Internet Data-deletion Debate Heating Up

The European Parliament is worried about your data sitting dormant on websites of all kinds and last week began formal discussions to further regulate personal data on the Internet. Greek Member of the European Parliament Stavros Lambrinidis is preparing a report for a plenary session in Strasbourg calling for “more stringent and efficient means of user data protection.” Australia, China, Singapore, and Japan also had similar legislative stirrings in recent weeks.

The industry spent a dozen years fighting US Congressman Ed Markey’s (D-MA) efforts to regulate the Internet. Markey, though, just passed the chairmanship of the House Subcommittee responsible for telecommunications, technology and the

Internet to one of the House’s most tech-savvy Congressmen, Rick Boucher (D-VA).

As the 1960 boatlift Cubans in Miami claissically lamented, “We prayed for the overthrow of Batista; then we got Castro!” High on Boucher’s list of priorities is a bill to regulate privacy of Internet users. Of most concern to online gaming businesses will be a specific “opt-in” clause for users before data can be shared with other providers.

Why the sudden activity? Congress, Parliament and most governmental bodies seize their opportunities from headlines. This has been quite a few weeks with scandals providing fuel. NBC News reported recently that a back door existed in many popular music file-sharing programs that could allow hackers into one’s computer to download tax forms, university applications and personal bank account information.

Recently, Minnesota Senate candidate Norm Coleman’s website allowed anyone to download his entire donor database, including addresses and credit card numbers. MSNBC’s interviewed data security expert Adria Richards, who found the security issue and reported it on her blog. The Coleman gaffe could crimp his plans to continue his challenge against Al Franken for that long-disputed Senate seat. Could you imagine a solicitation letter for Coleman’s legal challenge fund including the line, “Sorry, please send more money and by the way, you need to get a new credit card?”

Elsewhere, Facebook was thrown into a crisis over a minor change in its website Terms and Conditions (T&C) allowing them to keep your data indefinitely — mostly because it is too difficult to erase from 115 million users. So loud was the uproar that they changed it back to their original terms.

This type of change could affect your poker/gaming sites. What can you do to protect your data already out there on the Web? If you cease doing business with a gaming site, make sure to delete your account and all personal info. Write to the company and ask them to delete your account and all personal information. Same for the payment agencies they use.

No matter where you play, change and update your info regularly. Don’t automatically store passwords; use a simple password saver program and auto-generator.

Examine what data is stored on your ‘my account’ page and is no longer needed and can be deleted. I’ve left five or six online poker sites during the last three years and never thought much about the issue of data protection; my personal info, including a faxed copy of my passport’s main page, sits in one site’s office.

Also, check your computer’s msconfig file periodically to see what programs start automatically and run all the time. Aside from improving speed and performance of your machine, there is no need for a lot of these programs to run 24/7 and some of these are where trojans and other malware programs can attach themselves and compromise your files.

A change of this magnitude could, conceivably, affect security on the operator side, making it more difficult for sites to find bots, colluders and multi-accounting players, and thereby make it more difficult to keep the online game safe and fair for all. In the UK, data-protection laws are interpreted with such strict, minute detail that even trying to arrange a furniture delivery, if my wife purchased it, is impossible, because, “They must speak to the person who placed the order.”

With the US, EU and Asia looking independently at the issue, any result will have little impact on those who steal data for a living; they will simply find another way. It could, though, create a confusing maze of tougher standards for all and would be difficult to maintain and implement.

For an industry deeply involved in a fight to overthrow UIGEA, this issue is among the thorniest. Since Congress, Parliament and regulators are not known for taking smart action, this is one fight to watch and weigh in on early.

Editor’s note: Contributing columnist Denis Campbell brings an independent and experienced eye to poker’s political scene. Campbell has worked closely in the past with former Cabinet Secretaries in the Carter and Clinton administrations, Ambassadors and members of Congress. He offers commentary on US and UK politics for the BBC and Huffington Post, and is currently the editor-in-chief of UK Progressive Magazine. Here, Denis offers his insights on matters affecting poker. Denis’ views do not necessarily reflect those of PokerNews.

Poker News Cup Alpine Begins

Satellite play began yesterday and action kicked off today in the first event of the PokerNews Cup Alpine in Salbaach-Hinterglemm, Austria, near Salzburg, a destination famous for its world-class skiing but playing host to a different sort of world-class competition for the next week. Hundreds of players are expected to be on hand for several of the events, with a complete overview of the PNC Alpine offering.

The schedule of events is highlighted by a “high rollers” pot-limit Omaha tourney on Tuesday, March 24th, which features a €4,700+300 buy-in. The PNC Alpine Cup Main Event (€1375+125) begins on Wednesday, March 25th and runs for three days. A number of high-profile players have already confirmed their attendance, including Marcel Luske, Sandra Naujoks, Noah Boeken, John Duthie, David Saab, Tristan Clemenceau, Markus Golser, Erich Kollman, and of course, PokerNews’ own Team Captain, Tony G.

