Poker News

Annie Duke Talks Dancing with the Stars, Engagement to Joe Reitman

Fresh off announcing her departure from UB.com, reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss life away from the game. She also addresses the rumors that former colleague Phil Hellmuth will be on the hit ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.”

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Would you tune in to watch Phil Hellmuth strut his stuff on “Dancing with the Stars”?

Annie Duke: I think it’d be hilarious. I think he would make a great foil on the show. All of those things are amazing for poker. Any time you can bring a poker player into the mainstream world, it’s incredible. I adore Phil and he would make me watch that show, but I like Chris Ferguson for it too, who is an actual dancer.

With Phil, it’s always a love-hate relationship with the audience. People love to watch him because they love to hate him. You have people like that in every sport and he takes on that role in poker. He is amazing for poker, though. He does nothing but good things for the game.

PND: You were a former contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC. Tell us how the casting process works for a reality show featuring celebrities.

Annie Duke: With “Apprentice,” it’s some people’s representatives reaching out and “Apprentice” having a wish list that they contact. I assume it happens that way on “Dancing with the Stars.” I know some people who have been asked to be on the show and also know people who have reached out. I would assume that with someone like Phil, it’d be him reaching out to “Dancing with the Stars.” I hope he’s on and wish him all the best. They would get an extra viewer in me.

PND: Congratulations on your engagement! Among those who responded to your engagement announcement was Kevin Pollak, who is the host of the new Fox game show “Million Dollar Money Drop.” Have you watched it?

Annie Duke: I have and think he’s fine as a game show host. I’m fascinated by the show. I love shows like that and have watched every episode. I think it’s an interesting idea from a decision-making standpoint that they start the contestants with $1 million. People feel like they’re losing money along the way, so it’s interesting to see how it affects people. They feel like the $1 million was theirs and then they lost it. I really love the torture of the game. You know half of those couples must be breaking up right after they’re on.

PND: Tell us the engagement story!

Annie Duke: Every year, I haven’t gotten a stocking. This year, Joe [Reitman] asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said a stocking. So, I woke up Christmas morning and had a filled stocking. We opened our presents and I got halfway through it when Joe said I had to stop because opening the rest of the stocking would give away the presents that were under the tree.

I wanted shoes, Insanity DVDs, and cool glasses, so I was wondering what was in the stocking and kept asking to open it. When I finally got back to it, I found a lot of candy. I got to the bottom where the chocolate orange should have been and there was a big wrapped box. I had very specifically gone into a jewelry store that I love and told the lady there that if my boyfriend came in, she should tell him that I wanted a bracelet, so I thought it’d be in the box. I opened it up and inside was a ring box, but I didn’t get excited yet.

What Joe said when I looked at the box was, “I don’t think you want the Donald Trump [fake-out win] thing to happen twice.” I opened up the ring box and inside was an engagement ring. It was a designer one that I wanted and I looked at him. I was crying, had my head in my hands, and the kids came over to ask me why I was crying. He did it in a way that included the kids, which was nice.

PND: Can you talk about your upcoming poker schedule?

Annie Duke: Outside of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and the Bay 101 Shooting Star events, I’m going to have to have a light poker schedule in the spring. I’m going to play a bunch during the World Series and I’m speaking at a business conference and an Adventures of the Mind conference, which is for 16 year olds and I’m on the committee of.

PND: We understand you have a poker strategy book in the works?

Annie Duke: It’s a 400-page poker strategy bible. Vanessa Rousso and I are writing a heads-up book where we’re analyzing all of the hands we played in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. We’re in the middle of doing that and it’ll take us a couple of months. We’re making a website with the audio files too.

PND: What do you foresee happening with UB.com’s stable of pros?

Annie Duke: I assume that they’re re-strategizing. I assume that they’ll continue on strong in the market though. They’re the #3 brand in the USA and I assume they’ll continue to succeed.

PND: What was the biggest poker story of 2010?

Annie Duke: The Harry Reid bill this fall. Getting so close to legislation being passed and having it all fall apart at the last minute was the biggest story. That’s the most powerful piece of news we had and it was a pretty big year in terms of poker news.

Identity of Isildur1 May Be Revealed Saturday

In what will either be the worst kept secret ever in the poker world or the most stunning reveal of all-time, the identity of the online phenomenon Isildur1 will purportedly be unveiled on Saturday evening in the Bahamas.

Several poker news sites have announced that the identity of Isildur1 will be revealed at 7:00pm ET on Saturday night during action at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), currently ongoing at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino. OnlinePoker.net indicated that the Tournament Director of the PCA stated that the announcement of Isildur1’s identity would come while trumpeting the arrival of Viktor Blom, the Swedish pro who has long been rumored to be the man behind the curtain.

PokerNews has also reported tomorrow’s reveal: “There’s a lot of speculation regarding the other identity of Blom, many claiming that he is indeed Isildur1 of nosebleed online fame. We can’t say for sure, but PokerStars is set to reveal the true identity of their newest online pro on Saturday at 7:00pm. Are Blom and Isildur1 the same person? We’ll know for sure in just over 48 hours.”

Players, for their part, have not been keeping the secret very quiet during the Super High Roller event at the PCA… or have they? On their Twitter feeds, players have been calling Blom “Isildur1” when they note to their followers who is at their tables. For example, in his Tweet, 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year Sorel Mizzi gave his table’s roll call: “Got Ashman, Negreanu, Timex, Vivek, Isildur1, and Nick Schulman. Fun!”

This hasn’t stopped some players from promoting different theories as to the true identity of Isildur1. Justin Bonomo noted a thread on TwoPlusTwo and Tweeted, “Coincidence that Hellmuth leaves UB just before Stars reveals Isildur1? Get ready to feel your heads explode Blom fanboys!”

Another Tweeter, Chris Choy, took the time to look over the entry list for the PCA Super High Roller event and noted, “Going through PCA $100K High Roller lineup…  Seat 6 – Koen Berendsen is the only name I don’t recognize… Isildur1, is that you buddy?” Berendsen is a player from the Netherlands who has had some success in the European poker community.

Blom did not fare well in the PCA Super High Roller event, busting before the end of Day 1. Germany’s Tobias Reinkemeier leads Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and Bryn Kenney as Day 2 plays out. Other players still a part of the action include recent WPT champion Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel “jungleman12” Cates, Eugene Katchalov, and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger.

The Isildur1 drama has played out over more than a year since the arrival of the Swedish high-stakes player in 2009. Taking on such players as Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Isildur1 grew his bankroll in high-stakes play to record levels. As 2010 came to a close, however, the mysterious Swede decided it was time to take an unprecedented step.

Isildur1 unexpectedly signed a sponsorship agreement with PokerStars in December, guaranteeing a steady income, but also potentially prompting an end to the mystery surrounding his identity. It had been previously announced by PokerStars that Isildur1 would make the PCA his first official live event as a part of the Team PokerStars stable, and Saturday’s announcement of his or her identity will certainly draw the attention of the poker community.

Prahlad Friedman Discusses Signing with UB.com

Brand new to Team UB.com is bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman, who joined the site following the departures of Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. Friedman sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss joining the USA-friendly CEREUS Network site.

Poker News Daily: Tell us why you signed with UB.com following your now-famous Tweet in November saying you’d be “selling out” by joining an online poker site. Did you have a change of heart?

Prahlad Friedman: I had a change of heart. It was all because of friends and family. They all convinced me that I could do greater good by signing and having more exposure and influence. We live in a society where the people who are the most well known have the greatest influence. I felt this could get me out there a little more. There’s also a charity component to my deal.

PND: What can you tell us about the charity portion of your agreement with UB.com?

Prahlad Friedman: There’s a good chunk of money that I’ll be giving to charity every year. I’ll be posting on Facebook and Twitter for any charities people think are awesome and I have a few ideas of my own. There are many options out there.

PND: What sparked your original stance against signing with an online poker site?

Prahlad Friedman: I’m just super liberal. I was raised vegetarian and I meditate. I’ve always liked underground hip-hop. I’ve always been on the outside. Now, I’m trying to mix it up and work from the inside out. I can turn a lot of heads, make people healthier, and help with charity. I don’t view it as selling out.

PND: You were affected by the cheating scandal on UB.com. What does Prahlad Friedman signing with UB.com say about the site moving forward?

Prahlad Friedman: People should know I’m not a donkey. I’m not going to sign if I thought there was anything going on. I obviously feel like the site is different and new now. Anybody who had to do with that scandal is gone.

PND: With Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth now gone from Team UB.com, can you be the main face of an online poker site?

Prahlad Friedman: I’ve always been a leader. I’ve always been outspoken. For quite a few years now, I haven’t been afraid to do interviews and be in front of cameras. I’m comfortable and have always been a point guard.

PND: What were your thoughts when you found out that Duke and Hellmuth were leaving?

Prahlad Friedman: They’re going to make the decision that’s best for them; it didn’t raise any concerns for me. They’ve been there a while and wanted a change of pace or had a change of heart just like I did. People change and the fact that they’re out is hopefully good for them and I know they’ll do well in the future. It also gives me an opportunity to be at the forefront. One of the things that most attracted me to this deal was the creative control I’ll have in commercials, clothing lines, and charitable things.

PND: What details can you share about the interactions you had with UB.com following the cheating scandal? Were you reimbursed?

Prahlad Friedman: It’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. I’m sure a lot of people feel differently, but I was pumped to get money back and it was a large sum. They took care of me and it reinforced to me that I was one of the best poker players in the world. Any money I had lost was because I was cheated off of it. Every site has had its problems with weird things happening and you have to improve and move on.

PND: What were your thoughts about Daniel Negreanu calling you out for signing with UB.com?

Prahlad Friedman: At first, people were recommending that I not read TwoPlusTwo and Twitter because if there’s anything negative, it can get to you, but I couldn’t help myself. I read Daniel Negreanu’s comments and I’m not hating on him. We’re friends and fellow vegans, but he feels strongly about UB. I don’t have problems with the things he said. I just feel a lot differently than he does.

PND: Were you surprised at some of Negreanu’s comments?

Prahlad Friedman: I knew from the past that people are going to bring up tough questions and criticize me. People have been criticizing me since I was on the scene. You can’t let those things affect you. People have different ideas. That’s what makes the world interesting.

PND: You broke Steve Nash’s consecutive free throw record on an episode of “Poker2Nite,” which was quite impressive. Tell us about your preparation for that attempt.

Prahlad Friedman: I’ve always been intense about things I do. Playing basketball competitively has been my main goal since I could hold a ball. All I did was shoot 500 or 1,000 shots a day for years and years. I’d sneak my way into gyms as a youth and I was obsessed with basketball.

Usually, when I go out and shoot, I’ll make 40 or 50 in a row, and my best is 118. The world record is 5,200 shots in a row, which would be awesome to break, but could be out of reach. I thought Nash’s record was within reach and broke it on the third try. I’d like to do it again, improve upon it, and make it so people will have a tough time beating it.

PND: We’d wager that many poker players know you best for your World Series of Poker Main Event run-ins with Ted Bort and Jeffrey Lisandro.

