Online Casino Blog

The WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, OK and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, is the fifth-largest casino in the United States and features a 24/7 gaming floor that is a half-mile long, with 519,000 square foot of casino entertainment. WinStar World Casino offers more than 5,700 electronic games, 76 blackjack and poker tables, off-track betting and a 2,500-seat Global Events Center for conference and convention activities. Directly connected to the casino is a 12-story hotel that includes 395-rooms and luxury suites, three restaurants, banquet meeting space (seating up to 200 guests), and the Spa Habitat.

To help promote the casino and hotel as a destination with gaming entertainment and fine dining, a 112-foot pylon with Optec Displays digital LED signage was placed in front of the casino which faces Interstate 35, near the Texas / Oklahoma border. The pylon signs can be seen from both sides of the Interstate, presenting an ongoing series of hotel and casino video promotions to inform passing vehicular traffic about the hotel’s entertainment and gaming amenities.

The pylon was designed by the Chickasaw Nation and fabricated by Dalmarc Signs (Oklahoma City, OK) who was also the general contractor for assembling the final pylon structure and installing the Optec Displays LED signage.

Three full color, 20mm pitch, LED video displays were used on each pylon side. Each sign set included one large LED screen (20-foot tall x 35-feet long) and two smaller same size LED screens (13-feet tall x 26-feet long). The Optec LED signs are visible both day and night, and can be seen by passing drivers from at least a half mile from the hotel / casino. With the pylons in place, the LED signs are building a continual awareness of the WinStar’s gaming, dining and entertainment offerings to help hotel guests to learn about the hotel guests amenities available to them during their stay.

[photo thanks to austrini]

Can anybody give me a reason why home poker tournaments that take a small rake are considered illegal across the country? To this day, I have not heard a good one.  I can only chalk it up to complete ignorance on the part of lawmakers across the country, but how can that many lawmakers be that ignorant?

I know the old song and dance.  Poker is considered gambling because it is a game of chance, not a game of skill.  If that is so, can somebody tell me why, for years, the same people kept winning the majority of the tournaments? I know, with the massive popularity of poker, it’s sometimes harder to differentiate the more skilled players from the amateurs and wanna-be professionals, but if the Professional Golf Association were to allow 700 players into every major golf tournament, Tiger Woods would be fortunate just to win more than one or two tournaments, too.

Let’s take a look at a game very similar to poker – backgammon.  I play a lot of backgammon, and the last time I checked, the American Backgammon Tour (ABT) has at least one major tournament every month.  The tournaments have entry fees and rakes, just like some “illegal” home poker tournaments.  Both games involve degrees of skill and luck.  Both games have instances in which the best player does not always win.  In fact, the best players probably win just a small percentage of the time in major tournaments.  Yet, one is considered a “Tour” and the other is considered illegal gambling?

Just as a little experiment, I researched the ABT players of the year for the past several years. The players who win this prestigious honor must perform well throughout the year, earning points at various ABT sponsored events.  I wanted to see how far back I had to go in time before I found somebody who won the award twice. Finally, after traveling back in time to 1999, I found that Neil Kazaross has won the award twice since then.  So, in the last nine years, only one person has won the award twice.  Yet, this is more a game of skill than poker?  Here is the rundown of the past ABT Players of the Year.

• 1999 – Neil Kazaross
• 2000 – Bob Bishop
• 2001 – Jake Jacobs
• 2002 – Steve Sax
• 2003 – Malcolm Davis
• 2004 – Frank Talbot
• 2005 – Neil Kazaross
• 2006 – Richard Munitz
• 2007 - Ray Fogerlund

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of these players and I can say, without question, these are some of the smartest, most intelligent men I have ever met. Their backgammon skill is obviously superior to most players.  When these gentleman are in a town with a local backgammon club, they are perfectly welcome to practice their craft at the nearest pub or meeting place and win a few bucks in a backgammon tournament.  Usually, the director of the backgammon club takes a small rake from the tournament entry fees to pay for various costs of running the club.  Yet, the players don’t have to worry about local law enforcement storming in with riot gear and guns drawn.  They don’t have to worry if a police officer is going to confiscate the $200 dollars they have in their wallet. Poker players, for some odd reason, are not afforded the same luxury, even in the comfort of their own homes, and it simply makes no sense.

I can only reason that poker, in the eyes of lawmakers, still has the stigma of being similar to back alley pool halls (another activity in which wagering upon it is legal). If this is the case, it is a shame.  I think it’s about time lawmakers pull their collective heads out of the sand.  Poker is a means for many average and normally law-abiding citizens to sit back, relax, meet friends, and have a good time.  Poker is not a bunch of crooks, thieves, and hustlers trying to cheat the entire world. It simply makes no sense that I can legally invite people over to my house to watch the Super Bowl and ask them to contribute $5 for pizzas, but the minute I have a small poker tournament and do the same, it is illegal.

Can anybody answer give me a good reason why poker tournaments are illegal?  Anybody?   Anybody?

