Poker News

Poker2Nite Welcomes Mike Matusow

The Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite” welcomed the always outspoken Mike “The Mouth” Matusow this week. The franchise airs at 11:00pm ET every Wednesday night and can also be seen on The Score at 3:00pm ET on Sundays.

This week’s installment began with a discussion of the $335 buy-in re-entry event that kicked off the L.A. Poker Classic. The tournament was the brainchild of Matt Savage and allowed players to buy back in on a later starting day should they be knocked out. On top of the unique formula, the tournament also guaranteed $1 million. Interviews were shown with David “Chino” Rheem, Amnon Filippi, Thor Hanson, and Andreas Hoivold. Filippi commented, “It’s so hard to get so many people in one place at one time. You have to have a 100-table room and you have to have the players. L.A. has both.” Darrell Cain ultimately took down the kickoff event for over $300,000.

Attention then turned to Betfair front woman Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who won an Omaha event held during the Aussie Millions this month for $40,000. Obrestad, who won the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, became the first female ever to win an Aussie Millions tournament. “Poker2Nite’ co-host Joe Sebok explained, “She’s an absolute beast. She’s going to be a force at the Rio.” The 2010 WSOP will mark Obrestad’s debut in the annual U.S. series.

Matusow then joined the show and explained that his fortunes turned for the worst last year: “2007 and 2008 were the best years of poker I’ve ever had in my life. It spiraled downward starting with the $40,000 event in the WSOP [last year]. That beat led to another beat and another beat and the next thing you know, I was catching no cards and [recording] no cashes.” Matusow admitted that he made just $2,200 off of poker in 2009 after recording seven-figure years in 2007 and 2008.

As to what led to his dramatic downfall, Matusow explained that not working out every day and stiff competition contributed. His goal is to drop back to 185 pounds and run eight miles per day by the time the 2010 WSOP rolls around. He added, “Players have gotten better. There are so many great players.” One of those top minds in the game is its all-time money leader, Phil Ivey. Matusow commented on his fellow Full Tilt Poker pro: “I think that Phil Ivey, when he’s playing well, is probably the best all-around poker player I’ve ever played with.”

A new segment called “Mikey’s Meltdowns” featured Matusow against UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth during a taping of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” A 7-2 rule was in effect and any player who scooped the pot with the worst starting hand in Hold’em was paid $500 by each of their opponents. Hellmuth led out for a pot-sized bet of $40,000 on the river with 7-2 for air against Matusow, who had pocket kings. After much deliberation and a “This sucks,” Matusow folded his overpair face up. Hellmuth turned over 7-2 and the table exploded in commentary.

“All in Blind” featured Sebok and co-host Scott Huff debating a series of topics, including the aforementioned L.A. Poker Classic re-entry event, U.S. President Barack Obama being invited to play in the Irish Poker Open, and UB.com pro Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin donating $200,000 to his alma mater’s baseball program. Then, Dana Workman’s “Weekly Misdeal,” which provides a satirical look at the week’s headlines, poked fun at a topless home game raid, the Rio’s 20th birthday celebration, T.J. Cloutier selling a WSOP bracelet on eBay, and the popular video game system Sega entering the online poker marketplace.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” saluted Mike Hofer, the winner of the Absolute Poker College Challenge. Hofer earned $10,000 in college tuition and told “Poker2Nite” cameras, “The competition surprised me. They were all very competent players. Hats off to them. They played a great game.”

Catch “Poker2Nite” next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information.

Victory Poker Launches February 1st

One day prior to Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, officials from Victory Poker will celebrate the site’s launch at a party at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. The online poker room will open for business on February 1st.

Victory Poker will make its home on the merged Everleaf/UPN network, which has yet to take on an official name. According to PokerScout.com, the newly created network will boast traffic similar to that of Betfair, which has a seven-day running average of 610 real money ring game players. A press release announcing the Trash Talk Championship of the World Straddle Tournament at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on February 6th revealed that the Victory Poker launch party would occur at 10:00pm following the festivities.

UFC’s Randy Couture will be sporting a Victory Poker logo when he takes to the ring in UFC 109 against Mark Coleman. The bout emanates from the Mandalay Bay Events Center near the Hard Rock and will also feature Nate Marquardt facing off against Chael Sonnen and Matt Serra fighting Frank Trigg. The first brawl takes place at 4:45pm, while televised matches start at 7:00pm. Couture will don a dot-net logo for the new online poker room.

Antonio Esfandiari headlines the Victory Poker stable of pros. A World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Esfandiari has become widely known for his insatiable appetite for prop bets. He even co-starred with his close friend Phil Laak on the MOJO show “I Bet You,” which ran for two seasons on the cable station. Esfandiari has three WPT final tables to his credit and one title, which came in the Season 2 L.A. Poker Classic. At the tender age of 31, Esfandiari is one of the veterans of the game.

Jumping over from DoylesRoom to be a part of Victory Poker is Alec “traheho” Torelli. The Cake Poker Network site and Torelli severed ties two weeks ago. Torelli has made two WPT final tables, finishing fourth in both the Bellagio Cup V and Solvakia events. The former will air its finale at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net this Sunday in a one-hour episode. Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten will once again provide commentary for Season 8 of the WPT.

Coming over from Full Tilt Poker are Paul Wasicka and Lee Markholt. The latter was removed in recent days as a Full Tilt Red Pro and finished fourth in the WSOP Circuit Championship in Tunica four years ago for $183,000. In addition, Markholt won the WPT Season 6 World Poker Challenge in Reno for $493,000 and owns $1.3 million in career earnings from the roving tournament series. Wasicka was the runner-up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, earning a colossal $6.1 million.

Also appearing in the Victory Poker pro lineup is Chinese Poker sensation Danny Wong. Owning the moniker “Chinese Poker Wizard,” Wong learned to play the game’s variation at age five. Despite his success in Chinese Poker, he’s also excelled in No Limit Texas Hold’em, making three WPT final tables. Joining Wong will be online poker pro Brian “tsarrast” Rast.

Those who watched the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN will recall the deep run of the “Flying” Bilzerian brothers. Dan Bilzerian, who finished 180th, will become part of the Victory Poker cast. In his final hand of the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament, Bilzerian committed his stack with A-6, but could not best Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo’s pocket tens. His brother, Adam Bilzerian, renounced his U.S. citizenship and is now a passport holder of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Other Victory Poker pros include Andrew "good2cu" Robl, Keith Gipson, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, Sander Lylloff., and 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood. The site is scheduled to launch on February 1st and will accept players from the United States.

The Trash Talk Championship is a $1,000 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program and Cedars-Sinai.

Hoyt Corkins Wins WPT Southern Poker Championship

With his win in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship, "The Alabama Cowboy" Hoyt Corkins claimed his second WPT title. The DoylesRoom pro banked $739,000 for his efforts at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Donning an all-black outfit with a bright green DoylesRoom patch, Corkins told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman following the win in the Deep South, “It’s been so frustrating. I’ve finished second twice, third once. It is frustrating to get down there and finish second or third.” Corkins’ last WPT title came during Season 2, when he brought home the bacon in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for $1.1 million. He was the runner-up in the Season 2 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and Season 6 Gold Strike World Poker Open.

Tyler “Tydean” Smith was the first casualty of the WPT Southern Poker Championship final table. After doubling up Jonathan Kantor, Smith committed the rest of his chips with J-3 and was up against Jonathan Jaffee’s A-Q. With the hometown favorite on the cusp of elimination, the crowd watched as the flop fell K-10-6, keeping Jaffee out in front. The turn came a four and, needing to catch a three on the river, Smith saw a six instead fall. He earned $86,000 for his second straight final table appearance in the $10,000 buy-in tournament. Smith lives ten minutes from the casino, an easy commute.

James Reed hit the skids in fifth place for $106,000. Reed shoved with 7-5 pre-flop and received a call from Jaffee, who held pocket eights. The flop of A-Q-5 paired Reed, but a running 6-4 sent him packing. Jaffee pushed his way to third in chips as a result, with Corkins, who had entered as a massive chip leader, continuing to pace the field. The WPT Southern Poker Championship marked Reed’s first WPT in the money finish.

Twenty-two hands later, Jaffee was eliminated in fourth place. Jaffee pushed with K-Q pre-flop over the top of a raise by Corkins, who came along with pocket jacks to set up a race. The flop came a benign 7-6-3, while a four on the turn left Jaffee calling for a king or queen on the river to stay alive. However, the final card was a nine, dashing his WPT Southern Poker Championship title hopes.

In a key pot three-handed, Corkins doubled up with A-J against Jerry Vanstrydonck’s pocket kings. The board of 9-8-8-5 was looking grim until Corkins spiked a three-outer on the river to stay alive and the pot once again made him the chip leader. Vanstrydonck could not withstand the blow to his stack and was ousted shortly thereafter. Vanstrydonck’s 9-8 was up against Corkins’ K-Q pre-flop and the board blanked out for both players. Corkins was a 3:2 chip leader entering heads-up play against Kantor.

