Poker News

Kunkles27, Superprop123 Win UBOC Events

The fourth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) rolled on after kicking off on Wednesday. Four online poker tournaments have been played so far, with two more set to pan out on Saturday on the virtual felts of UB.com.

Event #3 of UBOC 4 was a $320 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Four-Max tournament. A field of 476 players turned out, creating a total prize pool of $142,800. The top 52 players finished in the money, led by KUNKLES27, who earned $37,000. KUNKLES27 is a seasoned veteran of the poker scene, having already made two final table appearances in the high-stakes PokerStars Sunday Million. According to PocketFives.com, the Michigan native was a force to be reckoned with on PartyPoker before the popular site departed the U.S. market.

Heads-up in Event #3 of the fourth UBOC series, KUNKLES27 defeated PURPLEPILS99; the runner-up earned $22,000. PURPLEPILS99’s past claims to fame include a fifth place showing in the flagship Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guaranteed for $55,000 and a final table appearance in the PokerStars Super Tuesday in December for $33,000. He also finished 14th in the Two-Day event of November’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). In the final hand, KUNKLES27’s A-7 outlasted PURPLEPILS99’s Q-9 after the two got it in pre-flop. The board ran out 5-J-8-K-2 and that was all she wrote for PURPLEPILS99.

Also appearing at the No Limit Hold’em Four-Max final table were BRBLONDE2020 and DONKMAGNET55, who took third and fourth place, respectively. Here were the final table results:

1. KUNKLES27 - $37,485
2. PURPLEPILS99 - $22,491
3. BRBLONDE2020 - $14,637
4. DONKMAGNET55 - $11,067

The fourth event of the ongoing UBOC was a $130 buy-in Sniper tournament with a $30,000 guaranteed purse. 721 players tossed their hats into the ring, which meant that the actual prize pool of $86,000 nearly tripled the guarantee. When the smoke cleared, the top 72 players finished in the money, led by SUPERPROP123, who scooped a $16,000 first place prize.

Heads-up, he defeated ILUVBECKYARF, who earned a $10,000 consolation prize. On the final hand of the tournament, ILUVBECKYARF committed his chips with K-8 on a board of 3-8-9-3 for two pair, eights and threes. SUPERPROP123 flipped up 8-9 for top two pair, which held for the win. Coming in sixth place for $3,200 was THISTLE66, who in the last three months has won the PokerStars $11 rebuy, Full Tilt Poker $75,000 Super Turbo Guaranteed, and the Full Tilt $34,000 Guaranteed for a combined $42,000. Here is how the final table shook out in UBOC Event #4:

1. SUPERPROP123 - $16,763
2. ILUVBECKYARF - $10,274
3. LOLA2425 - $6,850
4. HOYAZO - $4,759
5. BEATDOWNCOMIN - $3,966
6. THISTLE66 - $3,245
7. JOEUGLY - $2,524
8. DONKIMAN - $1,803
9. J_HASTHENUTS - $1,262

UBOC 4 continues with two more events on Saturday afternoon for players to compete for a combined $228,000 in guaranteed prize money. A $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up tournament kicks off at 1:00pm ET, with $128,000 guaranteed. CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin, a member of Team UB, will serve as the tournament’s host.

One hour later on the felts of the CEREUS Network site is Event #6, a $162 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance tournament with at least $100,000 up for grabs. On January 31st, look for the start of the UBOC 4 Championship Event, which is a $1,050 buy-in tournament with at least $1 million on the line.

Visit UB.com for more details.

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.

Hand Dissection with Steve Gross (gboro780)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steve “gboro780? Gross Wins CardPlayer Online Player of the Year

As 2009 came to a close, popular poker publication CardPlayer announced its Online Player of the Year (OPOY) award. The winner was New Jersey pro Steve "gboro780" Gross, who became the third honoree of the prestigious award, joining Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis (2008) and Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron (2007).

Gross earned $1,216,413 playing online across the major sites in 2009 to accrue 10,188 points, the highest total since the CardPlayer OPOY rankings began in 2007. He started the year off strong, with a second-place finish in a $500 event on Full Tilt for $126,506 on January 18. In February, Gross won a $300 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event for $275,000.

Then in April, during the first-ever PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), Gross found himself heads up in the $3,000 Mixed Hold’em event with Aussie superstar James "Andy McLeod" Obst. The confrontation was one of the most memorable of 2009, with McLeod coming out on top to claim the $184,000 first prize; Gross walked away with $128,000 for his runner-up finish.

Gross won 21 tournaments in 2009, but it was a fourth-place finish on Wednesday, December 30 that clinched the OPOY award. The result came in the $100 rebuy on Full Tilt, earning him more than $12,000 in his final cash of the year. Without any qualifying tournaments left on the schedule for the rest of the field to catch him, Gross wrapped up the title.

The OPOY runner-up was David "SirSands" Sands (9,420 points), who made a valiant push toward the top of the leaderboard in December. He won the Full Tilt $100 rebuy for $47,275 on December 20th and then a week later took down the $200 rebuy on PokerStars for $43,952. Sands' biggest score of the year came in May, when he claimed victory of FTOPS Event #10, a $300 No Limit Hold 'em tournament, for $259,440. While he came up short in the CardPlayer race, Sands' fantastic December helped him vault all the way up to number two on the PocketFives.com Tournament Rankings in the site's first update of 2010. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Chris "moorman1" Moorman holds the number one spot.

Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen (9,100 points), Moorman (8,464), Shaun "TedsFishFry" Deeb (8,290), Joe "hoodini10" Udine (8,052), Jeremiah "Believer82" Vinsant (7,994), Jonathan "shipitobv" DeLong (7,926), Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek (7,776), and Dan "djk123" Kelly (7,724) rounded out the top 10 of the OPOY rankings. Kelly's $1,409,090 in earnings was the second most of 2009, trailing only Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko, who won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $1,715,200. Kelly took fourth place in that tournament for $643,200.00.

In order to qualify for the CardPlayer OPOY rankings, players must enter tournaments with an average buy-in of at least $100, have a field of at least 100 players, and a prize pool of at least $100,000.

FTOPS XV Schedule Announced

Kicking off on February 10th on Full Tilt Poker is the 15th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The quarterly tournament series is the first of 2010 and features 27 events with more than $17 million in guaranteed prize money.

Continuing the tradition, the Main Event of FTOPS XV will be a $535 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament featuring at least $2.5 million up for grabs. The event takes place on Sunday, February 21st at 18:00 ET. During the Main Event of FTOPS XIV, 5,471 poker hopefuls took to the felts of the world’s second largest online poker site, with “zhivago2” emerging victorious for $418,000 after a three-way chop. Also involved were “ItsTime2Win” (second place for $316,000) and poker pro Adam Junglen, who cashed for $290,000 and officially took third.

A Full Tilt pro hosts each of the 27 FTOPS XV events and the kickoff tournament takes place on February 10th. The $216 buy-in contest boasts at least $1 million up for grabs and is sure to draw a crowd. Knockouts, shootouts, cashouts, six-max, and heads-up events will be held across a variety of poker disciplines including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Seven-Game, Stud, and Razz. As if that weren’t enough, the MiniFTOPS XV schedule will pan out from March 10th to 21st after a one-month break.

Here is the schedule for the 15th FTOPS. All times are Eastern:

Event #1: Wednesday, February 10th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #2: Thursday, February 11th at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Knockout
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #3: Thursday, February 11th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em 3x Shootout
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #4: Friday, February 12th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #5: Friday, February 12th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #6: Saturday, February 13th at 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #7: Saturday, February 13th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #8: Sunday, February 14th at 14:00 ET
$120 + $9 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #9: Sunday, February 14th at 16:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #10: Sunday, February 14th at 18:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #11: Monday, February 15th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #12: Monday, February 15th at 21:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold’em
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #13: Tuesday, February 16th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #14: Tuesday, February 16th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 HORSE
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #15: Tuesday, February 16th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #16: Wednesday, February 17th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Seven-Game
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: Wednesday, February 17th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: Thursday, February 18th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #19: Thursday, February 18th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Stud
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #20: Friday, February 19th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #21: Friday, February 19th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #22: Saturday, February 20th at 14:00 ET
$2,500 + $120 No Limit Hold'em Ante From Start Two-Day Six-Max
$2,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #23: Saturday, February 20th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #24: Saturday, February 20th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $20 No Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed

Event #25: Sunday, February 21st at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #26: Sunday, February 21st at 16:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed

FTOPS XV Main Event: Sunday, February 21st at 18:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold'em
$2,500,000 Guaranteed

Full Tilt Poker happily accepts customers from the United States and trails only PokerStars in terms of traffic.

Chris Moorman (moorman1) Wins PocketFives.com Yearly PLB Title

DoylesRoom sponsored pro Chris "moorman1" Moorman stormed through the competition in 2009, capturing the Yearly PocketFives.com Leaderboard (PLB) title. In addition, he claimed the Monthly PLB for December, his second of 2009.

Moorman’s claim to fame during the year came in August, when the British online poker pro chopped a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) $322 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys event for $204,000. His second largest cash to date on the virtual felts came in April, as Moorman made the final table of a PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) event for $113,000. In February, Moorman was in the winner’s circle of the PokerStars $100 Rebuy for a cool $88,000.

Moorman was a beacon of consistency throughout 2009. In the first Online Poker Rankings update on PocketFives.com, which occurred on January 7th, Moorman sat at number two worldwide. Three weeks later, the youngster overtook Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis for the Rankings’ top spot, a position that he held until February 25th. On that date, Steve “gboro780” Gross, CardPlayer’s Online Player of the Year winner for 2009, ascended to the top of the PocketFives.com Rankings, pushing Moorman back to second worldwide.

