The Water Cooler: Poker News - W/E Jan. 30, 2011
by Bodog Poker | Jan 31 2011
Catch up with the weekend's poker news in one dose with The Water Cooler!
Australia
The Aussie Millions Main Event 2011 tournament wrapped up this weekend and a Jewish grandfather from Malvern (a suburb of Melbourne) took the prize at the world's second largest poker tournament on Sunday. So, what's he doing to celebrate today? Going into work as usual.
"I haven't missed a day of work since 1976," he told The Age and it's obvious that his stamina and discipline played a large part in his success, giving him a push when it came to defeating a field of 721 players from all over the world. Despite being short-stacked for a long stretch, he patiently worked his way up the food chain and ended up facing off against UK player James Keys in heads-up play.
With only one previous big win at an Adelaide tournament in 1996, Gorr decided to change tactics. "I used to be a conservative player and I would wait for the better hands to play but to win tournaments you have to mix your game up and play a variety of different hands."
What's he doing to do with his winnings? He's already financially established, so he's putting this money towards helping out his kids and grandchildren and maybe, just maybe, play some more poker.
China
If you were looking for another reason to stick to online poker, Taiwan's glad to help you out. Officials visiting manufacturing facilities for playing cards found that 20 percent of a random sampling tested for formaldehyde, the popular serial-killer preservative for victims that happens to be highly poisonous and cancerous.
Huang Lai-ho, Deputy Director General of BSMI, said yesterday in a Taipei press conference, "A total of five out of the 30 tested poker cards were found to contain an above-standard amount of free-formaldehyde."
While the national standards allow 75 parts per million of the stuff to be found in paper products, officials were stunned with what they found, with one sampled card containing 612 ppm, an amount considered excessively harmful. Huang expressed concern that a player using these cards could experience severe skin reactions and even demurred from going into details about what might happen if a child got their hands on it.
Formaldehyde has been listed by the World Health Organization as a leading cause of cancer and Taiwan has promised to seek out and punish manufacturers whose products exceed the legal amount. When asked what players should look for, Huang stated that consumers should buy and play poker cards from known manufacturers with clear labels and no order. He also advised players to wash their hands before and after using the cards and keep them out of the reach of little ones.
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