Poker News

Joe Sebok Discusses UB.com Leap of Faith Freeroll

On Wednesday, February 17th at 9:00pm ET, the USA-friendly online poker room UB.com is hosting an extra special freeroll in which the winner gets a once-in-a-lifetime skydiving experience with Joe Sebok. In total, $2,000 in cash and prizes will be up for grabs, with the winner plummeting to the ground with the PokerRoad personality.

The jump occurs over the Nevada desert and the top prize also includes quality time with one of the newest members of Team UB. The tournament’s password will be released through UB.com’s Twitter feed just before it begins. Poker News Daily sat down with Sebok to get the inside scoop on this buzz-worthy promotion.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Where did the idea for the skydiving freeroll come from?

Joe Sebok: I had always wanted to do something like that. This was one of the reasons I wanted to get involved with UB.com in the first place, so I could do cool things. If you aren’t having fun, then what’s the point? Each UB.com pro will have a unique experience. I had about 50 things that I thought would be cool.

PND: What were some of the other ideas you had?

Joe Sebok: Jumping out of a plane is my style or maybe going down to San Felipe and racing dune buggies. It really comes down to how much stuff UB wants to do. Hopefully, this will be the first of many unique experiences. We got to do the Twitter tournament and now this. I want to get through the negative stuff with UB so we can get to the fun stuff.

PND: What’s your skydiving background?

Joe Sebok: I love it. I have been about four times now. Thomas Wahlroos is an incredible skydiver and I wanted to go with him. I’ve always gone tandem, but for this one, I’d like it to be a solo jump. It’s terrifying to think of. There’s a class and you have to sit down and go through the techniques. You can imagine how scary it is. When you’re on someone’s back, there’s nothing for you to do other than fall. Everything’s different when you’re responsible for pulling the chute.

PND: Tell us about how the process of distributing hand histories relating to the Russ Hamilton-led cheating scandal is going.

Joe Sebok: It’s going well. In my recent blog, I asked people to get in touch with me with any issues. I probably had around 15 to 20 people do so. The bigger hand history orders, which mainly belong pros, are still being compiled. The main thing for people to understand is that UB had to pick a formula. It was all of the money you won versus cheating accounts minus money lost versus cheating accounts and if it was negative, we gave it back. Some people are angry with that formula and some are grateful. You have to pick a way to go and be consistent. Some will be stoked to get a refund and some won’t be.

The main thing I try to get people to understand is that everyone thinks I’m lying to them or won’t help. It’s just not true. Ever since I signed, I’ve spent a ton of time on this. People need to understand that I’m on their side. I’m trying to make things better and make sure we get this information out.

PND: Give us a quick recap of the first season of the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite,” which airs on Fox Sports Net on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET.

Joe Sebok: The transformation since the first show has been great. In a short amount of time, we’ve improved a lot. We like to think we do that with all of our projects. We just want to continue to improve it heading into Season 2.

Ivey Loses $320k to Ziigmund

Ivey has been somewhat of a ghost online in 2010 having played only 974 hands, while players such as Di "Urindanger" Dang have already booked over 34,000.

In his latest session Ivey played just 254 hands before throwing in the towel. He started at $300/$600 PLO against both Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and Patrik Antonius.

Ivey only stuck around for 97 hands, earning $36k for his efforts.

About halfway into his session Ivey and Sahamies agreed to play heads-up on Ivey's personal $500/$1,000 table - the Ivey Thunderdome. This match lasted for 157 hands, ending with Sahamies winning $321k.

Ivey's $284k loss leaves him up just $32k on the year.

After losing $275k playing 7-Game, Sahamies finished the day with only $113k. This win continues his hot-streak, pushing his year's results to over $1.7 million.

Antonius continues to struggle at the tables, last night losing over $467k. Nearly half of those losses ($209k) went to Tom "durrrr" Dwan in the latest session of the durrrr Challenge.

Despite winning the largest pot of the night, worth almost $500k, Antonius lost $174k to Sahamies heads-up and an additional $83k in his PLO session with Sahamies and Ivey.

When added to his results for the year, Antonius is now the first player to be stuck over $1 million in 2010.

Below you can find the largest pots of the night, or you can head to MarketPulse to see the rest.

Phil Ivey Loses $320k to Ziigmund

Ivey has been somewhat of a ghost online in 2010 having played only 974 hands, while players such as Di "Urindanger" Dang have already booked over 34,000.

In his latest session Ivey played just 254 hands before throwing in the towel. His session started at $300/$600 PLO against both Sahamies and Patrik Antonius.

Ivey only stuck around for 97 hands, earning $36k for his efforts.

About halfway into his session Ivey and Sahamies agreed to play heads-up on Ivey's personal $500/$1,000 table, the Ivey Thunderdome. This match lasted for 157 hands, ending with Sahamies winning $321k.

Ivey's $284k loss leaves him up just $32k on the year.

After losing $275k playing 7-Game, Sahamies finished the day with only $113k. This win continues his hot-streak, pushing his year's results to over $1.7 million.

Antonius continues to struggle at the tables, last night losing over $467k. Nearly half of those losses ($209k) went to Tom "durrrr" Dwan in the latest session of the durrrr Challenge.

Despite winning the largest pot of the night, worth almost $500k, Antonius lost $174k to Sahamies heads-up and an additional $83k in his PLO session with Sahamies and Ivey.

When added to his results for the year, Antonius is now the first player to be stuck over $1 million in 2010.

Below you can find the largest pots of the night, or you can head to MarketPulse to see the rest.

Poker2Nite Welcomes Mike Matusow

The Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite” welcomed the always outspoken Mike “The Mouth” Matusow this week. The franchise airs at 11:00pm ET every Wednesday night and can also be seen on The Score at 3:00pm ET on Sundays.

This week’s installment began with a discussion of the $335 buy-in re-entry event that kicked off the L.A. Poker Classic. The tournament was the brainchild of Matt Savage and allowed players to buy back in on a later starting day should they be knocked out. On top of the unique formula, the tournament also guaranteed $1 million. Interviews were shown with David “Chino” Rheem, Amnon Filippi, Thor Hanson, and Andreas Hoivold. Filippi commented, “It’s so hard to get so many people in one place at one time. You have to have a 100-table room and you have to have the players. L.A. has both.” Darrell Cain ultimately took down the kickoff event for over $300,000.

Attention then turned to Betfair front woman Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who won an Omaha event held during the Aussie Millions this month for $40,000. Obrestad, who won the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, became the first female ever to win an Aussie Millions tournament. “Poker2Nite’ co-host Joe Sebok explained, “She’s an absolute beast. She’s going to be a force at the Rio.” The 2010 WSOP will mark Obrestad’s debut in the annual U.S. series.

Matusow then joined the show and explained that his fortunes turned for the worst last year: “2007 and 2008 were the best years of poker I’ve ever had in my life. It spiraled downward starting with the $40,000 event in the WSOP [last year]. That beat led to another beat and another beat and the next thing you know, I was catching no cards and [recording] no cashes.” Matusow admitted that he made just $2,200 off of poker in 2009 after recording seven-figure years in 2007 and 2008.

As to what led to his dramatic downfall, Matusow explained that not working out every day and stiff competition contributed. His goal is to drop back to 185 pounds and run eight miles per day by the time the 2010 WSOP rolls around. He added, “Players have gotten better. There are so many great players.” One of those top minds in the game is its all-time money leader, Phil Ivey. Matusow commented on his fellow Full Tilt Poker pro: “I think that Phil Ivey, when he’s playing well, is probably the best all-around poker player I’ve ever played with.”

A new segment called “Mikey’s Meltdowns” featured Matusow against UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth during a taping of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” A 7-2 rule was in effect and any player who scooped the pot with the worst starting hand in Hold’em was paid $500 by each of their opponents. Hellmuth led out for a pot-sized bet of $40,000 on the river with 7-2 for air against Matusow, who had pocket kings. After much deliberation and a “This sucks,” Matusow folded his overpair face up. Hellmuth turned over 7-2 and the table exploded in commentary.

“All in Blind” featured Sebok and co-host Scott Huff debating a series of topics, including the aforementioned L.A. Poker Classic re-entry event, U.S. President Barack Obama being invited to play in the Irish Poker Open, and UB.com pro Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin donating $200,000 to his alma mater’s baseball program. Then, Dana Workman’s “Weekly Misdeal,” which provides a satirical look at the week’s headlines, poked fun at a topless home game raid, the Rio’s 20th birthday celebration, T.J. Cloutier selling a WSOP bracelet on eBay, and the popular video game system Sega entering the online poker marketplace.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” saluted Mike Hofer, the winner of the Absolute Poker College Challenge. Hofer earned $10,000 in college tuition and told “Poker2Nite” cameras, “The competition surprised me. They were all very competent players. Hats off to them. They played a great game.”

Catch “Poker2Nite” next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information.

Young Stars Lead Aussie Millions Final

Betfair Poker pro Sorel Mizzi will come in to the final eight with a massive chip lead and all the confidence that comes with it following a day where it appeared he could do no wrong on the felt.

"Confident is definitely the one word to describe how I'm feeling right now," the 23-year-old Canadian said. "Everything is just going my way. I'm getting hands, I'm making the correct reads. I feel like I'm playing the most perfect poker I know how.

