Well hallelujah! There’s a bit of sanity left in the federal government after all!

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve Board announced a six-month extension of the compliance date for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

That means the ill-conceived, citizens’-rights-thwarting legislation won’t fully kick in on Tuesday. The new date is June 1, 2010.

This gives Congress, with continued pushing from freedom-loving Americans, six months to enact HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which would legalize, regulate, and tax U.S.-based secure online poker.

Today’s action might be a huge momentum swing in favor of legalizing online poker in the U.S. All citizens — not just poker players — who don’t want their rights trampled will be watching and hoping that Congress does the right thing.

Here’s the news release from the Poker Players Alliance, which petitioned for the delay:
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There’s still time to protect your freedom and tell the government you’re mad as hell and not going to take its latest intrusion into your life. But not much time.

We’re only 10 days away from the scheduled Dec. 1 enforcement of the ill-conceived and freedom-curtailing implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. On that day, banks will start facing penalties if they allow electronic transactions between a personal bank account and a poker site.

Who knows what the eventual impact of the law will be for online poker? Already, other legislation is in the works that would outlaw the UIGEA and legalize regulated, taxed and secure online poker sites in this country.

I know this: The online poker sites will be crazy busy on Dec. 1, as usual, even if a current legislative effort fails to delay the start-up of a law that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Poker is not a crime. Poker players will keep playing poker. Period. And people who say this isn’t an issue to get riled up about simply aren’t looking at the bigger picture.

Even if you don’t play the game, ask yourself if you really want government to:

* Impose control on legal activities in the privacy of your own home
* Restrict your use of the Internet
* Limit your personal freedoms
* Implement a new Prohibition Era to save society from itself
* Boldly seize money from your bank account without saying why

All of these un-American events either have already happened or could happen after Dec. 1. But it’s not too late to take a stand against the government’s attempt to squash our freedoms.

If you care about losing your fundamental rights, you must read this article by Rich Muny:

RAISING ON ACES AND EIGHTS: THE GOP’S BAD BET AGAINST ONLINE POKER

It’s posted at biggovernment.com and ought to make you angry about this latest attempt by government to diminish or eliminate our freedoms. Today the target is online poker, but if we don’t resist, what will the intruders go after next?

Muny, a board member of the Poker Players Alliance, notes that it takes just 60 seconds to tell your legislators that you don’t want the Internet censorship or curtailed freedoms tied to this moral attack on a legal activity that long has been an American pastime. You can go to “Tweet for Poker” and make your voice heard, or go to http://www.capwiz.com/pokerplayersalliance/issues/alert/?alertid=14005591&type=ML.

I did.

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Part of the big crowd Q-C Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf, Iowa, during the dinner break at Friday night’s charity tournament to support United Way.

LOTS OF RE-BUYS AT BETTENDORF CHARITY HOLD’EM EVENT!

A whopping 224 players came out Friday night in Bettendorf to test their tournament poker skills and help raise money for United Way.

When the chips stopped rattling at the spiffy new Q-C Waterfront Convention Center on State Street, the players had generated about $14,000 for United Way during the third annual City of Bettendorf & Scott County Texas Hold’em Tournament.

Emerging as champion was Bob Stineman of Davenport, who hit a three-outer heads-up to gain a commanding chip lead over runner-up Ted Papuga of DeWitt. After that huge pot, it took just one more hand to finish the tournament.

The heads-up battle only lasted six hands, but the action was punctuated by both players being dealt pocket aces once each in separate hands!

For his efforts, Stineman received a seat at a future World Series of Poker Academy event in Las Vegas, with travel courtesy of AirTran. The seat and trip were valued at $1,899. He also claimed the champion’s bracelet provided by Riddell’s Jewelry.

Any disappointment at finishing second was eased for Papuga when he received a $500 Galena Getaway from Trissle, Graham & Toole.

“That was a great turnout!” said tournament director Jason Schadt, Bettendorf city accountant. “It was an exciting (and exhausting) event. Hopefully we can continue to have this much success at future events.”

Schadt thanked everyone who contributed to staging the tournament and the players for their support.

Here’s a rundown of the remaining six players who made the final table and their prizes:

* 3rd — Steve Vonk, who came all the way from St. Joseph, Mich., a gas grill from J&K Hardware.

* 4th — Jason Williams, Rock Island, an Allsteel office chair.

* 5th — Drew Lawrence, a planter bench set donated by Creative Decks & Fence.

* 6th — Paul McShane, Bettendorf, a “Poker Night” deluxe poker chip set.