Gross had a stranglehold on the top spot in the Rankings until August 12th, when Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb overtook him. Deeb, of course, announced in mid-November that he was retiring from tournaments due to burnout. On September 23rd, Moorman was back on top in the same month that he officially became a member of the Brunson 10, the group of online poker players handpicked by Doyle Brunson to represent DoylesRoom. Moorman held the top spot in September for a week until the 30th, when Gross once again led the way.

On November 25th, Dan “djk123” Kelly stole the top spot from Gross just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Moorman then ascended to the head of the class on December 30th, with the next Rankings update to be released on Wednesday, January 6th. The Rankings encompass tournaments with at least 100 entrants and prize pools of $1,000 or more. Each event must have a buy-in of at least $1 and only scheduled tournaments are tracked. Only non-satellite tournaments with real money buy-ins are counted across some of the world’s largest online poker sites like Absolute Poker, Betfair, Bodog, Cake Poker, Carbon Poker, Full Tilt, PartyPoker, PokerStars, Titan Poker, and UB.com.

On the PocketFives.com Yearly PLB for 2009, Moorman logged 20,850 points, comfortably edging out Kelly, who netted 18,606. Moorman’s largest score was 716 points, whereas Kelly’s single greatest PLB tally was double that. Gross took third on the Yearly PLB for 2009. Here were the final results:

1. Chris “moorman1” Moorman – 20,850.97
2. Dan “djk123” Kelly – 18,606.93
3. Steve “gboro780” Gross – 18,472.42
4. Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb – 18,061.15
5. Tony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi – 17,616.29
6. Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee – 17,514.48
7. David “Doc Sands” Sands – 17,354.60
8. Jeremy “daisyxoxo” Fitzpatrick – 17,167.12
9. Felipe “improved” Montenegro – 17,134.04
10. Ben “NeverScaredB” Wilinofsky – 16,323.68

Moorman finished fourth on both CardPlayer’s and Bluff’s Online Player of the Year leaderboards for 2009. He joined the Brunson 10 in September, becoming the fourth member of a talented group of players that already included Amit “amak316” Makhija, Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, and Alec “traheho” Torelli. In November during final table play of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, the Brunson 10 welcomed “2 Months, $2 Million” cast member Dani “ansky” Stern to its ranks. Stern was the youngest personality to appear on the G4 online poker reality show.

DoylesRoom happily accepts customers from the United States as a member of the Cake Poker Network. Other site pros include Todd Brunson, Hoyt Corkins, and “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro.

MiniFTOPS begins again!

The little brother of Full Tilt Online Poker Series, MiniFTOPS, is going to begin later today. This time there’s 25 tournaments and over $4 million prize pool.

The idea behind MiniFTOPS is to have some lower stakes players to play in huge tournaments as well. The buy-ins for these tournaments are only 1/10 of the FTOPS buy-ins. There’s two highlights in the series: two-day long $250+$16 $400k guaranteed and the $50+$5 Main Event with $600k guaranteed prize pool.

Create your account now and get a rakeback deal to Full Tilt Poker here.

MiniFTOPS schedule:

Wednesday 9.12.

Event #1: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday 10.12.

Event #2: $20 + $2 Seven-Game Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #3: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold’em 3x Shootout
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday 11.12.

Event #4: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold’em Cubed
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #5: $20 + $2 Stud Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday 12.12.

Event #6: $50 + $5 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #7: $10 + $1 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday 13.12.

Event #8: $24 + $2 No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #9: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Event #10: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold’em
$400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Monday 14.12.

Event #11: $20 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #12: $100 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Tuesday 15.12.

Event #13: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold’em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #14: $50 + $5 HORSE
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Event #15: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
$150,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Wednesday 16.12.

Event #16: $24 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout
$50,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #17: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday 17.12.

Event #18: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold’em Cashout
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #19: $20 + $2 Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday 18.12.

Event #20: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold’em
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #21: $30 + $3 Razz Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday 19.12.

Event #22: $250 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Ante From Start Two-Day Event
$400,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #23: $10 + $1 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$75,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday 20.12.

Event #24: $12 + $1 No Limit Hold’em Knockout
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

MiniFTOPS XIV Main Event: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold’em
$600,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Source: Full Tilt Poker

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MiniFTOPS begins again!

MiniFTOPS XIV Kicks Off on Full Tilt Poker

On Wednesday, the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series XIV (MiniFTOPS) will kick off on Full Tilt Poker. The series mirrors the schedule of the 14th FTOPS, which took place in November, but features tournaments at one-tenth of the buy-in.

The MiniFTOPS XIV schedule will include a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros taking to the felts as hosts, including Howard Lederer, who will play in the $55 buy-in MiniFTOPS Main Event on December 20th. The poker tournament boasts a $600,000 guaranteed prize pool. Others who will serve as hosts include Mike Swick, Perry Friedman, Frank Thompson, Jeff Madsen, Andrew Feldman, Karina Jett, Bill Gazes, Diego Cordovez, Michael Tureniec, Lynette Chan, Chip Jett, Adam Schoenfeld, Christiane Klecz, Artie Cobb, Alexander Schwab, Ryan Dreyer, Cyndy Violette, and Jeremiah Smith.

Last time out, the MiniFTOPS kickoff event drew a colossal 16,750 runners. Here’s a look at the complete MiniFTOPS XIV schedule:

Wednesday, December 9th

Event #1: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 10th

Event #2: $20 + $2 Seven-Game Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #3: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em 3x Shootout
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 11th

Event #4: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #5: $20 + $2 Stud Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 12th

Event #6: $50 + $5 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #7: $10 + $1 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 13th

Event #8: $24 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #9: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$150,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Event #10: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em
$400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Monday, December 14th

Event #11: $20 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #12: $100 + $9 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Tuesday, December 15th

Event #13: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #14: $50 + $5 HORSE
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Event #15: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$150,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Wednesday, December 16th

Event #16: $24 + $2 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout
$50,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #17: $30 + $3 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$250,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Thursday, December 17th

Event #18: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$30,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #19: $20 + $2 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$60,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Friday, December 18th

Event #20: $20 + $2 No Limit Hold'em
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #21: $30 + $3 Razz Six-Max
$30,000 Guaranteed
21:00 ET

Saturday, December 19th

Event #22: $250 + $16 No Limit Hold'em Ante From Start Two-Day Event
$400,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

Event #23: $10 + $1 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$75,000 Guaranteed
15:00 ET

Sunday, December 20th

Event #24: $12 + $1 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$150,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET

MiniFTOPS XIV Main Event: $50 + $5 No Limit Hold'em
$600,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET

Full Tilt Poker Players Rushing to Claim Holiday Hundred Bonus

Only a few days remain in the Full Tilt Poker Holiday Hundred promotion, offering online poker players a $100 bonus on the world’s second largest site. The room has seen its high-stakes action balloon in recent weeks thanks to Isildur1.

Happy Holidays from Full Tilt Poker. One month before poker players awake on Christmas morning or participate in Hanukkah and Kwanzaa festivities, Full Tilt members can claim a special $100 Holiday Hundred bonus. Players have until the end of the day Eastern Time on December 6th to cash in. All they have to do is open the Full Tilt Poker Mac or Windows client, log in, and click “Requests” on the top menu bar. Then, select “Check My Bonus Offer” and click on “Accept Offer.”

Full Tilt Poker members have 30 days to release their bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points (FTPs) in real money ring games and tournaments. Every FTP earned means that players will claim $0.06 of the Holiday Hundred bonus, which will be paid out in increments of $10. Simple math will allow you to calculate that 167 FTPs are needed to clear each $10 increment and 1,667 are required for the full bonus to be unlocked. For each dollar that Full Tilt rakes from a pot, every player who was dealt cards in the hand receives one FTP. Each $1 paid in tournament entry fees means that players will earn seven FTPs.

Now, for the fine print. Players who have never deposited on Full Tilt Poker before should sign up for the site and clear the initial 100% first-time deposit bonus by the end of the day on November 30th. Then, Full Tilt will issue the Holiday Hundred bonus by December 2nd and players must accept it by the 6th. Full Tilt Poker customers who already hold active bonuses have until the end of the day on November 30th to clear their full value. Then, Full Tilt will place the Holiday Hundred bonus in their accounts by December 2nd and it must be accepted by the 6th.

The world’s second largest online poker site has seen its high-limit table action increase since the beginning of the month after the arrival of Swedish online poker mystery man Isildur1. The newcomer has battled a bevy of Full Tilt Poker pros in Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em games. His cast of opponents has included newly-minted site pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, and CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South.

According to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic, Full Tilt boasts a seven-day running average of 18,800 real money ring game players. During peak hours, the site approaches 30,000 cash game enthusiasts. It’s the second largest site worldwide behind PokerStars and happily accepts customers from the United States. Besides Ivey, Dwan, and Antonius, other members of Team Full Tilt include Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harman, Andy Bloch, and bad boy Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.

Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the second running of the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS), which kicks off on December 9th and wraps up 11 days later.

Poker Community Celebrates Thanksgiving

If you hail from the United States, this weekend is a time for family, food, shopping, and some nice downtime from the stresses of life.  If you’re a poker player, it is also time to squeeze in a tournament, be it in Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or Los Angeles and put in some extra time at the tables in between bites of turkey.