"I might not be playing perfectly, but it's the best that I know how to play and things are working out for me right now."

Using the screen names Imper1um and zangbezan24, Mizzi is one of the most feared tournament players in online poker history.

While he has also amassed more than $1.6 million in career earnings in live tournaments, a major title has escaped his clutches to date, making this shot at Aussie Millions glory even more desirable to him.

"How badly do I want this?" he asked. "On a scale from zero to ten, it's a ten."  

Mizzi holds close to half of the chips in play with eight players remaining, but said he has no plans to bully the table tomorrow.

"I'm just going to adjust to the situations when I see what they are," he said. "I don't really know my strategy going into tomorrow, but I'm really good at just feeling things out. Hopefully I feel things right and hopefully I keep hitting the cards I was hitting today."

In Mizzi's way stands fellow Betfair Poker pro and 2007 World Series of Poker Europe champ Annette Obrestad.

Considering she currently sits fifth in chips, Obrestad is being cautiously optimistic about her chances.

"I can't say I'm too confident, considering Sorel has six times the amount of chips I do," she said.

No less than an online poker legend, Obrestad, otherwise known as Annette_15, is hoping the experience of playing on a big stage in the past will pay off in Australia Saturday.

"I think it helps a lot because I'm not really nervous when I play," she said. "For me it's just another game of poker, just for a lot more money."

She's also banking on the deep structure here at the Aussie Millions allowing her to remain patient despite her stack size.

"I think people are going to be way too aggressive and try to outplay each other," the 21-year-old Norwegian said. "I don't really see the point in that because with my image, people think I'm nuts anyway, so I'll just wait for a hand and probably get it in good."

Also posing a major threat to Mizzi's lead is 24-year-old fellow Canadian Peter "Apathy" Jetten.

With a European Poker Tour High Roller and two World Series of Poker final tables on his resume, including a runner up finish in the 2008 WSOP $10k Pot-Limit Omaha, Jetten is another player hoping experience will help him get over the hump Down Under.

"I think that experience just helps so much, if not in my play then at least in making me more comfortable," he said. "The PLO event eluding me heads-up hurt a lot. It's really nice to be back with a shot at winning again and I want to win this one very badly."

Rounding out the final eight are PartyPoker qualifier's Tyron Krost and Fred Jensen, both of whom have a couple of small WSOP cashes on their sheets.

Plus Aussie Hold'em Poker group qualifier Steven Shelly, fellow local Kosta Varoxis and Reno Nevada's Steve Friedlander.

To follow all the action until the AUD$2 million first-place prize and 2010 Aussie Millions title is handed out, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates beginning at 2 p.m. Melbourne time Saturday.

PokerStars Announces 2010 Nordic Poker Awards

The Nordic Poker Awards, previously the Scandinavian Poker Awards, will celebrate the best players from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden on Feb. 15 – the day before EPT Copenhagen begins.

This year there are 30 nominees from across the four Nordic countries.

Some of the notable players to be nominated include Peter Eastgate, Patrik Antonius, Ville Wahlbeck, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Ilari Sahamies, Jens Kyllonen and Erik Sagstrom.

The categories for 2010 include Best Live Tournament Player, Best Performance, Best Online Player and Rookie of the Year.

Award winners will be chosen by a public vote.

All EPT players are invited to the awards ceremony, which will be held at Park Café in Copenhagen at 8 p.m.

Check the PokerStars website for the complete list of nominees.

Ziigmund Breaks $1.5 Million Mark

Sahamies is now up over $1.6 million for the year with the majority of the profit coming from the last eight days.

Despite his reputation as a wild gambler, Sahamies has not logged a losing day on the online tables since Jan. 20.

His session yesterday began at $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha where he lost $14k against regular opponents Cole South, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Gus Hansen.

After an hour and 108 hands, Sahamies made the move to $300/$600 PLO heads-up against South. In just 28 minutes (55 hands) Sahamies took over $252k.

After an eight hour break, Sahamies returned to $300/$600 PLO to play Patrik Antonius heads-up, but once again only stayed for about 20 minutes and 59 hands.

In the short match Sahamies took $53k from Antonius bringing him up to $296k on the day.

Dwan, who has struggled at the tables since his $5 million dollar string of losses in late 2009, sat for over 2,000 hands, but only managed to finish the day up $27k.

Antonius still seems to be having trouble finding his footing this year, which is a stark contrast to his domination in 2009.

The Team Full Tilt pro played three matches of heads-up PLO losing $54k to Sahamies, $78k to South and winning a modest $5k from Dwan.

In total Antonius adds over $126k to his losses in 2010.

Despite losing over $134k, and finishing as the day's top loser, South remains one of the year's most profitable players, up over $1 million.

Below you can see three of the largest hands from the previous sessions, or head to MarketPulse for hundreds more.

Pacific Poker offers a great $8 free Campaign for the first 50.000 new players - and more!

Get $8 free to Pacific Poker through our great new promotion! Create a new account and download the Pacific Poker’s special Bankroll Management client to get all the great benefits.

- In order to cash out the $8 free, players must wager 20x the bonus amount

- Players making a deposit are eligible to recieve their first deposit bonus

- This bonus is available for only the first 50.000 players that claim the bonus

- Players will recieve $8 free instantly

- All players who will take the benefit of the bonus will be upgraded to the regular client between February 8th and February 15th

Click this link and download Pacific Poker’s Bankroll Management client!

You can learn more about the Bankroll Management client: here

Your next step is the WSOP 2010 Promotion!

Soon after you have claimed your bonus, the second phase starts and you’re eligible for the great WSOP promotion as well: 8 ways to the WSOP, which is launched at February 8th! 8 ways to win 1 of 88 seats to WSOP 2010!

WSOP 2010 promotion is open to all depositors!

Note that players from the following countries are not eligible for the bonus offer: Argentina, Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Serbia, China, Croatia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, North Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Vietnam, Columbia and South Korea.

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Pacific Poker offers a great $8 free Campaign for the first 50.000 new players - and more!

Cake Poker Returning WSOP Bracelet to T.J. Cloutier

This afternoon, rumors spread around the poker industry that Cake Poker, which had purchased T.J. Cloutier’s 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, was planning to return the piece to its rightful owners. Poker News Daily can now confirm those rumblings.

In a post found on Cake Poker that was created on Wednesday night, it was confirmed that the USA-friendly online poker site was indeed the new owner of the bracelet that Cloutier won in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event five years ago. The tournament saw the poker veteran defeat Steven Zoine heads-up in a final table that also included John “World” Hennigan, Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf, and DoylesRoom pro Todd Brunson. Text found on Cake Poker’s blog explains, “Our initial impulse upon seeing the auction was to say, ‘Hey this is a cool piece of poker history. We love poker. We should buy a WSOP bracelet!’ So we did.”

The final selling price for the WSOP keepsake was just over $4,000; Cloutier’s prize money for winning it was 165 times that amount. However, the online poker site and flagship room on the Cake Poker Network plans to return it to Cloutier: “We can’t, in good conscience, keep it from the man who rightfully won it; which is why we’ve decided to return it to T.J. Cloutier… just as soon as we’re done having some fun with it.” No specific plans for the bracelet were given, although Cake Poker officials tossed out “photo shoots” and “wearing it to a buddy’s home game” as several possibilities. The auction closed on Sunday on eBay and the hardware is currently on its way to Cake Poker’s headquarters.

An article that appeared on Wicked Chops Poker explained what might have led to Cloutier unloading his memorabilia: "We called T.J. He didn’t want to come on the air… but told our producer the following: 'I don’t want to talk about it… yeah it's mine… I was short… I pawned it… I tried to get it back with my ticket but I was too late.'" On Monday, Cake Poker officials teased that they may have purchased Cloutier’s bracelet.

The topic has spread around the online poker community like wildfire. On the TwoPlusTwo forums, posters speculated as to why Cloutier, who has nearly $10 million in career earnings, would contemplate selling one of his six bracelets. One member chimed in, “With the recent interest in poker and his name becoming more recognized, any memorabilia he has accumulated becomes more valuable. Bracelets don't exactly do much but collect dust so why not get some value out of them.” Others have hypothesized that Cloutier’s love of craps may have caught up with him.

The other bracelet for sale, which Cloutier procured after taking down the 2007 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV, sold for $2,500. The Plano Pawn Shop saw a flurry of activity surrounding the two charms and Poker News Daily’s Earl Burton estimated that the WSOP jewelry was probably worth somewhere around $2,350. The bracelet contains 96 grams of 14 karat gold and 0.25 karats of diamonds. The high bid was submitted at 1:34pm PT on Sunday of $3,956 and stood for nearly six hours until the winning entry of $4,006 was introduced at 7:30pm PT.

Cake Poker is the flagship site of a network that also includes DoylesRoom, Lock Poker, PlayersOnly, PokerHost, Red Star Poker, and Stryyke. It happily accepts players from the United States and features former PokerStars icon Lee Jones as its Card Room Manager. The site is busy following its players in the 2010 Aussie Millions, taking place down under in Melbourne.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest twists and turns in Cloutier’s bracelet sale.

Poker Site Haiti Donations Top $2m

Currently PokerStars players have donated $670,000 with five days left to participate while Full Tilt is up to $307,721 and still taking donations.

