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Pacific Poker offers a great $8 free Campaign for the first 50.000 new players - and more!

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. A Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now sitting with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. Nevertheless, a Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

Antanas “Tony G” Guoga Joins Team PartyPoker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event Payouts, Nationalities Announced

Although attendance at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) out-paced last year’s tally by 13.5%, this year’s champion will earn a whopping $800,000 less. In 2009, Canadian poker player Poorya Nazari earned $3 million after defeating American Anthony Gregg heads-up.

Gregg took home $1.7 million, while Benjamin Spindler boosted his bankroll by $1.1 million for third place. Nazari, Gregg, and Spindler were the only three players to cross the seven-figure threshold. This year, the top four finishers in the PCA Main Event will earn at least $1 million, with first place taking home $2.2 million, second place earning $1.75 million, third place grabbing $1.35 million, and fourth place realizing an even $1 million.

In 2010, the top 199 players out of the 1,347-player field, or 14.8%, finished in the money. This time around, 224 out of 1,529 players will take home a cash prize, or a similar 14.7%. The top four players will bank $6.3 million, or 42.6% of the total prize pool of $14.8 million this year. During the 2009 PCA Main Event, the top four earned $6.55 million, or nearly 52% of the prize pool. This year, the more even structure means that the top prize will shrink by 26.7% despite the larger turnout.

Here’s a look at what’s at stake in the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1st Place: $2,200,000
2nd Place: $1,750,000
3rd Place: $1,350,000
4th Place: $1,000,000
5th Place: $700,000
6th Place: $450,000
7th Place: $300,000
8th Place: $201,300
9th to 10th Places: $150,000
11th to 12th Places: $130,000
13th to 14th Places: $115,000
15th to 16th Places: $100,000
17th to 20th Places: $87,500
21st to 24th Places: $75,000
25th to 32nd Places: $66,000
33rd to 40th Places: $59,000
41st to 48th Places: $52,000
49th to 56th Places: $45,000
57th to 64th Places: $38,000
65th to 72nd Places: $33,000
73rd to 80th Places: $28,000
81st to 88th Places: $23,500
89th to 96th Places: $23,500
97th to 104th Places: $23,500
105th to 112th Places: $23,500
113th to 120th Places: $20,000
121st to 128th Places: $20,000
129th to 136th Places: $20,000
137th to 144th Places: $20,000
145th to 152nd Places: $17,500
153rd to 160th Places: $17,500
161st to 168th Places: $17,500
169th to 176th Places: $17,500
177th to 184th Places: $15,000
185th to 192nd Places: $15,000
193rd to 200th Places: $15,000
201st to 208th Places: $15,000
209th to 216th Places: $15,000
217th to 224th Places: $15,000

Also revealed by PokerStars officials were the nationalities of the 1,529 entrants, who hailed from 57 countries around the world. A total of 739 players hailed from the United States, or 48%, with Canada being the next most represented country at 164. Other nations that sent players to compete in the 2010 PCA Main Event included Germany (100 players), the Netherlands (60), United Kingdom (56), France (44), Brazil (37), Spain (27), Sweden (27), Argentina (21), and Italy (21).

Although six entrants were from unknown lands, curiously absent from the list of countries represented was the Bahamas, the host nation of the annual PCA, which pans out at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau. Nearby countries represented in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament included the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, and Bermuda.

The PCA Main Event field numbered 62 when it entered Day 4 play on Saturday, with the action continuing until 24 players remained. As of 6:45pm ET, online poker pro Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo led the way with a stack of six million chips, comfortably ahead of European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie’s 4.6 million.

PokerStars amfAR Charity Poker Tournament Attracts Star-Studded Lineup

On Friday night during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), a charity poker tournament benefiting amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research, will play out. The field is capped at 39 entrants.

Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $290 million and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Now, poker players will have a chance to give to the cause as part of a star-studded $5,250 buy-in charity tournament that will be filmed for television and beamed across cyberspace via EPTlive. The PCA is in the midst of Day 3 of its $10,000 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a starting field of 1,529 players, a new European Poker Tour (EPT) record.

Unlike a traditional poker tournament, the amfAR benefit takes on a shootout format. A total of 39 players will assemble across four tables. The last two standing at each table will move onto the final round. At the first table, each player is awarded 50,000 starting chips and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. At the final table, combatants will receive the same 50,000 chips, but blind levels will instead last a half-hour. Fifty percent of the prize pool will go straight to amfAR and all players are encouraged to donate 1% of their winnings to the charity. One television table and three outer tables can be found at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas tonight.

On Saturday night, former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland will be performing at a PokerStars-sponsored party at the resort. Tonight, Rowland will put her poker skills to the test in the amfAR charity event. Other celebrity poker players who will take to the felts this evening include Entourage actor Adrian "Vince" Grenier, former Guns and Roses guitarist Slash, “24” star Carlos Bernard, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year and “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” personality Jayde Nicole. New PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) television hostess Joanna Krupa can also be found among the personalities in attendance in the charity poker event.

Professionals taking to the felts include reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro. Cada is fresh off mainstream media appearances on programs like the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “ESPN SportsCenter” and he recently toured Capitol Hill on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Also, look for tennis stud Boris Becker, former hockey star Mats Sundin, and former soccer player Teddy Sheringham. All are members of Team PokerStars SportsStars and will be in attendance raising money for amfAR.

Several PokerStars-sponsored pros besides Cada and the world’s sports heroes will make their way to the tournament area tonight, including Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes, Brazil’s Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari, Swedish pro William Thorson, and the Netherlands’ Pieter de Korver. Also taking part are five online qualifiers, who will almost certainly be overwhelmed by the amount of celebrity and poker firepower in attendance.

Members of the media were advised to show up no later than 5:45pm local time in order to snap pictures of players as they arrived. No interviews were available, as PokerStars will hold a formal red carpet outside of the Aura Nightclub at 7:00pm on Saturday prior to Rowland’s performance.

At the time of writing, Bryce Yockey from the United States paced the field in the 2010 PCA Main Event with a chip stack of one million. Others in the top ten included 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, UB.com pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and two-time bracelet winner Eric “EFro” Froehlich. A total of 190 players remain and blinds are 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 PCA.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure update

The 2010 edition of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has made history. With 1,529 players entered it is the largest year so far. A Brazilian player, Anibal Tacla, led the Day 1B chip finishers. Tacla is from the same hometown, Curitiba, Brazil as Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes.

A Record Turnout in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure!

The second part of day 1 attracted 864 players to the tables, the total PCA field being 1,529 players. The official prize pool has not yet been released, but with the prize pool of over $15 million, the eventual champion will be taking home more than $3 million!

Even though most of the players started the tournament in the last part of the first day, nobody could come even near the chip leader of the tournament after day 1a, Wayne Bentley. Brazil’s Anibal Tacla, who was playing in his first PCA, ended Day 1B with the chip lead with 166,000, a half of the size of Bentley’s chip stack.

The former World Series of Poker Europe champion Annette Obrestad played a solid day and she is going the day 2 with 124,900 chips in her stack. Phil Ivey, who made a 50% crossbook with Tom “durrrr” Dwan, also had a fine first day, as he ended the day with a healthy stack of 115,700 chips.

Dwan on the other hand can’t be found in the chip counts of the players still in the tournament, so he will be sweating for couple days to see how far Ivey can go in the tournament.

The current world champion Joe Cada was also playing the tournament, but he couldn’t make it through to the next day. Cada was playing in the same table with Playboy Playmate Jayde Nicole (pictured), which made the young man happy, even though the tournament didn’t go as he was planned.

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A Record Turnout in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure!

