Poker News

PokerStars amfAR Charity Poker Tournament Attracts Star-Studded Lineup

On Friday night during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), a charity poker tournament benefiting amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research, will play out. The field is capped at 39 entrants.

Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $290 million and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Now, poker players will have a chance to give to the cause as part of a star-studded $5,250 buy-in charity tournament that will be filmed for television and beamed across cyberspace via EPTlive. The PCA is in the midst of Day 3 of its $10,000 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a starting field of 1,529 players, a new European Poker Tour (EPT) record.

Unlike a traditional poker tournament, the amfAR benefit takes on a shootout format. A total of 39 players will assemble across four tables. The last two standing at each table will move onto the final round. At the first table, each player is awarded 50,000 starting chips and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. At the final table, combatants will receive the same 50,000 chips, but blind levels will instead last a half-hour. Fifty percent of the prize pool will go straight to amfAR and all players are encouraged to donate 1% of their winnings to the charity. One television table and three outer tables can be found at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas tonight.

On Saturday night, former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland will be performing at a PokerStars-sponsored party at the resort. Tonight, Rowland will put her poker skills to the test in the amfAR charity event. Other celebrity poker players who will take to the felts this evening include Entourage actor Adrian "Vince" Grenier, former Guns and Roses guitarist Slash, “24” star Carlos Bernard, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year and “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” personality Jayde Nicole. New PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) television hostess Joanna Krupa can also be found among the personalities in attendance in the charity poker event.

Professionals taking to the felts include reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro. Cada is fresh off mainstream media appearances on programs like the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “ESPN SportsCenter” and he recently toured Capitol Hill on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Also, look for tennis stud Boris Becker, former hockey star Mats Sundin, and former soccer player Teddy Sheringham. All are members of Team PokerStars SportsStars and will be in attendance raising money for amfAR.

Several PokerStars-sponsored pros besides Cada and the world’s sports heroes will make their way to the tournament area tonight, including Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes, Brazil’s Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari, Swedish pro William Thorson, and the Netherlands’ Pieter de Korver. Also taking part are five online qualifiers, who will almost certainly be overwhelmed by the amount of celebrity and poker firepower in attendance.

Members of the media were advised to show up no later than 5:45pm local time in order to snap pictures of players as they arrived. No interviews were available, as PokerStars will hold a formal red carpet outside of the Aura Nightclub at 7:00pm on Saturday prior to Rowland’s performance.

At the time of writing, Bryce Yockey from the United States paced the field in the 2010 PCA Main Event with a chip stack of one million. Others in the top ten included 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, UB.com pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and two-time bracelet winner Eric “EFro” Froehlich. A total of 190 players remain and blinds are 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 PCA.

Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders

Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) played out on Tuesday, with 668 players taking to the felts inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from Britain, leads the way with 329,500 chips.

Bentley nearly amassed 11 times the starting stack of 30,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after eight levels of play. He held pocket aces and eliminated a player with pocket kings within the first few minutes of Day 1A, doubling his stack to 60,000, and he never looked back. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu issued the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command moments earlier. At the end of Day 1A, 430 players remained in the hunt.

Bentley sits comfortably in front of the second place stack of Amnon Filippi, who held a pile of 220,100 chips at the end of Day 1A. The accomplished poker pro was nearly 50,000 chips ahead of online poker pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, the winner of the 2007 installment of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $1.3 million. Last year, Saul finished eighth in the PCA Main Event for $234,000, outlasting all but seven of the 1,347 players who entered.

Team PokerStars Sports Stars will be out in full force on Wednesday for Day 1B, as German tennis legend Boris Becker, Swedish NHL star Mats Sundin, Dutch hockey pro Fatima De Melo, baseball commentator Orel Hershiser, and U.K. football legend Teddy Sheringham will all take to the felts. Also entering on Day 1B is Mike Kosowski, the winner of Season 1 of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.” Kosowski earned $1 million after defeating Negreanu heads-up in the finale of the poker game show last month.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Eric Buchman sits in sixth place after Day 1A with 159,100 chips. The PokerStars sponsored player finished fourth in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament in Las Vegas in November, adding $2.5 million to his net worth. The event was ultimately won by Joe Cada, who will take to the felts for Day 1B today. Joining him will be pros like Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, and Victor Ramdin. Also playing is rapper Nelly, who has become somewhat of a staple on the poker circuit in recent months.

Here were the top ten chip stacks in the Bahamas after the smoke had cleared on Day 1A of the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Wayne Bentley - 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi - 220,100
3. Kevin Saul - 175,500
4. Eric Froehlich - 166,000
5. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman - 163,700
6. Eric Buchman - 159,100
7. Garðar Geir Hauksson - 138,900
8. Jacob Avital - 137,700
9. Christian Schwarz - 133,200
10. Rafal Michalowski - 129,300

The PCA is a stop on both the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and, as such, has attracted a global field. Still remaining after Day 1A are players from the United States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Russia, Finland, Argentina, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Slovenia, Greece, Costa Rica, Austria, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curiously absent is a representative from the host nation, the Bahamas.

Last year’s champion, Poorya Nazari, hails from Canada and nearly tripled his stack on Day 1A. Notable players who survived the first starting day, along with their chip counts, include:

Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Dario Minieri – 109,800
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400
Poorya Nazari – 89,300
Barry Greenstein – 89,200
Jeff Madsen – 79,400
John Duthie – 60,100
Marcel Luske – 55,600
Gavin Smith – 54,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 53,900
Kevin Schaffel – 53,200
Bernard Lee – 46,800
Amit “amak316” Makhija – 42,000
Steven Paul-Ambrose – 37,900
“Miami” John Cernuto – 36,500
Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 34,700
Ivan Demidov – 27,600
Tom McEvoy – 19,900
Huck Seed – 16,000
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – 13,100

Play wrapped up in Level 8, when blinds were 400-800 with a 100-chip ante. Day 1B will encompass the same eight levels before the field merges for Day 2 on Thursday.

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast List Released, No Poker Players

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich headlines an ensemble “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. The 14 names announced by NBC on Monday do not include any poker players, as first reported by Poker News Daily in October.

Three months ago, the cast was spotted filming the show’s opening credits in the Meat Packing District of New York City. Embattled politician Blagojevich is perhaps the most controversial name on the list. NBC officials tried to land the former Governor for its Costa Rica-based “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,” which aired in June, but legal woes kept him from competing. Instead, Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, appeared on the show. Blagojevich landed in hot water after allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat previously occupied by President Barack Obama.

Also on the new cast is comedian Carol Leifer, who will try to follow in the shoes of “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 2 winner Joan Rivers. The latter defeated UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in the finals last year. Leifer told the Associated Press, "I'm certainly not a household name. I'm not surprised that Joan Rivers won (last season), because, as a standup comic, you're a one-man band — it makes you very prepared for stressful situations to be able to react to a lot of pressure. Humor is a weapon anywhere and everywhere!" Leifer is 20 years younger than Rivers, but her television writing resume includes hits like “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Poison hasn’t released an album since 2007, but that hasn’t stopped Bret Michaels from becoming a household name. The band’s lead singer will appear on the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice” and currently can be found on the VH1 reality series “Rock of Love.” Joining him on the all-male team dubbed “Rocksolid” is Bill Goldberg, former World Heavyweight Champion of WWE and WCW. The former NFL player was last seen in a WWE ring six years ago during WrestleMania XX, when he squared off against Brock Lesnar. Goldberg told the Associated Press that he plans to keep his fiery edge in the boardroom with show host and real estate mogul Donald Trump: "I know I'm going to explode during this show at some point and say things I probably don't mean."

Another embattled celebrity to join the cast of the NBC reality show’s third cycle is Darryl Strawberry. The former New York Met, who dealt with child support non-payments, prostitution, probation violations, and drug use following his baseball career, is now 47 and will look to right the ship on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Competing opposite Strawberry will be “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, won the original installment of “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2008.

Last time out, Rivers defeated Duke amid a tidal wave of name-calling, including numerous references to Hitler. Rivers’ onslaught included such memorable lines as, “You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash,” and, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Duke then fired back, telling “Celebrity Apprentice” cameras, “Joan is completely full of shit in everything she does. There’s a reason she got fired by the TV Guide Channel: She’s a bitch.”

For the most part, the poker world rallied behind one of their own and Duke raised a colossal $731,000 for Refugees International. However, Rivers, who was playing for God’s Love We Deliver, took down the title of “Celebrity Apprentice” and earned $526,000 for charity. Others who appeared on the show’s second installment with Rivers and Duke included Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, country music star Clint Black, reality star Khloe Kardashian, and comedian Tom Green.

