Poker News

Full Tilt Poker Hosts PokerGives.org Charity Tournament

On April 4th, Full Tilt Poker and PokerGives.org will team up for a $5+$5 charity tournament. Half of each player’s buy-in will build the tournament’s prize pool, while the other half will be donated to charity through PokerGives.org.

World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton, Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson founded PokerGives.org, which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. PokerGives.org is the charity of choice for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and offers an avenue for the poker community to give back. Beneficiary organizations include the Special Olympics, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Step by Step Foundation.

Poker players interested in entering the $5+$5 buy-in tournament should log into Full Tilt Poker, click over to the “Tournament” lobby, and then select “Private.” The event is listed in red and takes place on April 4th, about three weeks from now, and has the Tournament ID 137275439. The event’s password is “PokerNations,” which is sponsoring the charity contest along with the Twitter Poker Tour. Full Tilt Poker happily accepts action from the United States.

Johnson was already looking forward to bringing PokerGives.org to the virtual felts of Full Tilt, telling Poker News Daily, “You will be able to play and chat with many celebrities including Andy Bloch, T.J. Cloutier, Jena Delk, Jan Fisher, Susie Isaacs, Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch, and me. To reward you for your donation, participants will have a shot at winning lots of bonus prizes, which currently have a value of more than $3,900.” The event kicks off at 2:00pm ET and promises to attract quite a crowd.

There are many prizes up for grabs, including poker sunglasses from Blue Shark Optics, a home game set from DB Dealer, a one-year subscription to Bluff Magazine, six months of poker coaching from Deuces Cracked, poker books, card protectors, a $200 gift certificate to Andrew Shirley and Company, and private coaching sessions with Johnson, Delk, PokerXFactor’s Chris “Fox” Wallace, and Michael "tuna_fish_tank" Stroh.

If that weren’t enough reason to play, entrants can also receive a one-month CardRunners Gold Subscription, Texas Hold’em strategy cards, a one-year membership to the Down to the Felt Club, a one-year subscription to Australia Poker Weekly, and a PMS PokerWear prize pack.

In order to be eligible for the barrage of bonus prizes, players should visit the PokerNations forums and post their Full Tilt user name in the tournament’s associated thread. Every player who participates will receive a one-month membership to the Down to the Felt Club, which has a retail value of $25.

This isn’t Full Tilt Poker’s first venture into the world of charity. In February, the industry’s second largest online poker site sponsored the Kandy Masquerade Charity Event at the Playboy Mansion. The gala had a price tag of $1,000 and its proceeds benefited the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The site also sent over $650,000 to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti after matching $330,000 in player donations. In total, the online poker industry shipped more than $1.5 million to earthquake survivors.

In December, Full Tilt hosted the Justin Shronk Memorial Poker Tournament, which drew a crowd of 359 players to pay homage to the late poker media personality. In addition, during August’s running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), a $120 Ante Up for Africa charity event was run. Actor Don Cheadle, who co-founded the organization along with UB.com’s Annie Duke and Norman Epstein, hosted the online poker tournament.

Visit PokerGives.org today to see how you can donate.

Tiger Woods Turns Down $75 Million Paddy Power Poker Sponsorship

Recently, gossip site TMZ reported that embattled professional golfer Tiger Woods, fresh off a highly publicized marital tiff, turned down a $75 million sponsorship offer from the online sports book, casino, and poker site Paddy Power.

As its name implies, Paddy Power makes its bread and butter off the Irish poker market. TMZ explained that the multi-faceted online outlet approached the 14-time major champion with an offer it thought Woods couldn’t refuse. TMZ recounted, “Tiger Woods just blew off a $75 million endorsement offer from an Irish gambling company – and that is how you know you’re rich.” The offer was reportedly for five years, but Woods snubbed the lucrative proposition despite its long-term potential.

The news comes one day after five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman became the official celebrity endorser of the Cake Poker Network site Only Poker. Despite being dumped on the first round of negotiations, Paddy Power will apparently return to the bargaining table with another offer, according to TMZ. Paddy Power is a member of the massive iPoker Network, which is the fourth largest worldwide according to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com. The network does not accept members from the United States.

Despite not accepting action from the populated North American nation, Paddy Power Poker could have used Woods’ recognition around the world to attract customers to its site. Woods has won golf tournaments across Europe, Asia, and Australia in addition to his domination on the links in North America. He’s arguably the most recognizable name in the world of golf.

In late 2009, disaster struck for Woods. A purported past of infidelity finally caught up to the golf superstar, leading to an infamous run-in featuring his wife Elin Nordegren, a Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV, a golf club, a fire hydrant, and a tree in front of his Florida home. As news of Woods’ crash spread around the internet like wildfire, major sponsors began questioning their relationship with the 34 year-old.

Among the first Fortune 500 companies to cut bait with Woods was Accenture, followed by AT&T, Gatorade, and Gillette. According to a study released by the University of California – Davis in late December, Woods’ extracurricular activities could have cost shareholders of associated companies between $5 billion and $12 billion. The study examined businesses including Accenture, AT&T, Electronic Arts, Gillette, Nike, Gatorade, TLC Laser Eye Centers, and Golf Digest. The study added that Woods raked in $100 million annually from endorsements, “more than any other athlete.”

Woods spoke to the media in mid-February about the incident and may return to golf. The Masters, which Woods has won four times, will kick off from Augusta National Golf Course outside of Atlanta on April 6th. He last took down the high-profile tournament in 2005.

Paddy Power Poker has a bevy of promotions taking place, including Cashpoint, whose format is similar to PartyPoker’s Gladiator. Paddy Power Poker players who rack up 100 points for 10 days or more during the month of March are eligible to win cash prizes. The site will take a player’s 10 highest earning point days during the month and match $1 for every 20 points earned on the lowest day. The minimum payout is $5 and players can also qualify for a $2,000 Cashpoint freeroll.

Other sites on the massive iPoker Network include bet365, CelebPoker, Chili Poker, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Sun Poker, Titan Poker, and William Hill. The publicly traded company Playtech owns and operates the network. Playtech is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PTEC.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest poker gossip on Woods and other celebrities.

