Poker News

Pescatori plunders WSOP Stud Championship

But despite his lack of results, the Full Tilt pro has a special affection for the game.

"I like stud because Walter Farina - one of the first Italian bracelet winners - taught me the game and that's how I picked it up," he said.

And Pescatori doesn't mind his chances going into the final day of the $10,000 World Championship event at the World Series of Poker.

"It's an open tournament," he told PokerListings.com at the conclusion of play on Thursday morning.

"I have about 400k so I think I'm about 5:1 to win. That's where I'd put myself."

With eleven players left in the World Championship, Pescatori is on 420,000 - about an average stack. The remaining field, however, is far from average.

Hasan Habib, Greg Mueller, Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Negreanu, Tim Phan and poker pioneer Eric Drache join Pescatori on the final two tables.

All are guaranteed at least $29,152 for their time, with the winner of the tournament taking home $373,744.

For Pescatori, one man is the clear favorite.

"Jeffrey [Lisandro] is one of my favorite players," he said. "He's also Italian and Australian. I think he's my favorite of the people still in it to win the tournament."

Lisandro has a bracelet in stud, winning the $2,000 event at the 2007 WSOP. To win another, he'll have to rebuild his 330,000 stack into something more workable at the final table on Thursday.

Pescatori briefly held the chip lead on Wednesday, sending Chris Amaral and Chad Brown to the rail as the bubble approached.

But a disastrous redraw soon brought him back to earth.

"Unfortunately, I lost my rush when my table broke," he said. "I knew everyone at my new table and didn't know anyone at the other one."

Pescatori's new table featured Habib, Mueller, Lisandro, Negreanu, Matt Glantz and Mel Judah, none of whom was particularly happy with the draw.

"Wow bad table draw," Negreanu tweeted. "My table is tough other soft."

Glantz and Judah would quickly succumb, as would defending runner-up Fu Wong and defending champ Eric Brooks on the "soft" table.

Fan favorite Freddie Ellis would take advantage of the table draw, surging to 720,000 and the chip lead as the night wore on.

The New York native has $14,000 in prior tournament earnings (a sixth-place finish in the $4,000 seven-card stud championship at the 2003 USPC) but is in great shape to add exponentially to that total tomorrow.

Given the challenging field, Pescatori was candid when asked what he would need to do to earn the bracelet.

"You need luck of course," he said, though an eavesdropping Greg Mueller didn't think that would be a problem.

"Max gets lucky in stud," he said.

So far, the luck is holding for the Italian Pirate. He'll need plenty more of it to defeat the monster field at tomorrow's final table.

The field will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. to play down to a champion.

Check out the PokerListings.com 2009 WSOP section for full coverage of the Stud World Championship.

Visit PokerListings.com

Phil Hellmuth Tells the Stories of 20 best poker players in the world

“Deal Me In” tells the stories of arguably the 20 best poker players in the world and how they turned out as professionals. Hellmuth went after the biggest names in the poker world and got who he considers the 10 best in the world and another 10 who are in the running for the top 20.

-Owner of 11 Bracelets - Phil Hellmuth

Stories of Hellmuth, Brunson, Chan, Eastgate, Phil Ivey, Chau Giang, Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Carlos Mortensen, Erik Seidel, Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Chad Brown, Dave Ulliot, Layne Flack, Scotty Nguyen, Annette Obrestad and Tom Dwan are all told.

This book, unlike other poker and gambling books, is more about money management than strategy. “You’ve got money management and you’ve got strategy, and money management is almost as important as strategy. It might be more important.” Hellmuth says.

Hellmuth knows he is missing some notable players, which he addresses in his introduction. He said players like Gus Hansen and Mike Matusow should surely be in any conversation when spokern about the best poker players.

The book is scheduled to be released June 25 exclusively at Hellmuth’s Web site, www.pokerbrat.com. “It really is a contribution to poker history”. The book is dedicated to late great contributors to the poker world Stu Ungar, David “Chip” Reese, Benny Binion, Walter “Puggy” Pearson and Johnny Moss.

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Phil Hellmuth Tells the Stories of 20 best poker players in the world

Poker News in Brief: May 18-24, 2009

This week we take a look at the Poker Brat's new book, how online poker is headed to a TV set near you and where the best female poker players on the planet will be this week.

