Poker News

Dwyte Pilgrim Leads WPT Southern Poker Championship After Day 1

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event ring holder Dwyte Pilgrim leads the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship after Day 1. A total of 106 players remain of the 208 who bought in on Sunday afternoon.

The tournament, emanating from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, drew a field of 283 players in 2009. The 208 who turned out yesterday to cough up the $10,000 buy-in meant that attendance dove by a sizable 27%. Pilgrim leads the survivors with a stack of 175,900 chips, comfortably in front of the second place tally of Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, who holds 152,100. Pilgrim claimed a pair of WSOP Circuit rings in March 2009 after taking down a $560 buy-in tournament at Caesars Atlantic City before flying cross-country to Harrah’s Rincon and winning the site’s $5,150 buy-in Championship event.

Little is no slouch, either. He was the WPT Player of the Year during Season 6, when the Florida native made final tables at the Mirage and North American Poker Championship and bubbled a third at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at Biloxi. All told, Little has nearly $3.5 million in career WPT earnings to his name and two titles. Little took down a pot early on Sunday with pocket aces against pocket queens on a 10-9-8-2-2 board. Little's opponent check-called a bet of 7,775 on the river to boost his stack to over 41,000; he finished the day with nearly six times that total.

DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija was a late Day 1 casualty at the WPT Southern Poker Championship. Makhija committed his chips with pocket kings on a board of J-3-2, but his opponent spiked a straight with 4-5. Jeff Madsen, meanwhile, was all-in holding the nut flush draw, but blanked out to hit the rails. Madsen is a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro.

Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka was flushed down the drain on Sunday. The runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V, which began airing as part of the WPT’s Season 8 kickoff on Fox Sports Net last night, Jaka called all-in with K-3 after a flop of K-J-4. However, his opponent flipped up pocket jacks for a set, which held for the win. Jaka made two final tables during Season 8 of the WPT, finishing second in the aforementioned Bellagio Cup and taking third in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a combined $1.3 million.

The top 10 at the end of Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship features rock solid poker talent:

1. Dwyte Pilgrim - 175,900
2. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little - 152,100
3. Jonathan Stanton - 142,100
4. Chad Brown - 138,000
5. James Jewett - 135,500
6. Sam Rashid - 125,700
7. Shawn Quillin - 118,300
8. Scott Standridge - 117,600
9. Hoyt Corkins - 115,600
10. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey - 113,200

Other notable names among the 106 players remaining in the field include:

Paul Wasicka - 107,500
Daniel Negreanu - 81,200
Matt “All In at 420” Stout - 73,100
Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman - 71,400
Justin “Boosted J” Smith - 68,600
J.J. Liu - 67,800
Josh Arieh - 67,200
Tommy Vedes - 66,300
Kathy Liebert - 53,300
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 46,900
Nick Schulman - 40,000
Allen “AawwNutz” Carter - 38,200
David Singer - 34,000
Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo - 25,900
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler - 17,600
Michael Binger - 13,000

When play wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 300-600 with a 75-chip ante. The Southern Poker Championship runs through Wednesday, when the newest WPT champion will be crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Biloxi tournament.

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Signs with UB, Wins Player of the Year

On Tuesday, 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin became a sponsored pro of the USA-friendly online poker site UB.com. He defeated Cornel Andrew Cimpan and Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko in the Player of the Year race.

In April, Baldwin came out on top of the field in a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event held during the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza and earned $198,000. The colossal six-figure score set up a monumental run at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP). Baldwin won his first bracelet by besting Danish pro Jonas Klausen in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event to the tune of $521,000. About a week later, he grabbed third in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, boosting his bankroll by another $259,000.

After the 2009 WSOP, Baldwin’s quest to take down the CardPlayer Player of the Year title hit full stride. He told Poker News Daily, “"At the start of the year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, my friends and I were talking about how much fun it would be to chase after that award. I like the structure of a competition like that. It’s so much fun to me. It gives me a goal and something to work with. At the end of the WSOP, I thought it could be my year." In October, Baldwin final tabled the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. This month, he padded his resume by winning a $1,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000.

He was rewarded for his efforts with a contract from UB.com, where he’ll play under the moniker “eric_baldwin,” abandoning his “basebaldy” nickname for the time being. On the November re-launch of UB.com, Baldwin told Poker News Daily, “I thought everything looked slick. I like the new logo and everything runs smoothly. I like the new website and the new features with videos of the pros. We’re going to get into some strategy things on the site that will help people a lot. Everything looks slick, runs slick, and it’s exciting.” UB.com makes its home on the CEREUS Network along with Absolute Poker. Both online poker rooms are owned by Tokwiro Enterprises.

Baldwin is a former baseball player from Wisconsin and will appear on this week’s installment of the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite.” He joins a cast of characters at UB.com that already includes Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, and “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle.

The site’s marquee poker tournament is the $200,000 Guaranteed, a $215 buy-in event that takes place every Sunday at 4:00pm ET. Over the weekend, JohnnyCashGame earned $45,000 for outlasting the 1,014-player field, defeating Bonezee heads-up. All was not lost for Bonezee, however, as the UB.com member received a $27,000 consolation prize. The top 99 players finished in the money and the tournament is also open to customers of Absolute Poker.

In a press release announcing Baldwin’s signing, Duke commented, "Eric Baldwin isn't just a new UB pro, he is UB. Eric loves this game more than anything in the world, he plays to win, and he's respected for his passion at the tables. We really couldn't be more ecstatic to have the Player of the Year on our team." Besides Baldwin, Cimpan, and Timoshenko, others in the top ten on the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year leaderboard include Vitaly Lunkin, World Poker Tour Five Diamond Champion Daniel Alaei, Jason Mercier, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada.

According to CardPlayer, Baldwin earned nearly 7,000 Player of the Year Points in 2009 and piled up $1.5 million in earnings.

2010 UBOC Schedule Features $4 Million Guaranteed

The schedule for the 2010 Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) was recently released and features more than $4 million in guaranteed prize money up for grabs across 18 events. The festivities will span the course of a dozen days.

Two of the 18 events have prize pools that are guaranteed to be at least $1 million. The schedule also features 16 MiniUBOC tournaments, mimicking a large portion of the UBOC schedule, but with buy-ins that are one-tenth as large. The UBOC Championship is a $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament that takes place on January 31st and features a $1 million guaranteed purse. Appropriately, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will host the prestigious tournament.

UB.com and Absolute Poker pros Joe Sebok, Michael Binger, Gary “Debo34” DeBernardi, Lacey Jones, Trishelle Cantanella, Brandon Cantu, Scott Ian, Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Hollywood Dave Stann, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, and Liv Boeree will all host events.

Duke commented in a press release from UB.com, “With UBOC heading into its fourth year and Aruba coming up to year nine, UB now has two amazing series. Whether you are a diehard poker player or a weekend warrior, UBOC and MiniUBOC offer something to excite everyone. Just as Aruba awarded millions in tournament prize money, UBOC 4 is about to break records again and this year you don’t even have to make a final table to cash big.”

Without further adieu, here’s a look at the 2010 UBOC schedule:

January 20th at 20:05 ET
Event #1: Sniper No Limit Hold’em
$300+20 buy-in
$250,000 Guaranteed

January 20th at 20:05 ET
Event #2: Eight Game Mix
$150+12 buy-in
$50,000 Guaranteed

January 21st at 20:05 ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em Four-Max
$300+20 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 22nd at 20:05 ET
Event #4: Sniper No Limit Hold’em
$120+10 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 23rd at 13:00 ET
Event #5: Heads-Up Two-Day Event
$1,000+50 buy-in
$128,000 Guaranteed

January 23rd at 14:00 ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance
$150+12 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 24th at 14:00 ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold’em
$200+15 buy-in
$300,000 Guaranteed

January 24th at 16:00 ET
Event #8: Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$2,500 +100 buy-in
$1 Million Guaranteed

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #9: Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$100+9 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #10: Pot Limit Championship
$300+20 buy-in
$150,000 Guaranteed

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #11: Pot Limit Omaha Cubed
$200+15 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #12: HORSE
$200+15 buy-in
$50,000 Guaranteed

January 27th at 20:05 ET
Event #13: Omaha 8/b and Stud 8/b Mix
$150+12 buy-in
$30,000 Guaranteed

January 27th at 20:05 ET
Event #14: Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
$1,000+50 buy-in
$300,000 Guaranteed

January 28th at 20:05 ET
Event #15: Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$300+20 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 29th at 20:05 ET
Event #16: Deep Stack Pot Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$500+30 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 30th at 14:05 ET
Event #17: No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys
$100+9 buy-in
$100,000 Guaranteed

January 31st at 16:00 ET
UBOC Championship
$1,000+50 buy-in
$1 Million Guaranteed

The 18 UBOC winners will take home a Championship Watch made by Tourneau. In addition, the USA-friendly online poker site will hold the Bubble Buster, a rewards challenge for players who cash in UBOC events. Players who cash in 10 UBOC events will take home $100,000, while those who manage to make the money in at least 11 of the 18 events will earn $1 million. Cashing in just two UBOC events will generate a prize in the Bubble Buster contest.

