Poker News

Dwyte Pilgrim Leads WPT Southern Poker Championship After Day 1

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event ring holder Dwyte Pilgrim leads the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship after Day 1. A total of 106 players remain of the 208 who bought in on Sunday afternoon.

The tournament, emanating from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, drew a field of 283 players in 2009. The 208 who turned out yesterday to cough up the $10,000 buy-in meant that attendance dove by a sizable 27%. Pilgrim leads the survivors with a stack of 175,900 chips, comfortably in front of the second place tally of Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, who holds 152,100. Pilgrim claimed a pair of WSOP Circuit rings in March 2009 after taking down a $560 buy-in tournament at Caesars Atlantic City before flying cross-country to Harrah’s Rincon and winning the site’s $5,150 buy-in Championship event.

Little is no slouch, either. He was the WPT Player of the Year during Season 6, when the Florida native made final tables at the Mirage and North American Poker Championship and bubbled a third at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at Biloxi. All told, Little has nearly $3.5 million in career WPT earnings to his name and two titles. Little took down a pot early on Sunday with pocket aces against pocket queens on a 10-9-8-2-2 board. Little's opponent check-called a bet of 7,775 on the river to boost his stack to over 41,000; he finished the day with nearly six times that total.

DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija was a late Day 1 casualty at the WPT Southern Poker Championship. Makhija committed his chips with pocket kings on a board of J-3-2, but his opponent spiked a straight with 4-5. Jeff Madsen, meanwhile, was all-in holding the nut flush draw, but blanked out to hit the rails. Madsen is a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro.

Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka was flushed down the drain on Sunday. The runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V, which began airing as part of the WPT’s Season 8 kickoff on Fox Sports Net last night, Jaka called all-in with K-3 after a flop of K-J-4. However, his opponent flipped up pocket jacks for a set, which held for the win. Jaka made two final tables during Season 8 of the WPT, finishing second in the aforementioned Bellagio Cup and taking third in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a combined $1.3 million.

The top 10 at the end of Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship features rock solid poker talent:

1. Dwyte Pilgrim - 175,900
2. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little - 152,100
3. Jonathan Stanton - 142,100
4. Chad Brown - 138,000
5. James Jewett - 135,500
6. Sam Rashid - 125,700
7. Shawn Quillin - 118,300
8. Scott Standridge - 117,600
9. Hoyt Corkins - 115,600
10. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey - 113,200

Other notable names among the 106 players remaining in the field include:

Paul Wasicka - 107,500
Daniel Negreanu - 81,200
Matt “All In at 420” Stout - 73,100
Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman - 71,400
Justin “Boosted J” Smith - 68,600
J.J. Liu - 67,800
Josh Arieh - 67,200
Tommy Vedes - 66,300
Kathy Liebert - 53,300
Adam “Roothlus” Levy - 46,900
Nick Schulman - 40,000
Allen “AawwNutz” Carter - 38,200
David Singer - 34,000
Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo - 25,900
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler - 17,600
Michael Binger - 13,000

When play wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 300-600 with a 75-chip ante. The Southern Poker Championship runs through Wednesday, when the newest WPT champion will be crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Biloxi tournament.

Poker News in Brief Jan. 18-24, 2010

The 2010 Aussie Millions main event kicked Sunday with hundreds of players looking to strike Australian gold.

You can read all about the tournament in our news section or live tournaments area, but as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we’re going to take a look at a few lesser-known poker stories below.

This week we’ll look at Annette Obrestad crushing an Aussie Millions prelim, David Singer falling fourth on the Heartland Poker Tour, Phil Galfond doing some TV work and more.

Obrestad Wins Aussie Millions Pot-Limit Omaha Event

Annette Obrestad wasted no time getting busy at the 2010 Aussie Millions.

The former World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner won the $1,000(AUD) buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event for $40,000(AUD) this week.

Obrestad outlasted 159 players including a couple of veteran rounders in Emad Tahtouh and Tony Bloom.

Although Obrestad continues to find success online, the win in the Aussie Millions was actually her first live victory since winning the WSOPE.

Obrestad did, however, finish second at EPT Dublin in 2007 for €297,800.

This year, Obrestad will make her first appearance at the WSOP after finally turning 21 this past September.

Alec Torelli Moves to Victory Poker

Online star Alec “traheho” Torelli has parted ways with Doyles Room to sign a sponsorship deal with the up-and-coming Victory Poker.