Prahlad Friedman: It seems silly that I’m known for those. I can’t blame people because ESPN is one of the biggest outlets and millions of people watch it. In the future, they can hopefully remember me for other things. I don’t like to be remembered for drama, so it is a little funny that these controversies come up. I’m looking to get past them.

PND: Are you focused on winning a second WSOP bracelet?

Prahlad Friedman: I haven’t played enough tournaments recently to have a really good chance. I’d love to win two, though, and with this signing with UB, I think I’ll play more. I’ll put myself in a good position to win another one.

Tobias Reinkemeier Leads PCA Super High Roller Event After Day 1

One day of play is in the books in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Event at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Thirty-eight players put up the six-figure admission fee and, when the smoke had cleared after nine levels, Tobias Reinkemeier held a stack of 896,000 for a slight lead over Team PokerStars Pro front man Daniel Negreanu.

Reinkemeier doubled up late in the day with pocket queens against Bryan Colin’s A-10 to move to 420,000 in chips and eventually bagged up more than twice that total to make a run at the $1.5 million top prize. The $100,000 buy-in event set a new standard for tournaments at the PCA and brought out some of the game’s best, including Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. “Elky” watched as Negreanu and 2010 Bluff Player of the Year Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi hit top pair on an ace-high board. Grospellier, who was all-in against both, sent his final hand into the muck to depart in 25th place.

Grospellier wasn’t the only star to exit the Super High Roller Event on its opening day. Viktor Blom, the many presumed to be behind the “Isildur1” moniker, was also in the house and called all-in on a board reading 9-A-7-9-3. His opponent, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, tabled K-9 for trips. Blom mucked and that was all she wrote for the Swede, who lasted eight levels.

For Blom, the start of the day was ominous. Text found on the PokerStars Blog details the opening minutes of his $100,000 buy-in tournament run: “‘Long travels’ is how Blom described it, having just flown from London to New York to Miami to Nassau five hours late and without his baggage. He’s now filling in waiver forms.”

North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Bounty Shootout champ Ashton Griffin also found the rail on Thursday in the Bahamian poker tournament. Griffin committed his stack pre-flop with Q-10, but ran into Nick Schulman’s A-2. The board ran out A-J-2-K-A and, despite making a straight, Griffin fell to Schulman’s full house on the river.

Jason “JCarver” Somerville’s pocket jacks were no match for Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari’s pocket aces to seal his exit from the $100,000 buy-in tournament. Also without chips was math whiz Bill Chen, whose A-5 found trips on a 5-7-5-6-8 board, but David Benyamine, one of the few Full Tilt Poker pros in the tournament, held Q-9 for a straight.

Departing in particularly brutal fashion was DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins. The “Alabama Cowboy” called all-in with ducks on a board of 2-9-6-5-10 only to see that Bryn Kenney had rivered a set of his own with pocket tens. Among those seated at the same table were Phil Laak and Jason Mercier, the latter of whom told Kenney, “I really didn’t think you had two tens.”

Twenty-three players remain at the end of Day 1 of the three-day tournament, whose final table will be filmed for airing on ESPN2. Here’s how the field stacks up entering Day 2 on Friday:

1. Tobias Reinkemeier – 896,000
2. Daniel Negreanu – 848,000
3. Bryn Kenney – 828,000
4. Nick Schulman – 705,000
5. Daniel “jungleman12” Cates – 622,000
6. Eugene Katchalov – 551,000
7. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar – 483,000
8. Jason Mercier – 459,000
9. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 444,000
10. Caio Pimenta – 409,000
11. Sandor Demjan – 401,000
12. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst – 390,000
13. Antonio Esfandiari – 330,000
14. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – 324,000
15. Humberto Brenes – 318,000
16. Mike “timex” McDonald – 269,000
17. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 249,000
18. Shawn Buchanan – 209,000
19. David Benyamine – 202,000
20. Matt Glantz – 148,000
21. Bryan Colin – 134,000
22. Justin “Boosted J” Smith – 116,000
23. Phil Laak – 99,000

The action will pick back up at Noon ET today and five places will pay out when the tournament wraps up on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2011 PCA.

Image courtesy PokerStars Blog

Prahlad Friedman Joins Team UB.com

Following last week’s overhaul at Team UB.com that saw Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth depart on the same day, the USA-friendly CEREUS Network site has picked up its newest pro. On Thursday, site officials announced that Prahlad Friedman had joined Team UB.com.

Friedman seemingly hinted at joining an online poker site back in November. The 32 year old California native Tweeted, “I said I would never sign with a poker site. Should I ever reconsider? What y’all think? I would have to get over the fact that I’m ‘selling out.’ I’m the only player in the world that hasn’t wanted a deal that I know of.” UB.com promoted Friedman as “one of the world’s greatest cash game players, online and off, with millions in winnings earned since 1999.”

Friedman’s first major live cash came eight years ago in the Main Event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio, where he booked $101,000 for his runner-up finish to Full Tilt Poker’s Erick Lindgren. One year later, he notched his first (and so far only) World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament and banked $109,000 in the process.

In 2005, Friedman played second fiddle to Chris Ferguson in the WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s Rincon to earn another $363,000. One year later, this author remembers being at the Rio in Las Vegas and following Friedman through the WSOP Main Event. There, he turned in a 20th place finish for nearly a half-million dollars and fell just short of the coveted Main Event bracelet.

He’d make amends in August 2009, when Friedman took down the Legends of Poker, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). His victory in the California poker tournament was worth a colossal $1 million and saw Friedman outlast a final table that included November Niner Kevin Schaffel, Todd Terry, Toto Leonidas, and Sam Stein.

Friedman was a victim of the superuser scandal that rocked UB.com and drew the ire of PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu for signing with the site that had wronged him. “Kid Poker” responded to a variety of Tweets last weekend, among them one sent to fellow poker player Alex Outhred that read, “Like you, I’ve known him for years, which makes it all the more shocking. I’ve defended Prahlad on many occasions. Can’t here.”

Negreanu added to Outhred, “UB will always have to offer more than face value [for a sponsorship] because given a choice that’s close, no one would choose UB. Or shouldn’t… UB has to offer more money obv. He used to say it wasn’t about the money. I don’t believe that anymore… He used to speak out against all corporations, claiming he stood for something. Then, the money was right and his tune changed… I get it happens. I’m disappointed it did happen. I’ve always liked Prahlad and still do despite his decision. Just shocking.”

Nevertheless, Friedman will join UB.com just in time for the sixth UB.com Online Championship, or UBOC, which gets underway on January 16th. The 29-event series will stretch all the way until January 30th, when a $1,050 buy-in Main Event will kick off. The $1 million guaranteed feature tournament will deal No Limit Hold’em and be played as a Monster Stack.

Running alongside the sixth UBOC schedule is a MiniUBOC series, which features the same 29 tournaments, but with buy-ins that are generally one-tenth as large. The MiniUBOC slate ends with a $55 buy-in Monster Stack Championship Event that comes with a $50,000 guaranteed purse.

Following the departures of Hellmuth and Duke, UB.com’s stock of pros now includes Friedman, Joe Sebok, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, and Maria Ho. The site happily accepts players from the United States and joins Absolute Poker on the CEREUS Network.

Play with Prahlad Friedman today only by visiting UB.com.

Cake Poker Opens Diamond Mine on January 10th

Starting next week, Cake Poker will fire up its latest promotion, which will offer $40,000 in cash to those who participate. The Diamond Mine begins next Monday, January 10th and will be a series of tournaments with increasing prize pools. The key to enter these events will be the ever-popular Cake Poker Gold Cards that have been released to this point in 2011.

Each tournament has a guaranteed prize pool, starting with $300 for the first and running up to $15,000 for the final event on the schedule. There is no cost for players to enter save for using the Gold Cards that they have accumulated through ring game play on Cake Poker.

The 14-event schedule begins with a tournament for players who can come up with five of the two of diamonds Gold Cards from the 2011 series. These players will battle it out for one of 100 seats in the next tournament and a piece of a $300 prize pool. If a player earns one of those seats, they’ll move on to the second tournament, which is offered to those with five of the three of diamonds Gold Cards. Each event as a player moves up the ladder has a card requirement for entry and an increasing prize pool.

If a player is able to play in all 12 of the preliminary events on the Diamond Mine schedule, they’ll earn a seat in the Diamond Mine Flawless Freeroll. This freeroll offers a $10,000 prize pool and will take place one day before the final event.

The final on January 23rd, which players can earn entry to either through winning a seat in Event #12 or by having an ace of diamonds from any of the Gold Card series, will feature a prize pool of $15,000.

Knowing that players will be burning through Gold Cards for the Diamond Mine tournament series, Cake Poker is simultaneously running its Turbo Gold Card promotion. Gold Cards will be distributed at ring game tables at twice the normal rate each day from January 10th to January 23rd from 4:00pm ET to 5:00pm ET and from 8:00pm ET to 11:00pm ET. This promotion gives players a chance to build up their 2011 series Gold Card collections and get in on the $40,000 Diamond Mine tournament schedule.

For those who prefer to “wheel and deal” to get the Gold Cards they need, Cake Poker’s Gold Card Exchange is open as well.

Already running on Cake Poker are satellites to one of the longest running tournament schedules in poker history. Cake Poker is offering its players the opportunity to head to Ireland over Easter weekend to take part in the 2011 Irish Poker Open, the second oldest tournament behind only the World Series of Poker. Cake Poker is offering players a chance at a seat at the 2011 Irish Poker Open Main Event for as little as $1.10, with satellites running daily. These satellites feed into a monthly Final.

Cake Poker has put together packages for players that are worth battling for. Each $7,000 prize package from Cake Poker includes a seat at the Main Event of the Irish Poker Open worth €3,500, a five-night stay at the Irish Poker Open’s host venue (the Burlington Hotel), $1,500 cash for travel expenses, and an official Cake Poker gear pack. The opportunity to play alongside the best poker players in the world during the Irish Poker Open, however, is the biggest prize. The final day to earn entry into the Irish Poker Open through Cake Poker is March 27th.

Featuring such outlets as its own eponymous room, the Doyle Brunson-backed DoylesRoom, and Victory Poker, the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network should be a popular stop for poker players throughout the month of January with its wealth of promotions. Visit Cake Poker to learn more about the Diamond Mine tournament series.

Scott Palmer wins $340,000 more from Richard Lyndaker

Poker players aren’t renowned as an honest and consistent bunch, if we’re... er, honest. That’s why it’s no surprise that less than 48 hours after swearing off high stakes games, Richard Lyndaker (known best as nutsinho or Kpederson) took on Scott “URnotINdanger2” Palmer in another $200/$400 heads-up session.

Taylor Paur (ambiguosity) Wins 2010 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year

Earlier this week, Taylor “ambiguosity” Paur was named the 2010 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year after edging out defending titleholder Steve “gboro780″ Gross in the final days of December. Paur stockpiled an all-time record of 11,030 points for the year, besting previous winners Gross (2009), Alex “AJKHoosier1″ Kamberis (2008), and Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron (2007) in that department.

