All About blogs

September 4 – We pick the desperate Wallabies to shock the Boks in Bloem by a narrow margin. We have the latest game odds.

September 1 – There are plenty of other slots tournaments running throughout the month of September at Crazy Slots.

August 30 – The recent North Gauteng High Court ruling has caused confusion among South African punters.

August 29 – As of midnight on Saturday (August 28) Piggs Peak will no longer operate for its South African players (that is to say nearly all of its active players, so it is effectively shutting down), pending their appeal, which they are likely to lose. A bleak day for South African online gambling.

August 27 – It is believed that the gambling board is targeting operators who are positioned outside South Africa’s borders.

The Online-Casino.com web site has a lot of great cash games to keep any avid poker player excited and in the winning mood. However, if you are looking for a different gaming experience this is one of the few casino web sites that has free instant play games ready for you play and have fun at whenever you want. Most sites that will offer a free play will force you to register first or in some cases you may even have to make a deposit before you can play at all. That is not how they do it at this Online Casino. You can check out any of the great games they offer for absolutely free!

You can play many of the best games right from the casino software if you choose to download it and install it on your PC. The Online-Casino.com site is also offering a healthy bonus for new players. They have a $200 bonus waiting for you right now. Unlike some other online casinos, this site has a full spread of gaming fun to choose from. They have Black Jack, Roulette, Classic Slots, Video Poker, Craps, Card Games and even more table games. The list of games on this site is huge!

As far as playing experience this site offers a great community and if you ever have any problems, they are on standby 24/7 ready to help you. The website is setup with a very straight forward and easy to understand design so anybody can start playing and winning with ease. This site pays out at a 98.5% so this means out of every $100 played $98.50 is paid back to the players. With payouts like this you know that you are going to be seeing some nice return when you play here. There are plenty of promotions and huge jackpots to play for on this site, so if you are only looking for the big bucks this site is really worth a look.

August 27 – Victor Matfield plays his 100th test match this Saturday. Loftus fans will be hoping for a winning celebration following the disappointment of last week’s last minute loss to the All Blacks. We preview the Tri Nations test against Australia.

Finding big tournaments to join online can be a great way to get a lot of value for your time spent playing and can also turn out to be a very profitable way to play. There are enough online card tournaments to keep you busy if you are into Texas Hold’em or other popular online poker games. The best thing about tournament play is that you usually play a flat fee to buy in and then you are given a larger amount of funny money to play with. This lets you get many games worth of play for the price of one. Some big time online gamblers think that this is the only way to play.

If you are new to online card games, this can also be a great way to get a lot of table time in for a low price. We all know that playing many games with others who are professionals in the trade is one of the best ways to learn how to play. When you join a tournament you are able to play until you are totally out of cash to bet, so don’t bet liberally early on if you want to make it all the way. Keeping your bets conservative and knowing that there is no shame in folding can keep you in a tournament much longer, even if you are not winning. The tournament play should lead to a different type of mindset when it comes to both bidding and playing. This is something that will be learned through time if you are new and if you are a pro, you already know the million dollar mindset that is needed here.

The biggest advantage of playing at the online table tournaments has nothing to do with strategy or how long you can play. The real draw to these online tournaments is the huge prize packages offered. If you are hunting for the big jackpots, don’t worry each tournament offers some serious cash for the winner. Most of the poker tournaments will only have a single winner, but when you win, you win big!

The US online gaming commission has been pretty tight with its regulations in the past. We all know that there are only a couple web sites that offer a quality casino experience for us in the United States. Even these sites have to house their gaming servers off shore to abide by the law. This has been the only way that an online casino could bring cash gaming to people in the USA and there is a lot of extra expense related to legal aspects and technology for companies they have to do this. The choice of casinos has been very slim and it is starting to sound like this is all about ready to change.

The recent financial issue that this country has had may be moving one thing in the right direction and that is online gaming. Currently they are trying to pass a bill to legalize online gaming here once and for all. This will be a slow process for sure, but there are many politicians who see how much money we are losing to this huge and still growing industry. They plan on having a taxable and licensable gaming regulation setup within the next 12 months. Who knows if this will play out as well as it sounds, but one thing is for sure, the players will win if it does!

If these laws do get passed there will be a lot of regulation put into action. This will make the US a contender with the many other countries that offer a full suite of online cash gaming and will most likely keep a lot of those gambling dollars inside our country. At least that is what the fat cats in Washington are hopping. For the gamblers in the United States this will mean more options, safer online casinos and much more money to win at these online gambling establishments.

