Poker News

WSOP Main Event Days 5 and 6 Air on ESPN

With 96% of the field gone, players took to the felts for Days 5 and 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN. Three women, two former Main Event champions, and one gold bracelet remained.

The first hand shown at the feature table, which once again contained Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Jeff Shulman, saw Randy Propson and Grospellier see a flop of 10-2-6. The action went check-check to bring a king on the turn and Grospellier check-called a bet of 42,000 from Propson. The river was a deuce and Grospellier once again check-called a bet, this time 75,000. Grospellier showed A-8 for ace-high, good enough to scoop the 330,000 chip pot. Elsewhere in the room, Phil Ivey bet 40,000 on a board of 8-7-7-8-J and Charles Clark called. Ivey showed J-6 for a rivered two pair to claim the pot.

At Table Two, Andreas Flakstad shoved all-in holding pocket eights on a 7-J-2-3-5 board with three hearts. Antonio Esfandiari tanked before finally folding pocket queens. Table Two also included “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips. Back at the feature table, Brent Catalano doubled up at the expense of Joe Hachem, who joined the cast. Catalano held pocket queens in the hand, which saw Hachem miss a flush draw.

In the PokerStars-sponsored “Straight from the Pros” segment, Hachem relived a hand from the 2007 Main Event in which he stressed the importance of position. Then, back at the Rio, Estelle Denis, one of three women remaining in the field, pushed all-in over the top of a raise by J.C. Tran. However, the dealer pulled her cards into the muck. A floor supervisor, Steve Frezer, was called. After Denis told him her cards, Frezer looked at the top two cards in the deck, which did not match, and her hand was declared dead. Denis noted that she had aces.

Joe Sebok could be found alongside his cousin, Mike Linn, and both were decked out in PokerRoad gear. In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Francois Balmigere raised pre-flop with unknown cards and Hachem called from the big blind with 5-7 of diamonds. The flop came 10-5-2. Hachem checked, Balmigere bet 43,000, and Hachem called to see the turn fall an ace. Hachem once again checked, Balmigere fired out a bet of 86,000, about half the size of the pot, and Hachem folded. Balmigere held just 6-7 for a bluff.

At Table Two, Esfandiari signed a woman’s chest and promptly autographed a man’s stomach, attracting the attention of ESPN cameras. Then, his pocket aces sent Adam Sanders and his pocket tens packing after the board ran out 4-K-K-8-3. In “The Nuts,” which asked poker pros which of their peers would make ideal reality television show contestants, Phil Hellmuth claimed his agent inquired if he wanted to be on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” In one of the final hands shown during the first episode, which aired at 9:00pm ET, Phillips was all-in with kings against two players holding pocket aces. The board came 8-9-9-5-9 and one of the last celebrities left in the field hit the rails in 186th place.

The second episode profiled Day 6 at the 2009 WSOP Main Event and kicked off with a rap by bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “In terms of rapping, I’d have to put him ahead of Jeff Madsen, but behind Jay Z.” Out in the field, ESPN viewers saw two eventual November Nine members clash, as James Akenhead check-raised Steve Begleiter, who promptly re-raised to 505,000. Akenhead made the call on the 9-8-Q board with two clubs to see the three of spades hit the turn. Akenhead check-called an 850,000 chip bet to bring the river, the seven of spades. Both players checked and Begleiter scooped the massive 2.8 million chip pot with 9-7 for two pair.

Seated at the same table during the 10:00pm ET episode were Hachem, Tran, Dennis Phillips, and Peter Eastgate, a group dubbed by ESPN announcer Lon McEachern “the table of death.” Elsewhere, Dan Bilzerian, one-half of the Norman Chad-labeled “Flying Bilzerian Brothers,” was ousted by Jonathan Tamayo with his A-6 could not out-draw pocket tens. After the Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” recapped a hand with Jennifer Harman during the 2005 Main Event, Nichoel Peppe took down a pot at Table Two. Peppe and Leo Margets headlined the side table and represented the lone women remaining in the 2009 WSOP Main Event after Denis was sent packing.

Darvin Moon put in a raise to 650,000 and Ben Lamb called on a board of A-3-2-J. The river came a nine. Lamb checked, Moon bet 500,000, and Lamb folded, boosting Moon’s chip stack to 4.1 million, among the top tallies in the Amazon Room. Adam Bilzerian doubled up after calling all-in with 5-4 on a board of 6-5-2. His opponent showed J-9 for a bluff and Bilzerian’s hand held up. Bilzerian would give some of his newfound chips to John Martin after Martin was all-in with pocket nines on a 5-8-7-2 board with two spades. Bilzerian held 5-6 of the suit for flush and straight draws, but the river was the jack of hearts.

Tom Schneider, the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year, took down a 2.6 million chip pot at the feature table to close out Tuesday’s WSOP on ESPN festivities. New episodes air at 9:00pm ET on Tuesdays on ESPN and replay throughout the week.

The WSOP Main Event on ESPN: Prahlad Friedman Returns to Rapping, Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem Chase Down History

Day 5 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event saw 230 players return to the fray including three women, two brothers, and the defending champion. Peter Eastgate, however, wasn’t the only world champ left in the field, with 2005 winner Joe...

Joe Hachem Wins EPT £2,000 8-Game Event

It seems that the 8-Game format introduced at PokerStars not long ago is proving popular – if not with the players then at least with their sponsored pros. David Williams took down the $2,100 8-Game Event in the most recent WCoOP before making the final table at the inaugural £2,000 8-Game championships at the EPT London. However, he was pipped to the post by fellow PokerStars PRO Joe Hachem, 2005 WSOP Main Event winner.

PokerStars 8-Game gaining ground

Played six-handed, 8-Game features eight different poker variants, including 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold'em, Omaha 8, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Stud 8, No-Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha.

PokerStars began running cash games on the site in September 2008 and now claims 5,000 different players are sitting down at 8-Game tables each week, including as many as 200 at stakes of $40/$80 and up.

More than 150,000 8-Game hands are dealt on the site every week and the numbers just keep getting bigger.

Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem took down the £2,000 European 8-Game Championships at EPT London this week and he believes a lot of players have moved to 8-Game from H.O.R.S.E. because of the addition of No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha to the mixed limit-game format.

"I think people have switched to 8-Game from H.O.R.S.E because they don't want to just play Limit games anymore," he explained.

"The average punter who watches poker on TV is still going to be more attracted to No-Limit Hold'em. 8-Game is not really all-in poker. Although it might be in the big bet games, it's not in the Limit games. I think people want that action, but I also think the variety of 8-Game has definitely got people interested and it will keep them there."

Bodog pro David Williams made eighth in the EPT London 8-Game event, plays $40/$80 when the games are going online and took down the PokerStars WCOOP $2,100 8-Game title just last month.

He says there's an edge to be found for experienced players and that's where the attraction comes from.

"I think it's cool because everybody feels that nobody is good at all the games," he says. "That's probably true. Although it's also that a lot of the players that think they're good at all the games might not be as good as they think.

"You find a lot of players who are not as good at the Limit games as they are at No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha and that creates an interesting element where some games you are a favorite and some maybe not."

Success at 8-Game, according to Williams, comes from identifying exactly where your opponents strengths and weaknesses lie, not street to street, but game to game.

"You definitely start to realize who is weak in which games and look to play more pots with people in those games," he said.

"At the same time, you try to stay away from people who are really strong in some other games. Like if you see somebody who is making some mistakes at deuce, then you really want to try to punish that person when you are playing deuce."

In an attempt to tune up for the WSOP's prestigious $50k H.O.R.S.E. event this summer, Hachem said he started playing H.O.R.S.E. online regularly.

Unable to play the event because of prior commitments, he moved over to 8-Game soon after and is now the first European 8-Game champion.

While he does play cash, with the game changing every six hands, Hachem says he prefers 8-Game tournaments where the changes are done by the level.

He believes he can employ the same kind of tournament strategy that works in every other poker variant and understanding that could attract even more players to the format.

"Poker is poker, it doesn't matter what game it is," he said. "I'm by no means an expert in all these Limit games, but I think you can gain an advantage just understanding proper tournament strategy."

Just 60 players entered the 8-Game event at EPT London, but 245 played in the WCOOP event Williams won and he's hoping the popularity of the format continues to grow.

"Hopefully it does," he said. "But it's pretty tough, everybody playing it now is already a really good player, so it's hard to get started."

For all the action from PokerStars EPT London, including chip counts, photos and live updates, click through to PokerListings' Live Tournaments page.

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Jeff Shulman Takes Center Stage on WSOP Main Event on ESPN Coverage

Day 5 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event played out on ESPN on Tuesday night. Jeff Shulman, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Andy Black were seated at the feature table as the field narrowed from 400 players.

Holding down the fort at Table Two were several brand name pros, including Vitaly Lunkin, Prahlad Friedman, and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who will be featured once again on tonight’s installment of the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million.” Lichtenberger raised to 20,000 pre-flop with 10-5 and was met with an all-in from Lunkin, who held A-8. Lunkin told his foe, “It seems to me you are bluffing.” On Lichtenberger’s youth, ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “It seems to me he doesn’t shave yet.”

Back at the feature table, Grospellier had pocket aces cracked by Scott Buller’s pocket kings when a king hit the turn. Needing an ace or jack to hit on the river, Grospellier watched as a benign deuce fell. Meanwhile, Pasha Esfandiary, brother of Antonio Esfandiari, was ousted with aces against pocket fives when a five hit the flop. Antonio changed his last name to end in the letter “i” because he thought it looked better, while Pasha has left his last name unchanged.

Adam Bilzerian, a Vanderbilt University graduate, revealed to ESPN cameras that he renounced his citizenship to the United States after college. He penned, “America: Love it or Leave it, So I Left” and now boasts a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis. He apparently regretted his decision, noting, “You don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone.” Adam was seated directly next to his brother, Dan Bilzerian.

ESPN cameras continuously checked in on Kara Scott, whom Chad ogled for much of the night. Scott doubled up Jamin Stokes with A-K against Stokes’ pocket kings, leaving Chad to note, “Kara Scott Chad should be more careful with our money.” Back at Table Two, Carter Swidler called the all-in raise of Lunkin with pocket nines. Lunkin held A-Q and the two were off to the races. The flop came A-Q-J, giving Lunkin two pair, and a running 2-3 doubled him up. “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips promptly dropped a pot against Scott Baumstein after Baumstein hit a straight on the river.

