FullTiltPoker is offering players two more chances to win a seat at the main event of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup VI.  They will be holding two final direct satellite tournaments for the remaining seats one which features a high-stakes buy-in of $1,060 which will be hosted tonight and one which will feature a more affordable direct buy-in of $640 which will take place on July 4th.

Entry into both tournaments can be earned through step sit-and-go qualifiers which will be available on the site up until July 4th. Through these events players can earn their way into one of the direct satellites for as little as $3.30.

The winners of the direct satellites will earn a prize package valued at $12,000. This will cover the $10,300 buy-in for the main event and will provide players with $1,700 for travel and accommodation expenses.

Players who qualify for the Bellagio Cup VI through FullTiltPoker will be able to take advantage of discounted room rates at the Bellagio hotel so if you are lucky enough to win a seat be sure to mention the competition when booking your room.

To register for one of the direct satellites or to play your way through the step sit-and-go qualifiers visit FullTiltPoker today. Registration is safe, quick, and easy. What are you waiting for? Get started!

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Foxwoods is giving players the change to live their dream of playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event. This month they will be running a number of live WSOP Satellite tournaments where players can battle it out for one of the much coveted seats.

Similar in style to the World Poker Finals satellite system, they've become known for their two Super Satellites on June 12^th and June 26^th at 6pm. Both events feature an $1100 buy-in and at least ten players will need to enter in order for play to begin. The casino will award one seat to the WSOP main event valued at $10,000 for every ten players who enter the tournament. Registration for the event will be open one hour prior to the start of the tournament and will remain open until the end of the second level of play.

In preparation for the event, the casino will begin hosting a number of pre-satellites every Saturday at 1:00pm. These tournaments will feature a buy-in of $250 and a will give players a chance to enter one of the Super Satellite tournaments at no additional cost. A minimum of six players will need to enter in order for play to begin. For every six players who enter the casino will award one voucher to the Super Satellite event.

Finally for those who prefer Single Table tournaments the casino will host a number of single table satellites into the Super Satellite every day from 10am until midnight. These tournaments begin whenever the table is filled up. It is the player's responsibility to be there when the game begins so it will take a little more effort on the player's part to figure out when things get moving. One player from each single table game will walk away with a voucher.

For more information about the satellites or how to enter visit Foxwoods.com today.

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The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is set to go into effect today. After countless delays in mandatory industry compliance, the law, which was snuck into the SAFE Port Act back in 2006 will begin to wreck whatever havoc it can on the online gambling industry.

The UIGEA which does not expressly forbid online gambling prohibits deposits from U.S. financial institution to “unlawful internet gambling” sites. According to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals the UIGEA, in and of itself, does not make any new activities illegal but rather simply attempts to cut off anything not considered legal from making a profit. It is this loop hole that has lead to many states including California to explore legalizing online gambling.

The Poker Player’s Alliance (PPA) has stated in the past that most of the fallout from the UIGEA has already occurred. It is for this reason Executive Director John Pappas sat down to say, “We don’t expect [June 1st] to be a doomsday scenario for online poker. To be clear, it is not going to be unlawful for you, the poker player, to play internet poker… Nothing should stop you from getting money off of an online poker site.”

Though many players have been fearful of the prospect of the UIGEA going into effect so far very little has changed. While it is still too early to tell exactly what is going to happen, several players have come forward with stories of continued success in making deposits onto online gambling sites.

For the most part it is the financial institutions themselves who will face the brunt of the UIGEA. Players have essentially never been prosecuted for gambling online but several payment processes have already been targeted for investigation.

A number of legislators are continuing to attempt to repeal the law but for the most part players shouldn’t notice much of a difference in their actual game play. With any luck next month’s hearing on Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act will go well and players will continue to enjoy the games they love without the extra run around of finding a way to make a deposit.

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The World Team Poker (WTP) series is planning to launch a 32-country World Championship Event on September 19, 2010. WTP Vice President, Charity Perry, told Poker News Daily, “We’re not entirely sure where it will be, but we’re keeping the tour within the U.S. in the first year. After the first year, we plan on going abroad, probably somewhere in Europe.”

So far twenty countries have been listed on the WTP webpage. One would assume they are planning on adding a few countries to the list before the start of the tournament. Just a few of the countries listed on the site include Brazil, China, England, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, the U.S. and Vietnam.

