Poker News

Victory Poker Launches February 1st

One day prior to Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, officials from Victory Poker will celebrate the site’s launch at a party at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. The online poker room will open for business on February 1st.

Victory Poker will make its home on the merged Everleaf/UPN network, which has yet to take on an official name. According to PokerScout.com, the newly created network will boast traffic similar to that of Betfair, which has a seven-day running average of 610 real money ring game players. A press release announcing the Trash Talk Championship of the World Straddle Tournament at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on February 6th revealed that the Victory Poker launch party would occur at 10:00pm following the festivities.

UFC’s Randy Couture will be sporting a Victory Poker logo when he takes to the ring in UFC 109 against Mark Coleman. The bout emanates from the Mandalay Bay Events Center near the Hard Rock and will also feature Nate Marquardt facing off against Chael Sonnen and Matt Serra fighting Frank Trigg. The first brawl takes place at 4:45pm, while televised matches start at 7:00pm. Couture will don a dot-net logo for the new online poker room.

Antonio Esfandiari headlines the Victory Poker stable of pros. A World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Esfandiari has become widely known for his insatiable appetite for prop bets. He even co-starred with his close friend Phil Laak on the MOJO show “I Bet You,” which ran for two seasons on the cable station. Esfandiari has three WPT final tables to his credit and one title, which came in the Season 2 L.A. Poker Classic. At the tender age of 31, Esfandiari is one of the veterans of the game.

Jumping over from DoylesRoom to be a part of Victory Poker is Alec “traheho” Torelli. The Cake Poker Network site and Torelli severed ties two weeks ago. Torelli has made two WPT final tables, finishing fourth in both the Bellagio Cup V and Solvakia events. The former will air its finale at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net this Sunday in a one-hour episode. Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten will once again provide commentary for Season 8 of the WPT.

Coming over from Full Tilt Poker are Paul Wasicka and Lee Markholt. The latter was removed in recent days as a Full Tilt Red Pro and finished fourth in the WSOP Circuit Championship in Tunica four years ago for $183,000. In addition, Markholt won the WPT Season 6 World Poker Challenge in Reno for $493,000 and owns $1.3 million in career earnings from the roving tournament series. Wasicka was the runner-up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, earning a colossal $6.1 million.

Also appearing in the Victory Poker pro lineup is Chinese Poker sensation Danny Wong. Owning the moniker “Chinese Poker Wizard,” Wong learned to play the game’s variation at age five. Despite his success in Chinese Poker, he’s also excelled in No Limit Texas Hold’em, making three WPT final tables. Joining Wong will be online poker pro Brian “tsarrast” Rast.

Those who watched the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN will recall the deep run of the “Flying” Bilzerian brothers. Dan Bilzerian, who finished 180th, will become part of the Victory Poker cast. In his final hand of the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament, Bilzerian committed his stack with A-6, but could not best Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo’s pocket tens. His brother, Adam Bilzerian, renounced his U.S. citizenship and is now a passport holder of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Other Victory Poker pros include Andrew "good2cu" Robl, Keith Gipson, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, Sander Lylloff., and 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood. The site is scheduled to launch on February 1st and will accept players from the United States.

The Trash Talk Championship is a $1,000 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program and Cedars-Sinai.

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.

Liv Boeree Appears in Maxim UK

Maxim UK describes this poker player as a “very sexy guitar-wielding, card-playing, telly-hosting farm girl.” Who is she, you ask? UB.com’s Liv Boeree, of course. Boeree appeared in a recent edition of the scandalous magazine.

The photographer in the Maxim UK shoot, Alan Barry, allegedly asked Boeree to pose on a toilet and the Brit obliged. She told Maxim UK, who inquired about the unique shot, “It seemed a shame to let such a lovely chrome toilet not be included in the shoot. It wasn't me that made the toilet sexy, it was the toilet that did all the work. It really was such a pretty thing.” Boeree appears in two colored dresses on Maxim UK’s website: red and black. In the now-infamous toilet shot, she is hunched over while wearing a skimpy black dress.

Boeree grew up on a farm, leading to a flurry of questions concerning her background. Maxim asked whether she enjoyed rolling around in hay. Boeree responded, “Hay is preferable to straw for sure, it's way less scratchy.” She revealed that her favorite farm animal is a pig, leading to a highly insightful question from Maxim: “Have you ever masturbated one, like Rebecca Loos? If you haven't but had to, would you?” Boeree bluntly responded, “No. And no. What is wrong with you people?”

Boeree also noted that she is a fan of strumming the guitar and her favorite riff is from “Cowboys from Hell” by the band Pantera. Maxim UK inquired as to whether she could play the guitar solo from the Guns N' Roses hit “Sweet Child of Mine.” The UB.com poker icon admitted, “I can't - it's never one I've really tried to learn. Give me a month and I'll play it for ya though.” Her ultimate rock superstar group would include James Hetfield of Metallica, Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, Adam Duce from Machine Head, and Vinnie Paul from Pantera.

Maxim UK finally got around to asking about poker, Boeree’s profession. She revealed that the most she’s ever won in a day is $42,000 and recapped an interesting run-in with porn star Ron Jeremy: “He mentions how he's just learned to play poker so I ask him a particular hand related question: Which would you prefer... 6-9 or Jack King Off. Say those fast and what do you get? Well Mr. Jeremy didn't get the innuendo in the names and proudly stated that he'd always choose Jack King off over 6-9.”

On the online poker forum TwoPlusTwo, posters were buzzing over the shoot and its corresponding in-depth interview, a link to which was posted three days ago. TwoPlusTwo member “hdbets” critiqued the quality of the photo shoot: “pretty bad photos, they lack a decent production, lighting and wardrobe... even Liv being a very beautiful woman doesnt look that great.” Others were seeking out more skin: “Thats got to be the lamest Maxim spread i've ever seen, she's like fully clothed.”

Boeree has established herself as one of the top poker commentators in the business. She’s reported for outlets like WorldSeriesOfPoker.com, Gutshot TV, and Challenge TV. Her aforementioned $42,000 cash came in May 2008, when Boeree won the $2,000 buy-in Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship, defeating American Lenna Martyak heads-up.

Besides Boeree, other members of Team UB include Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who is the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker, comprise the CEREUS Network and happily accept players from the United States.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker in Twitter: PCA Bahamas, Haiti Relief, and the Brunson NFL Jinx

Twitter has revolutionized social networking, and the poker world was not immune to its 140-character charms. Poker News Daily has been following poker’s hot young stars such as Maria Ho and Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh along with more established players including Annie Duke and Andy Bloch, and even some of poker’s greatest legends – septuagenarian Doyle Brunson tweets on a daily basis,– to offer our readership an overview of what the most popular poker players are up to on Twitter.

These have been the most interesting Tweets since last Friday, encompassing players’ parting impressions from the Bahamas, their last goodbyes to the late Amir Vahedi, the drives to raise funds for Haiti relief and some NFL quandaries.

The end of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) involved many players complaining about the Bahamas prices, while others complained about the weather and a few even complained about customs on the way out. Vicky Coren had a late departure, and she tried to make the most of it: “Mmm, sunshine and cocktails. And who needs a book when you can listen to the on-hold music at Nassau Airport for only $200 a minute?" Fellow Brit Liv Boeree shared a sunny beach picture: “http://twitpic.com/yk7dh - photo from Bahamas... on the one good day of the whole trip.”

Vahedi was present in many poker player’s minds and Twitters as his funeral took place last Friday. Tournament director supreme Matt Savage summed everyone’s feelings in a poignant Tweet: “Spent the short fight to Burbank thinking about Amir and how his BIG personality will be missed! Hoping to say a few words today.”

The NFL kept a number of players glued to the television, especially those who had money on the line like Phil Hellmuth: “I liked Colts & Saints, but didn't bet, then Vikings (what poker player gets up that early?), finally bet $500 on Jets money line 3.15 to 1”. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit "amak316" Makhija had a hard time choosing his allegiances: “Done working out, goin to grind Sundays and watch football! Do I root for the jets (love underdogs) or chargers (love awesomeness)?” Alex Outhred enjoyed a last laugh: “#fondmemories of the Cowboy fan last night who scoffed at my purpotion that the Vikes had 'a chance' today”.  And Brunson bemoaned his wife jinxing his favorite team: “it happened again. my wife walks in the room....BOOM, touchdown for the team i'm betting aganist... geeeez”

The humanitarian disaster in Haiti brought up many initiatives to raise awareness and funds. Shannon Elizabeth made a heartfelt appeal to remind all of the tragedy: “Good morning guys-we made it to the end of the week, but not everyone was so lucky-take a moment 2 remember those who didn't....” Adam “Roothlus” Levy voiced a more ambiguous opinion: “It's remarkable how the average American is facing financial hard times but yet, there's an outpouring of donations to #Haiti. Just awesome!” Andy Bloch donated time and money and played a lot of poker to aid the cause: “Just registered for the last 11 Aid for Haiti tournaments on FTP... may need a lot of caffeine. Sending autographed DVDs as extra bounty.”

Some players used Twitter for its original purpose of keeping friends and family informed of what they were up to. Beth Shak commented on her recent move: “Haha my decorator said no large men in my bedroom in NY..I wntd a king bed!!thnk gd my bf is small”, while Ho complained of health issues: “Dear Immune System, Why do you insist on taking days off without notifying me first? Please come back soon. *cough* Thanks.” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith revisited an old hobby: “Going to the gun range..something I haven't done in a long time and is so much fun,” and Leigh introduced her new love: “I'm SO in love.... Here's her picture! http://tinyurl.com/ygk7jpm =)” Liz Lieu enjoyed stirring up some suspense with the cryptic remark “I've just said "I WILL" ”

Some Tweets remain unclassifiable and they are arguably the most fun of all. Anthrax's Scott Ian talked about music: “Song of the day: Pussy don't fail me now. Any one know who that is?” Kevin Smith talked about religion (and several other unpublishable topics): “I never cram my religion down anybody's throat, so I ask you don't cram atheism down mine. My life's so blessed I GOTTA believe in God.” Meanwhile, Duke's boyfriend, Joe Reitman, complained about his phone service: “Dear AT&T...if u are going to have huge billboards in a stadium my iPhone should get a signal in said stadium” "Poker2Nite" host Scott Huff takes the prize for the most random Tweet of this edition, with: “This morning NASA found cocaine near the space shuttle Discovery. Come on, guys, space isn't high enough?”

