Poker News

Poker News in Brief: Oct. 5-11, 2009

Instead, U.S. player Aaron Gustavson stole the spotlight by winning EPT London as a three-week long schedule of major tournaments in England finally drew to a close.

Of course, there was plenty of poker news that happened outside of London this week and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we'll try to catch you up with it all.

This week we'll be looking at a new UltimateBet charity tournament, poker players in the buff and France possibly opening up its online gambling market.

UltimateBet introduces Starlight Poker Challenge

Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth and UltimateBet are once again showing their charitable side by hosting the Starlight Poker Challenge in Montreal, Nov. 14-18.

The event will offer a guaranteed first-place prize of $100,000, which is reportedly the most ever offered by a charity poker tournament in Canada.

Proceeds will be going to the Starlight Children's Foundation Canada, which is part of an international non-profit organization dedicated to assisting seriously ill children and their families.

The event will feature a WSOP-style structure with several celebrities set to play, including Hellmuth and Duke.

For more information check out the event's website here.

OktoberFest Returns to Hustler Casino

Hustler Casino in L.A. is celebrating the changing of the seasons with the return of its Oktoberfest Fall Classic Tournament.

This time around the casino will be offering a deep stack series with over $300,000 in guarantees. The 23-day tournament series will begin Oct. 15 and run until Nov. 2.

The centerpiece of the tournament will be the $225 buy-in Liz Flynt Poker Classic, which takes place Oct. 24-26 with a $100,000 guarantee.

Players will be treated to complimentary champagne, buffet and a visit from the Hustler Honeys and Hustler Hunks.

Click here for the complete schedule.

Half-naked poker pros in ESPN The Magazine

Poker players are generally not known for their fantastic physiques, so it came as a surprise to many that four poker players were featured in a photo in this month's "Body" issue of ESPN The Magazine.

The photo, which appears to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, features Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen sitting topless at a poker table.

The Body issue of ESPN The Magazine is meant to highlight some of world's most impressive figures and it features star athletes like Serena Williams, Dwight Howard and Zdeno Chara in varying degrees of undress.

The issue is currently available at newsstands around the world.

French bill to open online gambling market?

It appears the French-government's monopoly on online gambling is at an end.

According to Reuters reports out of Paris, a French bill that would end the state monopoly went before discussion on Wednesday.

Budget Minister Eric Woerth told Parliament he thought they had found middle-ground that would be an efficient way of controlling the market and ending the reign of numerous illegal sites.

France had been feeling pressure from the European Union and private operators to open up their market, which is worth billions.

The new legislation would see private firms obtain permits from a newly created regulator. These firms would then be able to run their own gambling sites.

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College Challenge returns to Absolute Poker

The online poker site is resurrecting the Absolute Poker College Challenge (APCC) with $30,000 in prizes available to students currently enrolled in a U.S. University or College.

The main event of the APCC takes Nov. 30 with the top six players qualifying for a live final table in L.A. that will be streamed online.

The winner will receive $10,000 towards their College tuition and the ultimate bragging rights for their university.

"This poker tournament is a fun and easy way for college students to compete for an alternative way to pay for tuition, and we believe that this program is one of the best ways to create real added value for college students," said Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin, who attended the Plattsburg State University.

Last spring Derek Dilberian, a 24-year-old University of Florida law student, beat a field of 4,000 to win free tuition for a semester in Absolute Poker's first College Challenge.

Vengrin said Absolute expects see a larger field in this year's event as the College poker-playing community seems to be rapidly expanding.

Although there is no direct buy-in for the APPC main event, Absolute Poker is offering an assortment of daily and weekly satellites with buy-ins ranging from $.25 to $5.

There will also be daily freerolls, which can potentially qualify a player for the weekly satellites.

Visit Absolute Poker for more information on the promotion.

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Las Vegas Mogul Bob Stupak Dies at 67

The poker and the Las Vegas communities lost one of their own last week, when entrepreneur and former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Bob Stupak succumbed to a lengthy battle with leukemia.  He was 67 years-old.

To cite just one or two things Stupak will be best remembered for would be doing a disservice to a man whose long list of accomplishments ranges from building the iconic Stratosphere to winning a WSOP bracelet to placing a $1 million bet on the Super Bowl.

In addition to his reputation as an exceptional and well-rounded gambler, Stupak was also considered by many to be a master of publicity.  Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman summed up his legacy in a statement he gave to the Las Vegas Review Journal: “Bob was an impresario, a ringmaster in the mold of the promoters who made Las Vegas the great town that it is,” he said.  “His ingenuity got him into trouble sometimes, but that happens to folks who try to grab the brass ring.”

It is true that Stupak did not always have the easiest road to success.  After a failed attempt at running a restaurant, he opened Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gambling Museum on the Las Vegas Strip.  Despite its less-than-stellar location on the northern portion of Las Vegas Boulevard, the museum drew patrons with slot machines, which promised huge payouts for a small investment.  Unfortunately, the building burned down just two months after opening.  In its place, Stupak built Las Vegas World, a casino with a space motif.  Years later, Stupak would pioneer the efforts to build the 1,149-foot tall Stratosphere.  While the project was seen to completion, it went bankrupt within its first year of operation and was sold off to Carl Ichan.

Stupak did not let these setbacks keep him down for long, though, and managed to keep himself in the spotlight via a series of outlandish sports bets and other gambling ventures.  The Las Vegas Sun reported that Stupak placed a $1 million bet on the 1989 Super Bowl, which garnered quite a bit of media attention, although the paper also suggested that he quietly made some side bets to compensate for the financial blow he would take should he lose.  Thankfully, he won.

In exchange for a $100,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund, Stupak was able to suit up for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1996.  Stupak’s official website features a video of the event highlighting his charitable contribution, but John L. Smith’s biography of Stupak, “No Limit: The Rise and Fall of Bob Stupak and the Las Vegas Stratosphere,” suggests he could not help but set up some side bets on his basketball prowess for as much as $250,000.

Stupak’s charitable side extended beyond his Globetrotters adventure and he was known throughout Vegas for his philanthropic efforts, which included financing a local park and community center and helping to fight homelessness in the city.  He was a civic-minded individual as well, running for Las Vegas Mayor and Nevada Lt. Governor, among other posts, but he failed to win any of his campaigns.

The poker world knows Stupak as a man with a knack for 2-7 Triple Draw.  He won his bracelet in the now defunct $5,000 2-7 Triple Draw with rebuys event, a tournament that many of the pros cited as one of the more prestigious bracelets to win.  In addition to nabbing the bracelet in 1989, Stupak made three other appearances at 2-7 final tables in the 1980s and 1990s.  He also final tabled the World Poker Tour’s first trip to Commerce Casino for the L.A. Poker Classic and made an appearance on the popular “High Stakes Poker” television program.

Stupak is survived by his three children, daughters Summer and Nicole and son, Nevada, as well as two sisters and two ex-wives.  Stupak’s body was cremated and there were no plans for a funeral.

Commerce hosting Annie Duke celebrity tournament

The Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Tournament will take place during the Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Open with celebrities Scott Ian, Shannon Elizabeth, Brande Roderick and Joe Reitman all taking to the felt.

Joining the stars will be poker players Dan Harrington, Howard Lederer, Rafe Furst, Adam Levy, Andy Bloch, Dave "Hollywood" Stann and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.

The event is sponsored by the WSOP Academy and presented by Rockwell Time. Globe-trotting Matt Savage will be handling the tournament directing duties.

Anyone willing to put down the $330 buy-in can take a seat at the tables. Re-buys and a one-time add-on are both available for $100.

Organizers are promising a "home style" poker game with fans being given the chance to mix it up with their favorite celebrity/poker players.

More than $30,000 in prizes and giveaways will be awarded throughout the event. The red carpet begins at 7 p.m. with the cards getting in the air at 8 p.m.

DEF was established in 2001 by educators, decision scientists and business people who had an interest in providing decision education to today's youth.

The organization already has several connections to poker world.

In 2008, Eric Brooks shocked the poker world by winning the $10,000 World Championship Stud event at the WSOP and donating 100% of the $415,856 he earned to the organization. Duke also sits on the board of directors.

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Brett Radin Wins Commerce Casino Ironman Tournament

Move over, Robert Downey, Jr. There’s a new Ironman in town! Brett Radin scooped $51,000 for taking down the Commerce Casino’s first ever Ironman event, a no-break poker tournament.

Radin defeated Chris “Trips” Tyrba in the Ironman tournament, which ran for 19 hours and 21 minutes. A total of 64 players bought in for $1,600 each and three meals were served at the table given the no break structure. The Commerce Casino added $10,000 to the prize pool, which came in at $103,000. The Ironman concept was the brainchild of veteran tournament director Matt Savage, who told Poker News Daily, “The Ironman is an idea that I came up with in response to players always asking, ‘When is the break?’ and others asking why the breaks are so long. When you signed up for the Ironman, there was no guesswork.”

Bathroom breaks and other reasons to stand up from the table meant missed hands in the Ironman tournament. As such, Savage noted that the extra twist tested players’ mental toughness: “Players should know that missing a hand in a tournament is not the end of the world and that many successful tournament players take unscheduled breaks away from the table. It was a test of a player’s skill and willpower, as the structure was very good.” Ultimate Bet pro and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, for example, often misses hours of major tournaments in an effort to woo the assembled field with his customary late entrance.