A single event satellite contest, STEP contest, and early registration discounts are also available. Visit UB.com for full details.

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.

ESPN Ranks Top Poker Players; Phil Ivey Number One

Who is the top all-around poker player in the world? Online or live, cash games or tournaments, whose game reigns supreme over the rest of the industry? According to a panel of experts organized by ESPN.com, the answer is Phil Ivey.

The voting block consisted of ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, along with Bluff’s Lance Bradley and Michael Friedman, Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, and PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington. Each of us was asked to name our top ten players in the poker world irrespective of whether we were talking about online or live play, tournaments, cash games, or game type. In the end, the first ever list of “The Nuts” was compiled.

Topping the chart was Ivey, the seventh place finisher in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Ivey won two bracelets in preliminary tournaments leading up to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, one in Deuce to Seven Lowball and one in Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low. He owns seven bracelets and over $5 million in career WSOP earnings. Coupled with nearly $3 million in high-stakes cash game winnings off Swedish poker pro Isildur1 alone, Ivey makes a strong case as the top name in the business. Out of the seven pollsters, six chose Ivey as their top dog. The lone exception was yours truly.

My pick for best poker player today was Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. While players like Ivey have been successful, Timoshenko has dominated high-profile events. In April, Timoshenko took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million, one year after winning the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau Main Event. He finished 25th in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event and proved his online prowess by winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $1.7 million in September. He followed that performance up with a victory in the Full Tilt $1K Monday. His stakes aren’t as high in cash games as Ivey’s, but he’s also not a member of Team Full Tilt.

Second overall on “The Nuts” was Patrik Antonius. Another participant in the high-stakes games against Isildur1, Antonius lays claim to winning the largest pot in online poker history, $1.3 million, set last month. Friedman noted, “I know this may be controversial, but I think Antonius may be the best online cash game player out there at the moment.” Going against Antonius is his lackluster performance in tournaments; he has not turned in a live score of over $20,000 since May of 2008, according to HendonMob.com.

Rounding out the top three was Daniel Negreanu, who was not ranked by Poker News Daily. Negreanu has final tabled the Main Event of WSOP Europe in back-to-back years and recorded eight in the money finishes in the Las Vegas series in 2009. Negreanu has been actively involved on televised poker programs like “High Stakes Poker” and the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” serving as one of the game’s top ambassadors. His cash game accolades seem less obvious than Ivey’s and Antonius’, who Poker News Daily ranked as #3 and #6, respectively.

So who did the seven pollsters rank in the first ever edition of ESPN’s “The Nuts”? Here is the illustrious list of today’s top poker players:

1. Phil Ivey
2. Patrik Antonius
3. Daniel Negreanu
4. Tom “durrrr” Dwan
5. Barry Greenstein
6. Jason Mercier
7. Jeffrey Lisandro
8. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
9. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
10. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko

Others who received votes included Tommy Vedes, Isildur1, J.C. Tran, Allen Cunningham, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Michael Binger, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, David “The Dragon” Pham, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Antoine Saout, Brian Townsend, Brock “t soprano” Parker, and Matt Hawrilenko. Check out the full ESPN list for more details on each player selected.

What do you think? Should Ivey have been number one? Leave a comment here and let us know!

Greg Sessler Wins Ladies Championship at Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Stop

The latter part of the 2009 calendar year has seen at least two Ladies events won by males during major tournament series. During September’s Borgata Poker Open, Abraham Korotki emerged victorious in a $300 buy-in Ladies No Limit Hold’em event. This weekend, Greg Sessler took down the Ladies Championship during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit stop at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.

According to a press release distributed by WSOP officials on Sunday, the Circuit’s Lake Tahoe stop has seen more females take down tournaments (six) than any other venue. Over the weekend, the Nevada city saw a male earn the “W” in a Ladies event. How could this happen, you ask? Tournament officials explained, “The WSOP isn’t a political organization and can’t be expected to get involved in debates about sexism, discrimination, or other polarizing issues which may be applicable to poker tournaments.” If males wish to enter a ladies tournament, it is technically within their right to do so. Sessler is a 22 year-old student at the University of California at Davis.

A total of four men entered the Lake Tahoe Ladies Championship, which boasted a $340 buy-in, and Sessler’s victory was worth $9,900. Ninety-six players turned out in total and Sessler told tournament staff that he entered because he had a day off and wanted to play some cards. The one-day event saw the assembled field erupt into a chorus of clapping when each male was eliminated. Sessler explained after the fact, “I came here because I only had one day and I really like the structures and the payout. This was the only tournament I could play.”

Sessler defeated Mimi Kalem heads-up after Kalem shoved at an inopportune time with Q-6, as Sessler peeked down at pocket queens. Kalem hit a six on the flop for a glimmer of hope, but the board bricked out and gave Sessler the upset victory over the mostly female field. Kalem earned $5,300 for her runner-up showing, about $1,600 more than Corinn “Princess” Ignatieff received for third. Here were the final paydays from the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Ladies Championship:

1. Greg Sessler (Danville, California) – $9,932
2. Mimi Kalem (Cameron Park, California) – $5,308
3. Corinn Ignatieff (Templeton, California) – $3,715
4. Candy Alexander (Cameron Park, California) – $2,626
5. Linda Peverini (Clovis, California) – $2,100
6. Tera Brown (Austin, Texas) – $1,592
7. Persia Bonella (Castro Valley, California) – $1,229
8. Rebecca Burnside (San Francisco, California) – $894
9. Rose Erhart (Ione, California) – $629

Expanding on the tournament series’ stance towards male entrants in female events, the same WSOP press release remarked, “While the WSOP… offers quasi-exclusive tournaments designed to increase female participation in the game, officials generally do not turn away those who want to play in the event based solely on gender.”

The $5,150 buy-in Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Main Event kicks off on November 15th and will crown a winner two days later. Over $1.3 million in prize money has been awarded in the series’ 17 events held so far, with more than 2,600 entries recorded. Last November, Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Michael Binger tasted victory in the Lake Tahoe Championship event, earning $181,000 after outlasting Ty Stewart heads-up. A total of 132 players showed up.

Two months ago, Korotki defeated breast cancer patient Nicole Rowe heads-up at the Borgata. Rowe, who could have used the extra cash for mounting medical bills, fell short of the $20,000 first place payday and 269 players entered. In response, Korotki stated that he would donate a portion of his winnings to a charity involving breast cancer.

Bernard Lee Gives the Inside Scoop on Inside Deal

Every true sports fan has watched ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary on the air.  On September 6th, Chris Berman (30 years), Bob Levy (30 years), and John Saunders (23 years), the elder statesmen of ESPN, hosted a trip down memory lane for this iconic sports recap show.  The 90 minute special showed how the franchise had evolved over the past three decades from the set design to the daily anchors to the multitude of highlights.

I am one of the millions of sports fans who religiously watches “SportsCenter,” so you can understand how thrilled I was to be asked to co-host ESPN.com’s weekly poker show, “Inside Deal.”  When we rehearsed for our initial show on one of the ESPN sets (Studio G), I could not have been more awestruck.  It looked like the set I grew up watching and now I was sitting behind the desk as one of the hosts.  Half-heartedly, I expected Stuart Scott or Scott Van Pelt (current “SportsCenter” anchors) to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to get out of their seats.  During the entire taping, I kept humming the “SportsCenter” theme: Da-da-da… da-da-da.

After watching so many hundreds, if not thousands of shows, I was so honored to be part of the family of broadcasters who are privileged to be in the ESPN studios.  Over the past several weeks, I have received numerous e-mails from not only family and friends (many of whom are insanely jealous), but also the readers of my columns and listeners of my radio show.  Thank you for your kind words and please keep watching.

With “Inside Deal” running online for over three months, there definitely have been some key revelations about hosting the show:

ESPN

Could there be a more professional sports production?  From our producer (Eric Pierce, who is truly the master behind the scenes) to my co-hosts, ESPN: The Magazine contributor Laura Lane and ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, the show is done so professionally.  I am proud to be part of this team!

Teleprompter

When you use one, you read more vertically as opposed to when you read from a piece of paper horizontally.  It is not as easy as you might think.  From the beginning, I have been very impressed by my co-host Laura Lane’s ability to read from the teleprompter so smoothly.  During lunch one day, Laura shared her secret on how she became so proficient.  She explained that when she was in college at USC, she would watch the nightly news and hit the mute button.  When the closed caption words would come across the screen, she would read text as if it was from a teleprompter.  What a great idea!

Makeup

I never thought I would wear makeup.  Before each show, we go to get our faces done.  Ugh!  I’m so glad I don’t have to do that every morning.  After each taping is complete, I immediately head straight to the bathroom to wash my face thoroughly.

