Online casinos and poker

“How did you come up with the name ‘durrrr’?” is almost always the first question asked of 22-year-old poker professional Tom Dwan. He’ll tell you that he wanted to select a screen name that sounded so ridiculous, so inane that it would put players who lost to him on massive tilt. In the end though, Tom Dwan’s phenomenal success in the poker world would have much less to do with his absurd screen name than with his uncanny instinct for detecting weakness in his opponents, whether playing online or live. In only five years, Dwan has gone from a bored high school senior playing in after-school games to succeeding at the highest limits in poker against some of the best players in the world.

Tom
Pacific Poker
Dwan was born in 1986 and grew up in Edison, New Jersey. His first experiences with hold’em came when he and his friends discovered play money sit-’n'-goes on Empire Poker. Dwan instantly took to the game and thought it might be a good way for him to earn extra spending money for college. He deposited $50 on Paradise Poker and began building a bankroll, starting with $6 SNGs. Dwan was instantly successful and quickly moved up in limits. He also started playing no-limit hold’em cash games on Paradise—primarily $1-$2 NL and the occasional $2-$5 game that would come together on that site. Once he conquered those limits, he moved over to PokerStars where he multi-tabled $2-$4 and $3-$6 NLHE. By his 18th birthday he had already made about $15,000 online.

Dwan enrolled at Boston University as an engineering student, but as is the case with many young poker pros, his college experience didn’t last long. Playing anywhere from $5-$10 to $25-$50 NLHE, Dwan’s bankroll grew to the hundreds of thousands while his attendance in class dwindled. Eventually, he dropped out of school to play full-time. He bought a house in Texas and moved in with fellow online player David “Raptor” Benefield. Dwan continued to move up in limits and after playing for only a couple of years, he was sitting with players such as Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, and David Benyamine and beating limits as high as $200-$400 no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha.

Due to his age, Dwan was unable to play in live tournaments in the U.S. until his 21st birthday on July 30, 2007. This resulted in him missing out on the World Series of Poker in 2006 and 2007. Dwan did collect one cash on the European Poker Tour, a 12th-place finish in the 2005 EPT London, preferring to concentrate on the lucrative high-stakes online cash games rather than travel the international circuit. However, once he did blow out those 21 candles, he hit the tournament trail and emerged as a force to be reckoned with, amassing nearly a million dollars in live winnings in less than a year.

At the 2007 WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, Tom Dwan made the televised final table and ultimately finished fourth, earning nearly $325,000. Two months later at the 2008 Aussie Millions, he finished runner-up to Lee Watkinson in the $3,000 pot-limit Omaha event, and cashed in the $10,000 Main Event, earning over $112,000 during his two weeks down under. A few weeks later he was clear across the world in Atlantic City and nearly had his first live tournament win, finishing runner-up to fellow online superstar Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers at the $5,000 NLHE event at the Borgata Winter Open. He capped off the World Poker Tour Season with a ninth-place finish at the WPT World Championships at Bellagio. The event was especially memorable for Dwan not only because of his deep finish, but for the series of ridiculous hats he had to wear as a result of losing a prop bet to poker pro Alan Sass (one was covered in pink feathers, another looked like it was swiped from the Chiquita Banana lady).

At the 2008 World Series of Poker Tom Dwan was at last of age to play and he wasted no time racking up more deep finishes. The first came in the inaugural $10,000 Mixed Event, featuring an eight-game rotation of poker variants (2-7 triple draw, the five limit H.O.R.S.E. games, no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha). At a final table that included James “mig.com” Mackey, Eli Elezra, Sam Farha, Jeff Madsen, and eventual winner Anthony Rivera, Dwan finished in eighth place. Five days later, he bubbled off the final table of the $5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball with Rebuys event in eighth place. Dwan admitted in an interview with PokerNews that prior to that event his total lifetime experience with the game had been about thirty minutes’ worth of hands during a single session in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Post-WSOP, Dwan has been back at the cash games in a major way, racking up the hours in the nosebleed-stakes PLO games on Full Tilt as well as in Bobby’s Room. When he’s not traveling the circuit or chasing down high-stakes games in Vegas, Dwan splits his time between residences in Texas and Boston.

