Poker News

Ivey, Dwan headline Hall of Fame nominee list

This year, for the first-time ever, the public was invited into the nomination process and asked to vote on WSOP.com for the player they believed most deserving of the honor.

Voting was open from May 29th to July 2nd, and now after a month of collecting votes, WSOP.com has released the names of the top 10 most-nominated players.

The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

• Tom Dwan
• Barry Greenstein
• Dan Harrington
• Phil Ivey
• Tom McEvoy
• Men Nguyen
• Scotty Nguyen
• Daniel Negreanu
• Erik Seidel
• Mike Sexton

Once these nominations have been vetted by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, a final list of candidates will be compiled.

The final vote will then be done by the 15 living members of the Hall of Fame along with a 15-person media panel, with the chosen player or players announced at an induction ceremony in concert with the WSOP Main Event Final Table in November.

In total, over 41 different names received multiple nominations during the public process including:

• Patrik Antonius
• Humberto Brenes
• Mike Caro
• Norman Chad
• Allen Cunningham
• Ivan Demidov
• Eric Drache
• Annie Duke
• John Duthie
• Sam Farha
• Chris Ferguson
• Ted Forrest
• Andy Glazer
• Bertrand Grospellier
• Gus Hansen
• Jennifer Harman-Traniello
• Jay Heimowitz
• Rob Hollink
• Jesper Hougaard
• Phil Laak
• Howard Lederer
• Marcel Luske
• Mike Matusow
• Chris Moneymaker
• Luca Pagano
• Greg Raymer
• Matt Savage
• David Sklansky

To be considered, a poker player must have the following qualifications:

• Must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Played for high stakes
• Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
• Stood the test of time
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

All of the above names remain eligible for future consideration.

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607 Players Survive WSOP Main Event Day 2A

Day 2A of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event began with 1,478 players, compared with the 2,922 prepared to play on Day 2B. However, it ended with only 607 survivors.

Andrew Gaw, from the Philippines, was the overall chip leader at the end of the night with 386,000, while Eric Cloutier is right on his heels with 383,000. Amazingly, Cloutier began play with only 15,000 chips after a clerical error that reported him as being the chip leader after Day 1A. It has been confirmed this time that the former professional hockey player is near the top of the leaderboard after going on an unimaginable rush on Day 2A.

Several big names advanced to Day 3, including former world champions Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, and Carlos Mortensen. Other bracelet winners moving on were Greg “FBT” Mueller, Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Mike Sexton, Thor Hansen, Vitaly Lunkin, Burt Boutin, Tom Schneider, Sam Farha, Farzad Rouhani, Erik Seidel, Bill Edler, Ted Lawson, and Roland de Wolfe.

Mueller has the most chips of any former bracelet winner heading into Day 3. He won two bracelets at this year’s WSOP and finished the day with a stack of 287,000. Both of his wins came in Limit Hold’em and combined for more than $650,000. Poker pro Kyle Wilson, a good friend of Mueller’s, ended the day with 306,000.

Notable celebrities who resumed play on Day 2A included actor and comedian Jason Alexander, world famous cricket player Shane Warne, actor and comedian Brad Garrett, and music manager Rene Angelil. Alexander, seated with Greg Raymer on the ESPN featured table for all of Tuesday, joins Warne as the only survivors of that group heading into Day 3.

With more than half of the field disappearing on Tuesday, there were several prominent names sent home. One of the first was Gus Hansen, who was unable to repeat his deep run in the Main Event last year. Hansen got his entire stack in on the turn with the nut straight against an opponent’s set of threes, but the board paired on the river to give the other player a full house and eliminate Hansen.

Others sent home early on Day 1A were former two-time Main Event champion Johnny Chan, Tony G, Barry Greenstein, Todd Brunson, John “World” Hennigan, Mike Matusow, and Amarillo Slim.

A horde of cameras and media members made their way over to Phil Laak’s table when his tournament was on the line during the second level of the day. A short-stacked Laak moved all-in with Q-9 and was called by a player with pocket eights. After Laak spiked a Queen on the flop, his opponent made a flush on the river to send him to the rail. Laak’s girlfriend, actress Jennifer Tilly, also made her exit on Day 1A.

Here’s a look at some notables who advanced to Day 3 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event:

Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller - 287,300
Andy Black - 215,700
Mike Sexton - 169,000
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 166,400
Vitaly Lunkin - 135,900
Tom Schneider - 123,700
Joe Sebok - 122,800
Greg Raymer - 95,900
Jason Alexander - 73,700
Farzad Rouhani - 70,000
Sam Farha - 67,500
Carlos Mortensen - 57,900
Bill Edler - 57,300
Erik Seidel - 55,600
Roland de Wolfe - 21,200

Day 2B will get underway at Noon Pacific Time on Wednesday. Troy Weber holds an overwhelming lead over the rest of the field with 353,000 chips; no other player has hit the 200,000 mark. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s happenings at the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

World Series of Poker Main Event Kicks Off

The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event got underway Friday afternoon as 1,116 players took to the felts on the first of four Day Ones. The $10,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament World Championship attracted a number of celebrities on Day 1a, which turned out to be the main story as a couple of them finished the day among the chip leaders.

Actors Brad Garrett and Jason Alexander, former Major League Baseball player Orel Hershiser, cricket star Shane Warne, and musician and rapper Nelly were just some of the stars seated among the pros and amateurs taking a shot at the biggest tournament of 2009. Alexander and Warne each finished in the top 35 of the 821 players that survived, while Garrett ended the day above the starting stack. Nelly and Hershiser were unable to advance to Day 2. Nelly has been a familiar face on the circuit this year, participating in several WSOP Events as well as the WPT Invitational and the EPT Grand Final at Monte Carlo. Hershiser is a friend of Team PokerStars and as is his custom he gave a signed baseball to the player that knocked him out of the tournament.

Of course, numerous poker pros took their seats on Day 1a as well. Former world champions who played were Berry Johnston, Johnny Chan and Jerry Yang. Johnston and Chan advanced to Day 2 but Yang will not return. He lost most of his stack early in the afternoon after running pocket kings into pocket aces and was eliminated later on. Other prominent pros in the field were Greg “FBT” Mueller, Vitaly Lunkin, Andy Black, Roland De Wolfe, and Full Tilt Pros Allen Cunningham and Eli Elezra, who were seated together at the ESPN featured table.

For the first time ever at the WSOP Main Event, players were given 30,000 in chips to begin play. The Main Event from 1971 through 2005 gave players 10,000 in starting chips and from 2006 through 2008 players started with 20,000.

Even with the bigger stack it didn’t take long to lose the first player. Just 10 minutes in Rafael Zimmerman, from Oneonta, NY was sent to the rail. Other early exits included John Phan, Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers, Chris Moorman, and Pieter de Korver. Freddy Deeb, Mark Vos, Davidi Kitai, Matt Glantz, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Isaac Haxton and Cunningham were eliminated after the dinner break.

The chip leader at the end of Day 1a was Eric Cloutier, from Mont-Laurier, Quebec (Canada). Cloutier is a former professional hockey player who played briefly for the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Cloutier has been playing poker on the tournament circuit for about five years and has more than $160,000 in live tournament winnings. He will take 150,750 into Day 2.

