Posts Tagged ‘high stakes’
Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship Airs on GSN
On Saturday night, the Heads-Up Championship at the Aussie Millions aired on GSN. Only one hour of coverage was devoted to the event, which attracted 50 players. Once again, Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call.
Each match-up was played in a best of three format and GSN producers displayed the final hands made by players on the screen. Because of the short time devoted to the event, many of the hands that made it to air were all-ins and the action began with Barry Woods facing off against Vanessa Selbst, who was rocking a Full Tilt Poker logo. Selbst doubled Woods up with pocket sevens against pocket nines and then again after flopping trips against Woods’ boat.
Women like Amanda da Cesare, Jessica Dowley, Leo Margets, and Marsha Waggoner were profiled at the Aussie Millions. Then, Selbst 4bet all-in with 7-6 of hearts on a flop of 2-K-8, all hearts. Woods held K-7 and watched in glee as a king hit on the turn and a deuce hit on the river, giving him a runner-runner full house. Selbst hit the rails after the bad beat and Woods moved on to face Norway’s Martin Gudvangen.
Woods continued to receive the blessings of the poker gods, making a runner-runner straight against Gudvangen, leaving Khoury to remark, “Sometimes raising at the wrong time really pays off.” Then, Woods’ 10-8 held against Gudvangen’s 9-5 to ship him the title in the first match.
Gudvangen struck back in match #2, however, doubling up with A-J against A-8 before finally putting his opponent away with A-3 against J-9 all-in pre-flop. In the rubber match and holding Q-3, Woods moved all-in over the top of a bet by Gudvangen, who had pocket nines on a board of 5-8-5. Gudvangen made the call as an 87% favorite only to watch Woods spike a queen on the river to double up. Khoury exclaimed, “Barry is nodding his head, but he knows he’s run well in this tournament.” Gudvangen was eliminated shortly thereafter.
In the finals of the Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship, Woods faced off against Canadian Kyle McMurphy. Woods whiffed on a straight draw on the river to give McMurphy the edge in round #1. Then, on a board of 9-Q-7-J, McMurphy checked with pocket jacks for a set and Woods bet 3,200 holding 10-8 for the second nuts. McMurphy check-raised all-in and Woods happily called. The river failed to pair the board and Woods claimed round #2.
In the deciding match of the event, McMurphy open-shoved all-in pre-flop with K-10 and Woods made the call with A-9 of hearts. The situation was looking grim for McMurphy until a nine hit on the river to give him a straight and a critical double up. McMurphy doubled one more time after coming out on the winning end of a race with A-10 against pocket deuces before finally putting Woods away with J-7 against K-2 all-in pre-flop. McMurphy banked $69,000 for the win, while Woods earned $46,000.
New episodes of Aussie Millions coverage on GSN air at 9:00pm ET on Saturdays as part of Power Poker Weekends on the cable station. You can catch poker on GSN according to the following schedule each week:
Saturdays on GSN
9:00pm ET: Aussie Millions
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 5
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: World Poker Tour Season 6
Sundays on GSN
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
2:00am ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
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Andy Bloch wins $140,000 at Full Tilt Poker
World Poker Tour Brings Back Kimberly Lansing for Season 9
In an overhaul of sorts for Season 9, the World Poker Tour (WPT) has brought back Kimberly Lansing. Her role, you ask? According to a press statement released on Saturday, Lansing will “provide show opens, breaks, commentary, and perspective, including player interviews that will serve to bring out the human interest side of playing for high stakes.”
Sunday marks the first day of play in the Bellagio Cup VI, the kickoff U.S.-based event of Season 9 of the WPT. With buy-ins for several upcoming tournaments slashed to encourage more participation, Season 9 may mark a rebirth of sorts for the age-old series that first appeared on the Travel Channel back in 2003.
Lansing last appeared on WPT programming in Season 6. On why she will rejoin the tour’s ranks for the forthcoming cycle, WPT President Adam Pliska commented in the same press release, “We believe the WPT anchor represents a significant step forward in poker programming and Kimberly is a natural fit for the position. Her charisma, style, professionalism, and knowledge of the sport have earned her the respect and attention of players throughout the poker community.”
Party Gaming purchased the WPT late last year, leading some to believe that PartyPoker pro Kara Scott may make her way to the small screen. However, Lansing will become a mainstay at live tournaments located at casinos around the United States. Also receiving more exposure during Season 9 will be WPT hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, who will now attend the starting day of every U.S. event. Despite the Bellagio Cup starting on Sunday, Van Patten sits in 101st after Day 2A of the World Series of Poker Main Event holding a stack of 174,200.
The WPT held a press conference on Saturday morning to announce the changes for Season 9 and also officially introduced Matt Savage as its Executive Tour Director. Savage, a co-founder of the Tournament Directors of America, will work hand in hand with players, casinos, and tournament staff to provide a seamless experience for WPT players. Savage added, “There are so many exciting changes at the World Poker Tour and I’m looking forward to having a big role in the WPT’s continued success. This is an amazing team and I’m proud to be working with them.”
Also debuting during Season 9 will be the Royal Flush Girls, who include 2007 Miss Kentucky USA Michelle Banzer, “FHM Singapore” cover girl Sunisa Kim, and Formula Drift car builder Melyssa Grace. All told, six Royal Flush Girls will film vignettes for WPT programming, including a behind-the-scenes tour at the host venue. The Royal Flush Girls will be on-hand this weekend at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip.
The WPT last held an event on U.S. soil in April, when newly signed PokerStars pro David Williams took down the $25,000 Championship event. Williams defeated UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin heads-up in a final table that also included Shawn Buchanan, David Benyamine, Billy Baxter, and John O’Shea. Attendance for the 2010 WPT Championship was down over 40% from 2009, when 338 players took to the felts in a tournament won by Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko.
The seventh and eighth seasons of the WPT appeared on Fox Sports Net. However, no official announcement has been given as to whether the ninth season will also air on the cable station, although a statement is expected in the near future. Seasons 1 through 5 of the WPT aired on the Travel Channel, followed by a brief hiatus to GSN for Season 6. GSN officials opted not to air Season 7, leading to WPT landing on Fox Sports Net.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT news.
Tags: 2009, 2010, bellagio, buy-ins, David Benyamine, high stakes, interview, kara scott, pokerstars, tournament, usa, vegas, WSOP
Maria Ho Video Interview
Maria Ho gained mainstream fame by appearing with her good friend Tiffany Michelle in the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race” last year. Those in the poker world, especially those that frequent the legendary Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, know that Maria Ho is a lot more than just a pretty face. Known for being one of the best high stakes live Limit Hold’em players, she joins us right before the start of her World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1. In this interview she talks about her role on Team China with World Team Poker and growing up in a Chinese household which prepared her for the world of being a poker pro as well as her strategy going into the Main Event.
