Poker News

Poker News in Brief: Jan. 11-17, 2010

But there was plenty of poker news that didn’t make the front page of PokerListings.com, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we’ve compiled a list below.

This week we’ll take a look at Gavin Smith crushing Canadian tournaments, the HPT going to Vegas, a dominant online player quitting poker and more:

Two Final Tables for Smith at Fallsview

Canadian Gavin Smith was dominant at the 2010 Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls this week.

Fresh off a plane from the Bahamas, Smith outlasted 275 players to win $188,743 in the $2,500 event and then three days later finished fourth in the $5,000 main event.

Smith has historically done very well at tournaments in Canada. In 2008, he finished second at the Fallsview-hosted WPT North American Poker Championship for $542,129. He also made the final table of the 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship in Calgary the same year.

Heartland Poker Tour Heads to Vegas

The Heartland Poker Tour kicked off its sixth season at Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this week.

It was just the second time the lower buy-in poker tour has made a stop in Las Vegas, as it usually sticks to venues in Midwest. In the past, the tour has hosted tournaments in Indiana, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Michigan and Iowa.

The $1,100 buy-in event drew poker pros Dennis Phillips, Layne Flack, John Vorhaus and Tiffany Michelle.

The final table of the tournament is scheduled to play out later today.

Jonas "Nebuchad" Danielsson Quits Poker

Online grinder Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson, perhaps most well-known for making a verbal slip at the 2008 Scandinavian Poker Awards, has apparently decided to leave poker for the time being.

Danielsson made the announcement on his blog where he wrote that his passion for poker was gone and he was looking forward to experiencing new things. He did not mention how long his self-imposed retirement would last.

The young Swedish pro started playing poker full time in 2005 and in roughly five years of playing made over $3 million in profit.

Danielsson won Online Player of the Year at the Scandinavian Poker Awards in 2008, but was better remembered for accidentally referring to King Nebuchadnezzar as the first king to “deal with the Jewish problem” when explaining the origin of his screen name to host Daniel Negreanu.

English is not Danielson’s first language and he explained afterwards he was deeply sorry about the miscommunication.

Tennis Star John Isner Plays Poker

Apparently Boris Becker isn’t the only tennis celebrity that enjoys playing a little poker.

The New Zealand Herald reported this week that American John Isner can often be found at the poker table when he’s not playing tennis.

The 6’9 giant was making headlines all week in Auckland at the Heineken Open and even pulled off an upset against top seeded Spanish player Tommy Robredo.

Isner joins the aforementioned Becker as well as former tennis world #1 Yvegeny Kafelnikov as tennis players who are also poker enthusiasts.

Borgata Announces 2010 Winter Poker Open

The Borgata in Atlantic City released a schedule for its fifth annual Borgata Winter Poker Open this week.

The tournament series will take place Jan. 20-Feb. 5 with 16 events in a wide range of poker variants including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and more.

The $3,500 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 5 and it will offer a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million.

The Borgata Winter Open used to be a part of the World Poker Tour and in the past crowned champions like Michael Mizrachi, Gavin Griffin and John Hennigan.

Visit the Borgata website for the complete schedule.

Poker News in Brief: Jan. 11-17, 2010

But there was plenty of poker news that didn’t make the front page of PokerListings.com, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we’ve compiled a list below.

This week we’ll take a look at Gavin Smith crushing Canadian tournaments, the HPT going to Vegas, a dominant online player quitting poker and more:

Two Final Tables for Smith at Fallsview

Canadian Gavin Smith was dominant at the 2010 Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls this week.

Fresh off a plane from the Bahamas, Smith outlasted 275 players to win $188,743 in the $2,500 event and then three days later finished fourth in the $5,000 main event.

Smith has historically done very well at tournaments in Canada. In 2008, he finished second at the Fallsview-hosted WPT North American Poker Championship for $542,129. He also made the final table of the 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship in Calgary the same year.

Heartland Poker Tour Heads to Vegas

The Heartland Poker Tour kicked off its sixth season at Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this week.

It was just the second time the lower buy-in poker tour has made a stop in Las Vegas, as it usually sticks to venues in Midwest. In the past, the tour has hosted tournaments in Indiana, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Michigan and Iowa.

The $1,100 buy-in event drew poker pros Dennis Phillips, Layne Flack, John Vorhaus and Tiffany Michelle.

The final table of the tournament is scheduled to play out later today.

Jonas "Nebuchad" Danielsson Quits Poker

Online grinder Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson, perhaps most well-known for making a verbal slip at the 2008 Scandinavian Poker Awards, has apparently decided to leave poker for the time being.

Danielsson made the announcement on his blog where he wrote that his passion for poker was gone and he was looking forward to experiencing new things. He did not mention how long his self-imposed retirement would last.

The young Swedish pro started playing poker full time in 2005 and in roughly five years of playing made over $3 million in profit.

Danielsson won Online Player of the Year at the Scandinavian Poker Awards in 2008, but was better remembered for accidentally referring to King Nebuchadnezzar as the first king to “deal with the Jewish problem” when explaining the origin of his screen name to host Daniel Negreanu.

English is not Danielson’s first language and he explained afterwards he was deeply sorry about the miscommunication.

Tennis Star John Isner Plays Poker

Apparently Boris Becker isn’t the only tennis celebrity that enjoys playing a little poker.

The New Zealand Herald reported this week that American John Isner can often be found at the poker table when he’s not playing tennis.

The 6’9 giant was making headlines all week in Auckland at the Heineken Open and even pulled off an upset against top seeded Spanish player Tommy Robredo.

Isner joins the aforementioned Becker as well as former tennis world #1 Yvegeny Kafelnikov as tennis players who are also poker enthusiasts.

Borgata Announces 2010 Winter Poker Open

The Borgata in Atlantic City released a schedule for its fifth annual Borgata Winter Poker Open this week.

The tournament series will take place Jan. 20-Feb. 5 with 16 events in a wide range of poker variants including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and more.

The $3,500 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 5 and it will offer a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million.

The Borgata Winter Open used to be a part of the World Poker Tour and in the past crowned champions like Michael Mizrachi, Gavin Griffin and John Hennigan.

Visit the Borgata website for the complete schedule.

Begleiter Hosts Poker Benefit for Troops

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Charity Poker Tournament will take place at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York on Jan. 27.

“I feel very strongly about supporting the brave men and women who sacrifice for our nation,” said Begleiter. “This is a heartfelt cause that truly affects all of us as Americans.”

Drawing on his connections in the poker world Begleiter will have several high-profile poker players on hand including Dennis Phillips, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman and Victor Ramdin.

The winner of the charity event will receive a $10,000 seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

The buy-in is $750 although those looking to support the cause can pay $250 for spectator entry and take part in the cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment.

All proceeds will go towards the construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art facility for treating wounded soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund assists both service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty and dependents of U.S. military members that lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To learn more or register for the charity event go the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund’s website.

Begleiter Hosts Poker Benefit for Troops

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Charity Poker Tournament will take place at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York on Jan. 27.

“I feel very strongly about supporting the brave men and women who sacrifice for our nation,” said Begleiter. “This is a heartfelt cause that truly affects all of us as Americans.”

Drawing on his connections in the poker world Begleiter will have several high-profile poker players on hand including Dennis Phillips, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman and Victor Ramdin.

The winner of the charity event will receive a $10,000 seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

The buy-in is $750 although those looking to support the cause can pay $250 for spectator entry and take part in the cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment.

All proceeds will go towards the construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art facility for treating wounded soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund assists both service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty and dependents of U.S. military members that lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To learn more or register for the charity event go the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund’s website.

Harrison Gimbel, Barry Shulman Among PCA Day 4 Leaders

A total of 62 players remain out of the 1,529 who began the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event. A host of brand name players survived Day 3, including 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman.

Day 3 played out on Friday from the Atlantis Resort and Casino, just across the harbor from Nassau in the Bahamas. One of the final eliminations of the day was Amnon Filippi, who shoved all-in over the top of a raise by Bryce Yockey. His opponent came along and Filippi showed pocket eights against Yockey’s K-Q of spades, setting up a classic race situation. The flop came king-high, propelling Yockey into the lead, and a running 10-3 didn’t help Filippi’s cause. His 67th place finish was worth $33,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.

Shulman, whose son Jeff Shulman reached the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, sent Greg Dyer packing during the last level of play and crossed the one-million chip threshold. He finished with nearly 1.7 million, with the entire field trailing Harrison Gimbel’s tally of 2.6 million. Gimbel trumped former Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo in one hand after Bonomo check-called a bet of 25,000 on a flop of Q-4-6 with two hearts. The turn was the deuce of spades, leading to another check-call from Bonomo, this time for 41,000. The river was the three of hearts and Bonomo checked. Gimbel fired out a bet of 70,000 and Bonomo called, only to see his opponent flip up Q-J for top pair.

Eliminated in 91st place in the Bahamas was 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member and Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey. Ivey doubled up Bill Gazes with A-Q against Gazes’ K-J when a king hit on the river. Ivey had Gazes covered by a minuscule 2,000 chips and Ivey hit the rails on the next hand. Ivey, considered by many to be the world’s premier all-around player, added another $23,500 to his bankroll for his efforts in Nassau.

Two women remain among the 62 Day 3 survivors, Amanda Baker and Liz Lieu. Lieu owns a stack of 536,000 entering the fourth day of play in the 2010 PCA Main Event and will head to Table 7, where her competition will include Shulman. Meanwhile, Baker will come armed with 1.3 million chips and be seated at Table 6, which also features Gimbel, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar.

