Poker News

European Poker Tour Enjoys Record Crowd For Vilamoura Tournament

The European Poker Tour (EPT) continues its progress across the European continent, once again having a record turnout for the most recent stop in Vilamoura, Portugal.

In its second stop at the Casino Vilamoura on the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean, 384 runners put up the €5,300 buy-in to contest, the latest championship of the EPT’s seventh season. The numbers vastly outpaced the 322 players who showed up in 2009, when Antonio Matias captured the inaugural title. A number of Team PokerStars pros and other top poker players were in attendance for the tournament, making the going difficult for the amateurs who qualified through PokerStars or bought into the event directly.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner David Williams made his first ever appearance at an EPT event as a member of Team PokerStars and many other pros from the stable were also in attendance. Also making his first ever appearance in an EPT event on European soil was EPT founder John Duthie.

Other Team PokerStars Pros such as Italy’s Dario Minieri, France’s Arnaud Mattern, British players JP Kelly and Vicky Coren, and Russia’s Alex Kravchenko filled out the tables. Top players such as Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari, former WSOP Europe champion Annette Obrestad, and 2010 WSOP bracelet winner James “flushy“ Dempsey were also in attendance, looking to take down the latest EPT title and the €467,835 first place prize.

Action began on Saturday with 181 players lining up for Day 1A. Leading the action at the end of the day was one of the Team PokerStars Online pros, Portugal’s Andre Coimbra, who sat with a nice Day 1A stack of 157,600. Several pros were also on the Day 1A leaderboard, including Minieri (fourth, 131,400), Esfandiari (fifth, 127,800), and Mattern (sixth, 119,200).

Day 1B on Sunday was the more active of the two Day Ones, with a sizable lineup of 203 players stepping up for battle. By the time play finished late Sunday night, Russian PokerStars qualifier Leonid Bilokur had stacked himself with 161,200 to take the overall Day One lead. The pros made their presence felt through Sam Trickett (fourth, 132,600), Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi (fifth, 132,200), and UB.com’s Brandon Cantu (sixth, 122,400).

The field came together for the first time on Day 2 with a total of 221 players surviving. Esfandiari got off to a terrible start, dropping to 40,000 in chips after riding high on Day 1A. “The Magician” was able to make some chips appear and rebounded to slightly over his Day 2 starting stack, but the same couldn’t be said for several other top professionals. Such players as EPT San Remo champion Liv Boeree, Lex Veldhuis, Mizzi, Coren, and Williams were dispatched during early action on Day 2.

According to the PokerStars blog at the midpoint of Day 2, Coimbra has added to his chip stack to sit at around 220,000, but several players have stormed past him to push him back to the middle of the Top Ten. Poland’s Grzegorz Cichocki  currently holds a slim chip lead over Cantu, with Kelly and Trickett also arranged on the upper reaches of the leaderboard. Poker News Daily will bring you all the latest from the battle at the EPT Portugal, including the crowning of the champion on Thursday.

Leonid Bilokur leads EPT Vilamoura

Records Fall at EPT Vilamoura

The tournament, which is only in its second year of existence, is taking place at the Casino Vilamoura in Vilamoura, Algarve.

PokerStars qualifier Leonid Bilokur of Russia will take a chip lead of 161,000 into Day 2, which kicks off later today.

Other big stacks include Sam Trickett (132,600), Sorel Mizzi (132,200), Dario Minieri (131,400), Antonio Esfandiari (127,800) and Brandon Cantu (122,400).

There are numerous Team PokerStars Pros amongst the 221 remaining players at EPT Vilamoura including Arnaud Mattern, David Williams, Lex Veldhuis, Ruben Visser and Richard Toth.

Last year 322 players entered EPT Vilamoura with Antonio Matias eventually taking down the €400,000 first place prize.

EPT Vilamoura continues all this week with a champion crowned on Thursday.

August 19th – Daily Deal

Today’s Daily Deal comes from the floor of the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, CA and the site of the World Poker Tour‘s Legends of Poker tournament.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

A collusion ring based in China has apparently been found on PokerStars, with the company preparing to initiate payouts to affected players. In June, PokerStars stated, “the investigation is taking longer than normal due to the unusual nature of the case”. In August, poster “nicegame” reported that PokerStars has brought the total restitution pool to over two million dollars. The ongoing scandal apparently is still in progress, with players allegedly from the Chinese ring still in action on the Double or Nothing felt.

Norwegian poker pro Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani outlasted a talented final table early Monday morning to capture the first event of the European Poker Tour’s seventh season in Tallinn, Estonia. The largest tournament in the history of Estonian poker saw four hundred and twenty players, each of whom contributed four thousand two hundred and fifty Euros to the prize pool. Italian PokerStars pro Luca Pagano made EPT history by making his 15th EPT money finish, the most by any player over the seven years of play. Stani beat Russian Konstantin Bilyauer for a prize of four hundred thousand euros and his first EPT championship.

This Friday, August 20th, marks the start of the Main Event of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker at the famed Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. The five thousand dollar Championship reflects the world’s economy: this is the first time since 2005 that the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event buy-in will be less than $10,000. The WPT Legends of Poker is more than just the No-Limit Championship: the twenty two preliminary events have also featured Limit Hold’em, HORSE, Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or better and other poker variants.

Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. This is Sean Gibson, good luck on the flop!

Mac Poker Sites More Popular Than Ever

If you own a Mac, then your options for playing online poker on a Mac are growing quickly. Existing rooms are offering a variety of ways for you to fire up the virtual felts, ranging from a fully downloadable client similar to what your Windows counterparts use to a browser-based alternative. The latter – dubbed “Instant Play” by most sites – has become one of the most widely used ways for Mac online poker players to access the world’s top sites. It’s safe to say mac poker sites are more popular than ever.

Web-based clients have a lot of drawbacks, however. On Bodog, for example, only one cash game table can be opened at a time, cutting off Mac tournament players entirely and limiting the potential to “grind.” On UB.com and Absolute Poker, several features are lacking and, although the web-based client receives upgrades, its capabilities are capped. PartyPoker, which does not accept real money action from the United States, was one of the first sites to offer an “Instant Play” option.

Despite its limitations, web-play clients are convenient. Most of them are compatible with Safari and Firefox; just make sure you have the latest version of each browser installed on your Mac. Many Windows and Linux users have even employed “Instant Play” to avoid having to download any software. If you’re away from your home computer or are in a situation where downloading UB.com, for example, may be frowned upon, web-based interfaces provide an easy way to access major sites.

Two online poker rooms, however, have gone well above their counterparts and offered a fully functional downloadable client, the best solution that a Mac poker player can hope for. Surprisingly, the two sites to offer feature-packed downloads are the two largest in the industry and home to a variety of high-stakes pros.

PokerStars

PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker site and is home to tens of thousands of cash game players at any given moment. PokerStars is where Main Event champions play, including Tom McEvoy (1984), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Joe Cada (2009), all of whom are sponsored site pros.

PokerStars offers some of the industry’s richest promotions and runs two major tournament series annually, the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). Total prize pools for these have topped $50 million in the past, making for life-changing paydays and challenging competition. PokerStars also sports one of the top customer service teams in the business.

Another reason to play on PokerStars is access to major live poker tournaments. PokerStars sponsors roving tournament series in North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, and the entire European continent. Its signature event is the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, held each January in the Bahamas. It’s a prime opportunity for cold weather poker players to make their way to one of the globe’s top tropical destinations and, with a legal gambling age of 18, the event attracts a variety of young guns from North America.

For more information about Poker Stars, please read our Poker Stars Review.

Full Tilt Poker

Play with the pros – literally – at Full Tilt Poker. If you’re looking for the industry’s most recognized professionals, then look no further. Play alongside Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Huck Seed, Erick Lindgren, Phil Gordon, and others at the world’s second largest online poker site.

Full Tilt is a tournament player’s haven four times a year during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS as it’s commonly called. The quarterly tournament extravaganza attracts the top players in the industry and features a variety of games including Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Stud, and Razz.

Full Tilt also is a Mecca for high-stakes players. With David Benyamine, Dwan, Ivey, and Antonius headlining much of the action, Full Tilt has also had players like Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Mike Matusow join its team to liven up the high-stakes scene. The only drawback to playing on Full Tilt Poker – and its fully downloadable Mac client – is a lax customer service team that falls well short of PokerStars’.

