PokerStars launches UK/Ireland Online Poker Championship

The World Championship of Online Poker is done and dusted for 2010 after offering the second-largest prize in tournament poker this year after the World Series of Poker Main Event. However, we can get our tournament hats on again but this time there are relatively affordable buy-ins, satellites for peanuts and an exclusively British Isles field.

Poker News in Brief: Oct. 4-10, 2010

Add in a ton of high-stakes action online and several live events beginning across Europe and the United States and it was another busy week in the PokerListings news room.

A few stories may have fallen through the cracks as a result, but we've sorted them below in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature.

This week PokerStars signs a Russian pro, a WSOPE bracelet winner joins Team PKR, the FTOPS XVIII schedule is released, an NFL legend is hosting a charity event and even more.

PokerStars Signs Lykov

PokerStars inked 2009 EPT Kyiv champ Maxim Lykov to a Team Pro contract this week.

The Russian pro is in the top ten on Russia's all-time money winners list with just under $1 million in career tournament earnings and has a WSOP final table on his resume.

IPO Set To Draw Big Names

Despite its rather small €180+€20 buy-in, names like Irish Open and GUKPT winner Neil Channing, WSOP main event finalist Andy Black, WSOP main event finalist and UKIPT winner Padraig Parkinson, poker TV legend Jesse May, Irish Open and WSOP bracelet winner Marty Smyth and WPT and WSOP finalist John O'Shea are all set to play in the Boylepoker International Poker Open Oct. 15-17 at the Regency Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.

Day 1B of the event is already listed as a 600-player sell out and the event is expected to create a €200,000 prize pool.

Last year the IPO attracted a record-breaking field of 1,440 players and was won by German Markus Sippe.

FTOPS XVIII Schedule Released

The schedule for the eighteenth Full Tilt Online Poker Series has been released including more than $19 million guaranteed over 34 events.

FTOPS XVIII begins Nov. 10 with a $200+$16 No-Limit Hold'em event with an $800,000 guarantee and culminates with the $3 million Guaranteed $600+$40 Main Event Nov. 21.

For more information, check out the FTOPS Gateway page.

WSOPE bracelet Winner Joins Team PKR Pro

Scott Shelley, the PKR employee that won the £1k event at the 2010 WSOPE last month, is now a member of Team PKR Pro.

The 24-year-old North Londoner is the first member of Team PKR Pro to win a World Series of Poker bracelet.

"The last two weeks have been life changing and joining Team PKR Pro has been the icing on the cake," he said.

Shelley will make his debut at the upcoming PKR London Calling festival and will then join other PKR Team Pro members at PKR Live V in November.

To celebrate the signing, PKR will hold a Scott Shelley themed week beginning Oct. 18 offering players the chance to win a PKR Live, London Calling and $500 Heads-Up tournament buy-ins.

PokerStars Granted Estonian License

After being granted an activity license in Estonia this past August, PokerStars has now become one of the first online poker sites to also receive an operational license.

PokerStars.ee now complies fully with Estonian law.

"There are thousands of good poker players in Estonia and I am very glad that the license enables them to continue competing at the largest poker site with players all over the world," said PokerStars Nordic & Baltic Director of Marketing Michael Holmberg.

Swede wins IPF

The 2010 Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival saw some 632 players compete for a €75,000 top prize in Killarney, Ireland last week.

But in the end, it was London based Swede Lars Torngren who outlasted them all to take the title.

Ladbrokes' pro and WSOP Main Event finalist Jon Kalmer was the early favorite and chip leader going into the final table but could do no better than fourth.

The tournament ended with a rare three way all-in.

"I have been playing poker for about 8 years and this is my first big tournament win so I am absolutely delighted," said Torngren. "I am already looking forward to next year's Ladbrokes poker festival."

NFL Legend to Host Charity Event

New York Giant legend Carl Banks is hosting a Celebrity Golf and Poker Tournament to raise funds for autism Oct. 12.

Among those expected to attend are Anthony Anderson, Michael Strahan, Maury Povich, Geraldo Rivera, Ed Lover, John Starks, Darryl Strawberry, Harry Carson, Zeke Mowatt, Alan Houston, Herb Williams, Ron Harper and several members of the current New York Giants.

Hackensack University Medical Center’s Institute of Child Development will be the beneficiary of the event, set to be held at the Alpine Country Club in Demarest, New Jersey.

Bodog Inks MLS Ad Deal

Bodog has signed an advertising deal with Major League Soccer's LA Galaxy.

Bodog.net will now be seen advertising on all the LED field boards, corner section banners, stadium scoreboards and in-stadium TVs as a result.

"Both the LA Galaxy and Bodog brands are recognized around the globe, making this partnership not only mutually beneficial, but a perfect synergy between brands across the United States and beyond," said Bodog PR director Ed Pownall.

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Poker King Joins Cake Poker Network

The latest addition to the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network is Poker King, managed by SunGame. The latter company is an Asian-facing internet gambling outfit that “provides a variety of online gaming experiences such as online live dealer, sports book, keno, slots, finance bets, and more of the hottest games,” according to a press release sent by the Cake Poker Network last week.

According to the poker traffic site PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is the 18th largest worldwide in terms of ring game activity with a seven-day running average of 970 cash game players. Its traffic is slightly higher than that found on Everest Poker and the family of sites includes DoylesRoom, Intertops, Only Poker, Power Poker, and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker. Cake Poker serves as its flagship site and, according to PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is headquartered in Curacao.

Last year, SunGame released a movie about poker appropriately dubbed “Poker King.” A company spokesperson commented in the same press release, “We are very excited and proud to launch our new poker product and we are very thankful for the incredible support of the Cake Network. It is so gratifying to work with Cake as they support our Asian currencies and Asian languages as well as our views on marketing.” The live poker circuit in Asia includes the Asian Poker Tour (APT) and PokerStars-backed Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT).

“Poker King” debuted in August 2009 in Macau during the city’s APT stop. Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun directed the movie, which stars Ching Wan Lau and Louis Koo, among others.

Cake Marketing Director Andrew Turner welcomed Poker King into the fold: “We are excited to welcome SunGame and their players to the Cake Network. SunGame is a great partner for us as they expand the geographic reach of the Cake Network with their aggressiveness to bring the real poker experience to Asia.”

The Cake Poker Network recently made a splash by signing Victory Poker, which launched on the Everleaf Network. Victory Poker, which is fronted by Antonio Esfandiari, also features pros like Andrew “good2cu” Robl, former Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood, and James “Andy McLEOD” Obst. In terms of cash game traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the fourth busiest worldwide that accepts USA players.

In other news from the Cake Poker Network, users can now view their account information in their home currency. This includes account balance, buy-ins, bet amounts, and pot sizes, making for a well-rounded experience in a player’s native money. A screen shot provided by Cake showcased the software in action with Chinese currency, complete with Chinese language spoken in the chat box and Chinese commands printed on the betting buttons.

Arguably the most famous poker player to come out of Asia is 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Johnny Chan, who hails from China. Chan won the Main Event in 1987 and 1988 before nearly three-peating in 1989. That year, he lost to then-24 year-old Phil Hellmuth heads-up. Chan’s last piece of hardware came five years ago in a $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament for $303,000. Other players with Chinese roots include former World Poker Tour Championship winner David Chiu and high-stakes cash game pro Chau Giang.

WTP, Fossilman Head Back to Binion’s

The 11th annual World Tavern Poker Open will descend upon the birthplace of The World Series of Poker, Binion’s Gambling Hall, Nov. 5-9 with a 12-tournament schedule and an estimated $100,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs.

As many as 10 World Series of Poker seats will be on offer with tournament buy-ins ranging from freerolls to a $120+$20 High Roller event.

The series also revolves around four big parties, including a finale promising to close down a portion of Fremont Street for what's being dubbed the "Prehistoric Party of the year."

Raymer is expected to make an appearance.

World Tavern Poker is the largest poker league in the US with more than 300 hosting venues and over 120,000 registered players.

For more information, check out the league's website.

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More bargains bagged at Bidibot.com

Online penny auction site Bidibot.com appears to be the place to be if you want to get tournament buy-ins for peanuts.

2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Schedule Released

On Tuesday, PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, released the schedule for its 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which will once again play out at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Over 50 tournaments will take place, with $25 million expected to be on the line. The 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will run from January 5th to 16th and include a variety of high-stakes events including a $100,000 Super High Roller tournament, a $25,000 High Roller tournament, a $10,000 Turbo Six-Max contest, and the $10,300 Main Event. Satellites are already available on PokerStars, which will qualify players in droves for the tournament series in the tropics.

Preliminary event buy-ins start at $300 and will feature poker games like No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better, HOE, Fiple Draw (A-5, 2-7, Badugi, Baduci, and Badacey), Eight Game, Stud Eight or Better, and Chinese Poker. Turbo, heads-up, full ring, and six-max contests will play out in what can truly be deemed a festival of poker.

