Poker News

Faraz Jaka in the Lead, Scotty Nguyen Again Makes it to Final Table in WPT

Nguyen is used to do well at Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Bellagio, as he made to the final table of this exact tournament also on the first season of WPT. Nguyen started the day 5 with second smallest chip stack in the play, but in the end of the day he found himself second in chips.

First double-up of the day for Scotty came when he moced his 327k chips all in with a pair of fours. Faraz Jaka called with A-3 of spades and managed to pick up a spade flush draw on the flop. After two blanks on the turn and on the river Nguyen was still in the tournament, now with a healthier stack of 727k in chips.

Jaka tried hard to bust Nguyen out of the tournament, as the players collided later again. Scotty raised under the gun to 120,000, in which Jaka responded with a raise from the cutoff to 300,000. Nguyen called and the flop came A-K-4 rainbow. After a check, a bet and an all in call by Nguyen, cards was turned up and Scotty was well ahead with A-J against Q-J. A couple of fives completed the board and Nguyen was up over million chips.

The the most controversial hand went also Scotty, when he tripled up through John Juanda and Chad Batista. Juanda moved all in from the button, without moving any chips forward, only saying “all in”. Then Batista, who was wearing headphones and didn’t hear Juanda’s action, moves all in too. Nguyen makes the call all in and at some point Batista realizes Juanda was all in before him and wants to take his bet back.

Scotty is looking for a second win in WPT.

Batista is clearly pissed and Scotty openly laughing about the situation doesn’t make him feel any better. Finally the cards are turned over, A-6 for Juanda, a pair of deuces for Batista and the rockets for Nguyen. The board doesn’t bring any help for Juanda or Batista and Nguyen triples up over 3 million on chips.

After the remaining players gathered to the final 10-handed table, the game progressed quickly. It took only 26 hands to find out the last six who would make it to the televised final. Batista was out first after losing a flip against Scotty with a pair of fives agains K-J suited, when a king hit the flop.

Next victim Curt Kohlberg, who had lost a chip lead of over 5 million chips just a while ago. was busted out also by Scotty. Josh Arieh bust out Eric Hershler after winning a flip of K-J against A-T. The last hand of the day was between Arieh (T-T), Shawn Buchanan (Q-Q) and Joe Cassidy (K-J). Cassidy and Buchanan were both all in when Arieh got them covered, but Buchanan’s queens held up and Cassidy was sent to the rail in 7th place.

The winner of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will win a $1,428,430 first prize.

Here is the official chip count and the seating of the final table:

Seat 1: Daniel Alaei - 3,925,000
Seat 2: Faraz Jaka - 5,385,000
Seat 3: Josh Arieh - 1,710,000
Seat 4: Steve O’Dwyer - 1,050,000
Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen - 4,900,000
Seat 6: Shawn Buchanan - 2,800,000

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Faraz Jaka in the Lead, Scotty Nguyen Again Makes it to Final Table in WPT

PokerStars Releases ANZPT Season 2 Dates

PokerStars announced dates for the second season of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) today and six events across the two countries are already confirmed with more to be announced in the near future.

"The ANZPT provides Australian and New Zealand poker players with a professionally-executed tour in their own backyard," said ANZPT Commissioner Danny McDonagh. "The ANZPT Player of the Year is now clearly the most coveted poker award in this region."

The tour will begin with a stop in Adelaide from Feb. 9-14, 2010, at the Adelaide Casino. After Adelaide the tour will move on to Perth, Sydney, Queenstown, Gold Coast and finally Melbourne in the fall of 2010.

New for this year is Perth, capital of Western Australia.

“We are thrilled to be part of the ANZPT,” said Jason Barry, general manager of table games at Burswood Casino. “We feel this is just what our players have been waiting for and we expect big numbers will take in the first PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth Tournament.”

Season 1 of the ANZPT drew a total of 1,309 players and awarded $2.9 million in prize money over its five events.

Tony Hachem was the ANZPT Player of the Year last season, winning $19,239 AUD and a spot on Team PokerStars Australia for this year when he cashed in four of the five ANZPT events.

Below is the preliminary schedule for the ANZPT season 2:

 

City:	Dates:	Buy-in:
Adelaide, Australia	Feb. 9-14, 2010	$3,000 AUD
Perth, Australia	March 17-21, 2010	$2,500 AUD
Sydney, Australia	April 21-25, 2010	$2,200 AUD
Queenstown, New Zealand	July 17-25, 2010	$2,500 NZD
Gold Coast, Australia	Aug. 11-15, 2010	$2,500 AUD
Melbourne, Australia	Oct. 8-11, 2010	TBA

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Steven Landfish Leads WPT Five Diamond After Day 2, Doyle Brunson 15th

Two days of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic are in the books. As it stands entering Day 3 on Wednesday, Steve Landfish leads the way with a chip stack of 385,900, while tournament namesake Brunson is in 15th with 283,000.

Thirty-seven players registered on Day 2 for the Five Diamond, pushing the final field size to 329, well short of last year’s tally of 497. Contributing to the 34% slide were two poker “Phils” who were absent from the field, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth. The latter told “Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff last week that he was taking the rest of 2009 off and would start anew in 2010. As for Ivey, coverage found on the official website of the WPT noted, “Ivey was here at Bellagio, but never took a seat.”

Landfish holds a minuscule lead over the second place tally of Brent “bhanks11” Hanks, who amassed an arsenal of 383,000 after Day 2. Landfish will head to Table 54 on Wednesday, where “Miami” John Cernuto, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky451” Stern, and former WPT champion Steve Brecher will be waiting for him. Hanks, meanwhile, will join Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, Tim “tmay420” West, Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and Noah Boeken at Table 59.

Among the 37 players who registered late was Brunson, the poker legend for whom the Five Diamond is named. Brunson built the 15th largest stack in the room after Day 2 at 283,000, joining a top 20 that includes Antonio Esfandiari, Matt “All In At 420” Stout, and Betfair pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The latter sent WPT Festa al Lago winner Tommy Vedes to the rails late in the day on Tuesday after cracking aces with queens. The window card came a queen, sending Mizzi’s stack soaring to 270,000. The youngster finished the day with 348,000, good for fifth overall.

Here are the top ten chip stacks in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic entering Day 3 on Wednesday:

1. Steven Landfish - 385,900
2. Brent “bhanks11” Hanks - 383,000
3. Matthew Waxman - 377,500
4. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - 355,000
5. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi - 348,000
6. Alfredo Leonidas - 347,300
7. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 323,500
8. Yegor Tsurikov - 317,000
9. Eric Hershler - 314,800
10. Jean-Noel Thorel - 310,100

The winner will earn $1.4 million from the $15,000 buy-in event. Members of the six-handed final table will be assured at least $202,000 in spending money just in time for the holidays. A total of 130 players remain and others in the Top 50 include:

11. Kenna James – 305,200
12. Matt “All In At 420” Stout – 300,800
15. Doyle Brunson – 283,000
21. Hasan Habib – 254,300
22. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 247,000
31. Barry Greenstein – 227,000
33. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – 216,500
34. “Miami” John Cernuto – 215,500
35. Scotty Nguyen – 211,900
36. Howard Lederer – 210,300
37. Josh Arieh – 209,700
38. Daniel Alaei – 205,800
43. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 193,700

Brunson eliminated fellow poker pro Eli Elezra with pocket queens against pocket fives. Later on in the day, the two filmed a segment for “Poker2Nite” and shaved their heads in support of Thuy Doan. The pro is battling cancer and is in the midst of a health insurance nightmare.

When play concluded for the evening, the blinds were at 1,000/2,000 with a 200 chip ante. The action continues today at Noon PT from Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

Face the Ace: Brian Twitty Wins $40,000

We had a chance to catch last weekend’s installment of the NBC poker franchise “Face the Ace.” In the end, Brian Twitty, a real estate appraiser and band member, walked away with $40,000 after defeating Jennifer Harman.

The first contestant to take to the “Face the Ace” stage was Anathan Thangavel from Beverly Hills, California. The recent law school graduate selected the ace of clubs because he was out at a club partying until 5:00am the night before taping. Out strolled 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, who has appeared on “Face the Ace” multiple times. Each player began with 20,000 chips and blinds kicked off at 200/400.

Holding 7-9, Thangavel called pre-flop and Lindgren rapped the table with 7-J. The flop came 2-3-7, giving both players top pair, but Lindgren held a better kicker. The Full Tilt Poker pro led out for 1,000, Thangavel raised to 3,000, and Lindgren shoved for 15,200. Lindgren told the challenger that he could see one of his cards and Thangavel picked the jack. Upon seeing the paint card, he quickly sent top pair into the muck.

In a key moment in the match, Thangavel picked up pocket jacks and called the big blind, while Lindgren raised to 2,000 with A-K of hearts. An all-in and call put Lindgren at risk and the assembled crowd on the “Face the Ace” stage watched the drama unfold. The flop came A-3-A, giving Lindgren trips and leaving the challenger drawing thin. The turn and river came a 10 and three, respectively, and Thangavel was down to just four big blinds.

In the final hand between Lindgren and Thangavel, the latter was all-in with J-3 and Lindgren made the call with 9-10. The flop came 6-9-K, giving Lindgren middle pair, and the turn came a 10 to improve him to two pair. Needing a queen on the river to make a straight, Thangavel watched as a seven hit, sending him home.