Poker as an Olympic Sport

The International Federation of Poker will be accepted into the International Mind Sports Association in April.  This means that poker will join a list of games including Chess, Bridge, and Go as an official game of skill, according to Bluff Magazine Europe.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA), meaning poker will be considered an official game of skill for the Olympics

This development may not mean that we’ll be seeing poker in the Olympics in the near future, but it is certainly a first step in the right direction.  Acceptance into the IMSA and recognition from the IOC gives poker another strong argument in court.  The nature of online gambling might be in question, but courts have been pretty lenient in allowing games of skill.  Will this IOC distinction assist in the efforts to legalize online poker in the United States?

“I am encouraged that the IOC has recognized what we poker players have always known. Poker is an honorable game of skill,” commented Rich Muny, a board member for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). “Many states have already legally codified recognition of the fact that competitions based on skill are different from wagering on dice or other events based on chance. I believe this decision will encourage more states to recognize this distinction legally.”

Anthony Holden, author of such poker books as “Big Deal” and “Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom,” is the current head of the International Federation of Poker.  He told Bluff Europe, “Poker is not like other casino games.  It’s a social game where people are playing against each other, not the house, and a game where skill plays a bigger role than luck.  There are 120 to 150 million poker players in the world and we deserve this recognition.”

Poker is the only card game to be accepted by the IMSA besides Bridge. This organization is a non-profit association and has over 400 national entities and close to 100 million players within its jurisdiction.  As listed on the IMSA website, current headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland and Paris, France.

The IMSA held its first “IMSA Cup” competition back in 2008 in Russia.  The final day of that event was dedicated to friendly matches between masters of mind games and honorary guests of the competition, mainly diplomats.

Given that mind games are recognized as games of skill by the IOC, could poker ever make it into the Olympics?  While that remains to be seen, many poker sites including PokerStars have competitions like the World Cup of Poker, which matches players from various countries against each other.

Team PokerStars USA includes players such as Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Rousso, Greg Raymer, Joe Cada, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin, Dennis Phillips, Tom McEvoy, Hevad Khan, Victor Ramdin, and Jason Mercier.  Popular online player Randy “nanonoko” Lew also hails from the United States.  Full Tilt Pros hailing from the United States include Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, and Allen Cunningham.  Full Tilt Poker also boasts a well known online prodigy of its own in Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

While we know the United States would field a dream team of poker players, there are plenty of other countries that would challenge for the gold medal.  Canada, which just hosted the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, would have Daniel Negreanu along with players like Darus Suharto and Wade Ackerman leading the charge.  The United Kingdom would have players like Vicky Coren, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland De Wolfe, and James Akenhead at the helm.  Australia would have Joe and Tony Hachem, Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian, as well as Billy “The Croc” Argyros representing their homeland.

The IOC has outlined that a game or sport must be practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents in order to be recognized.  Although we can all agree that poker is not a traditional sport that requires physical skill and toughness like pole vaulting and Greco-Roman wrestling, there might be a place for games of skill at the Olympics.   Is it really out of the question to think of a “total package” decathlon that would combine physical and mental sports?

Think about a physical and mental event where participants would have to do their best in running, swimming, jumping, throwing, and then competing in mental games such as chess, poker, and bridge.  It’s not too far-fetched to pitch that idea to an Olympic committee or get it aired on the likes of ESPN2 with a celebrity cast.

While we dream of Raymer competing against former Navy SEAL Dan Blizerian in a swimming race before heading to a poker tournament, having poker accepted as an official game of skill by the IMSA and the IOC is already a huge step in the right direction for the industry.

PokerStars Deals 40 Billionth Online Poker Hand

A $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em table on PokerStars dealt the site’s monumental 40 billionth hand. Coming out on top in the historic moment was PokerStars member Senecady, who walked away with $24,000.

Each player who was dealt cards in the 40 billionth hand received a colossal $400 for every VIP Player Point (VPP) amassed in the previous 40 hands at the table. The winner would see their cash bonus doubled, potentially resulting in a five-figure payday for one lucky online poker player. Senecady was in the cutoff in the hand and dealt K-10 offsuit. In the end, the board read 7-Q-7-10-7, giving Senecady a full house, defeating Joe Hahn’s K-J and thecooler292’s K-5. The pot amounted to $401.

Senecady pushed all-in pre-flop for $117 and Hahn came over the top for $412. Meanwhile, thecooler292 called off his stack of $138 as each player jockeyed for the extra payout to the hand’s winner. According to PokerStars, 280,000 players were logged into the site around the time the 40 billionth hand was dealt and a massive 41,000 tables were in operation. The momentous occasion occurred at 12:43pm ET on Friday.

PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, noted that a peak of 53,371 real money ring game players were logged into PokerStars on Friday. The day before, the maximum number of cash game players was just under 50,000, representing a sizable jump as the 40 billionth hand approached. Between December 21st and January 30th, the site failed to cross the 50,000-player plateau. Then, between January 31st and February 19th, more than 50,000 cash game players were logged in on eight days.

The waiting list for “Naef III,” the table that hosted the winning hand, numbered 128 PokerStars users when the clock struck 12:43pm. Players in the historic 40 billionth hand were guaranteed a payout of $400; here’s how the final distribution of bonus cash shook out:

Senecady - $24,000.00
thecooler992 - $15,590.20
zawaaa - $15,590.20
jeckjeck - $12,400.80
13_Xerxes_13 - $1,500.00
Joe Hahn - $1,500.00

Still to come as part of the PokerStars 40 billionth hand celebration, dubbed F40, is a $4 million guaranteed version of the site’s weekly Sunday Million. The $215 buy-in online poker tournament will shell out at least $1 million to the winner and begins at 4:30pm ET on Sunday. Last Sunday, a $40 buy-in Micro Million was held on Valentine’s Day in the United States. The tournament, appropriately, attracted over 40,000 players. In the end, a four-way chop resulted in Brandon “anybodybut” Setzer coming out on top for $96,000. The runner-up in the Micro Million was a familiar face in the online poker world, Steven “PiKappRaider” Burkholder.

Sunday also marks Day 2 of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event in Las Vegas. Players who reach the second day of action in the $5,000 buy-in tournament will be unable to compete in the $4 million Sunday Million. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles this weekend is the annual World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational, which emanates from the Commerce Casino. The “Shuffle up and deal” command will be given at 8:00pm PT on Saturday for Day 1 and the final six-handed table will be played on March 3rd.