Nevertheless, if you’re a Mac online poker player, be sure to sign up for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Both happily accept players from the United States and host games that will fit your bankroll and budget around-the-clock.

For more information about Full Tilt Poker, please read our Full Tilt Poker Review.

Visit Apple.com for more information about Mac computers or to buy your Mac today.

Kevin Stani Captures EPT Tallinn Championship

In the largest poker tournament in the history of Estonian poker, Norwegian poker pro Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani outlasted a talented final table early Monday morning to capture the first event of the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) seventh season in Tallinn, Estonia.

420 players stepped up with the €4,250 necessary for the buy-in, easily becoming the largest poker tournament in the history of Estonia. As the first event on the EPT Season Seven calendar, the Tallinn event replaced last year’s kickoff event in Kiev as the focal point for European poker. Top professionals turned out in droves for the tournament, while only a few had significant success.

56 total players were able to walk away from the Swissôtel Tallinn with a little extra cash in their pockets from the experience. Most notably, Italian Team PokerStars pro Luca Pagano made EPT history by finishing in 26th place for €8,000. The cash was Pagano’s 15th career EPT in the money finish, the most by any player over the seven years of play.

Other top pros made deep runs in the tournament before being eliminated from the fun in Tallinn. Two players who were in the top 10 throughout the early going, 2008 November Niner Ivan Demidov and 2007 Swedish Open Poker Championships Main Event victor Johan Storakers, battled valiantly through the field before coming up short of the final table. Demidov was eliminated in 22nd place and Storakers dropped from the event in 15th place. Once the United Kingdom’s Jonathan Weekes was dispatched in ninth place, the final table was set for play on Sunday.

Coming into the final table, several of the 40 nations that comprised the field for the EPT Tallinn were represented. Only one country – Russia – featured two players, with Lebanon, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, France, and Norway making up the rest of final table. Former EPT champion Arnaud Mattern was the chip leader at the final table with 3.7 million, but Stani lurked in the second slot with a stack of 2.5 million.

Play started at 1:00pm on Sunday and the players wasted little time in getting to business. One of the two Russians in the tournament, Konstantin Bilyauer, cut almost 700,000 chips from the stack of Mattern before the Frenchman replenished his stack by eliminating Lebanon’s Bassam Elnajjar in eighth place. Mattern continued to press his advantage through the early going, maintaining his chip lead before Bilyauer began to assert himself four hours into the final table.

Bilyauer, Stani, and Mattern proceeded to fight it out for the next two hours before heads-up action was determined. In what turned out to be the hand that determined heads-up action, Mattern suffered a cruel beat at the hands of Stani after the duo pushed their chips into the center pre-flop. Dominating Stani’s pocket threes, Mattern faded the flop with his pocket queens. A decisive three on the turn, however, put the Frenchman behind and left him looking for a queen or another heart to complete a flush. The river blanked for Mattern, though, eliminating him in third place and denying the EPT of its first two-time champion.

Down to heads-up play, Stani held slightly more than a 2-1 lead over Bilyauer, but it still took more than two hours to determine a champion. Stani extended his lead in the early going only to double up Bilyauer after he caught a king against Stani’s pocket sevens to continue the battle. Bilyauer continued to chip away at Stani before the twosome reached the penultimate hand.

On the final hand, play started innocently enough with a 3-9-2 rainbow flop that both players checked. When a four appeared on the turn, Stani check raised Bilyauer’s 375,000 bet to 875,000, only to see him call. Another seemingly innocuous card, an eight, popped up on the river and Bilyauer opened the action with a strong 1.2 million chip bet. Stani then moved all-in, leaving the Russian with a decision for his tournament life. He made the call, only to muck his hand after Stani turned up a dominating 6-5 offsuit for the straight and the championship.

1. Kevin Stani (Norway) €400,000
2. Konstantin Bilyauer (Russia) €250,000
3. Arnaud Mattern (France) €160,000
4. Dmitry Vitkind (Russia) €120,000
5. Mikko Jaatinen (Finland) €80,000
6. Steven van Zadelhoff (Netherlands) €63,000
7. Nicolo Calia (Italy) €47,000
8. Bassam Inaja (Lebanon) €32,000

Europe will be the center of the poker world’s attention in the next couple of weeks with two tournaments that should draw stellar fields. With the completion of Tallinn, the EPT will move onto its next stop in Vilamoura, Portugal, for a €5,300 event running from August 28th to September 2nd. In addition to this tournament, the World Poker Tour will be making its first ever stop in London for a €5,300 tournament from August 30th to September 5th.

Dwan Hits $969k for the Week

The young online poker pro originally from New Jersey put in countless hours at the tables this week as he played over 7,070 hands and earned $969,145.

Dwan's victims included Gus Hansen, Niki Jedlicka and Patrik Antonius.

The sheer volume Dwan is able to generate in a week continues to leave his opponents in the dust. Cole South was the nearest high-stakes player in terms of hands played but he had only 3,434.

For the year Dwan is now up an astounding $4.8 million.

Meanwhile Phil Ivey continues to be red hot online with another $931k in his bankroll after a busy week.

Ivey didn't shy away from anyone, taking on Dwan, South, NEKOTYAN, Jani Vilmunen, Dan "Jungleman12" Cates, Observer84 and others while recording over 3,000 hands.

The action was spread over a variety of games including $300/$600 Cap Pot-Limit Omaha, $2,000/$4,000 Limit Hold'em and even $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold'em.

To put things in perspective, Ivey only won $352,319 over the entire six-week long WSOP. Ivey is now up $3.2 million in online poker alone this year.

Also winning hundreds of thousands this week were Cole South (+$343,742), Dan "Jungleman12" Cates (+$285,628) and Jared "harrington25" Bleznick (+$204,446).

Meanwhile NEKOTYAN had the dubious honor of being the hardest hit player this week.

NEKOTYAN, who is rumored to be Russian pro Vladimir Schemelev, lost $1.04 million or approximately everything he won by placing second in this summer's WSOP $50k Player's Championship.

Gus Hansen was also a big loser, racking up $484,456 in damage. Hansen now finds himself $794,667 in the hole in 2010.

Below are some of the biggest pots on Full Tilt from this week. For more hand replays head to our online poker stats page.

EPT Tallinn Takes Off

A total of 120 players made it through Day 1b at PokerStars EPT Tallinn Thursday, joining the 90 survivors from Wednesday's Day 1a.

Serbian Perica Bukara, who currently lives in Germany, pushed into the overnight chip lead with 210,600, outpacing Day 1a leader Ali Tekintamgac.

Spanish PokerStars qualifier Santiago Terrazas, who came third at EPT Barcelona last season, is close, as is Belarussian Team PokerStars Pro Vadim Markushevski.

EPT Tallinn, the first event of the EPT's seventh season, drew a record 420 entrants, creating a €1,596,000 prize pool. First is worth €400,000.

The tournament will run through Aug. 16 at the Swissotel in the Estonian capital.

In the meantime, the start of the new European Poker Tour season brings the announcement of a new points system for the annual EPT Awards.

The awards will now feature a revised structure that gives weight to an event's field size.

A new award is also being introduced to reward the best Heads-Up player.

The list of awards also includes Player of the Year, Omaha POY, Mixed Games POY, Players' Choice, Best Achievement, Best Online Qualifier and Best Country.

"It's going to be a little harder this year because I'm better-known now and people understand how I play a bit more," said current EPT Player of the Year Max Lykov.

"But I plan to try, and I'm going to play all the EPTs. Changing the rules to award more points depending on field size is definitely a good idea."

EPT Tallinn Takes Off

A total of 120 players made it through Day 1b at PokerStars EPT Tallinn Thursday, joining the 90 survivors from Wednesday's Day 1a.

Serbian Perica Bukara, who currently lives in Germany, pushed into the overnight chip lead with 210,600, outpacing Day 1a leader Ali Tekintamgac.

Spanish PokerStars qualifier Santiago Terrazas, who came third at EPT Barcelona last season, is close, as is Belarussian Team PokerStars Pro Vadim Markushevski.

EPT Tallinn, the first event of the EPT's seventh season, drew a record 420 entrants, creating a €1,596,000 prize pool. First is worth €400,000.

The tournament will run through Aug. 16 at the Swissotel in the Estonian capital.

In the meantime, the start of the new European Poker Tour season brings the announcement of a new points system for the annual EPT Awards.

The awards will now feature a revised structure that gives weight to an event's field size.

