Here’s why: The first players to act don’t think you would bluff into this many players [sometimes known as a "protected pot"]. Since they also have to worry about the players still to act behind them, they may fold stronger hands. The next players may be only moderately strong, and they may also fold [fearing the final two]. And the final two may be weak and drop.

This doesn’t have to work every time - just often enough to show a profit.

Get in the Game at Scarlet Poker

Freeloading Bill Frist will finally stop clogging the pipe with his crooked and underhanded deals by NOT, repeat, NOT running for president in 2008.

Who can forget his recent un-American midnight moves to make poker illegal, or rather, to make his special-interest backed gambling games protected.

The culture of corruption king has wrapped himself in rhetoric, the bible, world causes, and anything else that he thinks will perfume his poop, and announced the return to his professional roots as a ‘healer’. Must be a misprint - should read ‘stealer‘.

Good-bye and good riddance to the delusional destroyers of America. Don’t call us - we’ll call you, for the indictment. Oh, that’s right - you’re already under indictment. Anyway, we hope the door hits you on the ass on your way out.

Republican Frist says he will not seek White House

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senate Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said on Wednesday he would not run for the White House in 2008 and will return to his medical practice after he leaves the U.S. Congress in January.

Frist, a surgeon who served two terms, had been preparing for a possible presidential run for more than a year but said he decided this was not the time.

“In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season, and for me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to a close. I do not intend to run for president in 2008,” Frist said in a statement.

He said he would take a sabbatical from private life and “return to my professional roots as a healer.”

“In the short term, I will resume my regular medical mission trips as a doctor around the world to serve those in poverty, in famine, and in civil war,” he said. “I will continue to be a strong voice to fix what is broken in our health care system and to address the issues of clean water and public health globally.”

Frist had been criticized for his performance as Senate Republican leader and for the results of the congressional elections earlier this month. Republicans lost six Senate seats, relinquishing control of the chamber for the first time since 2002.

Frist also was damaged by a federal probe into his stock sales, a critical drawback in a year when Republicans were hammered by voters over ethical issues.

Frist easily won a straw poll of party activists in March at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, where he packed the home-state crowd with supporters wearing blue “Frist is my leader” buttons.

When playing in a game against average opponents, and bluffing, keep all your bets within the same timing range, like a rhythm. This will show that your betting isn’t just an idea that suddenly came to you but is in response to a good hand you have held all along.

When you use the same timing of bets on each card [and the same betting motion], it ties the rhythm together for an opponent. It gives him the reason he is looking for to believe that there is a pattern here - and he should fold.

Play Well and Win Money at Scarlet Poker

There’s one other benefit of making your betting appear as a rhythm. If you have a good hand and win, the next time you start this same betting rhythm, opponents may feel a little foolish calling bets, remembering how it came out last time, and will fold. Its a little memory trick - for them.

Throw your opponents - keep the same betting rhythm.

Jack McClelland, Bellagio Poker Tournament Director

As the poker tournament director for the Bellagio, industry veteran Jack McClelland’s opinion on the matter carries more weight than just about anyone’s.

The real question is not HOW the un-American UIGE Act will affect poker, but HOW MUCH and for HOW LONG.

Sure, the public companies are leaving the U.S., but that just opens opportunity to those who would find another way to maintain online poker service. TV coverage of the game is increasing, not decreasing. Brick-and-mortar casinos can’t build poker rooms fast enough. And the explosion of tournaments both online and real world continues.

So is the un-American UIGE Act just a temporary blip? Yes. Why? Look to history.

Prohibition did not last. No injustice survives in this country - especially not one that infringes on personal freedom. Freeloading Bill Frist and his special-interest politico-punks are the necessary evils of a democratic system that welcomes all, but ultimately stands with the majority. Their shenanigans remind us of what makes this country strong - Freedom. In the end, their brand of fascism is always defeated. Always. That’s history.

Play Your Game - Scarlet Poker

Yes, we’ve got a poker industry playing musical chairs right now. But that will pass. Services will settle down. And we’ll all get back to playing the great American game.

