Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

In America, support for House of Representatives (HR) Bill 2046, also known as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) 2007, has grown this week with five more Congressman voicing their support and agreeing to sponsor the legislation.

IGREA was introduced in April by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, also Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee, and would license and regulate online gambling in the United States. Online poker and gambling companies licensed under Frank’s bill would be exempt from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed in October.

The latest to add their support include New York Democrat Anthony Weiner and Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, both members of the US House of Representatives. There is also House Representatives Steven Rothman from New Jersey and Michael Honda from California alongside Maryland Representative Albert Russell Wynn.

Earlier, California Democrats Howard L Berman and Bob Filner voiced their support alongside James McGovern, a Democrat from Frank’s home state. The addition of the latest Representatives grows the current list of co-sponsors to 32, up from the Bill’s original eleven when Frank first introduced the Act to the House.

Frank’s aides have repeatedly stated that interested parties calling their political representatives with expressions of support for Frank’s Bill were having a positive effect in encouraging politicians to re-examine the implications of UIGEA.

The Bill needs a total vote of 218 in order to be passed on to the Senate for ratification and, currently, Frank’s Democrat Party controls 53 percent of the House’s 435 seats.

No one is playing online poker to lose, but if you’re not managing your bankroll, you’re likely to be out of the game before you really get a chance to start winning those big pots.

Playing online poker, or poker in general for that matter, is supposed to be enjoyable, and bankroll management sounds like the antithesis of fun, but with a bit of an awareness of your bankroll, and a few sound rules backing your play, you’ll ride out the swings and gradually move up to the serious play…and the serious money.

How much do you need?

You might get away with as little as 200 times the limit bet, but to really have a bankroll that’s going to last, try to keep your bankroll at 500 times the maximum bet. This means if you’re playing 2$ games, you need a bankroll of $1000 backing you up. This figure will vary depending on the way you play, and if you play a really tight game (a rarity in online poker!) then you may well need less; but 500 is a figure that’s proven to work well, and as long as you play smart, should last for very long time.

You need enough backing your play to ride you through a few sessions of bad luck and keep you playing with confidence. Nothing gets you playing scared more than the thought of a dwindling bankroll; and nothing excites the sharks more than someone playing scared poker!

Never play more than 10-20% of your bankroll in a session

Capping your daily play helps you stay solvent, and can keep you safe from the temptations of the tilts. By playing with a maximum of 10-20% of your bankroll daily, you ensure that you will always live to play another day.

If you’ve seen a few sessions of bad luck, then you may need to temporarily move down a limit and build up your bankroll again in the relatively easier low limit games. By ensuring that your bankroll can always back your play, you can play with confidence and aggression, and know you’re never at risk of being forced out of the game for good.

Know when to stop playing online poker

Professional advice calls for a maximum of about 50 hands per session. Playing a marathon can loosen your play, and increases the odds of costly mistakes. Pre set a limit of play, and stick to it…win or lose.

Additionally, be on the lookout for the tilts. If you’ve just had a real run of luck, be it good or bad, examine your emotions and your play, and think about whether you’re still playing the smart game that got you this far. Nothing can destroy a bankroll faster than the angry or reckless play of the tilts.

Exceptions

With experience and increasing skill, you may recognize a situation that calls for an abandonment of your bankroll management philosophy.

If you can see that your table is too strong, get out and look for a table with a least a couple of fishes. Even if you’re winning now, you’re not likely to maintain your success over the long run. The opposite is also true, and if you’re having a run of bad luck, but can see that the table is really weak, then keep playing, and over time you should benefit from the inexperience of the opposition.

Watch your bankroll grow

You shouldn’t gamble what you can’t afford to lose, but with sound bankroll management techniques you’re very unlikely to lose your money, and you should eventually increase your bankroll as your skill and experience grows. Remember that you may need to move down a limit in response to a dwindling bankroll. A few days with the fishes in the low limit games may be all you need to get back into the games that really excite and challenge you.

Remember to always choose a limit game that allows you to play with confidence and aggression, to limit your daily wagering and hands played, and to watch out for the tilts, and you’ll watch your dollars grow.

“Basically, if the online (poker) sites were able to send the players like they did last year, we would have been well over 10,000 players this year,” Phil Gordon told USA Today.

Gordon served as the color analyst on ESPN’s live pay-per-view telecast of this year’s main event.

“This isn’t a down year when you take into account the regulatory climate. Every single sign I see says the game is growing in popularity. There are more people than ever that have played this game this year at the World Series of Poker.