Paur, 22, won the Full Tilt Poker $75,000 Guaranteed on December 27th for nearly $25,000 to help put a stranglehold on the crown. In total, he amassed more than $1 million in online poker earnings for the year, making up more than two-thirds of his lifetime winnings. He won 13 tournaments in 2010, six of them for scores of $80,000 or more. His biggest payday came in May when he took down the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) $150 Rebuy for $192,228.90.

Paur’s biggest feat, though, may have been fending off Gross, whose accomplishments in online tournaments are simply unparalleled. Gross, who has more than $5 million in earnings since 2005, finished as the runner-up to Kamberis in the 2008 CardPlayer Online Player of the Year race before earning the honor in 2009 and finishing runner-up again in 2010. His consistency and dedication to the game have landed him among the elite players in the industry.

Rounding out the top five in the 2010 Online Player of the Year standings were Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek, Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver, and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet. Jarzabek, who helped open the online training site Tournament Poker Edge this year, totaled $782,355 in winnings to claim a spot in the Top 10 for the second straight year. Oliver, meanwhile, burst onto the scene in 2010 and spent several weeks as the #1 ranked player on PocketFives.com.

There’s a certain set of criteria for tournaments that count toward Card Player’s Online Player of the Year standings. Sites included in the rankings include PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, Cake Poker, Absolute Poker, and Bodog and only tournaments with a buy-in of $100 or more qualify. The prize pool of a tournament must be at least $100,000 and prize packages such as trips or live tournament buy-ins do not count.

Here’s a look at the Top 20 in the 2010 Card Player Online Player of the Year Standings:

1. Taylor “ambiguosity” Paur – 11,030 points ($1,099,435 in earnings)
2. Steve “gboro780″ Gross – 10,320 points ($1,023,658 in earnings)
3. Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek – 9,932 points ($782,355 in earnings)
4. Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver – 9,268 points ($854,769 in earnings)
5. Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet – 9,164 ($859,489 in earnings)
6. Zach “HustlerGrune” Gruneberg – 8,984 points ($776,347 in earnings)
7. “kirbynator” – 8,878 points ($1,143,749 in earnings)
8. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 8,874 points ($837,089 in earnings)
9. Raj “BadcardsAA” Vohra – 8,688 points ($1,319,012 in earnings)
10. Aditya “Intervention” Agarwal – 8,432 points ($739,105 in earnings)
11. Mark “dipthrong” Herm – 8,250 points ($811,208 in earnings)
12. Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen – 8,126 points ($664,588 in earnings)
13. Jordan “Jymaster11″ Young – 8,088 points ($751,593 in earnings)
14. Nick “Grippolio” Grippo – 8,044 points ($688,878 in earnings)
15. Ross “zestfullyclean” Myers – 7,960 points ($618,388 in earnings)
16. James “croll103″ Carroll – 7,898 points ($712,167 in earnings)
17. Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen – 7,792 points ($737,838 in earnings)
18. Ryan “ryanbluf” Karp – 7,712 points ($648,334 in earnings)
19. “mralan2950 – 7,710 points ($777,994 in earnings)
20. Chris “cdbr3799″ Dombrowski – 7,704 ($817,196 in earnings)

PCA $100,000 Super High Roller Field Includes Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier

On Thursday, the first ever $100,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Event will kick off the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The inaugural running of the tournament has attracted nearly 30 players so far and Saturday’s final table will be filmed for coverage on ESPN2.

In a press release sent out by PokerStars on Thursday, the names of 26 entrants appeared, including a variety of members of Team PokerStars Pro. Among those who will take to the felts in the richest tournament in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure history is Daniel Negreanu, whose Twitter spat about Prahlad Friedman’s rumored signing with UB.com has taken center stage in recent days. Negreanu owns four World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, the most recent of which came in 2008 in a $2,000 Limit Hold’em tournament.

The hottest player on the tournament circuit right now, Jason Mercier, will also participate in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Event starting tomorrow in the Bahamas. Mercier is firmly entrenched in the #2 spot on the ESPN poker rankings dubbed “The Nuts” and recorded five in the money finishes at this year’s WSOP. Mercier final tabled the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Main Event for $84,000 in November and won the tour’s Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout for $475,000 earlier in 2010. Mercier is a former European Poker Tour (EPT) champ and WSOP bracelet holder.

The 2010 CardPlayer and Bluff Players of the Year will also head to the Bahamas for the six-figure price tag tournament. Tom Marchese and Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi are both listed among the 26 entrants so far. Marchese is six weeks removed from a win in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em preliminary event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic and claimed CardPlayer’s 2010 Player of the Year honors. Mizzi, who earned the 2010 Bluff Player of the Year title, won two preliminary tournaments during EPT Snowfest in March 2010 for a combined haul of $140,000, just enough to cover tomorrow’s buy-in.

Bryn Kenney, who drove deep in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, will be part of the festivities at the Atlantis Resort and Casino, as will Scott Seiver. Other players who will make up the extremely talented field include Lex Veldhuis, Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak, former “Big Game” player Bill Perkins, Humberto Brenes, Eugene Katchalov, Dan Shak, Bill Chen, Bryan Colin, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Andrew “good2cu” Robl, DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins, Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari, Masa Kagawa, Nick Schulman, Matt Glantz, James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, Shawn Buchanan, and Ashton Griffin.

Needless to say, there won’t be any soft spots in the field. The 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure schedule features 48 tournaments that span a 10-day period.

On his way down to Nassau for the tournament series, Negreanu posted on Twitter on Wednesday morning, “That’s random. Three bums sit right behind me on my flight and they look very much like Antonio Esfandiari, Jonathan Duhamel, and Sorel Mizzi.” Before that, Negreanu remarked that he was taking advantage of the in-flight internet offered aboard Delta Airlines: “I love Delta; you are beautiful baby. Wifi on my flight to Atlanta means I can get some VPPs on PokerStars.Headed to PCA, obv, traveling solo.”

On January 15th, the final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event will air on ESPN3.com and ESPN2. You can catch the action beginning at 5:00pm ET that day on ESPN3.com on a one-hour delay. Five hours later, ESPN2 will join the telecast in progress. Hole cards will be shown during the broadcast, which will make for a unique experience for viewers unable to make the trip to the Bahamas.

Visit PokerStars for more details on the 2011 Caribbean Adventure.

Silly Bandz Creator Partners with DeepStacks Live

In one of the most intriguing business pairings in recent years, Robert Croak, the creator of Silly Bandz, a popular line of toy bracelets, will become the newest partner in DeepStacks Live. If you’re not familiar with Silly Bandz, Business Week called the product “the biggest success in modern day toy selling,” while during a segment on “Ellen,” show host Ellen DeGeneres comically labeled them “rubber bands.”

Silly Bandz has sold over $200 million of the product according to “Ellen,” which includes Bandz themed for Facebook’s FarmVille, teen heartthrob Justin Beiber, Hershey’s, Barbie, SpongeBob Squarepants, and Dora the Explorer. The traditional Silly Bandz run about $6 per bag and the company also sells watches and other wrist wear.

Croak commented in a press release distributed by DeepStacks officials on Wednesday, “Much like SillyBandz, which I’ve often said is the right product at the right time, DeepStacks Live is an optimal product, coming of age at the perfect time. The company has gained serious momentum in the last year. It’s my goal to make DeepStacks Live an even more valuable franchise.” Croak is an avid poker player, which may have helped pique his interest in joining the DeepStacks Live team.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect about Silly Bandz is its rabid Facebook following. Its page has over one million fans on Facebook, where the company is currently touting its end of the year holiday blowout: “Seasonal Silly Bandz BlowOut! Only $2 per pack! Holiday I, Holiday II, Rudolph, and Halloween packs are on sale for $2 each! Now through Jan. 31st.” Its Facebook page also touts sea creature bandz, Rad bandz, and Build-A-Packs.

The SillyBandz Twitter account (@sillybandz) has over 16,000 followers and posts similar messages as its Facebook feed. In all likelihood, Croak will bring his experience in social marketing to DeepStacks Live in 2011.

DeepStacks Live’s team of instructors includes several top live pros including Mike Matusow, Michael Mizrachi, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and 1983 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Tom McEvoy, a PokerStars pro. Mizrachi made waves in 2010 by taking down the all-new $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship and following up that performance with a final table appearance in the Main Event. The two cashes were good for nearly $4 million combined.

DeepStacks Live has not yet announced its 2011 live training schedule, which the site promises is “coming soon.” In the interim, DeepStacks Live CEO Chris Torina is looking forward to working with his newest investor: “Robert’s success is unparalleled. He will be a hands-on partner. I am eager for him to bring his enormous business, marketing, and design resources and unique approach to DeepStacks Live. This is a recipe for huge success.”

Affiliated with DeepStacks Live is DeepStacks University, which provides top-tier poker training instruction to eager students online. Besides the five aforementioned poker pros, Team DeepStacks’ stable of instructors includes T.J. Cloutier, online poker wunderkid Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade, Alex Outhred, and Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, who has appeared in FHM Online and Playboy.

The online version of DeepStacks runs $99, which includes the first two months of poker training. Then, the price drops to $29.95 per month.

The Showdown with Jon Friedberg Debuts on Poker News Daily

The very first episode of “The Showdown” with Jon Friedberg debuted today on Poker News Daily. The weekly web-based series welcomed former “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande to discuss a variety of topics ranging from bankroll management to the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas.

Friedberg is a former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner who was an original ranked player on PocketFives.com. His former ventures include a radio show and television show on CardPlayer and he brings a considerable amount of media experience to Poker News Daily. The USA-friendly site UB.com sponsors “The Showdown” and new episodes will be released every Tuesday.

In a recent Guest Column here on Poker News Daily, World Poker Tour (WPT) front man Mike Sexton gave several suggestions to improve attendance on the live tournament circuit, among them lowering buy-ins and shortening each tournament’s length. Friedberg responded, “I absolutely agree with Mike on this. It would be really great if we could lower the buy-ins a little bit and maybe shorten the time period of a tournament. $10,000 is a lot of money.” What do you think? Give us your take on how to increase tournament turnout by posting a Tweet at @JonFriedberg.

Also making news in recent days was WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel asking for suggestions for the 2011 Series, which kicks off on the last day of May. Friedberg gave his take on the responses that poured in via Twitter: “I saw a lot of great suggestions on Twitter, but I have to say the best suggestion I saw… is changing the structures to where the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em events and the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em events have the exact same structure… I don’t think you should ever have a smaller buy-in event in the World Series have a better starting structure than a bigger buy-in event.”

Then, Friedberg welcomed Bellande to the Las Vegas set. Bellande has opened up his life via Twitter, discussing his bankroll’s wild swings, among other topics. Bellande noted, “I just am not mindful of bankroll management. I just get on the table, am not afraid to put it all on the line, and I go for it. There is an appreciation in the poker community because a lot of us have the desire to do that, but after you’ve gone broke a couple of times and can’t stand being broke, nobody wants to do it.”

