September 29th, 2006: The shot heard around the poker world. In what can only be described as a shocking series of events, the poker world has been taken by storm earlier this week, when the US House of Representatives and US Senate passed the Internet Gambling Act. Attached a amendment to the Port Security Bill (HR 4411), the Internet Gambling "rider" was spearheaded by Senator Frist, who is popular among the anti-gambling foundations and religious communities.

While the Act does not specifically outlaw or ban internet gambling, it does have enough language and force to stop all financial and business transactions between banks, credit cards and online poker operators, such as Party Poker. Punishment for refusing to block US customers is delivered by a lengthy five year stay in prison, along with possible extradition from foreign countries where online poker and gambling is illegal. Much of the enforceable aspects of the Internet Gambling Act are still unknown however, given the difficulties in both enforcing the bill and waiting for the US Attorney General to come up with a set of guidelines for how banks and financial institutions would carry out the enforcement.

As the new management of the Party Poker Strategy Guide, we have taken it upon ourselves to show that there is much goodwill that can come out of the game of poker. Attempting to follow in the footsteps of the famous poker player, Barry Greenstein, the Party Poker Strategy Guide has partnered to donate a shipment of poker chips to the US soldiers overseas in Iraq.

While recognise that while not all sentiment toward the conflict is the same, especially in varying parts of the globe, that supporting America's troops is still a honorable act in our view and one that we would like to take part of. We decided to work with Screaming Eagle Poker to arrange the donation, as they hold free, weekly no limit hold'em poker tournaments for the soldiers stationed in Iraq. SEP is a great organization that looks after the troops by boosting morale and making the troops feel a little more at home in a distant land. We can only hope that America's troops come home both timely and safely, as well as a diplomatic solution in the Middle East.

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The House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday that prevents the use of credit cards to make wagers online and block access to gambling Web sites. The bill was House Resolution 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. Essentially, the bill would spell out and redefine existing federal laws that would outlaw online gambling. The legislation makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to gambling sites and also increases the maximum prison sentence from two years to five years. It also opens the door for law enforcement agencies to force Internet Service Providers to remove all links to those online wagering sites.

All said and done however, internet gambling is not yet illegal, as it takes both a Congress and Senate vote in order to get it passed. Industry watchers highly doubt that the Senate will be voting on the bill this year due to many other higher priority measures, so it will likely be a year or two before a real decision is made.

Reasons for Banning Internet Gambling and Poker

Those that supported the bill argued that the phenomenon of online gambling is a danger to young people. With today’s youth so entrenched in the Internet; they have a higher susceptibility to try online gambling. This new generation spends more time logging in to their computer than watching TV or studying. They believed that Internet gambling is addictive and can result in dire consequences. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, one of the key supporters of the bill, said “Never before has it been so easy to lose so much money so quickly at such a young age.”

The bill has niche carving in its writing which allow for exemption in the legislation. Under the provision of the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, betting operators would not be prohibited from engaging in online wagering activity. State-run lotteries would also be exempt from the law. The bill seems to be targeted as specific types of wagering; sports betting, casino games and poker.

Loopholes in the Ban

Opponents of the bill criticized the exemptions of state lotteries and horse betting. The bill seems to be written to only target specific types of betting and games, while others are allowed to operate freely. Rep Shelley Berkley, D-Nevada, stated, “it was unfair to allow online lotteries and Internet betting on horse racing to flourish while cracking down on other kinds of sports betting, casino games and card games like poker.”

Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance released this statement after the passing of the legislation, “They call it prohibition. It’s really Congress picking winners and losers.” These exemptions deflate the issue of protecting America’s youth and accentuate the influence of special interest groups that are concerned with loss of revenue to their virtual counterparts.

Some debated for an amendment to the bill so that horse racing would be included, but Bob Goodlatte, and Jim Leach fought against that addition. They feared if horse racing were an addition to the bill, it would be the poison pill clause that would stop the bill. Apparently, horse racing and state lotteries are not a big threat to the American values, compared to Poker, Casino games, and Sports Betting.

Critics argued that a more appropriate solution would be to regulate the industry, instead of complete prohibition. The enforcement of the legislation would infringe on the privacy rights and its enforcement would be extremely difficult. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts stated, “Prohibition didn’t work for alcohol. It won’t work for gambling.” RIAA lobbied for the enforcement of illegal downloading which threatened their industry. File sharing copyrighted material is illegal, yet many users continue to do it because it is near impossible to track all possible users.

Online Gambling Finds a Surprising Ally

The American Gaming Association has opposed online gambling, but recently has backed a research study into the regulation of the online gaming industry. The released study shows that more than $3.3 billion in federal and state revenue could be generated if the industry was properly regulated and taxed in the U.S. Since 2000, the industry revenue has quadrupled to $12 billion with a majority of the money coming from the U.S. It is projected that by 2010, the online gambling industry will generate $24.5 billion.