Kantor battled to even after shoving on the river on a board reading 8-5-3-4-3. Corkins tanked before folding and Kantor turned over 10-6 for “nuclear squadoosh,” as the legendary ESPN announcer Norman Chad would say. Corkins then won a 1.7-million chip pot before the final hand of the WPT Southern Poker Championship occurred. Kantor pushed with K-10 and Corkins made the call with A-7. The flop came ace-high, preserving Corkins’ lead in the hand. By the river, Kantor was rooting for a club to remain in the hunt for the $739,000 first place prize, but the five of hearts hit to give Corkins his second WPT title. Here are the payouts from the final table in Biloxi:

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

The WPT Southern Poker Championship will air as part of Season 8 on Fox Sports Net. Next up for the WPT is a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, site of the WPT Celebrity Invitational and L.A. Poker Classic. The tournaments kick off on February 20th and 26th, respectively, from the Commerce Casino.

Corkins Cashes in with Second WPT Title

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tiffany Michelle Comments on New Amazing Race Cast

The pairings for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race” were released last week and, this time around, no poker players will make the journey. Competing last season was UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, who hit the “Amazing Race” circuit with Maria Ho. Michelle sat down with Poker News Daily to preview the new season, which kicks off on February 14th on CBS.

Poker News Daily: This cycle’s cast list includes former housemates on CBS’ “Big Brother,” Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, and a Major League Baseball third base coach. Who’s your horse?

Tiffany Michelle: It’s interesting to see that there are three all-female teams this season. Last year, it was a really young, competitive bunch. The producers have to keep it to where everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities are on par with the others in that season. We thought it was weird that there wasn’t an old couple or a mom and daughter last year. This year, they opened it up again.

I’ve been watching the initial meet the cast videos and I think the cowboys (Jet and Cord) will be a fan favorite. The ones that stood out to me were the detectives (Louie and Michael). That’s an interesting type of person to put on the show.

PND: Were you surprised to see that no poker players will journey out for this season of “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Doing enough in the entertainment business, I have some insight into how casting works. You can’t exhaust one group of people. You want to keep it new and fresh every year and that’s why we were brought on last year. Each season, they’ll reach out to grab people from all walks of life. As hot of a topic as poker is, each of the poker players who have been on reality shows were there for a reason. I don’t think you’ll see a huge influx of poker players on reality shows.

PND: What about poker players gives them a leg up on the competition in a series like “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Your outlook on life, games, and competition is different than the everyday person’s. Poker encompasses psychology, mathematics, aggression, and observation. Poker is very similar to chess in that it requires a lot of mental stamina and gamesmanship. Poker players are used to approaching games from a different point of view.

PND: There has been a trend on the show to include racers who have already appeared in front of television cameras and in the public eye. Does that give anyone an edge?

Tiffany Michelle: After Phil [Keoghan] says go, you are not even aware of the cameras or audio guys. Within the first day, you’re oblivious to having a camera crew. They’re good at not getting in your way too.

PND: This installment’s cast is rumored to travel to places like Chile, Argentina, Singapore, and Seychelles. If you had the chance to run the “Amazing Race” again, where would you go?

Tiffany Michelle: Warm places like Australia, the Caribbean, and some lovely tropical destinations. This season, it’ll be a little bit colder and you won’t hit a lot of hot spots. A lot of our season’s cast wanted to go to Africa because it’d be an incredible experience. That was one place that I thought would be awesome. From a technical standpoint, it’s hard to pull that off, though. We went to Vietnam, which they said for years they had tried to do.

PND: How’d you fare at the L.A. Poker Classic?

Tiffany Michelle: I only played one event. Maria and I both played and it was nice to be back in the saddle. Now, I am off to Panama and I’ll be back at the Commerce Casino after that. I’m trying to decide between doing the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) or L.A. Poker Classic Main Events. In two weeks, I’m going to Las Vegas to do a show with the Harlem Globetrotters. We’re going to suit up and play against them. I’m pretty sporty, but basketball is my worst sport.

PND: We read on Twitter that you were reviewing movies for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. What’s your involvement with them?

Tiffany Michelle: I’m a member of SAG, which is the union for acting, entertainment, film, and television. Every year, whereas the Emmys and Oscars are voting on by academies, actors vote on the SAG Awards. During awards season, they send you movies to watch and you vote. I always get a slew of current nominees.

I thought “Inglorious Basterds” was incredibly phenomenal. I thought it was an amazing movie. “Up in the Air” was cool too. I’m a girl, so of course I loved “It’s Complicated.” For television shows, I love “Glee” and Kevin McHale is a friend of mine.

PND: How have you been faring in the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC)?

Tiffany Michelle: Sunday was the $2,500 buy-in $1 million guaranteed. I played it even though I don’t play short-handed poker. I can play six-handed, but I know there are a lot of specific strategies with regards to starting hands.

L.A. Poker Classic Unique Opening Event Draws Sizeable Field

Poker tournament participation has recently been holding steady or, in some cases, even showing a decline in many American casinos. The opening event of this year’s L.A. Poker Classic has bucked this trend.

The L.A. Poker Classic, held annually at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, is recognized as one of the preeminent tournament events on the yearly schedule. It opened up play on January 20th with one of the more unusual events on its 51 tournament slate. The $300 buy in No Limit Hold’em event featured a guaranteed $1 million prize pool, which automatically ensures that a deep field will contend for the championship.  Tournament director Matt Savage, who has been lauded for his tweaking of tournaments since he took over as the main man at the Commerce last year, had another surprise in store for the Commerce contestants.

For the opening tournament, Savage scheduled four Day Ones and. Players who were eliminated on any of the first three Day Ones could enter again. With the ability to reenter the tournament, players were highly aggressive over the first three days of competition. Savage’s innovation for the first event on the L.A. Poker Classic schedule led to one of the largest tournament fields outside of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event in history.

After the carnage of the first four days was completed, a total of 3,791 “unique” players had entered the event, according to a Tweet from Savage. Of those original entries, another 2,083 buy ins were received from players who had been eliminated, but felt they still had a chance at taking down the tournament. When Day Two of the tournament began on Sunday, 5,847 buy ins were recorded, eclipsing the guarantee by over $754,000.

With 3,791 players into the tournament, 540 took away at least $600 for their troubles; however, the majority of the prize pool was divvied up on Day Two. The 72 players who survived the first four days would earn a minimum of $1,980 for their efforts. Leading the way was Tim Telesio of Moreno Valley, California, but he was hotly pursued by several top Los Angeles pros such as Michael Woo, Cuong Nguyen, and Gevork Kasabyan.

The battle for the final table raged well into Monday morning. Nguyen and Kasabyan were victims of the early action on Sunday, but Woo was able to drive to the final table and finished in sixth place. Taking the championship early on Monday was Darrell Cain, who started the day in 25th place. Cain, who calls Sacramento home, was able to defeat Rocky River, Ohio’s Michael Blocksidge in heads-up action to win the “Bronco Buster” trophy (based on the Frederic Remington bronze statue of the same name) and the first place prize of $363,936.

Savage’s innovative tournaments will not be limited to just the opening event of this year’s L.A. Poker Classic. In an attempt to cater to players of all disciplines of poker, Savage has brought such games as Badugi, Chinese Poker, and an Eight-Game Mixed event to center stage at the Commerce during the L.A. Poker Classic. Perhaps Savage’s best innovation, however, is the Ironman Tournament.

The Ironman Tournament, which will be played on February 21st, is a creation from what some would say is the more sadistic side of Savage’s mind. In the $2,000 event, there are no breaks, whether for personal reasons or meals. A player can leave the table at any time, but the player continues to be dealt and blinds are posted appropriately. Play continues until a champion is determined, with the winner taking 50% of the prize pool and a seat into the World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic Championship Event. No deals are allowed and a security guard stationed outside of the restroom ensures that everyone washes their hands.

The innovative Ironman Tournament was a success when it was unveiled last September. Savage debuted the concept during last year’s Commerce Casino Hold’em Series and 64 players took to the felt for the tournament. After over 19 hours of play, Brett Radin walked away with the $51,160 first prize, defeating a field that included 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Gavin Griffin, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and defending WPT L.A. Poker Championship winner Cornel Andrew Cimpan.

Savage’s reputation for staging the best poker tournaments in the game today, as well as his innovative game creations, should have the L.A. Poker Classic on the minds of anyone connected to the poker world. The tournament schedule currently in action continues play through the month of February and will end the first week of March with the completion of the WPT Championship Event.

Andy Bloch Discusses Rush Poker Strategy

Recently, Rush Poker made its debut on Full Tilt Poker. The fast-paced style of cash game allows players to move from one table to another as soon as their action in a hand is finished. As such, players have been able to see upwards of 300 hands per hour. Poker News Daily sat down with Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch to get his take on the new addition to the site’s already impressive lineup, his goals for 2010, and his thoughts on the online poker phenomenon known as Isildur1.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. What were your first impressions of Rush Poker?

Andy Bloch: I think it’s great and it’s had a great reception so far. Sure, there were people who found fault with it at first, but once you get used to it, it’s great. I tried it out a couple of months ago and thought it was amazing. Back when I first started playing, I remember training software that was like this. When you folded, a new hand started right away, so you’re always making decisions. This is how poker really should be.

PND: Some players we’ve talked to critiqued that Rush Poker creates ABC poker players. Is there a different overarching strategy to it?

Andy Bloch: To some degree, it’ll train people more to play ABC poker. You’ll have less of a reason to play speculative hands because you can fold and get a new hand right away, but that creates more opportunities. There will be a lot of people taking advantage of the tight play and playing a lot more hands pre-flop. There’s no need to worry about getting a reckless image.

