Poker News

Hoyt Corkins Wins WPT Southern Poker Championship

With his win in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship, "The Alabama Cowboy" Hoyt Corkins claimed his second WPT title. The DoylesRoom pro banked $739,000 for his efforts at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Donning an all-black outfit with a bright green DoylesRoom patch, Corkins told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman following the win in the Deep South, “It’s been so frustrating. I’ve finished second twice, third once. It is frustrating to get down there and finish second or third.” Corkins’ last WPT title came during Season 2, when he brought home the bacon in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for $1.1 million. He was the runner-up in the Season 2 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and Season 6 Gold Strike World Poker Open.

Tyler “Tydean” Smith was the first casualty of the WPT Southern Poker Championship final table. After doubling up Jonathan Kantor, Smith committed the rest of his chips with J-3 and was up against Jonathan Jaffee’s A-Q. With the hometown favorite on the cusp of elimination, the crowd watched as the flop fell K-10-6, keeping Jaffee out in front. The turn came a four and, needing to catch a three on the river, Smith saw a six instead fall. He earned $86,000 for his second straight final table appearance in the $10,000 buy-in tournament. Smith lives ten minutes from the casino, an easy commute.

James Reed hit the skids in fifth place for $106,000. Reed shoved with 7-5 pre-flop and received a call from Jaffee, who held pocket eights. The flop of A-Q-5 paired Reed, but a running 6-4 sent him packing. Jaffee pushed his way to third in chips as a result, with Corkins, who had entered as a massive chip leader, continuing to pace the field. The WPT Southern Poker Championship marked Reed’s first WPT in the money finish.

Twenty-two hands later, Jaffee was eliminated in fourth place. Jaffee pushed with K-Q pre-flop over the top of a raise by Corkins, who came along with pocket jacks to set up a race. The flop came a benign 7-6-3, while a four on the turn left Jaffee calling for a king or queen on the river to stay alive. However, the final card was a nine, dashing his WPT Southern Poker Championship title hopes.

In a key pot three-handed, Corkins doubled up with A-J against Jerry Vanstrydonck’s pocket kings. The board of 9-8-8-5 was looking grim until Corkins spiked a three-outer on the river to stay alive and the pot once again made him the chip leader. Vanstrydonck could not withstand the blow to his stack and was ousted shortly thereafter. Vanstrydonck’s 9-8 was up against Corkins’ K-Q pre-flop and the board blanked out for both players. Corkins was a 3:2 chip leader entering heads-up play against Kantor.

Kantor battled to even after shoving on the river on a board reading 8-5-3-4-3. Corkins tanked before folding and Kantor turned over 10-6 for “nuclear squadoosh,” as the legendary ESPN announcer Norman Chad would say. Corkins then won a 1.7-million chip pot before the final hand of the WPT Southern Poker Championship occurred. Kantor pushed with K-10 and Corkins made the call with A-7. The flop came ace-high, preserving Corkins’ lead in the hand. By the river, Kantor was rooting for a club to remain in the hunt for the $739,000 first place prize, but the five of hearts hit to give Corkins his second WPT title. Here are the payouts from the final table in Biloxi:

1. Hoyt Corkins - $739,486
2. Jonathan Kantor - $366,643
3. Jerry Vanstrydonck - $196,829
4. Jared Jaffee - $135,079
5. James Reed - $106,134
6. Tyler Smith - $86,837

The WPT Southern Poker Championship will air as part of Season 8 on Fox Sports Net. Next up for the WPT is a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, site of the WPT Celebrity Invitational and L.A. Poker Classic. The tournaments kick off on February 20th and 26th, respectively, from the Commerce Casino.

Antanas “Tony G” Guoga Joins Team PartyPoker

Continuing to add to an already impressive lineup, it was announced early Thursday that top poker professional Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has signed a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.

Guoga, who has been at the forefront of the international poker scene for the past decade, will make his first showing for Team PartyPoker at the Aussie Millions, which began today and is one of the top non-U.S. tournaments on the poker schedule. According to Guoga’s new blog at PartyPoker, he will be participating in the $100,000 Challenge tournament scheduled to start on January 23rd, which draws some of the toughest competition in the game today and features defending champion Howard Lederer. Tony G will also join fellow Team PartyPoker members Bodo Sbrzesny and defending Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott along with 43 qualifiers from PartyPoker for the Aussie Millions Main Event. The AUD $10,000 tournament will feature three starting days that begin on January 24th and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net.

As a part of the new sponsorship deal, Guoga will also be part of one of PartyPoker’s upcoming special events, the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV. This invitation-only tournament is scheduled to take place in February in Las Vegas and includes a formidable lineup. Such players as former World Champion and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, current World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, poker Triple Crown winner Roland De Wolfe, noted poker “bad boy” Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz, and dangerous tournament pro J. C. Tran are scheduled to take to the felt, presenting Tony G with tremendously difficult opposition.

Guoga’s own online poker site, TonyGPoker.com, has been merged into the PartyPoker family. Those players who are a part of TonyGPoker.com will be moved to Noble Poker. Guoga will continue to be an integral part of his online promotions, such as the Sunday Bike Ride (moving to Noble Poker), and will play on PartyPoker under the name “TonyG.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Tony to Team PartyPoker,” a PartyGaming spokesman commented about the newest arrival to the organization. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game and a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players on board.”

Guoga isn’t called “The Mouth From Down Under” for nothing. Known to dismiss his beaten opponents from the table with a curt “On Yer Bike!” Guoga has already issued a challenge for those PartyPoker members playing in the Aussie Millions. “If one of the Party qualifiers knocks me out of the Main Event, I will buy them a bike,” Guoga stated. “First of all, however, I will ride it out myself… I know when it is bike time!”

In his first blog entry on PartyPoker, Guoga also throws down the gauntlet against one of his Premier League IV foes. After speaking glowingly of Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Kara Scott, Tony G dropped the hammer on Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz: “He’s rude, obnoxious and I cannot wait to bust him up. This kid is not the kind of player you feel you can learn from – you just want to bust him.”

Guoga certainly has the ability to bust up many players at the table. His lifetime earnings at the tournament poker tables total nearly $4 million and include the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II championship in 2006. He was also the runner-up in the 2006 PartyPoker Intercontinental Poker Championship in Las Vegas and has cashed 15 times at the WSOP.

Famous for his mouth, it is Guoga’s philanthropic efforts that have earned him a great deal of respect from players and fans. After he won the first ever Asian Poker Tour (APT) event in Singapore in 2006, Tony G donated half the prize money to charity and, after taking down over $200,000 in a Moscow poker tournament in 2007, he turned over the entirety of his winnings to Russian orphanages.

With the addition of Guoga, Team PartyPoker is becoming a formidable challenge in the tournament poker world. After not sponsoring pros for much of its existence, PartyPoker has certainly drawn top talent to its roster. Along with Guoga, Sexton, Sbrzesny, and the two Scotts, other members of Team PartyPoker include France’s Remy Biechel, England’s Ian “The Raiser” Frazer, and Brazil’s Felipe "Mojave" Ramos.

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks Off with Commentators III

Season 6 of the popular NBC poker program “Poker After Dark” kicked off this week with “Commentators III.” In a somewhat surreal scene, announcers from popular poker programs took to the felts at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

Each player started with 20,000 in chips and blinds at 100-200. Dan Gati replaced Full Tilt Poker’s Ali Nejad in the booth, as Nejad took to the felts as part of the kickoff week. He raised with A-J in the first hand shown and received no action, turning over his two cards to prove that he always has a hand. Also appearing as part of “Commentators III” this week are Howard Lederer, “High Stakes Poker” hosts Gabe Kaplan and Kara Scott, “Poker2Nite” anchor and UB.com pro Joe Sebok, and Mark Gregorich.

In one hand, Nejad raised to 650 pre-flop with K-J and Lederer made the call with 10-J. The flop came 8-9-6, giving Lederer an open-ended straight draw, and the action went check-check to a four on the turn. Lederer led out for 875 and Nejad quickly mucked, prompting a flurry of references to a set of fours. During the last “Commentators” week, Nejad busted with a set of fours against Kaplan’s set of tens.

Nejad then ramped up his charm, telling the assembled panel of announcers, “I had something special to do today in honor of Joe [Sebok] finally making a TV table.” He produced a tray of champagne classes and gave one to each competitor. Sebok has a bevy of televised final table bubbles in his career, including a ninth place finish in the 2008 World Poker Tour (WPT) Festa al Lago, a seventh place finish at the 2007 Legends of Poker, and a seventh place finish at the 2007 Bay 101 Shooting Star; WPT final tables are played six-handed. He finished fifth in the 2006 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $99,000.

On his tendency to bubble, Sebok told “Poker After Dark” host Leeann Tweeden, “Unfortunately in poker, I became more famous for missteps than good steps.” It was later revealed that Sebok and Nejad attended the University of California, Berkley at the same time, leading to a discussion as to whether the two had ever met. Kaplan then flopped the nuts with K-J on a board of 10-Q-A. Nejad, who held Q-J for middle pair and a gutshot straight draw, bet 850 after Kaplan checked. Kaplan raised to 2,100 and Nejad folded.

Twenty-five minutes into the kickoff episode of “Poker After Dark” Season 6, the first river card was dealt. Sebok led out for 550 with Q-3 on a board of 4-8-Q with two spades. Kaplan put in a raise to 2,150 with 3-4 of spades and Sebok called. The turn was another queen, giving Sebok trips, and the action went check-check. The river was a four, giving both players full houses. Sebok bet 2,700 and Kaplan wisely folded. Sebok became the new chip leader after scooping the pot of 7,900.

Scott, who was largely quiet throughout the episode, donned a CardRunners logo for her first “Poker After Dark” appearance. She exclaimed, “I’m playing with Gabe Kaplan! It’s really exciting!” Amid discussion of the upcoming Heath Ledger movie, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” Sebok raised to 1,100 with A-K and Gregorich called with pocket nines. The flop fell 7-3-10 and Sebok made a continuation bet of 1,600. Gregorich called and a six came on the turn. The action went check-check as Sebok let his foot off the gas and a four came on the river. Both players again checked and Gregorich scooped the 6,000-chip pot.

In one of the final hands shown on Monday night’s episode, Gregorich held pocket rockets and raised to 1,200 pre-flop. Sebok came along with 5-6 of clubs from the big blind and the flop came Q-6-8. Sebok checked, Gregorich fired out a bet of 3,000, and Sebok folded.

“Commentators III” continues all week on “Poker After Dark.” The franchise airs late nights at 2:05am ET on NBC and is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, whose logo appears in the center of the felt.

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.

Bwin Downplays Party Gaming Merger Talks

Party Gaming and Austria-based gambling group Bwin are allegedly involved in merger discussions, according to stories published in The Times and Sunday Times over the weekend. The move would potentially create a £2 billion online poker, casino, and sports betting company.

Shares of Party Gaming and Bwin jumped 2.5% and 4.1%, respectively, on Monday morning after the reports broke. Both companies have similar market value; Party Gaming is worth £1.1 billion, while Bwin is valued at about €1.3 billion.

Party Gaming and Bwin have refused to confirm the story, according eGaming Review. Bwin, Europe's biggest sports betting provider, said it wanted to take part in sector consolidation, but added that it is in talks with everyone in the industry on an ongoing basis and was not in advanced talks with Party Gaming. The Austrian group also told Reuters that it is not in advanced merger talks with anyone.

Party Gaming, meanwhile, has been looking for a major sports betting platform for years despite acquiring Gamebookers in 2006 for £102 million. The company has openly stated its determination to hunt for a bigger target in order to become a leading sports book operator and complement its online poker, casino and bingo platforms.

James Hollins at brokerage Daniel Stewart said a Bwin-Party Gaming merger would be “exceptionally strategically compelling," adding, "the combined groups' poker operations would drive clear scale economies and liquidity to compete squarely against the U.S.-facing giants of PokerStars and Full Tilt.”

Analyst Nick Batram at KBC Hunt is confident that a large deal is in the near future: "There was lots of press comment over the weekend suggesting that Bwin and Party Gaming have held informal merger talks. This doesn't come as a surprise, as online groups frequently talk informally. However, we believe that the recent sector consolidation will gain momentum through 2010 and it is only a matter of time before we see further sizable deals."

Party Gaming has been busy in deal making talks as several countries are in the process of regulating online gambling, most importantly the United States. In November, Party Gaming purchased the World Poker Tour (WPT), with many believing the company was attempting to set itself up for a return to the U.S market. Party Gaming’s Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Welch, later verified that idea: “This is the first step toward us returning to the United States."

WPT announcer and PartyPoker spokesperson Mike Sexton agreed, saying, “We all think [the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is going to be reversed] at some point. It’s just a matter of when. I’m convinced we’re going to see another poker explosion like we saw six years ago. It’ll be second to none.”

Party Gaming was reportedly involved in buyout talks with GigaMedia Limited earlier this year, but nothing developed. GigaMedia is the company behind the online poker site Everest Poker. Party Gaming purchased Cashcade, owner of the Foxy Bingo website, in July to enhance its own online bingo site, PartyBingo.

