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 ! 

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's
Tab Location: Tournament > Private > Scheduled
Limit Type: No Limit
Game Type: Texas Holdem
Money Type: Real Money ($50 Freeroll + $10 Bounty)
Blinds: 10 minutes, starting at 5/10
Maximum players per table: 10 players
Starting Chips: 1,500 chips
Break Length: 3 minutes
Break Frequency: 90 minutes
Buyin: Freeroll
Entry Fee: Freeroll
Start Time: May 16th @ 1700 hrs lobbytime
Announce Period: Immediately

While I'm here I would like to take the time to remind folk that we could always use more players in our weekly poker games that we host at TimeLess Poker .  These games are just a small $2.20 buy-in and we hold them every Saturday . You can see more information on these games by joining us over at the forum . TimeLess Poker is a small site , but we have a nice little promo going there. Just download TimeLess Poker , deposit as little as 20 bucks and earn 100% matching bonus plus 10 bucks free. You also get 25% rakeback.  Use bonus code HouseofPokerBlues .

According to PokerListings.com, 10 more Representatives agree that the UIGEA implementation needs to be stopped , the following congressmen signed onto the H.R. 5767 bill April 24 that U.S. Rep Frank introduced :

• Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.)
• Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.)
• William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.)
• Bob Filner (D-Calif.)
• Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)
• Michael Honda (D-Calif.)
  Peter King (R-N.Y.)
• James McGovern (D-Mass.)
• James Moran (D-Va.)
• Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) 
  

This brings the total to 48 that cosponsor the bill that Barney Frank (D-Mass.) chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced to  legalize and regulate online gambling. The bill will prevent the Treasury Department and U.S. Federal Reserve from continuing work on the UIGEA.

Arizona  Senator Jon Kyl, one of the chief architects of the Internet Gambling Ban , has shown his frustration with the fight against the UIGEA .

"The longer it goes the less certainty there is," said Kyl, who was the first lawmaker to launch an effort to ban Internet gambling in 1996.

"I mean, the people who are violating the law need to know that they're not going to be able the get away with it, and I think that the failure to get these regulations promulgated on time has perhaps given some hope, and it's given life even to an idea over in the House of Representatives to put a moratorium on the regulations," Kyl said.

You are going to lose this battle Senator Kyl, and I for one will be laughing at you and Frist when you do .  As long as I've got sites like Walker Poker and the others we promote here , that will stand up and allow players from all across the world , I will continue to take my God given right and play my cards when and how I choose to .

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 other skins on the Merge Gaming Network !

I'm hoping that this will lead to a much larger player base for the game. The numbers had been slowly falling off due to what I think was folk joining the other rooms and deciding to stay put...from what I can see a lot of the bigger forums have been buying their own skin and their member base is just playing that particular skin. I had thought about doing the same until I saw what the cost of doing so with Merge is . I'll just say it's too rich for this ol'boys wallet . ;-)

Anyhow , now that this is done lets see if we can break that 100 player mark folk and start earning more money for those children . The game is located at Tournaments > Private > 5th Street Charity Ball

I just want to remind everyone that we have our Charity Ball Poker Tournament this Saturday to try and help the Make a Wish Foundation. There's always a seat available for another player folks , so lets see if we can't spread the word and get a record crowd . The game info is as follows.

Site: Waker Poker or Carbon Poker
Description: The House of Poker Blue''''s Special Charity Tournament - $2 of
entry-fee going to Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Tab Location: Tournament > Private > Scheduled
Game Type: Texas Holdem N/L
Campaign: House of Poker Blues
Maximum players per table: 10 players
Starting Chips: 1,555 chips
Buyin: $2.00
Entry Fee: $2.40
Schedule Type: Monthly tournament
Start Time: 1st Saturday of each month at 1600 lobby time
Just click Walker or Carbon Poker if you don't have the site .

We also are always in need of more players for our weekly game held at TimeLess Poker . This weeks game is N/L Holdem , shortstack . The info for this weeks game is :

Site - Timeless Poker
Location - Tournaments > House of Poker Blues             
Game Type - HoldEm / No Limit      Shortstack     
Password can be found at the poker forum
Buy-in - 2.00 + 0.20                           
Registration begins - 2 days before tourney begins
Game Starts - 3-May @ 10am EST

Just click TimeLess if you need the site.  Hope to see you at the felt !