Costa Rica, US Reach WTO-Related Agreement

Costa Rica has reached a settlement with the US regarding Costa Rica’s outstanding claim as an affected party in the WTO judgment received by Antigua and Barbuda against the US. Antigua’s WTO judgment ($21M annually) concerned access to certain online-gambling markets, and Costa Rica was one of several countries that filed as an affected party in that matter. The new settlement, as reported in several Costa Rican outlets and made by Costa Rican Comercio Exterior minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz, maintains the US’s restrictions toward online gambling but opens up other WTO markets and opportunities to Costa Rica. Though of debatable real value, the
T6Poker
new opportunities for Costa Rica will be in research and development, warehousing, testing and technical analysis and certain postal and courier services.

Continuing IGREA Hearings to be Scheduled for April

A recent release by the Safe and Secure Gambling Initiative states that Congressman Barney Frank (D-CT) will again hold hearings in April, as part of his effort to build support for his proposed Internet Gambling and Regulation Enforcement Act (IGREA). Frank downplayed the importance of the hearings in a comment made for SSGI. Frank noted that the banking industry faces enormous challenges at the moment, such as the housing and mortgage crises, “The banks have a lot of other things to worry about right now,” said Frank. “I do not think poker should be one of them.”

McDermott Formally Introduces IGRTEA

Congressman James McDermott (D-WA) formally introduced his Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2008 (IGRTEA). McDermott’s measure has been viewed as a supporting measure to Frank’s IGREA proposal, and has as of yet garnered less active support in Congress. Among the provisions of McDermott’s proposed bill: A 2% licensing fee on all online gambling companies offering their services to the US market, and a requirement forthese companies to provide annual profit/loss statements to U.S. customers.

In what some are interpreting as a monopoly grab for the country’s gambling market, the Canadian horseracing industry is pressuring the government to pass UIGEA-like legislation in an attempt to ban Internet gaming. Last week, Canadian Liberal MP Roy Cullen, whose area of representation includes Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack, announced that he plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit banks and credit-card companies from processing transactions associated with Internet gambling companies. Also last week, the Minister of Justice’s director of communications confirmed that the government is considering augmenting its criminal code relative to online gambling. “Following recent concerns surrounding Internet
Duplicate Poker
gambling in Canada, the Minister of Justice has asked his officials to examine whether the enforcement of the Criminal Code provisions could be assisted with other measures.”

To some extent, the Canadian track owners are just pushing for the same virtual monopoly that US track owners were able to secure with the passage of the UIGEA. Horse racing was one of the few carveouts in the sweeping legislation supported by Representative Bob Goodlatte, who received $37,000 from the National Thoroughbred Horseracing Association.

The Canadian horse tracks do have a legitimate concern in that they have lost business over the years to online gaming. And while the horse tracks pay taxes and provide local jobs, the vast majority of the online industry contributes little to the local or national economies. “They take a lower commission on the bet because they don’t have infrastructure costs and pay purses. How many jobs are they creating here? None,” Jane Holmes, vice-president of corporate affairs for Woodbine Entertainment Group said. “If we tried to do what they’re doing, we would lose our licenses. It provides them with an unfair competitive advantage.” But if this is the problem, is UIGEA-like legislation the solution?

Michael Lipton, a Toronto lawyer specializing in gaming law, points out that the US is still hard pressed to implement any meaningful enforcement of the UIGEA, stating, “They are completely bogged down on how to block this system.” The recent comments by the American Banking Association on the proposed UIGEA rules appear to support Lipton’s remarks. Lipton instead sees a much more tenable solution through government regulation, whereby the industry could be held accountable, provide tax revenues, and develop into an internationally competitive trade resource for Canada. Instead of developing a trade resource, however, UIGEA-like legislation would likely represent a trade liability for Canada. Canada is a World Trade Organization member and legislation that is deemed discriminatory to foreign online gaming competitors would likely open them to sanctions like those triggered by Antigua’s WTO case against the US.

