Another WSOP circuit event is to kick off today at Harrah’s in Pennsylvania. The casino house is extremely excited by the fact they are the first venue to hold this big event in the country just a year on starting table games operation. Harrah’s have about 70 games prepared and are anticipating a turnout of about 5,000 players. Buy-ins start at $50 and the final $1,500 No-Limit Hold ’em Championship takes place May 10. The winner will qualify for a seat in the Las Vegas Main Event to be played, traditionally, in summer. WSOP is the longest running poker tournament series and last year the Last Vegas games that last over 50 days attracted nearly 70,000 players. Just to remind of one name made famous back then, Jonathan Duhamel won the series in 2010 scooping almost nine million dollars.

Latest developments in the case of the seizure of several biggest poker websites by the FBI reveal that PokerStars, one of the companies whose poker website has been seized, too, have also an operation in Australia. Whilst Australia allows online betting on sports, providing internet gambling is illegal for Australian operators. They are, however, still able to offer this type of entertainment to overseas players. However, it seems like Australian players have been playing on PokerStars, too. Since PokerStars are based on the Isle of Man, not in Australia, this branch of their business probably was not illegal. However, this matter is sure to get investigated further to make sure that indictments against PokerStars do not need to be extended to the company’s Australian branch.

The North American Poker Tour is in full swing and Vanessa Selbst has managed to take over the chip lead. The American poker pro, a member of Team PokerStars and last year’s winner of the NAPT which is traditionally held at the Mohegan Sun casino has a prize studded history, having made it to five final tables at the WSOP in which competition she recorded seven cashes to date. Last year, she managed to win over a million Euros at the Partouche Poker Tour. Now she is amongst the 24 survivors in the NAPT at the end of which is a pot worth 1,406,000. Vanessa Selbst is now defending last year’s title against several rival still alive who include Dan Shak, Nenad Medic, Jacobo Fernandez, Adam Geyer, Steve O’Dwyer, Eric Froehlich, and Olivier Busquet.

PokerTek, Inc., a developer of electronic table game solutions, came up with a new contribution to the gambling industry – an automated table game called ProCore. It's been designed to accommodate up to six players. It's very easy to configure with multiple options on offer and interacts excellently with the player. The games offered include blackjack and other traditional games - PokerTek previously celebrated success with Blackjack Pro and Poker Pro, too. Casino card games are extremely popular, especially with players who enjoy employing strategies and developing special skills to the end of decreasing the casino's edge and make more money by playing. This is especially true for blackjack, the only casino game (poker set apart as a special case and not really a part of a regular casino offer any more as separate poker sites have been set up) where a significant influence can be gained over the game result through conscientious study.

The first part of the SuperStar challenge is over and odds are not in favour for Daniel Negreanu – he lost the game to Victor Blom. The young Swede played amazingly well and (compared to Blom) old ship dog Negreanu was busted for $150K. Whilst the match should have lasted 2,500 hands, “Isildur1” Blom only needed 1,439 and four hours to get what he was after. The game, however, is not over as another battle between the two is planned for next week and Negreanu who has not been extremely lucky recently will have a chance to retaliate. In the meantime, he is not planning on missing any major tournament, televised or not.