Poker News

Poker in Twitter: PCA Bahamas, Haiti Relief, and the Brunson NFL Jinx

Twitter has revolutionized social networking, and the poker world was not immune to its 140-character charms. Poker News Daily has been following poker’s hot young stars such as Maria Ho and Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh along with more established players including Annie Duke and Andy Bloch, and even some of poker’s greatest legends – septuagenarian Doyle Brunson tweets on a daily basis,– to offer our readership an overview of what the most popular poker players are up to on Twitter.

These have been the most interesting Tweets since last Friday, encompassing players’ parting impressions from the Bahamas, their last goodbyes to the late Amir Vahedi, the drives to raise funds for Haiti relief and some NFL quandaries.

The end of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) involved many players complaining about the Bahamas prices, while others complained about the weather and a few even complained about customs on the way out. Vicky Coren had a late departure, and she tried to make the most of it: “Mmm, sunshine and cocktails. And who needs a book when you can listen to the on-hold music at Nassau Airport for only $200 a minute?" Fellow Brit Liv Boeree shared a sunny beach picture: “http://twitpic.com/yk7dh - photo from Bahamas... on the one good day of the whole trip.”

Vahedi was present in many poker player’s minds and Twitters as his funeral took place last Friday. Tournament director supreme Matt Savage summed everyone’s feelings in a poignant Tweet: “Spent the short fight to Burbank thinking about Amir and how his BIG personality will be missed! Hoping to say a few words today.”

The NFL kept a number of players glued to the television, especially those who had money on the line like Phil Hellmuth: “I liked Colts & Saints, but didn't bet, then Vikings (what poker player gets up that early?), finally bet $500 on Jets money line 3.15 to 1”. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit "amak316" Makhija had a hard time choosing his allegiances: “Done working out, goin to grind Sundays and watch football! Do I root for the jets (love underdogs) or chargers (love awesomeness)?” Alex Outhred enjoyed a last laugh: “#fondmemories of the Cowboy fan last night who scoffed at my purpotion that the Vikes had 'a chance' today”.  And Brunson bemoaned his wife jinxing his favorite team: “it happened again. my wife walks in the room....BOOM, touchdown for the team i'm betting aganist... geeeez”

The humanitarian disaster in Haiti brought up many initiatives to raise awareness and funds. Shannon Elizabeth made a heartfelt appeal to remind all of the tragedy: “Good morning guys-we made it to the end of the week, but not everyone was so lucky-take a moment 2 remember those who didn't....” Adam “Roothlus” Levy voiced a more ambiguous opinion: “It's remarkable how the average American is facing financial hard times but yet, there's an outpouring of donations to #Haiti. Just awesome!” Andy Bloch donated time and money and played a lot of poker to aid the cause: “Just registered for the last 11 Aid for Haiti tournaments on FTP... may need a lot of caffeine. Sending autographed DVDs as extra bounty.”

Some players used Twitter for its original purpose of keeping friends and family informed of what they were up to. Beth Shak commented on her recent move: “Haha my decorator said no large men in my bedroom in NY..I wntd a king bed!!thnk gd my bf is small”, while Ho complained of health issues: “Dear Immune System, Why do you insist on taking days off without notifying me first? Please come back soon. *cough* Thanks.” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith revisited an old hobby: “Going to the gun range..something I haven't done in a long time and is so much fun,” and Leigh introduced her new love: “I'm SO in love.... Here's her picture! http://tinyurl.com/ygk7jpm =)” Liz Lieu enjoyed stirring up some suspense with the cryptic remark “I've just said "I WILL" ”

Some Tweets remain unclassifiable and they are arguably the most fun of all. Anthrax's Scott Ian talked about music: “Song of the day: Pussy don't fail me now. Any one know who that is?” Kevin Smith talked about religion (and several other unpublishable topics): “I never cram my religion down anybody's throat, so I ask you don't cram atheism down mine. My life's so blessed I GOTTA believe in God.” Meanwhile, Duke's boyfriend, Joe Reitman, complained about his phone service: “Dear AT&T...if u are going to have huge billboards in a stadium my iPhone should get a signal in said stadium” "Poker2Nite" host Scott Huff takes the prize for the most random Tweet of this edition, with: “This morning NASA found cocaine near the space shuttle Discovery. Come on, guys, space isn't high enough?”

Visit Poker News Daily every Monday and Thursday for an overview of the best Tweets in the poker world.

Harrison Gimbel, Barry Shulman Among PCA Day 4 Leaders

A total of 62 players remain out of the 1,529 who began the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event. A host of brand name players survived Day 3, including 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman.

Day 3 played out on Friday from the Atlantis Resort and Casino, just across the harbor from Nassau in the Bahamas. One of the final eliminations of the day was Amnon Filippi, who shoved all-in over the top of a raise by Bryce Yockey. His opponent came along and Filippi showed pocket eights against Yockey’s K-Q of spades, setting up a classic race situation. The flop came king-high, propelling Yockey into the lead, and a running 10-3 didn’t help Filippi’s cause. His 67th place finish was worth $33,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.

Shulman, whose son Jeff Shulman reached the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, sent Greg Dyer packing during the last level of play and crossed the one-million chip threshold. He finished with nearly 1.7 million, with the entire field trailing Harrison Gimbel’s tally of 2.6 million. Gimbel trumped former Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo in one hand after Bonomo check-called a bet of 25,000 on a flop of Q-4-6 with two hearts. The turn was the deuce of spades, leading to another check-call from Bonomo, this time for 41,000. The river was the three of hearts and Bonomo checked. Gimbel fired out a bet of 70,000 and Bonomo called, only to see his opponent flip up Q-J for top pair.

Eliminated in 91st place in the Bahamas was 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member and Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey. Ivey doubled up Bill Gazes with A-Q against Gazes’ K-J when a king hit on the river. Ivey had Gazes covered by a minuscule 2,000 chips and Ivey hit the rails on the next hand. Ivey, considered by many to be the world’s premier all-around player, added another $23,500 to his bankroll for his efforts in Nassau.

Two women remain among the 62 Day 3 survivors, Amanda Baker and Liz Lieu. Lieu owns a stack of 536,000 entering the fourth day of play in the 2010 PCA Main Event and will head to Table 7, where her competition will include Shulman. Meanwhile, Baker will come armed with 1.3 million chips and be seated at Table 6, which also features Gimbel, Eric “EFro” Froehlich, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar.

Here are the top ten chip stacks entering Day 4 on Saturday:

1. Harrison Gimbel - 2,625,000
2. Matthew Haugen - 2,149,000
3. Ryan D'Angelo - 2,092,000
4. Praz Bansi - 2,003,000
5. Barry Shulman - 1,655,000
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich - 1,331,000
7. Amanda Baker - 1,306,000
8. James Tolbert - 1,284,000
9. John Duthie - 1,210,000
10. Kent Emil Lundmark - 1,158,000

Notable names remaining in the 2010 PCA field, along with their chip counts, include:

Jeff Madsen - 930,000
Robert Mizrachi - 876,000
Amit “amak316” Makhija - 800,000
Aaron “aejones” Jones - 651,000
Alex Brenes - 559,000
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar - 544,000
Liz Lieu - 536,000
Wayne Bentley - 509,000
Dean Hamrick - 433,000
Bill Gazes - 288,000
Johnny Lodden - 286,000
Peter “Nordberg” Feldman - 221,000
Huck Seed - 216,000

Among those whose 2010 PCA Main Event title hopes were dashed on Friday included Daniel Negreanu, 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Dennis Phillips, Victor Ramdin, Dario Minieri, Russian sensation Ivan Demidov, Vicky Coren, Luis Medina, ESPN baseball analyst Orel Hershiser, and PokerStars poker pro Steven Paul-Ambrose.