Torelli was hand-picked by Doyle Brunson this summer to be a member of the Brunson 10.

The team has never come close to approaching 10 players, however, and currently Chris “Moorman1” Moorman, Zachary Clark, Amit Makhija and Dani “anksy” Stern are its only members.

Victory Poker has yet to be released, but it will be a part of the Everleaf Gaming network, which includes Red Cherry Poker and Poker Royale.

Torelli will join a Victory Poker team that is rumored to include Antonio Esfandiari, Brian Rast and Paul Wasicka.

Rousing Final to HPT Vegas

The blue-collar Heartland Poker Tour ventured into Vegas for the second time this week and the final table did not disappoint.

It included a bona fide pro in Full Tilt’s David Singer, an HPT veteran in Theodore Kearly and an inspirational story in unemployed Cambodian refugee Kimbo Ung.

Ung managed to outlast all five opponents at the final table and take down a first place prize of $125,901.

Singer finished fourth for $29,377, which brings his lifetime tournament winnings up to just over $4.3 million.

The event, which drew 433 players, was an overwhelming success according to organizers.

“We didn’t how the Vegas market would respond to our brand,” said HPT President Todd Anderson. “It turns out we blew the roof off.”

PKR TV Showcases Phil Galfond

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond does not have a major poker room sponsor, but will be doing some work for PKR TV.

Galfond will be doing commentary on some of the best ring game action on PKR.com and footage from the special “Galfond TV Cash Game,” which saw some of the elite PKR players take him on.

“We are thrilled to have Phil in the studio to become a PKR TV commentator,” said PKR marketing manager Erika Schwartz. “It will be fantastic for our players to get someone of his reputation watching the action and giving some advice on their play.”

PKR TV and the Galfond TV Cash Game will be broadcast on The Poker Channel in 13 countries across Europe. Air dates have yet to be confirmed.

Police Raid South Carolina Poker Game

Police busted yet another poker game in South Carolina last week.

Officers confiscated more than $64,000 in cash, chips and tables from a Greenville County home.

Twenty-seven people were charged for unlawful betting after a citizen’s tip led deputies to the house.

The raid is nothing new for the region. In 2007, a game was busted in neighboring North Carolina that included noted poker pros Mike Gracz and Chris Bell.

Visit PokerListings.com

Darvin Moon to Attend NFC Championship with Jimmy Buffet, Kenny Chesney

This weekend, the New Orleans Saints will host the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:40pm ET on Sunday and the game will air on Fox. Among those in attendance will be 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon.

Moon will be seated in a luxury box in the Louisiana Superdome, home of the Saints, alongside several top-tier names. Headlining the list is singer Jimmy Buffet, whose bevy of hit singles include "Margaritaville," "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," which he recorded with country superstar Alan Jackson. Buffet’s career has spanned 40 years and resulted in a bevy of chart-topping hits. He even has his own restaurant chain, Margaritaville, which has a location inside the Flamingo on the Las Vegas Strip.

Speaking of country music, Kenny Chesney will also be seated in the same suite as Moon, according to Saints officials. Chesney, from East Tennessee, has been cranking out hits since 1993. He struck it big in the late 1990s with "She's Got It All" and then released two more hit singles before the decade was through, "How Forever Feels" and "You Had Me from Hello.” In the 2000s, Chesney became a staple of the country music scene, pumping out memorable tunes like "Young," "The Good Stuff," "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” and "Living in Fast Forward." His 2009 hit "Out Last Night" hit number one on the U.S. country charts.

Not all of Moon’s new pals hail from the world of music. Joining Moon, Buffet, and Chesney will be Avery Johnson, the head coach of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks since 2004. Johnson, the NBA Coach of the Year in 2006, saw his team fall to the Miami Heat in that year’s NBA Finals. Johnson won a championship ring in 1999 as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, the Spurs retired his number in 2007 and the current Mavericks coach became a member of the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame one year ago.

Wrapping up Moon’s star-studded company is Ronnie Lott. A standout from the University of Southern California (USC), Lott was drafted in 1981 and spent most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. Lott is a four-time Super Bowl Champion and became a member of the illustrious Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2000. He briefly joined the broadcast team of the “NFL on Fox” in the mid-1990s and currently resides in California. Lott is one of the top defensive players in NFL history and rounds out Moon’s cheering section during Sunday’s encounter.

