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New Fast-Fold Adrenaline Rush at Full Tilt Poker

This week, Full Tilt Poker launched a new variant of online poker, deemed Adrenaline Rush. This new addition was part of a software update that also adds the first phase of casino games. The online poker site will roll out more casino games in the future as part of a multi-stage process to incorporate casino into the Full Tilt Poker software package.

The brand new Adrenaline Rush is a fast-fold poker game like its predecessor Rush Poker and builds on the concept of fast fold poker introduced and made popular three years ago by Full Tilt. It had just enough time to catch on before Black Friday. This way to play that is unique to Internet poker has become so popular since it was first introduced, that many other online poker rooms have adopted it and launched their own versions (i.e. Zone Poker by Bodog and Zoom Poker by PokerStars).

Adrenaline Rush poker is all 4-handed, and all the action takes place preflop. Buy-ins range from 5 to 10 BB, and betting is maxed out at 10 BB. Players may raise or fold, and these are the only options they have. If a raise has reached the 10 big blind max, however, or is greater than or equal to their stack, they may call.

If a player chooses to fold, they will be immediately be placed at a new table to face a new hand and new opponents, as is customary with traditional fast-fold variants. To keep the action moving swiftly, players may select the Quick Fold or Raise Max options.

Head of marketing at Full Tilt Poker, Sarne Lightman, says, “The name reflects the kind of emotional state the game delivers; it’s even faster than our original Rush Poker.”

Full Tilt Poker was the original innovator of fast-fold poker, and the phenomenon caught on so much that virtually every online poker site now offers some form of fast-fold poker. This type of online poker is popular because it allows players to see a great deal more hands per hour, earn more frequent player points, and essentially more pots. Fast-fold poker also makes for a more efficient online poker session because it omits waiting time between folds and new deals.

A significant amount of online hands played are fast-fold poker hands, and the trend doesn’t seem to be fading away. Players embraced the new form of Internet poker, which cannot be played in a land-based casino due to the technicalities of switching so quickly between tables.

In addition to Adrenaline Rush, Full Tilt Poker will be testing some free-play blackjack and roulette variants via the download client. A spokesman for Rational Group, owner of Full Tilt Poker, says that real-money versions will go live once the testing phase is complete.

He says, “As always, we will provide the high quality player experience, integrity, security, safety and support that players have come to expect from Rational Group brands.”

Casino games offered by the brand include a variety of blackjack games, including Atlantic City, European, and Double Deck variants. Players can also play on individual or multi-player tables. Multi-player roulette is also available, where players can actually communicate with each other throughout the game.

This is just the first phase of the expanded product launch by the Rational Group and Full Tilt Poker brand. While both Full Tilt and PokerStars are owned by the Rational Group, it is understood that PokerStars will continue to offer poker only, while Full Tilt will expand product range to casino games.

Full Tilt Poker Pro Hansen Accuses SallyWoo of Cheating

An unidentified high-stakes player, “SallyWoo” has had an eventful first week of 2014, up more than $500K in less than 1,750 hands played out over eight sessions. SallyWoo, who now resides in Mexico since Black Friday, has been raking in the pots as an Omaha Hi/Lo (FLO8) specialist.

Like other high-stakes players and friends of SallyWoo, Kyle “KPR16” Ray and Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon, SallyWoo has joined in the recent trend of opting out of long-term tracking results. Fellow high-stakes player and Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen is not the biggest fan of this new online poker movement and went head to head with SallyWoo in the chat box on Full Tilt Poker at the end of last month.

Hansen, who was the biggest loser of 2013, losing more than $8.4 million  at online poker last year, is up $155K this year, so far, playing more than 27 sessions and 4,485 hands. But following an upset after he was three-bet in a FLO8 game and a disconnect, he suggested that his friend thought SallyWoo should pay Hansen back the $4K he had put in before getting discoed. SallyWoo then made reference to a deal they had made prior should such an instance occur. At that point, Hansen started the accusations that SallyWoo was cheating via a computer program.

In the chat record, Hansen said, “the computer program right by your side – could be a slippery slope.” When SallyWoo asked Hansen if he was accusing him of cheating, he said, “nope I am not.” The two went back and forth arguing about a conversation the two had about a disconnection agreement and how many times it had been honored, as well as whether or not SallyWoo was using an O8 computer program, which he denied, stating he would request the chat records from Full Tilt to prove his innocence. Hansen insinuated that they wouldn’t likely play again:

Gus Hansen: since this was probably last time we played – I just wanna add it was funny you were so offended of me saying you have an O8 computer program – since obviously you do
SallyWoo: ohh lord gus, i dont cheat

There has been quite a stir over this in the forums and many are taking sides, though most seem to share Hansen’s opinion that SallyWoo is using a program, but think it was out of line for Hansen to accuse him of it.