PartyGaming to merger with Bwin?

The purchase of WPT was just the beginning for PartyGaming in a quest of becoming the biggest poker site in the world, again. The next step apparently is adding sports book to their supply, as the company has started merger talks with Austrian gambling company Bwin.

PartyGaming is set to welcome Bwin.

The merger would create a huge gambling company worth of £2 billion. Talks about the merger have been held on and off since the summer. If the two sides can agree a tie-up, the deal would be a merger of equals, as the value of both companies are about the same.

PartyGaming is currently offering poker and casino games. The merger, that is expected to be clarified early this week, of PartyGaming and Bwin would be logical, because PartyGaming is looking for new revenues from sports betting, something that Bwin is good at.

PartyGaming has been looking for expanding their business recently under CEO Jim Ryan. Before the UIGEA was set PartyGaming was estimated being worth of £5 billion, nearly 90% of its revenues coming from America. Closing their American operations lost them huge share of poker markets.

Everything is pointing to a fact that PartyGaming is preparing a return to US market. Mike Sexton, the WPT announcer and PartyPoker spokesperson told cardplayer.com that people at PartyPoker are sure UIGEA will be reversed and it will start a poker boom like six years ago, When Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP main event.

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PartyGaming to merger with Bwin?

Bernard Lee Recaps the 2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table

It was certainly a memorable World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table.  From Doyle Brunson announcing “Shuffle up and deal” to Joe Cada putting on the coveted bracelet, I was present in the Penn and Teller Theater to cover all of the festivities for ESPN Inside Deal.

Sadly, I could not play in the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Poker Finals Main Event at Foxwoods Resort and Casino.  The event has had significant personal meaning.  Not only did I have consecutive runs in the Main Event dating back to 2004, I also entered the 2009 World Poker Finals with three preliminary titles in the last three years ($5,000 in 2006, $2,000 in 2007, and $600 shootout in 2008).  I gave myself an opportunity to make it four in a row by making the final table of the $1,500 event, but I came up a little short, finishing in eighth place.  Oh well, I guess I will try to start another streak next year.

Nevertheless, the 2009 November Nine definitely had its share of memorable moments.  Right after the final table, I shared my thoughts with my radio show audience during my WSOP final table wrap-up, which lasted about three hours.  Guests included 2009 November Niners Darvin Moon, Steven Begleiter, and Kevin Schaffel, as well as recent Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton, PokerNewsDaily.com’s own Dan Cypra, and Heartland Poker Tour announcer Fred Bevill.

The week after, I also produced an audio blog of the WSOP Main Event final table from start to finish.  Some of the interviews even included talks with players during the breaks to hear how they felt they were playing at the time.  If you would like to hear these shows or any past interviews with any member of the November Nine, you can download the podcast of “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” via iTunes or visit RoundersRadio.com.

Of course, congratulations to Joe Cada.  A year after Peter Eastgate broke Phil Hellmuth’s 19 year-old record for youngest WSOP Main Event champion, the 21-year old online player from Shelby Township, Michigan rewrote history once again by winning the $8.5 million first prize and the 2009 WSOP Main Event bracelet.  Cada went on a media blitz after his victory that included a ringside seat at a WWE event, appearances on several ESPN shows, and topped off with an interview with David Letterman.  I hope he continues to be a true poker ambassador during his reign.  Congratulations once again to our new WSOP Main Event Champion, Joe Cada.

Looking back, here are some of my additional thoughts about the WSOP final table:

1) Slow Early Play:  Based on the prize structure, I was surprised at how slow the play was at the beginning.  With the money difference between ninth and eighth only being $37,000 and the next jump being only $104,000, many analysts expected the short stacks to push early.  With players needing to finish in fourth place or better to at least double their guaranteed $1.26 million, I was even amazed that it took 59 hands to eliminate our first player.  However, after James Akenhead (ninth) and Kevin Schaffel (eighth) were eliminated, it took over 100 hands to dismiss Ivey from the final table in seventh place.

2) Atmosphere:  Unable to attend the inaugural November Nine last year, I previously heard all of the stories about the crowd excitement and noise.  This year, I got to experience it first-hand and it definitely did not disappoint.  Inside the Rio’s Penn and Teller Theater, the packed house was truly deafening and involved from hand one.

3) The Best Fans:  Many of the players brought their own cheering sections:

a. Schaffel: His fans wore white shirts that read “Schaffel up and Deal”
b. Moon: His family and friends had cut out faces of Darvin and shirts that read “Bad Moon Rising”
c. Saout: His cheering section wore France’s home team colors and chanted like soccer (or football as they say in Europe) fans
d. Ivey: The entire audience was cheering for him

However, the best fans were, without a question, Joe Cada’s gang.  Although there was a fight among their group, the majority of Cada’s group never let their guy down.  They cheered with every hand, sometimes even when he lost a hand.  One time, his group reacted so loudly that I was confused, thinking that he might have actually won the hand.  They really kept his spirits up and never let him give up.

4) Worst Bad Beat:  This year’s final table may be known as the Year of the Bad Beat.  Amazingly, every player eliminated from eighth place to third had the lead pre-flop and lost.  Here are a couple of the worst ones:

a. Schaffel versus Buchman:  Schaffel’s Ah-Ac got cracked by Buchman’s Kh-Kc when Buchman flopped a king and turned quads to eliminate Schaffel in eighth place.

b. Ivey versus Moon:  Pre-flop Ivey (Ac-Ks) had Moon (Ad-Qs) dominated, but Moon flopped a Qd.  Ivey could not catch up and was eliminated in seventh place, deflating his fans and the room in general.

However, the worst beat had to be when Cada shoved all-in versus Antoine Saout on the very first hand of three-handed play.  Saout’s Qs-Qh was poised to eliminate Cada’s 2s-2c; however, a 9s-7s-2d flop destroyed Saout’s hopes of the WSOP Main Event title.

5) Emerging Poker Star: Besides Cada, the one player that surprised many people was Antoine Saout.  An unknown player before the 2009 WSOP, this online qualifier final tabled the WSOP Europe Main Event final table prior to the November Nine.  Then, the second short stack ended up finishing in third place and could have been playing heads-up versus Moon.  Had Cada not flopped a set (see #4 above), the Frenchman would have brought a 110:70 million chip lead to the mono-a-mono battle.

For a limited time only (until December 25th), all PokerNewsDaily.com readers are invited to a special pre-holiday sale.  Click Here to receive a 20% discount for ordering my books, The Final Table, Volume I and II.  Both books make perfect holiday gifts for all poker fans.

Finally, in the coming weeks, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” will interview two champions: 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman and the Godfather of Poker himself, two-time WSOP Main Event champion Doyle Brunson.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Since finishing 13th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, Bernard Lee has cashed in numerous tournaments, capturing three titles and earning over $1.35 million.  He is the host of ESPN’s poker show, ESPN Inside Deal.  He is a columnist for the Boston Herald and ESPN.com and the radio host of “The Bernard Lee Poker Show.”  Listen every Tuesday night from 7:00pm ET to 8:00pm ET on 1510 AM in Massachusetts and also on 1510thezone.com and RoundersRadio.com.  The show is replayed several times during the week and also available on podcast. Visit BernardLeePoker.com for the latest news regarding Lee.

Poker2Nite Debuts on Fox Sports Net

Wednesday night marked the first episode of the UB.net poker news show “Poker2Nite.” The new franchise stars PokerRoad personalities Joe Sebok and Scott Huff and airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net.

Last night’s show began with a discussion of the major news item of the week, the win by Joe Cada in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Cada became the youngest champion ever of the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament at age 21 and turned 22 on November 18th. In the final hand of the tournament, which was replayed on “Poker2Nite,” Cada shoved with pocket nines and Maryland logger Darvin Moon made the call for his tournament life with Q-J of diamonds. The two were off to the races with $3 million in real money on the line. In the end, Cada emerged victorious. He told “Poker2Nite’s” Lacey Jones after play had concluded, “I knew the odds of winning it were a long shot.”

Huff gave his take on the emergence of Cada: “The kid immediately goes out and does a lot of live interviews. He’s accepted a number of mainstream media appearances and it feels like he’s ready to step into the spotlight and be an ambassador for the game.” Huff and Sebok then debated whether it was fair that the winner of the Main Event had a “job” to promote the game. Sebok stated, “It’s an opportunity. I would snatch up that job in a second.” Sebok took 56th in the 2009 Main Event, earning $108,000.

Attention then turned to the departure of WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who resigned from his post just days after Cada was crowned the newest World Champion. Pollack’s legacy includes the introduction of the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, the November Nine, and a reduction in the number of player complaints. Sebok, who was one of several pros who weighed in following Pollack’s departure on social media sites like Twitter, told “Poker2Nite” viewers, “Jeffrey Pollack definitely changed the game for the better.”

UB.net logos appeared in the background and in commercials during each break. The new site was launched earlier this week replacing Ultimate Bet, which was long known by the two-letter acronym. “Poker2Nite” is featured on the front page of UB.net and UB.com and a press release announcing the new site called the series “a new television show that is truly about poker, not just another reality or game show.” Huff and Sebok are veterans of the media side of poker through their work with PokerRoad Radio. Both bring an energetic demeanor to the silver screen and looked at home in front of Fox Sports Net television cameras.

Dana Workman, who has appeared in various sitcoms on ABC and FOX, gave her Weekly Misdeal and Huff and Sebok examined which fans at the tournament in Las Vegas were the rowdiest. Cada’s won the contest, as the youngster’s cheering section came decked out in yellow shirts and screamed loudly throughout the marathon festivities. The younger age of Cada’s fans may have contributed to their excitement, as supporters of Antoine Saout and Steven Begleiter, who were dressed in blue, appeared to be of an older age.

Joining the show as its first guest was San Jose native and ESPN poker announcer Lon McEachern, about whom Huff jokingly claimed, “I brought him on to force him to pass the torch.” McEachern, who first broadcasted the WSOP on ESPN in 2002 alongside Gabe Kaplan, told “Poker2Nite” fans, “It’s an event now. To have that many people watching nine guys sit and play cards was incredible. To come from the obscure beginnings to where it is now has been the ride of a lifetime.”

In addition to its 11:00am ET debut each Wednesday night, “Poker2Nite” re-airs on Thursdays at 4:00pm ET and Fridays at 11:00am ET and 6:00pm ET. Check local listings for full details.

Million Dollar Challenge: Durrrr Earns $68,000 Against Ziigmund

Day Two of the Full Tilt Poker Million Dollar Challenge played out in London, with Tom “durrrr” Dwan taking on Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. In the end, Dwan owned a $68,000 edge.

The 12-hour battle began with Dwan showing up to the match drowsy, fresh off a high-stakes online duel with Swedish poker player Isildur1. A press release distributed by Million Dollar Challenge organizers Matchroom Sport explained, “Overnight, he resumed his online battle with Isildur1 on Full Tilt and, after showing up without any sleep, the strain began to show towards the end of the encounter, as he admitted to feeling delusional… At one stage, it looked like he would not be able to finish, but he dug deep to not only keep the pace, but also come out on top.”

In Day One of the challenge, Dwan dropped $22,500 to Marcello “luckexpress” Marigliano over 500 hands, mostly No Limit Hold’em. Against Sahamies, the action was entirely Pot Limit Omaha, a game that Dwan has been able to master as part of the online version of the Durrrr Challenge against Patrik Antonius. In a pot that occurred late in the day in London, with the board reading 3h-Kd-Kh-8h-5d, Sahamies bet out $60,000, Dwan raised to $194,000, and Sahamies made the call. With a massive pot up for grabs, Dwan showed Kc-Jc-8c-7h for a boat, kings full of eights, while Sahamies flipped up Ac-Ks-7c-3d for a smaller full house.

In another hand, Dwan held Qc-9h-7h-5d against Sahamies’ Ad-As-9d-8c. The flop came 9d-Jc-3h and Dwan led out for $20,000. Sahamies called with his pocket rockets and the turn came the 10d, adding a straight draw for the challenger. Dwan once again led out, this time for $46,000, and Sahamies called behind to see the 7c hit the river. Dwan fired a third bullet to the tune of $129,000 and Sahamies made the call with a straight, scooping the enormous pot to put a dent in Dwan’s earnings for the day.

Dwan, the newest member of Team Full Tilt, told Matchroom Sport after play had concluded for the day, “It was a tough game, but a great one at the same time. There were some huge pots and in the end it could’ve gone either way really, but after losing out against Marcello, I’m delighted to have won today and I’m looking forward to taking on Sammy tomorrow.” On his state of mind following an overnight session against Isildur1, Dwan added, “I was a pretty tired after playing 12 hours the night before on Full Tilt, but I think the fact I was playing Ziigmund and that the challenge is an important one helped me through.”

Dwan nearly went broke early on, which would have ended the second day of the challenge, as he shoved all-in with Qs-Td-8s-5h after the flop fell 5s-9h-3s. Sahamies made the call with As-Ah-6d-Js, counterfeiting Dwan’s flush draw, but the 5d came on the turn to double Dwan up and keep the match going. Million Dollar Challenge rules state that the heads-up matches last for 500 hands or until a player has gone bust. Those who turned out to watch the melee unfold on Wednesday included Roland de Wolfe, Tony G, Ian Frazer, John Duthie, and Sammy “Any Two” George.