Talk Poker. Play Poker. Poker is America.

Pokers Fever Cools Down

by Jeff Haney

Nearly everyone in poker has a take on how the government’s recent crackdown on Internet gambling will affect traditional casino cardrooms, or “brick-and-mortar” poker rooms, as they have come to be known.

Will it chase online poker players away from their computers and into casino cardrooms, generating extra business for the brick-and-mortars?

Or will the online players’ poker fever fade as some major Internet cardrooms continue to deny service to Americans, and the federal legislation makes it more difficult for customers to deposit and withdraw funds?

As the poker tournament director for the Bellagio, industry veteran Jack McClelland’s opinion on the matter carries more weight than just about anyone’s.

Although big brick-and-mortars like the Bellagio might seem like natural rivals of the online poker sites, McClelland believes it’s more of a symbiotic relationship.

“I always say I hope (Internet poker) stays up, because I think it helps us a lot,” McClelland said at the recent Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “Once (online players) come into our casinos, they like the personal attention, the camaraderie, the interaction.

“What concerns me is that if the Internet (poker) goes completely down, then these people will find other interests.”

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 - signed by President Bush after it was shoved through Congress at the last minute, attached to an unrelated port security bill - does not expressly forbid online gambling, but it outlaws certain financial transactions involving gambling sites.

If the legislation ends up discouraging a lot of Americans from playing online poker, it might give places like the Bellagio a quick boost at first, but it would hurt business in the long run, McClelland said.

“If (Internet poker) does go down, in the short term we’re going to have more people coming in to play,” McClelland said. “And then we’re just going to figure out how to take advantage of it.”

The major online sites, however, fill a niche that land-based casinos simply cannot touch: all those wildly popular tournaments with low entry fees, whether they’re single-table affairs or “satellites” offering a cheap chance to compete in big tournaments with lucrative prize pools.

Concerns such as staffing and using valuable floor space within the casino prevent brick-and-mortars from competing in that area.

“It’s better for the brick-and-mortars if (Internet poker) continues,” McClelland said. “At Bellagio, we can’t run $5 (buy-in) satellites to get into $100 satellites to get into $1,000 tournaments. It’s just too cost-prohibitive, whereas they can do that on the Internet.

“The rock-star mentality is what’s made poker shoot up like it has in the last few years - you know, for $40 you can go into a half-million-dollar tournament, become a Chris Moneymaker, or you can be on TV, just by winning a $25 seat on the Internet. That’s the big draw.”

McClelland’s longtime colleague Doug Dalton, the director of poker operations at the Bellagio, also points to small online satellite players as a pivotal demographic that could be affected by the new legislation.

The link between online poker and the brick-and-mortars can sometimes go beyond intangibles - as when an Internet novice becomes infatuated with the game and develops a desire to try it live - and evolve into a direct relationship.

For example, even without any officially sanctioned relationship between the major poker tournament circuits and the Internet poker rooms, events such as World Poker Tour tournaments and the World Series of Poker draw a large number of entrants who win their way in through online satellites.

“The customer that’s at risk here is the customer who’s going to pay anywhere from $40 to $100 to play a satellite online,” Dalton said. “That’s the big online attraction: to be able to get in these satellites, win a seat in a big poker tournament, come in and hopefully it’s your week and you’re going to win a million dollars.

“That customer is going to do one of two things - step up and pay more money, pay $500 or $1,000 for a (brick-and-mortar) satellite, or just not play anymore. That’s what we’re going to find out, and only time will tell.”

In general, it’s not a good idea to show your cards when you’ve bluffed somebody. Doing this not only gives free information about your play and the kinds of cards you are playing, but it can also produce emotions that muddy the waters on future hands.

An example of the latter is this: You bluff Joe Player out of a pot by making a bet on the end, and then you turn over your cards to show him that you had absolutely nothing. Now, how are you going to read this player on upcoming hands?

