2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Sixteen: Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys

On Day 16 of the 39th annual World Series of Poker, Event 28 will kick off, the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys event, along with Event 27, the $1,500 No Limit Holdem event. These two events are going to be near polar opposites due to a combination of factors, mostly surrounding the kinds of players that they will draw. No Limit Holdem has become the everyman game of poker, with average amateur players taking a shot at the brass ring and scoring more often, it seems, than the seasoned pros.

2008 WSOP Diary, June 8: Ladies Event Starts, Events 9 and 10 Finish

Anyone who remembers the Saturday Nigh Live character Leon Phelps (The Ladies Man), knows that Mr. Phelps would have gone into synaptic shock today if he saw the parade of poker's finest female players taking their seats for the WSOP Ladies event. This particular tournament has become a popular tradition that is over three decades long. While an event is exclusive to the XX chromosome set, the poker action is of a quality that would make the best male players underdogs to reach the final table.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirty Two: $1,500 No Limit Holdem

Today is Day 32 of the 2008 World Series of Poker, and one $1,500 No Limit Holdem event will kick off while another $1,500 No Limit Holdem event will wrap up and declare a victor. We are more interested in projecting the winner at this point of the wrap up game since we don't know yet who will sign up to play in the other. The chip leaders in the Event 49 - $1,500 NLHE - include a couple of pros, which might seem counter to what we said in previous WSOP Forecasts that pros would avoid these small NLHE events. Among the chip leaders is young JC Tran, a player that was up and coming a few years ago and arrived at some point last year, when he won a World Poker Tour event.

2008 WSOP Event 9 Winner Rep Porter

The final table of Event #9 ($1,500 No Limit Holdem Six-Handed), was slow and clumsy and then suddenly, unexpectedly climaxed and the whole thing was over. There are a lot of women who will say this description also accurately portrays their love lives, but in this case the words fit how Event #9 finished up. In a lot of cases final tables are fast and furious affairs with eliminations coming at a rapid pace. In Event # 9 it took over two hundred hands to get the field from six to three.

New Poker Parlor in Phoenix

Southern Arizona has poker rooms in operation that the state says are illegal but their owner, a retried judge, says are not. Harold Lee of Tombstone is not only continuing to operate the poker rooms in defiance of the State's wishes but plans on opening another poker parlor in Phoenix as well as in Tucson. Lee's argument for the legality of his operation is the distinction between poker and other forms of gambling: he says poker is based on skill while the others are primarily based on luck...

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirty One: $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Final Table

Today the final 8 players will try to win the second most coveted poker prize of the WSOP: the gold bracelet that signifies a victory in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. Event 45, the "World Championship of H.O.R.S.E." as it is known, may come second overall in desirability for the average poker player, but for many pro players it is number one. Our prediction was Andy Bloch. Here's why. At the start of the season we said Andy was going to do well in every $10,000 event he played in, and so far he's done very well. He made it to 2nd in the Pot Limit event and pulled down over $250,000, and 7th in the Limit event and picked up over $80,000. In the $5,000 mixed event he made it to 16th.

Swedish Government Turns Down International Poker

The Swedish Government has declined the option for an international poker network that would be in direct competition with the government run Svenska Spel. The government's stance is based on the idea that if they put together players at the state run site, it would guarantee larger prize pools and keep players from playing at online places that are "less socially responsible." While the decision sounds final it will be up for review in 18 months and could be overturned. The decision was based on a recommendation that came from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health. Related Articles: House Committee to look at poker bill Presidential candidates rated by Poker Players Alliance...

New Poker Book on Winning Poker Tournaments

According to a recent press release, a new poker book is out just in time to help the hopeful win a tournament at the World Series of Poker, going on now in Las Vegas. The book, "Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, Volume 1" is from Dimat Enterprises, Inc and was penned by three top poker pros: Eric Lynch, Jon Turner, and Jon Van Fleet. According to the press release, the first book in the series will look at the beginning and mid way stages of poker tournament play...