Regarding Poker

There has been much said lately regarding the Absolute Poker scandal regarding a ’superuser’ account from Absolute Poker player ‘POTRIPPER’. After reading much about this situation, I feel that there is strong evidence against Absolute Poker.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this developing story, here is a blog post that summarizes the Absolute Poker Scandal.

Forums regarding this story:

2 + 2 Forum

PocketFives.com

Here is a Youtube video (1 of 4) of ‘POTRIPPER’ in action:

Click here to watch the other videos in this series.

I truly hope that Absolute Poker can prove to their players that they themselves had nothing to do with this scandal. Time will tell… until then, I won’t be playing there.

KADI made online poker history by hitting a record-shattering $821,670.69 bad beat jackpot at Absolute Poker!

It happened today, August 29th; KADI lost a 10-high Straight Flush to a King-high Straight Flush. Normally, a loss like that would be upsetting, but not this time. Seated at one of Absolute Poker’s Bad Beat Jackpot tables, KADI’s losing hand netted her $267,042.97 in cash for her share. The pot winner walked away with $133,521.48 and the participants in the hand each received $33,380.37.

To date, Absolute Poker has paid out over $1.5 million in bad beat jackpot money at their Bad Beat Jackpot tables.

How Absolute Poker’s Bad Beat Jackpot Works:

Look for the ‘Bad Beat Jackpot’ cash tables, and they’ll collect $0.50 from the pot of each raked hand that is raked 25 cents or more. The bad beat poker jackpot will keep growing until someone hits a qualifying bad beat. If you lose a hand holding four eights (8888) or anything better, that’s a bad beat.

If your hand suffers a bad beat then everyone at the table will win a piece of the distributed jackpot. As soon as someone hits a qualifying bad beat, 65% of the jackpot will be shared between everyone at the online poker table where the bad beat went down. 25% will go towards the next jackpot and 10% will go to the house and they’ll take the new amount and divide it amongst the players seated at the Bad Beat Jackpot table.

- The loser of the hand, i.e. the bad beat victim - will take 50% of the prize
- The winner of the hand will take 25% of the prize
- The rest of the players seated at the table will share the remaining 25%

Congratulations to KADI and the rest of the players who cashed in big-time and became part of poker history!

Wanna try your luck, or should I say bad luck? Then head over to Absolute Poker and join one of their Bad Beat Jackpot Tables… you never do know!

Absolute Poker made their most significant software upgrade to date and have labeled the new change Absolute Poker 8.0.

I always thought that their software was lacking in appeal and functionality compared to the other big poker rooms, like PokerStars and FullTilt Poker. So when I opened my Absolute Poker software today I was pleasantly surprised to see that they did some major changes to their software that greatly improved their poker room.

So now instead of the old boring and cluttered poker table they used to have, they now offer two sleek, clean, and functional poker tables to choose from along with the classic table view.

Other new Absolute Poker 8.0 changes include:

- Modern, cutting edge graphics
- Faster card dealing
- New and improved poker room menus and displays
- Resizable poker tables
- Table tiling so you can easily organize many tables in a single view
- Table cascading for those who wish to ‘layer’ their tables
- And a few minor changes that contribute to an overall great new look and feel for Absolute Poker

Another option I noticed at Absolute Poker was the ability to transfer real-money cash from Absolute Poker to the UltimateBet (UB) poker site (and vise versa). You can transfer between your own accounts or to a friends account and the minimum transfer amount is $50.00.

That’s a pretty cool feature, and because of that I may go ahead and check out UltimateBet as I never played that online poker room before.

Absolute Poker’s New Poker Tables:

I already know that because of these changes I will definitely play at Absolute Poker more often now… now to see what Ultimate Bet’s poker room is like.

P.S. Absolute Poker’s Bad Beat Jackpot is over $600,000.00!

Aintluck is a great site for you players playing on Absolute Poker and FullTilt Poker. Aintluck has probably the largest collection of free poker table skins on the Net.

You can download college, sports teams, poker themes and more for your Absolute Poker and FullTilt Poker tables.

As of this writing there are 463 Absolute Poker table skins and 249 FullTilt Poker table skins and full instructions on how to change your table skin for each site.

So head over to Aintluck and change your boring old Absolute or FullTilt Poker table skin to something new and personal!

Absolute Poker’s first Bad Beat Jackpot has been won. ‘CGA11′ is now 38K richer because of some bad luck. ‘CGA11′ won $38,969.87 with his bad beat hand and the pot winner took home $19,484, while three others winning $6,494.97 each.

