Poker News

BoylePoker launches Irish Open qualifiers

The Irish Open is one of the top tournaments on the European circuit and Boylepoker.com is giving players even more incentives to qualify.

Irish Open structure amended

PaddyPowerPoker.com has announced details of changes to the structure of the Main Event of this year’s Irish Open.

Mizzi Finds Aussie Millions Magic in Melbourne

And after a final table appearance at a 2009 Aussie Millions prelim and a deep run all the way to 16^th in the main event last year, who can blame him?

"I hit a lot of sets in Australia," he joked. "But seriously, I have a really good feel for the table dynamic here. There's something about Australia. Maybe it's the air here that just helps me get in the zone a lot easier.

"Right now I'm playing the best poker I've ever played. Most of my reads are right on and feel like I have a good idea of where people are."

Wednesday, the 23-year-old Canadian found himself among the chip leaders on Day 2 of the 2010 Aussie Millions main event and appeared primed for yet another deep run.

"For some reason, every time I'm in Australia, I'm really focused," he said. "Maybe it's because I travel 25 hours to get here, so I might as well sit down and just focus on the task at hand."

Playing under the screen names Imper1um and zangbezan24, the Betfair Poker pro is nothing short of an online poker legend.

And while the live results have followed, including more than $1.6 million in career earnings over just the past four years, something is still missing from his resume.

Among several deep cashes, Mizzi finished third in the 2007 Irish Open, second in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe's £5k Pot-Limit Omaha and second again in the 2009 WSOP's $5k PLO.

However, a major poker title still eludes him.

"If you look at my results I have a lot of finishes from 10^th to 30^th and it's funny, because online, that's usually where I dominate," he said. "When 10-30 people are left, I go in for the kill. But live, I've just been running really bad at the end of tournaments.

"It really bothers me that I've never won a major tournament. I've actually only won just one live tournament, a side event at Bellagio. It was nice, it was a $3k buy-in with 160 players, but, you know, it's not a big deal. You don't get that much satisfaction out of winning something like that."

The good side of coming so close, so many times is that Mizzi has stayed focused on his ultimate goal of winning a major title. But that certainly doesn't make him want it any less.

"I see lot of people that win a couple of tournaments and they lose that desire," he said. "I don't want to end up like that and having these close finishes just gives me more thirst and gets me more focused on achieving my goals.

"In the end, though, a title is very important to me. I really want to get that monkey off my shoulder. Hopefully I'll win a big event this year, maybe even this one."

To follow Mizzi's progress and comprehensive coverage of the entire 2010 Aussie Millions main event, tune into PokerListings' Live Updates through the Jan. 30 final table.

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Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

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Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

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Win a trip to the Irish Open with Betfair.com

We may have only just taken down the Christmas decorations but attention is already turning towards Easter in the form of the 2010 Irish Open.

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 21-27, 2009

This week the front page of PokerListing was slammed with huge stories like Brian Townsend getting suspended by Full Tilt Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan making a desperate charge to get even for the year and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler finally finding a structure he likes.

Of course, like every week, there were still a few lesser-known stories that threatened to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, on PokerListings.com we compile all those stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to take a look at Poker2Nite heading to Europe, new poker chip technology, a new PokerStars rewards program and more.

The Poker Channel Europe Airs Poker2Night

It’s already a hit in North America but the Joe Sebok and Scott Huff hosted Poker2Nite made its debut in Europe last week on the Poker Channel Europe.

The channel is airing episodes of the show every Wednesday at 22:00 CET for the entire run of the first season. Repeats will run Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00 CET. The channel is Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network and shown in more than 18 million European homes.

Poker2Nite is now its fifth week of operation in North America, where it appears on Fox Sports West on Wednesday at 23:00 EST.

To celebrate the show’s success, UB is also currently running a Poker2Nite Pro Challenge promotion, awarding two WSOP packages.

Nicole Rowe Applies for Million Dollar Challenge

Cancer victim Nicole Rowe will be trying out for a spot on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Rowe is perhaps most well-known in the poker world for finishing second to Abraham Korotki, a man, in the 2009 Borgata Ladies Event.

Inspired by witnessing a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge, Rowe decided to enter a 10,000 player tournament on PokerStars just for the chance to audition for the show. She won the tournament and has since posted her audition video on YouTube.com.

“My plan is to come out and beat Daniel Negreanu for the $1 million and use that money for breast cancer awareness and donate a portion of my winnings to breast cancer foundations such as the Susan G Komen,” said Rowe in the video.

Earlier this week 911 Veteran Mike Kosowski became the first player in the show’s history to win all his heads-up matches and take home the $1 million first place prize.

PokerStars Introduces VIP Stellar Rewards

PokerStars upgraded its VIP program this week with the announcement of VIP Stellar Rewards.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, PokerStars players who earn 750 VIP player points will be able to go to the PokerStars store and spend 1 frequent player point (FPP) to receive $10.

It doesn’t stop there as players will have the opportunity for 18 cash bonuses as they journey from 750 VIP points all the way up to 90,000 Supernova status.

In total, players will receive an extra $1,000 if they make it all the way to Supernova thanks to the VIP Stellar Rewards program.

To learn more go to PokerStars.com.

GPI to Unveil New Poker Chip Technology

Gaming Partners International Corporation will present a dramatic new approach to the construction of poker chips at the 2010 International Gaming Expo in London on Jan. 26-28.

At the Expo, GPI will introduce RFIDPoker, which is being developed to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions at the poker table.

Easily fitted to any poker table the technology sees every chip outfitted with a small RFID chip, which makes calculating a pot size error free. The system can also calculate pot-size in real time, while a hand is being played out.

According to GPI’s studies, RFIDPoker has the potential to increase hands per hour by as much as 30%.

Titan Launches 2010 Irish Open Promo

The 2010 Irish Open doesn’t start until April, but Titan Poker is already running satellites to the tournament.

Titan Poker will run a weekly Super Satellite on Sundays that will award a $7,200 package, which includes the €3,500 buy-in. It’s possible to qualify for these weekly satellites for just $2.20.