The government action addressed by Gordon was the passage of the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits banks and credit card companies from making U.S. customer payments to online sites for any type of gambling that is illegal under U.S. law including online poker.

Though this was the first decline in over a decade for the World Series of Poker, 2007 also marked the second biggest turnout. Gordon’s comments imply that the new law has done little to stymie poker’s growing popularity outside of cutting down in the numbers entering the WSOP.

This year’s Main Event champion, 39-year-old Jerry Yang, walked off with over $8 million. The social worker from Temecula, Calif., said he took up poker only two years ago.

Jeff Haney of the Las Vegas Sun delve deep into the world of a man who nobody in the poker world probably even heard of until this week. That’s when Dr. Jerry Yang, who emigrated to the US during the 1970’s from Laos as a child, became the newest World Series of Poker champion.

Yang walked off with $8.25 mil. Quite a conquest considering he only began playing poker just two years ago.

A greater man could not have won the 2007 World Series of Poker championship and Jerry Yang will do great things to help promote this wonderful game that certain politicians have worked feverishly to ban.

The 39-year-old psychologist, social worker and deeply spiritual man from Temecula, Calif., has pledged to donate to charity 10 percent of the $8.25 million he won at the World Series of Poker and plans to devote even more to missionary efforts.

“I kept saying, ‘Lord, give me a set,’ ” Yang said, using the common poker term for three-of-a-kind. “And there was a 4 on the flop.”

Another time, Yang needed an ace or a 4 on the final card to fill a straight and extend his tournament life.

“I said, “Lord, if you want me to win this, put the ace or the 4 on the river,’ ” Yang said. A 4 came, and Yang lived to fight on.

“I’ve seen miracles,” he tells Haney.

Yes, the Lord uses poker players too, anyone in fact who simply says, “here am I”, just like the women at the well.

Three men who were found guilty last week of using the Internet to incite terrorism were said to have laundered money through various online poker rooms.

CHECK OUT SHIRE NETWORK NEWS

According to a report in the Washington Post, investigators in the US and Britain spent hundreds of hours tracking the financial activities of the three men across thousands of merchants in more than a dozen countries.

The men used more than 130 stolen credit cards at 43 different online gambling websites including Canbet, Paradise poker and Noble Poker.

The allegations highlight the need for all online gaming operators to put in place stringent anti-money laundering policies in order to minimise their exposure to such risk. Although online gaming companies are not exposed to the same regulatory pressures as financial institutions and land-based casinos, they could still be subject to civil suits and adverse market and public reaction if they fail to show that they have taken every step to minimise the company’s risk to money laundering activities.

This is one of the first instances known where money laundering through online poker rooms has been documented.

The global jihad landed in Linda Spence’s e-mail inbox during the summer of 2003, in the form of a message urging her to verify her eBay account information, according to a report in the Washington Post. The 35-year-old New Jersey resident clicked on the link included in the message, which took her to a counterfeit eBay site where she entered personal financial information.

Spence’s information wound up in the hands of a man in Britain who investigators say was the brains behind a cell that sought to facilitate bombings in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Investigators say Spence’s stolen data made its way via the Internet black market for stolen identities to a 21-year-old biochemistry student, Tariq al-Daour, one of three British residents who pleaded guilty this week to using the Internet to incite murder.

According to the Washington Post, Investigators in the United States and Britain say the three used computer viruses and stolen credit card accounts to set up a network of communication forums and Web sites that hosted such things as tutorials on computer hacking and bomb-making, and videos of beheadings and suicide bombings in Iraq.

Authorities say one of the men, Waseem Mughal, a 24-year-old law student, was found with a computer containing a 26-minute video that included instructions in Arabic for preparing a suicide-bomb vest and a recipe for improvised explosives.

Poker: PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato Announces 500% Membership Increase In his half-year letter to members of the Poker Players Alliance, Chairman and former Republican New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato mentioned major accomplishments that likely exceeded even the poker world’s initial expectations.

A 500% increase in Poker Players Alliance membership, 4 bills pending in the House, and plenty of optimism.

Our staff here at Crush Shot Sports, Betting Odds - Graffiti Wall encourage our readers and friends of poker to join and get your voice heard. Here was the letter Mr. D’Amato sent out to members today.

Dear PPA Members,

We have accomplished so much in so little time! Our membership has grown more than 500% since the first of the year, to over 600,000 members — thanks in no small part to you telling your fellow poker enthusiasts to join our cause. We are well on our way to our One Million Member target, and I again ask for your help by encouraging your family, friends and tablemates to join the PPA.