Internet Enforcement Raises Eyebrows

One of the controversial issues of the bill is the enforcement of the law. If law enforcement is effective in its blocking of these specific URLs, it is censorship of the Internet. Considering that the U.S. is firm in its apprehensions on the censorship of the Internet in China, this bill is nonetheless doing the same thing.

One of the most important and unalienable rights of the U.S. citizen is the freedom of speech. Many critics say that Americans are being denied the right to choose what they can and cannot do in their own homes. This issue could continue to receive flak from critics, gambling enthusiasts, and Internet advocates who support free information. The Republican Party led House and its “moral” values have pushed the agenda within the debates. This bill is an example of many proposed bills that many critics say impose the values of a small minority onto larger public whether or not they agree with it.

Many see this is the first step in the eventual ban of online gambling in the U.S., as the ban isn't law yet. The next hurdle it needs to pass is the Senate. The issue of online gambling has not been debated in the Senate this year and has not been noted as a top priority by Senate leaders. The bill has two more rounds of betting before it can be made law. Gambling enthusiasts are hoping to catch something on the turn or the river.

Barry Greenstein, while not shy from the press, has always maintained a dignified composure in his dealings in and out of the poker world. Having gained quite a bit of popularity for his "Robin Hood" ways of donating all his tournament winnings to charity, Greenstein has generated much popularity and goodwill from both the poker and popular press. Given his wholesome image as a champion of the less fortunate, one that strikes stark contrast to that of the stereotypical poker player, his reluctance to lend his name to any of the online poker sites has been a subject of speculation.

One source close to Tight Poker mentioned that Barry had actually turned down an offer from Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt is well known for their impressive line-up of poker celebrities such as Phil Ivey, Chris Fergusen, Erik Sidel, Jennifer Harmon, Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon. Given that a number of high profile Full Tilt players play in the "Big Game" alongside Barry Greenstein, it almost seemed like a shoe-in to have Barry's face grace alongside the other poker personae on Full Tilt's website. Obviously, this hasn't shown to be the case given Barry's announcement with PokerStars today.

This news about Barry comes as a coincidental timing, as our review of Barry Greenstein's latest poker book, Ace on the River, has recently been added to the Poker Books section. Ace on the River is an entertaining book that received a four-star rating from our reviewer. Barry offers compelling stories and interesting perspectives on the poker world that only a high-stakes player like himself can deliver. For the poker minded players as well, Barry also has an entire section dedicated to his own analysis of poker hands played at the highest stakes of the game. An entertaining read indeed and one that I recommend as well.

Greenstein and PokerStars - Partners in Charity

For Barry Greenstein to join PokerStars is almost a melding of synergies when it comes to the poker world. PokerStars has been at the forefront of giving when it comes to charities, with events such as Hurricane Katrina Relief and Tsunami aid, where players at the site ponied up to raise over $500,000 in charity tournaments. Not to be outdone by their own players, PokerStars went ahead and matched this amount, making their contributions to the pool over a cool one-million US dollars.

Now Barry, affectionately referred to as the "Robin Hood of Poker" by fans, media and fellow poker players, is no stranger to charities himself as earlier stated. Having donated nearly $3,000,000 to charities such as Children Inc, which has been the primary recipient of Barry's goodwill, Barry has shown himself to be the most generous ambassador on the poker scene. The partnership between Greenstein and PokerStars seems fitting in the context that both are not only good at what they do, but maintain a humanist outlook beyond that of poker.

So what lies in store for this convergence of a socially aware poker player and poker site? I guess the world will find out soon.

If you're looking to play against Robin Hood himself, head over to PokerStars where you can also find other professionals such as Chris Moneymaker (WSOP Champion 2003), Greg Raymer (WSOP Champion 2004) and Joe Hachem (WSOP Champion 2005).

To all the regular Tight Poker visitors, we would like to let you know that Tight Poker.com is under new management now, but that things are only going to get better from here!

There's going to be a lot of changes to this website in the next few months, but all of them are going to be great improvements to the site. Some of the changes include bigger promotions, more articles, premium replays, additional poker site reviews and other enhancements that will all add up to improve your site expeirnece. We know that there is a strong and loyal community following to the site as well, so if if you have any suggestions on areas that you would like to see improved, please email info@tightpoker.com with your site suggestions. We will take your considerations to our web team as part of our make-over for the site.

For those of you that are worrying, Tight Poker will still be the same Party Poker Strategy Guide that you have all come to know and love. The most noticable change is going to be a redesign of the site, so don't worry, as we're only going to make things better. MJ, who we were happy to work with, is going to still be helping out in various ways, but you will mostly see him on the forum from now on. We want to thank MJ for spending his time to create this great poker resource on the web and to say that we can only hope to continue to keep it a hugely popular and great site.