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No-Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe and it typically takes place over Easter weekend in Dublin.

Last year Christer Johansson beat Kara Scott heads-up to claim the €600,000 first place prize.

Titan Poker generally has a large presence at the Irish Open and last year sent 32 players to represent the brand.

Click here to learn more about Titan Poker’s Irish Open promotions.

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2010 Paddy Power Irish Poker Open Schedule Announced

As the curtain falls on the 2009 with the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the 2010 tournament season is preparing to take shape.

While January, with the Aussie Millions, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and the L.A. Poker Classic, is drawing immediate attention for poker’s elite players, there are other tournaments in the first half of 2010 that also are making their preparations. On Wednesday, PaddyPowerPoker.com announced the full schedule of events that will make up the 2010 Irish Open.

The 2010 Irish Open will be held in Dublin from April 1st to the 5th, continuing its tradition as the oldest poker tournament in Europe. Contested every year since 1980 and created by the late poker legend Terry Rogers, the Irish Open has grown in importance over the years. In 2005, PaddyPowerPoker.com picked up the sponsorship rights to the tournament. Since that time, it has expanded to not only include the best the European poker world has to offer, but also the elite from the American side of the Atlantic, including former World Series of Poker Main Event champions Dan Harrington and Doyle Brunson.

The Burlington Hotel will once again play host to the PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open, as it has since 2007. On April 1st, a satellite tournament, which costs €200 + €20, will be held to usher in the final few players for the championship event that begins the next day. The Irish Open Main Event, which will be a €3,200 + €300 No Limit Hold’em affair, brought a record-setting field of 700 players last time out. Veteran poker player Christer Johannson will be back to defend his title after defeating “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott in heads-up play.

“The Irish Open festival is shaping up very nicely, with all the preparatory work really paying off,” Eric Booth, the head of poker operations at PaddyPowerPoker.com, stated. There are also other events on the schedule that, Booth said, “will make some players upset there are not enough hours in the weekend to play them all.”

After Day One is completed in the Irish Open, side tournaments like the Pot Limit Omaha Championship, a €1,500 + €150 No Limit Hold’em tournament, a Ladies’ Championship, and a “Scalps” (bounty) tournament will be held. These events should provide plenty of action for players in attendance.

The full schedule of the 2010 Irish Open, presented by PaddyPowerPoker.com, looks like this:

April 1st
Satellite Tournament: €200 + €20, 7:00pm

April 2nd
Championship Event: €3,200 + €300, 3:30pm

April 3rd
Championship Event Day 2, 2:00pm
Pot Limit Omaha: €750 + €75, 6:00pm

April 4th
Championship Event Day 3, 2:00pm
Pot Limit Omaha Championship Day 2, 2:30pm
Ladies’ Championship: €300 + €30, 3:00pm
No Limit Hold’em: €1,500 + €150, 5:00pm

April 5th
Championship Event Day 4, 2:00pm
Ladies’ Championship Day 2, 2:30pm
No Limit Hold’em Day 2, 2:30pm
No Limit Hold’em Scalps Event, €270 + €30 + €30, 3:00pm

In addition to being the sponsor of the tournament, PaddyPowerPoker.com has introduced an online registration method for the Main Event that will allow players to buy in with credit cards, bank transfers, and checks. “We are delighted to launch the online registration facility for the Irish Open so that players eager to secure their seat at Europe’s longest running poker tournament can do so months in advance,” Booth said.

2010 Irish Open Festival schedule confirmed

Sponsor Paddy Power has confirmed the schedule for the 2010 Irish Open. The five-day festival will take place at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin from 1st to 5th April. Top billing will go to the €3,200+€300 Main Event which starts on Friday 2nd April. Other events pencilled in are Pot Limit Omaha, a Ladies only tournament and a Scalp event.

Nicky Power is Boylepoker’s latest sponsored pro

Boylepoker.com has strengthened its professional roster by adding Irishman Nicky Power to its team. Since starting playing poker in 2004 the urbane Irishman has had some fine results including a victory in the Macau Winter Festival and a sixth place finish in the Irish Open.

2010 Irish Open venue confirmed

Sponsor of the Irish Open, Paddy Power has confirmed that the 2010 festival will be held at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. It’s the second time that the venue has hosted Ireland’s premier tournament - the first was back in 2007 when Marty Smyth was crowned champion on home turf.

Win your seat at the Irish Open with Titan Poker

Europe’s longest running tournament is taking place once again and this is your chance to get your hands on a share of the multimillion Euro prize pool. The Irish Open combines excellent poker with the legendary Irish hospitality and has proved to be a firm favourite amongst both the pro and amateur poker players.

The next Irish Open will take place April 1st to 5th 2010 at the Burlington Hotel in the heart of Dublin City. When you are not playing your best poker at the tables you can sample the friendly atmosphere and party vibe that Dublin is famous for.

Get ready for the time of your life in Dublin, Ireland with Titan Poker!

The Irish Open 2010 prize package is worth $7,200 (approx €4,800) and includes:

• €3,500 buy in to the Main Event
• €350 for 5 nights B & B at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin – March 31st to April 6th 2010
• €800 for expenses
• €50 fee for handling
• €100 for official party

How excellent! If you only play to go to one live event, then make it this one! The satellites are running now from just $2.20 so get a move on and secure your seat at the Irish Poker Open.

If you have not yet got yourself a Titan Poker Account you are in for a treat, we have negotiated a top of the range sign up package just for you which includes, amongst a host of treats, a VIP sign up bonus of 150% up to $500. To ensure you get the full benefit of this sign up deal you must use the Titan Poker Bonus code VIPTITAN.

To see the full package - and learn just how ace Titan Poker is – take a look at our Titan Poker Review and Titan Poker Bonus Code page.

Neil Channing gets robbed

Up until recently, Neil Channing has had a good history with the Irish - indeed, Dublin was the place where he won over €800,000 in the 2008 Irish Open having already backed himself at 100/1 to win the tournament. However, his recent trip to Ireland looks to have tarnished his happy memories of the place after he was robbed of a briefcase full of cash.

