Mortensen had actually been one of the more prominent Full Tilt pros in the past, but during the last couple of years, he was not attached to any online poker room.  He has recently been spotted playing Mixed games on Full Tilt with his name in red.  For those who have not seen him online yet, but want to see his fun avatar in which he is dressed as a matador, navigate to the Full Tilt Poker installation directory on your hard drive and drill down to the Graphics > Table > Avatars > Pro folder.  Mortensen is in folder #10.

In addition to being out of the online poker spotlight, Mortensen has also pared down his live tournament schedule in the last few years.  Since winning the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $3,970,415 in 2007, he has only had a dozen recorded cashes, half of which were in the last two runnings of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).  He had two cashes in January, including a final table in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, so perhaps that and his reunion with Full Tilt indicate that he is starting to play more again.

The 38 year old Mortensen – whose real name is actually Juan Carlos – won the 2001 WSOP Main Event and is still the only player of Hispanic origin to win the cherished title.  He is also the only player to have won both the WSOP and WPT Championships, a distinction that will be very difficult for anyone to match.  All told, Mortensen has two WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles.  With $8,894,713 in career live tournament winnings, he ranks 13th on the all-time money list.

Mortensen was born in Ecuador to a Danish father and Spanish mother and moved to Spain when he was 15 years old.  He got his start in poker in 1997 when some people started playing at the club that he worked at.  He was invited to sit down and promptly lost $100.  Frustrated, he mulled over his mistakes all night, went back the next day, and doubled his money.  After winning for a few more days, he decided to play poker for a living.

He cashed in a WSOP event for the first time in 2000 and, in 2001, decided to to the United States.  It was that year that he finally established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the poker world, first winning $116,722 in the $300 Limit Hold'em event at the L.A. Poker Classic and following that up a few months later with his WSOP Main Event victory.

Poker News Daily: Do you believe that it was ever acceptable for MasterCard to process an online poker transaction after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in the United States in 2006?

It hasn't been legal for MasterCard or Visa for over 10 years now, so this is nothing new to U.S.-facing companies in particular. What is new is the way they have caught people who were circumventing their rules.

PND: Are all transactions related to internet gambling blocked or just credit card deposits?

They not blocked everywhere. Some seem to be operating MasterCard with no issues.

PND: Are daily transaction counts down as a result or are online poker players finding other ways to get money online?

From what I have been told, cash in is down significantly. Obviously, if you take a credit card channel as big as MasterCard away from your portfolio, there will be a big hit.

PND: Do players realize that their funds aren’t being deposited using credit cards?

The players are not notified. The deposits go through and they will still be billed for the transaction. The issue is that the gaming company never receives the funds, as they are "intercepted." The processor the gaming company used then has their account with MasterCard closed and they are fined; this is usually passed onto the gaming company directly.

PND: Does a player lose the intercepted funds?

If MasterCard closes the middleman down, they keep all funds frozen until they ascertain what happened. The player gets billed and knows nothing. The player gets his money in his gaming account and has his credit card billed. We basically just gave him free money. These companies do not settle instantly with the poker rooms and that is where the big risk comes. MasterCard doesn’t settle with the processor instantly either.

PND: How did MasterCard block internet gambling transactions?

Rumor has it that they audited thousands upon of transactions manually. They looked at coded declines and then at subsequent approved transactions. This would tell them that they were being "bounced" to another uncoded source. They deemed that these transactions were illegal and closed down the processing account attached to them.

PND: Is the recent MasterCard blocking due to the UIGEA, charge backs, or some combination of both?

I'm not sure about their motives. MasterCard has always been more aggressive than others with this. We have been warned for many months that this was coming, but there is no way of knowing until it actually happens. As always, this industry is resilient and will bounce back. It always has and it always will.

PND: What has been the reaction of players you've talked to at your site?

Players are used to cards being declined fairly regularly. Obviously, some want to know why, so we try to direct them to other trusted methods such as e-wallets wherever possible.

PND: Can online poker players use debit cards to deposit?