Holding ThTd, ‘CGA11′ raised in a limped pot at a 0.50/$1.00 No-Limit Hold’em table. He got several callers, including ‘NEDKELLY’, who held Qs9s and ‘GREYCODE’, who held AcKh, and ‘WALLEYEKILL’ who held KcQh.

The flop came with TcJsKd. Giving ‘CGA11′ trip Tens, ‘GREYCODE’ and ‘WALLEYKILL’ top pair, and ‘NEDKELLY’ a straight!

After a lot of the money went in on the flop, ‘CGA11′, ‘NEDKELLY’ and ‘WALLEYEKILL’ were all still in the hand when the turn brought the 8s. ‘WALLEYEKILL’ had already committed most of his chips and ended up all in with both ‘CGA11′ and ‘NEDKELLY’ calling.

‘CGA11′ went all-in and was called by ‘NEDKELLY’, and the rest is Absolute Poker history, as the first bad beat jackpot was hit! The river brought the Ts, giving ‘CGA11′ quad tens, but ‘NEDKELLY’ a Straight flush!

The Absolute Poker Bad Beat Jackpot is now over $31,000 and climbing!

Absolute Poker launched their Bad Beat Jackpot and started the pot at $100,000!

As soon as someone hits a qualifying bad beat, 70% of the jackpot will be shared between everyone at the table where the bad beat went down. 20% will go towards the next jackpot and 10% will go to the house.

Absolute Poker will take the new amount and divide it amongst the players seated at the Bad Beat Jackpot table.

- The loser of the hand – ie. the bad beat victim - will take 50% of the prize
- The winner of the hand will take 25% of the prize
- The rest of the players seated at the table will share the remaining 25%

So what constitutes a bad beat? If you lose a hand holding Aces Full of Kings (AAAKK) or anything better, that’s a bad beat.

So if you are feeling lucky, or rather unlucky, then head over to Absolute Poker and join in the specially marked Hold’em Jackpot tables for your crack at the pot.

New Absolute Poker real-money accounts receive a signup deposit bonus up to $500.00. Click here for details.

Absolute Poker’s Beauty Queen, Serinda Swan:

Full Name: Serinda Swan
D.O.B: July 11th
Birth place: West Vancouver (born at home)
Home base: Yaletown

Hot and Sexy Sernida Swan Photo Shoot for Absolute Poker Video:

You can find Serinda Swan playing at Absolute Poker under the name “APTV Serinda“.

Serinda Swan pictures (20)

Absolute Poker has Serinda Swan table skins!

(Click for larger picture)

Click here to download the Absolute Poker software and get Serinda Swan on your table!

Absolute Poker Pro Team:

Michael Mizrachi (The Grinder)

It couldn’t be better - literally. Grinder is currently ranked the number one tournament player in the world according to poker authority CardPlayer.com.

With a winning streak that doesn’t look like it will end any time soon, Mizrachi looks to be a serious contender for the title “Player of The Year”.

Mark Seif

Going strong. Mark won two bracelets, one in the Limit Holdem Shootout and the other in the $1500 No Limit event.

In 2003, he had three first place finishes at Sport of Kings, World Poker Open, and Fiesta al Lago.

Sean McCabe

Sean is steadily working his way up the ranks of professional poker and has been playing in a lot of larger tournaments over the last few years.

Lacey Jones

Lacey is a fast-rising star in the poker world. Living in Los Angeles she is often spotted at celebrity tournaments as much as she is seen in more serious games.

While Lacey is a strong advocate for helping women progress in poker, she loves playing in mixed tournaments.

Casey Kastle

A Solid Professional Casey has cashed in the last two WSOP Championship events against huge fields, & also in 3 of 4 WPT Championship 25k Events.

Brandon Cantu

Brandon has been flying under the radar for the last few years as mainly a cash game player in low-level buy-in games. He recently decided to turn it up a notch and is now playing in larger tournaments.

Scott Bohlman

Scott began dabbling in poker at the early age of six, playing kitchen table games alongside his grandmother and uncle who were both very influential on Scott’s play as a child.

In 2000, Scott started playing a lot of Texas Hold’em and became a full time player in 2003.

Shirley Williams

Shirley says her 2006 game is rapidly improving due to more aggressive play. She’s been reading a lot of poker books and frequently practices online, which has helped a lot.

At the WSOP this year, Shirley placed 81st in No Limit Hold’em Seniors and in 2005, took first place in a tournament cashing in at $1875 with 677 players, an entry fee of $8.77 and a prize

Click here to visit Absolute Poker for more information about Team Absolute Poker.

