Poker News

Jerome Bettis Interview with Poker News Daily at WSOP Ante Up for Africa

Last week, the annual Ante Up for Africa charity tournament played out at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. This time around, two well known pros battled it out in the finale, as Full Tilt’s Phil Gordon edged out Carbon Poker’s Shannon Elizabeth.

On the red carpet, Poker News Daily caught up with Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, a former stud running back who final tabled the event and landed in sixth place for $22,000.

Poker News Daily: We’ve seen you on the PokerStars sponsored “Million Dollar Challenge,” Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown,” and other poker-related television programming. Will we be seeing more of you in the future?

Jerome Bettis: I’m just going to enjoy it. Being retired, everything is sporadic, but I enjoy poker. Whenever I get a chance, I’ll try to get out and play a little more.

PND: This is the first time you’ve played in the Ante Up for Africa event, right?

Jerome Bettis: Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve been here. It’s also the first time I’ve been to the World Series and seen what it is. It’s pretty spectacular.

PND: What are your expectations heading into this event? Are you going to take it seriously or just go and have a good time?

Jerome Bettis: Whenever I sit down, I take it seriously, no question about it. But, I’m also about enjoyment, so I’ll take it seriously, but I’m also paying attention to what’s going on.

PND: We obviously have to ask you about your Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is suspended for four games and wide receiver Santonio Holmes is now on the New York Jets. What are your expectations for their season?

Jerome Bettis: I think this is going to be a good year for the Steelers in the sense that it’s going to show them what type of team they are without Ben. Also, it’s going to help build the running game, which they need to do anyway. I think this becomes a pre-curser to the team they want to be. When Ben comes back, you’ll have a solid running game with a solid passing game and I think that makes for a championship caliber football team.

PND: If the Steelers were to call you up and say, “We need ‘The Bus.’ He’s our only hope,” would you go back?

Jerome Bettis: I’d tell them, “The Bus has four flat tires, so you don’t want me.”

2010 World Series of Poker: Big Money, Big Hearts

Charity poker tournaments are often where celebrities and poker pros come out to rub elbows with each other and show off their poker faces. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: no matter how ruthless poker players can be on the felt, a...

Phil Gordon wins the fourth annual Ante up for Africa

The fourth annual Ante up for Africa charity tournament saw a prize pool of over $400,000; a percentage of which goes to charity. Full Tilt pro Phil Gordon, however, made sure it was a slightly higher percentage – the winner of the $5,000 event has agreed to donate the $130,641 to charity.

Independence Day Weekend In Las Vegas From Poker In Twitter

Whether it was for the various parties going on, the fireworks or the start of the World Series of Poker Championship Event on Monday, the Independence Day weekend brought all the pros to Las Vegas. The Twitterverse was abuzz with their activities as they worked towards the biggest day of the poker year.

One of the big events over the weekend was the Doyle’s Room party held at the Blush nightclub. UB.com’s Bryan Devonshire had an adventure prior to arriving at the Blush bash, tweeting, “Last night on my way to Doyle’s party I set my phone in a margarita. It doesn’t work anymore.” The Brunson family turned out to be great hosts for the party as Pamela Brunson chirped Sunday morning, “Got in @ 6am from Doyle’s room Blush party and after party @Surrender. I don’t remember WHY I used to enjoy doing that! I’m POOPED!” Even Doyle was stung by the party atmosphere when he recounted his night:  “I’m trying to recover from the Doyle’s Room party at Blush. I’m not going to drink anymore except for an occasional beer until New Years Eve!”

The Fourth of July celebrations saw many of the players hitting various spots around Sin City. “Happy Fourth of July,” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith tweeted on Sunday. “Steak dinner at aria then going to club bank at Bellagio. Should be awesome night…Vegas is packed for the weekend!” Allen Kessler seemingly made a tour of the city when he Tweeted his schedule for the day:  “3 parties tonite. First @fkassela bbq, then @twoplustwoforum forum party at aria, now at bluff party at sapphire.”

Some went for a more low-key Independence Day celebration. Tiffany Michelle included a Twitpic of her activities, adding, “What better way to spend the 4th than in the pool with your girlfriends?” Lacey Jones was reflective when she tweeted her thoughts to her followers, “If there is anything I love w my whole heart it’s our Troops. Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country proud. Happy 4th!” Finally, Kara Scott missed some of the action when she tweeted, “Watching fireworks in a cab. Can juuuuust about see through the gaps in the buildings as we drive past.”

For some over the Independence Day weekend, poker took center stage over the parties and fireworks. The “Ante Up For Africa” charity poker tournament at the WSOP had many on Twitter talking, including eventual champion Phil Gordon. “129,000 in prize money going to a worthy cause,” Phil tweeted after his win and his donation of the first place bounty. “That and a big hug from runner up Shannon Elizabeth made this a great day!” For her part, Shannon Elizabeth was pleased with her performance when she chirped, “So happy! I just got 2nd in Ante Up For Africa! I had lots of lucky hands today-& was so fun!” Annie Duke issued her heartfelt thanks to those who participated when she tweeted, “Great day for @Anteupforafrica. Raised nearly $300K. Thank you so much to everyone who played.”

In one of the more comical exchanges following Gordon’s win in the charity event, fellow Full Tilt Poker members Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch took turns razzing Gordon. After Furst offered his congratulations (“Congrats @PhilNoLimits in your first WSOP tournament win at Ante Up for Africa!”), Bloch jabbed at Gordon’s WSOP record by tweeting, “Does it count as a bracelet?” Furst stuck the knife in a bit deeper when he replied, “I think we should make him an honorary one.”

The WSOP Tournament of Champions wrapped up play on Sunday night and the Twitterscape was buzzing with activity. “Gave it my best in the TOC,” Duke tweeted upon finishing ninth. “Short stacked all day and got my money in as good as I could hope for. Thanks @WSOP for the freeroll.” Jennifer Harman was playful with her exit Tweet, saying, “I’m out 7th. The last hour I feel like I played like a goof ball. Next tourney Main Event.” Daniel Negreanu enjoyed his stay at the TOC final table, although he reported, “Just busted to Hachem. AA vs 55 flop came 652. Oh well, it was a fun tournament but in the end my cards ran out of gas.”

Once Huck Seed and Howard Lederer reached heads up play, Duke began to pay more attention to the play. Although she tried to stick with the action (“Still rooting @HowardHLederer on in TOC. No sleep till he wins!”), Duke eventually gave up, tweeting, “I’m giving up. I need to sleep. Hoping I wake up to find that @HowardHLederer won the TOC. If not Huck is a great back up! Go Bub and Huck!”

Lederer was quite prolific with his tweets as he reported the action. “Just got head up with Huck,” tweeted Howard. “I have 468 to his 342. Given his HU record, I feel like a small dog.” Howard did well for himself, forcing the action for almost two hours before busting out in second place. “Disappointed,” Lederer tweeted at the conclusion. “Huck played great and deserved to win. Thanks much to Harrah’s for the freeroll and the voters for opportunity.”

One of the things that was going on outside of the tables was players noticing the structure of this year’s Championship Event. Andy Bloch was on the case when he chirped, “Warning: when choosing main event starting day, day 1b plays on 2b and day 1c plays on 2a. WSOP has done an appalling job getting word out.” After reviewing the structure of play for the early part of the Main Event, Bloch noted, “Just looked at the main event structure sheet. Playing only 4 levels days 1-5 with a 90 minute dinner break after level 2? Seriously? To the people who decided to have dinner breaks at 4:20: what were you smoking?”

This launched further discussion from Allen Kessler and Pamela Brunson. “Wow I just found out day1a main event players can be in the event 10 days and still not cash,” Kessler tweeted. “Only playing 4 levels/day should be looked at.” Brunson thanked Bloch for his warning, tweeting, “Wow…..that’s stupid! Thanks for tweeting to let us know. I need to recheck my appointments!”

On the lighter side of poker in Twitter, it seems that Joe Reitman might need to start wearing a name tag around the Rio. “Guy on a rascal said ‘Jeff can u sign my hat?,” Reitman tweeted after once again being confused with Jeff Shulman. “Had to tell him ‘I’m not Jeff.’ He was disappointed. Could have lied. But he was on a rascal.” The always endearing Vicky Coren noted upon her arrival in Las Vegas, “Passing the blackjack area, I’d know I was in Vegas with my eyes shut. ‘Please translate for Mr. Wong: the cards must STAY ON THE TABLE.’” Finally, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin reminisced about his Fourth of July memories:  “Next year I want lawn chairs, coolers, and fireworks in the front yard. Some of my best memories are running around trees with sparklers.”

