Poker News

Pam Brunson to Oversee DoylesRoom Brunson 10

Like father, like daughter. Doyle Brunson’s daughter, Pam Brunson, will manage the Brunson 10, according to officials from DoylesRoom. The stable of up-and-coming poker pros numbers four, with six men and two women yet to be named.

A press release distributed by DoylesRoom in recent days notes, “As Manager of the Brunson 10, Pam Brunson will be responsible for overseeing PR requests, handling scheduling and managing the Brunson 10 internally. As the world's biggest poker legend continues to fill spots on his team of poker professionals, Pam Brunson will be tasked with managing their relationship with one of the fastest growing online poker sites and its players.” The younger Brunson is a regular in the online poker site’s weekly Bounty tournament, which offers a refund of the $27.50 buy-in for first-time players.

Amit “amak316” Makhija, Dani “ansky451” Stern, Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, and top online poker pro Chris “moorman1” Moorman currently comprise the Brunson 10. Stern is the group’s newest addition, having joined the clan during final table play in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas. A press conference was held at the Wynn for Stern’s introduction, with “2 Months, $2 Million” housemate Jay Rosenkrantz on-hand to witness the festivities.

Meanwhile, former Brunson 10 member Alec “traheho” Torelli departed the online poker site to join Victory Poker, whose roster of pro players includes Antonio Esfandiari, Andrew “good2cu” Robl, and Full Tilt Poker defects Paul Wasicka and Lee Markholt. The site is set to debut on February 1st on the merged Everleaf/UPN network, with a launch party to occur after the Trash Talk Championship of the World Straddle Tournament at the Hard Rock on February 6th.

On replacing Torelli, DoylesRoom officials told Poker News Daily that a fifth member of the Brunson 10 will be named no later than mid-March. In addition, the forthcoming announcement may include the introduction of two new faces to the Cake Poker Network site that welcomes action from the United States. The newest additions will fall under Pam Brunson’s wings.

According to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide, offering a seven-day running average of 2,100 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening across North America, nearly 3,000 cash game players call the network home. Besides DoylesRoom and Cake Poker, other sites on the network include City Poker, Lock Poker, PlayersOnly, Poker Host, Red Star Poker, Stryyke, and Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker, which was added to the family this week.

The 2010 calendar year also saw DoylesRoom unveil its very own online store, which offers unique items like a limited edition Doyle Resitol Cowboy Hat. Other goods available in the DoylesRoom Store include DoylesRoom apparel, laptop bags, Brunson autographed merchandise, GPS systems, iPod accessories, digital cameras, Nintendo Wiis, and “the hottest lifestyle enhancing accessories.” Gold Chips are the currency of the DoylesRoom Store, which can be accessed from the online poker room’s website.

The recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Southern Poker Championship featured DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins coming out on top to claim his second WPT title. Corkins earned $739,000 for his efforts and defeated a final table that also included Jonathan Kantor (second place for $366,00), Jerry Vanstrydonck (third place for $197,000), Jared Jaffee (fourth place for $135,000), James Reed (fifth place for $106,000), and Tyler “Tydean” Smith (sixth place for $87,000). The Southern Poker Championship marked Corkins’ sixth WPT final table appearance. The tournament will air as part of Season 8 on Fox Sports Net.

Pam Brunson finished 364th in the 2007 WSOP Main Event for $34,000. That year, she won a ladies’ event held during the Legends of Poker for the same amount.

ESPN Inside Deal Airs First Show of 2010

The ESPN poker franchise “Inside Deal” returned on Tuesday with the first episode of 2010. Joining the series, which emanated from a new set, were Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Joe Cada.

The show began with a discussion of the CardPlayer and Bluff Player of the Year awards for 2009. CardPlayer named UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin as its winner, while Bluff crowned PokerStars’ Jason Mercier. On which publication was more accurate, “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee explained, “Understand that this is not apples to apples. These are two completely different Player of the Year formulas. If you had to look at it, I think CardPlayer has it a little more open for most players.”

Lee noted that poker pro Amnon Filippi bumped him from the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event, while Cada staked co-host Laura Lane into the ladies’ event. Now, Lee and the rest of the poker world have their sights set on the PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour (NAPT), which resumes on February 20th at the Venetian: “I’ve said from the beginning that being able to qualify online is going to increase registration, prize pools, and interest in any tournaments. So far, over 160 players have qualified for the Venetian event. That’s more than some of the WSOP Circuit Events had all last year.”

Pappas joined “Inside Deal” via phone to catch listeners up on the good word from Capitol Hill. The Executive Director of the one-million member lobbying group explained the biggest challenge of 2010: “There is this continuing cloud of grayness as to what is legal and what is not legal. We have a six-month reprieve to get that Congressional clarification to make sure that it is clear that playing poker over the internet is not an unlawful internet gambling transaction.” The PPA is pushing for a markup of Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) HR 2267 in February.

Cada, donning a festive array of PokerStars logos, told “Inside Deal” viewers that the pressure for him to perform has ramped up dramatically: “There is definitely more pressure now, especially because of the way I won my final table.” Cada hit the deck hard during the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event and defeated Maryland logger Darvin Moon heads-up.

One of the rumors flying around the poker world during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was that Cada was dating former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole. The rumors ultimately proved false, but Cada is still trying to wrap his head around his celebrity status: “I am still trying to get used to everything. The rumors are not so great. All my friends back home asked me about it and there are so many rumors going on.”

A comprehensive breakdown of a hand between Moon and Cada heads-up aired featuring Lee and ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman dishing out strategy. The crew then asked Cada to reveal his mentality headed into heads-up play in poker tournaments: “I start off slow when I start heads-up because I don’t know how they play. A lot is their frequency of calls pre-flop and stack sizes. If the stack sizes are deeper, then you’re able to raise more from the button.” Cada was an online heads-up specialist prior to his win last November to become the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever.

A new segment called “Snap Calls” featured discussion of Huck Seed’s chances to make it eight cashes in a row in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the number of new girlfriends Cada will have this year (Cada said under 1.5), the future of online poker legalization, whether Bernard Lee would claim a title in 2010, and whether Cada would win another bracelet in this year’s WSOP.

Tiffany Michelle Comments on New Amazing Race Cast

The pairings for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race” were released last week and, this time around, no poker players will make the journey. Competing last season was UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, who hit the “Amazing Race” circuit with Maria Ho. Michelle sat down with Poker News Daily to preview the new season, which kicks off on February 14th on CBS.

Poker News Daily: This cycle’s cast list includes former housemates on CBS’ “Big Brother,” Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, and a Major League Baseball third base coach. Who’s your horse?

Tiffany Michelle: It’s interesting to see that there are three all-female teams this season. Last year, it was a really young, competitive bunch. The producers have to keep it to where everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities are on par with the others in that season. We thought it was weird that there wasn’t an old couple or a mom and daughter last year. This year, they opened it up again.

I’ve been watching the initial meet the cast videos and I think the cowboys (Jet and Cord) will be a fan favorite. The ones that stood out to me were the detectives (Louie and Michael). That’s an interesting type of person to put on the show.

PND: Were you surprised to see that no poker players will journey out for this season of “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Doing enough in the entertainment business, I have some insight into how casting works. You can’t exhaust one group of people. You want to keep it new and fresh every year and that’s why we were brought on last year. Each season, they’ll reach out to grab people from all walks of life. As hot of a topic as poker is, each of the poker players who have been on reality shows were there for a reason. I don’t think you’ll see a huge influx of poker players on reality shows.

PND: What about poker players gives them a leg up on the competition in a series like “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Your outlook on life, games, and competition is different than the everyday person’s. Poker encompasses psychology, mathematics, aggression, and observation. Poker is very similar to chess in that it requires a lot of mental stamina and gamesmanship. Poker players are used to approaching games from a different point of view.

PND: There has been a trend on the show to include racers who have already appeared in front of television cameras and in the public eye. Does that give anyone an edge?

