Poker News

Online Poker Community Donates $1.5 Million to Haiti Earthquake Survivors

The online poker community has raised $1.5 million for victims of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti earlier this month, according to a press release distributed by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

Full Tilt Poker saw 22,785 donations come in from concerned members of the industry for total donations of $293,211. In a gracious showing, the world’s second largest online poker site doubled contributions from its patrons for a total donation of $586,423, or over one-third of the figure cited by the PPA. Aid for Haiti play and no-play tournaments were held on Full Tilt Poker and a special user account was created to accept incoming transfers benefiting the relief efforts.

As expected, PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato, a former three-term Republican Senator from New York, was elated to see the giving mood of the online poker community. In a press release distributed by the lobbying organization this week, D’Amato commented, “Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution. The generosity online poker players are showing makes me even more proud to be part of this community.”

PPA Executive Director John Pappas echoed D’Amato’s sentiments in an interview with the online poker forum PocketFives.com, calling the massive effort “a tribute to the generosity of the poker community.” Pappas added that the seven-digit donation mark does not include private contributions made by poker pros and other members of the industry to organizations like the Red Cross and UNICEF, which hit the ground in Haiti shortly after the epic January 12th tremor.

The PPA revealed that 50,000 online poker players have donated a total of $760,000, an average of about $15 each. With online poker sites matching the funds dollar-for-dollar, the total amount generated surpasses $1.5 million. On PokerStars, donations are being accepted until January 31st at Noon ET. No-play Haiti Earthquake Relief tournaments have buy-ins ranging from $1 to $1,000. Text found on PokerStars’ website succinctly explains, “You will not need to play an actual tournament; instead, all of the 'entry fees' go straight to the fund.”

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, also created a special player account called “Haiti Fund.” Users can transfer funds to the account and PokerStars will match all money raised for the relief effort. The website, which has campaigned for a variety of charitable causes like Ante Up for Africa over the years, reminded its clientele, “PokerStars has been quick to facilitate this after previous disasters, and once again it is giving you an easy way to donate cash.”

Meanwhile, Cake Poker, a USA-friendly site that features Lee Jones as its Poker Room Manager, is taking donations until Midnight ET on January 31st. Five “holding tanks” were created for players to donate to the cause in $5, $25, $100, $200, and $500 increments. Past charity efforts by Cake Poker include involvement in the Aces and Angels Celebrity Poker Tournament and Oregon’s West Side Poker Club.

Other sites, including RedKings, UB.com, Absolute Poker, and DoylesRoom held poker tournaments last week to raise money for the cause. On the CEREUS Network, 717 players turned out for a $5 rebuy benefiting earthquake victims. In addition, customers on the Network’s two sites, UB.com and Absolute Poker, can donate their player points in each room’s store. On DoylesRoom, a special Haiti Bounty saw Academy Award nominee Mickey Rourke hit the felts.

A magnitude 5.9 aftershock hit Haiti shortly after and the Red Cross noted that three million people may have been affected. We’d like to salute members of the poker community who donated.

Poker News in Brief: Jan. 11-17, 2010

But there was plenty of poker news that didn’t make the front page of PokerListings.com, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we’ve compiled a list below.

This week we’ll take a look at Gavin Smith crushing Canadian tournaments, the HPT going to Vegas, a dominant online player quitting poker and more:

Two Final Tables for Smith at Fallsview

Canadian Gavin Smith was dominant at the 2010 Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls this week.

Fresh off a plane from the Bahamas, Smith outlasted 275 players to win $188,743 in the $2,500 event and then three days later finished fourth in the $5,000 main event.

Smith has historically done very well at tournaments in Canada. In 2008, he finished second at the Fallsview-hosted WPT North American Poker Championship for $542,129. He also made the final table of the 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship in Calgary the same year.

Heartland Poker Tour Heads to Vegas

The Heartland Poker Tour kicked off its sixth season at Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this week.

It was just the second time the lower buy-in poker tour has made a stop in Las Vegas, as it usually sticks to venues in Midwest. In the past, the tour has hosted tournaments in Indiana, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Michigan and Iowa.

The $1,100 buy-in event drew poker pros Dennis Phillips, Layne Flack, John Vorhaus and Tiffany Michelle.

The final table of the tournament is scheduled to play out later today.

Jonas "Nebuchad" Danielsson Quits Poker

Online grinder Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson, perhaps most well-known for making a verbal slip at the 2008 Scandinavian Poker Awards, has apparently decided to leave poker for the time being.

Danielsson made the announcement on his blog where he wrote that his passion for poker was gone and he was looking forward to experiencing new things. He did not mention how long his self-imposed retirement would last.

The young Swedish pro started playing poker full time in 2005 and in roughly five years of playing made over $3 million in profit.

Danielsson won Online Player of the Year at the Scandinavian Poker Awards in 2008, but was better remembered for accidentally referring to King Nebuchadnezzar as the first king to “deal with the Jewish problem” when explaining the origin of his screen name to host Daniel Negreanu.

English is not Danielson’s first language and he explained afterwards he was deeply sorry about the miscommunication.

Tennis Star John Isner Plays Poker

Apparently Boris Becker isn’t the only tennis celebrity that enjoys playing a little poker.

The New Zealand Herald reported this week that American John Isner can often be found at the poker table when he’s not playing tennis.

The 6’9 giant was making headlines all week in Auckland at the Heineken Open and even pulled off an upset against top seeded Spanish player Tommy Robredo.

Isner joins the aforementioned Becker as well as former tennis world #1 Yvegeny Kafelnikov as tennis players who are also poker enthusiasts.

Borgata Announces 2010 Winter Poker Open

The Borgata in Atlantic City released a schedule for its fifth annual Borgata Winter Poker Open this week.

The tournament series will take place Jan. 20-Feb. 5 with 16 events in a wide range of poker variants including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and more.

The $3,500 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 5 and it will offer a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million.

The Borgata Winter Open used to be a part of the World Poker Tour and in the past crowned champions like Michael Mizrachi, Gavin Griffin and John Hennigan.

Visit the Borgata website for the complete schedule.

Poker News in Brief: Jan. 11-17, 2010

But there was plenty of poker news that didn’t make the front page of PokerListings.com, and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we’ve compiled a list below.

This week we’ll take a look at Gavin Smith crushing Canadian tournaments, the HPT going to Vegas, a dominant online player quitting poker and more:

Two Final Tables for Smith at Fallsview

Canadian Gavin Smith was dominant at the 2010 Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls this week.

Fresh off a plane from the Bahamas, Smith outlasted 275 players to win $188,743 in the $2,500 event and then three days later finished fourth in the $5,000 main event.

Smith has historically done very well at tournaments in Canada. In 2008, he finished second at the Fallsview-hosted WPT North American Poker Championship for $542,129. He also made the final table of the 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship in Calgary the same year.

Heartland Poker Tour Heads to Vegas

The Heartland Poker Tour kicked off its sixth season at Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas this week.

It was just the second time the lower buy-in poker tour has made a stop in Las Vegas, as it usually sticks to venues in Midwest. In the past, the tour has hosted tournaments in Indiana, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Michigan and Iowa.

The $1,100 buy-in event drew poker pros Dennis Phillips, Layne Flack, John Vorhaus and Tiffany Michelle.

The final table of the tournament is scheduled to play out later today.

Jonas "Nebuchad" Danielsson Quits Poker

Online grinder Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson, perhaps most well-known for making a verbal slip at the 2008 Scandinavian Poker Awards, has apparently decided to leave poker for the time being.

Danielsson made the announcement on his blog where he wrote that his passion for poker was gone and he was looking forward to experiencing new things. He did not mention how long his self-imposed retirement would last.

The young Swedish pro started playing poker full time in 2005 and in roughly five years of playing made over $3 million in profit.

Danielsson won Online Player of the Year at the Scandinavian Poker Awards in 2008, but was better remembered for accidentally referring to King Nebuchadnezzar as the first king to “deal with the Jewish problem” when explaining the origin of his screen name to host Daniel Negreanu.

English is not Danielson’s first language and he explained afterwards he was deeply sorry about the miscommunication.