August 25 – Ten double tickets to enjoy an African Safari getaway are up for grabs at sites such as Rich Reels Casino.

August 23 – In addition, a massive R8,888 welcome bonus is offered to new players who open an account at this site.

The WPT London Poker Classic is coming up fast, of course I’ll be playing, and while that’s running, the cash games at Crockfords will be thundering with the sound of chip chatter and players on their knees crying when they try to beat me. I’m in good poker form, running good, feeling good, and that means my poker mouth is running good too—watch out! Right after the WPT, the Party Poker.com World Open VI starts and I’ll be there too, working on sending everyone out looking for their bikes.

Right now I’m in Riga, Lativa. I’m going to do a new TV show here called the Baltic Poker Championships.

The Big Game Players

I just came from Las Vegas after playing in The Big Game for Fox. It’s a memory I’m going to keep for a long, long time. Phil Hellmuth no longer wants to play with me. I played against Daniel Negreanu too, if you remember the last time I was there I called him out for being a bike thief; if he wasn’t then, he may need to steal one now since I lightened his bankroll and he may not be able to afford to buy one. Poker can be so ‘crushing’ at times and I love the roll of CRUSHER! It was such fun, the best TV time I’ve ever had in my life. The show will be great, don’t miss it!

Tony G & Elizabeth

Along with the Big Game players, I was treated to Elizabeth, a ‘Loose Cannon’ that needed my expert guidance at the poker table and at the post show party at XS Nightclub at Encore. Life can’t get much better, beautiful women (she has a twin sister), everything going my way at the poker table, The Poker Brat crying, and more poker on the way. I was invited to the Raising the Stakes Poker Dinner that aids the Great Ormond Street Hospital (the world’s biggest children’s hospital) at Les Ambassadeurs at the end of this month. The Poker Brat is going to sit at my table. Such fun, such fun, even though it’s a dinner table and not a poker table, I’m sure I can make him cry.

Tony G Playing the game he loves

I just love to be in the game. Poker was created just for me. It’s fun when you’re running good and when that happens, even players like me can look like gods, at least for a short time. Even a god enjoys seeing The Poker Brat cry.

August 20 – If SANZAR dissolves it could have serious implications for global rugby, says the SA Rugby Players Association.

August 20 – It will be a massive occasion with 90,000 fans at the National Stadium in Johannesburg for the next Tri Nations test. John Smit plays his 100th test, but sadly we have to pick the awesome All Blacks by 7.

I’ve been away and enjoyed every minute of it but I’m ready to come back to the world of high stakes heat, TV poker, and all the action anyone can throw at me. I will be playing the Poker Lounge in Wales on the 22nd. From there it will be the Poker Millions Event Heat 1 in London on 28th. It will be a busy day and a fair bit of poker on TV that day as I will be doing two shows that day on the Poker Lounge.

My next poker ventures will be the WSOP Europe, and WPT events as well as all the EPT events. I will focus on playing in London.

I sent my Angels out to bring you a report of the WSOP Main Event Final Players, enjoy the report as they find answers and news from each player that you won’t hear about anyplace else.

Tony’s Angels

I took down the $120K winner-take-all Poker Lounge in Cardiff at the end of July and had a great time doing it. It was a 6-seat sit and go for TV with a $20K buy-in. Jennifer Harman, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, and James Dempsey were in my heat. I ran over them and forced them to leave crying on the bike ride out. Mike Matusow and I ended up heads-up with The Mouth having a thin chip lead. It was an awesome repeat of the famous WPT Bad Boys of Poker finale. I crushed Mike then and I double crushed him again so bad that he had no tears left for the bike ride. The G is up and running in full form after taking some time away from the game.

I am in London right now enjoying life and played a pretty high stakes cash game last night in Les Ambassadeurs Casino and ended up just about even. I had a few side bets with Roland de Wolfe on odds of making a back door flush with one card gone. I am really weak at math but seemed to win from Roland on pure fact bets. It’s pretty silly as everyone knows I am a pretty major mug and should take me on with any bets and clean me out.

I am lining up for the big trip to Las Vegas this Tuesday where I will again get ready for the Big Game on Fox. I will play twice and am coming after Daniel to get some revenge. I will spend nine days in Vegas and then fly to Latvia where I play another TV event, the Baltic Poker Champs, that will be fun with all Baltic States playing. The PartyPoker World Open VI is starting, Phil Laak is the defending champion and confirmed to play but he took a bad tumble on an ATV and is in the hospital in Oregon with seven broken bones and a very bad injury to his right eye. Tough luck Phil, best wishes on your recuperation. I am also confirmed to play the World Open Vi and the World Poker Tour London that starts on the 29th of August. Busy times for me in the poker world right now but I am up for the challenge and filled with heart that the biggest donkey will win in the end. We all know donkeys can’t ride a bike!