Here’s the complete cast list for the third season of “Celebrity Apprentice:”

Rocksolid: Rod Blagojevich, Darryl Strawberry. Curtis Stone, Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Bill Goldberg, Michael Johnson

Tenacity: Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders, Holly Robinson Peete, Maria Kanellis, Carol Leifer, Selita Ebanks

The new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” kicks off on March 14th on NBC.

CNBC Investigates Illegal Gambling, Online Poker

A one-hour CNBC program entitled “The Big Business of Illegal Gambling” aired on Wednesday night, featuring discussion of “illegal” land- and internet-based operations. “The Call” anchor Melissa Francis hosted.

The show began with Francis telling viewers, “The same computer used to connect with work or friends can be used to wager outside the law.” In 2005, when the Chicago White Sox won baseball’s World Series, a man simply named “Vegas Runner” bet $4,000 on 50:1 odds that the team would take down the sport’s most coveted title. He told CNBC cameras, “It’s a gray line. Sports betting is the one topic no one wants to talk about, but everybody does it.”

R.J. Bell, founder of PreGame.com, told CNBC that just 1% of wagering on sports comes from Las Vegas, meaning that the other 99% is purportedly illegal. Meanwhile, a man known solely as “Paul,” whose face was not shown on camera, runs his own online sports betting website in Nevada as part of a conglomerate based in Costa Rica. He revealed that he makes between $80,000 and $100,000 per year and that collecting on bets is the most difficult part of the job.

CNBC’s attention then turned to the Chicago Mob, including Nick Sarillo, whose van was blown up because of illegal gambling, but he survived. Francis narrated, “Illegal gambling is the Mob’s number one moneymaker, the grease that keeps the wheels turning.” Meanwhile, Scott Damiani, the Executive Director of the Outreach Foundation, relayed his tale of excessive gambling, eventually losing his house and business. Upon owing members of a football league $50,000 at the end of 1994, Damiani attempted to drive his car off of a bridge, but hit a guardrail and was unsuccessful.

Attention then turned to Jay Cohen, the first American prosecuted for running an online bookmaking operation under the Wire Act of 1961. From his home in Antigua, Cohen told CNBC cameras, “We didn’t feel we were doing anything illegal. We were not hiding from anyone. We were using our real names and operating in plain daylight.” The site in question, World Sports Exchange, booked more than $200 million in wagers at its peak and received favorable press in publications like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

In 1998, the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Cohen, who faced up to five years in prison. Cohen voluntarily traveled to the United States to fight his case, claiming that the Wire Act did not apply to the internet. However, a jury disagreed and he found himself behind bars for 21 months.

Upon passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, Antigua lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) alleging unfair gaming practices by the United States. The tiny island nation was successful, but the U.S. ignored the decision. Cohen remarked, “The last administration was so intellectually dishonest about all of this that even when Antigua won, they put out press releases claiming victory.”

Attention then turned to the cheating scandals at the online poker sites Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles, who appeared on the CBS news program “60 Minutes” in November of 2008, discussed his encounter with “Graycat” on Absolute Poker: “This was someone who seemed that he had no clue what he was doing. He was playing all the wrong strategy to be able to win.” Then, David Paredes battled “NioNio” on the virtual felts of Ultimate Bet, telling CNBC, “This player was playing a wide variety of hands. It’s so hard to play profitably playing so many hands.”

CNBC claimed that UB.com was “operating in violation of U.S. law” and then the COO of the site’s parent company, Paul Leggett, explained who Russ Hamilton was. Hamilton declined to talk to CNBC despite being fingered as the main person responsible for the multi-million dollar cheating scandal on Ultimate Bet. The now-infamous RawVegas.tv footage of Hamilton leaving a Las Vegas golf course also aired. To date, no one has been prosecuted in either cheating incident.

Finally, two Congressmen took to the airwaves, Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). McDermott candidly explained, “Usually, when we talk about putting a tax on people, we get all kinds of [pushback]. They’re saying, ‘Legalize it, please, and tax it.’” Goodlatte, one of the brains behind the UIGEA, evaluated the law: “It certainly hasn’t eliminated all internet gambling by any means, but surveys that I’ve seen indicate that fewer than half as many online gambling operators are offering their services in the U.S. than before this law was passed.”

Recognized in the credits were a variety of industry veterans, including World Series of Poker Media Director Nolan Dalla, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas, Sue Schneider, and iGamingNews.com.

WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Kicks off Monday

The 2009 installment of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will kick off on Monday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The tournament’s namesake told UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” that a field of 400 players is expected.

Only one Day 1 in the $15,000 buy-in WPT event will occur, with the six-handed final table taking place on the 19th. In 2008, original World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem took down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, besting Justin Young heads-up and earning $1.5 million. Young took $936,000 for his runner-up performance. Others who reached the feature table, which played out on cable station Fox Sports Net, included Evan McNiff (third place for $540,000), Steve Sung (fourth place for $396,000), Amnon Filippi (fifth place for $288,000), and DoylesRoom poker pro Hoyt Corkins (sixth place for $216,000).

The Five Diamond has been a staple of the WPT circuit and served as the series’ very first event back in May of 2002. That year, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen outlasted John Juanda heads-up in a talented final table that also featured Freddy Deeb, John “World” Hennigan, Chris Bigler, and Scotty Nguyen. A quaint field of 146 players turned out for the inaugural WPT tournament, creating a prize pool of $1.4 million.

In Season II of the WPT, Paul Phillips took down the Five Diamond in Las Vegas, besting Poker Hall of Fame member Dewey Tomko heads-up and banking $1.1 million. Hansen once again made the final table of the tournament and finished third this time around, while Mel Judah took sixth place and earned $101,000. The next season, a battle of PokerStars sponsored pros took place, as Daniel Negreanu trumped Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes heads-up in the event’s finale. The number of entrants jumped to 376 from 314.

In Season IV of the WPT, Rehne Pedersen earned over $2 million for his Five Diamond win and beat Patrik Antonius heads-up. Brunson made the final table of the event and finished third, while J.J. Liu took fourth place for $362,000. Also making waves were Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken and Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, who finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

In the December Bellagio tournament during Season V, Joe Hachem, winner of the 2005 WSOP Main Event, took down the title and its corresponding $2.2 million grand prize. Hachem and Negreanu made PokerStars proud by reaching the final table and the Aussie’s win solidified his name as one of the tops in the industry. In 2007, Eugene Katchalov banked $2.5 million for his WPT victory, outlasting a colossal field of 626 players. Also reaching the final table were Devilfish Poker namesake David Ulliott and former PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Ryan “Daut44” Daut.

After its annual Las Vegas stop, the WPT crew will break for the holidays and resume action in late January for the Southern Poker Championship. December’s Bellagio stop will mark the tournament series’ last trip to Sin City before the annual WPT Championship in April. Here’s a look at the remaining events in Season VIII:

Southern Poker Championship: January 24th to 27th
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Mississippi)

WPT Celebrity Invitational: February 20th to 21st
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

L.A. Poker Classic: February 26th to March 4th
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

Bay 101 Shooting Star: March 8th to 12th
Bay 101 (San Jose, California)

Hollywood Poker Open: March 20th to 24th
Hollywood Casino (Lawrenceburg, Indiana)

WPT Championship: April 17th to 24th
Bellagio (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Pitbull Poker Scandal Continues Unresolved

When we think back to the major poker headlines of 2009, one of the very first ones to pop into our heads is the Pitbull Poker scandal.  It all started with a single post from a disgruntled prop player on the TwoPlusTwo forums and snowballed into one of the largest scandals the online poker industry has ever seen.  When the dust settled, a small Flash-based poker room had disappeared and hundreds of thousands of dollars in player funds had vanished.

An individual who goes by the moniker “JC Hawk,” who has fought to uncover this story, owned one of the major affiliates for Pitbull Poker.  He had contact with site’s Network Manager, Dave Brenes, and Pitbull Poker owner Kevin Baronowski during his business relationship with them.  JC Hawk estimates that he is owed over $100,000 from his affiliate site NLPT.tv on top of the cash investments he made.

In October, JC Hawk brought his case before the Costa Rican government and since then has worked with officials to resolve his dispute with Pitbull Poker ownership.  He stated that the government had been great to work with and showed a genuine interest in helping him resolve the matter.  With both the U.S. Embassy and Costa Rican government working with JC Hawk, he hoped to prosecute the guilty and recover what assets he could.

