Poker News

Sydney PartyPoker Qualifier Wins Aussie Millions

23-year-old Tyron Krost won a $640 online satellite to get into the main event at the Crown Casino and walked away AUD$2 million richer after besting a field of 746 this week.

"It feels like a dream and I don't want to wake up," he said moments after the win. "$2 million, it's amazing."

After a fairly lengthy feeling-out process, fellow Aussie Steven Shelley was the first player to get his walking papers from the final eight Saturday, running sevens into Krost's jacks.

But it wasn't long before he was joined on the rail by online superstar and 2007 World Series of Poker Europe champ Annette Obrestad.

The Betfair pro got into a flip for her stack with ace-jack against the PartyPoker qualifier's sevens and would have liked the straight draw she picked up on the flop if that same flop didn't give Krost a set.

The turn and river bricked out and Obrestad was sent back to Norway seventh.

Strangely, pocket sevens were involved in the next elimination as well, with Reno, Nevada's Steve Friedlander running them into Aussie Kostas Varoxis' big slick.

A king on the flop and another on the turn did the lone American at the final table in and play went five handed.

It stayed five-handed for quite a while until Canadian Peter Jetten appeared to implode, shipping it in with K♦ 5♦ against Krost's tens on a move and failing to improve.

Once the massive chip leader, Sorel Mizzi's downfall began soon after when he doubled up Frederik Jensen and before the Betfair Poker pro knew what had hit him, Krost had suddenly moved into the lead.

A few desperations shoves from Varoxis were next on the agenda, and although the first couple worked, his luck eventually ran out when he couldn't beat Jensen's deuces with A♥ 6♣.

Mizzi's downfall ended three-handed when he ran pocket sevens into Krost's ace-king and could not hold, leaving the two PartyPoker qualifiers to battle it out heads up.

Krost began heads up with better than 2:1 chip lead over Jensen and the Aussie began applying pressure on the Dane right from the outset, pounding him into submission before getting him all in dominated to book the win.

A humble Krost seemed to have the all big hands when he needed them throughout the final, beating some of the best young players in the game while following up Stewart Scott's 2009 win to become only the second Aussie to keep the title on home soil in Aussie Millions history.

"I just ran really well and got really lucky," he said. "I had a lot of big hands."

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Sydney PartyPoker Qualifier Wins Aussie Millions

23-year-old Tyron Krost won a $640 online satellite to get into the main event at the Crown Casino and walked away AUD$2 million richer after besting a field of 746 this week.

"It feels like a dream and I don't want to wake up," he said moments after the win. "$2 million, it's amazing."

After a fairly lengthy feeling-out process, fellow Aussie Steven Shelley was the first player to get his walking papers from the final eight Saturday, running sevens into Krost's jacks.

But it wasn't long before he was joined on the rail by online superstar and 2007 World Series of Poker Europe champ Annette Obrestad.

The Betfair pro got into a flip for her stack with ace-jack against the PartyPoker qualifier's sevens and would have liked the straight draw she picked up on the flop if that same flop didn't give Krost a set.

The turn and river bricked out and Obrestad was sent back to Norway seventh.

Strangely, pocket sevens were involved in the next elimination as well, with Reno, Nevada's Steve Friedlander running them into Aussie Kostas Varoxis' big slick.

A king on the flop and another on the turn did the lone American at the final table in and play went five handed.

It stayed five-handed for quite a while until Canadian Peter Jetten appeared to implode, shipping it in with K♦ 5♦ against Krost's tens on a move and failing to improve.

Once the massive chip leader, Sorel Mizzi's downfall began soon after when he doubled up Frederik Jensen and before the Betfair Poker pro knew what had hit him, Krost had suddenly moved into the lead.

A few desperations shoves from Varoxis were next on the agenda, and although the first couple worked, his luck eventually ran out when he couldn't beat Jensen's deuces with A♥ 6♣.

Mizzi's downfall ended three-handed when he ran pocket sevens into Krost's ace-king and could not hold, leaving the two PartyPoker qualifiers to battle it out heads up.

Krost began heads up with better than 2:1 chip lead over Jensen and the Aussie began applying pressure on the Dane right from the outset, pounding him into submission before getting him all in dominated to book the win.

A humble Krost seemed to have the all big hands when he needed them throughout the final, beating some of the best young players in the game while following up Stewart Scott's 2009 win to become only the second Aussie to keep the title on home soil in Aussie Millions history.

"I just ran really well and got really lucky," he said. "I had a lot of big hands."

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Democratic Turmoil and What it Means for Poker

Lask week's surprise victory by Republican Scott Brown over the Obama-backed state Atty. Gen. Martha Coakley in a special election to fill the deceased Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat shows why it's looking less and less likely that poker...

The Other Hachem: Life In Joe’s Shadow

Yet thanks to a huge year on the PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour, where he cashed in four of five events on the way to winning Player of the Year honors, Hachem's brother Tony seems to have found a way out from under it.

“People would say I was just Joe’s brother, that I can’t play,” Tony said. “But now I’ve made a number of final tables and cashes. In my mind, poker is all about consistency and I think I’ve proved I have that.

“People say that it’s tough playing in Joe’s shadow, but I try to be positive about it and use it to my advantage. I was given an opportunity, I took it by the horns and I’m running with it.”

There’s always been a lot more to Tony Hachem than just being the brother of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion.

He cashed in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, made a final table at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza in Las Vegas that same year and found a career best score of NZ$54,000 when he finished runner-up at the 2008 New Zealand Poker Championship.

Plus, PokerStars has always seen him as a marketable character with great networking skills, a socialite with celebrities Down Under and a popular figure amongst the ever growing community of poker players in the region.

As a result, Tony was sponsored by PokerStars for a number of tournaments, a move that immediately garnered its fair share of criticism regardless of Tony's track record.

“People have said to me, ‘What does it take to be a PokerStars pro? Can I just change my name to Hachem,’” explained Joe.  

“I’ve heard it all before and a lot worse,” added Tony. “It’s like, ‘You are Joe’s brother, so you got a sponsorship,’ but that’s not how it is.

“All I can say is when people are given opportunities, they either let them pass or they make the most of them and I made sure I made the most of this one.”

Wearing the PokerStars patch, Tony made 15^th at ANZPT Adelaide for AUD$5,870, 17^th at ANZPT Sydney for AUD$8,874, 16^th at the ANZPT’s 2009 Melbourne Texas Hold'em Championship for AUD$5,450, and 18^th ANZPT Queenstown for NZ$3,015.

As a result, 43-year-old Joe couldn’t be more proud of his 36-year-old little brother.

“He was just consistent and honestly pretty unfortunate not to have a major score,” Joe said. “The thing is, I’m really happy he did something in his own right. He deserves it.”

Tony’s name is rarely written, by the mainstream or poker press, without mention of Joe.

But the ever-humble younger Hachem grew up idolizing his big brother and says he doesn’t mind.

“Honestly, being Joe’s brother isn’t a bad thing,” he said. “He’s always going to be my brother.

“The game of poker is growing around the world and Joe is a big part of that, here and abroad. I guess people are just going to have to get used to the idea that Joe’s got a younger brother who loves the game, loves interacting with the people and can play a little too.”

While he had the sponsorship before, the spoils of winning the ANZPT Player of the Year title includes a cheque for AUD$60,000 and a spot on the Team PokerStars Australia roster.

What that means is Tony will be playing in the second season of the ANZPT kicking off in Adelaide next month, several stops on the upcoming fourth season of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour and the 2010 Aussie Millions, where he has already made 11^th in a prelim for AUD$9,144 and started play on the final day one flight of the main event Tuesday, just a few tables over from Joe.

