Online Poker News and Rakebacks
November 11, 2008
Poker Sites Block Balance of US States
Online poker rooms Poker Host and Eurolinx had already established that residents of certain states from the USA would not be allowed to play on their sites in keeping with local laws on poker’s legality, and now have made the announcement that all of the US is banned from play on their sites. It is believed that this action as taken in response to the actions of the Governor of one of those states, Kentucky, who sought to gain ownership of poker room domain names in an effort to shut them down.
Overlay Poker Tournaments: Gaining buy-in Advantage in a Guaranteed Tournament – CelebPoker.com
Poker players don’t get this opportunity often, but sometimes a poker player can make a financial advantage just by registrating for a Multi Table Poker Tournament
How is this possible? The answer is within the overlays given by guaranteed prizepools offered for some guaranteed poker tournaments
An example: On Sunday the 02/11/2008 the 250.000 Guaranteed Tournament at CelebPoker had a 320 Buy-In. 613 players registered for this tournament. Now the calculation fun begins!
First a player has to divide the offered Prizemoney with the number of players who registered. In this example: 250,000 / 613 players = 407.
This means that a players ticket is worth than 407. As your ticket costs 320, you are automatically gaining the equivilent of an extra 87 to pay for your entry (407-320 = 87). Ok, players don’t get the cash in the bank, but poker players do get it as an advantage for the buy-in as a player have less players to compete for the prizepool with.
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More students betting future at online casinos
Addiction comes in many forms, and while alcohol and drugs get most of the attention, university and college students are not immune to one of the fastest growing and expensive vices– gambling.
According to the Responsible Gambling Council’s Poker Poll and 2005 Prevalence Study, 6.9 per cent of young adults in Ontario have a moderate to severe gambling problem.
Online poker playing by young adults has grown by nearly 300 per cent, and 16 per cent of Ontarians between the ages of 18 and 34 believe that online poker is a good way to earn extra money.
Amanda Stokes, project co-ordinator for Know the Score, the Responsible Gambling Council’s travelling gambling awareness exhibit, said her organization’s goal is to educate students about the risks of gambling.
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Poker News November 15th, 2008
Winner of 623.000 Euro at Grand Final of Master Classics of Poker
Jan Sorensen Wins Grand Final at Master Classics of Poker
Jan Sorensen won the grand final of the main event at the Master Classics of Poker in Holland Casino Amsterdam. He won 623.000 euro. In the exciting final Gustav Ekerot came in second. The Master Classics of Poker is one of the biggest and best-known international poker tournaments in Europe.
This year poker players from a.o. America, Canada, Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, etc. attended the Master Classics of Poker.
About Master Classics of Poker
The main tournament in the Holland Casino Master Classics of Poker is the Lido Poker Tournament. This tournament takes place from Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th November inclusive and has a buy-in of 6,000 Euros plus 200 Euros entry fee. The Master Classics of Poker comprises seven different tournaments where the types of poker played are Texas Hold’em and Omaha. The buy-in plus entry fee for each tournament varies between 330 and 6,200 Euros. The level of the prize pot for these tournaments is, of course, dependent on the number of participants. Each day the tournaments start at 2 pm except for the Lido Tournament that starts at 3 pm. More information on the MCOP and the full tournament schedule is available at www.masterclassicsofpoker.com.
‘Poker Wizards’ Reap More than $4,000,000 in Tournament Earnings in 08
‘Poker Wizards’ book contributors: Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, T.J. Cloutier, Kathy Liebert, Marcel Luske, Dan Harrington and Mike Sexton unable able to defeat the overwhelming odds in 2008 to make the recently televised WSOP final table, but as a group, they have been paid in excess of $4,000,000 for tournament winnings in 2008 even without cracking the Main Event.
In one of the years best new books, ‘Poker Wizards’, the best known names in poker explain how they make large sums of money year after year. An exclusive compilation of strategies, insights and winning tactics from some of the worlds best poker players combined in one book. Well known No-limit Hold’em champions Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Dan Harrington, T.J Cloutier, Marcel Luske, Mel Judah, Mike Sexton and Kathy Liebert, reveal the tactics and attitudes that have enabled them to make millions of dollars playing poker. The book also contains a bonus chapter on body language by world renowned body language expert Marc Salem.