Dwan and George will conclude the Million Dollar Challenge today. Only a few hands have played out so far, but the action is already fast and furious. With the board reading 7-9-9-10-Q, Dwan had 7-2 for nines-up, while George held 8-5 for what ESPN announcer Norman Chad would dub “nuclear squadoosh,” a busted straight draw. Nevertheless, George led out for $66,000 and Dwan released his hand.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Full Tilt Poker Million Dollar Challenge.

Joe Sebok Tops One Million Twitter Followers

If Twitter is any indication, Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Joe Sebok (@JoeSebok) is the 177th most popular guy on the internet.  At least, that is the ranking Twitter tracking site Twitterholic gave to Sebok based on his number of followers, which now exceeds one million.

His massive and dedicated group of Twitter fans puts him on par with sports reporter Bill Simmons, the publication Newsweek, comedian Kevin Nealon, and the musician Moby in terms of popularity.  By comparison, Ashton Kutcher has the most fans with nearly four million, followed by Britney Spears and Ellen Degeneres.  Twitterers who wish they had the traffic of Sebok include Dr. Phil McGraw (175,000 followers), reality star Lauren Conrad (748,500 followers), and the NASA space program (164,000 followers).

Perhaps in a testament to the popularity of Sebok’s poker entertainment website, PokerRoad, “Poker After Dark” announcer Ali Nejad (@Ali_Nejad) is 216th on Twitterholic’s list with more than 840,000 followers.  Sebok and PokerRoad have been longtime proponents of the microblogging site.  This past summer, they launched a unique Twitter platform called PokerRoad Nation, which organized poker-related Tweets from the World Series of Poker (WSOP).  The platform sorted tweets based on events, former bracelet winners, PokerRoad family members, media members, and several other criteria, allowing followers to customize their WSOP coverage as they saw fit.  The PokerRoad Nation platform garnered both poker media and national media attention and Sebok was profiled in the New York Times for the new innovation.

Despite the extensive Twitter-related success, Sebok told Poker News Daily that he is taking the million followers in stride.  “I think that people overvalue this whole Twitter thing,” he explained.  “It’s been fun, but it is definitely not an ego boost.”

Sebok also elaborated on how he came to have such a large group of followers.  “Twitter decided to put me on their suggested users list and I’ve just been enjoying the ride…It’s been fun.”  A longtime music fan, Sebok entertains his followers with frequent album recommendations along with tweets about his antics with his friends and family, which include Gavin Smith (@olegsmith) and his father, Barry Greenstein (@barrygreenstein).

More recently, he has also posted behind the scenes photos from his own appearance on “Poker After Dark” and Greenstein’s appearance on the most recent season of “High Stakes Poker.”  On Thursday night, Sebok also documented a disastrous road trip from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with Greenstein where their truck broke down on the side of the road in the middle of the night.  Never fear, PokerRoad fans, Sebok and Greenstein made it back to Los Angeles in one piece.

Sebok had to make his way back to Los Angeles to get the last-minute details together on his latest project, the Fox Sports poker news show “Poker 2Nite.”  The show, which will be sponsored by Ultimate Bet, is set to begin airing on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET starting on November 25th.  Sebok told Poker News Daily he and co-host Scott Huff will be filming the first show on Tuesday night.  Sebok hopes that the series can capitalize on the heightened interest in poker following Joe Cada’s recent WSOP Main Event victory and become a mainstay on the cable network.

Fans will likely hear more about “Poker 2Nite” in the coming days via his Twitter, but any followers expecting some commemorative posting in honor of hitting the million-person mark shouldn’t hold their breath.  Sebok said he did not plan anything special in honor of crossing the benchmark and will continue tweeting as usual.

2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN Broadcast: Behind the Scenes

The world watched as Joe Cada became the youngest World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner ever on Tuesday night, outlasting Darvin Moon to the tune of $8.5 million. Poker News Daily went backstage to sit down with announcer Lon McEachern prior to the episode’s production.

About 15 ESPN staffers huddled around three televisions on the back side of the stage at the Penn and Teller Theater as the action unfolded on Saturday shortly after the dinner break in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. One day later, the ESPN crew feverishly worked to piece together the episode, which featured McEachern and Norman Chad providing commentary. On Monday, heads-up play between Moon and Cada commenced at the Rio at 10:00pm PT and the show aired 24 hours later on one of the largest cable stations in the country.

Poker News Daily: While we’re talking, seven players remain in the WSOP Main Event on Saturday night. Talk about the pace so far.

McEachern: We expected a much quicker pace. It’s a lot of surprising play. I’m surprised at the guys who went out and I’m surprised at the guys who are still in, but you never know. There are so many chips in play and this is what we expect every year.

PND: You haven’t seen the player’s hole cards yet. Are you looking forward to getting into the broadcast booth with Norman Chad to begin recording?

McEachern: Absolutely. It’s always exciting to get in there after scads of people put their magic touch to it and put us in the driver’s seat. Hopefully, we don’t crash it. It’s a lot of fun to get in there and we never know what’s going to happen other than we know we’ll be working with a fine product.

PND: How long will the recording process take?

McEachern: It’s going to be a normal week for us, which is two hours of programming. We normally do one show per day when we’re voicing. We’re capable of doing more and so it’ll be a long day on Sunday into Monday. We’re just doing an hour and a little more on Sunday and then on Monday we’ll come back and finish the second hour. On Tuesday morning, we’ll finish up whatever heads-up there is to do.

PND: We notice you’re donning headphones and looking intently at the television monitors. Explain what you’re looking for.

McEachern: What we’re trying to do is get a feel for how play is going and who’s raising whom from what position. We’re not going to show all of the hands, of course, so we try to get an idea of who’s picking on whom and who is getting desperate. It’ll give us more of a sense of how this table played down so we can work it into our commentary and give people a feel for it as a whole.

PND: How have you and Norman Chad been able to keep your commentary and relationship with each other fresh after so many years working together?

McEachern: I don’t know if people watching it think it’s fresh, but it’s still fresh to us. We get a “class A” product every time we get in the booth. What we’re looking at is the best in the business and we realize that. The people we work with give us a product that is fresh every time we look at it. We’re constantly trying to keep it new, keep it exciting, and keep it quality. In one sense, you feel this burden to keep pushing the envelope with your performance and I think Norman feels the same way. We try to keep learning and try to find ways to make it a little different and a little better. So far, so good.

WSOP Final Table Broadcast Airs on ESPN

On Tuesday night, two and a half hours of coverage on ESPN saw the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table play out. What took place over three days in real-time saw Joe Cada become the youngest Main Event winner ever and earn $8.5 million.

The opening sequence focused on Phil Ivey, with announcer Lon McEachern inquiring, “Is he the one?” Comments from poker pros Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Doyle Brunson aired before McEachern and Norman Chad recapped the chip counts. Cada started with just 7% of the chips in play, setting up an unlikely title run.

In one of the first hands shown, Jeff Shulman raised to 1.25 million with pocket fives with his coach, Phil Hellmuth, looking on and Ivey shoved for 8.7 million with pocket kings. Cada folded pocket tens and Shulman got out of the way as well, giving Ivey the pot. The media on-hand at the Penn and Teller Theater in Las Vegas thought Cada had queens and Ivey guessed the youngster had jacks.

After tripling up with K-Q against Eric Buchman, Brit James Akenhead was eliminated in ninth place after running pocket threes into Kevin Schaffel’s pocket nines. Schaffel rivered a boat before falling in eighth place with aces against Buchman’s kings. Buchman turned quads in the hand and ousted Schaffel from the Main Event. In real-time, players headed to dinner break when play was seven-handed and Mike Sexton became the newest inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame.

In a hand that had the crowd abuzz at the Rio, logger Darvin Moon raised to 1.3 million with K-Q and Steven Begleiter made it 3.9 million with A-Q of spades. The flop came 3-4-2 with two spades, giving Begleiter flush and straight draws and a 93% edge. Begleiter led out for 5.35 million, Moon raised to 15 million, and Begleiter shoved for his last six million. Despite getting over 7:1 on a call, Moon folded and falsely told his wife that he had queens and put Begleiter on A-K suited. At the time, Poker News Daily correctly reported that Moon held K-Q for what Chad dubbed “nuclear squadoosh.”

Cada doubled up Shulman to send his chip stack plummeting to just five big blinds. Frenchman Antoine Saout then blazed a trail of his own, doubling through Begleiter after turning a flush. The hand gave Saout the chip lead and then the assembled crowd in Las Vegas watched Ivey fall by the wayside in seventh after Moon’s A-Q bested the Full Tilt pro’s A-K. Chad, who perennially picks Ivey to win the Main Event, joked, “We’re going to need a medic to the broadcast booth.” Moon then sent Begleiter packing once again with A-Q, this time against pocket queens.

Cada spiked a set to double through Shulman before the latter fell at the hands of Saout after losing a race with pocket sevens against A-9. However, Saout would give a chunk of his stack to Buchman, who held pocket aces on a board of 2-10-3 when Saout flopped top pair with Q-10. Moon sent Buchman to the rails after drawing out with K-J of diamonds against Buchman’s A-5.

Cada flopped another set with a small pair against Saout when his pocket twos overcame Saout’s pocket queens to send his stack to 80 million. Then, Saout dropped in third place after his pocket eights fell on the river to Cada’s A-K. In an improbable run, Cada went from holding five big blinds to boasting 136 million chips heads-up against Moon. McEachern exclaimed, “That did not just happen.”

Motley Crue front man Vince Neil gave the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to begin heads-up play and Moon quickly regained the chip lead. However, the youngster doubled up after calling for his tournament life with J-9 on a board of 10-5-9-10. Moon showed 8-7 for an open-ended straight draw, which missed when a three hit on the river. In the final hand of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Cada’s pocket nines withstood Moon’s Q-J, giving the heads-up online poker specialist a monumental win and the tag of youngest Main Event winner ever, breaking Peter Eastgate’s one year reign.

Here were the paydays from the 2009 WSOP Main Event:

1. Joe Cada – $8,546,435
2. Darvin Moon – $5,182,601
3. Antoine Saout – $3,479,485
4. Eric Buchman – $2,502,787
5. Jeff Shulman – $1,953,395
6. Steven Begleiter – $1,587,133
7. Phil Ivey – $1,404,002
8. Kevin Schaffel – $1,300,228
9. James Akenhead – $1,263,602

Those who did not set their DVRs or Tivos to record more than two hours, the scheduled time that ESPN allotted for the WSOP Main Event, did not catch heads-up play. This irritated many viewers, one of whom posted on Poker News Daily, “With the [DVR] set to record the final table coverage I returned to enjoy a thrilling night of poker. The game was still playing at the two hour mark when the recording stopped. Another WSOP on ESPN disappointment. Again I know who won without seeing the coverage on TV.” ESPN’s “SportsCenter” aired at 11:30pm ET.

On the extra 30 minutes of coverage, an ESPN representative told Poker News Daily, “We went late to serve the sports fans tuned into the much-anticipated event that has been on their calendars for a long time. We regret that those Tivo’ing it were unable to see the ending, but we’ll be replaying it in the weeks to come.”

Check your local listings for details.

Phil Hellmuth No Shows Rio Meatball Eating Contest, Joey Chestnut Wins

One of the side events taking place during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event at the Rio was the Martorano’s Masters Meatball Eating Championship. Among those noticeably absent was Phil Hellmuth, who was booked to appear.

Play in the WSOP Main Event final table lasted until 6:00am PT on Sunday morning and with the Noon start time at the Rio’s meatball eating extravaganza, Hellmuth did not turn out as advertised by competition officials. Nevertheless, about a dozen participants and over 100 spectators were on-hand to witness the drama.

Among those in attendance was Joey Chestnut, the champion of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest three years running. Chestnut told Poker News Daily prior to the competition, “I’m definitely going to shoot for 10 pounds.”

In July of next year, Chestnut will defend his title at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York. On the some 45,000 fans that attend the festivities every year, Chestnut explained, “I’m doing it against Kobayashi. This guy is from Japan and I’m looking forward to it. Last year, I did 68 in 10 minutes and this year, I’ll be going for 70.” So how do you get 10 pounds of meatballs or 70 hot dogs digested in 10 minutes? Chestnut gave us the secret to his success: “Nobody chews more than they have to. I’m chewing just enough to swallow.” Chestnut has been a competitive eater for four and a half years and his brother turned him onto the profession.

Also in the crowd was Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” notoriety. A $3,000 cash prize was on the line, with half of that sum going to the winner. Besides Chestnut, other contestants included Rich “The Locust” LeFevre, who is 65 years-old and coming out of retirement in a Brett Favre-like saga. Playboy cover model Angelica Bridges also competed, as did Chicago native Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti and Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas. Each had 10 minutes to consume as many meatballs as possible. The only stipulations were that knives and forks had to be used and purging would result in an automatic disqualification.

