Commemorative Casino Chips—Morongo Casino Resort

In honor of its 10th anniversary celebration this December, the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa has commissioned three beautifully designed commemorative casino chips.

Emblazoned with a picture of the Morongo Casino tower rising within the night sky against a twig of colourful fireworks, the custom chips are expected to hit the gaming tables within the first week of November.They can be available in three denominations: a fire-red $5 chip, a $25 emerald green chip and a limited-edition midnight black $100 chip. Each chip also notes the casino’s 10th anniversary and years of operation.

“These special collector chips are absolutely gorgeous,” Morongo Chief Operating Officer John James said. “Chip aficionados are going to like the artwork and color schemes.”

Morongo’s collectible commemorative chips were designed by GPI, probably the most world’s top suppliers of gaming currency and gear. GPI’s chip pedigree dates back to the early 1970s when the Bud Jones Co., which later merged with two other gaming suppliers to form GPI, began manufacturing what quickly became probably the most popular American forms of chips, which have been utilized in European, Far East Asian and South African casinos.

Often sought by collectors, specialty and commemorative casino chips have a recognized value that goes far beyond their beauty. Many collectibles lose value after being bought at retail, after which may slowly appreciate over the years. But that isn't the case with casino chips. The face value of a chip will always remain, but its rarity and grace could make the chip gain in value. 

Read More... [Source: Featured Products]

Baltic Festival: Keys unlocks secret to Baltic chip lead

It's a thankless task following British poker players at major international tournaments the world over. Sure, there were the occasional triumph, but as a rule it is a story of so near and yet thus far. No person told us - nobody even hinted - that every one we needed to do was come to the Baltics.

For it's here, mostly Event of the inaugural PokerStars Baltic Festival, that James Keys, a Briton, is the chip leader going into the general day; Thomas Partridge, a Briton, is third in chips; and Natasha Ellis, a Briton, could also be still a number of the final 17 players still standing. Britannia rules the day!

James Keys

Thomas Partridge

Natasha Ellis

Day two proper began at noon in Tallinn with 121 players still within the hunt and only 32 places within the money. We were thinking we'd be here all night because the loose target was to minimize just about a last table. But as is so often the case, the pace was rapid from the off. Ten, twenty, thirty players departed, and suddenly the bubble was in sight.

That's when it got cruel. It usually gets cruel, but try telling Katja Thater that. She one one of the crucial big stacks at that stage, and he or she had pocket kings all in pre-flop against Keys' pocket jacks. Then: bing! A jack at the flop, Thater was out, and Keys cruised right into a lead that he never relinquished.

Katja Thater

The bubble burst when Michael Fardan also cracked pocket kings. This time they were within the hand of Christian Schneider and it was a battle of the blinds at the bubble. Eeeeew. Fardan had A-Q and turned an ace, which sent Scheider back to Austria penniless and the remainder of them into the money.

Michael Fardan, background

One of the rest few was the Team PokerStars Pro and World Champion Peter Eastgate. That is the last tournament he'll play before traveling to Vegas next week handy his world crown over to the newest victor from the November Nine.

Peter Eastgate

Although the €2,455 Eastgate picked up for 23rd place (he bumped into the straight of Johan Nilsson to finish his participation here) will qualify because the most "min" of "min-cashes" for the nine million dollar man, this year have been sensational for Eastgate. Among other successes, he won an aspect event on the PCA, finished second at EPT London, and capped the year with another deep run. A greater than worthy world champion.

Tomorrow, though, we can play right down to that winner. Unlocking Keys would be the target. Can anyone go father than Fardan? Or will Partridge pick off the pear pair of them. Enough. I WILL bed.

Full chip counts are at the chip-count page. Have a look back at the day because it unfolded with our level-by-level updates, the links to which can be below. Or read all of it in Swedish, in case you are a masochist. Video blogs can be found at PokerStars.tv, and thanks again to Rene Velli's trigger finger.