Somewhere in the crosshairs of this debate is the sovereign territory of the Kahnawake, located near Montreal, which plays host to over 400 online gambling sites. The Kahnawake have always contended that their operations are not governed by Canadian or provincial law, and would not be effected by any law Canada may pass in the future. Responding to inquiries about the potential for a legal showdown with Canada over the Mohawk Nation’s online operations, Joe Delaronde, spokesperson for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake said, “It would be very unwise of the government. This operation is taking place in our jurisdiction. If they really want to come to some sort of resolution on this, the best idea would be to contact our grand chief and talk about it. We’re very open to discussion.” In every respect, Canada’s potential legislative reach will mirror the limitations of the US’s UIGEA legislation, which acknowledges its inability to alter state or Indian territorial law relative to gambling.

If all the horseracing industry wants is a level playing field, why go to such great lengths to eliminate the competition? These lengths potentially involve a law that will be hard to enforce, conceding potential tax revenue, international trade liabilities, and a tussle with an indigenous sovereign nation. If they want it level, give them level and regulate online gambling just as Canada regulates its horseracing industry. It’s just a thought, but one we hope MP Roy Cullen might consider before taking Canada down the UIGEA path.

It should come as no surprise that the European Union is not pleased with Germany’s newly enacted ban on online gambling. The news service Reuters has reported that the EU has decided to take legal action against Germany, and will seek European Commission approval as early as next week. This latest round of legal action by the EU against Germany’s discriminatory online-gambling law would result in a final warning prior to advancing to the European Court of Justice.

The EU decision is consistent with its policy to enforce cross-border competition in services and is clearly not the first such action connected to online gambling. EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has initiated proceedings against nearly a dozen EU countries over discriminatory policies and laws in their gaming or lottery sectors. As European countries fight for state monopoly control of the sector, online gambling has become a battleground issue in the much broader philosophical debate regarding the EU’s goals and authority. The ultimate resolution of online-gambling services in the EU may, in many ways, determine whether the EU evolves into an organizational arrangement of trading convenience or the authoritative determinant of trade policy.

The EU’s tangle with German online gambling policy is not new. Back in March 2007, EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen wrote to a number of German states that had imposed regional bans, giving them a month to revise their laws; the states were undeterred. The Austrian company Bwin was somewhat more successful in legally challenging the regional bans. In May, Bwin regained its Bavarian operating rights outright. In December, German courts ruled that Bwin’s license to operate, granted prior to German reunification, was valid in Eastern Germany.

Should the European Commission adopt the decision to pursue legal action against Germany, as expected, it will be applauded by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), which represents eight major European online firms and which earlier this month filed a complaint with the European Commission over the new German law.

Seven-card stud is a complicated game, significantly more so than hold’em. Successful stud and hold’em players both must attend to the betting actions of their opponents to figure out their likely holdings. Stud and hold’em players both must have a good understanding of how their starting hands are likely to develop into profitable or unprofitable final hands. Both must be able to calculate ‘outs’ and understand pot odds and implied odds. But in stud alone, the good player must also keep track of his opponent’s exposed cards. Knowledge of these exposed cards, both the ones in play and the ones that have been folded, allows the good stud player extra insight into the chances that his hand will improve.

Knowing, for example, that three hearts have been folded during the play of a stud hand may convince the good stud player that drawing for that flush doesn’t make sense.

These exposed cards are extra pieces of information available to stud players. But, counterintuitively, this extra information may hinder stud players from properly evaluating their hands.

In hold’em, players’ hands develop simultaneously and identically as the board progresses from the flop to the turn and the river. All players share the same board. All watch it as it is turned. Accordingly, all but the least experienced and worst hold’em players are aware that a third card of one suit on the river, for example, may mean a flush for an opponent. Players with two pair are correspondingly careful about betting when that happens. Players on the turn drawing for a straight, when there are three suited cards on the board, are similarly cautious –- aware that they may be drawing dead.