The next contestant was Twitty, who hails from Cypress, California. Twitty told “Face the Ace” host Steve Schirripa that he wanted to play against Phil Ivey, but instead found himself up against Jennifer Harman. Twitty was the victim of a bad beat late in his match against Harman after the pro raised to 3,100 with K-J. Twitty moved all-in with A-9 and Harman called with her tournament life on the line. The flop came 8-3-7, keeping Twitty’s ace-high ahead, and a seven on the turn changed nothing. However, Harman spiked a king on the river for a six-outer to double up.

Then, Harman made it 6,000 pre-flop with A-3 and Twitty pushed with A-Q. Harman called to put Twitty at risk, but the flop came queen-high to keep Twitty out in front for good. In the final hand between Harman and Twitty, the Full Tilt Poker pro was all-in with Q-8 of diamonds and Twitty called with K-J. The flop came 10-10-10, keeping Twitty in the lead, and a jack on the turn improved him to a boat. Harman needed the nine of diamonds for a straight flush or a queen for a better full house on the river to win the hand, but watched as an ace hit. Twitty earned $40,000 for defeating his first pro.

When asked if he wanted to take the money and run or play another pro for $200,000, Twitty selected the cash. The episode, which aired on Saturday, marked the second to last for “Face the Ace,” which will air its season finale on January 2nd. “Face the Ace” makes its home on NBC.

Padraig Parkinson Wins UKIPT Galway

Parkinson was born in Galway and received his share of hometown support as he outlasted 258 players to win €125,000 and the inaugural UKIPT Galway title.

“I was born just down the road so I can’t believe that I won it,” said Parkinson just moments after his victory. “If anyone wants a drink, I’m buying.”

Parkinson was reportedly drinking heavily during the first two days of the event before tournament staff cut him off and threatened to remove him from the tournament.

However, he persevered and made the final with a healthy chip stack.

In the end, the final table was no cakewalk for Parkinson, as he had to outlast Ben “Chong94” Lefew, Michael “BIGMICKG” Graydon and face close friend Paul Marrow in heads-up play.

The decisive hand of the heads-up match was a race with Parkinson's A-Q against Marrow’s pocket sixes. A queen hit on the flop and that was enough to secure Parkinson the majority of the chips.

Several hands later, Marrow shoved with a modest 5-2 and Parkinson called with K-Q. Parkinson hit another queen on the flop and that gave him the UKIPT Galway title.

After heads-up concluded, Marrow admitted that a part of him wanted to see Parkinson take the Irish Championship in his hometown.

Parkinson came in third in the 1999 WSOP Main Event for $389,125 and is one of the most well-known players in Irish poker history.

The second event of the inaugural UKIPT season will take place at the G Casino in Manchester, England, on Feb. 11-14, 2010. Check the UKIPT website for complete details.

Here are the complete final table payouts for UKIPT Galway:

1. Padraig Parkinson – €125,000
2. Paul Marrow – €82,000
3. Ben Lefew – €52,000
4. Michael Graydon – €36,000
5. Michael McFadgen – €22,000
6. Paul Dooley – €17,000
7. Vincent Cosgrove – €13,000
8. Cat O’Neil – €11,000
9. Trevor Bulless – €9,000

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

PokerListings was there for all the breaking news, but there were also a number of items that didn’t warrant a position on the front page.

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

This week we’ll look at Mark “Pegasus” Smith winning his fourth WSOPC title, Vanessa Rousso in a prominent men’s magazine, the main event of ECOOP V and more.

Fourth WSOPC Title for Mark “Pegasus” Smith

Mark “Pegasus” Smith made history this week by winning his fourth World Series of Poker Circuit title, tying him with Men “The Master” Nguyen for the most in circuit history.

Smith outlasted 566 players to win first place in the 2009 WSOPC Harrah’s Atlantic City $340 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. He took down $34,649 for his efforts.

The victory is especially impressive considering the 57-year-old Georgetown, Kentucky, resident only started playing No-Limit Hold’em four years ago.

“Five years ago I had never even heard of No-Limit Hold’em,” he said after winning.

Smith now has five final tables at five different stops on the World Series Circuit over the last year. His last victory on the circuit came just last month during the WSOPC Horseshoe Indiana event.

PokerListings Players Cash at ECOOP V

The European Championship of Online Poker V was held on the iPoker Network last Sunday.

Online player Shevmouse outlasted 1,050 players to take down the first-place prize of $331,065, but there were also several PokerListings players who made the money.

Playing on CD Poker, LUDOVC finished in 103^rd place for $1,891 while XxspeedskaterxX finished 118^th for $1,891. Finally, William Hill player zzz219 made $1,734 for coming in 128^th.

The total ECOOP V series awarded over $5.5 million over 14 tournaments in 14 days.

Vanessa Rousso Appears in Hustler

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso has made yet another mainstream media appearance – this time in Hustler Magazine.

Rousso was featured in an article called Poker Queen Shows Her Hand in which she shared some of her poker secrets. She did not appear nude in the magazine.

It’s been a successful year for Rousso, who finished runner-up in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, got signed by GoDaddy.com, appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and won the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo High Roller event for $749,467.

She currently sits fourth on the women's all-time live tournament earnings list with $2.3 million.

Haitao Wu Crowned GUKPT Champion of Champions

Haitao Wu won the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour’s final event of the year at the G Casino in Luton this week.

The Dundee, Scotland, resident overcame a field of 125 players to claim a first-place prize of £25,000 at the GUKPT Champion of Champions tournament.

The 30-year-old won his way into the tournament through a £500 side event on the London stop on the tour.

Wu, who often plays poker with his wife Kerry, was ecstatic after the win.

“Kerry has been very supportive, looking after our beautiful daughters when I have been playing,” he said. “We will have a great Christmas now and will be visiting China early next year, when my parents will meet (our daughters) for the first time.”

The 2010 GUKPT will begin with a £1,000 buy-in event in Bolton on Jan. 22.

New PokerStars Team Pro Tuesdays

PokerStars started a new promo on Tuesday where players will be actively rooting against members of Team PokerStars Pro.

Team Pro Tuesday will include two Outlast the Pros events where PokerStars will add $1,000 to the prize pool.

The $1,000 will be split between the players who manage to outlast every member of Team PokerStars Pro playing in that particular event.

“That makes for some interesting side rooting,” said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu.

“If you are one of the big stacks, you’re obviously hoping that the pros stay alive as long as possible so that you can get a bigger piece of the pie. If you are a short stack, then you want to see the pros go broke!” 

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Did ESPN feed information on hands to November Nine coaches? Darvin Moon thinks so.

One of the biggest talking points at the final table of this year’s WSOP was a big lay down made by Darvin Moon. The eventual runner up folded a KQ hand against Steve Begleiter but proceeded to tell his wife that he in fact had queens, despite the ESPN cameras showing otherwise. Did he misread his hand or did he tell his wife a big porkie?

Poker queen Vanessa Rousso in Hustler magazine

WickedChopsPoker just revealed the cover of February’s Hustler Magazine and look who’s there, it’s Vanessa Rousso.

Well, she’s not the cover girl, nor does she reveal any skin and if we believe WickedChopsPoker, Rousso will only reveal her hand - for our disappointment. Well, maybe next time then?

The cover doesn’t look like photoshopped, so we believe it is legit. Check out the cover here.

Source: WichedChopsPoker

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Poker queen Vanessa Rousso in Hustler magazine

Jan Skampa wins EPT in Prague

I’m sure every poker player sometimes dreams of winning a huge event in front of family and friends. Well, at least Young Chech Jan Skampa don’t have to dream about it anymore, as he achieved his dreams and took down the EPT Prague main event after beating the 583 other combatants for an €682,000 first-place prize.

After making it to his first ever EPT final table at Vilamoura, Portugal, couple weeks ago, Skampa didn’t have to wait long for another appearance in the final, showing the home crowd in the biggest tournament in Czech Republic ever that they have not come in vain to cheer for him. Back-to-back final tables in just third and fourth EPT events ever played by Skampa proves that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Italian Luca Pagano broke a record after making it to the final table, his sixth overall, that is the most final tables in history of EPT. Sixth time was no charm for the PokerStars pro, as Pagano busted out fittingly, yes you know it, in sixth place.

Swede Stefan Matsson, a WPT runner-up in Barcelona 2008, had a huge chip lead in the tournament after he busted Larry Ryan out of the tournament in fifth place with queens against jacks, but the tide turned when he and Skampa got all the chips in the middle, Skampa holding kings and Matsson queens.

Matsson was eventually out in third place and the heads-up started with Eyal Avitan leading having a 2:1 chip lead over Skampa. But the Chech grinded his way back to the lead and after three hours of heads up play Avitan moved in with J-9 only to see him being a huge dog against a pair of jack Skampa had in a hole. After the turn card the faith of the Israeli was sealed and the Chech crowd started to celebrate the win of their new poker hero.

Here is the final results and payouts of the EPT Prague:

1.Jan Skampa € 682,000
2.Eyal Avitan € 454,000
3.Stefan Mattsson € 255,000
4.Anthony Roux € 171,000
5.Larry Ryan € 135,000
6.Luca Pagano € 100,000
7.Gustav Ekerot € 71,000
8.Sven Eichelbaum € 55,500

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Jan Skampa wins EPT in Prague

Jan Skampa Wins EPT Prague; Becomes First Czech EPT Champ

Hometown hero Jan Skampa took down the Main Event of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague stop, banking €682,000. Skampa is a 23 year-old economics student at St. Charles University in Prague and became the first Czech champion in EPT history.

