Posts Tagged ‘full tilt poker’
MiniFTOPS begins at Full Tilt Poker
And Isildur1 against Cole South again!
We wonder if Isildur1 has even slept yet. He just finished his second match against Cole South at Full Tilt Poker. South lost about $500k this time.
South has lost almost 1,3 million dollars to the Swede in the last 24 hours and Isildur1 has grinded up nearly 4 million dollars this year! That is really exceptional work from the Swedish sensation yet again.
Biggest pot of the session; Isildur1 hits full house, $316k pot
Source: Highstakesdb
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
MiniFTOPS XV Kicks off Today on Full Tilt Poker
On Wednesday at 21:00 ET, the Mini version of the 15th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) will kick off. The schedule features 27 tournaments, culminating in a $55 No Limit Hold’em Main Event on March 21st.
The MiniFTOPS XV schedule mirrors the slate of events of FTOPS XV, but features tournaments with buy-ins that are one-tenth as pricey. The world’s second largest online poker site happily accepts customers from the United States and a flood of participants are expected. In the opening event of MiniFTOPS XIV, a parade of over 16,000 players turned out for a $22 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament. Last time out, the Main Event field numbered 15,987.
The tournament series allows low-budget online poker players to compete in a wide variety of games including Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Seven-Game, Stud, and Razz. The priciest buy-in is $266 for the MiniFTOPS XV Two-Day Event, while several tournaments boast entry fees of less than $15. During MiniFTOPS XIV, a $13 No Limit Hold’em Knockout event generated a massive field of 22,240 players, the only tournament in FTOPS history to pass the 20,000-entrant mark.
Like FTOPS XV, MiniFTOPS XV tournaments will feature a Full Tilt guest host. Top female pro Jennifer Harman will serve as the face of the Main Event, while 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Scott Montgomery will host the Two-Day Event. Other hosts include CardRunners instructors Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins, Robert Williamson III, John “The Razor” Phan, and Portugal’s Joao Barbosa, who will take to the felts in Event #1.
All told, at least $6 million will be on the line. Let’s get down to business. Here’s the schedule for MiniFTOPS XV on Full Tilt Poker:
Wednesday, March 10th at 21:00 ET
Event 1: $22 No Limit Hold'em
$350,000 Guaranteed
Thursday, March 11th at 13:00 ET
Event 2: $26 Pot Limit Omaha High/Low Knockout
$75,000 Guaranteed
Thursday, March 11th at 21:00 ET
Event 3: $55 No Limit Hold'em 3X Shootout
$35,000 Guaranteed
Friday, March 12th at 13:00 ET
Event 4: $22 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$300,000 Guaranteed
Friday, March 12th at 21:00 ET
Event 5: $22 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$75,000 Guaranteed
Saturday, March 13th at 13:00 ET
Event 6: $55 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed
Saturday, March 13th at 15:00 ET
Event 7: $11 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$350,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 14th at 13:00 ET
Event 8: $13 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$250,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 14th at 15:00 ET
Event 9: $55 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$200,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 14th at 17:00 ET
Event 10: $33 No Limit Hold'em
$600,000 Guaranteed
Monday, March 15th at 13:00 ET
Event 11: $22 Omaha High/Low
$60,000 Guaranteed
Monday, March 15th at 21:00 ET
Event 12: $109 No Limit Hold'em
$400,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday, March 16th at 13:00 ET
Event 13: $33 No Limit Hold'em 4X Shootout Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday, March 16th at 21:00 ET
Event 14: $55 HORSE
$100,000 Guaranteed
Tuesday, March 16th at 21:00 ET
Event 15: $22 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$200,000 Guaranteed
Wednesday, March 17th at 13:00 ET
Event 16: $22 Seven-Game
$50,000 Guaranteed
Wednesday, March 17th at 21:00 ET
Event 17: $33 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$350,000 Guaranteed
Thursday, March 18th at 13:00 ET
Event 18: $22 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$60,000 Guaranteed
Thursday, March 18th at 21:00 ET
Event 19: $22 Stud
$40,000 Guaranteed
Friday, March 19th at 13:00 ET
Event 20: $22 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed
Friday, March 19th at 21:00 ET
Event 21: $33 Razz
$50,000 Guaranteed
Saturday, March 20th at 13:00 ET
Event 22: $266 No Limit Hold'em Ante from the Start Six-Max Two-Day Event
$600,000 Guaranteed
Saturday, March 20th at 15:00 ET
Event 23: $11 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$150,000 Guaranteed
Saturday, March 20th at 21:00 ET
Event 24: $53 No Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Six-Max
$75,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 21st at 13:00 ET
Event 25: $26 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 21st at 15:00 ET
Event 26: $22 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
$40,000 Guaranteed
Sunday, March 21st at 17:00 ET
MiniFTOPS XV Main Event: $55 No Limit Hold'em
$800,000 Guaranteed
Visit Full Tilt Poker for details.
Isildur1 grinded 1,4 million last night!
Isildur1 is back! He has made 1,4 million dollars in the last 24 hours on Full Tilt Poker - playing PLO. He has now won the most in 2010. Pretty insane guy.
Most of his winnings came from Cole South and Brian Hastings. South lost $785k and Hastings $556k. After this session the Swedish sensation is now the biggest winner of the year with over three million dollar in winnings.
Isildur1 makes a nice check/raise on the river and wins a $382k pot:
Isildur1 ($242,980)
Brian Hastings ($190,988)
Brian Hastings raises to $3,000, Isildur1 raises to $9,000, Brian Hastings calls $6,000
FLOP ($18,000) 2h 6d Qh
Isildur1 checks, Brian Hastings checks
TURN ($18,000) 2h 6d Qh 7d
Isildur1 bets $18,000, Brian Hastings calls $18,000
RIVER ($54,000) 2h 6d Qh 7d 8h
Isildur1 checks, Brian Hastings bets $43,000, Isildur1 raises to $183,000, Brian Hastings calls $120,988
Isildur1 shows As 3d Ah Kh
Isildur1 wins $381,975
Without no doubt the Swede is going to play until he is broke or has won all the money from everyone. If you believe some rumors, Isildur1 made about 7 million dollars last year but lost everything. Now everything looks the same, except the games have been a bit smaller.
Let’s see how far the Swede can fly this time.
Source: Highstakesdb
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
The Online Railbird Report: Wild Weekend for Dwan, Sahamies and Isildur1
Face the Ace Lawsuit Dismissed in Nevada’s Eighth District Court
On Monday, Poker News Daily learned that the Eighth District Court in Nevada dismissed a lawsuit filed by Brandon McSmith, who claimed ownership of the idea for the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace.”
McSmith can now file an appeal or seek the intervention of a federal court. McSmith told Poker News Daily that while he was disappointed in the decision, he’s optimistic an appeal will be successful: “Judge Michelle Leavitt dismissed the case on the basis that I didn't state a claim. Leavitt has her fair share of appeals that have gone against her.”
McSmith purportedly created a show dubbed the “All Star Poker Challenge” in which five pros would take on contestants in a series of heads-up matches similar to the structure of “Face the Ace.” Each match was worth $2,000 in prize money and players who fought through all five pros would take home a trip to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On “Face the Ace,” the top prize was $1 million and only three matches were held.
On why Leavitt may have dismissed his case, McSmith told Poker News Daily, “She didn't want to listen to any of the evidence before her. Under Nevada procedures, you state a claim that's plausible. I'm trying not to be negative, but it looked like it was stacked against me. I will either appeal it or file in federal court. It gives the FBI a little more time to investigate.”
