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The other "Brunson" poker hand
2008-05-20 12:53:00
I know most everyone that plays poker knows that 10-2 is known as the "Dolly" , “Doyle Brunson” or "The Brunson." There is another hand that is also known as the Doyle Brunson mainly because he never plays this hand. And that hand is A-Q . Doyle Brunson makes it clear that the hand is nothing but trouble in his books . Personally I have never had too much problems with playing the hand myself...I just ALWAYS raise 4 to 6x the BB to try and get rid of the trash hands before the flop. If anyone calls me then I know I'm up against a strong hand .Well...at last Saturday's private freeroll that we held at Carbon Poker I found out the hard way the dangers of playing A-Q . I must have gotten dealt that hand pre-flop five times, and I lost with each and every one of them ! Each time I was called and the flop would be no help at all. I might would take a stab at the pot only to get raised...... Now a lot of that might have been due to me putting a bounty o...

The House Welcomes Bodog Poker !
2008-05-13 20:34:00
The House of Poker Blues is proud to announce that it is now promoting Bodog Poker ! It took a few weeks to get everything lined up, but we done it.This site has everything a poker player or gambler could want in an online room , and I really like the layout out of the whole site. Make sure to check out the write up for the Poker Room and their Sportsbook & Casino as well right here at the House.The Bodog Poker Room features daily tournaments with a monthly guaranteed prize pool of $5 million, including a $100,000 guaranteed tournament each Sunday. Stake your claim in Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7–Card Stud, 7–Card Stud Hi/Lo and 5–Card Stud. Bodog, which is a digital entertainment giant involved in music, television and publishing, also offers guaranteed seats to the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Who knows, the next member of Team Bodog could be you! Founded in 1994, Bodog Entertainment, with its head office in the lovely...
More About: The House

To all you Moms on Mothers Day
2008-05-11 18:57:00
I just wanted to send the best of wishes to all you moms out there on Mothers Day . I know a lot of you play poker as my wife does , so if you decide to play today may you win big ! If you don't , well I hope you have a very pleasant day.I think a lot of moms go unrecognized these days, been guilty of doing that myself at times . But a Mothers work is never done and her love is always there . My wife Glenda has to be one the hardest working ladies I've ever known, yet she is always there for our kids and the grandsons when ever they need her. Being a man , I sometimes will lose patience but not you women . I just don't know how you all manage sometimes. I thank God that I've had a good woman to be a Mom to our children everyday. I just don't know if I could have managed all that cooking, washing clothes , cleaning house , and still manage to make sure the kids had what they needed everyday. I think I would have lost my mind by now !Anyhow , Happy Mothers Day to all you moms !&nb...
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$50 Private Freeroll + a Bounty !
2008-05-09 13:04:00
I've got a little Private $50 Freeroll with a $10 bounty on my head for those forum members that have been active , to be played on the 16th. Any new sign-ups to Carbon Poker that make a deposit will also receive a coupon to play the game as well . These games usually have a very small playing feild, so come on out and take full advantage of this one folk. New sign-ups must use the link or banner on this post in order to receive the coupon. You can join the forum to see all the details on the game , and others that we host as well . Make your first deposit with CarbonPoker and use coupon code 100FIRST1K to earn a 100% bonus on deposits up to $500! That's $100 free on deposits of $100. On top of playing in our little private games you will receive 1 entry to a $1,000 freeroll, which can be used for entry to any $1,000 Freeroll. You'll also receive entry for 14 days into the $500 Freerolls for New Depositing Players.Description:  House of Poker Blue'sTab Location: Tournam...
More About: Bounty

Merge Gaming Network Update !
2008-04-30 17:52:00
I just wanted to share some good news today about the 5th Street Charity Ball. This is the game that we host on the first Saturday of each month to raise funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. As some of you may know, I'd been trying to get the 5th Street Charity Ball added to all of the Merge Gaming Network poker rooms for the last couple months. I had thought that it would be done for last months game but it didn't happen.Yesterday one of the mods over at the forum, she goes by Scotlady, jumped in to try and help get this done as well . As we all know sometimes a lady can get things done when a man can't . Scotlady proved once again that a pretty face can work wonders . I am proud to announce that the 5th Street Charity Ball is now located at not only Carbon Poker , but all the skins on the Merge Gaming Network !   That means that now you can play the charity event at the skin of your choice, be it Walker Poker, IronDuke , Poker Nordica , Reefer Poker or any of the ot...
More About: Update

