Poker News

Pam Brunson to Oversee DoylesRoom Brunson 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Victory Poker Launches February 1st

One day prior to Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, officials from Victory Poker will celebrate the site’s launch at a party at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. The online poker room will open for business on February 1st.

Victory Poker will make its home on the merged Everleaf/UPN network, which has yet to take on an official name. According to PokerScout.com, the newly created network will boast traffic similar to that of Betfair, which has a seven-day running average of 610 real money ring game players. A press release announcing the Trash Talk Championship of the World Straddle Tournament at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on February 6th revealed that the Victory Poker launch party would occur at 10:00pm following the festivities.

UFC’s Randy Couture will be sporting a Victory Poker logo when he takes to the ring in UFC 109 against Mark Coleman. The bout emanates from the Mandalay Bay Events Center near the Hard Rock and will also feature Nate Marquardt facing off against Chael Sonnen and Matt Serra fighting Frank Trigg. The first brawl takes place at 4:45pm, while televised matches start at 7:00pm. Couture will don a dot-net logo for the new online poker room.

Antonio Esfandiari headlines the Victory Poker stable of pros. A World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Esfandiari has become widely known for his insatiable appetite for prop bets. He even co-starred with his close friend Phil Laak on the MOJO show “I Bet You,” which ran for two seasons on the cable station. Esfandiari has three WPT final tables to his credit and one title, which came in the Season 2 L.A. Poker Classic. At the tender age of 31, Esfandiari is one of the veterans of the game.

Jumping over from DoylesRoom to be a part of Victory Poker is Alec “traheho” Torelli. The Cake Poker Network site and Torelli severed ties two weeks ago. Torelli has made two WPT final tables, finishing fourth in both the Bellagio Cup V and Solvakia events. The former will air its finale at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net this Sunday in a one-hour episode. Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten will once again provide commentary for Season 8 of the WPT.

Coming over from Full Tilt Poker are Paul Wasicka and Lee Markholt. The latter was removed in recent days as a Full Tilt Red Pro and finished fourth in the WSOP Circuit Championship in Tunica four years ago for $183,000. In addition, Markholt won the WPT Season 6 World Poker Challenge in Reno for $493,000 and owns $1.3 million in career earnings from the roving tournament series. Wasicka was the runner-up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, earning a colossal $6.1 million.

Also appearing in the Victory Poker pro lineup is Chinese Poker sensation Danny Wong. Owning the moniker “Chinese Poker Wizard,” Wong learned to play the game’s variation at age five. Despite his success in Chinese Poker, he’s also excelled in No Limit Texas Hold’em, making three WPT final tables. Joining Wong will be online poker pro Brian “tsarrast” Rast.

Those who watched the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN will recall the deep run of the “Flying” Bilzerian brothers. Dan Bilzerian, who finished 180th, will become part of the Victory Poker cast. In his final hand of the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament, Bilzerian committed his stack with A-6, but could not best Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo’s pocket tens. His brother, Adam Bilzerian, renounced his U.S. citizenship and is now a passport holder of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Other Victory Poker pros include Andrew "good2cu" Robl, Keith Gipson, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, Sander Lylloff., and 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood. The site is scheduled to launch on February 1st and will accept players from the United States.

The Trash Talk Championship is a $1,000 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program and Cedars-Sinai.

Phil Laak launches his own poker room

There has been an ongoing trend when famous poker players have launched their own poker rooms. Doyle Brunson, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott and Tony G are just a few examples who have their own signature sites. Now Phil “Unabomber” Laak is starting up at the Cake Poker Network.

Phil Laak

Actually, having your name on a poker room is considered to be a notable sign that you have done something good in the poker industry. Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker will open on Cake Poker Network soon. Laak is planning to play and have his new blog maintained on the room.

“By joining a network that focuses on player rewards and accepts players worldwide, we knew we would be starting out on the right track. I love getting involved from the ground up,” Laak stated his new experiment during the announcement.

Cake Poker will open seven other rooms along with Unabomber Poker, as they announced earlier today. There are 55 poker rooms on the Cake Poker Network after the eight rooms join them and according to PokerScout.com there’s averaging 2.100 real money ring players every day.

Source: PokerNewsDaily

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Phil Laak launches his own poker room

Phil Laak, Cake Poker Network Launch Unabomber Poker

In the online poker world, having a room named after you is perhaps the most notable sign that you have made your mark in the industry. From DoylesRoom, fronted by the legendary Doyle Brunson, to Devilfish Poker, hosted by top English pro David “The Devilfish” Ulliot, many professional poker players have made the move to the online world with their own iconic rooms.

The Cake Poker Network announced today that top pro Phil Laak will join its family of sites with his own room. Called Unabomber Poker, the site will feature Laak in action on the network and through a blog that will be available on the site. Along with the announcement of Unabomber Poker, the Cake Poker Network also announced the addition of seven other new network poker rooms, including 7Win Poker, Redback Poker, Amsterdams Poker, Safari Poker, Dimeline, Rags2Riches Poker, and Burro Poker.

“We knew we wanted to launch the sickest poker site possible,” Laak stated during the announcement of the new venture. “By joining a network that focuses on player rewards and accepts players worldwide, we knew we would be starting out on the right track. I love getting involved from the ground up.” A Cake Network spokesperson added, “The addition of Unabomber Poker to the Cake Network is a cause for great excitement. Phil’s enthusiasm for the game is infectious and brings a great energy to the network.”

With the addition of the eight new rooms, the Cake Poker Network now encompasses a total of 55 online poker sites. Some of the most popular sites offered by the Cake Poker Network include DoylesRoom, PokerHost, Lock Poker, Gutshot.com, and its own eponymous site. The Cake Poker Network is among the Top Ten in the online poker industry by cash game traffic, according to the poker industry tracking site PokerScout.com, averaging 2,100 real money ring game players.

Unabomber Poker offers many of the player amenities that are a fixture of the Cake Poker Network. Through participating in the action on the site, players earn Gold Chips and Gold Cards that can be exchanged for cash, merchandise, or free play in tournaments on the network. Unabomber Poker will also participate in the Cake Poker Network’s premier monthly event, the $250,000 Guaranteed.

Laak is arguably one of the most visible players in the game today through both his play and his exuberant behavior at the table. He exploded on the poker scene in 2004 with a victory in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Invitational at the Commerce Casino and has remained a formidable foe at the tables since then. In 2005, Laak was runner up to Johnny Chan at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event when Chan captured his tenth bracelet. In a brief six-year career, Laak has earned slightly over $1.8 million from the tournament poker circuit.

Laak is famously called “The Unabomber” because his attire at the poker tables – a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses – gives Laak a resemblance to the forensic sketch of notorious convicted mail bomber Theodore Kaczynski. Laak can confound players with antics at the table such as push-ups, talking to the cards, and offering buyouts to players to show their winning hands. Away from the felt, Laak also makes a great deal of noise. He has one of the most high-profile poker relationships with former WSOP Ladies’ Champion Jennifer Tilly and has been a part of television show “I Bet You” with his longtime friend and former roommate Antonio Esfandiari.

Phil Laak Wins Poker After Dark Nicknames Week

The final episode of Nicknames week on the NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” featured Phil “The Unabomber” Laak defeating close friend Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari heads-up to win $120,000.

UB.com pro Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth was also part of Friday’s three-handed finale of Nicknames week. Holding four big blinds, Hellmuth called pre-flop with K-4 and Esfandiari checked his option with a lowly 8-3. The flop came 9-A-5 and the action went check-check to a deuce on the turn. Once again, both players checked, and the river was an eight, pairing Esfandiari. “The Magician” led out for 1,200 and laughed, exposing the three of diamonds and saying that he had 3-6. Hellmuth came along and promptly dropped to less than one big blind.

Amid Laak and Esfandiari celebrating that Hellmuth had less than one big blind remaining, the UB front man committed his chips and received calls from Esfandiari, who held 10-6 of diamonds, and Laak, who had K-6 of hearts. Both checked the action down to the river, with the board running out 9-4-Q-2-8. Hellmuth needed to beat king-high to stay alive, but instead turned over 5-7 and was sent packing in third place. He told “Poker After Dark” hostess Leeann Tweeden that Laak and Esfandiari were out of line: “When they’re out of line to me, it’s okay because god knows I need some sympathy the way I act.”

Esfandiari was a 7:5 chip leader entering heads-up play against Laak, who put the pedal to the metal throughout the match. “The Unabomber” took the chip lead after calling pre-flop with 8-9 of hearts and watching Esfandiari raise to 3,800 with A-5 of clubs. Laak called to see the flop come Q-9-4 with one club. The action went check-check to an eight of clubs on the turn, giving Laak two pair. He led out for 4,100 and Esfandiari, holding a flush draw, called. The river was the six of diamonds, missing Esfandiari. He checked, Laak bet 10,425, and Esfandiari folded.

Laak never relinquished the lead in the heads-up match on “Poker After Dark.” He flopped top pair and a straight draw with 9-8 on a 5-9-7 board. Esfandiari bet out 5,100 with 4-3 and Laak raised it to 30,000, including two stacks of $100 bills. Esfandiari mucked and Laak raked in yet another pot.

