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Poker News in Brief: March 8-14, 2010
Phil Hellmuth made his fourth WPT final table at the 2010 Bay 101 Shooting Star with a chance to win his first WPT title.
You can read more about the stunning conclusion of Bay 101 in our news section.
It wasn't all Hellmuth during the week, however, and as usual, PokerListings compiled some of the lesser-known poker stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.
This week we'll take a look at UB sponsoring a major Canadian tournament, PokerStars hosting the world's largest poker game and the upcoming Wynn Poker Classic main event.
UB Poker to Sponsor Poker Pro Canada Classic
UB Poker said no to the Caribbean and yes to Canada this week.
The online poker site cancelled its signature tournament in Aruba, but announced it is becoming one of the key sponsors of the Four Aces Poker Pro Canada Classic in Montreal.
Taking place April 15-18, the $1,650 buy-in tournament will now feature UB Poker pros Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke.
UB will be sending over 50 players from its site to the tournament in satellites that start at just $11.
To learn more or qualify for the tournament check out the UB site here.
Wynn Classic Main Event Kicks Off Tomorrow
The Wynn Classic poker series, which began Feb. 25, is scheduled to culminate with the $5,000 main event this Monday at noon PT.
The series has already seen a couple of notable pros take down side events including Justin Young winning the $500 H.O.R.S.E. event and Chris Bjorn taking down the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event.
Scott Clements and Bryan Devonshire also finished runner-up in two events.
Now in its fourth year of existence the Wynn Classic has crowned Chris Moore, Zachary Hyman and Keith Ferrara as champions in previous years.
This year's Main Event will run three days with the final table playing out on Wednesday.
$1 million in Prizes as Gladiator Continues
The Gladiator promotion on PartyPoker is off to a hot start and organizers are estimating players could potentially earn over $1 million by taking part.
"The Gladiator is off to a mightily powerful start and we forecast over $1 million in prizes based on the first week's activity," said a PartyPoker spokesman.
"It still isn't too late to get involved though - there is still plenty of time to win some great cash rewards. If a customer earns 2,000 points a day for the remaining 20 days of the promotion they will pick up a cool $5,000."
The Gladiator runs from March 3 to April 1 on PartyPoker and any player that earns a minimum of 10 PartyPoints each day will gain entry into $10,000 freeroll.
To learn more about the Gladiator promo visit the PartyPoker website.
PokerStars Hosts World's Biggest Poker Game
PokerStars held one of the more unusual events related to poker this week.
The online poker room hosted what site representatives are calling, "The world's largest poker game."
The title doesn't refer to number of players or the prizepool - it refers to the size of the chips and cards being played with.
The event featured English rugby stars James Haskell, Ben Foden and Delon Armitage pushing massive shoulder-high chips around a field.
PokerStars is the official gaming and casino partner of the English Rugby team and the entire event was filmed as a promo for the site.
You can check out the clip here.
International Poker Network Upgrades Software
The International Poker Network, which includes poker room's bwin, BetClic and Paradise Poker, released an improved poker client this week.
The software update allows players to pick their own seats and the ability to use the same wallet for poker and casino.
"Being able to choose your own seat at the table may seem like a small thing to some," said Wendy Lawrence of GTECH G2, the software provider for IPN, "But we design everything from the player's perspective, so when players told us this is a feature they'd like to see, we built it in.
IPN recently celebrated its three millionth member and its two billionth hand. The network also awarded a €601,370 bad beat jackpot last fall.
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Weekly Freerolls: $7k in Two Days
The following freerolls are open to all PokerListings.com players. Qualify in the specified qualification period, then take your seat to win a boatload of free cash.
If you're not a PL.com registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site's name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.
Be sure to have collected 100 points in February for your seat in the next $2,000 Party Poker freeroll.
Date: Mar. 13 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 100 points Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28Open to all new PokerListings.com players who signed up in February, or any existing players who earned 10 points before March 1st.
Date: Mar. 14 Value: $3,000 Qualify with: 10 pointsThe next $2,000 Monthly freeroll is almost here, buy in with just 200 points.
Date: Mar. 14 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 200 pointsWeekly freeroll for new depositing players only.
Date: Mar. 16 Value: $500 Qualify with: Deposit and playMonthly freerolls for all PokerListings players on the site. Just 50 pts to qualify.
Date: Mar. 19 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 25 points Qualify between: Dec. 1- Mar. 19All PokerListings players are welcome to earn their seats in the next quarterly $15k freeroll from Titan Poker. Just 750 points to qualify.
Date: Mar. 28 Value: $15,000 Qualify with: 750 pointsVisit PokerListings.com
Karr Comes Back for Bay 101 Win
Karr, a U.S. Air Force Academy Applied Math and Statistics grad turned poker player who found his way into the event through a $1,200 satellite said it was at least the second biggest moment of his life.
"It's a close call, I think when I finally graduated from the Air Force Academy and the Thunderbirds came rolling over and we threw our hats in the air and said, "You can't take this diploma back now, I made it," that was pretty close and a bigger sigh of relief," he said.
"Here I was still going to be a big winner even if I came second. It was still going to be my biggest cash ever, but obviously this is really cool. I can't even express to you how happy I am. I don't even think I'll realize for another few days."
Although he was once the shortest stack left in the event, Karr, 28, said he never gave up hope.
"I definitely thought it was possible," he said. "But it was definitely a long shot. I've played a lot of tournaments and there have been times where I've gotten down really short and came back, so I knew it was possible.
"I knew it was going to be an uphill battle against this field though. There were a lot of great players."
In fact, when the final six began Friday afternoon, one of the biggest names in the game donned the marquee at Bay 101.
However, the lights on Phil Hellmuth's tournament were turned off fairly quickly.
The 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner lost the first few pots he played and before long, found himself all in with queens against chip leader Andy Seth's A♣ J♣.
The king-high flop kept Hellmuth safe, but he had a sweat when a ten on the turn gave Seth two more outs to a straight.
The crowd sat on the edge of their seats expecting a Hellmuth double up, but were suddenly shocked into silence when an ace fell on the river sending him out.
Hellmuth stared blankly at the board before standing up, walking to the rail and falling to his knees in anguish.
He cupped his head in his hands and kneeled on the floor in the fetal position rocking back and forth for several minutes before finally getting up, letting the WPT TV crew interview him and signing Seth's new, "I busted Phil Hellmuth," t-shirt.
After a few minutes, he walked off the WPT stage, unlucky for the fourth time, with a smile and a wave to the crowd chanting his name.
After Hellmuth's emotional exit in sixth, Seth appeared to be cruising before Karr bluffed him off an 800k pot and the chip lead with a big river bet on an ace-high board forcing a fold.