Poke Wizards author available for media interviews.
Author Warwick Dunnett
Cardoza Publishing
Distributed by Simon & Schuster and available at:
www.pokerwizards.net
Century Casinos Announces Polish Open 2008 Poker Tournament
Century Casinos, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary Casinos Poland Ltd. will present the grand Polish Open 2008, a four-day Texas Hold’em No Limit tournament, hosted as part of the fifth EPT European Poker Tour Season at its casino in the Hyatt Hotel in Warsaw from November 15 to November 19, 2008.
The tournament will be capped at 400 players who will play for a total prize pool of up to PLN 8,000,000 or approx. $2,700,000. The buy-in for the tournament amounts to PLN 21,000 or approx. $7,000. According to the official website of the EPT a lot of stars are heading to Warsaw for the next stop on the Pokerstars.com European Poker Tour. Among the top players set to compete at the four-day event are Team PokerStars Pros Gavin Griffin, the EPT Grand Final winner in Season 4, EPT Player of the Year Luca Pagano, PCA Champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, William Thorson, Season 3 Warsaw finalist Katja Thater, EPT London finalist Marcin Horecki, Dario Minieri, Alex Kravchenko and Isabelle Mercier.
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Poker News November 11th, 2008
November 11, 2008
World Series of Poker has youngest champ ever
A 22-year-old Danish poker professional won the World Series of Poker early Tuesday, turning a wheel straight on the last hand to become the youngest champion in the history of the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em main event.
Peter Eastgate hit an ace-to-five straight on the turn and instantly called an all-in bet from Ivan Demidov on the river to win the title and $9,152,416. Demidov held two pair, twos and fours.
The previous youngest champion was 11-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who was 24 when he won the tournament in 1989.
“It feels good to beat Phil’s record,” Eastgate said after taking pictures with stacks of $100 bills and his new gold bracelet. “I was not focused on the record that I could break, I was just focused on the game.”
Eastgate said he got a call from Hellmuth wishing him luck before the more than three-hour session.
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Perth player misses making poker final
The final of the World Series of Poker, with its $9.15-million U.S. first prize, will be televised tonight with Scott Montgomery no more than a spectator.
The 27-year-old professional player from Perth reached what organizers labeled the “November Nine” in Las Vegas, but he bowed out Sunday night and missed last night’s final, which was taped for broadcast tonight (TSN, 10 p.m.).
“I certainly wanted to finish better than fifth,” Montgomery told reporters later.
This year has been referred to as his “breakout year” as a poker player, with more than $1.3 million in tournament earnings heading into the World Series, and he more than doubled that with his $3.1-million prize for placing fifth.
Montgomery started playing poker about four years ago, while teaching English in Japan, using his down time to play and study the game.
His great 2008 run began in February at the World Poker Tour’s Los Angeles Poker Classic $990,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em championship. He made it to the final table, which included eventual winner Phil Ivey, and won $296,000 for finishing fifth.
You gotta know when to Texas hold’em at UMSL
Are you good at card games?
If you are (or even if you are not), the University of Missouri-St. Louis holds annual poker games and this year was the “Texas Hold ‘em Tournament!”
The tournament is usually played with a 52-card deck, and needs at least two players with no more than 11 players.
The Texas Hold ‘em Tournament was held on South Campus in the Provincial Hall from 7 -11 p.m. on Thursday night and officially started at 7:15 p.m.
The event drew in 46 players.
Charlotte Caeys, graduate student, business administration, came here from France and said she learned to play poker here, and has loved it from the first time she played. “I found out [how to play poker] on the Internet,” Caeys said.
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Poker Links continues to celebrate its new look and features by giving money away to its members through two exclusive freerolls and six new Rake Races for October.
