Category: poker

Public voting for the 2010 nominees to the Poker Hall of Fame has now ended, leaving Harrah’s with a list of 10 finalists. Judges will now look over the list of names and make sure each nominee qualifies for induction before giving out the awards.

Induction to the Poker Hall of Fame requires the following:

A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition; played for high stakes; played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers; stood the test of time; or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The ten finalists are:

• Chris Ferguson
• Scotty Nguyen
• Dan Harrington
• Tom McEvoy
• Jennifer Harman
• Linda Johnson
• Daniel Negreanu
• Phil Ivey
• Erik Seidel
• Barry Greenstein

This year’s Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place this November at the Rio Las Vegas during WSOP Main Event Nine celebrations. As of 2009, 38 people have been inducted to the Poker Hall of Fame, but only 15 are still living.

It’s shuffle up and deal time: The World Series of Poker has begun in Las Vegas with 7,319 entrants, the second-largest pool ever assembled for the world’s biggest poker event. Yesterday alone, 2,391 players entered, as Thursday marked the last day to buy in for $10,000.

Based on entrants, the total prize pool will be $68.8 million and the top prize is a huge $8.94 million; the top 747 finishers will win prizes. Last year, there were 6,494 total entrants for a prize pool of $61 million and a $8.55 prize for the winner Joe Cada, youngest ever to take this tournament.

As always, some celebrities were on hand to try their hand at a few poker hands, including Jason Alexander, Emmitt Smith, and Shannon Elizabeth, just to name a very few.

Though the peak number of participants set in 2006 was not reached, the numbers are up 12% on last year. Alexander was enthusiastic to an Associated Press reporter, to whom he said “I’m glad people are feeling like the economy’s back enough that they can do [play in the World Series of Poker]. It wasn’t because the interest in poker went away, so I have to assume people weren’t willing to speculate.”

Most observers also factor in an overall drop in attendance since 2006, as after the tournament the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed, thereby discouraging many online poker rooms from accepted U.S. players – and getting them into the World Series of Poker.

An idea first proposed last year in California will take the next step toward realization on Tuesday, when State Senator Rod Wright issues his bill proposing the creation of an intranet poker network. Naturally this proposal has provoked much discussion in local media. The proposal seeks to limit the number of online casinos offering legal gambling in California and to collect a minimum of 20% of revenue from these websites to fill the state budget deficit. Some estimates say that Californians spent $300 million on poker websites alone in 2009.

The (Sacramento) Press-Enterprise: Online poker bill to emerge

A bill from state senator Rod Wright is expected within a few days that would provide players in California the opportunity to legally choose between multiple online poker websites, in hopes of generating billions of dollars in tax revenue for the treasury.

Competing with Wright’s proposal is a plan put forth by the Morongo Ban of Mission Indians, a group that would create a “tribal intrastate Internet poker consortium” to act as a monopoly over a California-wide poker network, but Wright seeks to introduce a system of natural competition with his bill.

Expected to be put out on Tuesday, Wright’s bill seems to be based on the standard European model. Wright proposes that the California Department of Justice award five-year contracts to between one and three online poker websites based within the state. A minimum of 20% of revenue generated would be paid to the state in taxes.

Wright estimates that after passage of the bill, it might take another three years to have such an online poker system running. Californians spent an estimated $300 million on Internet poker last year. The state of California will have a $19.1 billion deficit as of June 2011.

NBC Bay Area: Can Online Gambling Save California?

The taxation of online gambling may be a way to solve part of the state’s budget problems – even more so than marijuana legalization. Supporters of decriminalisation of Internet gambling have claimed that regulating and taxing Internet gaming could earn up to $42 billion in federal taxes.

In California, some politicians who are pro-online gambling push such taxation as potentially bringing money and jobs to the state. This includes firms in Silicon Valley such as CyberArts, which produces Internet casino architectural software known as Foundation.

Though online gambling remains controversial even in California, the time to make it legal may have come. One consult was quoted as saying “it’s generally easier to pass something like (online gambling regulations) in a recession.”