At the time of writing on Saturday, players remaining in the Bahamas poker tournament were in Level 23 and blinds were 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante. All Day 4 runners were assured a payout of at least $38,000.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Praz Bansi Leads PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Entering Day 3

Like Wayne Bentley on Day 1A, Praz Bansi owns a commanding chip lead in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) after Day 2. His stack of 960,800 chips is 260,000 more than the next closest competitor.

It’s not as if Bansi had a cakewalk through Day 2 on Thursday, either. At one point during play, his tablemates included Team PokerStars Pro member and “High Stakes Poker” player Dario Minieri, former Bodog pro and live tournament aficionado Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, PokerStars Sunday 500 winner Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, and 2008 European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final winner Glen Chorny. That was just his first taste of tough competition.

After surviving the first Table of Doom, Bansi was relegated to an equally talented group of opponents. This time, his company included 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member and top all-around player Phil Ivey, former EPT Dortmund final table member Nicolas Levi, and Ivan Demidov, who made the feature table of the WSOP Las Vegas and WSOP Europe Main Events in 2008. Despite the tough go at it on Thursday, Bansi persevered. He’s fresh off a $594,000 cash for taking third in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Bentley, who held a healthy edge over the rest of the merged Day 2 field, ended with 602,500 chips, good for third overall. One of the final eliminations of the day went to Team PokerStars Pro’s Vanessa Rousso, who picked up A-K and pushed over the top of an opponent’s raise. However, her adversary held pocket aces and Rousso could not catch up. Several hands earlier, Rousso tripled up with pocket fours against A-K and A-Q.

The brutal beat of the day in the 2010 PCA Main Event went to Barry Greenstein, who committed all of his chips with pocket aces, but ultimately fell to 4-6 of spades. The board gave his opponent a straight and that was all she wrote for the three-time bracelet winner, as Greenstein signed his copy of his book, “Ace on the River,” and headed for the exits. Absolute Poker pro Freddy Deeb suffered a similar fate, pushing his chips in with pocket aces and falling to pocket tens when the flop came 8-9-10. Deeb reached the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago in October, earning $278,000.

Here are the top ten chip stacks as play enters Day 3 in the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Praz Bansi - 960,800
2. Marc Etienne Mclaughlin - 702,400
3. Wayne Bentley - 602,500
4. Nasr El Nasr - 528,300
5. Daniel Ades - 501,400
6. Eric “EFro” Froehlich - 467,500
7. Matthew Haugen - 456,400
8. Kenny “Hixx” Hicks - 455,500
9. Matt “mattg1983” Graham - 428,900
10. Danny Suied - 420,000

Other notable players remaining in the field of 275, along with their end of Day 2 chip counts, include:

Dario Minieri - 389,200
Amnon Filippi - 386,300
Amit “amak316” Makhija - 292,600
Vadim Trincher - 290,900
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo - 262,500
Ivan Demidov - 259,300
Phil Ivey - 227,400
Paul Wasicka - 224,800
Carlos Mortensen - 185,500
Craig Marquis - 176,600
Kathy Liebert - 171,800
Barry Shulman - 150,200
Liz Lieu - 136,800
Victor Ramdin - 110,100
Huck Seed - 107,100
Orel Hershiser - 79,000
Nick Binger - 57,900
Steven Paul-Ambrose - 49,300

Despite boasting a larger field than in 2009, the 2010 PCA will only dole out $2.2 million to its winner; last year, Poorya Nazari banked $10,000 for winning the Bahamas EPT tournament. A flatter payout structure will see the top four finishers earn at least $1 million, with the top eight making more than $200,000. In total, 224 players out of the record-setting 1,529 who started will take home cash.

The money bubble will burst today from the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas, with players claiming their share of the $14.8 million prize pool. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2010 PCA Main Event.

2009 BC Poker champion arrested

The 30-year old Surrey man has been charged with manslaughter and break and enter in relation to the gangland murders of six people, including two innocent bystanders, in 2007.

The incident is referred to locally as the Surrey Six Slaughter.

Sek made an appearance in Surrey Provincial Court today, but was sent back into custody to await continuation of his trial Nov. 30.

He could still face additional charges in connection to the murders, according to Cpl. Dale Carr of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Sek outlasted 679 players to win this year's $2,700 (CDN) buy-in BC Poker Championships late Sunday night at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver.

Sek's $364,364 (CDN) in prize money is being held by the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation at the request of the RCMP, according to Howard Blank, vice president of media, entertainment and responsible gaming at the GCGC.

This is the fifth year the BC Poker Championships have been held in the current format and the tournament continues to draw world-renowned poker players.

This year Amazing Race stars Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho played as well as Gavin Smith, Liz Lieu, Lacey Jones, "Yukon" Brad Booth, Greg "FBT" Mueller and Scott Clements. Clements made the final table but eventually busted seventh.

Last year Daniel Negreanu, who is perhaps the biggest name in Canadian poker, outlasted all 688 players to win the event for $371,910 (CDN).

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Poker News in Brief: Nov. 16-22, 2009

 

The 21-year-old generated some major mainstream press coverage this week by appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman and CNN's American Morning.

There was plenty of news that didn't involve Cada, however, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief Feature we're going to break some of it down for you today.

This week we'll look at another man winning a ladies event, the end of Fair Poker, more support for an online poker bill, an upgrade for Cake Poker and more.

Man wins Ladies Championship at Lake Tahoe

Greg Sessler became the latest man to enter and win a female poker tournament last week.

Sessler won the Ladies Championship at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Lake Tahoe by outlasting all 95 players that entered the tournament. Of that total, four were men.

Although organizers encourage only women to play, Harrah's cannot exclude any player based on gender. After winning the tournament Sessler defended his decision to play.

"Me playing in this tournament really had nothing to do with trying to take advantage of the ladies or thinking it was a softer field," he said.

"If Jennifer Harman would have come and played in the ladies event, she would have been much tougher competition than me. I came here because I only had one day and I really like the structures and the payout."

Back in September Abraham Korotki entered a ladies event at the 2009 Borgata Poker Open and went on to win it. Former baseball star Jose Canseco also famously entered a women's tournament a few years ago.

 

 

More support for Frank's pro-online poker bill

The U.S. bill that would both legalize and regulate online poker has another co-sponsor.

Rep. Anthony D. Weiner of New York's 9th district signed on board this week as the 63rd co-sponsor of the legislation.

Rep. Barney Frank originally introduced the bill last spring but it has yet to be heard before committee.

Frank's bill would essentially repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was passed in 2006 and put a regulatory system in place for the online gambling industry.

Unfair outcome for Fair Poker

Lesser-known online poker room Fair Poker disappeared this week, but its players found a new home at Noble Poker.

Both sites were members of the iPoker network and were merged into one site earlier in the week. Fair Poker players had their account balances and the iPoints they had earned transferred to Noble Poker.

iPoker remains one of the busiest online poker networks in the world with Titan Poker, ChiliPoker, Bet365, CD Poker, William Hill, Mansion Poker and numerous others all under the iPoker banner.

 

 

HeadsUp Entertainment to televise BC Poker Championships

HeadsUp Entertainment, operators of the Canadian Poker Tour and Canadian Poker Player Magazine, will help televise coverage of the 2009 BC Poker Championships in Vancouver.