Tiffany Michelle: After Phil [Keoghan] says go, you are not even aware of the cameras or audio guys. Within the first day, you’re oblivious to having a camera crew. They’re good at not getting in your way too.

PND: This installment’s cast is rumored to travel to places like Chile, Argentina, Singapore, and Seychelles. If you had the chance to run the “Amazing Race” again, where would you go?

Tiffany Michelle: Warm places like Australia, the Caribbean, and some lovely tropical destinations. This season, it’ll be a little bit colder and you won’t hit a lot of hot spots. A lot of our season’s cast wanted to go to Africa because it’d be an incredible experience. That was one place that I thought would be awesome. From a technical standpoint, it’s hard to pull that off, though. We went to Vietnam, which they said for years they had tried to do.

PND: How’d you fare at the L.A. Poker Classic?

Tiffany Michelle: I only played one event. Maria and I both played and it was nice to be back in the saddle. Now, I am off to Panama and I’ll be back at the Commerce Casino after that. I’m trying to decide between doing the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) or L.A. Poker Classic Main Events. In two weeks, I’m going to Las Vegas to do a show with the Harlem Globetrotters. We’re going to suit up and play against them. I’m pretty sporty, but basketball is my worst sport.

PND: We read on Twitter that you were reviewing movies for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. What’s your involvement with them?

Tiffany Michelle: I’m a member of SAG, which is the union for acting, entertainment, film, and television. Every year, whereas the Emmys and Oscars are voting on by academies, actors vote on the SAG Awards. During awards season, they send you movies to watch and you vote. I always get a slew of current nominees.

I thought “Inglorious Basterds” was incredibly phenomenal. I thought it was an amazing movie. “Up in the Air” was cool too. I’m a girl, so of course I loved “It’s Complicated.” For television shows, I love “Glee” and Kevin McHale is a friend of mine.

PND: How have you been faring in the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC)?

Tiffany Michelle: Sunday was the $2,500 buy-in $1 million guaranteed. I played it even though I don’t play short-handed poker. I can play six-handed, but I know there are a lot of specific strategies with regards to starting hands.

Dwyte Pilgrim Leads WPT Southern Poker Championship After Day 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker Pro Canada Magazine Announced

It is only five years old, but Poker Pro Magazine has already established itself in the poker world with a circulation in excess of 150,000 copies per month.  The publication is already available in the U.S. and Canada, but the company is now offering a something special for its Canadian readership.

Poker Pro Media recently announced it will be a launching a regional version of its popular magazine entitled Poker Pro Canada.  The Canadian edition will feature in-depth profiles of Canadian players, updates and news from the growing Canadian poker scene and, of course, strategy and tips from the pros.

Canadian Poker Pro Executive Editor magazine John “JohnnyQuads” Wenzel elaborated on the motivation behind launching the new magazine in an official press release:   “Some say this is a time of contraction for print media, but we’re bullish on the Canadian market.  The game is exploding in Canada and we intend to provide enthusiasts with a slick, upscale magazine that will be fun to read and will also improve their bottom line at the tables.”  Wenzel also serves as Editor-In-Chief of Poker Pro Magazine.

Wenzel makes a valid point, as there have been a number of popular events in Canada in the past few months, including the British Columbia Poker Championship (BCPC) and, more recently, the Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Several big names turned out for the respective events, including Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith, UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, and Brad Booth.  Smith had an exceptionally good showing at Fallsview, where he won a $2,500 buy-in event and placed fourth in a $5,000 buy-in tournament won by Simon “pokerbrat13” Charette.

“The Canadian poker scene is fascinating, but it doesn’t get a lot of publicity. We’re going to change that,” explained Wenzel.  The long list of top Canadian players includes Smith, Booth, Watson, Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, Full Tilt’s Greg “FBT” Mueller, Michael “Timex” McDonald, Nenad Medic, former European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo winner Glen Chorny, Steve Paul Ambrose, Evelyn Ng, Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, and Shawn Buchanan.  The country is also home to the popular Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) and the newly launched PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) also has plans to expand its tournament schedule into Canada.

This is not the first time that Poker Pro has branched out with a new publication.  The media company also produces Poker Pro Europe and Online Poker Pro, the latter of which is a publication dedicated entirely to the internet poker scene.  Poker Pro Canada will be sold at bookstores and convenience stores alike, gracing the shelves of stores 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart, Costco, Indigo/Chapters, and Shoppers Drug Mart.  It will also be available in casino poker rooms across the country.  The new magazine is set to launch in March and an accompanying website should debut in the coming weeks.

Poker Pro Magazine is not the only publication betting on Canada.  Back in September, Canadian Poker Player Magazine announced that it was planning to expand its media operation by launching a 24-hour online television station dedicated to the Canadian poker scene.  Modeled after the popular Poker Channel in the U.K., the site is supposed to feature poker-themed movies and television plus television coverage of past Canadian tournaments like the Canadian Open Poker Championships.

To date, the site has not gone fully live, but the project itself is another indication that many poker companies are setting their sights on the Canadian Poker scene.  Another indication is the recent announcement by PartyPoker that Kara Scott was joining its slate of sponsored pros.  Scott is supposed to promote the room in her home country of Canada by taking part in a number of CPT events.

ElkY Goes Home Again

In fact, with 61 % of the field coming from within the country, including one of the best tournament players on the planet, one might even say French poker is on the rise.

“Deauville is a very good tournament to play, so I'm happy to be here,” said Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. “It's always very special to be back here in France. I rarely get the chance to play poker here, so it's important and means a lot to me.”

While tournament entry numbers are on a downswing in North America, the 768 entries in Deauville are better than 100 more than 2008, pushing the prize pool up to €3,686,400.

When the event is all said and done, a total of 104 spots will get paid, including €847,000 for first – the only number Grospellier seems focussed on.

“My motivation is very strong to do good here in Deauville,” he said. “I really want to win and play well here in France.”

Although it paled in comparison to the $3,686,476 in live tournament earnings he garnered in 2008, last year was still a banner one for Grospellier.

He followed up his 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event win with a victory in the PCA’s $25k High Roller event.

Plus, adding a third-place finish at the $25k World Poker Tour Championship in Las Vegas to his 2008 WPT Festa Al Lago win helped him take home Season 7 WPT Player of the Year honors.

Now, returning to Deauville after a third-place finish in the €20,000 High Roller event in 2008, Grospellier has his sights set on some new goals.

“There are always reasons to get pumped,” Grospellier said. “I spoke with (fellow Team PokerStars France Pro) Arnaud Mattern about who will be the next one to win a second EPT or the first one to win a bracelet. I really want to win one.

“I also want to get my first place back in the EPT ranking since (Luca) Pagano has got it now. Even if he has deserved it, I really want to win it back. So that's a lot of challenges for this year.”

While he has both an EPT and WPT title, a World Series of Poker Bracelet still eludes Grospellier, however, pushing that to number one on his list of goals for 2010.

“Clearly the WSOP is the main thing missing now,” he said. “Of course, you can't control everything, but I'm certainly going to do my best to win one.”

For now though, Grospellier has a massive field on home soil to contend with, heading into Day 2 in Deauville among the 400-odd survivors from two day on heats.

"I want to have really good results here," he added.

- With files from Fred Guillemot

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.

WSOP Champ Joe Cada Not Dating Playboy Playmate Jayde Nicole

Extra! Extra! In a thread posted on TwoPlusTwo, an image of 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner Joe Cada allegedly with his arm around former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole sparked rumors that the two were dating.

Poker News Daily can independently confirm that the rumblings are completely false. Cada’s agent, Dan Frank, told Poker News Daily that the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever played a few hands of blackjack with Nicole, but that was as heated as it got between the two during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Cada entered Tuesday’s action in the tournament series’ $25,000 buy-in High Roller event fourth in chips.