Players like Jean-Robert Bellande, Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg, David “Bakes” Baker, and Team PokerStars Pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck decided to escape the cold weather and squeeze in a tropical vacation shortly before the holiday, flying out to Costa Rica to take part in the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) event.  Meanwhile, other players like Eric “AvrilSharapova” Ladny, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke spent their time at the final table of the United States Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Even poker players who stayed at home still found themselves unable to stay away from the felt for too long and several players turned up for the $2,500 buy-in Main Event of the final Venetian Deep Stack series of the year.  Some of the players who took part in the event included Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, UB.com Pros Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire and Brandon Cantu, Full Tilt Red Pro Jeff Madsen, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Nenad Medic, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, and Christina Lindley.

Lindley filled Poker News Daily in on her last minute change of plans when it came to her holiday vacation.  After a successful run online the past two weeks, including a runner-up finish in Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Event #24 worth more than $106,000, Lindley decided to delay her trip home to Nashville, Tennessee in order to take part in the Venetian event.  She flew out the morning the event started, played until she busted, and then headed home for the typical Thanksgiving fare.  “I told my mom I’d get there in time to make a pumpkin pie,” Lindley explained.  “And maybe some karaoke with my little brother, who is home from college, if we’re lucky.”

Another player who is opting to stay away from the felt is Nick “fu_15” Maimone.  When Poker News Daily asked what his Thanksgiving plans were, he responded, “Not playing poker? AKA trying to be normal.”  Others are following Maimone’s lead and opting for traditional holiday plans including trips home.  A quick glance at Twitter indicated that poker pros and “The Amazing Race” teammates Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle would both be spending the holidays with friends and family.

Just because a fair share of players are heading home for the holidays doesn’t mean the poker rooms will be empty this weekend.  The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California will once again be holding their annual Turkey Shootout/Ho Ho Hold’em Series, with the first of 13 events kicking off Thanksgiving Day.  The “Turkey Shoot” tournament will feature a $100 buy-in.  If you are wondering just how many people would opt to play a poker tournament Thanksgiving Day, last year’s installment drew 230 players and offered up a first place prize of $8,600 to tournament winner Susie Baranowski.

Even players who take Thursday off for a little family and feasting may skip Black Friday shopping for some card playing.  The first event of the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the $500 buy-in SpadeClub.com tournament, is scheduled for Friday and players like Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah plan on taking part.  Granted, Leah is Canadian, so his Thanksgiving happened a few weeks ago and he isn’t skipping any festivities to take part.  The Bellagio also has two other tournaments scheduled throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with events continuing daily until the World Poker Tour Main Event begins on December 14th and wraps up shortly before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Poker News Daily.

Poker Community Reacts to Shaun Deeb Retiring from Tournaments

Last week, heralded online poker grinder Shaun Deeb announced that he was retiring from tournaments. In addition, it appears that his future in the online poker world may be up in the air.

On the TwoPlusTwo forums, Deeb posted, “yah Im burntout I hate them I’m done with them. I cant win live everyone was always right I cant win online I just ran good everyone was always right. I’m gunna take rest of year off hopefully and go do something else yah poker was good for a while but **** I hate what I’ve become.” The text appeared in a thread entitled “retiring from tourneys.” A 30-page discussion quickly developed on the site, with posters weighing in with varying opinions as to the cause of Deeb’s proclamation.

The quintessential grinder, Deeb was a former number one player on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and took down that site’s Monthly PLB title in March. In tournaments that are tracked for the Rankings, Deeb has not recorded a single in the money finish in the last 10 days, seemingly living up to his retirement. Many on the TwoPlusTwo forums have speculated that Deeb will simply take a temporarily leave of absence from poker, with several posters weighing in with over/under bets as to when he’ll return.

One TwoPlusTwo member, “jon_midas,” stressed the importance of balancing poker with a more traditional life: “When you run good, you play better, and when you run bad you play worse. When you play too much you play worse. Balance poker with a normal income/life IMO.” “dia” added, “do what you need to do, take off some time and don’t worry about poker…… it won’t disappear so you can still play again if you want later.” In August of last year, Deeb won a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Heads-Up event for $115,000, the largest online poker cash of his career.

Deeb has also been active on the live felts, taking 26th in a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $22,000. Last month, he cashed in the PokerStars Baltic Festival High-Roller event and the European Poker Tour (EPT) Warsaw Main Event for over $50,000 combined. In August, Deeb emerged victorious from a small field in the EPT Kiev High Roller tournament for over $80,000.

Posters on TwoPlusTwo began posting pictures of Deeb from a variety of sources. Longtime poster “Jurollo” added his two cents: “Some time off is always good. You haven’t really taken an extended break, my guess is when you come back you won’t grind as hard as you were but you’ll enjoy it more. You’ll be successful in whatever you do anyway Shaun (aside from teaching English) as long as you put the same zeal into it that you did into poker. So getting some other side interests/money makers and spending some time making them profitable isn’t a bad thing.”

Deeb sits at #11 worldwide in the PocketFives.com Rankings on the strength of the sixth best Pro Poll tally. However, his PLB score, which counts for one-third of a player’s ranking, is just the 23rd largest. While many speculated that Deeb’s absence was due to his bankroll being depleted, PocketFives.com member “sqildea25” offered a different theory: “Pretty sure Shaun Deeb is not broke. I believe he’s probably focusing more on the high stakes MTT circuit with the EPT, WPT, etc. like any of us can only hope to after we make enough money online to travel the world and play poker.”

Deeb has one World Poker Tour cash to his name, an $11,000 payday for finishing 124th in the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

ECOOP and $3,200 Cardgang Freeroll

2010 WSOP Schedule Leaked, Features Eight $1,000 Events

In posts that appeared on the online poker forums PocketFives.com and TwoPlusTwo.com, a preliminary 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule may have been leaked. The link to the schedule has since been removed.

A total of 57 events are on the docket for the festivities at the Rio in Las Vegas in 2010, the same number that panned out this year. In 2009, one open $1,000 buy-in event was held, the so-called “Stimulus Special.” The schedule leaked this week, however, includes six $1,000 buy-in open events, which, when combined with the Ladies’ and Seniors’ Championships, bring the grand total to eight.

Absent from the leaked schedule is the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, which may instead come with a $10,000 price in 2010. Last year, David Bach defeated a field of 95 players in the $50,000 buy-in version to the tune of $1.2 million. The year before, Scotty Nguyen barreled through a 148 player field to come out on top in dubious fashion, as he was allegedly inebriated at the final table. The 2010 schedule instead features a yet-to-be-described $50,000 buy-in event called “The Player’s World Championship.” Some posters have speculated that this would take on the form of a seven or eight-game mix.

Following a trend that has appeared in events like the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) and PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), a high-stakes six-handed tournament may be on the docket for this year’s WSOP. The leaked schedule includes a $25,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event beginning on June 30th that would likely produce one of the most competitive fields of all-time.

Here is the schedule leaked to major online poker forums. Note that WSOP officials have released no official information; the 2009 slate of events was divulged in January:

Friday, May 28th
Event #1: Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $500

Friday, May 28th
Event #2: The Player’s World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $50,000

Saturday, May 29th
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sunday, May 30th
Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, May 31st
Event #5: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 1st
Event #7: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 1st
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wednesday, June 2nd
Event #8: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 3rd
Event #9: Pot Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 3rd
Event #10: World Championship Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Friday, June 4th
Event #11: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 4th
Event #12: Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Saturday, June 5th
Event #13: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 5th
Event #14: 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Sunday, June 6th
Event #15: World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 7th
Event #16: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 8th
Event #17: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wednesday, June 9th
Event #18: Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,000

Wednesday, June 9th
Event #19: World Championship 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thursday, June 10th
Event #20: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 10th
Event #21: Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 11th
Event #22: Ladies No Limit Hold’em World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Friday, June 11th
Event #23: Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Saturday, June 12th
Event #24: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 12th
Event #25: World Championship Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 14th
Event #26: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, June 14th
Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 15th
Event #28: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 15th
Event #29: World Championship Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Wednesday, June 16th
Event #30: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 16th
Event #31: H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 17th
Event #32: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Thursday, June 17th
Event #33: Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Friday, June 18th
Event #34: Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Friday, June 18th
Event #35: World Championship Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Saturday, June 19th
Event #36: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 19th
Event #37: H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Sunday, June 20th
Event #38: World Championship Pot Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 21st
Event #39: No Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, June 21st
Event #40: Seven Card Razz
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 22nd
Event #41: Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 23rd
Event #42: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 23rd
Event #43: World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thursday, June 24th
Event #44: Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Friday, June 25th
Event #45: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 25th
Event #46: Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Saturday, June 26th
Event #47: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 26th
Event #48: Mixed Event
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, June 28th
Event #49: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, June 28th
Event #50: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Tuesday, June 29th
Event #51: Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Wednesday, June 30th
Event #52: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $25,000

Wednesday, June 30th
Event #53: Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, July 1st
Event #54: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Thursday, July 1st
Event #55: World Championship Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Friday, July 2nd
Event #56: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, July 5th
Event #57: World Championship No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Zhivago2, Obiedman Win FTOPS XIV Poker Titles

Full Tilt Poker’s 14th installment of its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) came to a close Monday morning when a champion was crowned in the $535 buy-in Main Event. Austria’s “zhivago2” outlasted a record-setting field to earn a payday of $418,839 and the gold FTOPS jersey.

Full Tilt’s newest team member, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, hosted what would ultimately be the largest Main Event in FTOPS history, attracting 5,471 players for a prize pool of $2,735,500. Nearly 70 Full Tilt Red Pros took part in the historic event, with Dave Colclough’s 250th place finish topping them all. Brandon Adams, Jeff Madsen, Gary Jones, and Soren Kongsgaard were the other Red Pros to make the money.