Anibal Tacla Leads PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 1B Survivors

The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) will go down as the largest in history, as 1,529 entrants took to the felts. Anibal Tacla from Curitiba, Brazil, the same hometown as Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes, led Day 1B’s finishers.

Tacla, a shopping mall owner, amassed 166,000 chips during play on Wednesday to lead the way, although he is still well short of Wayne Bentley’s Day 1A total of 329,500. The prize pool of the 2010 PCA is around $15 million. Last year, 1,347 players took to the felts in what was the largest PCA ever held. In the end, Canadian Poorya Nazari defeated American Anthony Gregg to bank the $3 million top prize; Gregg earned a $1.7 million consolation prize and the top three finishers were instant poker-made millionaires.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada gave the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to start play on Wednesday. A bevy of superstars took to the felts, including Full Tilt Poker’s Mike Matusow and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, along with Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole, who served as a celebrity player on the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.”

Just after 2:30pm in the Bahamas, rapper Nelly was eliminated from the 2010 PCA Main Event. "If you wanna go and take a rid wit’ him," you can now find the St. Louis native on the beach after he shoved with A-K for top two pair on a board reading A-4-5-K. However, he was up against the stone cold nuts, 2-3. Needing to spike an ace or king on the river to stay alive, Nelly watched as the final card blanked out, sending him to the exits. Must be the money!

Speaking of money, “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” $1 million winner Mike Kosowski, a 9/11 first responder, also could be found on the felts on Wednesday. With his chip stack dwindling to 6,500, or roughly one-fifth of the starting amount, Kosowski told PokerStars officials, "I turned the nut flush and then this guy rivers a full house. That was pretty brutal and I've been playing a short stack as a result for the last three or four hours." Kosowski did not survive Day 1B, although his $1 million prize for besting PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu and a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Bahamas most likely helped ease his pain.

Also bounced prematurely were Cada, Gomes, Boris Becker, Leo Fernandez, and Lex Veldhuis. Fernandez went out in especially brutal fashion, getting it all-in with A-K of diamonds, but losing to A-K offsuit when his opponent made a spade flush. The flop came all spades and a fourth fell on the river.

Here are the top ten chip stacks entering a combined Day 2 field on Thursday. Play kicks off at Noon ET inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas:

1. Wayne Bentley – 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi – 220,100
3. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 175,500
4. Mike Chappus – 168,700
5. Anibal Tacla – 166,000
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich – 166,000
7. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman – 163,700
8. Eric Buchman – 159,100
9. Ryan “Ryanbluf” Karp – 147,600
10. Matt “mattg1983” Graham – 146,700

Notable names perched near the top of the chip counts, along with their totals heading into Day 2, include:

Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 124,900
Paul Wasicka – 116,300
Phil Ivey – 115,700
Craig Marquis – 114,300
Barry Shulman – 113,000
Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo – 111,200
Dario Minieri – 109,800
J.C. Alvarado – 109,600
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400

When play was halted for the night on Day 1A and Day 1B, the blinds were 400-800 with a 100 ante at the end of Level 8. The tournament will crown a champion on Monday. Although PokerStars has not released an official payout structure, first place will likely receive well over $3 million.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 PCA coverage.

Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders

Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) played out on Tuesday, with 668 players taking to the felts inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from Britain, leads the way with 329,500 chips.

Bentley nearly amassed 11 times the starting stack of 30,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after eight levels of play. He held pocket aces and eliminated a player with pocket kings within the first few minutes of Day 1A, doubling his stack to 60,000, and he never looked back. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu issued the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command moments earlier. At the end of Day 1A, 430 players remained in the hunt.

Bentley sits comfortably in front of the second place stack of Amnon Filippi, who held a pile of 220,100 chips at the end of Day 1A. The accomplished poker pro was nearly 50,000 chips ahead of online poker pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, the winner of the 2007 installment of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $1.3 million. Last year, Saul finished eighth in the PCA Main Event for $234,000, outlasting all but seven of the 1,347 players who entered.

Team PokerStars Sports Stars will be out in full force on Wednesday for Day 1B, as German tennis legend Boris Becker, Swedish NHL star Mats Sundin, Dutch hockey pro Fatima De Melo, baseball commentator Orel Hershiser, and U.K. football legend Teddy Sheringham will all take to the felts. Also entering on Day 1B is Mike Kosowski, the winner of Season 1 of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.” Kosowski earned $1 million after defeating Negreanu heads-up in the finale of the poker game show last month.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Eric Buchman sits in sixth place after Day 1A with 159,100 chips. The PokerStars sponsored player finished fourth in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament in Las Vegas in November, adding $2.5 million to his net worth. The event was ultimately won by Joe Cada, who will take to the felts for Day 1B today. Joining him will be pros like Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, and Victor Ramdin. Also playing is rapper Nelly, who has become somewhat of a staple on the poker circuit in recent months.

Here were the top ten chip stacks in the Bahamas after the smoke had cleared on Day 1A of the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Wayne Bentley - 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi - 220,100
3. Kevin Saul - 175,500
4. Eric Froehlich - 166,000
5. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman - 163,700
6. Eric Buchman - 159,100
7. Garðar Geir Hauksson - 138,900
8. Jacob Avital - 137,700
9. Christian Schwarz - 133,200
10. Rafal Michalowski - 129,300

The PCA is a stop on both the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and, as such, has attracted a global field. Still remaining after Day 1A are players from the United States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Russia, Finland, Argentina, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Slovenia, Greece, Costa Rica, Austria, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curiously absent is a representative from the host nation, the Bahamas.

Last year’s champion, Poorya Nazari, hails from Canada and nearly tripled his stack on Day 1A. Notable players who survived the first starting day, along with their chip counts, include:

Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Dario Minieri – 109,800
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400
Poorya Nazari – 89,300
Barry Greenstein – 89,200
Jeff Madsen – 79,400
John Duthie – 60,100
Marcel Luske – 55,600
Gavin Smith – 54,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 53,900
Kevin Schaffel – 53,200
Bernard Lee – 46,800
Amit “amak316” Makhija – 42,000
Steven Paul-Ambrose – 37,900
“Miami” John Cernuto – 36,500
Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 34,700
Ivan Demidov – 27,600
Tom McEvoy – 19,900
Huck Seed – 16,000
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – 13,100

Play wrapped up in Level 8, when blinds were 400-800 with a 100-chip ante. Day 1B will encompass the same eight levels before the field merges for Day 2 on Thursday.

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 14-20, 2009

There were a few other big poker stories with Harrah’s releasing the official 2010 WSOP schedule and Mangas Gaming acquiring Everest Poker but for the most part the poker world has started to get quiet as the lead up to Christmas begins.

Fortunately there are always a few stories that don’t make the front page here at PokerListings and we compile them for you every week in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’ll look at a PokerListings player winning a trip to Australia, another World Series of Poker Circuit winner, the Aria Poker Room opening its doors and more.

PokerListings Player Wins PartyPoker Aussie Millions Package

PokerListings player gimeyoursbr capitalized on an exclusive PartyPoker freeroll in a big way last week.

The 35-year-old Brazilian won a $15,000 package to the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere – the 2010 Aussie Millions.

“I will try my best and see where it takes me,” he said after winning. “I am very excited about getting to know Melbourne and the nearby cities but once I am playing at the Aussie Millions I will be 100% concentrated on it.”

gimeyoursbr has been playing poker professionally for three years now and once hit the jackpot on PartyPoker for a large score. Suffice to say he’s a fan of the site.

“They are pretty good and getting big again,” he said. “That is terrific.”

PartyPoker is making a huge push to send players to the Aussie Millions this year with more than 27 packages already awarded.

