Poker News

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Filmed at Golden Nugget

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Sebok Tops One Million Twitter Followers

If Twitter is any indication, Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Joe Sebok (@JoeSebok) is the 177th most popular guy on the internet.  At least, that is the ranking Twitter tracking site Twitterholic gave to Sebok based on his number of followers, which now exceeds one million.

His massive and dedicated group of Twitter fans puts him on par with sports reporter Bill Simmons, the publication Newsweek, comedian Kevin Nealon, and the musician Moby in terms of popularity.  By comparison, Ashton Kutcher has the most fans with nearly four million, followed by Britney Spears and Ellen Degeneres.  Twitterers who wish they had the traffic of Sebok include Dr. Phil McGraw (175,000 followers), reality star Lauren Conrad (748,500 followers), and the NASA space program (164,000 followers).

Perhaps in a testament to the popularity of Sebok’s poker entertainment website, PokerRoad, “Poker After Dark” announcer Ali Nejad (@Ali_Nejad) is 216th on Twitterholic’s list with more than 840,000 followers.  Sebok and PokerRoad have been longtime proponents of the microblogging site.  This past summer, they launched a unique Twitter platform called PokerRoad Nation, which organized poker-related Tweets from the World Series of Poker (WSOP).  The platform sorted tweets based on events, former bracelet winners, PokerRoad family members, media members, and several other criteria, allowing followers to customize their WSOP coverage as they saw fit.  The PokerRoad Nation platform garnered both poker media and national media attention and Sebok was profiled in the New York Times for the new innovation.

Despite the extensive Twitter-related success, Sebok told Poker News Daily that he is taking the million followers in stride.  “I think that people overvalue this whole Twitter thing,” he explained.  “It’s been fun, but it is definitely not an ego boost.”

Sebok also elaborated on how he came to have such a large group of followers.  “Twitter decided to put me on their suggested users list and I’ve just been enjoying the ride…It’s been fun.”  A longtime music fan, Sebok entertains his followers with frequent album recommendations along with tweets about his antics with his friends and family, which include Gavin Smith (@olegsmith) and his father, Barry Greenstein (@barrygreenstein).

More recently, he has also posted behind the scenes photos from his own appearance on “Poker After Dark” and Greenstein’s appearance on the most recent season of “High Stakes Poker.”  On Thursday night, Sebok also documented a disastrous road trip from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with Greenstein where their truck broke down on the side of the road in the middle of the night.  Never fear, PokerRoad fans, Sebok and Greenstein made it back to Los Angeles in one piece.

Sebok had to make his way back to Los Angeles to get the last-minute details together on his latest project, the Fox Sports poker news show “Poker 2Nite.”  The show, which will be sponsored by Ultimate Bet, is set to begin airing on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET starting on November 25th.  Sebok told Poker News Daily he and co-host Scott Huff will be filming the first show on Tuesday night.  Sebok hopes that the series can capitalize on the heightened interest in poker following Joe Cada’s recent WSOP Main Event victory and become a mainstay on the cable network.

Fans will likely hear more about “Poker 2Nite” in the coming days via his Twitter, but any followers expecting some commemorative posting in honor of hitting the million-person mark shouldn’t hold their breath.  Sebok said he did not plan anything special in honor of crossing the benchmark and will continue tweeting as usual.

Season 6 of High Stakes Poker filming starts

As you read this, a collection of multi-millionaires are sat around a poker table winning six-figure pots as Gabe Kaplan commentates solo and Kara Scott plays the part of eye-candy around the table.

Kara Scott confirmed as High Stakes Poker hostess

The rumours have been strong – strong enough, in fact, for most people to take them at face value. This wasn’t a mistake, as UK/Canadian poker player and television presenter Kara Scott has been confirmed as replacing AJ Benza as co-host on High Stakes Poker.

Tom Dwan (durrrr) Joins Team Full Tilt

The elite group of 13 poker pros that comprise Team Full Tilt Poker has a new member joining its ranks.  The online poker room just announced that its 14th member of the team will be 23-year old high-stakes online poker pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

Full Tilt Poker recently added Dwan to its roster, but Dwan has been a noticeable presence on the site for quite some time prior to the new sponsorship deal.  Full Tilt has been hosting Dwan’s “Durrrr Challenge” cash game tables since the epic bet first came to light in February and the youngster is a mainstay on all of the highest stakes cash game tables on the site as well.