Tennis Star John Isner Plays Poker

Apparently Boris Becker isn’t the only tennis celebrity that enjoys playing a little poker.

The New Zealand Herald reported this week that American John Isner can often be found at the poker table when he’s not playing tennis.

The 6’9 giant was making headlines all week in Auckland at the Heineken Open and even pulled off an upset against top seeded Spanish player Tommy Robredo.

Isner joins the aforementioned Becker as well as former tennis world #1 Yvegeny Kafelnikov as tennis players who are also poker enthusiasts.

Borgata Announces 2010 Winter Poker Open

The Borgata in Atlantic City released a schedule for its fifth annual Borgata Winter Poker Open this week.

The tournament series will take place Jan. 20-Feb. 5 with 16 events in a wide range of poker variants including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and more.

The $3,500 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 5 and it will offer a guaranteed prize pool of $2 million.

The Borgata Winter Open used to be a part of the World Poker Tour and in the past crowned champions like Michael Mizrachi, Gavin Griffin and John Hennigan.

Visit the Borgata website for the complete schedule.

Begleiter Hosts Poker Benefit for Troops

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Charity Poker Tournament will take place at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York on Jan. 27.

“I feel very strongly about supporting the brave men and women who sacrifice for our nation,” said Begleiter. “This is a heartfelt cause that truly affects all of us as Americans.”

Drawing on his connections in the poker world Begleiter will have several high-profile poker players on hand including Dennis Phillips, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman and Victor Ramdin.

The winner of the charity event will receive a $10,000 seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

The buy-in is $750 although those looking to support the cause can pay $250 for spectator entry and take part in the cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment.

All proceeds will go towards the construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art facility for treating wounded soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund assists both service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty and dependents of U.S. military members that lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To learn more or register for the charity event go the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund’s website.

Begleiter Hosts Poker Benefit for Troops

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Charity Poker Tournament will take place at the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York on Jan. 27.

“I feel very strongly about supporting the brave men and women who sacrifice for our nation,” said Begleiter. “This is a heartfelt cause that truly affects all of us as Americans.”

Drawing on his connections in the poker world Begleiter will have several high-profile poker players on hand including Dennis Phillips, Kevin Schaffel, Eric Buchman and Victor Ramdin.

The winner of the charity event will receive a $10,000 seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

The buy-in is $750 although those looking to support the cause can pay $250 for spectator entry and take part in the cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment.

All proceeds will go towards the construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art facility for treating wounded soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund assists both service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty and dependents of U.S. military members that lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To learn more or register for the charity event go the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund’s website.

Gimbel Crowned Youngest PCA Champ in History

“It feels amazing,” the Jupiter, Florida resident said moments after the win. “This is what I’ve dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to win a big major tournament and luckily I accomplished it on one of my very first ones.”

There was action from the outset in Monday’s final eight with Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo giving up the chip lead when he lost a massive race holding jacks against Gimbel’s A♠ K♠.

Ty Reiman then leapfrogged Gimbel, sending 26-year-old Chicago, Illinois online pro Tom Koral to the rail in eighth when his aces held against Koral’s queens.

21-year-old New Yorker Zac Goldberg was the next to go when his pocket tens failed to hold against Aage Ravn’s A♠ Q♠.

But Ravn failed to capitalize on the University of Arizona student’s misfortune, busting sixth when the Norwegian online qualifier re-shipped with A♣ Q♣ facing a Ben Zamani push.

Gimbel went all in behind with jacks, and although Zamani flopped a set of eights to win the hand and triple up, Gimbel’s jacks held to scoop the side-pot and rail Ravn.

Zamani then ran A♦ J♦ into Barry Shulman’s A♠ K♥ and looked to be out fifth before a diamond on the flop, turn and river spared him.

Left as the short stack after the hand, Shulman doubled through Gimbel to stay alive and it was actually start-of-day-chip-leader D’Angelo who exited fifth.

The double WCOOP winner shoved with jacks against a Zamani raise and Reiman re-raise and after Zamani folded, Reiman made the call with A♠ K♥.

A king on the river sent the 24-year-old New Yorker out and suddenly Reiman had built a massive chip lead that looked insurmountable.

Play moved down to three-handed when Zamani put his tournament life on the line with A♥ T♦ against Gimbel’s 8♥ 8♣.

Gimbel flopped a set and although the 23-year-old Floridian online pro turned some outs, the river blanked to end his hopes.

Heads-up began when 2009 World Series of Poker Europe champ Barry Shulman took third place, running Q♣ T♠ into Gimbel’s A♥ 9♦ and failing to improve.

And although Reiman actually held an 11-million-chip lead with 45 million in play to start, it wasn’t long before Gimbel moved in front, catching cards and getting Reiman to pay him off.

Gimbel won every key pot heads-up until he had built a 4:1 chip lead and before long, Reiman shoved with eights and he made the call with tens.

Gimbel flopped a set and despite the fact Reiman turned one of his own, the river blanked to give Gimbel the title.

“I felt my opponents were really good,” said Gimbel, whose previous poker accoplishments include a PokerStars Sunday Million final table appearance and a win in the 2009 Florida State Poker Championships. “A lot of these players were really good, but I had a lot of confidence in myself coming into today and it really showed.

“I used to wrestle in high school and my coach always said 'envision something and it’ll come true.' Not that it’ll come true, but it’ll happen.”

After six long days of poker in the Caribbean, the last man standing from a record field of 1,529 is now hoping to make a few things happen with the massive $2.2 million first-place prize.

“I’m going through all the stuff I can buy right now,” Gimbel said. “A new car, maybe a nice apartment or a house.”

To read a full recap of Gimbel’s historic win and the entire 2010 PCA, click through to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

The Luckiest Man Alive

But his reasons extend beyond the fact he beat Daniel Negreanu heads-up in the season finale of the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge on Fox to win $1 million.

In fact, that’s just the icing on the cake.

A former Detective Sergeant with the New York Police Department, Kosowski was on the job on Sept. 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center’s twin towers came down.

These days he considers himself lucky just to be alive.

“There’s no way I should have survived that day,” he told PokerListings from Nassau, Bahamas this week where he came to play in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. “You are talking about one lucky guy. That’s the way I look at it. I’m blessed.”

The sheer force created when the South Tower came down knocked Kosowski ten feet in the air. He went missing for the next three hours.

But despite suffering numerous injuries, he picked himself up off the ground and continued to work at Ground Zero for the next three weeks.

“We knew it was going to be a bad day, a lot of identification of bodies and that kind of stuff,” he said. “But we never thought the buildings would come down.”

Suffering from Induced Asthma and various other injuries, he was forced to give up his job with the NYPD in 2004.

By 2005, online poker had become his favorite pastime.

Kosowski sat with his wife one evening watching a World Series of Poker broadcast featuring Negreanu. When he explained his desire to play against the best of the best at the WSOP, she implored him to take the game more seriously, read more books and play live more often.

She also bought him tickets to see Tony Bennett perform in Atlantic City as an anniversary gift.

On that trip, he managed to chop his first real live tournament and within days of returning home, Kosowski had a prophetic dream.

“I had a dream that I played Daniel face to face and I beat him,” he said. “I woke up and I told my wife right there I’m going to play him face to face and I’m going to beat him.

“My wife was going to take me to a psychiatrist. She thought I was losing it.”

Kosowski started playing exclusively on PokerStars in 2006 and last year, when freerolls began running for a spot in the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge, he jumped at the chance to make his dream come true.

He won an opportunity to audition for the show and was eventually flown out to Los Angeles as an alternate.   

In yet another stroke of luck, he got on the set, managed to win the elimination match and before he knew it, he was playing Negreanu heads-up with $1 million on the line.

“I just put my mind to it, got some good cards and I rolled over everybody at the table,” he explained. “Then when it came to Daniel, I just out-powered him in the final match. I got lucky and I beat him.”

With a million dollar bankroll now at his disposal, Kosowski says he has a new dream.

“My dream is to play in the World Series of Poker and I think I’m going to do that this year,” he said.

Lucky to have survived one of the greatest tragedies in American history only to go on and win $1 million on what is now the highest rated poker TV show of all time, the odds on a deep finish this summer have to be through the roof.

