Majority of players at the Las Vegas’ World Series of Poker are supportive of Barack Obama and his campaign for the White House.

A season poker player himself, Obama has expressed a desire to regulate and control online casinos, rather than outlaw online gambling. This move gained Obama the support of former WSOP champion Doyle Brunson.

“Poker players have to support Obama,” the former life-long Republican commented on his change in stance. “God help the internet gambling business if McCain does happen to win.”

“In poker you have to put yourself in the shoes of your opponents, get inside their heads and figure out what they’re thinking; what their actions mean; what they would think your actions mean; and reading people’s bluffs.”

Obama’s credentials as a poker player is a good indicator of his leadership skills. Obama was a regular at the low-stakes games — sometimes stud poker, sometimes draw — designed to break up the tedium of long legislative sessions. Poker, beer and cigars were staples; Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers and even the lobbyists who Obama sometimes rails against dealt the cards and placed their bets.

Poker players all-in with Obama’s campaign for the White House

The top prize at the main event of the World Series of Poker will be $9.12 million this year, and 666 players will get some piece of a $64.3 million prize pool, tournament officials said Sunday.

More than one-third of the tournament’s entrants entered the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament Sunday, the last day players were able to register. The 2,461 players pushed the total field to 6,844 players.

There were nearly 500 more players than last year but far fewer than 2006, when a record 8,773 players entered and Jamie Gold won $12 million.

The top prize of $9,119,517 is the second largest in the main event’s history. Last year, California psychologist Jerry Yang emerged from a field of 6,358 players to win a top prize of $8.25 million.

Tournament spokesman Seth Palansky said the number of entrants was what tournament officials were expecting, about equal to the event’s average for the last five years.

Read more on World Series of Poker Main Event Top Prize

PokerStars officially launched an interactive video portal this week, the PokerStars.tv that features leading edge video-based poker clips and instructional offerings.

PokerStars.tv already boasts numerous clips from several Team PokerStars Pro members, who share their expertise in specific poker hand or poker scenario situations and possible poker strategies.

Now available on the site is an introductory video on the four World Series of Poker bracelet holder and two World Poker Tour Championship titles, Daniel Negreanu, with feature videos on some Team PokerStars Pro members, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Bill Chen and Dario Minieri.

The site has an extensive search function, which allow users to focus in on such topics as specific hand holdings, to better understand situational plays.

Read more on PokerStars interactive video portal, PokerStars.tv, officially launched this week

Martin Klaser scored one for Germany Thursday night, bringing their 2008 WSOP bracelet total to three. Martin Klaser dominated short-handed play en route to his first World Series of Poker title in event no. 43, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better tournament.

After besting a field of 720 players and a final table that included Team Full Tilts Erik Seidel. Martin Klaser entered heads-up play with a 3:1 chip lead over Casey Kastle and played an ultra-aggressive style that saw him win all but three of the 19 hands that were dealt.

Read more on Martin Klaser wins 2008 WSOP Bracelet event no. 43 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better poker tournament

William Thorson’s total live tournament winnings as of 2008 is over $1,800,000. He made a name for himself by appearing in two final tables at the European Poker Tour. He has also cashed four times at the World Series of Poker. Now, Swedish poker star has joined poker notables Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Barry Greenstein at Team PokerStars.

Not bad for someone who started playing online poker at the play money tables. Thorson has been playing at PokerStars since 2002 using his screen name “William.” When he started playing with real money, his first deposit was a measly $50. He’s gone a long way considering that he can now afford to shell out $10,000 to join World Series of Poker main events.

Considered by many as the number one player on the Swedish poker scene, Thorson humbly admitted in interviews that despite his many accomplishments, he still considers being chosen for Team PokerStars Pro an honor. “It’s a great team with many of the world’s greatest players and I’m honored to be included in such company. I’m proud to have my skills recognized in this way. It’s a great opportunity for me and I hope to achieve big results,” said Thorson.

Read more on PokerStars Signs Swedish Sensation William Thorson

John “The Razor” Phan showed steel nerves as he faced a final table that was overflowing with poker talent. In the end, The Razor slashed his competition to bits as he picked up his second bracelet this year, inching closer to the title 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year.

