Poker News

Corkins Cashes in with Second WPT Title

He outlasted all 208 entries and beat up-and-comer Jonathan Kantor heads-up to claim the first place prize of $739,486 at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Corkins, who won his first WPT title at the World Poker Finals in 2003, now finds himself as one of the 12 players that have won two WPT titles. It’s an elite group that includes players like Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer and Barry Greenstein.

“It’s wonderful,” said Corkins about his win. “It’s been so frustrating coming in second twice, third once and sixth at another final table.”

Corkins cruised to three-handed play but after losing a series of hands became the short-stack. He had to get extremely lucky to win an all-in situation with A-J versus Jerry Vanstrydonck’s pocket kings.

He went on to bust Vanstrydonck and take back the chip lead, carrying it into heads-up play against Kantor. It took Corkins just 19 hands to end the match.

With his victory Corkins also topped 4,000 WPT points, which puts him in a very select group of players that includes just Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu. Corkins now has over $5 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

The WPT will now head to sunny L.A. for both the WPT Celebrity Invitational on Feb. 20-21 and the L.A.P.C., which takes place Feb. 26-March 4.

The complete final table results from the Southern Poker Championship are as follows:

1. Hoyt Corkins - $739,486
2. Jonathan Kantor - $366,643
3. Jerry Vanstrydonck - $196,829
4. Jared Jaffee - $135,079
5. James Reed - $106,134
6. Tyler Smith - $86,837

Poker in Twitter: Deauville, Football, Kat von D and Victoria Coren’s duck.

Poker News Daily scours the Twitter feeds of hundreds of poker players to bring you the funniest, most interesting, weirdest Tweets of the last few days. This weekend saw many players tweeting about the tournaments they were in, which included the UBOC, the LAPC and the EPT Deauville. Other popular topics this week were football (the poker world seems to support the Saints almost unanimously) and other sports, as well as new houses, tattoos by Kat von D, and a river card made to measure for Eric Mizrachi.
The online cards were good for some and cruel to others: while Dave “Hollywood_Dave” Stann challenged players to face him at Ultimate Bet: “Rockin UBOC on UB right now...come join so I can felt you, too ”, Liv Boeree was not having such a great day: “finished 42nd in UBOC 8 for $6300. Set of 33s get it all in on turn... he rivers 9 for higher set. Laptop across the room time.” Eric Mizrachi could have shared some of his luck with her, as he boasted a screenshot from a spectacular river card in Poker Stars:  “Deliver the nice river, Ty @pokerstars_com http://twitpic.com/zmlrd”

Tournament manager supreme Matt Savage kept the world informed of the progress of the LAPC, starting with a comment on his famously grueling schedules: “We have completed days 1A/1B or .5 of the 51 events at this years @LAPokerClassic! Not sure what I was thinking when I made this schedule?” Apparently Mr. Savage is superstitious, since he made Dave Stann back off from certain comments that might bring the tournament ill luck: “@Hollywood_Dave please do NOT mention LAPC = Going Well and Obama Presidency = F'ing Up Country in same tweet! You may jinx us here in LA.” No jinx was apparent to Rob Perelman, who tweeted in delight: “Heads up pot. Final board A4444. Check check. Then 2nd guy tries to muck. This is why I love the @LAPokerClassic!” Some of poker’s hottest ladies were in attendance after trotting the globe in The Amazing Race last year; Tiffany Michelle posted a picture of her view from the table: “http://twitpic.com/z4bfu - Playin the 1st LAPC event, nice view - this girl follows me everywhere ”

The poker world followed the NFC very closely last weekend, and the general feeling seemed to favor the Saints, although Doyle Brunson voiced his admiration for the Vikings’ legendary quarterback: “Brett Favre has balls the size of basketballs.” Favre was the man of the day, with praise and heckles piled on him via Twitter. Gene Bromberg tried to be fair: “I gleefully join in on Favrebashing, but that should've been a flag. Low, late hit, gotta call that”, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith blamed it on the team: “@shannonelizab The vikings aren't even giving Favre a chance to win”, and Joe Sebok cheered and booed: “yes, saints! boo favre & vikings. city of new orleans deserves this... ” Shannon Elizabeth, who tweeted throughout the game, was a happy fan when the fat lady sang: “Congrats Saints! GREAT GAME!!”

The EPT Deauville had two excellent commentators in Vicky Coren and Isabelle Mercier, both of whom tweeted frequently with updates on their own performance and those of friends and team members. Coren had never been able to survive Deauville’s Day 1, and was hoping this year would be it: “It's Day 1 of the Deauville EPT. I've played this three times before and never survived Day One. Let's see if I can break my duck” (“Breaking one’s duck” is a British expression, originally from cricket, that means doing something for the first time.) Coren tried hard, and kept updating on her status to add to the suspense: “We started with 30k in chips. I went down to 4k, now up to 20k, tiptoeing between the outdraws. Two more levels and the duck gets it...” The duck, however, remains unbroken, as she got busted out in Day 1 once more. Fellow Brit Matthew Grant commiserated with some historic consolation: “@VictoriaCoren Nevermind, the only victory that matters near Deauville happened in 1944 ” Coren marveled at Mercier’s youthful looks when they sat together: “Ex Team Pro Isabelle Mercier is on my table, looking incredible. She just doesn't age, that woman. Is it a French thing?” It may have been Mercier’s joy at playing in Deauville, which she tweeted happily about: “Deauville Deauville! Always loved this French little piece of paradise... Especially when it's GAME DAY !!!! ... http://bit.ly/5V41EV” Mercier’s joie de vivre did not last very long, however, as she tweeted from her Facebook account: “Busted out few hours ago holding pocket 10's against poker Jacks and pocket Aces!!! Turned blue and slowly getting... http://bit.ly/4sN0Rb”

Celebrity tattoo artist Kat von D, from the TV show LA Ink, has been leaving her mark on the poker world. First she tattooed Tiffany Michelle, who shared a photo of her tattoo: “Pics of my tatt that Kat did on her show are on my website www.tiffanymichelle.com under the 'Film, TV, Shows' Gallery ” and more recently on Pearl Aday, as tweeted by heavy metal poker star Scott Ian: “Kat Von D shooting Pearl right now.” If he does not shape up to his crazy prop bet, Joe Sebok could be next.

Sebok got some unflattering tweets regarding his stunning new LA home – @DougLeePoker remarked acidly: “@JoeSebok Wow, sick place! and all you had to do was align yourself with a company that has stolen millions from their customers. Well Done!” Sebok’s affiliation with Ultimate Bet is evidently not well accepted by the poker world.

There were many random tweets on off topics that seemed too interesting to pass by, so here is a brief overview of the weird and wonderful tweets of this weekend. There is the cheerful but always cryptic Marcel Luske: “Just an other day,,, more news ,, more twitters , more closely 2 Our goalls & destiny,so enjoin the day & feel great & help others . {;”, a very happy tweet from Eric Mizrachi: “Got some GREAT NEWS today, my friend Myrielle "Meeyu" Pierre survived the earthquake. C U tomm Meeyu! http://twitpic.com/y267b”, some naughtiness from Gavin Griffin: “We just backed into someone's driver's side door and left an 8 square inch dent. Gave em 100 bucks. Win”, and a recognition of friendship from Daniel Negreanu: “I just counted. The number of good friends of mine that are unabashed media whores: zero! All my friends are so normal”, while Doyle Brunson experienced new things: “Got back from a recording session. I'm just a West Texas hillbilly, all that chit amazes me.”

The Tweet of the day is a tie between Jeff Madsen and Howard Lederer. Madsen quipped: “Tiger woods supposedly in Mississippi for sex Rehab. I'll b in Biloxi soon, maybe I need to check myself in?”, while Lederer pointed out: “Went to see Nadal tonight at Aussie Open and saw the best homemade fan sign ever at the match. It read "Go Nad." LOL”
If you are as addicted to Twitter as we are, be sure to follow us @PokerNewsDaily so you can stay up to date on all the breaking news in the poker world and be a part of some PND Twitter exclusives in the coming weeks.

Shak Shocks Ivey, Wins $100k Crown

“I try, in life, just in general, to keep the highs not too high and the lows not too low,” he said moments after defeating poker legend Phil Ivey heads up to take the title. “But believe me, I’m extremely excited.

“This is something I’ve been working towards for such a long time and I may not show the excitement, but inside I’m extremely excited.  I’m not going to jump up and down, but inside I probably already am.”

A total of 24 players ponied up the $100k buy-in to enter the world’s most expensive poker tournament and the field played down to a final table of eight in Melbourne Saturday.

When they returned to crown a winner Monday, a short stacked Howard Lederer was the first to exit, running ace-ten into Tony G’s aces.

Start-of-day chip leader Jonathan "xMONSTERxDONGx" Karamalikis was actually the next player out. The young Aussie online legend doubled up a few of the shorter stacks before eventually running ace-ten into Shak’s nines and failing to improve.