You can raise every hand on the button, for example, whereas at a regular cash game table, you wouldn’t do that because people would pick up on it. You could also just raise pre-flop in Rush Poker every time the action folds to you. In Rush Poker, therefore, taking notes becomes really important. If you see any unusual play, you’ll want to make a note and tag a player. It might come in handy later on.

PND: How have you fared so far and what stakes did you play?

Andy Bloch: It seems like my opponents have been hitting sets on me after we get the money in, but I don’t know if I’m up or down. I’ve played all of the stakes they offer, including play money. It seems like people play better at the Rush Poker play money tables than at the normal play money tables. They are less likely to play every hand because they know they can just fold, so they’re marginally more selective.

PND: Would you like to see Rush Poker added for MTTs and sit and gos?

Andy Bloch: I’d love to see Rush Poker added for heads-up play, tournaments, sit and gos, and different forms of poker like Stud. You have to pay attention to the up-cards in Stud, so it’s hard to multi-table.

PND: What poker goals do you have for 2010?

Andy Bloch: I’m going to the L.A. Poker Classic and hopefully playing some of the earlier events. They have a HORSE tournament and a Chinese Poker tournament. They also have a heads-up event and an Ironman no-break tournament.  I’ll probably play about the same number of tournaments as last year, but I want to play more online. I had a bad year last year. Whenever I have a bad year, I just try to work on my game and go over my strategy. My goal is to win a bracelet on June 1st. That is the end of the $50,000 Player’s Championship and the final day of the first three open events at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

PND: Are you still planning to be involved with organizations like the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) this year?

Andy Bloch: Absolutely. This year coming up is an important year. It looks like we can finally get a law passed, get rid of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and get online poker regulated. If we can get that done, it’d be great for everyone in the poker world, from the grinder to the recreational player to someone who has dreams of being sponsored by a site.

PND: Talk about the rise and fall of Isildur1 on Full Tilt’s nosebleed cash game tables.

Andy Bloch: That story is crazy in a lot of ways. It happens from time to time in poker and in other games too. Unless Isildur1 follows it up with another run, you can chalk it up to luck. He’s a good player, but he jumped into the high-stakes games too quickly, not realizing the type of talent that’s out there. He made himself a target and wasn’t willing to back down. It’s a great story and I hope he comes back and shows people that it wasn’t a fluke.

PND: Was there any possibility of Andy Bloch facing off against Isildur1?

Andy Bloch: I don’t have much experience in Pot Limit Omaha. I need to work on that too and that’s another one of my goals for 2010. I need to get into a position where I can feel comfortable sitting down in any limit game.

Poker2Nite Pays Homage to Amir Vahedi

Wednesday night’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite” featured a stirring tribute to the late Amir Vahedi. Layne Flack paid a visit to the UB.com sponsored series, which airs at 11:00pm ET on Wednesdays.

“Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok recapped his trip to the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas. When asked by fellow host Scott Huff where he finished in the Main Event, Sebok jokingly explained, “They don’t keep finishes in the first three hours.”

Two key hands were recapped. In the first, Sebok held 7-8 on a flop of 7-7-5 and was up against a player with pocket sixes. His opponent bet 1,200 and Sebok made it 4,000. The player with the wired pair of sixes called and the turn was a four. His opponent check-called a bet of 8,000 to a six on the river. Sebok’s foe had made a boat and fired out a bet of 11,000. Sebok called with a straight and promptly lost two-thirds of his stack.

In Sebok’s final hand at the 2010 PCA Main Event, the player in the small blind raised to 1,900 and the “Poker2Nite” host, in the big blind, shoved for 8,500 with pocket tens. However, his opponent made the call and flipped up pocket aces. The board ran out 5-6-7-J-9 and Sebok was eliminated from the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

Attention then turned to the passing of Vahedi. Footage of Vahedi was shown and Sebok commented, “Amir Vahedi was one of the sweetest men in poker. He was always there with a laugh and always there with a word of encouragement. In my poker infancy, he was always there.” “Poker2Nite” closed with Huff telling viewers that Vahedi was the first player he ever interviewed. A portion of the 2005 questioning then aired, with Vahedi noting, “This is my job. I’m having fun while I’m doing it. That’s my personality.”

Flack opened his segment by squaring off against Huff in an arm wrestling match. The six-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner is also a two-time Montana state arm wrestling champion. Flack gave Huff a spot before quickly polishing off the broadcaster. Flack won two bracelets in 2002 and two more the following year before going on a dry spell until 2008. On his streakiness, Flack told his “Poker2Nite” fans, “I used to be such a strong offensive player. When the internet became involved, we had these younger players who were firing hard and going at it. I had to devise a defensive strategy.”

2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon, donning a blurred out New Orleans Saints cap and a gray hoodie, went “Into the Tank” to recap a hand against eventual winner Joe Cada heads-up in last year’s tournament. Cada flopped top pair, but Moon turned a higher pair to give him the chip lead momentarily.

A segment called “High Stakes, Low Profile” reviewed several highly successful live and online poker players who receive little to no hype. First up was Amnon Filippi, who was the runner-up to Vadim Trincher in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Classic last April. Huff explained, “He shares information with some of the biggest and best minds in poker and it’s paid off.” Next up was Justin Young, who was the runner-up to Chino Rheem in the 2008 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Sebok noted, “Sneaky, good player. Another guy with a brain trust.”

Scott “BigRiskky” Clements already owns two WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles, yet his name is overlooked in many poker circles. Sebok added, “I don’t know why everyone and their mother doesn’t know who he is.” Last up was DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija, who Sebok boasted might have “the most No Limit Hold’em potential out of all of these guys.”

Finally, Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal,” featuring a satirical look at the week’s poker news. Topics included rumors of former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole dating Cada, PCA amfAR charity tournament participants, and the L.A. Kings alumni poker tournament.

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information.

Amir Vahedi Dies

Amir Vahedi was born in Tehran, Iran. Vahedi was a former Iranian soldier and he served during the Iran-Iraq conflict before becoming a war refugee and moving to the United States.

News of Vahedi’s death spread after his close friend Mark Seif posted following post on his twitter:

“I’ve just been told by close friends of Amir Vahedi, that Vahedi passed away in Las Vegas on January 8, 2010, due to complications involving blood sugar levels. Waiting for for more details. Devastating news. Very very sad.”

Many remembers Vahedi for his oversized cigars and matching personality. Vahedi was named no limit Texas hold ‘em player of the year in 2001 and was second to Men Nguyen for Card Player Magazine’s 2003 player of the year.

Year 2003 was his best year in poker resultwise, when he made to the final table of the main event of the World Series of Poker, finishing sixth and also won his first and only bracelet.

Vahedi won over $3.3 million in his poker career in live tournaments. His biggest cash, $446,292, came from winning $1,455 Limit Hold’em tournament in 2005 edition of the L.A. Poker Classic.

Vahedi also tutored of the actor Ben Affleck, after he was bitten by a poker bug.

Sources: pokerlistings

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Amir Vahedi Dies

Amir Vahedi Dies After Diabetes Complications

In a tragic story coming out of Las Vegas, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Amir Vahedi has passed away after complications arising from diabetes, according to fellow poker pro Mark Seif. He was 57 years-old.

In the early morning hours of January 10th, Seif, an Absolute Poker pro, posted on his blog, “I’ve just been told by close friends of Amir Vahedi that Vahedi passed away in Las Vegas on January 8, 2010, due to complications involving blood sugar levels.  Waiting for more details. Devastating news. Very very sad.” Vahedi finished seventh in the 2008 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, earning $237,000. His bracelet win came back in 2003, when Vahedi bested Cleve Haley in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event for $270,000 during the WSOP.

A wave of support streamed in via Twitter. UB.com pro Annie Duke commented on Sunday morning, “Still thinking about Amir. What a nice, sweet, funny soul. I keep picturing him with his cigar and his smile. 2 things he always had.” She further speculated that Vahedi passed away due to complications with diabetes. Fellow UB.com pro and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth added, “Amir Vahedi Rest In Peace my old friend...Amir was one of the nicest, gentlest guys on tour, and everyone loved him...Very sad, diabetes...”

“Hollywood” Dave Stann weighed in on the death via Twitter as well, reminiscing about a poker tournament that played out in November: “Amir Vahedi rocked. Just saw him @ my bday HORSE tourney & have vid footage of him there, which now is so much more precious. RIP, friend.” Stann called for a charity tournament to take place during the upcoming L.A. Poker Classic in honor of Vahedi. The WPT Main Event at the California casino kicks off on February 26th and crowns a champion on March 4th.

On PocketFives.com, a thread entitled “RIP Amir Vahedi” was flooded with posters paying homage to the WSOP bracelet winner. Site Mod “Dissident” weighed in, “always though Amir was a class act. RIP.” Fellow online poker player “ill flu” recalled pertinent words of advice that Vahedi once spoke: “He actually said, ‘In order to live, you must be willing to die…’ I actually remember that out of his mouth.”

Finally, longtime poker player “CalBandGreat” shared his memories of the affable Vahedi: “I have played with Amir dozens of times and he was always a class act and very friendly. He would play in a lot of midstakes MTT's at Hollywood Park, The Bike or Commerce and he would be one of the few people in the tourney who everyone recognized, so a lot of people went up to talk with him and he was nice to everyone. Very sad news.”