Here are the top ten chip stacks entering Day 4 on Saturday:

1. Harrison Gimbel - 2,625,000
2. Matthew Haugen - 2,149,000
3. Ryan D'Angelo - 2,092,000
4. Praz Bansi - 2,003,000
5. Barry Shulman - 1,655,000
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich - 1,331,000
7. Amanda Baker - 1,306,000
8. James Tolbert - 1,284,000
9. John Duthie - 1,210,000
10. Kent Emil Lundmark - 1,158,000

Notable names remaining in the 2010 PCA field, along with their chip counts, include:

Jeff Madsen - 930,000
Robert Mizrachi - 876,000
Amit “amak316” Makhija - 800,000
Aaron “aejones” Jones - 651,000
Alex Brenes - 559,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 544,000
Liz Lieu - 536,000
Wayne Bentley - 509,000
Dean Hamrick - 433,000
Bill Gazes - 288,000
Johnny Lodden - 286,000
Peter “Nordberg” Feldman - 221,000
Huck Seed - 216,000

Among those whose 2010 PCA Main Event title hopes were dashed on Friday included Daniel Negreanu, 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Dennis Phillips, Victor Ramdin, Dario Minieri, Russian sensation Ivan Demidov, Vicky Coren, Luis Medina, ESPN baseball analyst Orel Hershiser, and PokerStars poker pro Steven Paul-Ambrose.

At the time of writing on Saturday, players remaining in the Bahamas poker tournament were in Level 23 and blinds were 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante. All Day 4 runners were assured a payout of at least $38,000.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Anibal Tacla Leads PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 1B Survivors

The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) will go down as the largest in history, as 1,529 entrants took to the felts. Anibal Tacla from Curitiba, Brazil, the same hometown as Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes, led Day 1B’s finishers.

Tacla, a shopping mall owner, amassed 166,000 chips during play on Wednesday to lead the way, although he is still well short of Wayne Bentley’s Day 1A total of 329,500. The prize pool of the 2010 PCA is around $15 million. Last year, 1,347 players took to the felts in what was the largest PCA ever held. In the end, Canadian Poorya Nazari defeated American Anthony Gregg to bank the $3 million top prize; Gregg earned a $1.7 million consolation prize and the top three finishers were instant poker-made millionaires.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada gave the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to start play on Wednesday. A bevy of superstars took to the felts, including Full Tilt Poker’s Mike Matusow and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, along with Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole, who served as a celebrity player on the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.”

Just after 2:30pm in the Bahamas, rapper Nelly was eliminated from the 2010 PCA Main Event. "If you wanna go and take a rid wit’ him," you can now find the St. Louis native on the beach after he shoved with A-K for top two pair on a board reading A-4-5-K. However, he was up against the stone cold nuts, 2-3. Needing to spike an ace or king on the river to stay alive, Nelly watched as the final card blanked out, sending him to the exits. Must be the money!

Speaking of money, “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” $1 million winner Mike Kosowski, a 9/11 first responder, also could be found on the felts on Wednesday. With his chip stack dwindling to 6,500, or roughly one-fifth of the starting amount, Kosowski told PokerStars officials, "I turned the nut flush and then this guy rivers a full house. That was pretty brutal and I've been playing a short stack as a result for the last three or four hours." Kosowski did not survive Day 1B, although his $1 million prize for besting PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu and a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Bahamas most likely helped ease his pain.

Also bounced prematurely were Cada, Gomes, Boris Becker, Leo Fernandez, and Lex Veldhuis. Fernandez went out in especially brutal fashion, getting it all-in with A-K of diamonds, but losing to A-K offsuit when his opponent made a spade flush. The flop came all spades and a fourth fell on the river.

Here are the top ten chip stacks entering a combined Day 2 field on Thursday. Play kicks off at Noon ET inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas:

1. Wayne Bentley – 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi – 220,100
3. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 175,500
4. Mike Chappus – 168,700
5. Anibal Tacla – 166,000
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich – 166,000
7. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman – 163,700
8. Eric Buchman – 159,100
9. Ryan “Ryanbluf” Karp – 147,600
10. Matt “mattg1983” Graham – 146,700

Notable names perched near the top of the chip counts, along with their totals heading into Day 2, include:

Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 124,900
Paul Wasicka – 116,300
Phil Ivey – 115,700
Craig Marquis – 114,300
Barry Shulman – 113,000
Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo – 111,200
Dario Minieri – 109,800
J.C. Alvarado – 109,600
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400

When play was halted for the night on Day 1A and Day 1B, the blinds were 400-800 with a 100 ante at the end of Level 8. The tournament will crown a champion on Monday. Although PokerStars has not released an official payout structure, first place will likely receive well over $3 million.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 PCA coverage.

Sports Greats Define Poker at PCA

But does it really belong there? Is poker really a sport?

Webster’s defines sport as an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition.

Under that definition, 1988 Major League Baseball World Series MVP Orel Hershiser, who certainly knows a thing or two about sports and is playing at the PCA as a Friend of PokerStars this year, says poker might just fit.

“I don’t think Monopoly is a sport, but there’s no tells in Monopoly, there’s nothing physical,” he said. “That’s the part about poker that makes me think it’s a sport, because there are some physical attributes to the game, as far as controlling your heart rate, how you move your chips and what you do with your eyes.

“People say that it’s not physical, but there are some physical attributes to the game and that would make me push it closer to the definition of a sport.”

PokerStars SportStar Matt Sundin, a National Hockey League legend, tends to agree.

“In my mind it is a sport,” he told PokerListings on a break at the PCA. “Except for the physical grind of hockey, I see a lot of similarities between hockey and poker. The same anticipation exists, you need to have a good game plan and you need to be physically fit in order to play four or five days in a row.

“I couldn’t believe it the first time I played a live tournament; you get the same pulsing heart rate you do when you are playing hockey.”

However, tennis Legend Boris Becker, another PokerStars SportStar playing at the PCA, sees poker as a totally different animal than the sport that made him a household name all over the world.

“The same question is whether chess is a sport,” he said. “It’s a mental sport, not a physical sport. I would consider poker a sport, but obviously not a physical sport. It’s somewhere in the middle.”

In making the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips had to endure eight 16-hour days on the felt.

He believes anything that requires that kind of endurance has to be considered a sport.

“It’s competition, it does take a skill level and you have to practice to improve, so yeah, I do consider poker a sport,” he said. “If you are at the World Series of Poker, and you are going to play eight days, 16 hours a day, every day, you do have to be physically prepared for it. You have to eat right, sleep right, and get mentally prepared just like any sport.”

But fellow Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan, who went through the same grind to book a seat in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, disagrees.

“It’s only a sport because it’s on ESPN so people consider it a sport, other than that, no way,” he said. “You’ve got to sweat to make something a sport. Poker is very high-level professional gambling. They may want to say it’s a sport to get it into new markets, but you can’t lie about it. It’s gambling.”

Sport or not, Phillips believes those who come to poker from a sports background, like Becker, Sundin and Hershiser, bring with them a competitive edge that certainly makes them better poker players.

“They’ve been competitive their whole lives, probably from grade school on,” he said. “These guys have been doing it year after year and they don’t like to lose. I don’t like to lose either, you give me a game of Tiddlywinks and I’m going to try and win the damn game, and that’s where we are similar. But they have an edge because they’ve been doing it day in, day out for years.

“I can’t believe Orel Hershiser is going to lay down for anybody in any game or sport.”

More than 1,500 players descended upon the Bahamas to play poker this week, making the 2010 PCA the largest poker tournament ever held outside the United States, further proving poker isn’t going anywhere and neither is the debate over whether it is a sport or not.

To follow all the action from the event, click through to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 1A Attracts 668 Entrants

Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event attracted a starting grid of 668 entrants. The official number from the world’s largest online poker site was passed down around 3:30pm local time in the Bahamas.

The $10,000 buy-in tournament, a stop on the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), saw a field of 1,347 runners take to the felts in 2009. Therefore, a total of 679 players will need to turn out on Day 1B on Wednesday in order to match last year’s total. Among those in the field on Tuesday was Wayne Bentley, who doubled up within the first few minutes of the tournament after picking up pocket aces and sending a player to the rails who held pocket kings. The flop fell queen-high and Fernando Issas saw his 2010 PCA title hopes dashed soon after the opening gong.

One table in the outer reaches of the playing area featured a blockbuster lineup that included former EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final champion Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Kevin Schaffel, and Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith. Coverage found on the official website of the PCA candidly assessed the group: “That's a tough one.”

2006 PCA champion Steven Paul-Ambrose put in a healthy bet of 3,800 on the river holding A-Q on a board of A-Q-10-J-7 for top two pair. However, his opponent called and flipped up a wired pair of jacks for a set, cutting Ambrose’s stack to around 29,300. Shortly thereafter, Marcel Luske flopped a set of fours on an 8-3-4 board to push his tally in the 2010 PCA to 32,000.

By 5:30pm, word of a private sit and go in the depths of the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau was brewing. It featured the cast of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” which wrapped up following Christmas with Mike Kosowski, a 9/11 first responder, defeating Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu to earn $1 million. Kosowski did not play in the sit and go, which saw Brian Barboza claim a $10,000 seat in the PCA Main Event tomorrow. Barboza won $100,000 on the poker game show and was one of four players who vied for the chance to face Negreanu heads-up for $1 million.

Daniel Negreanu made waves near the midpoint of Day 1A. First, he sent Belgium PokerStars qualifier Pierre Neuville to the rails after the Euro ran pocket sevens into Negreanu’s pocket kings. That hand pushed Negreanu’s chip stack to 90,000, or three times the starting total. Then, Negreanu put in a raise on a board reading A-10-2-A-5. An opponent nearly showed his hand thinking that Negreanu had just called, but upon realizing that Negreanu had raised, put in a raise of his own.

Negreanu claimed he saw his opponent’s hand, which he thought was A-5 or A-4, resulting in a call to the PCA’s floor staff. In the end, PCA coverage details the result of the controversial hand: “The floor man made the ruling that although there would be no penalty for Lucatelli exposing his cards, the re-raise didn't stand. Lucatelli could only call.” The Italian turned over A-10, while Negreanu held 3-4 for a straight.

At the time of writing, here were several of the chip stacks of Team PokerStars Pro members in the 2010 PCA Main Event on Day 1A:

Daniel Negreanu – 89,000
Barry Greenstein – 60,000
Dario Minieri – 55,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg – 53,000
George Danzer – 50,600
Steve Paul-Ambrose – 50,000
Dennis Phillips – 47,000

Blinds were 200-400 with a 50-chip ante in Level 6.

Dream Team Poker Ends 2009 at the Bicycle Casino

It was a big year for Dream Team Poker.  In addition to holding successful events at Caesars Palace and as part of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) festivities, Dream Team ended the year on a high note with a tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles that awarded its winners a couple thousand dollars and tickets to the 2010 Super Bowl.