Esfandiari, whose boisterous laughter when Hellmuth was on the short stack changed to raw frustration heads-up against Laak, checked his option with 4-3 after Laak called pre-flop with K-5 of hearts. The flop came down 6-4-2 and Esfandiari fired out 1,800 chips. Laak called and the turn was a three, completing his straight and giving Esfandiari two pair. “The Magician” bet 5,100 and Laak called to see an ace on the river. Esfandiari bet 11,200, Laak insta-raised all-in, and Esfandiari mucked, lamenting, “It’s amazing how lucky you are.” At that point, Laak held a 5:2 advantage in chips.

On the final hand of Nicknames week on “Poker After Dark,” Esfandiari called pre-flop with the Doyle Brunson hand, 10-2, and Laak coyly checked his option with A-J. Laak flopped top pair on an A-5-4 board, but checked to Esfandiari, who also rapped the table. The turn was a seven. Laak once again just checked, Esfandiari bet 2,525, and Laak called to bring a queen on the river. Laak checked top pair one last time, Esfandiari tanked before moving all-in, and Laak called. Just like that, Nicknames week was over, as Esfandiari’s stone cold bluff failed miserably.

Esfandiari told viewers following the match, “I’m going to jump.” No new episodes of “Poker After Dark” are scheduled until the week of March 15th, when part one of a $50,000 cash game will feature Chris Ferguson, Hellmuth, Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, and Mike Matusow. In the meantime, fans of the show can catch encore presentations of “Poker After Dark” nightly at 2:05am ET on NBC.

Poker After Dark Season 6 Kicks off January 4th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jennifer Tilly hosting charity tournament

Jennifer Tilly will host the 2nd Annual All In for CP Celebrity No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament next Saturday, Dec. 12.

“All in for CP” was organized first time last year and the event raised $44.000 for the cause. This year they aim to get even more money for One Step Closer Foundation. 50% of the funds they raise will go directly to the Foundation.

“All in for CP” will gather up people from TV and Movie business, but also some poker professionals and other celebrities.

Jamie Gold, Barry Greenstein, Todd Brunson, Phil Laak, Clonie Gowen and Men “The Master” Nguyen have already confirmed their attendance.

Other celebrities playing in the tournament are the last year’s winner and The Simpsons creator Sam Simon, actor Ken Davitian, Shannon Elizabeth, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Shawn “Napster” Fanning and some Playboy playmates.

The tournament is held in Las Vegas, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Buy-in will be $500 and re-buy $200. There’s going to be a celebrity afterparty as well, which will be sponsored by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

Source: Pokerlistings, AllInforCP

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Jennifer Tilly hosting charity tournament

Tilly Hosting Charity Tournament for CP

The 2nd Annual All In for CP Celebrity No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament is set for Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The buy-in is $550 with $200 Re-Buys and a host of celebrities from all walks of life are already planning to attend.

Actors Dean Cain, Ken Davitian, Shannon Elizabeth, and Glenn Morshower have all confirmed, along with TV personality Montel Williams, and last year's champion, Simpsons creator Sam Simon, who donated his winnings to the One Step Closer Foundation.

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Napster creator Shawn Fanning and WWE diva Alicia Webb will also be there, joining Playboy Playmates Stacy Fusion, Jennifer Leigh, and Brande Roderick, who plans on bringing her husband and former Denver Broncos linebacker Glenn Cadrez.

Poker players returning for this year's tournament include 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold, Barry Greenstein, Pam and Todd Brunson, Phil Laak, Clonie Gowen, and Men 'the Master' Nguyen.

The tournament is the brainchild of Jacob Zalewski, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy.

"We hope to see a future where Cerebral Palsy is a thing of the past," says Zalewski. "We know we are getting one step closer to that vision everyday."

The event kicks off at the Hard Rock at 2 p.m. PT and will include a celebrity after-party sponsored by the Poker Player Alliance.

Founded in 2007, The One Step Closer Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization whose main goal is to ease the lives of those who suffer from Cerebral Palsy.

The organization also aims to financially assist researchers looking for medical advancements in treating and diagnosing Cerebral Palsy.

Last year the tournament raised $44,000 for the cause.

For tickets and information, call 281-740-8604 or check out the event’s website.

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Overheard at High Stakes Poker Season 6 Taping

Last week, the sixth season of GSN’s cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker” was filmed at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Some of the game’s best turned out for the three days of taping and sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss their thoughts headed into the suite.

Barry Greenstein will once again raise money for charity during Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” which will feature tournament hostess Kara Scott conducting interviews from the floor and Gabe Kaplan flying solo in the booth sans A.J. Benza. Greenstein is set to utter the most feared three words in all of poker sometime during the sixth season, “bing, bang blaow,” for charity. He told Poker News Daily, “One of the problems with it is that it’s like trash talking. Normally, it’s not classy to beat someone in a big pot and then talk trash. Each of the last couple of years, with the ‘Math is idiotic,’ I beat Tom Dwan and drew out. With the ‘lol donkaments,’ I told Erick Lindgren ahead of time that I was going to do it.” For uttering popular phrases throughout the years, Greenstein has truly earned his nickname as the “Robin Hood of Poker.”

Besides “High Stakes Poker,” Daniel Negreanu has taken to the television airwaves for the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” which returns this Sunday following NFL football on Fox. Negreanu discussed how the show has been received so far: “We couldn’t be happier. It came in off ‘Face the Ace,’ which got bad ratings. ‘Million Dollar Challenge’ was one of the highest rated shows and did amazingly well. The time slot is perfect following football and the production quality is so much better. Everything has a game show feel.”

On the mind of “High Stakes Poker” newcomer Dennis Phillips was the win by fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Cada in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament last year to the tune of $4.5 million; Cada’s win this year was worth $8.5 million. Phillips explained, “He was 21 and just won $8.5 million. He has a good head, talks well with the media, and wants to promote poker. We just need to make sure it goes the right way and he and I will be talking off and on.” PokerStars has produced several recent WSOP Main Event champions, including Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Cada (2009).

Phil Laak, who was an alternate for the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker” and wound up filming, told Poker News Daily about his experience at the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table, which unfolded at the Rio: “It was the second time in 10 years that I went to see it. I had never been in the Penn and Teller Theater in my life and I haven’t seen the show either.” Laak and Antonio Esfandiari instigated a number of prop bets during Season 5 of “High Stakes Poker,” one-off events that producer Mori Eskandani has apparently frowned upon during the show’s most recent installment.

Besides Phillips, another newcomer to the GSN poker series this time around is Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis, who final tabled the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP in 2009. Veldhuis told Poker News Daily how he stacks up against the talented competition: “I’ve played with these guys before, so I’m comfortable with them and I’m comfortable with my game. I just hope I can win some money because the show is a small sample. There’s going to be really high variance and I won’t have a lot of hands. It’s gambling, so in that respect, I think it’s higher stakes.”

Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Sunday, February 14th on GSN.

Live Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge Kicks Off in London

Tuesday marks the beginning of the live version of the Tom “durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge, which is unfolding in London. The festivities will see Dwan battle Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Sammy “Any Two” George, and Marcelo “luckexpress” Marigliano.

The match’s format is simplistic. Dwan will take on each opponent across 500 hands of No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. The series has a buy-in of $500,000 and neither player is permitted to leave the table until they are broke or the requisite number of hands has been played. The price of poker is $500/$1,000.

Eddie Hearn, who is organizing the gala on behalf of Matchroom Sport, commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “The stage is set for Tom to make history in London this week. The opponents are ready. Tom Dwan is the biggest draw in poker and to have a TV show in his name at such a young age shows the commercial power of the man. Poker is changing and we are delighted to be at its cutting edge.”

Tuesday’s action will see Dwan tangle with George in No Limit Hold’em. Dwan will then return on Wednesday to face Marigliano, also in No Limit Hold’em. The final match of the week occurs on Thursday, with Sahamies electing to play Dwan in Pot Limit Omaha. The action runs from 2:00pm to 2:00am daily at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair. The gala will be filmed for television and can be seen on Sky Sports next year in the U.K. It is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which recently signed Dwan to its stable of sponsored pros.

On the prospects of facing one of the most hyper-aggressive players in the game today, Sahamies told Matchroom Sport, “I am always excited to play my good friend Tom. He is one of the best Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha players in the world and when I heard about the challenge, I couldn‘t wait to sign up. With the gambling, the side-bets, the partying, and the drinking in London, this is going to be a whole lot of fun.” Dwan issued a challenge to Swedish online poker player Isildur1 to take on the American in London, but, as of the time of writing, Isildur1 has not yet obliged.

The live Durrrr Challenge was originally scheduled for two months ago following the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule in London. However, Dwan reached the semi-finals of the Poker Million, creating a scheduling conflict. Las Vegas was then brought up as a possible site for the competition before Hearn and company settled on mid-November in London. Dwan finished seventh in Heat 3 of the PartyPoker World Open last month and took ninth in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March for an even $25,000.

Last week, Dwan was in Downtown Las Vegas filming the sixth season of the GSN poker franchise “High Stakes Poker” at the Golden Nugget. The series, which will air in February, was also slated to feature George, who wound up not participating. Those facing off on the sixth cycle of the popular cash game program include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis.

The online version of the Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Patrik Antonius has come to a screeching halt as a result of Dwan’s hectic schedule. After 27,185 hands, Dwan leads by $779,000. If the youngster is up by at least $1 at the conclusion of 50,000, Antonius will owe $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will pay $1.5 million. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands.

