Poker News

WPT Championship Day Five: Marvin Rettenmaier, Michael Mizrachi Head Unofficial Final Table

The final days of the World Poker Tour’s Season Ten schedule are upon us as the WPT Championship heads into its penultimate final two days with Germany’s Marvin Rettenmaier and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi leading the unofficial nine handed final table.

In a situation that was hotly debated among the players, the Bellagio staff and the WPT halted play on Wednesday with 19 players remaining, one short of bursting the money bubble. Josh Arieh, who started Wednesday as the short stack, would be the one who came up on the short end of the stick as the odd man out, which led to a withering attack on Twitter by Arieh. “I will never player another poker tour at Bellagio ever again,” he Tweeted. “I hope in the future people will join me and boycott Bellagio’s ridiculous ways. Day 1 & 2 done at 7pm, day 3 9pm and today on the bubble.”

Arieh wasn’t the only one to blast the Bellagio over its handling of the WPT Championship. Former Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman stated over Twitter, “We all love the Bellagio as a setting, it’s their decisions (Like 8 days for a tournament) that are frustrating.” Randy Dorfman, who participated in the WPT Championship, Tweeted his opinion, “Bellagio poker tournaments (are) the worst run tournaments in Vegas. In pit with tables crunched together and dealing with smoking and slots. Just a total joke!”

Following Arieh’s departure from the tournament (Arieh’s A-J couldn’t catch Rettenmaier’s pocket Kings), the final 18 men set about the task of working their way as far down as they could before the close of play for the day. Utilizing his knockout of Arieh, Rettenmaier was able to work his way into the second place slot behind Hafiz Khan. Also in the mix were several contenders for the WPT Player of the Year crown – Joe Serock, Matt Juttelstad, Rinat Bogdanov and Moon Kim – as well as Steve O’Dwyer, Nick Schulman, Barry Shulman, Farzad Bonyadi and Mizrachi.

Guillaume Darcourt was the first player to walk out of the Bellagio with some cash in hand ($40,266) after he was eliminated by Wil Wilkinson. A half hour later, Bonyadi left at the hands of Mizrachi when his A-10 was vanquished by “The Grinder’s” 6-5 after a six came on the flop. Meanwhile, Serock furthered his chances at taking the POY title by doubling up through Trevor Pope, needing to outlast one more player to eclipse Will “The Thrill” Failla to seize the POY lead.

After an interesting three way all in, Serock would achieve his goal. Bogdanov pushed his remaining chips to the center, Juttelstad moved all in over the top to isolate but had Ron Coury come along for less. The three hands seemed to be made for television (Juttelstad with pocket Aces, Bogdanov with pocket tens and Coury with pocket sixes) and the flop indeed provided the drama. A six on the flop pushed Coury into the lead and, once no ten or Ace came on the turn or river, Bogdanov was eliminated in sixteenth place and Coury tripled up.

Following that hand, the players seemed to pick up the pace as the eliminations came quickly. Shulman left in fifteenth place after his pocket nines couldn’t catch Pope’s pocket tens, while Mizrachi dispatched Tom McCormick after spiking a seven on the flop with his pocket sevens to pass McCormick’s pocket nines. After only four hours of play – and the eliminations of Juttelstad (thirteenth) and John Esposito (twelfth) – the players only had to work through two more eliminations to call it a day.

Coury would be the first to leave, after being decimated by Kim. Kim used an A-Q against Coury’s pocket eights to drop Coury to a measly 23K in chips, then finished the job when Kim’s pocket tens stood up to Coury’s Q-8 push. The final ten players would gather at one table to determine which nine men still had a chance at the WPT Championship.

Over a 44 hand battle, Mizrachi would begin his charge to the top of the leaderboard. He doubled up through Khan to take over the chip lead, but would give some of those chips back and the lead to Rettenmaier in doubling up Schulman. Rettenmaier would extend that lead by knocking out Serock when his A-K turned a King to catch Serock’s pocket nines and drop the new POY leader out of the tournament in tenth place.

1. Marvin Rettenmaier, 3.757 million
2. Michael Mizrachi, 3.124 million
3. Steve O’Dwyer, 1.643 million
4. Hafiz Khan, 1.641 million
5. Nick Schulman, 1.35 million
6. Moon Kim, 1.139 million
7. Philippe Ktorza, 977,000
8. Trevor Pope, 800,000
9. Wil Wilkinson, 705,000

While Rettenmaier and Mizrachi have pulled away from the field, there is still work left to be done. The men will come back at noon today to whittle three more players out before the official WPT final table is complete. There is also still a battle for the POY, as Kim will pass Serock with a third place finish in this tournament, leaving plenty of excitement left at the 2012 WPT Championship.

Nick “GripDsNutz” Grippo Wins 2012 PokerStars SCOOP $10,300 Main Event

The Main Event of the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) wrapped up early this week and taking the title in the headlining “high” buy-in portion of the event was Nick “GripDsNutz” Grippo. A total of 517 players entered the $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em event, with 63 making the money. For his win, Grippo banked just shy of $800,000.

The money bubble burst with the final elimination of Day 1, so all 63 of the remaining players entering Day 2 had the chance to relax somewhat, knowing that they were at least making a profit over the two day tournament. When the final table arrived, Grippo was in good shape, sitting in 3rd place out of the final nine and with a stack that was plenty deep for the blind level.

Here is what the chip stacks looked like at the start of the final table:

Seat 1: hotmark777 (Lebanon) — 680,210
Seat 2: r4st4f4ri (Germany) — 877,267
Seat 3: sosickPL (Poland) — 908,306
Seat 4: UrMySponsor (Germany) — 1,269,454
Seat 5: wizowizo (Germany) — 1,128,786
Seat 6: B4d3m3!st3r (Germany) — 768,006
Seat 7: römpsä (Germany) — 726,146
Seat 8: sp00led (Canada) — 456,020
Seat 9: GripDsNutz (Costa Rica) — 940,805

About half an hour in, sosickPL limped pre-flop for 16,000 and B4d3m3!st3r, whose stack had decreased dramatically, shoved for 286,312. sosickPL made the call, showing T?-T?, up against the K?-J? of B4d3m3!st3r. The flop of A?-T?-4? gave B4d3m3!st3r a gutshot, but the straight never came to be and he was eliminated in 9th place.

Shortly thereafter, UrMySponsor raised to 40,000 pre-flop and  römpsä went all-in for 456,646. When GripDsNutz shoved over the top for about 1.6 million, UrMySponsor folded and it was just Grippo and his A?-A? against römpsä’s K?-Q?. römpsä also had a chance at a gutshot, this time on the turn, but the Aces held, römpsä bowed out in 8th, and Grippo maintained his chip lead, growing his stack to 2.15 million.

Grippo proceeded to eliminate the next two players, r4st4f4ri and hotmark777, the former on a bit of a lucky runner-runner straight.

UrMySponsor achieved the next knockout, getting his A?-T? to suck out on the flop against wizowizo’s A?-Q?. But just six hands later, UrMySponsor ran his 5?-5? and 1.3 million chip stack into sosickPL’s 9?-9? and exited the tournament in 4th place.

Going into three-handed play, GripDsNutz had a small lead, 3.26 million to sosickPL’s 3.12 million, while sp00led held on to 1.36 million chips. sp00led quickly doubled through GripDsNutz, though, reversing their positions at the table. A few minutes later, the three competitors took some time to discuss a deal, sp00led leading with 3.2 million chips, sosickPL in second with 2.4 million, and GripDsNutz in third with 2.2 million. Grippo didn’t want to split up the money based on chip counts, typing, “Before we look at numbers ill [sic] take an even chop and nothing else.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the other two almost agreed to this, but there was still some hesitation. A deal got closer when it was suggested that they each take $728,675 and play for the remaining $50,000 and the special SCOOP watch. sp00led wanted to leave $100,000 on the table, but Grippo balked at that idea. They finally all agreed to leave $80,000 on the table and guarantee themselves $718,675.

When play resumed, Grippo saw his tournament saved on the river. He got it all in with A?-6? against the T?-T? of sp00led. The 5?-J?-3?-7? through the turn did nothing for him, but the A? on the river doubled him up to over 4.1 million.

Not long after that, Grippo and sosickPL got into a pre-flop raising war, eventually getting all of their chips into the middle. Grippo’s 9?-9? held up against sosickPL’s 8?-8? (Grippo actually flopped a set) and the SCOOP Main Event was down to two.

GripDsNutz had a big chip lead going into heads-up play, 6,134,353 against sp00led’s 1,620,647. After 20 minutes, though, it was almost even, and a little while later sp00led took the lead. It was back and forth after that, with Grippo regaining a 2-to-1 lead twice and sp00led coming back to essentially tie both times.

The turning point finally came after around two hours of heads-up play. sp00led opened for 120,000, GripDsNutz raised to 298,765, and sp00led called. After the flop of A?-4?-8?, GripDsNutz bet 264,845 and sp00led called again. GripDsNutz changed it up on the turn of 3?, check-raising sp00led’s bet of 180,000 to 489,485. Upon the river Q?, GripDsNutz bet 812,345, sp00led called, and the computer revealed that GripDsNutz won with A?-2?. sp00led mucked his losing hand and saw his stack fall to 1.3 million.

Two hands later, the two got it all-in pre-flop, Grippo with 6?-6? and sp00led with A?-3?. The flop came down 2?-T?-5?, good for Grippo, but offering sp00led a gutshot straight draw to go along with his one overcard. The 8? did nothing and the river 5? clinched the victory for Grippo.

2012 PokerStars SCOOP Main Event High – Final Table Results

1.    GripDsNutz (Costa Rica) — $798,675*
2.    sp00led (Canada) — $718,675*
3.    sosickPL (Poland) — $718,675*
4.    UrMySponsor (Germany) — $403,260
5.    wizowizo (Germany) — $284,350
6.    hotmark777 (Lebanon) — $219,725
7.    r4st4f4ri (Germany) — $168,025
8.    römpsä (Germany) — $116,325
9.    B4d3m3!st3r (Germany) — $85,822.00

* indicates deal-adjusted payout

WPT Championship Day Four: Hafiz Khan Charges Ahead, POY Race Tightens

There were likely several poker players at the Bellagio who didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night after Day 4 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship came to a close with just 19 players remaining. Since 18 players will get paid, those still in the mix got to dream restless dreams about the money bubble. Additionally, three players still have a chance to pass Will “The Thrill” Failla in the WPT Player of the Year (POY) race. When the cards are dealt Wednesday, Hafiz Khan will have the biggest stack in the tournament, just shy of 2,000,000 chips.

There is clear-cut divide between the “haves” and “have nots” in the tournament right now. The top 9 stacks are all above the 1,000,000 chip mark with the 10th just below. After that, only one stack is above 500,000, one is above 300,000, two are above 200,000, and the rest are below 200,000. With blinds and antes at 8,000/16,000/2,000, there’s a good chance we could see some quick eliminations Wednesday.

