Poker News

Pacific Poker offers a great $8 free Campaign for the first 50.000 new players - and more!

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You can learn more about the Bankroll Management client: here

Your next step is the WSOP 2010 Promotion!

Soon after you have claimed your bonus, the second phase starts and you’re eligible for the great WSOP promotion as well: 8 ways to the WSOP, which is launched at February 8th! 8 ways to win 1 of 88 seats to WSOP 2010!

WSOP 2010 promotion is open to all depositors!

Note that players from the following countries are not eligible for the bonus offer: Argentina, Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Serbia, China, Croatia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, North Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Vietnam, Columbia and South Korea.

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Pacific Poker offers a great $8 free Campaign for the first 50.000 new players - and more!

Poker Chip Retailers Eye 2010 Rebound

While the top 10 major online poker sites/networks grew around 30% in 2009, the pain of a worldwide economic recession was felt at casinos.  Profits at Las Vegas casinos were down dramatically and major entities like the World Poker Tour (WPT) saw a slide in attendance.  Other companies hurt by the downturn were retailers that sell supplies for private poker tournaments and home games.  While business was booming prior to the downturn, many of the major retailers are encouraged by their 2010 prospects.

“2009 was our most difficult year.  With people worried about jobs and homes, recreation expenses were down across the board.  We were able to hold some ground by expanding our offerings to the international buyer,” said Jim Evering of Nevada Jacks.

One major chip retailer is making waves with a line of new products aimed at enticing the true poker aficionado to its store.  Poker Chip Mania recently sent out a news blast introducing 10 new clay poker chips to an already robust selection.  Poker Chip Mania specializes in offering poker chips, cases, cards, tables, and game room décor.  All the chips have denominations on them and are available in 10 different colors.  Bundles start at 50 chips or can be purchased in one big set.  They weigh in at 14 grams.

Poker Chip Mania is located within the KMR Online Shopping Mall.  In addition to the 10 new styles of chips, Poker Chip Mania has located and obtained a limited number of popular Paulson poker chips.  These chips sold very well, but are now discontinued and have become a collector’s item.

Nevada Jacks is another major poker chip supplier that offers unique and custom products.  The site’s online storefront includes items such as custom poker chips, clay poker chips, composite chips, accessories, and tables.  Nevada Jacks offers the ability for customers to design their own chipset and have it manufactured.

“Custom chip sets are the ultimate purchase for the true poker aficionado.  Nothing says ‘high roller’ like having your own design in a set of poker chips,” commented Evering. The custom poker chip page allows you to pick colors and send in your own custom design for full casino grade, 10-gram poker chips.  The turnaround time is stated on the site as being two weeks and chips are available in smooth and textured formats.

“The custom process can be as simple or intricate as the buyer wants.  We offer several templates that allow buyers to easily create a personalized design,” commented Evering.  “On the other hand, if the buyer desires, we will work with them to provide a totally custom set.  Once the customer places their order, the artwork and proofing process begins.  This usually takes about a week.  Once the proof is approved, it takes about one week to produce and ship.”

Organizations that have purchased customized chipsets through Nevada Jacks include the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, PokerStars, UB.com, Absolute Poker, and many casinos worldwide.  The store has even had features in GQ and Playboy magazines.

For those of you that have a regular home game, here’s a nice checklist that you can use if you plan to invest in it:

- Felted poker table with cushioned border
- KEM or Copag decks of cards
- High-quality 14-gram chipset or custom made 10-gram chipset
- Tournament timer device
- Decorations including a poker light fixture and signs for the wall
- Cash box
- Drink carts

All of these items and more are found on Poker Chip Mania’s and Nevada Jacks’ websites.  As 2010 begins, these two poker supply stores have adapted themselves to offer what customers want amid a severe economic downturn.

Hand Dissection with Steve Gross (gboro780)

Steve "gboro780" Gross is the epitome of consistency in the world of online poker. The 24 year-old poker pro from New Jersey has been among the world's top tournament players for several years across every major online poker site offered to U.S. players. In 2009, Gross had nine online scores of $40,000 or more. Three of those are for six-figures, including a $275,601 win in a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event in February. Gross also took second in Full Tilt Poker's $1 Million Guaranteed in January for $126,506.

Gross' other six-figure score came during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) in April. He took second place in Event #11, a $3,150 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em event, for $128,000. Fellow high-stakes tournament whiz-kid James "Andy McLEOD" Obst was the winner of that event, coming from behind to defeat Gross in what was a heads-up match for the ages.

Gross took some time with Poker News Daily to discuss a hand he played against Obst with a few tables remaining in SCOOP Event #11.

Hand Setup:
Seat 1: Andy McLEOD (70,681 chips)
Seat 2: gboro780 (100,397)
Seat 3: get crunk (55,251)
Seat 4: HarrisMP (19,088)
Seat 5: ely_cash41 (8,229)
Seat 6: Brian Strahl (75,785)
Blinds are 250/500 with a 65 ante

Cards are Dealt:
get crunk folds
HarrisMP raises to 1,350
ely_cash folds
Andy McLEOD calls from the small blind
gboro780 calls with Jd-9d from the big blind

Flop: Ts-4d-2c
Andy McLEOD checks
gboro780 checks
HarrisMP checks

Turn: 8c
Andy McLEOD bets 3,100
gboro780 raises to 9,742
HarrisMP folds
Andy McLEOD raises to 24,000
gboro780 raises to 94,794 (having Andy McLEOD covered)
Andy McLEOD folds
gboro780 wins the pot with Jack-high

Gross' Analysis:
For Andy McLEOD to want to get it all-in on the turn, he needs to have two pair or better. If the villain were a random, I would never make this assumption, but knowing McLEOD is world-class, I don't see him wanting to get it in with one pair here with so much behind and such a small amount in the middle at a crucial point in the tournament.

I didn't think he was slow playing anything pre-flop. Andy has a bit of a maniacal image, but he is very bright and knows how to use it. He's super active, 3bets a lot, and in turn also gets played back at a lot. So, I thought he was trapping pre-flop here very rarely and would play his big hands fast more often than not in this setting.

I recognized the opener, HarrisMP, from watching nosebleed cash games on Full Tilt Poker and knew he had some game. At a six-max table with 40 big blind effective stacks against really good players, 8-8 and 10-10 become pretty huge hands that I believe McLEOD would have chosen to 3bet before the flop, particularly being out of position from the small blind.

So, of the two-pair-or-better hands we're worried about that would be in McLEOD's get-it-in range, we are left with 2-2, 4-4, and T-8 suited. Now I love T-8 suited, but I'm hardly ever flatting with it and, speculating in McLEOD's shoes here, it's just not the right part of the tournament for that. But it's still possible. Pocket fours and pocket twos are certainly a concern, although I think they get folded pre-flop a decent amount too.

When McLEOD leads at the turn, the rational part of my brain told me to take one off and try to hit the nuts with my straight draw. I can possibly take it away from him on the river if some scare cards come or if he checks and appears to be giving up. Then, the nutso part of my brain clicked in and told me to raise it up on a semi-move where we could take it down with jack-high, still potentially hit the nuts, and still potentially take it down on scary rivers (for bigger pots).

McLEOD and I have played together for years and know that we are both quite capable. So, when I raised the turn, I wasn't entirely shocked to see him keep the pressure on and come back over the top for 24,000. However, I felt that there were so few hands he actually wants to get it in with and a player of his caliber has air and random hands here way more often than 2-2 or 4-4. If by chance he does have those hands, I still have outs and 60 big blinds if I lose.

Kevin Saul, Amnon Filippi Among PCA Day 1A Leaders

Day 1A of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) played out on Tuesday, with 668 players taking to the felts inside the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from Britain, leads the way with 329,500 chips.

Bentley nearly amassed 11 times the starting stack of 30,000 in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament after eight levels of play. He held pocket aces and eliminated a player with pocket kings within the first few minutes of Day 1A, doubling his stack to 60,000, and he never looked back. Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu issued the traditional “Shuffle up and deal” command moments earlier. At the end of Day 1A, 430 players remained in the hunt.