Both rooms will match the amount their players donate meaning more than $1.9 million from just those two rooms alone will be going toward relief efforts in Haiti.

The smaller rooms are getting in on the cause as well with Absolute Poker and UB Poker hosting a $5 rebuy event that drew 717 players last week.

Cake Poker and RedKings Poker will also be taking donations in their lobbies all this week. Bodog founder Calvin Ayre has committed to matching up to $1 million of the donations made to the cause.

The Poker Players Alliance publicly commended the online rooms' efforts.

“Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake,” said PPA chairman Alfonse D’Amato.

“I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution.”

The PPA estimated that over 50,000 players had donated with proceeds going to organizations like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders or UNICEF.

Haitians are still dealing with the catastrophic effects of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Jan. 12. More than 150,000 people have been reported dead and millions are homeless.

Players can still make donations with most of the major online poker rooms until Jan. 31.

Tiffany Michelle Talks Politics on Fox Business Network

If someone would have asked you who you thought would be a good person to appear on a national news program to discuss politics, we're guessing that UB.com's Tiffany Michelle would have been way down your list.  Sure enough, however, Michelle was Neil Cavuto's guest Tuesday on his Fox Business Network show, "Cavuto," comparing President Barack Obama's persistence with his health care plan to a poker player playing bad cards.

In the five-minute conversation, titled "Obama Making a Bad Bet?" on the Fox Business website, there was no debate on whether the proposed health care reform plan was good; it was simply assumed it was bad and that the majority of Americans are against it.  Cavuto's interview consisted of repeatedly asking Michelle to compare the President's health care efforts to playing poor hands.  For her part, Michelle came off fairly well, indulging Cavuto by using poker metaphor after poker metaphor to describe Obama's health care reform strategy.

Some tidbits:

Neil Cavuto: Taking a look at what the President's doing… a good gambler, I understand, or someone who bets a lot, understands, or thinks, that he or she has a good hand.  Am I right?
Tiffany Michelle: Yeah, generally you have a good hand, or you know if you have a bad hand, how to maneuver with that hand and take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses.

Cavuto: Now, the President, fairly or not Tiffany, is viewed to have a bad hand right now because prior cards he's dealt have turned out to be, you know, threes and fours.  They haven't really worked out.  Yet he continues playing the same hand.  What is the strategy behind that?
Michelle: [Preceding portion of answer snipped] What often happens for some players is you continue to push the issues, you continue to play the bad hands, you continue to get in sticky situations, and what really needs to happen is you need to step away from the table, you need to clear your head.

Tiffany Michelle laid it on thick, inserting poker comparisons at every turn.  Some of her best lines included:

"Here we are, let's say we're deep in the World Series, we're coming close to the bubble, you can taste that final table and the money and it's not looking like it's going to happen."

"Not only did Barack Obama in his first year in office decide to tackle one of the toughest issues in U.S. politics… it would be like me approaching Phil Hellmuth on my first day of my poker game and saying, 'Hey, Phil Hellmuth, you have 11 bracelets.  I want to challenge you heads-up.'"

"Talk about Scott Brown, that was a really bad beat for Barack Obama and the Democrats, who really thought they had a good chip lead there.  You know, they thought they had a lock on this tournament."

Members of the poker community universally panned the interview.  The reactions, however, were split between those who detested the fact that Michelle was chosen as the poker representative and those who simply thought that the interview itself was horrible.

He added, "I thought it was evenly presented, the gambling expert knew as much about gambling as the politics expert new abt politics," as well as, "I think it was more shady that TM passed herself off as a gambling expert with a clue abt politics to promote herself."

"Hollywood" Dave Stann, one of Tiffany Michelle's fellow UB.com pros, was more disgusted with Fox Business, Cavuto, and the interview itself, Tweeting, "WTF FoxNews? Generic gambling terms dissing Obama, then using pro gamblers as pawns 2 back it up? I dodged their invite 2day, thank fuck!"

Summing it up for someone who asked what the interview was all about, Stann tweeted, "fucking Fox presenting right-wing editorial talking points as 'news' then interviewing pros as 'evidence' of Obama ineptitude."

Some of the more entertaining comments on the interview came from the Two Plus Two forums.  Forum poster "TheTruthSpeaks" wrote, "While I was watching it I kept waiting to wake up as this certainly must be a dream or something. I mean surely I didn't really just see Tiffany Michelle on a news channel talking about politics while using horrible poker analogies to do it.  This has got to be the first sign of the Apocalypse."

"Randomness28" may have had two of the best quotes on how ridiculous the interview concept was, first saying, "Funny that the Q is 'How is Obama playing his hand?' .... so they decide to bring in a poker player for analysis. Someone should tell the staff of Cavuto's that 'playing his hand' is just a figure of speech.  Next on Cavuto: 'Are Republicans a move ahead of Democrats in setting up for 2012? We bring in chess GM to discuss this.'"

He later added, "Equivalent of this would be for Fox to pose the Q: How is the Obama administration going to kick off its second term in office? And to bring in a third string kicker of a Junior College to answer the Q."

Judge the Tiffany Michelle Fox Business interview for yourself.

Tiffany Michelle got her start in the poker world in 2006, when she served as an on-air host for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) coverage on Sirius Satellite Radio.  In 2007, she appeared on-camera, hosting various segments and conducting interviews for PokerNews.com.  Michelle officially turned heads the following year when she was the last woman remaining in the WSOP Main Event, eventually bowing out in 17th place and earning $334,534.  She was exposed to a nationwide audience in 2009 when she and fellow poker pro, Maria Ho, competed on the hit CBS show, "The Amazing Race."

Rumor: “Isildur1? playing on Betfair Poker?

In a recent PokerNews interview Isildur1 told that he still has bankroll left and will make a comeback sooner or later. Well, just yesterday “Isildur1″ was seen on Full Tilt Poker playing some $0.25/$0.50 No limit Hold’em and he lost “whooping” ten dollars.

Isildur1 has been found playing some micro stakes NLHE on Full Tilt earlier as well, although it seems that his bankroll isn’t that big there.

After the interview it’s quite obvious that he has bankroll on other sites and now it is rumored that he plays on Betfair Poker. “Omlphalotus” is rumored to be Isildur1’s new nick.

Let’s take a look a bit closer: “Omlphalotus” has quite similar playstyle as Isildur1 - which is highly aggressive and seems a bit insane, he has many tables open, plays really long sessions and is of course Swedish as well.

Little railbirds tell that he has gotten really good results against Marcello “luckexpress” Marigliano who is known “imthedealer” and “sinceroo” on Betfair.

Note: “Omlphalotus” is waiting to get some action as I am writing this:

There are always some rumors around and the rumor before was that Isildur1 was playing on Ipoker but eventually went busto. We’ll see.

Source: 2+2, Highstakesdb

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Rumor: “Isildur1″ playing on Betfair Poker?

Online Poker Community Donates $1.5 Million to Haiti Earthquake Survivors

The online poker community has raised $1.5 million for victims of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti earlier this month, according to a press release distributed by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

Full Tilt Poker saw 22,785 donations come in from concerned members of the industry for total donations of $293,211. In a gracious showing, the world’s second largest online poker site doubled contributions from its patrons for a total donation of $586,423, or over one-third of the figure cited by the PPA. Aid for Haiti play and no-play tournaments were held on Full Tilt Poker and a special user account was created to accept incoming transfers benefiting the relief efforts.

As expected, PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato, a former three-term Republican Senator from New York, was elated to see the giving mood of the online poker community. In a press release distributed by the lobbying organization this week, D’Amato commented, “Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution. The generosity online poker players are showing makes me even more proud to be part of this community.”

PPA Executive Director John Pappas echoed D’Amato’s sentiments in an interview with the online poker forum PocketFives.com, calling the massive effort “a tribute to the generosity of the poker community.” Pappas added that the seven-digit donation mark does not include private contributions made by poker pros and other members of the industry to organizations like the Red Cross and UNICEF, which hit the ground in Haiti shortly after the epic January 12th tremor.

The PPA revealed that 50,000 online poker players have donated a total of $760,000, an average of about $15 each. With online poker sites matching the funds dollar-for-dollar, the total amount generated surpasses $1.5 million. On PokerStars, donations are being accepted until January 31st at Noon ET. No-play Haiti Earthquake Relief tournaments have buy-ins ranging from $1 to $1,000. Text found on PokerStars’ website succinctly explains, “You will not need to play an actual tournament; instead, all of the 'entry fees' go straight to the fund.”

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, also created a special player account called “Haiti Fund.” Users can transfer funds to the account and PokerStars will match all money raised for the relief effort. The website, which has campaigned for a variety of charitable causes like Ante Up for Africa over the years, reminded its clientele, “PokerStars has been quick to facilitate this after previous disasters, and once again it is giving you an easy way to donate cash.”

Meanwhile, Cake Poker, a USA-friendly site that features Lee Jones as its Poker Room Manager, is taking donations until Midnight ET on January 31st. Five “holding tanks” were created for players to donate to the cause in $5, $25, $100, $200, and $500 increments. Past charity efforts by Cake Poker include involvement in the Aces and Angels Celebrity Poker Tournament and Oregon’s West Side Poker Club.