The recent tournament was held as part of the casino’s Ho Ho Hold’em Series and featured a $67 buy-in for each individual.  If players could not form their own team of three players, the casino helped to group them into teams.  In total, 162 runners took part, generating an individual prize pool of $3,561 and a team prize pool of $5,340.  That amounted to $8,901, including $2,000 and four Super Bowl tickets added by the casino.

WSOP Academy coach Alex Outhred’s team, “Voltron,” was one of 54 that took part in the event.  Of those, six walked away from the tournament with money in their pockets and the winning team, “Met,” took down the top prize of $2,190 and three Super Bowl tickets.  Tony Hinojos was the highest finisher on the “Met” squad, coming in 12th place, while teammate Eric Lucero was hot on his heels in 13th.  The team’s third player, Michael Leidelmeyer, fared less well, busting out in 120th, but thanks to the strong showing by the other two, the team was able to beat out second place finishers “777” for the title.  On the individual front, Iris Gomez of “Team Come and Get It” took top honors along with $1,086 and a Super Bowl ticket of her own.  The top 12 finishers in the individual contest each won at least $105.

This past year may not have been Dream Team’s first year on the scene, but it was certainly the year that the team poker concept really took hold and gained popularity.  After holding its first tournament at the Hard Rock Casino in November of 2008, Dream Team returned to Las Vegas in March for a tournament at Caesars Palace.  A number of top poker pros and celebrities turned out for the event, which featured a $550 per person buy-in.  UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth and Joe Sebok, Full Tilt Poker pros Paul Wasicka and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, T.J. Cloutier, Jerry Yang, and Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips could be found on the felts.

It was a recognizable face in the winner’s circle as well, as 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold captained “Team Aced” to victory and the top prize of $59,940.  Danny Nelson of “Team BikerHaven.net” took the individual honor, while Gold’s girlfriend and teammate Ashley Nataupsky finished in fourth.

Just a few months later, Dream Team held an exhibition tournament as part of the WSOP festivities.  Although there was no bracelet on the line for the winners, the tournament provided a little fun and entertainment for players who had already busted out of the Main Event.  The pros once again took part and it was PokerHost’s Kenna James who took down the individual title and $16,473.

The team event was won by “Tao of Pokerati,” a trio comprised of Tao of Poker’s Dr. Paul Maguire, Pokerati’s Dan Michalski, and Lana Maier of CardRunners.  The trio had a little extra practice for the team event, as they were all members of the WSOP media, who took part in a Dream Team event of their own just a few days prior.  The media tournament did not offer the lucrative payouts of the other Dream Team events, but it did help raise money for charity.

Once the WSOP wrapped up, Dream Team rolled out a weekly series of events hosted by the Bicycle Casino.  The nine-week series began in October and the Ho Ho Hold’em Dream Team tournament served as the series’ championship event.  Teams that took down the weekly events earned the prize money and a free entry into the December 19th tournament.

There has been no official announcement about the future of Dream Team at the Bike, but considering the rave reviews it got from pros like Gold, Lacey Jones, and James, it seems like it will continue to be a presence on the live tournament circuit in 2010.

Joe Cada Appears on PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge

On last weekend’s episode of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Joe Cada appeared, but did not play. Instead, PokerStars sponsored celebrities trumped the challengers on the FOX poker franchise.

The first contestant of the afternoon was Dwayne Buth, who came out dressed in wrestling headgear as a former aficionado of the sport. His mission was to help the Cal State Fullerton wrestling team remain in existence and, appropriately, found himself up against Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Tito Ortiz. In the first round, each player began with 20,000 in chips and show front man Daniel Negreanu was seated alongside the contestant. He was unable see either player’s hole cards and Buth held one time out that he could use to consult with Negreanu at any point. On the line was a trip to the Bahamas for the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Suckouts occurred left and right during the match, with the underdog seemingly always coming out ahead on the river. In one hand, Ortiz was all-in with K-10 against Buth’s pocket deuces. The board came 8-6-5-5, leaving Ortiz drawing to a king, 10, six, or eight. Sure enough, an eight hit on the river and Ortiz doubled up. Then, Ortiz cracked Buth’s pocket kings with 9-7 of diamonds despite Buth being a 94% favorite after the flop. Ortiz candidly commented, “I’m pulling a Joe Cada right now.”

Buth raised to 10,000 pre-flop with A-J and Ortiz was all-in with 5-4 of diamonds. The flop came 8-9-9, keeping Buth ahead, and a deuce on the turn left Ortiz drawing to a four or five. Sure enough, a four hit on the river, giving Ortiz a six-outer and yet another double up. Then, it was Buth’s turn to suck out. With the board reading 5-6-7-A, Buth held 4-9 against Ortiz’s 8-10 and needed a three or eight on the river to stay alive. The river came a three and Buth doubled after hitting one of his seven outs to a straight.

Ortiz finally send Buth’s chip stack plummeting to less than one big blind in the roller coaster of a match and then TKO’d the contestant after his A-2 of spades overcame Buth’s pocket sevens. Among those watching in the crowd was 2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips. Buth walked away empty-handed, but received a hearty ovation from the crowd and “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” host Chris Rose.

The second contestant to take to the stage was Mike Kosowski, a first responder on September 11th, 2001. He squared off against model Joanna Krupa, who appeared on the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.” Kosowski played highly conservatively throughout the match against Krupa, including one hand where Krupa called pre-flop with K-7 and Kosowski raised to 10,000 with A-7. Krupa made the call and the flop came Q-3-8. Instead of putting in a continuation bet, Kosowski checked, Krupa bet 4,000, and the challenger called. After the turn came another eight, Kosowski checked, Krupa bet 4,000, and Kosowski folded, leaving Negreanu to question, “Really?”

In the final hand, Kosowski picked up 6-9 of hearts and used his time out card to consult with Negreanu. The member of Team PokerStars Pro told him to push all-in and then continue playing aggressively. However, Krupa picked up Q-J and called Kosowski’s shove. The board ran out 8-K-4-8-A and that was all she wrote. No pro contestants took to the felts on the show, which aired on Sunday afternoon following FOX coverage of the National Football League.

Next up for “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” is the grand finale on December 27th. Four contestants will battle to see who will play heads-up against Negreanu for the $1 million first place prize. The show has already been renewed for Season 2.

Overheard at High Stakes Poker Season 6 Taping

Last week, the sixth season of GSN’s cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker” was filmed at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Some of the game’s best turned out for the three days of taping and sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss their thoughts headed into the suite.

Barry Greenstein will once again raise money for charity during Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” which will feature tournament hostess Kara Scott conducting interviews from the floor and Gabe Kaplan flying solo in the booth sans A.J. Benza. Greenstein is set to utter the most feared three words in all of poker sometime during the sixth season, “bing, bang blaow,” for charity. He told Poker News Daily, “One of the problems with it is that it’s like trash talking. Normally, it’s not classy to beat someone in a big pot and then talk trash. Each of the last couple of years, with the ‘Math is idiotic,’ I beat Tom Dwan and drew out. With the ‘lol donkaments,’ I told Erick Lindgren ahead of time that I was going to do it.” For uttering popular phrases throughout the years, Greenstein has truly earned his nickname as the “Robin Hood of Poker.”

Besides “High Stakes Poker,” Daniel Negreanu has taken to the television airwaves for the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” which returns this Sunday following NFL football on Fox. Negreanu discussed how the show has been received so far: “We couldn’t be happier. It came in off ‘Face the Ace,’ which got bad ratings. ‘Million Dollar Challenge’ was one of the highest rated shows and did amazingly well. The time slot is perfect following football and the production quality is so much better. Everything has a game show feel.”

On the mind of “High Stakes Poker” newcomer Dennis Phillips was the win by fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Cada in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament last year to the tune of $4.5 million; Cada’s win this year was worth $8.5 million. Phillips explained, “He was 21 and just won $8.5 million. He has a good head, talks well with the media, and wants to promote poker. We just need to make sure it goes the right way and he and I will be talking off and on.” PokerStars has produced several recent WSOP Main Event champions, including Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Cada (2009).

Phil Laak, who was an alternate for the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker” and wound up filming, told Poker News Daily about his experience at the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table, which unfolded at the Rio: “It was the second time in 10 years that I went to see it. I had never been in the Penn and Teller Theater in my life and I haven’t seen the show either.” Laak and Antonio Esfandiari instigated a number of prop bets during Season 5 of “High Stakes Poker,” one-off events that producer Mori Eskandani has apparently frowned upon during the show’s most recent installment.

Besides Phillips, another newcomer to the GSN poker series this time around is Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis, who final tabled the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP in 2009. Veldhuis told Poker News Daily how he stacks up against the talented competition: “I’ve played with these guys before, so I’m comfortable with them and I’m comfortable with my game. I just hope I can win some money because the show is a small sample. There’s going to be really high variance and I won’t have a lot of hands. It’s gambling, so in that respect, I think it’s higher stakes.”

Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Sunday, February 14th on GSN.

Live Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge Kicks Off in London

Tuesday marks the beginning of the live version of the Tom “durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge, which is unfolding in London. The festivities will see Dwan battle Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Sammy “Any Two” George, and Marcelo “luckexpress” Marigliano.

The match’s format is simplistic. Dwan will take on each opponent across 500 hands of No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. The series has a buy-in of $500,000 and neither player is permitted to leave the table until they are broke or the requisite number of hands has been played. The price of poker is $500/$1,000.

Eddie Hearn, who is organizing the gala on behalf of Matchroom Sport, commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “The stage is set for Tom to make history in London this week. The opponents are ready. Tom Dwan is the biggest draw in poker and to have a TV show in his name at such a young age shows the commercial power of the man. Poker is changing and we are delighted to be at its cutting edge.”

Tuesday’s action will see Dwan tangle with George in No Limit Hold’em. Dwan will then return on Wednesday to face Marigliano, also in No Limit Hold’em. The final match of the week occurs on Thursday, with Sahamies electing to play Dwan in Pot Limit Omaha. The action runs from 2:00pm to 2:00am daily at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair. The gala will be filmed for television and can be seen on Sky Sports next year in the U.K. It is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which recently signed Dwan to its stable of sponsored pros.