"We are very pleased to be part of Canada's premier poker tournament," said HeadsUp President Kelly B. Kellner. "We consider it a privilege to be able to cover the event through both our magazine and on television."

HeadsUp Entertainment made a deal with The Score Television Network, which is the exclusive broadcast partner of the Canadian Poker Tour, to show highlights from the tournament.

The 2009 BC Poker Championships began this week with 606 runners. The event received the attention of some big name poker players including Tiffany Michelle, Liz Lieu, Maria Ho, Greg "FBT" Mueller, Gavin Smith and Brad Booth.

Last year Canadian poker super-star Daniel Negreanu outlasted 689 players to win the 2008 BCPC for $300,708.

Cake Poker adds players, synchronized breaks

Cake Poker had a busy week adding synchronized breaks to its software and taking players from Third Bullet Poker.

Third Bullet was already a member of the Cake Network and the company's executives made the decision to merge the player base onto Cake Poker for better technical support and customer service.

Meanwhile, Cake's synchronized breaks will let multi-table tournament players take a break no matter how many tables they are running. The breaks will occur at 55 minutes past the hour, every hour.

The breaks do not affect Sit 'n' Go tournaments with less than 30 players.

The feature is quickly becoming an industry standard as Absolute Poker and UltimateBet recently added synchronized breaks as well.

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WPT Marrakech draws over 400

The ChiliPoker-sponsored event took place at Casino de Marrakech in Morocco with 416 players paying the €4,500 buy-in, including big names like Liz Lieu, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Annette Obrestad, Antonio Esfandiari, Antoine Saout, Tony G and WPT Merit Cyprus winner Thomas Bichon.

None of the aforementioned players made the final table, but there were several compelling storylines with Ludovic Lacay, Benny Spindler and Eoghan O'Dea all vying for the title.

They were joined at the final table by Savary, Julien Arneodo, Adrien Marin, Hicham Benhalima, Patrick Meurisse and ChiliPoker qualifier Balazs Botond.

Spindler, best-known for his third-place finish at the 2009 PCA, fought the good fight, but eventually busted out sixth after a confrontation with O'Dea.

The always unpredictable Lacay finished 16th at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main event for $500,000 and was looking for his first major title at WPT Marrakech.

But it was not to be as the Frenchman busted out third after an ill-timed shove was called by Savary.

That left Savory to fight it out for the title heads-up with O'Dea, the son of Donnacha O'Dea, one of the pioneers of Irish poker and the first player inducted into the European Poker Hall of Fame.

O'Dea did his best to do the family name proud, getting it in good heads-up with A 3 on an ace-high flop, only to have Savary turn a straight to take the title.

WPT Marrakech marked yet another effort by the tour to increase their global presence with events in Venice, Cyprus and Barcelona already this year.

Next up for the WPT is the annual Fest al Lago event at Bellagio in Las Vegas beginning Wednesday Oct. 21.

Here are the complete final table payouts:

1. Christophe Savary - €379,014

2. Eoghan O'Dea - €263,662

3. Ludovic Lacay - €164,789

4. Julien Arneodo - €105,465

5. Adrian Marin - €72,507

6. Benny Spindler - €56,028

7. Patrick Meurisse - €42,845

8. Balazs Botnod - €34,606

9. Hicham Benhalima - €28,014

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2009 BC Poker Championships hits in November

One of Canada's largest poker events, the 2009 BCPC will host five events and offer an estimated prize pool of $2.5 million.

The centerpiece of the series is the $2,700 No-Limit Hold'em main event, which will run Nov. 19-22.

Last year Canadian super star Daniel Negreanu stole the show by outlasting all 689 opponents and winning the first place prize of $371,910.

Poker pros Lacey Jones, Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul Ambrose and Liz Lieu also took part in the event.

"It is truly an honor to have BCPC take place at the River Rock Casino as it attracts a group of talented and brave poker players," said Howard Blank, vice president of media and entertainment with the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

"Like every year, BCPC features an action-packed week where all players can test their poker face skills and connect with many other great poker players."

Any player 19 and older can play in the 2009 BCPC. For more information visit the River Rock website here.

Check below for the complete schedule for this year's BCPC:

Date:	Event:
Nov. 12-14	$550 No-Limit Hold'em
Nov. 15	$120 Super Satellite with Rebuys
Nov. 16-17	$1,100 No-Limit Hold'em
Nov. 18	$120 Super Satellite with Rebuys
Nov. 19-22	$2,700 No-Limit Hold'em

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Doyle Brunson Sixth in WSOP Europe Main Event

History may be in the making in one of the most historic cities in the world. Doyle Brunson is in search of his record-tying 11th bracelet in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event and is sixth in chips with 92 players remaining.

Brunson holds a stack of 210,900 and is in pursuit of the £801,603 first place prize. “Texas Dolly” has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name, tied with Johnny Chan for second most all-time. He needs one more to move into the lead with 11, a record currently held by Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth. Brunson has been shut out since 2005, when he took down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event for $367,000, defeating a competitive final table that also included Minh Ly, Layne Flack, and Scotty Nguyen.

Brunson will captain Table 10 on Tuesday at the Casino at the Empire, where he’ll be joined by online poker players Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Christian Kruel. Smith is fresh off a third place effort in the Bellagio Cup, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). He earned $464,000 at the Las Vegas casino back in July. Kruel can be found on the virtual felts of PokerStars under the screen name “C.K.” He won a $530 buy-in $80,000 Guaranteed High Roller tournament on PartyPoker in mid-August for $22,000.

Also in the Top 10 in London is Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier. In May, he took down a tournament held during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $86,000 and then followed up that performance with a bracelet win in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event during the 2009 WSOP. Mercier recorded four cashes overall during the WSOP and was quickly scooped up by PokerStars to join their pro team. He also competed in the star-studded field of the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament, which aired on ESPN. Mercier owns the 10th largest stack at 202,300.

Liz Lieu doubled her stack holding pocket aces on Monday in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Entering play on Day 3, she sits at 16th in the chip counts with 184,400. Meanwhile, November Nine member James Akenhead also remains in contention. Akenhead, a Brit on his home turf, sent Nick Bleeker packing after coming out on the winning end of a race holding pocket jacks against A-K. The board ran out 9-7-Q-Q-7, pushing Akenhead to 250,000 in chips. He ended the day with 178,000, which was good for 17th overall. Fellow November Nine member Antoine Saout, who held a Top 10 stack entering Day 2 play on Monday, fell back to 50th on the leaderboard with 90,100.

Here are the Top 10 stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering Day 3 on Tuesday:

1. Ian Munns - 528,300
2. Praz Bassi - 299,000
3. Oyvind Riisem - 255,300
4. Arron Eric Filippi - 216,500
5. David Docherty - 216,200
6. Doyle Brunson - 210,900
7. Shandoi Demjan - 209,000
8. Markus Ristola - 205,000
9. Ram Vaswarni - 202,500
10. Jason Mercier - 202,300

Other notable names remaining in the hunt for the £801,603 prize include:

12. Yevgeniy Timoshenko - 192,100
13. Steve Zolotow - 191,100
16. Liz Lieu - 184,400
17. James Akenhead - 178,000
18. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott - 174,000
19. Antonio Esfadiari - 173,300
20. John Tabatabai - 160,100
38. Daniel Negreanu - 113,100
39. Barry Shulman - 111,200
49. Annette Obrestad - 90,500
50. Antoine Saout - 90,100
55. Teddy Sheringham - 74,800
65. Freddy Deeb - 61,200
67. Andre Akkari – 58,300
69. Todd Brunson - 51,600
70. Eric Liu - 51,100
79. John Juanda - 38,900
85. Men “The Master” Nguyen - 27,500

The top 36 players will finish in the money, with the minimum payout being £21,142. Every member of the nine-handed final table will walk away with at least £66,533. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WSOP Europe Main Event.

