Matt Affleck Leads WPT Festa al Lago After Day 2

After turning in deep runs in the 2009 and 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, Matt “mcmatto” Affleck is making poker headlines once again. This time, he’s pacing the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago after two days of play. Affleck holds a stack of 585,300, just edging out the 536,800 belonging to fellow young gun Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a Full Tilt Poker pro.

One of the final eliminations of Saturday’s play at the Bellagio in Las Vegas belonged to Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. As is typical in poker tournaments, Mizzi’s run came to an end in a race after running A-K into pocket jacks. The flop of Q-10-9 gave Mizzi a gutshot straight draw to a jack, but a king on the turn gave his opponent Broadway.

Also departing late in the day was Jennifer Tilly. She called all-in before the flop with A-Q and was up against the K-8 of spades belonging to Erik Cajelais. In a similar fate as Mizzi, Tilly’s opponent turned Broadway and Cajelais moved to 93 big blinds. He ended the day in 47th place on the Festa al Lago leaderboard at 125,300.

There were double-ups aplenty on Saturday at the Bellagio. Among those who vaulted up the leaderboard were David Singer, DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins, and Michael Benvenuti. Corkins got his money in ahead with pocket aces against James St. Hilaire’s A-Q and hit a full house on the river. Despite the late double-up, he’s one of the low men on the totem pole entering Day 3, as his stack of 58,100 is the 80th largest out of 99 players remaining.

Obrestad was a force to be reckoned with on Saturday. She eliminated Marco Traniello with queens-up against jacks-up and scooped a 230,000-chip pot against Danny Schiff. In the latter hand, Schiff led out for 35,000 with the board reading Q-9-9-7-6 and Obrestad called, tabling A-Q. Schiff showed ace-high after his flush draw failed to come in and Obrestad extended her chip lead.

New WPT “Raw Deal” host Tony “Bond18” Dunst was eliminated after running pocket fours into pocket queens. His opponent, Ryan Young, flopped a set, but Dunst turned a set of his own to leave him drawing to one out on the river. Nevertheless, quads weren’t in the cards and Dunst was sent to the rails. Joining Dunst on the outside looking in yesterday were poker pros like Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Justin Young, Steve Sung, and Howard Lederer, who registered at the last minute.

Check out the stacked top 10 of the WPT Festa al Lago after two days of play:

1. Matt “mcmatto” Affleck – 585,300
2. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 536,800
3. Owen “ocrowe” Crowe – 360,000
4. Trevor Pope – 286,700
5. Michael Benvenuti – 284,500
6. David Williams – 278,300
7. John Monnette – 271,400
8. Jeff Madsen – 269,200
9. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 263,500
10. Andreas Hoivold – 254,200

Other players remaining in the top 50 include:

17. Daniel Alaei -217,700
18. Barry Greenstein – 217,600
24. Vanessa Selbst – 203,500
25. Steve Zolotow – 201,900
28. Tom Marchese – 184,200
35. Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer – 157,100
38. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 145,800
43. Nancy Todd Tyner – 134,000
47. Erik Cajelais – 125,300

After 335 players coughed up $10,000 each to enter, the top prize at the Festa al Lago is $831,000. The top 50 players will walk away with cash and every member of the six-handed televised final table will bank at least $112,000. Last year, 275 players took to the felts at a buy-in of $15,000, meaning that attendance jumped by 22% in 2010. However, the prize pool also dove by 16% to $3.3 million by virtue of the smaller price tag.

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WPT Festa al Lago Kicks Off at Bellagio

Day 1 of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago took place on Friday, with 294 players coming to the felts at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Registration remains open until around 5:00pm PT today and, this year, the tournament saw its buy-in shaved from $15,000 to $10,000.

The day began with Tony “Bond18” Dunst being introduced as the WPT “Raw Deal” host. Dunst will become a regular part of WPT programming during Season 9, which will air on Fox Sports Net, and analyze hands in an edgy manner. Dunst defeated poker pros like Joe Sebok and Clonie Gowen for the “Raw Deal” position.

Last year, Tommy Vedes trumped a field of 275 players in the Festa al Lago, meaning that the lower price tag has already resulted in attendance growing by 7%. Vedes departed during the last level of play on Friday, continuing the tradition of no player repeating in a WPT event. Also exiting near the tail end of the day was Unabomber Poker pro Phil Laak, who moved all-in on a board of 5-4-2-9-6 holding A-K of clubs for ace-high. Arnaud Mattern ultimately tanked for several minutes before calling and tabling pocket tens.

Former November Niner and WPT champ Chino Rheem hit the rail after running K-J offsuit into a wired pair of aces. Rheem was all-in before the flop and watched as his opponent promptly hit a set. Rheem took down the 2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1.5 million.

Propelling up the leaderboard at the WPT Festa al Lago was Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka. The Illinois native called all-in on a board of 8-4-2-Q-7 and showed pocket tens. His opponent muttered “Good call” and flipped up pocket threes, resulting in a critical double up for Jaka. He owns the 91st largest stack in the room entering Day 2 at 56,475 and his competition at Table 55 today will include Randall Flowers, former WPT champ Todd Terry, Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo, and WPT Legends of Poker winner Andy Frankenberger.

WPT host Mike Sexton, a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and Guest Columnist for Poker News Daily, was eliminated after pocket queens cracked his pocket aces. Jae Sik spiked a two-outer on the river and Sexton hit the rail. Fellow PartyPoker pro Kara Scott, who was playing in her very first WPT tournament, also failed to survive to see Day 2.

Payman Arjang leads the field with a stack of 217,875 and a bevy of well-known poker pros appear in the top 10. Others near the top of the leaderboard include online poker pro David “Davidp18” Peters, prankster Jeff Madsen, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi:

1. Payman Arjang – 217,875
2. Peter Braglia – 160,100
3. David “Davidp18” Peters – 141,425
4. Jeff Madsen – 139,375
5. Alexander Shogren – 125,625
6. Amit “amak316” Makhija – 125,500
7. Josef Monro – 124,775
8. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 119,400
9. Brandon Novena – 118,975
10. Ryan Young – 115,900

Also making Day 2 was UB.com pro Joe Sebok, who Tweeted on his way home last night, “Bit of an up and downer, started with 40k, up to 90k, down to 60k, up to 108k, but settled at 92k to end the day. Satisfied.” He added, “There are few things as interesting as walking through casinos sober on Friday & Saturday nights.” Sebok can be found at #30 on the leaderboard with a stack of 91,900.

Brand name pros who walked away on Friday with top 50 chip stacks include:

12. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 113,950
19. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 102,625
24. John “World” Hennigan – 98,975
27. David Williams – 94,750
28. John Juanda – 92,525
30. Joe Sebok – 91,900
32. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke – 88,600
33. Jeff Shulman – 87,100
37. Barry Greenstein – 84,150
43. Brandon Cantu – 81,000
44. Jennifer Tilly – 79,100
47. Vanessa Selbst – 78,700

The action picks back up today at Noon PT and the final payouts will be posted once registration closes after Level 8.

Doyle Brunson: Who is the hottest poker babe?

Doyle Brunson writes really awesome Twitter messages, or “tweets” as they say. Just recently the poker’s greatest legend created a list of questions to his twitter followers and the results are now here.

Doyle asked three poker related questions: 1) Which poker player  would you like to have sex with, 2) Which poker player would you like to hang out with and 3) Poker payer you would like to kill?

Top three ladies to have sex with:

Number 1: Shannon Elizabeth

Number 2: Vanessa Rousso

Number 3: Jennifer Tilly

The editorial staff is just asking: hey guys, where’s Liv Boeree?

The men’s top 3 to have sex with were 1) Gus Hansen, 2) Patrik Antonius and 3) Phil Ivey. What seems a bit awkward is that Jen Tilly got some votes in the men’s category as well.

Doyle fans would like to hang out with Phil Laak and if the “Unabomber” isn’t around, Gavin Smith and/or Daniel Negreanu were the next favorable buddies.

The top 3 “kill list” was: 1) Phil Hellmuth, 2) Russ Hamilton and 3) PartyPoker’s Tony G.

Check out Doyle’s Twitter page for more.

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Doyle Brunson: Who is the hottest poker babe?

Scott Montgomery Rolled, Doyle Brunson Polls and Fall Sports Start From Poker In Twitter

This weekend from poker players on Twitter was a jambalaya of interests, but by far the most concerning one came from Scott Montgomery while at the Bellagio for the last few preliminary events prior to the World Poker Tour‘s (WPT) Festa al Lago event.

While in the facilities at the Bellagio, it appears that Montgomery was robbed. “Got mugged today at Bellagio,” Montgomery Tweeted to his followers on Sunday evening. “Black guy pulled a knife on me in the restroom. I gave him the $2k in my wallet and he left.”

According to Montgomery, the staff at the Bellagio were less than helpful. “I called security, but they took like 15 mins so they didn’t catch him. They are useless twits. Didn’t even ask me to look at camera footage.” Montgomery finished off his Tweet series by saying, “Security pretty much just said oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. I’m pretty annoyed.” His girlfriend, Annette Obrestad, was outraged, Tweeting, “@scotmont got just got robbed at Bellagio restroom… Security didn’t give a s**t… how does this even happen?”