Kara Scott joins Season 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kara Scott to be Named New Host of High Stakes Poker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kara Scott - The new hostess of High Stakes Poker

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

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

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

Source: PokerNews

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Kara Scott - The new hostess of High Stakes Poker

Poker Community Speculates on High Stakes Poker’s Next Host

With the news that A.J. Benza will not be returning for Season 6 of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” gossip waves have hit the poker community about who the next host of the highly popular cash game program will be.

Benza, who hosted “High Stakes Poker” for the show’s first five seasons, made an appearance on the “Miserable Men” show on Sirius Satellite Radio last month and claimed that he was being replaced by a female to join Gabe Kaplan in the commentary booth. He later confirmed in his blog that he was being dropped for a “chick” in the upcoming season.

“I hope you like the female they toss in front of you,” said Benza. “And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

Several members of the TwoPlusTwo online poker forum were infuriated by the decision and put together a petition to bring Benza back to the show. At the same time, rumors involving the next host have been circling the discussion boards and several names are being thrown around.

PokerStars will be the new sponsor of the show for Season 6, so early rumors of the new host included PokerStars Team Pro members Vanessa Rousso and Vicky Coren. Rousso, however, denied any likelihood of that happening, telling Poker News Daily, “I’m not sure where the rumor started, but I’m not the new co-host of HSP.”

Fellow PokerStars Team Pro member Daniel Negreanu commented on the subject yesterday at FullContactPoker: “Guess who KNOWS the answer to this? YES ME!!!! LOL. Relax people, Gabe will be doing the commentary alone, but there will be a female addition to the crew, not for strategy discussion, and you all know her and everyone likes her.”

Several poker buffs feel that former World Poker Tour (WPT) host Shana Hiatt is the favorite for the job. Hiatt worked for three seasons on the WPT and also hosted NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and “National Heads Up Poker Championship.” An avid poker enthusiast, Hiatt left the show in 2008 due to pregnancy.

One particular poster on TwoPlusTwo went into depth in their logic behind GSN’s potential decision to hire Hiatt: “From Negreanu’s comments it looks like they’re bringing in the PAD format, a hostess on the floor with only Gabe in the commentary booth. This sounds like an improvement to me. Gabe’s been the voice of the show all along, he’s funny by himself and he can explain things in layman terms for the novices… I’m going to guess that the host is Shana. She’s had the baby, Leeann (Tweeden) has settled on Poker After Dark, so (producer Mori Eskandani) is giving her HSP.

Poster “blink20″ agreed with his assessment: “If they booted (Benza) and somehow get Shana Hiatt on this show, then it would be the greatest move ever! SHANA FTW one time!”

Another female being mentioned as a possible replacement is television personality, journalist, and poker pro Kara Scott. Her selection would make sense on multiple levels, as Scott worked with PokerStars as a host for the European Poker Tour (EPT) in 2007 and 2008. More recently, Scott hosted the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa event, which aired on CBS earlier this month. She is also an accomplished professional at the tables. She was the only woman who cashed in both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, taking 104th in 2008 and 238th in 2009. She also finished second at the 2009 Irish Open, winning €312,600.

Many in the online poker community feel as though Scott would be perfect for the position, filling both the “eye candy” and poker knowledge requirements that regular viewers are looking for.

Other potential fill-ins being mentioned include WPT host Amanda Leatherman, model and Absolute Poker spokesperson Lacey Jones, and actress and poker player Shannon Elizabeth.

GSN is expected to make an official announcement by Friday. Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” is scheduled to begin filming in November and will air in February.

PokerStars offering freeroll for British women

In 2006, Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren became the first women to win an EPT event when she took down the London stage of the tour and former EPT presenter Kara Scott has amassed over $500,000 in tournament earnings over the past 14 months thanks to a second place finish in the 2009 Irish Open and a deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Taking inspiration from those two player's acclaimed performances, PokerStars has decided to give British female players a unique chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to London and a seat in a major female-only event.

From now until Sept. 26, PokerStars will be running a series of daily freerolls just for British women.

The top nine players each day will get a spot in the online final on Sept. 27 and the top 10 finalists will win a seat at the £220 EPT Ladies Game on Oct. 5.

The package also includes a night in the five-star Hilton Metropole hotel, a chance to meet Coren and get a signed copy of her book.

"There are a lot of great female poker players out there already, but there could be a lot more," said Coren.

"Playing online, women don't have to worry about the long late hours of the live game or the stern faces of a roomful of men. You can log on whenever you like, for as long or short a time as you like, and fit this around the demands of careers, childcare or whatever else is going on.

"For women who want to take a shot at a live tournament, but don't fancy staring at a table of snarling male opponents, this promotion is perfect."

The freeroll tournament can be found under Tourney/Regional on the PokerStars client.

In the meantime, keep your eyes out for Team PokerStars like Coren, Vanessa Rousso and Katja Thater to do some damage at both the WSOPE and EPT London this fall.

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World Champions Eastgate, Gold Headline Poker In The Park Speakers’ List

The upcoming “Poker In The Park” festival, which will be held in London at Leicester Square on August 13th and 14th, will feature a charity poker tournament along with two days of discussion on some of the hot button issues in the poker world.

Thursday, August 13th features several speakers that will be able to help newcomers and veteran players expand their games to new heights. “Poker In The Park” will kick off around 5PM (London time) on August 12th with a welcome speech from 2006 World Champion Jamie Gold prior to the 50 player Charity Poker Tournament that will be held.

The tournament will assist in the fundraising efforts of the Jamie Gold Foundation, which has a host of charitable organizations that it supports. The Foundation supports such causes as the Muscular Dystrophy Association/ALS Division (which Gold’s father passed away from), the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Montel Williams MS Foundation and the Fallen Heroes Fund, just to name a few. Prizes in the tournament will include a £5,200 European Poker Tour entry, a £3,000 Unibet Open package and other poker and non-poker related merchandise.