Also taking place on PokerStars this weekend is the $215 Sunday Lunch. Meant to cater to players in Australia and New Zealand, the tournament takes place on Saturday at 7:00pm ET (11:00 AEST in Australia on Sunday). Qualifiers for the special event have been running since February 14th. The tournament can be found in the PokerStars lobby by heading to “Tourney” and then “Regional.” The site happily accepts players from the United States and around the world.

Matchroom Sport Receives Poker Innovation Award

Matchroom Sport, the producer, promoter, and distributor of the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV, which is underway right now at the M Casino in Las Vegas, won the Rob Gardner Award for Innovation at the 2009 European Poker Awards.

Players and industry experts from across Europe submitted their ballots for eight different categories, with the top five vote-getters for each award advancing to the final judging.  A panel of eight judges then met during the Euro Finals of Poker at the Aviation Club de France (ACF) to determine the winners (except for the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was decided by the original voting).  The winners were announced and presented with their gold trophies at a dinner banquet at the ACF.

Matchroom Sport is one of the preeminent producers of televised sports programming, concentrating primarily on the European market.  Besides poker, Matchroom Sport also develops shows for boxing, darts, snooker, billiards, fishing, golf, and bowling.  In addition to the increasingly popular PartyPoker.com Premier League, Matchroom Sport has also produced the Full Tilt Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge, the PartyPoker.com World Open, and the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have won the award for innovation at the European Poker Awards," said Matchroom Sport's Managing Director Eddie Hearn in a press release. "The news broke as we began the first heat of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker IV here in Las Vegas and it gave the team a real lift. We always feel we have a responsibility to grow the game and our innovative formats combined with our global distribution will hopefully help the game go from strength to strength."

There were only two other nominees for the Rob Gardner Award for Innovation: Gene Gioa, creator of RealDealPoker.com, and Antanas "Tony G" Guoga, lead man of PokerNews.com, who created ChipMeUp.  RealDealPoker.com, scheduled to launch in March, is a unique online poker room which uses real decks of cards which are scrambled and shuffled by the site's automated "Cut N' Shuffle" system.  The order of the cards in the deck are captured on video and sent to a "Deck Matrix" system, which presents the deal to the online players.  ChipMeUp is a poker staking community where players can raise funds to play in tournaments and investors can provide players with a portion of their buy-in in hopes of earning a return.

Tony G, who is currently competing in the PartyPoker.com Premier League, said, "If anyone was going to beat me to this award then it deserves to be Eddie and his team at Matchroom. They produce the best poker shows in the world and are always trying to raise the bar. The PartyPoker.com Premier League is my favorite tournament in poker and is seen by more countries than any other show in the world."

Other winners at the 2009 European Poker Awards included Russia's Vitaly Lunkin for Player of the Year, Italy/Australia's Jeffrey Lisandro for Outstanding Tournament Performance, Finland's Patrik Antonius for Internet Player of the Year, and Bruno Fitoussi for Lifetime Achievement.

Poker News in Brief: Feb. 8-14, 2010

However, there were several stories that almost fell through the cracks here at PokerListings.com and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we’ve compiled a list of them below.

This week we’ll look at a former world champion returning to Full Tilt, the PokerStars Macau Poker Cup and more.

Mortensen Returns to Full Tilt

The enigmatic Carlos Mortensen has apparently returned to Full Tilt Poker as a red pro.

Mortensen, who is the only player in history win both the WSOP Main Event and the WPT World Championship, disappeared from the Full Tilt roster after the 2008 WSOP.

Although Full Tilt has yet to officially confirm that Mortensen has returned, he is once again listed as a red pro on the company’s website.

Despite his impressive tournament results, which include more than $8.8 million in lifetime earnings, Mortensen has stayed out of the limelight and limits the number of live tournaments he plays every year.

Record Prizepool at PokerStars.net ANZPT Adelaide

PokerStars kicked off the second season of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour with a tournament in Adelaide this week that drew a record number of players.

A total of 236 players bought into the event to create a prize pool of AUD$644,280, which beat last year’s tournament by AUD$57,330.

The final table of ANZPT Adelaide is scheduled to take place later today. The next event on the ANZPT schedule will take place in Perth on March 17-21.

World Poker Tour to Reach Landmark Episode

The World Poker Tour's eighth season will climax with the 178th episode of the show, putting it ahead of long-running U.S. TV stalwarts like L.A. Law (171 episodes), The Flintstones (166 episodes) and Magnum P.I. (162 episodes).

“WPT’s production team is no stranger to making history - their show propelled the game into the thriving global industry it is today,” said George Greenberg, executive vice president of programming and production Fox Sports.

“The WPT production team broke new ground in translating the game of poker to audiences worldwide through innovative formats and high-quality production.”

After the conclusion of the eighth season the WPT will be right behind classics like Seinfeld, which ran for 179 episodes and I Love Lucy, which went 179.

Songwriter Offers Half WSOP Winnings

Jason Mershon, a professional poker pro and songwriter, has come up with an unusual plan to promote his new song “Playin’ Poker for a Livin’.”

If Mershon makes the final table of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, he has agreed to give 50% of his winnings to the first 15,000 fans that purchase the song from his website.

“It’s just my way of saying ‘thank you’ to those fans who really like my new song,” said Mershon.

Mershon plans on updating his progress at the 2010 WSOP via Twitter so fans can sweat their horse.

Macau Poker Cup Coming in March

PokerStars released the schedule for an upcoming Macau Poker Cup this week.

The tournament series will run March 3-7 with six events including the $1 million Hong Kong dollar guaranteed Red Dragon event.

The series will also include a HKD$3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, a Knockout Bounty event, a charity event and a Rebuy tournament.

All the events take place in the PokerStars Macau poker room in the Lisboa Hotel and Casino.

PokerStars-sponsored player Kitty Kuo outlasted 246 players to win HKD$557,230 in the last Macau Poker Cup event, which took place in October.

All results in Macau Poker Cup events count towards the Asia Player of the Year and this year PokerStars will award a one-year sponsorship deal to the APOY winner.

Visit PokerListings.com

Gowen’s Full Tilt Lawsuit Dismissed

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 14, 2008, sought $40 million in damages from Full Tilt Poker, Tiltware, a series of related companies, Tiltware CEO Raymond Bitar and a group of Team Full Tilt players, claiming, among other things, breach of contract.

