Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Humans Win First Man-vs-Machine Poker Tournament

I was reading an email from my boss in London telling me to get down to the Artificial Intelligence Conference in Vancouver just as the first ever Man vs Computer Poker Challenge headlining the event was being featured on the morning TV news. A bunch of computer geeks from the University of Alberta was in town for the Association for the Advancement of Artifical Intelligence annual conference with a computer program they said could beat any poker pro. Two well-known professional poker players, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and “Prince” Ali Esmali were playing against a computer program called Polaris. This I had to see!

I knew I’d stepped into some sort of parallel universe the minute I walked through the doors of the Hyatt Hotel where the conference was in progress. There was a laptop charging in every available electrical outlet in the hotel lobby, and all manner of geeks jostled for the best positions for wi-fi reception.

My trek to the Man vs Machine Poker Tournament took me past several large meeting rooms filled with studious looking computer programmers absorbed in presentation screens cluttered with formulas and charts and long words about logic and probability…

When I arrived at the Tournament site, poker pro Phil Laak was about halfway through five hundred hands of poker against Polaris and their chip stacks were about even.

The tournament format was designed to reduce the luck element and increase the chances that the match will be won based on skill -- cards dealt in the first match to the human are dealt to the computer in the second match, and vice versa. During the two-day tournament, Laak and Esmali took turns playing against the computer in the public room where a nice little crowd gathered to see if the humans could outwit the computer, while the other played the computer in another room.

Two years ago at the 2005 WSOP Laak took on and defeated an earlier version of the Polaris software called Poki-X. This time out, the program has more human abilities – it can now bluffs and it can read an opponent’s style of play and adjust accordingly.

After a Draw in the first of the four sessions, Polaris won the second round. The humans fired back in the third session taking the teams into the final match tied. Laak and Eslami won the final session by $570 to become the first Champions of the first ever Man vs Machine Poker Challenge.

Listening to Laak’s banter with the computer, one thing I noticed is that, as in any poker game, it still seems to be a matter of observing your opponent and predicting their next action based on their previous actions. Laak would say things like “Well, he always folds on even semi-shitty hands, so I know he’s gonna fold…” and “What should I do? It’s impossible to know what he’s gonna do here…”
The first official poker competition between humans and computers, organised by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), was held in Vancouver, Canada July 22-26. AAAI is is a nonprofit scientific society devoted to advancing the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behavior and their embodiment in machines.

Polaris Team Leader Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer believes this week’s event is an evolution of the 1997 match between IBM's "Deep Blue" chess program and Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion at the time.

"The difference is that chess is a game of perfect knowledge, meaning there is nothing hidden from the players. In poker you can't see your opponent's hand and you don't know what cards will be dealt. This makes poker a much harder challenge for computer scientists from an artificial intelligence perspective," Schaeffer said.

My boss bet me a pint that the humans would win. Time to pay up. :(



Opening remarks at the Man vs Poker tournament on YouTube

Online Slots Player Proves Even $2 Bets Can Be Exciting

Slotland Winner Calls $615 Win a Jackpot

A regular at Slotland.com has proven that even a $2 bet can get your heart pounding and a $600 win can feel like a jackpot. Player “CHAROO“ says that her $2 might as well have been a million and that winning her $17 balance up to $615 made for one her most exciting nights of online slots ever!

“I can’t exactly retire on $600,“ laughed the winner, “But that night sure was the best run of good luck I’ve ever had. I’m still shaking my head!“

After playing the $150 she budgeted each month for playing online slots down to just $17, CHAROO was ready to pack it in. She’s glad she didn’t though because that night luck was on her side.

“I sat down with my last seventeen bucks and went right to my favourite online slot machine, Treasure Box,” wrote the winner. “I was betting $2 and on my first pull I hit the Double Win symbols. On my second pull, I hit three different colored ones for $30. After I hit some other $5 and $10 pots, I held one green seven and then had two more given to me for $125 -- all within 20 minutes!”

“I continued to play and again hit three green sevens for another $125. I left there with about $300 and switched to the Striking Sevens slot machine and after only ten minutes I hit a Straight Flush for $65 -- not once but twice! Leaving there, I went to the Jacks or Better video poker game and kept my winning streak going. I was hitting Full Houses and Flushes like there was no tomorrow! I kept my bets below the max because I felt luckier that way. After about an hour, I hit four tens for $125 and 20 minutes later I hit four twos for another $125.