Earpiece

Somewhat undetectable on camera, each of us wears an earpiece that allows the producer and director to give us instructions during the show’s taping.  The earpiece takes getting used to at the beginning, as you don’t want to react to the directions you are receiving in your ear.  Additionally, when the director is speaking to my co-host and she answers, I used to think she was talking to me.  It’s the small things that you have to get used to.

Opening Segment

I have thoroughly enjoyed helping create the opening segments of the shows.  Back in my working days in marketing, I often created videos to inspire the sales force to learn the features and benefits of my specific product.  I was known among my colleagues as the video marketing guy.  Funny how that became preparation for my current job.

During the run of the show, our guests have included a “who’s who” in poker.  The following are some interesting highlights from our first shows:

Episode #1: Chris Moneymaker tells the poker world that he lost his WSOP Main Event bracelet during a move.

Episode #2: Dennis Phillips discusses his near back-to-back November Nines and World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack discusses the Day 1D sellout.

Episode #3: Barry Greenstein describes his charity work and shows his paternal side, while the cast of “2 Months, $2 Million” describe the Tilt Room.

Episode #4: Howard Lederer discusses his sister in “Celebrity Apprentice” and Eric Buchman (2009 November Niner) shows his “passionate” side.

Episode #5: Victor Ramdin breaks down East Coast versus West Coast poker debate.

Episode #6: Mark Seif discusses the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet scandals.

Episode #7: Michael Binger duels with Daniel Negreanu in a Twitter Battle Royale.

Episode #8: Joe Sebok announces his Ultimate Bet signing (also look out for Joel Mchale of E!’s “The Soup”).

If you haven’t seen the show, hopefully this will give you an incentive to tune in each week.  A new episode is posted every Tuesday on ESPN.com/InsideDeal.  After watching each episode, please tell me which opening you liked the best.

And as always, don’t forget to listen to my radio show, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show,” on RoundersRadio.com on Tuesday nights from 7:00pm to 8:00pm ET and repeated throughout the week.

Poker News in Brief: Oct. 12-18, 2009

The relatively unknown Brandon Hall became the champion in Aruba while the very well-known Phil Laak took down the World Open V.

But there were several stories that didn't make it to the front page of PokerListings.com and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we've presented them below.

This week we'll take a look at the Poker Professor holding class, Doyle Brunson getting some recognition and Vladimir Geshkenbein becoming a heads-up champion.

Lederer wins $10k H.O.R.S.E. prelim at Bellagio

Howard Lederer added another poker title to his resume this week and he only had to beat 19 players to do it.

The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. WPT Festa al Lago preliminary event wrapped up on Thursday after drawing a small but skilled field that included Eli Elezra, Michael Binger, Andy Bloch, Scott Clements, David Singer and several other established pros.

Lederer beat Russian pro Ralph Perry in heads-up play to secure a first place prize of $92,150. Despite two final tables at the WSOPE this year, Lederer hadn't won a major tournament since taking down the $100,000 buy-in event at the 2008 Aussie Millions.

Lederer, who is sometimes known as the "Poker Professor", now has over $5 million in career tournament earnings.

Doyle Brunson inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson is perhaps the most famous player in poker, but this week he was recognized for his athletic achievements.

After years of waiting patiently, Brunson was finally inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Hardin Simmons University.

Before he started playing poker for a living Brunson competed in track and played basketball at HSU.

Brunson was a key member of an HSU basketball team that won its conference championship for a spot in the NCAA Division 1 playoffs. Brunson scored 412 points and was the only HSU athlete in any sport to be named the MVP of the Division 1 Border Conference.

Brunson was initially passed over for Hall of Fame recognition because of his involvement in the poker world.

The Texas Dolly is still one of the most popular poker players in the world and his twitter account "TexDolly" recently hit over 41,000 followers.

PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam for Vladimir Geshkenbein

Vladimir Geshkenbein outlasted some of the biggest names in poker to win the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam this week.

The Russian beat Juha Helppi in the final heads-up match to take down a first place prize of $120,000.

The field was comprised of 32 players including Tony G, Tom Dwan, Luke Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Peter Eastgate, Sammy George, J.C. Tran and numerous other high profile poker players.

Fans were hoping for a live resurrection of the online rivalry between Dwan and the trash-talking Schwartz, but were disappointed when Dwan busted out in his first match. Schwartz didn't make it much further, busting in his second match.

No one could figure out a way to beat the lesser-known Geshkenbein, who did win the high roller event at APPT Macau earlier this year. Geshkenbein has now earned nearly $400,000 playing poker in the last few months.

Forum tournament winner to play Ziigmund

A series of Online Forum Challenges are set to take place on Power Poker over the next few months with the ultimate winner getting a shot at celebrated high-stakes player Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies.

Power Poker will be hosting a series of tournaments over the next three months as part of the Online Forum Challenge and any player that takes part in every event will be entered into the Heads Up with Ziigmund freeroll.

The freeroll will offer a prize pool and a bounty in addition to the winner getting a chance to play Sahamies heads-up for $1,000.

All poker forum members are welcome to take part in the challenge and you can learn more by going to the Online Forum Challenge website here.

DeepStacks University beta goes live

"Serving as Dean of DeepStacks University is one of the most exciting projects I've ever been part of," said Matusow.

"The team, from the experienced instructors to the talented executives running the company, is first class all the way.

"I've been around a long time, seen tons of ideas and projects come and go, but when it comes to online poker education, nothing compares to what DSU has to offer. I'll be able to transfer my years of knowledge, experience and strategy development to you in a way that is not possible anywhere else."

The key feature of DeepStacks University is something the site is calling Reactive Training Technology, which essentially allows players to interact with a training video.

Players are able to use separate "modules" to help work on a specific part of their poker game. The University is scheduled to release new modules every week.

DeepStacks University instructors include the aforementioned Matusow, TJ Cloutier, Michael Binger and Adam "Roothlus" Levy.

"DeepStacks University is going to be one of the best training sites around," said Levy. "With interactive modules letting players really feel a part of everything and a team of top-notch professionals, DeepStacks University is sure to be around a long time."

Special early access offers are available for first time users and registered customers through the beta site found at www.deepstacks.com.

Hellmuth, Michelle headline Aruba Poker Classic

"This is one of my all-time favorite poker tournaments," said Annie Duke, UltimateBet's Cardroom Consultant and member of Team UB.

"While the UB community is famous for gathering together at all sorts of other poker tournaments like the WSOP, Aruba is all about celebrating the successes of UltimateBet's online poker players. I can't wait to meet the people I play against online, party with old friends on the beach and make some new ones."

The entire Team UB roster is scheduled to appear including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Joe Sebok, Adam Levy, Billy Kopp, Bryan Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Hollywood Dave Stann, Live Boeree, Matt Graham, Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon, Scott Ian, Michael Binger, Gary "debo34" Debernardi and Shawn Rice.

Also confirmed to play are Amazing Race stars Tiffany Michelle (who is also a UB pro) and Maria Ho.

Michelle mentioned she was looking forward to the event when interviewed by PokerListings regarding her Amazing Race experience.

"We've been doing a lot of press to support the show so it will be exciting to go to Aruba," said Michelle. "I'm excited to sit back down at a poker table and see if I still got it."

Lacey Jones and Matt Vengrin, who represent Absolute Poker on UB's CEREUS network, will also make an appearance at the tournament.

The Aruba Poker Classic began in 2002 and has since seen a number of high profile winners including Juha Helppi, Erick Lindgren, Freddy Deeb and Travis Rice.

Last year, online pro Matt Brady outlasted 550 players to win $1 million out of a prize pool of over $2.6 million.

Taking place at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa, the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic will run Oct. 3-10 with the $5,500 main event starting Oct. 5. For the complete schedule go to the Aruba Poker Classic website.

Steve Zolotow Tops WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1B Field

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Steve Zolotow paced the field in London on Day 1B of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. A total of 178 players entered on Sunday for a combined starting grid of 334.

A total of 363 players turned out for the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event, meaning that this year’s field represented a drop of 8% in attendance. Nevertheless, the action was fast and furious at the Casino at the Empire in London, where Zolotow prevailed over the pack on Day 1B. When the action ceased for the evening, Zolotow held 166,825 chips, trailing the top three stacks from Day 1A – Brian Powell (194,600), Jason Mercier (189,725), and Sami Kelopuro (168,925) – to claim fourth place on the leaderboard entering Day 2 on Monday. According to PokerNews, Zolotow doubled up late in the day after flopping a set of threes against an opponent with bottom two pair.

A familiar face was third in chips after Day 1B, 2009 WSOP November Nine member Antoine Saout. A sponsored pro of Everest Poker, Saout holds the ninth largest stack overall after Days 1A and 1B in London at 144,400. Saout will hold the eighth largest tally when play resumes in Las Vegas, where the entire field is looking up at Darvin Moon. Action in the 2009 WSOP Main Event resumes on November 7th.