In the fuzzy photo, Cada appears dressed in a Hawaiian shirt with a PokerStars hat on flipped backwards. The woman purported to be Nicole, whose back faces the camera, is wearing a black and white striped skirt and a white top. She is noticeably taller than Cada, although high heels may be to blame. The two are intently watching a table game adjacent to a roulette wheel at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, the site of the 2010 PCA. The first response to the photo came in from “robreardon6,” who scientifically evaluated, “1000-1 against this kid getting any action from jayde.”

Cada purportedly told PokerRoad that he was “just friends” with Nicole. Nevertheless, Poker players speculated on the impact that Cada dating Nicole would have on the industry: “wsop champ dating playmate of the year would be awesome for poker,” wrote TwoPlusTwo member “Krax.” Nicole, who is a regular on the MTV reality series “The Hills,” recently separated from Brody Jenner, son of Olympic decathlon star Bruce Jenner. The elder, of course, is married to Kris Jenner, matriarch of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

Nicole was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for January 2007 and the Playboy Playmate of the Year in 2008. She hails from the poker-friendly nation of Canada and appeared as a celebrity challenger on the first season of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” game show on Fox. Nicole was the adversary of Sergeant Denny Luna on the series’ second episode, ultimately falling to the PokerStars qualifier. Liquor salesman Brian Barboza also made mince meat of the Playboy personality. Both Barboza and Luna reached the final table of the show, which saw 9/11 first responder Mike Kosowski emerge victorious; he went on to defeat Daniel Negreanu heads-up to win $1 million.

Martin Kendell, a “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” qualifier who faced off against new North American Poker Tour (NAPT) hostess Joanna Krupa, told Poker News Daily that he wanted to match up with Nicole due to her lackluster poker skills: “I was hoping to get Jayde Nicole. She’s a Canadian girl and we would have had something to talk about since I am Canadian. I also didn’t think that she was a good player.” Although Nicole could greatly improve her skills on the felt by dating Cada, it does not appear to be in the cards in the foreseeable future.

Cada has been linked in recent weeks to a variety of women, including WKQI Detroit’s Mojo in the Morning. His girlfriend in November was instrumental in helping Cada survive the rigors of the WSOP Main Event final table and fielded phone calls for the poker pro during Sunday’s off-day while Cada rested. Several players at the 2010 PCA, meanwhile, reported that Nicole was seen leaving the PokerStars party in the Bahamas arm in arm with “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier, who plays Vincent Chase on the HBO franchise.

In November, Cada became the youngest winner ever of the WSOP Main Event at age 21; he has since turned 22 years-old. Nicole will celebrate her 24th birthday in February.

PokerStars’ NAPT Looks for Success in a Crowded Market

Ryan D’Angelo, Tyler Reiman Lead PCA Entering Final Table

Eight players remain in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Online poker pros Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo and Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman lead the eight-handed final table by a comfortable margin.

For Reiman, a massive pot against European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie gave him the ammunition to nip at D’Angelo’s heels entering Monday’s final table. Duthie was all-in pre-flop holding pocket aces, the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em, and held a 4:1 advantage over Reiman’s pocket queens. The flop, however, contained a queen and propelled Reiman into the lead in the hand for good. Duthie was out two hands later, finishing in 12th place for $130,000. Reiman owned a stack of 9.35 million entering the final table, trailing only D’Angelo’s 10.09 million.

D’Angelo comes to the 2010 PCA Main Event with top-tier credentials. He was one of only two dual winners during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), taking down a $320 buy-in Eight-Game event and a $320 buy-in Mixed tournament. The only other player to accomplish the feat in the September tournament series was Team PokerStars Pro member and former PCA winner Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who took down two No Limit Hold’em events.

In third place on the 2010 PCA Main Event leaderboard is Barry Shulman, who is fresh off a victory in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for £801,000. He defeated PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu in the finale of that tournament, which also saw Jason Mercier, Praz Bansi, and WSOP Main Event November Nine members Antoine Saout and James Akenhead reach the final table. Shulman owns a stack of 6.81 million entering Monday’s play.

Benjamin “xthesteinx” Zamani sent longtime PCA Main Event chip leader Wayne Bentley packing on Sunday. The 23 year-old called Zamani’s all-in on a flop of 3-8-2, showing pocket deuces for a flopped set. In a scene reminiscent of Joe Cada in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Bentley turned over pocket jacks and watched in agony as the board ran out 6-7. Bentley, a Brit, took home an even $100,000 consolation prize for his 16th place showing.

Poker pro Jeff Madsen hit the rails in 19th place, pocketing $87,500 from the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn called Madsen’s all-in with pocket fours and Madsen flipped up A-J for an old fashioned race. The board ran out K-7-9-5-9 and that was all she wrote for the poker rapper.

Who will join D’Angelo, Reiman, Ravn, and Shulman at the eight-handed final table of the 2010 PCA, a stop on the EPT and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT)? Here’s a look at the leaderboard:

1. Ryan D'Angelo – 10,090,000
2. Tyler Reiman – 9,350,000
3. Barry Shulman – 6,805,000
4. Harrison Gimbel – 6,000,000
5. Thomas Koral – 5,370,000
6. Benjamin Zamani – 3,700,000
7. Zachary Goldberg – 2,340,000
8. Aage Floenes Ravn – 1,690,000

Ravn is the only non-American at the final table. A total of 57 countries were represented among the 1,529 players who entered the 2010 PCA Main Event. About half of those players were from the United States. Now, seven out of eight finalists, or a hefty 88%, hail from the North American nation. Similarly, Shulman, who is 63 years-old, is the only member of the final table older than 26. Gimbel is the baby of the group at 19, while Reiman and Goldberg weigh in at the tender age of 21.

Regardless of a player’s age, life-changing money is on the line when play kicks off this afternoon from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Each player remaining is guaranteed to earn at least $201,000:

1st Place: $2,200,000
2nd Place: $1,750,000
3rd Place: $1,350,000
4th Place: $1,000,000
5th Place: $700,000
6th Place: $450,000
7th Place: $300,000
8th Place: $201,300

The final table kicks off at Noon ET from Atlantis and will continue until a champion is crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Poker Draws A-Listers to PCA

The game of poker did.

“I’m not going to quit my day job, but I really love poker and I think I’m getting better at it,” said guitar legend Slash, who joined a host of big name celebrities, sports stars and Team PokerStars Pros playing in the amfAR and PokerStars charity event at the PCA this week.

“It’s just such an amazing game. So many different things can happen. With all the different people involved and all the different possibilities with the cards, it’s just a fantastic game.”

R&B star Kelly Rowland just picked up poker, but spent the entire day before her performance at an exclusive PokerStars party held at Atlantis Saturday night playing the game.

“I’m getting more and more used to it,” she said. “And I’ll tell you one thing, after playing last night, I definitely want to have a girls’ night when I get back home.

“I’m going to watch these pros like hawks so I can go back to Houston and take my friends' money.”

Model and actress Joanna Krupa appeared on the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge this season and was named the TV hostess for the new PokerStars North American Poker Tour this week.

She also anted up for AIDS research and is apparently really taking to the game.

“It’s so funny because it’s so unexpected, you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “You might have the most amazing cards and still lose the hand or you might have crappy cards and still win. It’s definitely interesting, challenging and fun.

“I’m waiting for the time I’m actually going to play in a tournament with Joe (Cada) and Daniel (Negreanu). It’ll be fun and maybe I’ll learn their tricks of the trade and become a pro one day.”

'I’m going to watch these pros like hawks so I can go back to Houston and take my friends' money.'

 

2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole played in the main event at the PCA, sharing the felt with 2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada on Day 1.

She said she started playing about four months ago and found the competition in the Bahamas a little daunting.

“It was very nerve racking at the beginning,” she said. “But I love poker. It’s fun, especially for me because there aren’t a lot of girls in poker and there aren’t a lot of Playboy models in poker, so I get a funny reaction from people. The truth is I really like meeting all the boys.”

Both Nicole and Krupa said the poker pros they’ve met this week have been quick to offer a few tips, but Slash’s experience has been quite different.