“There are some things in poker that I want to achieve this year,” added Tony. “I really want to win a tournament or at least maintain the consistency I had last year and I think the Aussie Millions will be a good start.”

To follow the progress of the Hachem brothers, and the entire 2010 Aussie Millions main event, tune in to PokerListings’ Live Updates through January 30.

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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.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. A Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now sitting with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. Nevertheless, a Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

Hachem Hunts Aussie Millions Glory

But make no mistake about it, when the main event begins Sunday, 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem would rather keep the Aussie Millions for himself.

“I look forward to it ever year,” the Team PokerStars Pro and Crown Casino Ambassador told PokerListings. “But it’s like a love-hate relationship. I’d love to win it and I’ve been close three or four years now, but I just haven’t been able to get there. Maybe it’s because I would love to win it so much.”

An Australian poker icon and worldwide superstar, Hachem’s $10,856,216 in career live tournament earnings puts him sixth on poker’s all-time leading money winners list.

Of course, he has the WSOP main event bracelet and his December 2006 win at the World Poker Tour’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic gave Hachem a WPT title, making him one of only five players to have both.

But earning a third jewel in his very own triple crown is what Hachem truly desires.

“That would really seal the deal for me,” he said. “I mean, I’d love to win an EPT, but to win the Aussie Millions; it would be unbelievable.”

In fact, the Lebanese-born, Melbourne-raised Hachem wants to win on his home soil so badly, he can almost taste it.

“I have to make a final table there, I just do, and if I do, I promise you if I make the final table there, I will win it,” he said.

A chiropractor in Melbourne for more than a decade before a rare blood disorder affecting his hands forced him to give up his career, Hachem actually started taking poker seriously playing tournaments at Crown a decade ago.

The Aussie Millions itself began when the Crown Australian Poker Championship moved to January in 2001 with just 40 entrants putting up the AUD$5,000 buy-in.

The event, along with the game of poker in Australia, has grown infinitely since, attracting a truly international field and peaking in 2008 when 780 players ponied up the now AUD$10,000 buy-in.

His 2005 WSOP win was a major catalyst for the poker boom in Australia, but Hachem believes the game itself has always been a perfect fit for Aussie culture.

“I think Australians really have that competitive nature and poker, especially tournament poker, it brings that out in you,” he said.

In 2009, the Aussie Millions title was kept on home soil for the first time when Adelaide chef-turned-poker player Stewart Scott beat a field of 681.

This year, with poker as popular as ever Down Under, organizers are estimating the field could reach as many as 800 players.

To follow all the action, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates beginning at 12:30 p.m. Melbourne time Sunday.

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Liv Boeree Appears in Maxim UK

Maxim UK describes this poker player as a “very sexy guitar-wielding, card-playing, telly-hosting farm girl.” Who is she, you ask? UB.com’s Liv Boeree, of course. Boeree appeared in a recent edition of the scandalous magazine.

The photographer in the Maxim UK shoot, Alan Barry, allegedly asked Boeree to pose on a toilet and the Brit obliged. She told Maxim UK, who inquired about the unique shot, “It seemed a shame to let such a lovely chrome toilet not be included in the shoot. It wasn't me that made the toilet sexy, it was the toilet that did all the work. It really was such a pretty thing.” Boeree appears in two colored dresses on Maxim UK’s website: red and black. In the now-infamous toilet shot, she is hunched over while wearing a skimpy black dress.

Boeree grew up on a farm, leading to a flurry of questions concerning her background. Maxim asked whether she enjoyed rolling around in hay. Boeree responded, “Hay is preferable to straw for sure, it's way less scratchy.” She revealed that her favorite farm animal is a pig, leading to a highly insightful question from Maxim: “Have you ever masturbated one, like Rebecca Loos? If you haven't but had to, would you?” Boeree bluntly responded, “No. And no. What is wrong with you people?”

Boeree also noted that she is a fan of strumming the guitar and her favorite riff is from “Cowboys from Hell” by the band Pantera. Maxim UK inquired as to whether she could play the guitar solo from the Guns N' Roses hit “Sweet Child of Mine.” The UB.com poker icon admitted, “I can't - it's never one I've really tried to learn. Give me a month and I'll play it for ya though.” Her ultimate rock superstar group would include James Hetfield of Metallica, Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, Adam Duce from Machine Head, and Vinnie Paul from Pantera.

Maxim UK finally got around to asking about poker, Boeree’s profession. She revealed that the most she’s ever won in a day is $42,000 and recapped an interesting run-in with porn star Ron Jeremy: “He mentions how he's just learned to play poker so I ask him a particular hand related question: Which would you prefer... 6-9 or Jack King Off. Say those fast and what do you get? Well Mr. Jeremy didn't get the innuendo in the names and proudly stated that he'd always choose Jack King off over 6-9.”

On the online poker forum TwoPlusTwo, posters were buzzing over the shoot and its corresponding in-depth interview, a link to which was posted three days ago. TwoPlusTwo member “hdbets” critiqued the quality of the photo shoot: “pretty bad photos, they lack a decent production, lighting and wardrobe... even Liv being a very beautiful woman doesnt look that great.” Others were seeking out more skin: “Thats got to be the lamest Maxim spread i've ever seen, she's like fully clothed.”

Boeree has established herself as one of the top poker commentators in the business. She’s reported for outlets like WorldSeriesOfPoker.com, Gutshot TV, and Challenge TV. Her aforementioned $42,000 cash came in May 2008, when Boeree won the $2,000 buy-in Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship, defeating American Lenna Martyak heads-up.

Besides Boeree, other members of Team UB include Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who is the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker, comprise the CEREUS Network and happily accept players from the United States.

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

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Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Poker2Nite Previews WPT Season 8 on Fox Sports Net

On Wednesday’s installment of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Justin “Boosted J” Smith recapped a hand from the Bellagio Cup V. The tournament will kick off the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT premieres on Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, with Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and former actor Vince Van Patten once again having the call from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Jaka and Smith finished second and third, respectively, in the event and tangled in a hand where Jaka held A-J and Smith had pocket deuces.

The duo broke down the hand over the course of a five-minute segment, with Jaka noting, “There’s so much information out there. People can figure it out just by studying it, but when you do something new that hasn’t been talked about over and over again, they don’t know what to do.” For example, Jaka led out with the best hand on the flop, electing not to check despite flopping a monster. Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes ultimately took down the Bellagio Cup V Main Event to the tune of $1.2 million.

A new segment called “This Week in Side Action” recapped cross-booking between 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and Team Full Tilt’s Tom “durrrr” Dwan. The “Poker2Nite Dictionary” defined cross-booking as, “When two players bet against each other by offering a percentage of any winnings.” Essentially, one player would have to pay the other half of what they cashed for. In this case, Dwan came up empty-handed after busting on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, while Ivey cashed for $23,500. Consequently, Dwan paid “The Tiger Woods of Poker” $11,750. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok added that the $23,500 payday did not cover Ivey’s 10-day stay in a suite at Atlantis.

“Poker2Nite” roving reporter and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones scoped out the brand new 18-table poker room at Aria, which is part of Las Vegas’ CityCenter. Aria Poker Room Manager Adam Altweis, who previously sat down with Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, told Jones, “Our high-level executives really put forth a big effort. The room was made for the player.” The Aria poker room features direct access to the poker cage and may soon sport Ivey’s Room, a nosebleed-stakes table surrounded by glass similar to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Sebok had already had a chance to check out the brand new digs at Aria and told his “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “I was there on opening night and it’s spectacular.” On the prospect of Ivey’s Room coming to fruition, Sebok speculated, “I don’t even think those talks happened.” Only time will tell. Following the Aria segment was Isaac Haxton discussing a hand against Ryan Daut during the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Daut won $1.5 million for taking down the WPT tournament.