Here are the Top 10 chip stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering play on Monday:

1. Brian Powell – 194,600
2. Jason Mercier – 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro – 168,925
4. Steve Zolotow – 166,825
5. Viktor Blom – 163,175
6. Jonathan Aguiar – 160,100
7. Praz Bassi – 155,450
8. Martin Hansen – 152,775
9. Antoine Saout – 144,400
10. Christian Harder – 134,125

Among those who were sent packing on Day 1B was WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic, who was all-in holding just Q-J on a board of 8-3-3. His opponent showed A-9, which held up to send the Canadian home. Vitaly Lunkin, the champion of the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, was also eliminated from the WSOP Europe Main Event. Lunkin held Q-10 on a board of 7-3-2-Q-A, but ran into pocket queens. J.C. Tran semi-bluffed all-in with A-8 on a board of 10-4-J-9, but ran into K-10. An eight on the river missed Tran’s straight and secured his elimination.

Others remaining in contention include:

17. Ram Vaswarni – 113,625
23. Doyle Brunson – 92,900
27. Brandon Cantu – 89,000
28. Daniel Negreanu – 88,925
29. Noah Boeken – 87,500
35. Barry Shulman – 80,250
36. Juha Helppi – 79,200
41. James Akenhead – 77,675
46. Antonio Esfadiari – 73,550
70. Freddy Deeb – 56,900
77. Annette Obrestad – 52,400
81. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 49,800
88. Todd Brunson – 46,050
94. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – 44,175
96. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 43,200
105. Sandra Naujoks – 40,225
112. Shaun Deeb – 37,500
125. Teddy Sheringham – 33,350
128. Marco Traniello – 33,000
134. David Oppenheim – 31,525
137. Alex Kravchenko – 31,100
141. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 29,675
142. Mike Matusow – 28,900
144. Dennis Phillips – 28,800
145. John Juanda – 28,525
149. David Williams – 25,850
163. Phil Hellmuth – 18,450
164. Scott Montgomery – 18,225
171. Michael Binger – 10,000
172. Erik Seidel – 9,925
174. Howard Lederer – 7,675
176. Barry Greenstein – 6,925

One of the toughest tables to convene on Monday contains 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad, online poker pro Jason “JCarver” Somerville, Ultimate Bet pro Brandon Cantu, and bracelet winner Philip Tom. The quartet will headline Table 8.

Play will get underway at 5:30pm local time on Monday in observance of the Yom Kippur holiday, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. The observance runs from sundown on Sunday to sundown on Monday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from WSOP Europe.

Steve Zolotow Tops WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1B Field

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Steve Zolotow paced the field in London on Day 1B of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. A total of 178 players entered on Sunday for a combined starting grid of 334.

A total of 363 players turned out for the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event, meaning that this year’s field represented a drop of 8% in attendance. Nevertheless, the action was fast and furious at the Casino at the Empire in London, where Zolotow prevailed over the pack on Day 1B. When the action ceased for the evening, Zolotow held 166,825 chips, trailing the top three stacks from Day 1A – Brian Powell (194,600), Jason Mercier (189,725), and Sami Kelopuro (168,925) – to claim fourth place on the leaderboard entering Day 2 on Monday. According to PokerNews, Zolotow doubled up late in the day after flopping a set of threes against an opponent with bottom two pair.

A familiar face was third in chips after Day 1B, 2009 WSOP November Nine member Antoine Saout. A sponsored pro of Everest Poker, Saout holds the ninth largest stack overall after Days 1A and 1B in London at 144,400. Saout will hold the eighth largest tally when play resumes in Las Vegas, where the entire field is looking up at Darvin Moon. Action in the 2009 WSOP Main Event resumes on November 7th.

Here are the Top 10 chip stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering play on Monday:

1. Brian Powell – 194,600
2. Jason Mercier – 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro – 168,925
4. Steve Zolotow – 166,825
5. Viktor Blom – 163,175
6. Jonathan Aguiar – 160,100
7. Praz Bassi – 155,450
8. Martin Hansen – 152,775
9. Antoine Saout – 144,400
10. Christian Harder – 134,125

Among those who were sent packing on Day 1B was WSOP bracelet winner Nenad Medic, who was all-in holding just Q-J on a board of 8-3-3. His opponent showed A-9, which held up to send the Canadian home. Vitaly Lunkin, the champion of the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, was also eliminated from the WSOP Europe Main Event. Lunkin held Q-10 on a board of 7-3-2-Q-A, but ran into pocket queens. J.C. Tran semi-bluffed all-in with A-8 on a board of 10-4-J-9, but ran into K-10. An eight on the river missed Tran’s straight and secured his elimination.

Others remaining in contention include:

17. Ram Vaswarni – 113,625
23. Doyle Brunson – 92,900
27. Brandon Cantu – 89,000
28. Daniel Negreanu – 88,925
29. Noah Boeken – 87,500
35. Barry Shulman – 80,250
36. Juha Helppi – 79,200
41. James Akenhead – 77,675
46. Antonio Esfadiari – 73,550
70. Freddy Deeb – 56,900
77. Annette Obrestad – 52,400
81. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott – 49,800
88. Todd Brunson – 46,050
94. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – 44,175
96. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 43,200
105. Sandra Naujoks – 40,225
112. Shaun Deeb – 37,500
125. Teddy Sheringham – 33,350
128. Marco Traniello – 33,000
134. David Oppenheim – 31,525
137. Alex Kravchenko – 31,100
141. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 29,675
142. Mike Matusow – 28,900
144. Dennis Phillips – 28,800
145. John Juanda – 28,525
149. David Williams – 25,850
163. Phil Hellmuth – 18,450
164. Scott Montgomery – 18,225
171. Michael Binger – 10,000
172. Erik Seidel – 9,925
174. Howard Lederer – 7,675
176. Barry Greenstein – 6,925

One of the toughest tables to convene on Monday contains 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette Obrestad, online poker pro Jason “JCarver” Somerville, Ultimate Bet pro Brandon Cantu, and bracelet winner Philip Tom. The quartet will headline Table 8.

Play will get underway at 5:30pm local time on Monday in observance of the Yom Kippur holiday, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. The observance runs from sundown on Sunday to sundown on Monday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from WSOP Europe.

Busquet stages comeback to win Borgata Poker Open

Brown eliminated three players and by the time they were down to heads-up play Brown held a 3-1 chip lead over Busquet. The situation went from bad to worse for Busquet, who by the 18th hand had only 1.5 million chips to Brown's 29 million.

Somehow Busquet found a way to battle back and, after a few lucky hands, finally landed the knockout blow to eliminate Brown and claim the $925,514 for first place.

"I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the whole thing," said Busquet shortly after his victory. "Making a WPT final table is every tournament poker player's goal but to actually win the tournament is unreal."

The 2009 Borgata Poker Open was unique for the WPT because organizers opted to lower the buy-in from the standard $10,000 to a more recession-friendly $3,500. The experiment seems to have worked as the event drew the largest field in WPT history with 1,018 players.

Many poker pros were in Europe playing the WSOPE but the Borgata Poker Open still managed to draw marquee players like J.C. Tran, Gavin Smith, Chino Rheem, Kenna James, Michael Binger, Amnon Filippi and several others.

Busquet, who is known as livb112 or adonis112 online, is a legend in the online community for his heads-up prowess but this is his first major live tournament win.

The next event on the WPT schedule is Marrakech, which takes place Oct. 11-18, but the WPT won't be returning to North American soil until Oct. 21 when Festa al Lago kicks off at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The complete final table payouts are as follows:

1. Olivier Busquet - $925,514

2. Jeremy Brown - $453,519

3. Ivan Mamuzic - $251,955

4. Yanick Brodeur - $216,681

5. Keith Crowder - $188,126

6. Kenny Nguyen - $156,212

Olivier Busquet Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open Entering Day 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Sebok Discusses Ultimate Bet Signing

On Monday, it was revealed that PokerRoad CEO Joe Sebok had become the new Media and Operations Consultant for Ultimate Bet. The online poker site is fresh off releasing the list of screen names associated with the cheating scandal led by Russ Hamilton. Sebok sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss his new role.

Poker News Daily: Talk about the decision to sign with UB. Why now and why UB?

Sebok: My decision to come aboard with UB was one that I needed to take my time with.  Obviously, the superuser scandal played a huge part here, with UB’s subsequent mishandling of the situation. That was the reason I needed to fly down to Costa Rica, meet with the team, and go over the processes that they have in place in order to be sure I was comfortable with it. I have a fair amount of business experience myself, so I wanted to see how things were handled there now. During the trip, I spent hours talking with UB COO Paul Leggett about some of the mistakes that have been made and he explained to me how there needed to be a new commitment to not only never letting something like that happen again, but also acknowledging that large mistakes were made in how it was handled in the past. I was ecstatic to hear this and Paul and I were in agreement, which made me able to settle into my new role with the team, which is not only sponsored pro, but also Media and Operations Consultant.

