Poker News

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Donates $200,000 to UW-Whitewater Baseball

UB.com sponsored pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin has made a generous $200,000 donation to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s baseball team. Baldwin helped guide the squad to a national championship in 2005.

The six-figure donation, equal to the amount of money Baldwin won by taking down a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event during April’s Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, will be used to add lights to Prucha Field. In turn, the university will be able to host the Midwest Regional portion of the 2010 NCAA Division III baseball playoffs. The last time that the school hosted the post-season competition was in 2005, when Baldwin started in right field.

On his donation, Baldwin told Wisconsin-Whitewater officials, "It feels awesome to be in a position to help UW-Whitewater host the regional again. UW-Whitewater has an amazing baseball program and hopefully the team will be playing in this year's regional in front of its hometown crowd." Baldwin graduated from Whitewater in 2006. The Warhawks, as the school’s mascot is known, finished third in the Division III baseball playoffs in 2004 before winning it all one year later.

Baldwin was a team captain in his final year at the school and explained that how hard work in anything from baseball to poker will ultimately pay off: "I learned that if you put a lot of hard work into something and fight through the hard times, things will work out. Preparation leads to success." Baldwin was the CardPlayer Player of the Year in 2009. The stanza saw him win the aforementioned Venetian tournament for $198,000 and then claim his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $521,000. One week later, he finished third in the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em for another $259,000.

In October, Baldwin was up to his winning ways again, this time making the final table of the UB.com Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. The fourth place finish most likely pushed talks about joining UB.com along and Baldwin signed with the site just before Christmas. Back on the tournament trail, he won a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000. Online, he was the runner-up in both the PokerStars Sunday Second Chance and Nightly Hundred Grand for a combined take of $57,000. He banked $1.5 million in tournaments in 2009.

Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletic Director Paul Plinske spoke volumes about Baldwin’s contribution to his alma mater: "Eric was instrumental in leading UW-Whitewater to its first national title in baseball. His recent gift will ensure that more great things are on the horizon for the Warhawks. He has definitely left his mark on our campus and we are very grateful to him for leaving us his legacy." The Midwest Regional will take place from May 19th to 23rd at Jim Miller Stadium at Prucha Field. Last year, the team was 30-19 and sported a 12-6 home record. In the Warhawks’ final game of the season, the team was upended by Carthage, who won by a score of 8-3 in Regional play.

The university’s press release revealed that Baldwin would be one of the competitors on the upcoming National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will purportedly film in March and be shown on NBC in April. In 2009, the Heads-Up event began airing in mid-April and played out over the course of six straight Sundays. A total purse of $1.5 million was up for grabs in the invitation-only event. Automatic bids to the field of 64 players are include the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. The automatic invites were created in 2008.

Check out the official Wisconsin-Whitewater press release outlining Baldwin’s donation to the school.

Baldwin Lights Up University with Donation

Baldwin, who graduated in 2006 from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is donating $200,000 to the school to outfit Prucha Field with new lights.

The upgrade will allow UW-Whitewater to host the upcoming 2010 Midwest regional competition of the Division III baseball national championship tournament.

The donation is particularly fitting considering the last time UW-Whitewater hosted the Division III baseball national championship Baldwin was the school’s starting right-fielder and team captain.

“It feels awesome to be in a position to help UW-Whitewater host the regional again,” Baldwin said.

“UW-Whitewater has an amazing baseball program and hopefully the team will be playing in this year’s regional in front of a hometown crowd.”

After graduating from UW-Whitewater, Baldwin relocated to Las Vegas in 2008 and quickly established himself as one of the poker world’s up and coming stars.

In 2009 Baldwin won his first WSOP bracelet in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $521,991 and then placed third in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em event for $259,534.

In total Baldwin won more than $1.5 million for the year including online events, which was enough to secure him Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year honors.

At the end of the year Baldwin also scored a sponsorship deal with online poker room UB.com.

UW-Whitewater Athletics Director Paul Plinske was proud of Baldwin’s success over the years.

“Eric was instrumental in leading UW-Whitewater to its first national title in baseball,” he said. “His recent gift will ensure more great things on the horizon for the Warhawks. He has definitely left his mark on our campus and we are very grateful to him for leaving us his legacy.”

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2009 WSOP Europe Air Dates Announced

Fans of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe won’t have to wait long for the tournament series to air on ESPN. The first episode kicks off on Sunday, January 31st at 11:00pm ET and a total of 10 hours will air.

The opening episode will be one of two recapping the Caesars Cup, a made-for-television tournament that featured Team Europe taking on Team Americas. The former ultimately crushed the Americas squad four matches to one, with the stars of poker turning out to compete on behalf of their continents. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu captained the Americas squad, which also featured DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson, 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed, 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda, Big Game player Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein, who was a last-minute replacement for Chris Ferguson.

The American squad held a total of 45 gold bracelets and more than $50 million in career earnings. Their foes: Team Europe, led by 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion and Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. Her group of young guns included 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, Italian poker sensation Dario Minieri, 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure victor Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and Betfair qualifier John Harvey, a 47 year-old pipe inspector from Scotland.

On March 1st, the second of two hours dedicated to the Caesars Cup will air on ESPN. The festivities kick off at Midnight ET and serve as the run-up to the WSOP Europe Main Event, which will begin on February 7th. The £10,000 buy-in tournament drew a crowd of 334 runners and featured one of the toughest final tables ever assembled in WSOP Europe history. Two members of the November Nine – James Akenhead and Antoine Saout – reached the feature table in London, a feat accomplished in 2008 by Ivan Demidov.

Also at the WSOP Europe Main Event final table was Negreanu, the face of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” who took fifth in the same event in 2008. Joining Negreanu was Barry Shulman, whose son, Jeff Shulman, reached the final table of the Main Event in Las Vegas. The duo was seeking to make poker history as the first father/son team to win poker’s most coveted bracelets in the same year. The final table lasted 16 and a half hours and the entire WSOP Europe schedule panned out at the Casino at the Empire in London.

Here is the schedule for the 2009 WSOP Europe Caesars Cup and Main Event on ESPN. All times are Eastern and each episode runs for one hour:

Sunday, January 31st: 11:00pm (Caesars Cup)
Monday, February 1st: 12:00am (Caesars Cup)
Sunday, February 7th: 10:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 7th: 11:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 8th: 12:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 14th: 11:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 15th: 12:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Monday, February 15th: 1:00am (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 28th: 9:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)
Sunday, February 28th: 10:00pm (WSOP Europe Main Event)

Poker PROductions filmed WSOP Europe for ESPN. The same company also brings poker television staples like NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” to life. Last August, ESPN and the WSOP reached an agreement to keep the tournament series on the cable station until April 2018. The WSOP attracts a total viewing audience of more than 80 million people each year and at least 32 hours of coverage will air annually.

WSOP Europe air dates outside of the United States will likely be announced soon.

Dream Team Poker Ends 2009 at the Bicycle Casino

It was a big year for Dream Team Poker.  In addition to holding successful events at Caesars Palace and as part of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) festivities, Dream Team ended the year on a high note with a tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles that awarded its winners a couple thousand dollars and tickets to the 2010 Super Bowl.

The recent tournament was held as part of the casino’s Ho Ho Hold’em Series and featured a $67 buy-in for each individual.  If players could not form their own team of three players, the casino helped to group them into teams.  In total, 162 runners took part, generating an individual prize pool of $3,561 and a team prize pool of $5,340.  That amounted to $8,901, including $2,000 and four Super Bowl tickets added by the casino.

WSOP Academy coach Alex Outhred’s team, “Voltron,” was one of 54 that took part in the event.  Of those, six walked away from the tournament with money in their pockets and the winning team, “Met,” took down the top prize of $2,190 and three Super Bowl tickets.  Tony Hinojos was the highest finisher on the “Met” squad, coming in 12th place, while teammate Eric Lucero was hot on his heels in 13th.  The team’s third player, Michael Leidelmeyer, fared less well, busting out in 120th, but thanks to the strong showing by the other two, the team was able to beat out second place finishers “777” for the title.  On the individual front, Iris Gomez of “Team Come and Get It” took top honors along with $1,086 and a Super Bowl ticket of her own.  The top 12 finishers in the individual contest each won at least $105.

This past year may not have been Dream Team’s first year on the scene, but it was certainly the year that the team poker concept really took hold and gained popularity.  After holding its first tournament at the Hard Rock Casino in November of 2008, Dream Team returned to Las Vegas in March for a tournament at Caesars Palace.  A number of top poker pros and celebrities turned out for the event, which featured a $550 per person buy-in.  UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth and Joe Sebok, Full Tilt Poker pros Paul Wasicka and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, T.J. Cloutier, Jerry Yang, and Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips could be found on the felts.

It was a recognizable face in the winner’s circle as well, as 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold captained “Team Aced” to victory and the top prize of $59,940.  Danny Nelson of “Team BikerHaven.net” took the individual honor, while Gold’s girlfriend and teammate Ashley Nataupsky finished in fourth.

Just a few months later, Dream Team held an exhibition tournament as part of the WSOP festivities.  Although there was no bracelet on the line for the winners, the tournament provided a little fun and entertainment for players who had already busted out of the Main Event.  The pros once again took part and it was PokerHost’s Kenna James who took down the individual title and $16,473.

The team event was won by “Tao of Pokerati,” a trio comprised of Tao of Poker’s Dr. Paul Maguire, Pokerati’s Dan Michalski, and Lana Maier of CardRunners.  The trio had a little extra practice for the team event, as they were all members of the WSOP media, who took part in a Dream Team event of their own just a few days prior.  The media tournament did not offer the lucrative payouts of the other Dream Team events, but it did help raise money for charity.

Once the WSOP wrapped up, Dream Team rolled out a weekly series of events hosted by the Bicycle Casino.  The nine-week series began in October and the Ho Ho Hold’em Dream Team tournament served as the series’ championship event.  Teams that took down the weekly events earned the prize money and a free entry into the December 19th tournament.

There has been no official announcement about the future of Dream Team at the Bike, but considering the rave reviews it got from pros like Gold, Lacey Jones, and James, it seems like it will continue to be a presence on the live tournament circuit in 2010.

UltimateBet relaunches as UB.com

The poker room will henceforth be known as UB, a nickname originally coined by players on the site.