Here’s a look at chip counts of some notables that survived Day 1a:

Jason Alexander - 89,575
Shane Warne - 87,625
Lex “RasZi” Veldhuis - 84,000
Tom Schneider - 79,600
Andy Black - 56,475
Phil Laak - 53,025
Tony G - 42,325
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 41,375
Mike Sexton - 41,000
Gus Hansen - 38,075
Brad Garrett - 36,625
Dewey Tomko - 34,275
Roland De Wolfe - 31,000
Sam Farha - 30,425

Day 1b will kick off at around Noon Vegas time on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates throughout the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Uncensored Poker Show to Debut on Playboy TV

Television producer Sam Simon, who is best known for his work on “The Simpsons” animated series, will bring his home game to Playboy TV, according to the Associated Press. The show is uncensored and features some of the entertainment industry’s marquee names.

Simon described his home game to the Associated Press: “The stakes aren’t the biggest, the players aren’t the best, but the game is definitely the funniest.” The show, dubbed “Sam’s Game,” currently airs on Thursday nights on Playboy TV and was filmed at the Palms in Las Vegas. Poker fans will remember that the off-Strip casino played host to the second season of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” ESPN followed Simon in paparazzi fashion during his World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event run in 2007, which ended with “The Simpsons” producer hitting the exits in 329th place for $39,000.

In addition to his five-figure Main Event cash two years ago, Simon took 16th in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys tournament in 2007 for $35,000. Three of his four WSOP cashes are in rebuy events, which were stricken from the schedule in 2009 on the grounds that they favor deep-pocketed players. Simon appeared on the recently-completed Season 5 of “High Stakes Poker,” but abruptly left the show and was replaced by Tom “durrrr” Dwan. In his final hand, Simon dropped a $128,000 pot to Patrik Antonius after his A-Q was out-flopped by Antonius’ A-2. No explanation for his departure was given.

Besides Simon, a host of other combatants will take to the felts of Playboy TV’s “Sam’s Game.” They include comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Norm MacDonald, who took 20th in a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2007 WSOP for $14,000. Also appearing are Dave Attell, Artie Lange, and Jeff Ross. Fans of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” will recognize former Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick, whose friendship with show runner-up Annie Duke ignited a storm of conspiracy theories from television producer Melissa Rivers. Upon being fired, Rivers went on a profanity-laced tirade against Roderick, Duke, and “Celebrity Apprentice” staff that unfolded in front of a national viewing audience. Joan Rivers ultimately won the NBC reality show.

Poker fans will recognize Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly. The latter was formerly married to Simon, but the couple divorced in the early 1990s. Tilly won a bracelet during the 2005 WSOP in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship, banking $158,000 and besting a final table that included Cecelia Mortensen, 2008 Ladies Event runner-up Anh Le, and Beth Shak. Laak has yet to win a coveted gold bracelet. In fact, he’s only made two final tables at the WSOP during his poker career. The first came in 2005, when he finished in second in a $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament for $156,000, falling to 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan heads-up. In 2008, he received television time on ESPN for his ninth place showing in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, the first bracelet win for Full Tilt Poker pro Nenad Medic.

According to the Associated Press, the concept of “Sam’s Game” came from Playboy TV executives. Simon explained, “I’ve spent years in development to try to get shows on the air. When a network calls and says we want to shoot this…. the answer is yes.”  According to the Internet Movie Database, Simon was a Consulting Producer on the “Drew Carey Show” and was the Executive Producer of the “George Carlin Show.” However, he is best known for being a Co-Creator of “The Simpsons,” which has aired for 20 years. The franchise even released a feature length movie in 2007.

Catch “Sam’s Game” featuring producer Sam Simon every Thursday night on Playboy TV.

Poker impregnates Playboy TV

How about Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange, Dave Attell, Jeffrey Ross, Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh, Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak?

Would you include Playboy Playmates Brande Roderick (2001 Playmate of the year), Deanna Brooks, Stacy Fuson and Andrea Lowell?

Thanks to being the co-creator of the Simpsons, Sam Simon is one ridiculously wealthy man.

And one of the ways he's been known to enjoy his money has been by spreading a legendary home poker game.

Celebs, models, some of the world's raunchiest and funniest comedians and world-class poker players have all been known to frequent the game, and he'll apparently invite anyone who won't get upset after being called a ****ing *****t **** *****r for winning a pot.

In fact, Simon's home game became so legendary (and not necessarily for the poker) that the execs at Playboy TV phoned him up and asked him to film "Sam's Game" for the network.

"The stakes aren't the biggest, the players aren't the best, but the game is definitely the funniest," Simon said.

"I've spent years in development to try to get shows on the air. When a network calls and says, 'We want to shoot this,' the answer is yes."

A look at the action:

The show is filmed in "Hef's exclusive Sky Villa" at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and premiered last night; look for episode 2 next Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern & Pacific.

Check out the official webpage for the show here.

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Online grinders flock to WSOP’s $40k event

As befits an event with a $40,000 buy-in, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey are attracting the lion's share of the attention.

But a large subset of the tournament population is made up of young online grinders, many of them playing their first World Series.

Justin Bonomo, Vivek "Psyduck" Rajkumar, Mike "SirWatts" Watson, Jonathan Little and Shawn Buchanan are all among the approximately 200 players in contention.

But while those youngsters have managed to translate their online successes into victories in big buy-in live events, players like Shaun Deeb, Adam Junglen, Christian "charder" Harder and Chad "lilholdem" Batista remain best-known by their internet personas.

None of them, however, feels out of their league in this pro-rich event.

"My table's really easy," Batista told PokerListings.com.

He's sharing space with Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak, Ted Forrest and Steve Zolotow and has seen his stack take a beating in the early going.

"I would really like my edge if I could get my chips back," he said.

"There are a couple of guys at my table who are playing as if it's their first tournament ever," said PokerListings blogger Jason Mercier.

Harder and Junglen both told PokerListings they liked their chances.

"My edge can't be that big, but I wouldn't be playing if I didn't think I had a positive expectation," said Junglen.

Harder agreed.

"I think I have an edge, but it's probably the smallest edge I'll have all Series," he said.

"I would obviously rather play against the kind of players who play in the $1,500 tournaments, but it's more fun and exciting to play against pros like these.

"It's my first WSOP and I wanted to start it off with a bang."

None of the online young guns were surprised to see so many of their number in attendance.

"There are a lot of good young online players here at the Series and a lot of people who are willing to back them in tournaments," said Deeb.

"This is the biggest tournament of the Series and it's televised, so that probably helps attract players as well."

"The number of online MTT players seems alright to me," said Junglen. "I'm not surprised.

"There are a lot of really good No Limit Hold 'em players that the general public isn't aware of and that the media might not be aware of either."

At press time, the top of the chip leaderboard was a mix of live pros and their online counterparts, with Laak and Rajkumar dueling for top spot and the likes of Justin Bonomo and Michael DeMichele lurking in the wings.

The news wasn't so good for Harder, however, who was eliminated early in Level 3 after getting all-in preflop with a suited ace-jack against Jay Rosenkrantz's pocket jacks.

Get full coverage of this exciting event in the PokerListings.com WSOP section.