Here were the top six finishers in the Ironman tournament:

1st Place: Brett Radin - $51,160
2nd Place: Chris “Trips” Tyrba - $22,686
3rd Place: Farzin Akhtar - $11,859
4th Place: Tyler “Titan of Tulalip” Patterson - $7,218
5th Place: Brian Brubaker - $5,672
6th Place: Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin - $4,125

Baldwin is a WSOP bracelet winner, having taken down a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2009 tournament series. Baldwin promptly finished third in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, boosting his take from the 2009 WSOP to over $780,000. On the online felts, where he can be found under the “Basebaldy” moniker, Baldwin won the Bodog weekly $100,000 Guaranteed twice in May of 2008. Last December, he took down the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed for $132,000. Baldwin finished 54th in the Main Event of the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for $23,000.

Many who took to the felts in the Commerce Casino’s Ironman event were brand name players, including Shane “Shaniac” Schleger, Gavin Griffin, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Joe Bartholdi, 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic Champion Andrew Cimpan, and Adam “a_junglen” Junglen. Graham. Each entrant was given a stack of 10,000 chips and blinds began at 25-25. The price of poker increased every hour. On the structure, Radin commented in a press release distributed by the West Coast casino, “It was the truest poker tournament I have ever seen or played in. I love the fact that it played all the way down and no deals were allowed!”

The Commerce Casino plays host to the WPT L.A. Poker Classic every year, with its next installment slated for February 20th to 25th. In its last running, Cimpan defeated Binh Nguyen heads-up, with Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers and Full Tilt pro Chris Ferguson also reaching the final table. Cimpan banked $1.6 million for his efforts and the tournament aired as part of Season VII of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. The $10,000 buy-in contest generated a field of 696 runners.

The Ironman event was part of the Commerce Casino’s Hold’em Series. Its inaugural event, a $220 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, generated a field of 3,967 players, which the Commerce Casino claimed was the largest non-WSOP field in live poker history. Players could re-enter on another starting day if they busted out.

Confident man: Mercier among leaders at WSOPE

Every time he sits down at a poker table, the newly minted Team PokerStars Pro believes he's going to win.

"When you feel good, you feel like you're playing well and you feel like you are going to win, then you start making good decisions, you make the right folds, you pick the right spots and everything just kind of clicks," he said. "Confidence, feeling good about yourself, and having a positive attitude really helps a lot."

Mercier burst onto the live poker scene in April of 2008 winning the San Remo leg of the PokerStars European Poker Tour, his first major live tournament. But the 22-year-old Floridian did not stop there.

He went on finish sixth at EPT Barcelona, eighth in the 2008 WSOPE £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event and first in the £20,000 High Roller Event at EPT London, all within the next six months.

Add in prelim wins at the L.A. Poker Classic and the Wynn Classic before his first WSOP bracelet win in the $1,500 PLO event this summer and Mercier has already accumulated more than $3.3 million in live tournament earnings in less than two years as a pro poker player.

Detractors claim he's simply running well and will come back down to earth before long, but the results keep rolling in and Mercier's confidence continues to build.

"I think confidence is definitely a key to success in poker," he said. "I try to think that I have as good a shot as anyone, if not better, in every tournament I play.

"I try to come in with a positive attitude and hope things go well from the beginning, try to get some momentum going and ride it all the way through."

While Mercier's confidence has been bolstered by all his recent success, he believes it's important to understand that success did not happen overnight.

In 2007, he became just the 16th player in PokerStars history to reach Supernova Elite VIP status by earning 1 million VIP Player Points in one year.

"It's not like I started playing online like two months before I won San Remo or anything," he said. "I had been playing online for almost three years and probably put in over 3 million hands before I won my first live tournament.

"I definitely have played more hands than like 99% of poker professionals. I played more than 2 million hands in one year and that's really hard to do. I doubt there are more than 200 people that have done that ever."

While he's attained a level of success in poker few have achieved, Mercier said he's still constantly working on his game.

"If you stop trying to get better, you're going to get worse," he said.

When Day 3 of the 2009 WSOPE main event presented by Betfair begins Tuesday at 12 p.m. BST inside the Casino at the Empire, Mercier will be in the top ten in chips sitting on a little over 200k.

A host of big names, including November Niner James Akenhead, 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, Poker Diva Liz Lieu, Full Tilt Pro Steve Zolotow, Amnon Fillipi, Antonio Esfandiari and recent PokerStars WCOOP main event winner Yivgeniy Timoshenko are all right there with him, chasing chip leader Ian Munns with just 92 players remaining.

To hear more from Mercier himself follow the Jason Mercier Poker Blog right here on PokerListings.com.

For more from Day 2 of the WSOPE main event and beyond, including chip counts, photos and live updates, click through to PokerListings' Live Tournaments page.

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Amazing Race: Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho Escape Elimination in Premiere

Poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were spared elimination on the premiere of the CBS reality show Amazing Race, which is entering its 15th season. Michelle and Ho arrived at the first pit stop in last place.

The 15th installment of the CBS franchise began in the L.A. River, the site of movies like “Grease.” Twelve teams arrived by bus, including Michelle and Ho, who told other teams that they worked for a non-profit instead of admitting they were wealthy poker players and the last women standing in the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events.

In a new twist, the first challenge took place immediately, with the last team to complete it eliminated at the starting mat. In it, teams had to sort through 1,000 license plates for one of 11 from Shinagawa, Tokyo, their first destination. Despite confusing license plates, some with misleading Japanese symbols on them, Michelle and Ho finished the task first and headed to the airport to fly to Tokyo. On completing the task first, Michelle quipped, “We have our Asian lucky charm right here,” referring to Ho. In the end, married yoga teachers Eric and Lisa were eliminated in Los Angeles.

All teams flew to Japan, where they were told to head to the Tokyo Tower Television Studio. There, a live audience awaited a game of “Sushi Roulette,” which capitalized on the popularity of Japanese game shows. The Roadblock, which is a task that only one team member can perform, asked contestants to stand in front of a giant roulette wheel and eat the food that landed in front of them. The two players who received scorching hot wasabi bombs had to consume it in less than two minutes in order to receive their next clue. Play continued until each team had eaten a wasabi bomb.

On-screen graphics like an alligator breathing fire added flair to this task, which saw the wasabi land on Ho’s space on the third spin. However, she was unable to eat it within the two-minute time frame and had to play again. As luck would have it, the wasabi once again landed on her space on the fourth spin. Ho told Amazing Race cameras, “My hands were shaking. I was tearing up. It was just like one of those moments where people say it’s mind over matter.” Ho finished her wasabi with two seconds left on the clock.

After completing “Sushi Roulette,” the teams received a colored flag, which corresponded to the visors of 20 audience members. They had to lead their group to the Konno Hachimangu Shrine across town on foot navigating Tokyo’s congested streets. Dating couple Meghan and Cheyne arrived at the Shrine, the Pit Stop for the leg of the race, first and received trips to Aspen and Vail.

Michelle and Ho stopped at a hotel to get a map to the Shrine, sharing its location with brothers Sam and Dan. Michelle explained, “They’re both young, hot, 20-something guys who have become our friends.” Meanwhile, two members of Michelle and Ho’s group became separated in Tokyo’s maze of crowded streets. After hunting around, the poker players were unable to locate their lost crowd members and checked in at the first Amazing Race Pit Stop in last place. Michelle and Ho were assessed a two-hour time penalty for not completing the task, but were spared being sent home in a non-elimination leg. As punishment, they would be forced to complete a Speed Bump, which is a task that only Michelle and Ho would perform, in the upcoming leg.

The teams were then dispatched to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where they were taken by bus to Cai Be. Despite departing three hours behind other teams at 3:22am from the Pit Stop, Michelle and Ho were quickly able to catch up, as the first flight to Vietnam did not leave until 10:30am. Meanwhile, Lance Layne, an engaged lawyer from Massachusetts, lashed out at Michelle and Ho for not being eliminated on the previous leg: “I can’t believe they gave those two chicks a Speed Bump. Bastards should have been sent home.”

A person at the airport recognized Michelle and asked, “Did you get into the Top 15?” This generated doubt in Michelle and Ho’s stated profession as non-profit workers, eventually leading to other teams figuring out that they were actually poker players. Teams arrived at the Cai Be docks just before nightfall only to see that it did not open until 7:00am. In the morning, they proceeded to mud pits across the Mekong Delta and were tasked with scooping enough mud to fertilize a fruit tree by filling up its base to a designated red line.

Before completing the fruit tree task, Michelle and Ho served the Cai Be dock master soup for their Speed Bump. The poker-playing duo completed the extra challenge with ease before heading to the mud pits. Michelle and Ho were in last place leaving the pits due to the time lost while completing the Speed Bump, but gained ground in the leg’s Road Block, which consisted of herding 150 ducks across a bridge and back again in a fenced enclosure.

Michelle claimed that she had ducks growing up and “flew” through the task, leading to the team being in sixth place after finishing the Roadblock. The Pit Stop on the Vietnam leg was a boat, the Bassac III, and Michelle and Ho arrived in seventh place, surviving a chaotic two-hour episode. Father and son Gary and Matt came in first place and won kayaks.