Barry Greenstein then had his kings cracked by Tony Bloom’s jacks and the Team PokerStars Pro bubbled the money a few hands later when Bloom’s own kings held against his queen-ten.

Tony G was the next to go, getting his buy-in back when his tens lost a race with Shak’s ace-king and it wasn’t long before 2009 $100k Challenge runner-up Bloom got it in dominated by Ivey and bowed out fourth cashing for AUD$200,000.

Local cash game pro Bill Jordanou hit the rail third, collecting AUD$300,000 when he got it in with top two against Ivey’s overpair, but Ivey turned a set and rivered a flush.

Heads up started with Ivey and Shak about even, but the day trader took the veteran pro to task, building a 3:1 chip lead through a series of aggressive pre and post flop plays.

Eventually Ivey got it in with ace-ten against ace-seven, but Shak flopped a seven to suck out and while the Team Full Tilt Pro and 2009 November Niner was forced to settle for the AUD$600,000 second-place prize, pushing him up to the top spot on poker’s all-time leading money winners list, Shak booked the AUD$1.2 million win.

“I think I played well the whole heads-up match,” Shak explained. “The last hand I got lucky, there is no doubt about that, but up until that last hand I feel like I played very well.

“These guys are the best in the world, but I’d rather play with good players. I always seem to play better with good players because they are more predictable. With Phil, there’s nothing you can really say. Today I got the better cards, obviously he is the better player.”

While Shak has been recording cashes on the high-stakes tournament poker scene since 2004, including a fourth-place finish in this very event last year, his biggest score before Monday’s win was a victory in the inaugural Ante Up for Africa charity event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Recently divorced from wife Beth, Shak said he felt like his game is much improved and went about proving it in Australia Monday.

“I’ve been working hard on my game and I’ve had some life changes that have given me more time to concentrate on my game,” he said. “I think I’ve taken my game to a new level and I feel like I’m really playing better.”

Antanas “Tony G” Guoga Joins Team PartyPoker

Continuing to add to an already impressive lineup, it was announced early Thursday that top poker professional Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has signed a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.

Guoga, who has been at the forefront of the international poker scene for the past decade, will make his first showing for Team PartyPoker at the Aussie Millions, which began today and is one of the top non-U.S. tournaments on the poker schedule. According to Guoga’s new blog at PartyPoker, he will be participating in the $100,000 Challenge tournament scheduled to start on January 23rd, which draws some of the toughest competition in the game today and features defending champion Howard Lederer. Tony G will also join fellow Team PartyPoker members Bodo Sbrzesny and defending Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott along with 43 qualifiers from PartyPoker for the Aussie Millions Main Event. The AUD $10,000 tournament will feature three starting days that begin on January 24th and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net.

As a part of the new sponsorship deal, Guoga will also be part of one of PartyPoker’s upcoming special events, the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV. This invitation-only tournament is scheduled to take place in February in Las Vegas and includes a formidable lineup. Such players as former World Champion and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, current World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, poker Triple Crown winner Roland De Wolfe, noted poker “bad boy” Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz, and dangerous tournament pro J. C. Tran are scheduled to take to the felt, presenting Tony G with tremendously difficult opposition.

Guoga’s own online poker site, TonyGPoker.com, has been merged into the PartyPoker family. Those players who are a part of TonyGPoker.com will be moved to Noble Poker. Guoga will continue to be an integral part of his online promotions, such as the Sunday Bike Ride (moving to Noble Poker), and will play on PartyPoker under the name “TonyG.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Tony to Team PartyPoker,” a PartyGaming spokesman commented about the newest arrival to the organization. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game and a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players on board.”

Guoga isn’t called “The Mouth From Down Under” for nothing. Known to dismiss his beaten opponents from the table with a curt “On Yer Bike!” Guoga has already issued a challenge for those PartyPoker members playing in the Aussie Millions. “If one of the Party qualifiers knocks me out of the Main Event, I will buy them a bike,” Guoga stated. “First of all, however, I will ride it out myself… I know when it is bike time!”

In his first blog entry on PartyPoker, Guoga also throws down the gauntlet against one of his Premier League IV foes. After speaking glowingly of Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Kara Scott, Tony G dropped the hammer on Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz: “He’s rude, obnoxious and I cannot wait to bust him up. This kid is not the kind of player you feel you can learn from – you just want to bust him.”

Guoga certainly has the ability to bust up many players at the table. His lifetime earnings at the tournament poker tables total nearly $4 million and include the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II championship in 2006. He was also the runner-up in the 2006 PartyPoker Intercontinental Poker Championship in Las Vegas and has cashed 15 times at the WSOP.

Famous for his mouth, it is Guoga’s philanthropic efforts that have earned him a great deal of respect from players and fans. After he won the first ever Asian Poker Tour (APT) event in Singapore in 2006, Tony G donated half the prize money to charity and, after taking down over $200,000 in a Moscow poker tournament in 2007, he turned over the entirety of his winnings to Russian orphanages.

With the addition of Guoga, Team PartyPoker is becoming a formidable challenge in the tournament poker world. After not sponsoring pros for much of its existence, PartyPoker has certainly drawn top talent to its roster. Along with Guoga, Sexton, Sbrzesny, and the two Scotts, other members of Team PartyPoker include France’s Remy Biechel, England’s Ian “The Raiser” Frazer, and Brazil’s Felipe "Mojave" Ramos.

Full Tilt Poker Introduces Rush Poker

At most online sites, the hands in a ring game are dealt at nearly twice the speed of what would occur during a live session. This isn’t quick enough for some players, who prefer playing at multiple tables to earn more money for their bankroll and satisfy their desire for action. A new innovation at Full Tilt Poker has responded to the call for faster play on the virtual felt.

Called Rush Poker, Full Tilt Poker has come up with a game that could draw a great deal of attention from those with the need for speed. If a player at a table is dealt a hand – for example, J-2 offsuit – and doesn’t want to play the hand, the player can click the "Fold" button (once in action, there is a “Quick Fold” button that can be used at any time instead of waiting for your turn). Instead of sticking around to watch the remaining players at the table battle it out, the player is immediately jetted off to another table, with a completely new batch of players, and a new hand is dealt. The only time a player stays at the table is when they are actually in action with a hand; once a player folds, the player is gone to another table with a new group of players. This leads to a monumental number of hands during any given session.

Team Full Tilt is firmly behind the Rush Poker variation and they will step in to the fray along with their regular players. Howard Lederer commented on his Twitter account, “Had fun giving Rush poker a try on FTP. 300 hands per hour at one table. Cool.” Fellow Team Full Tilt member Andy Bloch was equally impressed when he stated on Twitter, “Playing new Rush Poker on Full Tilt Poker. Online poker may never be the same!”

Be prepared for a tremendous amount of action if you approach the Rush Poker tables, however. Poker News Daily examined the lobby at the Rush Poker tables for this article and, at the time, only No Limit Hold’em had action, with three Six-Handed tables ($0.25/$0.50, $0.10/$0.25 and $0.05/$0.10) and three nine-handed ring games (same levels). Among the six groups that were in action, the low count for players was around 420 players and the high was approximately 1,550 players.

The average number of hands dealt during an hour of play fluctuated between 277 to 318, negating the need for multi-tabling. Average pot sizes were quite similar to what happens at the regular speed tables. It did seem, however, that players played a bit tighter on the Rush Poker tables, with the “players seeing the flop” percentages ranging from 19% to 25%.

At the tables, the action runs very smoothly. Whether you wait until your action to fold or use the “Quick Fold” option, as soon as you make your decision, an entirely different table of players loads up for action. When you move, you can land in any position at the table. In the span of less than ten minutes, this author played 50 hands, making for a rough average of 300 hands per hour.

There is a downside to the quick action, however. Players who prefer to learn their opponents’ tendencies will not have that luxury, as each different hand is played with a different group of opponents. Checking the previous hand history is useless as you are no longer playing the same opponents with the table change. Using any type of poker software is nearly impossible; with the quick table changes, the software cannot keep up. If a player receives a few bad beats, the quick action can also rapidly burn through the stakes a player brings to the table.

Whether Full Tilt Poker’s new Rush Poker will catch on is up to the players to decide. At the time of writing, the Rush Poker tables accounted for only about 10% of the total action on the site. Full Tilt Poker has also applied for a patent on this variation of online poker, making it highly unlikely that other sites will pick up on this new phenomenon.

Mark Seif Speaks About Amir Vahedi’s Death and Funeral Info

The poker world still mourns the loss of beloved player Amir Vahedi, known in Hollywood circles for having been Ben Affleck’s first poker tutor. His colleague and close friend Mark Seif recently made declarations on his website regarding the loss of Vahedi and shared the information about his funeral for anyone who wishes to pay their respects to the late poker player.

Seif wrote that Vahedi’s brothers were concerned about some inaccurate information about Vahedi’s death in the news.

I spoke to Amir’s brothers, Masoud and Sayed today.  They are heartbroken over the loss of their brother.  While deeply saddened by their brother’s passing, they told me that the outpouring of condolences and support has been overwhelming.  They are very thankful and have asked that I clarify a few facts that have been misreported in the news.