Company directors said the UB label better represented the site's current focus on the next generation of poker players.

"The launch of UB.com represents a turning point for our company," said Paul Legget, Tokwiro's Chief Operating Officer.

"We have assembled a great group of professionals who are passionate about poker to build the UB brand. Our goal is to create products and services that poker players really want."

The new site features a streamlined interface, a user-friendly lobby, improved game filters and new UB branding.

In addition, the tournament schedule has been revamped and there are over 30 new tournaments a month, which offer over $1 million in guarantees.

"In the 10 years since I have been involved with the UB brand, I have never been prouder to represent the company as much as I am right now," said UB Pro Phil Hellmuth.

"We have great people captaining the ship, we have a great vibe and some serious swagger. I look forward to the day when we are the largest poker site on the planet."

Earlier this year the CEREUS poker network, to which UB belongs, also released a Mac poker client and a software upgrade that featured synchronized tournament breaks.

UB also enhanced their team of poker pros by adding PokerRoad president Joe Sebok and resigning reality TV star Tiffany Michelle.

Although UB now offers the UB.com domain, users will still be able to access the site through the older UltimateBet.com.

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UB.com Launches, Rebranding of Ultimate Bet Complete

Tuesday signified a landmark day in the online poker industry, as Ultimate Bet, a USA-facing site on the CEREUS Poker Network, rebranded itself UB.com. The two-letter acronym has been the site’s nickname since its launch 10 years ago.

“Raise, Stack, Own” becomes the new mantra of UB.com, which retains the gold color theme of the old Ultimate Bet, but adds a baby blue hue as well. “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok become the front men of the new site, which can be accessed by visiting UB.com or UltimateBet.com. A software update went live this morning and players’ user names and passwords will remain the same as they were prior to the UB.com transition.

UB and its sister site, Absolute Poker, are both owned by Tokwiro, whose CEO, Paul Leggett, commented in a press release, “The launch of UB.com represents a turning point for our company. We have assembled a great group of professionals who are passionate about poker to build the UB brand. Our goal is to create products and services that poker players really want. We are trying to listen very carefully to both our players and the poker community to help us achieve this goal.”

New lobby filters made their debut on Tuesday as part of the software update to UB.com. Omaha tables can now be filtered, making finding a game even simpler. In addition, the new update added color-coded icons to the tournament and ring game lobbies. In the former, special designations are given for Turbo, Ultra Turbo, Rebuy, Deep Stack, Bounty, Six-Max, Four-Max, and Heads-Up formats. In cash games, color-coded icons exist for Turbo, Jackpot, 7-2, Deep Stack, 50 Minimum Big Blind, and Ante tables on the virtual felts of UB.com. At the bottom of the lobby, a horizontal legend reminds users of what the new icons signify.

The lobby takes on a sleek yellow feel and the total update when we ran Ultimate Bet’s Mac version was 8,600 KB, which took about two minutes to download. The upper left corner of the lobby features the sleek UB.com black and yellow logo with the player and table counts given right underneath it written in white block lettering. The Mac version, which was rolled out in September along with an Instant Play option, is still limited to a maximum of four open tables. The Instant Play version requires the latest version of Java to be installed on the Mac or Windows device.

The new cash game filters include the maximum number of players, stack sizes, and table type. In addition, you can specify the number of players per flop and the number of players per table to ensure that only desired tables come up in the search. A total of 30 new tournaments featuring $1 million in guaranteed prize money have been introduced as part of a gradual overhaul, quickly establishing the USA-friendly CEREUS Network as one of the top around.

Hellmuth, who has long served as the face of the popular online poker site, talked about the movement from Ultimate Bet to UB.com: “In the ten years since I have been involved with the UB brand, I have never been prouder to represent the company as much as I am right now. We have great people captaining the ship, we have a great vibe, and some serious swagger. I look forward to the day when we are the largest poker site on the planet.”

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the CEREUS Network is the sixth largest worldwide with a seven-day running average of 2,750 real money ring game players, about one-tenth of the traffic of PokerStars, the largest site in the industry. UB.com made waves in late October by changing its raise logic and launching synchronized breaks in its larger tournaments at 55 minutes past each hour, in line with the precedents set by PokerStars and Full Tilt.

James McManus Discusses the Poker History Book Cowboys Full

Earlier this decade, when poker wasn’t the behemoth that it is today, a noted writer by the name of James McManus accepted a job from Harper’s Magazine to cover the 2000 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Far from looking at it as simply a poker entity and observe the proceedings, McManus decided to dovetail his story of the tournament with the ongoing murder investigation of the late Ted Binion and chronicle his efforts to play. After using a satellite to gain entrance into the Main Event, McManus went on to finish fifth in the $10,000 tournament and chronicled the whole story in what has become one of the poker world’s seminal books in “Positively Fifth Street,” which was released in 2003.

Since then, however, McManus has limited his writing about poker to newspapers and magazines. His last non-fiction book, “Physical: An American Checkup” (2006), looked at the American health care system and pointed out its problems even prior to this year’s debate on the issue. Now, one of the most notable scribes in the business has returned with what might be called the definitive book on the history of the game.

“Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker” was released on October 27th and documents, as best as possible, the development, growth, and history of what once was considered to be America’s game and has since expanded around the world. From the beginning of the creation of playing cards in China and Korea to today’s game, McManus nails the goal of putting a history to a pastime.

“Poker has a long-deserved reputation as the cheaters’ game, but the book reminds us that cheating has been a big part of baseball, football, cycling, boxing, horseracing, marriage, taxes, politics, warfare, and most other human activities,” McManus stated before the interview with Poker News Daily began. “It’s naive to single out poker as being overly luck-based or larcenous, especially when making laws banning some games, while encouraging others. For the State to encourage lotteries and bingo while banning poker is greedy and cynical.”

McManus continued by discussing the theory that poker is luck-based and how his book handles that issue. “I think the book makes it fairly clear how much luck is involved in other games, such as baseball and football, games that few people think of as being determined by luck,” McManus said. “Luck determines the winner of baseball’s World Series about as much as it does the winner of the WSOP.”

PND: After the success of “Positively Fifth Street,” why didn’t you write another poker book immediately?

McManus: Because I was sent by a magazine to get an executive physical at the Mayo Clinic, by another magazine to cover the debate about stem-cell research, and by another to write about emergency surgery my daughter had undergone. It seemed only natural that I would combine this material into a book, which turned out to be “Physical: An American Checkup” (2006).

In the meantime, poker still had my interest. My agent, editor, and I were all surprised that there was no single book on the history of what is clearly America’s card game and arguably the national pastime, especially during the boom years this decade. As such, I continued to research the poker story and it became “Cowboys Full.”

PND: What were some of the problems in writing a book on a subject that doesn’t have a well-known and documented history?

McManus: One problem was that I had no training as an historian; it’s one reason I call it the story of poker, not the history.

Another was that people tend not to keep records of their poker action, especially when they work as blacklegs and swindlers. You’re forced to rely on lore, hearsay, and the work of feature writers such as Mark Twain, who were paid to exaggerate for humorous or dramatic effect. The book addresses this problem directly and makes a serious effort to deduce what was actually going on. The reporting becomes more precise and historically reliable as I cover the last third of the 20th century, especially when famous hands began to be televised.

PND: What was more difficult, the research for or the writing of “Cowboys Full”?

McManus: Most definitely the research. I have 35 years of experience as a writer, but very little as a researcher, although Google and the Amazon search function made the job a lot easier than if I had to do it with microfiche. I also couldn’t have done it without David Schwartz’s hospitality and sage advice at the UNLV Center for Gaming Research or without his marvelous history of gambling, “Roll the Bones.”

PND: You look at poker from sides that the average person wouldn’t consider. When you talked to academics and scientists about poker and its effects on human history, did they understand what you were doing?

McManus: In many cases, I was relying on what people had written. People like John von Neumann, Oskar Morgenstern, David Halberstam, and the presidents and generals in charge of World War II and the Cold War were already dead while I was writing.

At the same time, I interviewed plenty of folks including Todd Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Linda Johnson, Andy Beal, Crandell Addington, Chris Ferguson, Aaron Brown, Tony Holden, and Gabe Kaplan, who understood some of these issues a lot better than I did before I started talking to them.

PND: What was the most surprising aspect of poker you learned from your research?

McManus: How important its logic and psychology was, and continues to be, to the military and diplomatic strategies deployed in a world in which several countries, including some extremely unstable regimes, have nuclear weapons. In other words, how important poker-based game theory is to life beyond the green felt.

PND: What can the reader take away from “Cowboys Full” other than a grasp of the history of the game?

McManus: That it isn’t just a history lesson. It has dozens of pretty cool stories about actual games: riverboat hustles, friendly games in the White House and the homes of ordinary citizens, $40 million showdowns between Andy Beal and the corporation of Las Vegas pros captained by Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman facing off against Andy while waiting for her second kidney transplant, Stu Ungar making a WSOP final table from the intensive care unit, and Chris Moneymaker’s bluff against Sammy Farha. They’re all there and more.

PND: Now that you have followed up “Fifth Street,” are you finished writing books about poker?

McManus: No, but almost. I’m currently writing the final book of the trilogy. Book one was a memoir about the WSOP, which became “Positively Fifth Street.” Book two is the history of poker, which is “Cowboys Full.” Book three is a novel tentatively titled “The Winter Casino” about a very large tournament played in a city being threatened by an Al-Qaeda cell with a nuclear suitcase device.

Mike Sexton Elected to Poker Hall of Fame

The 38th person elected into the Poker Hall of Fame is none other than PartyPoker Ambassador and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Mike Sexton. He will be enshrined as part of ceremonies to be held on November 7th.

2009 marks the 30th anniversary of the Poker Hall of Fame. This year, nine finalists were up for nomination to the Hall, with a panel of 15 living Hall of Fame members and 15 media representatives (including this author) determining the fate of the 2009 class. Sexton was the only one that I felt was a shoe-in for election, as 75% of the 30-member vote was required in order to capture one of poker’s most prestigious accolades. A press release distributed by World Series of Poker (WSOP) officials properly labeled Sexton “a true gentleman who has constantly enhanced the game of poker both with his play at the tables and his promotion of the game off of it.”

