Posts Tagged ‘David Williams’
Calvin Ayre Aims to Raise $1 Million for Haiti
Over the past week, a number of poker pros and rooms have reached out to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Poker rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker promised to match donations from patrons, pros pledged a percentage of their winnings to the cause, and there was an outpouring of generosity and concern towards the millions affected by the natural disaster.
Bodog founder Calvin Ayre is upping the stakes when it comes to raising money for those in Haiti by promising to match the earnings of the online gaming industry up to $1 million and donate it to the charitable group Oxfam International, a collection of 14 service and charitable organizations dedicated to fighting poverty and injustice around the world.
Ayre originally made the pledge to match donations on his personal website shortly after the quake hit. He made an initial donation of £10,000 to the U.K. branch of Oxfam, but also encouraged others in the gaming community to reach out and help. He offered to match any Oxfam donations by online gaming groups and later agreed to open up his charitable efforts to other organizations. He explained why he wanted to center his efforts on Oxfam in the comments section of his blog post: “We would consider matching confirmed funds to qualified organizations other than Oxfam. We chose Oxfam because it is a well known reputable organization and I like focusing as much money as I can through one organization as this maximizes impact on the ground.”
Ayre is making the contribution via the foundation bearing his name. The charitable organization has previously undertaken projects like giving underprivileged teens opportunities to attend college in Canada and the Philippines. The publication iGaming Business is helping to spread the word about Ayre’s pledge. Bodog Poker pros Evelyn Ng and David Williams also got the word out via their respective Twitter accounts. There is a special page on Oxfam’s website set up to track donations that will be matched by Ayre. Interested parties can also make donations in person at the upcoming London Affiliate Conference (LAC), which is sponsored by iGaming Review.
The total amount of money donated to Oxfam on behalf of the online gaming industry will be announced at the LAC awards dinner in London on January 28th. Over 500 members of the online gaming community are expected to be in attendance. In addition to announcing the total amount of money raised for Oxfam, the dinner will also serve as a chance to honor the winners in categories like Best Affiliate, Best iGaming Software, and Best Affiliate Manager. The dinner will take place at The Grange St Paul’s Hotel.
The people at Oxfam have been most impressed with Ayre’s generosity and the outpouring from the gaming community in the wake of the disaster. “We are truly impressed by the iGaming communities’ effort and drive for the survivors of the Haiti earthquake,” said Chris Ashworth, Oxfam’s Corporate Partnership Manager. “Access to safe water is one of the most immediate problems to resolve now and with this phenomenal support, we will be able to save lives immediately, by providing clean water and sanitation, as well as shelter for the people who have lost their homes and family…We cannot thank the gaming community enough for this act of generosity at a time of such enormous need.”
Those interested in making a donation to Oxfam that will be matched by Ayre’s foundation can do so by visiting the following web page: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/haiti-earthquake/calvin-ayre.
Tags: 5, bodog, Canada, cent, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, founder, full tilt poker, king, London, manager, member, online gaming, player, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, software
Calvin Ayre Aims to Raise $1 Million for Haiti
Over the past week, a number of poker pros and rooms have reached out to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Poker rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker promised to match donations from patrons, pros pledged a percentage of their winnings to the cause, and there was an outpouring of generosity and concern towards the millions affected by the natural disaster.
Bodog founder Calvin Ayre is upping the stakes when it comes to raising money for those in Haiti by promising to match the earnings of the online gaming industry up to $1 million and donate it to the charitable group Oxfam International, a collection of 14 service and charitable organizations dedicated to fighting poverty and injustice around the world.
Ayre originally made the pledge to match donations on his personal website shortly after the quake hit. He made an initial donation of £10,000 to the U.K. branch of Oxfam, but also encouraged others in the gaming community to reach out and help. He offered to match any Oxfam donations by online gaming groups and later agreed to open up his charitable efforts to other organizations. He explained why he wanted to center his efforts on Oxfam in the comments section of his blog post: “We would consider matching confirmed funds to qualified organizations other than Oxfam. We chose Oxfam because it is a well known reputable organization and I like focusing as much money as I can through one organization as this maximizes impact on the ground.”
Ayre is making the contribution via the foundation bearing his name. The charitable organization has previously undertaken projects like giving underprivileged teens opportunities to attend college in Canada and the Philippines. The publication iGaming Business is helping to spread the word about Ayre’s pledge. Bodog Poker pros Evelyn Ng and David Williams also got the word out via their respective Twitter accounts. There is a special page on Oxfam’s website set up to track donations that will be matched by Ayre. Interested parties can also make donations in person at the upcoming London Affiliate Conference (LAC), which is sponsored by iGaming Review.
The total amount of money donated to Oxfam on behalf of the online gaming industry will be announced at the LAC awards dinner in London on January 28th. Over 500 members of the online gaming community are expected to be in attendance. In addition to announcing the total amount of money raised for Oxfam, the dinner will also serve as a chance to honor the winners in categories like Best Affiliate, Best iGaming Software, and Best Affiliate Manager. The dinner will take place at The Grange St Paul’s Hotel.
The people at Oxfam have been most impressed with Ayre’s generosity and the outpouring from the gaming community in the wake of the disaster. “We are truly impressed by the iGaming communities’ effort and drive for the survivors of the Haiti earthquake,” said Chris Ashworth, Oxfam’s Corporate Partnership Manager. “Access to safe water is one of the most immediate problems to resolve now and with this phenomenal support, we will be able to save lives immediately, by providing clean water and sanitation, as well as shelter for the people who have lost their homes and family…We cannot thank the gaming community enough for this act of generosity at a time of such enormous need.”
Those interested in making a donation to Oxfam that will be matched by Ayre’s foundation can do so by visiting the following web page: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/haiti-earthquake/calvin-ayre.
Evelyn Ng Interview with Poker News Daily
Poker News Daily: Describe how you got started in poker.
Ng: I took a job as a dealer in an underground poker club in Toronto. That's how I learned to play. I didn't really start playing until a year later. I wanted to do some research and read some books to get experience before I started investing my money.
PND: How do you continue to improve your game despite being in it for so long?
Ng: I take some time off in between tournaments, so I have that time in between to contemplate how I've been playing and the mistakes that I can fix. By the time the next tournament comes around, I'm amped up and ready to play.
PND: What area of your game have you been focusing on improving?
Ng: Some of the mistakes that I've made in the past include calling off too many times, so I'm trying to make a laydown every once in a while. I play so much Limit Hold'em that I think I'm used to paying people off all of the time.
PND: How did you become involved with Bodog and what makes the site so appealing to you?
Ng: I was really lucky. I had a sponsorship with another company. When my contract was coming up for renewal, I wasn't sure that it was the right fit. I decided to leave PokerStars and Bodog came up with an offer. I was thrilled about it. David Williams, who is my best friend, is with Bodog and I couldn't be happier. The company is very hip and they have a very youthful mentality. They do so much besides poker. They have a sports book and a music company.
PND: What advice do you have for new poker players just getting started?
Ng: Read as much as you can. Information is always good. It can't hurt to pick up a book. Also, stay within your means.
PND: What's it like being a top female player in a male-dominated sport?
Ng: I think it's definitely an advantage to be a female in the poker world. Sometimes, guys don't give us credit and it's good for a woman to be able to take advantage of that.
PND: Whose game do you respect the most and why?
Ng: Daniel Negreanu has been a huge influence on my poker game. He's been my friend and mentor. Throughout my poker career, he has really helped me. In the beginning, he wouldn't necessarily teach me strategy, but he taught me the lessons that I needed in order to become a professional poker player and have that professional attitude.
PND: Can you tell us about Daniel Negreanu's demeanor away from the poker table? Does he have the same animated personality?
Ng: Daniel is always entertaining. He makes jokes and does impressions. He's a great guy.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo Responds To Bodog Dismissal
While the news of his dismissal as a sponsored professional continue to make noise around the poker community, poker professional Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo has issued his response to his departure as a sponsored player on the online poker room Bodog.
Back on January 3rd, Poker News Daily reported that Bodog issued a press release which stated that Bonomo was no longer a member of Team Bodog, the group of professionals who represent the online room at live events and at tournaments and cash games on the site. Bonomo’s departure followed on the heels of the November axing of fellow former Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande. No reason for either of the dismissals was given by Bodog, leaving many wondering how if there was any acrimonious feeling between the site and “ZeeJustin.”
In his latest blog posting just prior to playing in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) at Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Bonomo put to rest any rumors of problems between himself and Bodog. “First and foremost, I would like to stress the fact that I did not ever at any point quit the Bodog Pro Team. I had imagined myself a member of Team Bodog for the duration of my poker career”, “ZeeJustin” contends in the blog post. “I want to thank Bodog and its staff for giving me an opportunity to play for them. I have greatly enjoyed playing alongside my good friends, Evelyn (Ng) and David (Williams, both of whom still represent the U. S. facing site), and will miss being a part of that team.”
Bonomo continues on to state in his blog that there are already sponsorship opportunities coming his way since severing ties with Bodog. “I have already been involved in conversations regarding new sponsorship opportunities”, Justin writes in his blog. “Moving forward, I will be focusing my attention on aligning with a sponsor who will better utilize my play and media presence. I am looking forward to evaluating a potential new home, although any decision regarding new sponsorship will not be rushed.”