Poker News Daily received an update from JC Hawk in the last week that stated, “They are still working on it (CR) but Kevin Baronowsky has gone back to hide in Canada and Dave Brenes is hiding like the coward he is. We are now hunting Mr. Baronowsky and will find him, he needs to answer a few questions face to face. This will be done soon. His party days with my money are over.”

It’s admirable that JC Hawk continues to pursue justice in the light of being shafted over $100,000 in affiliate dues.  So many of the players on Pitbull, even ones that have lost tens of thousands of dollars, have simply said good game and moved on with their lives.  There’s something to be said for the tenacity behind Hawk’s actions and his unwavering confidence that something can be done.

In the past six weeks on the TwoPlusTwo forums, the fire behind the entire Pitbull Poker scandal has died down to a large degree.  The long threads diving into the debate of whether there were actually superusers playing on the site seem to have gone by the wayside.  Other players, like chesterboy, who was the original person behind the allegations, have moved on in life never to be heard from again.  There was even a thread created in the rumors section of TwoPlusTwo asking to close the Pitbull-related threads because the entire controversy had died.  Many responded by agreeing that the situation was pretty much over, but felt that the threads should remain open for those who wish to discuss the matter.

At this point, it seems the story of Pitbull Poker is finally being put to rest.  There has been no comment from Brenes, who has on multiple occasions vehemently denied being part of the ownership group.  There’s no trace of Baronowski or anyone else that has represented Pitbull Poker.

In the end, we may never really know the intricacies of what really went on behind the scenes at Pitbull Poker or ever know what happened to the missing funds.  Were they burned up trying to keep the site afloat amid overhead and marketing costs?  Were they simply stashed away and hidden in offshore accounts?  With any luck, we know JC Hawk will not rest until these questions are answered.  As any news breaks in the case, we will be sure to report it here at Poker News Daily.

Poker Community Celebrates Thanksgiving

If you hail from the United States, this weekend is a time for family, food, shopping, and some nice downtime from the stresses of life.  If you’re a poker player, it is also time to squeeze in a tournament, be it in Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or Los Angeles and put in some extra time at the tables in between bites of turkey.

Players like Jean-Robert Bellande, Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg, David “Bakes” Baker, and Team PokerStars Pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck decided to escape the cold weather and squeeze in a tropical vacation shortly before the holiday, flying out to Costa Rica to take part in the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) event.  Meanwhile, other players like Eric “AvrilSharapova” Ladny, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke spent their time at the final table of the United States Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Even poker players who stayed at home still found themselves unable to stay away from the felt for too long and several players turned up for the $2,500 buy-in Main Event of the final Venetian Deep Stack series of the year.  Some of the players who took part in the event included Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, UB.com Pros Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire and Brandon Cantu, Full Tilt Red Pro Jeff Madsen, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Nenad Medic, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, and Christina Lindley.

Lindley filled Poker News Daily in on her last minute change of plans when it came to her holiday vacation.  After a successful run online the past two weeks, including a runner-up finish in Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Event #24 worth more than $106,000, Lindley decided to delay her trip home to Nashville, Tennessee in order to take part in the Venetian event.  She flew out the morning the event started, played until she busted, and then headed home for the typical Thanksgiving fare.  “I told my mom I’d get there in time to make a pumpkin pie,” Lindley explained.  “And maybe some karaoke with my little brother, who is home from college, if we’re lucky.”

Another player who is opting to stay away from the felt is Nick “fu_15” Maimone.  When Poker News Daily asked what his Thanksgiving plans were, he responded, “Not playing poker? AKA trying to be normal.”  Others are following Maimone’s lead and opting for traditional holiday plans including trips home.  A quick glance at Twitter indicated that poker pros and “The Amazing Race” teammates Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle would both be spending the holidays with friends and family.

Just because a fair share of players are heading home for the holidays doesn’t mean the poker rooms will be empty this weekend.  The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California will once again be holding their annual Turkey Shootout/Ho Ho Hold’em Series, with the first of 13 events kicking off Thanksgiving Day.  The “Turkey Shoot” tournament will feature a $100 buy-in.  If you are wondering just how many people would opt to play a poker tournament Thanksgiving Day, last year’s installment drew 230 players and offered up a first place prize of $8,600 to tournament winner Susie Baranowski.

Even players who take Thursday off for a little family and feasting may skip Black Friday shopping for some card playing.  The first event of the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the $500 buy-in SpadeClub.com tournament, is scheduled for Friday and players like Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah plan on taking part.  Granted, Leah is Canadian, so his Thanksgiving happened a few weeks ago and he isn’t skipping any festivities to take part.  The Bellagio also has two other tournaments scheduled throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with events continuing daily until the World Poker Tour Main Event begins on December 14th and wraps up shortly before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Poker News Daily.

Canadian victory at LAPT Playa Conchal

Amer Sulaiman outlasted a field of 259 players to nab a first place prize of $172,096. Sulaiman bested fellow Canadian Sol Bergren in a tough heads-up match that went into the wee hours of the morning Monday.

The final table featured five Canadians, one Dutch player, one Guatemalan and Rogelio Pardo, the sole representative from the host country of Costa Rica.

Bergren entered the final table as the massive chip leader with 1.3 million chips and added to that total by busting three players. Meanwhile Sulaiman, who began the final as a medium stack, busted two players en route to heads-up play.

Pardo came painfully short of giving the hometown crowd something to cheer about when he busted in third place leaving the two Canadians to fight it out for the title.

By the time they reached heads-up, Bergren held 2.8 million chips to Sulaiman's 2.2 million.

The cards were going Sulaiman's way, however, and he quickly overtook Bergren for the chip lead.

After several hours of play Sulaiman shoved with top-pair, top-kicker and Bergren called with top-pair with a combo flush and straight draw. Bergren missed all his outs and Sulaiman was awarded the LAPT title.

This marks the third year that PokerStars has hosted an LAPT Event in Costa Rica. This time around organizers opted to relocate the tournament to scenic beach resort Paradisus Playa Conchal instead of San Jose.

The third season of the LAPT will now turn to the Bahamas where the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is scheduled to be held Jan. 4-14, 2010. This is the first year the PCA has been held as part of the LAPT and organizers are hoping to beat the 1,347 entrants they had last year.

Satellites for the event are currently running on PokerStars.

Here are the complete final table payouts for LAPT Playa Conchal:

1. Amer Sulaiman - $172,095
2. Sol Bergren - $100,492
3. Rogelio Pardo - $61,551
4. Eric Levesque - $45,221
5. Francis-Nicolas Bouchard - $32,660
6. Darren Keyes - $26,380
7. Carlos Giron - $20,098
8. Patrik de Koster - $13,818

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Amer Sulaiman wins LAPT Playa Machal

Amer Sulaiman outlasted a field of 259 players to win the latest Latin American Poker Tour event in Playa Machal in Costa Rica. The Iraqi-born Canadian was an unlikely winner, only entering the tournament because he happened to be on holiday on the Caribbean island.

PokerNews Op-Ed: Save the Sharks

“The shark is hunnnnnnnnnnnngry!” Humberto Brenes is one of the most recognizable figures in the poker world and stands out from the usual sordid cast of characters in the poker room with his mustache, a visor sporting a Costa Rican flag...

Latin American Poker Tour Day 3: Canadians Invade Costa Rica for Final Table

With all due respect to our neighbors up north, the last place you’d expect more than half of the finalists in the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Costa Rica Main Event final table to call home would be Canada. Forgive me if I’m missing...

Latin American Poker Tour Playa Conchal, Day 1

Living the “pura vida” (pure life in English), is how they do things down in Costa Rica, and the 259 players who showed up yesterday afternoon to play the PokerStars.net LAPT Playa Conchal stop will get a small taste of the laid-back Tican...

Kentucky Cabinet Secretary Discusses Internet Gambling Battle

One month ago, the Kentucky Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that pits the state’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet against the owners of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to industry titans like PokerStars and Fill Tilt Poker.

Heading the Cabinet is J. Michael Brown, who was present during oral arguments in the Frankfort courtroom and brought the legal action against the domain names in question one year ago. Brown told Poker News Daily that nothing discussed during the October 22nd hearing caught him off-guard. He added, “In discussing some of the procedural background, members of the court touched on some of the underlying issues, everything from whether a domain name is a device and how a device is defined to what measures the Commonwealth can employ to defend itself against unregulated internet gambling.”

Representing the internet gambling sites were a consortium of lawyers, including those from the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), and several of the targeted sites. Despite the large presence of trade organizations during the proceedings, Brown and company questioned why no domain owners had come forth to defend themselves. The Secretary told Poker News Daily, “Who were the stakeholders on the other side? There didn’t seem to be anyone standing up saying that they represent these innocent owners. Their arguments were all over the map, from the First Amendment to likening it to a criminal proceeding. I was pleased that the court spent time looking at the underlying issues.”