Former Full Tilt Red Pro Adam Junglen was the biggest name to reach the final table, which got underway at around 7:00am ET after an exhausting 11 hours of play. Junglen entered the final table third in chips, trailing “kinheim” and eventual champion zhivago2. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette was fourth in chips as the final nine was formed, but the online pro was sent to the rail in sixth place when he got all of his chips in on a 9s-8d-6s board with 9d-3d against the 9h-7h of “ItsTime2Win.” The better kicker held up and Touchette exited with $90,271.50.

After kinheim (fifth place, $131,167) and “dfunks222” (fourth place, $175,072) were eliminated, the final three players agreed to a deal that would secure a payout of at least $290,000 for each of them. With some extra money set aside for the winner, Junglen and zhivago2 got tangled up in a pre-flop raising war that would end the pro’s tournament life. ItsTime2Win raised from the button, zhivago2 called, and Junglen three-bet to 1.4 million from the big blind. ItsTime2Win folded and zhivago2 put the pressure on Junglen by moving all-in. Junglen called with pocket sixes and was in a race against zhivago2’s Qs-Jh. The Jd-8h-5d flop left Junglen needing help, but the turn and river were of no assistance and he collected $290,418 for his third place finish.

zhivago2 took a sizable lead into heads-up play and was able to finish off ItsTime2Win after a lengthy match. On the final hand, zhivago2 bet two million on a 9h-5c-2d board and ItsTime2Win moved all-in for around 11 million. zhivago2 called with pocket jacks and was in great shape against the Ac-3c of ItsTime2Win. The 6c and 3h came on the turn and river, respectively, and zhivago2 was the new FTOPS Main Event champion. ItsTime2Win earned $316,554 as the runner-up.

Here’s a look at the final results from the FTOPS XIV Main Event:

1. zhivago2 – $418,839.16
2. ItsTime2Win – $316,554.40
3. Adam Junglen – $290,418.94
4. dfunks222 – $175,072
5. kinheim – $131,167.23
6. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette – $90,271.50
7. nuts7878 – $58,813.25
8. Valuechecking – $41,032.50
9. Dr Fill Good – $28,722.75

The biggest prize of the FTOPS XIV series went to “obiedman,” who won the Two-Day $2,500+$120 No Limit Hold’em Event #22 on Sunday. A 938-player field of the best online tournament players in the world participated to create a prize pool of $2,345,000.

Full Tilt Red Pro Gary Jones had the chip lead late into the tournament and earned a seat at the final table, but found himself short with four players remaining and moved his remaining stack in with Ad-3c. “Timvd20” called with pocket fours and the pair held up to eliminate Jones in fourth place for $193,463. Timvd20 was the next player to hit the rail after losing much of his stack to obiedman and then running pocket threes into the pocket aces of “Supa4real.”

An entertaining heads-up ended with each player holding trip queens on a Qc-Qd-9d board. However, obiedman’s Js kicker bested the 10s kicker of his opponent and obiedman made a full house with the Jc on the river to win the Event #22 title and $539,350. Supa4real, who also final tabled the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Two-Day Main Event in September, earned his largest online cash to date of $340,025.

Here are the results from FTOPS XIV Event #22:

1. obiedman – $539,350
2. Supa4real – $340,025
3. Timvd20 – $252,088
4. Gary Jones – $193,463
5. the_real_magic – $146,563
6. TheAlligatorNo1 – $105,525
7. Ahvall – $70,350
8. DanOBrien – $54,873
9. Rabbit_hunterSA – $39,865

Online Poker: Full Tilt XIV in Full Swing

Full Tilt Online Poker Series XIV

DoylesRoom Seeking New Members for Brunson 10

The USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom, fronted by 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, is expanding its stable of pros. The so-called “Brunson 10” currently consists of only four members.

In order to become a part of the illustrious Brunson 10, online poker players must hold an account at DoylesRoom and hit the felts in the site’s daily $5/$10 and $10/$20 cash games that take place at 7:00pm ET. Brunson and other site pros are regulars in these games and an e-mail sent to DoylesRoom players explained, “We recommend joining and chatting with them at the tables.” The online poker room is hoping to add players with “personality, integrity, and potential” and plans to fill the fifth Brunson 10 slot around the beginning of November in time for the WSOP Main Event final table.

A formal way to apply for the Brunson 10 will be unleashed in the coming weeks. The e-mail foreshadowed, “This system will eventually allow the best players to get to the top, at which point we will arrange personal interviews with Doyle and the team.” Interested players can e-mail Brunson10@doylesroom.com. A representative from the online poker site told Poker News Daily, “We are looking for live and online success in both cash games and tournaments, but personality is key too. Doyle Brunson has the final word.”

Amit “amak316” Makhija is one of the four current Brunson 10 members. The top-tier online and live poker pro is best known for finishing as the runner-up to John “The Razor” Phan in the finale of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Legends of Poker in 2008. His reward was a healthy $563,000 boost to his bankroll and a bevy of television time on Fox Sports Net. In that year’s WSOP, Makhija finished fifth in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em and earned $198,000 in a tournament that aired on ESPN. In addition, he landed in third place in a €5,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final for €85,000.

Also part of the Brunson 10 is Chris “moorman1” Moorman, who signed on with DoylesRoom just before the start of the WSOP Europe festivities in London. Moorman is a former number one player in the prestigious PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and is an eight-time Triple Crown winner on the site. He chopped an event during August’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $204,000 and made the final table of the high-stakes PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event for $113,000. He’s arguably the most respected high-stakes online grinder in the industry and adds a considerable amount of prestige to the Brunson 10.

Alec “traheho” Torelli has nearly $2 million in career earnings. His bankroll was boosted to a large degree by virtue of finishing as the runner-up to Kenny Tran in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em during the 2008 WSOP for $336,000. Later that year, Torelli was up to his winning ways again, this time banking $120,000 for taking down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the Festa al Lago. Five months ago, Torelli earned a colossal $329,000 for grabbing sixth in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP.

Rounding out the Brunson 10 is Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark. In August of 2007, he won the FTOPS Main Event for $395,000 and, in April of this year, chopped a SCOOP tournament for $390,000. Clark took third in last August’s WPT Legends of Poker, joining Makhija at the final table and earning $281,000.

DoylesRoom is a member of the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network and holds a weekly $50,000 Bounty Tournament. Members of the Brunson 10, along with Todd Brunson, Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro, and Hoyt Corkins, serve as the bounties in the high-stakes contest.

Bodog Poker Open IV Dates Announced

In the world of online poker tournament series, there are a few that are “must play” events for online professionals. The annual PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) normally come to mind first, but Bodog has built its own franchise that has done very well, the Bodog Poker Open. Recently, the dates were announced for the fourth version of Bodog’s preeminent online tournament series and some special prizes have been added for the eventual champion.

The Bodog Poker Open IV is scheduled to start on November 1st and will wrap up one week later on November 8th. The weeklong schedule features several tournaments that will test the skills of the players involved in Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit Texas Hold’em. It also has been split into two divisions that will enable anyone to get into the game.

The Bodog Championship Series features the seven main tournaments that run from a $50 rebuy to the $500 Championship Event. These tournaments should draw the cream of the internet poker world to battle it out on the virtual felt. The second division, called the Bodog Contender Series, features eight tournaments that cost 10% of the buy-ins of the main schedule, but will still be profitable for their eventual champions.

There are other additions that should make the Bodog Poker Open IV a schedule that will be well-attended. Each tournament in the Championship Series has money added to the prize pool, ranging from $2,500 for Event #6 ($150 Limit Hold’em) to the $25,000 that will be added to the Championship Event’s prize pool. In the Contender Series, two tournaments, the $10 No Limit Hold’em event (#1) and the Contender Championship Event, have money added to them.

Each player who wins one of the preliminary tournaments on the Championship Schedule will also earn a seat into the Championship Event along with a chunk of the prize pool. For those playing on the Contender Schedule, the winners of preliminary events will take home a seat into the Championship Series Main Event, while their final tablemates will earn a seat into the Contender Series Main Event. Finally, the eventual champions of both divisions’ Main Events will be featured in CardPlayer Magazine and Bodog’s online outlets, including the “Bodog Beat.”

For those who don’t want to pony up the full buy-in for either the Championship or the Contender Schedule, there are ways to qualify for the tournaments on the cheap through a very extensive satellite schedule. For as little as $0.50, players can work their way into the mix for playing in any of the Bodog Poker Open scheduled events on either side of the ledger. Players can even use Bodog Poker Points to enter into special satellite tournaments that can get them into a tournament for no monetary outlay.

Back on May 3rd, the Bodog Poker Open III wrapped up its Championship Event by crowning “biffsworld” as the victor. “biffsworld” vanquished the 279-player field, which included Bodog poker professionals Jean-Robert Bellande and Justin Bonomo, and took home the $40,283 first prize. “biffsworld” is expected back to defend his title, joining “scarface0928” (Mid-Main Event champion) and “winjack” (Mini-Main Event champion), who also earned titles during the Bodog Poker Open III. With the Bodog Poker Open IV less than two weeks away, the action should be picking up significantly as players attempt to win their way into the weeklong tournament series.

FTOPS XVI (Full Tilt Online Poker Series No. 14)

The action starts at Full Tilt on Wednesday November 4th and the top tournies continue until the Main Event on November 15th, so that’s 25 events, all hosted by a professional poker player – we’re not sure who is hosting what just yet, it’s still early days.

There is a guaranteed prize pool of $16m+ plus super cool Full Tilt merchandise to be won by playing in FTOPS XIV.

Satellites are running NOW for FTOPS XVI, go into the lobby click Tournaments and then FTOPS to see the satellites on offer at the moment. I can find satellites running for as little as $1.10 – excellent value!