One poster believes that Hansen was on tilt when this happened after losing the $4K that is just the tip of the iceberg when you look at the bigger picture—the millions of dollars Hansen has lost doing something that he’s supposed to be good at, while tarnishing the character of SallyWoo as a cheater when there’s actually no proof that he is.

SallyWoo continues to progress, though, playing against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom last Saturday and winning more than $240K off him in a 26-hand session at the $2K/$4K FLO8 tables in just over 14 minutes. He then made another almost $90K off Sankler in $500/$1K CAP NLH in less than 300 hands. Whether or not he will go up against Hansen again is unknown.

Perhaps Hansen needs to take a break and go back to the basics. Studying up on strategy and reviewing his game. Maybe some live poker will do him good because what he’s been doing for the past year is obviously not working.

Cab Driver Returns Poker Player’s Cash

On December 23, 2013, a poker player forgot $300,000 in the taxi’s backseat. The player was in a Yellow Checker Star and lucky for him, the driver was kind. Sometime after forgetting the money in the taxi, the driver, Gerardo Gamboa actually turned in the amount and it was handed back to the unnamed poker player–a well-known pro.

The driver came across the package after Bellagio’s hotel doorman gave him a brown-colored paper bag that someone had forgotten in the taxi’s backseat. Gamboa, an experienced tax driver since 1989, at first thought that the package contained chocolates. However, after a close inspection, he realized it had six $100-bill bundles adding to $300,000.

Upon realizing this, Gamboa quickly contacted his dispatch after which he went back to the office to hand in the cash. He went ahead to surmise that the cash he had collected belonged to a passenger that he had driven from The Cosmopolitan to the Palms Place Tower at a $9.10 fare, which earned him a tip of $5. After dropping the passenger at Palms Place Tower, he went to queue at Bellagio and while there, he came across the money.

After he reported the incidence, the Metro police were informed after which they carried out an investigation for four hours. Working together with the officials at the casino, they concluded that the money was for a famous poker player that wished not to be named.

Joel Willden, the field operations manager at Yellow Checker Star said that the player was very grateful and understanding. While at some point he got irritated, he was not aggressive or mad. He was just a bit embarrassed for having left $300,000 in a cab.

Gamboa later said that he could not trade his dignity for any amount and that his parents taught him this right from childhood. Yellow Checker Star did not only name him the Cab Driver of the Year but also awarded him $1,000 dollar reward and dinner for two. Besides, the anonymous poker player rewarded Gamboa $10,000 for his rare gesture.

New Study Shows Support for US Online Poker

The latest polling from Reason-Rupe shows that most Americans are not opposed to the regulation of online poker. Reason-Rupe conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Americans on various topics including whether the government should allow or ban people from playing online poker games.

The results show that 65% of the respondents said the government should allow online gambling and 32% said it should be prohibited. The rest of the respondents selected “don’t know” or just declined to give an answer.

This poll sharply rebukes the research that Sheldon Adelson carried out that claimed a majority of the population in the United States oppose online gambling.

There is a correlation between the survey that Reason-Rupe carried out and what OPR conducted in early December. The OPR polling required Americans to give out their opinion with regard to the regulation of online poker.

From the survey, 19.4% said they strongly support the regulation and more than 29% said that they strongly oppose the regulation of online poker. As with the response gathered during the Reason-Rupe poll, about 1/3 of the Americans showed opposition to regulating online poker.

When you check the demographic details offered by the Reason-Rupe poll results, you will find a couple of interesting results regarding support for regulation of online poker. Here is the breakdown:

• More Republicans support the regulation compared to Democrats. The polls showed that 75% of Republicans favored legalization and 58% of Democrats favored it.
• The support for regulation declines with increase in age. About 70% of the Americans below 55 years favor regulation as compared to the 56 percent of those above 55 years
• The support for the regulation increases with the increase in the income of the respondents.
• The support for the regulation increases with the increase in the level of education of the respondents. Those with a high school diploma or below expressed 55% of support while college graduates and post graduates supported regulation by 76 and 73%, respectively.