Backgammon Masters
2008-04-28 19:50:00
Backgammon is a game that seems to becoming popular especially due to the change in gaming laws in the USA and is a favourite of mine,second tom poker.Backgammon masters is fastlty becoming the best site to play on if you like online backgammon and if you care to visit the site then you will see why  its a very popular site.They have some really cool features for the players including manual or automatic roll,auto pointer which shows you all your possible moves and you can even block player chat plus theres lots of other great features for you to choose fron to enhance your game.According to the latest press release  they are testing a new blackjack which consists of 5 players per table but instead of playing against each other they play against the dealer.Its is based on a popular film called #(bringing the house down) which involves card counting.The teams will be using a blackjack strategy calculator to help process thier hands and to help work out odds  thus givin...
More About: Masters , Backgammon

Chatting with Bluff Magazine
2008-04-25 23:32:00
 This is an interview I had done with Bluff Magazine publisher Eric Morris back in February of 07. I hope you enjoy it today as much as folk did back on the old site . I've been slowing moving some of the past interviews here to the new site.Today we have with us Bluff Magazine owner and publisher Eric Morris . Bluff Magazine in my opinion is the best all around poker mag that you will find on the market these days...1. Eric, what was it that inspired you to start a poker magazine? I have been involved in the gambling industry since 1998 when I created and launched the first publication dedicated to Online Gambling. The name of the magazine is Gambling Online Magazine, which I ran until June of 2005. Up until 2003 the majority of my advertisers were online casinos and sportsbooks. Online poker rooms maybe made up 2% of my advertising base. However in 2003 I noticed that many of the casino and Sportsbook operators were starting to promote their poker rooms over the other prope...
More About: Chatting

Poker.com $1000.00 Tournament Winner
2008-04-21 14:27:00
Hello folk , thought I would come today and plug another site , and that site is Poker .com . A gentleman from Australia owns the domain , and you can take anything he says straight to the bank . He used to be the head honcho over at Carbon Poker before the Merge Gaming network came about , so he knows this business very well . You can read an interview I had done with him by clicking Chatting with Poker.com . You may wonder why I would be plugging my "competition" today. Well the truth of the matter is he's way above my league and I like what the man has done for this industry , and he's always treated me with the utmost respect . He runs some very nice private freerolls as well ,  the Poker.com $1000.00 Freeroll being just yesterday .  Kris has games like this on more than one site and hosts them on a right regular basis . So make sure to go visit his domain at Poker.com. Make sure you visit the forum while there and say hello , and don't forget his blog . ;-...
More About: Winner , Tournament

Senator Graham responds to online poker exemption .
2008-04-17 22:50:00
I received a reply back from Senator Lindsey Graham on the letter I had sent off to my Congressmen about exempting online poker from the UIGEA bill . It's nothing that I would say is good news , but his reply is not bad neither compared to some I have received from his office in the past . Though I do have to admit it would surprise me if he ever did see our point of view , you never know.  Anyhow , here's his reply;Dear Earl:Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts regarding Internet poker.  I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you.Hearings were held and a number of different bills regarding Internet gambling were considered during the 109th Congress.  On October 13th, 2006, the President signed the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 into law.  As you know, this law also included the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, which prohibits the use of credit cards and money transfers to fund Internet gambling accounts.There are currently two bills in th...
More About: Poker , Online , Online Poker

ePassporte Bails Out of Online Poker
2008-04-14 12:15:00
Some bad news for U.S. players. It looks like another payment processor that has worked for U.S. citizens to use with the online poker rooms has bailed out of the business . United States owned ePassporte had got some bad reviews in the past about their support, but I personally had found them to be very dependable. I'd been using them ever since Neteller closed the American accounts with no problems at all . Their fees were a little steep , but when your choices are as limited as us Americans are , it was well worth it.The first news that they were getting out of the online poker area came by way of an e-mail sent out by Cake Poker April 12th . The letter stated " We have received notice from ePassporte today that they are unable to continue to provide CakePoker with merchant e-wallet services. We have since confirmed that this situation is not unique to CakePoker and is, in fact, industry wide." The news soon spread like a wildfire across the poker community , and it ju...
More About: Online , Online Poker