Visit Poker News Daily every Monday and Thursday for an overview of the best Tweets in the poker world.

Phil Laak Wins Poker After Dark Nicknames Week

The final episode of Nicknames week on the NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” featured Phil “The Unabomber” Laak defeating close friend Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari heads-up to win $120,000.

UB.com pro Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth was also part of Friday’s three-handed finale of Nicknames week. Holding four big blinds, Hellmuth called pre-flop with K-4 and Esfandiari checked his option with a lowly 8-3. The flop came 9-A-5 and the action went check-check to a deuce on the turn. Once again, both players checked, and the river was an eight, pairing Esfandiari. “The Magician” led out for 1,200 and laughed, exposing the three of diamonds and saying that he had 3-6. Hellmuth came along and promptly dropped to less than one big blind.

Amid Laak and Esfandiari celebrating that Hellmuth had less than one big blind remaining, the UB front man committed his chips and received calls from Esfandiari, who held 10-6 of diamonds, and Laak, who had K-6 of hearts. Both checked the action down to the river, with the board running out 9-4-Q-2-8. Hellmuth needed to beat king-high to stay alive, but instead turned over 5-7 and was sent packing in third place. He told “Poker After Dark” hostess Leeann Tweeden that Laak and Esfandiari were out of line: “When they’re out of line to me, it’s okay because god knows I need some sympathy the way I act.”

Esfandiari was a 7:5 chip leader entering heads-up play against Laak, who put the pedal to the metal throughout the match. “The Unabomber” took the chip lead after calling pre-flop with 8-9 of hearts and watching Esfandiari raise to 3,800 with A-5 of clubs. Laak called to see the flop come Q-9-4 with one club. The action went check-check to an eight of clubs on the turn, giving Laak two pair. He led out for 4,100 and Esfandiari, holding a flush draw, called. The river was the six of diamonds, missing Esfandiari. He checked, Laak bet 10,425, and Esfandiari folded.

Laak never relinquished the lead in the heads-up match on “Poker After Dark.” He flopped top pair and a straight draw with 9-8 on a 5-9-7 board. Esfandiari bet out 5,100 with 4-3 and Laak raised it to 30,000, including two stacks of $100 bills. Esfandiari mucked and Laak raked in yet another pot.

Esfandiari, whose boisterous laughter when Hellmuth was on the short stack changed to raw frustration heads-up against Laak, checked his option with 4-3 after Laak called pre-flop with K-5 of hearts. The flop came down 6-4-2 and Esfandiari fired out 1,800 chips. Laak called and the turn was a three, completing his straight and giving Esfandiari two pair. “The Magician” bet 5,100 and Laak called to see an ace on the river. Esfandiari bet 11,200, Laak insta-raised all-in, and Esfandiari mucked, lamenting, “It’s amazing how lucky you are.” At that point, Laak held a 5:2 advantage in chips.

On the final hand of Nicknames week on “Poker After Dark,” Esfandiari called pre-flop with the Doyle Brunson hand, 10-2, and Laak coyly checked his option with A-J. Laak flopped top pair on an A-5-4 board, but checked to Esfandiari, who also rapped the table. The turn was a seven. Laak once again just checked, Esfandiari bet 2,525, and Laak called to bring a queen on the river. Laak checked top pair one last time, Esfandiari tanked before moving all-in, and Laak called. Just like that, Nicknames week was over, as Esfandiari’s stone cold bluff failed miserably.

Esfandiari told viewers following the match, “I’m going to jump.” No new episodes of “Poker After Dark” are scheduled until the week of March 15th, when part one of a $50,000 cash game will feature Chris Ferguson, Hellmuth, Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, and Mike Matusow. In the meantime, fans of the show can catch encore presentations of “Poker After Dark” nightly at 2:05am ET on NBC.

Vanessa Rousso Bests Tough Field in 2010 PCA $1,000 Ladies Event

Harrison "gibler123" Gimbel may have garnered the headlines at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) by winning the Main Event and a $2.2 million paycheck, but he wasn't the only one having a good time at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas.  One of the biggest hits of the Caribbean poker festival was the $1,000 + $100 Ladies No Limit Hold'em tournament.

A total of 91 women competed in the event, 33 of whom won their seats online at PokerStars via satellites with buy-ins starting as low as $2.20.  They won more than just their entry and spending money; the online qualifiers were also pampered at the resort's Mandara Spa and received instruction at a High Heels Poker Tour Ladies Boot Camp session from Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso.

As it turned out, the Boot Camp attendees probably should have listened to their instructor more closely, as Rousso went on to win the event, scoring a $24,725 cash.  Rousso burst onto the poker scene in 2006 when she placed 7th in the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship and then won a $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the WPT Borgata Poker Open a few months later.  In 2007, she finished second in PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), winning over $700,000, and became known to a broad television audience when she was the runner-up in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.  The GoDaddy.com girl has also won two tournaments on NBC's "Poker After Dark."

Other members of Team PokerStars Pro in the tournament who were not as fortunate were Katja Thater, Veronica Dabul, Sandra Naujoks, and Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck.  Other known pros in attendance included J.J. Liu, 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champ Annette Obrestad, European Poker Tour (EPT) London Ladies champ Dagmara Aleksandrowicz, and Shirley Rosario, who placed fourth.

Another player of note was Elizabeth Bennett-Martin, who qualified for the Main Event via a PokerStars satellite for the second year in a row.  A portion of her winnings was earmarked for the charitable organization Cambodian Legal Education for Women (CLEW).  Created by her Toronto law firm, Bennett Gastle P.C., CLEW raises money to help impoverished women in Cambodia attend law school.  The goal of these women is to provide legal help to those who would not normally be able to access any in Cambodia, where the population of more than 14 million has only 538 lawyers.  Unfortunately, Bennett-Martin did not make the money in any event this year.

Sixteen women did cash, though, each getting a piece of the $88,270 prize pool.  Runner-up Halli Pinson was impressed with the field, telling PokerStars, "This event was a lot more serious than most ladies tournaments. I didn't recognize that many faces, but the field seemed a lot more experienced than usual. These women had come to play, and they had come to win! Vanessa Rousso dominated the event though – she had good cards and she's an experienced player: the combination was lethal."

Those who did not want to pony up $1,100, but still wanted to compete in a women-only tournament, or those who just wanted another shot at a title, had the chance to play in another Ladies Event the next day for just $300.  The field of 73 produced a prize pool of $19,119 and Diana Linke took home the top cash of $6,504.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,000 + $100 Ladies Event Final Standings

1. Vanessa Rousso - $24,275
2. Halli Pinson - $13,815
3. Ann-Margaret Johnston - $9,335
4. Shirley Rosario - $6,620
5. Jamie Kerstetter - $5,740
6. Pastora Sorenson - $4,635
7. Lisa Adams - $3,750
8. Vanessa Caldeira - $2,870
9. Irene Baroni - $2,425
10. Sarah Wasch - $2,425
11. Violetta Szczerba - $2,205
12. Nesrine Kourdourli - $2,205
13. Muriel Allard - $1,985
14. Anna Yamshchikova - $1,985
15. Alina Salnikova - $1,765
16. Hai Nguyen - $1,765

Aria Poker Room Manager Recaps First Three Weeks

Recently opening on the Las Vegas Strip was CityCenter, an MGM Mirage creation that includes the Aria Resort and Casino. Within the friendly confines of Aria is its poker room, which debuted amid an economic downswing. Nevertheless, it has received high marks and features a high-limit gaming area that may soon be named after Phil Ivey. Poker News Daily sat down with Adam Altwies, Aria’s Poker Room Manager, to recap its first three weeks in operation.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Talk about the daily tournaments at Aria and what your setup is for cash games.

Adam Altweis: We didn’t get our daily tournament going until about two weeks later in order to open up. The daily tournament starts at 11:15am and it’s $120. It has a great structure; players get 8,000 in chips and levels are 30 minutes long. It’s typical of what the Bellagio might be offering in terms of structure, but it has a lower buy-in. We have 24 tables in total. Eighteen are on the main floor, five are in a back high-limit area, and one is exclusive to a very high-limit game.

PND: What were your expectations for opening night?

Adam Altweis: We didn’t know. As a new room, we had an idea of what we wanted to spread, but after time, you have to figure out what games your customers want to play. The room was created for the player. The top-level executives really created the room for the players and made my job a lot easier in that respect. If you take a look at the room, it’s situated next to the Skybox Grille. We can offer tableside food service from anywhere, but that’s the biggest one we use. It’s next door, the prices are good, and the food is great. We also have the Roasted Bean, which is a coffee shop. The self-parking lot and main valet lead right into the poker room. It’s all very convenient.

PND: Address the room’s high noise level, which was one of the only complaints we’ve heard.

Adam Altweis: I’ve addressed that issue. Any time you have a main door, you have slot machines because you want to attract customers. It’s also the main line of traffic up to our Elvis show. In the beginning, it was loud. What made my job easy was that it was a simple phone call to fix. Our slots are all server-based, which means that our guys can hop on a server and turn the noise down. They did it for us, which is a testament to MGM Mirage. I’ve worked here for seven years and everyone works with each other. Each manager and each department makes a concerted effort to work with each other.

PND: What high-stakes poker can visitors to Aria expect?

Adam Altweis: We hope to get a lot more. We’ve had a couple of $150/$300 games in here as well as $40/$80. We also have a $20/$40 Mixed Game, which we want to keep going. We’ve seen a trend in this market where No Limit Hold’em is still the staple at $1/$3, $2/$5, $5/$10, and $10/$20, but a lot more players are looking to expand.