Phil Laak Owes California Back Taxes

With winnings of up to $3,136,008 of poker tournament plus a WSOP golden bracelet still for him, Phil Laak obviously likes bluffing. However, the California state is one opponent who is rightly known as his bluff. Reports show that Laak has not paid taxes right from 2010 and 2011.

The tax collectors in California now demand that he pays $24,874 as tax incurred within these two years. This is a pretty small amount for Laak considering his massive winnings in poker.

When such a thing takes place, it is natural for the poker world to assume that possibly the player is hard up. However, this is not the case with Phil Laak given that he is still collecting good tournament scores.

In 2013 alone, the Unabomber (mainly because of his sunglasses and hoodies) collected winnings amounting to $433, 740. This was his third best year in his 12-year tournament game. Since 2004, Laak has collected the lowest amount of $119,120, which greatly testifies to his own consistency.

Another essential thing to note is that Laak regularly performs well in high and mid stakes real money games. Therefore, the bottom line is that Uncle Sam from California, or whoever is responsible for taxes in California, should receive their money.

On the other hand, Laak should note that the poker world is still kind to him. In the 2013’s summer, he took the 19^th position in the $111k WSOP, One Drop tournament where he earned $173,723. Besides, in 2013, he earned $109,385 from the Poker Main Event’s WPT Legends. This gave him $109,385 after finishing in the fifth place.

In addition to his continued success in the poker world, Phil Laak continues to hold on to Jennifer Tilly, his longtime girlfriend. These two have been together since 2005, a time when Tilly emerged the winner of WSOP Ladies Hold’em, which was her very first tournament. Today, Tilly and Laak are probably the best known couple in the poker world. Whether Phil Laak will clear his tax dues remains to be seen.

NJ Online Poker: 3 Weeks In

New Jersey’s third week in iGaming proved to be quite eventful including developments, technology issues, and a great rise in new players.

Despite these headlines, there was a nominal fluctuation in poker traffic for the last week with NJ. PartyPoker.com being slightly dominant over WSOP.com in three consecutive weeks. However, week three was still a defining week for this state in which losers and winners emerged, system flows manifested and the big picture broadened.

Out of the 7 Atlantic City casinos, which took place in “soft play” roll-out of New Jersey, Only the Golden Nugget made it. The DGE cleared the casino last Friday when it is expected to carry out full-scale iGaming operations. However, it’s yet to be known when Golden Nugget intends to rollout its own self-branded poker platform.

The delayed entry of Golden Nugget into the online poker market of NJ may indicate a death blow. Two factors help to support this assertion:

Despite its plans to set up a poker platform at a land based facility this month, this casino is not known to be a premier platform for poker players.

Out of NJ’s 6 regulated sites, only WSOP and PartyPoker show signs of life. This creates the belief that the NJ poker community may not sustain many poker sites.

The other astounding yet greatest news of the week is that the DGE suspended PokerStars application for two years. The DGE stated that the reasons for the suspension were the pending indictment of Isai Scheinberg – PokerStars founder and the engagement of some PokerStars leaders in US gaming even after the UIGEA.

This is possibly a good image for the integrity of NJ’s iGaming industry. It is also a positive gesture for NJ.PartyPoker.com though it dashes the hopes of those who expected to see PokerStars’ player volume, great VIP structure and excellent software to the New Jersey market.

In other developments, WSOP.com planned a server switch, which was expected to create a temporary pause in action. However, the entire server experienced a crash for about 6 hours. Sadly, most of the evening’s major events were to wind up at the same time. Huge payouts were yet to be made and players visited the Two Plus Two – a dedicated forum for WSOP as well as Twitter hoping to get answers to their concerns and questions.

At first, Bill Rini, WSOP’s head of online poker asked players to check out the server outage policy of WSOP, which suggest a refund to all players affected but confusion loomed as to how much each player should get.

Tom Dwan No Longer with Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker will not be renewing Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s contract for sponsorship under the site’s high-stakes pro team known as “The Professionals.” This comes after a long stint of Dwans’ absence from the site’s high-stakes tables and lack of participation in Full Tilt Poker promotional events, which many believe is a big part of the reason that the relationship between Full Tilt and Dwan has come to an end.

2+2 forum members have posted that they noticed Dwan’s picture had been removed from the sign in screen over the weekend. Full Tilt offered the following statement: “Full Tilt Poker and Tom Dwan have agreed to part ways following the recent expiration of Dwan’s contract,” confirming the break up.