I requested a business role within UB, as I wanted to make sure I could also be involved in the operations and help guide the path a little. Keep in mind, this deal has taken four months to put together and is a testament to Paul and the team over there, who are 100% committed to a new UB and that was what it was going to take to sign me. While I think we all know of the mistakes of the past, UB today is stronger than it’s ever been in its commitment to customers. The release of the superuser accounts and subsequent hand histories for players involved are the beginnings of closing the door on the past and moving forward. I say “the beginnings” because there is still work to be done, which I take very seriously, but the future of UB is bright right now and I wanted to have a part in leading that.

PND: How much did the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal report influence your decision to sign in a deal brought on by 11Management?

Sebok: It was one of my insistences before coming onto the team. We needed to get those superuser account names out in the open and make accessible all hand histories to all players who request them. The only way to close that loop is to simply be completely transparent. UB had done a poor job in the initial go-around when the scandal hit, but hopefully has learned now and will make up for it with their actions moving forward. I also want to see the names of other associated cheaters with Russ Hamilton brought into the light. I understand the legal ramifications for why it’s not as simple as releasing them outright, but am working with Paul towards doing as much as we can to get those names out there. I think it’s important for the poker community as a whole to know those names, even if it’s basically impossible to prosecute them as things stand today. It’s all about doing the right thing and UB will definitely be doing the right things moving forward.

PND: Talk about UB’s broad coalition of pros, which includes Tiffany Michelle, Michael Binger, Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth. Is it exciting to be in that company?

Sebok: It’s nice to see UB building up a stable of pros that are all over the map. I can say that I know each and every one in a personal way because of my involvement in the poker industry over the last five years; each of them brings something different to the table. I like to think that I bring a little something different to the party that isn’t there yet, though. With my business, media, and tech experience, I have big plans for projects moving forward with the company. Whether it’s Twitter, television, social networking, or poker media, I have every intention of helping UB be on the cutting edge and pushing all envelopes for what we have seen in the poker world so far. There’s no reason that the UB stable of pros shouldn’t be able to redefine what it is to be a poker pro and what it is to interact with poker fans. I will take that as a personal challenge upon myself to work with everyone at UB to ensure we achieve that.

PND: What promotions will you be involved in?

Sebok: We are already talking about some pretty sick and cool stuff. I can’t let anything out of the bag, but be warned that it’s on the way soon. I am going to take the same PokerRoad.com sensibilities over to UB, help to apply them there, and together we’ll come up with a whole new mix for fans and players. We are going to be aggressive and we are going to do things that are new and fun, I promise you that. Keep your eyes and ears open. It’s going to be some serious innovation!

PND: Does this affect Poker Road in any way? Will UB be involved with shows or have any presence on the site?

Sebok: UB is sponsoring me and not PokerRoad. Fans needn’t worry that PokerRoad.com will suddenly be completely taken over by UB. I have always wanted PokerRoad to work in conjunction with all sites in order to build a stronger global poker community and this doesn’t change that at all. At PokerRoad.com, we will still be working with all sites that want to work with us. The only page that will be drastically changed will simply be my personal blog page, where we will house UB banners leading back to original content that I create for UB.

Gabriel Aminov Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open

A total of 1,018 runners turned out for the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open. Now, 555 players remain, led by New York’s Gabriel Aminov. The winner of the $3,500 buy-in tournament will pocket $925,000.

Two starting days played out over the weekend at the Borgata Poker Open, the largest WPT tournament ever held. The top 100 players will take home money from the East Coast event, with the six best convening for the televised final table, which will air as part of Season VIII of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. Among those still in contention is Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and ESPN.com “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee, who will come armed to Day 2 play on Monday with 15,700 chips, good for 524th overall. Lee won a race late in the day holding pocket eights against A-10 when the board ran out 7-7-2-2-3.

On the atmosphere at the Borgata, Lee told Poker News Daily, “This feels just like the old days. We used to get 600, 700, or 800 people all of the time. It feels like it’s during the boom of the WPT. It just shows you the interest people have and that the Borgata runs a first-class operation.” Among those who hit the rails during play on Sunday on Day 1B were Will “The Thrill” Failla, who ran kings into aces, and Matt “All In At 420” Stout, who came out on the short end of a race holding A-K against Roy Winston’s pocket tens.

Many of the game’s top pros are not in Atlantic City for the Borgata Poker Open. Instead, they made the trek to London, site of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe. Lee, however, noted that the running of the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) may have also cut into attendance: “There was also the WCOOP Main Event going on yesterday and a lot of people had to make the decision to play in one or the other. Some people didn’t come here because it was a smaller buy-in event and the WCOOP Main Event will have a $10 million guarantee.” First place in the PokerStars tournament will pay $1.7 million, nearly double the grand prize at the Borgata.

Here’s how the field stacks up at the Borgata Poker Open entering Day 2:

1. GABRIEL AMINOV - 213,700
2. OFIR MOR - 183,450
3. FRANK CHARLES- 169,000
4. ANTHONY GREGG - 160,950
5. JEREMY BROWN - 156,425
6. SUNIL WALIA - 155,625
7. RHETT BUTLER - 153,325
8. ROBERT MCLAUGHLIN - 147,275
9. SOHEIL SHAMSEDDIN - 145,000
10. STEFAN MATTSSON - 143,500

Others who remain in contention include:
13. STEVE BRECHER - 139,150
44. MICHAEL BINGER - 110,325
81. TODD TERRY - 89,925
131. KATHY LIEBERT - 76,450
134. GAVIN SMITH - 75,715
156. DAVID “THE MAVEN” CHICOTSKY - 69,600
416. NANCY TODD TYNER - 29,675
461. ROBERT VARKONYI - 24,700
493. JOHN SPADAVECCHIA - 19,250
524. BERNARD LEE - 15,700

Among the highlights of Day 1B was a four-way all-in featuring three flushes and a set. After a flop of K-10-9, all diamonds, players pushed with J-3 of diamonds, 7-5 of diamonds, pocket tens, and A-8 of diamonds for the nut flush. The turn and river came the jack of hearts and three of clubs, respectively, and Andrew Interdonato scooped the massive pot with the nut flush. He now sits with the 390th largest stack at the Borgata, 33,150.

The action kicks off at 11:00am ET on Monday, with all players’ sights set on reaching the six-handed final table, where the following payouts will be up for grabs:

1st Place: $925,514
2nd Place: $453,519
3rd Place: $251,955
4th Place: $216,681
5th Place: $188,126
6th Place: $156,212

WPT Borgata Poker Open Attracts Over 1,000 Players

A $3,500 buy-in attracted over 1,000 players to the Borgata Poker Open, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT) circuit. As of Noon ET on Sunday, 1,003 players had entered, which included the 326 player field from Day 1A.

Over 675 players had thrown their hats into the ring on Day 1B. The tournament coincides with World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities in London, but still attracted a bevy of poker superstars to the East Coast casino. At the end of Day 1A, Frank Molinari stood tall over the rest of the field with 169,000 chips. Hot on his heels was Jeremy Brown, who will come armed to Day 2 on Monday with 156,425. One of the top pros to survive Day 1A was Steve Brecher, the champion of the Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament during Season VII of the WPT. Brecher also made a final table during Season II of the WPT, taking sixth in the end-of-season Championship event for $232,000.

Among those making waves on Day 1A was 2008 WSOP November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem. A former WPT Champion, Rheem ascended to the top of the chip counts during play on Saturday, but found himself out of the tournament following the dinner break. Rheem ran a rivered flush into quad deuces after an error by Sonny Waila on the turn resulted in a string bet. Rheem bet the river after making a flush, but his opponent’s pocket twos had him dominated. Rheem pushed with a flush draw on the very next hand, but it failed to materialize against an opponent’s pocket aces.

Others who took to the felts on Day 1A were Ultimate Bet pro Michael Binger, Matt Matros, Kathy Liebert, and Nancy Todd Tyner. Holding one of the largest chip stacks after the first of two starting days is Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, a two-time WPT event winner. Little took down the Season VI Mirage Poker Showdown for $1.1 million and promptly emerged victorious from the field in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals last season for another $1.1 million. He is fresh off an eighth place showing in the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic for nearly $40,000.

Action has already kicked off on Day 1B, with WPT officials proudly promoting the presence of several pros at the Borgata. Among them are Bill Gazes, Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee, Allen Kessler, Bluff Online Poker Challenge winner Brian “SN8WMAN” Hawkins, and noted poker coach David “The Maven” Chicotsky. Also in the house are Season IV WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, Roy Winston, and bracelet winner Brian Lemke.

Players at the Borgata Poker Open start with 30,000 chips and blinds begin at 25-50, meaning each player starts with 600 big blinds. Levels last 75 minutes each, with a dinner break taking place after Level 6. Antes kick in during Level 5, when blinds are 100-200. First place will likely come with a $1 million payday despite the shrunken buy-in of just $3,500. Typical buy-ins for WPT tournaments are at least $10,000.