Chris Klodnicki wins WSOPC Harrah’s AC

Poker pro Chris Klodnicki finally found the tournament victory he’d been looking for at the 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City main event this week.

Klodnicki outlasted 194 players to win $215,915 and a WSOPC ring.

“I feel great,” said Klodnicki. “I was having a pretty off year and this ended the year on a great note. I was starting to lose my confidence and this picked it up a lot.”

Noted online player Kyle Bowker finished in second place for $128,357.

Outside of a Borgata side event win, Kodnicki’s list of career cashes is full of second place and third place finishes. Klodnicki is perhaps most well known for coming in 12^th place in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for nearly $600,000.

Aria Poker Room Opens

Poker players have yet another place to frequent in Las Vegas as the multi-billion CityCenter development opened its doors for business this week.

The 61-story ARIA holds the development’s casino and poker room. The poker room offers 24 tables complete with a closed off high limits room. Players will find limits of $1-3, $2-5, $5-10 on a daily basis although the room will spread higher ones based on demand.

Other hotels at CityCenter include the 400-room Mandarin Oriental resort and the upscale non-gaming hotel Vdara with Harman boutique hotel opening late next year.

Bonus Blizzard coming to Pacific Poker

Pacific Poker is giving its players a reason to be jolly over the Christmas season.

The online room will be running its “Bonus Blizzard” promotion during certain hours from Dec. 16-22.

If players are at the Pacific Poker tables during the right hours they could potentially receive a bonus of $8 all the way up to $888 just for being there.

Players can keep an eye out for Bonus Blizzards in a countdown timer in the main lobby. There’s no limit to the amount of bonuses that players can win and players who are multi-tabling will have an even better chance at taking home a hefty bonus.

PartyPoker Introduces $25/$50 PLO Table

PartyPoker launched a $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha table this week in an effort to kick-start the high stakes games on the site.

The gamble seems to have paid off as the room has since added several other high limit tables to keep up with player's requests.

“Demand meant we recently introduced a new $25/$50 Pot Limit Omaha table but since then we have had to open up more tables for high stakes action,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson.

“We used to have big limit games but this is the biggest game we have had at PartyPoker.com for a long time. The high stakes action has picked up.”

UB.com Set to Run Bubble Buster Promo

Players who make the money in UB.com’s upcoming Ultimate Bet Online Championship 4 will have the opportunity to win up to $1 million in extra cash.

As part of the Bubble Buster promotion any player that cashes at least twice in UBOC 4 will have shot at winning anything from a seat in a $10,000 freeroll all the way up to a $1 million cash giveaway to a player who makes 11 cashes in UBOC 4.

With over $4 million guaranteed, UBOC 4 is the biggest online tournament series available on UB.com. The series will run Jan. 20-31 with the $1 million guaranteed $1,050 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31.

PKR Teams Up with Nuts and Loaded

PKR poker announced a partnership with IPC Media, publisher of mainstream UK men’s magazines Nuts and Loaded, this week.

Players on PKR poker will now have the option of playing their favorite games while being surrounded by images of women in the popular magazines.

Players will also have the opportunity to customize their avatars with Nuts or Loaded t-shirts.

Meanwhile magazine readers will benefit from poker trips from Team PKR Pro as well as trip reports from high stakes tournaments around the globe.

"We think that the collaboration with IPC Media is a perfect matchup of brands,” said PKR marketing director Simon Prodger. “Nuts and Loaded readers are spot on for us, and by having branded environments within our game, we offer them a unique poker experience."

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Everest Poker Offers Players a Chance to Live the Dream

Popular poker room Everest Poker is aiming to kick off 2010 in style with the second installment of its Live the Dream promotion.  The contest gives qualifiers the chance to compete for one of ten sponsorship deals worth over $100,000.

Players could qualify for the event in one of three ways: tournament leaderboard races, cash game loyalty points races, or by direct-entry tournaments open to various countries.  The qualifying process is now over, but more than 200 players advanced to the next round of the promotion’s process.

The qualifiers are now being reviewed by Everest Poker staff to assess their poker skills, viability as a sponsored representative of the site, and popularity among the users of Everest Poker.  Players set up profiles on Everest Poker’s official website and others are able to view and vote on their favorite players.  Of the 200 plus qualifying players, 58 hailed from France, while Germany posted the second largest number of players with 29.  Other countries represented in the contest include Hungary, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Britain, and Sweden.

The next step for qualifiers is to meet the Everest Poker staff in person.  Qualifiers will travel to the Palais Auersberg in Vienna, Austria for the final step before the top ten winners are selected.  Players who travel to Austria will be divided into two groups.  Group A begins the first day with five-minute taped interviews.  While players wait to be interviewed, they will be playing each other in cash games.  Meanwhile, Group B will play in sit and go tournaments.  After a brief break for lunch, the two groups will switch tasks.  At the end of the day, most of the players will be dismissed, but the top 20 will be asked to come back Sunday for an even more intensive interview process.

The top 20 will take part in 20-minute long interviews that will be reviewed by both Everest Poker staff and a panel of industry judges.  The top ten winners will be announced after dinner and will commence their year-long affiliation with the site with an official press conference.  As part of their deal, players will receive more than $30,000 to cover travel expenses as they travel the international poker circuit.  All ten of the players are set to take part in a number of tournaments, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

The first Living the Dream contest took part in 2008.  Some of the promotional winners included Steven van Zadlehoff of the Netherlands, Voitto Rintala of Finland, and Pablo Ubierna of Spain.  Prior to winning the Living the Dream promotion, Van Zadlehoff was already beginning to establish himself as a skilled poker player with a seventh place finish at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Spanish Championship in 2007 and an 11th place finish at the first annual WSOP Europe.  He also has five WSOP cashes to his credit.

Van Zadlehoff commented on his Live the Dream experience on Everest Poker’s official site.  ”If you get sent to the rails, you just look ahead to the next tournament and your next win. Live The Dream built more than my bankroll. It built my career,” he extolled.  Ubierna and Rintala echoed the sentiments, with all three agreeing that Live the Dream was a life changing and career-making opportunity.

Online Poker Tournament Recap for November 30th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Poker Twitter Accounts You’re Probably Not Following

The Twitterverse is a vast and sometimes scary place.  With so many people microblogging the minutiae of their everyday lives, it is often difficult to find Twitter accounts that are genuinely worth reading.  For every active celebrity, there are a half-dozen who only Tweet about what they had for dinner.

In other words, just because someone is famous doesn’t mean their tweets will keep you rapidly hitting refresh on your cell phone or laptop.  The same can be said for the celebrities of the poker world, whose tweets range from chip counts to outrageous stories from debauchery-filled nights on the Las Vegas Strip.  Since it seems as though every poker player around has opened up a Twitter account, we here at Poker News Daily have taken it upon ourselves to point out some quality feeds for your reading pleasure.

We’ll assume you are aware of the biggies.  With more than 943,000 followers, you’ve more than likely already added Joe Sebok (@JoeSebok) to your list of poker-related Tweeters.  Doyle Brunson, known to Tweeters as @TexDolly, is rapidly approaching 100,000 followers, so we won’t waste your time reiterating how groan-inducing, but funny, his endless string of blonde jokes is.  What we will do is offer up five Twitter accounts from players who may not be the most well-known pros on the circuit, but offer up some quality insight in 140 characters or less.

@basebaldy

This is the time of year when the various Player of the Year races start heating up and a few players in contention start entering every tournament around.  World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin is one such player who has been documenting his progress via his Twitter account.  His tweets not only provide chip counts and updates on his own progress, but also give rundowns of some of the kookier characters he encounters on the felt

Choice Tweet: “Not sure why I convinced @JonathanLittle to play this 300 with me. It doubled the number of good players in the field.”