As previously mentioned, there are now just three individuals remaining with a shot to overtake Will Failla for the WPT Player of the Year (POY) crown. Joe Serock still looks to have the best chance, as he needs only to finish 15th or higher to pass Failla. He’s not in great shape to win the tournament with just 244,000 chips going into Day 5, but he only needs to wait out four eliminations to make the top 15. Moon Kim is amongst the chip leaders with 1,194,000, but must finish 5th or better to pass Failla. And Matt Juttelstad, in the middle of the pack with 935,000, needs to win the whole thing.

Currently, Failla has 2,050 POY points, while Serock is in 2nd with 1,800. According to the WPT POY point system, a 13th through 15th place finish for Serock would earn him 300 POY points, giving him 2,100 and the top spot on the leader board. Kim has 1,200 points; a 5th place finish would give him another 900, allowing him to pass Failla. Juttelstad, with 800 points, will need all 1,400 points awarded for first place to win POY.

Of course, things get more complicated if more than one of the three remaining POY contenders passes Failla. As 1,400 points go to the winner of the WPT World Championship, Moon Kim can max out at 2,600 points. Should he accomplish that, Serock would still be able to tie him with a 6th place finish (800 points) or take the POY title outright with a 5th place or higher finish. If Kim hits his minimum mark to pass Failla and end up with 2,100 points, Serock would just need to finish 15th to tie and 12th to pass him. Should Juttelstad win the tournament, he’s still not guaranteed to be Player of the Year. Kim would be able to tie him with a 4th place finish and beat him with a 3rd place finish, while Serock would only need 12th to tie and 9th to keep Juttelstad out of the top spot.

Day 5 will commence at noon PST as the 19 remaining players try not to be the “bubble boy.” Five more 90-minute levels will be played before wrapping up for the night.

WPT World Championship – End of Day 4 Chip Counts

1.    Hafiz Khan – 1,966,000
2.    Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,870,000
3.    Nick Schulman     - 1,315,000
4.    Trevor Pope – 1,300,000
5.    Wil Wilkinson – 1,197,000
6.    Moon Kim – 1,194,000
7.    Michael Mizrachi – 1,168,000
8.    John Esposito – 1,080,000
9.    Steve O’Dwyer  – 1,079,000
10.    Matt Juttelstad – 935,000
11.    Guillaume Darcourt – 571,000
12.    Barry Shulman  – 353,000
13.    Rinat Bogdanov – 278,000
14.    Joe Serock – 244,000
15.    Tom McCormick – 186,000
16.    Farzad Bonyadi – 182,000
17.    Ron Coury – 135,000
18.    Josh Arieh – 127,000
19.    Philippe Ktorza – 86,000

WPT Championship Day Three: Curt Kohlberg Leads as Registration Finally Closes

Three days and thirteen levels and there is still so much more poker to be played. The WPT World Championship isn’t even halfway to the finish, but with just 44 players remaining, it already feels like it’s getting down to the nitty gritty. Leading the way is Curt Kohlberg with 918,300 chips, a full 150,000 ahead of his next closest competitor, Nick Schulman.

As tournament officials allowed late entrants all the way until the end of level 12, another 17 players entered the fray Monday, increasing the field from 135 to a final total of 152. With the $25,000 buy-in (plus $500 fee), the total prize pool stands at $3,660,500. A total of 18 players will end up making the money, with the winner receiving $1,196,858. Here is a look at the entire payout structure:

1. $1,196,858
2. $805,310
3. $424,618
4. $256,235
5. $192,176
6. $155,571
7. $118,966
8. $82,361
9. $58,568
10 – 12. $47,587
13 – 15. $43,926
16 – 18. $40,266

Though he doesn’t have a recorded live tournament cash in over a year, Curt Kohlberg is familiar with success on the World Poker Tour. He has made three final tables, including a 5th place finish at the 2005 WPT Rendez Vous a Paris ($107,704), another 5th place at the 2009 WPT World Poker Finals ($199,283), and a runner-up at the 2011 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown ($586,109). He also has a fourth top ten finish, just missing out on another televised final table. In his career, Kohlberg has won almost $2.2 million in live poker tournaments.

With current WPT Player of Year leader Will Failla out of the tournament, there are a number of players remaining who could overtake him in this final tourney of the season. Joe Serock looks to be in the best shape to pull it off, needing “just” a top 15 finish to jump up into the top spot while currently sitting in 17th place with 400,800 chips. Other players still with a chance at the WPT POY title include:

Moon Kim – must finish 5th or better (currently with 388,500 chips)
Matthew Waxman – 5th or better (165,400)
David Sands – 5th or better (87,100)
Byron Kaverman – 4th or better (227,000 chips)
Noah Schwartz – 4th to tie, 3rd or better to win (169,000 chips)
Tony Ruberto – 3rd or better (581,400)
Mohamed Ali Houssam – 3rd or better (141,400)
Antonio Esfandiari – 1st place (630,100)
Matt Juttelstad – 1st place (225,400)
Miha Travnik – 1st place (104,500)

Day 4 will pick up on Monday at noon PST. The players will go through another five 90-minute levels before calling it a night.

WPT World Championship – End of Day 3 Chip Leaders

1.    Curt Kohlberg – 918,300
2.    Nick Schulman – 768,000
3.    Guillaume Darcourt – 641,000
4.    Antonio Esfandiari – 630,100
5.    Rinat Bogdanov – 624,100
6.    David Steicke – 589,700
7.    Tony Ruberto – 581,400
8.    Viacheslav Igin – 567,000
9.    Farzad Bonyadi – 519,900
10.    Nicolas Fraioli – 501,600

WPT Championship Day Two: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi Leaps to Fore

At first blush, it looks like only three players were eliminated on Day 2 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship Sunday. Because of the rather generous late registration rules, however, 32 more players bought-in to the tournament on Day 2, increasing the total field to 135 from Saturday’s 103. With 95 players remaining and five having been knocked out on the first day, that means 35 hit the rail Sunday (math is fun – someone please correct me if I’m wrong). Players can still register through the end of Level 12, which means that it won’t be too late to pay the $25,000 buy-in until the end of the day Monday. At that point, we will finally know what the prize pool looks like, as well as the first prize and the rest of the money distribution.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi tops the field with 428,200 chips and is the only player to end Day 2 with a stack greater than 400,000. Mizrachi is no stranger to success on the World Poker Tour, having two championships to his name. The first came in 2005 when he won $1,859,909 at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, with the second coming the next year at the WPT Borgata Winter Open in Atlantic City ($1,173,373). He almost earned a third title earlier in the same month as his Borgata win, finishing as the runner-up to Scotty Nguyen at the 2006 WPT Gold Strike World Poker Open. Mizrachi is fourth on the all-time WPT money list with $4,242,065 in career earnings.

Perhaps the oddest hand of Day 2 occurred during first level of the day, Level 5. It wasn’t bizarre because of the crazy cards that were dealt or nutty betting, but rather it involved an unusually lengthy decision by a player with a very strong hand. Daniel Buzgon raised pre-flop to 1,300, Vanessa Rousso three-bet to 3,800, and Buzgon called. The flop was an interesting monochromatic one: Q?-T?-9?. Rousso led out with a 5,500 chip bet and Buzgon made the call. The turn was the A?. Rousso checked that one, Buzgon bet 9,750, Rousso then raised to 25,000, and Buzgon called after some serious thought. The river was the T?, pairing the board. Rousso went into the tank to ponder her move, eventually deciding to bet 70,000 chips, an amount that put Buzgon all-in. This made Buzgon visibly upset, even prompting him to say, “This sucks so much,” during his five minute decision-making period. He finally called, flipping over Ac-Th for a full house. Shocked, Rousso mucked, giving the pot to Buzgon. That took Buzgon up to 205,000, while Rousso fell to 22,000.

The rest of the players at the table seemed to be quite surprised that Buzgon took so long to make the call with such a strong hand. In all, the hand took a whopping 17 minutes to complete. One had to imagine that because Rousso was so aggressive throughout the hand, including three-betting pre-flop, check-raising on the turn, and putting him all-in on the river, Buzgon felt that A-A or Q-Q were distinct possibilities for her hole cards. Those hands would, of course, have given her a better full house than Buzgon. Two different straight flushes were also possible and one of them in particular (made with Kc-Jc) would not have been far-fetched at all.

Day 3 will begin at noon Vegas time on Monday. As previously mentioned, once the day is over, we will know the official field size, prize pool, and payout structure.

WPT World Championship – End of Day 2 Chip Leaders

1.    Michael Mizrachi – 428,200
2.    Rinat Bogdanov – 381,000
3.    Guillaume Darcourt – 356,600
4.    David Steicke – 345,500
5.    Isaac Haxton – 313,500
6.    Tony Ruberto – 309,100
7.    Steve O’Dwyer – 301,900
8.    Ubaid Habib – 288,100
9.    Matt Juttelstad – 274,000
10.    John Hennigan – 265,500

WSOP Unveils 2012 Bracelets

With the 43rd Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) just a week away, it is only appropriate that the new bracelet has been officially unveiled. After all, it’s the one thing by which poker players measure their success (we suppose one could count that whole business of cash winnings, too). This year’s designer is Jason Arasheben, perhaps better known as “Jason of Beverly Hills.”

Considering Jason of Beverly Hills’ reputation for creating gaudy, over-the-top pieces that can be seen from the moon, the bracelet is relatively tame. Make no mistake, though – it will still grab attention more than last year’s simple, gold piece of jewelry created by OnTilt Designs. The bracelet is gold, of course, with a very smooth look. The four playing card suits are represented in each corner of the bracelet’s face, with the heart and diamond comprised of white diamonds and the spade and club appearing to be made up of black diamonds. A raised World Series of Poker logo adorns the center of the bracelet face, enhanced by color to make it stand out.

But that is just the bracelet for the 66 preliminary events. Jason of Beverly Hills will also be creating the 2012 WSOP Main Event bracelet, which he promises will be a sight to behold.

“We are honored to have the opportunity to create this masterpiece for the World Series of Poker and it will go down as the most expensive piece of championship jewelry across all major sports,” said Jason of Beverly Hills about the WSOP Main Event gold bracelet.  “We will tour this bracelet in our Las Vegas and Beverly Hills boutique so the world can bear witness to this historic work of art.”

The four card suits will be in their normal colors, with the heart and diamond formed by rubies and the spade and club created with black diamonds. All told, the Main Event bracelet will contain over 160 grams of 14 karat gold and over 35 carats of flawless diamonds.

“Blinger is Better,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart in a press release.  “Jason grasped the heritage of WSOP bracelets, but was only interested if he could take it up several notches. This is a trophy that truly embodies the promise of today’s WSOP – seemingly unthinkable dreams are dealt each year.  I challenge anyone to keep a poker face when they see this bracelet in person.”

Jason of Beverly Hills started his business as a student at UCLA, selling silver trinkets to fellow students, and eventually grew it into the go-to source for amazing diamond creations for the world’s biggest celebrities. He has created pieces for the likes of LeBron James, Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and even Middle Eastern royalty. The pendant he made for Lil Jon was named the largest in the world by Guinness World Records.