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A Poker Pro Mortgages His Life For a Trip To Vegas!

It is probably wrong to call Bo Fric a poker pro in a sense that we normally know it. He has never had big success in poker, actually he is almost broke. He calls himself “just a regular guy who likes to play poker”.

Mister Fric himself.

Many, or should I say all, poker players dream of a trip to Las Vegas to play the Main Event of WSOP. Fric, a fan of Eli Elezra (because he wears his hair the same way like Fric), is going to fulfill that dream and many others on this summer in a project he calls “My Poker Bucket List”.

Here is the list what Fric is planning on doing in Las Vegas:

# Take Doyle Brunson out for dinner
# Shoot craps with Phil Ivey
# Play Golden Tee, Wii, and Pool with Daniel Negreanu
# Win a hand in Bobby’s Room
# Have lunch with the Canadian heroes: Daniel, Brad, Gavin and Nenad and FBT
# Train MMA with Team Cardrunners and a UFC star
# Play a $10,000 hand of blackjack
# Have a drinking contest with Gavin Smith
# Go club hopping with Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak
# Play the main event
# Go to a gentlemen’s club with Layne Flack
# Drive cart for Patrick Antonius or David Benyamine in high stakes golf match
# Learn to pick up Asian women from Barry Greenstein
# Play a game of pickup basketball with Nenad, Grinder, Huck, J.C. and others
# Go suit shopping with Sammy Farha
# Get business advice from Eli Elezra and Howard Lederer
# Drink coronas with Scotty Nguyen
# Play Mike Matusow in a match play golf game
# Sweat $5,000 sportsbet with Erick Lindgren
# Spend an afternoon at the spa with Tom “Durrr” Dwan
# Play Chinese Poker with Poker Road crew Ali, Gavin, Joe, and Huff.
# Appear on Poker Road Radio
# ATV with the Poker Road Crew
# Cash in a WSOP event
# Ride in a Bugatti with Guy Laliberte
# Play Video Poker with Archie Karas
# Take a helicopter ride with Chris Moneymaker
# Go stockcar racing with Gus Hansen
# Take a balloon ride with Sam Grizzle
# Get Joel some female help
# Play Rock Band with Evelyn Ng
# Play blackjack with Andy Bloch
# Practice Yoga with Allen Cunningham
# Go out for an evening of swing dancing with Chris Ferguson
# Practice Buddhism with Andy Black
# Visit Fremont St. with Gabe Kaplan
# Meet the guy who got breast implants for a prop bet
# Get marriage advice from Norman Chad
# Have a smoke break with Eugene Todd
# Get publishing advice from Dan Harrington
# Host the world’s largest poker pro paintball game

Well, that is a long list to accomplish and he will need a lot of money to do all the stuff. Fric is planning on filming his trip and make a documentary about it afterwards and of course a book. But there are few problems in his plans:

1. I don’t know any of these people on a personal level and really don’t know how to begin.

2. I currently have a slight negative balance in my bank account, $30,000 in credit card debt, and less than $3,000 liquid cash.

3. I don’t know the first damn thing about writing a book or filming a documentary.

Mortgaging a house is a good start for making money. If you want to help Fric in this plan and find more information about him, check out the website of the Poker Bucket List and sign as a member for free.

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

A Poker Pro Mortgages His Life For a Trip To Vegas!

Doyle Brunson in Back to Back All-In Pots on High Stakes Poker

Largely playing small ball in prior episodes, 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson found himself in back to back all-in pots during this week’s edition of High Stakes Poker. The show airs on GSN on Sunday nights at 9:00pm ET.

The same eight players who took to the felts of High Stakes Poker last week returned on Sunday night. In their first hand, Eli Elezra put on a live straddle of $1,600, Phil Laak called with A-10 of clubs, David Peat bumped the price of poker to $6,500 with Q-J, Tom Dwan called the raise with A-7 of diamonds, Alan Meltzer called with A-10 of hearts, and Laak called. Four players saw the flop, which fell 5-3-8 with two clubs. The action checked around, with the turn coming the deuce of hearts. Peat led out for $20,500 with “squadoosh” and the action folded around to Laak, who made the call with the nut flush draw. The river was the five of diamonds. Laak checked, Peat bet $50,000, and Laak clutched a stack of $100 bills before finally folding. Laak was allowed to flip over one of Peat’s cards, which wound up being the queen. Seated next to Peat, Dwan correctly guessed that the other card was a jack.

Brunson and Peat squared off in the first all-in pot. Peat held J-9 of diamonds and made it $2,500. Brunson peeked down at pocket rockets and raised to $10,500, a bet Peat promptly called. The flop came A-10-2 with two diamonds. As you’d expect, fireworks went off, as Peat check-raised Brunson for $125,000, Brunson pushed for $171,000, and Peat called the extra $46,100. The pair agreed to run it twice, with the queen of clubs and nine of clubs falling on the first board, shipping half the pot to Brunson. The second board came the queen of spades and six of clubs, once again keeping Brunson’s set of aces out in front. The win was worth $366,000.

The second all-in hand saw Brunson battle against Italian poker sensation Dario Minieri. The flop in the hand came 9-10-3 with two spades. Minieri, who held 9-10 for top two pair, led out for $3,700. “Silent” Mike Baxter called with A-2 and Brunson raised to $25,000 with 4-3 of spades for a flush draw and bottom pair. Minieri pushed over the top for $98,100, Baxter folded, and Brunson tanked before electing to call. Once again, the all-in pot was run twice. Both times, Minieri spiked one of his hole cards on the turn for a full house, leaving Brunson drawing dead on the river. Minieri saw his High Stakes Poker bankroll grow by $205,500 as a result.

The largest pot of the night also featured an all-in, with Peat and Dwan vying for their share of $400,400. Minieri started the action by calling the $800 big blind with Q-9. Laak also called holding pocket fives, Peat limped with pocket kings, and Dwan made it $6,300 with A-J of hearts. The action folded back around to Laak, who called Dwan’s raise. Peat then threw in a bet of $20,800, Dwan called, and Laak called. The flop came 7-3-7 with two hearts, keeping Peat out in front with an overpair and giving Dwan the nut flush draw. Peat bet $50,000, Dwan raised to $150,000, Laak got out of the way, and Peat pushed for $167,300. Dwan called the extra $17,300 and the board was run twice for the third time during the episode. The first board came the queen of clubs and eight of hearts, making Dwan’s flush. The second board came the seven of clubs and deuce of hearts, giving Peat a boat. The two players chopped the $400,400 pot, one of the largest this season on High Stakes Poker.

In the final hand of the night, Baxter bumped it to $3,000 pre-flop with A-K of hearts, Dwan raised to $11,700 with Q-9 of hearts, Baxter re-raised to $31,700, and Dwan asked for a count of his opponent’s stack before calling. The flop came 3-5-9 with no hearts, giving Dwan top pair and eliminating the possibility of a flush. Baxter checked out of turn and Dwan also checked. The action went check-check when the eight of spades fell on the turn. The river brought the jack of diamonds. Dwan bet $34,300 and Baxter called, looking fairly puzzled with Dwan flipped up a pair of nines. The pot was worth $134,400.