PND: How is Aria able to differentiate itself from the competition?

Adam Altweis: The room. It’s comfortable for players. There’s space in between the tables so that players can move around. We have sculptures, which are aesthetically soothing. We have a player paging system that allows us to text message people on the wait list, so when your name comes up, you’ll get a text message. We also have the capability to let customers know when a game is being started. When a dealer sits down, we can send out a notification that the game is live at Aria. We’re going to be utilizing Twitter and Facebook a lot more in the future. I’m a big proponent of letting us know what’s going on. We want people to tell us what’s good or bad.

PND: Have there been talks about partnering with a group like Dream Team Poker to bring a unique event to Aria?

Adam Altweis: That’s what’s great about being new – we’re open to everything. Right now, we’re not aligned with anyone, so we can listen to everyone. We want a televised event, whether it is a tournament or a late night show. I can pretty much guarantee that we’ll get some televised event, hopefully by the end of the year.

PND: Talk about opening a massive casino and poker room like Aria in the midst of a severe economic downturn.

Adam Altweis: We had a poker boom a few years ago. Everyone was opening up a room. Now, it’s slid back a bit, but we opened one anyway. We opened up a room at the best time possible because we got to pick the best of the best in the industry for our staff. It’s a very unique situation. If we were still in the poker boom, we would have had to hire dealers right out of school and it would take a tremendous amount of time to get the room where we wanted it to be.

PND: What’s an average day like for a poker room manager?

Adam Altweis: On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I’m taking care of administrative things and come in around 9:00am or 10:00am. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are big customer days, so I stay late, talk to customers, and ask them what we can do to better our room. My day is full and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love dealing with customers, employees, guests, the media, and everyone else. This is my love. It’s been my passion since I was 17.

Poker2Nite Welcomes Poker Tournament Director Matt Savage

This week, the UB.com-sponsored poker news franchise “Poker2Nite” welcomed acclaimed tournament director Matt Savage. The creator of the Iron Man tournament and former director of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), Savage assessed the industry entering 2010.

First up on “Poker2Nite,” which airs on Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, was an evaluation of several of the high-stakes world’s top names. On Isildur1, who has been largely absent from the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker following a run-in with CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff noted, “He’s won huge amounts for sure, but he’s lost a lot of it back and that, to me, just means it’s on the level.” According to PokerTableRatings.com, Isildur1 is out $2.6 million since November after being up as much as $5 million.

Then, “Phil’s Best Blowups” took center stage. The segment recaps some of the top escapades of UB.com poker pro Phil Hellmuth. This week’s was “an oldie, but a goodie,” as it panned out at the World Poker Tour (WPT) stop at Foxwoods in 2005. Hellmuth explained, in G-rated terms, “This lucky son of a gun hit running sevens on me after starting completely dead and then raised me on the flop with nothing.”

Hellmuth held J-9 against Hoyt Corkins’ J-7 and the flop came nine-high, giving the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner top pair. Hellmuth bet 25,000, Corkins raised it to 70,000 with air, and Hellmuth called. The turn brought a seven, giving Corkins second pair, and the action went check-check. The river was another seven, improving the DoylesRoom pro to trips, and Hellmuth led out for 80,000. Corkins min-raised to 160,000, Hellmuth called, and jumped out of his chair when he saw the bad news. WPT commentator Vince Van Patten observed, “It looks like his pants are on fire.” The odds of Corkins hitting running sevens were 314:1.

Savage succinctly explained the role of a tournament director to Huff and show co-host Joe Sebok: “My job is to keep order in tournaments.” One of his recent creations is the Iron Man format, a no-break tournament with three meals served at the table and a $10,000 seat added to the prize pool. Its first running clocked in at 19 hours and 20 minutes. Savage recalled, “The camaraderie at the table was great. I stayed up for the whole event and will again in February.” Next month, a $2,100 buy-in Iron Man tournament will play out during the annual L.A. Poker Classic.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in the final moments of the 2006 Congressional session, led to several of the world’s top online poker sites fleeing the U.S. market. Accordingly, Savage revealed where he’d like to see the game headed as we enter 2010: “We’d like to see the UIGEA overturned and that’d be a big difference for us. We’ve [leveled] a little bit in the U.S., but it’s growing globally.”

A feature on Credit Card Roulette aired featuring former Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Isaac Haxton, Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Scott Seiver, with a $1,500 bill up for grabs. If you’ve never played the game, everyone seated tosses their credit cards into a hat and, one by one, the strips of plastic are drawn. The last person to have their credit card selected foots the bill for the entire meal. This time, Haxton was the poor, unfortunate soul and told “Poker2Nite” cameras, “Defeat is always painful.”

“Poker2Nite” closed with Absolute Poker pro and show correspondent Lacey Jones interviewing Shaun Deeb about his future in poker. Deeb commented, “I expect to take six months to a year, if not longer, to stay away from playing tournaments in general. I decided that, looking at what I was doing, I was spending too much time playing poker [tournaments]. So, I decided to quit them and play cash games with more flexible hours so I can do a lot more things with my time.” Deeb is a former number one player on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings.

Catch “Poker2Nite” every Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net.

FTOPS XV Schedule Announced

Kicking off on February 10th on Full Tilt Poker is the 15th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The quarterly tournament series is the first of 2010 and features 27 events with more than $17 million in guaranteed prize money.

Continuing the tradition, the Main Event of FTOPS XV will be a $535 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament featuring at least $2.5 million up for grabs. The event takes place on Sunday, February 21st at 18:00 ET. During the Main Event of FTOPS XIV, 5,471 poker hopefuls took to the felts of the world’s second largest online poker site, with “zhivago2” emerging victorious for $418,000 after a three-way chop. Also involved were “ItsTime2Win” (second place for $316,000) and poker pro Adam Junglen, who cashed for $290,000 and officially took third.

A Full Tilt pro hosts each of the 27 FTOPS XV events and the kickoff tournament takes place on February 10th. The $216 buy-in contest boasts at least $1 million up for grabs and is sure to draw a crowd. Knockouts, shootouts, cashouts, six-max, and heads-up events will be held across a variety of poker disciplines including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Seven-Game, Stud, and Razz. As if that weren’t enough, the MiniFTOPS XV schedule will pan out from March 10th to 21st after a one-month break.

Here is the schedule for the 15th FTOPS. All times are Eastern:

Event #1: Wednesday, February 10th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #2: Thursday, February 11th at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Knockout
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #3: Thursday, February 11th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em 3x Shootout
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #4: Friday, February 12th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #5: Friday, February 12th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #6: Saturday, February 13th at 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #7: Saturday, February 13th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #8: Sunday, February 14th at 14:00 ET
$120 + $9 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #9: Sunday, February 14th at 16:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #10: Sunday, February 14th at 18:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #11: Monday, February 15th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #12: Monday, February 15th at 21:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold’em
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #13: Tuesday, February 16th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #14: Tuesday, February 16th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 HORSE
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #15: Tuesday, February 16th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #16: Wednesday, February 17th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Seven-Game
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: Wednesday, February 17th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: Thursday, February 18th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #19: Thursday, February 18th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Stud
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #20: Friday, February 19th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #21: Friday, February 19th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #22: Saturday, February 20th at 14:00 ET
$2,500 + $120 No Limit Hold'em Ante From Start Two-Day Six-Max
$2,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #23: Saturday, February 20th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #24: Saturday, February 20th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $20 No Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #25: Sunday, February 21st at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #26: Sunday, February 21st at 16:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed

FTOPS XV Main Event: Sunday, February 21st at 18:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em
$2,500,000 Guaranteed

Full Tilt Poker happily accepts customers from the United States and trails only PokerStars in terms of traffic.

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks off January 4th

Fans of the popular NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” won’t have to wait long after the clock strikes Midnight this evening to catch the show’s sixth season, which debuts on Monday night, January 4th, at 2:05am ET.

Ali Nejad and Leeann Tweeden will reprise their “Poker After Dark” announcing and hosting roles, respectively, as the show enters season number six. The first week is entitled “Commentators III” and, while the name isn’t very catchy, the action on the felt should be nail biting. Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott will all play in “Poker After Dark’s” Season 6 premiere. Sebok, who hosts UB.com’s “Poker2Nite,” and Scott, the new floor reporter for GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” are making their “Poker After Dark” debuts. You can catch “Commentators III” beginning on January 4th.

A total of 13 shows were filmed for Season 6 of “Poker After Dark,” including six-handed freezeouts and three different buy-in cash games. Followers of 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad will be able to catch the youngster on a special “Nicknames” episode that also features Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Obrestad, a Betfair pro, turned 21 in September and is finally old enough to gamble legally on U.S. soil.

A $50,000 buy-in cash game features a star-studded lineup of Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth. A press release distributed by Poker PROductions notes, “Any time Matusow and Hellmuth play against each other in a cash game, the insults alone make for must-see-television.” A high-stakes $150,000 buy-in cash game will see Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David “Viffer” Peat, Eli Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer take to the felts. The six are staples of “High Stakes Poker” and one mounts the comeback of the century.

One of the more notable freezeout themes is “Lonesome Shark,” which features Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth. What do they all have in common, you ask? All six are poker’s most eligible bachelors and the heads-up battle in this episode is one of the longest of the season. Mixed Martial Arts will take center stage shortly thereafter in a show featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, Antonius, Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson, former UFC champion Randy Couture, Lederer, and Lindgren.

Here is the schedule through April for new episodes of Season 6 of “Poker After Dark” according to NBC.com:

Week of January 4th - Commentators III
Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott

Week of January 11th – Nicknames
Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth

Week of March 15th - Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 1
Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow

Week of March 22nd – Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 2
Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 19th - My Favorite Pro
Craig Ivey, James Ashby, Steve Bartlett, Phil Hellmuth, Jens Voertmann, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 26th - He Said, She Said
Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow, Annie Duke

Additional dates for new episodes will be announced in the future and re-runs of popular shows will also air over the first four months of 2009. “Poker After Dark” will take a hiatus during the weeks of February 15th and 22nd due to the Winter Olympics, which NBC owns the rights to.

“Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker,” both products of Poker PROductions, were filmed in October at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The latter begins airing on GSN on Sunday, February 14th.

Poker2Nite Welcomes Gavin Smith

The final UB.com sponsored “Poker2Nite” of 2009 aired on Wednesday night and featured Gavin Smith along with a recap of the outgoing calendar year. In addition, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo broke down a hand from the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on the Fox Sports Net poker news franchise.

“Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff ticked off their top three poker stories of 2009. For Sebok, the WSOP Main Event final table came in at number three, as he told viewers, “It had more suckouts than a Blow Pop factory.” Huff added, “It finally proved that the November Nine format can work.” Number two on Sebok’s best of 2009 list was the arrival of Isildur1, who stormed onto the high-stakes online poker scene late in the year. Sebok noted, “For somebody to come out of the mystery and take over is pretty unbelievable.” Sebok’s top story of 2009 was Phil Ivey, who won two WSOP bracelets and reached the final table of the Main Event. He also appeared on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.”

Huff then shared his top three poker news stories of the year. First up for the “Poker2Nite” host was Lada Gaga introducing her hit song “Poker Face” to the world. Huff explained, “You have the biggest pop star in the world making a song about her poker face.” Number two was the WSOP Main Event Day 1D lockout, which saw 500 players shut out of poker’s most prestigious tournament when it reached capacity. Huff questioned, “How do you shut people out of the Main Event of the WSOP?” Number one for Huff was the compliance delay of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). As it stands, the financial services industry in the United States has until June 1st to comply with the 2006 law.

“Poker2Nite” correspondent Lacey Jones interviewed players at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic asking what their New Year’s resolutions are for 2010. Shawn Buchanan stated that he wanted to win a WSOP bracelet, while Shaun Deeb explained that he’d rent a house in Europe. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar vowed to study the game more, while Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer desired to be more organized. Finally, UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy told Jones that he would lose weight in 2010.

Smith, a Full Tilt Poker pro, then joined the show. He described 2009 as, “Awful. Atrocious. Terrible. It’s my very first ever losing year in tournament poker.” He added, “I don’t think I ever tried to win.” Smith took home $120,000 from an episode of NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and earned $30,000 at the 2009 WSOP. A man known for prop betting, Smith explained the origin of a tattoo featuring the initials “J.S.” on his shoulder: “At the L.A. Poker Classic a few years ago, [Sebok and I] had a last longer bet and the loser was supposed to get the other man’s initials on his butt.” Smith, upon hearing how painful a tattoo on his rear would be, instead immortalized Sebok’s initials on his shoulder.

Bonomo appeared in a segment entitled “In the Tank,” breaking down a hand from the 2008 WSOP against David “Chino” Rheem and Roland de Wolfe. The Bodog pro described his thought process on every street, although Bonomo ultimately dropped the pot to de Wolfe, who picked off Bonomo’s bluff. Bonomo bet after the river brought three clubs to the board, explaining, “Roland has to be afraid of that card,” but de Wolfe called with an underpair to the board.

Dana Workman doled out the “Weekly Misdeal,” a satirical look at recent poker headlines. Workman chose to recap the top offbeat stories of 2009, including Ivey’s numerous side bets involving bracelet wins at the 2009 WSOP, the Poker Hall of Fame nomination of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and UB.com pro Annie Duke’s feud with comedian Joan Rivers.

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information, as the show is often pre-empted due to local sports programming.

Grand Prix de Paris Returns to World Poker Tour

From May 8th to 13th, the World Poker Tour (WPT) will return to the Aviation Club for the Grand Prix de Paris. The €10,000 buy-in tournament will be filmed for television and beamed around the world.

The Aviation Club opened back in 1907 and makes its home on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, the city’s famous boulevard. The cozy club’s poker consultant, Bruno Fitoussi, commented in a press release distributed by the WPT, "The Aviation Club de France is delighted to welcome back a WPT event in Paris. The WPT Grand Prix de Paris is guaranteed to be a high-class tournament in the highlights of the international poker scene and will, for sure, attract players from all around the world."

The 2010 visit to the Aviation Club marks the first WPT event in Paris since 2006. That year, Christian Grundtvig defeated Finnish poker player Jani Sointula to take home the Grand Prix de Paris title and its corresponding €712,500 first place prize. Sointula earned a €356,250 consolation prize and others at the final table included Thomas Wahlroos (third place for €243,750), Henrik Witt (fourth place for €168,750), Phil Yeh (fifth place for €131,250), and Pat Schuhl (sixth place for €93,750). A total of 232 players entered and the top 27 finished in the money.

Land-based satellites for the 2010 WPT Grand Prix de Paris will kick off on May 1st at the Aviation Club. Adam Pliska, President of the WPT, told Poker News Daily, "France is an important part of WPT's world and will continue to be key for WPT as it expands across Europe and beyond. While WPT's television shows continue to expand their global reach, the introduction of non-televised events will also provide WPT and its partners with even more opportunities to connect with its consumers.” Earlier this year, the WPT was sold to Party Gaming, the parent company of the popular site PartyPoker.

In 2005, Roland de Wolfe bested Juha Helppi in the Grand Prix de Paris, outlasting a field of 160 players. That year, Alan Goehring also made the final table, taking sixth place for €74,950. The 2004 installment was perhaps the most memorable, as it featured runner-up Tony G lambasting eventual winner Surinder Sunar. The Club’s layout was unique in that the assembled audience watched the action from the final table in an adjacent area via television monitors.

Lyndsay Lagree, Senior Public Relations Manager for the WPT, added, “We're thrilled to be back in France for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris. WPT looks forward to building on its longstanding relationship with Aviation Club de France and to welcoming many poker fans through its doors.” The first WPT Grand Prix de Paris took place in 2003 and saw David Benyamine best Jan Boubli for the title. Also at the final table was Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, then a relative unknown. Lindgren recorded his second WPT cash at the Paris poker tournament, earning €53,600 during the Season 2 stop.

The Grand Prix de Paris comes one month after the WPT Championship at the Bellagio, the $25,000 buy-in end-of-season event, and the French feature tournament includes two starting days. In March, WPT staff will head to Bucharest for an event at the Regent Casino. The WPT Bucharest Main Event boasts a €3,300 buy-in and begins on March 27th.

Also to be held during the Grand Prix de Paris is a €20,000 buy-in High Roller event that begins on May 15th and runs for three days. WPT representatives noted that French gaming regulations were to blame for the tournament series’ absence from the Aviation Club for the last three years.

Annie Duke Launches MyMixedNuts.com

Poker players looking for a last-minute present this Christmas season can check out MyMixedNuts.com, a custom, mail order trail mix company brought to life by Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke.

MyMixedNuts.com allows customers – poker players and non-poker players alike – to choose from a wide variety of fresh ingredients to create the ultimate bag of trail mix. Ingredients available in the “Seeds and Nuts” section of the site’s store include almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, soy nuts, sunflower seeds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and pecans. In the “Dry Goods” department, poker players craving foodstuffs like apples, apricots, bananas, blueberries, cherries, coconut, cranberries, dates, figs, ginger, goji berries, mango, orange peel, papaya, pineapple, and raisins will go home happy.

When Poker News Daily visited the site, we went straight to the “Goodies” section, where we could add “healthy” items like chocolate covered fruit, chocolate chips, malt balls, jelly beans, licorice, pretzels, M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, and sesame seeds. Each trail mix ingredient varies in price and is measured by the ounce, ranging primarily between about $0.50 and $1.50. An easy-to-use front-end interface allows trail mix aficionados to create their ultimate concoction from the comfort of their couches.

A variety of pre-made mixes can be purchased for those who do not wish to create their own. “Annie’s Mix,” which includes raw cashews, raisins, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and banana chips, runs $12.99 for a 14-ounce bag, with $1 of every purchase going to Ante Up for Africa, a charity she founded along with actor Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein. Gummy fans can purchase a pre-made mix called “Gummy Delicious,” which contains sunny bears, dark chocolate chips, sour cherries, roasted and salted almonds, raw macadamia nuts, and golden raisins. This tasty treat will set you back $14.99. Sunny bears, by the way, are vegetarian and organic versions of the traditional junk food item.

Duke told Poker News Daily that when she used to purchase trail mix from the grocery store, she’d pick through it, tossing out components that did not sit well with her and leading to the idea to launch MyMixedNuts.com. Duke teamed up with “Apprentice” producer Ryan Simpkins and boyfriend Joe Reitman, with Simpkins’ mother handling the day-to-day operations of the site. Text found on MyMixedNuts.com explains, “You would understand that his mom must be supremely qualified to handle nutcases, so Annie and Joe were sold on the idea. Susan would handle each order with care and love.”

Free shipping is available for orders that surpass $40 and the site accepts PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. It became a reality in recent days and will seek to make its mark on the made-to-order food world. Poker players looking for a memorable Christmas gift, New Years’ treat, or Valentine’s Day present can even get their loved ones a Mix of the Month Club subscription or a copy of the latest Land of Fruit and Nuts newsletter.

Duke is a sponsored pro of UB.com, joining top-tier names like 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who joined the site on Tuesday. UB.com happily accepts players from the United States and makes its home on the CEREUS Network along with its sister site, Absolute Poker.

Duke finished as the runner-up on “Celebrity Apprentice” to comedian Joan Rivers, who compared the poker pro to Hitler on several occasions. Nevertheless, Duke helped raise well over $700,000 for Refugees International and will now put her business acumen to good use with MyMixedNuts.com.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Poker News Daily.

Tiffany Michelle Breaks Down Survivor After-Party

UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, who appeared on the 15th cycle of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race,” partied with the cast of “Survivor: Samoa” following the show’s season finale over the weekend.