“ZeeJustin” finishes off his blog post by stating he is dedicated to having an excellent 2010, starting with the PCA, and has some off-the-felt activities with “Poker2Nite” and Bluff Magazine coming for fans in the short-term. “Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me in the last week and also those who were interested in my sponsorship situation. I appreciate all of your support.”
One reason that Bodog could have used for Bonomo’s dismissal, performance, is completely discredited by a look at his career since he started playing as a Bodog pro. Since he became a Bodog sponsored pro in 2007, “ZeeJustin” has garnered $1.975 million in tournament earnings. When you compare that to the earnings of his teammates at Bodog during the same span – David Williams has earned $919,000, Jean-Robert Bellande has earned $280,000 and Evelyn Ng has earned $56,000, according to The Hendon Mob database – it is obvious that Bonomo was one of the most visible players on the roster, driving deep in tournaments and earning face time at final tables. Bonomo reached the ESPN televised table in the $40,000 40th Anniversary No Limit Hold’em event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Bodog Drops Bonomo
The 24-year-old joined David Williams and Evelyn Ng as a member of the Bodog Pro Team in 2007, but confirmed reports that he was leaving the team Wednesday.
“Bodog and I have officially parted ways after a two-year sponsorship relationship,” said Bonomo. “I want to thank Bodog and its staff for giving me an opportunity to play for them.”
Although he didn’t go into detail regarding his departure, Bonomo stressed that he did not quit the team. Despite the change, Bonomo is already in talks with other poker rooms regarding sponsorship.
“Moving forward, I will be focusing my attention on aligning with a sponsor who will better utilize my play and media presence,” he said.
Just two months ago, Bodog also dropped poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande, which means Ng and Williams are the room’s only remaining pros.
Bonomo learned poker online and won countless tournaments using the screen name ZeeJustin. In 2005, he broke onto the live poker scene by making the final table of PokerStars.com EPT Deauville. At the time he was the youngest player to make a televised final table. Since then he has accumulated $2.3 million in live tournament winnings.
Controversy arose in 2006 when it was learned Bonomo had been multi-accounting, a practice banned on almost all online poker sites. He eventually made a public apology and was subsequently signed by Bodog Poker in 2008.
The young pro recently launched a redesigned website and will be featured on the cover of Bluff Magazine’s January issue.
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Poker Community Reacts to Justin Bonomo Leaving Bodog
On Saturday, the USA-facing online poker room Bodog officially parted ways with sponsored pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo by removing him from its website. Now, the poker community, Bonomo’s agent, and Bodog have had a chance to react.
Bonomo’s agent, Matt Palmer, President and CEO of 11Management, told Poker News Daily, “It is true that Justin and Bodog have parted ways. While Justin will miss playing alongside his fellow Bodog teammates and good friends Evelyn Ng and David Williams, he's ready to move on to bigger and better opportunities. We've begun conversations regarding new sponsorship opportunities and we're excited to work with a poker brand that is better able to leverage Justin's poker success and personality.” Palmer is also the agent for Joe Sebok, who recently signed on to be a member of Team UB.com.
Palmer gave us his take on Bonomo’s 2009 calendar year at the felts: ‘Justin's coming off another excellent year at the tables, including a final table appearance at the World Series of Poker's (WSOP) $40,000 buy-in 40th Anniversary event and a win at the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars. I fully expect Justin to continue his winning ways in 2010.” Bonomo’s fifth place finish in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event commemorating the Series’ 40th running was worth $413,000. In April, he won the Caesars Palace WSOP Circuit Championship, a $5,150 buy-in contest, for $227,000.
Ed Pownall, Global Public Relations Director for BodogBrand.com, explained why the online poker room parted ways with one of its three remaining sponsored pros: “Bodog and Justin Bonomo have agreed that, with the transition of the Bodog-branded poker rooms to the Bodog Network in 2010, now was a natural time to re-evaluate the relationship and have agreed to part ways.” Jean-Robert Bellande, of “Survivor: China” fame, also left Bodog in recent months after his sponsorship agreement was not renewed at the end of October.
Posters on the popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo.com gave their take on what room might be a good fit for Bonomo. TwoPlusTwo member “molinn9” weighed in, “Time for him to move on to pokerstars. would be good pro for them.” Bonomo was traveling to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas at the time of writing and was unavailable for comment. The $10,300 buy-in Main Event kicks off on Tuesday from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island with the first of two starting days. The tournament will crown a champion on January 11th.
In the meantime, Bodog will center its efforts on growing the newly forged Bodog Network, which has taken a unique approach to rakeback. Pownall discussed the methodology: “The new offering has already caused much debate with its re-working of the rakeback issue and will reward operators bringing depositing players to the table rather than the traditional method of rewarding the winning players. The system unveiled at the EiG in Budapest in September has already seen other networks, including Microgaming and iPoker, publicly follow in a similar vein.” The idea, in turn, is to reward winning players indirectly by feeding them net depositing opponents.
Yesterday, the weekly Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed played out. The site’s hallmark event, which comes with a $162 price tag, drew 509 players, meaning that Bodog kicked in $23,000 after the tournament fell short of its prize pool. In the end, reigning UB.com Aruba Poker Classic Main Event winner Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall took down the top prize of $25,000 after defeating Brian “AKbigfish” James heads-up. James pocketed a $15,000 consolation prize and “paulyman” took third for $9,500. The top 63 players finished in the money and the top five earned more than $5,000.
The Bodog Network is expected to take on non-Bodog sites this year.
Tags: 15, 2009, 2010, 5, bodog, Caesars Palace, Caribbean, cent, CEO, China, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Jean-Robert Bellande, Joe Sebok, Justin Bonomo, king, member, News Daily, Online Poker, online poker room, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, pokerstars, President, Pro, tournament, usa, Winning Player, WSOP
Justin Bonomo lost his sponsor
Looks like Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo has lost his sponsor deal with Bodog. A couple of months earlier Jean-Robert Bellande, known from the “Survivors” reality tv-show, lost his deal with Bodog as well.
Team Bodog has lost half of their sponsored players since November and now there’s only two left: Evelyn Ng and David Williams.
Bonomo’s weak performances are doubtfully the reason for his sponsorship cease as Bonomo has won over $1,2 million from tournaments and he was in the WSOP 2009 $40k NLHE event’s final table.
Bonomo is unfortunately best known when he played some tournaments from multiple accounts. PartyPoker and PokerStars closed Bonomo’s accounts in 2006 and froze up hundreds of thousands of dollars to compensate some losses to other players.
Source: Pokernewsdaily
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Justin Bonomo lost his sponsor
Tags: 2009, 2010, 5, bodog, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Jean-Robert Bellande, Justin Bonomo, player, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, Team Bodog, tournament, usa, WSOP
Justin Bonomo (ZeeJustin) No Longer a Bodog Poker Pro
Two months after Jean-Robert Bellande lost his status as a sponsored pro of the online poker room Bodog, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo also appears to be out. Bonomo is no longer listed as a member of Team Bodog on the poker room’s website.
David Williams and Evelyn Ng are the lone survivors of Team Bodog, whose numbers have been cut in half since mid-November. Bonomo owns more than $1.2 million in career earnings from World Series of Poker (WSOP) and Circuit Events and brought Bodog a considerable amount of exposure after final tabling the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP in 2008. Bonomo claimed fifth place for $413,000 in the event, which aired on ESPN. One month prior, he captured his first Circuit gold ring by winning the Caesars Palace Championship tournament for $227,000, defeating Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi heads-up.
Bonomo appeared on the UB.com-sposored poker news show “Poker2Nite” last week, breaking down a hand from a $5,000 Mixed Hold’em event during the 2008 WSOP. In the segment, dubbed “In the Tank,” Bonomo wore no Bodog logo and, as taped rolled from the event two years ago, the Bodog logo on Bonomo’s white shirt was blurred out. In the end, Bonomo finished as the runner-up to Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren and banked $230,000.
Bonomo is still listed on Bodog’s website in a Heads-Up TLB Records console. In addition, Bonomo’s Twitter page continues to boast a Bodog logo. Now, Williams and Ng will serve as the face of the USA-friendly online poker room, sports book, and casino. According to the traffic ranking outlet PokerScout.com, Bodog is the 15th largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 840 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, nearly 1,500 cash game enthusiasts call the site home. Bodog is the fifth largest site to accept players from the United States, trailing PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, the CEREUS Network, and the Cake Poker Network.
During November’s running of the Bodog Poker Open, three sponsored online pros took to the field in the Main Event. They included Smith “nevertilt22” Collins, Jonathan UFPokerStar Westra, and Ari Engel, who ultimately took third in the 257-player tournament for $16,000. A total of 2,646 players showed up for the 11 events that comprised the Bodog Poker Open’s Championship and Contender series, creating a total prize pool of $368,000. The online poker site added another $65,000 to the kitty.
Bonomo’s image was removed from Bodog’s website during the day on Saturday. Williams appeared during a high-stakes home game as part of the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million,” which starred Dani Stern, Jay Rosenkrantz, Emil Patel, and Brian Roberts. Williams lost $50,000 during the game, which took place at the Las Vegas home of the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast and also featured Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and David “Viffer” Peat.