Tatjana “TattyTats” Pasalic Renews Sponsorship Deal With Bodog

With the 2012 World Series of Poker on the horizon, poker professional Tatjana “TattyTats” Pasalic and Bodog announced earlier this week that they have renewed their sponsorship deal until at least 2013.

The excitement of the renewed deal might have been a bit much for Pasalic, who Tweeted the news even prior to the announcement of the signing. “Very proud and happy to announce that I have renewed my Bodog contract,” she chirped to her followers. “Bring on the party and more poker videos!”

Pasalic has been a part of the poker community for quite some time, albeit not in the traditional manner. She spent much of the past eight years working as a television announcer, with PartyPoker and the World Poker Tour Europe, before stepping to the felt in 2009 to become a poker professional. She was rewarded for her tenacity in the business by earning a precious sponsorship deal through Bodog in May of last year.

Pasalic’s renewal brings Team Bodog Pro to a roster of four, joining Canada’s Evelyn Ng (a member of the squad since 2006), the United States’ Amanda Musumeci (who joined in 2010) and recently signed member Jennette “Jay” Tan. The four femme fatales of the felt also might lead some to ask what it takes to get sponsored by a major online poker room, especially following the travails of the past year.

Over her career, Ng has been able to rack up an impressive $377,191 in tournament earnings, including her second place finish in the WPT’s Ladies’ Night event back in 2003, but times have been a bit tough on Ng recently. She did make a nice run at the 2011 WSOP Championship Event, but that made up the majority of her over $36K in earnings for the year and it was her first cash in a tournament since 2008 (admittedly, Ng also has cash games skills to alleviate some of those tournament pressures).

Pasalic has found the transition from media member to active player a bit more difficult. After making a nice score in 2010 at the PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open, the tables have been unkind to the Croatian. She has yet to see a tournament finish since the PartyPoker event.

Carrying the load for Team Bodog Pro has been Musumeci. In 2011, Musumeci earned ten cashes, including a deep run in the WSOP Championship Event and a championship in a preliminary event at the Borgata Fall Poker Open, on her way to making a neat $208,675 over the year. 2012 has also been kind to Musumeci as she has already earned ten cashes for the year and is looking to increase that total during this year’s WSOP.

Tan has been a terror in the Asian poker world, earning five cashes over the past two years in Macau and one in Manila, but she has yet to step into the “ring of fire” of major tournament poker (European Poker Tour, WPT, WSOP). Tan has earned a total of slightly more than $64,000 from her exploits in Macau and Manila.

It has never been about the tournament success for the folks at Bodog, however (remember, they could not come to terms with former WPT Championship winner David Williams, even after he won the title). Prior to the signing of Tan, Bodog stated the criteria they were looking at when it comes to filling out the team. “Bodog is looking for an attractive female poker player who is a fresh face in the industry,” the spokesman stated. “Bodog is not looking to teach a Playboy model how to play poker, so poker experience is necessary.”

It is also necessary to look at the locations that Bodog is targeting as far as their sponsored pros. Ng covers the Canadian market; while Musumeci is from the United States, she has a wealth of international support. Tan covers the Asian gaming arena, while Pasalic picks up the Eastern European contingent.

The ladies of Team Bodog Pro will be on hand to attack the WSOP later this week, so there are great opportunities on the horizon. It sounds as though Pasalic is ready to step up to the challenge, however, stating during the announcement, “The WSOP is around the corner and I can confirm I will definitely be on that plane. I love working with Bodog and they seem to like me…here’s to another great year.”

WPT Championship Day One: Steve O’Dwyer Takes Early Lead In Difficult Field

The tsunami of poker that is descending on Las Vegas for the next three months has kicked off with the start of the World Poker Tour’s World Championship event at the Bellagio on Saturday.

The WPT Championship features an extremely deep stacked format and late registration that kept the first day numbers down but, even with that said, it was still an impressive field. Playing four 90 minute levels for Day One and starting with 100,000 chips, 103 players stepped to the green baize to compete for the final title of the WPT Season Ten schedule. Among those who would step forward on Day One to take their shot at the championship were some of the top professionals in the game, vying for not only the WPT Championship honors but also other awards as well.

Each of the 21 events prior to the WPT Championship awarded its victor with a seat to this particular tournament and nearly every winner has turned up to compete. Of those who earned their $25K seat for free, only WPT Ireland champion Dave Shallow and WPT Grand Prix de Paris victor Matt Waxman had not made an appearance yet at the Bellagio (WPT Barcelona winner Lukas Berglund is under 21 and thus unable to play in Las Vegas). With Waxman Tweeting that he will be registering on Sunday, only Shallow has yet to step into the fray.

Besides the Season Ten champions of the WPT, the field was replete with top names. In the early going, Daniel Negreanu, Daniel Santoro and Cliff Josephy entered into a pot after a raise from Josephy and calls from the other two gentlemen. The big blind came along as well and, four handed, they saw an A-J-8 flop. This was enough to get the gamble going for the men on the felt as the chips began to fly.

After a Negreanu check, the big blind pushed out a 1300 chip bet. Josephy made the call, only to see former WPT champion Santoro popped the action to 5500. Back to Negreanu, “Kid Poker” flung some chips of his own, four betting the proceedings up to 14K. The big blind decided that discretion was the better part of valor and ducked out, but Josephy made a strong statement by making it 40K.

Santoro now decided that he had enough, folding his hand, but Negreanu agonized over the decision. After some deliberation, Negreanu showed his pocket Jacks for middle set and mucked his cards. Josephy was kind enough to show Negreanu one Ace and later admitted on Twitter that he did, indeed, have pocket Aces for the top set. To be honest, it was an amazing laydown by one of the best players in the game.

Two players with a great deal on the line at the WPT Championship did well during their opening day of play. Joe Serock, who held the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race for all of a week, moved up the leaderboard early by cutting out a sizeable chunk of chips from Heather Sue Mercer and would finish the day in the Top Ten. Another player with POY aspirations, Vanessa Selbst, bested Serock by finishing one spot above him in fifth place on the Day One table. It was Steve O’Dwyer, however, who would walk away with the day’s chip lead after staying out of major attention throughout the day:

1. Steve O’Dwyer, 231,750
2. Masa Kagawa, 228,675
3. Tyler Smith, 221,600
4. Guillaume Darcourt, 215,250
5. Vanessa Selbst, 207,425
6. Joe Serock, 197,000
7. Michael Mizrachi, 194,875
8. Justin Young, 190,000
9. Isaac Haxton, 189,500
10. Farzad Bonyadi, 185,000

Of the original 103 starters, 98 of them will come back to do battle on Sunday afternoon. With the late registration period lasting until the start of play Monday, there will be no accurate count as to the players or the first place prize they will play for until sometime that afternoon. If the quality of players that come out on Sunday is as good as what was seen yesterday, the 2012 WPT Championship could go down as one to remember.

North Carolina Senate Votes To Make Poker Live At Cherokee Casino

Earlier this week, the North Carolina Senate took up discussion on whether to allow the only casino located in the state, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee, NC, to have live dealers for their table games, such as poker and blackjack.

After the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who operate the Cherokee Casino, and Governor Beverly Perdue came to an agreement back in November 2011 to open up for “live” gaming, the North Carolina General Assembly still had to pass legislation that would allow for the changes to take place. On Wednesday, the Senate introduced the appropriate legislation and passed it by a 33-14 vote, taking the next step to ratify the gaming agreement between the tribe and the state by sending the bill to the House.

The major part of the legislation was to allow for the Cherokee Casino to utilize live dealers rather than video tables that were authorized under the previous legislation. For both poker and blackjack, the video tables made by the Matthews, NC, based company PokerTek had been long used by the Cherokee Casino. The PokerPro tables, in particular, have had a love/hate relationship by players who miss the essence of a “live” dealer and chips but like the factor of a speeded up game.

The new legislation has been something that has been discussed by the tribe and the state since 2006, but it hasn’t come to fruition until now. It would more than likely end the usage of the PokerTek tables and create new jobs in the casino. Approximately 400 jobs would be created under the new guidelines, something that would help out in the current economy. It would also help out both the Cherokee Indians and the state through new revenues.

The agreement, which is a 30-year compact, would have the Cherokee Casino share revenues from the live games with the state. The initial revenue sharing would start at four percent and eventually go up to eight percent. The $1.2 million dollars per year that the early years of the deal would bring to the state wouldn’t have much effect on their $20 billion budget, the additional revenues from employment would add to their take.

Unfortunately, there have been opponents of the proposal to go live at the Cherokee Casino. Reverend Mark Creech, the director of the Christian Action League, stated to the Columbus Republic, “When the government seeks to profit from gambling, it becomes the house, which means it has a vested interest against its own people…It was wrong when we did it with the lottery and now we are compounding our sins (by increasing casino gaming).”

One of the elected officials for the area, Senator Tom Apodaca of Henderson, didn’t see any issues with the new legislation. “What the bill simply does is allow the Cherokee Indians to use live dealers where they use machines now,” he said. As to those who are against the new gaming options due to their allegations of problem gaming and other factors, Apodaca put his position firmly on the map by saying, “Human beings should be allowed to make their own choices in life.”

The new live option at the Cherokee Casino could increase revenues at the facility. After the casino opened in 1998, gambling revenues were $128 million and continually climbed from there to a high of $449 million in 2008. After the economic downturn of that year, the Cherokee Casino has seen their revenues fall to about $378 million in 2010. And it is the gambling that drives the Cherokee Casino; revenues for 2010 from non-gaming segments of the casino (food, hotel and retail) only totaled $13 million.

Big Weekend Ahead As WPT Championship, Super High Roller Take Center Stage

The penultimate event of the Season Ten schedule of the World Poker Tour, the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, kicks off this Saturday, with the additional thrills of a Super High Roller tournament joining it next week.

The WPT Championship, the $25,000 buy in event that has traditionally closed each year of the WPT schedule, is getting a bit later start this year than in the past. Formerly held in April of each year, the WPT may have made the move to the later start date in May to take advantage of the hordes of players that will be descending on the desert oasis for the World Series of Poker that begins at the end of this month. Regardless of the reason, the 2012 WPT Championship promises to be an exciting week of poker.

“The prestige of this event is unmatched as whoever is left standing will have defeated what many consider to be the toughest field in all of poker,” Steve Heller, the WPT Chief Executive Officer, stated leading up to the tournament. “Earning the right to be called WPT World Champion is poker’s crowning achievement and a career-defining moment.”

The list of prior victors at the WPT Championship demonstrates the factor of its difficulty. Alan Goehring won the inaugural champion back in 2003, with champions Martin De Knijff, Tuan Le, Joe Bartholdi, Carlos Mortensen, David Chen, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, David Williams and defending champion Scott Seiver following in his path. Others such as Hasan Habib, Matt Matros, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Shawn Buchanan and Galen Hall (among others) have made at least one appearance at the final table of this tournament.

Adding to the pressure of the tournament will be the race for the WPT Player of the Year honors. The eventual winner of the WPT Championship will take down 1400 points for the effort and, as such, there are a host of players that are in contention for the prestigious honor of WPT POY.

