Online Gambling

Of all the remakes and sequels that Hollywood has churned out in recent years, none have the potential to turn the heads of poker fans like Rounders 2.

That’s right — Rounders 2, the sequel to the sleeper hit that many consider to be the opening shot of poker’s surge of popularity starting at the turn of the century. Miramax has confirmed that the film is being produced, and that it will again feature Matt Damon and Ed Norton.

The scheduled release date is 2012, which will make it fourteen years since the original came out (does that make anyone else feel a bit old?). In the meantime, we had the huge surge of popular and media interest in poker, the rise of online poker, and the inevitable decline that followed (well, relatively — poker is still hugely popular, but you can no longer find the 24/7 media coverage as in the middle of the last decade).

Will Matt’s character have finally sworn off the sport, or will he have embraced his poker calling? Will Ed slink in to cause trouble and ruin everything, or will he have become a more resourceful and active antagonist? Perhaps a buddy pic? The possibilities are limitless…

Titan Poker, already a clear leader among online poker rooms, has raised the stakes with a new software version — including, among other things, new languages, increased Mac compatibility, and a welcome new addition to the list of games.

Version 9.6 offers Razz, a long-awaited treat for lowball poker fans (like us), plus new support for players who speak (or more accurately, read) Romanian, Czech, Portuguese, Greek, and Hungarian. The Flash version of the poker software now better supports Mac users, but anyone who uses multiple computers or resists downloading software will appreciate the better functionality and smoother performance.

Titan inaugurates this update with a redesign of the website and the Titan Poker logo. Aside from the actual game software, the centerpiece of the website is the Titan Poker Academy, an extensive resource that is certain to prove valuable for fish and sharks alike.

In celebration of these massive improvements, Titan Poker will feature the World Challenge 2010, which will ultimately send the top five Titan Poker players to Las Vegas with a $13,000 prize package for the World Series of Poker. We were already on the growing Titan bandwagon, and now playing anywhere else seems so very…small.

Online gambling is evil, immoral, and selfish, right? Certainly not the kind of place you’d find caring, ethical, motivated altruists…

…like Calvin Ayers, BoDog founder, who has pledged £10,000 to Oxfam to aid Haitian quake relief efforts — and furthermore, will match all donations by online gamers to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Help Fund“. In a situation like this, each of us has a duty to help.” Ayers writes on his blog. “Let’s do it!”

Hmm. May have to rethink that evil, immoral, and selfish description a little bit. But surely this is an exception to a rule?

Maybe, but here’s another big exception: the “Play for Haiti” Tournament tonight, hosted by Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Along with fellow sites Full Tilt and Pokerstars, these online poker companies have pledge to match all donations dollar-for-dollar to assist the Red Cross Haiti Disaster Relief Fund.

The Play for Haiti Tournament, beginning at 8:30pm EST tonight (Wednesday, 20 January), offers a $5 buy-in and guarantees $10,000 worth of Ultimate Bet Online Poker Championship entries.

In announcing the tournament, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet CEO Paul Leggett let his poker face slip a bit. “Along with the rest of the world, we’ve watched the headlines and news unfold with growing horror as the magnitude of the devastation in Haiti has been revealed,” wrote Leggett. “We believe we have a duty to do what we can to help raise funds and awareness for the plight of the people of Haiti, and our ‘Play for Haiti’ tournament is one small way we can work with our players to contribute.”

$21,000 is a nice win at the poker tables for almost anyone, but Dusty Schmidt isn’t just anyone; he’s using it to help the homeless and plant a seed for help and hope in the future.

Schmidt took his laptop and hit the freezing streets of Portland for a 30-hour online poker marathon that netted six months of rent and supplies for three homeless people. He set up signs reading “Play it Forward” and chatted with intrigued passers-by about what he was doing. “I felt the more difficult it was to go out and play on the streets, the more a statement it might make,” Schmidt said.

He took some inspiration from an unlikely pair: Kevin Spacey and John Lennon. The former’s film “Pay it Forward” lent the motto and the Samaritan strategy, while the latter provided a name for Schmidt’s daughter, Lennon, and impetus: “I decided to do it shortly after my daughter was born,” said Schmidt.

Online poker had already generated Schmidt some money — about $7,000 in his first month of play, at which time he made it his profession. His ultimate goal is that, as in the film “Pay it Forward”, the recipients will contribute as mentors or volunteers in the future, starting an ever-expanding chain of positive movement.

He’d not contributed to Transition Projects before, which made the substantial donation all the more surprising to executive director Doreen Binder. “It’s extremely moving to see somebody who’s come to an understanding or a realization that there are people in need,” said Binder. “He is donating money with the faith that this will change somebody’s life.”