Oct 5, 2015 | News
There are no smiles for investors in Macau casinos as September revenues underline the trend of declining revenues in the last five years. The peninsula’s casino revenues for the month just passed have been the lowest in the last five years. This disappointing level of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) may have investors in the arena of poker and other betting games re-evaluating their future in the business.
Of course, there is no sign that poker and related games are about to stop in Macau any time soon, but investors cannot afford to sit on their laurels. There is, however, no panic as the gaming culture is well entrenched in Macau. The place has for many years been referred to as the Las Vegas of Asia. Playing poker and other betting games in this city is the order of the day.
How steep is the decline in Macau casino revenues?
Evidently, Macau’s gaming business has been experiencing tough times. According to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the comprehensive GGR for September this year has fallen by 36.2% compared to the same month last year. In absolute figures, the revenues for September 2015, whether from poker or any other betting games in the city’s casinos, totalled $22.05 billion. That translates to MOP$176.02 billion as the Macau currency, Macanese pataca, is much weaker compared to the US dollar. In fact, the local currency is also slightly weaker than the Hong Kong dollar (HKD).
The immediate revenue decline has been calculated to be 2.5%; that is the drop from the figure of August 2015 revenues. Whether something will trigger increased poker activity in coming months, or whether poker players and other betting enthusiasts will up their stakes resulting in increased revenues is something to wait and see.
There is, however, not much optimism for the 3rd quarter of this year as far as gross revenues from poker and related casino games are concerned. It is predicted that this year’s third quarter may see a drop in revenues of around 34.4% in comparison to last year’s 3rd quarter. A good number of gaming analysts are, incidentally, not surprised. According to them, September’s revenue decline in gross casino revenues has just been a culmination of 16 continuous months of falling revenues.
Why the fall in casino revenues?
Whereas none of the analysts has pointed fingers on poker or any other betting game in particular for the casinos’ financial woes, it has not escaped their notice that the number of Chinese VIP gamblers has significantly fallen. The rich in China do not just engage in online poker but also frequent established casinos where they are known for playing high stakes. This was the case in past years, where rich Chinese gamblers visited Macau, played poker and other betting games, and generally made the gaming scene very vibrant.
That scenario is apparently no longer sustainable as the Chinese government continues to weigh down on corrupt citizens. At the same time, casinos are now generally leaning more towards a mass market rather than relying on a few VIPs to keep them afloat. It is also not easy to underrate the impact of the initiatives on restricting smoking in poker playing areas and other public arenas in general. Gamblers are one lot that does not do well with strict rules, and as such, stringent social rules may keep some of them away from casinos and other public betting arenas.
Significantly too, in regards to the September revenue decline is a massive theft that took place in Wynn Macau casino, totalling a whopping $258 million. That theft was linked to Dore Holdings’ employees who act for high rollers as middlemen.
Oct 5, 2015 | News
It is a new dawn for online poker! PokerStars is the largest poker room where online poker players can spend and earn real money in their gaming. The fact that the players are doing online gambling means that they cannot see their gaming opponents and read their demeanour. They are also, very likely, not familiar with their style of playing or even their gaming history. That is where poker software comes in. It provides you with information that helps you up your game against the player you are competing against online. Hold’em Manager 1 (HM1) Poker Software, for instance, has been in the market for some time now, and recently HM2 has been introduced.
What’s the problem?
However, what seems to be raising eyebrows today is the use of third party software, and particularly the Game Theory Optimal (GTO), built by grinder ‘skier_5’, a London based software developer. The software seems to be skewed against expert and experienced online poker players, as more and more average players use it to become swift world class contenders.
It Is Great News for Expert Poker Players
Steve Day, PokerStars’ manager, says they may have to adjust their policy regarding skier_5’s third party software. This was after Baard Darl, the tournament manager of Sit & Go, had announced the possibility of the new online poker rules taking effect as from this month of October.
While novices may have enjoyed the use of skier_5’s GTO and built their names on the online poker scene, many old hands may, understandably, be disappointed by how it works. However, it will be the joy of great poker players to note that PokerStars has identified some third party poker software that has capacity to provide the static data and information that is helpful to all poker players, while not displaying sensitive information about the game at hand and the active player’s tactics. Even starting hand charts will contain only basic information and nothing sophisticated that can be used against an opponent while the online poker game is on.