MasterCard does not run debit cards. Visa or the bank runs them usually. I know that Canada shut off most debit cards to poker companies last year. TD, Scotia Bank, and RBC all stopped too.

It was announced on Wednesday that Loto-Quebec, who holds the monopoly on the online lottery in the Canadian province, was authorized by the provincial government to begin operating an internet gambling and online poker portal for its citizens. The new site would compete against other online casino and poker sites and would not, officials state, monopolize the industry in the province. Despite the fact that online gaming is legal in Canada, the move by the provincial government has been painted as a way to eliminate unregulated operations that currently are in existence and increase revenue for the province.

According to reports from CTV Montreal, Loto-Quebec, along with the operators the British Columbia and Atlantic Lottery Corporations, will set up a singular site in the second half of 2010 that will cater to citizens of Quebec. CTV Montreal reports that over $600 million in revenue is pulled in by over 2000 operations, many of them outside of the government’s jurisdiction or the “black market,” as the government believes. CTV Montreal quotes the Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand as saying, “Our citizens are not protected and the money goes to illegal channels.”

Loto-Quebec states that, beyond the money side of the equation, the company and the government are looking to expand protections for consumers. According to Loto-Quebec, the new site will feature several preventative measures that will help to thwart the occurrence of difficult issues such as age verification, deposit limits, and problem gambling. “(Other) online gambling sites obviously do not offer an assistance program for vulnerable players and it is left to the (government) to pick up the costs of problem gaming,” according to Loto-Quebec Chief Executive Officer Alain Cousineau as saying.

Loto-Quebec has said it is looking to a European nation that has nationalized its gaming, Sweden, as a template. The Swedish site Svenska Spel offers internet gaming and online poker and is the only legal outlet for Swedes to pursue such activities. Svenska Spel was founded in 1997 and opened its online poker operations in 2006; it is currently the 13th largest online poker site in the online poker industry, according to PokerScout.com.

This latest move by Quebec follows other efforts in the United States, where jurisdictions are looking to take the online gaming industry out of the hands of the federal government. Three states - California, Florida, and New Jersey - may open their own state-run sites.

A thread on the online forum TwoPlusTwo is debating the issue, with opinions landing on both sides. Poster “defactocrippler” states in a post, “I assume they did some investigating and it is pretty likely that some money is going to illegal channels… Citizens are in fact not protected because there is no regulation.” Others point out that the move by Quebec could be seen as an attack on the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Indians, who operate the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and are responsible for the licensing and operation of hundreds of online casino and poker sites.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on Quebec legalizing internet gambling.

Readers of Poker News Daily have been quite vocal about the sudden shift in PartyPoker’s play money stance. The standard on the world’s third largest online poker site is now a maximum of 250,000 play money chips for customers without real money accounts and an unlimited number for those with cash balances. Our original article on the topic has garnered 70 comments from readers of our site and is one of the most talked-about topics of all-time. In fact, some of the comments have a higher word count than the articles themselves.

While a high percentage of the comments lambaste PartyPoker for its decision, our industry insider disagreed with the mob. Our source explained, “This is a business enterprise and they’re not paying customers. These guys are talking about class action lawsuits and boycotting the site. It’s a while different scenario if you’re a paying customer and the business changes its policy, but these are free accounts.”

Affected by PartyPoker’s decision, in part, is the large aftermarket that has popped up for the site’s play chips, with up to one billion being sold for as much as $400 on sites like Chip Empire. Why have a play money site in the first place, you ask? Part of the answer lies in the ability to advertise to certain markets. Our insider noted, “It gives you a way of advertising in the U.S. You can say that it’s not a gambling site and you hope that a decent percentage of those who sign up will decide to deposit real money.” However, the conversion rate is typically between 5% and 10%.

In addition, play money sites allow customers to whet their whistles and fine-tune their poker know-how before venturing to real money games. Our source explained, “A lot of people try out play money tables to get their feet wet. Within a week or a month or however long it takes, they understand the concept of online poker and deposit.” However, operating play money tables, according to our expert, requires policing of avatars and chat, awareness of the aftermarket effects of chip sales, and customer inquiries. All of these efforts take away from the monetary focus of a multi-million dollar online poker room.