Each meatball eater came out to his or her own theme music and an overly zealous host moderated the festivities. Two-pound plates of meatballs were placed in front of the competitors, hand-delivered by Martorano’s staff. The first row was dubbed the “Splash Zone,” as meatball extract and bodily fluids could easily reach the audience seated about three feet away.

Restaurant owner Steve Martorano kicked off the event saying, “Besides my kids being born and Shaquille O’Neal giving me a ring when he won a championship, this is one of the most favorite moments in my life.” The owner promptly tossed a few meatballs into the crowd and the 10-minute timer started.

If you’ve never been to a competitive eating contest, my advice is don’t eat before you watch, as the scene was a sloppy mess of spit, spaghetti sauce, and a variety of liquids ranging from water to fruit punch. Chestnut consumed four pounds of meatballs in the first four minutes to a lively soundtrack that included Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and the theme from “Rocky.” Andrew Feldman, Poker Editor for ESPN.com, watched it alongside Poker News Daily.

It was a photo finish, but in the end, Chestnut consumed six pounds and two meatballs, while Bertoletti downed six pounds and one meatball. The latter received $750 for his efforts, while Chestnut banked $1,500 and what the announcer labeled “eternal glory.” I promptly headed to the bathroom to vomit.

Next up is a press conference sponsored by DoylesRoom to announce the fifth member of the Brunson 10 at the Wynn. I suspect less gorging will be involved.

2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table Set to Kick Off

It’s 11:08am at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The gates to the spacious Penn and Teller Theater open, admitting a throng of screaming fans. The Rio is bustling, as the nine remaining World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event participants play down to two.

Among the first in the lobby were Steve Begleiter and Jeff Shulman, the latter escorted through the melee by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla. Meanwhile, supporters of Michigan poker player Joe Cada have donned neon yellow shirts and hats, which will surely create a memorable scene for fans and media in the audience alike. Cada’s agent told Poker News Daily that 150 friends and family are expected, while Eric Buchman will see 100 troops rally around him this afternoon.

Rock memorabilia lines the hallway of the Rio from its casino to the theater and, among those chatting with fans is ESPN announcer Lon McEachern, who will flank Norman Chad on an elevated platform set up to the right of the stage. Media inside are seated on couches with tables usually reserved for VIP guests of Penn and Teller and other acts inside the auditorium and two massive television screens relay the action from the green felt. ESPN “Inside Deal” hosts Bernard Lee and Laura Lane are also perusing the crowd, the latter taking a bundle of pictures on her iPhone.

The Poker Players Alliance’s (PPA) Bryan Spadaro is armed with patches for the one million member strong lobbying organization, soliciting each player to wear one during the broadcast, which will officially air on Tuesday night on ESPN. Cada, Kevin Schaffel, and Buchman are confirmed to be wearing them, while James Akenhead, a Brit, also walked away from Spadaro with one in his hand. The PPA is holding a function at 2:00pm down the hallway to spread goodwill about Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) internet gambling legislation.

Upon arrival, Cada had online poker star Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in tow, as ESPN cameras roved the hallway catching any memorable moments, including a group shot of Cada’s supporters. We headed to the front of the general admittance line, which stretches from the Penn and Teller Theater towards the Amazon Room, where Jack Watkins from Bozeman, Montana was the first to be found. He arrived at 6:00am and was quickly approached by Antoine Saout supporters, who offered him guaranteed tickets for the start of play in exchange for wearing shirts and hats touting the French poker player. Watkins and company happily obliged.

In the yellow wristband line, which was for friends and family, was David Prochik, who hails from Orlando, Florida. One of the fans supporting Cada, Prochik told Poker News Daily, “He’s a good online player. He’s good friends with my friend, Brad, and I hope he wins.” Across the hallway, Ylon Schwartz is seated at the Rio’s Starbucks in a scene reminiscent of his experience in 2008 as a member of the November Nine.

Poker pro David Singer will be rooting on Phil Ivey this afternoon. On his show of support, Singer explained, “I’ve been friends with him for a long time and he’s a good guy. I’d like to see him win; he deserves it.” Ivey holds the seventh largest chip stack entering play today and despite being on the short stack, Singer was confident: “If anyone will know what to do in that situation, Ivey will know what to do. He’s the best player at the table and I have a lot of faith in him.” If Ivey failed to emerge victorious on Monday night when play concludes, Singer commented that he’d pull for Jeff Shulman.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table.

Mike Sexton Welcomes Family and Friends for Poker Hall of Fame Induction

World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton will personally welcome five tables of friends, family, and coworkers in the poker community as part of the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremonies slated for Saturday. Around 200 attendees are expected.

Poker News Daily was privileged to be welcomed to Sexton’s Spanish Hills home in Las Vegas on Friday night, where a small crowd of relatives was gathered 24 hours prior to the icon’s enshrinement ceremony. Among those in attendance were his wife, Karen, and Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg, a family friend. Two slideshows that will be seen during the dinner were previewed, including a 120-image self-developed tribute that Sexton had created by a local photo store.

The slideshows on tap include a bevy of industry personalities, including the other Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 nominees: Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Erik Seidel, Tom McEvoy, Dan Harrington, and Barry Greenstein. Two galleries, Sexton’s and one crafted by the WPT, will actually be shown, one during the dinner and one as part of the actual induction ceremonies. One slide features Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth and Sexton jokingly told Poker News Daily, “Phil thinks I put it in because of him” (it’s actually because of the appearance of “Keith”). Following the show, the sitting Poker Hall of Fame members will take to the stage of the Penn and Teller Theater to be recognized.

Among those slides that induction attendees will view is his son, Ty’s, first Christmas, which features the youngster draped in a stocking. Also in the mix are images of Sexton alongside a bevy of Hollywood personalities including Paris Hilton, Ben Affleck, and James Garner. Former WPT in-studio announcer Linda Johnson pointed out that several shots feature Sexton in a La Mode shirt or hat. Johnson told Poker News Daily, “Mike was one of the first poker players to have a sponsor.” La Mode is a popular clothing outfit. Sexton noted that he “took every photo around the house I could find” to compile his masterpiece.

ESPN announcer Lon McEachern was one of the many individuals who called to congratulate Sexton on his Poker Hall of Fame nod. Sexton added that his most memorable call was from a poker friend that he was close to when he first became involved in the game.

The festivities in the Rio’s Brasilia Room kick off on Saturday during the dinner break of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, which will likely occur between 7:00pm and 8:00pm after three levels of play have concluded. His brother, Tom, will introduce him to the assembled crowd of friends, family, poker fans, and media. The room is set up for 275 guests.

According to Sexton, a buffet-style menu is on tap and when asked what plated meals he would prefer to serve, Sexton responded chicken and an Italian dish “to satisfy the non-meat eaters.” From talking to Sexton and seeing the bevy of slides on tap, it’s apparent that Ty, now 15 months old, encompasses a major part of the WPT host’s existence. Sexton told Poker News Daily that the expecting couple was looking for a “one syllable masculine name” and Sexton suggested Ty, short for Tyler. He was on the phone with his niece at the time, who approved on the name and it stuck. If the couple’s first child would have been a girl, they had selected Shelby.

We were then treated to the grand tour of Sexton’s spacious home, which overlooks Red Rocks and will soon be on the market, as the family is moving to Los Angeles in the next few weeks. Highlights included 30-foot ceilings in the downstairs area and a dance floor converted into a nursery. Sexton’s office includes five flat-panel televisions and the upstairs features state-of-the-art exercise equipment and a fully-functional massage table. Sexton also owns two dogs, which were kept at a relative’s house on Friday night.

Sexton was the only one of nine Poker Hall of Fame nominees to receive the requisite 75% of the vote this year.

High Stakes Poker, GSN Officials Preview Season 6

Making waves in the poker world this week has been the announcement of the “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 cast. Set to debut in February on the cable station, “High Stakes Poker” will feature Gabe Kaplan alongside new co-host Kara Scott.

During the first five seasons of the high-dollar cash game show, A.J. Benza provided color commentary with Kaplan. Now, Scott, a television veteran, will furnish insight and interviews from the poker room floor. On the change from Benza to Scott, GSN Vice President of Programming and Development David Schiff told Poker News Daily, “We’re into the sixth season and we felt like it was time to freshen it up. Our feeling was that we wanted viewers to be in the room with the players. Gabe and A.J. did a good job, but they were disconnected from the action.”

Scott is one of only two women to cash in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in back-to-back years and, as such, provides a unique level of insight. She’s fresh off bringing the PokerStars.net Ante Up for Africa charity tournament to life on CBS in the United States and serves as eye candy for ESPN announcer Norman Chad. Schiff explained the allure of hiring Scott, as opposed to other rumored co-hosts like Shana Hiatt and Vanessa Rousso: “Kara is really the full package. She’s a great player and has had deep runs in the Main Event the last two years. We think she can add a lot of insight to the broadcast.”

Seventeen players have been announced as part of the “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 cast, including newcomers Dennis Phillips, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Lex Veldhuis, Andreas Hoivold, and Sammy “Any Two” George. On the stable of pros lined up for Season 6, “High Stakes Poker” Executive Producer Mori Eskandani told Poker News Daily, We are going to have possibly the most colorful and strongest cast we’ve had to date.” The newcomers will take to the felts alongside regulars like Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, and Antonio Esfandiari.

Also in the mix for Season 6 is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who has only appeared once in the show’s five previous seasons. Schiff examined the addition of Ivey to the impressive lineup of poker pros and recreational players: “Arguably, this is the best cast of players we have ever had. To have Phil Ivey off the November Nine and all of the other great players, I think it’ll be great poker action.” The series premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET and replays twice each night.

“High Stakes Poker” features a $200,000 buy-in and, as such, includes a bevy of well-known tournament players battling it out in a cash game. Eskandani explained, “We’ve never seen Dennis Phillips in cash games, yet he’s done super in tournaments. Now, he’s coming out to the cash game world to throw punches with the best of them.” Last season’s broadcast featured recent WSOP Main Event winners Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem; neither will take to the felts this time around.

Music mogul Allan Meltzer, who is among the regulars at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, will likely be one of the only so-called “recreational” players on the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker.” During Season 5, “The Notebook” Director Nick Cassavettes and “The Simpsons” Co-Creator Sam Simon were among those who challenged poker superstars like Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius. Eskandani explained the dearth of recreational players this season: “This year, Meltzer will be playing, but we didn’t want to go to the same recreational players we always went to. Several that we went to ended up having cold feet.”

“High Stakes Poker” will film from November 11th to 13th at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.

Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren vs The MMA Champions!

Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren have been playing against many people and that must include very strange personalities. But probably never have these three played against people who get their paycheck from hitting people in the face.

Randy Couture - One of the greatest MMA fighters

The three pros will be facing their dreaded opponents in a special Poker After Dark sit & go tournament. On the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) corner will be the former UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champion Randy Couture, Dan Henderson (former champion in two weight classes) and none other than the UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.

Dan Henderson with his two title belts

Full Tilt Poker has been doing some very apparent co-operation with UFC lately and Bruce Buffer and Matt Hughes have a red status on Full TIlt. Bruce Buffer is known to be a very blazing personality, so we are probably going to get treated with some of the most memorable moments of PAD.

It will be Antonius’ ninth appearance on PAD, Lederer has visited the show 13 times, from which he has been able to win three. This special tournament has been filmed already, but the airing date hasn’t been announce yet.

Want to play with the pros or against some of the MMA superstars? Join now and get 27% rakeback and a great first deposit bonus offer. Click here.

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Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren vs The MMA Champions!

Kara Scott to be Named New Host of High Stakes Poker

According to several industry insiders, poker podcasts, and online sites, poker player and announcer Kara Scott will take over for A. J. Benza as co-host on the popular GSN poker program “High Stakes Poker.”

Poker News Daily has been able to confirm through several industry insiders that there is “a deal worked out” for Scott to flank Gabe Kaplan when the high-stakes cash game picks back up for its sixth season on November 11th at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. According to Poker News Daily’s sources, the only obstacle is Scott obtaining a permit that would allow her to work inside of the United States. As a foreign national, this document is critically important, as without such documentation, Scott would face criminal charges.

The ESPN poker show “Inside Deal” has discussed the issue and listed Scott as the top contender. A thread on the popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo has all but crowned Scott as the heir apparent to Benza. For the record, and possibly because of the hurdle of the working documents, neither GSN nor the producers of “High Stakes Poker,” Poker PROductions, has announced that Scott has been hired.

Since Benza announced in October that he would not be back for the new season of the show, there has been speculation that “High Stakes Poker” was looking at a female to team with longtime poker player Kaplan. Whether in the booth breaking down the hands in play or serving as a hostess who would interview players while the game was in action, many poker insiders and forum posters have commented that the show is moving in the direction of another poker television program, “Poker After Dark” (also produced by Poker PROductions).