Lunkin was crippled when his pocket aces fell to 2-5, while 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate doubled up with pocket kings against Gabe Walls’ Ad-4d. Eastgate’s chips hit the middle on a 7-3-7 board with two diamonds and the reigning champion dodged a multitude of outs to scoop the pot. Black called off his stack with pocket fours against Shulman’s pocket eights on a 10-8-5-2-5 board, leaving Chad to lament, “I didn’t see that blowup coming.” Black appeared very weary during the hand.

In the second episode, which aired at 9:00pm ET, Tom Schneider, the 2007 Player of the Year, began as the chip leader with a stack of 2.2 million. Table Two featured Esfandiari and Phillips, while the feature table remained the same. Scott doubled up at an outer table and, interestingly enough, is just the second woman to cash in back-to-back Main Events. Meanwhile, fellow female player Nichoel Peppe scooped a 2.6 million chip pot, the largest to air during the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN.

At the feature table, Shulman raked in a 323,000 chip pot after raising to 30,000 pre-flop with pocket fours. Grospellier made the call with Jh-10h and the flop came 4-8-K with two hearts. Shulman bet out 60,000 with his set and Grospellier came along to see the deuce of spades hit the turn. Shulman fired out a bet of 120,000 and Grospellier folded. Meanwhile, PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok doubled up with A-K against Q-7 after spiking a king on the river to stay alive. He had begun to put his backpack on after a seven hit the turn.

Scott doubled up again, but ultimately fell with A-2 against 5-3. The board ran out Q-6-5-5-9, leaving Chad to lament, “I am crestfallen.” Also hitting the exits was Dan Harrington, who departed after his flush draw failed to hit. Heading in the other direction was Phil Ivey, who called an all-in with A-7 against 10-6 on a 6-7-Q board for most of his chips. The turn was a nine and the river was a five, sending Mats Anderson to the rails.

Tuesday’s theatrics ended with Grospellier earning a 1.3 million chip pot with pocket aces against Tyler Patterson’s pocket tens. The board ran out Q-6-3-K-6 and, despite slipping for most of Day 5, Grospellier was back to nearly even. Three women remain along with two former Main Event champions, Eastgate and 2005 winner Joe Hachem.

Starting next week, new episodes will air from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET on ESPN.

The WSOP Main Event on ESPN: ElkY, Shulman, and the Bilzerian Brothers Take Center Stage

Four former world champions still remained in the 400-strong field that returned to play Day 4 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. Dan Harrington, Bobby Baldwin, Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem remained in the hunt for a second shot at...

WSOP on ESPN Field Makes the Money

Day 4 unfolded in front of ESPN cameras at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. November Nine member Phil Ivey presided over the feature table, while a pair of former Main Event champions headlined Table Two.

In the show’s opening montage, Ivey explained his take on the money bubble, which had yet to burst at the 2009 WSOP Main Event: “The money is nice. The money is great. Winning is definitely more important at this stage in the game.” The chip leader entering Day 4 was Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Others in the field included 2005 Main Event winner Joe Hachem, 2008 champion Peter Eastgate, and Surindar Sunar, who all appeared at Table Two. The ESPN feature table included Ivey, who noted that he had bought UFC tickets for that night.

In the first hand shown, Ivey raised to 11,000 with A-10 of hearts and Bernhard Perner made the call with Q-9. The clop came 10-J-A and Perner bet 16,500 with his up-and-down straight draw. Ivey made the call and the turn fell a three. Perner fired out 27,500 chips and Ivey once again called behind. The river was a nine and Perner finally slowed down and checked. Ivey bet 50,000, prompting a fold from Perner, securing the 166,500 chip pot for the “Tiger Woods of Poker.”

Elsewhere in the field, Jeff Norman ousted 2009 dual bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller with pocket aces against Mueller’s pocket sixes. “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips doubled up J.C. Tran with pocket tens against Tran’s wired pair of aces. Denise Malloy, a grandmother of three, made quads in a hand against John Monnette.

At Table Two, the two Main Event champions squared off. Eastgate raised to 10,500 with A-10 of clubs and Hachem called from the big blind with 8-6, including the six of diamonds. The flop came 5-7-10, all diamonds, and the action went check-check. The turn was another five. Hachem bet out 18,000 and Eastgate called to see a river nine, giving Hachem a straight. Hachem bet 25,000 and Eastgate folded, prompting the following line from the Aussie: “Think you can raise my blind with A-10? You need to muck A-10.”

Former World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup winner Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul tangled with Brian Shapiro. In the hand, Shapiro rivered a straight and then pointed to Saul and exclaimed, “You deserve that because of your hairdo.” Jack Effel issued Shapiro a warning for excessive celebration and, upon Saul complaining that Shapiro targeted him with brash comments, a one hand penalty was issued. Saul sported a mohawk. Meanwhile, Ivey’s run of cards continued, as the Full Tilt Poker pro made quads with 8-7 on a 7-J-7-8-7 board.

The Full Tilt-sponsored “Deal Me In” featured Chris Ferguson at the 2004 WSOP Main Event in a segment about protecting your hand. Meanwhile, Ivey was dealt pocket kings in a hand against Keven “Stamdogg” Stammen. ESPN announcer Norman Chad commented, “Phil Ivey with pocket kings? I think that’s illegal in 45 states.” Ivey scooped a 214,500 chip pot in the process, while Dan Harrington was shown donning a neck brace. Chad quipped, “Did he have a bad flop?” and then proceeded to laugh.

As play approached the money, hands like pocket kings, pocket tens, and A-K hit the muck pre-flop as players desperately tried to avoid earning the title of Bubble Boy. The title finally went to Kia Hamadani, who was all-in for the ante against Reed Hensel. The flop came Q-6-Q and, while Hensel held just 9-2, Hamadani could only muster 3-4. The turn came a nine, securing the win for Hensel and bursting the money bubble.

The second episode, which hit television airwaves at 9:00pm ET, began with Ferguson being shown the exit in 561st place. Meanwhile, Ivey picked up pocket aces, prompting Chad to explain, “Giving Phil Ivey aces is like giving the Incredible Hulk power bars.” Ivey raised to 16,000 pre-flop and Ben Wu called with K-Q of spades. The flop came 7-2-Q and Ivey bet 23,000 with his overpair. Wu called and the turn was an eight. Ivey bet 55,000 and Wu called, leading to a river four. Ivey asked for a count and pushed, having Wu covered. Wu tanked before finally calling and hitting the exits in 517th place.

An overly excited Marla Schwartz was shown at an outer table, while Ivey picked up A-K on the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand to scoop another sizable pot. Still remaining in the 2009 WSOP Main Event field was Justin Henry, who owns the record as the youngest Academy Award nominee ever at age eight. He earned the nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “Kramer Versus Kramer” with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Henry finished 235th in this year’s tournament.

Phil Hellmuth lost half of his stack after running into an opponent’s trips, leading to another memorable outburst. This time, Hellmuth lamented, “Oh my fucking God, I want to vomit on the floor. There goes my World Series to an absolute maniac. Those are the players that beat me. They can’t even spell poker.” No vomit was seen.

Hellmuth was eliminated later in the episode after pushing over the top of another player’s all-in with 20 big blinds behind him holding pocket aces. A player with 10-7 offsuit on a J-10-5 board called him. The turn came a seven, giving another opponent in the hand holding 8-9 a straight and cracking Hellmuth’s aces. The river came a three and Hellmuth’s run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event came to an end. He noted, “These are some of the worst players in the world over here. It’s just unbelievable.”

Schwartz continued to be boisterous, getting the best of Nick Binger in a hand with A-J against Binger’s A-10. Despite being a 70% favorite to win pre-flop, she yelled, “Let me get lucky!” The board ran out 7-Q-4-6-8 and Schwartz padded her stack. She ultimately finished in 369th place, earning $27,000.

Day 5 of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN will air from 8:00pm ET to 10:00pm ET next Tuesday.

Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo Event to Air on CBS Sports

For the next two weekends, CBS will air the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo tournament. The show will air on Saturday, September 19th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm ET and on Saturday, September 26th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm ET.

Both shows will air prior to college football. Vanessa Rousso, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented in a press release distributed by the online poker site on Friday, “Each year at the World Series of Poker, I make it a point to play in Ante Up for Africa. It’s amazing that PokerStars hosted the event in Monte Carlo to help a worthy cause and bring some fun to the table during one of their biggest events of the year.” In this author’s home market, the show does not air on September 19th, but rather only the 26th. Viewers are encouraged to check their local listings for details, as college football dates, times, and channels vary by market.

The tournament took place in April in the storied European principality during the Monte Carlo Grand Final festivities. The casino is the host venue for the end-of-season European Poker Tour (EPT) event and attracted a star-studded lineup of celebrities and poker players for the Ante Up for Africa contest. Among those in attendance were St. Louis rapper Nelly, singer Christina Milian, The Dream, “Heroes” actor James Kyson Lee, “Sex in the City” actor Jason Lewis, Good Charlotte band member Joel Madden, U.K. presenter Kirsty Gallacher, rapper Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, F1 racer Nico Rosberg, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and rugby players Sebastien Chabal and Mike Tindall.

Representing Team PokerStars Pro were Rousso, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, 2005 Champion Joe Hachem, 2008 Champion Peter Eastgate, Italian poker pro Dario Minieri, Victor Ramdin, and Caesars Cup Captain Daniel Negreanu. The €4,000 buy-in tournament generated more than €260,000 for the Ante Up for Africa charity, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. A total of €160,000 was raised through tournament buy-ins, while PokerStars generously kicked in an additional €100,000.

Among those prizes awarded were a trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2010. The tournament, which is held annually in the Bahamas, serves as the lone Western Hemisphere stop on the EPT circuit. A tournament summary distributed by the world’s largest online poker site offered the following insight into the ongoing Darfur crisis: “More than 400,000 people have died and more than four million have lost their homes in Darfur since the conflict began. To date, Ante Up For Africa has raised close to $2 million for the cause.”

Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker pro Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein. An annual $5,000 buy-in tournament is held to benefit the charity during the WSOP in Las Vegas. This year, the spectacle came to life on cable station ESPN and featured Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Charles Barkley, and Jason Alexander. Representing the poker world were the likes of Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth, who served as the event’s emcee. This year’s gala raised more than $600,000.

