Lone Rhino

Jason Alexander To Shill For PokerStars

2009-01-26T02:08:09Z

Jason Alexander Joins PokerStars Stable

Jason Alexander, the comic actor famed for his portrayal of George Costanza in "Seinfeld" and a veteran of several recent high-profile poker events, has joined PokerStars' lineup of celebrity endorsers. Alexander will play online under the screen name "J. Alexander" and will don Stars gear for appearances at major events, including the 2009 World Series of Poker.

Actor Jason Alexander - best known as the not-so-lovable loser George Costanza on the award-winning sitcom Seinfeld - recently signed an exclusive sponsorship agreement with PokerStars.

The agreement means Alexander now represents PokerStars as a brand ambassador and will play for the online poker company in a variety of online and live poker tournaments, including the 2009 World Series of Poker.

"Poker Stars has very graciously asked me to sign on as one of their official players," says Alexander. "I am very flattered and happy to be playing for a real quality site and with the kind of professionals that remind me every day how truly mediocre I am at this game. But I'm learning. And now I can learn from some of the best."

Alexander joins National Hockey League (NHL) player Mats Sundin, former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker and Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser on the roster of PokerStars celebrities.

My Happy Fun Time PokerStars Sunday Two Hundred Grand Guaranteed Cooler

2009-01-19T18:08:51Z

I used a portion of my free Platinum Package Ticket stash (from my 1st place finish in one of last month's World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker preliminary tournaments) to free-roll into yesterday's, "PokerStars Sunday Two Hundred Grand Guaranteed." With total cash prizes of $293,230.00, there were 29,393 players entered to battle for a 1st place payday of, $27,856.86. The top 4,270 finished in the money (pay-outs started at $29.32) and as usual, with a little luck, a few races won, and a couple of miracle sucks outs, making the money would be possible. (Or at least that's what I always tell myself.)

For the first hour of the tournament I employed my usual strategy of playing tight, aggressive poker in hopes of building my stack and staying at or above the average stack size. My goal was to play sound, ABC poker and just ensure that if I shoved it all into the middle I was doing so with the best hand going in. As in most multi-table tournament on Stars, the blinds rise quickly and the antes kick in early. If you haven't doubled up at least once by the end of the first hour you're already looking at an "M" of less than 10 and thus the game turns into an automatic shove or fold contest. The beginning of the second hour of play is usually the time in the tournament where the most players get eliminated, the only other parts of the tournament coming even close to this level of carnage are at the very beginning (when many donkeys try shoving and doubling up too quickly) and when players get near the money bubble.

In the Sunday Two Hundred Grand everyone starts with 3,000 chips and by Level 10, I was sitting on a stack of 9,455. With the blinds at 300/600 and an ante of 50, I was just barely above an "M" of 10 and only in fair shape. I built up my +9,000 chip stack by being lucky enough to win a couple of races holding pocket nines against AK and AQ. However, I still needed to double up at least two more times if I wanted to get near the top of the leader board and have a chance at making the final table. The next hand dealt found me in middle position looking at .

Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: vitka620412 (8500 in chips)
Seat 2: Lone Rhino (9455 in chips)
Seat 3: DreadPoker (12243 in chips)
Seat 4: coyot3on3 (22680 in chips)
Seat 5: scyraser (20040 in chips) (Seat 5 is the button)
Seat 6: GoldenRook (4210 in chips) (Small Blind)
Seat 7: OryginalG13 (12110 in chips) (Big Blind)
Seat 8: AeroBlah (7590 in chips)
Seat 9: fill_hellmut (6805 in chips) (I love this guy's screen name, LOL!!)

Everyone posted their 50 antes, with GoldenRook and OryginalG13 posting the Small and Big Blinds, respectively.

The action continued as follows:

AeroBlah: folds
fill_hellmut: folds
vitka620412: folds
Lone Rhino: raises 1,140 to 1,710
DreadPoker: folds
coyot3on3: folds
scyraser: folds
GoldenRook: folds
OryginalG13: calls 1,110

The Flop comes, and OryginalG13 checked. With top pair and top kicker, I bet 3,125 into a pot of 3,630, hoping to take it down right there. Yes, the flop was semi-scary considering the coordinated cards that hit, but at least it was rainbow suited, and one of them was a diamond. I put OryginalG13 on any two cards in the deck based upon his earlier reckless play and the fact that he was sitting on the Big Blind. I knew for sure he'd probably call or raise All In with AA - 77, but anything is possible in a tournament of this size and with a buy-in of only $11. (Easy for me to say, I was free-rolling.)