The four-figure turnout is a welcome sight for WPT officials, who have watched attendance drop steadily at recent tournaments. Attendance for last month’s Legends of Poker stop in Los Angeles was down 25% year over year to just 279 runners. The Bellagio Cup featured 268 players in attendance, down a staggering 40% from the field that took to the felts in 2008. The WPT was recently sold to a subsidiary of Party Gaming, potentially leading to a greater presence of the brand in the online marketplace. WPT Host Mike Sexton serves as the ambassador of PartyPoker, Party Gaming’s online poker arm.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

Inside Deal Welcomes Daniel Negreanu, Michael Binger

Laura Lane returned from vacation to bring the poker community its seventh installment of ESPN.com’s “Inside Deal.” This week, Lane and co-host Bernard Lee welcomed Daniel Negreanu and Michael Binger.

The web-only show kicked off its 40 minute run by reviewing nominations for the Poker Hall of Fame. The general public’s original list of 10 candidates was trimmed to nine following the elimination of Tom “durrrr” Dwan from contention on the grounds that the youngster did not stand the test of time, one of several factors required for entry. Lee proposed that the panel clarify its criteria for the future: “I would suggest using a more specific criteria, maybe a minimum age requirement or minimum number of years played.” As it currently stands, the youngest Hall of Fame inductee is Chip Reese, who was 40.

Attention then turned to the findings of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) on the Ultimate Bet scandal, which once again fingered Russ Hamilton as its mastermind. The report included 117 user names and noted that 31 unnamed individuals were also involved. Lee commented, “Russ Hamilton’s legacy has been irreparably damaged. Already, we have seen the effects this summer, when he did not participate in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champions Invitational.” Hamilton won the 1994 WSOP Main Event, defeating Hugh Vincent heads-up.

Negreanu will captain Team Americas prior to this year’s running of the WSOP Europe as part of the Caesars Cup. On formulating his team, which already includes Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Doyle Brunson, Negreanu told the “Inside Deal” crew, “They told me they had this really cool concept they wanted to hold right before WSOP Europe. They asked me if I would be willing to be captain. I’m taking it seriously and trying to put together a team that’s going to work well together.” Last year, Negreanu finished fifth in the WSOP Europe Main Event, a tournament ultimately won by Juanda.

Binger then relived a hand against Jamie Gold during the 2006 WSOP Main Event in which Gold turned a straight after being a 2:1 underdog against Binger after the flop. The Ultimate Bet pro remarked, “It’s really the only time in my poker career that I’ve busted out of a tournament and not been upset. I played that hand as well as I could and was a 2:1 favorite when the money went in.” Binger finished third for $4.1 million, while Gold took home $12 million and the coveted Main Event gold bracelet.

Binger became burnt out while pursuing his PhD at Stanford and turned to poker as a diversion. He earned his doctorate in 2006 before heading straight to Las Vegas to begin his successful poker career. His brother, Nick Binger, is also a staple in the industry and owns over $200,000 in lifetime WSOP earnings. On his relationship with his brother, Binger revealed, “There’s a healthy competition between us. I’m happy for him when he succeeds and I’m sure he feels the same way, but we also push each other to try to go further.”

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman then joined the show. Like this author, Feldman is one of several media members who will vote in the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Feldman asked Negreanu how his resume stacked up against the other eight finalists. Negreanu responded, “I don’t feel like I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame this year. There are a lot of people who have played for longer than I have that deserve it more.” Negreanu and Lee endorsed World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton. Binger added that Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, and Ivey would be his top three candidates.

A special “Twitter: Fact or Fiction” segment aired in which Binger and Negreanu were asked whether Twitter entries made by each other were real or concocted by “Inside Deal” staff. In the end, the score was tied at two. Finally, Binger forecasted that Ivey would win the 2009 WSOP Main Event, labeling the 33 year-old “sick.”

“Inside Deal” is released each Tuesday on ESPN.com. Sign up to receive breaking news from Poker News Daily and you’ll be entered to win autographed merchandise from “Inside Deal” guests.

Bernard Lee Recaps the 2009 WSOP, ESPN Inside Deal Launch

With the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the midst of a four month hiatus, the members of the November Nine are currently engaged in the inevitable media onslaught.  Of course, these players are also mentally preparing to return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino to battle for the coveted WSOP Main Event bracelet, the $8.5 million first prize, and instant poker stardom.  This year’s group is led by chip leader Darvin Moon, who has over 25% of the chips on the table, and poker superstar Phil Ivey.

To follow all of the exciting news and behind-the-scenes action, watch ESPN.com’s new weekly poker show, ESPN Inside Deal.  This weekly poker show, which airs online, debuted on Tuesday, August 4th with its first guest, the 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker.  I have significant inside information about this show since I am one of the co-hosts along with ESPN the Magazine contributor Laura Lane.  During the next few months, we will interview members of the 2009 November Nine, while giving the viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the WSOP.  You can send a question to us via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook.  I hope you will join us each week, as I am sure that you will enjoy the show (look for our version of “This is Sportscenter” commercials).  Visit ESPN.com/InsideDeal or ESPN.com and search “Inside Deal”.

Beyond the November Nine, this year’s WSOP was known for its multiple bracelet winners, four to be exact.  Each player had their own interesting story prior to their incredible summer.  Here is a brief recap of each of them:

Jeffrey Lisandro (2009 WSOP Player of the Year and winner of three bracelets)

In 2007, Lisandro was still on the BPWB (Best Player Without a Bracelet) list.  However, later that summer, he was able to remove himself from this dubious group, which currently includes Andy Bloch, Michael Binger, Michael Mizarchi, Gavin Smith, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, and Jonathan Little, among others. Lisandro captured the win in Event #32 ($2,000 Seven Card Stud), outlasting 212 other players and taking home $118,426.  However, this year he outdid himself, winning three WSOP bracelets and capturing 2009 WSOP Player of the Year honors.  Positioning himself as one of the best Seven Card Stud players of all-time, Lisandro won all three bracelets in variations of this classic game (Event #16, $1,500 Seven Card Stud; Event #37, $10,000 Seven Card Stud 8 or Better; and Event #44, $2,500 Razz).  Oh, by the way, Lisandro also finished ninth in Event #6, $10,000 Seven Card Stud.  In total, he cashed six times this summer, pocketing over $800,000.

Greg Mueller (Winner of two Limit Hold’em bracelets)

This former professional hockey player from Canada had been a bridesmaid in back-to-back years at the WSOP.  In 2007, Mueller finished second in Event #1, $5,000 Mixed Hold’em, to Steve Billirakis, who still holds the record for being the youngest WSOP bracelet winner.  In 2008, he came ever so close again, this time losing to Phillip Tom in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout.  However, the third time was a charm, as he captured Event #33, $10,000 Limit Hold’em.  I had the pleasure of witnessing this victory first-hand, as I was the lead commentator on ESPN360.com.  The most critical pot occurred three-handed against the chip leader at the time, Chad Brown.  Mueller 4bet Brown, who made a crying call with an ace-high flush.  However, Mueller turned over a straight flush, allowing him to take over the chip lead.  From that moment on, he never looked back and took home his first bracelet along with $460,836.  However, he was not done for the summer, as he captured a second bracelet just 11 days later, when he took down Event #50, $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, and another $194,909. Congratulations to a solid player and gentleman at the tables.

Brock Parker (Winner of two Six-Handed Hold’em bracelets)

Well-known online for years as “t soprano,” this 27 year-old from Maryland made his mark in live tournaments this summer at the 2009 WSOP.  Beginning with Event #14, $2,500 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed, Parker outlasted the popular Daniel Negreanu heads-up, capturing his first WSOP bracelet and $223,688.  Amazingly, three days later, Parker found himself at another WSOP final table, this time at Event #19, $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed.  Ten hours later, he had outlasted 1,067 other players and won his second bracelet in back-to-back events, cashing for 552,745.  Who says that online players can’t make the transition to live poker?

Phil Ivey (Winner of two bracelets and member of the 2009 November Nine):

Nicknamed the “Tiger Woods of Poker,” Ivey entered the 2009 WSOP with five bracelets; however, he had not won any hardware since 2005.  He ended his dry spell this summer with a vengeance.  First, Ivey captured Event #8, $2,500 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, becoming the youngest player to own six WSOP bracelets.  Nine days later, he rewrote the history books once again, becoming the youngest ever to capture seven, prevailing in Event #25, $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better/ Seven Card Stud 8 or Better.  Ivey then outlasted nearly 6,500 players to earn a spot in the 2009 November Nine.  Amazingly, he has finished in 23rd place or better in the WSOP Main Event four times in the past eight years - 2002 (23rd place), 2003 (10th place), 2005 (20th place), and 2009 (at least ninth place).  Simply remarkable!  If he does capture the 2009 WSOP Main Event, it will amazingly be his first No Limit Hold’em bracelet and will surely cement his legacy as one of the best players of all-time.