Phil Gordon Wins WSOP Ante Up for Africa Event

In a relatively subdued atmosphere compared to previous cycles, the Ante Up for Africa event at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) drew 83 players. The $5,000 charity poker tournament benefiting victims of the crisis in Darfur raised nearly $300,000.

Ante Up for Africa founders Don Cheadle and Annie Duke were the first two down the red carpet, stopping at each of the dozens of media outlets in attendance to relay why they founded the charity along with Norman Epstein. Actor Ben Affleck, one of the tournament’s leading celebrities, did not walk the red carpet due to a migraine and instead went directly to the tournament room. Among those media outlets reporting on Affleck and others in attendance were Fox 5 Las Vegas, Celebrity Update, and 888.

“Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett followed Duke and Cheadle down the red carpet around 1:00pm at the Rio in Las Vegas. At one point, the extremely tall actor stood behind the much shorter Jennifer Harman, holding her shoulders while delivering an Oscar acceptance speech as if the Full Tilt pro were a small trophy.

Other celebrities who took time to speak with the media included boxing legend Evander Holyfield, Carbon Poker pro Shannon Elizabeth, Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis, comedian David Alan Grier, and talk show host Montel Williams. Pros lending their thoughts included Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, and Rafe Furst.

With Affleck sidelined from the red carpet, fellow actor Matt Damon took up the reigns. In an exclusive video interview, Damon told Poker News Daily how he became involved with the movie “Rounders,” which turned many in the industry on to the game: “Harvey Weinstein had the script at Miramax and said, ‘I have this really great script.’ I was doing ‘Saving Private Ryan’ at the time and he sent it over to England. I read it and thought, ‘This is fantastic.’ It’s this crazy little subculture that nobody ever talks about.” Damon did not rule out the possibility of a follow-up to “Rounders,” which has been rumored to be in the works.

In the end, it was Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Gordon coming out on top in the Ante Up for Africa tournament, defeating Elizabeth heads-up. The “American Pie” actress and runner-up candidly told WSOP officials following the gala, “I wish the rest of my WSOP had gone the way this tournament went.” 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey hustled through the red carpet and did not take many interviews. Notably absent was UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth, who finished 15th in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship that took place concurrently.

Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel did not walk the red carpet, although all three participated in the event. Seidel finished in fifth place after his 8-5 could not draw out on Gordon’s Q-10. Gordon flopped top pair on a 10-high board and never looked back. Ferguson bubbled the final table, also exiting at the hands of Gordon. This time, “Jesus” held pocket twos, which failed to outrace Gordon’s K-Q of diamonds.

Gordon donated his $130,000 first place payday to Ante Up for Africa in a highly generous gesture. Gordon got the best of Elizabeth with Q-3 against K-10 after flopping a queen to seal the win. The tournament marked Elizabeth’s first in the money finish in a WSOP event in three years. Here were the final results from the 2010 running of the Ante Up for Africa event:

1. Phil Gordon – $130,641
2. Shannon Elizabeth – $80,737
3. Alex Filatov – $56,516
4. Carter “BdyBldngpkrplyr” Phillips – $41,166
5. Erik Seidel – $30,287
6. Jerome Bettis – $22,624
7. Barry Hartheimer – $18,146
8. Kyle Carlston – $15,125
9. Claire Renaut – $12,998

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest headlines from the 2010 WSOP.

Image courtesy WSOP.com

DoylesRoom Brunson 10 Candidate Dan Kelly Wins WSOP $25,000 Six-Max NLHE

In the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), six players came back on Saturday to determine a champion. Eliminated on Friday evening were favorites Carlos Mortensen (17th), Daniel Negreanu (11th), and Isaac Haxton (9th), but the final table still provided exciting action. Leading the tournament when six-handed play began was DoylesRoom Brunson 10 candidate Dan “djk123” Kelly, who held a nearly 2-1 lead over 2010 WSOP double bracelet winner Frank Kassela.

In what was the quickest final table at this year’s WSOP at 4.5 hours, Kelly was able to hold off the charge of some highly skilled pros. Eugene Katchalov was the first to depart and, while he wasn’t able to take the bracelet, Katchalov’s finish marked his fourth final table at this year’s WSOP. Eugene has banked over $500,000 for his performances over the last six weeks.

Another top player, Mikael Thuritz, was dismissed in fifth. After making the final table of the $50,000 Player’s Championship, Thuritz’s performance at this final table marked his third cash of his WSOP, with no cash lower than 13th place.

Kassela was dispatched from the final table in third place, ending what would have been a historic run at a third WSOP bracelet this year. With his finish, Kassela surged into the lead of the WSOP Player of the Year race. He currently sits with 285 points, 60 more than John Juanda and 75 more than Vladimir Shchemelev. Since only the Main Event remains, Juanda would have to finish at least third to tie Kassela; Shchemelev would have to finish second.

Canada’s Shawn Buchanan was the runner-up to Kelly, but he has to be happy with his performance at this year’s WSOP. His second place finish was his eighth cash of the year, tying him with Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler for the lead.

With the victory in Event #52, Kelly also has the chance at a very special reward. His sponsor, DoylesRoom, is currently running a battle featuring Kelly, David “Doc Sands” Sands, Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, and Michael “Martine23” Martin for the next position with the powerful Brunson 10. Whoever garners the most points in all events at the WSOP will take the seat alongside such notable young players as Amit “amak316” Makhija, Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, and Chris “moorman1” Moorman:

1. Dan “djk123” Kelly (Potomac, MD) – $1,315,518
2. Shawn Buchanan (Abootsford, British Columbia) – $812,941
3. Frank Kassela (Rossville, TN) – $556,053
4. Jason Somerville (Stony Brook, NY) – $386,125
5. Mikael Thuritz (Las Vegas, NV) – $272,084
6. Eugene Katchalov (New York, NY) – $194,559

The highly popular Ante Up for Africa charity event also played out during action on Saturday. The non-bracelet event, created by Poker News Daily guest columnist Annie Duke, acclaimed actor Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein four years ago to raise awareness about the issues in Darfur, drew in 83 players, including several top pros and many celebrities. Players such as former Main Event champion Joe Hachem, Erik Seidel, Player’s Championship winner Michael Mizrachi, and Duke joined celebrities such as talk show host Montel Williams, boxing legend Evander Holyfield, Australian footballer Shane Warne, NFL great Jerome Bettis, and “Rounders” actor Matt Damon to raise money for the cause.

Seidel and Bettis both made the final table and went out in fifth and sixth place, respectively. The final duo that battled for the championship were Carbon Poker’s Shannon Elizabeth and top pro Phil Gordon, both veterans of the Bravo poker series “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” Gordon was able to defeat Elizabeth during heads-up play and then immediately turned around and donated his winnings back to Ante Up for Africa. All totaled, the charitable tournament raised over $275,000 to support the cause that Duke and Cheadle have brought to the poker world’s attention.

1. Phil Gordon (Henderson, NV) – $129,086
2. Shannon Elizabeth (Los Angeles, CA) – $79,776
3. Aleksey Filatov (Norwood, MA) – $55,843
4. Carter Phillips (Las Vegas, NV) – $40,676
5. Erik Seidel (Las Vegas, NV) – $29,926
6. Jerome Bettis (Roswell, GA) – $22,355
7. Barry Hartheimer (New York, NY) – $17,930
8. Kyle Carlston (Henderson, NV) – $14,945
9. Claire Renaut (London, United Kingdom) – $12,843

Although the Main Event begins tomorrow, there are still four tournaments in progress. In the final $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event, David Peters leads the field into Day 3. With 47 players remaining, the final nine will be the target late this evening and the final table will play out on Monday.

The final $10,000 World Championship event (#55), Pot Limit Omaha, will determine a champion today with a staunch final table. Ludovic Lacay leads an international field that includes second place pursuer Daniel Alaei and 2007 WSOP Main Event fourth place finisher Alexander Kravchenko.

Event #56, $2,500 No Limit Hold’em, will also play deep into the night to determine a final table. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey holds a 2-1 lead over Sweden’s Christian Jeppsson when play continues this afternoon. Other notable players on the leader board include Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, Dan Shak, and Court Harrington.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2010 WSOP.

Ante Up for Africa: Phil Gordon donated $130k to charity

The WSOP $5k Ante Up For Africa charity tournament attracted 84 players from poker professionals to top athletes and movie stars to the tables.