The FBI became involved in the copyright infringement case late last week, when McSmith successfully contacted Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Devlin-Brown was one of the primary forces behind a $30 million online poker funds seizure last July that affected more than 24,000 players. It’s speculated that Devlin-Brown’s interest in the case may stem from the involvement of Full Tilt Poker, which sponsored “Face the Ace” and lent its pros to the program. 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey was the series’ very first pro challenger.
Poker PROductions brought “Face the Ace” to life. The production company also creates new episodes of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and is headed by Mori Eskandani. On a timeline for his next move, McSmith forecasted, “I have my people working on it right now. It’ll be less than three weeks. We’re pulling everything together. I won't sit back and wait, but I want to make sure to cross my T’s and dot my I’s first. I'm not too worried about going to federal court. The big decision is if I want to get [Judge Leavitt's] decision overturned.”
McSmith sent a package to an FBI Special Agent containing hard copies of e-mails and other correspondence related to his claims to “Face the Ace.” The agent actually asked him why he didn’t file his copyright infringement case in federal court in the first place, an avenue that McSmith may now take. The plaintiff is a security worker at a casino in Las Vegas by trade.
“Face the Ace” debuted with a paltry 0.4 rating and a 2 share, equating to nearly 1.6 million viewers. It squared off against “America’s Most Wanted” on FOX, the Rachel McAdams movie “Red Eye” on ABC, and a re-run of “Numb3rs” on CBS, falling short in the ratings against all three programs. The series, which featured host Steve Schirripa of “The Sopranos” fame, has not yet been renewed for a second season. McSmith noted that despite the relative failure of the show, its worldwide syndication and being its creator make a lawsuit worthwhile.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest developments in the “Face the Ace” lawsuit.
Tom “durrrr” Dwan has great March - He’s up about 1,7 million dollars
There has been loads of action this month on Full Tilt Poker. The biggest winner is Tom Dwan with 1,72 million dollar winnings.
There’s couple of other players who are doing great this month. The internet sensation Isildur1 is up about a million and the Finnish “LokoIsBack” is up $530k.
Patrik Antonius has lost the most, around 1,15 million dollars so far. Cole South is not far behind with 950k dollar losses.
Here are some of the results so far:
Source: Highstakesdb
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
Tom “durrrr” Dwan has great March - He’s up about 1,7 million dollars
High Stakes Poker: $1 Million Vegetarian Prop Bet Agreed To
Large pots were few and far between on Sunday night’s episode of the GSN series “High Stakes Poker.” Instead, a vegetarian prop bet between Full Tilt Poker pros Phil Ivey and Tom “durrrr” Dwan took center stage.
After being discussed non-stop for a half-hour of the 60-minute program, the vegetarian prop bet was finally agreed upon. Ultimately, Ivey would become a vegetarian for one year for $1 million. In a sit-down interview with “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott, Ivey told viewers, “I was thinking about doing it for a while, so this is an added incentive.” Dwan was confident that he’d win the bet, but nonetheless expressed a degree of doubt: “He’s got a lot of will power and he might go out and prove me wrong.” Any creature that moves is off limits for Ivey.
Back on the felts, Ivey proved why he’s one of the top names in the game by raising to $3,000 pre-flop with 7-2 and receiving four callers. The flop came 4-9-A with two hearts and Ivey put in a $12,000 continuation bet. Italian poker stud Dario Minieri, who held 10-8 of hearts, came along to see another ace hit the turn. Ivey bet out $30,000 and Minieri folded. “High Stakes Poker” host Gabe Kaplan commented, “Most players would turn over the 7-2 there, but not Phil Ivey.”
Then, Team PokerStars Pro front man Daniel Negreanu raised to $3,000 with 9-6 of hearts and Eli Elezra came along with 9-8 of diamonds. The flop came 10-5-7, giving both players straight draws, and Negreanu bet $5,500. Elezra pushed the action to $13,000 and Negreanu came along to see a king on the turn. Elezra checked and Negreanu accidentally exposed his nine while reaching for a stack of $100 bills. He promptly checked and an eight hit on the river, filling his straight. Negreanu bet $20,000 and Elezra tanked before folding. Negreanu told the table, “That was the weirdest hand I’ve ever played.”
Minieri was overly active throughout the episode and set the tone after Gus Hansen made it $3,500 pre-flop with A-8. Minieri, sensing weakness, made it $11,500 with A-9. Then, fireworks went of, as Hansen re-raised to $35,500 and Minieri shoved all-in for $213,000. Hansen quickly mucked, leaving Kaplan to remark, “That’s either a good read or a moment of insanity.” Negreanu would later try to force an all-in from Minieri when “Kid Poker” held pocket aces, but the Italian instead folded.
In one of the larger pots of the episode, which aired at 8:00pm ET on Sunday on GSN, Ivey raised to $3,000 with pocket eights, Negreanu called with A-7 of spades, and Dwan called with Q-J. The flop came A-J-4, and Ivey checked his pocket pair. Negreanu led out for $8,000 with top pair, while Dwan made the call with middle pair. Ivey got out of the way and a queen hit the turn to improve Dwan to two pair. Negreanu fired out a bet of $18,000 and Dwan called. The duo both checked a river five, shipping the $63,800 pot to Dwan.
In the final hand of the hour, Elezra raised to $3,000 with 9-7, Negreanu called with Q-9, and Dwan called with K-Q. The flop fell K-8-10 and Elezra put in a $7,200 continuation bet with an open-ended straight draw. Dwan came along with top pair to bring a jack on the turn, filling Eleza’s straight. However, with three spades now on the board, the action went check-check. The river was a six and Dwan bet $8,400. Elezra raised to $28,400 and Dwan released his hand.
Next time, four “High Stakes Poker” players get felted and an epic hand brews between Dwan and Ivey. New episodes of “High Stakes Poker” air on Sunday nights at 8:00pm ET on GSN.
Ziigmund lost a million to Isildur1
Full Tilt Poker games are wild. There’s not a single day when someone wins or loses seven figures. Last Sunday “PixKim” lost a million, and this time it was Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies who lost a million.
Ziigmund and Isildur1 played about 1000 hands of $300/$600 and $500/$1000 PLO.
Isildur1’s full house beats Sahamies’ hand in a $423k pot
After their heads up was over, Sahamies told to Isildur1 that he should lose his money to Brian Hastings - and that is what happened. Isildur1 lost about half a million to Hastings later on.
Ziigmund: its just ****** amazing
Ziigmund: give my money for hastings
Ziigmund: gg
Eventually the Swedish Isildur1 managed to lose most of his winnings and is up only about 181.000 dollars in the past 24 hours.
Source: Highstakesdb
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
Isildur1 wins $1m then loses $500,000
Poker In Twitter: The EPT Berlin Robbery, The Oscars, and Annie Duke Wins the NHUPC
It was quite a weekend in the world of poker and some of the best in the game kept their fans up to date through their Twitter accounts. Whether across the Atlantic taking part in the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Berlin or the National Heads Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas, there was action not only on the felt, but also away from the tables.
In Berlin, a field of 945 players came to the tables for battle in the latest EPT championship, with defending champion Sandra Naujoks attempting back-to-back wins. What made worldwide news, however, was the attempted robbery on Saturday when play was down to 24 players. The reports zoomed around the globe, with accompanying footage, and the players tried to let their fans know through Twitter what was occurring.