* 7th (tie) — Steve Comer, Davenport, and Delane Holmes, Aledo. Both players had the exact same chip count at the start of their final hand and both were eliminated by a third player in the hand. This was the second straight year Comer made the final table. Both players received a “Poker Night” deluxe chip set.

(NOTE: Ol’ LuckyDog came up short in the event. With about half the field eliminated, I raised pre-flop with pocket J-J and then called the all-in move by big-stack Jason Williams, who had A-Q offsuit. A third player called all-in, too, holding A-J offsuit. I liked my chances to win the roughly 25,000-chip pot when we turned our hands up, but alas, a queen came on the board helping to propel Williams to the final table. Nevertheless, the tournament was lots of fun and I recommend you check it out next year!)

Click “read the rest” for more photos from the tournament.
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World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, right, addresses media questions alongside Tournament Director Jack Effel prior to WSOP action last year in Las Vegas.

TELLS VEGAS NEWSPAPER HIS FUTURE IS ‘BLANK CANVAS’

Fresh off of one of the most successful World Series of Poker efforts ever, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said he is resigning the position. Today is his last on the job.

Here is a story posted today at PokerListings.com:

Just 72 hours after the 2009 World Series of Poker wrapped one of its most successful series ever, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has announced he is leaving his post.

In an interview with Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review Journal, Pollack says he is leaving to “explore new business challenges” and that his “future is a blank canvas.”

Pollack, who took the reigns as WSOP Commissioner in 2005 after stints with NASCAR and the NBA, has helped usher in a number of significant changes to the famed series during his tenure.

Among the most prominent are the development of the series into a massive 57-event, seven-week long spectacle, the expansion of the WSOP franchise into Europe, the creation of the four-month break until the final-table play down and a new 12-year broadcasting agreement with ESPN.

Pollack also faced several challenges as commissioner including the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that dropped in 2006. The bill raised questions about the future attendance of the WSOP, which receives thousands of internet qualifiers every year.

Instead participation in the overall WSOP grew every year that Pollack was commissioner. The 2009 WSOP drew a record 60,875 entrants over 57 tournaments.

“I came into this role with a certain set of objectives and now, there’s a sense of accomplishment of how the World Series of Poker has expanded.”

According to a statement released to the press, WSOP spokesman Seth Palansky said there is no intention to fill the commissioner’s role at this time.

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UNITED WAY TOURNEY OFFERS BRACELET, WSOP ACADEMY SEAT

You say you’ve never won a poker bracelet before?

Well, unless you’re superstitious, you ought to come out Friday the 13th and play in the fundraising no-limit hold’em tournament for the United Way. You could win a bracelet and a seat at a World Series of Poker Academy, which could make you an even better player!

Win or not, you’ll be helping a worthy cause!

The event, which is self-deal and one of the biggest in the Quad-Cities, has room for 300 players and will take walk-ins on Friday as long as seats are available.

For more info, contact Jason Schadt at one of the numbers listed in the flyer.

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Online pro Joe Cada wins WSOP main event at age 21

UPDATE: This week’s LuckyDog Poker column about the WSOP final table has been posted. Just click here.

CADA DEFEATS LOGGER DARVIN MOON IN SEE-SAW BATTLE

It took 87 heads-up hands and multiple comebacks, but online poker pro Joe Cada of Michigan beat Maryland logger Darvin Moon early today to capture the most coveted prize in poker — the World Series main event.

In posting the victory at age 21, Cada became the youngest-ever world champ, eclipsing last year’s record-setting winner Peter Eastgate by 340 days. Cada won’t be 22 until Nov. 18. The record now has been broken two years running after pro Phil Hellmuth held it for 19 years.

Cada entered heads-up play against Moon with a 2.3-1 chip lead, but that lasted just 12 hands. Cada got the lead back but lost it again, then finally moved ahead for good about 1 a.m., Las Vegas time, when he risked his tournament life on second pair and doubled up.

The match ended 20 minutes later when all the money went in pre-flop and Cada’s 9-9 held against Moon suited Q-J, touching off a wild celebration inside the Penn and Teller Theater where Cada had become the crowd favorite.

The victory was worth $8.5 million for Cada; Moon won $5.1 million.

A large portion of the poker community probably sighed with relief when Cada prevailed because Moon had indicated he wasn’t anxious to spend much personal time to promote the game if he won. Cada, meanwhile, said he would relish the chance to be an ambassador for poker as its champion.

