Poker News

Venetian to Host All In For CP Charity Poker Tournament

Actress Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Joe Cada will host the third annual All In For Cerebral Palsy celebrity charity poker tournament at the Venetian’s poker room on Saturday, December 11th. Proceeds from the event will benefit the One Step Closer Foundation, a non-profit organization whose main goal is to ease the lives of those who suffer from cerebral palsy through financial freedom and social acceptance.

The No Limit Hold’em charity tournament will be a $540 buy-in with unlimited $200 rebuys for 90 minutes. Half of the pool will go for the tournament’s payouts, with the other half going to the foundation. There will also be sports and Hollywood memorabilia available through auctions and an after-party with free drinks courtesy of the One Step Closer Foundation. Players can register online or at the Venetian Poker Room cage until the end of the rebuy period on December 11th.

Jacob Zalewski, who copes with cerebral palsy and serves as President and CEO of the One Step Closer Foundation, started the All In For Cerebral Palsy event in 2008. Zalewski is a huge poker fan can regularly be found at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino during the annual WSOP in Las Vegas. He has made friends with many of poker’s biggest stars throughout the years, many of which support his foundation by playing in the event.

“We hope to see a future where cerebral palsy is a thing of the past,” said Zalewski, who made a final table at the WSOP in 2005. “We know are getting one step closer to that vision every day.”

Mekhi Phifer, star of FOX’s “Lie to Me” and films such as “8 Mile” and “O,” bested 97 players last year to win the All In For Cerebral Palsy tournament. The event raised more than $80,000, as attendance doubled at the Hard Rock Casino from the previous year.

Phifer is expected to return to defend his title this year, along with fellow celebrities Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”), Sam Simon (creator of “The Simpsons”), Montel Williams (TV talk show host), Donnie Wahlberg (“Blue Bloods”), Gina Hecht (“Hung”), and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis. Playboy playmates Lauren Anderson, Stacy Fuson, Alison Waite, and Brande Roderick have also committed to the event.

Poker pros that have given support to the cause and will likely play again this year include Dennis Phillips, Victor Ramdin, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, Eli Elezra, Freddy Deeb, Darvin Moon, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Andy Block, David “Chino” Rheem, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Robert Williamson III, and Jamie Gold.

Cerebral palsy refers to motor conditions that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination. Effects of the disorder don’t worsen over time, but they can’t be cured. However, treatment will often improve a child’s capabilities, allowing them to enjoy near-normal adult lives if their disabilities are properly managed.

For more information about the disorder and the “All In For Cerebral Palsy” tournament, visit AllInForCP.com.

Darvin Moon to host Foxwoods Mega Stack XVIII

You don’t quit poker, the old saying goes: poker quits you. It seems to be the case for Darvin Moon, who declared famously that he would return to his logging job and community in Maryland even after his multi-million dollar win at the World Series of Poker 2009 where he finished runner up to Joe Cada.

Darvin Moon to Host Foxwoods MegaStack Challenge XVIII

On Saturday, the Foxwoods MegaStack Challenge will kick off from the forests of Connecticut. This time around, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon will serve as its host. The tournament series will shell out $375,000 in guaranteed prize money and offer a $1,100 buy-in Main Event.

Moon played second fiddle to Joe Cada in Las Vegas in 2009. Cada, who banked $8.5 million by virtue of the win, became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever, breaking Peter Eastgate’s standing record set in 2008. Cada won the event just days before his 22nd birthday and then went on a USA-wide victory parade that included stints on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

The $1,100 buy-in Main Event at Foxwoods begins on December 11th with Day 1 starting at 11:00am local time; the winner will be crowned the next day. Players will receive a starting stack of 40,000 and the blind levels will stretch for 50 minutes apiece. On Day 2, the survivors will return to the Foxwoods poker room at 11:00am and the blinds will lengthen to an hour. The Main Event comes with a $100,000 guaranteed purse.

On December 4th, the MegaStack Challenge kicks off with a $560 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event that offers a colossal $75,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players will receive a starting stack of 20,000 and the price of poker will tick up every 50 minutes. The two-day event begins promptly at 11:00am local time on Saturday for Day 1 and at Noon on Sunday for Day 2.

Here is the schedule for the newest Foxwoods MegaStack Challenge, hosted by Moon. All times are Eastern:

Saturday December 4th at 11:00am
$560 buy-in No Limit Hold’em, 20,000 starting chips
$75,000 guarantee

Sunday and Monday, December 5th and 6th at 10:00am
$230 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry (Two Day 1s), 8,000 starting chips
$100,000 guarantee

Tuesday, December 7th at 6:00pm
$120 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Special, 15,000 starting chips
$10,000 guarantee

Wednesday, December 8th at 11:00am
$200 buy-in Bounty Event, 15,000 starting chips
$15,000 guarantee

Thursday, December 9th at 11:00am
$340 buy-in No Limit Hold’em, 15,000 starting chips
$75,000 guarantee

Saturday, December 11th at 11:00am
$1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event, 40,000 starting chips
$100,000 guarantee

In October, Foxwoods played host to the annual World Poker Finals, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). The $10,000 WPT event drew a field of 242 players and Jeff Forest walked away with the title and a bankroll boost of $548,000. The internet-heavy final table also featured Dave Inselberg (second place for $325,608), Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese (third place for $211,759), Nikolai Yakovenko (fourth place for $170,773), Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen (fifth place for $128,650), and Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania (sixth place for $104,741).

Moon, a logger from the backwoods of Maryland, donned a New Orleans Saints cap and Wheeling Island Casino shirt throughout his WSOP stints. In 2010, he was seated at the ESPN feature table on Day 1D.

FoxwoodsLive.com will be bringing the action from the New England casino to life throughout the upcoming MegaStack Challenge.

Jonathan Duhamel Main Event Champion Interview

Jonathan Duhamel won the WSOP Main Event and the $8.9 million prize to go along with the coveted bracelet. Our cameras were on Duhamel as he addressed the media about twenty minutes after winning the top poker tournament of the year against John Racener.

Duhamel became the first chip leader to go on to win the Main Event since the November Nine was instituted two years ago. Originally, Dennis Phillips was the chip leader and went on to finish in third place. Last year the chip leader was Darvin Moon, who went on to finish second. It seemed appropriate that Duhamel would be this year’s chip leader and go on to win to complete the trend.

During the press conference, Duhamel addressed many of the media questions. He talked about the experience of winning the main event and how much the event title would mean to his home country of Canada. He also mentioned that he would be giving $100,000 to a local children’s related charity in his home city of Montreal. When asked if he plans to represent the poker industry, he discussed at length how he will become an ambassador for the game and full embraces the role that typically goes along with being a Main Event champion, contrary to players like Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang.

Duhamel said that he was inspired before play began that evening by the Poker Hall of Fame ceremony, which saw the inductions of legends Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel. When asked if we might one day be seeing a Duhamel run to the Hall of Fame, Duhamel laughed but said that he was inspired and it was something he would be aiming to get one day in the future.

Now that all is said and done, Jonathan Duhamel now ranks as one of the highest money earners in the history of tournament poker.

A Complete Poker Whirlwind by Bernard Lee

Since the World Series of Poker (WSOP) this summer, my life has been a complete whirlwind.  After I witnessed the entire five-hour Main Event final table bubble (which went well into the wee hours of July 18th), we taped the ESPN Inside Deal WSOP wrap-up show at about 8:00am with no sleep.  Fortunately, right after we wrapped filming of the show, I was able to take a nap until my flight and headed straight back to Boston.

Once I landed in the Bay State, I took about a month off from poker.  This breather allowed me to reacquaint myself with my wife and kids.  Immediately, I got back into the role of Mr. Mom, taking them to and from summer camp, going to playgrounds and parks, and, in general, having fun with my kids.  It was a blast.

However, the month seemed to fly by and poker came calling once again.  In mid-August, I helped promote Foxwoods Resort Casino’s summer MegaStack series.  For this, I was able to secure three poker superstars as hosts: Chris Moneymaker (2003 WSOP Main Event Champion), Darvin Moon (second place in 2009), and Jonathan Duhamel (2010 November Nine chip leader).

In fact, since Dennis Phillips attended the May MegaStack, Foxwoods has had all three November Nine chip leaders as hosts of these events along with another WSOP final table chip leader, Chris Moneymaker. Overall, the August MegaStack was a huge success, setting records for all three events.  In total, there were over 2,200 registrants and more than $1.1 million in prize money.

Shortly thereafter, I was off to the WSOP Circuit Event in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  After a couple of preliminary events, I prepared to play in the Main Event.  Strangely, I feel very comfortable in Council Bluffs.  This time, I proceeded to make my third Main Event final table in Council Bluffs in the past three years, making it almost my second poker home outside of Foxwoods.  Unfortunately, I came up a little short of the ultimate prize, finishing in 10th place among 251 players.

After a couple of weeks at home with the family, I headed down to Borgata in Atlantic City with my co-host Andy Kaplan for the Eastern Poker Tour television show (a New England-based pub tour that has been shown on Comcast Sports Net for the past three years).  Although I played a solid Day 1 and 2, I was agonizingly eliminated in about 140th place when my A-Q was bested by a set of 10s (with a flop of As-10s-4s).  With 100 players making the money, my demise did not sit well with me.  Fortunately, Kaplan carried the torch for both of us, finishing a very respectable 33rd place out of 1,042 registrants.  Nice job buddy!