It was the moment Karr really thought winning was possible.
"It gave me that confidence that I can knock heads with the best of them here," he said. "It was like, 'Let's play some cards.'"
WSOP bracelet winner Matt Keikoan was the next player out, running ace-seven into Andy Seth's pocket nines.
He was soon followed to the rail by Hasan Habib, who committed his chips with a flush draw against Karr's flopped trips and was sent home fourth from his third WPT final table when Karr turned a full house.
A short stacked Dan O'Brien then stepped out of the way third, running jack-deuce into Karr's sevens and Karr took a better than 2:1 lead into heads up with Seth.
Seth soon doubled with jack-nine versus ace-four when he flopped two pair and before long he pulled even.
As the clock struck 2 a.m. PT it began to look as though the sun might rise before a champion would be crowned in San Jose.
However, Seth pushed with fours soon after. Karr called with eights and after a board of blanks, the $878,500 first-place prize was his.
"I got a little bit of luck and picked some good spots and, wow, here I am," he said.
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Hellmuth Headlines Bay 101 Final
One of poker's biggest names will dawn the marquee in San Jose as Phil Hellmuth Jr. will come in second in chips in an attempt to win his first WPT title.
The 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner will be making his third WPT final table and a comeback of sorts, having admitted 2009 was his worst year in poker.
"I've been working really hard on my game," Hellmuth told PokerListings. "It feels really good. I'm really happy and I'm pleased with the way I'm playing."
Daniel Negreanu recently criticized Hellmuth, claiming the Poker Brat wasn't taking the necessary steps to improve his game in an ever changing poker landscape.
However, Hellmuth now says he's been working with players like Brandon Cantu, Ted Forrest and David "The Maven" Chicotsky to adjust.
A plan that appears to have worked out here at Bay 101.
"We've been talking about some of the Internet kids and their techniques and how they're playing," he said. "They seem to be very mathematical. Everything is about the math.
"And I've been learning because I have to figure out how they're playing and devise a strategy to beat them."
Armed with a better understanding of what the players around him are up to, Hellmuth will head into the final table confident and ready to get to work.
"I think I have a great chance if my reads stay strong," he said. "But I've still got a lot of work left."
Now, he says even his biggest critic has changed his tune.
"Daniel's in my corner now," he said. "He likes the fact that I'm trying some new school stuff."
However, it's still going to take all Hellmuth has to get past a final six with a combination of experience, youthful exuberance and poker skill.
Andy Seth, the runner-up in one of the many $1,500 events at the WSOP this past summer with a list of online poker accomplishments a mile long will come in with the chip lead and a reputation as the player whose been giving Hellmuth the most headaches thus far.
Plus, after an 11th place finish here last year and a ninth in Biloxi earlier this season, Dan O'Brien will finally get a crack at a big score here and has the chips to make some real noise.
Despite having played with the poise of a veteran pro, turning his short stack into a big one on the event's penultimate day, McLean Karr has just a few preliminary cashes around the circuit on his resume.
However, a recent run all the way to 62nd in the inaugural PokerStars NAPT Las Vegas and a boatload of online experience have set the U.S. Air Force Academy Applied Math and Statistics grad turned poker player on the edge of something rather large here in the Bay Area.
In the meantime, Hasan Habib will come in to his third WPT final table fifth in chips. He has yet to book a win, but does have five final tables at the WSOP and a bracelet there, proving he knows how to get it done.
Matt Keikoan has also won at the WSOP and took down the WSOP Circuit event in Lake Tahoe last year. After a seventh and a ninth on the WPT over the past few years, he will enter his first final table as the short stack.
Known for the loudest fans on tour, San Jose will be treated to a final filled with big names and dramatic story lines destined to go down as one of the most exciting in World Poker Tour history.
Action will begin at 4 p.m. PT. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Isildur1 Drops $1.8 Million In a Day
The unknown Swede's session started by turning around a heads-up $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha session against CardRunners pro Cole South, going from down over $300k after 133 hands to up $557,896 after 952 hands of play.
Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, who has been playing heads-up Hold'em with Isildur1 almost daily, took $101k from the Swede after just over 300 hands of $200/$400 No-Limit Hold'em, but was unable to hold on to it losing back $622,648 a couple hours later.
Bonomo would leave the tables down $521,566 last night.
Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who has been in the process of making a massive comeback since his brutal losses at the end of 2009, would be next on Isildur1's hit-list, but after 888 hands of $300/$600 PLO Dwan managed to pull off a massive $1,021,995 win, almost entirely negating Isildur1's profit for the day.
Dwan's million dollar profit moves him to first place for profit in 2010 with over $3.3 million earned so far at Full Tilt.
Next up, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond continued the heads-up $200/$400 NLHE session started by Bonomo, making just over $57k after 1,482 hands.
The two then agreed to move the game to $300/$600 PLO where they remained for 2,182 hands, moving up to $500/$1,000 after Isildur1 got stuck for over $254k.
Galfond turned up the heat at $500/$1,000, absolutely crushing Isildur1 for over $1.6 million across the action-filled 2,064 hand session.
In total, the two played 8 pots worth over $300k, the largest of which came in at $415,999.
By the end of the day, Isildur1 had lost $1.9 million exclusively to Galfond, booking a massive $1.8 million dollar loss on the day.
Below are three of yesterday's largest pots. To see more hands from last night, head to MarketPulse.
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EPT Berlin Robbery Revelations
"I think it's completely irresponsible to start playing again," he told PokerListings approximately 90 minutes after the robbery. "This is the most important moment in my poker career. We're playing for €1 million here, and you think, after a raid like this, you just sit back at the table and play?
"After an incident like this, everybody should get some time to sleep over this and to calm down. Tell me, how many people are expected to get back to work the same day they were held at gunpoint? Is there any other job in the world where you would do that?"
Officials from the PokerStars European Poker Tour now claim the robbery involved four armed men targeting the registration desk outside the tournament area at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz. No shots were fired and nobody was seriously injured.
Despite German tabloid reports to the contrary, the EPT says approximately €240,000 was stolen and the men were armed with a handgun and a machete, not Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades.
The suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened and remain at-large as the police investigation continues.
The tournament resumed after a few hours and was eventually won by MacPhee, a 29-year-old poker pro from Idaho.
A few days after the incident, MacPhee said he understood why organizers decided to play on and praised their efforts to piece together the action in the event after the robbery.
"Obviously it worked out for me, but at the time I was upset about continuing," he said. "I still think they should have consulted with the players more. Although most of them wanted to play, I think some were affected by the incident psychologically."
