Posts Tagged ‘Doyle Brunson’
Jonathan Duhamel: The WSOP Champ Settles In
"I haven't played a single hand of poker yet," he told PokerListings from his home just outside of Montreal, Quebec.
"I've been doing a lot of interviews and stuff like that. I wish I could play a little bit, but right now I don't have time for that. Hopefully, I will play a little bit more pretty soon."
Sponsored by online giant PokerStars, Duhamel does plan on getting back to the virtual felt this weekend when the Canadian Championship of Online Poker begins.
He's also looking to make the trip to the Bahamas this January for the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and may even head back to Las Vegas next month for the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
In the meantime, just exactly what he accomplished in Las Vegas a week and a half ago is still setting in.
"It's so big, it's so amazing and it really just happened," he said. "Of course it took me a couple of days to realize what really happened. And even now I think I do, but I'm still feeling like the happiest guy on earth and still thinking 'wow, what just happened?'"
Duhamel returned home to Boucherville, Quebec a few days after becoming Canada's first WSOP Main Event winner and meeting the bulk of the Canadian media.
He's has had the chance to spend some time with close friends and family, but things are already looking a lot different back home.
"It has been pretty cool to get back home again, but it's a bit of a different feeling with everybody recognizing you on the street and stuff like that," he said. "I knew it would be kind of big, but not this big. It's been so crazy here. It's weird a little bit, but I'm having a lot of fun doing all these interviews and things."
The Canadian media have been all over the story of his $8.9 million World Series of Poker win.
But much of the focus has been on the fact Duhamel dropped out of the University of Montreal finance program to pursue poker as a career and giving a stern warning to Canadian youth that his path is not for everyone.
"I'm a little surprised (that has been the focus), but at the same time I can't control that," he said. "If that's what they want to talk about, I have to talk about that with them. I just give the best advice and answer I can.
"The honest answer is that it's tough to do. Poker is not for everyone. There are some people who just can't do it. So I would not tell people to drop school to go play poker. It is not for everyone."
Duhamel has had the chance to watch himself on the ESPN broadcast and was relatively happy with how he and the event were portrayed.
"They did a great job," he said. "You always want to see more of yourself on TV, but I thought for the two hours they had, the show was great."
What he hasn't had the chance to do, outside of sticking to his commitment to donate $100,000 to The Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation, is spend any of his winnings.
"Other than that haven't done anything with the money," he said. "Maybe during Christmas time I will do something, like take a family vacation or something."
For now, he's just champing at the bit to get his hands on those chips and cards again.
"I want to get back in the ring a little bit," he said. "I'm really looking forward to playing some poker."
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Tags: 2011, Canada, canadian, Doyle Brunson, interview, Online Poker, pokerstars, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Poker Industry Reacts to WSOP Main Event Results
On Monday night, Jonathan Duhamel became the first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion from Canada, banking nearly $9 million following a 90-minute heads-up session against John Racener.
Despite taking second place, Racener was gracious in defeat. He posted on Twitter this afternoon, “Congratulations to Johnathan Duhamel. Still very happy with 2nd place. Would have loved to win it tho. I’ll be back to get it next year.” Racener doubled up early on in heads-up play with pocket queens against Duhamel’s K-4, but could not gain any traction from there.
Also weighing in was fellow Canadian poker player Daniel Negreanu, who, like Duhamel, is a sponsored pro of PokerStars. Negreanu Tweeted, “WSOP spoiler alert: just woke up and saw that PokerStars has now produced 6 of the last 8 WSOP champs and Canada its 1st. Congrats kid!” Negreanu and the rest of the online poker community can now watch the Main Event final table with hole cards tonight on ESPN at 10:00pm ET.
Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith, who was decked out in a blue Toronto Maple Leafs hockey jersey on Monday night at the Rio, commented on Wednesday, “Congrats to Duhamel, and enough with the Canadian shots. Racener is my friend and I have never met Jonathon, besides Leaf fans detest Habs” Smith rooted on Racener in the Main Event and wore his blue hockey jersey to stand out in stark contrast to Duhamel’s fans, who were decked out in red Montreal Canadiens gear.
Also gracious despite not winning the Main Event title was Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, the tournament’s fifth place finisher. Mizrachi posted, “Waking up!! Congrats to John Duhamel!!! Well done!! Great game Racener!! It’s all over… Now it’s time to grind!! Next Stop @ Bike in LA.” The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles stop at The Bike, whose $5,000 Main Event begins on Friday, will be the landing spot for many in the poker community now that the WSOP has wrapped up.
Racener donated 1% of his winnings to Prevent Cancer, which Tweeted, “Congratulations and thanks to 2nd place winner of #WSOP, John Racener, for pledging 1% of poker winnings last night #2preventcancer!” Ninth place finisher Soi Nguyen also pledged 1% of his earnings to the organization.
Before the Main Event’s conclusion kicked off on Monday night, Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson gave the introductory remarks for the former and commented via Twitter that he wasn’t a fan of public speaking. Now, “Texas Dolly” and a host of poker pros are in transit to the Dominican Republic for the Punta Cana Poker Classic. Brunson chirped, “Off to Punta Cana. We got two great pros into the Poker HOF last night. Next year Barry Greenstein goes in. Anybody want to bet no?”
Pulling for Joseph Cheong throughout the Main Event final table was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson. Cheong wore a patch for Poker Gives and nearly claimed the title, ultimately busting out in third place. Johnson Tweeted on Saturday as play passed the dinner break, “Go Joseph Cheong… He caught a river card he needed, though he did start with best hand.”
On the popular poker forum PocketFives.com, a November Nine sweat thread attracted over 500 responses. Duhamel received a fair share of flak on the site, but one poster defended the first Canadian Main Event winner: “I’m surprised how much hate Duhamel is getting. Mostly from him beating Affleck, but hey sh!t happens in poker. So far from what I’ve seen/read, I think Duhamel played a great FT. Overall it was a great FT! It’s a shame Cheong or Mizrachi didn’t make it HU, but I think Racener played a great short stack when it was 7 handed to make it HU.” Racener is a longtime PocketFives.com member.
Check out our 2010 WSOP Main Event final table coverage.
Dan Harrington, Erik Seidel Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame
On Monday night just before the start of heads-up play in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, former Main Event champ Dan Harrington and eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. The two members of the Class of 2010 received a commemorative trophy and spoke for about five minutes apiece to the sold out house at the Penn and Teller Theater. The entire event took about a half hour.
WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart started the festivities by calling attention to the attendance of players like Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. Stewart also revealed that a “Chip Reese Rule,” which would set an age requirement for entry, may take shape in 2011. Nolan Dalla gave the introductory comments for Harrington, whose “Harrington on Hold’em” series can be found on the bookshelves of top players and amateurs alike around the world; it’s been translated into 17 different languages.
After reviewing Harrington’s accomplishments, Dalla, the WSOP’s Media Director, told the crowd, “This would be a remarkable poker resume for any player over an entire lifetime, but when you consider that Dan Harrington participates in only a few events, his accomplishment is truly staggering.”
Harrington added that the Mayfair Club played an integral role in his development as a poker player. In fact, Seidel is also a product of the New York institution. Harrington recalled his involvement with the Mayfair: “I did not find it; it found me… This club consisted of great game players. They were world champions in backgammon, bridge, and chess. However, they were just dying to learn how to play No Limit Hold’em. I had paid my dues at the World Series of Poker, so I had an edge on them.”
Stewart then introduced Brunson, who lauded Seidel’s presence on the felt: “The thing I’ve admired most about Erik is his demeanor at the table. I think he reminds me of Chip Reese and that’s the biggest accomplishment I can give anyone.” Seidel has eight WSOP bracelets, $10 million in tournament earnings, 142 live tournament cashes, and 19 first place finishes. He’s a true class act.
Seidel, donning a patch for his home site of Full Tilt Poker, told the crowd, “There have been so many people who have influenced me throughout the years, but the one who stands out is Howard Lederer. No one has had more of an impact on me throughout the years.” Lederer and his wife were on stage along with the likes of Jack Binion, Greg Raymer, Dennis Phillips, and Gavin Smith. By the way, it’s Seidel’s birthday weekend and his two daughters flew cross-country in support of their father.
Then, 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela gave the “Shuffle up and deal” command around 8:30pm local time. Kassela congratulated Seidel and Harrington on their Poker Hall of Fame membership and said the most exciting four words in poker. Keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.
High Stakes Poker Season 7 Announced, Will Tape November 18th
In breaking news from Las Vegas, the seventh season of “High Stakes Poker” will tape from November 18th to 20th, as GSN has given the green light for the newest installment of the cash game poker franchise. The location, time, air date on GSN, and players involved have not yet been announced, but poker fans can rest easy tonight knowing that “High Stakes Poker” has been renewed for another cycle.
On the fleet of poker pros that could assemble for the show, a representative from GSN told Poker News Daily on Friday that the network expects to have “another great cast of world-class players this year.” Five players have appeared on each season of “High Stakes Poker” to date: DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari, PokerStars front man Barry Greenstein, and “Million Dollar Challenge” icon Daniel Negreanu.
Season 6 brought major changes to “High Stakes Poker.” Longtime co-host A.J. Benza was axed in favor of PartyPoker pro Kara Scott, who conducted interviews from the floor of the “High Stakes Poker” suite at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The new season began airing on Valentine’s Day this year and featured players like Dennis Phillips and Lex Veldhuis making their “High Stakes Poker” debuts. The sixth cycle also hosted the usual suspects from the world of high-stakes cash games like Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Patrik Antonius.
The premiere of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 was quite buzz worthy, as UB.com pro and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth went broke after dropping $200,000 in the blink of an eye. Hellmuth quickly shipped $50,000 to Ivey before committing his remaining stack on a board of 6-4-7-K with two hearts holding J-5 of hearts for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. Ivey held K-9 of hearts for top pair and a better flush draw and declined to run the river more than once. The final card filled the eight-time bracelet winner’s king-high flush and, just like that, Hellmuth was broke.
Prop bets were also discouraged last season. Prior to taping Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” Esfandiari, the ringleader of prop betting on the show, told Poker News Daily that he had been asked to curb his pastime: “The prop bets where people would guess cards, for example, they’ve been trying to get rid of that. [Executive Producer Mori Eskandani] 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.”
