Q. Where can I play online poker from the US?

A. We recommend 6 poker rooms that will not ban U.S citizens after the Port Security Bill, that may affect online gaming, is signed: Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, Poker.com, Absolute Poker, MANSION Poker and Bodog. Please take the time to read the reviews.

PokerStars
Poker Stars is the largest poker room on the net and is still accepting players from the US. PokerStars is home to the World Championship of Online Poker and is a great alternative to Party Poker.

Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker is still actively marketing to U.S players. FullTilt poker is in the top 3 sites in the US and is home to many of the U.S. poker pros you see on the circuit.

Poker.com
Poker.com is an independent poker room that is run out of Australia. Poker.com are still taking U.S players.

Absolute Poker
Absolute Poker is another site that will accept U.S players.

Bodog
Bodog is well known to U.S citizens and they are still taking U.S players. Bodog is one of the largest sportsbetting and poker sites on the net, and U.S Citizens are still welcome.

MANSION Poker
MANSION Poker is another independent poker room and is run from Gibraltar.

The $2000 No Limit Hold ‘Em event was in its second day and the $1500 Seven Card Razz tournament kicked off its play (with both slated for final tables on Sunday). In addition to this, the $5000 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em tournament got off to its start along with another big dollar final table at Event #30, the $5000 Short Handed (six player) No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament.

507 players had started off this tournament, generating a first place check of $643,381 for whoever would walk away from this tournament as the champion. The six men who came to the felt for the finale were familiar faces, including a couple whom have had excellent stays in Las Vegas during this year’s World Series. The final table started play around 2PM on Saturday afternoon with the players lined up like this:

Seat 1: California poker pro Tony Woods, 354K
Seat 2: England’s Jonathan Gaskell, chip leader at 727K
Seat 3: Making his second 2006 final table appearance “Captain” Tom Franklin, 365K
Seat 4: Noted professional poker player Erick Lindgren, 448K
Seat 5: Another British poker player in Paul Foltyon, 438K
Seat 6: Youngest ever bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, short stacked at 201K

Not only was our youngest ever bracelet winner Madsen (who took the gold this year in one of the earlier $2000 NL events) at this table, chip leader Gaskell was all of one DAY older than Madsen. Along with Foltyon and Lindgren, it definitely gave the final table a very youthful appeal. “I feel like I’m playing against my sons,” “Captain” Tom Franklin pointed out (to the delight of the audience) as the cards and chips flew around the table.

Early action was a little on the slow side, however. With so many chips in play, there was very little that happened. Franklin did choose the early fifty hands or so of the tournament to double his stack up twice against the chip leader Gaskell, however, removing the British player from the top of the leader board and bringing everyone a little closer together as the hand count (and the blinds) went up.

Late in the second level of the day, with the blinds at 8K/16K with a 2K ante, we did see our first elimination of the day. Gaskell was able to get back some of the chips he had lost to Franklin on Hand 59 (two minutes before the break) he went to war with his countryman Foltyon. Under the gun Foltyon moved his stack into the center of the table and was called by Gaskell on the button. He had caught Paul in a total blind steal; Foltyon had moved in with a 8s-6h and Jonathan had him dominated with an A-J. A Jack came on the flop and once the board paired with a Queen on the turn, Foltyon was drawing dead and eliminated from the tournament in sixth place.

One of the players making some noise in the early going was Erick Lindgren. The Full Tilt Poker team member, even with the veteran Franklin on his right, was able to build his stack up nicely through aggressive play. On a couple of occasions at the beginning of the tournament, he went on a several hand long streak where he took the pots without any challenges from his opponents. This allowed him to assume the chip lead and Lindgren continued to captain the table as the blinds went up again.