I can’t wait to see how ESPN’s coverage of the final table turns out tonight. This was the longest main event final table in history (17-plus hours), and there were a lot of dramatic hands on Saturday, when seven of the nine finalists were eliminated. Plus, last night’s action was fast-paced, with multiple lead changes and quite a few key pots.

Last year, ESPN’s telecast showed just two hands of the heads-up battle between Eastgate and Ivan Demidov. They’ll need to show at least 7-8 hands of the heads-up battle to do it justice, so we’ll see what happens.

(I’ll post this week’s LuckyDog Poker column about the final table later today.)

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Home-game buddies Peo Contrares, left, of Hampton, and Todd Brown of Moline battled heads-up for about 20 minutes Saturday evening before Todd claimed victory in a tournament at the Arsenal Club on Arsenal Island.

TOURNEY FIELD ABLE TO FOLLOW ACTION AT WSOP, TOO

While the eyes of most of the poker world were fixed on the World Series main event final table on Saturday, 56 hopefuls squared off at the same time in a no-limit hold’em tourney at the Rock Island Arsenal.

Although millions of dollars weren’t up for grabs at the U.S. Army base located on an island in the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa, and Moline/Rock Island, Ill., players were vying for some terrific trophies and nice prizes, including $800 worth of gift certificates at Best Buy.

Emerging as champ after seven hours of battle was Todd Brown of Moline. His heads-up opponent was his fellow home-game buddy Peo Contrares of Hampton.

Thanks to Jeff McMahon and Cathy Harris of the Arsenal Club staff, players were able to follow the action in Las Vegas as ongoing chip counts and eliminations at the WSOP were projected on a big screen in the tournament area.

This was the sixth poker event held on the Island (two per year). The next tournament on March 20 will serve as a satellite, with the Arsenal winner competing online against qualifiers from about 50 events at Army installations around the globe for the title of U.S. Army Ultimate Texas Hold’em Champion.

Here are Saturday’s final-table prize winners:

1st — Todd Brown, Moline
2nd — Peo Contrares, Hampton
3rd — Steve Carroll, Davenport
4th — Jason Keffer, Rock Island
5th — Trent Heath, Orion
6th — Dave Buckner, Rock Island
7th — Donna Ditto, Sherrard
8th — Teresa Johnston, Davenport

Click “read the rest” for more photos from the Arsenal tournament.
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Darvin Moon and Joe Cada were side-by-side during the official World Series photo session in July after they made the main event final table. Moon had resisted signing with a poker site while Cada, originally with Ultimate Bet, has since switched to PokerStars. Theyll battle heads-up late Monday night for the 2009 world champion’s title.

PAIR WITH GREAT BACK STORIES FACE-OFF MONDAY NIGHT

After 14 grueling hours, several cruel bad beats, and multiple amazing comebacks, the final two players with a chance to be called 2009 world champ were determined early this morning.

Joe Cada and Darvin Moon survived Saturday’s marathon final-table battle and will bring compelling back stories with them into their heads-up war late Monday night in Las Vegas.

The dream match-up a lot of people were hoping for — Phil Ivey vs. whomever — didn’t happen. Ivey never got much traction and finished seventh.

The finale still should be fascinating, however, pitting the barely-legal Internet poker whiz Cada against the stout logger Moon. Cada will have a sizable chip lead heading into the action, but Moon showed great resilience Saturday by fighting back after losing his commanding position.

Jeff Shulman, my pick to go all the way, bumped into some bad luck and finished fifth.

Here is an early report by Nolan Dalla, WSOP media director:

LAS VEGAS (November 8, 2009) – A self-employed logger from Western Maryland and a 21-year-old poker pro will compete Monday night for poker’s most prestigious prize and a payday of more than $8.5 million.

Darvin Moon, 46, is a woodsman playing in his first-ever World Series of Poker event. Joseph Cada is a 21-year-old poker phenom hoping to become the youngest-ever Main Event champion.

The two survived the longest U.S.-based Main Event Final Table in World Series of Poker history for the chance to capture the game’s most coveted trophy – the champion’s gold bracelet – and a top prize of $8,547,042. The runner-up will win $5,182,928.

Only the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event was longer than the 14-hour-plus marathon session that concluded today at roughly 6 a.m. Pacific. ESPN will air its coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table on Tuesday, Nov. 10 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern.

“This has been the most exciting Main Event Final Table I’ve ever witnessed,” said World Series of Poker President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “To see Joe Cada go from about two million in chips to nearly 136 million in chips – and to watch Darvin Moon go from chip leader to short stack and back again – was truly astonishing. The heads-up competition is going to be outstanding.”