In November, Bellande lost his status as a Bodog pro. Last February, Bellande renewed his sponsorship agreement with the online poker room. However, it was not picked up once it expired, as a Bodog Poker Room Manager told Poker News Daily in November, "Jean-Robert Bellande’s deal with Bodog Poker expired at the end of October and the decision was made not to renew the deal. It has been an absolute pleasure having Jean-Robert as one of Bodog.com’s Poker pros and we wish him all the best."
Ads running on Bodog’s poker website promote betting on the Fiesta Bowl, which pits Texas Christian University (TCU) against Boise State. At the time of writing, TCU sits as an eight point favorite. Wagering is also open on the Orange Bowl, GMAC Bowl, and Thursday’s BCS Championship game.
Tags: 15, 2008, 5, bodog, Caesars Palace, cake poker, David Williams, Erick Lindgren, Evelyn Ng, full tilt poker, game player, Jean-Robert Bellande, Justin Bonomo, king, Las Vegas, manager, member, News Daily, Online Poker, online poker room, online poker site, online pros, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, runner, runner-up, Team Bodog, Texas, tournament, United States, usa, vegas, WSOP
Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks off January 4th
Fans of the popular NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” won’t have to wait long after the clock strikes Midnight this evening to catch the show’s sixth season, which debuts on Monday night, January 4th, at 2:05am ET.
Ali Nejad and Leeann Tweeden will reprise their “Poker After Dark” announcing and hosting roles, respectively, as the show enters season number six. The first week is entitled “Commentators III” and, while the name isn’t very catchy, the action on the felt should be nail biting. Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott will all play in “Poker After Dark’s” Season 6 premiere. Sebok, who hosts UB.com’s “Poker2Nite,” and Scott, the new floor reporter for GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” are making their “Poker After Dark” debuts. You can catch “Commentators III” beginning on January 4th.
A total of 13 shows were filmed for Season 6 of “Poker After Dark,” including six-handed freezeouts and three different buy-in cash games. Followers of 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad will be able to catch the youngster on a special “Nicknames” episode that also features Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Obrestad, a Betfair pro, turned 21 in September and is finally old enough to gamble legally on U.S. soil.
A $50,000 buy-in cash game features a star-studded lineup of Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth. A press release distributed by Poker PROductions notes, “Any time Matusow and Hellmuth play against each other in a cash game, the insults alone make for must-see-television.” A high-stakes $150,000 buy-in cash game will see Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David “Viffer” Peat, Eli Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer take to the felts. The six are staples of “High Stakes Poker” and one mounts the comeback of the century.
One of the more notable freezeout themes is “Lonesome Shark,” which features Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth. What do they all have in common, you ask? All six are poker’s most eligible bachelors and the heads-up battle in this episode is one of the longest of the season. Mixed Martial Arts will take center stage shortly thereafter in a show featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, Antonius, Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson, former UFC champion Randy Couture, Lederer, and Lindgren.
Here is the schedule through April for new episodes of Season 6 of “Poker After Dark” according to NBC.com:
Week of January 4th - Commentators III
Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott
Week of January 11th – Nicknames
Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth
Week of March 15th - Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 1
Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow
Week of March 22nd – Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 2
Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson
Week of April 19th - My Favorite Pro
Craig Ivey, James Ashby, Steve Bartlett, Phil Hellmuth, Jens Voertmann, Chris Ferguson
Week of April 26th - He Said, She Said
Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow, Annie Duke
Additional dates for new episodes will be announced in the future and re-runs of popular shows will also air over the first four months of 2009. “Poker After Dark” will take a hiatus during the weeks of February 15th and 22nd due to the Winter Olympics, which NBC owns the rights to.
“Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker,” both products of Poker PROductions, were filmed in October at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The latter begins airing on GSN on Sunday, February 14th.
Tags: 15, 2009, 5, Adam, After Dark, Annie Duke, announcer, brad booth, cent, David Williams, Downtown Las, durrrr, Eli Elezra, Erica Schoenberg, Erick Lindgren, EUR, Europe, Gabe Kaplan, gamble, HB, high stakes, High Stakes Poker, Howard Lederer, Jean-Robert Bellande, Joe Sebok, kara scott, king, Las Vegas, legal, Mike Matusow, NBC, oil, Patrik Antonius, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, player, Poker, Poker After Dark, Pro, Todd Brunson, vegas, WSOP
Erica Schoenberg Interview with Poker News Daily
Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?
Schoenberg: I came off of playing blackjack with a team. Our team disbanded and we were getting a lot of heat from the casinos. I was asked to do a poker show on GSN with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and David Williams and I played terribly. From there on, I decided I was determined to get better at poker.
PND: Talk about the blackjack team. Did any part of your involvement with it help groom you for the game of poker?
Schoenberg: I met the original members of the MIT Blackjack Team and they referred me to someone in Los Angeles. Aside from the ability to process a lot of information at once, which you have to do in card counting, the time I spent loitering in casinos and the late nights helped me. Poker can end up in long hours for tournaments and late nights. Blackjack helped me get used to that.
PND: Why was poker appealing to you?
Schoenberg: I couldn't imagine sitting in an office or a cubicle for the rest of my life. It's crazy that poker can be a career. It's living the dream if you have a little bit of gamble in you.
PND: Talk about having David Benyamine in your life, who also excels at poker. Does having him help you fine-tune your game?
Schoenberg: Sometimes I get tired of poker because it feels like that's all we talk about and do. For the most part, it's 90% helpful and 10% annoying. Being able to watching him play online and hearing him talk through hands is huge for me.
PND: What makes Benyamine's game above and beyond the rest?
Schoenberg: The way he thinks about the game is on a higher level from anyone I've ever watched. I really believe that and I'm not just saying it. I've met a lot of brilliant people in my life. He has this ridiculous gift for card games and is good at rummy, gin rummy, and backgammon. He has a mind for it.
PND: You're a member of Team Full Tilt. Talk about what makes Full Tilt Poker a premier online poker room.
Schoenberg: I think their software is the best. Getting hand histories is much easier. It's helpful when you're playing to go back over hands. Full Tilt makes that simple and is the premier online poker site.
PND: Talk about being associated with members of Team Full Tilt like Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, and Allen Cunningham.
Schoenberg: It's such an honor to be associated with them. It's great to have your name in the company of some of the world's best poker players.
PND: In your eyes, what is your greatest poker accomplishment to date?
Schoenberg: Winning a $2,500 World Poker Tour preliminary event at Mandalay Bay in 2007. It was an open event, not a women's only event, but I got heads-up with Anna Wroblewski. I have total respect for her game and she's a great poker pro in general. My third place in a $1,500 Hold'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker was a bit of a sick burn.
PND: What advice do you have for women looking to get into poker?
Schoenberg: Play as much as you can online before stepping foot in a casino. The minute you get into a poker room with all males, it's going to throw off your game. Get as firm of a grasp on all of the rules and be comfortable with the game before you sit down. I think for a beginning female poker player, being in a roomful of males could be really disconcerting. You don't want to be spastic because you're surrounded by men.
PND: Tell us about what you do away from the game.
Schoenberg: David and I golf a ton. We love it. I'm also a huge animal lover and I do things with my dogs. I like to go at the beach and spend time outside for a healthy and clean living. I have a Golden Retriever and a Jack Russell Terrier.
Tags: 5, David Benyamine, David Williams, Erica Schoenberg, full tilt poker, gamble, golf, Howard Lederer, interview, king, Los Angeles, member, News Daily, Online Poker, online poker room, online poker site, Phil Ivey, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, poker show, poker site, Pro, software, tournament, women, World Poker Tour, WSOP
Returns
Filming of 13 different shows concluded in October at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas featuring a mixture of well-known regulars from previous seasons and thirteen players making their Poker After Dark debut.
Ali Nejad, returns to provide commentary and Leeann Tweeden is back for her third season as the show’s host.
Seven of the new shows will follow the traditional Poker After Dark week-long six-handed winner-take-all freezeout format while the remaining six will feature cash games of varying buy-ins that will each air over a two-week period.
Producers say there are first-time winners, matches that end in dramatic fashion, huge swings, plenty of laughs and many other memorable moments.
The season will kick-off Jan. 4 with a Poker After Dark staple: The “Commentators” episode, featuring Nejad and High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan along with newcomer Joe Sebok from Poker2Nite and Kaplan’s new co-host Kara Scott.
A “Nicknames” episode will follow that includes Annette “The Huntress” Obrestad’s Poker After Dark debut and great names like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth.
The first cash game episodes to air will feature a $50,000 minimum buy-in and players including, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth.
In what could be the first win for an amateur on Poker After Dark a “My Favorite Pro” episode will air including online qualifiers Craig Ivey from Australia, James Ashby from Alabama, Jens Voertmann from Germany, and 2009 Howard Lederer Charity Event winner Steve Bartlett playing alongside Hellmuth and Ferguson.
In a match similar to the “Battle of the Sexes” theme of Season 2, a “He Said, She Said” episode will include Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Matusow, Annie Duke and Karina Jett, making her Poker After Dark debut.
The next cash game show has a $100,000 minimum buy-in and includes some of the biggest cash players in the world. Here Hellmuth will take on Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Gus Hansen, and Laak.
A “Lonesome Shark” show will feature bachelors Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth and there is a “Mixed Martial Arts” show featuring Bruce Buffer, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture and Patrik Antonius.
The third and final cash game has a $150,000 minimum buy-in and includes Dwan, Antonius, David Peat, Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer.