Prior to Dwan, the last addition to the squad was Patrik Antonius, who joined Team Full Tilt in the summer of 2008.  The other members of the exclusive group are Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, and Erick Lindgren.  The group has a collective 37 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and is widely considered to represent some of the best tournament and cash game players in the world.  Dwan is now the youngest member of the group, but in his brief career, he has made an indelible impression on both the online and live poker communities.

In a press release announcing the news, Lederer spoke about the young pro and why they decided to include him on the team: “Team Full Tilt doesn’t take adding a team member lightly, but Tom Dwan has proven, through skill and dynamic play, that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. We are proud to count Tom as one of our own.”

Dwan’s list of accomplishments include over $1 million in tournament poker winnings, three WSOP final tables, a World Poker Tour final table, and several successful appearances on poker television shows like “Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker.”  Dwan holds the record for both the largest pot in “High Stakes Poker” history as well as the largest pot in televised poker history, which he recently won off of Ivey during the filming of the “Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game.”  Dwan won the $1.1 million pot when he turned a seven-high straight against Ivey’s five-high straight and the two players got it all-in.  The big hand is scheduled to air as part of the show on U.K.’s Sky Sports in January of 2010.

Now that Dwan is a member of Team Full Tilt, he will be facing off against his fellow team members as action continues in his “Durrrr Challenge” bet.  Dwan and Antonius have played a little over 27,000 hands of the 50,000 required.  Dwan currently holds a $779,248 lead over Antonius.  Once Antonius finishes his 50,000 hands against Dwan, fellow Team Full Tilt member and recent seventh place finisher in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Ivey, will step up, as will David Benyamine.

Dwan is set to take part in the upcoming season of “High Stakes Poker,” which will be filming at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas from November 11th to 13th and will likely be sporting a Full Tilt Poker patch as part of his duties.

Vanessa Rousso to Appear On E!’s Bank of Hollywood

This past month, rumors were flying that Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso was going to be the new co-host of the GSN poker show “High Stakes Poker.”  While that TV gig ultimately went to Kara Scott, poker fans and others will be seeing Rousso’s face on their screens in the very near future, as she will be a member of the panel of judge’s on the new E! reality game show “Bank of Hollywood.”

Rousso broke the news of her involvement on her Twitter feed earlier this week and a write-up on the new show in the Hollywood Reporter confirmed that she would be a part of the Ryan Seacrest-produced show.  Joining Rousso on the judging panel are Candy Spelling, Wilhemina Models President Sean Patterson, and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton.

The basic premise of the show rings similar to the NBC vehicle “Shark Tank,” but instead of business proposals, contestants come to the judges with more personal matters.  “Bank of Hollywood” allows contestants to ask the celebrity panel for money for a variety of causes ranging from charity to personal gain.  Participants in the upcoming show will be pleading for money for everything from an engagement ring for their fiancée to funds for charity.  If the judges feel the cause is worthwhile, they will award the contestant with at least $2,000 from their own pockets.

Seacrest elaborated on the show to the Hollywood Reporter: “The idea’s simple. We are giving away tons of money to everyday people to alleviate the stress of today’s climate.”  E! Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Berger elaborated on Seacrest’s thoughts: “We’re giving real people the opportunity to garner life-changing sums of money and, at the same time, fulfilling our judges’ desire to make a difference in the lives of others – one person at a time.”

The eight-episode series will be hosted by comedian Bryan Callen, who has also appeared on shows like “Sex and the City,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Entourage.”  The show is scheduled to premiere at 10:00pm ET on December 14th.

This is just the latest TV appearance for Rousso, who keeps developing an increasingly higher profile both inside and outside of the poker world.  This past spring, she signed on as a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com and appeared in a PokerStars-sponsored spread in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.  Rousso was also heavily featured on NBC’s 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, where she finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.