Ballots were due on October 2nd, with each person able to vote for up to three candidates for the 2009 class. This author selected Sexton, Tom McEvoy, and Dan Harrington, the three elder statesmen on the 2009 ballot. Other nominees included November Nine member Phil Ivey, “The Robin Hood of Poker” Barry Greenstein, “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” lead man Daniel Negreanu, Men “The Master” Nguyen, WSOP Main Event and HORSE Championship winner Scotty Nguyen, and eight-time bracelet holder Erik Seidel.

The list of Poker Hall of Fame members reads like a roll call of poker legends: Doyle Brunson (inducted in 1988), Johnny Chan (2002), Phil Hellmuth (2007), Stu Ungar (2001), Chip Reese (1991), and Barbara Enright (2007), just to name a few. Now, Sexton’s name will be added to this illustrious list. In a press release distributed by PartyPoker, Sexton commented, “I am deeply honored to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and it is particularly special because for the first time it was a process that involved the fans, the media, and the living members of the Hall of Fame. To me, the most meaningful aspect of this process was the acceptance by the living Hall of Famers, who welcomed me into their exclusive club.”

One of Sexton’s most impressive feats was taking down the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions, which saw the new Poker Hall of Fame member best a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Andy Black, and Chris Ferguson. Sexton earned $1 million for the victory and, according to WSOP officials, donated half of his prize money to charity. His lone WSOP bracelet came in 1989, when the World Poker Tour (WPT) host outlasted a field of 174 players to win a $1,500 buy-in Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low event. He has reached the final table in 20 of the 47 WSOP events he’s entered, a 43% success rate.

Sexton is the voice that many in the industry “grew up to” following the poker boom in 2003 and was instrumental in bringing the WPT to life. Sexton sat, and continues to sit, alongside Vince Van Patten on WPT broadcasts, popularizing the notion that Texas Hold’em takes “a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.” He represents one of the few constants in an industry constantly in flux and had the backing of a bevy of influential industry veterans in his push for the Poker Hall of Fame, including Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Steve Lipscomb, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Padraig Parkinson, Matt Savage, Roland de Wolfe, and an army of public relations staffers at PartyPoker.

To me, one of the most defining acts for Sexton was when he took on a lead role to campaign on behalf of players shut out of the 2009 WSOP Main Event after Day 1D had reached capacity. Sexton joined forces with “Captain” Tom Franklin to present WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack options to accommodate players. Sexton, curiously, had little to gain from taking an active role in the situation, as he had already played on Day 1A and survived with an average chip stack. The situation manifested Sexton’s stature within the industry and is one of the many reasons we will look forward to welcoming him into the Poker Hall of Fame in November.

Doyle Brunson Sixth in WSOP Europe Main Event

History may be in the making in one of the most historic cities in the world. Doyle Brunson is in search of his record-tying 11th bracelet in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event and is sixth in chips with 92 players remaining.

Brunson holds a stack of 210,900 and is in pursuit of the £801,603 first place prize. “Texas Dolly” has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name, tied with Johnny Chan for second most all-time. He needs one more to move into the lead with 11, a record currently held by Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth. Brunson has been shut out since 2005, when he took down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event for $367,000, defeating a competitive final table that also included Minh Ly, Layne Flack, and Scotty Nguyen.

Brunson will captain Table 10 on Tuesday at the Casino at the Empire, where he’ll be joined by online poker players Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Christian Kruel. Smith is fresh off a third place effort in the Bellagio Cup, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). He earned $464,000 at the Las Vegas casino back in July. Kruel can be found on the virtual felts of PokerStars under the screen name “C.K.” He won a $530 buy-in $80,000 Guaranteed High Roller tournament on PartyPoker in mid-August for $22,000.

Also in the Top 10 in London is Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier. In May, he took down a tournament held during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $86,000 and then followed up that performance with a bracelet win in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event during the 2009 WSOP. Mercier recorded four cashes overall during the WSOP and was quickly scooped up by PokerStars to join their pro team. He also competed in the star-studded field of the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament, which aired on ESPN. Mercier owns the 10th largest stack at 202,300.

Liz Lieu doubled her stack holding pocket aces on Monday in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Entering play on Day 3, she sits at 16th in the chip counts with 184,400. Meanwhile, November Nine member James Akenhead also remains in contention. Akenhead, a Brit on his home turf, sent Nick Bleeker packing after coming out on the winning end of a race holding pocket jacks against A-K. The board ran out 9-7-Q-Q-7, pushing Akenhead to 250,000 in chips. He ended the day with 178,000, which was good for 17th overall. Fellow November Nine member Antoine Saout, who held a Top 10 stack entering Day 2 play on Monday, fell back to 50th on the leaderboard with 90,100.

Here are the Top 10 stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering Day 3 on Tuesday:

1. Ian Munns - 528,300
2. Praz Bassi - 299,000
3. Oyvind Riisem - 255,300
4. Arron Eric Filippi - 216,500
5. David Docherty - 216,200
6. Doyle Brunson - 210,900
7. Shandoi Demjan - 209,000
8. Markus Ristola - 205,000
9. Ram Vaswarni - 202,500
10. Jason Mercier - 202,300

Other notable names remaining in the hunt for the £801,603 prize include:

12. Yevgeniy Timoshenko - 192,100
13. Steve Zolotow - 191,100
16. Liz Lieu - 184,400
17. James Akenhead - 178,000
18. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott - 174,000
19. Antonio Esfadiari - 173,300
20. John Tabatabai - 160,100
38. Daniel Negreanu - 113,100
39. Barry Shulman - 111,200
49. Annette Obrestad - 90,500
50. Antoine Saout - 90,100
55. Teddy Sheringham - 74,800
65. Freddy Deeb - 61,200
67. Andre Akkari – 58,300
69. Todd Brunson - 51,600
70. Eric Liu - 51,100
79. John Juanda - 38,900
85. Men “The Master” Nguyen - 27,500

The top 36 players will finish in the money, with the minimum payout being £21,142. Every member of the nine-handed final table will walk away with at least £66,533. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WSOP Europe Main Event.

Mike Matusow Calls Caesars Cup a Farce in Phil Hellmuth TwitVid

One of the most popular players in the game today, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has given those who couldn’t make their way to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities the opportunity to tour the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square in London and get personal with other poker pros through his Twitter account.

Hellmuth, who submits his tweets through the Twitter tag “Phil Hellmuth,” recently posted a four-minute twitvid that offers a look inside what has become one of London’s must-visit places for poker players. In the video, the “Poker Brat” serves as the travel guide for the viewer and, by the end, records two polarizing figures in the world of poker.

The video starts from his viewpoint in Leicester Square in London. Filmed before his triumphant entrance as Nero during the WSOP Europe Main Event, he points out that Leicester Square is the home of many historical statues, artists, and “stuff like that,” before strolling through the Square to the entrance of the Casino at the Empire. Strangely enough, and accurately pointed out by Hellmuth, the casino does not look out of place in a city that has been in existence for quite some time.

It takes approximately two minutes to get to the true meat of Hellmuth’s twitvid. As he strolls through the casino and reaches the poker arena of the Casino at the Empire, Hellmuth finds WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla sitting with Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. At this point, the twitvid takes off, as the duo espouse on some issues that are on their minds.

Hellmuth welcomes Nguyen to London, as “The Master” exhaustedly states that he just arrived in the U.K. after an 11-hour flight. The extremely jet-lagged poker veteran, who is one of the nominees for election into the Poker Hall of Fame, is hailed by Hellmuth as the “Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and Hellmuth himself states that Nguyen will probably earn election into the Hall “within the next two to three years, if not this year.”

The conversation then turns to the always-entertaining Matusow, who definitely had some issues on his mind. Hellmuth notes that Matusow is upset that Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu did not choose him for a spot on the Caesars Cup squad. “I’m not upset,” Matusow contends. “I can’t get upset over a f*****g farce.” Matusow continues on his rant when he notes, “When a 20 year-old is the captain of the European team and a 21 year-old Canadian is captain of an American team, why should I be upset?” Matusow is, in reality, good friends with Negreanu, who is actually 35.

The duo then continue their discussion when Hellmuth brings up the fact that Matusow had taken part in the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, a 24-hour ring game that was taped for television broadcast in Europe. Hellmuth says that Matusow walked away from the table - which included “November Nine” member Phil Ivey, former WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham, former Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, online legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scandinavian superstar Patrik Antonius, and English poker star Andrew Feldman - with a $105,000 profit.

“It was without a doubt the toughest lineup I have ever played,” Matusow admitted. “I definitely brought my A+ game, not only because of the difficult table, but because no one would talk to me!” Hellmuth then reveals that he had been called on several occasions during the taping to provide a foil for Matusow, drawing laughter from all at the table.

Hellmuth has continued to post tweets during the run of the WSOP Europe. He can be found on Twitter under the moniker Phil Hellmuth.

Mike Matusow Calls Caesars Cup a Farce in Phil Hellmuth TwitVid

One of the most popular players in the game today, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has given those who couldn’t make their way to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities the opportunity to tour the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square in London and get personal with other poker pros through his Twitter account.

Hellmuth, who submits his tweets through the Twitter tag “Phil Hellmuth,” recently posted a four-minute twitvid that offers a look inside what has become one of London’s must-visit places for poker players. In the video, the “Poker Brat” serves as the travel guide for the viewer and, by the end, records two polarizing figures in the world of poker.

The video starts from his viewpoint in Leicester Square in London. Filmed before his triumphant entrance as Nero during the WSOP Europe Main Event, he points out that Leicester Square is the home of many historical statues, artists, and “stuff like that,” before strolling through the Square to the entrance of the Casino at the Empire. Strangely enough, and accurately pointed out by Hellmuth, the casino does not look out of place in a city that has been in existence for quite some time.

It takes approximately two minutes to get to the true meat of Hellmuth’s twitvid. As he strolls through the casino and reaches the poker arena of the Casino at the Empire, Hellmuth finds WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla sitting with Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. At this point, the twitvid takes off, as the duo espouse on some issues that are on their minds.

Hellmuth welcomes Nguyen to London, as “The Master” exhaustedly states that he just arrived in the U.K. after an 11-hour flight. The extremely jet-lagged poker veteran, who is one of the nominees for election into the Poker Hall of Fame, is hailed by Hellmuth as the “Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and Hellmuth himself states that Nguyen will probably earn election into the Hall “within the next two to three years, if not this year.”

