That’s because of the new direction that Facebook is trying to take regarding its operations. This new direction has brought with it new algorithms, which makes it less likely for Facebook subscribers to discover Zynga than before. This change might be a reason why Zynga fell short of its predicted quarterly earnings by over $10 million this year.

Although Facebook has declined to comment on this, Zynga’s CEO, Mark Pincus, was quite eloquent about the role of Facebook’s new direction in their less than spectacular revenue earnings in this quarter.

Zynga To Launch Own Apps

In light of this, it must come as no surprise that Zynga would be looking to gain independence from Facebook apps. If the much touted market speculations are to be heeded, Zynga is looking at enabling its players to access its games through their own independent apps. These independent Zynga apps would enable players to launch games directly from their iPhones or desktops, cutting out the middle-man role that Facebook has played so far.

There was no confirmation of this from the horse’s mouth, as all Mark Pincus said on this was that they were looking into the possibility. On the other hand, one must consider that GamesBeat, Playtech and GTECH have all confirmed submitting bids to provide a gaming software platform to the gaming giant.

Some reports also suggest that Zynga has entered into a verbal agreement with the Swedish firm called Ongame to acquire their Poker network. All these moves strongly suggest the direction Zynga is trying to take with respect to social gaming.

Real Money Poker To Secure Zynga’s Leadership

Although Zynga is already the world’s biggest social gaming site, new competitors are popping up with alarming frequency. This means that the gaming giant is finding it harder and harder to keep its crown in the light of newer game formats hitting the market. Therefore, Zynga’s move to include real-money poker play into their repertoire will also serve to secure its faltering leadership.

The inclusion of real money poker into their gaming repertoire will also act as a ‘shot in the arm’ for Zynga’s revenues and their somewhat disappointing quarterly earnings. Online gambling is never more serious than when real money is involved in the gameplay, and Poker still remains one of the most popular social games where serious money play is involved.

To put the monetary scale of real money poker play into perspective, one can consider Zynga’s competitor: Party Poker and its sister websites. Party Poker’s corporate owner, Bwin.Party, generated $22.1 million per month this quarter, just from three of its poker sites. Not to mention the fact, that Party Poker is not available in the US, and Bwin.Party is barely one-fifth the size of Zynga. Therefore the $22 million revenue earning per month is quite impressive. It was only a matter of time that the people at Zynga realized how much they were missing out on by not involving themselves in real money play.

Zynga’s Launch Of Real Money Games Hinges On Certification

It is obvious that the only real hurdle in the way of Zynga’s foray into the world of real money poker is the concern of licenses. Except for Delaware and Nevada, the poker fanatics in the US (who make a very lucrative market) will be left out of the loop on this one. Zynga will be launching its games wherever they manage to secure the appropriate licenses.

The deal will end the saga of Full Tilt Poker, a company built by Ray Bitar with the help of poker champions like Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Howard Lederer that Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, has repeatedly said was a Ponzi scheme. But Bharara’s crackdown on the online poker industry continues, including against Isai Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars, who has been indicted by Bharara for operating an illegal gambling business. Bitar, who recently returned to the U.S. from Ireland to face the criminal charges Bharara has filed against him, pleaded not guilty and is currently out on bail. Scheinberg is believed to be in the Isle of Man.

“Over the past few days, I signed the papers necessary to complete Full Tilt’s deal with the US Government,” Bitar said in a statement. “I believe that this deal will result in Full Tilt’s customers being repaid.”

U.S. players who had money on deposit at Full Tilt when the company collapsed will have to apply to the Department of Justice to get reimbursed. Bharara is trying to tie up some loose ends from his crusade against online poker, which has been led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arlo Devlin-Brown. For years federal agents successfully worked to cut off companies like Full Tilt from the financial system and by 2010 Full Tilt started to credit customer accounts even though the company could no longer withdraw money from their bank accounts. This game, however, came to a close when Bharara shut down Full Tilt’s U.S. operations last year, exposing a large financial shortfall that Bharara claims was exacerbated by the large payments the company continued to make to its owners even after Full Tilt could no longer access the financial system.