[thanks to nukeit1 and kc via cc]

After a 2 month delay, my birthday Vegas trip is finally underway, as M ditches work early (1:00 pm) and I take off to meet him at 2–how convenient when the boss’s baby keeps him up all night! Looks like luck is on our side before we even hit the road… until we hit a horrible patch of traffic on the 15, and crawl through the desert, finally greeted by the Luxor moonbeam at 8:45 pm. Like an idiot, I have lifted legs the day before the trip, so I nearly collapse when my feet hit the pavement. We’ve decided to see if we can find a late-night poker tournament somewhere on the strip, since we figure that the BJ tables will be full prime-time Friday night.

After reading about a couple small Saturday tourneys at the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, we wander through Mandalay Bay as our eyes wander through fake breasts towards the poker room. We get there and are told that there are no weekend MB poker tourneys, although they have a daily weekday tournament, which we already missed. Strike 1. Undiscouraged, we hit the walkway to the Luxor, where I know there is a Saturday morning tourney. The guy at the poker desk tells us that there are tournaments at 10 and 12 the next morning, with only a $20 buy in, but if we want to play we had best get there early. M and I are unsure if this is good or bad news… even the noon tournament would require getting up at around 9 if we wanted to eat breakfast and make it from our downtown Hotel (Fitzgerald’s). We discuss the odds of waking up this early on our way to Excalibur, where we have heard that there is a nice friendly low-limit poker room. On the tram ride over, some girl’s ass inadvertently swallows M’s hand, and we take this as a sign of good luck.

We enter the small Excalibur poker room and ask what tables are available–the business-like manager tells us that it’s a 2-6 game, where players can raise $6 at any time, with a limit of 4 raises. I’ve never heard of this betting structure, and as I’m trying to figure out how this would change the game, I catch sight of the “money wheel,” a wheel of fortune type thing near the back corner of the room. I ask the manager what we need to do to spin the money wheel: Manager: “Either pocket aces beaten, or 4 of a kind or better.” I try to figure the probabilities, and figure that neither of us will hit it in the 2 hours or so we will play, but as people are spinning the thing every 5 minutes or so, optimism rears its pretty face and I wonder if M is also mumbling “mmmmonnnney wheeellllll” like Homer Simpson.

After only a couple minutes I get a seat, as M graciously gives me first shot at the table. Or maybe not graciously. I sit down at the friendliest table I have ever seen (we ain’t in Inglewood, Toto–no angry players like at my usual joint, Hollywood Park). The dealer is even laughing. I get lectured on the rules by the friendly old dealer (“Have you ever played here before son?”), and a hefty dude with a goatee, dark shades, and an upper lip full of dip is to my left. The hefty dude starts off immediately, pulling some sort of cool, talkative Chris Farley act, and I figure that this table is guaranteed money.

I put my $140 buy-in on the table and look at my first cards to find J-10 offsuit in late position, and even though I have no clue what is going on at this table, I figure the players as a bunch of tourist calling stations. I throw in my 2 chips for a call, hoping not to see any raises. But the lady on the blinds raises it 6 to make it 8, and 2 players call. I throw in my 6 to call, still confused by the betting structure. Great start–8 chips to play J-10 offsuit. The flop comes 9c-Qc-Qh and one lady bets 6, I call with my open straight, and the raiser calls. I figure someone has the queen, and I’m happy that I’ve got a shot at the pot, which is now up over $50. The turn is the 7 of hearts… first lady bets, second lady raises to make it 12, and I am ordering a drink instead of calculating pot odds, so I throw in my 12, making the pot huge at $76. The river comes Kh, and I should be happy to rake in the huge pot for my straight, but something doesn’t feel right. The first lady bets, and I call, and button reraises again. Pot is huge so I have to call, but warning bells are going off… I am the first to show, and the early bettor turns over… Ah 9h??? Pair of 9s? Ahh, I missed the flush! And to rub it in, the raiser turns over Q-9 for the full house. I am amazed at the horribility of this play, and I look at my previously full rack of chips–now half empty. First hand in Vegas, and I’m down $36.

Hefty dude with the shades keeps talkin it up, and we learn he is a construction worker from Minnesota. By this time, M has moved to my table, and judging from the height of his stack he is doing better than me… 3rd to act, M raises it 6 to Minnesota Fats, who reraises to 12. I ponder my A-7 offsuit, and decide to throw it away to let M battle it out with Minnesota. Everyone else folds, M calls and the flop comes K-A-A. I am hoping M has A-K, but i can never put him on a hand anyway, so I bail and try to figure out what Minnesota’s got. Fats thinks for a while, and surprisingly comes out with, “That’s a great raise… great raise” and mucks his hand. Matt turns over K-10 and takes the pot, and the woman to Fats’ left asks what he had. “I had an Ace, what do you think I had? That was a great bet, I can’t call that!” I tell Fats I would have called, and the woman says, “Why didn’t you make a great call then?” I tell them I threw away my Ace pre-flop, and knowing Fats style, I tell him that I don’t think he had the Ace. Fats doesn’t like this, and gets quiet, and I decide to move next to M, where a seat has just opened up, although I was barely able to leave the money seat the the left of Minnesota. Fats is quiet for the remainder of the night, and soon leaves, while M and I sadly watch him go. I am sure he didn’t have an Ace.