Many in the industry have cautioned that the outcome of the Kentucky internet gambling case may set a precedent worldwide. More light could be shed on where domain names are located and who has rights to seize or regulate them as a result of the seven-member Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision. On the global implications of the Commonwealth’s actions, Brown frankly stated, “I’m only focusing on Kentucky. Our interest is in the unregulated gambling that we believe has been going on. I don’t know that our Supreme Court is ready to look at it as a worldwide precedent because a lot of the underlying facts haven’t been completely developed.”

Influencing the Commonwealth is the presence of a booming horse racing industry in Kentucky, headlined every May by the running of the Kentucky Derby. The spectacle, which unfolds from Churchill Downs in Louisville, generates a considerable amount of revenue for the State, bringing in high rollers, celebrities, politicians, and horse racing fans from around the globe.

The 141 internet gambling domain names are owned by companies located in places like Costa Rica, Gibraltar, Canada, and Isle of Man. Brown explained, “You have people who own and operate domain names. In order to regulate them, you have to go to the registrars because the actual owners are all offshore.” Registrars include giants like GoDaddy.com, which features Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso as one if its spokesmen.

When the Kentucky Supreme Court will hand down a decision in the case is not yet known. Joe Brennan, Chairman of iMEGA, told Poker News Daily that he would set an over/under of March, 2010. Rich Muny, Kentucky State Director for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), contrastingly, expected a decision to be rendered by Christmas.

The 141 internet gambling domain names were seized in September of 2008 on the grounds that they were illegal “gambling devices,” a term that traditionally refers to tangible objects like slot machines and roulette wheels that you’d find in an underground casino. Judge Thomas Wingate upheld the Commonwealth’s actions one month later before the industry sought the intervention of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The judicial body ruled against the State by a two-to-one margin in January, setting up October’s showdown in the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 9-15, 2009

Although poker legend Phil Ivey didn't win his eighth bracelet, fans were still treated to a thrilling final table that saw 21-year-old Joe Cada become poker's youngest world champion.

There was plenty of poker news that nearly slipped through the cracks, however, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we've compiled a list of the lesser-known stories below.

This week we'll take a look at Fox Sports en Español picking up the LAPT, Tom "durrrr" Dwan starting his own blog, Joe Sebok passing the one million mark in Twitter and more.

Fox Sports en Español Broadcasting Latin American Poker Tour

Fox Sports en Español and PokerStars reached an agreement this week that will see the network broadcast the Latin American Poker Tour in Spanish.

The Fox Sports en Español broadcast will feature highlights from tour stops in Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.

"It's amazing to see how poker has become one of the most popular sports in Latin America, it has taken off like wildfire," said Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. "To think that the prize pool has nearly doubled in just one year is a testament to the power of poker."

Coverage is scheduled to air on Friday nights at 8:00 ET on Fox Sports en Español.

Joe Sebok hits one million twitter followers

Pokerroad.com president and UltimateBet pro Joe Sebok hit over one million Twitter followers this week.

It's an impressive feat considering if you combined the followers for Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth you still wouldn't have even 25% of Sebok's following.

To put things in perspective Sebok also has more Twitter followers than Tom Cruise (153,905) and Lindsay Lohan (142,474).

UltimateBet is celebrating the occasion by offering a $5.50 tournament with $24,000 in added prizes and a $1,500 bounty on Sebok. The event is scheduled to take place Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. ET.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan starts blogging

Noted high stakes online player Tom "durrrr" Dwan is giving fans an inside look at his life thanks to a new blog launched this week.

One of the few players without a training site or blog, Dwan did mention in his first post that he was officially blogging for Full Tilt Poker, which he recently joined as a team member.

In his first post, Dwan discussed taking a helicopter ride with Patrik Antonius to see a Jay-Z/Coldplay show in London and skydiving while inebriated.

He also said he would be recapping some of the action at the live durrrr heads-up challenge scheduled to take place in London later this week.

You can check the blog out here.

Annie Duke to host "Use Poker Skills for Life"

UltimateBet.com poker pro Annie Duke will be hosting a special presentation on how to use skills learned in poker in real life settings.

The "Use Poker Skills for Life" presentation will take part in conjunction with the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night which benefits the Decision Education Foundation. Both events will take place on Nov. 19 at the Commerce Casino in L.A.

The free presentation will start at 6:30 p.m. and guest entry is on a first come, first serve basis, for up to 80 attendees.

Duke won't be the only famous poker player speaking as Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch and Ali Nejad will all take the podium during the evening.

The presentation is sponsored by Stakes Supper Club.

Brad Booth joins GR88.com

Former Full Tilt poker pro "Yukon" Brad Booth has signed with new gaming site GR88.com as their official spokesperson and head of poker development.

Primarily a cash game player, Booth is perhaps most well-known for buying into High Stakes Poker for $1 million and pulling off a risky bluff against Phil Ivey.

Although he now resides in Vancouver, Canada, Booth earned his nickname by playing underground games in the Yukon.

Booth made his biggest tournament score when he came in third place in the 2006 WPT Mandalay Bay Championship for $319,180.

Visit PokerListings.com

Joe Cada Comments on WSOP Main Event Victory

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on the big win in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. How are you feeling after the victory?

Joe Cada: It hasn’t quite hit me yet, but I’m feeling really good.

Check out the audio:

PND: How were you able to handle the busy schedule prior to taking to the felts?

Cada: Before the final table took place, there was a long gap in between and I tried to not think about it too much. Instead, I tried to continue my normal lifestyle. Fortunately, I ran really well and, going into heads-up play, went from a big underdog to a big favorite.

Darvin was playing great poker and took over the chip lead relatively quickly. I came in with a game plan of playing a lot of hands in position and playing a lot of small ball poker waiting for him to make mistakes. It blew up in my face. He just wanted to play big ball poker, put me in a lot of tough spots, and played really well. It was rough at the start, but I tried to remain focused and turned it around.

PND: Darvin Moon took a 3:1 chip lead heads-up after re-raising on a board of A-5-3 and you folded. Tell us about that hand.

Cada: It’s one of those things that heads-up, you’re playing a lot of hands. More times than not, you’re not going to make a lot of hands. Darvin likes to trap a lot and check-raise a lot. I never played back at Darvin during the course of the heads-up match. I raised pre-flop, the flop came A-5-3, he decided to lead out, and I took a shot. I made a raise, but every time I tried to raise or bluff, it backfired. That was another example of that happening.

PND: You doubled heads-up after calling all-in with J-9 on a board of 10-5-9-10. Tell us about your thought process there.

Cada: I raised pre-flop to the standard two and a half big blinds and he called. The flop came 10-9-5 and he loves to check-raise, so I checked behind for pot control. The turn brought a ten. The board was 10-9-5-10 with two clubs and he decided to check again. A lot of the hands weren’t checked down to the river. I bet three million into a six million pot and then he jammed all-in. I took a lot of time to make decision and didn’t see him open-jamming the way he had been playing with a ten. There were hands like 7-8, J-Q, and clubs – random hands I could see him jamming with – and I opted to go with the correct call even though I wasn’t happy about it, but it worked out.

PND: What went through your mind when you realized you had become the 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion?

Cada: I was glad it was all over. I knew how important it was, but was happy to get the match over with. I gave as many props as I could to Darvin because he played great poker.

PND: Your father told us that he wasn’t completely behind your poker career to start with. Tell us about your relationship with him and how it’s evolved.

Cada: My parents weren’t totally against it, but they weren’t 100% supportive. I worked for a long time and had a job for four years, but decided to quit since I had made a significant amount in poker over a long period of time. Once I quit my job to do poker full-time, I continued to have a lot of success. Then, I traveled to tournaments in places I could play like the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Aruba. College interfered and I had to go one way, so I put money aside in case poker didn’t work out and decided to play full-time.

PND: How big was the crowd support at the Penn and Teller Theater?

Cada: Having the support of these guys was great. Some of them missed school and work and none of them have voices left. They cheered me on the whole time, whether I was down or had chips. It was great having all of that support.

PND: Tell us about signing with PokerStars and wearing a Poker Players Alliance (PPA) logo.

Cada: PokerStars is a great website. They’re the biggest known site out there. I was very grateful for the opportunity they gave me. I’m very supportive of the PPA being an online player. The least I can do is support the PPA.

Joe Cada Praised by National Media for WSOP Main Event Win

Following his victory in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which aired on ESPN on Tuesday night, Joe Cada received an overwhelming amount of praise from U.S. media outlets.

