France announced, last Friday, that it will
soon open its market for Online Poker,
online betting and gaming market.

Two days after a meeting with Charlie
McCreevy, the European
Commissioner
for Internal Market and Services, French
Budget Minister Eric Woerth reportedly
communicated the guidelines in which
France will undertake a “controlled
opening” of its online gaming market.

The meeting highlighted on the European
Commission’s infringement procedure
against France, the possible methods or measures in implementing the opening of online gambling market in France, and the period of time for the measures to be approved by the French legislature.

Woerth said that he will discuss the guidelines with the French Government on a cabinet meeting scheduled Wednesday.

Taxation levels for online gambling firms, according to Woerth, had not been set for the reason that he wanted to consult first the different parties involved in the sports and betting industry.

Other than the taxation levels, the sports team sponsorship issues has not yet been discussed.

Woerth also wanted to make sure that the technology, they will use in electronic data processing and financial transactions , is well secured.

By autumn, the bill to open the online gambling market will be presented to the French parliament.

The regulatory body is said to start setting up during the first half of 2009, awarding of licenses will take place before 2009 ends.

Operators or parties are required to obey any decision that will be handed down by the present legislative set up.

As of the present day, online games or any promotions related to them are still forbidden.

According to Woerth, the operator’s behavior concerning promotions about online gambling will be considered and evaluated before the awarding of licenses.

Anyone who will disobey the present rule will be accountable and will pursued by French authorities.

Referring to the monopoly and competition of online gambling sites in other countries, Woerth proudly said that it is for the sake of “realism” that France decided to open its doors for the online gambling market.

He was reportedly happy to announce that his dialogue with State Secretary for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, was successful.

Since Commissioner McCreevy said that guidelines Woerth presented to him was positive, the bill will be presented to the commission before presenting it to the Parliament.

If everything is successful, Online Poker, casino games, like roulette and blackjack will be launched.

Awarding of licenses will be done by regulatory authorities to make sure that the young will be protected and to make that safe gambling will be strictly enforced.

Licenses of a five year period will be given to operators with reference to industry sectors; licenses obtained in other European states are welcome to apply for licensing in France.

One thing that symbolizes the booming industry of poker is the emergence of poker related products that every poker enthusiast wants to have.

First there was the poker pop shirt, then the poker shades which is made to conceal your emotions in the Poker table, and now comes the coolest USB Flash Drive perfectly shaped like your poker chips that could serve as a reminder as well as a proclamation of your love for the game.

It is undeniable that the market size of the poker industry had expanded from a mere casino poker, to an Online Poker. Most cannot seem to get enough of their love for this ancient game that they are willing to purchase products that will let the whole world know they are into Poker.

It is for this reason that another product has once again been reportedly patterned after a poker chip.

Dane-Elec, one of the largest manufactures of memory modules and boards for computers, telecommunications and digital appliances, had just recently launched their newest product called the poker mate which will soon to be the envy of everyone who is addicted to poker.

Do not be deceived because though the poker mate looks like an ordinary poker chip, it is actually a flash drive that easily pulls out from the side of the chip. This sleek and compact interface design allows you to safely and conveniently store your document files, images, and music videos. poker mate is available in 1gb or 2gb memory capacities at prices not higher than $28. It also comes with a five year warranty that will make you a sure winner when you buy this.

It turns out though that Dane-Elec is not the first one to think of this product.

Memorex, now a division of Imation Corp. and is considered to be one of the most widely recognized and respected names in the consumer electronics industry, had earlier launched a very similar product.

Memorex call it the poker Chip USB Flash Drive offering only up to 1GB of storage capacity. Unlike the poker mate, the poker Chip USB Flash Drive comes preloaded with Big Fish Texas Hold’em software on the drive allowing poker enthusiasts to play Texas Hold’em right on their personal computer.

Both products support Windows 2000/XP and Vista, Mac OS 8.6 or above-Mac OS 8.6 – 9.x USB 1.1 support only- Linux 2.4.x These flash drives will certainly be put to a good use. Not only will it help you in organizing and storing important files, it will also serve as a constant reminder of your dream to be a Patrik Antonius and rule the poker world and the need for you to make money for whatever reasons you have.

Reports said that at about 1:00 a.m. on June 3rd Nenad Medic was named the Pot Limit Hold’em Champion in the first event of the 2008 World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

It is said that it was no easy task for Nenad because he had to fight his way through a final table that
consisted of well known pros such as Phil Laak, Patrick Antonius, Kathy Liebert, Andy Bloch and Mike Sexton.

Going into the final table Nenad was reportedly 2nd in chips with about 1.2 million and it did not take long for Nenad to bust another player out of the tournament, because on only the 5th hand of the day Phil Laak moved all in and Nenad called and flipped over pocket aces and after the board was laid out Nenad’s aces held up and Phil Laak was knocked out in 9th place. A couple other victims to fall to Nenad were Chris Bell who Nenad knocked out in 6th place and Kathy Liebert who was knocked out in 3rd place by Nenad.

It was now down to heads up action between Nenad Medic who sat at 4.94 million in chips and Andy Bloch who sat at only 2.1 million in chips. It was a long and stressful heads up game which took over an hour of play and on the last hand of the match Nenad turned a heart flush and Any Bloch had a pair of nines. For his win Nenad won is very first World Series of Poker Bracelet and he took home over $794,000.

According to reports, Nenad is a former college basketball player turned Poker professional.

While at the University of Waterloo, Medic has already been playing Poker with his team mates. And after his graduation, instead of playing basketball professionally, Medic started playing Online Poker professionally.