Gowen alleged that in 2004 she was offered a 1% stake in the site in exchange for her services as a celebrity endorser, but never received compensation.

Concluding that her claim of an agreement with the site lacked detail and that she was never offered a legal partnership with Full Tilt because she was never held responsible for the site's losses prior to becoming profitable, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jones dismissed the case for a third and final time this week.

"Nowhere in the allegations does Plaintiff allege, consistent with a general partnership, that the agreement made her liable for 1% of Full Tilt Poker's losses before it became profitable," the decision reads. "Therefore, it is not plausible that a partnership, limited or general, was offered."

Judge Jones granted a motion to dismiss the case back in April of 2009, but the lawsuit was not thrown out in its entirety.

Gowen was given leave to amend the complaint to include just Full Tilt Poker, Tiltware, the related companies, Bitar and Howard Lederer as defendants and appeal the decision to dismiss the case.

In a decision released in October 2009, Judge Jones both denied Gowen's appeal and granted Full Tilt's latest motion to dismiss the newly amended complaint.

However, the suit was not dead yet. Judge Jones granted Gowen leave to amend the complaint a third time to include only Tiltware.

Lawyers for the former Oklahoma teen beauty queen re-filed, but this week's decision put an end to the suit.

Gowen, who has over $1.6 million in career tournament earnings, is currently in Adelaide, Australia playing as a PokerStars sponsored player in the ANZPT event there.

Visit PokerListings.com

Annie Duke Comments on Amir Vahedi, 2010 Poker Schedule

Poker News Daily: The poker world has mourned the loss of Amir Vahedi in recent weeks. Can you share your memories of him with us?

Annie Duke: It was really sudden and I was really sad about it. Amir was somebody who was genuinely a good person, had that booming laugh, and had that cigar. He was such a great character and a great ambassador for the game. He was very sweet to me and genuinely loved people.

PND: You had mentioned the possibility of going to Mexico for New Years. Did that pan out?

Annie Duke: For New Years, Joe and I went to an amazing restaurant in L.A. Then, we just went home. It was a very quiet night and the reason why is that I hate New Years. It’s honestly one of my least favorite holidays. For me, it’s illogical to celebrate. Somehow, the demarcation of that day is different than any other day. Why do you make New Years resolutions? If you make a resolution on January 1st, it seems like you’re setting yourself up for failure. That date seems very arbitrary.

PND: We heard you’re taking the kids to Mexico for Spring Break. Tell us about the trip.

Annie Duke: I diligently try to make sure that everything I do credits me miles. I use a credit card that’s an airline card and an American Express card that gives me points and it never occurred to me to use these miles. I checked and had, on one airline, 200,000 miles. On my American Express, I had over 200,000 points. That seemed like a lot and I thought I should do something with them.

I’m flying everybody round trip to Mexico for Spring Break, so I am very excited. The total that it cost me for six tickets was less than $1,000. I want to stay in a cute hotel with character when I travel. We picked the number one bed and breakfast on TripAdvisor. We had to get three rooms and the total cost was $250 per night. This is the number one rated bed and breakfast in this place! For six people for a whole week in Southern Mexico, it’s going to cost me less than $3,000.

PND: What are your plans for 2010 in the world of poker? We know you were interested in playing more this year.

Annie Duke: That’s the case, but every time a tournament comes up, it’s hard. I was offered to do a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Academy, but it conflicts with the L.A. Poker Classic HORSE event. This sort of education stuff has become super important to me as an individual and it really started with doing poker camps. I had to start refining the way I thought about the game so I could express it to someone else so they could improve their game. That’s very different than being a great player. I seem to be making choices to do that kind of stuff over poker.

I also want to play more poker tournaments and need to find a way to get both accomplished. I’m planning to play in the Main Event of the L.A. Poker Classic, the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and I’ll be a bounty at Bay 101. I didn’t go to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) or to Australia for the Aussie Millions. It’s hard for me to justify traveling that far away because I want to be close to my family.

PND: Barry Shulman has been on a tear, taking down two $1 million paydays in four months in the 2010 PCA Main Event and the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. Can you talk about his game?

Annie Duke: The thing about Barry is that he is someone who has very hyper-aggressive tendencies. He is super-aggressive and always was. I think when you’re that aggressive, you can accumulate a lot of chips, but you can also blow them back quickly. In the past, Barry hasn’t been that great at pulling back, but I’m guessing from his results that he’s gearing down. Now, people are very aggressive and you have to draw back. Barry always had the potential to have these types of results. Obviously, he’s a smart person.

PND: Is his son, Jeff Shulman, equally aggressive?

Annie Duke: Jeff was always super-aggressive until Phil Hellmuth got a hold of him. He had a style. He’s been at the final table of the Main Event twice. He hasn’t been playing a lot of poker recently, which is why people haven’t seen more of him, since he’s been involved with CardPlayer.

It’s interesting when you think about Jeff’s coaching in the Main Event. In three months, it’s hard to change someone such that they can assimilate what they tell you and fit it into their game. Coaching would not have helped somebody like Antoine Saout. He was a very good player and, in three short months, coaching can do more harm than good.

When I coach people, I tell them that out of the gate, they’ll start losing. You have to have a lot of practice, so I generally recommend that people step down at first. When you make big changes to your game, it can be very confusing. Where I think coaching can help an experienced player is having someone to study tapes with.

PND: Tell us how your new website, MyMixedNuts.com, is going. How is the custom trail mix business?

Annie Duke: We’re going to have a few guys help reorganize the pages on our site and do some PR and social media for us. So far, it’s been good, though. We’re adding Valentine’s Day offers and it’s a fun thing to do.

PND: Speaking of Valentine’s Day, what are your plans?

Annie Duke: We’re going to do to an Italian restaurant because Joe thinks that’s what you’re supposed to do. We always have a nice Valentine’s Day and I am looking forward to it.