Right after my elimination from the Borgata Main Event, I headed back home to pack for my first trip over “The Pond” to play in the WSOP Europe Main Event.  Having seen the event on television and having spoken with several players about it, I was very excited to play in this prestigious, yet tough, field of players.  Unfortunately, I never really got on track during Day 1 and was eliminated.  In back-to-back events, I was eliminated when my two high cards (this time A-K) ran into a set (this time 2s); now, the board was K-4-2.  Nevertheless, my wife joined me the day after I was knocked out of the WSOP Europe Main Event.  Soothing the pain of my elimination, my wife and I toured around London – our first trip without the kids in over five years.

Although I was very busy playing numerous events during the past few months, I never relinquished my hosting duties for my weekly radio show (which can be heard on RoundersRadio.com and via iTunes) or ESPN’s Inside Deal (which can be seen at ESPN.com/InsideDeal).  During both programs, I have been interviewing members of the 2010 November Nine.

For my radio show, I introduced a contest consisting of a prize pool of $1,000 in which nine lucky listeners are linked up with a member of the 2010 November Nine.  If a listener’s corresponding player wins the 2010 WSOP Main Event, he or she will win $500 in cash and prizes just for listening.  Remember, it’s not too late to become one of the Bernard Lee Poker Nine.  Just listen to my radio show every Tuesday night from 6:00pm to 7:00pm ET.

Now, one of the events that I look forward to the entire year has begun.  The Foxwoods World Poker Finals started on Monday, October 11th with a $600 No Limit Hold’em event and culminates with the $10,000 six-day Main Event that begins on October 28th.  This tournament was one of the charter members of the World Poker Tour nine years ago.  Overall, the World Poker Finals, which is rich in history, is still affordable to the masses, as 22 of the 27 events (over 80%) have buy-ins ranging from $300 to $600.  So, come and try your poker skill at the World Poker Finals.

In the end, some people have dubbed me the “Busiest man in poker.”  Whether I am or not is irrelevant.  What I can honestly say is that I am truly living a dream and absolutely love what I do.  The only major drawback is that I am away from the family so much.  However, in a couple of months, I’m taking everyone to the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at the Atlantis.  This event is one of my favorite stops of the year and the only one in which I bring my entire family.

However, there is still a lot of poker left in 2010.  Good luck to everyone at the tables.

Bernard Lee is the official spokesperson of Foxwoods Resort Casino. Lee is the co-host of ESPN Inside Deal, a columnist for the ESPN.com, a Sunday columnist for the Boston Herald, and author of “The Final Table, Volume I” and “Volume II.”  Visit BernardLeePoker.com.  Listen to “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” presented by Foxwoods Resort Casino every Tuesday from 6:00pm to 7:00pm on 1120 AM in Boston or RoundersRadio.com. For questions or comments, e-mail him at BernardLeePoker@hotmail.com.

WSOP Main Event Money Bubble Bursts on ESPN

On Tuesday night, Day 4 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event played out on ESPN. The all-important money bubble popped during the evening and coverage kicked off at 9:00pm ET on the cable station. James Carroll was the chip leader entering Day 4 at 803,000 and, amazingly, all four Mizrachi brothers remained in the hunt.

The feature table housed former back-to-back Main Event champion Johnny Chan, who sat in ninth on the leaderboard with a stack of 636,000. Among his tablemates were poker pro Brett Richey, Dan “Wretchy” Martin, and three-time boxing champion Jeff Fenech. Costa Rican Eric Capra doubled up through Chan early on after hitting a set of jacks on the flop. In a similar hand out in the field, Robert Mizrachi busted a player by cracking pocket aces with pocket jacks after flopping a set.

PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein was all-in against Jason “JCarver” Somerville with A-Q against A-K. Somerville flopped top two pair and Greenstein signed a copy of “Ace on the River” over before heading to the exit. Former Main Event champ Dan Harrington called all-in pre-flop with A-K after an opponent 4bet with pocket kings. Despite getting it in behind, Harrington hit his three-outer on the turn and doubled up, telling his opponent, “You didn’t deserve that.”

Scotty Nguyen was all-in, his tournament life hanging in the balance with pocket kings against Hafiz Khan’s pocket eights. The board blanked out for Khan and Nguyen stacked up the pot. Elsewhere, reigning WSOP Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman flopped a pair of sixes and moved all-in. However, an opponent tabled a pair of queens and Shulman was ousted. He’ll now head to London to begin his title defense on September 23rd.

Hank Azaria’s pocket queens were sitting pretty until an opponent with A-K spiked an ace on the river to send “The Simpsons” voice home. Also departing was barker extraordinaire Ted Bort, the CEO of Allied Network Solutions, who may best be remembered for his countdown hand against Prahlad Friedman. On Bort being eliminated before the money bubble, ESPN commentator Norman Chad quipped, “Shouldn’t he howl when he’s knocked out?”

To start the second episode, four eliminations were needed for the money bubble to burst and hand-for-hand dealing began. A new feature table saw Michael Mizrachi, WSOP Player of the Year leader Frank Kassela, and Full Tilt’s Gavin Smith face off against each other, while a talented Table 2 included Jean-Robert Bellande, John Dolan, World Poker Tour (WPT) commentator Vince Van Patten, and Karina Jett.

The action saw tight play around the money bubble, including Smith fold pocket fours before the flop, and ultimately Tim McDonald fell by the wayside as this year’s Bubble Boy. He was all-in with pocket queens on a flop of A-A-2, but ran into A-2 for a boat. McDonald was introduced in front of the crowd and will receive an entry into next year’s WSOP Main Event. The top 747 players finished in the money out of a field of 7,319.

Smith departed shortly thereafter in 730th after his pocket threes could not hold up against Max Casal’s A-6. Then, after the Mizrachis became the first four brothers to make the money together in WSOP history, Eric Mizrachi departed as part of a three-way all-in. Eric held pocket jacks against pocket rockets and A-K and could not improve; the best pre-flop hand held and he departed in 718th.

Meanwhile, Donny Mizrachi tripled up after winning a three-way all-in of his own with K-Q of hearts against pocket tens and David Benyamine’s 8-6 of spades. Donny flopped the nut straight and dodged a flush draw on the turn and river to survive with a healthy stack. A shot of Jonathan Duhamel showed the November Nine chip leader wearing a whopping eight PokerStars logos on his hoodie, while elsewhere in the Amazon Room, high-stakes cash game pro Patrik Antonius came out on the short end of a race to stunt his Main Event run.

Fenech busted after his A-5 could not draw out on Chan’s A-10 suited and a similar fate found Allen Cunningham, whose cash in the Main Event was his only in the money finish of the 2010 WSOP. To round out the two-hour broadcast, Michael Mizrachi doubled up to 245,000 at the expense of German Jan Boye, who Chad dubbed “Darvin Moon with an accent.” Boye was giddy as a schoolgirl during several moments of the broadcast, including in a hand where he sent both Kassela and Tom Duong to the rail.

The 2010 WSOP Main Event on ESPN continues on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN.

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Foxwood Mega Stack XVII gets 2,200 players; $1m prize pool

The twelfth run of the Foxwoods casino Mega Stack tournament series has come to an end with over two thousand players generating a prize pool of over a million dollars across the three tournaments. Each event was hosted by a different poker personality as 2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker, Darvin Moon and Jonathan Duhamel.

Darvin Moon Keno Prop Bet

Darvin Moon and Bernard Lee are good friends that join us for this latest poker lifestyle piece, filmed at one of the many restaurants within the Foxwoods Casino. These two became good friends during the course of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, with Lee inviting Moon to the Foxwoods Mega Stacks Challenge tournaments that took place only a few weeks ago. Bernard Lee is the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino and was one of the hosts for the recent tournament promotion at the casino.

Moon became one of the most famous names in all of poker when he took a $10,000 satellite seat from his local casino near his home in West Virginia (United States) and rode it to a second place finish at the World Series of Poker Main Event. Moon dominated the way through the final days of competition and used a simple and straightforward approach to turn aggressive players on themselves.

Moon went on to win $5.8 million at the 2009 WSOP Main Event, finishing second to Joe Cada. He remains a self employed logger and hasn’t changed much in his life, outside of a few creature comforts for himself and his wife and parents. Famously at the final table, Moon knocked out both Steve Begleiter and arguably the best player in poker, Phil Ivey. Moon was able to eliminate Ivey with AQ against Ivey’s AK when a Queen flopped and Ivey’s hand did not improve.

In this prop bet challenge, the two decided to play a little game of Keno, which Moon apparently had never played before in his life. At stake was a dinner, with the loser paying for the winner’s meal. Who would win this exciting game of luck? You’ll have to watch to find out!

Bernard Lee is a correspondant and guest columnist for Poker News Day and can also be seen at ESPN.com.

WSOP Main Event Day 2B Airs on ESPN

On Tuesday night, action from Day 2B of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event aired on ESPN. Two one-hour episodes were devoted to the second Day 2 and the feature table included Dan Harrington and Jeff Shulman, who were seated next to each other. The former has recorded four WSOP Main Event final tables, while Shulman was a member of last year’s November Nine.