Bellande revealed that he has a wealth of backers to help him get back on his feet should his fortunes at the tables turn sour. On whether he prefers playing with the help of backers, Bellande told “The Showdown” viewers, “I’d much prefer to play on my own money. I’ve built up some credit with some people and always pay back… but I’d much rather be playing on my own stakes. Tournaments are different because the buy-ins are so enormous. A tournament player can spend $250,000 or $350,000 a year on buy-ins.”

Bellande serves as an ambassador of Aria Las Vegas and commented to Friedberg that the idea of Re-Tweeting insults came after seeing a popular porn star do the same: “My idea of Re-Tweeting the hater stuff – I actually got it from Jenna Jameson. She Re-Tweeted all of her hater stuff and I thought that was hilarious. People are going to think what they’re going to think anyway.”

If you follow Bellande’s Twitter feed, then you’ll also hear about his exploits at the Spearmint Rhino, a renowned strip club in Sin City. “I’ve spent $1,000 or $1,200 in there, but it’s never more,” Bellande admitted. “It’s usually around a couple hundred or $400. They actually don’t make me buy the bottle because I’m more of a local, regular guy. I have not gone into the Rhino very often recently.” Bellande added that visiting the Rhino serves as a way to help him wind down from a day at the tables.

With many poker players making resolutions, Bellande vowed not to go broke in 2011: “I really don’t want to go broke. My goal is not to go broke in 2011… You’ll see me go from $100,000 to $200,000 in the next month or two and then I’ll try to shoot it up so I have a decent bankroll going into the World Series.” The former Bodog pro added that he wants to hit the $1 million mark by the end of the year.

Check out the inaugural episode of “The Showdown” with Jon Friedberg, brought to you by UB.com. Use bonus code UBPND when signing up!

Daniel Cates (jungleman12) Profits $5.5 Million Online in 2010

Before 2010, Daniel “jungleman12” Cates was a nonentity in the online poker world. He began his career at the $0.50/$1 heads-up tables in 2008, made the move to sit and gos, and then went back to cash games. He busted his bankroll, was forced to get a minimum wage job at McDonald’s, and started the cycle all over again. Sound familiar? In 2010, Cates profited a healthy $5.5 million online.

Fast forward to March of last year. Grinding away in his parents’ basement, the Maryland native had built a bankroll big enough to play alongside the likes of like Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, “Isildur1,” and Tom “durrrr” Dwan at Full Tilt Poker’s nosebleed games. He was suddenly having daily swings of $500,000, sometimes more. Cates was a fixture in the biggest poker games on the internet and crushing them on a regular basis.

Cates saw his fame explode in July 2010. He joined the CardRunners team as an instructor and his real name was revealed to the poker community. In August, Cates agreed to take on Dwan in the second edition of the Durrrr Challenge, putting up $500,000 against Dwan’s $1.5 million in a 50,000-hand heads-up match. The community quickly awoke from the coma induced by the lull in Dwan’s first challenge with Antonius and saw some added intrigue generated by Cates’ limited media exposure.

Cates got off to a blazing start and is currently on top by $819,213 through 17,108 hands out of the 50,000 required for completion. He took $319,103 from Dwan in a 2,918-hand session late Monday night to increase his lead further and appears to be in the driver’s seat in the competition, having taken more than $1.3 million from Dwan lifetime.

It wasn’t just Dwan who had troubles with the young whiz kid in 2010. Cates was a big winner against Ivey, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Aaron “aejones” Jones, and Ashton “theASHMAN103″ Griffin, along with many others. By the end of the year, Cates was the biggest winner in online poker, amassing around $5.5 million in profits according to HighStakesDB.com. He’s now considered by his peers to be one of the best poker players in the world.

Cates discussed his climb in limits in his blog in late 2010: “When making the jump to $25/$50, I ran into some players of a whole other caliber – players that understood the game at a significantly greater level than myself for the first time since I began. Still, I took them on and lost/swung for a decent time. This kind of downswing/recovery combo dragged on for a couple months, but eventually, I fixed all my flaws and even began conquering some of the same players. LOL, I never imagined my $25/$50 win rate would ever be near what is now.”

Cates finished the year as the overwhelming leader in profits on Full Tilt Poker. Norwegian pro Andreas “skjervoy” Torbergsen finished a distant second with $3.7 million, Dwan was third with $3.6 million, Ivey finished fourth with $3.0 million, and Jared “harrington25″ Bleznick landed in fifth with $2.2 million in profits.

Cates reflected on his rise to prominence in his blog: “I can’t say that I’ve handled all my failures appropriately, but I am fortunate that I utilized these failures well and [have] not experienced the extent of setbacks that some of you have felt. Long ago, I dreamed I would succeed if I acted wisely given my circumstances, but to be honest, I did not really imagine it would be to this degree, and especially not this fast.”

Follow Cates’ heads-up challenge with Dwan at DurrrrChallenge.com.

Phil Ivey Finishes 2010 Atop ESPN The Nuts Rankings for December

We might all be putting our new 2011 calendars on the refrigerator, but let’s not put 2010 in our rearview mirror just yet.  ESPN.com’s “The Nuts” poker player rankings for December 2010 were released on New Year’s Eve and showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Before we get to the rankings, let’s quickly explain ESPN’s methodology.  Unlike rankings by some poker sites, there is no mathematical formula used in “The Nuts.”  Rather, it is a simple poll by a panel of ten members of the poker media, including our very own Dan Cypra.  The panel attempts to rank the top ten poker players of the moment based on both tournament and cash game results, live and online.  It is an inexact science, of course, but that is part of what makes it fun.

The voting panel includes ESPN.com’s poker crew of Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee (who is also a Guest Columnist for Poker News Daily), Bluff Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lance Bradley and Senior Writer Jessica Welman, ESPNDeportes.com Poker Editor Nahuel Ponce, PokerRoad’s Court Harrington, PokerNews Editor-in-Chief Matthew Parvis and Tournament Reporter Don Peters, and Cypra.

Nine of the top ten players remained the same in December, although some of the order has changed.  Phil Ivey remained in the top spot, a position that should really be renamed “Ivey’s Room.”  He received eight first place votes from the ten-member panel.  Jason Mercier received the other two first place votes, one coming from Cypra, cementing himself in the second position once again.

The two biggest jumps were by Tom Marchese and Vanessa Selbst, both of whom rose three spots.  Marchese climbed from #6 to #3, while Selbst was elevated to the fifth spot from eighth.  Marchese had an incredible 2010, his first year on the live tournament circuit.  In live tournaments alone, he won over $2 million.

Marchese exploded onto the scene with a final table at the Borgata in January and followed that up with a win on the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) in February.  He had three other big-time cashes last year, including final tables in the High Roller Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final, the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and the championship event of the World Poker Tour‘s (WPT) World Poker Finals, all of which contributed to winning CardPlayer’s 2010 Player of the Year award.

Selbst, who won her first and only WSOP bracelet in 2008, had two huge wins in 2010.  The first was in the Main Event of the NAPT Mohegan Sun in April for $750,000, while the second came in September in the Main Event of the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes, France, where she won over $1.8 million.

The one new member of “The Nuts” was last month’s “Bubble Boy,” Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi.  The 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of Year placed ninth at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic en route to a $1.9 million year in live tournaments.  With Mizzi’s rise into the top ten, Alexander Kostritsyn dropped out.

As an example of how fluid things can be in the poker world, half of the top ten at the end of 2010 was different than at the beginning of the year.  Daniel Negreanu took the biggest tumble out of the rankings, as he occupied the second spot in January.  The other four poker players – Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Daniel Alaei, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, and Barry Greenstein – were ranked seven through ten.  Patrik Antonius came close to falling out of the rankings, finishing the year at #10 after starting out at #3.

The entire list of the ESPN’s “The Nuts” is as follows:

1. Phil Ivey
2. Jason Mercier
3. Tom Marchese
4. Tom Dwan
5. Vanessa Selbst
6. John Juanda
7. Michael Mizrachi
8. Eric Baldwin
9. Sorel Mizzi
10. Patrik Antonius

“The Nuts” is published at the end of every month in the poker section of ESPN.com.

The Showdown – Episode 1

Pro poker player Jon Friedberg debuts his new show The Showdown. Jean-Robert Bellande is the guest in this first episode.

Friedberg is a successful business entrepreneur who moved to Las Vegas in 2004 but gained fame in the world of poker online under the names PokerTrip and Reactrix. During his peak, Friedberg was ranked as one of the top tournament players in the world according to PocketFives.com. In 2006 he won a World Series of Poker Bracelet by besting 2,890 players to win the 2006 WSOP Event #17 bracelet, in No Limit Hold’em. Since then he has placed at several other final tables and has accumulated over $2 million in live and online winnings.

In his debut episode of “The Showdown” Friedberg talks about what he will bring to the Poker News Daily audience. “I’m very happy to be here on Poker News Daily … and I’m really looking forward to a really fun run here. My goals and intentions for the show are to entertain, to inform and to educate. I plan to do that by having a really good group of guests on my show. I’m really not kidding when I say that my guests will vary anywhere from poker players to porn stars. There’s going to be a lot of interesting topics and a lot of fun discussions we’re going to have on this show.”

Friedberg’s first guest in The Showdown history is none other than reality TV star and pro poker player Jean-Robert Bellande, who has gained fame for wild bankroll swings and for his Twitter banter. However, before Bellande came out to talk the Vegas lifestyle and poker, Friedberg gives an interesting take on the current state of live tournament buy-ins and getting fish back into the player pools.

“If you think about it,” Friedberg explains, “If we could lower the buy-ins to maybe $3,500 or $5,000 or something, maybe shorten the structures a little bit, I think that would really bring a lot more amateurs back into the poker world.”

Topics that Friedberg and Bellande discuss include his sponsorship deal with the Aria poker room, improper bankroll management and getting a backer, which Bellande candidly speaks about. It’s a rare look into a player that likes to play big cash games with his entire roll on the line while at the same time tries to pay off his backers immediately and play with his own roll. By Bellande’s own admission he’s already gone bust a few times in just the last six months. In addition to that subject, Bellande also talks about the Vegas lifestyle and how he likes to party, but not too much, at the most famous Las Vegas Strip Club, Spearmint Rhino.

The interview with Bellande ends with a discussion of how he plans to build his bankroll and move into 2011 with enough to play through the entire World Series of Poker slate of events.

The Showdown with Jon Friedberg is exclusively seen on Poker News Daily with new episodes airing every Tuesday. For those of you that want to give feedback, Friedberg welcomes all tweets on Twitter on his account @JonFriedberg.

The Showdown is sponsored by UB.com, and is offering a 111% deposit bonus for first time depositors.

Mizzi voted Bluff Poker Player of 2010

Bluff Magazine has just named Canadian Poker Pro Sorel Mizzi the Best Tournament Poker Player of 2010. This award looks for top tournament pros and is given based on a point system.

Thirsty Poker Player

A poker player at the Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia drank 42 beers during a 17 hour playing session on New Year's Eve. The Casino may be in hot water with the authorities after serving that many drinks.

Aussie poker player necks 42 beers at the table

We've all heard of poker players putting in marathon sessions at the table, just look at Phil Laak's sleep defying efforts last year. Marathon sessions usually refer to putting in many hard hours at the table rather than a boozeathon but one Australian player managed to combine both.