Other sites, including RedKings, UB.com, Absolute Poker, and DoylesRoom held poker tournaments last week to raise money for the cause. On the CEREUS Network, 717 players turned out for a $5 rebuy benefiting earthquake victims. In addition, customers on the Network’s two sites, UB.com and Absolute Poker, can donate their player points in each room’s store. On DoylesRoom, a special Haiti Bounty saw Academy Award nominee Mickey Rourke hit the felts.

A magnitude 5.9 aftershock hit Haiti shortly after and the Red Cross noted that three million people may have been affected. We’d like to salute members of the poker community who donated.

Poker in Twitter: Deauville, Football, Kat von D and Victoria Coren’s duck.

Poker News Daily scours the Twitter feeds of hundreds of poker players to bring you the funniest, most interesting, weirdest Tweets of the last few days. This weekend saw many players tweeting about the tournaments they were in, which included the UBOC, the LAPC and the EPT Deauville. Other popular topics this week were football (the poker world seems to support the Saints almost unanimously) and other sports, as well as new houses, tattoos by Kat von D, and a river card made to measure for Eric Mizrachi.
The online cards were good for some and cruel to others: while Dave “Hollywood_Dave” Stann challenged players to face him at Ultimate Bet: “Rockin UBOC on UB right now...come join so I can felt you, too ”, Liv Boeree was not having such a great day: “finished 42nd in UBOC 8 for $6300. Set of 33s get it all in on turn... he rivers 9 for higher set. Laptop across the room time.” Eric Mizrachi could have shared some of his luck with her, as he boasted a screenshot from a spectacular river card in Poker Stars:  “Deliver the nice river, Ty @pokerstars_com http://twitpic.com/zmlrd”

Tournament manager supreme Matt Savage kept the world informed of the progress of the LAPC, starting with a comment on his famously grueling schedules: “We have completed days 1A/1B or .5 of the 51 events at this years @LAPokerClassic! Not sure what I was thinking when I made this schedule?” Apparently Mr. Savage is superstitious, since he made Dave Stann back off from certain comments that might bring the tournament ill luck: “@Hollywood_Dave please do NOT mention LAPC = Going Well and Obama Presidency = F'ing Up Country in same tweet! You may jinx us here in LA.” No jinx was apparent to Rob Perelman, who tweeted in delight: “Heads up pot. Final board A4444. Check check. Then 2nd guy tries to muck. This is why I love the @LAPokerClassic!” Some of poker’s hottest ladies were in attendance after trotting the globe in The Amazing Race last year; Tiffany Michelle posted a picture of her view from the table: “http://twitpic.com/z4bfu - Playin the 1st LAPC event, nice view - this girl follows me everywhere ”

The poker world followed the NFC very closely last weekend, and the general feeling seemed to favor the Saints, although Doyle Brunson voiced his admiration for the Vikings’ legendary quarterback: “Brett Favre has balls the size of basketballs.” Favre was the man of the day, with praise and heckles piled on him via Twitter. Gene Bromberg tried to be fair: “I gleefully join in on Favrebashing, but that should've been a flag. Low, late hit, gotta call that”, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith blamed it on the team: “@shannonelizab The vikings aren't even giving Favre a chance to win”, and Joe Sebok cheered and booed: “yes, saints! boo favre & vikings. city of new orleans deserves this... ” Shannon Elizabeth, who tweeted throughout the game, was a happy fan when the fat lady sang: “Congrats Saints! GREAT GAME!!”

The EPT Deauville had two excellent commentators in Vicky Coren and Isabelle Mercier, both of whom tweeted frequently with updates on their own performance and those of friends and team members. Coren had never been able to survive Deauville’s Day 1, and was hoping this year would be it: “It's Day 1 of the Deauville EPT. I've played this three times before and never survived Day One. Let's see if I can break my duck” (“Breaking one’s duck” is a British expression, originally from cricket, that means doing something for the first time.) Coren tried hard, and kept updating on her status to add to the suspense: “We started with 30k in chips. I went down to 4k, now up to 20k, tiptoeing between the outdraws. Two more levels and the duck gets it...” The duck, however, remains unbroken, as she got busted out in Day 1 once more. Fellow Brit Matthew Grant commiserated with some historic consolation: “@VictoriaCoren Nevermind, the only victory that matters near Deauville happened in 1944 ” Coren marveled at Mercier’s youthful looks when they sat together: “Ex Team Pro Isabelle Mercier is on my table, looking incredible. She just doesn't age, that woman. Is it a French thing?” It may have been Mercier’s joy at playing in Deauville, which she tweeted happily about: “Deauville Deauville! Always loved this French little piece of paradise... Especially when it's GAME DAY !!!! ... http://bit.ly/5V41EV” Mercier’s joie de vivre did not last very long, however, as she tweeted from her Facebook account: “Busted out few hours ago holding pocket 10's against poker Jacks and pocket Aces!!! Turned blue and slowly getting... http://bit.ly/4sN0Rb”

Celebrity tattoo artist Kat von D, from the TV show LA Ink, has been leaving her mark on the poker world. First she tattooed Tiffany Michelle, who shared a photo of her tattoo: “Pics of my tatt that Kat did on her show are on my website www.tiffanymichelle.com under the 'Film, TV, Shows' Gallery ” and more recently on Pearl Aday, as tweeted by heavy metal poker star Scott Ian: “Kat Von D shooting Pearl right now.” If he does not shape up to his crazy prop bet, Joe Sebok could be next.

Sebok got some unflattering tweets regarding his stunning new LA home – @DougLeePoker remarked acidly: “@JoeSebok Wow, sick place! and all you had to do was align yourself with a company that has stolen millions from their customers. Well Done!” Sebok’s affiliation with Ultimate Bet is evidently not well accepted by the poker world.

There were many random tweets on off topics that seemed too interesting to pass by, so here is a brief overview of the weird and wonderful tweets of this weekend. There is the cheerful but always cryptic Marcel Luske: “Just an other day,,, more news ,, more twitters , more closely 2 Our goalls & destiny,so enjoin the day & feel great & help others . {;”, a very happy tweet from Eric Mizrachi: “Got some GREAT NEWS today, my friend Myrielle "Meeyu" Pierre survived the earthquake. C U tomm Meeyu! http://twitpic.com/y267b”, some naughtiness from Gavin Griffin: “We just backed into someone's driver's side door and left an 8 square inch dent. Gave em 100 bucks. Win”, and a recognition of friendship from Daniel Negreanu: “I just counted. The number of good friends of mine that are unabashed media whores: zero! All my friends are so normal”, while Doyle Brunson experienced new things: “Got back from a recording session. I'm just a West Texas hillbilly, all that chit amazes me.”

The Tweet of the day is a tie between Jeff Madsen and Howard Lederer. Madsen quipped: “Tiger woods supposedly in Mississippi for sex Rehab. I'll b in Biloxi soon, maybe I need to check myself in?”, while Lederer pointed out: “Went to see Nadal tonight at Aussie Open and saw the best homemade fan sign ever at the match. It read "Go Nad." LOL”
If you are as addicted to Twitter as we are, be sure to follow us @PokerNewsDaily so you can stay up to date on all the breaking news in the poker world and be a part of some PND Twitter exclusives in the coming weeks.

UB Poker Event Tops Record Books

The Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament drew 628 players, creating a prize pool of $1.57 million – the richest in UB’s 10-year history.

Online player SEBBAU was the biggest winner taking down the tournament and the $330,900 that came attached to first place.

Celebrated UB player DOOSHDOTCOM1 also made an appearance at the final table but ended up finishing in fifth for $86,350.

"Despite going out just before the money in UBOC 8, the tournament still left me with an incredible feeling as we ended up building the richest prize pool in the history of UB," said Joe Sebok.

"I think it sets the tone for what I think will be the best UBOC ever for our players. 2010 is just the beginning of great things to come for UB and our community."

Team UB was out in full force with Phil Hellmuth, Sebok and Liv Boeree all playing the tournament.

Boeree was the only UB pro to cash, coming in 42^nd place for $6,280.

UBOC 4 continues all week with the $1 million-guaranteed $1,050 buy-in main event scheduled for this Sunday.

Click here to learn more about the UBOC schedule or sign up for an account.

Daniel Negreanu Comments on Phil Ivey Taking All-Time Money Lead

Over the weekend, Phil Ivey placed second to Dan Shak in the $100,000 Challenge at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.  For his efforts, Ivey won $553,776 ($600,000 AUD), vaulting him into the top position on the all-time live tournament money list.  His total of $12,813,990 is now $381,623 ahead of Daniel Negreanu's $12,432,367.

For his part, Negreanu has been far from a sore "loser."  In fact, Negreanu expressed his admiration for Ivey in his poker journal on his website, FullContactPoker.com:

"It's my belief that Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world, and that includes every format," wrote Negreanu.  "I've played live with him, and cash, Hold'em, Stud, Omaha, whatever, and he is just the most consistently good player at everything - include [sic] online based on what his results look like. I don't think anyone has won more money online, live play, or tournament poker, than Ivey. Pretty strong."

Fortunately, Negreanu does not feel like this turn of events diminishes his place in the poker world, nor should he.  Like any good competitor, Negreanu is using Ivey's success as an impetus to achieve even more in his career.

"It's actually kind of fun for me," Negreanu blogged after Day 1 of the 2010 WPT Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.  "I'm glad he did so well because it motivates me to try and pass him again. I was up about $200,000 so I think I'll need to finish 2nd or 1st to regain the lead. Should be a fun year from that perspective."