The first item that Seif clarifies is that Vahedi’s cause of death is yet unknown. While it is suspected that diabetes may have been the cause, there is a full autopsy and toxicology examination in progress to determine exactly what caused Vahedi’s passing:

The cause of death is unknown at this time.  An autopsy was performed in Las Vegas, where Amir’s body remains for at least a couple more days, until it is transported to Southern California.  The final autopsy report is expected in 6-8 weeks.  The preliminary findings were that all of Amir’s vital organs appeared healthy, and there were no signs of disease or injury.  The family confirmed that Amir was diabetic, but do not know if diabetes played a role in his death.  They are awaiting toxicology reports.

A point that Seif puts special stress on is the fact that Vahedi was a family man whose unexpected death has left many bereaved, since it seems some outlets reported Vahedi had left no family:

The reports that Amir died without any family are inaccurate.  In addition to his brothers, Amir has a sister, two daughters, Chanel and Erika, and a son.  Amir’s sister and children are heartbroken as well.

Many poker celebrities and reporters have expressed their condolences on Twitter. They include the great Doyle Brunson, whose site signed Vahedi as a pro for a while: “We will miss Amir Vahedi. He represented Doylesroom for a year or so, was a great guy, willing to do anything that was asked of him...RIP.” “The Professor” Howard Lederer had few, but meaningful, words to say about Vahedi’s passing: “Amir Vahedi was one of the good guys. I'm very sad. RIP.” The opinionated Daniel Negreanu also commented on this sad occasion: “RIP Amir Vahedi. Amir was a hard worker that did everything to support his family. My condolences to the Vahedi family. Must be tough.”

Those who wish to pay their respects to the late Vahedi and give their condolences to his family can do so on Friday, January 15th at 3:00pm at Forrest Lawn Memorial in Hollywood Hills, California.

Andy Beal is back at the Bobby’s Room

According to 2+2 forums, the billionaire banker Andy Beal has been spotted in Bellagio.

Andy Beal is famous from his really, really, really high stakes games against the best poker players of the world aka “The Corporation”.

Beal played against “The Corporation” which consisted of players like Doyle and Todd Brunson, Ted Forrest, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman and Barry Greenstein. They played Fixed Limit Hold’em with as high as $100k/$200k stakes.

Now people are rumoring that Andy Beal is back at the Bobby’s Room where he has been spotted playing Fixed Limit with $30k/$60k and $50k/$100k stakes. At least Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman and Phil Ivey have been playing against Beal.

Source: 2+2

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Andy Beal is back at the Bobby’s Room

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks Off with Commentators III

Season 6 of the popular NBC poker program “Poker After Dark” kicked off this week with “Commentators III.” In a somewhat surreal scene, announcers from popular poker programs took to the felts at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

Each player started with 20,000 in chips and blinds at 100-200. Dan Gati replaced Full Tilt Poker’s Ali Nejad in the booth, as Nejad took to the felts as part of the kickoff week. He raised with A-J in the first hand shown and received no action, turning over his two cards to prove that he always has a hand. Also appearing as part of “Commentators III” this week are Howard Lederer, “High Stakes Poker” hosts Gabe Kaplan and Kara Scott, “Poker2Nite” anchor and UB.com pro Joe Sebok, and Mark Gregorich.

In one hand, Nejad raised to 650 pre-flop with K-J and Lederer made the call with 10-J. The flop came 8-9-6, giving Lederer an open-ended straight draw, and the action went check-check to a four on the turn. Lederer led out for 875 and Nejad quickly mucked, prompting a flurry of references to a set of fours. During the last “Commentators” week, Nejad busted with a set of fours against Kaplan’s set of tens.

Nejad then ramped up his charm, telling the assembled panel of announcers, “I had something special to do today in honor of Joe [Sebok] finally making a TV table.” He produced a tray of champagne classes and gave one to each competitor. Sebok has a bevy of televised final table bubbles in his career, including a ninth place finish in the 2008 World Poker Tour (WPT) Festa al Lago, a seventh place finish at the 2007 Legends of Poker, and a seventh place finish at the 2007 Bay 101 Shooting Star; WPT final tables are played six-handed. He finished fifth in the 2006 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $99,000.

On his tendency to bubble, Sebok told “Poker After Dark” host Leeann Tweeden, “Unfortunately in poker, I became more famous for missteps than good steps.” It was later revealed that Sebok and Nejad attended the University of California, Berkley at the same time, leading to a discussion as to whether the two had ever met. Kaplan then flopped the nuts with K-J on a board of 10-Q-A. Nejad, who held Q-J for middle pair and a gutshot straight draw, bet 850 after Kaplan checked. Kaplan raised to 2,100 and Nejad folded.

Twenty-five minutes into the kickoff episode of “Poker After Dark” Season 6, the first river card was dealt. Sebok led out for 550 with Q-3 on a board of 4-8-Q with two spades. Kaplan put in a raise to 2,150 with 3-4 of spades and Sebok called. The turn was another queen, giving Sebok trips, and the action went check-check. The river was a four, giving both players full houses. Sebok bet 2,700 and Kaplan wisely folded. Sebok became the new chip leader after scooping the pot of 7,900.

Scott, who was largely quiet throughout the episode, donned a CardRunners logo for her first “Poker After Dark” appearance. She exclaimed, “I’m playing with Gabe Kaplan! It’s really exciting!” Amid discussion of the upcoming Heath Ledger movie, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” Sebok raised to 1,100 with A-K and Gregorich called with pocket nines. The flop fell 7-3-10 and Sebok made a continuation bet of 1,600. Gregorich called and a six came on the turn. The action went check-check as Sebok let his foot off the gas and a four came on the river. Both players again checked and Gregorich scooped the 6,000-chip pot.

In one of the final hands shown on Monday night’s episode, Gregorich held pocket rockets and raised to 1,200 pre-flop. Sebok came along with 5-6 of clubs from the big blind and the flop came Q-6-8. Sebok checked, Gregorich fired out a bet of 3,000, and Sebok folded.

“Commentators III” continues all week on “Poker After Dark.” The franchise airs late nights at 2:05am ET on NBC and is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, whose logo appears in the center of the felt.

Sixth season of Poker After Dark is here!

NBC’s popular Poker After Dark is back. The first episode was aired yesterday and can be watched at the NBC’s website.

The first week is called “Commentators III” and you can find familiar faces sitting at the table. There’s Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich and Kara Scott playing a 6-max $20k sit and go. Winner takes the whole $120.000 pot.

You can watch the first episode here.

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Sixth season of Poker After Dark is here!

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks off January 4th

Fans of the popular NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” won’t have to wait long after the clock strikes Midnight this evening to catch the show’s sixth season, which debuts on Monday night, January 4th, at 2:05am ET.

Ali Nejad and Leeann Tweeden will reprise their “Poker After Dark” announcing and hosting roles, respectively, as the show enters season number six. The first week is entitled “Commentators III” and, while the name isn’t very catchy, the action on the felt should be nail biting. Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott will all play in “Poker After Dark’s” Season 6 premiere. Sebok, who hosts UB.com’s “Poker2Nite,” and Scott, the new floor reporter for GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” are making their “Poker After Dark” debuts. You can catch “Commentators III” beginning on January 4th.

A total of 13 shows were filmed for Season 6 of “Poker After Dark,” including six-handed freezeouts and three different buy-in cash games. Followers of 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad will be able to catch the youngster on a special “Nicknames” episode that also features Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Obrestad, a Betfair pro, turned 21 in September and is finally old enough to gamble legally on U.S. soil.

A $50,000 buy-in cash game features a star-studded lineup of Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth. A press release distributed by Poker PROductions notes, “Any time Matusow and Hellmuth play against each other in a cash game, the insults alone make for must-see-television.” A high-stakes $150,000 buy-in cash game will see Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David “Viffer” Peat, Eli Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer take to the felts. The six are staples of “High Stakes Poker” and one mounts the comeback of the century.

One of the more notable freezeout themes is “Lonesome Shark,” which features Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth. What do they all have in common, you ask? All six are poker’s most eligible bachelors and the heads-up battle in this episode is one of the longest of the season. Mixed Martial Arts will take center stage shortly thereafter in a show featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, Antonius, Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson, former UFC champion Randy Couture, Lederer, and Lindgren.

Here is the schedule through April for new episodes of Season 6 of “Poker After Dark” according to NBC.com:

Week of January 4th - Commentators III
Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott

Week of January 11th – Nicknames
Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth

Week of March 15th - Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 1
Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow

Week of March 22nd – Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 2
Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 19th - My Favorite Pro
Craig Ivey, James Ashby, Steve Bartlett, Phil Hellmuth, Jens Voertmann, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 26th - He Said, She Said
Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow, Annie Duke

Additional dates for new episodes will be announced in the future and re-runs of popular shows will also air over the first four months of 2009. “Poker After Dark” will take a hiatus during the weeks of February 15th and 22nd due to the Winter Olympics, which NBC owns the rights to.

“Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker,” both products of Poker PROductions, were filmed in October at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The latter begins airing on GSN on Sunday, February 14th.

Erica Schoenberg Interview with Poker News Daily

Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?

Schoenberg: I came off of playing blackjack with a team. Our team disbanded and we were getting a lot of heat from the casinos. I was asked to do a poker show on GSN with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and David Williams and I played terribly. From there on, I decided I was determined to get better at poker.

PND: Talk about the blackjack team. Did any part of your involvement with it help groom you for the game of poker?

Schoenberg: I met the original members of the MIT Blackjack Team and they referred me to someone in Los Angeles. Aside from the ability to process a lot of information at once, which you have to do in card counting, the time I spent loitering in casinos and the late nights helped me. Poker can end up in long hours for tournaments and late nights. Blackjack helped me get used to that.

PND: Why was poker appealing to you?

Schoenberg: I couldn't imagine sitting in an office or a cubicle for the rest of my life. It's crazy that poker can be a career. It's living the dream if you have a little bit of gamble in you.

PND: Talk about having David Benyamine in your life, who also excels at poker. Does having him help you fine-tune your game?

Schoenberg: Sometimes I get tired of poker because it feels like that's all we talk about and do. For the most part, it's 90% helpful and 10% annoying. Being able to watching him play online and hearing him talk through hands is huge for me.

PND: What makes Benyamine's game above and beyond the rest?

Schoenberg: The way he thinks about the game is on a higher level from anyone I've ever watched. I really believe that and I'm not just saying it. I've met a lot of brilliant people in my life. He has this ridiculous gift for card games and is good at rummy, gin rummy, and backgammon. He has a mind for it.

PND: You're a member of Team Full Tilt. Talk about what makes Full Tilt Poker a premier online poker room.

Schoenberg: I think their software is the best. Getting hand histories is much easier. It's helpful when you're playing to go back over hands. Full Tilt makes that simple and is the premier online poker site.

PND: Talk about being associated with members of Team Full Tilt like Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, and Allen Cunningham.

Schoenberg: It's such an honor to be associated with them. It's great to have your name in the company of some of the world's best poker players.

PND: In your eyes, what is your greatest poker accomplishment to date?

Schoenberg: Winning a $2,500 World Poker Tour preliminary event at Mandalay Bay in 2007. It was an open event, not a women's only event, but I got heads-up with Anna Wroblewski. I have total respect for her game and she's a great poker pro in general. My third place in a $1,500 Hold'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker was a bit of a sick burn.

PND: What advice do you have for women looking to get into poker?

Schoenberg: Play as much as you can online before stepping foot in a casino. The minute you get into a poker room with all males, it's going to throw off your game. Get as firm of a grasp on all of the rules and be comfortable with the game before you sit down. I think for a beginning female poker player, being in a roomful of males could be really disconcerting. You don't want to be spastic because you're surrounded by men.

PND: Tell us about what you do away from the game.

Schoenberg: David and I golf a ton. We love it. I'm also a huge animal lover and I do things with my dogs. I like to go at the beach and spend time outside for a healthy and clean living. I have a Golden Retriever and a Jack Russell Terrier.

Phil Ivey Files for Divorce

In breaking news from TMZ, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey has filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, Luciaetta. Ivey finished seventh in the $10,000 buy-in tournament this year and earned $1.4 million.

On Tuesday, a report that appeared on TMZ read in part, “Ivey and Luciaetta filed the joint petition in a Nevada court on December 22 ... three days before Christmas. The divorce was granted today - both parties were present for the ruling.” The couple wed in 2002 and has no children. TMZ added that Ivey has made $12 million over the course of his poker career. The “Tiger Woods of Poker” appeared on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine” in November.

Ivey earned two WSOP bracelets during the 2009 tournament series to ratchet his total up to seven. Interestingly, none of the seven has come in Hold’em, as he has instead taken down Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low, Limit SHOE, Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball, and Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low events. In the latter, his most recent bracelet win, Ivey trumped Ming Lee heads-up in a final table that also included Carlos Mortensen, November Nine member Eric Buchman, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Dutch Boyd.

TMZ was quick to point out the irony of Ivey being compared to Woods. Its news story detailed, “Ivey is known in the card community as the ‘Tiger Woods of Poker’ - [insert your own joke here].” Woods was involved in a now-famous auto collision with a tree in front of his home. His wife purportedly smashed the SUV’s window with a golf club to help Woods exit safely. What led to the incident is anyone’s guess, but a handful of women are alleged to have had extra-marital affairs with the professional golfer.

Earlier this month, Woods announced that he was taking a leave of absence from golf. In addition, companies like Accenture and Gillette ended their advertising and sponsorship agreements with Woods. In fact, a Reuters article released on Tuesday noted that Woods’ infidelity could costs the shareholders of companies he endorses up to a colossal $12 billion. Researchers explained the enormous loss of value: "Our analysis makes clear that while having a celebrity of Tiger Woods' stature as an endorser has undeniable upside, the downside risk is substantial, too."

Ivey’s first eight in the money finishes on the World Poker Tour (WPT) were all for final tables and he picked up a win in the Season VI L.A. Poker Classic for $1.6 million. All told, Ivey has just under $3 million in career earnings from the WPT circuit.

Meanwhile, posters on the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com reacted to the TMZ story. “33mikemcg” noted, “I had no idea he was married. Nice life for that ex-wife I am sure she will get plenty to last a lifetime.”

Poker players, who travel around the United States and the world to live tournaments, seemed to be able to sympathize with Ivey. “ImaLuckSac” explained that the pro’s lifestyle may not have been conducive to a stable marriage: “All jokes aside, who can really be that surprised? These guys are constantly traveling, stressed, and still making the big bucks. Personally I think they deserve a lil' strange.” Others jokingly speculated as to whether Ivey had any prop bets on how long his marriage would last.

Ivey is a member of Team Full Tilt, a group that also includes poker pros like Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, and Jennifer Harman. He was the inaugural opponent on the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace” and seemed to strike up an accord with Maryland logger Darvin Moon at the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Returns

Filming of 13 different shows concluded in October at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas featuring a mixture of well-known regulars from previous seasons and thirteen players making their Poker After Dark debut.

Ali Nejad, returns to provide commentary and Leeann Tweeden is back for her third season as the show’s host.

Seven of the new shows will follow the traditional Poker After Dark week-long six-handed winner-take-all freezeout format while the remaining six will feature cash games of varying buy-ins that will each air over a two-week period.

Producers say there are first-time winners, matches that end in dramatic fashion, huge swings, plenty of laughs and many other memorable moments.

The season will kick-off Jan. 4 with a Poker After Dark staple: The “Commentators” episode, featuring Nejad and High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan along with newcomer Joe Sebok from Poker2Nite and Kaplan’s new co-host Kara Scott.

A “Nicknames” episode will follow that includes Annette “The Huntress” Obrestad’s Poker After Dark debut and great names like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth.

The first cash game episodes to air will feature a $50,000 minimum buy-in and players including, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth.

In what could be the first win for an amateur on Poker After Dark a “My Favorite Pro” episode will air including online qualifiers Craig Ivey from Australia, James Ashby from Alabama, Jens Voertmann from Germany, and 2009 Howard Lederer Charity Event winner Steve Bartlett playing alongside Hellmuth and Ferguson.

In a match similar to the “Battle of the Sexes” theme of Season 2, a “He Said, She Said” episode will include Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Matusow, Annie Duke and Karina Jett, making her Poker After Dark debut.

The next cash game show has a $100,000 minimum buy-in and includes some of the biggest cash players in the world. Here Hellmuth will take on Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Gus Hansen, and Laak.

A “Lonesome Shark” show will feature bachelors Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth and there is a “Mixed Martial Arts” show featuring Bruce Buffer, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture and Patrik Antonius.

The third and final cash game has a $150,000 minimum buy-in and includes Dwan, Antonius, David Peat, Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer.

Finally, the season wraps up with a “Charity in Mind” show, highlighting the charity work of players including Phil Gordon, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, Duke, Lederer and Ferguson.

Season 6 begins Jan. 4 in Poker After Dark’s regular 2:05 a.m. timeslot on NBC.

For more information and the entire schedule, check out the Poker After Dark page on NBC’s website.

Full Tilt Poker Bot Lawsuit Focuses on Attorney Background

While several litigations against Full Tilt Poker appear to be resolved or dead in the water, the online poker room is still not in the clear when it comes to a lawsuit accusing the site of unfairly seizing player funds, using bots on the site, and racketeering.

Poker News Daily first reported the story of Lary “pokergirl z” Kennedy in early October.  The gist of her rather complicated case is that Kennedy was accused of using a bot by another player on the site who was also a frequent poster in the TwoPlusTwo poker forum.  As a result of those accusations and Kennedy’s own admittance that she used another player’s account when her own screen name wasn’t eliciting enough action, the site seized the funds in her account, which amounted to just over $80,000.