Amazing Race airs every Sunday on CBS at 8:00pm ET. Next week will see Michelle, Ho, and the rest of the CBS reality show’s cast travel to Cambodia.

Poker News in Brief: Sept. 21-27

But despite the focus on London there was even more going in the poker world with Jamie Gold having more legal troubles and Yevgeniy Timoshenko taking down yet another major tournament by winning the WCOOP Main Event.

Of course there's always even more going on behind the scenes that doesn't necessarily make it to the front page of PokerListings.com. Fortunately, as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we've collected a list of those stories below.

This week we'll take a look at the death of a Las Vegas legend, Phil Hellmuth taking a shot at the WSOP, PokerStars potentially adding an online division to their team and poker in politics.

Wyden pulls online gaming amendment

It didn't take long for Senator Ron Wyden to change his mind about a possible amendment that would have seen legalized online gambling revenues go towards healthcare reform in the U.S.

Barely one week after proposing the amendment, Wyden opted to pull it from the table deciding he didn't want to add another controversial issue to the healthcare debate.

Wyden's bill had already gained support from Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep. Barney Frank and Internet gambling advocacy groups like the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

Las Vegas Icon Bob Stupak dies at 67

Bob Stupak, builder of the Stratosphere and a WSOP bracelet winner, died at Desert Springs Hospital on Thursday after a long battle with leukemia.

Stupak was one of the earliest visionaries in Las Vegas and was also responsible for creating Las Vegas world in 1974.

"Bob Stupak was a true visionary and he will be sorely missed," said a statement from the Stratosphere.

Puggy Pearson taught Stupak to play poker and in 1989, Stupak won a WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 Deuce-to-Seven event. Stupak also made the final table of the 2003 WPT's L.A. Poker Classic and put in an appearance on the GSN series High Stakes Poker.

Phil Hellmuth takes shot at WSOP

Phil Hellmuth is arguably the WSOP's most successful player with 11 bracelets, but the UltimateBet pro is hinting he might not play the series if Harrah's opens its own online poker room.

In an appearance on the Hardcore Poker Show, Hellmuth mentioned he thought there was a potential battle brewing between Harrah's and established online rooms like UltimateBet, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Hellmuth went on to say that if Harrah's decided to restrict competing poker room logos from its competitions there was a possibility that all the players from the major sites would form their own WSOP-style event.

PokerStars adding Online Pro division?

It appears that PokerStars will be adding a primarily online section of its Team Pro roster.

The employee that runs the official PokerStars twitter account tweeted the following Friday:

"Team PokerStars Online Pro is a new branch of our team who'll be playing mainly online not live. Anyone will be able to apply in due course."

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu re-Tweeted the message.

PokerStars already has some very respectable online players with Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Jason "treysfull21" Mercier and Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan all in the Team PokerStars Pro fold.

Bobb Barr speaks out on Internet Gambling

Former House Representative Bob Barr is the latest public figure to comment on the state of online gambling in his Atlanta Journal-Constitution column - the Barr Code.

Barr mentioned that the potentially revenue generated from legalizing, regulating and taxing online poker was becoming harder for the government to ignore.

Barr went on to say it was very likely that Barney Frank's pro-online gambling bill would go before a hearing this fall.

Earlier this year, conservative columnist George Will wrote in his Washington Post column that he supported the legalization of online poker.

Harrah's extends contract with IMG Sports & Entertainment

Harrah's Interactive Entertainment and IMG Sports & Entertainment announced a four-year contract extension for global representation of the WSOP property this week.

According to the agreement, IMG will continue to use its international network to help establish the brand in areas beyond Las Vegas and London.

"We are looking to emphasize the 'World' in World Series of Poker as our vision of the brand extends beyond the annual events in Las Vegas and London," said Mitch Garber, CEO of Harrah's Interactive Entertainment.

"By tapping the global reach and expertise of IMG, we are confident that together we can take the brand to new levels on the international stage through new international bracelet events and other WSOP licensed poker events."

IMG has worked with the WSOP since 2005 and helped attract corporate sponsors like Jack Link's, Hershey's and Planters.

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Jamie Gold sued again

In a breach of contract suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, L.A. resident Francis DellaVecchia claims he helped Gold secure a deal with Bodog to pay Gold's entry fee into the Main Event in exchange for 1% of his winnings.

DellaVecchia, who worked as a consultant with Riptown Media doing marketing and media work for Bodog, claims to have helped put together a celebrity team for Bodog, which included Dean Cain, Mekhi Phifer, DJ AM, and Brad Garrett.

DellaVecchia claims he was introduced to Gold through a mutual friend and considering the former Hollywood agent's ties to actors like James Gandolfini and Lucy Liu, he asked Gold to help him secure a few household names to represent Bodog in exchange for a seat in the Main Event.

DellaVecchia alleges Gold was only able to secure B-List celebrities for the event, but he still made a verbal agreement to secure his $10,000 buy-in for the tournament from Bodog in exchange for 1% of anything Gold might win.

After winning the Main Event, Gold was sued by Bruce Crispin Leyser for half his winnings.

Leyser claimed he made a deal prior to the event with Gold to help find celebrities to represent Bodog in exchange for 50% of his winnings.

The suit was settled out of court with a statement issued to the press claiming Gold had always intended on sharing his winnings with Leyser.

Terms of the settlement were not released.

DellaVecchia claims he knew nothing of Gold's agreement with Leyser and his attempts to settle up with Gold immediately after the 2006 Main Event proved unsuccessful.

After May 2007, DellaVecchia claims any attempts to contact Gold or his representatives have failed.

Gold's attorney, Hugh Greenup, told PokerListings DellaVecchia's story is untrue and Gold has yet to have been served the lawsuit.

"The claims made by Francis DellaVecchia are false," Greenup said. "He has no agreement, written or otherwise, with Jamie Gold.

"If Mr. DellaVecchia ever decides to legally serve it upon Mr. Gold, which he has not done yet, his false allegations will be contested vigorously and exposed for what they are."

DellaVecchia is seeking $131,250, claiming Gold's earnings from the Main Event, including the $12 million first-place prize, a $750,000 bonus from Bodog and a monthly retainer for as long as he was representing the site, totaled $13,125,000.

- With Files from Arthur Crowson

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Olivier Busquet Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open Entering Day 3

A total of 167 players remain in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open. However, many of the tournament’s big names, including Gavin Smith and 2007 Borgata Poker Open Champion Roy Winston, were sent packing.

The story of the day was Jason “TheMasterJ33″ Dewitt, who was also in the final day of play of the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and, according to WPT coverage, “took an extended two-level break before dinner and returned to a still-healthy stack that was well above average.” Dewitt was the chip leader late in the day at the Atlantic City Casino and ended play with the 15th largest tally at 357,500.

Dewitt told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after play had concluded for the evening, “I basically had to build a big stack or bust. I got my big stack, so I could afford to sit out and miss my two hours of blinds. I came back and got the chip lead, although I did lose it at the end. I guess I can’t be too sad about it.” Dewitt battled in the WCOOP Main Event during the two hour period. WPT Championship winner Yevgeniy “atimos” Timoshenko ultimately took down the high-stakes online poker tournament and earned $1.7 million.

Many of poker’s greats were in London for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities. However, among those remaining in the United States for the Borgata Poker Open were Smith and Winston. The former tangoed with Bill Gazes late yesterday, losing his final hand with pocket aces against pocket sixes when a six hit the flop. The hand boosted Gazes to 140,000 in chips and he ended with 298,000, good for 26th place overall. Gazes has made a pair of WPT final tables during his career, including a fourth place effort during the Season II L.A. Poker Classic and a third place showing in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season IV. All told, the poker pro has $1.2 million in career WPT earnings.

Earlier in the day, Ultimate Bet’s Michael Binger boosted his chip stack to 308,000 by flopping a set of deuces. Binger called his opponent’s all-in with A-J on a board of A-9-2-Q, securing the win in the hand. Binger’s stack dwindled from that point and he finished the day with 74,000 chips, good for 146th. Binger has never registered better than 10th place in a WPT event. His claim to fame is taking third in the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $4.1 million in a tournament ultimately won by Jamie Gold.

Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee was sent packing on Monday. The host of ESPN.com’s “Inside Deal” also had aces cracked for his tournament life, this time by pocket fives. Lee’s opponent flopped a five and, despite picking up a flush draw on the turn, he was ousted from the WPT Borgata Poker Open. Also hitting the skids yesterday were Theo Tran and 2002 WSOP Main Event Champion Robert Varkonyi. Here’s a look at the Top 10 survivors who will take to the felts today for Day 3:

1. Olivier Busquet - 524,600
2. Tony Moussa - 488,300
3. Danny Illingworth - 480,600
4. Ofir Mor - 452,800
5. Mike Summers - 450,500
6. Bartholomew Mikulski - 441,100
7. Mike Leah - 431,600
8. Barry Tremebetzky - 412,000
9. Allen Bari - 401,500
10. Ben Lin - 385,700

Other notable names remaining in the WPT Borgata Poker Open include:

15. Jason Dewitt – 357,500
26. Bill Gazes – 298,000
36. Kathy Liebert – 260,700
38. Gabriel Aminov – 258,700
50. Jonathan Little – 229,800
58. Steve Brecher – 220,300
72. David Chicotsky – 187,800
75. Chris Reslock – 179,400
146. Michael Binger – 74,000

Joe Sebok Joins Ultimate Bet in Consulting, Sponsorship Role

Long considered to be one of the top poker professionals without a major sponsorship deal, it was announced late Monday evening that Joe Sebok will be joining Ultimate Bet’s roster of poker pros. Sebok will also take a prominent position inside of the Ultimate Bet organization in a deal orchestrated by 11Management.