The conversation then turns to the always-entertaining Matusow, who definitely had some issues on his mind. Hellmuth notes that Matusow is upset that Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu did not choose him for a spot on the Caesars Cup squad. “I’m not upset,” Matusow contends. “I can’t get upset over a f*****g farce.” Matusow continues on his rant when he notes, “When a 20 year-old is the captain of the European team and a 21 year-old Canadian is captain of an American team, why should I be upset?” Matusow is, in reality, good friends with Negreanu, who is actually 35.

The duo then continue their discussion when Hellmuth brings up the fact that Matusow had taken part in the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, a 24-hour ring game that was taped for television broadcast in Europe. Hellmuth says that Matusow walked away from the table - which included “November Nine” member Phil Ivey, former WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham, former Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, online legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scandinavian superstar Patrik Antonius, and English poker star Andrew Feldman - with a $105,000 profit.

“It was without a doubt the toughest lineup I have ever played,” Matusow admitted. “I definitely brought my A+ game, not only because of the difficult table, but because no one would talk to me!” Hellmuth then reveals that he had been called on several occasions during the taping to provide a foil for Matusow, drawing laughter from all at the table.

Hellmuth has continued to post tweets during the run of the WSOP Europe. He can be found on Twitter under the moniker Phil Hellmuth.

Mike Matusow Calls Caesars Cup a Farce in Phil Hellmuth TwitVid

One of the most popular players in the game today, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has given those who couldn’t make their way to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities the opportunity to tour the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square in London and get personal with other poker pros through his Twitter account.

Hellmuth, who submits his tweets through the Twitter tag “Phil Hellmuth,” recently posted a four-minute twitvid that offers a look inside what has become one of London’s must-visit places for poker players. In the video, the “Poker Brat” serves as the travel guide for the viewer and, by the end, records two polarizing figures in the world of poker.

The video starts from his viewpoint in Leicester Square in London. Filmed before his triumphant entrance as Nero during the WSOP Europe Main Event, he points out that Leicester Square is the home of many historical statues, artists, and “stuff like that,” before strolling through the Square to the entrance of the Casino at the Empire. Strangely enough, and accurately pointed out by Hellmuth, the casino does not look out of place in a city that has been in existence for quite some time.

It takes approximately two minutes to get to the true meat of Hellmuth’s twitvid. As he strolls through the casino and reaches the poker arena of the Casino at the Empire, Hellmuth finds WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla sitting with Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. At this point, the twitvid takes off, as the duo espouse on some issues that are on their minds.

Hellmuth welcomes Nguyen to London, as “The Master” exhaustedly states that he just arrived in the U.K. after an 11-hour flight. The extremely jet-lagged poker veteran, who is one of the nominees for election into the Poker Hall of Fame, is hailed by Hellmuth as the “Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and Hellmuth himself states that Nguyen will probably earn election into the Hall “within the next two to three years, if not this year.”

The conversation then turns to the always-entertaining Matusow, who definitely had some issues on his mind. Hellmuth notes that Matusow is upset that Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu did not choose him for a spot on the Caesars Cup squad. “I’m not upset,” Matusow contends. “I can’t get upset over a f*****g farce.” Matusow continues on his rant when he notes, “When a 20 year-old is the captain of the European team and a 21 year-old Canadian is captain of an American team, why should I be upset?” Matusow is, in reality, good friends with Negreanu, who is actually 35.

The duo then continue their discussion when Hellmuth brings up the fact that Matusow had taken part in the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, a 24-hour ring game that was taped for television broadcast in Europe. Hellmuth says that Matusow walked away from the table - which included “November Nine” member Phil Ivey, former WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham, former Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, online legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scandinavian superstar Patrik Antonius, and English poker star Andrew Feldman - with a $105,000 profit.

“It was without a doubt the toughest lineup I have ever played,” Matusow admitted. “I definitely brought my A+ game, not only because of the difficult table, but because no one would talk to me!” Hellmuth then reveals that he had been called on several occasions during the taping to provide a foil for Matusow, drawing laughter from all at the table.

Hellmuth has continued to post tweets during the run of the WSOP Europe. He can be found on Twitter under the moniker Phil Hellmuth.

Mike Matusow Calls Caesars Cup a Farce in Phil Hellmuth TwitVid

One of the most popular players in the game today, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has given those who couldn’t make their way to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities the opportunity to tour the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square in London and get personal with other poker pros through his Twitter account.

Hellmuth, who submits his tweets through the Twitter tag “Phil Hellmuth,” recently posted a four-minute twitvid that offers a look inside what has become one of London’s must-visit places for poker players. In the video, the “Poker Brat” serves as the travel guide for the viewer and, by the end, records two polarizing figures in the world of poker.

The video starts from his viewpoint in Leicester Square in London. Filmed before his triumphant entrance as Nero during the WSOP Europe Main Event, he points out that Leicester Square is the home of many historical statues, artists, and “stuff like that,” before strolling through the Square to the entrance of the Casino at the Empire. Strangely enough, and accurately pointed out by Hellmuth, the casino does not look out of place in a city that has been in existence for quite some time.

It takes approximately two minutes to get to the true meat of Hellmuth’s twitvid. As he strolls through the casino and reaches the poker arena of the Casino at the Empire, Hellmuth finds WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla sitting with Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. At this point, the twitvid takes off, as the duo espouse on some issues that are on their minds.

Hellmuth welcomes Nguyen to London, as “The Master” exhaustedly states that he just arrived in the U.K. after an 11-hour flight. The extremely jet-lagged poker veteran, who is one of the nominees for election into the Poker Hall of Fame, is hailed by Hellmuth as the “Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and Hellmuth himself states that Nguyen will probably earn election into the Hall “within the next two to three years, if not this year.”

The conversation then turns to the always-entertaining Matusow, who definitely had some issues on his mind. Hellmuth notes that Matusow is upset that Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu did not choose him for a spot on the Caesars Cup squad. “I’m not upset,” Matusow contends. “I can’t get upset over a f*****g farce.” Matusow continues on his rant when he notes, “When a 20 year-old is the captain of the European team and a 21 year-old Canadian is captain of an American team, why should I be upset?” Matusow is, in reality, good friends with Negreanu, who is actually 35.

The duo then continue their discussion when Hellmuth brings up the fact that Matusow had taken part in the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, a 24-hour ring game that was taped for television broadcast in Europe. Hellmuth says that Matusow walked away from the table - which included “November Nine” member Phil Ivey, former WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham, former Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, online legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scandinavian superstar Patrik Antonius, and English poker star Andrew Feldman - with a $105,000 profit.

“It was without a doubt the toughest lineup I have ever played,” Matusow admitted. “I definitely brought my A+ game, not only because of the difficult table, but because no one would talk to me!” Hellmuth then reveals that he had been called on several occasions during the taping to provide a foil for Matusow, drawing laughter from all at the table.

Hellmuth has continued to post tweets during the run of the WSOP Europe. He can be found on Twitter under the moniker Phil Hellmuth.

Team Europe Wins Inaugural Caesars Cup

Team Europe emerged victorious in the first ever Caesars Cup, claiming the heads-up and two-on-two matches by a 4-1 margin. Daniel Negreanu captained the American team, while Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad headed the European squad.

Four two-on-two matches were held, with Patrik Antonius and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies defeating November Nine member Phil Ivey and Huck Seed in the first pairing. The format saw one team member play before the flop and then pass their hole cards to the other team member, who played the next street. The action alternated like this until the hand was completed. Only 50 big blinds were in play, ensuring an overly-aggressive style of play. In addition, blinds increased every 10 minutes and the aim was to complete each match within 45 minutes.

With the European team up 1-0, Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth took on Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Betfair qualifier John Harvey. In the key hand of the match, Harvey pushed pre-flop holding A-3 and Hellmuth called despite only seeing an ace in his hand. Sure enough, Hellmuth’s other card was also an ace, making the American squad a dominating favorite pre-flop. However, the first three cards ran out K-2-4 and the five of diamonds fell on the turn to give Harvey and Grospellier a straight. Eventually, the European team took a 2-0 lead.

Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman took to the felts for the American team, defeating Dario Minieri and Obrestad. The European team won a sizable pot holding A-8 against A-6. However, Brunson and Harman made four of a kind after being dealt a wired pair of aces, vindicating the earlier bad beat. The American squad narrowed the lead to 2-1, avoiding what likely would have been an insurmountable 3-0 deficit in the first ever Caesars Cup.

In the fourth and final two-on-two match, John Juanda and Barry Greenstein teamed up to take on Gus Hansen and reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate. In less than 20 minutes, the match was completed, as Greenstein raised with K-Q and Hansen pushed with A-8. Greenstein called with his tournament life on the line and the board bricked out, shipping the pot to Hansen and improving the European team to a 3-1 lead.

A heads-up match occurred for the fifth encounter of the Caesars Cup. To compete, the American squad appropriately picked Seed, the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner and the holder of the top record in the NBC tournament series. The Europeans countered with Obrestad, the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion and up-and-coming internet sensation. The match lasted a short nine minutes. After missing a flush draw in an early hand, Seed was all-in with A-3, but ran into Obrestad’s A-7. Obrestad spiked a seven and the Europeans triumphed in the best-of-seven series by a 4-1 score.

The Caesars Cup was filmed for ESPN and will be shown on February 7th in a two-hour broadcast. Obrestad commented on the future of the Caesars Cup, which WSOP officials note has not yet been determined: “I think the Caesars Cup is a really cool concept. It is something that has never been done before. I hope the Caesars Cup goes on for every year, from now on.” Greenstein was a last-minute replacement for Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson. The American team could have been drawn from North America, Central America, or South America. However, seven of its eight members hailed from the United States (Negreanu is from Canada).

Here were the final rosters that made up the Caesars Cup, which was held the day before the start of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (Team Captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and John Harvey (Betfair Qualifier)

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (Team Captain), Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein

Europeans dominate inaugural Caesars Cup

"We destroyed them," said European captain Annette Obrestad. "They had no chance."

The made-for-TV tournament held at Casino at the Empire began with an odd brand of team poker where partners on either side of the table swapped control on each street.