OryginalG13 thought for about 30 seconds and raised 7,225 to 10,350 to put himself All In.

I too thought for about 30 seconds and pondered the odds of him holding JJ, QQ, 99, JQ, J9, or KT. I just didn't think he had it and called off my final 4,570 chips.

I flipped over my and OryginalG13 showed for a set of nines (Of course! Nice play, OryginalG13.). I was in deep trouble and needed some of that luck you have to have to make it deep in one of these things. Come on, suck out!!

The Turn card came and it was the . YES!!!! This is the lucky suck out I need and exactly at the right time!! No wait!! I'm not out in front, he's just hit a Full Boat, nines full of queens. Unreal...

Here comes the River and it's the .

What????

The 9 of fricking Diamonds??

Are you kidding me???

The case 9 has come out of the deck to give Oryginal13 quad nines????

My set of queens - which had now become a Full House is no good AND just to really rub it in, the Poker Gods lay another 9 onto the pile and Oryginal13 goes from a full house to quads. So one way or the other, I'm busted out of this tournament in brutal fashion.

And so it's official:

OryginalG13: shows (four of a kind, Nines)
Lone Rhino: shows (a full house, Queens full of Nines)
OryginalG13 collected 19,560 from pot
Kuni1101 is connected and takes Lone Rhino's still warm seat.
Lone Rhino finishes the tournament in 7,303rd place.

So I clicked the "OK" button, went to the table chat and typed, "gg" and then "gl to everyone". Signed off and went to help my wife make dinner for our kids and the house full of their friends who were there for a sleepover.

Was I shocked, pissed off, or out of my mind over that last hand? Amazingly, no. No, I wasn't. I've seen it happen to too many other players too many times and it's not the first time it has happened to me. I was just glad to be in there fighting and grateful for the opportunity to get that far into the tournament. Could I have played the hand better? Should I have done things differently in that hand? For sure. But I'm comfortable with how I played it and at peace with the results. I'll continue to learn and get better. Not just in how to play the game, but in learning how the game can be exciting and cruel from moment to moment and to not take it to heart.

See you at the next game and good luck to all.

Second Chance Pays Off in PokerStars 2008 WBCOOP NLHE Qualifier

2008-12-21T16:08:23Z

This past Tuesday, I finished a disappointing 84th in the first of several NLHE qualifiers for today’s World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker (WBCOOP). Each tournament – and there were 6 in all, and in various formats like Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Mixed Games, No Limit Hold ‘Em, etc. - rewarded the top 72 with a ticket to the WBCOOP finals. Additionally, the top 45 earn a qualifying ticket and other prizes like Step tix, Sunday Majors Gold Packages, and one Sunday Majors Platinum Package for the winner. The Platinum Package consists of three $215 tournament tickets; one $530 tournament ticket; and one $11 tournament ticket ($986 in entry fees for PokerStars Sunday Major Tournaments).

Not bad for a freeroll, so if you play poker and have your own blog you can do battle against bloggers from across the globe. Today’s Grand Prize winner will be awarded a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package worth, $14,300. The runner-up earns a free European Poker Tour event package valued at $7,500.

Yesterday was the last qualifying event and I decided to take one more shot at making the top 72. I’ve spent the past few days pondering my unexpected collapse in Tuesday’s tournament and reviewed some key hands with some players with better games than mine. I took their advice to heart and also re-examined some of my strategy. At 3:00 PM EST I took my seat along with 548 other hopefuls and five hours later I ended up finishing first!

To learn more click here.

Alas, two of my favorite bloggers, Dr. Pauly & Change1OO were the Bubble Couple, finishing in 73rd and 74th place respectively.

Here are the top 21 players from yesterday - and note that one of PokerNews own, mguerrera also made it to the finals with a strong 21st place finish, way to go, mate!!:

Lone Rhino Snatches Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory in PokerStars WBCOOP 2008

2008-12-18T03:16:29Z

Had a great run during yesterday’s WBCOOP 2008 NLHE Qualifier, but due to a sudden and unexpected case of the Dumb Ass, I busted out in 84th place – 12 spots from a qualifying ticket to the finals. (The top 72 made the cut.)