"Kid Poker" also commented on Ivey's mindset, saying, "Another misconception about Ivey is that he 'Doesn't really care.' He does. He definitely cares, because he is a competitor. It's not all about the money for him, otherwise he wouldn't bother. I think he's got something to prove in 2010. Not to the poker world, everyone with half a brain knows that Ivey is the best. I think he has something to prove to himself. 2010 could be a monster year for him."

In the last half year, Phil Ivey has won nearly $2,000,000 on the live tournament circuit, allowing him to overtake such players as Phil Hellmuth, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, and Scotty Nguyen on the all-time money list (based on current money standings), in addition to Negreanu.  While his Aussie Millions take was sizable, Ivey's rise on the leader board was aided primarily by his seventh place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he won $1,404,014.  He also won two bracelets during the 2009 WSOP, bringing his lifetime total to seven.

If it is any consolation for Negreanu, he remains ahead of Ivey on the inflation-adjusted money list (thanks to thehendonmob.com for this information), $13,816,957 to $13,305,078.  He is still second on that list, though, to Hellmuth, whose inflation-adjusted total is $13,876,255.

Well, How Did I Get Here by Lee Jones

I made a pretty big laydown recently and was probably as proud of it as I was of any big pot I’ve won recently. Long ago, David Sklansky reminded us that a bet you don’t lose spends just as well as a bet you win.

This happened in a regular home game of mine; my knowledge of the players certainly helped my decision and emphasized the importance of paying attention to your opponents and learning their habits.

We were playing $1-$1 No Limit Hold’em, but that doesn’t really tell the story. As will happen in games without a buy-in cap, we had all ended up with stacks much bigger than the $100-ish that’s typical in online games with those blinds. I had over $400 and the stacks around me were of similar size or bigger.

Rory limped in for $1. Rory likes to play pots and could have just about anything. In middle position, Ben raised to $6, a fairly standard raise in this game. I looked down at J-T suited. Ben doesn’t usually open very light and big pairs made up a meaningful percentage of his pre-flop raising range. Those were exactly the hands that I was hoping to beat if I could hit a flop; I didn’t want a 4bet from Ben shutting me out of the pot early. I flat called.

Now, Steve called behind me. That made me upset. I should have looked left and thought about him. Steve likes to gamble, but he’s nobody’s fish and tends to do his gambling with position. I was stuck between Ben’s raise and Steve’s call behind me. I wished I had 3bet Ben and gotten the button; Steve would have folded anything but a premium hand to my re-raise. Now I’d made my bed and would have to lie in it.

My bed started to look like a feather mattress with silk sheets when the flop came down T-T-2 with two spades. My cards were red, but what did I care? I had just out-flopped all three of them (Rory had called the raise, saying something about pot odds). In particular, I thought I could stack Ben and his pocket queens or whatever big hand he had. Rory checked (as expected), but then Ben checked. Ruh-roh. If he had something like A-K, he wasn’t going to plow forward on a flop like that against three opponents. On the other hand, it would be very much in Steve’s idiom to pick up the $25 in the pot with a button bet and at least I could trap Steve for the probe bet he tossed out. I checked.

As he was supposed to, Steve bet $20. Then things really looked up. Rory called the $20.  Rory probably suspected Steve of the same thing I did and was hoping he could get Steve to slow down. Rory would make that play with as little as A-2 for bottom pair. I mentally locked and loaded a check-raise to about $75. That would blow them off whatever they had and I’d… “I’m all in.”

What?

Ben had paused briefly and then announced he was all-in for about $250. Suddenly, my world made far less sense. Ben is a thinking, competent player. He knows that Steve, Rory, and I are thinking competent players.

“Sorry, guys. This is going to take me a minute.” For years, when you needed an extra thought to make my playing decision, you simply said, “Time.” That would freeze the action for the extra handful of seconds and then you could act. However, in this world of televised poker tournaments, people confuse that announcement with somebody “calling the clock” on another player. “Are you calling the clock on yourself?” I’ve been asked. So, I’ve become more specific in my requests.

Ben would not play a big pair that way. If he had queens, he’d fire right into that pot and plan (hope) to take it down on the flop. Check-raising like that would only play right into the hands of somebody holding a ten. Either Steve or I could hold a ten and all of us knew it.

As I was pondering the situation, I experienced one of those exquisite moments of synchronicity that make you wonder about life. The Talking Heads were on the stereo and I found myself singing out loud along with David Byrne, “And you may say to yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?’” Everybody chuckled and I relaxed. I couldn’t put Ben on a big pair no matter how hard I tried. He wasn’t making some Nth level sophisticated play against the entire field. He had the case ten and it was bigger than mine; he didn’t raise with T-9.

“I fold.”

Now it was Steve’s turn to tank. He didn’t take as long as I did, but he was obviously struggling. Odd – I thought that he was on a stone-cold steal. He folded relatively soon and it was on Rory. Even Rory had to have a think. Finally, he showed Ben a flush draw, threw it in, and said, “I don’t want to gamble.” “You’ve got a big ten,” I told Ben. “Close,” he replied, turning up pocket deuces; he’d flopped the full house. “Wow, I had jack-ten. I had four outs.” “No,” said Steve, “One out – just like me. I had pocket jacks.” Ben stared at us. “You folded jacks and you folded jack-ten?” We nodded.

You could see the wheels turning in Ben’s head. “What if I’d flatted Steve’s bet?” I laughed – “Oh, I check-raise to $75. Steve calls because he thinks I think he’s stealing. Rory calls for pot odds. You shove and who knows what happens at that point, but if we call, you have to fade two whole outs. You probably win a $500 or $600 pot.” Ben shook his head saying, “I guess I pulled the trigger too soon.”

I honestly don’t know if I could have made that laydown in the heat of a 15-second online decision. Fortunately for me, it happened where I had the time and the graciousness of my fellow players to let me work through the possibilities and make the right decision… instead of burning down the house.

Lee Jones is the Card Room Manager of Cake Poker and has been in the online poker business for over six years. He is also the author of “Winning Low Limit Hold’em,” which is in its 15th year of publication.

UBOC Event #8 Features Largest Prize Pool in UB.com History

The $2,600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament (Event #8) held as part of the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) featured a $1.57 million prize pool, the largest in the 10-year history of UB.com.

Newly minted UB.com pro Joe Sebok gave his take on the record-shattering prize pool in a press release distributed by the USA-friendly online poker site on Tuesday: "Despite going out just before the money in UBOC Event #8, the tournament still left me with an incredible feeling as we ended up building the richest prize pool in the history of UB. I think it sets the tone for what I think will be the best UBOC ever for our players. 2010 is just the beginning of great things to come for UB and our community." A total of 628 players competed in the $2,600 buy-in affair, which easily surpassed its $1 million guaranteed purse.

When the smoke cleared, it was a battle between two Germans heads-up, as SEBBAU bested PHILBORT to scoop a $331,000 first place prize after a heads-up chop. As part of the deal, PHILBORT took home $250,000, more than a traditional chip chop would have given him, and SEBBAU banked $291,000. Then, the duo played on for $40,000 in prize money. In the final hand of UBOC event #8, PHILBORT was all-in with pocket fives against SEBBAU’s A-7. The flop came 2-7-K, giving SEBBAU a pair; he never looked back, earning $331,000.

UB.com pro Liv Boeree bumped Sebok from the $2,600 buy-in Six-Max event to claim Sebok’s $2,500 bounty. Boeree was the only UB.com sponsored pro to make the money. Here’s how the final table shook out in the richest tournament in the history of UB.com:

1st Place: SEBBAU - $330,900
2nd Place: PHILBORT - $250,000
3rd Place: GROENGRAS - $146,010
4th Place: GIT PAPER - $102,050
5th Place: DOOSHDOTCOM1 - $86,350
6th Place: UPAY4RHINOS - $70,650

In UBOC Event $10, a $150,000 Guaranteed Mixed Pot Limit tournament, a total of 422 players threw their hats into the ring. Although the tournament fell short of its guarantee, Jack “011POKERDR” Pan banked a healthy $40,500 for the win. Pan final tabled an event held during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September for $23,000 and finished second in the Full Tilt $200 rebuy last May for $43,000. Heads-up, Pan defeated KANYEKWELI, who earned $23,000.

Other UB.com members who made the final table of Event #10 included ALL_DAY_DHI3 (third place for $16,125), SAILORLOBELL (fourth place for $11,625), Scott “SCOTTYTHEFISH” Sitron (fifth place for $8,625), JOES2828 (sixth place for $6,150), Justin “TRUESYALOSE” Truesdell (seventh place for $4,650), and ROCKRAINES (eighth place for $3,150). Sitron finished 32nd in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $253,000, while Truesell won a Circuit gold ring in Tunica one year ago in a $1,080 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event.

The UBOC and its corresponding MiniUBOC series continue through Sunday, January 31st. On that day, the $1,050 buy-in UBOC Championship Event will kick off. The two-day tournament begins at 4:00pm ET and will likely see some of the top names in poker take to UB.com’s virtual felts.