Finally, the season wraps up with a “Charity in Mind” show, highlighting the charity work of players including Phil Gordon, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, Duke, Lederer and Ferguson.
Season 6 begins Jan. 4 in Poker After Dark’s regular 2:05 a.m. timeslot on NBC.
For more information and the entire schedule, check out the Poker After Dark page on NBC’s website.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 15, 2009, 5, After Dark, Annie Duke, Australia, brad booth, buy-ins, charity, David Williams, Doyle Brunson, durrrr, Eli Elezra, Erica Schoenberg, EUR, Gabe Kaplan, Gus Hansen, HB, high stakes, High Stakes Poker, Howard Lederer, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jennifer Harman, Joe Sebok, kara scott, king, Las Vegas, NBC, online qualifiers, Patrik Antonius, Phil Gordon, player, Poker, Poker After Dark, Pro, producer, qualifier, Todd Brunson, vegas
Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre Featured in National Post
On Saturday, the National Post ran an article entitled “Calvin Ayre online gaming tycoon,” a profile of the founder of the popular online poker room, casino, and sports book Bodog. Ayre donned a Bodog Fight shirt for the interview’s image.
Diane Francis was tasked with interviewing Ayre in Antigua and the news outlet described the internet mogul as “semi-retired.” The article begins with Francis asking Ayre about the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), approved by better than a 3:1 edge in the House of Representatives before being attached to the SAFE Port Act at the urging of then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). When asked if Canadian authorities had pursued Ayre in any capacity related to the 2006 law, he told the Post, "No. I haven't lived in Canada for ten years or been in the Canadian tax system. The legal system did not allow me to do this in Canada. Now I like living in the tropics.”
Ayre revealed that he owns the rights to the domain name Bodog.com and licenses the rights to the network to affiliates located around the globe. In the United States, for example, Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, a Canadian outfit, owns the rights to market the brand. After recently releasing “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande, Bodog’s stable of poker pros currently stands at three: Evelyn Ng, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and David Williams.
The Post then inquired about Bodog’s revenue figures. Ayre explained, "My current deals aren't revenue based and are all different structures which I don't talk about. Forbes audited our books and based the number on the same multiple that the British public companies were trading at, or more than $1.5 billion. In 2006, Bodog made US $320 million in revenues and 25% profit." After the UIGEA was passed into law, online poker sites with publicly traded parent companies like PartyPoker and Pacific Poker exited the market, leaving sites like Bodog, PokerStars, and Full Tilt Poker to pick up the slack.
On the current legality of online poker in the United States, Ayre told the Post, “Poker is not illegal to bet online in the U.S. because it's considered a skilled game. It's a gray area, but there are lots of American companies with poker sites.” This year, Bodog forged its own poker network and will purportedly begin accepting non-Bodog domains into its ranks next year. Jonas Odman, Vice President of the Bodog Network, told Poker News Daily that a “unique solution” to rakeback will help differentiate the family of sites from others in the industry.
In September, Ayre served as the keynote speaker at the Budapest Affiliate Conference. He told event organizers at the time, “I’m very flattered to have been asked to be this year’s keynote speaker in Budapest. The iGaming space is the birthplace of the Bodog brand, and it remains one of the must dynamic and fascinating sectors in the entertainment space.” In addition to Morris Mohawk, Bodog’s licensees include Bodog Europe and Bodog Asia. The former recently opened its doors to Canadian online poker players.
According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, Bodog is the 15th largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 860 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, around 1,500 cash game players call the site home. Its traffic is comparable with that found on PKR and every Sunday, the site hosts its $100,000 Guaranteed, a $162 buy-in event that kicks off at 4:00pm ET. The tournament regularly sees a $20,000 to $30,000 overlay, with $29,000 kicked in by the site last week.
Read the entire Calvin Ayre interview with the National Post.
Tags: 15, 2009, 5, Asia, Bill Frist, bodog, Canada, canadian, cash game player, cent, China, David Williams, EUR, Europe, Evelyn Ng, founder, full tilt poker, game player, internet gambling, Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, interview, Jean-Robert Bellande, king, law, leader, legal, Majority Leader, Mohawk Gaming Group, News Daily, online gaming, Online Poker, online poker player, online poker players, online poker room, online poker site, online poker sites, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, President, Pro, Senate, Senate Majority Leader, skill, tournament, United States
Daniel Negreanu’s Mother Passes Away
On Monday, Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu posted a blog entry on Full Contact Poker entitled “Mommy is Gone.” The funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 11:00am at the Jerett Funeral Home in Toronto.
Negreanu revealed that his mother passed away in her sleep around 3:30am early Monday morning in a hospital, where she had been since February. The four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner explained, “10 months of the most brutal torture. Just no way to live, and there is a sense of relief that she doesn’t have to suffer anymore.” Earlier this year, Negreanu’s mother suffered a stroke and mild heart attack, leading to her hospitalization. She had surgery to clean out a corroded artery and then had open heart surgery shortly thereafter. Negreanu vividly painted the picture of the scene at the hospital in a mid-February entry: “She’s on life support, hooked up to a machine with a tube in her throat. She’s getting blood also, and there are just all kinds of random tubes all over the place. I don’t know what they all do.”
Negreanu recapped that he flew in from London with the intention of seeing his mother, but was too late. His brother, who had been a frequent guest at the hospital, was not present at the time of her passing either, as he had traveled to New Jersey for a football game. Negreanu lamented, “She was literally the most unselfish person I’d ever met. She got so much joy out of simply feeding people. I mean that. She loved nothing more than to cook and care for people. This Christmas will be a different one for sure. She usually cooks up a massive feast that all of my friends look forward to.”
Many of Negreanu’s posts relating to his mother occurred in February. However, two months later, Negreanu noted that the situation was still grim, but he was continuing to focus on his burgeoning poker career: “I can’t control what’s going on with my mother, but I can control how focused I am at the poker table.” Negreanu finished in the money eight times during the 2009 WSOP in Las Vegas and added a runner-up showing in the £10,000 buy-in Main Event of WSOP Europe, a tournament that he finished fifth in last year. All told, Negreanu has over $3.3 million in WSOP and Circuit cashes to his name.
An image in Negreanu’s blog entry shows his mother planting a big kiss on his cheek after he took down the Borgata Poker Open, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), in 2004. On his mother’s support of his poker career, Negreanu revealed, “You know how some people never feel like their parents are proud of them? That was never in question with my mother. She always told me and showed me how proud she was of me without fail. I always felt loved by her and that’s an irreplaceable bond and feeling. She told me she loved me… every day. I mean every… single… day.” The Borgata Poker Open saw Negreanu best one of the most talented final tables in WPT history, featuring David Williams, Josh Arieh, and Phil Ivey.
Negreanu remarked, “She loved to dance and laugh. Some of my best memories as a kid were at dinner parties she’d throw at the house. As always, a monster feast, music, lots of wine and drinks… my dad telling jokes that had everyone laughing, then dancing in the living room.” In May, Negeranu headed to Toronto to visit his mother. He noted that visitors donned gloves and a gown to avoid spreading germs and, although his mother could not speak, she was able to nod and shake her head. Prior to her hospitalization, Negreanu would read her the last names of fellow poker players and have her guess their origins. In the hospital in May, Negreanu tested his parent with “Kravchenko.”
Viewing is scheduled for Wednesday from 2:00pm to 8:00pm at the Jerett Funeral Home in Toronto, with the funeral set to take place on Thursday at 11:00am. We’d like to express our deepest condolences to the Negreanu family.
Tags: 2009, 5, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, EUR, Europe, Las Vegas, London, member, New Jersey, Phil Ivey, player, Poker, poker player, Poker.com, pokerstars, Pro, runner, runner-up, tournament, vegas, World Poker Tour, WSOP
Jay Rosenkrantz Discusses the Future of 2 Months, $2 Million
Poker News Daily: Calls and e-mails we’ve placed to G4 on the future of the online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million” have gone unreturned. What have you heard about the possibility of a second season?
Jay Rosenkrantz: I’ve heard that they’re happy. I haven’t gotten official word, but I haven’t asked either. We feel good about there being a Season 2 and creatively it’s going to get better. From a physical perspective, the show has been growing and growing. It has to be a good business decision for them [to renew it]. It has an international following also. I just imagine that they have other things to deal with right now like new programming and they’ll get around to it. I would bet on there being a Season 2 and I think we’re a favorite.
PND: How tough was it to juggle playing poker with creating an entertaining end product for fans to watch each Wednesday night on G4 during the 10-episode series?
Rosenkrantz: It was hard. Often you’d see us on tilt and you’d assume it was because we were losing money, but often it would be because we had just had some words with the producers about them wanting us to do something stupid or trying to get all four of us to go talk in front of the backdrop of the Las Vegas Strip while there was a great game running. There would be fighting back and forth when there were people outside of the poker world trying to do something about the poker world. At times, it was stressful.
PND: Since we last talked to you, the episode featuring the high-stakes home game aired. Tell us about that night.
Rosenkrantz: It was fun. It wasn’t the softest game ever. Everyone knew they were going to be on television, so you had people who wanted to be on television playing in the game, otherwise people weren’t going to go out of their way to play nosebleed stakes against us. We might be relative unknowns to the general public as far as being on television, but anyone who is a high-stakes poker player knows who we are.