Tech Jackal: California close to being the first state to legalize online poker

California may be on the way to becoming the first U.S. state to legalize online poker, because of state senator Rod Wright’s proposed new bill. Wright heads up the California Senate committee which overseeing gambling among other areas.

The addition of further taxes and revenues created from state-based gambling websites would go to directly addressing the state budget deficit, though Wright emphasized he sought to avoid a single-company monopoly.

Wright said that online gambling taxation “is an asset that is underperforming and it belongs to the state. It should be nondiscriminatory in terms of the people who participate. It’ll go to the people who want it and show up and bid.”

In order to take advantage of any opportunity to establish online poker or casino gaming for California citizens, website operators will have to meet certain specified legal, technical and financial conditions.

Trevor Zinck, the Nova Scotia legislature, allegedly used the credit card of a 40 year old man with cerebral palsy to play poker online, racking up a bill of almost $10,000. Scott Marshall had once given Zinck his card to loan him $100 back when Zinck was acting as Marshall’s caregiver. It seems Zinck wrote down the card number to use later.

CBC News Canada: ‘Be a man’ on gambling debt, MLA urged

The mother of a Canadian disabled man is angry and frustrated that Independent MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) Trevor Zinck has not yet responded to recent allegation that he used her son’s credit card to gamble online, still owing him $7,600.

“Own up to it and be a man,” Helena MacLeod said towards Zinck.

“It seems like he has disappeared and that’s it. We kind of thought that he would come across and say that he was going to pay Scott’s credit card, but we haven’t heard a word.”

Scott Marshall, 40, has cerebral palsy. He has known Zinck for 20 years. Zinck acted as Marshall’s caregiver prior to 2006, when he was leected an MLA for Dartmouth North.

Marshall says that in June 2007, he noticed $10,000 in charges on his credit card. Zinck had used the card to play online poker, without Marshall’s permission.

Zinck has paid some of the money back, but MacLeod said the bill is still$7,600, and Marshall cannot afford to pay it.

“He gets in a very, very big panic to think that his credit is going to be down the tubes,” MacLeod said.

Zinck was ousted from the New Democratic Party caucus in March because of problems with his constituency expenses. He also admitted to having problems with drinking and gambling.

The Chronicle Herald: Zinck accused of fraud

A man from Halifax, Canada, is accusing Dartmouth North MLA Trevor Zinck of fraudulently charging $9,000 on his credit card to play online poker.

Scott Marshall says his former caregiver and friend of 20 years hasn’t paid much of it back.

“He said that he’d never leave me hanging . . . but I’ve had to hound him,” Marshall said in a telephone interview.

Marshall suffers from cerebral palsy, and is confined to a wheelchair.

In the spring of 2007, Marshall let Zinck use his credit card when he asked to borrow $100. But when Marshall got his bill, Zinck had charged thousands of dollars to it.

Zinck promised to get a loan to pay his debit to Marshall, but later said that the bank denied his application.

The NDP removed Zinck from his caucus seat last week, citing irregularities with his handling of office expenses.

Toronto Sun: Man: N.S. politician used his credit card to gamble

A disabled man has accused a member of the Nova Scotia legislature of using his credit card to gamble online – without his permission.

Scott Marshall, who is wheelchair-bound because of cerebral palsy, says Trevor Zinck admitted to charging $10,000 from his credit card when Marshall’s caregiver.

Zinck apologized and agreed to pay him back, but the payments stopped after Zinck was no longer his caregiver. The credit card bill stands at $7,600.

According to Helena MacLeod, Marshall’s mother, Zinck always had an excuse not to pay.

When asked if Zinck admitted to online gambling, Marshall said, “Oh yea.”

Zinck was recently suspended from the NDP caucus last week. He had been late in paying constituency office bills for electricity, telephone and internet.

As if the European Poker Tour weren’t exciting enough of an event, last week’s was heavily intensified. Knowing that there was a lot of cash at stake, a group of thugs made a successful attempt at armed robbery in the ritzy Grand Hyatt Berlin.