While he joins Team UB and will be wearing the site’s signature black and gold colors at tournaments around the world, Sebok will also undertake a major consulting role with the company. Because of his abilities in the world of internet radio and podcasting, Sebok will accept a position as the site’s Media and Operations Consultant. In this capacity, Sebok will help bridge the gap between the Ultimate Bet brand and poker players. His in-depth knowledge of the online poker world will likely raise the bar and make Ultimate Bet the only place players will want to visit.

Sebok had previously gained the industry’s respect for his founding of PokerRoad.com, an online media outlet that provides poker fans with fresh, innovative, and often irreverent content from an insider’s perspective. Online poker fans around the world continue to look to Sebok and PokerRoad.com, where he serves as the company’s CEO, for a unique perspective on everything related to land-based and online poker.

“We are ecstatic to bring Joe onto Team UB,” said Paul Leggett, the COO of Tokwiro Enterprises. “He will not only serve as a pro player representing the brand, but more importantly will be instrumental in helping us create a poker site for and by poker players. His commitment to the brand was invaluable, as he worked closely with me to help begin to bring closure on the details surrounding the cheating investigation from last year. I’ll continue to work with him to ensure that we always do everything possible to satisfy the poker community’s concerns and will continue to work together to make Ultimate Bet the premier poker site. I couldn’t be happier to welcome Joe to the team today.”

“UB and I first started talking about a possible relationship almost four months ago and I made it very clear that I couldn’t commit until that point in time when the names associated with the scandal began to be released,” Sebok stated during the announcement. “Paul Leggett has been instrumental in this process and I now feel comfortable and excited about joining the team as we are heading in such a positive direction. While this process isn’t entirely complete, I consider this to be one of my new responsibilities moving forward and intend to continue working very closely with Paul to ensure it happens. I am very happy to be joining Ultimate Bet today and look forward to our future.”

While he has not captured a major title as of yet, Sebok is one of the best young poker players in the game today. Learning from a master of the game in his father Barry Greenstein, Sebok has earned over $1.85 million from live tournament poker over the last five years. He can count preliminary tournament victories at the 2006 Mirage Poker Showdown for $150,165, the 2006 Heavenly Hold’em Championship for $209,060, a 2006 Festa Al Logo Classic event for $267,295, and a 2007 L.A. Poker Classic event for over $96,000 as some of his most notable cashes. More recently, Sebok made a deep run at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, where he eventually finished in 56th place for $108,000. In joining fellow poker professionals Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke as members of Team UB, Sebok will bring further credibility to Ultimate Bet’s championship lineup of poker talent.

Nevada Gaming Revenues Fall 12.48% in July

While the economy may be picking up steam worldwide, news from Las Vegas revealed that Nevada casino gambling revenues were down 12.48% in July year over year. Statewide, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported revenues, or “win,” of $872 million.

In July of 2008, casinos reported a win of $997 million. In Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, revenues two months ago were $729 million, off 10.92% year over year from the $819 million recorded in 2008. On the Las Vegas Strip, where poker-friendly resorts like the Bellagio and Venetian can be found, revenues came in at $461 million in July, a drop of 11.14% compared to the same period last year. July saw an influx of visitors to the Rio and other Harrah’s resorts for the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), which kicked off its Main Event on the 3rd of the month.

In Downtown Las Vegas, which includes the Golden Nugget, the setting for the first and fifth seasons of “High Stakes Poker,” and the L.A. Comedy Club at the Four Queens, which was featured in the most recent installment of G4’s “2 Months, $2 Million,” revenues came in at $39.8 million in July. That figure represented a dive of 11.54% in comparison to the same period in 2008. Besides the Golden Nugget and Four Queens, other Downtown Las Vegas casinos include former WSOP home Binion’s, the Las Vegas Club, Main Street Station, and Fitzgerald’s.

In North Las Vegas, revenues rose in July year over year by 7.41%. The area recorded a win of $23.6 million during the month, a growth from the $22.0 million in July of 2008. North Las Vegas was the only area to report an increase in revenue in 2009. In Laughlin, which is also located in Clark County, revenues fell 18.57% to $39.3 million, down nearly 20% from the $48.2 million recorded in 2008. Also hurting were the Boulder Strip and Mesquite, which reported declines in revenue of 6.80% and 19.50%, respectively. The Boulder Strip includes establishments like Green Valley Ranch and Sam’s Town, while CasaBlanca and the Eureka Casino call Mesquite home.

In Washoe County, gambling revenues were off 19.52% in July year over year. The entire country generated $71.2 million in win, down from the $88.5 million recorded last year. In Reno, the gambling Mecca of the county, revenues were $50.7 million, down a blistering 21.06% from the same period in 2008, when casino win was $64.2 million. In Sparks, win was $11.5 million, down 15.55% from the $13.6 million recorded in July of 2008. Also down significantly in Washoe County was North Lake Tahoe, whose win of $3.7 million in July was 23.18% less than the $4.8 million registered last year.

South Lake Tahoe reported the largest dip in revenue of any area in Nevada during July. Revenues of $27.3 million represented a 33.17% drop year over year from the $40.8 million reported in 2008. In Elko County, revenues were $22.2 million, a slide of 8.54% from the $24.2 million reported last year. In Wendover, which is in the county, revenues of $14.1 million in July represented an 11.18% drop year over year. Finally, in the Carson Valley area, which includes Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and areas of Douglas County except South Lake Tahoe, revenues were off 7.17% year over year to $9.3 million.

The State of Nevada collected fees of $57.3 million in August based on July’s revenues. The figure represented a scant 1.64% decrease year over year. Overall, gambling revenues in Nevada have declined year over year for 19 straight months, with the last increase reported in December of 2007:

July, 2009: (12.48%)
June, 2009: (13.82%)
May, 2009: (8.34%)
April, 2009: (14.07%)
March, 2009: (11.61%)
February, 2009: (18.12%)
January, 2009: (14.62%)
December, 2008: (18.94%)
November, 2008: (14.80%)
October, 2008: (22.33%)
September, 2008: (5.44%)
August, 2008: (8.10%)
July, 2008: (12.97%)
June, 2008: (1.11%)
May, 2008: (15.17%)
April, 2008: (5.05%)
March, 2008: (1.52%)
February, 2008: (3.93%)
January, 2008: (4.75%)

2 Months, $2 Million: Brian Roberts Loses $111,000

It’s nearly back to square one for the cast of the G4 online poker show “2 Months, $2 Million.” This week’s episode, which was the first to air on a Wednesday night, saw Brian Roberts drop $111,000, essentially pushing the team back to even overall.

The $2 million goal seems like an afterthought after watching the most recent installment of the reality franchise. The team began the week $160,000 in the black, with Jay Rosenkrantz’s recent string of losses leading Roberts to treat him to a spa visit to rejuvenate. Rosenkrantz told “2 Months, $2 Million” cameras, “I’ve definitely been struggling with why I’m not focused.” Cassie Webb, Roberts’ girlfriend, noted that morale at the Las Vegas home was down significantly and wanted to hold a date night.

Dani Stern and Emil Patel, the two single players, sought out dates at the Playboy Club at the Palms. One girl asked if the group were poker players and Stern responded that everyone was except for Patel, who is a prince in Dubai. The ploy worked and Patel scored a phone number at the end of the night. Meanwhile, Roberts gave his take on Stern’s dating habits: “If she’s of legal age and pre-menopausal, she’s pretty much on the menu.” Stern wound up on a date with “Emily”, while Patel struck up an accord with “Megan.” The tab at the end of the night: $5,000.

Back at the house, Roberts jumped into a high-stakes Pot Limit Omaha game on Full Tilt Poker featuring Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Urindanger, luckexpress10, and DIN_FRU. Roberts scooped $15,000 off Ivey before dropping an $80,000 pot to Hansen to set the tone for the week to come. The atmosphere of losing drove Rosenkrantz over the edge. He told Stern, “I think I’m going to go home and get my head on straight.” Rosenkrantz departed for Commack, New York to be with his mother.

The three remaining cast members took their dates on a helicopter ride and to a pricey $1,800 dinner at CUT at the Palazzo. Megan was shocked to learn that her entrée for the evening cost more than her rent for the month and Patel came out on the losing end of credit card roulette for the four-figure tab. The party then moved back to the “2 Months, $2 Million” house, where, in a scene reminiscent of the “Man Show,” Emily’s friends began jumping on a trampoline.

In Commack, Rosenkrantz’s mother, Rona, explained that she wanted front row Barry Manilow tickets should the $2 million goal be met. Back in Sin City, the losing continued, as Roberts took on luckexpress10 in both Omaha and Hold’em. In Omaha, Roberts got it all-in with Q-Q-2-9 on a board of Q-7-9. However, luckexpress10 flipped up 8-J-10-10 and a running K-5 propelled him to victory with a straight. In Hold’em, Roberts ran K-7 into luckexpress10’s 4-5 on a board of 3-4-5-K to drop $104,000 total.