Next week, Elezra has a chance to win a huge pot with a flush draw, and Dwan once again leaves Baxter talking to himself. New episodes of High Stakes Poker air at 9:00pm ET on Sundays on GSN.

Dwan Takes $221,000 Pot off Negreau on High Stakes Poker

Sunday night saw Tom “durrrr” Dwan once again take center stage on GSN’s High Stakes Poker. This time, he took down a $221,000 pot against Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu. Next week, a new group of eight players takes to the felts.

Several hands into Sunday’s episode, Antonio Esfandiari peeked down at pocket nines and called the big blind of $800. Patrik Antonius, who had already posted the big blind due to missing several hands, made it $4,800 with A-J of clubs and Esfandiari called. The flop came A-6-10 with two clubs, giving Antonius top pair and a flush draw to boot. Esfandiari checked, Antonius fired out a bet of $7,000, and Esfandiari called. The turn was the five of hearts and Esfandiari once again check-called a bet from Antonius, this time of $19,000. High Stakes Poker Host Gabe Kaplan noted, “Antonio is kind of stumped.” The river was the ace of spades, improving Antonius to trips. Esfandiari checked and Antonius bet $41,000, inducing a fold and scooping the $105,800 pot.

Dwan and Negreanu squared off in a hand that served as an omen of things to come. Dwan made it $3,000 pre-flop with K-Q and Negreanu made the call with A-6. The flop came A-9-J and Negreanu check-called a $5,700 bet from Dwan. The turn was a queen, pairing Dwan and meaning the youngster would need to catch a K, Q, or 10 on the river in order to win the hand. Negreanu bet $11,000 and Dwan called. The river came a 10, giving Dwan a straight. Negreanu checked, Dwan bet $28,800, and Negreanu folded. Dwan raked in the $70,200 pot, prompting Kaplan to comment, “Dwan has played excellent on High Stakes Poker, but he’s also gotten lucky.”

Dwan showcased his skills again. This time, Phil Laak called the $800 big blind with J-10 of hearts and Dwan, who held pocket eights, bumped the action to $4,000. Laak called and the flop came 6-9-6 with two hearts. Laak checked, Dwan bet $6,300, Laak raised to $21,300, and Dwan called. On the action on the flop, Kaplan explained, “It’s very possible in Tom Dwan’s mind that Phil Laak is slow-playing an overpair.” The turn was a six, giving Dwan a boat. Laak checked and Dwan asked for a count before also checking. The river was the eight of hearts, giving Laak a flush, but also improving Dwan’s full house. Laak checked and Dwan bet a scant $9,400 into a pot of over $60,000. Laak asked to see both of Dwan’s cards if he folded and Dwan agreed. Then, “The Unabomber” flashed one of his cards, prompting Dwan to inquire if the hand was dead. Laak eventually called, shipping the $72,200 pot to Dwan.

The very next hand featured Negreanu against Laak. Pre-flop, Negreanu, who held K-J, made it $2,500, Laak called with 8-5 of spades, and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Joe Hachem called with pocket fours. The flop came K-5-8. Hachem checked, Negreanu bet $6,500 with top pair, Laak called with bottom two, and Hachem got out of the way. The turn was a nine. Negreanu checked, Laak bet $18,500, and Negreanu raised to $43,500. Kaplan explained, “I think Daniel Negreanu decided to check-raise here because he feels Phil might be steaming from the last hand.” Laak made the call to see a deuce fall on the river. Negreanu checked, Laak bet $54,200 immediately, and Negreanu folded. The pot was worth $163,700.

In the largest pot of the episode, Laak called the big blind with K-Q, Howard Lederer called with pocket sixes, Dwan bet $5,400 with A-Q, Negreanu called with A-8 of hearts, and the table called around. The flop came Q-A-2, giving Dwan top two pair. The action checked to Dwan, who bet $14,300; Negreanu called with top pair and Laak and Lederer both folded. The turn came a deuce. Negreanu checked, Dwan bet $34,600, and Negreanu raised to $84,600. On Negreanu check-raising an opponent for the second straight hand, Kaplan commented, “If Dwan had anything but the kind of hand he has, it would be a good play by Daniel.” Dwan called to see the river come a four. The action went check-check, giving the $221,400 pot to Dwan.

Next week, a new heat of players will take to the High Stakes Poker felts. It includes Doyle Brunson, David Peat, Dario Minieri, Eli Elezra, and two holdovers from the current group of eight: Dwan and Laak. New episodes of High Stakes Poker air at 9:00pm ET on Sundays on GSN.

‘So sick’: Antonius stuns Laak on HSP

And when PokerListings caught up with Phil Laak in Monaco this week to discuss the call Finnish legend Patrik Antonius made against him on GSN's High Stakes Poker, he could only describe it one way.

"So sick," Laak said, fresh from his deep cash at the PokerStars EPT Grand Final.

The hand opened with Antonius straddling blind for $1,600. Laak raised it up to $6,000 with A J, Howard Lederer made the call with 8 8 and Antonius called the additional $4,400 with T 4.

The flop fell 4 3 2.

Antonius checked top pair, Laak made a $16,000 continuation bet, Lederer folded his small overpair and Antonius called.

The turn fell the K.

Antonius again checked and Laak led out for $37,300. Once again, Antonius called.

The river was the Q.

Antonius checked again and Laak fired out a third barrel, betting $80,000 into the $127,400 pot.

Antonius tanked for some time, but emerged making the call, leaving Laak shaking his head in absolute disbelief that the ice-cold Finn had picked off his bluff.

Laak had some interesting thoughts on where he thought the hand went wrong for him.

"I didn't notice at the time, but when I watched it back I saw he picked up the flush draw on the turn," Laak said. "If he doesn't hit that flush draw, I think he folds.

"On the river, my range is very polarised which I think helped him make the call. That's why when you have a single pair in those situations, you should fire it all in like a %$#@ing animal.

"It takes a big pair of cojones to make those thin, big value bets. I guess I don't have them. I'm trying to work on that aspect of my game."

Despite Antonius getting the better of him this time, Laak said he was generally pleased with his performance on the show.

"I've been lucky enough to make good plays and get some good hands on High Stakes Poker since I've been on," he said.

"Even though I lost $125,000 on that hand to Patrik, I was only $25,000 or so down overall, which was ok. It felt good to give some back to the poker community."

Regardless, Laak sounded positive about his future, revealing he has plans to launch his own poker web site.

"I'm working on something with the Cake Poker Network at the moment," he said. "Hopefully Unibomber Poker will be up and running soon."

High Stakes Poker airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on GSN.

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Hungary’s Peter Traply Leads EPT Monte Carlo with 14 Players Remaining

A record-breaking 935 players made the trek to Monaco for the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final, which began last week. Now, the field has been trimmed to just 14, with Hungarian poker player Peter Traply leading the pack.

The Monte Carlo Grand Final in the luxurious city marks the conclusion of the fifth EPT season. Last year in this event, Traply finished in 26th place and banked €42,000 from the €10,000 buy-in tournament. At the time of writing, the Hungarian sits with a commanding chip lead over the rest of the field. In fact, he is the only player with over four million chips. The next closest combatant, Russian poker player Mikhail Tulchinskiy, has 3.2 million.