In our expert’s experience, when play money bidding popped up on places like eBay, the room would ask the popular auction site to remove it. eBay typically obliged, but new opportunities to bid would continually crop up. Our expert noted, “When [PartyPoker had to contend with] chip dumping and sales going on, that becomes a time-spender that they have to manage. They don’t want to have to invest real money in customers who are in theory customers, but don’t provide you with revenue.”

As you can tell by milling through the comments on our previous PartyPoker play money articles, play chip fans are extremely passionate. Our interviewee reiterated this fact for us: “Some people are rabidly passionate about their play money games. Sometimes it was about selling the chips and sometimes it was about having a contest with their friends. For some people, it was a big deal and so they’re extremely vocal.”

In a poll posted on Thursday on Poker News Daily, we asked, “What do you think about PartyPoker's new play chip policy capping non-real money players at 250,000 chips?” At the time of writing, an overwhelming 73% of respondents said, “Who cares? It's just play money,” while only 24% disagreed with PartyPoker’s move.

Stay tuned for the latest reaction to the PartyPoker play money paradigm shift.

A source close to the USA-friendly Only Poker told Poker News Daily, “We have just signed a major sports celebrity who has won numerous championships during their career.” Whether the mystery man or woman will turn out to be Rodman remains to be seen, but Only Poker appears to be ramping up its efforts to become one of the online poker industry’s household names. The site makes its home on the Cake Poker Network alongside industry giants like Cake Poker, DoylesRoom, and Poker Host.

Rodman has five NBA championship rings after stints with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. He led the NBA in rebounds per game for nearly a decade and has become one of the sports world’s most recognizable faces. He’s also been associated with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he teamed up with industry icon Hulk Hogan to fight former Utah Jazz great Karl Marlone and Diamond Dallas Page in 1998.

Rodman was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and was an All-Star in 1990 and 1992. His championships came in 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, and 1998. Last year, he appeared alongside UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” Rodman lasted all of five weeks on the Donald Trump-led reality show and his final episode featured a real-life intervention. The “Celebrity Apprentice” cast grew leery of Rodman’s prolific drinking and confronted him in the boardroom. However, he was ultimately fired. The finale of “Celebrity Apprentice” featured Duke squaring off against comedian Joan Rivers.

Rodman has been tied to high-profile women like Madonna and Carmen Electra and is currently a member of the cast of “Celebrity Rehab 3.” The show features Dr. Drew Pinsky of MTV’s “Loveline” fame. Rodman’s housemates on the VH1 show include Lisa D’Amato, Heidi Fleiss, Joey Kovar, Mindy McCready, Kari Ann Peniche, Mackenzie Phillips, Mike Starr, and Tim Sizemore, whose list of credits includes the iconic war movies “Saving Private Ryan,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Black Hawk Down.”

The Cake Poker Network will soon see the departure of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com, which will likely head to the rival Merge Gaming Network around mid-April. The Cake Poker family of sites stands as the ninth largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game traffic, according to PokerScout.com, with a seven-day running average of 2,150 cash game players. During its peak hours, well over 3,000 call the site home. At the time of writing, which is around 11:00am ET on Friday, 1,748 cash game players are logged in. The Cake Poker Network happily accepts players from the United States.

If Rodman does not sign with Only Poker, other sports stars who match the description given by the site include Kenny Smith, Joe Montana, and Jose Conseco. The latter won World Series titles in 1989 and 2000 and has appeared on the roster of seven Major League Baseball franchises. Montana is a four-time Super Bowl champion and may be in attendance this weekend when the New Orleans Saints face the Indianapolis Colts in the 44th running of football’s biggest game. Smith appeared at the 2009 World Series of Poker Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and is a two-time NBA champion.

To find out whether this mysterious sports celebrity is, in fact, Dennis Rodman, visit OnlyPoker.com.