Dana Workman dished out the “Weekly Misdeal” sponsored by Bluff Magazine, which offers a satirical look at the week’s poker headlines. This week, Workman poked fun at the proposed New Jersey intrastate internet gambling bill, the 2010 WSOP rules governing Twitter use and player hygiene, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada playing in the same celebrity basketball game as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen.

Finally, “Poker2Nite” previewed the finale of the Absolute Poker College Challenge, which will see players vie for $10,000 in college tuition. The final table will be streamed live online. Highlights will be shown next Wednesday at 11:00pm ET, when the next new episode of UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” will air on Fox Sports Net.

Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot Hit for $553,958

Dover native Steven Gedney hit a record-shattering Bad Beat Jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City of $553,958 last Friday. The behemoth prize pool dwarfed the former largest jackpot of $361,244 and Gedney raked in $276,979 as a result of the beat.

Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City, commented in a press release distributed by the East Coast casino, "This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team. The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record-setting jackpot couldn't be more rewarding.”

Gedney held quad threes in the memorable hand, normally a stone cold lock to scoop any pot. However, in what was likely a mix of dismay and excitement, Gedney watched as his opponent, Chris Dobrzanski, flipped up four aces, triggering the Bad Beat Jackpot. Although dropping the $400 pot, Gedney hauled in a massive $276,979 prize for suffering the bad beat. Dobrzanski, meanwhile, hauled in the $400 spoils and added another $138,489 for dishing out the misfortune. The table was nine-handed, meaning that the other seven players seated each earned $19,784 for paying witness to history, enough to buy a new car just in time for final 2009 year-end closeouts.

Under the terms of the Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot, four of a kind must go down in smoke to a superior hand. Half of the Bad Beat Jackpot is awarded to the losing player in the hand, 25% is given to the winning player, and the remaining 25% is divided equally among the other players dealt to at the table when the bad beat occurred. In 2008, the Caesars Atlantic City poker room awarded nearly $1.2 million in Bad Beat Jackpot money and is well on its way to surpassing that amount this year.

As of January 11th, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot stood at $529,436, meaning that it grew by $25,000 last week alone before being hit on Friday. At Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, the Bad Beat Jackpot was $352,873 last Monday. At Showboat, the purse for doling out a bad beat was $118,970 one week ago and, at Bally’s, the bounty stood at $137,493. After being hit on Friday, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot sat at $152,000 today at Noon ET.

The Caesars Palace Atlantic City poker room sports 20 tables and 50-inch plasma televisions to allow players to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of sports. The casino spreads favorites like $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em and $2/$4, $3/$6, and $4/$8 Limit Hold’em. The venue is ramping up to host a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event in March. The action kicks off in Atlantic City on March 3rd and concludes with a Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on March 14th. The $5,150 buy-in Caesars Atlantic City Circuit Championship, a three-day affair, will begin dealing cards on March 12th.

Here is the schedule of events for the Caesars Atlantic City Circuit stop in March:

Wednesday, March 3rd at 12:00pm ET
Event #1: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in

Thursday, March 4th at 12:00pm ET
Event #2: No Limit Hold'em
$590 buy-in

Friday, March 5th at 12:00pm ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in

Saturday, March 6th at 12:00pm ET
Event #4: No Limit Hold'em
$560 buy-in

Sunday, March 7th at 12:00pm ET
Event #5: No Limit Hold'em
$340 buy-in

Monday, March 8th at 12:00pm ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold'em
$560 buy-in

Tuesday, March 9th at 12:00pm ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold'em
$1,080 buy-in

Wednesday, March 10th at 12:00pm ET
Event #8: Deep Stack
$1,600 buy-in

Thursday, March 11th at 12:00pm ET
Event #9: Turbo
$230 buy-in

Friday, March 12th at 12:00pm ET
Event #10: Caesars Atlantic City Championship Event
$5,150 buy-in

Saturday, March 13th at 12:00pm ET
Event 11: Turbo
$230 buy-in

Sunday, March 14th at 12:00pm ET
Event #12: Ladies No Limit Hold'em
$230 buy-in

Full Tilt Poker Launches Double Guarantees Week

From January 25th to 31st, Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest site, is doubling the prize pools of its guaranteed tournaments. A total of $25 million will be on the line throughout the week, leading up to a special $1.5 million purse for the site’s marquee $750,000 Guaranteed on Sunday. Full Tilt happily accepts players from the United States.

The $750,000 Guaranteed, which will sport a seven-figure prize pool on the final day of January, is a $216 buy-in poker tournament that kicks off at 18:00 ET. The $256 buy-in Sunday Brawl, the industry’s largest bounty tournament, will see its guarantee boosted from $400,000 to $800,000. In the event, $200 of each player’s buy-in becomes part of the prize pool, $40 is placed on their head as a bounty, and the remaining $16 goes to Full Tilt Poker as juice. Last week, bounties totaling $109,000 were up for grabs.

The final chance for Full Tilt Poker members to get in on high-stakes action each weekend is the Sunday Mulligan, which issues its “Shuffle Up and Deal” command at 19:05 ET. On January 31st, a total of $400,000 will be up for grabs in it, an increase from the regular $200,000 prize pool. Overall, $2.7 million out of the $25.3 million in guarantees will be on the line in the three aforementioned Sunday majors.

A bevy of more affordable tournaments will also have their guarantees doubled between January 25th and 31st. The site’s $1K Monday, which drew 315 players last week in a tournament ultimately won by IStakeU.com poker coach Will “imahustla1” Givens, will sport a $600,000 purse on January 25th. Givens pocketed $78,000 and the top 36 players finished in the money in the $1,060 buy-in affair.

Full Tilt Poker’s Daily Dollar, a $1 buy-in tournament, will boast a $20,000 guaranteed prize pool. This tournament runs twice daily at 15:15 ET and 20:15 ET and offers unlimited rebuys during the first hour and one add-on. Its first place prize is regularly around $1,500. The daily $75,000 Guaranteed, which comes with a $163 buy-in, will see a purse of $150,000 up for grabs as part of Double Guarantees Week.

The $55 buy-in Fifty-Fifty will not sport a $50,000 guarantee during Full Tilt’s promotional week. Instead, the spoils will be bumped to $100,000. The Fifty-Fifty runs nightly at 21:30 ET and first place usually pays around $9,500. Other highlights of Double Guarantees Week include the Double Deuce, which will come complete with a $400,000 guaranteed prize pool. The affordable $22 buy-in tournament kicks off, appropriately, at 16:22 ET on Sundays.

Double Guarantees Week rounds out the month of January on Full Tilt Poker. Beginning on February 10th is the 15th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The quarterly event makes its debut in the new decade with more than $17 million in guaranteed prize money. The kickoff event is a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with at least $1 million on the line. FTOPS XV culminates in a $535 buy-in Main Event with at least $2.5 million up for grabs. Last time out, The FTOPS XIV Main Event drew 5,471 players and surpassed its guarantee by $235,000.

Following February’s running of the FTOPS is the MiniFTOPS in March. The series features buy-ins that are one-tenth the size of their high-stakes counterparts and will take place between the 10th and 21st of the month. Full Tilt’s roster of pros include 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, five-time bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, former MIT Blackjack Team member Andy Bloch, and high-stakes cash game specialist Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who is Team Full Tilt’s newest face.

Visit Full Tilt Poker for more information on Double Guarantees Week.

Harrison Gimbel Becomes Youngest PCA Main Event Champ Ever

Harrison "gibler321" Gimbel outlasted a talented final table in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event to become the youngest winner ever of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. He earned a $2.2 million first place prize.