Recently came across this Duke magazine interview with Jason Strasser. For those unfamiliar with Jason, he goes by the name of "strassa2" and is a well known poker player, especially in the tournament scene. We even have some replays of Jason's games on this site in the visitor histories section of this site, which show him playing a number of single table tournaments at Party Poker.

Here's an excerpt from the article that I thought was neat:
Ross Katz, Strasser's roommate and also a junior, says he marvels at Strasser's lack of emotion or agitation despite fluctuations in winning. "Jason will win or lose thousands of dollars in a hand or over a night," says Katz. "When other people win and lose thousands of dollars in a hand or over a night, they flip out. They might break things or yell obscenities to the heavens. But Strass barely bats an eyelash.

The reason I found this particular section of the interview worth mentioning is because I can't ever emphasize enough on this site that emotional control is the fundamental base of a good poker player. For all the good and evils that a game like poker might cause, it's actually a very good tool (if mastered) to learn self-control and self-discipline. I've met quite a few solid and professional poker players in my life, and despire the emotional antics of television personalities you might see, the common factor amongst all those players were that they had amazing self control.

As such, what Jason's friends say about him doesn't surprise me, because I've played with him (under a variety of names) on Party Poker and have seen him robotically grind through with seemingly no care. The funny thing though, is that Jason Strasser was on the latest Party Poker Million cruise, where he placed 2nd in one of the $1,000 no-limit side game tournaments they had going on. A friend recanted that he saw Jason nearly rip his hair out after many orbits with a player who constantly requested chip counts of various players at the table. In that situation, I can't blame Jason for getting angry, because that's not as much a factor in your own game, but an issue with someone holding up the table by being a jerk.

Lastly, the interview also mentioned that Jason was still looking to pursue and finish his degree in bio and engineering despite his earnings in poker. One of the reasons given was that he thought the popularity of poker couldn't sustain itself. While I might not totally agree on whether or not poker can sustain itself, I do think that this is the limelight days of poker and that the luster is already going away. For anyone that is thinking of being a professional player, it's only going to get a lot harder in the future.

Not exactly your typical Party Poker news day at Tight Poker, but we thought you might enjoy this post anyways. On June 13th, 2006, Tila Tequila of MySpace fame announced that she was partnering with ESL, an online marketing firm, to brand and promote their new online poker site. The games will apparently feature images or themes of Tila and she'll be running promotions to meet tournament finalists, travel to Asia, participate in major events and other media events to get the name out. The site is going to be branded on the PlayTech network, which is the same network that hosts sites like Titan Poker.

For those of you who don't know, MySpace is huge social networking site and Tila is pretty much one of the most popular members on the site, so it's a pretty big plus for ESL to be landing her in my opinion. Never underestimate the power of attractive females to promote a brand.

Speaking of promotions, here's the latest bit from PokerStars:

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 6912674

For those who don't know, this is the second blogger tournament from PokerStars. This is a really cool event that is open to all bloggers and just lets anyone play in a freeroll as long as you have a blog and post this short bit of promotion for them. Not a bad deal at all. I've heard a few people complain about having to post the image on their site- but anyone in the world who is going to complain about posting a small image and link on their site in exchange for thousands of dollars of free money is a complete tool. Just my humble opinion.

Looks like on the heels of updates by it's major competitors, PokerStars.com has released a beta poker client that offers features such as resizeable tables, theme skins, customizable theme components and memory for table configurations. This is a huge step forward for the serious players and it definitely something that has been needed for quite some time. I imagine that there is going to be nothing but good things to say about this beta software for the most part.

Speaking of updates, we've also got our own timely updates with a guide on multi-tabling and ten common mistakes in no-limit STT games, both written by ppadala. Both are great intermediate articles and the common mistakes article can be read by both novice and advanced players as a good refresher. Thanks to ppadala for sending these articles in!

In other news, Tight Poker is now running our private tournament league and handing out prizes and trophies for the monthly winners. Participation in the tournament are given out as invitations to very active forum members, so drop by the poker forum to say hi, ask some questions and make yourself known. If you stay long enough, you'll get to participate in our lively community as well.

Lastly, there are public tournaments available at Tight Poker, called Catch the Monkey. These are held at PokerStars, as they offer private poker tournaments at Stars. More details can of course, be found in the forum.

• No Limit $0.25/$0.50 Hold'em (30 minutes)

In addition, I've also posted more poker book reviews, with a contribution by AJ for Kill Phil and a review by Jace for Winning Low Limit Hold'em. Two great books, I definitely recommend at least reading the reviews.