The news over Twitter of Montgomery’s situation was made a bit lighter by a poll that Doyle Brunson set up late last week. “The Godfather of Poker” asked his Twitter followers to respond to him about several categories regarding people in the poker community. These subjects included which poker player would be best to sleep with, which poker player would be the best to hang out with, and which poker player inspired thoughts of homicide. As usual with Doyle, the responses were handed out with a bit of fun.

“OK, enough. Thousands want the results,” Brunson Tweeted. “Poker player you want to have sex with. 1.Shannon Elizabeth 2. Vanessa Rousso 3. Jennifer Tilly.” Brunson even went as far as to indicate who the ladies were most interested in, Tweeting, “The girls voted best I could tell 1. Gus Hanson 2. Patrik Antonius 3. Phil Ivey.” In what may be a bit of a surprise, Brunson said, “Jen Tilly made both lists for the sex!”

As far as the player who earned the votes for hanging out, Brunson chirped, “Poker player you want to hang out with. 1.Phil Laak 2.Gavin Smith 3. Daniel Negreanu.” Brunson then finished off his informal poll by Tweeting, “Poker player you want to kill. 1. Phil Hellmuth 2. Russ Hamilton 3.Tony G. Looks like most of the voters were guys.”

Fall is the prime time for professional sports in the United States, with the NFL season reaching full throttle, the MLB playoffs beginning, and other sports opening up their seasons. Joe Sebok Tweeted the displeasure of Cubs fans when, as he was watching the opening credits of the MLB playoffs, he Tweeted, “Really? Have to put the Mo Alou/Steve Bartman foul drop in the baseball playoffs promo vid? Really?! As if we cubs fans don’t suffer enough.”

A few of poker’s family had teams to cheer for in the MLB playoffs, though. UB.com sponsored player/adult entertainer Samantha Ryan chirped at WPT reporter B.J. Nemeth, “So sorry bout ur Braves, k, not really, go Giants! What a game! So sick! My heart was racing and my hands and throat hurt!” Nemeth talked some Twitter trash back at Ryan, saying, “Maybe the Braves (in the next game) will score a lot of runs early to protect your frail body from the stress of a close game.”

The fifth week of the NFL season was “must see” television for some, with Negreanu settling in to watch on the road. “Watching the game and have to deal with this genius wearing a Vick jersey,” Negreanu Tweeted along with a picture. “I’d like to burn it (the jersey) personally,” Negreanu finished, referencing Eagles quarterback Michael Vick’s prior transgressions.

From the action on the field, it appeared as though Lee Childs and David Williams were cheering for opposing sides. “Let’s go Titans, “ Childs Tweeted as the Tennessee squad held on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys. Williams was disillusioned with the performance of “America’s Team” to the point of Tweeting, “Romo is so awful, sucks cause I’m a Cowboys fan.” Eugene Todd was also down about the Cowboys’ performance, although he placed the blame on another source:  “Dallas will never win anything because their  coach is a moron. They make more mistakes than everyone in NFL.”

For the funniest Tweets from the past few days, we have to start with the always entertaining Erik Seidel, who decided to make a stand by Tweeting, “To protest Nobel prize winner Liu Xiaobo’s incarceration in China, I’m boycotting Panda Express until he’s freed.” Jennifer Harman finally found some limitations in her vast array of talents when she Tweeted, “I wish I could sing. I was singing to my son and he said, “No mommy, please, no mommy.” I guess I can’t be a rock star.” Finally, Joe Reitman pointed out while dining the other night, “At a new store opening on Melrose. They have a naked girl you can eat sushi off. I’m sorry, but something tells me that just isn’t sanitary.”

Jennifer Tilly eliminated in an otherwise slow level; 82 remain

A combination of tiredness, the day drawing on and the post-dinner slump means that action has been muted with only nine eliminations this level. One every ten minutes may sound a lot but we had almost fifty in the first level and 31 last level.

Isildur1 Leads WSOPE Main Event

Since Isildur1 broke into the high-stakes scene last fall, becoming the first person to lose a seven-figure pot online against Patrik Antonius, beating Phil Ivey out of the second largest pot all time a few days later to make him the only player to have both won and lost a million dollar pot online and playing seven of the ten largest pots in online poker history, several sources have claimed he is Viktor Blom.

While PokerListings can confirm Viktor Blom is Blom90, a player who burst onto the high-stakes Euro-site scene in early 2009 building a massive bankroll before virtually disappearing, Blom has neither confirmed nor denied the rumor he is Isildur1, again refusing an interview with PokerListings Saturday after moving into the chip lead in the WSOPE main event.

Serbian Team 888VIP pro Bojan Gledovic is in a dead heat with Blom for the lead while tournament Poker’s all time leading money winner Ivey also built a stack on Day 2 and sits in a pack close behind including Nick Schulman, Arnaud Mattern, Nicolas Levi, Barry Greenstein, Dan Shak and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

Heading into Sunday’s Day 3 just 66 players remain with Daniel Negreanu, Hoyt Corkins, Almira Skripchenko, Freddy Deeb, Greg Mueller, Nam Le, JP Kelly and November Niner John Dolan also still in contention.

Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Eric Baldwin, Eric Baldwin, Praz Bansi, Chris Moorman, Allen Cunningham, J.C. Tran, Leo Margets, Liv Boeree, Carlos Mortensen, Chris Ferguson, November Niners Filippo Candio and John Racener, Jason Mercier and last year’s champ Barry Shulman all busted Saturday.

The £10,350 WSOPE Championship drew a total of 346 players to the Casino at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square creating a £3,460,000 prize pool with £830,401 set aside for first.

The event will play down to a winner Oct. 28. Action continues on Day 3 beginning at 12 p.m. London time with plans to play to the final 27.

Since both players are out of the main event, the final heads-up match between Gus Hansen and Jim Collopy to settle the £10k Heads-Up High Roller event has also been set for 6 p.m. Sunday.

For a slice of the action, click through to PokerListings’ WSOPE Live Updates.

Visit PokerListings.com

Annette Obrestad and Scott Montgomery: Poker’s Latest Hot Couple?

On Friday, former World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Niner Scott Montgomery posted on his Facebook account, “Getting ready to celebrate my gf’s birthday. hope she likes my gift!” This seemingly innocuous statement was met with some surprise by many as, prior to this, Montgomery had not indicated through Facebook any changes in his relationship status. Following his Facebook post, the discussion ratcheted up through the popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo.

A thread on the forum, which was shut down after only nine replies and slightly over one hour of comments due to the sometimes juvenile nature of online posters, included a picture of Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad and Montgomery looking rather cozy. Although both of the players are in London for the WSOP Europe festivities, the undated photo appears to show the twosome reclining on a couch with the background displaying Las Vegas.

To settle the issue, following his Facebook post, Montgomery updated his information page to include a change to his relationship status. Previously, the status was set to “single” but, following his hopes of his “girlfriend” liking her birthday present, the status now indicates, “in a relationship with Annette Obrestad.” As of late, both Montgomery and Obrestad have been quiet regarding their pairing, preferring to Tweet about their play at the WSOP Europe.

The pairing of Obrestad and Montgomery wouldn’t be the first time that the battles on the felt have led to the birth of a poker couple. Longtime poker couple and WSOP bracelet holders Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly met over the poker tables; power pair Erick Lindgren and Erica Schoenberg are also a duo. Popular married players such as Chip and Karina Jett and Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman also have the game of poker to thank for their bliss.

Whatever the outcome of their relationship might be, both Montgomery and Obrestad have had tremendous success on the felt in their individual endeavors. Montgomery picked up his first WSOP bracelet during the run of this year’s tournament schedule in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event and has earned slightly over $4.1 million in his tournament poker career. Obrestad, for her part, made poker history by becoming the youngest bracelet winner ever by taking down the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007. Her career earnings from live tournament poker has eclipsed the $3.1 million mark.

Weekly News Update

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Poker News Daily Weekly Update. We are moving to this new weekly format for now as we have a ton of great poker lifestyle pieces heading your way and didn’t want you to miss out on those. However, I’ll still be back bringing the news every Friday.

Our first topic covers the Prince of Poker, larger than life Poker Hall of Fame nominee Scotty Nguyen, who is offering his fans the chance to play against him in small regional tournaments. According to his official blog, Nguyen will skip the World Series of Poker Europe this year to play in smaller buy-in events all over the United States. Nguyen’s first stop will be in Durant, Oklahoma at the Choctaw Casino for the T.J. Cloutier Classic. The nineteen ninety-eight WSOP Main Event champ was enthused over his decision on Twitter:

“Don’t forget baby! Gonna skip WSOPE and instead travel for my fans baby!”

In a decision filed on September fourteenth, United States District Judge James Nowlin denied a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order filed by Deliverance Poker, which is suingNovember Nine member Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi for allegedly jumping ship to be sponsored by Full Tilt Poker in the middle of the Main Event. If the motion had been successful, Mizrachi may have been forbidden from wearing Full Tilt logos until the legal process was finished. Fortunately for him – and Full Tilt – Judge Nowlin dismissed it, and went as far as to say there is no “substantial likelihood” that Deliverance would win the case.