Four former Main Event champs were in action along with four members of last year’s November Nine. One of the first eliminations of the night went to “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, who ran pocket jacks into pocket kings on his final hand. Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey was crippled after running pocket queens into pocket kings. Ivey turned a queen to take the lead in the hand, but his opponent rivered a king to send his chip stack diving to less than five big blinds. He’d later be eliminated after an opponent flopped a set.

2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon doubled up a player with pocket jacks against pocket kings and back at the feature table, Shulman doubled up after flopping a set of jacks against Tibor Hegedus’ top pair.

Ted Bort, CEO of Allied Network Solutions, and Prahlad Friedman tangled in a controversial hand. Bort pushed all-in on the river while continuously barking like a dog. With the board reading 6-J-9-5-2, Bort called the clock on Friedman, who made the call at the one-second mark. However, the floor said Friedman’s hand was dead since he didn’t call in time. Bort flipped over J-9 for top two pair and scooped a 160,000-chip pot, among the largest of the night. Watch the hand here.

ESPN aired a commercial break amid the controversy and, when the show resumed, Mike Mustafa and others at the table argued with WSOP staff that Friedman had indeed called before time expired. ESPN aired a replay clearly showing that Friedman had called at the one-second mark, with the dealer promptly saying, “He called.” Nevertheless, another floor supervisor was summoned who also said the hand was dead. Friedman was also involved in “Ante-gate” with Jeffrey Lisandro.

Harrington doubled up through Hegedus after flopping top set and, to close out the first one-hour episode, Moon was all-in with 10-9 on a flop of 4-9-2, all clubs. His opponent called and flipped over pocket aces and, with neither player holding a club, the board ran out K-5. Moon told his wife while leaving the Amazon Room, “At least the pressure’s off, honey.”

To open the second episode of the evening, which also featured Day 2B play, Chris Ferguson doubled up with pocket queens against another player’s pocket fours. Then, Tom Schneider doubled up with A-K against A-J. While raking his chips, Schneider pulled out his phone and played an audio clip of his wife Julie screaming, “Stack ‘em, stack ‘em, to the top!”

Josh Arieh joined the already impressive feature table lineup and Phil Laak, who was seated at Table 2, doubled up an opponent with K-10 against A-9. In two separate hands, Laak received cash payments of $20 and $40 to expose his hole cards. In the second one, he bluffed a player with second pair holding just six-high. Others in the field included Jean-Robert Bellande, Gavin Smith, J.J. Liu, and Deuces Cracked front man Jay Rosenkrantz.

Arieh doubled up through Harrington before promptly giving away most of his newfound chips to Shulman. The CardPlayer executive ran A-K of diamonds into pocket aces on his final hand to exit stage right. Also departing was DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson, who re-raised all-in on a flop of 4-8-3 with pocket sevens. An opponent called with pocket jacks and a running 4-6 sent “Texas Dolly” home. Brunson received a hearty ovation as he headed for the exit.

Pros dropped like flies down the stretch. Schneider ran pocket sevens into pocket aces after the money went in on an 8-4-6 flop. The turn was a six and the river was a jack, sending the former WSOP Player of the Year home. Then, Arieh, decked out in Full Tilt Poker gear, was all-in pre-flop with 5-4 of spades and up against Joe Hanna’s pocket queens. Arieh flopped an open-ended straight draw, but no ace or six came on the turn or river and Arieh was eliminated from the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

Next Tuesday, action from Day 3 will air. Catch the WSOP Main Event on ESPN on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET.

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Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge XVII Shatters Records

Earlier this week, the Foxwoods Resort Casino wrapped up the 17th running of its Mega Stack Challenge, with record-breaking fields and huge prize pools enticing all participants.

The tournament series, which took place from August 17th to 23rd, featured three different events that drew in more than 2,200 players. The Mega Stack Challenge XVII also featured quality poker talent, including 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, 2009 runner-up Darvin Moon, and 2010 November Nine chip leader Jonathan Duhamel. Also in attendance for the three events was Poker News Daily guest columnist Bernard Lee, who is sponsored by Foxwoods and considers the poker room his home turf.

The $340 No Limit Hold’em tournament was the largest event by the numbers, with 1,295 players eventually coming to the felt to battle for the title. Roslyn Heights, New York resident William Davis won the championship at the end of the two-day tournament, taking home $72,769. Battling valiantly was eventual second place finisher John Weiss of Stamford, Connecticut, who earned $45,787.

Rounding out the remainder of the final table were third place Edward Kiaer of East Boston, Massachusetts; Linda Swears of Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Edson Pap of Lynnfield, Massachusetts; Michael Forman of Farmington, New York; Michael Donegan of Center Moriches, New York; Jamie Wagner of Kittery, Maine; Matthew Pierce of Cohasset, Massachusetts; and Colin Maneval of Newton, Massachusetts. The tournament was guaranteed for $125,000, but that figure was tripled with the $376,845 prize pool.

The $560 No Limit Hold’em event featured a sizeable field of 663 that also surpassed its $125,000 guarantee, with the prize pool eventually reaching $321,555. Seventy players earned a return on their investment, with Moon taking a min-cash ($1,286) and veteran poker player Vinny Pahuja also making a small profit ($1,350).

The two-day tournament saw a deal reached after 14 hours of play in the Foxwoods tournament room, where 107 players started with a shot at the title on Day 2. The championship trophy and first place check of $35,615 was awarded to Brad Harper of Putney, Vermont. Khalid Riley of Norwood, Massachusetts; Jose Montes of Bronx, New York; David Felger of Lantana, Florida; and Mike MacIntosh of Crantson, Rhode Island took the second through fifth place slots and were each the beneficiary of $31,500 for their hard work after a chop.

In the $1,650 No Limit Hold’em Main Event, 320 players competed for a chance to earn a piece of the $465,600 prize pool (the tournament had a guaranteed purse of $250,000). Over the span of three days of play totaling 36 hours, the field was whittled down to the 35 players who would at least earn a min-cash of $3,817. The real prize, however, was the first place money worth $74,919 and the Mega Stack Championship trophy.

As action reached the final four of the three-day tournament, the players were fairly evenly stacked. With the hour growing late, the top four negotiated a deal that awarded Dan Suied of Billerica, Massachusetts a $72,072 cash and the title of champion. Although he finished second, Marc Podell of New York, New York took home the most money ($74,919) as a result of the deal. Mike Dentale of Brooklyn, New York finished third with $58,533 and Ross Santos of Carver, Massachusetts took the fourth place prize of $43,572.

Rounding out the final table for the event were Grant Lang of Danbury, Connecticut; Sam Haddad of Westwood, Massachusetts; Ben Bianco of Franklin Square, New York; Rodney Legendre of Randolph, New Hampshire; Robert Koerber of Waterbury, Connecticut; and Mike Perry of Oakland, Maine. The final nine players each took home a five-figure payday, with Perry falling just short of that in earning $7,915.

When all of the tournaments were completed, $1.164 million in prize pools had been distributed, making the Mega Stack Challenge XVII the largest version ever in its history. The popular Foxwoods poker room will play host to the World Poker Finals, including a World Poker Tour $10,000 event, in October.

World Series of Poker Main Event Day 2A Airs on ESPN

On Tuesday night, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event continued airing on ESPN. This time, Day 2A was highlighted and featured nine former Main Event champions gunning for a repeat performance. Embattled PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu was seated at the feature table.

On a board of 4-9-Q-A, Adam Fisher 3bet all-in with A-J and received a call from Negreanu, who held A-Q for top two pair. Fisher was drawing dead to the river and exited the feature table. Elsewhere in the field, 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon checked in on reigning champ Joe Cada and ESPN commentator Norman Chad drooled over cash game pro Patrik Antonius, who was seated at Table 2: “Patrik and I go to the same health club. He just works out a few more days a week than I do.” Interestingly, Antonius had never cashed in the Main Event entering 2010.

Erik Seidel knocked out an opponent with A-K against K-9 to move to nearly double the starting stack of 30,000 and Daniel Alaei doubled up through Leo Margets after winning a race with K-Q against pocket sevens. Meanwhile, former Main Event champ Scotty Nguyen moved all-in with pocket fives on a flop of A-5-A and doubled up through a player holding A-4. ESPN featured the progress of 1986 Under 10 World Youth Chess Champion Jeff Sarwer, who received more coverage than many brand name pros.

Negreanu promptly dropped one-third of his stack after bluffing with 7-6 of diamonds on a board of A-2-Q-8 with two clubs. A third club hit on the river to give Tony Utnage a flush and he scooped the 100,000-chip pot. Others in action on Day 2A that received face time on ESPN included reigning WSOP Europe Main Event champ Barry Shulman, Barry’s wife Allyn, and Pasha and Antonio Esfandiari.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Robert Mizrachi both survived Day 2A in an impressive feat. Not so fortunate was Ted Forrest, who was all-in with pocket fives against A-K. His opponent spiked a king on the turn and an ace on the river to send the weight loss prop bet winner to the rail. Also departing was Dennis Phillips, whose A-J could not draw out on pocket sevens.

During the second one-hour episode, which aired at 10:00pm ET on ESPN, Day 2A resumed with Johnny Chan laying it down in a hand against Vitaly Lunkin. Then, 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker called the clock on an opponent, but didn’t realize that the action was actually on him. Moneymaker eventually called and his opponent insta-mucked. Alaei hit the rails with A-2 against pocket eights when his foe flopped a set.