Dan Bilzerian House Tour
Dan Bilzerian lives at the Panorama Towers and is a high stakes live cash game pro who has taken on some of the biggest games for huge scores. Living in the luxurious Panorama Towers in Las Vegas is reserved for only the elite, and Bilzerian gave us an exclusive tour of his home. See how one of the true poker ballers lives in this video.
Bilzerian is a sponsored pro at Victory Poker and gained some household notoriety with a deep run during the 2009 World Series of Poker‘s Main Event.
David Williams Signs with PokerStars
Poker News Daily can independently confirm that 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner David Williams has signed with PokerStars. Williams’ agency, Poker Royalty, confirmed that a contract was forged in recent days and the former Bodog pro will now join the world’s largest online poker site.
Williams parted ways with Bodog shortly after taking down the WPT Championship at the Bellagio to the tune of $1.5 million. The tournament marked his fourth WPT final table and gave him nearly $3 million in career WPT earnings. Bodog, which has parted ways with Jean-Robert Bellande and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo since 2010 began, promptly introduced Amanda Musumeci as its newest sponsored pro. Musumeci joins Evelyn Ng as the lone Bodog-backed pros.
On July 6th at the Palms, PokerStars is hosting a cocktail event featuring reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Joe Cada, Williams, and North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun Main Event winner Vanessa Selbst. Neither Selbst nor Williams appears on PokerStars’ website as a sponsored pro at the time of writing. Selbst, a Yale law student, banked an even $750,000 by taking down the $5,000 NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event in April, besting a final table that included Scott Seiver and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy.
Williams’ total live tournament winnings nearly top $8 million. The Panorama Towers resident finished as the runner-up to Greg Raymer in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $3.5 million. Two years later, Williams landed at the final table of the WPT Bay 101 stop for $280,000. He won a gold bracelet at the 2006 WSOP in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud event and promptly took second in a $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball tournament for another quarter-million dollars.
Williams has been a staple of televised series like the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, NBC’s “Poker After Dark,” GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” and the PokerStars-backed “Big Game.” He celebrated his 30th birthday earlier this month, noting on Twitter, “Thanks you to everyone for the Happy Birthday messages. 30 isn’t so bad… I guess.”
PokerStars issued a weekly news roundup on Tuesday morning that did not mention Williams’ signing. He’ll join a stable of pros that includes Cada, Raymer, Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, Peter Eastgate, Barry Greenstein, and the site’s main face, Daniel Negreanu. Year-over-year, PokerStars has posted a 14% increase in online poker traffic according to PokerScout.com and currently owns a seven-day running average of 25,000 real money ring game players.
The PokerStars cocktail reception at the Palms is invite-only and designed for members of the media to conduct one-on-one interviews. It’s one of the many gatherings planned for this week in Las Vegas leading up to the 2010 WSOP Main Event, which begins next Monday, July 5th, with the first of four starting days. The tournament plays down to a final table on July 17th. Then, the nine survivors will disperse from the Rio until the first week of November. You can catch the Main Event, Tournament of Champions, and $50,000 Player’s Championship starting next month on ESPN.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest player signings.
Antonio Esfandiari Workout
In this exclusive access video, our team was able to visit Antonio Esfandiari at his home at the luxurious Panorama Towers in Las Vegas. As part of his normal routine, before he went off to play in the final of the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event with 18 players remaining, he joined his personal trainer at the gym. Esfandiari has been dedicating himself to a healthier lifestyle and getting his body in serious shape and we caught the “arms day” of his workout routine in this video. He talks a bit of about why he’s at the gym so much now and how it can help poker players keep their focus.
Antonio Esfandiari is one of the most recognizable faces in the world of professional poker. He’s won events at both the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour in addition to appearing on several episodes of High Stakes Poker. Known as “The Magician” he’s considered one of the best live pros and is now a spokesperson and sponsored pro for Victory Poker.
Women in Poker Hall of Fame nominees announced – among them Duke, Harman and Liebert
The 2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame has nominated seven female poker players two of which will be chosen to Hall of Fame in September.
On the list there are familiar names to current players as well as a couple of older legends and poker professionals.
Betty Carey - A poker pro whose blue eyes mesmerized among others Doyle Brunson. When the 70’s turned to 80’s, Carey was known from her very aggressive playing style. Won a few WSOP money prizes and carried a .357 Magnum with herself.
Phyllis Caro - A poker pioneer since 1979. Started her career as a dealer and is nowadays the manager of poker operations in Hollywood Park, California. Has assisted her husband Mike Caro in making numerous poker books.
Nani Dollison - A South-Korean born hard core professional. Won a WSOP bracelet from $1,000 Limit Hold’em in 2001 and is one of the few WSOP Ladies Event double champions. Has cashed nearly 800,000 dollars during her career.
Annie Duke - Has claimed over 4,2 million dollar profits from tournaments and one WSOP bracelet from $2K Omaha Hi-Lo.
Jennifer Harman - A multi-skilled high stakes pro who has pocketed 2,5 million dollars during her career. The only woman who has won two WSOP bracelets.
Kathy Liebert - The most successful female tournament player ever with her 5,7 million dollar winnings since 1994.
Joanne “JJ” Liu - A pro player born in Taipei, Taiwan. Has won a WPT title and over 2,3 million dollars from the tournaments. A regular face in high stakes cash games.
Check out the nominees and the vote which will be open until July 15th in HERE.
Sources: PokerNewsDaily, womenspokerhalloffame.com and TheHendonMob
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Women in Poker Hall of Fame nominees announced – among them Duke, Harman and Liebert
Tags: 2010, Doyle Brunson, high stakes, Hollywood, ladies, poker player, skill, tournament, woman, women, WSOP
Eli Elezra leads WSOP event #44 $2.5k Mixed Hold’em
Sahamies approaching Antonius in profits, the downswing of “Isildur1? still continues
June has been anything but action-packed in Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes games. However, this week has shown that the game scene is livening up again: there have been big names - like Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Cole South, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and ”Isildur1″ - playing at the tables.
Patrik Antonius’s 345,000 dollar profits are still the biggest of the month, but the other Finn, Ilari Sahamies, is not far behind with his 284,000 dollar June winnings. Third on the list is Tom “durrrr” Dwan who has managed to play almost 1,200 hands and to earn 255,000 dollars at Full Tilt while being busy with WSOP as well.