But in stud, players are sometimes so absorbed in their own hands, and how they are developing, that they may not be paying attention to how their hand is stacking up against the hands that their opponents are likely to hold.

This is especially true of the beginning and intermediate player who has learned which starting hands to play and which to discard. He waits for one of few powerful starting hands, gets one, and then if the hand improves as hoped, he continues to play until the river, bound to ride the horse he jumped on at the beginning of the ride. What he’s failed to recognize is that absolute improvement is not nearly as important as relative improvement.

Here’s an example from a recent home game I was in. The lineup was pretty soft –- primarily recreational players who liked to call. One player was more serious, though not necessarily more skilled. He understood the importance of folding poor starting hands, but didn’t appreciate the importance of looking around and evaluating his hand relative to the rest of the hands that were out.

He started with a three-flush on third street. He called, as did four other players. On fourth street he hit a fourth suited card. Two of his opponents paired their door cards. The higher of the two pairs made a double bet. The other player raised. The player with the four-flush called.

This was a terrible call. True, he had a four-flush and, with his flush cards all live, had about a 50% chance of making his flush. But he was against at least one and maybe two sets of trips right off the bat on fourth street. They also have about a 50% chance of making a full house. He should have folded his flush draw.

Here’s another example. A player with a split pair of jacks raised the bring-in. Two players with overcards called. The first held a king, the second a queen. On fourth street the player with the split jacks caught a blank. The player with the king caught an ace. The next player caught a six:

(J 4) J 2
(x x) K A
(x x) Q 6

The second and third player checked and the first player, with his pair of jacks, bet. The next two players called.

On fifth street the player with the jacks caught another deuce; the second player caught a blank and the third player caught a jack. None were suited.

(J 4) J 2 2
(x x) K A 4
(x x) Q 6 J

The first player, now with two pair, bet. The second player raised. The third player re-raised. The first player called, as did the second player.

The first player made a terrible call. Unless each of his opponents is a maniac, logic and observation require a fold here.

True, the first player improved. Improving is good in a vacuum. But the betting action and exposed cards of his opponents demonstrates that he is very, very far behind. The second player must have either kings or aces up or trips. The third player almost surely has trip queens or trip sixes. In any case, jacks up, with one dead jack, is a huge underdog and very unlikely to improve to a winning hand. He should fold to the double bet rather than continue to draw for one of three cards that will give him a full house (and quite possibly a losing full house even if he makes it).

The problem for stud players is that they, like all poker players, begin their poker lessons by learning hand values. This is how poker is taught. We’re all taught that a full house is a strong hand and a pair is a weak hand. In hold’em, since all hands are derived from a common board, players immediately recognize that all hands are relative. A flush is a good hand –- but only if the board can’t make a full house. Trips are a good hand, but only if the board can’t make a straight or a flush.

But in stud, players are inundated with data –- up to eight exposed cards on third street and then more on each successive street, plus their own hands. It’s easy for them to put blinders on and just think about their own hand and its chances of improvement – neglecting their opponents’ hands and their opponents’ chances of improvement as well.

The good stud player pays attention to all of the data and weighs his hand’s chances of improvement relative to the likely improvement of his opponents’ hands. Sometimes, though his hand may improve –- but when weighed against the likely superior improvement of his opponent’s hand, the best move is still to fold.
21 Magic Casino

Huge numbers again marked the biggest Sunday online events, with the biggest tourneys at Full Tilt, PokerStars and PartyPoker all easily exceeding their pre-event guarantees. The biggest payday from the night’s action went not to the winner at Stars, ‘StudMaverick,’ but to the winner at Full Tilt’s once-a-month $1 Million Guarantee, where ‘GulahPapyrus’ came from behind to win over $206,000.