The next two hours prove relatively uneventful… I lose big with A-K when a King flops and a rock who has played about 5 hands in the 2 hours we’ve been there calls me down to the river, and turns over his pocket Aces. As I ponder my bad play, the rock informs M that he’s in the worst pain of his life due to a recent hernia operation. I feel better and win a couple small pots, while M goes heads up a couple times against a young Asian kid whose girlfriend is sitting behind him silently. He wins the first battle, when 3 Kings flop and he calls the kid’s reraises with his pocket Queens, and the kid turns over a raggedy 7-3 at the showdown. The kid’s bluff proves profitable later on when M refuses to lay down his K-J on the A-Q-7 flop, and the kid shows down A-K.

We leave at 12:40, with M up 20 after 3 hours, and me down 100, mostly on the 2 big hands I lost early. Neither of us spin the wheel, but the look in M’s eye tells me we will be back… the next hour sees us through the residential neighborhoods of downtown Vegas when we take a wrong turn coming off the exit ramp. After driving past the “Default Senior Center,” we stumble upon downtown and arrive at the Fitzgerald at 1:40 AM.

Check in: we discover that we’ve been given 1 king size bed, and of course it’s too late to switch rooms. I feel like the main character in Lolita, as the clerk tells us he can give us a cot for free, and I prepare to fight for another bed for M. Thankfully, the manager is there and comps us a free trip to the buffet, which is good enough for M, who will happily take the cot and the free food. We won’t be sleeping much anyway.

After dropping our bags off (the room smelled strangely of wintergreen Skoal), we grab a late dinner at Shamrock’s, Fitzgerald’s 24-hour restaurant. The fries taste like cardboard, and we discuss the possibility of getting up early enough to play. An 8:45 wake up is not appealing, and we decide to sleep late and try to get in the 7 pm tourney at the Orleans, since we figure to own the blackjack tables at this hour. M wakes himself up and we hit the Fitz double deck tables, which offer pretty good penetration (.6) and great rules. We get a table to ourselves, and the counting begins.

We’re back and forth with $5 and $10 bets for a while as I wait for a good count. M looks like the game has woken him up, but sadly for me, there is no longer much adrenaline contributed by Blackjack. However, I figure that once the $50 bets come out, things should be more fun. The dealer, a middle-aged Asian guy, shuffles, and M tries to ease his boredom, striking up a conversation. The dealer, Chung, says he plays craps, and seems genuinely friendly. The momentum swings from M and I against the table to include Chung, who nows seems to be honestly rooting for us. So it’s us 3 against the house, but the positive counts are few and far between. The count hovers around zero as the night slowly rolls on, despite Chung’s best attempts to break the house. M and I hover around zero, and Chung looks about as bored as I am… in my favorite dealer moment of the trip, I get a 15 against a face card with a $25 bet out. I ask Chung for a 6, and surprisingly, he turns over a 6, leans forward and nearly punches me in the face as he celebrates the win with a fist pump. Finally after 3 hours of uneventful play, M is down 100 and I’m up 45, and we call it a night. I ask M about his “rogue betting” tactics, as he threw out a few medium sized bets against negative counts. He mumbles an answer, which I interpret to be something about the game being boring, which I definitely agree with. Alas, my love affair with Blackjack seems to be over.

In perhaps the most bizarre moment of the trip, I hop in bed and shut off the lights, and say good night to M who is reading peacefully in his cot. The book has no cover, but looks pretty hefty. I close my eyes for 5 minutes and suddenly remember something M said on the ride to Vegas: H: “Ahhh, what are you reading?” M: (mumbles) H: “IS THAT HARRY POTTER???” M: (grinning) H: “YOU’RE READING HARRY POTTER IN VEGAS!” M: (wider grin) H: “That’s gotta bring bad luck.” M: “No way–it’s magic!”

Saturday we get up at 11:30 after 6 hours of sleep, and amazingly we both feel very awake. We missed the tourney, but we take comfort in the fact that we can play in the Orleans tourney at 7, when the BJ tables will be packed anyway. So we have optimized our gambling as far as beating the crowds. After using our comp for the buffet (of course we missed breakfast by an hour–who the hell makes it up for breakfast by 10:30 in Vegas???), and I force down some spaghetti and meatballs to provide fuel for the day.

Time to bomb some single and double deck tables downtown–the plan is to hit each one for an hour, and move on to the next one. We start at the famous Horseshoe, planning to check out the poker room where the World Series is held. But we do a cartoon character stop at an empty single deck table, and in an hour I drop 90 while M wins 15. I lose a couple big hands with true counts over 5, ignoring the young pit boss who is more concerned with the player betting 4 greens in seat 1. Unfortunately 2 players joined us, so most of the good hands were eaten up and each of us only got to see 2 hands before a shuffle. The tiny poker room is disappointing, although the aura of the World Series is faintly present. But present enough for M and I to agree that we will try to make it for next May’s tourney.

