Calvin Ayre - Bodog

The big news from our ‘Latest News’ section is that Bodog is shutting down its UK operation, and consequently their European market is going to be close to poker! They are then going to re-open and cater to the Asian expat market, whatever that means. This is a big news story in the sense that one of the iconic poker brand is totally ignoring a massive market for those who like online poker. Is this the starting of a trend or a one off classic Calvin Ayre move? 

It is fair to say that Calvin Ayre is a shrewd guy and for him to take such a move is either fool hardy or a understanding that European online poker is too tough to make money and a more specialised operation will bring in more revenue in the long run. This will evidentially be a decision which help solidify a very crowded market into a 3 or 4 megasite and a ocean of nearly bankrupt small operation. 

You cannot tell me that a plethora of online poker sites are all making money? Some of the offers and bonuses that are banded about are ridiculous compared where the market was a few years ago. Rake backs are so big and so competitive that it must be killing the market. Therefore, it is only time that some of the medium sized online poker rooms start to get out of the way.

2013 could see another melt down in online poker like what was witnessed on ‘Black Friday’ when the FBI got really serious with online poker rooms allowing US citizens to deposit money to play online poker, if Bodog spearhead the online poker rooms exit from UK and Europe, things might get very tough for the bonus whores.

Always be prepared

While the world of poker at pokerknave.com had been somewhat suspended due to the Cheltenham Festival and The Six Nations Rugby tournament, it is time to take stock of the various attempts by various bodies to get online poker legalised in the US. Basically the governing bodies do not seem to be interested and we limp onwards to

November 2012 when the new President, whoever he or she maybe, will hopefully see sense.

The reason why the election is crucial is that the politics in the US looks quite poisonous  and Barack Obama would be attacked mercilessly if he were to introduce legislation to de-criminalise the game of pure capitalist behaviour on a platform created by US engineering and fore sight. Quite a double as it would have been almost unthinkable that the nation that was the bulwark against Communism is acting like communist!

It will eventually be legal to play online poker in the US, but, in the meantime the world of poker will have to sit back and watch the puritans and the crackpots whip themselves into righteous indignation that poker online is the road to Hades and the hell within it.

The poolknave project is still on course. Just some tweaking and touching up to take place and the world of poker and pool will never be the same. We still need your input so if you like to play the English version of pool commonly called ’8 ball’ pool or you just have an interest in cue sports generally then please let us know how you see things developing. And if you play poker AND pool then we need to have discussions urgently.

On a personal front I got involved in two pub poker games as a way of not being in a too taxing environment with the prospect of winning a few quid to boot. Well my good friends it was pure carnage. In one tournament I only played two hands and I was eliminated and in the second one I had Ace King and my opponent had 6 – 4 unsuited! Guess who won?

If I could I would just stick to The Magical Tipster as his betting can be sublime and very profitable even as a ‘bet to lay’ prospect, because stealing a few quid from drunken players is getting harder as information and experience overcome prejudice. 

As a postscript to the wonders of the Cheltenham Festival tipping competition. A client of a friend had 5 winners on Thursday which for a pound (£1), would have provided a return of well over £100,000+! Just goes to show that The Magical Tipster can still be beaten when it comes to tipping.

The first video features one John H. Ford, 35, of Cleveland, US, being searched after a robbery at the First Merit bank in Ohio. Mr Ford eats a paper which the police believe was the note which demanded the money from the bank.

The second video features the biggest online pot ever and it was between Isildur1and Patrik Antonius who were playing online Omaha. The total pot was $1.35 million dollars and was played on November 21, 200.

The one thing I will say is that isildur1 played extremely badly in this hand and I cannot understand how he put over $600,000 into the pot?

The Million Dollar Poker Pot

Sometime ago I wrote an article about the ludicrous US law concerning online poker <Dikshit Law Link>. Well it seems that the US government are looking for a sensible outcome. According to the papers PartyGaming agreed a $105 million settlement over activities in the US <The Guardian>.

Why is this significant? Well it means we are nearer to the day when online poker can fully exploit the massive US market and create more liquidity in the online poker markets. With increased liquidity new ideas will be thought up to make the online experience more interesting.

In the meantime we must continue with the dull graphics that inhabit the world of online poker waiting for the next big idea which will eventually come and will rekindle the juices that a person like me needs.

The unfortunate Mr Anurag Dikshit has lost $300 million dollar but manage to keep out of jail because he was one of the main shareholder of Party Gaming a pioneer in online poker <Link 1>.

What was he doing to have suffered such an ordeal? Well he facilitated US citizens the chance to play poker online, which apparently under US Law (The Interstate Wire Act of 1961) is illegal. When this law came in it was to stop bookies taking telephone bets on sports such as football and horse racing and was not designed to stop online poker, which obviously was not even a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee eye.

Now anyone with even a passing knowledge of poker realise that there is a big difference between playing poker and having a double on the first two favourites at Churchill Downs. In fact poker can be seen more as chess for the psychology student than gambling. You can gamble, but, that is no more different than deciding which direction the FTSE will move.

Now why is this important? Well the US is the spear of capitalism and poker is the ‘house game’ for capitalist. In fact it is the purest form of capitalism and is so ingrained into the Us of A psyche that over 80 million play poker every week. In fact a number of Presidents were well known poker players and this includes the President presumptive Barack Obama!

This ludicrous situation must now be rectify, not because Mr Dikshit will be bankrupt by this ruling – he is the 207th richest man in the world, but because in an age where people have virtual relationships with people over the world, what more does a good capitalist need but to have the whole world playing poker?

Anyway, according to Wikipedia the US Supreme court has yet to rule on online gambling <Link 2> and us poor feeble minded individuals await its ruling with relish since it will indicate whether the US is a nanny state or not,