Bentley sits comfortably in front of the second place stack of Amnon Filippi, who held a pile of 220,100 chips at the end of Day 1A. The accomplished poker pro was nearly 50,000 chips ahead of online poker pro Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, the winner of the 2007 installment of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup for $1.3 million. Last year, Saul finished eighth in the PCA Main Event for $234,000, outlasting all but seven of the 1,347 players who entered.

Team PokerStars Sports Stars will be out in full force on Wednesday for Day 1B, as German tennis legend Boris Becker, Swedish NHL star Mats Sundin, Dutch hockey pro Fatima De Melo, baseball commentator Orel Hershiser, and U.K. football legend Teddy Sheringham will all take to the felts. Also entering on Day 1B is Mike Kosowski, the winner of Season 1 of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.” Kosowski earned $1 million after defeating Negreanu heads-up in the finale of the poker game show last month.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Eric Buchman sits in sixth place after Day 1A with 159,100 chips. The PokerStars sponsored player finished fourth in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament in Las Vegas in November, adding $2.5 million to his net worth. The event was ultimately won by Joe Cada, who will take to the felts for Day 1B today. Joining him will be pros like Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, and Victor Ramdin. Also playing is rapper Nelly, who has become somewhat of a staple on the poker circuit in recent months.

Here were the top ten chip stacks in the Bahamas after the smoke had cleared on Day 1A of the 2010 PCA Main Event:

1. Wayne Bentley - 329,500
2. Amnon Filippi - 220,100
3. Kevin Saul - 175,500
4. Eric Froehlich - 166,000
5. Dustin Dorrance-Bowman - 163,700
6. Eric Buchman - 159,100
7. Garðar Geir Hauksson - 138,900
8. Jacob Avital - 137,700
9. Christian Schwarz - 133,200
10. Rafal Michalowski - 129,300

The PCA is a stop on both the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and, as such, has attracted a global field. Still remaining after Day 1A are players from the United States, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, Russia, Finland, Argentina, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Romania, Australia, Slovenia, Greece, Costa Rica, Austria, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curiously absent is a representative from the host nation, the Bahamas.

Last year’s champion, Poorya Nazari, hails from Canada and nearly tripled his stack on Day 1A. Notable players who survived the first starting day, along with their chip counts, include:

Dennis Phillips – 113,000
Dario Minieri – 109,800
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,400
Poorya Nazari – 89,300
Barry Greenstein – 89,200
Jeff Madsen – 79,400
John Duthie – 60,100
Marcel Luske – 55,600
Gavin Smith – 54,000
Jean-Robert Bellande – 53,900
Kevin Schaffel – 53,200
Bernard Lee – 46,800
Amit “amak316” Makhija – 42,000
Steven Paul-Ambrose – 37,900
“Miami” John Cernuto – 36,500
Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 34,700
Ivan Demidov – 27,600
Tom McEvoy – 19,900
Huck Seed – 16,000
Jeff “yellowsub” Williams – 13,100

Play wrapped up in Level 8, when blinds were 400-800 with a 100-chip ante. Day 1B will encompass the same eight levels before the field merges for Day 2 on Thursday.

Titan Poker to Award 2010 WSOP Main Event Seats in World Challenge

It may be over six months away, but Titan Poker is getting players warmed up to battle for their chance to participate in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

In one of its biggest promotions ever, Titan Poker is offering the World Challenge 2010. The promotion is a series of tournaments broken down into 12 different regions of the world that will eventually award five players a $13,000 package to play in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. Only a certain number of qualifiers from each region will be eligible to participate in the final round of tournaments, where the five seats to the 2010 WSOP Main Event will be doled out.

With its start on Monday, Titan Poker is giving players the opportunity to “Represent Your Country and Challenge the World.” The second tournament of First Round qualification will be on January 10th, with the remainder of the First Round events held each week afterwards. The 12 regions are broken down as such and remember, Titan Poker does not accept players from the United States:

Americas: 10 qualifiers
Australia and New Zealand: 10 qualifiers
France: 25 qualifiers
Germany: 25 qualifiers
Italy: 25 qualifiers
Netherlands and Belgium: 10 qualifiers
Open Qualifiers: 10 qualifiers
Romania: 10 qualifiers
Russia: 20 qualifiers
Scandinavia: 20 qualifiers
Spain: 20 qualifiers
United Kingdom: 20 qualifiers

A series of 10 tournaments for each of the 12 regions, with a buy in of $5+$.50, will be held until March 7th for players to battle their way to the top of the regional leaderboards. Each tournament offers points for participation and finishing at the final table. The Second Round series of eight tournaments, with a buy in of $10+$1, begins on March 14th and lasts until May 2nd. The points for that segment of the series will be worth double the First Round set of tournaments.

After the completion of the Second Round series of tournaments, the regional leaderboards will be completed and the top players will be confirmed. The 200 qualifiers from the 12 regions will then embark on a set of eight tournaments from May 16th to May 30th, called the Final Round and with a buy in of $15+$1.50. Points once again will be awarded for participation and finishing at the final table. The top five finishers in points in the Final Round, regardless of regional affiliation, will earn their 2010 WSOP Main Event package.

The Titan Poker World Challenge 2010 kicked off yesterday, with over 400 players competing. Titan Poker is keeping close track of the action, with complete leaderboards for each region on the Titan Poker website and weekly newsletters sent to each Titan Poker member. While there has been a tournament completed in the First Round, there is still time for players to get in on the action without being too far behind.

The Titan Poker World Challenge 2010 is going to be the largest promotion on Titan Poker in the first half of 2010 and should draw some of the best competition from around the world. With the chance to be in Las Vegas for the 2010 WSOP Main Event for five skillful players, there should be tremendous action on the virtual tables at Titan Poker.

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast List Released, No Poker Players

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich headlines an ensemble “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. The 14 names announced by NBC on Monday do not include any poker players, as first reported by Poker News Daily in October.

Three months ago, the cast was spotted filming the show’s opening credits in the Meat Packing District of New York City. Embattled politician Blagojevich is perhaps the most controversial name on the list. NBC officials tried to land the former Governor for its Costa Rica-based “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,” which aired in June, but legal woes kept him from competing. Instead, Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, appeared on the show. Blagojevich landed in hot water after allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat previously occupied by President Barack Obama.

Also on the new cast is comedian Carol Leifer, who will try to follow in the shoes of “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 2 winner Joan Rivers. The latter defeated UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in the finals last year. Leifer told the Associated Press, "I'm certainly not a household name. I'm not surprised that Joan Rivers won (last season), because, as a standup comic, you're a one-man band — it makes you very prepared for stressful situations to be able to react to a lot of pressure. Humor is a weapon anywhere and everywhere!" Leifer is 20 years younger than Rivers, but her television writing resume includes hits like “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Poison hasn’t released an album since 2007, but that hasn’t stopped Bret Michaels from becoming a household name. The band’s lead singer will appear on the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice” and currently can be found on the VH1 reality series “Rock of Love.” Joining him on the all-male team dubbed “Rocksolid” is Bill Goldberg, former World Heavyweight Champion of WWE and WCW. The former NFL player was last seen in a WWE ring six years ago during WrestleMania XX, when he squared off against Brock Lesnar. Goldberg told the Associated Press that he plans to keep his fiery edge in the boardroom with show host and real estate mogul Donald Trump: "I know I'm going to explode during this show at some point and say things I probably don't mean."

Another embattled celebrity to join the cast of the NBC reality show’s third cycle is Darryl Strawberry. The former New York Met, who dealt with child support non-payments, prostitution, probation violations, and drug use following his baseball career, is now 47 and will look to right the ship on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Competing opposite Strawberry will be “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, won the original installment of “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2008.

Last time out, Rivers defeated Duke amid a tidal wave of name-calling, including numerous references to Hitler. Rivers’ onslaught included such memorable lines as, “You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash,” and, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Duke then fired back, telling “Celebrity Apprentice” cameras, “Joan is completely full of shit in everything she does. There’s a reason she got fired by the TV Guide Channel: She’s a bitch.”