The WTP series is unique in the fact that Team Captains are able to play, coach and substitute players throughout the game. This new format adds an extra layer of difficulty to the game and creates a more sports league feel to the typically solo competition. Fans are really starting to take notice of the series and sponsors are already starting to jump on board.

Fox Sports Net has already signed an agreement to take control of the broadcasting side of the competition. The sports network will begin airing the series with a teaser episode on July 14^th. Viewers will then have to wait until September to see how the drama unfolds when the Inaugural Event is released as a series of one-hour episodes scheduled to air on Sunday nights.

For more information on the series and who will be representing your country visit http://www.worldteampoker.com

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George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s Good Morning America will be seen playing with some of the biggest names in poker in Atlantic City in an upcoming segment set to air on Wednesday, May 5^th.

The popular morning show will be running a “Living the Dream” segment for Stephanopoulos in which he gets to live like a poker professional.

The segment, which was filmed on Thursday, starts off with Stephanopoulos getting some pointers from popular poker pro Annie Duke. After getting the basics down Stephanopoulos then faced off against Duke, bad boy Phil Hellmuth, poker pro Steven Beigletter and Jason “Jaspuduf” Lee.

To keep things interesting Ali Nejad turned out to provide a play by play of the game.

Due to the nature of the game and the time it takes to get through a match the segment could not be aired live on Good Morning America so it has been edited for time.

Stephanopoulos did not make a public appearance at the casino and the media outlets did not attend so you’ll get a really personal look at Stephanopoulos and those involved in the match.

For more information on this segment or any of the others in the “Living the Dream” series check out the Good Morning America official webpage.  

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Politicians continue to debate whether or not gambling should be legalized and as usual it has caused something of a rift between parties. While it is true that there are people from both sides fighting for its legalization and regulation, it is the Democratic Party in large part that has been making strides towards this change.

Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Jim McDermott, D-Wash., are leading a group that proposes to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which is set to go into effect June 1^st. Their plan would legalize, regulate and tax the practice which they think is far more practical than trying to block out everything that goes on online.

“We have an activity going on illegally in this country and we're pretending it doesn't exist,'' McDermott said. Internet gambling ``people have said, `We want to be legal and we're certainly willing to pay taxes,' and we need the money. On every count, this is a net positive.''

Under their bill, a 6% tax would be levied on all deposits and paid to the state or tribal government the player resides in. In addition to that a 2% tax would be charged on all deposits for the federal government. It is estimated that if this bill went into effect that the government could see as much as $30 billion for states and tribal governments and $42 billion for the federal government in as little as a decade.

``This is a huge boon to the state governments,'' McDermott said. ``If you look across the country you're seeing programs cut. In Arizona, they just cut out a program for children's health for 40,000 kids. Here's a source of money'' that could keep such programs going.

Republicans have been mostly unanimously in opposition to online gambling becoming legalized. Senator Jon Kyl has for the past ten years practically made it his campaign to abolish online gambling. So too have many of the professional sports leagues and influential Christian groups.

At one time even land-based casinos appeared to be in opposition to the practice but now they are finally beginning to change their tune.

``The Internet, no matter how hard it tries, will never be able to substitute that personal interaction that guests desire and our team members provide,'' said Troy Stremming, the senior vice president of government relations and public affairs for Ameristar Casinos Inc.

Fahrenkopf, who was the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1983 to 1989, agreed, “If there was going to be cannibalization, it's already taking place,'' he said. “Ten years ago, if we took a look at the financial statement of MGM Mirage, for example, 65 to 70 percent of its bottom line would've come from gaming revenue. Three years ago, it was 45 percent.”

Now that big business is behind online gambling being legalized, will Republicans finally change their tunes and start supporting legislation to legalize it? Time can only tell but for now gambling like most “moral” issues is stuck in the world of left or right and not what is best for our country.

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The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa will be hosting the Mid-South Poker Classic next month. It will run from May 6^th-17^th and will feature 24 events with buy-ins ranging from $125 to $1,060.

Things will kick off with a $125 Jack-n-Jill tournament at 7 p.m. May 6^th and things will wrap up with the Championship Event on the 17^th.

Hard Rock will be offering events for several different varieties of poker including No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Mix and H.O.R.S.E. They will also host special events for seniors (May 10^th) and Ladies (May 13^th).

The Main Event the Championship Event is scheduled to run May 16^th-17^th. Buy-ins for the event are set at $1,000+$60 making it the only event to charge a dealers fee. Players will start with 15,000 chips with blinds initially set at 25-25. 

