Posts Tagged ‘absolute poker’
Annie Duke Breaks Down Bellagio Poker Tournament Structures, UBOC 5
Poker News Daily: What have you been up to poker-wise since the conclusion of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP)?
Annie Duke: Trying to slack off. My goal has to been to shirk all responsibility and I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that. The WSOP is a lot. It’s six weeks of playing every day and I am burned out from it. I still have been doing my part and went to Washington DC to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. I’ve been spending time with my kids before school starts. I was going to hit The Bike, but it conflicted with UBOC, which I wanted to play a lot of.
PND: You told us earlier that you’re not a big fan of the Bellagio’s tournament structures. Can you explain your point of view?
Annie Duke: When you can sign up on Day 2 and it’s not a bad choice, that’s not a good structure. If I show up on time, I’m playing in a structure where the average stack at the end of Day 1 is 10% higher than the starting stack. Overall, it seems like a waste of a day. If you show up on Day 2, you’re going to lose out on people who are willing to explode, so I also feel like you miss out on opportunities if you start late.
You shouldn’t have a good choice to sign up on Day 2. In the WSOP, signing up two hours late is reasonable to me. The third level in should be good relative to the starting stack. At the Bellagio, you’re signing up eight or 10 levels in. You shouldn’t be able to do that and still have a decent starting stack.
You want to have a lot of play, but at some point, you have to think about people’s play and their health. You should be getting into the money early on Day 2. The pendulum has swung so far partly because of events like the Venetian Deep Stack tournaments. Those go fast because they start you with a lot of chips, but the rest of the structure is pretty fast.
PND: The fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, recently played out on UB.com and Absolute Poker. Heading into the series, what were you looking forward to the most?
Annie Duke: I just like the variety. I feel like online it’s always No Limit Hold’em unless it’s one of these big tournament series. To figure out our UBOC schedule, we look at what’s done well in the past. We also want to preserve the integrity of the series itself. It might look like a good strategy to have all No Limit Hold’em events because they’re the most popular, but that hurts your series overall. When the Bellagio went all No Limit Hold’em, their attendance started dropping. People came in for a few tournaments here and there and then left. If you offer a big variety of games, people come in and camp out for a month to play.
It’s all about balancing what does well with what people will sign up for. The pros on UB.com definitely get asked about what they like. They have a good beat on what’s becoming popular. A year or so ago, people started pushing for Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better and that’s a great game.
PND: Tell us about testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee on July 20th in Washington, DC.
Annie Duke: Since the trip, HR 2267 got out of committee, which is amazing. We’re now in a situation that during the lame duck session when the spending bills are being passed, you’ll have people that know they won’t be retuning to Congress in 2011 and may not have a problem backing an online gaming bill. There’s a decent chance of the bill passing this year. I wouldn’t make it a favorite, but we have the best chance we’ve had in the last five years.
The big thing for me is overwhelming disappointment in the Commerce Casino’s position. They’ve taken an anti-competitive stance in regard to online gaming. Unless the Commerce is the only operator, they don’t want to share. That’s ridiculous for poker players. They want the version where they’re the only hub that offers online gaming in California.
If there’s a bill that allows gaming in California, it doesn’t help someone in Iowa or Delaware. Those states would have to pass their own bills, but look at the population difference. At the Commerce, I can gamble with people from all over the world. I feel like the Commerce Casino’s position is anti-competitive and their customer base consists of poker players. In the end, the poker players fund their commercial interests.
Also, I’m concerned by the comparison of the operators of online sites to the drug cartels. We know that’s not true. These sites may not be licensed in the U.S., but foreign governments that are friends of our government license them. France isn’t in the business of licensing drug dealers and terrorists.
PND: Tell us about Liv Boeree and UB.com parting ways.
Annie Duke: The issue was that she had a really good result that increased her value and wanted something we couldn’t come to terms with. It was very amicable.
PND: What are your Labor Day plans?
Annie Duke: I don’t have any plans, but I’ll probably cook out with my kids. We don’t do big Labor Days or Memorial Days. I feel like every day is a party at the Duke household.
Tags: 2010, 2011, absolute poker, Annie Duke, bellagio, gamble, poker player, tournament, UBOC, WSOP
Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin Interview
Matt Vengrin, known as “Plattsburgh” on PokerStars, is one of the hottest young online tournament professionals going today. He is known as “ENGMONEY” on UB.com, “mattyv” on Full Tilt Poker and “MATT_VENGRIN” on Absolute Poker. Vengrin has been playing professionally for a number of years and is a big supporter of PocketFives.com. A big win on his poker resume came in Event #7 of the 2007 FTOPS Series for $210,000 in addition to his second place finish at the PokerStars Sunday Million. He also finished in second place at a Full Tilt Poker $750k Guaranteed. Other impressive finishes include second place in the PokerStars Sunday Record Second Chance ($28,000) and third in the $1,000 Limit Event at the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars.
Vengrin’s largest live tournament score was at the 2008 World Series of Poker, where he finished in third place in the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Event for a $168,000 payday. His most recent large score online came in March of 2010 as he finished in fourth place in a $100+$9 $40,000 Guaranteed for $12,870. According to various online databases, he has won over one million dollars in his poker career. He originally hails from Red Hook, New York but currently lives in the greater Los Angeles area.
In this interview with Dan Cypra, which was conducted just prior to the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event at the Rio Hotel and Casino, Vengrin talks about his new look and new mental attitude which is helping him at the tables. He discusses his weight loss plan and how he continues a steady balance of eating right and working out when he’s not playing poker. In addition he talks about how this past WSOP circuit has gone for him and what his plans are in the future with poker.
Vengrin lists his favorite poker hand as 9T of spades in Hold’em.
Tags: 2008, 2010, absolute poker, full tilt poker, interview, Online Poker, pokerstars, tournament, WSOP
The Emmys And Tournaments Around The World From Poker In Twitter
For those in the world of poker that weren’t involved in tournaments, the Emmy Awards on Sunday night provided a bit of a respite over Twitter. “Oh Crap! The Emmys,” Joe Reitman Tweeted as the show began. “I totally forgot 2 star on a show, hire a publicist & wear a tux so I could go 2 the awards & b judged on my looks 2nite.” Poker scribe Jess Welman was less than impressed when she chirped after the show’s start, “Not a good sign when we’re ten minutes into the Emmys and I’m already counting the minutes that could easily be shaved off the broadcast.”
The duo were able to find something to agree about during the Emmys, with both congratulating particular shows on the cable channel AMC that they enjoyed. “Big congrats to fellow USC Cinema School Class of ’05 alum Erin Levy for winning a frikkin Emmy for Mad Men,” Welman Tweeted in kudos to a friend. Reitman was proud for a former employee: “I am so happy my boy Aaron Paul of @breakingbad just won. I cast him in my short ‘LEO’ 5 years ago. He is the best actor of his generation.” UB.com’s Scott Ian also piped up about the run of the actors from “Breaking Bad,” Tweeting, “Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul both won Emmy’s for Breaking Bad. You need to watch this show.”