The Star: Bandits play hand in poker tour

German police hunted for 4 bandits who stormed a poker tournament in Berlin and stole about $335,000 in cash in a brazen daylight heist on Monday. The armed men rushed into the European Poker Tour event at the Grand Hyatt Berlin. According to the Berlin police spokesman, Police are analyzing video footage of the crime, dusting for prints and talking to witnesses.

Surveillance footage outside the hotel caught one robber without his mask, but only from behind. At least 2 of the 4 men were armed, one with a machete and one with a revolver, he said.

Rainer Wendt, leader of a German police union, faulted organizers for not hiring enough guards.

The Sydney Morning Herald: Poker heist gang were stupid amateurs: police

An armed gang that staged a brazen heist on a $7 million Berlin poker championship can be regarded as amateurs and will be caught soon, according to the head of the German police. The masked gang of 4 burst into the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Berlin, wielding machetes and handguns and made off with 242,000 euro in cash, while leaving mountains of evidence.

Though there are still “no hot leads” on the robbers, a police spokeswoman said investigators are “confident” that the “relatively large amount of material” they are sifting through will soon result in hard evidence.

After five days, American online poker star Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee carried off the one million euro top prize. The competition’s total prize pool was 4.7 million euro, according to the European Poker Tour, which organised the event.

BBC News: Robbers raid Berlin hotel poker tournament

Armed robbers have stormed a luxury hotel in central Berlin where a poker tournament was taking place. One report said the gang – armed with assault rifles and hand grenades – made off with the tournament jackpot of $1.1 million. There were injuries due to the ensuing panic but no one was seriously injured.

Four robbers entered from Potsdamer Platz while two others allegedly kept watch, according to Tageszeitung. Images of the chaotic scenes were broadcast by the private n-tv television station. Officials said most of the injuries were caused by panic.

The European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament – resumed about 4 hours after the attack, according to German media sources.

US gambling laws do not allow betting across state borders, so Iowa lawmakers have hit on a brilliant idea – allow online gambling, but keep it local. In a new plan that is still being drafted, players would make deposits and manage their accounts at land-based casinos in Iowa, but would be able to gamble online. Naturally, the plan is drawing a lot of criticism.

KWQC News: Iowa May Legalize Online Gambling

Iowa lawmakers are looking to making legal online gambling a reality. While 50,000 Iowans already gamble online, the sites they play at are not licensed in the United States. Some say making online gambling legal would bring some extra revenue to the state.

State Representative Doug Struyk says, “Here’s an opportunity for $11.5 million a year for an activity that’s already going on in the state where Iowans have exposed themselves to significant risks.”

The plan is complex, and it needs to be to get around federal legislation. Players first enter a land-based casino in Iowa to make a deposit, then access online account from a computer in Iowa to play poker. Players would collect winnings back at the land-based casino. All the money would remain in the state.

Some worry that legalizing online gambling could be problematic for people who already have a gambling problem.

“I do know somebody who has developed an online gambling problem, doesn’t need to leave the house to go to the casino. It’s so easy to just click, click, click and then there’s a problem,” said Ellie Bonis.

If all goes as planned, the system could go online as early as next year.

Quad-City Times: Lawmaker: Iowa could be first to allow online gambling

An Iowa lawmaker said last week that the state could become the first in the US to allow online gambling. According to Representative Doug Struyk, around 50,000 people in Iowa already participate in online gaming, but it’s not exactly legitimate.

Struyk is part of a working group trying to work out a new system that would keep money in the state, instead of sending it offshore.

“People in our state lose thousands of dollars on this,” Struyk said.

The system would regulate online gambling through the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, and would place caps on wagers to help control problem gambling. Players would have to create and manage accounts at land-based casinos, but could place bets over the internet from home.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has doubts. “There never has been a state that has done it,” she says. “Allowing every home in the state to be licensed as a casino to gamble at home seems to me to be a fairly heavy lift.”

A proposal is currently being drafted, and Struyk gives it a one-in-four chance of passing this year.

Des Moines Register: Legislators consider online poker

Iowa may become be the first state in the nation to allow legal online poker. A plan is being drafted that allow people to deposit between $50 and $500 into a special account at one of Iowa’s land-based casinos. That account could then be used to play poker on the internet.