In August, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) featured a fundraiser for Ante Up for Africa in the form of a $120 buy-in tournament. A total of 2,367 players bought into the event, which was won by “warren_ace1.” Full Tilt donated the entire $20 entry fee to Ante Up for Africa.

CBS to air Ante Up For Africa Monte Carlo

Two one-hour shows featuring action from the star-studded event to benefit Darfur are set to air on the US network Today [Sept. 19] at 1:30 p.m. EST and Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. EST, leading into its popular college football coverage.

Modelled on the World Series of Poker's Ante Up For Africa event created by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein, the $6,000 buy-in event saw stars from the worlds of television, sports and music take on a host top poker professionals.

Celebrities including Christina Milian, Nelly, Joel Madden, Jason Lewis, James Lee, and Boris Becker were joined by Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem and Vanessa Rousso on the felt.

Former Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier actually won the tournament defeating English football legend Teddy Sheringham heads-up.

All of the prize money was donated to help fund the work of charities that provide aid and assistance to the humanitarian efforts in Darfur.

"Each year at the World Series of Poker, I make a point to play in Ante Up for Africa," said Rousso.

"It's amazing that PokerStars hosted the event in Monte Carlo to help a worthy cause and bring some fun to the table during one of their biggest events of the year."

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Joe Hachem, Jeffrey Lisandro Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

Day 3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event hit television airwaves on ESPN on Tuesday night, with two hours of coverage dedicated to the festivities. Seated at the feature table were two Aussies, Joe Hachem and Jeffrey Lisandro.

Lisandro became the fifth player in WSOP history to take home three bracelets in a year and has logged 29 cashes since 2004. Hachem took down the 2005 Main Event and ignited a poker boom of his own in Australia. Joining the duo from Down Under was George Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. On the first hand, Lisandro raised to 3,600 with pocket eights and, after peeking down at pocket queens, Hachem made it 9,600. Lisandro called to see a flop of 10-4-2. Lisandro checked, Hachem bet 16,000, and Lisandro quickly released his hand, igniting chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!”

ESPN announcer Norman Chad commented that, while Phil Ivey remains his perennial pick to win the WSOP Main Event, Lisandro’s heroics in 2009 make him a close second: “Let’s assume that aliens come down and lure Phil Ivey away to a cash game mother ship, then I must turn to Jeffrey Lisandro.” Ville Wahlbeck was the only player remaining in the field that could catch Lisandro for WSOP Player of the Year honors. However, he’d need a seventh place finish or better in order to do so. Wahlbeck was seated at Table Two during the 8:00pm ET episode alongside Kenny Tran.

Also found in the field were Ivey and Phil Hellmuth. “The Poker Brat” found that one of his tablemates, Lauchlin McKinnon, did not want to shake his hand. Instead, his opponent told Hellmuth, “I don’t respect anything you do. I think you’re a complete prick.” Hellmuth joked, “I think this is going to be a good day.” Elsewhere in the Amazon Room, Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande pushed with A-10 of diamonds for 20 big blinds and rivered a flush to double up. Chad labeled him a “survivor,” a reference to his appearance on the China installment of the CBS reality franchise.

Kent Senter, who is undergoing stem cell treatment for an incurable form of cancer, was all-in with pocket tens against Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier’s pocket jacks. The board ran out K-5-3-3-5, giving Grospellier the win and sending Senter home. He was met with a herd of television cameras upon his departure. Grospellier is a PokerStars pro; his site began sponsoring chip count leaderboard graphics on Tuesday night on ESPN.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Daniel Negreanu battling against Sammy Farha in a hand during the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu folded a straight after a third spade hit the river to give Farha a flush. Negreanu, the captain of the Team Americas squad that will compete in the Caesars Cup, told ESPN cameras, “He’s either bluffing here or I’m dead.”

Negreanu’s comrade on Team PokerStars Pro, Hachem, was featured in the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the cards of one player are not shown so the audience can play along at home. Hachem raised to 4,100 pre-flop with the Wild Card hand and Claus Nielsen called with pocket threes. The flop came 8-2-5 and Nielsen checked. Hachem fired out a bet of 6,200 and Nielsen made the call. The turn was a deuce and Nielsen put in a check-raise to 32,000, causing Hachem to relinquish K-Q.

Also in the field was former November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who relived tossing out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. However, he wound up throwing the ball directly at the ground. Wahlbeck then hit the skids after running pocket queens into pocket kings, leading to an announcement from WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack that Lisandro had claimed Player of the Year honors. Ivey then moved to Grospellier’s table, leaving Chad to remark, “Poker’s superpowers clash.”

The second episode of Tuesday night kicked off at 9:00pm ET and continued coverage of Day 3 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. David “Devilfish” Ulliott joined the cast at Table Two, while Hellmuth found himself flanking Josh Arieh. Former Main Event winners Peter Eastgate (2008), Greg Raymer (2004), Dan Harrington (1995), Hachem (2005), and Hellmuth (1989) all remained alive to begin the episode, but Raymer quickly found himself on the sidelines after running pocket tens into pocket aces.

Lunkin doubled up after rivering a straight, causing Chad to lament, “I know Lunkin has played good, but I can’t tell you how ridiculously good he’s run. He should be halfway back to Moscow on an Aeroflot flight in coach.” Meanwhile, Nielsen bet out on an ace-high board after raising pre-flop with just 8-4. However, Hachem laid down pocket queens and Lisandro released pocket kings, giving the pot to Nielsen.

The Full Tilt Poker sponsored segment “Deal Me In” featured Howard Lederer taking on Hellmuth in a hand from the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, which was ultimately won by Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.

Hevad Khan cheerily smiled at ESPN cameras, leading to the following comment from announcer Lon McEachern: “That’s the first real sign of life from him we’ve seen in two years.” Khan finished sixth in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. His lively antics resulted in the “Hevad Khan rule” against excessive player celebrations. Elsewhere in the dwindling field, J.C. Tran and Joe Sebok doubled up, while L.A. Lakers Guard Jordan Farmar was eliminated. Also hitting the exits was “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, whose opponent made trips on the river.

Finally, “The Nuts” featured Chad and Hellmuth taking turns in a dunk tank. After Chad, a southpaw, finally sent Hellmuth to a watery demise, he commented, “I took more pleasure out of dunking you than anything in my whole life. That was two honeymoons rolled into one.”

New episodes of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN air on Tuesdays at 8:00pm ET and are repeated throughout the week on ESPN’s family of networks.

WSOP on ESPN Ratings Reach Highest Levels of 2009

With Day 3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event set to kick off on Tuesday night on ESPN, network officials have announced that ratings for the September 8th broadcast were the highest of the 2009 season.

The preview for next week’s WSOP Main Event on ESPN broadcast features 11-time bracelet winner and 1989 Main Event champion Phil Hellmuth proclaiming, “Turbulence is coming.” However, it’s been smooth sailing so far for ESPN during the 2009 installment of the world’s most prestigious tournament series. The 8:00pm ET hour of last week’s telecast scored a 0.97 rating, while the second hour came in at 1.13. So far, the network is 11% ahead of last year’s resoundingly successful broadcast.

Doug White, ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions, told Poker News Daily, “We’re all very pleased with the ratings thus far. We try not to get too high or low on ratings, but it’s nice when things are moving in a positive direction, so we’re extremely pleased with it.” White was instrumental in keeping the WSOP on ESPN until at least April of 2018 under an extension inked one month ago.

The September 8th broadcast logged a 0.93 rating during the first hour and 0.73 rating during the second hour among males age 18 to 34. The telecast turned in a 0.88 average rating among males age 18 to 49 and 1.03 for males age 25 to 54. ESPN’s broadcast on September 8th netted 954,000 household impressions during the first hour and 1.11 million during the second hour.

ESPN’s WSOP ratings have trended upwards in recent weeks and the network will broadcast its 15th hour-long installment on Tuesday night at 8:00pm ET. On the rise in the ratings, White speculated, “I’d like to think it’s because the quality of our shows are great. Our talent has been tremendous and the production quality has been excellent.” Lon McEachern and Norman Chad once again provide commentary for two hours each week, with Chad recently falling to Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer in a chess match during the popular segment “The Nuts.”

Next week’s Day 3 coverage teases the presence of Hellmuth, Jeffrey Lisandro, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Humberto Brenes, Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, and Andy Black. In it, McEachern dramatically narrates, “With the field now united, it means our next Main Event champion is in the building. Amongst the players still in the hunt are some of the biggest names in the game, including one man who is the clear favorite to become Player of the Year.” McEachern alludes to Lisandro, who took home three bracelets in the preliminary tournaments leading up to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event for nearly $750,000 total.

The 2009 WSOP Main Event final table features an assortment of characters, including fan favorite Phil Ivey and CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who has threatened to throw away the Main Event bracelet should he win. On Shulman and Ivey’s presence at the final table, White commented, “I don’t know if it sways our audience positively or negatively, but it brings about discussion. People are talking about it and that’s a good thing. It means the final table is on people’s minds. It’s a fantastic opportunity for players to showcase their personalities and skills on the biggest stage in poker.”

Here is a look at the remaining first-run episodes of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN. Replays also hit airwaves throughout the week on ESPN’s family of stations, so check local listings for more information. All times are Eastern:

September 15th to September 29th: 8:00pm to 10:00pm
October 6th to November 3rd: 9:00pm to 11:00pm
November 10th: 9:00pm to 11:30pm: WSOP Main Event Final Table

Sumpas Claims WCOOP High Roller Title; ternoplayer Wins Event #9

It was a busier Sunday than normal on the virtual poker felts as the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) recommenced with three events, two of which played down to a champion early Monday morning. The $215 No Limit Hold ‘em (Event #9) drew a field of 11,131 players, while the $10,300 No Limit Hold ‘em High Roller (Event #10) attracted nearly 300 of the wealthiest and most respected poker players in the world.

The $10,300 High Roller Event easily surpassed its $2 million guarantee as 299 entrants produced a prize pool of $2,990,000. A first-place prize of $611,455 of was on the line as well as the coveted WCOOP gold bracelet, which was won by Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin in the High Rollers event in 2008.

Several Team PokerStars Pro members participated in the tournament, including Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Ylon Schwartz, Steve Paul-Ambrose, J.C. Alvarado, Katja Thater, William Thorson, Dennis Phillips, Alexandre Gomes, and Hevad Khan. Fellow team member John Duthie made the final table, taking eighth place for $74,750.