Vahedi was an Iranian transplant and served as a poker mentor to actor Ben Affleck. In a comment posted on the website of Bluff Magazine, “Cowboy” Kenna James fondly spoke of Vahedi’s spirit: “Amir lived life and made no excuses. He played the game hard and fast and put opponents on their heals. But always with a broad smile and a laugh that exposed his love of the game.”

Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Nolan Dalla gave his two cents on the life of Vahedi on Bluff’s website, explaining, “Amir was one of poker’s nicest players and most colorful personalities. His life story was right out of a novel, immigrating to this country from a repressed war-torn region, ultimately becoming one of the most beloved people in an entire industry.” Other Iranian-born members of the poker community include Shawn Sheikhan, Mansour Matloubi, and three-time bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi.

Poker News Daily would like to extend our condolences to the entire Vahedi family.

Poker2Nite Welcomes Poker Tournament Director Matt Savage

This week, the UB.com-sponsored poker news franchise “Poker2Nite” welcomed acclaimed tournament director Matt Savage. The creator of the Iron Man tournament and former director of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), Savage assessed the industry entering 2010.

First up on “Poker2Nite,” which airs on Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, was an evaluation of several of the high-stakes world’s top names. On Isildur1, who has been largely absent from the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker following a run-in with CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff noted, “He’s won huge amounts for sure, but he’s lost a lot of it back and that, to me, just means it’s on the level.” According to PokerTableRatings.com, Isildur1 is out $2.6 million since November after being up as much as $5 million.

Then, “Phil’s Best Blowups” took center stage. The segment recaps some of the top escapades of UB.com poker pro Phil Hellmuth. This week’s was “an oldie, but a goodie,” as it panned out at the World Poker Tour (WPT) stop at Foxwoods in 2005. Hellmuth explained, in G-rated terms, “This lucky son of a gun hit running sevens on me after starting completely dead and then raised me on the flop with nothing.”

Hellmuth held J-9 against Hoyt Corkins’ J-7 and the flop came nine-high, giving the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner top pair. Hellmuth bet 25,000, Corkins raised it to 70,000 with air, and Hellmuth called. The turn brought a seven, giving Corkins second pair, and the action went check-check. The river was another seven, improving the DoylesRoom pro to trips, and Hellmuth led out for 80,000. Corkins min-raised to 160,000, Hellmuth called, and jumped out of his chair when he saw the bad news. WPT commentator Vince Van Patten observed, “It looks like his pants are on fire.” The odds of Corkins hitting running sevens were 314:1.

Savage succinctly explained the role of a tournament director to Huff and show co-host Joe Sebok: “My job is to keep order in tournaments.” One of his recent creations is the Iron Man format, a no-break tournament with three meals served at the table and a $10,000 seat added to the prize pool. Its first running clocked in at 19 hours and 20 minutes. Savage recalled, “The camaraderie at the table was great. I stayed up for the whole event and will again in February.” Next month, a $2,100 buy-in Iron Man tournament will play out during the annual L.A. Poker Classic.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in the final moments of the 2006 Congressional session, led to several of the world’s top online poker sites fleeing the U.S. market. Accordingly, Savage revealed where he’d like to see the game headed as we enter 2010: “We’d like to see the UIGEA overturned and that’d be a big difference for us. We’ve [leveled] a little bit in the U.S., but it’s growing globally.”

A feature on Credit Card Roulette aired featuring former Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Isaac Haxton, Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Scott Seiver, with a $1,500 bill up for grabs. If you’ve never played the game, everyone seated tosses their credit cards into a hat and, one by one, the strips of plastic are drawn. The last person to have their credit card selected foots the bill for the entire meal. This time, Haxton was the poor, unfortunate soul and told “Poker2Nite” cameras, “Defeat is always painful.”

“Poker2Nite” closed with Absolute Poker pro and show correspondent Lacey Jones interviewing Shaun Deeb about his future in poker. Deeb commented, “I expect to take six months to a year, if not longer, to stay away from playing tournaments in general. I decided that, looking at what I was doing, I was spending too much time playing poker [tournaments]. So, I decided to quit them and play cash games with more flexible hours so I can do a lot more things with my time.” Deeb is a former number one player on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings.

Catch “Poker2Nite” every Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net.

L.A. Kings Host Poker Tournament

Taking place at Nokia Plaza the L.A. Kings Alumni 2010 Tournament will feature former Kings Marty McSorley, Ian Turnbull, Daryl Evans, Glen Murray, Brad Norton, Pete Demers and all-time leading scorer Luc Robitaille.

The tournament kicks off at 4 p.m. and anyone can buy in for $200 and rub shoulders with some of the NHL’s greatest players.

When you buy in you also receive two premier level tickets to Kings vs. St. Louis Blues on Jan. 9, a $25 Food Voucher for ESPN Zone and $50 free play from San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, which is sponsoring the tournament.

Meanwhile, the top prizes in the tournament include two tickets to a Kings game, dinner for two in the San Manuel Club, VIP passes for the game, post-game meet and greet with the team and a team autographed jersey.

It’s not the first time a poker tournament has been held featuring NHL players.

This summer the World Series of Poker hosted the NHL Charity Shootout which included a number of current NHL superstars including Alexander Ovechkin, Roberto Loungo, Mike Richards and Scotty Hartnell.

PartyPoker Starts 2010 LAPC Qualifiers

The main $750 buy-in weekly qualifiers take place every Sunday at 14:15 ET with a $14,000 package up for grabs.

The package includes the $10,000 buy-in, seven nights' accomodation and $2,500 in spending money.

If a PartyPoker player wins the LAPC, the company will award $500,000 to that player and $500,000 spread between the players who qualified on PartyPoker, no matter where they finished.

“The PartyPoker.com packages are amazingly appealing to anybody who wants to attend the LA Poker Classic,” said PartyPoker.com spokesman Mike Sexton.

“The $1 million payout if an online qualifier takes down the main event offers superb extra value. Imagine if you bust out really early and then one of your fellow qualifiers went on to win, you’d still go home with your share of $500,000.”

The promotion marks one of the first collaborations between PartyPoker and the WPT since it was announced PartyGaming would buy the tour late last year.

The LAPC is the most prestigious poker tournament in L.A. and former winners include Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi and Antonio Esfandiari. Last year Cornel Cimpan outlasted 695 players and a final table that included Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers to win $1.6 million.

The $10,000 main event of the 2010 WPT LAPC will take place Feb. 26-March 4.

Visit the PartyPoker website to learn more about the LAPC promotion.

Poker2Nite Welcomes Gavin Smith

The final UB.com sponsored “Poker2Nite” of 2009 aired on Wednesday night and featured Gavin Smith along with a recap of the outgoing calendar year. In addition, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo broke down a hand from the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on the Fox Sports Net poker news franchise.

“Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff ticked off their top three poker stories of 2009. For Sebok, the WSOP Main Event final table came in at number three, as he told viewers, “It had more suckouts than a Blow Pop factory.” Huff added, “It finally proved that the November Nine format can work.” Number two on Sebok’s best of 2009 list was the arrival of Isildur1, who stormed onto the high-stakes online poker scene late in the year. Sebok noted, “For somebody to come out of the mystery and take over is pretty unbelievable.” Sebok’s top story of 2009 was Phil Ivey, who won two WSOP bracelets and reached the final table of the Main Event. He also appeared on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.”

Huff then shared his top three poker news stories of the year. First up for the “Poker2Nite” host was Lada Gaga introducing her hit song “Poker Face” to the world. Huff explained, “You have the biggest pop star in the world making a song about her poker face.” Number two was the WSOP Main Event Day 1D lockout, which saw 500 players shut out of poker’s most prestigious tournament when it reached capacity. Huff questioned, “How do you shut people out of the Main Event of the WSOP?” Number one for Huff was the compliance delay of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). As it stands, the financial services industry in the United States has until June 1st to comply with the 2006 law.

“Poker2Nite” correspondent Lacey Jones interviewed players at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic asking what their New Year’s resolutions are for 2010. Shawn Buchanan stated that he wanted to win a WSOP bracelet, while Shaun Deeb explained that he’d rent a house in Europe. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar vowed to study the game more, while Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer desired to be more organized. Finally, UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy told Jones that he would lose weight in 2010.

Smith, a Full Tilt Poker pro, then joined the show. He described 2009 as, “Awful. Atrocious. Terrible. It’s my very first ever losing year in tournament poker.” He added, “I don’t think I ever tried to win.” Smith took home $120,000 from an episode of NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and earned $30,000 at the 2009 WSOP. A man known for prop betting, Smith explained the origin of a tattoo featuring the initials “J.S.” on his shoulder: “At the L.A. Poker Classic a few years ago, [Sebok and I] had a last longer bet and the loser was supposed to get the other man’s initials on his butt.” Smith, upon hearing how painful a tattoo on his rear would be, instead immortalized Sebok’s initials on his shoulder.

Bonomo appeared in a segment entitled “In the Tank,” breaking down a hand from the 2008 WSOP against David “Chino” Rheem and Roland de Wolfe. The Bodog pro described his thought process on every street, although Bonomo ultimately dropped the pot to de Wolfe, who picked off Bonomo’s bluff. Bonomo bet after the river brought three clubs to the board, explaining, “Roland has to be afraid of that card,” but de Wolfe called with an underpair to the board.

