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Russian casinos to close in Moscow, other cities

By CATRINA STEWART

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian gamblers are placing their final bets before casinos close down for good in Moscow and other big cities.

A new law that comes into effect Wednesday says gambling must now be confined to four far-flung special zones.

Casinos and slot machines will now be allowed to operate only in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, the Primorsky region on the Pacific coast, the Altai region in Siberia and near the southern cities of Krasnodar and Rostov.

Casinos mushroomed in Russia’s cities after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and slot machines quickly spread beyond gaming halls to shops and malls. The spread of gambling has provoked distaste among many Russians over the flashy cars parked outside glittering casinos in Russia’s capital and the harm that gambling can do to society.

“Let them close,” said Galina Beleznikova, a 65-year old retiree who has seen friends lose their homes and their families because of gambling addictions. “For that matter, get them out of Russia altogether.”

Although the law was signed in 2006 during Vladimir Putin’s presidency, many casino owners did not expect the closures to actually take place. Critics say the move will merely push gaming underground, leaving 400,000 people without legal jobs amid the country’s economic crisis.

Putin is now prime minister.

Several prominent casinos on Moscow’s glitzy Novy Arbat street have shut down ahead of the deadline. Others plan to remain open until the last possible moment before closing their doors for good.

Some casinos may reinvent themselves as private poker halls — a much less lucrative business than roulette and blackjack. The law on poker remains ambiguous, however, and some casino owners say they will not take the risk.

Police have vowed to check establishments across Russia the minute the law comes into force on July 1 to ensure compliance.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

How To Play And Win At Any Online Poker Room

The number of people who play poker on the Internet constantly grows from time to time because they know that poker is an exciting game. This article offers tips to both novice players who have never played online poker before, as well as those who have the experience, yet still want to learn how to play better and win bigger.

Online poker games represent the best opportunity ever for new players to learn the game for absolutely free. Eventually, a lot of these beginners will move on to play in real casinos, so this article might be your first guide towards a successful poker career!

The primary thing to understand is that playing poker on the Internet is not the same as playing poker at brick & mortar casino. While the rules are usually the same, the way the games played are quite different. I’m not saying that playing poker in a real casino is better than playing online, or necessarily more profitable. In fact, playing on the Internet can give you many advantages.

At poker, it’s very important to know the deck that’s being played with. A deck of cards has four suits, such as hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. Each suit has 13 cards including a single ace, jack, queen and king and the numbers two through 10, so in one deck there are 52 total cards (4 x 13 = 52). In order to win, you have to combine these cards to make the best possible hand. These include Royal flush, Straight flush, Four of a kind, Full house, and Straight.

An important thing to consider in the basic poker strategy is to find out the percentages of the odds you have to face during the poker game. It is essential to remember these odds so that you can make a good decision fast when your turn comes.

Discipline is another winning strategy in poker. What distinguishes a professional poker player from amateurs is that he will not give up his decisions to sheer dumb luck. A professional always desires to win the game by playing his hands cleverly.

Fortunately, there is one software that can help a novice player to play and win a poker game. It’s called the Online Poker Analyzer (OPA). With the help of this brilliant software, you don’t have to calculate the odds, watching the opponent’s hand or even discipline yourself. All you have to do is to follow the OPA since it will tell you exactly how to play and win poker one step at a time.

So if you want a fun, fast-paced game to play on the Internet, you will find that it’s quite easy to learn how to play poker. Of course, becoming a world champion in poker tournament might take a lot of practice, but the truth is the basics behind poker aren’t that difficult to grasp.

Click here for more information on the Online Poker Analyzer.

Titan Poker Guarantees 40 WSOP Seats at Mega Tournament

Online poker players have multiple ways to win prestigious 2009 WSOP packages at TitanPoker.com.

TitanPoker.com, the leading poker room in Europe and the largest venue on the iPoker Network, is guaranteeing a record forty World Series of Poker 2009 Main Event packages at its upcoming WSOP 2009 Main Event Mega Satellite tournament (http://www.titanpoker.com/wsop_2009.html) on June 14. Each package is worth $13,000, making the total cash value of guaranteed prizes at the tournament a whopping $520,000.

Winning players will represent Titan Poker at the World Series of Poker 2009 Main Event, which will take place in Las Vegas in July. Each $13,000 prize package will provide players with entry to the prestigious $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship Main Event, 7 nights’ of luxury accommodation at the Rio Hotel and Casino, funds for travel expenses, and spending money.

Buy-ins to the WSOP 2009 Mega Satellite are available to online poker players at Titan Poker for $500 + $30, but players can win their seats at qualifier satellite tournaments, taking place round the clock with entries as low as $1.

Online poker players interested in playing at the 2009 World Series of Poker have multiple ways to qualify at TitanPoker.com. The popular poker room has been staging Super Satellites every Sunday night, and many players have already won their ticket to Las Vegas and poker glory.

Titan Poker is offering a $25,000 “Executive Package” to the WSOP 2009 for the winners of 6 consecutive “WSOP 2009 Executive Jackpot Sit’n'Go” tournaments. This luxury package gives winners 16 nights’ accommodation, tickets to the “Beatles Cirque du Soleil” show, Limo pick-up from and to the Las Vegas Airport, and much more, all in addition to the buy-in the WSOP Main Event and an additional World Series of Poker bracelet tournament.