PokerStars officials are already fired up for the annual tournament, whose timing in January is perfect for players from North America to escape the cold in sunny Nassau. Michael Ward, Tournament Director for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, boasted in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “The PCA is truly a poker player’s paradise. Each January, thousands of players descend upon Atlantis to take part in the first major tournament of the year. Last year’s event produced over $24 million in total prize money and, without a doubt, the PCA 2011 is going to be richer than ever. The PCA is a must-play event for both the recreational and the professional player.”

The $10,300 Main Event kicks off on January 8th with the first of two starting days and will crown a champion six days later. In its last running, American Harrison Gimbel banked $2.2 million for taking down the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, besting Ty Reiman heads-up in a clash of the young guns. 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman nearly took down the title in the Bahamas, but finished in fourth place and earned $1.3 million.

Last year’s feature tournament drew a starting grid of 1,529 players and the top 224 finished in the money. Despite players flocking from around the world to enter, the final table featured eight Americans and one Norwegian. This year, PokerStars is doling out $15,780 prize packages that include the Main Event’s buy-in, nine nights at Atlantis, and $1,000 in spending money. The Main Event’s prize pool is estimated to weigh in around $20 million, which would make it one of the largest tournaments ever held outside of the United States.

Players will start with 30,000 in chips in this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. The blind levels will last for an hour on Day 1 and 75 minutes thereafter; the price of poker starts at 50-100. An ante of 25 kicks in at Level 5, when the blinds will be 150-300. Players inquiring about the event’s logo policy can refer to PokerStars’ tournament rules, which state, “No player will be permitted to wear at any event held during the PCA any logo or branding of any gambling operator which is not permitted to legally advertise in the U.K.”

PokerStars has already 170 qualified for the Main Event in the Bahamas. Here’s a look back at some of the past PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event winners:

2004: Gus Hansen
2005: John Gale
2006: Steven Paul-Ambrose
2007: Ryan “Daut44” Daut
2008: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
2009: Poorya Nazari
2010: Harrison Gimbel

Visit PokerStarsCaribbeanAdventure.com to view the full slate of events.

Bahamas Bound: 2011 PCA Schedule Released

The ten-day 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will go off Jan. 7-16 with more than 50 poker tournaments across a wide range of buy-ins, formats and variants.

The series still includes the $10,300 main event and a $25,000 High Roller, but the addition of a televised $100,000 Super High Roller is new this year.

Schedule highlights also include a $10k Turbo Six-Max tournament, a televised $5k Bounty Shootout and some type of deep sea fishing derby and poker hybrid event.

As always, the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on Paradise Island will play host to all of the action.

“The PCA is truly a Poker Player’s Paradise," said PCA Tournament Director Michael Ward.

"Each January thousands of players descend upon Atlantis to take part in the first major tournament of the year. Last year’s event produced over $24 million in total prize money and without a doubt the PCA 2011 is going to be richer than ever. The PCA is a must-play event for both the recreational and the professional player.”

More than 170 players have already qualified for the main event on PokerStars and satellites continue on the site.

The $15,780 prize package up for grabs include the main event buy-in, nine nights’ accommodation for two at Atlantis and $1,002 in spending money.

Last year 19-year-old Floridian Harrison Gimbel took home the title and $2.2 million.

Former winners also include Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Poorya Nazari, Ryan Daut, Steve Paul-Ambrose, John Gale and Gus Hansen.

Click through for the full 2011 PCA schedule.

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Poker News in Brief: Sep. 27- Oct. 3, 2010

So busy, in fact, the PokerListings news team may have let a few stories slip through the cracks.

Fortunately, we've collected them all in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature below.

This week, UB gives away Anthrax tickets, Cake offers some fun in the sun, an Italian wins the latest PokerStars IPT stop and a whole lot more.

Irish Masters Last Chance

Paddy Power Poker is giving players one last chance to qualify for the Irish Winter Festival.

The site’s final group of online super satellites for the Irish Masters will guarantee a specific number of Irish Masters entries, including 20 packages up for grabs Oct. 10.

The IWF Last Chance Saloon will run through Oct. 21.

"The Last Chance Saloon satellites have always been a favorite for our players but now there's an even bigger incentive to get involved with an enormous 60 seats guaranteed over the 12 day period." said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com.

The Irish Winter Festival 2010 will take place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin Oct. 22-25.

UB Anthrax Giveaway

UB has branded Anthrax frontman and Team UB pro Scott Ian’s tour bus and is giving away two tickets to every concert on the Anthrax tour through Oct. 21.

At 1 p.m. local time at each tour stop, UB will ask followers to throw a specific picture up on the UB Facebook wall. Fans will have 90 minutes to do so and a winner will be randomly selected to receive the tickets.

UB shwag is also up for grabs for the first three people to post a picture of themselves standing in front of the tour bus on each stop.

Titan Sending Winners to Vienna, Marrakech

Titan Poker is offering players the chance to win seats in the DeepStack Open Vienna 2010 and DeepStack Open Marrakech 2010.

Titan Poker is hosting an online qualifier satellites series to both events, with Stage 3 Sit & Go satellites starting from €0.22 + 0.02.

Packages include cash for flights, accommodations and buy-ins.

The DeepStack Open Vienna 2010 tournament will be held at the Montesino Casino in Vienna, Austria, Oct. 14-17, while the DeepStack Open Marrakech 2010 tournament will be held at the Casino de Marrakech in Morocco, Nov. 20-22.

UB Gets Low

October promises to be a boon for low-limit online poker players on UB.

Tagged as the Perfect Play, UB's month-long line-up of micro-stakes tourneys and contests is offering up to $100,000 in prizes to small stakes players.

There is a wide range of promos including a tournament leaderboard, deposit bonus; double loyalty rewards points on designated cash game tables and more.

For more information check out UB.

Cake Offers Punta Cana, Aussie Millions Seats

Cake Poker is running satellites for the Punta Cana Poker Classic and the 2011 Aussie Millions this month.

The $250,000 guaranteed Punta Cana Poker Classic is set for Nov. 10-14 in the Dominican Republic and Cake is offering the chance to win a $3,100 prize package, including the $1k buy-in, $1,000 in cash to help with travel expenses and four nights hotel accommodations at the Moon Palace Hotel and Casino,

Plus, Cake is also offering seats to the 2011 Aussie Millions held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia this January.

These $14,000 packages include the main event buy in, ten-nights at Crown Promenade and $2,500 for travel expenses.

"With the weather turning cooler, we're all thinking about getting away to warm places,” said Cake Card Room Manager Lee Jones “Punta Cana and Melbourne, Australia have great weather with fantastic poker action.”

For more information check out Cake Poker.

Italian Wins IPT Nova Gorica

A 23 year-old Italian took down the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica main event Tuesday.

Luca Topazio, whose previous best cash was for €2k at a tournament in Sharm el Sheikh, got the better of the 384-player field to collect a €190,000 first-place prize.

He beat fellow Italian Luciano Prevedello Dellisanti heads-up, leaving Dellisanti with €120,000 for second.

Sixty-one players won their seats to the event on PokerStars and with 384 players total; the prize pool reached €744,960.

The next stop in the IPT’s second Season is in San Remo Oct. 13-19.

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PokerStars Announces Schedule for APPT Cebu

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room and sponsor of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), has announced the return of a stop in Cebu, Philippines for its fourth season. The series will take place at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa for a five-day Main Event from November 12 to 16, along with a string of side events.

“We’re delighted to be taking the APPT back to the Philippines, and Cebu in particular,” said Jeffrey Haas, President of the APPT. “The Tour has gone from strength to strength in its relatively short life and fields are growing all the time. Last year’s event in Cebu was a definite highlight and offered further evidence of the continued passion for poker in the Asia Pacific region.”

The tour had a hugely successful debut in Cebu last year, drawing 319 players for the 100,000 Pesos (approximately $2,165 USD) Main Event to create a prize pool of more than $630,000. The tournament was won by Korea’s Dong-bin Han, who collected $156,722 and became only the second Asia-based player to win an APPT Main Event. The 37-year-old bested a tough field that included PokerStars Team Pros Bryan Huang, Tae Jun Noh, Raymond Wu, Tony Hachem, and Celina Lin.

Lin, who won the Red Dragon event at the Macau Poker Cup in July 2009, is excited to return to Cebu for another year: “The five-star resort, with wonderful beaches, spas, and restaurants, is one of the most idyllic places I’ve ever played poker. Cebu is a beautiful destination and the poker tournament itself was also fierce and fun. It will be even better this time!”

The APPT has already held the first three legs of Season 4. APPT Manila took place in the Philippines in March and was followed by APPT Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa in May. APPT Auckland in New Zealand panned out earlier this month. The APPT Grand Final in Sydney, Australia will take place at the Star City Casino from December 7 to 12.