In response to MacPhee's comments, I.A. Tanj Mayer from the Spielbank Casino, where the event was held, said since no one was seriously hurt within the tournament hall, tournament organizers came to the decision to continue with the main event and this decision was met with approval by the players.
Meanwhile, in recent statements to the German press, Head of the German Police Federation Rainer Wendt has claimed the suspects were "petty criminals" acting "chaotically and amateurishly."
He also says they left "mountains of clues" behind and police will catch them "very quickly."
However, Wendt was also slightly critical of members of the private security firm hired by the EPT for showing up unarmed and undermaned.
The EPT claims it maintains strict security standards and collaborates closely with the local tournament organizers to insure the safety of its players.
And Mayer says the outcome in this particlar incident was not as serious as it could have been, thanks to the prompt response of tournament security, which was suitable for a tournament of this size.
"All EPT-events, which have now been taking place in various European countries for six years, adhere to strict safety standards," he said. "These standards are also respected during the EPT itself. In our capacity as the event organizers, we have done everything in our power to ensure the smooth running of the EPT.
"We had professionally trained and experienced security personnel in an adequate quantity who were watching the access to the tournament area."
Mayer said he was satisfied with the work of the security team on the premises.
"Our security team reacted in a calm and measured manner, in complete accordance with their qualified professional training," he said.
A statement from the tour says because of the events at EPT Berlin, it will enhance security measures at all future events.
The next event for the tour is the EPT Snowfest at the Alpine Palace in Austria from March 21-26.
In the meantime, police are asking anyone who has information, video footage or photographs that might aid the investigation to contact them at:
The police president of Berlin
Police Press Office
Platz der Luftbrücke 6
12101 Berlin
Email: pressedienst@polizei.berlin.de
- With files from Dirk Oetzmann
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Hometown Hero Takes Hold at Bay 101
Faraz "The-Toilet" Jaka picked up the game in the dorms at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign while earning a degree in economics and business management.
He soon started playing live here at Bay 101 when he was at home and online while at school, quickly taking to the game, booking massive scores and winning packages to play in high-stakes events all over the world.
However, a year and a half of following the PokerStars European Poker Tour and his first half a dozen shots at WPT glory did not bear even a single cash.
Then suddenly, one year ago right here at home, things turned around in a big way.
He booked his first WPT cash at the 2009 Bay 101 Shooting Star before moving on to make third at the hotly contested 2009 World Series of Poker $5k Six-Max event.
Then, when Jaka finished second at the Bellagio Cup this past summer and third at December's Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, he took the lead in the World Poker Tour's Player of the Year race and hasn't given it up yet.
Add in a final table appearance at the inaugural PokerStars North American Poker Tour's $25k High Roller Bounty Shootout and the San Jose native has cashed for almost $2 million in live tournaments over the past 12 months.
"It's kind of ironic, considering I played so many of these tournaments and then all of the sudden I start doing really well, but it's really just variance," he said. "Obviously I'm constantly improving a little bit, but I don't think there's been anything drastic."
Despite the rough start, having played thousands of tournaments earning over $1 million online before he ever stepped foot on the high-stakes live tournament stage, a 24-year-old Jaka says his confidence never wavered.
"I always thought I was good enough to be at the top of these things and win a few," he said. "It's always been just a matter of time."
Now in the midst of the kind of successful run that would turn even the most seasoned pro green with envy, he's still missing one thing: A major tournament victory.
"I'm definitely ready for a win," he said. "It's frustrating getting second and third so I'm definitely hungry."
Yet he seems to understand opportunities like this won't last forever.
"I'm obviously running amazing this year and it's not going to keep going, I understand that," he said.
In the end, Jaka's just hoping to keep playing his best and let the chips fall where they may, especially here at home.
"This is my hometown," he said. "So this tournament is a little more personal for me. I grew up playing here. It brings back so many memories and I still recognize so many of the dealers here from like four or five years ago.
"It would be really nice to do well here."
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Isildur1 Ships $1.5 Million
With Hastings having won $4.2 million in a single session against Isildur1, and South having the best year of his life so far, the odds seemed slim for Isildur1 to have much of a chance if he returned to the biggest games on Full Tilt.
To the surprise of many, he did come back just a couple months after his crushing defeat, and has begun to steamroll his way back to the top.
For Isildur1, yesterday's session began with a 1,114 hand $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha match against South, ending with Isildur1 up $240,779.
Hoping to expedite his comeback, South chose to step up the heads-up match to $300/$600 PLO, but only managed to lose another $401,733 over 566 hands.
With South's hole growing deeper by the second, Hastings logged on to try and get one back for the CardRunners team. After 811 hands of $300/$600 PLO, Hastings himself booked a $250k loss before moving the game to the nosebleed stakes: $500/$1,000.
After 1,356 hands of furious action, Hastings threw in the towel down another $581,954.
Up next for Isildur1 came another re-match against Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo at $200/$400 No-Limit Hold'em. Across the two-and-a-half-hour 2,386-hand Hold'em match, Isildur1 took another $101k before Bonomo took his leave.
After losing $31k to NEKOTYAN over just six hands of $200/$400 PLO, Isildur1 went on to make another $154k at the $200/$400 Cap-PLO tables.
His day would end on the downswing, starting with a $30k loss to skjervoy at $100/$200 PLO before he sat across from South once more, this time losing back $354,008 over 133 hands of $500/$1,000.
In total, Isildur1 booked a more than $1.5 million profit, add that to the $572,746 he made Monday and everyone's favorite mystery Swede is quickly working his way to the top of the 2010 profit leaderboard.
In fact, he is currently sitting in second place behind Alexander "PostflopAction" Kostritsyn on around $2.8 million.
South, thanks to his $354k win at the end of the night, managed to keep his losses to only $309,215, while Hastings took a hit of over $832k.
Below are three of the largest pots from yesterdays matches, to see more head to MarketPulse.
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UB Cancels Aruba Poker Classic
A statement from Tokwiro CEO Paul Leggett says the online poker rooms also has plans to develop a monthly $500k Guaranteed Tournament with an eye on building it into a million-dollar event, create more pro-related competitions and run its UB Online Championship twice a year.
"It is with great regret that we are announcing that the Aruba event will not run this year, but 2010 is going to be an exciting year for UB and its players," said Leggett. "Over the last year, we've been redefining the UB brand in every way. We love the Aruba Poker Classic event, but we think we can do a lot more for our players by investing in new events and rewards."
UB will continue to offer players access to events like the World Series of Poker and major World Poker Tour events through ongoing online satellites.
Players will also see benefits in the form of major WSOP incentives and additional loyalty benefits for top players.