The Detroit Free Press, Cada’s hometown paper, reported on their hero’s run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which ended with a heads-up showdown against Darvin Moon. The newspaper cautioned against other Michigan natives looking to strike it rich in the world of poker: “Cada wants anyone thinking about making a living at playing cards to be warned: For every high, he has experienced the lowest of lows.” Cada told the media outlet, “It definitely can be a living, but it’s one of those things: You have to be very careful when you decide to make it a living. More people lose than win.” Cada became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever late Monday night and earned $8.5 million.

The Detroit News was also on-hand in Las Vegas to cover the local participant. The youngster told the paper, which noted that Cada was a severe underdog in chips at the final table, “It helped being down before and having no chips earlier at the final table. I thought about that and I continued to stay focused and tried not to make any mistakes. I just remained calm and it worked out well.” After doubling up CardPlayer Magazine Editor Jeff Shulman with A-J against A-K, Cada’s stack sank to 2.3 million, or less than five big blinds.

TIME Magazine candidly explained, “This time last year, Joseph Cada couldn’t legally order a cocktail. But today, the Shelby Township, Mich., native sits on top of the poker world as the champion of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.” Playing online, as well as trips to Canada and Costa Rica, helped fund the underage Cada’s bankroll before he turned 21.

Even the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) chimed in on Cada’s win, noting that the PokerStars-sponsored player wore the lobbying organization’s patch throughout the Main Event final table. A press release distributed by the PPA on Tuesday featured Chairman Alfonse D’Amato praising the Michigan native: “On behalf of PPA members, I congratulate Joe on his historic WSOP win and thank him for being such a strong advocate for the game, especially online poker.” Cada added, “Poker is not gambling. There is decision-making, there’s logic, there’s math, and I think that taking away online poker takes away peoples’ rights. I am very supportive of the Poker Players Alliance.”

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, poster “illinicubs23” weighed in on a debate as to whether Cada’s victory will improve or deride poker’s reputation as a skill game given his improbable run: “cada will at least continue to be seen around the tournament circuit – something moon wouldnt have done – and help promote pokerstars. hopefully he will inspire a lot more young 20 somethings to take up the game and help feed the poker economy for years.”

While online poker players salivated at the thought of new blood entering the game, the Michigan media continued to caution against those expecting the same success as Cada. Dennis Martell, Coordinator of Health Education at Michigan State University, told the Free Press, “What worries me more is that we’ve got a perfect storm going with this Michigan economy, and a point-and-click generation that wants instant gratification, that thinks they can get lucky and, in many cases, really needs the money.” In September, Michigan’s unemployment rate topped 15%, which the Free Press noted was the highest in the United States.

Prior to play beginning on Monday, Cada told Poker News Daily what it was like seeing his image plastered across Detroit newspapers: “It’s a lot different seeing the newspaper and actually seeing you in it. It’s been fun.”

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, who spent a week in Las Vegas covering the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, summed up his thoughts on the industry’s new face: “Last week, Cada was just another player from Michigan. On ESPN’s WSOP coverage, he said, ‘I’m just a kid with a dream.’ Now, he is ‘The Kid’ and a poker superstar. Congratulations on your run to WSOP gold, Joe. We’re looking forward to seeing what you have to offer as your poker career truly begins now.”

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Added to LAPT

The schedule for Season 3 of the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) was announced this week and headlining the list was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, also a staple of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in 2010.

The 2009 installment of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure drew 1,347 players to the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. The $10,000 buy-in Main Event saw a whopping 1,061 entrants, or nearly 80% of the field, qualify through PokerStars, which sponsors both the LAPT and EPT as the world’s largest online poker room. In the end, Canadian poker player Poorya Nazari defeated Tony Gregg after just four hands of heads-up play. In the final pot, Nazari’s A-10 withstood Gregg’s Q-7 to take down the title of Champion of the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

From January 4th to 14th, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will make its return to Nassau. The Main Event’s buy-in will once again be $10,300 and the tournament will assuredly break every record that the LAPT has to offer. Last season’s total prize pool on the LAPT circuit was just over $4 million and 1,053 players took to the felts in events held in San Jose (Costa Rica), Viña del Mar (Chile), Punta del Este (Uruguay), and Mar del Plata (Argentina). The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure also appears on the EPT schedule for 2010.

The third season of the LAPT will begin on November 19th at the Playa Conchal in Costa Rica. The $2,700 buy-in tournament marks the second time that the LAPT has visited the pristine area of Costa Rica and will call the Paradisius Playa Conchal Resort home. The tournament is capped at 350 players and will crown a champion on November 22nd. Text found on the LAPT’s website candidly explains why the country has become such a popular tourist destination: “One of the reasons Costa Rica has become one of the world’s premiere vacation destinations and a favorite place to purchase a second home is the spectacular climate.” Other than the rainy season, it boasts beautiful weather.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is the second stop on the third season of the LAPT. Originally a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), the tournament moved to the EPT in 2008. It was the lone stop in the Western Hemisphere for the EPT circuit and boasted one of the largest live event fields outside of the United States. The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is capped at 1,600 runners.

The LAPT heads to Punta del Este on February 24th for a tournament that will name a winner three days later. Its buy-in is $3,700 and last year, the event was the largest on the LAPT circuit at 327 players and had a seven-figure prize pool. Norwegian student Karl Hevroy took down the most recent running of the LAPT Punta del Este for $283,000. The event has a cap of 350 entrants.

From March 19th to 23rd, the LAPT will invade Viña del Mar, Chile. The Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino and Resort will serve as the tournament’s host venue. Players will pony up $2,700 to enter and, last time out, Argentinean poker player Fabian Ortiz won the event in style after being down to less than one-half of a big blind when play was four-handed. Nevertheless, he battled back in one of the most impressive comebacks in the history of poker.

The final stop of Season 3 of the LAPT is Argentina, which will take place at a yet-to-be-determine site and date. The $5,300 buy-in marks the conclusion of the following schedule:

November 19 – 22, 2009
LAPT Playa Conchal, Costa Rica
$2,500 + $200 buy-in

January 4 – 14, 2010
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$10,000 +$300 buy-in

February 24 – 27, 2010
LAPT Punta del Este, Uruguay
$3,500 + $200 buy-in

March 19 – 23, 2010
LAPT Viña del Mar, Chile
$2,500 + $200 buy-in

To Be Determined
LAPT Argentina Grand Final
$5,000 + $300 buy-in

PokerStars introduces LAPT Season 3 schedule

This season the tour will offer five stops including Costa Rica, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and the Bahamas.

Easily the biggest poker tour in Latin American, the LAPT has steadily grown since its inception in May of 2008.

Season three of the tour will begin with LAPT Playa Conchal in Costa Rica, which will run Nov. 19-22, 2009.

"In just two seasons, the Latin American Poker Tour has become the biggest poker tour in the region," said Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. "It attracts the best players from Latin America and all over the world.

"Last season, the prize pool hit a million dollars in Costa Rica and I know we're going to beat that this time! I am very proud to play in Costa Rica - it's my home country and a very special event for me. Tell everyone to come here - the Shark is waiting for them!"

In addition to the main event, Brenes will host "Humberto's 'Shark Hunt' Bounty Charity Tournament" in Costa Rica with half the prize pool donated to the Whitley Fund for Nature. That donation will be matched by Brenes and PokerStars.

Following Costa Rica, the tour will go to Nassau in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Punta del Este in Uruguay, Vina del Mar in Chile and an unidentified location in Argentina for the finale.

This is the first year the PCA has been included on the LAPT schedule and Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari said it is a welcome addition.

"I'm really happy that the tour will take in the PCA event in The Bahamas - it's one of my favorite tournaments of the year - it's got everything; with over 50 poker events and fun activities in the sun for friends and family!"

The LAPT has awarded millions of dollars in prize money and attracted thousands of players from around the world including Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Boris Becker and Alexandre Gomes.

As always, PokerStars.com will offer numerous satellites for the LAPT, some of which are already running on the site.

See below for the complete LAPT schedule:

Event:	Date:	Buy-in
LAPT Playa Conchal (Costa Rica)	Nov. 19-22, 2009	$2,500+$200
PCA (Bahamas)	Jan. 4-14, 2010	$10,000+$300
LAPT Punta del Este (Uruguay)	Feb. 24-27, 2010	$3,500+$200
LAPT Vina del Mar (Chile)	Mar. 20-23, 2010	$2,500+$200
LAPT Finale Argentina	TBA	$5,000+$300

 

 

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New Latin America Poker Tour Schedule

Online poker giants PokerStars have announced the dates for their upcoming Latin America Poker Tour, kicking off in Costa Rica in mid-November before taking a Christmas break before the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure on January 4.