“I managed to keep my little bank roll playing for hours and before I went to bed I closed the night out with two Wild Royal Flushes on the Santa’s Sleigh machine. I hit big with small bets and look forward to turning this $600 into $60,000!”

Slotland.com, where victories like Charoo’s are celebrated every day and major jackpot wins happen every few weeks, features 13 unique games and is the most popular slot machine and video poker web site in the world. Slotland.com/mobile, which is compatible with virtually every phone model including Blackberry and the new iPhone, brings the five best games to mobile phones and PDAs.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Fox Baseball World Series Tournament – Free Roll This Saturday

Poker Tournament Champion Wins World Series Travel Package

Weekly Free Roll Qualifier: Saturdays at 3:30 pm EST; Final: September 22

Playing poker and watching baseball on TV simultaneously could be a multitasking nightmare for some couch potatoes, but the boys at PlayersOnly.com are mastering the art of poker between pitches. The grand prize winner of the Fox Baseball World Series Free Roll Tournaments will win an all expense paid trip to the World Series this fall. Free roll qualifiers began last weekend and continue this Saturday at 3:30 pm EST – just as Fox Television broadcasts Saturday afternoon games.

The top ten players in this weekend’s free roll will advance to the Fox Baseball World Series Tournament Final on September 22nd. Those that don’t win their way to the final table can buy into the $50.00 + $5.00 buy-in freeze-out tourney. Tournament details are posted here: http://www.playersonly.com/poker/free-roll.

“We’ve always got tournaments happening. Tournaments are a great way to get poker experience,” said PlayersOnly.com Manager David Anderson. “All you risk is the buy-in fee – so in a free roll you risk nothing. Everyone starts with the same stack of chips. And you play until one player has them all.”

This Saturday and every Saturday this summer, players will start with 1500 chips and advance through 8-minute levels. The top ten players – the Final Table – will automatically win a seat at the Grand Final Tournament on September 22nd. The winner of the Grand Final tournament will receive a deluxe travel package to attend the World Series including two box seats to Game 1, first class air for two, hotel suite and limo to and from stadium. The runner-up will receive two field level seats, coach air for two, a standard hotel room and limo to and from stadium. The Third Place player can watch the game from home on his new Proton 37" LCD TV.

For those extreme multitaskers that can play poker, watch TV AND predict who’ll take the pennant this fall, as of today the PlayersOnly.com Sportsbook favors the Detroit Tigers at 7-2 to win the World Series, followed by the Boston Red Sox at 4-1, the New York Mets at 6-1 and the Los Angeles Angels at 8-1.

In the recently re-designed PlayersOnly site, players enter the trendy, up-scale Poker Room, Sportsbook or Casino from the sexy, ultra-realistic Main Lobby where they’re greeted by site host Carrie Stroup and the ladies of PlayersOnly.

In addition to this Saturday tournament series, PlayersOnly.com is also presenting a Sunday free roll series where the winner will play in the WPT in Turks & Caicos. WPT Turks & Caicos satellites are held every Sunday.

PlayersOnly.com will award more than $25,000 in cash and prizes during this summer’s online poker free roll tournaments.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Slotland Launches Online Slot Machine Player Survey

One Player to Win $500 in Optional Free Contest

The world’s most popular slot machine web site has just launched an Online Slot Machine Player Survey to find out what’s on the minds of online slots players. One lucky survey respondent will win $500 in an optional draw at the end of the questionnaire. Between newsletters, blogs and attentive customer service, Slotland.com is in closer touch with their players than most. They’re about to get even closer.

“We know some things about what kinds of slot machines and video poker games players like best,“ said John Lancelet of Slotland.com. “We can see which ones get played the most. But we wanted to find out some other things like players‘ superstitions and strategies, where and when they play, things like that.“

The most comprehensive survey of online slot machine players ever conducted, the Slotland Online Slots Player Survey is being hosted by GamblingDaily.com. Anyone that’s ever played or thought about playing slot machines online is invited to participate.

“We didn’t want to hear only from our own players,“ said Lancelet, explaining the media partnership. “We want to hear from slot machine players everywhere.“

Do more people play at work or at home? How do players know when it‘s time to switch slot machines? Do slots players play poker? Who plays mobile games? Does anyone under 80 play slots? Do most people place max bets? How are British fruit machine players different than their American counterparts? These and other questions will be answered this fall when the survey results are reported.

The results of the survey will be published in the September issue of the monthly Slotland.com Newsletter, on Slotland’s info site, Slotland.info, on the community’s blog (slotlandnews.blogspot.com) and on GamblingDaily.com.