Noted online and live player Shaun Deeb found a report from a German outlet that showed some of the attempted robbery in progress. While he wasn’t in Berlin for the event, the video Deeb found showed that security at the event was vigilant in repelling the audacious attack. “Most badass security guy taking the money back from robbers,” Deeb Tweeted along with the Tweetvid he provided of the incident.
One of the players who was in Berlin for the tournament was English poker professional Vicky Coren. At first, she apologized to her followers for a lack of an article in The Observer (the English newspaper she writes for) by tweeting, “No Observer column from me today, I was away in Berlin and nothing much happened there to write about.” Scant moments later, Coren chirped again, “- apart from the million-dollar armed raid. It only just occurred to me today that might be news. I'm such a bad journalist.”
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the money taken was far less than some media outlets’ estimates. The United States’ Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee went on to capture the title on Sunday, defeating Finland’s Ilari Tahkokallio for the €1 million first place prize.
While the poker world was keeping up on the happenings in Berlin, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was in full swing throughout the weekend. The 64 player invitational tournament was the main focus of several of the poker players on Twitter and they kept their fans fully updated throughout the run of the tournament.
Playing injured for the first round of the event was last year’s runner-up in the tournament, Vanessa Rousso. What she thought was a sprained foot was much worse. “I went for x-ray just now and turns out my foot is broken, right fourth metatarsal... bummer,” “Lady Maverick” Tweeted to her followers. As of yet, Rousso hasn’t stated if the injury will affect her poker schedule.
Another player who was playing at less than 100% was the legendary Doyle Brunson. Originally, it was believed that the two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner would have to bypass the event due to recent dental surgery, but the longtime Texas road gambler felt strong enough to compete. He went on for one of the best runs he has had in the history of the tournament and was followed on Twitter by many in the poker community.
“Down to the sweet 16 in the NBC heads up tourney. Going to play Annette, I hate playing against women. Hope she doesn’t bat her eyes at me,” Brunson jokingly Tweeted prior to meeting up with the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Annette Obrestad. After vanquishing the young phenom, the Brunson clan erupted with Tweets. Son Todd, who was in attendance for the tournament, chirped, “Doyle beats Annette 15 for a third time!,” while daughter Pamela responded with, “My Dad @texdolly is final 8 in the NBC heads up! Go Dad Go!” Unfortunately, the Elite Eight was as far as “Texas Dolly” would go, falling to Dennis Phillips in that round.
The final match of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was a dream for those who follow Twitter. On one side was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who uses Twitter constantly, versus eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, whose Twitter account is one of the most notable in the industry. The battle over the Twitterverse started off with a jewel from Seidel about the Caesars Palace tournament room as he Tweeted, “Temps so cold in room… guessing this event is part of NBCs extended Winter Olympics coverage.”
Other players in the Twitterscape provided their thoughts to the event as it unfolded, with Alex Outhred commenting, “There are few combinations of 2 players that have a greater mutual respect for each others poker minds than @Erik_Seidel and @RealAnnieDuke.” Seidel’s Full Tilt Poker stable mate, Andy Bloch, noted in his Tweet, “Whether he finishes 1st or 2nd, @Erik_Seidel will have earned over $10M in tournament poker, the 9th player to do so.”
As the battle wore on, Bloch was able to note a way for Duke to gain an edge over the unflappable Seidel. “Annie takes a 1-0 lead over Erik Seidel. If she wants to put Erik on full tilt she should get an orange,” Bloch Tweeted in reference to Seidel’s famous battle with Johnny Chan during the 1988 WSOP Main Event. After tying up the match, Seidel would eventually fall to Duke, but he was gracious in defeat. “Ended 2nd to Annie Duke in the NBC Heads Up. She played an outstanding match. Easiest loss of my career, very happy for her,” Seidel Tweeted at the conclusion of the tournament.
Following the activities on the poker tables this weekend, many players sat back to watch the festivities surrounding the Academy Awards. With the expanded Best Picture category and a battle between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep for the Best Actress Oscar among the intriguing stories, the television program captured poker players’ attention. Most remarkable in the opinion of poker player Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, however, was the appearance of 47-year-old actress Demi Moore. “"Demi Moore... what a spectacle!,” Mayrinck admired via a Tweet. “She has drank from the fountain or made a pact with the devil. I want too!” High roller Patrik Antonius also weighed in on his Oscar preferences: “rough weekend overall, but at least avatar didn't win the awards that counted at the oscars.”
The world of poker through Twitter has become one of the best ways for fans to keep up with their favorites. Poker News Daily also is a part of the action on Twitter, so be sure to sign up to follow us at @pokernewsdaily.
Tags: Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, european, full tilt poker, gamble, poker player, tournament, vegas, women, WSOP
Full Tilt Poker Series – Espana
Full Tilt Poker Series – Espana – four live tournaments with over €1 million in guaranteed prize money – excellent!
Full Tilt Poker Series, Espana kicks off in April at Casino Castell de Peralada in Gerona, Spain giving Full Tilt players the chance to pit their wits against the best poker players that Europe has to offer. The Prize Packages are worth $3,200 including buy in to the Main Event plus spending money.
Here are the fixtures for Full Tilt Poker Series – Espana:- (more…)
FBI Joins Face the Ace Copyright Infringement Investigation
Recently, Poker News Daily brought you the story of Brandon McSmith, who had a lawsuit pending in the Eighth District Court in Nevada charging that Poker PROductions used his idea for the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace” without compensation. Now, the FBI has become involved in the case.
McSmith told Poker News Daily that he originally created a series dubbed the “All Star Poker Challenge,” which featured five pros taking on contestants in a series of five heads-up matches. Players would win $2,000 per match and, after their fifth win, would take home a seat in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On “Face the Ace,” three matches were held, with a top prize of $1 million up for grabs.
McSmith explained that he’s been pursuing a copyright infringement claim in Nevada. Among those law enforcement officials he contacted was Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. McSmith commented, “This week, the FBI got in touch with me twice and asked for all of the information. They’ll be launching an investigation of the copyright infringement charges.”
Back in July, the Southern District was behind a massive $30 million seizure of online poker funds destined for 24,000 players. Banks affected by Devlin-Brown’s actions included Citibank, Goldwater Bank, Alliance Bank of Arizona, and Wells Fargo. Major sites affected included Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. McSmith explained, “They’re investigating everyone. An FBI Special Agent told me to forward everything to him. I read an article about Arlo Devlin-Brown freezing the assets of online payment processors. That’s why I chose to contact him.”
Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars reimbursed players for bounced checks and other payment issues at the time and in some cases issued a 10% bonus to offset any hassle. Meanwhile, McSmith continues to pursue his claims of ownership of “Face the Ace.” He told Poker News Daily, “At a certain point in time, you get tired of people lying about this. These guys knew I wanted to prosecute them. In order to prosecute a copyright infringement charge, you have to know you’re right. I’m not hiding anything. I put it out there and they’re on notice. The FBI is involved and my intent is to prosecute.”
Poker PROductions brings shows like “Face the Ace,” GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” and NBC’s “Poker After Dark” to life. Mori Eskandani is the leading man behind Poker PROductions, but according to McSmith, Eskandani has dismissed his claims. McSmith added, “They didn’t contact me. Everything they’ve said is ridiculous and it’s a lie. It’s documented in letters and e-mails.” Besides Poker PROductions, NBC and Full Tilt Poker, which sponsored the show, have been brought into the mix.