After a long period of communication with Full Tilt, Kennedy decided that her best course of action was to file suit against not only the company, but also several individuals involved with Full Tilt, including Raymond Bitar, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, John Juanda, Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, and Patrik Antonius, just to name a few.  While the crux of the complaint centers on Kennedy’s alleged mistreatment by the site, it also levels numerous charges against two companies involved with Full Tilt, Vert Enterprises and Tiltware.  The charges in the suit include fraud, libel, slander, false advertising, and somewhat surprisingly, racketeering.

The invocation of the Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act stemmed from what Kennedy and co-plaintiff Greg Omotoy claimed were hundreds of illegal gambling transactions.  While most typically associate the RICO Act with mobsters and gangs, it is actually common when it comes to civil suits, as those affected by RICO are able to receive three times the amount of damages they would otherwise have gotten.

Nonetheless, the accusations, which include claims that Ferguson and Bloch created and implemented bots used on the Full Tilt site, has raised a few eyebrows regarding its legal merit.  Full Tilt, which is notorious for keeping mum in legal situations, spoke out against the suit, calling it “baseless” and “frivolous.”

Kennedy’s official website documenting the case shows no new information as of late and most of the attention following the announcement of the suit has been directed at her counsel, Cyrus Sanai.  The UCLA Law School graduate has been in the news before for another internet-related matter, a case involving California Judge Alex Kosinski.  In mid-2008, Sanai uncovered a number of lewd photographs on the sub-directory of a personal website belonging to Kosinski and filed a disciplinary complaint against the judge, who was in the midst of a high-profile pornography trial.  Some legal blogs like Overlawyered and Patterico have suggested that Sanai has a less-than-stellar reputation in some corners of the California legal community.

When Pokerati posted a story chronicling some of Sanai’s actions over the past couple of years, a commenter purporting to be Sanai posted rebuttals to the criticisms and directed the focus back to the case itself.  The comments stated that he tried repeatedly to resolve the matter with Full Tilt representatives and even sat down for a mediation session that failed to produce any results.  Within the comments, Sanai also expressed interest in learning more about other cases in which the site seized customer funds.

These sentiments are echoed on Kennedy’s personal site as well, which encourages anyone with a similar story to contact Sanai, who would consider taking on new clients on a contingency basis.

Steven Landfish Leads WPT Five Diamond After Day 2, Doyle Brunson 15th

Two days of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic are in the books. As it stands entering Day 3 on Wednesday, Steve Landfish leads the way with a chip stack of 385,900, while tournament namesake Brunson is in 15th with 283,000.

Thirty-seven players registered on Day 2 for the Five Diamond, pushing the final field size to 329, well short of last year’s tally of 497. Contributing to the 34% slide were two poker “Phils” who were absent from the field, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth. The latter told “Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff last week that he was taking the rest of 2009 off and would start anew in 2010. As for Ivey, coverage found on the official website of the WPT noted, “Ivey was here at Bellagio, but never took a seat.”

Landfish holds a minuscule lead over the second place tally of Brent “bhanks11” Hanks, who amassed an arsenal of 383,000 after Day 2. Landfish will head to Table 54 on Wednesday, where “Miami” John Cernuto, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky451” Stern, and former WPT champion Steve Brecher will be waiting for him. Hanks, meanwhile, will join Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, Tim “tmay420” West, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and Noah Boeken at Table 59.

Among the 37 players who registered late was Brunson, the poker legend for whom the Five Diamond is named. Brunson built the 15th largest stack in the room after Day 2 at 283,000, joining a top 20 that includes Antonio Esfandiari, Matt “All In At 420” Stout, and Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The latter sent WPT Festa al Lago winner Tommy Vedes to the rails late in the day on Tuesday after cracking aces with queens. The window card came a queen, sending Mizzi’s stack soaring to 270,000. The youngster finished the day with 348,000, good for fifth overall.

Here are the top ten chip stacks in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic entering Day 3 on Wednesday:

1. Steven Landfish - 385,900
2. Brent “bhanks11” Hanks - 383,000
3. Matthew Waxman - 377,500
4. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - 355,000
5. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 348,000
6. Alfredo Leonidas - 347,300
7. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 323,500
8. Yegor Tsurikov - 317,000
9. Eric Hershler - 314,800
10. Jean-Noel Thorel - 310,100

The winner will earn $1.4 million from the $15,000 buy-in event. Members of the six-handed final table will be assured at least $202,000 in spending money just in time for the holidays. A total of 130 players remain and others in the Top 50 include:

11. Kenna James – 305,200
12. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 300,800
15. Doyle Brunson – 283,000
21. Hasan Habib – 254,300
22. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 247,000
31. Barry Greenstein – 227,000
33. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – 216,500
34. “Miami” John Cernuto – 215,500
35. Scotty Nguyen – 211,900
36. Howard Lederer – 210,300
37. Josh Arieh – 209,700
38. Daniel Alaei – 205,800
43. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 193,700

Brunson eliminated fellow poker pro Eli Elezra with pocket queens against pocket fives. Later on in the day, the two filmed a segment for “Poker2Nite” and shaved their heads in support of Thuy Doan. The pro is battling cancer and is in the midst of a health insurance nightmare.

When play concluded for the evening, the blinds were at 1,000/2,000 with a 200 chip ante. The action continues today at Noon PT from Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

PokerStars Launches Team Pro Tuesdays

This week marks the second installment of Team Pro Tuesdays on PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site. Every Tuesday through December 29th, PokerStars sponsored pros will be hitting the virtual felts in earnest.

Team PokerStars Pro includes the reigning champion of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, Joe Cada, who became the youngest winner ever of the $10,000 buy-in tournament in November. Cada shattered fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Peter Eastgate’s standing record by a full year, as the site boasts the last two WSOP Main Event champions. Chris Moneymaker, widely considered to be the man responsible for starting the modern poker boom, is also a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro. Moneymaker took down the feature tournament in 2003 as a little-known accountant from Tennessee, defeating established pro Sammy Farha heads-up.

In 2004, Greg Raymer became poker’s newest star and Aussie Joe Hachem followed in 2005. Both are now sponsored by PokerStars and are benevolent ambassadors for the game. Text found on PokerStars’ website explains what players can expect as part of Team Pro Tuesdays: “On this day every week, scores of our pro players will be logging on and playing at the tables, covering everything from cash games to tournaments across a wide range of games and buy-in levels. You’ll be able to watch your favorite players in action and talk to them from the rail.”

PokerStars pros will take to the felts during two separate time blocks each Tuesday, from 12:00 to 15:00 ET and again from 19:00 to 22:00 ET. In order to figure out which pros are online, visit the “Team Pro” link at the bottom of the PokerStars lobby. You can also click “Requests” on the top menu bar and then hit “Find a Team PokerStars Player.” The concept of playing with the pros is similar to the main marketing message of rival online poker site Full Tilt, whose stable of players includes Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, the newest member of the team.

In addition to being able to play with pros in cash games, PokerStars is running a pair of Outlast the Pro tournaments. The first installment takes place at 13:00 ET on Tuesdays, while the second running issues its “Shuffle up and deal” command at 20:00 ET. Each tournament has a buy-in of $11 along with $1,000 in cash added to the prize pool. Players who remain in each tournament longer than every single one of the pros in the field will divvy up the $1,000 in added funds. For example, if Cada were the last pro standing and knocked out in 83rd place, the remaining players would each pocket $12.20, or $1,000 split 82 ways. The Outlast the Pro tournaments can be found by visiting “Tourney” and then “All” in the PokerStars lobby.

Other members of Team PokerStars Pro include “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” front man Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Humberto Brenes. Its roster also includes top female pros like GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso, Vicky Coren, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin, and Maridu Mayrinck, who was featured in this year’s WSOP Main Event coverage on cable station ESPN.

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, PokerStars is the largest site worldwide with a seven-day running average of 28,600 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, well over 40,000 cash game aficionados call the site home. It happily accepts customers from the United States.

Phil Hellmuth Joins UB.com Poker2Nite

The fourth installment of the UB.com-sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” aired on Wednesday night on Fox Sports Net. The series stars PokerRoad personalities Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. This week, UB.com poker pro Phil Hellmuth joined the show.

Next week, the World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will kick off from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Poker2Nite interviewed the tournament’s namesake, who told viewers, “The strength of this field will be stronger than anywhere else. The reason is that there is such a great structure and we don’t play those really long hours.” On the origins of lending his name to the $15,000 buy-in tournament, Brunson explained, “Lyle Berman, who is the founder of the WPT, asked me to do it. He owed me some money, so I told him if he paid me, I’d let him use my name.”

A segment called “In the Tank” featured David “Chino” Rheem battling against Justin Young in the Five Diamond last year. Rheem ultimately took down the tournament for $1.5 million, while Young finished in second place for $936,000. A total of 497 players entered last year, while Brunson told Poker2Nite that he expected around 400 to take the felts this time around.