Earlier this week, PartyPoker took the step to cap earnings in the play money games to a maximum of 250,000 chips. When players woke up on Tuesday morning, many people who had built up millions of these chips through years of play found that their accounts had been reset. An earlier story on Poker News Daily this week stated that the PartyPoker wanted to “stop the transferring of chips from account-to-account outside of regular hands of poker,” according to the site's blog. In the same posting, PartyPoker was adamant about its decision, saying, “We will not reverse our decision.”

Seemingly behind the decision was the selling of play money chips outside of the playing arena on PartyPoker. As detailed in the story on Poker News Daily, some sites offered one billion chips for $400. This, in PartyPoker’s mind, made for inequities in the play money games.

In an e-mail that Poker News Daily obtained from a PartyPoker player, the site went into greater detail about its decision. “For the benefit of the vast majority of our play money players, we have taken the decision to restrict the maximum number of play chips any single player may earn to (250,000 chips) because a very small minority of poker players have been disrupting games by betting large amounts on any kind of hand,” the e-mail stated. “They may think it’s fun but it’s certainly not for other players who understand fair play and enjoy the fun and excitement of playing poker games for free.”

The e-mail continues with a statement that PartyPoker is looking to keep the games fair for all who participate on the play money tables: “We do not tolerate unfair play in any form, whether on our play money or our real money sites. This is for your benefit. This restriction does not affect Real Money accounts as their play money balance remains unchanged from one login to the next.”

The discussion of the move by PartyPoker has resulted in one of the most commented on stories in the history of Poker News Daily. Players related their experiences of how they had built up millions of chips, only to see them disappear in the move by PartyPoker. Several readers have angrily declared that they will no longer be PartyPoker customers.

Poker News Daily reader Troy stated in his comment, “It’s a shame, I really enjoyed the site. 30 Mil gone. So am I. Fortunately there are other sites. I will check back a few times over the next month to see if they re-think their policy otherwise I will never play there again.” Victoria, another Poker News Daily reader, wrote, “I cannot believe PP had done this without warning, it was a fun site. Now I am broke…(It) took me two years to build up my account. I was a loyal player here, not anymore. What a shame.”

Others involved in the Poker News Daily discussion stated that there could be legal action in the works. Reader Sweet Tee opened up this line of action in saying, “It’s a shame. We had to go to the U. S. Attorney General’s office and they recommended a law firm to file a class action suit again PartyPoker since (they) won’t listen. We will shut them down.” An e-mail sent to Sweet Tee was not returned.

According to Poker News Daily reader Frank Bruehl, the decision to strip play chip accounts down to 250,000 hasn’t affected those that have real money accounts on PartyPoker: “Why the real money accounts still got their play chips? (They) are able to build up more without getting reset to 250k?” A majority of the comments seemed to take PartyPoker to task for seemingly discriminating against U.S. players, who cannot play in the cash game tables on the site. Others detailed their enjoyment of the play money games for their camaraderie and physical inability to enter a live casino.

Poker News Daily has contacted PartyPoker regarding their policy change and were told by a spokesperson, “We have not had any real money players in the U. S. since October 2006, when the law changed. All play money players accounts have been capped. The reasons for the move were clearly stated and explained.” PartyPoker has also stated that this policy will not be reversed despite the backlash.

Sometimes these same coaches make themselves available for private coaching and such was the case for StoxPoker.com instructor Jason Ho.  Ho claimed he made over $1 million in 2008 and accepted jobs coaching players both online and at “camps” he set up.  On top of that, he approached students and colleges about a Pot Limit Omaha stake.  Recently, a flood of accusations poured in against Ho, who, according to his detractors, could have been scamming all parties during his entire career.

The allegations first surfaced in the StoxPoker.com forums and were later consolidated into a single thread.  The first element that the allegations point to is that Ho claimed to have made $1 million in 2008, yet has never offered proof that this actually took place.  One fact that his detractors point to is a 2008 bankruptcy in the U.K. that they claim demonstrates that Ho never won that kind of money.  At no point has Ho produced proof backing up his claims in a public forum.