The popular Satellite Challenge is running yet again, win as many entries as you can and Full Tilt will credit you with the cost of the buy in for every double you win. Win more entries than any other player and you will be win the cost of two buy ins, second place gets one extra credit.

The Bouncebackabilty Freeroll is back, exclusively for those players who finished on the bubble, this freeroll will be staged on Saturday, November 21st at 8.00pm UK time (3pm New York). The 1st prize is a seat at the Main Event of FTOPS XV.

On the final table, in any of the events, every player will be given a cool FTOPS jacket. The victors of each event also get a FTOPS jersey and an exclusive gold avatar to be used whilst playing online at Full Tilt Poker - impress your fellow players!

Our eagle eyed readers will have realised that this FTOPS XVI is even better value than before – the buy ins have rarely increased whilst the Guaranteed prize pools have become even more generous than ever before, thanks Full Tilt!

Enjoy FTOPS XIV, here is the schedule:-

If you’re not already a loyal player at Full Tilt Poker then get signed up now, remember to use our Full Tilt Bonus Code FTPGOLD for a sign up bonus up to $600. You can see what a sound site Full Tilt is by perusing our Full Tilt Review and Full Tilt Referral code page.

For you fans of MiniFTOPs, do not despair, MiniFTOPS XIV is back this December 9th to 20th, mirroring the FTOPS with 25 events but at 1/10th of the buy in.

Good luck at the tables!

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FTOPS XIV Schedule Released by Full Tilt Poker

Come one, come all to the 14th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). Poker players looking for their share of $20 million in guaranteed prize money will only need to wait one month for the high-stakes action to kick off on the world’s second largest online poker site.

The action begins on November 4th with a $216 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event, traditionally one of the largest gatherings of the FTOPS schedule. The series concludes on November 15th with a $535 buy-in Main Event that has at least $2.5 million up for grabs. A total of 25 events will play out, with the format of two tournaments still up in the air. No Limit Hold’em, Stud Eight or Better, Pot Limit Omaha, HORSE, Razz, and Limit Hold’em tournaments can be found on the FTOPS XIV schedule, which features six contests with at least $1 million on the line.

Last time out, the FTOPS XIII Main Event attracted 5,306 entrants, with Full Tilt Poker member Poligraph scooping the top prize of $453,000. Heads-up, Poligraph defeated Inoriisss, who banked $315,000 for second place. The top 720 players finished in the money, with the five best earning at least $100,000. FTOPS XIII took place in August and Full Tilt normally holds the series four times per year.

The MiniFTOPS XIV schedule will once again take place one month after FTOPS XIV is held. During FTOPS XII, the two tournament series were conducted concurrently, inadvertently causing players to gravitate towards the lower buy-in events, which come at one-tenth of the buy-in. Consequently, a slew of overlays occurred in FTOPS XII high-stakes events. Beginning in FTOPS XIII, the Mini version was run one month later.

Check out the schedule for FTOPS XIV on Full Tilt Poker:

Event #1: Wednesday, November 4th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #2: Thursday, November 5th at 14:00 ET
TBA

Event #3: Thursday, November 5th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold’em 3x Shootout
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #4: Friday, November 6th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Cubed
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #5: Friday, November 6th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Stud Eight or Better
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #6: Saturday, November 7th at 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$350,000 Guaranteed

Event #7: Saturday, November 7th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Rebuy
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #8: Sunday, November 8th at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Knockout Six-Max
$800,000 Guaranteed

Event #9: Sunday, November 8th at 16:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #10: Sunday, November 8th at 18:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #11: Monday, November 9th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #12: Monday, November 9th at 21:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$1,500,000 Guaranteed

Event #13: Tuesday, November 10th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em 4x Shootout Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #14: Tuesday, November 10th at 21:00 ET
$500 + $35 HORSE
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #15: Tuesday, November 10th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #16: Wednesday, November 11th at 14:00 ET
$240 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Knockout
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: Wednesday, November 11th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Rebuy
$1,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: Thursday, November 12th at 14:00 ET
TBA

Event #19: Thursday, November 12th at 21:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Hold’em Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #20: Friday, November 13th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #21: Friday, November 13th at 21:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #22: Saturday, November 14th at 14:00 ET
$2,500 + $120 No Limit Hold’em Ante From Start (Two Day Event)
$2,000,000 Guaranteed

Event #23: Saturday, November 14th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 Pot Limit Omaha Rebuy
$400,000 Guaranteed

Event #24: Sunday, November 15th at 14:00 ET
$120 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Knockout
$800,000 Guaranteed

Main Event: Sunday, November 15th at 18:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold’em
$2,500,000 Guaranteed

Antoine Saout, James Akenhead Reach WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table

Not one, but two members of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine made the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event. Last year, Ivan Demidov accomplished the feat. This year, Antoine Saout and James Akenhead will battle for the top prize.

Akenhead nearly found his first gold WSOP bracelet in 2008, but took second in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament and cashed for $520,000. In that event, his opponent, Grant Hinkle, was all-in holding just 10-4 against Akenhead’s A-K. However, Hinkle made four tens in the hand and became one-half of only the second set of brothers ever to win WSOP bracelets and the first to do so in the same year. Akenhead is in his backyard for the WSOP Europe festivities, as he makes his home in London. He sits with the second largest chip stack entering final table play with 1.4 million, trailing only Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier’s hefty total of 3.2 million.

Saout owns the sixth largest chip stack in the WSOP Europe Main Event at 701,000. The Frenchmen is also a member of the November Nine and sponsored pro of Everest Poker. Interestingly enough, he won a $50 satellite to claim his WSOP Main Event seat. Last November, he finished sixth in a Spanish Poker Tour event in Marbella for €5,800 and promptly reached another final table in Castellon in June for €780. Saout and Akenhead are the only two non-Americans at the final table of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Saout will take to the felts in Seat 8 on Thursday in London.

The November Nine has another tie to the final table, as CardPlayer Founder Barry Shulman owns the fourth largest chip stack in London at 1.1 million. He is the father of November Nine member and CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who infamously threatened to throw away the WSOP Main Event bracelet should he win it. The younger Shulman owns the third largest chip stack entering the final table at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in November.

Daniel Negreanu finished fifth in last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event and scooped £217,200. Now, he’ll seek his first WSOP Europe bracelet in this year’s feature tournament. Incredibly, Negreanu reached the final table in back-to-back WSOP Europe Main Events in London, but is the tournament’s short stack entering today’s finale. Negreanu, a Poker Hall of Fame nominee and four-time bracelet winner, recorded eight cashes during the 2009 WSOP, including a pair of six-figure scores in the World Championship of Omaha High-Low Eight or Better and Six-Handed Limit Hold’em.

Mercier is the chip leader entering the final table in London. The card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and won a bracelet this year in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event for $237,000. Mercier defeated online poker pro Steven “PiKappRaider” Burkholder in that event, which attracted 809 players. In May, Mercier won a tournament during the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $86,000. Mercier sent six of the final 15 eliminated players to the rail on Wednesday to build his massive chip lead.

The final table kicks off today at 2:00pm local time. Here’s a look at the remaining players and their chip stacks:

1. Jason Mercier - 3,198,000
2. James Akenhead - 1,398,000
3. Praz Bansi - 1,160,000
4. Barry Shulman - 1,090,000
5. Markus Ristola - 784,000
6. Antoine Saout - 701,000
7. Matt Hawrilenko - 674,000
8. Chris Bjorin - 518,000
9. Daniel Negreanu - 438,000

The prizes up for grabs for the nine WSOP Europe Main Event final table members are as follows:

1st Place: £801,603
2nd Place: £495,589
3rd Place: £360,887
4th Place: £267,267
5th Place: £200,367
6th Place: £150,267
7th Place: £114,228
8th Place: £87,074
9th Place: £66,533

PokerStars Enters Guinness Book of World Records for Most Online Poker Players

While the “brick and mortar” casino world continues to suffer double-figure drops in win rates and declines in attendance, September proved to be a lucrative month for PokerStars with the completion of its eighth annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). In addition to another highly successful run of the preeminent online poker series for PokerStars, the WCOOP also helped to provide another world record for the number one site worldwide.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, which verified the results, September 6th saw PokerStars defeat its own world record for most players hosted by an online poker room. On that day, during which the WCOOP was in full swing, PokerStars recorded 307,016 players taking part in tournament, cash game, and free poker games on the site. Players were arranged around 42,814 tables and, once verified by Guinness record-keepers, smashed the previous mark by over 100,000.

PokerStars, which has held the record since its inception in 2008, and its major competitor, Full Tilt Poker, went at each other only two months ago to set the previous mark for most players online at once. Back in July, both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars ran tournaments in an attempt to set the record for the largest online poker tournament ever held. PokerStars brought in a total of 65,000 players for its version of the record-breaking attempt, while Full Tilt attracted only 50,000. PokerStars was close to 200,000 total players once the tournament and other action was counted.

The most recent world record for PokerStars was more than likely due to the massive outpouring of players during the WCOOP and its various satellite events. On September 5th, WCOOP Event #6, the $109 No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament, drew an astounding 15,675 players. This didn’t take into count the number of players who were participating in Event #7, the $215 Pot Limit Five Card Draw, satellite tournaments, or play money games on the site.

On September 6th, a Sunday and the traditional “big day” for online tournament players around the world, the WCOOP featured three huge events that drew traffic. In addition to Event #9, a $215 No Limit Hold’em tournament that attracted 11,131 runners and was won by Slovakia’s “ternoplayer,” Event #10, the $10,300 High Roller tournament (299 players and won by Sweden’s “Sumpas”) and the first day of Event #11, the two day $530 No Limit Hold’em event (drawing 6219 players and won by the United States’ “hustla16”) were also in action. Once the numbers were counted up, it cracked the previous record set by PokerStars back in July.