PokerStars Sunday Million

The massive recent turnouts for the Sunday Million at PokerStars continued again last evening. This most recent edition drew 7,520 entrants and generated a $1.504 million prize pool, with 1,080 players cashing and first scheduled at

$212,064. ’spank01′ grabbed the lead as this tourney’s final table came together; spank01 had amassed nearly $18 million in chips, with ‘Tiwo’ and ‘BluStarZ16′ the closest pursuers.

First blood at the final table came in its first minute of play, when Tiwo and ‘mariaras’ got the chips in; Tiwo had the best of it with to mariaras’s , and the board changed nothing. Tiwo, though, found pocket nines less lucky against ‘StudMaverick’s pocket queens a short while later, and then exited in eighth after running into ‘Pier85’s , finding no help when the board brought .

Pier85 picked up the next knockout as well, sending a short-stacked ‘MagicCoin’ to the rail in seventh. The chips went in before the flop and Pier85’s made a boat with the board’s help, easily topping MagicCoin’s . Next to fall was ‘goonertone7′, who was also all in before the flop and also against Pier85. goonertone7’s hand looked strong against Pier85’s , until the board ran out to give Pier85 the flush.

Pier85 remained the most active player at the table but ran into worse luck after that, and bowed out in fifth after losing most of his chips to ‘macthemac87′. Pier85’s final hand saw him all in with , which lost a race against StudMaverick’s when the board arrived .

At this point the final four players examined possible chop numbers but decided to play on. BluStarZ16 nixed the deal, likely looking to knock out a short-stacked spank01 first. BluStarZ16 made good on his efforts by calling, with a modest , spank01’s all-in push with . BluStarZ16’s hopes came true when the board delivered a friendly , for two pair and the knockout.

At this point the last three haggled for a bit but eventually agreed to a chop by Stars’ chip-count formula, leaving $30,000 for the winner. StudMaverick had the lead at the time and came out with the largest share in the deal, and then finished off BluStarZ16 soon after. In that hand, the chips went in pre-flop with BluStarZ16 showing to StudMaverick’s , and the board gave StudMaverick a winning straight.

StudMaverick entered heads-up action against macthemac67 with a 7:1 edge and was never seriously threatened. The end came when macthemac67 pushed pre-flop with and StudMaverick made the call with . The board rolled out , giving StudMaverick the flush and the win.

Final Results:

*1. StudMaverick — $171,445
*2. macthemac67 — $117,783
*3. BluStarz16 — $104,819
4. spank01 — $60,160
5. Pier85 — $45,120
6. goonertone7 — $33,088
7. MagicCoin — $23,312
8. Tiwo — $13,536
9. mariaras — $8,873.60

* — three-way deal for remaining prize money; $30,000 to eventual winner

Full Tilt $1 Million Guarantee

Full Tilt’s monthly ‘$1 Million Guarantee’ tourney with its higher $500+35 buy-in drew another nice turnout, with 2,252 players on hand. The prize purse reached $1,126,000; 351 spots paid and first place would collect $206,564.70. ‘aaalvin’ held the early lead at this final table, his nearly three million in chips almost twice that of his nearest competitors.

aaalvin also picked up the first final-table knockout, his easily besting ‘Tadadonk’s when the flop brought the for the set. Eight hands later, ‘tkap243′ bowed out when his was no good against ‘Catenaccio’s pocket kings, with the board offering . After an extended stretch of seven-way play, however, Catenaccio would be next to his depart when his lost a race against ‘Fidget65’s . The board on that hand came , to send Catenaccio to the rail in seventh.

Sixth was decided soon after, when ‘JBT449’s proved no match for aaalvin’s waiting , the board bringing . Five-way play again extended for a considerable stretch, before ‘SkewpTroop’ hit the rail. SkewpTroop was down to virtually zero after dropping a big pot to Fidget65, and threw in the last of his chips behind , only to see ‘GulahPapyrus’ show . The board came for the knockout.

Fidget65’s own run came to an end after a open-ended straight draw went unfilled. Fidget65 moved in on a flop, holding , and aaalvin made the call with . The turn and river came and and the field was down to three. aaalvin continued his run by sending ‘heyfreddy’ to the rail in third; in that hand, aaalvin’s held up easily over heyfreddy’s as the board delivered .

