Posts Tagged ‘Barry Greenstein’
Phil Ivey Finishes 2010 Atop ESPN The Nuts Rankings for December
We might all be putting our new 2011 calendars on the refrigerator, but let’s not put 2010 in our rearview mirror just yet. ESPN.com’s “The Nuts” poker player rankings for December 2010 were released on New Year’s Eve and showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Before we get to the rankings, let’s quickly explain ESPN’s methodology. Unlike rankings by some poker sites, there is no mathematical formula used in “The Nuts.” Rather, it is a simple poll by a panel of ten members of the poker media, including our very own Dan Cypra. The panel attempts to rank the top ten poker players of the moment based on both tournament and cash game results, live and online. It is an inexact science, of course, but that is part of what makes it fun.
The voting panel includes ESPN.com’s poker crew of Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee (who is also a Guest Columnist for Poker News Daily), Bluff Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lance Bradley and Senior Writer Jessica Welman, ESPNDeportes.com Poker Editor Nahuel Ponce, PokerRoad’s Court Harrington, PokerNews Editor-in-Chief Matthew Parvis and Tournament Reporter Don Peters, and Cypra.
Nine of the top ten players remained the same in December, although some of the order has changed. Phil Ivey remained in the top spot, a position that should really be renamed “Ivey’s Room.” He received eight first place votes from the ten-member panel. Jason Mercier received the other two first place votes, one coming from Cypra, cementing himself in the second position once again.
The two biggest jumps were by Tom Marchese and Vanessa Selbst, both of whom rose three spots. Marchese climbed from #6 to #3, while Selbst was elevated to the fifth spot from eighth. Marchese had an incredible 2010, his first year on the live tournament circuit. In live tournaments alone, he won over $2 million.
Marchese exploded onto the scene with a final table at the Borgata in January and followed that up with a win on the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) in February. He had three other big-time cashes last year, including final tables in the High Roller Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final, the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and the championship event of the World Poker Tour‘s (WPT) World Poker Finals, all of which contributed to winning CardPlayer’s 2010 Player of the Year award.
Selbst, who won her first and only WSOP bracelet in 2008, had two huge wins in 2010. The first was in the Main Event of the NAPT Mohegan Sun in April for $750,000, while the second came in September in the Main Event of the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes, France, where she won over $1.8 million.
The one new member of “The Nuts” was last month’s “Bubble Boy,” Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of Year placed ninth at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic en route to a $1.9 million year in live tournaments. With Mizzi’s rise into the top ten, Alexander Kostritsyn dropped out.
As an example of how fluid things can be in the poker world, half of the top ten at the end of 2010 was different than at the beginning of the year. Daniel Negreanu took the biggest tumble out of the rankings, as he occupied the second spot in January. The other four poker players – Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Daniel Alaei, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, and Barry Greenstein – were ranked seven through ten. Patrik Antonius came close to falling out of the rankings, finishing the year at #10 after starting out at #3.
The entire list of the ESPN’s “The Nuts” is as follows:
1. Phil Ivey
2. Jason Mercier
3. Tom Marchese
4. Tom Dwan
5. Vanessa Selbst
6. John Juanda
7. Michael Mizrachi
8. Eric Baldwin
9. Sorel Mizzi
10. Patrik Antonius
“The Nuts” is published at the end of every month in the poker section of ESPN.com.
Tags: 2008, 2010, 2011, aced, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, european, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, poker player, Tom Dwan, tournament, WSOP
2010 Poker Memories by Linda Johnson
Time is passing too quickly. We just said goodbye to 2010, but memories of my favorite (and not so favorite) poker moments from the year are still vivid in my mind. I’d like to share a few of my personal 2010 poker memories with you.
Proudest 2010 Poker Memory
Without a doubt, being nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame is the answer to this category. What a thrill it was to learn that I had been nominated along with such a prestigious group as Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Tom McEvoy, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington.
Favorite Poker News Story
I loved the coverage given to the Mizrachi family during the WSOP. It seemed like every poker magazine had Michael Mizrachi on the cover. Even mainstream Las Vegas entertainment magazines featured Michael and his family.
Favorite Poker Vacation
The 12-night Card Player Cruises poker trip to the Mediterranean wins in this category. The poker room was a lot of fun as usual, but the highlight was seeing all of the magnificent European ports. We stopped at Cannes/Monte Carlo, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Barcelona and had great weather in each.
Favorite Charity Event
Of all of the charity events I was fortunate to participate in during 2010, the fundraiser for MickeysCamp.org was my favorite. Mickey’s Camp was started by Mickey Maurer and is held in Indianapolis, Indiana every August. There is a three-day camp for men and a three-day camp for women. The participants sleep in the same cabins the kids stay at during summer and participate in a variety of activities including fishing, camping, wine tasting, cooking, self-defense, magic, and swimming.
I had the honor of teaching the poker sessions and running the poker tournaments for both camps. Mickey’s Camp has raised more than $1 million dollars for charity since its inception 10 years ago. Honorable mention in this category goes to fundraising events for Poker Gives and Child Rescue.
Most Disappointing Poker News
I am still angry and annoyed that we haven’t been able to overturn the UIGEA, although I think we are getting close. The news that the Washington State courts upheld the ruling making online poker illegal is just plain gross! After the ruling, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars shut down service to Washington residents, a move that should have been met with much more fury and protest from the state’s players.
Favorite Whirlwind Trip
My quick trip to Golden, Colorado for a Poker Players Alliance event qualifies in this category. In less than 24 hours, I flew in and out of Denver and participated in a poker tournament to help Senator Michael Bennett’s campaign. Bennett was elected by a very small margin and I believe he was the victor due to the support of Colorado poker players.
Most Prestigious Poker Event
The winner in this category was easily the Women in Poker Hall of Fame banquet held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The Grand Ballroom, decorated by a group of volunteers headed by Lupe Soto and her Board of Directors, took on the look of an elegant bistro/nightclub. Jan Fisher did a great job as the emcee and Jeffrey Pollack and Nolan Dalla delivered passionate speeches. After a delicious dinner, awards were presented, followed by a dance. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, and Billie Brown.
Favorite New Poker Procedure
I love the new rule established at the Commerce Casino that penalizes players who are gone too long from the table. Players who miss several rounds in $20-$40 and higher Hold’em games have $5 taken from their stacks and put into the pot. Note that this rule was just about to go into effect the last time I played there and so may have been refined since.
Favorite New Poker Social Media Source
I admit it… I am a Twitter addict! I read it as often as I can and follow many of the top poker celebrities’ Tweets. I hate that it takes up so much of my time and makes me feel like a voyeur, but I can’t seem to give it up. Perhaps they will start a Twitters Anonymous in 2011 and I will be a charter member.
Favorite Tournament Series
Few would argue that the World Series of Poker wins in this category. The series expanded into even more square footage at the Rio and saw an increase in total participants. I had three deep runs (16th, 29th, and 31st) out of the five tournaments I entered, yet am not sporting a new bracelet. Congratulations to all of the bracelet winners, but especially to Gavin Smith, who won his first bracelet after many close efforts.
The runner-up award in this category goes to Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. Roland Waters directs a great tournament series with huge player fields. Entrants get rewarded with $75,000 in added money and free dinner buffets every night.
Other favorite poker memories from 2010 include delivering the “Shuffle Up and Deal” opening speech for the WSOP Ladies Event, teaching WPT Boot Camp at many locations around the country, playing in the WPT Celebrity Invitational at the Commerce, and hosting tournaments at the Eureka Open in Mesquite, Nevada, the Rainbow Spectrum of Poker at the Rainbow Hotel in Wendover, Nevada, and the Wild Horse Resort Casino Poker Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon.
I am extremely blessed to be part of this wonderful poker world and am grateful for the opportunities it has provided me. In 2010, I met many wonderful people who share my passion for poker and was thrilled to have so many chances to give back to our community.
Our country is facing tough economic times ahead. I hope 2011 is a prosperous and happy year for Poker News Daily readers. In closing, I am happy to offer our readers a discount on any 2011 Card Player Cruises trip. Mention Poker News Daily when you book your cabin by January 15th and you will get a $50 per person discount. For more information, go to CardPlayerCruises.com.
Editor’s Note: Linda Johnson is available for poker functions, seminars, corporate events, and charity fundraisers. You can contact her through her website at CardPlayerCruises.com.
NAPT Los Angeles Bounty Shootout Airs on ESPN
On Sunday night, coverage of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Bounty Shootout aired on ESPN2. The $5,000 buy-in tournament’s first flight, which aired over the course of an hour, featured 11 bracelet winners along with “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander. ESPN poker announcers Lon McEachern and Norman Chad brought the event to life.