It remains to be seen if Devlin-Brown is interested in the case because of the involvement of Full Tilt Poker, the industry’s second largest site. McSmith sent e-mail correspondence and other materials to the FBI via Next Day Air on Thursday. He originally requested $85 million, but then realized that according to Nevada state law, damages over $10,000 do not require an exact dollar figure. McSmith lamented that the situation was not resolved sooner: “Everybody could have done the right thing on this and brought me in to settle it. These guys choose to conspire and lie. When they first started denying and lying about it, I wanted to get the Feds involved.
On the future steps in the process, McSmith remarked, “The first step was printing everything out and forwarding it to them. I sent it Next Day Air, so they probably won’t get it until this week. The FBI Agent also gave me his direct line.”
“Face the Ace” featured Full Tilt Poker pros and was largely a ratings flop. It debuted with a 0.4 rating and a 2 share, the equivalent of 1.59 million viewers. The series originally aired in a Saturday night time slot in August before shifting to the afternoon.
Full Tilt Poker Hosts PokerGives.org Charity Tournament
On April 4th, Full Tilt Poker and PokerGives.org will team up for a $5+$5 charity tournament. Half of each player’s buy-in will build the tournament’s prize pool, while the other half will be donated to charity through PokerGives.org.
World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton, Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson founded PokerGives.org, which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. PokerGives.org is the charity of choice for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and offers an avenue for the poker community to give back. Beneficiary organizations include the Special Olympics, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Step by Step Foundation.
Poker players interested in entering the $5+$5 buy-in tournament should log into Full Tilt Poker, click over to the “Tournament” lobby, and then select “Private.” The event is listed in red and takes place on April 4th, about three weeks from now, and has the Tournament ID 137275439. The event’s password is “PokerNations,” which is sponsoring the charity contest along with the Twitter Poker Tour. Full Tilt Poker happily accepts action from the United States.
Johnson was already looking forward to bringing PokerGives.org to the virtual felts of Full Tilt, telling Poker News Daily, “You will be able to play and chat with many celebrities including Andy Bloch, T.J. Cloutier, Jena Delk, Jan Fisher, Susie Isaacs, Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch, and me. To reward you for your donation, participants will have a shot at winning lots of bonus prizes, which currently have a value of more than $3,900.” The event kicks off at 2:00pm ET and promises to attract quite a crowd.
There are many prizes up for grabs, including poker sunglasses from Blue Shark Optics, a home game set from DB Dealer, a one-year subscription to Bluff Magazine, six months of poker coaching from Deuces Cracked, poker books, card protectors, a $200 gift certificate to Andrew Shirley and Company, and private coaching sessions with Johnson, Delk, PokerXFactor’s Chris “Fox” Wallace, and Michael "tuna_fish_tank" Stroh.
If that weren’t enough reason to play, entrants can also receive a one-month CardRunners Gold Subscription, Texas Hold’em strategy cards, a one-year membership to the Down to the Felt Club, a one-year subscription to Australia Poker Weekly, and a PMS PokerWear prize pack.
In order to be eligible for the barrage of bonus prizes, players should visit the PokerNations forums and post their Full Tilt user name in the tournament’s associated thread. Every player who participates will receive a one-month membership to the Down to the Felt Club, which has a retail value of $25.
This isn’t Full Tilt Poker’s first venture into the world of charity. In February, the industry’s second largest online poker site sponsored the Kandy Masquerade Charity Event at the Playboy Mansion. The gala had a price tag of $1,000 and its proceeds benefited the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The site also sent over $650,000 to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti after matching $330,000 in player donations. In total, the online poker industry shipped more than $1.5 million to earthquake survivors.
In December, Full Tilt hosted the Justin Shronk Memorial Poker Tournament, which drew a crowd of 359 players to pay homage to the late poker media personality. In addition, during August’s running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), a $120 Ante Up for Africa charity event was run. Actor Don Cheadle, who co-founded the organization along with UB.com’s Annie Duke and Norman Epstein, hosted the online poker tournament.
Visit PokerGives.org today to see how you can donate.
Tags: Annie Duke, Australia, charity, full tilt poker, Online Poker, poker player, tournament, women
Doyle Brunson Advances to Round 2 of National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Round 2 of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship plays out today from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and will see the field trimmed from 32 to 16. Among those players still in contention is Doyle Brunson.
There was a question as to whether Brunson would even be able to play in the unique heads-up tournament after undergoing extensive dental surgery shortly after the Super Bowl last month. However, the DoylesRoom front man did more than just show up to the event in his backyard, he advanced to the second round. After an upset by GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso in the opening round in 2009, Brunson defeated Brock “t soprano” Parker to advance in 2010.
In the pairing’s final hand. Parker was all-in with a wired pair of eights and Brunson showed A-Q of diamonds, setting up a race situation. The queen came as the window card and Brunson never looked back. Now, he’ll play actor and Ante Up for Africa co-founder Don Cheadle in the round of 32. Cheadle bested J.P. Kelly in the first round. Kelly won bracelets on both sides of the Atlantic last year after taking down a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event in Las Vegas and a £1,000 No Limit Hold’em event in London.
In a clash of the titans in the first round, Full Tilt Poker’s Howard Lederer faced off against UB.com troublemaker Phil Hellmuth. Like the match-up between Parker and Brunson, this one came down to a race. Lederer moved all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and Hellmuth made the call with A-K of hearts. The flop came K-5-2, giving Hellmuth top pair, top kicker and a running 9-K sealed Lederer’s exit. This was Lederer’s fourth straight first round elimination in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Next up for Hellmuth is another industry giant, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. The winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, Obrestad outlasted former baseball great Orel Hershiser in first round action on Friday. The 2010 cycle of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship is Obrestad’s first appearance on the program, which will air on NBC. Obrestad Twittered on her next foe: “Won my match. Guess who im playing tomorrow.... Thats right... @philhellmuth. Sigh lol.”
Also advancing to the second round is 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon. Coverage found on PokerNews noted that the table featuring Moon and Caesars qualifier Bill Huntress was “the quietest table on set.” Huntress was all-in after a flop of Q-4-A with three clubs and showed J-8 of spades for what ESPN poker announcer Norman Chad would dub “nuclear squadoosh.” Moon showed K-10, including the ten of clubs, for straight and flush draws. He also, rather amazingly, held the best hand. The turn and river fell a nine and seven, respectively, ending any hopes of the qualifier making it through to the next round. Moon’s second round opponent is Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.
All but one qualifier of the seven who entered was eliminated in first round play, as Stephen Quinn upset Ted Forrest yesterday. Here are the second round match-ups for the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:
Clubs Bracket
Chris Moneymaker vs Leo Wolpert
David Williams vs Erik Seidel
Erick Lindgren vs Peter Eastgate
Stephen Quinn vs Jamie Gold
Spades Bracket
Phil Ivey vs Scotty Nguyen
Joe Hachem vs Gabe Kaplan
Jason Mercier vs Pieter de Korver
Phil Gordon vs Phil Laak
Hearts Bracket
Allen Cunningham vs Eli Elezra
Chris Ferguson vs Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs Don Cheadle
Phil Hellmuth vs Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad
Diamonds Bracket
Barry Greenstein vs Sammy Farha
Jennifer Harman vs Jerry Yang
Darvin Moon vs Annie Duke
Paul Wasicka vs Gus Hansen
The action resumes inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas at 1:00pm PT and will play down to a field of 16. The winner of the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will be determined on Sunday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.
2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Bracket Set
The field of 64 is set in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. One of the highlights of the opening round is a titanic showdown between PokerStars pros Jason Mercier and Daniel Negreanu, who have both been on a hot streak.