Someone who had a memorable night for the Emmy Awards was online superstar Justin “Boosted J” Smith. “At Courtney Cox + David Arquette’s house in Malibu watching the Emmys on TV,” Smith Tweeted on Sunday evening. “Actors and producers here these guys are wild watching it! LOL.” Smith went on to describe the reactions of those in attendance: “It’s like watching European football and when an Emmy is awarded its like a GOALLLLLL!”
As the night wore on, Smith continued to channel his inner Phil Hellmuth with his Tweets. “Gave Jennifer Aniston a 4 hour poker lesson last night,” Smith recounted after the party on Monday. “If she learned a little bit more about who acts first and stuff, she’d be real good!”
There was plenty of action for those who were away from the television and on the felt over the weekend. The World Series of Poker Circuit event in Council Bluffs saw two prolific Tweeters, Bernard Lee and Blair Hinkle, making deep runs. “Money bubble broke – 27 players all in the $ – I have 450k,” reported Lee from the tables yesterday.
Both players continued their assault on the top of the leaderboard as the afternoon moved into the evening. “Unbelievable! After getting down to 275k, I sucked out again,” Lee Tweeted to his followers. “My 10-10 vs AA – 10 on flop – back up to 470k (aver 386k) – 13 players left. Play would be stopped soon after that with Lee reporting his stack as “339k.”
Hinkle had a slightly different adventure than Lee at the Iowa tables. “Ugh super crazy guy squeezes with 88 I shove with AT he calls I flop ace but he flopped 8 turn 8. 70k still,” he Tweeted during play on Monday. Although he didn’t detail how he did it, Hinkle was able to turn things around by the end of the night, Tweeting at the end of play, “Down to 13 players done for the night… 243k blinds starting at 2000ante 5-10000.”
Across the Atlantic, many top players were in the running at the European Poker Tour event in Vilamoura, Portugal, with Brandon Cantu – at first – having the time of his life. “I got 44 and shoved ak calls fours hold to break the bubble. 965k 56 left,” Cantu reported to his followers early Tuesday morning before the game took a fateful turn. “Unbelievable,” he Tweeted soon after the bubble burst. “331k aq with the ace of hearts vs 99 flop q32 all hearts turn 9… That’s the worst beat I have ever taken.” A couple of hours later, Cantu sounded the death knell by Tweeting, “Ak vs 99 ace in the door 9 to follow – out – most frustrating day I have ever had an indescribable feeling actually.”
To soothe his defeat, Cantu may want to head to Cannes for the Partouche Poker Tour’s event starting Thursday. Tweets were flying as many top poker pros announced their plans to head to the Mediterranean coast to play in the event. Eric Mizrachi (“Today is my last day in Israel, have a flight to catch in 8 hours to Romania then off to Cannes, France for main event!”), Mike Matusow (“Cannes is gonna be effing insane. Vitamins to. Lots and lots of vitamins”), Lacey Jones (“Vegas for less than 24hrs. Had the best time celebrating @DanFleyshman’s bday in 3 cities. Next stop… Cannes!”) and Liz Lieu (“Back in London for a couple days before heading to Cannes”) are just a few of the top pros who will be in France for the tournament.
For the best Tweets of the weekend, we have to start with “Hollywood” Dave Stann’s reports from his efforts in the Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC. “I like a challenge,” Stann Tweeted on Sunday. “Immediately out of 200k running my QQ into AA, then in UBOC main ran my QQ into KK for half my stack. Thanks for the memories, #UBOC. Should stand for Ur Bigpair Obv Cracked.”
Two players offered up their thoughts regarding Paris Hilton’s arrest in Las Vegas over the weekend for cocaine possession. “Really?,” Absolute Poker’s Trishelle Cannatella Tweeted. “The only thing that happened while I was away is Paris H is arrested for cocaine? SHOCKER! Drugs are gross. Especially if you’re 30.” Joe Sebok found the potential reason for his youthful indiscretions: “Paris thought the blow was gum. Now I know why I was so damn hyperactive in high school. Teachers, I TRIED to stop talking! I’m sorry!”
Finally, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh decided to step away from the tables, Tweeting, “Laying out for a bit… Cyprus got me addicted to sun! Definitely not going to miss my monitor tan!”
Tags: absolute poker, european, Hollywood, israel, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, tournament, UBOC, vegas, WSOP
CHAZ_MAN_C Wins UBOC 5 Championship Event
In the grand finale of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) on Sunday, Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes came out on top of the pack following a four-way chop and banked $136,000. A total of 1,032 players coughed up the UBOC 5 Championship Event’s $1,050 buy-in or won a satellite to get in and the top 99 finished in the money.
Combes hails from the United Kingdom and, on the final hand of the tournament, shoved all-in with Q-2. UB.com member “TOOCURIOUSSO” made the call for his tournament life with K-9 and was in prime position to double up. The flop of 3-J-6 didn’t change matters, but a queen on the turn paired Combes and sealed his UBOC 5 title. Combes claimed a championship watch to boot. In March, he won both the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday for $93,000 and the Titan Poker $250,000 Guaranteed for $59,000.
TOOCURIOUSSO finished with the smallest payout of the four dealmakers at $95,000. Pamela “VENUSIGNA” Quesada, who calls the Latin American nation of Costa Rica home, landed in third place and walked away with $152,000, the largest payday of the UBOC 5 Championship. In her final hand, Quesada was all-in before the flop with pocket sixes and up against Combes’ A-K of hearts. The board blanked out until an ace hit on the river, sending Quesada home in devastating fashion.
“WALLABAER” dropped a sizable pot with A-K against Quesada’s pocket nines to cripple his stack. On the next hand, WALLABAER’s 4-3 could not draw out on Combes’ 7-6 and he was relegated to the rails. Here’s a look at how the final table cashed out in the UBOC 5 Championship Event:
1. CHAZ_MAN_C – $136,178
2. TOOCURIOUSSO – $95,000
3. VENUSIGNA – $152,000
4. WALLABAER – $145,000
5. APATHY123 – $56,244
6. WAMMERMOUTH – $45,924
7. MST_MORPHEUS – $35,604
8. 1GENERAL_TAO – $25,284
9. DONRIKY – $17,544
Like you’d expect in a tournament with a $1,050 buy-in, a variety of brand name pros made deep runs. Joshua “PBDRUNKS” Van Duyn, who won the very first tournament of UBOC 5, took 50th in the Championship Event. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who had been in the running as part of a leaderboard competition to be a sponsored pro of DoylesRoom, hit the rail in 22nd place.
UB.com sponsored pro Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp bubbled the final table and finished in 12th in what likely would have been a coup of sorts for members of Team UB. Players who knocked out members of Team UB throughout UBOC 5 received 200 Tournament Dollars and a swank UBOC shirt. The tournament stretched for 12 hours, ending around 4:30am ET.
In the MiniUBOC Championship Event, “JLC123” banked $17,000 and came away with the win. The field of the $55 buy-in tournament numbered 1,684 and JLC123 bested fellow online poker player “BOOJIW” heads-up; BOOJIW grabbed a $10,000 consolation prize. The MiniUBOC 5 schedule offered the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with more affordable buy-ins.