So far Joel “Odonkor1??” Nordqvist is leading the loser list of the month due to his 235,000 dollar losses, but seems like “Isildur1″ is approaching him quickly. After last night the mysterious Swede has already lost more than 200,000 dollars during June.
Source: HSDB and The Hendon Mob
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Sahamies approaching Antonius in profits, the downswing of “Isildur1″ still continues
“XWINK” made good profits during the weekend
The WSOP 2010 still keeps Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes tables quiet. But not all the players have gone to Las Vegas which means there is at least some action at the tables.
Recently “XWINK” - also known from UltimateBet - has been doing pretty well at Full Tilt. Last weekend he profited over 123,000 dollars, and now his June earnings are already 192,000 dollars.
Once “XWINK” did wild rises at UltimateBet - we’ll see if he manages to do the same at Full Tilt Poker.
Patrik Antonius (+345K) is still leading in June profits whereas last month’s big winner, Jared “harrington25″ Bleznick (-265K), has taken the first place on the losers of the month -list.
Source: HSDB and The Hendon Mob
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The top stories of the first half of WSOP 2010
CardPlayer has ranked the highlights of this year’s WSOP. The tournament is now in halfway, and many interesting things have happened in Las Vegas.
5. Sam Farha’s return
Sammy Farha did great in the WSOP 2003. After that, this regular High Stakes Poker face concentrated mainly on cash games. But this year he stepped back in the WSOP spotlight by winning the $10k Omaha Hi/Lo tournament.
4. Men Nguyen and the 7th bracelet
Men “The Master” Nguyen joined the tiny group of those players who have won seven bracelets during their career. Now Nguyen belongs to the same group with Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss and Erik Seidel.
3. Michael Mizrachi in $50k Players’ Championship
Just before this year’s WSOP Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi was in an awkward situation. According to a Florida newspaper Mizrachi was facing foreclosure due to his $340,000 dollars of unpaid taxes. Goes without saying that the $1,56 million-dollar victory in Players’ Championship eased his situation a lot.
2. Men attending the Ladies Event
About ten male players didn’t bother to care about the tournament organizers’ wishes to keep the Ladies Event solely for women. There is no lawful excuse to prevent men from attending this female tournament; rather it is more about an unwritten rule and gentleman’s agreement. Thus, among other things, we got to see a man wearing a skirt and a wig during the event.
1. Tom Dwan’s side bets
Mizrachi’s and Farha’s bracelets are still fresh in our memory, but the biggest attention was attracted by Tom “durrrr” Dwan who became second in the $1,500 NL event. As far as we know, Dwan had bet million dollars on winning the bracelet, which meant that many other top players were truly relieved after Simon Watt managed to beat him in heads-up.
You can read more about these stories from here.
Source: Cardplayer and TheHendonMob
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Eight Remain in Aussie Millions High Roller Coverage on GSN
GSN’s coverage of the 2010 Aussie Millions continued on Saturday night as part of the network’s poker block. The one-hour episode, which began at 9:00pm ET, featured 15 players remaining in the AUD $100,000 High Roller event, including a star studded feature table.
Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call of the action from the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Whereas past episodes of the Aussie Millions on GSN have focused almost exclusively on pros of Full Tilt Poker, the show’s sponsor, producers branched out this time around. Among the beneficiaries of the expanded coverage was Bill Jordanou, who committed his chips pre-flop with A-J and ran into the wired pair of eights of Roberto Romanello. Jordanou spiked an ace on the turn and doubled up.
PartyPoker front man Tony G, who bought everyone in the house a drink earlier in the evening, and Howard Lederer checked a flop of J-9-9 to see a six on the turn. Lederer, holding Q-10, bet 30,000 and Tony G min-raised to 60,000 with pocket sixes for a boat. Lederer wisely got out of the way and Tony G continued to add to his stack. The European has been relatively quiet for much of the broadcast of the High Roller Event, a far cry from his antics on the PokerStars sponsored “Big Game,” which airs nightly during the week on Fox.
Lederer raised to 24,000 with A-10 and Romanello, holding pocket nines, raised the pot to 84,000. Lederer called and the flop came 2-2-J. Romanello moved all-in for an extra 6,000 and Lederer called despite holding air. The turn came a harmless seven, but Lederer hit a 10 on the river to send Romanello out. The Full Tilt Poker pro moved to fourth in chips as a result.
Pre-flop, Tony G made it 23,000 with A-8 of spades and Lederer came along with K-10. The flop came Q-4-10 with two spades and the action went check-check to an offsuit seven on the turn. Lederer bet 35,000 and Tony G tossed in a button to receive 30 seconds of extra time before electing to call. The poker bad boy hit lightning in a bottle on the river when the deuce of spades peeled off, giving him the nut flush. Lederer bet 60,000, Tony G moved all-in over the top for 92,000, and Lederer folded despite the discounted price to call. The pot was worth 244,000.
GSN coverage of the Aussie Millions does not display the value of the pot. In addition, bet, call, and raise amounts are only displayed for a few seconds, making the action difficult to follow. In the final hand of the night, Phil Ivey took center stage. The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Niner raised to 25,000 pre-flop with A-9 and Masa Kagawa re-raised to 85,000 with Big Slick. Ivey moved all-in over the top for 185,000 and Kagawa called for his tournament life.
Ivey hit a nine on the flop to take the lead for good in the hand and send Kagawa out in ninth place, setting up the eight-handed final table that will air next Saturday on GSN at 9:00pm ET. The group will feature Ivey, Tony G, Lederer, and Tony G.
GSN’s Saturday night poker block begins at 6:00pm ET. Starting on August 14th, the Aussie Millions will be replaced with the Full Tilt Poker Doubles Championship:
High Stakes Poker, Season 4 – 6:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 5 – 7:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 6 – 8:00pm ET
Aussie Millions – 9:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 5 (repeat) – 10:00pm ET
Million Dollar Challenge – 11:00pm ET
Aussie Millions (repeat) – 12:00am ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 4 (repeat) – 1:00am ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 6 (repeat) – 2:00am ET
Tags: 2009, 2010, aced, european, full tilt poker, high stakes, Phil Ivey, pokerstars, tournament, WSOP
Poker After Dark: The Cash Game Continues on NBC
This week, “The Cash Game” continues on the NBC franchise “Poker After Dark.” The second week of action began on Monday night at 2:05am ET with a good old-fashioned Twitter fight between UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth and DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson. Hellmuth told his elder, “I’ll side bet you that I can get 75,000 more Twitter followers in the next three months just by hosting freeroll tournaments.” Hellmuth offered to bet $1 million and Brunson countered with $10,000, but no agreement was reached.