After leading the POY race for much of Season Ten, Will “The Thrill” Failla was unceremoniously dumped from the top slot by Joe Serock at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown during the WPT’s swing through the state of Florida. Undaunted, Failla climbed right back to the top of the table by finishing in sixth place at the WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open.

With 2050 points, Failla’s lead is far from secure. Other than Serock (who holds 1800 points in second place), there are 76 other players that are within the 1400 points that earning the WPT Championship would give them. Some of the players who could rise up to snatch the POY award (if none of the players in front of them make the money) include Season Ten champions James Dempsey, Tommy Vedes and Sean Jazayeri, Vanessa Selbst and Andrew Lichtenberger.

For those who find themselves on the rail after the WPT Championship is in full swing – and if they have deep enough pockets – the WPT will also be bringing back its Super High Roller tournament, beginning on May 23. The $100,000 buy in tournament (which will actually be a rebuy tournament), which first played last year, drew the crème of the poker playing world to battle it out for a $2.8 million prize pool. 29 players went to the felt in 2011, with Erik Seidel outlasting Erick Lindgren for the $1.09 million first place prize, and it is expected that this field will once again pull in several high profile names to compete for the Super High Roller title.

Late registration for the WPT Championship will last well into Day Three of the tournament, so the actual prize pool for the tournament will not be known until early next week. As the finale of the Season Ten schedule for the WPT, though, it is expected that the field will be replete with big name pros and the amateurs that are looking to take them down.

Women In Poker Hall Of Fame Nominations Open

In a short time, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame has become the preeminent group recognizing the contributions of women to the game of poker. With their 2012 induction ceremonies fast approaching in August, the Hall has opened up their nomination process for those ladies who have given their all for the game of poker. The actual induction ceremony is currently set for August 31 at the Golden Nugget Casino in downtown Las Vegas.

The criteria for potential nominees for the Hall are quite rigid, as entry into any Hall of Fame should be. A potential candidate will have had to have been active in the poker industry (either as a player or “behind the scenes”) for a minimum of ten years and be over the age of 35. Naturally, all potential nominees will have to be a proponent of women in poker. All nominees will also have to be approved by the Board of Directors of the organization.

After the public nomination period ends, the list of potential new members of the Hall will be put in front of the Screening Committee, comprised of the Board of Directors and the members of the Hall. After the reviewing process has been completed, those eligible candidates are voted on by the Hall of Fame members, the Board and selected members of the media. Using a system similar to that of the Poker Hall of Fame (ten votes to each voting member, to be put towards whichever candidate or candidates deemed worthy), the top vote getters then earn their way into the Hall.

The list of potential nominees that can be suggested to the WiPHoF are plentiful, to say the least (that is if they are over 35). From the industry side, Dianna Donofrio-Trigatzi has been a longtime proponent of charitable poker endeavors across the nation. Former World Poker Tour Ladies’ Champion Nancy Todd currently is leading the efforts to bring live poker and casinos to the state of Arkansas. Kathy Raymond has been the poker room director at two of the major casinos in the United States, Foxwoods in Connecticut and the Venetian in Las Vegas, while Lisa Wheeler has had a long career behind the scenes of the poker industry in virtually all aspects of media and promotion.

When it comes to players, there are a plethora of qualified potential nominees. To get an international feel, such players as Victoria Coren, Lucy Rokach and Maureen Feduniak would be excellent choices. The United States could provide potential nominees such as Annie Duke, Joanne “J. J.” Liu and the legendary Betty Carey.

Past ceremonies to the Hall have inducted some of the best women in the game of poker. During last year’s ceremonies, Phyllis Caro, Margie Heintz and poker player Kristy Gazes all were honored before a packed house at the Golden Nugget. In 2010, industry pro Billie Brown and longtime professional players Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert were given the highly respected slots in the Hall. The other members of the Hall are June Field, Jan Fisher and Cyndy Violette (from 2009′s ceremonies) and the tremendously solid inaugural class of Barbara Enright, Marsha Waggoner, Susie Isaacs and Linda Johnson (2008).

If this year’s process holds as it has in years past, the nomination period should end around the end of June. After the review, the potential nominees will then move on to the election process, with a minimum of two and potentially as many as four earning the honor of moving into the Hall alongside other greats of the game. To nominate a player for the exclusive honor of being in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, head to womeninpokerhalloffame.com to make your voice heard.

Tapie Tournament Series Pushed Off To 2013

Although they might have failed in their attempts to purchase the shuttered Full Tilt Poker, the French investment company Groupe Bernard Tapie is moving on with their plans for one of the largest poker tournaments ever, albeit at a later date than they imagined.

The International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) was slated to have their inaugural tournament in Wembley Stadium in London, the United Kingdom, between August and October of 2012. The tournament, which would feature a €600 buy in, would have originally played out through online satellites before determining the final 30,000 players. At that point, the plan was to have the survivors meet at the hallowed grounds of Wembley and continue the tournament, playing through tablet computers in the stands. Once the field was worked down to a manageable 3000 or so, the players would then hit the pitch at Wembley to play out the remainder of the tournament.

Many were intrigued by the concept of the ISPT but, without an online poker room to provide the satellites for the tournament, finding the requisite number of players was thought to be a challenge. This was allegedly the reasoning for the pursuit by Groupe Bernard Tapie to purchase Full Tilt Poker over the last half of 2011 and into this year. With those plans now scuttled due to the inability for Groupe Bernard Tapie to work out a deal with the U. S. Department of Justice for the purchase of the site, the organization is now faced with the challenge of moving forward with the ISPT without an online operation to funnel the players.

According to an interview with CardPlayer Magazine, the ISPT will be postponing their new endeavor until May 31, 2013. All of the potential of the tournament, such as player numbers and the plans for playing down to a champion, are still expected, with a prize pool estimated to be around €20 million and first place expected to pay out somewhere in the neighborhood of around €10 million. “We hope that this event will be fondly remembered by the participants and that it breaks all records,” Laurent Tapie stated to CardPlayer.

While they are moving forward, there are several areas for concern. The website for the inaugural tournament, ispt.com, features very little information for potential players. For many of the tabs on the site, all that is listed is a method for registering your name and e-mail address which will allow the ISPT to notify players “when registration opens.” Other critical bits, such as potential partners for the tournament series and hotel options for players, also do not list any such offerings.

There are also the logistical pitfalls that may derail the ISPT before it even gets off the ground. Without the online satellites to provide players, reaching the 30K mark of players might be unattainable (rumors are that Groupe Bernard Tapie, having failed in procuring Full Tilt, might be looking to create their own online site). Furthermore, having players inside a football stadium such as Wembley presents computer server issues, not to mention the factor of the elements in the United Kingdom during the month of May (for example, today’s high is expected to be 61° with a 50% chance of rain in London, not necessarily the type of weather you want to do much in, including poker).

For now, however, those issues and many others can be tabled. Over the span of the remainder of this year, it will be interesting to see if Groupe Bernard Tapie can pull off the audacious task of bringing the International Stadiums Poker Tour to life and usher in what might be a new era of poker tournaments for the world.

WPT Releases Season XI 2012 Schedule

The World Poker Tour (WPT) released the 2012 portion of next season’s schedule Wednesday, touting its expanded international selection of tournaments. Season XI will begin in August after taking a break following the Season X-ending WPT World Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, which starts this weekend.

The first two events on the schedule are new venues to the World Poker Tour. The Merit-Grand Casino will serve as host to the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic August 4-9. Players who want to compete in the season opener and then turn around and play in the next event will have to hop on a plane quickly, as the WPT Parx Open Poker Classic will begin August 10th at the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

Two of the later stops in 2012 are also new. WPT Copenhagen will be held November 12-17 at Denmark’s Casino Copenhagen, followed less than two weeks later by WPT Mazagan at the Mazagan Casino, Mazagan Beach, and Golf Resort in Morocco November 26-December 1.

The year will end with the long-standing Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio December 17-22. The Season XI tournaments to be held in 2013 will be announced at a later date.

One interesting quirk in the schedule is the occurrence of two WPT events on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean at the same time. Both WPT Malta and the Borgata Poker Open (Atlantic City) will begin on September 16, giving players the option to travel to the tournament that’s closest to home (or whichever they simply like best). WPT Malta will end September 20, while the Borgata Poker Open will span one additional day.

All of the Main Events on the Tour this year will be re-entry events in which players who bust out on the first Day 1 flight can try again on the second Day 1 flight, provided they buy-in again, of course. Five of the eleven events – WPT Parx Open Poker Classic, Legends of Poker, WPT Grand Prix de Paris, Borgata Poker Open, and the Five Diamond World Poker Classic – will be televised.

World Poker Tour Season XI 2012 Schedule

WPT Merit Cyprus Classic: Merit-Grand Casino, Cyprus ? August 4-9 ? $4,000+$400
WPT Parx Open Poker Classic: Parx Casino, Bensalem, Pennsylvania ? August 10-15 ? $3,300 + $ 200
Legends of Poker: The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California ? August 24-29 ? $3,500 + $200
WPT Grand Prix de Paris: Aviation Club de France, Paris ? September 10-15 ? €7,500
WPT Malta: Casino at Portomaso, Malta ? September 16-20 ? €3,000 + €300
Borgata Poker Open: Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa, Atlantic City, New Jersey ? September 16-21 ? $3,300 + $200
Jacksonville bestbet Fall Series: bestbet Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida ? November 9-13 ? $3,500
WPT Copenhagen: Casino Copenhagen, Denmark ? November 12-17 ? 24,000 DKK + 2,250 DKK
WPT Mazagan: Mazagan Casino, Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, Morocco ? November 26-December 1 ? €3,200 + €300
WPT Prague: Corinthia Hotel Prague, Czech Republic ? December 3-9 ? €3,300
Five Diamond World Poker Classic: Bellagio Casino, Las Vegas Nevada ? December 17-22 ? $10,000 + $300

Illinois Senate President Wants Online Poker

The Illinois State Senate President suggested to the state’s legislators Tuesday that it may be time to look at legalizing and regulating online poker in the Land of Lincoln. With no states having intrastate online poker up and running yet, Sen. John Cullerton (D) wants Illinois to jump at the opportunity to be the online poker center of the United States.

Sen. Cullerton penned a letter to Governor Pat Quinn and the members of the Illinois General Assembly, urging them to pass a bill before the legislative session ends May 31st. Aside from competition with other states (namely Nevada, which may have intrastate online poker sites active by the end of the year), Sen. Cullerton fears the possibility of eventual federal regulation that could stop states from creating their own online gaming networks if they haven’t done so before legislation is passed.

Sen. Cullerton appears to have an understanding of online poker, writing, in part, “Certain forms of iGaming, especially poker, rely on large pools of potential players, and states that move swiftly to design a system that captures the widest audience of participants will have an advantage in terms of long-range success.”