“Beauty and the Beast”

 

Phil Gordon won the tournament and $130,641 dollars. He donated the whole sum back to charity - just like last year when he worked his way to the final table of the same tournament. In heads-up Gordon beat Shannon Elizabeth who recently signed a professional deal with CarbonPoker.

After his victory Gordon told to Pokernews that even though the tournament was not about winning a bracelet, it feels like that. Elizabeth shared Gordon’s view and hoped that her earlier WSOP tournaments would have worked out in the same way.

 

The final results:

1	Phil Gordon		$130,641
2	Shannon Elizabeth		$80,737
3	Alex Filatov		$56,516
4	Carter Phillips		$41,166
5	Erik Seidel		$30,287
6	Jerome Bettis		$22,624
7	Barry Hartheimer		$18,146
8	Kyle Carlston		$15,125
9	Claire Renaut		$12,998

Source: Pokernews and TheHendonMob

 

 

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Ante Up for Africa: Phil Gordon donated $130k to charity

Matt Damon Video Interview

Matt Damon joins us from the Ante Up for Africa event at the 2010 World Series of Poker straight from the red carpet. In this interview he is asked about the growth of the charity poker tournament as well as his beginnings in poker in the movie Rounders. He also addresses the rumor about Rounders 2 potentially being made and his enthusiasm behind that potential project.

I’m Bluffing Matt Damon! - Day 37 WSOP Recap

Once again the casino was a a hub of activity as the WSOP played out with the $10k Main Event looming ever closer.

There was so much activity that the scheduled Tournament of Champions competition had to be postponed till tomorrow.

Here's how today's action went down.

Event 52 - $25k No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max

The final six players still in contention reconvened today to finish off what they started and when an incendiary final table had blazed its way to a conclusion, Daniel "djk123" Kelly was the man left holding the bracelet and the incredible $1,315,518 first prize money.

The 21 year old American defeated Shawn Buchanan heads-up to land the bracelet, and along the way he also saw off the challenge of Player of the Year contender, the double-braceleted Frank Kassela.

"I want to win more," a hungry Kelly said afterwards, who looks like he will now become the latest addition to the group of young players known as the "Brunson 10."

Event 54 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

596 players were back in action for day 2 as the survivors of Day 1a and Day 1b met up to do battle.

A tough contest ensued and when they bagged and tagged the chips by the end of play, Sean Prendiville headed the chip counts with 47 players left.

They'll return to contend the bracelet tomorrow at 2.30 p.m..

Event 55 - $10k Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

The Pot-Limit Omaha Championship saw many stellar names left with hope of a last bracelet before the Main Event written all over their faces.

By the end, most of them had had that hope wiped clean off their visages - Devilfish, durrrr and Phil Hellmuth all crashing out.

However, Alex Kravchenko, Ludovic Lacay and Daniel Alaei are still some of the big names hunting the bracelet and the final nine players will return at 4.00 p.m. tomorrow to play to a finish.

Event 56 - $2.5k No-Limit Hold'e

The final event before the Main Event saw 1,941 hopefuls register for Day 1 in a bid to get out of it for the Series.

Only 507 made it through to Day 2 and by the time 10 levels had come and gone, this number had been reduced to 85.

They will return tomorrow at 3.00 p.m. and James Mackey is the man they will all be chasing.

Ante Up For Africa

Celebrities from all walks of life gathered together in the Rio today to show a little generosity, have a little fun and play a little poker.

Film stars like Matt Damon and Don Cheadle rubbed shoulders with the likes of retired NFL halfback Jerome Bettis and Australian cricketer Shane Warne - playing out a tournament filled with fun and laughter - and plenty of generous donations.

The final saw poker pro Phil Gordon facing off against Shannon Elizabeth, who straddles the poker and movie worlds, and she also straddled Gordon when he defeated her heads up.

Gordon was quick to donate his $130,641 winnings to the charity, commenting, "I wish the rest of my WSOP had gone the way this tournament went."

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Actors, Athletes and Amateurs Unite For Africa at WSOP

All facetiousness aside, today's $5k Ante Up For Africa tournament supports the admirable non-profit organization bearing the same name that is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need.

The tournament marks the second to last event on the 2010 WSOP calendar and has predictably drawn a crowd of celebrities, pro poker players and curious railbirds.  

Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth, David Alan Grier, Evander Holyfield and Montel Williams headline the list of celebrities who've made an appearance.

Brad Garrett, best known for his role on the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, is keeping the Pavillion Room lively with his play-by-play and one-liners.  

"Phil Gordon everyone," Garrett said introducing the poker player and announcer. "Only one person clapped for you, Phil, I think it might be your mom."

"Shannon Elizabeth, who looks great in women's clothing, is playing today," Garrett deadpanned.

Much of the buzz in the room involved Phil Ivey's early exit for the tournament. David Alan Grier took credit for the knockout. "I gave it to him right on the chin!" Grier said. "All in and all out, baby." Then Grier admitted he wasn't actually in the hand at all and has a tendency to embellish.

Crowd favorite Matt Damon has managed to stick around and double up a couple of times. One of those double ups found Damon coming from behind in the hand and rivering a full house on his opponent. "That's what happens when you're Matt Damon, ladies and gentleman," Garrett quipped. "If you're Brad Garrett, then you're in a cab by now."

Players can donate whatever portion of their earnings they choose to charity, but at least 50% is standard. Last year John Hennigan won the tournament and donated all of his winnings to charity. Upon recognizing Hennigan for last year's donation, Garrett was overcome with kindness. "I'm going to kiss Howard Lederer because of your generosity," Garrett said before making good on his act of man love.

There were 80 players who put up the $5k buy in for today's event. Annie Duke, Phil Ivey and Montel Williams were some of the first players to be knocked out.

More information on the charity led by Cheadle and Duke is available at http://anteupforafrica.org.

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UB.com July Second Sundays to Benefit Crystal King Foundation

This month’s running of the UB.com Second Sundays charity poker tournament will donate its funds to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation. The $10 buy-in tournament will pan out at 14:45 ET on July 11th and former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, a member of Team UB, will host.

UB.com will match all of the proceeds raised from the tournament and then donate the entire prize pool to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation. In addition, those who play will be in the running for over $2,000 in added prizes.

What is the Crystal King Benefit Foundation, you ask? The fund came about when mother Crystal King and her three-year-old twins Camrea-Rose and Caden were involved in a major traffic incident two months ago. Caden died in the wreck with a semi, while Camrea-Rose and Crystal survived, albeit with a multitude of life threatening injuries. UB.com got wind of the family’s plight through PokerRoad.com and PokerPlayersUnite.org and decided to get involved.

Michelle, who has traveled the world as part of her participation in “Amazing Race,” commented in a press release distributed by UB.com on why she chose to host July’s event: “There is a lot of money thrown around in poker on a regular basis and it’s causes like this and the ability to help that make what I do for a living worthwhile. I’ve seen first hand the emotional and financial stress that comes from awful accidents like this one. Being a friend or bystander, it’s hard not to feel completely helpless. This is such a significant way to lend a hand.”

The top 10 on the leaderboard in July 11th’s running of the Second Sundays event will walk away with prizes. In addition to helping out a cause near and dear to Michelle’s heart, participants will also be vying for entries into UB.com’s $200,000 Guaranteed weekly flagship event and a wireless poker controller. The player who eliminates Michelle from the charity event will claim a $66 ticket to the UB.com $7,000 Guaranteed, redeemable at 21:30 ET the same day as the Crystal King Benefit Foundation tournament.

PokerRoad personality and UB.com pro Joe Sebok hosted the June Second Sundays tournament, which resulted in nearly $5,700 being raised for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association. The player who knocked Sebok out, “Bob5Bob,” claimed the $66 bounty and promptly took third in the $7,000 Guaranteed for $800 – not a bad way to spend an evening. A total of 284 players bought in.

For those who don’t have time to partake in a multi-table tournament, but still want to donate to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation, funds are being accepted through the UB.com player account “CHARITIES.” The account has a first name of “Charity.” Members of Absolute Poker, which makes its home on the USA-friendly CEREUS Network alongside UB.com, can also participate in the Second Sundays fundraising efforts.

The inaugural Second Sundays event took place in March and benefited the San Antonio Aids Foundation. UB.com and Absolute Poker happily accept real money action from the United States. Besides Michelle and Sebok, UB.com pros include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann.