The next hour takes us through a couple Downtown joints (Golden Nugget and Golden Gate) for more uneventful BJ. M wins 20 more over the course of a couple hours, and I drop 20. We just can’t seem to get that high positive count that makes the big money, and the dealers are hitting 5 card 21s and some ridiculous draws. M deflects the little heat we might get from the pit bosses, as he cracks enough jokes to make the dealer laugh and the pit bosses back off. Perfect conditions, just no results.

We finally arrive at Lady Luck, which according to the BJ journals, offers the most profitable game in town with their single deck game. But we opt for a double deck game with one player after not finding any single deck games going on, and the penetration is excellent–once again, great conditions. The trend of slow games continues, although we do see a few high positive counts… the other player at the table busts out, and we welcome the new dealer–a short little guy of unknown ethnicity with a name tag labeled “VALE”.

Vale deals quickly, stone-faced as M and I hope to get on a run with this guy. I ask him where he’s from, but his lizard eyes only look at me and wait for me to hit or stay. I ask again, but he continues to deal, ignoring me. H: “I guess Vale’s not in the mood.” M: “He’s not much of a talker, I guess.” H: “That’s fine with me!”

The uneventful blackjack goes on, and the great conditions continue, but the counts hover around zero for what seems like forever. I try to occupy two chairs to fend off would-be players, but eventually an old Asian lady stops, stands behinds the seat and gets ready to sit down. M and I groan, hoping that the lady will change her mind, and Vale draws a 5 to his 16 to hit 21. She makes some exclamation at seeing the 21, and quickly runs in the other direction. Vale eyes her and looks at us, with what almost looks like a hint of a smile. M: “I guess she didn’t like the dealer!” The smile slowly creeps across the lizard face, and the floodgates are open. Vale waves her away with his 3-card 21, and says “Good riddance!” I smile at M, who has finally cracked the Vale after over an hour of playing in complete silence. The silent dealer turns into a stand up comedy act, faking blackjacks after checking the hole card, and just doing strange things with the cards.

M’s luck with the dealer does not continue on to the cards, where he drops 120 in our 3-hour stint. I am up 50 after hitting and missing a few big bets. We were hoping to hit the pride of the downtown meal, the Horseshoe steak and eggs for a pre-tournament (poker at the Orleans) dinner, but we just can’t leave Vale. Finally at 5:30 we drag ourselves away from the table and grab a quick bite at McDonald’s before heading out. M wolfs down a burger ordered “H-style” (he’s eating healthy this weekend!) and we wade through the humid desert air to the first cab to the Orleans. We decide on the cab, figuring it will be 20 bucks each way, but I will be allowed to drink and won’t have to fight traffic, etc. And our cab drivers sure made it worthwhile…

We hop in the cab and I start coaching M: H: “Remember that people play much tighter in the tourney. Even K-J is a weak hand once the tourney tightens up.” The cabbie, a middle-aged black dude pipes in, Cabbie: “Sounds like y’all are poker players!” M: “Yep, we’re going to play in the tournament at the Orleans.” Cabbie: “Yeah, they gotta lotta em there.” H: “Do you play?” Cabbie: “Yeah…” H: “Which game? Stud?” Cabbie: “Yeah, I used to play some, but not much anymore.” H: “How long you been in Vegas?” Cabbie: “17 years… and it’s the best place to be if you’re lookin for women” H: “Yeah, my buddy and I were just noticing that when we got here…” Cabbie: “Fuck yeah! Finest bitches in the world be up in here, that’s where all the suckers are at!” H: “Yeah, I guess a pretty girl can make a lot of money here…” Cabbie: “I know this one bitch, she say some sucker throwin her black chip every 20 minutes! I say bitch, why the fuck you hangin with me, you better go stand next to that sucker till his motherfuckin feet fall off! Shit, I’d stand there forever if he was givin me black chips! And it ain’t like the old rich guys ain’t getting their money’s worth… even if they ain’t getting pussy, they still get to walk around with a fine young thing on their arm. Money for the spendin! Like Tina said, what THE FUCK has love got to do with it???”

The man was a true vulgarian, and M and I thoroughly enjoyed the cynical diatribe on Vegas pussy. Unfortunately the cab ride was nearly 30 bucks with the tip, but hey, what the fuck has love got to do with it. We take our second-hand emotion into the Orleans, a big off-strip casino that supposedly hosts small buy-in poker tournaments. As we wander around looking for the poker room, the sheer size of the Orleans amazes me. The super high-ceilings and sprawling game room is overwhelming for an off-strip casino, and we finally are told that the poker room is in the back past the sportsbook.