Dana Workman doled out the “Weekly Misdeal,” a satirical look at recent poker headlines. Workman chose to recap the top offbeat stories of 2009, including Ivey’s numerous side bets involving bracelet wins at the 2009 WSOP, the Poker Hall of Fame nomination of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and UB.com pro Annie Duke’s feud with comedian Joan Rivers.

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information, as the show is often pre-empted due to local sports programming.

Phil Ivey Files for Divorce

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PartyPoker Cash Machine Returns, Features Booster Bonus

In January, PartyPoker, one of the world’s longstanding online poker sites, returns the popular Cash Machine promotion. This time, hardcore grinders will earn additional cash as part of a Booster Bonus.

The Cash Machine promotion last ran during the month of September and shelled out a bevy of added funds to PartyPoker players. The promotion returns on January 4th and will run through the end of the month. All players have to do is earn 10 or more PartyPoints on at least 10 days during the 28-day period. Then, PartyPoker officials will take a look at the PartyPoint totals of the 10 highest-earning days and match the lowest one at the rate of $1 per point.

As an example, if a player’s 10 highest PartyPoint total days were 100, 100, 100, 150, 150, 150, 200, 200, 200, and 200, PartyPoker would award a $100 cash bonus, matching the lowest amount. The minimum payout is $10 and there is no maximum amount that PartyPoker will match. For those players who are unable to meet the $10 minimum, a generous consolation prize exists. Text found on PartyPoker’s website explains, “If you can achieve 10 qualifying days of one PartyPoint or more, but fail to earn the minimum cash reward, we’ll give you a seat in our $25,000 Cash Machine freeroll, which takes place at 15:00 ET on Wednesday, 3rd February.”

The Cash Machine Booster Bonus is available to players who earn at least 1,000 PartyPoints per day on 20 out of the 28 days of the promotion. Players who earn between 1,000 and 1,500 PartyPoints for 20 days will earn a $500 Booster Bonus. Players who rack up between 1,500 and 2,000 PartyPoints for 20 days will get a $1,100 Booster Bonus. Players who amass between 2,000 and 2,500 PartyPoints for 20 days will take home a $2,000 Booster Bonus. Players who earn between 2,500 and 3,000 PartyPoints will receive a $3,000 Booster Bonus and those able to surpass 3,000 PartyPoints for 20 days will nab a colossal $5,000 Booster Bonus.

The Cash Machine is an opt-in promotion and players can register for it at any time prior to its conclusion. Once they opt in, PartyPoker will credit players with all PartyPoints earned during the 28 days, regardless of when they sign up. Each qualifying day runs from 00:00 ET to 23:59 ET and days do not have to be consecutive in order to count. All funds earned will be dropped into players’ accounts within 48 hours of the Cash Machine promotion ending.

One day prior to the Cash Machine promotion kicking off, the PartyPoker Monthly Million will play out. The $640 buy-in tournament takes place on the first Sunday of every month and boasts a Championship blind structure. Players begin with 20,000 chips and blinds start at 25-50. The price of poker increases every 20 minutes and antes kick in at Level 6, when blinds are 250-500.

Qualifiers for the Monthly Million run constantly on PartyPoker. Popular ways to enter include a daily Monthly Million Qualifier, a $70 buy-in satellite with at least 19 seats on the line. A Mega Friday Satellite also takes place weekly, featuring a $55 buy-in and 20 seats guaranteed. On Saturdays, two qualifiers take place on PartyPoker offering a combined 18 seats. Country-specific freerolls and daily player point qualifiers also send players to the Monthly Million. Mark your calendars for Sunday, January 3rd, the next running of the Monthly Million.

According to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, PartyPoker is the fourth largest site worldwide, with a seven-day running average of 4,500 real money ring game players. It is the second largest not to accept players from the United States, trailing only the massive iPoker Network.

PartyPoker claims World Poker Tour Host and new Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton as its ambassador and is currently qualifying players for the L.A. Poker Classic.

Curt Kohlberg, Faraz Jaka Lead WPT Five Diamond Entering Play Down Day

The final six players in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will be determined today from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Leading the way with 16 to go are Curt Kohlberg and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka.

In one of the final pots of the evening on Thursday, Jaka battled against Season 7 L.A. Poker Classic third place finisher Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers. After a flop of Q-7-3, Jaka bet out 90,000 and Sowers made the call to see a deuce hit the turn. Jaka once again fired at the pot, this time for 240,000, and Sowers came along. The action went check-check after a river king and Jaka exposed K-4 for top pair to scoop the pot. Earlier in the day, Jaka doubled up at the expense of Scotty Nguyen after flopping middle set against Nguyen’s open-ended straight draw. The turn and river blanked for Nguyen and Jaka boosted his stack to 2.2 million before ending at nearly 2.8 million.

Kohlberg, meanwhile, took down pot after pot on Thursday at the Bellagio to secure his spot atop the leaderboard entering the play down day. In one hand, he tangled with Lock Poker pro Matt “All In At 420” Stout. Kohlberg led out for 55,000 on a flop of 7-2-2 and Stout raised to 165,000. Kohlberg called to see a three hit the turn. The action went check-check to a river four and Kohlberg check-called a sizable 225,000-chip bet from Stout. Kohlberg flipped over pocket nines, which was enough to scoop the pot. He ended with nearly 2.9 million, tops in the Five Diamond field.

On his Day 4, Kohlberg told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after play had concluded, “It was a long day. There were a lot of really good players and I was just trying to pick my spots. Fortunately, it worked out.” In November at the WPT’s last tournament, Kohlberg made the final table of the Foxwoods World Poker Finals, taking fifth place for $199,000. He also made the final table of the Grand Prix de Paris in 2005, earning $112,000 for his fifth place showing in the European tournament.

Among those who hit the rails on Thursday after the money bubble burst in the $15,000 buy-in tournament were Stout (20th place for $28,569), Antonio Esfandiari (23rd place for $28,569), Steve Brecher (25th place for $28,569), and DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija (26th place for $28,569). As it stands now, 16 players remain and the average chip stack is 1.2 million. Here’s a look at the field as Day 5 kicks off on Friday:

1. Curt Kohlberg - 2,856,000
2. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 2,768,000
3. Daniel Alaei - 2,422,000
4. John Juanda - 1,851,000
5. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - 1,550,000
6. Joe Cassidy - 1,445,000
7. Josh Arieh - 1,067,000
8. Shawn Buchanan - 1,007,000
9. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 826,000
10. Carter “ckingusc” King - 805,000
11. Eric Hershler - 796,000
12. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - 661,000
13. Matthew Waxman - 641,000
14. Joseph “BigEgypt” Elpayaa - 446,000
15. Scotty Nguyen - 339,000
16. Lee Salem - 275,000

The final 16 represents a star-studded group on the WPT circuit, as 10 of them have made final tables before: Kohlberg, Jaka, Juanda, Cassidy, Arieh, Buchanan, Hershler, Sowers, Nguyen, and Salem. Each of the remaining players is assured at least a $38,092 payday. Here are the paydays up for grabs at the six-handed televised final table, which will air on Fox Sports Net:

1st Place: $1,428,430
2nd Place: $952,290
3rd Place: $571,374
4th Place: $333,302
5th Place: $249,976
6th Place: $202,362

We’ll have complete results of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic right here on Poker News Daily.

2010 Paddy Power Irish Poker Open Schedule Announced

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2009 World Poker Tour Year in Review

For the World Poker Tour (WPT), 2009 was a year of incredible highs, but the organization was also faced with issues away from the felt that had to be overcome for the company to remain viable in other arenas.

Without a doubt, the biggest news of 2009 for the WPT was the sale of the popular poker tour. In what turned out to be a frenetic bidding war, WPTE, the tour’s parent company, received an offer in August from Gamynia Limited for around $9 million. Officials from the WPT’s parent company accepted the offer from Gamynia, but the battle was just beginning. A second offer from Party Gaming, which upped the ante to $12.3 million, eclipsed Gamynia and made it appear that the former online gaming giant would be the one to take over ownership of the WPT. As a part of this deal, there a $1 million cash advance would allow WPT to opt out of its deal with Gamynia.

As the deal with Party Gaming was moving towards completion, a third bid for the WPT came to light. As stockholders prepared to approve the agreed upon sale to Party Gaming in October, Mandalay Entertainment (not a part of the Mandalay Bay hotel ownership) stunned the poker world by issuing a bid for the WPT to the tune of $36.5 million. After reviewing the respective bids, the stockholders bypassed the Mandalay Entertainment offer and approved the sale of the WPT to Party Gaming. As of the end of 2009, it isn’t known how Party Gaming will utilize its ownership of the WPT.

In news away from the felt, the WPT was looking for an outlet to continue to air its popular tournament schedule. The one-year deal with Fox Sports Net was renegotiated in February and ensured that the WPT would continue to be on television for Season 8. In addition to the deal with Fox Sports Net, the WPT was also able to bring on Full Tilt Poker as a major sponsor of its broadcasts, marking the first time that the tour had aligned itself directly with an online poker room. Previously, sites had been sponsors of individual stops on the WPT, but never the entirety of the tour itself.