UB.com pros Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin and Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp continued their Day 2A march and in the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Negreanu scooped a pot holding just six-high. Negreanu’s nemesis Annie Duke took down a hand with a straight flush against a full house, while fellow female star Heather Sue Mercer won a pot. Mercer, a former college football kicker, sued Duke University for discrimination and was awarded $2 million. However, because of a Supreme Court decision saying that Title IX cases are not subject to punitive damages, she received no money.

Antonius, who is competing against Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the ongoing Durrrr Challenge, cracked pocket aces with 5-3. Antonius flopped two pair and ESPN commentator Lon McEachern noted, “Let the wamboozling begin.” Antonius’ chip stack rose to nearly 300,000 as a result, or 10 times the starting stack.

The feature table grew tougher with the addition of bracelet winner Praz Bansi and Negreanu’s failed bluffs continued. After check-calling a bet of 3,200 with K-J on a flop of 10-7-9, Negreanu and Charles Hook checked a four on the turn. When a five hit on the river, Negreanu bet 6,800 with air and Hook, holding 9-8 for a pair of nines, made the call. Negreanu’s chip stack was slashed to 29,000.

Next week at 9:00pm ET on ESPN, catch two hours of coverage devoted to Day 2B.

WSOP Main Event Days 1C and 1D Air on ESPN

On Tuesday night at 9:00pm ET, coverage of Days 1C and 1D of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event aired on cable station ESPN. The first hour of coverage was devoted to Day 1C and featured reigning Main Event champ Joe Cada and 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Eight former Main Event champs took to the felts for Day 1C and Cada was seated at the feature table. ESPN aired several hands in which Cada flopped sets, perhaps playing on his “lucksack” image from 2009. Meanwhile, back-to-back Main Event winner Johnny Chan scooped a massive pot in a set-over-set situation to move to 61,000 in chips. Chan is part of the $50,000 buy-in Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship, which is airing on Saturday nights on GSN.

Elsewhere, fellow Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen was seen living it up on Day 1C, while a 3bet from PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu was good enough to take down a pot. Then, Hellmuth was seen entering the fray dressed as an MMA fighter and took a seat at Table 2. ESPN commentator Norman Chad was not impressed by Hellmuth’s entrance, which featured several hundred spectators.

UB.com pros Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin and Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp found camera time, as did Darvin Moon, who was sweating Dennis Phillips. High-stakes cash game pros Patrik Antonius and Tom “durrrr” Dwan were also seen competing for the top prize of nearly $9 million. The latter donned a button that displayed fellow pro Peter Jetten hugging a koala and hit quads with pocket fives. Dwan played in 52 events during the 2010 WSOP in an attempt to collect on a variety of high-dollar bracelet bets.

Cada scooped a 39,000-chip pot after flopping a boat against Nils Bardsley’s nut flush. Then, in a lively Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player at the table are concealed, online poker pro James “croll103” Carroll spiked the nut flush against Hellmuth, who spouted off, “Worst player at the fucking table.”

At an outer table, Chau Giang doubled up courtesy of Victory Poker front man Antonio Esfandiari. However, Esfandiari had the last laugh, making a full house on the river to send Giang packing. Despite his heralded success in high-stakes cash games, Giang has cashed in just one WSOP Main Event in the last 14 years.

Back at the feature table, Cada rivered a boat against Tommy Miller’s king-high diamond flush to rake in another 21,125 chips. Cada then knocked out Bardsley with pocket queens against A-J to shoot up to 61,000 in chips. Next door, Hellmuth hit the rails in a three-way pot with pocket jacks against A-K and pocket queens when an opponent hit a flush on the river. Hellmuth was less-than-gracious in his exit. Also finding the rails was Dwan, who promptly threw his button onto his chair and left the Amazon Room.

The second one-hour episode featured coverage of Day 1D. After railing one day prior, Moon took center stage this time around and played relatively tight poker. He tangled with Miguel Gonzalez in pot after pot, dropping the first one shown. Then, viewers railed eight-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey. Also in the field were fellow 2009 November Niners Jeff Shulman, Antoine Saout, and Eric Buchman.

NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith gave the “Shuffle up and ‘play’” command, but was later sidelined. Back at the feature table, Moon checked the nuts on the river in order to see what his opponent had, but due to an anti-collusion rule, was given a one-hand penalty. Moon claimed he didn’t know about the rule and added, “I learn something new every day.”

Actors Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) and Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”) were shown in the Day 1D field, as was DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson, who took a seat at Table 2. Elsewhere, Jason Mercier hit a boat on the river to bust an opponent holding a straight and Bob Lang, a Vice President of In-N-Out Burger, eliminated 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro. Lang flopped a set with pocket queens to draw out on Lisandro’s aces.

2010 WSOP Player of the Year contender Frank Kassela tangled with Penn Jillette’s wife Emily, while Pascal LeFrancois sent 2005 Main Event winner Joe Hachem to the rail. At the feature table, Moon led out for 2,500 with A-9 on a flop of 10-8-5. Gonzalez check-raised to 7,550 with pocket kings and Moon made it 17,000. Gonzalez came all-in over-the-top for just 4,300 more and Moon called despite knowing he was dominated. Last year’s runner-up caught lightning in a bottle on the river when an ace hit to send Gonzalez packing.

The Day 2s of the Main Event will begin next Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN. If you missed this week’s episodes, they will repeat throughout the week on ESPN’s family of stations.

The WSOP on ESPN: Cada and Moon Headline Day 1c and 1d

This week’s two-hour block of coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker featured two of last year’s breakout stars. We all knew Joe Cada would be back to defend his title, but did anyone count on Darvin Moon emerging from the Maryland woods to...

August 10th – Daily Deal

Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily. Today we’ll discuss online qualifiers for the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge and review the UBOC 5 schedule. Plus “The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson gives us her favorite Las Vegas shows and one World Series of Poker November Niner is headed to Foxwoods.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and you’re watching the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

On August twenty-second at four P-M Eastern Time, the USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom will qualify players to the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge through a $226 Grand Finale. One prize package is guaranteed and DoylesRoom will add another for every ten players in the field. DoylesRoom is holding two more Weekly Semifinals if a $226 price tag is out of your bankroll, and the next one comes your way on Saturday. The Montana Poker Challenge plays out over Labor Day weekend from Big Fork.

The fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, begins on August eighteenth on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. UBOC 5, which is the second UBOC to run in 2010, features twenty tournaments culminating in a one-thousand fifty dollar buy-in Championship Event on August 29th. UB pro Phil Hellmuth will host the Championship Event, which features a Monster Stack format. The CEREUS Network is running a variety of UBOC side promotions, including a Bubble Buster that pays out up to one million dollars.

“The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson published her top ten Las Vegas shows on Monday on Poker News Daily. Leading her list was the musical Jersey Boys, which plays out at the Palazzo from Thursday to Tuesday every week. Other Vegas spectaculars singled out were Love, O, Viva Elvis, and Penn and Teller. Check out her full list by clicking on “Guest Columnists” at the top of the screen. While you’re there, you can view exclusive blogs submitted by poker pros like Annie Duke and Mike Sexton.

Finally, Poker News Daily has learned that World Series of Poker November Niner Jonathan Duhamel will be playing in the upcoming Foxwoods August Megastack. He’ll join Chris Moneymaker and Darvin Moon as pro ambassadors. The Megastack series begins on August seventeenth and offers a five-hundred thousand dollar guaranteed prize pool. Moneymaker and Moon made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Duhamel is this year’s chip leader.

That does it for this Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal and be sure to check back all day long here at our site for the latest poker stories. You can also add us to your twitter feed at twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson and may the flop be with you!

Joe Cada Interview with Bernard Lee

Joe Cada is the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion and joins Bernard Lee in his latest installment of “The Hijack Seat” right here on Poker News Daily. Cada, before he won the biggest tournament in the world, was an online Heads-Up cash game specialist for three year prior. He had gone through a few terrible runs before blazing a trail to the Final Table and the November Nine. At that fateful Final Table he faced the likes of Phil Ivey and Darvin Moon, and was able to recover from having less than just 1% of the chips at the table to go the distance and win poker’s most prestigious title.

Cada is a Michigan native and grew up playing soccer with his entire family. Sports was a big part of his life until he was 16 when he “got lazy and started playing poker full time” from his home online. He continues to play live tournament events and online cash games at PokerStars, where he is a featured sponsored pro.

In this episode of “The Hijack Seat”, Bernard Lee talks to Cada about being the reigning champion and the pressure that goes with the title. They also discuss poker and how things have gone this year, as well as Cada being asked the trademark four questions from the Hijack Seat. During that part we learn what Cada’s favorite hand is, what game he likes most outside of No Limit Texas Hold’em and a player he thinks will make a huge jump in the near future in the world of poker.

Bernard Lee is a special correspondant for Poker News Daily and can also be heard on the airwaves in the New England area on his poker radio show. He is also seen on ESPN’s web poker news show “The Inside Deal” and is the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino.

Bookmakers Set November Nine Odds

With the 2010 November Nine firmly set in place and the storm of the World Series of Poker calm for a few months, it’s always interesting to see how the oddsmakers view the crop of players at the biggest final table of the year. Online betting sites such as Betfair and BetUs have released their odds of each player winning the Main Event, giving poker fans and bettors alike even more reason to sweat until November.