In more online poker news, the sale of the CEREUS Network to Blanca Games has “violated and/or triggered the application of certain rights under the agreements between Excapsa and Blast Off and its related entities” according to XMT Liquidations.

Potentially referring to the UltimateBet.com domain, “Blast Off intended to wind-up [end] any and all operations related to assets over which Excapsa has been granted a security interest.”

The situation remains murky at best, but as one member of the Two Plus two Forum put it,

“Looks like Blast Off’s (AP/UB) lawyers are going to try to get the hundred Million dollar note reduced or canceled due to players cheated in two thousand and four and two thousand and five.”

On Friday, members of the Poker Hall of Fame voting committee received their ballots in an e-mail from Harrah’s officials. Noticeably different this year is a “10-point must system” that asks each member of the panel to allocate ten points among the candidates of their choosing. The 10 finalists that the panel must choose from are:

Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, “Action” Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Scotty Nguyen.

After the votes are tabulated, the top two players receiving the majority of the vote will be enshrined as part of the Class of two thousand and ten. PND’s own Dan Cypra has the privilege of being on the panel for the second straight year.

The Poker Players Alliance struck back at the Commerce Casino and other gambling establishments in California by launching PlayersBeforeProfits.com, an online petition designed to encourage support of H-R Two-Two-Six-Seven, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. At the time of taping, the petition at PlayersBeforeProfits.com has well over ten thousand signatures, including the support of pros such as Tom Dwan, Howard Lederer, and Jennifer Tilly.

Twenty-four year-old Brit Sam Trickett took down the sixth PartyPoker World Open, banking two hundred thousand dollars. The tournament played out last week from the Palm Beach Casino in London.

Trickett has been on a tear in two-thousand ten. In June, he was the runner-up in a No Limit Hold’em event held during the World Series of Poker and took over half a million dollars. Then, Trickett bubbled the final table of the twenty-five thousand dollar No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, also at the WSOP. In August, Trickett did it again, finishing fourth in the European Poker Tour Main Event in Vilamoura, Portugal. His win at the PartyPoker World Open VI gives Trickett four six-figure cashes in the last three months.

Finally, Poker News Daily congratulates Phil Laak on yet another achievement. This time, “The Unabomber” took down his first gold World Series of Poker bracelet across “The Pond” in London. Laak won a twenty-five hundred Pound Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament during WSOP Europe for one-hundred seventy thousand Pounds.

Laak’s bracelet was in the kickoff event of WSOP Europe, which sold out at 244 entrants. The final table also featured bracelet winners Chris [BEE-OR-IN] Bjorin and Willie Tann.

That does it for this week’s top headlines here at Poker News Daily. Don’t miss us next Friday for another executive recap of the week in Poker. Until next time, here’s to hoping you run great at the tables – I’m Sean Gibson for Poker News Daily.

Laak Locks Up First WSOP Win

And moments after locking up the 2010 WSOPE £2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em title, the famously frenzied Laak had thoughts of girlfriend Jennifer Tilly and best friend Antonio Esfandiari on the brain.

“It’s super sweet,” he said. “It’s Jennifer’s birthday today, so jubilation levels are at an all time high and there’s nothing like putting a little tilt on Antonio, this should tilt him a little because we are very competitive.”

Born in Dublin, Ireland and raised on the East Coast of the United States, the 38-year old Laak has more than $2 million in career tournament earnings, including a WPT title, two other WPT final tables and now three WSOP final table appearances.

As chaotic a character as there is in poker, Laak made headlines this summer breaking the world record for the longest cash-game poker session, then breaking his arm in an ATV accident while on vacation in Oregon.

Outside of a win in the made-for-TV PartyPoker World Poker Open here in London last year, Laak’s deep runs in major tournaments were a few years behind him.

But following his eventful summer, he suddenly found deep finishes at the Partouche Poker Tour final in Cannes and the English Poker Open here in London.

Now, one event into the World Series of Poker Europe, he finds himself £170,802 richer and the owner of his first WSOP bracelet.

“The glory is not all that important to me, all though I love glory, don’t get me wrong, I’m hungry for that, but I want the money more,” he said. “I converted it on X/E and it’s like 267,000 American Dollars. Minus tip, minus entry fee; it’s still north of 260 - It’s huge.”

Total it up and Laak has quietly put together more than $630k in tournament earnings this year, his best as a pro since the height of the poker boom in 2005 when he earned a little over $700,000.

Canadian Andrew Pantling, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Chris Bjorin and Phil Laak were the only ones holding substantial stacks when the final table began Thursday, making it a three horse race from the outset.

But by the time Willie Tann, Ilan Rouah and David Peters had busted, leaving them three handed, Laak had picked up a few chips, Bjorin was the short stack and Pantling’s lead was beginning to look insurmountable.

However, it wasn’t long before Laak doubled through him once and had chipped up through him again with a timely play when Bjorin woke up with queens.

He pushed all in facing a Laak raise, but the Unabomber had kings, made the call and sent him to the rail third. Pantling still had the lead, but heads up play started with Laak right back in it.

“I got really lucky with kings versus queens against Chris,” Laak said. “If the big stack takes out the little stack, then I’m stuck with more of a middling stack. It would have been weighted like seventy-thirty and instead it was like fifty-fifty.”

The two traded the lead for a while before Laak built an almost 3:1 advantage, getting the last of Pantling’s chips when his king-five connected versus ace-ten.

The opening event of the 2010 WSOPE, the £2,500 Six-Handed drew 244 players to London's Casino at the Empire Tuesday.

Here’s how Thursday's final table finished up:

1 Phil Laak £170,802

2 Andrew Pantling £105,506

3 Chris Bjorin £70,473

4 David Peters £48,202

5 Ilan Rouah £33,617

6 Willie Tann £23,900

Visit PokerListings.com

Quoss Conquers EPO Final

Quoss, who made runner-up in a $5k at the 2009 World Series of Poker, walked away with £220,650 and the coveted George Trophy after beating Sebastian Crul heads-up.

A total of 193 players entered the £3500+£250 EPO main event over two starting days, including names like James Akenhead, Jennifer Tilly, Neil Channing, and Annette Obrestad.

EPT San Remo champ Liv Boeree made 12th for £9,500 and Phil Laak finished 18th for £6,800.

PartyPoker pro Felipe Ramos, who counts a WSOP final table as one of his biggest poker accomplishments, was the most well known player in the final. He finished fourth.

Below are the payouts from the final table.

1 Fabian Quoss £220,650

2 Sebastian Crul £129,000

3 Mathew Frankland £77,400

4 Felipe Ramos £54,300

5 Andrew Brennan £40,750

6 Brent Lehring £30,550

7 Mark Norman £23,750

8 Salman Behbehani £17,000

9 Stephen Chimelski £13,600

Visit PokerListings.com

Boeree Bubbles EPO Final

A total of 193 players entered the £3500+£250 EPO main event over two starting days, including names like James Akenhead, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Neil Channing, and Annette Obrestad.

EPT San Remo champ Liv Boeree made 12th for £9,500, practically bubbling the final nine late on Day 2 Monday.

Mathew Frankland, whose under $10k in career tournament earnings includes a World Series of Poker cash this summer, will have the chip lead coming into the chase for a £220,650 first-place prize.

German Fabian Quoss, who made runner-up in a $5k at the 2009 WSOP is close, along with the lesser known Sebastian Crul.

The rest of the final nine is headlined by PartyPoker pro Felipe Ramos, who counts a WSOP final table as one of his biggest poker accomplishments.

All nine players are guaranteed at least £13,600 when the final goes off at 3 p.m. London time Tuesday.

Here’s how they stack up coming in with blinds at 5,000/10,000 and an ante of 1,000:

Mathew Frankland 668,000

Sebastian Crul 583,500

Fabian Quoss 559,000

Andrew Brennan 336,000

Mark Norman 224,500

Felipe Ramos 196,500

Stephen Chimelski 191,000

Brent Lehring 94,500

Salman Behbehani 72,000

Visit PokerListings.com

Helppi Captures World Open VI Final Seat

Juha Helppi, Finland’s all-time leading money winner with over $3 million in career tournament earnings, pushed past a heat that included PartyPoker spokesman Mike Sexton, French legend Bruno Fitoussi and red-hot Canadian Sorel Mizzi inside London’s Palm Beach Casino Thursday.

However, the toughest test came from the two women in the heat, Jennifer Tilly and Sandra Naujoks, who finished second and third.

Helppi will join Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dale Hoy, Sam Trickett, Andrew Robl and John Duthie in Friday's final.

Plus, the winner of a runner-up heat that includes Tilly, Frank Kassela, Marty Smyth, Brandon Cantu, Toby Lewis and MB Mahmoud.

The $480,000 prize pool will be shared amongst the finalists with $200,000 going to the winner.