Hellmuth’s comment was in part a jab at Brunson for growing his Twitter following using promotional tactics. In case you’re wondering, Hellmuth has 39,000 Twitter followers, while Brunson has nearly ten times that total at 340,000. Brunson began the episode up over $130,000 from last week’s action, while Tom “durrrr” Dwan was down $150,000. At one point, over $1 million was spread across the table, $350,000 of which was contributed by Dwan.
On a flop of Q-6-4, Dwan bet $3,600 with 6-4 for two pair and Eli Elezra called with Q-9 for top pair. The turn was a king and Dwan once again led out, this time for $9,300. Elezra called behind and spiked a nine on the river, making a better two pair than Dwan. The youngster fired out $22,800 and Elezra begrudgingly called, saying, “I guess I ran into the flush” when the board showed three hearts. However, Elezra raked in the $76,100 pot, received some ribbing from his tablemates for his flush comment, and Dwan reloaded for another $100,000.
Then, it was Hellmuth’s turn to shine. On a flop of 9-9-J, Hellmuth fired out a continuation bet of $7,000 with A-3 suited and Phil Laak made the call with 9-8 suited for trips. The turn was another jack and Laak led out for $4,700. Hellmuth called behind and the river was a three. Laak bet $23,000 and the Hellmuth theatrics began. The 11-time bracelet winner removed his sunglasses and dramatically pondered the situation before ultimately deciding to call. Laak raked in the $75,700 pot with a boat and Hellmuth lamented, “What the f***? Wow. 9-8 of hearts? Wow.”
Dwan righted the ship, leading out for $10,400 with 6-5 of diamonds on a flop of Q-3-A with one diamond. Brunson called with A-2 for top pair and the turn was the nine of diamonds, improving Dwan from air to a flush draw. Dwan bet $27,600 and Brunson insta-folded the best hand, shipping a $63,000 pot to Dwan.
In the hand of the night on Monday’s episode of “Poker After Dark,” Elezra raised to $3,300 pre-flop with Q-10 of hearts, Hellmuth called with 8-7 of spades, and Dwan put in a $12,700 squeeze play with pocket jacks. Full Tilt’s Gus Hansen 4bet to $33,800 with pocket tens and Dwan put the Dane all-in for another $60,000. Hansen called and the duo agreed to run it twice.
In the first board, Hansen made a flush on the river to scoop half of the $191,700 pot despite being a 9:1 underdog pre-flop. In the second board, Dwan’s wired pair held and the two players chopped the spoils; each netted about $3,500 in the process. By the end of the night, Laak was up $130,000, while Brunson was up $120,000.
The second week of “Poker After Dark: The Cash Game” airs daily at 2:05am ET on NBC. This is the last week of new episodes of the NBC poker series until August. If you’re a fan of shows like GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and PokerStars’ “Big Game,” then you’ll love the cash game version of “Poker After Dark.” Whereas many of the tournaments on “Poker After Dark” are unexciting, the cash game has a high-octane pace.
PokerStars Big Game Debuts Monday Night on Fox
Week 1 of the PokerStars sponsored “Big Game” kicks off tonight on Fox affiliates around the United States. The high-stakes cash game features five pros battling against a “Loose Cannon” amateur armed with $100,000 in real money. You can catch the “Big Game” starting between 1:00am and 2:00am in most television markets.
A promo clip found on YouTube and distributed by “Big Game” officials late last week features the following stirring introduction: “Big names, big stakes, big blowups. Welcome to the Big Game.” On-screen graphics include Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot (VPIP) and Aggression Factor (AF), stepping up the level of poker intellect imparted on the viewer.
The first week of action features Daniel Negreanu, DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson, UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth, Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak, and PartyPoker’s Tony G. The aforementioned video also includes shots of Vanessa Rousso, Scott Seiver, Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern, Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, and Jason Mercier playing, many of whom have appeared on the GSN cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker.”
Rounding out the promo is an entertaining montage of a hand between Hellmuth and Week 1 Loose Cannon Ernest Wiggins, a 35 year-old businessman from Washington, D.C. Wiggins is all-in for $74,000 in a pot of nearly $200,000 holding pocket kings on a board of 9-10-9. Hellmuth has A-9 for trips and asks if Wiggins wants to run it four times. Wiggins says, “I sure do.” Hellmuth proceeds to win the first board before dropping the next three, losing twice to a boat and once to a flush. Needless to say, the rest of the table is quite pleased for the amateur, whereas Hellmuth looks disgusted.
PokerStars “Million Dollar Challenge” host Chris Rose and PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton will have the call of the “Big Game.” According to an exclusive interview Rose gave Poker News Daily recently, the opening week features a considerable amount of banter between Hellmuth and Tony G, who are seated next to one another. Former World Poker Tour (WPT) Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman will also have an on-screen presence.
For markets whose local Fox affiliates are not carrying the “Big Game,” check out PokerStars.tv to catch all of the action starting on Tuesday. A total of six weeks of original “Big Game” programming will air along with a pair of “best of” weeks. In addition, “Big Game” officials plan to host another round of taping in August following the World Series of Poker (WSOP) featuring even more Loose Cannon qualifiers from PokerStars.
The show carries a $100,000 minimum buy-in with blinds of $200/$400 and a $100 ante. Loose Cannon qualifiers can keep whatever they win above their initial $100,000 stake. Catch the PokerStars “Big Game” all this week on Fox. Check your local listings for more information.
Brian Townsend – Poker Player Profile
Brian Townsend, who currently resides in Santa Barbara, California, is a professional poker player known for his dominance of Full Tilt Poker’s No Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha short-handed games. He’s been successful enough to earn TV appearances on shows like GSN’s High Stakes Poker and NBC’s Poker After Dark, on which he won $120K by defeating Doyle Brunson heads-up.
Despite his ascent to the top of the poker world, Townsend has been the cause of controversy on two separate occasions. Soon after he became a Full Tilt Poker pro, it was discovered that he had violated the site’s terms of service by playing on two different accounts. He admitted to using the name ‘Stellarnebula’ to play lower stakes games and was promptly suspended from Full Tilt Poker for six months.
More recently, he was part of a crew of players, which also included Cole South and Brian Hastings, who shared Isildur1 hand histories in order to construct his situational ranges. Hastings went on to beat Isildur out of $4.2 million, but all three players were subsequently disciplined when it came out that they had shared information.