Barry Greenstein Interview with Bernard Lee

The Hijack Seat with Bernard Lee hosts Barry Greenstein, who is asked some great questions from none other than Bernard Lee. Greenstein is one of the most popular professional poker players around and addresses that fact when asked about the upcoming World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions event. He also answers hot-button questions like who he’d like to go toe-to-toe with for the WSOP Main Event if he ever got heads-up and which poker games he feels like he has the biggest edge in.

Greenstein is known as the “Robin Hood of Poker” and also signs over a copy of his book “Ace on the River” to anyone that busts him from a tournament. His work for charity is well documented throughout his career and is considered one of the best all around poker players in the game, whether it be in a tournament or cash game across many different poker disciplines.

Bernard Lee is the host of “The Hijack Seat” and guest columnist here at Poker News Daily. He is also co-host of ESPN’s Inside Deal and the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino.

Sigurd Eskeland Captures First World Series of Poker Bracelet

Norway’s Sigurd Eskeland earned his first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet on Tuesday morning, defeating Steve Sung heads-up in the $2,500 Mixed Event.  The former school teacher won $260,497 in his third career WSOP cash.

The Mixed Event features eight different games: No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, Stud 8/b, and 2-7 Triple Draw.  Day 3 began with 20 players still remaining and Eskeland had a ways to go, sitting in 12th place.  Aside from the chip leader, Nikolai Yakovenko, who had 310,000 chips, it was a fairly tightly grouped field.

Eskeland waited patiently through several eliminations before surging into the chip lead thanks to a series of double-ups.  After eliminating Alex Wice in third place, Eskeland went into heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Sung.  He expanded his lead quickly, but after about 40 minutes, Sung had pulled to even and looked like he was poised to make a run at the bracelet when he took the lead shortly thereafter.

Sung’s lead didn’t last long, though, and just over two hours into the heads-up match, he had all of his chips in the middle in a No Limit Hold’em round with Qd-Qs against Eskeland’s Ac-9s.  The flop was harmless – 3d-9c-4c – and it looked like Sung still just needed to dodge an ace to double-up.  The Jc on the turn gave Eskeland a flush draw, though, and the river was heartbreaker for Sung: 2c.  That brought Eskeland a flush and the title.

2010 WSOP Event #48 $2,500 Mixed – Final Table Results

1. Sigurd Eskeland – $260,497
2. Steve Sung – $160,952
3. Alexander Wice – $102,314
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – $73,776
5. Stephen Su – $54,032
6. Scott Seiver – $40,175
7. Jared Jaffee – $30,319
8. Kirill Rabtsov – $23,223

Elsewhere around the Rio, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) wrapped up Day 2, albeit behind schedule.  The plan was to play Day 1 last Sunday and Day 2 on Monday, at which point the final nine players would be determined.  Play would then resume on July 4th.  However, after Monday’s action, there were still 17 players left.  Therefore, WSOP officials decided to bring everyone back on July 3rd to play down to the final table, which will still be played on July 4th.  The schedule may be modified even further, though.  There are two events taking place on July 3rd – the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the $25,000 Six-Max – so there is a chance that one or more of the TOC players will already be playing in an event.  If that is the case, the TOC will resume on July 4th at 9:00am so that there is enough time to determine a champion.  Here is a look at the current standings:

1. Mike Matusow – 85,500
2. Huck Seed – 73,000
3. Johnny Chan – 68,600
4. Scotty Nguyen – 64,700
5. Joe Hachem – 64,300
6. Erik Seidel – 58,900
7. Allen Cunningham – 58,900
8. Phil Hellmuth – 44,100
9. Annie Duke – 42,600
10. Daniel Negreanu – 39,900
11. T.J. Cloutier – 38,800
12. Jennifer Harman – 34,200
13. Howard Lederer – 30,800
14. Chris Ferguson – 30,100
15. Barry Greenstein – 29,900
16. Antonio Esfandiari – 24,400
17. Bertrand Grospellier – 21,400

There were three other tournaments running on a busy day at the Rio on Monday.  Event #47, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, completed its second day with just 33 of the original 3,128 players remaining.  Manuel Davidian tops the field with 889,000 chips, 176,000 more than his next closest competitor, Adam White.  Of note is recent bracelet winner Scott Montgomery, who in 24th place is gunning for his second win of the 2010 WSOP.  Here is what the top ten looks like:

1. Manuel Davidian – $889,000
2. Adam White – $713,000
3. Jason Riesenberg – $635,000
4. Owen Crowe – $607,000
5. Justin Young – $449,000
6. Laurence Stein – $442,000
7. Paulus Valkenburg – $439,000
8. Pekka Ikonen – $435,000
9. Shawn Busse – $432,000
10. Olivier Busquet – $377,000

Event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, is entering its second day with 315 of 2,543 players remaining, so the field is still 45 players away from the money.  Giuseppe Zarbo leads the chase to the $609,493 first prize with 156,500 chips.  Other players of note are still alive, including George “Jorj95″ Lind III (96,400), David “The Dragon” Pham (83,300), J.P. Kelly (61,600), Mark Gregorich (55,600), Shane Schleger (54,800), Liv Boeree (43,400), Roland de Wolfe (38,400), Matt Matros (36,600), and Andy Bloch (35,000).  Play will resume at 2:30pm local time.

Finally, Event #50, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, also concluded its first day.  Almost half of the original 460-player field is still alive, so it is a long way until the cash bubble bursts.  Kevin Schaffel, a member of last year’s November Nine, leads all players with 178,900 chips.  Also among the leaders are Jarred Solomon, who just made the final table of the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event, 2005 Main Event final tablist and this year’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha champ John “Tex” Barch, 2010 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8/b runner-up Dan Shak, and inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad.  First place pays over $500,000.  The players will be back at 3:00pm local time to continue their quest for a bracelet.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more updates from the 2010 World Series of Poker.

PPA Urges Online Poker Regulation on AmericaSpeakingOut.com

On Monday, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) issued an action alert to its one-million members authored by 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Greg Raymer. The alert calls for support of the PPA’s efforts to legalize and regulate online poker in the United States on AmericaSpeakingOut.com.

The Republican-oriented website, according to Raymer’s e-mail, focuses “on how to continue to make this great nation prosper. I believe we shouldn’t pass up this unique opportunity to share our message of personal freedom and liberty with these members of Congress.” Raymer’s call for support of HR 2267 (Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act) and S 1597 (Internet Poker and Game of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act) has received 75 responses and 742 votes at the time of writing.

Raymer’s plea posted on AmericaSpeakingOut.com reads in part, “In your fight to defend liberty, please protect my right to play poker. In 2006, Congress passed an ill-conceived law that seeks to restrict me from playing poker with other adults over the internet. This misguided prohibition has been a total failure and does nothing to provide necessary consumer protections.” The “ill-conceived law” in question is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), whose compliance deadline came and went on June 1st. Now, banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions must fall into line with the 2006 measure.

In order to support Raymer’s initiative and push Republican leaders to reconsider their stance on internet poker, players are encouraged to create an account to vote, which requires an e-mail, username, password, postal code, and avatar. Then, they’ll be asked to confirm a registration e-mail sent to their address. Finally, they can visit Raymer’s post on AmericaSpeakingOut.com and vote “Thumbs Up” on the issue.

Among those who have provided comments are PPA Kentucky State Director Rich “TheEngineer” Muny and “keithcolton1946,” who remarked, “The government shouldn’t be able to tell me what recreational activities I can spend my own money on after taking their share of my paycheck. This is ridiculous.” The issue has received a total of 742 votes, the overwhelming majority of which support the idea.

In a hearing last month in the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) HR 4976, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, took center stage. Serving as a witness in the hearing was Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), who revealed that HR 2267 would be marked up in July in the House Financial Services Committee. However, no date has been scheduled.

HR 2267, which establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for the internet gambling industry in the United States, boasts 69 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle since its introduction in May 2009. However, only six new lawmakers have signed on in 2010. Moreover, general elections in the United States, during which all members of the House of Representatives must run, will likely take a considerable amount of steam away from the internet gambling issue.

Raymer has been a workhorse for the PPA, appearing at a number of charity poker tournaments and other fundraising events putting his trademark “Fossilman” persona to good use on behalf of the industry. A patent attorney, Raymer defeated recent World Poker Tour Championship winner David Williams in the 2004 Main Event and banked $5 million, double what Chris Moneymaker collected the previous year. Raymer is a sponsored pro of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site.

The PPA is based in Washington, D.C. and features former three-term Republican Senator from New York Alfonse D’Amato as its Chairman. Check back with Poker News Daily for the latest poker legislation news.