Mercier and Negreanu made the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event last year. Mercier finished fourth in the £10,000 buy-in poker tournament, while Negreanu fell heads-up to CardPlayer Magazine owner Barry Shulman after entering as the short stack. Mercier and Negreanu collected £267,000 and £495,000 for their efforts, respectively. Both are bracelet winners and members of Team PokerStars Pro.
Mercier enters the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is emanating from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, on a high note. Last week, the Florida native took third in the L.A. Poker Classic’s High-Roller event for $141,000. In December, Mercier won a $5,000 HORSE event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $100,000. Negreanu made waves during the recent PartyPoker Premier League, finishing fourth at the final table. Heading into Thursday’s draw party, Negreanu Tweeted his desired first round opponent: “Headed down to Pure for the NBC HU draw party and I'm hoping to NOT draw one of the 7 qualifiers or a woman. Record going into #6 is 7-5.”
Meanwhile, two titans of the online poker industry will tangle, as 13 bracelets will meet when Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer takes on UB.com bad boy Phil Hellmuth. Lederer was fourth on Bluff Magazine’s recent Power 20 list, while Hellmuth leads the all-time bracelet count with 11. Both have crafty nicknames, as “The Professor” will take on “The Poker Brat” in a high-stakes first round encounter.
In an all-female first round showdown, Full Tilt Poker’s Jennifer Harman is paired up with actress Jennifer Tilly. A total of seven women will make their way to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas today for first round action. Joining Harman and Tilly to add estrogen to the field are Annie Duke, Annette Dworski, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso, and Kara Scott. Six women took to the field in 2009, including Rousso, who finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.
Those in the hunt for the title range between 21 (Obrestad) and 76 years-old (Doyle Brunson). The tournament hits television airwaves on NBC beginning on April 18th and will run for six consecutive Sundays. The ultimate survivor of the single elimination heads-up tournament pockets $500,000, while its runner-up takes home a cool $250,000. Here’s a look at the first round match-ups in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:
Clubs Bracket – Top Half
Patrik Antonius vs Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin
David Williams vs Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs Huck Seed
Clubs Bracket – Bottom Half
Dan Ramirez vs Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs Jamie Gold
Spades Bracket – Top Half
Gavin Smith vs Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs Scotty Nguyen
Shawn “westtexasman” Rice vs Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs Johnny Chan
Spades Bracket – Bottom Half
Daniel Negreanu vs Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs Tom “durrrr” Dwan
Phil Laak vs John Juanda
Hearts Bracket – Top Half
Jesper Hougaard vs Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs Greg “FBT” Mueller
Annette Dworski vs Chris Ferguson
Kara Scott vs Dennis Phillips
Hearts Bracket – Bottom Half
Brock “t soprano” Parker vs Doyle Brunson
J.P. Kelly vs Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs Phil Hellmuth
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad vs Orel Hershiser
Diamonds Bracket – Top Half
Barry Greenstein vs Vanessa Rousso
Sammy Farha vs Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs Mike Matusow
Diamonds Bracket – Bottom Half
Darvin Moon vs Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs Greg Raymer
Rice and Huntress both qualified for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at the host casino, while Dworski, Edwards, Quinn, Ramirez, and Wilson all won online satellites. The tournament’s first round will play out today, while the second round will take place on Saturday. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match will all pan out on Sunday. Here are today's start times:
Clubs Bracket - 1:30pm PT
Diamonds Bracket - 4:00pm PT
Spades Bracket - 7:00pm PT
Hearts Bracket - 9:30pm PT
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Caesars Palace.
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Isildur1 wins $112k
Swedish Isildur1 is trying to make yet another comeback at Full Tilt Poker. Last night he won 112k dollars from $50/$100 and $100/$200 CAP PLO games.
Let’s see what he is up to next. He won almost 1,6 million dollars in two days last month, but then lost a bit over $900k and moved to smaller stakes.
Brian Townsend has lost the most in the last 24 hours. He has lost about $200.000 now.
Source: Highstakesdb
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Full Tilt Brings Back Sit and Go Madness
Not a college basketball fan? Don't fret. Full Tilt Poker has its own version of March Madness to help pass the time this month. The world's second largest poker site will unleash its popular Sit and Go Madness on Friday, March 5th, giving players a chance at more than $125,000 in cash and prizes just by playing single-table Sit and Gos.
The action gets underway on Full Tilt at 16:00 ET on March 5th and runs through 16:00 ET on Sunday, March 7th. By simply playing Sit and Gos on the site, players can win a cut of leaderboard prize money, tickets to the Madness Raffle, and an entry to the Madness Freeroll, where they'll play for a share of a $50,000 prize pool.
The promotion will be equally split into 24 two-hour blocks, with leaderboards for each of four separate groups during every two-hour period. The top seven players at the end of each two-hour block will have the opportunity to claim a payday:
| Group A ($1-2) | Group B ($5-11) | Group C ($20-33) | Group D ($50-110) | |
| 1st Place | $20 | $100 | $200 | $500 |
| 2nd Place | $12.50 | $60 | $125 | $300 |
| 3rd Place | $7.50 | $40 | $75 | $200 |
| 4th place | $5 | $25 | $50 | $125 |
| 5th Place | $2.5 | $12.50 | $25 | $60 |
| 6th Place | $1.5 | $7.50 | $15 | $40 |
| 7th Place | $1 | $5 | $10 | $25 |
There is also an Overall Leaderboard for each respective group for the entire 48 hours of the event, which is determined by the best performance in one of the two-hour time periods. The top two players in each group's Overall Leaderboard will meet in a $5,000 Sit and Go Freeroll where the top three places will be paid. The Freeroll will take place on Saturday, March 13th at 15:05 ET.
Players who don't make it onto one of the Sit and Go Madness Leaderboards still have a chance to win big with the $50,000 Madness Freeroll. By winning at least two qualifying Sit and Gos during the 48-hour period, players will be automatically entered into the Madness Freeroll on Saturday, March 13th at 16:50 ET. The winner of the freeroll is expected to receive close to $5,000.
In addition, Full Tilt Poker is giving away more than 1,000 prizes as part of its Madness Raffle. For every qualifying Sit and Go that a player cashes in during Sit and Go Madness, he or she will earn one raffle ticket good for entry into a drawing for gear from the Full Tilt Store, Tournament Dollars, and Satellite Tokens. Some of the prizes include Full Tilt hats and t-shits, $26 and $75 Satellite tokens, $200 and $500 in Tournament Dollars, and a Full Tilt Poker Deluxe Home Game Package.
Qualifying Sit and Go Madness tournaments can be found in the 1-Table Sit and Go section of the Full Tilt Poker lobby. Sit and Gos Madness tables are highlighted in green.
For more information about Sit and Go Madness or any other Full Tilt Poker promotions, visit Full Tilt Poker.
Poker as an Olympic Sport
The International Federation of Poker will be accepted into the International Mind Sports Association in April. This means that poker will join a list of games including Chess, Bridge, and Go as an official game of skill, according to Bluff Magazine Europe. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA), meaning poker will be considered an official game of skill for the Olympics
This development may not mean that we’ll be seeing poker in the Olympics in the near future, but it is certainly a first step in the right direction. Acceptance into the IMSA and recognition from the IOC gives poker another strong argument in court. The nature of online gambling might be in question, but courts have been pretty lenient in allowing games of skill. Will this IOC distinction assist in the efforts to legalize online poker in the United States?
