When Your Home Game Gets Too Big

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.

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Poker After Dark, An Intriguing New Show On NBC

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:

Official Poker After Dark Show Website

The Official Poker After Dark Blog by NBC

Poker News.com Review of the Show

Some Classic Phil Helmuth fun on the show via You Tube

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Top Players of 2006

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.

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A Year in Poker

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.

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Happy Holidays from Just The Chips

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.

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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).

At Online poker strategies

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Zwerner Captures the 2006 WSOP $1,500 Omaha Bracelet

Really excited to see some Omaha news...

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.

At Omaha News and update at PokerNews.com

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Moving Host for Just The Chips

We know the entries have been slow but we've been moving hosts. If you see this - you've arrived with us.

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RFID goes all-in at the casino

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."

At RFID goes all-in at the casino

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Cruiser skips Cayman, wins $1M Poker Tourney

Newly minted poker millionaire Mike Schneider has one regret about how he spent his spring break: He didn’t get to see much of the Caribbean.

But Schneider has a million other reasons to be happy. The 22–year–old University of Minnesota student won $1 million in a high–stakes Limit Hold’em poker tournament on a Caribbean cruise last Friday.

Instead of exploring the Cayman Islands with the other passengers during the eight–day cruise, Schneider holed up on board, slept in and relaxed in the sun so he would be in good form for the nail–biting tournament, which lasted five to eight hours a day.

At Cay Compass News Online - Photo from AP

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