If you’re itching for more tournament series, don’t fear. The 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP, will begin on Sunday, September 5th. The schedule offers a ridiculous $50 million in guaranteed prize money, including a $10 million guaranteed Main Event on September 26th. Every 2010 WCOOP tournament is open to online poker players from the United States.
Check out UB.com or Absolute Poker for full UBOC 5 results.
Tags: 2010, absolute poker, buy-ins, Online Poker, poker player, pokerstars, titan poker, tournament, UBOC
UBOC5: Déjà Vu for Billy Kopp in UBOC5 Championship; Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes Claims Title
UBOC5: Brock Parker and Kevin Saul Cash in Event #18, Final Table Event #19
UBOC 5 Championship Kicks off Sunday
On Sunday, the Championship Event of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, kicks off on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Poker Network. Players on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker will be vying for their share of a $1 million guaranteed UBOC 5 Championship prize pool. The tournament boasts a price tag of $1,050 and begins promptly at 4:00pm ET.
As if the seven-figure purse weren’t enough of a reason to sign up, the UBOC 5 Championship Event features 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth as its host. The tournament comes with a Monster Stack format and a six-figure first place prize, so head to UB.com or Absolute Poker today at 4:00pm ET to get in on the fun. Both sites happily take action from United States online poker players.
The UBOC 5 Championship Event is the culmination of a 20-event tournament series that began back on August 18th. Since then, CEREUS Network pros like Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, and Mark Seif have hosted UBOC 5 tournaments, featuring poker games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and HORSE. This is the second time the UBOC has run in 2010, with the first cycle occurring back in January.
The lone six-figure payday of UBOC 5 so far went to Jeremy “DUHDUHDAISY” Fitzpatrick, who came out on top of the pack in a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Deep Stack event, the eighth on the schedule. A total of 583 players created a $583,000 prize pool, the largest to date heading into the Championship Event. Fitzpatrick owns the eighth spot on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and has also recorded wins in the Full Tilt $1K Monday and Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed.
In Event #8, Fitzpatrick edged out Danny “dannyills” Illingworth, whose second place consolation prize was worth $81,000. Illingworth calls Carlsbad, California home and finished second in the Absolute Poker $200,000 Guaranteed last month for $27,000.
Others at the final table of Event #8 of UBOC 5 included “UPAY4RHINOS” (third place for $54,219), “JOAOMATHIAS” (fourth place for $37,895), “LOCKDOWNTEX” (fifth place for $32,065), “POOLI” (sixth place for $26,235), “CRACKIN_TY” (seventh place for $21,571), “N0VASKY” (eighth place for $15,741), and “GR8PKRPLAYA” (ninth place for $9,911).
The opening tournament of UBOC 5 featured a field of 903 players for a $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event. A total of $200,000 was guaranteed, but the 900-plus player field swelled the total prize pool to nearly $250,000. The final table was stacked with brand name pros, including eventual winner Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, who banked $54,000. Rounding out the top three were Felipe “improved” Montenegro and Darren “darrenelias” Elias, who cashed in for $32,000 and $22,000, respectively.
Also taking place today on UB.com and Absolute Poker is the Championship Event of MiniUBOC 5. The smaller version of the grand finale comes with a $55 buy-in and a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. “GUIGUI_88” will serve as its host and the MiniUBOC 5 Championship begins at 4:00pm ET. MiniUBOC 5 has featured the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with reduced buy-ins for those players lacking deep pockets.
Blanca Games recently acquired the CEREUS Network, although the terms of the transaction remain a mystery. Tokwiro Enterprises, the former owners of UB.com and Absolute Poker, will likely send out a press release with additional details on the acquisition this week. Stuart Gordon is the main face behind Blanca Games, whose website simply notes that its operations “are conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies.” Blanca Games is based in Antigua and has offices in Costa Rica, where UB.com and Absolute Poker are located.
Visit UB or AbsolutePoker to sign up for the UBOC 5 Championship Event.
Tags: 2010, absolute poker, Annie Duke, bodog, buy-ins, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, UBOC, WSOP
UBOC5: B AUSTIN B Wins Event #17; “Hollywood Dave” Goes Deep in Mini
Joe Sebok Reacts to UB and Absolute Poker Acquisition
On Thursday, the poker world learned that Blanca Games, which features Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gordon, had acquired the CEREUS Poker Network. UB.com and Absolute Poker both make their home on the USA-friendly network and the former features Joe Sebok as a sponsored pro. Shortly after the acquisition announcement, Poker News Daily caught up to the former “Poker2Nite” host.
One year ago, Sebok signed on with UB.com and immediately became involved in the site’s investigation into the superuser scandal orchestrated by former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Russ Hamilton. He’s remained one of the more visible UB.com pros in a roster that also includes Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke and 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
Sebok gave us his reaction to the news that Blanca Games had taken control of CEREUS: “I couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s a further break from the past and fewer connections to the former owners of Ultimate Bet, not to mention my own excitement about bringing Blanca into the fold and beginning something new. Gordon has a proven track record and I think bringing them into the poker arena is only going to breathe some new excitement into our business.”
Who is Gordon, you ask? He’s the founder and operator of BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International, both of which hold licenses from the nation of Antigua and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. Blanca Games has its headquarters in Antigua and offices in Costa Rica. Sebok elaborated that despite the change in ownership, players should expect continued growth: “The player experience shouldn’t change one bit, except for all of the improvements that will come from us being bought by Blanca. I think we are really going to be able to do many more exciting things now.”
Text found on Blanca Games’ website does not shed much light on its identity, instead only offering up, “The operations of the Blanca Group are conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies.” According to whois.domaintools.com, BlancaGames.com was registered on July 15th, 2010.
Sebok explained that the timing of the sale with his one-year anniversary of joining UB.com is purely coincidental. That said, he is ready to put the past behind him and continue supporting the USA-friendly site and network: “I always knew that we needed to deal with the past, which we continue to do, but the really exciting period was always going to be growing the company and turning it into what we would like it to be. Soon, UB won’t be known for the scandals of the past, but rather for helping lead online poker into the future.”
Poker News Daily can independently confirm that no staffing or operational changes are expected in the new Blanca Games regime. Sebok added, “Blanca wanted, and needed, the entire operation and the offices and staff to remain largely the same.” In addition, Sebok revealed that no changes to the CEREUS Network’s rakeback or promotions would occur.
Some in the online poker community have questioned whether the fleet of UB and Absolute Poker pros may be turned over. However, Sebok told us that he’s staying put: “I look to continue my role and am excited about possibly taking on more. Anyone that knows me knows I like to get involved and get my hands dirty, so whatever UB asks of me, I would love to get involved with.” Sebok finished 56th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, catching a wealth of face time on ESPN and $108,000 in cash to boot.
Given Victory Poker’s move from the Everleaf Network to the Cake Poker Network on September 1st, one wonders whether the CEREUS family of sites will follow suit with consolidation. According to PokerScout.com, the CEREUS Network is the sixth largest worldwide, with a seven-day running average of 1,760 real money ring game players. It includes just two sites and accepts action from the United States.