2009 has been a landmark year for Rousso on the tournament scene as well.  In addition to her showing in the Heads-Up event, she also had a deep run at the Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi in February, a win at the European Poker Tour High Roller event in Monte Carlo in May, and four cashes at this summer’s World Series of Poker.  She married longtime boyfriend Chad Brown this past spring.

“Bank of Hollywood” is the latest E! reality vehicle from Ryan Seacrest Productions. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Denis Richards: It’s Complicated,” and the recent “Leave it to Lamas” are just a few of the E! shows currently on the network’s lineup that are produced under the Seacrest banner.

durrrr signs with Team Full Tilt

The site is calling the 23-year-old  New Jersey native and former Boston University English major "one of the most influential and successful players in online poker history," and there's really no doubt about it.

While he's down around $1.8 million playing in online's biggest games this year, Dwan took over $5.4 million off the virtual tables in 2008.

Plus, there is whatever he's been raking in at the biggest live cash games around the world, $1.1 million in live tournament earnings, and some of the biggest pots and largest winning sessions in televised poker history to consider.

After dominating the last season of GSN's High Stakes Poker, this past September he raked in a $1.1 pot at million at Full Tilt Poker's Million Dollar Cash Game in London - the largest ever.

Since much of Dwan's online work has been done on Full Tilt's tables and his $1.5 million durrrr Challenge has been one of the biggest railbird draws in online history, he is an obvious choice for the team.

But while the site has a large stable of Red Pros sponsored to play on the site, Team Full Tilt is a group largely made up of the game's most elite players, including Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham and Patrik Antonius.

"Team Full Tilt doesn't take adding a team member lightly," said Lederer. "But, Tom Dwan has proven, through skill and dynamic play, that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.

"We are proud to count Tom as one of our own."

While he will continue to prowl Full Tilt's highest stakes games, Dwan will also be lending his knowledge to the Full Tilt Poker Academy and blogging for the site.

Dwan is now Team Full Tilt's youngest member.

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DoylesRoom Redesigns Online Casino

Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson continues to prove to the poker world that age is not slowing him down at all.  In addition to offering his thoughts on this year’s November Nine to major media outlets like the Associated Press, Brunson is finding time to log hours in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, share blonde jokes on Twitter, and launch a revamped version of the online gaming destination DoylesCasino.com.

A press release from DoylesCasino announced the launch of the newly-redesigned website on November 3rd and outlined some of its major changes over the past few months.  Earlier this year, the online casino switched software providers, adopting the Realtime Gaming platform, which DoylesCasino believes will “offer players a faster, more realistic casino experience.”

The revamped casino lobby features large icons touting the key promotions of the day and tickers logging the more than $5 million in progressive jackpot prizes up for grabs.  The site offers a range of casino games, including roulette, craps, video poker, and slot machines.  DoylesCasino, like its partner site DoylesRoom, currently accepts USA customers.

In addition to staying busy with his DoylesCasino venture, Brunson is also logging several hours on the felts.  Brunson, Mike Caro, and the latest addition to the Brunson 10, Chris “moorman1″ Moorman, have all been spending time at the DoylesRoom cash game tables searching for the next member of the Brunson 10.  Moorman, Alec “traheho” Torelli, Amit “amak316″ Makhija, and Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark are the first four members of the select group, but Brunson is still searching for six more guys and two ladies to join his squad of young online superstars.

According to his personal blog, Brunson and several other high-stakes pros have also been keeping the action going at Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio.  With the vast majority of poker’s high rollers congregating in Las Vegas to watch the November Nine festivities and tape the latest season of “High Stakes Poker,” it seems likely that there will be more big Bellagio action in the coming weeks.

While most of the poker community is rooting for Phil Ivey to take down this year’s Main Event, Brunson opted to put money on chip leader and professed amateur Darvin Moon.  Brunson explained in his blog that Daniel Negreanu offered him a must-win bet in which Negreanu would take Ivey and Brunson could have Moon.  Brunson explained that the decision to bet against Ivey was nothing personal in his latest blog entry: “I had to take Moon who has 5 times the chips of Ivey. It is a must-win bet so probably we won’t have action. Sorry Phil, I won’t be rooting for you now. Business is business.”  What Brunson means by a must-win bet is that in order for him to win, Moon must take down the coveted Main Event bracelet and vice versa for Negreanu and Ivey.