The two-hour “Survivor” season finale and one-hour reunion show aired on Sunday night on CBS, the same network that carries “Amazing Race.” The episode featured three tribal councils, including the final one that saw Natalie White, Russell Hantz, and Mick Trimming plead their case for the $1 million first place prize in front of the nine-man jury. Ultimately, White emerged victorious. Michelle told Poker News Daily, “I learned all about the villain Russell. Was I surprised? I don’t know. I felt like there were so many good speeches at the final tribal council. I think [Erik Cardona’s] speech really hit home and I had a feeling that Natalie was probably going to win even though it’s hard to judge.”

White claimed seven of the nine jury votes and Hantz received the other two despite serving as the strategic mastermind of this season of “Survivor.” Hantz, however, won $100,000 from a fan vote and may compete on the upcoming “Heroes Versus Villains” cycle of “Survivor.” On Hantz’s strategy, Michelle noted, “From doing reality television, when $1 million is on the line, you get stuff done. When you have $1 million there for the taking, you’ll see how creative you can be. Russell will go down as being one of the fan favorites.”

Present at the “Survivor” viewing party with Michelle on Sunday night were “Amazing Race” teams Meghan and Cheyne, Sam and Dan, and Tammy and Victor, who won the show’s 14th season. The after-party took place at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, with personalities from reality series like “Big Brother” and “The Bachelorette” in attendance. Michelle painted a picture of the scene at the California hotel: “Russell was pretty pissed. Once he got a few drinks in him, though, he was okay. I think he banked on winning. Shambo was getting down on the dance floor and so was Dave [Ball].” Michelle added that while “Survivor” contestants usually wind up disliking each other after each season ends, “Amazing Race” cast members become friends for life.

Michelle has come a long way since the days of the “French fry incident” during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Now a sponsored pro of UB.com, Michelle explained how the public’s perception of her has changed over the last year and a half: “It’s always flattering when someone comes up to you and says, ‘I love your race.’ I didn’t really do anything differently than just be myself. I’m getting used to it. Poker is a steppingstone to me being in the public eye and hopefully I got the bad stuff out of the way. Luckily, I’m getting a lot more love now.” Michelle was also a former reporter for PokerNews.com.

On Tuesday, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin signed with UB.com, joining Michelle and others such as Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, and Adam “Roothlus” Levy. The crew filmed videos for the website in recent days and Michelle discussed the online poker site’s latest addition: “I like where UB is going with the new branding and doing something different than the other sites. It’s a bunch of guys and me and I really like the young vibe that they have. Some of these guys are well on their way to having really good poker careers. UB is tapping into the younger generation of poker players.” UB.com makes its home on the CEREUS Network alongside its sister site, Absolute Poker. Both accept players from the United States.

We’d like to extend a special thank you to Michelle for lending her insight for this article.

On the Rail at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

There was certainly a lot of excitement at Saturday’s fast-paced final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but there were plenty of interesting stories taking place on the rail as well.  The stacked table of six had their respective cheering sections in attendance and big-name pros including Daniel Negreanu, Full Tilt Pro Greg “FBT” Mueller, Bodog’s Justin Bonomo, and the tournament’s namesake, Doyle Brunson, were all in attendance.

Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer may not have been the most recognizable face to the casual poker fan, but the longtime online pro had one of the largest cheering sections with Darryll “df1986” Fish, Isaac Haxton, Bonomo, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Scott “gunning4you” Seiver, and Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar all rooting him on.  This was O’Dwyer’s first career televised final table, so his peers came out in full force to cheer him on.

“Even those he’s had trouble with these big tournaments for the past year, he’s been sticking with it and it’s finally paying off for him.  He’s very driven to do well,” Fish explained to Poker News Daily.  O’Dwyer informed us that this was only his second World Poker Tour (WPT) cash, with the first one coming in the Bahamas in 2007.

Levy delayed his return home to Los Angeles to stick around and cheer on O’Dwyer.  While Levy liked O’Dwyer’s chances, especially if he could get down to shorter-handed play, he predicted early in the final table that Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Daniel Alaei would pose the most trouble to everyone else. “Faraz is obviously good.  Alaei is good too.  Shawn Buchanan doesn’t have a huge stack, but he’s still in the mix.”

Jaka also had several friends in attendance who showed their support for their notoriously stylish friend by each donning one of his signature hats.  For those who may not be familiar with the online poker pro known as “The-Toliet,” Jaka has worn everything from a fedora to a toboggan at the poker table and, last night, sported a dapper vest and newsboy hat combo.  One player cheering Jaka on was Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts, who was also in attendance when Jaka made his first WPT final table appearance at the Bellagio Cup back in July.

Poker News Daily asked Roberts if he thought this final table would be more or less interesting than the Bellagio Cup’s.  “That last final table was so long,” he said.  “There were a lot of exciting components, but hopefully this one will be more interesting; there are a lot of good players at the table.”  Roberts also had nothing but kind words about his friend: “[He’s] one of the friendliest people I’ve met in the poker world.  He’s a sicko.”

Nguyen was one of the fan favorites at the table and the room cleared out quite a bit after his elimination in fifth place.  Buchanan’s rail, which included longtime friend and fellow Canadian Mueller, also made their exit following Buchanan’s elimination.  Negreanu arrived to the final table a little later in the action, as did Haralabos Voulgaris and Jeff Madsen.  They stuck around for the heads-up match between Alaei and Josh Arieh, as did Alaei’s father, Eddie.

The elder Alaei stuck around for the duration of the final table watching his son in action, but stepped out for a minute during heads-up play.  While he was away, Arieh and Alaei got it all-in with the title on the line and he almost missed his son’s moment in the sun.  Thankfully, Negreanu apparently tipped him off that a big hand was brewing and Eddie ran back just in time to catch the last of the action.

As Alaei was posing for photos with the winning hand and prize money, Eddie repeatedly thanked Negreanu and told the pro he owed him one.  Then, in one of the more heartwarming moments of the evening, father and son posed together for photos and headed out of the ballroom to celebrate Alaei’s first WPT victory.

2010 UBOC Schedule Features $4 Million Guaranteed

The schedule for the 2010 Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) was recently released and features more than $4 million in guaranteed prize money up for grabs across 18 events. The festivities will span the course of a dozen days.

Two of the 18 events have prize pools that are guaranteed to be at least $1 million. The schedule also features 16 MiniUBOC tournaments, mimicking a large portion of the UBOC schedule, but with buy-ins that are one-tenth as large. The UBOC Championship is a $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament that takes place on January 31st and features a $1 million guaranteed purse. Appropriately, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will host the prestigious tournament.

UB.com and Absolute Poker pros Joe Sebok, Michael Binger, Gary “Debo34” DeBernardi, Lacey Jones, Trishelle Cantanella, Brandon Cantu, Scott Ian, Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Hollywood Dave Stann, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, and Liv Boeree will all host events.

Duke commented in a press release from UB.com, “With UBOC heading into its fourth year and Aruba coming up to year nine, UB now has two amazing series. Whether you are a diehard poker player or a weekend warrior, UBOC and MiniUBOC offer something to excite everyone. Just as Aruba awarded millions in tournament prize money, UBOC 4 is about to break records again and this year you don’t even have to make a final table to cash big.”

Without further adieu, here’s a look at the 2010 UBOC schedule:

January 20th at 20:05 ET
Event #1: Sniper No Limit Hold’em
$300+20 buy-in
$250,000 Guaranteed

January 20th at 20:05 ET
Event #2: Eight Game Mix
$150+12 buy-in
$50,000 Guaranteed

January 21st at 20:05 ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em Four-Max
$300+20 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 22nd at 20:05 ET
Event #4: Sniper No Limit Hold’em
$120+10 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 23rd at 13:00 ET
Event #5: Heads-Up Two-Day Event
$1,000+50 buy-in
$128,000 Guaranteed

January 23rd at 14:00 ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance
$150+12 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 24th at 14:00 ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold’em
$200+15 buy-in
$300,000 Guaranteed

January 24th at 16:00 ET
Event #8: Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$2,500 +100 buy-in
$1 Million Guaranteed

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #9: Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$100+9 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #10: Pot Limit Championship
$300+20 buy-in
$150,000 Guaranteed

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #11: Pot Limit Omaha Cubed
$200+15 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #12: HORSE
$200+15 buy-in
$50,000 Guaranteed

January 27th at 20:05 ET
Event #13: Omaha 8/b and Stud 8/b Mix
$150+12 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 27th at 20:05 ET
Event #14: Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
$1,000+50 buy-in
$300,000 Guaranteed

January 28th at 20:05 ET
Event #15: Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$300+20 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 29th at 20:05 ET
Event #16: Deep Stack Pot Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$500+30 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 30th at 14:05 ET
Event #17: No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys
$100+9 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 31st at 16:00 ET
UBOC Championship
$1,000+50 buy-in
$1 Million Guaranteed

The 18 UBOC winners will take home a Championship Watch made by Tourneau. In addition, the USA-friendly online poker site will hold the Bubble Buster, a rewards challenge for players who cash in UBOC events. Players who cash in 10 UBOC events will take home $100,000, while those who manage to make the money in at least 11 of the 18 events will earn $1 million. Cashing in just two UBOC events will generate a prize in the Bubble Buster contest.

A single event satellite contest, STEP contest, and early registration discounts are also available. Visit UB.com for full details.

Poker Community Comments on Tiger Woods Infidelity

Much like the rest of the world, the poker community can’t help but comment on professional golfer Tiger Woods’ recent personal problems.  The world is buzzing about Woods’ car accident and various personal problems, including allegations of infidelity with at least a dozen different women.  While Woods has been busy issuing public apologies to his wife, Elin Nordegren, as well as his family, the poker community has been passing the time by poking fun at his unfortunate circumstances.

Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson has been leading the online conversation about Woods with round-the-clock jokes about the golfer on his Twitter feed (@TexDolly).  Brunson took a break from his now infamous string of dumb blonde jokes to post a series of Tiger Woods-related barbs.  “Ping just made Elin an endorsement contract for a set of drivers to be named Elin Woods… ‘Clubs you can beat Tiger with.’” Brunson, an accomplished golfer in his own right, even got into the festive holiday spirit with his most recent Tiger-related post: “Santa said, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’…Tiger said, ‘Where, Where, Where.’”

Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel also got in on the fun via his own Twitter account (@Erik_Seidel).  The accomplished poker pro, who is renowned for having one of the funniest poker-related Twitter accounts on the web, has posted a couple of Tiger Woods Tweets of his own.  “Breaking News,” Seidel deadpanned on December 5th, “Las Vegas Review Journal reports rumors of a VIP hostess from Vegas who has not slept with Tiger Woods.”    Other people who couldn’t resist getting in a jab or two include Howard Lederer, Alex Outhred, and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff.

The online poker crowd got in on the fun as well.  When asked to comment on the Tiger Woods scandal, Adam “akat11” Katz couldn’t help but crack a joke.  “With a name like Tiger Woods, how could he not have a chick in every state and be well-endowed,” he joked with Poker News Daily.

Poker Savvy instructor Justin “jurollo” Rollo finds the Tiger jokes entertaining, but also expressed a little remorse over making fun of a man’s personal life.  “I'm conflicted on the Tiger issue,” Rollo explained to Poker News Daily.  “Part of me thinks he deserves the media blitz for what he did to his family, considering that he makes about 90% of his income from hawking products to the public. The other part of me feels bad for him and his family because they have to go through a terrible situation in front of cameras.”

Whether or not the media spotlight will let up on Woods any time soon is still up for debate, although it appears that the cable news networks’ obsession with the golf pro is not going to let up any time soon.  Perhaps the more interesting bet will be how long Brunson will keep up with the Tiger jokes before reverting back to the dumb blonde ribs that have become a trademark for him these days.

MiniFTOPS XIV Kicks Off on Full Tilt Poker

On Wednesday, the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series XIV (MiniFTOPS) will kick off on Full Tilt Poker. The series mirrors the schedule of the 14th FTOPS, which took place in November, but features tournaments at one-tenth of the buy-in.

The MiniFTOPS XIV schedule will include a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros taking to the felts as hosts, including Howard Lederer, who will play in the $55 buy-in MiniFTOPS Main Event on December 20th. The poker tournament boasts a $600,000 guaranteed prize pool. Others who will serve as hosts include Mike Swick, Perry Friedman, Frank Thompson, Jeff Madsen, Andrew Feldman, Karina Jett, Bill Gazes, Diego Cordovez, Michael Tureniec, Lynette Chan, Chip Jett, Adam Schoenfeld, Christiane Klecz, Artie Cobb, Alexander Schwab, Ryan Dreyer, Cyndy Violette, and Jeremiah Smith.

Last time out, the MiniFTOPS kickoff event drew a colossal 16,750 runners. Here’s a look at the complete MiniFTOPS XIV schedule:

Wednesday, December 9th

Event #1: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 10th

Event #2: $20 + $2 Seven-Game Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #3: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em 3x Shootout
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 11th

Event #4: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #5: $20 + $2 Stud Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 12th

Event #6: $50 + $5 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #7: $10 + $1 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 13th

Event #8: $24 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #9: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Event #10: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em
$400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Monday, December 14th

Event #11: $20 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #12: $100 + $9 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Tuesday, December 15th

Event #13: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #14: $50 + $5 HORSE
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Event #15: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$150,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Wednesday, December 16th

Event #16: $24 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout
$50,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #17: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 17th

Event #18: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #19: $20 + $2 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 18th

Event #20: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #21: $30 + $3 Razz Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 19th

Event #22: $250 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Ante From Start Two-Day Event
$400,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #23: $10 + $1 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$75,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 20th

Event #24: $12 + $1 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

MiniFTOPS XIV Main Event: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em
$600,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Online Poker Tournament Recap for November 30th

Brazilian online poker pro Caio Cesar “caio_pimenta” Pimenta was the big winner on the virtual felts Sunday with his victory in the PokerStars Sunday Million, the site’s weekly flagship event. Pimenta outlasted a field of 9,077 players to claim a prize of $259,243.98, the 19-year-old’s largest online score to date.

PokerStars trumped every other site on Sunday with its $1,815,400 prize pool in the Sunday Million. Joining Pimenta at the final table was Team PokerStars Pro member Johnny Lodden, who ultimately took fifth for $72,616.00 after his A-K couldn’t catch up to the pocket kings of Pimenta. The Brazilian pro began the final table with the chip lead and went wire-to-wire, scooping the final pot of the tournament when he made a full house against runner-up KillerMendez.

Several other online pros had success on PokerStars on Sunday. Anthony “holdplz” Spinella took down the Sunday Second Chance after besting a loaded final table that included Michael “anakinso” Goodman, Bryan “Squirrely1″ Sapp, Adam “akat11″ Katz, and Walter “JLizard” Wright. Spinella earned $49,613.12 for his efforts. Laurence “rivermanl” Houghton headlined the final table of the Sunday Warm-Up and took fourth place for $52,296.40. Joe “floes” Serock also made that final table, collecting $11,570 for his eighth place finish.

On Full Tilt Poker, “WooohSaaah” was the winner of the $750,000 Guaranteed, earning $154,233.71. Michael “Pot Odds 3” McNeil took eighth in the event for $15,721.20. In the Sunday Brawl, mikkelstrack walked away with $96,010.22 after defeating a field of 2,794 players and a final table that included Carder “SpazIsPlusEV” England (fourth place for $40,792.40) and Andy “BKiCe” Seth (sixth place for $18,999.20).

Here’s a look at the results from Sunday’s major online tournaments:

PokerStars Sunday Million
$215 buy-in, 9,077 entrants

1st: Caio Cesar “caio_pimenta” Pimenta – $259,243.98
2nd: KillerMendez – $164,562.50
3rd: floriverboy – $135,156.53
4th: joaoMathias – $90,770.00
5th: Johnny “johnnylodden” Lodden – $72,616.00
6th: buddahead9 – $54,462.00
7th: LAPINKY – $36,308.00
8th: BRzRoll – $19,969.40
9th: bo0ort – $12,707.80

Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed
$216 buy-in, 4,367 entrants

1st: WooohSaaah – $154,233.71
2nd: Hand Banana7 – $93,366.46
3rd: Beat Man – $61,138.00
4th: jesseja77 – $48,037.00
5th: city17 – $36,071.42
6th: sweepybreedy – $26,726.04
7th: based – $20,088.20
8th: Michael “Pot Odds 3” McNeil – $15,721.20
9th: I use 5cards – $11,703.56

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up
$215 buy-in, 4,628 entrants

1st: Mr. Shanish – $116,468.22
2nd: angevert – $106,468.22
3rd: $saxo$ – $106,468.22
4th: Laurence “rivermanl” Houghton – $52,296.40
5th: cspdealer – $39,338.00
6th: CruSader1981 – $30,082.00
7th: Bahneyyy – $20,826.00
8th: Joe “floes” Serock – $11,570.00
9th: melano26 – $7,404.80

Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl
$256 buy-in, 2,794 entrants

1st: mikkelstrack – $96,010.22
2nd: YrrsiNN – $72,201.87
3rd: Snusarn1 – $72,630.71
4th: Carder “SpazIsPlusEV” England – $40,792.40
5th: Jotagran49 – $28,498.80
6th: Andy “BKiCe” Seth – $18,999.20
7th: PrishChips31 – $12,852.40
8th: uzzyking – $8,940.80
9th: dadoudinet – $6,705.60

PokerStars Sunday 500
$530 buy-in, 1,033 entrants

1st: liutas.a – $89,147.90
2nd: Blue Knight1 – $64,562.50
3rd: SENORSEXY – $49,067.50
4th: Jeremy “JBurleson” Burleson – $35,948.40
5th: Jason “Taknapotin” Somerville – $25,566.75
6th: Jason “JERRRY” Glass – $20,401.75
7th: aylinka18 – $15,236.75
8th: EMakers9186 – $10,071.75
9th: hitthehole – $5,681.50

Cake Poker $250,000 Guaranteed
$268 buy-in, 1,286 entrants

1st: PIIIGEEEOOON – $63,607
2nd: thepokerkinq – $44,654
3rd: LawyerDad – $29,812
4th: IL LAUREATO – $22,038
5th: paulgees822 – $14,906
6th: xfaithlessx – $11,276
7th: SomeDumGuy – $8,256
8th: Kakakahahaha – $6,168
9th: iamchainsaw – $5,204

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance
$215 buy-in, 1,366 entrants

1st: Anthony “holdplz” Spinella – $49,613.12
2nd: Bryan “Squirrely1” Sapp – $36,062.40
3rd: Adam “akat11” Katz – $27,320.00
4th: parksy1066 – $20,490.00
5th: bbs99 – $14,343.00
6th: Michael “anakinso” Goodman – $11,611.00
7th: The Mooks – $8,879.00
8th: SPOTLIGHT19 – $6,147.00
9th: Walter “JLizard” Wright – $3,824.80

UB.com $200,000 Guaranteed
$215 buy-in, 1,054 entrants

1st: Ben “XTHESTEINX” Zamani – $39,267.00
2nd: 99NVRLOSEZ – $35,945.00
3rd: Adam “AKAT11” Katz – $19,077.40
4th: CHIPMICK09 – $13,596.60
5th: JMEWNIE – $11,488.60
6th: ILIKEPONIES – $9,380.60
7th: BAZOOKA87 – $7,272.60
8th: ANIMAL5050 – $5,164.60
9th: Nick “SHIPKINS” Grippo – $3,583.60

Are Poker Players a Good Fit for the Business World?

Perhaps focusing on a subject that many in the poker community would view as obvious, many news outlets have recently begun to discuss the skills of top poker players not only on the tables, but also in the business and financial worlds. They have also analyzed the pros of regulated internet gaming, reflecting that the added revenue could reduce strain on the budgets of state and federal governments.