But Kosowski doesn’t seem to mind.

“I’m a lucky guy,” he said with a smile. “I really feel blessed.”

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast List Released, No Poker Players

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dominating Fantasy Football Week 17 with Online Poker Skills

Week 17 of the National Football League (NFL) will feature a hodgepodge of players competing for their spot on rosters in 2010. Players like Curtis Painter and Arian Foster will become household fantasy names on Sunday. How can you use your poker skills to navigate the murky waters?

Live and online poker players are top-notch when it comes to researching their competition. Ask any player in tournaments like the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and they’ll tell you that they research their foes prior to every match. Although Full Tilt Poker recently punished Brian Townsend for compiling hands Swedish poker pro Isildur1, the practice, even though it may be against the Terms and Conditions of many sites, is still somewhat commonplace.

Think about how much information exists on players. Online, sites like PokerTableRatings.com and HighStakesDB.com offer a significant amount of information on a player, including major hands played, notorious opponents, and career earnings. Behold the power of the internet, as more information than you can possibly stomach is at your fingertips. To survive Week 17 of the NFL in a one-week league or in the traditional fantasy playoffs, a bevy of research is needed.

Poker News Daily has partnered with Fantazzle.com, which specializes in one-week fantasy sports games, to bring our readers a free Week 17 contest with a $20 prize. If you win this “freeroll” and make a deposit of $50 using PayPal or a major credit card, you’ll take home five times the value of your prize. Fantazzle.com founder Ryan Parr told Poker News Daily, “Week 17 is all about strategy and skill. At a high level, any poker player thinks they have a chance of winning money. You know football, you think you know fantasy football, and you come on Fantazzle.com to win money because you’re more intelligent than the guy sitting next to you. Some days may be a little rough and some days you won’t get a feel for the guys you’re playing against.”

Fantazzle.com offers football, baseball, racing, golf, hockey, and basketball. The latter two sports are just getting into full swing, so even as the football season winds down, there’s still plenty of fantasy action to be had. Baseball is the second most popular fantasy sport behind football and its season kicks off in April.

If you think Week 17 in the NFL is a breeze to navigate, think again. In Week 16, the Indianapolis Colts, gunning for an undefeated season, pulled their starters in the third quarter and, as a result, were thumped 29-15 by the New York Jets and handed their first loss of the season. Fantasy managers who had their seasons riding on players like Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark instead watched Donald Brown and Joseph Addai scamper for touchdowns and Painter throw a pick-six. Clark had four grabs for 57 yards, while Wayne had a paltry three catches for 33 yards.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears versus Minnesota Vikings game turned out to be the shootout of the week, as the Bears won 36-30 in overtime. Minnesota had given up more than 30 points just once all season. Chicago quarterback and Vanderbilt University graduate Jay Cutler threw for four touchdowns for just his second multi-touchdown performance since Week 9. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who leads all tailbacks in fumbles with six, coughed the ball up in overtime to set up the game-winning score. If you think you know what’s going to happen on the field, think again.

Put those researching skills to the test. Who will dominate Week 17 in the NFL? Will the Colts, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals rest their starters? Poker players should head to Fantazzle.com and give it a shot.

Mike Kosowski Beats Negreanu, Wins the Million Dollar Challenge!

The million dollar prize money didn’t come easily for Mike Kosowski ,53,, a former policeman from New York City who was severely injured on 9/11, as he had to beat Father Andrew Trapp, Iraq war veteran Denny Luna, and liquor salesman Brian Barboza in the Challenge of Champions, and finally Daniel Negreanu in a heads up.

Kosowski (pictured in the middle celebrating), who was trapped with eight other people in WTC’s south tower when it collapsed, knows how lucky he was to survive that day.

“I was one of the luckiest guys in the world to survive that day. And now this.”

Kosowski was forced to retire from the police forces due to the injuries he suffered and he started playing online poker. He had only played poker a few times before he was injured, but after the injury he started to play up to six hours of poker in a day.

In the Challenge of Champions, Kosowski, who had already busted Luna out of the tournament, had to hit an one-outer to eliminate Barboza in third place. The Catholic priest Trapp couldn’t stop Kosowski either and the heads up between the poker pro and the NYC cop was set.

The luck was on his side again in the heads up, as Kosowski found just the right cards in right places. On the final hand Kosowski found himself in a very bad spot on the flop after calling a preflop all-in push from Negreanu with 5-7 against K-4 of the Canadian. The flop came K-9-6 and Kosowski was in a need of a miracle. A miraculous eight, the new lucky number of Kosowski, hit on the river making Kosowski a happy millionaire.

After the successful first season of the TV show, a new season has already announced and qualifiers for season 2 are already running at PokerStars.

Sources PND, NYDN

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Mike Kosowski Beats Negreanu, Wins the Million Dollar Challenge!

Mike Kosowski Beats Negreanu, Wins the Million Dollar Challenge!

The million dollar prize money didn’t come easily for Mike Kosowski ,53,, a former policeman from New York City who was severely injured on 9/11, as he had to beat Father Andrew Trapp, Iraq war veteran Denny Luna, and liquor salesman Brian Barboza in the Challenge of Champions, and finally Daniel Negreanu in a heads up.

Kosowski (pictured in the middle celebrating), who was trapped with eight other people in WTC’s south tower when it collapsed, knows how lucky he was to survive that day.

“I was one of the luckiest guys in the world to survive that day. And now this.”

Kosowski was forced to retire from the police forces due to the injuries he suffered and he started playing online poker. He had only played poker a few times before he was injured, but after the injury he started to play up to six hours of poker in a day.

In the Challenge of Champions, Kosowski, who had already busted Luna out of the tournament, had to hit an one-outer to eliminate Barboza in third place. The Catholic priest Trapp couldn’t stop Kosowski either and the heads up between the poker pro and the NYC cop was set.

The luck was on his side again in the heads up, as Kosowski found just the right cards in right places. On the final hand Kosowski found himself in a very bad spot on the flop after calling a preflop all-in push from Negreanu with 5-7 against K-4 of the Canadian. The flop came K-9-6 and Kosowski was in a need of a miracle. A miraculous eight, the new lucky number of Kosowski, hit on the river making Kosowski a happy millionaire.

After the successful first season of the TV show, a new season has already announced and qualifiers for season 2 are already running at PokerStars.

Sources PND, NYDN

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Mike Kosowski Beats Negreanu, Wins the Million Dollar Challenge!

Mike Kosowski Wins PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge

Mike Kosowski, a first responder on September 11th, 2001, took down the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” final table, defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up and winning the $1 million grand prize.

The season finale does not air until this Sunday, December 27th, but the final results were leaked to the New York Post and confirmed independently by Poker News Daily. Kosowski, who is 53 years old, was trounced by model Joanna Krupa on the December 13th installment of the poker game show, ultimately falling with 6-9 against Q-J when he was running low on chips. Kosowski won a four-man single-table satellite to the finale after filming of the fourth show was completed.

A representative of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” told Poker News Daily via e-mail, “The biggest winner from every show got a seat. Since everyone on show four got knocked out in the first round, they played a consolation sit and go among the four contestants (two who made air, two who didn’t) to determine who would fill the final seat in the sit and go.” Kosowski emerged as the champion and went on to play against three other show winners for the opportunity to face Negreanu heads-up for $1 million.

According to the Post, Kosowski was an alternate to appear on the show in the first place and competed on his wedding anniversary. His wife was present at the taping, cheering the somewhat timid firefighter on. With his winnings, Kosowski told the Post that he would pay off his mortgage and donate a portion to an unnamed charity. Poker News Daily has arranged an interview with the game show’s winner on Monday afternoon, six days before the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” Season 1 finale airs on FOX.

Season 2 of the show has already been green-lighted and any applications submitted after the Season 1 deadline will roll over to the new installment. Text found on PokerStars’ official website triumphantly declares, “Season 2 is on the cards! After the unprecedented success of our TV show, the powers that be have declared we will film a second season of the Million Dollar Challenge. Which means we’ll need more contestants - so more freerolls and more auditions. Stay tuned for further details.” The franchise went head-to-head with NBC’s “Face the Ace,” sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, a series that received lackluster reception and ratings.