Canadian Jonathan Duhamel will enter the Main Event final table as the chip leader and is the clear favorite by all bookmakers early on. Duhamel, 22, has 65,975,000 chips; his closest competitor is 24-year-old poker pro John Dolan, who has 46,250,000. Fellow young guns Joseph Cheong, John Racener, Matthew Jarvis and Fillipo Candio are hovering between 16 and 24 million, while established veteran Michael Mizrachi (14.5 million) is the most experienced player of the group and the favorite among many.

“As usual the final table is dominated by young online poker players from North America,” said Richard Bloch, a spokesperson for Betfair. “Duhamel is the man to beat but having seen Michael Mizrachi grind his way back from under 100K on Day 4 he is going to be tough to beat and at 8-1 looks to be amongst the favorites with our customers.”

Here’s a look at the November Nine seat draw, chip counts, and Betfair’s odds to win the 2010 WSOP Main Event (at the time of writing):

Seat 1: Jason Senti — 7,625,000 (25/1)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong — 23,525,000 (6/1)
Seat 3: John Dolan — 46,250,000 (4.6/1)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel — 65,975,000 (3.75/1)
Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi — 14,450,000 (7/1)
Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis — 16,700,000 (11.5/1)
Seat 7: John Racener — 19,050,000 (9.2/1)
Seat 8: Filippo Candio — 16,400,000 (16.5/1)
Seat 9: Soi Nguyen — 9,650,000 (18.5/1)

The lines have changed slightly since Betfair first revealed them on July 20. Duhamel opened as a 2/1 favorite and can now be found at 3.75/1, creating the biggest shift in prices. Dolan, Cheong, Mizrachi, Racener, Jarvis and Candio’s prices have fallen in the past week, while Soi Nguyen opened at 16/1 and is now at 18.5/1. Jason Senti has stayed constant at 25-1.

Last year, Darvin Moon was in a similar spot to Duhamel. Moon held a significant chip lead over the rest of the field and was a 3/1 favorite set by Betfair to win it all. Phil Ivey, despite coming into the final table short stacked, was 13/2 to win his third bracelet of the 2009 series. Eventual champion Joe Cada started play fifth in chips with 13,215,000 and opened as an 18/1 favorite to become the youngest Main Event winner ever, but many bettors jumped on that price and he slipped to 13/1 days before the final table.

In previous years, Peter Eastgate (2008) was fourth in chips coming into the final table before winning; Jerry Yang (2007) was eighth, Jamie Gold (2006) was the chip leader, and Joe Hachem (2005) was sixth. It just goes to show that anything is possible once the cards are in the air.

The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event final table gets underway November 6 with the heads-up match concluding on November 8. The winner will receive $8,944,138.

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The Nightly Turbo: Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge, British Columbia’s Online Casino Disaster, and More

For those of you that are still trying to scratch that poker itch, the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge, hosted by Chris Moneymaker and Darvin Moon is coming up soon. In other news, British Colombia launched North America's first government-run...

Chris Moneymaker, Darvin Moon to Attend Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge

From August 17th to 23rd, Foxwoods Resort Casino will hold its 17th Mega Stack Challenge. This time around will be like none other, as 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker and 2009 runner-up Darvin Moon will be in attendance.

Tournaments to be held as part of the Mega Stack Challenge XVII include a $340 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event with a $125,000 guaranteed prize pool and a $560 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event that also comes complete with a $125,000 guaranteed purse. The former kicks off on Tuesday, August 17th at 11:00am local time. Players start with 15,000 in chips and blinds last for 40 minutes.

In the $560 preliminary Mega Stack tournament, each player will receive a starting stack of 50,000 and blind levels will stretch for 50 minutes. The tournament gets underway on Thursday, August 19th at 11:00am. Both preliminary contests will run for two days. Foxwoods boasts a fully furnished World Poker Tour (WPT) poker room. Accordingly, from October 28th to November 2nd, it will play host to the World Poker Finals, a $10,000 buy-in WPT staple.

A flyer distributed by Foxwoods encourages readers to “test your poker skills against two WSOP final table players.” Moneymaker and Moon, two seemingly “Average Joes” of the poker world, will be found in the Mega Stack tournaments as well as other daily events including single-table sit and gos. Moneymaker defeated Sammy Farha in Las Vegas in 2003, while Moon fell heads-up to Joe Cada last year. Both are sponsored by PokerStars.

The crowning glory of the Mega Stack is the $1,650 No Limit Hold’em event, which kicks off on Saturday, August 21st and runs for three days. Players will receive a starting arsenal of 40,000 in chips and blinds will last for 50 minutes each. A purse of at least $250,000 will be up for grabs and registration for each of the three Mega Stack tournaments will open up this Sunday.

Single-table satellites start at $50 and are available daily from 10:00am to 10:00pm at Foxwoods. According to text found on the casino’s website, registration will “generally” remain available until the end of the second level of play.

Foxwoods boasts the largest poker room on the East Coast of the United States, weighing in at 104 tables. The room is available for gaming around-the-clock and features popular varieties like Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, and Omaha Eight or Better. Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee has made the casino his personal playground, winning events held during the World Poker Finals in 2006, 2007, and 2008. His three-peat nearly turned into a four-peat in 2009, when he final tabled two preliminary events.

In November 2009, Cornel Andrew Cimpan took down the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals for $910,000, defeating Soheil Shamseddin heads-up in a final table that also included Matt “All In At 420” Stout, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, Curt Kohlberg, and Victory Poker pro Lee Markholt. Attendance at the event, like many on the WPT’s most recent season, dropped substantially, as the field of 353 in 2009 was down from 412 in 2008.

Here is the full schedule of events for the upcoming Mega Stack series at Foxwoods. All times are Eastern:

Tuesday, August 17th at 11:00am: $340 No Limit Hold’em
Wednesday, August 18th at Noon: $340 No Limit Hold’em Day 2
Thursday, August 19th at 11:00am: $560 No Limit Hold’em
Friday, August 20th at Noon: $560 No Limit Hold’em Day 2
Saturday, August 21st at 11:00am: $1,650 No Limit Hold’em
Sunday, August 22nd at Noon: $1,650 No Limit Hold’em Day 2
Monday, August 23rd at Noon: $1,650 No Limit Hold’em Finals

By car, Foxwoods is located about two-and-a-half hours from New York City, an hour and 45 minutes from Boston, an hour from Hartford, and an hour from Providence.

Darvin Moon Interview with Bernard Lee

Darvin Moon is the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up and is back in Las Vegas to take part in the world’s biggest poker tournament once again. He joins Bernard Lee on his segment, The Hijack Seat, and answers questions both about last year’s amazing run and what is in store for this year. Moon used a straightforward poker approach to nearly win the Main Event and knocked out most of the competition at the final table, including Phil Ivey.

Bernard Lee is a guest columnist and is the official spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino and can also be seen co-hosting ESPN’s poker show, Inside Deal.

PokerStars Sponsors JohnnyBax’s Stable in WSOP Main Event

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, is sponsoring some of the most well known, successful players in this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. From Daniel Negreanu to David Williams to Vanessa Rousso, the USA-friendly site has a noticeable presence in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

Last year, the poker industry watched as internet poker sensation Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy railed Joe Cada throughout his historic Main Event final table run in November. Josephy, along with Eric “sheets” Haber, routinely field a stable of players for the Main Event and this year is no exception. However, Poker News Daily has learned that PokerStars has officially sponsored the group in 2010.

Unfortunately, Josephy, a bracelet winner, ran a set into the nut straight on Day 1D after all of the money went in on the turn. The board failed to pair on the river and that was all she wrote for the East Coast native, who cashed twice in this year’s tournament extravaganza for over $10,000 combined. He’ll now watch from the sidelines as his stable forges on. The group includes players like Nick “fu_15” Maimone and Jamie “TheNew” Robbins, who finished 15th and 11th in last year’s Main Event, respectively.

Poker agent Dan Frank is responsible for brokering one of the largest player deals we’ve seen in terms of the number of people involved and will oversee its execution on the floor of the Amazon Room. Cada was seated at the ESPN feature table on Wednesday for Day 1C and finished with a stack of 67,150, good for 254th overall. He became the youngest WSOP Main Event champ in history last year after defeating Darvin Moon heads-up for $8.5 million.

Josephy’s bracelet came five years ago in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament. In 2006, he blasted through the field of the World Poker Tour Championship and banked $146,000 after finishing 12th. The same year, “JohnnyBax” landed in second in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $446,000 in a tournament won by Devon Miller. Josephy wasn’t done there, however, taking second in a $4,800 No Limit Hold’em preliminary event held during the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for another $187,000.

Last year, Josephy finished third in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP, narrowly missing out on his second bracelet and banking $166,000 in the process. Online, he’s been no slouch. Three weeks ago, Josephy took down the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl for $78,000, his largest online score according to PocketFives.com. He sits at #59 in the site’s Online Poker Rankings on the strength of holding the 46th best Pro Poll score worldwide.

Cada, meanwhile, tuned into the UFC fight in Las Vegas last Saturday before gearing up for his Main Event title defense. He faced off against Poker News Daily’s own Sean Gibson in a penalty kick competition the day before and fell four goals to three. Frank served as the goalie for the competition and together with Cada has offered up a challenge to anyone in the poker community.