Brunson will be one of the several spectators on hand for the final table of the Main Event, which resumes play on Saturday, November 7th.  The poker legend will even take part in the event, announcing the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to kick off the festivities.

If you hadn’t noticed, that is quite a busy schedule for a 76-year old.  Brunson does not appear to be slowing down any time soon and will be spending the coming weeks promoting his official biography, “The Godfather of Poker,” which comes out on November 11th.

High Stakes Poker, GSN Officials Preview Season 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

High Stakes Poker 6 - Players unveiled

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

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

Doyle Brunson holding his signature hand

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

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

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

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

Incomplete list of HSP 6 players:

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

Source: 2+2, Pokerlistings, Pokerisivut.com

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High Stakes Poker 6 - Players unveiled

Kara Scott joins Season 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kara Scott to be Named New Host of High Stakes Poker

According to several industry insiders, poker podcasts, and online sites, poker player and announcer Kara Scott will take over for A. J. Benza as co-host on the popular GSN poker program “High Stakes Poker.”

Poker News Daily has been able to confirm through several industry insiders that there is “a deal worked out” for Scott to flank Gabe Kaplan when the high-stakes cash game picks back up for its sixth season on November 11th at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. According to Poker News Daily’s sources, the only obstacle is Scott obtaining a permit that would allow her to work inside of the United States. As a foreign national, this document is critically important, as without such documentation, Scott would face criminal charges.

The ESPN poker show “Inside Deal” has discussed the issue and listed Scott as the top contender. A thread on the popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo has all but crowned Scott as the heir apparent to Benza. For the record, and possibly because of the hurdle of the working documents, neither GSN nor the producers of “High Stakes Poker,” Poker PROductions, has announced that Scott has been hired.

Since Benza announced in October that he would not be back for the new season of the show, there has been speculation that “High Stakes Poker” was looking at a female to team with longtime poker player Kaplan. Whether in the booth breaking down the hands in play or serving as a hostess who would interview players while the game was in action, many poker insiders and forum posters have commented that the show is moving in the direction of another poker television program, “Poker After Dark” (also produced by Poker PROductions).

With these thoughts in mind, there have been various ladies of the game that have drawn attention as the new replacement. One of the first names bandied about as Benza’s replacement was poker professional Vanessa Rousso, which also raised diverse opinions on the internet. Once Poker News Daily broke the news that Rousso would not fill the role, the return of former World Poker Tour (WPT) hostess Shana Hiatt gained steam. It took an announcement from her publicist at Creative Management Entertainment Group to squash those rumors.

Even poker professional Daniel Negreanu, who has played in every edition of “High Stakes Poker” and claims knowledge as to the new host, put up such other names as current WPT hostess Amanda Leatherman as well as Sabina Gadecki, Kimberly Lansing, Lacey Jones, Tiffany Michelle, and even “Big Game” regular Jennifer Harman, who has appeared on previous seasons of “High Stakes Poker.” Negreanu later noted that none would take to the “High Stakes Poker” set for Season 6. Strangely enough, former WPT hostess Courtney Friel, who is a correspondent for Fox News, has not been named as a potential candidate.

As a tournament poker player, Scott has over $500,000 in career earnings, with $453,450 in 2009 alone. She has finished inside the final 250 players in the last two World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events (238th this year, 104th last year) and was the runner-up at this year’s Irish Open. As a broadcaster, Scott has done commentary on the European Poker Tour (EPT), made-for-television poker shows like “Poker Night Live,” and also covered tournament backgammon on television and the internet.

Chad Brown, Liv Boeree Join ESPN Inside Deal

The final installment of ESPN’s poker show “Inside Deal” before the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table was released on Tuesday, featuring Chad Brown and Liv Boeree.

The “Inside Deal” crew moved to a new set to open the show and its attention immediately turned to Phil Ivey mucking the winning flush during last week’s WSOP on ESPN broadcast, which saw the field trimmed to 18 players. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee gave his take on the errant move: “It was shocking. That’s really all you can say. I’m sure it’s happened before, but not in the final 27 of the WSOP Main Event.” Ivey remains in the running for the $8.5 million first place prize despite the hiccup.