Success is without a doubt in a favor of Medic. He reportedly made his first success in WPT final table at Pokerstars.com and in Carribbean Poker adventure in 2005.

January of 2006 came where he won the final table at the Aussie Millions. He bagged the 3rd place and earned $282,432. He also earned $1,717,194 when he won the final table at the World Poker finals last year.

Reports also said that Nenad is a sponsored pro with Full Tilt, a popular Poker Room.

Medic plays Online Poker under the alias Serb2127, a Poker Review said.

Just who is this hot Poker babe?
For those who are not in the
know, this babe is a successful
actress and also one of the
hottest and greatest Poker
players you will ever meet.

Born on September 7, 1973 in
Houston, Texas, Shannon
Elizabeth Fadal was a cheerleader
and an aspiring professional tennis
player who used to work hard for her sport until she landed a role in a music video that was shot locally. She used that as a motivation and began a modeling career which in turn led to acting jobs on television shows like “Hang Time” and “Arli$$”. Because she did best in portraying these roles, she was chosen to be Nadia in the movie “American Pie”. In addition, she made 35 more films and television appearances in the past years. With all these achievements she had, people consider her a well-seasoned veteran in the showbiz industry.

Similar to other Poker players, Shannon ventured into the world of Poker at an early age by playing games such as 7 card stud with her family as a past time. When Poker was booming and there was a rise in the popularity of televised Poker Tournaments, Shannon got to know the game of Texas Hold’em.

Akin to other Poker celebrities, Shannon had to adopt Poker mentors to help tweak her game and teach her the subtle nuances of the game which led her to play with a proficient and seasoned style that was able to stand up to the best of competitors.

Now that she is already proficient, Shannon found herself playing Poker more often.

She got in the 2005 Main Event at the World Series of Poker with Daniel Negreanu as her guardian.

Since she is said to have a lot of victories in 2006- for instance, she was a sixth placer at the Las Vegas Poker Invitational, Shannon proclaimed a new career as a devoted Texas Hold’em player.

Shannon also finished 3rd in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship in 2007 and won $125,000.

One Poker site said she also stars alongside Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson and Poker hall-of-famer, Doyle Brunson in an improvisational Poker comedy called “The Grand”. I actually met with one of the producers of the movie back in 2005 so he could pick my brain about being a female in a predominately male industry. He was looking to “round out the female character”. His original email described the movie as “a factious improv comedy in the vain of Christopher Guest’s film Best in Show is the best way to describe it.” I get many emails talking about projects and it’s nice to see one that has come to fruition. It’s even nicer to see some big names including Shannon involved in the project.

It is also said that Online Poker room, Full Tilt once had a sponsorship agreement with Shannon.

Just recently, Poker Reviews said that Shannon joined Doyles’ Poker Room.

Does the live and Online
Poker community have its luck
candidate? According to some
Poker Review sites that candidate may just be Barack Obama.

Obama just won the democratic nomination. Should we vote for him or should we opt for McCain? A Poker Review site points us in the direction of a Telegraph article that details Mr. Obama’s Online Poker background.

Toby Harnden writes:

“When he was a young state politician in Illinois, Barack Obama played his cards right. “He had the stone face,” said Senator Terry Links, who hosted weekly Online Poker games at his home. ‘He didn’t stay in hands if he didn’t think he had a chance of winning.’

Links told Harnden:

“Barack wasn’t one of those foolish gamblers who just thought all of a sudden that card in the middle was going to show up mysteriously. He’s as competitive in politics as he is in Online Poker. It’s not like he’s going to go into something without a course of action mapped out.”

So would Barack Obama rally behind the Online Poker playing community who today feel like castaways thanks to a few choice politicians? Probably not. But we cannot help but wonder if Mr. Obama would have requested the removal of an attached measurement to curb Online Poker attached to that port security bill.

Anyway, i have read in Doyle Brunson’s blog that that he’s backing Sen. Barack Obama:

“I have come to the conclusion that poker players have to support Obama. We cannot possibly let McCain be our President because he supports most of George W. Bush’s views. Hillary has lots of experience but I do not think she is ready to lead our nation. Imagine her trying to talk to the leaders of the Islamic world? I wish we could have her husband back, but we cannot. Jennifer Harman and I have emailed Obama and asked what his position is on internet gaming. Hopefully we will get a response from his camp.”

You can also count CardPlayer columnist and poker author Bob Ciaffone as an Obama backer.

Hmmm. Whether or not i will vote for him, the real question that really intrigues me is, How does Obama play his cards? Earlier in the campaign several journalists looked into that.

Aside from Harnden’s report, Christopher Wills also filed a report for the AP in September about Obama’s poker playing as a state legislator in Springfield, Illinois:

Obama was a regular at the low-stakes games – sometimes stud poker, sometimes draw – designed to break up the tedium of long legislative sessions. poker, beer and cigars were staples; Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers and even the lobbyists who Obama sometimes rails against dealt the cards and placed their bets.

The traits Obama displayed around the card table those many nights are ones he brings to his presidential bid and are certain to be evident — and analyzed — if he wins the White House.

By his poker buddies’ accounts, Obama is careful and focused. He is not easily distracted and doesn’t give away his intentions unless it’s to his advantage. He’s not prone to taking risky chances, preferring to play it safe. But he’s also serious and competitive: When he plays, he plays to win.

“It’s a fun way for people to relax and share stories and give each other a hard time over friendly competition,” Obama said by e-mail. “In Springfield, it was a way to get to know other senators — including Republicans.” …

Though Obama is one a strong presidential candidate, i am still thinking if he will look back and help the poker industry if in case he wins.