Visit PokerListings.com

Juha Helppi wins PartyPoker World Open VI Heat 6

Juha Helppi has become the sixth player to make the final table of the PartyPoker World Open VI after beating a tough table in the sixth heat and taking on Jennifer Tilly heads-up.

Phil Laak Falls in PartyPoker World Poker Open Title Defense

On Wednesday, the fifth heat of the PartyPoker World Open VI panned out and featured Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak defending his title. Last year, Laak banked $250,000 and took down the fifth PartyPoker World Open. However, he came up short this time around and bowed out of the match in fifth place.

Dale Hoy captured victory in Laak’s heat, besting Toby Lewis heads-up. You can’t fault Laak for getting his money in behind, either. He was all-in pre-flop with A-10 of spades and up against the Q-10 of hearts of Ben Johnson. However, a queen hit on the flop, propelling Johnson into the lead. Laak ultimately whiffed on an ace or jack for a straight and exited the Palm Beach Casino in London.

Following Laak’s elimination, Heather Sue Mercer open-shoved pre-flop with A-9 of hearts and found herself in a race against Lewis’ wired pair of sixes. Lewis made a boat by the time the board filled out Q-Q-7-8-Q and Mercer landed in fourth place in Heat #5.  Lewis held a healthy chip lead entering three-handed play as a result.

John Tabatabai was the next casualty of Laak’s heat after running K-6 into K-8. Hoy flopped an eight to preserve his lead in the hand and Tabatabai bricked on the turn and river. After the elimination, Hoy held a 3:2 chip lead entering heads-up play. Ultimately, Hoy’s K-J held up against Lewis’ 9-5 suited all-in pre-flop for the win.

Former World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko continued his dominance of the poker industry by winning the fourth heat of the PartyPoker World Open. In a battle of the titans, Timoshenko outlasted current World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year contender Frank Kassela. In the final hand of the heat, Kassela ran A-K into Timoshenko’s pocket aces and no upset was in the works.

In Heat #3, European Poker Tour (EPT) founder and PokerStars pro John Duthie edged out M.B. Mahmood to claim victory. In the small blind, Mahmood shoved pre-flop with J-8 and received a call from Duthie, who held A-Q. Duthie flopped one ace and turned another, leaving Mahmood drawing dead to the river. Noteworthy in this heat was that Annette Obrestad was its first casualty after the youngster ran pocket fours into pocket aces.

Victory Poker pro Andrew “good2cu” Robl took down Heat #2 of the PartyPoker World Open. He bested UB.com pro and two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu heads-up. In the final hand of the heat, Cantu was all-in with K-10 and facing Robl’s A-3. Robl turned a pair to stay ahead in the hand and no king or ten came on the river to save the day for Cantu.

The “W” in Heat #1 went to Sam Trickett, who is fresh off a final table at EPT Vilamoura. Trickett defeated Marty Smyth in the finals of Heat #1 after drawing out on A-3 with Q-9 of diamonds. There are a total of six eight-man heats on tap and seven players will move on to the PartyPoker World Open final table. The seventh spot will be determined after the runner-ups compete in a turbo on Friday morning, with its champ advancing to the final table. The winner of the PartyPoker World Open VI will take home $200,000.

Everest Poker’s Fabrice Soulier, Laak’s significant other Jennifer Tilly, and Titan Poker’s Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi are among those in action today in Heat #6, which is ongoing from London. Tilly has struggled in the early going and, according to PartyPoker’s Blog, lamented at one point, “Why didn’t I just go with my gut? In an interview before we started, I said that when my gut says fold like a p****, fold like a p****. I didn’t follow my own advice.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the PartyPoker World Open VI.

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PartyPoker World Open VI Begins September 6th

Starting on Monday from the Palm Beach Casino in London is the sixth incarnation of the PartyPoker World Open. Last October, Phil Laak took down the title of PartyPoker World Open V champ after defeating a final table that included Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz, Laak’s girlfriend Jennifer Tilly, and World Poker Tour (WPT) host and Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton.

This year, Laak will return to defend his title. A total prize pool of $480,000 is up for grabs in the $10,000 buy-in tournament. Forty-eight players will be in action across eight heats, the first of which features Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman taking on Marty Smyth, Sam Trickett, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Niner James Akenhead, Neil Channing, Lee Atherton, Peter Jetten, and U.K. poker pro Ian Frazer.

The second heat, which will be played on September 6th and 7th, features three of North America’s hottest players in Andrew “good2cu” Robl, UB.com’s Brandon Cantu, and former National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed. The group’s opposition in Heat #2 includes James Mitchell, Matt Perrins, Josh Gould, Dragan Galic, and Felipe “Mojave” Ramos.

The third heat of the PartyPoker World Open VI, which will pan out on September 7th, features young guns Schwartz and Full Tilt pro Annette Obrestad taking to the felts together. European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie and high-stakes cash game pro David “Viffer” Peat will join them, as will Liam Flood, John Eames, Barny Boatman, and Giovanni Safina.

That’s a lot of pros already and we’re only halfway through the opening seat of heats in the annual PartyPoker tournament. Former WPT Championship winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko will be part of Heat #4 on September 8th. His competition includes “Dixie,” 2010 bracelet winner Praz Bansi, Simon Zach, recent WPT London winner Jake Cody, Fabrice Souiler, and 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event champ Tyron Krost. This heat also has an open seat.

Laak will defend his title as part of Heat #5 on September 8th and 9th. However, he’ll have to get past Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who is in the midst of completing a pair of online Million Dollar Challenges against Patrik Antonius and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates. Others in the eight-player field will include John Tabatabai, Toby Lewis, Roland De Wolfe, Dale Hoy, Heather Mercer, and Jason Grey.

The final heat of the PartyPoker World Open VI will kick off on September 9th and feature some of the top talent Europe has to offer. Juha Helppi, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Sandra Naujoks, Roberto Romanello, and Bruno Fitoussi will be a part of the Heat #6 field. Sexton, a sponsored pro of PartyPoker, will also be in the running, as will Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Tilly.

The starting stacks in the PartyPoker World Open VI have been tripled and the final table, which is set to occur on September 10th, will be played seven-handed. The top seven players made the money during the fifth World Open, which also featured a field of 48. Heading into his title defense, Laak told PartyPoker officials, “Last year was a wild roller coaster ride. This year, I am looking forward to coming back to defend my title – it is ideal that it comes straight off the back off the WPT London Poker Classic – hopefully I can win both!”

Jesse May and PartyPoker’s Kara Scott will front the event’s broadcast, which can be seen on Five in the U.K. in late 2010. Spectators are welcome.

Gavin Smith, Matthew Jarvis to Play in Canadian Open Poker Championships

Three top Canadian players – 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Niner Matthew Jarvis, 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith, and 2009 WSOP double bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller – will play in the $5,000 Heads-Up Main Event of the Canadian Open Poker Championships.

The 2010 Canadian Open Poker Championships begin on Thursday in Calgary, Alberta, and are comprised of 13 events over the 11 days. Three casinos (Deerfoot Inn and Casino, Grey Eagle Casino, and Cash Casino) will play host to several preliminary events, which are reaching their maximum player limits through pre-registration, according to Kelly Kellner, the CEO of the Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) and promoter of the tournament schedule.

“I am very pleased to have seen the Canadian Open grow since our first event in 2006, where we hosted a single event with only 64 players,” Kellner stated earlier this week as pre-registrations continued to flood in. “This year, we expect over 2,000 entries over the entire series.” Events include a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, the CPT’s Ladies’ National Championship, and the $5,000 Heads-Up Championship. All totaled, it is expected that $3.5 million in prize pools will be generated.

“We are also extremely pleased to have added a number of new sponsors for the tournament schedule, including Big Rock Breweries and Dank Energy Drink,” Kellner reported. For those who play in the tournaments but don’t run well, the Canadian Open Poker Championships is looking to entertain – or at least ease the pain. Every night of the Championships, there will be an Ultimate Players Party at the Calgary hotspot the Rusty Cage.

Jarvis burst onto the scene this year with his remarkable run to the WSOP Main Event final table. He will enter the 2010 WSOP November Nine final table in fifth place, holding 16.7 million in chips, and has already guaranteed his largest cash ever with the $811,823 paid to all Main Event final table participants.

One of the most gregarious characters in the poker world, Smith has also been one of the most consistent poker players of the last decade. A former World Poker Tour Player of the Year (2006), he eliminated the “best player to not have won a WSOP bracelet” title from his name when he took down the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em tournament at this year’s WSOP. In his career, the Full Tilt Poker pro has amassed over $5.4 million in tournament earnings over a span of 12 years.

A former hockey player, Mueller brought his aggressiveness over from the rink to the felt in 2003 and hasn’t looked back. Known as “FBT” – an acronym for “Full Blown Tilt” – he has earned 19 cashes during play at the WSOP, with his best years coming from 2007 to 2009. In 2007 and 2008, Mueller put together nine cashes, yet was unable to make the winner’s circle. He corrected that in 2009, picking up two bracelets in Limit events. Mueller will be looking to add on to his $1.78 million in career earnings with a victory in the Heads-Up Championship.

