Event schedule

The Lucky Chance’sBattleof the Bay poker tournament has been one of the most successful poker events in San Francisco Bay Area. Last year, the event managed to attract around 1300 participants, and gave away more than $600,000 in cash prizes. The prize pool for this year’s event is also expected to be good, and the guaranteed prize for the first place winner is around $100,000. The events you can partake in during the week long festival are as follows.

1. The series starts off with a No limit Hold’em Re-entry event on June 3. The buy-in for this event is $600 and it offers a guaranteed prize of $40,000 for the first place winner.
2. On June 5, you can participate in another no-limit Hold’em re-entry event for a buy-in of $350. This event guarantees $20,000 in prizes.
3. On day 2, June 4, you can participate in the $120 NLH re-buy event, which offers a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000.
4. A Six Handed NLH re-entry event will take place on June 6. This event has a buy-in of $350 and a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000.
5. On June 8, there will be a Limit Omaha Hi/Lo eights or better event. This will have a buy-in of $350 and a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000

The highlight of the series is certainly the Championship event, which takes place on June 10. The event has a buy-in of $1,080 and will be offering a guaranteed prize of $100,000 for the winner. In addition to these, a partner’s tournament is expected to take place on June 9, where two players battle it against bounty teams. For every team you knockout, you get $300.

Other incentives offered during the series include a Lucky Chance jacket for players reaching the final table and a LCI polo shirt for all those entering the championship.

Enter the battle through satellites

Lucky Chance casino is hosting a super satellite on May 20, to give away free seats to theBattleof the Bay events. These qualifier events guarantee entry to the championship event and a couple of side-events too. Participating in these satellites can be a great idea if you want the chance to win $100,000 without having to spend $1,080 for the buy-in.

About the deal

In anticipation of online poker legalization in the US, bwin.party digital entertainment plc has joined hands with the Auburn Indian Community to launch online poker services in California. Should there be a favorable outcome and if online poker is legalized in the US, then bwin.party will be providing the necessary online gaming software to UAIC, so that the latter can offer its poker games online. UAIC is a recognized Indian tribe and is licensed to operate the casino in California, which also qualifies it as an eligible applicant for a license to offer online poker in the state. This, however, would be possible when a suitable online gambling legislation is passed.

The UAIC has entered into a 10-year agreement with bwin.party, which will begin once the online poker services are officially launched. According to bwin’s CEO, Jim Ryan, the partnership will bring together the best of resources from each party to provide some of the best online poker facilities to California, which houses a significant number of poker players from the country.

The tribal chairman of the UAIC, David Keyser, is also very positive about the online gambling situation in the country is certain that sooner or later, the bill will be passed and online gambling would become legal. Keyser also said that bwin.digital was their first choice, owing to the company’s reputation in offering world-class online poker games and its loyal customer base. With this partnership, the UAIC chairman is confident that their revenue will increase significantly.

About UAIC and bwin.digital

Bwin.party digital entertainment is the largest listed online gaming company in the world and has licenses to offer its services across Europe, including France, Denmark and Italy. UAIC is a regulated Indian tribe that operates the popular Thunder Valley Casino, which is located near Sacramento in California. While UAIC chose bwin for its top notch gaming software and infrastructure, bwin chose UAIC as it can secure the necessary licenses for offering online poker services in the state. No matter what the reason was for this partnership, poker lovers in California can look forward to getting one of the best online poker sites, once online gambling be legalized in the state.

New Jersey online gambling bill moves one step forward

New Jersey is among the many states of the US pushing for legalization of online gambling. Recently, a bill which can make New Jersey the first state to offer online versions of popular casino games like roulette, poker etc has been approved by an assembly committee. The bill, which will be sent to vote in a full assembly, received 3-1 votes by the Regulatory Oversight and gaming Committee.