A new award is also being introduced to reward the best Heads-Up player.

The list of awards also includes Player of the Year, Omaha POY, Mixed Games POY, Players' Choice, Best Achievement, Best Online Qualifier and Best Country.

"It's going to be a little harder this year because I'm better-known now and people understand how I play a bit more," said current EPT Player of the Year Max Lykov.

"But I plan to try, and I'm going to play all the EPTs. Changing the rules to award more points depending on field size is definitely a good idea."

EPT Tallinn Breaks Attendance Records and is Featured in Twitter

The first stop of Season Seven for the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Tallinn, Estonia has broken records for a tournament and drew what is truly an international field.

The tournament, which started yesterday with the first of two Day Ones, is the largest tournament in the history of Estonia. With a €4,000 buy-in, a field of 420 players has come to the felt for a chance at a €400,000 first place prize. 182 runners came to the line on Wednesday, with the remaining 238 stepping up to take part in Day 1B, which is currently in action.

While other events have the “world” in their organizational monikers, the EPT truly shows the diversity in the poker community with the nations that are represented. No nation represents more than 13% of the field, with Russia and Finland both sending 53 representatives. Italian players make up 10% of the field (42 players) and the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden all have 6% of the field (25 players). The United States only has 4% of the field (nine players).

Day 1A action featured several top pros from the PokerStars stable as well as some of the best in the game from the European continent. Italy’s Luca Pagano, Russia’s Ivan Demidov, Finland’s Ville Wahlbeck, and Canada’s Matt “cho0ppy” Kay (who qualified through satellites on PokerStars) all lasted through the day and will come back for Day Two on Friday. One player who won’t, however, is Norwegian poker phenomenon Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad.

Keeping her fans in touch through her Twitter account, Obrestad was able to get off to a decent start in the Tallinn tournament. At one point, Obrestad had built her stack to double the starting total (players started with 30,000 in chips), but the wheels came off her game after the dinner break. “45k. Minraise Kh3h. Nit calls with 25k stack,” she related to her fans in a Tweet. “We get it in on K32dd flop. He has KQ. Hits Q on turn.”

The agony continued for the former World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion as the night wore on. “35k. Very slow,” Obrestad lamented. “Not getting many hands or trying too hard. Just kinda blinding off a little.” Fortunes would not change for her as the night came to a close with her final Tweet from the tournament floor: “Just busted. Flopped a flush and got it in vs AK with fd. He got there for 90k pot. Blah.”

Day 1B also features a very strong field, with Team PokerStars players Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Katja Thater, and Dario Minieri battling against the likes of 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Richard Ashby. At the dinner break, Minieri is out of the tournament and “ElkY” finds himself on life support. Two players – the now “unretired” Shaun Deeb and noted French poker journalist Benjo DiMeo – have been Tweeting their activities throughout Day 1B, albeit with different chip trajectories.

“Playing EPT Tallin,” Deeb Tweeted to his followers. “Table might be one of the tougher ones seat sucks too time for fun. 37k at 1st break.” As the players went to dinner break, Deeb Tweeted his misfortune: “7500 at dinner break last 2 levels really sucked. Won 1 pot in 2 hours, card dead.” Although he faces a tough situation, Deeb kept his spirits up:  “Enough to still have chips. Have the button too and 12bb.”

DiMeo, for his part, was grinding along through the early part of the EPT Tallinn. “I’m attending my 38th EPT this week, but this is only the first one as a player. Wish me luck,” DiMeo fired off to his followers at the start of Day 1B. After treading under the starting stack for much of the first three hours, DiMeo was able to report to his followers, “Above starting stack for first time today yay.” By the time the dinner break came, DiMeo was keeping in the fray, but was less than enthusiastic about his play: “Heading to dinner with 40 bb (24,000). Stole the blinds once and that’s all I done last level. Ugh.”

As the players return from the dinner break on Day 1B, Percia Bukara holds the edge with 130,000 chips, followed by notable names such as 2009 WSOP bracelet winner Marc Naalden (85,000) and the aforementioned Ashby (60,000). The players will have quite a distance to go, however, to reach Day 1A chip leader Ali Tekintamgac’s stack of 203,200. Also up the leader board from Day 1A are Pagano (124,900) and French Team PokerStars pro and 2007 EPT Prague champion Arnaud Mattern (103,600). The final table for the tournament will play out Monday, August 16th at the Swissôtel Tallinn.

PokerStars Russian Series Continues to Thrive

With the game still on shaky ground inside of Russia, the series has been forced outside the country, but continues to thrive.

A total of 183 players helped make the latest stop in Riga, Latvia a success, creating a rather healthy €328,393.50 prize pool.

In the end, Kuperman beat Russian PokerStars qualifier Murat Ganeev heads-up to takew the title and €95,468.50.

Ganeev earned €59,100 for second, the best finish of a group of 84 players who qualified for the €1850+€150 event on PokerStars.

The next non-Russian stop in the PokerStars Russian Poker Series will be held in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt Oct. 31- Nov. 7 with the Grand Final in Kiev planned for the end of November.

Michael Mizrachi Joins Deepstacks Live

One of the first members of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine to make a splash following the final table being determined in July is Full Tilt Poker pro Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

Mizrachi signed on with Deepstacks Live to teach three courses over the next three months, largely in events held in his home state of Florida. The Sunshine State recently saw its gambling limits eased on July 1st, potentially opening the door for major tournament series to be held within its borders. In addition to “The Grinder,” Florida is home to players like PokerStars pro Jason Mercier and Jason “Jaspuduf” Lee.

In a press release distributed last week by Deepstacks officials, Mizrachi detailed the impetus to joining the popular training outfit: “I had a lot of options after the WSOP, but DeepStacks Live was the right fit for how I play and how I want to teach others to play. They are the most innovative and hands-on training company. The other Team DeepStacks pros I’ll be teaching with include Hall of Famers and poker legends, guys who I’ve really respected for a long time, and joining their team was a no-brainer for me.”

DeepStacks CEO Chris Torina, who was instrumental in bringing “The Grinder” onboard, touted the arrival of Mizrachi to Deepstacks Live’s team of sponsored pros. Torina commented in the same release, “DeepStacks Live has the best instructors in the business. Adding ‘The Grinder’ just distances us even further from everyone else in the arena. He’s a true champion and it’s a boost to poker players all over the country that they’ll be able to learn from him.” Deepstacks Live has tweaked its courses with the opening of the Florida poker market in mind.

To say that Mizrachi turned in a historic 2010 WSOP would be an understatement. He won the $50,000 Player’s Championship, a tournament that recently aired on ESPN, and earned $1.6 million. He defeated Russian poker player Vladimir Shchemelev heads-up in the five-figure buy-in event and sent his brother, Robert Mizrachi, packing in fifth place.

“The Grinder” wasn’t done there, however, recording two more final tables in two $10,000 events en route to a 2010 WSOP November Nine birth. He finished sixth in the Seven Card Stud World Championship for $69,000 and landed in eighth in the Limit Hold’em World Championship for another $49,000. In the Main Event, Mizrachi is guaranteed a minimum of $811,000, with a top prize of $8.9 million on the line. His career WSOP earnings will top $3 million when the Main Event concludes.

Mizrachi’s only session with Deepstacks Live that has been announced so far will be held on September 10th at the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The cash game session comes with a $495 price tag and will also feature online poker studs Matt “mattg1983” Graham and Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade. Topics will include bankroll management, game selection, advanced betting techniques, floating your opponent, playing in and out of position, and picking off bluffs.

The Deepstacks training team includes Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, recent World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup runner-up Justin “Boosted J” Smith, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, T.J. Cloutier, former WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy, and former UB.com pro Liv Boeree. The Deepstacks Live crew has events coming up in Florida, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, New York, Alberta, British Columbia, and Australia.

When the 2010 WSOP Main Event resumes on November 6th, Mizrachi will hold the seventh largest stack at 14.4 million. The chip leader, Jonathan Duhamel, has 4.5 times that amount at 65.9 million. Mizrachi is the only bracelet winner to grace the final table.

Visit Deepstacks.com for full details.

888poker Launches New Software

The software is almost a complete overhaul of the former user experience with over 100 new features including improved search functions, layout, 3D table graphics and an always visible cashier.

Catering to both beginners and advanced players the new 3D lobby is separated into a simple easy-to-navigate section or an advanced layout with customizable features like favorites.

Tournament players will be happy to know 888poker has added late registration and several time bank options.