The tournament started with 559 total players. At my first table assignment, I had Bryan “The Icon” Micon seated to my left. Micon, 30, from Las Vegas, Nevada, is best known for a deep run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event where he entertained ESPN and the international viewing audience with an impromptu Michael Jackson “Thriller” dance after winning a large pot. He’s since gone on to earn over $250,000 in tournament play, and is one of the founders of NeverWinPoker.com a poker news and uncensored poker forum, complete with downloadable podcasts for your listening pleasure.

During the ninth hand (Level 1 – 10/20 blinds) Bryan woke up to find pocket aces (Ah Ac) and raised from middle position to 100. Three players called and the flop came Qs 6h 3h. The first two players checked and Micon bet 333. The bet of 333 causes one fold, one call and then a raise from the fourth player to 740. Micon calls the raise and the player next to him (holding 3d 3c) shoves for his remaining 1660. The player next to act shoves his remaining 1650 (he’s got Ad Qc) and Micon pushes in his stack of 1660. The Turn is a 2h and the River shows a Ts. Micon and the other guy lose to the set of threes and finish the tournament in 542nd and 543rd place respectively.

The Tao of Poker’s Dr. Pauly finished in 545th place and two of our own PokerNews bloggers, Davega and mguerrera finished in 327th and 364th position.

I played ABC poker for the first two hours, ending the first break in 65th place. With 265 left to go I was holding onto 30th place and from 172 players remaining until 123 were left I hovered between 30-40th place. At one point I luckboxed my way to 16th out of 120.

With over 19,000 in chips and the blinds and antes rising fast, the steals, re-steals and positional play began to dominate the action. At this point I could have folded my way into the top 72, but I stupidly dropped that idea.

And that’s when things started to go bad for Lone Rhino.

Stay tuned for more…

Bloggers Set To Battle

2008-12-14T18:48:29Z

This week begins the annual PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. Bloggers from all over the world will gather online to compete for awesome prizes and bragging rights as the best poker playing blogger on the Interwebs.

If I run good, catch some lucky breaks, and hand out a few bad beats I might make it to the Final Table and have a chance to luckbox my way to a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package worth $14,300 or European Poker Tour event packages worth $7,500.

They'll also be giving away free entries into other online tournaments and Steps satellite tickets.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 493398

Wish me luck!

THIS JUST IN: Harrah's Finishes In 4th Place at WSOP Main Event Final Table

2008-11-05T00:17:14Z

The Final Table of the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will be played in a few days and the “November 9” are each guaranteed at least $900,000 (all 9 left the Rio with this amount when the tournament paused in July). Next week’s winner will be awarded over $9M minus, of course, the $900,000 advanced to them earlier.

This year’s Main Event attracted 6,844 entrants and each player paid $10,000 for the privilege to play. The prize pool is $64,333,600 and the rake amounts to $4,106,400.

Here is a list of the prize money and the winners:

1st - $9.1M (Winner TBD)
2nd - $5.8M (Winner TBD)
3rd - $4.5M (Winner TBD)
4th - $4.1M Winner: Harrah’s Entertainment
5th - $3.7M (Winner TBD)
6th - $3.0M (Winner TBD)

Yes, if you just go by rake from the entry money alone, the WSOP (read: Harrah’s Entertainment) will finish in 4th place, earning $4M from the 6,844 entrants. Of the 666 players who cashed in the Main Event, only three will earn more than the WSOP does for their efforts.

Moreover, that’s just money Harrah’s earns from the players entry fees. We’re not taking into account the revenue generated from all of the ancillary avenues. Rooms at the Rio, food, drinks, and the countless sponsorship and licensing fees send Harrah’s cash earnings into the stratosphere.

Since 2003, the WSOP has grown in leaps and bounds, cornering the market on the poker boom created when a combination of amateur player Chris Moneymaker and television exposure via ESPN made interest in the WSOP leap into the mainstream of American media and sports reporting.

With this new found popularity came the corporate sponsors, and the list of companies hoping to ride on the shoulders of WSOP stardom grew quickly. Harrah’s, of course, was happy to oblige and grow their bottom line.

