Category: game

The game of Blackjack (or 21) is a very simple game to play. Each player must make a bet in one of the positions (or boxes) marked on the table. The player then receives two cards initially which make up a “Hand”. These two cards are added together and the player decides whether to call for additional cards or stay with the ones already given.

The idea is to reach a total of 21 or as near to 21 as possible without exceeding 21, players may not take cards on any total of 21. If the players total exceeds 21, then that hand is lost (or “bust”) and the player will lose the bet. The Croupier will also take cards until a minimum total of 17 is reached. If the player’s total of a hand is higher than that of the Croupier – the player wins; if the total of the Croupier’s cards is higher than that of the player – the Croupier wins. If the total of both the player and the Croupier is the same – nobody wins or loses. For the purposes of counting the totals, all cards are counted at face value, with the exception of Aces, which may be counted as 1 or 11, except where a total of 21 can be achieved when an Ace will always count as 11. All picture cards (Kings, Queens and Jacks) are counted as 10. A “Blackjack” consists of two cards only, an Ace and Ten-value card, and counts as 21. Blackjack can only be obtained on the fist two cards given to any box, and is paid at odds of 3 to 2. All other winning hands are paid Even Money (1 to 1). Blackjack beats all other hands except another Blackjack, which would be …

I joined the Poker Players Alliance in 2006 at the WSOP. It was just starting out back then, and was created to assist poker players with unlawful or unethical situations they may encounter. The main issue at the time was professional players being compensated from poker organizations for using their likeness for profit.

Then the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act hit the industry, and the role of the PPA became more of a unifying force to help battle against the American government. This has put the organization at the forefront of the game’s battle in the U.S., and numbers have grown to over a million members this past year.

You can expect the organization to have a table set up at every WSOP. It’s the best gathering of poker players all year, with over 50,000 players and fans going through the Rio from May 30th to July 7th. If you’re not a member yet, go to the Poker Players Alliance website and check it out.

Every online poker room has some sort of WSOP satellite action, but some have gone to extremes this year. The two sites that have pumped up this promotion are Bodog and Full Tilt Poker. The Bodog poker room has been giving away multiple seats each week since February, and they’re currently awarding five seats per week. They have satellites for as low as $1.50 and other qualifiers are $7, $18, $27, $5.50 (plus tourney fee), and special qualifiers that use Bodog Points.

Full Tilt has offered $10M to any of their players that qualify for the WSOP main event and wins it. They are running hundreds of satellite tournaments each week, including the Race to the Main Event Giveaway, the 150-Seat Main Event Guarantee, the $200 Tuesday Main Event …