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George Danzer became the latest player to join the coveted list of players to win the Player of the Year award at World Series of Poker. He is the player of the year for 2014 and also won his third gold bracelet in Australia at the WSOP events in the Asia-Pacific region.

George Danzer – the WSOP top player

Danzer is from Germany, which makes him only the third non-American player so far to win the player of the year honours. Not only this, he is also the second player so far to have won three bracelets along with the top honours at WSOP. Interestingly, he is also the third player so far to have won while earning less in the same year. In his late 20s, he is based in Austria.

WSOP – the final play

The final game was played between Brandon Shack-Harris and Danzer. The match seemed like a non-decider, it could have gone either way. However, in the end it was George Danzer who took home the title. If Shack-Harris played a better game, the title could have gone to him as both George Danzer and he were having their best years at WSOP.

The decision to hold WSOP tournaments in other exciting avenues in the world is not very popular with the player or the crowd. Even Danzer, who was happy at his win, admitted that no place could match the excitement of the tournament held at Las Vegas. He said that he won his last two bracelets in events at Vegas and it felt different to win there. He also said that he was unlikely to travel to Australia for the tournament if he had no chance at winning the player of the year honours.

Belgium is in serious danger of losing appeal to elite poker players. The country is attempting to push through legislation that could tax the winnings from poker by up to 75%. This information comes from Tijd.be, a reputable financial website in the country. They claim that tax authorities in the country are adamant about taxing poker players in a higher bracket, especially if they win large sums of money.

Regular winnings from gambling are not taxed. This is because they qualify for the “exceptional event” loophole that prevents earnings from being taxed. Gambling is not a job, the winners are getting money by chance or good fortune. That is not taxed. However, Belgium believes that professional players earn their living through poker, and there is no reason why they cannot give back to the state through taxation.

This is what was said by someone from within the Belgium government: “Poker players dedicated a lot of time to playing the game. They improve their craft, play tournaments all over the world, and treat it like a job. Many professional players do not have other means of employment. If poker is no longer a game to them, it should not be treated as such for taxation purposes. They should be taxed the same as if they were in any other profession.”

It is unclear how this will be put into practice. Past winnings are definitely not going to be taxed. The people most impacted will be guys who win large sums of money. For example, a player who wins $1 million at a tournament will have to pay 75% of that money as tax.

Only the top tier will have to pay the exorbitant tax rate. Despite this fact, Belgium is in danger of alienating players with this policy. If top poker players have to give away most of their money in taxes, what is to stop them from living in a European country that lets them keep their winnings?

The PokerNews cup is a six-year-old event, which is scheduled to be held in October this year. Organised at the Montesino Pokertainment in Vienna, this year’s tournament can benefit from the charming European setting by bringing in more crowd.

The events

The main event has the attraction of guaranteed amount of €75,000. It is the highlight of the tournament and is expected to draw even larger crowds than the previous events. It will be held at two locations in Vienna to ensure greater participation and coverage of the event.

The PokerNews tournament has become very popular within a few years, with a lot of reasons behind its success. One of the reasons is that the event offers something for everyone regardless of their expenditure budget for the tournament. The buy-in amounts remain low allowing everyone to participate if they wish to. For instance the main event has a buy-in of only €250 and other events have even lower amounts.

New players will be able to participate in games and gain experience in poker events by being a part of PokerNews Cup. In the long run, it has huge benefits for the organisers. Not only does it make the event more popular among varying crowds, but also helps the brand garner goodwill.

Extra specials

The organisers expect that the spectator crowd for the event is going to be huge on account of the prize money. The venue is also a draw for people not only from Europe, but elsewhere too.

Montesino offers many exciting options to non-players and provides them other sources of entertainment between tournament events. The organisers have also planned for fun activities other than the poker events like kart races and pool games to offer more to the crowd.

To encourage participation, PokerNews has many giveaways for the events. The participants get a chance to go to the Vienna event at little or no cost to them. The giveaways include free travel, free stay, party invites and not to forget entry to the main event at no cost. Not only this, the participants can now also book their seats for the main event before the start of the tournament.

The US Open Grand Slam is close to a conclusion, with round of 16 and quarter final matches set to take place over the coming days. On the men’s side of the draw, there are many great players still left with a chance of claiming the giant trophy at Flushing Meadows. Here are the odds for the outright winner of the US Open Men’s Tennis tournament.

Novak Djokovic is the clear favorite to come away with the trophy. After Rafael Nadal withdrew with an injury, Djokovic was the player most fans thought would emerge victorious. He lost in the final last year, is the number two player in the world, and is immense on hard courts. His odds are at 1/1 right now.

Despite his age, Roger Federer has shown some impressive form over the past few months. He was close to getting a grand slam at Wimbledon, but could not get enough decisive points at the right time. He will be looking to add to his huge grand slam tally at this event, and has sailed through to the quarter finals. However, his stamina will be an issue when he comes up against the likes of Djokovic. Does he still have the energy to compete with these younger players? His odds for victory are 5/2.