“They don’t talk to me,” he laughed. “But it’s OK. We have a couple of home games that are mostly rock people and I’ve cleaned up there a couple of times already.”

However, the men aren’t being ignored completely as Carlos Bernard, from TV’s 24, said he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to pick a few PokerStars pros brains this week.

“I’m not hustling anybody right now,” he said. “So it’s been good to play with the pros and learn a few tricks.”

The Weekly Turbo: PokerStars Announces North American Poker Tour, Prop Bets, and More

PokerStars amfAR Charity Poker Tournament Attracts Star-Studded Lineup

On Friday night during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), a charity poker tournament benefiting amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research, will play out. The field is capped at 39 entrants.

Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $290 million and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Now, poker players will have a chance to give to the cause as part of a star-studded $5,250 buy-in charity tournament that will be filmed for television and beamed across cyberspace via EPTlive. The PCA is in the midst of Day 3 of its $10,000 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a starting field of 1,529 players, a new European Poker Tour (EPT) record.

Unlike a traditional poker tournament, the amfAR benefit takes on a shootout format. A total of 39 players will assemble across four tables. The last two standing at each table will move onto the final round. At the first table, each player is awarded 50,000 starting chips and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. At the final table, combatants will receive the same 50,000 chips, but blind levels will instead last a half-hour. Fifty percent of the prize pool will go straight to amfAR and all players are encouraged to donate 1% of their winnings to the charity. One television table and three outer tables can be found at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas tonight.

On Saturday night, former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland will be performing at a PokerStars-sponsored party at the resort. Tonight, Rowland will put her poker skills to the test in the amfAR charity event. Other celebrity poker players who will take to the felts this evening include Entourage actor Adrian "Vince" Grenier, former Guns and Roses guitarist Slash, “24” star Carlos Bernard, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year and “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” personality Jayde Nicole. New PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) television hostess Joanna Krupa can also be found among the personalities in attendance in the charity poker event.

Professionals taking to the felts include reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro. Cada is fresh off mainstream media appearances on programs like the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “ESPN SportsCenter” and he recently toured Capitol Hill on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Also, look for tennis stud Boris Becker, former hockey star Mats Sundin, and former soccer player Teddy Sheringham. All are members of Team PokerStars SportsStars and will be in attendance raising money for amfAR.

Several PokerStars-sponsored pros besides Cada and the world’s sports heroes will make their way to the tournament area tonight, including Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes, Brazil’s Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari, Swedish pro William Thorson, and the Netherlands’ Pieter de Korver. Also taking part are five online qualifiers, who will almost certainly be overwhelmed by the amount of celebrity and poker firepower in attendance.

Members of the media were advised to show up no later than 5:45pm local time in order to snap pictures of players as they arrived. No interviews were available, as PokerStars will hold a formal red carpet outside of the Aura Nightclub at 7:00pm on Saturday prior to Rowland’s performance.

At the time of writing, Bryce Yockey from the United States paced the field in the 2010 PCA Main Event with a chip stack of one million. Others in the top ten included 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, UB.com pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and two-time bracelet winner Eric “EFro” Froehlich. A total of 190 players remain and blinds are 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 PCA.

PokerStars Announces North American Poker Tour

Look out, North America! Long absent poker events sponsored by PokerStars, the continent will host the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) beginning on January 20th at the Venetian, with another stop planned for Mohegan Sun.

Model Joanna Krupa, who was introduced to the PokerStars family during the fourth installment of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” will serve as the NAPT’s on-screen host. A television deal is in the works and PokerStars officials have employed 411, the same company that produces the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN, to create each episode. The identity of a television partner should be released in the next two weeks.

PokerStars players from the United States and Canada currently have to hop on an airplane and travel to far away lands for PokerStars-sponsored tournaments. PokerStars-backed series include the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT) Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), and U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT).

At the Venetian in Las Vegas, the final tournament of the casino’s Deep Stack Extravaganza will be the $5,000 buy-in NAPT Main Event. The fun in Sin City will take place from February 20th to 24th and side events will also play out. From Las Vegas, PokerStars NAPT officials will travel 2,600 miles due east to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The tournament series in the popular East Coast casino will see its Main Event held from April 7th to 11th as the kickoff of a brand new poker festival.

Negreanu commented in a press release furnished by the world’s largest online poker site, “I'm really looking forward to the launch of the NAPT. PokerStars.net has done an excellent job sponsoring meaningful tournaments around the world with the EPT, LAPT, APPT, and various other local tours – and it’s exciting to see them coming to my home town of Las Vegas! With the addition of the NAPT, I'll have a chance to play some tournaments on home soil and I'm very excited about that.” 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada and Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso are among the bevy of site pros who are expected to turn out.

Technically, the first tournament of the NAPT was the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which is ongoing from the Atlantis Resort and Casino across the harbor from Nassau in the Bahamas. Satellites to the Venetian and Mohegan Sun tournaments will take place on PokerStars, which happily accepts players from the United States. Besides Cada, other WSOP Main Event champions to call the site home include Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Tom McEvoy (1983).

In North America, the NAPT will compete against several longstanding brands such as the World Poker Tour (WPT) and WSOP Circuit. The WPT is in the midst of filming its eighth season, the first with the backing of Party Gaming, which purchased the rights to the series in October. Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten continue to bring the WPT to life each week on Fox Sports Net. The WSOP Circuit has been crisscrossing the United States since 2004, stopping at various Harrah’s properties along the way. Circuit staffers are now camped out in Tunica, Mississippi for the fifth stop of the 2009-2010 season. The series gets underway in the Deep South on January 20th from Harrah’s Tunica.

Krupa has graced the covers of a handful of brand-name magazines, including “FHM,” “Maxim,” “Playboy,” and “Stuff.” She appeared on Season 9 of the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars” and also tested her sports skills in the network’s “Superstars.” Krupa defeated 9/11 first responder Mike Kosowski on the fourth episode of the “Million Dollar Challenge;” Kosowski would later go on to defeat Negreanu and earn the $1 million grand prize.

Additional stops for Season 1 of the NAPT will also be announced.

North American Poker Tour announced

PokerStars launches new North American Tour

The Nightly Turbo: PokerStars Introduces the North American Poker Tour, Online Poker Account Hacked, and More

PokerStars Launches North American Tour

The NAPT will kick off at the Venetian in Las Vegas Feb. 20-24 with a $5k buy-in event at the end of the casino’s popular Deep Stack Extravaganza Series.

Just one other event has been announced, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut Apr. 7-11.

However, Head of PokerStars Live Jeffrey Haas said other dates in the U.S. and Canada would be announced in the near future.

“We’re going to be going to some beautiful places, putting on some exciting poker tournaments and hopefully having some fun non-poker events as well,” he said.

The tour will be filmed by ESPN World Series of Poker producers 441 Productions and hosted by model and spokesperson Joanna Krupa of Dancing with the Stars fame, although a TV air deal has yet to be confirmed.

While the World Poker Tour has dominated the North American poker scene for the past eight seasons, Haas believes there is room for competition.

“I think there is so much demand for poker in North America today that there’s room for a number of different operators who are all promoting wonderful poker events,” he said.

PokerStars is promising the tour will attract will the best North American players in the game, including Team PokerStars pros Joe Cada, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso and Daniel Negreanu.

“One thing is for sure, PokerStars knows how to do it right,” Negreanu said. “I’m very excited to play. Being a part of PokerStars we travel all over the world, but it’s going to be nice to have some events at home in Las Vegas and at home in Canada. I think you are going to see a lot of pros there.”

The NAPT Mohegan Sun main event will also feature a $5k buy-in, which Negreanu said the poker world will embrace.

“Considering the economy right now that sounds like a good idea to me,” he said. “It’s a price point that hits a lot more people.”

PokerStars.net has already scheduled daily NAPT Venetian freerolls where players can win the $5,000 seat, plus accommodation, for absolutely nothing.

After almost two years in the rumor mill, PokerStars announced the launch of the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Wednesday.