On the prospects of the CEREUS Network taking on additional sites given new ownership, Sebok told Poker News Daily, “The company’s strategy is not to have network partners. But, I think that more acquisitions in the future are not out of the question.” Also merging in the first quarter of 2011 are Party Gaming and bwin.
Tokwiro Enterprises, the former owners of UB.com and Absolute Poker, will issue a press release with more information about the transaction early next week.
Tags: 2009, 2010, 2011, absolute poker, Annie Duke, cake poker, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, usa, WSOP
August 27th – Daily Deal
We have an ACTION PACKED Friday edition of the Daily Deal. Today, we talk about Jungleman12 starting up in the Durrrr Challenge, the CEREUS network being sold off and Victory Poker heading over to the Cake Poker Network. Get your popcorn ready!
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
Our headline story comes from Full Tilt Poker as the latest edition of the Durrrr Challenge started up last night. As we reported previously that Jungleman12 was just days away from starting up, the action hit the tables late last night around one-thirty a.m. eastern time. The two played four tables of two hundred / four hundred blind no limit texas hold’em heads-up. Both participants have expressed an interest in getting the 50,000 hand challenge done quickly so we expect a ton of action in the next couple of weeks. Although stats haven’t been released at the time of the taping of the daily deal, it looked like durrrr took about two buy-ins away from Jungleman12 during the first session.
The two got back together and Jungleman12 went on an EPIC run and after all was said and done at around 9 a.m. Friday morning the two had already played ten percent of the hands possible. The tally as it stands now (unofficially) after 5,829 hands is that Jungleman12 is up a stunning $518,202.75!!!!
As more breaks at the tables, we’ll be sure to recap the action right here.
In another huge announcement, On September 1st, Victory Poker, which currently makes its home on the Everleaf Network, will jump ship to the Cake Poker Network. The site, which features pros like Antonio Esfandiari and former World Poker Tour Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, has become a force in the online poker world. It also happily accepts players from the United States.
Poker News Daily sat down yesterday with Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman. We asked him why the popular site decided to jump to Cake and he responded,
“I’ve always liked Cake. It’s a great network and I met with their guys back in January at the London convention, but I had made my decision prior to that. I wanted to be a premiere site on a network when we launched and felt I’d be second or third at Cake. When I signed with Everleaf, they had so much passion, knew I’d bring players, and they worked hard. I’m happy with the way it all turned out.”
For those playing on the Everleaf Network right now Fleyshman told us that he believes the family of sites is in good hands even without Victory Poker and that they’ll keep improving and moving in the right direction … just without Victory Poker.
In our final bit of huge poker news, it broke late Thursday afternoon that Blanca Games had purchased the CEREUS Poker Network, which includes UB.com and Absolute Poker. An official press release is expected out early next week and for now, the purchase price and terms were not released. Stuart Gordon is the CEO of the CEREUS Network’s new parent company and commented on Thursday evening,
“The acquisition of CEREUS is a significant opportunity for us. CEREUS is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like UB.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.”
Gordon founded and manages BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International. Both of those sites, like UB.com, are licensed by the Kahawake Gaming Commission. Poker News Daily has independently confirmed that no staffing or operational changes are expected at UB.com or Absolute Poker during the transition to Blance Gaming. Gordon also commented that he does not expect any changes to occur in the playing experience for either site. Currently, the CEREUS network ranks as the sixth largest poker network online.
Well, that does it for a jam packed Friday here on The Daily Deal! Be sure to check back with us all throughout your day to catch the latest poker headlines. I’ll be back on Monday with a brand new episode of The Daily Deal. Until then, I’m Sean Gibson hoping you crush the competition and reel in those fish at the cash game tables this weekend!
UBOC5: Corey Burbick Final Tables Event #15; Event #16 Cancelled
New owners for UB and Absolute Poker
Tags: absolute poker
Blanca Games Acquires CEREUS Poker Network
Late Thursday, it was revealed that Blanca Games had purchased the CEREUS Poker Network, which consists of UB.com and Absolute Poker. A press release is due out early next week from former owners Tokwiro Enterprises. The purchasing price and terms were not released.
Stuart Gordon is the Chief Executive Officer of the CEREUS Network’s new parent company and commented in a press release distributed on Thursday evening, “The acquisition of CEREUS is a significant opportunity for us. CEREUS is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like UB.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.” UB.com and Absolute Poker both accept players from the United States.
Gordon added, “From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.” Gordon founded and manages BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International. Like UB.com, both sites feature licenses from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, or KGC, and Stuart also owns licenses from the nation of Antigua.
Poker News Daily has independently confirmed that no staffing or operational changes are expected at UB.com or Absolute Poker with the transition to Blanca Gaming. In addition, Gordon commented that he doesn’t expect any changes to occur in the “playing experience” on either site. Blanca Games is based in Antigua and, according to its website, keeps offices in Costa Rica, where UB.com and Absolute Poker are based.
Gordon alluded to Blanca Games’ focus on security on the CEREUS Network going forward: “We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the CEREUS Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.” Both UB.com and Absolute Poker are fresh off high-profile superuser scandals. On the former site, over $20 million was taken from players in a heist featured on the CBS news program “60 Minutes.”
The CEREUS Network is in the midst of holding its fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC. It’s actually the second time that UBOC has run in 2010 and a $1 million guaranteed Main Event will play out on Sunday. The tournament, hosted by 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, boasts a $1,050 buy-in and kicks off at 16:00 ET. The UBOC 5 Main Event is the culmination of a 20-event tournament series that began back on August 18th.
The CEREUS Network’s team of pros includes Hellmuth, Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, Trishelle Cannatella, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Brandon Cantu. No changes to rakeback, tournament schedules, and software were announced as of press time, but more details on the transaction and what it means for players may be given when Tokwiro issues its press release next week.
The CEREUS Network was officially launched in November 2008 after the player bases of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker were combined. One year later, Ultimate Bet was re-branded as UB.com.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on this breaking story.
Tags: 2008, 2010, absolute poker, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, UBOC, WSOP
UBOC5: Mackey Makes Second Final Table; Joe “ENDER555” Ebanks Takes Down Mini-UBOC Event #14
UBOC5: Chad Batista and Tony Dunst Just Miss Event #11 Final Table; COACHIMNETS Wins Event #12 H.O.R.S.E.
$1500 Freeroll On UB and Absolute Poker - Only a Minimum Deposit By Tonight To Qualify!
UBOC5: Steven Gonzalez Wins Event #9; Daniel Kelly Dominates Event #10
UBOC5: ALLRGCTONUTS Takes Down Event #7; Tiffany Michelle Makes Deep Run in Event #8
UBOC5: Kroon and Seif Run Deep in Heads-Up Event; Mackey Final Tables Event #6
pbdrunks Wins Kickoff UBOC 5 Online Poker Tournament
If the first tournament is any indication, the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, is shaping up to be one of the largest ever. The kickoff $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper tournament generated a starting grid of 903 entrants, which meant that a $243,000 prize pool was up for grabs.