Slotland.com, which features 13 unique games, is the most popular slot machine and video poker web site in the world. Slotland.com/mobile, which is compatible with virtually every phone model including Blackberry and the new iPhone, brings the five best games to mobile phones and PDAs.

To take the Slotland.com Online Slots Player Survey click here.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

WSOP Partiers Love New PlayersOnly.com

PlayersOnly.com Unveils New Video-Rich Site at Las Vegas Party

Poker players at the recent PlayersOnly.com WSOP party in Las Vegas loved the new video-rich site that was unveiled at the event. The casino, poker, sportsbetting and horseracing site’s dramatic new look features video lobbies and animated service staff that create the most realistic– and sexually charged – online casino environment ever.

Hundreds of players got a sneak preview at the Vegas party from the site’s gorgeous hostess, model and sportsbetting columnist Carrie Stroup. They said:

“They’ve really nailed it. This is the kinda place I like to play!”

“Carrie Stroup is hot!”

“Cool. It feels like xBox or something!”

“Carrie Stroup is hot!” (A lot of people said that…)

“Poker and slutty chicks. What’s not to love!?”

“We wanted our customers to get that same rush of confidence a guy feels when he walks into a cool casino, ready to win it all,” said Brand Manager David Anderson as he showed off the new site at the Sapphire Club. “Nothing like a foxy lady lighting your cigar and handing you a drink to put you in the mood to play.”

Video elements incorporated throughout the site put the player right there, in what feels like the classiest, trendiest casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

"It’s funny, it’s the little stuff that people seem to love… like in the Help lobby when the receptionist swats a fly… or when you go to our Cashier and you catch the teller primping herself between customers… or the waitresses in the Casino and Poker lobbies -- just snap your fingers and they’re there with cigars and drinks.”

The slick new site will be busy all summer with WPT Turks & Caicos satellites every Sunday and Fox World Series Baseball free-roll tournaments each Saturday. More than $25,000 in prizes will be awarded in cash and prizes.

Tour of the new site with video hostess Carrie Stroup

For photos and video clips from “PlayersOnly Presents Bluff on the Strip”

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Big Month for Tila Tequila, TilaCasino.com Host & MySpace Diva

Between magazine covers, a new home on Second Life, and a controversial hit single, it’s been a big month for the self-made star

MySpace diva Tila Tequila has a lot to celebrate these days. Sure, she’s on the covers of both Penthouse and Black Men Magazines this month, “Tila’s Mansion” has just opened in the cyber-fantasy world Second Life and her single “I Love U” -- which she launched on iTunes without the help of any record labels -- is #2 at iTunes and racing to #1 on KIIS FM L.A. The immediate success of her online casino and poker room, TilaCasino.com, is icing on the cake.

“I’ve been playing poker since I was a kid. So launching a gambling site was a no-brainer,” says the young online entrepreneur. “But trust me, this isn’t like any other casino you’ve seen before!”

TilaCasino.com offers state-of-the-art casino games with live video dealers and is part of a huge poker network with great tournaments and jackpots. And the new online casino and poker room have Tila’s sexy touches at every turn.

TilaCasino.com features games and live video dealers powered by Playtech, the gaming industry’s leading online gaming software provider. The new casino site features all the usual table and card games as well as popular Asian games Mahjong and Pachinko and live Baccarat, Roulette, Blackjack and Sic Bo.

TilaCasino.com is licensed in Alderney, one of the strictest online gaming licensing jurisdictions in the world, which only licenses the most trustworthy and highest quality gaming sites.
TilaPoker.com is part of the iPoker network, the world’s largest poker network where there’s always thousands of other players online. Players from all over the globe can enjoy playing Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, or Seven Card Stud and choose from all types of cash prize tournaments including free rolls, qualifiers for the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour and the Aussie Millions.

Tila has appeared on sexy magazine covers like Maxim, made headlines in The Sun, and been featured in Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” issue. With her new online business, she continues to reach out to an audience that just can’t seem to get enough of her baddest-bitch-on-the-block style.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Video Clips from PlayersOnly.com's WSOP Party in Las Vegas

I’m just back from las Vegas where I went to a big party sponsored by PlayersOnly.com. Here’s some video clips:

PlayersOnly.com WSOP Party with Carrie Stroup



My mission was to follow around Carrie Stroup, the beautiful cover girl from the web site and a regular columnist on Gambling911, and take photos and video clips of her enjoying the party with all the players that had been invited for the lap dancing, strip show and free booze provided by PO. Carrie’s definitely a party girl! I’ve never seen such a total mingler! Carrie had her equally gorgeous sister and another friend with her. They were quite an entourage as they made their way through the crowded Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club from lap to lap, from one flirty conversation to another, with me tagging along with my cameras. If you like half-naked women and thumpa thumpa Vegas nightclub energy, check out the video.