Brat's book hits shelves

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of his World Series of Poker Main Event win, Phil Hellmuth has released a book featuring the inspirational stories behind 20 different poker champions.

Deal Me In by Stephen John and Marvin Karlins features poker legends Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Annie Duke, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Carlos Mortensen, Chau Giang, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Chad Brown, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Layne Flack, Scotty Nguyen, Annette Obrestad, Tom Dwan, Peter Eastgate and Hellmuth himself giving first-hand accounts of their rise to poker stardom.

"Each chapter takes you behind the scenes into the early lives of poker's biggest names," Hellmuth said. "They cover their humble beginnings, the obstacles they overcame, the demons they faced and ultimately the success they enjoyed."

Deal Me In is available exclusively online at Hellmuth's website www.PokerBrat.com.

Harrah's eyes online gaming

Harrah's Entertainment announced this week it has established a new subsidiary, Harrah's Interactive Entertainment, to manage the global growth of the World Series of Poker.

Former PartyGaming CEO Mitch Garber, has signed on as CEO.

In addition to growing the WSOP brand, Harrah's claims the new subsidiary will "explore the use of interactive gaming technologies to expand the reach of Harrah's brands globally, starting in Europe."

In other words, it appears Harrah's and the WSOP are considering moving into the online gaming industry in Europe.

Online poker hits cable

Starting this August, US Cable Network G4 will be taking its audience inside the world of high-stakes online poker.

Dubbed 2 Months, $2 Million, a new ten episode docu-series will air following the lives and adventures of Jason "pr1nnyraid" Rosenkrantz, Brian "Flawless_Victory" Roberts, Emil "whitelime" Patel and Dani "ansky" Stern as they attempt to earn $2 million dollars online over just two months.

The series also promises a window into the high-stakes Las Vegas lifestyle the group leads when they step away from their monitors.

Ladies hit the felt for PartyPoker World Open

The PartyPoker.com Women's World Open III begins Sunday.

The $3,000 buy-in event will include 36 of the world's best female players hit the felt at Three Mills Studios in London between May 24 and May 27.

Annette Obrestad headlines a tough field that also includes actress and WSOP bracelet holder Jennifer Tilly and EPT Dortmund champion Sandra Naujoks.

The top prize is $50,000.

Visit PokerListings.com

Phil Hellmuth’s New Book: Deal Me In

Phil Hellmuth’s own book company are now releasing a book called “Deal Me In” which tells the story about 20 poker stars and their road to sucess. Amongst the people participating by telling their life story we find players like; Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer.

This book tells the story of how Phil Ivey went from a telphone marketer to becoming one of the best poker players in the world. Today he has generated over $10 Million in profit from poker tournaments alone, which means that you can surely add a couple of Millions to that figure if you include cash game winnings.

The book doesnt really follow any storyline and is just bringing up stories about 20 poker professionals and their road to fame and fortune.

The players participating in this book are; Peter Estgate, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Carlos Mortensen, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Tom Dwan, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliot, Chad Brown, Annette Obrestad, Erik Seidel, Layne Flack, Jennifer Harman and Chau Giang.

Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke Featured in Deal Me In Poker Book

Eleven-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and Celebrity Apprentice runner up Annie Duke are two of 20 poker pros that tell their stories in “Deal Me In,” a brand new book available at PokerBrat.com.

The publication was released commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hellmuth’s WSOP Main Event win in 1989. Then, he was just 24 years-old and became the youngest winner ever of the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Last year, Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate shattered Hellmuth’s mark, defeating Ivan Demidov heads-up and pocketing $9.1 million at the age of 22. Hellmuth last won a bracelet in 2007, besting the field in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament for $637,000 and defeating Andy Philachack heads-up. Each story told by a poker legend in “Deal Me In” chronicles anecdotes and milestone moments as they’ve climbed the ladder.

Duke is fresh off finishing as the runner up to comedian Joan Rivers on NBC’s hit reality series Celebrity Apprentice. In the process, the Ultimate Bet pro and top female poker player raised well over $700,000 for her chosen charity, Refugees International. Together with actor Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, Duke founded Ante Up for Africa in 2006. The organization raised over $2 million in its first two years for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. Duke’s lone bracelet win came in 2004, when she grabbed the “W” in a $2,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better tournament for $137,000, besting Ronald Graham heads-up. Duke won the inaugural WSOP Tournament of Champions in 2004, defeating Hellmuth and taking home $2 million.