Gimbel is just 19 years-old and unable to play in a casino on U.S. soil legally. Accordingly, he qualified for the PCA in the Bahamas and outlasted the record-setting 1,529-player field that turned out. In the final hand, Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman was all-in pre-flop holding a wired pair of eights and up against Gimbel’s pocket tens. The flop came 10-6-2, giving Gimbel top set and a veritable stranglehold in the hand. However, an eight on the turn left Reiman drawing to one out with the title of 2010 PCA Main Event Champion on the line. The river was a jack, shipping the $2.2 million prize to Gimbel and crowning the tournament’s youngest champion in history.

Thomas Koral was sent packing in eighth place when his pocket queens could not draw out on Reiman’s pocket aces. The board of 6-10-6-J-K ensured that the better hand held and Koral earned a healthy $201,300 for his troubles. Then, Zachary Goldberg pushed all-in with pocket tens and received a re-shove from Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn. The Euro showed A-Q, setting up a coin flip, and an ace on the turn sealed Goldberg’s demise. He earned an even $300,000 for his seventh place performance.

Ravn was bumped from the 2010 PCA Main Event in sixth place as part of a three-way all-in. Ravn and Ben Zamani both committed their chips pre-flop against Gimbel. The best hand pre-flop went to Gimbel, who had jacks and both players covered, while Zamani showed pocket eights. Ravn held A-Q of clubs and would be rooting for paint that wasn’t a jack to come. However, the flop fell 5-8-7, giving Zamani top set, and he never looked back. Ravn’s sixth place finish was worth $450,000.

Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo, one of just three players to win multiple PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) events in the same year, fell in fifth place. Seeking vindication for an earlier loss with pocket jacks, D’Angelo committed his chips with the hand and was up against Reiman’s Big Slick. However, a king hit on the river to send D’Angelo home, $700,000 richer for his wear.

Four-handed, Zamani put his tournament life on the line with A-10 against Gimbel’s pocket eights. Once again, pocket eights found top set and the hand was good enough to scoop the pot and send another player into the Bahamian night. Zamani, the last PokerStars qualifier standing, earned $1 million for fourth place in the flat pay structure.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, in a stirring run through the PCA tournament, was eliminated in third place for $1.35 million. He shoved from the button with Q-10, but ran into Gimbel’s A-9. PokerStars’ coverage accurately noted that the 2010 PCA Main Event marked the second time in four months that Shulman has banked seven-figures in a major poker tournament. He’s the father of 2009 WSOP November Nine member Jeff Shulman, who took fifth in the Las Vegas spectacle for nearly $2 million.

Gimbel scooped a healthy pot about a half-hour into heads-up play to claim the chip lead. Gimbel raised to 600,000 pre-flop and Reiman made the price of poker 1.675 million. His opponent obliged and the flop came 2-A-8. Both players slowed down, as the action went check-check to a seven on the turn. Reiman checked, Gimbel bet 2.2 million, and Reiman called to bring a three on the river. Reiman once again checked, Gimbel fired out a bet of 4.7 million, and Reiman came along, watching as Gimbel turned over A-5 for top pair. Gimbel pumped his chip stack to 28 million, while Reiman fell to 17 million, reversing the totals entering heads-up play.

The battle between Gimbel and Reiman lasted less than hour. Here were the final results from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas:

1. Harrison Gimbel - $2,200,000
2. Tyler Reiman - $1,750,000
3. Barry Shulman - $1,350,000
4. Benjamin Zamani - $1,000,000
5. Ryan D'Angelo - $700,000
6. Aage Ravn - $450,000
7. Zachary Goldberg - $300,000
8. Tom Koral - $201,300

Elsewhere at the 2010 PCA, Dario Minieri leads a star-studded field of 52 players left in the $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament. His stack of 218,600 chips paces the field entering Day 2, with Lex Veldhuis hot on his tail with 214,500. In fourth place after one day of play is none other than reigning WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada, who will come armed to Tuesday’s action with a stack of 164,400.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 PCA coverage.

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.

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks off January 4th

Fans of the popular NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” won’t have to wait long after the clock strikes Midnight this evening to catch the show’s sixth season, which debuts on Monday night, January 4th, at 2:05am ET.

Ali Nejad and Leeann Tweeden will reprise their “Poker After Dark” announcing and hosting roles, respectively, as the show enters season number six. The first week is entitled “Commentators III” and, while the name isn’t very catchy, the action on the felt should be nail biting. Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott will all play in “Poker After Dark’s” Season 6 premiere. Sebok, who hosts UB.com’s “Poker2Nite,” and Scott, the new floor reporter for GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” are making their “Poker After Dark” debuts. You can catch “Commentators III” beginning on January 4th.

A total of 13 shows were filmed for Season 6 of “Poker After Dark,” including six-handed freezeouts and three different buy-in cash games. Followers of 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad will be able to catch the youngster on a special “Nicknames” episode that also features Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Obrestad, a Betfair pro, turned 21 in September and is finally old enough to gamble legally on U.S. soil.

A $50,000 buy-in cash game features a star-studded lineup of Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth. A press release distributed by Poker PROductions notes, “Any time Matusow and Hellmuth play against each other in a cash game, the insults alone make for must-see-television.” A high-stakes $150,000 buy-in cash game will see Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David “Viffer” Peat, Eli Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer take to the felts. The six are staples of “High Stakes Poker” and one mounts the comeback of the century.

One of the more notable freezeout themes is “Lonesome Shark,” which features Lindgren, James Akenhead, Esfandiari, Matusow, David Williams, and Brad Booth. What do they all have in common, you ask? All six are poker’s most eligible bachelors and the heads-up battle in this episode is one of the longest of the season. Mixed Martial Arts will take center stage shortly thereafter in a show featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, Antonius, Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson, former UFC champion Randy Couture, Lederer, and Lindgren.

Here is the schedule through April for new episodes of Season 6 of “Poker After Dark” according to NBC.com:

Week of January 4th - Commentators III
Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott

Week of January 11th – Nicknames
Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth

Week of March 15th - Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 1
Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow

Week of March 22nd – Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 2
Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 19th - My Favorite Pro
Craig Ivey, James Ashby, Steve Bartlett, Phil Hellmuth, Jens Voertmann, Chris Ferguson

Week of April 26th - He Said, She Said
Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow, Annie Duke

Additional dates for new episodes will be announced in the future and re-runs of popular shows will also air over the first four months of 2009. “Poker After Dark” will take a hiatus during the weeks of February 15th and 22nd due to the Winter Olympics, which NBC owns the rights to.

“Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker,” both products of Poker PROductions, were filmed in October at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The latter begins airing on GSN on Sunday, February 14th.

Mike Sexton Tall Tales by Linda Johnson

I’ve had lots of highlights in my poker career, but attending the dinner and ceremony during which Mike Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame is certainly among the highest. By now, I’m sure you know that Sexton was the only one who got inducted this year. If I were a betting woman, I’d bet that he got the nod from 100% of the voting media and living Hall of Fame members.

I was thrilled for Mike and honored when he called to let me know that he was the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee. The night before the induction, I went to a private party at Mike’s house. Tales from Mike’s earlier days were being tossed about and this one was my favorite. When Mike was fairly new to Las Vegas, his longtime relationship with Chip Reese and Danny Robinson led to him hang out with many of the high-limit players at that time.

He met Puggy Pearson through Chip and Danny. Puggy was a “hustler” and eventually Mike and he made arrangements to play backgammon at a local bar for some fairly high stakes. By the time they actually played, Mike was, as he said, “between bankrolls.” He was a bit concerned that there might be some trouble if he lost because he couldn’t pay Puggy that night, so he asked his brother Tom to go with him in case things got out of hand. Puggy won the first few matches and had Mike stuck about $1,000. Puggy then said, “Son, I think we should settle up every time the figure gets to be $1,000, so pay me now and then we can continue to play.” Uh-oh… bad beat for Mike!