Trishelle Cannatella Signs with Absolute Poker

The Absolute Poker family just became a little larger. The USA-facing site on the CEREUS Poker Network welcomed former 2002 “Real World” star Trishelle Cannatella as a sponsored pro. Poker News Daily sat down with Cannatella to discuss her new role.

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on signing with Absolute Poker. Besides “Real World,” some of our readers will recognize you from stints on “Punk’d,” “Fear Factor,” “Criminal Minds,” “Ninja Cheerleaders,” “The Dukes of Hazard: The Beginning,” “The Surreal Life,” and “Dr. Steveo.” How’d the signing come about?

Cannatella: One of my friends manages poker players. She was getting me gigs like going to charity tournaments and doing appearances. I started playing and she talked to someone at Absolute Poker. They asked me to be their ambassador.

PND: How did you get started in poker?

Cannatella: I started off in home games. They gave me a “Poker for Dummies” set and it’s how I learned. I taught myself how to play like that and began beating the guys at their own game. Then, I decided to play a live tournament at Caesars Palace, around an $80 buy-in event, and I won. I didn’t think I could actually do that and so I started playing a little bit more. I don’t have the bankroll to play very high stakes.

When I first started playing, it was on Paradise Poker. I used to play $1 tournaments online all night long. Now, I go from that to getting to play with people I used to see play on television. I am serious about it and am really looking forward to it.

PND: What can we expect from you on Absolute Poker?

Cannatella: I’m going to be playing on the site as “Trishelle_C” and am going to do blogs, both video and written. I’ll be going to events like charity tournaments and Aruba. I also spent the whole summer in Las Vegas for the WSOP. I really love poker, so it’s exciting to be part of the site.

PND: Who were you railing at the WSOP?

Cannatella: Phil Galfond was there. I became friends with Tom Dwan and Jeff Madsen. While I was there, I played a satellite and was the only girl at the table. The other players all have their iPhones and their sunglasses on and I got no respect at the table. All of a sudden, Chris Ferguson comes over, climbs over the rope, and told me that he was watching me play. Then, I started getting respect at the table.

PND: What’s next for your television career?

Cannatella: I took a little bit of a break after the Hulk Hogan wrestling show. Now, I’m getting back into things. I auditioned with a new show that’s like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” meets “Sex and the City.” I’ve also been in talks with more reality television show producers.

PND: Talk about fellow female Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones. Have you met her before?

Cannatella: She’s gorgeous and I met her in Las Vegas. We have a lot of mutual friends and I’m excited to work with everyone. I’m also friends with some of the poker girls and I love Tiffany Michelle.

PND: Who in the poker community have you gone to for advice?

Cannatella: I ask Phil Laak a lot for help and he tells me to go to CardRunners and study. He told me that he’d give me a month of free training if I go to CardRunners every day. So far, I haven’t had time.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Filmed at Golden Nugget

The sixth season of the GSN franchise “High Stakes Poker” filmed this week at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Friday marked the third of three days of filming for the $200,000 buy-in show.

A bevy of poker pros have wandered the halls of the Golden Nugget since Wednesday, each looking to strike it rich in the sixth cycle of the poker television staple. Last year, Tom “durrrr” Dwan made his “High Stakes Poker” debut in style, scooping the largest single pot in the show’s history at the expense of Team PokerStars Pro member Barry Greenstein. Dwan took down $919,000 when his K-Q drew out on Greenstein’s aces and, given the dramatic pots up for grabs, Dwan told Poker News Daily that he’s looking forward to Season 6: “I’m excited to be back. We’re playing for a whole lot of money this time around.”

One player making his “High Stakes Poker” debut is 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who took third in the $10,000 buy-in feature tournament last year for $4.5 million. The St. Louis native told Poker News Daily about his mindset headed into the high-stakes cash game: “I’m ready to do this and rock and roll. I sat down at ‘Poker After Dark’ last week and had some fun.” On making a run in the world of cash games, Phillips explained, “I played cash before I played tournaments. I played cash in London and in Monte Carlo as well.” Phillips admitted that he normally plays $25/$50 or $50/$100 cash games.

Common in previous seasons of “High Stakes Poker” were a variety of prop bets, many orchestrated by poker regulars Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. While waiting to head into the “High Stakes Poker” suite, Laak explained the stance of Executive Producer Mori Eskandani towards prop betting in Season 6: “The prop bets where people would guess on cards, for example, they’ve been trying to get rid of that. Mori is trying to steer towards less betting at all. The bottom line is that he doesn’t want viewers at home to be bogged down with players prop betting in addition to poker.” Prop bets during Season 5 revolved around push-ups, movie ratings, and hole cards.

Daniel Negreanu commented on his Twitter feed that he’s looking forward to running into more quads during the show’s sixth season. He’s appeared on every cycle of the program so far and told Poker News Daily how this year’s installment has varied from previous airings: “The show has progressed really far from Seasons 1 to 5. Season 1 was the smaller names because most of the guys who played were at higher stakes anyway. Now, the antes are up, the buy-ins are up, and the percentage of good players to bad players has gone up. It’s definitely more serious poker now. It’s more cutthroat.”

Also found at the Golden Nugget this week is Barry Greenstein, who, like Negreanu, has been a staple of “High Stakes Poker” ever since Season 1. Greenstein explained how the sixth season differs from years past: “The poker economy is down, so the money seems tougher to come by. There are few guys who you know play big online that have money, but the majority of people are thinking they’re taking a $200,00 shot and they’ll see what happens. The first year we did this, players felt better funded. I think what will happen is that there will be two guys like Phil Ivey and Durrrr who will try to muscle everyone around. Others will try to pick their spots.”

Released in the original cast list for Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker,” but not participating, was cash game player Sammy George. Those slated to take part in the festivities include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Dwan, Eli Elezra, Esfandiari, Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Ivey, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, Negreanu, Phillips, Lex Veldhuis, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko. The series premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET and features Kara Scott reporting on action from the “High Stakes Poker” suite.

Palms Casino Pays $100,000 Fine to Resolve Poker Complaint

The Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a complaint after failing to correctly supervise a pair of poker tournaments in 2007. The resort will pay a $75,000 fine to the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) and another $25,000 to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) for the cost of the investigation.

According to a complaint brought by the state’s attorney general’s office, which was picked up by media outlets like the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the tournaments were held by third parties that did not register with state gaming regulators prior to the events. By hosting the tournaments on their site, the Palms used its license to legitimize the two events. However, the NGCB stated that it doesn’t want outside operators using licensed Nevada casinos to “legitimize less-than-legitimate types of programs.”

The two tournaments were brought to the attention of the Board when it was learned that prize money was left unpaid following their completion.

“By allowing the poker tournament(s) to proceed without adequate planning and follow-up, the Palms failed to exercise the proper discretion and sound judgment to prevent a situation that might reflect negatively on the reputation of the State of Nevada and its gaming industry,” the complaint said.

One of the tournaments involved was the inaugural United States Poker League’s Poker Bowl, which was held in October of 2007. The team-based event was at first considered to be a giant success after attracting many of the game’s biggest names, such as Doyle Brunson, Kathy Liebert, Scotty Nguyen, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Greg Raymer, and Paul Wasicka. Team Cincinnati, represented by former World Series of Poker (WSOP) runner-up Steve Dannenmann and five other players, won the event and $600,000.

However, Poker Bowl’s owner and founder John Nightingale had difficulty keeping the company breathing and was forced to sell off its assets shortly after the event took place. The winners were never paid and individuals who had a financial stake in the business were left up in the air.

Some speculated that the reason Nightingale could not come up with the prize money was that he allowed too many pros to play for free rather than making them buy into the tournament. The Palms disbursed $450,416 in unpaid prize money to the winners after checks from the Poker Bowl bounced.

The other incident in the complaint occurred in August of 2007 after a tournament organized by Michael Eakman and Associates was not registered with the NGCB. The tournament was set up to benefit the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, but Michael Eakman and Associates waited four months to pay the Jewish Community Center its share of the earnings.

According to a Palms spokesperson, the resort paid all of the prizes as soon as it learned of the complaint.

WPT signs on for Annie Duke Charity Tournament

The WPT is putting up a seat in its exclusive Celebrity Invitational tournament to the winner of the charity event.

Organizers have also released an updated list of celebrities to attend the Duke charity tournament.

It now appears Amazing Race competitors Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will be buying in, along with fellow reality TV star Trishelle Cannatella, Magician Penn Lillette, world champion snowboarder Jeff Brushie, supercross icon Jimmy Button, actor Joshua Malina and several others.

The usual assortment of poker players will also be lining up to play with Duke, Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, Joe Sebok, Greg Mueller, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Andy Bloch and "Hollywood" Dave Stann scheduled to appear.

The public will be able to buy in for $330 and rub shoulders with all the aforementioned celebrities and poker players.

The top 10 finishers will receive prizes from sponsors WSOP Academy, ClubWPT.com, Rockwell Time, Crown Royal, Team UltimateBet, Cartwright Entertainment, Hardcore Elegance, AMA Supercross Anaheim and Commerce Casino.

Taking place at the Commerce Casino in L.A., the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night is set to benefit the Decision Education Foundation, which teaches young people to make smart decisions.

The WPT Celebrity Invitational takes place Feb. 20-21, 2010. Also held at Commerce Casino, the Celebrity Invitational is recognized as one of the biggest celebrity tournaments in the world.