Hellmuth joined Poker2Nite for a six-minute segment that began with a clip of the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner arguing with fellow UB.com pro Annie Duke on the set of “Best Damn Poker Show.” Hellmuth explained, “Annie and I are really good friends. I emcee her charity tournament for Ante Up for Africa every year and we get along great.” Hellmuth added that Ben Affleck, Jim Harbaugh, Slash, and Anthrax’s Scott Ian have all solicited him for poker lessons.

Hellmuth is one of the poker players featured in “Deal Me In,” a book by Stephen John and Marvin Karlins. Hellmuth explained what readers can expect when they open poker’s newest periodical: “The strategy stuff that’s invaluable to people at home is the money management stuff. You’ll be shocked when you read Phil Ivey’s chapter about how he got in the game. The way he manages his money is shocking to me. All of these stories have the same blueprint on how to be successful in poker.” Others featured include Layne Flack, Brunson, Howard Lederer, and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

Hellmuth registered six cashes during the 2009 WSOP, capped off by a 436th place finish in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event for $25,000. Nevertheless, the successful No Limit Hold’em tournament player has called it quits for the 2009 calendar year: “There is some luck. That’s what people at home don’t understand. I just have to find a way to come back in 2010 and win one or two. That’s what it’s all about.” Hellmuth revealed that he will not enter the Five Diamond next week.

A segment called “Check, Raise, Fold” debated the status of Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Jason Mercier, and Ivey, among others, in the poker world. For each player, Huff and Sebok debated what poker term they would label each player, with Sebok explaining, “Elky is sick. I don’t know any other way to say it.” On Mercier, Huff characterized, “The guy is the best young player in poker.” Finally, on Ivey, Sebok commented on the Full Tilt Poker pro’s recent performance in the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “I think this is all about the ghost of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table. [The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic] is his first live Main Event since then and I think he’s looking to erase seventh place from everyone’s minds.”

Poker2Nite airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net. Check local listings for more details.

Poker Community Comments on Tiger Woods Infidelity

Much like the rest of the world, the poker community can’t help but comment on professional golfer Tiger Woods’ recent personal problems.  The world is buzzing about Woods’ car accident and various personal problems, including allegations of infidelity with at least a dozen different women.  While Woods has been busy issuing public apologies to his wife, Elin Nordegren, as well as his family, the poker community has been passing the time by poking fun at his unfortunate circumstances.

Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson has been leading the online conversation about Woods with round-the-clock jokes about the golfer on his Twitter feed (@TexDolly).  Brunson took a break from his now infamous string of dumb blonde jokes to post a series of Tiger Woods-related barbs.  “Ping just made Elin an endorsement contract for a set of drivers to be named Elin Woods… ‘Clubs you can beat Tiger with.’” Brunson, an accomplished golfer in his own right, even got into the festive holiday spirit with his most recent Tiger-related post: “Santa said, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’…Tiger said, ‘Where, Where, Where.’”

Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel also got in on the fun via his own Twitter account (@Erik_Seidel).  The accomplished poker pro, who is renowned for having one of the funniest poker-related Twitter accounts on the web, has posted a couple of Tiger Woods Tweets of his own.  “Breaking News,” Seidel deadpanned on December 5th, “Las Vegas Review Journal reports rumors of a VIP hostess from Vegas who has not slept with Tiger Woods.”    Other people who couldn’t resist getting in a jab or two include Howard Lederer, Alex Outhred, and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff.

The online poker crowd got in on the fun as well.  When asked to comment on the Tiger Woods scandal, Adam “akat11” Katz couldn’t help but crack a joke.  “With a name like Tiger Woods, how could he not have a chick in every state and be well-endowed,” he joked with Poker News Daily.

Poker Savvy instructor Justin “jurollo” Rollo finds the Tiger jokes entertaining, but also expressed a little remorse over making fun of a man’s personal life.  “I'm conflicted on the Tiger issue,” Rollo explained to Poker News Daily.  “Part of me thinks he deserves the media blitz for what he did to his family, considering that he makes about 90% of his income from hawking products to the public. The other part of me feels bad for him and his family because they have to go through a terrible situation in front of cameras.”

Whether or not the media spotlight will let up on Woods any time soon is still up for debate, although it appears that the cable news networks’ obsession with the golf pro is not going to let up any time soon.  Perhaps the more interesting bet will be how long Brunson will keep up with the Tiger jokes before reverting back to the dumb blonde ribs that have become a trademark for him these days.

MiniFTOPS XIV Kicks Off on Full Tilt Poker

On Wednesday, the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series XIV (MiniFTOPS) will kick off on Full Tilt Poker. The series mirrors the schedule of the 14th FTOPS, which took place in November, but features tournaments at one-tenth of the buy-in.

The MiniFTOPS XIV schedule will include a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros taking to the felts as hosts, including Howard Lederer, who will play in the $55 buy-in MiniFTOPS Main Event on December 20th. The poker tournament boasts a $600,000 guaranteed prize pool. Others who will serve as hosts include Mike Swick, Perry Friedman, Frank Thompson, Jeff Madsen, Andrew Feldman, Karina Jett, Bill Gazes, Diego Cordovez, Michael Tureniec, Lynette Chan, Chip Jett, Adam Schoenfeld, Christiane Klecz, Artie Cobb, Alexander Schwab, Ryan Dreyer, Cyndy Violette, and Jeremiah Smith.

Last time out, the MiniFTOPS kickoff event drew a colossal 16,750 runners. Here’s a look at the complete MiniFTOPS XIV schedule:

Wednesday, December 9th

Event #1: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 10th

Event #2: $20 + $2 Seven-Game Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #3: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em 3x Shootout
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 11th

Event #4: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #5: $20 + $2 Stud Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 12th

Event #6: $50 + $5 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #7: $10 + $1 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 13th

Event #8: $24 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #9: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Event #10: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em
$400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Monday, December 14th

Event #11: $20 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #12: $100 + $9 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Tuesday, December 15th

Event #13: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #14: $50 + $5 HORSE
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Event #15: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$150,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Wednesday, December 16th

Event #16: $24 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout
$50,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #17: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 17th

Event #18: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #19: $20 + $2 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 18th

Event #20: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #21: $30 + $3 Razz Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 19th

Event #22: $250 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Ante From Start Two-Day Event
$400,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #23: $10 + $1 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$75,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 20th

Event #24: $12 + $1 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

MiniFTOPS XIV Main Event: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em
$600,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Are Poker Players a Good Fit for the Business World?

Perhaps focusing on a subject that many in the poker community would view as obvious, many news outlets have recently begun to discuss the skills of top poker players not only on the tables, but also in the business and financial worlds. They have also analyzed the pros of regulated internet gaming, reflecting that the added revenue could reduce strain on the budgets of state and federal governments.

One of the members of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine, Steven Begleiter, was a guest last week on Bloomberg Financial News. The sixth place finisher in the WSOP Main Event, who had a previous career on Wall Street as an employee at the now-defunct Bear Stearns stock firm, entertained questions from Bloomberg news hosts Mark Crumpton and Lori Rothman and stated that there were many players he met during his run who were qualified to work in the business field.

“I got to meet a lot of people in their 20s who were very good card players that, were we still at Bear Stearns, I would have tried to get them to come join the firm,” Begleiter opined. He especially pointed out that the overall skills of his coach, former World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, would have made him an excellent businessman: “People like him would do very well here on Wall Street.”

In a November 25th article in the Newark Star Ledger, the discussion of poker players in the business world was discussed. In an interesting point, it was brought out that a number of hedge fund companies and brokerage houses were looking to the younger players in the poker world to be potential analysts. In the article, former poker pro Aaron Brown, who now works on Wall Street as a risk manager at AQR Capital Management, said, “Someone who has made a successful living as a poker player for a few years would more likely be a good trader than someone who hasn’t. They know to push when they have the edge and they know how not to bust, and that’s a tough combination to find.”

Meanwhile, another cable business program, CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” discussed what the world of poker could do for the country’s financial state. During a discussion last week on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), two analysts, Andrew Parmentire of Height Analytics and David Katz, an Oppenheimer gaming analyst, agreed that the online poker world, if regulated and taxed by the government, would be a boon to the business world. The duo focused on tax benefits, stating that the extra revenue could be put towards several problematic issues and increase activity in the markets.

These thoughts are well-known by many in the poker community due to the number of players who have come from the business side and been successful in the world of poker. One of the top female players in the world, Kathy Liebert, graduated from college with a business and finance degree and worked with Dun & Bradstreet before embarking on a highly successful poker career. Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer are a couple of players who have been able to parlay their business acumen beyond poker.

Perhaps the success of not only the “Old Guard” of the poker world, but also its “Young Guns” is best explained by Brandon Adams, who teaches behavioral finance at Harvard University’s Department of Economics. In the article in the Ledger, Adams explains, “They’ve essentially been the survivors in the system, a very difficult system where 95 percent of people lose money. Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world.”

Full Tilt Poker Players Rushing to Claim Holiday Hundred Bonus

Only a few days remain in the Full Tilt Poker Holiday Hundred promotion, offering online poker players a $100 bonus on the world’s second largest site. The room has seen its high-stakes action balloon in recent weeks thanks to Isildur1.