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad scooped a 25,000-chip early pot at the expense of Ronnie Bardah after turning the nuts with 7-5 for a straight. Players received 25,000 in chips to start and each person carried a $1,000 bounty; the player who logged the most bounties after all was said and done would win a buy-in to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Bounty Shootout in January. In addition, players’ faces and home countries were displayed on the screen by ESPN when they were involved in a hand. Any player who bested their opening round table claimed $20,000 in cash. The feature table is winner-take-all for nearly $135,000.
The first elimination of the flight went to Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, who was defeated at the hands of Justin Bonomo. Then, November Niner Jason Senti’s pocket queens could not hold against Vanessa Selbst’s A-K for his tournament life. Elsewhere in the field, Scott Montgomery sent Greg Mueller packing with pocket kings against pocket eights and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi eliminated Selbst after scoring the nut flush.
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier hit the rails at the hands of Bonomo, while Andrew “good2cu” Robl scored a double elimination. Robl turned two pair, called Obrestad’s shove with second pair on the river, and promptly sent Tom Marchese and the bracelet winner packing. Then, Greg DeBora was all-in with 8-5 against Bardah, but could not draw out on pocket threes.
Bonomo recorded his fourth bounty after eliminating online poker pro Andy Seth with queens against A-Q. Then, David Baker suffered the bad beat of the night after Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari sucked out on his pocket aces with A-Q. Esfandiari flopped one queen and rivered another to send the Texan packing. Then, Montgomery failed to win a coin flop with K-10 against Justin Young’s pocket eights and was sent home. Obrestad railed him during the hand and, after seeing her beau’s fate, she muttered, “We suck.” Montgomery responded, “Yes, indeed. We do suck.”
When the smoke cleared, Marchese, Mizrachi, Clint Coffee, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Young advanced to the final table. The credits rolled for the first hour of coverage and this author hit the freezer for a big bowl of ice cream.
The second episode included the final four tables of the NAPT LA Bounty Shootout. At the feature table, Jean-Robert Bellande was the first to depart after running second pair into Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little’s top set. Out in the field, PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu sported a beard, while UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth’s attire was curiously void of any patches for his home poker site. Instead, he promoted Aria and the WSOP Academy, leading many to believe that he may be on the outs with UB.com.
Brett Richey eliminated Barry Greenstein, but did not bring a copy of “Ace on the River” to sign. At the feature table, Hellmuth doubled up Shaun Deeb and then lamented, “I just didn’t want to fold. Phil, Phil, Phil.” Negreanu was ousted after his 9-7 of spades could not draw out on Phil Laak’s A-J, leaving Chad to comment, “He’s got time to shave the beard now.”
Speaking of Laak, the Unabomber Poker pro sent Alex Keating packing. Elsewhere, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania relegated Victor Ramdin to the rail after spiking a pair of jacks on the river. Also finding help on the river was Matt “mcmatto” Affleck, who hit Broadway on the final card to sent Adam Junglen home before committing his chips with K-J on a flop of K-6-3. However, PokerStars pro David Williams woke up with pocket aces, which held when the board filled out 2-Q.
Williams sent “Nacho” Barbero home to win his table, while 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker was ousted after running pocket fours into Nick Binger’s pocket eights. Pat Pezzin triumphed over his table after busting Richey, and Charania also advanced to the finals.
Joining Williams, Charania, and Pezzin at the NAPT LA Bounty Shootout final table will be Kevin MacPhee, who took down EPT Berlin earlier this year, a tournament that included a high-stakes robbery. Nine players advanced to the finals in the 81-man field.
This Sunday at 9:00pm ET, catch the conclusion of the NAPT LA Bounty Shootout on ESPN2. At 10:00pm ET, action from the NAPT LA Main Event will air.
Miramax Confirms Plans for Rounders 2
The movie that helped spark the poker boom is returning to fire a second barrel. Miramax Films announced this week that it will be teaming up with the Weinstein Company to produce “Rounders 2,” a sequel to the cult favorite that was released more than a decade ago.
According to IMDB, “Rounders 2” is currently in development and scheduled to hit theaters in 2012. The cast and crew have not been announced, but Matt Damon (who played Mike McDermott in the first film) and Ed Norton (Lester “Worm” Murphy) have supposedly signed on for the project, as has original director John Dahl. It’s unknown whether John Malkovich (Teddy KGB) or John Turturro (Joey Knish) will return for the sequel, leaving fans to speculate where the story will take the lead characters this time around.
Miramax broke the exciting news in press release on Thursday: “Miramax and the Weinstein Company today announced an agreement to create sequels to some of Miramax’s best-known properties and to partner on potential new television shows and special edition home entertainment products. The first films to be produced under the agreement will be sequels to ‘Bad Santa,’ ‘Rounders,’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love.’” The list of potential projects listed later in the press release included “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “Cop Land,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Swingers.” “Clerks,” “Shall We Dance,” and “The Amityville Horror.”
The Weinstein Company was formed in 2005 when Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the original founders of Miramax, left the company. Since leaving the Miramax studio, the Weinstein Group has produced critically acclaimed films like “Inglorious Basterds,” “Nine,” and “The Reader.” Before the Weinsteins departed, Miramax developed award-winning films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “Chicago.” Miramax opened in 1969 and was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1993. Disney then sold the studio to Filmyard Holdings LLC earlier this year.
“We are very close to these films and the new management of Miramax also feels that we are in the best position to create sequels that are at once worthy and compelling in their own right,” Harvey and Bob Weinstein commented in a joint statement Thursday.
The news of the “Rounders 2” production status is very promising for poker fans, who have seen some dismal poker movies released over the past decade. “Lucky You,” starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, and several poker pros including Sam Farha, Daniel Negreanu, and Barry Greenstein, was a major flop at the box office in 2006 and wasn’t received well by the poker community. “The Grand” hit theaters in 2007 and was given similar disapproval. The film, an improvisational comedy set at a poker tournament, starred poker enthusiasts Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, and Jason Alexander, but was bashed by critics.
There was also a scene in the most recent James Bond film (“Casino Royale”) that left poker players cringing. Daniel Craig (who played Bond in the film) slow-rolled three players with a straight flush for a $115 million pot – not exactly the way to win over viewers who regularly play the game.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as updates on this story unfold.
Jonathan Duhamel and Scotty Nguyen have their debut on High Stakes Poker
There has been lots of talk about the lineup for High Stakes Poker Season 7 and now the players are slowly revealed as the filming is underway.
The filming will end today and after going through some players who use twitter, it is clear who have been playing:
Barry Greenstein: “Getting ready to film High Stakes Poker at Bellagio. They gave me old chips from the cage due to a recent robbery!”
Antonio Esfandiari: “Today is High Stakes Poker. Oatmeal. Protein shake. Feeeeling good. One (moore) time!”
Jonathan Duhamel (WSOP 2010 Main Event winner): “@TheGrinder44 Some shooting for PStars and then high stakes poker!”
Andrew Robl: “On set for high stakes poker. Going to be quite a season!”
Jason Mercier: “Off to Vegas today … Goin to try my luck again at season 7 of high stakes poker”
And also Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Doyle “Texas dolly” Brunson, David “Viffer” Peat, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Scotty “Scotty baby” Nguyen are going to play.
Full Tilt Poker haven’t changed their politics, they won’t allow their Team players to play on HSP. Also Daniel Negreanu told that he is busy doing other things, so he is not able to play.
Let’s hope that the new players will bring some life to HSP as the Season 6 was a bit of a letdown.
Source: Pokerista.net, PokerKingBlog
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Jonathan Duhamel and Scotty Nguyen have their debut on High Stakes Poker
Tags: 2009, 2010, Barry Greenstein, bellagio, Daniel Negreanu, full tilt poker, high stakes, vegas, WSOP
High Stakes Poker Season 7 Taping at Bellagio This Week
This week, the seventh season of the GSN cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker” will begin taping at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip. Last year, the action emanated from the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas and a source close to GSN told Poker News Daily that the change in venue was due to a “production decision.”
No members of the media are allowed inside the “High Stakes Poker” suite for Season 7. Instead, what happens in the small makeshift poker room will remain a closely guarded secret until the seventh cycle of the show airs beginning in February on GSN. “High Stakes Poker” will return to its Sunday night time slot and feature with the same faces as last year: PartyPoker pro Kara Scott conducting interviews from tableside and former “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan flying solo in the booth.
The constantly-changing list of pros scheduled to turn out over the next three days includes Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic winner Antonio Esfandiari, David “Viffer” Peat, Phil Laak, Jason Mercier, Phil Galfond, and former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Scotty Nguyen, who will be making his “High Stakes Poker” debut. The same source also relayed that several amateurs will join the fray.