As usual, not all of Sen. Cullerton’s colleagues are thrilled with the idea. Naturally, one of the opposition voices came from the Republican side of the aisle. Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno, said, “If you allow Internet poker to be sanctioned by the state of Illinois, there are a whole lot of questions that need to be answered. Being first isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

Sen. Cullerton wishes to create an internet gaming division controlled by the Illinois Lottery, something that could make sense. Illinois was the first state to sell individual lottery tickets online, launching internet lottery sales on Sunday, March 25th. The timing was perfect for the Illinois Lottery, as that was the week of the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, partially won by a Red Bud, Illinois family. While it has been reported that Illinois was the first state to allow internet sales of lottery tickets period, that is not the case. Some states, such as Minnesota and North Dakota, have been selling tickets online, but those tickets are only available in subscription form. That is, people must buy tickets in bulk, committing to recurring purchases for a certain length of time. Illinois appears to be the first state to allow its residents to by single tickets for any drawing, just as one would at a grocery store or gas station.

The first week of internet sales for the Illinois Lottery was a bit of a mixed bag. The timing was perfect, of course, with the record Mega Millions jackpot. With the launch on Sunday and the Mega Millions drawing on Friday night, sales of $425,000 were reported as of 3:00pm Thursday. Friday sales alone reached more than $247,000 by 4:00pm. But even the almost $700,000 total was fairly disappointing to lottery officials, as the big Mega Millions week made them anticipate much more. To top it off, the Illinois Lottery’s website went down for about half an hour on the day of the drawing.

PokerStars Officially Launches Zoom Poker

PokerStars officially launched Zoom Poker Tuesday, making the popular game a formal offering for the world’s largest online poker room after two months in public beta testing mode. There was plenty of testing done during that period; more than 300 million Zoom Poker hands have been dealt since mid-March.

Zoom Poker is PokerStars’ fast-paced ring game format, virtually identical to Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker, which is obviously no longer available. In Zoom Poker, players compete against a pool of players at a selected game type and stakes, seeing a new batch of players at the table every hand. Players can fold at any point during the hand; as soon as a player’s turn ends, whether it is after a fold or winning the pot, he is whisked away to a new table with a new set of opponents. For the speediest movement from hand to hand, the “Fast Fold” button is available to allow players to fold their hand and move on before it is even their turn to act.

Essentially, the mechanics are the same as any other poker game. Someone who knows how to play poker knows how to play Zoom Poker. It’s just a lot faster, without all that boring time spent waiting for the hand to finish. That’s not to say that you can’t see what happened in the hand you just left. Holding down the “CTRL” button while clicking “Fold” will allow players to watch the end of the hand.

When the public beta began, the types of games and stakes offered were very limited for Zoom Poker, starting with No-Limit Hold’em and micro-stakes. Omaha and Draw Zoom Poker games are now available and the stakes range from $0.01/$0.02 to $2.50/$5.00. Players can also play on up to four Zoom Poker tables simultaneously.

In March, cash game traffic watchdog PokerScout.com estimated that 25 percent of all cash game players on PokerStars were playing Zoom Poker. But that’s just players, not hands. PokerScout added that because Zoom Poker hands are almost three times as fast as regular hands, almost half of the cash game hands on the site take place at the Zoom Poker tables. At the time of the calculation, which was just days after the public beta launch, PokerScout estimated that PokerStars’ cash game traffic had jumped 50 percent because of Zoom Poker, based on the idea that one Zoom Poker player equals three regular cash game players.

PokerStars also released Zoom Poker for Mobile on Android devices Tuesday, with plans to make it available for Apple’s iOS within a few weeks. Mobile players will be playing at the very same tables as those on their home computers – it is the same game, just on a smaller device.

Korean Buddhist Monks Caught in High Stakes Poker Game

It’s been said that to succeed in poker one must “have the patience of Buddha.” As it happens, it appears that a handful of men took that a bit too literally. In a scandal that has shaken South Korea, a group of Buddhist monks were caught drinking and playing high stakes poker in a luxury hotel.

The poker game was allegedly recorded by a fellow monk, but it is unknown whether he was present at the festivities or simply hid the camera in the room knowing the game was going to take place. In the video, eight monks, who are members of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, can be seen sitting on the floor drinking, smoking, and playing cards. The footage was leaked to the South Korean media and in turn broadcast to the entire nation.

A former chief priest of the monk order, Seong-ho (his real name is Jeong Han-young), said that more than 1 billion won ($865,000) exchanged hands during the 13-hour poker session. He personally received the USB drive containing the video from the person who recorded it, but is keeping the man’s identity a secret for his protection (another report says that Seong-ho found the drive on the floor of his temple, though in either case, it does appear that he knows from whom it came).

The revelation that these activities occurred has been devastating to many of the estimated 10 million to 15 million followers of the Jogye order. Not only is gambling outside of casinos illegal in South Korea, but most or all of the money that was gambled in the hotel poker game likely originated from followers’ donations. The Jogye order is the dominant order of the Seon school, which is also the primary school of Korean Buddhism.

Jogye order president Ja-seung released a statement, saying, “We deeply apologize for the behavior of several monks in our order. The monks who have caused public concern are currently being investigated and will be punished according to Buddhist regulations as soon as the truth is verified by the prosecution.”

Six high-ranking officials of the Executive Office of the Jogye Order have resigned, according to an order spokesman. “Six officials, including the director of the administration and the director of finance, stepped down,” he said, adding that Ja-seung has ordered the offending monks to be punished according to Jogye code.

Since the video came out, Seong-ho has also told a morning radio show that two Jogye leaders, including Ja-seung himself, paid for sex at a “room salon” in southern Seoul. Room salons are upscale clubs that tend to cater to well-to-do businessmen, offering alcohol, music, dancing, karaoke, strip shows, and female “companionship.” Sex is not a standard service, though it can be had for the right price.

The female-for-hire incident allegedly took place before Ja-seung was elected president of the order in 2009. Seong-ho said that he protested in front of Jogye Temple in Seoul for more than three months after finding out about what happened. He alleges that he was beaten up by members of the order for his protest, resulting in a three week hospital stay.

Seong-ho was kicked out of the order last year for “bad behavior,” which allegedly included spreading baseless rumors and violence.

PartyPoker Launches Championship Challenge Promotion

Fresh off the excitement of Manchester City’s historic stoppage time comeback in its season finale to win the English Premier League, PartyPoker has launched the Championship Challenge. Running May 14th through June 30th, the Championship Challenge is a promotion that gives real money players the opportunity to win cash prizes and freeroll entries by earning PartyPoints, all wrapped in a football package (that’s soccer to you Americans, but there is really no reason for you to be reading this).

The object of the promotion is to collect as many Football Players as possible. There are 64 Football Players in total, each randomly awarded for every 10 points earned at the cash game tables (PartyPoker is giving each customer his first Football Player after just 5 points). The 64 Players are divided equally amongst 16 teams, and those teams are split into 4 even groups.

Participants in the promotion will win cash prizes of varying amounts for collecting all the Football Players on a single team as well as all of the teams in a group. Anyone who acquires all 64 Football Players will win the grand prize of $100,000. A select number of Football Players will also award instant cash prizes and freeroll tournament entries.

Here is a look at all the different prizes available:

Groups

Group A (Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic) – $7,000
Group B (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Portugal) – $1,000
Group C (Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia) – $3,000
Group D (Ukraine, Sweden, France, England) – $2,000

Teams
Poland – $1,200
Republic of Ireland – $900
Russia – $850
Czech Republic – $750
Spain – $650
Netherlands – $550
Ukraine – $450
France – $400
Portugal – $350
Greece – $300
Germany – $250
Sweden – $200
Denmark – $150
Croatia – $100
Italy – $75
England – $50

Individual Football Player Instant Prizes

Poland Goalkeeper – $20
Russia Defender – $15
Ireland Goalkeeper – $10
Czech Republic Midfielder – $5
French Midfielder – $3
Croatia Defender – $2
England Striker – $1
Germany Midfielder – $10,000 Freeroll
France Striker – $7,500 Freeroll
Portugal Midfielder – $5,000 Freeroll
Greece Defender – $4,000 Freeroll
Ukraine Striker – $3,000 Freeroll
Sweden Goalkeeper – $2,000 Freeroll
Italy Striker – $1,000 Freeroll

PartyPoker customers can collect up to 100 Football Players per day during the Championship Challenge and can view their collections by logging into their accounts on the PartyPoker website. In fact, players must login to their accounts to “reveal” their Football Players. While the Football Players are awarded every 10 points, they do not count towards prizes until they are “revealed.” Additionally, prizes for completing groups and teams may only be won once per person.

Football Players will be awarded through June 30th or until all Football Players have been distributed – there are currently over 3.4 million Football Players remaining. Customers will have through July 1st to reveal any collected Football Players in their accounts.

Belgium Bans More Online Poker Sites

The Belgian Gaming Commission is certainly taking its new online gambling laws seriously. This past week, the Commission placed more online poker sites on the country’s blacklist, making it a crime for the country’s citizens to play on those sites.

Including in the new batch of blacklisted sites are such popular names as Betfair, William Hill, Betsson, Expekt, Betclick, and Stan James. These sites were flagged by the Commission for continuing to offer online poker games to residents of Belgium since the passing of the Belgian Gambling Act last year. The new law limits online gambling to only those sites to only those who have been approved and licensed by the Commission.

The “white list,” which was released at the beginning of this year, is short. Just three sites were licensed: PokerStars.be, Partouche.be, and GPWin.be. One of the rules for getting on the approved list was that the online poker rooms had to partner with an established brick-and-mortar casino. PokerStars.be teamed up with Casino de Namur, operating by the Circus Groupe. The company that owns Partouche.be also owns four casinos in Belgium, so that relationship was set. GPWin.be is the Belgian offering of GoldenPalacePoker.com, which also has land-based casinos in Belgium.

The country’s four largest interest service providers have been directed by the Belgian Gaming Commission to block traffic to and from sites which have been placed on the “black list,” and players face criminal penalties and fines up to €25,000 simply for playing on a non-approved site.

The list of banned sites is now 30 members long and includes previously added poker rooms like Titan Poker, 888 Poker, Everest Poker, and Chili Poker. Many rooms don’t even care one way or another. PartyPoker and some rooms on the iPoker Network have come out and said that the Belgian online gaming laws may be against European Union law and are “unenforceable.”

While some countries, such as France and Italy, have legalized and regulated online poker but limit their citizens to playing against only players within their own nation, Belgium has not been so restrictive. Even though the regulations are tough and ten times as many online poker rooms have been black listed as have been licensed, Belgian players on the “dot be” sites can still play at the same tables as players from around the world. Thus, Belgians taking to the virtual felts on PokerStars.be are playing against people on PokerStars.com (and any other PokerStars sites that link into the same tables), players on PokerStars.it are ring fenced, only seeing other Italians online.

Mohegan Sun Teams With Pocono Raceway For Charity Poker Tournament

While the world descends on Las Vegas this summer for the 2012 World Series of Poker, one of the top casino operations on the East Coast will be teaming up with arguably the top auto racing tour in the world for a special charity event.

The Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs will team up with NASCAR this summer, prior to the Pocono 400 on June 10, to raise money for two worthy causes. “The Pocono Celebrity Poker Showdown” will be held on June 7 featuring several drivers and celebrities in action on the felt, with the proceeds raised by the event benefitting the NASCAR Foundation and the Armed Forces Foundation. Through several donation opportunities, interested poker players and race fans will be able to take part in the tournament.

These limited playing spots are tiered in three levels of donations. For a $250 donation, the player will not only get a seat at the tables but will also participate in a special pre-tournament “meet and greet” with the celebrities and drivers who will be taking part in the event. For $150, a player will be at the tables for all of the poker action, while a $50 donation will get fans of poker and stock car racing rail side for the poker tournament. For the victor, an all-expense paid trip to the Mohegan Sun in Montville, CT, or a VIP Pocono Raceway race weekend is the top prize.

“We’re so pleased to partner with the Pocono Celebrity Charity Poker Showdown on this charitable event benefitting the NASCAR Foundation and the Armed Forces Foundation,” said Bobby Soper, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. “The spirit of racing is in our DNA and we look forward to a successful poker showdown.”

Brandon Igdalsky, the Pocono Raceway president and CEO, echoed those thoughts during the announcement of the event. “We are very excited about the opportunity to team up with two charitable organizations,” he stated. “Race fans will have the chance to play against some of NASCAR’s top drivers and personalities, with all proceeds benefiting the efforts of The NASCAR Foundation and the Armed Forces Foundation. We anticipate a great event and sincerely thank all involved, especially Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, for all their support.”

One driver that has already committed to the event is former NASCAR champion Kurt Busch, the driver of the #51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Impala. “Both the NASCAR Foundation and Armed Forces Foundation do a lot of work to help their respective communities and in order to do that they depend greatly on the generosity of people who can contribute,” Busch commented during the announcement. “It’s great that Pocono Raceway is helping in this way with the poker tournament. It’s just a fun way to raise money and draw attention to the work of the two groups.”

The NASCAR Foundation, created in 2006, supports nonprofit causes that in particular focus on children. Through such causes as NASCAR Dreams, where children with life threatening illnesses are given the opportunity to meet their NASCAR heroes, and Speediatrics, a special children’s wing at the Halifax Health Medical Center, the NASCAR Foundation has raised millions for these and other worthy causes.

The Armed Forces Foundation offers assistance to active duty and retired military members and their families. The AFF provides assistance to families of wounded veterans, including travel and lodging for families to go to their loved one, and also offer several other forms of assistance to military members and their families.

The Thursday night of poker with the greats of NASCAR and other various celebrities should provide some entertainment for those who can’t make it to the bright lights of Las Vegas for the WSOP. For more information on the event or to register for the Pocono Celebrity Poker Showdown, visit NASCAR.com/Unites to learn more.

Jonathan Duhamel Still Leads Major POY Races, But The Lead Is Shrinking

With slightly more than two weeks to the start of the 2012 World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour World Championship beginning next week, former World Champion Jonathan Duhamel still leads two of the three major Player of the Year races, but that once dominant lead is now shrinking.

Duhamel, who started off the year with a bang during the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, has not had a cash since his thirteenth place run at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars and, as such, hasn’t added to his points total for this year. That run in the Bahamas was memorable for Duhamel, however, as it has put him atop the table for two of the three POY races.

On Bluff Magazine’s rankings, Duhamel still has 713.3 points, the same as he did last month, but the cast of characters chasing him has changed somewhat. Australia’s Oliver Speidel, who has been in second for much of the year, was able to cut into Duhamel’s lead through his performance at two tournaments. On the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), Speidel earned a sixth place finish in the Main Event in Sydney and, in April, picked up a fourth place finish on the Asian Poker Tour’s Main Event in Manila. These two finishes put Speidel at 669.81 points, well within striking distance of the Canadian.

As these two players joust for the top slot, there have been some newcomers to the Bluff Top Ten. Dan Smith terrorized the European Poker Tour through the month of April, earning three championships in side events at the EPT Grand Final (and two preliminary cashes at the EPT Berlin) to catapult his way into the third place slot with 664.26 points. Andrew Chen, the runner up at the EPT Berlin, also has worked his way into the mix; he’s in fourth place with 503.37 points, while Will “The Thrill” Failla (457.35) moved into the Top Five with his final table finish at the WPT Jacksonville.

Rounding out the Bluff POY are Daniel Kelly (down from third place), John Dibella, John Dolan, Sean Jazayeri and Daniel Negreanu (off his High Roller performances during the EPT Grand Final).

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year race also has Duhamel atop the heap, but almost an entirely different roster behind the 2010 World Champion. While Duhamel has earned 595.68 points, Smith’s performance in Europe has earned him the second place slot with 534.42 points. Another player that had an outstanding April was Andrew Badecker, who earned big cashes at the Irish Poker Open and the WPT Vienna. Those two cashes pushed him into the third place slot on the GPI POY with 511.97 points.

Samuel Chartier has quietly climbed up the leaderboard, landing in fourth place (478.7 points) after sitting in seventh at the start of April, while Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier rounds out the Top Five after a massive, third place performance at the Super High Roller at the EPT Grand Final. The rest of the Top Ten include Noah Schwartz, Martin Jacobson, Vyacheslav Igin, Justin Bonomo and Leonid Bilokur. Indicating the turnover on the GPI POY, Eui Kim, Erik Cajelais, Bruno Lopes, Faraz Jaka, Stephen O’Dwyer, Jose Manuel Nadal and Speidel are out of the Top Ten after starting April on the list.

The only POY race that doesn’t have Duhamel at the helm is the CardPlayer Magazine rankings. For the CardPlayer POY, Speidel’s performance over the first four months of the year put him at the #1 slot with 3046 points. Still standing tall after his PCA Main Event championship, Dibella is in the second slot, albeit over 500 points back at 2512 points, while Kelly maintains the third place position. Jaka is in fourth and Duhamel is all the way down in fifth at this point in the poker season according to CardPlayer.

The rest of the CardPlayer POY Top Ten is filled out by Smith, Chen, Jazayeri, EPT Grand Final winner Mohsin Charania and David “Doc” Sands, with slightly over 1000 points separating first from tenth.

With the WPT World Championship, the entirety of the WSOP preliminaries and the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza on tap for the next three months, what will be remarkable is if any of the men mentioned now on the POY lists can sustain their excellent play from the first half of 2012. By the time the final table is determined for the 2012 WSOP Championship Event in July for the “October Nine” finale, we could be looking at completely different Top Ten lists on all three major POY countdowns come late summer.

New Jersey Internet Poker Legislation In Limbo

According to a report in a prominent Pennsylvania newspaper, the legislation that would open up the state of New Jersey for internet gaming and poker is now in limbo, apparently due to the politics of the 2012 Presidential election.

In an extensive article, Philadelphia Inquirer writer Suzette Parmley reports that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appears to be backing off his previous statements that he would sign legislation that would open up the Garden State for online poker, other casino gaming and perhaps even sports betting. Quoting the sponsor of the bill in the New Jersey legislature, Parmley states that “with his political stock rising,” Gov. Christie is apparently unwilling to take a political step that may derail his ambitions.

New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak, who is the sponsor of the proposed internet gaming legislation, is quoted by Parmley after a meeting with Gov. Christie’s staff as saying, “Christie is putting the future of Atlantic City in jeopardy because of his overriding concern for support” from several areas of not only the “brick and mortar” casino industry but also the National Football League.

According to Lesniak, a meeting on April 27 that was thought to be simply to discuss minor changes to the bill became a roadblock. “We were told,” Parmley quotes Lesniak as saying, “that the Atlantic City casinos have not made the case that internet gaming is good for them. Senator (James) Whelan (a fellow New Jersey senator behind the gaming bill) and I were stunned.” Whelan backs up Lesniak’s recounting of the short meeting, saying to Parmley, “I got mixed signals (from the Governor’s office).”

Lesniak cited three persons or organizations in particular in Parmley’s article that could be causing the slowdown: Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chief Executive Officer who was the major financier of the now-defunct presidential campaign of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; Caesars Entertainment, which owns casino properties in Atlantic City; and Woody Johnson, the owner of the NFL’s New York Jets. Parmley also states that it is the potential future for Gov. Christie in the political realm that could be causing the internet gaming question to fall into limbo.

Gov. Christie has been one of the names that have been floated by politicos as a potential vice presidential nominee, on the ticket with presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. As such, it is alleged that Gov. Christie doesn’t want to take a controversial stand by passing internet gaming legislation that could potentially offend such key supporters in a presidential run. If Gov. Christie wasn’t the nominee for vice president, it is also possible that he could take a key position in a presumed Romney cabinet.

Mr. Adelson has consistently held an anti-online gambling stance, even though the Las Vegas Sands Corp. continues to put up casino properties around the world. Parmley points out recent comments by Adelson to the Las Vegas Sun, where Adelson said that “you don’t want a casino in every home” and added that the land-based casino industry would see a 10-20% decrease in action if internet gaming was introduced.

The Caesars Entertainment opposition is a bit more difficult to figure out. A proponent of the intrastate system in Nevada (which looks to be on track for a late-2012 start), the signals are murky as to why Caesars wouldn’t support such activity in New Jersey. Mr. Johnson’s anti-gaming stance is easy to determine, as the NFL has a long-standing policy against internet gaming, especially online sports betting.

Last summer, Gov. Christie vetoed an internet gaming and poker bill, saying at the time that he didn’t believe that the industry’s servers could be concentrated in Atlantic City, which he deemed important. After the U. S. Department of Justice issued their December 2011 decision that the Wire Act of 1961 only applied to sports betting, Gov. Christie seemed to change his stance, saying in January, “I think New Jersey should be in that business (of online gaming).” Since that time, as Christie’s political stock has risen, the legislative action has ground to a halt.

The Lesniak bill passed through the Senate last month and it was though that a quick vote – and signature into law by Gov. Christie – would be an afterthought. Instead, the Senate has yet to take a floor vote on the issue and the Assembly has yet to even put comparable legislation into committee, basically derailing the issue at this time.

The allegations by Lesniak are dismissed by the Governor’s office. Asked by Parmley for a comment on the online gaming question, Gov. Christie’s press secretary Michael Drewniak stated, “Democrats criticize us for everything (Lesniak and Whelan are Democratic senators), so what else is new? I don’t feel the need to weigh in (on the subject) at this moment.”

WSOP Retires Fun Police

It appears that World Series of Poker (WSOP) officials are going to lighten up and let the players have a little fun this year. In a conference call Tuesday, WSOP representatives discussed some changes to what had previously been strict rules governing behavior at the tables.

One of the biggest complaints from players last year was the damper that was put on table talk. Players were allowed to chat, but they were not permitted to discuss the contents of their own or their opponent’s hand, even when heads-up in a pot. Most talk of active hands is still disallowed, but the rule has been modified. “You can say whatever you want about the contents of your hand and disclose the contents of your hand as long as you don’t show your cards and as long as no other player in a hand has a decision to make,” said WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel.