While federal prosecutors in Manhattan have taken the position that Full Tilt was well on its way to financial disaster prior to the April 2011 crackdown on online poker, it was clearly important for Bharara to deal with the perception that U.S. citizens had been overwhelmingly left in the lurch because of his intervention in the online poker industry. But in order to pull off a sale of Full Tilt’s assets, Bharara needed to make a deal with PokerStars, a company whose founder is under indictment. Still, the balance sheet for Bharara looks pretty good given the large obstacles he faced when he first launched his online poker crackdown: the U.S. online poker industry has been decimated, six of the 11 individuals indicted have pleaded guilty; Full Tilt CEO Bitar is being monitored in California, and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan has secured lots of money. In addition, Scheinberg has agreed to not serve in any managerial or director role at PokerStars while the criminal case against him remains ongoing.

“We are pleased to announce these settlements by Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, which allow us to quickly get significant compensation into the victim players’ hands,” Bharara said in a statement.

But Scheinberg had some good reasons to ink this deal. While giving up $731 million will hurt, PokerStars can now continue to dominate the international online poker market without the complexity of dealing with a massive civil forfeiture complaint filed against it by the U.S. government. PokerStars will not have to worry about competition from its longtime rival, Full Tilt, and its standing in the online poker community, which was already strong given that it paid all of its customers back and continued operating outside the U.S. after April 2011, will only be helped because it will be seen as coming to the financial rescue of the online poker community.

For PokerStars, the big question is how U.S. gambling regulators will end up viewing the settlement. Las Vegas casino companies like Caesars Entertainment have been working to get Congress to pass a federal law that will green-light online poker while other interests are championing state efforts in places like California. The biggest threat to PokerStars’ dominant market position around the world would be getting locked out of a robust U.S. market. In a statement, PokerStars says that under its agreement with the Department of Justice, the company will not admit to any wrongdoing. PokerStars also said “the agreement explicitly permits PokerStars to apply to relevant U.S. gaming authorities, under both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, to offer real money online poker when State or Federal governments introduce a framework to regulate such activity.”

“We are delighted we have been able to put this matter behind us, and also secured our ability to operate in the United States of America whenever the regulations allow,” said Mark Scheinberg, who is Isai Scheinberg’s son and now chairman of PokerStars. “This outcome demonstrates our continuing global leadership of the online poker industry, and our commitment to working with governments and regulators to ensure the highest standards of protection for players.”

Reproduced from http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2012/07/31/pokerstars-will-pay-547-million-to-settle-u-s-government-charges-and-buy-full-tilt-poker/

Speaking on the phone, Merson reacts to his accomplishment of reaching the finals of the main event at the World Series of Poker. At just twenty minutes past ten in the morning, Greg sounded as if he was still lost in his dreams, which made sense as he also won a stunning $1.1 million at a tournament in the WSOP last week.

He says that he doesn’t even think he realizes what is happening, in a typical twenty four year old man’s voice, lying in bed and holding the phone to his ear. He says he just feels ultra lucky. “Legend” was the word used to describe his acts in the following day’s headlines, owing to his play on Monday night which included an awesome straight-over-straight win. Greg received props on Twitter from Michael Phelps, the superstar Olympian. Norman Chad, the ESPN commentator also remarked that the kid was pretty impressive. He continued saying that Greg just seemed to have placed himself in a zone and was on an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime run.

While Merson’s vary of that, he says that it would be a complete “crapshoot” to win the main event. He joins few Marylanders in the final round on hot streaks in the crapshoot department, including Steve Dannenmann and David Moon, both of whom finished second.

When Dannenmann was asked earlier if there was a particular reason whyMarylandoften produces dramatic, out of the blue, unbelievable streaks, he says that it’s probably just down to “dumb luck”. For almost a year now, Merson has made Toronto his home so that he can be allowed to play online legally. His routine is simple, according to him. He wakes up, plays poker, has lunch, works out, showers and plays poker again before calling it a day. He is headed back home after his heroics, and will be back in time for the finals.

Greg Merson says that he has been really homesick for most part of this year. He sounded a tad perkier when he said that, too. He is very happy with how the tournament has gone for him, and with good reason. He believes that he has surpassed expectations and is now just waiting for it all to sink in. He says that when he meets his parents again, he can’t wait to hug his mom. He says that this is awesome, and it always feels great to make his parents proud. Click here to find out more.

Greg Merson to be Guaranteed Points

Greg Merson, one of the lucky few who have made it to the final table will be awarded with a minimum of 100 WSOP Player of the Year points for making it this far into the competition. He will be able to surpass WSOP European player, Phil Ivey, with more than 580 points even if he finishes last in the upcoming finals in October.

