The much anticipated 41st Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule has been released and online registration is now open. Harrah’s 2010 schedule for the WSOP announced fifty-seven bracelets will be awarded at next year’s series including one for the brand-new $50,000 buy-in “Player’s Championship”. This event will rotate between eight different poker variants and replaces the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event on the schedule.

For 51 days, the WSOP will have many thrilling events, in addition to the H.O.R.S.E. variants, the Player’s Championship will feature pot-limit Omaha, no-limit hold’em and 2-7 triple draw lowball. The final table of this event will be played entirely using no-limit hold’em rules.  The Player’s Championship will mark the start of the series on May 28th. Also new to this year’s schedule are six $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em events. Harrah’s likely added these events after seeing the popularity of last year’s “Stimulus Special” which drew over 6,000 participants. Another interesting addition to the schedule is a $25,000 buy-in six-handed no-limit hold’em event that will start on June 30th.

The Main Event will feature four starting days the first of which will be held on Monday, July 5th. On July 17th, Main event participants will play down to a field of nine and return on November 6th to complete the tournament. Last year’s winner Joseph Cada won $8,546,435 for finishing first and not a bad prize to the second place winner Darvin Moon who took home $5,182,601.

Looking to brush up on your poker tournament skills, this weekend January 16-17 Poker Academy hosted by poker pro, bracelet winner, and upcoming Huntington Press author Annie Duke.  For those who are interested there are just a few spots open at the WSOP Tournament-Poker Academy at Caesars Palace. The price is $1,899 and the two-day in-depth event covers all aspects of the game of poker needed to hone your skills and make money in more tournaments. The easiest way to practice your poker skills is online at PokerStars, find any type of tournament at the biggest and most trusted poker site in the world.

Although last year saw a small increase in home sales, Nevada still led the nation in foreclosures in 2009 followed by Arizona second and Florida third. More than 10 percent of Nevada’s homes received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009, keeping the state No. 1 ranked in the nation for the third consecutive year. In 2009 nationwide, the U.S. reported 2,824,674 properties default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions, which is a 21 percent increase in total properties from 2008 and a 120 percent increase in total properties from 2007.

The state of Nevada had more than 112,000 foreclosure filings in 2009, a 44 percent increase over 2008 and a 226 percent gain over 2007. The foreclosure crisis has generated interest from homebuyers in southern Nevada, with bank-owned homes accounting for more than 60 percent of existing home sales. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported 46,879 sales in 2009. That number is the second-highest on record, trailing only the 71,963 homes sold during the record year of 2004.

In the past year, Nevada’s population shrank as the recession forced families to make a living in other states. This finding was from the Nevada State Demographer’s Office, which released its preliminary 2009 population estimates saying Nevada lost an estimated 27,677 persons, or 1 percent of its population, since July 2008.

There is a bit of mixed feelings on where the trend is headed for Nevada given the job losses in construction and gaming. In the last year we saw the completion of several major construction projects, and if there is no work, then people in construction are going to leave Nevada to find work elsewhere. At the same time, gaming numbers are down overall for Nevada, and despite a recent increase, Las Vegas casinos have been trying to minimize their staff to maximize their profits. The good news is that more lenders have been willing to modify loans and allow homeowners to sell homes for less than is owed on the mortgage.

Two of Las Vegas’ most world renowned chefs are taking their restaurants to the main stage of culinary excellence. The latest report from travel club AAA shows the upscale side of Las Vegas continues despite a recession that’s cut into consumers’ spending. Travel club AAA has added two Las Vegas restaurants to its list of Four Diamond eateries in Nevada. These restaurants with the new AAA status include Wolfgang Puck’s CUT, and Daniel Boulud Brasserie. Nevada’s total number of Four Diamond restaurants is now up to 31, making the state 6th in the US for its share of Four Diamond winners.

Wolfgang Puck’s CUT is located inside the Palazzo, specializing in their fine cuts of meat. CUT in Las Vegas is the second location for master chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck’s critically acclaimed, award-winning Beverly Hills steakhouse. This 160-seat restaurant and 60-seat bar, provides a modern aesthetic to the traditional steakhouse. The other inductee Daniel Boulud Brasserie, is located inside Wynn Las Vegas. This restaurant has a prime location with an outdoor patio overlooking the Lake of Dreams. While enjoying the lakeside view, guests can feast on Boulud’s modern French cuisine or take on their extensive wine list.

AAA’s inspectors evaluate 58,000 hotels and restaurants a year to come up with its select list of winners in the Five Diamond category, its highest honor. Just 113 hotels and 52 restaurants made the roster. Inspectors grade properties based on service and atmosphere. Landing consistently high customer-service marks for a hotel with more than 5,000 rooms isn’t easy. However, the executives of the MGM Grand, America’s biggest hotel by number of rooms achieved the Four-Diamond feat by making the rank a property wide goal.