Two UBOC events will play out today. Event #11 is a $215 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Cubed tournament (one rebuy plus one add-on). At least $100,000 will be up for grabs and accomplished pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham will serve as its host. Event #12 is a $215 buy-in HORSE tournament with at least $50,000 up for grabs. UB.com blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann will host the contest, which kicks off at 8:05pm ET concurrently with Event #11.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UBOC results.

Jared Jaffee Leads WPT Southern Poker Championship with 27 Left

Twenty-seven players remain in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship. Jared Jaffee leads the way entering the play down day on Tuesday, with Tyler Smith hot on his heels.

Smith made the final table of last year’s Southern Poker Championship, which featured Allen “AawwNutz” Carter coming out on top. Smith finished fifth and earned $134,000, the first and only WPT cash of his career. Smith told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman following Monday’s action, “I started the day with 90,000 and early, I got crushed. The first level, I dropped down to 45,000 and then I won a race with nines against A-10, which doubled me up to 100,000. Right after that, I pulled off a full house and got action from four people, so that catapulted me to 230,000.”

Smith amassed a healthy stack at the expense of WPT Season 6 Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little. Smith was all-in pre-flop with A-K against Little’s A-Q. The board ran out K-K-Q-2-J and Smith’s trip kings were good enough to scoop the pot. The hand pushed Smith to 365,000 chips and he ended the day with 462,500, trailing only Jaffee’s 546,000.

Jaffee sent Team PokerStars Pro member Chad Brown to the rails after his pocket aces withstood Brown’s pocket eights. The board came K-J-5-7-K and the better pocket pair held to take down the pot. The hand propelled Jaffee to 463,000 in chips; he piled on another 80,000 before the day was through. Jaffee sent an opponent with pocket kings to the rail holding pocket aces. He spiked a one-outer on the river for the win after Tommy Vedes claimed that he mucked A-5 pre-flop.

The money bubble will burst today, as the top 18 players will walk away with cash. Among those vying for the $739,000 top prize is Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo, who is fresh off a fifth place showing in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. D’Angelo sent Keith Lehr to the rails after Lehr called all-in on a board of 10-3-2-K-Q with four hearts. D’Angelo flipped up the ace of hearts for the nut flush, while Lehr mucked. D’Angelo owns a stack of 304,500 entering Tuesday’s play, good for eighth in the WPT Southern Poker Championship.

Crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu was once again involved in an unorthodox hand. In it, he pushed pre-flop, was called by the original raiser in the hand, and Justin “Boosted J” Smith shoved over the top. The original raiser promptly pulled out a phone to crunch the numbers before being stopped by tournament officials. He ultimately called, putting Negreanu at risk with A-10 of diamonds against A-K of clubs and pocket queens. The board ran out five cards eight or lower and Negreanu hit the exit.

Who remains in the hunt, you ask? Here are the chip counts after two days of play, according to the official website of the WPT:

1. Jared Jaffee - 546,000
2. Tyler Smith - 462,500
3. Jonathan Kantor - 412,500
4. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey - 380,000
5. Tommy Vedes - 336,500
6. Sam Rashid - 319,500
7. Shawn Quillin - 307,000
8. Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo - 304,500
9. Justin “Boosted J” Smith - 280,000
10. Hoyt Corkins - 276,000
11. Dwyte Pilgrim - 246,000
12. Ken Harbaugh - 244,000
13. James Reed - 221,500
14. Dan O'Brien - 205,500
15. Jerry Vanstrydonck - 202,500
16. Vitor Coelho - 201,000
17. Ayaz Mahmood - 199,000
18. Narinder Khasria - 190,000
19. Seamus Cahill - 171,000
20. Kathy Liebert - 123,500
21. James Guinther - 123,000
22. Andy Philachack - 120,000
23. James Blackmon - 95,500
24. J.J. Liu - 93,000
25. Benjamin Tollerene - 86,500
26. Ken Perry - 70,500
27. Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hawkins - 70,000

When play concluded on Monday, the blinds were at 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante. The cards hit the air on Tuesday at 2:00pm CT from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Other Hachem: Life In Joe’s Shadow

Yet thanks to a huge year on the PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour, where he cashed in four of five events on the way to winning Player of the Year honors, Hachem's brother Tony seems to have found a way out from under it.

“People would say I was just Joe’s brother, that I can’t play,” Tony said. “But now I’ve made a number of final tables and cashes. In my mind, poker is all about consistency and I think I’ve proved I have that.

“People say that it’s tough playing in Joe’s shadow, but I try to be positive about it and use it to my advantage. I was given an opportunity, I took it by the horns and I’m running with it.”

There’s always been a lot more to Tony Hachem than just being the brother of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion.

He cashed in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, made a final table at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza in Las Vegas that same year and found a career best score of NZ$54,000 when he finished runner-up at the 2008 New Zealand Poker Championship.

Plus, PokerStars has always seen him as a marketable character with great networking skills, a socialite with celebrities Down Under and a popular figure amongst the ever growing community of poker players in the region.

As a result, Tony was sponsored by PokerStars for a number of tournaments, a move that immediately garnered its fair share of criticism regardless of Tony's track record.

“People have said to me, ‘What does it take to be a PokerStars pro? Can I just change my name to Hachem,’” explained Joe.  

“I’ve heard it all before and a lot worse,” added Tony. “It’s like, ‘You are Joe’s brother, so you got a sponsorship,’ but that’s not how it is.

“All I can say is when people are given opportunities, they either let them pass or they make the most of them and I made sure I made the most of this one.”

Wearing the PokerStars patch, Tony made 15^th at ANZPT Adelaide for AUD$5,870, 17^th at ANZPT Sydney for AUD$8,874, 16^th at the ANZPT’s 2009 Melbourne Texas Hold'em Championship for AUD$5,450, and 18^th ANZPT Queenstown for NZ$3,015.

As a result, 43-year-old Joe couldn’t be more proud of his 36-year-old little brother.

“He was just consistent and honestly pretty unfortunate not to have a major score,” Joe said. “The thing is, I’m really happy he did something in his own right. He deserves it.”

Tony’s name is rarely written, by the mainstream or poker press, without mention of Joe.

But the ever-humble younger Hachem grew up idolizing his big brother and says he doesn’t mind.

“Honestly, being Joe’s brother isn’t a bad thing,” he said. “He’s always going to be my brother.

“The game of poker is growing around the world and Joe is a big part of that, here and abroad. I guess people are just going to have to get used to the idea that Joe’s got a younger brother who loves the game, loves interacting with the people and can play a little too.”

While he had the sponsorship before, the spoils of winning the ANZPT Player of the Year title includes a cheque for AUD$60,000 and a spot on the Team PokerStars Australia roster.

What that means is Tony will be playing in the second season of the ANZPT kicking off in Adelaide next month, several stops on the upcoming fourth season of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour and the 2010 Aussie Millions, where he has already made 11^th in a prelim for AUD$9,144 and started play on the final day one flight of the main event Tuesday, just a few tables over from Joe.

“There are some things in poker that I want to achieve this year,” added Tony. “I really want to win a tournament or at least maintain the consistency I had last year and I think the Aussie Millions will be a good start.”

To follow the progress of the Hachem brothers, and the entire 2010 Aussie Millions main event, tune in to PokerListings’ Live Updates through January 30.

Tiffany Michelle Comments on New Amazing Race Cast

The pairings for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race” were released last week and, this time around, no poker players will make the journey. Competing last season was UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, who hit the “Amazing Race” circuit with Maria Ho. Michelle sat down with Poker News Daily to preview the new season, which kicks off on February 14th on CBS.

Poker News Daily: This cycle’s cast list includes former housemates on CBS’ “Big Brother,” Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, and a Major League Baseball third base coach. Who’s your horse?

Tiffany Michelle: It’s interesting to see that there are three all-female teams this season. Last year, it was a really young, competitive bunch. The producers have to keep it to where everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities are on par with the others in that season. We thought it was weird that there wasn’t an old couple or a mom and daughter last year. This year, they opened it up again.

I’ve been watching the initial meet the cast videos and I think the cowboys (Jet and Cord) will be a fan favorite. The ones that stood out to me were the detectives (Louie and Michael). That’s an interesting type of person to put on the show.

PND: Were you surprised to see that no poker players will journey out for this season of “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Doing enough in the entertainment business, I have some insight into how casting works. You can’t exhaust one group of people. You want to keep it new and fresh every year and that’s why we were brought on last year. Each season, they’ll reach out to grab people from all walks of life. As hot of a topic as poker is, each of the poker players who have been on reality shows were there for a reason. I don’t think you’ll see a huge influx of poker players on reality shows.

PND: What about poker players gives them a leg up on the competition in a series like “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Your outlook on life, games, and competition is different than the everyday person’s. Poker encompasses psychology, mathematics, aggression, and observation. Poker is very similar to chess in that it requires a lot of mental stamina and gamesmanship. Poker players are used to approaching games from a different point of view.

PND: There has been a trend on the show to include racers who have already appeared in front of television cameras and in the public eye. Does that give anyone an edge?

Tiffany Michelle: After Phil [Keoghan] says go, you are not even aware of the cameras or audio guys. Within the first day, you’re oblivious to having a camera crew. They’re good at not getting in your way too.

PND: This installment’s cast is rumored to travel to places like Chile, Argentina, Singapore, and Seychelles. If you had the chance to run the “Amazing Race” again, where would you go?