PokerStars invite you to LAPT Playa Conchal, Costa Rica

The Latin American Poker Tour is back – join PokerStars South of the Border for the biggest and best poker event in the area.

Escape the winter blues in Playa Conchal, where you can enjoy one of the most gorgeous beaches on the Costa Rican Gold Coast, lapped by the Pacific Ocean, with average temps of 24c. What an excellent venue to play your best poker in! You can leave LAPT Playa Conchal not only a sun tan but some serious poker winnings too!

LAPT Playa Conchal prize packages include main event buy in, accommodation and money for expenses – everything you need to enjoy your stay!

Here’s more important info you need:-

• Venue – Paradisius Playa Conchal Resort
• Dates – November 19th to 22nd
• Buy in direct - $2,700
• Capacity – 350
• Language – Spanish
• Climate – Warm and Sunny

It’s easy to play LAPT Satellites on PokerStars and they’re running NOW, the sats are easily found by going through the PokerStars lobby click Events / LAPT and there you will find a wide range of satellites to suit every poker style and budget. Do you want in? Then get playing for your place in LAPT Playa Conchal today.

If you haven’t yet got yourself a PokerStars account don’t delay any longer, get signed up using the PokerStars Marketing Code DIRPOKER and the PokerStars Bonus Code STARS600 to ensure you get awarded their highest sign up bonus, ever, of 100% up to $600!

PokerStars is the largest online poker site on the Planet with a huge player base, see why by reading our unbiased Pokerstars Review and you too will soon become a PokerStars loyal player.

PokerStars invite you to LAPT Playa Conchal, Costa Rica

The Latin American Poker Tour is back – join PokerStars South of the Border for the biggest and best poker event in the area.

Escape the winter blues in Playa Conchal, where you can enjoy one of the most gorgeous beaches on the Costa Rican Gold Coast, lapped by the Pacific Ocean, with average temps of 24c. What an excellent venue to play your best poker in! You can leave LAPT Playa Conchal not only a sun tan but some serious poker winnings too!

LAPT Playa Conchal prize packages include main event buy in, accommodation and money for expenses – everything you need to enjoy your stay!

Here’s more important info you need:-

• Venue – Paradisius Playa Conchal Resort
• Dates – November 19th to 22nd
• Buy in direct - $2,700
• Capacity – 350
• Language – Spanish
• Climate – Warm and Sunny

It’s easy to play LAPT Satellites on PokerStars and they’re running NOW, the sats are easily found by going through the PokerStars lobby click Events / LAPT and there you will find a wide range of satellites to suit every poker style and budget. Do you want in? Then get playing for your place in LAPT Playa Conchal today.

If you haven’t yet got yourself a PokerStars account don’t delay any longer, get signed up using the PokerStars Marketing Code DIRPOKER and the PokerStars Bonus Code STARS600 to ensure you get awarded their highest sign up bonus, ever, of 100% up to $600!

PokerStars is the largest online poker site on the Planet with a huge player base, see why by reading our unbiased Pokerstars Review and you too will soon become a PokerStars loyal player.

Pitbull Poker Players and Affiliates Chase Losses

Oftentimes at a poker table, a good player will suffer a bad beat at the hands of an inferior opponent for a stack of cash.  If it’s one of those sessions, it might happen two or three times and even more if it’s really a doozy.  What follows is that some players quit, while others stand firm until they recoup as much as they feel is possible.  The same can happen in real life away from the virtual felts, as affiliates and players victimized by the sudden shutdown of Pitbull Poker can attest to.  As the months have gone by covering the story, we’ve seen a small post on the TwoPlusTwo online poker forum lead us to witnessing the closure of a poker room with hundreds of thousands of dollars missing amid a superuser scandal.

A major affiliate who goes by the moniker “JC Hawk” has led the charge in seeking justice and not just accepting his losses as a bad beat.  He was an affiliate with Pitbull Poker and the Flash Poker Network and was also in contact with Network Manager Dave Brenes and Pitbull Poker owner Kevin Baronowski.  When asked if there were any indications that something might be awry at Pitbull before the closure, Hawk said, “There were lots of red flags. When I told them [my lawyers and I] were coming down to Costa Rica in late September, they stopped talking to me.”

JC Hawk estimates that he is owed well over $100,000 from his affiliate poker site NLPT.tv on top of cash investments into Pitbull Poker directly.  Through the article comments here at Poker News Daily as well as by private messages on TwoPlusTwo, he has put together a list of people claiming losses against Pitbull Poker and brought his case before the government in Costa Rica.  “The government has been great to work with so far.  They don’t want to see people from other countries scammed, as it hurts their trade market worldwide and scares investors away.  The U.S. Embassy and the Costa Rican government are working hard to prosecute this and get any recovery they can.”

The debates rage on in the forums about which accounts were superusers, with many regulars agreeing that there’s solid evidence in support of the theory.  “Chesterboy,” the original poster who started the discussion about the issue, has decided to quit poker altogether and recently joined the U.S. Army.  Brenes, the former Network Manager for Pitbull Poker, has stated multiple times that he is no longer employed by Pitbull, never handled player funds, and is not to be considered a principle for the ownership group in any way.  He has declined further comment on the issue.

All that exists now on Pitbull Poker’s website is a message stating that the room is now closed.  The item of note on the site is a message informing visitors, “To cash out your balance, please email support@pitbullpoker.com,” which appears at the top of the page.  Since the closure of the poker room, there seem to have been no players having contact with the accounting department at Pitbull, much less receiving payouts on their outstanding balances.

There have been no statements from current or former Pitbull Poker employees or management and the forums continue to rage on about the superuser scandal.  With Chesterboy off to serve in the Army, “BCloud,” who has pinpointed a number of highly suspicious accounts, has raged the main argument in the superuser debate.  Through replaying Pitbull hand histories and compiling a list of activities, he’s certainly raised some eyebrows in recent weeks.

The legal battle begins to ramp up in Costa Rica through the efforts of JC Hawk and numerous high-stakes players who believe they can recover funds.  Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as more develops.

Pitbull Poker Closure: Players Demand Legislation, Seek Legal Action

On September 30th, Poker News Daily confirmed that Pitbull Poker, a small site on the Flash Poker Network, closed down amid a superuser scandal.  The closing of the poker room began with an incident involving two of the site’s owners showing up at the office in the middle of the night and removing computers from the premises.  On-site staff working the graveyard shift became worried and called police, leading to the two owners, Kevin Baronowski and “Justin,” being called in for questioning.  Since that time, Pitbull Poker has been officially closed and no statements have been made regarding player funds, which at this point are unaccounted for.

The controversy started back on July 22nd when chesterboy, a user at the TwoPlusTwo forums, posted that he believed he had proof that there were superusers on Pitbull Poker.  Chesterboy was not a whining micro-stakes player, but rather a respected mid-stakes competitor who came to the site hired as a prop player to help keep low- and mid-stakes games full.  After months of discussion, including an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily, it appears that the accusations may have been true.  Only a short time later, Pitbull Poker was closed and player funds disappeared.

Well-known online poker pro jasons0147 from the TwoPlusTwo forums commented on the issue by stating, “Although I am an American professional poker player and the Pitbull Poker scandal doesn’t affect me directly, it reminds me that America needs to work on the legislation and regulation of poker sites.  I personally keep tens of thousands of dollars on a major site that is U.S.-friendly, but stupidly enough I couldn’t tell you where that money is held at or what assurance I have that my money will be there when I wake up. It is time for us as poker players to stand up, demand legislation, and remind our government about the amount of revenue that legislation would generate for our respective countries.”

In response to the Poker News Daily article regarding confirmation that Pitbull Poker had closed its doors, there are 35 comments and counting from angry players demanding to know how to get their funds back.  When Pitbull Poker was in its final days, reports were posted around the internet that withdrawal requests were taking weeks to receive a response, with many not being answered at all.  Now, it seems that poker players and affiliates are out hundreds of thousands of dollars, with the money nowhere in sight.  The lost money tally just from the comments to our article adds up to $125,000, with many players banding together to work with Costa Rican authorities and the U.S. Embassy to bring the owners of Pitbull Poker to justice and recover whatever funds they can.

Players tried to find a loophole to get their funds transferred from Pitbull Poker to 5Dimes, a fellow site on the Flash Poker Network.  Those who spoke with 5Dimes customer support were told it is not possible to make a player transfer from Pitbull to 5Dimes unless they had already sent money the other way first.  For many, this meant another dead end in recovering funds.