In Washington: Things are moving and moving fast. There are 4 bills pending in the House of Representatives that are helpful for on-line poker and our members. We are strongly supporting two of these bills: Congressman Barney Frank’s H.R. 2046, the “Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act” and Congressman Robert Wexler’s H.R. 2610, the “Skill Games Protection Act”.

Other bills include Congresswoman Shelley Berkley’s H.R. 2410, which calls for a study of Internet Gaming, and Congressman McDermott’s H.R. 2607, which amends H.R. 2610 with a revenue component.

In all, we have a lot of momentum, but we still need your help. I just returned from the World Series of Poker, where PPA hosted Congressman Wexler. We saw first-hand the growth and grandeur of the sport of poker, and we asked the WSOP players for their support. They responded in droves, proving that poker enthusiasts are dedicated activists.

As you know, we are a membership-driven organization and we need your support. We lobby on Capitol Hill and in state capitols to defend poker, but these efforts are not without cost.

We know you agree that poker is not a crime…but we need your help to prevent the coming of the day when the law says it is. Can you assist with an ante up of $5 or more and donate to the PPA, or can you upgrade your membership from an introductory membership to a full membership or even a supporting membership? If you are already a full member, can you consider donating an additional amount for the 2007 campaign?

Please also note we have a store where you can purchase merchandise from PPA hats and t-shirts, to PPA poker tables. Proceeds from these sales go directly to fund our campaign for poker and keep us going strong. Please spare what you can — think of it as putting in your Ante to say you’re Proud to Play Poker!

Regards,

Senator Al D’Amato Chairman of the Board Poker Players Alliance

Jerry Yang finally eliminated Tuan Lam to win the 2007 World Series of Poker’s Main Event, the $8.25 million first prize and his first WSOP bracelet after nearly 14 hours of grueling play.

Yang was a true rookie who had never won in poker circuit play.

An amateur poker player from Temecula, California, is the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. Yang holds a Masters Degree in health psychology and works as a psychologist and social worker. He is married with six children.

He was born into a family of Hmong mountain dwellers in Laos, arriving in the US a refugee from the Vietnam War at the age of 13, during which he said his father fought on the side of the United States.

“The communists invaded my country back in the ’70s,” he said. “My family immigrated to Thailand. In fact, we escaped. We got caught by the communists once. It was either be killed or try to escape again. We managed to escape to Thailand and I spent the next four years in a refugee camp.”

Yang started playing poker two years ago. He entered the 2007 World Series of Poker after winning a $225 satellite at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula.

Yang survived a field of 6,358 in the Main Event to make the final table for his first career money finish in a poker tournament. At the final table Yang went from starting 8th in chips to holding a big chip lead which he never relinquished. Heads-up against Tuan Lam he won the title with 8♣ 8♦ against Lam’s A♦ Q♦ when he hit a nine-high straight on the river after Lam had caught a queen on the flop. Yang won $8,250,000 for the victory, and he has pledged to donate 10% percent of his winnings to three charities: the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House.

Graffiti Wall Online Gambling Odds - Proposition Betting had made Jerry Yang a 9 to 1 underdog to win the 2007 World Series of Poker prior to final table play.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS

1. Jerry Yang $8.25 million

2. Tuan Lam $4,840,981

3. Raymond Rahme $3,048,025

4. Alex Kravchenko $1,852,721

5. Jon Kalmar $1,255,069

6. Hevad Khan $956,243

7. Lee Childs $705,229

8. Lee Watkinson $585,699

9. Philip Hilm $525,934

World Series of Poker: Meet the World’s 5 Newest Millionaires It’s official, while a winner hasn’t been declared yet for this year’s World Series of Poker, we now know who the 5 millionaire will be.

Jerry Yang 65,425,000 chips at 6:30 pm PST

Raymond Rahme 29,100,000 chips

Alex Kravchenko 17,950,000 chips

Tuan Lam 15,000,000 chips

Jon Kalmar Busted

Dr. Yang maintained his huge lead, though it was cut to 2 to 1 from a 3 time lead earlier. South Africa’s Raymond Rahme has edged his way upwards.

Jon Kalmar was the first of the millionaires. He walked off with $1,255,069.

Here’s how his elimination went down.

