Poker News

Eugene Katchalov Leads WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star After Day 1B

A total of 196 players took to the felts in San Jose, California for Day 1B of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament. Eugene Katchalov came out on top after the second starting day, earning a $10,000 cash bonus.

Katchalov finished with 131,500 chips, which will be the third largest stack after the survivors of Day 1A and Day 1B are combined for Day 2. When the cards hit the air today in the West Coast casino, 126 players will be seated. Overall, the tournament drew 333 entrants, down 15% from last year’s tally of 391. In 2009, Kathy Liebert took second to Steve Brecher and heading into Day 2, another female leads the way, Vanna Tea.

Shooting Stars, who have $5,000 bounties on their heads, doubled up left and right to close play on Tuesday at Bay 101. Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer was all-in with A-J of diamonds and up against pocket kings, but flopped one jack and turned trips to advance to Day 2. Lederer will have a stack of 20,600 chips when play resumes, the 109th largest tally.

Also doubling up late in the day was 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jerry Yang, whose 74,300 chips make up the 27th largest stack. Yang is fresh off an Elite Eight appearance in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, where he fell to eventual champion Annie Duke.

Not as fortunate was 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda, whose pocket fours could not hold up against the A-K of Tyler Cornell. When the smoke cleared, Cornell made a Broadway straight to collect Juanda’s $5,000 bounty and autographed Shooting Star shirt.

Also falling short on Day 1B was Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, who was all-in pre-flop with a wired pair of nines against the pocket kings of Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and the A-3 of another player. The board ran out J-8-8-5-3, ultimately giving Mizzi a king-high flush, and Esfandiari was relegated to the rails. "The Magician" had tripled up earlier in the day with pocket kings against A-K and pocket nines. Meanwhile, Mizzi busted two players in the hand and owns the ninth largest chip stack entering Day 2.

UB.com pro and 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was all-in on a flop of J-5-3 with two spades holding A-Q of spades for the nut flush draw and two overcards. His opponent held 4-5 for a pair. The turn came a queen, saving the day for “The Poker Brat,” and a harmless nine fell on the river. Hellmuth ended the day with a stack of 62,800 chips, the 42nd largest tally in the WPT tournament. His talented company at Table 22 on Wednesday will include Phil Laak, Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Corwin “mig.com” Mackey. Talk about a tough draw.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event as play enters Day 2:

1. Vanna Tea – 143,900
2. Greg “FBT” Mueller – 132,800
3. Eugene Katchalov – 131,500
4. Timothy McDermott – 118,100
5. Grantland Hillman – 115,100
6. David Sands – 106,900
7. Oddie Dardon – 105,500
8. Scotty Nguyen – 99,900
9. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 97,600
10. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko – 97,600

The winner of the event will take home an $878,000 grand prize, with the top 36 players finishing in the money. Here are the payouts for the six-handed feature table:

1st Place: $878,500
2nd Place: $521,200
3rd Place: $292,800
4th Place: $234,300
5th Place: $175,700
6th Place: $117,000

Other notable names appearing in the top 50 after two starting days include:

13. J.C. Tran – 93,100
15. Hasan Habib – 89,700
16. Nick Schulman – 88,100
18. Scott Montgomery – 84,800
19. Chris “Fox” Wallace – 84,100
26. “Miami” John Cernuto – 76,700
27. Jerry Yang – 74,300
30. Phil Laak – 72,700
35. Chau Giang – 68,500
41. Steve “gboro780” Gross – 64,200
42. Phil Hellmuth – 62,800
45. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 61,000
47. Brandon Cantu – 58,100

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament will crown a champion on Friday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT results.

Annie Duke Breaks Down National Heads-Up Poker Championship Win

Over the weekend, UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke became the first female winner ever of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air next month on NBC. Duke sat down to discuss her monumental win.

Poker News Daily: Your breakthrough match came against 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Paul Wasicka, which featured you drawing out with A-10 against pocket aces and 8-5 against pocket jacks. Talk about the roller coaster of a match.

Annie Duke: I had Paul Wasicka ground down and then he doubled through me. We were about even in chips and then I was slightly behind before I won with A-10 against aces. I sucked out and made a Broadway straight and he was crippled. I was horrified when I won that hand. It was an epically long battle. He said that whichever way this goes, we could both sleep well. He was so gracious and it was an amazing match.

PND: In a Guest Column on Poker News Daily, you lamented that neither Erik Seidel nor you had much success in the invite-only tournament. How surreal was it to be playing against each other for the title?

Annie Duke: That was storybook. After I won my match against Wasicka and Erik won his match, we talked on the phone. I realized how close we were to playing each other in the finals. What an incredible feeling to know that you’re in the finals and whatever the result was, you’d be very happy. He said that this was the happiest he’s ever been coming in second and I’d have felt the same way. It was a very relaxing feeling and not the same as in the other matches. Erik Seidel might have the best poker mind out there.

PND: You drew 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the second round. How is Moon’s game?

Annie Duke: Darvin Moon was really nice. He’s just a good guy and he was talking about how happy he was to be there and how he’s living the dream. It was really pleasant to play with him. He knows that he doesn’t have the game of a player like Huck Seed. I was happy to draw him, of course, but he wasn’t a pushover.

PND: You’re a former WSOP Tournament of Champions winner and have also captured a bracelet. Where does this rank among your various poker accomplishments?

Annie Duke: This is second to the Tournament of Champions. I’ve always ranked the Tournament of Champions above the bracelet and I would put this above the bracelet as well. It’s the timing. Given that I had just taken five months off, the timing was big. I feel like I’m standing with some pretty cool winners of this event, so I am pretty happy. I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with Huck Seed, Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest, Chris Ferguson, and Paul Wasicka. To have gotten to play Erik in the final was a really memorable experience.

In the Tournament of Champions, I was three-handed with my brother and Phil Hellmuth. Now, being able to play with one of my best friends and be among those winners is incredible. I think I needed the win and have been really focused since I got back into poker. I had a nice run at the L.A. Poker Classic leading up to this.

PND: In the L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller event, you were seated alongside Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka. Tell us about his poker skill set.

Annie Duke: Playing heads-up against him helped me in the event I won. He’s very good at leveraging the chip stacks of his opponents. He’s good at changing up his play and I watched what he was doing. I learned a lot from my match with him.

Annie Duke Wins 2010 National Heads Up Poker Championship

The first female champion of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was crowned on Sunday as UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke took down the title and its corresponding $500,000 top prize.

Duke defeated eight-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the finals. She was nearly sent packing against Paul Wasicka in the round of 16, but trumped pocket aces with A-10 and pocket jacks with 8-5 of diamonds to move on. Duke beat Wasicka to face 2007 WSOP Main Event winner Jerry Yang in the Elite Eight. In the five previous installments of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Duke had only made it out of the opening round once.

Against Yang, a bevy of all-ins occurred, as her opponent doubled up with 3-6 against K-9, pocket threes against J-7, and even A-4 against A-K. Yang was finally sent to the rails holding J-3 against Duke’s A-8. The flop came A-J-2, giving Yang middle pair and Duke top pair. The turn and river were a 10 and nine, respectively, missing Yang and handing Duke a ticket to the Final Four against 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Dennis Phillips.

After falling behind, Phillips doubled up after pushing pre-flop with K-J of diamonds. Duke called with a baby ace, A-5, and watched as the flop came K-Q-6, pushing Phillips out in front with top pair. No help came on the turn for Duke and the river improved Phillips to trips. In the final hand of the battle between Phillips and Duke, the former committed his chips with A-8 and was up against pocket sevens for a race. The board fell 9-3-2-6-4 and Duke advanced to the finals. Phillips earned $125,000 for his efforts in the invite-only poker tournament.

The finals were held in a best of three format and Duke quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the Full Tilt Poker pro. Seidel was all-in on a flush draw with 8-6 of spades on a board reading 7-K-J with two spades. Duke had A-K for top pair, top kicker and dodged spades on the turn and river to claim the first match against Seidel.

In the second match, a sizable pot brewed when Seidel flipped up the Doyle Brunson, 10-2, on a board of 2-8-K-2-4. Then, Seidel took down match number two after Duke committed her chips with K-5 against Seidel’s 7-8. The flop came 9-6-4 with two hearts and the five of hearts on turn gave Seidel a straight. Duke could win if a heart fell on the river, but instead a black nine hit to set up the rubber match.

In the final hand of the third match, Duke’s pocket nines held against Seidel’s A-2. Duke banked a half-million dollars for winning the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, while Seidel earned a $250,000 consolation prize. Seidel had never made it out of the first round of the unique bracket tournament.

In a Guest Column two weeks ago on Poker News Daily, Duke seemingly forecasted the final match-up of the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship: “Erik Seidel and I were joking that we have bad records in that event. He’s a brilliant player, but has never won a match, and I’ve won one. I don’t care who I draw; I just want to win my [first round] match.”

Here were the final payouts:

1st Place: Annie Duke - $500,000
2nd Place: Erik Seidel - $250,000
3rd Place: Scotty Nguyen - $125,000
4th Place: Dennis Phillips - $125,000
5th Place: Jerry Yang - $75,000
6th Place: Doyle Brunson - $75,000
7th Place: Jason Mercier - $75,000
8th Place: Peter Eastgate - $75,000
9th Place: Paul Wasicka - $25,000
10th Place: Eli Elezra - $25,000
11th Place: Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad - $25,000
12th Place: Barry Greenstein - $25,000
13th Place: Gabe Kaplan – $25,000
14th Place: Phil Laak - $25,000
15th Place: Chris Moneymaker - $25,000
16th Place: Jamie Gold - $25,000

A total of 13 former WSOP Main Event champions entered. Amazingly, nearly half of them, or six, made the top 16. Other former Main Event winners who played included Joe Cada (2009), Huck Seed (1996), Joe Hachem (2005), Johnny Chan (1987, 1988), Chris Ferguson (2000), Phil Hellmuth (1989), and Greg Raymer (2004).

You can catch the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC beginning on Sunday, April 18th at Noon ET. We're sure that the tournament will come up on this Sunday's webcast of the Kevin Pollak Chat Show, which will feature Duke in a broadcast sponsored by Poker News Daily.

Image courtesy NBC Sports.