Many in the poker industry do not have much sympathy for those duped by the owners of Pitbull Poker.  Since the internet is a virtual and unregulated medium, it’s up to the players to do their due diligence with what online poker site they deposit their funds on.  In summary, a lot of the big name players and movers and shakers in the industry say “caveat emptor.”

Moving forward, a lot of players are closely monitoring the lawsuit and legal actions by Poker News Daily reader JC Hawk as he attempts to recoup funds lost for players and affiliates from Pitbull’s owners.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as we cover the latest information and news as it breaks on this issue.

Pitbull Poker Posts Cashout Instructions, Affiliate Links for PokerStars, Cake Poker

In a curious twist, players logging into the Pitbull Poker client on Wednesday were met with news that the site was officially closed. However, five affiliate banners for other online poker sites also appeared.

On Tuesday, players were able to log into the PitBull Poker software. However, no games were available, nor were any messages announcing that the Flash Poker Network site had officially closed. That all changed on Wednesday, when players who made their way to Pitbull Poker were met with the following announcement: “It is with great sadness that we have closed Pitbull Poker.” The terse statement then addressed the concerns of players questioning the future of their funds held on the small online poker site: “To cash out your balance, please e-mail support@pitbullpoker.com.”

The two-sentence text appears in white on a black background at the top of the screen. Below that are five banners for other online poker rooms. The text above the graphics, written in red, reads, “Pitbull Poker Recommends the following Gaming Websites.” Each banner ad contains an affiliate code, presumably for Pitbull Poker. At the top of the page at the time of writing was an ad for Cake Poker, a USA friendly site and flagship room of its own network. Below Cake Poker was Rushmore Casino, whose banner proudly notes, “All USA Players are Welcome” in capital letters. Rushmore Casino’s banner also touts an $888 bonus.

The third banner given belongs to PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site. PokerStars boasts former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champions Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, and Chris Moneymaker among its elite team of pros. Pitbull Poker is also hawking Bookmaker and Aladdin’s Gold to internet gamblers looking for a new home. The Bookmaker ad contains an image of a football.

Affiliate banners, when clicked, tie a player to a referral source. If a person signs up and makes a deposit, the source, in many cases, reaps a one-time finder’s fee or receives a percentage of their action in the future. For Pitbull Poker, which will now receive a tidal wave of player cashout requests, being an affiliate of Cake Poker, Rushmore Casino, PokerStars, Bookmaker, and Aladdin’s Gold can mean an influx of much-needed revenue.

Michael Scott, Operations Manager of PokerSource.com, one of the largest online poker affiliate sites in the industry, told Poker News Daily, “Becoming an affiliate of a poker room is not a difficult thing to do; however, I believe it is the affiliate’s responsibility to disclose to the customer that they are in fact operating as an affiliate. If Pitbull is doing this to try to raise revenue so they can pay out their customers, then that is a win-win situation for the customer, but if they are doing this to line their own pockets even more, that is inexcusable. I would hope that it is the former and not the latter. I guess time will tell as to what they are really trying to do.”

In other Pitbull Poker news, PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on traffic across the major online poker sites, noted that the room’s departure from the Flash Poker Network left the USA-friendly family of sites in shambles. An article posted by PokerScout.com on Sunday read in part, “The move left the Flash Poker Network practically deserted. The network also stopped providing accurate traffic data to PokerScout and was therefore removed from the Online Poker Traffic Report.” PokerScout.com listed the network’s headquarters as being in Costa Rica, with its servers housed in Panama City, Panama.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the Pitbull Poker closure.

Pitbull Poker Fallout Continues: Players Threaten Legal Action

Last week, Poker News Daily confirmed the rumors that Pitbull Poker, a site on the Flash Poker Network, had shut down amid allegations of superusers and suspicious play. Readers of our site have since threatened litigation.

Overnight on September 29th, Pitbull Poker heads Kevin Baronowski and “Jordan” were seen taking computers out of the company’s headquarters in Costa Rica. Staff at the offices promptly called police, resulting in Baronowski and his cohort being taken in for questioning. No games were running in the client after the incident and the site was completely down for eight hours. On whether the room was operational on Tuesday, October 6th, former Pitbull Poker Network Manager Dave Brenes told Poker News Daily, “From what I heard, it was shut down. There was a rumor that it was back, but it’s shut down.” No tables were running at the time of writing, although players were still able to log into the software client.

The future of player funds held in Pitbull Poker are up in the air, leaving Poker News Daily reader “JC Hawk” to lead the charge for legal action against Brenes and Baronowski. “JC Hawk” noted that he was out $100,000. Other readers chimed in as well, adding that they were also owed amounts ranging between $250 and $7,700. Brenes responded by posting on Tuesday, “I was a never a partner, associate, director, or in any way related to the ownership of Pitbull Poker, Pitbull Casino, or Pitbull Partners. I was an employee hired to manage the network and support operations in whatever [ways] necessary.”

Brenes revealed that players aren’t the only party seeking financial compensation from Pitbull Poker. A group of former employees is also threatening litigation as a result of lost wages. Brenes explained that he is among those owed money and, on a lawsuit initiated by players, explained, “It’d have to be in Costa Rica. They would have to come down here and see what they can do. They’d have to pursue the company, though. A Costa Rican customer hired us. I was an employee hired to do a job. Once the company folded, I was out of a job.”

He continued, “I was not in charge of cashouts. I never really handled money or bank accounts or anything like that. I suspect that players won’t be seeing the money because employees aren’t seeing money either.” The industry is fresh off the liquidation of Eurolinx by its parent company, Linx Media Group, in August. As of the time of writing, Eurolinx has given no update on the status of its cashouts after an initial statement was posted in August.

Baronowski and “Jordan” handled payments and day-to-day operations at Pitbull Poker, while Brenes handled the network aspects of the online poker site. He lamented, “I know the position of the players. I understand how they feel, but they have to find the real target.” Brenes was responsible, specifically, for developing the network, procuring clients, making sure clients received support if they had questions or requests, negotiating new deals, and making sure that everyone got their payments on time.

Brenes expects to issue a personal public statement within a “few weeks or months” depending upon when he finds new employment in Costa Rica. In the meantime, “JC Hawk” contacted the U.S. Embassy in San Jose and posted on Poker News Daily, “I have been able to get the help of the Costa Rica government and the U.S. Embassy to looking into what can be done on freezing the money accounts and bringing charges on Dave Brenes and Kevin Baronowski. I should get an answer the latter part of this week or the first of next. I will get the website up and an e-mail so everyone can stay in touch shortly.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Pitbull Poker closure.

Pitbull Poker Shutdown Rumors Confirmed

Poker News Daily can confirm that Pitbull Poker, a small site on the Flash Poker Network, closed down on Wednesday, according to a high-placed source. Contrary to rumors, no arrests were made in Costa Rica. The future of player funds held on the site is up in the air.

Dave Brenes, at last account, is the spokesperson for Pitbull Poker with the title of Network Manager.  He had previously been in contact with Poker News Daily regarding the allegations and, when asked to do an interview about the matter, declined by saying a statement from ownership was coming. The source told Poker News Daily on Wednesday that the closure of the site caught them off-guard and a public statement would be forthcoming. Pitbull Poker tables should not be active online.

On September 29th, a user by the name of “dbreal” posted a message on the TwoPlusTwo forums claiming he was Brenes.  Poker News Daily can independently confirm that “dbreal” is in fact Brenes.  The post in question states that Kevin Baronowski (owner of Pitbull Poker) took away Brenes’s TwoPlusTwo account, thus he had to register a new one.  He stated that fellow workers at Pitbull Poker called him at 3:00am stating that Kevin and Jordan (a business partner) were trying to take out computers and leave the premises without saying a word to anyone in the office.  The on-site staff then called police, who took the two in for questioning.

Less than two hours after that post, the rumor gained a ton of steam when players reported that Pitbull Poker’s website was up and running; however, players logged into the client only to be met with the site being down.  Players attempting to log in received the following error:

Application Error
An unexpected error has occurred! Our support team has been already informed. See details below.

Message: com.draagon.util.ResourceException: com.draagon.meta.MetaException: Unable to load objects of class [draagon::user::User]

PokerScout.com, a popular website that tracks the number of players online, reported a zero for Pitbull poker early this morning.  The games and poker site were down for over eight hours following the post from “dbreal” on the forums.