With these thoughts in mind, there have been various ladies of the game that have drawn attention as the new replacement. One of the first names bandied about as Benza’s replacement was poker professional Vanessa Rousso, which also raised diverse opinions on the internet. Once Poker News Daily broke the news that Rousso would not fill the role, the return of former World Poker Tour (WPT) hostess Shana Hiatt gained steam. It took an announcement from her publicist at Creative Management Entertainment Group to squash those rumors.

Even poker professional Daniel Negreanu, who has played in every edition of “High Stakes Poker” and claims knowledge as to the new host, put up such other names as current WPT hostess Amanda Leatherman as well as Sabina Gadecki, Kimberly Lansing, Lacey Jones, Tiffany Michelle, and even “Big Game” regular Jennifer Harman, who has appeared on previous seasons of “High Stakes Poker.” Negreanu later noted that none would take to the “High Stakes Poker” set for Season 6. Strangely enough, former WPT hostess Courtney Friel, who is a correspondent for Fox News, has not been named as a potential candidate.

As a tournament poker player, Scott has over $500,000 in career earnings, with $453,450 in 2009 alone. She has finished inside the final 250 players in the last two World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events (238th this year, 104th last year) and was the runner-up at this year’s Irish Open. As a broadcaster, Scott has done commentary on the European Poker Tour (EPT), made-for-television poker shows like “Poker Night Live,” and also covered tournament backgammon on television and the internet.

2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine Reached on ESPN Coverage

Tuesday’s coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN featured the November Nine finally being revealed. Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey headlines the group.

Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger was the first casualty of the night’s festivities, which saw the field chopped from 18 to nine. Lichtenberger raised to 400,000 with pocket jacks and Darvin Moon made the call with kings. The flop came 3-3-6 and Lichtenberger led out for 680,000. Moon made it 1.5 million and the youngster shoved for over five million. Moon made the call and the board ran out 6-7, sending Lichtenberger to the rails in 18th. ESPN announcer Norman Chad noted, “Another player runs head on into Darvin Moon.”

Eleven of the final 18 players in the field were in their 20s, 15 were Americans, and four could set the record as the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever, breaking Peter Eastgate’s mark set last year. The latter group included Ian Tavelli, whose grandfather bought him into the $10,000 feature tournament after Tavelli kept his grades up. However, his Main Event run ended in 17th place when his pocket nines ran into Steven Begleiter’s pocket kings. Pre-flop, players with A-K suited, pocket tens, and pocket jacks folded, as the survivors closely guarded their stacks.

Ludovic Lacay and Nick Maimone hit the skids in 16th and 15th, respectively. The latter made it 480,000 pre-flop with A-Q of hearts and Eric Buchman came along with J-9. The flop came 8-10-J, giving Maimone two overcards and a straight draw against Buchman’s top pair and a straight draw. Maimone called all-in for his tournament life and the board ran out J-Q, improving Buchman to a straight and the win in the hand. With his elimination, Joe Cada was the only player left standing who could break Eastgate’s record.

The second hour-long episode, which hit television airwaves at 10:00pm ET on Tuesday, began with a field of 14 players, each searching for their place in poker history. In one of the first hands shown, Antoine Saout raised to 550,000 pre-flop with A-Q of diamonds and Begleiter made the call with pocket sevens. The flop came 8-3-8. Begleiter checked, Saout bet 650,000, Beglieter raised to 1.5 million, and Saout shoved for another 3.7 million. Begleiter talked it out before finally releasing the best hand. Saout showed his bluff and Begleiter gave him a hearty pat on the back.

Saout doubled at the expense of fellow foreigner James Akenhead. However, Akenhead recouped much of his losses by doubling up through Jamie Robbins after cracking aces with K-Q. Robbins promptly hit a two-outer on the river against Cada with pocket tens against pocket aces to deliver a bad beat of his own before exiting in 11th place.

The hand of the night and the pot that defined the 2009 WSOP Main Event occurred between Moon and Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, two of the chip leaders. Kopp raised to 600,000 pre-flop with 3-5 of diamonds and Moon made the call with Q-J, also of diamonds. The flop came all diamonds, eventually leading to Kopp shoving his mammoth stack. Moon made the call, creating a 40 million chip pot. Chad commented, “Billy Kopp started this hand with 20 million chips. His November Nine ticket was punched. He’s gone.” Moon’s stack ballooned to 45 million, or one-quarter of the chips in play, and Kopp, an Ultimate Bet pro, busted in 12th place.

Jordan Smith’s pocket aces could not withstand Moon’s pocket eights, as he became the November Nine Bubble Boy. The flop came 8-4-2, giving Moon top set. Smith checked, Moon fired out a bet of four million, Smith shoved, and Moon called, creating a 30 million chip pot. The turn and river came a five and ten, respectively, sending Smith out in 10th and giving Moon a massive chip lead over the rest of the field entering this weekend’s final table.

The November Nine will reconvene at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio on Saturday at Noon and play down to heads-up. The two survivors will determine a champion on Monday beginning at 10:00pm PT. The final table airs at 9:00pm ET on Tuesday, November 11th.

WSOP Main Event on ESPN Features Day 8

Day 8 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event played out on cable station ESPN on Tuesday night. The two-hour broadcast featured future November Nine members Phil Ivey, Jeff Shulman, and Darvin Moon.

ESPN announcer Norman Chad opened Day 8 coverage with a timely Bible metaphor: “Moses never made it to the Promised Land, but my man Phil Ivey will make it to the November Nine.” A total of 27 players remained in the hunt for the $8.5 million first place prize and Moon began the day as the chip leader. Ivey’s rocky Day 8 started by dropping a 2.3 million chip pot with pocket twos against the A-9 of Jordan “scarface_79” Smith.

Ivey, seated at the feature table, would witness Nick Maimone go four-for-four on double-ups, the first time chopping a pot with Moon holding Q-10 against Q-J. The second time, Maimone was all-in for less than nine big blinds holding Q-5 of clubs against Ivey’s pocket jacks. Maimone spiked a queen on the turn to stay alive and then recorded his third double-up at the expense of Smith, who pushed with pocket tens on a flop of 8-Q-4. Maimone held pocket sevens and needed to catch lightning in a bottle to stave off elimination. Sure enough, the turn gave him a set.

A rare lapse in judgment plagued Ivey in a hand at the feature table. Ivey held pocket eights, including the eight of spades, and raised to 320,000 pre-flop. Smith pushed the price of poker to one million and Ivey made the call. The action was checked down to the river with the board showing four spades, giving Ivey a flush. Smith flipped over A-9 and Ivey shook his head before mucking. As expected, Chad did not approve, telling his horse, “Phil, you had a flush. Five suited cards is a flush. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Ivey’s tumultuous run continued, as Marco Mattes was all-in for 2.5 million with pocket queens and Ivey made the call with jacks, telling Shulman that he thought Mattes had tens. The board ran out five cards 10 or lower, doubling Mattes up. All told, Ivey had lost 30% of his stack on the two misreads. Contrastingly, Maimone’s run of luck continued. This time, he called all-in with pocket queens against Mattes’ A-K for a race situation. The board ran out 8-9-8-J-3, doubling him up for a fourth and final time.

Antonio Esfandiari officially recorded his first WSOP Main Event cash to close out the first of two one-hour episodes on ESPN. “The Magician” pushed over the top of a raise by Steven Begleiter with pocket fives and Begleiter made the call with K-10 after the flop came 2-4-10. The turn was a six and the river was an ace, sending Esfandiari out in 24th.

Ivey continued to bleed chips, dropping one-sixth of his stack to George Caragiorgas, who was all-in with pocket deuces against Ivey’s A-10. The board came 6-J-3-9-4, doubling up Ivey’s opponent. Away from the feature table, two future November Nine members tangled, as Antoine Saout raised to 425,000 pre-flop with pocket aces and Begleiter called with K-10. The action checked to the turn on the A-3-8-8 board and Belgeiter led out for 450,000. Saout called with his boat to see the river come a jack. Then, the fireworks went off, as Begleither bet 1.15 million, Saout raised to 3.25 million, and Begleiter promptly funneled his cards into the muck.

Warren Zackey hit the rail in 22nd place when his pocket twos could not hold up against Ian Tavelli’s Q-J. Other late eliminations included Caragiorgas and World Poker Tour (WPT) Festa al Lago champion Tommy Vedes, who finished in 20th and 19th, respectively.

Returning this week were the “Deal Me In” and “Straight from the Pros” segments. The former is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker and featured Erick Lindgren recapping a hand during the 2008 WSOP Main Event. The latter saw Daniel Negreanu rehash a pot against Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton during the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Negreanu identified Sexton’s hand on the river, pocket kings, and then called his bet despite being beat to show Sexton he had a read on him.

The 2009 WSOP November Nine will be determined next Tuesday beginning at 9:00pm ET on ESPN. On November 10th, the final table will play out just hours after a champion is determined in Las Vegas.

Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

Two original November Nine members, Dennis Phillips and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, took center stage on ESPN on Tuesday night. Play from Day 6 of the 2009 Main Event wrapped up from the Rio in Las Vegas.

Eastgate and Phillips were seated at the feature table during the first hour of ESPN’s WSOP coverage, which aired at 9:00pm ET. Joining them were J.C. Tran, Joe Hachem, and one of the chip leaders throughout much of the day, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp. In the first hand shown at the feature table, Hachem raised to 55,000 pre-flop with A-K and Thai Tran made it 305,000 with pocket kings. Hachem noted, “It doesn’t feel right” and promptly mucked.

2009 November Nine members Phil Ivey and Steven Begleiter could be found at Table Two. Ivey raised to 54,000 holding K-J and Begleiter made the call with 8-7 of diamonds to see the flop came 9-A-6. Begleiter check-called an 80,000 chip bet from Ivey to see a three hit the turn. The action went check-check to a queen on the river. Begleiter bet out 175,000 to build a 490,000 chip pot with his busted straight draw and Ivey folded.

Kopp continued to build his stack, sending Nasr El Nasr home in 137th place with pocket aces against pocket queens. After the board fell 2-4-10-10-3, Kopp raked in the 3.2 million chip pot to hold the second largest stack in the room. Incidentally, Phillips held pocket fours in the hand and would have turned a boat. Meanwhile, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier was sent packing with A-K against the pocket kings of online poker pro Scott Sitron.

“The Nuts” examined the use of the phrases “nice hand” and “good luck,” while out in the field, 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider doubled up with pocket aces against John Martin’s A-K. Bradley Craig, who was once down to just 400 chips during the Main Event, doubled up with A-Q versus the pocket kings of Noah Boeken to balloon his stack to 2.6 million. Back at the feature table, J.C. Tran was sent packing at the hands of Phillips for his fourth Main Event cash since 2004.

Hachem’s run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event came to an abrupt halt when he shoved his five big blind stack with J-9 of clubs. Kopp made the call with pocket fours, setting up a race situation. By the river, Hachem was rooting for an ace, king, jack, nine, or club to double up, but the three of hearts sealed the 2005 Main Event Champion’s fate. Eastgate represented the lone winner of the $10,000 buy-in tournament left in the field.

The second episode, which began at 10:00pm ET on ESPN, included the same feature and side tables, with poker pro Joe Sebok making his way to the former. At Table Two, Ivey drew out on Hac Dang with pocket jacks against Dang’s pocket queens when the flop came jack-high. Antonio Esfandiari also drew out on an opponent to send them to the rails, as “The Magician’s” K-Q found the nuts on a flop of 9-10-J to send Bobby Law packing with A-K in 91st place.

In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are concealed, Phillips raised to 70,000 pre-flop with pocket kings and Thai Tran made the call from the big blind. The flop came 10-A-3 and Tran check-raised Phillips to 440,000. Phillips called to see a six fall on the turn and the action went check-check. The river was an eight and Tran checked. Phillips checked behind and Tran showed a baby ace, A-2, to scoop the pot.

Out in the field, Darvin Moon sent Jamie Brown to the exits with pocket aces against pocket kings to scoop a 3.8 million chip pot and become the new chip leader. Shortly thereafter, Kenny Tran was all-in with A-5 of diamonds against Joe Cada’s pocket eights. The board ran out 4-3-3-9-6 and Tran busted in 86th place. It was then Eastgate’s turn to pack his bags after an impressive run in 2009 after winning it all one year ago. The 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion pushed all-in pre-flop with A-J; Kopp made the call with pocket eights, as did Phillips, who held K-Q. Kopp and Phillips checked the action to the river, which put four hearts on the board. Kopp held the only heart and sent Eastgate to the rails in 78th.

A new feature table was assembled featuring Moon, Phillips, and Schneider. In one hand, Schneider raised to 110,000 with A-J and Phillips made it 310,000 with pocket queens. Moon, holding A-K, pushed the action to 675,000, Schneider got out of the way, and Phillips made the call. ESPN announcer Norman Chad noted, “It’s the every man against the every man.” The flop came A-4-8 and Moon bet 750,000 with his top pair after Phillips checked. Phillips commented, “I have no idea if you’re pushing me around or not” and folded, showing his hole cards. The pot was worth 2.3 million chips.

