of the Australian economy that could go quite far in helping the country at the economic level. By allowing for the supply of the poker games over the web, the report states, the safest form of online gaming, the government stands a better chance at handling other more pressing concerns that have a negative effect on the nation.

By ‘liberalizing’ the approach to online poker, those in the nation would be able to enjoy the games with a lot less hassle and this is after the report proved the social impacts of poker on the web are not harmful, a key feature they wanted to investigate. Its neighbor, New Zealand, has already decided that the poker world is something the country can be in support of so it comes as no surprised to market experts that Australia will very likely soon follow suit.

Poker is a popular past time among many of the world’s elite and this includes music stars, movie stars and, of course, top pro athletes. Often, these people will get together to hold charity poker events as a way to earn money for those in less fortunate conditions and have some fun at the same time. An event of this nature is being hosted by one of the National Football League’s big stars, Terrell Thomas. Thomas is a cornerback for the New York Giants NFL team and is noted for many contributions to the different charity events that are a regular part of his work with the NFL. The football pro is now hosting his own all star poker tournament, set to be held at the Ontario Airport Hilton, according to the star’s official blog postings. The charity poker tourney will invite a number of famed NFL and University of Southern California football players to take part. Although the names have not yet been released, insiders report that it is like Thomas’ star power will pull in quite a few big names as he has been able to do in the past when working to raise funds for his Terrell Thomas Charities.

After the all star poker event, Steve Smith, a wide receiver for the New York Giants and team mate of Thomas, will head with a number of other USC football players to a free football camp for youth located in Rancho Cucamonga, California at the local high school which is where Thomas graduated. The camp is hosted by We Are SC and will be open to young people between the ages of 5 and 15.

The battle to bring online poker back to the United States, where the games were first started up so many years ago, is on full blast now say political insiders across the nation. In addition to moves being made by East Coast states such as New Hampshire and New Jersey, there is significant motion happening on the West Coast, as well. The state of California is seeking to start up a new proposal to get online poker back into the state and go around the recent federal law that a vast number of Americans have found to be unfair and economically damaging to the general interest of the US population. A California Senator from Inglewood has decided to take things further, changing his 20 percent gross taxation on sanctioned web poker businesses down to 10 percent in order to keep the industry strong. While some opponents are upset by this move, there would still be enough income earned for the state of California, say economic advisors, to be able to rely on a large and steady stream of cash for the state that is still battling harsh conditions as it tries to recover from the recent recession that struck hard back in the late half of the millennium’s first decade.

If the bill is passed it would mean very good things for US poker players because a large percentage of the US population currently resides in California and gaming is a big sport there. In addition to the lowering of the tax rate to help promote gaming, the contracts offered will be 20 years in length rather than 5.