The first match saw Finns Patrik Antonius and Ilari "ziigmund" Sahamies make quick work of Americans Phil Ivey and Huck Seed.

Americas Captain Daniel Negreanu joined with 11-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth to take on Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Betfair Poker qualifier John Harvey in the next match.

Europe grabbed a 2-0 lead when they got it in with ace-three against pocket aces and managed to suck out a straight.

The Americas fought back in the third match when Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman made a miraculous comeback to defeat Dario Minieri and Obrestad.

However, the European team took a commanding 3 to 1 lead when Denmark's Gus Hansen and Peter Eastgate beat John Juanda and Barry Greenstein, the latter running king-jack into ace-ten and failing to improve.

The format moved to heads-up next with Obrestad taking on Seed.

The young Norwegian took control after getting it all in with middle-pair-top-kicker against Seed's pair and a flush draw and managed to hold.

The match and the event were over soon after when Seed found himself all in with a dominated ace.

An ecstatic Obrestad said her decision to value youth over experience in choosing teammates for the event proved the right one.

"I would say that we outplayed them for the most part," she said. "We didn't make that many mistakes at all and we didn't get that lucky.

"The thing is in Europe there are not that many professional poker players like they have in the States. We don't have any Doyle Brunsons in Europe. Most of the guys who are experienced are young."

Negreanu saw things a little differently.

"Two things," he said. "First of all, in all the key situations, whether it was an ace versus an ace or whatever, they won every one of those. A lot of the key hands we just got unlucky in.

"Secondly, the specific format really didn't allow players, like Phil Ivey for example, to exhibit his strengths. It was all-in poker."

Coverage of the event will air on ESPN in the new year.

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Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo Event to Air on CBS Sports

For the next two weekends, CBS will air the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo tournament. The show will air on Saturday, September 19th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm ET and on Saturday, September 26th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm ET.

Both shows will air prior to college football. Vanessa Rousso, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented in a press release distributed by the online poker site on Friday, “Each year at the World Series of Poker, I make it a point to play in Ante Up for Africa. It’s amazing that PokerStars hosted the event in Monte Carlo to help a worthy cause and bring some fun to the table during one of their biggest events of the year.” In this author’s home market, the show does not air on September 19th, but rather only the 26th. Viewers are encouraged to check their local listings for details, as college football dates, times, and channels vary by market.

The tournament took place in April in the storied European principality during the Monte Carlo Grand Final festivities. The casino is the host venue for the end-of-season European Poker Tour (EPT) event and attracted a star-studded lineup of celebrities and poker players for the Ante Up for Africa contest. Among those in attendance were St. Louis rapper Nelly, singer Christina Milian, The Dream, “Heroes” actor James Kyson Lee, “Sex in the City” actor Jason Lewis, Good Charlotte band member Joel Madden, U.K. presenter Kirsty Gallacher, rapper Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, F1 racer Nico Rosberg, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and rugby players Sebastien Chabal and Mike Tindall.

Representing Team PokerStars Pro were Rousso, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, 2005 Champion Joe Hachem, 2008 Champion Peter Eastgate, Italian poker pro Dario Minieri, Victor Ramdin, and Caesars Cup Captain Daniel Negreanu. The €4,000 buy-in tournament generated more than €260,000 for the Ante Up for Africa charity, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. A total of €160,000 was raised through tournament buy-ins, while PokerStars generously kicked in an additional €100,000.

Among those prizes awarded were a trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2010. The tournament, which is held annually in the Bahamas, serves as the lone Western Hemisphere stop on the EPT circuit. A tournament summary distributed by the world’s largest online poker site offered the following insight into the ongoing Darfur crisis: “More than 400,000 people have died and more than four million have lost their homes in Darfur since the conflict began. To date, Ante Up For Africa has raised close to $2 million for the cause.”

Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker pro Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein. An annual $5,000 buy-in tournament is held to benefit the charity during the WSOP in Las Vegas. This year, the spectacle came to life on cable station ESPN and featured Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Charles Barkley, and Jason Alexander. Representing the poker world were the likes of Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth, who served as the event’s emcee. This year’s gala raised more than $600,000.

In August, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) featured a fundraiser for Ante Up for Africa in the form of a $120 buy-in tournament. A total of 2,367 players bought into the event, which was won by “warren_ace1.” Full Tilt donated the entire $20 entry fee to Ante Up for Africa.

Annette_15 turns 21 as WSOPE kicks off

Norway's Annette Obrestad, the online poker phenom who started playing poker at 15-years-old and won the very first WSOPE Main Event in 2007 at just 18, turned 21 Friday.

"I am so excited you have no idea," she told PokerListings at a party marking the occasion upstairs at the Casino at the Empire in London, while play on Day 1a of the 2009 WSOPE's first event continued downstairs.

"This is the biggest birthday for me by far, because I have so many more opportunities now."

The opportunities waiting for Obrestad lie largely in the United States, where, until now, the Betfair Poker sponsored pro has been unable to ply her trade.

In fact, despite being a World Series of Poker bracelet holder and a legend in the online poker world, she has yet to play in the Las Vegas edition of poker's most storied event.

"Basically I've been waiting for six years for this," she said. "After I turned 18 it was like "God, still another three years," but finally, today is the day."

Obrestad says she will definitely play a full schedule of events at the 2010 WSOP, but that is still more than nine months away.

The World Poker Tour's Festa al Lago at Bellagio in Las Vegas Oct. 20-26 will most likely be her major tournament debut in on American soil.

In the meantime, she plans on playing all four bracelet events at the WSOPE and the inaugural Caesars Cup event, as captain of the European squad taking on a team from the Americas.

"I love London, it's one of my favorite places," she said. "There are so many memories here and all of them are awesome. I can't think of any other place that means as much to me as London does."

PokerListings' comprehensive coverage of the World Series of Poker Europe continues daily from London on our Live Tournaments page.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker Hall of Fame: Reaction to Changes in 2009 Ballot

Last week, Harrah’s, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council announced the final list of players to be considered for induction into the Hall this fall. What was originally a 10-man list was chopped to nine when online sensation Tom “durrrr” Dwan was left off because, in the Governing Council’s opinion, Dwan fell short of the “standing the test of time” criteria for Hall consideration. This has brought out differing opinions among some in the world of poker.

“I’d say that an age limit is reasonable,” longtime poker writer Ashley Adams stated to Poker News Daily. “There have to be some criteria - a minimum number of tournaments or dollars won would be reasonable - when it comes to deciding on nominees. I don’t think there should be a minimum number nominated, though. It should depend on the quality of the field.” David Apostolico, who authored two books such as “Machiavellian Poker Strategy” and “Tournament Poker and The Art of War,” said “it made sense” to leave Dwan off of the final nominees list. “No question ‘durrrr’ is a tremendous player,” Apostolico explained, “but the qualifications speak directly to longevity.”

Pamela Brunson, the daughter of poker legend Doyle Brunson (who has a vote for the new members of the Hall of Fame) and a highly respected player in her own right, echoes the thoughts of Adams and Apostolico: “I don’t think ‘durrrr’ should be inducted the Poker Hall of Fame yet. He’s a great player, but hasn’t been around long enough.” Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, who also owns a vote on the new Hall of Fame members, thought the issue would have solved itself in the voting. “Other members of the Committee I had spoken to were not considering Tom Dwan anyway… signaling out Dwan (by leaving him off the ballot) when he likely would not have received votes was a bit surprising.”

The question as to the “electability” of a quartet of players - Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Scotty Nguyen - has also raised several points of contention. Some feel that Negreanu and Ivey, despite their youth (Negreanu is 35, Ivey is 33), more than deserve their nominations. In addition, others think that baggage may drag down the two Nguyens and prevent their election to the Hall of Fame.

“Phil Ivey is definitely going down as one of the best overall players of all-time and Daniel Negreanu has done so much for poker,” Brunson commented. “Daniel is a great player with tons of personality. He has put his heart and soul into poker and is one of the best ambassadors of the game.” Cypra agreed with Brunson, but doesn’t believe that either will garner enough votes to earn admission to the Hall. “Ivey is poker’s sweetheart right now, fresh off two bracelet wins during the 2009 WSOP and a final table appearance in the Main Event on the horizon.” He continued, “His 2009 performance alone warrants consideration for the Poker Hall of Fame. Negreanu is one of the premier faces of the game. Serving as one of poker’s top ambassadors, winning four bracelets, and captaining the American Caesars Cup team gives him an impressive poker resume. However, I do not believe either has stood the test of time. Negreanu’s first WSOP cash was in 1998, while Ivey’s was in 2000.”

When the spotlight is trained on the Nguyens, more differences of opinion occur. “A general statement about ‘working in the interests of the game’ or ‘bringing honor and respect to the poker community’ is important,” Adams maintained. “By my standards, Scotty would get the nod from me and I’d have to think about Men.” Cypra, though, recalls Scotty Nguyen’s conduct at last year’s $50,000 HORSE tournament and disagrees: “Scotty Nguyen will not be receiving my vote. His antics during last year’s HORSE Championship hurt the game of poker. One could argue that, because of this, Nguyen has not filled the criteria of ‘played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers.’”

Voting by the 15 living Hall of Fame members and a 15 member media panel will conclude on October 2nd. The 30 member panel can choose up to three of the nominees (or write in their own choice) and a nominee has to earn 75% of the votes (in this case, 23) to be elected to the Hall. The results will be announced during the festivities surrounding the play of the WSOP Main Event final table.

When it comes to his choices, Cypra seems to have narrowed his options, stating, “I think Mike Sexton is a no-brainer. He’s the reason many of us are in the industry today and has served as the game’s top ambassador. He’s also a class act, a WSOP bracelet winner, and a TOC victor. I’m also leaning towards Dan Harrington and Tom McEvoy, who have stood the test of time right alongside Sexton.”

Brunson perhaps has an idea when she said, “I think some of the ‘old timers’ should be inducted before we get around to the young guys. They’ve been around a lot longer and put in their dues, even when poker wasn’t a popular and ‘cool’ profession!”

Joe Hachem, Jeffrey Lisandro Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

Day 3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event hit television airwaves on ESPN on Tuesday night, with two hours of coverage dedicated to the festivities. Seated at the feature table were two Aussies, Joe Hachem and Jeffrey Lisandro.