The action heated up once the blinds went up to 10K/20K (with a 3K ante). Lindgren continued his assault on the table and, on Hand 83, he raised the pot to 50K under the gun. Gaskell decided to step up to the challenge and moved all in over the top of the former WPT Player of the Year and Lindgren accepted the challenge. Gaskell had the dominating edge with pocket Kings against Lindgren’s A-K, leaving Erick looking for three outs that would allow him to eliminate Jonathan. The flop and the turn worked perfectly for Gaskell (4-7-J-8), but the Ace on the river couldn’t be avoided by the Englishman as Lindgren applied a bad beat to take the hand and usher Gaskell from the event in fifth place.

About twenty hands later, Lindgren once again continued to abuse his fellow players as he eliminated the next player. Both he and Tony Woods got all their chips to the center of the table with Lindgren this time holding the other end of the coin flip. His pocket Jacks held the preflop lead against Woods’ Big Slick but, when the board came completely blank, Woods was dispatched from the Amazon Room in the fourth place slot.

On Hand 110, we worked our way down to two players with the departure of “Captain” Tom. The elder statesman of the table had battled along with the two remaining “kids” at the table (with the 30 year old Lindgren and the 21 year old Madsen) but couldn’t gain on them. On a flop of 10-3-6, Franklin and Madsen ended up getting the chips together and the good “Captain” turned up top pair with a Q-10. Madsen outpipped him, however, as his K-10 held the lead as the two saw a turn of an Ace and the river seven. Without a Queen to deliver his salvation, “Captain” Tom Franklin saw his second journey to the final table at this year’s World Series end in third place.

Down to heads up competition, Lindgren held a nearly two to one lead over Madsen:

Lindgren 1.6M
Madsen 900K

The two began an epic battle as Lindgren attempted to take his first World Series bracelet and shed the title of “best player to not have won at the World Series” tag. Over the next fifty four hands, Lindgren chipped Madsen’s stack down, only to see the youngest WSOP bracelet holder wriggle his way back into the match. On Hand 159, the two hooked up into a hand that would determine the outcome of the event.

Madsen raised the pot to 55K and had Lindgren returned fire by jacking the stakes up to 170K. At this time, Jeff decided to make his stand and called all in. After a moment’s deliberation, Erick called his bet and flipped Ac-Kc up once again. Madsen’s pocket eights held the lead and it was only lengthened when the flop came down 9-A-8c. A two of clubs on the turn opened the doors to a possible draw out by Lindgren to the flush, but it went unfulfilled with an innocent four on the river and Madsen doubled up with the victory and took the lead.

Madsen now seized the momentum advantage as he now held the same lead that Lindgren had brought in to their heads up meeting. He seemed to catch all the right cards at all the right times and chipped down Lindgren gradually over the next twelve hands. Cheering their fellow Full Tilt member from the sidelines and playing Chinese Poker to pass the time (and I will still say I don’t get the game!), Phil Gordon, Gavin Smith and Roland DeWolfe encouraged Lindgren to spark a comeback that wouldn’t unfortunately happen.

On Hand 171, Lindgren raised from the button to 65K and was called by Madsen. The Q-K-2d flop brought a bet from Jeff that would put Lindgren all in if he called and, after going into the tank for some time, he decided it was time to make his move and called. Lindgren had missed the board but had a draw with an A-J of diamonds; Madsen, meanwhile, had hit the board once again with his Q-9. The five of diamonds provided some more excitement for the gallery surrounding the final table but the blank three on the river ended the tournament with a new double bracelet winner at this year’s World Series with the crowning of newcomer Jeff Madsen as champion.

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Jeff Madsen, $643,381
2. Erick Lindgren, $357,435
3. “Captain” Tom Franklin, $214,461
4. Tony Woods, $150,123
5. Jonathan Gaskell, $119,145
6. Paul Foltyon, $83,402

With his victory, Madsen not only becomes the second two time bracelet winner at this year’s World Series (joining William Chen), he also becomes the youngest two time bracelet winner in the history of the World Series at 21 years old. With his three final tables, he has also amassed over $1.4 million dollars and should also take over the lead on the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year race. By going from “worst to first” in this event, it could also signify the dawning of a potential new force on the tournament poker scene with the arrival of Jeff Madsen during this year’s World Series.

