As we were perusing the news this morning, we discovered an intriguing story about a Hollywood movie mogul trying to spin a new casino card game he invented into the next Texas Hold'em. His game, called BlackJack Extreme sounds like an intriguing mix of poker and blackjack, with plenty of bluffing, and a chance to play the "house".
Here's a bit about the story behind this new game from KansasCity.com:
[David C.]Thomas and Internet marketing guru Mark Koetting have formed BJX Entertainment LLC and are simultaneously pitching BlackJack Extreme as a TV card-game show, an online or live casino poker room game and an electronic game joining slot machines and video poker on casino floors.
“This is very ambitious to move simultaneously into three major industries,” Thomas admitted. But he’s confident that, given a chance, the game will catch on.
“It’s fast. It’s fun,” he said. And, he added, BlackJack Extreme is even more sociable than standard blackjack or Texas Hold ’em.
And for more on the game itself, head over to the BlackJack Extreme website, where you can learn to play, watch a sample game, and see a video that gives a flavor of how a TV show might work.
Welcome to the sickest game in town. We took the best of poker, added the best of blackjack, and came up with a brand new game. If you have the heart to bluff, the courage to make big plays and the brains to stay two jumps ahead of your opponents we’ve got the game for you. It’s blackjack so the rules are familiar - you can surrender, hit, stay, double and naturals pay 3 to 2. It’s BlackJack eXtreme because everyone takes turns being the dealer. When you’re the dealer, you can bluff, fold and hit any soft hand. When you’re the player you can go all-in but take as many cards as needed to make the best hand. And card counting is allowed. Learn to Play – Play to Win.
This morning, we came across a very nice review of the Poker Room at the Venetian written up by Pokernews.com. We have not had the chance to visit the venetian's poker room, but it sure sounds like a lovely place.
The Venetian's poker room is one of three high-end, luxury poker rooms in Las Vegas, the other two being the Wynn and the Bellagio. The Venetian was designed with appearance in mind, having 21 large-screen plasma televisions, beautiful tables, extremely comfortable, adjustable chairs, richly appointed décor, and a very tasteful, muted, coordinated color scheme to the room – giving it an air of luxury that's unmatched in Las Vegas rooms.
The 2007 World Series of Poker is well under way, and you can keep track of all the action through the magic and wonder of the Internet.
We begin our tour with a stop at the PokerNews WSOP Live Reporting Page. This page is fantastic. You can get event standings, and even chip counts in up-to-date time. Its not exactly "real time" but its pretty darn fast. Each event is essentially treated as a blog, and the reporters just regularly update the info on the event! Brilliant! There is even a video gallery of all the action!
Another great feature of the site, is the "Feature Hands" section. This section replays great hands in a "sports graphic" sort of way, so that you can see just how the action unfolded. A simply AWESOME feature.
That not enough for you? Fine, no worries, you can head over to the Official WSOP site, and get plenty of live coverage there too!
To begin with, there is a ton of video coverage, including daily recaps for every day of the tourney. Of course, there is a tournament standing update page, which gives the standings for each event. On the main page, you can get to all of the various blogs covering the tournament. And finally, there is the video coverage of all of the final tables.
If you really need your know whats happening live, you can, for a premium of $50 a year, get the Live Video.
With all the tools at your disposal, its pretty hard to miss all the action going on at this year's WSOP. Maybe next year, they will add a remote-play feature, so you can even PLAY the tournament via the Internet.
Phil Hellmuth Achieves 11 World Series of Poker Bracelets
Well, the bad boy of poker has done it. He has won his 11th bracelet on the World Series of Poker events, and thus solidified his position as one of the greatest poker players of all time. And somehow, we think he wont be stopping at 11. Congratulations Mr. Hellmuth.
The self-dubbed WSOP "Record Man" now stands alone atop the poker world.
Phil Hellmuth Jr., who before the series vowed to play well enough to break all of the major WSOP records, humbly accepted number bracelet No. 11 from Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan Monday night after winning Event #15, a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event. The victory came just one year after he tied Brunson and Chan with ten WSOP titles.
The 1989 WSOP Main Event title was Hellmuth's largest victory in terms or prestige and money, but this last win was the personal mission of a player who wants to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
"This is the one I really wanted," Hellmuth said afterward in a post-tournament press conference. "I have so much respect for Doyle and Johnny. To now be at the top of the all-time (WSOP wins) list is really about as good a feeling as I have ever had."
It was electric inside the Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa on Thursday. The forty remaining players from Event 1 ($500 buy-in event) returned to battle. The field that began with 1,370 players had been whittled down to three. Tae Baik of Leonia, NJ, knocked out the remaining two players to capture the first title of the 2007 Winter Poker Open and the $152,960 in first place prize money.