Suppose that a few hands later you have a slightly better-than-average hand, and you bet into him, and he raises you? Now: Why is he raising you? Because he’s mad about the earlier hand? Because this time he’s going to give you a dose of your own medicine and try to bluff you? Or because this time he’s got a really good hand and he’s got you trapped with it?

Scarlet Poker - Are You In?

Showing him your bluff earlier makes it harder to read him on subsequent hands and identify his motivation.

Keep it simple. Don’t show your bluffs.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. is definitely in the game. And his recent move to stage one of the 2008 Presidential Debates at the University of Nevada, Reno, is a very good play. Sure, a Presidential Debate would shine a light on Nevada - a state already well-experienced with elaborate lighting - and bring many notable politicians back to the American adult playground known as Reno.

But his underlying agenda is clear: get the next group of Presidential contenders into the national epicenter of gaming, and get them active in the concerns of the gaming industry. This would be a brilliant opportunity to involve and educate the leading politicians on the issues that face us all - the most obvious one being the un-American UIGE Act. More importantly, it would be a fantastic opportunity to propose plans for the USA to re-take the leadership of the international gaming market.

President Fahrenkopf - we stand with you in this effort. We encourage everyone to fully support a 2008 Presidential Debate at the University of Nevada, Reno, and do everything possible to make this a reality.

Play Poker. Talk Poker. Poker is America.

Fahrenkopf Urges Bid to make UNR Debate Site

by Howard Stutz

RENO, Nevada — American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., who also serves as co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said Tuesday that he hopes to bring one of the 2008 presidential debates to the University of Nevada, Reno.

Fahrenkopf, whose Washington, D.C.-based gaming industry advocacy group is hosting the current Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the nonprofit, nonpartisan commission that has sponsored and produced the presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988, will soon be taking requests for bids from universities across the country for 2008.

Fahrenkopf, a Reno native and a 1962 graduate of UNR, said he would like to see the school win one of the prized nationally televised debates between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.

In preparation, Fahrenkopf said a technical team from the debate commission will visit the campus in the coming weeks to see if the school has the necessary facilities and capabilities to house one of the debates.

“Obviously, I think this would be good for Nevada, Reno and UNR,” Fahrenkopf said. “Since it’s my alma mater, I’d love to have the process continue and actually go forward.”

Fahrenkopf said he worked with new UNR President Milton Glick, who was provost at Arizona State University when the school hosted one of the debates between Republican President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

He said Glick’s understanding could help UNR if the school goes forward in the bidding.

“His background could help,” Fahrenkopf said.

Glick said Tuesday he hoped the debate commission staff will deem UNR’s facilities suitable for hosting that type of event. He thought the university’s Lawlor Events Center or the Reno Events Center, located about three blocks from campus, would be suitable sites.

“It’s worth making a run at it, and it’s something we’d like to do,” Glick said. “I’m glad the debate commission is having staff examine the facilities before we have people take the trouble to submit to the bidding process. I appreciate them making sure we can get over that threshold so we can participate.”

If it’s determined that UNR has the capacity to host a debate, it will be up to the school to determine if it is financially feasible to host the event.

“I have some experience from observing at Arizona State, so I think that would help us,” Glick said. “One thing I learned is that it’s critical not to low ball the bid.”

He said the budget for the debate at Arizona State was about $2.5 million.

Glick said he became acquainted with Fahrenkopf, who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee for six years during President Reagan’s administration, during the Arizona State debate process. He hopes that relationship and Fahrenkopf’s history with Reno might help the school.

“I think this would be a great opportunity for the university and Reno,” Glick said.

Nevada already is playing a role in the 2008 presidential election. The state is the site of an early Democratic presidential caucus which will be held in January.

This might seem like odd advice, but trying too hard to catch up in poker often leads to disaster. It can result in overplaying and further exaggeration of your losses. You become like the basketball team that gets down 10 points and starts throwing up 3-pointers from the “hope zone,” turning the ball over, giving the other side more hoops and an ever-growing lead.