Ivey made a flush to eliminate an opponent at Table Two, while Nichoel Peppe, one of two women remaining in the field, was all-in with her tournament life on the line holding J-4 of hearts against Adam York’s pocket aces. The board came with one heart and Peppe exited in 75th place, leaving Leo Margets as the last woman standing in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

A total of 64 players remain. WSOP on ESPN coverage hits television airwaves on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET and runs for two hours. The Main Event final table can be seen on November 10th.

High Stakes Poker Axes AJ Benza

According to his personal blog, A.J. Benza revealed that GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” will return for Season 6 featuring Gabe Kaplan and a female co-host. New episodes will begin airing in February on the popular cable station.

A flood of support from fans of Benza follows his High Stakes Poker blog entry, which was published on Sunday. In it, he noted that on a conference call last week, GSN executives Barry Nugent and David Shiff hinted that Benza might be replaced by a female co-host. Benza, as expected, did not take the news lightly, telling the two GSN “suits” on the call, “If you got the best pizza in town for 5 seasons, why try and add licorice to it?” The fifth cycle of “High Stakes Poker” began airing in March and featured a veritable “who’s who” of the poker world, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, and newcomers Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.

Facing the possibility of being replaced, Benza reminded GSN officials that he publicizes the show on his own watch “because GSN has never set up not even as much as a radio interview for me.” Benza also asked if Nugent and Shiff were fathers, which the former host explained in his blog entry that they were. He continued, “So surely they would know the hardships of losing a top-rated gig while raising little children in the process. (Oh and did I mention that I have a son who is a Freshman in college). So armed with my track record on giving GSN 5 seasons of a No. 1 rated show, I decided to hit them in the spot where it’s supposed to make a father go mush.”

Benza told Nugent and Shiff that he would take a pay cut to remain the host of Season 6 of the popular poker cash game show, which survived a management change at GSN that resulted in the network declining to pick up its option to carry Season 7 of the World Poker Tour (WPT). Consequently, WPT officials were left scrambling to find a new television partner in the middle of 2008 before finally settling on Fox Sports Net, which will also air the eighth season of the WPT. Benza lamented, “I just want to put it out there y’all. This is the kind of shit that goes on in Hollywood.”

On his future, Benza told readers that he will have a face to face meeting with Nugent: “I will have my meeting with Nugent - and I promise I won’t stab him with a butter knife. He and I go way back to my E! days, and honestly, he’s a good guy.” As to who will sit alongside Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” booth this season, Benza hinted, “I hope you like the female they toss in front of you. And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

As expected, the online poker forums have been buzzing with the news that Benza may soon find his way out of “High Stakes Poker,” although no official announcement has come down from GSN. Speculation on Benza’s replacement has ranged from Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso to ESPN announcer Norman Chad’s crush Kara Scott. Despite not necessarily footing the bill as “eye candy,” posters on the TwoPlusTwo forum clamored that Ali Nejad, who hosts “Poker After Dark” and the “National Heads-Up Poker Championship” on NBC, should be considered.

On October 6th, Rousso posted a curious Twitter entry that read, “PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge is wrappppped! Woot! Meetings today about another TV project, will keep you all posted.” Just before the start of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas in March, Rousso inked an agreement to become the newest GoDaddy Girl, joining Danica Patrick, Anna Rawson, Marina Orlova, and original site symbol Candice Michelle.

We’ll keep you posted right here on Poker News Daily.

WSOP Main Event Days 5 and 6 Air on ESPN

With 96% of the field gone, players took to the felts for Days 5 and 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN. Three women, two former Main Event champions, and one gold bracelet remained.

The first hand shown at the feature table, which once again contained Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Jeff Shulman, saw Randy Propson and Grospellier see a flop of 10-2-6. The action went check-check to bring a king on the turn and Grospellier check-called a bet of 42,000 from Propson. The river was a deuce and Grospellier once again check-called a bet, this time 75,000. Grospellier showed A-8 for ace-high, good enough to scoop the 330,000 chip pot. Elsewhere in the room, Phil Ivey bet 40,000 on a board of 8-7-7-8-J and Charles Clark called. Ivey showed J-6 for a rivered two pair to claim the pot.

At Table Two, Andreas Flakstad shoved all-in holding pocket eights on a 7-J-2-3-5 board with three hearts. Antonio Esfandiari tanked before finally folding pocket queens. Table Two also included “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips. Back at the feature table, Brent Catalano doubled up at the expense of Joe Hachem, who joined the cast. Catalano held pocket queens in the hand, which saw Hachem miss a flush draw.

In the PokerStars-sponsored “Straight from the Pros” segment, Hachem relived a hand from the 2007 Main Event in which he stressed the importance of position. Then, back at the Rio, Estelle Denis, one of three women remaining in the field, pushed all-in over the top of a raise by J.C. Tran. However, the dealer pulled her cards into the muck. A floor supervisor, Steve Frezer, was called. After Denis told him her cards, Frezer looked at the top two cards in the deck, which did not match, and her hand was declared dead. Denis noted that she had aces.

Joe Sebok could be found alongside his cousin, Mike Linn, and both were decked out in PokerRoad gear. In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Francois Balmigere raised pre-flop with unknown cards and Hachem called from the big blind with 5-7 of diamonds. The flop came 10-5-2. Hachem checked, Balmigere bet 43,000, and Hachem called to see the turn fall an ace. Hachem once again checked, Balmigere fired out a bet of 86,000, about half the size of the pot, and Hachem folded. Balmigere held just 6-7 for a bluff.

At Table Two, Esfandiari signed a woman’s chest and promptly autographed a man’s stomach, attracting the attention of ESPN cameras. Then, his pocket aces sent Adam Sanders and his pocket tens packing after the board ran out 4-K-K-8-3. In “The Nuts,” which asked poker pros which of their peers would make ideal reality television show contestants, Phil Hellmuth claimed his agent inquired if he wanted to be on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” In one of the final hands shown during the first episode, which aired at 9:00pm ET, Phillips was all-in with kings against two players holding pocket aces. The board came 8-9-9-5-9 and one of the last celebrities left in the field hit the rails in 186th place.

The second episode profiled Day 6 at the 2009 WSOP Main Event and kicked off with a rap by bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “In terms of rapping, I’d have to put him ahead of Jeff Madsen, but behind Jay Z.” Out in the field, ESPN viewers saw two eventual November Nine members clash, as James Akenhead check-raised Steve Begleiter, who promptly re-raised to 505,000. Akenhead made the call on the 9-8-Q board with two clubs to see the three of spades hit the turn. Akenhead check-called an 850,000 chip bet to bring the river, the seven of spades. Both players checked and Begleiter scooped the massive 2.8 million chip pot with 9-7 for two pair.

Seated at the same table during the 10:00pm ET episode were Hachem, Tran, Dennis Phillips, and Peter Eastgate, a group dubbed by ESPN announcer Lon McEachern “the table of death.” Elsewhere, Dan Bilzerian, one-half of the Norman Chad-labeled “Flying Bilzerian Brothers,” was ousted by Jonathan Tamayo with his A-6 could not out-draw pocket tens. After the Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” recapped a hand with Jennifer Harman during the 2005 Main Event, Nichoel Peppe took down a pot at Table Two. Peppe and Leo Margets headlined the side table and represented the lone women remaining in the 2009 WSOP Main Event after Denis was sent packing.

Darvin Moon put in a raise to 650,000 and Ben Lamb called on a board of A-3-2-J. The river came a nine. Lamb checked, Moon bet 500,000, and Lamb folded, boosting Moon’s chip stack to 4.1 million, among the top tallies in the Amazon Room. Adam Bilzerian doubled up after calling all-in with 5-4 on a board of 6-5-2. His opponent showed J-9 for a bluff and Bilzerian’s hand held up. Bilzerian would give some of his newfound chips to John Martin after Martin was all-in with pocket nines on a 5-8-7-2 board with two spades. Bilzerian held 5-6 of the suit for flush and straight draws, but the river was the jack of hearts.

Tom Schneider, the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year, took down a 2.6 million chip pot at the feature table to close out Tuesday’s WSOP on ESPN festivities. New episodes air at 9:00pm ET on Tuesdays on ESPN and replay throughout the week.

Jeff Shulman Takes Center Stage on WSOP Main Event on ESPN Coverage

Day 5 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event played out on ESPN on Tuesday night. Jeff Shulman, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Andy Black were seated at the feature table as the field narrowed from 400 players.

Holding down the fort at Table Two were several brand name pros, including Vitaly Lunkin, Prahlad Friedman, and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who will be featured once again on tonight’s installment of the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million.” Lichtenberger raised to 20,000 pre-flop with 10-5 and was met with an all-in from Lunkin, who held A-8. Lunkin told his foe, “It seems to me you are bluffing.” On Lichtenberger’s youth, ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “It seems to me he doesn’t shave yet.”

Back at the feature table, Grospellier had pocket aces cracked by Scott Buller’s pocket kings when a king hit the turn. Needing an ace or jack to hit on the river, Grospellier watched as a benign deuce fell. Meanwhile, Pasha Esfandiary, brother of Antonio Esfandiari, was ousted with aces against pocket fives when a five hit the flop. Antonio changed his last name to end in the letter “i” because he thought it looked better, while Pasha has left his last name unchanged.

Adam Bilzerian, a Vanderbilt University graduate, revealed to ESPN cameras that he renounced his citizenship to the United States after college. He penned, “America: Love it or Leave it, So I Left” and now boasts a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis. He apparently regretted his decision, noting, “You don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone.” Adam was seated directly next to his brother, Dan Bilzerian.

ESPN cameras continuously checked in on Kara Scott, whom Chad ogled for much of the night. Scott doubled up Jamin Stokes with A-K against Stokes’ pocket kings, leaving Chad to note, “Kara Scott Chad should be more careful with our money.” Back at Table Two, Carter Swidler called the all-in raise of Lunkin with pocket nines. Lunkin held A-Q and the two were off to the races. The flop came A-Q-J, giving Lunkin two pair, and a running 2-3 doubled him up. “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips promptly dropped a pot against Scott Baumstein after Baumstein hit a straight on the river.

Lunkin was crippled when his pocket aces fell to 2-5, while 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate doubled up with pocket kings against Gabe Walls’ Ad-4d. Eastgate’s chips hit the middle on a 7-3-7 board with two diamonds and the reigning champion dodged a multitude of outs to scoop the pot. Black called off his stack with pocket fours against Shulman’s pocket eights on a 10-8-5-2-5 board, leaving Chad to lament, “I didn’t see that blowup coming.” Black appeared very weary during the hand.

In the second episode, which aired at 9:00pm ET, Tom Schneider, the 2007 Player of the Year, began as the chip leader with a stack of 2.2 million. Table Two featured Esfandiari and Phillips, while the feature table remained the same. Scott doubled up at an outer table and, interestingly enough, is just the second woman to cash in back-to-back Main Events. Meanwhile, fellow female player Nichoel Peppe scooped a 2.6 million chip pot, the largest to air during the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN.

At the feature table, Shulman raked in a 323,000 chip pot after raising to 30,000 pre-flop with pocket fours. Grospellier made the call with Jh-10h and the flop came 4-8-K with two hearts. Shulman bet out 60,000 with his set and Grospellier came along to see the deuce of spades hit the turn. Shulman fired out a bet of 120,000 and Grospellier folded. Meanwhile, PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok doubled up with A-K against Q-7 after spiking a king on the river to stay alive. He had begun to put his backpack on after a seven hit the turn.

Scott doubled up again, but ultimately fell with A-2 against 5-3. The board ran out Q-6-5-5-9, leaving Chad to lament, “I am crestfallen.” Also hitting the exits was Dan Harrington, who departed after his flush draw failed to hit. Heading in the other direction was Phil Ivey, who called an all-in with A-7 against 10-6 on a 6-7-Q board for most of his chips. The turn was a nine and the river was a five, sending Mats Anderson to the rails.

Tuesday’s theatrics ended with Grospellier earning a 1.3 million chip pot with pocket aces against Tyler Patterson’s pocket tens. The board ran out Q-6-3-K-6 and, despite slipping for most of Day 5, Grospellier was back to nearly even. Three women remain along with two former Main Event champions, Eastgate and 2005 winner Joe Hachem.

Starting next week, new episodes will air from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET on ESPN.

WSOP on ESPN Field Makes the Money

Day 4 unfolded in front of ESPN cameras at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. November Nine member Phil Ivey presided over the feature table, while a pair of former Main Event champions headlined Table Two.

In the show’s opening montage, Ivey explained his take on the money bubble, which had yet to burst at the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “The money is nice. The money is great. Winning is definitely more important at this stage in the game.” The chip leader entering Day 4 was Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Others in the field included 2005 Main Event winner Joe Hachem, 2008 champion Peter Eastgate, and Surindar Sunar, who all appeared at Table Two. The ESPN feature table included Ivey, who noted that he had bought UFC tickets for that night.

In the first hand shown, Ivey raised to 11,000 with A-10 of hearts and Bernhard Perner made the call with Q-9. The clop came 10-J-A and Perner bet 16,500 with his up-and-down straight draw. Ivey made the call and the turn fell a three. Perner fired out 27,500 chips and Ivey once again called behind. The river was a nine and Perner finally slowed down and checked. Ivey bet 50,000, prompting a fold from Perner, securing the 166,500 chip pot for the “Tiger Woods of Poker.”