@Erik_Seidel

If you think eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel’s Twitter feed will make you a better poker player, think again.  It will instead provide you with a steady stream of chuckles thanks to Seidel’s witty quips on everything from Balloon Boy to President Obama.  His loyal group of 4,000+ followers has already begun to spread the word about the joys of Seidel’s dry sense of humor and eagerly await his Tweets, which crop up once every couple of days.

Choice Tweet: “T-Mobile Sidekick has lost all customer data. Andy Richter, Paul Shaffer + Tom Arnold also reported missing”

@RoothlusUncut

The brainchild of poker pro Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer, @RoothlusUncut is composed entirely of quotes from Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy.  Ranging from the comical to the absurd, @RoothlusUncut’s tweets will often leave you more than curious about what conversation and situation could possibly produce them.  Unfortunately, Levy’s relocation to Los Angeles has left the account idle for the past couple of months, but the concept is such a good idea that we simply couldn’t let it go unmentioned.

Choice Tweet: “I just looked up the last google I did…Jane Seymour’s age”

@allenkessler

While the Twitter updates from Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler filling the world in on his latest bad beats are entertaining in their own right, what is perhaps even more fun is reading the tweets of those who talk back to him.  Whether it is Kessler arguing with tournament director Matt Savage or exchanging pleasantries with the growing contingent of online players who think of Kessler as a cult hero of sorts, the banter is what really makes his feed so fun.  There is also the added bonus of hearing updates from tournaments at smaller venues that do not always receive mainstream poker media coverage.

Choice Tweet: “If anyone is hungry I have a 200 comp at ago restaurant at the hard rock”

@Maridu

In order to fully appreciate Team PokerStars Pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck’s Twitter feed, you need a working knowledge of Portugese.  The Brazilian pro switches back and forth between her native tongue and English as she posts updates on herself and other South American pros like Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari.  Following Mayrinck on Twitter can also be a profitable venture, as she recently offered $10 on PokerStars to the person who gave her the best Halloween costume idea.  Always one to get a conversation going, Mayrinck keeps it lively and interactive like a good Twitter account should be.

Choice Tweet: “i long for a world where chickens can cross roads without being questioned about their motives…”

This list is certainly not all-inclusive and we’ll continue to scour the internet for more top Twitterers, but for those looking to kill some time while grinding online, these are a good place to start.

Sportingbet Reports 28% Increase in Earnings for FY 2009

The yearly fiscal report is out for Sportingbet PLC and the results for the publicly traded gaming company were generally positive.  Sportingbet, the parent company of online poker room Paradise Poker, saw growth in net revenue, earnings, money wagered, and profit thanks in part to a focus on emerging online gambling markets.  While the sports betting and casino ventures have been on the rise for the company, it appears as though it is paying less attention to its poker holdings, which saw a decline in earnings from 2008 to 2009.

Sportingbet, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “SBT,” saw its net gaming revenue jump to £163.6 million from £144.3 in 2008, an increase of 13%.  Profits saw a 26% increase as well, coming in at £31.1 million thanks to more than £1.5 billion wagered on the site over the course of the year.  Last year, the company received a total of £1.35 billion in wagers.  The company’s Chief Executive, Andrew McIver, commented on Sportingbet’s performance in the official audited results through July 31st, 2009:

“This has been a very solid year for the Sportingbet Group. We are now seeing consistent profitable growth resulting from the structural changes made following our withdrawal from the U.S.  Our focus on sports betting and geographical diversification is helping to support earnings in these troubled economic times. Additionally, our commitment to offer industry-leading sports betting products and excellent customer service has helped us to recruit and retain core customers.”

The diversification McIvan spoke of includes launching versions of the site in Romania and South Africa as well as moving into other emerging markets like Canada and Brazil.  While the company continues to struggle against stiff competition in Britain, its efforts in Eastern Europe have been much more successful.  Sportingbet blamed the global recession and an expensive and over-saturated media market for its performance in the U.K., but its results in Eastern Europe more than compensated for its 21% decline in the British Isles.  The Eastern European revenue for Sportingbet grew by 26% and now accounts for more than 15% of the company’s total revenues—more than the entirety of its online poker operation.  The company attributed some of its success in that region to a launch of more than 90 Flash-based casino games.

The company saw several other changes this year as a number of national governments addressed the issue of online gambling via new laws, regulation, and licensing. The company noted, “Regulation continues to define the internet gambling industry across Europe and the rest of the world.  In general, we continue to see pressure on European countries to justify their national gambling regimes in light of the free-trade requirements of international law.”

Sportingbet took a pro-regulation stance on the issue and representatives of the firm are continuing to meet with a number of national regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, to discuss Sportingbet’s legal standing.  Sportingbet and Paradise Poker do not accept U.S. customers, which has resulted in a steady decline in revenue for its online poker venture since the site’s withdrawal from the American market following the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

In Europe, Paradise Poker’s revenue is down 7.6% from last year, bringing in only £22 million of the company’s total earnings.  The poker branch of Sportingbet used to be a major component of the company’s holdings, but it now represents only 12% of total revenue.  The company attributed its struggle in the online poker market to a high level of competition, “with certain large U.S.-focused poker companies using their significant cash flows and high liquidity to continue to attract customers from existing European only companies.”  This is a similar complaint to the one voiced by Party Gaming executives in its mid-year report, which was released last month.

Sportingbet is currently traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, but the recent report revealed that the company would try to move to the General Equity Market in the near future.  At the close of trading on October 14th, Sportingbet stock was fetching $76 per share.

F1 Driver Giancarlo Fisichella New PartyPoker.it Spokesman

The latest sports star to take an interest in the game of poker is Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella.  The Italian speedster recently signed on to a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.it, PartyPoker’s Italian site.

Fisichella, known to his fans as Fisi, gained notoriety in the poker world during the PartyPoker-sponsored Sports Challenge IV earlier this year.  The tournament combined online qualifiers from PartyPoker with celebrities from the world of sports and put them in themed heats.  Fisichella played in the “Racing” heat and impressed commentators and observers alike with his understanding of position and use of aggression.  He ultimately lost to online qualifier and PartyPoker VIP player Scott O’Reilly, but his display of skill impressed PartyPoker enough to keep him in mind for a future sponsorship deal.

Apparently, Fisi has had a hard time getting poker off of his mind.  As he explained in a statement to PartyPoker, he often turns to poker to pass the time while on the racing circuit: “Poker has become a very popular pastime in the paddock in recent months with many of the drivers.  I have joined two new teams recently and am delighted to be in pole position as a new ambassador for PartyPoker.it!”

The other team Fisichella is referring to is Ferrari, which he signed a deal to race for in September of this year.  The longtime driver has been affiliated with several other teams during his storied career, including Jordan, Minardi, Renault, Force India, and Benetton.  The Roman got his start racing go-karts back in the mid-1980s, made a name for himself on several tours, and transitioned to the F1 circuit in 1996.  He won his first F1 race when he took down the Brazil stop in 2003 and also has a 2005 victory in Australia to his credit.

Fisichella will now have to find time to fit poker into his busy schedule, serving as a spokesman for PartyPoker.it both online and at major live poker tournaments.  The site is looking forward to having the driver onboard and a company spokesman commented on Fisi’s potential in the poker world: “Giancarlo is the fantastic new ambassador for PartyPoker.it.  Many commentators have already said that they believe that he is on track to be one the best ‘celebrity’ players on the poker circuit.”

In celebration of Fisi joining the PartyPoker team, PartyPoker.it is hosting a series of freerolls with Fisichella-themed prizes.  The daily freerolls will give out €500 in cash prizes as well as a specially designed F1 shirt autographed by Fisi.  The free tournaments will run daily through the end of the month.

The promotion is exclusive to PartyPoker.it and cannot be accessed by PartyPoker.com customers.  PartyPoker’s Italian-only poker site launched earlier this year and has already established itself as one of the most popular online poker sites in Italy.  The country has gone back and forth on the issue of online gambling and, at one point, even outlawed online poker entirely.  Italy passed new laws regulating and licensing online poker in 2008 and, ever since then, sites have had to create online poker rooms specific to Italy and only open to Italian customers.

Fisichella is the first sponsored player for the Italian site, but PartyPoker has been picking up new players from all over the world to be a part of its grassroots-based Team PartyPoker.  Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, and Bodo Sbrzesny all joined the team this year and the site recently added 2009 Aussie Millions winner Stewart Scott to its list of sponsored pros.

durrrr Challenge: The half way mark and more

Possibly getting underway with the half-way goal in mind, the latest session in the durrrr Challenge only ended after a total of 1,063 hands were played.

Coming back to life recently after a long stretch of mediocre results, Dwan put the boot to Antonius, extending his challenge lead to almost $700,000 by the end of the night.

The largest pot of the session, worth just over $194k, began with Antonius and Dwan in a raising war pre-flop. After Dwan four-bet to $18,000, Antonius decided to just call and see a flop.

The flop fell 5 K 8, Dwan opened for a pot-sized bet of $36,000 and Antonius called for a little less than half his stack.

The turn brought the 7 and Dwan instantly bet the pot. Antonius called all-in for his final $43,497 only to see Dwan holding K K J Q for a set of kings.

Antonius had A 8 7 9 for two-pair and a gutshot and when the 4 river missed him, Dwan dragged the $194k pot.

The second largest pot of the session also belonged to Dwan, who won $187k after turning a flush and leaving Antonius drawing dead with aces.

By the end, the two players had wagered over $5 million, played for more than three hours, contested over 1,000 hands and Dwan added $418,000 to his lead.

With a little luck, reaching the halfway mark of the challenge will open the floodgates, bringing it all to a close before year end.

durrrr Challenge by the numbers:

• 197,676,601: Total amount wagered in the challenge
• 3,500,000: People in attendance for Rod Stewart's 1994 New Year's Concert in Brazil
• 697,532: Amount durrrr is ahead
• 25,145: Total hands played so far
• 50.3: Percentage of challenge completed
• 0: Number of girls sexier than Megan Fox

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International Federation of Poker: Governing Body for the Industry?

Ever since the explosion of poker in the early years of the 21st century, attempts have been made to organize players, either through a governing body for the sport or an organization to impose changes in the game, with varying degrees of success.

In April, a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland attracted seven federations - the Danish Poker Federation (Denmark), the Fédération Française des Joueurs de Poker (France), the Stichting Nederlandse PokerBond (Holland), the United Kingdom Poker Federation (U.K.), the Russian Sport Poker Federation (Russia), the Ukrainian Poker Federation (Ukraine), and the Associacao Brazileira de Poker (Brazil) - to undertake the task of creating a worldwide poker federation that would bring the game into the sporting community. From this meeting was born the International Federation of Poker.

One of the tasks that the International Federation of Poker completed was electing its leadership and, when it comes to its President, its membership couldn’t have chosen a better man. Noted author Anthony Holden, who has written “Big Deal” and “Bigger Deal” and traveled around the globe playing poker, was elected as the first President of the organization. Poker News Daily had the chance to speak with Holden and discuss some of the challenges that face him.

PND: The International Federation of Poker (IFP) is not the first attempt at starting a governing body for poker. What chances for success do you believe the IFP has and how will it make a difference beyond other attempts?

Holden: The chances for success are as promising as they are exciting. The poker industry has grown so fast in the past decade that a governing infrastructure hasn’t been able to grow at the same pace. Poker is now one of the three most participated sports in the world alongside golf and fishing. There is a great need for a properly structured governing body, as there is in all competitive sports, and the IFP is such a body.

There are several features of the IFP that differentiate it from the previous organizations. The IFP is the first governing body in poker to be properly structured as a Sports Federation. The IFP is a not-for-profit organization with its head office in Lausanne, Switzerland, the global headquarters of international sports federations and the International Olympic Committee. It is subject to the Swiss Civil Code and will be arbitrated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, also in Lausanne. This is a major step towards securing recognition of poker’s status as a sport.

The IFP’s goals are broader than those of other poker organizations. Current organizations have very specific interests which the IFP will also be working towards: seeking recognition of poker as a skilled mind-sport and promoting a single unified set of rules to be used in card rooms across the globe. These goals are only part of the broader goal of the IFP, which is to form a comprehensive governing body comprised of national federations from around the world.

Also, the IFP has a well-qualified and dedicated staff working full-time to achieve its goals. Other organizations have been run part-time by very busy people and often fallen by the wayside. The IFP has the resources and manpower to establish itself as a major player on the international poker scene.

PND: The IFP has a strong start with seven national federations already members. Is there a goal in number of national federations to bring onboard or is it more quality-based?

Holden: One of the early missions of the IFP is to build up a strong membership base from around the world. We have identified governing bodies in more than 20 countries outside of our founding members and we are confident that our membership will grow quickly and steadily in the coming months. We hope to have 30 member nations by the end of this year.

When considering an application, the quality of the federation applying is paramount. The IFP has strict criteria for acceptance as a member: the federation in question must be a non-profit organization that truly represents the interest of poker players in that country and whose goals for the promotion of poker are aligned with those of the IFP. Applications from federations are submitted to the Board for approval by vote.

While we are working hard to secure membership of federations in key markets, the IFP is seeking member federations in all nations, no matter how small or remote. We are in advanced discussions about membership with federations from Germany, Italy, and Kyrgyzstan.

PND: What is the strongest component of the IFP, the overall governing body or the individual national federations that comprise it?

Holden: The IFP is a truly democratic body. Every member nation has one representative on the Congress, the supreme authority of the IFP. The IFP operates a “One Country, One Vote” policy, so no matter what the size of a nation, it participates in the governing of the IFP on an equal footing with all other nations.

PND: What are the challenges that the IFP faces?

AH: The greatest challenge that the IFP faces is the stigma that governments and the non-poker playing public attaches to poker. Government decision-makers see poker solely as a gambling activity and think its place is in a casino alongside craps and roulette. The IFP is seeking to educate people that poker is a skilled mind-sport and so to secure it the legal status it deserves all over the world. All the federations we have met are at different stages in the debate with their governments.

The IFP wishes to see a global coordinated approach to the issue and to provide our members with support and advice. We have had promising talks with the International Mind Sports Association in Paris, currently consisting of the international federations of Bridge, Chess, Draughts, and Go. We are optimistic about joining this organization later in the year, and, once we do, we will have official recognition as a mind-sport. Every four years, the IMSA holds the Mind-Sports Games, alongside and in the same city as the Olympics. The IFP looks forward to the chance to bring poker into this event. Once we achieve this, it will be a very useful tool in many debates.

PND: What attracted you to accept a position with the IFP?

Holden: As a lifelong author and journalist, I’ve been playing poker for 40 years and writing books about it for 20. My first visit to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was in 1977. In recent years, I have been sponsored by PokerStars at events around Europe as well as the WSOP Main Event. That has now had to stop, alas, as the President of IFP obviously cannot accept sponsorship from any one website. I accepted the job, despite this sacrifice, because I believe the goals of the IFP are so important to the game. It enables me to spend my entire working life around poker, doing something worthwhile. Now that beats writing hands down!

PND: What would you like to see for the IFP before the end of the year?