“We value each and every one of our members, and what better way to say “thank you for choosing us as your affiliate site” than to give them more chances to win money? RakeBreak members get the most for their money: on top of the best rakeback deals in the industry, our members can also join in the Rake Races to make some extra cash and have a shot at our exclusive freeroll tournaments.”
This month’s exclusive $20,000 freeroll will take place on Sunday October 12 at Full Tilt Poker. All RakeBreak members who have accumulated 500 FTPs are allowed to join the freeroll 100% free of charge – all they have to do is look up the tournament at Full Tilt’s lobby and click on “Register.”
Players who miss this freeroll can still have a shot at free money on November 15, when RakeBreak.com will be hosting a $5,000 freeroll at Cake Poker.
RakeBreak has a busy Rake Race schedule for October, with six sites awarding over $80,000 to the top raking players. Here is an overview of RakeBreak.com’s October rake races:
- Absolute Poker will be giving out $20,000 to the top 50 rakers in October.
- Betfair Poker will award $500 to its top raking player, as well as cash prizes for the remaining top 10.
- Cake Poker is also rewarding 50 players with a share of $15,000 – the highest raker will take home $1800.
- The 10 highest rakers at Fortune Poker will earn a share of €2,000 this month.
- Full Tilt is going all out with $20,000 in cash for the 50 leaders of this month’s Rake Race.
- Finally, UltimateBet is also giving $2,000 to October’s highest raker, and splitting $18,000 among the remaining top 50.
“If you are not part of a rakeback program yet, you should really pay us a visit. Besides our excellent rakeback percentages, this month we are giving over $105,000 in prizes at absolutely no cost to our members – not many other affiliates can say that.”
Poker News November 7th 2008
Daniel Negreanu: Don’t sweat the small stuff at the poker table
I like to peruse the Full Contact Poker online forums to read and comment on posts about interesting poker hands and whether they were played properly. I find that many of the contributors consistently suffer from the same problem: They are far too preoccupied with statistically insignificant aspects of a poker hand.
My point is that the minor details of many poker hands are often unimportant and simply not worthy of in-depth analysis. Worrying about these insignificant details won’t have much effect on your bankroll at the end of the year.
The best way to improve your poker game is to focus on the important aspects of the game, like eliminating big mistakes. Instead, I see too many players fretting about whether they are a 56.2 percent favorite or a 51.8 percent favorite.
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North Versailles Diner Raided For Video Poker
Video poker machines were removed from a North Versailles restaurant Thursday night.
Police officers confiscated the machines from the Great Valley diner in the Great Valley Shopping Center on Lincoln Highway.State and Allegheny County police handled the raid.No arrests were made.
Poker pros to duke it out
These are serious poker professionals duking it out at one of the biggest events of the year.
It’s going to be intense. The final nine players of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table will meet across the poker table Sunday at the Rio.
The nine will battle for a share of $32.6 million in prize money, bragging rights and the much coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
The event takes place at 10 a.m. inside the Penn & Teller Theater.
The final two players go head-to-head the following day.
Go to www.harrahs.com for more information.
Tao turns 3-years-old
Amy Smart bopped into Tao over at The Venetian this weekend with 10 friends. The group settled next to the restaurant’s 20-foot Buddha and dined on TAO Asian Bistro signature dishes Hong Kong XO Shrimp, Imperial Vegetable Egg Rolls and assorted sushi.
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Whenever you decide to try a new poker room, bonus offer or rakeback plan , it is important that you do your homework. As you probably know, a lot of people in the world play texas hold em online. If you want to read a detailed review of a poker site, bonus plan or rakeback deal, you can find the info you need online. Here are some things to keep in mind when you compare bonuses and rakeback offers.
Comparing Bonus Offers
When you shop around for texas holdem bonus, there are plenty of things to consider. While shopping for the highest initial deposit bonus does have its perks, your goal should always be to read the terms and conditions of the offer. The terms will spell out all the restrictions, obligations and strings that your offer has attached.