Among the issues not in contention at the moment is the use of Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) that provide not just numerical but also non-numerical data. Darl explained that these HUDs are set to be cleared from the competitive poker scene so that those players engaged in online gambling will not have to contend with being categorized and their personalized statistics being displayed over devices. Third parties will also not be able to provide analyzed information on the equities of individual poker players as long as those players are busy playing. In addition, those HUDs that will pass the test and receive a clean bill of health will still be faced with the restriction of colours. With the emergence of the new regulations, the colours on display may be restricted to a total of just three.
No Threat to Old Software Developers
Other developers who have partnered with providers of online poker need not worry about business. For example, introduction of the new third party poker software to replace the one of skier_5 is not meant to affect the use of older tools like HM2 or even Poker Tracker 4. Even the Nash Charts will still be welcome.
However, the jury is still out regarding future admissibility of some tools like SessionLord’s Pre-flop Chart; Holy Grail of Poker; Poker Academy; HEM2’s LeakBuster; FlopZilla; Odds Oracle; PokerStove; NoteCaddy; and PT4’s Leak Tracker. In the meantime, poker lovers are welcome to air their views on the proposed changes on the Two plus Two poker forum where more than half a million members actively participate.
Sep 30, 2015 | News
Paddy, whose full name is Patrick Hicks, passed away last Saturday the 26th. Paddy has been in the poker arena for decades and had grown to become part and parcel of the Irish poker community. His popular stake out was Fitzwilliam Card Club within Dublin, where his presence will be greatly missed. He lived in Hamilton Street.
Paddy, who is survived by his children, Billy; Sharon; Yvonne; as well as Paula, was not just admired at the poker tables for his playing prowess. He was also popular away from the games. He had an admirable demeanour that drew people to him. Whether he was playing Irish poker or the conventional poker as known worldwide, Paddy was evidently an experienced hand.
Is Irish Poker any different?
Well, Irish Poker is one variant of Hold’em, which has protocols most poker players are familiar with. It, obviously, has its distinct features, like the player being dealt 4-hole cards in place of 2 pre-flop; two of which are soon discarded – actually immediately following the flop round of the betting. This form of poker is offered both as a No Limit format as well as a Pot Limit format.
During this mourning period, both online poker players and those who play in casinos and other brick and mortar venues within Ireland are united in remembering one of their own. Paddy’s demise follows that of another elderly Irish poker player, Liam Flood, who passed away slightly over a year ago. Liam was also admired as a gentleman. In fact, his nickname was ‘The Gentleman’.
Liam left an indelible mark on the poker scene in Ireland, having played a major role in the establishment of the Irish Poker Open Tournament. His prowess as a poker player was also underlined by his two major winnings of the tournament – in 1990 as well as 1996. He passed away at 71yrs of age.
Both Patrick and Liam were poker veterans who could pride themselves with having witnessed the evolvement of the poker scene in Ireland, from the betting game of a relatively small community to becoming a popular game for people of all walks of life. That does, in no way, mean that playing of poker has ever been curtailed in Ireland, but it has had its hiccups too, like in many other countries.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Irish have always had a liking for poker, more or less like their beer, the state laws on gambling became a little too tight in 1956, and a good number of casinos closed down. However, as the saying goes, where there is will there is a way. The Irish were keen to identify loopholes in their new state poker law. Shrewd operators opened gambling venues in the name of clubs and thus returned poker and other gambling activities with a bang. Of course, today, casinos in Ireland operate without concealing the fact that they are gambling arenas, and there are fourteen of them well established and buzzing with betting activity.
Today, as Ireland’s poker fraternity remembers with admiration the life of Patrick Hicks, the elderly folk cannot miss to relish the long way they have traveled, with online poker and other online gambling activities becoming accessible to gaming lovers in addition to the games in brick and mortar casinos. Ireland is way ahead of many countries when it comes to the vibrancy of poker. One may wish to point out, for example, that poker players have opportunity to play or watch live poker in eight well established casinos. In fact, the Emerald Casino, which is said to be Ireland’s largest and situated within Dublin, boasts of 24 games tables; 24 gaming machines; plus 22 poker tables.