888poker also introduced its new online store where players can spend their reward points on poker merchandise, iPods, trips, cars and clothes.

To celebrate the new software, 888poker is launching a series of new micro buy-in tournaments where entry is just eight cents. Players can win iPad, Kindles a Sony Home Cinema and entry into a special $15,000 poker freeroll.

The software upgrade is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Russian and Italian.

888poker Introduces Software Upgrade

Online poker room 888poker.com has updated its software to provide both beginners and advanced players an experience unlike any other on the virtual felts. The update, which includes more than 100 new features and improvements, is expected to launch on July 27, but users can log in and download the new version in English right now.

Among the new features that 888poker is excited about is the new 3D lobby design, which is broken down into two separate sections, one for beginners and one for advanced users. The beginners lobby is simple and easy to navigate, while the advanced lobby is similar to many online poker rooms, with filters breaking down games, stakes, and table options. There is also a “My Favorites” tab that will track your preferred games in an organized list.

888poker has also added late registration and time bank features to its tournament play. Late registration has become very popular in the online poker community, allowing for larger prize pools and the ability to enter a tournament up to an hour past its start time in case you’re running late. 888poker has also added new table layouts where players can select the decks, colors, and a wide variety of new avatars they can use, as well as animal tag icons to enhance their overall experience.

In addition, 888poker’s new software will be available in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, and Italian. Most of the languages will be available in the software upgrade at the end of the month.

With the popularity of social networking growing all over the world, 888poker decided to integrate a new social space for poker players to connect even while they’re off the tables. Members can create a profile at my.888poker.com and have fun by joining a group to chat with friends, post blogs, share photos and videos, and get tips and advice from poker pros to improve their game. The 888poker community also has a forum where players can discuss a wide range of topics from poker to world news to fantasy football.

888poker has also launched the brand new Rewards Store, where players can swap poker points for prizes such as poker accessories, iPods, cars, clothes, and even holidays. And you can earn points without even playing! 888poker’s social network gives members the chance to earn Reward Points simply by being active in the community.

To celebrate the launch of its new innovative poker software, 888poker will be introducing a campaign that will go live on July 27. Members can play in low buy-in tournaments ($0.08) on 888poker and receive entry to a special freeroll with $15,000 and added guaranteed prizes. Any member that creates an account at my.888poker.com will earn an entry to another $15,000 freeroll and players who enter 10 SNGs with a buy in greater than or equal to $1 will be granted entry to an additional $15,000 freeroll.

By signing up with 888poker.com, players can earn a 100% deposit bonus up to $400, a shot at $4,500 in cash in the first depositors’ freerolls, and a share of $50,000 in cash in the first depositors’ challenge.

Dag Palovic – Poker Player Profile

Slovakian Dag Palovic is a full-time poker player, impresario, and author. The Bratislava resident is the President of the Slovak Poker Sport Federation and one of the main organizers of World Poker Tour (WPT) stops in his hometown of Bratislava.

Palovic, also known as “Lucky D,” started playing poker relatively recently – in 2007 – yet he made it to the final days of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, for which he ponied up his own $10,000 buy in. He ultimately bowed out in 37th place and picked up $206,000.

Palovic has co-authored a book with 1983 WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy; we suspect it is in his native Slovak because we have not been able to find out more about this periodical.

Palovic is a member of MENSA International, which means he is certified as a holder of a very high IQ since MENSA only accepts people who score in the 98th percentile (the top 2%) on standard intelligence tests. To further this point, Palovic speaks an impressive array of six languages: Slovak, Czech, English, French, German, and Russian.

WSOP reporters and bloggers who have been covering the 2010 WSOP Main Event have noted that Palovic likes to organize his chips in stacks of five, making for a broad arrangement in front of him at the table.

Before going deep in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, Palovic won the Red Sea Poker Cup in 2010 and the 2010 Evian Poker Open, making nearly €100,000 from both prizes combined. His total poker winnings to date are over $700,000, helped in part by his mammoth bankroll boost in the $10,000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas.

Even without taking into account his 2010 WSOP Main Event cash, Palovic is the highest earning poker player in Slovakia and possibly in the entire Central Eastern Europe.

Main Event Day 5: Chan Still Crushing

A total of 566 players entered the fray on Day 5 but after 12 hours of play the field had once again been cut down to size with 205 players still shooting for glory.

Perhaps no player in the field has surprised more people than 1986 and 1987 WSOP Main Event winner Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan.

Chan's last WSOP bracelet came in 2005 and many were wondering if the veteran rounder could still hang with the young guns that dominate today's game.

It seems like Chan has answered in a big way by dominating for three staight days and never falling that far from the top 10 chip counts.

For three straight days Chan has stuck like glue to the top 10 chip counts and kept pace with all the surging players.

Chan is joined at the top by Danish dominator Theo Jorgensen, upstart internet sensation Bryn Kenney and Russian Alexander Kostritsyn.

Relatively unknown Canadian Evan Lamprea finished as the chip leader with 3.56 million, although German Michael Skender is close behind with 3.52 million.

There were numerous notable players that hit the rail on Day 5 including Jason Mercier, Evelyn Ng, Scotty Nguyen, Vitaly Lunkin and Hoyt Corkins.

Amazingly brothers Robert Mizrachi and Michael Mizrachi are still alive in the tournament with a chance to replicate their final table appearance from the $50k Players Championship earlier this summer.

Day 6 begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. As always PokerListings.com will be on hand for live updates, photos, news stories and videos straight from the Rio.

Jennifer Tilly won the Bellagio Cup $5k Tournament and $124,000 dollars

Actress and poker player Jennifer Tilly proved her talent again by winning the Bellagio Cup VI $5K tournament.

Tilly won other 90 players of the Bellagio CUP VI Event #23 $5,000 + $180 tournament. The world also got to hear from Jennifer’s victory through her boyfriend Phil “Unabomber” Laak’s Twitter:

“Holla! My girl just shipped the 5k Bellagio! Max ship. Max joy.”

The results:
1 Jennifer Tilly, Sherman Oaks, CA $124,455
2 Danny Yousefzadeh, Roslyn, NY $112,528
3 Dmitry Vitkind, Moscow, Russia $97,040
4 Mark Entwistle, Windsor, England $34,044
5 Robbie Verspui, Gibraltar, Gibraltar $27,661
6 Rodger Johnson, Grand Forks, ND $21,278
7 Ray Qartomy, Sugar Land, TX $14,894
8 Michael Friedrich, Zurich, Switzerland $10,639
9 Alexander Gomes, Curitiba, Brazil $8,511

After this victory Tilly has already cashed nearly $700,000 dollars from live tournaments.

Sources: 2+2, Bellagio and TheHendonMob

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Jennifer Tilly won the Bellagio Cup $5k Tournament and $124,000 dollars

WSOP Goes International

With three bracelets yet to be awarded, the 2010 WSOP has attracted players from 29% more countries than the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

It's a stark contrast to when the event started in 1971 and was exclusively attended by U.S. players.

"As the World Series of Poker's overall participation levels continue to establish new records, its vast geographic reach is repeatedly evidenced by the number of countries represented here in Las Vegas," said WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart.

"To outpace exceptional international events such as the Winter Olympics, firmly establishes the WSOP as a global brand with significant long-term growth potential."

In addition international players seem to be having a high rate of success than ever before.

This year players from the U.K., Canada, Hungary, France, New Zealand, Norway and Russia all secured gold WSOP bracelets.

Praz Bansi was one of the five U.K. bracelet winners and he seemed to think that poker and the WSOP will continue to expand in foreign countries.

"I think it's growing every year," said Bansi. "They are playing the game in countries where it wasn't played a few years back. The players are getting better in different countries as well."

In total 16 of the 54 bracelets that have been awarded thus far, have gone to international players. There is a chance this could be the biggest year for international players in WSOP history.

"I think the play outside America is getting much better," said Bansi. "They're getting better in America as well but overseas they are improving by a large margin."

After 41 years Antartica is the only continent that has never been represented at the WSOP.

The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage of the WSOP tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

Ryan Welch Defeats Jon Eaton to Win WSOP Bracelet

In what could best be described as “the calm before the storm,” only one bracelet was awarded on Thursday night in action at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

In the $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #51 on the WSOP schedule, 12 men returned on Thursday afternoon for their shot at a coveted gold and diamond WSOP bracelet. Jon Eaton held a roughly 600,000 chip lead over Frank Rusnak, with underrated pro Will “The Thrill” Failla lurking in third place. The players wasted little time once the cards hit the air, getting down to the final table in roughly 4½ hours.