As for me, my second WSOP trip and Main Event were filled with more bad beat stories.  There is no need to elaborate any further.  Suffice it to say, I did not have a good 2009 WSOP.  Oh well, there is always next year.

And as a final note, don’t forget to listen to my radio show, The Bernard Lee Poker Show, on RoundersRadio.com on Tuesday nights from 7:00pm to 8:00pm ET and repeated throughout the week.  Upcoming guests will include Tom McEvoy, winner of the 2009 WSOP Champions Invitational, and members of the November Nine.

Billy Kopp (Patrolman35) Signs with Ultimate Bet

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kopp signs with Team UB

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

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

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

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

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

Liv Boeree Joins Team UB

Liv Boeree, formerly an ambassador of Absolute Poker, has become a card-carrying member of Team Ultimate Bet (Team UB), officials of the Tokwiro-owned online poker rooms announced this week.

In a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she was looking forward to joining “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, among others, on the Team UB roster: “It’s an honor to play with the two people who helped launch my poker career. Annie and Phil are two of my favorite players, so to sit on the same team as them is a bit of a surreal experience, but one I’m definitely proud of.” While on the show “UltimatePoker.com Showdown” in 2005, Boeree received poker coaching from Duke. The same press release explains, “It was [also] on UltimatePoker.com Showdown that Liv also earned the respect of 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.”

Boeree has worked for various media outlets throughout her career, including Gutshot TV, the Daily Express, and Challenge TV. Her reporting career has led her to become successful on the felts of live poker tournaments around the world. In January, she finished seventh in an AUD $1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament held during the Aussie Millions for AUD $19,000. In April, she caught fire at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship, winning a preliminary tournament, taking third in another, and finishing 37th in the $25,000 buy-in televised Main Event for over $80,000 total. In May of 2008, Boeree won the $2,000 buy-in Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship for $42,000. The event drew 52 runners and culminated with Boeree besting Lenna Martyak heads-up.

In an August 8th blog on Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she had just returned from Sonisphere, a music festival near London. Among those who took to the stage was the band Anthrax, which features fellow Team UB member Scott Ian. On Anthrax’s set, Boeree recalled, “These guys are as hard and heavy as ever and it was a real treat to watch them play with their old singer, John Bush.”

Besides Ian and Boeree, other members of Team UB include Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who made a deep run in last year’s WSOP Main Event, ultimately finishing 48th for $135,000. He made the final table of the WPT Festa al Lago in October of 2008, banking $266,000 in a tournament won by Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Online, Levy has been a stud. He finished as the runner-up in an event held during the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in February for $387,000. One week later, he took third in the marquee PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for another $53,000. He’s ranked 95th in the world according to PocketFives.com.

Brandon Cantu joined Team UB in June. That month, he won a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split tournament for $228,000 during the 2009 WSOP, besting Lee Watkinson heads-up for his first bracelet. Nine events prior, Cantu was the runner-up to Ray Foley in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, where he cashed for $403,000.

Fellow bracelet winner Matt “mattg1983” Graham also calls Team UB home. Graham won his second piece of hardware in 2009 by taking down the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for a rousing $679,000. He’s defeated two of the game’s best in his bracelet wins, outlasting Vitaly Lunkin in the Pot Limit Omaha event and beating “Survivor: China” castaway and Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Shootout last year.

Other members of Team UB include “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Michael Binger, Gary “Debo34” Debernardi, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Shawn “westtexasman” Rice, and Tiffany Michelle, who will compete on the upcoming season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.”

Boeree joins Team UB

She went on to become a brand ambassador for Absolute Poker and has now moved over to Team UB.

"It's an honor to play with the two people who helped launch my poker career," Boeree said.

"Annie and Phil are two of my favorite players so to sit on the same team as them is a bit of a surreal experience, but one I'm definitely proud of."

Boeree took down the Ladbrokes European Ladies Championship in May 2008, and recently made two side-event final tables at Bellagio in Las Vegas before finishing 37th in the 2009 WPT Championship.

She has also worked as a TV presenter, writer and interviewer on several poker broadcasts including UltimatePoker.com Showdown, Gutshot TV, Daily Express, Challenge TV, Gala ((UK Poker)) Tour, Sky Poker TV, Poker Verdict, Ladies' World Poker Open and the WSOPE.

Other members of Team UB include Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Brandon Cantu, Hollywood Dave Stann, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, Scott Ian and Tiffany Michelle.

In related news, Ultimate Bet is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by offering a $10 Million cash bonus to any player who qualifies online for the Aruba Poker Classic starting with a 10 cent Step 1 satellite and goes on to win the event.

The 8th annual Aruba Poker Classic is set for October 3-10 at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa, and Boeree is expected to play.

PokerListings also made Boeree one of the site's Best Bets at the 2009 ((WSOP)).

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.”

Alec Torelli (traheho) Signs with Doyle’s Room

In coverage of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bellagio Cup V, it was revealed that Alec “traheho” Torelli has signed with Doyle’s Room, a USA-friendly site on the Cake Poker Network. Torelli holds the sixth largest chip stack entering Day 4 at the Bellagio.

In an interview with WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman, Torelli recapped the process that went into signing with Doyle’s Room: “My agent knew the guy who is the Marketing Director, Will. He’s a really cool guy. We went to lunch together and talked about the prospects of it and things went really well. They looked at me for a little while and it all worked out… I’m really excited. I like him, the crew, Doyle, and everyone.” In May, Torelli took sixth in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He banked $329,000 for his efforts in the event, which was ultimately won by Vitaly Lunkin. The tournament will air as part of ESPN’s coverage of the 2009 WSOP.

Now, Torelli is making waves at the WPT Bellagio Cup V. He has been at or near the top of the chip counts for virtually the entire $15,000 buy-in tournament. Heading into Day 4 on Friday, Torelli holds a stack of 703,000, good for sixth place overall. The entire field is looking up at online poker star Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who holds 20% of the chips in play after three days, or 3.2 million. Torelli commented that a deep run in the Bellagio Cup V would come at the right time: “I got deep in the $40K and will hopefully get deep in this as well to make a run right when I sign.”

Torelli may be a part of the weekly Bounty tournament on Doyle’s Room. The $27 buy-in contest features $500 celebrity and pro bounties and over $25,000 in prizes are up for grabs. The site’s namesake and his family also compete in the Beat the Brunsons $100,000 Bounty Challenge, in which the site notes that you can “take on the first family of poker in the tournament where everyone’s a bounty for only $10+1.” Both tournaments, which are run weekly, are currently on hiatus for the 2009 WSOP.

Torelli finished as the runner-up to Kenny Tran in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em during the 2008 WSOP. The second place effort earned him $336,000. All told, he has well over $716,000 to his name from WSOP tournaments. In October, Torelli won a $5,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the Festa al Lago for $120,000. He defeated Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little heads-up in a final table that also featured Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Ultimate Bet Star Player Michael Binger, Amnon Filippi, and Toto Leonidas. In 2006, Torelli took eighth place in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $39,000.

According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide with a seven day running average of 1,480 real money ring game players. Besides Doyle’s Room and the Network’s namesake, other sites in the Cake Poker family include Lock Poker, Players Only, Poker Host, and Red Star Poker. Doyle’s Room jumped to the Cake Poker Network from Microgaming earlier this year and now proudly accepts players from the United States.

Torelli will be in prestigious company on Doyle’s Room, where he’ll join personalities like Doyle, his son Todd Brunson, and the “Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro. Brunson owns 10 WSOP bracelets, good for the second most all-time to Phil Hellmuth’s 11. Brunson is arguably the most recognizable face in the industry and won the WSOP Main Event in 1976 and 1977. His most recent piece of hardware came by virtue of winning a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event during the 2005 WSOP for $367,000, defeating Minh Ly heads-up.

Harrah’s releases 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit schedule

In addition, Harrah's has introduced a new stop at Harrah's St. Louis to be held in April, 2010.

All told, eleven casinos will play host to WSOPC events, with buy-ins ranging from $200 to $5,000.

"World Series of Poker Circuit events are a great way to gain live tournament experience, get a feel for what the World Series of Poker is all about and have a lot of fun," said WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.

The Circuit features No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, Ladies' and Turbo events to complement its $5,000 NLHE main events.

Each tournament winner is awarded a gold World Series of Poker Circuit ring.

In the 2008-2009 season, main event champions included Steve Billirakis (Horseshoe Hammond), Michael Binger (Lake Tahoe) and Justin Bonomo (Las Vegas).

The full schedule is as follows:

2009-2010 WSOP Circuit Event Schedule Announced

Eleven stops will take place as part of the 2009-2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit, announced by Harrah’s officials on Friday. The festivities will head to Harrah’s St. Louis for the first time.

Not every poker player can make the trek to Las Vegas for the world’s richest tournament series. Consequently, a WSOP Circuit Event brings the excitement of big buy-in events to Harrah’s-owned casinos around the United States. David Norton, Chief Marketing Officer of Harrah’s Entertainment, commented in a press release, “WSOP Circuit Events are a great way to welcome new guests to Harrah’s properties around the country. Whether you are a new player or a casino regular, you will find a great playing experience.”