A total of 584 players turned out for the EPT Prague Main Event, which came with a €5,250 price tag. The event’s central location attracted a truly diverse international field, as seven countries were represented at the eight-handed final table. Among those at the feature table was Team PokerStars Pro member Luca Pagano, who finished in sixth place for an even €100,000. In October, Pagano final tabled the EPT Warsaw Main Event to the tune of over $100,000, one of his four EPT feature table appearances in 2009. Pagano has 13 in the money showings in EPT events.

Following his monumental win, Skampa told PokerStars officials, “It feels great to win. It’s my fourth EPT and I won it in my home town – that must be one of the greatest accomplishments you can have in poker. It was tough when we were three-handed, but once Stefan Mattsson was out, I felt confident I could win.” Here were the final results from the 2009 running of EPT Prague:

1. Jan Skampa (Czech Republic) – €682,000
2. Eyal Avitan (Israel) – €454,000
3. Stefan Mattsson (France) – €255,000
4. Anthony Roux (Czech Republic) – €171,000
5. Larry Ryan (Ireland) – €135,000
6. Luca Pagano (Italy) – €100,000
7. Gustav Ekerot (Sweden) – €71,000
8. Sven Eichelbaum (Germany) – €55,500

This was the third running of EPT Prague, which debuted during the fourth season of the EPT with Arnaud Mattern emerging victorious from a field of 555 runners. Last year, Italian poker player Salvatore Bonavena took home the crown after besting a group of 570 poker players. Attendance at the Czech event has increased gradually each year, as this season’s crop of 584 players represented a 2% increase year over year.

In the defining hand of heads-up play, which ran for three hours, Eyal Avitan pushed all-in with J-9 and Skampa woke up with pocket jacks. The dominating hand held and Skampa was crowned the 2009 EPT Prague champion, sending the hometown fans into a frenzy. Avitan sent Stefan Mattsson packing after he flopped a straight with J-10 against Mattsson’s Q-10. The fourth place finisher at EPT Prague, Anthony Roux, hit the rails after coming out on the short end of a race with pocket tens against Avitan’s A-K.

Larry Ryan, a PokerStars qualifier, hit the skids in fifth after running pocket jacks into Mattsson’s pocket aces. Ryan, who also qualified via PokerStars for the upcoming Caribbean Adventure, could not overcome being a 4:1 underdog and earned €135,000. Pagano’s EPT Prague title hopes were dashed when his A-J could not draw out on Mattsson’s pocket queens.

Next up for Season 6 of the PokerStars-sponsored EPT is the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which takes place from January 4th to 14th at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas. The tournament marks the EPT’s only trip to the Western Hemisphere in a joint event with the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). In 2009, Canadian Poorya Nazari took home a massive $3 million grand prize from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which attracted a record-setting 1,347 players. In side tournament action, Team PokerStars Pro member and former Main Event champion Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier took down the $25,000 High Roller contest.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event comes with a $10,300 price tag. Side festivities include battleship events, ladies only events, and tournaments in Omaha, Eight Game, and Badugi.

Hometown Hero Wins EPT Prague

Just a few weeks removed from his first PokerStars European Poker Tour final table in Portugal, Jan Skampa won his first title, taking down EPT Prague in his hometown.

“It feels great,” Skampa said, moments after booking the win and an €682,000 first-place prize.

“It’s just my fourth EPT and I win an EPT in my hometown. It’s one of the greatest accomplishments in poker one can have.”

With 584 entrants, EPT Prague was the largest poker tournament in Czech Republic history, a fact that was not lost on the new hometown hero.

“It was the biggest tournament in Czech Republic ever, so it feels marvelous,” he said. “I had lots of support from the rail, lots of people cheering me on.”

The final eight set up as one of the most notable in EPT history.

Not only was it back-to-back finals for the 23-year-old Skampa, who finished fourth at EPT Vilamoura in Portugal, but it marked Luca Pagano’s record breaking sixth final table.

Plus, WPT and WSOP finalist Stefan Mattson and WSOP and WSOPE finalist Anthony Roux were added to the mix, both looking for a breakthrough win to add to their resumes.

German Sven Eichelbaum was actually the first out of the final eight, running ace-jack suited into Laurence Ryan’s aces.

Shortstack Swede Gustav Ekerot was the next to go, throwing rags at Eyal Avitan’s aces before Mattsson suddenly took over the table.

Pagano’s record sixth final table came to an abrupt end when he four-bet shoved ace-jack into Mattsson’s aces.

Then, just moments later, Ryan ran jacks into Mattsson’s queens to bust fifth and hand the aggressive Swede a massive chip lead.

Skampa turned things around, however, when he got Mattsson to call his five-bet shove.

The Prague native had kings against the Swede’s queens and doubled up to take over the chip lead.

Winamax Pro Roux was out next, losing a flip against Avitan, and three-handed play began as a virtual dead heat between Skampa and the Israeli, with Mattsson not too far behind.

Avitan inched his way into the lead and then took care of Mattsson after three hours of three-handed play, flopping a straight and fading a combo-draw after getting it in with jack-ten versus the Swede’s queen-ten.

Avitan then took a 2:1 chip lead into heads up with Skampa, but the young pro chipped away until more than three hours of careful play had passed and he had grabbed the advantage.

In the end, Avitan shoved in with jack-nine offsuit facing a Skampa raise.

Skampa called with pocket jacks and had the Israeli drawing dead by the turn as the pro-Czech crowd went wild, draping Skampa in the nation’s flag and roaring in appreciation.

“Both of us were trying to avoid races it seemed, and as the time went on I felt like my opponent was getting tired a bit,” Skampa said. “Especially during this last level I tried to put the pressure on him a bit more. I just felt I had a solid grasp on his play already.”

An economics student at St Charles University in Prague who has been playing quite succesfully online for the past three years, Skampa said the money would not change his life and he plans to continue playing European Poker Tour events throughout this season and beyond.

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durrrr Challenge: Dwan Back on the Grind

Dwan’s night began at $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha where he sat heads-up with Sahamies and South. In the end, South took the worst of it, losing $304k over 230 hands, while Sahamies lost $144k in his shorter 77 hand session.

From there, Dwan moved on to play $300/$600 No-Limit Hold’em against his arch rival Isildur1. Isildur1 continued his bankroll slide, losing $360k in just over 250 hands.

The two rivals jumped up limits to $500/$1,000 for 70 hands with Dwan losing $94k before moving on.

The newly minted Team Full Tilt Pro's next three sessions were all extremely short. First he lost $21k in 33 hands of $300/$600 NLHE Versus 458854, then he lost $27k back to Sahamies across 55 hands of $500/$1,000 PLO.

Finally, Dwan made $228k from Sahamies over 50 hands of $300/$600 PLO.

At this point, up nearly $900k, Dwan sat with Antonius for the latest session of the durrrr Challenge.

The session lasted 588 hands, bringing the players up to 27,773 hands played - 56% of the 50,000 hand goal.

After the two-hour session, Dwan had lost just under $68k, dropping his lead in the challenge to $711,556.

The largest pot of the challenge, coming in at $155k, went to Dwan after he went runner-runner for the queen-high straight.

With another $150k won from playing 7-Game, Dwan ended his night up around $979k, moving him down to second place behind Gus Hansen on the list of the year’s biggest losers.

At this point, Dwan’s total losses sit at $4.7 million.

durrrr Challenge by the numbers:

• 223,611,528: Total amount wagered
• 8,547,042: Amount won by Joe Cada at the 2009 WSOP
• 711,556: Amount durrrr is ahead
• 155,200: Biggest pot of the session
• 27,773: Hands played overall
• 56: Percentage of challenge completed
• 88: Hours played in the challenge
• 6: Number of players invited to the first WSOP in 1970

Below are three of the largest pots from last night’s action, to see more hands, head to MarketPulse.

 

 

 

 

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Isildur1 Drops $2.9 Million, Now Down Overall

The wild ride for Swedish online poker pro Isildur1 continued in recent days, as the newcomer dropped a colossal $2.9 million on the felts of Full Tilt Poker. According to Poker Table Ratings, Isildur1 is now a losing player overall.

After being up as much as $5 million, the tide has begun to turn for Isildur1, who now sits at -$892,000 since Poker Table Ratings began tracking the Swede in September. Recently, Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies took Isildur1 for $2.3 million in 3,000 hands of $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha.

In one hand, the Swede raised to $3,000 pre-flop with 3h-6d-2s-Ac and Sahamies made it $9,000 with Qs-Js-9d-Jh. Isildur1 made the call and the flop came 10c-Qh-3c, giving Sahamies top pair and a straight draw and giving Isildur1 a pair of threes. Sahamies bet pot, $18,000, and Isildur1 popped it to $56,000. Sahamies made the call to see the turn come the Ks. Sahamies, now holding a king-high straight, checked and Isildur1 bet out $96,000. Sahamies continued to play it slow and just called to bring the 4h on the river. Sahamies checked once again, Isildur1 bet $322,000, and Sahamies called all-in for his last $193,000, creating a $708,000 pot. Sahamies scooped it with a straight and Isildur1 was left scratching his head.