The PokerStars-powered “Big Game” has recently filled the void between seasons of “High Stakes Poker.” The “Big Game” airs late nights on FOX and features a variety of pros battling with an online qualifier dubbed the “Loose Cannon.” The “Big Game” has a $500,000 maximum buy-in and has featured a variety of pros including Negreanu, Justin Bonomo, David “Viffer” Peat, David Williams, and 2005 Main Event champ Joe Hachem. It’s played in a ring game format with $100/$200 blinds.
Actor turned poker pro Gabe Kaplan serves as the primary face of “High Stakes Poker.” Stay tuned for the latest on this breaking story right here on Poker News Daily.
UB Running Perfect Play Promo for Low Stakes Players in October
This month, the CEREUS Network poker room UB.com is holding a number of tournaments and contests tailor-made for its low-stakes customers. All together, they have been dubbed the Perfect Play.
Perfect 10
All month, UB.com will hold $10 + $1 multi-table tournaments 10 times per day. They will commence once per hour, on the half hour, from 1:30pm ET to 10:30pm ET. Players will receive Tournament Leaderboard (TLB) points based on how they finish in each tournament, but there is a twist. UB.com will rank players based on their best 10-tournament block during the month. The first 10 tournaments a player competes in will count as the first block, tourneys 11 through 20 will count as the second, and so on. Only completed 10-tournament blocks will count. The number of TLB points received in a given tournament will equal the number of players beaten plus one.
At the end of the month, the top 50 players on the leaderboard will win a share of $60,000 in cash, starting with $7,500 for first place, $4,500 for second place, and $3,000 for third place, on down to $500 for 41st through 50th. The top 10 players will also receive UB hoodies.
In addition, the top five players each week will receive $1,000. Blocks will not be used, as these rankings will be based on players’ top five scores for the week.
Perfect 3
The Perfect 3 works exactly the same way as the Perfect 10, except for lower stakes. The tournaments in this contest will cost $3 + $0.30 and once again, the 10-tournament block format will apply.
The top three TLB finishers at the end of the month will receive $2,500, $1,500, and $1,000, respectively. Prizes go down to $200 for 41st through 50th places.
For the weekly competition, the top five ranked players will each earn $300.
Perfect Player Bonus
The Perfect Player Bonus combines the above two competitions into one, simple contest. In this one, the player with the most combined points on both the Perfect 10 and Perfect 3 leaderboards will win a healthy prize of $2,500.
Perfect Cash Games
Micro-stakes cash games players will earn double points all month. Specifically, No Limit and Pot Limit cash games up to and including $0.05/$0.10 count for the Perfect Cash Games promo, as do Fixed Limit cash games up to and including $0.10/$0.20. Heads-up tables do not count.
Perfect Sit and Gos
UB.com has added special $1.20 Sit and Go tournaments to the lobby for October. Players who win one of these single-table tournaments, labeled “Perfect Promo SnGs,” will be entered into a $5,000 freeroll. The freeroll will be held on November 6th at 3:00pm ET and is capped at 5,000 players.
In addition to the cheap Perfect Play promotions, keep in mind that UB.com is also holding a series of freerolls through November 28th in which one skilled and lucky player will win a $12,000 World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic prize package. Round 1 freerolls will run six times daily, with the top 100 finishers in each moving on to Round 2. The Round 2 freerolls are held every Sunday; the top 100 in those advance to the Main Event. It is in that Main Event, held on November 28th, that winner will be awarded the WPT prize package.
Poker Hall of Fame Welcomes Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel
The Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was announced on Tuesday morning. 1995 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Dan Harrington and eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel will be enshrined during a ceremony on November 8th at the Rio in Las Vegas.
Harrington received four of this author’s ten Poker Hall of Fame votes. His back-to-back runs in the 2003 and 2004 Main Events coupled with his victory in 1995 and indelible marks on poker literature earned him one of the two Poker Hall of Fame spots up for grabs. All told, Harrington has reached the final table of the Main Event four times and followed up his victory in 1995 with a 17th place finish one year later.
Seidel may best be remembered for his runner-up finish to Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, his first cash in a WSOP contest. The tournament was depicted in the cult classic “Rounders” and earned Seidel $280,000. Since then, Seidel has won bracelets in Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha High-Low, No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha. He finished eighth in last year’s $50,000 HORSE Championship and has over $4 million in career WSOP earnings.
Seidel was elated to become part of the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame, telling WSOP officials in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it’s an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington. We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career. Both of us refined our games at the Mayfair Club in New York. I have such a high regard for the many members of the Poker Hall of Fame that I have played with over the years and it’s a real privilege to be able to join them.”
The induction ceremony is scheduled for 8:00pm PT on November 8th inside the Penn and Teller Theater. Following it, the 2010 WSOP Main Event will play down to a winner. Others considered for the Poker Hall of Fame, but not enshrined this year, were Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Scotty Nguyen. This author cast votes for both Johnson and McEvoy as well.
In a recent Guest Column on Poker News Daily, UB.com pro Annie Duke, who bested Seidel in the finals of this year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship, made a case for her close friend’s enshrinement: “The guy behaves with such grace in a sport where grace is really needed. He’s always so graceful and so sportsmanlike. He’s deeply thoughtful, deeply intelligent, and has massive integrity. This guy should be held up as the standard for what we should be doing. I feel strongly that he should be honored.”
The 16 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame and a 17-man media panel each cast 10 votes to determine this year’s class. Only those receiving a majority vote were eligible and up to two players could be inducted this year. In 2009, World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton was the Hall’s lone addition.
Seven players, including Johnny Moss, were inducted as part of the Poker Hall of Fame’s first class in 1979. Since then, the cast has grown to include the likes of Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Johnny Chan, Lyle Berman, Stu Ungar, Jack Binion, Phil Hellmuth, and Chip Reese. The latter is the youngest player in the Poker Hall of Fame, enshrined at age 40. This year marks the first time since 2007 that more than one person will be inducted.
Annette Obrestad Leads WPT Festa al Lago on Play Down Day
With 13 players remaining in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago, a familiar face sits perched atop the leaderboard. Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad, the winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, is the lone player over two million chips in the Bellagio tournament.
The final elimination of Monday’s action belonged to Lauren Kling, who ran pocket tens into pocket queens on her final hand. The talented youngster watched as the board fell K-Q-2-Q-J and that was all she wrote. Play ended shortly thereafter and Kling picked up over $32,000 after bring trumped by quads.
Fifteenth place went to Mark Newhouse, whose A-J could not draw out on the pocket queens of Andy Frankenberger. The latter is fresh off a win in the WPT Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, where he bested a final table that included Kyle Wilson and Jared Jaffee to walk away with three-quarters of a million dollars. As a result of the elimination, Frankenberger is second to Obrestad on the Festa al Lago leaderboard.
Chad Batista, known in online circles as “lilholdem954,” exited in 16th place from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Batista ran pocket eights into the pocket tens of Obrestad on his final hand and neither player improved when the board came A-7-4-J-3. Batista picked up $25,000 for his run, his third in the money finish on the WPT circuit. Batista finished 10th in the 2009 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $57,000, his largest WPT cash to date.
McLean Karr, who came out on top of the pack in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event in March, took 17th on Monday. Karr met a similar fate as Batista, running pocket eights into a larger pocket pair. This time, Bobby Suer had him covered with pocket kings and Karr could not improve. Karr won the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) London High Roller Turbo tournament for over $400,000 two weeks ago.
Online poker veteran Matt “All In At 420” Stout finished in 18th place after moving all-in pre-flop with K-10. Suer called and showed A-J; the board ran dry for Stout, who watched as Suer spiked an ace on the river to add insult to injury. Stout made the final table of the Season 8 Foxwoods World Poker Finals, taking third place for $265,000.
The blinds will be 10,000-20,000 with an ante of 3,000 when play picks back up today at Noon PT. If you’re at the Bellagio and want to stop by, you’ll need to head to the poker room, as WPT officials are busy constructing the televised final table set in the Fontana Lounge, which overlooks the fountains. Here’s how the final 13 look:
1. Annette Obrestad – 2,009,000
2. Andy Frankenberger – 1,820,000
3. Jeff Madsen – 1,500,000
4. Allen Kessler – 1,275,000
5. John Monnette – 1,271,000
6. Noah Schwartz – 1,137,000
7. Bobby Suer – 1,129,000
8. Brandon Steven – 977,000
9. Randal Flowers – 691,000
10. Skip Wilson – 531,000
11. Michael Benvenuti – 530,000
12. John Krpan – 397,000
13. Jason Koon – 396,000
Other players relegated to the rail on Monday included Andreas Hoivold, Jeremy Rafalowicz, Kaied Barkho, and Matt Affleck. Every player left is assured $32,000, while players who make the final table will take home at least $112,000. The winner of the WPT Festa al Lago will earn $831,000, while the runner-up in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament nabs $564,000. The action concludes tomorrow, so keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT headlines.
Seidel, Harrington Picked for HOF
Seidel and Harrington are the only two players that will be inducted in 2010 and were picked from an elite group of players that included Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy and Scotty Nguyen.
“I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it's an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington,” said Seidel.
“We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career. Both of us refined our games at the Mayfair Club in New York. I have such a high regard for the many members of the Poker Hall of Fame that I have played with over the years and it's a real privilege to be able to join them.”
Seidel, a giant in the poker world, both literally and figuratively, has won eight WSOP gold bracelets, one WPT title and accumulated over $10 million in tournament earnings. Only Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Johnny Moss have won more bracelets.
A New Yorker, Seidel was originally a backgammon player who moved on to the stock market and finally found his way to professional poker.
Seidel was immortalized in the 1998 film Rounders, which showed a clip of his infamous final hand of the 1988 WSOP Main Event where he was trapped by Johnny Chan.
Meanwhile “Action Dan” Harrington, as he’s sometimes known, has two WSOP bracelets (one is for the 1995 WSOP Main Event), one WPT title over $6 million in tournament winnings.
Like Seidel, Harrington is a former Backgammon player who eventually discovered poker. Before becoming a poker player Harrington worked as a bankruptcy lawyer.
In addition to being a successful poker pro, Harrington works in real estate and the stock market.
Harrington is particularly well-known in the poker world for his incredible feat of making back-to-back WSOP Main Event final tables in 2003 and 2004. He is also highly regarded for penning one of the most influential poker strategy books – Harrington on Hold’em.