While WSOP events in Las Vegas dish out gold bracelets to winners, Circuit Events award a prestigious gold ring to each champion. Preliminary tournaments are held along with a $5,000 buy-in Main Event, half of what the championship contest in Las Vegas costs to enter each year. While the schedule for each stop has not yet been formally released, look for the WSOP Circuit to traverse the United States as follows over the next year:

October 16th through October 25th, 2009
Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago)
Reigning Champion: Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis

October 23rd through November 2nd, 2009
Horseshoe Southern Indiana (Louisville)
Reigning Champion: Samuel Oberlin

November 5th through November 15th, 2009
Harvey’s Lake Tahoe
Reigning Champion: Michael Binger

December 4th through December 20th, 2009
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Reigning Champion: Brent Roberts

January 20th through February 11th, 2010
Harrah’s Tunica (Memphis)
Reigning Champion: Kai Landry

February 18th through March 2nd, 2010
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Reigning Champion: Jesse Hale

March 3rd through March 14th, 2010
Caesars Atlantic City
Reigning Champion: Samuel Chartier

March 18th through March 31st, 2010
Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego)
Reigning Champion: Dwyte Pilgrim

April 1st through April 14th, 2010
Harrah’s St. Louis
Reigning Champion: New Event

April 14th through April 30th, 2010
Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Reigning Champion: Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo

May 7th through May 19th, 2010
Harrah’s New Orleans
Reigning Champion: Jean “Prince” Gaspard

The 2008-2009 schedule featured 10 stops in largely the same order as they appear on the new slate of events. The brand new St. Louis tournament series fills a gap in time that previously existed between Harrah’s Rincon and Caesars Palace. In addition, the Circuit stops in Hammond and Southern Indiana will overlap. The venues are separated by more than 250 miles of Interstate 65, which traverses Indiana from Louisville to Chicago.

The addition of a stop in St. Louis for the WSOP Circuit mirrors a similar move by the World Poker Tour (WPT), which dropped its North American Poker Championship and Foxwoods Poker Classic for Season 8 in favor of an event at Hollywood Casino outside of Cincinnati in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The venue will be the first riverboat property to host a WPT event and provides a convenient destination for poker players from around the Midwest. The Hollywood Poker Open will take place from March 20th to 24th.

Buy-ins for preliminary tournaments held during Circuit Events typically begin around $250, allowing the area’s poker pros and amateurs alike ample options to try their hand at the Great American Pastime. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack commented in a press release, “World Series of Poker Circuit Events are a great way to gain live tournament experience, get a feel for what the World Series of Poker is all about, and have a lot of fun. Every stop on the WSOP Circuit has a local flair and provides a best in class poker-playing experience.”

The 2009 WSOP Main Event enters Day 4 on Saturday. A total of 810 players remain, with Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier dominating the field. The two-time WPT event winner holds 1.4 million chips, well ahead of Ludovic Lacay’s second place stack of 896,000.

WSOP 2009 by the numbers

First, Brock Parker (infamous on PokerStars under the handle t_soprano) won a pair by taking down bracelets in back-to-back six-handed Hold'em events.

After winning his first bracelet of 2009, Phil Ivey shocked the poker world by claiming he would win a second in under two weeks. He accepted any bet players were willing to throw at him then made good on his claim, winning his second just 10 days after the first.

If you hadn't heard the name Lisandro before the 2009 WSOP, you've heard it now. Not only was Jeffrey "The Stud King" Lisandro the third player to win a second bracelet in 2009, he became the first to win a third. All three of his bracelets have come from 7-Card variations.

Finally, the latest player to double down was Full Tilt Pro Greg "FBT" Mueller. Mueller, whose nickname is an acronym for "Full Blown Tilt," has managed to keep his tilt under control, making 2009 the year he won both his first and second WSOP bracelets.

The Dominance of the U.S and A

When it comes to the race for bracelets by country, the USA has absolutely decimated the rest of the globe. With 33 won so far, the USA has almost double the number of bracelets than the rest of the world combined.

Note: Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans.

Year of the Pro

Most likely due to the increased starting stack sizes and added blind levels, 2009 has seen the poker professionals dominating over the amateurs. Out of the 51 bracelets awarded this year, 37 have been won by professionals and 7 by semi-professionals.

More WSOP 2009 By the Numbers (Note: all following stats exclude event #49):

Most Cashes:

Most Final Table Appearances:

Most Events Played:

Another $1,500 WSOP event, another sellout

"There are a large number of skilled players out there these days, especially in No-Limit Hold'em but in events like these $1,500s or the Main Event there is an overwhelming amount of amateur players," said Binger.

So far the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em events have been responsible for bringing a total of 16,994 to the 2009 WSOP and awarding close to $20 million in prize money.

Today is the third time this summer that a $1,500 event has sold out. For many players the $1,500 events are the cheapest way to a WSOP bracelet, outside of the $1,000 Stimulus Event that may, or may not, return next year.

Shortly after the sellout was announced WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack asked poker fans over twitter if events at the WSOP should be allowed to sell out or if the sell-outs conflict with the WSOP brand promise.

Although the fields in $1,500 events are usually amateur-heavy there were a number of pros that bought into today's event including Binger, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Katja Thater, David Daneshgar, Kevin Saul, J.C. Tran, Noeh Boeken and Isaac Haxton.

There is still one $1,500 yet to be played at the 2009 WSOP and it will kick off at 12 p.m. on June 29 with the Main Event starting shortly after that on July 3. Early registration is recommended as this will likely be another sell-out event.

Cantu, Jacob fall short in WSOP donkament

Foley defeated Cantu to earn his first WSOP bracelet and $657,969 after a heads-up match that saw the Michigan-based Chrysler employee narrowly avoid defeat on numerous occasions.

Cantu entered heads-up play with a 7:5 chip lead and had his second WSOP bracelet in his grasp after getting Foley all-in with A-7 against his own A-Q.

But the board brought two pair and both players settled for a chop.

A few hands later, Foley would double up with a textbook re-suck, turning a set of tens after Cantu had flopped a pair of kings with K-9.

Cantu started out the final table sixth in chips, but told PokerListings he would have liked to have closed out with a win.

"I was one of the bottom stacks, so I mean I guess you're glad from the beginning standpoint, but in the end I had some amazing opportunities," he said.

Earlier in the evening, Foley was the architect of Jacob's demise, doubling through the 2006 USPC champ after waking up with pocket jacks in the big blind to counter Jacob's resteal with A-3 in the small.

Jacob, who had held a commanding chip lead with four players remaining, would flame out shortly thereafter and had to settle for the $190,857 in fourth-place money.

"Alex is a really good player," Cantu said. "It was tough all day. I felt I had to switch gears a lot."

Despite the disappointing result, Cantu could look on the bright side as he collected his $403,951 reward.

"The Series is good now," he said. "It will be a winning Series no matter what happens the rest of the way.

"It just sucks that I was that close."

Here's how the rest of the day played out at the World Series of Poker:

Event 40 - $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha

Matt Graham defeated Vitaly Lunkin in heads-up play to claim his second WSOP bracelet and $679,379 in prize money.

Graham bested a final table that included elusive $5k PLO champ Richard Austin, as well as $5k finalist Van Marcus and poker pros Josh Arieh and Barry Greenstein.

Check out the final table recap here.

Event 41 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout

Round 2 of the $5k NLHE Shootout played down to a five-handed final table, with Danny Wong headlining a final contingent that also includes European Poker Tour regular Nasr El Nasr.

El Nasr had the toughest task on Day 2, defeating a final table that included the likes of Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman and Barny Boatman, the latter of whom he beat in heads-up play to clinch his final table seat.

The final table will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Event 42 - $2,500 Mixed

The $2,500 Eight-Game tournament played down to a final contingent of fourteen players.

Jonathan Turner is chipleader, with Layne Flack, Dario Alioto, Rami Boukai, Blair Rodman and Jimmy Fricke among a star-studded list of survivors.

Among those to succumb in Day 2 action were Michael Binger, Yuval Bronshtein and Andy Black.

The field will return at 2 p.m. Tuesday and play down to a champion.

Event 43 - $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em

A total of 2,707 players "of a certain age" (that's 50-plus) ponied up the thousand bucks to take part in the Seniors Event, creating a prize pool worth $2,463,700.

By day's end only 402 players remained, including chipleader Chuck Simon, Berry Johnston and Barbara Enright.

Action resumes at 2 p.m. Tuesday for Day 2.

Event 44 - $2,500 Razz

Three-hundred and fifteen players bought in to the $2,500 Razz event and by the end of Day 1 a total of 122 were left standing.

Ville Wahlbeck and John Juanda hold the big stacks, with Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson and blogger Mickey "The Hickey" Doft also making it through.

The field will return at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Check out the PokerListings 2009 WSOP section for more coverage from the tournament floor at the Rio.