The Saints received a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs and pummeled Kurt Warner and the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals last weekend by a final score of 45-14. Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns as the team cruised to victory. Brees led the NFL in touchdowns during the 16-game regular season with 34, one more than Minnesota Vikings signal caller Brett Favre and Indianapolis Colts gunslinger Peyton Manning. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will likely have the call for Fox from New Orleans.

The Saints’ opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, flattened the Dallas Cowboys last week and also received a first-round bye in the post-season. Favre, whose decision whether to retire or play has dominated off-season headlines for the last half-decade, threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns during the NFL regular season. He hasn’t tossed an interception since December 20th and has just nine turnovers all season. Favre is 40 years-old and played college ball at Southern Mississippi.

No in game or on air recognition of Moon is planned, according to Saints media relations staff.

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast List Released, No Poker Players

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich headlines an ensemble “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. The 14 names announced by NBC on Monday do not include any poker players, as first reported by Poker News Daily in October.

Three months ago, the cast was spotted filming the show’s opening credits in the Meat Packing District of New York City. Embattled politician Blagojevich is perhaps the most controversial name on the list. NBC officials tried to land the former Governor for its Costa Rica-based “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,” which aired in June, but legal woes kept him from competing. Instead, Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, appeared on the show. Blagojevich landed in hot water after allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat previously occupied by President Barack Obama.

Also on the new cast is comedian Carol Leifer, who will try to follow in the shoes of “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 2 winner Joan Rivers. The latter defeated UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in the finals last year. Leifer told the Associated Press, "I'm certainly not a household name. I'm not surprised that Joan Rivers won (last season), because, as a standup comic, you're a one-man band — it makes you very prepared for stressful situations to be able to react to a lot of pressure. Humor is a weapon anywhere and everywhere!" Leifer is 20 years younger than Rivers, but her television writing resume includes hits like “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Poison hasn’t released an album since 2007, but that hasn’t stopped Bret Michaels from becoming a household name. The band’s lead singer will appear on the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice” and currently can be found on the VH1 reality series “Rock of Love.” Joining him on the all-male team dubbed “Rocksolid” is Bill Goldberg, former World Heavyweight Champion of WWE and WCW. The former NFL player was last seen in a WWE ring six years ago during WrestleMania XX, when he squared off against Brock Lesnar. Goldberg told the Associated Press that he plans to keep his fiery edge in the boardroom with show host and real estate mogul Donald Trump: "I know I'm going to explode during this show at some point and say things I probably don't mean."

Another embattled celebrity to join the cast of the NBC reality show’s third cycle is Darryl Strawberry. The former New York Met, who dealt with child support non-payments, prostitution, probation violations, and drug use following his baseball career, is now 47 and will look to right the ship on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Competing opposite Strawberry will be “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, won the original installment of “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2008.

Last time out, Rivers defeated Duke amid a tidal wave of name-calling, including numerous references to Hitler. Rivers’ onslaught included such memorable lines as, “You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash,” and, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Duke then fired back, telling “Celebrity Apprentice” cameras, “Joan is completely full of shit in everything she does. There’s a reason she got fired by the TV Guide Channel: She’s a bitch.”

For the most part, the poker world rallied behind one of their own and Duke raised a colossal $731,000 for Refugees International. However, Rivers, who was playing for God’s Love We Deliver, took down the title of “Celebrity Apprentice” and earned $526,000 for charity. Others who appeared on the show’s second installment with Rivers and Duke included Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, country music star Clint Black, reality star Khloe Kardashian, and comedian Tom Green.

Here’s the complete cast list for the third season of “Celebrity Apprentice:”

Rocksolid: Rod Blagojevich, Darryl Strawberry. Curtis Stone, Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Bill Goldberg, Michael Johnson

Tenacity: Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders, Holly Robinson Peete, Maria Kanellis, Carol Leifer, Selita Ebanks

The new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” kicks off on March 14th on NBC.

Kelly Rowland to Appear at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

When players who have attended the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in past years cite their favorite moments from the tournament series, at least one story tends to involve the opening night party hosted by the site.  This year, PokerStars is aiming to outdo itself by hosting not one, but two seaside shindigs.