On Kara Scott being the new host of the GSN poker franchise “High Stakes Poker,” Lee quipped, “At least we know that Norman Chad will be watching;” Chad referred to Scott as “Kara Scott-Chad” throughout the 2009 WSOP Main Event broadcast. Poker News Daily can independently confirm that Scott is the new host of “High Stakes Poker” pending finalization of her contract and obtaining a working visa. No official announcement has been given by GSN.

A recent study released by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a U.S. Government agency, revealed that over $40 billion could be realized from taxing the internet gambling industry over a 10-year period. Lee explained the significance of the report: “That has to raise a lot of eyebrows in the government, knowing that amount of money could go into their coffers. This has to slowly move the pendulum toward us.” In the meantime, the financial services industry in the United States must come into full compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by December 1st.

Boeree them joined the show and revealed that she studied physics and astrophysics in school before being cast for a poker reality show featuring Ultimate Bet pros Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. Boeree has been competing on the tournament circuit for only one year and commented, “I definitely don’t think I could go back to hosting now. I find it very difficult being at a European Poker Tour (EPT) event and asking people what their strategies were.” Her favorite band is Metallica, whom she has met and seen in concert. Boeree, a Brit, also claimed that her worst pet peeve of Americans is “easting like idiots.”

Brown discussed being one-half of a “power couple” in poker along with wife Vanessa Rousso: “We both have our own careers. As a couple, [we] can be supportive of each other.” Brown was the 2006 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year on the strength of five Top 40 finishes in World Poker Tour (WPT) events and a fifth place showing in EPT London. On the accolade, which only takes into account $5,000 buy-in tournaments with more than 100 players, Brown told Lee and fellow “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane, “These are the best players in the world you’re competing against.” John Juanda and Barry Greenstein were on his heels throughout much of the competition.

Brown noted that he was cast to be part of a movie directed by James Woods, but the project was put on hold due to the lingering global recession. On his acting career, the Team PokerStars Pro member explained, “If you’re a movie star, you can do whatever you want. If you’re a working actor, you need to stay in Hollywood and pound the pavement.” While Brown has put his acting skills to use on the green felts, Boeree commented that exploiting her femininity is advantageous: “There are definitely times when you can use it to your advantage. If you can flirt with the guys, they’ll want you to stick around.”

“Inside Deal” now heads to Las Vegas for the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. The show is released each Tuesday on ESPN.com.

Kara Scott - The new hostess of High Stakes Poker

Pokernews.com affirms that Kara Scott is the new hostess of High Stakes Poker.

Rumors about the new host started immediately after AJ Benza informed he’s got fired. One of the rumored hosts was supposed to be Vanessa Rousso, but Vanessa told that she’s not the new host.

So, we warmly welcome Kara Scott to step onto AJ Benza’s boots and hope she’s going to do her job well. Scott’s biggest poker achievement must be her second place finish on Irish Open Tournament from where she got a nice €312.000 paycheck.

Source: PokerNews

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Kara Scott - The new hostess of High Stakes Poker

The Nightly Turbo: Barry Greenstein Clears Things Up, High Stakes Poker Host Confirmation, and More

It's Friday. Halloween is tomorrow. We're ready to tell you the news so we can go play dress-up.

Run It Twice – Not popular with Full Tilt Pros

The new feature at Full Tilt Poker’s cash game tables, Run It Twice, has not proved widely-used at the higher stakes it is available at. Despite it occurring constantly on cash game shows such as High Stakes Poker, the Full Tilt Pros can take it or leave it, it seems.

The Nightly Turbo: Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and More

It's that time again. Your tournament just went on break and you're wondering what happened in the poker world today. Well, here it is, all laid out for you so you can get back to the grind sooner.

Andrew Feldman Confirmed for High Stakes Poker Season 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

First British Player to Play in High Stakes Poker Show

UK PokerNews just recently announced the first British player to join High Stakes Poker show.