Holding the fifth largest stack in the EPT finale with 14 players to go is Dag Martin Mikkelsen, who hails from Norway. He made a deep run in the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas, banking $237,000 for his efforts. Mikkelsen finished fourth in the EPT’s Barcelona stop during Season 4 for $27,000. Also in the hunt and representing Norway is Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, the winner of the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event. In that tournament, she won $2 million and became the youngest bracelet winner ever. During the EPT Dublin stop during Season 4, Obrestad finished as the runner up, banking another $416,000 for her efforts. Obrestad will turn 21 years old in September and consequently will not be able to compete in the 2009 WSOP festivities, which kick off on May 27th from the Rio.

Here are the chip counts as they stand with 14 players remaining, according to numbers reported by PokerStars. Blinds are 30,000-60,000 with an ante of 5,000:

1. Peter Traply (Hungary) – 4,175,000
2. Mikhail Tulchinskiy (Russia) – 3,245,000
3. Marc Naalden (Holland) – 2,980,000
4. Daniel Zink (Germany) – 2,225,000
5. Dag Martin Mikkelsen (Norway) – 2,210,000
6. Matthew Woodward (United States) – 2,195,000
7. Christopher Rossiter (United Kingdom) – 1,850,000
8. Pieter De Korver (Holland) – 1,835,000
9. Eric Qu (France) – 1,720,000
10. Alem Shah (Germany) – 1,650,000
11. Annette Obrestad (Norway) – 1,625,000
12. Steven Silverman (United States) – 1,320,000
13. Grayson Physioc (United States) – 1,125,000
14. Johannes Strassmann (Germany) – 520,000

Naalden has four WSOP cashes to his name for over $100,000 in total and took third in the Season 2 EPT Copenhagen event for $116,000. Woodward finished 95th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, which was ultimately won by Jamie Gold. Rossiter grabbed 20th in the EPT German Open in 2008 for $25,000. Strassmann, who sits as the tournament’s short stack, has made three EPT final table appearances, recording two sixth place finishes during Season 4 events in San Remo and Dortmound for a combined payday of $300,000.

A total of 88 players finished in the money. Among those who took home cash from the prestigious EPT tournament were:
19th Place: Jason “Taknapotin” Somerville (United States) - $67,000
31st Place: “Miami” John Cernuto (United States) - $58,500
33rd Place: Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) - $52,000
38th Place: Alexander Kravchenko (Russia) - $52,000
41st Place: Steve Sung (United States) -  $45,500
43rd Place: Joe “ender555” Ebanks (United States) - $45,500
53rd Place: Luca Pagano (Italy) - $40,300
58th Place: Garrett “GBecks” Beckman (United States) - $36,400
64th Place: Samuel Chartier (France) - $36,400
69th Place: Phil Laak (United States) - $32,500
76th Place: Andreas Hoivold (Norway) - $28,600

The tournament will crown a winner on Sunday. Last year’s champion, Glen Chorny, barreled through a field of 842 players en route to a $3.1 million payday. Heads-up, Chorny defeated Hungarian poker player Denes Kalo, with American Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron taking fourth for $901,000. Also at the final table were Antonio Esfandiari and Luca Pagano. First place this year will take home €2.3 million, also the equivalent of $3.1 million at current exchange rates.

PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Day 1b Report

The Monte Carlo Bay Resort Hotel played host to a stacked field in Day 1b of the EPT Monte Carlo Championship €10,000 Event. The difficult field included Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, Devilfish, Vicky Coren, Gavin Griffin and Phil Laak.

Tom Dwan (durrrr) Returns to High Stakes Poker

This week’s installment of GSN’s High Stakes Poker saw the triumphant return of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who abruptly replaced “The Simpsons” co-creator Sam Simon after two hands. New episodes of High Stakes Poker air on Sundays at 9:00pm ET.

The first two hands of Sunday’s show featured Simon tangling with the world’s top poker pros. To kick off the episode, Simon peeked down at pocket aces, but limped for $800. Consequently, Daniel Negreanu (who held 10-2 of hearts), Antonio Esfandiari (who held 8-5), and Patrik Antonius (who held A-9) all played. The flop came 3-K-K, preserving Simon’s lead in the hand. Esfandiari led out for $4,100, Simon made it $16,000, and Esfandiari quickly folded. It was the first pot that Simon had scooped during Season V of High Stakes Poker.

The very next hand, Simon limped with A-Q found himself in a family pot with everyone except “The Notebook” director Nick Cassavetes. Seven players watched the flop came A-2-8. Negreanu led out for $3,600 with 4-5, Antonius called with A-2 for aces up, and Simon called with top pair. The turn came a six. Simon and Negreanu checked, Antonius bet $12,000, and both of his competitors called. A five fell on the river. Simon and Negreanu once again checked and Antonius fired out a bet of $37,000. High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan commented, “I think Antonius is putting Sam Simon on the kind of hand that he has.” Simon proceeded to tank, with Kaplan explaining, “Amateurs have a really hard time getting away from aces. If he had K-Q and there was a king out there, he might have an easier time.” Simon called, shipping the $128,000 pot to Antonius.

After the hand, Simon abruptly left the show; no explanation was given for his departure. In exchange, the field watched as Dwan sat down. Dwan competed in the first heat of High Stakes Poker Season V and defined the game’s flow. In a massive pot that ensued, Antonius straddled, Laak led out for $6,000 with A-J, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer called with pocket eights, and Antonius called with 10-4 of spades for a discount. The flop came 3-2-4 with one spade and Laak bet $16,000. Lederer, who has been playing tight throughout the season, folded and Antonius called with top pair. The turn came the king of spades, giving Antonius a flush draw. Antonius checked, Laak bet $37,300, and Antonius called. Kaplan noted, “These two guys have played very hard at each other.” The river was the queen of diamonds. Antonius checked holding the best hand, Laak fired another bullet of $80,000, and Antonius tanked. On Laak’s bet, Kaplan observed, “Phil Laak bet really fast. Usually, that’s an indication of bluffing.” Antonius made the call and scooped the $287,400 pot, one of the largest to date on the fifth season.

The final hand of the show appropriately involved Dwan. The youngster had been relatively quiet until this point, but became involved in a sizable hand against Lederer. In it, Lederer bet $3,500 with A-K, Dwan raised to $11,300 with 8-6 offsuit, Lederer made it $36,300, and Dwan asked for a count. “Durrrr” pushed it to $65,600, leading Kaplan to exclaim, “Durrrr just 4bet Howard with an 8-6 offsuit.” Lederer made the call and the flop came 3-2-Q. The action went check-check, leading to an eight on the turn. Once again, both Dwan and Lederer checked to see a nine fall on the river. Lederer checked and Dwan checked behind, flipping over a pair of eights for the win. Lederer looked at the six in Dwan’s hand and noted, “I saw the six and just assumed there was another one.” The pot was worth $134,000.

The episode featured Dwan and others at the table explaining to Antonius what the rules of the Durrrr Challenge were. The filming took place at the Golden Nugget in December, whereas play between Dwan and Antonius in the online contest began in February. Next week’s episode features Dwan once again wreaking havoc on the table. Antonius and Dwan also go head to head for a major pot on High Stakes Poker.