APPT Cebu kicks off Wednesday, November 11 with a PHP 5,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Here’s a look at the full 2010 PokerStars APPT Cebu Cup Schedule (buy-ins in Philippine Pesos):

Wednesday, November 11: PHP 5,000 Cebu Cup Day 1A (PHP 1,000,000 Guarantee)
Thursday, November 12: PHP 5,000 Cebu Cup Day 1B
Friday, November 12: PHP 100,000 APPT Main Event Day 1A
Friday, November 12: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em
Saturday, November 13: PHP 100,000 APPT Main Event Day 1B
Saturday, November 13: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em KO Bounty
Saturday, November 13: PHP 5,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em
Sunday, November 14: PHP 10,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed
Sunday, November 14: PHP 30,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Monday, November 15: PHP 40,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed
Monday, November 15: PHP 200,000 High Roller Event (Two-Day)
Tuesday, November 16: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack

Visit PokerStars for full details.

Poker News in Brief: Sep. 6-12

Add in some high stakes action, the UKIPT heading to Ireland and the Partouche Poker Tour setting its own November Nine and it was a busy week in the PokerListings news room.

A few stories may have slipped through the cracks, but we've gathered them below in our regular Poker News in Brief feature.

This week, the WCOOP main event gets the biggest guarantee ever, Boxing legend Evander Holyfield hits the felt, UB's bad beat jackpot is claimed and more.

$2 Million for WCOOP Champ

PokerStars is now offering a record-breaking guaranteed payout to the winner of this year’s World Championship of Online Poker main event.

The 2010 WCOOP main event champion will walk away with a guaranteed $2 million payday, the largest first-place prize for an online poker tournament in history.

The $5,200 two-day main event begins Sep. 26.

Last year Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko won the title and $1,715,200 first-place prize.

High Heels Heads West

The first all women’s poker tour launched on the East Coast, is headed west.

The High Heels Poker Tour will hit the Wildhorse Resort Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. The Nov. 8 for its $165 Fall Round Up Ladies No-Limit Hold’em event.

For more information, including dates, times and buy-ins go to www.highheelspokertour.com.

Still The Champ

Evander Holyfield won the celebrity 'Beat the Champ' poker tournament live at Poker in the Park in London this week.

London's Leicester Square played host to thousands of fans attending Europe's largest poker festival including one Midlands man who got the chance to take on the former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World on the felt.

"It's like fighting," Holyfield explained. "If you want to win you have to focus and prepare and that's exactly what I did for this tournament, just like I do for any challenge." Leif G. won his way into the tournament through RealDealPoker.com.

Bad Beat?

A Ferris, Texas woman lost with quads, but won $218,115 in Bad Beat Jackpot money on UB this week.

KAPPIT saw her four nines crushed by CJBV’s quad queens at a $0.25/0.50 table, triggering the payday.

For his part, CJBV picked up $109,057.85 while the seven other players banked at least $1,000 just for being there.

Plus 610 others grabbed $89.36 because they were playing the same limit.

"I've been playing Poker for 45 years now, mostly live poker, and I hit a jackpot once in a land-based Casino, but this is the biggest prize I've ever got,” she said. “Keep those jackpots coming UB... Dreams do come true."

Full Tilt Sponsors MMA Series

Full Tilt Poker is putting its name on the Bellator Fighting Championships.

Now in its third season, the Bellator Fighting Championships is a continuing series of televised World Class Mixed Martial Arts presented in a tournament format.

This week marked the first of eight nationally and internationally televised Bellator events sponsored by Full Tilt.

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September 9th – Daily Deal

On today’s edition of the Daily Deal, Prahlad Friedman comes clean on ESPN, PartyPoker interviews Tom Dwan about the Million Dollar Challenge, and the Bodog Poker Open is back! It’s all ahead right now!

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

The much-hyped hand between Prahlad Friedman and Ted Bort during Day Two-B of the two-thousand ten World Series of Poker Main Event took center stage on this week’s installment of ESPN “Inside Deal.” Friedman joined the show via phone to come clean.

Friedman confirmed that he called before the clock reached zero, but floor officials ruled his hand dead at the count of one. Many in the online community have speculated that Friedman was merely angle-shooting, but he insisted that wasn’t the case. After saying that he held nine-five for two pair, Friedman admitted,

“It was very hard to lay down two pair to a guy like this because he could be really excited about a hand that’s a really good one pair. I believed him, but I didn’t know what he thought was a big hand. I was basically stumped on what to do, which is why I called at the last second.”

As soon as Bort turned over jack-nine for top two pair, Friedman mucked. You can catch the entire interview on ESPN.com as new episodes of Inside Deal are released every Tuesday.

PartyPoker’s cameras caught up with internet phenom Tom Dwan during the World Open in London in recent days. An interview posted on PartyPoker’s website featured the ongoing Durrrr Challenge with Dan “JungleMan12” Cates. When will we see the next action in the second Durrrr Challenge, you ask? Dwan told PartyPoker,

“I can’t play in the next three days, but I’d like to play sometime the week after that before the World Series Europe starts, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have. The last few days, I was just traveling to Europe and then right before World Series Europe, [Cates will] be traveling here and we’ll both be playing a bunch… It might be a few weeks, but we’ll see.”

Dwan is down nearly seven-hundred thousand dollars against Cates after just seven-thousand hands of the fifty thousand required for completion, so there’s still plenty of time left. Check out our sister site, DurrrrChallenge.com, for updates.

Finally, the Bodog Poker Open Championship Series begins on September twenty-sixth with a one-hundred nine dollar No Limit Hold’em event with fifteen thousand dollars added to the prize pool. In total, the BPO Championship Series preliminary events will offer more than fifty-five thousand dollars in added and guaranteed cash. The Main Event on October third will have a guaranteed prize pool of two-hundred thousand dollars.

For players that don’t have the bankroll to take part in the Championship Series, Bodog will be offering a Contender Series with drastically smaller buy-ins. Oh yeah, there’s still plenty of money to be had in the Contender Series. In fact, the eight Contender Series Events offer more than thirty-five thousand dollars in guaranteed cash.

That does it for today’s daily deal and as always be sure to bookmark our site if you haven’t already and add us to your twitter feed at poker news daily dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson and until next time, crush those fish!

Bodog Poker Open V Features Championship and Contender Series

The Bodog Poker Open (BPO) V returns at the end of September and the online poker room will offer something for every player this time around. Bodog’s largest series of the year will have two different ways to achieve poker glory and a spot in the Bodog Poker Open Hall of Fame: The Championship Series, for players with sizeable bankrolls and a thirst for big money, and the Contender Series, which will offer smaller buy-ins and larger fields for the average poker enthusiast.

The BPO V tournaments run from September 26th to October 3rd, with satellites to each event running daily in September. Players can win seats to an event for a little as $1 by qualifying through a satellite. Bodog will be also giving away 38 guaranteed seats to the $500 Championship Series Main Event on Saturday, October 2nd, a day before the Main Event kicks off.

The Championship Series begins on September 26th with a $109 No Limit Hold’em event with $15,000 added to the prize pool. In total, the BPO preliminary events will offer more than $55,000 in added and guaranteed cash and the Main Event on October 3rd will have a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.

For players that don’t have the bankroll to take part in the Championship Series, Bodog will be offering a Contender Series with smaller buy-ins. It kicks off on Sunday, September 26th with an $11 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament and concludes with a $50 Main Event on October 3rd with a $15,000 guaranteed prize pool. The eight Contender Series Events offer more than $35,000 in guaranteed cash up for grabs.

On top of the prize money, Championship Series event winners will earn a seat into the $500 Championship Main Event. The Championship Series Main Event winner will also receive a Corum Championship watch valued at more than $5,000.

Here’s a look at the schedule for the Bodog Poker Open V:

Championship Series (All Times Eastern)
Sunday, Sept. 26 4:00 PM — $100+9 NLHE ($15,000 added)
Sunday, Sept. 26 7:00 PM — $100+9 NLHE Turbo ($20,000 Guar.)
Monday, Sept. 27 8:00 PM — $150+12 NLHE ($5,000 added)
Tuesday, Sept. 28 8:00 PM — $200+15 6-max NLHE ($5,000 added)
Wednesday, Sept. 29 8:00 PM — $30+3 NLHE w/ rebuys ($5,000 added)
Thursday, Sept. 30 8:00 PM — $100+9 PLHE ($5,000 added)
Friday, Oct. 1 8:00 PM — $100+9 Limit ($2,500 added)
Saturday, Oct. 2 — Satellite Day
Sunday, Oct. 3 4:00 PM — $470+30 NLHE Main Event ($200,000 Guar.)

Contender Series
Sunday, Sept. 26 4:30 PM — $10+1 NLHE ($7,500 Guar.)
Monday, Sept. 27 8:35 PM — $25+2.50 NLHE ($5,000 Guar.)
Tuesday, Sept. 28 8:35 PM — $15+1.50 6-max NLHE ($2,500 Guar.)
Wednesday, Sept. 29 8:35 PM — $5+1 NLHE w/ rebuys ($2,500 Guar.)
Thursday, Sept. 30 8:35 PM — $20+2 PLHE ($2,500 Guar.)
Friday, Oct. 1 8:35 PM — $15+1.50 LHE ($1,500 Guar.)
Saturday, Oct. 2 4:30 PM — $25+2.50 NLHE Turbo ($3,000 Guar.)
Sunday, Oct. 3 4:30 PM — $46+4 NLHE Main Event ($15,000 Guar.)