Duke Dominates in NBC Heads-Up Win

"I'm so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion," said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.

"I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event."

The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the UB sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.

Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.

"I would have loved all of my matches to be easy," said Duke. "I'm sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it's going to give the show some serious drama.

"One thing's for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka."

In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.

"Annie was my number one pick to win," said Seidel. "She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you're supposed to play in this sort of structure."

A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.

Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.

"I know what my main priority is and that's my family, so I'm never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it's really nice to come back with a bang," she said. "I took the time off, I readjusted and now I've had some good results."

Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.

Duke said it's great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.

"I think it's great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first this year to really represent woman players," she said. "There are some great female poker players out there."

NBC's coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday's at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.

- With files from Matthew Showell

NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship: Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth Among 32 Advancing to Day 2

Doyle Brunson Advances to Round 2 of National Heads-Up Poker Championship

Round 2 of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship plays out today from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and will see the field trimmed from 32 to 16. Among those players still in contention is Doyle Brunson.

There was a question as to whether Brunson would even be able to play in the unique heads-up tournament after undergoing extensive dental surgery shortly after the Super Bowl last month. However, the DoylesRoom front man did more than just show up to the event in his backyard, he advanced to the second round. After an upset by GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso in the opening round in 2009, Brunson defeated Brock “t soprano” Parker to advance in 2010.

In the pairing’s final hand. Parker was all-in with a wired pair of eights and Brunson showed A-Q of diamonds, setting up a race situation. The queen came as the window card and Brunson never looked back. Now, he’ll play actor and Ante Up for Africa co-founder Don Cheadle in the round of 32. Cheadle bested J.P. Kelly in the first round. Kelly won bracelets on both sides of the Atlantic last year after taking down a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event in Las Vegas and a £1,000 No Limit Hold’em event in London.

In a clash of the titans in the first round, Full Tilt Poker’s Howard Lederer faced off against UB.com troublemaker Phil Hellmuth. Like the match-up between Parker and Brunson, this one came down to a race. Lederer moved all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and Hellmuth made the call with A-K of hearts. The flop came K-5-2, giving Hellmuth top pair, top kicker and a running 9-K sealed Lederer’s exit. This was Lederer’s fourth straight first round elimination in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Next up for Hellmuth is another industry giant, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. The winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, Obrestad outlasted former baseball great Orel Hershiser in first round action on Friday. The 2010 cycle of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship is Obrestad’s first appearance on the program, which will air on NBC. Obrestad Twittered on her next foe: “Won my match. Guess who im playing tomorrow.... Thats right... @philhellmuth. Sigh lol.”

Also advancing to the second round is 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon. Coverage found on PokerNews noted that the table featuring Moon and Caesars qualifier Bill Huntress was “the quietest table on set.” Huntress was all-in after a flop of Q-4-A with three clubs and showed J-8 of spades for what ESPN poker announcer Norman Chad would dub “nuclear squadoosh.” Moon showed K-10, including the ten of clubs, for straight and flush draws. He also, rather amazingly, held the best hand. The turn and river fell a nine and seven, respectively, ending any hopes of the qualifier making it through to the next round. Moon’s second round opponent is Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.

All but one qualifier of the seven who entered was eliminated in first round play, as Stephen Quinn upset Ted Forrest yesterday. Here are the second round match-ups for the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:

Clubs Bracket
Chris Moneymaker vs Leo Wolpert
David Williams vs Erik Seidel
Erick Lindgren vs Peter Eastgate
Stephen Quinn vs Jamie Gold

Spades Bracket
Phil Ivey vs Scotty Nguyen
Joe Hachem vs Gabe Kaplan
Jason Mercier vs Pieter de Korver
Phil Gordon vs Phil Laak

Hearts Bracket
Allen Cunningham vs Eli Elezra
Chris Ferguson vs Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs Don Cheadle
Phil Hellmuth vs Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad

Diamonds Bracket
Barry Greenstein vs Sammy Farha
Jennifer Harman vs Jerry Yang
Darvin Moon vs Annie Duke
Paul Wasicka vs Gus Hansen

The action resumes inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas at 1:00pm PT and will play down to a field of 16. The winner of the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will be determined on Sunday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.

2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Bracket Set

The field of 64 is set in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. One of the highlights of the opening round is a titanic showdown between PokerStars pros Jason Mercier and Daniel Negreanu, who have both been on a hot streak.

Mercier and Negreanu made the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event last year. Mercier finished fourth in the £10,000 buy-in poker tournament, while Negreanu fell heads-up to CardPlayer Magazine owner Barry Shulman after entering as the short stack. Mercier and Negreanu collected £267,000 and £495,000 for their efforts, respectively. Both are bracelet winners and members of Team PokerStars Pro.

Mercier enters the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is emanating from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, on a high note. Last week, the Florida native took third in the L.A. Poker Classic’s High-Roller event for $141,000. In December, Mercier won a $5,000 HORSE event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $100,000. Negreanu made waves during the recent PartyPoker Premier League, finishing fourth at the final table. Heading into Thursday’s draw party, Negreanu Tweeted his desired first round opponent: “Headed down to Pure for the NBC HU draw party and I'm hoping to NOT draw one of the 7 qualifiers or a woman. Record going into #6 is 7-5.”

Meanwhile, two titans of the online poker industry will tangle, as 13 bracelets will meet when Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer takes on UB.com bad boy Phil Hellmuth. Lederer was fourth on Bluff Magazine’s recent Power 20 list, while Hellmuth leads the all-time bracelet count with 11. Both have crafty nicknames, as “The Professor” will take on “The Poker Brat” in a high-stakes first round encounter.

In an all-female first round showdown, Full Tilt Poker’s Jennifer Harman is paired up with actress Jennifer Tilly. A total of seven women will make their way to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas today for first round action. Joining Harman and Tilly to add estrogen to the field are Annie Duke, Annette Dworski, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso, and Kara Scott. Six women took to the field in 2009, including Rousso, who finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.

Those in the hunt for the title range between 21 (Obrestad) and 76 years-old (Doyle Brunson). The tournament hits television airwaves on NBC beginning on April 18th and will run for six consecutive Sundays. The ultimate survivor of the single elimination heads-up tournament pockets $500,000, while its runner-up takes home a cool $250,000. Here’s a look at the first round match-ups in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:

Clubs Bracket – Top Half
Patrik Antonius vs Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin
David Williams vs Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs Huck Seed

Clubs Bracket – Bottom Half
Dan Ramirez vs Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs Jamie Gold

Spades Bracket – Top Half
Gavin Smith vs Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs Scotty Nguyen
Shawn “westtexasman” Rice vs Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs Johnny Chan

Spades Bracket – Bottom Half
Daniel Negreanu vs Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs Tom “durrrr” Dwan
Phil Laak vs John Juanda

Hearts Bracket – Top Half
Jesper Hougaard vs Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs Greg “FBT” Mueller
Annette Dworski vs Chris Ferguson
Kara Scott vs Dennis Phillips

Hearts Bracket – Bottom Half
Brock “t soprano” Parker vs Doyle Brunson
J.P. Kelly vs Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs Phil Hellmuth
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad vs Orel Hershiser

Diamonds Bracket – Top Half
Barry Greenstein vs Vanessa Rousso
Sammy Farha vs Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs Mike Matusow

Diamonds Bracket – Bottom Half
Darvin Moon vs Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs Greg Raymer

Rice and Huntress both qualified for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at the host casino, while Dworski, Edwards, Quinn, Ramirez, and Wilson all won online satellites. The tournament’s first round will play out today, while the second round will take place on Saturday. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match will all pan out on Sunday. Here are today's start times:

Clubs Bracket - 1:30pm PT
Diamonds Bracket - 4:00pm PT
Spades Bracket - 7:00pm PT
Hearts Bracket - 9:30pm PT

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Caesars Palace.

NBC Releases 2010 Heads-Up Bracket

The two PokerStars pros have both been hot over the last 12 months with millions of dollars in combined tournament earnings.

Some of the other marquee first round matches include Phil Hellmuth vs. Howard Lederer, Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Brock Parker vs. Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey vs. Gavin Smith.

In total there will be 32 heads-up matches played in the first round.

NBC once again separated the players into four brackets – Hearts, Clubs, Spades and Diamonds – with the winner of each bracket booking a seat in the semifinals.

The tournament begins today at 1 p.m. PT. Be sure to check out our live updates of the event.

Here is the complete line-up for the first round of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Championship:

Clubs:

Patrik Antonius vs. Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs. Eric Baldwin
David Williams vs. Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs. Huck Seed
Dan Ramirez vs. Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs. Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs. Jamie Gold

Spades:

Gavin Smith vs. Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs. Scotty Nguyen
Shawn Rice vs. Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs. Johnny Chan
Daniel Negreanu vs. Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs. Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs. Tom Dwan
Phil Laak vs. John Juanda

Hearts:

Jesper Hougaard vs. Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs. Greg Mueller
Annette Dworski vs. Craig Ferguson
Kara Scott vs. Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs. Brock Parker
JP Kelly vs. Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs. Phil Hellmuth
Annette Obrestad vs. Orel Hershiser

Diamonds:

Barry Greenstein vs. Vanessa Rousso
Sam Farha vs. Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs. Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs. Mike Matusow
Darvin Moon vs. Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs. Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs. Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs. Greg Raymer

WSOP May Hold All Star Game

In a Tweet posted on Wednesday by officials from the World Series of Poker (WSOP), it was revealed that a special All Star Game may be in the works. Its format and players involved are currently unclear.

A Tweet from the WSOP cryptically questioned, “Which 20 WSOP Bracelet-Holders would you like to see compete in an All-Star game? Stay tuned... #WSOP.” Last year, the WSOP held its first ever Champions Invitational, which featured 20 former Main Event winners vying in a made-for-television tournament for a vintage car. 1983 WSOP Main Event winner Tom McEvoy, a PokerStars sponsored pro, ultimately came out on top and drove home in a classic 1970 Corvette.

The tournament aired on ESPN, which owns the exclusive rights to the annual Las Vegas spectacle. Others who participated in the grand event included WSOP Main Event champs Amarillo Slim, Berry Johnston, Jim Bechtel, Huck Seed, Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, and Jerry Yang.

