Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you’ve come to the right place to get caught up. We’re covering New Jersey legalizing online gambling, a Team PokerStars-versus-Team Full Tilt Poker heads-up battle, and more.

Poker Legislation

New Jersey Legalizes Online Poker

Tuesday was a huge day for online poker in the U.S. as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill to license and regulate online poker in the Garden State. New Jersey became the third state to authorize online poker behind Nevada and Delaware, and followed the latter as the only states to approve full casino-style online gambling.

The legislature passed the bill with the exact changes made by Christie in his conditional veto, the biggest of which were increasing the tax on gross revenues from 10 to 15 percent, raising the funds earmarked for compulsive gambling programs from $150,000 to $250,000 a year, and adding a time limit of 10 years for the authorization of online gambling unless re-established by law.

State Sen. Ray Lesniak said he is hoping the virtual cards will be ready to hit the air in September. First a lot of work will need to be done in testing software and vetting applicants, but Lesniak hopes the legislature’s urgency in approving the bill and the governor’s quickness in signing will indicate that they want these licenses issued as soon as possible.

“I think the fall is a somewhat aggressive timetable but certainly doable, particularly since we put our stamp of approval on this so quickly,” Lesniak said.

The law is expected to mark the return of PokerStars to U.S. soil. Its parent company, Rational Group, is currently seeking state regulatory approval to buy the struggling Atlantic Club Hotel Casino, which otherwise likely would have closed.

Only casinos located within Atlantic City will be able to host Internet gaming sites. Initially, they will only be able to serve people located within New Jersey’s borders, but the bill allows for the possibility that agreements could be made to allow the participation of other states and perhaps foreign countries in the future.

Read the full story here at PokerNews.com.

Another Online Poker Bill in California

As the largest state in the U.S., California presents a very compelling market for legalized online poker. And with Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey ramping up efforts to launch their own platforms, the Golden State doesn’t want to fall too far behind.

On Feb. 22, State Senator Lou Correa introduced SB 678, also known as the Authorization and Regulation of Internet Poker and Consumer Protection Act of 2013. The measure would authorize the operation of real-money Internet poker within the borders California.

Correa’s bill would require the California Gambling Control Commission to establish a regulatory framework for the licensure of eligible operators to run an Internet poker site. The bill would prohibit interstate compacts for now, but California and its 38 million residents would undoubtedly establish the best model for intrastate online poker liquidity in the U.S.

California now has two online poker bills in the legislature. In December, Sen. Roderick Wright reintroduced a poker-only online gambling bill. SB 51 is very similar to Wright’s SB 1463, which failed to gain any momentum last year before the legislative session ended in August. Wright hopes his latest measure will be heard later this year.

View SB 678 in its entirety at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

Iowa’s Push for Online Poker

On Thursday, an Iowa Senate subcommittee approved a bill that could eventually legalize online poker within state lines. The poker-only bill will be discussed by the Iowa Senate State Government Committee next week.

Senate Study Bill 1068 would allow licensed Iowa businesses to operate Internet wagering on poker. Once legalized, the industry would be regulated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Study bills in Iowa are generally developed to evaluate political reactions to a proposal before it is formally introduced in the legislature. Last year, the Iowa Senate approved a similar study bill to legalize and regulate intrastate online poker. However, the bill never moved through the House of Representatives because of a general lack of interest.

The legalization of online poker in the Hawkeye State could generate between $3 million and $13 million in state tax revenue, according to a study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission last year.

The Des Moines Register has more.

Online Poker

Last week, Gus Hansen sent a spontaneous Tweet to Daniel Negreanu reminding “Kid Poker” of a famous hand they played on High Stakes Poker in 2006 (as if the hand will ever leave Negreanu’s mind).

The two superstars exchanged some friendly Twitter banter over the following days, but Negreanu upped the ante on Tuesday by challenging Hansen to a Team PokerStars-versus-Team Full Tilt Poker duel. Negreanu offered to team up with two members of Team PokerStars to face off against FTP’s “The Professionals” – Hansen, Tom Dwan and Viktor Blom – in a series of heads-up matches during EPT London on March 10.

Hansen and his FTP teammates accepted the challenge, and the Team PokerStars-versus-Team Full Tilt Poker heads-up challenge was born. Negreanu selected Team PokerStars Pros Isaac Haxton and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier take take on Full Tilt Poker’s team dubbed “The Professionals.” The action will be played on Full Tilt Poker in a “battleship” style format with a best-of-three structure determining the winner. The victors of each match will collect $50,000 from his opponent and each member of the overall winning team will receive $10,000 in tournament buy-ins from the rival poker room.