At the start of 2009, WPTE was facing a de-listing from the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York because its shares were not trading above the required $1 level. WPTE was given an extension due to the travails of the financial world in late 2008 and, by the middle of 2009, it had returned its stock to the required levels to maintain the seat on the NASDAQ. It was officially removed upon the sale to Party Gaming.

On the tables, the WPT continued to provide quality events, albeit with a drop in actual tournament attendance. Numbers for WPT events were down as much as 25%, but this was attributed to the global economic recession for the most part. The smaller numbers ensured that there were quality fields that took part in each stop of the WPT through the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8.

Veterans of the poker world such as Freddy Deeb (WPT Invitational), Steve Brecher (Bay 101 Shooting Star), and Vadim Trincher (Foxwoods Poker Classic), all earned championships as Season 7 began to wind down. In April, the WPT Championship crowned up and coming poker superstar Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko as its latest winner and also bestowed the title of WPT Player of the Year to Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

After taking its traditional summer break, the WPT came back for Season Eight, with players such as Alexandre Gomes (Bellagio Cup) and Prahlad Friedman (Legends of Poker) taking down titles. After a stirring run at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, Tommy Vedes demonstrated why he is considered to be one of the most underrated players in the game when he captured the title at the Festa al Lago in October. In perhaps the best calendar year run on the WPT, Cornel Andrew Cimpan claimed two WPT titles, the L.A. Poker Classic during Season 7 in February and the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season 8 in November.

Finally, the WPT put the “World” back into its moniker by hosting several tournaments in Europe. WPT Europe crossed the continent, ranging from such traditional gaming areas as Barcelona and Venice to exotic locales like Cyprus and Marrakech. These tournaments were warmly received, with strong European contingents filling out the fields alongside many of the best in poker from the United States.

With the new ownership of Party Gaming in its pocket, the future for the WPT is definitely bright.

WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Kicks off Monday

The 2009 installment of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will kick off on Monday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The tournament’s namesake told UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” that a field of 400 players is expected.

Only one Day 1 in the $15,000 buy-in WPT event will occur, with the six-handed final table taking place on the 19th. In 2008, original World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem took down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, besting Justin Young heads-up and earning $1.5 million. Young took $936,000 for his runner-up performance. Others who reached the feature table, which played out on cable station Fox Sports Net, included Evan McNiff (third place for $540,000), Steve Sung (fourth place for $396,000), Amnon Filippi (fifth place for $288,000), and DoylesRoom poker pro Hoyt Corkins (sixth place for $216,000).

The Five Diamond has been a staple of the WPT circuit and served as the series’ very first event back in May of 2002. That year, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen outlasted John Juanda heads-up in a talented final table that also featured Freddy Deeb, John “World” Hennigan, Chris Bigler, and Scotty Nguyen. A quaint field of 146 players turned out for the inaugural WPT tournament, creating a prize pool of $1.4 million.

In Season II of the WPT, Paul Phillips took down the Five Diamond in Las Vegas, besting Poker Hall of Fame member Dewey Tomko heads-up and banking $1.1 million. Hansen once again made the final table of the tournament and finished third this time around, while Mel Judah took sixth place and earned $101,000. The next season, a battle of PokerStars sponsored pros took place, as Daniel Negreanu trumped Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes heads-up in the event’s finale. The number of entrants jumped to 376 from 314.

In Season IV of the WPT, Rehne Pedersen earned over $2 million for his Five Diamond win and beat Patrik Antonius heads-up. Brunson made the final table of the event and finished third, while J.J. Liu took fourth place for $362,000. Also making waves were Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken and Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, who finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

In the December Bellagio tournament during Season V, Joe Hachem, winner of the 2005 WSOP Main Event, took down the title and its corresponding $2.2 million grand prize. Hachem and Negreanu made PokerStars proud by reaching the final table and the Aussie’s win solidified his name as one of the tops in the industry. In 2007, Eugene Katchalov banked $2.5 million for his WPT victory, outlasting a colossal field of 626 players. Also reaching the final table were Devilfish Poker namesake David Ulliott and former PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Ryan “Daut44” Daut.

After its annual Las Vegas stop, the WPT crew will break for the holidays and resume action in late January for the Southern Poker Championship. December’s Bellagio stop will mark the tournament series’ last trip to Sin City before the annual WPT Championship in April. Here’s a look at the remaining events in Season VIII:

Southern Poker Championship: January 24th to 27th
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Mississippi)

WPT Celebrity Invitational: February 20th to 21st
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

L.A. Poker Classic: February 26th to March 4th
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

Bay 101 Shooting Star: March 8th to 12th
Bay 101 (San Jose, California)

Hollywood Poker Open: March 20th to 24th
Hollywood Casino (Lawrenceburg, Indiana)

WPT Championship: April 17th to 24th
Bellagio (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Todd Brunson Interview with Poker News Daily

Among those present at a press conference welcoming the newest member of the DoylesRoom Brunson 10, Dani “ansky451” Stern, was Todd Brunson, son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.

Brunson owns over $723,000 in lifetime earnings from World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments and captured a bracelet in 2005 in a $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better event for $255,000. He finished 13th in the 1992 WSOP Main Event and grabbed 459th 15 years later when Jerry Yang took home the crown. Along the way, Brunson won the 2006 Poker Superstars Invitational for $500,000 and took down the series’ Las Vegas stop the same year for another $400,000. In the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), the younger Brunson earned $96,000 for his 15th place showing.

Nowadays, Brunson serves as a recurring participant in the DoylesRoom weekly Bounty Tournament, a $27.50 buy-in contest that takes place each Wednesday on the USA-facing online poker site.

Poker News Daily: Give us your thoughts on Dani “ansky451” Stern becoming the newest member of the DoylesRoom Brunson 10.

Todd Brunson: He’s a great player and we’re glad to have him. I hope it works out well.

PND: Tell us about your latest travels.

Brunson: It’s been busy, so I hope it slows down a little bit until February. I need a rest.

PND: You’re a sponsored pro of DoylesRoom. What makes the site a good place for poker players to head to as opposed to some of the larger rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt?

Brunson: It’s a smaller community where you get to know your players better. On a lot of the other sites, if you’re playing $5/$10 No Limit, there are so many other players that you have to make notes on, so it’s harder to find your games. DoylesRoom is a little smaller. It’s a little easier to keep track of people and jump in.

Not to bash PokerStars, but I’ve been playing on DoylesRoom and their site at the same time and I get so frustrated with PokerStars. It’s so much slower than DoylesRoom, it’s unbelievable. I could probably get in 50% more hands at DoylesRoom.

PND: You mentioned that you’re looking for a break. What are your plans in the coming months and what have you been doing recently?

Brunson: There are just busy times of the year. We’re just concluding one and the next one is going to be in January for the L.A. Poker Classic. I just got back from Europe, I had my tournament in Montana, and then I filmed 12 episodes of “Poker After Dark.” I’ve had a ton of stuff to do and haven’t really had a rest, so I’m worn down.

PND: How will the Brunson family celebrate Christmas?

Brunson: It’ll probably be at my house. We’ll have everyone over and do the Christmas thing.

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2009

With all that quality front page poker news there were a number of stories that almost fell through the cracks here at PL.com.

Fortunately, we publish our Poker News in Brief feature every Sunday and we’re going to recount some of the lesser-known stories below.

This week we’ll take a look at the original WSOP location shutting down its hotel, an Australian going back-to-back at the APPT High Roller’s event, a UB Poker pro winning a side event at Bellagio and more.

Binions Hotel Shuts Doors

Binions Gambling Hall & Hotel, the original location of the World Series of Poker, will be shutting down the hotel component of the business, according to a statement from owners this week.

Lisa Robinson, a spokesperson for Owners TLC Casino Enterprises, told the Associated Press the decision was made to keep the rest of the property operational.

She went on to say the facility was heavily affected by the economic downturn and the hotel rooms were no longer competitive.

The casino and legendary poker room will remain in business.

The property was originally known as Binion’s Horseshoe and it was there that Benny Binion conceived the WSOP.

The WSOP brand was sold to Harrah’s in 2004 and the next year the tournament was moved to the Rio All-Suites Hotel.

Graham goes back to back at APPT Sydney High Rollers Event

Jarred Graham pulled off an unlikely repeat performance as the APPT Sydney High Roller champion this week.

The young Australian outlasted 26 players including notables Jeff Lisandro, David Steicke and Terrence Chan to take down the $156,000 (AUD) first place prize.

This is the second year the $15,300 (AUD) buy-in event has been held and last year was actually more difficult for Graham, as he had to beat 36 players.

Graham now has life-time tournament earnings of $468,602, which puts him 21^st on the Australian all-time money list.

PartyGaming Wins Poker Operator of the Year

PartyPoker won Poker Operator of the Year honors at the eGaming Review Awards (EGR) in London this week.

An independent judging panel recognized that PartyPoker had made the most headway in the real-money poker sector over the last year. The judges were looking at originality, growth, scale, usability, payment processing and marketing.

Other notable poker winners included PKR for Best Online Marketing Campaign with special mentions to Betfair for Mobile Gaming Operator and ChiliPoker for Rising Star of the Year.

Russian Takes European Masters of Poker Slovenia

A Russian stole the show at the Slovenia leg of the second season of the European Masters of Poker this week.