For the most part, the poker world rallied behind one of their own and Duke raised a colossal $731,000 for Refugees International. However, Rivers, who was playing for God’s Love We Deliver, took down the title of “Celebrity Apprentice” and earned $526,000 for charity. Others who appeared on the show’s second installment with Rivers and Duke included Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, country music star Clint Black, reality star Khloe Kardashian, and comedian Tom Green.

Here’s the complete cast list for the third season of “Celebrity Apprentice:”

Rocksolid: Rod Blagojevich, Darryl Strawberry. Curtis Stone, Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Bill Goldberg, Michael Johnson

Tenacity: Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders, Holly Robinson Peete, Maria Kanellis, Carol Leifer, Selita Ebanks

The new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” kicks off on March 14th on NBC.

World Poker Tour to expand into Europe

Rising from the ashes like a multi-million dollar phoenix, the World Poker Tour has come back from the brink of destruction under the new ownership of Party Gaming. Far from dying, the tour will now be expanding into Europe with new tournaments in France and Romania.

PokerStars ANZPT Season 2 Schedule Announced

The first six events of Season 2 of the PokerStars-sponsored Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) were announced in recent days, with Adelaide set to host the first event from February 9th to 14th.

The buy-in for the kickoff tournament of the tour’s second season weighs in at AUD $3,000 and the festivities will be held at the Adelaide Casino. The venue’s Poker Manager, David Galpin, commented in a press release distributed by the world’s largest online poker site, “We are looking forward to the return of the ANZPT in Adelaide after the wonderful success of the first year and we are excited to see the event grow and flourish.” The Main Event is capped at 360 players and preliminary tournaments will get underway in the Australian city on February 2nd.

In an interesting rule found on the ANZPT’s website, iPods are not allowed at the Adelaide event due to government policy. In addition, the casino has a strict stance against string betting and out of turn bettors will forfeit their contribution to the pot should they ultimately choose to fold. Poker players who win their way in through PokerStars will tour wineries and other nearby attractions during their trip.

After Adelaide, a brand new ANZPT event in Perth will play out, with the Burswood Entertainment Complex serving as the epicenter of the Australian poker market beginning on March 17th. The AUD $2,500 buy-in Main Event will name a champion four days later and the field is capped at 300 runners. On the new event, Jason Barry, General Manager of Table Games at Burswood Entertainment Complex, commented in the same release, “We feel this is just what our players have been waiting for and we expect big numbers will take part in the first PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth tournament.”

A total of five events made up Season 1 of the ANZPT, which kicked off in February in Adelaide. Tournaments followed in Sydney, Melbourne, Queenstown, and Queensland. In the finale of ANZPT Season 1, Scott Kerr earned AUD $168,075 for defeating a field of 249 players back in August. The largest field during Season 1 turned out in Sydney, where nearly 500 players took to the felts. The conclusion of that event saw Paren Arzoomanian scoop the AUD $246,500 first place prize.

A combined 1,309 players took part in Season 1 events and nearly $3 million in prize money was doled out. Here is the schedule for what promises to be a lively Season 2 on the PokerStars-backed ANZPT:

ANZPT Adelaide: Adelaide Casino
February 9th to 14th
Buy-in: AUD $3,000

ANZPT Perth: Burswood Entertainment Complex
March 17th to 21st
Buy-in: AUD $2,500

ANZPT Sydney: Star City Casino
April 21st to 25th
Buy-in: AUD $2,200

ANZPT Queenstown: Sky City Queenstown
July 17th to 25th
Buy-in: NZD $2,500

ANZPT Gold Coast: Conrad Jupiters
August 11th to 15th
Buy-in: AUD $2,500

ANZPT Melbourne: Crown Casino
October 8th to 11th
Buy-in: TBD

More stops will likely be added to Season 2 of the ANZPT, although no further information was available at the time of writing. A tournament leaderboard held during the first season of the tour saw Tony Hachem emerge victorious after cashing in four of the five ANZPT Season 1 events. For his leaderboard win, Hachem took home entry into Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) events as well as the 2010 Aussie Millions. Chris Levick, who finished in second place on the leaderboard, gained entry into every ANZPT Season 2 event.

In addition to the ANZPT and APPT, PokerStars also sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), and U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT).

WPT Sets Sights on Romania

After revealing its plans to head back to the Paris’ famed Aviation Club de France in May 2010 after a four-year absence last week, the WPT has now set its sights on Romania.

WPT Bucharest will run Mar. 27–Apr. 2, 2010 and will include a non-televised €3,000+€300 buy-in main event.

The Regent Casino in the Novotel Hotel at the center of Bucharest will play host to the tournament.

The casino features a gaming area with 25 table games, 88 slot machines, two VIP rooms, a luxury restaurant and other facilities.

“We are happy to be in partnership with WPT and to launch this special event together for the first time in Romania,” said Regent Casino CEO Sorin Constantinescu.

“It is already known that WPT always introduce new tournaments into prestigious locations. Regent Casino Bucharest is one of those special places, and with WPT Bucharest we believe it will become an excellent meeting point for the most talented poker players from all around the world.”

In addition to online qualifiers, land-based satellites will also be offered at Regent Casino.

When the WPT was bought by PartyGaming in the fourth quarter of 2009, officials promised to expand the tour, particularly in Europe. It appears now those plans are being put into action.

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Three Ps Approach to Playing a Maniac

You’ve settled into your chair at your favorite poker room or online and are ready to play some world-class, A-game poker. After a short time, however, a player comes to the table who starts to get, for lack of a better term, “crazy.” Pumping up pots with straddle bets, raises from out of position, and other action-garnering devices, the maniac asserts his table presence. To make matters worse, he is winning from players you were taking the chips from with your A-game.

I have seen many players go on tilt from playing against such maniacs and it is easy to see how they fall into that hole. The mindset of some players becomes “I’m going to get that sucker” rather than playing excellent poker and using the game to get the chips. There are three P’s that a player has to learn to be able to prevent from becoming one who spews chips to the maniac.

Position

The first way to have some power over the maniac at the table is to have position. If, for most of the hands, you can have the advantage of having him act before you, you can at the minimum gauge his actions and, when he either shows or goes to showdown, get an idea of the cards he is playing. If he is a true maniac, he is winning with some less than desirable hands, while occasionally showing down a monster.

Having this positional advantage will make it possible, if you have acquired a solid table image, to 3bet and, on some occasions, force him to leave the hand. Be mindful, though, that the maniac player is one who doesn’t fold something unless it is complete junk; you have to be prepared to play your hand, no matter how bad, if you get called on your 3bet bluff.

If you are out of position, you options are limited. You can wait until you have one of the few plays in position to decide to attack but, once again, you are probably going to head to the river. Thus, you are going to have to execute the second of the three P’s.

Power

There are two ways to use power to defeat the table maniac. The first, through a dominance of chips, is pretty easy to execute. Sometimes, the table maniac is there for the quick hit and run, to get a good score, or to make enough to get into a tournament. By having a larger chip stack than the maniac, you can thwart his indiscriminate play by coming over the top of him. After a few timely re-raises - remember, you can’t go overboard or you will just encourage him - the maniac will realize that when you’re in a hand, it is probably best that he doesn’t engage you.

The second method, and the one that most players will try to use to combat the maniac, is through the power of the cards. If a maniac is coming with questionable offerings, coming back at them with strong hole cards - and, yes, making some hands - will either slow him down or eliminate him from the table quickly. Strong hole cards, in this case, are big pocket pairs, A-K, or A-Q.

If you hit your set on the flop or make top pair, then let the maniac drive the car to the turn. If nothing comes there to change your dominant situation, spring upon the maniac with a re-raise and see if he is willing to give you even more of his chips. If he continues on, the opportunity to cripple and/or crush the maniac is yours.

Of course, to get the power cards, you have to execute the final part of the three P’s plan.

Patience

Perhaps this is the most important of the three P’s because you don’t want to become like the maniac himself. If you begin to enter more hands, play loosely, and show weak offerings, then you have set yourself up to be targeted as the maniac. A full exercise of poker skills is necessary to remain patient at the table and let a situation set itself up.