Ok, we’re now off to the poker room, which is a small open room near the back of the casino. I tell the lady at the desk we are signed up for the 7 o’clock tourney, and she tells me to go to the desk. A sign says something about a 7-card stud tournament, and I get a bad feeling in my stomach… sure enough, I ask the desk man if the tourney is a Texas Hold ‘Em or stud tournament, and he exclaims “Stud!” and I want to pull an Ed Norton in fight club and punch myself in the face. I tell M, who wants to pull a Brad Pitt and punch me in the face, and we dejectedly turn to discuss our options. What a choke, I didn’t even ask what kind of tournament it was, even though all I had to go on was some lady at the Luxor’s guess that the tourney was Hold ‘Em. A $30 cab fare for nothing.

We decide that we have to hit a poker room somewhere, and the natural choice is to return to the soft games of Excalibur and try one last time to get a spin on the money wheel. M gets the first seat this time, and I join him a few minutes later, saying hi to the rock from last night who had the hernia operation. There are a few young, clueless looking players at the table, and the game looks pretty soft to me. The first hour is relatively uneventful, and I win a couple small pots to pull in $60, while M loses a couple to go down 35. The money wheel sits quietly in the corner, getting spun occasionally by some lucky tourists.

I’m dealt pocket 8’s in early position, and I pre-flop raise it the max to $8 to try to drive some players out of the pot. A couple players fold, and a young redhead girl on the button calls, along with one other player. She has been playing tight, so I think my pocket 8’s are in trouble, but maybe she’s got A-K. The flop comes rainbow 8-J-4, and I figure the pot is mine, hoping that somebody with A-J will call me down to the river. I want to slow play it, but I figure I should just bet, figuring that redhead won’t fold anyway. I bet out 6, and the 2 players fold to the redhead, who reraises me 6, to my delight and surprise. I put her on A-J, and everyone else folds, leaving us heads-up. I reraise it to 18, and she calls, and I can’t be happier. The turn comes 6, which I figure can’t hurt me, so I bet. Redhead immediately raises, and I start to get a little worried. Could she have pocket Jacks? I call her, and think about the odds of two sets on the same hand. But the dealer turns over a beautiful 8 on the river, and I actually feel a bit bad since I think she had me beat before, and I’m about to take all her chips. I bet and am called, and turn over my 8s, as the table “ooohhhs” and she mucks her cards angrily. Ah well… I rake in the big pot and realize that IT’S TIME TO SPIN THE WHEEL! The $60 she just contributed to me is probably a lot more than I’ll get from the wheel, but hey, IT’S THE MONEY WHEEL!

I stand up to spin and ask the manager if the wheel has to go around twice in order for the spin to count. “Yeah but it spins pretty easily, so don’t worrry about that.” I look at the wheel, which is full of $20 and $30 markings, but I want to hit the “Triple” mark, which gives you another spin at triple the value. I try to get 2 full rotations to the triple, and give it a soft spin at what I figure will be the only time I ever spin a money wheel. Click, click, click goes the clacker, and I retreat towards my seat with an eye on the wheel. The triple goes past 2, 3 times and the $20 approaches the pin. The pin goes over the $20s, and ends up anticlimactically at the $30. I groan, and collect my $30 chips from the floorman before sitting back down. Ah well, at least I got to spin!

After 3 hours at the Excalibur, the BJ tables are calling, and after M takes a big pot down with 5s full of kings, I cash out up 100 (miserable after hitting that 4 of a kind), and M down 16. Both of us were doing fine until a kid from Seattle sat down and not only was dealt pocket aces 5 times, but won with them all 5 times. He demolished the table, but M and I managed to avoid most of his Aces, except when I was whooped with my pair of queens after he put a straddle (a blind raise without looking at his cards) on the table. Anyway, I’m back even in poker after last night, and we head towards the front to catch a cab downtown. Feeling good (and at this point heavily buzzed after 3 hours of continuous cocktails), we look for the cab line outside, but can’t seem to find the entrance. Finally we see the “taxi line” sign right in front of the outside of the hotel, and I hop in line, fast-walking to get in front of the guy with the suitcase and his wife. I thought my fast-walk was a fair deal, almost a cut, but we had position, so no big deal. We grab a cab after a short wait, and we’re headed downtown…

M: “Did you hear that guy?” H: “No… what?” M: “He said–did they just cut us?” H: “Yeah we just beat them to the line.” M: (smiling) “Ahhh, no, there was a MASSIVE line going into the hotel.” H: (laughing) “What? No way!” M: “Yup, it was stretching wwwwwaaaaay into the hotel…” H: “That’s hilarious!” M: “Yeah, I wanted to see if the guy said something. He didn’t so I didn’t move.” H: “That’s great.”

We were then in for the ride of the trip, greeted by a jolly foreign driver by a string of “yo what’s up homies!” and other technical slang terminology. M: “Do you gamble?” Cabbie: “No, I used to play poker, but I got kicked out of MGM.” M: “For what?” Cabbie: “Counting cards n shit.” H: (pause) “In poker?” Cabbie: (pause) “…Poker, 21, everything” H: (smelling a rat) “What count system do you use?” Cabbie: “What do you mean?” H: “For counting… you know, Hi-Lo, Halves…” Cabbie: “There are different systems? I just use the one my dad taught me!”