The game was $100/$200 with a $50,000 buy-in. It didn’t last that long and the producers made David Williams out to be a fish. He was the worst player at the table, but he wasn’t a fish. Nothing happened for two hours, the game broke, and the producers did the best they could with the footage they had.
PND: How has the traffic at your training site, DeucesCracked.com, been as a result of the exposure it has received on “2 Months, $2 Million”? Has being on the show translated into more subscriptions sold?
Rosenkrantz: It’s been doing well. It’s tough, though, because it’s hard to convert someone to poker training from watching G4. They have to make that leap to wanting to get better at poker and wanting to pay $29 per month to subscribe to the site. There’s a seven-day free trial, which is a smoother way in for newcomers. We’ve experienced a lot more eyes, though, which is great for the brand.
Tags: 5, aced, David Williams, Las Vegas, News Daily, nosebleed, Online Poker, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, Pro, producer, vegas
VP of Bodog Poker Network Discusses Expansion
Recently, officials from Bodog announced the formation of the Bodog Network, a family of poker sites encompassing the various Bodog brands around the world with expansion to non-Bodog domains expected in 2010. Poker News Daily sat down with Jonas Odman, Vice President of the Network, to review the company’s plans to take on new sites.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Can you give us an update on the Bodog Network? When can we expect more sites to be added?
Odman: We’re talking to potential partners now and will hopefully get someone on board. We have a target list, but we’re looking for someone who is technologically savvy to be the first partner. Ideally, we would like to find someone with a big European base of players.
PND: Are American-facing sites more attractive than those that do not accept U.S. players?
Odman: It’s possible that we would not want or require the customer database of our partners. So, if our partners take American players, it’s fine. They can take players from anywhere they want. It’s a big project. We will have to develop things on the business-to-business side. It’s new to us and will be a big project. We want to move up in player liquidity.
PND: Explain the importance of seeking out European-focused online poker sites to join the Bodog Network.
Odman: We want to cover all limits at all hours so you always have a game when you log in. If you’re a high-limit player and log on during European hours, you might have trouble right now. Also, we will be able to offer better tournaments.
PND: What will happen to Bodog.com’s team of sponsored pros, which includes Evelyn Ng, David Williams, and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo after the departure of Jean-Robert Bellande?
Odman: Team Bodog will represent Bodog.com and continue to do that. Our operators on the network will have their own teams of players.
PND: Are you planning to offer payment services and other ancillary features as well or only focus on online poker?
Odman: Initially, it will just be poker. The sites will have to do payments themselves. Our target partners are bigger and they won’t need to have those types of services provided to them anyway.
PND: What are the benefits of potential partners moving to the Bodog Network?
Odman: There are some unhappy operators on other networks. On Bodog, the operators can keep their customer databases. That will differentiate us from some networks. We also have a unique solution to rakeback where operators that bring in net depositing players will earn more money than they would on other networks.
The players that the network wants are net depositing players, but with the way the rake is split now, the winning players get too large of a proportion of revenue. We don’t think that’s fair. We want to reward operators who bring in net depositing players.
We will take the players’ deposits as a factor before we split the rake between the operators. The typical rakeback player will be worth much less. The winning players will come anyway because we will have good players for them to play against. By focusing on net depositing players, it will benefit the whole ecosystem.
PND: What is the long-term focus of the Bodog Network?
Odman: Our long-term goal is to be in the top three and it depends on which partners we get. We have a good liquidity now, but we want to move up the ladder.
Jean-Robert Bellande no longer Bodog pro
Jean-Robert Bellande Out as Bodog Sponsored Pro
Former “Survivor: China” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande is no longer a sponsored pro of Bodog, according to a representative from the online poker room. His current agreement expired at the end of October and was not renewed.
Only three sponsored pros currently appear on Bodog’s website: Evelyn Ng, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and David Williams. The runner-up in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Ladies Night Event in 2003, Ng also took 11th in the Season IV Borgata Poker Open for $64,000. That same season, Ng grabbed 39th in the WPT Championship for $73,000.
Bonomo is one of the industry’s top online poker players, but has also dominated on the brick-and-mortar felts. Bonomo won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in April for $227,000. One month later, he final tabled the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP for a colossal $413,000.
Rounding out the shrunken crop of Bodog pros is Williams, who boasts the only bracelet of the trio. Williams captured his piece of hardware in 2006 by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament for $163,000, defeating a talented final table that also included “Miami” John Cernuto and 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan. Text found on Bodog’s website still refers to “four pros,” but only three profiles appear.
“Jean-Robert Bellande’s deal with Bodog Poker expired at the end of October and the decision was made not to renew the deal. It has been an absolute pleasure having Jean-Robert as one of Bodog.com’s Poker pros and we wish him all the best,” the room’s Poker Manager told Poker News Daily. In February, Poker Royalty, which represents Bellande, boasted that the pro had renewed his sponsorship agreement with the USA-facing site. At the time, Bellande commented, “I am thrilled to continue my relationship with Team Bodog. Bodog is a fantastic organization and I am excited to continue with such a select team of world-class poker players.”
During the 2008 WSOP, Bellande finished as the runner-up to Matt “mattg1983” Graham in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout for $173,000. The final table of the marathon tournament wrapped up after 7:00am at the Rio in Las Vegas. In 2005, Bellande grabbed third in the Rio’s WSOP Circuit Event Championship for $210,000 in a contest that saw Doug Lee and Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman battle heads-up.
Bellande was one of 16 contestants to head to China for the 15th cycle of the CBS reality series “Survivor.” Bellande was the eighth player voted out of the popular program and became the second member of its jury, the group of seven castaways who selected flight attendant Todd Herzog as the show’s $1 million winner. Bellande was on the Fei Long tribe both before and after a tribal switch-up; the group then merged to become Hae Da Fung.
In 2006, Bellande made waves by competing in the WPT’s Bad Boys of Poker against the likes of Tony G, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Gus Hansen. In the end, Tony G triumphed over the invite-only six-handed table and earned $25,000. All told, Bellande owns over $75,000 from WPT felts.
According to the tracking site PokerScout.com, Bodog is the 14th largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 930 real money ring game players. It features a 24-hour peak of 1,411 cash game players and, at the time of writing, which is around 8:30pm ET on a Sunday night, 1,359 combatants have taken to its ring game felts. Bodog is the fifth largest site or network that accepts U.S. action, trailing PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, CEREUS, and the Cake Poker Network.
Tags: 15, 2008, 5, bodog, Caesars Palace, cake poker, cash game player, CBS, China, class poker player, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, full tilt poker, game player, Gus Hansen, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jennifer Harman, Johnny Chan, king, ladies, Las Vegas, manager, member, News Daily, Online Poker, online poker player, online poker players, online poker room, Phil Hellmuth, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, poker player, pokerstars, Pro, runner, runner-up, Team Bodog, tournament, usa, vegas, World Poker Tour, WPT Championship, WSOP
MrElPaso reigns supreme at Bodog Open IV
MrElPaso outlasted a field of 256 players and a tough final table that included "Bodog Ari" Engel to take down a first place prize of $36,337.
"With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog.com has given online poker players of all stripes the chance to win big while garnering the exposure they deserve," said Bodog poker pro David Williams.
"I'd like to personally congratulate MrElPaso for his impressive victory in the Bodog Poker Open IV. His win cements his status as one of online poker's newest stars, and I'm confident we'll be seeing him at plenty of final tables to come."
It isn't the first time that MrElPaso has had success on Bodog. In 2008, he final tabled the $100,000 guaranteed on the site and made $9,100 for coming in third.
The final table of the $500 buy-in Bodog Open VI main event was no cakewalk with notable players UFpokerStar, nevertilt22 and the aforementioned Engel. The smart money was likely on Engel who has $359,835 in live tournament earnings, but he eventually bowed out in third for $16,182.
The fourth installment of the Bodog Open drew several notable pros including Williams and Evelyn Ng. Bodog threw in an extra $25,000 to pump the overall prize pool up to $145,790.
As part of winning the Bodog Open VI championship, MrElPaso will also receive a guaranteed spread in an International poker magazine.
Here are the complete payouts for the Bodog Open VI main event:
1. MrElPaso - $36,448
2. dvbronco - $24,420
3. ari - $16,182
4. JazzyFace - $11,663
5. bklynzto81 - $8,456
6. naskoxx - $6,561
7. ello - $5,103
8. ShuMoneyTonite - $3,645
9. LIVIN LOUD - $2,478
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2008, 5, bodog, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Online Poker, online poker player, online poker players, player, Poker, poker player, Pro, tournament
Bodog Cancels Sunday Tournaments, $100,000 Guaranteed
Players logging into the popular online poker room Bodog on Sunday to play in the weekly $100,000 Guaranteed flagship tournament found the site down due to technical difficulties.
On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, the trouble for many users began shortly before 5:00pm ET when one frustrated person posted, “Anyone else having problems logging into bodog?” The site’s $100,000 Guaranteed begins at 4:00pm ET each Sunday and comes with a $162 buy-in. On October 18th, a total of 469 players entered, creating an overlay of nearly $30,000. Overlays of over $20,000 are common in the event, which has become a haven for the world’s top online poker pros looking to claim their share of the dead money in the prize pool.