Both Seidel and Harrington will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in an official ceremony that will take place on Nov. 8 – the final day of the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
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Stephen O’Dwyer Leads WPT Festa al Lago After Day 3
Last December, Stephen O’Dwyer, known in the online poker world as “MrTimCaum,” made the final table and finished sixth in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. On Monday, he’ll look to turn in another deep run in a WPT event by widening his chip lead at the Festa al Lago in Las Vegas. O’Dwyer holds a stack of 844,500 after three days of play, or 140 big blinds.
Forty-one players are left in the hunt for the $831,000 grand prize at the WPT Festa al Lago. Second place on the leaderboard belongs to former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, who amassed a stack of 814,000 on Sunday. Madsen is in pursuit of his first WPT final table, having bubbled the Bay 101 Shooting Star finale three years ago after finishing eighth.
O’Dwyer would have held an even wider lead over the competition if not for an untimely double up of Allen Kessler late in the day. “Chainsaw” was all-in before the flop with A-K of hearts and O’Dwyer showed pocket jacks for a race. Kessler flopped an ace, shot up to 230,000 in chips, and ended the day in 26th place with 259,000.
The conclusion to Sunday’s play saw John Monnette deliver a rare double knockout. Joe Elpayaa and Joe Brandenburg were all-in on a flop of Q-8-4 with two diamonds. Elpayaa turned over A-9 for ace-high, while Brandenburg revealed 6-5 of diamonds for flush and straight draws. Monnette held strong with pocket aces and had both of his opponents covered. The turn was the four of hearts and the river was the three of hearts, sending both Elpayaa and Brandenburg to the rail. Each picked up nearly $13,000 for their three-day run at the Bellagio. Several hands earlier, Elpayaa had hit a runner-runner wheel to double up.
Former WSOP Europe Main Event champion Annette Obrestad, who held the second largest stack entering Sunday’s play, doubled up with jacks against A-K to move to 395,000 in chips. “Annette_15” eased off a bit from there, ending the day with a total of 343,500, which is good for 16th place. Obrestad will be the chip leader at Table 58 on Monday and her company will include the likes of Erik Cajelais, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Ryan Young.
Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith was ousted in 48th place and picked up over $12,000. He came out on the short end of a race with pocket sevens against the A-J of Jimmy Tran in his final hand and headed for the exit. Not as fortunate was Owen Crowe, the Bubble Boy at the Festa al Lago. Smith sealed his in the money finish by relegating Crowe to the rail in 51st place much to the delight of the other players left in the field.
Here’s how the top 10 players on the leaderboard look after three days of play in the WPT Festa al Lago. When the action wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 500:
1. Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer – 844,500
2. Jeff Madsen – 814,000
3. Randal “RandALLin” Flowers – 795,500
4. Andreas Hoivold – 632,500
5. Jason “jakoon1985” Koon – 586,000
6. Lyle Berman – 458,500
7. Ryan Goindoo – 450,000
8. Michael “benvo123” Benvenuti – 444,500
9. Jared Jaffee – 426,500
10. Brandon Steven – 425,000
The rest of the field stacks up as follows, with an average chip count of 326,000:
11. McLean Karr – 388,500
12. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 382,500
13. Brandon Novena – 375,000
14. Andy Frankenberger – 360,500
15. Daniel Alaei – 355,000
16. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 343,500
17. Trevor Pope – 331,500
18. Erik Cajelais – 320,500
19. John Monnette – 313,500
20. Barry Greenstein – 291,500
21. Bobby Suer – 286,000
22. Nancy Todd Tyner – 277,500
23. John Krpan – 275,000
24. Ronald Lee – 267,000
25. Matt “mcmatto” Affleck – 262,500
26. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 259,000
27. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 215,000
28. James St. Hilaire – 214,000
29. Mark Newhouse – 213,500
30. Jeremy Rafalowicz – 209,500
31. Amit “amak316” Makhija – 204,000
32. Mitchell Kessler – 198,000
33. Noah Schwartz – 181,000
34. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista – 180,000
35. Kaied Barkho – 166,000
36. Skip Wilson – 141,500
37. Lauren “locoenlacabeza” Kling – 141,000
38. Jimmy Tran – 123,500
39. Ryan Young – 95,500
40. David “Davidp18” Peters – 93,500
41. Tony Bracy – 68,000
Day 4 will kick off at Noon PT. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT headlines.
WPT Festa al Lago Kicks Off at Bellagio
Day 1 of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago took place on Friday, with 294 players coming to the felts at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Registration remains open until around 5:00pm PT today and, this year, the tournament saw its buy-in shaved from $15,000 to $10,000.
The day began with Tony “Bond18” Dunst being introduced as the WPT “Raw Deal” host. Dunst will become a regular part of WPT programming during Season 9, which will air on Fox Sports Net, and analyze hands in an edgy manner. Dunst defeated poker pros like Joe Sebok and Clonie Gowen for the “Raw Deal” position.
Last year, Tommy Vedes trumped a field of 275 players in the Festa al Lago, meaning that the lower price tag has already resulted in attendance growing by 7%. Vedes departed during the last level of play on Friday, continuing the tradition of no player repeating in a WPT event. Also exiting near the tail end of the day was Unabomber Poker pro Phil Laak, who moved all-in on a board of 5-4-2-9-6 holding A-K of clubs for ace-high. Arnaud Mattern ultimately tanked for several minutes before calling and tabling pocket tens.
Former November Niner and WPT champ Chino Rheem hit the rail after running K-J offsuit into a wired pair of aces. Rheem was all-in before the flop and watched as his opponent promptly hit a set. Rheem took down the 2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1.5 million.
Propelling up the leaderboard at the WPT Festa al Lago was Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka. The Illinois native called all-in on a board of 8-4-2-Q-7 and showed pocket tens. His opponent muttered “Good call” and flipped up pocket threes, resulting in a critical double up for Jaka. He owns the 91st largest stack in the room entering Day 2 at 56,475 and his competition at Table 55 today will include Randall Flowers, former WPT champ Todd Terry, Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo, and WPT Legends of Poker winner Andy Frankenberger.
WPT host Mike Sexton, a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and Guest Columnist for Poker News Daily, was eliminated after pocket queens cracked his pocket aces. Jae Sik spiked a two-outer on the river and Sexton hit the rail. Fellow PartyPoker pro Kara Scott, who was playing in her very first WPT tournament, also failed to survive to see Day 2.
Payman Arjang leads the field with a stack of 217,875 and a bevy of well-known poker pros appear in the top 10. Others near the top of the leaderboard include online poker pro David “Davidp18” Peters, prankster Jeff Madsen, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi:
1. Payman Arjang – 217,875
2. Peter Braglia – 160,100
3. David “Davidp18” Peters – 141,425
4. Jeff Madsen – 139,375
5. Alexander Shogren – 125,625
6. Amit “amak316” Makhija – 125,500
7. Josef Monro – 124,775
8. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 119,400
9. Brandon Novena – 118,975
10. Ryan Young – 115,900
Also making Day 2 was UB.com pro Joe Sebok, who Tweeted on his way home last night, “Bit of an up and downer, started with 40k, up to 90k, down to 60k, up to 108k, but settled at 92k to end the day. Satisfied.” He added, “There are few things as interesting as walking through casinos sober on Friday & Saturday nights.” Sebok can be found at #30 on the leaderboard with a stack of 91,900.
Brand name pros who walked away on Friday with top 50 chip stacks include:
12. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 113,950
19. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 102,625
24. John “World” Hennigan – 98,975
27. David Williams – 94,750
28. John Juanda – 92,525
30. Joe Sebok – 91,900
32. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke – 88,600
33. Jeff Shulman – 87,100
37. Barry Greenstein – 84,150
43. Brandon Cantu – 81,000
44. Jennifer Tilly – 79,100
47. Vanessa Selbst – 78,700
The action picks back up today at Noon PT and the final payouts will be posted once registration closes after Level 8.
WPT Festa al Lago Draws Poker’s Best
As always, the cream of the poker crop returned to poker's mecca for what is now a $10k event, including Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Annette Obrestad and, fresh out of Bobby's Room, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra.
A total of 294 registered for play on Day 1, already surpassing the 275 who entered the $15k Festa main event in 2009.
However, the unique Bellagio structure allows players to register all the way up until the end of the eighth 90-minute level on Day 2 and even more are expected.
Payman Arjang holds the overnight lead with a host of poker greats close, including Obrestad, Amit Makhija, John "The World" Hennigan, Men Nguyen, Arnaud Mattern, Ryan Young, and David Peters.
215 players moved through to Day 2 with Negreanu, Juanda, Greenstein, Sorel Mizzi, Erica Schoenberg, Scott Clements, CardPlayer 2010 POY contender Thomas Marchese and Kara Scott among those sitting above the average stack.
Day 2 begins at 12 p.m. PT Saturday. The Festa al Lago main event runs through Oct. 20.
For live coverage of the event tune in to PokerListings' WPT Live Updates.
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Tags: 2009, 2010, Barry Greenstein, bellagio, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, kara scott, tournament
Doyle Brunson: Who is the hottest poker babe?
Doyle Brunson writes really awesome Twitter messages, or “tweets” as they say. Just recently the poker’s greatest legend created a list of questions to his twitter followers and the results are now here.
Doyle asked three poker related questions: 1) Which poker player would you like to have sex with, 2) Which poker player would you like to hang out with and 3) Poker payer you would like to kill?
Top three ladies to have sex with:
Number 1: Shannon Elizabeth
Number 2: Vanessa Rousso
Number 3: Jennifer Tilly
The editorial staff is just asking: hey guys, where’s Liv Boeree?
The men’s top 3 to have sex with were 1) Gus Hansen, 2) Patrik Antonius and 3) Phil Ivey. What seems a bit awkward is that Jen Tilly got some votes in the men’s category as well.
Doyle fans would like to hang out with Phil Laak and if the “Unabomber” isn’t around, Gavin Smith and/or Daniel Negreanu were the next favorable buddies.
The top 3 “kill list” was: 1) Phil Hellmuth, 2) Russ Hamilton and 3) PartyPoker’s Tony G.
Check out Doyle’s Twitter page for more.