Once the first few allegations against Ho were posted, the rest came flooding in.  There were many long and detailed accounts of players' negative experiences interacting with him in a coaching environment.  A player with the forum name “NotAJasonHoFan” detailed many different alleged examples of Ho’s actions.  Some of the more serious claims against Ho were that he isn’t a winning player and that he borrows money from students under false pretenses and does not pay them back.  He goes on to state that Ho “shouts down and berates his students” and places blame on the student when they go into a downswing.

Another serious allegation from this poster stated that several students have gone to Macau for one to two-week intensive coaching courses that were supposed to be “one on one,” but actually involved other students showing up.  There was one example of a player paying $7,000 for what amounted to about seven hours of coaching spread over a week.  During these poker coaching courses, Ho would allegedly take “personal breaks” for a day or two and lock himself in his room.

The allegations went on to say that Ho claimed he had “solved cap PLO and wanted to put together a poker crew,” which was something confirmed by Dusty “Leatherass9” Schmidt in his blog at Card Player.com.  Apparently Ho had the intention of aligning with Schmidt, who claimed that “his advice was ridiculous so I didn’t work with him again.”

The controversy continued on popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo.  One player named “rollsucker” claimed to be a small winner at 200nl and signed up for coaching in March 2008.  He was sold a guide for $2,000 saying that he could make 10 BB/100 on it.  After using the guide, the player says that he lost over $5,000 in 400,000 hands.  Eventually in October, this player hired a new coach at DeucesCracked.com, who said that Jason’s guide was “dangerous, unplayable and full of wrong information.”

After that specific post, another surfaced from a person identified as “Positively4thstreet,” who chimed in with an extremely detailed horror story of his experience with Ho in Macau at a training course.  He was also approached about a Pot Limit Omaha project and asked for funds to get it started; the project started and ended under what he felt were false pretenses.

Several people within the coaching industry have come forward, like the aforementioned Schmidt, to voice their distaste for what appears to be a mounting case against a person who has duped many out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The threads on StoxPoker and TwoPlusTwo have countless posts recounting stories both positive and negative about Jason Ho.

Brian “BW07507” Wilber is a small-stakes poker coach specializing in full ring and six-max play.  He weighed in on the situation: “This whole incident really shows why it is so important for a student to do their homework on a coach.  Students need to make sure they know someone is actually beating the games they are offering to coach you in.  You can do this by asking the coach to provide data such as a graph to prove he is truly beating the games and reference that against a site like PokerTableRatings.  You can also ask the coach to refer you to some of his other students to get their opinions.”

StoxPoker has since banned Ho from its forums and announced that he is no longer within its stable of coaches.  Collin Moshman, a popular instructor at StoxPoker and published author, posted, “I don’t think Stox bears a financial obligation to people who were scammed.  Maybe they bear some moral obligation … but at some point people have to be accountable for their own actions.”

Jason Ho’s official website is no longer up and running, with a “500 Internal Server Error” encountered when visiting the site.

Note that this article summarizes allegations made against Ho and in no way confirms or denies said allegations.

A press release distributed by the new home of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com proudly boasted, “Merge Gaming, the designer, developer, and licensor of software to the international online poker industry, today announces it has successfully agreed to migrate the online poker gaming activities of Jazette Enterprises to the Merge Gaming platform.” It was previously rumored that the shareholders of Jazette Enterprises had purchased the Merge Gaming Network entirely; however, that does not appear to be the case. Instead, PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com will migrate their players to the new network by mid-April.

Anthony Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Merge Gaming, commented in the same release, "This is a industry changing deal and we are delighted to have come to an agreement with Jazette Enterprises. This deal will bring massive liquidity to the network and see the online poker industry landscape change overnight. We are delighted to sign such an established partner to the network, it’s through our great software and superior backend we are able to attract a group of this size to the network.” According to Cake Poker Network officials, PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com contained largely seasonal player bases, as the two sites focused heavily on online sports betting.