"I, for one, am excited about what this shift in focus means for UB and what this will add to the experience for our players," said Joe Sebok.
The 2009 Aruba Poker Classic drew 475 players to the Caribbean island creating a $2,303,750 prize pool. Brandon Hall took the title after a heads up chop with then chip leader Robert Mizrachi, giving Mizrachi the lion's share of the cash.
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Titan Poker Upgrades Software
Titan Poker launched the new 9.6 version of its online poker software this week featuring a host of new features and functionalities.
Included are an updated Flash version compatible for Mac users, Razz games and five additional languages, including Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese and Romanian.
The site also unveiled a radically revamped website, sleek new brand logo and the Titan Poker Academy, a comprehensive poker strategy guide providing valuable insights for both beginner and veteran players on odds calculations, money management, positioning, bluffing and more.
With nearly 30,000 online players at peak hours, Titan Poker has grown into the number one online poker room in Europe.
The site guarantees $16,000,000 in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $100,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments.
Click the banner below for more information on the changes at Titan Poker.
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Bounty Hunting at Bay 101
Created by Bay 101 owner Marko Trapani 14 years ago, tournament director Matt Savage says the concept was based on the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which draws some of the best golfers in the world, a host of celebrities and thousands of spectators to the Northern California coast every year.
Trapani's original plan was to try and draw the world's best rounders to a fan and player friendly $1k buy-in event in the Bay Area.
When it first started, the bounties were a bunch of Trapani's friends, but it slowly grew and when the World Poker Tour came along seven years later, Savage says they bumped up the buy-in and had a perfect fit.
"It's great for TV and the fans because it's a really unique tournament," he said. "With the $5k bounties, $10k for the chip leader at the end of the first day and six-handed play with 36 left, it's unlike any other tournament in poker."
Unique tournament structures also make for unique tournament strategies.
"Some people chase the bounties," Savage said. "The local players sometimes are just out here to get the bounties. They think, 'Hey, I won my way in through a $200 satellite, now I have the chance to pick up five thousand,' so they might make a loose call.
"That's why one or two of the shooting stars make the final table every year, because people are going after them and if they pick up chips, they're tough to get."
Team UB Pro Brandon Cantu loves the format and actually won the event in 2009, collecting a record six bounties on his way to the title.
"This is one of my favorite tournaments," he said. "And I actually do hunt the bounties. It's nice to try and get the buy-in back, so I'm really a fan of going after the bounties."
Cantu went wire-to-wire in 2008, taking the chip lead on his Day 1 and the $10k prize it came with.
He says that's the kind of thing that really makes the event fun to play and keeps the fans on the rail entertained throughout.
"I was actually going for it," he said. "When I was 8,000 behind late in the day, I really went for it. I wanted it."
What Cantu didn't enjoy was being a bounty for the first time last year.
"People played really differently against me," he said. "It seemed like they were up to no good all the time and it just changed my whole mindset.
"I didn't know where I was in a hand as much as I usually do. I didn't like it."
Phil Laak has a bounty on his head and says it changes just about everything.
"I love it, but it really sucks as a bounty when your chip stack starts diminishing," he said. "You are forced to get real hands, because people are going to call you down, often correctly.
"But it is nice when you have some chips, because people are going to take some incorrect lines to try and chase you."
Like it or not, with a rail full of fans watching the biggest names in the game here in San Jose this week, Trapani's plan has worked.
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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durrrr Challenge: Antonius in Trouble
Other than four hands on Saturday (where Dwan lost $1,000) the durrrr Challenge picked up where it left off on February 15th with an hour-long 364 hand session Monday.
The session started with Antonius in the midst of an epic down-swing which has cost him over $3.2 million so far this year.
Three pots worth over $100k played out, the largest of which saw Dwan win $213k after hitting one of his many outs on the turn to beat Antonius' kings.
The pot, which felted Antonius at one of their four challenge tables, appeared to be the last straw for the Finnish pro, who ended the session down $306,558.
With Dwan's lead now over $1.7 million, Antonius has just 16,758 hands to get out of the hole, or he will lose the challenge, along with an extra $500k.
If we assume that all remaining Challenge sessions will be exactly 364 hands - the length of this most recent session - Antonius would have to profit an average of $38,135 over 48 sessions to get back to even.
For Antonius to pull this off, he would have to average $104.77 profit per hand for the remainder of the challenge.
durrrr Challenge by the numbers:
273,423,095: Total amount wagered 118,000,000: Number of Google search results for the term Poker 1,755,708: Amount durrrr is ahead 33,242: Hands played overall 342,157: Amount made by Dwan in the last session 258,000: Number of Google search results for the term "durrrr Challenge" 7,501: Amount of rake made by Full Tilt from the Challenge 105: Hours played in the challenge 66: Percentage of challenge completed 8: Number of Google search results for the phrase "cork it durrrrballs"Below are the two largest hands from the Challenge session. To see more hand replays head to MarketPulse.
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Isildur1 Steps on Sahamies
Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies would be the first player to take on the unknown Swedish pro.
After 451 hands of $300/$600 Pot-Limit Omaha, with Sahamies losing over $487k, the two moved their game to $500/$1,000 PLO, where they remained for 40 minutes.
By the end of the 259-hand nosebleed session, Sahamies logged off, down another $290,965.
With Sahamies gone, Isildur1 went on the hunt for his next opponent, finding him in Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo. The two played $200/$400 NLHE for 791 hands with Bonomo finishing up $187k.
Looking to bounce back after that NLHE loss, Isildur1 took on the CardRunners team, playing both Cole South and Brian Hastings heads-up at the same time.
Despite starting the year off with a white-hot streak of wins, South lost $334k over his 825 hands, while Hastings made $330k over a shorter 224-hand match, all at $300/$600 PLO.
Hastings, who holds the online record for most money made in a single session after crushing Isildur1 for $4.2 million on Full Tilt late in 2009, tried to repeat his feat, convincing Isildur1 to move their game back up to $500/$1,000, where they played for another 468 hands.
Although Hastings was unable to make anything close to $4.2 million, he came away from the nosebleed session with another $219k, up over half a million total on the day.
After some small sessions at smaller stakes games, Isildur1 sat for his final heads-up sessions, giving South a chance to get even on the day.
After 565 hands of $100/$200 PLO, and South getting himself suck another $222k, the two doubled the stakes, finishing their session with 344 hands at $200/$400.
Although he wasn't able to get completely out of the hole, South managed to make back $77,958 before the end of the match.
In total, Isildur1 added $572,746 to his roll, putting him up well over $1 million in 2010 so far.
Below you can find Isildur1's three largest hands of the day. To see more hands from Isildur1, including the $1.3 million dollar largest-ever online pot, head to MarketPulse.