Party Poker WPT free cash offer

Getting free cash for playing poker is simple with the Party Poker and WPT $2000 Cash offer. To be eligible for the cash prize, all you need to to is register with Party Poker or the WPT anytime during the month of May, 2012. Once you do, you will be rewarded with tournament cash of $10 absolutely free. But there is a catch here. This cash prize will be offered only to the first 200 players who register with either Party Poker or the WPT. You might still have a chance of getting it if you hurry and sign up with either of the sites without delay.

WPT and Party Tournament Fever

RaketheRake.com is also running another promotion for WPT and Party Poker, except here, it is not offering any free cash. Yet, this is an exciting promo that a poker fan cannot miss. The WPT and Party Poker $16,000 Tournament Fever features exclusive tournaments that give away $16k in cash. The promo began on May 8 and will continue till May 25, 2012. A total of 12 tournaments will take place during this period, with buy-ins starting as low as $2.50. The series also includes a few freerolls and $5.50 WSOP qualifiers you can participate in. The series will feature no-limit Hold’em, Pot limit Omaha, and seven card stud variants.

The WPT and Party Tournament Fever will also have added cash of $8000, which will be given to the top players on the leaderboard. The points you score in this series depend upon the position where you finish in a particular event. For instance, if your are the top player in a tournament, you get 50 points, and if you come second, you earn 40. Third place holder gets 35 points, 4th place gets 30, 5th place gets 35 and so on. You will get 1 point if you finish in the 20th position.

If you top the leaderboard, you will get $700 in cash, along with 50 WSOP satellite entries. In case you finish between the second and fourth places, you will get $75 and 5 WSOP satellite entries.

Top 100 Point Earners

Yet another WPT and Party Poker promo at RaketheRake.com is the Top 100 Point Earners, which spans from May 1 to May 22, 2012. Sign up with WPT or Party Poker and be among the top 100 rakers for this month, and you could participate in an exclusive freeroll with a prize pool of $4,000.

Events at the Reigate Series

The Reigate Series of Poker began with the the £50 no limit Hold’em Super stack event on May 6, at the Full House casino inSurrey. This tournament offered guaranteed cash prizes of £2000 for the winners. The second event was the £40 no limit Hold’em semi-freezeout tournament on Monday, May 7. The guaranteed prize pool for this event was £1500. The remaining events during the series are as follows.

1. A £40 no limit Hold’em Mega Stack Turbo event takes place on May 8, and will be giving away cash prizes worth £1500
2. A £75 no limit Hold’em six max event takes place on May 9, and will be giving away guaranteed cash prizes worth £3000.
3. The £100 no limit Hold’em Freezeout tournament on May 10 will be giving way cash prizes worth £8500
4. On Friday, May 11, there will be a £60 no limit Hold’em Freezeout with guaranteed cash prize of £4,000
5. The last event of theReigateseries will be the £40 no limit Hold’em Deep stack event with guaranteed prizes of £2000.

The Main Event of the Reigate Series of Poker is certainly the highlight of the series, as it has the highest buy-in and it also offers the highest cash prizes. The Main Event will be a No limit Hold’em tournament and will begin at 2:00 pm on May 12, 2012. The buy-in for this event is £250 and the guaranteed cash prize is £12,500.

How to participate

The details of all theReigateseries tournaments are available on the Full House casino’s website. To participate in these events, you can contact the casino through phone or visit personally. Alternatively, you can also register for the events by paying the buy-in amount online. The Reigate Series of Poker is highly popular in the region and is most likely to attract a huge crowd of poker players. If you don’t want to miss the action at the Full House casino, better register for the events without any delay. The buy-ins are affordable and the payouts are good. The event lasts only for a few more days, which makes it even more important that you act without delay and avoid missing the opportunity.

LCI UKPT Glasgow

The LCI poker tour inGlasgowhas begun in April, and two events have already been completed. The first event at this poke tour was the £33 NLH Deep Stack tournament on March 28 and the second was the £55 NLH event on May 02. On may 3, there will be a £22 satellite for the Main Event, which will begin on May 4. Here is a note on the main event and the other events you can participate in during the festival.