In another hand between Sahamies and Isildur1, the latter raised to $3,000 pre-flop holding 8d-7s-9h-3c and Sahamies pushed it to $9,000 with 4d-Kd-As-5s. Isildur1 called and the first three cards fell 3s-8s-4h. Sahamies bet pot with his nut flush draw and pair of fours, while Isildur1 made it $56,000 with top and bottom pair. Sahamies re-raised to $186,000 and Isildur1 bet enough to put Sahamies all-in for his last $131,000. Once again, Sahamies made the call for his stack, this time with a $652,000 pot up for grabs. The turn was the queen of spades, giving Sahamies his flush, and no help came for Isildur1 on the river, which was the six of clubs. Isildur1 had absorbed another devastating hit to his bankroll.

Also taking aim at Isildur1 was CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend, who made it $2,000 pre-flop in one hand holding Ah-10h-8c-5d. Isildur1 raised to $6,200 with Qs-10s-6h-5h and Townsend made the call to see a flop of 3h-As-4h. Isildur1 bet about two-thirds of the pot with a straight flush draw, while Townsend pushed the action to $28,000 with the nut flush draw, a gutshot wheel draw, and top pair. A series of raises ensued resulting in Isildur1 having his stack committed and a pot of $343,000 being up for grabs. The board ran out Ad-Jh, shipping the mammoth pot to Townsend with the nut flush.

According to Poker Table Ratings, Isildur1 boasted over $5 million in earnings on November 15th, which has since evaporated. While he has made $5.2 million from Full Tilt Poker pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan alone, he has dropped seven-figures each to 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, Townsend, Sahamies, and Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius. His 41,000 hands against Dwan are the most logged by his top “Best Friends” and “Worst Enemies.” Isildur1 has been involved in the eight largest pots in online poker history, winning three of the top six. He came out on the losing end of a $1.3 million hand against Antonius, the richest pot the industry has ever seen.

As can be seen, Isildur1 is an aggressive player on the Pot Limit Omaha felts. Poker Table Ratings candidly questioned, “One can’t help but wonder if the enticement of PL Omaha’s massive swings and guaranteed action will be sending him to the rail soon.” The Swede’s arrival has created a resurgence of high-stakes online poker action on Full Tilt, which has seen its traffic grow by 25% over the last four weeks thanks in part to its Holiday Hundred promotion.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest Isildur1 headlines.

Former World Series of Poker Home Binion’s Closing Hotel

Binion’s, located in Downtown Las Vegas, is shuttering its 365-room hotel effective December 14th. The hotel served as the home of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) until 2005, when the event picked up shop and moved across town to the Rio.

TLC Enterprises owns both Binion’s and the nearby Four Queens on Fremont Street. Company spokesperson Lisa Robinson told Poker News Daily, “We plan to reopen it, but we can’t speculate when that will happen. Las Vegas has been hit so hard with the dramatic drop in visitor spending and the average daily room rate has plummeted. Our hotel rooms were no longer competitive in the market. We had to make cuts where our biggest drains were, the hotel and coffee shop.”

According to the Associated Press, the casino, sports book, and nostalgic poker room will remain open. Also keeping its doors open for business is Binion’s Ranch Steakhouse, which sits on the 24 floor of the building. Conversely, its hotel, coffee shop, and keno parlor will all be closed down. In the process, 100 of Binion’s 800 employees will lose their jobs, or 13% of the casino’s workforce. The property is referring prospective hotel guests to Four Queens, which has nearly 700 rooms.

Poker players were up in arms that the WSOP’s former digs were closing, at least in part. Tournament director Matt Savage commented via Twitter on Monday, “Binions Horseshoe was both hated and loved by poker players over the years, but it is definitely missed by those that played the WSOP there!” The current Binion’s poker room has 10 tables, according to the casino’s website, and 11 televisions. It’s well-known for its Gallery of Champions, which portrays the history of the 40 year-old WSOP.

Binion’s opened in 1951 and, according to the Associated Press, “The aging hotel-casino ran into financial trouble after Benny Binion’s daughter, Becky Behnen, acquired it in 1998. It closed in January 2004 after U.S. marshals seized cash from the casino to pay outstanding employee benefits.” That year, Harrah’s purchased the rights to the WSOP and sold the casino to MTR Gaming Group as Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel. TLC Enterprises has owned it since March of 2008.

At the time of writing, hotel room rates varied between $21 and $23 during the week and $49 to $54 on weekends. All rooms are listed as “Sold Out” beginning on December 14th and availability is displayed through the end of February. TwoPlusTwo poster “dgiharris” noted that he was not surprised to see the hotel go given its antiquated rooms lacking wireless internet: “I argued saying that it is 2009 and everyone, even a mom and pop hotel has at least WiFi but Binion’s said they weren’t interested in that. BTW, their [internet] kiosk was one of those 1996 credit card <=> internet kiosks that charge you a dollar a minute.”

TwoPlusTwo poster “DayTripping” relayed his experience with an aging television in a Binion’s room, “I stayed there once a couple of years ago. The TV had an actual dial on it. That’s what I remember most and it should tell you something about how up-to-date the rooms were.” No room amenities are listed on Binion’s website, which instead touts the hotel’s 25th floor pool.

In 2005, the final days of the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event took place at Binion’s and, the following year, the entire duration of the schedule played out at the Harrah’s-owned Rio. In 2008, the WSOP Main Event saw its final table delayed four months until early November for the first time ever. The November Nine, as the final table participants are now known, occurred once again in 2009, with 21 year-old Joe Cada ultimately emerging victorious to become the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever, earning $8.5 million.

Frenchman Fabrice Soulier Signs with Everest Poker

Everest Poker, an independent online poker site, is continuing to build its influence in France by signing Fabrice Soulier. 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event third place finisher and fellow French player Antoine Saout is also a sponsored pro of the site.

A press release distributed by Everest Poker claimed that the move to sign Soulier was made in order to reinforce “its presence in the country in a continued effort to develop poker in France ahead of the opening of the market.” Soulier has a wealth of live poker cashes dating back to before Chris Moneymaker bested Sammy Farha in the 2003 WSOP Main Event. In 2001, he won the Grand Prix de Paris for over $50,000 and, the next year, finished as the runner-up in a $500 buy-in tournament during the Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica for $41,000.

In 2006, Soulier made his presence felt on television, taking fifth in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament for $240,000, an event ultimately won by Nam Le. Soulier won a €1,000 buy-in event as part of the Deauville Poker Festival in late 2007 and went on to win the Marrakech Poker Open’s Main Event for $135,000 two years later. During the recently-held 2009 WSOP, he took 49th in the Main Event for nearly $140,000 and recorded six other cashes.

A press release distributed by Everest Poker explained Soulier’s influence within France: “He is a regular at key French poker rendezvous throughout the year and has participated in a number of television shows and projects which have helped improve and develop the perception of the game in France and mold the poker scene into the mature and leading market that it is today.”

According to PokerScout.com, Everest Poker is the sixth largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 2,350 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout Europe, over 5,000 competitors can be found battling it out on Everest Poker’s virtual felts. At the time of writing, which is early afternoon in London, a total of 2,912 cash game players are logged in. Everest Poker does not accept players from the United States and its traffic is similar with that found on the CEREUS Network, which includes the newly-branded UB.com and Absolute Poker. It is the official on-felt sponsor of the WSOP.

A French news outlet in Las Vegas during the conclusion of the 2009 WSOP Main Event told Poker News Daily that Saout winning the $10,000 buy-in tournament would likely result in a poker renaissance in the European nation. Every hand won by the Frenchman led the site to blog with earnest. However, Saout ultimately finished third after his pocket queens could not withstand champion Joe Cada’s pocket deuces when the flop fell 7-2-9. Saout came out on the short end of a race shortly thereafter with pocket eights against Cada’s A-K when a king hit on the river. The two unfortunate hands ended Saout’s run at the Main Event title, but he earned $3.5 million for his efforts.

According to an update provided last Sunday on PokerScout.com, Everest Poker has seen its traffic slide 3% year over year. Contrastingly, traffic on Full Tilt Poker and the Entraction Network has grown by 110% and 65%, respectively.

Antonio Matias Wins EPT Vilamoura

Travel agency owner Antonio Matias took down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Vilamoura Main Event in the roving tournament series’ first ever trip to Portugal. Matias took home a €404,793 top prize.

The EPT Vilamoura stop had a buy-in of €5,300 and marked the richest tournament ever held in Portugal, according to PokerStars officials. Matias, a Portuguese businessman, was playing in his backyard and became the first native to take down an EPT tournament since Sandra Naujoks tasted victory in Dortmund last season. On his accomplishment, Matias told tournament staff following his win, “I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world, but it is very satisfying to win an EPT in my home country. I wasn’t intimidated by the competition because I play a lot of very good players in cash games. I just decided to play the way I play and hope that luck didn’t turn its back on me. When I got the chip lead yesterday, the only thing I had on my mind was winning.”

In the final hand of EPT Vilamoura, Pierre Neuville raised pre-flop holding J-10. Matias called with 8-7 and watched the action flop come J-8-7. Matias checked bottom two pair, Neuville bet with top pair, Matias put in a raise, and Neuville shoved. Matias called, having his opponent covered. Another seven on the turn gave Matias a full house, which held to scoop the EPT title. Neuville earned €257,681 for his runner-up showing.