In 2010, Townsend, who had served as lead instructor and part owner of CardRunners.com for the past three years, stepped down from his positions. His blog on CardRunners states: “As of June 1st I will no longer be a lead instructor at CardRunners. I will still be around in the capacity that I was before I joined CardRunners as a lead instructor. You can find me in the forums participating in discussion as well as watching the videos.”
He went on, saying: “There is a lot that goes into being involved in the running of a small business while also playing poker full time and having a life outside of poker. It can be difficult to give enough time to everything. CardRunners is still a great business but it is one that is much more time consuming than I would have imagined.”
One thing is for certain, the more poker Brian Townsend plays the worse it is for his opponents.
Richard Ashby wins $1,500 Stud Event #21 for $140,000
Aussie Millions High Roller Coverage Continues on GSN
Action from the 2010 Aussie Millions AUD $100,000 High Roller Event continued on GSN on Saturday night at 9:00pm ET. The hour-long show, presented by Full Tilt Poker, included a final table stacked with sponsored pros of the world’s second largest online poker site.
Paul Khoury and Grub Smith once again had the call of action in the 24-person tournament, which had seen a single elimination since it began. The on-screen product is weak compared to other GSN shows like “High Stakes Poker.” No pot sizes are shown and bets are displayed for only a few seconds, making the action rather difficult to follow. However, it’s refreshing to see two non-American announcers sharing poker insight from other parts of the globe. The Aussie Millions emanate each January from the Crown Casino in Melbourne, which received several commercial spots during the telecast.
Erik Seidel was the first casualty of the evening. The eight-time bracelet winner raised to 6,000 pre-flop and Gus Hansen made it 20,000. Seidel moved all-in over the top for another 35,000 and Hansen called, flipping up A-Q of hearts. Seidel showed pocket nines to set up a race, but Hansen turned Broadway to send Seidel packing.
Fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson followed shortly thereafter. On a flop of 8-7-8, Ferguson bet out 25,000 with pocket kings and Erick Lindgren called for extra time with pocket tens before electing to move all-in. Ferguson called for his tournament life and a running 9-6 gave Lindgren a runner-runner straight.
DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern then moved all-in with A-10 pre-flop and received a call from Lindgren, who held A-Q. Despite being dominated pre-flop, Stern watched as the board ran out K-Q-4-J-10, giving both players an ace-high straight and chopping the pot. Stern was one of the few non-Full Tilt Poker pros at the feature table, but his trademark green DoylesRoom logo was clearly visible. Stern was one of the four cast members on the short-lived G4 online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million.”
Then, 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion John Juanda bet 19,000 on a K-8-3-9 board holding K-J for top pair. Hansen called with A-8 and the river was an ace, improving the Dane to the Dead Man’s Hand for two pair. Juanda bet out 25,000, Hansen min-raised to 50,000, and Juanda called all-in after using both of his extra time buttons. Just like that, Juanda was ousted from the prestigious AUD $100,000 buy-in tournament.
Hansen continued his rampage, firing out a bet of 16,000 with 10-8 for top pair on a flop of 3-7-10. 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro pushed all-in for 63,500 with 8-7 for middle pair and Hansen tanked before calling. The turn and river were both nines, sending Lisandro out and giving Hansen his third elimination of the evening.
Following Lisandro’s exit, the tables were balanced, adding Tony Bloom, PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein, and Dan Shak to the mix. Greenstein made his presence known, betting 14,000 with pocket queens on a flop of 3-6-8. Hansen came along with 7-6 for middle pair and the turn was a nine. Hansen led out for 100,000, Greenstein called all-in, and a river king ensured a double up for “Bear” to 240,000.
Aussie Millions coverage airs on Saturday nights on GSN at 9:00pm ET.
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, Barry Greenstein, full tilt poker, Gus Hansen, high stakes, Online Poker, pokerstars, tournament, WSOP
Close Call: WSOP Day 16 Recap
Pietsch was narrowly edged in the $1.5k Seven-Card Stud event by Englishman Richard Ashby who won his first WSOP bracelet.
She almost performed the feat just as the $1,000 Ladies event was playing down to a final table in a nearby area.
Noted poker player Tex Barch also won his first bracelet on a very busy day at the 2010 WSOP.
Here's a closer look at how each event unfolded:
Event 21 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Richard "Chufty" Ashby is known more for crushing high stakes cash games on Full Tilt Poker than winning live tournaments but that all changed on Saturday.
The Englishman beat a tough final table that included the likes of Dan Heimiller, Sorel Mizzi and Pat Pezzin. He took home over $140,000 for his first place finish.
Ashby displayed a splendid heads-up game and quickly overwhelmed Christine Pietsch who put in an otherwise strong performance in the tournament.
Event 20 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
John "Tex" Barch took down the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. After making three final WSOP final tables, he's finally sealed the deal and has a bracelet he can call his own.
Barch began the day second in chips and didn't look back from there. Players dropped until it was just Klinghammer Thibaut and Barch left standing.
The heads up match took all of one hand. Barch managed to flop middle set and it held up against Thibaut's two pair and straight draw. Second place earned Thibaut $158,698 but it was Barch who took home the lion's share worth $256,919 and bracelet glory.
Event 24 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Event 24, yet another $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, tournament started today. These tournaments were put in place to allow more people a chance at trying their hand at a WSOP event and try they are.
Today 1,931 players ponied up the dime to play day 1a of this event and 290 of them are left standing. Leon Yanovski somehow managed to grind out a stack of 58,275 by the end of play. It puts him at the top of the leader board and is an impressive feat considering the 3,000 starting stacks.
Tomorrow starts day 1b at 12 p.m. when another big group of weekend warriors are expected to take their seats and try their hand at a little No-Limit Hold'em World Series of Poker style.
Event 22 $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 of the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em saw 136 players play down to a final table of nine.
Notable players Michelle Lewis, Liv Boeree, Lacey Jones and Karina Jett were all relegated to the rail over nine and a half hours of play.
Relatively unknown player Sidsel Boesen finished with 789,000 for the overnight chip lead.
The final table begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Event 23 $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed
108 players entered Day 2 of the $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six-handed event and after approximately 12 hours of play only 12 remained.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, J.C. Tran, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch and Vitaly Lunkin all hit the rail before even getting a whiff of the money.
Justin Bonomo, Michael Binger, Shawn Buchanan and Rafe Furst all did a bit better and at least got paid for their efforts before busting.
Veteran poker pro Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri finished with the chip lead but he'll have to beat Dutch Boyd and JJ Liu to win the event.
Play recommences at 3 p.m. Sunday.
For a full account of how day 15 of the WSOP 2010 played out, click through to PokerListings' WSOP coverage.