NAPT L.A. set for November

The 14-day NAPT Los Angeles poker festival will go off at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California Nov. 8- 21 with 21 different events.

Buy-ins will range from $335 up to $5,000. The $5k main event will play out Nov. 12-17.

There will be both a $5k Heads-Up and a $5k H.O.R.S.E. tournament as well.

"This is truly a festival with something for everyone," said Team PokerStars Pro and PokerListings Blogger Jason Mercier.

Live satellites will be offered throughout the festival at the Bike. 

“We're very excited to be hosting the West Coast leg of the tour,” said Kelley O'Hara, the Bicycle Casino's Director of Marketing.

“NAPT has already impressed players, providing a first class poker experience that is creating quite the buzz."

The full schedule of events can be found on the NAPT website.

Satellites are already up and running on PokerStars.

Visit PokerListings.com

PaddyPowerPoker.com Extends Paddy’s Pantsdown Promotion

PaddyPowerPoker.com’s Paddy’s Pantsdown promotional tournament series will recommence today and extend through the end of the year, giving away $80,000 in the coming months. The Paddy’s Pantsdown money added tournaments will continue to take place twice every day, with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $4 and up to $400 added to each tournament prize pool.

Players who participate in two or more of these money-added tournaments in one week will automatically be entered into Friday’s Play-Off Freeroll where there will be $2,000 added to the prize pool. PaddyPowerPoker gave away more than $30,000 in added money during the Paddy’s Pantsdown tournaments in August.

“We have had such positive feedback on our Paddy’s Pantsdown promotion that we have decided to continue these money-added tournaments for the remainder of the year and give away an additional $80,000!” said a representative of PaddyPowerPoker.com. “The summer may be coming to an end, but the good times will keep on rolling for PaddyPowerPoker.com players — we know that nothing pleases our players more than a wad of free cash so that’s exactly what we are providing in order to keep those winter blues at bay.”

Here’s a look at the Paddy’s Pantsdown weekly tournament schedule with times, buy-ins and money added:

Monday, 7:45 PM — $2 buy-in ($200 added)
Monday, 8:30 PM — $4 buy-in ($400 added)
Tuesday, 7:45 PM — $1 buy-in ($200 added)
Tuesday, 8:30 PM — $3 buy-in ($300 added)
Wednesday, 7:45 PM — $2 buy-in ($200 added)
Wednesday, 8:30 PM — $4 buy-in ($400 added)
Thursday, 7:45 PM — $1 buy-in ($200 added)
Thursday, 8:30 PM — $3 buy-in ($300 added)
Friday, 8:00 PM — Qualifier Freeroll ($2,000 added)
Saturday, 7:45 PM — $1 buy-in ($200 added)
Saturday, 8:30 PM — $3 buy-in ($300 added)
Sunday, 7:45 PM — $1 buy-in ($200 added)
Sunday, 8:30 PM — $3 buy-in ($300 added)

PaddyPowerPoker.com is also launching a series of Irish Winter Festival €10 rebuy super satellites, which will take place at 8:00pm every Monday in September. Each tournament will guarantee an Irish Winter Festival 2010 ticket worth €1,650, with additional tickets awarded depending on the total prize pool generated.

In addition, any player who wins an Irish Winter Festival ticket in one of the €10 Rebuy Super Satellites will be eligible to take part in the €20,000 Sole Survivor qualifier promotion in October.

“We are delighted to introduce an even more affordable way to qualify for the Irish Winter Festival this October bank holiday weekend,” said Paddy Power. “Not only could you be on your way to the IWF for as little as €10, you will also be in the running for the €20,000 Sole Survivor prize. You’d be mad to be anywhere but Paddypowerpoker.com each Monday in September — somebody is going to win these IWF seats and it could easily be you.”

The Irish Winter Festival will take place at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin from October 22 to 25.

Poker News in Brief: Aug. 30- Sep. 5, 2010

A few stories slipped through the cracks, but we caught them all and neatly organized them into our regular Poker News in Brief feature below.

This week we’ll take a look at the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominees, a new WPT TV deal, WSOPE qualifiers on UB, WCOOP kicking off and more.

Hall of Fame nominees announced

Ten nominees have been named for the 2010 class of the Poker Hall of Fame after a two-month voting process on WSOP.com.

The ten players under consideration include Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen and Erik Seidel.

These names will be vetted by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, who will then select the final list of candidates.

The 16 living Hall of Fame members and a 17-person media panel will then determine who will enter the Hall at an induction ceremony held as part of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table festivities in November.

The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, traditionally elects one or two members annually.

High Heels Heads South

The High Heels Poker Tour, the first all women’s poker tour on the U.S. East Coast, is planning a big Fall all over Florida.

The HHPT 2010 Fall schedule will stops at Mardi Gras in Hallandale, Ebro Greyhound Park in Ebro, Orange Park Kennel Club in Jacksonville, The Isle in Pompano, and The Silks Poker Room in Tampa.

For additional information, including dates, times and buy-ins go to www.highheelspokertour.com. 

WPT Inks TV Deal

The World Poker Tour and Fox Sports Net announced a multi-season broadcast and promotional agreement for the distribution of WPT Seasons 9, 10, and 11 this week.

The new agreement features prime time national premiere airtimes on Sunday nights, as well as repeat airings throughout the week. Plus, the two have agreed to extensive promotional advertising that will keep viewers up-to-date on new airings.

WPT’s Season 9 will premiere with its 179th episode in January 2011.

"This season promises to be unlike any previous incarnations of the WPT," said Steve Heller, CEO of WPT.

"The shows will be faster-paced and edgier, featuring the biggest names in poker mixing it up with more up-and-coming stars, pre-final table action and, as always, poker’s greatest and most recognizable play-by-play commentary team of Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten."

Have Your Cake

Cake Poker is running a number of promotions this September, including the debut of a Monday Night Football tournament series.

Debuting Sep. 13 and running for four weeks, Cake Poker will offer Money Night Football tournaments during the NFL broadcasts.

Plus, players who change their screen name to reference their favorite NFL team and cash in one of the tournaments will be entered into a weekly $500 Kamikaze tournament.

WSOPE Qualifiers on UB.com

The World Series of Poker Europe main event is returning to London’s Casino at The Empire Sep. 23-28 and UB wants to send you there. From Sep. 1-12 UB is offering players the chance to earn a seat for as little as $10.

Players can qualify through $10 Ultra Turbo Rebuy and $55 Freezeout feeders, or buy-in directly to the $500+$30 3-Seat Guaranteed WSOPE Super Satellite scheduled for Sep. 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

PKR Offers New Poker Fest

PKR and The Fox Poker Club are teaming up to present a new breed of poker festival with dealer dealt tournaments at affordable buy-ins in London this fall. Running for a full 28 days between Oct. 11 and Nov. 7, the PKR.com 'London Calling' festival will consist of 57 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from £20 to £300.

The festival will conclude with a £300 buy-in main event.

“With regular buy-ins ranging from £20 'London Calling' is for the huge number of people who'd love to play a high-quality, dealer-dealt tournament but find most poker tours and festivals are too high for their bankroll," said PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger.

Further details can be found at www.pkr.com/londoncalling.

William Hill Revamps Software

William Hill Poker has made a few improvements aimed at making the player experience more enjoyable.

The poker tables on the site now have a new look. Players can adjust table-sizing to tile and cascade multiple tables and now have the ability to play on more than one monitor at a time. The site has also introduced flashing avatars to indicate when a player is on the clock, new backgrounds, borders and shading.

The player's chat functionality has been improved and incorporated in a side toolbar to access the chat commentary, player's notes, relevant statistics, hand history and settings. Check out PokerListings’ William Hill Poker review for more.

WCOOP Kicks Off

PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker begins today.

The richest online poker series in the world, WCOOP will consist of 62 events over 23 days, with tournaments in every poker discipline and $50 million in guaranteed cash.

Last year, 43,973 players from 140 countries took part in WCOOP with Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko winning the main event and more than $1.7 million.

PokerStars is offering a 20% WCOOP Reload Bonus to help bankroll your run at a WCOOP title.

Make a deposit before 11:59 p.m. ET on Sep. 11 using the code WCOOP to take advantage.

For more details, go to the WCOOP website.

Visit PokerListings.com

Full Tilt Poker Returns Fast $50 Promotion

If your weekend activities involve watching college football or otherwise lounging around in your pajamas, head to Full Tilt Poker and take advantage of the site’s Fast $50 bonus. The offer is good through September 12th on the world’s second largest online poker room.