He looked at Puggy and said, “Well, I hate to say this, but I didn’t bring any money with me tonight. You know I’m good for it though.” Puggy then glared at Mike for about two minutes before breaking out into laughter. “What’s so funny?” asked Mike. Puggy replied, “Well son, I didn’t know what to do if I lost. I didn’t bring any money either.”

We swapped Sexton stories. I recalled the most exciting bet I’d ever been involved in: In 1998, Sexton, Bonnie Damiano, Jan Fisher, and I made a $5,000 bet with Erik Seidel that we could pick the winner of the WSOP Main Event if we got to choose 60 players. Erik would get the field versus our 60 players. Additionally, he was allowed to select 10 players that would be considered neutral, so if any of those people won, the bet would be a push.

This was a huge bet for us at the time, so Bonnie, Mike, Jan, and I met every day during the WSOP to modify our list. We would add players based on who was playing well and delete names of those who were having personal problems, money problems, doing drugs, etc. The final list that we turned in to Erik on the morning before the Main Event started looked nothing like the list we had originally concocted. To our dismay, there was a large number of entrants that year, 350 to be exact, which meant that after ruling out ten neutral players, we had 60 players against Erik’s 280.

Our dismay turned to joy as the field narrowed. We were already counting our winnings because there was one spoiler for us, Kevin McBride, who no one had even heard of before the final event. T.J. Cloutier was at the final table, but was a neutral player, so if he won, the bet would be a push. We had Scotty Nguyen, Lee Salem, and Dewey Weum on our list. I give Mike extreme credit for such great handicapping since back in those days, no one would have picked those three guys. When we heard Scotty’s words, “Call this baby and it’s all over,” it was music to our ears!

The Rio hosted a first-class affair for Mike’s induction. The decorations and the food in the Brasilia Room were impressive. Mike’s wife, Karen, and his 16-month old, Ty, were there as well as a veritable "who’s who" of poker.

In Mike’s acceptance speech, he credited the eight other nominees and then thanked some people who had helped him along in his career. Mike acknowledged that I was the one who gave him his start when I hired him to write a column for CardPlayer. That gave him exposure to the world, which ended up in him getting a call from Ruth Parisol to come help to India to help get an online site off the ground. That company turned out to be Party Gaming, which eventually sold for about $9 billion when it went public.

What Mike didn’t mention on his special night was that in the beginning, PartyPoker wasn’t all roses. Mike had encouraged PartyPoker to hire me as one of its spokespeople to add credibility to the site. Party definitely needed that credibility since there were problems with the software in the early stages. Mike and I went on public forums to soothe the naysayers and encouraged everyone to trust the site and give it time to fix the glitches. The players hung in there and the software became the best at that time.

Next, Mike came up with the idea for the PartyPoker Million. He had a vision that called for players to qualify online in $22 buy-in tournaments and then those players would win a cabin on a cruise ship and a shot at a $1 million prize pool. The only problem was that he needed someone to guarantee the $1 million. Card Player Cruises stepped up to the plate and made the guarantee. My word that the money would be paid was good enough to get lots of players to qualify. Unfortunately, not enough players qualified, so Card Player Cruises had to make up the $400,000 deficit. The Party Poker Million cruise launched with Kathy Liebert winning the first event.

Mike told some great stories at his induction and as usual, the audience was mesmerized.  I’ve known Mike for 20 years and cherish our friendship. Way to go, Mike!

EPT Adds Poker Tournament in Berlin

The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently decided to change up the back half of its Season Six schedule and in lieu of the stop in Dortmund will instead be traveling to Berlin.  The upcoming event promises to be the biggest poker tournament ever held on German soil and has a guaranteed first place prize of €1 million.

The tournament is set to run from March 2nd to 7th following EPT Copenhagen and preceding the new EPT Snowfest stop.  The event will take place at the Spielbank Casino and the EPT’s new home appears eager to pull out all of the stops for its new addition.  Play will be held in a two-story glass palace that will be situated adjacent to the casino in Marlene Dietrich Plaza.  The palace will have more than 6,000 feet of space, which is more than enough space to accommodate the 1,000-plus players expected to take part.  In addition to the Main Event, there will also be a number of side events that will get underway on the third day of play.

The buy-in for the Main Event will be €5,000 + €300.  With the guaranteed first place prize of €1 million, there is potential for an overlay, but even without one, the stop is poised to offer one of the biggest prize pools on the tour.  The entirety of Team PokerStars Germany will be attendance, including Sandra Naujoks, who won the Season Five stop in Dortmund last year, earning €917,000 for her efforts.  Other players scheduled to play in the event include tennis star Boris Becker and Jan Heitmann.

Dortmund was a regular stop on the EPT starting in Season Three and last year it drew a rather large field of 667 players, putting it behind only San Remo and the Grand Final in Monte Carlo in terms of attendance.  EPT staff is confident the new location in Germany is going to be even more popular than Dortmund, so Naujoks will likely have to contend with a larger field in order to defend her title.  Last year, she bested a tough final table lineup that included online poker pro Michael “Timex” McDonald, William Thorson, Johan Storakers, and Luca Pagano.

Pagano already has an incredible six EPT final tables to his credit, including two in the most recent season.  He logged a fourth place showing at EPT Warsaw and then picked up a sixth place finish at EPT Prague just over one month later.  He is the current leader on the EPT Tournament Leaderboard with 3,419 points, but Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier is hot on his heels with 3,354.

The Berlin stop is the third new location on the EPT Season Six schedule.  The other two cities, Vilamoura, Portugal and Kiev, Ukraine, already held events earlier in the season, drawing 322 and 296 players, respectively.  The upcoming EPT Snowfest is also a new addition to the schedule and will get underway shortly after Berlin wraps up.

EPT Snowfest will be held at the Alpine Palace Hotel in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm area of the Austrian Alps.  That series of events will run from March 21st to 26th.

Poker2Nite Welcomes CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric Baldwin (basebaldy)

Poker players traveling home on Sunday night could finally catch the latest episode of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” sponsored by UB.com. Poker News Daily fired up our DVR to watch last week’s installment.

Coverage of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic kicked off “Poker2Nite,” featuring interviews with Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, Scotty Nguyen, Josh Arieh, and eventual champion Daniel Alaei. The latter earned $1.4 million for his victory, but “Poker2Nite” focused on the allegedly inappropriate behavior of Nguyen.

In a hand where Chad “lilholdem954” Batista was eliminated after not hearing an all-in and a call before he acted because he had headphones on, Nguyen began to laugh. According to Jaka, Nguyen “laugh[ed] in his face,” but the former Expekt Poker pro defended himself: “He’s the one who made the mistake, not me. I laugh because he say all-in, but I didn’t know that he didn’t know.” “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok responded, “I’m not buying this from Scotty anymore. He’s out of line.” Nguyen famously berated Rio floor staff and fellow players on national television during the 2008 World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) $50,000 HORSE Championship.

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, the winner of the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year title, then joined the show. On whether luck or skill played a bigger part in his run during the calendar year, Baldwin told Sebok and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “Obviously, I ran above expectations, but you have to play well and have luck on your side.” Down the stretch, Baldwin admitted that he focused on the factors he could control: “I tried my best not to look at what the people behind me were doing because it’s not going to help me play my hand better.”

Baldwin inked a sponsorship agreement with UB.com last week and explained that his strengths include being a good judge of people, he takes a situation for what it is, and he is able to adapt with ease. On the importance of the latter trait, Baldwin remarked, “Adaptability is just huge in poker. The game has evolved so much and you have to stay on top of it and continue trying to learn.” Baldwin won a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2009 WSOP for his first bracelet. A week later, he took third in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em. The two cashes were worth $780,000 combined.