Players have previously won seats to the 2009 WSOP World Championship of Pot-Limit Omaha and to two WSOP No Limit Hold’em $1,500 Buy-in Events.

Click here for more info on how to win your seat for the WSOP

PokerStars is sending 807 players to the WSOP!

That’s right over 800 players have currently qualified from PokerStars satellite tournaments for the WSOP.

Accoding to their web page there is still time to qualify …
“Ready to be the next Champion?

The road to the World Series of Poker* Main Event starts here - and PokerStars is the only place to win your seat in 2009. Cash, FPP and Steps WSOP* satellites are available now in a range of buy-ins, under the Events > WSOP tab in your PokerStars lobby. Our satellites give all players a shot at qualifying for the ‘Big Dance’, with a prize package worth $12,000. ….. click here for more info”

Online poker players have multiple ways to win prestigious 2009 WSOP packages at Titan Poker.

Online poker players everywhere interested in playing in the biggest poker event of the year can qualify for their 2009 World Series of Poker seats at TitanPoker.com (http://www.titanpoker.com/), the leading poker room in Europe and the largest venue on the iPoker Network.

Titan Poker is awarding its top players with $13,000 WSOP packages, which include the $10,000 buy-in to the World Series of Poker Main Event, 7 nights of luxury accommodation at the Rio Hotel and Casino, and travel to Las Vegas, where the prestigious poker tournament will be staged this summer.

Online poker players from around the world have been competing for the WSOP (http://www.titanpoker.com/wsop_09.html) prizes at Titan Poker’s satellite qualifiers, which start for entries as low as $0.77+$0.07.

In addition to the tournament series leading to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, players are also vying at Titan Poker’s satellite tournaments to win seats to the 2009 WSOP World Championship of Pot-Limit Omaha. A satellite series is also taking place awarding winners with seats at two WSOP No Limit Hold’em $1,500 Buy-in Events.

Titan Poker WSOP Main Event Super Satellite tournaments are staged every Sunday night, while the other Super Satellites are running on Saturday nights, giving players multiple ways to win their way to Las Vegas and a possible WSOP bracelet.

New depositors at Titan Poker during the month of May have a chance to win a $13,000 WSOP Package completely for free. New depositing players receive tournament entries to a series of freeroll satellites, players can win their way to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas without making a single tournament payment.

Poker Ashes – choose your side!

“The Ashes has to be one of the most intensely competitive events in cricket…

Now we’re bringing that same passion to the world of poker with a unique opportunity for you to join the winning team at the much-anticipated, televised Poker Ashes, to be held in London on June 22-23!

Of course, it wouldn’t be any kind of Ashes event without world-famous captains, so Australia’s Shane Warne and UK’s Darren Gough will be heading the Poker Ashes clashes – will you make it onto one of their teams?

We will be awarding one Australia side seat and one England side seat for the top skilled players who can prove they’ve got what it takes to bowl over the opposition – an opportunity that money just can’t buy!

Not only will this exciting event be televised in the UK (Sky), Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand, we’ll even throw in your travel and accommodation expenses, $1,000 spending money and a whole load of autographed cricket memorabilia – now that’ll be one unforgettable experience! ”

 To find out more about this event click here

Yahoo - Stuart wins a tourney!

Well after not playing for a 9 months my comeback has been one donk exhibition after another but tonight I managed to take down the PKR Breath Thru game. It is a strange structure where 1 in 4 get paid but the payout for all places from2 downwards is the same with the big payout for 1st. The buy in was $5.50 and I’m glad to say that with just one bad beat that I dished out I played pretty solid and won the game. Thats the first time I’ve seen that celebration with the money flying all over the table - very nice. The last hand was my KQ v K9 and we both hit our kicker and although the red cards caused some concern initially a flush wasn’t made and my KQ held up.

click the picture above to download the PKR software for free - it offers a great playing experience and the picture is representative of the game.

APAT Online League Starts Today

Season 3 of the APAT online league starts today over at Blue Square (click below to sign up)

Each member will need to go to the APAT website and sign up with their nearest ‘club’ out of the 30 that there are. These clubs will then play against each other in 3 divisions both online and live. Tonights game starts at 8.00pm and to earn points for your club then you need to have registered with them by the kick off. Non aligned members are allowed to play but just won’t earn points for teams.

After you have set up your Blue Square account then you can join your club here: http://www.apat.com

Playing at Cake

Actually playing more like a fruit cake - got no cards and when I did I either misplayed them or got unlucky.

Thats 3 sit n go’s down the spout with no return but it is my first session this year so hopefully I will be able to turn it around next time.

ECOOP III Main Event Satellite

I played the satellite for the ECOOP tonight and it is fair to say it didn’t go too well. I was playing OK picking off the sit outs where possible and generally keeping myself in the game. Just before the hour mark the blinds were 100/200 and there was a raise to 400 in front and I had 88 so I pushed in for my 1800 chips. I was insta called and was surprised to see that I was in good shape with my opponent having KJ. Magic I hit my set with an 8 on the flop but a Q also meant that I could get knocked out if hit a runner runner straight. I was not really surprised to see a 10 come out and then an A.

Out in 445th (of 681 players) place and to someone who didn’t really need to call with such a marginal hand.

c’est la vie