The NAPT will kick off at the Venetian in Las Vegas Feb. 20-24 with a $5k buy-in event at the end of the casino’s popular Deep Stack Extravaganza Series.

Just one other event has been announced, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut Apr. 7-11.

However, Head of PokerStars Live Jeffrey Haas said other dates in the U.S. and Canada would be announced in the near future.

“We’re going to be going to some beautiful places, putting on some exciting poker tournaments and hopefully having some fun non-poker events as well,” he said.

The tour will be filmed by ESPN World Series of Poker producers 441 Productions and hosted by model and spokesperson Joanna Krupa of Dancing with the Stars fame, although a TV air deal has yet to be confirmed.

While the World Poker Tour has dominated the North American poker scene for the past eight seasons, Haas believes there is room for competition.

“I think there is so much demand for poker in North America today that there’s room for a number of different operators who are all promoting wonderful poker events,” he said. 

PokerStars is promising the tour will attract will the best North American players in the game, including Team PokerStars pros Joe Cada, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso and Daniel Negreanu.

PokerStars.net has already scheduled daily NAPT Venetian freerolls where players can win the $5,000 seat, plus accommodation, for absolutely nothing.

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 21-27, 2009

This week the front page of PokerListing was slammed with huge stories like Brian Townsend getting suspended by Full Tilt Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan making a desperate charge to get even for the year and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler finally finding a structure he likes.

Of course, like every week, there were still a few lesser-known stories that threatened to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, on PokerListings.com we compile all those stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to take a look at Poker2Nite heading to Europe, new poker chip technology, a new PokerStars rewards program and more.

The Poker Channel Europe Airs Poker2Night

It’s already a hit in North America but the Joe Sebok and Scott Huff hosted Poker2Nite made its debut in Europe last week on the Poker Channel Europe.

The channel is airing episodes of the show every Wednesday at 22:00 CET for the entire run of the first season. Repeats will run Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00 CET. The channel is Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network and shown in more than 18 million European homes.

Poker2Nite is now its fifth week of operation in North America, where it appears on Fox Sports West on Wednesday at 23:00 EST.

To celebrate the show’s success, UB is also currently running a Poker2Nite Pro Challenge promotion, awarding two WSOP packages.

Nicole Rowe Applies for Million Dollar Challenge

Cancer victim Nicole Rowe will be trying out for a spot on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Rowe is perhaps most well-known in the poker world for finishing second to Abraham Korotki, a man, in the 2009 Borgata Ladies Event.

Inspired by witnessing a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge, Rowe decided to enter a 10,000 player tournament on PokerStars just for the chance to audition for the show. She won the tournament and has since posted her audition video on YouTube.com.

“My plan is to come out and beat Daniel Negreanu for the $1 million and use that money for breast cancer awareness and donate a portion of my winnings to breast cancer foundations such as the Susan G Komen,” said Rowe in the video.

Earlier this week 911 Veteran Mike Kosowski became the first player in the show’s history to win all his heads-up matches and take home the $1 million first place prize.

PokerStars Introduces VIP Stellar Rewards

PokerStars upgraded its VIP program this week with the announcement of VIP Stellar Rewards.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, PokerStars players who earn 750 VIP player points will be able to go to the PokerStars store and spend 1 frequent player point (FPP) to receive $10.

It doesn’t stop there as players will have the opportunity for 18 cash bonuses as they journey from 750 VIP points all the way up to 90,000 Supernova status.

In total, players will receive an extra $1,000 if they make it all the way to Supernova thanks to the VIP Stellar Rewards program.

To learn more go to PokerStars.com.

GPI to Unveil New Poker Chip Technology

Gaming Partners International Corporation will present a dramatic new approach to the construction of poker chips at the 2010 International Gaming Expo in London on Jan. 26-28.

At the Expo, GPI will introduce RFIDPoker, which is being developed to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions at the poker table.

Easily fitted to any poker table the technology sees every chip outfitted with a small RFID chip, which makes calculating a pot size error free. The system can also calculate pot-size in real time, while a hand is being played out.

According to GPI’s studies, RFIDPoker has the potential to increase hands per hour by as much as 30%.

Titan Launches 2010 Irish Open Promo

The 2010 Irish Open doesn’t start until April, but Titan Poker is already running satellites to the tournament.

Titan Poker will run a weekly Super Satellite on Sundays that will award a $7,200 package, which includes the €3,500 buy-in. It’s possible to qualify for these weekly satellites for just $2.20.

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No-Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe and it typically takes place over Easter weekend in Dublin.

Last year Christer Johansson beat Kara Scott heads-up to claim the €600,000 first place prize.

Titan Poker generally has a large presence at the Irish Open and last year sent 32 players to represent the brand.

Click here to learn more about Titan Poker’s Irish Open promotions.

Team PokerStars Online Announced

After 2,000 online poker players sent in applications to become members of Team PokerStars Online, the group’s 23 inaugural players were announced on Wednesday, just in time for the holidays.

Eighteen countries are represented among the 23 founding members of Team PokerStars Online. Those on the list include Steve Jacobs, known in online poker circles simply as “stevesbets.” The poker player is perhaps best known for winning the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $25,000 buy-in Heads-Up event for a staggering $560,000. Also in the mix is Thomas “Boku87” Boekhoff, who was involved in a challenge of his own on the world’s largest online poker site to turn a $5 bankroll into $100,000. Boekhoff is one of the world’s premier grinders, but he’s also had success in the brick-and-mortar poker scene, including a 14th place at the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final in 2008.

Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc is another member of Team PokerStars Online. He’s a former winner of the site’s high-stakes $200 rebuy and recently finished as the runner-up in the PokerStars $10,000 Guaranteed for $11,000. Many will remember Nichoel Peppe from her deep run in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, where she took 75th place for $69,000. Known in the online world as “NicP,” the favorite of ESPN’s Main Event coverage now takes per place among the team of PokerStars-backed online poker pros.

Anders “Donald” Berg finished 37th in the 2008 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final and took down an event held as part of the Irish Winter Festival of Poker in 2005. In November, he won the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $26,000 and, one month prior, took down the site’s $50,000 Guaranteed for $15,000. Berg hails from Norway and is a veteran of the poker industry. You can find him roving the virtual felts of PokerStars as an online team member.

To say that Team PokerStars Online constitutes an eclectic group would be an understatement. Here are its inaugural members, listed alphabetically: Andres Alisievicz (lobojiji), Jorge Arias (JorgeArias), Boumaaza Bachir (Chiren80), Anders Berg (Donald), Alvaro Blanco (VARICO), Thomas Boekhoff (Boku87), Diego Brunelli (vgreen22), Andre Coimbra (acoimbra), Mathew Didlick (chipstar1), Ta-Chih Geeng (socutiesf), Andrew Goetsch (Kid Nebraska), Martha Gonzalez (marene), Keiran Harris (K_Man2307), Steve Jacobs (stevesbets), Randy Lew (nanonoko), Karlo Lopez (elmagopr), Alexey Makarov (LuckyGump), Kristian Martin (CharismA3), Grzegorz Mikielewicz (DaWarsaw), Nichoel Peppe (NicP), Grayson Physioc (spacegravy), Sebastien Sabic (Seb86), and Amanda Thomas (ROXY24).

A press release distributed by PokerStars on Wednesday reveals that Team PokerStars Online will receive new members in 2010. In addition, modifications to the software client’s lobby will allow easier location of PokerStars-sponsored pros when they hop online. A range of games and stakes are represented in the Team PokerStars Online roster.

This weekend, just two days after Christmas, PokerStars is hosting a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest online poker tournament in history. The standing mark is 65,000, set by PokerStars in July, and the site has upped the ante this time around. The record-setting $1 buy-in tournament will kick off at 14:45 ET on Sunday and feature $300,000 in the prize pool. The event will take on a turbo format and first place may see as much as $50,000 come their way for their $1 investment.

PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker site, with a seven-day running average of 28,400 real money ring game players, according to PokerScout.com. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout North America, nearly 50,000 cash game players call the site home. PokerStars happily accepts real money wagers from the United States and is based in the Isle of Man.

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.

An Inconvenient Truth of the Poker Industry

With the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next week, the topic of the environment has never been hotter.

The common assumption is poker players know how to protect a stack of chips and think of little else, let alone the environment.

In most cases, that may be not far from the truth, but should it be?

With the growing threat of global warming and climate change, poker players are not exempt from having to care about the environmental consequences of their actions.

And if you’ve ever been around a major poker tournament, you know the poker community has room to move when it comes to reducing its environmental impact.

The Big Picture

With hundreds of major tournaments around the world, the poker industry is a prominent offender when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Perhaps no more than any other travel or sports industry, but between flights, rental cars and straight-up energy consumption in casinos around the world, it’s safe to say there’s a surprising volume of negative environmental issues involved with simply playing cards.

Poker tournaments generate a large amount of waste. Disposable plates, food wrappers, cigarette butts, soda and water bottles are just the beginning.

Combine this with a lack of proper recycling programs in Las Vegas and most casinos around the world, and the landfills get a little larger with every one.

Of course, bringing a few thousand people to one location for any big event will likely create a similar amount of waste.

But that’s no excuse for poker players, according to Kristen Ostling, Communications Specialist in Climate Change for the world-renowned David Suzuki Foundation.

“This is the way of the future and not just for individuals,” said Ostling. “Businesses, organizations and individuals should all be looking at ways to reduce their carbon output. It’s also good for the bottom line in terms of dollars in most cases.”

Airline flights are among the fastest growing sources of global warming gases and air travel is a necessary evil on the world’s poker tours.

Air travel is one of the worst contributors to carbon emissions.

EPT Prague drew 555 players in 2007, but fewer than 20 actually resided in the Czech Republic. 

Even if every player were to fly from relatively close Barcelona, Spain to the event, almost 150 tons of carbon dioxide would be created.

Long-haul flights are one of the worst violators in terms of carbon emissions and a trip to Melbourne, Australia from North America for the Aussie Millions could conceivably use up an entire year of sustainable per-person emissions in just one flight.

“From a green perspective it’s good to do things online, but obviously sometimes you can’t beat face-to-face interaction,” Ostling said.  “The first thing a business has to do is make an assessment of what kind of environmental impact they are having.”

One suggestion Ostling has for the jet setting poker player is to buy carbon offsets to lessen the impact.

A carbon offset is essentially a certificate that represents a reduction of carbon emissions. Concerned individuals can buy a wide-variety of carbon offsets ranging from solar-power generators in India to reforestation or tree-planting in Ecuador.

Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the David Suzuki Foundation offer comprehensive guides on buying carbon offsets and buying enough could make it possible for even a well-travelled poker pro to achieve carbon neutrality.

The View from the Poker Industry

It’s impossible to consider the environmental impact of the poker industry and not start with Las Vegas.

Vegas is the Mecca of the poker world and a flashy, 24-hour city in the desert is obviously a hard sell when it comes to environmental sustainability.

A number of studies have ranked Nevada near the bottom of environmentally conscious states, and water consumption always seems to be a hot topic.

In 2008, environmental blog Treehugger ran a story claiming the Las Vegas strip could run dry by 2021 citing a recent study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimating there is a 50% chance the city will run out of water if no significant cutbacks are made.

Combine water consumption with the sheer amount of electricity it takes to run the Strip and you’re looking at a city that’s universally frowned upon by environmentalists.

Despite the bad reputation, there have been some efforts in Las Vegas to go greener.

The upcoming CityCenter is set to have several green features.

In 2009, Harrah’s announced it was joining Dell, Starbucks and Wrigley as founding members of the Team Earth initiative aiming to unite businesses, non-profits, scientists, educators and individuals to address pressing environmental issues.

In 2008, Harrah’s also began offering carbon offsets to its customers to help reduce the environmental impact of taking a Las Vegas vacation.

Plus, the massive 16,797,000-square-foot CityCenter development, set to finally open its doors this winter, appears to be going green.

Despite the considerable environmental impact of such a large casino, hotel, retail and residential project, the development was recently given a gold rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

CityCenter will use reclaimed water, an onsite power plant and other green technologies that are estimated to save the equivalent of 7,700 homes worth of energy, making it one of the largest sustainable developments in history.

There are also a few businesses trying to carve out a niche in the poker world with eco-friendly poker products.

Eric Hansel runs EGM Green, which he jokingly refers to as the only “green” company in poker. His company produces a variety of environmentally-conscious gambling products including poker tables, craps tables and lounge furniture.

One of EGM Green's eco-friendly poker tables.'

Each table is made with 96-97% naturally sustainable materials and 100% post-industry recycled synthetic fiber. Harrah’s allowed EGM Green display one of its tables at the 2008 WSOP to mixed reactions.

“I think the macro view is that poker players don’t care about the environment, but there are some that do,” he said.  “It’s steadily been getting better over the last two years. We keep letting players know they don’t have to give up luxury to buy a green poker table.”

Earlier this year, the company won an International Gaming Award for being the most eco-friendly in the industry.

“Sustainability will change the way casinos run,” Hansel said. “There’s no way the casinos of 10 years ago can operate 10 years from now.”

The View from the Players

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not all $1,000-bottles-of-Cristal ballers and high-stakes prima donnas blowing through money in the poker world.

Several noted poker pros are personally involved in environmental work.

Full Tilt pro David Singer, a WSOP bracelet winner, had a brief career as a lawyer at a non-profit environmental organization before getting into poker.

“I sometimes joke that I was going to save the world, but now I take people’s money,” said Singer.

Considering the self-serving nature of the game, it’s easy to see why some players are naturally apathetic to causes like the environment. But Singer said the poker world isn’t that different from the general public.

“I think poker players run the gamut of being concerned about global warming to not really caring about it,” he said. “Yesterday I was in Bobby’s Room and I overheard Prahlad Friedman telling Daniel Negreanu that golf courses are generally bad for the environment. At least they were talking about it in a positive way and voicing their concerns.”

But the week before, Singer said there was also a guy in Bobby’s Room who didn’t understand why Al Gore had received the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental work.

However, Singer believes poker players can help the environmental cause.

Poker pro David Singer once hosted a tournament that benefited the environment.

“Poker players bring a unique perspective because they are good at strategizing and environmental organizations can always use volunteers to help plan campaigns,” he said. “There are also some poker players who are lucky and have a decent amount of money and donating to these organizations is always helpful.”

Singer agreed carbon offsets can be a viable option for the jet set and that volunteering for environmental groups is almost always a good idea.

Fellow Full Tilt pro Amanda Baker is heavily involved with wildlife and environmental conservation while Team PokerStars pro Humberto Brenes works with the PRETOMA Shark Conversation program, an organization dedicated to protecting sharks in their natural habitat.

Singer reiterated the common ecological notion that everything starts with the individual – even in poker.

“What I would say to people is to just start something,” he said. “Even if you think it’s just a drop in the bucket. Personally I think the only way we’re going to get around global warming is if everyone’s attitude changes.

“If we keep going the way we’re going we’re headed for a disaster.”

This is a brief introduction to world of environmentalism, sustainability and the poker industry. For more information please check out the links presented below:

Links:

World Wildlife Foundation

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

David Suzuki Foundation

http://www.davidsuzuki.or

EGM Green

http://www.egmgreen.com/index.html

Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/

Guide to carbon offsets

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/carbon_offsets.asp

Inside the Treasury and Federal Reserve UIGEA Regulations Delay

Last week, the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve announced that mandatory compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) had been delayed until June 1st, 2010. Let’s take a look at the agencies’ reasoning.

The seven-page document issued by the Treasury and Federal Reserve on Wednesday begins with an overview of the UIGEA and states that the two government agencies consulted with the U.S. Department of Justice prior to delaying the compliance date. The final regulations of the UIGEA were published on January 19th as so-called “midnight rules” by the outgoing Bush administration. One day later, sitting President Barack Obama assumed office.