UB.com, one-half of the USA-friendly CEREUS Network, guaranteed a $200,000 purse for the first event, meaning that the actual prize pool was about 20% larger than its guarantee. In the end, Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, a longtime member of the online poker community, trumped the pack and banked nearly $55,000. Two years ago, Van Duyn took down the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $71,000, his largest online poker cash to date according to PocketFives.com.
Heads-up, Van Duyn defeated longtime poker pro Felipe “improved” Montenegro, who walked away with $33,000. Montenegro is a three-time Triple Crown winner on PocketFives.com, which entails winning three $10,000 prize pool tournaments across three sites tracked for the site’s Online Poker Rankings in a one-week span. Montenegro owns the 51st spot in the aforementioned Rankings and has banked over $3 million in his online poker career.
Another brand name pro finished third in the $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event, the first on the UBOC 5 docket. Darren “darrenelias” Elias cashed for $22,000, adding to a tournament resume that includes a jersey in a $200 Cubed No Limit Hold’em event held during the February 2009 running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS. Here’s a look at how the final table of UBOC 5 Event #1 shook out:
1. PBDRUNKS – $54,760
2. IMPROVED – $32,792
3. DARRENELIAS – $22,309
4. MESCALIN8 – $15,726
5. MURIBE – $13,288
6. POOPLUS – $10,850
7. LUFTMENSCHEN – $8,411
8. 9BARELL – $5,973
9. MARIO_BASLER – $4,145
In January, UB.com member “AnteSvante” took down the PokerStars Sunday 500 to the tune of $90,000. Flash forward to Thursday, when he defeated Jesse “toohottotrot” Haabak heads-up in UBOC 5 Event #3, a $320 No Limit Hold’em Four-Max affair. “AnteSvante” walked away with a $29,000 cash prize, while Haabak boosted his online poker bankroll by $18,000. Others at the final table included “TIGGER2” and “eliasharris,” who took third and fourth, respectively:
1. ANTESVANTE – $29,079
2. TOOHOTTOTROT – $18,309
3. TIGGER2 – $11,847
4. ELIASHARRIS – $8,616
If you missed out on the first three UBOC 5 tournaments, don’t fret. A total of 19 will play out before the series’ $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack Main Event on August 29th at 4:00pm ET. The final event, hosted by UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth, sports a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.
Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is MiniUBOC 5, which boasts the same slate of events, but with shrunken buy-ins. UBOC 5 events are open to players from the United States. Visit UB.com or its sister site, Absolute Poker, to enter today.
Mac Poker Sites More Popular Than Ever
If you own a Mac, then your options for playing online poker on a Mac are growing quickly. Existing rooms are offering a variety of ways for you to fire up the virtual felts, ranging from a fully downloadable client similar to what your Windows counterparts use to a browser-based alternative. The latter – dubbed “Instant Play” by most sites – has become one of the most widely used ways for Mac online poker players to access the world’s top sites. It’s safe to say mac poker sites are more popular than ever.
Web-based clients have a lot of drawbacks, however. On Bodog, for example, only one cash game table can be opened at a time, cutting off Mac tournament players entirely and limiting the potential to “grind.” On UB.com and Absolute Poker, several features are lacking and, although the web-based client receives upgrades, its capabilities are capped. PartyPoker, which does not accept real money action from the United States, was one of the first sites to offer an “Instant Play” option.
Despite its limitations, web-play clients are convenient. Most of them are compatible with Safari and Firefox; just make sure you have the latest version of each browser installed on your Mac. Many Windows and Linux users have even employed “Instant Play” to avoid having to download any software. If you’re away from your home computer or are in a situation where downloading UB.com, for example, may be frowned upon, web-based interfaces provide an easy way to access major sites.
Two online poker rooms, however, have gone well above their counterparts and offered a fully functional downloadable client, the best solution that a Mac poker player can hope for. Surprisingly, the two sites to offer feature-packed downloads are the two largest in the industry and home to a variety of high-stakes pros.
PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker site and is home to tens of thousands of cash game players at any given moment. PokerStars is where Main Event champions play, including Tom McEvoy (1984), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Joe Cada (2009), all of whom are sponsored site pros.
PokerStars offers some of the industry’s richest promotions and runs two major tournament series annually, the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). Total prize pools for these have topped $50 million in the past, making for life-changing paydays and challenging competition. PokerStars also sports one of the top customer service teams in the business.
Another reason to play on PokerStars is access to major live poker tournaments. PokerStars sponsors roving tournament series in North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, and the entire European continent. Its signature event is the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, held each January in the Bahamas. It’s a prime opportunity for cold weather poker players to make their way to one of the globe’s top tropical destinations and, with a legal gambling age of 18, the event attracts a variety of young guns from North America.
For more information about Poker Stars, please read our Poker Stars Review.
Play with the pros – literally – at Full Tilt Poker. If you’re looking for the industry’s most recognized professionals, then look no further. Play alongside Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Huck Seed, Erick Lindgren, Phil Gordon, and others at the world’s second largest online poker site.
Full Tilt is a tournament player’s haven four times a year during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS as it’s commonly called. The quarterly tournament extravaganza attracts the top players in the industry and features a variety of games including Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Stud, and Razz.
Full Tilt also is a Mecca for high-stakes players. With David Benyamine, Dwan, Ivey, and Antonius headlining much of the action, Full Tilt has also had players like Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Mike Matusow join its team to liven up the high-stakes scene. The only drawback to playing on Full Tilt Poker – and its fully downloadable Mac client – is a lax customer service team that falls well short of PokerStars’.
Nevertheless, if you’re a Mac online poker player, be sure to sign up for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Both happily accept players from the United States and host games that will fit your bankroll and budget around-the-clock.
For more information about Full Tilt Poker, please read our Full Tilt Poker Review.
Visit Apple.com for more information about Mac computers or to buy your Mac today.
August 17th – Daily Deal
Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal. Today, we’ll break down the Main Event of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, scope out financial news from Harrah’s, and introduce you to a brand new bounty tournament on UB.com. It’s all ahead… RIGHT NOW.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and you’re watching the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
The seventeenth installment of the Full Tilt Poker Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, came to an end early Monday morning as a winner was crowned in the $640 buy-in Main Event. “TyboVegas” bested “DQnk” … I guess that’s Donk spelled weird … heads-up to win the title, the gold jersey, and more than $423,000 in prize money. Despite taking second place, DQnk actually locked up more money, as the two players struck a deal during heads-up play.
The Main Event fell short of its $3 million dollar guaranteed prize pool, as 4,805 took to the felts. As a result, there was a MASSIVE $117,000 dollar overlay. But, the turnout was still positive compared to past series. Here are the results from the Main Event of FTOPS Seventeen…
1. TyboVegas – $423,057
2. DQnk – $446,943
3. flagal43 – $255,000
4. roo7227 – $192,000
5. Ship_the_dollar – $143,850
6. jfiiue4 – $99,000
7. einstein007 – $64,500
8. angrywhale – $45,000
9. JBurleson – $31,500
Turning to some poker stock news, According to Reuters, casino giant Harrah’s will register nine point nine percent of its stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares are currently in the hands of John Paulson, investor and hedge fund extraordinaire.