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Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, full tilt poker, high stakes, Justin Bonomo, ladies, no-limit, poker player, tournament, WSOP
Chuffed Up! Ashby Wins WSOP Bracelet
The 38-year-old Englishman from Vatford outlasted a tough final table that included the likes of Sorel Mizzi, Dan Heimiller and Pat Pezzin to win his first bracelet in Event 21 $1.5k Seven-Card Stud.
"It means a lot to me to have won it," said Ashby. "You just play for so many hours in these tournaments and you put so much energy into them."
Ashby beat Christine Pietsch heads-up to win the tournament. Pietsch would have become the 16th woman to win WSOP bracelet.
Despite ultimately falling short of victory, Pietsch was upbeat after busting and even praised Ashby's game.
"I'm really OK with this," said Pietsch. "I almost wanted him to win."
Ashby, for his part, was extremely impressed with Pietsch's performance. It was her first WSOP event and just the second tournament she had ever played.
"She was fearless," he said.
Known more for playing the high stakes games on Full Tilt Poker, Ashby seems to have developed an affinity for live Seven-Card Stud as of late.
Ashby won the Seven-Card Stud EM European Poker Champion in Baden in late 2009.
Coincidently the first poker tournament Ashby ever played was a £10 buy-in Seven-Card Stud event.
"I like the game and I've had good success in it," he said. "Maybe I should play it a little more."
Ashby joins Praz Bansi and James Dempsey to become the third Englishman to win a bracelet at the 2010 WSOP.
The final table originally looked to be Sorel Mizzi's to lose as he entered the day as the chip leader. The Titan Poker pro lost several pots in the early goings and was finally evicted in seventh place.
Despite being one of the most celebrated online players in the world, Mizzi is still in search of his first major poker title.
Dan Heimiller also appeared like he might finally win his second WSOP bracelet but he busted fourth.
The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Tags: 2009, 2010, european, full tilt poker, high stakes, titan poker, tournament, vegas, woman, WSOP
Face the Ace Lawsuit Officially Enters United States District Court in Nevada
The lawsuit over the rights to the short-lived NBC poker franchise “Face the Ace” has officially been entered in the United States District Court in Nevada. The case is numbered 2:10-cv-870 and parties are in the process of being served.
The plaintiff, Las Vegas resident Brandon McSmith, alleges that his concept for the “All Star Poker Challenge” became “Face the Ace,” violating copyright law. In “All Star Poker Challenge,” contestants had to choose among five doors, each masking a poker pro. Matches were worth $2,000, with a seat to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on the line. In 2007, McSmith registered the concept of “All Star Poker Challenge” with the Writers Guild of America West.
The lawsuit names Poker PROductions, NBC, and Full Tilt Poker as defendants. The former entity serves as the production company behind such hits as “High Stakes Poker” and “Poker After Dark.” In November 2007, McSmith pitched his poker game show to Poker PROductions’ Mori Eskandani, who bantered back and forth via e-mail. The litigation reads in part, “Defendant [Poker PROductions] rejected All Star indicating that [Poker PROductions] did not invest in shows, only contracts to get them produced. Additionally, [Poker PROductions] indicated there was a major flaw in the show idea due to the contestant’s chances of leaving the show without winnings.”
“Face the Ace” was unveiled in April 2009, two years after McSmith’s conversation with Eskandani. In mid-June, McSmith allegedly informed Eskandani and company that the production company was engaging in copyright infringement and a cease and desist letter was sent. On June 18th, Poker PROductions responded by denying the claims of treading on McSmith’s copyright and an exchange between McSmith, Poker PROductions, and NBC ensued.
According to McSmith’s legal filing, “NBC contended that Face the Ace was owned by Full Tilt and that ‘Face the Ace’ came from a show in 2005 and 2006 called ‘Four Aces’ and was pitched to NBC via production partner [Poker PROductions].” Allegedly because of the involvement of Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest online poker site, the FBI has become interested in the case. “Four Aces,” according to McSmith, “was never previously mentioned by Defendants nor was it ever registered with the Writers Guild of America nor copyrighted with the United States Copyright Office.”
McSmith continues to pitch poker-related shows to other production companies and told Poker News Daily that not having his name attached to “Face the Ace” is detrimental, despite the show not faring well. The lawsuit adds, “As a direct and proximate result of the foregoing acts and conduct, Plaintiff has sustained and will continue to sustain substantial, immediate, and irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”
The parties being served have up to 20 days to file a response. McSmith is seeking “damages in amounts to be proven at trial” or $150,000 for each work infringed. Attorney Thomas Michaelides, out of Las Vegas, represents McSmith, who had represented himself when the case was dismissed in the Eighth District Court in Nevada back in March.
Three months ago, McSmith told Poker News Daily why he might have received an unfavorable ruling: “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 has since been in contact with the office of Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the “Face the Ace” lawsuit.
Tom Dwan is making more bets
The WSOP 2010 Event #19 / $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship has begun. Altogether there are 101 world-class players in the tournament. For instance Phil Ivey, Billy Baxter, Tom Dwan, Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu are in.
The winner of this tournament will earn over 294,000 dollars - which is actually quite a small sum for high stakes gamblers. Some players, like Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan, have also cheered up the game by making bets.
According to Pokernews.com Dwan would earn more than 880,000 dollars from the bet he made with Phil Ivey concerning the winner of this tournament. Also the other bets “durrrr” has made are still valid.
A while ago Dwan was leading the Event #19 but then he lost a big pot after which he is not very high on the list. You can follow the happenings from here.
Source: Poker News
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Mike Matusow: the WSOP bracelet would have brought 12,5 million dollars for Tom Dwan
Many high stakes gamblers were excited yesterday, as Tom “durrrr” Dwan nearly won the €1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament of the World Series of Poker 2010 Event #11.
The second place meant $382K winnings for Dwan whereas the first prize would have brought him a WSOP bracelet, a prize worth $614K and a massive amount of money from the bracelet bets.
The big question now is that how much Dwan would really have earned from the bracelet? We don’t know much about this yet, but CardPlayer.com reports that Mike Matusow said that “durrrr” would have received astronomical 12,5 million dollars from his first WSOP bracelet.
Despite the defeat of the century Dwan was quite lively yesterday in CardPlayer.com’s video interview.