After picking up his first WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Phan came out on top in the not-too-popular $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Low Ball event. Not an easy feat considering the final table was graced with poker stalwarts David Slansky, who was desperately trying to end a 25-year WSOP bracelet drought, Robert Mizrachi and 2007 bracelet winner Ben Ponzio.

The competition got intense as Phan and Gioi Luong started to get on each other’s nerves after an incident where Phan accidentally posted his big blind after the gun. The incident passed after a few heated words but both players erupted again after the dealer discarded the wrong card. For a second it looked as though the players were going to come to blows but cooler heads, or rather the floor, intervened. In any case, Phan got the best of Luong this time as it was he who sent Luong to the rail.

Read more on Razor Picks up Second Bracelet in 2008 WSOP

Bodog Poker, Casino and Sports Book is offering its WSOP Main Event online qualifiers and poker pros three once in a lifetime experiences guaranteed to get their hearts pounding and palms sweating before hitting the tables at the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Bodog Poker Guaranteeing WSOP Qualifiers the Ultimate Adrenaline Rush With Vegas VIP Days

If the chance to play for poker stardom and millions of dollars isn’t the ultimate adrenaline rush already, Bodog is offering its WSOP qualifiers three once in a lifetime experiences guaranteed to get their hearts pounding and palms sweating before hitting the tables at the WSOP Main Event.

Read more on Bodog Poker Guaranteeing WSOP Qualifiers the Ultimate Adrenaline Rush With Vegas VIP Days

Full Tilt Poker unveiled four new high stakes cash game tables on Monday. All four of the tables were obviously suggested by newly signed Patrik Antonius, as he has a reserved seat at all four.

The first of the four tables is a $500/$1000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em table called RailHeaven. You need at least $50,000 just to sit down at this table.

The next is a $2000/$4000 Omaha Hi-Lo Six-Handed table called Patrik. Same thing with this table - $50,000 minimum is the buy-in.

Full Tilt Poker Unveils New High Stakes Cash Game Tables

The success started early for Team Bodog when Grant Hinkle emerged victorious in Event No. 2 - $1,500 No Limit Holdem - taking down his first WSOP bracelet and the astounding $831,462 first-place prize. On his way to the title, Hinkle had to battle his way through a record-setting field of 3,929 players, the largest ever for a non-Main Event.

Just two events later, the deep runs continued as Bodog poker pros David Williams and Justin Bonomo both reached the final table of Event No. 4 - $5,000 Mixed Holdem. Bonomo would go on to face Erick Lindgren heads-up for the WSOP bracelet and finish second for $230,159 with Williams earning $58,515 for his seventh-place finish.

Bonomo and Williams would once again both cash in the same event just a week later in Event No. 25 - $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Holdem World Championship. Bonomo made it through two heads-up matches to finish tied for seventh, earning $14,438 and Williams made it through to the next round, tied for fifth and took home $36,096.

Williams added yet another WSOP cash to his resume in Event No. 28 - $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha. He played against an incredibly stacked field of 152 of the best poker players in the world and finished in 16th place for $54,003.

Read more on Team Bodog already has 1.5 million reasons to celebrate the 2008 World Series of Poker

After five long years, Layne Flack is back on top after winning his sixth World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys Tournament. Dubbed “Back to Back Flack” for winning two consecutive World Series of Poker tournaments in 2002, Flack not only picked up $577,725 for first place but has also earned back people’s respect.

Flack’s battle with recreational drug use was well publicized. In fact, Daniel Negreanu (who incidentally picked up his own bracelet in this year’s WSOP) paid $60,000 to get him into rehab. It looks like it was money well spent as Flack has apparently put his past behind him and is now in top form. “I got off track pretty good for a while, I spent the last year regrouping and getting my life back together,” Flack related in an interview.

Don’t think that this win was a walk in the park for Flack. He was in for twenty-two rebuys which meant he had to finish in at least 12th place to make any sort of profit in this tournament. He was also facing a final table that had ten World Series of Poker bracelets among them.

Read more on Layne Flack Ends Five-Year WSOP Bracelet Drought