Live coverage of PNC Alpine events at PokerNews.com begins tomorrow and will run through the duration of the event schedule. For more information on the structures of the various events.

The complete 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine schedule of events:

Day/Date Starting Time Event # Title (Buy-in)

Sat 3/21 6:00pm #1 NLHE Welcome Event (€100+10)
Sun 3/22 2:00pm #2 NLHE w/ rebuys (€50+5/€50 rebuys)
Mon 3/23 2:00pm #3 NLHE w/ bounties (€100+10)
Mon 3/23 7:00pm #3b NLHE Sat. to Event #5 w/ rebuys (€100+10/€100 rebuys)
Tues 3/24 2:00pm #4 PLO (€270+30)
Tues 3/24 4:00pm #5 High Rollers PLO (€4,700+300)
Wed 3/25 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Day 1 (€1375+125)
Thurs 3/26 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Day 2
Fri 3/27 2:00pm #7 NLHE (€100+10)
Fri 3/27 2:00pm #6 NLHE Main Event Final Table

Dream Table III Begins Tonight on ‘Poker After Dark’

Poker Tournaments, Poker Calendar, Poker Schedule for Poker Games

5 card draw

The rules of 5 Card Draw are similar to the rules of Holdem. The game is played as follows:

1. A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves one spot clockwise after every hand.
2. Before any cards are dealt, players must post any mandatory bets, known as ‘blinds’ or ‘antes’.
   1. In Draw, the player directly to the left of the dealer must post the ‘small blind’.
   2. The player two spots left of the dealer must post the ‘big blind’.
   3. The small blind is most often smaller than the big blind, usually exactly half.
3. After the mandatory blinds and/or antes are posted, each player is dealt five cards face down.
4. A betting round begins, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. This player is said to be ‘under the gun’. As in every other form of poker, players can choose to check, fold, bet or call as appropriate throughout the round of betting.
5. After the first round of betting, players have the option of discarding up to 5 cards, and exchanging them for new ones. It is not mandatory that players discard and exchange- it is strictly optional. If a player chooses to keep all of his original cards, this is known as ‘staying’.
6. After each player has discarded and exchanged his desired amount of cards, a second and final round of betting begins. The action starts once again with the player under the gun.
7. Once the final round of betting is complete, any remaining players must show down their hands. As in all other forms of poker, the player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. If two players show down identical hands, they must split the pot.
8. Once the pot has been transferred to the winner, the dealer button is moved one spot clockwise, and a new hand may begin.

Omaha poker

Omaha Hi poker, usually known simply as Omaha, is very similar to Texas Holdem. There are two main differences between the games:

1. In Omaha, instead of receiving only two hole cards, each player receives four.
2. In Omaha, players must use exactly two of their hole cards in combination with three community cards to make their five-card poker hand.

Structurally, Omaha is pretty much the same game as Holdem. Let’s take a look at the rules:

1. A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves clockwise around the table, and is passed at the end of every hand.
2. All blinds, antes or other required bets must be put into the pot before any cards are dealt. In Omaha.
   1. The player directly to the left of the dealer posts the small blind.
   2. The player two spots to the left of the dealer posts the big blind.
   3. Generally, the small blind is half the size of the big blind.
3. After the required bets have been placed, four hole cards are dealt face down to each player. A betting round begins, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. This player is said to be ‘under the gun’.
4. Once betting has completed in the first round, three community cards are dealt face up, for all players to use. A second betting round follows the deal, beginning with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘flop’, or ‘Third Street’.
5. Once betting has completed on the flop, one community card is dealt face up, for all players to use. A third betting round follows the deal, beginning again with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘turn’, or ‘Fourth Street’.
6. Once betting has completed on the turn, a final community card is dealt face up, for all players to use. A fourth and final betting round follows the deal, beginning once more with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘river’, or ‘Fifth Street’.
7. Once all betting is complete on the river, any players remaining in the hand must show down their cards. All players still involved must compare their five-card poker hands. The pot is handed over to the player with the highest ranked hand.

Omaha Hi-Lo (Omaha 8):

Omaha Hi-Lo, usually known as Omaha 8, is structurally the exact same game as Omaha Hi. There is, however, one fundamental difference:

1. In Omaha 8, players can aim to make either the best high poker hand, or the best low poker hand. In the case that one player shows down a winning high hand, and the other shows down a winning low hand, the two players split the pot. In order to win the full pot at showdown, a player must have both the best high and low hand, or there must be no low hand in play.

Poker Pro Alan Goehring

There are two basic types of big-money tournament players in the poker world: those who play for the money, and those who play for fun. You can safely file Alan Goehring away in the latter category. The Henderson, NV, resident is a retired junk bond analyst and trader who doesn’t need the big cash that major tournament prize pools offer in order to live. For Goehring, competition is the big draw. For the last 7 years Goehring has been playing in big events on the poker tournament circuit. While one could call him a professional player, that would imply that he lived off his earnings from poker tournaments. He’s more like Paul Phillips than Chip Jett - comfortable thanks to his previous career, he now pursues the game of poker as an intellectual challenge.