ScarletPoker.us - We are American Poker

Take a step back and re-group.

If you are going to lose, you are going to lose. But don’t magnify the disaster. Go home a $150 loser, if you must. But don’t go home a $550 loser because you went crazy.

Avoid going on tilt. Resist the urge to recoup, pull even, make up lost ground, or you will wind up chasing rainbow pots, throwing good money after bad. ~ Doc Holliday

An article from the Poker Gazette points out that casino executives and a poker lobby group said that they hope a change in power brought by the midterm elections will help them overturn an Internet gambling ban rushed through Congress while Republicans were still in control.

Other notable: recently, officials from more than 30 countries attended a half-day conference near London to discuss ways to regulate the global internet gaming industry.

The gathering - held in the wake of a decision by the United States Government to effectively ban online gambling - was hosted by Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has been harshly critical of the US move to crack down on online gaming, likening it to a new form of the 1920s prohibition on alcohol.

Even New Zealand officials attended - little New Zealand - and a feedback on the discussions is expected to be prepared for their Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker, who may have to decide next year whether to let the Lotteries Commission sell tickets over the internet.

And of course US officials declined an invitation to take part in the gathering at the Royal Ascot race course, which is the first international summit to discuss the global effects of internet gambling.

But here’s a way around the current lame-duck, last gasp culture-of-corruption that will try to run things [into the ground] for the next couple of months:

Instead of working with the outgoing losers, spend time working with the friends and possible friends of the industry, getting them up to speed on the true nature of the international gaming market, walking them through the benefits and phenomenal growth - highlighting such upsides as the “well-paying careers”.

At the very least, copy the crib notes from New Zealand and start to use those in an information-assault for a 6 month media blitz.

Even Senator Harry Reid stated - although he’s rejected online gaming in the past - that he’d be open to looking at the results of a new study on the industry.

So Terry Lanni, Chief Executive of MGM Mirage and high profile industry spokesman - hook up with Tessa Jowell, Britain’s Culture Secretary and outspoken UIGEA critic. Drink tea, trade notes, and let’s get to work on killing this corrupt, Freeloading Frist, special-interest edict - otherwise known as the un-American UIGE Act.

New Zealand Asseses Online Gambling

LONDON, England - Officials from more than 30 countries, including New Zealand’s high commissioner to Britain Jonathan Hunt, attended a half-day conference near London to discuss ways to regulate the global internet gaming industry.

The gathering - held in the wake of a decision by the United States Government to effectively ban online gambling - was hosted by Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has been harshly critical of the US move to crack down on online gaming, likening it to a new form of the 1920s prohibition on alcohol.

US officials declined an invitation to take part in the gathering at the Royal Ascot race course, which is the first international summit to discuss the global effects of internet gambling.

Helen Tunnah, a spokeswoman for New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, says Mr Hunt and a policy officer based at the high commission in London attended as observers.

She says feedback on the discussions is expected to be prepared for Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker, who may have to decide next year whether to let the Lotteries Commission sell tickets over the internet, and the Internal Affairs Department.

Gamblers Take Aim at Internet Ban

Casino executives and a poker lobby group said that they hope a change in power brought by the midterm elections will help them overturn an Internet gambling ban rushed through Congress while Republicans were still in control.

MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Terry Lanni said Wednesday that the measure is “ridiculous” because it was signed into law Oct. 13 as part of a larger port security bill - and because it exempted horse races and lotteries, and online bets placed while on American Indian land.

“It makes no sense whatsoever,” Lanni told gambling industry officials attending the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. “Prohibition didn’t work, this isn’t going to work.”

Later, Lanni said he hoped Congress would commission a study into the effect of online gambling.

“We’re looking even in the lame-duck session to reintroduce this bill with some of our compatriots in the House and Senate to study (Internet) gaming,” said Lanni, who directs the world’s second-largest casino company.

“We think it can be taxed, we think it can be regulated, we think it can be licensed,” Lanni said. “With the new leadership, with the Democrats winning the House and the Senate, we think we’re going to have a much better opportunity to do that.”

