a view on poker from a dodgy position

You cannot be surprised that the recession has hit the poker industry in the UK with the live poker game suffering the most according to Mintel, the market research company.

According to the report under the provocative heading ‘Poker…a busted flush?’ Mintel state that gross gaming yield dropped from £265 million in 2008 to £247 million in 2009. With almost a third admitting to have changed their playing habits due to the recession.

The biggest loser has been live poker which has been labelled as boring. Which surprises me because my live pub games have been said to have resembled the decadence during the fall of the Roman Empire.

I think the problem with the live game is that there is nothing to do if you get knocked out early, also, most casino frown on table banter. The reason for this is that it can get out of hand and turn into abuse. Depending on the persons involved this can lead to fights. The trick is keeping it sweet, which is quite hard since people hate to lose even if its for small stakes or even play chips. I think I may have cracked the problem of boring live games, since my versions of live poker do seem to be popular.

With the online game it is well overdue for Poker 2,0 or even 3.0 if you take 3D poker and social networks as Poker 2.0. As you may have read me go on about it, ad nauseum <LINK 1>, <LINK 2>,online poker needs a new technological bounce to put fresh impetus into the game. There are people working on it and soon I maybe able to send out some good news on that front.

In the end the popularity of poker is like losing your virginity once you have done it you will always go back for seconds.

Joseph Cada - Champion

Joeseph Cada is WSOP Champion 2009. His pair of 9’s held up for him to walk away with $ 8,546,435.

Altough I didn’t have a penny on him it does make me feel better that this was the guy who knocked out our pick Saout.

Antoine Saout

The big event on Saturday is set to start 12 noon (Pacific Time) and I have been given a surprise tip by Magical Tipser - it is Antoine Saout.

He is the 25 year old Frenchman who is the surprise package in this years final and subsequently he is a big price (18/1 on Betfair). As the rank outsider he is expected to be one of the first to be knocked out, however, do not be surprised if he stays in a lot longer than most people think.

Apparently he has been practicing very hard by playing in all sorts of tournaments and seems to have a lot of stamina which is needed for such competition.

James Akenhead - come into the calculations as another big price (15/1) but he is also short stacked and he too will need a miracle, but sometimes miracles do happen.

The Poker Knave brings an extended Daily Digest with an analysis of football, popular culture and UK politics all in 9 minutes and a few seconds. Almost as quick as his poker playing style…

This competition is to find the best blog of the month for May 2009 on the pokerknave.com site. It is only open to those who have an account with pokerknave.com and the criteria for the best blog will be:

1. The blog is interesting.

2. The blog is informative.

3. The blog has some post about the blogger’s poker lifestyle.

4. The blogger has made more than 5 post during the month of May.

5. The blog posts must be original.

The competition starts at 00:01(GMT) on the 1st of May 2009, and, finishes 23:59 (GMT) 31st of May 2009. The competition is open to any blog that is active during the month of May 2009. The winner will be announced on 7th of June 2009. The judge’s decision is final. The prize money does not alter the share of revenue that all blogs receive.

If you havent got a pokerknave.com account then get one here its free and you gain a share of the revenue <JOIN UP>

The winner will receive payment by cheque or via Paypal

If you haven’t got a Paypal account get one here.

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A contest to find the best and luckiest tipster on the internet. Go to The Magical Tipster’s page and post you 5 choices for this years Grand National <GRAND NATIONAL LINK>

Here is a video nasty of the shenannigans on Friday 13th, 2009 for Red Nose Day. If having fun at other peoples escapade was a criminal offence then many would now be placed under house arrest. Fair play to the vicitms as their generosity of spirit made the charity night extremely cool. <LINK>

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

To be perfectly honest we haven’t really thought about the rules because we only thought up the idea last night. But since normal strip poker is pretty easy then it should not be a problem.

Rule 1. - The contestant can be totally naked, but, for a charity event which may be reported in a family press (The Birmingham Evening Mail) it might be advisable to to start the players in t-shirt and shorts.

Rule 2. - Knowing poker rules is advisable but not obligatory. The aim is to raise money for charity.

Rule 3. - Loads of alcohol can be consumed.

Rule 4. - Try and get as many items of clothing, the tighter the better.

Rule 5. - Make sure there is a disco on just in case it gets boring because the game has some tight players who miss the object of the exercise.

Rule 6. - In case of a split pot the two players have deemed to have lost and therefore the players must put on an item of clothing. Its not fair but who said Reverse Strip Poker was about fairness?

Rule 7. - The players must get a free cocktail for being good sports (nothing like a bit of ligging).

Rule 8. - If you lose to a Full House and above you must but a shoe on. There is no particular reason for this rule.

At very, very, short notice I hope this will be a great event and everyone has a laugh and more importantly we raise a load of money for the Comic Relief Charity.

Here is the official Red Nose Day 2009 song.