As tradition dictates, the first fiesta will take place on Monday, January 4th, the night before the $10,000 buy-in Main Event gets underway.  The party will take place on the Royal Tower of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island at 7:00pm.  It is scheduled to last until 9:00pm and will feature free hors d’oeuvres and an open bar.  All players taking part in the Main Event are invited to attend and can bring one guest.  In past years, the party has included greetings from Team PokerStars Pro members as well as local entertainment.  Last year, party guests watched as a small parade of local dancers performed along with a band.

In addition to the open-invite party on the 4th, PokerStars will be hosting a second party on the 9th.  This invitation-only event will take place from 9:00pm to Midnight at Paradise Harbour.  Those in attendance will see R&B singer Kelly Rowland, formerly of Destiny’s Child, perform.  It will be one of Rowland’s only musical appearances in January, as her official website indicates her next performance date is not until the 23rd, when she will perform as part of the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France.

This is not the first time that PokerStars has teamed up with a musical star from the world of hip-hop and R&B.  At the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), rap star and poker enthusiast Nelly performed at the Las Vegas PokerStars party.  In addition to being the musical guest for the site’s WSOP party, Nelly was also a mainstay at the Rio during the six-week tournament series, playing in a number of events and frequently taking part in the Amazon Room cash games.  He also took part in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final.

Nelly is one of a number of celebrities expected to make an appearance at PCA.  As part of the tournament series, PokerStars is teaming up with amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, to host a charity poker tournament as part of the PCA.  The event will feature a $5,250 buy-in and half of the prize pool will be given to amfAR to benefit global AIDS research.  Team PokerStars Sports pros Boris Becker, Mats Sundin, and Sebastian Chabal are all also expected to attend, according to a press release from PokerStars.

Rowland and Nelly are not the only musical acts with ties to PokerStars.  Team PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu and the PokerStars logo were featured in Katy Perry’s “Waking Up In Vegas” video.  NBA star LeBron James also made an appearance in Drake’s “Forever” video and is prominently seen playing heads-up at the PokerStars virtual tables at the beginning of it.  Even R&B songstress Rihanna has ties with the online poker room, as she plays poker with PokerStars-branded chips in her new video for “Hard,” featuring Young Jeezy.

Rowland’s appearance at PCA is just the latest incident of a musical star taking up with PokerStars, but considering the recent influx of PokerStars appearances in music videos, it certainly does not appear to be the last.

Celebrities Flock to 2010 PCA

Legendary guitarist Slash, Entourage star Adrian Grenier and rapper Nelly headline a tentative list from PokerStars.

Other celebrities ready to hit the felt include Reality TV star Brody Jenner, model-actress Joanna Krupa, actor Carlos Bernard of 24, producer Jimmy Wahlberg, amfAR spokesperson Kenneth Cole, 2008 Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole, talk show host Montel Williams, French K1 Champion Jerome Lebanner, Spanish Footballer Poli Rincon and former English soccer star Teddy Sheringham.

Several members of Team PokerStars Sports Stars are also scheduled to make an appearance with former tennis superstar Boris Becker, NHL veteran Mats Sundin and former Dutch field hockey striker Fatima Moreira De Melo looking to rake some pots in the Bahamas.

PokerStars will also host an invitation-only performance by former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland at Paradise Harbour on Jan. 9.

The 2010 PCA will consist of over 50 events from Jan. 4-14 with the seven-day $10,300 buy-in main event scheduled to kickoff on Jan. 5. The entire event will take place at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Last year Toronto native Poorya Nazari pocketed $3 million for outlasting a field of 1,347 players in the 2009 PCA main event.

Visit PokerListings.com

Boyband singer Shane Lynch to star in poker reality show

Many performers have succumbed to the charms of poker and another name can be added to that list. Former Boyzone singer Shane Lynch will be taking the action more seriously than most though as his progress will be filmed for a reality TV show.

An Inconvenient Truth of the Poker Industry

With the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next week, the topic of the environment has never been hotter.

The common assumption is poker players know how to protect a stack of chips and think of little else, let alone the environment.

In most cases, that may be not far from the truth, but should it be?

With the growing threat of global warming and climate change, poker players are not exempt from having to care about the environmental consequences of their actions.

And if you’ve ever been around a major poker tournament, you know the poker community has room to move when it comes to reducing its environmental impact.

The Big Picture

With hundreds of major tournaments around the world, the poker industry is a prominent offender when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Perhaps no more than any other travel or sports industry, but between flights, rental cars and straight-up energy consumption in casinos around the world, it’s safe to say there’s a surprising volume of negative environmental issues involved with simply playing cards.

