Chief Poker Blog

The term gambling has many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. Currently, in Western societies, it has an economic definition, referring to “wagering money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods”. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period of time.

The term gaming^[1] in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; i.e.: a “gaming” company offers (legal) “gambling” activities to the public.

Gambling variables:

There are three variables common to all forms of gambling:

• How much is being wagered, the initial stake (in money or material goods).
• The predictability of the event.
  • In mechanical or electronic gambling such as lotteries, slot machines and bingo, the results are random and unpredictable; no amount of skill or knowledge (assuming machinery is functioning as intended) can give an advantage in predictability to anyone.
  • However, for sports events such as horse racing and soccer matches there is some predictability to the outcome; thus a person with greater knowledge and/or skill will have an advantage over others.
• The odds agreed between the two (or more) parties to the wager; where there is a house or a bookmaker, the odds are (quite legally) arranged in favor of the house.

The expected value, positive or negative, is a mathematical calculation using these three variables. The amount wagered determines the scale of an individual wager (bet); the odds and the amount wagered determine the payout if successful; the predictability determines the frequency of success. Finally the frequency of success times the payout minus the amount wagered equals the “expected value” The skill of a gambler lies in understanding and maneuvering the three variables so that the “actual value” is positive over a series of wagers.

Online gambling is a general term for gambling using the Internet. This article provides a brief introduction to some of the forms of online gambling, as well as discussing general issues.

Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold ‘em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures. Players play against each other rather than the “house”, with the card room making its money through “rake” and through tournament fees.

Online casinos:

There are a large number of online casinos, in which people can play casino games such as roulette, blackjack, pachinko, baccarat and many others. These games are played against the “house”, which makes money due to the fact that the odds are in its favor.

Online sports betting:

Bookmakers and betting exchanges offer fixed-odds gambling over the Internet on the results of sporting events.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is an American nonprofit Interest group formed to “to speak with one voice to promote poker, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect the players’ rights.” The PPA formed to serve as an advocacy group to Washington to establish rights and protections for U.S. poker players. Within the first year of its existence, the PPA garnered over 600,000 members.

This organization gained further support after President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 which prohibited financial institutions from making payments to internet gambling sites.^[4] Many online poker sites suspended U.S. operations, those that continue to accept money from U.S. sources do so by ignoring U.S. regulations.

The PPA aims to get laws such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 overturned either through political or judicial means. For example, the PPA in conjunction with online poker sites, dedicated June 15, 2006 as “Write Your Congressmen Day.”

The PPA hired former New York Sen. Alfonse D’Amato as its chairman. In an interview with Cardplayer Magazine, he 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 play poker on the Internet.” D’Amato went on to point out that under the current legislation, that the companies “with good business practices” are being replaced by “those who do not care” because the U.S. is driving “the industry offshore, where we have no regulation and no controls.”

Michael Bolcerek, the former president of the PPA, says that the PPA has been able to mount a counteroffensive to the anti-gaming bills on Capitol Hill. He says the opponents of online-gambling

PokerStars is now offering “steps” tournaments, wherein players can win entry and vacation packages  for either the European Poker Tour’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) or Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) events.

The steps system gives players another path into these large buy-in tournaments for cheap. Here’s how it works: Players start at the Step 1 single-table tournaments for either 500 Frequent Player Points (FPP) or $7.50.

Place first or second in Step 1 and receive a $27 (or 1,750 FPP) entry into Step 2. Players who finish third in the Step 1 will win reentry into another Step 1 tournament. Those who finish fourth win $1.50.

Place first or second in the Step 2 and receive an $82 (or 5,125 FPP) entry into Step 3. Players who finish third and fourth in the Step 2 will get to try Step 2 again. The player who finishes fifth wins an entry into Step 1 (basically backtracking a step, but still in the running for the top prize).

The top two players of the Step 3 table win a $215 entry (or 13,500 FTP) into Step 4. Players finishing third to fifth receive and entry into Step 3 to try it again.

Players who finish first and second in Step 4 win a $700 entry into Step 5. Third place receives another shot at Step 4. Fourth- and fifth-place finishers go back to Step 3; and the sixth-place finisher goes back to Step 2.

Finish first or second in Step 5 and you’ll receive a $2,100 ticket into either an 18-player sit-and-go or a single-table sit-and-go where the prize packages are awarded. The two-table satellite will award a prize package to the top three finishers. The single-table satellite will award the winner the package, as well as monetary prizes to second ($1,500), third ($1,000), fourth ($1,000), fifth ($1,000), sixth ($500), and seventh ($500).

Players can start at any Step-level they wish by buying in directly with cash. The cash value of the PCA prize package is $12,000, and the value varies for the APPT events.