WPT Qualifiers at Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt are inviting their players, new and old, to the World Poker Tour (WPT for short) being hosted at the Bay 101 Casino, San Jose, California, USA this coming March 14th - 18th.

The top player will win the 1st prize which is estimated to be $1,000,000+, but that’s not all, the winner will take away a $25,000 seat at the WPT Championship Bellagio as part of the prize! Shoot down (eliminate) one of the stars in the field and claim your $5,000 bounty bonus. This is a top prize package to a top WPT Event, surely not to be missed.

With Full Tilt Poker you can win a $12,000 WPT Prize package which will include

• $10,000 seat to the main Event
• $2,000 for your expenses

Interested in playing in this mega live event? Here’s how with Full Tilt Poker’s WPT Qualifiers!

There are satellites running from now until Sunday February 27th, from just $10.65, all feeding to the Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays WPT Qualifiers where the $12,000 WPT Prize Packages are won. You can also buy in direct to the WPT Qualifiers:-

• Wednesdays at 2.00am UK (Tuesdays at 9.00pm New York) $322 buy-in direct
• Fridays at 2.00am UK (Thursdays at 9.00pm New York) $1,060 buy-in direct
• Sundays at 8.30pm UK (3.30pm New York) $640 buy-in direct

If you are new to Full Tilt Poker, established in 2004, you can rest assured when you sign up you will be in illustrious company as Full Tilt Poker has a very impressive rollcall of poker pros playing exclusively on their site. Take a look at our Full Tilt Poker Review for an unbiased, overall look at what this top site has to offer you. Use the Full Tilt Referral Code FTPGOLD for a sign up bonus of 100% up to $600 when you set up your account and you will be amongst the many loyal band of Full Tilt poker players.

Poker After Dark Big Heat Week Debuts Tonight

For those in need of new poker television content, the NBC franchise “Poker After Dark” returns for its first new episodes of 2011 tonight, featuring the biggest tournament in the history of the program.

Dubbed “Big Heat Week,” “Poker After Dark’s” first tournament of 2011 features a six-man sit and go that brings together competitors who have more than proven their worth in the poker world. Combined, the six players – John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Phil Galfond, Huck Seed, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Phil Ivey – have over $42 million in career tournament earnings, 18 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, a WSOP Main Event title, and a slew of other major championships.

The $100,000 buy-in event guarantees that the victor of this week’s “Poker After Dark” will walk away with a $600,000 payday.

Galfond is the newcomer to the “Poker After Dark” stage, as all of the other competitors have faced the NBC show’s cameras previously. Galfond, who terrorizes the online poker world under the name “OMGClayAiken,” has built a reputation as one of the top No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha players in the game today. His addition to this week’s lineup is indicative of how the show is embracing the “new blood” of the game.

Safe money on who will win this week’s battle should be on Ivey and Juanda, who are veterans of “Poker After Dark” and have racked up two wins each during the run of the show. While Lindgren and Seed have previously appeared on the program, neither has been able to crack the winner’s circle. For his part, Dwan has been a part of previous “Poker After Dark” cash game episodes, but this is only his second foray into the freezeout arena.

“Big Heat Week” will kick off this evening on NBC late night at 2:05am ET, with host Ali Nejad providing voiceover commentary of the action. The sit and go will continue over the next four nights in the same timeslot and a special “Director’s Cut” will air late night on Saturday at 1:00am ET after NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” This show will feature Leeann Tweeden with a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and insightful player interviews.

Throughout the first half of 2011, “Poker After Dark” will continue to provide new shows mixed in with encore presentations of some of the series’ best episodes. After this week’s new episodes, Dwan will return to the two-week encore presentation of one of the show’s most memorable cash games. The cash game, which featured a $100,000 buy-in, also featured Phil Laak, Gus Hansen, Eli Elezra, and former World Champions Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth.

The week of February 7th, a new cash game will take to the “Poker After Dark” stage with the highest stakes yet. The $150,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em cash game will feature Howard Lederer, Greg Mueller, Elezra, David Peat, Olivier Busquet, and Laak battling it out for supremacy.

April will bring one of the most eagerly anticipated additions to the “Poker After Dark” lineup. During the week of April 4th, a $50,000 buy-in sit and go will take place featuring some of the “young guns” of the game. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin will join Melanie Weisner, Annette Obrestad, Brunson, and Dwan, with the winner walking away with $250,000.

During the week of April 11th, Pot Limit Omaha will make its debut on “Poker After Dark” and be featured for two weeks. Joining Ivey, Dwan, and Galfond on the felt for the $100,000 buy-in cash game will be Brandon Adams, Patrik Antonius, Brian Hastings, and Jared Bleznick. The addition of Pot Limit Omaha to “Poker After Dark” should draw a huge audience with the ever-increasing popularity of the game.

Once again, be sure to check your local listings for when “Poker After Dark” runs on your local NBC affiliate.

Isildur1 Defeats Tony G in PokerStars SuperStar Showdown, Earns $44,000

On Sunday, the second ever SuperStar Showdown took place on the virtual felts of PokerStars and featured sponsored pro Isildur1 facing off against PartyPoker’s Tony G. After the 2,500-hand encounter, Isildur1 booked $44,000 in profit and was declared the winner, boosting his SuperStar Showdown record to 1-1.

Following the match, Tony G sought comfort on the TwoPlusTwo forums and posted a four-paragraph recap. He closed by calling for another round with Isildur1, who many believe he backed earlier this year: “Now, I need everyone to lobby for a rematch that is fair, and my sponsor deserves it. Let’s replay this thing on my home turf at PartyPoker ASAP and I will add $50,000 to the pool, as a contest of this magnitude deserves some money added and we will hide Isildur1’s identity. That is not up for discussion.”

Tony G and Isildur1 fired up two tables of $50/$100 No Limit Hold’em and two tables of $50/$100 Pot Limit Omaha on Sunday, with each table stretching for 625 hands. However, Tony G’s lack of multi-tabling experience may have ultimately led to his demise, according to text found on the PokerStars Blog: “Although he is quite seasoned when it comes to nosebleed-stakes cash games, unlike Isildur1′s previous challenger Isaac Haxton, the name Tony G is not exactly synonymous with multi-tabling online heads-up matches.”

Tony G shot out to an early lead after his wired pair of aces held up in Omaha, but Isildur1 bounced back in Hold’em by hitting a spade flush on the river to scoop a $20,000 pot. Isildur1 then made another flush in Omaha to extend the lead even further, but Tony G ended up $23,000 after the first 207 hands. After 561 hands, it seemed that the match could be out of reach, as the PartyPoker pro had built $47,000 in profit.

Then, perhaps hubris set in for Tony G, who asked his opponent in the chat box on one table, “u feeling ok my man… u getting owned by a total donk old man… start pressing some all-in buttons boy… are you even qualified… are you committed to this?” Isildur1 responded to the pep talk by raking in a $45,000 pot after making Broadway in Omaha to best Tony G’s king-high straight.

After 1,000 hands, Isildur1 was back in it and trailed Tony G by just $22,000. Then, text found on the PartyPoker Blog detailed, “In a three-hand sequence that spanned less than three minutes, Isildur1 entirely eroded Tony G’s profits and was back in the black to the tune of $2,450.” Isildur1 then scooped a $27,000 pot with top two pair against Tony G’s pair of eights. Following that hand, another $70,000 was pushed Isildur1’s way after spiking a set of sixes in Omaha to move ahead $46,000. By the halfway point in the second SuperStar Showdown, Isildur1 was up $77,000.

Tony G scooped an $82,000 pot after making the nut flush to bring the contest closer to even, but Isildur1 struck back by landing a monster pot worth $124,000 with a straight in Omaha. Tony G then proceeded to fume about the rules of the SuperStar Showdown, labeling the match a “freak show” and a “farse” in the chat.

Tony G fought back after his tirade, running hot in Hold’em to draw Isildur1’s lead to just over $7,000. However, when the smoke cleared, Isildur1 recorded his very first SuperStar Showdown win and received the following concession speech from his nemesis: “I have been humiliated… well done… let me go and look for my bike.” Interestingly enough, Isildur1 booked just $500 of his profit in No Limit Hold’em, but dominated in Pot Limit Omaha.

The next installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown has not yet been announced. Officials from the world’s largest online poker site had hinted at another one occurring during the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which starts this week, but no announcement has been made.

2010 Poker Memories by Linda Johnson

Time is passing too quickly. We just said goodbye to 2010, but memories of my favorite (and not so favorite) poker moments from the year are still vivid in my mind. I’d like to share a few of my personal 2010 poker memories with you.

Proudest 2010 Poker Memory

Without a doubt, being nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame is the answer to this category. What a thrill it was to learn that I had been nominated along with such a prestigious group as Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Tom McEvoy, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington.

Favorite Poker News Story

I loved the coverage given to the Mizrachi family during the WSOP. It seemed like every poker magazine had Michael Mizrachi on the cover. Even mainstream Las Vegas entertainment magazines featured Michael and his family.

Favorite Poker Vacation

The 12-night Card Player Cruises poker trip to the Mediterranean wins in this category. The poker room was a lot of fun as usual, but the highlight was seeing all of the magnificent European ports. We stopped at Cannes/Monte Carlo, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Barcelona and had great weather in each.

Favorite Charity Event

Of all of the charity events I was fortunate to participate in during 2010, the fundraiser for MickeysCamp.org was my favorite. Mickey’s Camp was started by Mickey Maurer and is held in Indianapolis, Indiana every August. There is a three-day camp for men and a three-day camp for women. The participants sleep in the same cabins the kids stay at during summer and participate in a variety of activities including fishing, camping, wine tasting, cooking, self-defense, magic, and swimming.

I had the honor of teaching the poker sessions and running the poker tournaments for both camps. Mickey’s Camp has raised more than $1 million dollars for charity since its inception 10 years ago. Honorable mention in this category goes to fundraising events for Poker Gives and Child Rescue.

Most Disappointing Poker News

I am still angry and annoyed that we haven’t been able to overturn the UIGEA, although I think we are getting close. The news that the Washington State courts upheld the ruling making online poker illegal is just plain gross! After the ruling, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars shut down service to Washington residents, a move that should have been met with much more fury and protest from the state’s players.

Favorite Whirlwind Trip

My quick trip to Golden, Colorado for a Poker Players Alliance event qualifies in this category. In less than 24 hours, I flew in and out of Denver and participated in a poker tournament to help Senator Michael Bennett’s campaign. Bennett was elected by a very small margin and I believe he was the victor due to the support of Colorado poker players.

Most Prestigious Poker Event

The winner in this category was easily the Women in Poker Hall of Fame banquet held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The Grand Ballroom, decorated by a group of volunteers headed by Lupe Soto and her Board of Directors, took on the look of an elegant bistro/nightclub. Jan Fisher did a great job as the emcee and Jeffrey Pollack and Nolan Dalla delivered passionate speeches. After a delicious dinner, awards were presented, followed by a dance. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, and Billie Brown.