The only major tournament schedule that crowns its Main Event champion in a Heads-Up competition, the Canadian Open Poker Championships has routinely drawn some of the top poker talent since it first played out in 2006. Such players as former Canadian Open Poker Championships Heads-Up Champion Huck Seed, former Main Event champs Phil Hellmuth and Joe Hachem, Canadian poker pro Brad Booth, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Jennifer Tilly have all played in Canadian Open Poker Championships events.

With the confirmation of three top Canadian players in Smith, Mueller, and Jarvis, the field for the $5,000 Heads-Up Championship Event will be one for the ages.

August 12th – Daily Deal

On today’s edition of the Daily Deal, the COO of UB.com answers some lingering questions about the two thousand and eight cheating scandal, the World Series of Poker Main Event begins airing on ESPN, and Doyle Brunson decided that on his birthday he prefers to give rather than receive.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

Paul Leggett, the Chief Operating Officer of UB.com’s parent company Tokwiro Enterprises, posted a blog on Monday responding to questions regarding the cheating scandal that occurred on what was known as Ultimate Bet between two thousand and four and two thousand and eight. Leggett opened his blog by clearing the names of anyone associated the current owners of UB.com.

“I wanted to start off by confirming that no individual who has been linked to any cheating works for Tokwiro or any of its subsidiaries,” stated Leggett. “When I took the COO position with Tokwiro… the result of the AbsolutePoker investigation required Tokwiro to demonstrate to the Gaming Commission, and their auditors, that a list of certain individuals were no longer working for the business and that they had no ownership of any kind”

In two thousand and nine, The Kahnawake Gaming Commission stated that it had found convincing evidence that former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Russ Hamilton was the main person responsible for multiple cheating incidents at Ultimate Bet. Leggett supported this accusation:“Some people have a hard time believing that Russ was the only person involved in the cheating. The truth is that all of the data facts pointed to him. The cheating was occurring from places where Russ lived and worked, the money was being moved through accounts he controlled himself or through people who reported directly to him or his close friends”

On Tuesday night, the two thousand and ten World Series of Poker Main Event began airing on ESPN with a pair of one-hour episodes. The first one-hour episode covered Day 1A and had a feature table that included Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow and bracelet winner Jason Lester. The second episode featured the exits of pros Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Joe Sebok, Jennifer Tilly, and Liv Boeree on Day 1B. Also featured on Day 1B was Norwegian prodigy Annette Obrestad and her much-publicized Las Vegas WSOP debut. However, she ultimately busted from the Main Event after running ace-jack into pocket queens The internet whiz finished with four cashes and no final tables at the two thousand and ten WSOP.

Ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, back-to-back WSOP Main Event champ, and “The Godfather of Poker,” Doyle Brunson, celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday on Tuesday, and he is the one who will be handing out presents. Texas Dolly’s online poker room, Doyle’s Room, held a special $50,000 Birthday Bounty tournament on Wednesday night.

In the weekly Doyle’s Room Bounty tournament, any player who knocks out a marked site pro takes home a one thousand dollar cash prize. If anyone eliminates two of the three pros, they’ll win ten thousand dollars. And if someone is fortunate and skilled enough to send all three bounties to the rails, that player will bank a massive fifty thousand dollar prize. The winner of the entire tournament receives five hundred dollars in casino chips to use at Doyle’s Casino in addition their first prize money.

Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. This is Sean Gibson, and may the flop be with you!

World Series of Poker Main Event Begins Airing on ESPN

On Tuesday night, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event began airing on ESPN with a pair of one-hour episodes highlighting Days 1A and 1B. A stirring introduction by reigning Main Event champ Joe Cada touted the feature table as “the table where dreams come true.”

The first one-hour episode covered Day 1A of the Main Event, with a feature table that included Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow and bracelet winner Jason Lester. Every player received 30,000 in chips and Matusow donned an “I Am McLovin” shirt for his kickoff day. “The Mouth” has recorded four top 100 finishes and two final tables in the Main Event since 2001. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who plays McLovin in the movie “Superbad,” turned 21 two weeks prior to the Main Event kicking off this year.

Out in the field were a variety of pros, including former Main Event champs Bobby Baldwin, Chris Moneymaker, and Greg Raymer, the latter of whom doubled up John Bennett with top pair against a set. The hand dropped Raymer to just 1,200 in chips and he was later eliminated with pocket eights all-in pre-flop. Raymer, who gave the Day 1A “Shuffle up and deal” command, signed over his signature fossil and departed the Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Ted Forrest, in the midst of competing in a $2 million weight loss prop bet against Matusow, doubled up and, over at Table 2, eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel tangled with Taylor Larkin. Seidel 3bet to 2,325 with A-6 and Larkin, holding A-K, made it 6,500. Seidel responded by 5betting to 17,000, or over half of the starting stack, and Larkin moved all-in for 17,000 more. Seidel thought briefly before laying his hand down.

Hands featuring Scott Seiver, Isaac Haxton, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman, Dallas Mavericks star Shawn Marion, and Abe Mosseri were shown and, back at the feature table, ESPN displayed Matusow’s vital stats. “The Mouth” boasted a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 32% and an Aggression Factor of 40%. However, he promptly dropped half of his stack to former World Poker Tour Southern Poker Championship winner Allen “AawwNutz” Carter when he whiffed on a diamond flush draw.

After T.J. Cloutier and Ray Romano were shown the door, Matusow followed suit by running top pair into Carter’s middle set. Just prior, a dealer error had resulted in Matusow’s dealt ace being exposed. After looking at his other hole card, which was also an ace, Matusow became quite perturbed.

The second episode profiled Day 1B of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. The feature table hosted Gavin Smth and Ivan Demidov, while Table 2 sported 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette Obrestad, who was playing in her first WSOP Main Event on U.S. soil. Obrestad’s run featured multiple exclamations of “So sick,” as she flopped a boat and ran into a higher boat in one hand. Then, Obrestad doubled up with pocket nines after check-raising all-in on a 10-high board. She received a call from an opponent with pocket jacks, but hit a nine on the turn to stay alive.

Former UB.com pro Liv Boeree, cancer survivor Thuy Doan, and Erick Lindgren’s better half Erica Schoenberg were all in the field. The comment of the night belonged to ESPN commentator Norman Chad, who introduced Schoenberg as follows: “Like me, she is a former model and personal trainer.” Lindgren hit the rail immediately after Chad’s intro, raising all-in on the flop with a flush draw against a player with two pair. Lindgren hit his flush on the turn, but his opponent rivered a full house.

Elsewhere in the field were Jean-Robert Bellande, Unabomber Poker pro Phil Laak, and Deepstacks instructor Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade. At the feature table, Smith doubled up after check-raising all-in with middle set on a flop of 7-9-Q. Smith turned a full house and the river was no help to his opponent.

The exits of Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Joe Sebok, Jennifer Tilly, and Boeree on Day 1B were highlighted. Then, Obrestad moved all-in less the chip protecting her cards with A-J on a flop of 2-2-9. Two-time bracelet winner Chris Bjorin called with pocket queens. A jack hit on the turn and an eight came on the river, sending Obrestad into the Las Vegas night. The internet whiz finished with four cashes and no final tables in the 2010 WSOP.

Action from the Main Event continues next Tuesday on ESPN at 8:00pm ET. Once again, two one-hour episodes will air.

Poker News in Brief: Jul. 26- Aug. 1, 2010

A new bill looking to legalize and regulate online poker in the U.S. passed through House committee, 888poker launched some new software, the World Series of Poker debuted a new Facebook app, and a retired Fisherman won the Commerce Casino's summer $1 million Guaranteed event.

However, not every story made the front pages of PokerListings.com. Fortunately, we've compiled a list of those that fell through the cracks in our weekly Poker News in Brief Feature below.

This week we'll look at the dates for the PartyPoker.com World Open VI, Full Tilt signing a 2010 WSOP bracelet winner, two of poker's biggest sites coming together, London's newest poker club and a whole lot more.

World Open VI Dates Released

The PartyPoker.com World Open VI is headed back to London this fall.

The 48-player event will take place Sept. 6-10 at the Palm Beach Casino, immediately following the inaugural WPT London Poker Classic, running Aug. 29-Sept. 5.

A $10,000 buy-in means a total prize pool of $480,000 with $200,000 going to the winner.

Team PartyPoker pros Mike Sexton, Tony G, Dragan Galic, Tyron Krost, Felipe Ramos, Ian Frazer and Giovanni Safina are all expected to play.

Early confirmations also include defending champion Phil Laak, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dave ‘The Devilfish' Ulliott, JP Kelly, Annette Obrestad, Sorel Mizzi, Roland de Wolfe, James Akenhead, Neil Channing, Praz Bansi, Luke Schwartz, Jennifer Tilly and David ‘Viffer' Peat.

"Last year was a wild roller coaster ride," said Laak. "This year I am looking forward to coming back to defend my title - it is ideal that it comes straight off the back off the WPT London Poker Classic - hopefully I can win both!"

The event will be filmed for broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally.