Day two introductionLevels 9&10 updatesLevels 11&12 updatesLevels 13&14 updatesLevels 15&16 updates

Chip leader James Keys

Play resumes at 2pm. You should definitely join us.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Baltic Poker Festival]

WCOOP Challenge Series: roscootje459 reaps $302k in Sunday Million Special Edition (Event #7, $215 NLHE)

It was a merry weekend indeed at the PokerStars felt. When all was said and done, the WCOOP Challenge Series awarded over $11.6 million in prize money, each of its ten champions coming away with a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event ticket and a personalised commemorative money clip along with their potentially life-changing first-place score. Event #7 ran in preference to the Sunday Million and even though it carried the similar $215 buy-in, it boasted an extended structure and a $2 million guaranteed prize pool.

The juiced-up stakes were enough to entice 11,644 entrants, leading to a $2,328,800 prize pool. 1,530 places were paid with first place set to earn $323,941.66. Greater than two dozen Red Spades bought in, including Andre Akkari, Isaac Haxton, Nacho Barbero, Liv Boeree, Eugene Katchalov, Andre Coimbra, and Lex Veldhuis. Four finished within the money: Caio Pessagno (1,063rd), Matthias De Meulder (850th), Angel Guillen (302nd), and Maxim Lykov (231st).

The money bubble burst just shy of the six-hour mark and by Level 31, the sphere had narrowed to 179 players. Day 1 concluded with Denmark's laekd15 within the chip lead, with action scheduled to renew after a 14-hour break.

Day 1 Top 10 in chips

laekd15 (Denmark) 2,169,972
Weilando(94) (Germany) 2,169,261
omglukbox (India) 1,878,902
Der-Wolf86 (Germany) 1,849,784
koolllllo (Denmark) 1,773,448
BuffaloBear2 (Norway) 1,716,852
YerSoLucky (Ireand) 1,683,444
thebellboy (Australia) 1,666,838
Keith107 (Canada) 1,586,743
atis84 (Hungary) 1,509,429

Cards went within the air for Day 2 at 2:30pm ET Monday afternoon. Play continued for one more 16 levels before reaching the overall table bubble. With ten players remaining and 300,000/600,000 blinds, roscootje459 opened for 1.25 million and mikulita three-bet shoved for 10.4 million. Roscootje459 snap-called, his Q♠Q♣ crushing mikulita's 5♦5♣. Roscootje459's queens held up and mikulita was left with lower than 1,000,000 in chips. Mikulita put them within the middle at the next hand, but couldn't fade Ilkinopoulos's pocket sevens on a Q♣9♣4♥2♦8♠ board. Mikulita was out in tenth place and the overall table set.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: Ilkinopoulos (13,693,620 in chips)
Seat 2: mr.salgado30 (20,398,027 in chips)
Seat 3: RenRad 01 (15,799,632 in chips)
Seat 4: Calcasus (5,784,141 in chips)
Seat 5: ProWannabe10 (11,315,086 in chips)
Seat 6: jupitor123 (7,413,488 in chips)
Seat 7: roscootje459 (19,510,200 in chips)
Seat 8: KolayRuss (5,107,832 in chips)
Seat 9: aszeta1 (17,417,974 in chips)

Calcasus, jupitor123 fall out of orbit

Only a couple of hands in, Calcasus open-shoved for his last 4.2 million and roscootije459 called at the button with A♣Q♦. Calcasus's K♦T♣ didn't improve at the Q♥6♣2♥6♦8♥ board and he departed with $14,671.44 for ninth place.

No one was more delighted than short stack KolayRuss, who picked up no less than another $8,600 for surviving another pay jump. All the way down to only 2.8 million with the blinds as much as 400,000/800,000, KolayRuss open-shoved with A♥J♠ and RenRad 01 called with 7♠7♣ within the small blind. The T♣5♠3♣ flop favored RenRad 01, but KolayRuss pulled out the K♥ at the turn and the Q♥ at the river to make a Broadway straight. KolayRuss doubled to 7.36 million and only four hands later, made it two in a row when his K♠K♥ held up against Ilkinopoulos's 8♠8♣. KolayRuss doubled to 13.9 million while Ilkinopoulos fell to simply 3.5 million.