Rusnak was one of the victims of the early carnage, doubling up Bradley Craig and losing a key hand to Failla to drop his chip stack into the danger zone. Rusnak, who has almost $600,000 in tournament earnings since his debut in 2007, was never able to get any traction from the start and got his final chips in with K-Q. He was called by Koen de Bakker, who had him dominated with his A-Q. The flop offered an appealing A-5-J rainbow arrangement, but delivered no 10 for Rusnak, dropping him from the tournament in 11th place.

Once the final table was established, one of the rarer occurrences during a WSOP final table occurred. Guillaume Darcourt, after an all-in bet from Tad Jurgens and an all-in over the top from Noel Scruggs, agonized over a decision that would either make his tournament or crush his dreams of a WSOP bracelet. After the careful deliberation, Darcourt made the call with pocket sevens, only to see Jurgens table pocket queens and Scruggs show his A-Q. The seven that popped on the flop sent a thunderous roar through the audience and delivered a rare bird at a WSOP final table, the double knockout. Jurgens started the hand with fewer chips and finished in ninth and Scruggs took the eighth place slot.

Over the next four hours, the remainder of the final table would be eliminated, bringing the action to a heads-up battle between Eaton and Ryan Welch, who diligently ground his way through the final table. On the final hand, with Eaton holding slightly fewer chips than Welch, the duo got their chips to the center of a 9-7-6-10-K board. Eaton bet out roughly 525,000 on the river to start, only to face an all-in reraise from Welch. Eaton struggled with the decision, reasoning out the hands that Welch could possibly hold before making the call. Welch immediately showed Q-J for the rivered nut straight and, once the chips were counted, became the latest WSOP champion.

1. Ryan Welch (Henderson, NV) – $559,371
2. Jon Eaton (Las Vegas, NV) – $344,830
3. Guillaume Darcourt (Paris, France) – $223,459
4. Will Faille (Smithtown, NY) – $163,532
5. Bradley Craig (Cleveland, OH) – $121,451
6. Sergey Lebedev (Troitsk, Russia) – $91,407
7. Tommy Vedes (Fort Mojave, AZ) – $69,647
8. Noel Scruggs (Del Mar, CA) – $53,694
9. Tad Jurgens (Tempe, AZ) – $41,842

Four other events were in play on Thursday, with two tournaments that will award bracelets on Friday. In Event #52, the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament, 18 players will come back on Friday afternoon from the original 191 starters. Bryn Kenney is the overnight chip leader stacked with 2.425 million, but there is danger lurking around every corner. Daniel Negreanu, who has had a quiet 2010 WSOP, is in sixth place, with 2010 double bracelet winner Frank Kassela ahead of him in fifth. Add in Sam Trickett, Isaac Haxton, Shawn Buchanan, Eugene Katchalov, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Carlos Mortensen, and Vadim Trincher, and the final table of this event should hold for exciting poker.

In the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Victory Poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little and Terrence “Unassigned” Chan lead a final table of eight. As with a Shootout tournament, all eight worked their way to the final table by defeating a full table of opponents over the first two days of play. Everyone will start with 450,000 in chips when the cards fly this afternoon.

The first Day 1 of the latest $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament drew a sizeable field of 2,340 players, potentially making this $1,000 event one of the largest of this year’s WSOP, depending on the second Day 1 gathering. The final table of this tournament will take place on Independence Day.

The $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship drew a starting field of 346, which was whittled down by over half to 171 by the end of Day 1. Australia’s Antonio Paino is the chip leader with 240,000, with several top pros mixed throughout the field. 2009 November Niner James Akenhead is in third, with Fabrice Soulier (sixth) and Ted Lawson (seventh) both in the top 10. Final table play in Event #55 will take place on Saturday.

Only one event will begin play on Friday, the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event. It is also set to finish play on Sunday, prior to the start of the $10,000 World Championship event on Monday. Although there are tournaments in action over the next few days, it more than likely will be a preparation weekend for many of the top players as the WSOP moves into its final two weeks and its World Championship event.

PokerStars Big Game: Joe Cada Drops $35,000 in Week 3 Kickoff Episode

Defending World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada struggled in his debut on the PokerStars.net-powered “Big Game,” whose Week 3 kickoff episode aired on Monday night on Fox. The series is shown nightly starting at 1:00am or 2:00am in most markets.

Russian born Nadya Magnus was this week’s “Loose Cannon” online qualifier and each player at the table bought in for $100,000. The lineup was noticeably quieter than in past weeks and, in one of the first major pots of the episode, Cada bet $9,300 on a flop of 6-J-4 holding 9-8 of diamonds for air. Fellow PokerStars pro Jason Mercier, who flopped a set of sixes, called to bring a nine on the turn. Now with second pair, Cada bet $19,000 and Mercier slyly called behind. On a river three, Cada check-folded, sending the pot of more than $70,000 to Mercier.

The action is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The “Big Game” features blinds of $200/$400 with a $100 per person ante that is paid entirely by the player on the button. Each “Loose Cannon” plays 150 hands and keeps whatever money they reel in over their $100,000 stake. Chris Rose and PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton host the cash game series.

With three-way action and the board reading K-10-8-4, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo bet $4,000 with A-Q and Magnus called with 4-3 for bottom pair. However, Bonomo spiked a miracle ace on the river and promptly fired out another bet, this time $10,000. Magnus came along and the dealer pushed the $35,500 pot to the Panorama Towers resident.

Magnus struck back, however, calling a raise from Daniel Alaei with K-Q. Alaei held A-4 of hearts and the flop came Q-J-3. Alaei bet $2,300 and Magnus wasted no time coming over the top for $6,200. Alaei mucked and Magnus scooped her first pot of the night. Alaei weighed in on Magnus’ facial expressions: “First she was giving me the stare down and then she broke into a smile. I can’t really figure that one out.”

Then, Magnus picked up A-6 and raised to $1,500 pre-flop. Mercier called with A-J and the flop came A-6-8. Mercier check-called a bet of $2,600 from Magnus and the turn was a four. Mercier once again reluctantly check-called a bet, this time of $6,100, and the river was another six, improving Magnus to a boat. Mercier checked, Magnus bet $13,200, and Mercier, despite seemingly smelling a rat, made the call. The pot was worth $47,600 and Mercier exclaimed, “God, I’m so f****** terrible.” Magnus moved out of the red and was up $7,700.

Magnus went from a VPIP of just over 6% during the first 15 hands of the night to 20% through Hand #25. However, she’d be the target of Cada late during play. The 2009 WSOP Main Event champ raised to $1,500 pre-flop with pocket queens and Magnus re-raised to $4,800 with pocket jacks. Cada made the call, the flop came a harmless 8-2-3, and Cada check-called a bet of $8,100.

The turn was a seven and Cada once again checked. Magnus fired out a bet of $15,600 with the worst hand and Cada called to see an eight on the river. The action went check-check and Cada rebounded to end the evening, pulling in the $58,200 pot. It marked Cada’s first pot of the week and the show concluded.

At the end of Monday night’s action, Bonomo was up $47,400 and Cada was down $35,500. The PokerStars “Big Game” airs nightly during the week on Fox. Check your local listings for more details.

PokerStars Restricts French Online Poker Play

Effective June 24th, action on PokerStars.com for French players was blocked due to new regulations put in place by the country’s government. A popup that appeared for French users read in part, “All money in PokerStars accounts is 100% safe and is available for withdrawal. You can choose to cash out now if you prefer.”

Alternately, French players who wish to continue placating the virtual felts under the PokerStars banner can continue doing so on PokerStars.fr. The world’s largest online poker site explained what players can expect on the French-focused site: “We will be running free tournaments on PokerStars.fr this weekend to win seats to live French Poker Series events.” PokerStars adds that the move, while unfortunate, is “mandated by law” and the site looks forward to continuing to service French customers using its PokerStars.fr arm.

Posters on the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com reacted to the news in a thread entitled “Goodbye PokerStars! Signed: All French Players.” The PokerStars French version pits players from the European country against each other, similar to the scene in neighboring Italy. Despite French online poker players departing the worldwide market in earnest, PocketFives.com member “squintster” remained optimistic: “It seems like at least once a year for the last 5-6 years, I’ve seen some scenario that is thought to destroy online poker forever. Somehow, we always seem to come out decently strong with ever increasing numbers, so hopefully this results in the same fashion.”