On the prospects of facing one of the most hyper-aggressive players in the game today, Sahamies told Matchroom Sport, “I am always excited to play my good friend Tom. He is one of the best Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha players in the world and when I heard about the challenge, I couldn‘t wait to sign up. With the gambling, the side-bets, the partying, and the drinking in London, this is going to be a whole lot of fun.” Dwan issued a challenge to Swedish online poker player Isildur1 to take on the American in London, but, as of the time of writing, Isildur1 has not yet obliged.

The live Durrrr Challenge was originally scheduled for two months ago following the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule in London. However, Dwan reached the semi-finals of the Poker Million, creating a scheduling conflict. Las Vegas was then brought up as a possible site for the competition before Hearn and company settled on mid-November in London. Dwan finished seventh in Heat 3 of the PartyPoker World Open last month and took ninth in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March for an even $25,000.

Last week, Dwan was in Downtown Las Vegas filming the sixth season of the GSN poker franchise “High Stakes Poker” at the Golden Nugget. The series, which will air in February, was also slated to feature George, who wound up not participating. Those facing off on the sixth cycle of the popular cash game program include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis.

The online version of the Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Patrik Antonius has come to a screeching halt as a result of Dwan’s hectic schedule. After 27,185 hands, Dwan leads by $779,000. If the youngster is up by at least $1 at the conclusion of 50,000, Antonius will owe $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will pay $1.5 million. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Filmed at Golden Nugget

The sixth season of the GSN franchise “High Stakes Poker” filmed this week at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Friday marked the third of three days of filming for the $200,000 buy-in show.

A bevy of poker pros have wandered the halls of the Golden Nugget since Wednesday, each looking to strike it rich in the sixth cycle of the poker television staple. Last year, Tom “durrrr” Dwan made his “High Stakes Poker” debut in style, scooping the largest single pot in the show’s history at the expense of Team PokerStars Pro member Barry Greenstein. Dwan took down $919,000 when his K-Q drew out on Greenstein’s aces and, given the dramatic pots up for grabs, Dwan told Poker News Daily that he’s looking forward to Season 6: “I’m excited to be back. We’re playing for a whole lot of money this time around.”

One player making his “High Stakes Poker” debut is 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who took third in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament last year for $4.5 million. The St. Louis native told Poker News Daily about his mindset headed into the high-stakes cash game: “I’m ready to do this and rock and roll. I sat down at ‘Poker After Dark’ last week and had some fun.” On making a run in the world of cash games, Phillips explained, “I played cash before I played tournaments. I played cash in London and in Monte Carlo as well.” Phillips admitted that he normally plays $25/$50 or $50/$100 cash games.

Common in previous seasons of “High Stakes Poker” were a variety of prop bets, many orchestrated by poker regulars Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. While waiting to head into the “High Stakes Poker” suite, Laak explained the stance of Executive Producer Mori Eskandani towards prop betting in Season 6: “The prop bets where people would guess on cards, for example, they’ve been trying to get rid of that. Mori is trying to steer towards less betting at all. The bottom line is that he doesn’t want viewers at home to be bogged down with players prop betting in addition to poker.” Prop bets during Season 5 revolved around push-ups, movie ratings, and hole cards.

Daniel Negreanu commented on his Twitter feed that he’s looking forward to running into more quads during the show’s sixth season. He’s appeared on every cycle of the program so far and told Poker News Daily how this year’s installment has varied from previous airings: “The show has progressed really far from Seasons 1 to 5. Season 1 was the smaller names because most of the guys who played were at higher stakes anyway. Now, the antes are up, the buy-ins are up, and the percentage of good players to bad players has gone up. It’s definitely more serious poker now. It’s more cutthroat.”

Also found at the Golden Nugget this week is Barry Greenstein, who, like Negreanu, has been a staple of “High Stakes Poker” ever since Season 1. Greenstein explained how the sixth season differs from years past: “The poker economy is down, so the money seems tougher to come by. There are few guys who you know play big online that have money, but the majority of people are thinking they’re taking a $200,00 shot and they’ll see what happens. The first year we did this, players felt better funded. I think what will happen is that there will be two guys like Phil Ivey and Durrrr who will try to muscle everyone around. Others will try to pick their spots.”

Released in the original cast list for Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” but not participating, was cash game player Sammy George. Those slated to take part in the festivities include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Dwan, Eli Elezra, Esfandiari, Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Ivey, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, Negreanu, Phillips, Lex Veldhuis, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko. The series premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET and features Kara Scott reporting on action from the “High Stakes Poker” suite.

WSOP Main Event Final Table Shuffle Up and Deal Command Given

The cards are in the air at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas. Inside the massive Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio, you can hear a pin drop on every turn of the card.

Phil Ivey facing a bet by Joe Cada leads to a dramatic uneasiness inside the 1,200 person capacity theater. Many are literally on the edge of their seats watching the action, as the general admission line continues to build outside the door. Only a few flops have been seen so far and a variety of red, white, and blue balloons line the railings inside the theater.

In the minutes leading up to the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command, a moment of silence was held for Hans Lund, the runner-up in the 1990 WSOP Main Event to Mansour Matloubi. A hearty round of applause followed before WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told the assembled crowd, “This will clearly be a final table for the history books. As we get started, I wanted to thank you, the best fans in all of poker and the best fans in all of sports, for being here and supporting the WSOP.” Pollack introduced Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones, decked out in a pink cocktail dress, who will serve as the WSOP Main Event’s hostess.

Pollack covered the rules of audience etiquette during a poker tournament, which included encouraging cheering for your favorite players, not interfering with hands in progress by yelling phrases like “go all in” and “don’t do that.” Other than player names, other audible phrases have included “Stack em, stack em, to the top” (playing homage to Julie Schneider, wife of Tom Schneider) and “Let’s play already!”

Jones then interviewed 2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who told the crowd what sage words of advice he gave this year’s group: “A lot of different things, They were asking me how to handle it from a media perspective and a lot of other things. I told them to play well, be proud of your play, and enjoy.”

Also taking to the stage with Jones was Peter Eastgate, the reigning champion of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in tournament. On his latest success, Eastgate told Jones, “I’ve been having some good results lately. I’m still running hot.” His advice to the next Main Event winner: “Be yourself.”

At 1:30pm PT, Ivey pushed all-in facing potential calls by CardPlayer Magazine Editor Jeff Shulman and young gun Joe Cada. Both players folded to Ivey’s all-in and speculation ran rampant that Cada had at least pocket queens and ultimately laid it down, sparking a debate among media members in attendance that will be answered when the event airs on Tuesday night. Ten minutes later, Frenchman Antoine Saout, who has a rowdy cheering section inside the theater, shoved all-in, but was also not called.

In the minutes leading up to the WSOP Main Event final table resuming, Barry Shulman, father of the aforementioned November Nine member, was presented with his WSOP Europe Main Event gold bracelet. After a lengthy delay, the national anthem of the United States played, as has been customary in previous bracelet ceremonies.

The final tradition to play out was the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command, issued by 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson. “Texas Dolly” told fans and others in attendance, “I think we should congratulate Jeffrey Pollack and Ty Stewart for putting this all together. It looks like a football game.”

Those on stage include Chau Giang, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Brunson, Eastgate, Joe Sebok, Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, and Phillips. About 125 people are seated on the Rio’s stage.

Reigning WSOP champ handicaps November Nine

But this weekend, as the latest edition of the November Nine plays out, Peter Eastgate's reign as World Champion will come to a close.

"You can never stop the clock; there will always be a new world champion," Eastgate told PokerListings. "Why should I have any sad emotions about that? I'll just be the ex-world champion. Nothing is being taken away from me, maybe a bit of the attention, but nothing else."

Eastgate defended his title well, making it deep again this summer before busting out 78th.

He remembers playing with both Joe Cada and Kevin Schaffel and appeared particularly impressed with the player who could replace him as the youngest champion in Main Event history.

"I have always been impressed by the young guys in poker," he said. "I like their spirit. I like the way they develop their skills by playing a lot online. That's how I have developed my own skills, so I feel like I'm part of the same breed as them - The young online community going into the live arena.

"I think this group of young players has an advantage and even though I only have a small experience of playing against Cada, I've been impressed. He certainly belongs to that group."

All eyes at the final table will likely be on the man widely considered the best player on the planet.

And although Eastgate has very little experience playing against Phil Ivey, he will be no different.

Peter's pick.

"It's very easy, if you go by the stats, to rule him as the best player as he has the best results," Eastgate said. "Everyone who's played with him says he's the best. I've only played with him for one orbit of the EPT High Roller in London in Season 5, but he wouldn't remember that.

"It lasted for like 30 minutes, so I don't really have any experience, but everyone says he's the best, so he probably is."

Eastgate took advantage last November as chip leader Dennis Phillips saw his stack eroded, eventually busting out third.

As a result, he's not sure how much of an advantage the chip lead will give Maryland logger Darvin Moon this time around.

"Obviously he has the chip advantage, but I don't know how he's going to manage that," he said. "From the way he's conducted himself, he seems like a pretty fearless guy, so I assume he would put the pressure on his opponents and try to take advantage of the prize jumps."

Eastgate said he hasn't met Eric Buchman, Steven Begleiter, Jeff Shulman, Antoine Saout or James Akenhead.

But the UK resident said there seems to be a lot of respect in the poker community for Akenhead.

However, if he were a betting man, there's only one person Eastgate would bet on.

"Darvin's the favorite, Ivey is the best player, but I'd go for Cada, if I was betting on it," he said.

To follow all the action at the final table until a new World Champion is crowned, tune into PokerListings 2009 WSOP Main Event Live Coverage beginning at 12 p.m. PT Saturday, Nov. 7.

High Stakes Poker, GSN Officials Preview Season 6

Making waves in the poker world this week has been the announcement of the “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 cast. Set to debut in February on the cable station, “High Stakes Poker” will feature Gabe Kaplan alongside new co-host Kara Scott.

During the first five seasons of the high-dollar cash game show, A.J. Benza provided color commentary with Kaplan. Now, Scott, a television veteran, will furnish insight and interviews from the poker room floor. On the change from Benza to Scott, GSN Vice President of Programming and Development David Schiff told Poker News Daily, “We’re into the sixth season and we felt like it was time to freshen it up. Our feeling was that we wanted viewers to be in the room with the players. Gabe and A.J. did a good job, but they were disconnected from the action.”