Raymond Rahme raises to $2,500,000 and Jon Kalmar moves all in for $10,490,000 more. Rahme thinks briefly as his green clad spectators stand, ready to burst at any second. Rahme makes the call and shows down JJ, and Kalmar tables AK. Both camps explode in support of their respective players, with calls for an ace or king tangling with yells for a third jack. Kalmar stands, wiping his hands on his black shirt, emblazoned with a picture of Family Guy character Stewie Griffin dressed as the lead character from Clockwork Orange. The flop comes 1096, and Rahme maintains the lead. Kalmer gets no help when the 3 comes on the turn and he is down to the last card. The river is the 3 and Kalmer is eliminated in fifth place. Rahme’s supporters burst out in song, and the 62-year-old busts out a little dance to celebrate. He now has $29,890,000 in chips.

Earlier, colorful Hevad “RainKhan” Khan busted, but no need to show any pity. The Internet player walks off with a cool $956,243. Congrats to both Khan and Kalmar for a job well done.

Washington State WSOP player may not want to go back home

At press time July 15, 2007 7 pm Las Vegas time, it was professional poker player Lee Watkinson who was just inches away from becoming the new 2007 WSOP chip leader. Relatively unknown Tuan Lam held that spot, at least momentarily. Hopefully those fine folks in Washington State government aren’t watching.

With Rick Tocchet convicted on charges of illegal gambling and awaiting prison - disappearing earlier this week from the World Series of Poker (he had not busted out) - could there actually be a criminal-in-waiting still alive among the final WSOP players?

As far-fetched as the concept may seem, the answer to this question is technically - YES.

That is because Lee Watkinson was born in Washington State, and he still resides there in the town of Cheney. It’s a common joke in the world of online poker that the US should consider allowing Washington to become its own separate country.

It has to do with the fact that Washington is the only state in the Union that has made playing online poker a Class C felony, the same charge leveled against child molesters and drug dealers. For our international readers, Washington State is not to be confused with the US capital of Washington, D.C, also known as The District of Columbia, which of course has its own problems. George has to be rolling over in his grave just about every day at this point.

Watkinson is also not shy about boasting his online poker affiliation either. Full Tilt Poker is represented throughout his website.

Last week, almost simultaneously, Washington State found itself challenged in a court of law by an attorney who decided its anti-online poker law was “unconstitutional”. Within days of this news, the state raided an Internet betting exchange, Betcha.com, that claimed it was not actually a “betting” site since members wager against each other and Betcha.com did not incorporate an actual bookmaker. The idea that Betcha.com thought they could legally operate in a heavy-handed state such as Washington kinda makes you wonder if that Northwest Pacific air is still toxic from Mount St. Helens erupting back in 1980.

Watkinson, meanwhile, could be made an example of by the Washington State political forces - spearheaded by (D-WA St) - Governor Christine Gregoire. It’s doubtbul the state would want to test those waters considering how massively popular the World Series of Poker has become.

By 6:00 pm Sunday evening Las Vegas time, this year’s World Series of Poker was down to 18 players from 6358 entries.

Among those still in it, 1998’s World Series of Poker winner, Scotty Nguyen, and another successful pro, Lee Watkinson.

Nine players busted in three hours since our last update.

“It’s rough, baby,” said the 1998 main event winner, who had 3.6 million in chips after several hours of play. “It’s rough, but I’m still here. Skill takes you here, but now you need a little luck to go deeper.”

Moments later, Nguyen went from last of 27 players to the middle of the pack after moving all in with an ace and queen and beating a player with pocket 10s when he flopped an ace on the board.

“I’m the comeback kid,” he said.

Lee Childs of Reston, Va. switched places with William Spadea, a 60-year-old retiree from South Easton, Mass., for the number one spot by 6 pm PST.

Play will continue until another nine individuals bust out. The remaining 9 will compete on Tuesday during the final day of the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Here were your chip leaders at 6:00 pm PST:

William Spadea 10,950,000 1,165,000

Lee Childs 10,795,000 400,000

John Armbrust 10,200,000 4,525,000

Ray Henson 10,000,000 865,000

Philip Hilm 9,985,000 2,515,000

Jerry Yang 9,200,000 200,000

Raymond Rahme 8,750,000 750,000

Kenny Tran 7,285,000 1,215,000

Jon Kalmar 6,840,000 3,330,000

David Tran 6,690,000 135,000

Tuan Lam 6,105,000 895,000

Hevad “Rain” Khan 5,300,000 240,000

Lee Watkinson 4,360,000 160,000

Bob Slezak 4,280,000 280,000

Scotty Nguyen 4,150,000 25,000

Kevin Farry 2,970,000 150,000

Steven Garfinkle 2,855,000 205,000

Alex Kravchenko 1,540,000