Tiffany Michelle: Warm places like Australia, the Caribbean, and some lovely tropical destinations. This season, it’ll be a little bit colder and you won’t hit a lot of hot spots. A lot of our season’s cast wanted to go to Africa because it’d be an incredible experience. That was one place that I thought would be awesome. From a technical standpoint, it’s hard to pull that off, though. We went to Vietnam, which they said for years they had tried to do.

PND: How’d you fare at the L.A. Poker Classic?

Tiffany Michelle: I only played one event. Maria and I both played and it was nice to be back in the saddle. Now, I am off to Panama and I’ll be back at the Commerce Casino after that. I’m trying to decide between doing the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) or L.A. Poker Classic Main Events. In two weeks, I’m going to Las Vegas to do a show with the Harlem Globetrotters. We’re going to suit up and play against them. I’m pretty sporty, but basketball is my worst sport.

PND: We read on Twitter that you were reviewing movies for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. What’s your involvement with them?

Tiffany Michelle: I’m a member of SAG, which is the union for acting, entertainment, film, and television. Every year, whereas the Emmys and Oscars are voting on by academies, actors vote on the SAG Awards. During awards season, they send you movies to watch and you vote. I always get a slew of current nominees.

I thought “Inglorious Basterds” was incredibly phenomenal. I thought it was an amazing movie. “Up in the Air” was cool too. I’m a girl, so of course I loved “It’s Complicated.” For television shows, I love “Glee” and Kevin McHale is a friend of mine.

PND: How have you been faring in the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC)?

Tiffany Michelle: Sunday was the $2,500 buy-in $1 million guaranteed. I played it even though I don’t play short-handed poker. I can play six-handed, but I know there are a lot of specific strategies with regards to starting hands.

Dwyte Pilgrim Leads WPT Southern Poker Championship After Day 1

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event ring holder Dwyte Pilgrim leads the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship after Day 1. A total of 106 players remain of the 208 who bought in on Sunday afternoon.

The tournament, emanating from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, drew a field of 283 players in 2009. The 208 who turned out yesterday to cough up the $10,000 buy-in meant that attendance dove by a sizable 27%. Pilgrim leads the survivors with a stack of 175,900 chips, comfortably in front of the second place tally of Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, who holds 152,100. Pilgrim claimed a pair of WSOP Circuit rings in March 2009 after taking down a $560 buy-in tournament at Caesars Atlantic City before flying cross-country to Harrah’s Rincon and winning the site’s $5,150 buy-in Championship event.

Little is no slouch, either. He was the WPT Player of the Year during Season 6, when the Florida native made final tables at the Mirage and North American Poker Championship and bubbled a third at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at Biloxi. All told, Little has nearly $3.5 million in career WPT earnings to his name and two titles. Little took down a pot early on Sunday with pocket aces against pocket queens on a 10-9-8-2-2 board. Little's opponent check-called a bet of 7,775 on the river to boost his stack to over 41,000; he finished the day with nearly six times that total.

DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija was a late Day 1 casualty at the WPT Southern Poker Championship. Makhija committed his chips with pocket kings on a board of J-3-2, but his opponent spiked a straight with 4-5. Jeff Madsen, meanwhile, was all-in holding the nut flush draw, but blanked out to hit the rails. Madsen is a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro.

Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka was flushed down the drain on Sunday. The runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V, which began airing as part of the WPT’s Season 8 kickoff on Fox Sports Net last night, Jaka called all-in with K-3 after a flop of K-J-4. However, his opponent flipped up pocket jacks for a set, which held for the win. Jaka made two final tables during Season 8 of the WPT, finishing second in the aforementioned Bellagio Cup and taking third in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a combined $1.3 million.

The top 10 at the end of Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship features rock solid poker talent:

1. Dwyte Pilgrim - 175,900
2. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little - 152,100
3. Jonathan Stanton - 142,100
4. Chad Brown - 138,000
5. James Jewett - 135,500
6. Sam Rashid - 125,700
7. Shawn Quillin - 118,300
8. Scott Standridge - 117,600
9. Hoyt Corkins - 115,600
10. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey - 113,200

Other notable names among the 106 players remaining in the field include:

Paul Wasicka - 107,500
Daniel Negreanu - 81,200
Matt “All In at 420” Stout - 73,100
Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman - 71,400
Justin “Boosted J” Smith - 68,600
J.J. Liu - 67,800
Josh Arieh - 67,200
Tommy Vedes - 66,300
Kathy Liebert - 53,300
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 46,900
Nick Schulman - 40,000
Allen “AawwNutz” Carter - 38,200
David Singer - 34,000
Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo - 25,900
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler - 17,600
Michael Binger - 13,000

When play wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 300-600 with a 75-chip ante. The Southern Poker Championship runs through Wednesday, when the newest WPT champion will be crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Biloxi tournament.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. A Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now sitting with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. Nevertheless, a Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

Dwan Kick Starts a Comeback

Dwan’s night started at $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha where he sat with a cast of familiar names, such as Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin, Cole South, Brian Townsend, Matatuk and Di “Urindanger” Dang.

After 482 hands at the table and over 4 hours of play, Dwan closed down the game with $155k profit. Not quite ready to call it a night, Dwan moved on to $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold’em, where he lost over $10k in just 37 hands.

Dwan’s profit brings him up to only $420k in losses on the year.

The biggest winner on the night was Griffin who sat at the $100/$200 PLO for 627 hands, taking away $156k for his effort.

This brings Griffin’s results for the year up to $327k.

Dang only played about half as many hands on PLO as Griffin, but still managed to leave the game with a profit of over $40k. Added to profit earned earlier in the day (playing $100/$200 Cap PLO), Dang’s total profit comes to almost $100k.

This $100k profit pushes Dang to just over $1 million earnings on the year, only $252k behind Gus Hansen in first place.

The biggest loser of the day was a relatively unknown French player by the name of Matatuk. After trying to beat the star-studded $100/$200 PLO, Matatuk logged off for the night with over $207k in losses.

Despite winning the second largest pot of the day (worth $113k), South still came away from the tables down over $109k, bringing his profit on the year down to around $800k.

Townsend, who lost the largest pot of the day to Dwan, continues to struggle in 2010, losing over $55k on the day, bringing his total losses to $350k on the year.

Below are the three largest pots of the day. To see more pots, including Matatuk’s largest loss of the day, head to MarketPulse.

Poker Fantasy Moves to Merge Gaming Network

The online poker room Poker Fantasy will be moving to the Merge Gaming Network on January 31st, according to an e-mail received by Poker News Daily last week. As a result, the site will likely be unavailable for two weeks while it updates its software.

An e-mail sent by Poker Fantasy read in part, “As of January 31, 2010, Poker Fantasy will be moving to a new network, the Merge Gaming LTD, officially licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. There will be an expected downtime of approximately two weeks. During the downtime customer service support will be available to assist you at 24/7. You may direct all inquiries to custserv@pokerfantasy.com.” A downtime of two weeks would put Poker Fantasy’s estimated re-launch around the 15th of February.

Players who opt to withdraw funds from Poker Fantasy prior to the move to the Merge Gaming Network can do so any time prior to January 31st. After that date, customer funds will automatically migrate to Poker Fantasy’s new home on the USA-friendly family of online poker sites. According to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, the Merge Gaming Network is the 19th largest worldwide, sporting a seven-day running average of 255 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, around 400 cash game players can be found battling it out on the Merge Gaming Network’s virtual tables.

The new network’s flagship site is Carbon Poker. Other sites on the Merge Gaming Network include Aced, which briefly employed 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner Jamie Gold as a sponsored pro, and Iron Duke, which attracted online poker sensation Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh to its ranks. Other well-known sites on the Merge Gaming Network include Poker MVP, Poker Nordica, Reefer Poker, and Spin32 Poker. According to PokerScout.com, the Merge Gaming Network is headquartered down under in Australia and has game servers located on the Kahnawake Indian reservation in Canada.

Poker Fantasy’s move marks one of the first site migrations of 2010. In November, the iPoker Network site Noble Poker absorbed Fair Poker. The former site is based in Gibraltar and has been in existence since 2004. Shortly thereafter, Third Bullet Poker merged its player base with that of Cake Poker. Third Bullet representatives commented in an e-mail sent to players, “What will change is that you will have access to an increased technical and marketing support team that will make your play experience even better. We have full confidence that you will find continued play on Cake Poker to meet or exceed the level of professionalism and customer service you have come to know at Third Bullet.”

Last week, the USA-friendly Everleaf Network merged with the Universal Poker Network (UPN), whose pre-merger fleet of online poker sites included Poker Druum, 5Poker5, My Name Poker, AB Digital Poker, Poker King Bet, Brasilian Poker, Full Kings Poker, Warriors Poker, Win PKR, and Poker Panther. Major rooms on the Everleaf Network included Minted Poker and Poker4Ever. In February, a rumored online poker site faced by Antonio Esfandiari, Alec “traheho” Torelli, and Andrew “good2cu” Robl, among others, may join the merged Everleaf/UPN network.

The Merge Gaming Network is one of only several sites that accept customers from the United States and is the 19th largest worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. Others include PokerStars (#1 worldwide), Full Tilt Poker (#2), the CEREUS Network (#6), the Cake Poker Network (#10), and Bodog (#15). The Merge Gaming Network recently saw its ties with PIC Club severed after alleged non-payment issues, although both sides claimed to have broken ties with the other.