Lanni hinted that the promotion of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to majority leader might help the industry’s cause, but Reid said Wednesday that he opposed Internet gambling.

“I have said on many occasions that I don’t believe in Internet gambling,” Reid said in a meeting with reporters, adding he’d be open to looking at the results of a study on it.

“I know that people say it can be controlled, I just have extreme doubts that it can be. But I’ll be happy to look at the study. I’m not going to turn my head and say never, never.”

The Internet gambling ban prohibits banks from processing fund transfers from players to settle their online wagers. The Federal Reserve and other bank regulators were tasked with coming up with practical measures to enforce the law by July 2007.

Americans bet an estimated $6 billion per year online, according to industry figures, most of it through sites run by companies outside the U.S.

Several London-listed gaming groups closed or sold their U.S. business after Congress added to an unrelated bill a provision that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to settle payments for online gambling sites.

President Bush signed the law Oct. 14. Consolidation within the online gambling industry has been widely expected among company executives and investors after a sharp sell-off in the sector.

The online poker lobby group, Poker Players Alliance, claimed Wednesday that anger over the ban helped sink the re-election bid of 30-year House legislator Rep. Jim Leach, the Iowa Republican who helped write the bill.

The alliance released the results of an automated telephone survey of 1,033 voters in Leach’s congressional district conducted Monday and Tuesday by RT Strategies.

While one in 10 cited Leach’s stand against Internet gambling as a strong influence in their vote for him, a greater proportion, nearly one in seven, cited it as a strong reason to vote for his opponent,Democrat Dave Loebsack, a political science professor.

“This was an awful close race,” said pollster Thomas Riehle of RT Strategies. “It looks like on balance, Leach’s position on Internet gambling hurt him more than it helped him.”

Michael Bolcerek, president of the 120,000-member poker alliance, said the election results emboldened the group.

“Our members and other poker players went to the polls. They influenced the federal election,” he said. “In the next 12 months we’re confident that we’ll get a study commission bill. We think an exemption is in order, as well.”

Legal experts at the expo harshly criticized the Internet gambling law, saying it was confusing and contradictory, particularly a section that appeared to sanction Internet betting conducted within a state.

“It’s a public embarrassment. … it’s a mess,” said professor I. Nelson Rose of the Whittier Law School. “Eventually I think they’ll get Congress to change the law to do for Internet poker exactly what they did for Internet horse racing. It’s an exemption but (based on) states’ rights.”

David Stewart, a lawyer with Washington-based Ropes & Gray LLP, predicted lawmakers would let the courts work out the law’s weak points.

“Whenever they legislate on something, they don’t come back to it for a while,” he said. “They want to see, did they really screw it up or can people work their way around it?”

One of the dangers of a cold streak is that your growing anger can begin to cloud your ability to evaluate hands. This might seem impossible, that you could literally lose the ability to look at your cards and tell if they are any good or not, but it can happen. It’s possible for rage and confusion to mess up our vision so much that we can’t see what we’re looking at anymore.

A second problem with a cold streak can be vanity - our pride kicks in and convinces us that we’re good enough to ‘play our way out of it’. We’re different from other people. When other people have cold cards they have to tighten up and pull in the horns - but not us. We have the skills to play our way out of it. This kind of thinking can be a trap.

And finally, the third problem with going through a rough patch in poker is that you can’t turn to your friends for sympathy because they’re usually the ones who are doing it to you.

Are You In? - Scarlet Poker

Take a break. Take a walk. Change your game. Change your pants. Tighten up your play. Chalk it up to experience.The good thing is that cold streaks never last.

Meet the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid

• Hails from Nevada
• Was the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977-1981
• As Chairman, Reid ushered in a new era of responsibility, paving the way for Nevada’s almost epic economic development
• Was awarded an Industry Leadership Award from the American Gaming Association in 2001
• Was not happy with Frist’s tactic of sneaking the UIGEA into the Safe Ports Act

Seems like a good candidate to put American poker back in the game, right?