The 5th Street Charity Ball
2008-04-06 15:07:00
Hello folks . I thought today I would talk a little bit about the Poker Charity Event that we at the House Forum host each month at Carbon Poker . Back in the very early days of the poker room they had a charity event , that received little attention and the site soon stopped with the games . Personally I liked the games , but felt that the buy-in was a little steep for the majority of players . The game fell during mid-week , and was at a time that was very late for our European friends , so that didn't help draw a player base for this game at all . When they stopped the games a few folk got upset , myself included . That  was the beginning of Brad and I's friendship.....Brad and I started talking a bit online because of my frustration with trying to get a Charity Event back on the site . At the time I think a lot of folk got tired of hearing about my anger , but not Brad . We came up with the thought that maybe if we just started our own forum , then we should be able to ho...
More About: Street , Ball

Charity Poker Event Today
2008-04-05 14:59:00
The House of Poker Blues would like to invite you to join us in our Monthly Charity tournament , available at Carbon Poker today, Saturday April 5th at 16:00 server time.its just $4 to buy in with half of the buy in going to a very worthy cause, The Make a Wish Foundation.You can find it at Carbon Poker and listed under Tournaments/ Private.Its named "The 5th Street Charity Ball"We usually get around 50 players in this every month but it would be great to see the numbers rise and raise ALOT more money for the kids . No matter where you finish at the end of the tournament you win because half of the money goes to the Make a Wish Foundation.We host this game the first Saturday of each month , so make sure to spread the word !    
More About: Event , Today

Congressmen reply on expemption of poker from UIGEA
2008-04-03 17:41:00
I write my Congressmen on a regular basis to let them know my displeasure about the current laws here in the U.S., and thought I'd fire off a round before the Congressional Hearing on the UIGEA yesterday. In my letter this go round I stated my support for the exemption of poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. I've received replies back this time from Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Henry Brown . Senator Lindsey Graham has not answered this past letter...I thought I'd share the replies from Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Henry Brown with my readers today . Dear Mr. "Earl", Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the exemption of poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. I appreciate you taking the time to write me with your thoughts. I greatly value your thoughts and opinions, and I assure you that I will continue to monitor this important issue. I will keep your thoughts in mind if and when ...
More About: Poker

Moving the Forum and Another Freeroll !
2008-03-31 17:46:00
As most you know , the host site for the forum has been awful bad for server problems . My patience has been worn out with it , and I would imagine that some others has as well . Most times the forum was so slow that you could play a few hands of poker between trying to read a post .We decided to make a move to one powered by phpBB ..I had stayed away from them before due to running adds in the header area, but they seem to be the best thing going ( it's what most poker forums are using), so we have moved again .  Andy, Brad, and myself worked most of the day yesterday at setting everything up . This will be the final resting place folk , and I've decided to go ahead and pay to keep the host sites adds off . So please make sure you come to the forum and register and make sure to tell us what you think . We're always open for suggestions . :-)Now for some news on another $50 Private Freeroll Tournament we'll be having this week . Brad will be hosting this one , and we all ha...
More About: Moving , Forum

Merge Gaming Welcomes Reefer Poker
2008-03-27 03:15:00
Reefer Poker is a new online poker room on the Merge Gaming Network. the same network as the original Poker.com and Carbon Poker. So if you enjoy them , here's a good opportunity to play the same skin under a name that no one knows . ;-)FeaturesYou can type the word "Donkey" and an animation of a donkey will appear as well as other cool little emotions. Try typing in fish and you'll see a fish swimming around , type shark and the shark eats the fish ! :-)There is the  "Rabbit Hunt" feature that lets you deal the remaining community cards when everyone else folds. This can come in handy when you want to show a bluff or semi bluff.  GamesThe games here include Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, Badugi, Razz, an d A-5 and 2-7 Low Balls. BonusThe deposit bonus offered by Reefer Poker is 100% up to $500 deposits made. It is released in $20 increments for every 4000 points earned. There is also a...