The “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” premiered on October 11th, with Father Andrew Trapp taking home $100,000 and a chance to face the other show’s survivors for a shot heads-up against Negreanu. Trapp, a preacher from South Carolina, made waves as a religious figure competing on a poker game show. Celebrities like Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Tito Ortiz, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole took to the stage to play contestants in the first round, with Negreanu seated alongside for advice and moral support.

If the challengers could make it past the PokerStars-sponsored celebrities, they’d face off against pros of the site in the second round. Those who appeared included GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso, 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, and PokerRoad’s Barry Greenstein. Beat a pro and contestants moved on to face Negreanu heads-up for $100,000 and a seat at the Table of Champions, which will air on Sunday.

The “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” will air following NFL on FOX coverage on Sunday, which is football’s next-to-last week of the season. Viewers are advised to check their local listings for station and airtime information.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for an interview with Kosowski and a complete recap of the final episode of the season.

Applying Online Poker Skills to One-Week Fantasy Football Leagues

We’re in the midst of the fantasy football playoffs in many leagues and, with some managers not a part of the post-season, the popularity of one-week contests has ballooned. Online poker players, in particular, should be quite successful in these games.

Fantazzle.com has partnered with Poker News Daily to help our readers enter the world of one-week fantasy games and put their online poker skills to the test. Most weekly fantasy sites, in fact, have online draft lobbies that look nearly identical to the ones you’d find on your favorite poker room, showing the maximum capacity and number of players already registered. Familiar buy-ins like $5, $10, and $20 parallel sit and gos nicely, especially as it relates to understanding payouts and rake.

At Fantazzle.com, two different types of one-week fantasy sports leagues exist. The first is a salary cap format whereby each manager receives a set number of dollars with which to buy players. How does this relate to poker, you ask? In poker, you have to be able to spot value and weakness in opponents. In fantasy football, it’s the same way. If Jamaal Charles (RB - Kansas City Chiefs) is going for only $30,000 and plays the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, he might be a better one-time play than DeAngelo Williams (RB – Carolina Panthers), who might have a price three times larger and also has a tougher match-up in the Minnesota Vikings, one of the league’s top run defenses.

In poker, it’s all about spotting value. Knowing when you can profitably make a play at a pot is key, as is mathematically understanding whether a play is in line with expected value. Being able to spot value in tournament registrations, such as overlays, is also extremely important. If a tournament like the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed has a perennial overlay, knowing this information and then registering for it increases your value in an event. In fantasy drafts, understanding value in the middle and late rounds is especially vital to your success.

Fantasy football is really all about exploiting match-ups. Who plays who typically pre-destines success or failure in a given week. If your fantasy players face off against the likes of Detroit, Oakland, and Seattle, then chances are you’ll be flying high. However, if your quarterbacks are locked down against teams like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or the New York Giants, then look out. In one-week drafts like those you’ll find on Fantazzle.com, understanding the match-ups and compiling your team accordingly is what determines your relative success. In poker, some of the top players in the world are heads-up specialists, capitalizing on their skill relative to others in order to make a living.

Fantazzle.com has been in business since 2008 and its owner, Ryan Parr, told Poker News Daily, “You will be assigned to a group of people. You don’t have to wait around for others to come.” Unlike a poker sit and go, you won’t have to stand by until a table fills up to play. As soon as it’s game time each week, you’re off to the races. While many fantasy football managers are currently shut out of the playoffs, at Fantazzle.com, everyone is able to participate. Metaphorically, all you need is a chip and a chair.

Online poker sites are all about building credibility. Using names like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu to sell a site’s viability results in players swarming the online poker room left and right. At Fantazzle.com, the New York Giants’ Steve Smith foots the bill, as the wide receiver is lending his autograph to tournament winners each week. Smith leads the Giants in receiving yards and receptions by a large margin and has found the end zone five times in 2009, tied for the second most on the team.

Visit Fantazzle.com today and put your online poker skills to good use!

2009 World Poker Tour Year in Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2009 WSOP Year in Review

When the late gaming legend Benny Binion brought the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on the world, little did he know what it would become. What began 40 years ago as a gathering of Texas road gamblers in a quaint Las Vegas hotel has grown to become a behemoth that now spans an entire calendar year. By 2009, the WSOP was no longer a week-long reunion, but rather a year-long caravan that traverses the United States and ventures across the Atlantic to play in England.

While many may still think the WSOP begins in June, it truly takes place year-round with the WSOP Circuit. Now in its fifth year, the WSOP Circuit was created to combat the drawing power and success of the World Poker Tour (WPT) and, for the most part, has been successful. In 2009, many Circuit events took place that brought special moments.

The WSOP Circuit could be considered the minor leagues of poker, offering previously unknown players a chance to make their name in the game. In addition, such professional players as Gavin Smith, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Matt “All In At 420” Stout, and Alex Bolotin made final tables during the run of the 2009 WSOP Circuit schedule prior to the start of the Las Vegas WSOP in May. Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo and Los Angeles poker veteran Jean “Prince” Gaspard took home WSOP Circuit championships, but perhaps the person who can say he “pwns” the Circuit is Dwyte Pilgrim.

Pilgrim began an unprecedented run by capturing the title at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego in April and rolled off four consecutive cashes in WSOP Circuit Championship Events, something that no other player had ever done. With this performance, the Brooklyn, New York poker player established himself as one of the up and coming stars of poker.

Days after Gaspard’s triumph at the New Orleans WSOP Circuit Championship Event, the 40th Anniversary WSOP kicked off in Las Vegas at the Rio. With a new sponsor in Jack Links Beef Jerky, the 57 bracelet events drew combatants from around the world, with over 120 nations represented. While it wasn’t known when the cards first flew in late May, the 40th WSOP would go down as arguably one of the best of all time.

For the first time ever at the WSOP, a No Limit Texas Hold’em event was held that exceeded the traditional $10,000 Championship Event. The $40,000 Anniversary Special drew some of the top names in the game. Former World Champion Greg Raymer drove deep into the event before falling in third place. Eventual champion Vitaly Lunkin bested Isaac Haxton to take down the once in a lifetime championship.

In such a combative field over the multitude of events, there were an astounding four multiple bracelet winners during the 2009 WSOP. Full Tilt Poker could claim two in Phil Ivey and Greg “FBT” Mueller and Brock Parker announced his arrival on the poker world with his two bracelet victories. Making history, though, was poker veteran Jeffrey Lisandro; his three bracelet wins in different Stud disciplines were enough to enable him to capture the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year award.

The $10,000 Main Event drew a substantial field of 6,494, which would have been larger except for a Day 1D fiasco that prevented an estimated additional 500 players from participating. After two weeks of play, the poker world was once again set for the November Nine, with amateur poker player Darvin Moon leading a pack of players that included Ivey and fellow poker notable Jeff Shulman.

The £10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event drew 334 players and saw two members of the 2009 “November Nine,” Antoine Saout and James Akenhead, make the final table. Eventual champion Barry Shulman, the father of Jeff, defeated crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu via a stunning, rivered two-outer on the next to last hand of the tournament.

After the furor of WSOP Europe calmed down, the November Nine came back to the felt on November 7th to determine the next World Champion. Moon held his own at the final table, as Ivey was dismissed in seventh and Shulman departed in fifth. Saout made a stirring run at the title, starting as the short stack, but battling through adversity to finish third. The true story of the November Nine, though, was Joe Cada.

Cada rode a roller coaster through the final table, his chip stack surging up and down throughout the 14-hour battle. At one point, his stack was at 2.5 million, but he began a comeback for the ages.

With a tremendous chip lead, the youthful Cada, who was weaned on online play, seemed to be the odds-on favorite to take out Moon, who eschewed sponsorship from online poker rooms. It took a rousing two and a half hours of play, with the chip lead shifting back and forth, before Cada emerged as the champion. With the victory, Cada eclipsed the record for youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever, set in 2008 by Peter Eastgate.