Canadian Marc Ladouceur Led Last 27 Players

The last 27 players in the 2012 WSOP were led by Marc Ladouceur, a Canadian. This was a step up for Ladouceur who finished in the 63^rd place in 2011 WSOP. However, his winning spree came to an end against Greg Merson’s hand. Ladouceur was playing against Merson’s pocket fours with A-7 that was all-in. After a flop of two 7s and a four, Ladouceur was eliminated and finished 13^th in 2012 WSOP.

Robert Salaburu goes for Aggressive and Frequent Play

In the first level, only a few eliminations occurred, namely, Jan Heitmann and Nicco Maag who finished in the 26^th and 27^th place respectively. They were some of the few German nationals left in the tournament. During this time Robert Salaburu was seen playing aggressively and frequently.

In the next few hours, several players were short-stacked and eliminated. In Level 31, Yuval Bronshtein, Daniel Strelitz and Roland Israelashvili were out of the tournament in the 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th places respectively. It was a disappointment for Daniel Strelitz who began the day on a safer note in the second position. By the time, the level concluded, Robert Corcione and Cylus Watson were also eliminated in the 21^st and 22^nd places.

Russell Thomas First to Win 20 Million Chips

Russell Thomas becomes the first to exceed 20 million chips. Towards the end of the next level, several other players such as Scott Abrams, Jacob Balsiger and Robert Salaburu would join Thomas in this feat. In this level, David Balkin, an Australian, was beat out in the 18^th position by Michael Esposito. The other players who were eliminated were Jamie Robbins and Paul Volpe in the 19^th and 20^th places respectively.

The A-K of Wilfried Harig’s beat out Robert Buckenmayer’s A-Q. At the age of 67, the latter was one of the older players in the 2012 WSOP and left in the 17^th place. Percy Mahatan was the next to leave the event after Salaburu beat the latter’s queens with a two pair.

The final 15 of the 2012 WSOP Main Event had two female players – Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille. Spectators assumed that this year’s final table would be graced by either one or both the female players, a feat unaccomplished in the last seventeen years. Barbara Enright was the last female poker player to make it to the final table in 1995. However, this was not to be as both crashed in the 11^th and 10^th places

The first player to hit the one million in 2012 WSOP was Ben Alcober. Click here to read more about it.

Sam Holden, Last Brit of 2012 WSOP

For the second consecutive year, Sam Holden, at the end of Day 5, was the last English poker player to participate in the event. In last year’s WSOP, the player had entered the final table. This year, Holden was playing brilliantly until pocket aces were ran into by his jacks which left him with more than 9 big blinds. As play concluded for the day, he had redeemed himself with 20,000/40,000 blinds and over 700,000.

Kevin Pollak Eliminates Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu was one of the crowd favorites in the 2012 WSOP. Although several celebrities crashed out of the main event, Kevin Pollak managed to stay abreast of the competition with his knowledge of the game obtained through hosting the first season of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

After bobbing up and down during the event, Negreanu got extremely short-stacked. Pollak opted to move-in from the top of the cutoff after Negreanu moved from early position to all-in. Pollak was at the fore with A-Q and Negreanu was holding K-Q. The latter was eliminated after the board bricked. This year Negreanu has vastly improved his rankings from 2011 which was 211 to 160.

Joseph Cheong, Former Niner, Eliminated

Joseph Cheong, who was part of the final table in 2010 WSOP, appeared for Day 5 of a WSOP Main Event for the third time. At one point, he was well on to his way of securing a place on Day 6 of 2012 WSOP with chips close to 3 million. But it was not to be as on a rather grueling level, he was eliminated against a hand of Paul Volpe’s A-K when he placed all his chips in the middle with 10-10. Volpe obtained a lead in the hand when the flop fell and paired with the King. Cheong was eliminated from 2012 WSOP on a ranking of 116.

Kyle Keranen Ends Day with Huge Win

During the later half of the day, Keranen succeeded in winning a huge stack of chips on a play against Luke Brereton. The latter, from the cutoff, raised 45,000 chips to preflop. A fourth bet of 245,000 was put by Brereton after Keranen opted on a three-bet of 105,000 and blinded folded. Brereton announced a huge preflop all-in after calling off more than 1 million chips and Keranen declaring an all-in.

Keranen had a queen high with Q-9 against Brereton’s J-J. But Brereton fell behind when the flop revealed Q-7-4. Keranen, with that one hand, earned more than 4,500,000 in chips.

Day seven of the main event was full of excitement. Click here for a recap of day 7.

Koronknai and Baumann’s Controversial Hands

This is one of the hands that has been discussed and disputed over the course of the event. Poker pundits claim that it will forever be a debatable topic due to its sheer nature of unexpectedness.

