I’ve been in a pissy mood lately when it comes to card games.

Since moving to Boston in 2002, it’s been all poker, poker, poker. I like poker. I’ve made money at poker. I’ve paid for a trip to Vegas in the Harrah’s poker room. Though, I’m an awful tournament player (ask Mark Scalia).

It seems like computerized card games have boiled down to solitaire and poker, with every geek’s dream of going to the World Series.

I didn’t learn how to play poker for real until college. Growing up, we had two games: setback with my friends and pinochle with the family.

I’ve been really pleased to see Pinochle making an appearance on more and more commercial products, but no one has gotten it right yet with the rules and the artificial intelligence. (you’ll see an Old Shoebox article in a few weeks about someone who DID get it in 1993)

Reel Deal Card Games ‘09 includes but doesn’t at all understand pinochle, but I’m not going to dwell on that fact any longer.

What you do get is more than 80 games and free online multiplayer, which is nice, but there aren’t exactly a ton of people lining up to play.

Phanton EFX, the game’s publisher, did manage to put together a good platform. What they should have done was give it away and just sell advertising on the multiplayer servers.

The artificial intelligence, while cute and often entertaining, is just really stupid. They get the rules wrong a log, they bet, raise and fold without any obvious reason in the poker games, but most of all they just aren’t programmed to understand the subtle nuances of most of the complicated games. (pinochle)

The game, packaged on two CDs, includes Harts, Bridge, Cribbage, Canasta, Golf, Rummy 500, spades, War, Pinochle, Gin, All Fives, Wist, Euchre, Pitch, Old Maid, Spite & Malice, Go Fish, Skat, Pepper, Crazy Eights, Memory Match, seven poker games, Blackjack, and 45 solitaires. As you play the games, you earn points towards virtual prizes, and that’s just ducky.

If you’re looking for a PC cards game, I’ve seen worse, and better.

The day didn’t start well for Ivey. Entering the final table as the chip leader with a little over 4 million in chips, he lost almost half of his stack on the very first hand of the evening. Action was folded to Ivey, who was the small blind, and he raised 240,000 and Woody Moore pushed all in for 1.5 million. Ivey thought for approximately five minutes before calling with A-9. Unfortunately for Ivey, Moore had A-Q and doubled up.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) presented his “Skill Game Protection Act” to the House in June, seeking to distinguish activities based on skill, such as poker, mahjong and chess from other “games of chance” as addressed in the UIGEA.

“There will be some people that say, ‘You know, the Internet is the venue of the 21st Century for everything,’” Wexler said in a press release. “So, the idea that we would prohibit poker and other games of skill, is not only just counterproductive, it’s antiquated.”

Internet games such as fantasy sports, horse racing and lotteries are already exempt from the law. And “gaming” websites are legal because they only offer free casino games, so players don’t run the risk of losing money when they play.

The UIGEA was passed by the Republican-controlled Congress last year as part of a port security bill, a victory for GOP lawmakers who had tried for almost a decade to pass laws prohibiting online gambling.

Wexler, who describes poker as “an American institution,” has stated that the Democratic takeover of Congress in the November 2006 election prompted him to file the legislation because it created a “more amenable environment” for his proposal.

“I thought as really a matter of personal freedom more than anything else, Congress should not be telling consenting adults in America what games they can play on the Internet,” Wexler said. “In essence, it’s the newest form of prohibition.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) have also introduced separate pieces of legislation to respond to the UIGEA. Frank has proposed legalizing all forms of Internet gambling with careful regulations, and taxing it.

Some sponsors of the original bill have already denounced Frank and Wexler’s efforts.

“Online poker is currently the most addictive form of gambling activity among American youth,” Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., told the San Francisco Chronicle last month. “Online poker players are more likely to exhibit problem gambling symptoms than other types of gamblers, and over half of young people who gamble on the Internet displays signs of
problem gambling.”

Reports indicate that Internet gambling in the US, at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was a $12 billion industry.

As the $10,000 WSOP Main Event is well underway, many big name stars remain.

Jamie Gold was eliminated Monday, and as we entered Day 3, Gus Hansen was on top with over $600,000 in chips. Six former champions remained,

Chris Ferguson, one of the former champions, busted early in the day leaving five.

At the end of Day 3, the money bubble has burst and 337 players remain in contention for poker’s greatest prize. Atop the leader board is a familiar face to the online world, Italian sensation Dario Minieri with 2,398,000 in chips. Dario plays in the highest games on Pokerstars and recently purchased an Aston Martin using his Pokerstars Frequent Player Points…

Remarkably, five former champions made it through the day and are still left in the field: Huck Seed (544,000), Robert Varkonyi (424,00), Scotty Nguyen (321,000), Carlos Mortensen (284,000), and Berry Johnston (203,000).

Actor Tobey Maguire has survived the money bubble and is still in the hunt with 131,000 in chips, and numerous pros are also still left including Gus Hansen (currently 11th), Lee Watkinson, Chad Brown, Jason Lester, Daniel Alaei, Humberto Brenes and Mimi Tran among others.

Daniel Negreanu started out big in the tourney, winning pot after pot with his aggressive play, but he fell hard and busted late Wednesday.

With so many pros and former champions left, this Main Event is looking like a good one.

Television coverage of the smaller events started this week on ESPN. Tune in at 8 p.m.

Phil Hellmuth Jr. won his record-breaking 11th World Series of Poker bracelet June 11, winning Event #15, a $1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament.

With the win he broke the three-way tie of 10 WSOP bracelets between himself, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

Along with the bracelet Hellmuth took home $637,254.

Also, in a shocking move, PokerStars landed one of the most marketable and talented poker players in the world, Daniel Negreanu.

Negreanu, who recently left Full Contact Poker, now joins a team that includes four former WSOP Main Event Champions.

PokerStars is already currently the largest online poker room with tens of thousands of players at any given moment.