The third favorite for the event is Andy Murray. The British number one has fallen away in the rankings over recent months due to his inconsistent play. A change of coach has not helped him dramatically either. However, he has begun to look comfortable at this tournament, and will be a huge threat in the latter stages. His combination of great ground strokes and solid defense makes him an immense hard court player. Odds on Murray winning the tournament are 17/2.

There are a few other players who bookmakers think can pull off an outside victory. Stan Wawrinka is priced at 14/1, Tomas Berdych is at 20/1 while Gael Monfils is at 27/1. These players are unlikely to get past the “big three”, but one of them might be worth a bet if you are looking for an underdog to put your money on.

Partypoker owns Sundays now with its $200K guaranteed weekly prize pool that gives you 200,000 reasons to spice up your weekend.

Best value Sunday

Sunday, August 10, was a big day for Irish Patrick ‘clicki88’ Clarke as he reigned supreme at the $200K Guaranteed Sunday.

Battling a total of 941 participants, Clarke saw the day come to a close with an outstanding score of $27,900. $200K Guaranteed Sunday is quickly turning into a valued weekly tournament across all online gaming sites.

Over and above, the tournament invariably misses its $200K guarantee, and ends up with Partypoker left to make up for the shortfall. Last week saw the game provider adding a smattering $24,974 to the prize pool.

The final table

The tournament ran on for almost nine hours before coming down to nine players at the final table. Of the nine final contestants, idgafrly held a massive stack of 1,184,164 chips, while winner Clarke took fifth place with a decent 419,346 chips.

After a rigorous 45 hands, the final table lost its first player in TheBlueBomber. Run out at ninth spot, TheBlueBomber busted out on a double-up, which took clicki88 up to a near 800,000 chips.

Another nine hands were played until Mmaduro76 was sent home by clicki88, now sitting easy at 1.34 million chips. It was around 45 hands later that YesToCarrots fought to hold his place against BorisBoorda, but came short. YesToCarrots had to leave with almost 1 million chips in his stack.

Coinflips was the winning order of the day, and saw sixth player Mette_Vuns exit the table after an unsuccessful attempt against clicki88.

An exhilarating 95 hands later, BorisBoorda finally went bust and out at fifth place after he ran into a couple of pocket aces.

Idgafrly was the next to leave the table at fourth place, leaving kengerro, Hunt1986, and the champ clicki88 to battle it out.

clicki88 won his first every Sunday Major at partypoker after defeating Hunt1986 in an epic betting round that opened with a 100,000 raise and was packed with action throughout.

Poker has a ton of fans out there, as it’s one of the most popular card games in existence. Poker will always be an engaging game, but sometimes players will find themselves in a slump and want to spice things up. For them, the best medicine is to try one of the numerous poker variations out there. There are all sorts of them available, and they’re each a ton of fun in their own right. Let’s take a look at two of these variations and see exactly how they’re played.

Midnight Baseball

This is a game that’s a lot like Seven-Card No Peek. In Midnight Baseball, cards start face down and will be slowly revealed with each passing turn and each new bet. This can be played with either seven or nine cards, but it’s best to go with nine, which is the number of innings in a baseball game (where the name of the game comes from). In addition to that, players can buy an extra card when a four is exposed, while threes and nines are wild cards. There are a lot of opportunities to bet in this game, and with the added wild cards, it makes this game very engaging and fast paced.

How do I play?

Players will be dealt nine cards at the beginning, all face down. Anyone who peeks at the cards early on will be immediately disqualified. The dealer will turn over one of their cards for the player to their left to beat. That player must then beat the revealed card, and once they do they can place a bet. The next player has to beat the previous player. Exposed fours come with a buying option and threes and nines are wild. Whoever has the best five-card poker hand will win the pot. For additional information, look here.

Chinese Poker

This is a version of poker that’s very popular amongst professional players where the stakes can be really high. It’s also referred to as “Pusoy” and was founded in China to widespread popularity. The rules are very straight forward and there’s a lot of luck involved, which can lead to unexpected wins.

How is it played?

Each player starts with thirteen cards. They’re then organized by strength as two five card hands and a three card hand. Players then pit their strongest hands against one another, their middle hands, and then their weakest hands. Each won hand is a point, and an extra point is given for winning best of three, meaning four points per game. Betting is done by the point. More info about Chinese Poker can be found here.

A prominent United States businessman is suing a high profile Las Vegas casino after claiming that he lost $500,000 while gambling drunk. Mark Johnston is an avid gambler, having frequented casinos around the world. He has lost and won plenty of money, and claims to never have caused such a stir before. Those facts make his claims all the more startling. The 50 year old says that he was duped into gambling while he was heavily intoxicated, and ended up spending close to 17 hours gambling.

Nevada law clearly states that a gambler who appears to be drunk should not bee allowed to gamble. Casinos adopt a selective policy when it comes to that law, but this lawsuit shines a bright light on their practices. Mr. Johnston, a car dealership owner, says that he lost the money during Super Bowl weekend. He testifies that he already consumed ten drinks before he entered the Downtown Grand Casino, where he was served a further TWENTY alcoholic drinks by waitresses.