Dennis Phillips Interview Part 2 of 2 with Bernard Lee

Dennis Phillips finished third in the World Series of Poker Main Event and backed up his finish by placing 45th in the Main Event the very next year. He’s a member of Team PokerStars Pro and is known for his amazing charity work. In this final piece of his interview with Bernard Lee, Phillips talks about his charity work in his hometown of St. Louis as well as his friendship with baseball superstar Albert Pujols.

If you missed the first part of the interview, you can watch the first half here.

Bernard Lee is a guest columnist here at Poker News Daily as well as the co-host of ESPN’s “Inside Deal” and the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino in the United States.

Phil Hellmuth Interview – Part 3 of 4

In this third piece of our four part series with Phil Hellmuth, host Sean Gibson talks about deeper meaning in life behind poker and what makes Hellmuth tick away from the tables. The answers about the details of his charity work might surprise you, as well as his candid answers about whose advice he took 20 years ago about lasting in the game.

If you missed it, you can watch part 1 and part 2 to catch up.

Phil Hellmuth, also known as the Poker Brat, is an official sponsored pro and spokesperson for UB.com and has won a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets.

Phil Hellmuth Interview – Part 1 of 4

Phil Hellmuth gives Poker News Daily exclusive access to his Las Vegas hotel suite and provides an intimate look into perhaps the biggest name in the entire industry of poker. Interviewed by Daily Deal host Sean Gibson, the two spent twenty minutes talking about Hellmuth’s current mental state and where his game is right now at the World Series of Poker as well as other personal topics such as the importance of family and charity work. Filmed just before Time Magazine arrived to shoot him for a story for their magazine, Hellmuth offers a rare interview and look into one of the most talked about players in poker history.

Hellmuth is considered the greatest live tournament No Limit Hold’em player of all time and currently has 11 bracelets to his name. There is no more polarizing figure in the game, with fans both loving and hating him at the same time, with his draw when he makes a big run undeniable.

This particular video is part one of a four part series.

Linda Johnson WSOP Ladies Event Speech

Linda Johnson celebrates the 30th anniversary of her pioneering efforts of being one of the very few women that participated in the World Series of Poker. We were on hand at the start of Event #22, the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Ladies Event, which Johnson gave the keynote speech to just before play was to begin and delivered the official “Shuffle Up and Deal” to the over one thousand ladies who registered for the event. WSOP commissioner Jack Effel introduced Johnson and talked about some of her many amazing accomplishments before she took the WSOP podium at the Brasilia room where the ladies event was taking place. During her emotional speech, Johnson discussed what it was like being one of the first women to play poker for a living in Vegas and how she became a poker pro. She also talks about the World Series of Poker’s humble beginnings, including exactly where in Binion’s Casino it use to take place, which got some laughs out of the thousands in attendance.

Linda Johnson is one of the most recognized ambassadors for the game of poker and in 1997, won a WSOP bracelet by taking down the $1500 Seven-Card Razz event. She provides a guest column here at Poker News Daily and is known as ‘The First Lady of Poker’. She played a pivotal role in creating the Tournament Directors Association (TDA), which sets common rules for tournament organizations such as the World Poker Tour, and serves on its Board of Directors.

Johnson also helped found PokerGives.org along with Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and Mike Sexton. The charity raises funds through the poker world to be donated to mainstream charities like the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, the Special Olympics, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Step by Step. She received the Brian Saltus Award for her class, dignity, and courage at the poker table. In 2008, she was a charter inductee into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.

Annie Duke Kicks off the 2010 WSOP

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Tell us how you’re feeling headed into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas?

Annie Duke: I’m feeling pretty good. I really want another bracelet, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m physically good and mentally ready. I have a big confidence boost from the way my year started and I think I have a really good mindset.

PND: How are you preparing for the tournament series?

Annie Duke: I just go and do it. The way I live my life is a constant preparation for it. A lot of people will go on a health kick during the WSOP, but I’m always working out and eating healthy. It’s such a long haul that being physically healthy is the most important factor of success.

PND: How do you think women will fare in this year’s WSOP?

Annie Duke: The best chance will be in the Champions Invitational. I’ll be in it and Jennifer Harman will probably be in the top 20 too. That’s going to be the best chance for a woman to win. However, the numbers are against it. I’d like to see women win bracelets, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Women are 3% of the field in many events.

PND: You’re an automatic entry into the WSOP Tournament of Champions since you won the event in 2004. Who else would you like to see in the field?

Annie Duke: I definitely want to see my brother (Howard Lederer) and Erik Seidel in it for sure. Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu should be in it. Having a legacy is important to be in that event. Other people might look at it and say that people who are hot right now should be in it, but the title is Tournament of Champions.

PND: You recently anchored a charity poker tournament for After School All-Stars. How did the event go?

Annie Duke: I was really happy with it. Brad Garrett came out for it and so did Ali Nejad. David “Chino” Rheem made the final table and we had some good pros there. One of my students from the WSOP Academy came in second. Matt Savage came out and played and Tiffany Michelle was there too. The charity was over the moon in terms of being happy, so I was excited to support that cause. It’s an awesome foundation. UB.com was incredibly supportive of the event and donated a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat.

PND: Your Twitter feed was filled with comments about the finales of “American Idol” and “Lost.” Give us your thoughts.

Annie Duke: I was definitely disappointed by the “Lost” finale. The ending really made me mad because it didn’t answer any questions. I get it: the island was real. All of those events happened. What is the island, though? You still don’t know. You don’t know what the smoke monster was. It didn’t answer anything about the parallel universe. Why was it about their personal journeys if they were all just there to show Jack the door?

It certainly didn’t explain why the plane crashed there. It didn’t explain why they had to come back to the island. Why did they start time traveling? What they did was wrap up one character’s story.

PND: We’re sure you watched the National Heads-Up Poker Championship play out on NBC. What are your thoughts on how you played now that you’ve seen the hole cards?

Annie Duke: I was very happy with how I played against Dennis Phillips. In the beginning, I made some missteps, but I knew that before I watched. I think I adjusted very well. With Erik Seidel, it’s what I expected. On the whole, I played better than him in the first match, but not as much as he outdid me in the second match. He played amazingly well in the second match.

Given the way he was playing, there was only one way to counter that, which was to let the blinds get high and play some pushy poker. In the third match, my Q-9 push was an auto-push and I got lucky there. In the second and third matches, I really was never connecting with the board. That makes a big difference against someone as good as Erik. If neither of us is connecting with the board, he’s clearly going to win.

PND: What makes Erik Seidel such a top-notch player?

Annie Duke: One of my strengths is playing in position heads-up. He’s so good out of position. He’s so good at taking your position away. I didn’t play anyone before him that took my position away from me. He was doing things like check-calling and leading he river and it’s hard to defend against that.

I started limping the button more and keeping the pots a lot smaller. I also started making my plays later. I made the play with 8-4 and the re-raise play with A-9. I had to find those spots where I could get the last raise in and didn’t feel like he could bluff me. Had I connected with the board, it would have been a different story.

PND: You’re leading a few classes at the Rio as part of the WSOP Academy. Tell our readers what they can expect.

Annie Duke: I’m doing a ladies’ session and a two-day WSOP primer. We’ll be talking about pre-flop strategies and spending a lot of time on all-in situations, meaning how do you decide whether to push all-in and call all-ins. Those situations come up all the time in tournaments. That’s so important to understanding how to win in tournaments.

Deeb’s WSOP Stunt Sparks Gender Equality Debate

Las Vegas pro Shaun Deeb headlined the handful of men who registered for the event, making a splash with his drag ensemble.

Now, poker pros are debating whether he was right or wrong for entering the tournament. 

Female entrants had mixed reactions to the unexpectedly coed field. Some were amused, others offended. Poker pro and ladies' event participant Liv Boeree is reportedly the person who helped Deeb with his cross dressing. While other players such as Allyn Shulman let it be known that they were not amused.  

Deeb claims in a YouTube video statement that the makeup and female clothing he wore was the result of a lost prop bet, and that he went and changed clothes during the break after becoming aware that it was offending some of the players.

WSOP tournament officials were not impressed with the male registrants' stunt, first trying to discourage them from entering, and then promising sanctions against the players who went ahead and played-possibly in the form of a suspension or outright ban from WSOP events.

Now the debate over the merits of the Ladies Event has spread like wildfire.

Deeb has taken his case to internet, claiming that he entered the event with the intention of donating his winnings to a women's charity, and that he only registered to take stand against gender inequality at the WSOP.

Not everyone is buying that argument.