The challenge kicks off on Sunday, March 10 at 10 a.m. ET and will be hosted online by Full Tilt Poker, allowing everyone to log in and rail the action.

Negreanu explained the full details in a video blog on Thursday:

Get the full scoop here at PokerNews.com.

Full Tilt Poker’s New Schedule

Beginning last week, poker players have been able to find an exciting new tournament schedule at Full Tilt Poker. The world’s second-largest online poker room is now offering prize pool guarantees on every single tournament, becoming the first and only online site to provide such an offer to its customers.

The new schedule will offer at least one guaranteed tournament every ten minutes and up to 225 guaranteed cash tournaments every single day. That includes up to 30 Rush tournaments, 20 multi-entry events, 15 re-entry tournaments, and eight multi-chance tournaments.

“From Rush tournaments to multi-entry events, Full Tilt Poker has always been the market leader in providing players with a huge range of diverse and innovative tournaments,” said Sarne Lightman, head of marketing at Full Tilt Poker.

“Full Tilt Poker’s scheduled tournaments already offer round-the-clock action every day of the week with a wide range of buy-ins and guaranteed prize pools to choose from,” Lightman continued. “The new schedule is another market first offering our players the only fully guaranteed schedule of any online site.”

During March, FTP will guarantee more than $25 million in tournament prize pools and will feature a range of satellites allowing players to enter the larger events like the daily $150 buy-in Tyrannosaurus Rex at 15:00 ET.

Players can also look forward to a new tournament lobby that will make it easier to find the tournaments they are interested playing.

The full tournament schedule (with some hilariously-named events) can be found at FullTiltPoker.com.

Poker Business

A-Rod’s Error

In 2006, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez teamed up with celebrities for a charity poker tournament to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Miami. The event, dubbed the 2nd Annual Dewar’s 12 Hold’em Poker Tournament, attracted a who’s who of A-list artists and athletes, including Michael Jordan, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Lenny Kravitz, Vin Diesel, and Gary Sheffield. Phil Hellmuth was even invited to emcee and offer poker tips to the tournament’s 300 guests.

All proceeds from the tournament went to the A-Rod Family Foundation. When it was all said and done, the event raised more than $400,000 toward Rodriguez’s charitable foundation. It was deemed an incredible success.

But questions are now being raised about whether money raised in that event actually went where it was supposed to go.

According to a report by the Boston Globe, Rodriguez’s foundation only donated 1% of the money it raised from the poker tournament. The Globe reported that the foundation used the money to make a $5,000 donation to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund and a $90 donation to a Little League team in Miami. The rest? Your guess is as good as ours.

On top of that, the Globe reports that A-Rod’s foundation stopped submitting mandatory financial reports to the IRS later that year. Thus, it was stripped of its tax-exempt status.

Apparently, Rodriguez isn’t the only athlete to fall short on charitable promises. Read the full Boston Globe story for more.

Zynga’s Picus Addresses Real-Money Gaming

During a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco on Monday, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus discussed his intentions to launch real-money gaming in both the United Kingdom and the U.S. Although Pincus didn’t provide much new information regarding the company’s real-money gaming plans, he said that the company will offer something different from most gambling sites by focusing on making social gambling games.

“We’re not the company to win the hardcore real-money gamers,” Pincus said. “But we think we are for the mass market audience.”

The hype of real-money gambling stemmed from Zynga’s deal with U.K.-based poker company bwin.party Digital Entertainment last October. The deal will see the two companies launch real-money games such as poker, slots, roulette, and blackjack in the first half of 2013.

According to allthingsd.com, ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino are expected to launch in the U.K. by the end of June. Additional platforms are expected to launch during the first half of the year.

While Zynga’s plans in the U.K. move forward, the company has also begun the process of getting licensed as an operator in Nevada. As of Tuesday, only Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey had approved some form of online gaming in the U.S., but others like California could soon follow suit. Zynga’s headquarters are located in San Francisco.