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Doyle Brunson blogs about Poker Hall of Fame nominees
Shannon Elizabeth tops sexiest poker player poll
WPT Five Diamond Satellites Begin
PartyPoker satellites begin Monday Oct. 18 offering players the chance to win a $14,000 package including the $10,300 buy-in, $2,000 spending money and a room at the Bellagio.
The site will run a main $700+$50 qualifier at 2:15 ET every Sunday beginning Oct. 24, giving away one package for every 20 players.
"The WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic at Bellagio is among the most famous stops on the World Poker Tour," said a PartyPoker spokesperson.
"If you look at the previous winners of this world famous tournament it reads like a who’s who of poker. Nobody has won the event on a freeroll before, but this year it is possible through PartyPoker.com’s qualifying structure.”
In the meantime, UB.net is gearing up to send one player to Vegas to be part of the event, scheduled to play Dec. 3-8.
The site is hosting a series of daily freerolls through Nov. 28, culminating with a Main Event freeroll that will award a $12,000 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic prize package.
The top 100 players in each of the first two qualifying rounds move on to the Main Event freeroll where the package is up for grabs.
UB ran a similar promotion foir this week's WPT Festa al Lago event at Bellagio.
ROBODOT bested a field of 695 players to win the seat.
"I love the site and the service, and I've had an excellent experience playing on UB," he said. "I plan on playing even more tourneys now with the money I won. I followed my plan and it paid off. Thank you very much to UB."
Last year, Daniel Alaei won the WPT Five Diamond title and $1.4 million after defeating a final table that included Scotty Nguyen, Josh Arieh and Shawn Buchanan.
Visit PokerListings.com
The Nightly Turbo: PokerStars Regional Championship of Online Poker, Brunson Blogs About the Hall of Fame, and More
UB.com Sending Freeroll Winner to WPT Five Diamond Classic
Starting this week, online poker room UB.com is holding a special series of freerolls featuring a spectacular grand prize: a $12,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic package.
The road to the Five Diamond Classic consists of three rounds, none of which requires a single penny to be spent. Round 1 freerolls will run six times every day from October 11th to November 27th. Starting at 12:30am ET and running every four hours through 8:30pm ET, each daily freeroll will send the top 100 finishers to Round 2.
The Round 2 freerolls are of the weekly variety and will be held each Sunday at 4:00pm ET through November 28th. Once again, the top 100 in each Round 2 freeroll will advance to the next round.
The third round is the Main Event of this freeroll series and will take place on Sunday, November 28th at 8:00pm ET. The winner of that tournament will be awarded the $12,000 Five Diamond World Poker Classic prize package, which includes the $10,000 + 300 buy-in to the tournament at the Bellagio in Las Vegas plus $1,700 for travel and accommodations.
In addition to the grand prize at the end of the entire freeroll series, players will also have the chance to compete for a special Wireless Poker Controller, a device favored by many players over the standard mouse and keyboard combination. The top 75 finishers in each of the Round 2 weekly freerolls will win a seat into one of two “Side Events,” slated for October 31st and November 21st at 8:30pm ET. The winner of each of these tournaments will receive a Wireless Poker Controller.
The Controller, made by Poker Controls, is about the size and shape of a hand-held video game controller. Features include bet, check/call, and fold buttons along with table switch triggers, pre-defined bet level buttons, a Raise-O-Meter dial, and even an anti-tilt button that will lockout a player from the tables for a pre-determined about of time.
Last year, the WPT saw 329 players compete in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, creating a prize pool of $4,761,450. The star-studded televised final table featured Faraz Jaka, Shawn Buchanan, Scotty Nguyen, and Stephen O’Dwyer, with Daniel Alaei besting Josh Arieh heads-up to win the $1,428,430 first prize. It was Alaei’s first WPT final table and WPT win, helping him finish 10th on the 2009 live tournament money list.
The WPT hopes attendance will improve in 2010, as 2009′s Five Diamond Main Event was significantly smaller than 2008′s version, which had 497 participants and a $7,231,350 prize pool. The Main Event in 2007 was even larger, the largest Five Diamond Main Event in history in fact, with 667 runners vying for the $9,661,200 prize pool. The 2009 Main Event was the smallest since 2003, when Paul Phillips defeated 313 other players to win $1,100,000.
Other past winners of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic include Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, and Joe Hachem.
UB.com is a member of the CEREUS Network along with its sister site, Absolute Poker. The CEREUS Network has been battling the International Poker Network (IPN), Microgaming Network, and PokerStars‘ French offering, PokerStars.fr, for spots in the lower half of the top ten poker rooms/networks based on cash game traffic. According to PokerScout.com, Cereus is the eighth most popular network, tied with PokerStars.fr with a seven-day average of 1,780 cash game players. Just last week, CEREUS sat in the 10th spot, but has since advanced past IPN (1,580 seven-day average) and Microgaming (1,740).
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, absolute poker, bellagio, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, freeroll, Gus Hansen, Online Poker, pokerstars, tournament, vegas
Daniel Negreanu Drops $200,000 on Monday’s Big Game Episode
After ending up $16,000 last week, Russell Harlow became the first “Loose Cannon” to return for a second go-around on the PokerStars-sponsored “Big Game.” To start this week’s festivities, $700,000 was spread across the six-handed table and Harlow told “Big Game” hostess Amanda Leatherman that it was time to “go big or go home.” You can catch the “Big Game” late night every day this week on FOX.
The “Big Game” boasts blinds of $200/$400 and a $100 ante paid entirely by the player on the button. The action is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter and the maximum buy-in is $500,000. The “Loose Cannon” qualifier with the highest earnings total at the end of the season takes home a $50,000 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) prize package.
In the first major pot of the night, PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein led out for $10,000 with A-Q of diamonds on a flop of Q-2-3 with one diamond for top pair. Daniel Negreanu, holding pocket kings, came along, as did DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson, who spiked a pair of threes. The turn was the three of diamonds, giving Brunson trips, and the “Godfather of Poker” led out for $21,000. Greenstein and Negreanu both called to see a four of diamonds on the river, filling Greenstein’s flush.
Greenstein moved all-in for $60,000, Negreanu tanked before folding, and Brunson called to send the $232,800 pot to Greenstein. Negreanu and Brunson each added $100,000 to their dwindling stacks.
Negreanu continued to bleed chips, calling Brunson’s $86,100 all-in on a board reading 10-7-10-5 with 7-4 for tens-up. Brunson turned over pocket rockets for aces-up and the pair agreed to run the river twice. Both final cards favored Brunson, who raked in a $223,800 pot. Brunson quipped, “I love to play small ball,” and Negreanu was down $141,000 after just nine hands.
Harlow continued to prove that he was anything but timid by 3betting to $22,000 with A-8 of diamonds on a flop of 10-7-9 for a two-way straight draw. Lex Veldhuis, the original bettor on the flop with A-J of spades, abandoned ship, as did Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, who held K-Q of the suit. The pot boosted Harlow’s “Big Game” profits to $35,000.
The big pots kept coming on an electrifying episode of the PokerStars “Big Game.” After missing straight and flush draws on the turn and river against Greenstein’s top pair, Negreanu fired out a bet of $32,500 on a board reading 6-10-Q-5-4 with K-J of clubs for king-high. Greenstein called behind with Q-8 and scooped a $111,200 pot, pushing “Kid Poker” even further into the red.
In the final hand of Monday’s kickoff episode, Bonomo, holding A-J of spades, checked a flop of 8-7-Q with two spades. With 10-6 of spades, Veldhuis bet $6,700 and Bonomo made it $18,000. Veldhuis moved all-in for $107,000 and Bonomo called quickly to build a $223,000 pot. Veldhuis elected to run it only once and an ace on the turn and three on the river sent the $223,000 bounty to Bonomo. By the time the hour-long show had wrapped up, every person at the table sans Harlow had played a pot worth at least $200,000. Brunson actually played two and won one.
At the end of 29 hands, Greenstein and Bonomo were each up over $100,000, while Negreanu was $201,000 in the hole. Harlow was up $18,000, adding about $2,000 to his stack during the episode. Watch “Big Game” nightly on FOX. Check your local listings for station and channel information.
Scott Montgomery Rolled, Doyle Brunson Polls and Fall Sports Start From Poker In Twitter
This weekend from poker players on Twitter was a jambalaya of interests, but by far the most concerning one came from Scott Montgomery while at the Bellagio for the last few preliminary events prior to the World Poker Tour‘s (WPT) Festa al Lago event.
While in the facilities at the Bellagio, it appears that Montgomery was robbed. “Got mugged today at Bellagio,” Montgomery Tweeted to his followers on Sunday evening. “Black guy pulled a knife on me in the restroom. I gave him the $2k in my wallet and he left.”
According to Montgomery, the staff at the Bellagio were less than helpful. “I called security, but they took like 15 mins so they didn’t catch him. They are useless twits. Didn’t even ask me to look at camera footage.” Montgomery finished off his Tweet series by saying, “Security pretty much just said oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. I’m pretty annoyed.” His girlfriend, Annette Obrestad, was outraged, Tweeting, “@scotmont got just got robbed at Bellagio restroom… Security didn’t give a s**t… how does this even happen?”
The news over Twitter of Montgomery’s situation was made a bit lighter by a poll that Doyle Brunson set up late last week. “The Godfather of Poker” asked his Twitter followers to respond to him about several categories regarding people in the poker community. These subjects included which poker player would be best to sleep with, which poker player would be the best to hang out with, and which poker player inspired thoughts of homicide. As usual with Doyle, the responses were handed out with a bit of fun.
“OK, enough. Thousands want the results,” Brunson Tweeted. “Poker player you want to have sex with. 1.Shannon Elizabeth 2. Vanessa Rousso 3. Jennifer Tilly.” Brunson even went as far as to indicate who the ladies were most interested in, Tweeting, “The girls voted best I could tell 1. Gus Hanson 2. Patrik Antonius 3. Phil Ivey.” In what may be a bit of a surprise, Brunson said, “Jen Tilly made both lists for the sex!”
As far as the player who earned the votes for hanging out, Brunson chirped, “Poker player you want to hang out with. 1.Phil Laak 2.Gavin Smith 3. Daniel Negreanu.” Brunson then finished off his informal poll by Tweeting, “Poker player you want to kill. 1. Phil Hellmuth 2. Russ Hamilton 3.Tony G. Looks like most of the voters were guys.”