One of the members of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine, Steven Begleiter, was a guest last week on Bloomberg Financial News. The sixth place finisher in the WSOP Main Event, who had a previous career on Wall Street as an employee at the now-defunct Bear Stearns stock firm, entertained questions from Bloomberg news hosts Mark Crumpton and Lori Rothman and stated that there were many players he met during his run who were qualified to work in the business field.

“I got to meet a lot of people in their 20s who were very good card players that, were we still at Bear Stearns, I would have tried to get them to come join the firm,” Begleiter opined. He especially pointed out that the overall skills of his coach, former World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, would have made him an excellent businessman: “People like him would do very well here on Wall Street.”

In a November 25th article in the Newark Star Ledger, the discussion of poker players in the business world was discussed. In an interesting point, it was brought out that a number of hedge fund companies and brokerage houses were looking to the younger players in the poker world to be potential analysts. In the article, former poker pro Aaron Brown, who now works on Wall Street as a risk manager at AQR Capital Management, said, “Someone who has made a successful living as a poker player for a few years would more likely be a good trader than someone who hasn’t. They know to push when they have the edge and they know how not to bust, and that’s a tough combination to find.”

Meanwhile, another cable business program, CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” discussed what the world of poker could do for the country’s financial state. During a discussion last week on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), two analysts, Andrew Parmentire of Height Analytics and David Katz, an Oppenheimer gaming analyst, agreed that the online poker world, if regulated and taxed by the government, would be a boon to the business world. The duo focused on tax benefits, stating that the extra revenue could be put towards several problematic issues and increase activity in the markets.

These thoughts are well-known by many in the poker community due to the number of players who have come from the business side and been successful in the world of poker. One of the top female players in the world, Kathy Liebert, graduated from college with a business and finance degree and worked with Dun & Bradstreet before embarking on a highly successful poker career. Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer are a couple of players who have been able to parlay their business acumen beyond poker.

Perhaps the success of not only the “Old Guard” of the poker world, but also its “Young Guns” is best explained by Brandon Adams, who teaches behavioral finance at Harvard University’s Department of Economics. In the article in the Ledger, Adams explains, “They’ve essentially been the survivors in the system, a very difficult system where 95 percent of people lose money. Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world.”

William Brindise Wins US Poker Championship Main Event

Despite the promise of a televised final table for both its Pot Limit Omaha Championship and Main Event, it was a small crowd at the United States Poker Championships (USPC), with only 32 players entering the Omaha event and 154 taking part in the Main Event.

The tournament series, hosted by the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, ran from November 2nd until shortly before Thanksgiving and featured a total of 24 different events with buy-ins ranging from $340 to $5,250.  Prior to the start of the series, the tournament staff announced that cable television channel Spike TV would be on hand to film a couple of the contests.

The first televised event was the $2,625 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament.  Although the field was a scant 32 players, it was packed with some big name pros, several of whom made it to the final table.  Amnon Filippi, Matthew Matros, Matt Glantz, and Allie Prescott all made the feature table, with Prescott taking home the victory worth $36,000.

The second televised tournament, the USPC Main Event, drew a much larger crowd than the Omaha contest and saw substantial growth over last year’s running.  The combined appeal of a televised event plus a smaller buy-in helped to essentially triple the size of the field between 2008 and 2009.  Last year, the event featured a buy-in of $10,000 and only drew 52 runners.  Some of the 154 players who turned up to play in this year’s tournament included Matt “All In At 420” Stout, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, Allen Kessler, Michael and Nick Binger, Joe “hoodini10” Udine, Adam Junglen, Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, and Thayer Rasmussen.

The final table featured a number of notable names, including the 2001 USPC Champion Men “The Master” Nguyen.  Nguyen defeated fellow pro John Juanda heads-up in 2001 to take the $228,000 first place prize.  This time around, the tables were turned and it was Nguyen who had to settle for a runner-up finish.  Nguyen was joined at the final table by Nick Binger, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke, and online poker player Eric “avrilsharapova” Ladny.

The chip leader going into the final table was not one of the known pros though, it was William Brindise, a New Jersey local who started the final seven-handed table with more than 1.5 million chips – twice that of his next closest competitor, Nguyen.  Ladny rounded out the top three and the trio of players started and ended the day in the exact same positions on the leaderboard.  Ladny busted out in third place, setting up a heads-up match between Nguyen and Brindise.  It would be the local who prevailed over the professional, as Brindise defeated Nguyen to take down the first place prize worth $261,800; Nguyen earned $138,600 for his runner-up finish.

Although he may be lacking the experience of his formidable heads-up opponent, Brindise is no stranger to poker success.  Prior to his win at the USPC, he had nearly $130,000 in tournament winnings to his credit, including a win in a Trump Classic event in 2005, several cashes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and an in-the-money finish at the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.  With the victory in Atlantic City, Brindise’s career winnings are now close to $400,000.

Here are the results from the final table of the 2009 USPC Main Event:

1st Place: William Brindise – $261,800
2nd Place: Men “the Master” Nguyen – $138,600
3rd Place: Eric Ladny – $77,000
4th Place: Gordon Eng – $53,900
5th Place: Brian Lemke – $46,200
6th Place: Nick Binger – $30,800
7th Place: Anton Smolyanskiy – $23,100

Ivey has won 16 million dollars from Full Tilt cash games

Highstakesdb has been monitoring Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes games since 2007. The results have become more and more accurate during the years.

If you take a look at games from 2007-01-01 to 2009-11-23 there’s one name over everyone. It is Phil Ivey.

Ivey has won about 16 million dollars on Full Tilt. When you add 12 million dollars from his tournament winnings, not to mention live cash games, Ivey really doesn’t lack small money.

Top 10 winners since 2007-01-01:

1. Phil Ivey    $15.757.590,77
2. Patrik Antonius    $9.896.964,55
3. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond    $7.650.514,19
4. Hac “trex313? Dang    $4.844.987,99
5. Di “Urindanger” Dang    $4.679.589,20
6. Rafi “howisitfeellike” Amit    $4.267.996,10
7. Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies    $3.646.965,78
8. Niki “KaiBuxxe” Jedlicka    $3.186.717,60
9. Ashton “theASHMAN103? Griffin    $2.959.994,84
10. Isildur1 (Viktor Blom?)   $2.918.201,83

Top 10 losers since 2007-01-01:

1. Gus Hansen    $-7.129.874,52
2. noataima (Guy Laliberté) $-7.126.621,20
3. lady marmelade (Guy Laliberté) $-6.632.177,45
4. patatino (Guy Laliberté) $-5.924.545,68
5. elmariachimacho    $-4.161.883,92
6. Niki Jedlicka    $-2.413.001,58
7. Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro    $-2.023.132,06
8. ahtata    $-1.615.234,55
9. David “MR B 2 U SON” Benyamine    $-1.570.698,56
10. Brandon Adams    $-1.477.492,55

Source: Highstakesdb

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Ivey has won 16 million dollars from Full Tilt cash games

WPT and PartyPoker begin fight for poker supremacy

"That's our stated aim," PartyGaming's chief marketing officer Chris Welch told PokerListings. "And until that time we will leverage both the World Poker Tour and PartyPoker as best we can to take that challenge to our competitors."

Before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed into U.S. law in October 2006 and PartyPoker effectively pulled out of the U.S. market, it was the number one site in poker.

Since that time, PokerStars has emerged as the industry leader with more than 28 million players worldwide.

A major catalyst for PokerStars' growth has been the emergence of the European Poker Tour. While the WPT has always been credited with helping spur on poker's boom, it has since been surpassed by the PokerStars EPT, which boasted a total prize pool in excess of $55 million over 11 events last season, making it the largest poker tour in the world.

However, Welch says PartyGaming subsidiary Peerless Media Ltd's $12.3 million purchase of the WPT, approved by shareholders earlier this month, now has the organization primed to compete in Europe and across the globe.

"We think there is certainly room for two big tours in Europe," said Welch. "And the World Poker Tour, we believe, is a global brand while the European Poker Tour exists only in Europe."

Particularly in Italy and France, the WPT plans on embarking upon an aggressive growth strategy to begin competing with the EPT.

"We're looking forward to more global expansion, more International expansion," added newly appointed WPT president Adam Pliska.

Welch said part of that expansion will include offering more online satellites into WPT events worldwide.

"It's a great opportunity to offer our European players more tournaments and land based events and of course we are going to run satellites on PartyPoker," Welch said. "But we are also going to encourage other online sites to do the same."

While sites other than PokerStars once ran satellites for EPT events, many stopped after PokerStars forced its competitors to use the site's branding.

Welch says the WPT and PartyPoker will be taking a different approach.

"PokerStars have gone down the route of it being the PokerStars EPT and you've got to have that on your site to run satellites or freerolls," he explained. "That's not our strategy. Our strategy initially will be that it's the World Poker Tour and you can come and qualify from any online site or direct buy in.

"What they are trying to do is leverage their brand. They have the biggest tour in Europe and they are trying to get other people to mention their brand name. We have an opportunity here to grow the World Poker Tour by offering other online sites a chance to get in there without necessarily mentioning PartyPoker and that's what we are going to do."

But the battle for online poker supremacy will not just be fought on European soil.

In April of this year, PartyGaming entered into a $105 million settlement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to avoid prosecution for providing Internet gambling services to U.S. customers prior to the enactment of the UIGEA.

Under the terms of the agreement, PartyGaming agreed to stay out of the U.S. Internet gambling market under current legislation and is hoping, should the legislation change, it would be in a prime position to move back in.

Welch said the purchase of the WPT is yet another way PartyGaming is paving its road back into the United States.

"Should the United States open up, it's going to put us in a preeminent position, way ahead of the competition," he said. "We've taken the long view while some of the other players have taken the short view, and should the United States open up, we are going back to being number one again."

However, until U.S. Lawmakers get on board, Welch said the front lines of this fight will remain on the other side of the Atlantic.