We stepped out of the cab baffled and happy that the cabbie would lie about counting cards, which apparently was a cool thing to do. Yeah, we’re cool!

**********************************************************************

But alas, these 9 pages of trip report must end here. You will not hear of the losing battle that our young narrator and his faithful friend waged that night. The gods of chance were not kind to our heroes that night, and left them beaten mentally and spiritually. You will not hear of how far below the normal curve their results fell. Our narrator doesn’t have the energy to tell you how he placed 3rd in a Sunday Hold ‘Em tournament at the Luxor (yes, our heroes finally made it to a tournament), winning $75 on his $20 buy-in. You will not be given details of the 7 hour ride home, where our narrator played 3 hours of single deck blackjack against his dealing friend, and he was down nearly $2000 fictional dollars. You also can’t be sure that he won all this back and more at card roulette, Dostoevsky style. You won’t hear of the invention of a new casino game, “Find the Joker,” developed by our heroes, and mastered by our non-narrator. What you will hear is that our duo went to sleep that night, not saddened by the money they lost, but strengthened by the experience, and dreaming of the next time the chips are on the table…

[thanks to http2007 and hdouble via cc]

The 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) schedule has now been officially released by PokerStars.

As a quick run-down before I give you the schedule, the SCOOP events will run May 3rd to May 16th. It’s going to be 33 events, with three buy-in levels. The final event is the Main Event that will have guarantees of $1 million, $3 million, and $5 million. It’s going to be a grand total of $36 million in prize money.

“What I find most exciting about SCOOP is that players at all stakes levels get an opportunity to play in a championship-level event”, says PokerStars tournament guru Bryan Slick.

Monday, May 3, 2010, 14:00 ET:
Event 01-L:$5.50 NL Hold’em [6-max, rebuys], $250,000 gtd
Event 01-M: $55 NL Hold’em [6-max, rebuys], $500,000 gtd
Event 01-H: $530 NL Hold’em [6-max, rebuys], $1,000,000 gtd

Monday, May 3, 2010, 17:00 ET:
Event 02-L:$16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 gtd
Event 02-M: $162 FL Badugi, $50,000 gtd
Event 02-H: $1,575 FL Badugi, $75,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 03-L: $11 PL 5-Card Draw, $25,000 gtd
Event 03-M: $109 PL 5-Card Draw, $50,000 gtd
Event 03-H: $1,050 PL 5-Card Draw, $75,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 04-L:: $16.50 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $100,000 gtd
Event 04-M: $162 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $250,000 gtd
Event 04-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $500,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 20:00 ET
Event 05-L: $11 NL Hold’em, $100,000 gtd
Event 05-M: $109 NL Hold’em, $200,000 gtd
Event 05-H: $1,050 NL Hold’em, $500,000 gtd

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Event 06-L: 14:00 ET: $22 Mixed Hold’em (6-max], $100,000 gtd
Event 06-M: $215 Mixed Hold’em (6-max], $200,000 gtd
Event 06-H: $2,100 Mixed Hold’em [6-max], $400,000 gtd

Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 07-L: $33 7-Card Stud, $25,000 gtd
Event 07-M: $320 7-Card Stud, $50,000 gtd
Event 07-H: $3,150 7-Card Stud, $100,000 gtd

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 08-L:: $22 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $25,000 gtd
Event 08-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 gtd
Event 08-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 gtd

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 09-L: NL Hold’em (TBD), $100,000 gtd
Event 09-M: NL Hold’em (TBD), $200,000 gtd
Event 09-H: NL Hold’em (TBD), $300,000 gtd

Friday, May 7, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 10-L: $16.50 NL Hold’em (Ante Up!), $50,000 gtd
Event 10-M: $162 NL Hold’em (Ante Up!), $100,000 gtd
Event 10-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em (Ante Up!), $200,000 gtd

Friday, May 7, 2010, 17:00 ET:
Event 11-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $50,000 gtd
Event 11-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $150,000 gtd
Event 11-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $250,000 gtd

Friday, May 7, 2010, 20:00 ET:
Event 12-L: $16.50 NL Hold’em [2X Chance, turbo], $250,000 gtd
Event 12-M: $162 NL Hold’em [2X Chance, turbo], $500,000 gtd
Event 12-H: $1,575 NL Hold’em [2X Chance, turbo], $750,000 gtd

Saturday, May 8, 2010, 14:00 ET:
Event 13-L: $22 NL Hold’em – Quadruple Shootout [10-max], $150,000 gtd
Event 13-M: $215 NL Hold’em – Triple Shootout [10-max], $150,000 gtd
Event 13-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em – Double Shootout [10-max], $200,000 gtd