The very next deal saw jupitor123 move in for 3.3 million with 8♣8♦, but roscootje459 aroused from sleep with J♠J♥ within the cutoff. Jupitor123 couldn't pull off a miracle and was eliminated in 8th place, good for $23,288.00.

ProWannabe10 rises from the dead

ProWannabe10 was sitting in the midst of the pack when aszeta1 made a UTG min-raise to 1.6 million. Holding T♠T♥, ProWannabe10 moved in for 13.8 million at the button and aszeta1 snap-called with K♣K♠. Aszeta1 moved as much as 29.5 million in chips, leaving ProWannabe10 on 22,112 in chips-- not up to 1/4 of an ante.

ProWannabe10 was all in at the next hand, his A♦4♠ dominated by KolayRuss's A♥7♦. However, ProWannabe10 hit a stroke of luck when his kicker flopped. ProWannabe10 7x-ed his stack to 155,000, and his 1.5 antes went within the middle again at the next deal. Once again, ProWannabe10 prevailed, his Q♥8♦ turning a couple of eights vs. mr.salgado30's flopped pair of sixes. That hand took him to 1.8 million, enough to respire for a few hands before shoving from UTG+1 with K♣Q♥. Mr.Salgado30 called with Q♣4♠, but his dominated hand didn't improve at the J♦A♣3♣A♠T♥ board. Now as much as 2.9 million, ProWannabe10 found A♠J♦ at the next deal and moved in from UTG. Mr.Salgado30 decided the third time stands out as the charm and called from the small blind with only 2♣4♣. An ace hit the flop and 4 hands after being right down to nearly nothing, ProWannabe10 was suddenly back in business with 7.55 million.

Aszeta1 takes out two

ProWannabe10, KolayRuss, and Ilkinopoulos enjoyed much more success when fellow short stack RenRad 01 called off his last 1.9 million, his A♠K♥ up against aszeta1's Q♠Q♥. The queens prevailed and RenRad 01 went out in seventh place ($46,576.00).

Having successfully waited out another money jump, Ilkinopoulos put his last 1.88 million in from the large blind, his J♥3♠ up against aszeta1's K♦T♦. Aszeta1 made top pair at the K♥5♦4♠ flop and Ilkinopoulos didn't catch up, the turn and river falling the 9♥ and the 6♠ to send him home in sixth place ($69,864.00).

KolayRuss climbs to fifth place

With the blinds as much as 500,000/1,000,000, ProWannabe10 picked up A♦T♥ UTG and moved in for his last 8.5 big blinds. KolayRuss called all-in for 3.8 million and revealed K♦Q♠. Although KolayRuss out flopped ProWannabe10 and made top two pair at the K♣Q♥J♥ flop, the T♦ turned, making ProWannabe10 a Broadway straight. KolayRuss needed a king or a queen to outlive but got the 9♥ instead. After entering the overall table with lower than ten big blinds, KolayRuss came away with a fifth-place finish, good for an outstanding $93,152.00

No-go dealio

Immediately following KolayRuss's elimination, the general four agreed to pause the action and discuss a possible deal. Here is a have a look at how they stacked up on the time:

aszeta1 - 44,583,659
roscootje459 - 31,831,607
mr.salgado30 - 25,623,311
ProWannabe10 - 14,401,423

ProWannabe10 asked final table host Randy "nanonoko" Lew to run some ICM numbers for his or her perusal. While aszeta1, roscootje459 and mr.salgado30 all agreed to the proposed shares, ProWannabe10 wanted a lift from $168,500 to $175,000. Neither mr.salgado30 nor aszeta1 were amenable to the speculation and with negotiations at an impasse, cards went back within the air.

The rise of roscootje459

As four-handed play commenced, roscootje459 pillaged aszeta1's stack, winning back-to-back pots off aszeta1 with preflop four-bets. Three hands later, roscootje459 flopped top pair on a J♦4♠2♥ board against aszeta1's ace-high. Roscooje459 bet 2.3 million at the flop, another 6.6 million when the K♦ turned and check-called aszeta1's 8 million bluff when the river fell the 7♣. Roscootje459's J♥8♣ held up against A♦6♦ and he raked within the 39.3 million pot, leaving aszeta1 on 13.2 million.