All you have to do is log into the Full Tilt client and accept your Fast $50 offer by 23:59 ET on September 12th. To do so, click on the “Requests” menu and then select “Check My Bonus Offer.” If you’ve followed our directions to a “t,” a window will pop up asking you to accept your Fast $50 bonus. Click on “Accept Offer” and start clearing it!

Anyone who has made their first deposit on Full Tilt Poker and finished a bonus by 23:59 ET on September 1st is eligible to receive a Fast $50 immediately. If you haven’t yet signed up for and deposited on the USA-friendly site, you’re in luck. Not only can you take advantage of the Fast $50 promotion, but you can also claim a 100% deposit bonus.

Text found on Full Tilt’s website explains, “If you have not made your initial deposit, you have until 23:59 ET on September 9th to make your first deposit and finish your 100% First Deposit Bonus. If you do so, you’ll receive a Fast $50 bonus offer by September 10th and have until 23:59 ET on September 12th to accept.”

If you still have an active bonus pending, you have until the end of the day ET on September 9th to finish it. Then, you’ll get a Fast $50 bonus by September 10th and have until 23:59 ET on September 12th to accept it. You can click on the “Bonus Account” button in the Full Tilt Cashier to see where you stand on any active offers.

The Fast $50 bonus expires 21 days after you accept it, so be sure to hit the virtual felts in earnest. It clears at a rate of $0.06 per Full Tilt Point, or FTP, and is paid out in increments of 10%. Players on the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com reported receiving Fast $50 bonuses between $50 and $500, with the majority receiving the former. Some players also claimed that no bonus was waiting for them when they logged in.

Had enough of the red tape? So have we. If you’re looking for an easy way to clear your Fast $50 bonus, Full Tilt recommends hitting up its Rush Poker tables. Introduced in January, Rush Poker eliminates virtually all downtime in poker. As soon as your action in one hand ends, you’re whisked away to a brand new table with a brand new set of opponents where a new hand is immediately dealt. Both Rush Poker tournaments and cash games are available.

On Wednesday, the Mini version of the 17th Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or MiniFTOPS, will begin. The 34-tournament series offers a colossal $6 million in guaranteed prize money and follows the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart. This time, however, the buy-ins are one-tenth as large, allowing players of all bankrolls to get in on the FTOPS fun. The kickoff event is a $22 No Limit Hold’em tournament that guarantees $200,000.

The Main Event of MiniFTOPS XVII will take place on Sunday, September 19th at 17:00 ET. The $75 buy-in online poker tournament will dole out at least $1 million and Carlos Mortensen, the World Poker Tour’s all-time money leader, will serve as its host. Remember, Full Tilt gladly accepts players from the United States and around the world. Visit Full Tilt for more details.

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CHAZ_MAN_C Wins UBOC 5 Championship Event

In the grand finale of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) on Sunday, Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes came out on top of the pack following a four-way chop and banked $136,000. A total of 1,032 players coughed up the UBOC 5 Championship Event’s $1,050 buy-in or won a satellite to get in and the top 99 finished in the money.

Combes hails from the United Kingdom and, on the final hand of the tournament, shoved all-in with Q-2. UB.com member “TOOCURIOUSSO” made the call for his tournament life with K-9 and was in prime position to double up. The flop of 3-J-6 didn’t change matters, but a queen on the turn paired Combes and sealed his UBOC 5 title. Combes claimed a championship watch to boot. In March, he won both the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday for $93,000 and the Titan Poker $250,000 Guaranteed for $59,000.

TOOCURIOUSSO finished with the smallest payout of the four dealmakers at $95,000. Pamela “VENUSIGNA” Quesada, who calls the Latin American nation of Costa Rica home, landed in third place and walked away with $152,000, the largest payday of the UBOC 5 Championship. In her final hand, Quesada was all-in before the flop with pocket sixes and up against Combes’ A-K of hearts. The board blanked out until an ace hit on the river, sending Quesada home in devastating fashion.

“WALLABAER” dropped a sizable pot with A-K against Quesada’s pocket nines to cripple his stack. On the next hand, WALLABAER’s 4-3 could not draw out on Combes’ 7-6 and he was relegated to the rails. Here’s a look at how the final table cashed out in the UBOC 5 Championship Event:

1. CHAZ_MAN_C – $136,178
2. TOOCURIOUSSO – $95,000
3. VENUSIGNA – $152,000
4. WALLABAER – $145,000
5. APATHY123 – $56,244
6. WAMMERMOUTH – $45,924
7. MST_MORPHEUS – $35,604
8. 1GENERAL_TAO – $25,284
9. DONRIKY – $17,544

Like you’d expect in a tournament with a $1,050 buy-in, a variety of brand name pros made deep runs. Joshua “PBDRUNKS” Van Duyn, who won the very first tournament of UBOC 5, took 50th in the Championship Event. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who had been in the running as part of a leaderboard competition to be a sponsored pro of DoylesRoom, hit the rail in 22nd place.

UB.com sponsored pro Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp bubbled the final table and finished in 12th in what likely would have been a coup of sorts for members of Team UB. Players who knocked out members of Team UB throughout UBOC 5 received 200 Tournament Dollars and a swank UBOC shirt. The tournament stretched for 12 hours, ending around 4:30am ET.

In the MiniUBOC Championship Event, “JLC123” banked $17,000 and came away with the win. The field of the $55 buy-in tournament numbered 1,684 and JLC123 bested fellow online poker player “BOOJIW” heads-up; BOOJIW grabbed a $10,000 consolation prize. The MiniUBOC 5 schedule offered the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with more affordable buy-ins.

If you’re itching for more tournament series, don’t fear. The 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP, will begin on Sunday, September 5th. The schedule offers a ridiculous $50 million in guaranteed prize money, including a $10 million guaranteed Main Event on September 26th. Every 2010 WCOOP tournament is open to online poker players from the United States.

Check out UB.com or Absolute Poker for full UBOC 5 results.

UBOC 5 Championship Kicks off Sunday

On Sunday, the Championship Event of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, kicks off on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Poker Network. Players on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker will be vying for their share of a $1 million guaranteed UBOC 5 Championship prize pool. The tournament boasts a price tag of $1,050 and begins promptly at 4:00pm ET.

As if the seven-figure purse weren’t enough of a reason to sign up, the UBOC 5 Championship Event features 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth as its host. The tournament comes with a Monster Stack format and a six-figure first place prize, so head to UB.com or Absolute Poker today at 4:00pm ET to get in on the fun. Both sites happily take action from United States online poker players.

The UBOC 5 Championship Event is the culmination of a 20-event tournament series that began back on August 18th. Since then, CEREUS Network pros like Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, and Mark Seif have hosted UBOC 5 tournaments, featuring poker games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and HORSE. This is the second time the UBOC has run in 2010, with the first cycle occurring back in January.

The lone six-figure payday of UBOC 5 so far went to Jeremy “DUHDUHDAISY” Fitzpatrick, who came out on top of the pack in a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Deep Stack event, the eighth on the schedule. A total of 583 players created a $583,000 prize pool, the largest to date heading into the Championship Event. Fitzpatrick owns the eighth spot on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and has also recorded wins in the Full Tilt $1K Monday and Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed.

In Event #8, Fitzpatrick edged out Danny “dannyills” Illingworth, whose second place consolation prize was worth $81,000. Illingworth calls Carlsbad, California home and finished second in the Absolute Poker $200,000 Guaranteed last month for $27,000.

Others at the final table of Event #8 of UBOC 5 included “UPAY4RHINOS” (third place for $54,219), “JOAOMATHIAS” (fourth place for $37,895), “LOCKDOWNTEX” (fifth place for $32,065), “POOLI” (sixth place for $26,235), “CRACKIN_TY” (seventh place for $21,571), “N0VASKY” (eighth place for $15,741), and “GR8PKRPLAYA” (ninth place for $9,911).

The opening tournament of UBOC 5 featured a field of 903 players for a $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event. A total of $200,000 was guaranteed, but the 900-plus player field swelled the total prize pool to nearly $250,000. The final table was stacked with brand name pros, including eventual winner Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, who banked $54,000. Rounding out the top three were Felipe “improved” Montenegro and Darren “darrenelias” Elias, who cashed in for $32,000 and $22,000, respectively.

Also taking place today on UB.com and Absolute Poker is the Championship Event of MiniUBOC 5. The smaller version of the grand finale comes with a $55 buy-in and a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. “GUIGUI_88” will serve as its host and the MiniUBOC 5 Championship begins at 4:00pm ET. MiniUBOC 5 has featured the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with reduced buy-ins for those players lacking deep pockets.

Blanca Games recently acquired the CEREUS Network, although the terms of the transaction remain a mystery. Tokwiro Enterprises, the former owners of UB.com and Absolute Poker, will likely send out a press release with additional details on the acquisition this week. Stuart Gordon is the main face behind Blanca Games, whose website simply notes that its operations “are conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies.” Blanca Games is based in Antigua and has offices in Costa Rica, where UB.com and Absolute Poker are located.