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Women’s World Open Dates Confirmed
The PartyPoker.com Women's World Open IV will take place in London, England March 23 and 24 featuring 24 of the best female poker players on the planet.
Amongst those already confirmed to take part are Team PartyPoker's Kara Scott, Betfair pro Annette Obrestad, Women's World Open III winner Aisling Collins and runner-up Wooka Kim.
Also scheduled to play are Laurence Grondin, Shelley Rubenstein, Stefanie Bergener, Maria Demetriou, Christine Klecz, Pippa Flanders and season two winner Soraya Homam.
The $3,000 buy-in will create a $72,000 prize pool for the tournament. The event's format dictates that the top two players from each of the three deep-stacked eight handed heats carry their chips through to a six-handed final table.
"Last year Aisling proved that Britain's got talent, but the same can be said about Japan in the form of Wooka Kim," said a PartyPoker spokesperson. "Both will be strong contenders for the title this year. We've made the stacks deeper and the competition is just as fierce."
Matchroom Sport director Eddie Hearn said he's looking forward to the action.
"The PartyPoker.com Women's World Open has proved extremely popular with players, viewers and broadcasters over the last three seasons," he said. "As the game continues to grow, we have made a number of changes to our formats that enables the viewers to watch a deeper-stacked game with more skill, where players can really showcase their ability and flair."
Commentary for the TV broadcast will be provided by Jesse May, with presenting duties shared between Kara Scott and Tatjana Pasilic. Coverage of the event will first be broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally.
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Women Rule the Day at Bay 101
After all, Bay 101 has seen deeper runs by women than any other venue on the World Poker Tour.
At the 2007 edition of the popular bounty event, Joanne Liu made runner-up to Ted Forrest in an attempt to become the WPT's first female champion.
Then last year, veteran pro Kathy Liebert matched the feat, finishing second to 2009 champion Steve Brecher.
Liebert's runner-up finish helped push her up and over $5.6 million in career tournament earnings, making her far and away the number one earning female poker player of all time.
Being the number one female player in the game is not exactly the reason Liebert plays the game, but it's certainly an honor she cherishes.
"Being a top poker player is more important to me than being a top female poker player," she said. "But being the top woman in poker is something I'm proud of. There are a lot of women trying to catch up to me."
One of the women chasing Liebert is two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and respected high-stakes cash game pro Jennifer Harman.
Though Harman, who currently sits fifth on the all-time female money list and made the final table at Bay 101 in 2008 finishing third, really sees herself as just one of the boys.
"I look at myself as a poker player," she explained. "I don't believe in the whole gender thing because this is a co-ed sport.
"You shouldn't get kudos for being a woman or a man, you should get kudos for being a great poker player and that's all."
International Women's Day is about celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past.
But even as women like Liu, Liebert and Harman continue to achieve in poker, it appears many men on the felt refuse to treat them as equals.
"I think some men treat women with no respect at the table and some men treat women with too much respect," said Harman. "For me, since I'm like old furniture in this business, they just treat me the same as anybody else. They don't play any differently against me because I'm a woman, but I know with some women they do."
Regardless, Harman, who booked her first major cash in a poker tournament 16 years ago, says the game is changing all the time and more women are flocking to it every day.
"When I first started, I would walk into a poker room and there would be me," she said. "Now you walk into a poker room and there are one or two women at every table.
"I think it's grown and it will continue to grow. A lot of women are still intimidated, but I know they enjoy the game and they want to do it, they just need to take that next step, because poker can be a lot of fun."
Liebert says she feels a lot of love and support from female fans of the game, many of whom she sees following her lead.
"I always have women coming up to me and telling me they are rooting for me," she said. "And they feel like if I'm a woman and I can do it they can do it to."
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Women Rule the Day at Bay 101
After all, Bay 101 has seen deeper runs by women than any other venue on the World Poker Tour.
At the 2007 edition of the popular bounty event, Joanne Liu made runner-up to Ted Forrest in an attempt to become the WPT's first female champion.
Then last year, veteran pro Kathy Liebert matched the feat, finishing second to 2009 champion Steve Brecher.
Liebert's runner-up finish helped push her up and over $5.6 million in career tournament earnings, making her far and away the number one earning female poker player of all time.
Being the number one female player in the game is not exactly the reason Liebert plays, but it's certainly an honor she cherishes.
"Being a top poker player is more important to me than being a top female poker player," she said. "But being the top woman in poker is something I'm proud of. There are a lot of women trying to catch up to me."
One of the women chasing Liebert is two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and respected high-stakes cash game pro Jennifer Harman.
Though Harman, who currently sits fifth on the all-time female money list and made the final table at Bay 101 in 2008 finishing third, really sees herself as just one of the boys.
"I look at myself as a poker player," she explained. "I don't believe in the whole gender thing because this is a co-ed sport.
"You shouldn't get kudos for being a woman or a man, you should get kudos for being a great poker player and that's all."
International Women's Day is about celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past.
But even as women like Liu, Liebert and Harman continue to achieve in poker, it appears many men on the felt refuse to treat them as equals.
"I think some men treat women with no respect at the table and some men treat women with too much respect," said Harman. "For me, since I'm like old furniture in this business, they just treat me the same as anybody else. They don't play any differently against me because I'm a woman, but I know with some women they do."
Regardless, Harman, who booked her first major cash in a poker tournament 16 years ago, says the game is changing all the time and more women are flocking to it every day.
"When I first started, I would walk into a poker room and there would be me," she said. "Now you walk into a poker room and there are one or two women at every table.
"I think it's grown and it will continue to grow. A lot of women are still intimidated, but I know they enjoy the game and they want to do it, they just need to take that next step, because poker can be a lot of fun."
Liebert says she feels a lot of love and support from female fans of the game, many of whom she sees following her lead.
"I always have women coming up to me and telling me they are rooting for me," she said. "And they feel like if I'm a woman and I can do it they can do it to."
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Isildur1 and Dwan Crush the Weekend
The first big session for Dwan came Saturday evening when he sat for 413 hands of heads-up $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha against Isildur1.
Dwan left the session up $81k, logging off for the night.
Eight hours later, before dawn on Sunday, Dwan sat for 360 hands of $300/$600 PLO against Patrik Antonius and PixKim.
By the end of that four-and-a-half-hour session, Dwan had massed over $624k in profit, the majority coming from the quickly floundering Antonius.
After the $81k loss to Dwan, Isildur1 went on a series of swings.
First he made back $79k of his losses, then dumped another $177,990 at $200/$400 Cap PLO.