According to UK PokerNews, Andrew Feldman will be the first British player on High Stakes Poker. High Stakes Poker will begin to film next month and will be aired somewhere around February 2010.

“Apparently I was recommended to the producer by none other than Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan. Maybe he thinks I’m good value, maybe hethinks I’ll give action…I hope it’s the latter. Last month I played the full tilt million dollar cash game, but this is going to be just as tough if not tougher!”, Feldman told to UK PokerNews.

UK PokerNews thinks it’s amazing that there haven’t been any British players in the previous 5 seasons of HSP. Earlier this year Feldman became the youngest member of the Full Tilt Pro Team.

Source: UK PokerNews

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

First British Player to Play in High Stakes Poker Show

Andrew Feldman to appear in High Stakes Poker

UK pro and arch-nemesis of loudmouthed Luke “__FullFlush1__” Schwarz Andrew Feldman has confirmed that he will be appearing on Season 6 of GSN’s poker cash game, High Stakes Poker.

The Nightly Turbo: High Stakes Poker Host Speculation, Supernova Dad, and More

Welcome back to the Nightly Turbo, where we search high and low to bring you the day's top poker news stories, so you don't have to. What more could you ask for?

Kara Scott To Host High Stakes Poker?

PokerNews is speculating with the rumor that Kara Scott is Gabe Kaplan’s new co-hostess on High Stakes Poker.

There are some rumors circulating that the British born Kara Scott will replace AJ Benza on High Stakes Poker. PokerNews were the first one to tell the news. They didn’t tell where they got the information though.

It seems quite unlikely as Kara Scott has been working really close with Matchroom. On the other hand, Scott has really close ties with HSP’s new main sponsor, PokerStars.

Anyway, HSP will most likely make an announcement within few weeks, so we won’t know for sure until then.

Source: PokerNews

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Kara Scott To Host High Stakes Poker?

Shana Hiatt Will Not Be Next High Stakes Poker Host

Poker News Daily can independently confirm that former World Poker Tour (WPT) and “Poker After Dark” hostess Shana Hiatt will not reprise her role on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” Instead, it appears that Kara Scott will be signed.

According to Hiatt’s publicist, Creative Management Entertainment Group, the former WPT hostess will not join the cast of “High Stakes Poker.” Hiatt has been taking care of her one year-old child and traveling the world with her husband, Todd Garner. Hiatt was one of the original voices of the game for much of today’s poker playing population, joining Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten on Travel Channel broadcasts. Hiatt departed the WPT scene in 2005.

Hiatt formerly appeared on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and “National Heads-Up Poker Championship.” Both are franchises of Poker PROductions, the Mori Eskandani-led outfit that also produces “High Stakes Poker.” Consequently, many in the industry believed that Hiatt would sit alongside former “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the Season 6 “High Stakes Poker” broadcast booth. Poker PROductions is in the midst of preparing the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for airing on cable station ESPN in early 2010.

Former host A.J. Benza, whose dismissal by GSN executives sparked a considerable amount of controversy, noted in a blog post that the next “High Stakes Poker” host would actually be a hostess. In a post authored by Kaplan on Friday, the ousted host explained, “I hope the chick they get to do some table interviews during the three-days of play at the Golden Nugget really, truly compliments and adds a great dose of comedy that was apparently lacking up in the booth manned by Gabe Kaplan. Does GSN realize they have apparently copied ‘Poker After Dark,’ the show that feels like a marriage between a Xanax and a Valium?”

On a Mediocre Poker Show podcast, Benza fingered Scott as his replacement. Scott is a sponsored PokerStars player and has taken on commentary duties for European Poker Tour (EPT) events. She finished in the top 250 in both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events and won the PartyPoker Sports Stars Challenge in early 2008 for £26,000. She is fresh off hosting the PokerStars.net Ante Up for Africa tournament that aired on CBS and was filmed during April’s EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final in Monaco.

Poker PROductions and GSN officials could not comment on who would be the next host of “High Stakes Poker” because contract negotiations are ongoing. A GSN representative told Poker News Daily, “We can’t announce the new co-host until his/her deal has been signed and finalized, which hasn’t happened yet.”

