Shane Warne to turn into a Poker Pro

Australian Test cricket Great & Spin bowler wizard Shane Warne will start a new career as a poker professional.

Warne retired from test cricket last year with a record 708 wickets, only behind another great spin bowler Srilankan Muttiah Muralitharan, whois holding world record of 729 test wickets. However, Warne had signed with online poker Company 888.com to play world Series of Poker, Won by his australian Poker mentor Joe Hachem in 2005.

"Nothing will replace the 20 years of cricket in my life, but there are a lot of similarities," Warne told the Herald Sun newspaper. "It's a game of skill that has a lot of analogies to cricket. You have to be very, very disciplined."

Throughout his cricketing career Warne attracted as much controversy off the field as he did on it, with suspension for passing tips to an Indian bookmaker and the breakup of his marriage over extramarital affairs and phone text scandals.

He also served a ban for testing positive to a prohibited diuretic and in 1999 was charged with bringing the game into disrepute after criticising Sri Lanka's captain.

His first game as a professional would be at this week's Aussie Millions tournament in Melbourne. "My attitude is I've got a lot more to learn about the game," he said.

Warne said he expected to play poker in the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Britain this year, while filling a development role for Australia's promising spin bowlers.

Casinos Holding Off On Expansion

It was a tense week at the Isle of Capri Casino after several positions were cut. When asked about the job cuts the General Manager – Barron Fuller – stated that the cuts were due to a reorganization effort that will help them against the high gas prices, the winter weather, and the ever growing competition.

The fuel prices have been one of the biggest problems for the Marquette casino to deal with. The fact that many of the gamblers that play at that casino have to drive almost 75 miles is making it difficult for them to come out as often as they would like. "It's kind of on everyone's radar screen," said Fuller.

Many people believe that another big problem that they are facing is the addition of the brand new $175 million casino that was put up in Waterloo. Whether or not the new casino is really taking away the business of the Marquette casino and the surrounding casinos is not something that has been proven – but there still is a chance it could be a real problem

Bruce Wentworth – the General Manager of the Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino – stated that the bad winter weather may have played a much bigger role than any competition. "The most recent pressure has been weather-driven rather than from competition," he stated. He also went on to say that after the winter storms had passed the attendance went back up almost 8% during the month of February. "That could be some pent-up demand from the previous two months."

Wentworth believes that they will have a better chance of finding out the root of the problem when the summer begins and the tourists start to pour in. "The Isle Casino and Hotel at Waterloo has been very successful; how we are impacting other facilities is really a question for those other facilities," stated Kelly Heth – the public relations and advertising manager over the operation.

It seems that whatever the problem is it is weighing down heavily on the Marquette operation. "At certain times, competition is healthy," stated Fuller. "Right now, I don't think the demand has caught up to supply."

That is why the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission chose this month to not accept new license applications from the newer casinos till they have studied the impact they have on existing casinos and the community.

Representatives from Ottumwa, Tama, Newton, and Franklin County don’t agree with this step and have asked the board to give out licenses hoping that it will help to support more jobs and economic opportunities for people. Already Franklin County, Tama, and Ottumwa have been given approval from the local voters allowing them a casino.

"The Grand" World Series of Poker Movie

The Grand is in the tradition of improvisational comedies like Best In Show and This Is Spinal Tap. The story is set in the world of professional poker and follows six players who reach the final table of the world’s second most famous high stakes tournament, the Grand Championship of Poker. The Grand was improvised from a detailed treatment co–written by Zak Penn and Matt Bierman who also served as Executive Producer. A Tribeca Film Festival favorite, the film boasts a stellar, international comedic cast and was featured June 8 at the Cinevegas film festival in Las Vegas.

An eclectic cast brings together many of today’s top comedic actors; Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind and Chris Parnell. The film also stars award–winning comedian Ray Romano, the legendary German film director Werner Herzog and sitcom vet Gabe “Welcome Back Kotter” Kaplan.

The Grand was produced by Zak Penn and Gary Marcus as well as Eleven Eleven Films’ Bobby Schwartz and Ross Dinerstein and IMG’s Bret Saxon and Jeff Bowler. It will be distributed theatrically by Anchor Bay Entertainment in March 2008.

PokerStars Announces Over 1000 WSOP Seats

PokerStars has announced an impressive news today, that they will send over 1000 players to this year WSOP. The promotion is already running and will continue for next couple of months. If you qualify, you can earn $12,500 prize packages and one of the lucky member to win the title of the WSOP.

If you are PokerStars player, Don't worry about bankroll, because there will be Freerolls & lots of satellite tournament for this event. you can qualify as low as $2 buy in.

Poker Stars is one of the few Pokerroom who offers Cash incentives to the lucky qualifier who qualify online and do good in main event. Stars qualifiers who make the WSOP main event final table can win bonuses from $100,000 to $1,000,000.

Chris Moneymaker is one of the qualifier from Poker stars who become a pro after the 2003 WSOP main event. So what you are waiting for, Sign up PokerStars and qualify for the WSOP.

If you qualify WSOP, you will get:

● $10,000 Main Event buy-in.
● $2,500 expense money.
● Eight nights' complimentary hotel accommodations at the nearby Palms.
● Hotel suite upgrades for Supernova and Supernova Elite VIP members.