Saturday, May 8, 2010, 17:00 ET:
Event 14-L: $16.50 PL Omaha [6-max, rebuys], $100,000 gtd
Event 14-M: $162 PL Omaha [6-max, rebuys], $250,000 gtd
Event 14-H: $1,575 PL Omaha [6-max, rebuys], $500,000 gtd

Sunday, May 9, 2010, 13:00 ET
Event 15-L: $22 NL Hold’em [big antes], $250,000 gtd
Event 15-M: $215 NL Hold’em [big antes], $750,000 gtd
Event 15-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em [big antes], $750,000 gtd

Sunday, May 9, 2010, 17:00 ET (Two-day events)
Event 16-L: $22 NL Hold’em, $500,000 gtd
Event 16-M: $215 NL Hold’em, $1,500,000 gtd
Event 16-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em, $2,000,000 gtd

Monday, May 10, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 17-L: $16.50 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $100,000 gtd
Event 17-M: $162 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $200,000 gtd
Event 17-H: $1,575 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $300,000 gtd

Monday, May 10, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 18-L: $33 NL Hold’em [4-max], $150,000 gtd
Event 18-M: $320 NL Hold’em [4-max], $300,000 gtd
Event 18-H: $3,150 NL Hold’em [4-max], $500,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 19-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7, $25,000 gtd
Event 19-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7, $50,000 gtd
Event 19-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7, $75,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 20-L: $22 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $50,000 gtd
Event 20-M: $215 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $100,000 gtd
Event 20-H: $2,100 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $150,000 gtd

Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 20:00 ET
Event 21-L:: $11 NL Hold’em, $100,000 gtd
Event 21-M: $109 NL Hold’em, $200,000 gtd
Event 21-H: $1,050 NL Hold’em, $500,000 gtd

Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 22-L: $22 Razz, $50,000 gtd
Event 22-M: 215 Razz, $100,000 gtd
Event 22-H: $2,100 Razz, $150,000 gtd

Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 23-L: $22 NL Hold’em [2 rebuys, 1 add-on], $100,000 gtd
Event 23-M: $215 NL Hold’em [2 rebuys, 1 add-on], $300,000 gtd
Event 23-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em [2 rebuys, 1 add-on], $500,000 gtd

Thursday, May 13, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 24-L: $33 8-Game, $75,000 gtd
Event 24-M: $320 8-Game, $150,000 gtd
Event 24-H: $3,150 8-Game, $250,000 gtd

Thursday, May 13, 2010, 17:00 ET:
Event 25-L: $11 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $75,000 gtd
Event 25-M: $109 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $150,000 gtd
Event 25-H: $1,050 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $300,000 gtd

Friday, May 14, 2010, 14:00 ET:
Event 26-L: $22 NL Hold’em [1 rebuy, 1 add-on], $250,000 gtd
Event 26-M: $215 NL Hold’em [1 rebuy, 1 add-on], $500,000 gtd
Event 26-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em [1 rebuy, 1 add-on], $1,000,000 gtd

Friday, May 14, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 27-L: $55 FL Hold’em [6-max], $100,000 gtd
Event 27-M: $530 FL Hold’em [6-max], $200,000 gtd
Event 27-H: $5,200 FL Hold’em [6-max], $300,000 gtd

Friday, May 14, 2010, 20:00 ET:
Event 28-L: $22 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (turbo), $50,000 gtd
Event 28-M: $215 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (turbo), $100,000 gtd
Event 28-H: $2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (turbo), $200,000 gtd

Saturday, May 15, 2010, 14:00 ET
Event 29-L: $55 PL Omaha, $100,000 gtd
Event 29-M: $530 PL Omaha, $250,000 gtd
Event 29-H: $5,200 PL Omaha, $500,000 gtd

Saturday, May 15, 2010, 17:00 ET
Event 30-L: $22 HORSE, $50,000 gtd
Event 30-M: $215 HORSE, $100,000 gtd
Event 30-H: $2,100 HORSE, $200,000 gtd

Sunday, May 16, 2010, 13:00 ET
Event 31-L: $22 NL Hold’em [6-max], $200,000 gtd
Event 31-M: $215 NL Hold’em [6-max], $750,000 gtd
Event 31-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em [6-max], $750,000 gtd

Sunday, May 16, 2010, 15:00 ET (Two-day events)
Event 32-L: $270 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $250,000 gtd
Event 32-M: $2,600 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $500,000 gtd
Event 32-H: $25,500 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play], $750,000 gtd

Sunday, May 16, 2010, 17:00 ET (Two-day events)
Event 33-L: $109 NLHE Main Event – L, $1,000,000 gtd
Event 33-M: $1,050 NLHE Main Event – M, $3,000,000 gtd
Event 33-H: $10,300 NLHE Main Event – H, $5,000,000 gtd

Total Guaranteed Prize Pool: $36,000,000

Have you guys seen the new InterCasino and InterPoker?