The event has drawn the likes of Ben Affleck, Tobey McGuire, Vince Vaughn and Mena Suvari. Former winners include Phil Laak, Van Nguyen and Freddy Deeb.

To sign up for the the Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night or learn more about it, click here.

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Jason Somerville Leads WPT Festa al Lago Entering Day 3

Two days are in the books at the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago event. A total of 275 players registered, a drop of 25% compared to 2008, and entering Day 3 on Friday, Jason “JCarver” Somerville leads the way with a stack of 557,000.

A total of $1.2 million is up for grabs for the winner of the $15,000 buy-in tournament being held at the Bellagio. One person who won’t have the opportunity to vie for the seven-figure payday is Barry Shulman, the reigning champion of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event and father of November Nine member Jeff Shulman. The elder Shulman, founder of CardPlayer Magazine, was knocked out to close play on Thursday after pushing pre-flop with A-4 and running into the A-10 of Poorya Nazari. The winner of the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Nazari saw his hand hold to knock out Shulman.

Also eliminated late in the day was Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, who pushed over the top of a raise by Mark Seif for 60 big blinds holding pocket jacks. However, Seif called and turned over pocket kings. The board ran out Q-10-10-6-A to send Lederer home just a few hours after he bought into the tournament during the extended registration period on Day 2.

2008 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda was sent packing shortly after registration closed at 5:00pm Pacific Time on Thursday. Juanda called all-in for his tournament life on a board of K-Q-5-9 with three spades holding 6-7 of the suit. His opponent, Somerville, held Q-10 of spades for a higher flush and Juanda was eliminated. The hand pushed Somerville’s stack to 240,000.

2009 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Erik Seidel, an eight-time WSOP bracelet holder, took a bad beat at the hands of Phil Laak to end his run in the WPT Festa al Lago. Seidel pushed pre-flop with A-K and Laak made the call with K-5 of diamonds. Sure enough, a five hit the turn to give Laak the win in the hand. Laak’s stack grew to 120,000, but he did not survive play on Thursday. Others who were ousted included Beth Shak, Phil Hellmuth, Kenny Tran, Paul Wasicka, Erik Cajelais, David Grey, Carlos Mortensen, Eli Elezra, Jason Mercier, and Mike Sowers.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks remaining in the Festa al Lago entering Day 3 on Friday:

1. Jason “JCarver” Somerville – 557,000
2. Mark Seif – 473,200
3. Dutch Boyd – 453,800
4. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista – 425,000
5. Corwin Cole – 405,600
6. Richard Sciuto – 403,100
7. David “The Dragon” Pham – 365,000
8. Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah – 348,400
9. Steven McKoy – 325,500
10. Jonas Entin – 317,600

Ninety-eight players remain, with the top 27 spots paying out. Other notable names still in the hunt for the WPT title include:

11. Steve “gboro780” Gross – 301,900
13. Lee Markholt – 273,800
21. David “Chino” Rheem – 233,000
27. Poorya Nazari – 221,600
30. Chau Giang – 210,700
34. Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo – 197,500
38. Mike Matusow – 183,800
48. Freddy Deeb – 144,800
49. Steve Brecher – 137,600
59. Andy Bloch – 112,200
60. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 111,600
61. Glen Chorny – 111,100
63. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 106,200
64. Todd Brunson – 105,900
72. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little – 88,300
75. Brandon Cantu – 84,000
78. Josh Arieh – 77,800
80. Prahlad Friedman – 75,900
83. Barry Greenstein – 68,900
89. Kathy Liebert – 55,000
92. Phil Ivey – 51,700

When play halted for the evening in Las Vegas, blinds were at 1,000/2,000 with a 200 chip ante. The Festa al Lago will crown a winner on Monday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the marquee WPT event.

Tilly returns at WPT Festa

But the 1994 Academy Award nominee and 2005 World Series of Poker Ladies champion came back to the World Poker Tour for the Festa al Lago main event this week and told PokerListings she's here to stay.

"Poker is actually an addiction," she said. "I did take almost a year off. I did a play in the West End and I did a couple of movies, but I found that when I was doing the theatre, I was really missing the poker."

When the curtain would fall in her nightly performances of Wallace Shawn's Grasses of a Thousand Colours at the Royal Court Theatre in London, Tilly would head straight to the famed Victoria Casino to sit in with Neil Channing and the rest of the Vic's regulars.

With boyfriend Phil Laak still pursuing his poker dreams around the globe, Tilly couldn't help but feel poker's pull and soon she was forced to admit her love for the game actually outweighed her interest in acting.

"It's really hard to get away from, especially when you have a boyfriend who you live with who is really fanatic about poker," she said. "I guess now I'm just at a time in my life where I find poker more interesting than acting, although I suppose that could change."

While Tilly enjoyed some success in her first foray into poker, amassing more than $500,000 in tournament cashes, the poker lifestyle articles she wrote for Bluff Magazine that were a little more lifestyle than poker, and some of the mistakes she made on televised poker shows, quickly became fodder for the more visceral voices on several online poker forums.

Looking back, Tilly admitted she found it all rather hurtful and it was one of the reasons she decided to leave the poker world behind.

"I did get very discouraged because lots of times you read online, people are saying all these horrible things about you, people who don't know anything about your game or your stats or anything," she said.

"I had to get my computer expert to break the link to Two Plus Two, because Two Plus Two is like crack. Those guys are really smart and funny and I would go there every day and laugh and laugh and laugh, until I saw something bad about me and I would feel really horrible."

But after a little soul searching in her time away from poker, Tilly feels she's now more equipped to handle the criticism.

"I've never really lived my life, since I got out of high school, caring about what people think that much and I feel like just because it was annoying to other people to have an actress playing poker or they thought my articles were dopey or whatever, I'm not going to crawl into a hole and not try to achieve.

"I think I'm kind of in a place now in my life where I don't care what people think."

Taking a few steps away from playing poker actually gave Tilly the time to refine her game and she also feels better prepared to succeed.

"I've just been doing a lot of reading and studying in my time off and I feel like I'm in really good shape to re-attack the poker thing again," she said. "It's really an amazing game. It encompasses all areas of life. I think poker is really a metaphysical puzzle and every situation you encounter in poker is an analogy for life.

"So the work that I've been doing has been more than going to PokerXFactor or CardRunners or reading all the poker books that have ever been written. It's also been reading books about the conscious universe, how you can tell people are lying and psychic phenomenon, how to expand your brain and reach your peak potential."

Tilly's return to poker has already included a final table appearance at the PartyPoker World Poker Open in London just last week and although she busted out of Festa al Lago late on Day 2 Thursday, she left with a smile and a plan to be back better than ever.

"It's really kind of a lifetime project," she explained. "I've kind of cracked the acting thing, but I could live to be a hundred years old and still not know everything there is to know about poker."

To follow all the action at WPT Festa al Lago click through to PokerListings' Live Updates.

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Poker News in Brief: Oct. 12-18, 2009

With both the World Series of Poker Europe and the PokerStars European Poker Tour London completed, it was up to smaller events like the Aruba Poker Classic and the PartyPoker World Open V to provide poker headlines.

The relatively unknown Brandon Hall became the champion in Aruba while the very well-known Phil Laak took down the World Open V.

But there were several stories that didn't make it to the front page of PokerListings.com and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we've presented them below.

This week we'll take a look at the Poker Professor holding class, Doyle Brunson getting some recognition and Vladimir Geshkenbein becoming a heads-up champion.

Lederer wins $10k H.O.R.S.E. prelim at Bellagio

Howard Lederer added another poker title to his resume this week and he only had to beat 19 players to do it.

The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. WPT Festa al Lago preliminary event wrapped up on Thursday after drawing a small but skilled field that included Eli Elezra, Michael Binger, Andy Bloch, Scott Clements, David Singer and several other established pros.

Lederer beat Russian pro Ralph Perry in heads-up play to secure a first place prize of $92,150. Despite two final tables at the WSOPE this year, Lederer hadn't won a major tournament since taking down the $100,000 buy-in event at the 2008 Aussie Millions.

Lederer, who is sometimes known as the "Poker Professor", now has over $5 million in career tournament earnings.

Doyle Brunson inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson is perhaps the most famous player in poker, but this week he was recognized for his athletic achievements.

After years of waiting patiently, Brunson was finally inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Hardin Simmons University.

Before he started playing poker for a living Brunson competed in track and played basketball at HSU.

Brunson was a key member of an HSU basketball team that won its conference championship for a spot in the NCAA Division 1 playoffs. Brunson scored 412 points and was the only HSU athlete in any sport to be named the MVP of the Division 1 Border Conference.

Brunson was initially passed over for Hall of Fame recognition because of his involvement in the poker world.

The Texas Dolly is still one of the most popular poker players in the world and his twitter account "TexDolly" recently hit over 41,000 followers.

PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam for Vladimir Geshkenbein

Vladimir Geshkenbein outlasted some of the biggest names in poker to win the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam this week.

The Russian beat Juha Helppi in the final heads-up match to take down a first place prize of $120,000.

The field was comprised of 32 players including Tony G, Tom Dwan, Luke Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Peter Eastgate, Sammy George, J.C. Tran and numerous other high profile poker players.

Fans were hoping for a live resurrection of the online rivalry between Dwan and the trash-talking Schwartz, but were disappointed when Dwan busted out in his first match. Schwartz didn't make it much further, busting in his second match.