“I am encouraged that the IOC has recognized what we poker players have always known. Poker is an honorable game of skill,” commented Rich Muny, a board member for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). “Many states have already legally codified recognition of the fact that competitions based on skill are different from wagering on dice or other events based on chance. I believe this decision will encourage more states to recognize this distinction legally.”
Anthony Holden, author of such poker books as “Big Deal” and “Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom,” is the current head of the International Federation of Poker. He told Bluff Europe, “Poker is not like other casino games. It’s a social game where people are playing against each other, not the house, and a game where skill plays a bigger role than luck. There are 120 to 150 million poker players in the world and we deserve this recognition.”
Poker is the only card game to be accepted by the IMSA besides Bridge. This organization is a non-profit association and has over 400 national entities and close to 100 million players within its jurisdiction. As listed on the IMSA website, current headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland and Paris, France.
The IMSA held its first “IMSA Cup” competition back in 2008 in Russia. The final day of that event was dedicated to friendly matches between masters of mind games and honorary guests of the competition, mainly diplomats.
Given that mind games are recognized as games of skill by the IOC, could poker ever make it into the Olympics? While that remains to be seen, many poker sites including PokerStars have competitions like the World Cup of Poker, which matches players from various countries against each other.
Team PokerStars USA includes players such as Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Rousso, Greg Raymer, Joe Cada, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin, Dennis Phillips, Tom McEvoy, Hevad Khan, Victor Ramdin, and Jason Mercier. Popular online player Randy “nanonoko” Lew also hails from the United States. Full Tilt Pros hailing from the United States include Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, and Allen Cunningham. Full Tilt Poker also boasts a well known online prodigy of its own in Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
While we know the United States would field a dream team of poker players, there are plenty of other countries that would challenge for the gold medal. Canada, which just hosted the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, would have Daniel Negreanu along with players like Darus Suharto and Wade Ackerman leading the charge. The United Kingdom would have players like Vicky Coren, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland De Wolfe, and James Akenhead at the helm. Australia would have Joe and Tony Hachem, Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian, as well as Billy “The Croc” Argyros representing their homeland.
The IOC has outlined that a game or sport must be practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents in order to be recognized. Although we can all agree that poker is not a traditional sport that requires physical skill and toughness like pole vaulting and Greco-Roman wrestling, there might be a place for games of skill at the Olympics. Is it really out of the question to think of a “total package” decathlon that would combine physical and mental sports?
Think about a physical and mental event where participants would have to do their best in running, swimming, jumping, throwing, and then competing in mental games such as chess, poker, and bridge. It’s not too far-fetched to pitch that idea to an Olympic committee or get it aired on the likes of ESPN2 with a celebrity cast.
While we dream of Raymer competing against former Navy SEAL Dan Blizerian in a swimming race before heading to a poker tournament, having poker accepted as an official game of skill by the IMSA and the IOC is already a huge step in the right direction for the industry.
Sahamies and Dwan breaks down Cole South’s domination
It looked like no one could stop Cole South at Full Tilt Poker. South was already up 3,5 million dollars for the year yesterday, but then he ran out of luck.
Cole South
Yesterday’s games were not going as South had planned and he lost about million dollars to Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies and Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
South was playing $300/$600 PLO against Ziigmund and durrrr, who both were able to win about $500k from him.
All-in on flop, Sahamies had flopped a full house, $226k pot:
Source: Highstakesdb
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Cole South up almost $2 million in February
Cole South continued to play great in February, earning him $1.982.064 and was clearly up the most from the Full Tilt Poker nosebleed players. Also Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn ($1,56 million) and Tom “durrrr” Dwan ($1 million) had a good month.
Cole South
Brian Townsend didn’t have that good month and he lost almost 1,3 million dollars. Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies ended up losing 873,000 dollars as well.
Below are some of the biggest winners and losers from January and February:
Cole South $3.488.611
PostflopAction $2.570.307
Gus Hansen $1.797.212
NEKOTYAN $1.153.667
David Oppenheim $923.291
Jani Vilmunen $266.015
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies $231.034
Isildur1 $199.816
Patrik Antonius -$2.097.361
Brian Townsend -$1.607.803
Matatuk -$960.229
Richard Ashby -$840.130
DrPill -$765.144
Source: Highstakesdb
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Mark Newhouse Leads WPT L.A. Poker Classic After Day 3
During Season 5 of the World Poker Tour (WPT), Mark Newhouse took down the Borgata Poker Open to the tune of $1.5 million. Entering Day 4 of the L.A. Poker Classic, Newhouse is the chip leader and poised to make a run at his second WPT title.
Sunday marked a major day of television viewing for players remaining in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, which is being held at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The United States hit a last-second goal to send the gold medal game in the 2010 Winter Olympics into overtime, where Canada ultimately prevailed. By nightfall, Canadian Daniel Negreanu, who held the chip lead in the $10,000 buy-in tournament entering Day 3, watched himself take second to Barry Shulman in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event on ESPN2.
Despite the diversions, Newhouse came out on top of the field after Day 3 with a stack of 498,000 chips. Newhouse sent Danny Wong to the rails on Sunday with pocket jacks against A-K, building his arsenal of chips up to 250,000. Newhouse started the day with a stack of 68,000 and told WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque, “The biggest pot of the night, I got lucky. I beat two kings with A-K.” The hand occurred against Jason Smith and an ace hit on the flop to send Newhouse’s chip stack flying high.
2010 L.A. Poker Classic Heads-Up champion Chris Moore stole a sizable pot off GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso during Sunday’s action. The flop came 9-4-2 with two diamonds. Rousso bet, Moore put in a raise, and Rousso called to bring a third diamond on the turn. Rousso bet 45,000 and Moore came over the top all-in for 150,000. Rousso tanked before finally folding 5-6 of diamonds for a flush face up. Moore scooped the pot and promptly turned over pocket nines for a set. Thanks in part to Rousso’s donation, Moore owns a stack of 489,000 chips entering Day 4, the second largest tally in the room.
One of the final eliminations yesterday went to Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer, who was all-in with A-K against pocket queens for a classic race situation. The flop came queen-high, giving his opponent a set, and Lederer failed to catch up. Other pros who found the exit on Day 3 included Barry Greenstein, Gavin Griffin, Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, Jason Mercier, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Steve Zolotow, Todd Brunson, and Allen Cunningham.
Play ended on Sunday with the money bubble bursting at 72 players remaining. Thomas Fuller, who had been near the top of the chip counts throughout much of the event, was the unfortunate 73rd place finisher. Fuller was all-in pre-flop with A-K, but ran into pocket aces. The flop of Q-Q-10 gave Fuller an inside straight draw if a jack hit, but the board filled out Q-7 and everyone remaining had made the money. The top prize in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic is $1.8 million.
Here are the top 10 chip counts entering Day 4 of the Commerce Casino tournament:
1. Mark Newhouse - 498,000
2. Chris Moore - 489,000
3. Masa Kagawa - 432,000
4. John Cautela - 417,000
5. Shawn Pilot - 400,500
6. Millad Jorshari - 386,000
7. Gevork Kasabyan - 378,000
8. Tim Begley - 369,500
9. Tri Huynh - 353,000
10. Dan “Wretchy” Martin - 335,000
A stacked field of 72 players remains in the hunt for the L.A. Poker Classic title. Other notable names still alive include:
15. Annie Duke - 321,000
17. Carlos Mortensen - 305,000
19. Steve Sung - 285,000
25. Eugene Katchalov - 235,000
29. Daniel Negreanu - 222,500
30. Peter “Belabacsi” Traply - 221,500
32. Johnny Chan - 218,000
35. Prahlad Friedman - 208,000
36. Hoyt Corkins - 206,500
39. Erica Schoenberg - 189,000
47. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar - 157,500
51. Robert Mizrachi - 139,500
60. Surinder Sunar - 83,500
64. Vanessa Rousso - 46,000
69. Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 31,500
72. David “Bakes” Baker - 17,000
Sunday also marked the beginning of the $25,000 High-Roller tournament, whose top prize is $425,000. Twenty-three players remain in the event, with Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Daniel Alaei out in front after one day of play.