"Men have had it pretty good, so whining about sexual equality as a man is a pretty lame excuse to take part in a ladies event," Daniel Negreanu wrote in his blog. "It's beyond lame, it's just plain foolish. You aren't fighting for men's rights, or women's right for that matter, you are just being an ass."

Others have voiced their support for Deeb and the other men. "Obviously if Deeb was playing for charity he couldn't be playing for personal monetary gain," Annie Duke wrote via Twitter. "So it's unfair to criticize him for that."

Duke has long boycotted the ladies event on the grounds that it's counterproductive for women who are trying to garner the same respect as their male counterparts. "I just don't agree with the event," Duke went on to say. "I think it discourages women from playing the open events, personally."

Some, including Deeb, have suggested replacing the Ladies Event with a beginner's event, which would serve the same purpose of bringing new players into the WSOP but not preclude anyone from entering based on gender.

For now, the debate rages on. Is Deeb a freedom fighter or just an ass?

Harrah's and WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky did not have any further comment on the matter when asked for his reaction to Deeb's YouTube statement. "That's over," he said. "I don't want to give the guy any more publicity." Palansky said the WSOP would make an announcement if and when punishments are handed out.

 

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Shaun Deeb, David Sesso Among WSOP Ladies Event Entrants

Whether for charity or not, male poker players Shaun Deeb and David “Blue Knight1” Sesso were among the entrants for the $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP). However, their involvement caused quite a stir across the poker world as Event #22 kicked off.

Among those Tweeting about the involvement of several male players in the Ladies only event was UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who remarked, “I love how all the ladies get so done up for the ladies event, but no one looks as good as @ShaunDeeb.” Also painting a picture of the scene for those not camped out at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was former “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok: “In the main poker pavilion at WSOP. Man, these ladies realllllly hate the dudes that played the event.”

Also weighing in was PokerStars sponsored pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, who commented via her Twitter feed on Friday, “I see 6 guys playing the ladies event. I don’t mind too much, won’t make me play different, but the ladies are very upset.” Elsewhere in the Las Vegas casino, Absolute Poker sponsored pro Trishelle Cannatella noted, “They just made an announcement at #WSOP apologizing for the guys playing in the ladies event. One guy has full on drag. Amazing.”

Deeb is one of the top tournament pros in the game, although he announced his retirement earlier this year. However, he turned out in full on drag to the $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship purportedly in the name of charity. Deeb’s Twitter feed asserted, “Playing the ladies event. Liv [Boeree] dressed me and gave me makeup. New Photoshop thread will form from these photos.” Deeb was sent packing just before the dinner break much to the delight of the women in attendance after his A-J could not draw out on Niago Wilson’s wired pair of nines. Deeb gave $100 to Wilson as a bounty and exited the field.

Two males outlasted Deeb in the field. Coverage found on WSOP.com noted, “After competing a completely unscientific survey of the field, it looks as though we are down to our last two male entrants. The field has been erupting in applause whenever a male is sent to the rail. We’ll let you know when the last cheer arrives.”

Not everyone was perturbed at seeing men enter the event. UB.com pro and reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke told Poker News Daily, “I get that women would be upset, but I think it’s important for men to take that stand and also it’s for charity. It’s also making a point that poker is not like tennis. Men are not mentally stronger than we are, so it makes no sense to separate it out. If there were a men’s only event, people would be encouraging women to play.”

Early on Friday night, CardPlayer reported that one-year or lifetime bans from the WSOP may be in store for Deeb, Sesso, and other males to entered the Ladies event. When asked when the media could expect word of any sanctions, WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky told Poker News Daily, “You can report on them when they occur.” He added, “People aren’t respecting our tournaments. We have the ability to handle things any way we see fit as tournament operators.”

Among those still in the hunt for the bracelet in Event #22 at the time of writing are Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson, Bodog pro Evelyn Ng, and UB.com front woman Liv Boeree. First place will pay out $192,000.

Bertrand Grospellier (Elky) Wins WSOP Tournament of Champions Qualifier

Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier has only one cash in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a 91st place showing in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. However, he lodged an all-important win in the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier, which played out on Thursday.

The freeroll, which will air as part of the WSOP Academy’s revamped website, featured nine of the game’s top pros lacking a bracelet. Tom “durrrr” Dwan skipped the Tournament of Champions qualifier, instead electing to compete for his first WSOP bracelet. Dwan was running deep in the 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship and held the seventh largest stack after Day 1. Perhaps the millions of dollars in side bets and opportunity to snag a bracelet were enough motivation for Dwan to no-show the Tournament of Champions sit and go, which instead featured Gavin Smith.

The action kicked off around Noon PT from the Lightspeed VT Studios in Las Vegas. The first player knocked out was Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The youngster was all-in with pocket sixes against Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen’s A-3. By the river, Hansen had made a flush and the nine-handed WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier was truncated to eight.

Any Bloch was the next player ousted. The former MIT Blackjack Team member ran A-J into Smith’s pocket kings. “Iron Man 2” actor Don Cheadle, who pledged to donate any Tournament of Champions winnings to charity, followed shortly thereafter. Cheadle also fell to pocket kings, as the acclaimed actor ran pocket jacks into the superior pocket pair and couldn’t improve.

Paul Wasicka then doubled up at the expense of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi with A-J against A-Q all-in pre-flop. Then, PokerStars pro Grospellier also doubled with A-J, this time against Hansen’s A-4. The all-ins were fast and furious, as despite Dwan electing to miss the sit and go, a Twitter post made by WSOP Academy officials noted that the structure was designed to accommodate events at the Rio: “Fast structure today at the WSOPA TOC – players have WSOP events this afternoon.”

UB.com pro Liv Boeree, who took down the largest European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament outside of the Bahamas in San Remo earlier this year, busted with K-Q against Smith’s pocket nines. Smith then gave a portion of his stack to Wasicka, who doubled with pocket nines against pocket fours.

Hansen departed in fifth place from the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier after running K-9 into Mizrachi’s pocket sevens. Mizrachi then served as the executioner of Smith, whose J-9 could not draw out on A-4. The action slowed considerably three-handed, with Mizrachi, Wasicka, and Grospellier all vying for a seat in the $1 million freeroll that will air as part of ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 WSOP.

Mizrachi doubled up through Wasicka after hitting a set with pocket sixes against K-J. “The Grinder” was still on life support three-handed, only holding 9,000 chips with blinds of 600/1,200. However, Mizrachi survived to the finals after sending Wasicka to the rails with A-7 against A-6. The pot appeared to be headed for a chop, but Mizrachi spiked a seven on the river to eliminate the Victory Poker pro.

Entering heads-up play, Mizrachi held a 2:1 edge in chips, 60,800 to Grospellier’s 29,200. Ten minutes in, Grospellier quickly righted the ship and doubled up, but “The Grinder” still held a 2:1 chip lead. By the time heads-up play reached its first break, Mizrachi and Grospellier were deadlocked at 45,000 chips apiece. Grospellier ultimately opened up a 2:1 lead in chips as the blinds grew higher and the Frenchman’s aggression grew stronger.

“The Grinder” didn’t lay down a die, however, getting all of his chips into the middle with pocket fives against A-10. The wired pair held and Mizrachi was right back in the thick of it. However, Grospellier came out on top after his K-10 drew out on Mizrachi’s A-6 and earned a seat to the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions.

In case you’re wondering, the Tournament of Champions qualifier ended at 4:00pm PT, while the 2-7 Draw Lowball event began at 3:00pm.

The Tournament of Champions will feature 27 players and begin on June 27th. Then, the final nine will return to the Rio to play down to a winner on July 4th. Annie Duke, Joe Cada, Barry Shulman, Mike Sexton, and Mike Matusow all have automatic bids and 20 other players will join them based on a fan vote. The final seat will feature a U.K. player who qualified via the WSOP’s for-profit online poker site.

Howard Lederer Interview with Bernard Lee Part 2

The Hijack Seat with Bernard Lee concludes its interview with one of the legends of the game, Howard Lederer. The first part of this video can be seen here

In part one Lederer talked about Doyle Brunson’s card protector but the focus of this second half of the interview looks at Lederer himself. He talks at length about the charity he does with various other pros including Phil Gordon, Dennis Phillips and his sister, Annie Duke. He also provides a somewhat surprising answer to what his favorite game (besides No Limit Hold’em) is to play on top of some other interesting answers.

Howard Lederer is a sponsored pro at Full Tilt Poker and Bernard Lee can be found on ESPN’s Inside Deal on top of his guest columns here at Poker News Daily.