Visit UB or AbsolutePoker to sign up for the UBOC 5 Championship Event.

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Poker News in Brief: Aug. 23-29, 2010

With so many great poker stories it's difficult to make it to the front page of PokerListings.com but fortunately every week we compile a list of lesser-known news in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we'll take a look at bwin preparing the "grandest" series of online poker, Dan Kelly winning a UBOC event and NBA-star Shawn Marion helping to raise over $70,000 for charity in a poker tournament.

Dan Kelly wins UBOC Event 10

Noted online poker player Dan "djk123" Kelly added to his already impressive poker resume this week by winning Event 10 of UBOC5.

Kelly, who plays on UB as JEFFGRESSARD, outlasted a field of 294 players to take down a first place prize of $26,000 in the Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event.

For those keeping track at home, Kelly has now won an FTOPS event, made the final table of a WCOOP main event and most recently won the $25k Six-Max event at the WSOP for $1.3 million.

The 21-year-old has over $4 million in combined live and online winnings.

bwin Readies Grand Series of Poker

bwin Poker's exclusive Grand Series of Poker is set to go off this September.

Now in its fifth year of existence, the GSOP has proven to be one of the most popular online poker series with millions to be won.

This year the schedule has been expanded to include 15 separate events as well as GSOP Mini, which will run parallel to the main GSOP and offer smaller buy-ins for cash-strapped players.

The GSOP and GSOP Mini will take place Sept. 19 to Oct. 10 with the $300k guaranteed Grand Slam scheduled for the final day.

Shawn Marion Charity Tournament a Slam Dunk

The proceeds from the Shawn Marion Celebrity Poker Tournament that was held last week at Choctaw Casino have been tabulated and the event raised nearly $70,000 for the Shawn Marion Foundation.

"We appreciate Choctaw's hospitality and support in our mission," said Shawn Marion. "We had a successful event that will help provide scholarships for kids who may not otherwise get the chance to earn a degree."

In addition to the celebrated NBA star there were numerous poker pros in attendance including Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, T.J. Cloutier and Maria Ho.

First place winner James Dean won a 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event seat courtesy of UB.com.

Titan Poker Stages Big Cash Out

Popular European site Titan Poker is set to run a special promotion in September where Titan points will be worth even more than usual.

The Big Cash Out will give players the ability to get even more cash when they redeem their hard-earned points.

What's more, Silver-level players will have the option of cashing in their points for as little as 1,000.

The promo will run from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30.

PartyPoker Throws a Snowball

It's still summer but there's a lot of cold hard cash to be won in PartyPoker's most recent promotion.

The Snowball will allow players to build momentum as they generate frequent player points in the month of September.

If players are able to generate 5-200 points they will automatically gain entrance into freerolls that range from $5k all the way up to $50k.

Fortunately you don't lose the chance to enter smaller freerolls the higher you go so if you qualify for the $50k freeroll you can enter all four of the smaller freerolls.

Players who earn from 500 points all the way up to 50,000 will earn bonus cash from $20 all the way up to $5,000 as well as entry into all the freerolls.

 

Visit PokerListings.com

August 27th – Daily Deal

We have an ACTION PACKED Friday edition of the Daily Deal. Today, we talk about Jungleman12 starting up in the Durrrr Challenge, the CEREUS network being sold off and Victory Poker heading over to the Cake Poker Network. Get your popcorn ready!

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

Our headline story comes from Full Tilt Poker as the latest edition of the Durrrr Challenge started up last night. As we reported previously that Jungleman12 was just days away from starting up, the action hit the tables late last night around one-thirty a.m. eastern time. The two played four tables of two hundred / four hundred blind no limit texas hold’em heads-up. Both participants have expressed an interest in getting the 50,000 hand challenge done quickly so we expect a ton of action in the next couple of weeks. Although stats haven’t been released at the time of the taping of the daily deal, it looked like durrrr took about two buy-ins away from Jungleman12 during the first session.

The two got back together and Jungleman12 went on an EPIC run and after all was said and done at around 9 a.m. Friday morning the two had already played ten percent of the hands possible. The tally as it stands now (unofficially) after 5,829 hands is that Jungleman12 is up a stunning $518,202.75!!!!

As more breaks at the tables, we’ll be sure to recap the action right here.

In another huge announcement, On September 1st, Victory Poker, which currently makes its home on the Everleaf Network, will jump ship to the Cake Poker Network. The site, which features pros like Antonio Esfandiari and former World Poker Tour Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, has become a force in the online poker world. It also happily accepts players from the United States.

Poker News Daily sat down yesterday with Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman. We asked him why the popular site decided to jump to Cake and he responded,

“I’ve always liked Cake. It’s a great network and I met with their guys back in January at the London convention, but I had made my decision prior to that. I wanted to be a premiere site on a network when we launched and felt I’d be second or third at Cake. When I signed with Everleaf, they had so much passion, knew I’d bring players, and they worked hard. I’m happy with the way it all turned out.”

For those playing on the Everleaf Network right now Fleyshman told us that he believes the family of sites is in good hands even without Victory Poker and that they’ll keep improving and moving in the right direction … just without Victory Poker.

In our final bit of huge poker news, it broke late Thursday afternoon that Blanca Games had purchased the CEREUS Poker Network, which includes UB.com and Absolute Poker. An official press release is expected out early next week and for now, the purchase price and terms were not released. Stuart Gordon is the CEO of the CEREUS Network’s new parent company and commented on Thursday evening,

“The acquisition of CEREUS is a significant opportunity for us. CEREUS is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like UB.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.”

Gordon founded and manages BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International. Both of those sites, like UB.com, are licensed by the Kahawake Gaming Commission. Poker News Daily has independently confirmed that no staffing or operational changes are expected at UB.com or Absolute Poker during the transition to Blance Gaming. Gordon also commented that he does not expect any changes to occur in the playing experience for either site. Currently, the CEREUS network ranks as the sixth largest poker network online.

Well, that does it for a jam packed Friday here on The Daily Deal! Be sure to check back with us all throughout your day to catch the latest poker headlines. I’ll be back on Monday with a brand new episode of The Daily Deal. Until then, I’m Sean Gibson hoping you crush the competition and reel in those fish at the cash game tables this weekend!

Bay 101 Open in Full Swing

The smaller tournament series, which started on Monday, offers eight separate events with buy-ins ranging from $345 to $2,000.

The $2,000 buy-in Spread Limit Championship is scheduled to take place this Sunday. In addition to the regular prizepool, the winner will take home a $10,000 seat into the 2011 WPT Shooting Star event.

Three events have already been completed with Joe Basa taking Event 1 for $16,230, Leonard Levenson winning Event 2 for a $10,250 and Phong Ly claiming Event 3 for $9,630.

The rest of the week will include a $500 buy-in Spread Limit Shootout on Friday, a $1,000 Spread Limit Hold'em event on Saturday and the $2,000 championship event on Sunday.

Last year Taylor Raines outlasted nearly 100 players to take down a $50,430 first place prize in the Bay 101 Open championship event.

For more information check the Bay 101 website.

 

Visit PokerListings.com

This Week in Tournament Poker: August 15-21, 2010

There was plenty of action around the world this past week in poker with events wrapping up in Scotland, Brazil and across the United States. Massive prizepools were generated from buy-ins that weren’t so large, making for some very hefty...

Poker News in Brief: Aug. 16-22, 2010

As a result, there were a few small stories that got left behind in the PokerListings newsroom.

Fortunately, we've compiled a list of them below in our regular Poker News in Brief feature.

This week, Liv Boeree will a London poker festival, PKR gets an upgrade, WPT London satellites begin and a whole lot more.  

888 Partners with London Circuit

888poker has announced a partnership with the London Poker Circuit.

To launch the new partnership, LPC and 888poker have created a monthly 888poker Super Stack event.

The tournament will take place at the end of every month at Kensington Close Hotel and include a £30,000 prize pool.

Qualifiers are available online at 888poker.com and live satellites will be held at Kensington Close Hotel.

Boeree to Open Poker in the Park

EPT San Remo champion Liv Boeree will cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of Poker in the Park in London Sept. 2.

A model, TV presenter, astrophysics grad, heavy metal guitarist and now EPT title holder, Boeree will open the festivities at 4 p.m.

Poker in the Park expects to attract 20,000 poker fans over two days in London's Leicester Square with Sit and Go's, lectures from big name pros and stalls selling the latest poker merchandise.

WPT London Satellites Begin

Live satellites for the inaugural World Poker Tour London Poker Classic are up and running.

Every night at 7 p.m. the Palm Beach Casino in London is hosting a £300+£30 shootout satellite for main event seats. The tables are six handed with a cap of 36 players.

Plus, there are a host of other satellites planned.

The Classic will go off Aug. 30. - Sept. 4 at the Palm Beach Casino.

Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen Joins CardRunners

Fresh off of his second FTOPS victory, Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen has joined the poker training site CardRunners.

Petersen is currently ranked #1 on the Bluff Online Player of the Year rankings and #5 on PocketFives.

His first video is now on CardRunners and he will be answering questions from CR members in the forums.

PKR Live

PKR Live V will go off  Nov. 12-14 inside London's Fox Poker Club.

The $500 buy-in, 150-runner main event takes place on the Saturday with an estimated prize pool of $75,000.

On Sunday a $150 bounty event is on the schedule.

Players can qualify for the 150 available places through satellites running from Aug. 19 for the next 12 weeks with buy-ins starting at $4.95 on PKR.

PokerStars Awarded Estonian Licence

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board has issued PokerStars an activity license.

Estonia is one of the smallest EU member states, but with poker growing there PokerStars said the country is a significant new market for the site.

Last week, the Estonian capital Tallinn hosted the first stop of the new season of the EPT.

Operational License applications have previously been approved in Italy and France.

PKR Upgrades

PKR.com just launched the biggest software update since its inception four years ago.

The upgrade features a completely new user interface aimed at making playing easier and more fun.

There is an overhauled lobby with a game-finder wizard and a new multi-tabling system allowing players to sit at up to nine tables at once.

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pbdrunks Wins Kickoff UBOC 5 Online Poker Tournament

If the first tournament is any indication, the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, is shaping up to be one of the largest ever. The kickoff $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper tournament generated a starting grid of 903 entrants, which meant that a $243,000 prize pool was up for grabs.

UB.com, one-half of the USA-friendly CEREUS Network, guaranteed a $200,000 purse for the first event, meaning that the actual prize pool was about 20% larger than its guarantee. In the end, Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, a longtime member of the online poker community, trumped the pack and banked nearly $55,000. Two years ago, Van Duyn took down the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $71,000, his largest online poker cash to date according to PocketFives.com.

Heads-up, Van Duyn defeated longtime poker pro Felipe “improved” Montenegro, who walked away with $33,000. Montenegro is a three-time Triple Crown winner on PocketFives.com, which entails winning three $10,000 prize pool tournaments across three sites tracked for the site’s Online Poker Rankings in a one-week span. Montenegro owns the 51st spot in the aforementioned Rankings and has banked over $3 million in his online poker career.

Another brand name pro finished third in the $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event, the first on the UBOC 5 docket. Darren “darrenelias” Elias cashed for $22,000, adding to a tournament resume that includes a jersey in a $200 Cubed No Limit Hold’em event held during the February 2009 running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS. Here’s a look at how the final table of UBOC 5 Event #1 shook out:

1. PBDRUNKS – $54,760
2. IMPROVED – $32,792
3. DARRENELIAS – $22,309
4. MESCALIN8 – $15,726
5. MURIBE – $13,288
6. POOPLUS – $10,850
7. LUFTMENSCHEN – $8,411
8. 9BARELL – $5,973
9. MARIO_BASLER – $4,145

In January, UB.com member “AnteSvante” took down the PokerStars Sunday 500 to the tune of $90,000. Flash forward to Thursday, when he defeated Jesse “toohottotrot” Haabak heads-up in UBOC 5 Event #3, a $320 No Limit Hold’em Four-Max affair. “AnteSvante” walked away with a $29,000 cash prize, while Haabak boosted his online poker bankroll by $18,000. Others at the final table included “TIGGER2” and “eliasharris,” who took third and fourth, respectively:

1. ANTESVANTE – $29,079
2. TOOHOTTOTROT – $18,309
3. TIGGER2 – $11,847
4. ELIASHARRIS – $8,616

If you missed out on the first three UBOC 5 tournaments, don’t fret. A total of 19 will play out before the series’ $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack Main Event on August 29th at 4:00pm ET. The final event, hosted by UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth, sports a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is MiniUBOC 5, which boasts the same slate of events, but with shrunken buy-ins. UBOC 5 events are open to players from the United States. Visit UB.com or its sister site, Absolute Poker, to enter today.

Daniel “jungleman12? Cates – Poker Player Profile

Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates is taking the online poker world by storm. Only 20 years old, he has already won more money than most people will see in a lifetime. His current winnings exceed $2.2 million.

In early 2008 he was playing heads up No Limit Hold’em with blinds of $.25/$.50. Within 10 months he had gone from micro stakes to high stakes, playing blinds of $25/$50. He admits his move into high stakes was very aggressive, as started playing $25/$50 with 40 Buy-ins. Jungleman12 has said that the two main factors to his success were a very aggressive bankroll management system and the willingness to play anyone.

It was Jungleman12’s openness to play and thirst for knowledge combined with natural talent that have made him soar through the stakes faster than almost any other player online.

One barrier that stops many players moving up in stakes is fear of having so much money on the table in a single seating. Jungleman12 has been able to condition his mind to detach himself from thinking of it as money and seeing it as numbers on a screen. Thanks to this ability he is able to play so objectively in some of the highest games online. Focus on the game, not the money

However his growth wasn’t all smooth sailing. Jungleman12 had one day after moving up to $25/$50 where he lost ¼ of his entire bankroll. It was then he decided to re-evaluate his bankroll strategy.

Another huge setback Jungleman12 had to face was his matches with the famous player “Isildur1”. Jungleman12 has had his biggest losses to Isildur1, including a single day session where he lost almost $500,000.

On the positive side, some of Jungleman12’s best bankroll injections have come from players such as “fullflush1”, “aejones”, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil Ivey, just to name a few.  Dwan is currently down over $775,000 to Jungleman12.

Jungleman12 has played the biggest names and stakes at Full Tilt Poker for over two years and has fast become one of the most talked about players in today’s games.  He is currently in 3rd place for top earners for 2010, just behind Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey.

When he’s not playing, Jungleman12 can also be found at popular training site Card Runners, where he is one of the featured coaches, charging sometimes over $1000 for a single coaching session.  Given his own results, it should be well worth it.?

2010 WPT Legends of Poker Begins Friday

This Friday, August 20th, marks the start of the Main Event of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker at the famed Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California. The $5,000 ($4,800 + $200) No-Limit Hold’em Championship is slated to run through August 25th, with Day 1 split into two flights.

This is the first year since 2005 that the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event buy-in will be less than $10,000, a change that needed to be made to boost attendance at WPT events. At 279 players, last year’s Legends of Poker field was 25% smaller than in 2008. Despite the precipitous drop, though, first place still paid just over $1 million and the top five finishers all made at least six-figures.

Poker pro Prahlad Friedman won the 2009 WPT Legends of Poker, besting 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine member Kevin Schaffel heads-up. All things considered, it was not that long of a final table, lasting just 127 hands (keep in mind that WPT final tables are six-handed). Friedman was the third largest stack going into final table play, in fairly comfortable shape with 1,476,000 chips. He sat behind Schaffel and Todd Terry, who were in a virtual dead heat with 2,234,000 chips and 2,219,000 chips, respectively.

But Friedman knocked out Mike Krescanko, Toto Leonidas, and Terry over the course of final table to enter the heads-up portion of the competition with a sizeable 7:2 chip advantage. Schaffel battled his way back to even, but Friedman eventually ruled the day, eliminating Schaffel with A-Q versus K-J. For his runner-up finish, Schaffel won $471,670.

The WPT Legends of Poker is more than just the No-Limit Championship. There have already been 22 preliminary events with buy-ins ranging from $225 to $545. Most events have featured No-Limit Hold’em, but there have also been Limit Hold’em, HORSE, Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or better, Limit Omaha 8 or better, half Stud half Omaha Hi-Lo, and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo tournaments in Shootout, Deepstack, and Re-entry formats. After the Main Event, there will be three more events before the entire poker festival wraps up on August 29th.

For those in the Los Angeles area, there will be satellites held on Wednesday and Thursday at the “Bike” for the No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Super Satellites will cost $120 to enter, while Mega Super Satellites will run $535. Players must register in person, as online registration is now closed.

UB.com Announces Take Down a H0 Bounty Poker Tournament

On Saturday, the very first installment of the UB.com Take Down a H0 bounty tournament played out on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network site. The unique poker tournament boasts a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and features UB.com pro Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. The buy-in is $320.

Kroon is a founding member of Team UB and even co-hosts the popular “Man Up with Mark and Mike” radio show on 1670 AM in Madison, Wisconsin. His bounty tournament kicks off weekly on Saturday at 3:05pm ET and the person who bumps Kroon from his event claims 300 Tournament Dollars for their troubles. Kroon owns Player’s Bar and Grill in Madison, a college town that’s home to the University of Wisconsin.

The first installment of the No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Take Down a H0 event ran over the weekend on the CEREUS Network, which includes UB.com and its sister site Absolute Poker. A total of 224 players turned out, creating a $67,200 prize pool that easily shattered its guarantee. Kroon was busted from the tournament early, but we’re sure that he merely retreated to his bar for the rest of the day.

