When you enter a poker tournament, do you ever look around to see how many women are playing? Do you wonder if there will be a “pro” at your table to cause you stress and grief? The truth is, both are a good probability with women’s success on the rise in the poker industry. Still, women make up less than 5 percent of most playing fields in tournaments.

The most untapped market today in poker is women. The online sites want them and are patiently waiting to scoop up the next winner to add to their promotable stable of professional players. One very possible venue for these ladies on the rise to emerge from is ladies-only poker tours. New women’s poker tours are popping up on an average of two a year, promoting events for women and providing environments for women to learn how to build their game and move into open events.

One of the most successful women poker tours traveling around the United States is the High Heels Poker Tour (HHPT). With founder Lauren Failla at the wheel, she plans to make the tour international and increase women’s interest in poker. “The only tour that existed prior to 2007 when the HHPT began was on the West Coast. With research in hand and realizing that women’s poker was virtually non-existent on the East Coast, I decided to create an outlet where women could make their mark,” she says. “Understanding the market is paramount as I continue through this journey to bring women’s poker to the next level. The High Heels Poker Tour now has events all over the United States and abroad. In looking toward the future, my efforts will continue to focus on this demographic while creating new and exciting opportunities for the HHPT and HHPT Academy for Women.” (more…)

The field for the WSOP Tournament of Champions has been announced and contains 20 of the worlds most prominent poker all stars. With $1 million dollars in prize money up for grabs, the play is sure to  of the highest caliber.

Poker’s very first fan-voted Tournament of Champions will feature 20 of the game’s most notable players, as 355,081 votes were cast to determine who will compete for $1 million in prize money in the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions on Sunday, June 27 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
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One of the largest and most recognizable names in poker is the subject of a new federal probe, Full Tilt Poker, who’s name and logo is affixed at virtually every poker event around the world. The interest by the government stems from a suspected element of money -laundering, while this may be a way to compel cooperation even in areas where gambling is legal, the original article appears below:

Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest poker site, is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Manhattan on money laundering charges, according to a report Monday in the Financial Times.
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Home Gaming Software Heats Up

Walk into any big-box retailer, be it Target or Best Buy, and head to the electronics section. You’ll find a plethora of video and computer games designed to work with a host of systems, ranging from the Nintendo Wii to the XBOX 360 to your very own personal computer (PC). While you may still love firing up your laptop for a quick round of solitaire, today’s games have become more graphically pleasing, more realistic and more stimulating than ever before.

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The taping of the highly-anticipated fifth season of HIGH STAKES POKER™ was filmed at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas December 19-21. 

The new season features the returns of poker stars Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra, along with players new to HIGH STAKES POKER such as Tom Dwan and reigning World Champion Peter Eastgate, and recreational players like “The Simpsons” creator Sam Simon, Bob Safai and film director Nick Cassavetes. The stakes have never been higher for the players as the minimum cash buy-in of $200,000 is the largest buy-in for an entire run of a television series. The show returns to the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV where HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON ONE took place.

Here are some images from the taping on December 19-21:

Players include:

PATRIK ANTONIUS
MIKE BAXTER
DAVID BENYAMINE 
DOYLE BRUNSON
NICK CASSAVETES
IVAN DEMIDOV
TOM DWAN
PETER EASTGATE 
ELI ELEZRA 
ANTONIO ESFANDIARI
BARRY GREENSTEIN
PHIL HELLMUTH
PHIL IVEY
PHIL LAAK
HOWARD LEDERER
GIORGIO MEDICI
DARIO MINIERI
DANIEL NEGREANU
ILARI SAHAMIES 
BOB SAFAI
SAM SIMON