Whoever said pot-limit hold’em was a post-flop game forgot to tell that to the final table of the $2500 PLHE event on Friday at the WSOP. Action was incredibly fast-paced an aggressive, and all-in plays preflop were a dominant theme. The final table was composed of:

Seat 1 – Longtime Professional Lee Markholt, $128,000
Seat 2 – Online Professional Maros “Premiere” Lechman, $101,000
Seat 3 – 2005 WSOP Champion Joseph Hachem, $64,000
Seat 4 - Jeffrey Roberson, $24,000
Seat 5 – WPT Champion “Gentleman” John Gale, $134,000
Seat 6 - Lee Grove $66,000
Seat 7 – WPT runner-up Alex Jacob, $524,000
Seat 8 - Kevin Ho $287,000
Seat 9 - Greg Alston $80,000

Kevin Ho dominated the action early, raising almost every hand preflop. He established his position as an unpredictable and aggressive player who was not afraid to gamble starting from the first hand of play. Ho entered the pot for a raise, then called a substantial all-in re-raise preflop from Greg Alston holding just a K-7. Alston showed a K-4 and less than a minute later, he was busted out in 9th place, winning $25,852.

With such a strange hand to move in on, many wondered if Alston had planned the move before play started, regardless of his hand. However, he quelled this theory when he explained, “I hadn’t decided to do it [premeditated] at all – it was a reaction to what I thought was a loose raise. I thought that I had enough to reraise that he might lay it down. I don’t think he was getting correct odds to call with the hand, but if he did call, I had at least a king-high. I was surprised with his call, along with some of the other players at the table. It was a big call, especially considering I was a totally foreign player to him and had never played a single hand with him before.”

Ho continued his aggressive play, entering pots for a raise four more times in the next ten hands and putting three players all-in preflop in the process. However, John Gale managed to get lucky when his A-8 hit an 8 against Ho’s A-J and Lee Grove distributed a killer beat when Ho’s set of 8’s were beaten by Grove’s A-K on a flop of A-8-7 after the turn and river came runner-runner A-K for a full house.

On his third all-in preflop, Ho’s luck finally changed as he tangled with Lee Markholt holding the K-2 to Markholt’s A-7. Ho entered the pot for a raise, as usual, and was re-raised by Markholt. After pausing for a while, Ho made the call and hit a pair of 2’s on the flop to take down the pot. Markholt finished 8th and earned $38,778 for his play.

In explaining his all-in move, Markholt noted, “[Kevin] was being overly aggressive. I know he’s raising in that spot with almost anything. I am a favorite against 90% of the hands he’s raising with. I looked down at an ace, and pushed all in. I was 100% sure he was going to call because it was only 40,000 more chips, but I still knew I was very likely ahead and wanted his call.”

Ho seemed to switch gears after taking out Markholt and finally gave the other players a chance to take down some pots. Joe Hachem was able to pick up a sizeable pot after he knocked out Lee Grove, who had been nursing the short-stack all day. After a Hachem raise of $30,000 preflop, Grove pushed all-in for 18,000 more and Hachem quickly called, showing the K-4 to Grove’s A-7. Hachem got his king on the turn, and Grove busted in 6th for $64,630.

Grove seemed to concede defeat before the tournament even started, but was quite happy with his 6th place finish after deftly playing his short-stack to move up in the cash. He noted, “Going into the final day, all I figured I could do was survive. I knew I didn’t have a good chance to win, I just wanted 2 or 3 short stacks to go out in front of me, and that’s what happened.”