After the tournament has played for about an hour, current World Champion – until the 2009 “November Nine” step to the felt later this year – Peter Eastgate will host a Q&A at 6PM. Once Eastgate’s Q&A has completed, three players will step up with advice for players on three crucial areas of today’s poker world. Alex Rousso, who has competed on the English poker scene for the last couple of years with impressive finishes on the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, will pick up the microphone at approximately 7PM to discuss the necessity of knowing statistical information while sitting at the tables. Popular English player Nik Persaud will follow Rousso and take up the topic of using the internet to improve a player’s game and 2008 Irish Open champion Neil “Bad Beat” Channing will finish off the evening of poker discussion with a look at tells in poker.

Friday, August 14th brings an expanded list of players to the dais to speak about different aspects of poker. Poker professional Derek Webb will begin the day at 12:30PM with a discussion on new poker games that are coming on the horizon. Later in the afternoon, two time GUKPT champion Marc Goodwin will take the mic to discuss Omaha Hold’em and English poker veteran Paul “Action” Jackson will take situations from his poker career and subjects them to hand analysis. Other speakers include Liv Boeree, Michael Greco and 2007 WSOP Europe runner up John Tabatabai (among others), with a closing seminar and comments coming from Gold around 9PM.

Now in its third year of existence, “Poker In The Park” has drawn huge crowds to discuss poker and play the game. Last year’s festival drew an estimated 10,000 people and it is expected that this year’s version will exceed the attendance from last year. The festivities of “Poker In The Park” will be free of charge and should provide a wealth of information and fun for poker aficionados in London, from across Europe and from around the world.

Brits Battle For Main Event Glory

It's already been a great World Series for the Brits with a haul of three bracelets and myriad other final table spots, totalling close to $4 million in winnings.

Roland de Wolfe hinted that he saw some of these successes as potentially significant for British poker.

"Anyone who takes a bracelet home is going to help with the growth of the game in the UK," de Wolfe said, and it appears this growth may be happening faster than expected.

The Brits are riding this wave of euphoria with plenty of British talent packed into the latter stages of the Main Event following Day 4, the Brit charge being headed by James Akenhead and BlackBeltPoker's Adam Latimer.

"There's a long way to go," said Latimer. "But it would be a dream come true to reach the November Nine."

James Akenhead, a member of the well-respected Hit Squad team, sits near the top of the chip counts with 1,140,000 chips and is hunting down his first WSOP title.

Fellow Hit Squad member Praz Bansi set the bar for his teammates by picking up a bracelet in 2006, and Akenhead himself came agonisingly close to replicating this feat last year, finishing runner-up in one of the early 2008 WSOP events.

He'll be looking to banish any ghosts that may haunt him from that occasion, and he is joined in the last 400 or so by another Hit-Squadder, Karl Mahrenholz, himself in great form having already won a $500 Deep Stack tournament here in Vegas this summer.

Former World Heads-Up Champion, Jeff Kimber can relate to Akenhead's woes in narrowly missing on a bracelet as he was pipped to the post by J.C. Tran in this year's $2.5k Omaha bracelet.

Kimber has shown no signs of a hangover from that near-miss though, negotiating his stack through to the latter stages here.

Kara Scott thrilled her hordes of British fans by blazing through to the last one hundred of the Main Event last year, and built on that success with an incredible run in this year's Irish Open that almost saw her to the title.

Once again, she narrowly missed out there, finishing in second place for $413,612 but her star is burning brightly right now and she will return for Day 5 with a workable stack and a great shot at adding to her poker riches with another Main Event deep run.

Finally Neil Channing's BlackBeltPoker group have built on their earlier results in the series - three of them making it into Day 5.

Of these, Adam Latimer is the man in prime position, having maintained a big stack all through the day and his one million plus in chips sees him close to the top of the leaderboard.

The two other BlackBelts in contention are James Keys and Jamie Roberts.

"It's great having the whole team behind you," Latimer said. "We can bounce ideas off each other and their support really helps out there at the tables."

 

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Tough Day 1b for Scott at Main Event

The PokerStars European Poker Tour hostess finished 104th in the 2008 Main Event and returned to play Day 1b of the 2009 tournament on Saturday.

It was a frustrating day for the Canadian-born Scott, who survived through four levels of play despite a number of setbacks.

"I ran really bad today," she told PokerListings.com after bagging her chips for the day. "I made really big laydowns, and they always showed me a great hand.

"I should feel really happy about that, but it sucks. Running into the nuts sucks."

Among Scott's litany of end-game bad beats were A-Q run into J-6 on a Q-6-6 flop and jacks run into 8-5 with her opponent flopping a straight.

Scott's not deep-stacked going into Day 2a on Tuesday, but she survived opening day with 22,000 in chips with the blinds at 200/400 when play resumes.

A television personality in the UK since 2002, Scott won the PartyPoker Sports Stars Challenge in February of 2008 and continued to find success with her deep run in the Main Event that summer.

She followed that up with a big finish in the Irish Open, finishing 2nd to Christer Johansson and cashing for €312,000.

Scott says she hasn't started doing anything different at the poker table in the last two years, but her experience playing more and more poker against top-notch fields is making her a better player.

"I think every time I play at a level with really great players it improves my game," Scott said.

"It doesn't really change what I'm doing, but it changes how I think, how I'm watching the table."

With fields in almost all WSOP events dominated by males, skilled female players standout and Scott understands that being a woman has its advantages in poker.

"Three times today when I've had to make big laydowns, the guys have showed me their hands," she said.

"That doesn't generally happen to a lot of the other guys at the table. They want me to feel good as the little lady, which is nice.

"I'm raising with big pairs and they're calling with crap and they're hitting and they're showing it to me! Any time they want to show me their hands I'll take that."

Scott credits that "little lady" table image as giving her an edge on her opponents.

"I just try to be really friendly, and they see me as a girl and not a poker player," she said.

"Especially the older guys, they're being gentlemanly. Although it only slightly affects how they play against me, and it's not everyone obviously."

873 entrants played on Day 1b, and as usual there weren't too many females to be found. Pam Brunson was one notable female that also survived the day.

Brother Todd also ended the day with chips, while father Doyle was eliminated midway through the proceedings.