“If a player is all-in and there’s no one left to act, you can say, ‘I have two aces and a flush draw. I know I have you beat,’” he elaborated. “Obviously, there will be errors, but we’re trying to get you guys to loosen up a bit and talk. We still want to protect against soft play and collusion.”

Daniel Negreanu, known for his table banter, was an extremely vocal opponent of the “no table talk” rule last year, letting his feelings be known during live broadcasts of tournaments, via Twitter, and on his blog.

“Over 99% of table talk is completely unrelated to collusion, which appears to be the one and only reason that the TDA [Tournament Director’s Association] added this rule,” Negreanu wrote on his blog at FullContactPoker.com last August. “The biggest lie that’s being told is that if you get rid of this rule, you make collusion legal. That is just not true. Collusion and soft play is illegal. It was before this rule was implemented, and I imagine it always will be.”

“Part of what makes poker interesting is the ability to look at your opponent and gauge whether or not they look like they are bluffing or not,” he added later. “It is undoubtedly a poker skill. This rule infringes upon a skill that’s been used since poker’s inception and is one of the sexier aspects to the game, not to mention the viewing public.”

WSOP officials appear to have seen the light and have admitted that they were a bit too draconian with the rule’s enforcement. WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said, “We’ve tightened poker up so much that players are afraid to use verbal strategy to out-man their opponents, which has been integral to poker. It takes poker back to its fundamental basis and its strategic intent. As a result, you get good TV.”

The WSOP is also loosening up when it comes to celebrations at the table. Poker fans may remember the often maniacal-looking histrionics from online star Hevad “RaiNKhAN” Khan during his run to the final table of the 2007 WSOP Main Event. His act after winning big hands wasn’t looked upon kindly by tournament officials, so they put the clamps on future celebrations. That strict policy, too, has changed. While players need to keep their dances of joy within some sort of reason, emotion is now permitted.

“There were cases last year where celebrations were penalized,” admitted Stewart. “A poker room isn’t a church. We just think we need to set the tone to bring some of the fun back.”

bwin.party Partners with California Tribe for Future Online Poker Licensing

Online gaming company bwin.party is readying itself to enter the California online poker market should the game become legalized in the state. The operator of bwin.com and PartyPoker.com, bwin.party announced Tuesday that it has inked an agreement with the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) to provide online poker games to residents of California when and if pro-online gaming legislation passes in the state.

“California is the largest state in the U.S. in terms of population and is known to have a significant number of poker players who like to play poker online.  Combining our own significant assets and resources with those of UAIC will create a strong partnership that is well-placed to seize the opportunities that will arise if appropriate online poker legislation is enacted in the Golden State,” said Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEOs of bwin.party, in a press release.

The UAIC operates the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. As such, the tribe would qualify to apply for an online poker license, according to currently proposed legislation in the state Senate. bwin.party would supply the necessary technology as well as the company’s experience in operations.

Senate Bill 1463, the Gambling Control Act, was introduced by State Senators Rod Wright and Darrel Steinberg on February 24, 2012 and would make online poker legal within state borders. After two years, the legislature could evaluate how things have gone and potentially legalize other casino games.

“We see the legalisation of Internet poker and other Internet gaming as being inevitable,” said David Keyser, Tribal Chairman of UAIC. “Having met with representatives from a number of different online gaming companies, bwin.party was our first choice as partner.  With its unrivalled expertise in online poker, proven technology and player loyalty we are confident of being able to maximise the revenue opportunity from a regulated online poker market in California and to continue to enhance the long-term prosperity of our community.”

This is not the first time bwin.party has found an American partner for a possible entry into the United States online gaming market. Last year, the company entered into agreements with both MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming and announced its intention in March to seek a license in Nevada should intrastate online poker be legalized in the state. Like with California, a potential operator must partner with a company with a state gaming license. If either MGM or Boyd is awarded a license, bwin.party will provide the poker software and take care of the site’s maintenance.

Under the rules of SB 1463, a California license would be good for ten years and each licensee will be required to pay a nonrefundable $30 million license fee. The bill also proposes a tax rate of 10 percent of gross gaming revenue.

Titan Poker Splits with Trickett, Rettenmaier

Titan Poker, one of the leading sites on the iPoker Network, has ended its relationship with its resident pros, star European players Sam Trickett and Marvin Rettenmaier. In a sign of the times, the departures were not announced via a press release or a news item on Titan’s site, but rather by the players themselves on Twitter.

Trickett went first on May 3rd, posting on his account (@SamTrickett1), “Me an [sic] Titan have decided to part ways. I have enjoyed representing them and they was a [sic] absolute pleasure to work with.Thanks again Titan….”

This past Sunday, May 6th, Rettenmaier announced the same on his account, @MadMarvin, writing, “@titan_poker has decided to part ways with its Pro Team. I am very thankful for the opportunities and I had a great time representing them.”

Both Trickett and Rettenamaier signed on with Titan Poker in March 2010 and renewed their contracts last June, to run through the end of 2011. There is no indication of any problem between either player and the poker room, so this is likely just a simple business decision by Titan and the two players no longer appeared to be bound by any contract.

Trickett, from England, had an incredible year representing Titan Poker in live tournaments in 2011. In the first month of the year, he won the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Aussie Millions and then followed that up with a runner-up finish in the $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event there just a few days later. His combined haul for the two tournaments was just under $2.9 million. Then, in September, he won the Partouche Poker Main Event in Cannes, France, good for $1,364,666 (€1,000,000). In October, Trickett made the final table of the High Roller event at European Poker Tour (EPT) London and the €5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2011 WSOP Europe, earning himself more the $200,000 total. He won $4.6 million in live tournaments last year and has won over $6.3 million in his career.

Trickett also plays nosebleed cash games and has been a fixture lately in the gigantic cash games in Macau. He recently won pot there worth more than $2 million.

Marvin Rettenmaier, a native of Germany, seems to play anywhere and everywhere. In 2011 alone, he had 25 live tournament cashes for a total of more than $600,000. Just a couple weeks ago, he won the €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the EPT Grand Final, banking €118,300, or $156,186 for people on the west side of the pond. Rettenmaier’s biggest win to date was in the France Poker Series Paris Finale, where he finished on top of the field of 567, earning €244,036 ($332,470).

The iPoker Network ranks as the second largest poker network or room on the internet in terms of cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com. With a seven day average of 3,350, it sits comfortable ahead of PartyPoker (3,000). Of course, it would take a miracle to catch PokerStars, which boasts a seven day average of 29,800 cash game players.

ESPN Releases 2012 WSOP Broadcast Schedule

With less than three weeks until the start of the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP), it is now permissible to begin getting excited for the annual poker festival. Before the party ends, ESPN will once again begin its broadcasts of the WSOP, starting with a special airing of the Big One for ONE DROP tournament on July 3rd.

The Big One for ONE DROP will be the richest poker tournament in history, featuring a $1,000,000 buy-in and, to this point, a 30-player field. With $111,111 of the buy-in going to ONE DROP, a charitable organization which seeks to provide access to clean, drinkable water to people around the world, the prize pool has already reached $26,666,670. If the tournament stays at its current size, the winner will receive $12,266,668.20, which would break the record of $12,000,000, set by Jamie Gold when he won the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

The tournament is a three-day event beginning on July 1st. ESPN and ESPN3 will air the final day of the event “virtually live,” employing just a 15-minute delay. That will be it for the WSOP broadcast until July 31st, when ESPN will return with its two-hour, edited shows, starting with that same Big One for ONE DROP.

Just two other events will be show on “the mothership.” The WSOP National Championship, which will feature the top 100 qualifiers from the 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit tour, will grace television sets on August 7th. From there, it is the Main Event every Tuesday night through October 30th.

That final broadcast is the Main Event final table, and is the only other broadcast after the first one that will be “virtually live.”

This year’s schedule continues ESPN’s trend of showing very few preliminary events. 2008 was when the preliminary event broadcasts began to decrease, dropping to seven from ten the previous year. That number was chopped to just three in 2009 and then two in 2010. Last year, three events besides the Main Event were aired, but in 2012, ESPN is opting to show just the Big One and the WSOP National Championship.

2012 World Series of Poker ESPN Broadcast Schedule

*denotes live event with no set end time

Lock Poker to Acquire Cake Poker Network

When it comes to online poker network reorganizations, things usually happen in one of three ways: one network buys another, a poker room leaves a network, or a poker room joins a network. On Monday, though, a significant move was made that did not fit any of these categories. Yes, Lock Poker announced that it will be leaving the Merge Gaming Network, but at the same time, it will be acquiring the Cake Poker Network and creating a new online poker network, Revolution Gaming.

A press release issued by Lock Poker read, in part, “Lock is in the process of acquiring assets from Cake and will be re-branding the Cake Network to launch Revolution Gaming, driving technology, marketing, player rewards and implementing a richer tournament schedule. The LockPRO team will be at the foundation of these changes. They will come together and offer their recommendations on all levels, truly bringing the player into the boardroom.”

Lock Poker has confirmed that Revolution Gaming will use the Cake Poker software, though its development team will immediately begin working on improvements. Current Lock players, who use the Merge software platform, will be migrated to the Cake software on May 31st. All login information will remain the same and balances will remain intact.

“Lock will also continue to manage their own stand-alone cashier so withdrawals will be as fast and easy as they are now,” the company added. “All players’ current player VIP rewards will only increase and all rakeback players will be moved over to the increased percentage on Revolution.”

“We are very excited at the prospect of driving the product, marketing and overall vision of the network. It is a dream come true,” said Lock CEO Jennifer Larson in the press release. “Merge was a great stepping stone for us but we have outgrown them. We really need to forge our own path to continued success. The only way to do this is to stay true to our of core philosophy: partnering with our players.”

It will be interesting to see how this changes the look of the online poker industry. Though neither would be considered large, the Merge Gaming Network and Cake Poker Network are the two largest remaining U.S.-friendly networks (Bodog/Bovada falls in between the two, but it is a standalone room). According to PokerScout.com, the Merge Gaming Network is the 8th largest online poker network/room with a seven day average of 1,640 cash game players. The Cake Poker Network is just 22nd with 610.

It appears that Lock Poker’s exodus from Merge will be a major stomach punch to the network. A Lock Poker representative told PocketFives.com on Sunday (in response to a rumor that Cake might be buying Lock) that Lock Poker made up 40 percent of Merge’s traffic. If this figure is accurate, Merge’s cash game traffic would fall to 984 players if everybody on Lock stayed onboard (it is entirely possible that some players would opt to move to another Merge skin). On the flip side, if all Lock players stayed on Lock, Revolution Gaming would have 1,266 players, based on current traffic numbers. The new totals would put Revolution in the 9th spot in PokerScout’s rankings, while Merge would sink to 12th.

Poker Pros Network Launches

Industry conditions be damned. A new U.S.-friendly online poker network, the Poker Pros Network,  launched last week, hoping that its player-friendly atmosphere will attract casual and serious players alike.

