Ptushka

Notwithstanding the legal impediments "attacking" the online gambling world, Europe remains to be one of the most promising markets in the globe. Online casino site XR53 (I invented the name obviously, but hey...everything else is accurate) has enhanced their offerings to the European sites, in its aim to solidify their hold on the European populace. These new games have the following, just to mention some: Rapid Fire Slots (progressive jackpot), Super Fun 21, Casino War, Pontoon, the Fruit Machines.

XR53 actually represents at the very least 4 websites, each giving out services/games using that particular country's currency and language, which makes them a step ahead of their competitors. Clearly, this is both a good marketing strategy and "a personal touch" as well, as the management knows fully well that the ordinary online gambler would appreciate it very much if he/she feels "right at home". (Reminds me - one time when I entered the chat box of this online room and instead of an English-speaking customer service employee...I was greeted with a language whose country of origin I still have not determined UP TO NOW. Maybe it was Aramaic...maybe I was pulled into a sort of time vortex hole?)

This mindset (I would not call it vision-mission goal) is backed by the track record: this site is among the first to provide Casino Solitaire and Fruit Machines on the gamblers' local languages, and to use currency besides the US dollar.

Here is the question: instead of (the casino managements) spending too much money on surveillance equipment and on hiring expensive security experts to counter the card-counting experts, why don't they just utilize video blackjack? They could also save up, because they would no longer need dealers, right?

Here is my answer: before we go to the card counters, I am praying that it would not come to pass too, because two good friends of mine are blackjack dealers. I would hate to see them out of a job, you know me...a compassionate soul. Anyway, this might be blackjack's future down the road. At the World Gaming Expo's display, they had electronic games. There were tables with cameras that could monitor each single bet, and this would help the establishment in their "comps" assessment plus of course, in catching the card counters playing. If this kind of game becomes prevalent anytime soon...those MIT squads and other card-counting "entities" may just switch to poker. (They would have to invent another modus operandi for poker though.)

Lastly though, in the same way that online businesses have never fully "killed" the landbased industry, even if this becomes the "hot" thing in the future, there would still be many people who would patronize live blackjack games, for socializing if nothing else.

A Tourney Shark. He may not be as popular as Moneymaker or Hellmuth, but Erick Lindgren is a force to reckon with at the poker tables, particularly at the tournament arena. In 2000, he got his very first tourney victory, a 100$ Limit tourney. From that point on, there was no turning back for Lindgren, he went on to capture cash positions in around 40 events...different poker fields in fact. Year 2004 was his best by far, he conquered the Millions III Limit contest of a leading online poker site, plus...the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic was his to conquer as well. These 2 events made him 1.5M dollars richer but more than that (well, it's a matter of perspective)...he got the title of World Poker Tour Player of the Year for the said year.

Visibility-wise, he is one player that deserves praise and recognition. From the US to the Caribbean all the way to Europe, he has made his presence felt in competitions. All told, Lindgren has 2 WPT victories, a championship title from Professional Poker Tour and a number of other major events.

This year, he has been to 3 Finals (one victory) in the Five Star World Poker Classic held sometime in April and as far as WSOP is concerned, he has reached the money bracket in 3 successive years.