Jeff Sarwer, a Canadian, called all-in for his tournament life with 9-5 on a flop of 9-7-3. Holding top pair, Sarwer watched as Matias flipped up pocket tens for an overpair. However, the turn came a five and, in a massive change of fate, gave Sarwer two pair, nines and fives, against Matias’ pair of tens. In heartbreaking fashion, the river came a three, shattering Sarwer’s EPT hopes and giving Matias a better two pair. The roller coaster of a hand ended with Sarwer seeking solace from Shaun Deeb, Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, who were on the rail to support him.

Jan Skampa was eliminated in fourth place from the Portuguese tournament. He ran K-9 into Sarwer’s pocket queens in a pre-flop raising war to cripple his stack, departing a few hands later and earning €117,000. Skampa was one of four players to claim a six-figure payday.

Here were the final results from EPT Vilamoura. A total of 322 players turned out, creating a €1.5 million prize pool:

1. Antonio Matias (Portugal) -  €404,793
2. Pierre Neuville (Belgium) – €257,681
3. Jeff Sarwer (Canada) – €156,170
4. Jan Skampa (Czech Republic) – €117,128
5. João Silva (Portugal) – €78,085
6. Michel Abecassis (France) – €62,468
7. Ryan Franklin (United States) – €46,851
8. Andrei Vlasenko (Russia) – €31,234

Next up for the EPT is a trip to Prague from December 1st to 6th. The €5,250 buy-in tournament saw Salvatore Bonavena claim a massive €774,000 payday last time out. The marathon Season 5 EPT Prague final table lasted 264 hands and spanned 12 hours. A bevy of Team PokerStars Pro personalities are expected, as last year, Noah Boeken, Dario Minieri, Marcin Horecki, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko, and Katja Thater all threw their hats into the ring.

EPT Prague will be held at the Hilton Prague Hotel and will include a variety of side tournaments. In addition, cash games will kick off at Noon each day. The Main Event features two starting days (December 1st and 2nd) and registration opened today on PokerStars for interested players.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest live tournament news.

Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin to Judge Miss California Teen USA

First, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso signs up to be a judge on the E! reality competition show “Bank of Hollywood.” Now, Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin is following suit and branching out, serving as a judge in the upcoming Miss California Teen USA pageant.  The event, which wraps up Sunday, will determine who will succeed reigning Miss California Teen USA Chelsea Gilligan of Beaumont.

“As a poker player, I know how fierce competition can be,” said Vengrin in a statement from Absolute Poker.  “Just like playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), these girls are in for a grueling, but fun weekend, and I’m excited to be an integral part of the experience.”

Fittingly for Vengrin, the event is taking place at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage.  The casino’s theater, called “The Show,” played host to the preliminary rounds of the competition on Saturday and the finals are taking place Sunday afternoon.  Though the completion did not get underway until this weekend, the pageant contestants have been preparing for the event for months, including an October orientation in Palm Springs and preliminary interviews at the Riviera Resort this past Friday.

According to the Miss California organization’s official website, Vengrin and the other judges will be evaluating the contestants based on their performance in the interview, evening gown, and swimsuit competitions.  The site lists judging criteria as “character, poise, confidence, and personality.”  The winner will represent the Golden State at the Miss Teen USA pageant, which will take place in the summer of 2010.  The current Miss Teen USA crown holder is Stormi Henley of Tennessee.

This latest appearance is another boon for Vengrin in what has been a landmark year for the online poker pro.  Earlier this year, he parted ways with Full Tilt Poker, which signed him to a Red Pro sponsorship agreement.  In June, news broke that Vengrin was a new spokesperson for Absolute Poker.  Other sponsored pros on the Absolute Poker roster include Lacey Jones and recently-signed “Real World: Las Vegas” alum Trishelle Cannatella.

In September, Vengrin, who plays online under the screen names “plattsburgh” and “vengmoney,” made waves in this year’s PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) by making three final tables, which was enough to tie him with WCOOP Player of the Series Dan “djk123” Kelly for most in that department.  Over the course of 2009, Vengrin has racked up more than $250,000 in online tournament winnings and recently had a deep run in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, where he finished in 27th place and won $21,327.

The New York native has had his fair share of live poker success as well, most notably a third place finish in a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Event at the 2008 WSOP.  Vengrin netted $167,973 for his finish and his lifetime live poker tournament winnings are at almost a half-million dollars.

Vengrin’s participation with the pageant is not the first time poker and beauty queens have crossed paths.  Poker players like Clonie Gowen and Tiffany Michelle are both former pageant contestants; Gowen held the title of Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma in her youth.

PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge: Brian Barboza Wins $100,000

The PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge returned on Sunday to Fox following NFL coverage and saw Brian Barboza take down a celebrity, a poker pro, and show front man Daniel Negreanu en route to a $100,000 payday and a trip to the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Before Barboza, Oluwasegun “Big Mike” Odumuyiwa, a former defensive end from Northville, Michigan, took to the stage and squared off against Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, who won a ring as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the first round, blinds began at 400-800 and each player began with 20,000 chips. Negreanu could give players advice as needed, but was unable to see anyone’s hole cards. Odumuyiwa had one time out to use at any point to seek advice.

In a key moment, Odumuyiwa called pre-flop with J-3 of spades and Bettis raised to 10,000 with pocket nines. Odumuyiwa used his time out, with Negreanu telling him to fold J-3 and come out firing in future hands. Odumuyiwa obliged and then promptly pushed on the next hand with just 6-3 before the flop. Bettis looked down at A-5, called, and the board ran out 9-8-9-K-7. Bettis took home $5,000 for charity and that was all she wrote for Odumuyiwa, who departed empty-handed.

The next contestant to take to the stage was Barboza, a 31 year-old salesman from Massachusetts. He faced former Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole in the first round. Only three hands from the match were shown and, in the final pot, Barboza raised all-in with K-7 of clubs pre-flop and Nicole called for her stack with A-8 of hearts. The flop came 9-6-10 and the turn came a jack. Barboza needed a king, queen, or eight to hit on the river and, sure enough, a queen fell, giving the challenger a king-high straight and a $5,000 trip to the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

For his next trick, Barboza took on Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso. In the second round, Negreanu could see Barboza’s hole cards and communicate with the amateur via headset. Rousso, in turn, could invoke the Dome of Silence twice, cutting off all communication between Negreanu and Barboza. To ensure a fast-paced match, each player started with 20,000 in chips and blinds began at 1,000-2,000. In the key hand of the battle, Rousso called pre-flop with A-6 and Barboza picked up Q-2. Negreanu told him to push in order to pick up the blinds and he obliged. Rousso snap-called, but the queen of spades hit on the flop. Negreanu actually called for the card to come and Barboza took a 34,000-6,000 edge in chips.

In the final hand between Rousso and Barboza, the former was all-in and dominated with 8-5 against J-8. The board ran out 6-J-9-3-K, giving Barboza $25,000. He was then faced with a decision to take the money or risk it all for a chance at $100,000. He selected the latter option and faced Negreanu heads-up.

Barboza nearly doubled Negreanu up with A-4 against A-J, but the board ran out 2-3-3-2-7, giving both players deuces and threes with an ace for a chopped pot. In the final hand, Negreanu called with 8-2 of clubs pre-flop and Barboza knocked the table with J-2. The first three cards came 8-3-J, giving Negreanu middle pair and Barboza top pair. Barboza bet 4,000, Negreanu shoved, and Barboza called, having the PokerStars pro covered. The turn and river fell a four and a king, respectively, giving Barboza $100,000 and a shot at $1 million.

The $100,000 winners will play in the show’s final episode next month for a chance to play Negreanu heads-up for $1 million.

Gap Concept: Always Watch Out for the 3Bet

If you have played any serious poker in your lifetime, then you have seen the following situation occur at the tables. A player either limps in or raises the pot in early position with a small pocket pair and gets re-popped by another player. As others muck, suddenly a third person joins the battle with a re-raise of their own. The first person calls (or moves all-in), the second person makes their decision, and the third person turns up pocket kings or aces. After the carnage is done, the inexperienced player who was just crushed usually says, “How was I supposed to know he had a big hand?” He should have known what the situation was easily because you always must watch out for the 3bet.

Whether you are playing Limit or No Limit Texas Hold’em, the player willing to take the chance with a 3bet usually has an extremely strong hand because of a philosophy known as the Gap Concept. This theory, originally espoused by noted poker author David Sklansky, opines that a player has to have a stronger hand to make a call or re-raise after there has been action in front of them. In other words, if there has been a raise and a re-raise in front of my action with A-J, I can pretty much count that my cards aren’t going to be good.

A perfect example of this principle in action occurred this summer during the World Series of Poker Main Event. Down to two tables, a player raised with pocket eights and brought a re-raise out of November Niner Steven Begleiter, who held pocket kings. The next three hands after him – pocket jacks, A-K, and pocket tens – took their time to analyze the situation and, one by one, found the muck. Begleiter would go on to win the hand.

What the three players did after Begleiter was take into account the Gap Concept. Because Begleiter was three betting the pot, signaling a big hand, the jacks, Big Slick, and tens knew that they were at the minimum facing pocket queens. In fact, one of the players who folded his hand, 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Cada (who held the A-K), would not have been around to play for the title had he played his hand.