Federal gambling laws prohibit gambling between states, so the system would simply restrict the system to players in Iowa.

Online poker could provide $11.5 million a year in revenue into the state’s treasury, according to preliminary projections.

State Representative Mary Mascher is not convinced. “There are a lot of things in Iowa that are illegal, but it doesn’t mean we should legalize it,” she said, citing speeding as an example.

Advocates of the idea call it “account deposit wagering” instead of online gambling. Whatever it’s called, the chances of the plan being put into action are slim.

After years of weekly games, seniors at Idaho’s Twin Falls Senior Center were shocked to have their popular poker games broken up. The seniors thought that they were legal because they donated up to $500 to the senior center every month.

The Magic Valley Times-News: Law takes dim view of gambling at senior center

Above the average criminal age, a group of Twin Falls seniors saw little mercy for having played Poker. According to some of the elder poker enthusiasts, the weekly games made them happy and shouldn’t be illegal.

Police, on the other hand, say nothing permits Idahoans to gamble at any age. Authorities went to the Twin Falls Senior Center earlier this month and explained that the weekly poker games there were illegal and must come to an end.

Five of the seniors claim that about 20 seniors played at the center for more than 5 years despite failing vision, fading memory and limited mobility. They gave an estimated $400 to $500 to the center per month. Each player put in $20 to play, and the pot was split among the top chip holders. Many of the seniors said they didn’t know what they were doing was illegal.

Authorities got involved at the senior center after receiving an anonymous tip about the weekly games. The seniors don’t know who called police, though they’d like to.

State Legislature recently passed a bill to the governor which would give authorities discretion over which gambling reports to investigate and prosecute. Gambling is a misdemeanor. A top local authority believes that this incident, among others is “at best, a waste of law enforcement resources.”

The Idaho Press: No bluff: Police break up senior center poker game

Retirees had no chance when pitted against police at the Twin Falls Senior Center earlier this month when their long-running poker game was broken up due to an anonymous tip. Roughly 20 seniors play at the center since over 5 years ago but police say the law doesn’t permit gambling at any age. Police gave the seniors a warning and didn’t make any arrests.

Residents paid in $20 to play and split the pot among the top chip holders. They donated up to $500 to the senior center each month. Because the money was given to the center, “we thought we were legal,” said 73-year-old Ora Deahl.

The seniors said they don’t know who tipped off police, but they’d like to find out. They would also like a little slack when it comes to enforcing state gambling laws.
They might get just that.

Lawmakers sent a bill to Idaho Gov. Butch Otter last week that would give authorities discretion to not investigate or prosecute all gambling reports.

Fox TV Idaho: No bluff: Police break up senior center poker game

The odds were stacked against pensioners at the Twin Falls Senior Center this month when police officers arrived to break up a long-running poker game after getting an anonymous tip.

About 20 seniors had played at the center for more than five years but police say nothing in Idaho law permits gambling at any age.

Residents paid in $20 to play and the pot was split among the top chip holders. Seventy-3-year-old Ora Deahl says she thought it was legal because the players donated up to $500 to the senior center each month.

Eighty-year-old Doris Williams says they’ve been playing the legal way without money since the police visit but it isn’t as much fun.

Canadian gambling law continues to liberalize and as a result, online gambling will be made legal and offered most recently in the Province of Quebec. The lotto and internet poker rooms are the first to be offered. Loto-Quebec will team up with other companies to cover a larger part of Canada.

The Montreal Gazette: Loto-Québec goes online

Loto-Québec will offer Quebecers online poker and sports betting at a site that should be live this year in order control a new, beneficial stream of revenue. Plans received the blessing of the Quebec cabinet, which intends to “cannibalize illegal gambling sites” and see a common electronic platform created for Loto-Québec, B.C. Lottery Corp. and Atlantic Lottery Corp., which covers Canada’s 4 Atlantic Provinces.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the 3 corporations providing rules governing the new games. Quebec and its partners will need high betting limits to compete with existing online operations. Even with high limits, it’s not sure that the new sites will succeed in luring players from older sites. The number of viable players is a big concern at the moment.