When the results were tallied for the week, Stern was down $2,000, Patel was down $16,000, Roberts was down $111,000, and Rosenkrantz brought home $1,000. The quartet had bled $128,000 for the week, but were still up $35,100 overall after five episodes. It was a heartbreaking loss for the squad, which is quickly running out of time to achieve its $2 million goal.

For the penalty stunt, Roberts had to perform stand up comedy at the L.A. Comedy Club at the Four Queens. His act consisted in part of poking fun at his housemates, including asking what Patel, a vegetarian, would actually eat. The night lifted Rosenkrantz’s spirits: “I was really burnt out on Vegas and an poker, but being here tonight made me realize there’s nowhere else I’d rather be this summer.”

“2 Months, $2 Million” airs at 8:00pm ET every Wednesday on G4 following “Attack of the Show” and replays throughout the week. Check your local listings for details.

Joe Hachem, Jeffrey Lisandro Featured on WSOP on ESPN Coverage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WSOP Main Event Coverage: Hellmuth Takes the Stage, L.A. Laker Jordan Famar Tries to Score

Today sees another day at the World Series of Poker Main Event unfold on ESPN as Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth takes center stage while battling some of the biggest names in the game including November Nine member Phil Ivey, last year's Main Event...

WSOP Main Event Coverage: Hellmuth Takes the Stage, L.A. Laker Jordan Famar Tries to Score

Today sees another day at the World Series of Poker Main Event unfold on ESPN as Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth takes center stage while battling some of the biggest names in the game including November Nine member Phil Ivey, last year's Main Event...

Scotty Nguyen comes back

It turns out they were right.

This summer, Nguyen added just $33,668 to his $10,705,581 in career tournament earnings with an 11th-place finish at the $10k Stud World Championship, falling far short of his $4 million goal.

However, the Prince of Poker was back on the felt at the WPT Legends of Poker event last week.

"People retire and then they come back right," the 1998 WSOP Main Event champ laughed.

"Legends is my comeback, baby. It's the first tournament I've played since the World Series."

Nguyen currently sits 12th on the all time World Series of Poker money list with $4,727,717 collected from 37 WSOP cashes, and actually considers the 2009 Series his least successful.

"This was the worst World Series I've ever had just because of that statement - the $4 million," he said. "It was always stuck in my head, I was always thinking 'I got to get there, I got to get there.'

"You see baby, when you have to do something, there's more pressure on you and that's the wrong thing. It was stressful. In poker you can't have that stress."

Prior to the 2009 WSOP, Nguyen's bold statement actually morphed into a prop bet with fellow pro Mike Matusow at the WPT Championship.

Getting 3:1 on $5,000, Nguyen is attempting to collect $3 million in tournament earnings over the next three years.

With a win in the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic's $9,900 H.O.R.S.E. event and a sixth-place finish at the $25k WPT Championship, he's earned almost $700k this year so far and seems well on his way to making the bet quite interesting.

And despite not coming through on his $4 million promise, Nguyen is not apologizing for believing in himself.

"You know baby, if you ask me again, I will tell you again," he said. "Before the World Series if you ask me how much I'm going to make I'm going to tell you $4 million.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm going to lose, baby."

Nguyen busted on Day 3 of Legends, falling just short of the money.

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Friedman grabs WPT Legends title

Early Thursday morning at the WPT Legends of Poker final table in his hometown of L.A., he returned in a big way, taking down the title and the $1 million first-place prize that came with it.

"The titles and having certain things doesn't really mean anything to me," he said. "I was just trying to get this million and I did it and that's what I'm happy about, not the title or anything, just winning that million."

Friedman's triumphant return to live tournaments actually began this summer with another deep run at the Main Event, where he finished 64th.

He said the experience of that, coupled with his 20th-place finish in 2006, a WSOP bracelet in 2003, making runner-up at WSOPC Rincon in 2005 and a deep run in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star in 2004, certainly paid off here.

"More experience will always help you and because I've had a couple of deep runs, I kind of know how to survive a little bit," he said.

The story coming into the final six at Legends was all about the player Friedman beat heads-up to take the title.

November Niner Kevin Schaffel proved the spot he secured at the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table this summer was no fluke, entering the final table Wednesday afternoon with the chip lead.

Despite the obvious sting of taking $471,670 for second instead of the $1,009,000 for first, Schaffel said the experience of his first televised final table should prove invaluable heading into the Main Event final Nov. 7.

"You can't simulate the difference in chip counts, but this was absolutely a great experience heading into November," he said. "I felt very comfortable out there, very calm and I think that's the way I'll be at the World Series.

"Maybe a little more nervous, because it's a bigger stage, but not by a lot."

Todd Terry came into the final table with a stack just shy of Schaffel's, but could manage no better than a third-place finish while the most experienced player at the table, Full Tilt Pro Toto Leonidas, was short most of the way and bowed out fourth.

In just the first hand of play at the final table, Sam Stein, who finished ninth at the WPT Bellagio Cup one month ago, crippled two-time WSOP Stud final-tablist Mike Krescanko with a massive runner-runner flush suckout.

Krescanko busted sixth immediately after, but Stein was the next to go grabbing fifth.

After a long playdown from 24 to six Tuesday, Friedman said he came into the final table feeling confident and never really looked back.

"I felt like I was a favorite," he said. "Not a big favorite or anything, but I felt like a little bit of a favorite.

"Just seeing the way they played, I had a lot of information. I know how they played and going into the final table and I just had a good feeling."

With a WPT title under his belt now, Friedman said the poker world could be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

"I might play a few more tournaments," he said. "I'm not going to play millions of them like these guys do, but I'll play a few more.

"I'm not tripping about the title or the bracelets or anything like that. I don't need any real fame or anything; I'm just trying to provide for the fam."

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November Niner leads WPT Legends final

"It's just been unbelievable," said Schaffel, who appears to have matched Ivan Demidov's feat of making the WSOPE main event final table while awaiting his shot at a WSOP Main Event title last year.

"I just came off one of the worst streaks of my poker career starting in January and for these two things to happen back to back it's almost impossible to even dream of.

"I can't wait to get in to my next tournament and see if I can make another final table."

Fellow November Niner Steven Begleiter actually held the lead through the first two days at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., but could not hold on busting in ninth place.

Now sitting in the driver's seat, Schaffel says he's squarely focused on the task at hand and not November.

"Obviously this is what I'm going to be doing tomorrow and November is November," he said. "Plus, November is such a different story because I'm [sixth in chips] and three or four people have big chip leads over me. The whole dynamic of the table is going to be different.

"Here I can - not bully people - but be a little more aggressive against the shorter stacks because they can't knock me out in one hand like five others can do at the Main Event."

Getting a win here at Legends will be no easy task for Schaffel, who has a final table in a $5k at Legends in 2007 on his resume.

Coming off a second place finish at the Borgata Winter Open main event this year, Veteran pro Todd Terry is just 10k short of Schaffel's 2,219,000 chip stack and is feeling great about his game.

"I feel good about the decisions I'm making and the plays I'm making," he said. "It's really exciting. I've been playing WPT's for a while now and I've had terrible luck in them. I've never even cashed in one, so to be going into the final table just about tied for the chip lead is pretty awesome."

Right behind the two chip leaders sits Prahlad Friedman, who, in addition two deep runs at the 2006 and 2009 WSOP Main Event, is a veteran of the highest stakes cash games online.

Considering the top heavy payout structure at the Bike, Friedman said he will head into his first WPT final table focused on winning.

"I'm trying to make money, that's my job," he said. "So I'm not thinking I finally made a WPT final table. I'm just happy I've got a chance to win a million and that's what I'm focused on.

"All the money's in first so that's what I'm going to be playing for."

Mike Krescanko, who has two WSOP Stud final tables and a host of small cashes on his rap sheet, is next on the leaderboard.

Sam Stein, who made ninth at the WPT Bellagio Cup this summer, sits right behind Krescasnko.

"It's nice to get on TV," Stein said. "It would have been nice to go back to back on TV - people would certainly notice that - but whatever. I'm still happy. Even though I'm fifth in chips I'm definitely trying to win. It's the only thing on my mind."

Rounding out the final six is the venerable Toto Leonidas.

The Full Tilt pro has over $3 million in career earnings, but joins the entire group in making their first WPT final table appearance.

"I've been longing to get to a final table at the WPT," he said. "I've blown up in a lot of WPT tournaments before. I've been close a couple of times, so this feels pretty good."

The action will get underway at 4 p.m. PT with a $1,009,000 first place prize on the line.

PokerListings will have comprehensive live updates throughout on or Live Tournaments page.

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Living large at WPT Legends

After a tough 2009 WSOP, Devonshire made back his losses taking fourth for $85k at the Venetian Deep Stack $5k event.

But instead of getting back to the grind, he hit the road.

"I always try to leave Vegas right after the series just because it's hot as balls there," he said. "I always try to go somewhere and take a little break from poker, so this year, from all kinds of people saying, 'why don't you come here and do this or that,' it just kind of morphed itself into a Trans-Continental motorcycle trip."

Devonshire hopped on his bike in Las Vegas on July 22 riding down to L.A.

