Blogger Poker Tour 2007 - Poker.com SHUTDOWN

Well no fun for anyone today. 10 minutes before the start of BPT#3 the tournament was shutdown. Other tournaments apparently went down at the same time according to the chat in the Poker.com forum

Katie of Poker.com Support was sympathetic.

=====Start Chat Transcript=====

xScrewballx: Chat Request from PlayerAdmin

You are now speaking with Katie of Poker.com Support.

Katie: hi

Katie: how can i help?

xScrewballx: Hi Katie

xScrewballx: Any news on what happened to BPT#3?

xScrewballx: It was shutdown a few minutes before the start.

Katie: yes we are still looking into it, sorry for the inconvenience

xScrewballx: Where should we look for news about this.

xScrewballx: I feel bad for you guys. It can't be any fun.

Katie: its not too much fun at all, we are waiting to hear back from the dev guys

Katie: so there should be something up in the forum when we know the deal

=====End Chat Transcript=====

No e-mails, no word at all over 2 hours later.

--PB--

Blogger Poker Tour 2007 - Poker.com

Blogger Poker Tour (BPT) 2007 is a series of tournaments hosted by bloggers, for bloggers, with the top prize being a $12,500 Aussie Millions package.

This year to earn your place in the BPT Grand Final, and take your shot at over $25,000 in prizes, you will need to make it to the top of the BPT Leader board. Click here for more details on how the BPT works."

Before Signing Up - BPT Participant Requirements

1. You must have your own blog (web log) or be a contributing member of a communal blog. Vist this page at Wikipedia.com for a definition of what a blog is.

2. You must be able to add the participation banner code to your blog

3. Your blog must be regularly updated
(If your blog has been created recently, you will not be eligible to participate in BPT events until you can show a history of regular blog posting.)

4. PLEASE DO NOT WASTE OUR TIME IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BLOG!

If your blog meets the above requirements, please follow the two-step sign-up process below to register for the BPT and obtain your participation banner code."

Signup and Register - Blogger Poker Tour


**** We get points for referring other bloggers please mention that you heard about this on IPP ****

I played in this last season, had a lot of fun and won some nice Poker.com tcotchke.

Event #3 is today and I'm really excited. BPT Commissioner Shane has already cleared out some pretend bloggers (see It's the BLOGGER poker tour)so don't try to scam your way in.

My skills are much improved this year and I've stayed in the top 20 through the first two events. My goal for Event #3 is to improve on my 18th place finish in the lat event.

<<< Fair Witness >>

I'm a real, professional journalist with a diploma and everything. See "by Patrick Boake" for some of my work that's available online. One of the principles drilled into our heads in J-School was we don't pull any punches. That means we report the good AND the bad as objectively as possible. So, when a situation on which I've reported critically gets cleared up, I have an obligation to report that as well.

I have given the Poker.com software (and certain support people) a rough ride in the past. Before J-School I did 20-plus years in IT that left me with a low tolerance for commercial applications with major bugs and less for support departments who try to make out that it's the user's fault.

Having played 2 BPT events in the past month I can say that the Poker.com no longer has the problems referred to in earlier posts. It worked flawlessly through the last 2 events and I'm sure it will continue to do so.

Well done to all at Poker.com for clearing that up.

--PB--

Full Tilt Poker - Tips From The Pros

Clonie Gowen comes up with some excellent tips on Balancing Poker and Life for both the player and their partner.

"I am always trying to find the balance between family and poker, and I know a lot of you struggle with the same issue. For the serious player with a significant other, the poker lifestyle can be a real challenge. Here's a little advice for making poker work with the rest of your life. I've included five tidbits of advice for both the player and his or her partner."

My personal favourite:

"Don't even consider going pro until you can cover all of your bills for at least six months in advance."

Guess it'll be a while before I turn pro. :>

There is a whole range of excellent tips here including;

• Playing Big Slick in Deep Stack Tournaments by Paul Wolfe


• Check-Raising on Draws by Steve Breche


• Representing a Bluff: by Huckleberry Seed

I read a lot of this stuff and the Full Tilt Pro's seem to come up with the best.

--PB--

Absolute Poker.com Responds to U.S. Anti-Poker Legislation

Absolute Poker.com - Absolutely Business As Normal : "'It is the belief of our legal and executive team that online poker is a game of skill and the prohibitions signed into law on Friday Oct. 13, 2006 by the President of the United States neither apply to online poker nor our business.

'All existing and new customers of Absolute Poker can rest assured their funds are safe and secure and that their online poker playing is entirely legal and can continue to enjoy playing poker uninterrupted at Absolute Poker.com -- our business will operate entirely as normal."

Good for you Absolute Poker!

While I'm disappointed in the fact that the online poker industry let this happen in the first place the response to it has been positive.

My take on this is the U.S. is that it's a protectionist move (check the history of the trade dispute between the U.S. and the Canadian softwood lumber industry for more) intended to hobble online poker (which the U.S. can't tax mostly) to give the bricks-and-mortar casinos a chance to set-up online (which they can tax).

--PB--