GAMBOOZLE SET TO FILL U.S. ONLINE POKER GAP
2011-04-25
Club subscription model is legal, says Intelimax
Vancouver-based Intelimax Media has announced that it is currently preparing a new subscription-based gaming platform on its Gamboozle.com site which will include internet poker.
With an eye on the gap in the US online poker market created by recent federal actions against Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UBPoker, Intelimax says that its new multi-player platform will offer a number of casual games, casino games, poker, fantasy sports and social networking to members through daily play, leader boards and tournaments.
The company will generate revenues through its monthly membership fees and advertising on the website, whilst at the same time providing legal online gambling due to its subscription-based business model.
Glenn Little, Intelimax president and CEO said: "The recent news of several large online poker operators being shut down for illegal activities creates a much greater opportunity for Intelimax.
“Our InteliGaming entertainment platform will cater to those sports, social media and gaming enthusiasts that enjoy conversing and playing online games for free or for a monthly subscription fee to gain access to prizes paid out to weekly leaders and tournament winners."
The World Series Of Poker 2010, kicked off on 28th of May, 2010, with the 1st event being a 2-day, No-Limit Hold’em Poker exclusively for casino employees. This first event organised, is a regular and traditional opening day event for the World Series of Poker, which takes place every year. Among the several hundred players who took part in the opening event, there were a few well known names at the tables, which included the directors of the tournament, Jack McClelland and Matt Savage. Another well known name was Anthony Yeh, who had taken part in a very recent World Series Of Poker final table.
The Players
One of the directors already mentioned above, Jack McClelland, was probably the only well known player to be placed and win some money off the event. He claimed the19th spot out of a total of 721 players in the event, after he ran his hand of A-K into a pair of jacks. The second day of this event was to be played and continued until there was only one left standing at the table, who would be announced as the bracelet winner. The final table saw some gruelling game play and continued till the morning of May 30th, which became a third day in the event. A few minutes after it was past 5a.m., a dramatic move unfolded with Arthur Vea going all-in, with a mere hand of pocket fours on a high flop of queen, against Haoi Pham. Vea was in for a surprise as Pham made the call, holding pocket aces in hand. His pocket aces were enough to sustain the other two cards that unfolded, and Haoi Pham became the first bracelet winner of this year’s World Series Of Poker.
The Drama
Hoai Pham was extremely determined on Day 2 of the event. All his decisions seemed deliberate and along the way he picked up quite a few big hands. It was only fitting that he finished the last hand of the game with pocket aces.
Hoai Pham was very patient and focused on the game and did not hesitate to make big lay downs. The biggest lay down being an ace-king face up, which he folded with only two tables left in the game. He could have raised on his hand and made it to the top of the chip count, but was better off playing safe. This patient wait-and-watch game worked in his favour, and brought him a first place finish and a WSOP bracelet.
Hoai Pham was ecstatic after the win, and said it was a magical feeling to be the last man standing, while he was being photographed after bagging the first bracelet at the 2010 WSOP.
About Hoai Pham
Hoai Pham works as a dealer at the Village Club Poker Room in San Diego, California. His trip all the way to Las Vegas paid off for him and saw him win his first ever WSOP bracelet. A Vietnamese by birth, Hoai Pham requested for the national anthem of Vietnam to be played at his bracelet ceremony, and received his bracelet, which was presented to him by Steve Soffa. Hoai Pham won a whopping $71,424 cash prize along with his WSOP bracelet. If you are ready for some online poker action head over to www.playersonly.com the fastest growing online poker room for USA players.
A lot of players tend to confuse pot equity with pot odds, and that’s something that has to be put to bed right off the bat. Pot odds help a player determine what their percentage is of hitting a certain hand in relation to the betting on each applicable street. Pot Equity more or less helps that same player determine the actual strength of the hand they hold – particularly when faced with the decision to raise, build the pot, then deciding which action is the best to improve your win rate in online poker.
In summary, ACTUAL pot equity is the calculated value of your hand in comparison to the hand range of all of your opponents.
Like other odds explanations, this one is probably easiest to grasp in a fixed limit game rather than a No Limit-type structure. Pot equity is better utilized anyways in a LHE game, just because hand ranges and expected value (EV) are so much more key to building pots and winning hands in online poker.
For example, lets say you hold a hand like Q Q in the cutoff position. There are 3 limpers in front of you at your $15/$30 LHE game. You have a pretty big hand here, and your pot equity here is most likely more than 3 to 1! The fact you have a high EV here means you should almost certainly raise in your spot in online poker. Since you’re also more than a 30% favorite (minus you running into a limper with KK or AA) here, your raise means you get added value for your hand, as well as a larger pot for you to take down.
This may be a tough concept to grasp at first – but as you gain more experience at the tables and see a variety of different hands and situations, it becomes a little clearer. Heck, even the best and brightest of poker minds can probably agree that Pot Equity is just one of those terms that can’t be explained without ripping your hair out at times. However, I do hope the explanations and hand example above help out in your search to understand it. Do you have the itch for some online poker yet? Head over to www.playersonly.com the fastest growing poker room for USA players on the web today.