1. The Main Event of the LCI UKPT atGlasgowstarts at 5:00 pm on May 4, Friday. The event has a buy-in of £220 and will take place through May 7, 2012. Day 1 of the event is split into two days – May 4 and May 5, and people can enter the event on either of the days. Day 2 of the event is on May 6, Sunday and the final table of the event is on May 7.
2. Other events during the tour include another £22 satellite event on May 4. Winners of this event can enter Day 1b of the main event the next day.
3. A £22 No limit hold-em Deep Stack event will take place at 9:00 pm on May 5.
4. The last side-event of the tour will be the £22 NLH event on Sunday, May 6. This event begins at 7:00 in the evening.

Registrations at the venue can be done on the day of the event.

Upcoming LCI tournaments

The London Clubs International UK Poker Tour will continue its journey with five more stops this year.

1. The second leg of the LCI UKPT will take place from May 30 to June 4, 2012. It will be held at Rendezvous inBrighton. The Main Event has a buy-in of £550 and the guaranteed prize pool is £30,000.
2. The ALEA inNottinghamwill be hosting the third leg of the LCI tour from July 9 to 15. The Main Event has a buy-in of £225 and the guaranteed prizes are worth £10,000.
3. Leg 4 of the LCI tour will be at the ALEA inLeeds. The tour will be from August 13 to 19, and feature a £330 Main Event that gives away guaranteed prizes of £15,000.
4. The Casino at the Empire inLondonwill be hosting the next leg between September 12 and 16. The Main Event has a buy-in of £550 and the guaranteed prize is £30,000.

The last leg of the LCI UK Poker Tour 2012 will be atManchester, between October 3 and 7, 2012. The tour features a £225 Main Event with guaranteed prize pool of £ 15,000.

Mission to rescue Full Tilt

The closure of Full Tilt last year triggered a series of events, one of which is the members’ demand to refund the money from their deposits. In the last one year, a number of deals were in the pipeline to rescue the online poker site and help it in paying back its members. Soon after the fiasco, several players on Full Tilt moved on to sites like 888 poker and Party Poker and seemed to be quite satisfied with the services, according to a Canadian online poker news site called G Poker. The report from G Poker also states that with so many Full Tilt customers moving away to other sites, PokerStars may not benefit much from this acquisition. This brings up a question, why is PokerStars trying to acquire Full Tilt now, when it is too late to benefit from it?

Speculation about PokerStars merger with Full Tilt

Groupe Bernard Tapie’s 80 million dollar deal to acquire Full Tilt poker fell apart recently. This soon gave rise to reports that PokerStars has replaced GBT and is negotiating with the US DoJ for a Full Tilt merger. News is that the PokerStars deal with the DoJ is worth 750 million dollars, and not the $80 million that GBT was offering. The catch here is that PokerStars is negotiation Full Tilt acquisition as a part of a bigger deal with the DoJ, which involves resolution of PokerStars legal issues due to the UIGEA.

Reports reveal that like Party Poker, PokerStars is attempting to make a deal to solve its legal situation with the DoJ. The poker site has an outstanding lawsuit from the DoJ, and hopes to get a pardon from with this deal, which may cost it heavily according to the reports.

What next

If there is any truth in these speculations about PokerStars acquiring Full Tilt, then PokerStars will benefit when online gambling is legalized in the US. According to the report, PokerStars deal with the DoJ includes acquisition of Full Tilt’s assets in the country. If that should happen, PokerStars will be able to collaborate with a land-based casino in the US to offer online poker games in the event of legalization of internet gambling. It is also speculated that PokerStars will most likely retain the Full Tilt poker software and license it to operators in the states where online poker would be made legal. By acquiring its old rival, PokerStars is removing the possibility of other companies taking up its market share. Not only is this a smart move, it is also a lucrative one for the poker site.