Harrah’s announced its second quarter financial figures at the beginning of the month and posted a two-hundred seventy-four million dollar loss. In a remarkable turn of events, the company recorded a profit of nearly two point three Billion dollars – that’s billion with a B – in the same quarter last year. The company operates thirty-eight casinos across North America and one each in Egypt, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Uruguay. The new season of the WSOP Circuit begins on Thursday from Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
Finally, it’s time to Take Down a H0 at UB.com – Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, that is. Every Saturday on UB.com and Absolute Poker, you can square off against Kroon and other players in a high-stakes bounty tournament. The unique weekly event boasts a fifty-thousand dollar guaranteed prize pool and a $320 buy-in. The first installment, which was held over the weekend, attracted 224 players, easily blowing past its guarantee. The person who knocks out “P0ker H0” claims three-hundred Tournament Dollars.
That wraps up today’s edition of the Daily Deal, and be sure to check back with us all week long for the latest poker headlines. Be sure to add us to your twitter feed if you haven’t already and also be sure to sign up for our email newsletter. I’m Sean Gibson wishing that all your pocket pairs hit sets!
UB.com Announces Take Down a H0 Bounty Poker Tournament
On Saturday, the very first installment of the UB.com Take Down a H0 bounty tournament played out on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network site. The unique poker tournament boasts a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and features UB.com pro Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. The buy-in is $320.
Kroon is a founding member of Team UB and even co-hosts the popular “Man Up with Mark and Mike” radio show on 1670 AM in Madison, Wisconsin. His bounty tournament kicks off weekly on Saturday at 3:05pm ET and the person who bumps Kroon from his event claims 300 Tournament Dollars for their troubles. Kroon owns Player’s Bar and Grill in Madison, a college town that’s home to the University of Wisconsin.
The first installment of the No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Take Down a H0 event ran over the weekend on the CEREUS Network, which includes UB.com and its sister site Absolute Poker. A total of 224 players turned out, creating a $67,200 prize pool that easily shattered its guarantee. Kroon was busted from the tournament early, but we’re sure that he merely retreated to his bar for the rest of the day.
In January, Kroon final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $79,000. Three months later, he took second in the Absolute Poker $1K on his home network for another $68,000. Kroon is an original member of the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com.
UB.com is ramping up to host the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC for short. The 20-tournament series kicks off on Wednesday with a $320 Sniper No Limit Hold’em event and a $267 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha contest. The two events on UBOC 5’s first day offer up a combined $300,000 in prize money. All told, UBOC 5 will pony up $4 million in guarantees and offers one tournament with a seven-figure purse.
The UBOC 5 Main Event plays out on August 29th and is a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack tournament. UB.com front man and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will host the tournament, which comes complete with a $1 million guarantee.
Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is the MiniUBOC, which features the same 20 tournaments, but with reduced buy-ins and guarantees. The MiniUBOC Main Event, for example, has a $55 price tag and $50,000 in guaranteed prize money.
No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, HORSE, Limit Omaha Eight or Better, and Eight Game events will play out as part of UBOC 5. Every player who takes down a UBOC or MiniUBOC event will nab a championship watch in addition to the cash.
Besides Hellmuth and Kroon, other members of Team UB include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu, and former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle. The site recently parted ways with European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event winner Liv Boeree after the two parties could not come to terms on a new deal.
The CEREUS Network happily accepts players from the United States. Its sites are holding a Bubble Buster promotion during UBOC 5 that pays out up to $1 million in cash. Any player who makes the money in 11 of the 20 UBOC 5 tournaments captures the grand prize. For players who aren’t as fortunate, prizes are available for two in the money finishes or more and include freeroll entries, tournament tickets, and cash.
Visit UB.com and Absolute Poker for more details on the Take Down a H0 bounty tournament. Look for it in the lobby every Saturday at 3:05pm ET.
Kentucky Internet Gambling Lawsuit Amended to Include Party Gaming
In late March, the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed suit against Pocket Kings, the purported operators of Full Tilt Poker, seeking the amount of money lost by state residents between March 2005 and September 2009. Now, the complaint has been amended to include Party Gaming, which recently announced a merger with bwin.
Reacting to the news that Party Gaming, whose online poker site PartyPoker hasn’t accepted real money wagers from U.S. residents since 2006, was singled out was Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan. iMEGA has been at the forefront of the fight to protect 141 internet gambling domain names that were seized two years ago in a separate legal battle and may ultimately face forfeiture. The case is pending in the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Brennan told Poker News Daily on Thursday, “This is a last minute ploy by the Commonwealth to try to force a settlement. I think they named Party because the company is engaged in a merger and they’re trying to use that to get money out of them. They’re probably trying to get Party to pay out some cash settlement. Party has been around for a while and nothing has changed other than they’re trying to undergo a merger.” Gambling911 reported that Kentucky attorneys are seeking funds lost by state residents between August 2005 and October 2006.
PartyPoker, whose parent company is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, vacated the U.S. market in 2006 after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Attorney Jeff Ifrah speculated, “It’s unclear how long the Commonwealth has been researching the viability of claims against anyone. They may have been looking at Party for a while now, even before the merger announcement. They were certainly looking at them last year when they started thinking about putting a complaint together.”
Party Gaming has already signed a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and one of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, faces sentencing later this year after admitting Wire Act violations. Doubting the success of Kentucky’s case against Party Gaming was Ifrah, who told Poker News Daily, “In their complaint against Party, they continue to omit any reference to any specific loser. They’ve made broad references to losers and broad references to Kentucky residents, but there’s still no proof. They’re hoping a judge will grant them discovery.”
PartyPoker was once the largest online poker site in the world and, when it departed the U.S. market in 2006, was in the midst of its Monster promotion. According to PokerScout.com, PartyPoker boasts a seven-day running average of 3,350 real money ring game players and is the third largest site worldwide behind PokerStars and Full Tilt. PartyPoker ranks just ahead of Playtech’s iPoker Network and features World Poker Tour host Mike Sexton, “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott, and bad boy Tony G as its sponsored pros.
Brennan summed up the news by calling out Kentucky’s attorneys, who are allegedly working on a contingency basis: “It is the plaintiff’s attorneys who have now used the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to try to blackmail Party Gaming and use the occasion of their merger as an opportunity to get some sort of settlement out of them. It’s about as contemptible and reprehensible as anything I can imagine.”
Curiously, PartyPoker was not named in the original lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of 141 domain names, including those belonging to PokerStars, Absolute Poker, UB.com, and Full Tilt.
Party Gaming likely won’t reenter the U.S. market until a full licensing and regulatory framework is in place. A bill proposed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) would do just that and passed out of the House Financial Services Committee two weeks ago. However, with the current Congressional session quickly coming to an end, its future appears to be in doubt. The bill, numbered HR 2267, boasts 70 co-sponsors.