Scott is one of only two women to cash in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in back-to-back years and, as such, provides a unique level of insight. She’s fresh off bringing the PokerStars.net Ante Up for Africa charity tournament to life on CBS in the United States and serves as eye candy for ESPN announcer Norman Chad. Schiff explained the allure of hiring Scott, as opposed to other rumored co-hosts like Shana Hiatt and Vanessa Rousso: “Kara is really the full package. She’s a great player and has had deep runs in the Main Event the last two years. We think she can add a lot of insight to the broadcast.”

Seventeen players have been announced as part of the “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 cast, including newcomers Dennis Phillips, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Lex Veldhuis, Andreas Hoivold, and Sammy “Any Two” George. On the stable of pros lined up for Season 6, “High Stakes Poker” Executive Producer Mori Eskandani told Poker News Daily, We are going to have possibly the most colorful and strongest cast we’ve had to date.” The newcomers will take to the felts alongside regulars like Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, and Antonio Esfandiari.

Also in the mix for Season 6 is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who has only appeared once in the show’s five previous seasons. Schiff examined the addition of Ivey to the impressive lineup of poker pros and recreational players: “Arguably, this is the best cast of players we have ever had. To have Phil Ivey off the November Nine and all of the other great players, I think it’ll be great poker action.” The series premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET and replays twice each night.

“High Stakes Poker” features a $200,000 buy-in and, as such, includes a bevy of well-known tournament players battling it out in a cash game. Eskandani explained, “We’ve never seen Dennis Phillips in cash games, yet he’s done super in tournaments. Now, he’s coming out to the cash game world to throw punches with the best of them.” Last season’s broadcast featured recent WSOP Main Event winners Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem; neither will take to the felts this time around.

Music mogul Allan Meltzer, who is among the regulars at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, will likely be one of the only so-called “recreational” players on the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker.” During Season 5, “The Notebook” Director Nick Cassavettes and “The Simpsons” Co-Creator Sam Simon were among those who challenged poker superstars like Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius. Eskandani explained the dearth of recreational players this season: “This year, Meltzer will be playing, but we didn’t want to go to the same recreational players we always went to. Several that we went to ended up having cold feet.”

“High Stakes Poker” will film from November 11th to 13th at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.

High Stakes Poker 6 - Players unveiled

GSN Channel announced the players for the next season of High Stakes Poker. Also Kara Scott’s employment became official.

Yet again the player list is very impressive. Seventeen players, every one of them a real professional. The player list includes people like Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

Doyle Brunson holding his signature hand

Minimum buy-in for this season is $200.000, so we are not talking about any small game here. We saw over $1 million pots in last season, and we expect the same kind of action this time around as well.

After announcing the player list, Kara Scott’s entry to the show was affirmed. Scott’s task is to make the player interviews which are going to be more in-depth on this season. Scott tries to dig a bit deeper into the game than previously seen. Season 6 will premiere on February 14th.

The player list might not be complete as e.g. Andrew Feldman is not mentioned. Feldman personally told that he is going to be in HSP.

We also have information that Ilari Sahamies might be part of the show. Sahamies told this to the Finnish poker site Pokerisivut.com

Incomplete list of HSP 6 players:

* Patrik Antonius
* David Benyamine
* Doyle Brunson
* Tom Dwan
* Eli Elezra
* Antonio Esfandiari
* Sammy George
* Barry Greenstein
* Phil Hellmuth
* Andreas Hoivold
* Phil Ivey
* Mike Matusow
* Allan Meltzer
* Daniel Negreanu
* Dennis Phillips
* Lex Veldhuis
* Yevgeniy Timoshenko

Source: 2+2, Pokerlistings, Pokerisivut.com

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High Stakes Poker 6 - Players unveiled

Kara Scott joins Season 6

The co-host is none other than former European Poker Tour presenter Kara Scott, who will also interview players in the high-stakes suite in the Golden Nugget about poker strategy, big hands and table dynamics.

As usual, the line-up for Season 6 will include some of the biggest names in the poker world.

Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Daniel Negreanu will all be returning.

New faces for this season include 2008 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Dennis Phillips, aggressive Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis, 2007 EPT Dortmund winner Andreas Hoivold and outspoken Englishman Sammy "Any Two" George.

There will be several more players added before the show airs as the final player line-up is subject to change.

The show will once again feature a minimum buy-in of $200,000, which should generate some extremely large pots.

Last year Dwan shocked the poker world by winning an epic $919,600 pot from Greenstein.

Scott brings considerable poker experience to her role as co-host. In addition to her role as presenter for EPT, Scott has also acted as main host for Poker Night Live and one of the personalities on Sky Poker.

Scott has also had success as a poker player going deep in both the 2008 WSOP Main Event and the 2009 Main Event. She also finished second in the 2009 Irish Open for €312,600.

AJ Benza, who acted as co-host for all five of the previous editions of High Stakes Poker will not be returning for the sixth season of HSP.

Season six of High Stakes Poker will premiere Feb. 14, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. ET on GSN and will be shown every Sunday in the same timeslot.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Cast Released, Kara Scott Confirmed as Co-Host

In a press release distributed by cable station GSN on Thursday, Kara Scott was confirmed to be the new co-host of “High Stakes Poker,” replacing A.J. Benza. In addition, a list of 17 players was revealed.

Scott replaced Benza, who had flanked “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” announcing booth for the first five seasons. Scott’s role will not be play-by-play; instead, the television personality and expert poker player will “report from the High Stakes Poker suite, interviewing poker players about poker strategy, big hands, and the table dynamics,” according to network officials. The show will take on the same feel as NBC’s “Poker After Dark” for its sixth season. The two franchises are produced by the same company, Poker PROductions.

Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Valentine’s Day – Sunday, February 14th, 2010 – at 8:00pm ET. Encore presentations will air at 11:00pm ET and 2:00am ET on Sunday nights, meaning that poker fans have three chances to catch new episodes every week. Each of its contestants coughed up $200,000 of their own money as a minimum buy-in.

Five players are making their first appearance on “High Stakes Poker,” including Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. The youngster has been on a tear on the live poker circuit despite only weighing in at 21 years of age. Timoshenko was born in the Ukraine and won the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million. In September, Timoshenko took down the Main Event of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for another $1.7 million and is a former winner of the Asian Poker Tour’s (APT) Macau feature tournament.

Also making his debut on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” is Dennis Phillips, who gained notoriety by making back-to-back deep runs in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Last year, Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in gala for $4.5 million after entering the final table as the chip leader. Phillips came armed to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio with a throng of followers donning red St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps and white button up shirts. This year, Phillips finished 45th for $178,000 after being sent to the rails when an opponent made a flush with A-K suited; Phillips also held A-K.

High-stakes cash game player Sammy George will be right at home in the Golden Nugget when filming of the GSN poker franchise kicks off next week. George, who has earned the nickname “Any Two,” was scheduled to face off against Tom Dwan in the live version of the Durrrr Challenge in London back in September. However, the festivities never took place, although organizer Eddie Hearn noted that the mano-a-mano live contest may occur in December in Las Vegas. Dwan will take to the felts once again as part of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 after making his debut last season.

Returning to “High Stakes Poker” after a two season hiatus is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who currently appears on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.” Ivey last appeared on the GSN series back in Season 3 and is seeking his third WSOP bracelet of 2009 when the Main Event resumes on Saturday from the Rio. Ivey has career tournament winnings in excess of $12 million and is the horse of many pros in this weekend’s Main Event final table.

Andreas Hoivold and Lex Veldhuis will both be appearing on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time during Season 6. Returning to the program are Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, and Daniel Negreanu. The season will once again be taped at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas from November 11th to 13th.

Televised Poker Rocks by Linda Johnson

I just returned from a wonderful nine-day Card Player Cruises trip to New England and Canada. The fall foliage was magnificent and the lobster and clams on the East Coast are much, much tastier than their counterparts on the West Coast. I also spent three nights in New York City on each end of the cruise. I’m a theater lover and managed to squeeze in seven Broadway shows. On my must-see recommendation list are Memphis, Superior Donuts, and Bye Bye Birdie.

When I get home from an extended trip, I can hardly wait to catch up on my favorite television shows. Thank goodness for Tivo! I had so many shows waiting. Choices, choices, choices! The obvious choice for the first show I watched was Survivor (I haven’t missed an episode in 19 seasons). After Survivor, the next choice was close, but I opted for the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN (Grey’s Anatomy, Dateline, 60 Minutes, Private Practice, The Good Wife, and Two and a Half Men could wait).

I found myself taking notes to share with my Wednesday Poker Discussion Group, so I will share them with the Poker News Daily readers as well. With more than 6,000 total entrants, I was surprised to learn that only 200 were women. Although women comprised fewer than 3% of the field, there still was one left when they were down to 27 players (more than 99% of the field had already been eliminated). Although I enjoyed watching Leo Margets play, I don’t understand why such a big deal is made out of the “last woman standing.” Outlasting all of the other women doesn’t matter; you haven’t won the event unless you’ve beaten everyone. By the way, I found Margets to be absolutely charming. She was gracious when she was eliminated and was kind enough to sign autographs at that very tough, emotional time.

It seemed like a lot of attention was paid to the fans, a.k.a. “sweaters.” Julie Schneider was a hoot with her “Stack ‘em…stack ‘em to the top” chant every time her husband Tom won a pot. You could see the pride on Barry Greenstein’s face as he watched his son, Joe Sebok, play. As each elimination came, the fans got more vocal and excited and I can’t blame them! The two most loyal fans were Mel and Pat Humphries, who rail Phil Ivey every year. Mel and Pat were on the Card Player Cruises trip with me when these episodes aired. They never told me that they were the same couple who is featured cheering “Ivey, Ivey” when he won a pot.

Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips have had outstanding runs in the past two years. What an accomplishment to have made it to the November Nine last year and outlasted more than 99% of the field this year! Who knows how far Phillips would have gone this year if he hadn’t suffered a bad beat to go out in 45th. In case you didn’t see it, his A-K suited got beaten by another A-K suited when his opponent made a flush on the river. Phillips is such a class act; he never complained and wished everyone good luck as he left.