When prompted for comment by Poker News Daily, Harrah’s officials were equally vague, saying about the Tweet, “It was cryptic for a reason. I’m intrigued, are you?” In December, Harrah’s released the 2010 WSOP schedule, which kicks off with the annual $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em event on May 28th. On the same day, a brand new $50,000 buy-in Player’s Championship will begin. The event will be televised by ESPN and take on an eight-game format: Limit Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better, No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.

Although no word has been handed down, it appears that 20 players, according to a fan vote, will compete for a grand prize during the 2010 WSOP. Given the internet vote, many posters on TwoPlusTwo questioned the makeup of the field. TwoPlusTwo member “Kevmath” explained, “If they allow voting on the internet, I'm sure someone not as deserving could sneak their way into the field.”

For example, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, born in 1986, was nominated by the general public through an online vote to become a nominee for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009. A nominating committee was quick to squash his bid, charging that Dwan had not yet stood the test of time, one of the criteria required for entry. Instead, names tossed out by TwoPlusTwo members as possible participants in a WSOP All Star Game include 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and popular female pro Jennifer Tilly.

Others called for several side events during the All Star Game, similar to the Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout held during basketball’s All Star Weekend. “TheCanoe” explained some possible diversions: “Chip Stacking with Carlos Mortensen, Beer drinking with Scotty, [and] Scooter races with Doyle.”

One poster even tossed out an idea whereby players could rebuy according to the number of bracelets they own, meaning that Hellmuth could buy back in 11 times. Players who would be well off under this setup include Doyle Brunson (10 bracelets), Johnny Chan (10 bracelets), Erik Seidel (eight bracelets), Phil Ivey (seven bracelets), and Billy Baxter (seven bracelets).

TwoPlusTwo posters also clamored for the women of poker to join the All-Star fray like GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, and Tilly, who has long been associated with Unabomber Poker namesake Phil Laak. Other possibilities include Annie Duke, Linda Johnson, Kara Scott, Tiffany Michelle, Isabelle Mercier, and Maria Ho.

Not everyone was optimistic about the end product. TwoPlusTwo poster “ptartaglio” explained the mindset of some in the online poker community: “These types of tournaments are always horrible. They never have the better players, only the recognized players, and they always turn them into crapshoots. The Tournament of Champions that Mike Sexton won wasn't too bad for TV, but other than that they [are] horrible.” The first Tournament of Champions was held in 2004 and featured Duke earning the winner-take-all $2 million prize. Sexton won the event in 2006.

We’ll keep you posted on the latest WSOP news on Poker News Daily. Who would you like to see in a Poker All Star Game? Leave us a comment here and let us know.

Carlos Mortensen Leads WPT L.A. Poker Classic with 22 Left

A total of 22 players remain in the L.A. Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). 2001 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Carlos Mortensen leads the way with 1.67 million chips.

Mortensen sent Michael Woo to the rails in 23rd place. Woo pushed all-in on a board of J-8-4-3 with three clubs, flipping over pocket queens. Mortensen made the call and showed pocket jacks for top set. Needing to catch one of the two remaining queens in the deck on the river to stay alive, Woo watched as an ace hit, sealing his exit. He picked up $45,000 for his efforts in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.

Thirty minutes prior, Mortensen had doubled up through Raymond Dolan. Mortensen held pocket aces in the hand and Dolan held jacks. The hand boosted Mortensen to 960,000 in chips, kicking off “The Matador’s” last–minute surge to the top of the pack. Mortensen has two WPT titles under his belt. He won the Season 3 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship for $1 million and also came out on top in the Season 5 WPT Championship for nearly $4 million. He’s second all-time to Daniel Negreanu with $5.26 million in WPT earnings and would become just the second three-time WPT event winner, the other being Gus Hansen.

Mark Newhouse, who held the chip lead entering Day 4 on Monday, finished with the second largest stack at 1.31 million. Newhouse doubled up through Dan “Wretchy” Martin late in the day. On a board of 7-5-3-J-Q, Newhouse pushed all-in for 561,000, nearly the size of the pot, and Martin made the call, flipping up pocket kings for an overpair. Newhouse, however, showed J-7 of spades for a turned two pair, pushing his chip stack to 1.5 million. Martin, meanwhile, dropped to 500,000 after his aces were cracked, but finished the day with 684,000, good for seventh place on the leaderboard.

Also doubling up late in the day was UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke. The top female pro picked a prime spot to shove with A-K pre-flop, as Masa Kagawa called and showed A-Q. The flop came ace-high and no queen came for Kagawa, doubling Duke to 266,000 in chips. She ended the day at 241,000, the second shortest stack in the room next to John Cautela’s 219,000.

Ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan remains in contention and doubled up on Monday with pocket aces against DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins’ pocket kings. The board came 7-7-6-9-8 and Chan moved to 450,000 in chips. He ultimately ended with 406,000, the 17th largest stack entering Day 5. Chan and Doyle Brunson are tied with 10 bracelets each, trailing only Phil Hellmuth’s tally of 11 for most all-time.

When play resumes today at Noon PT at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, the blinds will be 6,000-12,000 with an ante of 2,000. The following 22 players remain in the hunt for the top prize of $1.8 million:

1. Carlos Mortensen - 1,669,000
2. Mark Newhouse - 1,308,000
3. Raymond Dolan - 1,229,000
4. Masa Kagawa - 1,129,000
5. Andras Koroknai - 1,002,000
6. Tri Huynh - 942,000
7. Dan “Wretchy” Martin - 684,000
8. Jean-Claude Moussa - 672,000
9. Steve Sung - 671,000
10. Jim Casement - 609,000
11. Tim Begley - 603,000
12. Gevork Kasabyan - 594,000
13. Jamie Brown - 552,000
14. Mari Lou Morelli - 456,000
15. Dylan Linde - 447,000
16. Bob Kairnes - 421,000
17. Johnny Chan - 406,000
18. Danny Fuhs - 379,000
19. Michael Kamran - 327,000
20. Connor Allisen - 324,000
21. Annie Duke - 241,000
22. John Cautela - 219,000

Each player left is assured a $45,000 payday, while the top nine will take home at least $100,000. Despite the tournament already being down to 22 runners, the final table will not take place until Thursday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

Jason Mercier Joins High Stakes Poker Cast

The third episode of Season 6 of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” aired on Sunday night at 8:00pm ET. Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier joined the set and Daniel Negreanu pushed all-in, but ultimately chopped the pot.

Two players had gone broke in the first two episodes, as UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth and Andreas Hoivold each dropped $200,000. The latter’s seat remained empty as Sunday night’s “High Stakes Poker” kicked off, but Mercier soon joined the fray. “High Stakes Poker” announcer Gabe Kaplan commented on Mercier’s appearance: “He looks more like a swimmer to me than a poker player.”

While Mercier was busy stacking his pile of $100 bills, he picked up pocket twos and raised to $5,500. Tom “durrrr” Dwan came over the top to $19,200 with A-3 and Mercier folded. Curiosity began to build as to what Mercier had, with Eli Elezra laying 3:1 odds that the newcomer held a better hand than Dwan. Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari and others at the table took Elezra up on his bet, with Mercier later admitting that he had pocket deuces, setting up what would have been a coin flip.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey tangled with Danish poker superstar Gus Hansen, who raised to $5,600 pre-flop with A-K. Ivey made the call with pocket eights and the flop came 5-J-J. Ivey check-called a $6,800 bet from Hansen to bring another five on the turn. Ivey once again check-called a bet from the Dane, this time $13,200, and a seven hit on the river. The action went check-check and Ivey scooped the $54,000 pot. He entered the episode up more than $250,000.

In the episode’s second largest pot, Hansen raised to $4,200 pre-flop with 6-4 of spades, Dwan made the call with A-6 of clubs, and Elezra came along with K-8 of hearts. With each player holding suited cards, the flop came K-9-3, giving Elezra top pair. He checked the action to Hansen, who bet $9,900. Dwan got out of the way and Elezra called to bring another three on the turn. Elezra check-called a bet of $25,500 and an ace hit on the river. Elezra once again checked the best hand, Hansen fired out a third bullet to the tune of $62,200, and Elezra insta-called.

The pot totaled $209,800 and after it panned out, Hansen sat down with “High Stakes Poker” floor reporter Kara Scott to relive the hand. On the failed triple barrel bluff, he explained, “I stuck to my plan, which from the beginning was okay, but in the end with the cards on the board was horrible.” Hansen left the table after the hand was over and did not return for the duration of the episode.

Then, it was Negreanu’s turn to take center stage. After being active throughout much of the hour-long show, he raised to $3,000 pre-flop with 9-7 of diamonds and Dwan made it $11,200 after picking up pocket queens. Ivey came along with pocket eights and Negreanu called. The flop came 4-9-J, giving Negreanu middle pair, and Dwan made an $18,200 continuation bet with his overpair. Ivey folded and Negreanu moved all-in for $88,400. Dwan quickly called and the pair agreed to run the board twice.

The first board filled out 2-J, giving Dwan half of the pot. On the second board, an ace hit the turn, but Negreanu spiked a five-outer on the river when a nine fell. The $212,200 pot, the largest of the night, was chopped as a result.

Two vignettes appeared during Sunday’s installment. “30 Seconds with Kara Scott” focused on the competitors’ most memorable winning sessions. Meanwhile, the PokerStars-sponsored “Did You Know” discussed the five-month marathon poker session between Johnny Moss and Nick “The Greek” Dandolos. Both were charter inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Next week on “High Stakes Poker,” Dario Minieri gets aggressive and Negreanu stumps Elezra. The cash game franchise airs at 8:00pm ET on Sunday nights on GSN.

Keeping Up With the Phils

But sitting among the leaders on the event's third day, that's not at the forefront of his mind.

"The thing is, it's a lifetime thing," said 35-year-old Kid Poker. "It's not really a pressing thing."

The pressing business was for both he and Ivey to get past 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold, who edged out him for the top spot with that single $12 million win four years ago.

But when Negreanu passed Gold finishing second at the WSOP Europe main event this past September and Ivey's November Nine appearance and Aussie Millions High Roller runner-up finish pushed him even further ahead, two of poker's best were left to spend the rest of their careers vying for top spot.

The only problem is, continuing to collect big scores from tournaments isn't getting easier.