In threads on Full Contact Poker, site front man Daniel Negreanu, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented, “I like how a guy says he’s 99% sure it’s Vanessa [Rousso] when I’m actually 100% sure it’s not! It’s not Amanda [Leatherman] or Lacey [Jones] or Tiffany [Michelle] either. It’s not an actress either. I can tell you who it isn’t but can’t tell you who it is. Fun game for me!” Negreanu also reinforced that the next hostess is not Hiatt, Sabina Gadecki, Kimberly Lansing, or Jennifer Harman. Poker News Daily can also independently confirm that Leatherman will not be the considered, although she told us she’s love the opportunity.  PokerStars will sponsor “High Stakes Poker” for Season 6.

The show is set to begin filming its next cycle in November from Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the search for the next “High Stakes Poker” host.

Poker Community Reacts to 2 Months, $2 Million Finale

Season 1 of G4’s “2 Months, $2 Million” came to a close last week and the result was an outburst of chatter in the poker community regarding the innovative reality show. The cast landed well short of its $2 million goal, but the majority of viewers seem to be pleased with the overall product that G4 presented.

Jay “SEABEAST” Kinkade, a high-stakes tournament specialist from Australia, followed the series closely all the way through the season finale and was able to relate to the lives of the cast members as a fellow professional poker player. “I think the show did a great job of striking a difficult balance and as someone who has stayed in a house in Vegas two years in a row, it rings very true to my own experiences,” Kinkade explained. “I expected the show to suck and I think it’s awesome. I think all four guys came across great on TV.”

The main subject that has generated speculation since the season finale is whether G4 would bring along the same four members for a potential Season 2 or reach into the bag of high-stakes cash players for a new group. Online poker player “QuadSuited” gave his input on the matter: “Not that I wouldn’t like to see the same cast again in Season 2, but I would like to see at least three seasons a year with a different cast of players every season. I think it would be a great move for keeping a fresh interest in the show on a consistent and growing basis. That being said, I did enjoy this season, although I would have liked to see more poker.”

Some names being mentioned as possible replacements or full-time additions include Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Aaron “aejones” Jones, both of whom made cameos during the show’s first season. Lichtenberger gained fame following one episode when he sweet-talked a female into giving him her underwear in order to win a bet against members of the “2 Months, $2 Million” crew.

“I think Krantz (Jay Rosenkrantz), ansky (Dani Stern), and flawless (Brian Roberts) are all awesome,” said poker player “ryanaw19.” “The only person I’d change would be whitelime (Emil Patel); I would swap him for someone who plays higher stakes. It would give them a better shot at actually winning $2 million. I’d go for someone like luckychewy, who plays $25/50 and higher and grinds high-stakes tournaments… chewy would also bring a ton of laughter.”

TwoPlusTwo poster “ralef” enjoyed the show, but agrees that the team should focus on reaching its $2 million goal in Season 2. “The show works because the life of super successful online poker players is interesting and fun,” ralef commented. “Want to make next season better? It’s pretty easy: play bigger against bigger names and do absurd things with your money. Maybe if you don’t want to show poker all of the time, throw in a bunch of prop bets. Also, the drama of ‘Will they or will they not reach $2 million?’ disappeared pretty fast. For most of the season, it felt like ‘Can Krantz carry them to $2 million? No, he can’t.’ Everyone else was usually up or down $10,000 to $50,000… until the last two episodes. Even then, the results depended mainly on how Krantz did.”

An issue that became a concern for many viewers was the length of each episode. “2 Months, 2 Million” ran for 30 minutes, as compared to NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker“, which air for an hour. “Next season: longer episodes,” said TwoPlusTwo member “StraddleBet.” “Everything seemed so rushed.”

As of yet, there is no news regarding another season, but Poker News Daily will be there with any updates about the future of “2 Months, $2 Million.”

The Weekly Turbo: PartyGaming, High Stakes Poker Host Update, and More

The work week can get overwhelming, and not everyone has the time to dive headfirst into the poker world's top stories every day. Weekend warriors rejoice! You've just flopped the nuts because the Nightly Turbo is introducing a special weekly edition. Pre

Kara Scott to Host High Stakes Poker?

