Bicycle, the leading playing card brand

Bicycle, the leading playing card brand from the United States Playing Card Company (USPC), is planning to introduce its 'Bicycle Pro' cards at the 2007 World Series of Poker June 1, 2007 which will feature the innovative new 'PokerPeek' face design.


For USPC, who is an official supplier to the annual World Series of Poker, the release will be the biggest consumer product launch in the company's 120-year history. The new face style is the first significant poker card innovation since the 1960's introduction of jumbo face cards.

Bicycle Pro are premium playing cards for serious competitive and social card players. The new Bicycle Pro cards with the 'PokerPeek' face design will be available for retail sale simultaneously with its introduction at WSOP.

The exclusive PokerPeek design features a smaller, diagonally positioned corner marking (pip) to discreetly view and identify the card (see photo) as well as a jumbo-like face positioned lower at the center of the card, making the cards easier to identify when revealed.


Developed with input from the world's top professional poker players, Bicycle created the PokerPeek face style as a solution to problems experienced in competition. Less experienced players were peeling up too much of the card edge, compromising security. Bicycle Pro provides more privacy for individual players, and better visibility for all players when the cards are face-up.


"Poker continues to be America's number one card game," said Rob Clendening, Bicycle Brand Manager. "Bicycle Pro with PokerPeek is the first significant face style change for playing cards in decades. The card itself also delivers technical superiority and the highest quality paper card suitable for professionals, now available to anyone who is serious about the game."


The premium Bicycle Pro playing card is made of a durable, custom blend of cotton and paper, and features ProCut edges, a barely visible beveled edge that gently grips fingers for better control during shuffling.


The card back design is a new variation on Bicycle's famous Rider Back, inspired by the custom cards specially developed for the 2007 World Series of Poker. Cards for retail sale will carry the same edge border as the WSOP cards, but swap out the WSOP logo and Jeffrey Pollack's signature in the center for the trademark cupid on a bike (see photo of the two cards).


Tournament cards used at the World Series of Poker will be the exclusive KEM brand with the PokerPeek face and a Bicycle branded card back design. KEM is a super-premium card printed on cellulose acetate, a blend of paper and plastic, used in 80 percent of casino poker rooms. It joined Bicycle in the U.S. Playing Card brand portfolio in late 2005.

Busting Poker Players Out of Tournaments: Put Them All in

One of the biggest differences you will find when playing an online Texas Holdem poker tournament versus a regular ring game is “busting” people - deciding to put them all in. While this may happen by chance in a ring game – after all, not everyone is as good a player as you – in a tournament, it is a given. But, the concept of “busting” poker players out of the tournament is often elusive to some people, simply because when given the opportunity, they are also usually given a weak hand. Let’s say you are playing five or six handed midway through an online Texas Holdem tournament at an online poker site. You have a pretty comfortable lead over one player in particular; say a 5-1 chip lead (his $400 to your $2,000). He has called the big blind ($100) and it’s now up to you with no other callers. You have been dealt an unsuited Q-10. You can now fold, call, or raise. This illustration shows one of the biggest differences between ring games and online Texas Holdem tournaments. You have a very good opportunity to bust a player right out of the tournament, and thereby put yourself one step closer to first place. If you win, not only do you win his chips, but you move up a spot. If you lose, however, you have allowed him to turn his $400 to $800, plus the blinds, and have put him in a pretty good spot. If you do nothing, and don’t call the hand at all, you either (a) give him a chance to get a better hand, or (b) end up with an even worse hand than the original Q-10. Now, a hand that is barely worth a second thought in a ring game gives you tremendous potential. In this particular example at an online poker site if you are going to call a situation like this, it’s best just to put him all in and hope for the best. If he has enough of a hand to call the blind with, it is likely that he will call the raise, as long as it is pre-flop. If he is allowed to see the flop for just the blind – meaning, you don’t raise him – he might fold on you after he has seen that the flop hasn’t hit him. This is good for you – you win the hand – but it allows him the opportunity to select another good starting hand. If he calls your raise, you’ll just have to see what kind of luck you have, but the options are better for you in this case. If you win your hand, you have one less player to worry about. If you lose the hand, he has doubled up, but you still have a pretty decent chip lead over him. This doesn’t mean you should always attempt to bust other players in an online poker tournament. Wait for the right situation – just the two of you, a good chip lead, and a fairly decent hand. If there are already a few callers, this situation should look even less appealing. By playing three or four handed, this allows that same player to quadruple his money, and that puts him right back in the tournament. So, remember: choose wisely, because it’s never fun to have a player come back and beat you when you had the opportunity to bust him.
Byron Badd, Gambling911.com
Originally published March 17, 2007 10:43 am ET

Indiana Poker Bust Nets Fellow Police Officer

According to reports in the Indianapolis Star, a poker club in Indianapolis was raided after a year-long investigation, catching one of their own in the act along the way. Sixty people, a mix of men and women ranging in age from 18 to 70, were allegedly playing poker on March 13th when the raid went down at the Pinnacle Club in Indianapolis and all have been charged with misdemeanor illegal gambling. One of those that were caught in the crackdown included an Indiana State Trooper, who has been placed on administrative duty until the case has been concluded. There were three men who allegedly were running the operation and they have been charged with felony illegal gambling and one of the

operators also was charged with carrying an unlicensed firearm. It is reported that almost $6,000 in cash, computers, flat screen monitors and poker paraphernalia was seized. After a year of investigation, the Indianapolis Police Department determined that the club was running games seven days a week. The club was apparently also the site of a robbery earlier in the month of March. On March 6th, two men reportedly entered the club with automatic weapons and were able to get away with slightly over $11,000. The assailants also attacked one of the operators, striking him with their weapons. This seems to be what was the impetus for the police action against the club. While only one state trooper was caught in this raid, players said it wasn't uncommon for other officers to be involved in playing at the club. Police officials didn't confirm this information and the players didn't name those officers involved. It seems raids and arrests like this are becoming more commonplace as people look to continue to play the game of poker. Current laws, from local ordinances to the UIGEA, continue to infringe on this desire to play America's game. To be sure, poker players must be very aware of the games they get involved in and, perhaps in time, the laws can be changed or amended to allow people to participate in the game. For more information on the Indianapolis raid, be sure to visit indystar.com for details.

Dortmund EPT 2nd Place Finisher Online Poker Player

The European Poker Tour is the brainchild of the people who created the World Poker Tour, and like the WPT, the EPT always draws a lot of press. This year a new event, the Dortmund tournament, drew healthy crowds and there were many online poker qualifiers, such as Italian poker player Christiano Blanco. Blanco made a second place finish at the Dortmund EPT after qualifying for his seat at online poker room Everest Poker’s $100 + 9 EPT Winner’s Choice, picking up Euro 380,000 in the process. Dortmund EPT was won by Andreas Hoivold from Norway.

First $100k weekly at Everest Poker debuts Sunday

It's a monumental challenge, but Everest Poker thinks its players are up to the task of conquering a $100,000 weekly guaranteed tournament. The tournaments begin Sunday and will run weekly at 2:30 p.m. (GMT).
"Weekly tournaments of this size are only available because of the dedication of our player base, and we're very appreciative of their loyalty," said Jonathan May, Everest Poker property manager.
The tournament will have a $100+$9 buy-in, but satellites run throughout the week to win your way into it for much less.
This addition to the poker site's tournament roster comes shortly after the announcement of a weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournament on Saturdays as well.
"We look forward to seeing our players join in the action," May said. "With daily satellites featuring buy-ins of $12, it's going to be easier than ever for a new player to get a shot at $100,000. That's the sort of poker community we foster."