The Professionals is a group of players that regularly frequent the high-stakes tables on the site and include high-profile nose bleed players Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Gus Hansen.

Dwan has been recently spending his time in Asia at ultra-high stakes live games, specifically in Macau. He relocated there in 2012.

Dwan and Hansen were the only two sponsored poker pros who remained on with Full Tilt after the site’s buyout by the Rational Group—parent company of PokerStars. The Rational Group bought out Full Tilt Poker after making a deal with the US Department of Justice following Black Friday.

Full Tilt’s page dedicated to The Professionals has now removed Dwan and only depicts Hansen and Blom, where all three players used to be represented.

A Full Tilt Poker spokesperson commented, “To have one of the most respected names in poker on our team has been a great pleasure. We will continue to watch Tom at the tables and wish him every success in the future.”

Dwan has not made any public comments on the matter and has only tweeted that his phone is missing calls. He suggests texting until he responds as a solution to the problem.

PokerStars to Remain a Bad Actor to State Poker

Unfortunately, one of the biggest and most beloved online poker brands will not be a part of the New Jersey regulated and legal online poker market, and may not be part of regulated US poker at all for that matter if other states follow suit. Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware now offer legal online poker and have taken great lengths to offer it in a way that protects the residents of these states. However, New Jersey just doesn’t feel right allowing PokerStars to operate online poker services to New Jersey residents.

When the Nevada Gaming Commission first set up shop for real money Internet poker, they were very careful about their selection process, setting a very high bar for New Jersey and Delaware. These precedent states that will set the standard for all future state gambling projects have done an excellent job in the careful selection process that dictates which companies can and cannot operate online gambling sites from within a state, and one of the clauses in the application process is that “no bad actors” may participate in state poker or casino operations.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has suspended PokerStars’ application blaming the federal indictment against PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg for the rejection. PokerStars is not going to be a viable applicant for New Jersey online poker if the case against Scheinberg remains “unresolved.”

“The Division’s determination is based primarily on the unresolved federal indictment against Isai Scheinberg for the alleged violation of federal gambling statutes, namely, the Illegal Gambling Business Act and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and the involvement of certain PokerStars executives with Internet gaming operations in the United States following the enactment of UIGE,” according to a statement by the division.

PokerStars spokesperson Eric Hollreiser commented to the press, “We are disappointed that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has suspended the review of our application at this time. We note that the DGE will resume the review of our application if our circumstances change. We will remain in open dialogue with the DGE and will update them on changes in our situation as they occur.”

Despite the fact that the US Department of Justice cleared PokerStars to enter back into the US regulated market when they bought out Full Tilt Poker, states are likely still going to take this stance against the company until Scheinberg faces charges, and as long as he remains off US soil, it is likely he will ever face a courtroom.

Instagram and High-Stakes Poker’s Playboy Bilzerian

Known as the Playboy King of Instagram, Dan Bilzerian, net worth of $100 million, is a high-stakes poker player who lives a loose lifestyle and frequently posts pics of his tomfoolery on social media outlet Instagram. At just 32 years old, Bilzerian developed his poker skills while studying at the University of South Florida. But his chancy lifestyle has weighed on his health. He’s already suffered a double heart attack and a pulmonary embolism. Cleared for physical activity by his doctors, he’s once again back in the saddle, but hopes to untarnish his reputation before it’s all said and done.

Bilzerian, also known as “Blitz,” calls himself an “actor/astronaut/a**hole” on Instagram, where he has more than 100K followers. His extravagant shenanigans that portray half-naked women, excessive sports cars, massive amounts of guns, and other controversial themes.

His Instagram army enjoys the bearded playboy’s eccentric lifestyle depicted in posts, like a recent Instagram photo of a topless woman swimming in his pool with a live seal. The caption read, “My buddy actually had a seal brought to the house and put in the pool haha.”

Another pic of his LA mansion garage shows two luxury cars with customized license plates “SUCK IT” and “MR GOAT,” as he is known by at the high-stakes online poker tables. The caption on the photo, “While I’m more of a t*t guy, I do appreciate a nice a**…”

Apparently fast cars and fast women aren’t the only thing Bilzerian is fond of. One Instagram photo shows a table full of semi-automatic weapons with the comment, “My greatest fear is that someone will break in & I won’t be able to decide what #gun to shoot them with.”