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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Brian Powell, Jason Mercier Lead WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1A

Day 1A of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event played out on Saturday. When the smoke cleared, Brian Powell and Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier led the field, which began with 156 players.

By the end of play in London, just 75 runners remained in contention. Packing the pack is Powell, who hails from Louisville. Powell made a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, finishing in 66th place and earning $90,000 for his $10,000 buy-in. He also finished 13th in the World Championship Mixed Event for $27,000. Powell owns a stack of 194,600 in London. Trailing him on the leaderboard is Mercier, a WSOP bracelet winner and newly-minted member of Team PokerStars Pro. Mercier holds 189,725 chips and will watch as Day 1B plays out today.

During a break in play, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack awarded Jeffrey Lisandro WSOP Player of the Year honors. Lisandro won three bracelets during the 2009 festivities in Las Vegas, two in Seven Card Stud and one in Seven Card Razz. Lisandro recorded a total of six in the money finishes during the 2009 WSOP overall. As a result of claiming Player of the Year honors, Lisandro will be bought into the 2010, 2011, and 2012 WSOP Main Events.

Fittingly, Doyle Brunson issued the day’s “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to begin play in the third running of the WSOP Europe Main Event. Pollack told the gathered crowd, “Doyle was there in Las Vegas at the very start of the WSOP 40 years ago. Doyle was also with us when we started WSOP Europe three years ago in London. And, we are proud to have him with us today.” Brunson, a member of the Poker Hall of Fame, holds 10 WSOP bracelets, tied with Johnny Chan for the second most overall. The leader in that category is Phil Hellmuth, who has collected 11 pieces of hardware over the years and also won the 1989 WSOP Main Event.

Speaking of Hellmuth, a press release distributed last week by Ultimate Bet outlined his complex parade route around London leading to his entrance at the Casino at the Empire. WSOP officials painted the picture of Hellmuth’s arrival: “Hellmuth entered Empire Casino much like Nero burning through Rome, oblivious to the ongoing tournament and taking his seat at the televised feature table. The bizarre spectacle was ornamented by an army of faux Roman soldiers erect and pretty girls standing at attention, while trumpets blared.” Hellmuth entered dressed as Julius Caesar on Day 1C of the Main Event in Sin City.

Here are the Top 10 chip stacks after Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

1. Brian Powell - 194,600
2. Jason Mercier - 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro - 168,925
4. Viktor Blom - 163,175
5. Jonathan Aguiar - 160,100
6. Martin Hansen - 152,775
7. Christian Harder - 134,125
8. Tommy Pavlicek - 119,825
9. Richard Grace - 116,850
10. John Kabbaj - 104,500

Other notable players who will take to the felts when Day 2 plays out on Monday include:

13. Doyle Brunson - 92,900
15. Brandon Cantu - 89,000
19. Barry Shulman - 80,250
21. James Akenhead - 77,675
28. Liz Lieu - 65,600
37. Eric Friberg - 49,475
43. Todd Brunson - 46,050
45. Chad Brown - 44,975
47. Men “The Master” Nguyen - 43,200
58. Marco Traniello - 33,000
60. Alex Kravchenko - 31,100
62. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow - 28,900
71. Phil Hellmuth - 18,450
72, Scott Montgomery - 18,225
73. Erik Seidel - 9,925

Shulman and Akenhead are both part of the November Nine, the members of the final table of the Main Event in Las Vegas who will take to the felts in two months. Another November Nine member, Phil Ivey, was sent packing on Day 1A. Registration for Day 1B is expected to close around 3:40pm local time on Sunday.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from WSOP Europe.

Adrien Allain Wins 2009 APT Macau Main Event

In the Far East, it was a Frenchman from halfway around the world who emerged victorious. Adrien Allain, who hails from Rennes, France, won this year’s running of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau Main Event. Allain banked HK $3.035 million for his efforts.

Allain qualified for the APT Macau festivities by winning a $5 tournament on PKR. In the online world, he’s known as zlatan35 and his largest poker cash prior to Macau weighed in at $8,000. His HK $3.035 million payday equates to nearly USD $400,000 at current exchange ranges. In the final hand in Macau, Allain drew out with A-3 against Korean poker player Inwook Choi’s A-Q after spiking a three on the flop. Entering heads-up play, Choi was a 2:1 underdog. Here’s how the final table shook out:

1st Place: Adrien Allain (France) - HK$3,035,000
2nd Place: Inwook Choi (Korea) - HK$1,660,000
3rd Place: J.C. Tran (United States) - HK$910,510
4th Place: David Steicke (Hong Kong) - HK$708,300
5th Place: Chris Chau (Hong Kong) - HK$506,000
6th Place: Michael Woo (Hong Kong) - HK$404,800
7th Place: Christer Hallberg (Sweden) - HK$303,600
8th Place: Winfred Yu (Hong Kong) - HK$202,400
9th Place: Casey Kastle (Slovenia) - HK$131,500

J.C. Tran holds two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and was arguably the most successful player at the final table. After scoring his first piece of hardware in 2008, Tran won another bracelet this year by virtue of winning a $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event for $235,000. Tran won the 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $670,000.

Tran, a member of the APT’s Poker Pack, commented in a press release distributed by tournament officials, “It has been a great 12-day festival for the Poker Pack. It is disappointing not to take down the Main Event, but congratulations to Allain. He played good poker and is a deserving champion. To take down such a major tournament for just $5 is quite something – there’s no doubt he has great potential.”

Day 1B of the APT Macau Main Event featured filming of the Chinese language poker film “Poker King.” Ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan predicted that the movie would be bigger than “Rounders,” which helped spur the growth of No Limit Texas Hold’em in the United States. Yu, who finished in eighth place, came to the Macau event as part of the crew of “Poker King.”

Tran was eliminated from the tournament when Choi and Allain checked the action down on a board of A-J-10-9-8. Tran showed the Dead Man’s Hand, aces and eights, but was trumped by Allain’s A-Q for a straight. David Steicke was ousted from the final table after running his pocket nines into Choi’s pocket kings. The board ran out 3-3-A-3-K, giving Choi a better full house and sending Steicke packing.

WSOP November Nine member James Akenhead made the trek to Macau. Also appearing in the field were 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda, Chan, Liz Lieu, Season VI World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner David Chiu, new Team Ultimate Bet member Liv Boeree, Amnon Filippi, and reigning WPT Championship victor Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Matt Savage served as the APT Macau’s Tournament Director, a role he will reprise in October for the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic.

In addition to finishing third in the Main Event, Tran won the Poker Pack Headhunter tournament in Macau. Other highlights included Team Korea (featuring Steve Sung, David “Chino” Rheem, and Brandon Wong) winning the inaugural JBET Battle of the Nations. A “Poker King” charity tournament was also held, with Poker Pack member Quinn Do emerging victorious.

APT Macau on the rise

The main event at the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival kicked off Thursday drawing a combined 326 players over two day ones.