Even in the current age of aggressive online play, the Gap Concept still has value. If in late position a player holds a mid-pair and sees a raise and a re-raise in front of him, there has to be credit given to the 3bet most of all. In Limit, a player may be able to call the bet and at the minimum see a flop. If the player misses, the hand can easily be mucked. In No Limit, however, the player who calls or re-raises the 3bet could very well be massively behind and/or out of the tournament when they run into a larger pair or A-K.

Even putting the Gap Concept into practice, there are times when a player is short stacked and has to take a shot. In most situations, such as in the early or middle segments of a tournament, a shrewd player will take the time to break down the playing style of the opponent and the situation to determine the price they are getting to make the correct decision.

Exercising the Gap Concept theory may be elementary to many longtime players, but newcomers to the game still make the error in not giving credence to the 3bet. For a player to come over the top of a raise with a re-raise signifies a strong hand that will have most holdings crushed. Therefore, players must be attentive to their opponents’ style at the table.

Million Dollar Challenge: Marcello Marigliano (luckexpress) Edges Durrrr in London

Tuesday’s opening round action in the live version of the Tom “durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge saw the youngster tango with Marcello “luckexpress” Marigliano. In the end, Marigliano edged Dwan by $22,500.

Each player bought in for $250,000 and after 12 hours had elapsed, the duo called it a night, as 500 hands had played out. When the smoke cleared, Marigliano owned a stack of $272,500, a $22,500 gain at the expense of Dwan representing an hourly rate of nearly $1,900. According to stats released by Million Dollar Challenge organizers Matchroom Sport, Dwan won 55% of the hands played to Marigliano’s 45%. In addition, Dwan raised on the button 84% of the time. However, the financial edge went to Marigliano, who told organizers, “In the end, I won a small amount, but I’m happy, though, as I won with bluffs. He raised a lot pre-flop and you have to play tight, but I made some good moves and I’m happy I proved I can play with Tom.”

Each player had his swings throughout the half-day marathon. Marigliano put in a bluff with king-high, scooping a massive $100,000 pot, and further helped his cause by flopping a boat with A-3 on a board of A-A-3. Then, his run continued. The press release distributed by Matchroom Sport relays a hand in which both combatants held hearts: “Durrrr with six-deuce, Marigliano with queen-seven – and two hearts came on the flop. Marcello was all-in before the ace of hearts on the turn gave him the pot and a healthy lead over Dwan before they moved to Pot Limit Omaha.”

Dwan fought back during the hour-long session of Pot Limit Omaha, the only time the players deviated from No Limit Hold’em. On his performance, Dwan noted, “It was a really aggressive match. There was a time when Marcello folded 20 hands in a row then the next hand he picked up a gutshot and decided to win the $150,000 out there. But he made two really good reads and without either one of them, he ends up down $50,000 or so, but instead he’s up. It was an interesting match – of course I wish I’d won.”

Dwan will have 12 hours to recoup before facing Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies at 2:00pm local time in London today. Sahamies and Dwan will face off in 500 hands of Pot Limit Omaha. Heading into the festivities in the European city, each player was set to buy in for $500,000 and blinds began at $500/$1,000. The event is playing out at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair and is being filmed for television. The end product will air on Sky Sports in 2010.

After Sahamies, Dwan will face Sammy “Any Two” George on Thursday, with the two squaring off in 500 hands of No Limit Hold’em. In all matches held as part of the Million Dollar Challenge, neither player is permitted to leave the table until 500 hands are up or someone is broke. The festivities are sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which recently signed Dwan to become the site’s newest sponsored pro.

The log of live Durrrr Challenge hands on Matchroom Sport’s website shows that nearly all pots were raised pre-flop, with bets on the flop taking them down with high frequency. Hole cards were revealed to Matchroom officials through the day. Other Full Tilt Poker pros including Roland de Wolfe stopped by throughout the proceedings in London to check in on the action.

The action between Dwan and Sahamies has been face-paced in the opening minutes, as the pair played 50 hands in the first hour, with over 60% of them won by Dwan. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Million Dollar Challenge in London.

Photo courtesy Matchroom Poker/Simon O’Connor.

Zhivago2, Obiedman Win FTOPS XIV Poker Titles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the results from FTOPS XIV Event #22:

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

Keikoan takes Tahoe title

The 41-year old outlasted a field of 64 players and a pro heavy final table to take the WSOPC title and its $110,346 first-place prize at Harvey's Lake Tahoe just before 3 a.m.

"I'm excited, but I'm very tired," said Keikoan. "This comes at a good time for me."

After a day and a half play down to the final nine, fellow 2008 bracelet winner David Woo actually came into the final table with the chip lead, but bowed out seventh when online pro "Bodog" Ari Engel managed to suck out on him.

Engel, who already owns two WSOP circuit rings from Atlantic City prelims, had taken to three-bet shoving almost every time Woo raised and when Woo finally caught him, calling with queens against Engel's ace-nine, Engel rivered an ace anyway.

One of the hottest players in poker, following a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and a win at WPT Festa al Lago in Las Vegas less than one month ago, Tommy Vedes flirted with the chip lead for most of the two-day tournament.

However, he could get further than fifth after 68-year-old John Goodger called all in against him with K♠ Q♠ claiming he just wanted to go to bed, but managing to suck out a flush against Vedes' A♦ J♦.

A suddenly short stacked Vedes was out soon after.

Engel's loose-aggressive style eventually caught up with him when he ran eights in to Keikoan's queens to hand him the chip lead.

He busted not long after handing the rest of his stack to Keikoan when he shoved with king-eight and missed against Keikoan's pocket fives.

"With him you sort of have to have a hand because he was pushing a lot," said Keikoan. "Queens against him, that's like having aces. You are never ever folding to him with queens.

"Even the fives, I'm raising the button, I know he's shoving a lot of hands so I have to call with fives there."

Goodger eventually got his wish, getting sent to bed in third place when he got it all in with top pair against Keikoan's bottom two and failed to improve.

Keikoan then went into heads up with 33-year-old Sacramento Police officer Justin Hallstrom holding an almost 5:1 chip lead and made short work of the amateur to grab the WSOPC title.

"I've been coming up here my whole life, I'm comfortable here," added Keikoan. "I grew up two hours from here so I feel good here.

"I'll be back here next year for sure."

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Yang says Cada got lucky to win WSOP Main Event

Jerry Yang, who won the 2007 WSOP Main Event, is certainly one.

Yang watched it all go down on ESPN the very next night from his newly opened Pocket 8's Sushi & Grill restaurant in Merced, California and enjoyed every minute of it.

"It was very interesting," Yang told PokerListings from Harvey's Lake Tahoe, where he had come to play in the WSOP Circuit event this weekend. "Overall I think it was a great tournament. It was very exciting."

Yang has always admitted his path to the 2007 title and its $8.25 million prize was paved with a lot of luck.

What he saw on this year's ESPN broadcast appeared no different to him.

"I think all the guys played really well and obviously two of them got really lucky," he said.

"Joe Cada is a good player, but he got incredibly lucky. Especially with the pocket threes (all in pre-flop against Jeff Shulman's pocket jacks) and the pocket deuces (all in pre-flop against Antoine Saout's pocket queens). I'm happy it worked out for him.

"Moon had a good shot, but I think he made a couple of mistakes and I'm sure he's thinking about them right now."

Yang was criticized by some in the poker media for not playing as many major tournaments as they would have liked in the year following his win.

However, the father of six children, who escaped war-torn Laos as a child and spent four-and-a-half years in a Thai refugee camp before immigrating to the United States, makes no apologies for following a different path.

"Since winning I have personally helped raised more than $700,000 for charity, namely the Make-A-Wish foundation, the Ronald McDonald House and Feed the Children, so that took a lot of my time away," he said.

"I made a promise that I would donate a lot of my time and money to charity. That's what I'm passionate about; giving back to the community, especially underprivileged kids."

If he has any advice for the new World Champion, it's that he follow his heart as well.

"Just follow your passion," Yang said. "If poker is your passion, then hey, you know what, be a good ambassador. Do whatever you can to promote poker and carry the game to the next level.

"I know a lot of young players today look up to somebody like me or Joe Hachem, or whoever the champion is and they want to follow in our footsteps. So do whatever you can to really help that community."

Yang's victory came in the final year before the WSOP began delaying the final table four months, creating what is now known as the November Nine.

The 2007 World Champion says he loves the idea and the boxing-style hype that is created during the four-month break.

"I wish they had done it a couple of years before I won, although it may have changed my results," he laughed. "I think it will only help poker grow, survive and thrive even more."

These days, Yang spends the majority of his time at his restaurant, with his family, playing poker for charity and putting the finishing touches on his biography, All In: The Jerry Yang Story, expected to be published sometime in early 2010.

But a passion for the game still got him out of bed at 4 a.m. Sunday to make the drive to Lake Tahoe from his Fresno home to play a little poker on the World Series Circuit.

"The bottom line is I love poker," he said.

To follow Yang and all the action from the Lake Tahoe World Series of Poker Circuit championship event, click through to PokerListings' Live Coverage.

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Greg Sessler Wins Ladies Championship at Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Stop

The latter part of the 2009 calendar year has seen at least two Ladies events won by males during major tournament series. During September’s Borgata Poker Open, Abraham Korotki emerged victorious in a $300 buy-in Ladies No Limit Hold’em event. This weekend, Greg Sessler took down the Ladies Championship during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit stop at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.