One player who won’t be gracing the “High Stakes Poker” felts this year is Daniel Negreanu, one of only a handful of players who have competed in every season to this point. Negreanu explained via Twitter why he wouldn’t be able to make it to Las Vegas in time: “Sad news: At airport headed home, which means the trip is over. Have a commercial shoot when I land, which means no HSP for me this year.” Negreanu had been in Sydney for the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final, where he made the final table and finished ninth.
Lex Veldhuis will also be a no-show for “High Stakes Poker” at the Bellagio. Veldhuis Tweeted earlier today, “Crazy busy week. Leaving for Vegas on Monday. Have to get all my shit done. Had to cancel for High Stakes Poker.”
Also potentially absent from the “High Stakes Poker” felts this season will be Full Tilt pros, although our source could not confirm or deny their attendance. Greenstein, a PokerStars pro, explained the dilemma on TwoPlusTwo: “Full Tilt has two major concerns. First is they don’t like their players playing when PokerStars is the sponsor of the show… Secondly, they were unhappy that PokerStars bought the HSP archives. In the early seasons of HSP, the players didn’t wear logos, so FTP is concerned that viewers will be able to go to PokerStars.tv and see the FTP players without logos and be confused by their affiliation.”
In previous years, the press was invited for interviews prior to the action. In fact, when the filming of Season 7 was scheduled to take place last month, Poker News Daily was invited to watch the action unfold. However, due to the change in location to the Bellagio this month, a source close to GSN told Poker News Daily, “We have all of these new players, a new venue, and new elements. It’s a small space. It’s super tight and we just want to focus on the game play.”
“High Stakes Poker” will once again boast a $200,000 buy-in for Season 7 and, unlike NBC’s “Poker After Dark,” no change to Pot Limit Omaha is expected. Instead, the GSN series will continue spreading high-stakes No Limit Hold’em. One-hour episodes will once again grace the small screen next year, as has been the case in years’ past.
No Dwan, Ivey or Antonius on High Stakes Poker Season 7?
High Stakes Poker didn’t get too many praises in last season when A.J. Benza was replaced by Kara Scott. The upcoming season doesn’t look that promising either.
Full Tilt Poker might forbid their players to participate on the show. The reason for the ban is that the show is sponsored by PokerStars, which is the biggest rival to FTP.
Barry Greenstein writes about it on 2+2 forums:
“I talked to Howard Lederer and Mori.
However, Full Tilt has two major concerns. First is they don’t like their players playing when PokerStars is the sponsor of the show. (I assume Full Tilt can buy ad time but I didn’t check this out with GSN or PokerStars.) Secondly, they were unhappy that PokerStars bought the HSP archives.
In the early seasons of HSP, the players didn’t wear logos, so FTP is concerned that viewers will be able to go to pokerstars.tv and see the FTP players without logos and be confused by their affiliation,” Greenstein writes.
Greenstein doesn’t like the current policy, because everyone would like to see Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and Tom “durrrr” Dwan on the show.
“Most of us would like to see the three top FTP cash game players on the show along with some of the other characters we have had in previous seasons. If they don’t play, they’ll be replaced by some new young stars of the game, some affiliated and some not,” Greenstein concludes his post.
Only time will tell what happens. Let’s hope that the policy will change, so HSP would get a season waht the fans deserve.
Source: Pokerista.net
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The Sunday Scoop: Stammdogg Takes A Bite
The Celina, Ohio based pro made two major final tables, just missing out on a couple of massive scores.
Full Tilt Poker's $750k Guaranteed drew 4,213 creating an $842,600 prize pool that paid 585. ravagee booked the win and $148,794.73 first place prize defeating a final table that included a sixth place finish by Stammen (25,783.56).
In the meantime, Stammen was also busy finishing fourth in the PokerStars $215 Sunday 2nd Chance for $21,555.
The PokerStars Sunday Million was still the biggest event on the day, with 8,514 entrants creating a total prize pool of $1,702,800 that paid 1,260.
After chopping heads up, ettiezzi went on to book the win and collect $229,030.02. artohme recieved $204,507.27 finishing runner-up.
The PokerStars Sunday Warm-up drew 4,718 with 26071985 grabbing $148,034.11 for the win after beating P1ngPoNgPr0 ($109,929.40) heads up.
But the real story on PokerStars may have been the play of a few of its Team pros.
Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg won two smaller events and final tabled two others. Canadian Team Pro Greg DeBora booked a small win, teammate Pat Pezzin made a final table, Barry Greenstein made the $215 HORSE final and Nacho Barbero went deep in the $109 rebuy.
As a part of Full Tilt Poker's Rush week promotion, the Sunday Brawl was converted to a Rush Poker Tournament this week.
It drew 2,616 and DaMurdera3 outlasted them all to collect a $106,209.60 first prize.
Finally, ERIK WRIGHT won a UB $200k Guaranteed event that drew 948, forcing the site to kick in a slight overlay.
Team UB Pro "Hollywood" Dave Stann had yet another good run in this one finishing 20th.
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Venetian to Host All In For CP Charity Poker Tournament
Actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Joe Cada will host the third annual All In For Cerebral Palsy celebrity charity poker tournament at the Venetian’s poker room on Saturday, December 11th. Proceeds from the event will benefit the One Step Closer Foundation, a non-profit organization whose main goal is to ease the lives of those who suffer from cerebral palsy through financial freedom and social acceptance.
The No Limit Hold’em charity tournament will be a $540 buy-in with unlimited $200 rebuys for 90 minutes. Half of the pool will go for the tournament’s payouts, with the other half going to the foundation. There will also be sports and Hollywood memorabilia available through auctions and an after-party with free drinks courtesy of the One Step Closer Foundation. Players can register online or at the Venetian Poker Room cage until the end of the rebuy period on December 11th.
Jacob Zalewski, who copes with cerebral palsy and serves as President and CEO of the One Step Closer Foundation, started the All In For Cerebral Palsy event in 2008. Zalewski is a huge poker fan can regularly be found at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino during the annual WSOP in Las Vegas. He has made friends with many of poker’s biggest stars throughout the years, many of which support his foundation by playing in the event.
“We hope to see a future where cerebral palsy is a thing of the past,” said Zalewski, who made a final table at the WSOP in 2005. “We know are getting one step closer to that vision every day.”
Mekhi Phifer, star of FOX’s “Lie to Me” and films such as “8 Mile” and “O,” bested 97 players last year to win the All In For Cerebral Palsy tournament. The event raised more than $80,000, as attendance doubled at the Hard Rock Casino from the previous year.
Phifer is expected to return to defend his title this year, along with fellow celebrities Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”), Sam Simon (creator of “The Simpsons”), Montel Williams (TV talk show host), Donnie Wahlberg (“Blue Bloods”), Gina Hecht (“Hung”), and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis. Playboy playmates Lauren Anderson, Stacy Fuson, Alison Waite, and Brande Roderick have also committed to the event.
Poker pros that have given support to the cause and will likely play again this year include Dennis Phillips, Victor Ramdin, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra, Freddy Deeb, Darvin Moon, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Andy Block, David “Chino” Rheem, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Robert Williamson III, and Jamie Gold.
Cerebral palsy refers to motor conditions that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination. Effects of the disorder don’t worsen over time, but they can’t be cured. However, treatment will often improve a child’s capabilities, allowing them to enjoy near-normal adult lives if their disabilities are properly managed.
For more information about the disorder and the “All In For Cerebral Palsy” tournament, visit AllInForCP.com.
Tags: 2008, 2009, Barry Greenstein, charity, charity poker, darvin moon, Hollywood, poker player, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Ivey among WPT Five Diamond leaders
Ivey Among Leaders as WPT Five Diamond Kicks Off
A total of 391 players entered the $10k event throughout the first day's five 90-minute levels and more are expected with registration open until the end of the event's eighth level at close to 5 p.m. PT Saturday.
Many of poker's biggest names were among the Day 1 starters, including Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Chau Giang, Vanessa Rousso, Jason Mercier, Scotty Nguyen, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein and Freddy Deeb.
As players like Scott Seiver, Vanessa Selbst, Justin Bonomo, Joe Sebok, Frank Kassela and Joseph Cheong hit the rail, names like Ivey, Esfandiari, Kirk Morrison, Matt Keikoan, Justin Young, and Shannon Shorr moved toward the top of the leaderboard.
2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure finalist Ryan D'Angelo grabbed the overnight lead heading into Day 2 Saturday with 287 players remaining.
A $15k event last year, the Five Diamond drew 329 players with Daniel Alaei booking the win against an all-star final table that included Scotty Nguyen, Josh Arieh, Shawn Buchanan, Steve O'Dwyer and 2009 WPT Player of the Year Faraz Jaka.
The 2010 WPT Five Diamond continues through Dec. 8.
For an unprecedented look at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic from Phil Ivey's perspective, tune into PokerListings WPT Live Updates beginning at 12 p.m. PT Saturday.