Holden: We would like to have at least 30 member nations and to hold the first IFP team poker event. We would also like to see our member nations making progress with their national governments in the reclassification of poker from a luck-based gambling activity into a skill-based mind-sport. Finally, the IFP has had promising discussions with the International Mind Sports Association and we would be delighted to join this organization by the end of the year.

Conrad Poker Tour Final Event with Party Poker

Party Poker are giving their *South American players an exclusive chance to get a piece of the action this December 4th and 5th at the Conrad Casino, Punta del Este, Uruguay. Join South America’s finest poker players and be in with a chance of a share in the $1,000,000 prize pool that is up for grabs.

The $3,500 prize packages include:-

• $2,500 buy in to the Main Event
• 2 nights top hotel
• Transfers
• Glittering reception dinner
• $500 spending money

Here’s how to get there, the Satellites are running now

• Daily at 2am UK (9pm New York) buy in $10
• Daily at 1am UK (8pm New York) buy in $30

These sats feed to the finals where the packages are awarded, they are to be held every 21 days starting 11th September, buy in direct for $275.

Party Poker is the biggest site in Europe and we can offer you a choice of 1st depositor bonuses to suit your pocket and rate of play – see our Party Poker Bonus Code page for full details

* This promotion is, unfortunately, only available to players who are in and whose registered country of residence is

• ARGENTINA
• URUGUAY
• PERU
• BRAZIL
• CHILE

WSOP Coverage on ESPN Spotlights Hellmuth and Ivey

Last night’s episodes of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN spotlighted the two most recognizable Phils in poker: Phil Hellmuth and November Nine member Phil Ivey. Hellmuth was seated at the feature table for the coverage of Day 2B while the secondary feature table boasted a strong line up of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and PokerStars Pros Dennis Phillips and Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck. Over the course of the two episodes the show included updates on cancer patient Kent Senter, actor Lou Diamond Phillips and NBA star Jordan Farmar amongst others, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of Tuesday’s show was the unorthodox play of Hellmuth. As co-host Norman Chad aptly put it, it was, “as if Phil’s body and soul has been occupied by some idiot from Northern Europe.”

The episode began by reminding the audience of Hellmuth’s epic entrance in full Roman regalia for Day 1 of play and Chad assured viewers that the 11-time bracelet winner would be full of surprises during Day 2.  Chad got the inside scoop from Hellmuth, who told the poker commentator he was, “going to be more active and not back down from big raises.” While ESPN chose not to air the verbal confrontation between Hellmuth and internet poker pro Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles regarding the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal, Chad did make mention of each player’s role in the scandal and subsequent investigation as part of his commentary.

Hellmuth stuck to his word during the first featured hand of the night when he called a raise from 22-year old Ben Sprengers holding 7c 8c and got it all-in against Sprenger’s two pair when the Jd-6c-5c flop brought him an open-ended straight flush draw. After Hellmuth hit his flush to double up, Sprengers, who would prove to be Hellmuth’s nemesis throughout the day, questioned the Ultimate Bet Pro’s play and Hellmuth responded by saying, “I didn’t come to lay down son. I came to play.”

A member of last year’s November Nine, Phillips, also came to play and did not take long to clash in a pot with his tablemate Mizrachi. It would be Mayrinck, not Mizrachi who would be featured in the most pots with Phillips, as Mizrachi hit the rail midway through Day 2B play. Phillips picked up pocket aces against the Brazilian pro twice and managed to get her to pay him off both times.

Phillips was not the only November Niner profiled. The show also featured a segment discussing year’s winner Peter Eastgate besting Hellmuth’s record of youngest Main Event Champion. Hellmuth won his Main Event title at age 23 while Eastgate was just 22-years old when he won the Main Event last year. The 2008 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren also made the coverage, as the cameras caught his pocket queens getting cracked by Craig Ivey’s pocket jacks to eliminate the Full Tilt Pro early on Day 2B.

Some of the other players featured last night included Robert Williamson III, Scotty Nguyen, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Ville Wahlbeck, 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro, Hevad “Rain” Khan, Howard Lederer and Frankie Gay, who was playing in the Main Event to honor his late son who was a soldier killed in action overseas. While Gay did not survive to Day 3, he and his family felt the trip was an appropriate tribute to their beloved son.

Senter, whose dying wish was to play in the WSOP Main Event, fared better than Gay did on the felt and survived to Day 3 despite doubling up Billy Gazes late in the day. Some of the other players to survive Day 2B included Hachem, Phillips, Mayrinck, JC Tran, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Eastgate and Phil Ivey.

Ivey did more than just survive Day 2B. He ended the day as one of the big stacks in the room thanks in part to a huge hand in which he got it all-in preflop holding pocket kings to Jonas Molander’s A-K. The kings held to give Ivey the 223,700 chip pot and vault him to the top of the chip counts.

This week’s “The Nuts” segment featured a chess game between Chad and Lederer. Chad didn’t have much time to interview Lederer, as his opponent made quick worth of the TV personality on the chess board. The PokerStars’ Straight From the Pros segment highlighted a hand Khan played against Jon Kalmar in the 2007 Main Event and the Full Tilt Poker-sponsored piece Deal Me In had Jennifer Harman offering insight on a hand she played in a WSOP Circuit event against Jean-Robert Bellande.

Next week’s episodes will feature coverage of Day 3, the first day the entire field will converge on the Rio at the same time.

PartyPoker offers seats in Conrad Poker Tour

The Conrad Poker Tour final event takes place at the Conrad Punta Del Este Resort and Casino in Uruguay Dec. 4-5 with an estimated prize pool of $1 million.

The $2,500 buy-in event is one of the most highly anticipated tournaments of the year for South American players, according to Latin American PartyPoker Ambassador Felipe "Mojave" Ramos.

"This is one of the major dates on the Latin American poker circuit, which I am very much looking forward too," said Ramos. "I'm aiming for success but also looking forward to having a top group of PartyPoker.com qualifiers to cheer on too!"

There will be four main qualifiers to the event, all of which will be open to players located in Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru or Chile.

The qualifiers will take place Sept. 11, Oct. 1, Oct. 22 and Nov. 12 on PartyPoker.

Each package won on PartyPoker will include the buy-in for the event, two nights accommodation at AWA Boutique + Design Hotel in Punta del Este, transportation from the hotel to the casino, $500 spending money and a reception dinner with Ramos at one of Punta del Este's high end restaurants.

Visit PokerListings.com

Brazil win Americas Cup of Poker

Brazil versus Argentina is the biggest rivalry in South American football and that rivalry looks like it’s spread to the poker felt after a hotly contested Americas Cup of Poker. Six-player teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA gathered in Bariloche in Argentina for the first Poker Stars Americas Cup competition and it was the old rivals who were to battle for victory.

Poker News in Brief: Aug 10-16, 2009

One would be wrong.

It's been as busy as ever and as part of PokerListings' ongoing News in Brief feature, we've compiled a list of stories that didn't quite make the front page this week, but are worth mentioning to the hardcore poker enthusiast.

This week we find the Borgata has dropped the buy-in for its WPT event, the Party Poker team is expanding and players at PKR and Everest Poker are finding life a little more enjoyable.

WPT Borgata buy-in drops

The buy-in for the World Poker Tour's Borgata Poker Open has been dropped from $10k to $3,500, but with a guaranteed prized pool of $2 million, organizers expect it to be as big as ever.

"With a $3,500 buy-in, televised WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event and a guaranteed $2 million prize pool, anyone has the chance to take home the trophy and championship money," Borgata's Senior VP of Operations Joe Lupo said.

The 7th annual Borgata Poker Open is actually a 16-day series featuring a wide array of tournaments beginning Sept. 9 and culminating with the televised championship event Sept. 19-24.