Lastly, AJ also has another article for Tight Poker titled, Why I Play Poker. Good piece that examines the fundamental reasons we play and how it affects us, so if you've gone through everything else on the news today, be sure to check that out as well.

A bit late getting this up, but just posted a review of Zen and the Art of Poker, by Larry Phillips. While the idea of 'Zen' might summon up images of mysticism or above the clouds hippie thinking, this is actually a good book that teaches you how to understand your own mindset while playing poker.

Poker is a complex game that involves a lot of logical elements, such as math, odds, analytics and reasoning - but it all rests upon a good, solid emotional foundation. It's pretty common among beginning players, as well as experienced players (we're looking at you, Helmuth) to have problems controlling their emotion during a game. While not everyone may jump out of their chair in an outburst, even steaming in silence can cause you to throw away bets here and there that eventually add up. This is why mastering your own thought process and controlling your emotions can lead to a level of 'zen' that is optimal for your analytical side. I don't think it's any coincidence that one of the most dangerous players, Daniel Negraneu, has the nickname of "Iceman" for his ability to maintain an exact constant heart rate throughout an entire session of poker.

If anyone is interested in a previous poker article I wrote about understanding and controlling tilt, it can also be found here. Excuse some of the formatting issues with the page, as areas of the site are still going a face lift.

Thanks to Blatman25 for writing this review!

One of the leading online poker sites, PokerStars, has recently celebrated it's five-billionth hand. Topping off with over a million dollars in cash, World Series of Poker (WSOP) seats and World Cup of Poker (WCCOP) seats, it made for a huge rush of players at PokerStars over the last few days.

For the actual five billionth hand, everyone in the hand won $10,000, while the winner of the hand (MaraJade) won a whopping $57,500. That's a pretty big payday for playing in the small stakes, so I'm sure those players are quite happy!

In addition, this coming Sunday, May 28th at 1:00pm EST, PokerStars will be holding a 500 FPP buy-in tournament for 9 seats to the WSOP. FPP points are players points that are accumulated simply by playing at the site (think comp points). About one FPP point is awarded per hand of $2/4 limit poker, so 500 hands (or ten hours of play) can get you a chance at a WSOP seat if you hurry before Sunday.

Of course, if you're still looking for the best shot at getting into the WSOP, Tight Poker is offering our own seat to the World Series as well! Just visit our promotions page for more details - or visit the InterPoker & TightPoker WSOP page directly to learn more.

To participate in the promotion, simply use the deposit code ARSENAL or BARCELONA (each represents a soccer team) during the sign up process (you will see this after the first few sign-up pages). In addition, if you deposit before May 17th and your team wins, youwill also receive a ticket to the Golden Goal tournament, which will award a World Series of Poker seat to the winner of the tournament.You will also get a qualifier ticket to the onGame Poker Classic, another multi-table satetllite tournament exclusive to the network.

Looks like it's not happy times for Danish internet poker players, as I got the following in my email box from InterPoker today:

As a result of recent pronouncements by the Danish tax authority advising that winnings earned by Danish players through internet poker rooms will be taxed as income unless the poker room in question is operated from an EU member state, we have received a number of queries as to the jurisdiction from which our internet poker room is operated.

Please be advised that our poker room is licensed by and operated from Curacao, which is a part of the Netherlands Antilles. While Curacao is not an EU member state, it does enjoy a special relationship with the EU as an overseas country or territory or OCT of the Netherlands. OCTs are provided for by Part 4 of the Treaty of Rome, which reads in part:

Article 183
Association shall have the following objectives.
1. Member States shall apply to their trade with the [OCTs] the same treatment as they accord each other pursuant to this Treaty.

It is our view following discussions with legal advisers, that the Danish tax authority will have to recognize that the Netherlands Antilles should be treated as if it were an EU member. We also note their recent declaration that winnings earned from sites located in Gibraltar are not subject to their tax. Gibraltar is not a member of the EU, but enjoys a special relationship with the EU, albeit different from that of a OCT, and as such is not exactly the same situation as the Netherlands Antilles. It does show that non-EU entities do enjoy the special relationship with the EU.

We provide this for information only and do not accept responsibility or liability should the Danish tax authority or other governmental agency disagree with our view. We do not provide legal or tax advice, and encourage you to seek your own advice on this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Marc Waxman Head of PartnerLogic

Quite an interesting email to receive in the morning. A keen eye would have observed that this doesn't affect Party Poker, as they are based out of Gibraltar. However, the Isle of Man, which is where PokerStars is based, might have some issues, although this is unclear due to the special privileges that these micronations seem to have in the EU. More about the Isle of man here.

In any case, most of the internet poker rooms are based out of small tax haven type nations in or around Europe. These include big poker sites such as: