The 7th season of the WSOP Circuit will start in August

WSOP has announced the WSOP Circuit Tour schedule for the season 2010-2011.

The WSOP Circuit Tour will start its seventh season in August. It also looks like the tournament is gonna be bigger and better than ever before. This 7th season will include at least 12 tour stops - and presumably there will be even more of these.  

The 7th season will also involve some innovations which the organizers naturally classify as improvements:

• A Cumulative Player Point System for the whole season. 
• The WSOP Circuit National Championship tournament (televised nationally) in which the Top 100 players (who have accumulated most points) will qualify. 
• Four regional WSOP Circuit Championships happenings (buy-ins $10k and 2 hrs of TV broadcasting/each happening).  
• Standardized structures and pay-outs.

 

The WSOP Circuit 2010-2011 will start on August 19th from Iowa (Horseshoe Council Bluffs) and will continue until May 2011 when poker shall be played at Harrah’s New Orleans.

View the schedule from here.

Read more about WSOP Circuit.

 

Source: WSOP

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The 7th season of the WSOP Circuit will start in August

World Poker Tour Brings Back Kimberly Lansing for Season 9

In an overhaul of sorts for Season 9, the World Poker Tour (WPT) has brought back Kimberly Lansing. Her role, you ask? According to a press statement released on Saturday, Lansing will “provide show opens, breaks, commentary, and perspective, including player interviews that will serve to bring out the human interest side of playing for high stakes.”

Sunday marks the first day of play in the Bellagio Cup VI, the kickoff U.S.-based event of Season 9 of the WPT. With buy-ins for several upcoming tournaments slashed to encourage more participation, Season 9 may mark a rebirth of sorts for the age-old series that first appeared on the Travel Channel back in 2003.

Lansing last appeared on WPT programming in Season 6. On why she will rejoin the tour’s ranks for the forthcoming cycle, WPT President Adam Pliska commented in the same press release, “We believe the WPT anchor represents a significant step forward in poker programming and Kimberly is a natural fit for the position. Her charisma, style, professionalism, and knowledge of the sport have earned her the respect and attention of players throughout the poker community.”

Party Gaming purchased the WPT late last year, leading some to believe that PartyPoker pro Kara Scott may make her way to the small screen. However, Lansing will become a mainstay at live tournaments located at casinos around the United States. Also receiving more exposure during Season 9 will be WPT hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, who will now attend the starting day of every U.S. event. Despite the Bellagio Cup starting on Sunday, Van Patten sits in 101st after Day 2A of the World Series of Poker Main Event holding a stack of 174,200.

The WPT held a press conference on Saturday morning to announce the changes for Season 9 and also officially introduced Matt Savage as its Executive Tour Director. Savage, a co-founder of the Tournament Directors of America, will work hand in hand with players, casinos, and tournament staff to provide a seamless experience for WPT players. Savage added, “There are so many exciting changes at the World Poker Tour and I’m looking forward to having a big role in the WPT’s continued success. This is an amazing team and I’m proud to be working with them.”

Also debuting during Season 9 will be the Royal Flush Girls, who include 2007 Miss Kentucky USA Michelle Banzer, “FHM Singapore” cover girl Sunisa Kim, and Formula Drift car builder Melyssa Grace. All told, six Royal Flush Girls will film vignettes for WPT programming, including a behind-the-scenes tour at the host venue. The Royal Flush Girls will be on-hand this weekend at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip.

The WPT last held an event on U.S. soil in April, when newly signed PokerStars pro David Williams took down the $25,000 Championship event. Williams defeated UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin heads-up in a final table that also included Shawn Buchanan, David Benyamine, Billy Baxter, and John O’Shea. Attendance for the 2010 WPT Championship was down over 40% from 2009, when 338 players took to the felts in a tournament won by Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko.

The seventh and eighth seasons of the WPT appeared on Fox Sports Net. However, no official announcement has been given as to whether the ninth season will also air on the cable station, although a statement is expected in the near future. Seasons 1 through 5 of the WPT aired on the Travel Channel, followed by a brief hiatus to GSN for Season 6. GSN officials opted not to air Season 7, leading to WPT landing on Fox Sports Net.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT news.

Linda Johnson Scoops Increased Poker Limits in Florida

Floridians have been eagerly awaiting July 1st, the day the legislature raised the legal buy-in amount from its previous $100 maximum. I decided to head to Ft. Lauderdale to see first-hand what this would mean for poker players.

My first stop was at Isle Casino and Racing at Pampano Park. I was thrilled to learn that the entire building was non-smoking. The poker room is located on the second floor and consists of 38 tables. It is open 18 hours a day Sunday through Thursday and around-the-clock on Friday and Saturday. Players get tracking cards and most games are worth $1 per hour toward food (or 50% of that toward cash). The players said the food, which is served at the table, is very tasty.

I asked Mike Smith, Director of Poker Operations, what the main difference was since the buy-ins were changed. His response: “The players seem to be taking it more seriously. Also, the card room has been completely full.” He told me about the various promotions the card room offers, including $599 royals: “We gave away more than $100,000 in June. Players can win tournament seats, high-hand bonuses, and cash in drawings.”

While I was there, games offered included $1-$2, $2-$5, and $5-$10 No Limit Hold’em; Pot Limit Omaha with a $1-$2 blind; $2-$4 and $4-$8 Limit Hold’em; and $4-$8 Omaha Eight or Better. I sat and played in the $2-$5 game for a while and thought the action was good, with lots of players seeing the flop and lots of all-in bets called. The mega bad-beat jackpot was more than $145,000.

There is a tournament every Tuesday night with a $230 buy-in, 13,000 in starting chips, and 30-minute rounds. On Sunday nights, the buy-in is $70 for the Battle for the Weekly Pass Satellite, which awards packages to the following week’s Monday through Thursday tournaments. The Isle will host the Florida State Poker Championship from August 2nd to 10th, which will feature a $400,000 guarantee for its six events.

WSOP Main Event Largest Since 2006

Only 2006 - arguably the peak of the poker boom - produced a larger turnout.

While the official registration number won't be released for another few hours, we know 4,928 players registered on the first three days and day 1D will exceed day 1C. That means the number will be well over 7,200.

"I had a bet that the number would hit 7,500," Doyle Brunson told PokerListings. When asked what he would attribute the spike in registrants to, Brunson summed it up in two words: "Internet poker."

Certainly the rise in online poker has contributed to increased turnout, but that alone can't explain the year-over-year spike.

"We're fortunate that people save up to play in this event," said WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky. "This is the Olympics of poker and people want to play in the most recognizable poker event in the world."

Allen "The Chainsaw" Kessler said he has seen an increase in all of the tournaments he plays in. "People have more money in general, all of the higher buy-ins I've been playing like the $5k and $10ks have seen increased numbers."

"It helps that the WSOP didn't screw up registration this year and turn people away," Kessler added.

While there is still higher than usual unemployment in the United States, the U.S. financial situation has improved compared to last year and that probably contributed to the turnout. "I think the economy is coming back,"said Jeff Shulman. "[Registration] had been going up every year until the last couple, so I think this is a good sign."

"The fact that they didn't hold the tournament over the 4th of July weekend probably helped," said 2009 bracelet winner Blair Hinkle. "The last two years there was at least one day on the 4th and they lose a ton of American players who don't want to play on those days."

"I just hope they realize what they did right and do it again next year," said Hinkle.

Visit PokerListings.com

$10k Limit Championship Takes Attendence Hit

Like most $10k WSOP events, the field is heavy with pros, including Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch.

For the first time in the 2010 WSOP, however, attendance is down for a $10k event from 2009. Last year 185 players played the event.

The $10k Limit Hold'em Championship is the fifth $10k event to take place at the WSOP 2010, but all of the previous four have enjoyed increased field sizes from the previous year.

Greg "FBT" Mueller won the event in 2009, and the two-time bracelet winner is back in the hunt today, despite the smaller field.

"I was surprised," Mueller said of the lower registration numbers. "It might be a coincidence from the other events that are running."

"It's also the fifth $10k event, and we've had the $50k (Players Championship). People are running low on funds. I don't think it's based on limit hold'em per se, it just might be a coincidence."

The WSOP is running 10 $10k buy-in events for 2010, including the Main Event, with only the $50k Players Championship and $25k Six-Handed No-Limit events having higher buy-ins.

Attendance was up over 2009 for the $10k Seven-Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Deuce-to-Seven Lowball and Omaha Hi-Lo championships, the four $10k events already completed at the 2010 WSOP.

The fields for the $10k events are always stacked, making a bracelet win even that much sweeter for the winners.

"All the best limit hold'em players in the world are in this tournament, and all the best tournament players, like Phil and Howard, are here," Mueller said. "So I would say these tournaments are the most fun to win."

Andy Bloch, who's already cashed in two Championship events this year, wasn't surprised at the lower turnout for this year's $10k Limit event, with a popular $2.5k Pot-Limit Omaha event also beginning Tuesday.

"There's a real easy explanation for that," Bloch said. "We had the $2,500 PLO today and a lot of people are still in that that want to play this. Maybe it's only five or 10 people, but that's enough to change the number."

The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

Visit PokerListings.com

June 11th – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal, we catch you up to date with the latest action from the World Series of Poker, the first episode of Poker After Dark’s The Cash Game airs on NBC, and we talk to Chris Rose, the host of the PokerStars.net Big Game.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

We start today’s episode with a recap of the latest from the WSOP at the Rio here in Las Vegas. Event thirteen ended after over four days of play and American Steven Gee won the bracelet and four hundred and seventy thousand dollar prize. Event 16, which was a fiften hundred dollar six max hold’em tournament was won by Carter Phillips to the tune of four hundred and eighty two thousand dollars.

Event seventeen had a field that looked like a who’s-who in poker for the five thousand dollar deep stacked no limit holdem tournament. When play ended with eighteen players left there were plenty of big names in the hunt. Jeff Williams lead the pack and Amit “amak315″ Makhija is close behind in third. Antonio Esfandiari is in sixth place and David Benefield resided in fourteenth. Williams ended up finishing in third place and pro Jason DeWitt won first place for over eight hundred thousand dollars.

In other news from the W S O P, it was Bertrand Grospellier, known online as Elky, who won the special exemption seat for the Tournament of Champions, besting a star studded final table which saw him beat Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi heads up.

Doyle Brunson may not be making lots of waves in the WSOP, but he made plenty of heads turn in the recently broadcasted first episode of “Poker After Dark: The Cash Game.” The six-handed game saw Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Eli Elezra, and Gus Hansen buy in for a hundred thousand dollars, while Tom “Durrrr” Dwan put forth a quarter million. By the end of the first episode, Brunson was a hundred and thirty five thousand dollars the richer, while Dwan had lost a hundred and sixty thousand dollars, or two-thirds of his stack. If the nosebleed action is your thing, you can watch “Poker After Dark” nightly at 2:05am ET on NBC.

We are less than a week away from the debut of the PokerStars-sponsored “Big Game” on Fox. This poker shows pitches a “loose cannon” amateur against five seasoned pros, with buy-ins of one hundred thousand dollars for all. The first loose cannon will most likely come undone at the sight of the competition, which includes twelve-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, and all-time stamina champ Phil Laak.

PND spoke with “Big Game” host Chris Rose, who will also be providing live Twitter updates. According to Rose, the show has a lot to say for itself:

“The fact that you have poker pros salivating for the chance to sit at a table with a fish with a hundred thousand dollars in front of them is great. A lot of amateur players have never had that kind of money walking into that situation. We’re all able to put ourselves in that person’s chair. The loose cannon is really the wild card. Some of them get lucky, some of them are very bright players, and some end up limping away.”

He also gave us a tantalizing peek into what will probably be epic table banter: “Tony G and Phil Hellmuth are seated next to one another. There were times when Joe Stapleton and I were voicing the show and laughing because Tony G was digging in and not letting go for hours on end. It was a thing of beauty to listen to.”

Should make for some exciting poker television. Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal and if you haven’t already be sure to bookmark our site so you can come back for the latest in poker news. Until tomorrow, this is Sean Gibson wishing you deep runs in all your tournaments!

The future of WSOP Circuit is unsure

In 2005, as the poker boom was peaking in the States, the WSOP started dreaming about an own tournament poker tour. This is when the WSOP Circuit Series came into being - and the start seemed promising indeed. Nowadays the Circuit suffers from declining player amounts and poor visibility.

Pokernewsboy collected and put together some statistical data that show how the appreciation of WSOPC has fallen during these years.

The biggest annual prize money of the WSOP Circuit:

2010 - $264,000
2009 - $322,000
2008 - $499,000
2007 – $563,000
2006 – $755,000
2005 – $787,000

In 2005 the smallest sum that was paid to a tournament winner was $335,000 - more than any winner received during 2009 and 2010.

WSOP Circuit has tried every possible way to improve this situation: the buy-ins are lowered, the tournament stops have been both added and removed in order to find a suitable amount. But so far there has been no remedy to cure the disease called decreasing attendance. There has even been some talk about awarding the WSOP bracelet to the tournament winners.

Source: Pokernewsboy

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The future of WSOP Circuit is unsure

ESPN Inside Deal Celebrates Chris Moneymaker’s Seven-Year Anniversary

In 2003, a little-known Tennessee accountant named Chris Moneymaker took down the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Moneymaker is the reason you and I are here today and this week marks the seven-year anniversary of his win. Moneymaker joined Tuesday’s installment of the ESPN.com poker news show “Inside Deal.”

The annual WSOP used to wrap up in May. Such was the case in 2003, when Moneymaker outlasted industry titan Sammy Farha in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after winning his seat online. On his anniversary, Moneymaker told “Inside Deal” hosts Laura Lane and Bernard Lee, “I had no idea that today’s the day. Poker has changed so much in the last seven years. It’s been a great ride to see the differences between then and now. I can’t wait to see the next seven years.”

Spoiling the nostalgia is mandatory compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on June 1st. What the lay of the land will be come next Tuesday remains to be seen, but Lee prognosticated, “There’s really going to be no change. The ability to play online is going to be the exact same. However, the biggest change, which is really the heart of the UIGEA, is that the banks are going to be responsible for preventing any financial transactions to any online gaming site.” The definition of “unlawful internet gambling” was never spelled out in the law.

Recently, the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) ended with Ryan “toetagu” Fair taking home the high-stakes Main Event to the tune of $1.1 million. Fair joined ESPN “Inside Deal” via phone and told listeners, “The structure is really good and this year I haven’t played as many events as I normally do because I had an elbow injury, but it’s just a good tournament [series]. The buy-ins are a lot bigger than they normally are.” Fair and the rest of the industry will now descend upon Las Vegas for the WSOP.

Since Moneymaker’s victory, entries into the WSOP Main Event have gone up over 600% and entries into WSOP tournaments have increased 700%. What could cause those numbers to rise even further? Moneymaker opined, “A woman winning the Main Event would do phenomenal things for the game. It would bring another boom and definitely spark a lot more interest.” Following Moneymaker’s comments, Joe Hachem, Tony G, Jason Mercier, Gavin Griffin, and Vanessa Rousso shared their WSOP plans.

Despite being an icon of the poker industry, Moneymaker is only slated to play in one tournament during the 2010 WSOP. He explained, “Right now, I’m just playing in the Main Event. I’m talking with my wife and we’re trying to figure out if I can go out the first week. I’d like to play in the $50,000 [Player’s Championship]. My big goal right now is just to play in the WSOP and from there we’ll see if we can win it.” Moneymaker has two kids at home and just found out that a third is on the way.

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman traveled to Los Angeles to meet with new WSOP bracelet designer Steve Soffa. With Corum no longer, Soffa explained how his hardware differs: “We’ve been working diligently for three months, night and day, on this project. I’m going to bring something a lot different than anyone’s seen around the world.” Each player will have his or her name engraved into the bracelet upon winning it.

Poker powerhouse Christina Lindley then joined the show. Lindley has racked up $380,000 in online poker earnings over the last six months and told Feldman what makes the game appealing: “I love the challenge. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve done in my life. You always have to learn and you always have to change. It’s something I’ve been passionate about ever since I found it.”

“Inside Deal” can be seen exclusively on ESPN.com. Starting on June 7th, the show will be rolled out weekly.

iPoker’s ECOOP tournament series begins today - the satellites are already running

The iPoker Network’s popular ECOOP tournament series will be played for the sixth time during 24.5.–6.6.2010. The ECOOP prize pool consists of an overall 4,5 million dollar guaranteed pot.

The buy-ins of the events vary between $100 and $2,500.

You can also grab your ticket to ECOOP events from the satellite tournaments which are run continuously. At cheapest you can come along to the tournaments with less than a one-dollar stake.

You can play ECOOP for example through the following sites: CelebPoker, Expekt, WinnerPoker, Titan Poker and BetnGo.

ECOOP 24.5.–6.6.2010:

Date	Time	Event	Game	Buy-in	Guaranteed pot
24.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #1 $250,000 GP	NL Hold’em	$200+$15	$250,000.00
25.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #2 $50,000 GP	Limit 7 Card Stud	$250+$18	$50,000.00
26.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #3 $200,000 GP	NL Hold’em Turbo R/A	$100+$9	$200,000.00
27.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #4 $350,000 GP	NL Hold’em	$750+$50	$350,000.00
28.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #5 $100,000 GP	PL Omaha Hi/Lo	$100+$9	$100,000.00
29.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #6 $150,000 GP*	PL Omaha (6 max)	$1000+$60	$150,000.00
30.5.	22:00	ECOOP V #7 $500,000 GP	NL Hold’em	$500+$35	$500,000.00
31.5.	22:00	ECOOP VI #8 $550,000 GP	NL Hold’em	$2500+$100	$500,000.00
1.6.	22:00	ECOOP VI #9 $150,000 GP	PL Omaha R/A	$100+$9	$150,000.00
2.6.	22:00	ECOOP VI #10 $250,000 GP	NL Hold’em (6 Max)	$300+$20	$250,000.00
3.6.	22:00	ECOOP VI #11 $100,000 GP	Limit Hold’em (6 Max)	$200+$15	$100,000.00
4.6.	22:00	ECOOP VI #12 $300,000 GP	NL Hold’em R/A	$100+$9	$300,000.00
5.6.	22:00	ECOOP VI #13 $100,000 GP	PL Omaha	$400+$30	$100,000.00
6.6.	20:00	ECOOP VI Main Event $1.500,000 GP	NL Hold’em	$1500+$80	$1,500,000.00

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iPoker’s ECOOP tournament series begins today - the satellites are already running

Lind Wins SCOOP Player of the Series Title

A Team PokerStars Online Pro from the United States, Lind recorded 27 cashes worth $105,127.12, including five final table finishes.

As a result he will receive the Player of the Series trophy, a 2010 WCOOP Main Event ticket, prize packages including entry into the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and 2011 EPT Grand Final and a Special Edition PokerStars chip set.

The SCOOP series began on May 2 featuring three tiers of buy-ins for each of its 38 events.

In total, 114 SCOOP champions were crowned over two weeks.

An amazing 461,936 buy-ins from 130,746 unique players coming from 174 different countries were recorded, generating a total prize pool of $63,802,405 that shattered PokerStars' $45 million guarantee.

Visit PokerListings.com

Irvine Man Wins $500k Guaranteed at Cal State Championship

The innovative $220 No-Limit Hold'em event, which allowed players to buy-back in to all four starting day's even after they busted out, was the biggest guarantee ever for a low-stakes poker tournament.

With 3,220 entrants helping create a $611,800 prize pool, Liu, from nearby Irvine, California, managed to walk away with $125k in first-place cash.

A regular at Commerce, Liu also won a NLHE event at the 2007 Cal State Championships for $131,024. He now has 100 cashes on his poker resume, including several others from Commerce events.

"Paul Liu has clearly demonstrated his 'home court advantage' at Commerce Casino," said Tournament Director Matt Savage.

"He has established himself as a premier player in our events and earned his Golden Bear trophy fighting through a very tough field this past week.

TV host/actress Ricki Lake made it the final 72 players, but ended her run in 50th place.

In other events, Aidin Taali won the $220 Limit Hold'em for $16k, Mickey Mouse" Mills won the $335 No-Limit Hold'em for $16,635 and Shirley Rosario took down the $335 H.O.R.S.E. for $9,385.

The annual California State Poker Championship continues through May 23 with more than $1,000,000 in guaranteed prize money.

Buy-ins range from $120 to $1,575 plus the $3,085 Cal State Championship Main Event.

Visit PokerListings.com

May 11th – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal, Tom Dwan hoovers it up at High Stakes Poker, PND interviews Victory Poker’s Dan Fleyschman, we bring you the weekend’s poker tweets, and the final eight of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship are set.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily, brought to you by PokerSource.com.

The Season Six finale of “High Stakes Poker” aired on Sunday night, with Doyle Brunson’s streak of fifteen straight wins in televised cash game sessions on the line. Doyle could not hold up his winning streak. Instead, it was Tom “Durrrr” Dwan who cleaned up at the tables, including a pot for over a quarter-million dollars that prompted Doyle to tell Dwan, “You’re like a vacuum cleaner.”

Victory Poker’s Dan Fleyshman tells PND about his plans for WSOP domination: “We have nineteen pros now, so at the WSOP, we’re going to smother the place… Right now in the $25,000 event, we have three or five percent of the field. We have grinders like Paul Wasicka, Lee Markholt, and Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little who will play every day and every event. We’ll definitely come up with a party. We might also end up doing a charity event.”

Fleyshman also disclosed an exciting TV project: “We’re going to be choosing the next Victory Poker pro. People will submit 60 second videos and the winner gets $10,000 in buy-ins, a fully furnished condo in Panorama Towers, a car, a watch, clothes, and will live and learn from us for a year. It’ll be like “The Apprentice” for poker. We’ll start with twenty-five players and every week, we’ll eliminate someone.”

When we return, we will bring you the best poker Tweets of the weekend and find out who are the last eight players standing at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

This weekend’s Twitter was dominated by Jennifer Harman’s charity poker tournament benefiting the National Kidney Foundation, which drew an impressive number of poker pros. Harman herself was impressed, Tweeting, “Wow, huge turnout for my charity event for the National Kidney Foundation. Thanks to everyone for coming.” Jeff Harrington ultimately took down the title.

Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth tweeted enticingly about the upcoming Fox cash game show “The Big Game.” Hellmuth started by saying, “A hand came up in The Big Game that was so sick I dare not talk about, ever! I guarantee it will be talked about worldwide.” Negreanu agreed: “I’ll second that. One of the sickest hands ever on TV. Best poker show I’ve ever done today, people are going to flip!”

The Tweet of the Week went to Doyle Brunson for one of his trademark blonde jokes, aimed at poker journalist and hostess Amanda Leatherman: “For you Amanda… What do you give a blonde who has everything?… Penicillin.”

Finally, Sunday’s broadcast of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship featured a clash of the titans, as the newest Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad squared off against Doyle Brunson. Prior to the two-thousand and eight WSOP Europe festivities, the pair tangled in a best-of-three match in London, with Brunson winning two to nothing. This time, Obrestad quickly found herself behind again and Brunson advanced to the round of eight. Two thousand and seven WSOP Main Event champ Jerry Yang’s A-Q of spades held against Barry Greenstein’s 10-9. Also advancing was Dennis Phillips, who outlasted cash game pro Eli Elezra.

These are the matches for the Elite Eight, which will air this Sunday, May sixteenth, on NBC:

Erik Seidel versus Peter Eastgate?

Scotty Nguyen versus Jason Mercier?

Dennis Phillips versus Doyle Brunson?

Jerry Yang versus Annie Duke

Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal by Poker News Daily, brought to you by PokerSource.com. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news.

2010 WSOP Best Bets: Sam Stein

Out of five picks, our very own blogger Jason Mercier managed to win his first of what is sure to be many bracelets to come.

However, our other four choices were shut out. This year, after deciding one isn't nearly enough, we have chosen a line-up sure to be bringing home the bling from Las Vegas this summer.

Our first pick was none other than Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. Every Tuesday and Thursday for the next two weeks we will reveal our four other not-so-obvious best bets.

Plus, when we're done, we'll tell you Negreanu's own 2010 WSOP Best Bets right before the 2010 World Series of Poker kicks off.

After three major runner-up finishes on tour this year and a WPT final table appearance, we think Sam Stein sits on the edge of poker greatness.

As a result, we've made him our second best bet to win a WSOP bracelet this year:

Sam Stein experienced something brand new to him at the 2009 World Series of Poker: Losing.

"It was probably the only stretch I've ever gone on in poker where it didn't really go well at all," he said. "I had one cash and I probably played nine tournaments, which isn't a lot. But other than the World Series, it seemed like every other tournament I played in went really well.

"It was really the only rough patch I've had."

But with the woes of the 2009 WSOP behind him, Stein, who started playing the game online four years ago, immediately started winning again.

Just days after the WSOP wrapped up, he exploded onto the live tournament scene with a ninth place finish at the World Poker Tour's Bellagio Cup.

A month later he got over the hump and made the final table of the WPT's Legends of Poker in his home town of Los Angeles, and although the 22-year-old could manage no better than a fifth place finish, it was just the beginning.

He kicked off 2010 with a runner-up finish in a $5k prelim at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Then he hit the biggest score of his career with another runner-up finish at the inaugural North American Poker Tour Las Vegas main event.

Throw in a third in a $2k NAPT prelim at Mohegan Sun and another second place finish to Jason Mercier in the $25k High Roller just a few days later and although Stein seems to be having some trouble jumping the final hurdle needed to get himself a win, it also appears he is on the verge of something rather big.

"Coming second is never fun," he said. "But the last one was much less frustrating than Venetian. Jason and I are very good friends and there was really nothing I could do. I got my money in good three or four different times and he was able to get a chop or win every single time.

"That was definitely less frustrating than Venetian, where I felt like I kind of gave it away."

And while the frustration of a string of second-place finishes might destroy the spirit of some players, it has only served as motivation for Stein.

"I have a ton of confidence and I feel like I don't really need to change anything up," he said. "If things start out bad at the World Series, maybe I'll consider doing something different, but so far everything seems to be working really well.

"I was considering doing a bracelet bet. I'd have to get some odds though. I know it would push me a little bit harder, although I really want to win a bracelet, so I don't know if it will make me even more motivated than I already am."

And having earned almost $1 million in the year since the 2009 WSOP, Stein feels like his bankroll is in the kind of shape it needs to be to let him concentrate on one thing this year: Winning.

"It makes it easier when you've been winning and don't worry about the buy-ins for the events," he said. "You just play your game and the buy-in doesn't affect how you play. It definitely helps your results when you can have full disregard for the money and I feel like I have that at this point."

Depending on how many Day 2's he makes, Stein plans on playing just about every No-Limit Hold'em event he can get his hands on, including the $25k Six-Max.

Right now he's looking at about 15 shots at a bracelet and since he's been working on his Pot-Limit Omaha game, there's a chance he could take a swing in those tournaments as well.

Having a house in nearby Henderson, Nevada means Stein will be playing the 2010 WSOP on home turf and he's considering hiring a personal chef to make sure he's eating right to fight through the long grind ahead.

"Winning a bracelet means a ton to me," he said. "I really want to win a bracelet, hopefully I can get two, you never know."

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Dan Fleyshman Interview with Poker News Daily

Poker News Daily: You’ve just returned from the PartyPoker Big Game IV. Tell us a little bit about your experience.

Dan Fleyshman: There were a lot better players than I expected. Originally, I thought there would be mostly European players, aggressive players, and more tournament players. However, when I got there, I saw guys like Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo and Isaac Haxton; it was like murderers’ row.

There were a lot of quiet moments until we decided to do a 7-2 game, which changed everything. The more traditional players changed their whole game around. Players could have premium hands or they could have 7-2. The game played a little differently than I expected. I had a bunch of all-in pots with David “Viffer” Peat, who literally stole the show. He was down ?38,000, busted Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz, and then went nuts on everyone. To win ?150,000 in a ?25/?50 game is ridiculous.

PND: Did it play like a typical $25/$50 game?

Dan Fleyshman: We started doing straddles, which was better. It pretty much played like a regular $25/$50 game, though. It wasn’t any crazier or harder than a Bellagio $25/$50 game, but there were different elements. For some of the players, it was too small.

PND: Talk about the presence of Peat.

Dan Fleyshman: We got it in and ran it twice a few times, which was entertaining. Every two hours, you eliminated someone. Viffer wasn’t going to be eliminated ever because the most aggressive person at the table got a pass. In this case, it was pretty simple. It was going to be Viffer.

PND: You’re on the Victory Poker team. Talk about the site’s plans for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Dan Fleyshman: The WSOP will be our claim to fame. We have 19 pros now, so at the WSOP, we’re going to smother the place. Luckily, the guys win a lot and make lots of final tables. Right now in the $25,000 event, we have 3% or 5% of the field. We have grinders like Paul Wasicka, Lee Markholt, and Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little who will play every day and every event. We’ll definitely come up with a party. We might also end up doing a charity event.

PND: We read on your blog on Bluff Magazine’s website that you had an interesting run-in with Emma Glover.

Dan Fleyshman: We were on a plane to London. I was reading a magazine and all of a sudden, I saw a picture of Emma Glover that was just stunning. We were landing and it was nighttime, with our party the next day at 7:30pm. I put an all points bulletin out to book her for the party. I just wanted to have her work the party because she was stunning. She was friends with all of the other models in the magazine I was reading and she’d be a good fit. I tried everything and the owner of Bluff Europe texted me. His response was just, “Are you sure?” At 7:29pm, one minute before the party started, he came with Emma Glover. She was already booked that day for something else, but somehow, he convinced her to come.

PND: Talk about your mantra of turning fantasy into reality.

Dan Fleyshman: That’s how Victory Poker came to be. It was a fantasy. I asked Antonio Esfandiari to be the face of the site and built it around him. The concept of it was that you just have to do it. If you want to find a girl, you have to do it. You have to put forth the effort to make things real. It’s the willingness to try. You have to open your eyes and go do it. If you don’t do it, it’ll be a fantasy forever.

PND: What can we expect in the near future from Victory Poker?

Dan Fleyshman: We’re talking to a few new pros in Europe and just signed Jason Lavallee. Our video contest just came out. We’re going to be choosing the next Victory Poker pro. People will submit 60-second videos and the winner gets $100,000 in buy-ins, a fully furnished condo in Panorama Towers, a car, a watch, clothes, and will live and learn from us for a year. It’s a full-fledged package and we’ll be filming it. That’ll be the focal point regarding marketing. It’ll be like “The Apprentice” for poker. We’ll start with 25 players and every week, we’ll eliminate someone. We’re going to narrow it down to one person, who will win this dream package.

Cal State Championship Off and Running

Three weeks of poker featuring more than $1 million in guaranteed prize money began with a $500,000 guaranteed $220-buy-in No Limit Hold'em event that includes three more starting days through Saturday.

The event allows people to buy-back in each day if they bust out and is being hailed the largest guarantee in poker for a low-stakes tournament.

The 22-tournament schedule will include full slate of poker tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $120 to $1,575, plus the storied $3,085-buy-in Main Event Cal State Championship Main Event, once famously won by actor Ben Affleck.

There is $1,150,000 in guaranteed prize money spread out over nine of the events, four events providing a $3,085 main event seat and several Mega Satellites so players can spend as little as $335 to win their way into the main event.

"In the Cal State Poker Classic, Commerce Casino has created a haven for the player who can spread out his bankroll wisely and yet still get a shot at numerous big paydays," said Tournament Director Matt Savage.

"We're looking forward to an exciting May."

To view the full schedule, click through to the Commerce Casino website.

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Annie Duke to Host Charity Poker Tournament for After-School All-Stars

Continuing her string of seemingly never-ending charitable efforts, UB.com pro Annie Duke will be hosting the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night at 7:30pm PT on May 20th at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.  The $250 buy-in, $100 rebuy tournament will benefit the non-profit organization After-School All-Stars.

After-School All-Stars was established by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1992 (under the name Inner-City Games Foundation) when he was still a full-time actor serving as Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.  The organization provides after school programs for at-risk youth who have no place to go after school.  After-School All-Stars aims not only to keep kids safe by giving them an alternative to crime, gangs, and drugs, but also help them succeed in school and prepare them for the rest of their lives.  The organization has 13 locations around the United States and serves 78,000 youth annually.

Almost $35,000 in prizes will be up for grabs, including a $10,000 seat in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and a Segway personal transporter.  In addition to the buy-ins and rebuys, players will have the opportunity to contribute to the cause by bidding on silent auction items.

A number of celebrities have been confirmed for the UB.com-sponsored event, including:

• Don Cheadle – actor, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean’s Eleven series
• Rafe Furst – Full Tilt Poker pro
• Ali Nejad – “Poker After Dark” commentator
• Sarah Rue – actress, “Eastwick,” “Popular”
• Trishelle Cannatella – Absolute Poker pro, “Real World” star
• David Zayas – actor, “Dexter”
• Shanna Moakler – Former Miss USA, reality television celebrity
• Adam “Roothlus” Levy – Team UB member
• Joshua Molina – actor, “The West Wing”
• Scott Ian – Anthrax guitarist, Team UB member

“ASAS (After-School All-Stars) is simply an amazing organization,” Annie Duke said in a press release.  “The children they serve live in some of the most poverty-stricken areas in the country where their other options are gangs, drugs, or worse.  ASAS not only gives them a safe place to be while their parents work, but also provides them additional support in school work and outlets for expression through extracurricular activities.  Poker players can be incredibly generous people, so it was a no-brainer for me that this event should happen.”

All registrants for the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night will receive $1,000 in starting chips, a $10 food voucher for any Commerce Casino restaurant, and a gift bag.  Those who wish to attend but not play may do so for a  $75 admission fee.  Tickets can be purchased on-site starting at 6:00pm on the day of the event or online at http://www.afterschoolallstars.org/poker.

Nevada State Poker Championships Start Today

The Championships are made up of 12 No-Limit Hold'em events including the $500+$40 main event set for Sunday May 9.

The series kicks off today with two $100+$20 events and peaks with the second annual Throw Down Poker Championship benefiting the National Kidney Foundation hosted by Full Tilt Pro Jennifer Harman May 8.

More than 300 players are expected to play in the $250 with $50 rebuys charity event, including some of the top professional players in the game.

Outside of the main event, all tournament buy-ins in the series are $250 or less.

For more information and the entire 2010 Nevada State Poker Championships schedule, check out the Peppermill's website.

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Intertops Joins Cake Poker Network

Longstanding gambling outlet Intertops jumped from the Microgaming Network to the Cake Poker Network this week, according to a press release sent by the site on Monday. Intertops will fill the void of several rooms that departed the Cake Poker Network in April.

The Cake Poker Network accepts players from the United States, while the Microgaming Network does not. Late last year, Intertops Casino began using RTG Games instead of those offered by the Microgaming Network, whose family of sites includes Betway, Cool Hand Poker, Gnuf, Nordic Bet, PokerTime, and Unibet. Intertops brings with it a considerable amount of industry experience, having opened for business in 1983 and accepting the world’s first online bet 13 years later.

Intertops’ online poker site launched in 2003 and its casino debuted last year. To celebrate the move to the Cake Poker Network, Intertops will be holding daily $100 freerolls as well as $1,000 Guaranteed tournaments on Sundays that come with a $22 buy-in. There are two freeroll qualifiers per day to the latter tournaments. In addition, this Saturday, May 8th, a $2,500 freebie will be held on the virtual felts of Intertops to commemorate the site’s move.

Intertops’ press release details why the site may have joined the Cake Poker Network: “Several major poker sites have joined the Cake Network recently and now, as Intertops players join them, it is one of the most popular poker networks in the world. Created by a small group of poker players with a mission to design a better poker site, its gold loyalty rewards programs and its well-sculpted 3D human avatars and other aesthetic features have helped it become one of the fastest-growing poker communities online.” Besides the network’s flagship room, other Cake Poker Network sites include DoylesRoom and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker.

In recent weeks, Players Only and Sportsbook.com made the move from the Cake Poker Network to the Merge Gaming Network, the latter of which promptly doubled in size. Displaced Players Only and Sportsbook.com players who wish to remain on the Cake Poker Network can have their hard-earned Gold Chips, Gold Cards, and Gold Stacks transferred over to Intertops. Other Cake Poker Network sites have also welcomed Players Only and Sportsbook.com customers, even offering new rakeback accounts.

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the Cake Poker Network has shed about 30% of its cash game traffic since the April 15th move of Players Only and Sportsbook.com, while the Merge Gaming Network has swelled 166%. Year over year, the Merge Gaming Network has grown 85%, while the Cake Poker Network has shrunk by 17%. How the migration of Intertops will affect traffic on the Cake Poker Network is not yet known. One month ago, it added JuicyStakes, BeteXpress, and Kakuy Poker.

Intertops customers will now have the chance to participate in the Cake Poker Network’s $150,000 May Points Race. Similar to the competition held in April, the Cake Poker Network’s May Points Race features multipliers in weeks two, three, and four, meaning that players who begin late still have a fighting chance of winning. The top 300 players will cash in the Cake Poker Network’s $50,000 Monthly Points Race. One Frequent Player Point (FPP) is equivalent to one Race Point.

Also taking place on the Cake Poker Network in May are Door Crasher Tournaments, which run until 15th. Tournaments will randomly pop up in the lobby and players have 10 minutes to register. The buy-ins for the Door Buster Tournaments range from one Gold Chip to $30 and limited seating is available. Look for these special events daily between 12:00pm and 2:00pm ET and again from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET.

PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker Begins Today

Pokerstars' Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) begins today and runs for the next two weeks. Its unique three buy-ins per event format offers the chance for players with various bankrolls to participate. Last year's SCOOP provided many...

2010 PokerStars SCOOP Kicks Off on Sunday

At least $45 million will be up for grabs starting on Sunday, when the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) invades PokerStars. The three-tiered tournament series features low, medium, and high-dollar buy-in tournaments.

2010 marks the second running of the PokerStars SCOOP, which debuted last year amid much fanfare. In 2009, a total of $38 million was given away and the total number of player buy-ins approached 200,000. The inaugural SCOOP boasted 22 world-class poker events across three buy-in levels and players from the United States walked away with $20.6 million to lead all countries. Germany and Canada sat in second and third, respectively, on the money leaderboard with $3.3 million and $3.2 million.

Amazingly, two players recorded 15 in the money finishes in the 66 tournaments that comprised the 2009 SCOOP, a 23% success rate: Germany’s “pusteblume” and American “teacuppoker.” A total of 18 players cashed in at least 10 events. To close out the 2009 SCOOP, j.thaddeus took down the high-stakes Main Event to the tune of $963,000. At the mid-stakes level, tournament veteran J.C. “PrtyPsux” Alvarado brought home the gold for $502,000, while JannotLapin won the low-stakes SCOOP Main Event for $151,000.

The opening day of the 2010 SCOOP coincides with the final day of action in the 16th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), whose $640 buy-in Main Event begins at 18:00 ET on Sunday. In the 2010 SCOOP Main Event on May 16th, the winner will pocket a hearty $1 million. Here’s the full schedule of events for the upcoming SCOOP, exclusively found on PokerStars:

Sunday, May 2nd

13:00 ET: Event #1
Low: $22 NLHE Six-Max, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Six-Max, $1 Million Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Six-Max, $1 Million Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #2
Low: $22 NLHE Two-Day Event, $500,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Two-Day Event, $2 Million Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Two-Day Event, $2 Million Guaranteed

Monday, May 3rd

14:00 ET: Event #3
Low: $5.50 NLHE Six-Max with Rebuys, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $55 NLHE Six-Max with Rebuys, $500,000 Guaranteed
High: $530 NLHE Six-Max with Rebuys, $1 Million Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #4
Low: $16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $162 FL Badugi, $50,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,575 FL Badugi, $75,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #5
Low: $11 PLO Turbo Cubed, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 PLO Turbo Cubed, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 PLO Turbo Cubed, $150,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, May 4th

14:00 ET: Event #6
Low: $11 PL Five-Card Draw, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 PL Five-Card Draw, $50,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 PL Five-Card Draw, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #7
Low: $16.50 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $162 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play, $250,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,575 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play, $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #8
Low: $11 NLHE, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 NLHE, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 NL HE, $500,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, May 5th

14:00 ET: Event #9
Low: $22 Mixed Hold’em Six-Max, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 Mixed Hold’em Six-Max, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 Mixed Hold’em Six-Max, $400,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #10
Low: $33 Seven-Card Stud High, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $320 Seven-Card Stud High, $50,000 Guaranteed
High: $3,150 Seven-Card Stud High, $100,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, May 6th

14:00 ET: Event #11
Low: $22 PLO Heads-Up Match Play, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 PLO Heads-Up Match Play, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 PLO Heads-Up Match Play, $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #12
Low: $27 NLHE Knockout, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $265 NLHE Knockout, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Knockout, $300,000 Guaranteed

Friday, May 7th

14:00 ET: Event #13
Low: $16.50 NLHE Ante Up, $50,000 Guaranteed
Event #13-M: $162 NLHE Ante Up, $100,000 Guaranteed
Event #13-H: $1,575 NLHE Ante Up, $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #14
Low: $55 FL Omaha High/Low, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $530 FL Omaha High/Low, $150,000 Guaranteed
High: $5,200 FL Omaha High/Low, $250,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #15
Low: $16.50 NLHE 2X Chance Turbo, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $162 NLHE 2X Chance Turbo, $500,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,575 NLHE 2X Chance Turbo, $750,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, May 8th

14:00 ET: Event #16
Low: $22 NLHE Quadruple Shootout 10-max, $150,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Triple Shootout 10-max, $150,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Double Shootout 10-max, $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #17
Low: $16.50 PLO Six-Max with Rebuys, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $162 PLO Six-Max with Rebuys, $250,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,575 PLO Six-Max with Rebuys, $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #18
Low: $22 FL Hold’em Turbo, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 FL Hold’em Turbo, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 FL Hold’em Turbo, $150,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, May 9th

13:00 ET: Event #19
Low: $22 NLHE Big Antes, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Big Antes, $750,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Big Antes, $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #20
Low: $22 NLHE Two-Day Event, $500,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Two-Day Event, $2 Million Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Two-Day Event, $2 Million Guaranteed

Monday, May 10th

14:00 ET: Event #21
Low: $16.50 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $75,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $162 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,575 PL Hold’em / PL Omaha, $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #22
Low: $33 NLHE Four-Max, $150,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $320 NLHE Four-Max, $300,000 Guaranteed
High: $3,150 NLHE Four-Max, $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #23
Low: $11 NLHE Turbo with Rebuys, $150,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 NLHE Turbo with Rebuys, $300,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 NLHE Turbo with Rebuys, $500,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, May 11th

14:00 ET: Event #24
Low: $11 Triple Draw 2-7, $25,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 Triple Draw 2-7, $50,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #25
Low: $22 Seven-Card Stud High/Low, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 Seven-Card Stud High/Low, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 Seven-Card Stud High/Low, $150,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #26
Low: $11 NLHE, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 NLHE, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 NLHE, $500,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, May 12th

14:00 ET: Event #27
Low: $22 Razz, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 Razz, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 Razz, $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #28
Low: $11 NLHE with Rebuys, $200,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 NLHE with Rebuys, $400,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 NLHE with Rebuys, $600,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, May 13th

14:00 ET: Event #29
Low: $33 Eight-Game, $75,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $320 Eight-Game, $150,000 Guaranteed
High: $3,150 Eight-Game, $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #30
Low: $11 PLO High/Low, $75,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $109 PLO High/Low, $150,000 Guaranteed
High: $1,050 PLO High/Low, $300,000 Guaranteed

Friday, May 14th

14:00 ET: Event #31
Low: $22 NLHE Cubed, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE Cubed, $500,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE Cubed, $1 Million Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #32
Low: $55 FL Hold’em Six-Max, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $530 FL Hold’em Six-Max, $200,000 Guaranteed
High: $5,200 FL Hold’em Six-Max, $300,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET: Event #33
Low: $22 NL Omaha High/Low Turbo, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NL Omaha High/Low Turbo, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NL Omaha High/Low Turbo, $200,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, May 15th

14:00 ET: Event #34
Low: $55 PLO Six-Max, $100,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $530 PLO Six-Max, $250,000 Guaranteed
High: $5,200 PLO Six-Max, $500,000 Guaranteed

15:30 ET: Event #35
Low: $270 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play Two-Day Event, $250,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $2,600 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play Two-Day Event, $500,000 Guaranteed
High: $25,500 NLHE Heads-Up Match Play Two-Day Event, $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: Event #36
Low: $22 HORSE, $50,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 HORSE, $100,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 HORSE, $150,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, May 16th

13:00 ET: Event #37
Low: $22 NLHE, $200,000 Guaranteed
Mid: $215 NLHE, $750,000 Guaranteed
High: $2,100 NLHE, $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET: SCOOP Main Event
Low: $109 NLHE Main Event, $1 Million Guaranteed
Mid: $1,050 NLHE Main Event, $3 Million Guaranteed
High: $10,300 NLHE Main Event, $5 Million Guaranteed

Visit PokerStars for more details and to sign up.

Cake Poker Launches Door Crasher Tournaments

From May 1st to 15th on the virtual felts of Cake Poker, look for special Door Crasher tournaments. These low buy-in events won’t be announced until just a few minutes before they begin, meaning that players will literally be crashing down the door to register.

Buy-ins will range from one Gold Chip to $30 in cold hard cash. The tournaments will take place between 12:00pm and 2:00pm ET and again between 9:00pm and 11:00pm ET daily during the 15-day period. No indication has been given as to whether one Door Crasher tournament will play out during each time period or if multiple ones will take place. What is certain, however, is that players will have just 10 minutes’ notice to register.

Seating in each tournament is limited, adding to the drama. Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Cake Poker Card Room Manager Lee Jones was looking forward to seeing the Door Crasher tournaments run on the USA-friendly site: “We’re tossing these tournaments up and only announcing them 10 minutes before they start. It is literally first come, first served. It may be a 10-seat sit and go with a Gold Chip as a prize or the tournament may have a significant cash prize. You have to be there when they happen to find out.”

Like other online poker sites, Cake Poker is in the midst of sending its players to the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Text found on Cake Poker’s website boasts, “This year, we’ve made our WSOP prize packages more flexible than ever. Stay where you want, play in what you want, and even – wear what you want. Our WSOP prize packages come with no strings attached – whatsoever.” Cash is placed in Cake Poker players’ accounts to be used however winners would like.

The online poker site is doling out $2,500 and $12,500 WSOP packages. The latter can be used to enter the $10,000 Main Event, for example, or a pair of $5,000 buy-in tournaments. Cake Poker gives away $12,500 WSOP packages in $374 buy-in tournaments held on Sundays at 4:00pm ET. Satellites to the $374 event start at $3.30 and run daily.

A five-step system is in place to qualify players for the $2,500 package. The first step comes with a $1.10 price tag. The final step is a $507 buy-in tournament that awards a $2,500 WSOP prize package to first place and $440 in cash to second.

Last year, Cake Poker hosted a posh party at the Palms featuring generous portions of the site’s namesake dessert and an open bar. Plus, Jones was on-hand to greet Cake Poker players and a bevy of media turned out. This author even lost his cell phone in a cab on the way there. Players are purportedly not obligated to don Cake Poker gear even if they won their way into the WSOP through the popular site.

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide and sports a seven-day running average of 1,320 real money ring game players. On April 15th, the player bases of Players Only and Sportsbook.com jettisoned the family of sites in favor of the Merge Gaming Network. Consequently, the Cake Poker Network’s cash game traffic has dipped by about 10% since that date.

Over the course of the last 30 days, however, its cash game traffic has dropped by 28%. In addition to Cake Poker, the network features DoylesRoom, Power Poker, and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker, which was launched in January.

Visit Cake Poker for more information on the Door Crasher tournaments.

Brian Townsend May Be Next Opponent in Durrrr Challenge

CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend is next in line to take on Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the online version of the Million Dollar Challenge, according to Bluff Magazine. However, Dwan shot down the rumors in a post on TwoPlusTwo.

The cover story of the May issue of Bluff Magazine, “Facing All Challenges,” chronicles the 15-month saga of the Durrrr Challenge. In it, Dwan revealed that his next opponent would be none other than Townsend, who is known as “sbrugby” online. The article sheds some light on the structure of the rumored match against Townsend: “Dwan says his goal for the match against Townsend – the starting day for which is still being worked out, while parameters such as buy-ins, number of hands, choice of games, etc. are staying the same – is simple: Make the action fast, exciting, and get the buzz going once again about the Durrrr Challenge.”

Dwan forecasted that the match against Townsend could take as little as six weeks, although play could stretch for two or three months. Dwan told Bluff Magazine, “With Brian, there will be days when we’ll probably play 5,000 hands. With Patrik, we didn’t really have any of those days. It’s possible we could get it done in six weeks.” Townsend is apparently ready to play immediately, whereas Full Tilt Poker’s website contends that Phil Ivey and David Benyamine are next in line to play. Dwan, Antonius, Ivey, and Benyamine are all sponsored pros of the world’s second largest online poker site.

While the Bluff Magazine article, which was devoted mainly to the Durrrr Challenge, seems to indicate that Townsend is the clear-cut favorite to step up to the plate, Dwan recanted his story in an April 20th post on TwoPlusTwo: “Long story, but he’s not next. I’ll blog after seshy.” No blog was submitted after Dwan’s “seshy,” as its most recent entry is an advertisement for the Full Tilt Poker Academy that came on April 15th. Bluff officials and the poker community were equally perplexed.

Dwan’s post ignited a flurry of discussion in a TwoPlusTwo thread even though the poker pro failed to reveal who his next opponent would be. Poster “britewire” chimed in, “I’d love to see Ashton Griffin or aejones take up the challenge, but I don’t think they have the [bankroll] for it.” Others demanded that Dwan publish a new blog post to shed some light on the situation: “Wtf is this thread still running? Durrrr came on at like post #20 and shot the rumor down (although he’s failed to deliver the blog about it that he promised).”

The Durrrr Challenge featuring Patrik Antonius is nearing the 40,000-hand mark thanks in part to extensive sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. The total number of hands played and the amount Dwan is up remain unclear due to conflicting reports from various poker outlets, but the latter number is likely around $1.9 million. Full Tilt officials told Poker News Daily that challenge stats on their website would be corrected by the end of the day on Thursday.

Townsend, meanwhile is fresh off a 30-day suspension of his Red Pro status for sharing hand histories with fellow CardRunners instructors Brian Hastings and Cole South to fend off the Swedish mystery pro Isildur1. On his $4 million day against Isildur1, Hastings told ESPN in a December interview, “Obviously I’m happy and I’ll take it, but Brian [Townsend] did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I’m very thankful to him and to Cole [South] as well.” Townsend was suspended for multi-accounting in 2008.

Many in the poker industry have grown weary of play between Dwan and Antonius that started in the beginning of 2009. Antonius told Bluff, “Obviously, we failed when it comes to keeping it interesting. Everyone was following it, and then we… didn’t play.” Diversions included the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), high-stakes games against Isildur1, and extensive traveling.

Check out our sister site, DurrrrChallenge.com, for the latest news from the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge.

Jennifer Harman to Host Charity Event for Kidney Foundation

Full Tilt Poker Pro Jennifer Harman doesn’t stop when it comes to giving back to those in need. Just weeks after hosting a charity poker benefit for the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Harman and the Peppermill Resort Casino will present the second annual Throw Down Poker Championship benefiting the National Kidney Foundation on May 8th in Reno, Nevada.

The 2010 Throw Down Poker competition includes a unique 10-player team format with the buy-in for each team at $2,500. Proceeds will go to the National Kidney Foundation, a cause that hits home for Harman, who took a year away from poker to have a kidney transplant in 2004. After receiving a second kidney through organ donation, Harman founded Creating Organ Donation Awareness (CODA), a non-profit organization to raise money and awareness for the cause. Harman also lost her mother to kidney disease when she was 17.

After walking into the Throw Down Poker event along the red carpet on May 8th, teams will take to the felts and earn points based on each person’s finish. They will be competing for the top three team prize packages, including a trophy, medals, and national branding opportunities. The team entry package includes tournament buy-ins and custom branded commemorative jackets for each person, complimentary tickets to the exclusive VIP party hosted by Peppermill’s Resort Terrace Lounge, official team photos, and complimentary gift bags courtesy of the National Kidney Foundation.

Individual entry to the event is $230 and includes the tournament buy-in and a chance to compete for individual prizes, including a $10,000 entry to the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event awarded to the overall individual winner. The top ten individual finishers will receive entries to the Nevada State Championship Main Event hosted by Peppermill on May 9th along with several other prizes provided by sponsors.

Among those joining Harman at this year’s Throw Down Poker Championship will be poker pros Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Marco Traniello, Antonio Esfandiari, Hoyt Corkins, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, Gavin Smith, Cyndy Violette, David Williams, Paul Wasicka, Pam Brunson, Karina Jett, Kristy Gazes, Layne “Back to Back” Flack, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, and Lee Watkinson. Celebrity captains expected to attend include Robert Iler (“The Sopranos”), Dennis Haskins (“Saved By The Bell”), Craig “CJ” Jackson (VH1 Host), Olympian Ross Powers, Lacey Jones, two-time Olympian Nate Holland, Mindset Guru Sam Chauhan, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho (“Amazing Race”), and Trishelle Cannatella (“Real World Las Vegas”).

Reno’s own William Roberts was the overall individual winner of the first annual Throw Down Poker Championship in 2009, collecting a Legacy Alliance custom crystal trophy, a $5,000 World Poker Challenge entry, and a Curtis & Co. Watch. The event attracted 300 participants, including 22 ten-player teams, and raised more than $111,000 for the National Kidney Foundation.

For more information, check out the Jennifer Harman Throw Down Poker Championship page.

Live Poker Tournament Fear Factor

When looking at the average player, those sitting in a tournament at a casino will typically make decisions that are colored by fear more often than those playing online will.  There are a number of components that go into this fear, so let’s look at a few.

Fear of the Casino

This is a factor primarily for those who are much more accustomed to playing online than live.  It can be intimidating to step out from behind the computer.  The noise, the tournament registration process, finding the right seat, having to handle chips and count pots, remembering when it’s our turn to act, and remembering not to string bet; there are so many things that occupy our minds that we don’t normally worry about on the internet.

Because of this, those new to the live game often play very tight during the first few orbits.  They are trying to get their bearings.  It is tough enough to follow the action, manage their chips, and get used to everything without having to concern themselves with how to play marginal hands from middle position.  Thus, they are going to take it easy, only play premium hands for a while, and let you steal their blinds.

Fear of the Early Exit

When you play online, if you bust out of a tournament early, the poker room will likely have another one starting in a few minutes or even one accepting late registrations at that very moment.  If there are no options at the room you are logged into, then you are just a click away from checking out the options elsewhere.

Brick and mortar tournaments are a bigger commitment.  When you are playing, that’s all you are doing.  You can’t catch up on e-mail, you can’t help your son with a math problem, and you can’t take a call from your mom.  You have to budget time to get to and from the casino, plus the time it will take to get to the poker room, register, and find your seat.  The last thing many players want is to be eliminated right away.  It feels like they just wasted a lot of time.  So again, you will often see players in live tournaments, especially those who prefer to play online, being overly patient early on just so they can at least get their money’s worth.

Fear of Embarrassment

People tend to bluff and play poor hands less frequently when they are playing in a live tournament because they are playing in front of living, breathing opponents.  The average player is afraid of getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  He doesn’t want to have to see the look in his opponents’ eyes when he tries to represent the nut flush when, in fact, someone else has it.  He doesn’t want to have to see the perplexed faces when his power play with 9-3 offsuit fails.  Online, he can be bold.  If he makes a mistake with an ugly hand, there are few consequences.  Nobody knows who he is.  Sure, he might hear it from that table captain who tells him, “lol u suck…  nice hand, fish,” but that guy is just an avatar.

Fear of the Stakes

Like the first example earlier in this article, this applies to internet players who are not as used to playing live more so than to frequent casino visitors.  Online, most multi-table tournaments have buy-ins smaller than triple digits and it is really easy to find one under $10.  Live, even the cheapest tournaments are usually around $60 and anything with a halfway decent structure is typically going to be over $100.

Therefore, players often are worried about getting knocked out early because of the money that’s at stake.  It’s not necessarily that they are afraid of losing the money; they want their poker experience to be worth the price of admission.  It can be pretty disappointing from an entertainment satisfaction perspective to spend $100 or $200 and only get to play for ten minutes.  Therefore, look for your opponents to play tight early.

Leeds Poker festival announced

Poker fans in Yorkshire will be heading to the Alea Casino in Leeds next month for the Alea Spring Poker Festival. The five-day event feature a variety of games and formats with buy-ins starting from just £25 with top billing going to the £250+£25 Main Event.

Full Tilt Offers Rush, Step Tournaments

Steps Tournaments debuted this week, offering players the chance to win entry to bigger buy-in tournaments, with larger prize pools, by working their way up the steps of a progressive series.

Starting with buy-ins as low as $3.30, Steps Tournaments play just like regular tournaments, except that players compete for Tournament Tickets to the next Step in the series.

Even if players don't advance to the next step, Steps Tournaments also award seats at the same level or a lower level. Players can also buy in directly at any step.

Step tournaments offering players the chance to win a World Series of Poker Main Event prize package are already available starting at $3.30.

Full Tilt players can also experience the world's fastest poker tournament now that Rush Poker Tournaments are available exclusively on the site.

As with Rush Poker ring games, Rush Poker Tournaments  allow players to join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents on every hand.

When a player folds their hand, they'll immediately be moved to another table with different opponents for the next hand, even if the current hand is still in progress.

In order to speed up the game even more, Rush Poker games feature a Quick Fold button at the table which allows players to fold their hand before it's their turn to act.

When the final table of the tournament is reached, the tournament will switch to the standard tournament mode and hands will be played one at a time until the tournament is over.

"Rush Poker is the greatest innovation in online poker since poker started on the Internet," said 2000 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion and Team Full Tilt member Chris Ferguson. "Rush Poker is an amazingly fast-paced game. You always have a decision to make; you're never waiting for other players to finish the hand."

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WSOP Circuit Hits Vegas

The first of 18 gold ring events attracted nearly 400 players and thousands more are expected as the most popular stop on the WSOP Circuit continues through April 30.