Originally from Tampa Bay, MR GOAT does do some acting on the side and claims that his life has always been non-cautious and that he didn’t get to enjoy much of his childhood after his father, former corporate takeover mogul Paul Bilzerian was sentenced to pay a $1.5 million fine and spend four years in jail in 1989. The younger Bilzerian recalls that in high school he wasn’t “super-cool,” which may or may not have anything to do with his overly assertive personality. He also went to military school and lived with Mormons for a year in Utah. After getting caught with a machine gun in his trunk during his senior year in high school, he went to jail, but still obtained his GED.

As a gun rights advocate, Bilzerian made his way 99% through Navy SEAL training but was honorably discharged two days before graduating due to a safety violation, according to IMBD.

He then went to college, which he thoroughly enjoyed, especially once he began playing poker. He says, “I went broke after sophomore year, gambled away all my money, sold some guns, turned $750 into $10,000, flew to Vegas, turned 10 thou into $187,000, went back to school, played better.” He explains, “I respected the money. You have to go broke to respect the money,.”

Throughout his poker career, he’s been successful in multiple tournaments, namely placing 180^th in the WSOP Main Event in 2009. Bilzerian is also co-founder of Victory Poker.

A gambler through and through, he describes betting on everything in life as an “essential condition.” He will take just about any bet he’s offered from jumping from a 90-foot cliff to swimming across a lake full of alligators. In 2011 he made a bet on a drag race at the Las Vegas Speedway and won $385K when his 1965 A/C Cobra beat a 2011 Ferrari 458, considered at the time to be one of the fastest cars in the world.

But he doesn’t always win the bet, especially when it comes to his health. Bilzerian’s heart gave out two years ago when he flew back and forth to play 24-7 poker from Maui to Las Vegas twice in three days. He had previously had a double heart attack, but this time it was only a pulmonary embolism. His health is said to be in good condition now.

While he does put on quite the show for his Instagram following, he Bilzerian claims that he would like to clean up his image and rebrand his playboy reputation as “the gentleman of poker.” His charitable efforts thus far include helping victims of Typhoon Haiyan, donating $100K of his poker winnings to charity, and offering assistance to those in need on an individual basis. He aided a couple that was trying to adopt four underpriviledged children who were sick and another woman who had lost all of her limbs.

When he’s not playing poker, Bilzerian enjoys extreme sports, racing cars, MMA training, mountain biking, scuba diving, and snowmobiling. He’s also a stunt man and has been in three movies: “Olympus Has Fallen,” “The Other Woman,” and “The Equalizer.”

WSOP Cleveland Relocated to St. Louis

Much to the dismay of many Cleveland-area players, who were looking forward to the WSOP stop in Cleveland next spring, the tournament announced that it will instead stop in St. Louis in late march instead of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland due to the casino’s size.

The tournament made the following statement last week:

“Despite the World Series of Poker Circuit’s belief in the Cleveland market as an exciting market to host a second World Series of Poker Circuit event in Ohio, it has been determined after further due diligence that the space originally conceptualized to host it will not be sufficient for the guest experience the property and the World Series of Poker both desire and require.”

The senior VP and GM for Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Marcus Glover, says that both the poker tour and the casino had “exhausted every reasonable option” to try and make it work before finally seceding from the idea. Caesars Entertainment, owner of the WSOP, also has stake in Horseshoe.

Glover says, “The ability to provide an optimal experience for our loyal poker guests – as well as our non-poker customers — was primary to this difficult decision. We are fully committed to finding a way to accommodate a future World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Cleveland.

“We particularly appreciate the understanding of our guests and will continue to seek opportunities to further enhance the poker experience at Horseshoe Cleveland.”

When the announcement was made last May that the tour would make a Cleveland stop, they have been faced with the problem of how the Horseshoe would fit thousands of players that were expected to register. There would have been 12 events, two days each, and each event would average about 800 players. This would have required 30 tables, which the Horseshoe’s poker room would not have allowed for.

The original plan was to host the event in the ballroom of the adjacent Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, but not after the Ohio Casino Control Commission vetoed the plans citing the constitutional amendment that allowed gambling in Cleveland, only allowed it in certain places.

The press release also stated that the company “still desires to make Horseshoe Cleveland a future World Series of Poker Circuit stop and will continue to have dialogue with the property to weigh options for future events there.”

The tour will instead stop at downtown St. Louis’ Lumiere Place.

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