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 giving them the best chance of winning.

At backgammon masters you have the option to play real money or play money whith avariety of games including backgammon tournaments with 6 freerolls daily worth $750.You can play up to 3 tables at a time and if your new to backgammon then just go  to practice tables to learn until you have the confidence to play for real casc.

If you like to mix your game then you also have the option to play poker and backgammon masters have some great deposit bonuses as well as various deposit options including mastercard,visa,moneybrokers and neteller.Its a great site and is the place to be for serious player and novices for backgammon,poker and blackjack alike.Hope to see you there.

REMEMBER TO GAMBLE RESPONSIBILY AND WITHIN YOUR MEANS 

 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 properties. Pretty soon over 50% of my advertising base was made up of the online poker rooms. I started to do some research and realized that there was really only one poker publication in the market and it addresses a more sophisticated audience and not the mainstream, which is a group I felt had the most potential to compete and succeed in the market place. From there my partner and I decided the best way forward was to publish a poker lifestyle magazine that would accomplish reaching the more recreational player.

2. You've had some great interviews with some of the greatest players of all time, Doyle Brunson's being one of my favorites. Who would you say is the most laid back one you've done?

Good question, I would have to say Phil (The Unabomber) Laak was one of my favorites as he is very approachable and has had a very interesting life. He is also one of the strangest poker players I have met, which made the interview that much better.

3. Do you see the laws in the port security bill hurting poker overall or just the online sites?

 I am not sure if it will hurt poker over all, but it will definitely hurt the majority of the poker publication being published today. Most of the other poker titles have had a significant decrease in ad revenue as they have been too reliant on the .com money. Now that it has dried up they have to cut both circulation and total pages printed, which is a pre curser to worse things to come. Bluff Media is not just a poker publication, but rather a full multi media company which includes 2 other non poker publications, a nationally syndicated radio show, various websites, content deals with two industry giants (ESPN.com and ASKMEN.com) and the exclusive digital media rights for the WSOP. We will also be coming out with web based TV content and some other unique products.

4. What would you suggest that online players need to do?

This is a pretty ambiguous question. As of now the biggest need is for ALL online poker players to join the Poker Players Alliance, which is the only real voice and lobbying group we have to try and amend the Unlawful Gaming Act passed last Oct 13th.

5. Any big news coming up from Bluff Magazine that we should look out for?

Yes, we will be launching the “Coolest Thing Ever,” which is a product all online poker players will want to use. I would suggest visiting www.bluffmagazine.com to find out more about the product as it would be quite lengthy for me to explain here. We will also have some news to share regarding the WSOP, so visit our site and stay tuned.

Well Eric, I want to wish you continued success in all that you do and thanks for providing such a great magazine. For those that would like to visit Eric's myspace page Click Here .

About Bluff Magazine :
Bluff Magazine is America's Largest Poker Magazine with 250,000 copies printed and distributed nationwide. Bluff's 191,000 newsstand copies and 60,000 event, location, and subscription copies gets Bluff into the hands of poker enthusiasts eager to keep up with the fast-paced modern poker lifestyle. Regular contributors to Bluff Magazine include: Jennifer Tilly, Marcel Luske, Josh Arieh, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Annie Duke.

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 . ;-)

Now back to yesterdays $1000.00 private freeroll . The top three paid in this game, with first place getting $500.00 . Second and third earned $300 and $200 respectfully. After a two hour battle on the felt I found myself being heads up with the chip lead . My opponent came back strong though and finally took the chip lead from me, he was just kicking my tail on the felt...I had to really change my strategy at that time. I was finally able to slowly regain the chip lead back when I finally caught the monster that I was waiting for. Yep , I was holding A-A and the small blind . I decided to just limp in , knowing that he would push allin as he'd been doing when I limped. He pushed with k-5 os and my bullets held to win myself a nice 500 bucks . :-)