So for now I am trying to stay out of trouble and off the London streets and pick a few winners – at least more winners than losers – in Aussie Rules Football. It’s been an amazing season this year. I just had my biggest bet of the year on Carlton vs. Essendon – go mighty blues!! How much do I bet on an Aussie Football League game? Well, it’s six numbers and I would bet more if they let me as I love to win.

One last thought – may your bike tires never go flat, may I never need to wonder if mine are.

I am back in London. I am really glad to have some time off and away from the WSOP. There are a few sites talking it up about me leaving the WSOP right now and even throwing in name calling. Guess what? I don’t care. I play when I enjoy playing and I do my best. I don’t have to play on their schedule or on their idea of how I should react. They seem to have forgotten that poker is a game and the player chooses the field of competition.

I am crushed that I could not make a final table or pick up a bracelet this year but I will most likely play the Main Event and take a crack at the WSOP Europe later on, I won’t give up trying.

The PokerStars Big Game aired on TV in the US on the 14th and if you missed it, you can watch it on the PokerStars Blog. The loose cannon, Ernest Wiggins, comes in with $100K and plays against the pros: Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Laak, The G (me), and Phil Hellmuth. We play 150 hands and I’m the most aggressive according to the stats, 15 times more aggressive to bet or raise than call than the other players. I hate it when my secrets are given away. I did have a great time with the Big Game.

I’m always busy with my business and working on good health and enjoying life. I want to have a good time, no matter what I do – which includes riding my trike.

P.S. After playing the WSOP $10k PLO event all day and busting close to the money with Hellmuth at my table, the only consolation was that he busted before me. I went to Bobbys Room at Bellagio to relax and got into a 4K-8K mixed game. We played limit Deuce to 7 triple draw and 500-1000 PLO. Ivey was drunk, on my right, and there were some bets on him vomitting in Bobbys Room but it was all fun and games, no harm intended, just laughter and good times. The Ivey BBQ was on today and the big boys in the game were more than happy. Durrrr was in the game and so was Benyamine and the crazy Frenchy Ciryl. I managed to snag a few pots from Ivey and peddled my bike out to home, I was a very happy punter and more important, a winner.

The WSOP main event started without me and I’m sure they aren’t missing me at all and it’s probably more amplified from my side since I’m really glad I am where I am. I am doing great. I’ve been watching the soccer world cup. I love watching the game and the competition.

I have been spending time with my kids and really enjoying being out of poker for awhile – just taking it easy and relaxing. I won’t be playing poker until the WSOP Europe comes up and other EPT events in Europe.

Tony spends a few minutes with Gloria Balding as she says this tournament is one of the easiest tournaments ever and Tony agrees by saying that he’s the best player there *note the laughter in the background* as Tony continues. He just put his shares up on ChipMeUp and they are sold out already. He’s trying hard, he hasn’t cashed yet at the World Series but he has won a tournament in the last week. He’s doing well, and having a good year, and he feels good about the $10K PLO Hi/Low tournament that continues again today.

He says he’s doing his best with his limited abilities, just plugging away and if he doesn’t final table in this event, it will probably be his last event until perhaps the Main Event.

He talks about the balance of poker and life and being able to step away from it for awhile to bring it back into the right focus.

He’s also sweating the Aussie Rules Football game and has sportsbets on it as he plays poker. He used to play the game as a kid.

He made a 100k bet with Phil Ivey on this game and talks about his last crazy bet with Tom Dwan in the Deuce to 7 Lowball Draw tournament.

He’s looking at houses in Las Vegas since he plans on buying a house in the area and says he’s in Patrick’s house right now and it was incorrectly reported that he was going to buy it, he’s still looking.

Away from the camera, Tony reports that he’s super motivated to do well in this event and he really enjoys the game and has done well in it over the years.

I got to the tournament area late, after the dinner break. I had business to take care of and this was going to probably be my last event at the WSOP this year. I haven’t decided if I will be back for the Main Event or not.

I had a last longer bet with Tom Dwan. If he outlasted me, I had to go over to his table and do 5 pushups, if I outlasted him, he had to come to mine and do 15. I lost the bet. Those 5 pushups were not easy, it’s much easier to ride a bike, but I have been working out with a trainer and it won’t be long before they are much easier. Losing the bet wasn’t easy either because I wanted to play and see if I could start moving up the ladder.