"One year ago we projected that we would get 300 runners for the main event so we are delighted with the turnout," APT CEO Chris Parker said. "Especially in the current economic climate. It vindicates our decision to transform The Asian Poker Tour Macau into a 12 day festival."

The HK$34,400 buy-in has helped create a total prize pool of HK$10,919,040 with a HK$3,035,000 top prize.

Last year's main event in Macau, won by American Yevgeniy Timoshenko, drew 257 players.

Outside of the sheer increase in numbers, Parker said the most encouraging sign for the tour is the bump in the number of Asian players in Macau.

"[This] bodes very well for the future," he said. "For example, on Day 1a just over 50% of the field was from Asia."

With online satellites available on a myriad of sites, including bwin poker, PKR, Titan Poker, RedKings Poker, ChiliPoker, and Winamax, the number of online qualifiers has increased significantly as well.

A bevy of big name pros also made the trip to Macau, including Full Tilt's John Juanda, PokerListings blogger Liz Lieu, 2009 November Niner James Akenhead, Team UB's Liv Boeree and APT sponsored Poker Pack members J.C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do, David 'Chino' Rheem, and Steve Sung.

The Poker Pack has had a particularly good showing in preliminary events at the Starworld Hotel and Casino so far.

Sung and Rheem helped Team Korea to a victory in the JBET Battle of the Nations event, Quinn Do won 'The Poker King Movie' Celebrity Charity event, and Rheem was at it again, winning the HKGC No-Limit Hold'em R+A event.

Plus, Tran took down the 'The Poker Pack' headhunter event never giving up the bounty on his head on the way to a HK$76,000 first-place payday and HK$10,500 in bounties of his own.

Day 1b of the APT Macau main event continues Friday. Hong Kong Trader turned high-stakes pro David Stiecke led all comers on Day 1a.

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Johnny Chan Says “Poker King” Could Be Next “Rounders”

As preparations continue at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau for the Asian Poker Tour Festival Macau (which starts next Tuesday), players are beginning to flood the Chinese territory. One of those players is former World Champion Johnny Chan, who is on hand not only for the poker that will be played between August 12th and August 23rd but also for the filming of the Chinese poker film tentatively titled “Poker King.”

Chan, who also had a significant role in the seminal American poker film “Rounders”, envisions that “Poker King” could have a similar impact on China when released. “It (‘Poker King’) has the potential to be much, much bigger than ‘Rounders’ ever was,” Chan declared after arriving in Macau. “Say there are over one billion Chinese speaking people in the world”, the 1987-1988 winner of the WSOP Championship Event asked. “Now compare that to the United States and their 300 million people…you can see that this could be huge. ‘Rounders’ gave poker a new lease of life in the West - this could kick start a new poker boom in Asia.”

Chan is looking to be a part of the film – which is tentatively slated to use the Asian Poker Tour’s “Poker Pack” of J. C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung, David “Chino” Rheem and Kwan Soo Lee during filming – much like he was as a part of the filming of “Rounders.” Looking back at his involvement in the 1998 poker film, Chan remembered his time on the set fondly. “I had a fantastic time filming ‘Rounders’ back in the 90s”, Chan recalled. “A big part of my involvement was behind the scenes, where I helped teach Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich how to play poker. I also played myself in the film and, to this day, it gives me recognition in the mainstream outside of poker circles.”

“The film had a huge impact on poker and gave it a new lease of life”, Johnny continued. “In fact, I was recently talking to Chris Moneymaker – who is credited by many as being a catalyst for the poker boom in the West – and he said without the influence of ‘Rounders,’ he wouldn’t have even have tried to qualify for the WSOP Main Event that he won! People got turned on by it and I can see this happening with ‘Poker King’ in the Chinese language world.”

The film, which will be directed by famous Chinese language director Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun and, produced by Amy Chin and Chan Hing-Kai, will use the festivities around the Galaxy StarWorld as a backdrop for their film. The film will tell the story of two poker champions – who are also bitter enemies – as they vie for the world championship of poker. Starring Chinese actors Louis Koo, Sean Lau Ching-Wan, Stephy Tang, Cherrie In and Josie Ho, the film is slated for release in China later this year.

With the excitement regarding the filming of “Poker King,” some may be distracted from the actual poker itself being played. The Asian Poker Tour Festival Macau is scheduled to have twenty official side tournaments, a plethora of high stakes cash games and the 32,000 Hong Kong Dollar (slightly over $4000 U. S. Dollars) Championship Event. Last year’s gathering – a six day event – drew such poker notables as Chan, fellow former World Champion Doyle Brunson, top female poker player Liz Lieu and others to a locale that has passed Las Vegas as the gaming capital of the world. The eventual champion was up and coming professional Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who burst upon the scene in Macau and went on to win the WPT Championship in April of this year.

Last Chance to Qualify for APT Macau.

The Asian Poker Tour is going from strength to strength, having attracted some of the industry’s biggest names in 2008 including Doyle Brunson, Jack Binion, Johnny Chan, John Juanda, Huck Seed, Liz Lieu, Todd Brunson, Kenny Tran and Poker Pack members Nam Le, Quinn Do, JC Tran, Steve Sung, David ‘Chino’ Rheem and Kwang Soo Lee.

Asian Poker Tour Festival To Be Stage For Chinese Poker Film

The Asian Poker Tour is busily preparing for the first ever poker festival on the grounds of the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau and, as an added feature for participants, the festivities from August 12th through the 23rd will be the stage for the filming of a Chinese poker film.

The film, tentatively titled “Poker King” and being directed by Chinese language directors Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun and produced by Amy Chin and Chan Hing-Kai, will use the Asian Poker Macau Festival as the stage for its movie. The production will tell the story of two poker rivals competing for world championship glory and features such Chinese actors as Louis Koo, Sean Lau Ching-Wan, Stephy Tang, Cherrie In and Josie Ho. It is expected that the film will be completed for its cinematic release later this year.

Tom Hall, the CEO of Asian Logic - which owns the Asian Poker Tour - states that the movie will only add to the excitement following the first APT event last year. “This is a very exciting project and is sure to provoke even more excitement about The Asian Poker Macau Festival”, Hall said. “Players across the region and from around the world are encouraged to come to the StarWorld and play at the Asian Poker Tour Macau when it begins on August 12th.”

There is also a possibility that some of the most prominent Asian poker stars in the game will have cameos in the movie. The APT’s sponsored professional players “The Poker Pack” - featuring recent World Series of Poker bracelet winners J. C. Tran and Steve Sung, 2008 “November Nine” member David “Chino” Rheem and Quinn Do, Nam Le and Kwang Soo Lee - are said to be in negotiations for substantial parts in the “Poker King” film.

Even though the film will be the focus of some of the attention in Macau, the tournament will be the first celebration of poker in the Chinese territory of Macau. The Asian Poker Macau Festival stretches from August 12th through the 23rd and will feature plenty of action for participants. Preliminary tournaments starting at a mere 500 Hong Kong Dollars (about $64 America) will be featured all the way up to the start of the APT Macau Main Event, a 32,000 HKD buy in (slightly over $4,000 USD). There will be three Day Ones for the APT Macau Main Event, which begin on August 19th. The final table is scheduled for August 23rd and will have television coverage.

Organizers of the Asian Poker Macau Festival have enlisted the expert skills of tournament director Matt Savage to oversee the time in Macau and Savage should provide a wealth of side games and events for those in attendance. High limit games and Sit And Go tables should be a prominent feature of Savage’s efforts.