Antonio Esfandiari Does 47 Pushups on High Stakes Poker

Although the age-old game typically takes center stage on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” a prop bet between Antonio Esfandiari and “The Notebook” director Nick Cassavetes stole the televised cash game show this week.

Sunday night marked the second episode with the second group of contestants. The players have been relatively quiet so far, focusing more on prop bets than poker, but in the second hand of the show, Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu raised to $2,500 with 5-6 of spades. Patrik Antonius made the call with A-10 to see a flop of 4-3-8 with one spade. Negreanu bet out $4,000 and Esfandiari called. “High Stakes Poker” commentator Gabe Kaplan noted on Antonius’ call, “He feels if he catches an ace or ten, he’ll have the best hand and could take down the pot.” Sure enough, the turn was the ace of spades. Holding both flush and straight draws, Negreanu bet $10,000 and Antonius called. The river was the four of spades, giving Negreanu a runner-runner flush. Negreanu checked, Antonius bet $18,000 and Negreanu just flat called, taking down the $71,800 pot.

Several hands later, the two tangled again. Antonius peeked down at pocket sevens and raised to $3,500. Negreanu made the call with K-J of clubs and the flop came J-2-J. Negreanu checked, Antonius bet $5,000, Negreanu raised to $17,500 with trips, and Antonius called. The turn came an ace and Negreanu check-called $27,000. The river was a nine. Negreanu once again checked, but this time Antonius checked right behind him, shipping the $98,000 pot to “Kid Poker.” Negreanu had won two straight pots and was looking to right the ship after losing two buy-ins during the first six episodes of “High Stakes Poker” Season 5.

Esfandiari won $1,000 off Cassavetes in a pushup prop bet. The famed director did not think “The Magician” could perform 35 pushups. After a heated debate as to what constituted a full pushup, three plates were placed underneath Esfandiari and had to be hit each time. Cassavetes was edgy during the contest, yelling, “Your chest has to touch the ground!” If Esfandiari broke a plate, he automatically forfeited the bet. In the end, Esfandiari easily surpassed the 35 pushup mark, ultimately tallying 47 according to an official counter provided by GSN. Other side bets discussed during the show included what rating Cassavetes would give the original “Matrix” movie and at what age Esfandiari was the number one newspaper salesman. Neither bet played out during the course of the one hour show, whose new episodes air at 9:00pm ET on GSN every Sunday.

In the final hand of the evening, Phil Laak raised to $3,600 with 10-7 of spades and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem called with K-3 of hearts. The flop came 2-6-5 rainbow, giving Hachem an inside straight draw. The action between Laak and Hachem went check-check and the turn came a three. Hachem bet $3,000 and Laak raised to $13,200. Kaplan speculated on what went through Laak’s head: “You don’t have a four. I have an overpair and I know it’s good.” Hachem called Laak’s raise and the river came an ace. Hachem tanked before firing out a $20,500 bet. Kaplan added, “I don’t believe Joe Hachem thinks he has the best hand. He knows if he checks and Phil Laak bets, he has to throw his hand away.” Laak folded, giving the $56,100 pot to Hachem.

As part of an ongoing stipulation, all hand winners had to expose one card. In the final hand, Hachem flipped over his king, prompting a bet of $500 from Esfandiari that the other card was a four. Hachem promptly turned over a three, Laak did his best Phil Hellmuth impersonation and angrily walked away from the table, and Hachem added another $500 to his stack.

Next week, “The Simpsons” co-creator Sam Simon leaves the show, prompting the arrival of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, whose willingness to gamble created the largest pot in “High Stakes Poker” history of $919,000 earlier this season.

Bertrand Grospellier (Elky) Second in WPT Championship After Day 2

On Monday, the second day of play in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship played out at the Bellagio. Sitting with the second largest chip stack when the action concluded was a familiar name in the live poker world: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier.

A member of Team PokerStars Pro, Grospellier already has wins in the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $2 million and the Season VII WPT Festa al Lago Main Event for $1.4 million. His win in the Bahamas saw him blast through a field of 1,136 entrants and defeat Hafiz Khan heads-up. Also at the final table, which played out at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island, were David “The Dragon” Phan and online poker pro Christian “charder” Harder, who took fourth and seventh, respectively. Grospellier doubled up through Shawn Cunix on Monday by drawing out after Cunix flopped the nuts. Grospellier sits with a stack of 678,300, trailing Jean-Noel Thorel’s 743,500. He will be flanked by Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer at Table 57 on Tuesday.

Also still in contention is Poker News Daily guest columnist and “Celebrity Apprentice” candidate Annie Duke. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner will have the 87th largest stack when play resumes, 162,900. Comedian Joan Rivers comparing Duke to Hitler highlighted the latest “Celebrity Apprentice” episode. Duke told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman on Monday, “She Twittered, ‘I compared Annie to Hitler last night. I’m so sorry; my apologies to Hitler’… In the heat of the moment, it’s terrible to say that. I just assumed that when she saw it, she’d regret it. I think it trivializes the Holocaust, which is terrible.” Rivers’ comments marked her second World War II dictator comparison; she also likened Duke to Benito Mussolini. Joining Duke at Table 63 on Tuesday will be Phil Laak, fellow Ultimate Bet pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Matt Glantz, and Phil Ivey.

In a battle of heavyweights, J.C. Tran eliminated online poker legend Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy near the end of play on Monday. Josephy was all-in pre-flop holding pocket eights against Tran’s A-K. The flop came a benign 9-9-5, but an ace on the turn sent Tran into the lead for good. The hand gave Tran 220,000 chips, although he ended the day with just 125,500. In September of 2006, Josephy, at the time an Ultimate Bet pro, finished second in the site’s Aruba Poker Classic for $446,000. Two months later, he was again the runner up, this time in a $4,800 buy-in preliminary tournament held during the World Poker Finals, for $187,000. The winner of that event was none other than Poker News Daily guest columnist Bernard Lee.

Here are the top 10 players on the leader board entering Day 3 on Tuesday:
1. Jean-Noel Thorel - 743,500
2. Bertrand Grospellier - 678,300
3. Steve Billirakis - 672,400
4. Dan Heimiller - 655,700
5. Justin Young - 621,800
6. Fred Berger - 598,500
7. Jimmy Fricke - 583,800
8. Steve Sung - 529,300
9. Joseph Parker - 505,500
10. Jeff Madsen - 479,200

Other notable names in the top 50 include:
12. Nenad Medic - 455,000
16. Johnny Chan - 404,500
20. David Singer - 370,700
22. Vadim Trincher - 365,200
25. Jennifer Harman - 341,300
26. Freddy Deeb - 338,400
28. Mike Matusow - 331,700
38. Kathy Liebert - 282,400
39. J.J. Liu - 281,900
46. Jerry Yang - 255,000
47. Joe Sebok - 253,900

Trincher is fresh off a win in the WPT’s Foxwoods Poker Classic, where he defeated a field of 259 entrants en route to a $731,000 payday. Heads-up at the Connecticut casino, Trincher defeated Amnon Filippi, who busted Phil Hellmuth on Day 1 from the Bellagio after just 15 minutes of play. Liebert took second to Steve Brecher in the Bay 101 Shooting Star event, which played out in March from San Jose, California; Liebert pocketed $550,000 for her runner up showing. Brecher sits with the 113th largest stack at the Bellagio, 136,200, well below the average stack size of 210,000.