He was soon back on the up-swing, however, making $64k from Cole South heads-up before meeting up with Dwan again, this time at a six-max $300/$600 PLO game.
The six-max game saw hours of furious action between Isildur1, Dwan, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Hac "trex313" Dang, Patrik Antonius and others.
And despite playing against some of the most prolific players in the world, Isidlur1 left after 1,689 hands with a profit of $517,223.
Dwan took a $229k loss at the same game, Sahamies nearly broke even losing just $10k, Dang made away with $119k and Patrik Antonius took a massive hit, losing over $874,000.
After breaking the six-max game, Isildur1 moved on to play a couple of cap games, losing $18k at $200/$400 Cap PLO and making around $90k from LarsLuzak at $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold'em.
The unknown Swede went on to make another $83k from Triko at $200/$400 PLO, and after just ten hands of heads-up $200/$400 PLO against Sahamies, called it quits.
By the end of the weekend Isildur1 had made $526,083, bringing his total profit for the year up to around $915,000.
Meanwhile, Dwan put in two more heads-up sessions and a couple small Cap PLO sessions before logging off.
His first heads-up match resulted in a $76k to LarsLuzak after 222 hands of $500/$1,000 Cap NLHE.
But Dwan turned it around in his final heads-up match of the weekend, taking another $306k from Antonius, this time over 344 hands of $300/$600 PLO.
All toll, Dwan finished the weekend with a massive profit of $856,489, bringing him up to around $1.7 million profit for the year so far.
Antonius came out of the weekend as the biggest loser by far, finishing stuck over $960k bringing his losses in 2010 up to $2.8 million in so far.
Below are three of the largest hands from the weekend, to see more head to MarketPulse.
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Duke Dominates in NBC Heads-Up Win
"I'm so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion," said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.
"I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event."
The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the UB sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.
Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.
"I would have loved all of my matches to be easy," said Duke. "I'm sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it's going to give the show some serious drama.
"One thing's for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka."
In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.
"Annie was my number one pick to win," said Seidel. "She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you're supposed to play in this sort of structure."
A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.
Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.
"I know what my main priority is and that's my family, so I'm never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it's really nice to come back with a bang," she said. "I took the time off, I readjusted and now I've had some good results."
Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.
Duke said it's great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.
"I think it's great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first this year to really represent woman players," she said. "There are some great female poker players out there."
NBC's coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday's at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.
- With files from Matthew Showell
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The Sunday Scoop: West Books Second Chance Win
West, who has close to $900k in live tournament earnings over the past four years, banked $51,853.44 for the win.
But he wasn't the only well know pro to post some big numbers Sunday.
Jordan "Octavian_C" Rich won the $215 H.O.R.S.E. on PokerStars beating a field of 143 players while Tyler "puffinmypurp" Reiman, runner-up at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, final tabled the $109 Rebuy taking sixth.
Once again, the PokerStars Sunday Million was the biggest draw on an action-heavy Sunday with 10,123 players helping create a $2,024,600 prize pool, smashing the $1.5 million guarantee.
MAE9690 got the lion's share of a four-way chop at the top and went on to secure the victory and the extra $30k the players had reserved for the winner.
In all, MAE9690 added $260k to his online bankroll, earning just shy of the $283,449.40 he would have won had no deal been made.
In the meantime, Full Tilt Poker's $750k Guaranteed drew a considerably less 4,180 players with shiftzerg taking down the $147,629.24 first-place prize.
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MacPhee Wins Robbery-Delayed EPT Berlin
The 29-year-old from Idaho beat Finnish player Ilari Tahkokallio heads-up to take down the largest poker tournament in German history and its massive €1 million first prize.
A star in the online game that broke the PokerStars record for most Tournament Leader Board points in April 2008, accruing more than $100,000 in profits that month, MacPhee has previously played in 15 European Poker Tour events, satelliting in through PokerStars for 14 of them.
He was one of 243 players who won their seats online to EPT Berlin, but until now a big score had eluded him.
"Winning an EPT was a real goal of mine," he said." I have worked very hard for this. It feels awesome."
A total of 945 players from 48 countries entered the €5,300 Main Event creating a total prize pool of €4,725,000.
EPT Berlin was interrupted on the event's penultimate day when armed robbers stormed the registration desk outside the tournament area at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
No one was seriously injured and the suspects fled after a security guard intervened. The tournament resumed after a few hours and a police investigation is continuing.
Next up for the EPT is EPT Snowfest set for March 21-26 in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
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Poker News in Brief: March 1-7, 2010
Between the LAPC and WPT Invitational winners, Isildur1 getting busy online and the start of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship there was nary a dull moment for poker fans.
As usual, we’re going to list some of the poker stories you might have missed as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.
This week we’re going to take a look at online gambling in Iowa, a WSOP all-star game, Roland de Wolfe winning a London tournament and more.
Legal Online Gambling in Iowa?
Iowa is the latest U.S. state apparently looking at legalizing online gambling.
Rep. Doug Struyk of Council Bluffs told the Quad City Times that 50,000 people in Iowa already participate in online gambling and the government could provide better protection for them if the industry was legalized and regulated.
Struyk’s proposal would regulate the practice through the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
If the proposal goes through Iowa would become the first state in the country to allow online gambling.
Tiger Woods Turns Down Paddy Poker Deal
Many of Tiger Woods major sponsors have dropped him since his sex scandal broke but at least one online poker room seems to have no problem with the golfer.
Ireland-based Paddy Power Poker reportedly offered the disgraced sports star a five-year deal worth $75 million to represent the site.
Although Woods has already turned the offer down, Paddy Power Poker has claimed it is planning on coming back with an even better offer in the future.
It’s not the first time a poker organization has offered a deal to a fallen sports star. Last summer the Asian Poker Tour invited Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to its Macau event.
A picture of Phelps holding a bong surfaced on the internet in early 2009, which led to several sponsors dropping the multiple gold-medalist.
Check Paddy Power Poker for more.
Roland de Wolfe Wins London Open
Full Tilt pro Roland de Wolfe outlasted 110 players to win the 2010 Mansion Poker Les A London Open last week.
De Wolfe overcame a final table of mostly unknown players to win the £77,000 first place prize. The Hendon Mob’s Ross Boatman came in eighth place for £6,600.
The inaugural £2,000+£200 buy-in Mansion Poker Les A London Open ran February 23-24.
WSOP to Introduce All-Star Tournament?
It appears Harrah’s is interested in hosting some form of an all-star tournament at the 2010 WSOP.
Harrah’s released a cryptic message via the WSOP Twitter account this week that read:
“Which 20 WSOP Bracelet-Holders would you like to see compete in an All-Star game? Stay tuned…”
Last summer the WSOP held the 40th Anniversary Champions Invitational, which was open to every player that had won the Main Event. The tournament was won by 1983 World Champion Tom McEvoy.