The most stunning development of the year in the WSOP occurred after the completion of the November Nine. Longtime WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack announced on November 13th that he would step down as the leader of the penultimate event in poker after a four-year run. During his time as Commissioner, Pollack increased the visibility of the WSOP, brought huge sponsorships to the tournament, and introduced the November Nine concept to the Main Event. While there were some low points in his tenure as commissioner, Pollack helped to enrich the history of the WSOP and left his mark on the venerable institution. As of December, there has been no move to replace Pollack in the position of WSOP Commissioner.

As the calendar turns to 2010, the WSOP continues to roll along. Even now, people are already in preparation for the event, much as it has been for the past 40 years and will continue to be for decades to come.

Poker2Nite Recaps UIGEA Compliance Delay

The six-month delay in compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was featured on Wednesday night’s episode of the UB-sponsored poker news show Poker2Nite.

The series, hosted by PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok and Scott Huff, opened with a discussion of the reprieve until June 1st, with the former explaining, “I don’t think we should start lying to ourselves and telling ourselves that all of the sites are going to start popping up. All this did is maintain the status quo.” Huff added, “The only way this was going to occur was if the message was being heard by more and more people.” Horse racing interests, members of Congress, and banking associations joined forces with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) to petition U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a delay, which was granted last week.

A trip to a poker home game in Los Angeles revealed that few people understood what the PPA or UIGEA were. The segment served as a lead-in to an appearance via Skype by PPA Executive Director John Pappas, who told Huff and Sebok, “It gives us six months to work with Congress to try to clarify the law so it won’t affect people who want to play poker in the internet… What we’ve done is put the onus back on Congress. We’ll be pushing Congress to move quickly.” He ardently told Poker2Nite viewers who question the legality of online poker, “There is no Federal law that says playing online poker is illegal.”

Dana Workman’s “Weekly Misdeal” came with a sponsorship from Bluff Magazine this week. Her satirical news segment focused on the arrests of 75 to 85 year-old women in Cypress for playing poker as well as a new Irishman signing with PokerStars. She also took a shot at California State Senator Margarita Prentice, who is considering proposing a new video keno bill after serving as a major proponent of a law that made playing online poker in the Northwest state a Class C felony. Finally, Workman recapped the ESPN: The Magazine Body Issue featuring four nude poker players, including UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth.

A new segment called “All in Blind” featured six topics sealed in white envelopes. Both Sebok and Huff had no idea what they were and the duo selected three to discuss. Up for debate first was whether 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon’s appearance on ESPN’s Monday Night Football or the 16-0 New England Patriots team was better. Huff chose Moon because “he actually got something,” while Sebok selected the Pats because “they got a little bit of history.” The Patriots lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

The second topic discussed on the Poker2Nite “All in Blind” segment was innerpsy’s short-lived online poker record of 40,088 hands played in a 24-hour period. Finally, Huff and Sebok debated whether they preferred James McManus’ poker history tale “Cowboys Full” or Doyle Brunson’s new autobiography “The Godfather of Poker.” Huff resoundingly selected McManus: “The New York Times says it’s good, so it’s good enough for me.” Contrastingly, Sebok emphatically chose Brunson, the figurehead for the poker industry..

Finally, the Poker2Nite Dictionary came to life. The show’s hosts discussed the meaning of “stacks ‘em off,” which translates to “to bust someone, or knock them out,” and “button,” which originally used to be called the “buck.” Huff claimed that phrases like “Pass the buck” President Harry Truman’s “The buck stops here” originated in poker.

Poker2Nite’s air time varies by market, but according to UB.com, the series begins at 11:00pm ET each Wednesday. When Poker News Daily caught the show, it was scheduled for 1:00am ET. Repeats are available on Fox Sports Net on Thursdays at 4:00pm ET and Fridays at 11:00am ET and 6:00pm ET.

Visit UB.com for more information and to view online clips.

Chess Prodigy Checkmates EPT

At eight years old, Canadian Jeff Sarwer won the Under 10 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico.

By the time he was nine, he was travelling around North America taking on 40 players at a time in a series of simultaneous chess demonstrations, playing the world’s best speed chess hustlers in New York’s Washington Square and earning himself a lifetime membership in the revered Manhattan Chess Club.

He quickly became a darling of the media, was pegged by Grand Masters as a future World Champion and even became the inspiration for a character in the famed poker film Searching For Bobby Fischer.

But it all came to a crashing halt.

His father pulled him out of chess and the alternative lifestyle he had them living, including refusing to enroll Sarwer and his sister in school and having them sleep in the car as they travelled around, came under intense scrutiny.

Canadian authorities soon removed Sarwer and his sister from their father’s care, but they ran away to be reunited with him, spending the better part of the next 20 years in anonymity, traveling around Europe under a cloud of secrecy.

“I had a pretty tough childhood,” Sarwer said. “My father was quite controlling. But he was a really interesting character and there are a lot of good sides to him as well. As an adult I’ve just called it a wash and moved on with my life.”

In 2007 he resurfaced on the chess scene entering a tournament in Poland, where he now lives.

However, the 31-year-old was soon bitten by the poker bug.

“I’ve always loved poker as a game,” he said. “It has gotten so popular over the last couple of years it just finally grabbed me as well. Poker is all over TV, all my friends play. So I just figured let’s get into this, it’s a fun game.”

Sarwer read Harrington on Hold 'em by 1995 WSOP Main Event champion Dan Harrington and headed for Prague to play in the PokerStars European Poker Tour’s annual Czech Republic stop last year.

“I really knew nothing but the basics,” he said. “But I did manage to cash, so that was good for my confidence.”

The €7,000 he earned for a 54th place finish was just the start. By February of this year he had managed to make the final table at the European Masters of Poker event in Tallinn, finishing third for €29,760.

He booked a few small cashes in lower buy-in events across Europe and then this October, things really seemed to click as he absolutely dominated play at EPT Warsaw before busting tenth.

But Sarwer would not have to wait long for a real breakthrough.

Just a few weeks later he made the final table at EPT Vilamoura, finishing third for €156,170.

“I’ve developed and I think I just started to realize exactly what’s going on here,” he explained. “All I needed was a few good conversations with some really good players in order to get my game there.

“My confidence has always been up there. I believe in admitting I’m wrong when I’m wrong, but genuine confidence, I have that from chess and from life.”

When it comes to poker, it appears his chess background has given Sarwer a lot more than confidence. He believes there are several parallels between the two games.

“There are a lot of similarities and a lot of things that are different,” he said. “The things that are similar include having to pay attention, gather information and think a few moves ahead about what types of moves people will do, what your opponent is feeling and what he’s thinking. All that stuff is a little bit like chess.

“Certainly at a Master level, or a decent level of chess, there is a lot of meta game and that transfers over to poker for me.”

And while Sarwer’s poker experience is still quite limited, he has already grasped that the game is infinitely more intricate than it appears on the surface.

“In chess you can see things on the surface, look three or four moves deep, and eventually you are going to lose when someone traps you into something less obvious,” he said. “It’s the same with poker. You can just play ABC and not pay attention to what’s happening at the table and somebody is eventually going to catch you.”

While experience and a willingness to learn from others have played a big role in Sarwer’s recent success, he also attributes it to a newfound aggression.

“I’ve really opened up and become quite an aggressive player,” he said. “A lot of chess players tend to be a bit nittier and more technical. I just don’t happen to play that way right now because it’s not in my character.”

After an up and down day on the EPT Prague felt Thursday, Sarwer eventually busted, ending his string of deep finishes on the EPT.

But despite business commitments in Poland and the fact he claims he’s still just a “poker hobbyist” and not a professional player, it appears his new found love for the game will keep him coming back.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends amongst the online players,” he said. “They have that rare combination of being sharp, analytical and fun. The top poker players all seem to have that and I have a lot in common with that mindset.

“I love hanging around them. I’m nowhere near the top yet and I suppose it’s still too early to tell if I’ll make it there, but we’ll see.”

PokerStars EPT Prague continues with Day 3 Friday. For comprehensive coverage from the Czech Republic, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates.

Internet Gambling Discussed in House Financial Services Committee

On Thursday morning, the subject of internet gambling took center stage in an informative hearing in the House Financial Services Committee, Chaired by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Seven witnesses participated.