Last year, the Asian Poker Tour’s journey to Macau drew some of the biggest names in the game for six days of poker and featured the debut of one of the current stars of the game. Professional players such as two-time World Champion Doyle Brunson and fellow former World Champion Johnny Chan (who is scheduled to return for this year’s festival), 2008 WSOP Europe champion John Juanda and popular female professional Liz Lieu were all part of the action. The tournament itself was won by the then-newcomer to live poker Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who picked up $500,000 for the APT Macau championship and went on to win the WPT Championship in April of this year.

The Asian Poker Tour is bringing the poker world to the Pacific Rim through a unique cooperation of companies. Through such online poker rooms as Party Poker, bwin.com and Titan Poker and land based casinos in the Philippines and Hong Kong, the field for this year’s event is expected to explode past last year’s gathering. For a full look at the schedule of preliminary events for the Asian Poker Tour Macau festival, visit the Asian Poker Tour website to learn more.

PokerStars.com APPT returns with Macau festival

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Below is the APPT Season 3 schedule:

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

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Dream Team Poker WSOP Event Attracts 366 Players

The third Dream Team Poker event, held down the hall from the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), attracted 366 runners for a total prize pool of $177,000. Roberto Diaz from Team Reckless leads the way entering Day 2, when 27 players will take to the felts.

The field that turned out for the Dream Team Poker’s second open event was actually smaller than its last outing, which took place at Caesars Palace in March. Across Interstate 15, a total of 148 teams and 444 players turned out four months ago. This time around, 122 teams and 366 players entered, a drop of 17%. Nevertheless, play was fast and furious, as 27 players representing 26 teams survived the first day and will return on Monday to determine a champion. Tao of Pokerati is the lone squad to boast two players remaining.

The top overall team will earn $33,017. The runner-ups will take home $18,106, third place will pocket $10,651, fourth place will earn $7,988, fifth place will bank $7,455, sixth place will receive $6,923, the seventh place team will see their bank accounts grow by $6,390, eighth place will pocket $5,858, ninth place will earn $5,325, and tenth place leaves the Rio with $4,793 from the $560 per person buy-in event. The field of 366 players included 59 women and three all-female teams: Kegslist.info (lead by Lacey Jones), Tush Pushers (lead by Pam Brunson), and Wicked Chops Poker II (Lead by London Gallagher).

Here’s how the field stacks up entering Day 2 of the Dream Team Poker tournament:

1. Roberto Diaz (Team Reckless) - 332,000
2. Jordan Hill (Team Winner Winner Chicken Dinner) - 252,000
3. Ricardo Felix Matos (Machine Team) - 235,000
4. Matthew Woodward (Team 2 Kings) - 220,000
5. Peter Marvo (Team Min Cash Masters) - 193,000
6. Adam Wege (Team NLP FREE) - 177,000
7. Peter Lubrano (Team The Maven VT 2) - 165,000
8. Paul McGuire (Team Tao of Pokerati) - 158,000
9. Kenna James (Team Poker Host) - 140,000
10. Bryan Kessler (Team Those Guys) - 133,000
11. Terresa Gallagher (Team Wicked Chops Poker II) - 125,000
12. James Page (Team The Maven VT 3) - 124,000
13. Daniel Michalski (Team Tao of Pokerati) - 113,000
14. Bojan Miljkovic (Team Juzni Vetar) - 100,000
15. Glyn Ottofy (Team Poker) - 95,000
16. Brad Tolliver (Team Donkey Show) - 87,000
17. Andrew Colas (Team Poker Blazers) - 82,000
18. Maximilian Gsottschneider (Team Puerto Rico) - 81,000
19. Michael Shackelford (Team Sinistrals) - 79,000
20. Mary Jo Zogman (Team Team HTP) - 60,000
21. Omar Vachhani (Team Diabolocos) - 46,000
22. John Sayre (Team Home Gamers) - 40,000
23. Michelle Richey (Team Simpletrak) - 37,000
24. Antonio Ferreira (Team BOSS) - 37,000
25. David Hornsby (Team The Hangover) - Unknown
26. Judy Tejwani (Team SOCRR) - Unknown
27. Stephen Nelson (Team I Love it When a Plan Comes Together) – Unknown

Notable poker pros who entered the event, but did not survive to see Day 2, included Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Evelyn Ng, David Williams, Barry Greenstein, Gavin Smith, Liz Lieu, Jerry Yang, Marsha Waggoner, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, Susie Isaacs, Tom McEvoy, “Captain” Tom Franklin, T.J. Cloutier, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Amir Vahedi. Also taking to the felts was former Major League Baseball star Jose Canseco, whose book “Juiced” ignited the crackdown on steroids in the game.

The tournament’s individual winner will earn $16,473 and the top 19 spots pay out. In order to curb collusion, Dream Team Poker events award prize money to the top players and teams. In addition, no team members are seated at the same table until 14 to 16 runners remain. No indication has been given as to when Dream Team Poker will hold its fourth event.

Bertrand Grospellier Leads after Day 3 of WSOP Main Event

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier vaulted to the top of the leaderboard Friday evening and will enter Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Main Event as the chip leader with 1,380,500 in chips. Fellow Frenchman Ludovic Lacay is second with 896,000.

Day 3 began with 2,044 players and 789 survivors advanced. With the top 646 spots being paid, we are currently 141 spots from the money, which will likely be reached on Day 4.  Everyone that cashes will earn a minimum of $ 21,365.

While the rapid eliminations were eye opening on Day 3, the biggest story was Grospellier. A sudden rush of fear came over the Amazon Room as word got out about Grospellier’s tower of chips that eclipsed the one million mark late in the evening. Most of those came in a pot against Jerry Wong, which gave Grospellier a jolt into the chip lead. With the board reading Wong bet 33,000 and Grospellier raised to 133,300. Wong then moved all in for a total of 390,000, and after a few minutes of thought Grospellier called:

Wong:
Grospellier:

Grospellier’s set of nines were good and Wong was sent packing. Grospellier, meanwhile, had so many chips in front of him that the tournament staff had to exchange several of his lower denomination chips for higher ones.

“It was a very good day”, Grospellier said after play concluded for the night. “The beginning was pretty slow. Then, I began to get good hands and I picked my spots pretty well. I got good hands and people tried to push me off hands when I would flop sets, so it was pretty good timing.  Anyone that was weak and trying to stay alive, I tried to push around but that’s about it.”

Grospellier already has amassed nearly $6 million in live poker tournament winnings, all within the past four years. His major titles include two wins in 2008, at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the Festa Al Lago Championship. He also finished fourth in the NBC Heads-Up World Championship held earlier this year.

Several former world champions continued play on Day 3 and all but two survived. Bobby Baldwin, Phil Hellmuth, Dan Harrington, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Joe Hachem, and Peter Eastgate all advanced to Day 4, while Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and Carlos Mortensen were eliminated. Other big names joining Raymer and Mortensen on the rail Friday were Humberto Brenes, John Juanda, Liz Lieu, Ville Wahlbeck and actor Jason Alexander.