Goehring’s tournament record is an impressive one. His first major cash came in the $3,000 no-limit hold’em event at the 1997 World Series Of Poker, which featured 217 entrants and other accomplished money finishers such as Kathy Liebert, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Dan Harrington, and Bill Gazes. His next cash also came at the WSOP, when he finished 13th in a field of 112 at the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event of the 1998 WSOP. It wasn’t until the 1999 WSOP, though, that Goehring truly gained a reputation as a great player. That year he finished 2nd in the $10,000 Main Event to Ireland’s Noel Furlong. His runner-up position was good enough for over $768,000 in winnings.

Though he had proven his mettle, Goehring gained a reputation as someone who couldn’t win the big tournaments. While he made final tables regularly, he didn’t have any major wins to his credit. That all changed in 2003 when the  broke onto the scene. At the inaugural WPT Championship at Bellagio, Goehring bested the entire 111-man field to take home over $1 million in prize money. He also outlasted a tough final table that included the likes of Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Ted Forrest, and his heads-up opponent, Kirill Gerasimov. Goehring could no longer be considered an also-ran - he was now officially a champion.

After Goehring’s big win at Bellagio, it would be another three years before he would claim another major title. There may have been plenty of doubters, but with the WPT title under his belt Goehring had plenty of status in the poker world. In the meantime, he had good showings at a variety of tournaments on the circuit. In 2004, he took home over $375,000 with top-20 finishes in four different WPT events and a 2nd-place finish in a preliminary event at the Five-Star World Classic at Bellagio in December. 2005 was also a solid year for Goehring. He cashed in three WPT main events, including a final table at the Grand Prix de Paris, and also cashed three times at the WSOP. That marked the first money he’d won at the marquee poker event since his 2nd place finish in the 1999 Main Event. In all, he took home over $257,000 in winnings over the course of 2005.

In early 2006 Goehring finally broke his winless streak at the LA Poker Classic and took home nearly $2.4 million. His win was truly a wire-to-wire performance - he finished in the top 5 for the first five days of the tournament. His victory catapulted him to 12th on the all-time money list and 4th on the WPT all-time list, and brought him near the $5 million mark in career earnings. That’s not too bad for a guy who only plays big tournaments for fun - and not for the money.

Poker Positions and Why they Matter

Types of Poker Players

What type of poker player are you?  What type of poker player are your opponents?  If you can’t answer those two questions, you’re missing a key component of your game.  Poker players are generally classified by two attributes - tight or loose and aggressive or passive.  These combine to create the four main player types:

• Tight-Aggressive
• Tight-Passive
• Loose-Aggressive
• Lose-Passive

The Rules of Texas Hold ‘em

Texas Hold ‘em is one of the easiest games to learn.  A hand of Hold ‘em starts with the placing of the blind bets.  There is a small blind and a big blind, which is typically double the size of the small blind.  The small blind is placed by the player to the direct left of the dealer and the big blind is placed by the player to the right of the dealer.

After the blinds have been placed, each player is dealt two cards face down.  These are called the hole cards.  Any player can look at their cards at any time.  The first round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind.  This player may call the big blind, raise the big blind, or fold.  Betting continues clockwise around the tab le until every player has called or folded.

After the first betting round ends, three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table.  These three cards are called the flop.  They are community cards and can be used by any player at the table along with their hole cards to make up a hand. Once the flop is laid out, another betting round begins.  This time the betting begins with the first person to the left of the dealer that is still in the check (which means they don’t bet, but they don’t fold), bet, or call, raise, fold, or they may check as well if the player before them has also checked.  Once someone bets all other players must either call, raise or fold.  You can’t check once someone else has bet.

Once the second betting round has finished, one card is dealt face-up next to the flop.  This card is called the turn; this is another community card and can be used by any player at the table.

After the turn card has been dealt, another betting round begins.  It is played out in exactly the same manner as the betting round that followed the flop.

After the third betting round is finished, one final card is dealt face-up next to the turn card.  This card is called the river.

After the river card is dealt, the final betting round begins.  It is played out the same way as the betting rounds that followed the flop and the turn.  After all players have bet or folded, any players still in the hand reveal their cards in the showdown.  The player that makes the best five-card hand out, of their two hole cards and the five community cards wins the pot.  After the post has been paid out, the dealer rotates one position to the left.  The blinds are placed again, and another hand is dealt out.

Hold ‘em can be played with a set limit or no-limit betting.  In set limit there are actually two limits set.  For example, the limits could be $1/$2.  In this game, the big blind would be $1 and the small blind would be 50 cents.  The minimum bet during the first two betting rounds is $1.  During the third and final betting rounds, the minimum bet is $2.  Betting increments must be made the same size as the minimum bet.

In no limit, a player can bet all of their chips at any time.  However, a player can only lose all of their chips if they are in a showdown with a player who has an equal number or more chips.  If you go all-in with $100 and another player goes all-in with $75, the most you can lose is $75.

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