Also busting on Day 1b were 2003 champ Chris Moneymaker as well as David "The Dragon" Pham and 2008 Main Event star Jeremiah Smith.

About 700 players survived the first four levels of play, with Brandon Demes the presumptive chipleader and Joe Sebok, Raymond Davis and Ali Eslami holding large stacks.

Main Event action will resume with Day 1c at noon Vegas time on Sunday. Check out the 2009 WSOP section for live coverage.

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Ray Foley Defeats Brandon Cantu in WSOP $1,500 No Limit Holdem

Chrysler Financial employee Ray Foley became the newest World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner on Monday night, defeating a field of 2,715 players in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event (#39). Foley outlasted Brandon Cantu heads-up.

Patrick O’Connor was bumped in ninth place for $80,049. O’Connor pushed from the small blind with A-4 and Cantu called holding pocket threes. The board was no help to the Irish dentist who also dabbles in cash games and he was sent packing as the first elimination of the feature table. O’Connor took 38th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event and formerly made the final table of the Irish Open.

After a flop of 4-A-7 with two hearts, Richard Lutes shoved and was also called by Cantu. This time, Lutes showed K-10 for air, while Cantu flipped up J-10 of hearts for a flush draw. The turn completed Cantu’s flush and sent Lutes packing $85,608 richer for his wear.

After a raise by Alex Jacob, Chairud Vangchailued called all-in for his tournament life with J-Q. However, Jacob’s pocket jacks had him dominated. The flop came K-Q-J, preserving Jacob’s leading in the hand with a set against Vangchailued’s two pair. Needing to catch a queen for a full house, Vangchailued found an eight and a five on the turn and river, respectively, sealing his fate. Event #39 marked Vangchailued’s first career WSOP cash.

Hitting the skids in sixth place was Jonathan Markham. Wei Mu check-raised Markham all-in on a flop of A-K-J with two spades. Mu turned over Q-10 for the nuts, while Markham showed pocket kings for a set. The turn was a six and the river was a three, sealing Markham’s exit after the bad beat.

Chicago engineer Tyler Spalding made his first WSOP event count, turning in a fifth place effort and banking $143,421. Spalding pushed pre-flop with J-2 of diamonds and was called by Jacob, who held pocket nines. The board fell 10-7-6-3-Q and the better hand held, widening Jacob’s chip lead even further.

However, Jacob doubled up Foley holding A-3 against Foley’s pocket jacks in a misread. The error would ultimately prove fatal, as Jacob was bounced in third place for $190,857. Foley sent him out with A-4 against J-9 after spiking a four on the flop and never looking back. It was Jacob’s second six-figure payday at the WSOP. In 2007, he finished third in another $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event for $282,000 in a tournament ultimately won by Irishman Cairan O’Leary.

Mu was eliminated in third place for $269,609. He shoved over the top of a bet by Cantu, who promptly called with K-10 on a flop of K-4-3. Mu showed K-9 for the same top pair, but with a lower kicker. The turn and river fell a six and five, respectively, giving Cantu a 7:5 chip lead entering heads-up play. The tournament was nearly decided within a few minutes, as Foley pushed with A-7, running into Cantu’s A-Q. However, two pair on the board resulted in a chopped pot.

In the final hand, Foley pushed over the top of a bet by Cantu with J-Q on a flop of J-3-9. Cantu called for his tournament life with J-7 and found himself out-kicked. A ten on the turn and five on the river solidified Foley’s win over the final table’s lone bracelet winner. The runner-up showing in the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event marked Cantu’s third WSOP final table and third six-figure payday.

Foley told WSOP officials following his big win, “My friends and I usually play in only one event per year. We have a poker league where we send nine guys to play a $2,000 event. I played in that and busted out at the fifth level. So, I bought into the $1,500 buy-in on Saturday and I was supposed to fly out Sunday night and Midnight. I was second in chips at the end of Day Two. I missed my flight and fortunately….that’s about it.”

Here were the final results from Event #39 of the 2009 WSOP:

1. Ray Foley - $657,969
2. Brandon Cantu - $403,951
3. Wei Mu - $269,609
4. Alex Jacob - $190,857
5. Tyler Spalding - $143,421
6. Jonathan Markham - $114,514
7. Chairud Vangchailued - $96,355
8. Richard Lutes - $85,608
9. Patrick O’Connor - $80,049

Richard Austin Wins WSOP $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event

In one of the wildest endings at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) thus far, Richard Austin came out on top to win the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event (#35). Austin won a shocking three-way all-in against prominent pros Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy to earn his first bracelet and a payday of $409,484.

On the final hand, with Austin holding the cheap lead, he limped on the button. Mizzi completed from the small blind and Josephy raised the pot (150,000) from the big blind. Austin called, and, unexpectedly, Mizzi put in another raise to 750,000. Josephy moved all-in for a total of 950,000, Austin called, and Mizzi called, leaving himself with around 600,000.

The flop ran out . Mizzi moved all-in and Austin called:

Josephy:
Mizzi:
Austin:

Turn:
River:

Mizzi had the best hand pre-flop and Josephy flopped a set of kings to take the lead, but the river gave Austin a flush to eliminate both. It took a few moments for the players and tournament staff to realize who had won the final hand, but Josephy pointed to Austin, shrugged his shoulders, and shook each player’s hand before walking away with $166,771. Josephy was the only bracelet winner at a final table in which every player listed himself as a poker pro. He earned his hardware in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event during the 2005 WSOP.

Mizzi, a Team Betfair pro and native of Toronto, fell just short of a bracelet for the second time in his young career. The 23 year-old took second place in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship during the 2008 WSOP Europe in September. Friday’s runner-up finish was the third biggest cash of his live poker career, the largest coming as part of a chop of the 2007 Irish Open.

Mizzi took the chip lead midway through the final table after taking out Felipe Ramos in sixth place and Rifat Palevic in fifth. Ramos made an unfortunate exit when Mizzi came from behind to make a straight against Ramos’ aces after all of the chips had gone in pre-flop. Mizzi then eliminated Palevic holding the best hand pre-flop to send the 29 year-old Swede away with $85,516.