Favorite New Poker Procedure

I love the new rule established at the Commerce Casino that penalizes players who are gone too long from the table. Players who miss several rounds in $20-$40 and higher Hold’em games have $5 taken from their stacks and put into the pot.  Note that this rule was just about to go into effect the last time I played there and so may have been refined since.

Favorite New Poker Social Media Source

I admit it… I am a Twitter addict! I read it as often as I can and follow many of the top poker celebrities’ Tweets. I hate that it takes up so much of my time and makes me feel like a voyeur, but I can’t seem to give it up. Perhaps they will start a Twitters Anonymous in 2011 and I will be a charter member.

Favorite Tournament Series

Few would argue that the World Series of Poker wins in this category. The series expanded into even more square footage at the Rio and saw an increase in total participants. I had three deep runs (16th, 29th, and 31st) out of the five tournaments I entered, yet am not sporting a new bracelet. Congratulations to all of the bracelet winners, but especially to Gavin Smith, who won his first bracelet after many close efforts.

The runner-up award in this category goes to Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. Roland Waters directs a great tournament series with huge player fields. Entrants get rewarded with $75,000 in added money and free dinner buffets every night.

Other favorite poker memories from 2010 include delivering the “Shuffle Up and Deal” opening speech for the WSOP Ladies Event, teaching WPT Boot Camp at many locations around the country, playing in the WPT Celebrity Invitational at the Commerce, and hosting tournaments at the Eureka Open in Mesquite, Nevada, the Rainbow Spectrum of Poker at the Rainbow Hotel in Wendover, Nevada, and the Wild Horse Resort Casino Poker Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon.

I am extremely blessed to be part of this wonderful poker world and am grateful for the opportunities it has provided me. In 2010, I met many wonderful people who share my passion for poker and was thrilled to have so many chances to give back to our community.

Our country is facing tough economic times ahead. I hope 2011 is a prosperous and happy year for Poker News Daily readers.  In closing, I am happy to offer our readers a discount on any 2011 Card Player Cruises trip. Mention Poker News Daily when you book your cabin by January 15th and you will get a $50 per person discount. For more information, go to CardPlayerCruises.com.

Editor’s Note: Linda Johnson is available for poker functions, seminars, corporate events, and charity fundraisers. You can contact her through her website at CardPlayerCruises.com.

Daniel Negreanu Speaks Out on Rumored Prahlad Friedman UB.com Signing

Late last week, poker pros Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth parted ways with UB.com, a USA-friendly site on the CEREUS Network. Word quickly spread that Prahlad Friedman would be signing with UB.com as a replacement in the coming days, sparked in part by his name appearing on Duke’s old biography page.

Over the weekend, PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu bantered on Twitter about Friedman’s rumored signing. Negreanu congratulated Hellmuth for leaving UB.com last week and then fired off a series of Tweets blasting Friedman’s decision. His first thoughts were, “So disappointed in @prahladfriedman signing with the devil who stole millions from him. He was so ‘anti-sellout’ and then he did the unthinkable… They must have paid him a lot to join the dark side and endorse the exact same people who ruined him. So sad and so mind-boggling… The current owners of AP/UB are spending Prahlad’s money. They must be mocking him at this point. Cheat the dude and watch him endorse us!”

Among those responding to Negreanu was bracelet winner Jon Friedberg, who inquired, “Is that official? I thought just speculation. Smart biz move for @UB if it’s true, despite any opinions about him or them… And again if true, then they obv convinced him that they’re not shady anymore. He’s a very bright guy. Anxious to see if true.” Negreanu retorted, “Sure, totally cheat and destroy a guy and then offer him a deal. That company is no less shady today and they cannot prove otherwise?” “Kid Poker” added, “It’s true and you are all being lied to if you think the infrastructure of the company has been miraculously cleaned up.”

In other responses to inbound Tweets, Negreanu replied, “I also like Prahlad a lot, just disappointed he would do something this stupid after years of saying he’d never sign with a site.” Negreanu countered other nay-sayers by continuing to rip the Blanca Games site: “Imagine a world where crooks weren’t held accountable and continue to rob people with no recourse? The world should know… I’m all about 2nd chances in the right circumstances; this isn’t one. They are no more transparent today than in the past.”

Negreanu’s series of Tweets sparked the ire of two-time bracelet winner Matt Keikoan, who fired, “I can see people like @RealKidPoker, sitting behind his $4 mil a year PokerStars contract, w/ his nose up in the air, judging other people.” Negreanu countered, “I spoke out against UB when I was broke, always will. Prahlad is the one who said he’d never sign with a site and then chose UB… I was dead broke and turned down a deal with them. I don’t hate Prahlad, I’m disappointed he made what I think is a bad move.”

Keikoan asserted on Sunday, “And what, PokerStars is some great moral company, out for the good of all mankind? Gimme a break.”

One of Negreanu’s followers asked the PokerStars front man what would happen if his home online poker site experienced a scandal similar to the one that unfolded on UB.com. Negreanu claimed he’d be exiting stage right: “If anything like that were to happen (it won’t) my morals would have me resign immediately.” PokerStars recently found itself in hot water over a scandal involving Chinese players in its Double or Nothing games.

A possible signing by Friedman would signal a changing of the guard of sorts at UB.com, whose roster of sponsored pros would become remarkably younger. It currently includes players like Maria Ho, Tiffany Michelle, and Joe Sebok.

Sorel Mizzi Wins 2010 Bluff Player of the Year Title

Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi is the 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, officials announced on Friday. Mizzi entered the top spot in the Player of the Year rankings in March and never relinquished his lead.

The 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year, Tom Marchese, finished in second place in the Bluff standings. Mizzi ended the 2010 calendar year with a whopping 1,777 points, the highest score ever turned in, while Marchese racked up just 1,257 during the stanza. Others in the top 10 included PokerStars pro Vanessa Selbst, recent World Poker Tour (WPT) event winner Dwyte Pilgrim, and UB.com pro and former CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin.

Mizzi got the 2010 calendar year started off on the right foot by taking third place in the Aussie Millions Main Event for $659,000. Tyron Krost took down the marquee poker tournament and Mizzi quickly ratcheted his first six-figure score of 2010. Mizzi then won two preliminary events during the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Snowfest stop in March for nearly $150,000 total.

In April, Mizzi’s victory parade stopped off in Atlantic City, where he won the East Coast Championship Event during the Borgata Spring Poker Open for $170,000. That tournament drew 62 players and featured a top nine that included Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, David “Davidp18” Peters, and former Full Tilt Poker pro Lee Markholt.

At the end of April, Mizzi final tabled the High Roller Event during the EPT’s Monte Carlo Grand Final for $190,000. Two weeks later, he ran deep in another High Roller Event, this time at WPT Paris. Just footsteps from the Eiffel Tower, Mizzi played second fiddle to Absolute Poker pro Freddy Deeb and walked away with $159,000.

In August, Mizzi placed second in the EPT Tallinn High Roller Event for $98,000. He concluded 2010 by bubbling a pair of WPT final tables, taking seventh in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for $88,000 and grabbing ninth in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio for $59,000. Remember, televised WPT final tables are played six-handed.

All told, Mizzi racked up nearly $1.9 million in earnings from live tournaments tracked by the Hendon Mob database last year. Along the way, he provided poker coaching to November Niner Matt Jarvis, a fellow Canadian. Jarvis ultimately bowed out in eighth place in the $10,000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas for over $1 million.

Mizzi, who has been linked to several incidents on online poker sites in the past, has nevertheless remained a central figurehead in the industry. He told Poker News Daily in an interview in November that surrounding himself with talented poker friends has been critical: “I think it’s one of the most important things… That is how I got my start. I found players and tried to pick their brains. You know, it’s like anything in life, that’s the best way of learning, you find mentors. At least, for me, [it’s been] finding people where you want to be and trying to pick their brains as much as possible.”

Here were the top 10 players in the 2010 Bluff Player of the Year standings:

1. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 1,777.77 points
2. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 1,257.30 points
3. Fernando Brito – 1,060.53 points
4. David Peters – 1,009.26 points
5. Vanessa Selbst – 986.77 points
6. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 943.92 points
7. Dwyte Pilgrim – 896.23 points
8. Chris Bjorin – 889.25 points
9. Jason Mercier – 882.40 points
10. Chris Bell – 879.63 points

Jason Mercier took down the 2009 Bluff Player of the Year title. Other past winners have included John “The Razor” Phan (2008), Bill Edler (2007), Chad Brown (2006), and Phil Ivey (2005).

Poker Players Ring in the New Year

Over the past few days, poker’s most prolific Tweeters have been actively preparing for the New Year. Whether they were traveling or reflecting on the year that passed, it provided a great deal of entertainment.

The New Year’s celebrations got off to a start as early as Wednesday, with model and poker player Christina Lindley Tweeting, “Beginning an absurdly fun Vegas week w some troublemakers right… now.” As New Year’s Eve came, Lindley sent out a Twitpic of a shiny silver mini and Tweeted, “Picking up the NYE dress from the tailor.” Also journeying to Las Vegas was PokerStars “Big Game” hostess Amanda Leatherman, who fired off, “Goodbye North Carolina! It’s time to go to Vegas and forget about all the things I did here.”

Other poker players had not quite decided what to do to celebrate the New Year. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit Makhija admitted to his followers, “Last minute before New Year’s and I’ve been slacking on making plans. Anyone less lazy than me have New Year’s plans that Tara & I can crash?” For their part, both Antonio Esfandiari (“Gearing up for my annual NY Eve party. It’s going to b a madhouse.”) and Alec Torelli (“Off to Atlanta for New Year’s.”) seemed a little better prepared to usher in 2011.

Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Marco Traniello were celebrating New Year’s with each other. After Traniello Tweeted at the others, “r u guys ready to party ?,” Negreanu responded, “the house is full and we all got spray tans, so yeah, we are ready.” Fresh off of his departure from UB.com, Phil Hellmuth’s plans for New Year’s Eve included, “sit(ting) in Jerry Buss’ box for Lakers game, then we hit Drai’s!”

The last few days of 2010 also led to some experimentation by “High Stakes Poker” hostess and PartyPoker pro Kara Scott. She Tweeted, “Bleurgh. Spent much of tonight trying to perfect a rum/coconut drink for tomorrow and am now completely sick of it. Margaritas for everyone!” Tiffany Michelle will be celebrating New Year’s Eve in Hawaii, but took time to chirp, “Counting my blessings today. Some people are stuck in snow storms, rain, & freezing weather while I’m surfing in the warm waters of Hawaii.”

The New Year brings those pesky resolutions along with it and poker players were no different in putting their thoughts for 2011 on Twitter. “This year I wish @philnolimits places 2nd to me in WSOP Main Event,” Rafe Furst jabbed at his buddy Phil Gordon. Allen Bari took the New Year as a chance to change his table demeanor, Tweeting on Friday, “This time tomorrow I will be a really nice and respectful guy at the poker table, I will smile and not berate at the table.” This prompted World Poker Tour Tour Director Matt Savage to fire back, “@allenbari it is January 1st not April 1st. You know that right?”