Vladimir Mefodichev outlasted 252 opponents to take down the €58,190 first place prize in the three-day event.

The €1,000 buy-in event drew players from across the globe and the final table had players from Denmark, Russia, Israel, Sweden, France and Romania.

The European Masters of Poker now heads to Casino Las Canaria, Spain for the next tournament, which takes place Jan. 28-31.

Michael Binger Wins Five Diamond Side-Event

UB sponsored pro Michael Binger added yet another side event title at the 2009 Bellagio Five Diamond series this week.

Binger outlasted 127 players to win the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $124,160.

Since bursting onto the poker scene with a third place finish in the 2006 WSOP Main Event for $4.1 million, Binger has taken down the 2008 WSOPC Lake Tahoe title for $181,379 and side events at the L.A. Poker Classic and Five Star World Poker Classic.

Adding in numerous cashes from around the globe, Binger has slightly more than $6.2 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Power Hours on UB, Absolute Poker

Absolute Poker and UB players now have opportunity to earn twice the frequent player points during certain times.

Starting this week both sites will offer Power Hours from Monday-Saturday between the hours of 1-4 a.m. ET and 1-4 p.m. PT where players will earn twice the UB or AP points. The promotion is open to both tournament and cash-game players.

On Sunday, all players can earn double points between the hours of 1-4 a.m. ET with a special 1-5 p.m. ET session just for cash game players.

Players do not need to sign up and the points will simply be added to their account balance.

Full Tilt Signs Jani Vilmunen

It appears that Full Tilt Poker has signed Jani “KObyTAPOUT” Vilmunen as their latest red pro.

At the start of the week, the Finnish PLO-expert was still playing by his KObyTAPOUT alias but by mid-week a red Jani Vilmunen showed up at the tables on Full Tilt.

Vilmunen is most well-known as a fierce high stakes online cash game player, but he’s also had success in tournaments. Vilmunen won the Pot-Limit Omaha event at the WSOPE this fall for $336,396 and he also won the $2,100 PLO Six-Max WCOOP event on PokerStars for $172,140.

Full Tilt has yet to publicly confirm it has signed Vilmunen.

UB, Poker Player Magazine Hold Tournament for Armed Forces

Poker Player Magazine and UB Poker will host a freeroll this January to benefit those serving in the United States armed services.

All members of the armed forces, including veterans, are encouraged to participate, but the event is open to all players who would like to show their appreciation for men and women in uniform.

“This is a great event for everyone,” said Poker Pro Media Vice President Will Jordan, a former Marine. “But it is especially gratifying because we will be getting our servicemen and women involved. They deserve our gratitude, and this is just one small way to show it.”

The grand prize will be a $10,000 seat in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, along with $2,000 in expense money.

To sign up for the freeroll simply go to UB.com by Dec. 27 and use the promotion code PKRPRO.

2010 L.A. Poker Classic set to break records

A 50-event schedule was released this week, including the World Poker Tour's $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic Championship and the WPT Celebrity Invitational.

However, the 43-day schedule, running Jan. 21 to March 4, will include so much more.

Along with $3.3 million in guarantees, the largest ever from Commerce, organizers are estimating there will be a $20 million total prize pool over all the events.

"This LAPC is longer, bigger and richer," said John Griffo, the casino's director of marketing and advertising. "With $20 million at stake, what poker player wouldn't want to be at Commerce?"

The schedule will begin Jan. 21 with a $335 No Limit Hold'em event sporting a $1,000,000 guarantee.

There are three start days and while it's not a traditional re-buy event, players will be allowed to re-enter on subsequent days if they bust. A similar event held at Commerce in September drew a record-breaking 3,967 players, creating a $753,730 prize pool.

Other new events on the schedule include a $1,065 2-7 Triple Draw tournament, a $1,065 8-Game event, a $2,100-buy-in Ironman tournament with no scheduled breaks, Badugi and Chinese Poker tournaments and a $25,100-buy-in High Roller event expected to draw some of poker's best.

Like the 2008 edition, the Classic will also feature a $10,000 H.O.R.S.E Championship and a $10,000 Heads Up Championship.

The WPT Celebrity Invitational starts Feb. 20 and the WPT's $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic Championship begins Feb. 26. Both will air on Fox Sports Net in 2010.

"Commerce Casino has truly become a year-round haven for poker players," said Tournament Director Matt Savage. "As such, we felt it important to create an LAPC schedule that caters to recreational and professional players alike.

"That is why we have kept traditional events and inserted new games to the mix, and have buy-ins ranging from $220 to a heart-pounding $25,100."

The full L.A. Poker Classic schedule can be found on the Commerce Casino's website.

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

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

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

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

Fox Sports en Español Broadcasting Latin American Poker Tour

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

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

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

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

Joe Sebok hits one million twitter followers

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

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

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

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

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

Tom "durrrr" Dwan starts blogging

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

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

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

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

You can check the blog out here.

Annie Duke to host "Use Poker Skills for Life"

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

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

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

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

The presentation is sponsored by Stakes Supper Club.

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

Brad Booth joins GR88.com

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

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

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

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

Cimpan wins second WPT at World Poker Finals

Cimpan outlasted 352 players and a final table that included noted pros Eric Froelich, Matt Stout and Lee Markholt to win the title at Foxwoods Resort Casino for $910,058.

Last February Cimpan won his first WPT title at the Los Angeles Poker Classic for $1.68 million.

The confident Cimpan had no problem praising his own game after the heads-up match with Soheil Shamseddin concluded - especially after entering heads-up play with a 4-1 chip disadvantage.

"He was tough, but I'm just a little bit better," said Cimpan. "It was nowhere near as tough as the L.A. final table."

Despite his second-place finish, Shamseddin further cements his status as one of the most consistent players on the poker circuit. He received $463,332 for second.

PL.com blogger Matt Stout, who was chip leader for much of the final two days, appeared destined to win the event before getting sucked out on by Shamseddin for most of his chips.

Stout held a flush to Shamseddin's trip kings, but the river filled up Shamseddin's boat.

Stout was left with only a handful of chips and, despite mounting a brief comeback, eventually busted out in third for $265,710.

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Eric Froehlich came in fourth, busting in an all-too familiar race situation while Curt Kohlberg flamed out in fifth.

One of the most well known names at the final table was the first casualty.

In just the second hand of the day short stack Lee Markholt pushed all-in with A♥ K♠ pre-flop and Stout called with A♠ 6♠. Three spades hit the board and that was enough to end Markholt's short experience at the final table.

The next WPT tournament is a big one and not just in name alone. The prestigious Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will take place Dec. 14-19, 2009 in Las Vegas.

The final-table payouts for the 2009 WPT World Poker Finals:

1. Cornel Andrew Cimpan - $910,058

2. Soheil Shamseddin - $463,332

3. Matt Stout - $265,710

4. Eric Froehlich - $232,496

5. Curt Kohlberg - $199,283

6. Lee Markholt - $166,069

Cornel Andrew Cimpan Wins WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Taking place concurrently with the conclusion of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas was the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Finals. There, Cornel Andrew Cimpan took down his second WPT title.

Play began last week with 353 runners and as the cards flew at the final table, Cimpan held the chip lead. It took all of two hands for an elimination to occur, as Lee Markholt hit the skids after getting his money in ahead with A-K pre-flop against Matt “All In At 420” Stout’s A-6 of spades. Stout hit a flush on the river to secure Markholt’s exit and the pro banked $166,000 for his final table appearance in the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

Curt Kohlberg followed 20 hands later with A-Q. Soheil Shamseddin called the all-in pre-flop with pocket twos, setting up a race situation. Kohlberg flopped top two pair on an A-Q-5 board and a jack on the turn kept him ahead. However, Shamseddin hit lightning in a bottle on the river, when one of the two remaining deuces in the deck peeled off, eliminating Kohlberg in fifth place for $199,000. Then, it was Eric “EFro” Froehlich’s turn to depart after coming out on the short end of a race with A-K against Shamseddin’s pocket fours. The board came 10-5-2-9-8 and Froehlich, a dual WSOP bracelet winner, earned $232,000 at Foxwoods.

Three-handed, Stout doubled up both Shamseddin and Cimpan to give each new life with the $910,000 first place prize in the offing. On the 145th hand of final table play, Stout was bounced from the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals in third place, earning $265,000. He was all-in pre-flop with 3-2 and all three players saw the first three cards come 9-6-6. Shamseddin bet, Cimpan folded, and Stout saw that he was up against A-6. Stout jokingly commented, “I have the nut low,” when flipping up his hand and he banked $265,000 for his third place effort.

Entering heads-up play, Shamseddin held a 3:1 (8.0 million to 2.5 million) chip lead over Cimpan, who promptly doubled up when his pocket queens withstood Shamseddin’s A-K in a race. Shamseddin would battle back to regain the chip lead, but Cimpan doubled through once more, this time with pocket aces against A-J. In the final hand, Shamseddin was all-in with K-J, but ran into Cimpan’s A-J. Cimpan earned $910,000 for the win and his second WPT title; his first came in the Season VII L.A. Poker Classic. In that event, Cimpan bested Binh Nguyen in a talented final table that also included Mike “UNCCSowers” Sowers, Chris Karagulleyan, and Chris Ferguson.