Negreanu says everybody is getting better and every year, fresh faced kids rising from the online ranks continue to display an unmatched fundamental talent for the game.

He says he's been forced to change his game, unlike another player named Phil, who still sits behind Gold in fourth on the all-time list with a little more than $11 million in earnings.

"The biggest difference with Phil Hellmuth and I is that I watch the way the game changes and I understand I need to tweak my game in order to compete," he said. "He thinks if he brushes his teeth, does yoga and eats right he's just going to win.

"He really thinks you just need to have a positive attitude. You just need to learn how to play poker better."

The way Negreanu sees it, the old-school way just isn't going to cut it anymore.

"Years ago there was a way to play. It was easy and it worked," he said. "These young kids have found a way to exploit it. It's like a bacteria mutating to become resistant to the medication you've been giving it. You have to find a way to attack the problem.

"There are weaknesses in every strategy to some degree. So I go after their weaknesses and the way they perceive me, which opens up a whole new group of opportunities that I can use against them."

His willingness to adapt is where he finds the consistency.

"Right now I'm getting back to basics," he said. "Which is paying attention to a lot of physical tells that I'm seeing in the young guys. Paying attention to who is the wild man, what they're doing and that sort of thing.

"In the old days I didn't even have to do as much of that, because people just played the game so fundamentally poorly."

But as he goes about trying to make poker history as one of the leaders in L.A. Sunday afternoon with an eye on the big screen inside Commerce and the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team Winning gold on home soil to make hockey history, Negreanu sounds ready for business.

"It takes a lot of concentration. It's not easy anymore," he said. "It's not like I can just sit there and wait for them to make mistakes like we used to."

The World Poker Tour's L.A. Poker Classic continues through March 4. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

Poker News in Brief: Feb. 22-28, 2010

The NAPT held its first exclusive event at the Venetian and more than 800 players paid the $5,000 buy-in.

Meanwhile the stars were indeed shining bright at the WPT Invitational with Tia Carrera, Trishelle Cannatella, and Marlon Wayans coming out to play.

With all the excitement over the competing poker tours there were several poker stories that were almost forgotten.

Fortunately as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief we’ve compiled a list of the lesser-known stories below.

This week we’ll take a look at PartyPoker running an endurance promo, new schedules for two PokerStars tournaments, a training seminar by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and more.

Class in Session for Mike “The Mouth” Matusow

When The Mouth talks you’d better listen.

That’s what organizers are hoping participants will take out of the upcoming Mike “The Mouth” Matusow poker training session in California.

Matusow, who is the dean of DeepStacks University, will teach a special five-hour session that covers winning strategies for tournament and cash game poker in addition to giving one-on-one poker analysis at the tables.

The training session will cost $495 to attend and every contestant will receive a copy of the Team Full Tilt Pro's new book Check Raising the Devil.

The event will take place March 12 at the Palo Casino Spa and Resort.

Big Names Headline The Poker Show Live

One of the poker's most popular radio shows is returning with Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond, Tony G, David Benyamine and Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz all coming along for the ride.

The Poker Show Live, sponsored by Boylepoker, will feature all the aforementioned poker players in new episodes for the show’s third season beginning March 2.

Hosted by Jesse May, The Poker Show Live has interviewed almost every well-known poker player over the span of its first two seasons.

Tom Dwan, Vicky Coren, Andrew Feldman, Huck Seed, Neil Channing, Erik Seidel have all taken their turn on The Poker Show Live microphone.

The show is available on ThePokerShowLive.com, BoylePoker.com and iTunes.

Ontario Considers Online Gaming

The Canadian province of Ontario is taking a serious look at running its own official online gambling service that could potentially include poker.

Ontario Lottery and Gambling chairman Paul Godfrey and Premier Dalton McGuinty want the province to provide Internet gambling instead of letting potential revenue go to offshore gambling sites.

In Canada, British Columbia and Atlantic Lottery Corporations already officially allow online gambling. The BC Lottery Corporation offers a limited poker game called Pacific Hold’em Poker, which is played against the house.

Loto-Quebec’s poker site is set to launch this fall and analysts are estimating it could potentially net $50 million in revenue for the government over the next three years.

Gladiator Promo Returns to PartyPoker

One of the most popular promotions on PartyPoker is returning this March.

The Gladiator promo rewards players who generate at least 10 PartyPoints every day for a minimum of five days. There are potentially bigger rewards available for players who earn up to 2,000 PartyPoints.

“The Gladiator is back and the rewards are greater than ever before,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“This promotion is about spreading play over a period of time for maximus rewards! It is simple and offers great value and we encourage players to challenge themselves and take a closer look.”

If a player manages to earn 2,000 PartyPoints a day from March 3 to April 1 they will instantly earn a $12,500 package to the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

To learn more about The Gladiator check the PartyPoker website

PokerStars Releases SCOOP, NAPT Mohegan Sun Schedules

PokerStars announced the dates for one of its biggest online series and its burgeoning North American tour this week.

The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker will take place over 14 days from May 3-16 with 33 events. Like last year, each event will have a low, medium and high buy-in variant.

The series will culminate with the Main Event on May 16, with guarantees of $1 million, $3 million and $5 million for each buy-in level.

Meanwhile the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour’s next stop, at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, will take place April 7-11. The main event carries a $5,000 buy-in and there will be a $10k High Roller Bounty Shootout.

To see the complete schedules for the upcoming SCOOP or NAPT check the PokerStars website.

Versus Picks Up Season 2 of Poker2Nite

Poker news show Poker2Nite is returning for another season, but leaving Fox Sports Net behind for Versus.

Poker2Nite follows an informal news format with UB Poker pro Joe Sebok and poker personality Scott Huff acting as hosts. Dana Workman also produces the satirical Weekly Misdeal for the program.

All 13 episodes of the first season were shown on Fox Sports Net. The second season will kick off this Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET on Versus, which was formerly OLN.

Mark Seif, Ben Zamani Among WPT L.A. Poker Classic Day 1 Leaders

Absolute Poker pro Mark Seif and online gamer Ben “xthesteinx” Zamani are among the leaders after one day of play in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic. Day 2 takes place today at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.

A total of 745 players entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament, up a solid 7% from last year’s count of 696. A tent was set up outside the casino to accommodate the extra demand in a scene that was likely reminiscent of the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The top 72 players will finish in the money when the final cards are dealt on Thursday and first place will pocket $1.8 million. The minimum payout is over $18,000.

A field of 477 players will assemble on Saturday in Los Angeles. Defending champion Cornel Andrew Cimpan was one of the casualties of Friday’s action. Taking his place at a table featuring Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow was none other than 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Upon the UB.com pro arriving at his new digs, Matusow welcomed him with the following line: "Welcome to the table. You're now the worst player at the worst table in the room."

The Commerce Casino spent the day buzzing about the now-infamous prop bet with Gavin Smith, “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and Jeff Madsen. The trio agreed on a creative last longer bet in which the first player to bust from the L.A. Poker Classic had to adorn tattoos of the other two players’ faces. The second player to bust had to ink a tattoo of the remaining player’s face. Sebok saw his aces cracked during Level 3 play and was the first musketeer eliminated. Then, it was Madsen’s turn to go. Accordingly, Smith came out on top of one of the wildest prop bets ever conducted. Whether a buyout of the bet will occur remains to be seen.

Heading into Day 2, Masa Kagawa paces the field with a stack of 124,000 chips. He’ll head to Table 4 on Saturday and will be keeping a watchful eye out for Seif, who holds 122,000 chips. Seif, a sponsored pro of the CEREUS Network site Absolute Poker, is a two-time bracelet winner whose last piece of hardware came in 2005 in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event. Seif’s company will include Victory Poker pro Keith Gipson, European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie, Nick Binger, and 2009 WSOP Europe bracelet winner J.P. Kelly.

Team PokerStars Pro front man Daniel Negreanu, fresh off helping promote the site’s first ever North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop on U.S. soil at the Venetian, doubled up with pocket kings at the Commerce Casino on Day 1. His cowboys held against an opponent’s pocket jacks to move him to 40,000 in chips. Negreanu finished the day with a stack of 29,075, good for 223rd in the room. He appears on the leaderboard in elite company, however, as also holding around 29,000 chips are Erik Seidel, Gavin Griffin, Matt Glantz, Tuan Le, and NAPT High-Roller Bounty Shootout third place finisher Joe Cassidy.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic heading into Day 2:

1. Masa Kagawa - 124,575
2. Mark Seif - 122,025
3. Charles Dolan - 120,500
4. Benjamin “xthesteinx” Zamani - 115,000
5. Naoya Kihara - 104,100
6. Chansung Choi - 100,350
7. Shawn Buchanan - 100,225
8. Hieu Luu - 98,250
9. Cary Katz - 97,475
10. Eugene Katchalov - 95,675

Notable names that appear in the top 50 include:

21. David Singer - 73,525
24. Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson - 72,125
31. Robert Mizrachi - 68,575
32. Darus Suharto - 68,275
39. Peter “Belabacsi” Traply - 64,200
40. Chau Giang - 63,250
41. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke - 63,075
44. Keith Gipson - 61,175
45. Vanessa Rousso - 60,900
46. David “WhooooKidd” Baker - 60,725

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest L.A. Poker Classic coverage.

Poker2Nite Moves to Versus for Season 2

The UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” has seen its final new episode air on cable station Fox Sports Net. Season 2 of the franchise will appear on Versus, according to a post on PokerRoad.

The new season will hit television airwaves on Wednesday, March 3rd, where it will appear in the 11:00pm ET time slot. The show stars poker pro Joe Sebok and PokerRoad personality Scott Huff, who break down the latest news and events from the industry. In addition, Dana Workman offers up a satirical look at the latest poker headlines in the Weekly Misdeal. The program runs for 30 minutes and aired an original season that lasted for 13 episodes.

Now, it’s on to Versus, although no official statement has been made by show sponsor UB.com on its future. Text found in an article posted on PokerRoad explains what viewers can expect on the show’s new home: “Versus, formerly OLN, is already a regular cable stop for fans of NHL hockey, cycling, and outdoor sports like hunting and fishing, but thus far hasn’t ventured far into the world of poker. However, with Poker2Nite now in their rotation, that may all change for the better.” OLN stands for the Outdoor Life Network.