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Group	Qualify
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Australia/NZ	10
France	25
Germany	25
Italy	20
Netherlands/Belgium	10
Romania	10
Russia	20
Scandinavia	20
Spain	20
United kingdom	20

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Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up – Aussie Millions

Well, the Aussie Millions is done for 2010. In the end, 20 different tournaments offered an eight figure total prize pool, including $7,460,000 on offer for those who cashed in the $10,500 Main Event. This week’s Bluff Europe round-up is an Aussie special – Phil Ivey hit the top spot of the tournament leaderboard, the title stayed on home soil and Annette_15 made a tidy profit. Here is a summary of all the tournaments, with all values in Australian Dollars (around £0.56):

Tyron Krost Wins Aussie Millions Main Event

Australian native Tyron Krost has taken home the title in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event, which emanated from the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Krost defeated a field of 746 players and earned AUD $2 million for his efforts.

Stephen Shelly was the first player eliminated from the eight-handed Aussie Millions Main Event final table. Shelly moved all-in over the top of a raise by Krost holding pocket sevens on a board of 8-5-3. However, Krost made the call and showed pocket jacks. Calling for running cards for a straight or a seven for a set, Shelly instead saw and eight and deuce come on the turn and river, respectively. He earned AUD $125,000 for his efforts.

Shortly afterward, the Aussie Millions Main Event lost a heavy-hitter, as Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad was ousted in seventh place, earning AUD $175,000. In her final hand, Obrestad open-shoved with A-J and received a call from Krost, who had a wired pair of sevens. The flop came K-Q-7, giving Obrestad a straight draw to a ten, and, as her rail chanted in earnest for one of her four outs to come, a five and king instead struck, sending Obrestad out. The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner will be a force to be reckoned with in her first WSOP on U.S. soil in 2010 and was the last woman standing in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Steve Friedlander exited in sixth place, banking AUD $250,000. Friedlander committed his chips with pocket sevens pre-flop and was up against the A-K of Kosta Varoxis. Once again, pocket sevens would determine someone’s fate and, this time around, the board ran out K-9-2-K-J. The hand pushed Varoxis up the leaderboard and sent Friedlander packing. Peter Jetten was the next player to go. Jetten 4bet all-in pre-flop with K-5 and ran into Krost’s pocket tens. The board fell A-J-2-7-5 and Jetten earned AUD $350,000 for his efforts.

With Krost holding the chip lead, Varoxis hit the rails in fourth place. Varoxis called all-in on a flop of Q-9-7 holding A-6 for a prayer. Frederik Jensen held a wired pair of twos, which turned into a set when another deuce hit on the river. All was not lost for Varoxis, however, who earned AUD $450,000 for his fourth place showing.

Another Betfair pro at the final table, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, was bounced in third place from the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event. Mizzi called off his chips pre-flop with pocket sevens and was up against the A-K of Krost. The flop came king-high and Krost never looked back, sending the dangerous Mizzi to the rails. Mizzi earned AUD $715,000, adding to an already impressive live tournament resume that includes a runner-up showing to Theo Jorgensen in a £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha contest during the 2008 WSOP Europe for £132,000 and a chop in the 2007 Irish Poker Open for more than €500,000.

Krost entered heads-up play as a 2:1 chip leader over Jensen. In the final hand of the Aussie Millions Main Event, Jensen put his tournament life on the line with K-6 on a flop of K-3-2. However, Krost held K-9 and had his opponent out-kicked. The board ran out 7-2 and, according to coverage found on PokerNews, chants of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” echoed through the venue in celebration. Jensen picked up a healthy AUD $1.1 million for second place. Here’s how the final table stacked up. All payouts are given in Australian Dollars:

1st Place: Tyron Krost - $2,000,000
2nd Place: Frederik Jensen - $1,100,000
3rd Place: Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - $715,000
4th Place: Kosta Varoxis - $450,000
5th Place: Peter Jetten - $350,000
6th Place: Steve Friedlander - $250,000
7th Place: Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad - $175,000
8th Place: Stephen Shelly - $125,000

This year’s attendance of 746 players marked a sizable 10% jump over 2009’s tally of 681. Last year, Australian Stewart Scott defeated the United States’ Peter Rho heads-up to earn AUD $2 million.

Aussie Millions, Main Event: Tyron Krost Keeps the Title in Australia

The 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event has a champion. Tyron Krost is keeping the title in Australia for the second straight year. The 23 year-old battled 746 players over five days to take the title back home to Sydney, along with the $2 million AUD...

Young Stars Lead Aussie Millions Final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Ilari Sahamies and Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn chats up

Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is currently in Australia, but he is still dominating the Full Tilt Poker high stakes games and making huge profit.

Ziigmund

The exact results will arrive a bit later, but it looks like Sahamies has won about 1,6 million dollars in January already.

The Finn dominated the Aussie Million 2008 winner Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn along with others.

Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn

They chatted a lot during their play:

Ziigmund: u r f amazing sick lucky
PostflopAction: fu
Ziigmund: f
Ziigmund: u
Ziigmund: its f omg
Ziigmund: never seen as lucky as u
PostflopAction: ur winning 120k
Ziigmund: i doesn maer
Ziigmund: i should be 400k
PostflopAction: its how big your bankroll should be
Ziigmund: lers go 1,5k 3k
PostflopAction: nah, need to win first
Ziigmund: sry was a phone
PostflopAction: fu
Ziigmund: room service
PostflopAction: die
Ziigmund: 1,5k 3k?
PostflopAction: yes in 10 min
Ziigmund: ok
Ziigmund: cool
PostflopAction: play now
PostflopAction: its sick how u play so bad and run so good
Ziigmund: stop whining
Ziigmund: and take more money

Also David Oppenheim seemed to be in a chatty mood:

David Oppenheim: are you gonna runaway when the limit games come
David Oppenheim: hey zigg
David Oppenheim: are you man enough to play all the games

Ziigmund: i have to play 2 tables postflop action
Ziigmund: lets play later
David Oppenheim: your a &%!!%
David Oppenheim: b itch
Ziigmund: ok lets play
David Oppenheim: now you r a man
Ziigmund:

Tommy_devito77 (Observer): i seen a video of david opp on cardplayer
Tommy_devito77 (Observer): he was checking out his daughters tits
Tommy_devito77 (Observer): weird 4 sure
David Oppenheim: saw a video of tommy s mom on porn tune
David Oppenheim: she was definately a freak
Tommy_devito77 (Observer): was she good
David Oppenheim: ask your brother

Source: 2+2, Highstakesdb

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Ilari Sahamies and Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn chats up

Obrestad Avoiding Aussie Millions Déjà Vu

Among the chip leaders with 21 people left in the 2009 Aussie Millions, holding ace-ten, she pushed all in for around 350k over Canadian Zach Fellows' raise, expecting him to fold all but premium cards.