Day 3 picks up today at Noon Pacific Time. A winner will be crowned on Saturday.

PokerStars to Host European Version Of Ante Up for Africa Tournament

As April comes to a close, there are many huge events on the tournament poker calendar. While play begins at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship today, next week brings the year-end festivities of the fifth season on the PokerStars-sponsored European Poker Tour (EPT) with its Grand Final. As a part of that schedule of events in Monte Carlo, PokerStars has announced that for the first time ever there will be a charitable tournament before battle begins in the Grand Final.

PokerStars will team up with Ante Up for Africa, the charitable foundation started by actor Don Cheadle and Poker News Daily columnist Annie Duke, to present the first ever Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament. The event will take place on April 27th at 6:00pm local time, one day before action begins on the EPT Grand Final. The tournament, much like the previous events that have run during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) over the past two years, is aimed at raising money within the poker community for the current humanitarian efforts in the war-torn African nation of Darfur, which continues to suffer from ethnic cleansing, poverty, and starvation of its citizens.

Team PokerStars Pro members Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, and Vanessa Rousso will compete in the €4,000 buy in No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament with all of the proceeds that are raised going towards the efforts of Ante Up For Africa. As the Grand Final draws the cream of not only the European poker community, but also those from the United States, there should be a bevy of brand name pros and celebrities in this event. Instead of a cash prize for the winner, PokerStars will be awarding a special prize package to its flagship EPT event in the Bahamas, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, in January of 2010.

The two previous tournaments run during the schedule of the WSOP in Las Vegas have drawn the best in the poker world as well as some of the most popular celebrities in Hollywood. Luminaries of the entertainment world, including Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Montel Williams, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jason Alexander, Charles Barkley, Ray Romano, and Shannon Elizabeth, have stepped up to play poker against top professional poker players such as Barry Greenstein, Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, Phil Laak, and Andy Bloch. Top professional John “World” Hennigan captured the championship last year in Las Vegas, but more importantly, the previous WSOP events have raised close to $2 million for Ante Up For Africa.

The hope of Ante Up for Africa for the events this summer in Las Vegas during the WSOP and in Monaco during the EPT is to bring more attention to the crisis and create further support for peacekeepers and aid workers in the region. For more details on the organization and its efforts in Darfur, visit the Ante Up For Africa website to learn more and make a donation.

New set of players in High Stakes Poker

It is suprising that Negreanu made a comeback to play in another table in this season of HSP, as his first appearance at the table didn’t go well at all. Well, i guess he felt like he could do better against this group of players or maybe he just felt like playing little bit more.

There were some familiar faces in the new group, but also few others who are not normally recognized as poker players. An actor, screenwriter and film director Nick Cassavetes and a producer and writer Sam Simon, who is best known as one of the original developers of The Simpons, made their debut in HSP.

A former world champion Joe Hachem also made his debut in High Stakes Poker. Other players in the table are players who have been at the HSP table before on the previous seasons, Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and afromentioned Negreanu.

One of the most memorable hand in the episode is played between Laak and Simon. Laak, who is a boyfriend of an actress Jennifer Tilly, raises with T-2 suited and Simon, who was married to Tilly from 1984 to 1991, re-raises Laak with T-4, because he don’t realise Laak has already raised!

If you haven’t seen the newest episode, check it out from cardplayertube.com in five pieces:

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New set of players in High Stakes Poker

New Faces Join High Stakes Poker

This week on GSN’s High Stakes Poker, eight new faces took to the felts. The largest pot in the show’s history, a $919,000 hand between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Barry Greenstein, highlighted the last group’s session.

In one of the more intriguing hands of the episode, which aired on Sunday night at 9:00pm ET on GSN, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer peeked down at pocket tens and made it $3,000 pre-flop. 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Hachem called holding pocket jacks and the flop came K-7-6, all spades. Lederer held the only spade and led out for $4,500. Hachem promptly called to see the five of spades fall on the turn, giving Lederer a flush.

On the spade that fell on the turn, High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan commented, “Howard doesn’t know if he’s happy about that spade or not. Hachem calling on that flop may mean Joe has a big spade like the ace or the queen.” Lederer checked, Hachem bet $8,500, and Lederer tanked before raising to $18,500. Hachem then 3bet to $38,500, prompting Kaplan to commend, “Great play by Joe Hachem. He’s reading Howard very well.” Lederer folded and Hachem scooped the $74,800 pot.

The episode featured two of Hollywood’s elite battle head to head, as “The Simpsons” producer Sam Simon squared off against “The Notebook” director Nick Cassavetes. Holding pocket jacks, Simon raised to $3,000 and Cassavetes called with 7-5 of hearts. Daniel Negreanu, who was the only holdover from the first group of eight, also called with A-5. The flop came 7-2-7, giving Cassavetes trips. Simon led out and bet $10,000, Cassavetes raised to $26,000, Negrenu folded, and Simon insta-folded. Kaplan was impressed with the laydown: “Without even thinking about it, Sam Simon lays down jacks to the disappointment of Nick Cassavetes. It was the right move, but no one else at this table would have done it.”

A variety of side bets were discussed during the episode, many instigated by “I Bet You” co-stars Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. In one bet, Hachem took the under on what rating Cassavetes would give the movie “Pulp Fiction” between one and 100. Although the mark was set in the 80s, Cassavetes gave the film a 98, costing Hachem $1,000. Another bet surrounded how many words Patrik Antonius, who is in the midst of the Million Dollar Challenge against Dwan, would say at the table. The over/under was set at 78 and Antonius easily surpassed that total in the first episode.

Laak and Simon would tangle in a hand where “The Unabomber” raised with 10-2 of spades to $6,300. Simon mistakenly raised to $11,800 with 10-4 and Laak called. The flop came 8-9-J, giving both players an open-ended straight draw. Simon led out for $30,000 and Laak called. The turn came an ace. Simon checked and Laak casually tossed in a bundle of bills worth $50,000. Kaplan noted, “This is really a case of an amateur playing against a professional. Phil Laak knows Sam Simon did not want to see that ace of diamonds.” Simon quickly folded.

In the richest hand of the show, Negreanu bet $2,500 with 8-9 of diamonds and Antonius raised to $11,000 with J-4 of spades. Negreanu made the call and the flop came K-10-3 with two diamonds. Antonius bet $17,000 and Negreanu called with a flush draw. The turn came the five of hearts and the action went check-check. The queen of spades fell on the river and Negreanu bet $26,000. Kaplan remarked, “That’s the kind of bet you would make with a hand like K-9. I wouldn’t put it past Patrik Antonius to come over the top.” However, Antonius folded, giving Negreanu the $84,800 pot.

Next week, Negreanu becomes frustrated with Lederer after "The Professor" accidentally interferes in a hand. Also, a bet unfolds as to whether Esfandiari can perform 35 pushups. New episodes of Season 5 of “High Stakes Poker” air on Sunday nights at 9:00pm ET on GSN.

Tom Dwan Scoops Largest High Stakes Poker Pot Ever

The fifth season of High Stakes Poker is currently airing on GSN and, in the final episode featuring Tom Dwan, the 22 year-old scooped a $919,600 pot, the largest ever won on the show. The win came at the expense of Barry Greenstein.