About the brand new book, Hellmuth commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “Each chapter takes you behind the scenes into the early lives of poker’s biggest names. They cover their humble beginnings, the obstacles they overcame, the demons they faced, and ultimately the success they enjoyed. Deal Me In is packed with the musings of poker’s most colorful characters, surprising and insightful stories, plus inside poker tips.” Hellmuth was the ringleader behind “Deal Me In” coming to fruition. The 308 page book that includes 154 photos is available on his website, PokerBrat.com, for $24.95. Appropriately, Phil’s House Publishing, Inc. released it.

Hellmuth owns the record for the most number of WSOP in the money finishes with 69, edging out Men “The Master” Nguyen’s tally of 62. A bevy of poker legends appear in “Deal Me In” sharing their stories about the WSOP and other high-stakes events, including Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Carlos Mortensen, Chau Giang, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Chad Brown, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Layne Flack, and new Expekt Poker pro Scotty Nguyen.

CardPlayer Magazine reviewed “Deal Me In” and proclaimed, “A page-turner about the world’s most powerful poker players and their hardscrabble journeys from the backgammon games of Manhattan, the taverns of Wisconsin, the back alleys of Saigon, and the pubs of England. Unforgettable stories and valuable tips, Deal Me In is about dreaming big and the will to succeed.”

Also included in the publication are three of the game’s rising stars. Headlining the group is 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a card-carrying member of Team Betfair. Obrestad is the youngest bracelet winner ever and earned $2 million for her efforts in the 2007 event. Also profiled in the book is Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who is currently battling in the Million Dollar Challenge against Patrik Antonius. Dwan is a regular on shows like “High Stakes Poker” and competed in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. The third young gun chronicled is Eastgate, the number two money winner in WSOP history behind Jamie Gold.

Chad Brown Interview with Poker News Daily

Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?

Brown: If you go all the way back to the birth of my poker game, it would have been in the Bronx, where I grew up. I used to play poker in little Italian cafes on the weekends with my friends. It was mostly dealer’s choice that consisted of a lot of games similar to Omaha. There would be some Stud and regular games, but it was mainly a lot of mixed games. I used to win most of the time and that was advantageous because I got to play so many different games. I had to figure out the math and what was the best way to play particular hands in different games.

I was acting and when I moved out to Los Angeles to further my career, I didn’t realize that there were legalized poker rooms there. I was prepared to be a bartender or a waiter to supplement my income in between acting jobs, but saw the opportunity and thought that poker was something I could do. Knock on wood; I’m still winning in poker.

PND: You’ve played a lot of poker on both the East Coast and the West Coast. Which games are tougher and why?

Brown: The West Coast has more world-class poker players. The reason is because on the East Coast, until recently, they primarily only played two games that were high-limit: Stud and Limit Hold’em. The style for most winning poker players in those two games was to play tight-aggressive. On the West Coast, there’s an eclectic group of poker players that plays a variety of styles: loose-aggressive, tight-aggressive, and in between. It adds to your tools.

John Phan, David Pham, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, and Allen Cunningham are guys who play different styles, but are all world-class No Limit Hold’em tournament players. However, playing with a diverse group of poker players even helps the pro. You still learn and grow no matter how good of a player you are.

PND: Tell us about the “Ultimate Poker Challenge,” which you host.

Brown: The “Ultimate Poker Challenge” started in 2004. The producer of the show, Dan Pugliese, saw me make the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seven Card Stud Championship. I went heads-up with Ted Forrest and after four and a half hours of play, Ted ended up winning. Dan realized what I had done as an actor and poker player and thought I had all of the elements to be the perfect host for his new show.

I really liked the idea of the “Ultimate Poker Challenge,” which was a tournament that was going to be televised from the Plaza Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, and knew it would be a hit. What was different about our show as opposed to the WSOP or World Poker Tour broadcasts was that I always had a different guest poker player commentating with me. Poker is very subjective, so there is no right strategy to play. Getting different points of view is more advantageous to helping people get better. A lot of different top pros came on and guest hosted. That gave the viewers something different on each show. I gave my opinion on how I see poker. I think most people liked my point of view: I give insight into not only the factual math, but also what I think is going on inside someone’s head. However, by having a different co-host, viewers didn’t know what they would say or how they would analyze play. That’s what made the “Ultimate Poker Challenge” uniquely successful.