Sep 29, 2015 | News
Recently, Mike McDonald, alias Timex almost skipped playing the WCOOP 51K USD Super High Roller, but rather opted to play and apparently he is now leading the pack of the last eight. Mike had decided against playing in the biggest buy-in tournament the world has ever witnessed but opted to go on with the game. To prove his instincts right, Timex, as he loves to be referred to in game of luck was atop the final eight players in the 2015 Poker Stars World Championships of Online poker 51K USD Super High Roller.
According to Mike McDonald, the issue of him registering late for the game was not an issue that was to be taking with lots of weight as such. Apparently, he argues that he does not feel good playing deep stack or even wanting to make an entrance sort of a thing. It was just that Mike McDonald had from the first day of the tournament thought that it was much tougher than he had actually experienced it. Ideally, Mike thought that it was going to be tough in the sense that most super high rollers were quite competitive in essence. However, this one was a tough one in the sense that he average player was quite good at it. Therefore, Mike saw quite a challenge and that is perhaps the reason why he was hesitant to register in the first case.
Mike McDonald said that in the last 30 to 45 minutes of registration, a number of several weaker players came to register as well as the chip were more towards the weaker in players in the poker field. Even in the event of these happenings, Mike argues that he had no idea how exactly he would fare in the field at the end. According to poker news, there was a time that Mike thought that he was quite confident not to play at all. However, things turned around suddenly and then he just decided to hop in and make the plunge.
The other notable players who were with McDonald in the last eight of the Super High Roller include Jose Angel Latorre, David Peters, Tollerence Holz, Nikita Bodyakovski and Cuffme. When the players will be returning to PokerStars on Monday noontime, the blinds would be set at 1000/2000 with a rather 250 ante and then the top 6 spots will play out. The mini-cash winning would be worth $126500 but there definitely are some two players who will at the end of it all being going home empty handed at the end of Day 2. The winner will subsequently get $851000 and as things stand currently, McDonald has just positioned himself rightly to take the title at the end of the event.
Notably, after Day 1 which attracted a total of 46 entries to the field, McDonald took some period of time to chat with poker news journalists about how he felt about the event and what exactly would be his prospects in the near future with regards to playing poker.
Some of the notable poker players that were bundled out at the end of Day 1 include Nick Petrangelo, Daniel Colman, Thomas Muehloecker, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Dzmitry Urbanovich and Doug Polk. It is also advisable to stay tuned so as to get all the latest poker news with regards to Mike McDonald’s progress and that of the other poker players. By the end of the day on Monday, it is expected that some changes would be seen on the log but Mike McDonald is likely to retain his place at the apex. One of the notable players of his times, Mike is no doubt having a great time in this case. It is good to keep watching and staying updated so as to get the most ideal details in essence.
Sep 29, 2015 | News
Poker news just in is that Archie Karas, a famed gambler has since been placed in the Black Book, also referred to as the list of excluded persons. Having been one of poker’s most legendary gamblers, this is news that has been received with shock and disbelief in equal measure all over Nevada Casinos and more so in other parts of the world.
One Anargyros Karabourniotis, herein referred to as Archie Karas is ideally the so-called stuff of legends. The man has been gambling and playing poker for as long as anyone could imagine and therefore the news of his ban is something that has been quite outstanding to many. From the year 1992 to the year 1994, Archie Karas is said to have turned $50 to more than $40 million in what is even up to date referred to as “The Run.”
During that duration, Karas is said to have defeated some of the best names in poker. These included Chip Reese, Stu Ungar and Doyle Brunson just to name but a few. In fact, it is good to note that only Johnny Chan was able to beat Karas at the time by reportedly $900000 from the revered poker player.
Unfortunately, for the once legendary gambler, his heater came to an end and subsequently he proceeded to lose almost everything over the next two years. Today, more than 2 decades later, his fall from grace has been going from bad to worse. Just recently, he was placed in the unwanted Nevada Black Book that is officially known as the List of Excluded Persons.
According to poker news released by the Las Vegas Review Journal, the gaming commission in Nevada voted unanimously in order to make Karas, currently 64 years old the 33rd entity in the list of shame. Again, Karas who happened not to have attended the hearing in order to defend himself might face criminal charges if he entered any Casino in Nevada.