On Day 5, Andras Koronknai opted to, from the small blind, move all-in for two million after Baumann chose to open 60,000. At this time, Gavin Smith scooted from the blind. Koronknai folded his dead cards on the assumption that the game was complete. He attempted to retrieve his cards when he learned of his mistake. Although, he could retrieve one, the other he could not.

Dennis Jones, Director of Tournament, was called over, as was a floor person, to make a decision based on the explanation of the dealer. After Jones consulted with Jack Effel, Vice President of WSOP, it was decided that Koronknai would not be removed from the game but that Gaelle Baumann would receive 60,000 chips from him.

Elimination of Kevin Pollak on Queens to Queens

Actor Kevin Pollak had previously emceed the premier season of the Celebrity Poker Showdown. Although, the actor did have more than a basic knowledge on poker games, he has never, actually, set out to participate in a WSOP event. This year was his first at WSOP 2012.

As several celebrities crashed out of the tournament, Pollak continued his winning streak, which came to an abrupt halt against a hand of Kirill Rabtsov. From the big blind, Pollak opted for an all-in for his remaining 369,000 after 52,000 was raised by Rabstov. Both players had two Qs each and onlookers were certain that the hand would be a chopped pot. But, Rabstov hit two hearts over the river and Pollak was eliminated. He left the area amid applause.

Baumann’s Elimination Against Koronknai’s Hand

This year, at the WSOP, a lot of attention was drawn to the exceptional poker skills of the female players, notably Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille. Everyone expected that after seventeen years, a female player would, at last, grace the final table at WSOP 2012. After Hille crashed out with $590,442, all eyes were on Baumann.

Ironically, it was Koronknai who was playing against Baumann. From the hijack seat, Baumann opted for an all-in worth 5.2 million. Michael Esposito surrendered from the big blind after Koronknai called for the small. Baumann had A-9 while Koronknai was holding A-J. The flop fell to 3-Q-Q and the turn revealed an 8 and a K, which signaled two things – Baumann’s exit from the tournament and the players of the final table.

Critics believe that Koronknai should have been eliminated from the event on Day 5 when he mucked his hands playing against Baumann. Nevertheless, the WSOP 2012 has ensured that Gaelle Baumann will now be a formidable name in the poker industry.

The third day of the main event witnessed some good hands being played. Click here to read more about it.

Remaining Two Female Players, Hille and Baumann, Eliminated

In the past seventeen years, since Barbara Enright in 1995, there has not been a female player who has participated in the final event of the WSOP. Although there were 27 players left at the beginning of Day 7, the world had its eyes on the two remaining female players, Elisabeth Hille and Gaelle Baumann.

The first to be eliminated was Hille who secured the 11^th place in the event. For 3,465,000, Hille made a three-bet-all-in on her last hand against Andras Koronknai, who, from the cutoff, opened to 605,000. In response to the call made by Koronknai, Hille’s A-Q was racing against Koronknai’s two black 7s. In subsequent play, Hille received a 3 on the river, which was not enough. Hille finished in 11^th place with a total of $590,442.

All Hopes Rested on Baumann

With Hille crashing out, it was up to Baumann to secure the first female position in years in the final WSOP table. But, Baumann’s time in the tournament came to a halt with the 15^th hand. From the hijack seat, Baumann opted for an all-in for 5,200,000 as she found herself to be short-stacked.

Although she had chosen to go for the blinds and the antes in the prior hands, this time, unfortunately, she selected Koronknai with his intimidating A-J. It was hoped that a nine would reveal itself, but it was not to be and the final event of the 2012 WSOP would now feature an all-male table.

Spotlight on Women Players in 2012 WSOP

This year, the WSOP showcased several brilliant female players who stood out among the rest. In Event #41, Jackie Glazier caught the attention of everyone as she secured a position as runner-up. Another female player that entered the limelight was Vanessa Selbst, who received her second WSOP bracelet.

With Hille and Baumann coming so close to gaining a place in the final table, women’s poker has, once again, enhanced the WSOP events. Although the two female players who almost made it to the finals were relatively unknown before, they will soon become household names in the poker industry.

Jess Sylvia Leads in the Final Table; Andras Koronknai in Second Place

On October 28, all eyes will be on Jess Sylvia, with his impressive number of chips totaling 43,875,000. This is 14,500,000 more chips than his European counterpart, Andras Koronknai, who is in second place at the moment. The other players who make up the final table in WSOP 2012 include Steven Gee, Greg Merson, Jacob Balsiger, Russell Thomas, Robert Salaburu, Jeremy Aumus and Michael Esposito. Although they are not well-heard of, these players have secured their place sin the final table purely on basis of their merit.