When play resumes, Cada will be the chip leader with 135,950,000; Moon will begin the competition with 58,850,000.

The two sealed their place in the heads-up competition when Cada eliminated third-place finisher Antoine Saout, 25, of Saint Martin des Champs, France. Saout, a former engineering student, began final table play eighth in chips. He rose to chip leader before busting in third place to collect $3,479,670.

Poker pro Eric Buchman, 30, of Valley Stream, NY, finished in fourth place. Buchman entered the final table second in chips and collected $2,502,890, making this the most lucrative of his 10 in-the-money finishes at the World Series of Poker.

Jeff Shulman, 34, who splits time between Las Vegas and Seattle, busted in fifth place, winning $1,953,452. Shulman is the only member of the November Nine to have previously made a Main Event Final Table, finishing seventh in 2000.

Wall Street financier Steven Begleiter of Chappaqua, NY, was eliminated in sixth place. The 47-year-old former Bear Stearns Cos. executive won $1,587,160.

Phil Ivey, widely considered the best poker player in the world, finished in seventh place. The 32-year-old poker pro, who owns seven World Series of Poker gold bracelets, collected $1,404,014 for his first Main Event Final Table appearance.

The eighth place finisher was Kevin Schaffel of Coral Springs, Fla. The oldest player at 52, Schaffel won $1,300,231.

Going out in ninth place was James Akenhead of London. The 26-year-old former train conductor received $1,263,602.

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Here are the 2009 November Nine: James Akenhead, Jeff Shulman, Phil Ivey, Antoine Saout, Darvin Moon, Joe Cada, Steven Begleiter, Kevin Schaffel and Eric Buchman. One of them will be $8.5 million richer sometime early Tuesday morning! (Photo by IMPDI for 2009 WSOP)

Ol’ LuckyDog still picking Shulman, despite second thoughts

In just a few hours, the final table battle to determine the 2009 World Series of Poker champion begins. And, gulp, I’m having last-minute second thoughts about my pick!

If you saw my latest column released Nov. 3, you know that I rationalized, through a process of elimination, that Jeff Shulman would emerge as the champ. And he still could.

The week before, my column about Phil Ivey declared him to be at poker’s highest level and poised for main-event greatness. All of that is still true.

And who’s to say that one of the other seven contenders — especially Darvin Moon, the massive chip leader — won’t cruise to victory? No one, I reckon.

The overriding truth is that this is a poker game, where the variables are immeasurable, where luck can outshine pluck, but skill still can win out in the end.

The other certainty is that this promises to be one of the most entertaining and probably THE most viewed poker show (ESPN Tuesday night) in history. Cards are in the air today at Noon, Vegas time, and they’ll play down to the final two. The heads-up battle starts at 10 p.m. Monday in Vegas.

So, I’ll stick with Shulman as my pick — unless Ivey triples up early, or Moon keeps catching monster hands, or, or, or…

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ARSENAL ISLAND TOURNEY FEATURES FUN, LOCAL COMPETITION

Thanks to the folks of the Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, twice a year on Arsenal Island I get to transform from poker player to tournament director.

It’s an enjoyable transition, and you can join the fun this Saturday!

The party starts at Noon with lunch, followed at 1 p.m. by the no-limit hold’em tournament. Players receive 5,000 in chips to start, with first-level blinds of 25-50. Betting levels are 30 minutes long.

Tournament fields at the Arsenal Club (Building 60) have ranged from 64 to 101 players in the five previous events, and the thrill of competition is exceeded only by the camaraderie.

Although we can’t give cash to the winners, there are nice prizes and trophies awarded to the final-table finishers. The champ also receives a coveted LuckyDog Poker 24-karat gold-flake vial card protector (photo below)!

Unlike some local tournaments, trained amateur dealers are stationed at each table so you can concentrate solely on your game and your opponents rather than doing the shuffling and dealing yourself.

There’s a tournament clock projected on a big screen, cocktail service, and a former professional dealer available for floor decisions. Also, we use high-quality cards and chips. We try to make the overall tournament experience similar to what you’d find in a casino.

The price is right, too — just $40, and that includes lunch!

To reserve your seat, call 782-6319 or 782-3956 by Friday afternoon. Walk-ins are accepted Saturday until 1 p.m. but seating is limited to the first 100 players.

Click “read the rest” for a story about the event which appeared in Tuesday’s Dispatch-Argus and a photo of the LuckyDog Poker Gold Flake Card Protector:
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