Elsewhere in the field, Jeff Norman ousted 2009 dual bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller with pocket aces against Mueller’s pocket sixes. “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips doubled up J.C. Tran with pocket tens against Tran’s wired pair of aces. Denise Malloy, a grandmother of three, made quads in a hand against John Monnette.

At Table Two, the two Main Event champions squared off. Eastgate raised to 10,500 with A-10 of clubs and Hachem called from the big blind with 8-6, including the six of diamonds. The flop came 5-7-10, all diamonds, and the action went check-check. The turn was another five. Hachem bet out 18,000 and Eastgate called to see a river nine, giving Hachem a straight. Hachem bet 25,000 and Eastgate folded, prompting the following line from the Aussie: “Think you can raise my blind with A-10? You need to muck A-10.”

Former World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup winner Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul tangled with Brian Shapiro. In the hand, Shapiro rivered a straight and then pointed to Saul and exclaimed, “You deserve that because of your hairdo.” Jack Effel issued Shapiro a warning for excessive celebration and, upon Saul complaining that Shapiro targeted him with brash comments, a one hand penalty was issued. Saul sported a mohawk. Meanwhile, Ivey’s run of cards continued, as the Full Tilt Poker pro made quads with 8-7 on a 7-J-7-8-7 board.

The Full Tilt-sponsored “Deal Me In” featured Chris Ferguson at the 2004 WSOP Main Event in a segment about protecting your hand. Meanwhile, Ivey was dealt pocket kings in a hand against Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen. ESPN announcer Norman Chad commented, “Phil Ivey with pocket kings? I think that’s illegal in 45 states.” Ivey scooped a 214,500 chip pot in the process, while Dan Harrington was shown donning a neck brace. Chad quipped, “Did he have a bad flop?” and then proceeded to laugh.

As play approached the money, hands like pocket kings, pocket tens, and A-K hit the muck pre-flop as players desperately tried to avoid earning the title of Bubble Boy. The title finally went to Kia Hamadani, who was all-in for the ante against Reed Hensel. The flop came Q-6-Q and, while Hensel held just 9-2, Hamadani could only muster 3-4. The turn came a nine, securing the win for Hensel and bursting the money bubble.

The second episode, which hit television airwaves at 9:00pm ET, began with Ferguson being shown the exit in 561st place. Meanwhile, Ivey picked up pocket aces, prompting Chad to explain, “Giving Phil Ivey aces is like giving the Incredible Hulk power bars.” Ivey raised to 16,000 pre-flop and Ben Wu called with K-Q of spades. The flop came 7-2-Q and Ivey bet 23,000 with his overpair. Wu called and the turn was an eight. Ivey bet 55,000 and Wu called, leading to a river four. Ivey asked for a count and pushed, having Wu covered. Wu tanked before finally calling and hitting the exits in 517th place.

An overly excited Marla Schwartz was shown at an outer table, while Ivey picked up A-K on the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand to scoop another sizable pot. Still remaining in the 2009 WSOP Main Event field was Justin Henry, who owns the record as the youngest Academy Award nominee ever at age eight. He earned the nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “Kramer Versus Kramer” with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Henry finished 235th in this year’s tournament.

Phil Hellmuth lost half of his stack after running into an opponent’s trips, leading to another memorable outburst. This time, Hellmuth lamented, “Oh my fucking God, I want to vomit on the floor. There goes my World Series to an absolute maniac. Those are the players that beat me. They can’t even spell poker.” No vomit was seen.

Hellmuth was eliminated later in the episode after pushing over the top of another player’s all-in with 20 big blinds behind him holding pocket aces. A player with 10-7 offsuit on a J-10-5 board called him. The turn came a seven, giving another opponent in the hand holding 8-9 a straight and cracking Hellmuth’s aces. The river came a three and Hellmuth’s run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event came to an end. He noted, “These are some of the worst players in the world over here. It’s just unbelievable.”

Schwartz continued to be boisterous, getting the best of Nick Binger in a hand with A-J against Binger’s A-10. Despite being a 70% favorite to win pre-flop, she yelled, “Let me get lucky!” The board ran out 7-Q-4-6-8 and Schwartz padded her stack. She ultimately finished in 369th place, earning $27,000.

Day 5 of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN will air from 8:00pm ET to 10:00pm ET next Tuesday.

Joe Hachem, Jeffrey Lisandro Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

Day 3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event hit television airwaves on ESPN on Tuesday night, with two hours of coverage dedicated to the festivities. Seated at the feature table were two Aussies, Joe Hachem and Jeffrey Lisandro.

Lisandro became the fifth player in WSOP history to take home three bracelets in a year and has logged 29 cashes since 2004. Hachem took down the 2005 Main Event and ignited a poker boom of his own in Australia. Joining the duo from Down Under was George Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. On the first hand, Lisandro raised to 3,600 with pocket eights and, after peeking down at pocket queens, Hachem made it 9,600. Lisandro called to see a flop of 10-4-2. Lisandro checked, Hachem bet 16,000, and Lisandro quickly released his hand, igniting chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!”

ESPN announcer Norman Chad commented that, while Phil Ivey remains his perennial pick to win the WSOP Main Event, Lisandro’s heroics in 2009 make him a close second: “Let’s assume that aliens come down and lure Phil Ivey away to a cash game mother ship, then I must turn to Jeffrey Lisandro.” Ville Wahlbeck was the only player remaining in the field that could catch Lisandro for WSOP Player of the Year honors. However, he’d need a seventh place finish or better in order to do so. Wahlbeck was seated at Table Two during the 8:00pm ET episode alongside Kenny Tran.

Also found in the field were Ivey and Phil Hellmuth. “The Poker Brat” found that one of his tablemates, Lauchlin McKinnon, did not want to shake his hand. Instead, his opponent told Hellmuth, “I don’t respect anything you do. I think you’re a complete prick.” Hellmuth joked, “I think this is going to be a good day.” Elsewhere in the Amazon Room, Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande pushed with A-10 of diamonds for 20 big blinds and rivered a flush to double up. Chad labeled him a “survivor,” a reference to his appearance on the China installment of the CBS reality franchise.

Kent Senter, who is undergoing stem cell treatment for an incurable form of cancer, was all-in with pocket tens against Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier’s pocket jacks. The board ran out K-5-3-3-5, giving Grospellier the win and sending Senter home. He was met with a herd of television cameras upon his departure. Grospellier is a PokerStars pro; his site began sponsoring chip count leaderboard graphics on Tuesday night on ESPN.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Daniel Negreanu battling against Sammy Farha in a hand during the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu folded a straight after a third spade hit the river to give Farha a flush. Negreanu, the captain of the Team Americas squad that will compete in the Caesars Cup, told ESPN cameras, “He’s either bluffing here or I’m dead.”

Negreanu’s comrade on Team PokerStars Pro, Hachem, was featured in the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the cards of one player are not shown so the audience can play along at home. Hachem raised to 4,100 pre-flop with the Wild Card hand and Claus Nielsen called with pocket threes. The flop came 8-2-5 and Nielsen checked. Hachem fired out a bet of 6,200 and Nielsen made the call. The turn was a deuce and Nielsen put in a check-raise to 32,000, causing Hachem to relinquish K-Q.

Also in the field was former November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who relived tossing out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. However, he wound up throwing the ball directly at the ground. Wahlbeck then hit the skids after running pocket queens into pocket kings, leading to an announcement from WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack that Lisandro had claimed Player of the Year honors. Ivey then moved to Grospellier’s table, leaving Chad to remark, “Poker’s superpowers clash.”

The second episode of Tuesday night kicked off at 9:00pm ET and continued coverage of Day 3 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. David “Devilfish” Ulliott joined the cast at Table Two, while Hellmuth found himself flanking Josh Arieh. Former Main Event winners Peter Eastgate (2008), Greg Raymer (2004), Dan Harrington (1995), Hachem (2005), and Hellmuth (1989) all remained alive to begin the episode, but Raymer quickly found himself on the sidelines after running pocket tens into pocket aces.

Lunkin doubled up after rivering a straight, causing Chad to lament, “I know Lunkin has played good, but I can’t tell you how ridiculously good he’s run. He should be halfway back to Moscow on an Aeroflot flight in coach.” Meanwhile, Nielsen bet out on an ace-high board after raising pre-flop with just 8-4. However, Hachem laid down pocket queens and Lisandro released pocket kings, giving the pot to Nielsen.

The Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” featured Howard Lederer taking on Hellmuth in a hand from the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, which was ultimately won by Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.

Hevad Khan cheerily smiled at ESPN cameras, leading to the following comment from announcer Lon McEachern: “That’s the first real sign of life from him we’ve seen in two years.” Khan finished sixth in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. His lively antics resulted in the “Hevad Khan rule” against excessive player celebrations. Elsewhere in the dwindling field, J.C. Tran and Joe Sebok doubled up, while L.A. Lakers Guard Jordan Farmar was eliminated. Also hitting the exits was “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, whose opponent made trips on the river.

Finally, “The Nuts” featured Chad and Hellmuth taking turns in a dunk tank. After Chad, a southpaw, finally sent Hellmuth to a watery demise, he commented, “I took more pleasure out of dunking you than anything in my whole life. That was two honeymoons rolled into one.”

New episodes of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN air on Tuesdays at 8:00pm ET and are repeated throughout the week on ESPN’s family of networks.

Greg Raymer, Jason Alexander Featured on WSOP on ESPN Day 2 Coverage

The first of two Day 2s in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event took center stage on Tuesday night on ESPN. 2004 champion Greg Raymer and “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander headlined the feature table.

ESPN announcer Norman Chad shared his take on the Day 2A lineup: “Today’s feature table is what I love about [the Main Event]. You have one of the top all-time performers in the Main Event, Greg Raymer, hoping to make another deep run and George Costanza is standing in his way.” Shortly after Chad’s comments, Gus Hansen was ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament after calling all-in with the nut straight on the turn. However, the board paired on the river, giving his opponent a full house.

Table Two, ESPN’s secondary feature table, included Chris Ferguson and Roland de Wolfe. Ferguson has logged five bracelets and five runner-up finishes at the WSOP over the last 10 years. Also in the field were Todd Brunson and “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett, who were seated at the same table. Meanwhile, Jack Ury continued to battle in the Main Event. At 96 years-old, he is its oldest competitor and doubled up after flopping a boat with pocket sevens on a 6-6-7 board. However, Ury was later eliminated and received a standing ovation.

Eli Elezra and former boxer Kili Madrid were also seated together. Madrid owned an 8-0 record as a professional fighter and recorded four knockouts. Meanwhile, Alexander told ESPN cameras why he has an edge at the tables: “I always say to the pros when they start to sass me, ‘If I lose to you, there’s no dignity lost. I’m supposed to lose to you. If you lose to me, you will never live this down, so make your decisions very carefully.’”

Poker couple Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak could be found in the Day 2A field, as could father and son Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok. The former was knocked out and signed a copy of his book, “Ace on the River,” for his executioner. However, the player who busted Greenstein had also earned a copy of his book back in 2006. Meanwhile, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow moved to Greg “FBT” Mueller’s table, creating a star-studded lineup in the outer reaches of the Amazon Room.

The Full Tilt Poker-sponsored segment “Deal Me In” featured Matusow describing a hand during the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Matusow made a “value bet bluff” on the river to force Daniel Negreanu to lay down a pair. Shortly thereafter, Lex Veldhuis, who finished seventh in the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, called all-in on a draw for 30 big blinds and was shown the exit. An opponent whose constant chatter sent the poker pro over the edge may have been the cause.

The Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are concealed, featured raised action to a flop of 2-A-5, all clubs. Greg Raymer, holding mystery cards, bet out 2,500, Alexander raised to 6,000 with A-9 (no clubs), and Raymer made the call. On Alexander’s raise, Chad commented, “I like that raise from Jason. He should be able to find out if he has the best hand.” The king of clubs hit the turn and Raymer fired out 13,000. Alexander folded and Raymer turned over Q-7 of clubs for the nut flush.

The same feature table and Table Two headlined the second episode. The show, which hit airwaves at 9:00pm ET, opened with Alexander describing his role in “Pretty Woman” to Raymer: “The scene when I attack her – we did a version where she attacks me.” Chad then joked, “We did a version of the 2006 Main Event where Jamie Gold didn’t win.” The action then flipped to Matusow, about whom Chad commented, “Mike is a professor at Deep Stacks University. I believe they are the Ragin’ Cajuns.” Ragin’ Cajuns has replaced Demon Deacons as Chad’s favorite college mascot in 2009.

At the final table, Raymer raised to 1,600 pre-flop and Alexander made the call with pocket threes. Dennis Baltz bumped the action to 4,500 with pocket kings. Raymer came over the top with a hand other than pocket aces to 20,000 and both Baltz and Alexander folded. On his opponent’s laydown, Raymer noted, “Since you couldn’t call, it had to be a good fold because you’re not throwing away aces or kings.”