As with any politician’s election, Senator Reid came with attachments - chits used to back his successful campaign - and those backings are soon to be cashed in. The land-based gaming industry is a major supporter of Harry Reid. That sole interest will be relying on the Senator to promote its agenda.

This is where common ground can be struck.

The land-based gaming industry, like every industry, is made up of a wide range of business interests. These interests run the range from conservative to progressive. And while they may not agree on the how’s and when’s of the internet, they all recognize the potential. The advancement of the international gaming market brings technology, management and expertise, which translates into well-paying careers and growing digital industries. Also, they know that money talks loud.

Fry some fish - Play Scarlet Poker

This is the mission: Poker players, related gaming bodies, and poker businesses must now assist the New Senate Majority Leader in understanding the role that American Leadership and American Entrepreneurship can take in the growing international gaming market.

Use the daily coverage of the international markets from the UK, Europe and Asia as verified proof that American Poker is conquering the world. Frame the discussion smartly so that it convinces before it has even begun. Stop using negative, tainted phrases such as “online gambling” and “offshore”. Start using positive phrases such as “international gaming market“, “leadership“, “ingenuity“, “well-paying careers“, and “entrepreneur“.

Senator Reid can pave the way to overturning the underhanded UIGE Act. He can open opportunities for American Poker to regain its leadership. He just needs help from us all - the Poker Players.

Online Gaming Has Uphill Battle with New Senate Majority Leader

Amy Calistri

Harry Reid Online gaming advocates were high fiving after the mid-term elections as many of their mostly Republican foes were unseated. But this was an admittedly small battle in the war to undo the UIGEA.

If online gaming is to win the war, they have an uphill struggle relative to the issue of regulation with the new Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

On the surface, Nevada Senator Harry Reid looks like the perfect focal point for the issue of internet gaming. In 2001, Reid was awarded an Industry Leadership Award from the American Gaming Association.

Accepting the award Reid said, “I’ve been proud to help educate America about the contributions gaming entertainment makes to Nevada and across the country.”

Reid was not happy with Frist’s tactic of sneaking the UIGEA into the Safe Ports Act saying, “I can assure you that I was disappointed with the Majority Leader’s inclusion of an Internet gambling ban in an unrelated bill that plays an important role in protecting our nation from the threat of terrorism. I was also dismayed that the Minority Party was denied the ability to participate in the political process and be involved in the negotiations of the conference report. Consequently, those who opposed the online-gaming ban had no realistic opportunity to object.”

Reid has called the President a “loser,” Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas an “embarrassment,” former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan “a partisan hack,” and said the “nation’s capital had been overrun by organized crime Tom Delay-style.” But when it comes to online gaming, perhaps the most important thing he’s said is “Internet gambling cannot be controlled and, therefore, it should be illegal.”

What does Harry Reid know about gaming regulation? Plenty. Reid was the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977-1981. It was a particularly challenging period in Nevada gaming history as mob influence was prevalent and public opinion was low. As Chairman, Reid ushered in a new era of responsibility, paving the way for Nevada’s almost epic economic development. But it wasn’t easy. His life was threatened on numerous occasions; once when a car bomb was placed in his family’s station wagon. When Reid denied a gaming license to Stardust Casino executive and convicted sports fixer Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the showdown was so dramatic it was eventually portrayed in the movie Casino.

But even with his public anti-online gaming position, maybe Reid is the right person at the right time for online poker. He obviously understands the economic benefits of the gaming industry and he has been open to legislation that would study the potential to legalize and regulate online gaming in the US. But to do this and do this right, it means that online companies can’t just hide behind the cloak of offshore locations and hope that a skill vs. chance argument eventually filters through the court system. To turn Reid into an ally, online poker needs to come forward and articulate its ability to be regulated and demonstrate its willingness to contribute to the US economy via taxation and jobs. Those are the issues that resonate with Harry Reid and, to every extent, have defined his career.