Moments later, the action folded to ProWannabe10 within the small blind. He moved all-in for 15.2 million with 6♥7♥ and roscootje459 called with pocket fives within the big. This time, there could be no miracle for ProWannabe10, who exited in fourth place when the board ran out A♣Q♦3♠K♠A♦. The $116,440 he earned was over 2.5 times what he'd have earned had he gone out in seventh place when he was crippled to simply 1/4 of an ante.

Let's do this again

Down to three, roscootje459, mr.salgado30 and aszeta1 decided to pause the action again and take another run at creating a deal. However, this time, the chip counts looked much different:

roscootje459 - 77,483,027
mr.salgado30 - 22,648,311
aszeta1 - 16,308,662

Randy "nanonoko" Lew ran a brand new set of ICM numbers and this time, all three agreed to the shares presented. With $40,000 still up for grabs for the winner, cards went back within the air.

Such a heartbreaker

Only moments after action resumed, roscootje459 open-shoved at the button and mr.salgado30 called from the massive blind. Both turned up the similar hand, mr.salgado30 with A♠7♠ and roscootje459 with A♥7♠. But before you want to say chop it up, the flop fell J♣7♣6♥ and roscootje459 picked up a flush draw when the J♥ hit the turn. Mr.salgado30 only needed to fade a river heart, but was dealt a crushing blow when the 5♥ fell, making roscootje459 the nut flush. Mr.salgado30 was suddenly at the rail in third place, his share of the deal worth $215,777.73.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 7: roscootje459 (102,381,338 in chips)
Seat 9: aszeta1 (14,058,662 in chips)

With a 7 to one chip lead over aszeta1, roscootje459 only needed to look ahead to the best moment to strike. After ten trades of the blinds, aszeta1 opened for twenty-four. million and roscootje459 three-bet to six million. Aszeta1 shoved and roscootje459 called, his A♠8♠ up against 5♥5♠. Once again, roscootje459 found a win the hard way, hitting running straight cards at the turn and river to snap off aszeta1's pair and lock up the win.

Congratulations to roscootje459 on an improbable victory! He banked $302,291.97 way to the three-way deal while runner-up aszeta1 earned $201,777.96.

PokerStars WCOOP Challenge Event #7 ($215 NLHE Sunday Million Special Edition) results

Players: 11,644
Prizepool: $2,328,800.00
Places paid: 1,530

1. roscootje459 (Netherlands) $302,291.97*
2. aszeta1 (Chile) $201,777.96*
3. mr.salgado30 (Brazil) $215,777.73*
4. ProWannabe10 (Mexico) $116,440.00
5. KolayRuss (Russia) $93,152.00
6. Ilkinopoulos (Azerbaijan) $69,864.00
7. RenRad 01 (Mexico) $46,576.00
8. jupitor123 (Greece) $23,288.00
9. Calcasus (Germany) $14,671.44

*= reflects the result of a three-way deal that left $40,000 in play for the winner

Kristin Bihr is a contract contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Sunday Million]

Online Casino Status in US Creating Tax Confusion

The loss of federal definition of what constitutes illegal online gambling is causing tax puzzles for players at online casinos.

The unsettled debate at the legality of playing at online casinos within the US is causing issues to arise for those wishing to fairly pay taxes, but in addition expecting fair treatment in return. Despite the dep. of Justice's stance that every one Internet gambling is illegal, no federal law prohibits gambling at online casinos.

This leaves frequent players in confusion as to what's taxable and what's deductible. In keeping with a piece of writing within the Wall Street Journal, the IRS doesn't have a unique policy for online gambling, lumping it in with all other wagering.

This means all winnings have to be declared, and losses will also be deducted, so long as they are often substantiated. While producing records to turn gaming losses for land-based casino clientele is also problematic, online casino customers have ready access to deposit records.