PND: You’ve had success in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Describe some of the differences between playing live and playing online.

Brown: For friends of mine who play online and are not world-class players, one of the biggest traps for them is that when they’re playing in a live cash game at a casino, they protect their ego and don’t want to look like a donkey. When they play online, they’re anonymous. If they’re steaming, losing, and want to play some bad hands, they’re not embarrassed about it. Those types of players will play worse online.

Bodog Unveils 2009 WSOP Prop Bets

If you've ever wanted to rail your favorite poker stars without having to be at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, head to Bodog. The online poker site and sports book recently opened up betting on the WSOP. The festivities at the Rio begin on May 27th.

Among the wagers available on Bodog is what poker pro will win the most money during the 2009 WSOP. The leader in the clubhouse is 11-time bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth, who is currently going off at 5:2. Other players that are available to bet on include Doyle Brunson (7:2), David Sklansky (12:1), Barry Greenstein (5:1), Mike Caro (12:1), Phil Gordon (10:1), T.J. Cloutier (6:1), and Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who is fetching 3:1 odds.

The question of “Will Phil Hellmuth win his 12th bracelet at the 2009 WSOP occurring in Las Vegas beginning May 27th?” is paying +300 for Yes and -500 for No. Hellmuth made three final tables last year, taking third in the $1,500 buy-in HORSE event for $93,000. You can also bet on whether Brunson or Johnny Chan will score their 11th bracelets. The +300 figure means that a player must bet $100 to get back a total of $400. The -500 figure means that a player must bet $500 to get back a total of $600.

A special last longer wager is also available on the prestigious $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, which was infamously won last year by Scotty Nguyen. He has 5:1 odds in the bet, the favorite among the pros available. Others include Brunson (6:1), Hellmuth (7:1), Chan (7:1), Freddy Deeb (11:2), Phil Ivey (6:1), David Williams (11:2), Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo (11:2), and Negreanu (6:1). Deeb won the event in 2007 and the late Chip Reese took down the inaugural HORSE Championship in 2006. The trophy given to the winner of the event is named in his honor.

Another unique bet asks wagerers to select what pair will rack up the most winnings in the 2009 WSOP. Patrik Antonius and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites, going off at 4:1. Other pairings available include Doyle and Todd Brunson (6:1), the husband and wife team of Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman (6:1), father and son Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok (9:2), brother and sister Annie Duke and Howard Lederer (15:2), Bodog pros Evelyn Ng and Justin Bonomo (15:2), Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly (6:1), mother and son David and Shirley Williams (6:1), engaged couple Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso (10:1), and Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Tiffany Michelle (9:2).

Players can even bet on what game will be played when the final hand is dealt during the HORSE Championship. Hold'em, Razz, and Seven Card Stud are all paying 5:2, while Omaha High-Low and Seven Card Stud High-Low are both going off at 15:4.

Bettors will also be keeping their eyes on the female contingent in the Main Event, as a special women's-only last longer bet is available on Bodog. Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites; both are 5:1 to remain in contention in the Main Event the longest. Others include Duke (7:1), Tilly (10:1), Cyndy Violette (7:1), Isabelle Mercier (7:1), Clonie Gowen (7:1), Ng (7:1), Liz Lieu (7:1), Mimi Tran (7:1), Katja Thater (7:1), Rousso (7:1), and the last woman standing in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, Maria Ho (10:1).

One prop bet on Bodog centers wholly on Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande's finish in the Main Event. Bellande was a contestant on CBS' “Survivor: China,” one of the 18 seasons of the show that have aired. “No Money” is paying 1:20; finishing in the money, but no better than 10th place is paying 8:1; making the final table is paying 150:1; and winning the 2009 WSOP Main Event is fetching 1,000:1 odds. Bellande took 442nd in the Main Event last year.

The first wager listed in Bodog's poker section is, “Will Scotty Nguyen reach his stated promise that he will earn $4,000,000 or more in combined winnings at this year’s WSOP?” Yes is paying out +2,400. The bet stems from an interview Nguyen had with PokerListings that he would retire from poker if he does not amass $4 million in winnings at the 2009 WSOP. Whether he will follow through on his promise is anyone's guess.