Roger Whitaker of Jazette Enterprises added, “Our goal is to provide our players with the best poker experience possible, which is why we decided to make this move. We’re confident that our players will enjoy the groundbreaking features, generous loyalty rewards program, and improved overall playability that Merge’s poker software provides.”

The Merge Gaming Network’s flagship site is Carbon Poker. According to the traffic watchdog site PokerScout.com, the network stands as the 20th largest worldwide, with a seven-day running average of 245 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout North America, nearly 500 cash game aficionados are typically logged in. PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com will join a lineup of sites that also includes ACED, Iron Duke, Poker Nordica, and Reefer Poker.

An anonymous source told Poker News Daily that the addition of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com could boost Merge’s traffic by four or five times. Posters on TwoPlusTwo, citing inside information, threw out similar figures.

Meanwhile, the Cake Poker Network is the ninth largest worldwide, with a seven-day running average of 2,150 cash game players. Its lineup of sites includes network namesake Cake Poker, DoylesRoom, Lock Poker, Poker Host, and Stryyke. Both the Cake Poker and Merge Gaming Networks accept players from the United States. The former recently saw the addition of Phil “The Unabomber” Laak’s Unabomber Poker, which opened its doors for business last week.

Despite its smaller stature in the industry, the Merge Gaming Network is looking forward to providing longevity for its new partners: “With the same dedicated team behind us, players can rest assured that our new poker offering comes with the same steadfast adherence to player protection, security, and fairness we have been providing since 1996.” The network expects a “seamless transfer” of the player bases of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com to their new homes. Also hopping over to the new network is Superbook.com, which is another Jazette Enterprises site.

Posters on the popular online poker forum TwoPlusTwo discussed the impact of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com changing networks: “Very interesting. Hopefully the recent merges will allow either Everleaf or Merge to become another viable alternative for US players, or even better, both of them.” Others cautioned that the departure of sports book players might tighten the competition on the network: “this might make cake a little less soft.” The actual impact of the move remains to be seen. In addition, no timeline other than “mid-April” has been set.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the move of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com to the Merge Gaming Network.

The first part of 888’s promotional efforts includes giving $8 free to the first 50,000 registrants. You can crunch the numbers and see that $400,000 will be up for grabs in this phase of 888’s marketing campaign and the ability to receive an extra $8 has been available since January 29th. Each new player will download a “bankroll management client,” which 888 describes as “displaying low-stakes tables in proportion to their bankroll. As their bankroll increases, so will the option to play on higher stakes tables.” As long as players have not opened an 888 account before, they will be eligible for the $8 bankroll boost.

A handful of countries are not eligible for the $8 promotion, including Argentina, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Croatia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, North Korea, South Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, and Vietnam. In addition, the 888 family of sites does not accept online poker players from the United States. The room’s parent company is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “888.” At the conclusion of the free $8 promotion, players will be upgraded to the traditional 888 online poker client.

From February 8th until May 8th, 888 is offering eight ways to win 88 WSOP packages. Status point races, raked hand races, referral promotions, social networking promotions, status point races, bounty hunter promotions, tournament races, and ladies-only races represent the eight ways to win, ensuring a path that’s suited to anyone’s needs. For the bounty hunter entry method, 888 will be employing its fleet of site pros, which includes Shane Warne and Leo Margets, to send players to Sin City. The social networking qualifying method, meanwhile, will focus on popular outlets like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

The promotional emphasis on the 888 brand follows the de-emphasizing of Pacific Poker, which 888’s parent company also owns. The 888 Network also includes Littlewoods Poker, Lucky Ace Poker, and WSOP.com. Back in September, the American casino giant Harrah’s inked an agreement with 888 subsidiary Dragonfish to provide online gaming for Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment. In a press release announcing the accord, Harrah’s officials praised 888 for the company’s “world-class technology, scalability, and a strong commitment to compliance and responsible gaming.”