A segment called “All-In Blind” pitted Sebok and Huff against each other in a debate over three unknown news topics. The first focused on Darvin Moon’s tournament series at the Wheeling Island Casino. The second dealt with the 2010 WSOP schedule, which was released in recent days. The final banter was whether Isildur1 or the XFL represented the bigger flash in the pan. After being taken for more than $4 million by Brian Hastings, Isildur1 has largely disappeared.

Dana Workman doled out the “Weekly Misdeal,” offering a satirical look at the biggest poker news headlines of the week. Then, attention turned to a variety of pros shaving their heads in support of Thuy Doan, who is in the midst of a health care crisis resulting from her battle with cancer. Those who went bald included Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, and Doan’s boyfriend. Huff summed up the segment by saying, “We are all proud of you, Thuy.”

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesday nights at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Because the show is often pre-empted for local sports and other programming, check your local listings for more information.

Tom Dwan Leads by Nearly $1 Million in Durrrr Challenge

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Poker News Daily. Just a few days prior to the worldwide holiday, Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius hit the felts of the Durrrr Challenge tables on Full Tilt Poker, pushing the total number of hands played to nearly 30,000.

Dwan now holds a commanding $937,000 lead over his opponent, a newly-minted member of Team Full Tilt. A total of 29,764 hands have been played of the 50,000 required for completion. The Challenge has stretched the majority of the 2009 calendar year and will likely last well into 2010. If Antonius is up at least $1 after 50,000 hands, Dwan will fork over $1.5 million. If Dwan leads by at least $1 after the requisite number of hands, Antonius will owe $500,000. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the competition.

In a $238,000 hand that took place during a recent session, Antonius called all-in on a flop of Ks-7h-Jc. He held Qc-9s-Js-Kd for top two pair, while Dwan turned over Jd-8s-9h-10s for a series of straight draws. The seven of clubs on the turn paired the board, while a nine of clubs on the river gave Dwan a straight. The hand occurred at a $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha table, four of which make up the Durrrr Challenge virtual felts.

On a board of 3c-10c-9d-3h, Dwan check-raised all-in over the top of a pot-sized bet by Antonius for $86,000 and Antonius made the call with As-5c-Jh-Ad for aces-up. Dwan, meanwhile, put his stack at risk with 8c-9s-6d-10s for top two pair and watched as the river came an ace, improving Antonius to a boat and allowing him to scoop a $227,000 pot. The hand all but negated the $238,000 pot won by Dwan earlier on.

In a $114,000 pot, Dwan flopped a boat to give him a sizable payday just moments before challenge play came to a halt for the night. Dwan held 6s-Qh-Qc-10s and Antonius put in the standard raise pre-flop to $1,200. Dwan called to see the first three cards come 3s-Qs-3d. Dwan led out for $2,000 with a boat and Antonius called to see the seven of spades on the turn. Very uncharacteristically, the action went check-check to the nine of diamonds on the river. Then, fireworks went off. With Dwan holding a flopped boat, the youngster bet $5,200 and Antonius raised to $19,200. Dwan re-raised enough to put Antonius all-in and the poker pro called, promptly mucking his hand.

On December 22nd, Dwan and Antonius battled in a nearly 2,000-hand day that saw Dwan pull away by another $225,000. The challenge, which began back in February, now features Dwan leading by a commanding margin, although Antonius overcame a $1 million-plus deficit at nearly the 20,000-hand mark to gain the lead about 2,500 hands later. The December 22nd play featured the 10th largest pot in Durrrr Challenge history, a $259,000 sum won by Dwan. In fact, out of the top ten pots in the competition, Durrrr has taken down eight of them.

Dwan has claimed 16,015 hands total, while Antonius has scooped 13,640, according to statistics found on Full Tilt Poker. Both combatants are sponsored pros of the site, which accepts U.S. players. Visit our sister site, DurrrrChallenge.com, for a complete recap of the 46 sessions played so far as well as complete analysis.

On the Rail at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

There was certainly a lot of excitement at Saturday’s fast-paced final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but there were plenty of interesting stories taking place on the rail as well.  The stacked table of six had their respective cheering sections in attendance and big-name pros including Daniel Negreanu, Full Tilt Pro Greg “FBT” Mueller, Bodog’s Justin Bonomo, and the tournament’s namesake, Doyle Brunson, were all in attendance.

Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer may not have been the most recognizable face to the casual poker fan, but the longtime online pro had one of the largest cheering sections with Darryll “df1986” Fish, Isaac Haxton, Bonomo, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Scott “gunning4you” Seiver, and Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar all rooting him on.  This was O’Dwyer’s first career televised final table, so his peers came out in full force to cheer him on.

“Even those he’s had trouble with these big tournaments for the past year, he’s been sticking with it and it’s finally paying off for him.  He’s very driven to do well,” Fish explained to Poker News Daily.  O’Dwyer informed us that this was only his second World Poker Tour (WPT) cash, with the first one coming in the Bahamas in 2007.

Levy delayed his return home to Los Angeles to stick around and cheer on O’Dwyer.  While Levy liked O’Dwyer’s chances, especially if he could get down to shorter-handed play, he predicted early in the final table that Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Daniel Alaei would pose the most trouble to everyone else. “Faraz is obviously good.  Alaei is good too.  Shawn Buchanan doesn’t have a huge stack, but he’s still in the mix.”

Jaka also had several friends in attendance who showed their support for their notoriously stylish friend by each donning one of his signature hats.  For those who may not be familiar with the online poker pro known as “The-Toliet,” Jaka has worn everything from a fedora to a toboggan at the poker table and, last night, sported a dapper vest and newsboy hat combo.  One player cheering Jaka on was Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts, who was also in attendance when Jaka made his first WPT final table appearance at the Bellagio Cup back in July.

Poker News Daily asked Roberts if he thought this final table would be more or less interesting than the Bellagio Cup’s.  “That last final table was so long,” he said.  “There were a lot of exciting components, but hopefully this one will be more interesting; there are a lot of good players at the table.”  Roberts also had nothing but kind words about his friend: “[He’s] one of the friendliest people I’ve met in the poker world.  He’s a sicko.”

Nguyen was one of the fan favorites at the table and the room cleared out quite a bit after his elimination in fifth place.  Buchanan’s rail, which included longtime friend and fellow Canadian Mueller, also made their exit following Buchanan’s elimination.  Negreanu arrived to the final table a little later in the action, as did Haralabos Voulgaris and Jeff Madsen.  They stuck around for the heads-up match between Alaei and Josh Arieh, as did Alaei’s father, Eddie.

The elder Alaei stuck around for the duration of the final table watching his son in action, but stepped out for a minute during heads-up play.  While he was away, Arieh and Alaei got it all-in with the title on the line and he almost missed his son’s moment in the sun.  Thankfully, Negreanu apparently tipped him off that a big hand was brewing and Eddie ran back just in time to catch the last of the action.

As Alaei was posing for photos with the winning hand and prize money, Eddie repeatedly thanked Negreanu and told the pro he owed him one.  Then, in one of the more heartwarming moments of the evening, father and son posed together for photos and headed out of the ballroom to celebrate Alaei’s first WPT victory.

Daniel Alaei Wins WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic

Poker pro Daniel Alaei took down the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic on Saturday night, earning $1.4 million and a $25,000 seat into the end-of-season WPT Championship.

On the 47th hand of final table play, online poker pro Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer was sent packing from the Bellagio, the site of the WPT Five Diamond. O’Dwyer shoved his 19 big blind stack in with A-6 of diamonds, but ran into poker pro Scotty Nguyen’s wired pair of jacks. The flop came jack-high, giving Nguyen top set and O’Dwyer bottom pair. An ace on the turn left the at-risk O’Dwyer calling for another ace on the river, but a four fell to send him to the exits. O’Dwyer earned $202,000 for his efforts.