This left aaalvin and GulahPapyrus to battle for the deepest money. GulahPapyrus doubled through to take a commanding lead with A- against aaalvin’s Q-5; the all-diamond flop included a five to pair aaalvin but the river brought GulahPapyrus one more diamond for the flush. Both players remained aggressive, and the end came when aaalvin pushed with and GulahPapyrus called with . The final board came , and GulahPapyrus walked away over $206,000 richer.

Final Results:

1. aaalvin — $206,564.70
2. GulahPapyrus — $126,787.60
3. heyfreddy — $82,986.20
4. Fidget65 — $66,208.80
5. SkewpTroop — $50,107
6. JBT449 — $36,032
7. Catenaccio — $26,461
8. tkap423 — $20,718.40
9. Tadadonk — $15,764

PartyPoker $300,000 Guaranteed

A healthy 1,735 players were on hand for yesterday’s $300,000 Guaranteed at PartyPoker, generating a total prize pool of $347,600 and easily eclipsing the event’s guarantee. First place here was scheduled to be $67,665, barring any final-table deals. After doubling through just outside the final table against ‘Jennifer2113′, ‘NLJFF’ arrived at the last ten seats with nearly two million in chips and a sizable lead.

Exiting in tenth from the final table was ‘btigris’, who was all-in pre-flop with but ran into ‘The_2_0ezx’s pocket kings and found no help on a board. ‘AAAKK99′ finished in ninth after his last stand with was no good against ‘LordLuckbox’s , with the board running out . ‘lutkatutka’ then finished off a short-stacked ‘Jennifer2113′ and only seven players remained.

Next, ‘gizzer11′ pinned his hopes on , top-pair/top-kicker after an flop, but lutkatutka showed for the set; after the board finished , the field was down to six. lutkatutka made it three in a row when his easily held up over ‘KitDeLuca’s , the board running out .

‘FaceAndi’ was knocked down to barely a big blind’s worth of chips after losing an A-K vs. 10-10 race against LordLuckbox, but won three straight showdowns, doubling or tripling through each time, to move back into the hunt. The last of those came against NLJFF, who then bowed out when his couldn’t catch against LordLuckbox’s waiting pocket deuces.

FaceAndi’s run back into contention ended in fourth place, when he called a pre-flop all-in from The_2_0ezx. The race was on when The_2_0ezx showed to FaceAndi’s , and the board missed FaceAndi and narrowed the race to three. Those three were closely bunched in chip count and soon agreed to a deal, with The_2_0ezx the official winner.

Final Results:

**1. The_2_0ezx — $43,400
**2. lutkatutka — $43,100
**3. LordLuckbox — $42,063.50
4. FaceAndi — $18,391
5. NLJFF — $14,921
6. KitDeLuca — $11,451
7. gizzer11 — $8,848.50
8. Jennifer2113 — $6,072.50
9. AAAKK99 — $4,511
10. btigris — $2,949.50

** — three-way deal for remaining prize money

PENNSYLVANIA — As reported by the Pocono Record: “Even as pressure grows on Louis DeNaples from a grand jury investigating perjury allegations, the Mount Airy owner’s machine keeps rolling along. For the second consecutive week, Mount Airy’s slots parlor posted strong returns.

“Wagers of $48.6 million at the casino far exceeded its closest rival, Mohegan Sun, which brought in $39.4 million. Last week’s performance followed a strong Christmas week when Mount Airy’s wagers topped $51 million.

“…Since it opened in October 2007, Mount Airy has produced the state’s highest payout, which this week exceeded 93 percent. That strategy, according to casino spokesperson Kevin Feeley, is a part of their plan to build a loyal customer base.

“…Speculation of impending charges against DeNaples continues after the arrest of Roman Catholic priest and close DeNaples friend Joseph F. Sica on perjury charges last week…”

MASHANTUCKET, Connecticut — (PRESS RELEASE) — The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation today announced that John O’Brien, President of Foxwoods Resort Casino, has tendered his resignation, effective January 18, to pursue other interests.