Players battling in the $100,000 Guaranteed at the time attempted to diagnose the problem, with PocketFives.com member “dirtydonzo” taking it upon himself to call Bodog’s customer support. The response: “Just called them. No real information. Lady said they are having technical difficulties and they are working to fix the problem. She didn’t have any specific details and didn’t know when the site might be back up.” The post was time stamped at 4:53pm ET, less than one hour into the $100,000 Guaranteed.
Meanwhile, PocketFives.com member “MarkFSU1” relayed his story, which was echoed by several other players: “I got a message saying the 100k was canceled because [there were] not enough players.” Customer support purportedly told some concerned Bodog members that the $100,000 Guaranteed would be rescheduled.
One player who attempted to log in while the melee was unfolding received an error message notifying him of maintenance: “Bodog is down for regularly scheduled maintenance and/or software upgrades. We expect to be back up shortly.” At 7:09pm ET, about two-and-a-half hours after issues were first reported, Bodog representative Rebecca “BodogBecky” Liggero appeared and claimed, “Tonight, Sunday, October 25th, Bodog Poker had to cancel all tournaments because many players were experiencing disconnection problems. Players will be compensated according to Bodog Poker rules, i.e. players will be paid a percentage of the prize pool based on their stack size when the tournament was canceled.”
According to Bodog’s Terms of Service, when a guaranteed prize pool tournament is canceled prior to hitting the money bubble, “the payout will be based on the prize pool composed of buy-ins only,” meaning that the guarantee is not factored in. Half of the purse is distributed evenly among all players remaining in the tournament, while the other half is dished out based on chip counts. Liggero instructed concerned online poker players to contact the individual Bodog licensees.
Liggero told Poker News Daily that the site is looking to right the ship this weekend. She relayed a statement from the Bodog Network claiming, “Bodog has more customers than ever and yesterday this caused some problems with our database. To repair the problems, we were forced to cancel all ongoing tournaments, including our flagship $100,000 tournament. All players have been compensated in accordance with our tournament cancellation policy. On top of that, we will invite all affected players to a $10,000 freeroll on Sunday. They will all receive an email with the details.”
A similar occurrence took place during the $100,000 Guaranteed five weeks ago. On September 20th, about 90% of players in the event were disconnected and blinded off. In a post made two days later, Liggero explained, “At 8:09pm EST on Sunday we had to restart our servers, and after that many players, but not all, were blinded out of the 100K tournament. At the time of the restart, 43 players were left in the 100K tournament, and all were already in the money. Since the tournament was not stopped, the result will stand and everyone will keep their prize money.” The statement added that Bodog officials should have halted the tournament at 8:09pm ET and so an additional 35 players would be compensated accordingly.
Players logging into the site on Monday were met with a small software update and the $100,000 Guaranteed is scheduled for Sunday, November 1st, the same day as the start of the fourth Bodog Poker Open. Bodog accepts players from the United States and features a stable of pros that includes Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande, Evelyn Ng, and David Williams.
WPT Festa al Lago Attendance Drops 25%
Despite players having an unprecedented eight levels to register for the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago, attendance dropped 25% year over year. In 2008, 368 players took to the felt, while this time around, the field numbered 275.
Registration ended five hours into play on Day 2 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the host venue for the annual Festa al Lago. A total of 30 players bought in on Thursday, including Andy Bloch, Todd Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Chris Ferguson, Hasan Habib, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, Kenny Tran, and Bodog pro David Williams. Players who entered the Festa al Lago Main Event late received 60,000 chips, the same number as players who began yesterday received. However, the average stack at 5:00pm Pacific Time when registration shuttered was 114,000, nearly double that total.
Tran’s day was quite abbreviated. After arriving at the last minute and not taking a seat at the table until his stack had shrunk to 48,000, he quickly found himself all-in pre-flop with K-Q of diamonds against top online poker pro Steve “gboro780” Gross’ pocket sevens. Tran hit a king on the turn to take the lead in the hand, but Gross spiked a two-outer on the river to send the poker pro home. WPT coverage candidly summed up Tran’s outing: “Kenny Tran paid $15,000 to play for about ten minutes, but he still outlasted more than half the field.”
The feature table began with a star-studded lineup headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro and World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey. Flanking him were fellow Poker Hall of Fame nominee Barry Greenstein, “Big Game” regular Eli Elezra, Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, and Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer. Elezra was ultimately sent packing from the table after running pocket tens into pocket aces.
Phil Hellmuth headed to Table 55 upon arriving at the Bellagio about two-and-a-half hours into play on Thursday. Joining him were 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen, Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah, and Daniel Alaei. After coming up short in a race with A-K against pocket queens to drop his stack down to 23,000, Hellmuth raced again, this time for his tournament life. Hellmuth once again held A-K and was up against the pocket jacks of Dee Luong. However, he could not improve and was sent packing from the Las Vegas casino.
Twenty-seven places will pay out at the marquee WPT event, with a $1.2 million first place prize up for grabs. Here’s how the field will be paid out in the $15,0000 buy-in contest:
1st Place: $1,218,225
2nd Place: $795,150
3rd Place: $477,090
4th Place: $278,300
5th Place: $208,725
6th Place: $168,970
7th Place: $129,210
8th Place: $89,450
9th Place: $63,610
10th Place – 12th Place: $47,710
13th Place – 15th Place: $39,760
16th Place – 18th Place: $31,805
19th Place – 27th Place: $23,855
At the time of writing, which is 8:30pm local time in Las Vegas, here were the top 10 chip stacks as play continued in the Festa al Lago. The action was in Level 10, where blinds were 1,000/2,000 with a 200 chip ante:
1. Chad Batista – 425,000
2. Jason Somerville – 404,000
3. Corwin Cole – 390,000
4. Mark Seif – 370,000
5. Chau Giang – 350,000
6. Steve Gross – 345,000
7. Mike Leah – 340,000
8. Markus Gonsalves – 320,000
9. Dutch Boyd – 260,000
10. Eugene Katchalov – 255,000
Last year, Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier defeated Nam Le heads-up to take home $1.4 million in the Festa al Lago Main Event. Others making the final table included WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic and Ultimate Bet pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT Festa al Lago coverage.
Tags: 000 chips, 15, 2008, 5, aced, Adam, Barry Greenstein, bellagio, bodog, David Williams, Eli Elezra, Freddy Deeb, Howard Lederer, king, Las Vegas, member, News Daily, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, player, Poker, Poker Hall, Poker News Daily, pokerstars, Pro, queen, Todd Brunson, tournament, vegas, World Poker Tour, WSOP
Bodog to crown online poker’s next king
"With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog.com is giving online poker players of all levels a chance to strike it rich and gain major exposure as the next Bodog Poker Open Champion," said Bodog Pro David Williams.
"It takes a great deal of patience and skill to run deep in this tournament and any poker player who can take down the Championship Event deserves not only the huge cash prize, but also the recognition that comes along with it."
The week-long Bodog Poker Open IV actually includes two different tournament series running at the same time.
A lower-stakes "Contender Series" will feature several guaranteed prizepools with each event finalist winning a seat into the Contender Series $2,500 added Championship Event and each winner taking home $500 in tournament dollars to buy into the "Championship Series" main event.
The "Championship Series" will include higher buy-ins and $60,000 in added prize money.
"With the chance to rise through the ranks, from contender to Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, the Bodog Poker Open IV promises to be one of the biggest and best tournament series in Bodog.com's 15-year history," Williams added.
For more details, check out the Bodog's poker page.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 15, 5, bodog, buy-ins, David Williams, king, Online Poker, online poker player, online poker players, player, Poker, poker player, Pro, skill, tournament
2 Months, $2 Million: Elky, Viffer Play in High-Stakes Home Game
In this week’s installment of the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million,” a high-stakes home game featuring David Williams, David “Viffer” Peat, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Andrew “good2cu” Robl took center stage.
The “2 Months, $2 Million” cast entered the week up $507,000 on the season with two episodes remaining. Jay Rosenkrantz, who earned $350,000 off Peat last week, forecasted, “I’m going to do everything I can to help us make the final push to get as close as possible” to the $2 million goal, which seemed woefully out of reach. The idea emerged to hold a live high-stakes game, with Dani Stern and Rosenkrantz heading to the Hard Rock Casino to stir up the pot. However, organizing a game would likely take a few days to come to fruition.
In the interim, Brian Roberts battled “Past” online, losing with A-10 on a 6-J-10-8-3 board with four clubs when Roberts’ opponent showed Kc-Jh. Then, Roberts dropped another sizable pot facing K-Q when the board came runner-runner king. With the situation looking grim at the house, Stern and Rosenkrantz turned to Aaron “aejones” Jones’ house, where Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who finished 18th in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $500,000, offered to put up $127,000 and play.
With the team up $167,000 collectively by the third day of the week, the rules for the high-stakes home game were set. The affair would sport a $50,000 buy-in and $100/$200 blinds. The name of the game would be No Limit Texas Hold’em and, initially, Williams was a no-go. Stern lamented, “It’s too bad David Williams is a no-show because we really want to have some people in these games who are willing to gamble. He gives a lot of action, so he’s definitely the type of player we’d want in the game.” However, Williams ultimately turned out. Joining him were Grospellier, Peat, and Robl. Upon arrival, security patted down each player given that hundreds of thousands of dollars were up for grabs.