Sixty hands later, Nguyen departed after shoving over the top of a raise by Josh Arieh. Online poker star Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who had entered the final table as the chip leader, moved all-in over the top of Nguyen and Arieh folded. At risk, Nguyen showed pocket nines, but Jaka turned over pocket kings for a 4:1 edge pre-flop. The board ran out A-J-8-2-8 and Jaka scooped the pot with kings-up. The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic marked Nguyen’s eighth WPT final table and he earned $249,000.

The next to go was Shawn Buchanan, who pushed his 10 big blind stack into the middle with K-8, but Alaei’s A-K left him drawing thin. The board came 9-7-3-9-J, which was no help to Buchanan, and Alaei scooped the pot. Three-handed, Arieh held a commanding chip lead with an arsenal of 10.6 million, while Alaei’s second place stack totaled 5.4 million. Jaka, meanwhile, had a stack of 3.7 million entering three-handed play.

Jaka busted in third place after committing his chips pre-flop with A-6 and running into the pocket kings of Alaei. The flop came K-10-5, leaving Jaka calling for running straight cards, but an eight on the turn and four on the river sealed his fate. Jaka was the runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V in July, where he earned $774,000. On Saturday, he added another $571,000 to his bankroll.

Heading into heads-up play, Arieh held a 2:1 chip lead, but quickly doubled up Alaei after coming out on the short end of a race with A-K against Alaei’s pocket queens. The board came jack-high, giving Alaei the pot and a 3:1 chip lead just two hands into heads-up play. Arieh then doubled after sucking out on A-Q with A-7 when a seven hit on the turn. The two poker veterans were nearly even in chips at that point.

However, Alaei ultimately emerged victorious in the final WPT tournament of 2009. Arieh pushed all-in with pocket sevens on a flop of 10-5-2 and Alaei made the call with 10-8 for top pair. The turn came a six and Arieh needed one of two remaining sevens in the deck to stave off elimination. However, the river came an eight, giving Alaei two pair and his first WPT title. Arieh earned a $952,000 consolation prize, while Alaei boosted his bankroll by $1.4 in his first WPT final table appearance.

Here were the final table results from the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Daniel Alaei - $1,428,430
2. Josh Arieh - $952,290
3. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - $571,374
4. Shawn Buchanan - $333,302
5. Scotty Nguyen - $249,976
6. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O'Dwyer - $202,362

The first tournament for the WPT in 2010 is the Southern Poker Championship, which will emanate from the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The event kicks off on January 24th and crowns a champion three days later.

Scotty Nguyen, Faraz Jaka Lead WPT Five Diamond Final Table

Poker pros Scotty Nguyen and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka lead the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic playing out from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The six-handed finale will begin at 4:00pm PT today.

Nguyen holds a stack of 4.9 million entering the six-handed televised final table, which will air as part of Season 8 of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. The Five Diamond will mark Nguyen’s eighth WPT final table. His only win of the seven previous appearances came during Season 4, when the pro took down the World Poker Open for $969,000. All told, Nguyen owns $2.1 million in WPT earnings and has been a staple of the tour ever since its first season. Jaka, an acclaimed online poker pro, leads the way at the Bellagio with 5.4 million chips.

Joe Cassidy was the final table bubble boy at the Bellagio. He shoved under the gun for 715,000 and Josh Arieh pushed over the top. Nguyen, in typical dramatic fashion, held his cards (A-Q) high in the air and, according to coverage found on WPT’s website, commented, “Oh baby, I would have called you if he didn't." Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer grew frustrated with the situation, as players were still left to act in the hand, and stated, "How hard is it to keep your cards on the felt? And why am I the only one concerned about it?" Shawn Buchanan called as well, setting up a three-way all-in to determine the six-handed final table.

Arieh flipped over pocket tens, while Buchanan had him dominated with pocket queens. Cassidy, meanwhile, held live cards with K-J and watched as the flop came J-5-4. Buchanan’s wired pair of queens remained in the lead and a running 7-5 sent Cassidy to the rails. Buchanan scooped the massive pot, resulting in a stack of 2.8 million entering the final table. Here’s a look at the chip stacks of the members of the final table in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 5,385,000
2. Scotty Nguyen - 4,900,000
3. Daniel Alaei - 3,925,000
4. Shawn Buchanan - 2,800,000
5. Josh Arieh - 1,710,000
6. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 1,050,000

Others eliminated on Friday included Chad “lilholdem954” Batista, who was sent to the rails in 10th place for $57,000. Batista open-shoved pre-flop with pocket fives and Nguyen made the call with K-J. The flop came king-high and Nguyen turned a third king for trips, sending Batista into the Las Vegas night. Batista recorded his second WPT cash in the process; he took 23rd in the Festa al Lago earlier this year for $24,000.

Carter “ckingusc” King, who chopped the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, was ousted from the WPT Five Diamond in 14th place. King pushed all-in over the top of a raise by 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda, who made the call. King showed A-9 and Juanda flipped over pocket sixes, setting up a race situation. The board ran out J-8-4-4-3 and that was all she wrote for King, who earned $47,000 for his troubles.

Friday’s action saw the field trimmed from 16 players to six. Those who fell by the wayside over the course of the day, along with their paydays, were as follows:

7. Joe Cassidy - $154,747
8. Eric Hershler - $107,133
9. Curt Kohlberg - $76,183
10. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - $57,137
11. John Juanda - $57,137
12. Lee Salem - $57,137
13. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - $47,615
14. Carter “ckingusc” King - $47,615
15. Matt Waxman - $47,615
16. Joe “BigEgypt” Elpayaa - $38,092

When play paused for the night on Friday, the blinds were 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000-chip ante. The action kicks off at 4:00pm PT today from Las Vegas. We’ll have full WPT results right here on Poker News Daily.

Big Names Fill WPT Final

The name on the marquee is Scotty Nguyen, making his sixth WPT final table in an attempt to book his second win.

Should he bank the $1.5 million for first, Nguyen would also become one of only four players in poker history to reach the $12 million career earnings mark, moving up to fourth on the all-time list.

Nguyen was among the tournament’s leaders in the late stages Wednesday before bleeding off the majority of his stack on an open–ended straight draw that missed.

However, the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event champion made a miraculous comeback Friday to move into second on the leader board heading into Friday’s final.

“I’m not going to roll over and die because of one hand,” Nguyen told PokerListings. “Scotty’s not going to go away. I gave away two million yesterday, but I told them I was going to come back today and collect with interest. Now I have 4 million and I feel good, baby.”

The man in the lead going into the final six is also becoming a familiar face here on the WPT.

Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who has earned over $1 million lifetime online, made second at the WPT Bellagio Cup this past July and finds himself in a similar spot going into the final – on top.

“It is a bit like déjà vu,” he said. “The experience will definitely help. I feel like I have a good handle on what’s going to happen, how people are going to react and how they’re going to play.”

Sitting third in chips is two-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Alaei.

Although Alaei is making his first WPT final table appearance, the high stakes cash-game pro, who was actually blinded out all of Day 1 here at Bellagio because he didn’t want to step away from a cash game that included noted whale Guy Laliberte, said he’s feeling confident.

“I’ve played lot of these so this feels great,” he said. “I’m feeling confident, fresh, healthy, well rested and focused.”

Thanks to a virtual triple-up that set the final six, eliminating Joe Cassidy seventh, 2007 WPT Mandalay Bay winner Shawn Buchanan will come into Saturday’s final table with a legitimate shot at his second title.

The Canadian said he’s as ready as ever to play in front of the cameras again.

