As everybody knows the US government jumped in to the guarantee liquidity of the money situation in the US and the  markets investors stacked back into investing in the blue chip casino options with hopes thinking the worst is finished and its time to turn the corner.

Your probably aware that the casino stocks have been down on their normal high levels over the past 12 months, there were some rises:- Pinnacle Entertainment Inc +12.1%, MGM Mirage +4.1% and Las Vegas Sands Corp +9.8%. There were lots of stocks which showed big rises because of commitments to expansion and companies who took big debts on are now struggling to finance it now. But now we see ‘oil’ back in the stock market things are on the up.

With this in mind there are signs that the government are trying to get people to revive the economy by getting shoppers back on the street. Its the answer to get people back into buying again and getting the economy back to normal, and the casinos filling there seats once again.

Now there are not many records in poker when it comes to the WSOP that have not yet been smashed over the past several years, massive jackpots, massive numbers of record players and the biggest sponsorship deals ever recorded, but I can only think of one big record that still stands and its under threat. Phil Hellmuth should be praying that his title of the youngest winner is not beaten by either Peter Eastgate or Craig Marquis by bagging the WSOP title this year making a new record for the youngest winner!

Phil Hellmuth many years ago was only 24 years old at the time he demolished all others and smashed onto the poker tournament scene around the year of 89, stealing the most prestigious prize in poker, the WSOP 89 main event. Peter Eastgate is only 22 years old & Craig Marquis is just 23 years old, they both could break Hellmuths record by becoming the youngest winner.

Its down to four and Ive lost all interest as its me who has bit the bullet when it comes to being shot down.

I called a stupid bet on a pair of 7′s and followed it right through to the end acting like I had something big but then getting wiped out by a full house.

Its back to the football for me as I have some bets on Manchester united and Arsenal to win in the Champions League tonight even though they are both in the second half and its still 0-0 in both games.

It looks like its going to be a bad night all round from a gambling point a view unless I bury my head in Stella to forget it all.

Looking behind me the girl who is left in has just knocked out another of the lads and she looks like she is going to win the poker night again.

So we have our next casualties, one of the girls and two lads and the hand that took the all out was a straight flush which beat all other random straights, flushes pairs and high cards turned over.

Its quite early for so many to go out but it sometimes happens when everybody starts off really aprehnsively and trys to slow play as you find people tend to get bored and start betting big to try and liven up the game or to try and boss the whole situation.

I’m glad i didn’t get involved as I had a good hand but it wouldn’t have beat a straight flush.

I’m hoping that I can start to whittle some chips away from Chris as his chip count it dominating the table now and its hard with the blinds going up every 10 minutes.

I have just joined in a hand with Ace, King off suit and ended up pot committed with John, he could stop raising trying to buy the pot and it ended up one on one.

I decided because he was trying this and I had more chips to put him all in thinking he will fold before the flop as he must thing I have pocket rockets.

As it turns out he had King, Queen off suit and when all five cards were turned over no face cards appeared and I simply won a big pot on a high card.

I think sometimes poker does come down to luck and the law of odds and when you have the nous its a lot of skill that really matters unless your female then I will call that just pure evil or cunning.

OMG I’m going deaf the girls wont shut up, they seem to think that this is a get together to talk about everybody’s bloody business and nothing to do with poker but then again are they doing it on purpose to put us off.

I’m trying to type loud to put them off but I don’t think a shotgun would shut them up.

OMG even worse one of them has just won a big had without hardly looking and talking all the way through the hand, I am going to try and bide my time and take one of the out whilst there gossiping and hope that when one goes out that might put the other one off as my ears will bleed if this carries on.

The other thing is we have a rule where you do not have a time limit to place a bet or fold to make it a friendly atmosphere but they take it to the limit with succcchhhh sloooowwwww play.

The first hand tonight was a bit of a wash out, the girls are chatting each others heads off as women do and I’m sure they use it as a distraction to put the lads off.

All the lads are really coy as they have been realy brash in the past thinking they can boss everyone but have learnt they cannot just throw money on the table and expect to win.

So Dave won the first hand with a single pair on 10s, everybody bet small and most people folded and chickened out early.

I didn’t even entertain the hand as i was dealt a 2 and a 7 off suit. I simply folded and watched all the scared gamblers struggle to bet. I think its going to be a long night.

Tonight I’m hosting a 9 man poker match but it will involve two women who have joined in the poker fun in the past few months and unfortunately they have got the hang of the game quite quickly taking quite a bit of money off the lads so far.

I’m going to stay reasonably sober and try and deliver some of the action as it happens as it was really good fun last time when people had bumper hands or classic moments with big bluffs.

The funniest one was when one of the lads was that confident on a hand he had a flush against one of the girls he bet his clothes on it as well, and cunningly the girl had a higher flush ad took the bet.

He ended up broke and walked home starkers, he only lived round the corner.

As the general casino industry plays its roll out and continues to struggle it seem that lots of people hvent stopped gambling but they have simply turned there attention to online casinos and poker site.

The problem for these people is, they love poker so they will never quit but how often do people who play football or go out socializing suddenly start doing it at home or kicking a ball around the kitchen, the general consensus is these gamblers who go to the casinos love the casinos thrills and that’s why they go.

I think this makes the game and gambling so good, the fact that there are so many different ways you can do it and so many people who can play the same games from so many different venues but its always for the massive amounts, whether or not you are at home or in a casino.

Some gamblers love the opportunity to play in a regulated and safe environment at home while others players love the sitting around a table in a casino.

Now as everyone knows the iPhone is a massive success and continues to get ever larger it is absolutely no shock to see a gathering of poker applications rising from the loved record breaking phone. So here is whats available.

Some applications that I have tried :-

Apple’s Texas Hold’em

Simply a very basic but really good fun Texas Hold’em game. It has a really nice touch where you can play against full animated characters and if you play enough you can actually learn there traits and pick up bluffs.

Fat-Free Video Poker

This is the replica of the iPhones video poker with graphics that make it look the business and live up to expectations. Gamble up to 5 dollars and see how high you can get the pot if your lucky you might get through to a bonus screen or cash in some funds.

MotionX Poker

This weird as you have to use dice to choose your best poker hand, the only good bit is the dice change 3d images and make it eye pleasingly fun.