Featured events

Unlike the eighth season, EPT season 9 will have only 7 major stops before the Grand Final. However, each festival during the tour is expected to be more than grand and will feature a variety of poker events for the participants. While the number of stops have been reduced, the number of events at each stop seemed to have increased. The motto of the EPT here seems to be fewer, but better options for the players. Here is a note on the events that will be featured in the 2012 – 2013 European Poker Tour.

• The first stop of the EPT Season 9 will be at Barcelona, which will be accommodating the participants from August 15 to 25, 2012. The main event will be a no limit hold-em tournament with a buy-in of €5,300, and begins on August 19.
• The next stop would be at San Remo, from October 3 to 11, 2012. The highlight here would also be the €5,300 main event from October 5 to 11.
• Third stop of EPT 9 would be the poker festival at Prague from December 5 to 15, 2012. Main Event at this festival is from December 9 to 15.
• The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will be the fourth event of EPT Season 9. It begins on January 6, 2013 and will take place through January 15. The highlight is the €10,300 main event, for which the dates haven’t been announced yet.
• The next stop would be at Deauville, from January 30 to February 9, 2013. The €5,300 main event here takes place from February 3 to 9, 2013.
• London will play host for the sixth EPT festival in 2013. The events will take take place from March 6 to 16, 2013. The Main Event is from March 10 to 16, with a buy-in of €5,300.
• The last stop of EPT Season 9 will be at Berlin, from April 24 to May 4, 2013. The €5,300 Main Event is from April 28 to May 4.
• The Grand Final of the European Poker Tour will again be held at Monte Carlo, from May 6 to 25, 2013.

Qualifiers for the events

The schedule may have just been announced, but PokerStars has already planned the qualifier tournaments for its members. Along with several other online poker sites, EPT will be collaborating with its regional partners to host EPT qualifier satellites across Europe.

Bellagio

The Bellagio is perhaps one of the most popular casinos in Las Vegas. Bobby’s room in the casino is where you can find some of the best poker professionals in the US. At the Bellagio, you can choose to play with the pros for high stakes, or go for the $2/5 and $5/10 NLH tables and still have a good time. The casino hosts daily tournaments at 2:00 pm on every Thursday. A stack of 10,000 chips costs $125 at this casino.

The Venetian

The poker room at the Venetian casino is huge and has 39 poker tables that are almost always full with players. If you enjoy playing DeepStack tournaments, then the Venetian is just the place to be. Venetian poker room is known to host some of the most exciting and lucrative DeepStack poker tournaments that have small buy-ins but pay big. Among the poker tourneys you can consider, there is the $125 tournament that takes place at 8:00 pm everyday, with a rebuy of $50.

The Hard Rock

The Hard Rock is yet another famous casino in Las Vegas. The place is also great for poker enthusiasts, considering the number of poker promos it runs everyday. For instance, the casino pays out $100 for the best hand every hour, between 10:00 and 4:00 pm. Besides that, the casino also runs poker tournaments for $55, where you get a stack of up to 9000 chips. The only drawback of the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel is that it is yet to have a separate room for poker players.

Caesar’s Palace

Caesar’s Palace has a poker room with a classic look and comfortable seating. You can participate in the casino’s 10:00 am poker tournament for $85 (7500 chips) everyday. The site is known to attract a lot of loose players. If you are good at the game and want to make some good money, this is the place to head for while in Vegas.

MGM Grand

Vegas’ visitors need no introduction to MGM Grand. The casino is one of the most luxurious in the city and has a really grand poker room. The casino hosts a number of poker tournaments, including its own Grand Poker Tournament every year. From Sunday to Thursday, you can play at the 7:05 pm tournament for $80 (6000 chips).

The Rio

Now-a-days, The Rio in Las Vegas is in the news for being the venue for the highest paying tournament in the history of poker. Rio will be hosting the WSOP Big One for One Drop in July and has WSOP certified dealers in its poker room. The casino also has a number of daily tournaments you can benefit from, although the starting chip size is just 4000.