Only one “2 Months, $2 Million” player sat down at a time, as each of the four cast members had a piece of each other. Grospellier took a $27,000 pot off Williams with A-Q on a queen-high board, while Lichtenberger sent Williams packing after calling his all-in in a separate hand with 9-7 for two pair. Williams exited stage right, telling “2 Months, $2 Million” cameras, “Sometimes you have to know when to quit.”
Then, Rosenkrantz, holding Q-K, bet two-thirds of the pot after a flop of Q-10-7 against Robl. His opponent called and the turn came a six. Rosenkrantz bet out $7,000 and Robl called, creating a $22,000 pot. Then, with a jack on the river, Rosenkrantz checked, Robl bet $13,000, and Rosenkrantz released his hand, flashing his cards. Robl flipped over a jack.
After the home game had disbanded, Williams had lost $50,000, Peat had won $11,200, Litchenberger had earned $29,000, and the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast was down $30,700. Rosenkrantz took his frustrations out on “PIEJAY” on the virtual felts of Ultimate Bet, dropping $60,000 before finally quitting. When the totals for the week were calculated, Rosenkrantz was down $3,200, Emil Patel was up $53,100, Roberts was up $12,000, and Stern was up $47,000. Collectively, the “2 Months, $2 Million” team had won $108,900 during the week for $615,900 overall, but was still $1.4 million short of the $2 million goal.
As a result of turning in the worst financial performance of the week, Rosenktantz was forced to dress up like his avatar, a clown, and beg girls for money to purchase a red nose. Next week marks the season finale of “2 Months, $2 Million,” as an end of summer bash takes place. The show airs on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm ET on G4 and replays throughout the week.
2 Months, $2 Million: Jay Rosenkrantz Battles Viffer, Team Earns $371,000
A high-stakes mutli-table battle between Jay Rosenkrantz and David “Viffer” Peat headlined this week’s episode of the G4 online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million.” In the end, the team earned $371,000 for the week and is up over $500,000 overall.
Week 8 of the G4 franchise began with the team up $135,600. Despite the six-figure earnings, the team was nowhere near its $2 million goal and began hunting for high-stakes games. Rosenkrantz quickly found a taker in luckexpress10, who has vandalized the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast in previous episodes. In one pot shown, Rosenkrantz held A-J of clubs and the flop came 6-3-A, Rosenkrantz bet out $5,000, luckexpress10 raised to $14,000, Rosenkrantz shoved, and luckexpress10 quickly called, turning over A-6 for top and bottom pair. No jack came and Rosenkrantz dropped the $114,000 pot. He was down $97,000 on the week after one day, sinking the team to nearly even on the season.
As a result of the group’s collective struggles, a 36-hour lockdown was planned. Only one person could leave the war room at a time over the next day and a half. Rosenkrantz battled JD_KILLER in the early stages of lockdown, winning with pocket aces versus K-J and then cracking JD_KILLER’s aces with 9-10 after turning a straight. After Rosenkrantz raked another pot to be up $93,000, JD_KILLER sat out. At 11:20pm, during the 13th hour of lockdown, Emil Patel and Brian Roberts both went to sleep. Rosenkrantz soon followed.
The next morning, with Patel still asleep, Rosenkrantz played Peat across two tables of $200/$400. The $40,000 buy-in match marked the highest stakes game of the series. Early on, Rosenkrantz won a pot with pocket nines against Peat’s 4-7 to go up $159,000 during lockdown. Then, Peat went on a tear, as Rosenkrantz’s lockdown total fell to $248,000 the wrong way from zero. Rosenkrantz was visibly frustrated, but began looking for tells. He noted, “There has to be a way to turn this around. I know I’m better than this guy. I just have to figure him out.”
With his housemates following the action in the war room, Rosenkrantz discovered that Peat’s betting habits marked an online tell. When Peat bet pot, he was typically bluffing. A montage of hands followed where Rosenkrantz exploited his newfound edge, including one where Peat bet pot on a Q-J-3-A board. Rosenkrantz held Q-10 and called a bet on the river, trusting his read. Sure enough, Peat showed K-9 for a busted straight draw and Rosenkrantz scooped $165,000.
In the largest pot shown during lockdown, Peat bet pot on a board of 3-10-K-Q. Rosenkrantz called with K-Q for top two pair. Peat pushed when a five fell on the river and Rosenkrantz called, creating a massive $316,000 pot. Peat showed 9-6 for “squadoosh” and Rosenkrantz was up $351,000 during lockdown. Peat parted with the words “die in a grease fire” in the chat and sat out.
On his impressive lockdown performance, Rosenkrantz told “2 Months, $2 Million” cameras, “What a crazy 36 hours. If we can get some more nosebleed action, the $2 million goal doesn’t seem so unbeatable anymore.” When the totals for the week were tabulated, the “2 Months, $2 Million” quartet were up $371,000 during Week 8 and $507,000 overall. Rosenkrantz was the week’s big winner, up $351,000. Patel was up $34,000, Roberts was up $9,000, and Dani Stern was the only cast member to lose money for the week, down $22,600.
For his penalty stunt, Stern played 52-card pickup in the disgusting-looking green pool at Aaron “aejones” Jones’ house. Roberts joked, “Look at the bright side. After jumping into this pool, you’ll be exposed to so much bacteria that you’ll never have to take medication again.”
Next week, the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast holds a high-stakes home game featuring Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, David Williams, and Peat, among others. “2 Months, $2 Million” airs weekly at 8:00pm ET on G4.
Joe Hachem Wins EPT £2,000 8-Game Event
PokerStars 8-Game gaining ground
PokerStars began running cash games on the site in September 2008 and now claims 5,000 different players are sitting down at 8-Game tables each week, including as many as 200 at stakes of $40/$80 and up.
More than 150,000 8-Game hands are dealt on the site every week and the numbers just keep getting bigger.
Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem took down the £2,000 European 8-Game Championships at EPT London this week and he believes a lot of players have moved to 8-Game from H.O.R.S.E. because of the addition of No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha to the mixed limit-game format.
"I think people have switched to 8-Game from H.O.R.S.E because they don't want to just play Limit games anymore," he explained.
"The average punter who watches poker on TV is still going to be more attracted to No-Limit Hold'em. 8-Game is not really all-in poker. Although it might be in the big bet games, it's not in the Limit games. I think people want that action, but I also think the variety of 8-Game has definitely got people interested and it will keep them there."
Bodog pro David Williams made eighth in the EPT London 8-Game event, plays $40/$80 when the games are going online and took down the PokerStars WCOOP $2,100 8-Game title just last month.
He says there's an edge to be found for experienced players and that's where the attraction comes from.
"I think it's cool because everybody feels that nobody is good at all the games," he says. "That's probably true. Although it's also that a lot of the players that think they're good at all the games might not be as good as they think.
"You find a lot of players who are not as good at the Limit games as they are at No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha and that creates an interesting element where some games you are a favorite and some maybe not."
Success at 8-Game, according to Williams, comes from identifying exactly where your opponents strengths and weaknesses lie, not street to street, but game to game.
"You definitely start to realize who is weak in which games and look to play more pots with people in those games," he said.
"At the same time, you try to stay away from people who are really strong in some other games. Like if you see somebody who is making some mistakes at deuce, then you really want to try to punish that person when you are playing deuce."
In an attempt to tune up for the WSOP's prestigious $50k H.O.R.S.E. event this summer, Hachem said he started playing H.O.R.S.E. online regularly.
Unable to play the event because of prior commitments, he moved over to 8-Game soon after and is now the first European 8-Game champion.
While he does play cash, with the game changing every six hands, Hachem says he prefers 8-Game tournaments where the changes are done by the level.
He believes he can employ the same kind of tournament strategy that works in every other poker variant and understanding that could attract even more players to the format.
"Poker is poker, it doesn't matter what game it is," he said. "I'm by no means an expert in all these Limit games, but I think you can gain an advantage just understanding proper tournament strategy."
Just 60 players entered the 8-Game event at EPT London, but 245 played in the WCOOP event Williams won and he's hoping the popularity of the format continues to grow.
"Hopefully it does," he said. "But it's pretty tough, everybody playing it now is already a really good player, so it's hard to get started."
For all the action from PokerStars EPT London, including chip counts, photos and live updates, click through to PokerListings' Live Tournaments page.
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Tags: 15, 2008, 5, bodog, David Williams, EUR, Europe, european, Joe Hachem, king, London, no-limit, Omaha, player, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, tournament, WSOP
Steve Zolotow Tops WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1B Field
Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Steve Zolotow paced the field in London on Day 1B of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. A total of 178 players entered on Sunday for a combined starting grid of 334.
A total of 363 players turned out for the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event, meaning that this year’s field represented a drop of 8% in attendance. Nevertheless, the action was fast and furious at the Casino at the Empire in London, where Zolotow prevailed over the pack on Day 1B. When the action ceased for the evening, Zolotow held 166,825 chips, trailing the top three stacks from Day 1A – Brian Powell (194,600), Jason Mercier (189,725), and Sami Kelopuro (168,925) – to claim fourth place on the leaderboard entering Day 2 on Monday. According to PokerNews, Zolotow doubled up late in the day after flopping a set of threes against an opponent with bottom two pair.
A familiar face was third in chips after Day 1B, 2009 WSOP November Nine member Antoine Saout. A sponsored pro of Everest Poker, Saout holds the ninth largest stack overall after Days 1A and 1B in London at 144,400. Saout will hold the eighth largest tally when play resumes in Las Vegas, where the entire field is looking up at Darvin Moon. Action in the 2009 WSOP Main Event resumes on November 7th.