So, what caused Karas to be included in this list?
Well, he was included in the list according to experts as a result of committing numerous transgressions. The most recent of those transgressions came in the September of 2013 whereby he was arrested for cheating at blackjack when playing poker at the Barona Casino in the eastern parts of San Diego. Eventually, the man himself was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to three years in probation. Prior to that incident, Karas had also been arrested about four times within Nevada from the year 1988 for the same offence of cheating and blackjack.
From these details and other poker news, there is no doubt that Karas is a man in great trouble. He has been involved in cheating for quite some time and this is the main reason as to why he has since found himself in the list of shame. A legendary gambler of his caliber would never want to get into such a mess but according to many experts, this occurrence is his own making. He has made cheating at blackjack a common issue for him and he always gets arrested when he commits the offence and therefore it is only prudent that he corrects this way of life.
Considerably, Karas has more than $205000 in terms of lifetime tournament earnings and seven cashes from the World Series of Poker. Notably, the largest score of his entire career came during the 2009 WSOP whereby he took the fifth position in the $10000 World championships no limit deuce to seven draws for an amount totaling $53783. Of course, after this aspect of being black listed, he would never be able to attend any future WSOPs and that simply means that he is done as a gambler considering the many times that he has found himself on the wrong side of the law.
Sep 28, 2015 | News
Among the hottest poker news in the poker industry today is that Poker Central has since announced that Maria Ho will be streaming live poker programs on the network’s Twitch TV channel. In response to her job appointment, Ho said that she was so thrilled to be part of the company’s vision to drive and broadcast innovative programming, more so to be able to reach out to the many people who love poker out there. According to Clint Stinchcomb, the CEO of Poker Central, the company was excited to welcome Ho to help in boosting the appeal that the twitch channel has since maintained for quite a long period of time.
Being a professional poker player, Maria Ho understands just about everything regarding poker and therefore when it comes to streaming live poker programming on the Twitch TV channel, there is no doubt that she has all it takes to do the job in the right manner. Outstanding poker news state that the live streaming would be referred to as Poker Central Live with Maria Ho and the show is expected to begin in late September.
For anyone who is not very familiar with poker central, there is a plan in the cards to launch on the 1st of October. That will be the only television station that will be offering 24-hour poker related programs all through the week. Notably, Poker Central is also the producer of the highly rated Super High Roller Series. It might be a good idea to note that one Brian Rast won the inaugural event back in July for $7525000 after he had outlasted 43 players.
Ever since she started poker, Maria Ho has amassed more than $2.6 million in terms of poker tournament winnings. This amount includes 32 world series of poker or the so called WSOP cashes, three WSOP finals tables, four WPT cashes and seven final tables in addition. Notably, her best cash came in the second-placed finish of the year 2011 when she won $540020.
It is also good to understand that Maria Ho is known to be a revered television personality. She competed in the CBS Emmy Awards winning and went on to win the television show award for The Amazing Race 15 in the year 2009. She also took part in the third season of American Idol, commentated at the Heartland Poker Tour and recently joined Poker Night in America as a co-host.
There is no doubt that the staff members and top level managers at Poker Central are absolutely delighted that Maria Ho is joining their vibrant team of professionals. Being one of the best female poker pros in the world today, she will most definitely bring the best to the table considering that she has vast knowledge of the game of luck. Moreover, her charm and personality will make her a very valuable addition to the team at Poker Central.
It is good to note that Maria Ho will not simply be streaming online poker sessions in live time. She will also be interacting with many other professional poker players and offering commentary on video clips from other events hosted by the company. Also during the program that she will be hosting, there will be prizes to give away including Poker Central Apparel, high roller series memorabilia, and a myriad of unique fan experiences to say the least. Additionally, Ho will be planning to use her live streaming show to educate and introduce her fans to the new program.
The show that will be hosted by Maria Ho and many others from the company will be available to everyone interested all over the world. The programs will be televised on arrange of platforms and will feature interactive and fun programs in order to make sure that all fans remain entertained. Again, Maria Ho and Poker Central Live will just be a first example of how the company is planning to make use of social media in order to promote the TV network.