Versus is owned by cable goliath Comcast and airs over 50 National Hockey League (NHL) games every season. In addition to smash mouth hockey, Versus airs cycling, hunting, fishing, Mixed Martial Arts, Indy Car racing, bull riding, and college football. According to the network’s schedule posted on its website, two episodes of “Sports Jobs with Junior Seau” will serve as the lead-in to “Poker2Nite” next Wednesday. Following the poker show is a 30-minute program called “Whacked Out Sports.” The channel airs in stunning high-definition.

November 18th marked the first episode of “Poker2Nite” on Fox Sports Net. The show welcomed ESPN World Series of Poker (WSOP) announcer Lon McEachern to the stage. McEachern, who was fresh off a trip to watch the WSOP Main Event final table unfold in Las Vegas, told Huff and Sebok, “It’s an event now. To have that many people watching nine guys sit and play cards was incredible. To come from the obscure beginnings to where it is now has been the ride of a lifetime.”

Initial reviews of the poker news series were favorable, although many critiqued Sebok’s nervousness in front of the cameras. By the time the show welcomed UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth on December 9th during its fourth episode, Sebok was in full stride. Hellmuth announced that he had taken a break for the remainder of a rough 2009 calendar year and noted, “There is some luck. That’s what people at home don’t understand. I just have to find a way to come back in 2010 and win one or two. That’s what it’s all about.” Hellmuth is an 11-time WSOP bracelet winner, which leads all players.

Besides Hellmuth and McEachern, other “Poker2Nite” guests have included 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas, prop better extraordinaire Gavin Smith, 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and tournament director Matt Savage. Its final new episode, which aired on February 3rd, featured “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, who previewed the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Recurring contributors on “Poker2Nite” included Mike Matusow, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones.

Fox Sports Net continues to air Seasons 7 and 8 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Sunday nights. The network often sees its original programming preempted due to local sporting events, including college hoops, college football, and pro contests.

We’ll have a full recap of “Poker2Nite” Season 2’s kickoff episode right here on Poker News Daily.

Poker In Twitter: NAPT Bounty Shootout, Matusow Versus Bellande, and Hellmuth in Playgirl

For many in the poker world, the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop at the Venetian has been their home base for the past week. While the Main Event wrapped up last night with Tom Marchese taking the championship, the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout was in full swing and many top pros were a part of the action. The Tweets from those involved let the poker community know how they were doing while the tournament was in play.

Two UB.com pros let their fans know who they would be facing during the Shootout tournament. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok seemed ready for action when he Tweeted, “my tbl for 25k tomorrow: Phil Laak/Justin Bonomo/David Williams/Joe Cassidy/Yevgeny Timoshenko/Tommy Vedes. lots of potential for fireworks.” Unfortunately for Sebok, he was unable to make a run at the Shootout table, where the eventual winner has to defeat his or her entire table to move on, and was knocked out early by Bonomo. “ZeeJustin” was eventually busted by Cassidy, who moved on to the final table by eliminating four of his six opponents.

Annie Duke was at the felt for the $25,000 Bounty Shootout and found it strange that all the ladies in the event were on the same table. “Of the 3 women entered into tomorrow's $25K event 3 are at the same table. Weird,” Duke said in her Tweet. “I am playing with Jennifer Tilly and Vanessa Rousso.” Duke would have a strong run at the table, battling with Bellagio Cup V runner up Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka for quite some time before succumbing. “The-Toilet” was responsible for knocking out all three ladies and top pro J.C. Tran on his way to the final table.

One player who tweeted his way to victory was 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) Southern Poker Championship winner Hoyt Corkins. Corkins has been on a roll as of late and Tweeted on his opponents, “Phil Hellmuth and Greg Raymer at my table.” While Corkins didn’t tweet during the event, Hellmuth picked up the slack with running reports. “Doubled up to average stack blinds 300-600,” informed the “Poker Brat.” “I open 1700 on button w/ A-K, Hoyt shoves w/ 6-4 in BB for my last 13k, K-9-3-5, then 6, whew!” Hellmuth was quite critical of his play later in the event, however, Tweeting, “Bad laydown!! Bad reads 2day! JDuthie had 10h-9h when I mucked A-K pre-flop! I let them steal my blinds & made a stand w KJ when JD had AK.” Duthie would make a run at winning the table, but Corkins defeated him to move on to the final table.

Away from the Shootout, players were on the cash game tables, with Mike Matusow and Jean-Robert Bellande going to battle. Matusow sought out Bellande, Tweeting, “How is it that idiot @brokelivingjrb seems to be winning everyday? I have to go see what kind of SUPER IDIOTS he's playing against.” Apparently “The Mouth” found Bellande and had a tough night on the felt. Bellande Tweeted later in the night, “@themouthmatusow is lecturing Eli after a brutal beat. Lol. "You play so f'n bad!" Eli giggling. He he. Poker is great.”

While not participating in any of the action in Las Vegas, Lacey Jones and “Hollywood” Dave Stann made notable Tweets this week. In a personal note to her Tweeps, Lacey commented, “Lacey fact: 1 year in Girl Scouts I sold more cookies than any other girl in Texas. I got 3 badges and bragging rights! Girl Scouts rock!” Stann made his way home from playing, but wasn’t particularly pleased.  “Hollywood” noted in his Tweet, “Thanks, 4 am Hollywood Park valet guy, for smoking so much g**d**n weed b4 getting my car that I'm driving home getting a contact high.”

Finally, offering up their knowledge in Tweet form was Poker Royalty’s top poker agent Brian Balsbaugh. Apparently in response to critiques of this year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship lineup, Balsbaugh gave the poker community insight into the selection process when he Tweeted, “If U R wondering how players with razor thin poker achievements make NBC Head's Up, it's b/c their sponsor's buy commercials.” Balsbaugh also had perhaps the scariest Tweet of the Week when he let his Tweeps know, “@Phil_Hellmuth told me he’d listen to a Playgirl offer “I’d get in best shape of my life, it might be fun.”

With the L.A. Poker Classic starting on Friday, the poker world should be hopping this weekend and the Tweets should be flowing. Poker News Daily continues to watch out for the top names in the game and gather their various thoughts. Poker News Daily is a part of the world of Twitter also, so be sure to add @pokernewsdaily for the latest information on the world of poker and the Twitter scene.

Annie Duke Discusses NAPT, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader

This month, poker pro and “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke breaks down the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout at the Venetian, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and her appearance on the television game show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. We saw that Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka bested your table in the NAPT High Roller Bounty Shootout. Tell us about your table, which also featured Joe Hachem, Jennifer Tilly, Vanessa Rousso, and J.C. Tran.

Annie Duke: I got heads-up with Faraz at my table. He’s an excellent player plus he’s clearly been playing his best lately because he’s been final tabling everything. He’s the last person I wanted to end up heads-up against. Even though Vanessa has been playing everything and doing well, I’ve played with her and know her. Faraz is a guy who has been playing everything and I don’t know anything about his game.

PND: Evaluate Faraz Jaka’s game for us. What makes him so successful?

Annie Duke: He’s very good at gearing differently and is good at gearing against different stack sizes. He does not play fast or play super small ball. That’s a harder person to deal with because they’re going to play against your stack effectively. Faraz played brilliantly heads-up. I managed to get a chip lead on Faraz and then lost two big pots.

There were a couple of draws I chose to play slow and didn’t hit and a couple I played fast as a semi-bluff and didn’t hit. I said to Phil Hellmuth afterward that it’s a no-win situation. When you play it slow and don’t hit, you regret that you didn’t try to bluff. If you play it big, then you regret that you didn’t play it slow. I don’t know if I could have won them playing differently, but I feel like I didn’t reverse well.

PND: Are you looking forward to the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will be filmed in March and then air on NBC?

Annie Duke: Erik Seidel and I were joking that we have bad records in that event. He’s a brilliant player, but has never won a match, and I’ve won one. I don’t care who I draw; I just want to win my match. I played against Brad Garrett last year and he had all of the better hands. When I find out who I play against, I try to think about their game, but I don’t like to come into matches with a set strategy. People play differently on different days and against different opponents. I’m just trying to improve my record in that event.

PND: Has it been refreshing to return to playing poker?

Annie Duke: I realized when I played the $25,000 NAPT event that I hadn’t played since October. I have been prioritizing differently. It’s nice to have all of this poker coming up and then I am going to Mexico with the kids. The World Series of Poker starts after that. It’s the part of the year where I play a lot of poker and I like to get back to my roots. I don’t regret that I choose to do other things because I like what else I’m doing. Poker players can get really myopic and just think about poker. I don’t remember ever feeling that way coming up.

PND; Tell us about your appearance on the syndicated game show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”

Annie Duke: I played for Decision Education Foundation. It’s the daytime version of the show where you have to clear 10 questions. I got every question right and used the help one time because I wanted to make sure. The question was asking who the Volunteers were and I was pretty sure it was Tennessee, but thought it could also be Kentucky since I am not a big college basketball person. I peeked at the girl’s answer and she put Tennessee.

I got all 10 questions right and had $25,000. Then, there’s a bonus round question that you’re getting laid 10:1 on. If I thought I could answer it right 10% of the time, there was an overlay. I went for it and didn’t know the answer. If you get the question wrong, you go down to $2,500, so you’re risking $22,500 to win $250,000. That’s an easy decision even though it didn’t work out.

Høivold’s Experience

"I had the honor of playing in what probably is the best poker game ever assembled," he told PokerListings. "I don't regret anything."

The Ladbrokes sponsored pro lasted just two episodes of the increasingly popular cash game show, dumping the last of the $200,000 he bought in for when he called all in on the turn holding A♥ Q♣ on a queen-high board against Full Tilt's Gus Hansen.

Unfortunately for Høivold, Hansen held a raggedy two pair and despite running the river twice, it held.

Outside of that hand, Høivold said he simply couldn't catch anything. Looking back now he is at least a little disappointed he didn't try to mix it up more.

"I was completely card dead and didn't flop a pair during the 4-5 hours I played," he said. "But I should have played better and more aggressively."

Like Phil Hellmuth on this season of HSP, Hoivold left his seat after losing a single $200k buy-in, choosing not to rebuy.

But that doesn't necessarily mean he won't be back for more.