However, Fellows made the rather loose call with just pocket fives.

The fives held and an angry Obrestad had a few choice words for Fellows before running nines into jacks to bow out 21^st.

"It was a terrible call," she said. "It was really frustrating."

Thursday, a year later, she finds herself deep-stacked late in the 2010 Aussie Millions again and hoping this won't be a case of déjà vu.

"I hope not," she laughed. "I want to do well in every tournament I play. It doesn't really matter which one it is, but because I got deep here last year and I was so close to final tabling, I want to know what that feeling is like."

The Norwegian-born Betfair Poker pro says there's really no secret to why she's deep in the Aussie Millions main event in back-to-back years.

The tournament just sets up well for her game.

"I think the structure is just really good," she said. "And I've been running good too."

It certainly doesn't hurt that the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe main event champ has cultivated an image as a tremendously loose-aggressive player. Apparently no one ever puts her on a hand.

"They never think I have anything, no matter how I play a hand," she explained. "Even when I have the nuts and that's the only hand I could possibly have, they still don't believe me.

"It's really annoying at times, because I like to play a lot of pots. So getting involved without a hand is not a good idea. But why would I? They never believe me anyway. I don't have to. So I'm trying to tighten up a little and take advantage."

Like most of the new generation of Internet whiz kids taking over the poker world these days, Obrestad was weaned on No-Limit Hold'em.

But drawn in by its alluring action, she recently expanded her repertoire to include Pot-Limit Omaha and actually took down the $1k PLO prelim in Australia just days before the start of the main event.

"I was really excited," she said. "I've been playing a lot online. That's usually what I play if I play online these days, so I feel like I've been really improving my game.

"You can play a lot of pots. You can play really aggressively and you can bluff a lot in that game. There's a lot of action. I like it."

But for now, she's got a little Hold'em and the remainder of the Aussie Millions to contend with.

"I really want to do well here this year," she said. "And put last year in the past."

To follow Obrestad's progress and the rest of the 2010 Aussie Millions main event, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates through the Jan. 30 final table.

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Mizzi Finds Aussie Millions Magic in Melbourne

And after a final table appearance at a 2009 Aussie Millions prelim and a deep run all the way to 16^th in the main event last year, who can blame him?

"I hit a lot of sets in Australia," he joked. "But seriously, I have a really good feel for the table dynamic here. There's something about Australia. Maybe it's the air here that just helps me get in the zone a lot easier.

"Right now I'm playing the best poker I've ever played. Most of my reads are right on and feel like I have a good idea of where people are."

Wednesday, the 23-year-old Canadian found himself among the chip leaders on Day 2 of the 2010 Aussie Millions main event and appeared primed for yet another deep run.

"For some reason, every time I'm in Australia, I'm really focused," he said. "Maybe it's because I travel 25 hours to get here, so I might as well sit down and just focus on the task at hand."

Playing under the screen names Imper1um and zangbezan24, the Betfair Poker pro is nothing short of an online poker legend.

And while the live results have followed, including more than $1.6 million in career earnings over just the past four years, something is still missing from his resume.

Among several deep cashes, Mizzi finished third in the 2007 Irish Open, second in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe's £5k Pot-Limit Omaha and second again in the 2009 WSOP's $5k PLO.

However, a major poker title still eludes him.

"If you look at my results I have a lot of finishes from 10^th to 30^th and it's funny, because online, that's usually where I dominate," he said. "When 10-30 people are left, I go in for the kill. But live, I've just been running really bad at the end of tournaments.

"It really bothers me that I've never won a major tournament. I've actually only won just one live tournament, a side event at Bellagio. It was nice, it was a $3k buy-in with 160 players, but, you know, it's not a big deal. You don't get that much satisfaction out of winning something like that."

The good side of coming so close, so many times is that Mizzi has stayed focused on his ultimate goal of winning a major title. But that certainly doesn't make him want it any less.

"I see lot of people that win a couple of tournaments and they lose that desire," he said. "I don't want to end up like that and having these close finishes just gives me more thirst and gets me more focused on achieving my goals.

"In the end, though, a title is very important to me. I really want to get that monkey off my shoulder. Hopefully I'll win a big event this year, maybe even this one."

To follow Mizzi's progress and comprehensive coverage of the entire 2010 Aussie Millions main event, tune into PokerListings' Live Updates through the Jan. 30 final table.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Other Hachem: Life In Joe’s Shadow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tiffany Michelle Comments on New Amazing Race Cast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shak Shocks Ivey, Wins $100k Crown

“I try, in life, just in general, to keep the highs not too high and the lows not too low,” he said moments after defeating poker legend Phil Ivey heads up to take the title. “But believe me, I’m extremely excited.

“This is something I’ve been working towards for such a long time and I may not show the excitement, but inside I’m extremely excited.  I’m not going to jump up and down, but inside I probably already am.”

A total of 24 players ponied up the $100k buy-in to enter the world’s most expensive poker tournament and the field played down to a final table of eight in Melbourne Saturday.

When they returned to crown a winner Monday, a short stacked Howard Lederer was the first to exit, running ace-ten into Tony G’s aces.

Start-of-day chip leader Jonathan "xMONSTERxDONGx" Karamalikis was actually the next player out. The young Aussie online legend doubled up a few of the shorter stacks before eventually running ace-ten into Shak’s nines and failing to improve.

Barry Greenstein then had his kings cracked by Tony Bloom’s jacks and the Team PokerStars Pro bubbled the money a few hands later when Bloom’s own kings held against his queen-ten.

Tony G was the next to go, getting his buy-in back when his tens lost a race with Shak’s ace-king and it wasn’t long before 2009 $100k Challenge runner-up Bloom got it in dominated by Ivey and bowed out fourth cashing for AUD$200,000.

Local cash game pro Bill Jordanou hit the rail third, collecting AUD$300,000 when he got it in with top two against Ivey’s overpair, but Ivey turned a set and rivered a flush.

Heads up started with Ivey and Shak about even, but the day trader took the veteran pro to task, building a 3:1 chip lead through a series of aggressive pre and post flop plays.