Happy Holidays from Full Tilt Poker. One month before poker players awake on Christmas morning or participate in Hanukkah and Kwanzaa festivities, Full Tilt members can claim a special $100 Holiday Hundred bonus. Players have until the end of the day Eastern Time on December 6th to cash in. All they have to do is open the Full Tilt Poker Mac or Windows client, log in, and click “Requests” on the top menu bar. Then, select “Check My Bonus Offer” and click on “Accept Offer.”

Full Tilt Poker members have 30 days to release their bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points (FTPs) in real money ring games and tournaments. Every FTP earned means that players will claim $0.06 of the Holiday Hundred bonus, which will be paid out in increments of $10. Simple math will allow you to calculate that 167 FTPs are needed to clear each $10 increment and 1,667 are required for the full bonus to be unlocked. For each dollar that Full Tilt rakes from a pot, every player who was dealt cards in the hand receives one FTP. Each $1 paid in tournament entry fees means that players will earn seven FTPs.

Now, for the fine print. Players who have never deposited on Full Tilt Poker before should sign up for the site and clear the initial 100% first-time deposit bonus by the end of the day on November 30th. Then, Full Tilt will issue the Holiday Hundred bonus by December 2nd and players must accept it by the 6th. Full Tilt Poker customers who already hold active bonuses have until the end of the day on November 30th to clear their full value. Then, Full Tilt will place the Holiday Hundred bonus in their accounts by December 2nd and it must be accepted by the 6th.

The world’s second largest online poker site has seen its high-limit table action increase since the beginning of the month after the arrival of Swedish online poker mystery man Isildur1. The newcomer has battled a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros in Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em games. His cast of opponents has included newly-minted site pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, and CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South.

According to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic, Full Tilt boasts a seven-day running average of 18,800 real money ring game players. During peak hours, the site approaches 30,000 cash game enthusiasts. It’s the second largest site worldwide behind PokerStars and happily accepts customers from the United States. Besides Ivey, Dwan, and Antonius, other members of Team Full Tilt include Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, and bad boy Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.

Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the second running of the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS), which kicks off on December 9th and wraps up 11 days later.

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 9-15, 2009

Although poker legend Phil Ivey didn't win his eighth bracelet, fans were still treated to a thrilling final table that saw 21-year-old Joe Cada become poker's youngest world champion.

There was plenty of poker news that nearly slipped through the cracks, however, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we've compiled a list of the lesser-known stories below.

This week we'll take a look at Fox Sports en Español picking up the LAPT, Tom "durrrr" Dwan starting his own blog, Joe Sebok passing the one million mark in Twitter and more.

Fox Sports en Español Broadcasting Latin American Poker Tour

Fox Sports en Español and PokerStars reached an agreement this week that will see the network broadcast the Latin American Poker Tour in Spanish.

The Fox Sports en Español broadcast will feature highlights from tour stops in Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.

"It's amazing to see how poker has become one of the most popular sports in Latin America, it has taken off like wildfire," said Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. "To think that the prize pool has nearly doubled in just one year is a testament to the power of poker."

Coverage is scheduled to air on Friday nights at 8:00 ET on Fox Sports en Español.

Joe Sebok hits one million twitter followers

Pokerroad.com president and UltimateBet pro Joe Sebok hit over one million Twitter followers this week.

It's an impressive feat considering if you combined the followers for Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth you still wouldn't have even 25% of Sebok's following.

To put things in perspective Sebok also has more Twitter followers than Tom Cruise (153,905) and Lindsay Lohan (142,474).

Will Tom 'durrrr' Dwan share strategy tips in his new blog?

UltimateBet is celebrating the occasion by offering a $5.50 tournament with $24,000 in added prizes and a $1,500 bounty on Sebok. The event is scheduled to take place Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. ET.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan starts blogging

Noted high stakes online player Tom "durrrr" Dwan is giving fans an inside look at his life thanks to a new blog launched this week.

One of the few players without a training site or blog, Dwan did mention in his first post that he was officially blogging for Full Tilt Poker, which he recently joined as a team member.

In his first post, Dwan discussed taking a helicopter ride with Patrik Antonius to see a Jay-Z/Coldplay show in London and skydiving while inebriated.

He also said he would be recapping some of the action at the live durrrr heads-up challenge scheduled to take place in London later this week.

You can check the blog out here.

Annie Duke to host "Use Poker Skills for Life"

UltimateBet.com poker pro Annie Duke will be hosting a special presentation on how to use skills learned in poker in real life settings.

The "Use Poker Skills for Life" presentation will take part in conjunction with the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night which benefits the Decision Education Foundation. Both events will take place on Nov. 19 at the Commerce Casino in L.A.

The free presentation will start at 6:30 p.m. and guest entry is on a first come, first serve basis, for up to 80 attendees.

Duke won't be the only famous poker player speaking as Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch and Ali Nejad will all take the podium during the evening.

The presentation is sponsored by Stakes Supper Club.

Brad Booth once bought into 'High Stakes Poker' for a cool million.

Brad Booth joins GR88.com

Former Full Tilt poker pro "Yukon" Brad Booth has signed with new gaming site GR88.com as their official spokesperson and head of poker development.

Primarily a cash game player, Booth is perhaps most well-known for buying into High Stakes Poker for $1 million and pulling off a risky bluff against Phil Ivey.

Although he now resides in Vancouver, Canada, Booth earned his nickname by playing underground games in the Yukon.

Booth made his biggest tournament score when he came in third place in the 2006 WPT Mandalay Bay Championship for $319,180.

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.

Tom Dwan is the newest member of Team Full Tilt

There has been some speculation about Tom Dwan and Full Tilt Poker. Well, now it’s official, Tom Dwan is the latest addition to Full Tilt Poker’s Pro Poker Team.

Full Tilt Poker announced about their newest Team Full Tilt member. FTP’s announcement was praising Dwan quite highly:

“Dwan, best known by his online player handle “durrrr”, is one of the most influential and successful players in online poker history. Known for his prolific play in high-stakes games at Full Tilt Poker, he has proven himself to be an unstoppable force any time he sits down at a table.”

Dwan has won $1.1 million from live tournaments, these include 3 WSOP cashes and one WPT final table.

Dwan became the youngest member of the Team Full Tilt. Other members are: 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.

You can visit Dwan’s team page here.

Source: PR Newswire

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Tom Dwan is the newest member of Team Full Tilt

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.

Mike Sexton Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame

Doyle Brunson kicked off the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony dinner at the Brasilia Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The festivities honoring Mike Sexton occurred during the dinner break of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table at 7:00pm PT.

The guest list read like a “who’s who” of the poker community, including Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Jack Binion, Ali Nejad, David Singer, and Dewey Tomko. Also in the house was World Poker Tour (WPT) Co-Host Vince Van Patten, who told Poker News Daily, “I couldn’t miss this. Mike is such a great champion and a great friend of mine. What we share together on the WPT is one of the most important parts of my life. So many laughs and Mike is such a great guy. He is the real thing.”

The WPT is currently filming its eighth season. In fact, The Foxwoods World Poker Finals, the November WPT stop, is currently playing out at the Connecticut casino. On Van Patten and Sexton’s chemistry after eight seasons, the Poker Hall of Fame nominee’s co-host told us, “We could go for 25 years. We don’t get bored with it, we love it, and we’re not faking it. We’d probably do it for no money. We love it that much and we enjoy each other’s company. He’s one of a kind, a great family man, and the real thing in poker.”

Those on stage were Brunson, Jack Binion, Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 candidate Tom McEvoy, and T.J. Cloutier. The latter told the assembled crowd of about 175, “We both went broke plenty of times… This man would bet on anything… Mike always thought he was the best split pot player of them all. He could always play those eight or better games.” In fact, Sexton’s lone WSOP bracelet came in 1989 in a Seven Card Stud High-Low Split tournament.

McEvoy then took to the podium and admitted, “This man holds a grudge,” referencing a story from the first WSOP Pot Limit tournament ever held. Binion, a Poker Hall of Fame member who helped popularize the WSOP, commented, “Mike was the one who got PartyPoker started, the one who got the software started. He’s the one who really made poker.” Sexton currently serves as the ambassador for PartyPoker, whose parent company, Party Gaming, recently completed the purchase of the WPT for $12.3 million plus a percent of future gaming revenues.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack formally presented Sexton’s trophy and his speech was preceded by an emotional speech from Tom Sexton. The new Poker Hall of Fame member’s brother stated, “Mike has the gift of vision, where he can see things that others can’t in the poker world.” Sexton’s brother also referenced the WPT host testifying in a poker court case in South Carolina and serving as the spokesperson for approximately 500 players shut out of Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP Main Event when the contest reached capacity.

One of Tom Sexton’s most memorable quotes came when referencing the “Daddy Hall of Fame,” which he revealed, “If there were a Daddy Hall of Fame, Mike would be in it.” Young Ty Sexton, whose nursery has overrun the Sexton home’s dance floor, is just 15 months; Mike is 62 years-old.