To view the event schedule or for more information visit theborgata.com.

Party Poker signs German gamer

29-year-old Palladium Elite player Bodo Sbrzesny, a former semi-professional tennis player and professional video gamer from Bruchsal, Germany, has been signed to Party Poker's grassroots team.

In creating a grassroots team Party Poker is now sponsoring players with emphasis on VIPs, player loyalty and historic links to PartyPoker.com.

Sbrzesny joins France's Remy Biechel, Brazil's Felipe Ramos, the UK's Ian Frazer and the legendary Mike Sexton on the team.

PKR aims to Xhilirate

PKR.com is partnering with the pioneers of poker massage.

The online poker site has signed a deal to make Xhilarate the exclusive massage supplier for all PKR Live tournaments and PR functions.

Xhilarate's massage team has worked the World Series of Poker Europe and the Grosvenor ((UK Poker)) Tour in the past.

"Nothing quite compares to the glamour and style of the Xhilarate girls and their massages," Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said.

Reach the summit

Everest Poker has made a series of improvements to its VIP Summit Club frequent player program.

It's now 40% easier to reach the first "Base Camp" level where players can take part in a $5k freeroll and turn points directly into cash.

The climb beyond Base Camp will also go much quicker with reduced tier thresholds.

Players who reach "The Summit", the top tier of the program, will also be rewarded with a 900% Summit Point bonus, 20% higher than before.

Kiev hosts gaming expo

EPT Moscow isn't the only thing moving to Kiev these days.

The two-day EELEX iGaming expo is headed to Kiev, Ukraine Sept. 10-11.

The aim of the expo is to answer questions regarding gaming in Russia and the Ukraine.

Mini booths will be equipped where visitors can get acquainted with solutions for Internet poker, casinos, sportsbooks and payment systems.

EPT Moscow was previously moved to Kiev due to a shift in poker's legal status in Russia.

Visit PokerListings.com

Sammy George to Play Tom Dwan in London Durrrr Challenge

Sammy “Any Two” George will square off against online poker sensation Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the Million Dollar Challenge that will take place in London next month. George is the first player to take Dwan up on his unique proposition bet. Three more will be announced.

A total of 500 hands will be played between George and Dwan heads-up. The buy-in is a scant $500,000 and blinds will be set at $500/$1,000. According to Matchroom Sport, which is promoting and organizing the festivities, “No player can leave the contest until either the 500 hands are up or the player has bust.” Dwan is currently battling against Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius in the online version of the Million Dollar Challenge. However, there has been no action in the high-stakes contest since June, leaving many to wonder if the Durrrr Challenge will see an ending.

George hails from London and told Matchroom Sport, “I’m buzzing – what could be sweeter than playing in the world’s biggest heads-up match against Durrrr? I’m stepping up to the plate and putting my money where my mouth is and it will be an honor to represent my country against the best the U.S. has to offer.” George has appeared on “Poker Million,” finishing sixth in its semi-final last December for $20,000 after battling against a talented table that included David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Marty Smyth, Roy Brindley, and Tony G. George finished 21st in the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $23,000. Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro and one of the finest Brazilian poker players in the world, won the $15,000 buy-in tournament.

The Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Antonius kicked off in February on the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker. The duo has logged 20,647 hands of $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha and need 50,000 to finish. When the requisite number of hands has been completed, if Dwan is ahead by at least $1, Antonius must pay up $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will shell out $1.5 million. In addition, bragging rights for years to come are on the line, as are the spoils of the 50,000 hands. However, mid-June marked the last action in the Million Dollar Challenge, leaving many to doubt its future.

In July, Dwan announced that a live version of the Million Dollar Challenge would be held in London this September. Four players will take him on in the European city in what will surely be one of the most unique live poker promotions ever held. In George, Dwan will battle against a top-tier cash game player who regularly hits the felts in high-stakes games venues around London. No date or location for the spectacle has been announced.

On September 18th, the WSOP Europe tournament series will kick off at the Casino at the Empire in London. The £10,000 buy-in Main Event begins on September 26th. It’s a five day tournament that will feature two starting days. In 2007, Team Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad brought home the gold in London, while John Juanda claimed victory last year.

Antonius was one of 500 players shut out of the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas after Day 1D sold out in July. Also left out in the cold were five-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest, Poker Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier, and “Captain” Tom Franklin, the Chairman of the World Poker Association.

Three more challengers are waiting in the wings for Dwan in London. We’ll have breaking news on the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge as it becomes available right here on Poker News Daily.

Sammy George to Play Tom Dwan in London Durrrr Challenge

Sammy “Any Two” George will square off against online poker sensation Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the Million Dollar Challenge that will take place in London next month. George is the first player to take Dwan up on his unique proposition bet. Three more will be announced.

A total of 500 hands will be played between George and Dwan heads-up. The buy-in is a scant $500,000 and blinds will be set at $500/$1,000. According to Matchroom Sport, which is promoting and organizing the festivities, “No player can leave the contest until either the 500 hands are up or the player has bust.” Dwan is currently battling against Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius in the online version of the Million Dollar Challenge. However, there has been no action in the high-stakes contest since June, leaving many to wonder if the Durrrr Challenge will see an ending.

George hails from London and told Matchroom Sport, “I’m buzzing – what could be sweeter than playing in the world’s biggest heads-up match against Durrrr? I’m stepping up to the plate and putting my money where my mouth is and it will be an honor to represent my country against the best the U.S. has to offer.” George has appeared on “Poker Million,” finishing sixth in its semi-final last December for $20,000 after battling against a talented table that included David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Marty Smyth, Roy Brindley, and Tony G. George finished 21st in the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $23,000. Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro and one of the finest Brazilian poker players in the world, won the $15,000 buy-in tournament.

The Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Antonius kicked off in February on the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker. The duo has logged 20,647 hands of $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha and need 50,000 to finish. When the requisite number of hands has been completed, if Dwan is ahead by at least $1, Antonius must pay up $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will shell out $1.5 million. In addition, bragging rights for years to come are on the line, as are the spoils of the 50,000 hands. However, mid-June marked the last action in the Million Dollar Challenge, leaving many to doubt its future.

In July, Dwan announced that a live version of the Million Dollar Challenge would be held in London this September. Four players will take him on in the European city in what will surely be one of the most unique live poker promotions ever held. In George, Dwan will battle against a top-tier cash game player who regularly hits the felts in high-stakes games venues around London. No date or location for the spectacle has been announced.

On September 18th, the WSOP Europe tournament series will kick off at the Casino at the Empire in London. The £10,000 buy-in Main Event begins on September 26th. It’s a five day tournament that will feature two starting days. In 2007, Team Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad brought home the gold in London, while John Juanda claimed victory last year.

Antonius was one of 500 players shut out of the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas after Day 1D sold out in July. Also left out in the cold were five-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest, Poker Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier, and “Captain” Tom Franklin, the Chairman of the World Poker Association.

Three more challengers are waiting in the wings for Dwan in London. We’ll have breaking news on the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge as it becomes available right here on Poker News Daily.

PokerNews Announces Partnership with PokerPT, PokerPoquer, PokerDoBrasil, and AmericanFlop

PokerNews.com announced today a new strategic alliance with PokerPT.com, PokerPoquer.com, PokerDoBrasil.com, and AmericanFlop.com. This alliance aims to develop the poker markets in Portugal, Spain, Brazil, and Latin America, where these websites...

Mike Sexton Reviews the WSOP November Nine, WPT Bellagio Cup

We just started our eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT).  It’s actually pretty amazing to think we’ve been on television for seven seasons!  And it’s more amazing how time flies.