Flushy Signs with Full Tilt

2010 WSOP Bracelet Winner James "Flushy" Dempsey has signed a sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker.

The 27-year-old from Brighton in the U.K. has earned over $1 million online and $735k live since 2005 - $511,867 of which came at this year's WSOP, when he won the $1,500 Omaha bracelet and finished second to Sam Farha in the $10,000 Omaha 8 event.

"I couldn't be more excited," said Dempsey. "This is such a dream of mine. I've worked very hard for this over the years and to have won a bracelet and now this - it's just fantastic."

The WPT Wants You

The World Poker Tour has put out an open casting call looking to find "the most brutally honest poker analyst we can find" for a new recurring TV segment called "The Raw Deal."

The tour is looking for someone opinionated and fearless to bring their brilliant insights from the couch to a new seat right next to WPT stars Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten and Kimberly Lansing.

Auditions are being held in person at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT and online on the WPT's "Raw Deal" Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/WorldPokerTour) where you can upload a 45-second video.

Submissions are open now until Aug. 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

PartyGaming and bwin Merge

Two of the biggest and most powerful sites in online gaming are joining forces.

On July 29, bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming PLC agreed to merge and form a combined entity incorporated in Gibraltar and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

"This business combination makes great strategic, operational and financial sense," said Norbert Teufelberger, Co-Chief Executive of bwin. "We will be in pole position to capitalize on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry."

"With market-leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino and games (in particular bingo), the enlarged group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cashflow generation and a highly experienced management team," added Jim Ryan, Chief Executive of PartyGaming.

Under the merger, bwin's assets and liabilities will be transferred to PartyGaming

The move is still awaiting shareholder approval.

CardRunners Finds New Blood

CardRunners signed Norwegian Pot-Limit Omaha phenom Andreas Torbergsen as its newest instructor this week.

Playing under the names Skjervoy and Skjervøy, he's made over $1 million dollars on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

"When asking around the poker community about the best PLO players in the world, Andreas's name consistently came up as someone we need to have at CardRunners," said CardRunners founder Taylor Caby.

"He represents the first pro from outside North America on Team CardRunners as well as our first team member who exclusively plays PLO."

PKR Sponsors London's Newest Poker Club

PKR.com and the Fox Poker Club have signed a sponsorship deal for London's first fully licensed poker venue.

The Fox Poker Club in association with PKR.com will open on Aug. 7 on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the heart of London's West End.

The 6,500 square-foot club will have space for 200 players, as well as a poker library, smoker's deck and a bar/lounge.

Check out the web site www.foxpokerclub.com for more.

Poker Pro Magazine Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Five years after promising to publish a poker magazine that would "tell it like it is" in an upscale, professional-looking format, Poker Pro Magazine is still in print.

"We wanted to create a publication that would not be left on the cardroom floor, but instead would be taken home and put on the coffee table," said Editor-in-Chief John "Johnny Quads" Wenzel. "That was a first in the poker world."

To celebrate its five-year anniversary the August edition of Poker Pro features a retrospective of the first 60 covers, as well as its usual mix of profiles, news, strategies and moneymaking tips from the game's top professionals.

Visit PokerListings.com

Canadian Poker Tour Exceeds Revenue Expectations, Prepares For Canadian Open Poker Championships

One of the major players in the Canadian poker scene, Heads Up Entertainment – which owns the Canadian Poker Tour and will host the upcoming Canadian Open Poker Championships in August – is the subject of good news on the financial front in a time when such reports are rare for various poker tournament schedules and companies.

Heads Up Entertainment (listed under the stock ticker “HDUP” on the OTC Pink Sheets)  last week reported that their revenues for tournament entries and corporate sponsorships have exceeded their expectations. Their July tournaments, including the recently completed Stampede Poker Classic, saw a 30% increase in total player registrations. According to Kelly Kellner, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Heads Up Entertainment, the growing success of the CPT should only extend up to the upcoming COPC.

“Right now, we’re ahead of schedule with player registrations for the COPC compared to past years,” Kellner stated in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily. “Everything is looking very good for the COPC, but there’s always some concerns that you have directing such a big event. I constantly am thinking, ’what if no one shows up,’ and then the next minute thinking, ’what if everyone shows up’. There’s no point of happiness until the tournament goes off,” Kellner said with a laugh.

The news from player registrations has been exceptionally good. Heads Up Entertainment expects a complete sell out for the COPC, which will put total revenues from just the COPC and the Stampede Poker Classic at around $250,000 (Canadian dollars). Overall revenues from events that have been held by the CPT have passed $400,000 to this point in 2010.

Several corporate sponsors have stepped up to support the COPC in August. Kellner stressed the importance of those sponsors in not only being critical to the bottom line, but also important in working with the local community. “We have lined up three major sponsors for the COPC,” Kellner told Poker News Daily. “Big Rock Brewery is a local Calgary company and one of their best products, Gopher Lager, is also a part of the COPC. Joining those companies is another quality sponsor in Dank Energy Drink.” Kellner also stated that he is “continuously” looking for other sponsors that want to be a part of such a prestigious tournament.

With the fields for the COPC tournaments quickly filling up, Kellner stressed the importance of early registration to ensure players can get into the events they want. “Pre-registering for tournaments can be done on the tournament’s website and players don’t have to prepay for any event other than the Heads Up Championship,” Kellner says. “It is definitely looking like this year’s COPC will surpass everyone’s expectations.”

Kellner also noted that Heads Up Entertainment is looking to improve its standing as a publicly traded company. “We are going through the processes to become a fully reporting member (reporting in-depth financials quarterly is a must for any publicly traded company) and, as such, to be able to move from the pink sheets to a higher level of investment,” Kellner reported. “Heads Up Entertainment is a solid organization and a good opportunity for investors.”

The COPC is Canada’s version of a national championship, with their penultimate event, the $5000 Heads Up Championship, serving as their Main Event. From August 19th to the 29th, eleven events will take place (including the $5K) over three casinos located in Calgary. The Deerfoot Inn and Casino, the Grey Eagle Casino and the Cash Casino will all be running events during the COPC. Satellites will run at all three casinos, with different events during the COPC schedule to be held at each casino. Buy ins range from $170 for satellite tournaments to the $5000 Heads Up Championship.

The COPC has been popular with everyone in the poker world, from grinders looking for an inexpensive event to top pros looking for a major championship. Over the past few years, such players as former COPC Heads Up Champion Huck Seed, former World Champions Phil Hellmuth and Joseph Hachem, Canadian poker professionals Brad Booth, Gavin Smith and Greg Mueller, and other poker pros such as Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly have played in COPC events. Because of the strength of the fields throughout the ten day schedule – and the entertainment organized by Heads Up Entertainment during off nights – it is extremely likely that this year’s COPC will be one of the largest poker festivals in Canadian poker history.

Jennifer Tilly wins $5,000 Bellagio Cup VI for $125,000

Poker couple Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly didn’t have a great WSOP – no final tables, no notable cashes; Phil set an endurance record that was promptly smashed by Austrians... not great. However, Liar Liar and Bride of Chucky star turned WSOP Ladies’ bracelet-winner Jennifer Tilly managed to make up for it.

Jennifer Tilly won the Bellagio Cup $5k Tournament and $124,000 dollars

Actress and poker player Jennifer Tilly proved her talent again by winning the Bellagio Cup VI $5K tournament.

Tilly won other 90 players of the Bellagio CUP VI Event #23 $5,000 + $180 tournament. The world also got to hear from Jennifer’s victory through her boyfriend Phil “Unabomber” Laak’s Twitter:

“Holla! My girl just shipped the 5k Bellagio! Max ship. Max joy.”

The results:
1 Jennifer Tilly, Sherman Oaks, CA $124,455
2 Danny Yousefzadeh, Roslyn, NY $112,528
3 Dmitry Vitkind, Moscow, Russia $97,040
4 Mark Entwistle, Windsor, England $34,044
5 Robbie Verspui, Gibraltar, Gibraltar $27,661
6 Rodger Johnson, Grand Forks, ND $21,278
7 Ray Qartomy, Sugar Land, TX $14,894
8 Michael Friedrich, Zurich, Switzerland $10,639
9 Alexander Gomes, Curitiba, Brazil $8,511

After this victory Tilly has already cashed nearly $700,000 dollars from live tournaments.

Sources: 2+2, Bellagio and TheHendonMob

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Jennifer Tilly won the Bellagio Cup $5k Tournament and $124,000 dollars

Heads-Up: WSOP Day 24 Recap

Plenty of big-time tournaments were on display Sunday, with the $10k No-Limit Hold'em Championship final table as the main course.

A champion was also crowned in the $1k Seniors Championship, while a slew of former WSOP POYs battled it out in $3k H.O.R.S.E.

Here's a look around the WSOP on Day 24:

Event #34 - $1k Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Harold Angle outlasted the rest at the final table, winning a first-place prize of $487,994 and taking down the bracelet at the $1k Seniors Championship.

This event was open for registration to anyone over age 50, so there weren't any online whiz kids in the field of 3,142 players.