"I will probably have the chance if I want to," he said. "Time will tell if I take it or not. It all depends on what happens with poker in the future, not the least financially."

High Stakes Poker airs Sunday's at 8 p.m. on GSN.

- With files from Erik Pedersen

NAPT $25k High-Roller Shootout Set

The 49-player field will be pitted against each other in a seven-table shootout format with the winners going on to the final table Thursday. There will also be a $5,000 bounty on every player's head throughout the first round heats and the final.

Interestingly, there are just three female players registered for the event, Annie Duke, Vanessa Rousso and Jennifer Tilly, and they drew seats next to each other on the same table.

2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker will get the chance to take on 2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada in a heat that also includes PokerListings Blogger and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier.

Plus, Daniel Negreanu, who drew the names out of the hat Monday, will have his work cut out for him at a table with some of the brightest young minds in the online game, including Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, Andrew "Good2CU" Robl, and Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis.

The self-proclaimed best No-Limit Hold'em player in the world, Phil Hellmuth, will have to prove it against a table featuring fellow WSOP Main Event champ Greg Raymer and EPT Founder John Duthie, while young guns like Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Sorel Mizzi will take on old-school Big Game pros Barry Greenstein and Chau Giuang.

The first round of play will be filmed in two sessions Tuesday inside the Venetian's Belleni Ballroom. The event is being filmed for broadcast on ESPN2.

For the full table lists check the chart below.

NBC Heads-Up Field Released

Familiar faces like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson will be back to compete in the bracket-style head-to-head format for $1.5 million in combined prize money Mar. 5-7.

Plus, several newcomers including PokerListings Blogger and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, 2009 World Series of Poker champion Joe Cada, 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon, and High Stakes Poker host Kara Scott will be in the field of 64 trying to take down last year's champ Huck Seed.

"The lineup of competitors for this year's event is the best yet," said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports.

"Continually bringing together the best of the best to compete in this unique format has made the National Heads-Up Poker Championship one of the most anticipated poker events of the year."

The event will be taped for broadcast on NBC over six consecutive Sundays in April and May.

The first round opponents for the brackets will be chosen at random during the GoDaddy.com Draw Party held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace Mar. 4.

Below is a list of the entire 64-player field less seven spaces for online qualifiers.

Patrick Antonius               Eric Baldwin               Andy Bloch               Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada                         Johnny Chan              Don Cheadle            Allen Cunningham
Pieter De-Korver              Annie Duke                Tom Dwan               Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra                         Antonio Esfandiari       Sam Farha               Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest                      Jamie Gold                 Phil Gordon              Barry Greenstein
Bertrand Grospellier         Joe Hachem                Gus Hansen             Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth                    Orel Hershiser            Jesper Hougaard       Phil Ivey
John Juanda                     Gabe Kaplan              J.P. Kelly                  Phil Laak
Howard Lederer                Erick Lindgren            Mike Matusow           Jason Mercier
Dario Minieri                     Chris Moneymaker     Darvin Moon             Greg Mueller
Daniel Negreanu               Scotty Nguyen           Annette Obrestad      Brock Parker
Dennis Phillips                  Greg Raymer             Vanessa Rousso        Kara Scott
Huck Seed                        Erik Seidel                 Mike Sexton             Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly                     Paul Wasicka             David Williams          Leo Wolpert
Jerry Yang

High Stakes Poker, Season 6, Episode 2: A High Stakes Funeral

Poker In Twitter: The Tiger Woods Apology and WPT Invitational

With plenty of action on the felt and away from the tables, the crème of the poker world’s Twitter accounts were buzzing about their activities. Poker News Daily has gleaned the best of these Tweets to let you know what is going on in many poker players’ lives.

On Friday, the poker community was gripped – much like the rest of the world – by the live statement from professional golfer Tiger Woods. After an auto accident on Thanksgiving, Woods disappeared for three months with no comments on the allegations of marital infidelity and any details on what happened on that night. Friday brought Woods’ 13 minute speech in which he earnestly apologized to many in the golf and business worlds; his act of contrition brought out comments from the poker community as to his sincerity.

Former FBI agent Joe Navarro, who has made tremendous inroads in the world of poker tells through his book with Phil Hellmuth called “Read ‘Em And Reap,” used his analytical skills in reading Woods’ body language during the speech. Navarro noted in his Tweet, “In re woods, yes he looked honest, contrite, pained, genuinely sorry. He just took too long. Should have done this weeks ago, bad advisers.” Poker pro Alex Outhred had a warning for those who backed away from Woods during this time, Tweeting, “In the golf world, there are those that had Tigers back through his ordeal, and those that didn't. The latter are gonna get their comeuppins.” Poker2Nite’s Scott Huff brought a different look at the Woods apology when he Tweeted, “It would really be something if Tiger just came out and said, “f*** y’all.”

After the Woods press conference, attention of many poker players in the Twitterverse turned to what they do best – play poker. The L.A. Poker Classic opened the doors for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational and drew in 567 players, vastly outpacing last year’s 433 runners. The invitational drew in many participants from the music, movie, and television arenas and it seemed that the professional poker players in attendance were star struck by who they were playing against.

Prior to the start of the festivities on Saturday, Full Tilt Poker’s Mike Matusow indicated that he was ready for action when he Tweeted, “About to relax for a bit before I bust all these celebrity idiots in the invitational tonight.” Fellow Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch noted that he had a familiar adversary at the tables in his Tweet, saying “Playing WPT Inv with naked guy from Borat (actor Ken Davitian) who busted me at charity event at Hard Rock a few months ago.” Perhaps noted poker player/tournament director Linda Johnson was joking when she pointed out in her Tweet that she “(had) Shannon Elizabeth seated next to me. I'm probably the only one in the room who didn't know who she was.:)”

Poker pro Yuval Bronshtein Tweeted, “Just jumped in the celeb tourney. Jenny McCarthy and Toto Leonidas at my table. Pretty fun last few days for me!” Matthew Glantz had two celebrities who he recognized by their characters on television, although he did not know their real names. Glantz opened his Tweet saying, “Dr Hunt from Grey's Anatomy (actor Kevin McKidd) and Carlton Banks from Bel Air (actor Antonio Ribero) at the table now.”

As the play in the WPT Celebrity Invitational moved into action on Sunday, many of the top pros Tweeted about their departure from the event. Joe Reitman reported his demise by Tweeting, “Just got knocked out....clearly Teri Hatcher is a better player than me.” Perhaps poking some fun at his opponent’s television appearance, Jeff Madsen related through the Twitterscape, “Well, that was fast. All my chips belong to Tiffany Michelle now. She won an amazing race. Haha.” Michelle would drop out during play on Sunday also, Tweeting, “Out in 60th-ish of 500+ players. Ricki Lake called my all in with A7 & busted my AK. Nice. I deserve that when playing a CELEB tourney!” The final table of the WPT Celebrity Invitational will play out on March 3rd, with celebrity Trishelle Cannatella and Scandinavian poker legend Thor Hansen chasing chip leader Steve Elliott.

The top Tweets over the weekend were by female players this week. In a rarity from her, top poker player Kathy Liebert pointed out some of the idiosyncrasies in the online poker world when she Tweeted, “Who wouldn't want a playboy model endorsing their site? Why are women chosen on sex appeal and men chosen on ability?” As she prepared to leave Las Vegas after her work on the PartyPoker Premier League IV was completed, Kara Scott happily tweeted, “After almost 2 weeks in killer heels/makeup for work, I'm off to the airport with hair scraped back and wearing my fuzzy slippers.”

The poker world continues to provide detailed reports of its activities through its Twitter posts. Poker News Daily not only continues to bring you the best of those thoughts, but is also involved in the Twitterverse. Be sure to add @pokernewsdaily for the latest on the world of poker in Twitter.

Andreas Hoivold Goes Broke on High Stakes Poker

Two episodes of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 have aired and two players have already dropped $200,000. Last week, UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth went busto on the popular GSN cash game show. This week, that distinction belonged to Ladbrokes pro Andreas Hoivold.

As Sunday night’s episode of “High Stakes Poker” began, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey was up $300,000, while Hoivold was down $90,000. Ivey picked up right where he left off, being selectively aggressive. With a board reading J-4-A-4-9 with two spades, Ivey bet $25,000 with just K-2 and Tom “durrrr” Dwan folded Q-10 of spades for busted flush and straight draws. Then, Dwan raised to $3,300 pre-flop with K-J and Ivey pumped it to $15,000 with just 5-2. The action folded around and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Gabe Kaplan noted, “Phil Ivey right now is in the zone.”

Dwan held pocket kings and raised to $3,200 pre-flop, while Hoivold made the call with pocket fours. The action was checked down to the river, with the board filling out A-9-5-K-Q. Dwan led out for $5,700 with a set and Hoivold called, telling “High Stakes Poker” sideline reporter Kara Scott that he called in order to extract information about Dwan’s hand. Kaplan called $5,700 a hefty price to pay for information.

In a hand that showed the power of Ivey’s presence, the Full Tilt Poker pro raised to $3,000 pre-flop with Q-8. Daniel Negreanu called with A-4, including the ace of clubs, and Dwan came along with J-10. The flop came 2-4-J with two clubs. Ivey led out for $17,000 and both opponents called to see the nine of clubs fall on the turn, putting three of the suit on the board. Ivey bet $23,000, Negreanu called with the nut flush draw, and Dwan got out of the way, bringing the ace of hearts on the river. Ivey checked and Negreanu checked right behind despite holding aces-up, bringing the following comment from Kaplan: “That’s the Phil Ivey effect. He did not want Ivey to come over the top and raise it. He wouldn’t know what to do.”

Eli Elezra, who has appeared on all six seasons of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” joined the table to fill Hellmuth’s spot, telling Scott, “I don’t care if it’s a tough lineup or an easy lineup. I like to play.” He quickly tangled with PokerStars pro Dario Minieri, who held pocket eights and raised it up to $3,000. Elezra called with Q-10 and the flop came Q-7-7. Minieri made a $4,500 continuation bet and Elezra called. The turn was a five, prompting an $11,500 bet from Minieri. Elezra once again called to bring an eight on the river, giving Minieri a boat. The Italian checked, trying to set a trap for Elezra, but the wily poker veteran wisely checked behind.