While their physical counterparts battle through the recession, it is apparent that the online poker world is quite healthy. Congratulations to PokerStars for its most recent record, which should stand for quite some time.

Doyle Brunson Sixth in WSOP Europe Main Event

History may be in the making in one of the most historic cities in the world. Doyle Brunson is in search of his record-tying 11th bracelet in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event and is sixth in chips with 92 players remaining.

Brunson holds a stack of 210,900 and is in pursuit of the £801,603 first place prize. “Texas Dolly” has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name, tied with Johnny Chan for second most all-time. He needs one more to move into the lead with 11, a record currently held by Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth. Brunson has been shut out since 2005, when he took down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event for $367,000, defeating a competitive final table that also included Minh Ly, Layne Flack, and Scotty Nguyen.

Brunson will captain Table 10 on Tuesday at the Casino at the Empire, where he’ll be joined by online poker players Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Christian Kruel. Smith is fresh off a third place effort in the Bellagio Cup, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). He earned $464,000 at the Las Vegas casino back in July. Kruel can be found on the virtual felts of PokerStars under the screen name “C.K.” He won a $530 buy-in $80,000 Guaranteed High Roller tournament on PartyPoker in mid-August for $22,000.

Also in the Top 10 in London is Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier. In May, he took down a tournament held during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $86,000 and then followed up that performance with a bracelet win in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event during the 2009 WSOP. Mercier recorded four cashes overall during the WSOP and was quickly scooped up by PokerStars to join their pro team. He also competed in the star-studded field of the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament, which aired on ESPN. Mercier owns the 10th largest stack at 202,300.

Liz Lieu doubled her stack holding pocket aces on Monday in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Entering play on Day 3, she sits at 16th in the chip counts with 184,400. Meanwhile, November Nine member James Akenhead also remains in contention. Akenhead, a Brit on his home turf, sent Nick Bleeker packing after coming out on the winning end of a race holding pocket jacks against A-K. The board ran out 9-7-Q-Q-7, pushing Akenhead to 250,000 in chips. He ended the day with 178,000, which was good for 17th overall. Fellow November Nine member Antoine Saout, who held a Top 10 stack entering Day 2 play on Monday, fell back to 50th on the leaderboard with 90,100.

Here are the Top 10 stacks in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event entering Day 3 on Tuesday:

1. Ian Munns - 528,300
2. Praz Bassi - 299,000
3. Oyvind Riisem - 255,300
4. Arron Eric Filippi - 216,500
5. David Docherty - 216,200
6. Doyle Brunson - 210,900
7. Shandoi Demjan - 209,000
8. Markus Ristola - 205,000
9. Ram Vaswarni - 202,500
10. Jason Mercier - 202,300

Other notable names remaining in the hunt for the £801,603 prize include:

12. Yevgeniy Timoshenko - 192,100
13. Steve Zolotow - 191,100
16. Liz Lieu - 184,400
17. James Akenhead - 178,000
18. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott - 174,000
19. Antonio Esfadiari - 173,300
20. John Tabatabai - 160,100
38. Daniel Negreanu - 113,100
39. Barry Shulman - 111,200
49. Annette Obrestad - 90,500
50. Antoine Saout - 90,100
55. Teddy Sheringham - 74,800
65. Freddy Deeb - 61,200
67. Andre Akkari – 58,300
69. Todd Brunson - 51,600
70. Eric Liu - 51,100
79. John Juanda - 38,900
85. Men “The Master” Nguyen - 27,500

The top 36 players will finish in the money, with the minimum payout being £21,142. Every member of the nine-handed final table will walk away with at least £66,533. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WSOP Europe Main Event.

Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo Event to Air on CBS Sports

For the next two weekends, CBS will air the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo tournament. The show will air on Saturday, September 19th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm ET and on Saturday, September 26th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm ET.

Both shows will air prior to college football. Vanessa Rousso, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented in a press release distributed by the online poker site on Friday, “Each year at the World Series of Poker, I make it a point to play in Ante Up for Africa. It’s amazing that PokerStars hosted the event in Monte Carlo to help a worthy cause and bring some fun to the table during one of their biggest events of the year.” In this author’s home market, the show does not air on September 19th, but rather only the 26th. Viewers are encouraged to check their local listings for details, as college football dates, times, and channels vary by market.

The tournament took place in April in the storied European principality during the Monte Carlo Grand Final festivities. The casino is the host venue for the end-of-season European Poker Tour (EPT) event and attracted a star-studded lineup of celebrities and poker players for the Ante Up for Africa contest. Among those in attendance were St. Louis rapper Nelly, singer Christina Milian, The Dream, “Heroes” actor James Kyson Lee, “Sex in the City” actor Jason Lewis, Good Charlotte band member Joel Madden, U.K. presenter Kirsty Gallacher, rapper Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, F1 racer Nico Rosberg, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and rugby players Sebastien Chabal and Mike Tindall.

Representing Team PokerStars Pro were Rousso, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, 2005 Champion Joe Hachem, 2008 Champion Peter Eastgate, Italian poker pro Dario Minieri, Victor Ramdin, and Caesars Cup Captain Daniel Negreanu. The €4,000 buy-in tournament generated more than €260,000 for the Ante Up for Africa charity, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. A total of €160,000 was raised through tournament buy-ins, while PokerStars generously kicked in an additional €100,000.

Among those prizes awarded were a trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2010. The tournament, which is held annually in the Bahamas, serves as the lone Western Hemisphere stop on the EPT circuit. A tournament summary distributed by the world’s largest online poker site offered the following insight into the ongoing Darfur crisis: “More than 400,000 people have died and more than four million have lost their homes in Darfur since the conflict began. To date, Ante Up For Africa has raised close to $2 million for the cause.”

Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker pro Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein. An annual $5,000 buy-in tournament is held to benefit the charity during the WSOP in Las Vegas. This year, the spectacle came to life on cable station ESPN and featured Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Charles Barkley, and Jason Alexander. Representing the poker world were the likes of Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth, who served as the event’s emcee. This year’s gala raised more than $600,000.

In August, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) featured a fundraiser for Ante Up for Africa in the form of a $120 buy-in tournament. A total of 2,367 players bought into the event, which was won by “warren_ace1.” Full Tilt donated the entire $20 entry fee to Ante Up for Africa.

Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game Features $1.1 Million Pot

Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game featured a $1.1 million pot during its fourth season, which will air on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom in January. The season includes commentary from poker pro Robert Williamson III.

Some of the game’s top cash game aficionados hit the felts for the Full Tilt Poker spectacular, which recently completed filming in London. Now, the city will play host to the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities, which officially kick off today with a £1,075 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. Headlining the Full Tilt Poker Million Dollar Cash Game roster was none other than Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who was joined at the table by several sponsored pros of the online poker site, including Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, and Patrik Antonius.

The general public recently nominated Dwan for the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame class, although a committee stripped him of his eligibility on the grounds that he did not stand the test of time. Dwan is currently battling against Antonius in the Durrrr Challenge online, with Antonius nursing a $34,000 lead after 23,197 hands. The two tangled early on in the Million Dollar Cash Game in London, getting it in pre-flop for a $500,000 pot. Antonius held pocket kings against Dwan’s pocket aces, but a king on the flop gave the veteran a set and the win in the hand. Online, it’s been a seesaw battle between Dwan and Antonius, with “durrrr” posting 3:1 odds that he could beat any player in $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha or No Limit Hold’em over 50,000 hands.

Dwan reclaimed his losses in a hand against Cyril Mouly. Then, the largest pot in televised poker history occurred. In it, Dwan raised pre-flop and Ivey re-raised from the small blind. The flop fell Q-3-5 with two clubs and Ivey led out for $40,000. Dwan made the call to see the four of hearts hit the turn. Ivey once again bet, Dwan pushed the action to $240,000, and “The Tiger Woods of Poker” shoved over the top. Coverage provided by Full Tilt Poker noted that Dwan snap-called the all-in, turning over 6-7 for the nuts. Ivey, meanwhile, showed A-2 for a smaller straight. Ivey was drawing dead on the river, shipping the massive $1.1 million pot to Dwan.

Dwan was involved in the largest single pot in “High Stakes Poker” history as well. In it, the youngster cracked Barry Greenstein’s pocket aces holding K-Q of spades. The flop came Q-4-2 with two spades, giving Dwan a flush draw to compliment top pair. On the flop, Dwan led out for $28,700, Greenstein raised to $100,000, and Dwan re-raised to $244,600. Greenstein quickly shoved and the two agreed to run the board once. The turn was another queen, improving Dwan to trips, and Greenstein could not spike an ace on the river. The pot was worth a colossal $919,000.

The Million Dollar Cash Game is an invitation-only event that requires a minimum buy-in of $100,000. On the fifth season of “High Stakes Poker,” which aired earlier this year on cable station GSN in the United States, the price tag was $200,000. The GSN cash game franchise is set to return in February for Season 6, although the host venue and player lineup are not yet known. Season 5 featured a cast that included Dwan, Antonius, Daniel Negreanu, Greenstein, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. The show is hosted by former “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan and A.J. Benza.

Full Tilt is in the midst of holding its Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), which concludes with a $55 buy-in Main Event on Sunday. The tournament features a $500,000 guarantee and is hosted by noted pro Eli Elezra.

Poker News in Brief: Sept. 7-13, 2009

EPT Barcelona wrapped up with Carter Phillips winning over $1.2 million for taking down first place while the WCOOP continued to bring some impressive numbers to the virtual felt.

There are always stories that don't make the front page of PokerListings.com, however, and as part of an ongoing feature we've compiled a list of them for you to peruse below.