Friday, July 06, 2007

PlayersOnly.com WSOP Party Rocked!

Just a quick entry today cuz I'm hungover from the PlayersOnly.com WSOP party in Las Vegas last night (a free bar will do that to a guy!) and I have to catch a plane home in just a couple of hours. But I promised you pics from the party, so here they are! I've got lots more of Carrie Stroup, whose beautiful face is all over PlayersOnly.com, flirting with the players. Also some video clips of the performance Miss Nude World did at the party! So come back Monday for that. In the meantime, here's a sample of what you missed if you weren't there (or don't remember being there!).


Thursday, July 05, 2007

PlayersOnly WSOP Party Tonight -- Podcast & Pics Comin' Up!

Well, I'm in Las Vegas getting ready for the big Bluff Magazine/PlayersOnly.com party that I'm co-hosting tonight at the Sapphire Gentlemen's Club (the biggest strip club in Vegas!!!).

I still have a few tickets to giveaway, so if you're in Vegas and you like poker, lap dancers, topless servers and free drinks -- come on down! (Just send me a note to gamblogger@gmail.com so I can put you on the PlayersOnly.com guest list.)

I'll be shadowing the lovely Carrie Stroup whose face (and cleavage) is all over PlayersOnly.com. You may also know here from Gambling911.com where she's a regular columnist.

I'll also be taking lots of pictures and video clips of partying poker players and I'll post them here asap. If you come to the party, check to see if you're in them. If you can't make it, come back to see what you missed!

Slotland Games Work Great on iPhone While Most Will Not

Average Casino Software Problematic for Apple’s New iPhone

Although most other online casino games won’t work on the much-hyped new Apple iPhone, Slotland.com’s mobile games and their web games both work great on the revolutionary new device. The new iPhone, unveiled last week, is incredible in many ways but it’s critical weakness, from a mobile gambler’s point of view, is that it doesn’t support the software that most mobile and online gambling providers depend on. However, Slotland slot machines not only work two ways on the iPhone, improved graphics make it a whole new game.

Unfortunately, being from Apple, the iPhone is designed so you can only use the Apple applications provided. Users won’t be able to just download and install their choice of games. That may suck – but at least the iPhone has a fantastic web browser, so you can just play casino games at online casinos that have Flash games, right? Wrong – iPhone doesn’t support Flash or Java.

Fortunately, not all online gambling sites use technology the iPhone can’t handle. Slotland.com, one of the earliest pioneers in mobile gambling, has developed games based on html/xhtml technology rather than Java and Flash and will therefore be one of the few casinos that will work on the new iPhone.

“Like the iMac, Safari is the internet browser built into the iPhone. Officially, no third party applications will be allowed to be installed on the Apple device, so the web browser will likely be the only way to access casino games on an iPhone.” said Slotland.com’s Mobile Games Manager, John Lancelet. “Slotland has always been one of the few casinos that really worked well on WebTV browsers for the same reason they’ll be the only ones to work in customized trimmed down browsers like the one in iPhone.”

“Like a lot of people, we’ve been waiting for the iPhone for a long time,“ said Lancelet. “It has higher resolution, better quality, more graphical features… And the touch screen is going to be great for playing slots!”

Slotland.com, which features 13 unique games, is the most popular slot machine and video poker web site in the world – and it looks and works great on the iPhone web browser. Slotland.com/mobile, which is compatible with virtually every phone model including Blackberry, brings the five best games to mobile phones and PDAs and provide a simplified alternative for iPhone users.

No Rake Poker at Online Backgammon Site

To celebrate their new real-money poker room, BackgammonMasters.com is offering something unheard of in the online gambling world -- no rake poker. For a limited time, the online gaming community will forego their house commission so players can try the new poker room without paying fees.

Ever since BackgammonMasters.com launched its unique gaming platform they''ve been gaining huge popularity within the online backgammon community, largely due to the high quality standard of their graphically rich playing environment complete with realistic 3D avatars and sound.