Samantha Ryan Interview with Poker News Daily

Recently, the CEREUS Network online poker room UB.com announced that it had signed adult film star Samantha Ryan to a sponsorship for the ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP). Ryan sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her new gig.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. How did you get started in poker?

Samantha Ryan: I started playing when I was in real estate, which was the last professional job I had before the adult industry. The guys I was in real estate with were also blackjack players and were making excuses to go to Las Vegas every weekend. I was sweating them and that’s when I got the itch. They taught me how to play and I started beating them.

Four years ago, I started playing online. Without playing higher stakes online, I had success here and there and final tabled a few things. I started getting back into it about a year and a half ago and am definitely looking forward to it now.

PND: We’ve noticed that you’re tight with UB.com pros Annie Duke and Tiffany Michelle. How did you come to meet them?

Samantha Ryan: Annie and I have become much better friends over the last few months. We have quite a few mutual friends. I met Annie way back when. I actually dabbled in blackjack a few years ago on a team and one of the guys was playing on the same television show as Annie. Then, I kept running into her. Over the last few months, I started playing in a lot of the charity tournaments around town and she invited me to hers.

I’ve always had great respect for Annie. She’s intelligent and a go-getter. “Celebrity Apprentice” allowed us to see how well she adapts to different situations. I sat down next to [Duke’s boyfriend] Joe Reitman in a charity tournament recently and busted him, but we were chitchatting because he had seen me around a few other events. He introduced me to Bikram, which is the kind of yoga that I do with Annie.

PND: Do you see the partnership with UB.com continuing beyond the WSOP?

Samantha Ryan: It depends on how well I do. If I were to bust out of every tournament and not cash, I don’t think it’d continue. I have to earn my own respect. I haven’t gotten lucky yet and have had a lot of bad beats so far.

PND: Talk about being a woman in a male-dominated sport like poker.

Samantha Ryan: I’ve been playing more live poker recently and have a bigger history online. I’m definitely starting to see the dynamic at the table and it’s almost a challenge to me. Everyone wants to immediately judge me, but I can probably outtalk anyone in about five minutes on any topic. People quietly underestimate me. In cards, there’s always that luck factor.

PND: How has your experience at the WSOP been so far?

Samantha Ryan: It has been a lot of fun. I’ve been around for the past few years and have been itching to play. It’s cool how the Amazon Room is the secondary room now and it’s fun to be back at the WSOP as a player. It’s something I’ve been planning to do for the past few years. I’m glad to get the jitters out of the way.

PND: You’re playing in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies Event. What are you expecting in it?

Samantha Ryan: It’s going to be a lot different and I almost prefer playing with the guys. I’m playing it because it works better with my schedule. I guess at the same time I should because I’m a lady. I don’t know if I’ll like playing with all females, but there won’t be that dynamic of being a target. There won’t be those hands where people play aggressively against me.

Phil Laak begins world record poker session attempt

Good luck to the Unabomber – he has begun his world record attempt to try and unseat Paul Zimbler from the top spot. Zimbler played for 78 hours solid late last year in order to raise money for charity and Laak has stated he will be supporting Camp Sunshine.

UB.com Holding WSOP Main Event 25 Seat Guarantee on Sunday

On Sunday, June 6th, the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network site UB.com will come alive with a special 25-Seat Guarantee to send players to the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The tournament begins promptly at 4:00pm ET and comes with a price tag of $530.

The cost to get into the Main Event in Las Vegas, which last year featured a top prize of $8.5 million, is $10,000, making Saturday’s tournament on UB.com quite a bargain. The packages are each worth $12,000 and qualifiers for the $530 buy-in event begin at $11. The tournament on June 6th serves as a prelude to a massive 50-Seat Guarantee two weeks later, which comes with the same $530 price tag. The 50-Seat Guarantee, which will play out on June 20th, also begins at 4:00pm ET on UB.com.

The 25 players who qualify for the 2010 WSOP Main Event this weekend will be eligible to reap the benefits of UB.com’s “Show Up, Get Paid” promotion. The USA-friendly online poker site will pump money into a central prize pool based on the number of players who qualify through UB.com and turn out to the Nevada desert. Up to $5,000 per player can be added.

Three-quarters of the “Show Up, Get Paid” prize pool will be divided equally among players who take to the felts of the Main Event donning UB.com gear. The other 25% will be divided among players who cash in poker’s most prestigious tournament. If nobody who qualifies through UB.com cashes, then the entire prize pool will be distributed to those who turn out. At the time of writing, 74 players have qualified, meaning that the jackpot stands at $370,000 assuming every player headed to Las Vegas.

Players who have qualified through UB.com for the Main Event are featured on its website. Several notable names grace the list, including Jeremy “thechemist83” Gaubert, who hails from Louisiana. Also winning his way in through the CEREUS Network is Jeff “HB_HITMAN” Anderson. Other players who have qualified for the 2010 WSOP Main Event through UB.com include Dave “doubledave22” D’Alesandro, Darren “darrenelias” Elias, and Jason “JaspudUF” Lee, who recently played poker with George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” alongside Annie Duke, Phill Hellmuth, and Full Tilt pro Steve Begleiter.

In other CEREUS Network news, the June 13th installment of “Second Sundays” will feature a $10 charity poker tournament benefiting the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association. Former “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok will serve as the event’s host and UB.com will match all funds raised. The entire prize pool plus the matched donations will go to charity.

Sebok was looking forward to the opportunity to give back to the community. The PokerRoad personality commented in a press release, “There is nothing more amazing than being able to give back and help support causes that work to defeat a disease like Tay-Sachs. Anything done to benefit those stricken with it and their families I consider a privilege.”

Prizes for participants will include $200,000 Guaranteed seats (valued at $215 each) to the top 10 finishers. The champion of the Second Sunday tournament also takes home a UB.com swag bag valued at $100. Players who want to donate, but are unable to set aside time for a full-scale tournament can send money to the player account “CHARITIES” on UB.com. The first name for the account is, appropriately, “CHARITY.”

The CEREUS Network’s Second Sunday events take place on the second Sunday of every month. Visit UB.com and Absolute Poker for more details.

Brian Townsend Steps Down as CardRunners Lead Instructor

First Cole South, now Brian Townsend. On his blog posted on Wednesday, Townsend revealed that he’d be stepping down as the lead instructor of the popular poker training site CardRunners. Instead, he outlined his new role: “I will still be around in the capacity that I was before I joined CardRunners as a lead instructor. You can find me in the forums participating in discussion as well as watching the videos.”

Townsend joined CardRunners in 2007 and, since then, has helped grow the site into one of the market leaders. Townsend told his blog readers that two more videos are in the works for June: the end of his $50/$100 heads-up match against fellow online poker player “Urnotindanger2” and a Pot Limit Omaha theory discussion with Tom “LearnedFromTV” Chambers.

Why would Townsend vacate a prominent role with CardRunners? He explained that a focus on poker might be to blame: “CardRunners is still a great business, but it is one that is much more time consuming than I would have imagined. I value the friendships I have created here immensely, but over the previous months, I have started to realize that it is time for me to move on and devote my time to playing poker.” In addition to departing from his role with CardRunners, Townsend will no longer be a Full Tilt Red Pro.

In April, Cole “cts” South announced that he was leaving CardRunners to play poker and complete his degree. South admitted that he was “spread too thin,” telling readers in a blog posted on CardRunners’ website, “In the past year I have, at the same time, been a full-time student, a professional poker player, and an owner/instructor of a poker training site, and I’ve found myself spread too thin.” Additionally, South divested himself of ownership in the training site.

Townsend has had his share of run-ins with Full Tilt that have caused his Red Pro status to be suspended. His most recent violation came in December, when Townsend acquired 30,000 hands involving the mystery Swedish online poker pro “Isildur1.” He added his acquired hands to his existing stash of 20,000, which is a violation of Full Tilt Poker’s Terms of Service. Accordingly, Townsend’s Red Pro status was suspended for one month.

The allegations involving “Isildur1” came after fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings took the Swede for over $3 million earlier in the month. However, Hastings told ESPN reporter Gary Wise, “Obviously I’m happy and I’ll take it, but Brian [Townsend] did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I’m very thankful to him and to Cole as well.” Hastings’ comments led to the admission by Townsend of violating Full Tilt’s Terms of Service.