The hearing began with Frank candidly stating, “It is nice to be able to think legislatively about other things besides the financial crisis, which has consumed this Committee since September of 2008.” It was over one year ago, just before the world’s economy crumbled, that internet gambling was last discussed in the Committee. Frank added, “There are a whole range of things on the internet that we would not like underage people to use. The notion that because some people abuse something, you prevent everyone from doing it is as great of a threat to the individual as any cause I have ever seen.” He went on to cite smoking, video games, and dieting as activities that people abuse.

The Committee’s Ranking Member, Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), summed up many of the opposing arguments for legislation like HR 2266 and HR 2267. The former delays compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by one year, while the latter establishes a comprehensive framework for licensing and regulating the industry in the United States. Bachus asserted, “I believe that internet gambling is, has been, and will continue to be a substantial threat to our youth. Any economic benefits from taxing internet gambling would be more than offset by the harm it causes young people.” He then sourced a New York Times Letter to the Editor from a mother lamenting her son’s turn to internet gambling.

Bachus expressed remorse that the regulations of the UIGEA had not been fully implemented, citing last week’s six-month delay of their compliance: “These regulations should have been finalized and implemented more than two years ago. The House voted by an overwhelming number to stop illegal internet gambling. Chairman [Frank], it’s time for you, the Treasury, and the Fed to stop delaying the will of the great majority of this Congress and the American people.

Bachus noted that the Treasury and Federal Reserve, who granted the six-month compliance reprieve, should have been a part of Thursday’s witness panel. The Alabama Congressman quoted a letter from the FBI he received in November stating, “The FBI warns that technology exists to manipulate online poker games. The FBI rejects claims from vendors that they can validate age and location.” Frank retorted that he had not received a request from Bachus for the Treasury or Federal Reserve to be present, but later recanted his statement, referencing an e-mail from the Ranking Member’s staff late Tuesday afternoon. Both agreed that the Federal Reserve and Treasury should testify at a future hearing.

Seven witnesses each spoke for about five minutes, offering different viewpoints on the issue. Robert Martin, Tribal Chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, noted that tribes were not consulted in the extension of the UIGEA deadline and “By following the law, we are now facing unfair competition because of these bills. Allow the regulatory scheme [currently in place] to protect what we have built.”

Parry Aftab, Executive Director of Wired Safety, candidly explained, “It’s ironic that I am sitting here today saying that the only way to protect consumers is by legalizing it. If we don’t legalize it, we can’t regulate it.” She referenced a study by Professor Malcolm Sparrow from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, who explained, “Legalization with regulation would provide U.S. authorities the power to grant or deny licenses.” He added that HR 2267 is an “adequate framework” in which to operate.

Keith Whyte, Executive Director for the National Council on Problem Gambling, remarked, “While participation in internet gambling by U.S. residents appeared to decline after the passage of the UIEGA, we did not see a decrease in indicators of gambling problems, such as help line calls.” A chart submitted by Whyte showed that help line calls instead gradually increased every year since 2006, when the UIGEA was approved.

Jim Dowling from the Dowling Advisory Group lent his insight into fraud, money laundering, and terrorism, while Mike Brodsky, Executive Chairman of YouBet.com, discussed the presumably legal online horse racing market. The legality of online horse racing was discussed at length, with Frank noting that the Department of Justice said it was against the law in 2006. Brodsky added that 88% of online horse racing wagers are transmitted across state lines electronically, which Frank also questioned the legality of.

Also speaking was Samuel Vallandingham, Chief Information Officer and Vice President for The First State Bank in West Virginia. Interestingly, Vallandingham was the only financial services industry representative present and explained, “The added burden [of enforcing the UIGEA] would drain our resources… The law doesn’t define unlawful internet gambling. As a result, the burden rests solely on financial institutions.”

After 90 minutes, the hearing adjourned, with Frank noting that the Committee would take up the issue again in 2010. No markup vote on HR 2266 or HR 2267 was scheduled.

Party Poker’s Full House of Promotions

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Holiday Hundred from Full Tilt Poker

The holiday mood has hit Full Tilt as they offer their players a generous $100 bonus!

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Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin to Judge Miss California Teen USA

First, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso signs up to be a judge on the E! reality competition show “Bank of Hollywood.” Now, Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin is following suit and branching out, serving as a judge in the upcoming Miss California Teen USA pageant.  The event, which wraps up Sunday, will determine who will succeed reigning Miss California Teen USA Chelsea Gilligan of Beaumont.

“As a poker player, I know how fierce competition can be,” said Vengrin in a statement from Absolute Poker.  “Just like playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), these girls are in for a grueling, but fun weekend, and I’m excited to be an integral part of the experience.”

Fittingly for Vengrin, the event is taking place at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage.  The casino’s theater, called “The Show,” played host to the preliminary rounds of the competition on Saturday and the finals are taking place Sunday afternoon.  Though the completion did not get underway until this weekend, the pageant contestants have been preparing for the event for months, including an October orientation in Palm Springs and preliminary interviews at the Riviera Resort this past Friday.

According to the Miss California organization’s official website, Vengrin and the other judges will be evaluating the contestants based on their performance in the interview, evening gown, and swimsuit competitions.  The site lists judging criteria as “character, poise, confidence, and personality.”  The winner will represent the Golden State at the Miss Teen USA pageant, which will take place in the summer of 2010.  The current Miss Teen USA crown holder is Stormi Henley of Tennessee.

This latest appearance is another boon for Vengrin in what has been a landmark year for the online poker pro.  Earlier this year, he parted ways with Full Tilt Poker, which signed him to a Red Pro sponsorship agreement.  In June, news broke that Vengrin was a new spokesperson for Absolute Poker.  Other sponsored pros on the Absolute Poker roster include Lacey Jones and recently-signed “Real World: Las Vegas” alum Trishelle Cannatella.

In September, Vengrin, who plays online under the screen names “plattsburgh” and “vengmoney,” made waves in this year’s PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) by making three final tables, which was enough to tie him with WCOOP Player of the Series Dan “djk123” Kelly for most in that department.  Over the course of 2009, Vengrin has racked up more than $250,000 in online tournament winnings and recently had a deep run in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, where he finished in 27th place and won $21,327.

The New York native has had his fair share of live poker success as well, most notably a third place finish in a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Event at the 2008 WSOP.  Vengrin netted $167,973 for his finish and his lifetime live poker tournament winnings are at almost a half-million dollars.

Vengrin’s participation with the pageant is not the first time poker and beauty queens have crossed paths.  Poker players like Clonie Gowen and Tiffany Michelle are both former pageant contestants; Gowen held the title of Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma in her youth.

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

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

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

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

Man wins Ladies Championship at Lake Tahoe

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

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

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

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

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

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

More support for Frank's pro-online poker bill

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

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

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

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

Unfair outcome for Fair Poker

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

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

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

The 2009 BC Poker Championships, starring Liz Lieu, will be televised.

HeadsUp Entertainment to televise BC Poker Championships

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

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

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

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

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

Cake Poker adds players, synchronized breaks

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Sebok Tops One Million Twitter Followers

If Twitter is any indication, Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Joe Sebok (@JoeSebok) is the 177th most popular guy on the internet.  At least, that is the ranking Twitter tracking site Twitterholic gave to Sebok based on his number of followers, which now exceeds one million.

His massive and dedicated group of Twitter fans puts him on par with sports reporter Bill Simmons, the publication Newsweek, comedian Kevin Nealon, and the musician Moby in terms of popularity.  By comparison, Ashton Kutcher has the most fans with nearly four million, followed by Britney Spears and Ellen Degeneres.  Twitterers who wish they had the traffic of Sebok include Dr. Phil McGraw (175,000 followers), reality star Lauren Conrad (748,500 followers), and the NASA space program (164,000 followers).

Perhaps in a testament to the popularity of Sebok’s poker entertainment website, PokerRoad, “Poker After Dark” announcer Ali Nejad (@Ali_Nejad) is 216th on Twitterholic’s list with more than 840,000 followers.  Sebok and PokerRoad have been longtime proponents of the microblogging site.  This past summer, they launched a unique Twitter platform called PokerRoad Nation, which organized poker-related Tweets from the World Series of Poker (WSOP).  The platform sorted tweets based on events, former bracelet winners, PokerRoad family members, media members, and several other criteria, allowing followers to customize their WSOP coverage as they saw fit.  The PokerRoad Nation platform garnered both poker media and national media attention and Sebok was profiled in the New York Times for the new innovation.