The fourth place finisher was Dan Hindin of Danbury, Connecticut. Hindin got all of his chips in pre-flop with single-suited kings against Austin’s single-suited aces and was unable to improve, sending him home with $116,748. It was the first-ever cash at the WSOP for the 24 year-old.

A humble Austin declined to be interviewed by the WSOP media staff after his win and chose not to participate in the gold bracelet ceremony on Saturday. It will mark the first time this year that a player has declined to take part in the tradition. A WSOP tournament official told Poker News Daily, “The WSOP is disappointed that one of our tournament’s winners did not shine in his moment of glory.”

Here are the final results from Event #35:

1. Richard Austin - $409,484
2. Sorel Mizzi - $253,048
3. Cliff Josephy - $166,771
4. Dan Hindin - $116,748
5. Rifat Palevic - $85,516
6. Felipe Ramos - $67,663
7. Van Marcus - $55,687
8. Peter Jetten - $48,112
9. Samuel Ngai - $43,539

Two more bracelets will be awarded on Saturday as the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event (#36) and $10,000 Seven Card Stud High-Low World Championship (Event #37) will play down to winners. Event #36 will get underway at 1:00pm Pacific Time with 17 players remaining. The field will be chasing chip leader Steven Tabb to win the bracelet and $586,212 prize.

As expected, the final day of the $10,000 Stud World Championship is loaded with big names. The final 11 include chip leader Abe Mosseri, Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Jeff Lisandro, who is eyeing his second bracelet of this year’s WSOP. The winner will collect $431,656 for his three days of work.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s events at the 2009 WSOP.

Titan Poker Relaunches VIP Program

Titan Poker players will soon be able to experience a brand new VIP Program. The popular iPoker Network site will roll out its heralded promotion on July 1st, offering a VIP status that is based on the previous month’s play.

Titan Poker players will rack up around 17 points for every $1 in rake. If you can navigate a gem shop, then you can master Titan Poker’s revamped VIP Program. Players start off at the Bronze Level, which requires no monthly point balance and goes all the way up to 999. There is no VIP Point boost associated with this level, although you’ll still be able to take advantage of promotions that are points-based. When you finally work your way up to 1,000 points in a given month (or approximately $58 in rake), you’ll become a Silver member. This provides a boost of 20%, ultimately giving you monthly points of 1,200 to 5,999.

Come 5,000 points, Titan Poker players will gain membership to the Gold level. Points are boosted by 40% in this level, resulting in a range of 7,000 to 13,999. Above Gold is Platinum, which requires a monthly point minimum of 10,000. This VIP level results in a point boost of 60% to at least 16,000. Titan Poker players can reach the heralded Titanium VIP level by racking up 17,000 points in a given calendar month (which is approximately equivalent to $1,000 in rake). Doing so results in a colossal 100% points boost to between 34,000 and 69,998. The pinnacle of the new Titan Poker rewards system is Diamond, which is reserved for players who accumulate 35,000 or more points, which will promptly be boosted by a whopping 120%.

Points can be exchanged for cash on Titan Poker, making the prospect of accruing points even more lucrative. The more points you save and ultimately cash in, the lower the rate of exchange. For example, trading in 2,000 points will net you a $10 cash reward, or 200 points per $1. However, trading in 6,500 points will result in your bankroll growing by $45, or just 144 points per $1. Other options available include $150 for 20,000 points (133 points per $1), $800 for 80,000 points (100 points per $1), $1,750 for 160,000 points (91 points per $1), $4,000 for 320,000 points (80 points per $1), $8,000 for 600,000 points (75 points per $1), $14,000 for one million points (71 points per $1), $39,000 for 2.5 million points (64 points per $1), and $120,000 for seven million points (58 points per $1). The bottom line is that saving your points before cashing them in is the optimal strategy.

Titan Poker offers a full points calculator complete with a graph to help you compute where you stand. Drop-down menus for the number of seats, game type, game speed, hours per week, number of tables, table stakes, average tournament buy-in, and number of tournaments per week add to the fun. As an important note, players on Titan Poker can cash in points any time they’d like. With only $58 in rake required to ascend to Silver status, a bevy of Titan Poker players are eligible, making the VIP club accessible to customers of all bankrolls.

The iPoker Network’s featured tournament is the $250,000 Guaranteed, which runs every Sunday at 18:00 GMT. First-time depositors in June receive four entries into World of Poker Freerolls. The promotion’s grand prize winner takes home a $35,000 prize package that includes entry into the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau stop, the Irish Winter Festival, the 2010 Irish Open, and next year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. That’s three different continents’ worth of tournaments. New depositors also take home five chances to satellite their way into the $20,000 New Depositors’ Freeroll.

Wahlbeck domination highlights WSOP June 11

Fifty-seven made the trip back to the Amazon room, and it was a day of thrills and spills as they played down to just eleven by the time the chips were bagged and tagged.

Roland de Wolfe came into the day heading the chip counts and he was still in contention come the close of play, albeit with the short stack.

The big story though was the rise of Ville Wahlbeck, the Finn contending for Player of the Year title, having already won a bracelet and had a 3rd-place finish at this year's series.

He steamrolled his way through the day and will return handily-placed in second when the players take up arms tomorrow, though with talent like John Juanda, David Benyamine and Michael Binger still eyeing up first place, he will have a fight on his hands if he harbors hopes of picking up his second bracelet.

Here's the notable news from the rest of the day at the WSOP.

Event 20: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em

The nine players remaining met back up today to play to a finish and all eyes were trained on Erik Seidel as he made his bid for a ninth bracelet.

His bid ended in failure however, as he crashed out 7th and instead it was left to Englishman J.P. Kelly to storm his way to the title, $194,434 in cash and his first WSOP bracelet.

Event 21: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

21 players were back to battle for the bracelet today, with Canadian Zac Fellows returning as the chip leader.

Fellows used his stack well to guide himself through to the latter stages, although there were some difficult periods along the way.

Ultimately though, he conquered the final table, putting in an impressive performance heads-up that saw him dominate fellow big stack James Van Alstyne to pick up the title and the bracelet, collecting $311,899.