In January, Kroon final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $79,000. Three months later, he took second in the Absolute Poker $1K on his home network for another $68,000. Kroon is an original member of the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com.

UB.com is ramping up to host the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC for short. The 20-tournament series kicks off on Wednesday with a $320 Sniper No Limit Hold’em event and a $267 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha contest. The two events on UBOC 5’s first day offer up a combined $300,000 in prize money. All told, UBOC 5 will pony up $4 million in guarantees and offers one tournament with a seven-figure purse.

The UBOC 5 Main Event plays out on August 29th and is a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack tournament. UB.com front man and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will host the tournament, which comes complete with a $1 million guarantee.

Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is the MiniUBOC, which features the same 20 tournaments, but with reduced buy-ins and guarantees. The MiniUBOC Main Event, for example, has a $55 price tag and $50,000 in guaranteed prize money.

No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, HORSE, Limit Omaha Eight or Better, and Eight Game events will play out as part of UBOC 5. Every player who takes down a UBOC or MiniUBOC event will nab a championship watch in addition to the cash.

Besides Hellmuth and Kroon, other members of Team UB include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu, and former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle. The site recently parted ways with European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event winner Liv Boeree after the two parties could not come to terms on a new deal.

The CEREUS Network happily accepts players from the United States. Its sites are holding a Bubble Buster promotion during UBOC 5 that pays out up to $1 million in cash. Any player who makes the money in 11 of the 20 UBOC 5 tournaments captures the grand prize. For players who aren’t as fortunate, prizes are available for two in the money finishes or more and include freeroll entries, tournament tickets, and cash.

Visit UB.com and Absolute Poker for more details on the Take Down a H0 bounty tournament. Look for it in the lobby every Saturday at 3:05pm ET.

World Poker Tour Schedules Season Nine Tournament Date For Florida

A report in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel – and confirmed by Poker News Daily from the tour itself – states that a deal has been signed between the World Poker Tour and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for a tournament stop on this year’s schedule.

The story, entitled “Poker Big-Time: World Poker Tour Coming To Hard Rock In April”, by writer Nick Sortal, contains quotes from both sides discussing the completed deal. In Sortal’s story, Seminole Indian tribe spokesman Gary Bitner is quoted as saying, “The Hard Rock poker people did some research as to what their players wanted most, and bringing in the WPT was at the top of the list. They’ve responded by making that happen.”

Sortal continues on to quote the highest leadership of the WPT following these statements from the Seminoles. “What’s exciting is that Florida will draw from not only the local area, but from across the world,” said WPT Chief Executive Officer Steve Heller. “This year you’ll see Florida boom as poker market.” WPT President Adam Pliska is quoted as saying, “It’s a new day for the WPT. We have not only the premier room and the premiere property in Florida, the Seminoles have a whole series of properties they can put together (for potential satellite tournaments to the WPT event).”

Poker News Daily was able to confirm that the first event held by the Seminoles will be at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida beginning on April 27th. It will be a $10,000 buy-in tournament on the Season Nine schedule and will end on May 3rd with the traditional WPT final table. A multi-year deal was struck between the Seminoles and the WPT. In addition, it’s possible that the site of the Florida event could switch back and forth between the Hollywood Hard Rock location and its sister site in Tampa over the span of the contract. The tournament also appears on the WPT’s official website and will be televised.

The proposed tournament would be a boon for tourism in the Sunshine State and a huge advertisement of the its newfound commitment to gaming through the Seminole Indian properties. At one point, the Florida Gaming Commission didn’t allow any No Limit Hold’em games unless they were tournaments. Back in 2007, though, the laws were changed to allow for No Limit cash games, with a stringent requirement as to the amount a player could buy in for at one time ($100).

In May, Florida signed a new agreement with the Seminoles to open up the rules regarding poker. Caps were removed from the buy-ins for cash games and tournaments, making Florida an appealing target for such organizations as the WPT. The new regulations took effect on July 1st and have been warmly received by both home-grown poker talent and tourists flocking to the felt.

The new stop at the Seminole Hard Rock properties in Florida could spark another boom for the WPT, which has seen its attendance shrink over the past couple of years due to the economic hard times experienced by businesses and poker players. Florida has become a hotbed of talented players, with three Sunshine State residents – John Dolan, John Racener, and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – making the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

UB Online Championship Ready to Rock

Running Aug. 18-29, the UBOC5 line-up consists of 20 guaranteed online poker events including the massive $1000+$50 buy-in $1 million Guaranteed No-Limit Hold'em Championship scheduled to end the series Aug. 29.

Plus, a Mini-UBOC schedule will mirror all 20 UBOC events with buy-ins at a fraction of the price.

Each event throughout the series will be hosted by a Team UB pro. Tournaments will be held in a variety of games including No-Limit Hold'em, H.O.R.S.E., Pot-Limit Omaha, 8-Game, Six-Max, Heads-Up and more.

"With the WSOP on hiatus until November, poker players don't have to look far to get their big series fix," said Annie Duke, UB's Cardroom Consultant.

"UBOC5 is really shaping up to be UB's best online poker series yet, offering the excitement of a major land-based event no matter what your bankroll is."

The 12-day schedule is expected to attract the best online poker players from across the globe.

Further details on the UB Online Championship series can be found at http://www.ub.com/poker-tournaments/uboc.

 

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Poker News in Brief: Aug. 2-8, 2010

As always, PokerListings had all the news you needed to know splashed all over the front page, but there were a few small things that fell through the cracks.

Fortunately, we've compiled those stories below in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature.

This week, the WSOP launches a free-play U.S. site, ESPN's Main Event coverage begins, Mexico gets a National poker tournament, London gets a strip poker event and lots more.

WSOP Launches Free U.S. Site

WSOP.com launched a free play World Series of Poker site for players in the United States this week.

A real money WSOP-branded site is currently available to UK customers and while the WSOP is awaiting changes in U.S. legislation before it rolls out a real-money U.S. site, WSOP.com is offering players in the U.S. the chance to download its software now and play for free.

"WSOP is a pre-eminent brand in poker worldwide, and this free play option will give U.S. players the opportunity to experience a quality poker product tailored to their local market," said Gigi Levy, Acting Managing Director of Dragonfish and CEO of 888 Holdings, which runs the site.

Hard Rock Readies Detox Poker Series

Renowned tournament director Matt Savage and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's Poker Lounge are joining forces to bring Las Vegas the Detox Poker Series Aug 13-22.

The 15-event series, with buy-ins ranging from $230 to the $550, will feature three massive guarantees, including a $100,000 opening event, a $50,000 guaranteed rebuy tournament and a $200,000 guaranteed main event.

There will also be a player appreciation tournament with $5k added on the series' final day.

For more info check out the series' website.

ESPN Main Event Coverage Begins

Coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event begins airing on ESPN Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 8 p.m. ET.

As always, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad share hosting duties.

This week, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow takes center stage on opening day, with 2003 champion Chris Moneymaker, 2004 winner Greg Raymer and 2010 Poker Players Championship winner Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi also featured.

Viewers can also expect to see Annette Obrestad, former Main Event champion Dan Harrington and 2008 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren throughout the first episode.

Commerce Set for September Series

$1.2 million in guarantees will be up for grabs at Commerce Casino's 19-day Hold'em Series, set to begin Sept. 1 at the Los Angeles area cardroom.

Buy-ins for the series start as low as $120 and two multi-day start events, with a $500,000 and $300,000 guarantee respectively, are planned.

The schedule also includes turbo, ironman, and knockout bounty events.

The full event schedule can be found at www.CommerceCasino.com.

London Poker Festival to Host Strip Poker Event

Organizers are expecting the Baller Strip Poker Championships to be one of the highlights of a busy London Poker Festival schedule this September.

The Stringfellows gentlemen's club in London's Covent Garden will play host to the unique event Sept. 21.

Fortunately, no poker players will lose any clothing in this one as the rules dictate that Stringfellows girls will be doing the undressing on their behalf.

More information is available at www.BallerStripPoker.com.

Blind Man's Bluff World Championship

Paddypowerpoker.com today will play host to the Blind Man's Bluff World Championship at this years' Irish Winter Festival in Dublin Oct. 24.

The €100+€10 Championship will follow a No-Limit Hold'em structure except players will not be permitted to look at their own two cards and have a full view of their opponents' holdings.

"This is a complex game with a lot more skill involved than one might initially think." said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com."Poker players like to think they can read their opponents - let's see how good they really are at judging a situation without knowing what cards they hold in their hat."

Online qualifiers to will take place on paddypowerpoker in September.

The Life Poker Championship

PokerTek, Cirsa Mexico and PokerStars are joining forces to host Mexico's first National poker tournament later this month.

The Life Poker Championship will be held at the Cirsa's Casino Life Del Valle property in Mexico City Aug. 18-22.

The event will be played on the latest PokerPro automated poker tables. Over 300 players are expected and it will be televised live throughout Mexico.

Satellites are available on PokerStars.net.

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