Adam “Roothlus” Levy vowed through Twitter, “My 2011 resolution is to get more Main Event coverage by doing far worse.” Meanwhile, Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis was not feeling well as the New Year approached, Tweeting, “Is this really the day to get sick? Woke up sneezing and I feel cold and weak. Hope it’s gonna be better during the day.”

Some poker players were also glad to see the previous year fade to the past. “Oh, 2010, you crafty little bitch,” UB.com’s Joe Sebok Tweeted. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. Quite good. Only 14 more hours of you though and then poof, gone.” Full Tilt’s Justin “Boosted J” Smith also took time to look at the year gone by: “I want everyone to think about all the great things that happened to them in 2010… even if it was a rough year… small laughs to big things.”

Perhaps the venerable Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers summed up everyone’s thoughts for the New Year: “This year had its share of good and bad times. Hoping 2011 will have more of those good times for myself and everyone else!”

With 2011 off to a roaring start, Poker News Daily would like to take the time to wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

Bellagio Removing $25,000 Denomination Chips Following Robbery

The thief who stole $1.5 million in casino chips from the Bellagio has been given a deadline to try to redeem the $25,000 denomination ones he took from a craps table on December 14th. MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, gave public notice that it will be discontinuing the large denomination chip and called for all gamblers to cash them in by April 22nd.

MGM Resorts first posted notice of the redemption last week in the classifieds of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. The ad came one week after a man wearing a black jumpsuit and full-faced motorcycle helmet walked into the Bellagio, pulled a gun on a croupier, and escaped with around $1.5 million in chips ranging from $100 to $25,000. The incident took less than three minutes and the robber fled the casino on his motorcycle that he left parked outside the valet. He remains at large.

Las Vegas police and casino officials have been working diligently to find the robber, reviewing surveillance videos and camera images to get an idea of who carried out the heist. Investigators have also been keeping an eye on any unusual chip redemptions since the robbery took place.

“Obviously, anyone walking with one of the old series (chips) is going to be subject to a certain amount of questioning as to how they obtained them – assuming it isn’t someone we know,” MGM Resorts spokesman Alan Feldman told the Associated Press. “It’s pretty unusual for someone we don’t know to come strolling up with a handful of $25,000 chips.”

Feldman also told the Associated Press that the chips were switched out at the tables within an hour of the robbery and the Bellagio immediately filed to discontinue them. The $25,000 chip, which is red with a gray inlay, will be worthless after the April 22nd deadline. The question then becomes whether it will be replaced with a new chip of the same denomination or if the casino will produce a new chip of a different denomination.

By law, a casino must give public notice that it is discontinuing specific chips to allow gamblers enough time to redeem them – in this case four months. The deadline could have a major effect on high-stakes poker players who leave large denomination chips at the Bellagio to use as a bankroll. Although the Nevada Gaming Control Board has stated that poker chips aren’t money, many poker players treat chips as currency when trading for other casino chips or paying off debts. It’s assumed that several $25,000 chips are currently being stored in the lock boxes of poker players at the Bellagio, which houses the famous “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room.

While it’s unknown exactly how many $25,000 denomination chips were stolen on December 14th, the redemption notice tactic could be very effective once the regular high-stakes gamblers begin cashing them in. If the casino spots a person who wouldn’t normally be in possession of the chip, it will raise a red flag.

“If they have people that they know are players redeem the ones that they know they have, pretty much it’s process of elimination. You’re left with people who aren’t supposed to have the chips,” said David Schwartz, a former casino security guard and Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Authorities are suggesting that the same man from the Bellagio robbery may have been behind an earlier theft on December 9th at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In that heist, the robber managed to take around $20,000 in cash from a poker room cashier.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as more information on this story unfolds.

Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke UB.com Departures Captivate Twitterverse

The Twitterverse has been quite active since yesterday’s announcement that the two most prominent faces of the site, Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, would be leaving UB.com. Congratulations, speculation, and prognostication have been at the forefront of many of the Tweets.

It all began late Thursday afternoon when Duke Tweeted, “Starting a new chapter in my life. Decided to leave UB, but the future’s exciting for me and the place I’ve called home for more than a decade.” The amicable departure left some of her former Team UB.com pros thanking Duke for her assistance during their time with her on the squad.

One of the first to hit Twitter with his kudos was now former Team UB.com stable mate “Hollywood” Dave Stann, who Tweeted, “Thanks @AnnieDuke for all you’ve done for my growth as a poker player… @UB won’t be the same without you!” B.J. Nemeth continued up the adoration by Tweeting, “Not sure if congratulations is the right word or not, but good luck and best wishes for whatever you do next.” Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman was one of the first to weigh in on Duke’s future when he Tweeted, “I’m sure @howardhlederer would be happy to have @annieduke join his friends at Tilt now that his sister left UB!”

A couple of hours after Duke’s announcement, it was confirmed that Hellmuth was also departing. Hellmuth’s agent, Brian Balsbaugh from Poker Royalty, Tweeted late Thursday afternoon, “My client @Phil_Hellmuth and UB part ways – exciting time for us.” Hellmuth confirmed Balsbaugh’s Tweet, chirping, “On a flight to L.A. baby! Dinner tonight w Corey and Lisa Pavin, my parents, and my kids at Boa on Sunset (yummy!)… Big news in one hour!”

After his plane landed and the family was settled in, Hellmuth came out to confirm what everyone had speculated throughout the past couple of months. “Making a big move… leaving UB,” the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Tweeted on Thursday evening. “Truly lots of great memories, but it’s time to move on… Mutual decision… Looking forward to a bright future!”

After Hellmuth’s announcement, another wave of congratulations poured in from friends and colleagues. Scott Ian, who earned a spot on the Team UB.com roster as a result of poker coaching from Duke and Hellmuth, Tweeted, “@AnnieDuke & @phil_hellmuth: my mentors, my coaches, my friends, & are responsible for my growth/success in the poker world. Thank you both.”

Daniel Negreanu passed out his congratulations to Hellmuth, Tweeting, “Congrats to @phil_hellmuth for leaving UB. A good dude and he deserves better. He may be a bit wild at the table, but he is a stand up guy.”

Now the dean of Team UB.com, Joe Sebok sent out his congratulations on Twitter and on his blog at PokerRoad. “Wishing both @annieduke and @phil_hellmuth the best of luck with everything in the future. Pleasure working with both.”

On his blog at PokerRoad, Sebok wrote, “2010 sees us parting ways with two icons of the poker world, Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke. These two legends in our industry have, quite literally, helped to build UB into what it is today. Phil and Annie have been the face of the company for years now and we thank them for their unbelievable contributions and bid them the utmost in success moving forward.” He cryptically stated towards the end of the blog, “We’ll be announcing our newest Team UB member next week and I am crazily pumped about it.”

Speculation about the new addition to the Team UB roster seems to have been solved by poker pro Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler. Early Friday morning, Kessler Tweeted, “Apparently Prahlad Friedman is the new UB pro. He is on Annie Duke’s former page.” The link provided by Kessler with the Tweet now leads to the Team UB main page, but Friedman was speculating about a change approximately a month ago when he Tweeted, “I said I would never sign with a poker site. Should I ever reconsider? What y’all think? I would have to get over the fact that I’m ‘selling out.’ I’m the only poker player in the world that hasn’t wanted a deal that I know of.”

The recent departures of Hellmuth and Duke have spiced up what is normally a dull period in the poker community. Perhaps Nemeth said it best when he Tweeted, “Let’s all take a moment to laugh at every list of ‘Top 10 Poker Stories of 2010’ written before today!”

Biggest Poker Surprises of 2010

Last week, Poker News Daily ran an article recapping the top poker news stories of 2010.  This, we were charged with the task of coming up with the top ten surprises of the past year.  As fate would have it, the biggest shocker of 2010 came on December 30th, making the top surprise a no-brainer.  Read on to find out.

10) Hip-Hop Hellmuth – Normally, I wouldn’t put an attention grab by Phil Hellmuth on a list of the year’s biggest surprises, but this one was phenomenal.  The “Poker Brat” made a cameo appearance in a hip-hop music video by Ludacris donned in UB.net garb and raking in UB.net chips.  Filmed at the Palms in Las Vegas, the video’s plot was supposed to be similar to that of the hit movie “The Hangover.”  The song is called “Sex Room.”  I’ll just leave it at that.

9) No Rest for the Weary – A crazy record not many people knew about before this year was broken not once, but twice.  In June, Phil Laak set the poker endurance record by playing $10/$20 Hold’em at the Bellagio for a staggering 115 consecutive hours, breaking Paul Zimbler’s 72-hour mark from late 2009.  Nobody would ever be silly enough to try to top Laak, would they?  Of course they would.  In November, Christie Teki-Reu and man who goes by the nickname “Chopper” played for 117 hours in the casino at the Grand Hotel in New Zealand as part of an organized effort to set the record in a special charity tournament.  Afterwards, Teki-Reu slept for five hours, was up for two hours, then slept for another ten hours.  Well deserved.

Kessler Max-Cashes – Well, almost.  Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler is a very good poker player, but he is known to play to make the money in tournaments.  He has definitely gone deep in tournaments and made a couple of WPT televised final tables, but for the most part, the poker community jokes about Kessler taking the conservative route and always looking to “min-cash.”

At the 2010 WSOP, poker players and fans lived vicariously through “Chainsaw” as he not only made the money in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, but also continued to move up in the standings, making the final table and then finally reaching heads-up.  He eventually lost, but the $276,485 payday was far from a min-cash.  He finished with eight cashes, tied for most at this year’s WSOP.  Sure, some were min-cashes, but his second place run was one of the most memorable and surprising moments of the 2010 WSOP.

7) Security Fail – In May, it was discovered that the CEREUS Network had a major security hole.  The network did not have SSL encryption implemented, resulting in a vulnerability that made it possible to intercept network traffic and see an opponent’s hole cards.  In July, the same flaw was found on the Cake Poker Network.  It is unbelievable enough that one poker network could fail so miserably at something that should be so basic, but two networks dropping the ball?  Sad.

6) WSOP is Healthy – With the down economy and the struggles of online poker in the United States, it would have been reasonable to expect WSOP attendance figures to decline.  Not so.  2010 saw 72,966 players participate, the most in WSOP history by a wide margin and besting last year’s record by 20%.  The total prize money was the highest of all-time as well, reaching $187,109,850 and beating 2008′s high mark by 3.5%.  The Main Event was the second largest of all-time with 7,319 players, second only to 2006, which was the last WSOP Main Event before the UIGEA was passed.

5) Isildur1 is a Star – Isildur1, the nameless online nosebleed-stakes phenom, signed with PokerStars in December.  His signing with an online poker room isn’t all that surprising, considering that whenever he plays, he attracts scores of railbirds who love watching his million-dollar swings.  The shocker is that all of his high-stakes play has been at Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars’ closest rival.  Stars must have given him a sweet deal.

4) Resurgence of “The Grinder“ – While Michael Mizrachi had a few strong performances on the live tournament circuit in 2008 and 2009, his cachet had appeared to have worn off since he made his mark on the WPT in 2005 and 2006.  He also ran into major financial troubles this year.  But then the 2010 WSOP came along and he exploded back onto the poker map.

