Phillip Dennis ‘Phil’ Ivey Jr. was born in Riverside, California in 1977. Ivey began playing poker, as a 17-year-old, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he assumed the false identity of ‘Jerome Graham’; in fact, he played so regularly that he earned the nickname ‘No Home Jerome’. Under the tutelage of several renowned poker players, including Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda, Ivey gradually transformed his not-altogether-successful, loose-aggressive style of play into a meticulous, all-around form, which would eventually win him ten World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and $30.3 million in live earnings alone. Ivey won his first WSOP bracelet in 2000, beating Thomas Austin Preston Jr., a.k.a. ‘Amarillo Slim’, in heads-up play and has since added nine more, in poker variants including Omaha, Razz and Seven Card Stud.

In recent years, Ivey has made headlines as the result of the fallout from his contentious winnings at the baccarat tables in Atlantic City and London in 2012. Alongside Chinese collaborator Cheung Yin ‘Kelly’ Sun, Ivey won $9.6 million from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City and £7.7 million from Crockfords Casino in London. However, he subsequently admitted ‘edge sorting’ – that is, identifying beneficial face-down cards from subtle, unintentional differences in the patterns on their backs – which he considered a legitimate advantage playing technique. Unsurprisingly, the casinos disagreed and launched successful legal action, on both sides of the Atlantic, which effectively forced Ivey into ‘exile’ from tournament poker between 2015 and 2018. Indeed, in the summer of 2019, Ivey cashed for $124,410 when finishing eighth in the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship at Rio Las Vegas, but lawyers acting on behalf of the Borgtata were waiting in the wings to seize the money. Despite his recent trials and tribulations, Ivey was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017.

Born in Guangzhou, in southern China, in 1957, Johnny ‘The Orient Express’ Chan emigrated to the United States with his family in the late Sixties, finally settling in Houston, Texas, in 1973. He attended the University of Houston, but dropped out, at the age of 21, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to pursue a career as a professional poker player.

Chan won his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,000 Limit Hold’em event in Las Vegas in 1985, but two years later became the first foreign national to win the WSOP Main Event. He did so again in 1988 and went agonisingly close to winning a third consecutive title in 1989, only losing out to Phil Hellmuth at the final table. Indeed, video footage of the final, heads-up hand between Chan and Erik Seidel in the WSOP Main Event in 1988 appears in the American drama film ‘Rounders’, distributed by Miramax Films in 1998. In the defining moment, Chan looked skyward, in what became known as his ‘Eye to the Sky’ episode, before making a easy winning call, having flopped ‘the nuts’ – a queen-high straight – against the top pair, queens, held by Seidel.

Chan was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002 and, three years later, made further history by becoming the first player to win ten WSOP bracelets, when defeating Phil Laak in a $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event. At the last count, Chan had amassed $8.7 million in live tournament earnings.

Dominic ‘The Dominator’ LoRiggio is an enigma; little of his backstory is known, although, by his own admission, in the late Eighties and early Nineties he was an advantage blackjack player. LoRiggio turned his attentition to craps after reading several books on the subject by American author Frank Scoblete and, in the late Nineties, spent six months perfecting a ‘controlled’ throw of the dice.

LoRiggio once said, ‘Craps is a simple physics problem; it’s a moving projectile in the air.’ He claims that by standing at the correct distance from the back wall, gripping the dice in a certain way and throwing them softly onto the layout, it is possible to turn craps into a game of skill, rather than a game of pure chance. Without so-called ‘dice control’, or ‘rhythmic rolling’, as it is known to exponents of the technique, the probability of rolling seven with two dice is 16.67%; with it, the probability of rolling a seven with two dice is 16.05%, if LoRiggio is to be believed.

Once described by Scoblete as ‘the most devastating dice shooter in the world today’, LoRiggio claims to have toured the United States in the early Noughties, winning so much money playing craps that he was banned from most casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere. At that point, he turned to teaching his technique to other players; LoRiggio has written several books, including ‘Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players!’, published in 2010 and, along with a team of instructors, conducts ‘Golden Touch™’ dice control seminars at various locations across the United States.

Insane. Nobody can sustain loses like this in the longrun. Regardless of your net worth it pays to use your head! While I’m sure this is partially subsidised by Stake (though i wouldn’t exactly call it good publicity) even if half of this money is Adins, it’s madness!

Introduction

Bloodsport is an online slot game from Skywind, based on the 1988 movie of the same name. The game features a 5×11 reel set with 88 betways, offering players plenty of chances to win. Bloodsport is packed with exciting features, including bonus games and jackpots, making it a thrilling and engaging slot game to play.

Bloodsport Slot Bonus Features

To trigger one of the bonus fight games in Bloodsport, players need to play on the Big Time Fight Wheel. They can reach this stage by either progressing through the three levels of the Dim Mak Pick feature or landing 15 Scattered Blood symbols in the fight zone during the main game.

Katana Free Games

The Katana Free Games feature starts with five free games and a 1x multiplier, which can be increased by landing a scattered +1 symbol in the fight zone. Players can also retrigger the feature by landing two or more Katana scatter symbols, which will award an additional five free games.

Dim Mark Pick Feature

Players can activate the Dim Mak Pick feature by landing three Dim Mak scatter symbols. The feature has three levels, each with 17 pick symbols. In level 1, players must choose a coconut, in level 2 an ice block, and in level 3 a brick. Each selected symbol will either reveal a prize, an exit symbol that takes the player back to the main game, or an arrow that takes them to the next level.

Conclusion

The graphics and animations in Bloodsport are impressive, with detailed symbols that include various martial arts weapons and fighters. The sound effects also add to the immersive experience, with realistic fight noises and a traditional oriental soundtrack.

Overall, Bloodsport is an entertaining slot game with a unique theme and exciting bonus features. The Big Time Fight Wheel adds an extra layer of excitement.