Eventually Ivey got it in with ace-ten against ace-seven, but Shak flopped a seven to suck out and while the Team Full Tilt Pro and 2009 November Niner was forced to settle for the AUD$600,000 second-place prize, pushing him up to the top spot on poker’s all-time leading money winners list, Shak booked the AUD$1.2 million win.

“I think I played well the whole heads-up match,” Shak explained. “The last hand I got lucky, there is no doubt about that, but up until that last hand I feel like I played very well.

“These guys are the best in the world, but I’d rather play with good players. I always seem to play better with good players because they are more predictable. With Phil, there’s nothing you can really say. Today I got the better cards, obviously he is the better player.”

While Shak has been recording cashes on the high-stakes tournament poker scene since 2004, including a fourth-place finish in this very event last year, his biggest score before Monday’s win was a victory in the inaugural Ante Up for Africa charity event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Recently divorced from wife Beth, Shak said he felt like his game is much improved and went about proving it in Australia Monday.

“I’ve been working hard on my game and I’ve had some life changes that have given me more time to concentrate on my game,” he said. “I think I’ve taken my game to a new level and I feel like I’m really playing better.”

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Scott Starts Aussie Millions Defense

But being AUD$2 million wealthier isn’t the only thing that’s different for Scott. In fact, his life has changed almost completely.

“Coming to a place like Crown or any casino in Australia, pretty much everybody recognizes me,” he told PokerListings as he began the defense of his Aussie Millions title Monday. “I get asked for autographs, which is pretty cool.”

Scott said walking into Crown to take a run at back-to-back titles also feels a lot different than it did walking into the poker room an unknown in 2009.

“It’s completely different obviously,” he said. “Now you’ve got posters of me everywhere and stuff. I get to wear the bracelet this time and I come in as a totally new guy. I’m a poker professional this time. I mean, I’ve been playing for a long time, but now I really feel like I’m part of the whole tournament.”

Since winning the title, Scott has also picked up a sponsorship contract with PartyPoker and has been representing the brand at big-time tournaments all over the globe over the past 12 months, including booking a six-figure score when he made the final table of a $5k prelim at the WPT Championship in Las Vegas this past April.

Add that experience to the win in Melbourne last year and he feels like he’s coming into the 2010 Aussie Millions more prepared than ever.

“I’ve gathered a lot of experience this year playing around the world in a lot of big tournaments and that’s valuable coming into a tournament like this,” he said. “It’s a huge stage again, but I’ve been through it so many times this year, the nerves are gone and you are just here to play and do your best.

“That’s all you can ask for, is to just do your best, and I think I’m going to do that this year.”

But while doing his best is all anyone can ask of Scott, there’s no doubt he’s here do more than just show up.

“I’m not here to fuck spiders,” he said. “I’m here for one thing. I’m here for the bracelet and I’m totally focused on that.”

That said, Scott said he understands a tournament like the Aussie Millions can’t be won on Day 1 and he’s prepared to play patiently.

“When you play Day 1, you just focus on getting through Day 1, one thing at a time,” he said. “The ultimate goal is obviously to ship it again, but for now I’m just trying to stay out a trouble and see if I can build a stack by the end of the day.”

To follow Stewart Scott’s title defense and all the action from the 2010 Aussie Millions, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates throughout the week.

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Poker Fantasy Moves to Merge Gaming Network

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker News in Brief Jan. 18-24, 2010

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

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

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

Obrestad Wins Aussie Millions Pot-Limit Omaha Event

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alec Torelli Moves to Victory Poker

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

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

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

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

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

Rousing Final to HPT Vegas

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

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

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

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

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

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

PKR TV Showcases Phil Galfond

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

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

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

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

Police Raid South Carolina Poker Game

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

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

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

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

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Hachem Hunts Aussie Millions Glory

But make no mistake about it, when the main event begins Sunday, 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem would rather keep the Aussie Millions for himself.

“I look forward to it ever year,” the Team PokerStars Pro and Crown Casino Ambassador told PokerListings. “But it’s like a love-hate relationship. I’d love to win it and I’ve been close three or four years now, but I just haven’t been able to get there. Maybe it’s because I would love to win it so much.”

An Australian poker icon and worldwide superstar, Hachem’s $10,856,216 in career live tournament earnings puts him sixth on poker’s all-time leading money winners list.

Of course, he has the WSOP main event bracelet and his December 2006 win at the World Poker Tour’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic gave Hachem a WPT title, making him one of only five players to have both.

But earning a third jewel in his very own triple crown is what Hachem truly desires.

“That would really seal the deal for me,” he said. “I mean, I’d love to win an EPT, but to win the Aussie Millions; it would be unbelievable.”

In fact, the Lebanese-born, Melbourne-raised Hachem wants to win on his home soil so badly, he can almost taste it.

“I have to make a final table there, I just do, and if I do, I promise you if I make the final table there, I will win it,” he said.

A chiropractor in Melbourne for more than a decade before a rare blood disorder affecting his hands forced him to give up his career, Hachem actually started taking poker seriously playing tournaments at Crown a decade ago.

The Aussie Millions itself began when the Crown Australian Poker Championship moved to January in 2001 with just 40 entrants putting up the AUD$5,000 buy-in.

The event, along with the game of poker in Australia, has grown infinitely since, attracting a truly international field and peaking in 2008 when 780 players ponied up the now AUD$10,000 buy-in.

His 2005 WSOP win was a major catalyst for the poker boom in Australia, but Hachem believes the game itself has always been a perfect fit for Aussie culture.

“I think Australians really have that competitive nature and poker, especially tournament poker, it brings that out in you,” he said.

In 2009, the Aussie Millions title was kept on home soil for the first time when Adelaide chef-turned-poker player Stewart Scott beat a field of 681.

This year, with poker as popular as ever Down Under, organizers are estimating the field could reach as many as 800 players.

To follow all the action, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates beginning at 12:30 p.m. Melbourne time Sunday.

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Shane Warne makes Aussie Millions final table

Event 7 of the 2010 Aussie Millions tournament series was another $1,150 No-Limit Hold ‘em affair, this time with the added twist of rebuys. Surprisingly, just 108 people entered the event but over 350 $1,000 re-buys and add-ons took the prize pool to just under half a million Australian dollars.