Series events

The Grand Challenge Tournament at the MGM Grand Poker Room will take place for a total of 18 days and will feature 30 different events you can participate in. Here is a note on the highlights of the series.

No limit Holdem events

The tournament began on April 19 with the $230 NLH event, which takes place through multiple days. The event has three starting days – Day 1A, 1B and 1C. Players who are knocked out on Day 1A can reenter the game on Day 1B or 1C, and those who are out on Day 1B can re-enter on Day 1C. The players remaining in the tournament at the end of Day 1C get to move to Day 2 and the final table. A similar event also takes place on April 26.

Other NLH events you can participate in are as follows -

• $150 NLH tournaments on April 19, 20, and 26, and May 4, 5 and 6
• A no limit bounty knockout tournament on April 22; the event has a buy-in of $340
• NLH Double Stack for a buy-in of $340 on April 23;$550 NLH deep stack turbo on April 30
• NLH Shootout event on April 24, for a buy-in of $340
• NLH Deep Stack Turbo event on April 25; the event has a buy-in of $340
• NLH six-handed event for a buy-in of $230 on April 25
• All-in or Fold NLH event on April 27 for buy-in of $150
• NLH Mix Max 10-8-6-4 for a buy-in of $550
• Ladies NLH event on May 4, for a buy-in of $230

The main Event of the Grand Challenge Tournament Series is also a no limit Holdem event for a buy-in of $1600. The event begins on May 1 and will take place through May 3, when players will compete at the final table.

Other poker events

Besides no limit Holdem, the Grand challenge tournament also features tournaments inOmahaand other poker variants. These include the $230Omaha8 or better on April 21 and May 3, the $150 PLO with $100 rebuys on April 22 and May 2, and $150 PLO 8 or better with rebuys on April 28. Also, there will be H.O.R.S.E poker tournaments on April 24 and May 1, Stud poker events on April 23, and a Chinese Poker ½ High ½ 2-7 & Player Party on April 29. The Chinese poker event is capped upto 40 players.

Smaller poker tourneys take a hit

While the number of people participating in major events like World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT) seemed to have gained by 13% and 4% respectively, a drop was recorded in others. Of all, live tournaments with smaller buy-ins have seen a decline after the Black Friday. In terms of number of participants, the WPT LA Poker Classic posted a drop of 19%, the Main Event of Aussie Millions dropped by 9%, EPT London dropped by 18, and WSOP Circuit Atlantic City dropped y 25% in 2011. The highest decease in participation was for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which saw a decline of 31% last year.

In addition to smaller tournaments, high roller events at several poker festivals also saw a drop in player participation. Among them were -

• the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure super high roller  for $100,000
• the Aussie Million $100,000 high roller
• the Aussie Millions $250,000 high roller and
• the $100,000 high roller event at Bellagio

Dissolution of poker events

While most of the live poker tournaments recorded a decline in player participation, they managed to survive. But the PokerStars North American Poker Tour, which began in 2012, and the Onyx Cup that Full Tilt had designed with high roller buy-ins between $100,000 and $300,000, had to be dissolved. While the NAPT was held once in 2010, the Onyx Cup was shut down even before it started.

More re-entry events at tournaments

To compensate the decrease in the number of participants, organizers of poker tourneys have started offering re-entry for most of their events. Unlike the rebuys, re-entry is allowed only after a player is completely eliminated from the tournament. Once the format was introduced, the re-entry option was included in almost all the preliminary and main events of poker tournaments across the world. The re-entry option helped organizers of several tournaments like the WSOP, WPT, WSOP Circuit, Heartland Poker Tour, River Poker Series etc to increase the total prize pools, despite drop in player participation.

What to expect

The fight to bring back online poker to the US is on, as several states including California, Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada have proposals to legalize online gambling in the regions. While online poker is banned inUtah, internet gambling bills in Mississippi and Hawaii have failed. Some consider the future for internet gambling in the US is bleak, but some are optimistic and believe that online poker will be legalized and back before this year ends.