With the board reading 3-10-6-Q with two hearts, Danish poker superstar Gus Hansen led out with 6-3 for $11,100 and Dwan called with Q-4. Hoivold, holding A-Q for top pair, made his move and raised to $50,000. Hansen, holding bottom two pair, pushed all-in, Dwan folded, and Hoivold called with his chip stack on the line. The duo agreed to run it twice, with the winner of each river scooping half of the pot. The first river was a nine, giving Hansen 50% of the $190,000 pot. The second river was an eight and Hoivold was busto.

New episodes of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” air on Sunday nights at 8:00pm ET. Next week, 2009 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year Jason Mercier enters the fray, while Negreanu and Dwan build a massive pot when one goes all-in.

Andy Seth (BKiCe) Leads NAPT Venetian Main Event After Day 1

A total of 872 players entered the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event on Saturday and, when the smoke cleared, 476 remained in the hunt for the $827,000 top prize.

Topping the leaderboard after Day 1 was Andy “BKiCe” Seth, an online poker pro who chipped up steadily throughout the day, even taking a break to play online poker at one point. By 5:00pm PT yesterday, he had amassed a stack of 120,000 chips and ended the day with 245,600. Seth is one of only four players, or 1% of the field, with more than 200,000 chips. In second place on the NAPT Venetian leaderboard is fellow online poker pro Phil “USCphildo” Collins, who holds a stack of 227,900 chips. Also near the top is 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, whose pile of 207,300 chips is good for fourth overall entering Day 2 on Sunday.

Moneymaker isn’t the only former WSOP Main Event champ making waves in Las Vegas. Registering the 14th largest total at the Venetian is 2004 Main Event winner Greg Raymer, who boasts a stack of 144,100. Raymer nearly recorded a second bracelet in 2009 after taking third in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP; he banked $774,000 in that tournament. All told, Raymer owns nearly $6.5 million in career WSOP earnings and has made six final tables.

UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth’s stay in the $5,000 NAPT Venetian Main Event was short-lived. After much deliberation, including seeking the advice of fellow tournament pro Daniel Negreanu, Hellmuth raised all-in with pocket queens on a flop of 4-10-5. Eric Levesque made the call with pocket aces and Hellmuth was suddenly drawing to two outs. Neither hit on the turn or river, eliminating Hellmuth. Coverage found on the official website of PokerStars detailed his exit: “Needless to say, Hellmuth was not quiet or happy, but he was required to pack his things and leave the table.”

Also sent packing late in the day was Team PokerStars Pro’s Gavin Griffin. The acclaimed pro, who owns major titles on three poker circuits, shoved with K-Q on a board reading Q-10-4 with two clubs. An opponent made the call with 2-3 of clubs for a flush draw and ultimately spiked a third club. By the time the eighth level had been played out on Saturday, Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith and PokerStars’ Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan had also both hit the rails.

After seeing his stack crippled after his nut flush fell to a boat, Barry Greenstein doubled up at the expense of Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania. Greenstein held 6-8 and pushed all-in on a board of A-7-5-4 for the nuts, while Charania held pocket fives for a set. The board failed to pair on the river and Greenstein’s stack boomed to 49,000. He finished the day with 40,700 chips, the 291st largest tally in the room.

Here are the top 10 stacks headed into Day 2 of the PokerStars NAPT Venetian Main Event:

1. Andy “BKiCe” Seth - 245,600
2. Philip “USCphildo” Collins - 227,900
3. Mark Ketteringham - 211,000
4. Chris Moneymaker - 207,300
5. Yongli Jin - 160,800
6. Steven Tabb - 159,800
7. Daniel Schreiber - 157,600
8. Jason “TheMasterJ33” Dewitt - 154,000
9. Mark Mierkalns - 153,000
10. Samuel Stein – 151,500

Other players remaining in the top 50 on the leaderboard include:

13. Vanessa Rousso – 144,900
14. Greg Raymer – 144,100
23. Danny Wong – 123,100
27. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 118,400
28. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – 116,400
32. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke – 112,600
35. “Miami” John Cernuto – 111,200
50. Montel Williams – 100,300

The top 128 players will finish in the money. The PokerStars NAPT Venetian Main Event crowns a champion on Wednesday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT Venetian coverage.

David Benyamine Wins PartyPoker Premier League IV

Frenchman David Benyamine took down the fourth PartyPoker Premier League title, defeating embattled pro Luke “Full_Flush” Schwartz heads-up. Benyamine earned $476,000 for his efforts.

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu and Full Tilt's Roland de Wolfe qualified via heads-up matches for the six-handed final table. Negreanu outlasted J.C. Tran in his heads-up encounter, while de Wolfe bested PartyPoker pro Ian Frazer. At the final table, each player began with 10,000 chips for every point they had accrued during Premier League play. Consequently, Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak owned a hefty lead over the rest of the field with 480,000 chips, 100,000 ahead of Benyamine’s second place stack of 380,000.

After bleeding chips at the final table, however, including running a set into Negreanu’s flush, Laak was the first casualty. He called all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and was up against Benyamine’s A-K. An old fashioned race would determine the winner of the 300,000-chip pot and the flop came Q-4-2, keeping Laak’s wired pair in front. However, Benyamine spiked an ace on the turn to pull away for good.

Shortly thereafter, de Wolfe departed in fifth place from the PartyPoker Premier League IV final table. He committed his final 240,000 chips with A-J offsuit pre-flop and Negreanu came along with pocket nines. The flop came down K-9-3, giving Negreanu a set, and a seven on the turn left de Wolfe drawing dead. A meaningless ace hit on the river and de Wolfe exited stage right. The hand moved Negreanu into the chip lead with four players remaining.

Negreanu then ran pocket sevens into Schwartz’s pocket kings to drop down to 131,000 in chips. He’d hit the rail after pushing with Q-5 of clubs on a board of K-9-Q with two clubs. Benyamine called with K-9 for top two pair and the turn was another king, giving Benyamine the win in the hand with a boat. Negreanu took fourth place in the Premier League, which emanated from the M Casino in Las Vegas.

Third place went to the lone online qualifier, Giovanni Safina. The Italian put his money in ahead, as his A-7 was well in front of the K-3 of Schwartz. With the latter in a gambling mood, the flop came 5-Q-6, keeping Safina out in front. The turn was a jack, leaving Schwartz drawing to a king or three on the river. Sure enough, a three peeled off, sending Safina out and setting up a heads-up showdown between Benyamine and Schwartz. The latter entered as better than a 2:1 chip leader.

Benyamine doubled up early with K-10 against K-7 to climb back into the running. On the final hand, the money went into the center with Benyamine holding Q-8 against Schwartz’s Q-2 on a flop of Q-5-3. Schwartz pushed all-in and Benyamine tanked before finally making the call, leading to an eruption from the youngster. According to coverage found on PokerNews, Schwartz commented, "Why'd you slow roll? That's an easy call." The board filled out 7-6 and Benyamine took down the Premier League title.

Payouts were given for Premier League points and final table finishing position. Accordingly, the final PartyPoker Premier League IV shook out as follows:

1. David Benyamine - $476,000
2. Luke "Full_Flush" Schwartz - $258,000
3. Giovanni Safina - $158,000
4. Daniel Negreanu - $132,000
5. Roland de Wolfe - $114,000
6. Phil Laak - $146,000
7. Ian Frazer - $52,000
8. J.C. Tran - $40,000
9. Phil Hellmuth - $38,000
10. Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko - $32,000
11. Vanessa Rousso - $32,000
12. Tony G - $22,000

Following his win in the unique tournament series, Benyamine told Matchroom Sport organizers, “It feels really good winning a title; I’m still not used to doing it. The whole time, I never thought about winning. I just wanted to do what I thought was right. I know people always say that when they win, but it’s true.”

ESPN2 to Broadcast NAPT

ESPN2 will televise 16 original hours of the new poker tour, starting April 2010. All of the NAPT stops will be featured including Las Vegas, Connecticut and the Bahamas for the PCA.

“Having the North American Poker Tour on ESPN2 is going to take poker on this continent to a different level,” said Team PokerStars.net Pro Daniel Negreanu.

“With some of the most important gaming venues in the US on board and the reach of ESPN2, the NAPT is set to bring the excitement of world-class tournament poker to millions who love this game as much as I do.”

The NAPT, which was announced at the PCA in January, is set to offer numerous tournaments around North America with a variety of buy-ins and huge payouts.

The main event for the first season has been set at $5,000 with a variety of ways to qualify on PokerStars.

ESPN2’s coverage of the first event at the Venetian will include the unique $25,000 High Roller event, which will feature a number of the world’s biggest poker celebrities such as Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari and Tony G.

The NAPT event at the Venetian in Las Vegas is set to take place Feb. 20-24, 2010. Visit PokerStars website for the complete NAPT schedule.

Poker in Twitter: Bonomo Versus Isildur1, LAPC Versus NAPT, and PartyPoker Premier League

With each new week, a fresh batch of Tweets from players lets us know what is going on in their lives and their poker games. Poker News Daily is here to let you know what the most interesting subjects are and where the players’ minds are at.

The return of the online phenomenon known as Isildur1 has been drawing the attention of poker fans around the world. Over the past week, the unknown Swede has stepped back into the limelight at Full Tilt Poker and there has been no lack of challengers for him to face. One of those players is noted online and live player Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo.

On Tuesday, Bonomo found Isildur1 on the virtual felt at Full Tilt and had a tough time overall. “Played Isildur1 yesterday,” Bonomo began his Tweet on Tuesday after losing over $500,000 to the Swedish sensation. “Was my biggest poker loss ever. I'm still up money overall for February. I will play him again.” Sure enough, Bonomo began his comeback against Isildur1 late on Wednesday night and the outcome was a bit different. “Crushed Isildur today. Can't wait to play him again,” “ZeeJustin” reported. He was cheered on by top flight cash game player Brad “Yukon” Booth, who commented, “Good on ya brotha !!”