You must have the patience to wait for a strong starting hand to take on the maniac and you must be patient and wait for the time when you are in position. As you see, without the patience factor, the three P’s becomes ineffective.

Some Final Thoughts

Battling a maniac at the poker table can be exhausting work not only for your bankroll, but also for your mentality. It is critical that you don’t fall into the trap of trying to be the one who busts the maniac from the game because this will tremendously affect your play and could cause a significant financial loss. You must stay inside your strengths to be able to engage the maniac fully when the situation is in your favor.

And, finally, who said you have to break the maniac? By not falling into this mental trap of trying to be the table sheriff, you are able to take advantage of the other players at the table who are dropping the level of their game in response to the maniac’s plays. Through a proper usage of the three P’s, you should be able to get the chips from all of your opponents and not jut the maniac.

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

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

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

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

Binions Hotel Shuts Doors

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

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

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

The casino and legendary poker room will remain in business.

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

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

Graham goes back to back at APPT Sydney High Rollers Event

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

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

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

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

PartyGaming Wins Poker Operator of the Year

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

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

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

Russian Takes European Masters of Poker Slovenia

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

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

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

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

Michael Binger Wins Five Diamond Side-Event

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

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

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

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

Power Hours on UB, Absolute Poker

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

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

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

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

Full Tilt Signs Jani Vilmunen

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

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

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

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

UB, Poker Player Magazine Hold Tournament for Armed Forces

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

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

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

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

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

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Dealing with LAG-tards

Dr Tom,
I am playing cash. There is a maniac on my table who raises 5BB every time he’s on the button, when there has been no action behind him. He often continues to play aggressively post flop regardless of whether he hits. Being out of position to this guy is a little tricky as you can imagine.

French businessman wins EPT Warsaw

"I think I was lucky today," said Christophe Benzimra, who beat Italian pro Alfio Battisti heads-up to win the Polish leg of the tour and its almost €360,000 first-place prize.

"I am not a professional player, I play for fun. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not giving up work. I play poker just for the pleasure of it."

The owner of a Plexiglas factory in Bucharest, Romania, the 47-year-old began playing poker just three years ago and has competed in almost every EPT over the past two years.

The win represents his first cash.

Held at the Casinos Poland at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the fourth edition of EPT Warsaw drew 203 players creating a more than €1.1 million prize pool.

Considering the event is not televised, EPT Warsaw is traditionally the least-attended EPT stop.

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano, who broke his own records by reaching a fifth EPT final table and recording his 12th cash, finished fourth.

Although he has yet to win an EPT title, Pagano's finish pushed him past fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier on the EPT all-time Tournament Leader Board.

Oleksandr Vaserfirer, who began the final tale with the chip lead, finished third.

Ukrainian Ruslan Prydryk finished fifth and Canadian Clayton Mozdzen, one of 33 PokerStars qualifiers in Warsaw, finished sixth.

Russians Alexander Klimashin and Anatoly Gurtovoy finished seventh and eight respectively.

EPT Warsaw also included a nine-man High Roller event, won by Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri.

Next up on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is EPT Vilamoura set for Nov. 17-22 in Portugal.

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Sportingbet Reports 28% Increase in Earnings for FY 2009

The yearly fiscal report is out for Sportingbet PLC and the results for the publicly traded gaming company were generally positive.  Sportingbet, the parent company of online poker room Paradise Poker, saw growth in net revenue, earnings, money wagered, and profit thanks in part to a focus on emerging online gambling markets.  While the sports betting and casino ventures have been on the rise for the company, it appears as though it is paying less attention to its poker holdings, which saw a decline in earnings from 2008 to 2009.

Sportingbet, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “SBT,” saw its net gaming revenue jump to £163.6 million from £144.3 in 2008, an increase of 13%.  Profits saw a 26% increase as well, coming in at £31.1 million thanks to more than £1.5 billion wagered on the site over the course of the year.  Last year, the company received a total of £1.35 billion in wagers.  The company’s Chief Executive, Andrew McIver, commented on Sportingbet’s performance in the official audited results through July 31st, 2009:

“This has been a very solid year for the Sportingbet Group. We are now seeing consistent profitable growth resulting from the structural changes made following our withdrawal from the U.S.  Our focus on sports betting and geographical diversification is helping to support earnings in these troubled economic times. Additionally, our commitment to offer industry-leading sports betting products and excellent customer service has helped us to recruit and retain core customers.”

The diversification McIvan spoke of includes launching versions of the site in Romania and South Africa as well as moving into other emerging markets like Canada and Brazil.  While the company continues to struggle against stiff competition in Britain, its efforts in Eastern Europe have been much more successful.  Sportingbet blamed the global recession and an expensive and over-saturated media market for its performance in the U.K., but its results in Eastern Europe more than compensated for its 21% decline in the British Isles.  The Eastern European revenue for Sportingbet grew by 26% and now accounts for more than 15% of the company’s total revenues—more than the entirety of its online poker operation.  The company attributed some of its success in that region to a launch of more than 90 Flash-based casino games.

The company saw several other changes this year as a number of national governments addressed the issue of online gambling via new laws, regulation, and licensing. The company noted, “Regulation continues to define the internet gambling industry across Europe and the rest of the world.  In general, we continue to see pressure on European countries to justify their national gambling regimes in light of the free-trade requirements of international law.”

Sportingbet took a pro-regulation stance on the issue and representatives of the firm are continuing to meet with a number of national regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, to discuss Sportingbet’s legal standing.  Sportingbet and Paradise Poker do not accept U.S. customers, which has resulted in a steady decline in revenue for its online poker venture since the site’s withdrawal from the American market following the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

In Europe, Paradise Poker’s revenue is down 7.6% from last year, bringing in only £22 million of the company’s total earnings.  The poker branch of Sportingbet used to be a major component of the company’s holdings, but it now represents only 12% of total revenue.  The company attributed its struggle in the online poker market to a high level of competition, “with certain large U.S.-focused poker companies using their significant cash flows and high liquidity to continue to attract customers from existing European only companies.”  This is a similar complaint to the one voiced by Party Gaming executives in its mid-year report, which was released last month.

Sportingbet is currently traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, but the recent report revealed that the company would try to move to the General Equity Market in the near future.  At the close of trading on October 14th, Sportingbet stock was fetching $76 per share.

A Maniac Ruined WSOPE Main Event for LarsLuzak!

Kelopuro, who had a very good stack going into second day of the tournament, was seated in a very bad starting table, but after a while a guy was moved to his table and everything changed. The new guy was a huge maniac, in Sami’s own words: “nothing like I’ve ever seen before”.

Life is not a sunshine for Kelopuro right now.

The guy was making huge plays, calling 3-bet with 5-2 suited from the blinds and outplaying AK to a jack high board and even showing his hand afterwards. This was right after he was moved to the table so Sami reckons the guy with AK must have put the maniac on aces, after such a strong play and no history together.

Then Sami played a huge hand against this maniac. The way how the hand went resembles Sami’s poker games so far this year, woeful. This is how Sami describes the hand in his blog:

There was a 5-way single raised pot, I called from SB with 55 and flop comes 356 all diamonds. I lead out 12500, guy who playes every hand is the only caller. Turn is a 6, I check because he is usually betting when it’s checked to him and also because I don’t think he has outs. He checks behind and the river is a 3. I check again, I think it’s the only way to get more out of him.

He bets 15k, which is about one third of the pot. I was going to just call, but since the bet was so small and he shouldn’t have a 6 in his hand since he checked the turn, I raised to 45k. I think he is calling with threes full for sure and  easily with something worse too and I still left him some space to make a move.

He was making pretty desperate all-in bluffs on the river, when people already called 80% of their stack and river is a total blank. He moved in against me for 22k more. Of course I have to call, and of course he made quad threes on the river.

After that hand Sami had about tournament average chips left, but he got so tilted from the hand that he ended the day 2 with only 17k chips left, about 11 big blinds. He was eventually busted out of the tournament after second time going all-in in 15 minutes of play of day 3. He was ousted by Justin “BoostedJ” Smith who won the coinflip with AK against Sami’s pocket jacks.