In all likelihood, your bonus money will not be available right away. You ll have to fulfill certain play-through requirements in order to claim the full amount. You may have to play in a certain amount of raked hands or wager your total bonus amount multiple times over before your bonus cash is unlocked. There might be restrictions on the games you can play, or a limited window of time for you to complete your bonus requirements. As long as you read the terms and conditions of your bonus offer, you ll know exactly what you need to do to earn your full bonus amount. Reading the fine print is a critical part of the shopping process.
Comparing Rakeback Deals
titan rakeback Rakeback deals are available through third-party affiliate sites. These offers are advertised as a percentage. The average rakeback percentage is around 30 percent. Just like with bonuses, a detailed reading of the terms is the best way to compare different offers.
Visit a few different affiliate sites, and ask yourself some basic questions as you read the terms of every offer. How does the poker room calculate your net rakerebate? If the dealt rakeback method is used, you will receive credit for rake in every hand that you are dealt in. If the contributed rakeback method is used, you will have to contribute to the pot in order to receive rake credit.
If you ve accepted a lucrative bonus offer and shopped around for a great rakeback deal, you need to make sure that you know how each offer will affect the other. Will bonuses be subtracted from your monthly gross revenue (MGR)? Most poker rooms will deduct your bonus earnings from your net rake. This can drastically lower the amount of rakeback that you earn. Another thing to keep in mind is that most poker sites will include your tournament fees in your MGR, but others will not. Again, you need to read the terms to find out what you should expect.
If you want to take full advantage of bonuses and rakeback, don t choose one over the other. Find a way to make bonuses and rakeback work together. There are poker rooms out there that will not deduct your bonuses from your MGR. Signing up for a rakeback plan is smart. Signing for a rakeback plan that gives you credit for tourney fees and leaves your bonus money out of your rakeback calculations is the best way to go.
Bradley (Brad) Booth (born September 20th, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian professional poker player known for his appearances on the GSN series High Stakes Poker. He is one of the most successful high limit players of the last decade. He was once referred to as a “poker savant” by Phil Laak and is rated as one of the best poker players in the world by Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson.
In 13th episode of the third season of High Stakes Poker, Booth stated that he has been playing poker every day for 14 years – first in Vancouver, then Calgary and then in Yukon hence his nickname “Yukon Brad” – but is now slowing down.
Booth appeared on the second season of NBC’s Poker After Dark on the episode “International Week” and finished in second place to Patrik Antonius.
As of 2007, his total live tournament winnings exceed $640,000.
Daniel Negreanu (born July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian professional poker player.
Early life
Daniel Negreanu’s parents, Annie and Constantin, moved to Canada from Romania in 1967. When he was several credits short of graduation, Daniel dropped out of high school and began his life as a rounder playing at the local charity casinos and looking for illegal games around the city. While in Toronto, Daniel met and began dating Evelyn Ng, who would also become a well-known professional poker player. After building up his bankroll, he left for Las Vegas at the age of 21 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional poker player. However, “The Strip” got the better of him and he was forced to move back home to Toronto to rebuild his bankroll.
Poker career
In 1997 his luck began to change when he won two events at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, earning himself $133,600 as well as being named the tournament’s best all-around player. Negreanu followed this triumph in the 1998 World Series of Poker by winning $169,460 at the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event and becoming the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history — a record he held until 2004.
Over the next few years, he became one of the most successful poker tournament players in history, winning two (WPT) events, another two World Series bracelets, and appearing at 11 final tables. He was also named the World Poker Tour World Series of Poker player of the year in 2004 and World Poker Tour player of the year in 2005.
Upon opening, the Wynn Las Vegas resort recruited him as their “Poker Ambassador” to play for any stake in their poker room. The arrangement lasted until October 2005 when he opted out because it was restricting his ability to play for high stakes outside the Wynn. In December 2005, he started his own online poker cardroom “skin” site on his official site, Full Contact Poker, which also includes his blog and a variety of poker forums. He played at his cardroom under the screen name “KidPoker”. In 2006, he used Full Contact Poker to launch a competition to select a protege, whom Daniel would attempt to mold into a world-class live tournament poker player. In addition, he would pay the protege’s entry fee into four $10,000 buy-in events. Daniel’s first protege was Brian Fidler. In 2007, Daniel ran a second protege promotion, which was won by Anthony Mak.