Lisandro became the fifth player in WSOP history to take home three bracelets in a year and has logged 29 cashes since 2004. Hachem took down the 2005 Main Event and ignited a poker boom of his own in Australia. Joining the duo from Down Under was George Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. On the first hand, Lisandro raised to 3,600 with pocket eights and, after peeking down at pocket queens, Hachem made it 9,600. Lisandro called to see a flop of 10-4-2. Lisandro checked, Hachem bet 16,000, and Lisandro quickly released his hand, igniting chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!”

ESPN announcer Norman Chad commented that, while Phil Ivey remains his perennial pick to win the WSOP Main Event, Lisandro’s heroics in 2009 make him a close second: “Let’s assume that aliens come down and lure Phil Ivey away to a cash game mother ship, then I must turn to Jeffrey Lisandro.” Ville Wahlbeck was the only player remaining in the field that could catch Lisandro for WSOP Player of the Year honors. However, he’d need a seventh place finish or better in order to do so. Wahlbeck was seated at Table Two during the 8:00pm ET episode alongside Kenny Tran.

Also found in the field were Ivey and Phil Hellmuth. “The Poker Brat” found that one of his tablemates, Lauchlin McKinnon, did not want to shake his hand. Instead, his opponent told Hellmuth, “I don’t respect anything you do. I think you’re a complete prick.” Hellmuth joked, “I think this is going to be a good day.” Elsewhere in the Amazon Room, Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande pushed with A-10 of diamonds for 20 big blinds and rivered a flush to double up. Chad labeled him a “survivor,” a reference to his appearance on the China installment of the CBS reality franchise.

Kent Senter, who is undergoing stem cell treatment for an incurable form of cancer, was all-in with pocket tens against Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier’s pocket jacks. The board ran out K-5-3-3-5, giving Grospellier the win and sending Senter home. He was met with a herd of television cameras upon his departure. Grospellier is a PokerStars pro; his site began sponsoring chip count leaderboard graphics on Tuesday night on ESPN.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Daniel Negreanu battling against Sammy Farha in a hand during the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu folded a straight after a third spade hit the river to give Farha a flush. Negreanu, the captain of the Team Americas squad that will compete in the Caesars Cup, told ESPN cameras, “He’s either bluffing here or I’m dead.”

Negreanu’s comrade on Team PokerStars Pro, Hachem, was featured in the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the cards of one player are not shown so the audience can play along at home. Hachem raised to 4,100 pre-flop with the Wild Card hand and Claus Nielsen called with pocket threes. The flop came 8-2-5 and Nielsen checked. Hachem fired out a bet of 6,200 and Nielsen made the call. The turn was a deuce and Nielsen put in a check-raise to 32,000, causing Hachem to relinquish K-Q.

Also in the field was former November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who relived tossing out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. However, he wound up throwing the ball directly at the ground. Wahlbeck then hit the skids after running pocket queens into pocket kings, leading to an announcement from WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack that Lisandro had claimed Player of the Year honors. Ivey then moved to Grospellier’s table, leaving Chad to remark, “Poker’s superpowers clash.”

The second episode of Tuesday night kicked off at 9:00pm ET and continued coverage of Day 3 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. David “Devilfish” Ulliott joined the cast at Table Two, while Hellmuth found himself flanking Josh Arieh. Former Main Event winners Peter Eastgate (2008), Greg Raymer (2004), Dan Harrington (1995), Hachem (2005), and Hellmuth (1989) all remained alive to begin the episode, but Raymer quickly found himself on the sidelines after running pocket tens into pocket aces.

Lunkin doubled up after rivering a straight, causing Chad to lament, “I know Lunkin has played good, but I can’t tell you how ridiculously good he’s run. He should be halfway back to Moscow on an Aeroflot flight in coach.” Meanwhile, Nielsen bet out on an ace-high board after raising pre-flop with just 8-4. However, Hachem laid down pocket queens and Lisandro released pocket kings, giving the pot to Nielsen.

The Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” featured Howard Lederer taking on Hellmuth in a hand from the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, which was ultimately won by Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.

Hevad Khan cheerily smiled at ESPN cameras, leading to the following comment from announcer Lon McEachern: “That’s the first real sign of life from him we’ve seen in two years.” Khan finished sixth in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. His lively antics resulted in the “Hevad Khan rule” against excessive player celebrations. Elsewhere in the dwindling field, J.C. Tran and Joe Sebok doubled up, while L.A. Lakers Guard Jordan Farmar was eliminated. Also hitting the exits was “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, whose opponent made trips on the river.

Finally, “The Nuts” featured Chad and Hellmuth taking turns in a dunk tank. After Chad, a southpaw, finally sent Hellmuth to a watery demise, he commented, “I took more pleasure out of dunking you than anything in my whole life. That was two honeymoons rolled into one.”

New episodes of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN air on Tuesdays at 8:00pm ET and are repeated throughout the week on ESPN’s family of networks.

Inside Deal Welcomes Daniel Negreanu, Michael Binger

Laura Lane returned from vacation to bring the poker community its seventh installment of ESPN.com’s “Inside Deal.” This week, Lane and co-host Bernard Lee welcomed Daniel Negreanu and Michael Binger.

The web-only show kicked off its 40 minute run by reviewing nominations for the Poker Hall of Fame. The general public’s original list of 10 candidates was trimmed to nine following the elimination of Tom “durrrr” Dwan from contention on the grounds that the youngster did not stand the test of time, one of several factors required for entry. Lee proposed that the panel clarify its criteria for the future: “I would suggest using a more specific criteria, maybe a minimum age requirement or minimum number of years played.” As it currently stands, the youngest Hall of Fame inductee is Chip Reese, who was 40.

Attention then turned to the findings of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) on the Ultimate Bet scandal, which once again fingered Russ Hamilton as its mastermind. The report included 117 user names and noted that 31 unnamed individuals were also involved. Lee commented, “Russ Hamilton’s legacy has been irreparably damaged. Already, we have seen the effects this summer, when he did not participate in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champions Invitational.” Hamilton won the 1994 WSOP Main Event, defeating Hugh Vincent heads-up.

Negreanu will captain Team Americas prior to this year’s running of the WSOP Europe as part of the Caesars Cup. On formulating his team, which already includes Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Doyle Brunson, Negreanu told the “Inside Deal” crew, “They told me they had this really cool concept they wanted to hold right before WSOP Europe. They asked me if I would be willing to be captain. I’m taking it seriously and trying to put together a team that’s going to work well together.” Last year, Negreanu finished fifth in the WSOP Europe Main Event, a tournament ultimately won by Juanda.

Binger then relived a hand against Jamie Gold during the 2006 WSOP Main Event in which Gold turned a straight after being a 2:1 underdog against Binger after the flop. The Ultimate Bet pro remarked, “It’s really the only time in my poker career that I’ve busted out of a tournament and not been upset. I played that hand as well as I could and was a 2:1 favorite when the money went in.” Binger finished third for $4.1 million, while Gold took home $12 million and the coveted Main Event gold bracelet.

Binger became burnt out while pursuing his PhD at Stanford and turned to poker as a diversion. He earned his doctorate in 2006 before heading straight to Las Vegas to begin his successful poker career. His brother, Nick Binger, is also a staple in the industry and owns over $200,000 in lifetime WSOP earnings. On his relationship with his brother, Binger revealed, “There’s a healthy competition between us. I’m happy for him when he succeeds and I’m sure he feels the same way, but we also push each other to try to go further.”

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman then joined the show. Like this author, Feldman is one of several media members who will vote in the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Feldman asked Negreanu how his resume stacked up against the other eight finalists. Negreanu responded, “I don’t feel like I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame this year. There are a lot of people who have played for longer than I have that deserve it more.” Negreanu and Lee endorsed World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton. Binger added that Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, and Ivey would be his top three candidates.

A special “Twitter: Fact or Fiction” segment aired in which Binger and Negreanu were asked whether Twitter entries made by each other were real or concocted by “Inside Deal” staff. In the end, the score was tied at two. Finally, Binger forecasted that Ivey would win the 2009 WSOP Main Event, labeling the 33 year-old “sick.”

“Inside Deal” is released each Tuesday on ESPN.com. Sign up to receive breaking news from Poker News Daily and you’ll be entered to win autographed merchandise from “Inside Deal” guests.

Caesars Cup Scoring Format Similar To Ryder Cup Golf

Yesterday marked the three week line until play begins in the Caesars Cup, the inaugural team event that pits the best that the United States has to offer against the strongest that Europe can put up in a unique team format that hasn’t been seen before in poker. What is confusing some people, however, is how the event is going to be scored and what it will take to be determined the winner. In this instance, Harrah’s (who is behind the creation of the Caesars Cup) has taken a page from the world of golf and its team competitions.

In competitions like the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup (both for the men) and the Solheim Cup (for the women), golf presents a challenge where each team can literally wear their flag on their sleeve and compete for their country. Through doubles matches and individual play, the competition breaks down into who can earn the most points, or wins, in the course of the event. Harrah’s is taking this same idea and applying it to poker, with some deviations to the game that haven’t been attempted previously.

In all segments of the competition for the Caesars Cup, the game is Heads Up No Limit Texas Hold’em, but it will start with a twist. There will be four “doubles” matches that will be contested and could actually decide the victor, as it will take four (4) points for the champion of the Caesars Cup to be determined. These “doubles” matches will bring some strategy decisions for Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu and Team Europe captain Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad.

In the first match, it will be a “Doubles - Alternate Bet” format, similar to golf‘s Alternate Shot format. This means that two players from each team will play in a heads up match, but one player will play pre-flop and the turn while a teammate will play the flop and the river. Once the players are set into these positions, they will not be allowed to change positions or substitute in another player. The eventual winners of this match up will earn one point for their team and there will be two matches of this type, meaning four players from each eight man team will be utilized.

The second match still includes two players but it is slightly altered from the first style of play. In the “Doubles - Same Stack” format (similar to the Best Ball format in golf), the two players will be playing off of the same stack and each player will play two hands. By playing two hands, each of the four players will have the opportunity to play from the button at least once in the four player shift. The winners will get a point for their respective team and there will be two matches of this type; in theory, the captains will use their remaining four players in this format.