 There is a lot of confusion out there in which online poker rooms accept American players. Even the online poker rooms themselves sometimes don’t clearly mention if they accept American players from the US.

I highly recommend that you only join the most trusted and proven online poker rooms. The list below is a list of the best and most trusted online poker rooms available.

Online poker rooms that accept all players, including American players:

PokerStars – 100% Match Bonus up to $50.00 for new accounts.

Full Tilt Poker - 100% Match Bonus up to $600.00 for new accounts.

Absolute Poker - 100% Match Bonus up to $250.00 for new accounts.

For American Players ONLY:

Sportsbook.com – 10% bonus – One account for poker, casino, horses, and sportsbook.

Help fight to keep online poker alive in the U.S. – Join the Poker Players Alliance today!

Here is a video from the Poker Players Alliance:

You can join the Poker Players Alliance for free, or donate as little as $20.00. You can make a difference.

It can be a challenge for Macintosh computer (Mac) users finding a reputable online poker room that offers Mac compatibility.

Fortunately, there are two good choices for Mac users who want to play online poker.

 
Solutions for Mac Poker Players

FullTilt Poker
(American players welcome!)

FullTilt Poker offers Mac users a software download specifically for Mac computers.

Recommended Requirements:

- Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher
- G5 or Intel Based Macintosh
- 512 MB or more of RAM
- Broadband connection
- At least 15MB of free disk space

Minimum Requirements:

- Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher
- 800Mhz G4 processor speed or faster
- 512 MB or more of RAM
- Dialup connection
- At least 15MB of free disk space

Click here to get Mac for FullTilt Poker. Open a new account at FullTilt Poker and receive a 100% match deposit bonus, up to $600.00!

Absolute Poker
(American players welcome!)

The other choice for Mac users is Absolute Poker’s no-download Java version of their poker client.

Having this option is actually a viable solution not just for Mac users, but for anyone who wants to access the Absolute Poker room from any Internet connected computer in the world. Java is an ideal solution for playing poker when at the office, at someone else’s computer or when on holidays.

Click here to get Mac for Absolute Poker. Open a new account at Absolute Poker and receive a 100% match deposit bonus, up to $250.00.

Now, do Mac proud and kick some PC butt on the felt!

Poker-Spy

I came across a very interesting online poker tool, Poker-Spy. This tool offers many of the same features that most online poker tools offer, but it offers one extra feature that I think can dramatically improve your poker game.

Poker-Spy can show you, and only you, the mucked cards from your opponents if the hand went to Showdown. Think about this; it shows you their mucked cards! This can give a player a huge advantage and information about your opponents that no one else has privy to.

Imagine, you play a hand with one or more players till Showdown; now you get to see what hands they were playing with. Now you’ll know if they play Ace/rag in early position, how they play suited connectors and small pairs in early and mid position, if they are Calling Stations or River Rats. This kind of information is potentially worth a lot of money.

So I asked myself if this program is considered cheating or illegal. So I visited the PokerStars web site to see if it is indeed illegal to use there. To my surprise PokerStars lists the Poker-Spy tool as “acceptable”, meaning you ARE allowed to use this at PokerStars.

Well, if PokerStars says that Poker-Spy is ok to use, then why wouldn’t a player take advantage of this software? The way I see it is if you are playing for real-money poker then you should take advantage of any legal online poker tool you can get your hands on. Programs like these can only help a player to win more pots.

Poker-Spy Features:

Game Tracker

Game Tracker monitors all the action at your table:
“ Recently played hands
“ Opponents mucked cards
“ Player information and statistics
“ Player Alerts
“ Table Conditions

Game Tracker also gives you one click access to key information:
“ Review of recently played hands
“ Alert Window
“ Player Analysis Report
“ Hand Review Report
“ Player Graphs
“ Player Statistics

Alerts & Alerts Review Window

Real Time Alerts notify you of opponent behavior so you can immediately determine how your opponents are playing. The Alerts Review Window shows you, in detail, what happened and with what cards.

Questionable Hand Selections:
“ Algorithm factors number of opponents, whether the hand was played first-in, multi-way or in a pre-flop raise situation. 