The final table was loaded with big names as it formed late into the night. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul entered with the chip lead, while Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman, Peter “Belabacsi” Traply, Mike “Sowerss” Sowers and Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman were among the others vying for the title.

Sumpas, hailing from Sweden, took the chip lead into three-handed play and eliminated Saul shortly after Saul declined a three-way chip chop of the remaining prize money. With the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,250 ante, Sumpas raised to 21,400 on the button and Saul re-raised to 56,530 from the small blind. Sowers folded his big blind and Sumpas called to see a flop of Ad-Qs-3h. Saul checked, Sumpas fired 46,500 into the pot and Saul called. The 3d fell on the turn and Saul check-called again, this time a bet of 125,000. The river brought the 10h and Saul checked to Sumpas for a third time. The Swede moved all in, putting Saul to a decision for his remaining 453,000 chips. Saul took some time before deciding to call with Ac-8s for aces up, but Sumpas tabled Kd-Jd for a rivered straight to scoop the pot and send Saul on his way with $337,870.

Sumpas had a 5-1 chip lead over Sowers going into heads up play but the short stack battled for nearly an hour before ending his tournament on a bluff. On a board of Ks-4s-4d Sumpas bet 30,000 and Sowers check-raised to 90,000. Sumpas re-raised to 165,000 and Sowers moved all in for 748,250. Sumpas called with Kd-Tc, which had the Jh-10d of Sowers drawing nearly dead. The 7s turn and 3d river sealed the deal for Sumpas, who earned a WCOOP bracelet and $611,455 for his victory. Sowers walked away with $448,500.

The massive score was the biggest ever online for Sumpas, who also made the final table of last year’s WCOOP Main Event, taking sixth place for $415,150. Here’s a look at the final results of WCOOP Event #10:

1. Sumpas - $611,455
2. Mike “Sowerss” Sowers - $448,500
3. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul - $337,870
4. Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman - $254,150
5. Peter “Belabacsi” Trapley - $173,420
6. Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani - $134,550
7. Matias “Festivuss” Gabrenja - $104,650
8. John Duthie - $74,750
9. Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman - $56,810

Event #9 more than doubled its guarantee as an astounding number of players took part in the $215 No Limit Hold ‘em tournament on Sunday. The 11,131 generated a prize pool of $2,260,200, with the winner collecting $303,876.

It was a long, protracted day for the nine players that reached the final table. The tournament began at 1:00 ET Sunday afternoon and play didn’t conclude until after 8:00 a.m. The final table lacked the power punch of the High Rollers Event but high-stakes tournament specialist Grayson “graybone” Nichols managed to take fifth place for $89,048.

When heads-up play began Slovakia’s ternoplayer was at a considerable chip disadvantage to France’s maxisou, but the tables turned quickly. Ternoplayer doubled up holding As-Qc against maxisou’s Ah-3s and then gained the chip lead by winning a few small pots. On the final hand, maxisou raised in position preflop and ternoplayer called. The two saw a flop of Qs-Js-5h and ternoplayer checked to maxisou, who led out for 1.6 million. Ternoplayer raised to 4 million and maxisou moved all in for around 18 million. Ternoplayer called with Kc-Qd and had his opponent’s Jc-8h in bad shape. The 8d landed on to turn to give maxisou the lead but the river brought the Kd, giving ternoplayer the pot, the WCOOP title and the first-place payday of $303,876.

WCOOP Event #9 Results:

1. ternoplayer - $303,876
2. maxisou - $214,828
3. micha88 - $155,834
4. r&g2007 - $111,310
5. Grayson “graybone” Nichols - $89,048
6. akilam77 - $66,786
7. PanjoDeLuxe - $44,524
8. masterpice - $22,262
9. SoulMaster7 - $13,913

WSOP Ratings Up Across the Board

Six weeks of World Series of Poker (WSOP) coverage have broadcast on ESPN and the dip in ratings the cable sports network saw with the airing of the preliminary events does not appear to be carrying over to the all-important Main Event coverage. ESPN is reporting gains in all categories and demographics from this time last year, most importantly in the coveted 18-49 year old male audience.

The two hour-long episodes that aired on Tuesday September 1st each posted solid numbers with 901,103 households tuning in for the first episode which airs from 8PM-9PM ET and 1,010,258 households viewing hour number two from 9PM-10PM. The two episodes, which centered on action from Day 2A of the Main Event, earned .91 and 1.02 ratings for each episode.

The numbers are also in for the overall performance of the WSOP coverage based on its first twelve episodes and six weeks on the air. Despite the lackluster start to the 2009 season, WSOP coverage is up in every major category. Poker News Daily spoke with ESPN media representative George McNeilly and he summed up the key places in which the WSOP is making big strides. “Through six weeks, WSOP is showing positive gains in all categories over 2008 (Households, Viewers, and all Demos),” he explained. “[Key demographics] males ages 18-49 and males ages 25-54 continue to be significant contributors to WSOP’s high ratings up to this point.”

The number of men between the ages of 18-49 watching the WSOP coverage is up 13% from 2008 and the number of 18-34 year old and 25-54 old men are up 8% and 17% respectively. On average, 777,039 households tune in to each episode of 2009 coverage, an 11% increase over the 697,787 that were watching this time last year. Household ratings made a comparable jump from 2008 to 2009 as well, up to .79 from .73.

The most recent episodes of WSOP coverage boasted a feature table lineup that included former World Series of Poker Main Event winner and PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer as well as award-winning actor and poker enthusiast Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld” fame. With a number of deep runs from actors and famous pokers alike in this year’s Main Event, there will be even more televised tables packed to the hilt with recognizable faces. Some of the people expected appear on the feature table in the coming weeks include Full Tilt Pro Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Dennis Phillips, former Main Event winners Joe Hachem and Peter Eastgate and Pokerroad’s Joe Sebok. The two hours of WSOP coverage airing on Tuesday will focus on Day 2B of this year’s Main Event.

For now, it appears that ESPN’s strategy to cut down on the preliminary events and spend more time covering the Main Event is working out for them. While it is still too early to tell for sure, the jump in ratings from the episodes featuring $40,000 anniversary Hold’em event, the Champions Invitational and Ante Up For Africa to the Main Event coverage suggests the network might be on to something.

Two new episodes of 2009 WSOP coverage will continue to air on Tuesdays from 8PM-10PM ET from now until November when the final nine players still in the Main Event will reconvene to play down to a champion.

Ireland’s Dermot Blain Wins APPT Macau

After battling through four days of action at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, Ireland’s Dermot Blain emerged as the champion of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau event on Saturday night.

The first stop of the third season of the APPT, Macau was truly a celebration of poker throughout the hotel and the casino. Many of the professionals who make up Team PokerStars, including former World Champions Joe Hachem and Chris Moneymaker along with Raymond Rahme and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, were a part of the 429 player field who put up the $5,160 buy-in to build a prize pool of over $2 million. Also making an appearance at the APPT Macau was the last man to win the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in back-to-back years, Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan. All of the former Main Event champions were unable to cash in the tournament, but top pro David Chiu lasted until the next to last day of action, finishing in 16th place for slightly over $16,000.

Three days of play led to the final table and, once the United States’ Dane Lomas was eliminated in 10th place on Friday evening, the final table was set. It was an international cast that made up the nine player table, with China’s Daoxing Chen the chip leader at roughly 1.7 million in chips. Other countries such as the United States, Canada, Sweden, Kazakhstan, and South Korea were represented at the final table. In addition to the multinational makeup of the final table, there were several combatants who came to the felt having played for less than two years, a comment on the explosion of the game in Asia.

The two Swedes at the final table, Stefan Hjorthall and Pontus Kers, provided the first fireworks of the evening. After Hjorthall moved all-in for his tournament life, Kers moved all-in over the top from his position on the button. When neither blind decided to take Kers up on his bet, the two PokerStars qualifiers turned up their hands: Hjorthall’s pocket nines held the lead against Kers’ A-Q. That lead was short-lived, however, as an ace hit the flop and, once no nine came to the rescue on the turn or river, Hjorthall took the ninth place position.

Blain began to make his move in the tournament when he eliminated Arizona’s Brandon Demes in eighth place for a $41,619 payday. Blain then continued the onslaught when his Big Slick outdrew Dbinder Singh’s pocket queens, eliminating the Canadian in seventh place. Blain took the lead at the final table for good when he captured a big pot off of Darkhan Botabayev after approximately four hours of play.

After Kers was eliminated in fifth place, the tournament came to a grinding halt. It reached a point that tournament director Danny McDonagh threatened to clock players without a request from the table to speed up play. Mindful of the warning, the four players then commenced to finish the tournament within the next hour and a half.

Chen took care of Botabayev before departing himself in third place at the hands of Blain. With the Chen elimination, it was simply a matter of time before Blain, with nearly an 8:1 lead over South Korea’s Michael Kim, captured the championship. After four hands of heads-up action, Kim moved all-in with a 10-9 and was dismayed to see Blain call and table K-10. A ten came on the flop, but no nine was to be found and Blain was crowned the champion of the APPT Macau. The final table payouts were as such:

1. Dermot Blain (Ireland) - $541,072
2. Michael Kim (South Korea) - $384,982
3. Daoxing Chen (China) - $239,315
4. Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) - $166,489
5. Pontus Kers (Sweden) - $114,459
6. Jichen Su (China) - $74,917
7. Dbinder Singh (Canada) - $52,030
8. Brandon Demes (United States) - $41,619
9. Stefan Shortfall (Sweden) - $31,221

What was to be the next stop on the APPT schedule, the APPT Seoul, has been postponed due to casino renovations at the Seven Luck Casino. The next stop will now be APPT Auckland for the Skycity Festival of Poker from October 14th through the 18th.

APPT Macau smashes records

After qualifying through a live satellite at the Grand Lisboa's PokerStars Macau Poker Room, Ireland's Dermot Blain booked the win in the main event, besting a final table that included 2009 WSOP Main Event Day 1b chip leader Brandon Demes.

Blain, 25, who recently left his job as a sales manager to play poker full time, took home approximately $538,700 for the win Sunday, marking the largest prize ever paid out in a poker tournament on Asian soil.