At a media conference in Montreal, the main focus was on legitimacy, regulation and protection that provincially run online gambling would offer consumers. Online games could generate as much as $50 million in new revenue for Quebec in 2012.

CBC News: Loto-Québec to offer online gambling

Quebec’s lottery corporation will launch its first online gambling service this September. Loto-Québec hopes it will add millions of dollars to its coffers by 2013. Allowing Loto-Québec to join the lucrative online market could earn the province $50 million over 3 years, according to Finance Minister Raymond Bachand.

Social costs regarding young adults are particularly grim, suggested Danielle Doyer, the Parti Québécois ’s social services critic. She accused the Liberal government of ignoring the costs in favor of financial gain. Loto-Québec, however, argues that Quebeckers already have access to more than 2,000 online gambling sites that are “illegal and unregulated.”

The site will require players to verify their age, limit their weekly account replenishments and allow players to “self-exclude at all times.”

He also cited a public health study that showed no increase in problematic gamblers in Quebec between 1996 and 2002, suggesting the proportion of the population addicted to gambling always remains the same, regardless of the number of gambling outlets.

The Canadian Press: Quebec loto commission to join B.C. and Atlantic Canada online gambling venture

Quebec’s lottery commission plans to offer online gambling by this fall. On Wednesday, the Quebec government announced that it is allowing Loto-Quebec to set up poker and sports betting sites online. Loto-Quebec will join lottery commissions from British Columbia and Atlantic Canada to provide a common platform for online gamblers.

According to Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand, online gambling is already widespread and government coffers could benefit greatly from the continuously growing market. He says he expects the government to receive around $50 million in dividends from Loto-Quebec’s online venture after just three years.

The lottery commission promised to take steps to limit underage players from taking part.

Two of the largest online poker sites in the world, FullTilt and PokerStars, are both calling on players to help with relief efforts in Haiti, where a massive earthquake has taken the lives of thousands, and left many more without a home. All money donated will be matched by the sites, and then donated to the likes of Red Cross and UNICEF.

Mirror.co.uk: PokerStars sets up Haiti earthquake appeal

A devastating earthquake recently hit Haiti, and it is thought to have killed tens of thousands of people. Many around the world are wondering how they can help. PokerStars has been quick to facilitate come to aid during previous disasters, and once again the site has provided people with an easy way to donate money to relief efforts in the area.

Players at PokerStars have already donated thousands since the appeal launched a few days ago. All the money raised will be given to the Red Cross to help its relief efforts in the earthquake-stricken Caribbean nation. PokerStars has announced that they will match every dollar raised.

The appeal will run until midday on January 31. Here is how to get involved:

- From the PokerStars website, go to Tourney >> Special and enter one of the ‘Haiti Earthquake Relief’ tournaments listed there. ‘Buy-ins’ range from $1,000 all the way down to $1. These are not actual tournaments, and all of the ‘entry fees’ go straight to the relief fund.

- Another way to contribute is to make a “private player transfer” for any amount directly into to a dummy account called ‘Haiti Fund’. Go to ‘Requests’ in the site’s top menu and select ‘Transfer Funds’.

PokerStars is thankful for all who show their support.

ESPN: Tournaments created to help victims in Haiti

Poker players and online poker sites around the world are stepping up to help the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Through the poker sites Full Tilt and PokerStars, players can donate money by either transferring funds through the game software or by playing in a mock tournament.

“Anyone watching the news knows how important it is to get help to the Haitians as quickly as possible,” said professional poker player Phil Gordon. “Poker players can effectively double their donations through the mechanisms set up by Full Tilt and the generous matching program. This is a great chance to show the world how poker players can step up and help in a true humanitarian crisis.”

Full Tilt is currently offering two different ways for players to donate donate. First, players can register to play in “fake” tournaments at different buy-in levels. The tournaments won’t run, but instead money will be donated. The other option is for players donate their own specific amount through the “Aid for Haiti” account, which can accept any amount over $5 as a donation.