 Aggressive Plays:
“ Player raised with unconventional hand. Algorithm factors if raise was first in or a steal blind situation (see below)
“ Hands re-raised and call-raised 

 Passive Plays:
“ Player did not raise a hand normally raised in that situation
“ Calling and cold calling two or more bets 

 Plays involving the Blinds:
“ Player attempted to steal blinds with unconventional holdings
“ Player defended blind with unconventional holdings
“ Player called a raise with unconventional holdings
“ Player completed the small blind with unconventional holdings

Post flop behaviors and observations : Alerts on plays that occur in post-flop situations.
“ POSSIBLE BLUFFS your opponents may be making on the river by betting.
“ POSSIBLE BLUFFS your opponents may be making on the river by raising.
“ Loose calls on the river opponents are making with weak holdings.
“ Incorrect value bets and raises opponents are making on the river.

Reports

Analysis Report (new):
“ Categorizes pre-flop play in over 15 categories
“ Shows predictable patterns in opponents
“ Highlights hand selection errors

Hand Summary Report:
“ Identifies losing hands
“ Identifies hands performing below expectation.
“ Identifies winning and losing players

Player Report:
“ Detailed statistics on all players
“ Compares how you are performing relative to opponents.

Additional Features:
“ Easy to navigate; works just like a web browser
“ Print, copy, send to Excel or email to friends

Hand Review

Hand Review Window let’s you review any hand you have on record. Key features:
“ Play by Play of previously played hands
“ Hand Analysis
“ Opponent’s mucked hands

The Hand Review Window also gives you one click access to:
“ Player Analysis Report

Graphs

“ Graphs are available for all players
“ Colors highlight current session versus historical performance
“ Six zoom levels to view information detail
“ View player graphs in same window to save screen space
“ View player graphs in separate windows for side by side comparisons

Odds Calculator

“ Automatically reads hole cards
“ Odds of winning or splitting
“ Odds and percentages of completing poker hands
“ Odds of your best opponent holdings
“ Pocket Rank
“ Pocket Group
“ Color coded for easy reference
“ Supports multiple simultaneous tables

Click here to learn more about Poker-Spy.

Supported Online Poker Rooms:

PokerStars
Absolute Poker
PartyPoker
FullTilt Poker
Doyle’s Room
TruePoker
William Hill Poker
Caribbean Sun Poker
Empire Poker
Littlewoods Poker
Multi Poker
Poker Fun Club
PokerNow
PokerPlex
ProCappers
Ritz Club London Poker
Score Poker
totalbet poker
ukbetting poker
Poker Host  New!
Blue Square
Golden Palace Poker
VC Poker
High Rollers CardRoom
Paddy Power Poker
World Poker Arena 
Poker In Europe
Pocket Rockets Poker
Bowmans Poker
Racing Post
Poker Daddy
RedRoom Poker
UK-Poker.net
RealPoker.co.uk
Proper Poker
Vegas Queens Poker
PayDay Poker
Tiger Poker
Good Gambling Guide
UK Pokerstars
Poker.fr
Blue Lizard Poker Room
Wide World of Poker
Thanks for the Action
Fish Pond Poker
Avalanche Poker
GamTrack Poker
Victory Poker
Royal Blue Poker
High Stakes Poker
W Poker
Francite Poker
Pure Gold Poker
Crazy Parrot Poker
Casinos of Mayfair Poker
Page 3 Poker
Skin Poker
City Poker
Gaming Floor Poker
Aspinalls Poker
Platinum Poker
EasyOdds Poker
Ladyrose Poker
Poker Aces Club
Winners Only Poker
Street Legal Poker
World’s Best Poker
Trish’s Room
Platinum Poker Club
Commodore Poker
Daily Star Poker
Jennings Poker
Poker Republic
Premier Bet Poker
Svenska Odds Poker
Vertical Poker
Viking Bet Poker
World Super Poker
Blue Diamond Poker
Loveable Rouges Poker
Hacketts Poker
Poker Barkada
All-In Canada
Arsenal Poker
BetUS Poker
Full On Poker
GG.com Poker
Gamble Poker
House of Deeb
Jazz Poker Room
Jonny Texas Poker
Liverpoolfc.tv Poker
Maximus Poker
Ministry of Sound Poker
PokerInAmerica
The Rivercard
Rob’s Poker Room
Southern Cross Poker
VC Student Poker
The Sun Poker
Score Poker
Times Online Poker
Bruce Betting Poker
Blonde Poker
College Rivalry Poker
Dollarclub Poker
GoodLot Poker
Love2Play Poker
My Poker Dream
University Poker League
Pokerola
Ubet2win Poker
ZPokerClub
Cigar Room Poker
Jill Ann Poker
BetSafe Poker

Click here to check out the online poker tool: Poker-Spy.

I’ll keep you posted on Poker-Spy… If you have any comments on this program I would love to hear from you.