Tony G Signs Player Representation Deal with Party Poker

There are a handful of players who have affected poker as players and as businessmen, but few have had the impact of Australian Tony G. Having amassed over $4 million in live-tournament winnings and who-knows-how-much from some of Russia's...

Poker in Twitter: Biloxi, Aussie Millions and the MA Senate Race

Now that the poker community has returned from the Bahamas and are no longer racking up expensive roaming charges on their cell phones, they have been posting on the social networking website Twitter with a newfound dedication.  In the past couple of days, players have been dropping Tweets about the Massachusetts Senate race, Biloxi and Australia prelims, their latest big scores and, of course, current events ranging from politics to television.  With so many Tweets and so little time, we know you might be feeling a little twitterpated, so Poker News Daily has taken the time to cull the best Tweets from the past few days for your reading pleasure:

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) may be over and done with, but the poker community never rests.  Players have already arrived at both the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi and the Crown Casino in Melbourne Australia for the Southern Poker Championship and Aussie Millions, respectively.  Some of the players who headed South for the winter and some action at the tables are Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts, Full Tilt’s Gavin Smith and Allen “The Chainsaw” Kessler.

According to Mercier’s Twitter feed (@JasonMercier), his hot streak has continued into 2010, as he already made not one, but two final tables so far in Biloxi.  Mercier filled in his followers on his progress on the 19th, writing, “Beau Rivage event 24 final table 5th place finish.” He followed up his impressive showing in the $500 Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys event with another final table run in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event.  When Mercier last posted late Wednesday afternoon, he was poised to book his first win of 2010: “Goin to heads up. I have 1.3 vs guys 900k 68k for first!!!”

Another player who notched their first victory of the year is Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. The Norwegian online poker sensation headed down under following the PCA and was rewarded with a win in the Aussie Millions Pot Limit Omaha event.  Obrestad posted her tournament progress throughout the event on her Twitter feed (@Annette_15) and let everyone know the event was over with a simple, “yayyyyy i won!!!!” Jon "pokertrip" Friedberg had an idea about one way Obrestad could spend her tournament winnings: “are u playing in the 100k...assuming they r running if this yr? Glgl.” Friedberg is referring to the High Rollers event at the Aussie Millions, which boasts an entry fee of AUD $100,000.

While many players had poker on the brain, a number of pros had their attention fixed on the Massachusetts Senate race.  The election determined which Senator would fill the seat previously occupied by the late Ted Kennedy and many poker players expressed frustration and disappointment over the contest’s results.  The always outspoken Alex Outhred (@alexpokerguy) was quick to post his thoughts on Republican Senator Scott Brown’s victory: “Congrats to Dems for putting in a complete scrub. Well done. Idiots. Congrats to Repub's for beating a complete scrub. Well done. Idiots.”

Annie Duke (@RealAnnieDuke), on the other hand, took the win with a grain of salt and could not resist injecting some humor into her Twitter post reacting to the news: “Upon learning that Mass elected a republican senator I glanced out my window and saw 4 scary looking characters riding in on 4 horses.”

A number of members of the poker community seemed more concerned with another battle taking place, namely for control of “The Tonight Show.” Poker Twitterers seem to be loyal members of Team Conan and several of them have Tweeted about how much they enjoy the redheaded funnyman’s treatment of what is a very awkward, uncomfortable and sensitive situation.  World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman made it very clear whose side she is on in a post on her @mandaLeatherman Twitter account Wednesday evening: “Conan is f***king amazing. #teamconan.”

Finally, we will leave you on a positive note with a Tweet that just might be the most random thing we’ve seen the past few days.  Online poker player Shannon Shorr previously tweeted that he was skipping out on the PCA in order to support his alma mater, the University of Alabama, and its football team.  Shorr was one of the thousands of people in attendance at the BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl during which the Alabama Crimson Tide bested the University of Texas Longhorns to win the title.  While that may give you some inkling as to how loyal a fan Shorr may be, his most recent Tweet on his @shannonshorr feed revealed his dedication as a fan is on a whole different level: “Impulse bought an Alabama Snuggie from CVS Pharmacy.”

If you are as addicted to Twitter as we are, be sure to follow us @PokerNewsDaily so you can stay up to date on all the breaking news in the poker world and be a part of some PND Twitter exclusives in the coming weeks.

PartyPoker Adds Tony G

Famed loudmouth Tony G will bring his abrasive style of poker to a team that already includes Mike Sexton, Ian Frazer, Bodo Sbrzesny, Remy Biechel, Stewart Scott, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos and the recently signed Kara Scott.

Tony G will make his PartyPoker debut at the upcoming 2010 Aussie Millions.

“I cannot wait to start playing for Team Party on the circuit,” said Tony G. “I’ve always loved Party and what better way to kick off than at the Aussie Millions. I am also really excited about the Premier League in February - it is the best event in poker in my eyes.”

Tony G has been one of the hottest players in the Premier League’s recent events with a second and third place finish.

As part of the deal with PartyPoker, Tony G’s signature poker site TonyGPoker.com, will be moved to the PartyPoker-owned Noble Poker. The transfer should be relatively painless as both sites are on the iPoker network.

“We are delighted to welcome Tony to Team Party,” said a PartyGaming spokesman. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game – 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 aboard."

Born as Antanas Guoga in Lithania, Tony G moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 11 and began playing poker at the age of 18.

Tony G quickly built a reputation for aggressive play and trash talk at the tables. In 2003, Tony G made the final table of the WPT Euro Finals of Poker in Paris, which established him as an upcoming player to watch.

Since then Tony G has accumulated nearly $4 million in tournament earnings with large scores at the Asian Poker Tour, WPT, WSOP and PartyPoker World Open.

In 2007 Tony G won the Moscow Million for $205,000 and donated the entire first place prize to Russian orphanages.

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Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up

The first BluffEurope.com weekend round-up of 2010 brings news from the Bahamas as PokerStars turns the islands into the centre of the poker universe while on the other side of the globe Full Tilt hosted the largest ever tournament in Australia. Online, six-figure pots were played routinely. Here it all is:

Aussie Millions Opening Event Day 1c completed

The total number of registrations for the opening event of the 2010 Aussie Millions tournament series – a $1,100 NLHE event – has broken records by generating 1,143 total entries and setting records as the largest poker tournament in Australia.