For $1,000, anyone – even you – can challenge Cada to a best-of-five penalty kick competition with Frank once again in goal. However, rather than using palm trees as a goal as we did in our competition, a real net must be used. Frank told Poker News Daily that Cada was “devastated” after losing the prop bet, but we’re sure that an $8.9 million top prize in the Main Event this year would mollify any hard feelings.

PokerStars will continue to receive exposure through Josephy and Haber’s stable today as Day 2A kicks off from the Rio in Las Vegas. The field will showcase the survivors of Day 1A and Day 1C.

PokerStars Sponsors JohnnyBax’s Stable in WSOP Main Event

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, is sponsoring some of the most well known, successful players in this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. From Daniel Negreanu to David Williams to Vanessa Rousso, the USA-friendly site has a noticeable presence in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

Last year, the poker industry watched as internet poker sensation Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy railed Joe Cada throughout his historic Main Event final table run in November. Josephy, along with Eric “sheets” Haber, routinely field a stable of players for the Main Event and this year is no exception. However, Poker News Daily has learned that PokerStars has officially sponsored the group in 2010.

Unfortunately, Josephy, a bracelet winner, ran a set into the nut straight on Day 1D after all of the money went in on the turn. The board failed to pair on the river and that was all she wrote for the East Coast native, who cashed twice in this year’s tournament extravaganza for over $10,000 combined. He’ll now watch from the sidelines as his stable forges on. The group includes players like Nick “fu_15” Maimone and Jamie “TheNew” Robbins, who finished 15th and 11th in last year’s Main Event, respectively.

Poker agent Dan Frank is responsible for brokering one of the largest player deals we’ve seen in terms of the number of people involved and will oversee its execution on the floor of the Amazon Room. Cada was seated at the ESPN feature table on Wednesday for Day 1C and finished with a stack of 67,150, good for 254th overall. He became the youngest WSOP Main Event champ in history last year after defeating Darvin Moon heads-up for $8.5 million.

Josephy’s bracelet came five years ago in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament. In 2006, he blasted through the field of the World Poker Tour Championship and banked $146,000 after finishing 12th. The same year, “JohnnyBax” landed in second in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $446,000 in a tournament won by Devon Miller. Josephy wasn’t done there, however, taking second in a $4,800 No Limit Hold’em preliminary event held during the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for another $187,000.

Last year, Josephy finished third in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP, narrowly missing out on his second bracelet and banking $166,000 in the process. Online, he’s been no slouch. Three weeks ago, Josephy took down the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl for $78,000, his largest online score according to PocketFives.com. He sits at #59 in the site’s Online Poker Rankings on the strength of holding the 46th best Pro Poll score worldwide.

Cada, meanwhile, tuned into the UFC fight in Las Vegas last Saturday before gearing up for his Main Event title defense. He faced off against Poker News Daily’s own Sean Gibson in a penalty kick competition the day before and fell four goals to three. Frank served as the goalie for the competition and together with Cada has offered up a challenge to anyone in the poker community.

For $1,000, anyone – even you – can challenge Cada to a best-of-five penalty kick competition with Frank once again in goal. However, rather than using palm trees as a goal as we did in our competition, a real net must be used. Frank told Poker News Daily that Cada was “devastated” after losing the prop bet, but we’re sure that an $8.9 million top prize in the Main Event this year would mollify any hard feelings.

PokerStars will continue to receive exposure through Josephy and Haber’s stable today as Day 2A kicks off from the Rio in Las Vegas. The field will showcase the survivors of Day 1A and Day 1C.

Early Favorites Emerging for WSOP Player of the Year

It's no small feat to win the title as players must first enter enough events to accumulate the points necessary to win and, oh by the way, they must also play well enough to cash multiple times against thousands of the best tournament poker players in the world.

The early favorite to win the 2010 crown is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who has already made two final tables through only three WSOP events that he's played.

Not many people picked Mizrachi as a favorite to win the crown prior to the start of the WSOP. "We held a 96-man fantasy draft at Howard Lederer's house prior to the start of the tournament where 12 people each picked a team of eight players with a $25,000 buy in," said New York-based poker pro Amnon Filippi. "Not one person took Mizrachi."

"I kind of came out of nowhere this year," said Mizrachi. "I was just playing pot-limit Omaha cash games for seven days a week down in Miami. I haven't really been on the circuit and not many people knew if I was going to be playing all of the events or not."

Hindsight is 20-20 as Mizrachi is now the clear favorite to win the 2010 title. Past champs Eric Lingren and Allen Cunningham both like The Grinder's chances. "I guess Grinder should win if he goes deep in the stud [tournament]," Lingren told PL.com. "He'd have to air ball the rest of the events not to."

Not everyone is ready to hand the trophy to Mizrachi. "There are still a lot of $10k events and we're still going to see someone win two bracelets like we do every year," said Barry Greenstein. "Plus, I plan still plan on catching him."

Ever the mathematician, Cunningham took a more by-the-numbers approach to making a prediction. "Who is leading the points? Mizrachi? That's who I've got."

Russian player Vladimir Shchemelev is currently giving The Grinder a run for his money, having made both of the same final tables as Mizrachi. Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra and Victor Ramdin all said they think Shchemelev is the favorite. "There are a couple Russian players who are playing so damn well, it wouldn't surprise me to see [Shchemelev] win it," said Ramdin. Negreanu said that if he doesn't come back and win it himself, then Mike Schwartz is his underdog pick.

Who does the defending champion think will win? "I still think Phil Ivey can do it," Lisandro told PL.com "Even though he's got no points, he's got the style."

Other players to keep an eye on: Greg Raymer said he never bets against himself until it's mathematically impossible to win. Darvin Moon said that Annie Duke is the best female player in the world and should be a contender if she plays enough events.

The race could hinge on the outcome of tonight's 7-card stud final table where both Mizrachi and Shchemelev are still playing. If Mizrachi wins tonight, then it will take a major upset to overtake him for the title. Needless to say, things are going pretty well for Mizrachi nowadays, but that doesn't mean he's entirely stress free. "It's going to be hard to play in enough events if I keep making all these final tables," Mizrachi said with a grin.

 

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Hungry for More: Cada Returns to WSOP

Things have changed just a bit one year later for Cada.

Since becoming the 2009 Main Event champion, Joe Cada has been one of the most visible names and faces in poker, serving as an ambassador for the game and making numerous media outlets.

Now Cada is drawing attention wherever he goes at the WSOP 2010. We caught up with Cada just after he busted out of the $1.5k No-Limit event.

He was signing an autograph for a female fan at the time.

"It's been pretty welcoming," Cada said of the reception he's gotten at this year's WSOP. "I'm off to a rough start so far but there are plenty of tournaments."

The 22-year-old Michigan native was easy to spot in the Pavilion Room, despite a field of 2,563 entrants.

Hundreds of tournament tables go unnoticed when the field gets that large, but Cada's spot at Table #113 had plenty of observers on hand, as media and fans alike want to get a look at the champ.

Cada, who says he plans on playing 25 events at the WSOP this year, says he hasn't gotten anything too weird yet.

"People have been pretty normal for the most part," Cada said. "Just hellos and stuff like that."

Much like his predecessor, 2008 Main Event champ Peter Eastgate, Cada made the mainstream media rounds after his win, which made the then-21-year-old Cada the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever.

His heads-up finale against runner-up Darvin Moon is already one of the most talked about finals in WSOP history.

The WSOP is paying homage to Cada's victory by placing his 2009 Champion banner right at the front of Convention Way, the centerpiece of a gallery of WSOP memorabilia that also includes a giant mural of Cada vs. Moon at the Main Event final table with the signature mountain of cash between them.

Although Cada was eliminated from Event 11 $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em today, he will have the rest of the summer to prove that he was no one-hit wonder.

The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

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Jeffrey Pollack Becomes Executive Chairman of Professional Bull Riders

Former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has a new gig. After parting ways with Harrah’s last November, Pollack is the new Executive Chairman of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and will serve on the company’s Board of Directors, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Former PBR CEO Randy Bernard stepped down in February to make his way to the Indy Racing League (IRL). Pollack has already made an impact on the new company despite having little tenure. He told the Sports Business Journal, “We’ll take a fresh look at scheduling and where we hold our competitions” and added, “We may retire the title of CEO, that’s something we haven’t decided.” Pollack makes his home in Los Angeles and PBR is based in Colorado.

In addition to the WSOP, Pollack previously held down positions with the NBA and NASCAR, making him one of the industry’s top sports marketers. He once expressed his desire to have poker players competing at the annual WSOP look like NASCAR drivers, leading to the deluge of high-profile logos gracing the series’ telecasts. He joined Harrah’s in 2005 and was instrumental in serving as the primary liaison between poker players and WSOP management.

Three days following Joe Cada’s victory over Darvin Moon in the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Pollack announced that he was leaving his post. Appropriately for the new-age WSOP Commissioner, he Tweeted his final statements to the poker world: “Thank you for allowing me to be part of the WSOP these last few years. I will always be a fan and friend to the poker community.” Pollack has not made a Twitter entry since November 13th.

On TwoPlusTwo, posters reacted to Pollack’s new gig with PBR. TwoPlusTwo member “PADRE24” questioned, “Congrats to Jeff! He did a great job and will be a good rep for bull riding. I wonder if he has to wear a cowboy hat now?” Meanwhile, “Eponymous” joked, “He probably just wants to meet Jewel, who is married to one of the PBR founders.” Jewel is married to Ty Murray, who is an advisor to the PBR’s Board.