Traffic on PokerStars has appeared to drop off in recent days since the ban on French players. On June 24th, the site attracted a peak of 36,566 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com, a drop of about 10% from the 40,943 players recorded one week prior. On June 23rd, the number of cash game players topped out at 37,637, down 9% from the 41,585 the previous week. June 23rd and 24th marked the first back-to-back days that featured peak real money ring game player totals below 40,000 since May 1st to 2nd. However, whether the drop off is due to the loss of French action or some other factor remains to be seen.

According to statistics found on PokerStars’ site, its Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) attracted 27,316 entrants from France, the fourth most of any country and about 6% of the field of 462,000. The country with the most number of entrants, not surprisingly, was the United States, which contributed 147,000 players to the cause in the three-tiered tournament series.

In terms of money won, French players banked $1.62 million, good for eighth worldwide behind the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Russia. Team PokerStars France includes Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Thomas Bichon, and Arnaud Mattern. Other popular French players include David Benyamine, Bruno Fitoussi, and Everest Poker sponsored pros Antoine Saout and Fabrice Soulier.

The PokerStars.com moratorium on French real money action went into effect at 9:30pm CET on June 24th. Earlier this month, the French Authority of Regulation of Online Games (ARJEL) granted gaming licenses to outfits like Unibet, Everest Poker, and the parent company of bwin. Online poker licenses were granted to Pari Mutuel Urbain (the former state-run outlet for gaming), Sajoo, SPS France Betting, and Table 14. Meanwhile, Microgaming, 888, and Party Gaming were not granted licenses despite being three of the largest companies in the industry.

Paradise Poker parent company Sportingbet, Betfair, and William Hill have shut their doors to the French poker market. Keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest poker legislation news from France and around the world.

Russian leads the way

Phil Hellmuth Vying for 12th WSOP Bracelet in Omaha High-Low Split Event

A win for UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth in Event #41 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, would be monumental on several levels. First, a “W” would mean Hellmuth’s 12th bracelet, a new record. Also, it would mark the “Poker Brat’s” first win in a non-Hold’em tournament, getting the proverbial monkey off his back. Hellmuth owns the fourth largest stack with 15 players remaining.

Hellmuth already has two deep runs at this year’s World Series. The 11-time bracelet winner finished 15th in Event #8, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, and cashed for $25,000. Nine events later, it was back to the cage after finishing 50th in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $14,000. Given that all of his hardware has come in No Limit Hold’em, many consider Hellmuth to be the top player in the world in that genre of poker.

Hellmuth may have felt the heat earlier this week from Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey, who said he’s gunning for 30 bracelets after taking down his eighth in a $3,000 HORSE event. Hellmuth responded with a deep run in Event #41, dispatching Cody Culp in 17th place. Hellmuth flopped top set, which held for the win.

Twitter was ablaze on Wednesday with Hellmuth giving updates on his progress during the second day of play in the Omaha High-Low Split event. Perhaps facetiously, he called his shot entering Wednesday’s action: “Ended Day One of Omaha 8/b with $31,600… another Day Two, but this feels different to me, maybe a cash, maybe a final table, maybe more…” Then, word of a Hellmuth sighting in the top 100 spread like wildfire around the internet: “Wow! I Ah-3h-3s-8d, flop Qd-Qh-3d, p1 bet, p2 call, p3 all in, I call $20,100, fold, fold, p3 had Q-J-10-10, I win; have over 60k!! 98 left.”

Hellmuth’s final chirp came just before 3:00am PT on Thursday morning after play had concluded for the day: “15 left in Omaha 8/b, and I am 4th in chips w $331,000, blinds will be 6k-12k tomorrow. All I can do is focus on playing great poker.” Hellmuth will have to contend with a talented lineup that includes three-time bracelet winner and PokerStars sponsored pro Barry Greenstein. Here’s how the final 15 shake out:

1. Ryan Karp – 564,000
2. Steve Jelinek – 538,000
3. Joel Ettedgi – 419,000
4. Phil Hellmuth – 331,000
5. Ben Lamb – 320,000
6. John Gottlieb – 277,000
7. Michael Chappus – 260,000
8. Jeffrey Baker – 247,000
9. Barry Greenstein – 204,000
10. Anders Taylor – 202,000
11. Darren Sprengers – 144,000
12. Bryan Andrews – 122,000
13. Igor Gotz – 105,000
14. Amanda Thomas – 60,000
15. Anthony Cousineau – 22,000

Elsewhere, UB.com pro Annie Duke finished Day 1 of the $10,000 HORSE Championship in 39th place with a stack of 61,600. Russia’s Sergey Altbregin and the World Poker Tour’s all-time money leader, Carlos Mortensen, lead the way with stacks of 143,000 and 125,800, respectively. A field of 169 will take to the felts today. Duke took a sizable hit to her stack during Hold’em play after she turned two pair with A-Q. However, close friend Perry Friedman, who was instrumental to Duke’s fundraising efforts on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” held pocket fives for a set and scooped a mammoth pot.

Duke one-outed Ivey in Omaha, making quads against Ivey’s trip aces. According to coverage found on WSOP.com, Duke exclaimed, “Oh my god! I just hit a one-outer on Phil Ivey! I had three queens in Omaha, and he had three aces, and I made quads!” In case you’re wondering, Ivey did not reach Day 2 of the HORSE Championship.

Will it be bracelet #12 for Hellmuth today? Stay tuned to Poker News Daily to find out.

Magnificent Montgomery - Day 27 WSOP Recap

It was a breakthrough day for one Scott Montgomery, who tallied his first WSOP bracelet win, while Frank Kassela snagged his second bracelet of the summer in $2.5k Razz.

In a strange turn of events the Rio also suffered a blackout around 2:00 a.m. which saw the lights go out in the entire Amazon Room and Pavilion Room.

Here's a look around the Rio on Day 27 of the 2010 WSOP:

Event 36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Scott Montgomery already had an impressive WSOP resume, but now the 28-year-old Canadian has a gold bracelet all his own.

Montogomery broke through for his first career WSOP bracelet win, outlasting the field of 3,102 players and cashing for a first-place prize of $481,760.

The win brings Montgomery's career WSOP winnings total to more than $3.5 million, mostly thanks to his 2008 WSOP Main Event final table.

Svletlana Gromenkova was amongst the notables in the money, finishing 33rd.

Event 39 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em Shootout

The final table was a slugfest in the $1.5k Shootout, and it was relatively unknown Steve Kelly coming away with the bracelet victory and first-prize cash of $382,725.

Kelly had only cashed once in a WSOP event so to say it was a big score for him was an understatement.

1,397 players came out for the event, with Annette Obrestad appearing primed to make a final table run.

Luck didn't shine on the 21-year-old phenom near the final table bubble however, and Obrestad took an 11th place finish. She will have to wait another day to book her first WSOP final table appearance.

Event 40 - $2.5k 7-card Razz

The bracelet and first-place prize of $214,085 went to Frank Kassela, who outlasted the field of 365 players for the win. It was Kassela's second bracelet of the summer which should put him in contention for the 2010 Player of the Year.

Although the day began with some big names chasing WSOP glory, including arguably the best female poker player in the world Jennifer Harman and upstart Russian Vladimir Schmelev they were all relegated to the rail before getting even a sniff of the bracelet.

Heads-up proved to be a brutal marathan affair that eventually saw Kassela emerge unscathed at nearly 5 a.m.

Event 41 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha Eight or Better Hi-Lo

157 of the original 847 entrants survived to play on Day 2, and the money bubble broke today at 80 players.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was amongst those making the payout structure, sneaking in just past the bubble with a 75th place finish.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow also made a nice showing, finishing 40th.

Ryan Karp will head into Day 3 with the chip lead but big-time players Phil Hellmuth and Barry Greenstein are also in the running.

Play was originally scheduled to go down to a final table Wednesday, but instead 15 players will come back tomorrow as play resumes at 2:30 p.m.

Event 42 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em

It was another big turnout for another $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em event, as 2,521 rounders registered for this event.

The vast majority of that number was eliminated on Day 1, as we played all the way down to 297 players.

270 places get paid in this tournament, so the money bubble will come early in the day Thursday when play resumes at 2:30 p.m.