In 2008, Townsend admitted to multi-accounting on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. On the latter site, Townsend logged in under the user names “aba20” and “makersmark66.” On Full Tilt Poker, Townsend hit the felts under his Red Pro name of “Brian Townsend” and as “Stellarnebula.” Full Tilt suspended his Red Pro status for six months and Townsend agreed to donate $25,000 to charity.

Townsend was not listed as a CardRunners Red Pro on Full Tilt’s website at the time of writing. The remaining CardRunners Red Pros are Isaac Baron, David Benefield, Taylor Caby, Ryan Daut, Hastings, Eric Liu, Mike McDonald, Haseeb Qureshi, Mike Schneider, and Andrew Wiggins. Despite leaving CardRunners, South is still listed as a Full Tilt pro.

Recently, CardRunners merged its StoxPoker brand after site namesake Nick “StoxTrader” Grudzien parted ways with the company. Shortly thereafter, CardRunners launched a brand new website.

Read Townsend’s CardRunners blog.

June 1st – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal: will the UIGEA be implemented today? Who’s ahead at the WSOP Players Championship? Also, Phil Ivey joins the World Series of Good and promotes his own charitable foundation.

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

The big question today is: will the UIGEA be enforced, and how will it affect online poker? Barring a last-minute breakthrough by the Poker Players Alliance, the U.S. Treasury or the Federal Reserve, the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act should go into effect today. It has yet to be determined how it will affect online players, although some affiliates have already noticed that wire transfer minimums from major sites have increased in recent months. PPA Executive Director John Pappas has an optimistic outlook on the situation:

“We don’t expect [June 1st] to be a doomsday scenario for online poker. To be clear, it is not going to be unlawful for you, the poker player, to play internet poker.”

Let’s hope he is right. And for the record I logged into UB.com, Stars, Full Tilt and Cake this morning just fine.

Well, it’s finally here – the start of the World Series of Poker 2010. One hundred and sixteen players ponied up FIFTY thousand dollars to compete for the Chip Reese trophy and the WSOP Player’s Championship – arguably the highest honor in poker. Heading into Tuesday’s action, Robert Mizrachi is the chip leader. Oddly enough his brother Michael Mizrachi, who was just in the news for being completely broke and having assets seized, is in fifth place! I suppose this means someone’s happy his horse is doing well. One point five million dollars will be given to the winner and the tournament will air on ESPN. We’ll have more recaps on WSOP events right here on the Daily Deal tomorrow as events are played out.

The most feared man in poker reveals his soft side: Phil Ivey has confirmed his support to the charitable World Series of Good. Ivey pledged to give poker training to a player whose entire Main Event winnings will be donated to charity. Backed by Andy Bloch and Rafe Furst, the WSOG’s efforts seem to be on the right track. To date, almost twenty five percent of the ten thousand dollars needed to buy into this year’s Main Event has been raised.

Besides aiding the WSOG’s causes, Ivey hopes to raise awareness of his personal charitable drive. The Budding Ivey Foundation was founded by the poker pro and his mother, and it’s named after Ivey’s grandfather Leonard “Bud” Simmons. The foundation’s mission statement is “Providing educational opportunities to empower at-risk children.” The Budding Ivey Foundation’s achievements to date include donating over twenty five hundred books and raising over a quarter million dollars through charity tournaments. Whatever Ivey does, he does well.

Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. This is Sean Gibson, good luck on the flop!

UB.com Signs Adult Entertainer Samantha Ryan to Sponsorship Deal

Prior to the start of this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), UB.com announced an expansion to its sponsored players roster, signing adult entertainer Samantha Ryan to a limited contract.

While Ryan has no cashes in the tournament poker world, she has been involved with the game for the past couple of years. During the 2008 WSOP, Ryan joined poker professional Maria Ho in cheering on Tiffany Michelle to her 17th place finish in the $10,000 Main Event. Most recently, Ryan has played in many charity events, including current National Heads-Up Poker champion and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke’s recent tournament benefiting the After School All Stars at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Ryan now joins Michelle and Duke on Team UB, which features some of the top players in the game today.

Led by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Team UB also features Duke, recent European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champion Liv Boeree, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, and Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, among others. UB.com has demonstrated that it looks outside the “poker” box with its sponsorships, as Anthrax’s Scott Ian a member of Team UB who frequently participates in tournaments on the site.

Ryan is one of the most decorated adult entertainers in the business. She has won at least one AVN Award – the adult film industry’s version of the Academy Awards – in each of the last four years and has appeared in approximately 140 films. Some of her more innocently titled features include “War of the Girls,” “All By Myself,” and “French Confessions.”

Apparently, the UB.com deal has been in the works for at least the last couple of weeks. Ryan, Ho, and Michelle are close friends who Tweet continuously and the possibility of a sponsorship deal was first discussed by Ryan. Back on May 25th, she responded to a fan’s question of whether she would be in attendance at the WSOP by Tweeting, “I’ll be around 4 sure! Not sure about WSOP events.”

Three days later, Ryan excitedly announced over her Twitter feed, “So it’s official! I WILL be playing in 5-6 WSOP Events sponsored by @ultimate_bet! A million thanks @RealAnnieDuke! C my fans there!” According to Ryan, her first event will be Friday’s $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #11 on the 2010 WSOP schedule.

So far, UB.com sponsored players have joined in every event played at the WSOP. Hellmuth ran deep in the $50,000 Player’s Championship, albeit missing the money. “I’m out,” Hellmuth commented on Twitter after his departure, “I deserved so so so much better. Stunning, & scary how bad I ran! I wanted it so bad & I played so hard. Feeling srry 4 myself.” \Michelle has also been in action in Event #3, a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but was dismissed early on Day 1B.

Joining Michelle in action for Event #3 was UB.com’s Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. The tournament will restart at 3:00pm PT this afternoon with the final 41 players. Baldwin currently sits in eighth place with a chip stack of 479,000 and is looking to earn his second WSOP bracelet in as many years.

Phil Ivey Joins World Series of Good, Supports Budding Ivey Foundation

Earlier this month, Poker News Daily reported on the efforts of Michael Karnjanaprakorn, an entrepreneur from New York who is looking to raise his buy-in for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event from contributors, with any winnings given to charitable causes. Through his World Series of Good, Karnjanaprakorn has enlisted many of the top players in the game to join him in contributing to their pet charities.

Last week, KickStarter – the site Karnjanaprakorn is using in his charitable drive – announced that 2009 WSOP Main Event final table player Phil Ivey has joined the fray. Ivey, who captured two bracelets on his way to the Main Event final table last year, will be coaching Karnjanaprakorn in preparation for his Main Event drive along with UB.com pro Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker’s Andy Bloch, and Rafe Furst. Ivey will also be promoting his personal charitable cause, the Budding Ivey Foundation, through the efforts of the World Series of Good.

Ivey created the Budding Ivey Foundation two years ago to continue the philanthropic goals that his grandfather, the late Leonard “Bud” Simmons, pursued throughout his life. Along with his mother, Ivey continues to promote many of the charitable ideals that his grandfather had advocated for. The mission statement for the Budding Ivey Foundation is “Providing educational opportunities to empower at-risk children.”

The organization has given greatly to the community in an attempt to reach the goals inspired by Ivey’s grandfather. The Budding Ivey Foundation has been instrumental in organizing major book drives, donating over 2,500 books to children in New Jersey and Las Vegas. The foundation has also stepped up to help the homeless, contributing 1,200 meals to the roughly 4000/5000 feed program in Las Vegas.

2009 beneficiaries of the Budding Ivey Foundation include the Roselle, New Jersey Pop Warner leagues, the Roselle Back to School Book Jam, Junior Achievement of New Jersey, Spread the Word Nevada, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, and the Be Pure/No More Tears Feeding Program.

In 2008, the Budding Ivey Foundation held a charitable poker tournament and barbecue that raised $260,000. These funds were dispersed to charities such as a re-development project in New Jersey, Empowered to Excel, Living Waters, Northern Educational Services, and the 4,000/5,000 Feeding Program.

Karnjanaprakorn’s World Series of Good efforts are proceeding well. With 35 days to go to the start of the Main Event, Karnjanaprakorn has raised approximately 25% of the $10,000 buy-in, with 32 backers contributing amounts ranging from $5 to $250 through KickStarter.

The charitable causes that Karnjanaprakorn will donate any WSOP winnings to include a charter school beset by embezzlement, the Langston Hughes Academy in Louisiana, Bad Beat on Cancer, Ante Up for Africa, and CharityWater.org, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Players such as Bloch, Furst, and Daniel Horowitz have also pledged to donate to various causes.