Pollack is a half-brother of Gary Bettman, the Commissioner of the NHL, and was instrumental in bringing on several non-poker sponsors to the WSOP including Sirius Satellite Radio, AOL, Milwaukee’s Best, and Planters Peanuts. The latter sponsored the “Good Instinct Moment” during WSOP on ESPN telecasts. Current WSOP sponsors include Everest Poker, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, and Bluff Magazine.

In a December interview with Poker News Daily, UB.com pro and reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke explained what Pollack’s departure meant to the poker community: “The community agrees that it may be bad for the players. What that speaks to, whether it’s true or not, was that he was a big friend to the players and that’s his legacy. What an amazing legacy for someone to have.”

WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart has assumed many of the front-line duties of Pollack, but no new Commissioner has been named. During the first bracelet ceremony of 2010, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel took on the duties of awarding the piece of hardware to Hoai Pham, winner of the $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em tournament.

Bluff Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lance Bradley told Poker News Daily that PBR was wise to Pollack into its ranks: “I think the PBR is lucky to have somebody like Jeffrey on board with them. Jeffrey will probably admit he knows as much about bull riding as he did about poker when he started with Harrah’s – and that’s a good thing. They didn’t bring him onboard for his cowboy expertise – they brought him onboard for his experience taking a brand to the next level.”

WSOP $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Event #3 Attracts 2,601 Players on Day 1A

The first $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event (#3) of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on Saturday with the first of two starting days. A total of 2,601 players tossed their hats into the ring including some of the game’s best.

By Level 7, which marked the first to play out after the dinner break, 788 players remained in the hunt for a WSOP bracelet. About 1,200 poker hopefuls had pre-registered for Day 1B on Sunday, which means the total tally will likely top 4,000. Last year, a record-setting field of 6,012 players turned out for the $1,000 Stimulus Special, the largest non-Main Event showing in WSOP history.

Down to 2,000 chips entering Level 4, or two-thirds of the starting stack, was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Foxwoods pro Bernard Lee. He doubled up with A-K suited against pocket jacks and then picked up aces to scoop another sizable pot and was quickly at 7,000. Lee is filming video interviews with some of the game’s greats for Poker News Daily while in Las Vegas, so check out the front page of the site for his latest work.

PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event runner-up Sam Stein pushed all-in on a board reading J-J-8-7-9 and showed 7-6 for jacks-up. However, his opponent turned over pocket kings for kings-up and Stein was sent packing. We’re sure that somewhere, ESPN commentator Norman Chad exclaimed, “What was Sam Stein thinking?”

Faring equally as poorly was 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada, who committed his chips with K-J of diamonds, but could not draw out on A-9. The board ran out Q-7-5-Q-5 and Cada was sent packing. He was at 4,500 in chips moments before his elimination. Last year, Cada banked $8.5 million, or 8,500 times the buy-in of Event #3, for besting Darvin Moon in poker’s most prestigious tournament.

Online poker pro Shannon Shorr pushed all-in with the board reading Q-10-4-5-8, but ran into pocket queens for top set and mucked, ending his bracelet run in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Carrying the flag for the internet community as Day 1A dragged on were Victory Poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, and RPM Poker sponsored pro Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal, among others. Agarwal was seated at a talented table featuring Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet, Ben “Benba” Lamb, and UB.com pro Joe Sebok.

As of 9:45pm PT on Saturday night, several notable chip stacks in the Rio Pavilion included:

Joe Sebok – 27,000
Vanessa Rousso – 23,000
Amarillo Slim – 21,000
Chris Bjorin – 20,000
Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire – 17,500
Billy Baxter – 10,500
Dan Shak – 8,000
Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little – 7,500
Bernard Lee – 3,500

Day 1B will play out on Sunday and the survivors of each of the two starting days will assemble on Monday for Day 2. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 WSOP coverage.

Phil Ivey Leads WSOP Tournament of Champions Voting

In a conference call held on Tuesday, Harrah’s officials revealed that Phil Ivey is the top vote-getter for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament of Champions. Poker’s version of an all-star game will take place on June 27th at the Rio in Las Vegas, with the final table panning out on July 4th.

A total of 300,000 votes have been cast to date and the opportunity for the general public to submit ballots will be open until June 15th. WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart told the assembled media, “Phil Ivey is the top overall vote-getter for the Tournament of Champions. Certainly, he’s one of the most beloved players in the game. His performance last year and the new final table format underscore our potential in the industry.” Ivey appeared on the covers of “ESPN: The Magazine” and “Cigar Aficionado,” among others, leading up to his epic Main Event run.

Ivey owns seven WSOP bracelets, tied with Billy Baxter for the sixth most all-time. He has 36 in the money finishes in WSOP events and has piled up $5.2 million in earnings in the process. Last year could have been dubbed “The Year of Ivey,” as the Full Tilt Poker pro won a $2,500 Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball event for $96,000 and an Omaha/Seven-Card Stud High-Low Eight or Better event for $220,000. He ultimately missed out on a bracelet three-peat by finishing seventh in the Main Event for $1.4 million.

Poker News Daily first reported that the Tournament of Champions would be broadcasted on ESPN along with the $50,000 Player’s Championship and Main Event, although the network has not yet issued a formal announcement. A total of 27 players will enter the $1 million freeroll, including the three former winners of the Tournament of Champions: Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and Mike Sexton. Also receiving automatic bids to the Las Vegas spectacular are the reigning champs of the WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Events, Joe Cada and Barry Shulman.

Harrah’s officials also relayed that Jack Link’s Beef Jerky will be returning as the presenting sponsor of the WSOP. Other companies that will be associated with the tournament series this year are U.S. Playing Cards, Red Bull energy drink. Nat Nast clothing, Infinity Headwear, and Lids, which manufactures baseball caps. Steve Soffa, who owns a shop at the Rio, will design this year’s bracelets. They’ll be manufactured in downtown Los Angeles and mark a departure from Corum.

Poker pros and amateurs alike will head to Las Vegas for the annual WSOP, which begins on May 28th from the Rio. Cada, who earned $8.5 million last year after outlasting Maryland logger Darvin Moon, told conference call members, “The tough thing about tournament poker is that the variance is so high and the fields are so large. The biggest concern I have is being on top of my game and playing when I’m prepared to play. Last year, I played in 16 events. This year, I’ll probably play in 20-something events.”

Several thousand players have pre-registered for the WSOP, with the Seniors’ event, kickoff $1,000 buy-in tournament, and Main Event being the three most popular. More players have pre-registered for Day 1D of the Main Event than the other three starting days combined. Stewart was optimistic that, despite the continued down economy, the 2010 WSOP would be one of the most viewed installments to date: “It looks to be another strong year for the WSOP. We’re solidified through 2017 to be on ESPN and we have without question the best sports product on television. We look forward to 32 more episodes this year and have over 200 episodes produced.”

Vote for up to 20 players for the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions.

Everest Poker Sues WSOP Alleging Breach of Contract

On Thursday, Ultra Internet Media, the parent company of Everest Poker, filed a lawsuit against Harrah’s alleging breach of contract. Everest Poker is the official on-felt sponsor of the Harrah’s-backed World Series of Poker (WSOP).

An article that appeared in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper on Friday revealed that Everest Poker is in the final year of a $22.5 million agreement to sponsor the annual tournament series in Las Vegas. It paid $6.2 million to be the official on-felt sponsor in 2008, $7.9 million in 2009, and is on the hook for $8.4 million this year. The 2010 WSOP kicks off on May 28th from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, with the Main Event beginning on July 5th. ESPN will once again carry the festivities, which will be beamed into households around the world.

The breach of contract centers on French television station RTL9, which displayed logos of the USA-facing site Full Tilt Poker on WSOP felts instead of Everest Poker. Harrah’s and ESPN officials met in February 2009 to discuss the issue and, according to the Sun and the lawsuit filed last week, "Harrah’s and ESPN agreed to control their affiliate, RTL9, and require RTL9 to cease causing violations of the agreement during its broadcasts and transmissions into France." However, broadcasts continued to feature the logo of Full Tilt, the world’s second largest online poker site.

Harrah’s officials told the Sun that they had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit. This year, ESPN will provide coverage of the Player’s Championship, a brand new $50,000 buy-in Eight-Game format that will see the best of the best compete head-to-head. The tournament begins on the 2010 WSOP’s opening day and includes Limit Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better, No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. The final table of the Player’s Championship will be entirely No Limit Hold’em.

The law firm Marquis & Aurbach, based in Las Vegas, filed the suit, which according to the Sun reads in part, "Every material breach of the agreement represents lost potential future profits, erosion of goodwill, and compromise of UIM’s international business reputation." Everest Poker purportedly generates a large chunk of its revenue from France, leading to the focus on the French television affiliate.

In 2009, Michigan youngster Joe Cada bested Maryland logger Darvin Moon in the finale of the WSOP Main Event. In the United States, ESPN’s finale of the tournament generated a viewing audience of more than 2.1 million people. The broadcast recorded a 1.8 rating, on par with the 1.9 rating logged in 2008. The unique final table format saw the WSOP Main Event play down to a final table on July 15th. The nine competitors reassembled at the Rio in November after a four-month hiatus in order to coincide with the event’s television broadcast. 2010 will mark the third year of the November Nine format.