That doesn't mean there weren't a slew of great players in the field, including Tom Schneider, who finished 14th and cashed for $22,805.

This tournament saw a huge increase in attendance over 2009, when 2,707 players were in the field.

Event #35 - $10k Heads-Up Hold'em Championship

This 256-player event did not play down to a winner on Sunday as was originally scheduled.

The final two players, Ayaz Mahmood and Ernst Schmejkal, played the first of three heads-up matches until 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and decided to call it a night. Mahmood took the first match but they will return to decide a winner at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Vanessa Rousso finished in the quarterfinals for $94,956 while Russian Alex Kostritsyn lost in the quarterfinals $219,969. Gavin Smith, Alex Kravchenko and Chris Moorman also made it into the money.

Event #36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1b of this event drew 1,119 entrants, bringing the combined Day 1s total to 3,649.

We saw a good portion of the Day 1b field eliminated today, as only 165 players made it through.

Soheil Shamseddin will be amongst the chip leaders coming back after a terrific run in Day 1b.

Day 2 commences at 2:30 p.m. Monday with all 455 surviving players from Day 1a and 1b.

Event #37- $3k H.O.R.S.E.

The mixed games format continues to gain popularity at the WSOP, as 478 players registered for $3K H.O.R.S.E.

219 of poker's most well-rounded players came back Sunday for Day 2, with lots of notable names in attendance.

David Benyamine, John Juanda, Phil Ivey and Jeff Lisandro were a few of the sharks terrorizing the field on Day 2, and each of the four pros had chips to work with when the money bubble burst at 48 players.

Chau Giang, Robert Williamson III, Daniel Negreanu and Michael Binger were amongst the unlucky contenders eliminated before the cash.

By the end of the day 25 players remained with Juanda in the chip lead with 393,000 and Phil Ivey lurking in seventh place with 200,000.

We're scheduled to play down to a champion Monday, with the winner set to pocket $329,840.

Day 3 begins at 3 p.m. Monday.

Event #38- $10k Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship

268 deep-pocketed players hit the felt for the beginning of the $10k PLO Championship, and as expected a ton of big names registered for the event.

Daniel Negreanu, Annette Obrestad, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Tom Dwan and Jennifer Tilly were all in attendance on Day 1.

By the end of the day Tilly, Dwan, Ferguson, Obrestad were all eliminated but Negreanu will take a decent stack into Day 2.

Tom "Kingsofcards" Marchese was the man of the hour, however, as he finished with 334,000 for the chip lead.

Day 2 will kick off at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

For a full account of how day 24 of the WSOP 2010 played out, click through to PokerListings' WSOP coverage.

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Madhouse: WSOP Day 20 Recap

The big-name pros were left wanting as William Haydon, David Warga and Jeff Tebben all snagged WSOP bracelets.

In addition Event 31 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and Event 30 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em kicked off to really pack the Pavilion Room with players.

Here's a look at what went down on Wednesday:

Event 26 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max

A total of 15 players entered the final day of Event 26 but it took more than 12 hours to find a winner.

Noted pro Erik Cajelais was eliminated in the early stages while Justin "BoostedJ" Smith busted just one player away from the final table of six.

In the end relatively unknown Californian William Haydon won the tournament and scored a massive $630,000 pay day.

Event 24 - $1k No-Limit Hold-em

After four grueling days of poker, event 24, a $1,000 No-Limit event, ended today. The small buy in brought in a massive field of 3,289 players but only one was lucky enough to grind his way through the field to be crowned the winner.

Jeff Tebben defeated JD McNamara heads up in a match that took about an hour from start to finish but that appeared to be the easy part. At one point during the final table, Tebben found himself in last place with hardly any chips. A bit of luck with some skill sprinkled on top turned everything around and ended up with Tebben taking home the bracelet as well as $503,389.

Event 27 - $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo

Day 3 of the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event started with 23 players and had the potentially to be a very, very long final table.

Instead David Warga outlasted everyone in 11 hours of play. Warga beat noted players like David Levi and Karina Jett to win his second WSOP bracelet for $208,682.

If the name Warga sounds familiar that's because he won the Casino Employees Event in 2002.

Event 30 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events are always popular at the WSOP and Event 30 was no exception.

A total of 2,394 players bought into Day 1 of the tournament including big name pros like Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly, Kara Scott, Joe Sebok and John Juanda all looking to build a huge stack.

Unfortunately they were all amongst the 2,106 players who busted on Day 1.

PokerListings blogger Matt Stout finished as one of the chip leaders with nearly 74,000 chips. Carlos Mortensen, Neil Channing and Darryl Fish were also among the chip leaders.

The money bubble will certainly burst tomorrow as the top 243 players will get paid. The goal is to go all the way to a final table of nine.

Action resumes at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Event 28 - $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha

Day 2 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha saw 102 runners play down to just 12.

Michael Binger, T.J. Cloutier, John Shipley, Sandra Naujoks and Chau Giang were amongst the players to fall on Day 2.

The final day of Event 28 will play out with a relatively unknown group although Joe Serock, Tommy Le and Michael Greco are short-stacked.

Day 3 will kick off at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Event 29 - $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship

The $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship went late into the night as the players trudged their way through day 2.

The story in this event is more about who isn't going to be here tomorrow than who is. Early on there were high expectations from players such as Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, and several others. In the end, none of them would survive to make day three.

Instead it's $50,000 HORSE Event winner Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi that the handicappers have their eyes on with 250,000 chips.  A few other notables making into day three are: David Baker, Brock Parker, David Chiu.

Action will recommence at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Event 31 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Event 31, the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament kicked off today and drew 828 players.

"This is the softest H.O.R.S.E. event I've ever seen in my life. It's ridiculous!" Greg Mueller was overheard saying. He may be right as it's clearly one of the biggest HORSE tournaments the WSOP has ever seen.

A sea of unknowns speckled with familiar faces flooded the Amazon Room at 5pm. By the 3am quitting time, only about 270 players were left standing; an impressive number of bustouts to say the least.

Ming Reslock's 50,000 chips are good for the lead. She's followed closely by Jesse Rios and James Van Alstyne.

Play resumes tomorrow at 3pm.

For more information on how this action-packed day played out at the series, click through to the PokerListings WSOP page.

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Ladies Night: WSOP Day 15 Recap

More than 1,000 ladies entered the Rio Pavilion Room for the $1k Ladies Championship, with plenty of big names from both the celebrity and poker communities.

November Niner Eric Buchman also broke through with his first bracelet win as did online pro David "Bakes" Baker.

Here's a look around the day:

Event #18 - $2k Limit Hold'em

Eric Buchman added to an already impressive poker resume, taking down the bracelet from a field of 476 players.

The bracelet win is first for Buchman, who impressed many with his run to fourth place in the 2009 WSOP November Nine.

Buchman has expressed disappointment in not finishing higher in the 2009 Main Event, making Friday's bracelet win even more special for the 30-year-old New York pro.

"I made a lot of money, and I had a great experience. So it was bittersweet. But this is total satisfaction. This feels good."

Buchman takes home $203,607 for the win.

Event #19 - $10k 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) Championship

With a small field of 101 elite players beginning this event, we were almost guaranteed to have an electric final table.

The tournament didn't disappoint, with John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel both making in to the final seven.

In the end young online pro David "Bakes" Baker outlasted the formidable field and took the title, WSOP bracelet and $294,314 in cold hard cash for first place.

In winning the event Baker also put himself in contention for WSOP Player of the Year thanks to his sixth place finish in the $50k Player's Championship.

Event #20 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha

We began the day close to the money bubble in the latest PLO event, as 95 players came back Friday to play for 81 money spots.

Nenad Medic and Blair Rodman are two of the notables coming back for Day 3 Saturday, as play resumes at 2:30 p.m. and goes to a winner.

Finishing in the cash on Day 2 was Matt Stout, Ted Lawson and Robert Williamson III.

Event #21 - $1.5k Seven-Card Stud

Sorel Mizzi had a huge day, staying near the top of the chip leaderboard for most of the day.

If he can hang on at Saturday's final table, the first-place prize of $140,467 awaits. He will have to get past pros like Alex Kravchenko and Richard Ashby if he's to win his first WSOP bracelet.

Scott Seiver and Chip Jett were amongst the notables finishing in the cash.

Event #22 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Championship

The biggest spectacle at the Rio Convention Center Friday revolved around the $1k Ladies Championship.

Svetlana Gromenkova ended Day 1 with one of the biggest stacks in the room, but she was just one of many notables on hand in the field of 1,054.

Tiffany Michelle, Vanessa Rousso, Shannon Elizabeth, Liv Boeree and Lacey Jones were all in the field, as just about every major female poker personality was on hand.

Also in the field was Victory Poker spokesperson and 2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood and actress/poker superstar Jennifer Tilly.

Play resumes Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Event #23 - $2.5k Limit Hold'em Six-Handed

The $2.5k Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event brought out a bunch of poker's big names on Day 1, with the first-place prize of $234,065 on the mind of the 384 combatants.

Justin Bonomo, JC Tran, Shawn Buchanan and Phil Gordon were amongst the big names near the top of the leaderboard as Day 1 came to a close.

