Poker Blog & Poker Forum

The Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) has struggled the last few years, but with the recent aquisition by Headsup Entertainment, it appears the tour is returning to its former glory, and with any luck at all, even set new goals for itself in the future.

Not only is the CPT starting to regain ground in the western provinces, where it truly has gained in popularity, but its now looking at expanding into the online world with its very own online TV network, set to begin broadcasting in the last quarter of 2009 (meaning VERY soon hopefully).  The network will primarily cover the major Canadian poker events from across the country, as well as provide behind the scenes peak at life on the Canadian poker tour circuit in documentary format.  Headsup Entertainment president Kelly Kellner stated “Players and fans alike will have an innovative and effective means to pursue their interest in the sport and we couldn’t be more excited.”

And neither can the ambitious players who have come to play these events.  Albeit currently smaller than other national leagues, the attendance at various events across the country continues to grow, and the prize pools and p0int structure of the events make them very popular.  There are now more events available in Ontario, a market that hasn’t been saturated nearly enough, and prospects look good to include more eastern province events as well.  The biggest tournament on the CPT – the Canadian Open Championship – continues to build a solid reputation with a number of elite poker players attending.  Past events have included such big names as Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Madsen, Brad Booth, and Huck Seed, who won the event in 2008.

Kellner also mentioned that the launching of the new video site will be a key step  in their plans to expand to international markes and build on an exisiting partnership with the World Poker Showdown.  This along with the relauching of Canadian Poker Player magazine are just the first key steps in an aggressive strategy for Headsup Entertainment to capture the very soul of the Canadian poker player and bring it into the international spotlight again.

Its an exciting time to be a Canadian poker player again.  With the expansion plans of Headsup Entertainment, and the availability of a truely national tour such as this, the oppurtunities for Canadian players continues to grow rapidly.  Its a well known fact that the best players in the game are Canadians, but up until now, its only been a national secret.  With this new format for the CPT, and the partnership with the World Poker Showdown, the tour is ready is prove to the world that we are the number one players on the globe.

Monday Aug 3 2009 was a sad day for the online poker world.

Andreas Oscarsson, found of PokerListings.com, a popular online website offering information, news, and training materials, was found shot to death while on vacation in his hometown in Sweden.  Not a lot of details are available yet, however there is speculation that the killer somehow gained access to his boyhood home and committed the murder as retribution for a past event.  However, this is mere speculation at this time.

Although no longer active in the operational aspects of PokerListings, Andreas used his vast knowledge and experience in an advisory role in building the current team.

FuzionPoker wishes to extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

For the original announcement, please click this link

http://www.pokerlistings.com/pokerlistings-founder-passes-away-43083

PokerStars, the premier online poker site, has announced this week a new battle of international proportions called AMERICAS CUP OF POKER. This event brings together 16 teams from different North and South American countries, as well as three ‘wildcard’ entries from other countries around the world, to battle it out to determine who is the BEST in the Americas. It all comes together in a live final to be held in Cerro Catedral Ski Resort in Argentia in the near future.

The 16 teams are split into four groups to start with

• Group A – USA, Mexico, Ecuador, and Wildcard1
• Group B – Canada, Columbia, Uruguay, and Wildcard2
• Group C – Chile, Venezula, Peru, and Costa Rica
• Group D – Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Wildcard3

What makes this challenge even more exciting is the buyin levels for each round. Daily freerolls are being offered, as well as $0.20 and $5.50 tournaments every day. Check out the PokerStars lobby under Tournaments/Regional to find which countries play against each other in the first round.

Group play will take about three weeks to complete in a round robin format. Players score points for their country by making the top 100 in the daily tournaments, and the two countries with the most points after all the matches are complete move on to a live final in Argentina. Each country for the live event will be made of five players who earned the most points during the group stage for their country as well as a PokerStars Pro to lead them in the final battle. First prize at the live event is $100,000!!

For more information, go to www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/americas-cup/

Good luck to all who participate…but GO CANADA GO!!

Can you throw this out?

The November Nine have been decided now, and one of the lucky players to return to the final table of the Main Event in the 2009 WSOP is Jeff Shulman, editor of CardPlayer magazine.  This is his second final table at a Main Event final table, the first happening a number of years ago that left him humbled (more on that another time though).