Tournament buy-ins range from $230 up to $5,150 for the four-day main event beginning April 27.

16 of 18 events are No-Limit Hold'em tournaments, but there is also a Pot-Limit Omaha and Limit Hold'em event on the schedule.

Most of the action will take place inside Caesars' multi-million dollar poker tournament room, filled with the portraits of many of the game's greats. The adjacent poker room will accommodate any overflow.

In addition to the lion's share of what is expected to be a relatively healthy prize pool, the winner of the main event will also earn a $10,000 seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.

Last year Justin Bonomo joined a prestigious list of WSOPC Las Vegas main event champions including Allen Cunningham, Cory Carroll and John Spadavecchia.

Click through to the WSOP web page to see the full schedule.

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Poker News in Brief: March 29-April 4, 2010

Danish pro Allan Baekke won EPT Snowfest, Isildur1 confirmed he would play the PartyPoker Big Game, numerous poker rooms launched 2010 WSOP qualifiers and Tom "durrrr" Dwan continued to dominate online.

There were still some lesser-known poker stories, however, and as part of our Poker News in Brief feature we've compiled them below.

This week we'll take a look at a new Full Tilt TV show, the UB Poker Perfect 10 Challenge and a new proposal for online gambling legislation.

UB Poker Introduces Perfect 10 Challenge

Online poker site UB Poker launched a new promotion this week that gives players the opportunity to win big by playing in a series of $10 tournaments every day.

The Perfect 10 Challenge will run from now until April 30 with 10 special $10 buy-in tournaments hosted every day.

UB Poker will award over $100,000 in bonus cash to players who top the Perfect 10 Leaderboard with $20,000 going to the player who wins the most cash in the $10 tournaments.

"The launch of the Perfect 10 and the $100K Leaderboard Challenge are the first of many new and innovative promotions set to be introduced at UB," said Team UB member Joe Sebok.

"UB has a completely revamped approach to 2010 and will be working to keep its entire community in the know about all new promotions and events. The offers will be more exciting, more unique, and each one geared towards rewarding our players for playing with us like never before."

To learn more about the promo check out our UB room review.

First Female on Team PKR

Online poker site PKR introduced the first female member of its Team PKR this week.

Twenty-year-old Sofia "welllbet" Lövgren of Gothenburg, Sweden, will now carry the PKR flag where ever she plays poker.

"It's a pleasure to be the first female on the Team," says Sofia.

"It's a very good opportunity for me to get to play big live tournaments and take my online game to the live scene. Playing poker and travelling are my favorite things, so this will be a great experience."

Lövgren had been a regular on the PKR tables since 2008 and emerged as one of the biggest earners on the site.

Full Tilt Launches Poker Lounge

Hot on the heels of PokerStars new cash game TV show, Full Tilt Poker has launched a high stakes Sit and Go show.

The Poker Lounge will pit one qualifier against five seasoned pros in a $20,000 buy-in freezeout. It will follow a winner-takes-all format with $120,000 dedicated to the ultimate victor.

Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey have already been confirmed to appear on the show, which will be filmed in London and broadcast on Channel 4 in the U.K.

Qualifiers to appear on the show will run from now until July 4. There will be eight $22,000 packages up for grabs. Each satellite will carry a $640 buy-in and run every Sunday at 19:30 GMT.

To learn more visit our Full Tilt Poker review.

McDermott Updates Online Gambling Legislation

Rep. Jim McDermott wants the proceeds from taxing online gambling to go towards foster care in U.S.

McDermott, who introduced a bill that would regulate and tax the online gambling industry last year, updated his legislation this Thursday so that a percentage of the potential revenue generated from online gambling would go towards foster care programs.

The bill would see a 6% state tax and a 2% federal tax on all online poker deposits. McDermott proposed that foster care programs receive 25% of the revenue from the federal tax.

McDermott cited the recession and the subsequent lack of funding for social services as a reason to funnel revenue from online gambling to those programs.

PokerStars Announces France Poker Series

This week PokerStars moved one step closer to sponsoring a poker tour in every country.

The online poker giant announced the France Poker Series, which will include stops in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Divonne-les-Bains, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, Lyon, Forges-les-Eaux, Paris and Morocco.

Buy-ins will range from €1,200 to €2,500 with the cash satellites only available to players from France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK

It's likely that members of Team PokerStars France, which includes Vanessa Rousso, Arnauld Mattern, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Sebastien Chabal and Thomas Bichon, will make appearances on the new tour.

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Five Star World Poker Classic Schedule Revised

The 2010 Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic got underway this week and, due to low turnouts for the first three events, several changes have already been made to the schedule. Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland decided to alter some of the games and buy-ins to increase entrants for the esteemed series, which will be competing against the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop at Mohegan Sun this week.

When the Five Star World Poker Classic schedule was released in December, players responded with harsh disapproval over the 18 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em Rebuy preliminary events that smothered the series. Several high-stakes players passed around a petition to change the arrangement of tournaments, but McClelland stuck to his guns and went forward with the new lineup of events.

On Thursday, after the first three tournaments bombed, McClelland went back to the drawing board. “I was expecting somewhere between 100 and 150 players, but with the small number of players, we decided to make the change," McClelland told CardPlayer Magazine. "I don’t normally like changing something in the middle of the stream, but it seemed like it was necessary here."

The new schedule includes a reduction in the number of rebuy events and a decrease in some of the tournament buy-ins. The revised preliminary lineup consists of a reduced number of $1,000 No Limit Hold'em events with rebuys, five $1,000 No Limit Hold'em events, four $500 No Limit Hold'em events, and two $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha events with rebuys. A $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event has also been added on April 16th, two days before the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship kicks off.

Super satellites for the WPT Championship have also been changed from a $1,000 buy-in with rebuys to a $2,500 buy-in. They will run on April 15th and 16th and twice on April 17th and April 18th.

For those who would like to take part in the new-look Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic, here's a glance at the remaining events:

Event #5: Saturday, April 3rd - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #6: Sunday, April 4th - $500 No Limit Hold'em
Event #7: Monday, April 5th - $500 No Limit Hold'em
Event #8: Tuesday, April 6th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #9: Wednesday, April 7th - $500 No Limit Hold'em
Event #10: Thursday, April 8th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #11: Friday, April 9th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys
Event #12: Saturday, April 10th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #13: Sunday, April 11th - $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys
Event #14: Monday, April 12th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #15: Tuesday, April 13th - $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys
Event #16: Wednesday, April 14th - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys
Event #17: Thursday, April 15th - $500 No Limit Hold'em
Event #18: Friday, April 16th - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em
Event #19: Sunday, April 18th - $25,000 WPT Championship
Event #20: Thursday, April 22nd - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys

Bellagio Ditches All-Rebuy Format for Series

Last year the Five Diamond World Poker Classic received high numbers for its rebuy tournament so McClelland decided to make every event of the Five Star World Poker Classic a $1,000 rebuy tournament.

The first event of the all-rebuy Five Star World Classic took place on Tuesday but only 26 players showed up. Noted poker pro Rep Porter won the event for a modest $30,555.

Yesterday Bellagio released an all new schedule that includes 10 non-rebuy events with buy-ins ranging from $500 to $2,500.

The Five Star World Poker Classic still culminates with the $25,000 WPT World Championship which will run from April 18-24.

Here's a look at the revamped Five Star World Classic schedule:

Mar. 30, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Mar. 31, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 1, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 2, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 3, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 4, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$500 + $40

Apr. 5, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$500 + $40

Apr. 6, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 7, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$500 + $40

Apr. 8, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 9, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 10, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 11, 2010

Pot Limit Omaha with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 12, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 13, 2010

Pot Limit Omaha with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 14, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys 12 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

Apr. 15, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$500 + $40

Apr. 15, 2010

Super Satellite - No Limit Hold'em 5 p.m.

$2,500 + $120

Apr. 16, 2010

No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$5,000 + $180

Apr. 16, 2010

Super Satellite - No Limit Hold'em 5 p.m.

$2,500 + $120

Apr. 17, 2010

Super Satellite - No Limit Hold'em 12 p.m.

$2,500 + $120

Apr. 17, 2010

Super Satellite - No Limit Hold'em 5 p.m.

$2,500 + $120

Apr. 18, 2010

WPT NLH Championship Day 1 12 p.m.

$25,000 + $500

Apr. 18, 2010

Super Satellite - No Limit Hold'em 9 p.m.

$2,500 + $120

Apr. 22, 2010

No Limit Hold'em with Re-buys  2 p.m.

$1,000 + $80

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