“Let''s face it, after a few hours of nonstop backgammon it may be a refreshing break to get your eyes off the checkers and onto a deck of cards,” said the manager of BackgammonMasters.com. “Many champion backgammon players are also skilled in other board games including chess.

Until recently not many made the huge leap to table card games. This trend is changing fast. Poker has become huge and backgammon players are getting swept up in the hype.”
At BackgammonMasters.com, poker fans can play at up to three game tables simultaneously thereby increasing their gaming activity and overall experience. New players can also play no charge fun mode games in order to learn and practice the games without the risk of losing any money.

BackgammonMasters.com has been gaining attention recently for their large payout competitions and for their new animated series that features their own tiger brand icon named Jean-Claude.

Real money poker is part of the All-in-One Game Lobby at BackgammonMasters.com alongside immensely popular community games like Backgammon and Perudo, all accessible with one software download. The site gives players the option of communicating directly with each other via real-time chat and has become home to one of the net’s largest community base of players interacting together.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Slotland Games Work Great on iPhone While Most Will Not

Average Casino Software Problematic for Apple’s New iPhone

Although most other online casino games won’t work on the much-hyped new Apple iPhone, Slotland.com’s mobile games and their web games both work great on the revolutionary new device. The new iPhone, unveiled last week, is incredible in many ways but it’s critical weakness, from a mobile gambler’s point of view, is that it doesn’t support the software that most mobile and online gambling providers depend on. However, Slotland slot machines not only work two ways on the iPhone, improved graphics make it a whole new game.

Unfortunately, being from Apple, the iPhone is designed so you can only use the Apple applications provided. Users won’t be able to just download and install their choice of games. That may suck – but at least the iPhone has a fantastic web browser, so you can just play casino games at online casinos that have Flash games, right? Wrong – iPhone doesn’t support Flash or Java.

Fortunately, not all online gambling sites use technology the iPhone can’t handle. Slotland.com, one of the earliest pioneers in mobile gambling, has developed games based on html/xhtml technology rather than Java and Flash and will therefore be one of the few casinos that will work on the new iPhone.

“Like the iMac, Safari is the internet browser built into the iPhone. Officially, no third party applications will be allowed to be installed on the Apple device, so the web browser will likely be the only way to access casino games on an iPhone.” said Slotland.com’s Mobile Games Manager, John Lancelet. “Slotland has always been one of the few casinos that really worked well on WebTV browsers for the same reason they’ll be the only ones to work in customized trimmed down browsers like the one in iPhone.”

“Like a lot of people, we’ve been waiting for the iPhone for a long time,“ said Lancelet. “It has higher resolution, better quality, more graphical features… And the touch screen is going to be great for playing slots!”

Slotland.com, which features 13 unique games, is the most popular slot machine and video poker web site in the world – and it looks and works great on the iPhone web browser. Slotland.com/mobile, which is compatible with virtually every phone model including Blackberry, brings the five best games to mobile phones and PDAs and provide a simplified alternative for iPhone users.

Monday, July 02, 2007

No-Rake Poker at New BackgammonMasters.com Poker Room

To celebrate their new real-money poker room, http://www.backgammonmasters.com/ is offering something unheard of in the online gambling world -- no rake poker. For a limited time, the online gaming community will forego their house commission so players can try the new poker room without paying fees.

Ever since BackgammonMasters.com launched its unique gaming platform they've been gaining huge popularity within the online backgammon community, largely due to the high quality standard of their graphically rich playing environment complete with realistic 3D avatars and sound.

“Let's face it, after a few hours of nonstop backgammon it may be a refreshing break to get your eyes off the checkers and onto a deck of cards,” said the manager of BackgammonMasters.com. “Many champion backgammon players are also skilled in other board games including chess. Until recently not many made the huge leap to table card games. This trend is changing fast. Poker has become huge and backgammon players are getting swept up in the hype.”

At BackgammonMasters.com, poker fans can play at up to three game tables simultaneously thereby increasing their gaming activity and overall experience. New players can also play no charge fun mode games in order to learn and practice the games without the risk of losing any money.

BackgammonMasters.com has been gaining attention recently for their large payout competitions and for their new animated series that features their own tiger brand icon named Jean-Claude.

Real money poker is part of the All-in-One Game Lobby at BackgammonMasters.com alongside immensely popular community games like Backgammon and Perudo, all accessible with one software download. The site gives players the option of communicating directly with each other via real-time chat and has become home to one of the net’s largest community base of players interacting together.