Despite the extensive Twitter-related success, Sebok told Poker News Daily that he is taking the million followers in stride.  “I think that people overvalue this whole Twitter thing,” he explained.  “It’s been fun, but it is definitely not an ego boost.”

Sebok also elaborated on how he came to have such a large group of followers.  “Twitter decided to put me on their suggested users list and I’ve just been enjoying the ride…It’s been fun.”  A longtime music fan, Sebok entertains his followers with frequent album recommendations along with tweets about his antics with his friends and family, which include Gavin Smith (@olegsmith) and his father, Barry Greenstein (@barrygreenstein).

More recently, he has also posted behind the scenes photos from his own appearance on “Poker After Dark” and Greenstein’s appearance on the most recent season of “High Stakes Poker.”  On Thursday night, Sebok also documented a disastrous road trip from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with Greenstein where their truck broke down on the side of the road in the middle of the night.  Never fear, PokerRoad fans, Sebok and Greenstein made it back to Los Angeles in one piece.

Sebok had to make his way back to Los Angeles to get the last-minute details together on his latest project, the Fox Sports poker news show “Poker 2Nite.”  The show, which will be sponsored by Ultimate Bet, is set to begin airing on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET starting on November 25th.  Sebok told Poker News Daily he and co-host Scott Huff will be filming the first show on Tuesday night.  Sebok hopes that the series can capitalize on the heightened interest in poker following Joe Cada’s recent WSOP Main Event victory and become a mainstay on the cable network.

Fans will likely hear more about “Poker 2Nite” in the coming days via his Twitter, but any followers expecting some commemorative posting in honor of hitting the million-person mark shouldn’t hold their breath.  Sebok said he did not plan anything special in honor of crossing the benchmark and will continue tweeting as usual.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PND: Is his girlfriend a good influence on him?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phil Hellmuth No Shows Rio Meatball Eating Contest, Joey Chestnut Wins

One of the side events taking place during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event at the Rio was the Martorano’s Masters Meatball Eating Championship. Among those noticeably absent was Phil Hellmuth, who was booked to appear.

Play in the WSOP Main Event final table lasted until 6:00am PT on Sunday morning and with the Noon start time at the Rio’s meatball eating extravaganza, Hellmuth did not turn out as advertised by competition officials. Nevertheless, about a dozen participants and over 100 spectators were on-hand to witness the drama.

Among those in attendance was Joey Chestnut, the champion of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest three years running. Chestnut told Poker News Daily prior to the competition, “I’m definitely going to shoot for 10 pounds.”

In July of next year, Chestnut will defend his title at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York. On the some 45,000 fans that attend the festivities every year, Chestnut explained, “I’m doing it against Kobayashi. This guy is from Japan and I’m looking forward to it. Last year, I did 68 in 10 minutes and this year, I’ll be going for 70.” So how do you get 10 pounds of meatballs or 70 hot dogs digested in 10 minutes? Chestnut gave us the secret to his success: “Nobody chews more than they have to. I’m chewing just enough to swallow.” Chestnut has been a competitive eater for four and a half years and his brother turned him onto the profession.

Also in the crowd was Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” notoriety. A $3,000 cash prize was on the line, with half of that sum going to the winner. Besides Chestnut, other contestants included Rich “The Locust” LeFevre, who is 65 years-old and coming out of retirement in a Brett Favre-like saga. Playboy cover model Angelica Bridges also competed, as did Chicago native Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti and Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas. Each had 10 minutes to consume as many meatballs as possible. The only stipulations were that knives and forks had to be used and purging would result in an automatic disqualification.

Each meatball eater came out to his or her own theme music and an overly zealous host moderated the festivities. Two-pound plates of meatballs were placed in front of the competitors, hand-delivered by Martorano’s staff. The first row was dubbed the “Splash Zone,” as meatball extract and bodily fluids could easily reach the audience seated about three feet away.

Restaurant owner Steve Martorano kicked off the event saying, “Besides my kids being born and Shaquille O’Neal giving me a ring when he won a championship, this is one of the most favorite moments in my life.” The owner promptly tossed a few meatballs into the crowd and the 10-minute timer started.

If you’ve never been to a competitive eating contest, my advice is don’t eat before you watch, as the scene was a sloppy mess of spit, spaghetti sauce, and a variety of liquids ranging from water to fruit punch. Chestnut consumed four pounds of meatballs in the first four minutes to a lively soundtrack that included Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and the theme from “Rocky.” Andrew Feldman, Poker Editor for ESPN.com, watched it alongside Poker News Daily.

It was a photo finish, but in the end, Chestnut consumed six pounds and two meatballs, while Bertoletti downed six pounds and one meatball. The latter received $750 for his efforts, while Chestnut banked $1,500 and what the announcer labeled “eternal glory.” I promptly headed to the bathroom to vomit.

Next up is a press conference sponsored by DoylesRoom to announce the fifth member of the Brunson 10 at the Wynn. I suspect less gorging will be involved.

Red Sea Poker Cup 09 with Full Tilt Poker

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Televised Poker Rocks by Linda Johnson

I just returned from a wonderful nine-day Card Player Cruises trip to New England and Canada. The fall foliage was magnificent and the lobster and clams on the East Coast are much, much tastier than their counterparts on the West Coast. I also spent three nights in New York City on each end of the cruise. I’m a theater lover and managed to squeeze in seven Broadway shows. On my must-see recommendation list are Memphis, Superior Donuts, and Bye Bye Birdie.

When I get home from an extended trip, I can hardly wait to catch up on my favorite television shows. Thank goodness for Tivo! I had so many shows waiting. Choices, choices, choices! The obvious choice for the first show I watched was Survivor (I haven’t missed an episode in 19 seasons). After Survivor, the next choice was close, but I opted for the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on ESPN (Grey’s Anatomy, Dateline, 60 Minutes, Private Practice, The Good Wife, and Two and a Half Men could wait).

I found myself taking notes to share with my Wednesday Poker Discussion Group, so I will share them with the Poker News Daily readers as well. With more than 6,000 total entrants, I was surprised to learn that only 200 were women. Although women comprised fewer than 3% of the field, there still was one left when they were down to 27 players (more than 99% of the field had already been eliminated). Although I enjoyed watching Leo Margets play, I don’t understand why such a big deal is made out of the “last woman standing.” Outlasting all of the other women doesn’t matter; you haven’t won the event unless you’ve beaten everyone. By the way, I found Margets to be absolutely charming. She was gracious when she was eliminated and was kind enough to sign autographs at that very tough, emotional time.

It seemed like a lot of attention was paid to the fans, a.k.a. “sweaters.” Julie Schneider was a hoot with her “Stack ‘em…stack ‘em to the top” chant every time her husband Tom won a pot. You could see the pride on Barry Greenstein’s face as he watched his son, Joe Sebok, play. As each elimination came, the fans got more vocal and excited and I can’t blame them! The two most loyal fans were Mel and Pat Humphries, who rail Phil Ivey every year. Mel and Pat were on the Card Player Cruises trip with me when these episodes aired. They never told me that they were the same couple who is featured cheering “Ivey, Ivey” when he won a pot.

Peter Eastgate and Dennis Phillips have had outstanding runs in the past two years. What an accomplishment to have made it to the November Nine last year and outlasted more than 99% of the field this year! Who knows how far Phillips would have gone this year if he hadn’t suffered a bad beat to go out in 45th. In case you didn’t see it, his A-K suited got beaten by another A-K suited when his opponent made a flush on the river. Phillips is such a class act; he never complained and wished everyone good luck as he left.

I saw some outstanding folds pre-flop and post-flop; the ability to make a great laydown is what separates the real players from the rest. One hand in particular interested me. The blinds were 25,000/50,000. Eric Buchman raised it to 140,000 and Jeff Shulman re-raised to 500,000 with A-K of hearts. Jonathan Tamayo then went all-in from the small blind for 3.25 million with his pocket queens. Buchman folded. Shulman thought for a while and said, “Sorry guys, this is a big decision.” He asked Tamayo if he wanted action and got no reply. A call by Shulman would have been for almost all of his chips; he laid the hand down and is now in the November Nine. I don’t think most players would have folded in the same spot.