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Poker Community Reacts to Recent WSOP Bracelet Auctions
This year has featured something that many in the poker world would seemingly find unbelievable, the auctioning of World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets on sites like eBay.
In January, one of T.J. Cloutier’s bracelets was put up for sale by a Plano pawn shop and sold for $4,006 to the online site Cake Poker, which then returned the bracelet to Cloutier.
This week, the 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet of the now retired Peter Eastgate was auctioned for UNICEF, fetching an astounding $147,500 from an anonymous bidder on Thanksgiving Day.
Currently ongoing is an auction on eBay for Paul “Eskimo” Clark’s 1999 WSOP bracelet, which he apparently had sold to a third party. At press time, bidding on Clark’s poker trophy had reached $3,850 with almost four days left to go in the auction.
With the recent wave of WSOP bracelet auctions, people might wonder if the phrase “it’s all about the bracelets” really means anything. “Just because we say it’s all about the bracelet doesn’t mean it’s about the physical bracelet,” three-time WSOP bracelet winner Barry Greenstein responded.
“It’s about winning,” Greenstein continued. “However, I am very aware of how many I have won. And I can’t remember how many finishes I’ve had that resulted in higher payouts than my wins. On the other hand, I know of several instances where people made deals to get extra money and let someone else win the bracelet. In every case I know of, the person who took the extra money regretted it later.”
Antonio Esfandiari, who won a WSOP bracelet in 2004, echoed Greenstein’s sentiments: “The bracelet means a lot. Mine is safely kept in my safe and I will never sell it – that’s for sure. However, each person has a different connection with their bracelet… To some people, it might be just a piece of jewelry and to others it might be the most valuable thing they own.”
Poker Stars pro Chad Brown, who has earned over $3 million in his career, believes that each individual places their own priority on how important a WSOP bracelet is. “(The importance of a bracelet) I feel is an individual thing and personal to each person. I would feel like I didn’t accomplish everything in my career if I didn’t win one. With that said, however, even if I had won a WSOP bracelet, it wouldn’t come close to me winning Player of the Year in 2006. For the rest of my life, I can say that in 2006, I performed better than any other player over a calendar year.”
WSOP Circuit champion Matt “All In At 420” Stout said, “I don’t believe that a few players who are broke enough or have little enough respect for the most coveted prize in poker reflect the way that most of the poker community feels about bracelets accurately. Bracelets are still extremely important to most tournament poker players and acquiring one is one of the life goals of many players, myself included.”
UB.com pro Joe Sebok took a similar viewpoint: “The talk isn’t meaningless, but we live in a society where cash is king. We have seen championship rings sold from time to time, so why not bracelets?” A multiple WSOP bracelet winner who asked to remain anonymous agreed: “If some former champions get in a bind – and I am not one of them – I can understand how tempting it might be to sell one.”
One organization that values its trophies is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which has awarded the top prize in movies, the Academy Award of Merit (otherwise known as the Oscars) since 1927. In 1950, AMPAS introduced a requirement to Oscar winners that, if they wished to sell the statuette they had won, it would first have to be offered back to AMPAS for the price of $1.
If the recipient of the award refuses to agree to this stipulation, then AMPAS keeps the Oscar statuette. In theory, this would prevent the most valued prize in the film industry from being sold on the open market.
When posed with the question of whether Caesars Entertainment, the owners of the WSOP brand, should do something along these lines with bracelets, those polled by Poker News Daily were evenly split. “I suppose it would make sense for Harrah’s to have a program in which they’d buy them back to avoid these public sales,” Stout stated. Sebok agreed: “Sure, why not? Seems like a reasonable thing for the WSOP to do. Protect the brand and the importance of the bracelet.”
Esfandiari, however, thought the idea of Harrah’s maintaining a “buy back” clause was absurd: “Of course not… That is ridiculous. You win your bracelet and you keep it. What you do with it is entirely up to you. You want to sell it, go ahead… It’s your prerogative.”
Nolan Dalla, the Media Director of the WSOP since 2002, agreed with Esfandiari, saying, “The players win the bracelets and they are free to do with them as they please. Out of the approximately 890 gold bracelets that have been awarded over 41 years, the overwhelming majority are cherished possessions.”
Eastgate’s selling of his 2008 Main Event bracelet for the charitable organization UNICEF was generally viewed as acceptable. “Peter Eastgate made a nice charitable gesture and his bracelet is going for a lot more than it would have been sold for if not for the charity,” our anonymous multiple bracelet winner stated.
Stout agreed somewhat: “I do commend Eastgate for donating all of the profits to charity. At least his decision to quit the game and show no respect for the bracelet is going to benefit some people in need.”
Then again, maybe the uproar over three bracelets appearing on an online auction site is much ado about nothing. Dalla succinctly explained, “What’s the total number of gold bracelets sold? Three? Maybe a few more than that? That’s less than 1% of all the WSOP gold bracelets that have been awarded in history. In other words, more than 99% of gold bracelets are in possession of the winners or their families. You ask, ‘Is all the talk about the bracelets meaningless?’ The real question you should be asking is, ‘Why are there not more people selling their gold bracelets?’ The reason is obvious: Because they are such coveted prizes to everyone who plays poker.”
Daniel Negreanu Trumps Ray Reid on PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
Sunday marked the second to last episode of the season for the PokerStars sponsored “Million Dollar Challenge,” which flanks NFL coverage on FOX. Ray Reid, a 29 year old son of a pastor from Canada, was the show’s challenger and told host Chris Rose that he wanted to use any money earned to turn his life around and help his father build a church.
Reid faced off against celebrity defender Gary Payton in the first round. In each of the matches, both players began with 20,000 in chips and the blinds started at a hefty 400/800. In the opening round, show front man Daniel Negreanu was seated alongside the contestant and could offer advice, but was unable to see any hole cards. In addition, the challenger had one timeout to confer with “Kid Poker.”
The match against Payton lasted all of one hand. On a board of K-9-7-4, Reid bet 4,000 with J-9 for second pair and Payton shoved all-in with A-10 for ace-high. Reid asked for time and Negreanu told him to call given the size of the pot. Reid obliged and the river was a five, giving the challenger the win in the match and a $5,000 trip to the Bahamas for the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January.
Next up was pro defender Barry Greenstein, a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner. Negreanu moved to an isolation booth where he could communicate with Reid through and earpiece and see his hole cards. To counter, Greenstein could shut off communication between Negreanu and Reid twice using the “Dome of Silence.”
Like the match against Payton, Reid’s tangle with Greenstein was abbreviated. On a flop of 8-9-4, Reid checked with Q-10 for a gutshot straight draw and two overcards and Greenstein bet 4,000 with 9-7 for top pair. Reid min-raised to 8,000 and Greenstein invoked the “Dome of Silence,” forcing the amateur to finish the hand on his own. Greenstein shoved over-the-top all-in and Reid called, putting Greenstein at risk. The turn card was a jack, filling Reid’s straight, and Greenstein was drawing dead to the river.
For beating the PokerStars pro, Reid earned $25,000. He was then faced with a tough decision: take the cash and dash or risk his payday for a $100,000 match against Negreanu and a shot at $1 million. His friends and family reminded him that the show wasn’t called the “$25,000 Poker Challenge” and encouraged him to go for broke. Reid agreed to set up a heads-up showdown with Negreanu.
The key hand between Reid and Negreanu saw Reid flop a flush with 9-7 of spades on a board of A-10-K, all spades. Negreanu, holding A-10 for top and bottom pair, checked and Reid checked behind to another ace on the turn. Negreanu, now holding an unbeatable boat, checked and Reid bet 3,000. Negreanu check-raised to 6,000 and Reid shipped it in. Negreanu called all-in and doubled up, crippling Reid’s stack to just three big blinds.
Reid committed his remaining chips before the flop with 6-3, but ran into Negreanu’s 7-6 and could not improve when the board came 2-5-10-A-Q. However, he still received a $5,000 trip to the Bahamas for his efforts.
On December 12th, the finale of the second season of the PokerStars “Million Dollar Challenge” will air. The Challenge of Champions will see the show’s top winners vie in a sit and go whose victor will play Negreanu heads-up for $1 million. In the meantime, you can catch Season 1 of the poker game show on GSN. Check your local listings for more details.
World Poker Tour Signs Extension with Bicycle Casino
This week, the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the Bicycle Casino announced a five-year extension to their longstanding contract. The deal will see the Legends of Poker tournament attached to the WPT brand through 2015.
“The Bicycle Casino has been an enthusiastic and devoted venue partner and the WPT is proud to continue its association with the incredibly popular Legends of Poker event and the team behind it,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “The Bicycle Casino is a charter member of the WPT and this extension will allow us to build on a tradition of collaboration and best-in-class poker started in 2002.”