“The first one I wasn’t even that nervous for some reason,” he said. “It’s just poker. Once the cards hit the air you have to do the same thing you always have.”

Currently fifth in chips heading into his second WPT final table is Full Tilt Pro Josh Arieh.

With two WSOP bracelets, numerous final tables and deep cashes, he’s feeling as confident as anyone could with a shorter stack.

“I feel like I’m playing as good as I ever have,” he said. “And I’m confident I’m going to make the best decisions I can with my stack.”

Finally, rounding out the final six is Steve O’Dwyer. The online pro has been around the World Poker Tour for a few years, but this is his first chance at a big score.

“Finally I did it,” he said. “This is actually my first WPT cash as well. I mean, I’ve played a lot of these and haven’t really had much success until now, so this feels pretty good.”

With a $1.5 million first-place prize on the line, one of these already storied pros will be adding something big to his resume Saturday.

To find out who will book the win at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Visit PokerListings.com

Curt Kohlberg, Faraz Jaka Lead WPT Five Diamond Entering Play Down Day

The final six players in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will be determined today from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Leading the way with 16 to go are Curt Kohlberg and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka.

In one of the final pots of the evening on Thursday, Jaka battled against Season 7 L.A. Poker Classic third place finisher Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers. After a flop of Q-7-3, Jaka bet out 90,000 and Sowers made the call to see a deuce hit the turn. Jaka once again fired at the pot, this time for 240,000, and Sowers came along. The action went check-check after a river king and Jaka exposed K-4 for top pair to scoop the pot. Earlier in the day, Jaka doubled up at the expense of Scotty Nguyen after flopping middle set against Nguyen’s open-ended straight draw. The turn and river blanked for Nguyen and Jaka boosted his stack to 2.2 million before ending at nearly 2.8 million.

Kohlberg, meanwhile, took down pot after pot on Thursday at the Bellagio to secure his spot atop the leaderboard entering the play down day. In one hand, he tangled with Lock Poker pro Matt “All In At 420” Stout. Kohlberg led out for 55,000 on a flop of 7-2-2 and Stout raised to 165,000. Kohlberg called to see a three hit the turn. The action went check-check to a river four and Kohlberg check-called a sizable 225,000-chip bet from Stout. Kohlberg flipped over pocket nines, which was enough to scoop the pot. He ended with nearly 2.9 million, tops in the Five Diamond field.

On his Day 4, Kohlberg told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after play had concluded, “It was a long day. There were a lot of really good players and I was just trying to pick my spots. Fortunately, it worked out.” In November at the WPT’s last tournament, Kohlberg made the final table of the Foxwoods World Poker Finals, taking fifth place for $199,000. He also made the final table of the Grand Prix de Paris in 2005, earning $112,000 for his fifth place showing in the European tournament.

Among those who hit the rails on Thursday after the money bubble burst in the $15,000 buy-in tournament were Stout (20th place for $28,569), Antonio Esfandiari (23rd place for $28,569), Steve Brecher (25th place for $28,569), and DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija (26th place for $28,569). As it stands now, 16 players remain and the average chip stack is 1.2 million. Here’s a look at the field as Day 5 kicks off on Friday:

1. Curt Kohlberg - 2,856,000
2. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 2,768,000
3. Daniel Alaei - 2,422,000
4. John Juanda - 1,851,000
5. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - 1,550,000
6. Joe Cassidy - 1,445,000
7. Josh Arieh - 1,067,000
8. Shawn Buchanan - 1,007,000
9. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 826,000
10. Carter “ckingusc” King - 805,000
11. Eric Hershler - 796,000
12. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - 661,000
13. Matthew Waxman - 641,000
14. Joseph “BigEgypt” Elpayaa - 446,000
15. Scotty Nguyen - 339,000
16. Lee Salem - 275,000

The final 16 represents a star-studded group on the WPT circuit, as 10 of them have made final tables before: Kohlberg, Jaka, Juanda, Cassidy, Arieh, Buchanan, Hershler, Sowers, Nguyen, and Salem. Each of the remaining players is assured at least a $38,092 payday. Here are the paydays up for grabs at the six-handed televised final table, which will air on Fox Sports Net:

1st Place: $1,428,430
2nd Place: $952,290
3rd Place: $571,374
4th Place: $333,302
5th Place: $249,976
6th Place: $202,362

We’ll have complete results of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic right here on Poker News Daily.

Steven Landfish Leads WPT Five Diamond After Day 2, Doyle Brunson 15th

Two days of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic are in the books. As it stands entering Day 3 on Wednesday, Steve Landfish leads the way with a chip stack of 385,900, while tournament namesake Brunson is in 15th with 283,000.

Thirty-seven players registered on Day 2 for the Five Diamond, pushing the final field size to 329, well short of last year’s tally of 497. Contributing to the 34% slide were two poker “Phils” who were absent from the field, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth. The latter told “Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff last week that he was taking the rest of 2009 off and would start anew in 2010. As for Ivey, coverage found on the official website of the WPT noted, “Ivey was here at Bellagio, but never took a seat.”

Landfish holds a minuscule lead over the second place tally of Brent “bhanks11” Hanks, who amassed an arsenal of 383,000 after Day 2. Landfish will head to Table 54 on Wednesday, where “Miami” John Cernuto, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky451” Stern, and former WPT champion Steve Brecher will be waiting for him. Hanks, meanwhile, will join Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, Tim “tmay420” West, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and Noah Boeken at Table 59.

Among the 37 players who registered late was Brunson, the poker legend for whom the Five Diamond is named. Brunson built the 15th largest stack in the room after Day 2 at 283,000, joining a top 20 that includes Antonio Esfandiari, Matt “All In At 420” Stout, and Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The latter sent WPT Festa al Lago winner Tommy Vedes to the rails late in the day on Tuesday after cracking aces with queens. The window card came a queen, sending Mizzi’s stack soaring to 270,000. The youngster finished the day with 348,000, good for fifth overall.

Here are the top ten chip stacks in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic entering Day 3 on Wednesday:

1. Steven Landfish - 385,900
2. Brent “bhanks11” Hanks - 383,000
3. Matthew Waxman - 377,500
4. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - 355,000
5. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 348,000
6. Alfredo Leonidas - 347,300
7. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 323,500
8. Yegor Tsurikov - 317,000
9. Eric Hershler - 314,800
10. Jean-Noel Thorel - 310,100

The winner will earn $1.4 million from the $15,000 buy-in event. Members of the six-handed final table will be assured at least $202,000 in spending money just in time for the holidays. A total of 130 players remain and others in the Top 50 include:

11. Kenna James – 305,200
12. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 300,800
15. Doyle Brunson – 283,000
21. Hasan Habib – 254,300
22. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 247,000
31. Barry Greenstein – 227,000
33. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – 216,500
34. “Miami” John Cernuto – 215,500
35. Scotty Nguyen – 211,900
36. Howard Lederer – 210,300
37. Josh Arieh – 209,700
38. Daniel Alaei – 205,800
43. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 193,700

Brunson eliminated fellow poker pro Eli Elezra with pocket queens against pocket fives. Later on in the day, the two filmed a segment for “Poker2Nite” and shaved their heads in support of Thuy Doan. The pro is battling cancer and is in the midst of a health insurance nightmare.

When play concluded for the evening, the blinds were at 1,000/2,000 with a 200 chip ante. The action continues today at Noon PT from Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

Jan Skempa wins EPT Prague on home turf

The last EPT stop of 2009 saw 586 players stump up the €5,000 – or qualify for peanuts via PokerStars – to create a huge prize pool and a €682,000 first-place prize. The trophy stayed on Czech soil after local boy Jan Skempa – who made the final table of the EPT Vilamoura, no less – took down the event, defeating Eyal Avitan heads-up to claim it all.