“The Grinder” won the $50,000 Player’s Championship for over $1.5 million, placed fifth in the Main Event for more than $2.3 million, and along the way became one of the biggest rooting interests of the summer.  To top it off, his three brothers – Daniel, Robert, and Eric – all cashed in the Main Event.  Robert also placed fifth in the Player’s Championship and made two other final tables.

3) Partying Has its Limits – In February, PartyPoker suddenly placed a cap on the number of play money chips members could have in their accounts.  Overnight, players with millions of chips had their accounts reset to the 250,000-chip maximum.  Party cited the sale of play chips as the main reason for the decision as well as instances of players with overwhelming numbers of chips making enormous bets and disrupting games.  The reaction was one of almost unanimous outrage by play money customers, many of whom had taken great pride in building up their accounts over several years.

2) Peter Eastgate Takes a Break – Nowadays, we have come to expect WSOP champions to serve as faces of the game and continue playing live tournaments around the world.  Not so with the 2008 champ Peter Eastgate.  Eastgate, who just turned 25, announced this year that he was taking an indefinite break from live tournament poker.  So far, it appears that it has been a break from poker in general.  His WSOP win set him up financially, which was enough for him.  To top it off, he auctioned off his WSOP bracelet in November and donated the proceeds to charity.

1) Duke and Hellmuth Leave UB – Annie Duke leaving UB, to me, was easily the most surprising moment in poker this year… until Phil Hellmuth did the same a few hours later.  Two of the biggest names in poker, the faces of UB since it was founded in 2001, left their online home on the same day.  Through all of UB’s controversy over the last few years, Duke and Hellmuth stood by the poker room and took tons of heat within the online poker community.  For better or for worse, they seemed like they were going to be with UB for life.

Prahlad Friedman Joining Team UB.com?

It’s been a chaotic week for the CEREUS Network online poker room UB.com. Thursday saw the departure of its two highest profile pros, 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke and 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. According to UB.com pro Joe Sebok, however, a new pro will be announced next week, and all signs point to Prahlad Friedman joining the team.

Sebok posted on his blog on Thursday, “While it’s true that two of our members have moved on, don’t think that we aren’t restocking the talent. We’ll be announcing our newest Team UB member next week and I am crazily pumped about it.” Possible free agents in the poker market include CardPlayer Player of the Year Tom Marchese, Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, and Friedman.

Sebok added that Team UB.com will have a brand new look in 2011: “UB has, and will continue to have, a whole new look and feel for our team and our newest signing exemplifies that, so stay tuned for that announcement next week. Going to be a bit of a doozy.” The team appears to be of a younger breed right now and includes players like Sebok, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Adam “Roothlus” Levy.

Speaking of Friedman, Bluff Magazine was among those who sourced two Tweets from Friedman in late November that questioned whether he would ever ink a deal with an online poker site. Friedman pondered, “I said I would never sign with a poker site. Should I ever reconsider? What y’all think? I would have to get over the fact that I’m ‘selling out.’ I’m the only poker player in the world that hasn’t wanted a deal that I know of.” Friedman, 32, has a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and a World Poker Tour (WPT) title under his belt.

In a screen shot posted on TwoPlusTwo, posters who typed in the URL of Duke’s biography on UB.com were met with text for “Prahlad Friedman,” leaving many to believe that the youngster will be the newest sponsored pro. When we visited the same web page on Friday morning, our browser instead forwarded to the default Team UB.com landing page. Poker News Daily has learned that the announcement of the room’s newest pro could take place as soon as Monday.

The Russ Hamilton-led cheating scandal on Ultimate Bet affected Friedman, among others. As such, his signing, according to one TwoPlusTwo poster, could signal the end of an era: “I think, for many of us, UB is forever tainted. However, in the world of PR, signing Prahlad would be a very, very good move as a sign of different times ahead.”

Other members of the online poker community took the opposite line. One TwoPlusTwo regular questioned, “Why would Prahlad accept this offer from UB? I mean, the company that stole money from you and now you are accepting their sponsorship deal. I just can’t understand!” Whether Friedman will actually become the next sponsored pro of the CEREUS Network poker site remains to be seen.

Friedman has been involved in two incidents at the annual WSOP that have both played out on ESPN. In 2006, “Ante-gate” erupted between Friedman and Jeffrey Lisandro over a possible missed ante by the latter. Friedman asked Lisandro whether he put out his ante, which led to a war of words. In 2010, Friedman clearly said, “Call,” after tablemate Ted Bort called the clock on him. However, Rio floor staff ruled the hand dead and Bort tabled two pair. Friedman quickly mucked what he claimed to be a weaker two pair, leading to a swarm of controversy.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.

Pro Poker Seminars Opens for Serious Players

Come the beginning of 2011, there will be another alternative for poker players beyond such offerings as the World Poker Tour (WPT) Boot Camp and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Academy.

Billing itself as a school for “serious” poker players, Pro Poker Seminars will be stepping into the training arena. Their first ever three-day seminar is scheduled for the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada from March 11th to 14th and will delve into such subjects as tilt prevention, tournament theory, live tells, and Omaha strategy. The seminar costs $1,199, but included are a suite for three nights, meals, study materials, and a special tournament featuring bounties on the instructors in attendance.

The instructors for the seminar should bring a wealth of experience in poker. Such noted poker authors as Dr. Alan Schoonmaker, Lou Krieger, and Chris “Fox” Wallace are scheduled to head the classes and will be readily available for discussion about poker during the off hours. The website for Pro Poker Seminars states, “Our seminars are more like intensive college courses than the story-time and glad-handing you get with some poker camps. These aren’t fantasy camps; this is serious poker education.”

“We did some research into what was available on the market and while there is a great deal of real training in the online marketplace, most live education amounted to glad-handing and story-telling with the old guard,” Pro Poker Seminars Co-Founder Adam Stemple stated in an interview. “These pros have great stories from the old days, and some interesting insights into the game, but they aren’t in tune with the high aggression levels and much stronger players in today’s game. We don’t want any part of that market; we want to help players who are serious about their games with real poker education.”

The seminars offered by Pro Poker Seminars have an affordable price in comparison to some of their competitors. The WPT Boot Camp normally runs around $1,895 and offers tournament instruction and cash game lessons. There, you can find such instructors as Linda Johnson, T.J. Cloutier, Todd Brunson, Kenna James, and Eric “Rizen” Lynch.

The WSOP Academy has a wealth of venerable poker names behind it and also offers qualified instructors. Its most recent “November Nine” camp was offered for $1,899 at the Rio and featured several strong performers at recent WSOP events. Former World Champion Greg Raymer headed a list of instructors that also included former WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider and WSOP Main Event final table players David “Chino” Rheem, Kevin Schaffel, and Steve Begleiter. Some of the WSOP Academy’s multi-day camp instructors include Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Mark Seif.

Depending on your bankroll and level of interest in the game, there are many choices for poker training seminars. According to Pro Poker Seminars partner Aliera Brust, the company is looking to provide a dozen events in 2011. For more information on the upcoming Reno event, visit the Pro Poker Seminars website.

December 31st – Weekly News Update

Welcome once again to the Poker News Daily weekly news update. I’m your host Sean Gibson and I’ll be delivering the top headlines for the week in the world of poker – and what a week of news it was!!

Our first story rocks the world of online poker as superstars Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke are officially parting ways with UB.com for different reasons. Both have been the faces of UB.com and represented for nine years. We did get a comment from Annie Duke about HER decision to leave UB.com:

“After some thought, I made a decision to leave UB.com because I would like to explore other avenues of business and personal growth. I realized I needed to spend my time on other things.”

Duke has stated that she has no intentions of signing on with another poker site. She said that she is moving on from UB.com to persue other projects on a full time basis. Hellmuth continues to be one of the biggest names in the world of poker and his departure, although rumored in the last few weeks, still comes as a huge shock. As more develops in this story, stay tuned right here at poker news daily for the latest.

Another online poker industry icon is moving on as Lee Jones earlier this week announced his resignation from Cake Poker. Jones posted on the TwoPlusTwo forums on Tuesday:

“This is a brief announcement to let you know that, as of yesterday, I have resigned my position at Cake Poker and will not be making any further posts here. Their management has made some strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable.”

Jones, who also is a guest columnist here at our site told us that he simply wasn’t comfortable with some of the decisions that the Cake management was making. Jones refused to comment further but added that he hopes to remain in the poker industry and says he has a couple of irons in the fire. Jones rose to fame in the online poker industry originally in roles with PokerStars, the EPT and at CardRunners.

For those of you that can’t get enough Isildur1 action, the next SuperStar Showdown match has been announced. Coming off a loss to Isaac Haxton, Isildur1 will now face the notorious Tony G in a high stakes battle. You might remember that it was Tony G that supposedly staked Isildur1 for a comeback bid and reportedly knows the Swedish player’s identity. The match will take place on Sunday, January 2nd at 4pm eastern time on PokerStars. The game will be half no limit hold’em and half pot limit Omaha at $50-$100 blind stakes. Interested parties can rail the action at PokerStars by looking for tables labeled showdown under the Omaha tab or under the Holdem, No Limit all tables tab.

Jon Friedberg, known online as pokertrip will be debuting a new talk show right here, exclusively on Poker News Daily. Friedberg will host the new show, called “The Showdown” every week here at PND, and promises to feature some of the game’s most prolific names. Set to start during the first week of January, Friedberg’s first guest will be former Survivor castaway Jean-Robert Bellande. When asked about his new home here at PND, he stated:

“I see myself not as a member of the media, but rather a fellow poker player who sees eye-to-eye with players I interview. I don’t have any problems asking questions that other poker media might be scared to address. My passion is to share the lifestyles, strategies, and thought processes of poker players.”

Be sure to catch the first episode of “The Showdown” right here at Poker News Daily next week!

In recent days, Party Gaming and bwin announced merger plans to form a giant online gaming group that will become effective sometime in the first quarter of 2011. It’s expected that this merger will create the biggest largest listed online gambling business. The new company will operate worldwide with its existing brands and both bwin and Party Gaming will retain most of the core of their brands but be operated under a new umbrella company. Bwin’s CEO had this to say:

“Our products and target markets complement one another perfectly, and we can continue to expand our technology lead in all key product segments: sports betting, poker, casino, bingo, and games.”

Now that the year is over, CardPlayer has officially crowned Tom Marchese the 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year. His epic run in 2010 saw him make 11 final tables in major live tournaments to the tune of over $2 million in profits. The highlight of 2010 for Marchese was the win at the NAPT Venetian Main Event for over eight hundred thousand dollars. He beat out Dwyte Pilgrim, Sorel Mizzi and Vanessa Selbst for the award. Marchese had four six-figure paydays in 2010 with final tables at the European Poker Tour, World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker.

Well that wraps up a very exciting and busy week in the world of poker as well as our last weekly news report of 2010. Be sure to come back to poker news daily for all the latest poker headlines every single day and as a reminder, be sure to catch John Friedberg’s new show, “The Showdown” right here next week along with another episode of our weekly news recap. I’m Sean Gibson wishing you a very happy and safe new years!