The Legends of Poker takes place at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California each year and has been won by big names like Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, Prahlad Friedman, and John “The Razor” Phan. Most recently, Andy Frankenberger took down the $5,000 buy-in Main Event for $750,000. Frankenberger beat Kyle Wilson heads-up for the title and is the current leader in the WPT Player of the Year standings going into WPT Marrakech. The Legends of Poker, along with most WPT events, will air on the Fox Sports Network in early 2011.
This year’s Legends of Poker drew 426 players, a 66% attendance increase over the previous year’s total of 279. It should be noted, however, that the 2010 version had a $5,000 buy-in, while $10,000 per seat was charged in previous years. As a result, the tournament’s prize pool dropped from $2.63 million to $2.15 million. Friedman, the 2009 champion, earned more than $1 million for his victory.
Despite the drop in buy-in, the biggest names in the game still made the trek to Los Angeles this year. Among those who took part in the 2010 Legends of Poker were Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Allen Cunningham, Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Madsen, Joe Sebok, and Kathy Liebert, who was playing in her 100th WPT event.
The WPT and the Bicycle Casino were very pleased with the overall result. “It is very evident that the WPT made significant enhancements across the board this year and has plans to continue to do so in the future,” said Bicycle Casino Director of Marketing Kelly O’Hara. “We believe these changes are resonating with our players and with us. We’ve had nine great seasons together and look forward to at least five more. I believe together we’ll continue to offer players a better experience during every year of this deal.”
The announcement of the contract extension came at a very interesting time for the Bicycle Casino, as it played host to the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Main Event earlier this week. However, due to a television exclusivity clause between The Bike and the WPT, the ESPN-televised final table was moved to Compton, California at the Crystal Casino.
As Poker News Daily reported on Tuesday, PokerStars officials sent out an e-mail that read, “Please be advised that the final table of the NAPT Los Angeles Main Event has been relocated to the Crystal Casino and Hotel. The final table is being filmed for broadcast on ESPN2. The cards will be in the air at 2:00pm PT.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest World Poker Tour headlines.
Baldwin Books NAPT Bounty Win
The Team UB pro outlasted eight other finalists in what was a marathon final table to collect the winner-take-all $134,280 prize.
Baldwin, a former college baseball player who won a WSOP bracelet in 2009 and finished runner-up in the WPT Championship en route to CardPlayer Player of the Year honors, now has better than $3.3 million in career earnings.
The Bounty Shootout format saw 81 players seperated into nine tables of nine with a $1,000 bounty on each player and the survivors earning $20k and a seat at the final table.
All the action was recorded for broadcast on ESPN2.
Names like Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Liv Boeree, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, actor Jason Alexander, Phil Hellmuth, Michael Mizrachi and Annette Obrestad all took part.
While Baldwin won, Justin Young collected the most bounties earning him a free seat in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Bounty Shootout event in the Bahamas this January.
Here's how the final nine finished:
1 Eric Baldwin $134,280 + $20,000 + $3,000 in bounties
2 Justin Young $20,000 + $6,000 in bounties
3 David Williams $20,000 + $4,000 in bounties
4 Mohsin Charania $20,000 + $5,000 in bounties
5 Tom Marchese $20,000 + $4,000 in bounties
6 Clint Coffee $20,000 + $3,000 in bounties
7 Pat Pezzin $20,000 + $2,000 in bounties
8 Michael Mizrachi $20,000 + $4,000 in bounties
9 Kevin MacPhee $20,000 + $3,000 in bounties
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Nick Grippo Leads NAPT LA After Day 1A
The first of two Day 1s played out on Friday in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop in Los Angeles at the Bicycle Casino. A field of 330 players turned out and even more are expected to descend upon the California card room when Day 1B begins this afternoon at 1:00pm PT.
Online poker pro Nick Grippo leads the field after Day 1A with a stack of 235,100. One of the first eliminations of Friday’s play belonged to PokerStars sponsored pro Barry Greenstein, who flopped top pair and rain into middle set. Greenstein received no help on the turn or river and exited a few hands later. The three-time bracelet winner had to take down the name and address of the player who knocked him out, as he did not have a copy of his book “Ace on the River” on-hand to sign.
Just like at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, Soi Nguyen’s stay in NAPT LA was short-lived. He was out after about four hours when a player holding a set of threes cracked his pocket aces. No saving ace fell from there and Nguyen, the lone amateur at this year’s Main Event final table, headed for the exit.
Freshly un-retired online poker pro Shaun Deeb departed after an opponent hit a full house on the river with pocket threes. The board read A-J-6-3-6 and Deeb exposed a six before heading to the rail. According to coverage found on PokerStars, one of the game’s top internet players decreed “I’m done, see ya” and promptly departed. Following Deeb out the door was PokerStars pro Liv Boeree, who ran pocket jacks into two players with A-K and one with A-X on her final hand.
Jason Mercier hit a flush on the turn and dodged a higher flush draw on the river to scoop a major pot in the final minutes of play on Friday. Mercier bagged up the 10th largest stack at 173,200 when all was said and done. The WSOP bracelet winner and European Poker Tour (EPT) champ took down the NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout for nearly $500,000.
Female sensation Annette Obrestad busted after running pocket kings into Isaac Haxton’s A-Q. Haxton spiked a wheel on the river and Obrestad was eliminated. Also ousted on Friday from NAPT LA were 2004 WSOP Main Event champ Greg Raymer, 2010 November Niner Joseph Cheong, Full Tilt Red Pro Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, Lauren Kling, and PokerStars Canadian pro Pat Pezzin.
Now that we’ve rattled off a list of players who didn’t make it past Day 1A, let’s take a look at the top of the leaderboard after the first nine levels of action on Friday:
1. Nick Grippo – 235,100
2. Tom Middleton – 229,100
3. Scott Fischman – 224,600
4. Clint Coffee – 202,900
5. Romulus Segal – 190,700
6. Cary Katz – 184,000
7. Ryan Welch – 183,100
8. Jake Toole – 181,200
9. Richard Munro – 179,100
10. Jason Mercier – 173,200
Other pros who remain and sit in the top 50 on the leaderboard include:
14. Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki – 130,500
18. Alec “traheho” Torelli – 117,700
23. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey – 102,600
24. John “The Razor” Phan – 101,400
27. Andreas Hoivold – 95,500
30. William Reynolds – 93,100
35. David Baker – 83,400
39. Olivier Busquet – 80,200
40. George Lind – 79,700
41. Justin Bonomo – 79,600
48. Isaac Haxton – 75,200
The blinds stood at 500-1,000 with an ante of 100 when play paused for the night on Day 1A. Today, the action will start from scratch for Day 1B and the survivors will convene for Day 2 on Sunday. PokerStars officials are expecting the total prize pool to pass $3 million and the field size to out-pace the 716 players who showed up the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event in April.
Tags: 2010, Barry Greenstein, canadian, european, Justin Bonomo, Online Poker, poker player, pokerstars, WSOP
Daniel Negreanu Trumps Johnny Whitt on PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
On Sunday flanking NFL coverage on FOX, a new episode of the PokerStars “Million Dollar Challenge” aired. The Chris Rose-hosted show has become one of the industry’s staple television series and last week, Johnny Whitt from Houston, Texas challenged a stable of PokerStars pros and celebrities. On the line was a $100,000 match against Daniel Negreanu and a shot at $1 million.
Whitt faced off against a half-dressed Sara Underwood in the first round. Negreanu sat beside Whitt throughout the match, which saw Underwood take an early lead after Whitt’s open-ended straight draw failed to come through. Underwood opened up a 2:1 chip advantage as a result, but could not hold up. The Victory Poker pro moved all-in with 10-8 on a board reading Q-8-5-6 for a pair of eights. However, Whitt had her dominated with Q-8 for top two pair and Underwood was drawing dead to the river. Whitt received a $5,000 trip to the Bahamas for the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
After getting through the former Playboy Playmate of the Year, Whitt squared off against PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein. This time, Negreanu moved to an isolation booth where he could communicate with Whitt through an earpiece. In turn, Greenstein could suspend all communication between the two by invoking the Dome of Silence twice during the match. Greenstein scooped two pots worth a combined 20,000 in chips early, leaving Whitt treading on thin ice.
Greenstein used his Dome of Silence twice pre-flop; both times he peeked down at 7-2 and gave Whitt a walk. Ultimately, the challenger was all-in pre-flop with 4-3 and up against the pocket sixes of Greenstein, but flopped the nuts when the first three cards came 5-2-A. The pot resulted in a 2:1 chip lead for the amateur and, in the match’s final hand, Whitt’s A-7 held against Greenstein’s Q-5 when the Texan made a flush on the turn. He picked up $25,000 to go along with the trip to the Bahamas.