In addition to Harrah’s properties, media giants like ESPN, and beer companies like Miller Brewing joined the cause. Each ponied up millions to attach themselves to the WSOP logo and be showcased as the Brand Du Jour during the month and a half of WSOP competition. The list of companies paying fees to Harrah’s to be known as official sponsors is long and impressive. Each pays handsomely for the honor and Harrah’s counts the money gleefully. As if this source of huge income wasn’t enough, you can also purchase various and sundry WSOP-brand items for sale through their online Web store. Hat’s, shirts, bobble-head dolls and the like are all available. Have your credit card ready for quick sale. Whether it’s the Degree All-In Moment, of the Planter’s Peanuts Good Instinct What-cha-ma-call-it, rest assured that Harrah’s is certainly making HUGE amounts of dough. Profits that surely dwarf the $9M in first place prize money that will be banked by this year’s lucky winner.

On average, the corporation known as Harrah’s Entertainment appears to be earning $3-4 billion a quarter, and most of this is apparently WSOP related in nature.

It may not happen now, and maybe it won’t happen soon; but the players (who are the stars of this business, BTW) will (and should) eventually stand up and ask for their fair share. Is it too much to ask that Harrah’s duly compensate players with generous corporate profit money by putting a significant percentage of their incredible earnings into the player’s prize pool? Or how about eliminating the entry fee? There’s certainly ways to accomplish this fairly and equitably.

As the WSOP begins it’s "Manifest Destiny” of expansion across this country and into Europe, it seems the time has come for prominent poker players to demand that organizers of major poker tournaments fairly share in the profits they so happily receive.

Phil Hellmuth - Redefining His Own Legacy

2008-10-12T22:16:20Z

Phil Hellmuth is redefining his legacy and it is not for the best. If you're like me, the insensitive and egotistical act known as “The Poker Brat Show” has become a tired and dreadful thing to watch and it should come to a halt. Phil is no longer entertaining (read now as: car-wreck-like entertaining), it is troubling to watch, and demeans the players and the game all of us love so much. Phil Hellmuth's once great legacy has become tarnished and it is a mess of his own making.

Despite winning 11 WSOP bracelets’ in various Texas Hold ‘Em games, Hellmuth’s vile personality and outright contempt for the rules of the game - and the players who play against him in those games – is unacceptable.

By now you’re well aware of Scotty Nguyen’s crude actions at this year’s WSOP H.O.R.S.E final table and perhaps you also know that it was met with universal disgust from the poker community and casual poker fans alike. Yet the Profane Prince can be slightly excused for his bad behavior when one considers he was quite drunk at the time. This certainly doesn’t get Nguyen completely off the hook – especially considering he has yet to be punished for his attempts at collusion when the game got down to three players, it does however provide observers with some sort of reason as to why he would behave so poorly.

This has never been the case for Phil Hellmuth and he has no excuses to hide behind for his unsportsmanlike, rude, and disrespectful antics. The man is a complete and utter assclown who does not deserve the money, adulation and media attention he has received for so many years.

Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. was born July 16, 1964, and at the age of 24 became the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event - a record that still stands today. Judged solely on his 11 bracelets and not apparently on his actions at or away from the table, he was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame. Although a Poker Hall of Fame member, an ambassador for poker he is not. 44-year old, Hellmuth may believe his legacy is his 11 bracelets, but he will always be infamously known for his legendary misbehavior whilst playing the game. In addition to his non-stop cursing, and berating of opponents, Hellmuth has also become a first-class whore when it comes to making a buck off of his poker success. His web site, strategy classes, public appearances, books, videos, product endorsements, and full sponsorship from one of the worst and shadiest online poker sites in the world have made him a millionaire many times over. The result has created a hybrid Poker Brat/Poker Whore who is so insulated and out of touch with his fan base, and the poker community in general, that he lives in a megalomaniacal fantasy universe where all of the planets revolve around a thousand points of light emitted from the Hellmuthian Sun.

Hellmuth’s transgressions are legion and go back at least a full decade. As his bracelet count grew and the Poker Boom of the ‘90’s hit full swing, Hellmuth became increasingly more egotistical and overbearing. His sense of entitlement and invincibility devolved into psychotic ramblings over supposed bad beats and his scathing remarks about his opponents’ skills became louder and cruder and were often directed right in the face of the player who dared to beat Phil out of a pot. Surprisingly, few players and no tournament directors would challenge Hellmuth's immature actions.