This week we'll be taking a look at the other major online poker series going on this week, the WPT in Cyprus, a unique tournament at the Commerce Casino, four floor managers who proved crime doesn't pay and a well-known Team PokerStars Pro taking down a WCOOP event.

Frenchman wins in Cyprus

The World Poker Tour's first trip to Cyprus wrapped up this weekend with French pro Thomas Bichon taking the title and $579,165 first place prize.

The $10,300 tournament drew 181 players to the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in Cyprus and some rather big names made the final ten.

However, Huck Seed, Jonathan Little, Nenad Medic and Layne Flack all busted on the tournament's second to last day before the final table was set.

David and Goliath: MiniFTOPS vs. WCOOP

Not to be outdone by PokerStars' WCOOP event, Full Tilt Poker has gone in a decidedly different direction this September.

Instead of offering a complete Full Tilt Online Poker Series, FTP started running MiniFTOPS XIII on Sept. 9 and it will run to Sept. 20.

MiniFTOPS are almost identical to FTOPS events except for the buy-ins.

Every MiniFTOPS event carries a buy-in that is exactly 1/10 the size of a regular FTOPS event.

Buy-ins for the 25 events range from $11 to $250. Some of the events have some respectable prize pools with the main event weighing in at an impressive $500,000 guaranteed.

Check out the complete schedule over at Full Tilt Poker.

Four Planet ((Hollywood poker)) managers arrested

Four Las Vegas casino floor managers were arrested this week in a scam that saw them take $2,201 in fake jackpots.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Jonathan Sanner, Jason Peterson, Thomas Kordick and Scott Marshall worked in the poker room at Planet Hollywood and are accused of creating fake identities to award jackpots to themselves.

Surveillance staff at Planet Hollywood noticed that none of the fictitious players had ever played in the poker room.

All four managers were arrested by the Gaming Control Board officers and Las Vegas Police.

Commerce Casino holding Iron Man tournament

The Commerce Hold'em Series, which runs Sept. 10-27, is underway in L.A and there are some very unique events on the schedule.

On Sept. 23 the Commerce will be hosting an "Ironman" tournament, which will give players 10,000 chips, one hour levels and blinds moving at a snail's pace.

The catch? Absolutely no breaks.

The entire tournament will play from start to finish with no interruptions. The casino will provide three meals at the tables, but other than that players are on their own.

The tournament will only be paying the final table and 50% of the prizepool will be going to first place.

For more information check the Commerce website here.

George Danzer wins WCOOP event

The pros continue to perform well at the 2009 WCOOP. Just days after Raymond Davis took down his first WCOOP title in Badugi, Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer accomplished a similar feat by winning the WCOOP Short-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha event.

The German outlasted 975 players and a tough final table that included WPT winner Shawn "buck21" Buchanan to take down a first-place prize of $109,545.

It was Danzer's first WCOOP win and also the biggest score of his career.

The 2009 WCOOP runs all the way until Sept. 20 when PokerStars will host the two-day No-Limit Hold'em main event with $10 million guaranteed.

George Danzer, Raymond Davis Capture PokerStars WCOOP Titles

PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) continued to attract massive fields this week as each event went above and beyond its guaranteed prize pool. Despite the enormous turnouts, a couple well-known professionals managed to win tournaments in the year’s biggest online poker series.

PokerStars Team Pro member George Danzer took down the $320 6-max Pot-Limit Omaha (Event #19) on Thursday, besting a final table that included Shawn “sbuck21” Buchanan. Danzer defeated “kunkuu” heads up to collect his first WCOOP bracelet and $109,545. “Kunkuu” received $81,750 while Buchanan took third place for $62,130. Danzer is tied with “iacog4” for first place on the WCOOP leaderboard through 20 events.

Raymond “raydavis77” Davis claimed victory in the $320 Badugi (Event #15). Davis, who has more than $1.5 million in live tournament earnings, received $19,912 after making a deal with “bobsmith166” after the two reached heads-up play. Other big names at the Event #15 final table were Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan (5th), Billy “crocky” Argyros (7th), and Jason “JP OSU” Potter (6th), who has two final appearances at this year’s WCOOP.

The most lucrative tournament of the week was the $530 No Limit Hold’em two-day event, which concluded on Monday. More than 6,000 players participated to generate a prize pool of $3,109,500 with the top 900 earning money. After nearly 23 hours of play over the two days, Hiren “hustla16” Patel walked away with the title after negotiating a three-way chop with “Juancesan” and “colonelkosta.” Patel earned $446,533 for the victory.

Other winners at the WCOOP this week were Thiago “XtheDecanoX” Decano, Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo and high-stakes online tournament regular “iCeVeNoM.” Here’s a look at the results from WCOOP events 10 through 20:

WCOOP #11 - $530 No-Limit Hold’em (2-day)
Entrants: 6,219

1. Hiren “hustla16” Patel - $446,533 (three-way chop)
2. Juancesan - $270,000
3. colonelkosta - $355,000
4. Daryl “aaaaaaaa” Jace - $171,022
5. fabstinho - $130,599
6. CONOW - $99,504
7. GypsieChris - $68,409
8. kidwhowon - $37,314
9. Shazmeister - $24,098

WCOOP #12 - $215 No-Limit Hold’em (4-max)
Entrants: 3,854

1. lebordelaii - $111,457
2. Catafract80 - $63,822
3. pejcao - $40,467
4. SebbyGI - $29,675

WCOOP #13 - $320 Stud
Entrants: 668

1. yhcaep - $33.814.50 (heads-up chop)
2. Ronja211 - $30,814
3. barrosa 50 - $20,040
4. DAVIDOXXX - $15,030
5. sonajero - $10,020
6. ez monney - $7,014
7. BIGtittitilt - $4,509
8. dolphin4 - $3,006

WCOOP #14 - $320 Mixed Hold’em (6-max)
Entrants: 1,564

1. dangdokodang - $70,727 (heads-up chop)
2. yadio - $60,564
3. DonkCommited - $42,201
4. drgonzo10978 - $28,134
5. viti45 - $18,756
6. Tom “SBRounder” West - $11,066

PokerStars WCOOP 15 - $320 Badugi
Entrants: 376

1. Raymond “raydavis77” Davis - $19,912 (heads-up chop)
2. bobsmith166 - $17,312
3. goleafsgo41 - $11,844
4. Cordelia - $8,460
5. Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan - $5,640
6. Jason “JP OSU” Potter - $3,948
7. Billy “crocky” Argyros - $2,820
8. MadisonAce29 - $2,256

WCOOP #16 - $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em
Entrants: 1,558

1. Thiago “XtheDecanoX” Decano - $249,280
2. Adam “skilled_sox” Ewenstein - $186,960
3. Greg “DuckU” Hobson - $140,220
4. pedmend - $102,438.50
5. Joe “hoodini10” Udine - $74,005
6. O0Brian0O - $57,646
7. Holla10 - $42,066
8. cabbie182 - $27,265
9. amrasaralond - $15,580

WCOOP #17 - $530 NLHE Triple Shootout (10-max)
Entrants: 1,000

1. iCeVeNoM - $91,250
2. dynamoM - $63,500
3. TabberNackle - $47,250
4. Mumtum23 - $35,250
5. 6060606060 - $24,750
6. Vandiesel - $20,000
7. Bambeklis - $15,750
8. Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias - $12,500
9. blanconegro - $9,500
10. bestwoman127 - $7,000

WCOOP #18 - $320 8-Game
Entrants: 999

1. Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo - $50,250
2. vui-qua-di - $37,500
3. JohnSmith - $28,500
4. Aguskb - $19,500
5. Mark “The Omaholic” Roland - $12,870
6. johnny1430 - $9,000

WCOOP #19 - $320 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-max, 1 Rebuy/1 Add-on)
Entrants: 976

1. George Danzer - $109,545
2. kunkku - $81,750
3. Shawn “buck21” Buchanan - $62,130
4. TheTaker - $42,510
5. badbanker70 - $28,056
6. parksy1066 - $19,620

WCOOP #20 - $320 Limit Triple Draw 2-7
Entrants: 468

1. Timmy K - $26,676
2. Roc23rb - $19,656
3. Iteopepe88 - $14,931
4. TurnRiva - $9,828
5. Donkaroo22 - $7,020
6. Aaron “GambleAB” Bartley - $4,492

2009 WCOOP starts tomorrow on PokerStars

"I don't think any other online tournament even compares," said last year's WCOOP main event winner Carter "ckingusc" King. "It's definitely the biggest online series of the year. It's like our World Series of Poker and we get pretty excited about it."

Last year Carter outlasted over 2,000 players and then beat a final table that included AKJHoosier1 to take down a first place prize of $1.3 million. The total prize pool contained $10,925,000, which easily eclipses most live tournaments.

This year PokerStars is introducing several new features to the popular series. For the first time ever there will be events in 5-card draw and Badugi.

PokerStars will also offer a new low buy-in "Stimulus" event, which is styled after the WSOP event with the same name. Players will have a shot at WCOOP glory for only $109, complete with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

"The Stimulus is a great event," commented King. "I wish they would do more of them. The $1 million guarantee is huge. I remember when my bankroll was still relatively small and wanting to play WCOOP events. This is perfect."

Conversely PokerStars will also be offering three high roller events this year with buy-ins ranging from $10,000 for the No-Limit Hold'em event to $25,000 for the No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event.

With increased competition from series like Full Tilt's Online Poker Series (FTOPS) and even PokerStars' own Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) organizers have gone out of their way to make WCOOP the premier online series of the year.