Also, did you know that £5,000 buyin tournament is now called “lowroller” tournament? At least that is how Kelopuro calls the EPT London main event. By the way, Kelopuro is out the EPT tournament too after two days of action.

Source: coinflip (needs registration)

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A Maniac Ruined WSOPE Main Event for LarsLuzak!

WSOP on ESPN Field Makes the Money

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Betclick poker signs Isabelle Mercier

The former Team PokerStars Pro announced today she would be working as an ambassador for Betclick's upstart poker room.

"We are very strong on betting, but poker is not the strongest part of our offering," said a Betclick spokesman.

"The signing of Isabelle Mercier means we will be putting in place a strategy to develop and improve our offering, but this will not be put into action for a few months yet. It is part of our overall project to enhance our poker platform."

It's unknown exactly what will be required of Mercier as a Betclick ambassador or if she will return full-time to the international poker tournament circuit.

The announcement also mentioned Betclick's intentions to launch regionally oriented poker sites for players in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Romania and the Netherlands. The sites are scheduled to go live by the end of October 2009.

Although Mercier could not be reached for comment she did mention to PokerListings she wanted to "take on new projects" in an email on Monday.

Mercier rose to poker notoriety when she won the WPT Ladies Night tournament in 2004.

She spent the last five years as a member of Team PokerStars Pro playing in numerous events and representing the brand around the world.

Betclick is mostly known as a sports betting site but has been rapidly expanding its poker operations in the last year. Signing Mercier is the site's biggest poker talent acquisition to date.

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Isabelle Mercier Signs With BetClick

Last week we told that Isabelle Mercier got booted from PokerStars. Well, it was a hasty assumption as we now know that Mercier just signed to BetClick, which is part of Mangas Gaming.

Isabelle Mercier is now a BetClick Lady

BetClick is better known from its sporting bet side, but now they’re trying to expand to Poker and they’re opening new sites in Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Romania until the end of October.

BetClick’s mother company, Mangas Gaming, is quite big in Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. Mangas has been expanding largely lately as they just bought expekt.com.

BetClick isn’t even trying to grow as big as PokerStars, but are just trying to expand their Poker resources a bit. With Isabelle Mercier, BetClick will get a famous Poker face to promote their fresh activities.

Source: Egrmagazine

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Isabelle Mercier Signs With BetClick

Phillips dominates EPT Barcelona

"The feeling is unreal," the North Carolina native said moments after the win. "The whole tournament it felt like any other tournament to me, even when we got heads up. I think once the river hit the deck, all the emotion came in to me at once and I didn't even know how to react.

"It just all hit me at the same time and it's overwhelming, as you can tell from my reaction."

Phillips came in to the final table with the chip lead, although the boisterous Spanish crowd made local Santiago Terrazas the favorite.

Greek player Georgios Kapalas was the first out, shoving short with K Q and failing to improve against a Marc Goodwin ace.

Canadian Matt Lapossie then said goodbye, somehow imploding after coming into the final eight third in chips.

Sixth place was reserved for Finland's Toni Ojala who five-bet shoved in a massive hand after Phillips flatted a raise then four-bet when Ojala bumped it. The young American made the easy call with aces and Ojala's queens were doomed.

Englishman Asa Smith got short doubling up Terrazas, and although he doubled once, he eventually handed the rest of his stack to Phillips when he shoved from the small blind with a dominated ace.

Romania's Mihai Manole held on to his short stack for most of the final table moving up the pay scale.

In the end, his chips went across the line in dominating position over Marc Goodwin before Europe's top player in 2008 sucked out a flush to bust him fourth.

Three handed play was a fairly quick and disappointing affair for the Spanish crowd when Terrazas shoved with a flush draw, Goodwin called with top pair and it held.

Heads-up started right where the final table did, with Phillips holding a comfortable chip lead on Goodwin.

He built it up to 2:1 before a 60-minute dinner break and returned to crush the Englishman into submission soon after.

Quickly becoming a veteran on tour, Phillips has lost pots for the chip lead before bubbling in both San Remo and Monte Carlo during the EPT's fifth season.

He said the win here in Barcelona was a perfect combination of both running and playing better.

"In those past experiences I had made some bad plays and bad calls," he said. "Over aggression was the big factor in those other tournaments as to why I'd lost and I think, in this tournament, I kept to my aggressive style, but it was much more controlled and I didn't do anything stupid to lose huge pots."

Phillips ascended to a spot among the leaders after Day 2, but his rise to fame and glory in Barcelona actually began with a correct call for his tournament life holding just king high on a double-paired board on Day 1.

"That pretty much set me in the zone the whole week; it was huge confidence boost," he said. "After that I was just so confident in my decisions and going with my gut and my reads. That definitely made my tournament."

Overcome by emotion, Phillips said the massive first-place prize and the title will surely change his life.

"I'm sure it will," he said. "It's a huge sum of money, but not only that; having an EPT title and being an EPT champion, that will change it just as much.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what comes."

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Europe’s best headlines EPT Barcelona final

"I really want to win an EPT; it's really important to me," said veteran UK pro Marc Goodwin.

"I won European player of the year last year and all the rankings, but I didn't win a major competition along the way. I did win the GUKPT Manchester, but it obviously wasn't as big."

To be specific, Goodwin turned the Grosvenor ((UK Poker)) Tour into his personal ATM last year, running deep in countless preliminary tournaments and winning the Manchester main event title, leading to the top spot in the GUKPT Rankings and the prestigious European Rankings.

But despite the fact he has over $1 million in career tournament earnings, a major title has proved elusive for Goodwin thus far, with a third place finish in the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions his best result to date.

To be fair, Goodwin skipped a fair amount of the PokerStars EPT stops over the past few years, but with a sponsorship from Littlewoods Poker and Game On Poker this season, he says he's here to stay.

"I didn't play in a lot of these, to be honest, because the way they structured them all before it was a luckfest," he said.

"One week the postman won, the next week the milkman. It was very rare that you ever saw anyone that you knew on a final table, except in Monte Carlo where you get a 30,000 chip starting stack. They're using that structure everywhere now and that's what brings me back to play."

Although Goodwin will come in second in chips, trailing 20-year-old American chip leader Carter Phillips, he's still incredibly deep and plans to play a patient style.

"In my opinion, if I'm better than the other players, I'd rather play a lot of small pots than gamble a lot and let them get a shot at me," he said. "I'm happy with my big stack. I've taken my chances when I've had a good hand or I've made a move when I felt it was the right time and I'd rather play that way.

"I'd rather play a bunch of small pots than a few big ones where people can get lucky on you and you're suddenly dead."

Goodwin is also counting on years of experience in front of the TV cameras to pay dividends in Barcelona with a final eight that are each making their first EPT final table appearance.

"It is a big advantage, but conversely, it can go against you because [some players] can get brave on TV and make moves they wouldn't normally - hero calls and raises with air," he said. "That can easily go against you, because someone that you might previously have been able to push around a bit, all of the sudden has no fear on TV.

"I've been in this situation hundreds of times. Whether it's in major TV tournaments or live events, I've just been here lots of times. I haven't won a massive one, but I've been around all the best players in the world all the time, so I know what's going on."

The story coming into EPT Barcelona's penultimate day was the presence of five former EPT champs all looking to become the tour's first two-time main event winner.

However, Jan Boubli, Roland de Wolfe, Bertrand Grospellier, Jens Kyllonen, and Mike McDonald were all laid to waste before the final table was set.

In their place, Phillips, Goodwin, Canadian Matt Lapossie, the UK's Asa Smith, local Spaniard Santiago Terrazas, Greece's Georgios Kapalas, Finn Toni Ojala and Romanian Mihai Manole will all be taking their first shot at PokerStars EPT Glory.

To follow the entire EPT Barcelona final table from start to finish, click through to PokerListings' EPT Barcelona Live Updates page beginning at 2 p.m. CEST Wednesday.

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Sick lineup for <i>Poker After Dark</i> cash game

With Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Eli Elezra and Howard Lederer all dumping down the $100,000 minimum buy-in, this year's game should be one for the ages.