WSOP Qualifiers are Running Now

The World Series of Poker is the world's biggest poker event - Everyone wants a shot at the big time, so make sure you Qualify Main Event package at Full Tilt Poker. This year Race to the Main Event is giving players an opportunity to win one of three completely free seats every week through June 22nd.

There are also weekly real money guarantee tournaments on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with buy-ins ranging from $200 + $16 to $1,000 + $60 and satellites starting from just $2 + $.25 or 50 Full Tilt Poker points. Son't forget to bookmark calendars for the 150 Seat Main Event Guarantee on June 15th - with 50 more guaranteed $12K packages than last year, this is the largest Main Event qualifier we've ever run.

If you qualify Main Event seat at Full Tilt Poker You'll automatically qualify for $10 Million Main Event Mania, and if you win more than one Main Event package, You could become our King of the Series and experience the royal treatment in Las Vegas.

We also have the Race for Bracelets and a chance to win a seat at the $50K HORSE event for players who are interested in playing in more than just the Main Event.

Officials announce dates for WSOP Europe

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. announced today that the WSOPE will take place Sept. 19 to Oct. 1 this year. Though the schedule have not finalized yet but 2008 Europe WSOP will be held three London Clubs international casinos that hosted the inaugural event last year.

The 2008 WSOP will run from september 19th to Octobet 1st, 2008.

"It was a clean sweep for the Europeans last year," said WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "There are many, many talented players in the European poker community and I think it caught some of the world's best known poker players by surprise. It's safe to say the pros haven't forgotten about last year and the young guns should expect a tougher fight in 2008."

Online qualifiers for the 2008 WSOP are already available at PokerStars & Full Tilt Poker.
You can qualify WSOP as little as $3 , So do not wait sign up for WSOP qualifer. good luck

What are some tips you can give to win at texas holdem consistently?

Answer A:
play slow, trust your cards (don't get too involved in wondering what the other person has) if your at a home game, play only the hands you think you can win. Don't limp in with King, 9 or anything like that. Wait until you have two cards then play. If you play slow in a home game you will almost always make it to the last 3.

Answer B:
1. It takes a ton of patience to wait for good hands. Are you willing to sit there and wait for good cards?
2. Don't play junk. They can't beat you if you are not in the hand you shouldn't be in.
3. Throw away at the flop if you don't have at least top pair, top high cards, four to a flush or four to a straight.
4. It's aggravating to see poor players keep winning. If you get aggravated easily, this is not the game for you.

Dan Pedersen Leads At The End Of The First Day Of EPT Polish Open

The first day at the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Polish Open was full of some of the best poker stars than we have seen in a long time. Luca Pagano along with his pal and former world Champion Greg Raymer made an appearance. On the floor were also European tournament stars Thor Hansen, Dave ‘El Blondie, Pascal Perrault, Colclough, and Thomas Wahlroos. They all met up at the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw to battle it out.

The amount of players to the EPT Polish Open started off with more people than what we saw last year. Around 359 players compared to the 284 made for a long – but exciting first day as everyone worked their best strategies in hopes to reach the top prize.

We were surprised to see that Raymer was one of the first stars to experience a bit of trouble early on in the day. It was around the end of leel 2 that he found himself in big trouble and with no way out. He had a pocket of tens in a pot that went three ways. The flop was laid down to reveal - which allowed the player in the cutoff to fire at the flop. Raymer raised in return. Simone Rossi decided to re-raise by going all in – which caused the cutoff to fold and Raymer to call. Raymer laid down his overpair and Rossi revealed pocket eights. When the turn was laid on the table it revealed a . This card gave Raymer a flush draw coupled with his . Unfortunately when the river revealed a it gave Rossi a chance to double up and crippled Raymer against the rest of the game. After a few hands in level 3 Raymer was eliminated.

It didn’t take long for Raymer’s pal – Luca Pagano – to join him on the sidelines along with Rolf Slotbloom, Colclough, and Thor Hansen. Things were slow until Sorel Mizzi ran into a few tight situations. His first encounter was with Melek Ertas’. It was his against Ertas’ pocket kings. Things didn’t improve for him throughout the round and he found himself crippled. The next hand Mizzi went all in with against a pocket fives that his opponent was holding. Mizze was eliminated after the board revealed K-high.

Andy Black was one of the strongest chip leaders through much of the day. He slowly picked his way through the game and won many hands. After dinner was over he continued to win more chips and was able to double his stack – securing him a top ten spot for the end of the day.

However, it was Dan Pedersen that took complete control and held the lead for the end of the day chip stack. Earlier in the day he gathered over 100,000 chips. He lost some of it before the end of the day – but still managed to stay in the lead. Mel Judah, Johnny Lodden, Liz Lieu, and Thierry van den Berg also were able to make it to the top ten chip counts.

End Of The Day Top Ten Chip Counts:

Dan B. Pedersen — 98,500
Michael Schulze — 87,900
Keith Donais — 76,200
Hecham El Sayed — 66,700
David Robinson — 55,800
Theo Jorgensen — 50,300
Henrik Gwinner — 48,500
Dennis Petronack — 48,100
Sebastian Ruthenberg — 45,100
Andy Black — 42,400