On June 11, 2007, Negreanu signed with PokerStars, joining Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and many other professional poker players as a member of Team PokerStars. His Full Contact Poker site has since returned to being a forum and informational site.
Daniel has been a regular at the big game in Bobby’s Room, in the Bellagio casino, Las Vegas, for several years. He is a self-admitted action junkie who always seeks new challenges and sets high goals for himself, not only at the poker table but also on the golf course. Unlike many other players, he is very outspoken about his poker results and regularly posts updates in the forums at the Full Contact Poker website.
Some of Negreanu’s success is attributed to his ability to read opponents. When asked about this skill, Negreanu explained that the most important skill he employs is observing what hands his opponents play and how capable they are of playing them.
He has written over 100 articles for CardPlayer Magazine and contributed to Doyle Brunson’s revised book, Super System II. He has tutored on the web as part of Poker School Online and also personally given lessons to celebrities such as Tobey Maguire. In addition, it was announced in early 2006 that Negreanu had assembled a team of “Superstar Contributors” to write a book called Daniel Negreanu’s Power Hold’em Strategy. Modeled after Brunson’s Super/System, the book delves into every aspect of hold’em, and is due to be released in early 2008.
Negreanu has played poker on various TV shows such as Late Night Poker, Poker After Dark, and High Stakes Poker, as well as serving as a commentator and stand-in host on Ultimate Poker Challenge. He also appeared in the third season of Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. In January 2007, Negreanu appeared in the Fox Reality original series Rob and Amber: Against the Odds in which he mentored reality television personality Rob Mariano in his bid to become a professional poker player.
Negreanu was named “Favorite Poker Player” at Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year Awards Gala in February 2006.
Negreanu is also featured in the 2006 poker video game Stacked with Daniel Negreanu, providing tips and hints as to how to play effectively.
# On August 19, 2005 Negreanu married Lori Lin Weber. On November 24, 2007 he announced their separation in a blog entry.
# Negreanu’s surname is pronounced “Neg-rah-noo”.
# Negreanu has a blog at Full Contact Poker where he posts his thoughts and feelings about poker and various life topics.
# Negreanu is a vegan.
As of January 2007, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,650,000, behind only Jamie Gold and Joseph Hachem. He is the 2nd all-time leading money winner on the WPT circuit, recently passed by Carlos Mortensen in April 2007 at the WPT Championship. With a 2nd place finish at the World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi, Negreanu has now cashed in a record 4 consecutive WPT events (which has since been tied by Kirk Morrison), and ties John Juanda in total WPT cashes with 14. He has the highest tournament earnings of any individual who has not won a WSOP Main Event.
It is important that you do not use Fat Bet Poker’s Refer a Friend program when you sign up as it will prevent you from receiving rakeback.
Part of the Poker Nexus Network, FatBet Poker is a growing poker room that offers a very high 50% rakeback program. Its aggressive programs and marketing such as this that’s driving more and more traffic to this room every day. While the player base is relatively small but growing, the additional rakeback percentage should entice most players to stick around as the traffic picks up.
Cash game availability here is decent for micro-limit to low-limit but anything above that is a virtual ghost town at the moment. Games spread include Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, and a few unusual games like 32 Card Poker, Amerikana, and Telesina. The good news is that the lower limit games usually offer full tables at most hours.
Tournaments at Fat Bet are standard fare with the occasional guarantee but for the most part expect to find standard low entry fee events. You can expect the same for the Sit and Go tables as the lower limit games are the most frequently visited tables.
The software at Fat Bet works with no known bugs or issues and game play is fluid. The colors are monochrome so if you like pastels and neons, this may not be your first choice to play. The lobby is easy to understand with the tabbed game selection easy to navigate. Cashier options and help are also a few clicks away and will guide you through each process with relative ease.