Fall is the prime time for professional sports in the United States, with the NFL season reaching full throttle, the MLB playoffs beginning, and other sports opening up their seasons. Joe Sebok Tweeted the displeasure of Cubs fans when, as he was watching the opening credits of the MLB playoffs, he Tweeted, “Really? Have to put the Mo Alou/Steve Bartman foul drop in the baseball playoffs promo vid? Really?! As if we cubs fans don’t suffer enough.”
A few of poker’s family had teams to cheer for in the MLB playoffs, though. UB.com sponsored player/adult entertainer Samantha Ryan chirped at WPT reporter B.J. Nemeth, “So sorry bout ur Braves, k, not really, go Giants! What a game! So sick! My heart was racing and my hands and throat hurt!” Nemeth talked some Twitter trash back at Ryan, saying, “Maybe the Braves (in the next game) will score a lot of runs early to protect your frail body from the stress of a close game.”
The fifth week of the NFL season was “must see” television for some, with Negreanu settling in to watch on the road. “Watching the game and have to deal with this genius wearing a Vick jersey,” Negreanu Tweeted along with a picture. “I’d like to burn it (the jersey) personally,” Negreanu finished, referencing Eagles quarterback Michael Vick’s prior transgressions.
From the action on the field, it appeared as though Lee Childs and David Williams were cheering for opposing sides. “Let’s go Titans, “ Childs Tweeted as the Tennessee squad held on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys. Williams was disillusioned with the performance of “America’s Team” to the point of Tweeting, “Romo is so awful, sucks cause I’m a Cowboys fan.” Eugene Todd was also down about the Cowboys’ performance, although he placed the blame on another source: “Dallas will never win anything because their coach is a moron. They make more mistakes than everyone in NFL.”
For the funniest Tweets from the past few days, we have to start with the always entertaining Erik Seidel, who decided to make a stand by Tweeting, “To protest Nobel prize winner Liu Xiaobo’s incarceration in China, I’m boycotting Panda Express until he’s freed.” Jennifer Harman finally found some limitations in her vast array of talents when she Tweeted, “I wish I could sing. I was singing to my son and he said, “No mommy, please, no mommy.” I guess I can’t be a rock star.” Finally, Joe Reitman pointed out while dining the other night, “At a new store opening on Melrose. They have a naked girl you can eat sushi off. I’m sorry, but something tells me that just isn’t sanitary.”
Annie Duke Comments on CEREUS Sale, Poker Hall of Fame
Poker News Daily: The CEREUS Network was recently acquired by Blanca Games, which is managed by Stuart Gordon. What were your thoughts when you heard about the transaction?
Annie Duke: It’s a very positive thing for the brand. The cheating was purportedly under the auspices of Excapsa in terms of software development and the person developing it was able to get into the group through his involvement with them. I’m happy that the brand is making a clean break from that and that’s part of being able to move on. I’ve always felt like the full brunt of what happened was really put on the current UB.com management.
PND: What personnel changes do you anticipate with the new ownership regime?
Annie Duke: I have tremendous faith in Paul Leggett. My understanding is that there won’t be any change in terms of his role. I think perhaps this will be an opportunity to do some house cleaning, but I don’t really know. Paul staying is a good thing because in every aspect of what’s happened, when you look around and see who has behaved, he’s been the most forthright and the most forthcoming. He’s had the most integrity and he’s taken a lot of blame. He’s gone above and beyond and I’ve been very impressed with how he’s handled everything that’s happened.
PND: What can you tell us about Stuart Gordon?
Annie Duke: I don’t know much about him. He owns BingoMania.com and has a lot of experience in the space. He won’t be involved in day-to-day operations as far as I know. He’s more of an investor.
PND: Are you happy that the war of words with Daniel Negreanu is behind you?
Annie Duke: I was satisfied with PokerStars’ accountability and still continue to believe that Daniel can express whatever views he wants to with whatever language he wants to use.
PND: The list of 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was released in recent weeks. What are your thoughts on the group?
Annie Duke: My vote is for Erik Seidel. He has eight bracelets and been under-appreciated. I Tweeted for people to go and vote for him. Doyle Brunson was also throwing his hat into the ring for Erik.
PND: Should Phil Ivey and Negreanu, both in their 30s, be seriously considered by the voting panel?
Annie Duke: No one under 40 should get in. I could see an argument for Ivey just because he’s accomplished so much at the age he is, but at the same time, it’s so easy to say that it doesn’t matter because they’ll be just as deserving when they’re over 40. This should be about career accomplishments.
Poker is interesting because in other sports, if you’re active, you’re not eligible. That’s because most sports require a physical aspect where you’d be retiring before you can be considered for a Hall of Fame.
While Ivey certainly has the credentials to get in, he’s going to be a shoo-in in five years. At the moment, Chip Reese is the youngest person inducted at 40. I would work very hard to keep it that way. Chip really represented something in poker that was so amazing and did such amazing things. Preserving that sort of honor of being the youngest member in the Hall of Fame is something we should be striving for.
PND: Convince the voting panel of living Hall of Fame members and members of the media to vote for Seidel.
Annie Duke: Erik Seidel should be in there. He has eight bracelets. He has so many titles. This is someone who has done amazing things year in and year out. The guy behaves with such grace in a sport where grace is really needed. He’s always so graceful and so sportsmanlike. He’s deeply thoughtful, deeply intelligent, and has massive integrity. This guy should be held up as the standard for what we should be doing. I feel strongly that he should be honored.
PND: Is there anyone else you’d consider?
Annie Duke: Linda Johnson would be my second choice in terms of what she’s contributed in terms of her vision, what she did with the WPT at the beginning, and what she’s done for women in poker. In terms of looking at someone as an innovator and bringing poker into the spotlight, she really deserves it.
PND: Are you bummed out that we’re not talking about the Aruba Poker Classic this year?
Annie Duke: Aruba was the thing that in a lot of ways defined UB in terms of setting it off from other brands and the thing that allowed UB to weather a very significant storm. We had a strong sense of community. The players who were really loyal to UB felt like they were a family and a large part of that was Aruba. Every year, you’d go to this event and see the same faces and new faces and all of that community building was import to the brand and the survival of the brand.
From that standpoint, it’s important for them to have it. It’s something that’s key to the identity of UB. I was very sad that it was canceled this year and I hope they’ll bring it back or bring something that will create a strong sense of community. I don’t want to see a situation where people on UB are anonymous.
PND: Talk about watching the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship unfold on GSN every Saturday night. What did you think about Annette Obrestad critiquing Huck Seed’s play a few weeks back?
Annie Duke: It has actually been extremely interesting to watch. When I was paired with Huck, I wanted him to think I played well. Given Huck’s record and the brilliance of his poker game, if I disagreed with something Huck did, I would assume he did something that I didn’t understand. I would actually ask Huck to explain the play.
When I first came around poker and had just started to play big limits in 1998, I was playing with Ted Forrest. We can agree that Ted has a very unconventional style, but he is obviously a successful player. When I first started playing with him, I thought he was terrible. Pretty quickly, I figured out that he was pretty successful, so maybe there was something I was missing. What I realized was that he wasn’t playing badly, but most of the time, he was doing things I truly didn’t understand.
My game drastically improved because I took a step back from what my initial reaction was. That’s a lesson that every young poker player has to learn. When you realize that what you don’t understand isn’t necessarily bad, it’s a huge step in your development as a player. Maybe Annette will take a look back and learn from that. Annette is an excellent player and extremely talented and when she becomes a more mature player, she’ll be great. This is just an issue of opening up your mind instead of immediately shutting someone off and dismissing them.
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, cheat, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, poker player, pokerstars, women
October 8 – PND Weekly Update
PND presents our weekly news update of all the top poker headlines for the week of October 4th through the 8th.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Poker News Daily Weekly Update!
On Monday night, 23 year-old Brit David Vamplew took down the European Poker Tour’s London Main Event for 900,000 Pounds, which works out to nearly one and a half million dollars. And for extra bragging rights, he defeated Full Tilt Poker pro John Juanda, who cashed for the second straight year. Juanda was chip leader during most of the final table, but Vamplew managed to cripple him through several hands. The decisive hand had Juanda all in pre-flop with King-Deuce suited and knocked out by Vamplew’s Ace-Three. Prior to Monday, Vamplew’s largest live cash was a meager … SIX thousand dollars. Well done, David!
The eighteenth edition of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, will kick off on November 10th. Once again, Full Tilt Poker will host 34 FTOPS tournaments, culminating in a six hundred and forty-dollar buy-in Main Event on November twenty-first that will shell out at least three million dollars. All told, Full Tilt is guaranteeing over nineteen million dollars in this installment of FTOPS. During FTOPS seventeen, which ran throughout the month of August, over 4,500 players turned out for the kickoff event, creating a prize pool approaching one million bucks. Brent Roberts was the champion of the first tournament and pulled down one hundred and sixty four thousand dollars.
Today, UB.com poker pro Joe Sebok rappelled down fifty-one stories at the Masquerade Tower at the Rio Las Vegas to raise money for Special Olympics Nevada. The Over the Edge fundraiser allows participants to rappel fifty-one stories in exchange for raising a minimum of one thousand dollars for charity. Another poker celebrity who showed interest in the cause is adult star and UB celebrity Samantha Ryan. This year, the Over the Edge event has raised nearly forty thousand dollars.
Bodog announced that it has signed an advertising deal with the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer, led by world recognized superstars David Beckham and Landon Donovan. The agreement gives Bodog.net additional exposure through ad placements on the LA Galaxy’s stadium. Ed Pownall, Global PR Director at BodogBrand.com, declared:
“Both the LA Galaxy and Bodog brands are recognized around the globe, making this partnership not only mutually beneficial, but a perfect synergy across the United States and beyond.”
The Galaxy are in their 15th season in the MLS and coming off a runner-up finish in the two thousand and nine MLS Cup, losing on penalty kicks to Real Salt Lake.
WELL – Want a Caribbean poker holiday? Ya, who wouldn’t! Each Sunday this month, Doyle’s Room will be awarding valuable prize packages for the Punta Cana Poker Classic, which will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in the Dominican Republic. The Classic will take place Wednesday, November tenth through Sunday, November fourteenth in the popular resort city on the eastern tip of the Caribbean nation. Doyle Brunson WILL be there, as will many of the site’s top pros.