Things are happening pretty much the same way at PokerStars, which is offering “dummy” charity tournaments with buy-ins that range from $1 to $1,000. The site intends to match all donations, and the money generated will be given to the Red Cross. Additionally, players can donate to the PokerStars account “Haiti Fund”. PokerStars says that thousands have already donated, and the site hopes to do all it can to help to the people of Haiti.

If there ever was a time for the internet poker community to make a difference, these next few days are the perfect opportunity.

Chicago Now: Play Poker, Help Haiti

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing tens of thousands of people.

The quake tore open the land not far from the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince, causing wide-spread devastation on a massive scale.

It is in situations like this when we see the best (and worst) that humanity has to offer, where unlikely heroes and villains emerge to show off either their sincerity or their cold-heartedness.

For this crisis, the online poker industry has emerged on the side of the heroes.

Both Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars, both huge sites in the online poker industry, are calling players to give aid to the people of Haiti.

Full Tilt and Pokerstars have organized several charity tournaments that players can participate in to help raise money for UNICEF, the Red Cross and Doctor Without Boarders in Haiti.

Both sites have vowed match every dollar raised. Full Tilt has even created a dummy player account called “Aid for Haiti” where real players can transfer their donations directly.

This humanitarian fund raiser is not operating without solid promotional backing. Both Full Tilt and Pokerstars have already made strong efforts to spread word about their Haitian earthquake relief appeal, even going as far as to announce it during live poker tournament broadcasts.

Poker pro Barry Greenstein once said that poker sometimes feels like a “hollow” profession, like a career that is all about taking without ever giving. Greenstein’s solution was to become involved with charity, and now poker players from around the world can follow his lead.

Cornell University Student, Kyle Siler, did a massive sociologic study based on 27 million hands of poker and the ratios of wins and losses which can also be attributed to everyday life. According to his results, the more poker wins a player has, the more he/she is likely to lose.

Time: How Winning Can Mean Losing — in Poker and in Life

One can learn a lot about gambling by analyzing 27 million hands of online poker. Cornell University’s Kyle Siler has done just that. His findings: the more hands you win, the more money you’re likely to lose — and this proves true well beyond a game of cards.

Siler wasn’t interested in just poker, but in the idea of how people handle risk, reward and payoffs. Gambling is perfect for studying these factors — and a rich pool of data can be found on the Internet, where millions can play at once and transactions are easy to observe and record.

To gather data, Siler used a software, PokerTracker, and made it collect and collate information on small- medium- and large-stakes games. While crunching the information, he found the strange, inverse relationship between the number of hands won and the amount of money lost. He also noticed that it was novice players who lost the most.

The reason: a majority of wins tallied were for small stakes. The longer new players played the more confident they got, and the likelier they were to lose one or a few big hands. “People overweigh their frequent small gains vis-à-vis occasional large losses,” Siler says.

Investing, driving, buying a house and merely crossing the street are all acts that involve discernible risks and uncertain rewards. The more small returns you get from small investments, the likelier you are to make, and lose, a big investment.

Walking away from a poker table can be easy, but walking away from life — and all the risks and rewards it presents you — isn’t an option. In both venues, the rule should be the same: gamble only what you can afford to lose — and know when you’re approaching those stakes.

USA Today: Poker wins often lead to bigger losses, study says

In a Journal of Gambling Studies report, Cornell University sociologist, Kyle Siler, observed 27 million online poker hands from the past 2 years, to find that winning lots of small stakes ends up losing to bigger losses. Siler analyzed data on 300,000 poker players playing styles to winnings, and found an, “increased proportion of aggressive players as one moves up stakes.”

Given the huge role of luck in delivering big payoffs and big losses, the best poker players must learn to keep winning or losing in stride. An amateur poker player, Siler says his study helped calm his play at the card table.

Science Daily: Online Poker Study: The More Hands You Win, the More Money You Lose

A new Cornell study of online poker seems counterintuitive: The more hands players win, the less money they’re likely to collect, especially when it comes to novice players. The likely reason, said Cornell sociology student Kyle Siler, is that multiple wins are likely for small stakes, but the more you play, the more likely you will eventually lose big losses.