All 17 hotel winners are repeat members of the list. The Mirage, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in November, won Four Diamonds for the 20th time. The property owns the longest Four Diamond streak of any local hotel. Four properties celebrate 10 years on the list: Aureole, a restaurant inside Mandalay Bay, and the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas have won Four Diamonds for a decade running, as have Mandalay Bay and Paris themselves. The Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino earned its 15th Four Diamond honor.

After a great kick off to the New Year, for the first time in 23 months, Nevada gaming revenues increased with casinos state-wide collecting $873.2 million from gamblers in November, a 4.35 percent climb compared to the same month a year ago. It has been almost 2 years since we could report a positive increase in gaming numbers for Nevada. This past year has been the worst with a couple of older casinos desperately making moves to try and compete with the new mega resorts on the Strip. Although this recent increase is great news, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported monthly revenues for the fiscal year beginning in July are still down almost 8 percent.

On the Strip, gaming revenues were also up for the first time in almost two years. Strip casinos collected $473.8 million, an 8.3 percent increase compared with the figures from November 2008. After 19 straight months of declines, the casinos on the Strip registered a 4 percent increase in win from the 21 games in November. The increase was mainly because of a 136.2 percent jump in gross win at the 191 baccarat games, which is the seventh-straight month of an increase in this category. Also winnings on sports parlay cards rose 79.7 percent as the pro and college football season was in full swing. Also up was Roulette with increased winnings up 12.3 percent, but craps tables fell 32.4 percent and slot win fell by 3.7 percent for the 17th consecutive month.

Elsewhere in Nevada, strong win numbers were posted in North Las Vegas, up 20.7 percent; Boulder Strip had an increase of 18.9 percent and the balance of Clark County had an increase of 18.9 percent, ending 13 months of declining revenues for that sector. While the casinos in Southern Nevada enjoyed some success, the gaming business in Northern Nevada continued to suffer. Washoe County casinos reported a 4.2 percent decline in gross win in November; South Lake Tahoe was off 26.6 percent; Carson City was off 10.5 percent and Elko gaming revenue fell 8.7 percent.

Nevada state revenues collected in December based on November casino winnings topped $57 million. That was up more than 28 percent from $44.4 million in December 2008. Taxes paid on casino winnings account for about 30 percent of the state general fund. Increased gaming numbers are a good sign for the economy’s tax dollars, but the number that will really make the people of Nevada happy is the unemployment rate. There are still many people searching for jobs, with gaming numbers up, it seems like a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Look for December gaming numbers to be up also, due to the thousands of visitors for a busy month of the CityCenter opening and the world famous New Years Eve party.

It just became a lot easier to place a bet in some Las Vegas sportsbooks with the introduction of the eDeck. The M Resort has been the first to use the hand-held sports betting device called the eDeck, which allows gamblers to place bets in real time from anywhere within the property. M Resort’s success using the new device has prompted other casinos such as Venetian and Palazzo to jump on the eDeck bandwagon.  In the casino business more bets equate to more revenue, which makes us wonder why it took Las Vegas sportsbooks so long to embrace the handheld revolution.

In Las Vegas, the casinos do everything they can to keep you on the gaming floor so that you’re spending as much time as possible gambling during your stay. A company called Cantor Gaming has realized there are still a lot of missed opportunities where a casino guest might be away at the poker tables, slot machines, eating at a restaurant, lounging by the pool, or just relaxing in the room. This idea triggered the company to spend 5 years developing the eDeck, which is a wifi equipped portable gaming device allowing casino patrons to gamble for real money wherever they happen to be on the casino’s property.

To use the eDeck is fairly simple, players have to setup an account, fund it before the first use and you’re ready to start betting. In the future the eDeck will allow gamblers to play casino favorites like blackjack, baccarat, slots, video poker, roulette and the much anticipated live-action poker. An eDeck can be used anywhere in the casino (except gaming tables), so long as it’s within the range of the Radio Frequency Identification chip given to the gambler, all systems go. For the purpose of additional security, all monetary transactions are completed on a back-end server to ensure people’s money is safe.

This new system, which was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2008, not only makes it easier for people to bet, but also increases revenue for sports books. Instead of simply betting once on the outcome of a game, bettors can use an eDeck to view odds and bet multiple times. Plus it offers betting throughout the game on everything from a first down to whether a kicker makes or misses a field goal.

The big question is whether this eDeck is good or bad for gamblers. While the devices make life easier by allowing gamblers to place a bet without leaving their seat, one has to wonder if it will make up for the experience of placing a bet at the ticket window. Also something to consider, the eDeck makes placing bets more convenient, which could see people over betting. Some casinos might be reluctant to adopt the eDeck device in fear of burning out their players.