Tom Dwan, Humberto Brenes, Carter Phillips and Dan Skolovy are amongst the notables coming back for Day 2.

Event 43 - $10k H.O.R.S.E. Championship

We're almost done with this year's slate of $10k Championship event, with just three more to play in the 2010 WSOP.

$10k H.O.R.S.E. began Wednesday, and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson made a quick move to the top of the leader board, where he stayed much of the day.

241 players came out for Day 1, including Marco Traniello, Annie Duke, Ted Forrest and Jeffrey Lisandro who all made it to Day 2.

A total of 169 players including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Scott Seiver and Matt Glantz will come back for Day 2 as we continue to whittle down to the money in this event.

Play resumes at 3 p.m. Thursday.

For a full account of how today played out at the World Series of Poker, click through to PokerListings WSOP coverage.

WSOP Live!

Check out PokerListings' WSOP Live! The most star studded and entertaining daily WSOP recap in the industry:

Russian player wins $1,500 HORSE event

Halfway through the 2010 World Series of Poker by Mike Sexton

As of this writing, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a little over half over.  As for me, I’ve played in six events and will probably play another six or so.  To date, I have one cash – a 10th place finish in the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better tournament – for nearly $35,000 and that puts me in the plus column at the WSOP by about $10,000.  Ironically, the two guys who knocked me out in the two $10,000 buy-in events I played in went on to win bracelets!  Congratulations to Frank Kassela, who won the $10,000 Eight or Better Stud tournament, and Sammy Farha, who captured the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better bracelet.  Obviously, they took good care of my chips.

I live in California now, so I’m commuting back and forth to the WSOP this year.  I’m taking this week off to relax and spend time with my son, Ty (22 months old).  I love being with him and want to spend Father’s Day at home.  I’ll get back to the WSOP on Tuesday, June 22nd.

As for my upcoming schedule, I’m going to play in two Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better tournaments this week and then next Sunday (June 27th), I’ll play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions. I’ll probably play in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament as well as two or three more events in addition to the Main Event.

I’m excited about the WSOP Tournament of Champions (a $1,000,000 freeroll for 27 players) because it’s where I have an opportunity to defend my title!  I won this event in 2006, the last time it was played.  I look forward to finally getting a chance to defend my title.

The WSOP Tournament of Champions is supposedly poker’s All-Star event.  It is a made-for-television event that is guaranteed to have an amazing final table.  The three former WSOP Tournament of Champions winners (Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and myself) were awarded exemptions as well as the reigning WSOP champion, Joe Cada, and WSOP European, champion Barry Shulman.  Two qualifiers, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Andrew Barton, are in, as are 20 players voted in by the public.

They announced the 20 top vote getters for the WSOP Tournament of Champions this week and there were virtually no changes from the first ballot that was publicized a couple of months ago.  Here is the list of players (in order of finish) that were voted into the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, T.J. Cloutier, Sammy Farha, Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, and Antonio Esfandiari.

I congratulate the 20 players that were voted in, but honestly, I feel that a couple of deserving people were left off the list.  Two guys that I feel should be in that aren’t are Carlos Mortensen and David Chiu.  Mortensen is a multiple WSOP bracelet winner and a two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion.  He’s also the only player in the world who has won the Main Event at the WSOP and the Main Event of the World Poker Tour – a feat we may not see duplicated in our lifetime.

Chiu has won four WSOP bracelets and, like Mortensen, has a WPT World Championship title to his credit.  In addition, and perhaps most significant to this event, is that Chiu won the inaugural Tournament of Champions in 1999 (an event that I created).  Another player I believe deserves to play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions is Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet champion Billy Baxter.

I know some internet pros and young players feel slighted that none of them were voted into this event.  Even “if” they are better players than a number of players voted in – which I don’t disagree with – I don’t feel they deserve to be in poker’s All-Star game just yet.  They need to pay their dues over time and let their credentials speak for them.  In time, they’ll get their chance to play in this prestigious event.

There is a lot of buzz at the WSOP about the side bets a number of the top pros have on winning bracelets, cross-booking each other, etc.  I think these bets create an exciting atmosphere.  I’m also guessing that WSOP officials are happy about them because it gets the top players to literally play every event on the schedule.  And any time you have Phil Ivey and other top players playing in all of your tournaments, you have to love it.

I was pretty much exhausted and drained after playing in only a half-dozen events and am enjoying a little R & R.  I know how tough it is to play in all of the tournaments like a number of players are doing.  Those guys (and a few gals) are playing multiple events every day and are up until 3:00am many nights – and take it from me, it’s a grind.  It’s not easy to cash, let alone win, at the WSOP.

Playing 12-hour days so many days in a row is brutal on your body.   It also gets very cold in there in the wee hours in the morning.  I salute all those who play so many events and wish them luck in their quest to add to their bracelet count.

Let me take a moment to pay tribute to the foreign players and how well they do at the WSOP.  England is having its best WSOP ever and those Russians are really tough.  Although outnumbered significantly, there seems to be a number of them that show up in the money in every event!

I’ve been coming to the WSOP since 1984 and I can assure you that overall, the competition is much tougher today than yesteryear.  There are so many terrific young players as well as good foreign players out there.  Anyone who plays at the WSOP and goes home with a profit should be proud of themselves.  And to those lucky enough to win a bracelet, pat yourself on the back and enjoy it.  Trust me, they’re not easy to get.

Heads-Up: WSOP Day 24 Recap

Plenty of big-time tournaments were on display Sunday, with the $10k No-Limit Hold'em Championship final table as the main course.

A champion was also crowned in the $1k Seniors Championship, while a slew of former WSOP POYs battled it out in $3k H.O.R.S.E.

Here's a look around the WSOP on Day 24:

Event #34 - $1k Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Harold Angle outlasted the rest at the final table, winning a first-place prize of $487,994 and taking down the bracelet at the $1k Seniors Championship.

This event was open for registration to anyone over age 50, so there weren't any online whiz kids in the field of 3,142 players.

That doesn't mean there weren't a slew of great players in the field, including Tom Schneider, who finished 14th and cashed for $22,805.

This tournament saw a huge increase in attendance over 2009, when 2,707 players were in the field.

Event #35 - $10k Heads-Up Hold'em Championship

This 256-player event did not play down to a winner on Sunday as was originally scheduled.

The final two players, Ayaz Mahmood and Ernst Schmejkal, played the first of three heads-up matches until 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and decided to call it a night. Mahmood took the first match but they will return to decide a winner at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Vanessa Rousso finished in the quarterfinals for $94,956 while Russian Alex Kostritsyn lost in the quarterfinals $219,969. Gavin Smith, Alex Kravchenko and Chris Moorman also made it into the money.

Event #36 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1b of this event drew 1,119 entrants, bringing the combined Day 1s total to 3,649.

We saw a good portion of the Day 1b field eliminated today, as only 165 players made it through.

Soheil Shamseddin will be amongst the chip leaders coming back after a terrific run in Day 1b.

Day 2 commences at 2:30 p.m. Monday with all 455 surviving players from Day 1a and 1b.

Event #37- $3k H.O.R.S.E.

The mixed games format continues to gain popularity at the WSOP, as 478 players registered for $3K H.O.R.S.E.

219 of poker's most well-rounded players came back Sunday for Day 2, with lots of notable names in attendance.

David Benyamine, John Juanda, Phil Ivey and Jeff Lisandro were a few of the sharks terrorizing the field on Day 2, and each of the four pros had chips to work with when the money bubble burst at 48 players.

Chau Giang, Robert Williamson III, Daniel Negreanu and Michael Binger were amongst the unlucky contenders eliminated before the cash.

By the end of the day 25 players remained with Juanda in the chip lead with 393,000 and Phil Ivey lurking in seventh place with 200,000.

We're scheduled to play down to a champion Monday, with the winner set to pocket $329,840.

Day 3 begins at 3 p.m. Monday.

Event #38- $10k Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship

268 deep-pocketed players hit the felt for the beginning of the $10k PLO Championship, and as expected a ton of big names registered for the event.

Daniel Negreanu, Annette Obrestad, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Tom Dwan and Jennifer Tilly were all in attendance on Day 1.

By the end of the day Tilly, Dwan, Ferguson, Obrestad were all eliminated but Negreanu will take a decent stack into Day 2.

Tom "Kingsofcards" Marchese was the man of the hour, however, as he finished with 334,000 for the chip lead.