No one could figure out a way to beat the lesser-known Geshkenbein, who did win the high roller event at APPT Macau earlier this year. Geshkenbein has now earned nearly $400,000 playing poker in the last few months.

Forum tournament winner to play Ziigmund

A series of Online Forum Challenges are set to take place on Power Poker over the next few months with the ultimate winner getting a shot at celebrated high-stakes player Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies.

Power Poker will be hosting a series of tournaments over the next three months as part of the Online Forum Challenge and any player that takes part in every event will be entered into the Heads Up with Ziigmund freeroll.

The freeroll will offer a prize pool and a bounty in addition to the winner getting a chance to play Sahamies heads-up for $1,000.

All poker forum members are welcome to take part in the challenge and you can learn more by going to the Online Forum Challenge website here.

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Unabomber blows up at World Open V

Laak is one of the most recognizable faces in poker, but hasn't had anything resembling a big score since winning an episode of Poker After Dark in 2007.

"This was a wild roller coaster ride and I am proud to have shared it with this amazing cast of characters," said Laak. "They were a tough bunch. Wow - what an honor."

Laak beat Austrian qualifier Jan Veit in heads-up play to win the $250,000 first place prize.

The invitation-only World Poker Open V began with 48 players, including Tom Dwan, Roland De Wolfe and James Akenhead, all of whom were eliminated in the preliminary heats.

By the time the dust had settled in the prelims, Laak, Schwartz, Sexton, Tilly, Andy Black, Bodo Sbrzesny and Veit had booked seats at Thursday's final table.

After a slow start to the final, Black jumped out to the early lead, but was surprisingly the first casualty when he dipped into short stack territory and shoved K-J into Laak's A-7.

Sexton, who was also officially announced as the lone 2009 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame Thursday, was the next to go when he shoved pocket eights into Veit's pair of kings.

Tilly then found her way to the rail after going all in with A-J and having Veit wake up with pocket nines.

Veit continued to pick up steam when he eliminated PartyPoker grassroots pro Sbrzesny in fourth place, leaving himself, Laak and Schwartz to fight it out three-handed.

The always-controversial Schwartz endured several bad beats at the final table, including getting it in with A-T against Veit's K J in his final hand. Veit went runner-runner to river a flush and bust him third.

Laak and Veit entered heads-up play with nearly equal stacks, but it took just one hand to decide their fate.

Veit got all-in with A-4 on the first hand heads-up and Laak made the call with A-8. An eight on the flop was enough to give Laak the checkmark and a severely out-chipped Veit was forced to shove with J-7 the very next hand.

Laak made the call with Q-9, the board bricked and that was enough to secure Laak the title and $250k prize.

Here are the complete final table payouts for the PartyPoker World Open V:

1. Phil Laak - $250,000
2. Jan Veit - $100,000
3. Luke Schwartz - $40,000
4. Bodo Sbrzesny - $30,000
5. Jennifer Tilly - $25,000
6. Mike Sexton - $20,000
7. Andy Black - $15,000

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Phil Laak Wins PartyPokerWorld Open V

The latest installment of the London-based PartyPoker World Open featured a little bit of everything.  The fifth World Open had controversy, excitement, big names, and even a little romance at a seven-person final table that included Mike Sexton, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, Jennifer Tilly, and Luke “Full_Flush1″ Schwartz.  In the end, it was Laak who prevailed over the tough field, defeating online qualifier Jan Veit to take the $250,000 first place prize.

The $10,000 buy-in invitation-only event featured six preliminary heats and a runner-up consolation round, with the winner of each heat advancing to the final table.  The event got off with a bang before the cards were even in the air.  Schwartz, a brash online poker pro, arrived at the Palm Beach Casino only to learn that he had been banned from the property and was not going to be let on the premises.  The ban stems from Schwartz’s behavior at the European Poker Tour (EPT) London stop earlier this month, where he stole a pickle and cheese sandwich and then refused to pay for it, claiming he was a VIP and deserved to be treated as such.

Initially, it seemed as though the fallout from “Sandwichgate 2009” was that Schwartz would be banned from all Grosvenor-owned casinos, but the Palm Beach incident suggests that many other venues in Britain have followed Grosvenor’s lead.  Schwartz was eventually admitted into the casino to participate in the tournament, but only under the condition that an escort accompanied him at all times.  The drama did not appear to have any affect on Schwartz’s play, as he won the first heat to advance to the final table.

Veit, Laak, Tilly, Sexton, and Andrew Black also prevailed in their preliminary heats to advance to the final table, while the final seat went to PartyPoker sponsored pro Bodo Sbrzesny of Germany, who won the runner-up heat.  At the outset of the final table, longtime couple Tilly and Laak were seated side-by-side, with Laak having position on his paramour.  The two clashed in a couple of pots, including a blind versus blind confrontation in which Tilly moved all-in with pocket aces and Laak doubled her up with K-Q, but the lovebirds would be separated early on when Tilly was eliminated in fifth place.

Sexton also made an early exit when he was eliminated in sixth place, but received an exciting consolation prize, as news broke on Thursday that he would be the 38th member to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and the only person selected for that honor from this year’s list of nine nominees.

Online qualifier Veit took the lead early in the event and picked up even more chips when he eliminated Schwartz in third place.  Heads-up play between Laak and Veit was a crazy affair, with the chips flying early on.  The two players got it all-in shortly after heads-up play was underway, with Laak holding A-8 to Veit’s A-4.  Laak doubled up to take a massive chip lead and Veit could not recover from the big hit.  He was ultimately eliminated in second place when his J-7 could not prevail over Laak’s Q-9.

The entirety of the event will begin airing on the British Five network on October 28th and will be hosted by Kara Scott.

Here are the complete results from the final table of the PartyPoker World Open V:

1st Place: Phil Laak – $250,000
2nd Place: Jan Veit – $100,000
3rd Place: Luke Schwartz – $40,000
4th Place: Bodo Sbrzesny – $30,000
5th Place: Jennifer Tilly – $25,000
6th Place: Mike Sexton – $20,000
7th Place: Andy Black – $15,000

Phil Laak wins Party Poker World Open V

Phil Laak is the PartyPoker.com World Poker Open V champion. The Unabomber started the final slowly, seeing his chips drop from a starting stack of 300,000 to 187,000 at one stage but he fought his way back after getting a bit of luck against Luke ‘_fullflush_’ Schwartz. The Irish-born American pushed all in with AJ. Schawartz instantly called with a dominating AQ but a J on the flop doubled Laak up and he was right back in the contest.

High Stakes Poker Axes AJ Benza

According to his personal blog, A.J. Benza revealed that GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” will return for Season 6 featuring Gabe Kaplan and a female co-host. New episodes will begin airing in February on the popular cable station.

A flood of support from fans of Benza follows his High Stakes Poker blog entry, which was published on Sunday. In it, he noted that on a conference call last week, GSN executives Barry Nugent and David Shiff hinted that Benza might be replaced by a female co-host. Benza, as expected, did not take the news lightly, telling the two GSN “suits” on the call, “If you got the best pizza in town for 5 seasons, why try and add licorice to it?” The fifth cycle of “High Stakes Poker” began airing in March and featured a veritable “who’s who” of the poker world, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, and newcomers Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.

Facing the possibility of being replaced, Benza reminded GSN officials that he publicizes the show on his own watch “because GSN has never set up not even as much as a radio interview for me.” Benza also asked if Nugent and Shiff were fathers, which the former host explained in his blog entry that they were. He continued, “So surely they would know the hardships of losing a top-rated gig while raising little children in the process. (Oh and did I mention that I have a son who is a Freshman in college). So armed with my track record on giving GSN 5 seasons of a No. 1 rated show, I decided to hit them in the spot where it’s supposed to make a father go mush.”

Benza told Nugent and Shiff that he would take a pay cut to remain the host of Season 6 of the popular poker cash game show, which survived a management change at GSN that resulted in the network declining to pick up its option to carry Season 7 of the World Poker Tour (WPT). Consequently, WPT officials were left scrambling to find a new television partner in the middle of 2008 before finally settling on Fox Sports Net, which will also air the eighth season of the WPT. Benza lamented, “I just want to put it out there y’all. This is the kind of shit that goes on in Hollywood.”

On his future, Benza told readers that he will have a face to face meeting with Nugent: “I will have my meeting with Nugent - and I promise I won’t stab him with a butter knife. He and I go way back to my E! days, and honestly, he’s a good guy.” As to who will sit alongside Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” booth this season, Benza hinted, “I hope you like the female they toss in front of you. And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

As expected, the online poker forums have been buzzing with the news that Benza may soon find his way out of “High Stakes Poker,” although no official announcement has come down from GSN. Speculation on Benza’s replacement has ranged from Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso to ESPN announcer Norman Chad’s crush Kara Scott. Despite not necessarily footing the bill as “eye candy,” posters on the TwoPlusTwo forum clamored that Ali Nejad, who hosts “Poker After Dark” and the “National Heads-Up Poker Championship” on NBC, should be considered.

On October 6th, Rousso posted a curious Twitter entry that read, “PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge is wrappppped! Woot! Meetings today about another TV project, will keep you all posted.” Just before the start of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas in March, Rousso inked an agreement to become the newest GoDaddy Girl, joining Danica Patrick, Anna Rawson, Marina Orlova, and original site symbol Candice Michelle.