Tags: 2009, 2010, Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Canada, canadian, Daniel Negreanu, full tilt poker, tournament, WSOP
The Sunday Scoop: Near Miss for Nico Behling
The Sunday Million continues to smash its guarantee as 10,077 players came out to play creating a $2.01 million prizepool.
Behling and Swiss player Ronald “ronaldgruer” Gruer, who is currently ranked fourth in CardPlayer's Online Player of the Year race, made competition at the final table fierce.
Gruer eventually finished in fifth place for $80,616 while Behling crashed out third, narrowly missing a shot at heads up.
Behling has over $245,000 in online tournament earnings and a final table appearance at the 2008 Aussie Millions, but a major online title has always eluded him.
In the end, orionrg won this week's Sunday Million for $255,429 after a two-way chop.
In the other big PokerStars tournaments, online grinder Ben “ANIMAL5050” Pappas took the Sunday 500 title for $87,400 while Brazilian atcasanova won the Sunday Warm-Up for $146,854.
Over on Full Tilt Poker, the $750,000 Guaranteed garnered the attention of 4,196 players who combined to form a prizepool of $839,000. Online player mohamedali13 beat a table of unknown players to win $148,196.
live fox won the Full Tilt Sunday Brawl for $116,319 while SCOOP final table finisher Ben “kidcardiff” Warrington came in fifth-place for $29,223.
Meanwhile on UB Poker, KEJULES10 won the $200k Guaranteed for $37,564. Reality TV star turned poker player Trishelle Cannatella came in 18th out of the 1,006 players that entered the tournament.
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Kentucky House Passes Bill Taxing Online and Phone Horse Racing Wagers
Despite an ongoing court battle to rid the state of 141 internet gambling sites, Kentucky’s House passed a bill taxing online and phone “advanced deposit wagers” on horse racing by an 85-8 margin. Now, the measure will be discussed in the Kentucky Senate.
Sites like TwinSpires.com, which is owned by the parent company of the Churchill Downs racetrack, operate legally in the state and allow residents to wager on the ponies online and over the phone. On Friday, Kentucky House Bill 368 passed by a 10:1 margin after Democratic Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark brought the legislation to life. According to an article that appeared on Friday in the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper, Clark asserts that up to $400,000 per year could be pulled down as a result of taxing online and phone bets just 0.5%.
One-third of the tax would go to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, one-third would go to the track the bet was placed with, and the final portion would supplement the track’s cash prizes. Clark told the Louisville media outlet, “I think that it's a way for us to advance the tracks as far as adding more purse money… so I think it's something the Senate would look at. They talked about last session, when they did not want to do slots, finding more revenue for (tracks). This is one avenue that would find more revenue for them.”
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is two months away from hosting the annual Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The “Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” plays out on the first Saturday in May every year and attracts celebrities and high rollers from around the world. In the past, online poker rooms like UB.com have held promotions in conjunction with the gala.
TwinSpires.com caps online and phone bets at $2,500 per transaction and a minimum deposit of $25 is required. The site has a mailing address in Kentucky, but is licensed in Oregon. Last year, the Kentucky legislature ultimately failed to approve a similar measure, which would have taxed internet and phone bets at a rate of 3.5%, or seven times the amount of the current version of the bill.
The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, led by J. Michael Brown, has been on an 18-month witch hunt against the owners of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to industry giants PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. In September 2008, the State seized the rights to the domain names and sought their forfeiture before members of the internet gambling industry stepped in. The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has led the charge on behalf of the 141 sites in jeopardy.
In October 2009, lawyers representing iMEGA, the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), and several of the sites at risk pleaded their case in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court. A ruling cannot be handed down until March 18th at the earliest. Other possible release dates for the Supreme Court’s verdict are April 22nd, May 20th, June 17th, August 26th, September 23rd, October 21st, November 18th, and December 16th.
The Commonwealth charged that the 141 domains constituted “gambling devices,” a term that is traditionally reserved for physical objects like slot machines and roulette wheels that you’d find in an illegal underground casino. Judge Thomas Wingate upheld the State’s actions in an October 2008 ruling before the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned it by a two-to-one margin in January 2009. During October’s Supreme Court hearing, State officials repeatedly noted that Kentucky’s legislature had not yet acted on the legality of internet gambling outside of horse racing.
The Courier-Journal added that Illinois and Virginia had taken similar approaches to taxing online wagers on horse racing.
Gavin Smith Wins Face Tattoo Prop Bet over Jeff Madsen, Joe Sebok
Why tattoo the face of one fellow poker player on your body when you can tattoo two? UB.com pro Joe Sebok will ask himself that question after losing a last longer prop bet during the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic on Friday.
The three-way prop bet featured Sebok, Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith, and young gun Jeff Madsen. Whoever was eliminated first from the $10,000 buy-in L.A. Poker Classic would tattoo the faces of the other two players on his body. That honor went to Sebok, whose aces were cracked during the third level of play on Friday to come out on the short end of the bet. On the wager, Sebok told new WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque, “It is so stupid. I am so embarrassed to even admit it. I feel like one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project and now I’ve done something so awful that it's going to torment the world for so long.”
Madsen was the next player out and now must tattoo Smith’s face on his body. Smith, meanwhile, reached Day 2 of the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino, but sits with the second smallest stack in the room as play begins. Sebok’s Twitter feed was full of prop bet-related 140-character outbursts on Friday. He honorably admitted defeat, saying, “fair victory for @olegsmith, w/ @jeffmadsenobv's bust. 1 thing is certain; i shall never drink alcohol w/ EITHER of these clowns again...”
The rumor mill at the WPT tournament indicated that Smith would accept a $20,000 buyout of the bet, while Madsen may take $15,000. However, Sebok stated on Twitter that buying out of the unique bet was not an option: “btw all, the ONLY thing worse than losing this bet and getting these fool's ugly faces on my body is PAYING them to not do it. hell no...” Sebok let Madsen buy out of a prop bet during a previous running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $15,000, hence Madsen’s offer.
When Madsen busted from the L.A. Poker Classic, his Twitter feed was equally lively. Madsen sought user suggestions for the pending tattoo: “Its ok, i will happily memorialize gavin forever… Any suggestions on the theme of the tat?” During play, he added, “I'm trying not to remind myself that I'm in the middle of the most retarded prop bet ever.” Madsen is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner. Smith already owns a tattoo immortalizing Sebok, as the initials “J.S.” appear on his back.
The poker community weighed in on the bet, which panned out at the Commerce Casino. Tournament Director Matt Savage chimed in, “@joesebok: @SavagePoker jeez, don't sound so happy, jerkus... Not Happy but at least you can do radio shows this week?” Sebok co-anchors the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite” alongside Scott Huff. The series’ second season will kick off on Versus on Wednesday at 11:00pm ET. Meanwhile, Smith trumpeted his victory for all of cyberspace to see: “No tattie's for ole GSmith, Madsen and Sebok can't say the same!”