At this point, it is conceivable that one team could sweep all of the play to this point and have garnered the four points necessary for capturing the Caesars Cup. In this case, it would render the final part of the battle, the individual games, meaningless. In this segment of the battle, there is a traditional mano y mano match between each of the eight players on each team, with points allotted for each victory until one team reaches the magic number of four total wins, including the doubles matches.

Here’s where the Caesars Cup could ensure that there will be some entertainment for the crowd in attendance and any television audience that could potentially see this historic battle. With a total of twelve points up for grabs, make it that a team has to win seven points to take the Caesars Cup. If, after the twelve events the teams are tied, a final six handed Sit and Go would be the tiebreaker, with each team picking three players to defend the honor of their continent. The winner of this Sit and Go, of course, would get the point and their team the Caesars Cup.

Whether the powers that be change the format to ensure that the individual matches mean anything or not, the Caesars Cup promises to be one of the more interesting poker matches to come along in some time. Both of the captains, Negreanu and Obrestad, have two more selections left to add to the players they have already chosen and, come September 25th, the Caesars Cup will be up for grabs.

Online Poker Tells

Ok, ok, ok. I know the topic of tells in online poker has probably been done already on a gazillion poker websites, but after an involuntary hiatus from online poker (having a second kid will do that to a person), I have played a bit lately and sort of re-noticed things that I had taken for granted when I used to play more often. Thus, I feel like penning a quick article to detail the most common tells I have seen while playing poker across the series of tubes. Like any tell, live or online, remember that these are not 100% foolproof – players may purposely give off a fake tell or it may just be a coincidence that the perceived tell exists during a given hand.

Advance Action Buttons

We have all checked those little boxes to tell the poker software what to do when our turn comes and you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes there is just no point in waiting until the action is on us to fold our deuce-seven. But if you see someone using the advance action buttons on a regular basis, as indicated by acting instantly, you may be able pick up some tells. Typically, those who use the check boxes to call have a decent starting hand, but one that will likely need some help on the flop, like a small pocket pair or two high cards (the former is more common). Players in the big blind who insta-check in an unraised pot usually have garbage and sometimes have a marginal hand.

Obviously, if someone insta-folds, they don’t have a hand they like. That’s not a tell. But you may be able to take advantage of someone sitting to your left whom you can tell checks the “fold” box ahead of time. Doing this means that he only uses the strength of his hole cards to determine his action; he is not a creative player. If he is in a blind, you may be able to frequently steal his chips by raising if everyone folds to you. If he has a weak hand, he will have already decided to fold and will not consider re-stealing. If he has something good, he’ll call or raise and you’ll already have a decent idea of where you stand.

Bet Timing

The “Timing Tell” is one of the oldest online tells in the book, and while most players know about it, it still exists in one form or another. For those new to the game, this tell takes into consideration how long it takes for a player to act in order to pick up a clue on the strength of his hand. From my experience the most reliable Timing Tell is the insta-call (pre-river without an all-in) when a reasonable draw is on the board. This usually means the player is on a draw. Why? Because he knows before he acts that he definitely wants to try to hit his card, but at the same time doesn’t feel strong enough to raise. Thus, it’s an easy decision to call, a decision that can be made quickly.

The other common tell I have seen is when someone takes a long time to “think” and then checks or calls a small bet. This player usually has a very strong hand and wants to make it look like he was thinking hard about whether or not he should fold.

Of course, taking a long time to act doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It could mean he has a slow connection, it could mean he had to step away from the computer, or it could mean he is distracted. If you see someone using most of the clock almost every time, it very likely means he is multi-tabling or distracted in some other way. As such, he a) isn’t going to be paying much attention to what’s going on, and b) will likely be playing A-B-C poker. This is the type of player you can make plays on, as he’s too busy to notice.

Table Captain

A Table Captain is someone who routinely criticizes other players for how they play. He thinks he plays perfect poker and as such, should never lose. A down session is never his fault – it is the fault of the fish who played poorly and got lucky. This type of player is normally quite bad, as he needs to put down other players to make himself feel good. One big exception: Phil Hellmuth.

I actually played in a Sit & Go against one of these guys last night. He went on a big run early, cracking A-A with 6-9. Of course, he was criticizing someone’s play during the hand and then criticized his victim’s play (as well as the three other players in the hand) after the hand. The guy with Aces did play the hand horribly, but that’s not the point. The Table Captain felt he was above reproach and that it was his job to let everyone know how it was. Of course, once he stopped doing well, he shut his mouth and was eventually eliminated out of the money.

Bizarre Bets

Most people tend to make bets that look “normal.” Three, four times the big blind, nice round numbers, that sort of thing. Then there are the players who make strange bets such as “messy” bets or overbets. By messy bets, I mean the kind of bets that require lots of different denomination chips, bets that are not nice, round numbers. For example, a normal bet in a given hand may be 75, but someone decides to make it 98. So, instead of three $25 chips, there are three $25 chips, two $10 chips, and three $1 chips. It creates an unnecessary pile of chips. This is usually a tell that means the player is weak and he is just trying to make his bet look bigger than it really is.

Then, of course, there are the massive overbets, like when someone goes all-in for $1,400 when the pot is only $100. This tell has actually gone through a metamorphosis over the years. It used to clearly mean that the player was weak and just wanted to force everybody out of the pot, but now it has gone to the next level. Now it more often means that the player is strong and wants to look like he is just trying to push everyone off their hands. Tricky, huh? Unless I have a great hand, I just stay away when these bozos try to pull off this move.

There are more online poker tells out there, but these are the few that I have been seeing the most often now that I have been playing more frequently. As I said earlier, these are not etched in stone – what you think is a tell could be nothing or it could be someone trying to trick you into thinking it’s a tell. But more often than not, these tells hold true.

If you see an opponent do one of these things, observe him for a while. See if he keeps doing it and see if you can fit the action with what I told you it means. If you can (or if you can reliably match it with a completely different underlying meaning), then take advantage next time you get the chance.

Brunson, Harman, Antonius, Sahamies Join Caesars Cup Lineup

With the Caesars Cup getting ready for its inaugural action in just over three weeks, both American captain Daniel Negreanu and European captain Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad have been busy filling out the remainder of their squads. Earlier this week, each named two additional members to their teams, bringing the total to six of the eight that they will need.

Captain Negreanu, who seems to have been leaning towards more experienced players, continued to choose veterans with the selections of Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman. They will join a stellar lineup that also includes 2009 “November Nine” combatant Phil Ivey, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and former World Champion Phil Hellmuth, and reigning WSOP Europe champion John Juanda. If there is one drawback to Team Americas, it is that Negreanu seems to have chosen players with a wealth of cash game expertise, which could potentially override their tournament poker backgrounds.

Little needs to be said for Doyle Brunson’s inclusion. The grizzled veteran of the Texas road games was among those who brought poker to Las Vegas and brings the vast experience that his 50-plus years in the game has honed. He has captured ten WSOP bracelets in his career, with two from the Main Event. He continues today to be at the forefront of poker and has a nearly unequaled library of knowledge that will be critical for his teammates to tap into during the Caesars Cup competition.

If Negreanu was looking for a female to be a part of Team Americas, then Jennifer Harman had to be on the top of his wish list. The only woman who has multiple open tournament victories in the history of the WSOP, Harman has been one of the high-stakes poker staples for the past 25 years. Her steely determination and intuitive style of play will give opponents fits as they try to determine where they are in a hand.

Captain Obrestad has chosen a tactic almost directly the opposite of Negreanu by going for the younger, internet-seasoned players for Team Europe. Captain Obrestad has tapped two Finns, Patrik Antonius and Ilari Sahamies, to join her and defending WSOP champion Peter Eastgate of Denmark, Italy’s Dario Mineri, and France’s Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier on Team Europe.

Antonius brings one of the strongest games, tournament or otherwise, of any of the players in the Caesars Cup. While he is, so far, the oldest member of Team Europe at 29, he has traveled the world in his profession of high-stakes poker. In tournaments, he has earned over $2.8 million, including a European Poker Tour (EPT) championship in 2005, and has made untold amounts as a cash game player. Currently, Antonius is also engaged in one of the epic battles of 2009, the Durrrr Challenge, with Tom Dwan.

While he may not have the list of titles of other players in this event, Sahamies has the chops to be included in the Caesars Cup. Known as “Zigmund” online, Sahamies has claimed over $300,000 in tournament winnings and is especially known for his skills in high-stakes Pot Limit Omaha. Sahamies will also bring some chatter to the felt as he uses his verbal skills to attempt to throw his opponents off their games. Sahamies is also the face behind Power Poker.

Both Negreanu and Obrestad have two more choices for their respective teams before the Caesars Cup can be contested. Obrestad has one of her choices removed from her discretion, as WSOP Europe sponsor Betfair is offering a place on the team for an online player yet to be determined. All in all, the field is coming together as one of the strongest player lineups for a made-for-television competition in years. Poker News Daily will have all the details on the final selections, as well as the format of the Caesars Cup, in the near future.

Caesars Cup Captains Add to Their Poker Team Rosters

Charged with the task of making the best possible eight-person teams, captains Daniel Negreanu (pictured left) and Annette Obrestad (pictured below right) have responded in a big way, scoring the …

More stars added to Caesars Cup rosters

Americas captain Daniel Negreanu has selected 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jennifer Harman for his team while Europe captain Annette Obrestad has added Finnish high-stakes studs Patrik Antonius and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies.

Set for London's Casino at the Empire Friday Sept. 25 at 10 a.m., the Caesars Cup is unique Ryder Cup-style poker tournament pitting teams from both sides of the Atlantic against each other.

Negreanu and Obrestad have been tasked with assembling eight-person rosters for the made-for-television event that will air on ESPN-branded channels as part of its 2009 WSOPE coverage.

The structure will feature heads-up and two-man doubles matches, with single points awarded for each match.

The first two matches match will be doubles and include alternate betting with one player per side playing pre-flop and on the turn and the other playing the flop and the river.

The next two matches will be doubles with the players alternating every two hands.

After the doubles matches conclude, the format will move on to heads-up if a clear winner has not yet been decided.

Before today's announcement, the Americas roster already included Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda while Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri and Bertrand Grospellier made up the European team.

The European team will include a Betfair Poker qualifier and the final roster spots are expected be announced prior to the event.