After a pretty poor run at the EPT London, Tom Dwan is back in style. According to HighStakesDB.com, Dwan hit the tables against Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies on Sunday night at Full Tilt Poker. They were playing at the nosebleed stakes of five hundred – one thousand Pot Limit Omaha. Sahamies dropped a grand total of over one point two MILLION dollars in roughly one thousand hands against Dwan. Counting his action against “Ziigmund” and other play, “durrrr” finished off the night with over one and a half million dollars in profit.
Well, these were the top poker headlines this week. Don’t miss us next Friday for another executive recap of the week in Poker. I’m Sean Gibson and all of us at Poker News Daily wish you a great poker week!
Tags: bodog, charity, Doyle Brunson, european, full tilt poker, Online Poker, poker player, Tom Dwan, tournament, usa, vegas
Doyle Brunson Comments on Poker Hall of Fame Balloting
One of the many activities during the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table is the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Who makes it in this year remains to be seen, but one of the most valued members of the poker community, Poker Hall of Fame member Doyle Brunson, has given his thoughts on the matter.
Coming back after a long hiatus from his blog, Doyle opined this week about who he felt would be the best players to elect into the Hall. “I’m primarily a cash game player and perhaps I put too much emphasis on the cash games, but I don’t see how it can’t be the most important landmark,” Brunson states when it comes to the considerations. “I consider all of the nominees to be friends and, for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.”
Brunson reiterates the criteria for election to the Poker Hall of Fame quite succinctly, which every poker fan knows by heart: “The criteria for being in the Hall are simple. A player must have played against top competition, played for high stakes and played consistently well, gaining the respect of their peers. (The player must have) stood the test of time and contributed to the overall growth and success to the game of poker.”
Brunson views a few players as not quite ready for their entry into the Hall. For the two female nominees, Jennifer Harman and Linda Johnson, Brunson feels that both are qualified, but not quite yet worthy of entry. For Harman, Brunson states, “Jen meets all the requirements. I’ve always considered her to be the all-time best female player. However, her sex doesn’t matter here and she will probably need a few more years before she goes in.” For Johnson, Brunson says, “Loved by everyone, but probably isn’t a strong candidate this year.”
Two former Main Event champions in the mix, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Scotty Nguyen, also have their issues, according to Brunson. “Chris is a worthy candidate even though he doesn’t meet (the first two) criteria for entry,” Brunson notes. “Even though he hasn’t played much outside tournaments, he is so strong in the other three that he has to be considered. Probably not yet though.” For Nguyen, Brunson says, “(He) needs to live up to his nickname, ‘The Prince of Poker.’ He meets all five criteria, but is going to have to wait until his behavior in his win in the $50K H.O.R.S.E tournament fades from people’s memory.”
Of the six remaining nominees – Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Erik Seidel – Brunson leans in favor of the induction of Seidel to the Poker Hall of Fame. “I gave almost all of my votes to Erik,” Brunson says in his blog. “Most people don’t remember his cash game play, but he was in all of the games in his early career. He meets all the requirements and his exemplary conduct deserves a special accolade.” Perhaps the greatest accolade that Brunson could lay out is in his final comment about Seidel: “He reminds me of Chip Reese.”
As to his second choice, Brunson seems torn between Greenstein and Ivey. “You can’t find a criteria Barry doesn’t meet,” he writes. “If not this year, next year for sure.” As for Ivey, Doyle simply says, “Who,” jovially indicating his approval of one of the most feared players in the game.
In the end, Brunson says that Seidel should be inducted a few weeks from now. “If Seidel isn’t one of the inductees, I’ll be very surprised,” Brunson says. “I think the second choice will be Greenstein or Ivey. I feel it should be Barry but, if Phil is the one, I’ll have no objection, even though I feel he should wait until he is older.”
The 17 living members of the Hall and a selected committee of poker journalists, which includes Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, vote for the Poker Hall of Fame finalists. Each voter is given 10 points to hand out in any way they deem appropriate; the top two vote getters will earn induction into the Hall. This is a change from past voting, where a nominee had to be selected on 75% of the ballots to be enshrined.
On November 7th, as a part of the 2010 WSOP November Nine festivities, the top two in the voting will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in a special ceremony.
Doyle Brunson, Online Qualifiers Heading to Dominican Republic
The nice thing about online poker is that you can play cards from anywhere. Rain or shine, hot or cold, weekend or weekday, it makes no difference as long as you have a reliable internet connection. But sometimes it’s fun to pack a suitcase and travel somewhere with natural sunlight, even if it is just to play poker. Enter ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Doyle Brunson and his online poker room, DoylesRoom.
Each Sunday this month, Doyle’s Room will be awarding valuable prize packages for the Punta Cana Poker Classic, which will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in the Dominican Republic. The Classic will take place Wednesday, November 10th through Sunday, November 14th in the popular resort city on the eastern tip of the Caribbean nation. Brunson will be there, of course, as will many of DoylesRoom‘s top pros and the Brunson 10. The latter group is comprised of up-and-coming online poker phenoms hand selected by The Godfather of Poker himself: Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, Amit “amak316” Makhija, Dani “ansky” Stern, Chris “moorman1” Moorman, Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Dan “djk123” Kelly, and David “Doc Sands” Sands.
Each Sunday at 4:00pm ET leading up to Punta Cana Poker Classic, DoylesRoom will hold a $150 + $12 qualifier in which it plans to award a $3,100 prize package. The package includes the $1,000 + $100 buy-in to the $100,000 Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event, $1,000 for travel (players will need to make their own flight arrangements), four nights at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino, shuttle service to and from the airport, all-inclusive food and beverage, 24-hour room service, admission to the “Dominican Night” opening event, a 50% discount on golf fees, and additional discounts on spa treatments. While the prize pool for the Main Event is guaranteed to be $100,000, it is expected to reach at least $250,000.
One item of note is that while most online qualifiers award “at least” one prize package no matter how many players register, this is not the case for the Punta Cana Finals at DoylesRoom. If the prize pool does not reach $3,100 (21 players), no prize package will be awarded. In that case, the prize pool will distributed as if it were a normal tournament.
For those who do not want to shell out $162 for a shot at the Punta Cana Poker Classic prize package, there are lower buy-in satellites with which to start. Sub-qualifiers will be held every four hours starting at 1:00am ET and will cost $2 + $0.2. These will feed into the $20 + $2 semi-finals, which will also run every four hours each day starting at 2:00am ET. An alternate daily semi-final will also be held every four hours starting at 2:00am ET. This one will be a $10 + $1 rebuy tournament. Both semi-finals will feed into the finals, which, as stated earlier, will commence each Sunday at 4:00pm ET.
DoylesRoom makes its home on the U.S.-friendly Cake Poker Network. According to PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network, which is also home to Power Poker, Phil Laak‘s Unabomber Poker, Victory Poker, and its namesake Cake Poker, is the 19th largest network/poker room on the internet. It is technically tied for 18th with Everest Poker in terms of seven-day average cash game game traffic, but Everest’s daily peak is higher. The Cake Poker Network has fallen on tough times over the past year, losing a couple of key skins to the Merge Gaming Network and weathering a security problem with its software. As a result, the network’s cash game traffic has declined 49% year over year.
DoylesRoom anticipates volume to pick up with the recent unveiling of its new Doyles Rewards program, which replaces the network-wide Gold Cards and Gold Chips. The poker room bills it as the most generous rewards program in the industry, boasting valuable cash prizes, bonuses, and a multitude of store items for the poker room’s loyal patrons.?
Leaving London And Tony “Bond18” Dunst’s New Gig From Twitter In Poker
The blitzkrieg of poker in London has finally come to an end, with many in the poker world reporting their success – or failure – on the felt over Twitter as they return home.
One of the players who seemed down about taking a nice score was Andrew Robl. “Busted in 3rd for 198K Pounds,” Robl Tweeted after exiting the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) £20,000 High Roller Event on Monday. “Disappointed. Played ok, made one call I didn’t like. Lost 1.6 mill pot near end with AJ vs A8.” Someone who was a bit happier about their performance was Full Tilt pro John Juanda, who Tweeted, “Finished 2nd in EPT London (£500,000). Not too bad for 5 day work! Congrats to the Champ David Vamplew.”
With the EPT Main Event and High Roller Event out of the way, there were still two tournaments on tap for those wanting a last bit of action before heading out of London. “One final event in London today,” Scott Montgomery reported to his fans. “1K turbo bounty. Flying to Vegas tomorrow for WPT.” The turbo tournament didn’t go so well for Montgomery, as he busted on Tuesday in slightly over two hours. “Insta bust on a coin flip. sigh. London was a total waste,” he ruefully Tweeted. Also running bad in the turbo were Jason Mercier (“Busto turbo. Busted w bout 30 people left. 70 played meh lost a big flip. Can’t wait to go home tomorrow.”) and Scott Seiver (“Now official, bricked London. Looking forward to the other side of the Atlantic again.”).
For those that didn’t want to participate in the final events of the EPT London, the NBA’s annual pilgrimage to Europe, featuring the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves, was prime viewing Monday night. “Many thanks to Frank Mariani and Jerry Buss for 3rd row center Lakers tickets at the O2 in London,” Allen Kessler chirped. “Finally heading back to the states today.” Also at the game due to Buss’ generosity was Chad Brown, who Tweeted, “Went to see the Lakers play in London last night with the Lakers owner and some friends. Flying back to Vegas today.”
Christian “charder30” Harder was also at the Lakers game, where he noted the popularity of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. “So many Kobe jerseys everywhere. Kobe is so huge all over the world. Funny b/c he might not be the best player on his own team anymore.” After catching some heat over his Twitter account, Harder fired back, “I know blasphemy! Casual fans can’t comprehend that LeBron and Wade are better then Kobe. Btw I am a Kobe fan… as crazy as it sounds.”
The casting call for “The Raw Deal,” the new segment on the World Poker Tour (WPT) broadcasts, have been completed, with young poker professional Tony “Bond18” Dunst being named the host. Congratulations rolled in for Dunst, with Jonathan Aguiar chirping, “Congrats to Bond on landing the WPT Raw Deal gig, despite the fact he’s just doing it to hit on the Royal Flush Girls.” Alex Outhred also handed out some laurels to Dunst, Tweeting, “2nd best choice after me!” Dunst was welcomed to the WPT fold by Kimberly Lansing, who Tweeted, “Welcome to the team, @Bond_18!”