Players will find themselves confronted with $200/$400 blinds and a $100 ante to start, which should help produce a number of awe-inspiring monster pots.

This marks the second year that NBC has aired two weeks of cash game episodes on Poker After Dark.

Just like last year, players will draw for seats, but then redraw half-way through the game to give viewers a different table dynamic.

This is the first year that Finnish cash-game maniac Ziigmund will be making an appearance. Sahamies is renowned for his Pot-Limit Omaha skills, relentless aggression and some of the best trash talk on the Internet.

Unfortunately, he hasn't exactly lit the world of TV cash-game poker on fire. Earlier this year he appeared on GSN's High Stakes Poker, but was fairly quiet, allowing durrrr to steal the show by winning hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Dwan could very well duplicate that effort on Poker After Dark, but it will be tough as the other players at the table are likely no strangers to poker fans.

Ivey is on the biggest heater of his life after winning two 2009 WSOP bracelets over the summer and a seat at the Main Event final table.

Antonius is having a banner year online with nearly $4 million in profits and he'll look to keep that streak going on the live tables.

Meanwhile, Elezra has as much gamble as anyone and will be doing his best to get all of his chips in the middle.

Finally, Lederer brings a lifetime of cash game experience to the table and the man they call the "Professor" will be surely looking to school some of the young upstarts in the game.

The program begins airing on NBC tonight (Sept. 7) and can be seen for five consecutive nights in the late night time slot of 2:05 a.m.

There is also special director's cut episode to air at 1 a.m. Saturday. The show can be seen in the same time slot next week as well.

Check your local listings for more information.

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Nordic Gaming Chooses Income Access

Nordic Gaming Group Ltd. (NGG), one of Europe’s fastest growing online gaming companies, announced Tuesday that it has chosen Income Access affiliate marketing software to power its soon-to-be-launched affiliate programs.

NGG, which was founded in 2002, is anticipating the start of an aggressive campaign to attract affiliate partners to all three of its brands, NordicBet, Triobet and Tobet. Each offer a competitive gaming and betting service that attracts customers from all over the world, but their main focus is on European sports, including a wide range of local sports in their target countries.

Income Access has worked with operators and affiliate marketers since 2002 to help them succeed in the online gaming space. The company offers four types of services to cater to different marketing objectives: an affiliate network, affiliate software, affiliate management, and a search engine marketing agency. Income Access has more than 17,000 gaming affiliates and its product has become synonymous with affiliate program management.

Through its cooperation with Income Access, NGG is expecting to have the industry’s most advanced tracking and campaign management system, while affiliates promoting NordicBet, Triobet and Tobet gaming services will have the advantages of in-depth tracking reports and a wide selection of enhanced marketing tools.

“We went with Income Access because it’s easily the best in the industry”, said Shaun O’Neill, NGG’s Affiliate Manager. “We’re sure that their system, combined with the top-notch program we’ve put together, will pull in a huge number of partners and put us right at the head of the affiliate pack.”

“We feel that after being in business for over seven years we have very strong brand name within the gaming community and now feel that the time is right to transfer the brands in the affiliate industry”, O’Neill added in a statement to Poker News Daily.

Nicky Senyard, the CEO of Income Access, is also enthused by the union. “This software agreement between Income Access and NGG gives gaming affiliates a great opportunity to boost their earning potential”, Senyard said in a press release. “The chance to promote a network of sites that cater to a variety of language markets means that affiliates will be able to diversify their player-base and revenue stream.”

The NGG NordicBet brand focuses on Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Triobet is NGG’s Baltic brand, covering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Tobet, meanwhile, is geared toward the Polish, Hungarian and Romanian markets.

All three of the NGG brands have a poker room that allows players to compete in a wide variety of cash games and tournaments. The site is currently offering a “SNG Cash League” promotion in which players will be competing for €24,000 in prizes during the summer. The site is also running satellites to EPT Barcelona and Master Classics 2009.

Ziigmund wreaks havoc on Full Tilt Poker

After an extended stay in Las Vegas, the majority of which was spent in Bobby's Room at Bellagio, Sahamies has returned to the high-stakes online games with a bang.

Ziigmund won the four biggest pots over the past 24-hours against players like Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Gus Hansen and Cole South.

In the biggest hand of the session, Ziggy got a little lucky against durrrr to turn a straight after all the money went in on the flop with Dwan holding the lead. Thanks to the turn card, Ziigmuund was shipped a massive $336,597 pot.

In the second largest hand of the session, Sahamies flopped a set of aces and got paid off by Hansen to the tune of $284,000.

After that he rivered a straight against a resurgent South to win a pot worth $264,598.

Sahamies total profit for the session was unknown, but if you add up the top four hands in the last 24 hours, you'd arrive at approximately $1.1 million, although he definitely sustained some losses as well.

Gus Hansen won several big pots as well and one has to wonder if the "Great Dane" is involved in some kind of prop bet forcing him to play every day.

The Team Full Tilt pro has been an utter maniac over the last couple weeks in an attempt to either get back to even for the year or grind out a few frequent player points.

Check below for a video replay of Ziigmund's top three biggest hands:

Straight ballin'.

More from Ziggy.

Even more Ziigmund.

 

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Hand Dissection - Jordan “scarface_79” Smith

Jordan “scarface_79” Smith won his first World Series of Poker bracelet on June 20, 2009. He bested a field of 1,659 players to capture the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em Event (#36), collecting $586,212 in the process. It was the biggest career cash for 27-year old online poker pro from Texas, who went on to finish 10th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $896,730, just missing an opportunity to become a member of the November Nine. Smith also has multiple major online wins, including the PokerStars  Sunday Million and Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan. His lifetime poker winnings (both online and live) are well over $3 million.

Smith took some time with Poker News Daily to analyze a hand he played during his WSOP victory against eventual runner-up Ken Lennaard. This particular hand was the biggest pot of the entire tournament and gave Smith the commanding chip lead.

Poker News Daily: First off Jordan, how do you think your style of play is perceived by opponents? Did you switch your game up at all during the final table?

Jordan Smith: Well, I’m not sure how online players perceive me, some think I’m a total nit, and some think I’m a maniac. But, as far as this tournament, I think I had a fairly tight image, because I was at tough tables the whole tourney and never got a chance to open up much, so I just played fairly solid. But I am still somewhat young, and I had a big stack most of the tourney, so that’s two bad stereotypes going against me for possibly being labeled loose and aggressive. So, perception probably varied for my opponents. I was second in chips coming in to the final table and lost a big flip right off the bat, so I got put back with the pack and sort of chilled after that for awhile and played solid for various reasons.

PND: What are your thoughts on Ken Lennaard?

JS: He plays different than your typical Swede. He is more old school, and more of a flop taker than a 3-bettor. I think he played pretty well for the most part. I played with him on Day 2 and obviously assumed he was your usual over-aggro Scandi, but I gradually realized the longer we played on Day 3 that he was reasonably straightforward.

PND: Did you feel like you had an edge against him heads-up?

JS: I feel like I’m a favorite versus anyone if I’m playing well, but I’m not sure what percentage of that is confidence and what percent is me being delusional (laughs). Whatever edge I felt I had, was probably erased by the fact I was so exhausted and mentally drained by the time we reached heads up. I definitely don’t want to shortchange Ken, he played well. But we were probably flipping on the heads up match on that particular day.

PND: You’ve been heads-up in several online tournaments in the past. What sort of strategy do you normally use? Do you like to influence the action or is it dependent on your opponent’s style?

JS: I really never go in with a certain strategy heads-up – or at any point during a tourney for that matter. I just try to adapt according to stack sizes, blinds size, opponents, the flow of the table, and each individual situation or hand as it comes up. As far as the action goes, it really all depends on the things I’ve just mentioned and mainly my opponent and how deep the stacks are. I just try to find out what the best way to counter his style of play is.

Hand Setup:
Ken Lenaard – 5.8 million chips
Jordan Smith – 4.3 million chips

Blinds are 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante

Cards are dealt:
Ken Lennaard raises to 240,000 from the button and Jordan Smith calls with

PND: Do you always defend your big blind? With what range do you think he’s opening with position?