He admits that he is responsible for his prior drunkenness, but claimed that what the casino did to him was the equivalent of pick pocketing a drunk man who is stumbling down the street. His lawyer says that this case points to extraordinary fraud on the casino’s side. “My client was blackout drunk and ended up with more than 25 alcoholic drinks in his system. He was at a point where he could not see what cards were in his hands. Instead of stopping him from gambling further, the casino just put more drinks in front of him.”

Not only has he put a stop payment order on the bill issued by the casino, he is also suing them for sullying his name. The case is now in front of the Nevada gambling control board, who should have a ruling in a few months. There have been previous cases of gamblers winning suits against the casino, and if Mr. Johnston can provide evidence as to the extent of his drunkenness, he is in line to be awarded a lot of compensation.

Casino MK, owned by Aspers, is the second Super Casino in the United Kingdom. There was much debate when it was opening six months ago, but it is clear that this project has been a resounding success. Figures show that more than 12,000 people visited the casino during its first four days of opening, with hundreds of thousands visiting in the following months. It has become a social hub in Milton Keynes, and has brought plenty of business to a previously struggling area.

Richard Noble, CEO of the Aspers Group, believes that this casino is a resounding success. He says that the casino’s success has exceeded his expectations, with more than 90% of visitors claiming they were happy with the experience and would visit again. With 108 slot machines, a 150-seat poker room, and 22 gambling tables, this is the largest casino outside of the London area.

Aspers are not done with their plans to build super casinos. With the success of Casino MK boosting their profits, they are looking to build a third super casino in Southampton. This casino would be located at Royal Pier, and is estimated to cost between 330 to 450 million pounds.

There may be other companies that compete with Aspers for the right to create that casino, with many companies realizing the benefit of having super casinos as opposed to small betting shops.

Casino MK is a truly impressive sight. When you walk into the casino, you will see the gaming floor immediately. There are more than 100 slot machines, 76 live gaming terminals, 17 poker tables and four sports betting terminals to choose from. Games such as roulette, blackjack, three card poker, punto banco and super wheel are always on, with novices and experienced players mingling and having a great time.

They also have a great restaurant on the premises, along with multiple bars. Tanzibar, their multi-media sports bar, has to be seen to be believed. Casino MK is heaven for any type of gambler, which is why it has been so successful.

As showdown poker has gained popularity over the past 10 years, the roots of this movement can be attributed, at least in part, to the television exposure garnered for the big events. In 2006, The Aussie Million introduced the “$100,000 Challenge” as a made for TV event. Ten of the best players in the world paid a buy in of $100,000 and made history. The winner of the first $100,000 Challenge was John Juanda.

The Effect of This Innovation in the World of Poker

These big buy-in showdowns were an immediate hit with the players and fans. The top names in poker began targeting these events and wealthy amateurs finally had tournaments worthy of their time. The fans were excited to see all the superstars lined up against each other in short fields in one and two days events. This led to more television exposure as these tournament were easier to cover and promote. In 2014, this tournament has grown to 76 players and a AU$2.0 million first prize.

Upping the Ante

These showdowns are now popping up at the largest venues around the world. Due to this popularity, The Crown Casino is introducing the new “$250,000 Challenge” which will be the closing event at the 2014 Aussie Million Tournament.

In the world of poker, things just keep getting bigger and better. The credit goes to the big promoters like the Crown Casino who pay attention and give the people want they want.

Whether it is due to its very popular Facebook games or the numerous sources of controversy in the last couple of years, it is safe to say that everybody on the Internet has heard of Zynga. The social gaming giant has now taken a new step in the world of Facebook by introducing a brand new poker client. This client will allow Facebook members to enjoy real money poker. Due to the use of real money, this is a feature that can only be accessed by players who are based within the United Kingdom.

As some may recall, this is not the first venture that Zynga has made into the market of real money poker. In fact, it was back in April 2013 when the social gaming company introduced the Zynga Plus Poker product; this is a product that uses the partypoker software and network in order to allow real money gambling. Much like the recently launched app, Zynga Plus Poker can only be used by those who reside in the United Kingdom. At the time that it was launched, the poker community could only speculate what kind of effects the heavy player base of Zynga would have on the traffic at partypoker. However, the waters seemed to remain undisturbed as there looked to be no difference to the number of players on partypoker.

A few months later in July 2013, Zynga decided to go against its original plans to enter the United States real money market for online poker, releasing a statement that notes the company feels its big calling is to profit from free to play social games. With the release of the newest Zynga Plus Poker app on the UK Facebook, it looks as if though the company may have reconsidered its stance with real money poker–at least within the regulated markets.

The new Facebook app still uses the technology of partypoker and its traffic, but it now is fully integrated with the website and no longer requires that players download the partypoker client in order to engage in real money online poker gaming.