I saw some outstanding folds pre-flop and post-flop; the ability to make a great laydown is what separates the real players from the rest. One hand in particular interested me. The blinds were 25,000/50,000. Eric Buchman raised it to 140,000 and Jeff Shulman re-raised to 500,000 with A-K of hearts. Jonathan Tamayo then went all-in from the small blind for 3.25 million with his pocket queens. Buchman folded. Shulman thought for a while and said, “Sorry guys, this is a big decision.” He asked Tamayo if he wanted action and got no reply. A call by Shulman would have been for almost all of his chips; he laid the hand down and is now in the November Nine. I don’t think most players would have folded in the same spot.

There was a lot of minimum or barely more than minimum raising pre-flop, which baffles me. I also heard lots of, “Will you show me if I fold” questions.

Things sure have changed since I started playing poker. There were so many 21 year-olds in the field. I can only imagine how exciting it must be for them to be playing for so much money and enduring the pressure of playing on television. I enjoyed hearing the story about Ian Tavelli’s grandfather staking him to the Main Event because he kept up a good grade point average (I think my grandfather bought me a new eight-track player when I graduated).

The age statistics were interesting as well. With 21 players remaining, the average age was 31 and the oldest player, Kevin Schaffel, was 51. Tavelli was the youngest and four of the remaining 21 players were eligible to break Eastgate’s record of being the youngest Main Event winner ever.

Someone needs to explain to Norman Chad what a stop and go play is. Twice players executed stop and gos and he couldn’t understand what they were doing. Another time, he called a play in which a player check-called on the flop and then bet about half of the pot on the turn a stop and go. Get with it, Norman!

Here’s a statistic that shocked me: The last time the Main Event was won by anyone who already had a WSOP bracelet was in 2000 (Chris Ferguson). With 23 players remaining, only two of them were prior bracelet winners.

The chip leader going into the final table, Darvin Moon, seems like a really cool guy. He isn’t impressed by all of the lights and cameras. He hasn’t accepted an online endorsement that I know of. He seems very humble and says he’ll be “back to the woods with a chainsaw” when all of this is over. If he wins, it would be great for poker, just like it was when Chris Moneymaker won the title.

In closing, congratulations to Mike Sexton for being the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee. Mike and I have been friends for more than 20 years and he has honored me by asking me to sit at his table during the induction ceremony. I’m sure there will be tales to share with you after that event.

Andrew Feldman Confirmed for High Stakes Poker Season 6

Another “High Stakes Poker” rookie has been added to the roster of players taking part in the sixth season of the popular GSN show.  Full Tilt Red Pro Andrew Feldman will be joining the lineup and is making history as the first British player to ever appear on the cash game franchise.

Feldman burst onto the European poker scene in 2007 with a third place finish in the Grand Final of the Grosvenor Poker Tour.  Less than a month later, he won the 888.com UK Open IV for $250,000.  More recently, the London-born Feldman made the final table of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final High Roller event, finishing in seventh place.  His career tournament poker winnings are in excess of $500,000.

According to Feldman, it was none other than Tom “durrrr” Dwan who suggested that he take part in the show.  Feldman told the press, “Maybe he thinks I’m good value, maybe he thinks I’ll give action… I hope it’s the latter.  Last month, I played the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, but this is going to be just as tough, if not tougher!”

Dwan and Feldman both took part in the Million Dollar Cash Game, which was filmed in the U.K. in September.  While Feldman did his best to hold his own alongside tough competition like Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Dwan flourished, winning the largest pot in televised poker history.  Dwan and Ivey clashed in a $1.1 million hand when both players turned a straight on a Q-5-3-4 board.  Ivey’s A-2 was no match for Dwan’s 6-7 and the tremendous pot was pushed to Durrrr.  The Million Dollar Cash Game will begin airing in January on Europe’s Sky Sports network.

Dwan is beginning to rack up a number of record-setting televised poker hands, as he also lays claim to scooping the largest pot in “High Stakes Poker” history.  He squared off against Barry Greenstein in a hand worth $919,000 during Season 5.  Despite being on the losing end of that hand, Greenstein has confirmed with ESPN’s “Inside Deal” that he will be back for Season 6 and is already planning his latest fundraising efforts for the show.  In past seasons, Greenstein has raised money by getting people to pledge donations if he says a unique catchphrase on air.  Past lines have included “lol donkaments” and “math is idiotic.” This season, he plans to drop “bing, blang, blaow” somewhere in the action.

GSN has informed Poker News Daily that the Season 6 will be taping from November 11th to 13th at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.  While “High Stakes Poker” regular Daniel Negreanu will not be taking part as a result of previous engagements abroad, fellow Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips revealed on his poker podcast “The Lumiere Place Final Table” that he will be taking part in the action.  The new season of the show is set to premiere on February 14th.

ESPN Producer Discusses WSOP Main Event Final Table Preparations

Resuming on November 7th will be the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The survivors will play down to two, who will return to the Rio on November 9th to determine a winner. ESPN has 24 hours to edit the finale for airing and on the scene will be Coordinating Producer Jamie Horowitz, who sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss the network’s preparations.

Poker News Daily: Talk about ESPN’s setup on site at the conclusion of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Horowitz: There will be about 40 HD cameras used. It’s 28,000 pounds of television equipment to produce the WSOP. There were 26 hours of Main Event coverage on ESPN in 2009, which was our highest number ever. That comes from 15-hour workdays while we’re out there in July and August. We anticipate anything that’s possible in November.

PND: Talk about what the general process is for filming and editing a show. How is the process truncated so that the final table can air 24 hours after it is filmed?

Horowitz: Creatively, this is a massive challenge. The show that you normally see takes weeks to put together. In November, they’re going to play from nine players to two on Saturday and a couple of hours in, we’ll start editing. Sunday is a full-on edit day. On Monday, we play from two down to a champion. The hardest part of putting it together is that so much of the story has to be written before it’s played from two down to one. In that journey from nine to two, you have to tell it like there were two champions.

PND: Is having the heads-up match pan out three days later complicate anything logistically?

Horowitz: It’s a big challenge. We try to look at Saturday as if it’s a live event. Our coverage always deals with great storytelling. It’s all about how we got here and how players were eliminated. We have nine stars and every time someone goes away, it’s a huge story.

The big difference from last year to this year is that last year we had a two-hour window to show the final table. We knew going into heads-up play that a good portion of it would get cut. One thing that we wanted to do this year was feature more heads-up play. This year, we’re not creating an off-air time. Our plan is to show the final table from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET on Tuesday, November 10th, but we’re prepared to go past 11:00 if the story dictates it.

PND: What lessons learned from the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table can you carry over into 2009?

Horowitz: Because the venue is different, we didn’t realize how interested the viewers would be in seeing the live audience there. A couple of months later, you’d talk to fans and ask what they remembered from the final table. Instead of talking about Peter Eastgate winning, their answers were about Dennis Phillips and all of his fans. They talked about it as if Phillips had won. It was a reminder that it’s an event and you have to show that to people.

PND: Have you been pleased with the final product that has aired on ESPN this year?

Horowitz: This has been a terrific season for us. I like to say that we get better every year, but I am cognizant of the reality that the players who advance are part of it. In 2003, we were, television-wise, blessed to have an unknown accountant with the last name of Moneymaker. This year, it’s the opposite. We have Phil Ivey, considered to be the world’s best player, advancing to the final table.

PND: The ratings have shown increase in key demographics like males age 18 to 49 and males age 25 to 49. Speculate on the reason for it.

Horowitz: We have tried each off-season to respond to what viewers want to see more of and less of. I like to think that listening to our fans and acting on to our fans’ requests lead to more viewers.

Catch the 2009 WSOP Main Event on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET on ESPN.

Bernard Lee Gives the Inside Scoop on Inside Deal

Every true sports fan has watched ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary on the air.  On September 6th, Chris Berman (30 years), Bob Levy (30 years), and John Saunders (23 years), the elder statesmen of ESPN, hosted a trip down memory lane for this iconic sports recap show.  The 90 minute special showed how the franchise had evolved over the past three decades from the set design to the daily anchors to the multitude of highlights.

I am one of the millions of sports fans who religiously watches “SportsCenter,” so you can understand how thrilled I was to be asked to co-host ESPN.com’s weekly poker show, “Inside Deal.”  When we rehearsed for our initial show on one of the ESPN sets (Studio G), I could not have been more awestruck.  It looked like the set I grew up watching and now I was sitting behind the desk as one of the hosts.  Half-heartedly, I expected Stuart Scott or Scott Van Pelt (current “SportsCenter” anchors) to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to get out of their seats.  During the entire taping, I kept humming the “SportsCenter” theme: Da-da-da… da-da-da.

After watching so many hundreds, if not thousands of shows, I was so honored to be part of the family of broadcasters who are privileged to be in the ESPN studios.  Over the past several weeks, I have received numerous e-mails from not only family and friends (many of whom are insanely jealous), but also the readers of my columns and listeners of my radio show.  Thank you for your kind words and please keep watching.

With “Inside Deal” running online for over three months, there definitely have been some key revelations about hosting the show:

ESPN

Could there be a more professional sports production?  From our producer (Eric Pierce, who is truly the master behind the scenes) to my co-hosts, ESPN: The Magazine contributor Laura Lane and ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, the show is done so professionally.  I am proud to be part of this team!

Teleprompter

When you use one, you read more vertically as opposed to when you read from a piece of paper horizontally.  It is not as easy as you might think.  From the beginning, I have been very impressed by my co-host Laura Lane’s ability to read from the teleprompter so smoothly.  During lunch one day, Laura shared her secret on how she became so proficient.  She explained that when she was in college at USC, she would watch the nightly news and hit the mute button.  When the closed caption words would come across the screen, she would read text as if it was from a teleprompter.  What a great idea!

Makeup

I never thought I would wear makeup.  Before each show, we go to get our faces done.  Ugh!  I’m so glad I don’t have to do that every morning.  After each taping is complete, I immediately head straight to the bathroom to wash my face thoroughly.