The document gives a brief timeline of events since then, noting that on September 18th, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and American Greyhound Track Owners Association submitted a joint letter calling for compliance with the UIGEA regulations to be delayed by one year to December 1st, 2010. The two agencies explained, “Petitioners assert that many small regulated entities do not have the resources necessary to develop and implement appropriate policies and procedures by the December 1, 2009 compliance date and cite the possibility of confusion regarding the term unlawful internet gambling.” The latter three-word phrase was not defined in the UIGEA, which instead deferred to a muddled slate of state, federal, and tribal laws.

In October and November, members of Congress led by Barney Frank (D-MA) also asked for a delay, as did several organizations, including the American Bankers Association, Wells Fargo, the Credit Union National Association, and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. On November 9th, other lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), whose home state serves as the epicenter for brick-and-mortar gambling in the United States, authored a letter purportedly expressing “an intent to consider legislation that would allow problematic aspects of the Act to be addressed.”

Meanwhile, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) weighed in, calling the reasons for a delay “speculative” in a November 3rd plea to the Treasury and Federal Reserve. Many of the groups clamoring for an extension feared overblocking, which could result in the denial of legal online wagering. In New Hampshire and North Dakota, credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard disallowed online lottery transactions, which received a carve out from the UIGEA. In Kentucky, horse racing outfits feared that internet bets on the sport would come to a screeching halt. Several weeks ago, Churchill Downs Incorporated purchased YouBet, further complicating the matter.

In the end, the two government entities asserted, “Neither petitioners nor commenters supporting the petition have provided the Agencies with sufficient data or documentation to justify a twelve-month extension of the compliance date. The Agencies believe that a six-month extension is sufficient for regulated entities to address issues related to the definition of unlawful internet gambling.” The agencies added that documentation provided by merchants to banks and other financial institutions should be sufficient to comply with the UIGEA.

The Treasury and Federal Reserve ultimately settled on using the Administrative Procedure Act to serve the delay on the grounds that the existing UIGEA rules are “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” Other pieces of law addressed were Executive Order 12866, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The document added, “The Agencies also believe that regulated entities need to be informed as soon as possible of the extension and its length in order to plan and adjust their implementation process accordingly.”

On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee will discuss HR 2266 and HR 2267. No markup will occur during the informational hearing, which will be held in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 10:00am ET. HR 2267 establishes a comprehensive framework for regulating the internet gambling industry in the United States and, if passed, may mark the beginning of explicitly legal online poker in the North American country.

Poker goes indie short

"The film shows a glimpse into the lives of two young men struggling to come to terms with their addictions to the game of poker" explained Juan Riedlinger.

"It explores both sides of the game so often misrepresented in film - the bliss and the bleakness. I felt that the demand for a good story about poker was so high in comparison to what's out there, so I wanted to jump on that while I could."

Along with its dark and moody look and feel - thanks in part to it being shot on a state-of-the-art RED digital camera - Shark Out of Water sports cameos from "Yukon" Brad Booth and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Riedinger said getting such a recognizable poker figure as Hellmuth to appear in the short was relatively simple.

"I called him up and told him what we were doing and after reading our script, he was interested in coming on board so we scheduled our entire shoot around him," he said.

The film recieved rave reviews after being screened at film festivals around North America, and Reidlinger believes that part of its appeal comes from the film's ability to capture and relate some of the more subtle aspects of poker while remaining entertaining.

"I'm so sick of seeing straight flushes beat four of a kind in poker movies," he said. "It's such an unrealistic scenario and has no place in a poker film that wants to be taken seriously."

You can see the trailer for the film in our blog section.

The film itself is available for purchase on the Shark Out of Water website.

Ultimate Bet Announces Live Tournament Series in Germany, Czech Republic

On Tuesday, leading online poker site Ultimate Bet announced the launch of UltimateBet.de, a dedicated German language information website that will outline the company’s all new series of live poker tournaments to be hosted in Germany and the Czech Republic.

The inaugural event will be hosted in Cologne, Germany on October 24th and one lucky player will walk away with an unusual prize. Exclusive to Ultimate Bet account holders, this specific tournament has a low-limit buy-in (€25) and will award the winner with a Mercedes Smart Car, known as much for its fuel-sipping, Earth-friendly efficiency as for its styling and superior safety.

Ultimate Bet has scheduled another tournament on November 11th that will take place in Aulendorf, Germany. Prizes have yet to be determined, but the online poker site will be giving away two free seats to its weekly $100,000 Guaranteed tournament as well as Ultimate Bet vouchers.

“We want our German players to feel as welcomed and as much a part of the Ultimate Bet community as their North American poker peers, and our live events will help create familiarity with the UB brand and the company that we are today, with an emphasis on security, safety, and the welfare of our players,” said Stephan Reschke, Ultimate Bet’s Marketing Manager for Germany.

The series of brick and mortar Texas Hold’em tournaments will bring in a new level of support and rewards for Ultimate Bet’s growing German population. The live tournaments in Germany will shift host venues throughout the country each weekend, with a range of affordable buy-ins and attractive prize pools. Monthly $10,000 guaranteed tournaments will be held at the Casino Flamingo, located conveniently close to the German border with the Czech Republic.

Ultimate Bet recently put on its signature land-based tournament, the Aruba Poker Classic, which concluded on October 10th. Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall bested a field of 475 players to claim the title after defeating Robert Mizrachi heads up. A first-place prize of $753,330 was awarded to the winner of the event. The tournament was formerly a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT).

While Ultimate Bet’s new series expansion into Germany and the Czech Republic certainly won’t create a comparable prize pool just yet, the site is excited about meeting with some of its northern European players. The live venues will also provide a way for Ultimate Bet’s German players to meet each other face-to-face rather than just in the online poker room. Ultimate Bet is a USA-friendly online poker site and its traffic tends to peak during North American evening hours, but the development of a live tournament series in Europe should create a considerable amount of growth for the company in the future.

Records fall on massive cross-pond poker weekend

A total of 1,412 players entered the $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago.

"Chicagoland has become one of the WSOP Circuit's most popular destinations for poker players," said WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. "Attendance eclipsed last year's near-record for the same event, which was 1,187 entries."

23-year-old poker pro Josh Shmerl, from Wauconda, Illinois just outside of Chicago, took the title and $79,107 first-place prize in Hammond.

The previous all-time record for attendance at a WSOP Circuit event was 1,345 players at the Tunica Grand Resort and Casino in Mississippi in January 2006.

Meanwhile, across the pond in Ireland, the 2009 Boylepoker International Poker Open set the record for the largest tournament field ever assembled outside of the United States.

The $250 buy-in No-limit Hold'em event drew 1,440 players from more than 18 countries creating prize pool of $350,000, including $27,000 added by the sponsor.

The previous non-U.S. attendance record was set at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas at 1,347.

Several big names from the ((UK poker scene)) were in attendance at the Regency Airport Hotel in Dublin, including Neil Channing, Padraig Parkinson, Andy Black, Marty Smyth, Surinder Sunar, Fintan Gavin, Simon Trumper and the voice of European poker, Jesse May.

German Markus Sippe took the title and $62,250 first-place prize.

"This year's International Poker Open was another great success, breaking last year's record by a further 140 players," said Boylepoker's Paul Spillane. "The event is proving more and more popular every year, among all levels of players.

"The IPO has become an unmissable event on any poker lover's calendar, and we are already excited about the next one."

PlayersOnly Opens its Doors to the World

At a time in the online gaming industry when internet casinos and online poker rooms are shutting their doors to American players, one site has gone the opposite route and started to accept players from around the world.

It was announced recently that PlayersOnly, which in the past had only offered its wares to online poker players in the United States and Canada, would start to accept customers from the remainder of the world. PlayersOnly, part of the Cake Poker Network, apparently found that limiting itself to just the action from North America kept the site from achieving its full potential. With the change to accepting players from the rest of the world, PlayersOnly should be able to improve its market share.