A total of 429 players from 46 countries created a more than $2 million prize pool for the main event, beating the previous record of $1.6 million set at last year's APPT Macau main event.

The APPT Macau High Roller event also finished Sunday with Switzerland's Vladimir Geshkenbein taking the $266,735 first-place prize.

Geshkenbein actually beat the legendary Johnny Chan heads-up, who managed to best his seventh-place finish in the very same event last year, coming second for $154,426.

The entire PokerStars.net APPT Macau Summer Festival of Poker actually featured 38 events with nearly 3,000 players and a total prize pool of $3,596,341.

"It's a wonderful experience to see the always-hospitable people of Macau and watch the sport of poker continue to grow," Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem said.

"It's truly amazing how passionate the local players at PokerStars Macau are about poker and it's abundantly obvious by not only the number of participants from Macau, Hong Kong and China, but also the great results they are having in all the events.

"I'm looking forward to coming back to the Grand Lisboa next year."

The next stop on the APPT will be in Auckland, New Zealand from October 14-18.

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Linda Johnson’s Favorite WPT Memories

I had the best job of anyone on the World Poker Tour. I got to travel all over the world, meet lots of awesome people, get my hair and makeup done, entertain an audience of poker players, and say “Shuffle Up and Deal!” I also got to work with an incredible crew including Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten.

My job as the studio announcer was to call the action (announce bet amounts, hole cards when there was an all-in, winning hands, and new blind amounts) in order to keep the audience interested. I involved the audience by playing trivia with them during breaks, telling jokes, and introducing famous poker players and celebrities between hands.

This led to a few awkward moments, of course. During a taping at the Commerce Casino, I saw Doyle Brunson walk in with someone I didn’t know and they sat down to watch. At the appropriate time, I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to have the legendary Doyle Brunson in our midst. Doyle, please give us a wave.” Doyle took off his Stetson, waved to the crowd, and he and his friend left a few minutes later. Shortly after that, the producer contacted me through my earpiece and asked why I hadn’t introduced Robert Duvall (the gentleman with Brunson). “Who is Robert Duvall and where does he play,” I asked.

One of the perks of my job was getting to play in the WPT Celebrity Invitational. I always wrote an article about the celebrities at my table, but first they had to identify themselves. Throughout the years, I had played in tournaments with Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, Dom DeLuise, Norm McDonald, Camyrn Manheim, Jason Alexander, Paris Hilton, James Woods, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jennifer Tilly, and lots of actors and actresses that everyone except me seemed to recognize.

Every final table was different in its own way, but I don’t believe the excitement of that first-ever WPT event at Bellagio will ever be topped.  The WPT set and announcers’ booth was introduced to the world, as was super hostess Shana Hiatt. The final table consisted of Gus Hansen (who was unknown at the time), John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, and John Hennigan, all superstars who later won WPT titles. I still remember how impressed I was to see Doug Dalton in his tuxedo pouring champagne to toast the winner.

During my time with the WPT, I traveled to lots of amazing destinations around the world. I actually enjoyed all of them, but for different reasons. For instance, I loved the beaches of Aruba and taping the show in an upstairs restaurant overlooking the ocean. I enjoyed Nassau because I was allowed to wear tropical clothing and not my typical black!

Tunica’s Gold Strike and Biloxi’s Beau Rivage were memorable for the wonderful Southern hospitality and incredible food. I looked forward to Foxwoods for the beauty of the surrounding forests. The Bicycle Casino and the Commerce Casino were special because there was so much poker action when I wasn’t working. Borgata had the best beds.

The Aviation Club in Paris offered the best sightseeing opportunities and the Reno Hilton had the best sushi and a shopping arcade on premises. Fallsview offered incredible views of Niagara Falls from our hotel rooms. Bay 101 had the most energetic, enthusiastic fans, which made my job easy. I always liked taping at the Mirage and Bellagio because I could stay in my own home at night! And of course, I am a bit biased, but I loved the PartyPoker.com Million because I got to spend a week on a Card Player Cruises vacation.

There were lots of funny moments on the WPT. One of the best happened at Foxwoods the year Hoyt Corkins won.  Phil Hellmuth was at the final table and Hoyt was driving him crazy with his aggression and all-ins. Finally, after Hoyt hit a river card, Phil jumped out of his chair and banged his head on the overhead microphone.  Another time, Joe Hachem was at the final table and when he won his first big pot, his fans started yelling, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!” I looked at them and said, “Don’t start that crap here.” They must have thought I was serious because they didn’t do it again.

Although I had a few embarrassing moments along the way, such as dropping my microphone battery pack in the toilet or having a hot flash during filming, there were some very special moments too. I’ll always remember Brunson’s inspirational victory at the Bicycle Club. Tears came to my eyes on multiple occasions when I saw the joy of new millionaires being created.  The most emotional moment for me took place during the taping of the “Father/Son Special.” Barry Greenstein and his son, Joe Sebok, eliminated the other teams and were supposed to play each other to determine the winner. Instead, they agreed to push all-in pre-flop and let the cards decide the victor since neither one wanted to beat the other on television.

The first six seasons of the WPT flew by and were full of incredible moments. Maybe someday I’ll write a book about them.

Joe Cada Turns Down PokerHost, Ultimate Bet to Sign with PokerStars

Recently, World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Joe Cada inked an agreement to be sponsored by PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site. The signing marked the end of a grueling process for Cada and his agent, Dan Frank.

A verbal agreement between Cada and PokerStars was reached, although the process of finalizing a contract took several days. While holding out for PokerStars, Cada passed up what Frank called “really good” offers from PokerHost (a USA-friendly Cake Poker Network site) and Ultimate Bet, which makes its home on the popular CEREUS Network. Ultimate Bet and PokerHost offered their contracts to Cada around the same time and gave the youngster 24 hours to come to a decision. In the end, he decided to pass up both and wait for an offer from PokerStars.

Frank believed PokerStars was gunning to sign WSOP November Nine members Antoine Saout and Darvin Moon. One online poker site can only sponsor three players at the final table of the Main Event this year, making the process of signing players competitive. Saout inked an agreement with Everest Poker, which is the official on-felt sponsor of the WSOP, and Moon has yet to sign with an online poker site. On why Cada was intent on signing with PokerStars, Frank commented, “He loves that brand more than the others. That’s where he plays most of his online poker.”

When Cada could not commit to Ultimate Bet, the site gave him extra time to contemplate his next move. Meanwhile, Cada was a guest on ESPN’s “Poker Edge” radio show, where he told host Phil Gordon that he wanted to sign an agreement with PokerStars. Frank quickly contacted the online poker site and a contract soon followed. Frank told Poker News Daily, “It was very unnerving because I thought I had all of the possible deals on the table for him. I thought the Ultimate Bet and PokerHost deals were the best he was going to see and the fact that he wouldn’t let me discuss them was frustrating. We’re grateful that PokerStars came to the table. To have both Eric and Joe sign with PokerStars - I’m grateful for that.”

“Eric” refers to fellow WSOP November Nine member Eric Buchman, who signed with PokerStars in July. Cada commented in a press release distributed by Top Set Management, “I’m proud to have been chosen to represent PokerStars. Their reputation and prestige are second to none. I look forward to bringing even more accolades to their already decorated team.” In a July interview with Poker News Daily, Cada revealed that he had signed a one-day agreement with Ultimate Bet during the Main Event, but had not yet negotiated with any rooms for exposure at the final table.

Cada will hold the fifth largest chip stack when play resumes at the Rio in Las Vegas, while Buchman sits second in chips to Moon. Here’s a look at how the field will come armed to November’s final table:

1. Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
2. Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
3. Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
4. Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
5. Joe Cada - 13,215,000
6. Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
7. Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
8. Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
9. James Akenhead - 6,800,000

Cada and Buchman join a roster of PokerStars pros that already includes former WSOP Main Event Champions Peter Eastgate (2008), Joe Hachem (2005), Greg Raymer (2004), Chris Moneymaker (2003), and Tom McEvoy (1983). 2008 WSOP November Nine members Dennis Phillips and Ylon Schwartz are PokerStars-sponsored pros, while Canadian accountant Darus Suharto is also associated with the site.

PokerStars players and gearing up for the annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), which will kick off on Thursday and culminate in a $5,200 buy-in Main Event with at least $10 million up for grabs. A total of 45 events will play out across a wide range of poker genres and tournament structures.

WSOP Finalist Joe Cada Signs with PokerStars

Cada, 21, had a one day sponsorship deal with Ultimate Bet on a last day of the World Series of Poker main event before the final table, but that deal will not be prolonged as he joins the ranks of many former world champions at PokerStars, including the last year champion Peter Eastgate.

Cada turned his back to UB and signed with PokerStars.

Not only has Cada, who has fifth biggest chip stack going into final table, a chance to become the new world champion, but he can also break the record that Peter Eastgate achieved just year ago and become the youngest ever WSOP main event winner, the record that Phil Hellmuth hold almost 20 years.

Cada is understandably happy after signing the deal with the leading online poker company in the world:

“I’m proud to have been chosen by to represent PokerStars. Their reputation and prestige are second to none,” Cada said in a press release. “I look forward to bringing even more accolades to their already decorated team.”

That decorated team includes former WSOP champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Eastgate.

Source: deadmoney blog

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WSOP Finalist Joe Cada Signs with PokerStars

Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren Struggle on ESPN WSOP Coverage

In Tuesday night’s broadcast of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN, Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren struggled in front of a national viewing audience as Days 1C and 1D of the Main Event unfolded. This article contains language that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Daniel Negreanu and Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth were featured during the first hour of coverage on ESPN, which tracked Day 1C of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Negreanu, plagued by sinus problems, was seated at the feature table, while Hellmuth found himself at Table Two. Hellmuth arrived in typical grand fashion, dressed as Emperor Hellmuth and flanked by scantily-clad women, drummers, and a throng of poker fans armed with cameras. ESPN announcer Norman Chad quipped, “If Tom Brady came to the Super Bowl like this, the NFL would shut down, but we embrace this.”

Even Negreanu took notice of Hellmuth’s entrance, telling his tablemates, “[Hellmuth] loves to show us his nipples. If you watch ESPN, you’ll notice that there are a lot of nipple shots. He’s either meditating with his tiny nipples or doing something.” ESPN recapped Lindgren and Negreanu’s Player of the Year competition, where poker pros could pick any partner except for Phil Ivey and compete based on Player of the Year Points. Barry Greenstein selected Jeffrey Lisandro, who promptly won three bracelets during the 2009 festivities. Negreanu and Lindgren noted that they stood to lose around $1 million as a result of the bets.