Visit PokerListings.com

World Poker Association Offers Health Insurance for Poker Players

It’s been a busy year for the World Poker Association (WPA), which has seen “Captain” Tom Franklin assume the role of Chairman. Poker News Daily sat down with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner for the latest developments, which include a health care plan designed for poker players.

Poker News Daily: Tell us about the WPA’s activities since you became Chairman.

Franklin: The WPA wants to continue to stick up for poker players and have a say in rules and regulations. We’re also trying to put things together that will benefit players. For example, during the WSOP, we had health insurance available. For being a member of the WPA, you can have better health insurance and better dental insurance.

We also heard complaints on rule interpretations so that players can have a place to make their voices heard. We’ll then take it up with whomever we need to on the tournament staff. We’re also trying to write up a rulebook that will be accepted. The only time you have a gray area in poker is when you have misinformation. If everyone gives you the right information, it’s not a gray area; it’s absolute.

PND: We’ve heard about the health insurance program. How has it been received by current and prospective WPA members?

Franklin: Anyone who is a member of the WPA can get it. They can call up, say that they’re a member of the WPA, and ask how much it costs. When we get to 20 or 30 players taking advantage of it, we can have the best pricing possible. A lot of poker players don’t have the opportunity to receive any other health insurance since they don’t have a formal job. The insurance we receive is pretty reasonable. You can get really good comprehensive insurance for $350 per month.

PND: Can you talk more about your membership drive?

Franklin: Right now, we’re sending out e-mails. At the WSOP, we had a deal that if you bought a WPA membership, you got a ticket for a raffle. We’re going to go to a couple more tournaments and have a booth. We’re also trying to get a few companies to become premium members of the WPA.

PND: What kinds of companies would make good fits for WPA memberships?

Franklin: Poker rooms, casinos, and anything to do with gaming and/or poker would be good fits. We talked to some of the websites, but we can’t work with them because of the laws.

PND: Jesse Jones did an admirable job of getting the WPA off the ground. Will there be any changes in strategy now that you’re in charge?

Franklin: The philosophy of the WPA is the same. Our biggest goal is to centralize the rules so that they’re the same in any venue. First, we’re trying to get the perfect rulebook and I think we’re close. In Mississippi, I wrote the standards for every Grand Casino in the state, including poker. When they’re absolute, they’re great rules.

The next step is to have penalties for those who break the rules. It’s just like disciplining a child. If you tell a child that you’ll break their arm, it has no effect because you won’t actually break it. If you say you’ll put them time out for 30 minutes and then do it, it has an effect. In Mississippi, we brought down all of the poker room managers to be in on the discussion. I interpreted the rules for them. We did it all together so that everyone interpreted the rules the same.

Check out the official website of the World Poker Association.

ESPN’s Inside Deal Features Eric Buchman

ESPN.com’s Inside Deal aired this week with discussions of the upcoming Caesar’s Cup at the World Series of Poker Europe. The PokerStars-sponsored show confirmed Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda as joining Team America alongside Phil Ivey and captain Daniel Negreanu.

ESPN Inside Deal Features WSOP November Niner Eric Buchman

This week, “Inside Deal,” which airs on ESPN.com, welcomed World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Eric Buchman, who will hold the second largest chip stack when play resumes in November.

Talk of recent additions to the Caesars Cup teams opened the show, which is sponsored by PokerStars. Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda will join Team Americas, while Dario Minieri and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier will become part of Team Europe. “Inside Deal” host and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee gave his take on the selections: “Daniel Negreanu was going to mold his team around team chemistry, solid heads-up play, and high-profile players.” Negreanu and Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad serve as team captains.

Discussion on “Inside Deal” then turned to Doyle Brunson’s Hall of Shame, which features Puggy Pearson, John “Doc” Holiday, Nick “Shoestring” Simpson, Nick Lanette, Stu Ungar, and Nick Vacchiano. Brunson unveiled his Hall of Shame in a recent blog post, with the only criteria for entry being that the person had to be deceased. Lanette earned his induction after biting a dealer’s ear off at the Stardust. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee was asked who he would add to the Hall of Shame, dead or alive. His nominee was Tony G, who berated Ralph Perry after eliminating him from the 2006 Intercontinental Poker Championship, among other incidents.

Results from the PokerStars Sunday Million, Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau, European Poker Tour (EPT) Kiev, and Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge were displayed before Howard Lederer joined the show via satellite. On the young guns of poker, Lederer told “Inside Deal” hosts, “I feel like 2009 was really the true arrival of the internet player, the player who got started in 2004 and finally got enough live play under their feet.”

Lederer and sister Annie Duke were an integral part of the National Poker Week Fly-In, which took place last month in Washington, DC. On the future of legalized and regulated online poker in the United States, Lederer remarked, “A bit of it is timing and a bit of it is politics. The practical effect of [Congressman Barney Frank’s] bill is that there wouldn’t be any sports betting on the internet, but that doesn’t mean the professional leagues aren’t scared of it.” Lederer was one of a half-dozen high-profile players to turn out to the nation’s capital in an effort coordinated by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) to lobby for Frank’s bill.

Attention then turned to Buchman, who was asked how he was turned onto poker. The WSOP November Nine member responded, “My brother got me interested in it. We’d play in clubs in New York and go to Atlantic City.” He has a pair of runner-up showings in WSOP and WSOP Circuit tournaments, experience that he hopes to parlay into a bracelet in the 2009 Main Event: “Final table experience is invaluable when it comes to improving your game and performing under pressure.” Buchman will have three short-stacks to his left when play resumes in November.

ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, returning from a one-week vacation, asked Lee, “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane, and Buchman who they would add to the American and European Caesars Cup squads. Buchman noted that he’d add reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed and Carlos Mortensen. Lee suggested Chris Ferguson and Gus Hansen. Lane threw out Erik Seidel and Vitaly Lunkin. Feldman told the cast that he’d add Lindgren to the U.S. team and Patrik Antonius to the European roster.

Viewer questions included whether Buchman would treat the final table as a continuation of play in July or as a new tournament. He responded, “The experience I have playing against these players and the footage I’ve seen on ESPN will help me get reads on players.” Many in the poker industry have questioned chip leader Darvin Moon’s experience. Buchman noted that, despite Moon’s lack of background on the felts, he is a formidable force: “He’s definitely a threat to win. He doesn’t have as much experience as everyone else, but he definitely can play.” In the end, Buchman predicted that he would be heads-up against Moon for the Main Event title.

“Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday on ESPN.com.

Hellmuth, Juanda, Grospellier, Minieri Chosen for Caesars Cup

Four players now comprise each team that will battle in September in the Caesars Cup as part of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities. Recently, team captains Daniel Negreanu and Annette Obrestad each made two more selections.

After grabbing November Nine member Phil Ivey with his first pick, Negreanu reached out to two of the game’s elite. Phil Hellmuth will join Team Americas in London. The Ultimate Bet pro owns the record for the most number of WSOP bracelets all-time at 11 and is regarded by many as the top Hold’em tournament player in the world. In fact, all 11 of his bracelets have come in that genre of poker. Hellmuth is a staple of the poker industry, infamously arrives late to tournaments, and, in the case of major events, enters in grand style.

Flanking Hellmuth in Jolly Old England will be John Juanda. The Full Tilt Poker pro dominated the last time he competed in WSOP Europe, winning its Main Event for £868,000. Negreanu had a courtside view of Juanda’s play throughout much of the event, ultimately taking fifth for £217,000. Juanda owns four WSOP bracelets and has made six final tables on the World Poker Tour (WPT), where he’s piled up $1.2 million in earnings.

Added to Team Europe, which already includes Obrestad and 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, is Team PokerStars Pro icon Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. His tournament resume includes a win in the 2008 European Poker Tour (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $2 million. He followed up his performance in the island nation by winning its High Roller event in 2009 for $433,000. In between, Grospellier took down the WPT Festa al Lago for $1.4 million, defeating a final table that included Nam Le, Nenad Medic, and Ultimate Bet’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy.

The final addition to Team Europe is Dario Minieri. The Italian sensation made his first appearance on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” during Season 5, an honor he earned after winning a WSOP bracelet in 2008. His piece of hardware came after taking down a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event for $528,000, defeating a final table that also featured Kevin Song. In April of 2008, Minieri made the final table and finished third in the EPT San Remo stop for €287,000 in an event that marked Jason Mercier’s first win on the PokerStars-sponsored tour.

A total of eight players will comprise each Caesars Cup team and the final four contestants for each squad will be announced in the coming weeks. The tournament will pan out during WSOP Europe on September 26th at the Casino at the Empire. Here’s how each team looks with the selections halfway completed:

Team Americas
Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda

Team Europe
Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier

The Caesars Cup will air on the ESPN family of stations in the United States and syndicated around the world. The name of the game is No Limit Texas Hold’em and the tournament’s structure will consist of heads-up and partner formats. One spot on the European squad will be reserved for a qualifier from Betfair, which is the presenting sponsor of WSOP Europe. Betfair does not accept players from the United States.

The Caesars Cup loosely resembles golf’s Ryder Cup, which pits teams from the United States and Europe against each other once every two years. The 2008 installment took place in Louisville, Kentucky and was won by Team USA, whose captain was Paul Azinger. In 2010, the action moves across “The Pond” to a course in Wales.

The 2009 WSOP Europe festivities will kick off on September 18th, with the £10,350 buy-in Main Event beginning eight days later.

Hellmuth, ElkY, Juanda and Dario join Caesars Cup

In addition to Phil Ivey, captain Daniel Negreanu has chosen 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and the 2008 WSOPE Main Event champ John Juanda to represent Team Americas.

Meanwhile, captain Annette Obrestad has added WPT and EPT title holder Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and WSOP bracelet winner Dario Minieri to a Team Europe roster that already includes 2008 WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate.

Modeled after golf's Ryder Cup, the Caesars Cup is a made-for-TV tournament taking place Sept. 26 during the 2009 WSOP Europe.

The event pits Europe's best against North America's top players in a battle for international bragging rights.

The format will feature both heads-up and team contests and include alternate betting and other non-traditional elements as players aim to win points for their respective teams.

Each team will eventually consist of eight players.

Team Europe will also have one member qualify through a leaderboard race on Betfair Poker.

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