Tags: 2009, 2011, absolute poker, Barney Frank, high stakes, kara scott, legal, Online Poker, pokerstars
August 10th – Daily Deal
Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily. Today we’ll discuss online qualifiers for the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge and review the UBOC 5 schedule. Plus “The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson gives us her favorite Las Vegas shows and one World Series of Poker November Niner is headed to Foxwoods.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and you’re watching the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
On August twenty-second at four P-M Eastern Time, the USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom will qualify players to the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge through a $226 Grand Finale. One prize package is guaranteed and DoylesRoom will add another for every ten players in the field. DoylesRoom is holding two more Weekly Semifinals if a $226 price tag is out of your bankroll, and the next one comes your way on Saturday. The Montana Poker Challenge plays out over Labor Day weekend from Big Fork.
The fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, begins on August eighteenth on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. UBOC 5, which is the second UBOC to run in 2010, features twenty tournaments culminating in a one-thousand fifty dollar buy-in Championship Event on August 29th. UB pro Phil Hellmuth will host the Championship Event, which features a Monster Stack format. The CEREUS Network is running a variety of UBOC side promotions, including a Bubble Buster that pays out up to one million dollars.
“The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson published her top ten Las Vegas shows on Monday on Poker News Daily. Leading her list was the musical Jersey Boys, which plays out at the Palazzo from Thursday to Tuesday every week. Other Vegas spectaculars singled out were Love, O, Viva Elvis, and Penn and Teller. Check out her full list by clicking on “Guest Columnists” at the top of the screen. While you’re there, you can view exclusive blogs submitted by poker pros like Annie Duke and Mike Sexton.
Finally, Poker News Daily has learned that World Series of Poker November Niner Jonathan Duhamel will be playing in the upcoming Foxwoods August Megastack. He’ll join Chris Moneymaker and Darvin Moon as pro ambassadors. The Megastack series begins on August seventeenth and offers a five-hundred thousand dollar guaranteed prize pool. Moneymaker and Moon made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Duhamel is this year’s chip leader.
That does it for this Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal and be sure to check back all day long here at our site for the latest poker stories. You can also add us to your twitter feed at twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson and may the flop be with you!
Tags: 2009, 2010, absolute poker, Annie Duke, darvin moon, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, tournament, UBOC, usa, vegas, WSOP
Absolute Poker $4 Million Guaranteed UBOC 5 in August with Exclusive Club Pokernews Freerolls this Weekend
UBOC 5 Begins August 18th on UB.com, Absolute Poker
In nine short days, the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) will kick off on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. This month marks the second UBOC installment of 2010, as the first panned out in January and featured David “DoubleDave22” D’Alesandro taking down the Championship Event.
UBOC 5 will award at least $4 million in prize money across 20 online poker tournaments. The series, which runs concurrently with a MiniUBOC counterpart, culminates in a $1,050 buy-in Championship Event on August 29th. The feature tournament, hosted by 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, will guarantee at least $1 million, ensuring potentially life-changing money for whoever comes out on top of the pack. In January, 1,307 players entered the Championship Event and D’Alesandro banked $279,000.
The CEREUS Network is running several promotions in conjunction with UBOC 5, including a Single Event Satellite Contest that awards Tournament Dollars to the players who rack up the most satellite wins to each UBOC 5 tournament. In addition, the Network is holding three $5,000 freerolls for players who satellite into more than one UBOC 5 event. Anyone who manages to satellite into 17 or more of the 20 UBOC 5 events automatically wins a seat in the $1,050 Championship Event.
Finally, the Bubble Buster promotion rewards players for cashing in UBOC 5 tournaments. Anyone who makes the money in two UBOC tournaments will claim a $10,000 freeroll entry. Prizes escalate all the way up to $1 million, which will go to players who manage to cash in 11 or more UBOC 5 events.
Here is the schedule of events for the fifth UBOC:
Event #1: August 18th at 20:05 ET
$320 Sniper NLHE ($30 bounty)
$200,000 Guaranteed
Event #2: August 18th at 20:05 ET
$267 PLHE/PLO Mix
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #3: August 19th at 20:05 ET
$320 NLHE Four-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #4: August 20th at 20:05 ET
$162 Sniper NLHE ($20 bounty)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #5: August 21st at 14:00 ET
$1,050 NLHE Heads-Up
$128,000 Guaranteed
Event #6: August 21st at 16:00 ET
$215 Pro Bounty ($200) NLHE Turbo 2X Chance Short Stack
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #7: August 22nd at 14:00 ET
$215 PLO Cubed (One Rebuy Plus One Add-On)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #8: August 22nd at 16:00 ET
$1,050 Deepstack NLHE Six-Max
$500,000 Guaranteed
Event #9: August 23rd at 20:05 ET
$215 NLHE ($200 Rock Star Bounty on Scott Ian and Shanna Moaklar)
$200,000 Guaranteed
Event #10: August 23rd at 20:05 ET
$320 PLO Eight or Better
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #11: August 24th at 20:05 ET
$215 NLHE Cubed (One Rebuy Plus One Add-On)
$150,000 Guaranteed
Event #12: August 24th at 20:05 ET
$215 HORSE
$50,000 Guaranteed
Event #13: August 25th at 20:05 ET
$530 NLHE Deepstack
$200,000 Guaranteed
Event #14: August 25th at 20:05 ET
$320 PLO Six-Max 2X Chance
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #15: August 26th at 20:05 ET
$320 Sniper NLHE ($30 bounty)
$150,000 Guaranteed
Event #16: August 26th at 20:05 ET
$215 Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$50,000 Guaranteed
Event #17: August 27th at 20:05 ET
$162 Sniper NLHE Six-Max ($20 bounty)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #18: August 28th at 14:00 ET
$109 NLHE Turbo with Rebuys
$100,000 Guaranteed
Event #19: August 28th at 16:00 ET
$320 Eight Game Mix
$100,000 Guaranteed
UBOC 5 Championship: August 29th at 16:00 ET
$1,050 Monster Stack NLHE
$1 Million Guarantee
Click over to UB or AbsolutePoker for full details on UBOC 5’s tournaments and promotions.
Tags: 2010, absolute poker, deepstack, freeroll, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, tournament, UBOC, WSOP
Cake Poker Adds SSL Security Encryption
On Thursday, Cake Poker, the flagship site of the Cake Poker Network, mended its security issues by adding SSL encryption to its old client and new beta software. PokerTableRatings.com, which first reported the security vulnerability back on July 26th, has confirmed that it has not been able to crack the new encryption.
Lee Jones, Card Room Manager for Cake Poker, told Poker News Daily on Friday, “Player security is of the utmost importance to us. Our software team has been working overtime to add the SSL layer to our server-client communication and it is now in place on both our regular client and the new Client 2 beta version.” The security issue that plagued the Cake Poker Network was nearly the same as the one that occurred on the CEREUS Network in May. There, UB.com and Absolute Poker were affected.
The Cake Poker Network used a custom-based XOR encryption that PokerTableRatings.com programmers were able to crack. In fact, the site suggested that any person could simply launch their Windows calculator, switch it to Scientific mode, and start decoding the Cake Poker Network’s XOR. Consequently, players who hit the virtual felts on an unsecured wireless network were in danger of having their hole cards and account information compromised.