Source: CardPlayer.com and TheHendonMob
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Mike Matusow: the WSOP bracelet would have brought 12,5 million dollars for Tom Dwan
Phil Laak Logs 115 Hours of Poker in Guinness World Record Attempt
Unabomber Poker pro Phil Laak endured 115 straight hours of poker, a new Guinness World Record. That’s nearly three traditional work weeks compacted into just under five days. Laak’s enduro challenge played out at a $10/$20 cash game at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Laak shattered the old record of 78 hours set by Paul Zimbler last year by nearly 40 hours. His original goal was 80 hours, which was later extended to 100. By hour #115, or 4.8 days, Laak called it quits. As you’d expect, the crowd was electric as Laak stood on his chair in the middle of the Bellagio poker room to celebrate his 100th hour seated at the felts. His girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly, supported him throughout the endeavor as some fans screamed for the poker pro to shoot for 100 more. ESPN “E:60” cameras were on hand for the momentous occasion.
At the end of his session, a sense of relief could be felt in Laak’s Twitter feed. He posted shortly before 3:00am PT on Monday morning, “115 hours later… Bedtime… ahhhh!” In addition to being tired, Laak also lost five pounds during the course of his marathon session: “Wow – my weight was 182 – first time in 12 yrs it has been below 185!” Although he was feeling hot, his doctor informed him that he was in perfect health and running a temperature of 98.63 degrees.
Six hours before the enduro challenge’s conclusion, Laak was up $4,000. At nearly the same time, he emphatically Tweeted, “Dolphins take turns w each side of their brain when it comes to sleep – I wonder if we can learn how to do this for ourselves.” He then added that he would not follow the ways of Prahlad Friedman and Jeff Madsen to become poker’s next rapper: “Discovering that I have just about no talent for rap whatsoever.” Laak ended his Guinness World Record run up $6,766.
At the 96-hour mark, a blog found on the official website of Unabomber Poker put the four-day milestone into perspective: “Professional baseball teams can play a full series against each other in four days. Folks with day job can complete 80% of their work weeks in four days. And a driver in an automobile can go from Los Angeles to New York and back again in four days. Now imagine doing any of those things without sleep – and you’ve got an idea of where Phil is right now.” A webcam of the entire feat was available on Unabomber Poker’s website.
PocketFives.com Mod “ApesAreFun” tipped his hat to the man known as “The Unabomber,” posting, “Such a great publicity stunt. Will def increase the traffic on his new site. Congrats to him and GL!” “MastaP89” added, “much respect for laak to be degen enough to pull this off.”
Memorable Tweets from Laak during the end of the enduro challenge included “The Bellagio is like a dream, only better. Just look around. So tranquil right now. Like a Star Trek mission to a Strange New World.” In a scene reminiscent of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” Laak even accepted a prop bet to raise additional funds for Camp Sunshine: “Kaz said, ‘If U can do 30 push-ups (press-ups), I will donate $1,000 to CampSunshine.Org.’ I dropped and delivered 32. Ace Jones filmed it.”
Laak raised money for Camp Sunshine throughout the course of the 115-hour extravaganza. Congratulations from all of us here at Poker News Daily to Laak for etching his name in poker history.
Dwan Scares High Stakes Pros
Several big name pros had placed large bets against Dwan winning a bracelet at the 2010 WSOP.
"He had a lot of people scared," said Howard Lederer. "I was betting against him winning two this year, and two in three years."
"I don't have one-for-one this year, so I actually wouldn't have lost anything last night if he had won a bracelet, but it would've been bad for me."
Huck Seed, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow and Eli Elezra were amongst the high rollers sweating Dwan's eventual second-place finish Sunday.
Elezra's battles with Dwan on High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark are well documented, and Elezra is continues to gamble with Dwan for huge stakes at the 2010 WSOP.
Eli was on his way to meet up with Gus Hansen for some Chinese Poker as both Full Tilt pros went to dinner break at the $10k Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship.
Before heading out Elezra gave PL.com the scoop on his two bets against durrrr for this year's WSOP.
"Every tournament we're entering it's $250k if someone wins, any tournament," Elezra said.
"The second one is I'm laying him 3-to-1 on every (WSOP) tournament, including Europe. That's also for $600k."
Elezra continued to push the action even after Dwan made the Event 8 final nine.
"Then I bought Huck Seed's bet for $100k against him for 3.25-to-1, and I did it when there was nine people left at the final table, so I really took a chance," Elezra said.
"But he sold it to me for like $80k. Huck sold it to me, he's paying me to take over the bet because he wanted out of it. So I decided I'm going to gamble all the way with him."
Dwan is well-known in poker circles as a man who's not afraid to put himself in challenging situations.
"He's an action guy," Elezra said. "That's what I love about him on High Stakes Poker and the Poker After Dark cash game."
"I like a guy that gives me action and I give him action back. He's not a guy that'll sit down and wait for aces. So we know he's a gambler."
When New Zealand's Simon Watt finally busted Dwan to take the Event 8 bracelet, Matusow was on hand, and perhaps "The Mouth" summed it up best.
"They're going to put you on the wall at Binion's," Matusow said. "'Here's Simon - he stopped every High Stakes gambler from going broke.'"
The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Aussie Millions Debuts on GSN
On Saturday night, the 2010 Aussie Millions debuted on GSN. Announcers Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call of Day 1 of the AUD $100,000 buy-in High-Roller event and each player had only 30 seconds to act. Full Tilt Poker sponsors GSN’s latest foray into unique poker programming, which can be seen at 9:00pm ET every Saturday.
A profile of the feature table members aired and all eyes were focused on 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Dan Shak. Perhaps not coincidentally, all three are Full Tilt sponsored pros. Bet and raise amounts only appeared briefly on screen, making the action difficult to follow, and no console detailing the pot size was shown at any point. In addition, the graphics and music were rather sub-par from a network whose franchise “High Stakes Poker” is top-tier in that department.
Mieke Buchan conducted interviews from the rail and asked Ivey if he felt any pressure being considered the top player in the world. Ivey responded, “I don’t really think I’m the best in the world. I just try to perform as good as I can day in and day out.” Ivey then showed his prowess by betting out 5,000 with pocket kings on a board reading 7-8-A-Q with two spades. Shak, who had J-10 of clubs, raised to 14,000 with a double belly-buster straight draw, and Full Tilt pro Andrew Feldman sent his A-2 of spades into the muck despite holding top pair and a flush draw. Ivey re-raised Shak to 34,000 and Shak called to see a river three. Ivey bet 25,000 and Shak gave up.
Several commercials for the Crown Casino, the site of the annual Aussie Millions, and the city of Melbourne aired. One featured an incorrect spelling of Erik Seidel’s name, which was displayed with a “C” instead of a “K.”