Season VIII kicked off at Bellagio in July with a $15,000 buy-in for the Bellagio Cup V.   268 players were looking to take down the nearly $1.2 million first place prize.  It was a strong field and a very tough final table.  Erik Seidel, who was going for his second WPT title, said that it was the toughest final table in WPT history.  I’m not sure I’d agree with that, but it was a very strong group.

One thing I do know is that the six finalists set an all-time WPT record by playing the longest six-handed before losing a player at 103 hands.  And congratulations to our first WPT champ from Brazil, Alexandre Gomes.  Here are the final standings and payouts from the Bellagio Cup:

1st Place: Alexandre Gomes - $1,187,670
2nd Place: Faraz Jaka - $774,780
3rd Place: Justin Smith - $464,870
4th Place: Alec Torelli - $271,165
5th Place: Christoffer Sonesson - $203,385
6th Place: Erik Seidel - $164,640

The thing people will probably remember most about this final table was that we had our first physical injury due to excessive celebration.  Justin Smith, a very tough young player, drew out to stay alive on one hand and started jumping around, injuring his Achilles heel.  What’s really unusual about this is that Justin is one of the quietest people I’ve ever played with.  He’s one of the last guys you would expect to be jumping up and down.  To those who question whether poker is a sport, you can now say, “Well, players do get injured when playing in tournaments.”

The 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) closes with the Main Event final table in November.  Congratulations to all of the November Nine, the phrase used for those who make it to the Main Event final table.  They outlasted nearly 6,500 players to reach the final table.  The monster chip leader is Darvin Moon, an amateur player from Oakland, Maryland who got in this tournament by winning a satellite.  He’s a logger by trade and is playing in his first-ever WSOP tournament.  Could we have a second coming of Chris Moneymaker?

ESPN and the WSOP can thank their lucky stars that the guy many would consider to be the most famous poker player in the world, Phil Ivey, is one of the November Nine.  Ivey already won two bracelets at the 2009 WSOP and is going for his ninth overall!  My guess is that ratings will be more than double last year’s show primarily because Phil Ivey will be on it.  And I have no doubt that every promo about that show will include Phil Ivey (and if they don’t, they should).

If it seems like I’m a big Phil Ivey fan, it’s because I am.  Even though he’s only 33, he is the best player (and that means the most successful) in virtually every category in poker - live games, tournaments, and online.  I’ve always thought that Chip Reese made more money playing poker than anyone in history, but I now believe Ivey has gone by him due to the high-stakes cash games that they’re playing nowadays, the big-time tournaments, and the monster games online.

Ivey really is incredible. Make no mistake about it, his poker resume is unmatched by anyone.  He destroys the biggest cash games and online games and will become the all-time leader in tournaments if he finishes in fifth place or better in November.   Whether he likes the name or not, Phil Ivey is the “Tiger Woods of Poker.”  I, for one, will be pulling for him to win in November.

On a personal note, I had a shot and made the money in the Main Event, finishing around 400th or so.  I won’t bore you with my bad beat story, but it was pretty ugly.  It’s the seventh time I’ve finished in the money in the Main Event even though I didn’t start playing it until 1992 and missed it about three times along the way.  That ties me with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Jay Heimowitz for second place all-time cashing in the Main Event and second only to Berry Johnston, who has finished in the money 10 times.

I’m looking forward to next year’s Main Event already!  Hope to see you there.

Americas Cup of Poker kicks off

Players in theU.S., Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay are invited to play in any of the Americas Cup of Poker daily tournaments.

Players from outside these countries can also help their country get involved through wildcard tournaments.

The countries have been split into groups, with each facing a new challenger each week.

Players score points for their country by making the top 100 in the daily freerolls, and $0.20 and $5.50 tournaments beginning today.

The country with the most points wins each match. When all the group matches are complete the two countries with the most wins in each group move on to a live final in Argentina.

The teams headed to the live event to represent their country will be made up of the five players earning the most points during the group stage and a Team PokerStars Pro.

The live tournament will be held at a Bariloche ski resort in the Andes with a $100,000 first-place prize up for grabs.

Check out PokerStars for more information. The groupings and schedule is also available on the PokerStars Americas Cup of Poker page right here.

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PokerStars Launches Americas Cup of Poker

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, has unveiled the Americas Cup of Poker, bringing players from 13 countries in the Western Hemisphere together to do battle. Up for grabs is a $250,000 prize pool.

Players from the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay will take to the felts as part of the quarter-million dollar Americas Cup of Poker. The tournament is a hybrid of live and online poker. In the end, eight teams will make their way to a ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina with the Andes Mountains serving as a picturesque backdrop. Text found on the PokerStars website touts the unique experience: “It’s the trip of a lifetime that gives you the chance to explore one of South America’s most beautiful regions - and play poker for cash and the glory of your country while you are there.” Bariloche serves as the gateway for mountain crossings into Chile.

In a similar setup to a soccer tournament, the 13 participating countries have been divided into four groups, labeled A, B, C, and D. The United States, Mexico, and Ecuador will battle in Group A. Canada, Columbia, and Uruguay will compete as part of Group B. Chile, Venezuela, Peru, and Costa Rica will take to the felts in Group C. Finally, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay will comprise Group D. Each group except C will include a wild card country, which will be determined by the nationality of freeroll winners on July 24th, 25th, and 26th.

Countries in each group will do battle in daily freerolls, $0.20 buy-in tournaments, and $0.50 buy-in tournaments. A total of three rounds will play out: July 27th through August 2nd, August 3rd through August 9th, and August 10th through August 16th. Players who reach the Top 100 in each tournament will receive points for their country and the two countries with the most number of wins in each group will qualify for the live final in Argentina. Players with the top five point tallies from each country will make the sojourn, with the following prizes up for grabs. Each will be distributed evenly among the finalists for each country:

1st Place: $100,000
2nd Place: $60,000
3rd Place: $30,000
4th Place: $20,000
5th Place: $10,000
6th Place: $10,000
7th Place: $10,000
8th Place: $10,000

For wild card countries, the player who won the qualifying freeroll will automatically head to Bariloche should their country finish as one of the top two in the Group; the top four point earners will join them. In addition, a member of Team PokerStars Pro will be added to each team in Argentina to bolster the skill level. Members of Team PokerStars Pro from Americas Cup countries other than the United States include J.C. “PrtyPSux” Alvarado (Mexico), Leo Fernandez (Argentina), Maridu Mayrinck (Brazil), World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup V winner Alexandre Gomes (Brazil), Andre Akkari (Brazil), and Humberto Brenes (Costa Rica).

Here are the Round 1 match-ups in the Americas Cup of Poker, which will play out from July 27th to August 2nd:

Group A:
United States versus Ecuador
Mexico versus Wild Card

Group B:
Canada versus Uruguay
Columbia versus Wild Card

Group C:
Chile versus Venezuela
Peru versus Costa Rica

Group D:
Brazil versus Paraguay
Argentina versus Wild Card

First place in a daily freeroll awards 600 points to a player. Winning a $0.20 tournament results in 1,500 points, while champions of each $0.50 event will receive 3,000 points.

The final event in Bariloche is tentatively scheduled to take place from September 4th to 6th and will be filmed for television. Players who claim allegiance to multiple countries will be assigned to the nation that their PokerStars account is registered to. Starting on July 27th, the daily tournaments can be found by visiting the “Tourney” lobby of the PokerStars client and then clicking on “Regional.”

Alexandre Gomes wins WPT Bellagio Cup Main Event

Alexandre Gomes has won the Bellagio Cup Main Event. The 26-year-old became the first Brazilian to win a WPT event and in doing so claimed a first prize of $1,187,670.