With the news from GSN that co-host AJ Benza will not return alongside former actor turned poker pro Gabe Kaplan for season six of High Stakes Poker, rumours have been flying as to who his replacement could be – the only thing we know is they have breasts.

ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes Joe Cada

This week’s installment of the ESPN.com poker franchise “Inside Deal” featured 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Joe Cada. Laura Lane and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee host the show.

The news segment of ESPN “Inside Deal” began with Lee praising World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton for his election to the Poker Hall of Fame: “I think it’s tremendously well-deserved. Mike has had a phenomenal career. A lot of people think of him from the WPT, but remember, he is a very well-accomplished player.” Sexton is the lone representative of the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Others who were up for consideration included Tom McEvoy, Dan Harrington, Daniel Negranu, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, Scotty Nguyen, and Men “The Master” Nguyen.

Attention then turned to the letter authored by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner petitioning for the delay of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by one year to December 1st, 2010. Lee explained what would happen if the current deadline stood: “The impact would be devastating. We’re fearful that the banks will err on the side of caution and ultimately block payments that the online sites would give.”

Making headlines this week was the news that the GSN staple “High Stakes Poker” had dropped host A.J. Benza for Season 6, allegedly replacing him with a female correspondent. Lee explained, “I’m a little surprised. For five years, A.J. and Gabe Kaplan have seemed to have a good rapport, so I’m surprised they’re making this switch.” Poker News Daily broke the news that Vanessa Rousso, the presumed frontrunner for the job, would not be Benza’s replacement. Other possible fill-ins include former WPT hostess Shana Hiatt, Kara Scott, Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones, and Shannon Elizabeth.

Cada, who could become the youngest Main Event winner ever if he takes down the feature tournament next month, then joined the show. He noted how his life has changed as a result of the increased exposure as a member of the November Nine: “I’ve been playing poker my whole life, so the only thing that’s changed for me is the media.” Cada is primarily a cash game player, only hitting up the tournament scene online on Sundays. He purchased a 2,400 square foot house at age 19 as a gift to himself and is a sponsored pro of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room.

Heading into the 2009 WSOP, Cada found himself on a $150,000 downswing. He sought the aid of two longtime cornerstones of the poker industry, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Eric “sheets” Haber. Cada recalled, “I was lucky enough to have them back me and I’m very grateful for that. I knew I could win before I came in.” Josephy, a former Ultimate Bet pro, and Sheets will receive 50% of Cada’s earnings. The top prize in Las Vegas is $8.5 million.

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman joined the show to discuss a series of dream teams. News broke last week that Dream Team Poker would return with tournaments at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles coinciding with Monday Night Football. Feldman’s “Dream Team Young Guns” consisted of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate. “Dream Team Lady Luck” was comprised of Shannon Elizabeth, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, and Jones. Finally, Feldman unveiled “Dream Team Old Guard:” Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow. Cada added that his ultimate Dream Team would be Ivey, Patrick Antonius, and Dwan.

Finally, Cada revealed that on Day 8 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, his stack had dropped to 20% of the average before he clawed back. He knocked out between 10 and 15 players en route to the final table and, upon heading to Connecticut to film ESPN “Inside Deal,” dropped some dough at the Foxwoods blackjack tables.

“Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday on ESPN.com.

Full Tilt players can now run it twice

Fans of popular TV programs like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker are likely to have seen their favorite cash game legends "run it twice" on more than one occasion.

Essentially, running it twice allows heads-up opponents in a cash game pot, with one or both all in, to agree to have the remaining community cards dealt twice.

The winner of each outcome takes half of the pot. With Full Tilt's new software update, cash game players will now have that option online.

In addition, the software update includes a new Cashout Tournament format, giving players the option of cashing out some or all of their chips before the tournament has ended.

The tournaments follow the same rules as standard tournaments, except that each buy-in is split between a regular tournament prize pool and a Cashout pool.

Players compete for a share of the tournament prize pool as they would in a standard tournament, but also have the option of cashing out some or all of their chips.

For more information on all of Full Tilt's new features click here.

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