Current Foxwoods Senior Vice President of Operations, Barry J. Cregan, 54, will serve as interim President of Foxwoods effective January 18. Mr. Cregan is currently responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of Foxwoods as well as managing the growth and expansion projects underway at Foxwoods. He is also heavily involved with the pre-opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods scheduled for May 2008, working closely with Gillian Murphy, General Manager of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

With more than 25 years of experience in the hotel and gaming industries, Mr. Cregan brings a wealth of industry knowledge and business expertise to his new position, as well as strong management skills needed to guide the continued growth and success of the enterprise. Prior to Foxwoods, Mr. Cregan held senior management roles at Tishman Hotels, Marriott International, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Mr. Cregan also served as President and COO of Trump Plaza Casino Hotel Atlantic City from 1994 to 1998. Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Cregan will work together to ensure an orderly transition.

Tribal Council Chairman Michael J. Thomas stated: “During his tenure, John made significant contributions to the success of Foxwoods, particularly during his nine years as CFO. We wish him well in his future endeavors. As we enter an exciting phase at Foxwoods, we are fortunate to have someone with Barry’s expertise and knowledge in the gaming and hospitality industry to fill the President position on an interim basis. Barry is a strong leader, focused on solid execution and delivering a positive customer experience.”

“Foxwoods is a strong organization with a great brand and great prospects for growth. I welcome this opportunity to work with the leadership team during this transition to continue to implement our strategy during an exciting period,” said Mr. Cregan.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will begin a search among internal and external candidates for a President to lead Foxwoods during the next phase of expansion and growth.

“It is truly an exciting period for all of us associated with Foxwoods, which includes the opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods destination resort in May. We will continue to ensure that leadership is committed to creating a positive environment for all of its employees and focused on providing our customers with memorable experiences,” said Patricia Irvin, CEO of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. “During this transition, the leadership team will continue to passionately pursue our performance objectives and make every effort to execute on our key initiatives effectively. We will begin immediately to conduct a search to fill the President position at Foxwoods.”

“I’ve truly enjoyed serving as President of Foxwoods,” Mr. O’Brien said. “With a solid strategy and a strong management team in place, it’s the right time for me to move on to pursue other interests, including spending more time with my family. I wish Foxwoods and the Mashantucket Pequots continued success in the future.”

MICHIGAN — As reported by the Detroit Free Press: “As nearly every other industry in Michigan tightens its belt, casinos are booming.

“Detroit’s three casinos are making more than they did last year, and beautiful casino resorts are popping up all over the state.

“On the far west side, at Exit 1 off I-94 in New Buffalo, the Four Winds Casino & Resort opened in August, offering lodge-style construction, some pretty restaurants (check out the copper boulder in the Copper Rock Steakhouse) and a hotel and spa. It’s the first casino in the state and one of the few in the country to offer an all-electronic poker room, and it’s ideally placed for a stop on a trip down south or out west.

“The Little River Casino in Manistee (at the intersection of U.S.-31 and M-22) completed a massive renovation in the fall that includes a stone and water-themed exterior.

“…Farther north, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has been hard at work renovating nearly every facility it owns. Turtle Creek, 4 miles east of Traverse City in Williamsburg on M-72, is undergoing a huge transformation.

“The nearby Grand Traverse Resort & Spa finished its renovations in December 2006, so it’s an alternative place to stay…”

LAS VEGAS, Nevadaa — As reported by the Thoroughbed Times: “One Las Vegas race book has started accepting phone account wagers on Thoroughbred races.

“The race book at Wynn Las Vegas accepted its first out-of-state wager in December. While the state’s gaming control board and gaming commission approved such wagers in 2005, Wynn is the first Nevada race book to add interstate wagering. Wynn currently has just one out-of-state customer.

“…Wynn accepts only phone wagers as current Nevada law does not allow Internet account wagering.

“…Wynn can accept wagers from players in Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wyoming…”