Twelve hours after his original post, “dbreal” surfaced again in the same thread on the TwoPlusTwo forums.  He wrote that Baronowski was taken in for interrogation, as many people on-scene claimed he was trying to leave without notice.  He stated once again that he was not personally there when they were caught, but confirmed that his computer was one of the first they took away before co-workers arrived at the scene.

There are now allegations from Pitbull regulars (mainly former prop players monitoring the cheating situation) that they have been monitoring activity the last few months on the site and have exposed at least three superuser accounts.

Poker News Daily will continue to monitor the situation closely as it unfolds.

ESPN Inside Deal Features Joe Sebok

This week, the ESPN.com poker program “Inside Deal” welcomed new Ultimate Bet pro and media consultant Joe Sebok. Regular host Bernard Lee was absent, as he was competing in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open.

The show kicked off with “The Soup” and “Community” star Joel McHale serving as a guest host from what appeared to be the E! studios for his “Soup” television franchise. ESPN.com “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane inquired, “Don’t you have two shows of your own and a movie coming out?” Once the opening credits rolled and McHale plugged his movie “The Informant,” ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman took the reigns with Lane for the half-hour.

“Inside Deal” began with discussion of Tom “durrrr” Dwan scooping a $1.1 million pot during the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game at the expense of World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey. Dwan also took down a $919,000 pot against Barry Greenstein during filming of the fifth season of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” Then, the ESPN show turned to two lawsuits surrounding Full Tilt. One involves the dismissal of former employee Jason Newitt, who alleges he was wrongfully dismissed and denied distributions. The other concerns “Face the Ace,” a Full Tilt-sponsored game show that airs on NBC.

Meanwhile, attention turned to the Borgata, where a man took down the ladies’ event during the casino’s Poker Open. Lee appeared via telephone and told “Inside Deal” hosts, “Federal and State laws mandate that they can’t discriminate against a player.” On the reaction of casino patrons, Lee revealed, “Let’s just say that most players aren’t running over to congratulate him.” Nicole Rowe offered a heads-up chop with Abraham Korotki, who refused. Rowe, the sentimental crowd favorite, was set to undergo breast cancer surgery and ultimately finished second. In response, the Borgata donated $5,000 to breast cancer research.

Sebok then joined “Inside Deal” and revealed the timing for joining Team UB: “I took some time to fly down to Costa Rica. We met with the management team to hash out a number of things. I like to think that me coming onto the team is a symbol that we’re moving on and things are getting better.” The list of screen names associated with the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal was recently released, as was a continued emphasis on Russ Hamilton as its mastermind. 11Management orchestrated Sebok’s signing.

Sebok heads PokerRoad, a multimedia company best known for its assortment of poker-related podcasts. He explained the origins of PokerRoad: “It rose out of various radio shows I had done. I wanted to do something else. Playing poker is a blast, but there’s so much more to get into.” On the source of PokerRoad’s content, Sebok candidly explained, “It comes out of our relationships with each other. We spend so much time together, [so] it inevitably comes from that.” Sebok revealed that Ali Nejad has a yet-to-be-completed prop bet that challenges him to eat $45 worth of food at Taco Bell.

On the November Nine, Sebok claimed the bottom three had the two best players in the field, Phil Ivey and James Akenhead. On Jeff Shulman, who sits in the middle of the pack in chips, Sebok noted, “Let’s hope that if he wins, he doesn’t throw the bracelet away.” In the top three, Sebok reiterated that Darvin Moon remains a “wild card.” Many of the industry’s questions about Moon may be answered next week when he joins the “Inside Deal” crew.

Finally, discussion on the ESPN.com poker franchise turned to whether seven celebrities had more or fewer followers on Twitter than Sebok, who has 830,000. Celebrities included McHale, Bill Simmons, Katy Perry, UFC President Dana White, MC Hammer, Justin Timberlake, and LeVar Burton. Sebok is on a “suggested friends” list when new users sign up for the popular social networking tool.

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

Joe Sebok Discusses Ultimate Bet Signing

On Monday, it was revealed that PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok had become the new Media and Operations Consultant for Ultimate Bet. The online poker site is fresh off releasing the list of screen names associated with the cheating scandal led by Russ Hamilton. Sebok sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss his new role.

Poker News Daily: Talk about the decision to sign with UB. Why now and why UB?

Sebok: My decision to come aboard with UB was one that I needed to take my time with.  Obviously, the superuser scandal played a huge part here, with UB’s subsequent mishandling of the situation. That was the reason I needed to fly down to Costa Rica, meet with the team, and go over the processes that they have in place in order to be sure I was comfortable with it. I have a fair amount of business experience myself, so I wanted to see how things were handled there now. During the trip, I spent hours talking with UB COO Paul Leggett about some of the mistakes that have been made and he explained to me how there needed to be a new commitment to not only never letting something like that happen again, but also acknowledging that large mistakes were made in how it was handled in the past. I was ecstatic to hear this and Paul and I were in agreement, which made me able to settle into my new role with the team, which is not only sponsored pro, but also Media and Operations Consultant.

I requested a business role within UB, as I wanted to make sure I could also be involved in the operations and help guide the path a little. Keep in mind, this deal has taken four months to put together and is a testament to Paul and the team over there, who are 100% committed to a new UB and that was what it was going to take to sign me. While I think we all know of the mistakes of the past, UB today is stronger than it’s ever been in its commitment to customers. The release of the superuser accounts and subsequent hand histories for players involved are the beginnings of closing the door on the past and moving forward. I say “the beginnings” because there is still work to be done, which I take very seriously, but the future of UB is bright right now and I wanted to have a part in leading that.

PND: How much did the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal report influence your decision to sign in a deal brought on by 11Management?

Sebok: It was one of my insistences before coming onto the team. We needed to get those superuser account names out in the open and make accessible all hand histories to all players who request them. The only way to close that loop is to simply be completely transparent. UB had done a poor job in the initial go-around when the scandal hit, but hopefully has learned now and will make up for it with their actions moving forward. I also want to see the names of other associated cheaters with Russ Hamilton brought into the light. I understand the legal ramifications for why it’s not as simple as releasing them outright, but am working with Paul towards doing as much as we can to get those names out there. I think it’s important for the poker community as a whole to know those names, even if it’s basically impossible to prosecute them as things stand today. It’s all about doing the right thing and UB will definitely be doing the right things moving forward.

PND: Talk about UB’s broad coalition of pros, which includes Tiffany Michelle, Michael Binger, Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth. Is it exciting to be in that company?

Sebok: It’s nice to see UB building up a stable of pros that are all over the map. I can say that I know each and every one in a personal way because of my involvement in the poker industry over the last five years; each of them brings something different to the table. I like to think that I bring a little something different to the party that isn’t there yet, though. With my business, media, and tech experience, I have big plans for projects moving forward with the company. Whether it’s Twitter, television, social networking, or poker media, I have every intention of helping UB be on the cutting edge and pushing all envelopes for what we have seen in the poker world so far. There’s no reason that the UB stable of pros shouldn’t be able to redefine what it is to be a poker pro and what it is to interact with poker fans. I will take that as a personal challenge upon myself to work with everyone at UB to ensure we achieve that.

PND: What promotions will you be involved in?

Sebok: We are already talking about some pretty sick and cool stuff. I can’t let anything out of the bag, but be warned that it’s on the way soon. I am going to take the same PokerRoad.com sensibilities over to UB, help to apply them there, and together we’ll come up with a whole new mix for fans and players. We are going to be aggressive and we are going to do things that are new and fun, I promise you that. Keep your eyes and ears open. It’s going to be some serious innovation!

PND: Does this affect Poker Road in any way? Will UB be involved with shows or have any presence on the site?

Sebok: UB is sponsoring me and not PokerRoad. Fans needn’t worry that PokerRoad.com will suddenly be completely taken over by UB. I have always wanted PokerRoad to work in conjunction with all sites in order to build a stronger global poker community and this doesn’t change that at all. At PokerRoad.com, we will still be working with all sites that want to work with us. The only page that will be drastically changed will simply be my personal blog page, where we will house UB banners leading back to original content that I create for UB.

Brazil win Americas Cup of Poker

Brazil versus Argentina is the biggest rivalry in South American football and that rivalry looks like it’s spread to the poker felt after a hotly contested Americas Cup of Poker. Six-player teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA gathered in Bariloche in Argentina for the first Poker Stars Americas Cup competition and it was the old rivals who were to battle for victory.

The Nightly Turbo: Regulations in Costa Rica, Hellmuth Hosts a Charity Tournament, and More

It's that time again. You're in between hands and you're wondering what happened in the poker world today. Well, here it is, all laid out for you so you can get back to the grind sooner.