JS: No, I don’t. But, I’m certainly not going to let someone run me over either. We have sort of awkward stacks, they are quasi-deep, but shallow enough to where pots develop quickly and you can easily get all the chips in. Position is so huge and underrated heads up, and I try to avoid playing many hands out of position. It’s kind of funny that this hand played out the way it did or even took place to begin with, but there were a few factors that made me take a flop in this spot. First, and most importantly, I was kind of on tilt from a hand not long before where I didn’t follow my instincts and paid him off on a big pot which let him catch up to me on chips, and then he proceeded to win most of the handful of pots leading up to this hand taking the chip lead.

Flop:
Smith checks to Lennaard, who fires out 150,000. Smith calls.

PND: Is this a spot where you might lead with a bet? Check-raise? What made you decide on a check-call here?

JS: Sometimes I do (bet), and looking back based on the stack sizes etc., leading out with the intention of shoving if he raised might’ve been the best option here. But I decided to check, and he only bet 150K which was considerably lower than his opening raise which was sort of confusing because he hadn’t really been doing things like this. If he had bet like 350-400K, I probably would’ve just raised to 1.1-1.3 million and called if he shoved (even though it wouldn’t have been fun) because there would’ve been enough in the pot to merit that based on the percentage of times I get him to fold and the equity I have versus his shoving range. But with his super small bet after my check, calling was the easy clear cut option. It seemed he either had a really strong hand or a fairly weak one and was just getting goofy. So I was content to keep the pot small and see what happened on the turn because I truly had no idea what he had.

Turn:
Smith checks. Lennaard bets 300,000. Smith calls.

PND: Does his bet sizing indicate strength?

JS: At this point, I’m thoroughly confused by his small bet sizing, and I’m just calling pretty much drawing at decent pot odds with the possibility of implied odds.

PND: What range of hands are you putting him on now and what is your plan on the river?

JS: I really don’t think he has a monster at this point, but I can’t really put him on a specific range of hands. I really, really hate just check-calling on draws with no other chance to win a pot, especially heads up. I like to be aggressive with draws a lot of times to give myself two chances to win, but in this spot his small bet sizing and our stack sizes really made it hard for me to do that, so I was sort of forced to play passive and draw for cheap. So yeah, sadly my only plan for the river is just for my hand to get there. And I hadn’t shown any strength in the hand, so not many lead bluffs on the river would be believable.

River:
Smith takes the lead by betting out 900,000.

PND: You hit one of your eight outs and make the nuts on the river. Talk a little bit about your thought process here. Why did you feel that leading out would be the best way to get action?

JS: Well, there was a four card straight on the board so I’m guessing he’s not betting very many hands if I check to him, and hopefully he either happened to have a big hand or he tries to make a hero call with whatever. With that scare card, it’s also entirely possible that I am bluffing here, and he also knew I was starting to get frustrated in the match. So I just stuck out a big bet and hoped I could get action.

River:
Smith takes the lead by betting out 900,000. Lennaard moves all in. Smith snap-calls.

Hands Revealed:
BOARD:
Lennard shows (Nine-high straight)
Smith shows (Ten-high straight)

PND: He moves all in and leaves you with an easy call. You now have 8,670,000 chips while he slips to 1,500,000. How much confidence did this pot give you the rest of the way?

JS : Well, I’m not sure if it gave me extra confidence except just for the significant chip lead it gave me, but it sure perked my energy level up and got me off tilt because I was extremely fortunate to not only hit, but for it to be one of the three gin cards that gave him a lower straight and also the fact he decided to shove. He had picked up a diamond draw on the turn, so my eight outs had turned to six, and he had me in fairly bad shape heading to the river. But, yeah, it definitely got my blood pumping to try and finish him off.

PND: Is there anything you’d do differently in this hand now looking back on it?

JS: I definitely could’ve folded preflop, but like I said, I was tired and tilted and felt comfortable playing postflop with his quasi-passive style. But he definitely could’ve made my decisions tougher in this hand after the flop. And I guess I possibly could’ve led the flop and shoved if he raised, but in hindsight that wouldn’t have been good, because he would’ve certainly called my shove with two overs and a double gutter if the hand played out that way. It would’ve been a really interesting postflop all-in showdown if we had played it like that, jack-high versus ten-high in true Potripper form (laughs).

Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho May Compete on Amazing Race

Poker News Daily can confirm that Ultimate Bet Star Player Tiffany Michelle will compete on the upcoming season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race,” according to anonymous sources inside the industry. The show debuts on September 27th at 8:00pm ET following “60 Minutes.” Michelle’s partner, according to Bluff Magazine and various television news outfits, is Maria Ho.

The upcoming season is the 15th for the “Amazing Race,” which pits teams of two against each other for a race around the world – literally. Last season, contestants traveled to diverse destinations that included Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Romania, Russia, India, Thailand, and China before crossing the finish line at the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Maui, Hawaii. Michelle and Ho represent the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, respectively. Michelle gained notoriety last year by calling the clock during a hand she wasn’t involved in, an act that was criticized by tablemate and November Nine member Craig Marquis.

An e-mail sent to Michelle seeking comment about the rumors resulted in an auto-response that read, “I’ll be off shooting for the next month, till mid August, and may be away from my computer and out of touch during that time.” An image that appeared on RealityFanForum.com showed Ho at Los Angeles International Airport allegedly for the start of “Amazing Race.” In a blog entry dated June 27th, Michelle indicated that she would not defend her title of Last Woman Standing in the Main Event: “It’d have to be something pretty big to deter me from the WSOP Championship Event this year and trust me, IT IS! I can’t disclose much right now, but I’ll be leaving the country to film a project for a month and it conflicts with the Main Event.”

In May, Jean-Robert Bellande, who appeared on CBS’ “Survivor: China” in 2007, posted on the online poker forum TwoPlusTwo that “two hot poker girls” were wanted for an “upcoming reality show.” Bellande, a Bodog pro, noted that the ideal candidate is “a respected pro, young, hot, single, [and] engaging.” The Bad Boy of Poker suggested Kristy Gazes and Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso, although the latter is engaged to Chad Brown. Last season on the “Amazing Race,” former NFL cheerleaders Jaime and Cara finished as the runner-ups to siblings and lawyers Tammy and Victor.

A representative from Ultimate Bet told Poker News Daily, “I know Tiffany is away working on a project, but unfortunately that is all we know at this point. We can’t comment on any such rumors.” Michelle signed with the Tokwiro-owned online poker room one year ago, joining a Team UB roster that includes Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, Gary “debo34” Debernardi, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, Mark “P0ker H0″ Kroon, Scott Ian, and Shawn “westtexasman” Rice. The site’s two main faces are 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke.

At the Dream Team Poker event held at Caesars Palace in March, Michelle and Ho joined forces to bring Team Yo Mama to life. The all-female squad also featured Lacey Jones. No female team has ever won “Amazing Race,” which first aired in 2001. That season, contestants traveled 35,000 miles around the world, led by Rob and Brennan. For its 11th season, favorites from the first 10 cycles of “Amazing Race” convened for a special All-Stars edition. Notable teams included Rob and Amber of “Survivor” fame and Season 7 winners Uchenna and Joyce, who were eliminated at the end of the ninth leg.

During each episode, teams compete in “Detours,” which is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In addition, they’ll stumble upon “Road Blocks,” which are challenges that only one team member can perform. Each “Detour” and “Road Block” typically focuses on the local culture, giving the show a unique flair. New Zealander Phil Keoghan serves as its host and the show will return to its Sunday night timeslot on September. “Amazing Race” serves as the lead-in for the new CBS drama “Three Rivers.”

WPT Marrakech with Titan Poker

Titan Poker has hit us with WPT Marrakech Mania and the dates to put in your diary are October 11th to 19th. The prize packages on offer to this excellent event at the Es Saadi Gardens and Resort in mysterious Marrakech, Morocco are worth $8,000 and include:-

• €4,500 buy in to the Main Event on October 17th to 19th
• €500 buy in to side event on October 12th
• 8 nights in Es Saadi Hotel or Hotel Kenzi Farah – both 5 star hotels so, you’ll be well looked after, with breakfast and dinner provided (Half Board)
• €50 for handling fees
• Approx €650 for travelling expenses and pocket money

Are you in?