In addition to the scheduled events Hard Rock will also be hosting Daily No Limit Shootouts everyday at 10am. Buy-ins for this event are set at $35 with $10 rebuys and add-on options.

For a complete list of the schedule, check out the tournament page at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa’s official website

The Mid-South Poker Classic looks like the perfect way to warm up for the World Series of Poker which will begin its run May 28^th. If you’re in the area you’ll definitely want to check things out.

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While many politicians are working hard to try and legalize online gambling in Massachusetts, house speaker Robert DeLeo seems to have made it his mission to have the practice banned completely.

DeLeo recently introduced a piece of legislation designed to attract new casino resorts to the Massachusetts area. As part of the bill two new casinos would be welcomed to the state and the ailing racing industry would also get a boost by being allowed to install a limited number of slot machines the catch is the bill would make it expressly illegal to gamble online.

DeLeo’s bill states that any person who engages in wagering using telecommunication devices such as phones, internet, cell phones or a local area network within the state of Massachusetts could face some serious consequences. If the bill should pass anyone caught indulging in the practice could potentially face up to two years in jail along with a $25,000 fine; a pretty steep punishment to say the least.

Many in the online poker community are expecting several amendments to be added that would delete the controversial language from the bill but for the time being no one has confirmed whether or not any such amendments have been incorporated or not. About 216 amendments of DeLeo’s proposal have been registered but it will take legislators some time to leaf through them. Poker players are expecting online poker to be excluded from the category of internet gambling since it requires a certain level of skill but even then it would still require some major changes to the proposed bill.

On Monday DeLeo surged toward securing a veto-proof backing for his bill, telling deputies on the eve of the floor debate he had gained 104 commitments, House sources said. The debate is scheduled to take place today at which point amendments for the bill must receive two thirds vote in order to be approved. Hopefully they will be able to work something in that will take care of the online gambling problem.

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The most notorious MMA fighter in the world, Chuck Liddell has become the first from the UFC to have a wax sculpture depicted of him in full detail at the Madame Tussauds exhibit in Las Vegas, Nevada. The completely lifelike copy of Liddell will be displayed inside the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

The legendary UFC pro will be joining the other figures of the most memorable people in the world including United States Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Barrack Obama, Hollywood stars, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and Brad Pitt and legendary moon walker Buzz Aldrin in one of the most unusual and special exhibits on the planet.

Liddell has been proving himself as a fighter since the age of 12 when he practiced martial arts. He has managed to shatter numerous records throughout his MMA career including numerous wins in the UFC. In 2009, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his massive list of accomplishments in the sport. He also appeared in a few Hollywood movies and a handful of entertaining television shows including Punk’d, Entourage and Blade: The Series.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell’s sculpture will be unveiled next month, May 28^th at the UFC Fan Expo before being moved to its new home at the Venetian Hotel and Casino’s Madame Tussaud’s exhibit in Las Vegas. He will be placed in a replica of the UFC Octagon and will be sporting his famous blue trunks and his well earned UFC championship belt.

Liddell has also been seen on the poker scene. He was spotted wearing a PokerStars patch at the 39^th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). 

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The Poker Players Alliance will be hosting an Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C. on April 14^th. Co-chairing the charity poker tournament will be female poker professional Annie Duke and poker supporting lawmakers Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Jim McDermott.

A number of top pros are planning to be in attendance. Just a few of the big names include Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer and Jim McManus.

The price tag for the PPA charity tournament is set at $500 and corporate sponsorships are available for $5,000 for half a table and $10,000 for a full table. Up for grabs will be a seat at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event a prize valued at $10,000 and a two-day WSOP Academy poker training experience valued at more than $1,000.

Registration for the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament is available on the PPA's website but space is limited so you need to get in early if you want to be guaranteed a spot. Only 140 people will be permitted to join in on the action and seats will be given on a strictly first come first serve basis.

Ante Up For Africa is a non-profit organization founded by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein. It is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need through charity poker tournaments.

Commenting on the support the PPA has afforded to such worthy causes in the past, Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International recently said:

“We are grateful to Ante Up For Africa for shining a spotlight on the ongoing crisis in Darfur and generating such significant support for the people who have been forced from their homes by this conflict. An event like this makes it possible for Refugees International to continue to demand action from the world’s leaders to provide basic assistance and protection to refugees in Sudan and around the world.”

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