He hugged the coast all the way up to Washington and into Vancouver, Canada. He took the ferry over to Vancouver Island, went back up to Whistler, all the way up to Blue River and through Jasper and Banff National Parks before going back into the United States.

Riding across Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, he stopped in Minneapolis to see some friends, saw Phish in Chicago and hung out with his sister in Columbus before heading down to another friend's lake house in Lake Norman, North Carolina.

He spent the last week there before flying in to L.A. for Legends and plans to fly back when the tournament is done to ride the bike all the way back to Las Vegas.

"It took me 25 days on the road, I covered just under 6,000 miles and it's been great," he said. "In fact, I'm kind of itching to get back in the saddle."

While he understands playing thousands of poker hands online and devoting countless hours to studying your game can make you a better player, Devonshire, who chronicled the trip in with a blog on his own website and videos on PokerRoad.com, says taking a break from the game and having a life outside of poker can help too.

"Those hours and miles on the road, to clear your head and think about things," he said. "It's been super beneficial for me and I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Even the best go on bad runs and without some way to escape, Devonshire, who started his poker career as a dealer before cashing big in a WSOP casino employees event to build his roll, says the life of a poker player on a downswing can be a pretty depressing existence.

"It's not happy and it's not healthy and that, in turn, definitely impacts on people's game," he said.

As he continually strives to find the perfect life/poker balance, Devonshire says the clear mind and relaxed attitude he's come off the road with is paying dividends here at Legends as he inches closer to a second career WPT final table.

"I think it has just kind of helped my overall paradigm and demeanor," he said. "I'm just more relaxed right now then I have been. This summer was just go, go, go, go and after taking a break, I am stoked to be playing right now and I'm having fun doing it.

"But flopping top set a lot certainly doesn't hurt either."

Heading into Day 3 at the Legends of Poker, November Niner Steven Begleiter holds the chip lead with fellow 2009 WSOP Main Event final tablist Kevin Schaffel and a host of top pros, including Prahlad Friedman, Billy Baxter, Nick Schulman, Greg Mueller and Adam "Roothlus" Levy, in close contention.

You can follow all the action live from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles starting at 3 p.m. Monday on PokerListings Live Tournaments page.

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November Niners take on WPT Legends

Just a little over a month since reserving spots at poker's biggest final table, November Niners Steven Begleiter, Kevin Schaffel and Joseph Cada were back on the felt in L.A.

When the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event begins Nov. 7 with an $8.5 million first-place prize up for grabs, Begleiter will come in third in chips.

He told PokerListings the chance to play against the best in the game is what drew him to Legends.

"I took a vacation, then I took another week off and then the voice inside my head said let's go play some poker," he said. "I want to play against top flight competition and that's what these $10k events have to offer. The high-limit buy-ins attract a lot of really good players, so I'm going to play a handful of them prior to the Main Event."

Begleiter said he will definitely be at the WSOP Europe in London this September and is considering playing the WPT's Festa al Lago at Bellagio in October.

Schaffel, 51, will enter the final nine sixth in chips and with plans to play just here at Legends and PokerStars EPT London at the beginning of October; his schedule should be a little lighter.

In the meantime, he's preparing any way he can.

"I've been reading a little bit and playing some sit and go's to try to get some shorthanded play in, because usually I play full ring games," he explained. "I'm also going to watch all the [2009 WSOP Main Event coverage on ESPN]. I love the show. I've watched them all since Moneymaker.

"I don't really know what you can pick up from watching one or two hands, but I'm going to watch how [the rest of the November Nine] play in general and that's all I can do. I don't really think I'm going to find any nervous ticks on anybody though."

While playing at Legends, Schaffel is actually hoping he can keep thoughts of Main Event on the back burner.

"$10,000 is still $10,000 and a first place of [$1 million dollars] is still a lot of money," he said. "So I won't find myself thinking about November during this tournament."

Begleiter claims he's here simply to stay sharp.

"If I didn't play poker for like three and a half months, or whatever, I'd be a little over-focused on what's going to happen in November," he said. "If I play regularly, hopefully I go in there playing at a high level and I'll make better decisions."

The 47-year-old investment banker is also squarely focused on staying in good physical shape heading into the final.

"I'm really trying to stay in shape," he said. "I'm not the youngest guy at the table and there's a good chance it'll be a long night. I think the adrenaline rush will keep everybody sharp, but I'm definitely working out regularly.

"I think that helped me in the Main Event and so I'm definitely going to go in there in good shape."

The youngest guy at the Main Event final table will be 21-year-old Joe Cada.

He'll start fifth in chips in November and starting with the Legends of Poker, he plans to play as much as he can between now and then.

"There's a bunch of other tournaments I'll be playing," he said, mentioning EPT Barcelona and the WSOPE in particular. "I'm just going to continue to play and go to a bunch of tournaments trying to stay sharp."

In a strange twist of fate, Cada actually had Begleiter on his left to start the day at Legends.

"I think it helps having Steven to my left, so I can get a chance to see how he plays a little," he said.

Cada says he'll also be watching the ESPN broadcast to pick up whatever he can.

"Of course I'm going to watch on ESPN," he said. "There are some hands I'm definitely interested in seeing."

As Day 1 of WPT Legends of Poker wrapped Saturday, Begleiter found himself among the chip leaders.

Legends continues from The Bicycle Casino with Day 2 starting at 3 p.m. PT Sunday and you can follow all the action from our Live Tournaments page.

The 279 total players created a $2,625,500 prize pool. One hundred and eighty players will head into Day 2, the money starts at 27th place and first pays $1,009,000.

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Flack is back at WPT Legends

Six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Layne Flack managed an eight place finish at Legends in 2008, but the circumsances surrounding his exit from the event still sting.

"It hurt," Flack told PokerListings. "But it was more frustration than anything."

Flack went broke last year in a massive hand on the tournament's penultimate day that saw eventual winner John Phan suck out huge to crack Flack's pocket aces and leave him just short of his fourth WPT final table and a chance at a second WPT title.

But that's not the entire story.

Tournaments at the Bike use a chip to denote when a player has moved all in. Several times throughout the event, Phan asked dealers for the chip, holding it in his hands while making his next move.

Sometimes he would push all in, but other times he would give the chip back to the dealer choosing a different course of action.

With just two eliminations until the TV final table was set, Phan opened with a raise.

Flack reraised and, once again, after counting out enough chips to cover Flack, Phan asked the dealer for the chip.

Once the dealer put the chip in Phan's hand, an argument ensued regarding whether the act of asking for the chip meant a player had moved all in or not.

Flack called the floor and, noting this could be an angle to get an opponent's reaction, the tournament director gave Phan a warning that the next time he asked for the chip, he would indeed be all in.

Phan mumbled something about being caught, Flack said he knew he was just trying to scare him, but the money went in regardless.

Phan had sevens, flopped a set and turned quads to crack Flack's aces.

"When the seven came, well, that's poker; you win some you lose some," Flack said. "I know he had done it a bunch of times earlier and John Phan is known as a shot taker.

"I wouldn't have even said anything publically, but a few months later I got a call from my friend Brandon Cantu saying he did it again to him at another tournament. It's just not right."

In the year since the last Legends of Poker, Flack has run through all the 'what if' scenarios and despite the bitter taste in his mouth, he says he's ready to put the bad beat behind him.

Now he's simply focused on the tremendous success he's had at the Bike in previous years.

Popular opinion is that Flack got his nickname "Back2Back" by winning back-to-back WSOP events in 2002 and 2003, but he told PokerListings it all really started at the Bicycle Casino in 1999.

Coming off his first WSOP bracelet win earlier that year, Flack went back-to-back at the Legends of Poker, winning the Limit Hold'em shootout event and the Seven Card Stud event before making the final table of a No-Limit Hold'em event.

In 2000, before it was a WPT event, he also won the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em main event at Legends.

"I like L.A.," Flack said. "I do really enjoy playing at the Bike and I have a lot of history there. I'm really looking forward to this."

Last year, Phan rolled into Legends as the hottest player in poker, having won two 2008 WSOP bracelets and narrowly missing a WPT title at the Season 7 Bellagio Cup a month earlier.

Despite online star Amit Makhija going into the final table with the chip lead, Phan continued to run like a champion to book the win and $1,091,428 first-place prize.

Representatives from Phan's sponsor Full Tilt Poker claim he is on vacation in Asia, is unavailable for comment and will likely not be defending his Legends title this year.

Coming off two final tables and another two decent cashes at the WSOP this summer, Flack is hoping it will be his turn this time around.

"It should be a lot of fun," he said.

PokerListings will be following all the action from the start of play at 3 p.m. PT Saturday until Wednesday's final table in our Live Tournaments section.

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David Pham - Poker Player Profile

David “Dragon” Pham is one of the fiercest tournament players the United States has ever seen, but he almost didn’t make it to America. Born in South Vietnam in 1967, Pham fled to the US at the age of 17 aboard a boat with 145 passengers; only 46 people would survive that voyage, and fortunately, David Pham was one of them. When he arrived in the States, Pham briefly worked for his cousin’s laundry business, but since his cousin was Men “The Master” Nguyen, he soon shifted his focus to poker.