The second hand of High Stakes Poker, which airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm ET on GSN, featured a $2,000 straddle by Peter Eastgate and a $4,000 double straddle by Doyle Brunson. Straddles have been used sparingly throughout the course of the show so far, a trend that was bucked this weekend. Greenstein made it $15,000 pre-flop holding As-Js. 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate called with Ks-7s and Brunson called with J-9. The flop came J-3-7 with one spade, giving Greenstein top pair with the best kicker. Eastgate checked, Brunson bet $35,000, and Greenstein called. High Stakes Poker announcer Gabe Kaplan noted, “Barry knows Doyle and if Doyle had a better hand than him, he'd check.”

After Greenstein called Brunson's bet, Eastgate raised to $104,000. Brunson got out of the way and Greenstein called. The turn came the 10 of spades, giving both players a flush draw, although Greenstein would have the nuts if a spade fell on the river. Greenstein bet $175,000 and Eastgate went into the tank before folding. Kaplan commented, “Barry did not want Peter Eastgate to say 'All in.'”

The biggest hand of the night came in a pot where Eastgate made it $3,500 pre-flop with A-K. Greenstein peeked down to see pocket aces and raised to $15,000. Dwan called with Ks-Qs and Eastgate also saw the flop of 2-4-Q with two spades. Kaplan made an elaborate Star Spangled Banner reference before Dwan led out and bet $28,700. Greenstein raised to $100,000 as a 50% favorite to win the pot and Dwan re-raised to $244,600. Greenstein shoved enough to put Dwan all-in and the two agreed to run it just once. Greenstein offered to let Dwan to take back $200,000, but the youngster declined. The turn was a queen, leaving Greenstein drawing to the case ace, which didn't come on the river. Dwan scooped the largest pot in High Stakes Poker history.

Sunday's installment of High Stakes Poker also saw Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu go broke once again. He had the misfortune of running into quads earlier this season and, in his final hand, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies raised to $4,500 with J-6 and Negreanu called with K-Q. The flop came Q-6-3, giving Negreanu top pair. Sahamies bet $8,000 and Negreanu elected to slow play his hand by just calling. The turn came another six and Sahamies bet $27,000, this time with trips instead of middle pair. Negreanu pushed for $102,400 and Sahamies quickly called. Negreanu quipped, “I'm just going to quit.” The river came a three, giving the $232,500 pot to Sahamies. Negreanu left the set, the first exit on High Stakes Poker this season.

One of the final hands for this group of seven players saw Eastgate raise to $3,500 with J-9. Dwan called with A-3 and David Benyamine raised to $16,000 with pocket nines. Both Eastgate and Dwan called, seeing the flop of 9-Q-Q. In the background of the hand was a heated discussion between Dwan and Sahamies over who owed who money, which took away a bit of the luster of this hand. Benyamine bet out $28,000 with his flopped full house, Eastgate called with two pair, and Dwan folded. The turn came a six and Benyamine once again led out for $38,000. Eastgate called and the river came an eight, which Kaplan noted “could save Eastgate some money.” Benyamine bet $75,000 and Eastgate called, losing the $331,200 pot.

The High Stakes Poker set at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas will welcome seven new faces on Sunday, April 12th. They include “The Simpsons” producer Sam Simon, Phil Laak, Joe Hachem, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, and Antonio Esfandiari. In addition, Negreanu will return looking to reverse his luck.

Bodog Unveils 2009 WSOP Prop Bets

If you've ever wanted to rail your favorite poker stars without having to be at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, head to Bodog. The online poker site and sports book recently opened up betting on the WSOP. The festivities at the Rio begin on May 27th.

Among the wagers available on Bodog is what poker pro will win the most money during the 2009 WSOP. The leader in the clubhouse is 11-time bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth, who is currently going off at 5:2. Other players that are available to bet on include Doyle Brunson (7:2), David Sklansky (12:1), Barry Greenstein (5:1), Mike Caro (12:1), Phil Gordon (10:1), T.J. Cloutier (6:1), and Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who is fetching 3:1 odds.

The question of “Will Phil Hellmuth win his 12th bracelet at the 2009 WSOP occurring in Las Vegas beginning May 27th?” is paying +300 for Yes and -500 for No. Hellmuth made three final tables last year, taking third in the $1,500 buy-in HORSE event for $93,000. You can also bet on whether Brunson or Johnny Chan will score their 11th bracelets. The +300 figure means that a player must bet $100 to get back a total of $400. The -500 figure means that a player must bet $500 to get back a total of $600.

A special last longer wager is also available on the prestigious $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, which was infamously won last year by Scotty Nguyen. He has 5:1 odds in the bet, the favorite among the pros available. Others include Brunson (6:1), Hellmuth (7:1), Chan (7:1), Freddy Deeb (11:2), Phil Ivey (6:1), David Williams (11:2), Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo (11:2), and Negreanu (6:1). Deeb won the event in 2007 and the late Chip Reese took down the inaugural HORSE Championship in 2006. The trophy given to the winner of the event is named in his honor.

Another unique bet asks wagerers to select what pair will rack up the most winnings in the 2009 WSOP. Patrik Antonius and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites, going off at 4:1. Other pairings available include Doyle and Todd Brunson (6:1), the husband and wife team of Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman (6:1), father and son Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok (9:2), brother and sister Annie Duke and Howard Lederer (15:2), Bodog pros Evelyn Ng and Justin Bonomo (15:2), Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly (6:1), mother and son David and Shirley Williams (6:1), engaged couple Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso (10:1), and Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Tiffany Michelle (9:2).

Players can even bet on what game will be played when the final hand is dealt during the HORSE Championship. Hold'em, Razz, and Seven Card Stud are all paying 5:2, while Omaha High-Low and Seven Card Stud High-Low are both going off at 15:4.

Bettors will also be keeping their eyes on the female contingent in the Main Event, as a special women's-only last longer bet is available on Bodog. Jennifer Harman and Kathy Liebert are the current favorites; both are 5:1 to remain in contention in the Main Event the longest. Others include Duke (7:1), Tilly (10:1), Cyndy Violette (7:1), Isabelle Mercier (7:1), Clonie Gowen (7:1), Ng (7:1), Liz Lieu (7:1), Mimi Tran (7:1), Katja Thater (7:1), Rousso (7:1), and the last woman standing in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, Maria Ho (10:1).

One prop bet on Bodog centers wholly on Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande's finish in the Main Event. Bellande was a contestant on CBS' “Survivor: China,” one of the 18 seasons of the show that have aired. “No Money” is paying 1:20; finishing in the money, but no better than 10th place is paying 8:1; making the final table is paying 150:1; and winning the 2009 WSOP Main Event is fetching 1,000:1 odds. Bellande took 442nd in the Main Event last year.

The first wager listed in Bodog's poker section is, “Will Scotty Nguyen reach his stated promise that he will earn $4,000,000 or more in combined winnings at this year’s WSOP?” Yes is paying out +2,400. The bet stems from an interview Nguyen had with PokerListings that he would retire from poker if he does not amass $4 million in winnings at the 2009 WSOP. Whether he will follow through on his promise is anyone's guess.