Despite the company’s ambition and partnerships, not all has gone smoothly for Zynga during the past year. The company announced on Monday that it was cutting about 30 employees and closing or consolidating offices in Baltimore, New York, and Texas. Baltimore was home to a game studio that focused on CityVille2, which is now shutting down because of poor performance. The company will also be closing Texas offices in McKinney and downtown Austin, but employees in those offices will be given the opportunity to relocate to Dallas and North Austin.

CNET.com has more.

Poker Tournaments

Premier League Lineup Filling Up

Dan Shak, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Jennifer Tilly have been added to the list of players for next month’s PartyPoker Premier League VI. The three will join an impressive lineup that already includes Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G, Phil Laak, Dan “Jungleman” Cates, Scott Seiver, Luke Schwartz, and newcomer Jonathan Duhamel. The event kicks off at Aspers Casino in London on March 17.

Shak is on quite a roll in 2013, already making three final tables and cashing for more than $900,000. He hopes to tack on even more to that total in London. “I’ve been following the Premier League since its inception six years ago, and I’ve always been interested in playing and very pleased to finally be able to participate this year,” Shak told the PartyPoker Blog. “I always like the challenge of playing against the best players in the world and this certainly qualifies!”

“Mad Marvin” Rettenmaier is a back-to-back World Poker Tour winner who should be adding spice to the $125,000 buy-in game. He told the PartyPoker Blog, “It’s great to be in a position to play in the PartyPoker.com Premiere League this year. I’d be mad to turn down the offer! I hope I can do myself and my sponsors justice.”

And of course, there’s Jennifer Tilly: “The Premiere League is always a fantastic show filled with surprises. This year I am thrilled to be invited to be a part of this elite group.”

The 16-player event is part of the World Poker Tour National Series London festivities and will award the winner a cash prize of $450,000.

The PartyPoker Blog has more.

PokerStars to Premier Zoom Tournaments During MicroMillions IV

On Thursday, PokerStars announced the fourth installment of MicroMillions, a popular online tournament series that gives micro-stakes players the opportunity to win huge cash prizes. The 100-event online poker festival will run from March 14 through March 24 and features a range of buy-ins from 11 cents to $22.

The $22 MicroMillions Main Event is set for March 24 with a $1 million guarantee prize pool and $150,000 guaranteed to the winner. The series will also feature a wide variety of formats like turbos, rebuys, shooutouts, and two $11 Sunday Storm specials.

Zoom Poker will also makes its tournament debut with two events taking place on March 14 and March 17. It will have the same option to ‘Fast Fold’ and instantly be moved to a new table with the shared pool of tournament players. The difference is, during the final three tables, the remaining players will play out the tournament in standard fashion.

“As part of my $100 to $100,000 bankroll challenge this year, I’ll be playing a lot of MicroMillions tourneys over the next couple of weeks,” said Team PokerStars Online Pro Andre “acoimbra” Coimbra, who played all 100 MicroMillions events in the debut festival last year. “It’s such a fun series and it’s one where players of all abilities and bankroll levels can take part to win huge prizes.”

The third MicroMillions festival set a record as the largest online poker tournament series with a total of 1,308,994 entries. The biggest individual winner to date is MicroMillions II Main Event winner “SoyDelGlobo,” who turned his $22 buy-in into a $157,000 cash prize after besting 65,063 players.

For the full MicroMillions tournament schedule visit PokerStars.com.

EPT Grand Final Schedule

PokerStars recently announced the details for the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final. The EPT’s end-of-season finale will take place at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort in Monaco May 6 through 15, offering a range of side events and – for the first time – live cash games.

This year’s series will have a total of 50 events including the “100,000 Super High Roller, the “25,000 High Roller, the “10,300 High Roller Turbo, and a “1,000 buy-in event with a “500,000 guaranteed. As you may recall from last year, Dan Smith turned the EPT Grand Final side events into his own personal playground, winning three “5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournaments for more than $488,000.

The series will close with the flagship “10,600 Main Event. Last year, Mohsin Charania added his name to a prestigious list of EPT Grand Final Main Event winners by beating Lucille Cailly heads-up for the $1,782,343.

For a look at the schedule, check out europeanpokertour.com.

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Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com

It has been awhile since there has been a new game in the poker scene. Open faced Chinese is the refreshing new twist on Chinese poker, and it is exploding in the high stakes realm of poker players. It’s what most big named pros are tweeting about when they speak of super high variance, sick bad beats, and finally achieving their first “fantasy land.” Open faced Chinese or OFC, is backed by a slew of high profile pros like Shaun Deeb, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and many others.