Chad and fellow ESPN commentator Lon McEachern dubbed Hellmuth “Pokerus Bratus” and “Hellmuthicus.” The 11-time bracelet winner lived up to his reputation after teeing off on tablemates early on. An opponent who made three kings after calling a raise with K-8 when Hellmuth had jacks received the brunt of the anger. Hellmuth lamented, “What the fuck? Calling a fricking raise with K-8?” Hellmuth then spouted four expletives in a row followed by the word “man.” He sat back down and vented, “Fucking moron players.” No penalty was shown despite a stricter player conduct rule.

2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips brought an entourage of look-a-likes with him, including David Tucker, who was charged with blowing a portable truck horn every time Phillips scooped a pot. Also in the field was “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who was sent to the rails early on. Chad exclaimed, “Annie, you’re fired” when the Ultimate Bet face was ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

The “Straight from the Pros” segment featured Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Hachem squaring off against Steve Dannenmann on Day 5 of the 2005 Main Event. Dannenmann flopped a set in the hand, while Hachem flopped the nut flush draw. After Dannenmann put in a check-raise, Hachem folded, which he called “the biggest laydown of my life.” ESPN viewers then watched Negreanu get trumped during the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are unknown.

Meanwhile, Hellmuth and an opponent each bet $20 that they had the best hand. In the end, Hellmuth showed A-Q, while his opponent flipped over pocket fours. The money was given to a friend on the rail to “buy drinks,” an activity Hellmuth deemed worthy of another $40 contribution. Then, Hellmuth learned the crew was from Aruba, the site of the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, and tossed another $100 their way. The situation quickly turned dark. Hellmuth ran into a rivered flush, which caused him to lament, “Is this some kind of fucking joke? I can’t even fucking believe what I’m seeing.” Again, no penalty was assessed.

Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP Main Event featured 2008 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren. Joining Lindgren at the feature table was Joe Hardie, the former owner of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Also in the field on Day 1D, which saw more than 500 players turned away, were “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” winner Lou Diamond Phillips and third place finisher John Salley. Others playing included Ray Romano, Ivan Demidov, J.C. Tran, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Jordan Farmar, Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and 2006 Player of the Year Jeff Madsen.

Lindgren’s tentative play at the feature table was the theme of the second episode. Chad explained, “I hope the tape of this telecast is destroyed before Lindgren sees it. It’ll set him back 15 years.” The Wild Card Hand featured four-way action to the turn on an A-J-7-8 board with two diamonds. Serge Pouliott bet out 450 and the action folded around to Lindgren, who made the call. The river was the four of hearts. Lindgren checked, Pouliott bet 825, and Lindgren called. Pouliott turned over A-Q, out-kicking Lindgren’s A-6 of diamonds. The Full Tilt-sponsored “Deal Me In” featured Lindgren breaking down a hand that transpired during Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Day 2 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event will air next Tuesday on ESPN at 8:00pm ET and runs for two hours.

Brett Favre Signing Delays WSOP Main Event Coverage on ESPN

The signing of quarterback Brett Favre by the Minnesota Vikings delayed the premiere of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event by 20 minutes on Tuesday night, with action from Day 1A and Day 1B taking center stage.

The $10,000 buy-in feature tournament began with Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman narrating, “Someone has to win it, right? So why not you or me?” Highlights of past Main Event winning moments aired, with a player rounding out the montage by saying, “All you need is a ticket and a dream.” The feature table of the first hour, Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, included 2006 final table participant Allen Cunningham, Eli Elezra, and Lex Veldhuis, the boyfriend of Evelyn Ng who was featured in ESPN’s coverage of the $40,000 buy-in event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP.

ESPN announcer Norman Chad fired up viewers by claiming, “This is it. It’s the greatest event in the galaxy. Anyone can win. We could bound and gag Lon [McEachern], stick him in a potato sack, and roll him into the Amazon Room and he may make the final table. I love the Main Event.” Table Two featured 2009 dual bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller and poker pro Sammy Farha, who finished as the runner-up to Chris Moneymaker in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, igniting the modern poker boom.

The 40th Annual Moments featured Johnny Chan winning the 1987 and 1988 Main Events before landing as the runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in 1989. Chan also turned in a seventh place performance in 1992. Joining Chan in the Day 1A field were Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Orel Hershiser, Dewey Tomko, Steven Paul-Ambrose, and Gus Hansen. “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander and “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett were seated together, making for a lively table.

At the feature table, Veldhuis rolled over his competition, showing a bluff against Elezra, who labeled him the best player in the field on Day 1A. Veldhuis then represented a flush on a four club board to take down a pot against a player who held two pair. In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Simon Muenz raised to 900 with pocket tens, Velduis called with unknown cards, and Cunningham called with A-J. The flop came 4-3-2 with two hearts. Muenz checked, Velduis led out for 2,300, Cunningham got out of the way, and Muenz called. The turn was the nine of hearts. Veldhuis bet 6,000, leaving Chad to comment, “I still think Lex has air.” Muenz called and the ace of spades fell on the river. Veldhuis pushed and Muenz folded. As it turned out, Veldhuis held K-6 for a bluff.

A brand new segment dubbed “Deal Me In” aired and featured Full Tilt Poker pros reliving key hands in live tournaments. Chris Ferguson was the focus of the inaugural segment, recapping a hand where he turned quad aces against Prahlad Friedman. The punch line, according to Ferguson: “You don’t always want to slow play.” Contrastingly, “The Nuts” featured PokerStars pros Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Joe Hachem, Hevad Khan, and Dennis Phillips trying to hit a wiffleball thrown by Hershiser. In the end, Raymer laid down a bunt, only to have Hershiser blow it foul.

ESPN’s second hour of coverage, which kicked off around 9:20pm ET on Tuesday night, included a feature table with Mike Matusow. He chimed, “Life is all about the power of positive thinking.” Flanking him was John Dodge, whose grandfather started the automobile company of the same name. Also in the field was Jack Ury, the oldest player in the Main Event at age 96, and poker legend Amarillo Slim, who hasn’t cashed in the tournament since winning it in 1972.

The Wild Card Hand during the Day 1B episode featured Doyle Brunson raise to 675 with A-J of hearts. James Kier called, holding the elusive Wild Card hand. The flop fell 2-4-K rainbow and the action went check-check. The turn was a three and Kier led out for 1,500. Brunson called to watch a four hit the river. Kier once again bet out, this time for 2,500, and Brunson called with just ace-high. Kier sheepishly revealed J-9 for air and another player at the table quipped, “Were you really just trying to bluff Doyle Brunson?”

Matusow gave autographed copies of his book, “Check-Raising the Devil,” to his tablemates, while another Mike, Mike Caro, was featured in an ESPN vignette talking about his “Mad Genius” moniker. Others in the field included Raymer, Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Chris Moneymaker, Todd Brunson, and Pam Brunson. A “Straight from the Pros” segment, in which PokerStars sponsored players gave their take on hands, aired and featured Moneymaker.

Next week, Moneymaker’s colleague at PokerStars, Daniel Negreanu, will take center stage along with Hellmuth. The action takes place from 8:00pm to 10:00pm ET barring any more Favre news.

Billy Kopp (Patrolman35) Signs with Ultimate Bet

Ultimate Bet, one of the top online poker rooms in the business today, has an impressive roster of players. Monday brought the announcement that it had landed one of the rising young professionals in the game to a sponsorship deal.

Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, who has an impressive track record of success, signed on for an exclusive deal with the site and will immediately begin representing Ultimate Bet at tournaments around the world. In addition to Kopp’s duties to “patrol” the virtual felts at Ultimate Bet, he will also be an integral part of its live poker team at UB’s signature event, the Aruba Poker Classic. Kopp earned his sponsorship through his play in some of the most difficult tournaments in the world today.

Known for his hyperactive, loose-aggressive style at the tables, Kopp was a juggernaut at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He was able to conquer two of the top players in the game today, 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem, when all three were at the feature table. Kopp was also a part of one of the toughest beats at this year’s WSOP Main Event on the final day of action.

In what was a stunning turn of events, “Patrolman35” was one of the chip leaders on the final day of action and seemed to be a shoo-in for the 2009 November Nine before he cracked heads with Darvin Moon late in the action. On an all-diamond flop, Kopp bet out 750,000 and was called by Moon. The turn brought a deuce, pairing the board, and Kopp fired out a two million chip bet. Moon responded with a raise to six million and Kopp moved all-in for his remaining 20 million in chips. To “Patrolman35’s” surprise, Moon called the all-in and tabled his Q-J of diamonds to crush Kopp’s 5-3 of diamonds and eliminate the youngster from the World Series. The University of Kentucky business major finished in 12th place and earning $896,730 for his efforts.

Kopp’s success isn’t limited to this year’s WSOP Main Event alone. “Patrolman35” also garnered an eighth place finish during the WSOP in Event #15, a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, for a payout of $71,115 and also picked up a second place finish in the WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s New Orleans for $127,832. Kopp has also been active in the online world, amassing nine Top 10 finishes in a variety of online poker tournaments this year at Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and other popular sites. He recently took down an event held as part of the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).

Unfortunately, Kopp will have to drop the “Patrolman35” moniker on Ultimate Bet in favor of “billy_kopp.” Kopp is now a part of Team UB alongside such players as 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, top female player and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, recent UB Army enlistee Liv Boeree, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.

Kopp signs with Team UB

A University of Kentucky student, Kopp has earned more than $2.6 million over the past few years in both online and live poker.

He finished runner-up in a prelim event at the Harrah's New Orleans WSOPC stop for $127,832 and managed an 8th-place finish in a $5k No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2009 WSOP before finishing 12th in the Main Event for $896,730.

Along the way, Kopp knocked out 2009 WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate and 2005 champ Joe Hachem.

He has also amassed eight Top 10 finishes in major online poker events in 2009.

Other members of Team UB include Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Brandon Cantu, Hollywood Dave Stann, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, Scott Ian, Tiffany Michelle and the recently signed Liv Boeree.

Kopp will be playing under the screen name billy_kopp, and UB claims he is both known and feared for his loose-aggressive style of play.