Siler said, “people overweigh their frequent small gains vis-à-vis occasional large losses in everyday life.” In other words, players feel positively reinforced by their streak of wins but don’t understand how occasional large losses offset their gains.

The research not only examined poker, but also “speaks to how humans handle risk and uncertainty,” said Siler, whose look at online poker combines aspects of behavioral economics, economic sociology and social science theory. “Riskiness may be profitable, but also increases the variance and uncertainty of payoffs.

In online poker, a multibillion dollar industry, Siler concluded that the biggest opponent for many players may be themselves, “given the challenges of optimizing one’s mindset and strategies, both in the card game and the meta-games of psychology, rationality and socio-economic arbitrage which hover beneath it,” he said.

People must realize that their limits and understand that big losses offset multiple small gains when dealing with internet gambling and life in general.

A paint-balling, poker playing priest, Father Andrew Trapp, made big news recently for his appearance on PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge. Not only did he appear, but he almost made it through the last round. Though he didn’t win, he was able to raise $100,000 toward the construction of a new church in South Carolina.

Carolina Live: Church celebrates as priest wins $100K in poker tourney

St. Michael Catholic Church in Garden City Beach needs over $1 million to build a new church. Father Andrew Trapp made a dent in that figure by winning $100,000 in the Pokerstars.net Million Dollar Challenge televised poker tournament.

Trapp’s final episode aired Sunday, and was watched by he and dozens of fellow church members at St. Michael’s. Trapp said he hopes his brief television fame shows people that priests are normal people. “This is an opportunity, hopefully, for people to see a young guy that’s a priest, that’s normal, that can have fun, have friends and try to do something great for the church.”

South Carolina News: South Carolina’s Poker Playing Priest wins $100,000

PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge left audiences stunned in October when S.Carolina priest Father Andrew Trapp beat NBA Champ John Salley, Team PokerStars.net Pro Vanessa Rousso and her teammate and four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu to win $100,000 and a chance to come back earlier this month for a crack at the $1,000,000 grand prize.

Fr. Trapp lost the final round of Fox TV’s “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” on Dec. 27; but he still won $100,000. The winner was a 9-11 first responder at the World Trade Center.

Known as “Father Rambo” for his paintball play, the poker priest held rosary beads in a hand against Salley. After beating the former Pistons Bad Boy, Trapp shocked Rousso, and took home the six-figure prize when poker star Negreanu misread the strength of Trapp’s cards.

Trapp immediately donated all winnings to the St. Michael’s Church in Garden City, SC, where he’s associate pastor. His goal was to win the million dollar prize to help St. Michael’s build a new church, which is currently $1.5 million dollars short of its goal. In an interview, Trapp said, “I think I represented the church and the priesthood well, which was my main goal…I think my parishioners will be proud of me.

WNBF News: Church looks back at poker playing priest’s run for $1 million

St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Garden City, S.C., is in a four-year, $6.5 million fundraiser for a new church. “Our church family’s grown. We have over 3,000 [people] and 400 families,” said C. Griffith, a St. Michael’s member for more over 20 years.

Overcrowding isn’t the only issue at the Garden City church. Should a strong hurricane go through the area, St. Michael’s probably wouldn’t be standing in the aftermath.

As of Christmas, about $4 million was raised for building a church that’ll be at par with safety codes, hold over 900 people and bear hurricane-force winds. It’s a big upgrade from the old church. The project hopes to give new hope to worshipers at St. Michael’s.

Trapp’s played his role in bringing a new church to his parishioners. The priest appeared on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge playing for $1 million wanting to break ground on the multi-million dollar construction project.

Trapp lost in the final round of the show to poker pro, Negreneau, but walked away from the competition with $100,000. The cash, he says, is going straight to who needs it the most — his parish.

The poker playing priest’s winnings from Hollywood is putting quite the dent in construction costs for a new and improved St. Michael’s. There’s just $1.5 million to go, and those who gather at St. Michael’s each week say they’re more than thankful for such a generous donation to their future.

Ft. Andrew Trapp went to take part in the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge on behalf of his parish on a mission to raise cash for a new church.