The Poker Pros Network, owned by Costa Rica-based CMK Interactive, is currently comprised of seven online poker rooms and is new enough that cash game tracking site PokerScout.com does not yet have data on the activity at its tables. One interesting trait of the network is unlike most other networks whose member rooms are all basically the same save for color schemes, the Poker Pros Network seems to allow its rooms to have some autonomy. They all use the same software and participate in most of the same promotions, but each has its own personality.

For example, ManiacalPoker.com prides itself on adding a bit of crazy, a bit of whimsy, to its poker games. It hosts “all-in only” tournaments with million chip starting stacks, one minute blind levels, and chances to win fun prizes like a year’s worth of pizza deliveries. The site is also home to “Maniacs” who occasionally grace the tables with their presence, play erratically, and give away money and prizes.

CheapSeatsPoker.com, on the other hand, wants to foster a calmer atmosphere, specializing in micro-stakes games. Its cash game tables range in stakes from $0.01/$0.02 to just $0.25/$0.50 and tournaments have buy-ins of only $0.05 up to $4. There are also freerolls with tiny prize pools of $1 and $5.

NoTiltPoker.eu seems to have a lean towards the older player, promoting qualifiers for the $1,000 Seniors World Championship event at the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on its front page, something the other rooms are not advertising. The network as a whole appears to have qualifiers for the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.

The other sites on the network are PPNPoker.eu, LoungeLizardPoker.com, PPNLiveDealers.com, and PokerRoomUSA.com. PPNLiveDealers will launch this summer and will be unique in that, as the name implies, it will feature live and celebrity dealers. PokerRoomUSA is a subscription and free points-based poker room and does not share the same tables as the other six rooms on the network.

In a press release, Poker Pros Network CEO Chuck Kidd boasted one aspect of the network of which he is extremely proud, saying, “The most unique and exciting feature, of which only Poker Pros Network employs, is its one convenient cashier with several depositing options, including credit cards.”

The network offers round-the-clock live support and has game managers that monitor the tables. “Today’s online poker players have higher expectations,” said Kidd. “In anticipation, our developers went well beyond simply improving standards.”

The Poker Pros Network was in beta-testing mode starting in August but then went down for several months in order to iron out all the kinks. While the traffic still leaves something to be desired, player reviews have generally been positive, touting the network’s reliable cashouts, something that is strongly desired in this day and age of uncertainty surrounding player funds.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton Signs Bill Expanding Poker At Racetrack Rooms

In a demonstration of bipartisan agreement – and rapid movement of legislation through the appropriate bodies of government – Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota signed a bill on Friday to expand the poker rooms at the two thoroughbred horse tracks in the state.

The legislation had been proposed to settle a long-simmering battle between two gaming entities in the state. The two racetracks, Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park, had been looking to turn themselves into full-fledged “racinos” that would include slot and table games along with their poker offerings. This was something that the Indian casino interests in the state vehemently protested, as the proposed expansion was viewed as something that would take away customers from their operations.

The Minnesota Legislature set about last weekend to attempt to end this standoff between the two interests. Last Saturday, the Minnesota Senate passed the bill, House File 2795, through by a 44-18 vote, while the House pushed it through by a 97-34 margin. With the signing of the bill by Gov. Dayton, both sides of the gaming issue seem to have won something for their efforts.

The two racetracks in the state will be able to expand their poker rooms from 50 to 80 tables and they will have unlimited tables for poker tournaments. In addition to this, the two racetracks can now offer higher betting limits (from $60 to $100) and other table games, such as blackjack, that players will now play against the house (previously, players had to play each other in those games in what were called “non-bank” games). The Indian casinos will now be able to offer simulcast betting on horse racing and other off-track betting (OTB) operations.

Randy Sampson, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Canterbury Park, discussed how their particular poker room would phase in the new laws. “Initially, we will increase the number of tables hosting live play from 50 to 60, the card room’s current capacity, to accommodate our customers during peak periods,” Sampson said in a statement following the bill’s passage. “Additional expansion, higher betting limits and expanded poker tournaments will be implemented based on market demand.”

The adjustments to the poker regulations for the racetracks aren’t about making poker more popular in the state. The increased number of cash game tables – as well as the increase in tables for tournaments and other table games – is a direct effort by the state to raise revenues for the tracks to preserve their place in the horse racing industry. Through the increased revenues, Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park will be able to offer increased purses for their live races, potentially drawing more business to the state.

“While this legislation will not solve the revenue problems the industry faces, it is an important step in the right direction for Minnesota horse racing,” Sampson stated. “We are grateful the Legislature and Governor recognized the current, fragile state of horse breeding and horse racing in Minnesota and provided new tools we can use to strengthen our business and enhance purses.”

Jeff Hilger, the president of the Equine Development Coalition of Minnesota, agreed with Sampson regarding the new poker regulations. “Racing purses are the fuel of our horse industry,” Hilger said after the passage of the new regulations. “This legislation will help stop the decline of the breeding industry in Minnesota and send a clear sign to Minnesota owners and trainers that the state is serious about protecting the future of the equine industry.”

Although it does seem as if the passage of the laws is more to aid the state’s other interests, the passage of the new poker regulations in Minnesota once again shows the power of the game to raise revenues that can take care of individual state’s multitude of issues.

“The Bernard Lee Show” Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Trip To Television

Making it five years with any poker programming – whether it is radio or television – calls for a time of celebration. Poker professional Bernard Lee will be doing just that over the month of May as he celebrates his fifth anniversary of his namesake poker radio program by offering a televised version of the program in the New England area.

“The Bernard Lee Poker Show” has aired in the New England area for the past five years on such stations as 1120AM Boston, 970AM Worcester and 1390AM Cape Cod on the Money Matters Radio Network (it is also simulcast on Rounders Radio for those outside the Massachusetts area) from 6-7PM on Tuesdays. Over that span of time, Lee has been able to bring to the Northeast some of the best interviews with the biggest names in the game.

Since its inception, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” has been able to draw every World Series of Poker Championship Event winner since 2003, as well as every member of the November Nine since it began in 2008, and has featured poker discussion with such notables as poker legend Doyle Brunson, World Poker Tour commentator and Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Jason Mercier and scores of other top poker talent.

With the fifth anniversary celebration in mind, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” will be taping three broadcasts of the show that will air on Comcast SportsNet New England and DirecTV beginning on Monday. The televised version of the show will air through May on Monday night at 8:30PM and will repeat on Sunday afternoons at 1:30PM. For these three shows, Lee is pulling out some big names to join him on the air.

On May 7, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” will welcome the 2003 World Champion, Chris Moneymaker, to both the radio and television program. One of the topics for discussion between Lee and Moneymaker might be his “star turn” in the poker documentary “All In: The Poker Movie,” where Moneymaker was quite open about his gambling proclivities prior to winning the WSOP Championship Event in 2003.

On May 14, the inaugural WSOP “November Nine” chip leader and eventual third place finisher Dennis Phillips will be joining Lee on the air. Phillips, who airs his own poker show “The Final Table” on 590AM KFNS radio in St. Louis, should be an entertaining discussion as he talks about his road from working with a trucking company to becoming one of the most notable faces in the world of poker.

On May 21, Lee will cap off the three episodes broadcast on television by bringing in the 1989 World Champion, Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth, whose exploits on the felt are arguably unrivaled as an eleven-time WSOP bracelet winner and general ambassador for the game, should prove to be a great way to cap off the televised broadcasts just a week before the 2012 WSOP begins.

“Bernard has been a great asset to the Money Matters Radio Network through the years,” Dave Cullinane, the Money Matters Radio Network general manager, stated during the announcements of the fifth anniversary celebration. “As New England’s top professional poker player, we enjoy sharing his expertise and insight into the world of poker each and every week and congratulate him on a great milestone.”

Calling Lee the “top professional poker player” in New England is not a stretch. While maintaining the broadcasts of “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” for the past five years, Lee has also picked up co-hosting duties on “ESPN Inside Deal” and writes about the game at the Boston Herald, ESPN.com and CardPlayer Magazine along with publishing two books, The Final Table, Volumes I and II. When he’s not talking or writing about poker, Lee has found the time to craft an excellent poker resume; his career earnings total almost $2 million, including eight WSOP cashes and four WPT cashes.

As players and fans prepare for the 2012 WSOP, celebrating “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” and its fifth anniversary seems like the right way to get this summer’s festivities off to a great start. For more details on Lee and his various endeavors, visit bernardleepoker.com to learn more.

PocketFives Offers New Innovation To Connect “Local” Players

One of the unique things about the game of poker is that it is a social activity (taking money off your opponents is an added benefit!). With that in mind, one of the most popular online poker information sites is offering its members a way to connect with like-minded poker players in their respective state or country.

This week, PocketFives.com, which boasts a 120,000 member poker community and a plethora of poker information, launched a new endeavor with the intention of linking players together via the site. Dubbed “PocketFives Local,” the new tab on the PocketFives site provides a method for players to interact with each other through posts, information regarding other players’ performance in online and live tournaments and, in general, talk about the game that they enjoy.

“The central feature of this page is a column displaying updates on players in that location,” says PocketFives co-founder Cal Spears. “Anytime a player in that location does something noteworthy, such as cash in a live or online tournament or wins a new PocketFives badge, we’ll automatically generate a post to this column to let everyone know about it in his area.”

There are four areas that PocketFives Local gives kudos to in calling them the “Leaders” of a particular category. Those categories are “Ambassador (member with the most referrals to PocketFives),” “Chip Leader (player with the largest cash in the last three months),” “Table Captain (player with the most Local posts)” and “Grinder (the player with the most cashes in the last three months). In addition to these “Leader” awards, players can “Raise” updates from their fellow members to indicate their approval of a particular post and comment on any item that appears in the main PocketFives Local column.

Another nice feature of PocketFives Local is a link to live events at any casino in a player’s particular state. By logging into PocketFives and visiting the “Local” tab, a player is taken directly to their particular state’s poker community. Under this area, a “Poker Near Me” tab is available, which will display the live events in casinos throughout the state.

It only seems natural that the United States would have the most members of all the different nations. There are almost 40,000 registered members of PocketFives in the U. S., with the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany also providing solid Local groups. In addition to the national breakdown, each of the fifty U. S. states has their own community to be able to interact with players closer to them.

Players who have already registered on the site have been placed with their particular country and state and new players who register will be automatically slotted into their proper locations. It is important to keep your information up to date on PocketFives, otherwise you might end up in an area that no longer applies to you.

While there may be other poker forums on the internet, PocketFives is looking to provide something to make the experience special for poker’s denizens. Through the new “PocketFives Local” feature, players will be able to draw closer to other players located in their state or country and perhaps build new friendships and/or challenges at the poker tables.

This also looks to be the first step in what is going to be a multi-tiered program for the PocketFives website. Spears stated that the new “Local” feature is simply Phase 1 of an increased effort from the website to reach a broader audience of poker players not only in the United States but also throughout the world. If the new “Local” feature is simply the beginning step in an ongoing process, it will be interesting to see what else PocketFives can come up with to continue to drive interest in the game.