Rose asked Whitt if he wanted to risk his $25,000 payday to face Negreanu heads-up for $100,000 and a chance at $1 million or take the money and run. Whitt’s family encouraged him to take the plunge and Whitt obliged, setting up a “Star Wars”-esque master versus apprentice showdown on the “Million Dollar Challenge.” After Whitt took the chip lead, Negreanu raised to 4,000 before the flop with A-10 and Whitt 3bet to 8,000 with Q-J. Negreanu called to set up the game-changing pot.
The flop came 4-5-8 with two clubs and Whitt open-shoved all-in. Negreanu, remarking that there were too many chips in the middle to fold, called all-in as a 70% favorite. Another club on the turn gave Whitt a flush draw, but a red nine on the river gave Negreanu a pot of 37,000, or 93% of the chips in play. Whitt, whose stack totaled less than one big blind, then staked his tournament life on 6-5, but could not draw out on Negreanu’s 8-5. “Kid Poker” scooped $10,000 for charity.
The PokerStars-backed “Million Dollar Challenge” will next hit airwaves on November 21st flanking NFL coverage on FOX. Then, on December 12th, one contestant will battle Negreanu for a $1 million top prize. Last season, 9/11 first responder Mike Kosowski earned the seven-figure jackpot after spiking a four-outer on the final hand. You can catch Season 1 of the “Million Dollar Challenge” on GSN.
PokerStars is holding qualifiers for the poker game show online until December 8th. Check out a brand new episode in two weeks on FOX.
BLOG – the coolest hands in TV poker history
Poker Industry Reacts to WSOP Main Event Results
On Monday night, Jonathan Duhamel became the first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion from Canada, banking nearly $9 million following a 90-minute heads-up session against John Racener.
Despite taking second place, Racener was gracious in defeat. He posted on Twitter this afternoon, “Congratulations to Johnathan Duhamel. Still very happy with 2nd place. Would have loved to win it tho. I’ll be back to get it next year.” Racener doubled up early on in heads-up play with pocket queens against Duhamel’s K-4, but could not gain any traction from there.
Also weighing in was fellow Canadian poker player Daniel Negreanu, who, like Duhamel, is a sponsored pro of PokerStars. Negreanu Tweeted, “WSOP spoiler alert: just woke up and saw that PokerStars has now produced 6 of the last 8 WSOP champs and Canada its 1st. Congrats kid!” Negreanu and the rest of the online poker community can now watch the Main Event final table with hole cards tonight on ESPN at 10:00pm ET.
Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith, who was decked out in a blue Toronto Maple Leafs hockey jersey on Monday night at the Rio, commented on Wednesday, “Congrats to Duhamel, and enough with the Canadian shots. Racener is my friend and I have never met Jonathon, besides Leaf fans detest Habs” Smith rooted on Racener in the Main Event and wore his blue hockey jersey to stand out in stark contrast to Duhamel’s fans, who were decked out in red Montreal Canadiens gear.
Also gracious despite not winning the Main Event title was Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, the tournament’s fifth place finisher. Mizrachi posted, “Waking up!! Congrats to John Duhamel!!! Well done!! Great game Racener!! It’s all over… Now it’s time to grind!! Next Stop @ Bike in LA.” The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles stop at The Bike, whose $5,000 Main Event begins on Friday, will be the landing spot for many in the poker community now that the WSOP has wrapped up.
Racener donated 1% of his winnings to Prevent Cancer, which Tweeted, “Congratulations and thanks to 2nd place winner of #WSOP, John Racener, for pledging 1% of poker winnings last night #2preventcancer!” Ninth place finisher Soi Nguyen also pledged 1% of his earnings to the organization.
Before the Main Event’s conclusion kicked off on Monday night, Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson gave the introductory remarks for the former and commented via Twitter that he wasn’t a fan of public speaking. Now, “Texas Dolly” and a host of poker pros are in transit to the Dominican Republic for the Punta Cana Poker Classic. Brunson chirped, “Off to Punta Cana. We got two great pros into the Poker HOF last night. Next year Barry Greenstein goes in. Anybody want to bet no?”
Pulling for Joseph Cheong throughout the Main Event final table was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson. Cheong wore a patch for Poker Gives and nearly claimed the title, ultimately busting out in third place. Johnson Tweeted on Saturday as play passed the dinner break, “Go Joseph Cheong… He caught a river card he needed, though he did start with best hand.”
On the popular poker forum PocketFives.com, a November Nine sweat thread attracted over 500 responses. Duhamel received a fair share of flak on the site, but one poster defended the first Canadian Main Event winner: “I’m surprised how much hate Duhamel is getting. Mostly from him beating Affleck, but hey sh!t happens in poker. So far from what I’ve seen/read, I think Duhamel played a great FT. Overall it was a great FT! It’s a shame Cheong or Mizrachi didn’t make it HU, but I think Racener played a great short stack when it was 7 handed to make it HU.” Racener is a longtime PocketFives.com member.
Check out our 2010 WSOP Main Event final table coverage.
PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge: Johnny Whitt
Hammond WSOP Circuit Regional Championship Reaches Money Bubble
Twenty-four players are left standing in the first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Regional Championship, which is taking place at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, located just outside of Chicago. The bursting of the money bubble ended play on Tuesday.
Cero Zuccarello became the first ever Bubble Boy at a Circuit Regional Championship, exiting in 25th place. He got it all-in before the flop with A-Q against Justin “Boosted J” Smith’s A-4 of diamonds, but Smith flopped a four to pull ahead with a pair. Zuccarello couldn’t catch up when the turn came a six and the river came an eight, sending him home empty-handed. Every player remaining is assured at least $19,000 from the $10,000 buy-in tournament and a top prize of $525,000 is on the line.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Brock “t_soprano” Parker was ousted in 26th place after running K-J into the pocket aces of Steve Zolotow. Parker committed his chips on a king-high flop, but Zolotow isolated with the overpair and was ahead. Zolotow is in seventh place entering the Regional Championship’s play down day on Wednesday.
Day 1 chip leader Ryan Julius doubled up through Shannon Shorr to stamp his ticket to Day 3. As is the case with many major pots in poker, Julius was in a race with A-Q against Shorr’s pocket tens and quickly flopped an ace to take the lead. No ten came on the turn or river and Julius’ stack ballooned to 160,000. In the end, both players made it to the play down day. Shorr will come armed with a stack of 328,000, while Julius bagged up 215,000 in chips last night.
PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein was also shown the door yesterday in Hammond. Greenstein could not draw out on pocket queens with A-Q in his final hand after the board came K-7-5-7-5. Joining Greenstein on the rail was fellow Team PokerStars member Chad Brown, who finished in 41st place.
The online poker community is well represented in the final 24. UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy is in 16th place entering the play down day, while Smith, Julius, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member David “Doc Sands” Sands, David “Bakes” Baker, Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen, and Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania are among those who will try to bring a title home for the young guns. Here’s the field as it stacks up entering today’s action:
1. John Patgorski – 729,000
2. Curt Kohlberg – 704,000
3. David Paredes – 539,000
4. Justin “Boosted J” Smith – 491,000
5. Dan Perper – 482,000
6. Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen – 400,000
7. Steve Zolotow – 371,000
8. Mark Owens – 343,000
9. David “Bakes” Baker – 339,000
10. Shannon “BLUFFforRENT” Shorr – 328,000
11. Brandon Adams – 269,000
12. James Anderson – 252,000
13. David “Doc Sands” Sands – 247,000
14. Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki – 236,000
15. Ryan Julius – 215,000
16. Adam “Roothlus” Levy – 146,000
17. Bernard Lee – 142,000
18. David Adkison – 141,000
19. Anthony Hartmann – 111,000
20. Jeremy Schwartz – 68,000
21. Ryan Austin – 66,000
22. Shawn Busse – 59,000
23. Kevin Dooley – 51,000
24. Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania – 50,000
There’s a lot on the line when play picks back up this afternoon. Every player who makes the final table will receive a seat to the WSOP Circuit National Championship in Las Vegas, a $1 million freeroll that awards a gold bracelet to the winner. Plus, the minimum payout at the final table in Hammond is nearly $50,000. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the first ever WSOP Circuit Regional Championship.
WSOPC Regional Championships Begin
The $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Regional Championship drew 226 players to Horseshoe Hammond in the Chicagoland area, creating a $2,101,800 prize pool - the biggest on the WSOPC in more than three years.
First place is worth $525,449.
A new concept for this season, Horsehoe Hammond represents the first of Four $10,000 Regional WSOP Circuit Championships on the tour.
Players in the Nationally Televised Regional Championship series are also competing for seats into the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship in Las Vegas next May.
Only 100 players will qualify, including all nine Chicago finalists.