Event 22: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout

One hundred players sat back down at 10 tables today as the $1.5k shootout resumed at the Rio. Only one man from each table could survive, meaning by the end of the day, we had our final-table lineup of 10.

Of those, former WPT winner Eugene Katchalov was the most recognizable player in contention, though he can be assured of some stiff competition from Jason Somerville and Brandon Wong when the players return to shoot it out for the bracelet tomorrow.

Event 24: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em

2,000 runners put up the $1.5k to buy themselves a seat at the latest WSOP donkament and after 14 hours of gruelling poker, the vast majority found themselves on the rail.

270 made it past the knee-trembling cash-bubble period however, including Irish Open runner-up Kara Scott, online pwner Chris Moorman and PokerListings' very own Martin Derbyshire.

Other notable names still alive include Eric Liu, Joe Sebok, Nam Le and Cory Carroll.

Event 25: $2,500 Omaha/7-card-Stud-8 Mixed

This mixed event is not the most fashionable of the potential WSOP bracelets on offer, as evidenced by the smallish field of 376 that paid to enter.

Regardless, there were some exciting plays and action seen at the felt today and by the close of play the 155 remaining included such stars as Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier and Chad Brown.

Join Pokerlistings Live Update team for the latest from the Rio as the 2009 WSOP, like the temperature here in Las Vegas, starts to hot up.

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Neil Channing’s WSOP Black Belt

But his latest project - Black Belt Poker - still has him sweating a little.

"I must admit I have a few butterflies," said Channing, who cashed seven times at the 2008 WSOP, twice at the WSOPE in London and backed several players who made big scores.

The concept is relatively simple.

Blackbeltpoker.com is a UK-based social networking site with a heavy poker bias, where a mix of experienced and inexperienced players gather to swap strategies and pass on the benefits of their wisdom.

Plus, for the elite players, there is the juicy lure of a possible $70k sponsorship package.

Over the last few months, fifty hopeful contenders have battled it out in a gruelling "grading" process to prove their mettle and win one of the eight packages on offer.

Now the posturing is over.

The choices have been made and Channing is optimistic his team is poised and ready to take on Las Vegas and the 2009 WSOP.

"They've got 50 shots at a bracelet, which means they're going to be about 8-1 to win one I would say," he said.

Channing is already setting the pace, having reached the latter stages of the prestigious $40k Commemorative Event.

When talking to PokerListings on Day 2, Channing played down his chances in typically sardonic fashion, before busting 20th for $70k today.

But Channing's self-effacing assessment belies the extraordinary form he showed last year.

Having already picked up the Irish Open title, he took last year's WSOP by storm.

In fact, if Nikolay Evdakov hadn't pipped the Englishmen to the post setting a record with ten WSOP cashes, Channing would have made even bigger headlines.

"I always see him around," Channing laughed. "I played with him twice and he just cashes in everything. He runs so good."

The staking also went well, most notably when Irishmen Marty Smyth collected the 2008 WSOP $10k Omaha bracelet.

If the Black Belt Poker team can replicate this success, it will be another year to remember for Channing, although it seems unlikely he will be able to take another shot at a world-record number of cashes.

"I'm going to be so busy this year," he said. "I'll be watching over the team, sorting some things out for them, playing a bit, but I won't have as much time as last year."

As far as the Vegas nightlife and the myriad poker parties are concerned, Channing said he'll take a pass this year.

"If I miss two PokerStars Pros making out at a party, it will be all over the internet in minutes anyway," he joked.

"I'm just going to go swimming every day, spend some time relaxing and looking after the team. It should be a great series."

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PartyPoker Hosts Women’s World Open III

Several of the world’s top female poker pros will take to the felts this Sunday at Three Mills Studios in London, the site of the third PartyPoker Women’s World Open. Three days later, the $3,000 buy-in tournament will crown a champion, who will see her bank account grow by $50,000.

A total of 36 entrants are set to hit the felts, including Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, the champion of the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event in 2007. The youngster battled through a 362 player field two years ago and defeated fellow Betfair pro John “kunku wap” Tabatabai heads-up. Her first place finish was worth £1 million and a coveted gold bracelet. Online, she has multiple wins in the challenging PokerStars $100 rebuy and allegedly won a $4 buy-in 180-man sit and go on PokerStars while only looking at her cards once.

Obrestad will battle against another bracelet winner in the Women’s World Open field, actress Jennifer Tilly. She stormed through the field in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies Event held during the 2005 WSOP, winning $158,000 for her efforts. In the tournament, Tilly dueled against Anh Le heads-up, who has finished as the runner up in the WSOP Ladies tournament in two of the past four years. Sandra Naujoks, who took down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Dortmund stop for $1.2 million, will also take a seat at the Women’s World Open. In the German EPT event, Naujoks bested Holger Kanisch heads-up.

The last running of the Women’s World Open was won by Soraya Homam, who is expected to be in the field this weekend trying to repeat. Stefanie Bergener, May Maceiras, and Eliza Burnett, all of whom reached the final table when the second Women’s World Open played out in October, will return to vie for the title once again. The tournament is played as a six-handed shootout, with each of the winners moving onto the final table. The second place finishers in each heat will then battle for the seventh and final spot at the feature table. Jessie May and Obrestad will provide play-by-play and the tournament can be seen on Five in the United Kingdom later this year. Then, it will be rolled out to a worldwide audience.

The inaugural Women’s World Open took place in August of 2007 in London. In the end, Beverly Pace took home the $50,000 first place prize, defeating Jen Mason heads-up. Also at the final table was Kara Scott, whom ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad ogled over during the broadcast of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Scott took 104th in that tournament, cashing for $41,000. She finished as the runner up in the Irish Open in Dublin last month, pocketing $413,000 in an event won by 2003 World Poker Tour (WPT) Euro Finals of Poker victor Christer Johansson.