But the Journal says some states, akin to California, are far less accommodating toward Internet gamblers. A spokesman for the California taxation department told Journal writers that taxpayers are liable for proving a deduction comes from legal and bonafide sources.

This signifies that winnings are still taxed, but no credit given for losses, unless the state decides to just accept the deduction. Unless state laws are explicit in denying online casinos legal status, as is correct in six states, the federal confusion over online gambling legality will continue to permeate to many branches of government.

Published on November 22, 2009 by VirginiaMaddox

Read More... [Source: California Gambling News]

America Players OK Visa and More

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The three Stress Relief Benefits Of Online Gaming

They Mean you can Regain FocusOne of a very powerful things that online games mean you can do is obvious your mind and concentrate on what you want. It is a direct results of the hand eye coordination aspects of games. The more that you simply cope with tasks inside the game, the simpler it is possible for you to to concentrate on things you have to care for outside of the sport. As you play, you will see that your worries will start to drift more and more away, and your mind will begin unconsciously planning ahead, ensuring that everything that you just need managed might be so. Taking a break with a online game mean you can find the plan you have to take care of a subject for your life.

.They Will let you Take Things in PerspectiveAnother tremendous advantage of playing online games is the truth that you will see that yourself worrying less and not more about something that can has been pressing at your mind. The reality of the problem is that games could be a excellent way so that you can take a step back while you need to, and analyze certain situations from a special perspective. It is possible for you to to socialise with others, enjoy some competitive or cooperative gameplay, and even just have a good time immersing yourself in another world. Regardless of the way you do it, the break can also be refreshing, and it'd be just what it's a must to figure some things out.

.They Can Simply Allow you to RelaxStudies show that certain calming games might help increase endorphins and other stress relieving chemicals. On a molecular level, playing a calming online game might help your body relax from a stressful or emotionally taxing situation. On a conscious level, you can be specializing in the online game itself, build up your confidence in relation to the gameplay and enjoying a respite from what difficult task you'll have needed to face. While an excessive amount of of anything can become a problem, actually that online gaming is usually a excellent technique to relieve stress and luxuriate in a bit of of private comfort. The following time you end up dreading something within the future, simply relax and revel in a web-based game, and spot the way you feel afterwards.

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Read More... [Source: This Week in Gambling » Gambling Headlines]

EPT Prague going big...way big

The European Poker Tour is expecting to host certainly one of its biggest-ever events when it heads to Prague a month from today.

Kicking off December 7, the Prague Poker Festival will combine the Eureka Poker Tour and EPT for 59 events. What does it take to make that happen? It starts with 140 poker tables and requires 228 members of the tournament staff, greater than every other PokerStars live event in history .

"The Prague Poker Festival always attracts a lot of players who play both tournaments and cash games. This year's festival has potential to be even bigger than last season where both the Eureka and EPT Main Events shattered records," said EPT President Edgar Stuchly.

Last year, EPT Prague drew nearly 9,000 entries and €13 million in prize money.

Yes, it is a big one

It's not only an issue of the way many of us are going to turn up (which, again, is predicted to be a large number). It's greater than that.

The EPT Prague Poker Festival goes to how the top buy-in poker event the Czech Republic has ever seen. December 9-11, the highest players from world wide will sit to play the €50,000 Super High Roller.

What else? Well, just everything else you may want in a poker festival.

The EPT--again, for the primary time--will start hosting Midnight Turbos for the night-owls within the crowd. With buy-ins starting from €300 to €1,000, anyone with a stiff cup of coffee can be in a position to compete for some decent money at the graveyard shift.

Those aren't the one unique events happening this year. Over the process the 11-day festival, the EPT will placed on three Omaha championships, a junior's event only for 18-21 year-olds, the Czech Republic's first senior's event, and a Finns only Finnish Championship event. Oh yes, and keep your eyes open for the introduction of Super Hold'em and Irish Hold'em events.

Need more info? Head on over to the EPT Prague page.

We'll see you there...if we will be able to find you within the crowd.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: European Poker Tour]