David Zhu of Scarbourough, Canada, was the second place finisher taking home $95,900. The third place finisher, Emad Alabsi of Wickliffe, Ohio takes home $58,225. Alabsi, who called himself the "The Beast" at the table, had a dominating table personality often singing for the table or laughing it up with the growing crowd. "I always have fun when I'm playing poker here; Borgata offers a great atmosphere to play in."
Now we don't think that your little home game for $50 bucks is going to get you arrested. Sure, it may technically be illegal, but your local police department probably has better things to do.
If on the other hand, you're home game ends up growing to $13,000 in monies that people have on them, then perhaps you will run into trouble like these folks:
Another raid on a private poker game in America's traditional South has seen 24 poker enthusiasts arrested and cited with varying gambling charges in connection to the game.
The recent raid in suburban Gainesville, Georgia targeted a home where authorities had reports of an ongoing poker game running as often as twice a week, and after an extended stakeout, the 11 p.m. raid found 26 people in the house, 24 of whom were arrested. The raid involved at least four different agencies from the local, state and federal levels, including the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms). The game's operators and dealers were charged with commercial gambling, while the players themselves were charged either with gambling or criminal intent.
NBC has jumped on the poker bandwagon with their new show, Poker After Dark. Its airs late night (2 a.m. in most markets), and is NBC's attempt to get in on the poker craze. As a late night show, we think it works nicely, though as the review at PokerNews.com points out, the show's format does sometimes lack in the commentary.
All in all, its more poker for us to consume, and if we're up that late, maybe a little less Mike Sextant is just what the doctor ordered.
Here are some more links on the show itself, and check your local listings for airtime:
Another year, another set of tournaments passed. Clearly it was a big year in poker, with prize pools growing ever higher, and the poker craze really going strong.
But what would poker be, without its players? Not much we say! And who were the folks to watch in 2006? According to Poker News.com, the best of the best was Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi :
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi - After his outstanding poker play in 2005, many people might have wondered how "The Grinder" could top it. He did it by putting together a year that surpassed his 2005 efforts and led to his crowning as Poker Player of the Year.
In 2006, Mizrachi started January with a second place finish at the World Poker Tour Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, MS, then went on a mere eight days later to capture the WPT's first ever Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City. This gave him a huge leg up on the year long POY chase, but he didn't stop there. He won preliminary events at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championships and the Winnin' O' The Green and also had a runner up finish during an L. A. Poker Classic tournament. By capping his year off with a 29th place finish at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Michael finished off a sterling 2006 and has laid claim to the arguable title of "best young player" in the game today.
Read on to find out PokerNews's whole top nine list.
The Poker News has a nice little writeup of the Year in Poker. Clearly with the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, it was a year that had large ramifications on the poker world. But all wasn't bad news, as the contued rise of poker popularity showed itself in some fantastic competitions. Head on over to read all the good and bad of Poker in 2006.
From all of us here at Just the Chips, to all of you out there, have a safe and happy holiday, and remember, don't be blinded by a flush, and don't ever underestimate your opponent.
Online poker strategies - Game selection & Bankroll
We like the advice and think this is a fairly decent article on how to get started online and offline.
The difference between starting your poker career off as a winner or as a loser is Game Selection. Choose the appropriate game for your bankroll and your skill level and you will be rewarded with a long and winning career in poker.
Make sure you have an adequate bankroll for the stakes of the game. Normal game fluctuations dictate that playing in a $3/$6 game with a $50 total bankroll will normally see you leaving the table broke and looking to deposit more money. A good rule of thumb is to have a bankroll of about 20 times the big bet to consistently play at a particular limit (e.g. $20 to play at $.50/$1).
Happy belated Independence Day, my fellow Americans! This mid-summer holiday was best celebrated with friends and family at barbecues and ballgames, followed by fireworks.
Unless you're a poker player, that is. One of the premier WSOP events would start on our nation's 230th birthday, and it featured fireworks of a different kind.
Can I get a chip count please? The next time you're sitting at the poker table and someone goes all-in, finding out how much more it is to call is going to be so much easier thanks to a Korean start-up that has embedded RFID tags into casino chips – the first of its kind. According to Telecoms Korea, compatible devices will be able to give you a quick chip count, "no matter how many there might be."
Of course, you won't be able to scan chip stacks across the room, nor would you need to. The RFID tags have an "instant recognition range" of three metres, which is more than what the dealer will need to access any given pile at his table. The tiny metal chip is incredibly small and lightweight, being embedded right into the middle of the chip. You won't even know it's there.
They say that other companies have tried implementing UHF RFID tags before, but "failed in commercializing due to anti-collision problem."
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BlackJack Extreme
We like the advice and think this is a fairly decent article on how to get started online and offline.
Can I get a chip count please? The next time you're sitting at the poker table and someone goes all-in, finding out how much more it is to call is going to be so much easier thanks to a Korean start-up that has embedded RFID tags into casino chips – the first of its kind. According to Telecoms Korea, compatible devices will be able to give you a quick chip count, "no matter how many there might be."