Players reconvene for Day 2 at 3 p.m. Saturday.

For a full account of how day 15 of the WSOP 2010 played out, click through to PokerListings' WSOP coverage.

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Jennifer Tilly Interview

Jennifer Tilly is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner as well as an award winning actress. We caught up with her at the Bellagio as she was spotting her boyfriend, poker player Phil “The Unabomber” Laak. He was busy playing the $10-$20 No Limit Hold’em table while setting the world record for poker endurance, which was eventually set at 115 consecutive hours of poker.

In this interview with our team on-site at the Bellagio, Tilly talks about what Laak’s accomplishments mean not just to poker but to regular people as well as her pulse of the WSOP events taking place in town. She also hilariously and shamelessly plugs herself for the WSOP Tournament of Champions, which she is eligible to qualify for if she receives enough votes.

June 7th – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal: strip poker at the WSOP and Men Nguyen shows why he’s The Master. Also, Annette Obrestad signs on to represent her country, and Phil Laak sets what could be an unbeatable poker record.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson; welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

The WSOP was definitely eventful this weekend. Men “The Master” Nguyen joins Phil Ivey and Billy Baxter in the exclusive Seven Bracelet club. Nguyen won his fourth Stud bracelet at this year’s Seven-Card Stud World Championship. As a fun side note, the final table had Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Vladimir Schmelev facing each other yet again after their recent one-two finish in the $50,000 Player’s Championship.

Event number nine strengthens out belief that 2010 is the year of women – and the year of Brits. The fifteen hundred pot-limit Hold’em bracelet was scooped by English pro James “Flushy” Dempsey. For the ladies, this seems to be the first time in WSOP history that three women have finished in the top thirteen spots in an open event: J.J. Liu, Julie Farkas, and Melissa Hayden came out on the top thirteen out of 657 entrants.

Another WSOP first came about on Saturday when Canadian student Pascal LeFrancois took down the fifteen hundred no-limit hold’em event… and then took off his shirt in celebration. Apparently it’s something of an inside joke between him and his poker posse, who call themselves “Team V-Neck.”

Finally, last night saw the final table of Event eleven play down to the winner with Tom Dwan eventually landing in the final three. There were cheers both for Dwan and against him by his peers and fans as the side action on him winning a bracelet was rumored to be within seven to eight figures. Unfortunately for durrrr he lost heads up and missed out on the chance to win his first World Series Bracelet.

Moving to global poker news, Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad will join Thor Hansen to play for Norway’s honor in World Team Poker. It has not been announced when these fearsome Nordic players will take to the felts in the Tour’s World Championship, but the poker world expects a good deal of Viking pillaging will take place.

The energizer bunny may be out of a job if his bosses ever find out about Phil Laak. The effervescent poker pro has spent the last week trying to set the new world record for poker endurance. The previous record was an impressive seventy-eight hours, so Laak was aiming for eighty. Once he hit eighty, he decided to go for ninety, and Laak went on to 106 hours… and counting. Last night we were at the Bellagio and filmed an interview with both Laak and Jennifer Tilly which will make its way up on the site very soon.

Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. This is Sean Gibson, good luck on the flop!

Phil Laak Logs 115 Hours of Poker in Guinness World Record Attempt

Unabomber Poker pro Phil Laak endured 115 straight hours of poker, a new Guinness World Record. That’s nearly three traditional work weeks compacted into just under five days. Laak’s enduro challenge played out at a $10/$20 cash game at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Laak shattered the old record of 78 hours set by Paul Zimbler last year by nearly 40 hours. His original goal was 80 hours, which was later extended to 100. By hour #115, or 4.8 days, Laak called it quits. As you’d expect, the crowd was electric as Laak stood on his chair in the middle of the Bellagio poker room to celebrate his 100th hour seated at the felts. His girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly, supported him throughout the endeavor as some fans screamed for the poker pro to shoot for 100 more. ESPN “E:60” cameras were on hand for the momentous occasion.

At the end of his session, a sense of relief could be felt in Laak’s Twitter feed. He posted shortly before 3:00am PT on Monday morning, “115 hours later… Bedtime… ahhhh!” In addition to being tired, Laak also lost five pounds during the course of his marathon session: “Wow – my weight was 182 – first time in 12 yrs it has been below 185!” Although he was feeling hot, his doctor informed him that he was in perfect health and running a temperature of 98.63 degrees.

Six hours before the enduro challenge’s conclusion, Laak was up $4,000. At nearly the same time, he emphatically Tweeted, “Dolphins take turns w each side of their brain when it comes to sleep – I wonder if we can learn how to do this for ourselves.” He then added that he would not follow the ways of Prahlad Friedman and Jeff Madsen to become poker’s next rapper: “Discovering that I have just about no talent for rap whatsoever.” Laak ended his Guinness World Record run up $6,766.

At the 96-hour mark, a blog found on the official website of Unabomber Poker put the four-day milestone into perspective: “Professional baseball teams can play a full series against each other in four days. Folks with day job can complete 80% of their work weeks in four days. And a driver in an automobile can go from Los Angeles to New York and back again in four days. Now imagine doing any of those things without sleep – and you’ve got an idea of where Phil is right now.” A webcam of the entire feat was available on Unabomber Poker’s website.

PocketFives.com Mod “ApesAreFun” tipped his hat to the man known as “The Unabomber,” posting, “Such a great publicity stunt. Will def increase the traffic on his new site. Congrats to him and GL!” “MastaP89” added, “much respect for laak to be degen enough to pull this off.”

Memorable Tweets from Laak during the end of the enduro challenge included “The Bellagio is like a dream, only better. Just look around. So tranquil right now. Like a Star Trek mission to a Strange New World.” In a scene reminiscent of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” Laak even accepted a prop bet to raise additional funds for Camp Sunshine: “Kaz said, ‘If U can do 30 push-ups (press-ups), I will donate $1,000 to CampSunshine.Org.’ I dropped and delivered 32. Ace Jones filmed it.”

Laak raised money for Camp Sunshine throughout the course of the 115-hour extravaganza. Congratulations from all of us here at Poker News Daily to Laak for etching his name in poker history.

Laak Smashes Guinness World Record at Bellagio

Now he’s also known for something else.

Saturday, Laak broke the World record for the longest single continuous session of poker.

"I've wanted to have a Guinness world record since I read through the book back in high school,” he said.

“This has been a wonderful journey.”

Laak began playing $10/$20 No-Limit Hold’em at the Bellagio Poker Room in Las Vegas on Wednesday just after noon. Saturday night at 8:41 p.m. PT he surpassed the 78 hour, 45 minute and 41 second record set late last year by British poker pro Paul Zimbler.

Just six hours prior, he had surpassed the official Guinness world record of 72 hours and 2 minutes set by Larry Olmsted and was shocked he’d made it that far.

"I’ve always considered 60 hours to be an uber-session,” he said. “So this is like completely new territory.

"What I don’t want to do is be one of those guys that’s like physiologically messed up (from sleep deprivation). But it feels totally like I’m pushing my body."

The high-limit section of the Bellagio poker room, where the record attempt continued to roll on through Sunday was crowded with onlookers and a slew of poker media as the clock continued to progress toward the record-breaking moment.

Laak's girlfriend, actress and former World Series of Poker ladies’ event champion Jennifer Tilly, was on hand, as was longtime friend Antonio Esfandiari.

As part of the record attempt he was allotted five minutes of break time for every consecutive hour of poker that he played.

But more often than not he pushed through the fatigue rather than taking extended breaks, relying on his momentum to keep him going.

Visit PokerListings.com

Laak Smashes Guiness World Record at Bellagio

Now he’s also known for something else.

Saturday, Laak broke the World record for the longest single continuous session of poker.

"I've wanted to have a Guinness world record since I read through the book back in high school,” he said.

“This has been a wonderful journey.”

Laak began playing $10/$20 No-Limit Hold’em at the Bellagio Poker Room in Las Vegas on Wednesday just after noon. Saturday night at 8:41 p.m. PT he surpassed the 78 hour, 45 minute and 41 second record set late last year by British poker pro Paul Zimbler.

Just six hours prior, he had surpassed the official Guinness world record of 72 hours and 2 minutes set by Larry Olmsted and was shocked he’d made it that far.

"I’ve always considered 60 hours to be an uber-session,” he said. “So this is like completely new territory.

"What I don’t want to do is be one of those guys that’s like physiologically messed up (from sleep deprivation). But it feels totally like I’m pushing my body."

The high-limit section of the Bellagio poker room, where the record attempt continued to roll on through Sunday was crowded with onlookers and a slew of poker media as the clock continued to progress toward the record-breaking moment.

Laak's girlfriend, actress and former World Series of Poker ladies’ event champion Jennifer Tilly, was on hand, as was longtime friend Antonio Esfandiari.

As part of the record attempt he was allotted five minutes of break time for every consecutive hour of poker that he played.

But more often than not he pushed through the fatigue rather than taking extended breaks, relying on his momentum to keep him going.

Visit PokerListings.com