We’ll keep you posted right here on Poker News Daily.

PartyPoker World Open V Well Underway

The PartyPoker World Poker Open V has kicked off in London, with several top pros turning out to compete. Phil Laak showed up after totally dominating the first evening of his heat but really had to work in order to make it through the next day.

Timoshenko, Flack confirmed for World Open V

JP Kelly, Teddy Sheringham, Andrew Feldman, Roland De Wolfe, Paul Zimbler, Sammy George, Bruno Fittoussi and 2009 November Niner Antoine Saout will help create one of the fiercest line-ups ever assembled for the prestigious event, which takes place Oct. 11-15, 2009, in London.

Perhaps no one is hotter than Timoshenko at the moment.

Since August 2008, he's won the APT Macau main event, the WPT World Championship and the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event, totalling $4.2 million in prize money in those three events alone.

Timoshenko was also in prime position to make the final table of the 2009 WSOPE before busting out in 25th.

Meanwhile Flack is one of the most well-known poker players in the world and has already won six WSOP bracelets and one WPT title. Never one to shy away from controversy, the outspoken Flack is instantly recognizable at a poker table.

English player George has been garnering a great deal of media attention lately after accepting a heads-up challenge against Tom "durrrr" Dwan and then putting in a strong showing in the PokerHeaven European Cash game.

The 48-person field also includes Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz, Jennifer Tilly, JC Tran, Phil Laak, Ian Frazer, James Akenhead and several other big-name poker players.

"The early money is for durrrr, which isn't really a surprise, but favorites do not have a good record in this competition," said a PartyPoker spokesperson. "We're delighted with the field. Every heat features a super strong line-up."

The spokesperson went on to mention that one of the best heats features Timoshenko, Akenhead, Schwartz and Frazer at the same table.

Past winners of the shootout-style World Open include Lee Nelson, Liam Flood and Anthony Hardy.

Last year Marty Smyth outlasted all competitors and then beat Neil Channing heads-up to take down the $250,000 first-place prize in the World Open IV.

Visit PokerListings.com

Annie Duke Comments on Ultimate Bet Scandal Findings

In an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily, “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke discusses the findings of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), the Aruba Poker Classic, and Tiffany Michelle’s appearance on the CBS reality program “Amazing Race.”

Poker News Daily: Talk about the release of the screen names associated with the Ultimate Bet investigation.

Duke: I think that the release of the user names is nice. One of the main things was naming Russ Hamilton. That was probably the most gratifying part of the report. It’s good to come out and say who it was. It puts to rest any questions people might have. If the KGC is going to put that name out there, then he’s the one who masterminded it. That puts the nail in the coffin, which is a good nail to have. Someone who perpetrated something like that should be identified.

PND: Has there been any fallout from not naming the other 31 individuals who were potentially involved?

Duke: I know that in terms of the way it was executed, Russ had access to opening accounts. I think they’re not revealing the 31 names because the level of involvement is unclear. It looks like Russ was using other names to open accounts for cheating. Russ had so much access that it’s hard to say whether the other people were involved.

PND: What has been the reaction you’ve received to the KGC’s report?

Duke: I got some feedback on Twitter of people saying that the report’s release was great. I also had some people calling for the other 31 names. That was the main comment and it’s a tough call. Russ had complete access.

This summer at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), everyone was happy with how things had proceeded. There was a lot of money refunded and Ultimate Bet wasn’t trying to hide anything. People were asking me about the superuser list and my response was that they should write the KGC. It’s a big relief because that was the last piece of the puzzle and Ultimate Bet had to wait for the KGC. Everyone can see that Ultimate Bet wasn’t trying to hide or cover up anything. The present management wasn’t implicated and that’s important. Everyone understands that this management was a victim just like everyone else. This management refunded $22 million and they didn’t have to.

PND: What are you looking forward to the most in Aruba this year?

Duke: Being there the whole time. Last year, I was only there three days and it was all meetings because I had to pack it all in. I didn’t even get to enjoy anything. I can have some time this year to hang out with players, do water activities like tubing, and hang out at the pool. I’m bringing one of my kids and it’ll also be productive in terms of work. It’s funny because there’s also a poker tournament, but it seems like an afterthought.

PND: Does the Aruba Poker Classic lose any luster not being a part of an organized tournament series?

Duke: I don’t think so. In some ways, it gains something from that. I’m not sure right now that the World Poker Tour (WPT) seems to be that huge of a draw anyway. Aruba gets the same attendance as WPT tournaments. The difference is that the people are there because they want to be there, not because they’re just trying to get television coverage. I think it enhances the communal feel of it. That’s in some sense why Aruba feels like a more intimate experience than the Bahamas.

PND: Has there ever been any talk of the Aruba event becoming part of an organized series?

Duke: There’s no reason to worry about it because the attendance has been good. They have television opportunities if they wanted to air it. I sort of feel like if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s a beautifully run tournament and Matt Savage always does an amazing job. We’ll get between 400 and 600 players.

PND: Have you had a chance to check out “Face the Ace” on NBC? What are your thoughts on the show?

Duke: I watched the first episode and I don’t like it, but I think it could be fixed. My understanding is that they’ve changed things in the new episodes they’ve filmed. I’m not a huge fan of the host and I wish they used Ali Nejad in that role. It’s important to cast contestants and I understand why they can’t because they’re using online qualifiers, so there isn’t much you can do. Instead, you need to have a host that brings the contestants out. With the pros they’re using, some are good at getting players to talk and some aren’t. That’s another issue. When you get a contestant who isn’t gregarious and they’re paired with a pro who isn’t gregarious, it’s dead air. It’s all a learning experience, though. Full Tilt does some of the best poker programming in the industry.

PND: Will we see an Ultimate Bet version of “Face the Ace” anytime soon?

Duke: Phil Hellmuth would be very good television in those heads-up matches. I think moving out of their circle of pros might help Full Tilt and it wouldn’t hurt them. “Poker After Dark” has been a successful property for them and it features lots of people who aren’t Full Tilt pros. Phil Laak would be really good and there are others who are very big television people. It would help when you have an introverted contestant.

PND: Are you heading to WSOP Europe this year?

Duke: No. I am speaking at an ideas conference. It’s all about nurturing my intellectual pursuits. I’m talking about decision-making and ultimatums. I’m really excited about that and trying to get back to my economic roots. Ideas conferences are cool and feature some of the smartest people in the world.

PND: Are you looking forward to watching Tiffany Michelle on the new season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race”?

Duke: She’s a fellow pro at Ultimate Bet and I want to support her. I’ll set my Tivo and will be rooting for her. It’s an exciting opportunity for her and for poker.

PND: Does it feel good to re-sign Michelle?

Duke: Tiffany is a very enthusiastic pro. She interacts well with customers and is a good team member. She also blogs a lot, shows up, and does everything we ask her to.

WSOP on ESPN Ratings Reach Highest Levels of 2009

With Day 3 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event set to kick off on Tuesday night on ESPN, network officials have announced that ratings for the September 8th broadcast were the highest of the 2009 season.

The preview for next week’s WSOP Main Event on ESPN broadcast features 11-time bracelet winner and 1989 Main Event champion Phil Hellmuth proclaiming, “Turbulence is coming.” However, it’s been smooth sailing so far for ESPN during the 2009 installment of the world’s most prestigious tournament series. The 8:00pm ET hour of last week’s telecast scored a 0.97 rating, while the second hour came in at 1.13. So far, the network is 11% ahead of last year’s resoundingly successful broadcast.

Doug White, ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions, told Poker News Daily, “We’re all very pleased with the ratings thus far. We try not to get too high or low on ratings, but it’s nice when things are moving in a positive direction, so we’re extremely pleased with it.” White was instrumental in keeping the WSOP on ESPN until at least April of 2018 under an extension inked one month ago.

The September 8th broadcast logged a 0.93 rating during the first hour and 0.73 rating during the second hour among males age 18 to 34. The telecast turned in a 0.88 average rating among males age 18 to 49 and 1.03 for males age 25 to 54. ESPN’s broadcast on September 8th netted 954,000 household impressions during the first hour and 1.11 million during the second hour.

ESPN’s WSOP ratings have trended upwards in recent weeks and the network will broadcast its 15th hour-long installment on Tuesday night at 8:00pm ET. On the rise in the ratings, White speculated, “I’d like to think it’s because the quality of our shows are great. Our talent has been tremendous and the production quality has been excellent.” Lon McEachern and Norman Chad once again provide commentary for two hours each week, with Chad recently falling to Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer in a chess match during the popular segment “The Nuts.”

Next week’s Day 3 coverage teases the presence of Hellmuth, Jeffrey Lisandro, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Humberto Brenes, Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, and Andy Black. In it, McEachern dramatically narrates, “With the field now united, it means our next Main Event champion is in the building. Amongst the players still in the hunt are some of the biggest names in the game, including one man who is the clear favorite to become Player of the Year.” McEachern alludes to Lisandro, who took home three bracelets in the preliminary tournaments leading up to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event for nearly $750,000 total.

The 2009 WSOP Main Event final table features an assortment of characters, including fan favorite Phil Ivey and CardPlayer Editor Jeff Shulman, who has threatened to throw away the Main Event bracelet should he win. On Shulman and Ivey’s presence at the final table, White commented, “I don’t know if it sways our audience positively or negatively, but it brings about discussion. People are talking about it and that’s a good thing. It means the final table is on people’s minds. It’s a fantastic opportunity for players to showcase their personalities and skills on the biggest stage in poker.”