Sexton received a 30 second standing ovation upon being introduced and recognized each of the other eight candidates for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, McEvoy, Dan Harrington, Scotty Nguyen, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein. Ivey, who was one of seven players remaining in the WSOP Main Event at the time, even stopped by, flanked at the door to the Brasilia Room by Layne Flack, Lacey Jones, and Nejad.

Sexton took the time to recognize a bevy of individuals, including Linda Johnson, Steve Lipscomb, and Brunson. He also recalled a phone call received over Christmas in 2000 from Ruth Parisol, co-founder of Party Gaming, who asked him to fly to India to launch the then-nascent online poker site. After eight months, PartyPoker was born, quickly challenging Paradise Poker for tops in the industry.

JAQK Cellars presented the two-hour affair, which wrapped up at 9:00pm PT. The living Hall of Fame members then took to the stage of the Penn and Teller Theater to resume play in the WSOP Main Event final table, with Sexton issuing the evening session’s “Shuffle Up and Deal” command.

Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren vs The MMA Champions!

Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren have been playing against many people and that must include very strange personalities. But probably never have these three played against people who get their paycheck from hitting people in the face.

Randy Couture - One of the greatest MMA fighters

The three pros will be facing their dreaded opponents in a special Poker After Dark sit & go tournament. On the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) corner will be the former UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champion Randy Couture, Dan Henderson (former champion in two weight classes) and none other than the UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.

Dan Henderson with his two title belts

Full Tilt Poker has been doing some very apparent co-operation with UFC lately and Bruce Buffer and Matt Hughes have a red status on Full TIlt. Bruce Buffer is known to be a very blazing personality, so we are probably going to get treated with some of the most memorable moments of PAD.

It will be Antonius’ ninth appearance on PAD, Lederer has visited the show 13 times, from which he has been able to win three. This special tournament has been filmed already, but the airing date hasn’t been announce yet.

Want to play with the pros or against some of the MMA superstars? Join now and get 27% rakeback and a great first deposit bonus offer. Click here.

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Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren vs The MMA Champions!

WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals Kicks Off Thursday

Season 8 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) makes its next stop in Mashantucket, Connecticut on Thursday as the World Poker Finals kicks off at the at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event will attract many of the tournament players around the world and its prize pool has eclipsed $5 million in past years.

Day 1 will get underway at Noon with players receiving 30,000 chips and blind levels running 90 minutes. The event concludes on Tuesday, November 10th, when the final six players take their seats and play until a champion is crowned.

Last year, poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little bested a field of 412 players to win the World Poker Finals title. Little, the Season 6 WPT Player of the Year, defeated Jonathan Jaffe heads up when his A-Q held up against Jaffe’s A-10, earning him $1.1 million and his second WPT title. Also appearing at the final table were David “The Dragon” Pham (fourth place for $240,000) and Mike Matusow (sixth place for $124,000).

Other former winners of the WPT World Poker Finals include Mike Vela (2007), Nenad Medic (2006), Nick Schulman (2005), Tuan Le (2004), Hoyt Corkins (2003), and Howard Lederer (2002).

The World Poker Finals has featured a series of preliminary events at Foxwoods since October 19th. Players were offered a wide selection of games on the tournament schedule, including No Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha Eight or Better, HOSE, Pot Limit Omaha, and Limit Hold’em. Two of the top female pros in the world have generated the most buzz during the series thus far, as Vanessa Selbst took down the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #7 for $74,000 and Kathy Liebert won the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #14 for $74,000. Selbst also took third in Event #14 for $28,000, putting her earnings over the two-week series above the six-figure mark.

World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE), a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange that controls the tour, has been in the news lately, as offers were being made to purchase the company. WPTE announced last week that its shareholders approved a purchase by Party Gaming subsidiary Peerless Media. Under the proposal from Peerless Media, WPTE shareholders will receive $12.3 million plus a percentage of future gaming revenues. The sale specifies that WPTE officials will receive at least $3 million over three years from the aforementioned gaming revenues. The money from the purchase will not be refunded to shareholders and will instead be used to invest in a non-poker related business venture.

Mandalay Entertainment made a last-minute bid of $36.5 million to purchase WPTE, submitting an offer to purchase the company’s television library, trademarks, and other portions of the tournament series. However, WPTE shareholders met last Friday in Los Angeles and instead approved the sale to Peerless Media.

Sally Anne Boyer Sues WSOP Academy and Harrah’s

2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Women’s Champion Sally Anne Boyer has filed a lawsuit against Harrah’s Entertainment, the WSOP Academy, and other related companies for misuse of her image for advertising purposes.

According to a report in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, Boyer filed the lawsuit on Monday against the casino giant and the poker training school alleging that her name and likeness have been used in advertising without her permission and that the WSOP Academy states she endorses the school. Also named in the lawsuit were Post Oak Productions of Toronto, Canada (managers of the WSOP Academy) and Post Oak owners Brandon Rosen and Jeff Goldenberg.

After winning the 2007 Women’s Championship during the WSOP, earning slightly over $260,000 and her first WSOP bracelet, Boyer appeared in ads for the WSOP Academy with the byline, “The quickest way to your WSOP bracelet,” and was billed as a graduate of the school. These ads, alleges Boyer’s attorneys Bowler, Dixon, and Twitchell, LLP, appeared in poker magazines, on the WSOP’s website, and in the Academy’s newsletters. The bone of contention between the companies is whether Boyer acquiesced to allow use of her name and image for such purposes and whether she completed the Academy’s classes.

The stakes could be high if Boyer’s attorneys can prove that her likeness was misused. The lawsuit is seeking restitution from the use of her visage and unspecified damages. The WSOP Academy, which has been in existence since early 2007, charges participants anywhere from $1,899 to $2,999, depending upon the intensity of the training, what type of instruction is being conducted, and the instructors involved.

According to sources inside of Harrah’s who requested anonymity due to policies on pending litigation, Boyer’s litigation team contacted the company earlier this year regarding these issues. As Harrah’s and the WSOP do not have any ownership of the Academy, the issue was forwarded onto Post Oak Productions.

As reported also in the Sun, an e-mail dated August 30th, 2007 is a discussion between Rosen and Boyer as to the advertising that would feature Boyer. In the e-mail, which was obtained by Poker News Daily, Boyer states that the ad “looks fine” and offers to send “better” pictures in her “poker… attire” for future advertising. According to sources, Boyer’s attorneys were unaware of this e-mail when the suit was filed and, as of press time, had not returned calls to Poker News Daily.

Poker professional Mark Seif, who is one of the instructors for the Academy, stated to Poker News Daily, “With respect to the recent Sally Anne Boyer filing, I think its best to refer you to a statement Jeff Goldenberg, the CEO of Post-Oak Productions, made yesterday regarding the case.” In that statement, Goldenberg was quoted as saying, “I would like to comment in detail, but our attorneys won’t let us. Suffice it to say we were absolutely shocked that this suit was filed. The suit is entirely baseless and we look forward to being entirely vindicated when all of the facts come out in court.”

Boyer’s lawsuit is reminiscent of the lawsuit filed by seven top poker professionals against the World Poker Tour (WPT) a few years ago. In 2006, the seven players – Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Joe Hachem, Howard Lederer, and Greg Raymer – alleged that the WPT’s standard release forms required for participation in its tournaments were a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The seven players argued that the forms were anti-competitive and conflicted with their contractual obligations to other companies and organizations. After a great deal of posturing, Hachem and Raymer dropped out of the lawsuit (with Hachem notably going on to win the 2006 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic) and the remaining five players eventually settled out of court in April of 2008.

WPT signs on for Annie Duke Charity Tournament

Organizers have also released an updated list of celebrities to attend the Duke charity tournament.

It now appears Amazing Race competitors Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will be buying in, along with fellow reality TV star Trishelle Cannatella, Magician Penn Lillette, world champion snowboarder Jeff Brushie, supercross icon Jimmy Button, actor Joshua Malina and several others.

The usual assortment of poker players will also be lining up to play with Duke, Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, Joe Sebok, Greg Mueller, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Andy Bloch and "Hollywood" Dave Stann scheduled to appear.

The public will be able to buy in for $330 and rub shoulders with all the aforementioned celebrities and poker players.

The top 10 finishers will receive prizes from sponsors WSOP Academy, ClubWPT.com, Rockwell Time, Crown Royal, Team UltimateBet, Cartwright Entertainment, Hardcore Elegance, AMA Supercross Anaheim and Commerce Casino.

Taking place at the Commerce Casino in L.A., the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night is set to benefit the Decision Education Foundation, which teaches young people to make smart decisions.

The WPT Celebrity Invitational takes place Feb. 20-21, 2010. Also held at Commerce Casino, the Celebrity Invitational is recognized as one of the biggest celebrity tournaments in the world.

The event has drawn the likes of Ben Affleck, Tobey McGuire, Vince Vaughn and Mena Suvari. Former winners include Phil Laak, Van Nguyen and Freddy Deeb.

To sign up for the the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night or learn more about it, click here.