According to a press release distributed by WSOP officials on Sunday, the Circuit’s Lake Tahoe stop has seen more females take down tournaments (six) than any other venue. Over the weekend, the Nevada city saw a male earn the “W” in a Ladies event. How could this happen, you ask? Tournament officials explained, “The WSOP isn’t a political organization and can’t be expected to get involved in debates about sexism, discrimination, or other polarizing issues which may be applicable to poker tournaments.” If males wish to enter a ladies tournament, it is technically within their right to do so. Sessler is a 22 year-old student at the University of California at Davis.

A total of four men entered the Lake Tahoe Ladies Championship, which boasted a $340 buy-in, and Sessler’s victory was worth $9,900. Ninety-six players turned out in total and Sessler told tournament staff that he entered because he had a day off and wanted to play some cards. The one-day event saw the assembled field erupt into a chorus of clapping when each male was eliminated. Sessler explained after the fact, “I came here because I only had one day and I really like the structures and the payout. This was the only tournament I could play.”

Sessler defeated Mimi Kalem heads-up after Kalem shoved at an inopportune time with Q-6, as Sessler peeked down at pocket queens. Kalem hit a six on the flop for a glimmer of hope, but the board bricked out and gave Sessler the upset victory over the mostly female field. Kalem earned $5,300 for her runner-up showing, about $1,600 more than Corinn “Princess” Ignatieff received for third. Here were the final paydays from the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Ladies Championship:

1. Greg Sessler (Danville, California) – $9,932
2. Mimi Kalem (Cameron Park, California) – $5,308
3. Corinn Ignatieff (Templeton, California) – $3,715
4. Candy Alexander (Cameron Park, California) – $2,626
5. Linda Peverini (Clovis, California) – $2,100
6. Tera Brown (Austin, Texas) – $1,592
7. Persia Bonella (Castro Valley, California) – $1,229
8. Rebecca Burnside (San Francisco, California) – $894
9. Rose Erhart (Ione, California) – $629

Expanding on the tournament series’ stance towards male entrants in female events, the same WSOP press release remarked, “While the WSOP… offers quasi-exclusive tournaments designed to increase female participation in the game, officials generally do not turn away those who want to play in the event based solely on gender.”

The $5,150 buy-in Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Main Event kicks off on November 15th and will crown a winner two days later. Over $1.3 million in prize money has been awarded in the series’ 17 events held so far, with more than 2,600 entries recorded. Last November, Ultimate Bet sponsored pro Michael Binger tasted victory in the Lake Tahoe Championship event, earning $181,000 after outlasting Ty Stewart heads-up. A total of 132 players showed up.

Two months ago, Korotki defeated breast cancer patient Nicole Rowe heads-up at the Borgata. Rowe, who could have used the extra cash for mounting medical bills, fell short of the $20,000 first place payday and 269 players entered. In response, Korotki stated that he would donate a portion of his winnings to a charity involving breast cancer.

Cornel Andrew Cimpan Wins WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Taking place concurrently with the conclusion of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas was the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Finals. There, Cornel Andrew Cimpan took down his second WPT title.

Play began last week with 353 runners and as the cards flew at the final table, Cimpan held the chip lead. It took all of two hands for an elimination to occur, as Lee Markholt hit the skids after getting his money in ahead with A-K pre-flop against Matt “All In At 420” Stout’s A-6 of spades. Stout hit a flush on the river to secure Markholt’s exit and the pro banked $166,000 for his final table appearance in the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

Curt Kohlberg followed 20 hands later with A-Q. Soheil Shamseddin called the all-in pre-flop with pocket twos, setting up a race situation. Kohlberg flopped top two pair on an A-Q-5 board and a jack on the turn kept him ahead. However, Shamseddin hit lightning in a bottle on the river, when one of the two remaining deuces in the deck peeled off, eliminating Kohlberg in fifth place for $199,000. Then, it was Eric “EFro” Froehlich’s turn to depart after coming out on the short end of a race with A-K against Shamseddin’s pocket fours. The board came 10-5-2-9-8 and Froehlich, a dual WSOP bracelet winner, earned $232,000 at Foxwoods.

Three-handed, Stout doubled up both Shamseddin and Cimpan to give each new life with the $910,000 first place prize in the offing. On the 145th hand of final table play, Stout was bounced from the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals in third place, earning $265,000. He was all-in pre-flop with 3-2 and all three players saw the first three cards come 9-6-6. Shamseddin bet, Cimpan folded, and Stout saw that he was up against A-6. Stout jokingly commented, “I have the nut low,” when flipping up his hand and he banked $265,000 for his third place effort.

Entering heads-up play, Shamseddin held a 3:1 (8.0 million to 2.5 million) chip lead over Cimpan, who promptly doubled up when his pocket queens withstood Shamseddin’s A-K in a race. Shamseddin would battle back to regain the chip lead, but Cimpan doubled through once more, this time with pocket aces against A-J. In the final hand, Shamseddin was all-in with K-J, but ran into Cimpan’s A-J. Cimpan earned $910,000 for the win and his second WPT title; his first came in the Season VII L.A. Poker Classic. In that event, Cimpan bested Binh Nguyen in a talented final table that also included Mike “UNCCSowers” Sowers, Chris Karagulleyan, and Chris Ferguson.

Here were the results:

1. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – $910,058
2. Soheil Shamseddin – $463,332
3. Matt Stout – $265,710
4. Eric Froehlich – $232,496
5. Curt Kohlberg – $199,283
6. Lee Markholt – $166,069

Other notable names who cashed in the WPT Foxwoods Poker Finals included:

7. Kenna James – $132,855
8. Steve Brecher – $99,641
9. Adam “Roothlus” Levy – $66,427
11. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – $46,499
12. Todd Terry – $46,499
18. Terrence “Unassigned” Chan – $31,533
21. Jason Mercier – $26,571
33. Nenad Medic – $21,588
34. Eric “sheets” Haber – $21,588

On Day 5 of the World Poker Finals, the field shrunk from 10 players to six and, amazingly enough, Shamseddin knocked out each of the four players to set up the televised final table. Markholt and Cimpan had each taken down WPT titles before. Next up for the roving tournament series is the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. The action gets underway on December 14th.

WSOP Final Table Broadcast Airs on ESPN

On Tuesday night, two and a half hours of coverage on ESPN saw the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table play out. What took place over three days in real-time saw Joe Cada become the youngest Main Event winner ever and earn $8.5 million.

The opening sequence focused on Phil Ivey, with announcer Lon McEachern inquiring, “Is he the one?” Comments from poker pros Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Doyle Brunson aired before McEachern and Norman Chad recapped the chip counts. Cada started with just 7% of the chips in play, setting up an unlikely title run.

In one of the first hands shown, Jeff Shulman raised to 1.25 million with pocket fives with his coach, Phil Hellmuth, looking on and Ivey shoved for 8.7 million with pocket kings. Cada folded pocket tens and Shulman got out of the way as well, giving Ivey the pot. The media on-hand at the Penn and Teller Theater in Las Vegas thought Cada had queens and Ivey guessed the youngster had jacks.

After tripling up with K-Q against Eric Buchman, Brit James Akenhead was eliminated in ninth place after running pocket threes into Kevin Schaffel’s pocket nines. Schaffel rivered a boat before falling in eighth place with aces against Buchman’s kings. Buchman turned quads in the hand and ousted Schaffel from the Main Event. In real-time, players headed to dinner break when play was seven-handed and Mike Sexton became the newest inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame.

In a hand that had the crowd abuzz at the Rio, logger Darvin Moon raised to 1.3 million with K-Q and Steven Begleiter made it 3.9 million with A-Q of spades. The flop came 3-4-2 with two spades, giving Begleiter flush and straight draws and a 93% edge. Begleiter led out for 5.35 million, Moon raised to 15 million, and Begleiter shoved for his last six million. Despite getting over 7:1 on a call, Moon folded and falsely told his wife that he had queens and put Begleiter on A-K suited. At the time, Poker News Daily correctly reported that Moon held K-Q for what Chad dubbed “nuclear squadoosh.”

Cada doubled up Shulman to send his chip stack plummeting to just five big blinds. Frenchman Antoine Saout then blazed a trail of his own, doubling through Begleiter after turning a flush. The hand gave Saout the chip lead and then the assembled crowd in Las Vegas watched Ivey fall by the wayside in seventh after Moon’s A-Q bested the Full Tilt pro’s A-K. Chad, who perennially picks Ivey to win the Main Event, joked, “We’re going to need a medic to the broadcast booth.” Moon then sent Begleiter packing once again with A-Q, this time against pocket queens.

Cada spiked a set to double through Shulman before the latter fell at the hands of Saout after losing a race with pocket sevens against A-9. However, Saout would give a chunk of his stack to Buchman, who held pocket aces on a board of 2-10-3 when Saout flopped top pair with Q-10. Moon sent Buchman to the rails after drawing out with K-J of diamonds against Buchman’s A-5.

Cada flopped another set with a small pair against Saout when his pocket twos overcame Saout’s pocket queens to send his stack to 80 million. Then, Saout dropped in third place after his pocket eights fell on the river to Cada’s A-K. In an improbable run, Cada went from holding five big blinds to boasting 136 million chips heads-up against Moon. McEachern exclaimed, “That did not just happen.”