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WSOP on ESPN Ratings Down 8% After Two Weeks

Poker News Daily has learned that ESPN’s coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has experienced an 8% dip in television ratings through two weeks to 0.72. Last year, the mark was 0.78.

In addition to ratings seeing an 8% slide, household impressions also fell, albeit a modest 5%. The total number of household impressions through two weeks of the 2009 WSOP was 714,904, compared with last year’s tally of 750,315. Four one-hour episodes have aired so far, with 26 more comprising coverage of the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event.

ESPN media contact George McNeilly told Poker News Daily that, despite the ratings slip, he remained optimistic: “These are very small declines and we’re just four telecasts into the season. We have almost 30 more episodes to go, so it’s way too early to start drawing any conclusions. One interesting trend we are watching is how ratings are flat among men 25 to 54, which bodes well for the rest of the season.”

Figures released after the July 28th kickoff telecast revealed that viewers were up 2% among men age 18 to 34. The number of viewers age 25 to 54 was up a commanding 16% after the first episode of the 2009 WSOP debuted on ESPN and the number of viewers age 18 to 49 was on par with the 2008 broadcast. The first telecast of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN featured the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. In the end, Vitaly Lunkin dominated the 201 player field en route to a $1.9 million first place prize. He defeated Isaac Haxton heads-up in a star-studded final table that also included Greg Raymer, Ted Forrest, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and Alec “traheho” Torelli.

On August 4th, the weekly Tuesday timeslot saw the WSOP Champions Invitational come to life. In one of the first non-bracelet events ever broadcast by ESPN, the Champions Invitational featured 20 former Main Event winners take to the felts. The unconventional 10-handed final table saw 1983 champ Tom McEvoy come out on top, taking home a vintage red 1970 Corvette Stingray and the Binion Cup. McEvoy defeated 2002 Main Event winner Robert Vakonyi heads-up in a final table that also included Peter Eastgate, Carlos Mortensen, Doyle Brunson, Huck Seed, and Dan Harrington.

Next week, the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament will headline ESPN coverage and begins at 8:00pm ET. The gala featured a veritable “who’s who” of the celebrity world, including “Rounders” star Matt Damon, “Pearl Harbor” actor Ben Affleck, “Celebrity Apprentice” candidate Herschel Walker, “Seinfeld’ star Jason Alexander, “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Brad Garrett, rapper Nelly, and legendary boxer Mike Tyson. The latter has developed a cult following stemming from his cameo in the blockbuster hit “The Hangover.” Tyson did not bring his tiger to the red carpet.

Poker stars who turned out to the charity event included Ante Up for Africa co-founder Annie Duke, Greg Raymer, Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Joe Hachem, Jason Mercier, and Andy Bloch. ESPN Coordinating Producer Jamie Horowitz told Poker News Daily what makes airing the charity gala unique: “We are excited to present a different type of poker tournament. In the Ante Up For Africa event, the story is more about the journey (the celebrities, the stars, and the pros) than the destination.”

Twenty-four hours of coverage of the 2009 WSOP Main Event will air on ESPN beginning on August 18th. The Main Event final table is scheduled to air on November 10th beginning at 9:00pm ET. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WSOP news.

Tom McEvoy Trumps WSOP Champions Invitational Field on ESPN

Tuesday night saw the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champions Invitational play out on ESPN. A rather subdued final table competed for a vintage 1970 Corvette and the title of “Champion of Champions.”

The taking of the now-storied photo of 20 former WSOP Main Event champions kicked off the ESPN telecast on Tuesday and the final table began with an unconventional 10 players taking to the felts. Up for grabs was a red 1970 Corvette Stingray that formerly appeared in the Imperial Palace car collection. The WSOP Champions Invitational winner would also take home the Binion Cup, an oversized trophy with the inscription, “The Champion of Champions. The 40th Annual World Series of Poker ‘Champions Invitational’ Winner in Honor of Poker’s First Family.” The cup also bore the date that the final table played out, June 1st, 2009.

1989 Main Event Champion Phil Hellmuth came armed to the final table with a stack of 1,125, or just 1% of the chips in play. In fact, he held just three chips, which promptly went into the middle with 10-5 of spades against Carlos Mortensen’s pocket twos. The flop came 4-Q-J with no spades, but an ace on the turn gave Hellmuth a gutshot straight draw. Needing a 10, 5, or 3 to fall on the river to double up, Hellmuth watched as an 8 hit. Hellmuth holds the record for the most number of WSOP bracelets won with 11.

2008 Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate’s exit in ninth place meant that the two youngest winners of the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament had been eliminated. Eastgate’s 8-7 ran into “Action” Dan Harrington’s pocket aces and an open-ended straight draw on the flop failed to materialize. A bevy of poker authors remained in the final eight players, including Tom McEvoy (“Championship Hold’em”), Doyle Brunson (“Super System” Volumes I and II), and Harrington (“Harrington on Hold’em”).

Eastgate’s departure set up the first Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand. The cards of one player are not revealed, leaving the viewing audience and ESPN announcers Lon McEachern and Norman Chad to guess what they may hold. Harrington raised to 1,800 with A-Q of diamonds and Mortensen made the call after his cards were obscured by the logo for the popular beef jerky brand. The flop came 3-3-8 and the action went check-check. A four fell on the turn and the action again went check-check. The river was a nine. Mortensen bet out 2,500 and Harrington called. Mortensen sheepishly turned over 6-7 of clubs for what Chad called “squadoosh.”

Watching the action in the WSOP Champions Invitational were several notable poker pros. “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro looked on as Brunson called all-in on a draw. Chad quipped, “He’s priced in, but he’s calling off all of his chips on a draw. I don’t remember that being mentioned in ‘Super System’ 1 or 2.” Brunson’s draw never hit and he was ousted from the televised table. McEvoy celebrated his elimination of Brunson with poker pro Kathy Liebert, who railed him throughout the finale.

The first installment of ESPN’s “40th Annual Memories” vignette was a tribute to Stu Ungar featuring comments by Joe Hachem, Howard Lederer, and Steve Zolotow. Ungar died in 1998 after winning 10 of 32 $5,000 buy-in events he had entered. Then, Berry Johnston, who won the 1986 Main Event, busted in seventh place. The 73 year-old has cashed in every WSOP since 1982, when he took third in the Main Event for $104,000.

“The Nuts” once again featured 40th Annual WSOP Trivia. Lederer, Jennifer Harman, and Bodog pro David Williams participated this week, answering questions from three categories: “2008,” “Poker Feats,” and “Is Poker a Sport?” In the end, Harman advanced to the next round, joining Adam Schoenfeld, who won last week. Huck Seed’s exit in sixth place and Mortensen’s departure in fifth rounded out the first of two one-hour episodes on Tuesday night.

The “40th Annual Memories” in the second installment of the WSOP on ESPN, which aired at 9:00pm ET, focused on Harrington’s back-to-back Main Event final tables in 2003 and 2004 after winning the feature tournament in 1995. Harrington took third in the former for $650,000 and finished fourth in 2004 for $1.5 million. A quiet Harrington remained in contention in the Champions Invitational.

The second Wild Card Hand featured McEvoy raising to 3,000 with unknown cards. 2002 Main Event Champion Robert Varkonyi called from the big blind with A-5 of clubs. The flop came 10-4-A. Varkonyi bet out 5,000 and McEvoy called immediately to see a queen fall on the turn. Varkonyi checked, McEvoy bet 12,000, and Varkonyi folded. Chad commented, “I originally thought Tom had pocket eights. Now, I think he had pocket fours and flopped a set.” Instead, McEvoy held A-6 offsuit.

I can’t recall very many three-handed final tables as silent as the one that took to the felts on Tuesday night. The survivors represented Main Event champions from the last three decades: Varkonyi (2002), Harrington (1995), and McEvoy (1983). McEvoy’s K-Q of diamonds finally sent Harrington to the rails in third and, in the final hand of the WSOP Champions Invitational, McEvoy turned a 10-high straight to take down the title. He told Chad following his monumental win, “I hadn’t won much lately and I think I was losing some respect from my peers… I was just determined that I was going to win it and I did.”

Tune into ESPN next Tuesday night at 8:00pm ET for the $5,000 buy-in Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament.

ESPN to launch a new Poker show

ESPN will be offering more poker coverage than just the $40.000 No-Limit Hold’em, Ante up for Africa and the Main Event this year as they will broadcast totally new web-only poker show called the ESPN Inside Deal. The show is presented by PokerStars and will have its debut on August 4 on espn.com.

-Moneymaker on the move

Chris Moneymaker will be the first guest on the show which will give the poker fans a behind the scenes look at poker lifestyle and the whole poker scene. Other confirmed guests will include Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem.

The show is hosted by ESPN The Magazine’s Laura Lane, professional player and ESPN.com columnist Bernard Lee and ESPN.com poker editor Andrew Feldman.

During the three months of the series, fans will be able to see the completion of the WSOP Main Event final table. There will be interviews and analyzes of each member of the November Nine as well. Fans will have the opportunity to participate in the show by submitting questions to their favorite pro players. Fans will also have an exclusive chance to participate in a sweepstakes where one winner will experience the November Nine in a unique way.

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ESPN to launch a new Poker show

Vitaly Lunkin Shines in First 2009 WSOP on ESPN Broadcast

The kickoff event of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN played out on Tuesday night, with Russian Vitaly Lunkin taking home $1.9 million from the record $7.7 million prize pool.

Fans of poker on ESPN noticed several stark changes in the 2009 WSOP broadcast compared to years past. 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate now appears in the opening credits of the broadcast, which are otherwise the same as last year. The show began by highlighting the 40th running of the WSOP, featuring comments by several pros, including Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Erick Lindgren, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Jennifer Harman, Joe Hachem, and Scotty Nguyen. Eastgate’s banner, which hung above the Amazon Room floor at the Rio during the WSOP, was then unveiled.

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, the presenting sponsor of the 2009 WSOP, received a slew of product placement throughout the show. The foodstuff’s logo appears on the center of the ESPN featured table, on video monitors above it, and in a bevy of graphics during the broadcast. Everest Poker’s name continues to appear in the ring of the table. Commemoration of the 40th WSOP consisted of a series of “40th Annual Memories” vignettes, which honored players who have won three bracelets in one year (Jeffrey Lisandro won a trio in 2009) and Greg Raymer’s deep run in the 2005 Main Event after winning the tournament in 2004.

