Your Poker News Roundup: March 25, 2011

by Dougie Goguen | Mar 25 2011

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Catch up with what's going on in poker before you hit the tables this weekend!
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Taiwan

Taiwan wants in on some of that casino revenue action it seems because for the first time since gaming giants in the US started asking them to please take a look at the idea, the government there seems to be budging a bit.  The Matsu Islands, part of Taiwan's Lienchiang County, are taking the first steps towards introducing a local casino referendum. The area has suffered with the global economic downturn and with Macau becoming the focus for gaming and gambling in the Pacific Rim; the government obviously feels that they've missed an opportunity. Could this be their chance to get some of the gaming revenue in the Pacific Rim?

Indiana

Just outside of Cincinnati sits the Ohio River and on that river sits the Hollywood Casino, a 270,000 square foot riverboat casino. The newish facility is in the middle of hosting its first-ever World Poker Tour event and while they didn't exactly have the doors bursting off the boat (only 194 players showed up for the first day of the main event,) the action appears to have been better than any other seen in that area. We've not been able to find out who won the $10,000 main event that features a first-place take of $391,000 - heck, considering the location, we may not find out until it's actually aired as part of the usual WPT broadcast package — we can report that there's other WP Tournaments that won't be broadcast but will offer buy-ins between $3,000 and $5,000.

The casino's using it as an opportunity to host other events while they've got a bit of buzz, and these include:  Seniors 50+ No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better, both starting on Saturday along with No Limit Hold'em Bounty (March 28), Limit Stud 8 or Better (March 29), Limit 7-Stud (March 30), and Ladies' No Limit Hold'em (April 2).

Hollywood Casino's Poker Manager, T.K. Krauss spoke about how they are maximizing the player experience during the event: "We designed a tournament to appeal to players with a variety of disciplines and the action will be non-stop with $100 nightly cash tournaments and 27 super satellites or mega satellites."

The Internet

Phil Ivey's website has been very bare-bones for the last few years with the pro focusing mostly on online poker and real world poker events. Suddenly, however, something's changed - dramatically! Phil stares at you from the banner on top of the screen and then a map of the world unfolds before a simple, slightly threatening piece of text appears: "Now I'm going to teach the whole world to win at poker."

Well, Phil. We're listening.

Play online poker at Bodog. Be a Player.

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