What makes his return to this years’ final table however, is the statement he made should he win the event (currently he sits at 19.58million in chips, third behind Darvin Moon and Steven Begleiter).  Jeff stated that should he win the event, he would ‘throw the bracelet in the garbage’.

Speculation is that this is due primarily to the bad blood between CardPlayer magazine and Harrahs, host of the WSOP, stemming from the selling of media rights to the events a couple of years ago.  CardPlayer was once the number one resource in updating major events, however when Harrahs bought the rights to hold the WSOP, they decided to take bids from other resources, and CardPlayer elected not to bid.  Some say this is the primary reason for the blood feud happening between the two organizations.

However, Jeff Shulman points out that this is indeed not the case.  Harrahs may hate CardPlayer, but moreso over issues of fairness of play in the events, and the fact that Harrahs insists on practising favouritism for certain individuals and groups.  For example, Phil Hellmuth was given a penalty this year in one of the events, and immediately went to the Jeffery Pollack to get it overturned, thereby not having to suffer a loss at the table.  There is no doubt in my mind that if any average Joe player were to attempt this, they would not be as successful as Phil was, only because of his celebrity status.  This is not the only example Shulman provided, as many of the players sponsored by SpadeClub.com (CardPlayer’s own poker learning site) were literally removed from their earned VIP seats at an event in and offered to other unknown celebrities.  It seems that Harrahs has a real hate on for CardPlayer, doesn’t it?  Shulman has called the bracelet itself “tacky” and he would never wear it, and therefore if he would win the Main Event Final Table in November, he would toss the jewerly into the trash can.  Since then, he has recanted a bit and offered four alternatives:

1. Auction off the bracelet and give the money to charity
2. Hold a tournament for all players shut out of the main event and award the bracelet to the winner
3. Give the bracelet away in a SpadeClub.com tournament
4. Give the bracelet to Stephen Colbert ( a comedian of some caliber that I have never heard of)

Auctioning it off for charity is a good alternative, as is awarding it as a prize in a SpadeClub tournament, however awarding to those who couldn’t get their asses in gear to prequalify for the Main Event is just wrong in my opinion, but it would be HIS to do with as he sees fit, so I won’t begrudge him doing that either.  I mean, should he win the Final Table, a task he even admits himself he has a slim chance of doing at all, he would have earned the bracelet and therefore could do whatever the hell he wanted to do with it, including tossing into the closest garbage can (can you imagine the dumpster diving fiasco should he do that…there WILL be blood).  However, should he win it, I would ask him to reconsider his decision and accept the award.

First of all, its the STANLEY CUP of poker…as the World Cup is to soccer, the bracelet is to poker.  Every poker player in the entire world wants it, dreams of winning it, and would kill to get it, but I’m hoping that 99.9% of them would rather EARN it than buy it in an auction.  At least I would.  He wouldn’t have to wear it, or even display it if he chose not to (Shulman admits he never keeps trophies either), but its the iconic symbol of the game, the brass ring that every player reaches for in their poker career, be they newbie donks or experienced pros.  Its the epitomy of the reaching the highest level in this game we love, and it carries a lot of weight and more importantly, respect, in the poker industry.  Not to mention its value is estimated at $30,000!!!  Okay, so compared to the $8.5million for first place, that isn’t a lot, but $30grand is still $30grand!!  To treat this as garbage is an insult not to Harrahs, as he might seem to think, but to the poker industry and all the players world wide that respect it so.

Jeff Shulman…should you win this contest in November, I truly hope you do what is best for the game as a whole, and not for some petty exhibition to examplify your personal conflicts.

Advocates of the game of poker in Germany are doing their best to make it more socially acceptable and common for German people. Boris Becker, a millionaire, has come back to help promote the poker room and make it more mainstream.

“Nine years after retiring from his professional tennis career, millionaire Boris Becker is cashing in on aces once again. He’s become the spokesman in a high-profile ad campaign for a poker Web site.

Becker isn’t the only celebrity to lend his face to an industry that’s trying to polish up its image and increase its social acceptability. Bayer Leverkusen soccer club has also done ads for an online poker company.”  – Source

According to Yearbook Addicts 2008, over 300,000 Germans admit to playing poker regularly every year, with that number rising. Gambling in Germany is really only allowed in the casinos but so far nobody has been charged in this supposed grey area.