Earpiece

Somewhat undetectable on camera, each of us wears an earpiece that allows the producer and director to give us instructions during the show’s taping.  The earpiece takes getting used to at the beginning, as you don’t want to react to the directions you are receiving in your ear.  Additionally, when the director is speaking to my co-host and she answers, I used to think she was talking to me.  It’s the small things that you have to get used to.

Opening Segment

I have thoroughly enjoyed helping create the opening segments of the shows.  Back in my working days in marketing, I often created videos to inspire the sales force to learn the features and benefits of my specific product.  I was known among my colleagues as the video marketing guy.  Funny how that became preparation for my current job.

During the run of the show, our guests have included a “who’s who” in poker.  The following are some interesting highlights from our first shows:

Episode #1: Chris Moneymaker tells the poker world that he lost his WSOP Main Event bracelet during a move.

Episode #2: Dennis Phillips discusses his near back-to-back November Nines and World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack discusses the Day 1D sellout.

Episode #3: Barry Greenstein describes his charity work and shows his paternal side, while the cast of “2 Months, $2 Million” describe the Tilt Room.

Episode #4: Howard Lederer discusses his sister in “Celebrity Apprentice” and Eric Buchman (2009 November Niner) shows his “passionate” side.

Episode #5: Victor Ramdin breaks down East Coast versus West Coast poker debate.

Episode #6: Mark Seif discusses the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet scandals.

Episode #7: Michael Binger duels with Daniel Negreanu in a Twitter Battle Royale.

Episode #8: Joe Sebok announces his Ultimate Bet signing (also look out for Joel Mchale of E!’s “The Soup”).

If you haven’t seen the show, hopefully this will give you an incentive to tune in each week.  A new episode is posted every Tuesday on ESPN.com/InsideDeal.  After watching each episode, please tell me which opening you liked the best.

And as always, don’t forget to listen to my radio show, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show,” on RoundersRadio.com on Tuesday nights from 7:00pm to 8:00pm ET and repeated throughout the week.

WSOP on ESPN: Antonio Esfandiari Featured on Day 7 Coverage

With 64 players left, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event played out Day 7 on ESPN on Tuesday night. The feature table included Antonio Esfandiari, Ryan Fair, Steven Begleiter, and James Akenhead.

In the first hand shown at the feature table, Esfandiari raised to 135,000 pre-flop with A-3 and Akenhead pushed for 1.5 million with pocket nines. Hung Pham folded pocket tens and Mark Ader shoved with A-K. Akenhead was all-in for his tournament life against Ader after Esfandiari got out of the way and the flop came nine-high, giving Akenhead a set. Elsewhere in the Amazon Room, Prahlad Friedman pushed all-in with K-Q pre-flop and was called by Bradley Craig, who held A-K. The board ran out 7-9-2-8-9 and Friedman was sent packing in 64th place.

The lone woman remaining in the field, Leo Margets, doubled up Grayson Ramage with pocket fours versus pocket eights when Ramage spiked a third eight on the flop. Meanwhile, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp scooped a 6.3 million chip pot at the expense of John Martin, who shoved on a board of A-6-9-K with two diamonds holding 8-7 of the suit for flush and straight draws. Kopp had pocket sixes for a set and watched as the river came the jack of spades. Kopp added Martin to his list of knockouts, which also included WSOP Main Event champions Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem.

Joe Sebok hit the rails in 56th place when his A-9 ran into Nick Maimone’s A-Q. Then, Akenhead doubled up again, this time with pocket kings against Adam York’s A-J. Also doubling up was 2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who check-raised Steve Sanders all-in on a 2-A-6 (all clubs) board holding pocket queens, including the queen of clubs. Sanders held pocket aces for top set and watched as the river came another club, giving Phillips a flush.

The longtime ESPN segment “The Nuts” reviewed the origin of the term “donkey” and then Tom Schneider hit the skids in 52nd after running A-7 into pocket nines. Jonathan Tamayo scooped a 6.7 million chip pot holding pocket kings against Craig’s A-K and, at the feature table, Fair became agitated in a hand against Pham. In it, Fair raised to 150,000 pre-flop with pocket tens and Pham re-raised to 550,000 with kings. Fair shoved and Pham, after some deliberation, made the call. Fair exclaimed, “Such a slowroll,” but sucked out when a ten hit the flop. Fair did a chest bump with a person in the audience after the hand was over and explained, “I don’t feel that bad.”

Adam Bilzerian, one-half of the Norman Chad-dubbed “Flying Bilzerian Brothers,” found the exit in 47th place after running tens into kings; his brother, Dan Bilzerian, took 180th. Phillips’ run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event ended after he was all-in pre-flop with A-K of diamonds against Francois Balmigere’s A-K of spades. The board included three spades, sending the crowd favorite out in horrific fashion after back-to-back runs in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Meanwhile, Kopp, the chip leader, padded his stack after busting a player with pocket jacks against pocket tens.

Darvin Moon, sporting his signature New Orleans Saints hat, was moved to the feature table and, while arranging his chips, was involved in a hand against Eugene Katchalov. In it, Katchalov shoved with A-10 pre-flop and Moon isolated with pocket kings by raising to five million. Esfandiari peeked down at pocket jacks and, after much deliberation, tossed them into the muck. The board ran out 8-6-10-2-K and Moon sent Katchalov packing in 39th place. His run of cards continued against Balmigere, who flopped a set with pocket tens, but Moon hit the nuts, an ace-high straight. Balmigere surrendered by the river, but Moon’s stack still grew to over 15 million.

Joe “LatestLines2” Ward sent Martin Lapostelle (pocket queens) and Gabriel Vezina (pocket jacks) packing in the same hand holding pocket kings. A king hit the flop, making Ward a 98% favorite to win the hand, and the turn and river blanked out. Although Ward scooped a 6.1 million chip pot, he’d ship much of it to Phil Ivey. In the end, Ward was all-in against Jamie Robbins holding A-K against Robbins’ A-Q. Both players hit an ace on the flop, but a queen on the river secured Ward’s exit in 28th place, ending play on Day 7.

WSOP on ESPN coverage continues next week with Day 8 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. The action gets underway at 9:00pm ET.

Did PokerStars Get Rid Of AJ Benza?

According to Pokerati, PokerStars is the new sponsor of High Stakes Poker. Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips revealed the breaking news in his radio show yesterday.

Dennis Phillips also revealed that he and Phil Hellmuth are going to play in the new season of High Stakes Poker.

In his blog, Daniel Negreanu tells that Gabe Kaplan will be handling the analysis and commentary solo, and the new co-host will be someone that everyone knows and likes.

There was some rumors earlier that Vanesso Rousso would be the new host, but Rousso herself has stated that she’s not the new member of the HSP crew.

We can add a new rumor on top of that. Daniel Negreanu and Jennifer Harman are really close friends, so it just might be that Jennifer Harman will be the co-host of Gabe Kaplan. We’ll see.

The new face of High Stakes Poker?

Source: Pokerati

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Did PokerStars Get Rid Of AJ Benza?

Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

Two original November Nine members, Dennis Phillips and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, took center stage on ESPN on Tuesday night. Play from Day 6 of the 2009 Main Event wrapped up from the Rio in Las Vegas.

Eastgate and Phillips were seated at the feature table during the first hour of ESPN’s WSOP coverage, which aired at 9:00pm ET. Joining them were J.C. Tran, Joe Hachem, and one of the chip leaders throughout much of the day, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp. In the first hand shown at the feature table, Hachem raised to 55,000 pre-flop with A-K and Thai Tran made it 305,000 with pocket kings. Hachem noted, “It doesn’t feel right” and promptly mucked.

2009 November Nine members Phil Ivey and Steven Begleiter could be found at Table Two. Ivey raised to 54,000 holding K-J and Begleiter made the call with 8-7 of diamonds to see the flop came 9-A-6. Begleiter check-called an 80,000 chip bet from Ivey to see a three hit the turn. The action went check-check to a queen on the river. Begleiter bet out 175,000 to build a 490,000 chip pot with his busted straight draw and Ivey folded.

Kopp continued to build his stack, sending Nasr El Nasr home in 137th place with pocket aces against pocket queens. After the board fell 2-4-10-10-3, Kopp raked in the 3.2 million chip pot to hold the second largest stack in the room. Incidentally, Phillips held pocket fours in the hand and would have turned a boat. Meanwhile, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier was sent packing with A-K against the pocket kings of online poker pro Scott Sitron.

“The Nuts” examined the use of the phrases “nice hand” and “good luck,” while out in the field, 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider doubled up with pocket aces against John Martin’s A-K. Bradley Craig, who was once down to just 400 chips during the Main Event, doubled up with A-Q versus the pocket kings of Noah Boeken to balloon his stack to 2.6 million. Back at the feature table, J.C. Tran was sent packing at the hands of Phillips for his fourth Main Event cash since 2004.

Hachem’s run through the 2009 WSOP Main Event came to an abrupt halt when he shoved his five big blind stack with J-9 of clubs. Kopp made the call with pocket fours, setting up a race situation. By the river, Hachem was rooting for an ace, king, jack, nine, or club to double up, but the three of hearts sealed the 2005 Main Event Champion’s fate. Eastgate represented the lone winner of the $10,000 buy-in tournament left in the field.

The second episode, which began at 10:00pm ET on ESPN, included the same feature and side tables, with poker pro Joe Sebok making his way to the former. At Table Two, Ivey drew out on Hac Dang with pocket jacks against Dang’s pocket queens when the flop came jack-high. Antonio Esfandiari also drew out on an opponent to send them to the rails, as “The Magician’s” K-Q found the nuts on a flop of 9-10-J to send Bobby Law packing with A-K in 91st place.

In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are concealed, Phillips raised to 70,000 pre-flop with pocket kings and Thai Tran made the call from the big blind. The flop came 10-A-3 and Tran check-raised Phillips to 440,000. Phillips called to see a six fall on the turn and the action went check-check. The river was an eight and Tran checked. Phillips checked behind and Tran showed a baby ace, A-2, to scoop the pot.