Day 2 will kick off at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

For a full account of how day 24 of the WSOP 2010 played out, click through to PokerListings' WSOP coverage.

WSOP Live!

Check out PokerListings' WSOP Live! The most star studded and entertaining daily WSOP recap in the industry:

H.O.R.S.E. Explodes at WSOP

The numbers are up all around for H.O.R.S.E. events at the 2010 WSOP, with the $1.5k event drawing 828 players earlier in the WSOP.

That event, won by Russian Konstantin Puchov, drew the largest field ever for a live H.O.R.S.E. tournament, and it seems like players can't get enough of the mixed-game events.

The $50k Poker Players Championship saw a significant increase in attendance in 2010, drawing 116 players in the first year after switching from H.O.R.S.E. to an 8-game mix format.

Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi, the 2010 Players Championship bracelet winner, is just the kind of well-rounded player that thrives in a mixed-game format.

"I love the game of HORSE, but I like the 8-game better," Mizrachi said.

"It never hurts to have No-Limit, PLO and Deuce-to-Seven in there. Hopefully they'll add more games next year. The more games the better."

The WSOP created the most ambitious mixed-game event in its history when the switch was made to the 8-game format for the Players Championship, and it appears that players are ready for even more games to be added to the mix.

"There are a lot of new games coming out," Mizrachi said. "I know Badacey, Badeuce, Badugi, I play them all.

"Hopefully next year they'll add a few more games. It would be a lot more fun."

Todd Brunson echoed Mizrachi's statements, and Brunson expressed surprise that the mix wasn't even larger than an 8-game format.

"I can't believe that didn't happen this year," Brunson said. "There are so many more games that we've been playing for several years that aren't represented at all here."

"Badugi has been around a long time now. Badeuce, Badacey, this is probably the third year we've been playing them. I think they should definitely be part of the World Series."

Brunson thinks we might see more games in the mix next year, so stay tuned.

The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

Mike Ellis, Konstantin Puchkov Win World Series of Poker Gold

Two more World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets were handed out early Saturday morning at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as Events #30 and #31 came to an end. Mike Ellis won the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #30, while Konstantin Puchkov took down the $1,500 HORSE Event #31, rewarding each player with his first bracelet.

Ellis, a 45-year-old financial trader from London, bested a field of 2,394 players to win $581,851 in Event #30. He defeated Christopher Gonzales in a marathon heads-up match that saw each player go back and forth holding the chip lead. Finally, after 5:00am local time, Ellis got the best of the California native. Ellis raised on the button, Gonzales re-raised, and Ellis made the call. On the Jd-7s-6d flop, Gonzales overbet the pot and Ellis called. The 5d fell on the turn and Gonzales moved all-in. Ellis called immediately and tabled Ad-Td for the nut flush, leaving Gonzales drawing dead with pocket aces. Gonzalez earned $360,906 for his second place finish.

Ellis became the fourth English player at this year’s WSOP to win a gold bracelet. The other champions were Praz Bansi, James Dempsey, and Richard Ashby. This is Ellis’ second major win on the poker circuit, the first coming in 2007 at the GUKPT Grand Final, where he collected £197,600 ($407,700). Saturday’s win gives him more than $1,000,000 in live tournament earnings.

WSOP Event #30 Results:

1. Mike Ellis – $581,851
2. Chistopher Gonzales – $360,906
3. David Wilkinson – $254,996
4. Martin Jacobson – $183,345
5. Billy Griner – $133,574
6. William Kakon – $98,605
7. Jason Hallee – $73,719
8. Chris Kastler – $55,814
9. Jeff Cohen – $42,790

Russians had come close to winning bracelets several times at this year’s WSOP and they finally earned one Saturday morning. Moscow’s Puchkov was crowned the winner of the $1,500 buy-in HORSE event, earning $256,820 and the coveted gold bracelet. The 58 year-old horse breeder topped a field of 828 players to win the title.

The final table included a handful of highly talented players, including Robert Mizrachi, Blake “Balla-B13” Cahail, and Ken Lennaard. Puchkov began heads-up play at a slight chip disadvantage to Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri and suddenly found himself crippled down to 200,000, with Barbieri holding 3.5 million. But Puchkov crawled his way back into the match, making a valiant comeback over the course of three hours and put his opponent away by making a full house in the Seven Card Stud High-Low round. Barbieri, who made a final table earlier this year and took third in an event last year, will have to wait to get his first WSOP bracelet.

WSOP Event #31 Results:

1. Konstantin Puchkov – $256,820
2. Al Barbieri – $158,647
3. Dustin Leary – $107,849
4. Ken Lennaard – $75,058
5. Hani Awad – $53,321
6. Andrew Revesz – $38,651
7. Blake Cahail – $28,569
8. Robert Mizrachi – $21,525

Saturday will be an exciting day at the Rio as two of poker’s biggest names are dangerously close to winning bracelets. Phil Ivey headlines a fantastic field of 14 remaining players in the $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha Event #33, which will play down to a winner. Joining Ivey will be Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, Victor Ramdin, David Chiu, Josh Tieman, Rob Hollink, and chip leader Jose- Lius Velador, who has 455,000 chips going into the final day. Players will reconvene at 3:00pm local time and the winner will receive $260,517.

Erick Lindgren will also be vying for a bracelet, his second, in the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Event #32. With 12 players still alive, Lindgren is second in chips, trailing only Mark Radoja. Taylor “El Mastermind” McFarland, Jeff Papola, and a short-stacked Men “The Master” Nguyen will also be playing for the massive $667,433 payday. Play gets underway at 3:00pm.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP.

ESPN: No Decision Made Whether to Broadcast NAPT Los Angeles

In 146 days, the fourth stop on the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) will pan out from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. The tournament, which kicks off on November 12th, will crown a champ five days later. Still undecided is whether ESPN, which aired NAPT action from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Venetian, and Mohegan Sun, will also broadcast the Bicycle Casino event.

An ESPN representative told Poker News Daily, “There is nothing in the works yet, but our programming team expects to meet with PokerStars on possibilities.” At the time of writing, no decision has been passed down as to whether NAPT Los Angeles will air on the cable giant, which carries related programming like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and WSOP Europe every year.

The five-day Main Event in Los Angeles will carry a $5,000 buy-in, the same price tag as other U.S.-based NAPT stops. Despite potentially not having television coverage, a representative of The Bike commented in a press release distributed by PokerStars, “We are very enthusiastic to secure the West Coast tour stop. We clearly recognize the NAPT as the next major happening in the evolution of poker and we have no doubt this tour will entice and attract players from all over the world.”

Three months prior to the NAPT’s arrival at The Bike, the storied card room will host the annual World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker. The 2010 running of the WPT Legends of Poker is slated for August 20th to 25th, but in a new twist, the event will come with a $5,200 buy-in, one of the cheapest on the WPT schedule. Meanwhile, NAPT officials are expecting a sellout at The Bike, which drew 279 players for its 2009 Legends of Poker event.

In April and May, ESPN aired action from the NAPT Venetian High Roller Bounty Shootout and Main Event, Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout and Main Event, and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller tournament. A total of 10 hours of NAPT coverage aired, hosted by longtime ESPN poker faces Lon McEachern and Norman Chad.

Harrison Gimbel won a record-setting PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas, collecting $2.2 million. Back on U.S. soil, the inaugural NAPT Venetian Main Event drew 872 players and Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese emerged victorious and banked $827,000. Then, 21 year-old Ashton Griffin landed in the top spot in the High Roller Event at the Las Vegas Strip casino for $560,000.

The NAPT then traveled to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut in April, where Yale law student Vanessa Selbst defeated over 700 players for the title. In addition, more than 20 countries were represented. Finally, Team PokerStars Pro member Jason Mercier brought home the High Roller title at Mohegan Sun for $475,000. The victory marked Mercier’s second High Roller title at a PokerStars sponsored event in two years.

In addition to the NAPT, PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, also manages the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT), and poker series in Russia, Spain, and France. Its “Big Game” cash game franchise can be seen nightly during the week on Fox.

According to Pokerati, the future of NAPT stops in Las Vegas appears to be in doubt due to the involvement of PokerStars. Other alternative landing spots for the NAPT include Chicago, Tunica, Biloxi, Atlantic City, and St. Louis. The latter is home to PokerStars pro Dennis Phillips and features Harrah’s, Isle of Capri, and Lumiere Place. Also potentially on tap is an NAPT stop in Canada.