Here is a look at the remaining first-run episodes of the 2009 WSOP Main Event on ESPN. Replays also hit airwaves throughout the week on ESPN’s family of stations, so check local listings for more information. All times are Eastern:

September 15th to September 29th: 8:00pm to 10:00pm
October 6th to November 3rd: 9:00pm to 11:00pm
November 10th: 9:00pm to 11:30pm: WSOP Main Event Final Table

Greg Raymer, Jason Alexander Featured on WSOP on ESPN Day 2 Coverage

The first of two Day 2s in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event took center stage on Tuesday night on ESPN. 2004 champion Greg Raymer and “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander headlined the feature table.

ESPN announcer Norman Chad shared his take on the Day 2A lineup: “Today’s feature table is what I love about [the Main Event]. You have one of the top all-time performers in the Main Event, Greg Raymer, hoping to make another deep run and George Costanza is standing in his way.” Shortly after Chad’s comments, Gus Hansen was ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament after calling all-in with the nut straight on the turn. However, the board paired on the river, giving his opponent a full house.

Table Two, ESPN’s secondary feature table, included Chris Ferguson and Roland de Wolfe. Ferguson has logged five bracelets and five runner-up finishes at the WSOP over the last 10 years. Also in the field were Todd Brunson and “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett, who were seated at the same table. Meanwhile, Jack Ury continued to battle in the Main Event. At 96 years-old, he is its oldest competitor and doubled up after flopping a boat with pocket sevens on a 6-6-7 board. However, Ury was later eliminated and received a standing ovation.

Eli Elezra and former boxer Kili Madrid were also seated together. Madrid owned an 8-0 record as a professional fighter and recorded four knockouts. Meanwhile, Alexander told ESPN cameras why he has an edge at the tables: “I always say to the pros when they start to sass me, ‘If I lose to you, there’s no dignity lost. I’m supposed to lose to you. If you lose to me, you will never live this down, so make your decisions very carefully.’”

Poker couple Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak could be found in the Day 2A field, as could father and son Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok. The former was knocked out and signed a copy of his book, “Ace on the River,” for his executioner. However, the player who busted Greenstein had also earned a copy of his book back in 2006. Meanwhile, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow moved to Greg “FBT” Mueller’s table, creating a star-studded lineup in the outer reaches of the Amazon Room.

The Full Tilt Poker-sponsored segment “Deal Me In” featured Matusow describing a hand during the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Matusow made a “value bet bluff” on the river to force Daniel Negreanu to lay down a pair. Shortly thereafter, Lex Veldhuis, who finished seventh in the $40,000 buy-in tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, called all-in on a draw for 30 big blinds and was shown the exit. An opponent whose constant chatter sent the poker pro over the edge may have been the cause.

The Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player are concealed, featured raised action to a flop of 2-A-5, all clubs. Greg Raymer, holding mystery cards, bet out 2,500, Alexander raised to 6,000 with A-9 (no clubs), and Raymer made the call. On Alexander’s raise, Chad commented, “I like that raise from Jason. He should be able to find out if he has the best hand.” The king of clubs hit the turn and Raymer fired out 13,000. Alexander folded and Raymer turned over Q-7 of clubs for the nut flush.

The same feature table and Table Two headlined the second episode. The show, which hit airwaves at 9:00pm ET, opened with Alexander describing his role in “Pretty Woman” to Raymer: “The scene when I attack her – we did a version where she attacks me.” Chad then joked, “We did a version of the 2006 Main Event where Jamie Gold didn’t win.” The action then flipped to Matusow, about whom Chad commented, “Mike is a professor at Deep Stacks University. I believe they are the Ragin’ Cajuns.” Ragin’ Cajuns has replaced Demon Deacons as Chad’s favorite college mascot in 2009.

At the final table, Raymer raised to 1,600 pre-flop and Alexander made the call with pocket threes. Dennis Baltz bumped the action to 4,500 with pocket kings. Raymer came over the top with a hand other than pocket aces to 20,000 and both Baltz and Alexander folded. On his opponent’s laydown, Raymer noted, “Since you couldn’t call, it had to be a good fold because you’re not throwing away aces or kings.”

The PokerStars-sponsored “Straight from the Pros” vignette featured Raymer reliving a hand during the 2004 WSOP Main Event. In it, Raymer bluffed after picking up a tell on his opponent. In the second episode’s Wild Card Hand, “Fossilman” once again picked up unknown cards and raised to 1,600 pre-flop. Alexander made it 3,500 with pocket nines and Raymer made the call to see a flop of A-Q-6 with two spades. Raymer check-called a 6,000 chip bet from Alexander and the turn was a five. The action went check-check and the deuce of hearts hit the river. Raymer led out for 7,000 and Alexander called. Raymer turned over A-K for top pair and pushed his chip stack to 140,000.

In case you were wondering, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo won his Panorama Towers prop bet after Mueller scooped a bracelet in 2009. Bonomo gave 7:1 odds that one of 43 poker players who live in the massive off-Strip complex would take home a piece of hardware this year. Among them were Bonomo, Isaac Haxton, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Laak, and Veldhuis.

“The Nuts” took to the links on Tuesday night, as Dewey Tomko gave Chad seven strokes on a putting green over nine holes. In the end, it all came down to the last hole. If Chad won the hole, he would win the bet, but missed a crucial putt. Meanwhile, de Wolfe, once down to 3,600 chips, doubled twice through Steve Gee to move to over 30,000. Alexander raked in the last pot of the evening at the feature table to make his first Day 3.

New episodes of the 2009 WSOP on ESPN air on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm ET.

Durrrr and FullFlush Headline World Open V Lineup

Major changes are in store for the latest installment of the PartyPoker and Matchroom Sport sponsored World Open poker tournament.  In addition to several new faces participating in the popular televised event, the World Open V will also have a new place to call home and a new structure.

Previous versions of the World Open have taken place in a television studio, but this year, a change in venue is putting the action in the middle of the Palm Beach Casino in London.  The tournament will still be taped and televised on the Five Network in Britain and distributed internationally.  Longtime poker commentator Jesse May will once again be providing commentary.  The tournament will take place from October 11th to 15th.  A total of 48 players will pony up $10,000 to participate and take a shot at the $250,000 first place prize.

A number of pros from Europe and abroad are confirmed for next month’s event, including the entire team from PartyPoker.  World Poker Tour host and semi-finalist for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame class Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Felipe Ramos, Ian Frazer, and the latest addition to the PartyPoker team, Bodo Sbrzesny, will all be participating.  They will be joined by a slew of other pros like Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Neil Channing, Scott Fischman, Roberto Romanello, Andy Black, J.C. Tran, Steve Sung, November Nine member James Akenhead, and World Open IV winner Marty Smyth.

Online poker rivals Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Luke “_FullFlush1_” Schwartz have also been tapped to play in the event.  The vocal and opinionated Schwartz has been highly critical of durrrr’s play and social life, so the prospect of the two players sitting at the same table in a brick-and-mortar casino could make for some good television.

The sit and go structure for the World Open V will change slightly from past versions. The preliminary heats will feature eight-handed play instead of six-handed, while the final table will expand from six-handed to seven-handed.  If the World Open V follows the same setup as other PartyPoker and Matchroom Sport poker events, the winners of each of the preliminary heats will advance to the final table.  The runners-up at each table will then compete in a second chance heat with the winner taking the seventh and last seat at the final table.  One final noteworthy change to the event is the implementation of triple stacks to allow for more play.

The big name pros will not be the only participants in the World Open V.  PartyPoker has been running a number of satellites into the tournament.  The online poker site is offering opportunities to qualify for as little as $3.  The tiered satellite system offers daily tournaments for $3 and $8 in which players can qualify for the daily $70 satellite.  For every 10 players in the $70 satellites, one will advance to the weekly $650 event.  For every 20 entrants in the $650 event, one will win a prize package that includes buy-in to the World Open V, a hotel stay in London during the event, and $1,000 in spending money.

The fourth installment of the World Open boasted a final table of Smyth, Channing, Marc Goodwin, Andy Ward, Dixie Dean, and Ryan Fronda.  Heads-up play came down to Smyth and Channing, who entered the final table with the two largest chip stacks.  In the end, Smyth prevailed to take down the event and its $250,000 grand prize.  Shortly after winning the World Open in April of 2008, Smyth claimed his first World Series of Poker bracelet when he took down the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for $859,549.

PartyPoker World Open set for September

The event will take place from Sunday Oct. 11 to Thursday Oct. 15 at the Palm Beach Casino in London, England and some of the best players in the game will be on hand competing for a piece of a $480,000 prize pool.

Those already confirmed for the 48-person field include PartyPoker's own Mike Sexton, Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan, Luke 'Fullflush' Schwartz, November Niner James Akenhead, J.C. Tran, Steve Sung, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Scott Fischman, Marty Smyth, Andy Black, and Neil Channing.

PartyPoker's newly sponsored grassroots players Remy Biechel, Felipe 'Mojave' Ramos, Ian Frazer and Bodo Sbrzesny are also expected to play.

The $10,000 buy-in televised tournament features a series of sit-and-go style heats where winners move on to a seven-handed final table with a $250k first place prize on the line.