Stepping up to the role of movie and television critics on Twitter were two top professionals in the world of poker. “Was a movie weekend for me,” Jennifer Harman reported to her followers. “Saw The Town and The Social Network. Thought both were excellent movies.” Carter King, for his part, was on the tube watching “Pawn Stars” and commenting, “Watching pawn stars lady brings in jewelry ask for 2K, guy says he has conscience and offers her 15K, she then ask for more. Normally I’d make fun of guy but, on a TV show, making that move is worth way more then the 13K he could of made by screwing her.”
For the best Tweets of the past few days, we start with the always reliable Doyle Brunson: “I disagree with Kay Jewelers. More kisses (and other stuff) begin with Miller Lite than with Kay.” Joe Reitman made an observation about clothing styles when he Tweeted, “A young kid wears a vintage Iron Maiden shirt & its hip. I wear it & I look like a dude who went to the concert 20 years ago & never evolved.” Finally, Prahlad Friedman explained his recent lack of success in poker: “Cole South once told me that I have figured out poker, but I’m addicted to experimenting with different styles. Been experimenting lately.”
DoylesRoom Launches Doyles Rewards Program
Launching on the USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom is the all-new Doyles Rewards program. The loyalty program is already live for non-rakeback players and will be launching in the near future for those with rakeback. Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson fronts the room, which makes its home on the Cake Poker Network.
The Doyles Rewards program has six tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Doyles Elite, and Doyles Legends. The loyalty program, which in some ways mirrors rewards programs that various airlines offer, gives players a heavy incentive to climb up the ladder. Frequent Player Points, or FPPs, move players around and DoylesRoom members will earn Brunson Bucks as their currency to spend on the Cake Poker Network room.
Players can turn Brunson Bucks into as much as $3,000 in cold hard cash every month on DoylesRoom as part of the new rewards program. According to DoylesRoom officials, “This becomes the highest monthly limit on spendable currency exchange for any loyalty program available.” Players can also head to the DoylesRoom Store to spend their Brunson Bucks on whatever suits their fancy.
DoylesRoom patrons can also purchase bonuses through the brand new rewards program. Bronze level players can buy up to $100 in bonuses per month, while those at the prestigious Doyles Legends level can purchase an unlimited amount of bonuses monthly. DoylesRoom officials tout this arrangement as being the most generous in the industry, even more so than the world’s busiest online poker site, PokerStars.
But wait, there’s more! Anyone who ascends to the Platinum level of the new DoylesRoom rewards program will receive a copy of Brunson’s recently released autobiography, “The Godfather of Poker.” The book comprehensively examines the life of “Texas Dolly” and opens with a recount of an armed robbery at his Las Vegas home. Brunson has become the quintessential icon of the poker industry and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame 22 years ago.
Players who reach the Doyles Legend level will receive leather-bound copies of both volumes of Brunson’s masterpiece “Super System.” In addition, they’ll receive a 9% APR interest-bearing account. The first edition of “Super System” includes sections written by poker icons like “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro, Chip Reese, David Sklansky, and Bobby Baldwin. It can be found on the bookshelves of the game’s top players.
Poker News Daily has learned that a dedicated web page for Doyles Rewards is in the works and will be unleashed shortly. In addition, the main DoylesRoom.com site will also be receiving a small makeover.
DoylesRoom features sponsored pros like Caro and Hoyt Corkins. It also sports the Brunson 10, a handpicked group of rising online poker stars. The clan includes Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, Amit “amak316” Makhija, Dani “ansky” Stern, Chris “moorman1” Moorman, Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Dan “djk123” Kelly, and David “Doc Sands” Sands. The latter two are the newest members of the Brunson 10. Kelly won his spot by virtue of taking down the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event at the 2010 WSOP, while Sands claimed victory in a special WSOP leaderboard competition.
DoylesRoom happily accepts players from the United States as a member of the Cake Poker Network. However, it will be leaving the Gold Stacks, Gold Cards, and Gold Chips rewards program behind. The Cake Poker Network is the 19th largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game traffic according to PokerScout.com, with a seven-day running average of 920 cash game players.
Visit DoylesRoom for more information on the Doyles Rewards program.
Scott Shelley Wins WSOPE Event #3, Denies Poker History for J.P. Kelly
London’s own Scott Shelley earned his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet Tuesday morning by winning the WSOP Europe ?1,075 No Limit Hold’em Event #3, collecting £133,857. Shelley bested a field of 508 players to join Phil Laak and Jeffrey Lisandro in the winner’s circle at WSOP Europe, which is celebrating its fourth year at London’s Casino at the Empire.
Shelley’s ascent into poker prominence came at the expense of some remarkable poker history. The story going into the Event #3 final table was fellow Brit and Team PokerStars Pro J.P. Kelly, who was attempting to not only defend his title in the same event, but also trying to become the youngest player to win three WSOP bracelets at the ripe age of 24. The mark was held by Phil Ivey, who won this third as a 26-year-old.
Kelly began the day third in chips and, after seven players hit the rail, found himself heads-up against Shelley for the historic title. Kelly held a chip lead over Shelley when the match began, about one million to 700,000, and the two players battled back and forth, with Shelley winning the majority of the small pots. Kelly was able to double through Shelley to regain the chip lead, but it wouldn’t last long.
In the final hand of the match, with the blinds at 10,000/20,000/2,000, Shelley raised to 47,000 on the button and Kelly moved all-in. Shelley, who had his opponent covered, stood up from his chair and made the call, revealing 
, which led Kelly’s 
. The board ran out 
, giving Shelley a winning set and the biggest victory of his poker career.
“No doubt about it, this is life-changing money,” said an elated Shelley, who won his seat into the event at a private tournament held by his company. “The money is huge for me. But what really means more than I can say is getting the gold bracelet. I really am at a loss for words.”
Kelly, meanwhile, would have joined the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Thang Luu as back-to-back winners of the same WSOP event. Luu was the most recent to accomplish the feat, winning Omaha Hi-Lo Split bracelets in 2007 and 2008. Instead, Kelly earned £82,854 for his runner-up finish.
“I do not know J.P. Kelly well. But I certainly know of him,” said Shelley, also 24-years-old. “I respect him a lot. To me, he is one of the best British players. Of all the players at the table, he was by far the best — by a country mile. I said to myself that if I got heads-up, I did not want it to be against him. And sure enough, we ended heads-up and he was going for back-to back titles. And he had the chip lead on me. But somehow I managed to win.”
Here’s a look at the final results from WSOP Europe Event #3:
1. Scott Shelley – £133,857
2. JP Kelly – £82,854
3. Jeppe Bisgaard – £55,063
4. Paul Pitchford – £40,862
5. Kaveh Payman – £30,666
6. Mehdi Senhaji – £23,239
7. Jack Lyman – £17,768
8. Karim Jomeen – £13,694
9. Nicholas Katz – £10,633
Two more champions will be crowned before the 2010 WSOP Europe schedule wraps up next week. Event #4, the £10,350 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Heads-Up tournament, played down to the final 32 players on Tuesday, and several big names will return Wednesday vying for the bracelet and £288,409 payday. Among them are Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Huck Seed, Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Amit “amak316″ Makhija, and Chris “moorman1″ Moorman. The action kicks off at 3:00pm local time.
The WSOP Europe slate concludes with its flagship £10,350 No Limit Hold’em Championship, which will run from September 23rd to 28th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for all of the updates from London.
Tags: 2008, 2010, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, pokerstars, tournament, WSOP
WSOP Europe Begins, Laak Gets Bracelet, and Negreanu’s Rental Woes from Poker in Twitter
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe is in full swing this week, with poker players keeping their fans in touch with the action through their Twitter accounts. The biggest news of the tournament schedule has been Phil Laak taking down his first bracelet on Thursday evening.
Laak was quite prolific with his Tweets as play got short. “This is what 468k looks like,” as he posted a picture of his stack with four players remaining. “Minimum cheeze my way is 75,352 dollars!” Laak continued to keep a running account for his fans, including the beat he put on third place finisher Chris Bjorin, Tweeting, “KK vs QQ! All in w Chris and to sew it up I flop a King! Hds up w Andrew! Avg is 900k. I have 750k!” About an hour later, Laak included a Twitpic holding the bracelet and chirped, “Maximum cheeze shippage. £170,802 ($267,010). Plus some gold!”
Following his victory, congratulatory Tweets flooded in from around the poker community. “I better get to London ASAP,” Greg “FBT” Mueller fired off. “I hear they are giving bracelets away! Congrats @RealPhilLaak well done sir!” Howard Lederer, in London for the WSOP Europe, figured out what he needed to do to win: “I’m renting an ATV and driving it off a cliff tomorrow. I’ll do anything to get that third bracelet! Congrats @RealPhilLaak!” Finally, Full Tilt‘s Mike Matusow couldn’t resist a little jab at Laak when he Tweeted, “Congrats Phil you a really great guy u deserve it. Just think if you learn how to play poker how good you can be lol.”
Laak’s win in the first event of the WSOP Europe didn’t keep him away from the second tournament on the schedule, the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Looking for his second bracelet, Laak Tweeted on Friday, “Still in the 5k plo. 35 left. Paying 18. Currently at 50% chip avg.” Others who joined Laak in the second tournament included recent World Poker Tour (WPT) High Roller champion Justin “Boosted J” Smith (“Day 2 of WSOP-E 5k Pound Buy-in PLO tournament… 43,900 in chips… above average… 53 people left”).
While many players are in London for the preliminary events of the WSOP Europe, some are still making their trek to the United Kingdom. “Going to London tomorrow, playing in WSOPE and EPT,” Durrrr Challenge combatant Daniel “JungleMan12” Cates reported to his followers on Thursday morning. “Have heard good things about London, should be a lot of fun.” Another player who is on the way is Kathy Liebert, but she Tweeted her hopes for a change of plans: “Booked flight to London for WSOPE Main Event. Hope I have to miss it because I’m at the final table WPT Borgata.”