Upon hearing that Sebok had lost the bet and now has two new sets of ink coming his way, actress Shannon Elizabeth exclaimed via a Tweet, “@joesebok LOL-you LOST??? NO WAY! That's huge! LOL-nice work! Haha 
” Poker publicist Lara Miller offered her own advice: “Can you get the tatts super super small? Like the head of a pin?” No indication has been given on the size of the tattoos.
Smith has been involved in some of the industry’s most memorable prop bets, including a wager with Allie Prescott during the 2006 WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans. Prescott could have been out $700,000 if Smith won the tournament, while Smith would have owed Prescott $1 million if Prescott won. In the end, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman defeated Smith heads-up in the $10,000 buy-in Circuit Championship; Prescott finished seventh.
Mark Seif, Ben Zamani Among WPT L.A. Poker Classic Day 1 Leaders
Absolute Poker pro Mark Seif and online gamer Ben “xthesteinx” Zamani are among the leaders after one day of play in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic. Day 2 takes place today at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
A total of 745 players entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament, up a solid 7% from last year’s count of 696. A tent was set up outside the casino to accommodate the extra demand in a scene that was likely reminiscent of the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The top 72 players will finish in the money when the final cards are dealt on Thursday and first place will pocket $1.8 million. The minimum payout is over $18,000.
A field of 477 players will assemble on Saturday in Los Angeles. Defending champion Cornel Andrew Cimpan was one of the casualties of Friday’s action. Taking his place at a table featuring Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow was none other than 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Upon the UB.com pro arriving at his new digs, Matusow welcomed him with the following line: "Welcome to the table. You're now the worst player at the worst table in the room."
The Commerce Casino spent the day buzzing about the now-infamous prop bet with Gavin Smith, “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and Jeff Madsen. The trio agreed on a creative last longer bet in which the first player to bust from the L.A. Poker Classic had to adorn tattoos of the other two players’ faces. The second player to bust had to ink a tattoo of the remaining player’s face. Sebok saw his aces cracked during Level 3 play and was the first musketeer eliminated. Then, it was Madsen’s turn to go. Accordingly, Smith came out on top of one of the wildest prop bets ever conducted. Whether a buyout of the bet will occur remains to be seen.
Heading into Day 2, Masa Kagawa paces the field with a stack of 124,000 chips. He’ll head to Table 4 on Saturday and will be keeping a watchful eye out for Seif, who holds 122,000 chips. Seif, a sponsored pro of the CEREUS Network site Absolute Poker, is a two-time bracelet winner whose last piece of hardware came in 2005 in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event. Seif’s company will include Victory Poker pro Keith Gipson, European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie, Nick Binger, and 2009 WSOP Europe bracelet winner J.P. Kelly.
Team PokerStars Pro front man Daniel Negreanu, fresh off helping promote the site’s first ever North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop on U.S. soil at the Venetian, doubled up with pocket kings at the Commerce Casino on Day 1. His cowboys held against an opponent’s pocket jacks to move him to 40,000 in chips. Negreanu finished the day with a stack of 29,075, good for 223rd in the room. He appears on the leaderboard in elite company, however, as also holding around 29,000 chips are Erik Seidel, Gavin Griffin, Matt Glantz, Tuan Le, and NAPT High-Roller Bounty Shootout third place finisher Joe Cassidy.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic heading into Day 2:
1. Masa Kagawa - 124,575
2. Mark Seif - 122,025
3. Charles Dolan - 120,500
4. Benjamin “xthesteinx” Zamani - 115,000
5. Naoya Kihara - 104,100
6. Chansung Choi - 100,350
7. Shawn Buchanan - 100,225
8. Hieu Luu - 98,250
9. Cary Katz - 97,475
10. Eugene Katchalov - 95,675
Notable names that appear in the top 50 include:
21. David Singer - 73,525
24. Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson - 72,125
31. Robert Mizrachi - 68,575
32. Darus Suharto - 68,275
39. Peter “Belabacsi” Traply - 64,200
40. Chau Giang - 63,250
41. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke - 63,075
44. Keith Gipson - 61,175
45. Vanessa Rousso - 60,900
46. David “WhooooKidd” Baker - 60,725
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest L.A. Poker Classic coverage.
UK online player wins Full Tilt FTOPS XV Main Event
Ahston Griffin wins $196k and Tom Dwan lost $105k yesterday
It was quite quiet day yesterday. Only few players around the Full Tilt Poker tables. It might be that everyone were at the Venetian where the North American Poker Tour event was held.
Tom Dwan lost the most yesterday. He recorded around $105k losses. Ashton “theASHMAN103″ Griffin was able to grind the best profit during the quiet evening. He won a bit over $169k.
Ashton “theASHMAN103″ Griffin
David Oppenheim managed to win quite nicely as well. He recorded $120k winnings. He’s over 1,1 million dollars up for the year so far, so he’s having a nice upswing.
Winners top 5 (nick, hands, result):
| theASHMAN103 | 708 | $169 428.50 |
| David Oppenheim | 303 | $120 249.50 |
| OMGClayAiken | 535 | $116 374.50 |
| FakeSky | 452 | $41 188.75 |
| NEKOTYAN | 213 | $30 870.75 |
Losers top 5 (nick, hands, result):
| SxMxF | 234 | -$46 670.00 |
| thecranium | 203 | -$47 489.25 |
| Patrik Antonius | 52 | -$64 104.50 |
| PixKim | 914 | -$89 577.00 |
| durrrr | 702 | -$105 021.75 |
Source: Highstakesdb
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Full Tilt Poker Sponsors Kandy Masquerade Charity Event at the Playboy Mansion
FullTiltPoker.net will be one of the sponsors of the Kandy Masquerade, a sexy costume ball whose proceeds will benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA). This will be the second annual production of the Kandy Masquerade, which will be held at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, February 27th at 8:00pm. The gala is presented by the Karma Foundation.
The timing will work perfectly for poker players at the World Poker Tour's (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, whose six-day $10,000 Main Event begins on Friday. In an effort to allow any competitor who wishes to attend, L.A. Poker Classic tournament director Matt Savage has scheduled an 8:00pm break in the tournament that day, the second day of the event.
Entrance to an extravagant charity ball is, of course, not free. Kandy Masquerade tickets cost $1,000 apiece in advance. Organizers make no promises of ticket availability on the day of the event and have warned of a "very premium price." For the four-figure sum, attendees will receive admission into the Masquerade, free parking at the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a shuttle to the party, heavy hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, dinner, dessert, and entertainment. Celebrity DJ Paul Oakenfold and DJ Mister E will be on-hand to keep the festivities hopping.
All party goers are required to wear masks. Women are asked to wear "sexy, masquerade themed clothing," while men must wear all black. Anyone who has seen pictures or video of a Playboy Mansion party should have an idea of what to expect. It's not for children. Personal cameras are allowed for those who wish to share the sights with their friends.
The Karma Foundation is a social networking membership-only club best known for throwing extravagant, outrageous themed events like the Kandy Masquerade. Past events include the Kandyland and Kandy Halloween parties, both held at the Playboy Mansion, as well as the Kandy Kruise and Kandy Vegas, which was held at the Palms Casino Resort last year. Proceeds from the events go to charity. The Karma Foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for such organizations as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, March of Dimes, Children's Hospital of Orange County, and AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Membership dues for the Karma Foundation are $5,000 annually.
The NSPCA is a non-profit, no-kill animal sanctuary in Las Vegas. It is no stranger to the generosity of poker players. Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman has hosted three charity poker tournaments, two of which benefited the NSPCA to the tune of $450,000.