With Wahlbeck’s elimination on Day 3, Jeffrey Lisandro officially locked up the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year title. When the results became known, Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack took the microphone and approached Lisandro, who was playing at the ESPN feature table. He announced Lisandro’s achievement, which received a nice round of applause. All of Lisandro’s opponents at the table also offered handshakes and congratulatory remarks. Lisandro was eliminated later in the day.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts along with some notables heading into Day 4 of the WSOP Main Event:

1. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – 1,380,500
2. Ludovic Lacay – 896,000
3. Jason Brice – 858,500
4. Benjamin Jensen – 835,500
5. Kasper Cordes – 796000
6. James Akenhead – 794,000
7. Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp – 792,000
8. Tyler Patterson – 784,000
9. Adam Bilzerian – 767,000
10. Christian Heich – 735,500
Kenny Tran - 666,500
Justin Bonomo - 517,500
Phil Hellmuth - 485,000
Mike Sexton - 414,000
David Benyamine - 381,500
Phil Ivey - 371,000
Lou Diamond Phillips - 359,500
Alexander Kostritsyn - 340,500
Joe Sebok - 297,500
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 297,000
Paul Wasicka - 294,000
Peter Eastgate - 292,500
Antonio Esfandiari - 283,500
Joe Hachem - 239,500
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson - 232,500
Tom Schneider - 231,000
Dan Harrington - 187,500
Vitaly Lunkin - 159,500
JC Tran - 119,000
Greg “FBT” Mueller - 101,500

Day 4 of the Main Event will get underway at Noon Vegas time on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing updates on the 2009 World Series of Poker.

ElkY, Ludo lead French Main Event takeover

Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier leads all competitors with 1,380,500 and Team Winamax pro Ludovic Lacay is second with 925,000.

Approximately 800 players remain in contention after fourteen levels in the WSOP's 57th event.

"I'm just playing my game," Grospellier said. "In this event you really have a lot of time to play your game.

"You get ten days of play and it's really great. I'm trying to be careful and pick my spots."

Grospellier was the first player to cross the million-chip plateau, winning a monster pot when his set of nines held against Jerry Wong's second pair, kings.

The former video game professional told PokerListings.com he's doubly happy to see Lacay at the top of the leaderboard as well.

"That makes me feel good," said Grospellier. "He's a good friend of mine. I'm happy I'm first, but I'm happy for him that he's second.

"There's no rivalry between me and him. I'm happy for him as well because we both came from a video game background. He's kind of my student.

"David Benyamine is doing well as well. It's good to see the Frenchmen doing well."

Lacay emerged as the tournament chipleader just after the dinner break when he took down a huge pot with a boat, kings full of tens, on an ace-high board.

"Obviously, I feel great," he said. "It was a great day, very smooth. I got a lot of cards and made a lot of flops."

Lacay told PokerListings his experience in big buy-in tournaments has been a key to his success in the Main Event thus far.

"I think in very long tournaments like this I have a big edge because I'm used to it and there are a lot of beginners," he said.

"They're a bit nervous and they slow way down during the last two levels of the day."

With less than two hundred eliminations separating Day 3 survivors from the money, Day 4 looks to be a good day for experienced pros to abuse the bubble.

Not so fast, says Lacay.

"Usually big stacks like to bully the bubble, but I've sometimes had hard times doing that," he said. "If you have good players at the table they know what you're doing and they'll play back at you.

"It will really depend on what my table looks like tomorrow. If I'm lucky I'll get two or three good players at my table and the rest will be amateurs."

Other players near the top of the chip leaderboard include Jordan Morgan and James Akenhead.

Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Kara Scott and 2008 Main Event champ Peter Eastgate also survived Day 3.

Meanwhile, "Seinfeld" star Jason Alexander wasn't so lucky, joining Josh Arieh, John Juanda, Liz Lieu and 2001 Main Event champ Carlos Mortensen on the rail.

Action resumes at noon Vegas time on Saturday for another five levels of action. Check out the PokerListings.com 2009 WSOP section for full coverage of the Main Event.

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Dream Team Poker CEO Discusses WSOP Tournament

Beginning on July 12th, the third Dream Team Poker tournament will kick off. This time, it originates from the home of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which will be taking place down the hall at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Poker News Daily sat down with Dream Team Gaming CEO Daniel Delshad for his thoughts just a few days out from the tournament, which boasts a $1,680 buy-in per three-man team.

Poker News Daily: You have Jose Canseco and a fleet of poker pros already registered for the event, which is now less than a week away. How excited are you for your WSOP debut?

Delshad: We’re all very excited and I’m looking forward to July 12th. After the Caesars event in March, it has been a fast turnaround until now.

PND: Has registration been better than, worse than, or about what you expected?

Delshad: We’re excited where we’re at. We already have 300 people pre-registered for the event. Poker players like to sign up late, so we’re in line with what we expected the numbers to be. We’ve had a lot of big names register, so that’s a good sign.

PND: Talk about the logistics for registration on the morning of the Dream Team Poker tournament at the Rio.

Delshad: Everybody will go to the cage to buy into the event. They’ll get a seat assignment and then go to our registration area down the hall to pick up their scorecards and jerseys.

PND: Are there any notable teams or entrants that you can share with us?

Delshad: Daniel Negreanu is in. Jamie Gold, Kenna James, David Williams, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Liz Lieu, and Pam Brunson have all signed up. We have a really good list of people and we’re excited to have them out. Alex Outhred is back as our emcee. He’s very well-liked and he’s a great guy.

PND: You’ve done a spectacular job of one-upping yourself for each Dream Team Poker event ever since your debut at the Hard Rock. What’s next on the horizon?

Delshad: We’re continuing to grow. I think we’re getting a lot of demand for us to go international and we’ll take a look at it. There are a bunch of events overseas for us to partner with and we’re going to find the ones that are the best fit for us. We like to work with companies that are the leaders in their industries and we’re in active discussions with international events right now.

PND: Can you comment about the WSOP Main Event shutting out over 500 players on Day 1D? Does Dream Team Poker have any provisions in place to prevent a similar occurrence?

Delshad: We’ll be in the Brasilia Room, which will give us more space than being in the Amazon Room. We can fit a pretty good field in there. The WSOP has been run so smoothly from Day 1. It was just an unfortunate event on Monday. It happens, but they still had the third largest field in history. It shows that, despite the economy, poker is alive and well.

PND: Talk about the feedback you received from spectators and players alike who visited PokerPalooza and your booth outside the Amazon Room?

Delshad: It’s pretty amazing. We had a big registration area near the jersey wall. For so many people, this was their first time seeing our product.

PND: Talk about today’s media tournament taking on a team format. Will its winners be entered into the feature Dream Team Poker event?

Delshad: For us to have media event in the Dream Team Poker format is special. I love that the media has this opportunity because they can play the game themselves. The experience on the inside is completely different than beyond the rail. The media is battling against each other anyway in the real world and we’re expecting about 150 people to play.

The winning team will have a charity donation made in their name. We can’t give away seats into our events because the media can’t accept gifts.

Bodog Unveils 2009 WSOP Prop Bets

If you've ever wanted to rail your favorite poker stars without having to be at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, head to Bodog. The online poker site and sports book recently opened up betting on the WSOP. The festivities at the Rio begin on May 27th.

Among the wagers available on Bodog is what poker pro will win the most money during the 2009 WSOP. The leader in the clubhouse is 11-time bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth, who is currently going off at 5:2. Other players that are available to bet on include Doyle Brunson (7:2), David Sklansky (12:1), Barry Greenstein (5:1), Mike Caro (12:1), Phil Gordon (10:1), T.J. Cloutier (6:1), and Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who is fetching 3:1 odds.

The question of “Will Phil Hellmuth win his 12th bracelet at the 2009 WSOP occurring in Las Vegas beginning May 27th?” is paying +300 for Yes and -500 for No. Hellmuth made three final tables last year, taking third in the $1,500 buy-in HORSE event for $93,000. You can also bet on whether Brunson or Johnny Chan will score their 11th bracelets. The +300 figure means that a player must bet $100 to get back a total of $400. The -500 figure means that a player must bet $500 to get back a total of $600.