The loyalty program at Fat Bet is essentially the aggressive 50% Rake Deal. At 50%, who needs free t-shirts and hats? If the traffic picks up Fat Bet Poker will become a great site to call home.
Support issues are handled via email, telephone, or the player FAQ that can be accessed from the lobby.
Overall Fat Bet has a novel approach to the game: Offer industry leading rakeback percentages and populate the best games with plenty of players. If they’re able to generate the traffic necessary to support the needs of high volume rakeback players then they have a legitimate shot at being a player in the online poker world.
Speaking of the third street strategy in seven card stud relates in most to betting tells after the third card is dealt.
The high card initiates the “bring in” per third street strategy in seven card stud and if there is going to be a tie; suit ranking is going to be used to break the tie.
The third street strategy in seven card stud is different for beginners, intermediate and advanced players. The third street strategy in seven card stud also varies with reference to table position from the person who initiates the bet. The approach at the first “bring-in” round is a matrix decision based on your “position in betting” your “skill level in the game” and the “nature of the hand” you have.
In case of the forced bet or the “bring-in” and you happen to have a playable hand, the amount of money you are ready to bet should be based on several factors. Unless you have a trip, hidden big pair or split big pair, you should not call raises and re-raises in this round.
If someone is going to call a bring-in followed by raise, such a third street strategy in seven card stud is adopted by those people who may have a strong hand. There are even those who have some better low cards who do the call, but they do not do the raise in the bring-in. Collecting the most of the information per every player’s third street strategy in seven card stud is is very crucial for getting to your true opponent.
In short, any player who is betting very big stakes as a part of his third street strategy in seven card stud is likely to have strong hands and he must be trying his greatest to make the pot costly for others towards the next round. Repeated raises may also mean that they have a hand with a strong chance of improvement in the next round and they may be trying to pay that extra to have the pot grow and have others fold.
The third street strategy in seven card stud of every player will just give a 40% clue to what they hold. However, you can at least make out a 50:50 speculation of their hand. Based on their approach in the next round you can choose the best of your decision to proceed any further about them being your true opponent.
Beginner tight players do not raise and re-raise unless they have very strong hands. Intermediate and advanced players try some raise and re-raise with medium hands too!
Never judge tells based on just the betting style in the third street strategy in seven card stud of each player, but “correlate each bet” based on the open card, your estimate about their playing style, and finalize the scope of the raise and re-raise targeted towards a chase based on how many others fold.
Read more about 7 hand poker strategies, poker ranking of hands and texas hold em poker online game.
Let’s get straight to the point.
If you play online poker and have no idea what “rakeback” is then you’re losing out on a hefty sum each month. In other words, each month you could be increasing your bankroll by hundreds, if not thousands of dollars which for even an amateur player is something that can’t be ignored and it’s all down to the “rake” that poker rooms take from each pot.
So, what’s rake all about then?
Online poker rooms aren’t allowing you to play for free, out of every pot they take what is known as a “rake”. This is a charge of up to $3, it’s where their massive yearly profits come from.
For example: Take a 2-player game of poker, the pot reaches $50 — you’ve both contributed $25. Lets say the poker room takes $2 rake from this pot, it’s now $48. Both players have paid $1 to the “house” for playing this single hand.
If this occurs 1000 times (which can be accomplished in a single day) you’ve paid the poker room a whopping $1000 in rake for the privilege of playing those hands.
OK, so tell me some more about “Carbon Poker Rakeback“.
What if, of that $1000 in the above example you could legitimately get back $333 of it? 33% of the poker room’s table charge paid directly into your player account – dream come true?
Rakeback is where you join an online poker room via a third party, an affiliate, who has negotiated a deal with the poker room to pay you back a percentage of the vast sums of rake you pay.
You can even view how much rakeback you have earned within the software of the poker room, it’s like a monthly bonus with no strings attached!
Get 33% Carbon Poker rakeback and a whopping 150% bonus up to $1500 dollars
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