For now I’m going home to Europe soon. I want to spend time with my family and keep working on good health. I may return to the Series, I may not. I will be playing the Poker Lounge Show in Cardiff in the UK on July 21st, that is the only poker plan I have right now.

Tonight I am playing the 2-7 Low Ball Draw, No Limit $10,000 buy-in Championship Event. I just busted from the 5K NL Event. Busting is such an ugly thing. I do play to have fun but I’m competitive and I enjoy being able to pick up chips and make a run at the big money and in this case, the Gold Bracelet. If I can’t put anything together in the Deuce, I will probably be leaving for Europe to spend time with my family.

I have a bit of burnout going on and I’m running bad. Three different times in the 5K I was good pre-flop and ran into bad endings that killed me. It happens, poker is a game and I am very aware of it. But when I am no longer having fun, it’s time to do something else and that will be leaving for home. I may not return to play the WSOP $10K main event. I am very unhappy with the way the WSOP is filling one of the 27 seats. I wasn’t asked and I’ve played all the high buy-in events, I’m very high profile and good poker show material as is evidenced by my recent appearances on the Doubles Championship, World Team Poker, and The Big Game, and I play poker across the globe, with many different people.

The list of players that have been chosen to play a ‘sudden death-playoff’ in a nine player sit-n-go tournament are: Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Andy Bloch, Bertrand “ElKy” Grospellier, Gus Hanson, actor Don Cheadle, Sorel Mizzi, Michael Mizrachi, Liv Boeree, and Paul Wasicka. They are playing in this race to win a seat into the TOC and are chosen because they don’t hold WSOP bracelets. Who chose them? Why do they have priority over other players that don’t have gold bracelets?

Players are asking questions, including Annie Duke on Twitter: “Obviously, I love Don Cheadle but I think it is ridiculous he is playing in the 9 handed tourney for a spot in the TOC. Should all be champs” She has several solutions to filling the seat: “There would be an argument that spots should be for bracelet winners who don’t get voted in only. But certainly must have a major title,” and “Take the nine players who just miss in the voting and have them play for the seat.”

I feel some of the choices are good ones, others are just wrong, and I would like to know who made the choices and why they made them. The WSOP is being unfair with this decision and because of it I may just pass on the WSOP and the Main Event. I don’t believe I am the only one that is unhappy with the way this great event is being made into a mockery of a true Tournament of Champions.

Gloria Balding catches Tony just as he’s heading out to dinner. He’s playing in the Omaha Hi/Lo Limit tournament. Tony says he needs a good run. He’s in to small tournaments now and things haven’t been going well but he’s not giving up. He plays for fun but he plays to win and every tournament he enters is one that he wants to win.

Everyone, including Phil Ivey, are playing all the tournaments – low limit buy-ins and big buy-ins, everyone has different reasons to play but it’s all about the bracelet. Tony really wants to win one, time will tell but he wants to win one.

He’s comfortable with all games and any limit. Gloria asks about the game Go Fish, which sends Tony off to dinner to eat some.

*Please wait for the video to load*

Lynn Gilmartin talks to Tony about the 5K, Tony says Tom Dwan paid him off and Tom’s money is heavy and he just wants to get rid of it. Tony talks about getting healthy and fit and how Kirill, his best friend, has motivated him to do it.

Tony says he just got his first bracelet, someone told him he was going to win one and he went to the 64th floor of Wynn Casino and won some money in an invitational tournament and a gold bracelet. He said it was an easy event and it takes some of the pressure off by putting money in the bank. *His friends laugh* Tony thanks Party Poker for putting him into all these tournaments.

*Please wait for the video to load*

Lynn Gilmartin chats with Tony on the first day of the WSOP.  Tony’s pumped up and on the list, ready to jump into the 50k sharkfest.  There’s a new rule -  if you show up late, you have to wait for the start of the next round.  That’s what has happened to Tony, he has to wait for the full round of games before he can play the tournament.  Tony says he doesn’t mind, as long as he knows the rules, he knows what to do.

Lynn is trying to verify the rumor that the $50k Poker Players Championship entrants got a $100 food voucher – the normal one is $10 – but Tony can’t find his, even though he searches for it.

Tony says he’s going to try to win something at the WSOP and he will just keep plugging away and have fun playing, have fun in Vegas, and get healthy and fit.  He’s working out a lot.  He’s happy with the way things are going and enjoying what he does…”That’s what it’s all about.”