Out in the field, Darvin Moon sent Jamie Brown to the exits with pocket aces against pocket kings to scoop a 3.8 million chip pot and become the new chip leader. Shortly thereafter, Kenny Tran was all-in with A-5 of diamonds against Joe Cada’s pocket eights. The board ran out 4-3-3-9-6 and Tran busted in 86th place. It was then Eastgate’s turn to pack his bags after an impressive run in 2009 after winning it all one year ago. The 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion pushed all-in pre-flop with A-J; Kopp made the call with pocket eights, as did Phillips, who held K-Q. Kopp and Phillips checked the action to the river, which put four hearts on the board. Kopp held the only heart and sent Eastgate to the rails in 78th.

A new feature table was assembled featuring Moon, Phillips, and Schneider. In one hand, Schneider raised to 110,000 with A-J and Phillips made it 310,000 with pocket queens. Moon, holding A-K, pushed the action to 675,000, Schneider got out of the way, and Phillips made the call. ESPN announcer Norman Chad noted, “It’s the every man against the every man.” The flop came A-4-8 and Moon bet 750,000 with his top pair after Phillips checked. Phillips commented, “I have no idea if you’re pushing me around or not” and folded, showing his hole cards. The pot was worth 2.3 million chips.

Ivey made a flush to eliminate an opponent at Table Two, while Nichoel Peppe, one of two women remaining in the field, was all-in with her tournament life on the line holding J-4 of hearts against Adam York’s pocket aces. The board came with one heart and Peppe exited in 75th place, leaving Leo Margets as the last woman standing in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

A total of 64 players remain. WSOP on ESPN coverage hits television airwaves on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET and runs for two hours. The Main Event final table can be seen on November 10th.

WSOP on ESPN Ratings up 11% in 2009

On Tuesday night, action from the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will continue on cable station ESPN. “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” has seen a ratings boom in 2009 down the stretch, with the Main Event final table on tap for November 10th.

According to ESPN officials, through 11 weeks of coverage of the 2009 WSOP, its broadcasts have delivered a 0.91 average household coverage rating, up 11% from last year, when the average rating was 0.82. ESPN coverage of the 2009 WSOP began on July 28th, when the network aired the brand new $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. ESPN then went on to feature the WSOP Champions Invitational, a 20-person freeroll consisting of former Main Event winners, and the Ante Up for Africa charity gala, which included actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Last week, coverage of Day 5 of the Main Event was featured during the 9:00pm ET hour, followed by Day 6 at 10:00pm ET. Each episode lasted for one hour and the first garnered a 0.88 rating. The second hour began with a rap by Prahlad Friedman and had a feature table that included 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider. That episode generated a 1.17 rating, the second highest of the season. Last Tuesday marked the first week that the WSOP on ESPN moved to a 9:00pm ET kickoff, as it had previously started one hour earlier at 8:00pm ET. The Main Event final table will air on Tuesday, November 10th at 9:00pm ET and run for two-and-a-half hours.

Key for ESPN’s advertisers, which include online poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker as well as Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, are two demographics. Males age 18 to 49 have tuned into the 2009 WSOP on ESPN in droves, rising 12% from the number that watched the 2008 broadcast. Among males age 25 to 54, the number of viewers is up 16% in 2009. PokerStars sponsors the “Straight from the Pros” segment as well as the program’s on-screen chip counts, while Full Tilt Poker sponsors the “Deal Me In” strategy segment during WSOP on ESPN broadcasts. Ultimate Bet has also been spotted airing commercials on the cable station. The site is fresh off the conclusion of its annual Aruba Poker Classic, which saw Brandon Hall and Robert Mizrachi chop heads-up.

Last year marked the first that the final table of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event was delayed until November in order to coincide with its broadcast on ESPN. As a result, ratings mushroomed by 50% for the final table airing. At the end of the day, Peter Eastgate bested Ivan Demidov in front of a packed house at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio and banked $9.1 million.

This year, another schedule change has the poker world talking. Play will resume in the Main Event final table on November 7th at 12:00 Noon PT and continue until two players remain. Then, the pair will play heads-up beginning on November 9th at 10:00pm PT to determine a winner. The gap in between will allow time for media interviews and further study by the heads-up participants of each other’s tendencies.

While WSOP on ESPN coverage has focused on players like Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, and Betrand “Elky” Grospellier, the following nine players will take to the felts in November:

1. Darvin Moon (Oakland, Maryland) – 58,930,000
2. Eric Buchman (Valley Stream, New York) – 34,800,000
3. Steven Begleiter (Chappaqua, New York) – 29,885,000
4. Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 19,580,000
5. Joe Cada (Shelby Township, Michigan) – 13,215,000
6. Kevin Schaffel (Coral Springs, Florida) – 12,390,000
7. Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 9,765,000
8. Antoine Saout (Paris, France) – 9,500,000
9. James Akenhead (London, England) – 6,800,000

Check out the WSOP on ESPN every Tuesday at 9:00pm ET.

2009 BC Poker Championships hits in November

The centerpiece of the series is the $2,700 No-Limit Hold'em main event, which will run Nov. 19-22.

Last year Canadian super star Daniel Negreanu stole the show by outlasting all 689 opponents and winning the first place prize of $371,910.

Poker pros Lacey Jones, Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul Ambrose and Liz Lieu also took part in the event.

"It is truly an honor to have BCPC take place at the River Rock Casino as it attracts a group of talented and brave poker players," said Howard Blank, vice president of media and entertainment with the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

"Like every year, BCPC features an action-packed week where all players can test their poker face skills and connect with many other great poker players."

Any player 19 and older can play in the 2009 BCPC. For more information visit the River Rock website here.

Check below for the complete schedule for this year's BCPC:

WSOP Main Event Days 5 and 6 Air on ESPN

With 96% of the field gone, players took to the felts for Days 5 and 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN. Three women, two former Main Event champions, and one gold bracelet remained.

The first hand shown at the feature table, which once again contained Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Jeff Shulman, saw Randy Propson and Grospellier see a flop of 10-2-6. The action went check-check to bring a king on the turn and Grospellier check-called a bet of 42,000 from Propson. The river was a deuce and Grospellier once again check-called a bet, this time 75,000. Grospellier showed A-8 for ace-high, good enough to scoop the 330,000 chip pot. Elsewhere in the room, Phil Ivey bet 40,000 on a board of 8-7-7-8-J and Charles Clark called. Ivey showed J-6 for a rivered two pair to claim the pot.

At Table Two, Andreas Flakstad shoved all-in holding pocket eights on a 7-J-2-3-5 board with three hearts. Antonio Esfandiari tanked before finally folding pocket queens. Table Two also included “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips. Back at the feature table, Brent Catalano doubled up at the expense of Joe Hachem, who joined the cast. Catalano held pocket queens in the hand, which saw Hachem miss a flush draw.

In the PokerStars-sponsored “Straight from the Pros” segment, Hachem relived a hand from the 2007 Main Event in which he stressed the importance of position. Then, back at the Rio, Estelle Denis, one of three women remaining in the field, pushed all-in over the top of a raise by J.C. Tran. However, the dealer pulled her cards into the muck. A floor supervisor, Steve Frezer, was called. After Denis told him her cards, Frezer looked at the top two cards in the deck, which did not match, and her hand was declared dead. Denis noted that she had aces.

Joe Sebok could be found alongside his cousin, Mike Linn, and both were decked out in PokerRoad gear. In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Francois Balmigere raised pre-flop with unknown cards and Hachem called from the big blind with 5-7 of diamonds. The flop came 10-5-2. Hachem checked, Balmigere bet 43,000, and Hachem called to see the turn fall an ace. Hachem once again checked, Balmigere fired out a bet of 86,000, about half the size of the pot, and Hachem folded. Balmigere held just 6-7 for a bluff.

At Table Two, Esfandiari signed a woman’s chest and promptly autographed a man’s stomach, attracting the attention of ESPN cameras. Then, his pocket aces sent Adam Sanders and his pocket tens packing after the board ran out 4-K-K-8-3. In “The Nuts,” which asked poker pros which of their peers would make ideal reality television show contestants, Phil Hellmuth claimed his agent inquired if he wanted to be on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” In one of the final hands shown during the first episode, which aired at 9:00pm ET, Phillips was all-in with kings against two players holding pocket aces. The board came 8-9-9-5-9 and one of the last celebrities left in the field hit the rails in 186th place.

The second episode profiled Day 6 at the 2009 WSOP Main Event and kicked off with a rap by bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “In terms of rapping, I’d have to put him ahead of Jeff Madsen, but behind Jay Z.” Out in the field, ESPN viewers saw two eventual November Nine members clash, as James Akenhead check-raised Steve Begleiter, who promptly re-raised to 505,000. Akenhead made the call on the 9-8-Q board with two clubs to see the three of spades hit the turn. Akenhead check-called an 850,000 chip bet to bring the river, the seven of spades. Both players checked and Begleiter scooped the massive 2.8 million chip pot with 9-7 for two pair.

Seated at the same table during the 10:00pm ET episode were Hachem, Tran, Dennis Phillips, and Peter Eastgate, a group dubbed by ESPN announcer Lon McEachern “the table of death.” Elsewhere, Dan Bilzerian, one-half of the Norman Chad-labeled “Flying Bilzerian Brothers,” was ousted by Jonathan Tamayo with his A-6 could not out-draw pocket tens. After the Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” recapped a hand with Jennifer Harman during the 2005 Main Event, Nichoel Peppe took down a pot at Table Two. Peppe and Leo Margets headlined the side table and represented the lone women remaining in the 2009 WSOP Main Event after Denis was sent packing.

Darvin Moon put in a raise to 650,000 and Ben Lamb called on a board of A-3-2-J. The river came a nine. Lamb checked, Moon bet 500,000, and Lamb folded, boosting Moon’s chip stack to 4.1 million, among the top tallies in the Amazon Room. Adam Bilzerian doubled up after calling all-in with 5-4 on a board of 6-5-2. His opponent showed J-9 for a bluff and Bilzerian’s hand held up. Bilzerian would give some of his newfound chips to John Martin after Martin was all-in with pocket nines on a 5-8-7-2 board with two spades. Bilzerian held 5-6 of the suit for flush and straight draws, but the river was the jack of hearts.

Tom Schneider, the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year, took down a 2.6 million chip pot at the feature table to close out Tuesday’s WSOP on ESPN festivities. New episodes air at 9:00pm ET on Tuesdays on ESPN and replay throughout the week.