Then, Shak raised to 3,000 pre-flop with a wired pair of jacks and Dwan called with pocket rockets. The flop came 3-8-10 and Shak bet out 6,000. Dwan check-raised to 16,000, Shak moved all-in, and Dwan called with the best hand. The board filled out 4-9 and Dwan doubled up. Both players were initially labeled “All In” on screen, potentially leading to some confusion by viewers as to whose stack was at risk.
In another hand, Ivey raised to 3,000 pre-flop with A-10. Shak came along with pocket eights and Dwan called with 10-7 to see a flop of 10-8-4. Shak checked middle set, Dwan bet 7,000 with top pair, and Ivey raised to 24,000 with top pair, top kicker. Shak moved all-in for 58,000, Dwan got out of the way, and Ivey tanked before folding his premium hand.
In the final hand shown in the kickoff Aussie Millions episode on GSN, Shak raised to 6,000 before the flop with 8-7 and Dwan made the call with 6-4. The flop came 4-7-2, giving a little something to everyone, and Shak bet 28,000 with top pair. Dwan raised to 40,000 with middle pair and Shak insta-called all-in for his tournament life. The turn was an eight, giving Shak two pair, and a jack on the river sealed a double up for the 2007 WSOP Ante Up for Africa winner.
Bill Jordanou and Masa Kagawa flanked the four Full Tilt Poker pros at the table, but no hands of note featuring either aired. Instead, the telecast focused almost exclusively on the Full Tilt sponsored players in attendance. The AUD $100,000 buy-in event began with 24 entrants. The episode did not outline what the payouts were, but 10 episodes in total will chronicle the High-Roller, Heads-Up, and Main Events at the yearly poker tournament Down Under.
The Aussie Millions airs as part of a nine-hour poker block that begins at 6:00pm ET on GSN every Saturday. Read the full GSN poker schedule.
The Aussie Millions on GSN: Dwan, Shak, and Ivey Swing for the Fences
The WSOP Event #11: Tom “durrrr” Dwan was second – and missed the bracelet and the millions from side bets
Today we got to live through highly exciting moments in Las Vegas, as Tom “durrrr” Dwan made it to the heads-up in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament of the World Series of Poker 2010 Event #11. But then he missed the victory by a very narrow margin - and now if ever Dwan should be experiencing the tilt of his life.
The second place brought Dwan about $382K as a cold comfort, whereas the first prize would have meant him a WSOP bracelet, the prize money of $614K and even millions of dollars from bracelet bets.
Simon Watt from New Zealand won Dwan in heads-up: in the last hand Dwan’s Q-6 was not enought against Watt’s pair of nines.
After the tournament had finished, Mike Matusow blurted to Watt: “Thanks to you we saved millions of dollars! How does it feel like to be the hero of all high stakes players? Your picture will even end up hanging on the wall Bobby’s Room or something like that.”
WSOP Event 11 / $1,500 NLHE (2,563 entries):
1. Simon Watt $614.248
2. Tom Dwan $381.885
3. David Randall $270.299
4. Austin McCormick $194.939
5. Jason Young $142.346
6. Michael Smith $105.185
7. Marvin Rettenmaier $78.681
8. Kyle Winter $59.547
9. Eric Ladny $45.603
You can find more tournament updates from here.
Source: PokerNews and TheHendonMob
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Patrik Antonius beats jungleman12 out of $170,000
Durrrr Pipped at Post: 2010 WSOP Day 10 Re-cap
The buzz around the Rio was all about Tom "durrrr" Dwan's assault on a bracelet, although there was another bracelet handed out in the $1.5k Limit and a further $10k Stud/8 Championship, stock full of marquee names, also played out.
There's lots to bring you up to date with, and here it is:
Event 11 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em
When 2,563 players registered to play this tournament, who would have thought that Tom "durrrr" Dwan would have been amongst the last few players left in contention?
With just 21 players returning today, and durrrr holding the chip lead, there were quite a few big-name pros biting their fingers nervously at the prospect of Dwan winning a bracelet.
Multiple bracelet bets had been booked by Dwan against the likes of Eli Elezra, Huck Seed and many other high stakes poker players. 3-1 must have seemed like a very attractive price before they saw durrrr terrorising his final table with a big stack.
Dwan managed to fight his way through to heads-up against New Zealander Simon Watt, but Watt held a sizeable chip advantage. Despite the millions in sidebets Dwan had riding on the bracelet, he was unable to turn this deficit round, eventually succumbing, enabling a smiling Watt to win his first WSOP bracelet.
"It would have been crazy enough to just be playing the final table, but playing durrrr heads-up? It doesn't get any better than that," said Watt, who collected $614,218 for the victory.
Mike Matusow chipped in with his own opinion. "They're going to put you on the wall at Binion's. 'Here's Simon - he stopped every High Stakes gambler from going broke.'"
Event 12 - $1.5k Limit Hold'em
Thirteen players returned in the Limit to contest the bracelet, with Terence Chan the biggest name remaining in the tournament. Chan came in in third spot in the chip counts, but was unable to finish any higher, bowing out just before the heads-up.
Matthew Matros and Ahmad Abghan were left to fight it out for the bracelet and after a war of attrition, it was Matros who sealed the deal, collecting $189,870 for the win, as well as the WSOP gold whilst Abghan had to settle for $117,272 for 2nd place.
Event 13 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1b of the $1k played out with hopes that a big field would arrive at the Rio to shake things up. The 1,050 entrants for the second day was a little disappointing but still combined their entry fees with Day 1a's to create a prizepool of almost $3 million.
Just 168 players made it through the day, with players like Ylon Shwartz and Davidi Kitai numbered in their ranks.
They will hook up with the 278 who made it through Day 1a, meaning 446 will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to take their shot at glory. They will have to displace Irishman Andy Black from his dominant position at the top of the leaderboard if they are to win a bracelet here however.
Event 14 - $1.5k 2-7 No Limit Draw
The field for this less popular poker variant was always rich with pro talent, so it was no surprise to see the end-of-day leaderboard contain at least a couple of big name stars.
Come the close of play, the 67 returning players had been cut down to a final-table sized eight players, with Nick Binger the clear chip leader and Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko also chasing the bracelet.
They will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. to lowball their way through to the bracelet.
Event 15 - $10k Stud/8 Championship
Another championship event meant a number of things - a smaller but more talented field, a large prize pool and a host of poker superstars.
The 170 stars on show chopped and scooped their way through the day and the big story when the chip counts were tallied at the close of play was the presence of that iconic poker figure, Phil Ivey, near the summit of the leaderboard.
They'll return tomorrow at 3 p.m. and with players like Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein and Max Pescatori still in contention, Ivey won't be able to rest on his laurels if he has designs on another bracelet.
It should be an incredible tournament.
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