The hole card camera now bears the presenting sponsor’s name and a Jack Link’s Wild Card Hand of the Day allows viewers at home to see one player’s hand, but not their opponent’s. In one, Raymer held 8-7 of hearts and raised to 250,000 under the gun. Isaac Haxton, whose cards were unknown, asked for a count and then made the call. The flop came 7-7-9 and the action went check-check. The turn came a nine, leading ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad to note, “If Isaac has a small pocket pair or an ace, he’s playing the board.” Haxton checked, Raymer led out for 350,000, and Haxton called. The river was another nine. Haxton checked, Raymer bet 750,000 after seeing his full house counterfeited, and Haxton called, showing A-Q for a chopped pot. On the Wild Card Hand of the Day, Chad noted, “That was fun. We’ve found a whole new way for me to sound stupid.”

For an event featuring a $40,000 buy-in, the average age of the final table was lower than many expected. Six of the nine players were in their 20s, while Raymer, who finished third, was the elder statesman at just 44. Noah Schwartz, who finished eighth, was labeled McLovin during the broadcast due to his striking resemblance to a character in the movie “Superbad.” Lex Veldhuis was cheered on by his girlfriend, Evelyn Ng, as well as Team PokerStars Pro member Maridu Mayrinck and Karina Jett. Raymer’s wife and mother turned out to support him, while Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo’s mother and stepfather rooted him on from the rails.

Two one-hour episodes aired on Tuesday night. The second focused on a prop bet by Bonomo that at least one of 43 poker players who live in Panorama Towers in Las Vegas would win a bracelet during the 2009 WSOP. Bonomo gave 7:1 odds on the bet and watched in agony as heads-up action between Lunkin and Panorama Towers’ own Haxton featured several double-ups by the player on the short stack. Besides Haxton and Bonomo, Panorama Towers residents include David Williams, Ng, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Veldhuis.

In one of the most memorable heads-up matches in WSOP history, which left viewers on the edge of their seats, Lunkin finally prevailed and banked $1.9 million. Even Chad was rooting his fellow American along. After one double-up by Haxton with K-10 against Lunkin’s aces, Chad yelled, “Take that, you Commies!” Chants of “Russ-i-a” permeated the Amazon Room following Lunkin’s win and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack presented the commemorative bracelet to the Russian at the end of the first 2009 WSOP on ESPN broadcast. Here were the final payouts:

1. Vitaly Lunkin - $1,891,012
2. Isaac Haxton - $1,168,566
3. Greg Raymer - $774,927
4. Dani Stern - $548,315
5. Justin Bonomo - $413,166
6. Alec Torelli - $329,730
7. Lex Veldhuis - $277,940
8. Noah Schwartz - $246,834
9. Ted Forrest - $230,317

Other vignettes included Brunson, Adam Schoenfeld, and David Plastik battling in 40th Annual WSOP Trivia during the traditional segment “The Nuts.” Nine questions in three categories were asked, including Main Men, Dynamic Duos, and Famous Firsts. In the end, Schoenfeld prevailed and advanced to the next round.

Poker News Daily has learned that future WSOP episodes will feature sponsored vignettes from PokerStars (called “Straight from the Pros”) and Full Tilt Poker (called “Deal Me In”). Pros from each online poker site will explain why they played a hand a certain way, giving the viewer unique insight. The Wild Card Hand of the Day will also continue to appear in each episode.

Stay tuned for the latest from the 2009 WSOP on Poker News Daily.

ANZPT Queenstown champ crowned

The NZD $2,500 event held at New Zealand's SKYCITY Queenstown casino saw 134 runners creating a NZD $301,500 prize pool.

After four first day flights and a Day 2 that played from 92 down to the 18-person money bubble, it took just eight hours to play from 18 to a winner.

The win was particularly special for Chevalier given he actually lived in Queenstown for eleven years.

The Queenstown Championship was the fourth event in the ANZPT's inaugural season and by making the final 18, Tony Hachem, brother of 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem, has now cashed in every one.

As a result, Hachem leads the ANZPT Overall Points Champion race which guarantees the winner a PokerStars.net sponsorship to the upcoming Asia ((Pacific Poker)) Tour and the Aussie Millions Main Event.

In fact, heading into the ANZPT's fifth and final Season One stop, only ANZPT Melbourne champion Chris Levick can catch Hachem.

The ANZPT will wrap up in Queensland, Australia with a five-day dual-venue event at both the Treasury Casino in the State's capital of Brisbane and Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast beginning August 5.

PokerStars is running qualifiers for the event. For more information check out the ANZPT website.

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PokerStars.com APPT returns with Macau festival

The APPT Macau Summer Festival of Poker will run from Aug. 25-30 with millions of dollars up for grabs.

The festival will feature a total of 20 events including the $5,200 Main Event and a PokerStars-style $11,500 High Roller Event all taking place in the official PokerStars Macau Poker Room at the Grand Lisboa - the largest poker room in continental Asia.

"I'm pleased to see the sport of tournament poker continue to grow in Asia," said Team PokerStars Pro and Poker World Champion Joe Hachem.

"I played in the first APPT Macau in 2007 when PokerStars planted the seeds of No-Limit Texas Hold'em poker culture in Macau and it's been incredible watching that legacy take root and bloom.

"There are now hundreds of local players, cash games running 24/7 and tournaments available every week at the PokerStars Macau Poker Room. I wouldn't be surprised if the next World Champion comes from Macau or elsewhere in China."

During its second season, APPT Macau generated the biggest prize pool ever recorded for a poker event in China with more than $1.5 million awarded. Noted American pro Edward Sabat outlasted a field of 538 players to take down a first place prize of $453,851 while Nam Le won the High Roller Event for $473,915.

This year the APPT expects to break their own records in Macau by drawing more players and creating a prize pool over $2 million.

"This season's APPT is set to be even bigger than Season 2 in terms of both number of participants and prize pools," said APPT President Jeffrey Haas. "This has been made possible by continued enthusiasm for the tour right across the region with amazing levels of participation."

The third season of the APPT is also scheduled to make stops in Seoul, Auckland and Cebu in the Philippines before culminating in Sydney for the Grand Final in December.

Last year some of most elite poker players in the world played APPT events including Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, Isabelle Mercier, Lee Nelson, Barry Greenstein, Hevad Khan, Chad Brown, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier as well as John Juanda, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Grant Levy, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Eric Assadourian and Liz Lieu.

For the complete Macau Summer Poker Festival schedule visit the official APPT website here.

Below is the APPT Season 3 schedule:

EVENT	VENUE	CITY	DATES	BUY-IN	CAP
APPT Macau	Grand Lisboa Casino	Macau	August 25-30	40,000 HKD (5,160 USD)	700
APPT Seoul	7-Luck Casino	Seoul	September 17-20	3,000 USD	250
APPT Auckland	Skycity Casino	Auckland	October 12-15	3,250 NZD (2,050 USD)	350
APPT Philippines	Shangri-la Mactan Resort	Cebu	October 14-19	100,000 PHP (2,150 USD)	300
APPT Sydney	Star City Casino	Sydney	December 1-6	6,300 AUD (4,920 USD)	750

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Ivey, Esfandiari Climb on Day 6 of WSOP Main Event

Two familiar names took the Rio by storm on Day 6 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event as Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari climbed into the top six chip counts as play concluded Monday evening. Sixty-four players will return for Day 7, with Ivey third overall with 6,345,000 and Esfandiari close behind with 5,610,000.

Ivey was followed by a large crowd all day as he almost quadrupled his 1,380,000 starting stack. It didn’t come without a little luck on his side. In one of his biggest pots of the day, Ivey moved all-in with a jack-high flush draw on the flop against Kent Goulding’s top pair of queens and Ivey made his flush on the river to add more than one million chips to his stack. He used those chips to help propel him to the top of the leaderboard at the end of the night.

Esfandiari’s biggest pot of the night came when he picked off an opponent’s bluff with A-K on a 7-5-5-K board. Wesley Ismay moved all-in for two million over the top of an Esfandiari bet with just queen-high and was sent home when Antonio made the call and had Ismay drawing dead.

Others advancing to Day 7 included Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman, Tom Schneider, Fabrice Soulier, James Akenhead, and 2008 November Nine member Dennis Phillips.

Ivey and company will be catching chip leader Darvin Moon of Oakland, Maryland. Moon has made the most of his first trip to the WSOP by building his stack to 9,745,000 by the end of Day 6. Many of those came from David Benyamine, who had his aces cracked by Moon’s flopped set of threes after all of the chips went in on the turn. Moon cracked aces again later in the day when he flopped quad queens.

“It’s easy to play when you get hands like I was getting”, Moon said of his amazing rush on Day 6. “It’s just unbelievable. It’s like a dream. I got pocket aces and flopped trips, and someone was betting into me. But I had pocket kings one time and the other guy pushed all in over the top of me. I just mucked my hand pre-flop. I mean, he has to have aces. What else can he have? That’s just my style. I play tight. When I get them I bet and when I don’t, I fold.”

Two former Main Event winners made it deep in 2009 but both were sent home on Day 6. Defending champion Peter Eastgate was eliminated late in the day, ending up as the 78th-place finisher. He got his remaining chips in preflop with A-J against two players, including Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp. The two players checked it down and while Eastgate made two pair, Kopp made a flush on the river with his pocket eights to send champ home. Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Champion, was eliminated in 104th place – also by Kopp.

Other notables making their exits on Monday were Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, JC Tran, Kenny Tran, Theo Tran, and Noah Boeken.

Two women took their seat as Day 6 began but Leo Margets is now the only female player left standing in the field of 64. Margets, from Barcelona, finished the day with 3,860,000 and got a congratulatory handshake from Nichoel Peppe when Peppe busted out of the tournament. Margets is attempting to become the first female ever to win the Main Event and the first since Barbara Enright to reach the final table. Enright took fifth place in 1995.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts heading into Day 7 of the WSOP Main Event:

1. Darvin Moon – 9,745,000
2. Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp – 8,245,000
3. Phil Ivey – 6,345,000
4. Steven Begleiter – 6,315,000
5. Ludovic Lacay – 5,965,000
6. Antonio Esfandiari – 5,610,000
7. Tommy Vedes – 5,430,000
8. Antoine Saout – 5,195,000
9. Ben Lamb – 4,975,000
10. Nick “fu_15” Maimone – 4,900,000