Here are the Top 10 chip stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering play on Monday:
1. Brian Powell – 194,600
2. Jason Mercier – 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro – 168,925
4. Steve Zolotow – 166,825
5. Viktor Blom – 163,175
6. Jonathan Aguiar – 160,100
7. Praz Bassi – 155,450
8. Martin Hansen – 152,775
9. Antoine Saout – 144,400
10. Christian Harder – 134,125
Among those who were sent packing on Day 1B was WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic, who was all-in holding just Q-J on a board of 8-3-3. His opponent showed A-9, which held up to send the Canadian home. Vitaly Lunkin, the champion of the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, was also eliminated from the WSOP Europe Main Event. Lunkin held Q-10 on a board of 7-3-2-Q-A, but ran into pocket queens. J.C. Tran semi-bluffed all-in with A-8 on a board of 10-4-J-9, but ran into K-10. An eight on the river missed Tran’s straight and secured his elimination.
Others remaining in contention include:
17. Ram Vaswarni – 113,625
23. Doyle Brunson – 92,900
27. Brandon Cantu – 89,000
28. Daniel Negreanu – 88,925
29. Noah Boeken – 87,500
35. Barry Shulman – 80,250
36. Juha Helppi – 79,200
41. James Akenhead – 77,675
46. Antonio Esfadiari – 73,550
70. Freddy Deeb – 56,900
77. Annette Obrestad – 52,400
81. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 49,800
88. Todd Brunson – 46,050
94. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – 44,175
96. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 43,200
105. Sandra Naujoks – 40,225
112. Shaun Deeb – 37,500
125. Teddy Sheringham – 33,350
128. Marco Traniello – 33,000
134. David Oppenheim – 31,525
137. Alex Kravchenko – 31,100
141. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 29,675
142. Mike Matusow – 28,900
144. Dennis Phillips – 28,800
145. John Juanda – 28,525
149. David Williams – 25,850
163. Phil Hellmuth – 18,450
164. Scott Montgomery – 18,225
171. Michael Binger – 10,000
172. Erik Seidel – 9,925
174. Howard Lederer – 7,675
176. Barry Greenstein – 6,925
One of the toughest tables to convene on Monday contains 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad, online poker pro Jason “JCarver” Somerville, Ultimate Bet pro Brandon Cantu, and bracelet winner Philip Tom. The quartet will headline Table 8.
Play will get underway at 5:30pm local time on Monday in observance of the Yom Kippur holiday, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. The observance runs from sundown on Sunday to sundown on Monday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from WSOP Europe.
Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 5, aced, Barry Greenstein, canadian, Daniel Negreanu, darvin moon, David Williams, Dennis Phillips, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, EUR, Europe, Freddy Deeb, Howard Lederer, king, Las Vegas, leader, London, Marco Traniello, member, Michael Binger, Mike Matusow, News Daily, Noah Boeken, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, Pro, queen, Sami Kelopuro, Scott Montgomery, Shaun Deeb, Todd Brunson, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Steve Zolotow Tops WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1B Field
Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Steve Zolotow paced the field in London on Day 1B of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. A total of 178 players entered on Sunday for a combined starting grid of 334.
A total of 363 players turned out for the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event, meaning that this year’s field represented a drop of 8% in attendance. Nevertheless, the action was fast and furious at the Casino at the Empire in London, where Zolotow prevailed over the pack on Day 1B. When the action ceased for the evening, Zolotow held 166,825 chips, trailing the top three stacks from Day 1A – Brian Powell (194,600), Jason Mercier (189,725), and Sami Kelopuro (168,925) – to claim fourth place on the leaderboard entering Day 2 on Monday. According to PokerNews, Zolotow doubled up late in the day after flopping a set of threes against an opponent with bottom two pair.
A familiar face was third in chips after Day 1B, 2009 WSOP November Nine member Antoine Saout. A sponsored pro of Everest Poker, Saout holds the ninth largest stack overall after Days 1A and 1B in London at 144,400. Saout will hold the eighth largest tally when play resumes in Las Vegas, where the entire field is looking up at Darvin Moon. Action in the 2009 WSOP Main Event resumes on November 7th.
Here are the Top 10 chip stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering play on Monday:
1. Brian Powell – 194,600
2. Jason Mercier – 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro – 168,925
4. Steve Zolotow – 166,825
5. Viktor Blom – 163,175
6. Jonathan Aguiar – 160,100
7. Praz Bassi – 155,450
8. Martin Hansen – 152,775
9. Antoine Saout – 144,400
10. Christian Harder – 134,125
Among those who were sent packing on Day 1B was WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic, who was all-in holding just Q-J on a board of 8-3-3. His opponent showed A-9, which held up to send the Canadian home. Vitaly Lunkin, the champion of the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, was also eliminated from the WSOP Europe Main Event. Lunkin held Q-10 on a board of 7-3-2-Q-A, but ran into pocket queens. J.C. Tran semi-bluffed all-in with A-8 on a board of 10-4-J-9, but ran into K-10. An eight on the river missed Tran’s straight and secured his elimination.
Others remaining in contention include:
17. Ram Vaswarni – 113,625
23. Doyle Brunson – 92,900
27. Brandon Cantu – 89,000
28. Daniel Negreanu – 88,925
29. Noah Boeken – 87,500
35. Barry Shulman – 80,250
36. Juha Helppi – 79,200
41. James Akenhead – 77,675
46. Antonio Esfadiari – 73,550
70. Freddy Deeb – 56,900
77. Annette Obrestad – 52,400
81. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 49,800
88. Todd Brunson – 46,050
94. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – 44,175
96. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 43,200
105. Sandra Naujoks – 40,225
112. Shaun Deeb – 37,500
125. Teddy Sheringham – 33,350
128. Marco Traniello – 33,000
134. David Oppenheim – 31,525
137. Alex Kravchenko – 31,100
141. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 29,675
142. Mike Matusow – 28,900
144. Dennis Phillips – 28,800
145. John Juanda – 28,525
149. David Williams – 25,850
163. Phil Hellmuth – 18,450
164. Scott Montgomery – 18,225
171. Michael Binger – 10,000
172. Erik Seidel – 9,925
174. Howard Lederer – 7,675
176. Barry Greenstein – 6,925
One of the toughest tables to convene on Monday contains 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad, online poker pro Jason “JCarver” Somerville, Ultimate Bet pro Brandon Cantu, and bracelet winner Philip Tom. The quartet will headline Table 8.
Play will get underway at 5:30pm local time on Monday in observance of the Yom Kippur holiday, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. The observance runs from sundown on Sunday to sundown on Monday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from WSOP Europe.
Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 5, aced, Barry Greenstein, canadian, Daniel Negreanu, darvin moon, David Williams, Dennis Phillips, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, EUR, Europe, Freddy Deeb, Howard Lederer, king, Las Vegas, leader, London, Marco Traniello, member, Michael Binger, Mike Matusow, News Daily, Noah Boeken, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, player, Poker, Poker News Daily, Pro, queen, Sami Kelopuro, Scott Montgomery, Shaun Deeb, Todd Brunson, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Bodog still growling after 15 years
Already underway, the 15-Days of Poker Tournament Series consists of daily qualifying events running until Oct. 6.
Each qualifying event begins at 8:15 EST and features a buy-in ranging from $5 to $15. A variety of Hold'em formats are being offered with No-Limit, Pot-Limit, Fixed Limit, Turbo, Super Turbo and Re-Buy events all on the schedule.
In addition to a regular prize pool in each the events, the top 30% of finishers will earn tournament leader points to determine who moves on to the 15 Days of Poker Semi-Final and the $15,000 Final tournament.
"For 15 years, Bodog has been a leader in the online gambling industry, giving players a superior gaming experience while awarding billions in prizes," said Bodog.com poker pro David Williams.
"And Bodog.com's 15 Days of Poker Tournament Series gives online players a fun and profitable way to celebrate this colossal achievement with Bodog."
The top 15 finishers on the 15 Days of Poker leaderboard gain automatic entry directly into the $15,000 Final.
Meanwhile the players who place 16th-115th on the leaderboard will have a shot at the freeroll final if they can make it into the top 15 of the Semi-Final Tournament, which takes place on Oct. 8. Any player that competes in at least 10 qualifying events will also gain entry to the Semi-Final.
The winner of the Semi-Final also gets a seat in the weekly Bodog $100,000 guaranteed tournament while the 14 other highest finishers get a seat in a qualifier for the $100k guaranteed.
The $15,000 Final will take place on Oct. 15 with the prize money distributed in standard tournament fashion. In addition, the top 15 finishers will also get a seat in the $100k guaranteed tournament.
For the complete 15 Days of Poker schedule click here.
In other news, Bodog recently launched its own Facebook account, which will provide fans with news about the company and special promotions. You can check the site out by clicking here.
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Tags: 15, 5, bodog, cent, David Williams, freeroll, king, leader, no-limit, Online Player, online players, player, Poker, Pro, qualifier, tournament
ElkY, David Williams and Terrence Chan take WCoOP Titles.
PokerStars WCOOP Day 17: David Williams Takes 8-Game Title
Tags: 2009, 5, David Williams, Omaha, Online Poker, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, tournament, World Championship