PokerStars Luanches Asia Pacific Poker Tour

PokerStars announced today in a press release the launch of Asia Pacific's first ever poker tour, the PokerStars APPT. The APPT will span from Australia to Kra and will attract world class poker players, bringing poker action to some of the most exotic and luxurious casinos and gambling destinations in the area.

As put by Sarne Lightman, co-founder of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, "One of the most exciting aspects of being a poker player is the incredible travel opportunities it offers,” Lightman went on to explain that PokerStars sends poker players on trips to events located throughout Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean. "The launch of the PokerStars APPT brings a whole new dimension to poker in Asia and marks poker’s emergence into a truly global sport.”

The opening event for the Asia Pacific Poker tour will be held August 23rd 2007 through the 26th at Casino Manila, a 5 star Hyatt Hotel located in the Philippines. The second APPT event is scheduled to commence on the 27th of September, at the Sheraton Walkerhill hotel and Casino, located in Seoul, South Korea, that event will continue through the 30th of September.

Both events will be televised poker tournaments, and are the first of their kind in each of the countries mentioned. There are at least 3 more events planned for 2007 that will be announced later in the year.

The final event of the year will be held in December, with the Grand Final, which will be located in StarCity Casino in Sydney Australia, the buyin will be AUD6,300 (or approximately $5,000) is set to be held in the the casinos' fabulous poker room, overlooking the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Poker isn't all the tour is offering however, in addition to televised poker tournaments, the PokerStars APPT is working with the local toursm board in efforts to include a wide variety of tourism opportunities that will be designed to introduce poker players, and fans, to the individual beauty and cultural diversity offered by each destination.

Satellite tournaments are available for entry into the tournaments at PokerStars.com beginning July 1st, for as little as $22, in addition to FreeRoll tournaments offered for each event.

Blair Rodman, Pro Gambler and Author Wins WSOP Bracelet!

Blair Rodman, professional gambler and author wins bracelet through a tough and varied sea of competitors.

In Las Vegas the winner of the $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em championship was Blair Rodman, professional gambler and author. This is his first WSOP win. The 53 year old has been playing in the tournament since 1982.

Rodman co-authored the popular book, "Kill Phil" which explains counterstrategies designed to beat the best poker players in the world. Rodman is also active on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, a televised "21" tournament.

Blair Rodman just about found himself out of WSOP. He was knocked out of the Omaha High Low from the previous date. He almost skipped the next day’s event because he was exhausted. "I got eliminated on late on the second day in Omaha," Rodman explained in a post-tournament interview. "I almost didn't play (in this tournament). If I would not have been knocked out of that Omaha High-Low event, I would not have been here. So, I guess getting busted in that event was a good thing!"

When the game came down to the final nine, Rodman was sixth in the chips stacks. With skill, he managed to survive and eventually took a decisive chip. The heads up play against Amato Galasso, a first time live event player, lasted for three hours. Through a series of see saw wins leaving Rodman to win the last pot of the night.

In his first poker tournament, Galasso won $448,808, a fantastic finish for a newbie to the world of live tournament poker.

A number of other notable events occurred in this game. Included in this Anna Wroblewski finished fourth, as the only the 6th women to make a final table appearance in an open event for the 2007 World Series. Katja Thater is still the only woman to win a gold bracelet this year in an open event.

In 9th place Mark McKibben, who entered the competition after winning a jackpot slots machine on this, his first visit to Las Vegas. The $2000 entry fee was posted with the winnings, and he continued deep into the game to finish with $42,655. That’s a vacation pay out many could enjoy.

T.J. Cloutier, a powerhouse in poker, finished in 17th place. He has won 54 WSOP cash payouts during his lifetime, including this match. This ranks him right behind Men Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth.

Even the entertainment industry did well in this match up. Jennifer Tilly, the oscar-nominated actress finished in 30th place. Rene Angelil, husband and manager of superstar entertainer Celine Dion, took 173rd place.

Many previous gold bracelet winners who finished in the top of this match up were – David Chiu (61), Rafe Furst (62), John Spadavecchia (107), Kirk Morrison (111), and James Mackey (138).

As the events approach their finish for the 2007 World Series, there have been new additions to the official ‘WSOP Millionaires Club”. Currently there are 88 players who have won each an excess of $1 million in lifetime earnings at the WSOP. The newest members to join this exceptional group of player include: Thor Hansen, Jeffrey Lisandro, Burt Boutin, Freddy Deeb, Bruno Fitoussi, Fred Goldberg, Hans Lund, Tony Ma, William Thorsen and David Singer. This is an accomplishment many will strive for in their tournament career ventures.

LadyHoldem's Trip to Vegas

For those of you who don't know me, online, I'm LadyHoldem! Today I was writing some poker articles for a client of mine, with my friend Amber, when she came across an article about auditions for a reality TV show for poker players, I'm a mom, and not the littlest mom in the world now, but auditioning for a reality TV show just sounds like fun!

So, I decided I want to go.. can't say that I really have a plan aside from that, but Amber, Becca and I are going to go to Vegas on the 5th of July and audition for Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker II. We'll work out the details here shortly, the small stuff like tickets, a place to sleep and food, and I'll be blogging my entire adventure here! If you'd like to buy a link, a review, or a banner spot on the blog, or just make a donation to our little adventure, send me an email at LadyHoldem@comcast.net :) !

We're accepting sponsors for poker tournaments, outings whatever, if you'd like us to review a particular location, hotel, or service in Vegas, that's what we do, let us know!

Home Poker Games at PokerDIY

I was looking around online the other day for a home poker game, as I am sure I've mentioned here before, I already play a pretty great home poker game where I live in Virgina. Well I've been considering playing a few more a week, possibly a total of 4-5 in fact.



I travel to the casino once in awhile, but frankly, I tend to find better poker games hosted by friends and family. I enjoy the comraderie, getting to know the players, both skill wise, and personally, and the entire outing in general. Not to mention the payout, people really don't seem to mind losing a home poker game, which works out pretty wel for me, as I don't much mind winning them.

You'd be surprized how many people playing private poker games are really just there for the game, a place to hang out amongst friends, kick back, drink a beer or two, and in general, just have a good time, and the best part... they bring cash!

Anyway, during my search for a home poker game near my house, I ran across a really interesting blog post featuring PokerDIY, it connects blogs, not only did I visit PokerDIY by clicking the image below this post, I get paid when other people write about the same topic on their blogs, and then they get paid for blogging the topic as well, now being the entreprenurial person that I am, how could I pass this up?

PokerDIY lets visitors search for games near them, as well as set up and manage their own poker games. You can keep score, create a leader board and so on, in fact, it's a really cool site for bar leagues as well. The best part, I'll be trying out a few new poker games this week!