PokerStars management opted not to include the multiple buy-in events that were predominate in this year's SCOOP. Essentially every event in the 2009 SCOOP had a low, medium and high buy-in version.

This decision seems to be sitting well with players.

"I would keep the WCOOP as it is," said King. "It's really something special and the schedule is good. They don't need to do anything crazy with it."

As always there will be multiple ways to qualify for every event in this year's WCOOP and satellite buy-ins start at just $1. Even King, who presumably has enough money to buy-in directly, mentioned he plays satellites occasionally.

"I'll probably play some of the extreme satellites," he said. "They are just too good of a value. There's no reason to pass up a seat in the WCOOP main event."

The 2009 WCOOP begins tomorrow with the first event kicking off at 14:30 ET. The series will then run all the way until Sept. 20 when the $10 million guaranteed main event kicks off.

You can check out the complete schedule here.

PokerStars 2009 WCOOP Starts Thursday

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, is gearing up to present the seventh annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on Thursday. The 45-event series will span across 17 days and culminate with a $5,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event on Sunday, September 20.

PokerStars has tagged guarantees to each of the 45 tournaments, as players will have a shot at a prize pool of at least $40 million. Fourteen events have guarantees of at least $1 million, including three High Roller tournaments. The Main Event will award a minimum of $10 million to those participating. Winners of each WCOOP event will also receive a personally engraved gold bracelet from PokerStars.

One thing is certain: The online poker community is eager for the launch of the 2009 WCOOP. “I’ll be playing almost all of the No Limit Hold ‘em events,” said Ben “NeverScaredB” Wilinofsky, who is currently ranked #14 on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings. “I don’t play many other games, but I dabble in Pot Limit Omaha and will probably play the heads-up and a few of the six-max events.”

Like Wilinofsky, online pro Nick “agriffrod” Mitchell will partake in most of the No Limit events as well as some of the Pot Limit Omaha and Mixed Hold’em tournaments. “WCOOP is the biggest series of the year,” Mitchell told Poker News Daily. “The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) comes around four times a year, so it’s a little less exciting. As far as value goes, I’d say WCOOP is better because the tournaments are all huge. There’s even a $100 tournament with a $1 million guarantee.”

PokerStars has been running satellites to each WCOOP event for weeks and will continue to do so throughout the duration of the series. Players can win a seat in a number of different ways by using Frequent Player Points (FPPs) or buying in for as little as $0.50. The tournament staff has even added special satellites to its schedule based on the requests from members of various poker forums, further tightening the site’s grasp as tops in the industry at customer service.

“PokerStars has done a phenomenal job with their satellites to this year’s WCOOP,” Wilinofsky added. “The extreme satellites were a smash hit and the variety of steps that are running means that there’s a way for every bankroll to make it into WCOOP. I think that that adds a lot of value for both the people winning satellites and the regulars, so kudos to PokerStars for doing a bang-up job.”

Here’s a look at the comprehensive WCOOP Schedule All events are listed in Eastern Time and guarantees appear in parenthesis.

Thursday, Sept. 3, 14:30 - $215 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max ($1.25 million)
Thursday, Sept. 3, 16:30 - $215 Razz ($200,000)
Friday, Sept. 4, 14:30 - $215 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max ($500,000)
Friday, Sept. 4, 16:30 - $215 No Limit Single Draw 2-7 with Rebuys ($200,000)
Friday, Sept. 4, 20:00 - $109 8-game ($50,000)
Saturday, Sept. 5, 12:45 - $109 No Limit Hold’em ($1 million)
Saturday, Sept. 5, 14:30 - $215 No Limit 5 Card Draw ($200,000)
Saturday, Sept. 5, 16:30 - $215 Limit Hold’em ($400,000)
Sunday, Sept. 6, 12:45 - $215 $215 No Limit Hold ‘em ($1 million)
Sunday, Sept. 6, 14:30 - $10,300 No Limit Hold’em ($2 million)
Sunday, Sept. 6, 16:30 - $530 No Limit Hold’em ($3 million)
Monday, Sept. 7, 14:30 - $320 Mixed Hold’em Six-Max ($350,000)
Monday, Sept. 7, 16:30 - $215 Pot Limit Omaha Cubed Six-Max ($500,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 14:30 - $320 Stud ($150,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 16:30 - $320 Badugi ($100,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 20:00 - $1,050 No Limit Hold’em ($500,000)
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 14:30 - $530 No Limit Hold’em Triple Shootout ($500,000)
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 16:30 - $320 Eight Game Mixed Event ($300,000)
Thursday, Sept. 10, 14:30 - $530 Pot Limit Hold’em Six-Max ($400,000)
Thursday, Sept. 10, 16:30 - $320 2-7 Triple Draw ($100,000)
Friday, Sept. 11, 14:30 - $215 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys ($1.25 million)
Friday, Sept. 11, 16:30 - $530 Limit Omaha H/L ($400,000)
Friday, Sept. 11, 20:00 - $320 No Limit Hold ‘em ($300,000)
Saturday, Sept. 12, 14:30 - $530 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em ($1 million)
Saturday, Sept. 12, 16:30 - $320 HORSE ($400,000)
Sunday, Sept. 13, 12:45 - $215 Special Sunday Warm-Up ($1 million)
Sunday, Sept. 13, 14:30 - $25,500 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em ($800,000)
Sunday, Sept. 13, 16:30 - $1,050 No Limit Hold’em ($3 million)
Monday, Sept. 14, 14:30 - $320 Half PLHE, Half PLO ($400,000)
Monday, Sept. 14, 16:30 - $320 No Limit Hold’em 2X Chance ($800,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 14:30 - $320 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys ($700,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 16:30 - $530 Stud H/L ($200,000)
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 20:00 - $1,050 No Limit Hold’em ($500,000)
Wednesday Sept. 16, 14:30 - $215 No Limit Hold’em Big Antes ($500,000)
Wednesday Sept. 16, 16:30 - $320 Pot Limit Omaha H/L ($500,000)
Thursday, Sept. 17, 14:30 - $530 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys Six-Max ($1 million)
Thursday, Sept. 17, 16:30 - $2,100 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max ($600,000)
Friday, Sept. 18, 14:30 - $530 No Limit Hold’em Cubed ($1 million)
Friday, Sept. 18, 16:30 - $1,050 Limit Hold’em Six-Max ($400,000)
Friday, Sept. 18, 20:00 - $215 No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo ($200,000)
Saturday, Sept. 19, 14:30 - $530 Heads-Up Pot Limit Omaha ($500,000)
Saturday, Sept. 19, 16:30 - $2,100 Eight Game Mixed Event ($400,000)
Sunday, Sept. 20, 12:45 - $215 Special Sunday Warm-Up ($1 million)
Sunday, Sept. 20, 14:30 - $10,300 HORSE ($1 million)
Sunday, Sept. 20, 16:30 - $5,200 Main Event ($10 million)

Full Tilt Poker to Host Take 2 in September

Taking place throughout the month of September on Full Tilt Poker is Take 2, an innovative online poker promotion that allows players to earn up to $50 in cash and double Full Tilt Points (FTPs).

Take 2 kicks off at 00:00 ET on September 1st and runs until 23:59 ET on September 30th. There are two ways to boost your bankroll and FTP balance. First, players who compete on at least two real money ring game tables during the month-long promotion will earn bonus cash based on the number of days they hit the virtual felts. Five days of multi-tabling will earn a Full Tilt customer a cool $5 bonus. Players who multi-table for 10 days will pocket an extra $10 for a total of $15. Fifteen days of multi-tabling means an extra $10 in your pocket, or $25 total. Finally, 25 days of multi-tabling during the month of September results in $50 in bonus cash.

In addition, poker enthusiasts can earn double FTPs on two tables while playing. For example, if a player were to earn 60 FTPs at one table and 40 FTPs at another table, they would take home a total of 200 points as part of the Take 2 promotion. Points can be used in the Full Tilt Store for poker paraphernalia and other items. In addition, FTPs can be redeemed for tournament and sit and go entries. A Mini Cooper S in the Full Tilt Store will set players back six million FTPs, while a Harley-Davidson Night Train motorcycle runs four million. A wide variety of electronics, including a 2.7 million FTP price tag Apple MacBook Pro, can be had, along with apparel, sporting gear, luggage, poker books, and Full Tilt branded merchandise.

Players must opt into Take 2 by visiting the “Cashier” window. Then, they’ll need to click on the rectangular “My Promotions” link and look for “Take 2.” Follow the instructions to register your account and then hit up the cash game felts of Full Tilt in earnest. The “My Promotions” page will keep tabs on how many FTPs and bonus cash you’ve earned; extra points will be dumped into a player’s account within six hours. In order for a tables to count, at least one FTP must be earned while more than one window is open.

Full Tilt will only double the number of FTPs on two tables. Text found on Full Tilt’s website explains, “If a player plays at more than two real-money ring-game tables simultaneously during Take 2, that player will receive double points from the combination of their top two tables.” For example, if a player were to earn 60 FTPs at one table, 50 FTPs at another table, and 10 FTPs at a third table, then they would receive 110 bonus FTPs, equal to the sum of their top two points-earning tables. Full Tilt spreads Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, and Razz in a variety of structures.

The site is fresh off hosting the 13th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), which played out earlier this month amid much fanfare. Starting on September 9th, MiniFTOPS XIII will make its debut, featuring the same tournament lineup as FTOPS XIII, but with buy-ins that are one-tenth of the size. Highlights include a $256 buy-in Two-Day Event featuring at least $400,000 on the line and a $55 buy-in Main Event that assures at least $500,000 is up for grabs. A total of 25 tournaments will play out, each hosted by a member of Team Full Tilt.