The PartyPoker Premier League, which was in play over the weekend and will wrap up this evening at the M Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, has provided the Twitterverse with plenty of updates on the action. Perhaps the best demonstration of the swings of the Premier League matchups were Tweeted by Daniel Negreanu, as he kept his fans in tune with his play during the special invitational tournament. On Sunday, soon after losing out to eventual Heat #1 winner Phil Laak, Negreanu Tweeted, “Out 8th in Heat 1. Cooler hand: Flop 10 6 5 two clubs. I had 56 Laak had 66.” “Kid Poker” was able to turn it around later in the event, Tweeting, “YES! I won my heat today and knocked out PH who came 2nd. Playoff tomm vs JC Tran. I finish as the 5 seed after awful start.”

Perhaps the best Tweet about the PartyPoker Premier League has been from its hostess, new “High Stakes Poker” in-action interviewer and poker player Kara Scott. Scott has been at the tables for all of the preliminary heats - which are being taped for broadcast -  and pointed out some of the oddities at an invitational event with such prestige. Scott’s Tweets didn’t take note of any of the play at the tables but accurately relayed the atmosphere of the Premier League scene. As the final preliminary event was in progress, Scott pointed out to her Tweeps, “It's 100k buy in event and (Roland) De Wolfe is wearing a Darth Vader costume and there's a stuffed monkey in Luke Schwartz's seat. Ummmm ok.”

The L.A. Poker Classic is currently grinding its way along to its WPT Main Event, but this weekend’s PokerStars North American Poker Tour stop at the Venetian has tournament director Matt Savage in a fighting mood on his Twitter feed. Savage, who has put together a 51-tournament schedule for the Los Angeles event, knows that he may lose some players to Las Vegas when the NAPT starts on Saturday. “Is hard to tell right now how much PS NAPT will screw over the LAPokerClassic as of now,” Savage Tweeted on Wednesday night. “I assume I will know more in the coming days.” After a quick poll of players around the Commerce Casino, where the L.A. Poker Classic is being played, Savage seemed much calmer when his Twitter buzzed, “Players WILL make short trip back to Commerce Casino as soon they bust NAPT and should make for an interesting Ironman event on Sunday.”

The winner for Tweet of the Week is 2008 World Series of Poker November Nine member Dennis Phillips. With the 2010 Winter Olympics in full swing in Vancouver and ESPN’s Gary Wise debating the merits of poker being in the Olympics, Phillips had the last word as to the logic of the issue. “Olympic Poker?,” Dennis Tweeted. “I told Gary Wise: “Any game where Phil Hellmuth could be an Olympian shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.”

Wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing, poker’s top names always let their fans know what is going on through the Twitterverse. Poker News Daily continues to monitor the top names in the game for their varied and sometimes hilarious thoughts. Poker News Daily contributes to the world of Twitter also, so be sure to add @pokernewsdaily for the latest information on the world of poker and the Twitter scene.

Phil Laak Headlines PartyPoker Premier League IV Final Table

The first four spots at the final table of the PartyPoker Premier League are set, with Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak leading the way. The top four players after six matches automatically qualified for the finale and best of three heads-up events will determine the rest of the table.

Laak ran away from the field and finished with 48 points, well ahead of David Benyamine’s second place tally of 38. Laak took down his first three preliminary heats after serving as a last-minute replacement for poker legend Doyle Brunson, who was feeling the effects of dental surgery and may be out of live action until the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP). The PartyPoker Premier League boasts a prize pool of $1.5 million, with each player remaining guaranteed to secure at least a $108,000 payday.

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu took down Heat 6 on Wednesday and sits in fifth place on the leaderboard. At one point during the match, poker pro Roland de Wolfe donned a “Star Wars” Darth Vader helmet and Tony G dressed up as Kermit the Frog. To make matters even more interesting, Luke “Full_Flush” Schwartz failed to show up for several levels and was replaced by a happy-go-lucky stuffed monkey.

Laak, Benyamine, Schwartz, and online satellite winner Giovanni Safina automatically qualified for the six-handed final table of the PartyPoker Premier League. Safina told PartyPoker officials following Wednesday’s match, “I am going to do this for Italy and for myself. It was emotional to play with the world’s top pros at the start, but now I am confident.” To qualify for the unique tournament, which is unfolding from the M Casino in Las Vegas, Safina took down a €100 satellite.

Negreanu won Heat 6 and consequently finished in fifth place on the leaderboard, knocking Phil Hellmuth to ninth and ensuring that the UB.com pro would not make the final table. Hellmuth remained optimistic about his game despite poor performances at the Premier League and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” commenting in a press release, “I can’t be too disappointed really. I feel good with the way I’ve played. I love playing under the heat of pressure and I feel I’m on the path to achieving great things this year, but it just didn’t happen to me here.” Hellmuth dropped $200,000 in the kickoff episode of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6, which aired last weekend.

Best of three heads-up matches between Negreanu and J.C. Tran will determine one spot at the final table, while Ian Frazer and de Wolfe will tango for the other. In December 2008, Tran defeated Tony G in the PartyPoker Premier League III finale to claim the title and take home $300,000. An eclectic group took to the feature table in 2008, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Finnish superstar Juha Helppi, and then-reigning WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate. The heads-up matches start at 2:30pm ET on Thursday.

Here were the final standings for the fourth running of the PartyPoker Premier League:

1. Phil Laak – 48 points
2. David Benyamine - 38 points
3. Giovanni Safina - 29 points
3. Luke Schwartz – 29 points
5. Daniel Negreanu – 26 points
6. Ian Frazer – 26 points
7. Roland De Wolfe – 22 points
8. J.C. Tran – 20 points
9. Phil Hellmuth - 19 points
10. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 16 points
11. Vanessa Rousso – 16 points
12. Tony G - 11 points

The M Casino is located 10 minutes off the Las Vegas Strip and features the Ravello Lounge, which, according to PartyPoker, has “floor to ceiling windows with views of the Las Vegas Strip.” In addition, the Lounge is playing host to Premier League action.

On selecting the casino instead of a staple of Las Vegas Boulevard, Eddie Hearn, Director of Matchroom Sport, explained, "When we decided to take the Premier League to Las Vegas, we needed a venue to match this prestigious event. The M Resort is a stunning location and the perfect place for the players to relax while they are [in] the heat of battle in what has become the world's biggest televised poker spectacle." The M offers a dozen poker tables and an in-room texting service for players waiting for a spot on the felt.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PartyPoker Premier League IV coverage.

NBC Heads-Up Headed Back to Caesars

The 6th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by GoDaddy.com will go off March 4-7 with 64 of the world's best poker players in squaring off and $1.5 million in prize money on the line.

Scheduled to play are familiar faces like Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and last year's Heads-Up finalists Vanessa Rousso and Huck Seed.

"It takes a lot of skill and mental toughness to get through a field of such exceptional players," said Seed, who won it last year and is the only player in the history of the event to cash in all five years. "I look forward to defending my title and trying to win it again."   

New faces in this year's line-up will include 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Cada.

As always the tournament will be taped for broadcast on NBC over six consecutive Sundays in April and May.

"We're excited to bring this annual tradition back to Caesars Palace," said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. "The National Heads-Up Poker Championship's compelling poker action has become a must-see for the casual and hardcore poker fan alike."

Model and television personality Leeann Tweeden will host with Craig Hummer and Ali Nejad providing commentary.

The single-elimination bracket-style tournament, with a best of three final, features a $500,000 first-place prize.

First round opponents will be chosen randomly during the tournament's Draw Party at Caesars' PURE Nightclub Thursday, March 4 with the matches beginning at 12 p.m. PT the next day.

2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Features Joe Cada, Phil Ivey

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada and seventh place finisher Phil Ivey will headline the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship field. Play gets underway on March 5th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

After weeks of speculation as to which players would comprise the field of 64 in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, tournament officials tossed out seven confirmed participants on Tuesday. Cada became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever last year at the tender age of 21, defeating logger Darvin Moon heads-up. A self-proclaimed heads-up specialist, Cada will have his work cut out for him in the talented field at Caesars.

Cada took 11th in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), banking $51,000. His win in Las Vegas in November was worth $8.5 million and he instantaneously hit the television circuit, appearing on programs like the “Late Show with David Letterman” and ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

Ivey returned to the GSN franchise “Poker After Dark” for Season 6, which began airing on Sunday night on the cable station. In the recent Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge in Melbourne, Ivey’s spectacular results continued, as he finished as its runner-up for $553,000. By virtue of finishing second to Dan Shak, Ivey became poker’s all-time tournament money leader at $12.8 million. He is a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker.

Also headlining the National Heads-Up Poker Championship field is Huck Seed, who owns the top overall record in the annual event at 18-4. Last year, Seed defeated Vanessa Rousso to take down the title and is the only player to have cashed in every running of the heads-up event. In 2009, Seed also defeated Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Gus Hansen, Glen Corny, David Oppenheim, and Sammy Farha en route to victory.

In 2005, Seed fell to UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth in the round of 16 before reaching the Final Four one year later. In 2007, Team PokerStars Pro member Humberto Brenes trumped Seed in the round of 16. In 2008, Seed fell to Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch in the semi-finals. Seed is one of the top names in all of poker and a force to be reckoned with in a heads-up format. The poker pro commented in a press statement, “It takes a lot of skill and mental toughness to get through a field of such exceptional players, but I look forward to defending my title and trying to win it again.”

Jon Miller, Executive Vice President of NBC Sports, commented in a press release distributed by network officials on Tuesday, "We’re excited to bring this annual tradition back to Caesars Palace. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship’s compelling poker action has become a must-see for the casual and hardcore poker fan alike.” Hellmuth, who won it all in 2005, will return to the felts this year. He made waves last year by facing off against World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton in the first round and Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the third round.

Daniel Negreanu, Rousso, and Chris Ferguson will also return to the National Heads-Up Poker Championship stage. The festivities kick off on March 5th and conclude on the 7th. “Poker After Dark” hostess Leeann Tweeden will once again serve as a sideline reporter during the tournament, while Craig Hummer and Ali Nejad will provide commentary.

On March 4th, the combatants will assemble at the Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace for a special draw party. The web hosting service GoDaddy sponsors the tournament, which will air on NBC according to the following schedule:

April 18th: Noon to 1:00pm ET
April 25th: Noon to 2:00pm ET
May 2nd: Noon to 2:00pm ET
May 9th: Noon to 2:00pm ET
May 16th: Noon to 2:00pm ET
May 23rd: Noon to 3:00pm ET