Poker Pro Canada Magazine Announced

It is only five years old, but Poker Pro Magazine has already established itself in the poker world with a circulation in excess of 150,000 copies per month.  The publication is already available in the U.S. and Canada, but the company is now offering a something special for its Canadian readership.

Poker Pro Media recently announced it will be a launching a regional version of its popular magazine entitled Poker Pro Canada.  The Canadian edition will feature in-depth profiles of Canadian players, updates and news from the growing Canadian poker scene and, of course, strategy and tips from the pros.

Canadian Poker Pro Executive Editor magazine John “JohnnyQuads” Wenzel elaborated on the motivation behind launching the new magazine in an official press release:   “Some say this is a time of contraction for print media, but we’re bullish on the Canadian market.  The game is exploding in Canada and we intend to provide enthusiasts with a slick, upscale magazine that will be fun to read and will also improve their bottom line at the tables.”  Wenzel also serves as Editor-In-Chief of Poker Pro Magazine.

Wenzel makes a valid point, as there have been a number of popular events in Canada in the past few months, including the British Columbia Poker Championship (BCPC) and, more recently, the Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Several big names turned out for the respective events, including Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith, UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, and Brad Booth.  Smith had an exceptionally good showing at Fallsview, where he won a $2,500 buy-in event and placed fourth in a $5,000 buy-in tournament won by Simon “pokerbrat13” Charette.

“The Canadian poker scene is fascinating, but it doesn’t get a lot of publicity. We’re going to change that,” explained Wenzel.  The long list of top Canadian players includes Smith, Booth, Watson, Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, Full Tilt’s Greg “FBT” Mueller, Michael “Timex” McDonald, Nenad Medic, former European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo winner Glen Chorny, Steve Paul Ambrose, Evelyn Ng, Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, and Shawn Buchanan.  The country is also home to the popular Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) and the newly launched PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) also has plans to expand its tournament schedule into Canada.

This is not the first time that Poker Pro has branched out with a new publication.  The media company also produces Poker Pro Europe and Online Poker Pro, the latter of which is a publication dedicated entirely to the internet poker scene.  Poker Pro Canada will be sold at bookstores and convenience stores alike, gracing the shelves of stores 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart, Costco, Indigo/Chapters, and Shoppers Drug Mart.  It will also be available in casino poker rooms across the country.  The new magazine is set to launch in March and an accompanying website should debut in the coming weeks.

Poker Pro Magazine is not the only publication betting on Canada.  Back in September, Canadian Poker Player Magazine announced that it was planning to expand its media operation by launching a 24-hour online television station dedicated to the Canadian poker scene.  Modeled after the popular Poker Channel in the U.K., the site is supposed to feature poker-themed movies and television plus television coverage of past Canadian tournaments like the Canadian Open Poker Championships.

To date, the site has not gone fully live, but the project itself is another indication that many poker companies are setting their sights on the Canadian Poker scene.  Another indication is the recent announcement by PartyPoker that Kara Scott was joining its slate of sponsored pros.  Scott is supposed to promote the room in her home country of Canada by taking part in a number of CPT events.

Poker News in Brief Jan. 18-24, 2010

The 2010 Aussie Millions main event kicked Sunday with hundreds of players looking to strike Australian gold.

You can read all about the tournament in our news section or live tournaments area, but as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we’re going to take a look at a few lesser-known poker stories below.

This week we’ll look at Annette Obrestad crushing an Aussie Millions prelim, David Singer falling fourth on the Heartland Poker Tour, Phil Galfond doing some TV work and more.

Obrestad Wins Aussie Millions Pot-Limit Omaha Event

Annette Obrestad wasted no time getting busy at the 2010 Aussie Millions.

The former World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner won the $1,000(AUD) buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event for $40,000(AUD) this week.

Obrestad outlasted 159 players including a couple of veteran rounders in Emad Tahtouh and Tony Bloom.

Although Obrestad continues to find success online, the win in the Aussie Millions was actually her first live victory since winning the WSOPE.

Obrestad did, however, finish second at EPT Dublin in 2007 for €297,800.

This year, Obrestad will make her first appearance at the WSOP after finally turning 21 this past September.

Alec Torelli Moves to Victory Poker

Online star Alec “traheho” Torelli has parted ways with Doyles Room to sign a sponsorship deal with the up-and-coming Victory Poker.

Torelli was hand-picked by Doyle Brunson this summer to be a member of the Brunson 10.

The team has never come close to approaching 10 players, however, and currently Chris “Moorman1” Moorman, Zachary Clark, Amit Makhija and Dani “anksy” Stern are its only members.

Victory Poker has yet to be released, but it will be a part of the Everleaf Gaming network, which includes Red Cherry Poker and Poker Royale.

Torelli will join a Victory Poker team that is rumored to include Antonio Esfandiari, Brian Rast and Paul Wasicka.

Rousing Final to HPT Vegas

The blue-collar Heartland Poker Tour ventured into Vegas for the second time this week and the final table did not disappoint.

It included a bona fide pro in Full Tilt’s David Singer, an HPT veteran in Theodore Kearly and an inspirational story in unemployed Cambodian refugee Kimbo Ung.

Ung managed to outlast all five opponents at the final table and take down a first place prize of $125,901.

Singer finished fourth for $29,377, which brings his lifetime tournament winnings up to just over $4.3 million.

The event, which drew 433 players, was an overwhelming success according to organizers.

“We didn’t how the Vegas market would respond to our brand,” said HPT President Todd Anderson. “It turns out we blew the roof off.”

PKR TV Showcases Phil Galfond

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond does not have a major poker room sponsor, but will be doing some work for PKR TV.

Galfond will be doing commentary on some of the best ring game action on PKR.com and footage from the special “Galfond TV Cash Game,” which saw some of the elite PKR players take him on.

“We are thrilled to have Phil in the studio to become a PKR TV commentator,” said PKR marketing manager Erika Schwartz. “It will be fantastic for our players to get someone of his reputation watching the action and giving some advice on their play.”

PKR TV and the Galfond TV Cash Game will be broadcast on The Poker Channel in 13 countries across Europe. Air dates have yet to be confirmed.

Police Raid South Carolina Poker Game

Police busted yet another poker game in South Carolina last week.

Officers confiscated more than $64,000 in cash, chips and tables from a Greenville County home.

Twenty-seven people were charged for unlawful betting after a citizen’s tip led deputies to the house.

The raid is nothing new for the region. In 2007, a game was busted in neighboring North Carolina that included noted poker pros Mike Gracz and Chris Bell.

Amazing Race 16 Cast Does Not Feature Poker Players

The cast for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning CBS reality series “Amazing Race” does not include any poker players. In its last season, the show featured Maria Ho and UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle.

Ho and Michelle represented the last women standing in the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, respectively. The duo finished sixth in the around-the-world competition after their journey abruptly ended in the Netherlands, where a series of intense physical challenges proved to be too much for Ho and Michelle. A high striker, a common carnival game, proved fatal on one-half of the leg’s Detour, while windy conditions made a unique game of golf using wooden shoes unbearable on the other half.

A total of 11 teams will set out on the “Amazing Race” course for Season 16. Headlining the group are two “Big Brother” cast members from Season 11, Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder. The couple is “newly dating” according to CBS and will mark the latest pair to join “Amazing Race” after appearing on another CBS reality franchise. Schroeder is 31 years-old and from Norridge, Illinois, while Lloyd is nine years younger and hails from Charlotte, North Carolina. Lloyd lists her lifetime goals as, “to be a dental hygienist, and to get married and have kids.”

Also appearing on the 16th running of “Amazing Race” is Caitlin Upton, who will travel to the four corners of the Earth with her boyfriend, Brent Home. Upton was Miss Teen South Carolina USA 2007 and famously uttered the following response to a question about people being unable to locate the United States on a map: "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children."

Upton’s phrases “the Iraq,” “U.S. Americans.” and “like such as” have become staples of modern lingo, although the beauty queen is now three years removed from her escapade. In a video posted on CBS.com, Upton commented, “I’m stubborn and I hate losing, probably more than he does, and I have a very short fuse, so if somebody gets in my way, there’s going to be some trouble and I’m going to need somebody there to calm me down.” The couple may soon be engaged; both are models.

Cleveland Indians third base coach Steve Smith, 57 years of age, will run the “Amazing Race” with his daughter, Allie Smith, who is 23 and works in marketing. Smith was a coach on the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team that won it all in 2008 and also worked with the Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers. The elder Smith lists his biggest challenge as “not getting lost because we tend to get lost in our own neighborhood.” “Amazing Race” requires a keen sense of direction, as racers travel to countries where English is not the primary language, so road signs and other markers can often be confusing.

Rumored locations that teams will travel to this season include Bariloche, Argentina; Puerto Varas, Chile; and Singapore. The rumored departure city is Los Angeles. The show premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET on CBS, the same time slot as it held last season.

Dating couple Meghan and Cheyne took down the 15th installment of “Amazing Race,” whose finish line was ironically in Las Vegas. Besides Ho and Michelle, notable cast members vying for the $1 million top prize last time out included Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy and Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap, who ran the race with her husband, Brian.

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