So what is OFC? It is a variant of Chinese poker in which five cards are dealt to each player, and the person left of the button sets their hand first face-up, followed by the next person in order. After the initial five cards are set, each player is dealt one card at a time to fill in the rest of the hand in a Chinese poker 3-5-5 format, in which each hand must be progressively stronger from top to bottom. If the hand is miss-set the person receives a foul and the hand is automatically lost. Because this variant is so new, there is a lot of speculation on how to correctly devise a strategy. These concepts are important in becoming a good OFC player: paying attention to live and dead cards, using position, adapting to others play, and understanding the importance of fantasy land.

Live and Dead Cards

Paying attention to live and dead cards is of the utmost importance in becoming a successful OFC player. Without paying attention to the dead cards, (cards in other people’s hands), trying for a flush when the entire needed suit is dead, or attempting to complete a full house when the outs are in another hand, can be disastrous. When keeping track of cards, it will be easier to figure out what others can make, how to set a hand with a higher probability of strength, not fouling, and whether or not to play safe or aggressive.

Position

Having position is of course a very important concept in a lot of poker games, and OFC is no different. Having position means having more information than the person out of position to set a hand. When setting in position, make sure not to set dead cards in areas that require strength, and use the top for strength onlyif the bottom and middle have enough strength to support a strong top. Going for a strong top immediately will have bad results.  (Will talk about this later) It is important that before setting the initial five cards that the cards set on the bottom are mostly live, as the bottom is for the strongest possible hand, and live cards are going to be very valuable in making a strong hand. It’s not as difficult as in stud to remember dead cards, as the cards are there for everyone to see for the whole hand, so there is no need to memorize them, but don’t make a lazy mistake.

Adapting to Opponents’ Play

Whether or not to play safe or aggressive will depend highly on what others are setting. If there is a chance a player will be able to successfully play a small pair on top, two pair in the middle and a flush on the bottom, it is unfortunate, as this is a very strong hand and often will be able to win a majority of points. However, there are times where strategy can be changed to adapt to other players. The times to play aggressively are when there is a good chance of losing the hand even if it is completed because of everyone else’s stronger hands. Also, when dealt a chance at a good royalty it is often worth going for if it means a lot of extra points. This idea is based heavily upon which cards are obtained, however. Playing safe usually means that someone or more than one person is going for an aggressive hand and has a large chance of fouling, so that even though the hand set is weak, it will still win by default of others fouling. Most players new to OFC will go for high variance hands, and playing safe against these players will serve to be very profitable.

Fantasy Land

Setting the top is tricky. It depends highly on what others have set, and whether or not there has been a decision to go for “Fantasy Land.” Fantasy land is an element that changes basic strategy quite drastically. When a player sets QQ+ on the top, they go into fantasy land, in which they get to set their next OFC hand as a normal Chinese hand, while everyone else still sets in OFC manor. Once in fantasy land a player can stay in fantasy land if they achieve a full house or greater in the back. Generally going for fantasy land off the bat if dealt a pair of queens will be very tough to fill the rest of the hand without fouling. So, as a precaution, it is better to set from the bottom up, even when dealt QQ+ at the start. The exception to this is if there is another high pair in the starting hand, like QQKKA, in which case fantasy land is much more appealing, and possibly the “correct” play. Figuring out what the “correct” play is a daunting task as it depends highly on the dead cards and the situation at hand. Generally using good judgment in what cards are to come, combined with what strength of hands is needed to win points, will accomplish the “correct” play at the time. The advantage in being able to set a fantasy land hand, could justify going for it in some likely –EV spots. This too should be judged carefully by all the possible factors such as: Will this overwhelmingly foul the hand? Is there a safer way to set which will guarantee points in the hand? How strong is everyone else’s hand? If the answers lean towards setting for fantasy land, then go for it. Be careful however of tilt, as just in any other poker variant, tilt rearing its ugly head in OFC can mean lots of gambling mistakes attempting to get into fantasy land, which could end up costing a very large downswing.

Practicing these concepts while playing with friends for fun is the best way to learn how to compete in real money games, as there will be many chances this WSOP (which is just on the horizon!) for the amateur player to get involved in OFC. OFC has been exploding for a while now, and I don’t see it disappearing anytime soon, it seems to be the new “let’s gamble!” game which will definitely attract tourists and weaker players, making it a great tool in a poker player’s arsenal to make some good money.