Names like Barry Greenstein, Gavin Smith, David Baker, Chris Bell, Chad Brown, Bernard Lee, Nick Binger, Matt Glantz, Blair Hinkle, Frank Kassela, Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, Kathy Liebert, Jeff Madsen, Jason Mercier, Sorel Mizzi, Vanessa Selbst, Dan Shak, Shannon Shorr, Justin Smith, Matt Stout, and Steve Zolotow all played Monday.
A total of 114 will return for Day 2 at 1 p.m. CT Tuesday with Ryan Julius holding the overnight chip lead.
A winner will be crowned Oct. 28.
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Jewell Crowned as WSOPC Hammond Champ
He had to overcome the biggest field in WSOPC main event history to claim the first place prize of $242k. A total of 872 players bought into the $1,500 buy-in tournament on Friday.
Jewell entered the final table as the massive chip leader with $6 million chips and despite losing the chip lead for a brief period never lost sight of the ultimate prize.
UB Poker Pro Bryan Devonshire was one of the shortest stacks at the final table but made it to seven-handed play where his pocket kings were cruelly cracked by an opponent’s 8-2. Devonshire took $37k for his efforts.
PCA High Roller winner Will Reynolds was perhaps Jewell’s greatest threat at the final table but was eventually ousted in third place. Jewell beat him with A-6 versus A-4. Reynolds won $110k.
Heads-up play between Jared Kenworthy and Jewell lasted close to an hour but Jewell’s victory from that point never seemed to be in doubt.
Finally Jewell managed to hit an important river card while holding Q-J to claim the WSOPC Hammond main event title.
There is one final event to go in Chicago as the very first Regional Championship is set to begin at 12 p.m. today.
Bernard Lee, Matt Stout, Chad Brown, Jason Mercier and Barry Greenstein are all expected to play in the televised $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament.
Here’s a look at the payouts from the WSOPC Hammond main event final table:
1. Kurt Jewell - $242,909 2. Jared Kenworthy - $150,104 3. William Reynolds - $110,567 4. Edwin Choi - $82,414 5. Nick Jivkov - $62,384 6. Corey Souther - $47,772 7. Bryan Devonshire - $37,047 8. Daniel Cohen - $29,087 9. Casey Hayes - $23,120
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High Stakes Poker Season 7 Announced, Will Tape November 18th
In breaking news from Las Vegas, the seventh season of “High Stakes Poker” will tape from November 18th to 20th, as GSN has given the green light for the newest installment of the cash game poker franchise. The location, time, air date on GSN, and players involved have not yet been announced, but poker fans can rest easy tonight knowing that “High Stakes Poker” has been renewed for another cycle.
On the fleet of poker pros that could assemble for the show, a representative from GSN told Poker News Daily on Friday that the network expects to have “another great cast of world-class players this year.” Five players have appeared on each season of “High Stakes Poker” to date: DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari, PokerStars front man Barry Greenstein, and “Million Dollar Challenge” icon Daniel Negreanu.
Season 6 brought major changes to “High Stakes Poker.” Longtime co-host A.J. Benza was axed in favor of PartyPoker pro Kara Scott, who conducted interviews from the floor of the “High Stakes Poker” suite at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The new season began airing on Valentine’s Day this year and featured players like Dennis Phillips and Lex Veldhuis making their “High Stakes Poker” debuts. The sixth cycle also hosted the usual suspects from the world of high-stakes cash games like Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Patrik Antonius.
The premiere of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 was quite buzz worthy, as UB.com pro and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth went broke after dropping $200,000 in the blink of an eye. Hellmuth quickly shipped $50,000 to Ivey before committing his remaining stack on a board of 6-4-7-K with two hearts holding J-5 of hearts for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. Ivey held K-9 of hearts for top pair and a better flush draw and declined to run the river more than once. The final card filled the eight-time bracelet winner’s king-high flush and, just like that, Hellmuth was broke.
Prop bets were also discouraged last season. Prior to taping Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” Esfandiari, the ringleader of prop betting on the show, told Poker News Daily that he had been asked to curb his pastime: “The prop bets where people would guess cards, for example, they’ve been trying to get rid of that. [Executive Producer Mori Eskandani] is trying to steer towards less betting at all. The bottom line is that he doesn’t want viewers at home to be bogged down with players prop betting in addition to poker.”
The PokerStars-powered “Big Game” has recently filled the void between seasons of “High Stakes Poker.” The “Big Game” airs late nights on FOX and features a variety of pros battling with an online qualifier dubbed the “Loose Cannon.” The “Big Game” has a $500,000 maximum buy-in and has featured a variety of pros including Negreanu, Justin Bonomo, David “Viffer” Peat, David Williams, and 2005 Main Event champ Joe Hachem. It’s played in a ring game format with $100/$200 blinds.
Actor turned poker pro Gabe Kaplan serves as the primary face of “High Stakes Poker.” Stay tuned for the latest on this breaking story right here on Poker News Daily.
Harrington and Seidel voted into Poker Hall of Fame
Poker Hall of Fame Welcomes Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel
The Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was announced on Tuesday morning. 1995 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Dan Harrington and eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel will be enshrined during a ceremony on November 8th at the Rio in Las Vegas.
Harrington received four of this author’s ten Poker Hall of Fame votes. His back-to-back runs in the 2003 and 2004 Main Events coupled with his victory in 1995 and indelible marks on poker literature earned him one of the two Poker Hall of Fame spots up for grabs. All told, Harrington has reached the final table of the Main Event four times and followed up his victory in 1995 with a 17th place finish one year later.
Seidel may best be remembered for his runner-up finish to Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, his first cash in a WSOP contest. The tournament was depicted in the cult classic “Rounders” and earned Seidel $280,000. Since then, Seidel has won bracelets in Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha High-Low, No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha. He finished eighth in last year’s $50,000 HORSE Championship and has over $4 million in career WSOP earnings.
Seidel was elated to become part of the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame, telling WSOP officials in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it’s an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington. We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career. Both of us refined our games at the Mayfair Club in New York. I have such a high regard for the many members of the Poker Hall of Fame that I have played with over the years and it’s a real privilege to be able to join them.”
The induction ceremony is scheduled for 8:00pm PT on November 8th inside the Penn and Teller Theater. Following it, the 2010 WSOP Main Event will play down to a winner. Others considered for the Poker Hall of Fame, but not enshrined this year, were Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Scotty Nguyen. This author cast votes for both Johnson and McEvoy as well.
In a recent Guest Column on Poker News Daily, UB.com pro Annie Duke, who bested Seidel in the finals of this year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship, made a case for her close friend’s enshrinement: “The guy behaves with such grace in a sport where grace is really needed. He’s always so graceful and so sportsmanlike. He’s deeply thoughtful, deeply intelligent, and has massive integrity. This guy should be held up as the standard for what we should be doing. I feel strongly that he should be honored.”
The 16 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame and a 17-man media panel each cast 10 votes to determine this year’s class. Only those receiving a majority vote were eligible and up to two players could be inducted this year. In 2009, World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton was the Hall’s lone addition.
Seven players, including Johnny Moss, were inducted as part of the Poker Hall of Fame’s first class in 1979. Since then, the cast has grown to include the likes of Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Johnny Chan, Lyle Berman, Stu Ungar, Jack Binion, Phil Hellmuth, and Chip Reese. The latter is the youngest player in the Poker Hall of Fame, enshrined at age 40. This year marks the first time since 2007 that more than one person will be inducted.
Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 to be Announced Tuesday
Poker News Daily has learned that the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 will be announced on Tuesday. Two players will be enshrined during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine festivities in three weeks after garnering a majority vote.
Last year, World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton was the Poker Hall of Fame’s lone inductee. In 2009, Sexton’s enshrinement ceremony took place as part of a private dinner during the November Nine’s play down day. This year, the schedule will change slightly, as the two individuals who make up the Class of 2010 will be officially inducted during Monday night’s conclusion of the Main Event. After the ceremonies are held, heads-up play will commence inside the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas.
Who the two inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame are remains to be seen. The 16 living members of the Hall along with a 17-member media panel, which includes this author, cast 10 votes each and could select up to three finalists. Each voter’s ballot had to add up to 10 votes; otherwise, our opinions were discarded. Ballots from the 33 voters were due on October 1st and the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council tabulated the results. The top two individuals who received the majority of the votes will make up the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010.
There are five criteria for a player to be considered for the Poker Hall of Fame. According to WSOP.com, “A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition; played for high stakes; played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers; stood the test of time; or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.”
The 10 candidates appeared in alphabetical order on the ballot as follows: Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, and Erik Seidel. This author cast four votes apiece for Harrington and Johnson and allocated the remaining two to McEvoy.