$50 Private Freeroll time again !
2008-03-26 13:50:00
Just wanted to remind everyone about this Friday's Private Freeroll we are hosting . With this game , all you have to do is download the poker room from the banner and you will be sent the password in time for the game !The game is named House of Poker Blues , and will be held at 1800 hours Time Less time . :-) We are going to need at least 20 players for this game to kick off , so spread the word folk about this opportunity .We'll also be holding our league here as well , I had thought we'd be holding it at Walker , but I decided on TimeLess instead . They have offered me better support on scheduling the games and will be throwing in a little something themselves to kick-start the league . :-) So if you decide you'd like to play this season we have a nice little deal going with the room . You can deposit as little as 20 bucks and get 20 bucks matching bonus , and $10 added FREE ! Not only that , but with our banners you get 25% of your rake back .This site is still small , but I...

Free Money And 25% Rakeback at TimeLess Poker
2008-03-16 13:09:00
Timeless Poker 's room was developed by poker players for poker players.  The poker tables offer a very cozy look, and the player avatars are pictures of actual poker players. You can choose the player you want to be if you would like to, or you can turn the avatars off . The choice is yours to make .Some of the other features include "change the dealer" where you can choose 1 of 4 different dealers, "hand rep" which you can use to report any hand instantly to the support team, and "PokerPoints" which you can use to play in the daily PokerPoints freerolls. The room is easy to use and has plenty of features . I would strongly recommend Timeless Poker to any poker players out there. The player base is not large , but with the network it's on, ...
More About: Money , Free , Timeless , Rakeback

Carbon Poker $100 freeroll
2008-03-15 03:25:00
We are holding a $100 freeroll on Carbon Poker on March the 22nd.If you would like to play please go to the Forum and read the post carefully.If you dont have an account at Carbon just click the banner below to sign upHope to see you there. 

Poker Players Alliance exceeds 900,000 members
2008-03-13 13:48:00
After only a few short years the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has exceeded 900,000 members ! The total membership now stands at 934,765 and growing .The PPA was formed to serve as an advocacy group to Washington D.C. and establish the rights and protections for the U.S. poker player. Saying that they were formed to "to speak with one voice to promote poker, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect the players' rights.",  the first year alone saw over 600,000 members. After President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) ,which prohibited financial institutions from making payments to internet gambling sites , they soon hired former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato as its chairman. In an interview with Cardplayer Magazine, Sen. D'Amato said "What really needs to happen is to have a legitimate house, a fair game, and a fair operator, and not take away from 20-plus-million citizens who play poker the opportunity to...
More About: Members

Chatting with Walker Poker
2008-03-10 14:29:00
 Today we have with us Stephen Arnold from Walker Poker to answer a few questions about the site. This will be where the House of Poker Blues will be holding the next league games , so stay tuned for upcoming news on that .1. Hello Steve , I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions . First off I just want to say that the network your Poker Room is with is without a doubt one of the best there is . What made you decide to go with Merge Gaming Network ?   The reason we went with Merge is the network ticked all the right boxes for Walker as a poker skin, Firstly and most important to us was a network that accepts "all US players" Second the Network has a great name and is well trusted all the way back to its Poker.com days. Third was the size of the network and the software, It gives a great starting base with the amount of players online, the network often has over 6000 players online. As for the software, we were st...
More About: Chatting

Poker Freeroll Tournament This Week
2008-03-04 15:40:00
Hello folk. I just wanted to let all our members know that the House of Poker Blues will have a couple unexpected games this week .One is on the 6th and it's called "Charity Survivors Game". This game is one that member "Snoggler" is hosting in honor of his late Mother , and there will be some money going to the Make a Wish Foundation . The next game is the "Appreciation Freeroll" . This game will be held the 8th at the same time that our league games were held . I quite enjoyed the Saturday morning game myself and this time frame allows folk from around the world to play the game .  Any member can play that has at least 10 quality posts in the forum prior to the day of the game or had been playing in the league games . Both of the poker tournaments will be held at Carbon Poker .  For more information on these games just visit the forum .I hope you are all having a great week and hope to see you at the felt .  
More About: Week , Tournament