Motley Crue front man Vince Neil gave the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to begin heads-up play and Moon quickly regained the chip lead. However, the youngster doubled up after calling for his tournament life with J-9 on a board of 10-5-9-10. Moon showed 8-7 for an open-ended straight draw, which missed when a three hit on the river. In the final hand of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Cada’s pocket nines withstood Moon’s Q-J, giving the heads-up online poker specialist a monumental win and the tag of youngest Main Event winner ever, breaking Peter Eastgate’s one year reign.

Here were the paydays from the 2009 WSOP Main Event:

1. Joe Cada – $8,546,435
2. Darvin Moon – $5,182,601
3. Antoine Saout – $3,479,485
4. Eric Buchman – $2,502,787
5. Jeff Shulman – $1,953,395
6. Steven Begleiter – $1,587,133
7. Phil Ivey – $1,404,002
8. Kevin Schaffel – $1,300,228
9. James Akenhead – $1,263,602

Those who did not set their DVRs or Tivos to record more than two hours, the scheduled time that ESPN allotted for the WSOP Main Event, did not catch heads-up play. This irritated many viewers, one of whom posted on Poker News Daily, “With the [DVR] set to record the final table coverage I returned to enjoy a thrilling night of poker. The game was still playing at the two hour mark when the recording stopped. Another WSOP on ESPN disappointment. Again I know who won without seeing the coverage on TV.” ESPN’s “SportsCenter” aired at 11:30pm ET.

On the extra 30 minutes of coverage, an ESPN representative told Poker News Daily, “We went late to serve the sports fans tuned into the much-anticipated event that has been on their calendars for a long time. We regret that those Tivo’ing it were unable to see the ending, but we’ll be replaying it in the weeks to come.”

Check your local listings for details.

ESPN Inside Deal Recaps 2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table

From the stage of the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas were the ESPN.com “Inside Deal” crew. The trio – Laura Lane, Bernard Lee, and Andrew Feldman – recapped the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table.

Lane, Lee, and Feldman recapped the journeys of each of the nine final table members, who waited more than 100 days to battle for the $8.5 million first place prize. The entire weekend will be recapped on ESPN this evening at 9:00pm ET. On James Akenhead, who took ninth in the feature tournament, Lee explained, “When his kings ran into aces, he got deflated, but I feel like he had a shot.” Akenhead was a former train conductor and hails from England.

Finishing in eighth place was Kevin Schaffel, who largely played tight during the event’s conclusion. Lee observed, “He played really well. Up to the first break, he was really quiet and he was getting 3bet a lot of the time.” Next to go was Phil Ivey, who had the endorsement of nearly the entire poker industry. Lee noted, “You saw how much he cares and how well he can play the short stack. He was stealing a blind every single level.” Ivey headed out the Rio’s back door after being eliminated and was the only November Nine member not to speak with the media.

Backing Steven Begleiter were coaches Ylon Schwartz and Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little. The presence of the former was largely unknown in the weeks leading up to the resumption of the Main Event. After his elimination in fifth place, Jeff Shulman told “Inside Deal” and other assembled media, “I was playing in my basement the last two months with people who are all tough and every single day was harder than this. Of course, I didn’t win there either.”

Joe Cada had 39 big blinds entering three-handed play and doubled up at the expense of Antoine Saout with pocket twos against pocket queens when the flop came 7-2-9. The pot left Saout reeling and he was out with pocket eights against Cada’s A-K several hands later in a stunning turn of events. Lee explained, “When we were down to three-handed, we were all wondering who Saout was going to play and that was probably his mindset. The next thing you know, he’s going home instead of preparing for the next day.”

The “Inside Deal” crew had been hovering around the Rio since early last week, procuring content for the worldwide leader in sports and even taking in a meatball eating contest just moments after the field in the Main Event was shrunk from nine to two. On the crew’s favorite moments, Lee fondly remembered, “The big moment was Kevin Schaffel. He went in with aces against Eric Buchman, who flopped a king. Schaffel still had hope and then the quad kings come on the turn.”

Finally, Feldman recalled the crowd getting into the action: “James Akenhead tripling up was the first time we saw the crowd into it. My second moment was away from the table watching Mike Sexton getting inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.” By the time Sexton was enshrined, which occurred during the dinner break on Saturday, seven players remained. The 2009 installment went down as the longest in WSOP Main Event history at over 17 hours.

ESPN “Inside Deal” also plans to release exclusive interviews with Cada and runner-up Darvin Moon.

Joe Cada wins the 2009 WSOP Main Event

Defeating 46-year-old Maryland logger Darvin Moon to become the youngest Main Event winner in history appeared to be an overwhelming moment for Cada, as tears filled his eyes when the final river card fell.

"I don't know; it still hasn't hit me," Cada said moments after the win. "I don't know what to think."

"I put a lot of time into poker. Poker has been my life for some time now. Doing this the first year out (at the WSOP) is unbelievable. I got really lucky, I ran well and I am very fortunate."

Cada started the heads-up match late Monday night with a better than 2:1 chip lead after a more-than-14-hour first day at the final table on Saturday.

But beating Moon was no easy task for the college student turned online poker pro from Shelby Township, Michigan.

In fact, Moon started to climb back into the match in the very first hand heads-up, dragging a 45 million chip pot with queens over nines.

Over the next hour Moon would win most of the largest pots the two played to draw even and eventually take over, building up an almost 3:1 chip lead without showing down a hand as his many supporters in the crowd grew increasingly vocal.

"I knew Darvin wanted to play some bigger pots and I wanted them smaller," Cada said. "He applied a lot of pressure and did a great job. He put me in some tough spots. He's definitely a hard player to get a read or a line on. He did a great job."

Cada finally took a stand when Moon three-bet him pre-flop and he four-bet shoved for 50 million, forcing a fold to gain back some ground.

Then he doubled through Moon to take the lead back, making a massive call with second pair on the turn and two tens on the board after Moon pushed all in.

Moon had an open-ended straight draw that failed to get there and Cada was suddenly in control again.

"By me checking the flop it's obvious I don't have top pair, so he knows that," Cada said. "I kind of bet smallish, like three million, to entice a raise and there was a lot of draws out there, jack-queens, seven-eight, clubs, and I don't think he's going to ship a ten, not the way he's been playing. He doesn't just ship a big hand like that.

"In the end I thought it was the right call and I had to make it."

A few hands later, the two got into a pre-flop raising war that saw Cada push in with nines and Moon make the call for his tournament life with Q♦ J♦.

The flop came 8♣ 7♠ 2♣ as chants of "Joey" filled the Rio's Penn & Teller Theater.

The turn brought the K♥ and after the river came the 7♣, the 2009 WSOP Main Event title and $8.5 million first-place prize was Cada's.

Cada's supporters, the loudest group in the room right from the outset of the final nine, roared in approval as he had become the 2009 Main Event champion and Moon was forced to settle for the $5.1 million reserved for second.

"They meant everything to me," Cada said of the crowd of friends and family there to cheer him on.

"They cheered me on when I had no chips. I had two million and they were standing out of their chairs. I got down to 40 million here and I heard them go crazy and that helped me get back in this.

"Momentum is a big thing in poker."

Cada, who said he was put in the tournament by famed online backers Cliff Josephy and Eric Haber in a fifty-fifty deal, said he has no remorse about having to share his winnings.

"I have no regrets," he said. "I knew what I could win when I came in to the tournament and I am very happy they put me in it."

Now comes a year under poker's brightest spotlight.

But the mature-beyond-his-years Cada appears more than prepared for it.

"I definitely plan on playing all the big tournaments, travelling and playing cash games on the side," he said. "I'll definitely embrace it. I want to see poker grow."

For a full recap of all the big hands in the heads-up match and throughout the entire 2009 WSOP Main Event, click through to PokerListings' Live Coverage.

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€601,370 paid out in IPN Bad Beat Jackpot

Lionel Foulquier has 210,000 reasons to celebrate after picking up a record-breaking bad beat jackpot courtesy of Poker Heaven and the International Poker Network (IPN). The Frenchman, who was playing on a €0.50/€1 No Limit table, saw his quad 8s beaten by quad queens but was celebrating soon afterwards.

Darvin Moon Takes Lead Heads-Up at 2009 WSOP Main Event

It took all of 12 hands of heads-up play of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for Darvin Moon to retake the chip lead from young gun Joe Cada, at least temporarily. A total of $8.5 million is up for grabs for the first place finisher.

In the first 11 hands, Moon earned five, while his rival, Cada, emerged victorious in six. In the deciding hand thus far, Cada made it 2.5 million pre-flop and Moon called. The first three community cards came 6-5-J and Moon checked. Cada put in a continuation bet of 3.5 million before Moon made it 8.5 million. Cada called, with an enormous pot brewing, and the turn came queen. The action slowed down considerably, as both players checked to see a deuce hit the river. Moon lead out for 7.25 million and Cada called. Moon tabled Q-8 for top pair and scooped the pot. At the time, he had ballooned his stack to 101 million, ahead of Cada’s arsenal of 93 million. Cada later clawed back to reclaim the chip lead himself.

While standing in line to purchase food at the Rio’s Sports Grill this afternoon, Moon told Poker News Daily that he could not possibly panic being on the short stack. He revealed, “I’m not having a tree fall on me. I’m not getting shot at. What would I possibly panic about?” He then rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a major scar from an accident involving a falling free.

Motley Crue front man Vince Neil, fresh off holding a charity tournament last night, gave the shuffle up and deal command on Monday night. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told the assembled fans, “Ladies and Gentlemen! This is the night when we award the most coveted prize in poker.”