Jaffrey Shulman was another woman player who broke the men’s winning streak at WSOP ’12. Click here to read more about it.

How it started

27 hopefuls were looking to fill the 9 seats at the beginning of Day Seven. Chip leaders from Day Six, Daniel Strelitz and Marc-Andre Ladouceur had a hard time during the course of the day and finished 24^th and 13^th respectively. Having made his entry into the final day somewhere in between, a single coin flip changed Sylvia’s fate incredibly, making him the final table’s chip leader. Play will resume on the 28^th of October, 2012. Winning the tournament’s largest jackpot worth $16 million in chips, and the coin flip, Sylvia showed aggression as he continued efforts in building his stack. With a total of $43.87 million in chips, Sylvia enters the main event final table and his aggression was demonstrated in the confrontation with Scott Abrams.

How the game progressed

With only 12 players left, Abrams was placed third in the moment and appeared to have sealed his deal to October. The blinds were at 120,000/240,000 when Russell Thomas opened the 500,000 pot. Sylvia, Abrams and Steven Gee called and the flop was Kh-7d-3d. After Gee wagered 1.45 million, Sylvia raised the stakes to 3.4 million. This saw Abrams re-raise to 7 million. After Gee and Thomas folded, Sylvia had Abrams covered and moved all-in. This made Abrams call instantly and reveal Kd-Jd for a flush draw and top pair. Sylvia’s middle set showed 7-7, which meant that she had to avoid a diamond on the river and turn. With every eye in the Amazon Room glued to the screen over the table, the 6c and the 0c was placed on the board by the dealer, awarding Sylvia a pot of $44 million. This ensured Sylvia’s place on the final table while Abrams was eliminated shockingly in 12^th place.

More action

With eleven players left, the 2 remaining women grabbed all the attention as they also had the 2 shortest stacks. Gaelle Baumann had double via Elisabeth Hille earlier that night, creating some more drama. While Hille was going well for most parts of the day, the setback turned out to be too hard for her to recover from. Hille’s aggression throughout the night and her three-bet-all-in over Andras Koroknai’s raise made him ask for a count which he then called and showed 7-7 to her A-Q. The race was lost for Hille and she was out in 11^th place.

This group will be analysed for the following few months and more will be learnt about them, but one thing is for certain – these are 9 remarkably talented players, all set to take their careers to advanced heights. Click here for more stories on the World Series of Poker Championships.

Talking Does the Trick for Will Failla

Will Failla talked all the way to a double up and ensured that he had a good chance of going ahead in the main event. The pot already had 40,000 and the board was showing a 7-5-3. Will Failla made a bold and aggressive move by going all-in with his remaining 26,100. The other player was a little rustled by this move and responded with some banter by saying that he had no intentions of doubling Failla up. Failla was not the one to back down and responded by saying that he could look through the back of his cards and was seeing an ace-queen combo. His opponent had a decent 8-7 combo but Failla was one step ahead with a pair of eights. A Q came up on the turn and the river was an inconsequential A. Failla was all smiles as he gathered his double up which took his tally to 110,000.

Faraz Jaka Sent Home By Neil Van Alphen on Level 14

Neil Van Alphen had Faraz Jaka’s number on level 14 as he sent the latter packing. Jaka had a stupendous run on his way to level 14, starting out Day 1 with a huge stack win. He rode on those winnings till the end of the third day and the stack was also around the same range. But on that particular hand, Jaka seemed to have bitten off more than he could chew.

A player in the mid position made a raise to 7,500. Jaka responded with a three bet from hijack all the way up to 17,500. The subsequent players folded until the baton stopped at Van Alphen who four betted and increased the tally to 45,000. This again initiated a series of folding and the token stopped at Jaka again. Jaka went all-in for 120,000. Although Jaka was suffocating with an A-Q against Van Alphen’s A-K, he forced some bravado into his demeanor.

The flop was a 6-6-4 but Val Alphen was up with a flush draw. A 9 came out on the turn and the river was an 8. Jaka literally had no play and was sent packing when the total number of players in the event just came down to under 1000 players.

The Platinum Bracelet event, which was one of the high stakes events in all the WSOP-12 events, was won by Antonio Esfandiari. Click here to know more about it.