In previous years, Harrah’s held a Tournament of Champions that featured a large number of notable pros. Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and Mike Sexton were all winners of that event.
More Gold for Cake Poker Players in March
Cake Poker is giving its players two exclusive promotions during the month of March.
The first is the Cake Poker Turbo Gold Cards March Madness event that features Gold Cards dropping four times more often.
Gold Cards randomly appear in your account when you are playing ring games on Cake Poker. The cards are redeemable for cash or tournament entries depending on what card you receive.
Cake Poker will also be offering more satellites to the 2010 Irish Open, starting March 14.
"Dublin is a wonderful town and when you bring a major tournament there with the accompanying insane side action, it's hard to beat,” said Cake Poker room manager Lee Jones.
To learn more visit the Cake Poker website.
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Tags: 2009, 2010, aced, Annie Duke, cake poker, legal, legalizing, Mansion Poker, Online Poker, poker player, tournament, WSOP
A $911k Morning for Dwan
After losing $245k at $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha, Dwan sat for his first Full Tilt high-stakes session of the day across from LarsLuzak, Gus Hansen, skjervoy, Sir Watts and eventually Brian Hastings.
This $200/$400 PLO session lasted for 619 hands with Dwan finishing up over $317k.
At the same time, he took on skjervoy and TheGorn at $100/$200 PLO, where he earned another $44,687.
Dwan's next stop was an hour of $200/$400 Cap PLO, adding $62k to his profit before returning to PLO 6-max to play $300/$600 against many of the same players from the earlier $200/$400 table.
Once again, Dwan came out on top, this time up $280,847.
High-stakes player andrewkirk was brave enough to sit at Dwan's reserved heads-up $500/$1,000 PLO table, but only managed to last just 33 hands before losing his entire $50k buy-in.
On a roll, and seemingly unable to lose, Dwan moved his streak of run-good to $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold'em. After 364 hands, he had added another $35,750 to his morning.
Dwan's second last session of the morning came playing just 63 hands of $300/$600 PLO versus PixKim and Gus Hansen. Up another $137k, Dwan was rapidly approaching $1 million in total profit for the day.
In his final attempt to reach that magic mark, Dwan sat for a 245-hand re-match at $200/$400 PLO with unknown Swede Isildur1. Unfortunately for Dwan, Isildur1 would get the better of him again, ending his win streak with a $16k loss.
In total, Dwan finished the morning up $911,434, bringing his profit for the year up to $1.8 million so far.
Below are three of Dwan's largest pots from this morning, to see more hands head to MarketPulse.
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Armed Robbery at EPT Berlin
Panic struck at the first-time ever EPT Berlin event when four masked men raided the hotel with two others standing guard outside just after 2 p.m. local time.
Berlin tabloid B.Z. has reported as much as €800,000 was stolen before the culprits took off across the Marlene Dietrich Platz in front of the hotel and blended into the crowd at the nearby Potsdamer Platz Arcades.
Although no one was seriously hurt, the newspaper claims as many as eight security personnel suffered minor injuries.
PokerStars released the following statement.
"An armed robbery by 5-6 men took place today at EPT Berlin," the statement reads. "Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to restart all events at 4 p.m. local time. A police investigation is underway. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible."
A stampede of players and floor staff running for safety was seen on the EPT Live broadcast before play was suspended.
There were approximately 22 players left in the event when the incident occurred.
Tournament staff was in the process of verifying chip counts in an attempt to restart the event just before 6 p.m. in Berlin.
See the startling footage captured by a bystander below:
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Weekly Freerolls: $6k for Sunday
The following freerolls are open to all PokerListings.com players. Qualify in the specified qualification period, then take your seat to win a boatload of free cash.
If you're not a PL.com registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site's name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.
Offered monthly, PokerListings players on Titan Poker can get their seat in a monthly $5,000 freeroll for just 25 points.
Date: Mar. 7 Value: $5,000 Qualify with: 25 pointsEarn 100 points as a PokerListings player in the previous month to play in the monthly Pacific Poker $1,000 freeroll.
Date: Mar. 7 Value: $1,000 Qualify with: 100 points Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28Weekly freeroll for new depositing players only.
Date: Mar. 9 Value: $500 Qualify with: Deposit and playBe sure to have collected 100 points in February for your seat in the next $2,000 Party Poker freeroll.
Date: Mar. 13 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 100 points Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28Open to all new PokerListings.com players who signed up in February, or any existing players who earned 10 points before March 1st.
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Date: Mar. 14 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 200 pointsMonthly freerolls for all PokerListings players on the site. Just 50 pts to qualify.
Date: Mar. 19 Value: $2,000 Qualify with: 25 points Qualify between: Dec. 1- Mar. 19All PokerListings players are welcome to earn their seats in the next quarterly $15k freeroll from Titan Poker. Just 750 points to qualify.
Date: Mar. 28 Value: $15,000 Qualify with: 750 pointsVisit PokerListings.com
Isildur1 Loses $190k in Marathon Session
After getting beat down by Brian Hastings and the Full Tilt crew, he seems to have a new approach to poker in 2010.
Isildur1, who is rumored to be Swede Victor Blom, has been grinding his way back into the big games by playing marathon heads-up battles across multiple tables.
Yesterday Isildur1 played 9,963 hands, which is 6,084 more than Phil Ivey has played over the entire year.
Isildur1's day started with a 2,690 hand heads-up session of $100/$200 No-Limit Hold'em against URnotINdanger2. By the end of this 2.5 hour battle Isildur1 was stuck for $95k.
Up next came 596 hands of $200/$400 Cap Pot-Limit Omaha versus David Benefield and Daniel "FakeSky" Alaei, where Isildur1 made $165k, before moving to a heads-up table to continue the game with just Benefield.
Benefield and Isildur1 played 971 hands of Cap PLO with Isildur1 up $167,861. The two rivals then moved their game to a regular $200/$400 PLO table where they stayed for another 3,106 hands.
By the end of the massive session Benefield had ground back $94,240.
Despite having played over 7,000 hands so far, Isildur1 wasn't anywhere near finished. Unknown online player skjervoy beat Isildur1 for $77k over 982 hands of $100/$200 PLO.
In a final surge of activity Isildur1 won $19,000 over 644 hands of Cap PLO and lost $275k against Alexander "PostflopAction" Kostritsyn in 973 hands of $200/$400 PLO.
At this point Isildur1 finally called it, ending the day down $190,369.
Below you'll find three of Isildur1's biggest hands of the day, or head to MarketPulse for more.