A precise cataloging of his outrageous misdeeds would bore the average reader, so here’s some brief highlights of how The Poker Brat has earned his moniker and how this entire persona has become passe’ and outside the lines of decent sportsmanship. At the Main Event in 2005, Hellmuth coined his famous, "I can dodge bullets, baby!" phrase after laying down Ace King to an opponent's pocket Aces. He quickly tarnished that excellent play with a long-winded discourse on how all the players at the table were out to get him. After losing a decent sized pot to a miracle three-outer he viciously attacked his opponent verbally by accusing him of “not even being able to spell poker.”

This year’s Main Event has been no different, most notably when well known Internet sensation Adam “Roothless” Levy made a strong bet to move Hellmuth off a large pot holding Q-10 to Hellmuth’s pocket Jacks. Hellmuth referred to Levy as an “idiot” for calling his pre-flop raise with only Q-10. Soon after, Santeri Valikoski played 7-5 off suit down to the River against Poker Brat’s K-10 off suit and won the hand when his flopped 5 stood up. “No, he didn’t!” Hellmuth screamed, “This idiot called me with 7-5. Are you kidding me? He called a raise with 7-5 from out of position, that idiot from Northern Europe.” Walking away from the table he repeated his insults over and over again and threw in several F Bombs in addition to what sounded like a huge MF Bomb on top of that.

Returning to the table Hellmuth smashed his chip stack into a pile and screamed in frustration. Most certainly on tilt, His Majesty then called another player’s pre-flop raise and quickly lost 60,000 when his opponent’s A-K made top pair. Hellmuth was then in complete and total free-fall and ended the day with a warning from the Tournament Director (TD), which would amount to a one-orbit penalty at the start of the next day. Lo and behold, when the next day arrived Hellmuth's penalty was rescinded. Between the TD and (probably) the producers from ESPN, the penalty magically disappeared.

Apparently you can say things like, "Listen buddy, you're an idiot! This is the Main Event and you are the worst player in history!" But more than likely the TD and the TV bosses made the ruling that Hellmuth can refer to someone as a f**king idiot, as long as he doesn’t get in their face and call them a f**king idiot. Besides, they rationalized, we need Phil in the tournament in order to draw better ratings and plus up the entertainment factor.

There was a time when Hellmuth was consider good for poker, in fact, according to a Poker News article penned in 2006, they claimed “Phil Hellmuth is definitely the epitome of the modern day poker professional.” That cannot be said for the Phil Hellmuth of today. He is out of control, and in need of a good smack down. Phil Hellmuth is bad for the game of poker and if he continues on this path of irresponsible behavior he will only damage the game, disenchant the casual fan, and end up getting hurt (or worse) at the hands of a random player he happens to mistakenly take for granted when he attempts to disrespect them in public.

Phil Hellmuth Jr., is out of control and must be stopped. Tournament Directors, fellow players, sponsors and television producers, please wake up and take a stand. Hellmuth needs to be put in his place and even more so put on notice that his delusional, inappropriate, and childlike behavior must stop immediately. No more second chances at tournaments, no more excess TV time, no more public speaking engagements, book deals, and the like. Send a message that is clear and to the point: Enough is enough, Phil. Enough is enough...

UltimateBet.com Announces New Sponsored Player/Spokesperson

2008-10-04T01:12:01Z

Ultimate Bet (UB) today announced the addition of Tim Donaghy, former National Basketball Association (NBA) referee and gaming enthusiast to its team of highly capable players. "I welcome the chance to match my skills against players at Ultimate Bet,” said Donaghy. “I won’t have a chance to get out to the casinos for awhile, so playing online at the greatest poker site in the world will work quite nicely.”

The 41-year old Donaghy will also bring a posse of fellow gaming enthusiasts to the UB stable. Both James Battista and Thomas Martino will work closely with Donaghy as they make their way through SNGs, MTTs and high stakes ring games.

This down to earth, committed father of four is a proud graduate of Villanova University and cites his family as his biggest achievement to date. But it's his soon to be consistent performance in online poker tournaments on UB that will begin to earn him a solid reputation as one of the game's savants – capable of putting his opponents on a range of hands, and most times right down to the exact cards they hold. “When I call your bluff and take you down with only high card, you’ll probably swear I was peeking at your cards. But I’m not. Honest to God, I’m not,” Donaghy chuckled.