PlayersOnly has been in existence since 2006, or just about the time that the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in the United States. Its move at the time to accept only USA players probably enabled it to garner a great deal of traffic, as players, unable to access sites such as PartyPoker or 888, looked for new places to deposit. It was also a pleasant surprise for many that PlayersOnly accepted credit card transfers, which were virtually shut down after the UIGEA’s signing.

As part of the Cake Poker Network, PlayersOnly offers several of the standard games that you will find online. For No Limit cash games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha High-Low are the two disciplines that can be played. For those who have a penchant for taking to Limit tables, a full slate is featured with Texas Hold’em, Omaha (both High and High-Low), and Seven Card (both Stud and High-Low). When it comes to Pot Limit games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha (both High and High-Low) once again step to the forefront.

Tournaments are plentiful on PlayersOnly.com as, with its association with the Cake Poker Network, there are sizeable paydays at stake. In a previous article on Poker News Daily, changes that multi-table tournaments on the Network will undergo over the next six months were laid out. These changes, according to Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Cake Poker Room Manager Lee Jones, will encompass more freezeout tournaments and fewer rebuys and also feature better scheduling. Check out the recap of Cake Poker Network tournament changes.

Of the top ten online poker sites or networks in the industry, there are only four that accept action from the United States. The two at the top, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, have long been among the leaders in the industry and those that are arranged behind them will have sizeable problems trying to knock them from that perch. The third place slot belongs to the iPoker Network, which features Titan Poker, Chili Poker, and Mansion Poker, among others. The fourth place site or network worldwide is the former industry leader, PartyPoker.  Both do not accept American players.

The CEREUS Network, the third network that accepts all players, encompasses Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker and has been battling to regain its past momentum after the Russ Hamilton-led scandal and ownership change. The CEREUS Network, according to PokerScout.com, is the ranked sixth in the industry in terms of the number of real money ring game players. The Cake Poker Network, with over 40 rooms, currently sits in tenth place with a 24-hour peak of around 2,700 cash players (versus the 45,173 players in the same 24-hour period for PokerStars).

DoylesRoom Offers WPT Five Diamond Seats from $0.22

On December 13th, the World Poker Tour (WPT) will head to the Bellagio in Las Vegas for the annual Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Among those in attendance will be members of DoylesRoom

Last year, World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem outlasted the field at the Five Diamond event and earned $1.5 million. Heads-up, he defeated poker pro Justin Young in a final table that also included Evan McNiff, Steve Sung, Amnon Filippi, and “The Alabama Cowboy” Hoyt Corkins. A total of 497 players turned out, creating a $7.2 million prize pool. In 2007, 626 players competed in a tournament won by Eugene Katchalov.

Steps for entry into the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic begin at $0.22. Both standard and turbo tournaments are available at that price tag and entry into the turbo format can be obtained by placing first or second in a Gold Chip event. A total of 10 steps are on the docket for players to qualify for the WPT tournament. The final event is a $3,750 buy-in contest that awards a $17,000 prize package to its winner. Second place will take home another Step 10 entry, while third place will earn $250.

DoylesRoom members can buy in at any step they’d like. Step 1 weighs in at $0.22. Step 2 comes with a $0.68 buy-in, Step 3 has a $2 price tag, Step 4 has a $5.85 buy-in, Step 5 has a $17 price tag, Step 6 will set players back $49, Step 7 costs $145, Step 8 will run you $438, and Step 9 requires an outlay of $1,289.50. If successful, players will be treated in style in Sin City. Text found on the DoylesRoom website notes, “You won’t be just another player in Doyle Brunson’s tournament. You’ll be the player who experienced a full weekend of legendary Las Vegas indulgence with Doyle Brunson the weekend before the first hand was dealt.”

Players who make their way to Las Vegas after parlaying $0.22 into a WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic seat will also take home a Vegas Experience package, which includes first class airfare, hotel accommodations, VIP club access, tickets to a hot show, and even a chance to meet “Texas Dolly” himself. Players will receive $1,000 to use towards travel and accommodations and also be given a private coaching session with Brunson, a 10-time bracelet winner.

The promotion runs until December 4th on DoylesRoom, which happily accepts players from the United States. The site makes its home on the Cake Poker Network, which, according to PokerScout.com, is the tenth most popular worldwide with a seven-day running average of 1,780 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening across North America, 2,400 cash game players can be found battling it out. The Cake Poker Network is the fourth largest worldwide that accepts customers from the United States.

Weekly on Wednesdays at 9:30pm ET, DoylesRoom hosts its signature $50,000 Guaranteed Bounty tournament featuring Brunson, the “Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro, and a bevy of celebrities and guest pros. DoylesRoom is fresh off adding online poker pro Chris “moorman1” Moorman to its Brunson 10, a group of pros that also includes Amit “amak316” Makhija, Alec “traheho” Torelli, and Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark. Moorman recently reached the apex of the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and is one of the most respected players in the game today.

Qualify your way to Las Vegas for the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic on DoylesRoom.

Absolute Poker College Challenge Kicks Off October 4th

Starting on October 4th, satellites will be available for the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which makes its return to the popular Tokwiro-owned online poker site. $30,000 in prizes can be won, including a $10,000 grand prize tuition for the Player of the Year.

Cash qualifiers for the Absolute Poker College Challenge range from $0.25 to $5 in buy-in and a variety of freerolls are also available. The top nine players from each daily event (regardless of the buy-in amount) will qualify for a freeroll that will take place the next day. In it, the top 15 will earn entry into the Weekly Main Event Qualifier that takes place on Sundays at 9:00pm ET. The first Weekly Main Event Qualifier kicks off on October 11th and the final one will take place on November 29th. Each tournament carries a $200 prize pool.

The top nine players in each Weekly Main Event Qualifier will make their way to the Absolute Poker College Challenge Main Event, which is scheduled for Monday, November 30th at 8:30pm ET. The action isn’t done there, however, as the top six players in the Main Event will head to sunny Los Angeles for a live final table that will air on the official website of Bluff Magazine. The Player of the Year will take home $10,000 for tuition.

Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin, an Absolute Poker pro and consultant for the site’s College Challenge, commented in a press release distributed by the USA-friendly online poker site, “This tournament is a fun and easy way for college students to compete for an alternative way to pay for tuition and we believe that this program is one of the best ways to create real added value for college students.” In addition to the $10,000 grand prize, the promotion’s Player of the Year will earn a custom-crafted championship ring and a story in Bluff Magazine, one of the industry’s premier poker publications.

The other five players at the live final table won’t walk away empty-handed. Second place will earn $5,000, third place will snag $3,500, fourth place will pocket $3,000, fifth place will see their bankroll grow by $2,250, and the first person sent packing from the six-handed live finale will earn $2,000. Each person also receives $750 to use for travel to Los Angeles.

Those not heading to the West Coast city will also receive prizes. The seventh and eighth place finishers will earn $750, while the ninth place finisher will pocket $550. In total, the top 18 places will pay out at least $200. Daily freerolls take place at 8:15pm ET, while $0.25 cash game qualifiers are available at 8:30pm ET. $5 qualifiers kick off at 8:45pm ET nightly.

Absolute Poker makes its home on the CEREUS Network along with its sister site, Ultimate Bet. According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the CEREUS Network is the sixth largest worldwide with a seven-day running average of 2,400 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening across North America, over 3,500 cash game players can be found on its felts. At the time of writing, which is 1:30pm ET on a Sunday, a total of 2,449 real money ring game players have hit the felts of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. CEREUS is the third largest network to accept players from the United States behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which rank first and second, respectively.

Representatives from Ultimate Bet, meanwhile, are busy preparing for the Aruba Poker Classic, whose $5,500 buy-in Main Event kicks off on Monday with the first of two starting days. The marquee poker tournament crowns a champion on October 11th.