Honing his game in small tournaments and cash games, it wasn’t until 2000 that David Pham played in the World Series of Poker, making two final tables for over $65K, and also being honored as Card Player’s Player of the Year. The following year, “Dragon” would claim his first WSOP bracelet, winning the $2000 S.H.O.E. event for $140K. In 2003, Pham won the $5000 Limit Hold’em event at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $457K, and a year later, he took 1st in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $414K. David actually has an incredible seven WPT final tables to his credit, although none of them have come in a championship event.

David Pham won his second WSOP event in 2006, taking home $240K in the $2000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout. For his next trick, he won the 2007 Card Player of the Year award a second time after making a remarkable 11 final tables, bagging a grand total of $1.8 million. More recently, Pham finished 4th at the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure for $600K. All told, “Dragon” has amassed more than $7.8 million in live poker earnings.

J.C. Tran - Poker Player Profile

J.C. Tran is a tournament poker phenom who hails from Sacramento, California. Tran’s biggest accomplishments include two World Series of Poker bracelets, a WCOOP Main Event victory, and five WPT final tables. His biggest cash is actually a 2nd place finish in the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic for $1.1 million, but he would later claim victory and $683K in the World Poker Challenge that same year. J.C. Tran’s live poker winnings are in excess of $8 million, and include 28 WSOP cashes for $1.6 million. With an incredibly balanced mix of live and online success, Tran is an absolute monster at the tables and always a force to be reckoned with.

J.C. Tran was born in Vietnam, but moved to the States at just two years of age. He would later attend California State University, and ply his trade at the $9-$18 game at Capitol Casino in Sacramento.

Jim Tabilio Leaves Poker Voters of America

With the organization growing leaps and bounds, Jim Tabilio has left his post after founding the Poker Voters of America, an advocacy group that promotes protection of online poker players in California and around the United States.

Tabilio founded Poker Voters of America two years ago. He was well-suited for the role, having served as a poker player and political consultant. Now, Melanie Brenner has assumed the role of Executive Director and told Poker News Daily why Tabilio stepped down: “Jim has a family and is at a point in his life where he has other things he wants to do. This has been extremely time consuming, especially when the decision was made that we could do this in other states. It was a unique opportunity since states are looking for revenue.” Tabilio will remain on in an advisory role.

California is one of many states actively searching for new forms of revenue in the wake of budget shortfalls caused by a severe economic downturn. Brenner explained what could occur: “There are going to be big budget shortfalls that may make a lot of the challenges against legalized online poker evaporate. When you’re able to say to a legislator that it’s about revenue, they know the state needs it. You’re spending millions of dollars protecting live poker players, but there are a lot of other players not being protected online.” Brenner noted that she expects movement towards legalized and regulated intrastate poker in California in the near future.

According to eGaming Review and H2 Gambling Capital, legalizing intrastate online poker in California could generate $250 million per year for 10 years and $625 million per year after that. Brenner added that Poker Voters of America is also hard at work in Florida pushing for intrastate online poker. As such, she is constantly traveling back and forth to promote the organization’s agenda. Brenner explained, “The biggest pushback we get is that legalizing online poker is just the tip of the iceberg. With that kind of mentality, nothing gets done.”

During National Poker Week, over 30 State Directors of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and a handful of the game’s elite descended on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to call for the legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States. Poker News Daily was also on the scene in the nation’s capital. Several obstacles we ran into were Congressmen and their staffers not understanding how to play online poker, what safeguards are in effect to combat underage and problem gambling, and how deposits and cashouts work. Brenner told Poker News Daily, “The major challenge hasn’t been on the legislative side, it’s been educating the stakeholders on how online poker works. It’s been fascinating talking with legislators about online poker.”

In addition to California and Florida, the Poker Voters of America is directing its attention towards New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. In each case, local casinos would likely be able to open their own online poker rooms, although Brenner noted that several are apprehensive for fear that it will cannibalize their live business. The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California is set to play host to the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event on August 22nd. The $10,000 buy-in tournament will crown a champion four days later. In February, the WPT returns to the state for the Commerce Casino’s L.A. Poker Classic. A Celebrity Invitational follows the $10,000 buy-in event.

Membership to the Poker Voters of America is free and requires a person’s first name, last name, e-mail address, and mailing address. Becoming a part of the PPA is also free, although a premium membership is available for $20 per year.

Poker News in Brief: July 27-Aug. 2, 2009

As part of an ongoing feature we recount some of the top poker stories that didn't make the front page during the week but still deserve a mention.

This week we look at Phil Ivey having the chance to take down even more money, ESPN airing even more poker, Italians getting moved from PokerStars.com and several other stories.

Here we go:

More money for Ivey

Wicked Chops has a story about Andy Bloch betting Phil Ivey $10,000 to win the Main Event at 200-1 odds with 2,500 players remaining. That equals $2 million if you're keeping track at home.

Supposedly Ivey also stands to make an extra $10 million from FTP if he wins, in addition to the $8.5 million for first place.

It's getting to the point where if Ivey wins he will suddenly represent approximately 50% of the poker economy.

Poker returns to ESPN

The first episode of the 2009 WSOP aired on ESPN this week with Russian Vitaly Lunkin triumphing over Isaac Haxton in the $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em.

No word on the ratings but considering the always popular Greg Raymer went deep it wasn't a bad way to kick off the season. Next up is the special Champions Invitational event won by Tom McEvoy. The episode airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Italian poker players bumped from PokerStars main site

Numerous poker sites are reporting that Italian players have been bounced from PokerStars' international site. Apparently the Italian government has enacted a new law where online poker rooms must have their servers located in the country.

It's not a total loss for Italian players as they were simply re-routed to the Italian-only version of PokerStars. There's a good chance, however, they will be missed by the rest of the poker world.

Deep stack mistake?

Tournament director Matt Savage has a great piece over on 2+2 detailing some of the issues regarding deep stack tournaments.

According to Savage deep stacks offer a lot of play in the early stages of play but can be a crap shoot in the later stages.

Definitely worth a read.

World Poker Tour releases positive Q2 numbers

For the first time in a long while, the World Poker Tour actually had some good news regarding their latest financial statement.

Income from continuing operations tipped the scales at $370,000, which is a massive improvement from the $3.3 million the WPT lost in the same quarter last year. The company also reported Q2 earnings per share of $.02, which was better than the forecasted $.01.

The WPT's next big event is Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in L.A. It kicks off on Aug. 22.

PokerStars offering "Extreme" satellites for 2009 WCOOP

The WCOOP is the biggest online poker series of the year and PokerStars announced this week they are offering some "Extreme" ways to get a virtual seat in one of the events. The "Extreme Satellites" will sometimes offer more than 100 seats into various WCOOP events with players qualifying for as little as $7.50.

The 2009 WCOOP kicks off on Sept. 3 and will run all the way until the two-day main event on Sept. 30. You can check out the complete schedule for Extreme Satellites here.

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Rio Sapphire Pool Closes Due to Prostitution, Drug Rings

Visitors to the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in November won’t find themselves headed to the Sapphire Pool. The topless pool was shuttered due to prostitution and drug arrests, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Bikini-clad women hawked the pool during the 2009 WSOP, which was held down the hall in the massive Amazon Room. The Sapphire Pool utilized dancers from the strip club of the same name during the day in a unique marketing scheme. A follow up article by the Las Vegas newspaper noted, “The main pool at the Rio will remain open, but the property has decided not to reopen a topless pool.” The property continues to operate Voodoo Beach. Its website notes, “During the summer, the sexy, splashy, sun-drenched VooDoo Beach at Rio becomes the center of Las Vegas’ pool party universe.”

According to the Sun, Andrea Michelle Campbell, Jennah Lieboff, Melissa Cortney Essmaker, Galiana Slavshea Georgieva, Elizabeth Alma Corbin, Tobi Jean Sorenson, Inna Kokin, and Phoenix Lynn Kuzara all were arrested on prostitution charges. In addition, arrests were made for the use of several drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The newspaper explained, “The decision to close the pool was made by the Rio. [Las Vegas Police Spokesman Bill] Cassell said Metro Police did not force or suggest that the property close the pool. No charges will be filed against the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club or the Rio.”

Responses from readers of the Sun’s website poured in as news of the suspension of topless bathing permeated the internet. In addition, other periodicals began reporting on the news, including USA Today. The Harrah’s property and home of the annual WSOP told the globally distributed newspaper, “The Rio will continue to conduct integrity checks in the future to ensure that the property’s entertainment offerings are in accordance with the law and provide the best possible experience for guests of the resort.” The L.A. Times received a similar response from the Rio and quipped, “I wonder how a topless pool fails an integrity check.”

The Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio will serve as the host venue for the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table, which will take place between November 7th and 10th. The poker world has been buzzing about the presence of seven-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, who claimed two pieces of hardware this year before reaching the nine-handed final table. Ivey was the first pro to hit the felts of the new NBC poker show “Face the Ace” on Saturday night and amazingly has finished in the Top 25 of the WSOP Main Event four out of the past eight years.

By every stretch of the imagination, the casino’s 2009 WSOP was a major success. The tournament series set records for the most million-dollar events at 39, the most number of sellouts (10), the largest non-Main Event field (6,012), the largest Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split top prize ($1.5 million), the largest Senior’s Championship field (2,707), the largest Omaha High-Low Split field (918), the largest 2-7 Lowball field (238), the largest Pot Limit Omaha field (809), and the youngest final table in WSOP history (ages 21 to 24).