Entry is traditionally by invitation only, but this year PartyPoker is offering players on the site a chance to qualify online.

The main $650+$50 satellite takes place every Sunday at 2:15 p.m. ET with one package awarded for every 20 players entered.

Daily qualifiers start as little as $3 and there is a satellite into Sunday's main satellite Monday through Saturday at 2:25 p.m. ET and Sunday at 12:55 p.m. ET.

Other changes to the event include triple starting stacks and the heats playing eight handed.

Visit PokerListings.com

Brett Favre Signing Delays WSOP Main Event Coverage on ESPN

The signing of quarterback Brett Favre by the Minnesota Vikings delayed the premiere of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event by 20 minutes on Tuesday night, with action from Day 1A and Day 1B taking center stage.

The $10,000 buy-in feature tournament began with Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman narrating, “Someone has to win it, right? So why not you or me?” Highlights of past Main Event winning moments aired, with a player rounding out the montage by saying, “All you need is a ticket and a dream.” The feature table of the first hour, Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, included 2006 final table participant Allen Cunningham, Eli Elezra, and Lex Veldhuis, the boyfriend of Evelyn Ng who was featured in ESPN’s coverage of the $40,000 buy-in event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP.

ESPN announcer Norman Chad fired up viewers by claiming, “This is it. It’s the greatest event in the galaxy. Anyone can win. We could bound and gag Lon [McEachern], stick him in a potato sack, and roll him into the Amazon Room and he may make the final table. I love the Main Event.” Table Two featured 2009 dual bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller and poker pro Sammy Farha, who finished as the runner-up to Chris Moneymaker in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, igniting the modern poker boom.

The 40th Annual Moments featured Johnny Chan winning the 1987 and 1988 Main Events before landing as the runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in 1989. Chan also turned in a seventh place performance in 1992. Joining Chan in the Day 1A field were Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Orel Hershiser, Dewey Tomko, Steven Paul-Ambrose, and Gus Hansen. “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander and “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett were seated together, making for a lively table.

At the feature table, Veldhuis rolled over his competition, showing a bluff against Elezra, who labeled him the best player in the field on Day 1A. Veldhuis then represented a flush on a four club board to take down a pot against a player who held two pair. In the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Simon Muenz raised to 900 with pocket tens, Velduis called with unknown cards, and Cunningham called with A-J. The flop came 4-3-2 with two hearts. Muenz checked, Velduis led out for 2,300, Cunningham got out of the way, and Muenz called. The turn was the nine of hearts. Veldhuis bet 6,000, leaving Chad to comment, “I still think Lex has air.” Muenz called and the ace of spades fell on the river. Veldhuis pushed and Muenz folded. As it turned out, Veldhuis held K-6 for a bluff.

A brand new segment dubbed “Deal Me In” aired and featured Full Tilt Poker pros reliving key hands in live tournaments. Chris Ferguson was the focus of the inaugural segment, recapping a hand where he turned quad aces against Prahlad Friedman. The punch line, according to Ferguson: “You don’t always want to slow play.” Contrastingly, “The Nuts” featured PokerStars pros Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Joe Hachem, Hevad Khan, and Dennis Phillips trying to hit a wiffleball thrown by Hershiser. In the end, Raymer laid down a bunt, only to have Hershiser blow it foul.

ESPN’s second hour of coverage, which kicked off around 9:20pm ET on Tuesday night, included a feature table with Mike Matusow. He chimed, “Life is all about the power of positive thinking.” Flanking him was John Dodge, whose grandfather started the automobile company of the same name. Also in the field was Jack Ury, the oldest player in the Main Event at age 96, and poker legend Amarillo Slim, who hasn’t cashed in the tournament since winning it in 1972.

The Wild Card Hand during the Day 1B episode featured Doyle Brunson raise to 675 with A-J of hearts. James Kier called, holding the elusive Wild Card hand. The flop fell 2-4-K rainbow and the action went check-check. The turn was a three and Kier led out for 1,500. Brunson called to watch a four hit the river. Kier once again bet out, this time for 2,500, and Brunson called with just ace-high. Kier sheepishly revealed J-9 for air and another player at the table quipped, “Were you really just trying to bluff Doyle Brunson?”

Matusow gave autographed copies of his book, “Check-Raising the Devil,” to his tablemates, while another Mike, Mike Caro, was featured in an ESPN vignette talking about his “Mad Genius” moniker. Others in the field included Raymer, Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Chris Moneymaker, Todd Brunson, and Pam Brunson. A “Straight from the Pros” segment, in which PokerStars sponsored players gave their take on hands, aired and featured Moneymaker.

Next week, Moneymaker’s colleague at PokerStars, Daniel Negreanu, will take center stage along with Hellmuth. The action takes place from 8:00pm to 10:00pm ET barring any more Favre news.

Vitaly Lunkin Shines in First 2009 WSOP on ESPN Broadcast

The kickoff event of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN played out on Tuesday night, with Russian Vitaly Lunkin taking home $1.9 million from the record $7.7 million prize pool.

Fans of poker on ESPN noticed several stark changes in the 2009 WSOP broadcast compared to years past. 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate now appears in the opening credits of the broadcast, which are otherwise the same as last year. The show began by highlighting the 40th running of the WSOP, featuring comments by several pros, including Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Erick Lindgren, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Jennifer Harman, Joe Hachem, and Scotty Nguyen. Eastgate’s banner, which hung above the Amazon Room floor at the Rio during the WSOP, was then unveiled.

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, the presenting sponsor of the 2009 WSOP, received a slew of product placement throughout the show. The foodstuff’s logo appears on the center of the ESPN featured table, on video monitors above it, and in a bevy of graphics during the broadcast. Everest Poker’s name continues to appear in the ring of the table. Commemoration of the 40th WSOP consisted of a series of “40th Annual Memories” vignettes, which honored players who have won three bracelets in one year (Jeffrey Lisandro won a trio in 2009) and Greg Raymer’s deep run in the 2005 Main Event after winning the tournament in 2004.

The hole card camera now bears the presenting sponsor’s name and a Jack Link’s Wild Card Hand of the Day allows viewers at home to see one player’s hand, but not their opponent’s. In one, Raymer held 8-7 of hearts and raised to 250,000 under the gun. Isaac Haxton, whose cards were unknown, asked for a count and then made the call. The flop came 7-7-9 and the action went check-check. The turn came a nine, leading ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad to note, “If Isaac has a small pocket pair or an ace, he’s playing the board.” Haxton checked, Raymer led out for 350,000, and Haxton called. The river was another nine. Haxton checked, Raymer bet 750,000 after seeing his full house counterfeited, and Haxton called, showing A-Q for a chopped pot. On the Wild Card Hand of the Day, Chad noted, “That was fun. We’ve found a whole new way for me to sound stupid.”

For an event featuring a $40,000 buy-in, the average age of the final table was lower than many expected. Six of the nine players were in their 20s, while Raymer, who finished third, was the elder statesman at just 44. Noah Schwartz, who finished eighth, was labeled McLovin during the broadcast due to his striking resemblance to a character in the movie “Superbad.” Lex Veldhuis was cheered on by his girlfriend, Evelyn Ng, as well as Team PokerStars Pro member Maridu Mayrinck and Karina Jett. Raymer’s wife and mother turned out to support him, while Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo’s mother and stepfather rooted him on from the rails.

Two one-hour episodes aired on Tuesday night. The second focused on a prop bet by Bonomo that at least one of 43 poker players who live in Panorama Towers in Las Vegas would win a bracelet during the 2009 WSOP. Bonomo gave 7:1 odds on the bet and watched in agony as heads-up action between Lunkin and Panorama Towers’ own Haxton featured several double-ups by the player on the short stack. Besides Haxton and Bonomo, Panorama Towers residents include David Williams, Ng, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Veldhuis.

In one of the most memorable heads-up matches in WSOP history, which left viewers on the edge of their seats, Lunkin finally prevailed and banked $1.9 million. Even Chad was rooting his fellow American along. After one double-up by Haxton with K-10 against Lunkin’s aces, Chad yelled, “Take that, you Commies!” Chants of “Russ-i-a” permeated the Amazon Room following Lunkin’s win and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack presented the commemorative bracelet to the Russian at the end of the first 2009 WSOP on ESPN broadcast. Here were the final payouts:

1. Vitaly Lunkin - $1,891,012
2. Isaac Haxton - $1,168,566
3. Greg Raymer - $774,927
4. Dani Stern - $548,315
5. Justin Bonomo - $413,166
6. Alec Torelli - $329,730
7. Lex Veldhuis - $277,940
8. Noah Schwartz - $246,834
9. Ted Forrest - $230,317

Other vignettes included Brunson, Adam Schoenfeld, and David Plastik battling in 40th Annual WSOP Trivia during the traditional segment “The Nuts.” Nine questions in three categories were asked, including Main Men, Dynamic Duos, and Famous Firsts. In the end, Schoenfeld prevailed and advanced to the next round.

Poker News Daily has learned that future WSOP episodes will feature sponsored vignettes from PokerStars (called “Straight from the Pros”) and Full Tilt Poker (called “Deal Me In”). Pros from each online poker site will explain why they played a hand a certain way, giving the viewer unique insight. The Wild Card Hand of the Day will also continue to appear in each episode.

Stay tuned for the latest from the 2009 WSOP on Poker News Daily.