There was a lot of minimum or barely more than minimum raising pre-flop, which baffles me. I also heard lots of, “Will you show me if I fold” questions.

Things sure have changed since I started playing poker. There were so many 21 year-olds in the field. I can only imagine how exciting it must be for them to be playing for so much money and enduring the pressure of playing on television. I enjoyed hearing the story about Ian Tavelli’s grandfather staking him to the Main Event because he kept up a good grade point average (I think my grandfather bought me a new eight-track player when I graduated).

The age statistics were interesting as well. With 21 players remaining, the average age was 31 and the oldest player, Kevin Schaffel, was 51. Tavelli was the youngest and four of the remaining 21 players were eligible to break Eastgate’s record of being the youngest Main Event winner ever.

Someone needs to explain to Norman Chad what a stop and go play is. Twice players executed stop and gos and he couldn’t understand what they were doing. Another time, he called a play in which a player check-called on the flop and then bet about half of the pot on the turn a stop and go. Get with it, Norman!

Here’s a statistic that shocked me: The last time the Main Event was won by anyone who already had a WSOP bracelet was in 2000 (Chris Ferguson). With 23 players remaining, only two of them were prior bracelet winners.

The chip leader going into the final table, Darvin Moon, seems like a really cool guy. He isn’t impressed by all of the lights and cameras. He hasn’t accepted an online endorsement that I know of. He seems very humble and says he’ll be “back to the woods with a chainsaw” when all of this is over. If he wins, it would be great for poker, just like it was when Chris Moneymaker won the title.

In closing, congratulations to Mike Sexton for being the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee. Mike and I have been friends for more than 20 years and he has honored me by asking me to sit at his table during the induction ceremony. I’m sure there will be tales to share with you after that event.

The Sunday Briefing: Sam “siola” Iola Takes Home Largest of Eight Six-Figure Scores

Tommy Vedes Interview with Poker News Daily

Taking down the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago event was poker pro Tommy Vedes, who earned $1.2 million for his efforts. Vedes, who took 19th in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and made the final table of a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha High-Low contest, sat down with Poker News Daily to recap his recent run.

Poker News Daily: Talk about the roller coaster of a final table at the WPT Festa al Lago.

Vedes: It was so electrifying. It was unbelievable because I’m always on the other end of every beat. The king on the turn against Shawn Cunix was lightning and I doubled up. My head was spinning and that flipped my brain upside down, but it was worth it. Everyone went nuts when I hit a queen on the river against Freddy Deeb [for a two-outer to double up].

PND: Did you ever think that winning the tournament was out of reach given the momentum shifts at a talented final table?

Vedes: No. My body was numb. My friends were there and they knew I was going to win when I hit the king against Shawn. In the hand with A-10 against [Jason Lavallee’s] A-J, I knew I was going to win. Even though I had three outs, I thought the 10 was coming. I am still buzzing after going to bed at 6:00am and waking up at 9:00am.

PND: You’ve been on a tear lately, making a deep run in the WSOP Main Event before winning the WPT Festa al Lago. Is everything coming together?

Vedes: I never really played much of a daily grind of tournaments until after that Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP. It’s impossible to keep up this pace, though. There is so much variance in tournaments, but I can keep going deep if I avoid getting unlucky late. In the WPT final table, I had to get lucky a few times to get there. That’s not going to happen again, though.

PND: Talk about the extended registration period for the Festa al Lago Main Event. Did you give any thought to registering late?

Vedes: Lots of people registered late. I was thinking of waiting until Day 2, Level 2, but figured if I bought in during Level 3 on Day 1, I’d end up with a little larger chip stack than the average. I just couldn’t wait to play, so I had to buy in. The results for the people who bought in on Day 2 didn’t work out well, either.

PBD: Have you critiqued any of your plays on ESPN’s WSOP Main Event coverage so far? What has it been like watching yourself on television each week?

Vedes: It’s exciting. It’s the first time I’ve been on a deep run like that and I love watching it on ESPN. If I miss it, I go to YouTube and wait for someone to post it. I have people text me and tell me they saw me.

PND: How did you get started in poker?

Vedes: I’ve always been into different card games. My father and uncle are Greek and play cards. Every Saturday, I had a game at my dad’s house and picked it up there. I didn’t get serious until 10 years ago, when I used to go to private clubs in New York City. Once every month, we’d go to Atlantic City and gradually got into tournaments.

PND: Who or what has been the biggest influence on your game and why?

Vedes: Phil Ivey. He is my idol. He is my friend and we talked a little bit during the Main Event. I actually told him before the WSOP started that he was going to win three bracelets. He’s the ultimate grinder in poker. He uses skill and fearsome tactics to his advantage. In addition, growing up in New York City has helped my reading abilities. It makes it fearsome to be looking into my eyes to try to call me.

Dan Livingston Wins WSOP Circuit Event in Hammond

In what has to be one of the surprise stories of this poker year, a 22 year-old part-time poker player from Oak Forest, Illinois, Dan Livingston, has become the latest champion on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, just outside Chicago.

Livingston, who recently quit his job working in an auto detailing shop, was among the 249 players who started the three-day $5,000 buy-in WSOP Circuit tournament on Friday. The final 27 players walked away with a portion of the $1.2 million prize pool.

Perhaps most notable of the players who cashed at the WSOP Circuit Event was burgeoning poker professional Dwyte Pilgrim. Since 2008, Pilgrim has made the WSOP Circuit his own personal playground, as he has captured over $355,000 in winnings. Not only has he won two championship rings, including the 2009 Harrah’s Rincon Main Event back in March, but his 19th place finish in Chicago was also his fifth in the last six WSOP Circuit Main Events. The Brooklyn, New York native has 16 cashes on the WSOP Circuit.

Another player of note was Chicago’s Frank “Round42” Rusnak. The newcomer to the tournament poker world was able to finish just off the final table in 12th place. Added to his five cashes during the WSOP this summer (including an 82nd place finish in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event), Rusnak has over $100,000 in live tournament winnings over the last three months.

When the final table in the tournament began on Sunday afternoon, several players were huddled around the one million chip mark. The leader at the start of play, Tom Floros, couldn’t relax due to the close competition from the remainder of the players at the table. Over the next 13 hours of play, Floros was able to stay in contention, but Livingston moved past him for the chip lead when play was down to four-handed action.

After Livingston eliminated Tad Mosele in fourth and Chris Gentile in third, he held a tremendous 10-1 chip advantage over Floros. Floros, to his credit, was able to tread water for 30 minutes before his chips went into the center. On a K-10-3 board with two diamonds, Floros committed the last of his chips with Q-10. Livingston held a flush draw with J-3 of diamonds and took the shot at eliminating his opponent. While the turn didn’t bring the diamond, the river did and Livingston was crowned the champion of the tournament.

Here’s how the final table played out on Sunday:

1. Dan Livingston – $291,749
2. Tom Floros – $180,287
3. Christopher Gentile – $119,556
4. Tad Mosele – $84,594
5. William Schweinebraten – $63,744
6. William Miner – $50,871
7. Joshua Goldstein – $42,881
8. Jacob Bazeley – $38,082
9. Mike Parisi – $35,533

Remarkably, both Livingston and Floros were in the tournament on freerolls. As part of a special promotion, the Horseshoe Casino Hammond gave away as many as four Main Event seats daily to players who were playing cash games on site. Each day for two weeks prior to the start of this year’s Chicago series, one poker table was randomly selected. Then, the players at the table received cards and one player nabbed an entry into the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. Both Livingston and Floros were recipients of a seat via this method, making their respective paydays a tremendous bonus.

As the final table of the WSOP Circuit Event in Hammond was playing out, the next tournament schedule had already begun. The Circuit has now swung to the south of Indiana with a stop at the Horseshoe in Elizabeth. On Halloween, the next three-day $5,000 buy-in Championship Event will take place and crowns a champion next week.