Here were the results:

1. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – $910,058
2. Soheil Shamseddin – $463,332
3. Matt Stout – $265,710
4. Eric Froehlich – $232,496
5. Curt Kohlberg – $199,283
6. Lee Markholt – $166,069

Other notable names who cashed in the WPT Foxwoods Poker Finals included:

7. Kenna James – $132,855
8. Steve Brecher – $99,641
9. Adam “Roothlus” Levy – $66,427
11. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – $46,499
12. Todd Terry – $46,499
18. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – $31,533
21. Jason Mercier – $26,571
33. Nenad Medic – $21,588
34. Eric “sheets” Haber – $21,588

On Day 5 of the World Poker Finals, the field shrunk from 10 players to six and, amazingly enough, Shamseddin knocked out each of the four players to set up the televised final table. Markholt and Cimpan had each taken down WPT titles before. Next up for the roving tournament series is the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. The action gets underway on December 14th.

Joe Cada Prepares for 2009 WSOP Main Event Heads-Up Play

On Monday night at 10:00pm PT, Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will take to the felts of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table for a heads-up duel. Poker News Daily caught up with PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton, who has been coaching Cada on his media presence, to learn how the youngster is preparing for his big day.

Poker News Daily: Tell us what Joe Cada has been doing today and how he’s been preparing for Monday’s heads-up play in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Stapleton: Joe is being pulled in a lot of different directions today. Play ended at 6:00 in the morning. There was press that had to happen right afterward. I walked Joe to his room at 7:00 in the morning. He didn’t party or anything and went directly to his room. He apparently has not slept. I don’t know if it’s nerves or excitement or what, but he has been up all night. He’s started to get tired now.

The way that they have the schedule worked out is kind of brutal. There is no way to do it. Now, everyone is going to be off. If he sleeps now, it’s not like they’re playing in the morning. They’re playing at 10:00 tomorrow night. I think what Joe is really trying to do right now is get his head straight and get on some kind of schedule. 150 of his friends and family are here, so he’s getting a lot of phone calls and not answering any. He has a girlfriend here who is handling his things.

PND: Do you think that Joe Cada is handling the situation well, then?

Stapleton: Yesterday on his way out, for the questions that he answered, he was a complete class act. As someone who is trying to help him with media, I could not have been happier at the answers he was giving. He was humble and very polite and respectful. He was saying all of the right things. As far as what’s going on right now, it’s weird because I would like to tell him not to listen to anyone, except for me. I’ve been around poker for a while and would tell him to do every interview you possibly can and do nothing else. However, if I were a 21 year-old who was guaranteed to win at least $5 million tomorrow and possibly $8 million, that’s not what I would be doing.

PND: Is his girlfriend a good influence on him?

Stapleton: She seems to be genuinely concerned with his comfort. Also, she’s working with Joe’s agent to wrangle him. She is there in the room with him. If he chooses not to answer his phone, we can get to her. She’s been extremely helpful.

PND: Is this a make or break point for Joe Cada’s career?

Stapleton: I don’t think that there’s any way for this not to be the biggest event. It’s so obvious that it is. I think he’s going to be around for a long time either way somewhat by virtue of the fact that Darvin Moon, more than likely, is not going to have a huge presence. People will look to Joe to be the face of the 2009 WSOP. As far as his birthday, it will become a difficult record to break. Only things that are equally as big can happen to him.

PND: Talk about Cada’s lively fan base at the Rio yesterday.

Stapleton: They were the loudest and craziest fans and part of that is where they’re from. He’s from Detroit. People who are from New York or L.A. have that attitude that we’ve seen it all and done it all. That part of the country is still very enamored by the lifestyle and the money. They are unbelievably excited.

PND: It has to be a huge achievement for the city of Detroit too.

Stapleton: From what I understand, the local Detroit media is losing their minds right now. They’re flying out here. I believe some of the local news stations are ready to get him on.

Todd Terry Leads WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals After Day 1

A total of 353 players entered the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Finals, a drop of 14% from the 412 who took to the felts last year. At the end of Day 1, Todd Terry leads the way.

Terry made the final table of August’s WPT Legends of Poker, banking $231,000 for his third place performance. Terry holds 165,000 chips in the New England casino entering Day 2 play on Friday, when 206 survivors will resume at Noon ET. Late action on Thursday featured Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania doubling up at the expense of Gavin Griffin. Charania was all-in pre-flop holding A-Q, dominating the 6-8 of Griffin. The Team PokerStars Pro front man flopped top pair on a board of 8-3-2, but Charania hit a queen on the turn to move in front for good. Charania finished in the money three times during the WPT’s seventh season.

Among those who stood atop the leaderboard when play concluded at Foxwoods was Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who gained a chunk of his chips when an opponent ran pocket kings into Mizrachi’s aces. Mizrachi owns a stack of 125,900 entering Day 2, good for sixth overall. He is in search of his third WPT title after taking down the L.A. Poker Classic during Season 3 and the Borgata Poker Classic during Season 4. Despite his early success, he has not cashed in a WPT tournament since March of 2008.

Holding the 11th largest chip stack after one day of play is Jonathan Jaffe, the runner-up in the World Poker Finals last year. Jaffe owns a mountain of 116,000 chips and is one of 18 players to cross the six-figure mark. Jaffe earned $670,000 for his second place showing in 2008, as he fell to Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little heads-up at the feature table. Also making last year’s six-handed finale were David “The Dragon” Pham, Charles Marchese, Jack Schanbacher, and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.

Here are the chip counts after one day of play in the $10,000 buy-in WPT tournament:

1. Todd Terry – 165,700
2. Danny Shiff – 159,525
3. Adam Lippert – 159,000
4. Jack Schanbacher – 148,775
5. Soheil Shamseddin – 126,000
6. Michael Mizrachi – 125,900
7. Chris Moore – 123,700
8. Danny Illingworth – 121,600
8. Alan Sasser – 121,600
10. John Barucci – 119,950

Other players still in the hunt for the $910,000 first place prize include:

Matt “mattg1983” Graham – 99,175
Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp – 94,575
Christian “charder” Harder – 91,575
Poorya Nazari – 89,400
Jason Mercier – 84,750
Steve Sung – 76,275
Nick Schulman – 76,000
Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 75,100
Nenad Medic – 69,150
Prahlad Friedman – 67,450
Cornel Cimpan – 65,450
John “World” Hennigan – 61,250
Matt Hawrilenko – 51,250
“Cowboy” Kenna James – 49,425
Chad “lilholdem954” Batista – 47,000
Kathy Liebert – 46,025
Gavin Smith – 42,375
Liv Boeree – 40,550
Steve Brecher – 35,675
Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron – 34,475
Victor Ramdin – 32,750
Amnon Filippi – 31,675
Adam “Roothlus” Levy – 31,200
Tommy Vedes – 30,450
Gavin Griffin – 21,125

When play ended on Thursday, the action was in Level 8 and blinds were 400-800 with a 100 chip ante.

One of the toughest draws on Friday is at Table 22, where World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier will join fellow online poker pros Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron. Also at Table 22 will be Tommy Vedes, who is fresh off winning the WPT’s Festa al Lago event in October, and John “World” Hennigan, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner.

The WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals crowns a champion next Tuesday, November 10th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

Michelle, Ho bust out of <i>The Amazing Race</i>

Despite their elimination the pair was upbeat when they talked to PokerListings this week.

"I'm incredibly pleased with how we did," said Ho. "We aren't the most physical people and we were totally out of our element."

"Amazing is the perfect way to describe our experience," said Michelle. "It was the most challenging thing I have done and it was perspective and life changing."

Despite their deep run on the show, the pair might be best remembered for a controversial move in the very first episode. Michelle and Ho decided to inform the teams they were competing against that they were non-profit workers instead of poker players.

The ruse didn't work as they were quickly identified by a poker fan at an airport later in the first episode. Several teams were miffed at the misrepresentation.

Both Michelle and Ho insisted they weren't doing it for sympathy, but were instead trying to hide the fact they were successful poker players.

"We were coming from a strategic point of view and we just wanted to highlight another part of our lives," said Michelle. "It wasn't anything that wasn't truthful."

"Nobody wants to help people that do alright for themselves," added Ho.

Michelle mentioned she does work with the L.A. Youth Network and both have played numerous charity tournaments including Ante Up for Africa.

Ho and Michelle were the only all-female team competing in this season of The Amazing Race and it proved to be a serious challenge.

"It was 10 million times harder than I thought it would be," said Michelle. "Just from a muscle point of view we were at a disadvantage."

No female team has ever won the race.

In their final episode, Michelle and Ho couldn't perform either one of the detour challenges they attempted and were forced to eventually take a 24-hour penalty, thus eliminating them from the show. Both challenges were physical in nature.

"I have no regrets about how we went out," said Ho. "We gave it all we had, but at a certain point you just have to accept there are things you just can't do."

With the show behind them both, Ho and Michelle have plans to return to the poker circuit at the British Columbia Poker Championship in Vancouver and then the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

"I think for the first time we just want to go play poker," said Michelle. "It will be exciting to get back out there and see all the faces."

The mainstream exposure they received on The Amazing Race seems here to stay and Ho appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 this week in a panel on women breaking into the male-dominated world of business.

Meanwhile, Michelle recently launched a clothing line and plans on continuing her acting career by auditioning for roles in both television and film.

WPT signs on for Annie Duke Charity Tournament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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