Harrington quite literally wrote the book on poker, as his “Harrington on Hold’em” series is one of the top strategy guides of all-time. Harrington won the WSOP Main Event in 1995 and amazingly turned in back-to-back final tables in 2003 and 2004 in field sizes topping 800 and 2,500, respectively. McEvoy is a former Main Event winner who took down the Champions Invitational during the 2009 WSOP. The PokerStars pro has four bracelets and owns over $1.3 million in career WSOP earnings.
Johnson owns an open WSOP bracelet by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Limit Razz tournament in 1997. Her involvement with CardPlayer Magazine, Card Player Cruises, the WPT, and the Tournament Directors Association has led to Johnson having an indelible impact on the felts. Away from the live scene, she serves as a co-founder of PokerGives.org, which provides an outlet for players to give back to charity.
We’ll have the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 inductees for you on Tuesday right here on Poker News Daily.
Tags: 2009, 2010, Barry Greenstein, charity, Daniel Negreanu, high stakes, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, pokerstars, tournament, vegas, WSOP
PokerStars.net Big Game: Justin Bonomo and Barry Greenstein Big Winners
Stephen O’Dwyer Leads WPT Festa al Lago After Day 3
Last December, Stephen O’Dwyer, known in the online poker world as “MrTimCaum,” made the final table and finished sixth in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. On Monday, he’ll look to turn in another deep run in a WPT event by widening his chip lead at the Festa al Lago in Las Vegas. O’Dwyer holds a stack of 844,500 after three days of play, or 140 big blinds.
Forty-one players are left in the hunt for the $831,000 grand prize at the WPT Festa al Lago. Second place on the leaderboard belongs to former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, who amassed a stack of 814,000 on Sunday. Madsen is in pursuit of his first WPT final table, having bubbled the Bay 101 Shooting Star finale three years ago after finishing eighth.
O’Dwyer would have held an even wider lead over the competition if not for an untimely double up of Allen Kessler late in the day. “Chainsaw” was all-in before the flop with A-K of hearts and O’Dwyer showed pocket jacks for a race. Kessler flopped an ace, shot up to 230,000 in chips, and ended the day in 26th place with 259,000.
The conclusion to Sunday’s play saw John Monnette deliver a rare double knockout. Joe Elpayaa and Joe Brandenburg were all-in on a flop of Q-8-4 with two diamonds. Elpayaa turned over A-9 for ace-high, while Brandenburg revealed 6-5 of diamonds for flush and straight draws. Monnette held strong with pocket aces and had both of his opponents covered. The turn was the four of hearts and the river was the three of hearts, sending both Elpayaa and Brandenburg to the rail. Each picked up nearly $13,000 for their three-day run at the Bellagio. Several hands earlier, Elpayaa had hit a runner-runner wheel to double up.
Former WSOP Europe Main Event champion Annette Obrestad, who held the second largest stack entering Sunday’s play, doubled up with jacks against A-K to move to 395,000 in chips. “Annette_15” eased off a bit from there, ending the day with a total of 343,500, which is good for 16th place. Obrestad will be the chip leader at Table 58 on Monday and her company will include the likes of Erik Cajelais, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Ryan Young.
Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith was ousted in 48th place and picked up over $12,000. He came out on the short end of a race with pocket sevens against the A-J of Jimmy Tran in his final hand and headed for the exit. Not as fortunate was Owen Crowe, the Bubble Boy at the Festa al Lago. Smith sealed his in the money finish by relegating Crowe to the rail in 51st place much to the delight of the other players left in the field.
Here’s how the top 10 players on the leaderboard look after three days of play in the WPT Festa al Lago. When the action wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 500:
1. Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer – 844,500
2. Jeff Madsen – 814,000
3. Randal “RandALLin” Flowers – 795,500
4. Andreas Hoivold – 632,500
5. Jason “jakoon1985” Koon – 586,000
6. Lyle Berman – 458,500
7. Ryan Goindoo – 450,000
8. Michael “benvo123” Benvenuti – 444,500
9. Jared Jaffee – 426,500
10. Brandon Steven – 425,000
The rest of the field stacks up as follows, with an average chip count of 326,000:
11. McLean Karr – 388,500
12. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 382,500
13. Brandon Novena – 375,000
14. Andy Frankenberger – 360,500
15. Daniel Alaei – 355,000
16. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 343,500
17. Trevor Pope – 331,500
18. Erik Cajelais – 320,500
19. John Monnette – 313,500
20. Barry Greenstein – 291,500
21. Bobby Suer – 286,000
22. Nancy Todd Tyner – 277,500
23. John Krpan – 275,000
24. Ronald Lee – 267,000
25. Matt “mcmatto” Affleck – 262,500
26. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 259,000
27. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 215,000
28. James St. Hilaire – 214,000
29. Mark Newhouse – 213,500
30. Jeremy Rafalowicz – 209,500
31. Amit “amak316” Makhija – 204,000
32. Mitchell Kessler – 198,000
33. Noah Schwartz – 181,000
34. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista – 180,000
35. Kaied Barkho – 166,000
36. Skip Wilson – 141,500
37. Lauren “locoenlacabeza” Kling – 141,000
38. Jimmy Tran – 123,500
39. Ryan Young – 95,500
40. David “Davidp18” Peters – 93,500
41. Tony Bracy – 68,000
Day 4 will kick off at Noon PT. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT headlines.
Matt Affleck Leads WPT Festa al Lago After Day 2
After turning in deep runs in the 2009 and 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, Matt “mcmatto” Affleck is making poker headlines once again. This time, he’s pacing the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago after two days of play. Affleck holds a stack of 585,300, just edging out the 536,800 belonging to fellow young gun Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a Full Tilt Poker pro.
One of the final eliminations of Saturday’s play at the Bellagio in Las Vegas belonged to Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. As is typical in poker tournaments, Mizzi’s run came to an end in a race after running A-K into pocket jacks. The flop of Q-10-9 gave Mizzi a gutshot straight draw to a jack, but a king on the turn gave his opponent Broadway.
Also departing late in the day was Jennifer Tilly. She called all-in before the flop with A-Q and was up against the K-8 of spades belonging to Erik Cajelais. In a similar fate as Mizzi, Tilly’s opponent turned Broadway and Cajelais moved to 93 big blinds. He ended the day in 47th place on the Festa al Lago leaderboard at 125,300.
There were double-ups aplenty on Saturday at the Bellagio. Among those who vaulted up the leaderboard were David Singer, DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins, and Michael Benvenuti. Corkins got his money in ahead with pocket aces against James St. Hilaire’s A-Q and hit a full house on the river. Despite the late double-up, he’s one of the low men on the totem pole entering Day 3, as his stack of 58,100 is the 80th largest out of 99 players remaining.
Obrestad was a force to be reckoned with on Saturday. She eliminated Marco Traniello with queens-up against jacks-up and scooped a 230,000-chip pot against Danny Schiff. In the latter hand, Schiff led out for 35,000 with the board reading Q-9-9-7-6 and Obrestad called, tabling A-Q. Schiff showed ace-high after his flush draw failed to come in and Obrestad extended her chip lead.
New WPT “Raw Deal” host Tony “Bond18” Dunst was eliminated after running pocket fours into pocket queens. His opponent, Ryan Young, flopped a set, but Dunst turned a set of his own to leave him drawing to one out on the river. Nevertheless, quads weren’t in the cards and Dunst was sent to the rails. Joining Dunst on the outside looking in yesterday were poker pros like Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Justin Young, Steve Sung, and Howard Lederer, who registered at the last minute.
Check out the stacked top 10 of the WPT Festa al Lago after two days of play:
1. Matt “mcmatto” Affleck – 585,300
2. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 536,800
3. Owen “ocrowe” Crowe – 360,000
4. Trevor Pope – 286,700
5. Michael Benvenuti – 284,500
6. David Williams – 278,300
7. John Monnette – 271,400
8. Jeff Madsen – 269,200
9. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 263,500
10. Andreas Hoivold – 254,200
Other players remaining in the top 50 include:
17. Daniel Alaei -217,700
18. Barry Greenstein – 217,600
24. Vanessa Selbst – 203,500
25. Steve Zolotow – 201,900
28. Tom Marchese – 184,200
35. Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer – 157,100
38. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 145,800
43. Nancy Todd Tyner – 134,000
47. Erik Cajelais – 125,300
After 335 players coughed up $10,000 each to enter, the top prize at the Festa al Lago is $831,000. The top 50 players will walk away with cash and every member of the six-handed televised final table will bank at least $112,000. Last year, 275 players took to the felts at a buy-in of $15,000, meaning that attendance jumped by 22% in 2010. However, the prize pool also dove by 16% to $3.3 million by virtue of the smaller price tag.
Tags: 2009, 2010, Barry Greenstein, bellagio, Jennifer Tilly, poker player, titan poker, tournament, vegas, WSOP