The PokerStars-sponsored “Straight from the Pros” vignette featured Raymer reliving a hand during the 2004 WSOP Main Event. In it, Raymer bluffed after picking up a tell on his opponent. In the second episode’s Wild Card Hand, “Fossilman” once again picked up unknown cards and raised to 1,600 pre-flop. Alexander made it 3,500 with pocket nines and Raymer made the call to see a flop of A-Q-6 with two spades. Raymer check-called a 6,000 chip bet from Alexander and the turn was a five. The action went check-check and the deuce of hearts hit the river. Raymer led out for 7,000 and Alexander called. Raymer turned over A-K for top pair and pushed his chip stack to 140,000.

In case you were wondering, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo won his Panorama Towers prop bet after Mueller scooped a bracelet in 2009. Bonomo gave 7:1 odds that one of 43 poker players who live in the massive off-Strip complex would take home a piece of hardware this year. Among them were Bonomo, Isaac Haxton, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Laak, and Veldhuis.

“The Nuts” took to the links on Tuesday night, as Dewey Tomko gave Chad seven strokes on a putting green over nine holes. In the end, it all came down to the last hole. If Chad won the hole, he would win the bet, but missed a crucial putt. Meanwhile, de Wolfe, once down to 3,600 chips, doubled twice through Steve Gee to move to over 30,000. Alexander raked in the last pot of the evening at the feature table to make his first Day 3.

New episodes of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN air on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm ET.

Linda Johnson’s Favorite WPT Memories

I had the best job of anyone on the World Poker Tour. I got to travel all over the world, meet lots of awesome people, get my hair and makeup done, entertain an audience of poker players, and say “Shuffle Up and Deal!” I also got to work with an incredible crew including Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten.

My job as the studio announcer was to call the action (announce bet amounts, hole cards when there was an all-in, winning hands, and new blind amounts) in order to keep the audience interested. I involved the audience by playing trivia with them during breaks, telling jokes, and introducing famous poker players and celebrities between hands.

This led to a few awkward moments, of course. During a taping at the Commerce Casino, I saw Doyle Brunson walk in with someone I didn’t know and they sat down to watch. At the appropriate time, I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to have the legendary Doyle Brunson in our midst. Doyle, please give us a wave.” Doyle took off his Stetson, waved to the crowd, and he and his friend left a few minutes later. Shortly after that, the producer contacted me through my earpiece and asked why I hadn’t introduced Robert Duvall (the gentleman with Brunson). “Who is Robert Duvall and where does he play,” I asked.

One of the perks of my job was getting to play in the WPT Celebrity Invitational. I always wrote an article about the celebrities at my table, but first they had to identify themselves. Throughout the years, I had played in tournaments with Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, Dom DeLuise, Norm McDonald, Camyrn Manheim, Jason Alexander, Paris Hilton, James Woods, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jennifer Tilly, and lots of actors and actresses that everyone except me seemed to recognize.

Every final table was different in its own way, but I don’t believe the excitement of that first-ever WPT event at Bellagio will ever be topped.  The WPT set and announcers’ booth was introduced to the world, as was super hostess Shana Hiatt. The final table consisted of Gus Hansen (who was unknown at the time), John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, and John Hennigan, all superstars who later won WPT titles. I still remember how impressed I was to see Doug Dalton in his tuxedo pouring champagne to toast the winner.

During my time with the WPT, I traveled to lots of amazing destinations around the world. I actually enjoyed all of them, but for different reasons. For instance, I loved the beaches of Aruba and taping the show in an upstairs restaurant overlooking the ocean. I enjoyed Nassau because I was allowed to wear tropical clothing and not my typical black!

Tunica’s Gold Strike and Biloxi’s Beau Rivage were memorable for the wonderful Southern hospitality and incredible food. I looked forward to Foxwoods for the beauty of the surrounding forests. The Bicycle Casino and the Commerce Casino were special because there was so much poker action when I wasn’t working. Borgata had the best beds.

The Aviation Club in Paris offered the best sightseeing opportunities and the Reno Hilton had the best sushi and a shopping arcade on premises. Fallsview offered incredible views of Niagara Falls from our hotel rooms. Bay 101 had the most energetic, enthusiastic fans, which made my job easy. I always liked taping at the Mirage and Bellagio because I could stay in my own home at night! And of course, I am a bit biased, but I loved the PartyPoker.com Million because I got to spend a week on a Card Player Cruises vacation.

There were lots of funny moments on the WPT. One of the best happened at Foxwoods the year Hoyt Corkins won.  Phil Hellmuth was at the final table and Hoyt was driving him crazy with his aggression and all-ins. Finally, after Hoyt hit a river card, Phil jumped out of his chair and banged his head on the overhead microphone.  Another time, Joe Hachem was at the final table and when he won his first big pot, his fans started yelling, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!” I looked at them and said, “Don’t start that crap here.” They must have thought I was serious because they didn’t do it again.

Although I had a few embarrassing moments along the way, such as dropping my microphone battery pack in the toilet or having a hot flash during filming, there were some very special moments too. I’ll always remember Brunson’s inspirational victory at the Bicycle Club. Tears came to my eyes on multiple occasions when I saw the joy of new millionaires being created.  The most emotional moment for me took place during the taping of the “Father/Son Special.” Barry Greenstein and his son, Joe Sebok, eliminated the other teams and were supposed to play each other to determine the winner. Instead, they agreed to push all-in pre-flop and let the cards decide the victor since neither one wanted to beat the other on television.

The first six seasons of the WPT flew by and were full of incredible moments. Maybe someday I’ll write a book about them.

Industry Reacts to Phil Hellmuth WSOP Main Event Tirade

It took all of three episodes of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN for 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth to get the industry buzzing. Hellmuth used a parade of words not fit for television during ESPN’s Day 1C recap. This article contains language that is not suitable for all audiences.

Known for his short fuse, Hellmuth was seated at Table Two on Tuesday night during Day 1C coverage. After a player holding K-8 bested his pocket jacks, Hellmuth went off the deep end. He commented, “What the fuck? Calling a fricking raise with K-8?” Hellmuth then strung together four expletives in a row followed by the word “man.” The Ultimate Bet pro returned to the table and, while taking his seat, muttered, “Fucking moron players.” No penalty was handed down.

In a separate hand, an opponent rivered a flush against Hellmuth, which once again sent the “Poker Brat” away from the table steaming: “Is this some kind of fucking joke? I can’t even fucking believe what I’m seeing.” Again, no penalty was assessed. WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky told Poker News Daily, “Our player conduct rule is about abusing tablemates and dealers. That’s what we’re trying to avoid so a person’s playing experience is not unpleasant. There is no anti-cursing rule. If it’s mean-spirited, then it’s a penalty, but it’s up to the discretion of the dealers and supervisors who are there to hear it.”

There were a total of 185 penalties and warnings assessed throughout the 2009 WSOP festivities at the Rio using a new database system to log infractions. Among them were players throwing cards at dealers, celebrating wildly, taunting opponents, loudly waving in order to attract the attention of ESPN cameras, and, in one instance, banging a set of cymbals. Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Tournament Directors’ Association (TDA) co-founder Linda Johnson explained, “Hellmuth didn’t do anything terribly egregious. I possibly would have given a warning when he started talking about ‘morons.’ He’d better be talking about himself, which he wasn’t. I don’t have a problem with the ‘f’ word, although you should get a warning at some point.”

Given her association with the TDA, Johnson is typically by the book. The “First Lady of Poker” was outraged at antics by Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen in 2008, but noted that the atmosphere at this year’s WSOP was much-improved: “I’m glad the WSOP cleaned up their act. It was a much more pleasant atmosphere this year. Kudos to their tournament officials for not allowing abuse.” In fact, the only actions that have raised Johnson’s eyebrows during telecasts of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN have involved players discussing the contents of their hands. She told Poker News Daily, “You have to be careful. There’s a rule that says you won’t tell someone what you have in your hand.”

PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington, who has traveled the WSOP and World Poker Tour (WPT) circuits for the popular live coverage site, shared his take on Hellmuth’s antics: “For all of the publicity Hellmuth brings to the game, his antics surely cause passive players that might pull up a chair to stay away instead of putting themselves in an awkward situation with a top pro berating them.” On Tuesday night, ESPN announcer Norman Chad continuously reiterated Hellmuth’s now-famous “idiots from Northern Europe” quote from last year’s WSOP Main Event.

Harrington has seen novices and pros battle it out on the felts of the world’s most prestigious tournaments. He even broadcasts his opinions on PokerRoad, where he sits alongside industry staples like Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, and Joe Stapleton. Harrington explained the dilemma that tournament officials often face: “Player conduct rules should be very situation-specific. In poker, keeping novice and amateur players comfortable is important. At the same time, pros have a responsibility to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner for the same reason - to make amateur players feel comfortable at the tables and more likely to return.”

Thanks from all of us here at Poker News Daily to Palansky, Johnson, and Harrington for their insight into the issue. Tell us what you think! Was Hellmuth out of line? Where should the line be drawn? Leave a comment and voice your choice.

Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren Struggle on ESPN WSOP Coverage

In Tuesday night’s broadcast of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN, Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren struggled in front of a national viewing audience as Days 1C and 1D of the Main Event unfolded. This article contains language that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Daniel Negreanu and Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth were featured during the first hour of coverage on ESPN, which tracked Day 1C of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu, plagued by sinus problems, was seated at the feature table, while Hellmuth found himself at Table Two. Hellmuth arrived in typical grand fashion, dressed as Emperor Hellmuth and flanked by scantily-clad women, drummers, and a throng of poker fans armed with cameras. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “If Tom Brady came to the Super Bowl like this, the NFL would shut down, but we embrace this.”

Even Negreanu took notice of Hellmuth’s entrance, telling his tablemates, “[Hellmuth] loves to show us his nipples. If you watch ESPN, you’ll notice that there are a lot of nipple shots. He’s either meditating with his tiny nipples or doing something.” ESPN recapped Lindgren and Negreanu’s Player of the Year competition, where poker pros could pick any partner except for Phil Ivey and compete based on Player of the Year Points. Barry Greenstein selected Jeffrey Lisandro, who promptly won three bracelets during the 2009 festivities. Negreanu and Lindgren noted that they stood to lose around $1 million as a result of the bets.

Chad and fellow ESPN commentator Lon McEachern dubbed Hellmuth “Pokerus Bratus” and “Hellmuthicus.” The 11-time bracelet winner lived up to his reputation after teeing off on tablemates early on. An opponent who made three kings after calling a raise with K-8 when Hellmuth had jacks received the brunt of the anger. Hellmuth lamented, “What the fuck? Calling a fricking raise with K-8?” Hellmuth then spouted four expletives in a row followed by the word “man.” He sat back down and vented, “Fucking moron players.” No penalty was shown despite a stricter player conduct rule.

2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips brought an entourage of look-a-likes with him, including David Tucker, who was charged with blowing a portable truck horn every time Phillips scooped a pot. Also in the field was “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who was sent to the rails early on. Chad exclaimed, “Annie, you’re fired” when the Ultimate Bet face was ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Hachem squaring off against Steve Dannenmann on Day 5 of the 2005 Main Event. Dannenmann flopped a set in the hand, while Hachem flopped the nut flush draw. After Dannenmann put in a check-raise, Hachem folded, which he called “the biggest laydown of my life.” ESPN viewers then watched Negreanu get trumped during the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are unknown.

Meanwhile, Hellmuth and an opponent each bet $20 that they had the best hand. In the end, Hellmuth showed A-Q, while his opponent flipped over pocket fours. The money was given to a friend on the rail to “buy drinks,” an activity Hellmuth deemed worthy of another $40 contribution. Then, Hellmuth learned the crew was from Aruba, the site of the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, and tossed another $100 their way. The situation quickly turned dark. Hellmuth ran into a rivered flush, which caused him to lament, “Is this some kind of fucking joke? I can’t even fucking believe what I’m seeing.” Again, no penalty was assessed.

Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP Main Event featured 2008 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren. Joining Lindgren at the feature table was Joe Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Also in the field on Day 1D, which saw more than 500 players turned away, were “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips and third place finisher John Salley. Others playing included Ray Romano, Ivan Demidov, J.C. Tran, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Jordan Farmar, Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and 2006 Player of the Year Jeff Madsen.

Lindgren’s tentative play at the feature table was the theme of the second episode. Chad explained, “I hope the tape of this telecast is destroyed before Lindgren sees it. It’ll set him back 15 years.” The Wild Card Hand featured four-way action to the turn on an A-J-7-8 board with two diamonds. Serge Pouliott bet out 450 and the action folded around to Lindgren, who made the call. The river was the four of hearts. Lindgren checked, Pouliott bet 825, and Lindgren called. Pouliott turned over A-Q, out-kicking Lindgren’s A-6 of diamonds. The Full Tilt-sponsored “Deal Me In” featured Lindgren breaking down a hand that transpired during Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Day 2 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event will air next Tuesday on ESPN at 8:00pm ET and runs for two hours.