I just went there today and noticed they have a brand new look and logo. It’s a big adjustment from the old look and it the change was definitely overdue. I feel the new look gives them a much more modern and updated feel. I’d love to know what design company handled the design and logo creation as it’s done tastefully well with nice modern touches like sliding animation and rotating displays. Check out the two new logos:

So what do you guys think – good idea for them to change gears and create a new identity for themselves?

I took a look at their site and it definitely looks and feels cleaner. I love the white space, but not really a fan of the black. Seems to bother my eyes a bit on my LCD monitor. But better than that horrible all-black background they used to be using. UPDATE: The more I’m on both of the sites the more I seem to like it. Maybe my eyes are getting used to the look? Huge improvement from the old all-black which bothered my eyes intensely back then.

Here’s a look at their old design:

They seem to have changed the slogan as well: “Welcome to the EXTRAORDINARY”. Sounds good. Not sure how it really relates to casino gaming though, I guess the InterCasino and InterPoker gaming experience is extraordinary? Not sure the thought process there, but sounds ok. I don’t even think InterCasino had a slogan before, so it’s definitely a step in the right direction marketing-wise.

As far as the layout of the site, it’s much better. They have animation with the latest slots and games on the front page, rotating so you can see what’s new on the site.

Here’s the logo and header area of InterCasino:

The menu bar there reads Home, Getting Started, Payment Options, Inter VIP, Casino News, and Contact Us. It seems like InterPoker is going with the same slogan as InterCasino, “Welcome to the EXTRAORDINARY.” I found the category selection very interesting. If you look at the menu bar, notice the items there:

You have the typical casino games like blackjack, roulette, slots, baccarat, craps, and miscellaneous card games. But what do we see there right in between craps and card games? Marvel! InterCasino actually has a section of their casino completely dedicated to Marvel Comics based games! If you’re a follower of this blog, you know I’ve written about Marvel slot machine games before… here are a couple of posts I’ve written on these games:

• Marvel Slot Machines & 16 New Games: OmniCasino Newsletter
• How Spiderman Can Make You Money in Online Casinos

So yes, I’m a fan of the Marvel slot machine games! Nice to see InterCasino jumping on the comic book slot machine bandwagon, like OmniCasino had already done.

I clicked through to the Marvel section and I found games for:

• Wolverine
• Captain America
• Hulk: Ultimate Revege
• Blade
• Dare Devil
• Elektra
• Ghost Rider
• Iron Man
• Silver Surfer
• The Hulk
• The Punisher
• Thor
• X-Men

Here’s a video from InterCasino on the Spiderman slot machine:

As far as promotions, they’re running a $250 welcome bonus:

As a new player you can claim a fantastic Slots or Table Games Bonus instantly, courtesy of InterCasino.

They also run badass InterCasino events as promotions, for example, here’s one at the Monte Carlo in Monaco:

Formula 1 Grand Prix 2010 in Monte Carlo, Monaco

Following the incredible popularity of our last year’s Monaco Grand Prix promotion, which saw 15 lucky players winning our all inclusive VIP Packages to the biggest race of the season, we are happy to be back this year with a sequel. Monaco’s streets host one of Europe’s premier social highlights – the best known Formula 1 Grand Prix and once more, we will be taking our InterCasino VIPs to experience the action and the atmosphere of that amazing sporting spectacle up close. As always, we will be providing our players with a delightful experience including top notch accommodation and a luxury viewing location to closely follow the action on the Circuit de Monaco, considered one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. Our guests will be treated with delicious champagne, fine dining and a friendly and enthusiastic VIP host to make their time in Monaco a truly sophisticated and remarkable experience. See what some of our players have said after the event last year:

• “Waaaaauuuhhhhhh, I am lucky. I just returned from a very very nice weekend in Monaco and now I win again. I am happy. Thanks to you… Again thanks and I am still smiling”
• “I just wanted to say big thanks for the wonderful trip to Monaco. You and your team has made it the best holiday I could imagine, I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

Let’s head over to InterPoker and see how they look. Here’s the header plus navigation bar area:

In case you can’t read the navigation bar, it reads Home, Getting Started, Payment Options, VIP Lounge, Poker News and Contact Us.

As far as promotions on InterPoker go, they’re running this new player welcome bonus:

All new InterPoker players are entitled to a fantastic welcome bonus of up to €1000. Make your first transfer and we will double it!

• No Bonus Code is required
• Requirements: €5 per 150 FPPs
• Timeframe: 60 days from activation
• Minimum Qualifying Transfer €10

They also have a InterPoker VIP Platinum Club with these benefits:

• Monthly Freerolls including a massive €5000 Freeroll
• € 600 Monthly Cash Bonus
• Personal Customer Relationship Manager
• Faster Cash Outs
• Live events hospitality
• Platinum Welcome Pack
• Platinum Poker Tour
• Birthday Offer

All in all, as long as you don’t live in the United States (neither InterCasino nor InterPoker are currently open to players in the USA) these casino can be a great option for you. Check out the new look of InterCasino and InterPoker and let me know what you think in the comments!