Democratic Chairman Endorses U.S. Online Gambling
2008-02-29 17:54:00
I was making my rounds this morning and trying to catch up on the latest news about the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act . I had seen earlier in the week where the State of California was calling for an in-depth study by the California Gambling Control Commission into online poker and was wondering how that is progressing . State Legislator Lloyd Levine authored the bill to see the legality of the pastime if it were to be controlled and operated by Californian entities.I was visiting different blogs and see where another one of the politicians from California , Congressman George Miller (D) who is chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee, signed on with the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act that was introduced last year by Congressman Barney Frank . This bill will allow licensed operators to provide Internet gambling services to the the United States. It's good to see that the list of sponsors of the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcem...
More About: Online , Chairman

Poker League at Walker Poker ?
2008-02-27 19:21:00
As some of you know over at the forum we have been running our poker league games at Nordica . The 24 week season is about to end with game 24 being this Saturday , so I'm thinking very seriously about having them the next go round at Walker Poker . We have a poll running at the moment at House of Poker Blues Forum to see what folk may think .There's a couple things I like about Walker , one of them being that they are with Merge Gaming Network which never dropped the American player from their rooms when the UIGEA law was passed in October 2006. We all know how hard it can be to find reputable rooms for us U.S. players to play poker on . Not to mention the fact that they have freerolls every three hours with no rake or gimmicks required to play . :-) Another thing I like is that this room is poker only ,  that means that they are able to provide epassporte to fund your account with and after some talks with the administrator there, he has assured me that in one week, two at ...
More About: League

Charity Tournament for the kids this weekend
2008-02-25 13:17:00
That's right folk , we have our monthly Charity Ball to help the children this coming Saturday and it's back on the schedule . I'm hoping that all the promoting of the game that people have been doing brings in a record crowd this weekend . Here's the details again for those that may have missed them in the past .Name: 5th Street Charity BallSite: Carbon Poker Description: The House of Poker Blue's Special Charity Tournament - $2 ofentry-fee going to Make-A-Wish Foundation.Tab Location: Tournament > Private > Scheduled Limit Type: No LimitGame Type: Texas HoldemMoney Type: Real MoneyBlinds: 10 minutes, starting at 5/10Campaign: House of Poker BluesCustom Table Background: House of Poker Blues Maximum players per table: 10 playersStarting Chips: 1,555 chipsBreak Length: 3 minutesBreak Frequency: 90 minutesBuyin: $2.00Entry Fee: $2.40Schedule Type: Monthly tournamentStart Time: 1st Saturday of the month at 1600 lobby time Announce Period: Immediately 
More About: Kids , The Kids , Weekend

On Rounders Radio thanks to the APCW
2008-02-21 14:33:00
The House of Poker Blues was on Rounders Radio Tuesday night thanks to J.Todd from the APCW. I had made a post in the forum at the all new APCW site and J.Todd the administrator ,being the man he is, put out an offer to be on the show to plug the Charity Ball that we host .My good friend Brad and I had started the Charity Ball to help the kids from the Make a Wish Foundation a year or so back . We've both , along with others have promoted this game every chance we get so we both gladly accepted this offer . Brad lives up in Canada and I live down in South Carolina , so Brad set us up with a three way call and on the show we were...Sadly the game for some strange reason is not on the schedule at the sites at this moment , but I'm trying to get this sorted out and back in the schedule as quick as possible . I'm thinking it may be due to having a new affiliate manager and maybe there has just been an error of some sort , so stay tuned for further news on this.....Anyhow , a big than...