Another player delayed in getting to London was Daniel Negreanu, who is doing some promotional work for the upcoming second season of the PokerStars “Million Dollar Challenge,” which begins airing on Sunday on Fox. Flying to New York on Thursday, Negreanu had an amusing moment when he Tweeted, “Lady at airport security stopped me and asked, ‘Were you in American History X?’ I told her no, that’s my older brother Ed.” After arriving in the Big Apple, Negreanu headed to work: “Just landed in NY headed straight to the studio. 21 interviews scheduled over 3 hours on various FOX affiliates all back to back- then sleep.”
Although it seemed his trip was without problems, Negreanu did have to get something off his chest: “I hate credit cards and I hate that you need one to rent a car. I don’t need to borrow money from VISA. Take my debit you ***** so dumb.” For his part, DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson agreed with Negreanu when he Tweeted, “Sailor Roberts did the same thing at Hertz 30years ago. He popped 20K down as collateral and they wouldn’t take it.”
For the best Tweets of the past few days, we have to start with Liv Boeree, who Tweeted some of the shenanigans at the WSOP Europe. “Hilarious night of WSOPE partying, a wheelbarrow, and a traffic cone,” Boeree Tweeted, although she provided no details. Former WPT hostess Layla Kayleigh opined, “I have to think about what I did before the internet was born… and then try it.”
Brunson also pondered over the Twitterverse on Thursday, “Watching my daughter put her makeup on, I had to wonder… Why can’t women put mascara on with their mouth closed?”
Poker Hall of Fame Voting Committee Receives 2010 Ballots
On Friday, members of the Poker Hall of Fame voting committee received their ballots in an e-mail from Harrah’s officials. Noticeably different this year is a “10-point must system” that asks each member of the 33-person panel to allocate 10 points apiece among the candidates of their choosing. Then, when the final points are tabulated, the top two players who have received the majority of the votes will be enshrined as part of the Class of 2010. This author has the privilege of being on the panel for the second straight year.
Each of the 33 voters can select no more than three of the 10 finalists on the ballot, meaning that we can opt for zero, one, two, or three players. Text found on the ballot explains this year’s election procedures: “This year, we are using a 10-point must system in the voting. You must cast your vote(s) and ensure the total of those votes equals 10, and exactly 10.” If the points don’t add to 10, the ballot is voided.
Two examples of how to vote are given in the ballot. In the first, if we believe two players are equally qualified to become part of the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010, then we’d allocate five points to each. If we felt that Dan Harrington, for example, was especially worthy of enshrinement, then we could toss seven points his way. However, in each case, the total number of points allotted must equal 10 and no more than three finalists can be selected.
Last year, World Poker Tour (WPT) host and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Mike Sexton was the lone entrant into the Poker Hall of Fame after 75% of the vote was needed. This year, it’s possible that two players could get in considering only 50% is required. The votes from the 16 living Poker Hall of Fame members and 17 members of the media will not be publicly disclosed.
This year, the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 7th from Las Vegas. Further details other than a date were not available at press time. Among the members of the media who have publicly acknowledged that they are part of the voting committee are ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman and the International Federation of Poker’s Anthony Holden.
The 10 finalists from the public vote received the green light from the Poker Hall of Fame Nominating Committee to be considered for the Hall. The group consists of Full Tilt Poker software developer Chris Ferguson, charity worker extraordinaire Barry Greenstein, top female pro Jennifer Harman, and the man who quite literally wrote the book on poker, “Action” Dan Harrington.
Other nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 include eight-time bracelet winners Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel, Tournament Directors Association co-founder Linda Johnson, 1983 WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy, PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu, and Scotty Nguyen, the only player ever to win the WSOP Main Event and $50,000 HORSE Championship.
Last year, Harrington, Greenstein, Ivey, McEvoy, Nguyen, Negreanu, and Seidel all made the ballot along with Men “The Master” Nguyen, who is not among the top 10 finalists in 2010. The induction ceremony took place on the first day of November Nine play at the Rio and featured comments from Sexton’s brother Tom Sexton, 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, gaming legend Jack Binion, Poker Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier, and McEvoy. Sexton received a hearty 30-second standing ovation upon being introduced to the crowd in a touching moment.
Thirty-seven players have been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame since 1979 and the ballots from the voting panel are due back on October 1st. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily to learn who will become the Hall’s newest inductees.
Players Before Profits Petition Nears 10,000 Signatures
In late August, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the main lobbying voice for poker players in the United States, struck back at the Commerce Casino and other gambling establishments in California by launching PlayersBeforeProfits.com. The online petition was designed to encourage support of HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. Now, the vehicle is nearing 10,000 signatures.
At the time of writing, the petition at PlayersBeforeProfits.com has garnered 9,018 signatures, having passed 9,000 during the day on Friday. In addition to a wealth of “Average Joes” signing it, a plethora of pros have joined in the fray. Players like Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Huck Seed, and Erik Seidel have all lent their name to the PPA’s cause.
Tom Malkasian, who introduced himself in a July House Financial Services Committee hearing as an “owner, board member, and the Director of Strategic Planning for the Commerce Casino,” came out in strong opposition to HR 2267. Malkasian called the bill, introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) “fundamentally flawed and unsound.”
Malkasian added that HR 2267 and its revenue counterpart, HR 4976, are “based on false revenue assumptions that would require the removal of the right of any state or tribe to opt out of the bill in order to achieve the advertised tax revenues of $42 billion over 10 years.” HR 4976, introduced by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), has yet to be marked up in the House Ways and Means Committee. Contrastingly, the House Financial Services Committee approved HR 2267 six weeks ago and the bill boasts 70 co-sponsors.
PPA Executive Director John Pappas told the PocketFives.com Podcast this week that the California casinos are merely seeking a monopoly by opposing HR 2267: “When you peel back the onion, you realize that they’re not opposed to internet gaming; they just want a monopoly on it. From a consumer perspective, we all know that monopolies don’t work and they don’t provide the best player experience. What Commerce is looking for is a poker-only bill that will only serve the California marketplace.”
PlayersBeforeProfits.com also provides avenues for concerned Americans to Tweet, call, and e-mail the Commerce with one click. Its petition reminds casino officials, “It is important to note that with the rise of online poker, many individuals hone their skills online before they enter establishments such as the Commerce Casino – increasing traffic to poker rooms nationwide.” The Commerce has gone so far as to invite poker home games to play within its walls.
The Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, and Hollywood Park have all come out in support of the Commerce Casino’s position. The coalition’s Waltona Manion told Poker News Daily in an interview on September 1st that, among other aspects of the bill, the group believes that the opt-out provision will not hold water if faced with a World Trade Organization challenge. In addition, Manion claimed that HR 2267 and HR 4976 would impose lower taxes on offshore internet casinos compared to what land-based casinos pay.
Congress has a target adjournment of October 8th, one month ahead of general elections in the United States. Then, following elections, a so-called “lame duck” session will likely occur. With the nation’s highest legislative body needing to pass critical appropriations bills, the possibility exists that HR 2267 could be attached to an unrelated piece of legislation, as was the case with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act four years ago.
Although members of the poker community have called for a formal boycott of the Commerce Casino and its partners, the PPA has not yet taken that route. The Commerce Casino bills itself as the “largest card casino on Earth” with nearly 250 tables. Across town at the Bicycle Casino, Andrew Frankenberger was crowned the champion of the recently completed World Poker Tour Legends of Poker, whose lowered $5,000 buy-in resulted in a field of 462 players.
UB.com Offering World Series of Poker Europe Prize Packages
Between now and September 12th, the USA-facing online poker site UB.com is offering World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe prize packages. The 2010 cycle marks the first that UB.com and its sister CEREUS Network site Absolute Poker will be sending players to the annual extravaganza, which gets underway on September 14th from London.
UB.com is qualifying its members for the £10,350 buy-in WSOP Europe Main Event. On September 12th at 14:30 ET, a $530 buy-in Super Satellite will be held featuring three $18,000 WSOP Europe prize packages. Each consists of the £10,350 buy-in, $2,000 to use towards travel expenses, VIP concierge services while you’re camped out in Jolly Old England, a UB swag bag, and a welcome dinner.
If a $530 buy-in satellite is grossly out of your budget, don’t fret. UB.com is also holding $10 Ultra Turbo Rebuys and $55 freezeouts for you to stamp your ticket to the high-stakes tournament that will play out at the Casino at the Empire beginning on September 23rd. Alternately, you can climb the ladder through UB.com’s STEP tournaments, which start at $0.10. Players that can trump each of the 10 steps involved will head to London to compete for what was a £3.3 million prize pool last year.
A press release distributed in recent days by UB adds that 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will be in attendance in the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event. Last year, 334 players turned out and CardPlayer Magazine’s Barry Shulman walked away with the title and an £801,000 bankroll boost. Shulman edged out PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu heads-up. Negreanu, amazingly, final tabled the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2009 and 2008 for over £700,000 combined.
The top seven players in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event raked in six-figure paydays and, with a small field on hand, UB.com qualifiers have the opportunity to make quite a splash for a nominal investment. November Niners Antoine Saout and James Akenhead both reached last year’s final table on their home continent. Others who cashed in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event included DoylesRoom figurehead Doyle Brunson, 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and David “Devilfish” Ulliott.
The WSOP Europe Main Event is actually the fifth tournament on the docket for the series. The festivities kick off on September 14th with a £2,650 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em contest that will surely attract some of the top names in the poker world in search of a bracelet. Two days later, a £5,250 Pot Limit Omaha tournament begins, followed by a £1,075 No Limit Hold’em event on September 17th. Leading up to the Main Event is the first ever WSOP Europe No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up High Roller tournament that comes with a hefty £10,350 price tag.
UB.com and Absolute Poker are also shelling out seats to the WPT Festa al Lago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Daily Qualifiers send players to Weekly Finals, where the top 100 will get seats in the Main Event. Whoever wins the Main Event will be jet-setting to the Nevada desert to play in the Festa al Lago, which begins on October 15th. The prize package includes the Festa al Lago’s $10,300 buy-in along with $1,700 to offset expenses and the promotion runs until October 10th.
Finally, one of UB.com’s newest tournaments is Take Down a H0, a $50,000 guaranteed bounty event featuring Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. Whoever busts Kroon from his own tournament picks up 300 Tournament Dollars. The event takes place every Saturday at 3:05pm ET.
Visit UB.com or Absolute Poker for more details on how to qualify for the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event in London.
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, absolute poker, bellagio, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, pokerstars, tournament, usa, vegas, WSOP