When the November Nine and poker fans alike return to the Sapphire-less Rio in three months, here’s how the field will stack up:

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

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

durrrr wins $280k pot, still loses half a million

These days Dwan is starting to approach Gus Hansen levels of degeneracy with all-night PLO sessions and million dollar swings a regular occurrence.

Last night was no exception as Dwan played into the wee hours of the morning against fellow pros Hansen, David Benyamine, John Juanda, LarsLuzak and HarrisMP. Most of the games were played at $300/$600 stakes.

In the biggest hand of the session, durrrr flopped two-pair against LarzLuzak and HarrisMP, dodged both straight and flush draws, hit a set of kings on the river and raked a $280,000 pot. The pot was large enough to take top honors in MarketPulse's biggest pots in the last 24 hours.

Unfortunately for Dwan, he also was attached to the next three biggest pots, losing all of them, including a $160,000 pot against Juanda, a $155,000 pot against LarsLuzak and another $129,000 against Juanda.

By the time the session finally wrapped up, Dwan looked to be down approximately $500,000. However, he still ranks in the top 10 winners this year with about $800,000 in profits. Earlier this year Dwan was down by nearly $4 million.

Juanda looked to be one of the biggest winners of the session with several $100,000 pots going his direction. Richard "Chufty" Ashby continues to be a dominant player in the high stakes games as well, with nearly $1 million in profit for July.

Patrik Antonius still appears to be the biggest winner of the year, however, with about $4.5 million in profits.

The online high-stakes games continue to be well-populated and railbirds are hoping the action will last until at least the World Poker Tour event in L.A. at the end of August.

Check below for the top three biggest hands from the last 24 hours:

It's all durrrr.

Ship it to JJ.

Nut-flush for LarsLuzak

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Eric Lynch (Rizen) Reflects on the 2006 WSOP: Part 1

I figured with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) upon us I would talk a little about my breakout year in 2006. I think it makes sense to backtrack and set things up, though. Prior to the 2006 WSOP, I had played only two live events ever (I never even played the $100 buy-ins at the local casino). I had played pretty poorly earlier that year in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and was unhappy with my play.

I built on that experience when I won a satellite into the L.A. Poker Classic in February. I played much better there without all of the jitters that go along with playing live and actually bubbled the five day event. I played against a lot of really good players in that tournament and was feeling much more confident in my ability to play live after hanging in there for three days. If my J-J had held against A-K, I would have had a nice stack on the bubble and been in good position to make a solid run in only my second live tournament ever.

With that in mind and after winning the PokerStars Sunday Million in March, I was pretty pumped going into the 2006 WSOP. I was ready to put on a good display and show that the chops I had honed online could be transitioned to live play, something that at that point in time, no successful online player had managed to do (at least not in Hold’em). I was feeling really confident and entered the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em, the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em, and the Main Event that year.

The first $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event was a disaster. We started with single stacks that year (only 1,500 chips) at 25/25 blinds. The event had sold a lot of seats, so we started 11-handed, making the tables super cramped and uncomfortable. There were all kinds of fanfare and other things going on that I hadn’t experienced at any of the other events. Quite honestly, the entire scene made me really nervous and uncomfortable. The experience was simply overwhelming, I let it get to me, and didn’t play anywhere near my best poker. By the time the third level rolled around 11-handed (50/100), I had about 1,200 chips left. I eventually pushed all-in over a couple of limpers with K-Ts, got looked up by someone behind with J-J, and was out.

I was devastated. I was pumped for a great WSOP, had gotten to see maybe 50 to 60 hands total, and won zero of them. I was really down on myself thinking that if I couldn’t beat these guys, maybe I should stick to online poker.

That feeling didn’t last very long, though. I slapped myself back into reality and realized that 11-handed with 1,500 chips, there was going to be a ton of variance. I was uncomfortable, played super weak, and that’s not my game. I vowed that in the next day’s $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event, I would play my “A” game and not pull any punches. If I went out, it would be playing the style I knew worked for me and I would be okay with that. I wasn’t going to blind off for two levels and then ship it in hoping to win again.

The following day, I played the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event. With renewed confidence and having given myself a solid pep talk, I went in to play my game. I was still nervous for some reason, but once the cards got in the air, I felt completely at home and just focused on playing my game. I remember a hand where a player limped in middle position and I potted it on the button with A-4s. He thought and called. The flop was K-X-X, where I completely missed. He checked to me and I bet two-thirds of the pot. He check-raised all-in and I was priced in. I tossed my last 150 in thinking “This is it” and said aloud, “I hope my ace is live.” He had K-To, which was a pretty poor limp/call, but I binked an ace on the turn and my hand held. At that point, pretty much every bit of nervousness I had went out of my system. I’d made my first “play” and gotten a bit lucky, even though we got most of the money in pre-flop when I was ahead.

Shortly after that, I picked up A-A and knew my image wasn’t that great. I managed to get it all-in versus K-K, so my image probably didn’t matter at all there. The flop was king-high, but I rivered an ace and finally had a healthy stack that I could actually play poker with. From that point on, I continued to mix it up and we got into the money by the end of the night. I was about an average stack and was pretty happy to have cashed in only my second WSOP event. That being said, I wasn’t completely satisfied and knew I had all of the tools to win the bracelet. It was just a matter of putting them all to use, running decently, and playing confidently.

The important thing for me in 2006 was realizing that I had to play my game confidently and not let the setting or the opposition intimidate me. Yes, live poker has some differences from online poker, but the game is fundamentally the same. At that moment in time, I didn’t feel like anyone was playing the game better than I was.

I’ll continue my story in the next column.

Alec Torelli Leads WPT Bellagio Cup After Day 1A

A cozy field of 79 players turned out for Day 1A of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup V. In the end, 61 reached Day 2 on Wednesday, led by Alec “traheho” Torelli. WPT officials are expecting 175 players to compete on Day 1B.

In 2008, the Bellagio Cup IV Main Event, a $15,000 buy-in tournament, boasted a field of 446 players. If 175 players were to turn out for Day 1B, it would translate into a total attendance of 254, representing a drop of over 40%. The Foxwoods Poker Classic boasted the smallest field during Season VII at 259 runners. The event has since been stricken from the WPT schedule.

Torelli’s aggression and willingness to gamble earned him the top spot on Day 1A. After a flop of K-J-7 with two hearts, Torelli moved all-in over the top of a check-raise by poker pro Dan Shak, who called and flipped up pocket jacks for a set. Torelli showed 8-9 of hearts for straight and flush draws. The turn and river were both hearts, filling Torelli’s flush and vaulting him up the leaderboard.

A few hands after battling with Shak, Torelli picked up pocket aces. On a board of J-J-10-6, Torelli check-raised his opponent all-in. The other player called and showed pocket kings, drawing to two outs. The river came the queen of hearts and Torelli scooped another sizable pot.

Torelli amassed a stack of 308,000 chips at the end of Day 1A, well ahead of the second place stack of 256,000 held by Andrew Cimpan, the winner of the Season VII L.A. Poker Classic. Cimpan eliminated Steve O’Dwyer late in the day. After a flop of 8-7-5, O’Dwyer pushed over the top of a raise by Cimpan holding 7-5 for two pair. Cimpan promptly called and showed 6-3 of diamonds. The turn and river both came diamonds, giving Cimpan a runner-runner flush and sending O’Dwyer home.

Defending Bellagio Cup champion Mike “SirWatts” Watson also remains in contention after Day 1A. He holds the 54th largest stack out of 61 players left in the hunt at 36,000, well below the average of 77,000. Watson won $1.6 million for his efforts last year and defeated World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner David Benyamine heads-up. The 2008 final table also featured Luke “IWEARGOGGLES” Staudenmaier and John “The Razor” Phan, who won last year’s Legends of Poker event.

On the second to last hand of the evening, poker pro Mike Matusow hit the exits at the Bellagio. Matusow moved all-in after a flop of J-J-7 holding pocket twos. However, his opponent held pocket kings, leaving Matusow barely breathing in the hand. The turn and river came a 10 and nine, respectively, eliminating Matusow from the 2009 Bellagio Cup. Matusow has recorded nine career in the money finishes in WPT events; four have been for final tables. He was the runner-up to Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul in the Bellagio Cup III.

The honor of first player eliminated from the WPT tournament went to Allen Hickman, who held pocket tens, but ran into the A-5 of Zach Hyman. When the smoke cleared, the board read 5-5-2-8-6, giving Hyman trips.

Here were the Top 10 stacks from Day 1A of the Bellagio Cup V:

1. Alec Torelli - 308,675
2. Andrew Cimpan - 256,375
3. Ray Taylor - 181,800
4. Jeremiah Vinsant - 179,450
5. Adam Geyer - 157,600
6. Eugene Juergens - 147,500
7. Musa Mustafa - 144,200
8. Hoyt Corkins - 132,900
9. Isaac Haxton - 122,525
10. Justin Smith - 114,100

Other pros who appear in the Top 30 include Todd Brunson (20th place with 81,225), Vadim Trincher (23rd with 78,670), and Erik Seidel (28th with 76,275). The action on Day 1B of the Bellagio Cup V will kick off at Noon Pacific Time. The tournament will air as part of Season VIII on Fox Sports Net.