South Carolina churches to allow gambling ?
2008-02-18 15:41:00
 Yes you have read the title correctly . Gambling for charity in churches would become legal here in South Carolina , my home state, under a bill that has been approved by the State Senate.  I say fine and dandy myself, they been playing bingo games to raise money for ages and I don't really see much of a difference. This new legislation would let churches and other nonprofit groups host card games along with other casino games to raise money.  The bill will exempt them from South Carolina 's 200-year-old law that prohibits dice and card games.  Churches here have always preached against gambling, but I'll wager to say that they will be holding weekly games if the Governor passes this bill.  I can almost imagine going down to the church to play some Texas Holdem or some  BlackJack...on second thought, I don't think I can. lolI don't think the poker bill will have much luck of passing when and if it reaches Governor Mark Sanford's desk myself .&...

Chatting with APCW's J.Todd
2008-02-15 14:38:00
This is an interview that I had done in March of 07 at my old site . I felt the need to move it here for folk to read . If you have never heard of the the Association of Players ,Casinos and Webmasters , I encourage you to visit them and become a member and start receiving J. Todd's weekly video news clip . You will never meet a man more dedicated to saving online poker .1. J. Todd , maybe you could start off by letting the folks know a bit about the APCW ?The Association of Players, Casinos and Webmasters was founded in 2003 and has become one of the premier voices in the online gaming industry. We offer unique information, services, and content that's valuable to each segment of our community. Additionally, we are always looking for innovative ways to work with other organizations to help bring online gaming back to the US and keep it legal in the rest of the world.Our Auditing Program has helped us established a solid and respected reputation, and helped to recover tens of thou...
More About: Chatting

Playing Rummy Online
2008-02-12 15:29:00
I grew up playing rummy with my mom and brothers . My dad would play sometimes , but my mom was really the rummy wiz in our house . After I grew up and got married , I found out that the wife just loves the game . So a few nights a week we'd get us a gin game going and have a pretty good time .As the years passed and having a family of my own , the wife and I taught our three children the game of gin rummy . Friday nights was always my poker night , but come Saturday it was time to gather around the table with the family and play some rummy . Those were some good times around that old kitchen table. We'd share the weeks happenings and just kid around with each other .Well the kids have all grown up and having kids of their own now . Glenda (the wife) and I would play against each other at times but it just didn't quite seem to be as challenging with just the two of us , so we had soon bout stopped playing rummy . I taught her how to play poker and she would play every now and the...
More About: Online

Super Tuesday - Candidates stance on Poker
2008-02-04 18:48:00
With Super Tuesday being tomorrow , I thought it might be a good time to refresh everyone's mind on where all the remaining candidates stand on online poker and gambling in general . Technically it is still not illegal under federal law to play poker online in the United States. (Though a few states do have laws against it.) The UIGEA only made payment transfers to gambling sites illegal.According to the Poker Players Alliance and Poker Listings.com, this is both the Republican and Democrats stance .The Republicans Mike Huckabee - An ordained Baptist minister,  he has promised to veto any legislation passed by Congress legalizing online gambling in any form. His response to a questionnaire from the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling is highlighted: “Last year, Congress voted overwhelmingly to criminalize most forms of Internet gambling. This year some members of Congress are promoting legislation to legalize Internet gambling. If such legislation passed, ...
More About: Candidates , Super Tuesday

Charity Poker Tournament News
2008-02-03 15:53:00
Just wanted to let everyone know the outcome for the 5Th Street Charity Ball yesterday . We had 68 players show up to help the Make a Wish Foundation and we raised $136.00 for the children . That may not sound like a lot of money , but through the months the money does add up . I hope to soon be getting the total amount raised to date . I do want to congratulate one Micky08 who won the game . Wear that new accolade with pride .I got busted out fairly early myself when I was dealt the hooks. The blinds were at 20 and I raised to 100 and had one caller . The flop came K-A-K and I checked , as did the caller . The turn came J giving me my boat.........I'm thinking by this time that the other player might have A-Q or A-J . I push allin , he calls and shows me that he's holding the bullets ! All I could say was well played.........his check at the flop had trapped me like a deer in a set of head lights.We here at the House of Poker Blues have a poll going at the forum as well folk . Af...
More About: News , Tournament