Text found on PokerTableRatings.com explained, “This encoding leaves players’ accounts as well as hole cards vulnerable to being stolen by any third party who is in between the player and Cake’s servers, as well as anyone who can snoop on their traffic.” On August 4th, Cake Poker rolled out SSL for the old client, but ran into issues on Thursday and removed SSL entirely. PokerTableRatings.com staff speculated, “We believe this is due to serious stability problems they’ve had since implementing SSL support.”
By the end of the day on Thursday, according to Jones, all Cake Poker Network skins and the network’s flagship site had SSL encryption. In response, PokerTableRatings.com admitted, “We have been unable to reproduce any of the vulnerabilities we detected previously.” If players were unsure as to whether they had SSL on their Cake Poker Network clients, they were advised to head to their C Drive, Program Files, and then navigate to the folder containing the name of their skin.
Once there, players were asked to look for the icon labeled ssleay32.dll. If the dll file is not present, then the software has not yet received the update. If it is present, then it is safe to play on the Cake Poker Network.
On TwoPlusTwo, a maelstrom of controversy erupted in a thread entitled “Possibly Superusers on Cake – Lee Jones/Cake Refusing to Respond.” The thread asserted in part, “Cake does not allow datamining [and] does allow name changes, making it pretty much impossible for the community to check for superusers ourselves.”
Meanwhile, traffic on the Cake Poker Network has dipped slightly as a result of the encryption issues. On July 31st and August 1st, peak cash game traffic dove about 15% weekend over weekend according to PokerScout.com. On July 31st, the Cake Poker Network clocked in at 1,060 peak real money players, while on August 1st, that number rose to 1,097. It marked the first time in the last two months that the Network had turned in back-to-back days of peak ring game numbers below 1,100 players.
Besides Cake Poker, other rooms on the USA-friendly Network include DoylesRoom, Intertops, Only Poker, Red Star Poker, and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker. Cake Poker allows players to change their user names once every seven days.
Absolute Poker guarantees $4m in UB Online Championship
USA poker sites – Best US online poker rooms
USA poker sites deposit options:
Online poker players from the United States have a bevy of options to choose from when funding and selecting a site. Many online poker rooms will suggest that you finance your U.S. online poker account with Visa or MasterCard, although their approval rates vary depending on your bank. When in doubt, try using your credit and debit cards if one or the other fails and be sure to take advantage of any deposit support that your chosen room has. Remember, they’re there to help.
If you’re not having any luck using plastic to fund accounts, then try Western Union, e-checks, or a bank wire. The processing fee for each transaction type varies widely, so make sure you’re fully aware of how much you’ll be charged before you begin moving money. Players on online poker forums have reported mixed success with pre-paid debit cards and, with the state of the industry in the U.S. constantly in flux, we’d suggest doing some research before you begin funding your account.
Now that you know how to deposit, where should you play? Let’s take a look at the leading USA-friendly sites.
USA Poker Sites
Full Tilt Poker
Learn, chat, and play with the pros at Full Tilt Poker. One of the giants of the industry, Full Tilt Poker features a star-studded lineup of pros that includes Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Erik Seidel. Full Tilt offers online poker tournament action around-the-clock, including the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS as it’s commonly known. Challenge your friends and the entire poker community in poker games like Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight Game as part of the recurring FTOPS schedule.
Full Tilt’s customer support isn’t the most heralded in the industry, but given the large volume of players who take to its cash game, play money, and tournament felts every day, there’s no reason to shy away.
Read our complete Full Tilt Poker Review
PokerStars
The world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars features some of the industry’s richest promotions and thousands of players placating its virtual felts 24/7. PokerStars affords you plenty of chances to play on the world’s largest stages, including the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) and a slew of television programs.
PokerStars is where champions can be found. In fact, a host of former WSOP Main Event winners are sponsored pros including Tom McEvoy (1983), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Joe Cada (2009). PokerStars also offers one of the top customer support teams in the industry, so rest assured that your issues will be addressed swiftly.
Read our complete PokerStars Review
UB.com
UB.com offers skill-friendly tournament structures with high- and low-stakes events running day and night. Its software is one of the easiest to use in the industry and a multitude of top-tier tournament pros can be found on its felts. UB.com features top pros like Annie Duke, former Main Event champ Phil Hellmuth, and Joe Sebok. Unlike other online poker sites, UB.com’s pros often interact with their clientele through unique promotions and freerolls, making the user experience quite memorable.
UB.com makes its home on the CEREUS Network alongside sister site Absolute Poker and offers one of the largest player bases available to U.S. online poker players. Its interactive promotions and solid tournament structures make UB.com a must-visit for USA players.
Read our complete UB.com Review
Absolute Poker
The other half of the CEREUS Network, Absolute Poker is UB.com’s hip counterpart. Primarily focusing on the younger generation of players, Absolute Poker’s College Challenge and Spring Break-related promotions are among its most popular. Couple these with major promotions on the CEREUS Network and there will certainly be something that fits your interests and budget.
Absolute Poker is one of the oldest sites in the industry and, despite the checkered past of the CEREUS Network, still sees players flocking to it in droves. Absolute Poker features a generous sign-up bonus and budget-conscious promotions for any player to take advantage of.
Read our complete Absolute Poker Review
Cake Poker
Cake Poker’s Gold Chip, Gold Card, and Gold Stack Rewards Programs are among the most popular in the online poker world. Cake Poker takes a completely different approach to rewarding players than any other site does, putting an emphasis on making reward levels easy to achieve and, more importantly, easy to maintain.
Cake Poker features Lee Jones as its Card Room Manager. Jones brings a considerable degree of industry experience to the table and places an emphasis on customer satisfaction. The Cake Poker Network’s promotions are largely geared towards its Rewards Programs and its flagship site allows screen name changes once every seven days. Don’t forget to have your cake and eat it too, only at Cake Poker.
Read our complete Cake Poker Review
Carbon Poker
The flagship site of the Merge Gaming Network, Carbon Poker offers a sleek table feel stacked with features that new online poker players will love, including a “Rabbit Cam” for you to play the “What If” card. Other nifty software features on Carbon Poker include the ability to deal it twice, expose one card to the table, and take to games quickly using a “Quick Start.”
Carbon Poker boasts “American Pie” actress Shannon Elizabeth as its primary face. When you fire up the felts of Carbon Poker, you’ll be battling alongside members of other Merge Gaming Network sites like Players Only, Lock Poker, and Poker Nordica. Play on the rapidly growing Merge Gaming Network by signing up for Carbon Poker.
DoylesRoom
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Play with poker legend Doyle Brunson, also known as “Texas Dolly,” only on DoylesRoom. The site has made a name for itself by being stacked with up-and-coming poker talent dubbed the Brunson 10. The group of high-profile internet whiz kids takes on loyal customers in the recurring Beat the Brunson 10 tournament, a low budget knockout event with rich rewards.
In addition, DoylesRoom affords the Average Joe the opportunity to suit up against Brunson, Mike Caro, and Hoyt Corkins, among others, in the weekly Bounty tournament. Plus, with the high degree of liquidity you’ll find on the Cake Poker Network, you can rest assured that there will always be a seat open for you at DoylesRoom.
Read our complete Doyles Room Review