PartyPoker’s VIP club, dubbed the Palladium Lounge, sent four qualifiers to the Women’s World Open this weekend. On some of the highlights from the six preliminary heats, a statement from PartyPoker read, “There are certainly some interesting heats lined-up. The opening heat features Annette and Germany’s Christine Klecz, while the second in the afternoon features both Jennifer Tilly and Jen Mason. Heat Five on Wednesday looks to be one of the toughest on paper, however, as it features May Maceiras, who seriously impressed last year with her hyper-aggressive game, as well as Maria Demetriou and Sandra Naujoks.”

Other top female gamers who will head to London include Lynne Beaumont, Maria Demetriou, Jen Mason, Veronique Gordon, Liv Boeree, Cecilia Nordenstram, Kim Wooka, Lise Vigezzi, Colette Murphy, and Agnieska Rylik. Here is a look at how the $108,000 prize pool is divided, with the top six players finishing in the money:

1st Place: $50,000
2nd Place: $22,000
3rd Place: $14,000
4th Place: $10,000
5th Place: $7,000
6th Place: $5,000

Jim O’Connell wins maiden Coral British Masters Poker Tour event

Edinburgh’s Gala Maybury Casino was the venue for the maiden event on the new British Masters Poker Tour. A total of 105 players including WSOP bracelet winner Lawrence Gosney and Irish Open finalist Andrew Bradshaw bought in to the £550 buy in Main Event, which was eventually won by Jim O’Connell.

Irish Open charity event raises over €26,000

The Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin is substantially better off thanks to the efforts of poker players at last month’s Irish Open. PaddyPowerPoker.com has announced that participants raised €26,537 for the benefit of sick children.

Mike Sexton Reviews the WPT Championship

We just completed Season VII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) with the $25,000 buy-in Championship event at Bellagio. Due to the economic slowdown, the number of entries was down substantially from a year ago (545 to 347).  However, most of the big names in the poker world were there and the event was incredible.  What most players really liked was that they were given $100,000 in starting chips and only played five levels (90 minutes each) per day.  You didn’t have to play those 12 to 14 hour days like you do at many big-time poker tournaments.

Kudos to Tournament Director Jack McClelland and the staff at Bellagio for the structure and hours they set up for play.  I have yet to hear one player complain about this setup - starting at noon, playing five levels, and then stopping for the day at 8:30 pm (with no dinner break necessary).  If there was a complaint, it was that we started the blinds too low ($50-$100).  It’s not often you hear players wanting to kick up the blinds!

My co-commentator Vince Van Patten and I were not allowed to enter any WPT events during the first six seasons, but the WPT now encourages us to play some if we want to.  So, I decided to play and unfortunately ended up contributing $25,000 to the WPT Championship prize pool.  I lasted two and half days and went out around 100th place (which paid zip, as only the top 50 made the money).  I must say that I really did enjoy playing even though I got knocked out.  To compete against top players (old and the new) is challenging and fun.  And like nearly all who get eliminated from any tournament, I’ll join them and say, “I just didn’t catch enough cards or have any luck.”

OK, OK.  I know you’re dying to know how I went out.  After two folds, Nick Binger (who was probably the chip leader at our table with about $550,000) was playing well and aggressive and made it $12,000 to go.  I had an A-K offsuit and about $150,000 in front of me.  I contemplated calling (because I hate A-K) and moving all-in, but I decided to re-raise it to $36,000 so I could still get away from this hand if someone behind me came over the top.  Everyone folded and Nick took a long time before deciding to call.  The flop came A-10-6, all diamonds.  He checked.  Now what would you do with nearly $85,000 in the pot?  I moved all-in.  He had the Q-J of diamonds, flopped a flush, and quickly called.  Bye-bye Mike.  Back to the booth.   I don’t really fault my play here, but in hindsight, I wish I had moved all-in pre-flop with the A-K.

There’s always a lot of pain dished out during any tournament, but Jennifer Harman’s tale of woe, considering when it came, would be tough for anyone to take.  She played for five days, got down to 11 players, picked up two Aces, re-raised with them, and then got all of her money (over $800,000) in pre-flop.  He held the 10-2 of hearts (and no, she wasn’t up against Doyle Brunson).  A deuce on the flop and a ten on the turn shattered Jennifer’s dream of taking this title.

When the smoke cleared, the final table (six players) was pretty incredible.  It consisted of two WPT champions (Scotty Nguyen and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier) and three others under the age of 24, including the two chip leaders, who were both 21: Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Christian Harder. In addition, Shannon Shorr had over $3 million in career earnings.

What can you say about Scotty Nguyen when it comes to performing, but “wow”?   The guy has five World Series of Poker bracelets (including the Main Event in 1998 and the $50,000 HORSE tournament last year), a WPT title, and eight WPT final table appearances. “Elky” is the hottest guy on the circuit right now.   He already has both WPT and EPT titles on his resume and if he would finish fourth or better in this tournament, he would attain the coveted “WPT Player of the Year” award.  He did just that with his third place finish!  Nice going, Elky!

Folks, now let me introduce you to the next superstar of the poker world: Yevgeniy Timoshenko.  He’s 21 years, two months old (and looks like he’s 13).  He’s originally from the Ukraine, but grew up in Washington.  Let me tell you, the kid is amazing and fearless on the green felt.  Prior to this event, he had already earned nearly $1 million in non-U.S. tournaments.  He won the Asian Poker Tour championship event in Macau, won an event at the Irish Open, and made a final table at last year’s WSOP Europe.  He came to this final table as the big chip leader and rolled over the competition, going wire to wire for the victory.  Think about it, the guy just turned 21 and already has over $3 million in career earnings!

Besides his poker skills, here are some things that really impress me about the kid:  He’s well-mannered, well-spoken, and has a lot of class.  As soon as he made this final table, he went out and bought himself a suit and got a haircut.  I hope others follow his example: You look good, you feel good, you play good.  Congratulations, Yevgeniy!

Final Results of the WPT Championship:

1st place - Yevgeniy Timoshenko  ($2,149,960)
2nd place - Ran Azor  ($1,446,265)
3rd place - Betrand “Elky” Grospellier  ($776,245)
4th place - Christian Harder  ($571,965)
5th place - Shannon Shorr  ($408,550)
6th place - Scotty Ngyuen  ($285,985)