Besides Everest Poker, other WSOP partners include Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and Milwaukee’s Best Light. The tournament series is in its 41st year and will, for the first time, hold a special all-star game. The 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions will take on an all-star game format, with 20 bracelet winners eligible for inclusion by the general public. Five players – Annie Duke, Mike Sexton, Mike Matusow, Barry Shulman, and Cada – have automatic bids and two more spots will be awarded through a yet-to-be-determined qualification process.

Everest Poker does not accept players from the United States and features a stable of pros that includes 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Antoine Saout, who finished in third place last year. Team Everest Poker also includes Fabrice Soulier, who won the 2008 Marrakech Poker Open. Saout and Soulier are French pros.

Check out the Las Vegas Sun article for more information.

ESPN WSOP Coverage Earns Sports Emmy Nomination

ESPN's coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for the second consecutive year, as announced this week by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The broadcast, hosted by Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, is one of 54 nominations ESPN received this year, the most of any television outlet for the ninth time in the last ten years.

The nomination was for ESPN's WSOP final table coverage in the category “Outstanding Live Event Turnaround." The final table was played down to two players on Saturday, November 7th, and the heads-up match took place on Monday, November 9th. Viewers then tuned in to watch 21-year-old Joe Cada defeat Darvin Moon for the bracelet and $8.5 million on ESPN on Tuesday, November 10th at 9:00 pm ET.

Also nominated in the category are ESPN2's Bassmaster Classic, CBC/Versus' Tour de France coverage, Speed and NASCAR Media's Inside the Headsets 25th All Star Race, and the PGA Tour's Inside the PGA Tour Deutsche Bank Championship. The awards will be handed out on April 26th in New York City's Frederick P. Rose Hall.

In 2009, ESPN's WSOP coverage was nominated in the same category against ESPN2's Bassmaster Classic, CBS' Tour de France, the PGA Tour's Inside the PGA Tour Deutsche Bank Championship, and NBC's Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which won the Sports Emmy. In total, NBC Sports won five Emmys for its coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

E:60, topped all 2010 competitors with seven nominations, including Best Edited Series and four nominees between the Short and Long Features categories. E:60 aired on ESPN the same night as the World Series of Poker, at 8:00 pm ET. ESPN's Outside the Lines – winner of 11 Sports Emmy Awards in its history – received four nominations (Best Daily Studio Show and three in the Long Feature category).

The 2010 WSOP will get underway on Friday, May 28th with the inaugural Player's Championship. The event, which replaces the $50,000 HORSE Championship, is a $50,000 buy-in eight-game tournament that will be televised by ESPN. The Player's Championship will feature Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi Low Split-8 or Better, No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. The winner will still receive the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.

While ESPN has not announced all of the events it will be broadcasting at the 2010 WSOP, it is assured that the network will again air the Main Event, which begins on July 5th, two days after the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament. Like the past two years, the nine players who reach the Main Event final table will reconvene in November to play for the title.

The WSOP and ESPN have a new seven-year broadcast agreement in place through the 2017 World Series. The new deal will begin in 2011, after the current broadcast deal expires.

Annie Duke Tells All on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show

On Sunday night, UB.com poker pro and recent National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke appeared on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show. Poker News Daily sponsored the episode, which is now archived on the Chat Show’s website.

The lengthy interview covered quite a bit of ground and kicked off shortly after 5:00pm PT. Well over 400 viewers were tuned in for much of the audio and video production and a chat room was bustling with patrons of the show reacting to what was said. Actor Samm Levine and Jaime Fox were in studio adding their two cents to the show, which will celebrate its one-year anniversary next week.

Duke donned no UB.com gear during the episode and began by explaining that her nickname used to be “The Duchess,” a play on her last name. Her father was Jewish, highly competitive, and never let Duke beat him in any game. Duke told Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show viewers, “[Playing cards] was almost the only way we spent time together… We didn’t even play poker.” Instead, the family dealt games of gin, hearts, and spoons. The latter, a violent game, left Duke with scars that she still bears to this day. Duke began dealing cards at home before she knew how to write and consequently deals left-handed, but writes right-handed.

The discussion turned to the recent “cowboy mentality” of cash games. Duke explained why the paradigm shift occurred: “Particularly because of online poker, people are over-valuing implied odds. If you have a situation where both of you have lots of money in your stacks, that makes sense. What it’s translated to is, ‘I’m not going to fold because I can hit my hand.’ There has definitely been that attitude before, but it’s exploded now because of online poker.”

Since the modern poker boom began, some pros have managed to adjust well to the changing times, while others have fallen by the wayside. Duke commented, “We’ve seen this with poker since the boom. You’ve seen pros that have kept up and adjusted their game. There are pros that haven’t. It comes down to if you’re a good poker player. Good poker players adjust well to people around them.” Duke singled out recent National Heads-Up Poker Championship runner-up Erik Seidel as a player who has adjusted well.

Duke’s start in poker came after her brother, Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer, started studying chess with a Grand Master in New York. He eventually became a Master before using cocaine and ultimately losing his college money playing poker. Homeless, Lederer slept in the back room of a poker club in exchange for cleaning it and running errands for players. After Lederer would amass tips, he’d sit down and play. Eventually, Lederer broke the game and won $100,000 by age 20. Three years later, he took home a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.

Lederer flew his sister out to Las Vegas for the WSOP and the second time Duke made the trip, Lederer wrote down a few starting hands she could play on a napkin. Then, Duke headed to the Fremont and won $300. The rest, as they say, is history. On her competitive spirit that has blossomed throughout her life, Duke told Pollak, “It doesn’t matter what you’re playing for in poker, as long as you’re playing for something. If there’s nothing at stake whatsoever, it’s a bad poker game.”

In 2004, actor Ben Affleck won the California State Poker Championship for $356,000; the win came after Duke had tutored him for just nine months. The esteemed poker pro studied cognitive psychology, which she described as an organism’s interaction with the world. Her educational background has paid big dividends in poker: “Understanding how people make decisions is really what poker is. Also, you have to do a lot of stats and probability and that’s really important in poker. It was extremely helpful to me.”

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship will air on NBC next month and viewers of the annual program will be able to see Duke battle through players like Darvin Moon and Jerry Yang en route to victory. Duke explained her mentality at the tables against boisterous competition: “In general, you have an advantage over the people doing a lot of celebrating. Poker is a very intense game and I don’t think there should be any emotion until the last hand.”

Duke’s appearance is fully archived and even features a Larry King impression. Check out Duke on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show sponsored by Poker News Daily.

Joe Cada Signs with Apparel Company Shodown Couture

In our industry, sponsorship opportunities outside of the poker landscape are difficult to come by. While players such as Vanessa Rousso have been able to land lucrative deals outside of the poker spectrum, those opportunities seem to be few and far between.

It was announced on Friday that World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, who defeated Darvin Moon in November to become the youngest Main Event champion ever, would be sponsored by Shodown Couture, a clothing company that features apparel themed around the poker lifestyle.

“The signing is a perfect match with Shodown’s brand image and philosophy. Joe’s style is aggressive, but he is respectful while playing. He intimidates at the tables,” said Philip Lake, President and Founder of Shodown Couture. “He is the face of poker and is extremely talented. He represents what Shodown is about: quality play, bad ass style, and respect for the game.” The first event that Cada will appear at wearing Shodown Couture apparel will be the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun in April. Soon after, Cada will have his own self-inspired line of clothing with the company.

“I’m pumped to be a part of the Shodown Pro Team and really looking forward to helping design my signature series,” Cada stated during the announcement. “The guys at Shodown not only understand fashion that appeals to poker players like me, but they are also poker players themselves and grind as hard as we do.” Cada’s agent, Dan Frank of Top Set Management, echoed Cada’s sentiments and said it was difficult to find sponsorship deals that went in line with Cada’s persona. “Shodown struck a chord with us, as they are the underdog, just like we are. Their work ethic echoed our own and we appreciate that,” Frank stated.

Cada becomes a member of a formidable stable of players being sponsored by Shodown Couture. Cada joins two other players on the Shodown Pro Team who are quite successful in their own right. 2006 WSOP Main Event runner-up and 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Paul Wasicka is one of Cada’s teammates. Also flanking Cada is the youngest player ever to win on the European Poker Tour (EPT), top online and live player Mike “Timex” McDonald. Both were excited to team up with Cada and look forward to assaulting the tables not only through their play, but also through their clothing styles.

“I’m ecstatic that Joe Cada has joined the Shodown Pro Team,” Wasicka enthusiastically commented. “He represents the brand ideals perfectly and I can’t wait to see what designs come out of this.” McDonald agreed with Wasicka and was quite pleased with the addition of Cada to the squad: “I love being a part of the Shodown Pro Team. I’ve been waiting to see who we were adding to the team and needless to say, I am pleased.”

The Shodown Couture line features shirts that are made from bamboo fibers, which makes them a perfect choice of clothing for players who have to deal with extreme temperature changes that can be found in poker rooms. The line offers unique designs that not only feature a poker theme, but also are aggressive, eye-catching, and fashionable. Shirts from Shodown Couture start at $49.99 and are currently available online only, but plans are in place for Shodown Couture’s apparel to move into retail outlets by mid-2010.