Alex Jacob, the massive chip leader entering the day and favorite for many to win, was the next player eliminated. With an extremely aggressive player in Kevin Ho to Jacob’s left, he seemed to be flustered all day and could not use his big stack to bully as one might have expected. Jacob lost some big pots, but still had a decent amount of chips left when he raised 56,000 preflop in the cutoff with 9-4. Hachem put him all-in from the blind for another 21,000 holding QQ and after Jacob called, a Q on the flop took the pot down for the WSOP champion. Jacob, in his second final table appearance at this year’s WSOP and his third cash, earned $77,556 for 5th.

Hachem did not have long to enjoy his new chips, however. He was the next player knocked out when he and Gale got tangled up in an interesting hand. Hachem raised to 38,000 preflop holding the K-9 and Gale called with the A-3. The flop came down K-4-3 and Hachem bet the pot for 76,000, which Gale quickly called. The turn came a blank and Hachem moved all in for 90,000 more. Gale went into the tank, and Hachem pleaded with him to fold, repeatedly telling Gale, “I’ve got you beat, you’re my friend, please do not call. I do not want you to suck out on me.”

Gale acknowledged that he believed Hachem, telling him, “I know you’re telling me the truth, but I think I still have some outs.” Finally, after a few minutes in the tank, Gale made the call and Hachem proved his honesty, dominating Gale’s pair of threes with his pair of kings. However, Hachem’s worst fears came to fruition when Gale sucked out with an ace on the river to make two pair. Hachem, visibly frustrated, pounded the table in anger after taking another brutal beat to get knocked out of his second final table of this year’s series (Hachem busted out of his previous final table in 2nd place when his all-in move preflop with A-Q lost to Dutch Boyd’s A-5). He earned $90,482 for 4th.

Down to three, Kevin Ho’s ultra-aggressiveness finally came back to haunt him. Ho got tangled up with chip leader Gale after he pushed all-in on an open-ended straight draw on the flop, while Gale called with his A-J for a pair of aces. The turn and river failed to bring Ho his straight and he was busted out in 3rd for $103,408.

Heads up, it looked like it was going to be a quick victory for John Gale. He started out with an almost 6:1 chip lead over Maros Lechman, who never held many chips for the entire tournament but somehow managed to sneak into the final two. Going into play, Lechman noted, “To make it to second place with the chipstack I’ve had, I’m extremely happy. I’m basically freerolling from this point on.”

Even though Lechman, who is better known in the online community as Premiere, was incredibly short-stacked, he still served as a threatening opponent. 10th place finisher and professional poker player Aaron Bartley, who came to sweat Lechman, called him “one of the best online tournament players on PokerStars. He is very-well known online as a strong player.”

Lechman lived up to his billing by battling with Gale for over 3 ½ hours and at one point, overtaking the chip lead. Although Gale seemed to lose his composure at a few points during headsup play after a few bad beats, even throwing his cards off the table at one point, he kept enough focus to retake the chip lead and eventually take Lechman out.

The final hand came when Lechman raised to 90,000 preflop, then bet the pot dark on the flop. Gale moved all-in after seeing the flop of 10-9-7 and Lechman called, showing A-6 to Gale’s K-9. The turn came a 5 and the river a 2, and John Gale won his first gold bracelet and $374,849 while Lechman took $197,768 for 2nd. It was Gale’s first bracelet, and sweet retribution for his 2nd-place finish in the $5000 Pot Limit Hold’em event in last year’s WSOP. Gale noted, “I thought I had the bracelet on my wrist last year, but to finally win it this year, I’m ecstatic.”

When did online poker come about?

While in Monte Carlo for a dental conference in 1996, Aharon Shaked wandered into one of the town’s famous casinos. There, amid the glitz and the excitement, it suddenly struck the Israeli dentist that gambling was an activity perfectly suited to the internet.

Read the rest of the article on the Independent…

Online gambling company Empire Online today announced that it will acquire the business and assets of Club Dice, together with club Dice’s customer database. Empire Online will also purchase the intellectual property and brand of Noble Poker. The total consideration for the two platforms is expected to be approximately $40 million in cash.

via [Globes.co.il]

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