"This provides us with a massive platform to bring PartyPoker back into the hands of millions of Americans," he said. "But in Europe, we can do that from day one."

The public face of both brands, 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton, believes with PartyPoker and the WPT coming together, the sky is the limit.

"I think it can be a huge entity and a worldwide brand," he said. "Hopefully when online gaming becomes legalized in the United States, PartyPoker can come in and retain its status as the number one poker site in the world."

Matt Keikoan Wins WSOP Lake Tahoe Circuit Event Championship

A cozy field of just 64 players turned out for the $5,150 buy-in World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Championship at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. In the end, bracelet winner Matt Keikoan emerged victorious from the pack and earned $106,000.

Last November, there were 132 entrants in the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Circuit Championship, meaning that attendance in 2009 was sliced in half. Nevertheless, the $106,000 payday for Keikoan also marked a return home. He told tournament officials after play had concluded, “I live only about three hours away from here. I used to come here all the time on vacation when I was a kid. I really love it here at Lake Tahoe.” Keikoan captured his bracelet during the 2008 WSOP in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event, defeating online poker whiz Shannon Shorr heads-up in a final table that also included J.C. Tran, Alex Bolotin, Chris Bjorin, and Theo Tran.

Keikoan was sixth in chips entering the final table, with the remaining field looking up at bracelet winner David Woo. However, Keikoan battled through an eight-hour session that saw the field trimmed from nine to two and found himself as a 5:1 chip leader against Justin Hallstrom heads-up. In the final hand of the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Circuit Event Championship, Keikoan called Hallstrom’s all-in with A-K; Hallstrom held just A-3. The flop came king-high, keeping Keikoan in the lead for good in the hand and shipping him the $106,000 first place prize. All was not lost for Hallstrom, however, who earned $56,000 for second place. Here’s how the field shook out in the Nevada casino:

1. Matt Keikoan (San Rafael, California) – $106,435
2. Justin Hallstrom (Lodi, California) – $56,886
3. John Goodger (Montreal, Quebec) – $39,820
4. Ari Engel (Las Vegas, Nevada) – $28,144
5. Tommy Vedes (Las Vegas, Nevada)- $21,557
6. Roger Sippl (Woodside, California) – $17,066
7. David Woo (Atlanta, Georgia) – $13,174
8. Tim Davey (Morgan Hill, California) – $9,581
9. John McNeilly (San Francisco, California) – $6,737

Tommy Vedes is fresh off a win in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago Main Event, which saw him bank $1.2 million. The seven-figure payday came on the heels of a $352,000 take for placing 19th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which wrapped up two weeks ago with 21 year-old Joe Cada earning $8.5 million. “Bodog” Ari Engel scooped a WSOP Circuit gold ring in 2007 after winning a $300 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event at Caesars Atlantic City for $63,000. He claimed his second ring by winning a $1,060 buy-in Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em event for $22,000 in April, besting Adam White.

Due to the small field size in Lake Tahoe, only the top nine finishers (the final table) made the money. The distinction of bubble boy went to Steve Kujubu of Sacramento, California, who landed in 10th place and walked away empty-handed. A total of 18 events played out during the WSOP’s Circuit stop at Harvey’s, which generated 2,664 total entries and a healthy $1.1 million in prize money. Last year, 2,163 players threw their hats into the ring, although only 13 events were held.

The WSOP Circuit staff will now take a well-deserved break for Thanksgiving before heading to Harrah’s Atlantic City. The poker tournaments in the East Coast casino kick off on December 4th with a $340 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. The Championship tournament comes with a buy-in of $5,150 and begins on December 13th, the 10th of 17 events on the docket. Last year, Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts defeated Phillip Reed in the finale of the WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s Atlantic City.

Zhivago2, Obiedman Win FTOPS XIV Poker Titles

Full Tilt Poker’s 14th installment of its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) came to a close Monday morning when a champion was crowned in the $535 buy-in Main Event. Austria’s “zhivago2” outlasted a record-setting field to earn a payday of $418,839 and the gold FTOPS jersey.

Full Tilt’s newest team member, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, hosted what would ultimately be the largest Main Event in FTOPS history, attracting 5,471 players for a prize pool of $2,735,500. Nearly 70 Full Tilt Red Pros took part in the historic event, with Dave Colclough’s 250th place finish topping them all. Brandon Adams, Jeff Madsen, Gary Jones, and Soren Kongsgaard were the other Red Pros to make the money.

Former Full Tilt Red Pro Adam Junglen was the biggest name to reach the final table, which got underway at around 7:00am ET after an exhausting 11 hours of play. Junglen entered the final table third in chips, trailing “kinheim” and eventual champion zhivago2. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette was fourth in chips as the final nine was formed, but the online pro was sent to the rail in sixth place when he got all of his chips in on a 9s-8d-6s board with 9d-3d against the 9h-7h of “ItsTime2Win.” The better kicker held up and Touchette exited with $90,271.50.

After kinheim (fifth place, $131,167) and “dfunks222” (fourth place, $175,072) were eliminated, the final three players agreed to a deal that would secure a payout of at least $290,000 for each of them. With some extra money set aside for the winner, Junglen and zhivago2 got tangled up in a pre-flop raising war that would end the pro’s tournament life. ItsTime2Win raised from the button, zhivago2 called, and Junglen three-bet to 1.4 million from the big blind. ItsTime2Win folded and zhivago2 put the pressure on Junglen by moving all-in. Junglen called with pocket sixes and was in a race against zhivago2’s Qs-Jh. The Jd-8h-5d flop left Junglen needing help, but the turn and river were of no assistance and he collected $290,418 for his third place finish.

zhivago2 took a sizable lead into heads-up play and was able to finish off ItsTime2Win after a lengthy match. On the final hand, zhivago2 bet two million on a 9h-5c-2d board and ItsTime2Win moved all-in for around 11 million. zhivago2 called with pocket jacks and was in great shape against the Ac-3c of ItsTime2Win. The 6c and 3h came on the turn and river, respectively, and zhivago2 was the new FTOPS Main Event champion. ItsTime2Win earned $316,554 as the runner-up.

Here’s a look at the final results from the FTOPS XIV Main Event:

1. zhivago2 – $418,839.16
2. ItsTime2Win – $316,554.40
3. Adam Junglen – $290,418.94
4. dfunks222 – $175,072
5. kinheim – $131,167.23
6. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette – $90,271.50
7. nuts7878 – $58,813.25
8. Valuechecking – $41,032.50
9. Dr Fill Good – $28,722.75

The biggest prize of the FTOPS XIV series went to “obiedman,” who won the Two-Day $2,500+$120 No Limit Hold’em Event #22 on Sunday. A 938-player field of the best online tournament players in the world participated to create a prize pool of $2,345,000.

Full Tilt Red Pro Gary Jones had the chip lead late into the tournament and earned a seat at the final table, but found himself short with four players remaining and moved his remaining stack in with Ad-3c. “Timvd20” called with pocket fours and the pair held up to eliminate Jones in fourth place for $193,463. Timvd20 was the next player to hit the rail after losing much of his stack to obiedman and then running pocket threes into the pocket aces of “Supa4real.”

An entertaining heads-up ended with each player holding trip queens on a Qc-Qd-9d board. However, obiedman’s Js kicker bested the 10s kicker of his opponent and obiedman made a full house with the Jc on the river to win the Event #22 title and $539,350. Supa4real, who also final tabled the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Two-Day Main Event in September, earned his largest online cash to date of $340,025.

Here are the results from FTOPS XIV Event #22:

1. obiedman – $539,350
2. Supa4real – $340,025
3. Timvd20 – $252,088
4. Gary Jones – $193,463
5. the_real_magic – $146,563
6. TheAlligatorNo1 – $105,525
7. Ahvall – $70,350
8. DanOBrien – $54,873
9. Rabbit_hunterSA – $39,865

Huge fields, poker pros dominate big online Sunday

The huge fields weren't a problem for noted poker pros Marc Karam, Chris "Genius28" Lee, Gary Jones, Christina Lindley and Adam Junglen, who all booked massive scores.

On Full Tilt there were a total of four FTOPS XIV titles awarded as the series drew to a close. All four events featured a notable pro at the final table.

Poker commentator and Full Tilt Pro Gary Jones made the final table of the two-day $2,500+$120 Hold'em event, but was eventually ousted in fourth for $193,462. Online player obiedman went on to win the tournament for $539,350, the biggest payout of FTOPS XIV.

In the meantime, Lee, or Genius28, outlasted 1,166 players to take down the FTOPS XIV $109 PLO rebuy event for $93,302.

Elsewhere, Lindley was a force to be reckoned with in the $129 NL Hold'em Knockout event. The Maxim model made it all the way to heads-up before she was beaten by little chief17.

Fortunately for Lindley, there was a deal made three-handed that saw her guaranteed at least $100,000 and when all was done and said, Lindley won $106,460 for her second place finish. Little chief17 received $125,959 for winning the event.

The $535 FTOPS XIV main event would draw 5,471 runners, enough to make it the biggest FTOPS final of all time.

Of all the recognizable pros who entered it was Poker VT instructor Junglen who had the most impressive run.

Junglen outlasted 5,469 players before finally busting in third place for $290,418. Online player zhivago2 went on to win the record-setting event for $418,839.

Over on PokerStars, tournament organizers were celebrating having handing out $250 million in prize money over the site's history by upping the usual $1.5 million guarantee for the Sunday Million by $1 million.

The move paid off as a record-breaking 18,283 players bought in to create a prize pool of $3.6 million.

There were no big name pros at the final table as Canadian Zadman5311 took down first place for $282,662 following a six-way deal.

Meanwhile, as the entire poker world was sat railing the massive Sunday Million, EPT3 grand final runner-up Marc Karam, who plays online as mysterio6044, had his way with the PokerStars Sunday 500.

The Canadian pro outlasted all 1,228 entrants to secure the first place prize of $102,568.