According to PokerScout.com, 888’s network is the 12th largest worldwide with a seven-day running average of 1,260 real money ring game players and a 24-hour peak of nearly 2,800. New players on 888 can receive a 100% welcome bonus up to $400, with $25 given instantly. In addition, newbies can take a shot at $54,500 in 888’s first-time depositors’ tournaments.

888 is also offering a VIP Fast Track promotion. Players have four months after registration to generate 25,000 status points, the equivalent of $12,500 in rake. If they succeed, they’ll be upgraded to VIP status, which includes the ability to receive 27% cash back. Players will be able to maintain this status until the clock strikes Midnight on the 2010 calendar year. The regular requirement to receive VIP status is 60,000 status points in a year, or $30,000 in rake. The VIP Fast Track promotion ends on March 31st.

The 888 rewards program is broken down into six tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, VIP, and VIP Diamond. The Bronze level has a rewards multiplier of one and 2% cash back with no monthly point requirement. The glitzy VIP Diamond level has a rewards multiplier of 18, 36% cash back and a yearly requirement of 300,000 status points.

Check out 888 for a free $8 plus chances to win your way into the 2010 WSOP in Las Vegas.

PokerTracker and Holdem Manager are the market leaders in poker tracking software. Each strives to out-innovate the other and, with the release of Rush Poker on Full Tilt, both scrambled to issue patches. Holdem Manager’s version came out several days prior to PokerTracker’s. Instead of a customary HUD, stats like voluntarily put money into the pot (VPIP), aggression factor (AF), and pre-flop raise (PFR) percentage appeared in the notes section on Full Tilt. While this was a serviceable workaround, Holdem Manager boasted no full-scale HUD.

Enter PokerTracker. Text found on the program’s website explains the delay in issuing an update for Rush Poker: “We weren't satisfied in giving you guys something silly like stats in exported notes or to make you look up your opponents manually in a list of players. We wanted only the best. We wanted to give you exactly what you have on every other table you play on.” In essence, PokerTracker bills its patch as a real-time updating HUD while players whisk around the ever-changing felts of Rush Poker logging 200 to 300 hands per hour.

PokerTracker’s Rush Poker HUD has a few drawbacks, however. First, it does not display session stats or hero stats. Instead, the patch focuses on providing you with up-to-the-minute stats on your opponents. Second, players are unable to mark hands for further review via the HUD. In addition, if you want to add player notes, you’ll need to do so before your table changes, which occurs every time your action in a hand ends. Full Tilt Poker added a special “Quick Fold” feature to expedite game play even further. Finally, your mucked hands do not appear via PokerTracker when playing Rush Poker on the world’s second largest online poker site.

PokerTracker developers have not yet test-driven the software on the variety of mods that are available for the site, so players using anything other than the layouts and themes provided by Full Tilt Poker may experience issues with the HUD. In addition, Rush Poker support is only available for the Windows version of PokerTracker. Those using the tracking program on a Mac will remain in the dark for now.

In the same release of PokerTracker, developers touted that every online poker site except Bodog now has Omaha support. Site representatives noted, “Unfortunately, we did not receive a large number of Omaha hand histories to test with, so there will most likely be occasional hands that won't import. If you encounter one that errors out or doesn't import properly, please send it to our support team so we can get it fixed.” The latest release, dubbed Beta 30.2, adds Omaha support for the CEREUS Network, Microgaming Network, Ongame Network, Pacific Poker, Everest Poker, Boss Media Network, Cake Poker Network, and Entraction Network.

In addition, PokerTracker now supports the auto-import of hands and an HUD on the CEREUS Network, which includes UB.com and Absolute Poker. The site adds, “We've also improved the stat interaction on the HUD by allowing CTRL+click and drag to move the stats on the table.”

The popular poker software review site PokerSoftware.com called PokerTracker “the most powerful tool an online poker player can use to enhance their career.” A 60-day free trial of the program is available. When it comes time to purchase, customers can choose between a $44.99 Small-Stakes version and an $89.99 Full version. Graphs and hundreds of stats make PokerTracker one of the poker software industry’s staple programs.