A special last longer wager is also available on the prestigious $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, which was infamously won last year by Scotty Nguyen. He has 5:1 odds in the bet, the favorite among the pros available. Others include Brunson (6:1), Hellmuth (7:1), Chan (7:1), Freddy Deeb (11:2), Phil Ivey (6:1), David Williams (11:2), Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo (11:2), and Negreanu (6:1). Deeb won the event in 2007 and the late Chip Reese took down the inaugural HORSE Championship in 2006. The trophy given to the winner of the event is named in his honor.

Another unique bet asks wagerers to select what pair will rack up the most winnings in the 2009 WSOP. Patrik Antonius and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites, going off at 4:1. Other pairings available include Doyle and Todd Brunson (6:1), the husband and wife team of Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman (6:1), father and son Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok (9:2), brother and sister Annie Duke and Howard Lederer (15:2), Bodog pros Evelyn Ng and Justin Bonomo (15:2), Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly (6:1), mother and son David and Shirley Williams (6:1), engaged couple Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso (10:1), and Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Tiffany Michelle (9:2).

Players can even bet on what game will be played when the final hand is dealt during the HORSE Championship. Hold'em, Razz, and Seven Card Stud are all paying 5:2, while Omaha High-Low and Seven Card Stud High-Low are both going off at 15:4.

Bettors will also be keeping their eyes on the female contingent in the Main Event, as a special women's-only last longer bet is available on Bodog. Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites; both are 5:1 to remain in contention in the Main Event the longest. Others include Duke (7:1), Tilly (10:1), Cyndy Violette (7:1), Isabelle Mercier (7:1), Clonie Gowen (7:1), Ng (7:1), Liz Lieu (7:1), Mimi Tran (7:1), Katja Thater (7:1), Rousso (7:1), and the last woman standing in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, Maria Ho (10:1).

One prop bet on Bodog centers wholly on Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande's finish in the Main Event. Bellande was a contestant on CBS' “Survivor: China,” one of the 18 seasons of the show that have aired. “No Money” is paying 1:20; finishing in the money, but no better than 10th place is paying 8:1; making the final table is paying 150:1; and winning the 2009 WSOP Main Event is fetching 1,000:1 odds. Bellande took 442nd in the Main Event last year.

The first wager listed in Bodog's poker section is, “Will Scotty Nguyen reach his stated promise that he will earn $4,000,000 or more in combined winnings at this year’s WSOP?” Yes is paying out +2,400. The bet stems from an interview Nguyen had with PokerListings that he would retire from poker if he does not amass $4 million in winnings at the 2009 WSOP. Whether he will follow through on his promise is anyone's guess.

PokerListings’ epic fail at Dream Team Poker

Despite organizers advertising a sold-out field, the final turnout fell a few spots short of the 170-team cap. All told 444 players and $220,000 made it to the felt.

Team PokerListings had high hopes. Given that it was comprised of poker diva Liz Lieu, WSOP bracelet winner Quinn Do and online MTT pro Matt Stout, PL.com was accused on more than one occasion of stacking the team with ringers.

In the end the ringers were unable to deliver, going bust one after another in the first few levels of the day.

Liz Lieu claimed supernatural powers were against her.

"It was the jerseys. They must have been bad luck. All three of us had them and we all got busted!" Liz asserted. Her logic is unassailable.

The bad luck began with Quinn Do, who found himself seated two to the right of Phil Hellmuth. Unfortunately for Do he would have little time to bask in the Poker Brat's ambient glory.

Stout was out next. Cracked aces and a series of lost pots left him short before he shipped the remainder of his stack to Jeff Madsen of Team PokerRoad Radio. The photo above was taken at the time of the all-in.

The arm you see is Joe Sebok's, Madsen's PokerRoad teammate, who was pointing and laughing at the all-in Stout.

Liz Lieu saw her starting stack halved before getting it in good with pocket kings against pocket eights. Her opponent flopped quads.

Despite the disappointing results Team PokerListings enjoyed playing the team format, a sentiment shared by everyone in the Caesars tournament room today.

Jamie Gold was one of five former World Champions to play today, and he had nothing but good things to say about the event.

"It's very rare you have this much fun and this kind of camaraderie in tournaments. It makes me think of when I was a kid playing Little League baseball," Gold commented.

Players responded extremely positively to the team format and we saw today how it adds another layer to the tournament style we're so familiar with.

Gold elaborated, "It's so cool that you can bust out right away and still have a chance to win. It keeps you involved and it gives you something to root for. I'm having a blast."

At a time when disposable income is at a premium the team format is a great way to moderate the risk associated with tournament poker.

Gold agrees, saying, "In this economy [the team format] is very timely. This is the time to share some of the risk. Not everyone can afford to keep playing in big-buy-in tournaments on their own."

At time of posting there are just over 30 players left in this event. When play ceases for the night just 27 will remain. Tomorrow we will play down to a winner.

PokerListings.com will be on the scene beaming live updates and news straight to your computer. Hit up the live tournament section to see how it all shakes out!

 

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Rivalries fuel Dream Team competition

The sellout event will see 170 teams of three throw down for a share of an estimated $250,000 prize pool.

The cash, and a cheap shot at felting the likes of Phil Hellmuth, has generated an altogether unexpected buzz surrounding this tournament.

Unlike traditional tournament poker, the team format fosters a real sense of camaraderie. Players are rallying behind their team flags and, as one might expect, taking every opportunity to deride the opposition.

Leading this exhibition of maturity is Joe Sebok, who will be representing PokerRoad.com.

"To think that any of the other aforementioned 'teams,' if you can even call them that, have any chance of beating PokerRoad Radio is laughable," Sebok asserted when asked how he likes his team's chances.

Sebok goes on to call out one team in particular.

"WickedChopsPoker? What the hell is a wicked chop anyway? An angry sushi chef?" he said.

Firing right back was Matt "All In At 420" Stout, who will be representing Team PokerListings along with poker diva Liz Lieu and 2005 WSOP bracelet winner Quinn Do.

"Sebok going deep in this tournament is about as likely as Gavin Smith folding a gut-shot straight draw," he said.

Stout joined Sebok in his skepticism regarding Team WickedChops' likelihood of success, citing their preoccupation with the female form as the major obstacle they'll need to overcome.

"It's going to be tough for them since they'll barely be able to focus on playing cards between snapping photos of girls on the rail and trying to convince the cocktail waitresses to take off their clothes," Stout said.

Chops, one of the three entities who are WickedChopsPoker, was unfazed by the criticism.

He chose to go after the reigning Dream Team champions from Bluff Magazine rather than dignify his detractors with a response.

"Really, if Bluff Magazine won the previous Dream Team Poker event, can't we all agree this is just a crapshoot?" he said.

"Wouldn't a team consisting of Scott MacIntyre, Bernie Lomax and Robert Varkonyi have just as good of a chance?"

Lampooning aside, the tournament is shaping up to be the most publicized $500 buy-in event in the history of live poker.

Former World Champions Phil Hellmuth, Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold and Tom McEvoy are all confirmed, along with a long list of name pros and celebrities.

PokerListings.com will be on location to bring you live updates and photography starting tomorrow at 12 p.m. PT.

You can follow Team PokerListings and everyone else who's playing in our Live Tournaments section.

 

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