Please wait a moment for the video to load

There are a lot of online players at the world’s biggest online casinos. Hundreds of thousands of player from all over the world play online casino games each and every day. If you are serious casino player or just a novice, online casinos offer a great experience. The biggest draw for some players is the fact that they can play from home. This really makes it a lot easier to get to the casino and heck if you have to drive for a couple hours to get to the closest casino near you, you can play all night online for the price of gas. If you have never experienced the online gambling games for yourself, you really are missing out on an amazingly fun experience.

You can play with and win real money at online casinos and this is something that many new players do not understand. Of course the guys and gals that have been playing online poker and other casino games for some time have already realized this and most likely won some cash for themselves too! So how do you become an online casino king? First, you must learn how to play the games that are at online casinos. You can join a free casino site to start making your way up the ladder and become a casino king.  Once you have got the basics down at an online casino it is time to start joining more sites, this time you need to focus on web sites that offer free play at their casinos.  By doing this you will be able to start amassing some real online cash and building up your bank roll. The idea is to play for free on as many online casinos as you can, while still refining your Texas hold’em or pokers skills.  You will find that table manors and bluffs are immensely different from site to site, so this in itself is a great learning experience.

Now that you are getting hot and have some cash to work with, its time to really kick it into high gear.  Start inviting all your poker buddies to the sites that you are playing on. This not makes for a great poker night on the net, but it also pays! Most every casino site will pay you for referring your friends. You should now have a huge online bank roll, know how to play well and are now a online casino king!

Since most every online casino offers many different games, it may be hard to choose which one is right for you. If you are already playing at land based casinos then you may have a good idea of which games you like to play. However, there are many games at online casinos that you may have never seen in a casino before. There are also a lot of differences in some games when you play online opposed to at the real world casinos. This is why a lot of people go to a online casino for the first time and really play a lot of different games rather than jumping right to the same game they are used to playing. If you are getting ready to experience an online casino for the first time, it is highly suggested that you look for an online casino web site that is offering a “free chip” or some sort of free play, so you too can take a look around and see what game you like the best before you start spending money.

There are some games that offer better odds than others and that is why roulette has become one of the most popular of all online casino games. The single biggest online gambling game is still probably Texas Hold’em, but this is mostly because of all the free advertising this game gets on TV. Roulette offers a much faster paced game and does not require you to know all sorts of rules, tells and tricks to read other players. It is a straight forward game and can be a lot of fun. If you like playing bingo online, then you are really going to love playing roulette! The roulette wheel has many numbers on it and the winner is chosen by a ball falling on the winning number just like in bingo. However, that is where the similarities end.

You can bet many different ways and each type of bet offers different odds. If you want to spread your bet across a set of numbers the payout decreases, but the odds of you winning increases. This is a great way to start playing for less and keeps the fun going for longer. When you find a great online casino web site make sure to check out the roulette table even if you are normally a card shark or Texas hold’em gambler and you may be surprised at how much fun you will have!

There are a lot of Texas Hold’em tournaments on the net these days. This simplified version of Poker has become very popular in the past 5 years. The Television exposure combined with huge tournaments in Las Vegas has made this game grow and grow.  Since the rules are simple and there are more chances to bet, the level of excitement cannot be matched by very many other card games.  Anybody who is new to the poker world most likely only knows this game and will never learn to play 5 card stud or any of the other poker games that made cards famous years ago. The ease of entry into the Texas Hold’em game makes it very fast to learn and this helps new players get started faster and without having to practice very long at all.

If you you and your friends are already playing Texas Hold’em at home then the transition to the internet game is almost seamless. The rules are the same and about the only difference is that you cannot look other players in the eyes to see if they are bluffing when you play on the internet.  The fact that you can chat in almost every poker table online makes it a little more realistic because you can still bluff and talk up your hand or stay quite if that is your strategy. There are also many great casinos to choose from when you are looking for a hot poker table to sit down at.

If you and your friends really want to turn up the heat and take advantage of online play, have you ever thought about joining the same poker game and playing as a team? This way you can all play together and you can play as a team to squash any other opponents that enter the room.  This sounds like a way to cheat, but really is far from it. You can only play as well as the cards that are dealt to you, but knowing how your friends play and being able to bluff your way through a game as a team can really raise your odds!  The next time you get ready to play your favorite poker game on the internet, call your poker buddies up and see if they are ready to try some Texas Hold’em team play and see if you can rake in some big cash prizes from your favorite online casino website. Gambling online is blast, but it’s always more fun when your friends join in too.

August 18 – The Gambling Review Commission’s final report will be handed to the trade minster this month.

August 16 – The $990K jackpot was hit after playing the Red, White and Win jackpot game.

August 13 – Wilds, scatters and bonus rounds are just some of the features on this new slot game.