This new online poker pro proudly joins UB's roster of high caliber players at one of the best-run sites in the world. Ultimate Bet has been hacker free for more than a year now and has not had a major, publicly reported scandal in the recent memory of its new board of directors.

Tim Donaghy can be found playing online poker at Ultimate Bet under the name RogueRef and will be featured in a variety of future promotions on the site. Online poker players can employ Ultimate Bet's free Ultimate Buddy software to discover where RogueRef is seated and instantly join him at the tables. Donaghy has also been named as the Sergeant-At-Arms in the newly formed UB All Out Pilfer & Filch Team.

About Ultimate Bet:

Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world – Russ Hamilton, Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke – Ultimate Bet provides the best poker games available on the net. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from pros to learn the games or to enhance their playing strategy. Ultimate Bet currently has over 2 million registered players – and of those 2 million, 1,745 are still active.

Former WSOP Main Event Champ Steals Millions - May Have Committed Perfect Crime

2008-09-30T02:52:14Z

As just reported by Poker News, 1994 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, Russ Hamilton has been named as the person behind the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet online poker cheating scandals. Mr. Hamilton used his former inside association with both companies to exploit software and view other players hole cards while competing for millions of dollars. The reported amount is said to be $60 million dollars but the exact amount has not been verified.

For more information hot off the presses you can read more:

HERE

AND HERE.

This story will no doubt be the highlight of the CBS 60 Minutes expose on Internet poker scheduled to air October 26, 2008.

For more on how the rest of the online poker community is reacting to this shocking disaster, check out the gang OVER HERE.

Considering the fact that both Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are businesses run outside of the U.S., it may prove to be very difficult for either company to bring successful legal action against Russ Hamilton. It will also be very interesting to see how either company pays restitution to every player cheated by Hamilton and his cohorts. It would appear that Hamilton has quite possibly committed the perfect crime and will go unpunished. Like Al Capone, perhaps the IRS will be the only crew that brings Hamilton to justice. Don't think they're not watching...

And finally, this is a gigantic kick in the nuts to all online poker players - especially those in the U.S, who are fighting their own government just to stay in the game.

NY TIMES: Senator John McCain Has A Host Of Ties To Gambling

2008-09-29T03:34:32Z

Today’s edition of the ‘Old Gray Lady,” featured an in-depth article on Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain’s affection for gambling and the associations he has made within the gambling industry and its lobbyists throughout the years.

The article begins with a short story of McCain’s recent romp at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. The senator is reportedly a lifelong gambler who loves to throw dice. He has also thrown his political weight around to support gambling as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Apparently, lobbyists who represented numerous casinos had McCain’s ear and also freely filled his pockets with donations.

The NY Times story goes on to detail how McCain has single-handedly transformed Indian gambling business into a 26-billion dollar a year industry. For this he has earned the moniker of, “Founding Father of Indian Gaming.”

Although Senator McCain represents himself as a "Washington D.C., Outsider" he has actively worked with more than 40 lobbyists who advance many gambling businesses, to include online poker interests.

His political savvy was never more evident as when he played both sides against the middle in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, using Abramoff’s misdeeds and subsequent fall from grace to broker a deal for one of McCain's top political strategists to earn a four month $100,000 deal to “consult” Indian tribes caught in the midst of the Abramoff investigations.

McCain’s ties to gambling extend beyond Indian Casinos, as he has also been a long time favorite of gambling businesses in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas gambling industry has donated more money to his campaign than 95% of the rest of the senators in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Interestingly, Senator Barack Obama has also taken donations from the gambling industry, but the amounts received, to date, are less than half of what McCain has taken in.

What future help for online poker regulation, if any, can be expected from the two presidential candidates? Probably not very much, but that’s not to say they are ignorant to the issues surrounding online poker. Then again, don’t forget that some of McCain and Obama’s biggest campaign contributions come from the highest echelons of the United States gambling industry. So perhaps there’s hope for the future. Hope that online poker playing becomes clearly and absolutely legal for U.S. citizens; that U.S. online poker sites are allowed to start up and prosper; and that proper regulation and oversight ensures a fair game and revenue for federal, state and local governments as a result.