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NBC Releases 2010 Heads-Up Bracket
The two PokerStars pros have both been hot over the last 12 months with millions of dollars in combined tournament earnings.
Some of the other marquee first round matches include Phil Hellmuth vs. Howard Lederer, Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Brock Parker vs. Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey vs. Gavin Smith.
In total there will be 32 heads-up matches played in the first round.
NBC once again separated the players into four brackets – Hearts, Clubs, Spades and Diamonds – with the winner of each bracket booking a seat in the semifinals.
The tournament begins today at 1 p.m. PT. Be sure to check out our live updates of the event.
Here is the complete line-up for the first round of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Championship:
Clubs:
Patrik Antonius vs. Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs. Eric Baldwin
David Williams vs. Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs. Huck Seed
Dan Ramirez vs. Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs. Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs. Jamie Gold
Spades:
Gavin Smith vs. Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs. Scotty Nguyen
Shawn Rice vs. Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs. Johnny Chan
Daniel Negreanu vs. Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs. Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs. Tom Dwan
Phil Laak vs. John Juanda
Hearts:
Jesper Hougaard vs. Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs. Greg Mueller
Annette Dworski vs. Craig Ferguson
Kara Scott vs. Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs. Brock Parker
JP Kelly vs. Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs. Phil Hellmuth
Annette Obrestad vs. Orel Hershiser
Diamonds:
Barry Greenstein vs. Vanessa Rousso
Sam Farha vs. Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs. Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs. Mike Matusow
Darvin Moon vs. Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs. Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs. Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs. Greg Raymer
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LAPC Crowns Koroknai Champ
"It feels excellent," Koroknai said through an interpreter. "I'm going to spend the money. All of it."
Koroknai started with the lead and although he gave it up midway through the final six, by the time heads up rolled around, he was clearly in charge.
Short stack Michael Kamran was happy to be through to his first WPT Final table after making seventh at WPT Bay 101 last year.
However, the L.A. local's time did not last long as he ran T♦ 7♦ into Koroknai's ace-jack in the early going.
Despite flopping an open-ended straight draw and turning a pair, Kamran was done in by an ace on the river railing him sixth.
J.C. Moussa took fifth when he shoved ace-nine into Tri Huynh's ace-queen and failed to improve and fourth belonged to George Kasabyan, who called Huynh's shove with a pair of aces only to find Huynh with aces-up.
Three-handed play was a relatively tight affair until Raymond Dolan and Koroknai got in a major battle.
Both paired their ace on an A♣ Q♦ 2♦ flop and after the money went in, Koroknai's jack kicker played over Dolan's six to give the Hungarian a commanding chip lead.
That lead got even bigger when Koroknai busted Huynh in a classic race with ace-king beating jacks after a king on the flop.
Heads up started with Koroknai holding 13.4 million chips to Dolan's 1.4 million and it was over fast.
On the first hand, Koroknai shoved with Q♥ 8♥ and Dolan called with Q♣ 4♥.
A four in the window made it look like Dolan would double, but Korknai picked up an open ender to go with a flush draw on the turn and when the K♥ fell on the river giving him the flush, the L.A. Poker Classic title and almost $1.8 million was his.
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Online Satellite Winner Takes WPT Invitational Title
LeRon "Dream187" Washington, a 34-year-old West Virginia boxer and part-time poker player walked away with $75,000 in cash and a seat in the $25,000 WPT World Championship coming up this April.
"It's a dream come true," he said. "I've been waiting for this day a long time."
Washington beat 1,683 players in a tournament on ClubWPT Jan. 3 to secure the last seat available in the invite-only Celebrity Invitational at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles
On February 20, he joined Hollywood A-listers including Teri Hatcher, Jenny McCarthy, Hank Azaria, Jerry Ferrara, and poker pros like Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow and Phil Laak on the first day of the Invitational.
After two days of tournament play, Washington was one of six finalists who outlasted a record-setting field of 567 players to secure his place at the televised final table. He returned to Commerce March 3 to book the win.
"I've been trying to get out there to show what I can do, but you have to earn it," he said. "ClubWPT gave me the opportunity to make it happen, and here I am. The $20 a month subscription is definitely the best investment I've ever made."
Washington was joined at the final table by Commerce Casino qualifier Steve Elliott, poker pro Thor Hansen, fellow amateur player Neev Baram, Reality TV star Trishelle Cannatella and Bellagio satellite winner Sean Urban.
"One of the great highlights of the WPT Invitational for Commerce Casino is the opportunity to reward people who love poker, but may not be full time established professionals, whether they are Hollywood stars or people who earned their way through Commerce satellites or partners like ClubWPT.com," said John Griffo, Commerce Casino Director of Poker Operations.
"We applaud LeRon for the 'fight' he showed in getting through the field of more than 500 and becoming our new WPT Invitational champion."
This year's event was also an opportunity to raise money for charity and the Invitational pulled in $109,700 for Chrysalis, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities.
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LAPT Chile Cancelled
The earthquake struck 175 miles south of Viña del Mar, killing almost 300 people.
PokerStars officials say the cancellation was forced by the effects of the earthquake and in light of current rescue and recovery efforts.
The event was scheduled to be held at the Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino and Resort from March 19-23.
Everyone at PokerStars.net and the LAPT offers their thoughts and condolences to all of those affected by the disaster.
All players who have qualified or bought-in to the event will be fully refunded their buy-ins and any out-of-pocket expenses.
Players should contact lapt@pokerstars.net with any questions.
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Isildur1 Takes on David Benefield
Including the session with Benefield, Isildur1 booked 4,700 hands yesterday on limits ranging from $25/$50 to $100/$200.
Although almost all of his hands came from Pot-Limit Omaha, 99 of them went down at a couple of tables of $50/$100 Cap No-Limit Hold'em.
Isildur1's match with Benefield began at $50/$100 PLO where he earned $21,795 over 1,323 hands, the largest pot of the match coming in at just $31k.
After almost two hours, Isildur1 and Benefield agreed to double the stakes, moving their action up to $100/$200 PLO. It was here where Benefield finally got the upper hand, making over $50k in the two and a half hour, 1,767-hand, session.
The largest pot of day on Full Tilt came during this second session after Benefield spiked a flush on the river to beat Isildur1's turned nut straight. The two players had their money all-in on the turn with Benefield pulling in the $101,392 pot.
By the end of the day, Isildur1 finished with a total profit of $76,577, bringing him up to almost $200k profit on the year so far.
Benefield, who only played 11 hands of $200/$400 Cap PLO before starting his first session with Isildur1, finished the day up just over $32k.
Below are the three largest pots from the match, head to MarketPulse for more.
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Tags: no-limit