Satellites are running now from just $4.80 – leading to Super Satellites held on Wednesdays at 9pm UK (4pm New York) where the prize packages are awarded to Titan’s lucky players. To buy in direct to a Super Satellite will set you back $268. Jump on the Marrakech Express and let it take you to the World Poker Tour.

Yet another stonkin opportunity to travel, play poker and win big money from Titan. New to Titan? Learn more about Titan by reading our unbiased Titan review and use the Titan Poker Bonus Code VIPTITAN to ensure you don’t miss out on the exclusive deal we’ve negotiated on your behalf for 1st time depositors which includes a $500 sign up bonus, $50 free in your account and exclusive freerolls.

Party Poker Releases Dates for Sports Stars Challenge IV

Party Poker has released the dates for its PartyPoker.com Sports Stars Challenge IV, one of the most popular televised poker tournaments in Europe. The event will run from May 29-June 1 and will feature some of the world’s biggest sports stars, both past and present, taking their seats at the table in hopes of becoming a poker champion.

The Sports Stars Challenge IV will include some of the world’s best in motorsports, golf, boxing, rugby and darts. There will also be an online qualifier added to the field for the first time ever. The number of heats will increase from six to seven, with the winner of each of the seven heats advancing to the final table to battle it out until one of them walks away with the title. The overall winner receives £20,000 with second getting £10,000 and third receiving £5,000.

The motorsport table will feature Italian F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella, while the golf heat will include both 2008 European Ryder Cup team member Graeme McDowell and Jean Van Der Velde. European football’s list of legends includes former Holland captain Frank De Boer, French World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf, Germany’s European Championship winner Thomas Helmer, Romania’s Florin Radiciou and Denmark and Liverpool legend Jan Molby.

Germany’s former unbeaten World Champion Sven Ottke will headline the boxing heat. He will be joined by Northern Ireland’s Commonwealth heavyweight and Prizefighter champion Martin Rogan and Poland’s female boxing champ Agnieska Rylik. The rugby heat will feature union’s former France and Wasps captain Raphael Ibanez and Australian league star Brad Drew, while the darts heat will pit legend Phil Taylor against Russia’s ladies champ Anastasia Dobromyslova.

PartyPoker.com players also had the chance to win a seat through a freeroll in the sports heat of their choice. The sports are European football (two heats), rugby (union and league combined), motorsport, boxing, darts and golf. Two online qualifiers will join each heat.

“We offered freerolls to win a seat in the event on the site”, a spokesperson for Party Poker said, “but the places were snapped up so quickly that we were loath to promote it too much to save the disappointment of players. This is a once in a lifetime experience for a select group to take to the felt with their sporting heroes. The overall lineup is the most diverse and international in the event’s history and more star participant names will be released in the near future.”

For the fourth consecutive year the event will be run by Matchroom Sport, a promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn. Matchroom Sport is typically involved in snooker and boxing events for the most part, but Hearn is thrilled to be involved in the Sports Stars challenge again.

“This is the poker event that the sporting world looks forward to and we have some great international names and great poker players competing for the trophy, big prize money and the ultimate bragging rights”, Hearn said. “We’re particularly excited to introduce the online element and the motorsport and golf heats this year.”

Past winners of Sports Stars Challenge are rugby union star Austin Healey, Irish snooker champion Ken Doherty, and television presenter Kara Scott, who won £20,000 last year after defeating Manchester United football legend Norman Whiteside heads-up. There is no presenter heat in the new format this year.

Coverage of the event will be aired in the UK later this year on Sky Sports and then distributed internationally.

Paren Arzoomanian Wins ANZPT Sydney

The first ever Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), sponsored by PokerStars, just wrapped up its AUD $2,200 buy-in Main Event from the Star City Casino in Sydney. A 25 year-old local student, Paren “Puzz” Arzoomanian, won the high-stakes tournament.

A field of 493 players turned out for the inaugural ANZPT Sydney festivities, seven short of its official maximum capacity. As a result, Arzoomanian banked AUD $246,000 for his efforts. The cancer survivor battled against Gold Coast mortgage broker Lisa Walsh heads-up, with the latter earning the largest payday ever by a woman in an Australian poker tournament. On the final hand, she shoved low on chips with K-9 and was called by Arzoomanian, who flipped over A-5. The flop came J-8-8, leaving Walsh needing a king, nine, or running cards to make a straight. A five on the turn preserved Arzoomanian’s lead in the hand and an ace on the river sealed the victory for the youngster with aces up.

Here were the top nine finishers in Sydney along with their payouts. All figures given are in Australian Dollars:
1st Place: Paren Arzoomanian - $246,500
2nd Place: Lisa Walsh - $162,690
3rd Place: John Caridid - $93,670
4th Place: Chris Kittos - $69,020
5th Place: Majed Haddad - $55,709
6th Place: Vasilios Argyros - $44,370
7th Place: Joel Dodds - $34,510
8th Place: James Newhan - $24,650
9th Place: Xin Zhao - $16,762

Kittos fell by the wayside in fourth place after coming out on the losing end of a race holding A-K against Walsh’s pocket threes. The flop came 2-4-5, adding a straight draw for Walsh and counterfeiting three of Kittos’ outs. The turn came another five and the river was a jack, sending Kittos home AUD $69,020 richer for his wear. Caridid was also sent packing by Walsh, who held A-K against Caridid’s A-8. The board fell 10-2-3-7-J, sending the final PokerStars qualifier standing out of the tournament in third place. Arzoomanian held a 5.6 million to 4.1 million chip lead entering heads-up play.

Two members of Team PokerStars Australia also finished in the money. Tony Hachem grabbed 17th place for AUD $8,874, while Eric Assadourian took 28th place and saw his bank account grow by AUD $4,930. Hachem now sits atop the overall ANZPT Season 1 leader board with 84.8 points, besting fellow Aussie Karl Krautsschneider by 4.8. At the end of Season 1 of the ANZPT, the overall leader board champion takes home prize packages to every Main Event on the PokerStars-sponsored Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) during Season 4 as well as the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event. The player will officially be sponsored by PokerStars, which will front airfare, tournament buy-ins, and hotel accommodations as part of the AUD $60,000 prize package. The runner up takes home sponsorship for every event on the second season of the ANZPT (valued at AUD $25,000), while the third place finisher will grab AUD $10,500 in buy-ins and expenses to tournaments in the region sponsored by PokerStars.

Here’s a look at the top ten of the current leader board after the Sydney event:
1. Tony Hachem- 84.8
2. Karl Krautsschneider – 80.0
3. Daniel Noja - 69.2
4. Bill Argyros – 69.0
5. Joel Dodds - 67.6
6. Paren Arzoomanian - 67.4
6. Lisa Walsh - 67.4
6. John Caridad - 67.4
9. Mike Stecker - 65.6
10. Tony Dunst – 64.0

After a three week hiatus, the ANZPT will return on May 25th in Melbourne at the Crown Casino. The AUD $2,700 buy-in Main Event plays down to a winner on May 27th and the tournament is capped at 450 entrants. From July 21st through 25th, the tournament series heads to Queenstown’s SkyCity Casino for an AUD $2,500 buy-in contest.

ANZPT — Paren Arzoomanian Wins Inaugural Sydney Main Event

Author's Note: All monetary values are AUD The initial PokerStars Australia-New Zealand Poker Tour stop in Sydney, Australia, attracted 493 players to the $2,000+$200 buy-in no-limit hold'em main event at Star City Casino and created a prize pool worth $986,000. The top 45 players walked...

ANZPT - Paren Arzoomanian Wins Inaugural Sydney Main Event

Author's Note: All monetary values are AUD The initial PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour stop in Sydney, Australia attracted 493 players to the $2,000+200 buy-in no-limit hold'em main event at Star City Casino and created a prize pool worth $986,000. The top 45 players walked...