Poker tournaments generate a large amount of waste. Disposable plates, food wrappers, cigarette butts, soda and water bottles are just the beginning.

Combine this with a lack of proper recycling programs in Las Vegas and most casinos around the world, and the landfills get a little larger with every one.

Of course, bringing a few thousand people to one location for any big event will likely create a similar amount of waste.

But that’s no excuse for poker players, according to Kristen Ostling, Communications Specialist in Climate Change for the world-renowned David Suzuki Foundation.

“This is the way of the future and not just for individuals,” said Ostling. “Businesses, organizations and individuals should all be looking at ways to reduce their carbon output. It’s also good for the bottom line in terms of dollars in most cases.”

Airline flights are among the fastest growing sources of global warming gases and air travel is a necessary evil on the world’s poker tours.

EPT Prague drew 555 players in 2007, but fewer than 20 actually resided in the Czech Republic. 

Even if every player were to fly from relatively close Barcelona, Spain to the event, almost 150 tons of carbon dioxide would be created.

Long-haul flights are one of the worst violators in terms of carbon emissions and a trip to Melbourne, Australia from North America for the Aussie Millions could conceivably use up an entire year of sustainable per-person emissions in just one flight.

“From a green perspective it’s good to do things online, but obviously sometimes you can’t beat face-to-face interaction,” Ostling said.  “The first thing a business has to do is make an assessment of what kind of environmental impact they are having.”

One suggestion Ostling has for the jet setting poker player is to buy carbon offsets to lessen the impact.

A carbon offset is essentially a certificate that represents a reduction of carbon emissions. Concerned individuals can buy a wide-variety of carbon offsets ranging from solar-power generators in India to reforestation or tree-planting in Ecuador.

Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the David Suzuki Foundation offer comprehensive guides on buying carbon offsets and buying enough could make it possible for even a well-travelled poker pro to achieve carbon neutrality.

The View from the Poker Industry

It’s impossible to consider the environmental impact of the poker industry and not start with Las Vegas.

Vegas is the Mecca of the poker world and a flashy, 24-hour city in the desert is obviously a hard sell when it comes to environmental sustainability.

A number of studies have ranked Nevada near the bottom of environmentally conscious states, and water consumption always seems to be a hot topic.

In 2008, environmental blog Treehugger ran a story claiming the Las Vegas strip could run dry by 2021 citing a recent study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimating there is a 50% chance the city will run out of water if no significant cutbacks are made.

Combine water consumption with the sheer amount of electricity it takes to run the Strip and you’re looking at a city that’s universally frowned upon by environmentalists.

Despite the bad reputation, there have been some efforts in Las Vegas to go greener.

In 2009, Harrah’s announced it was joining Dell, Starbucks and Wrigley as founding members of the Team Earth initiative aiming to unite businesses, non-profits, scientists, educators and individuals to address pressing environmental issues.

In 2008, Harrah’s also began offering carbon offsets to its customers to help reduce the environmental impact of taking a Las Vegas vacation.

Plus, the massive 16,797,000-square-foot CityCenter development, set to finally open its doors this winter, appears to be going green.

Despite the considerable environmental impact of such a large casino, hotel, retail and residential project, the development was recently given a gold rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

CityCenter will use reclaimed water, an onsite power plant and other green technologies that are estimated to save the equivalent of 7,700 homes worth of energy, making it one of the largest sustainable developments in history.

There are also a few businesses trying to carve out a niche in the poker world with eco-friendly poker products.

Eric Hansel runs EGM Green, which he jokingly refers to as the only “green” company in poker. His company produces a variety of environmentally-conscious gambling products including poker tables, craps tables and lounge furniture.

Each table is made with 96-97% naturally sustainable materials and 100% post-industry recycled synthetic fiber. Harrah’s allowed EGM Green display one of its tables at the 2008 WSOP to mixed reactions.

“I think the macro view is that poker players don’t care about the environment, but there are some that do,” he said.  “It’s steadily been getting better over the last two years. We keep letting players know they don’t have to give up luxury to buy a green poker table.”

Earlier this year, the company won an International Gaming Award for being the most eco-friendly in the industry.

“Sustainability will change the way casinos run,” Hansel said. “There’s no way the casinos of 10 years ago can operate 10 years from now.”

The View from the Players

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not all $1,000-bottles-of-Cristal ballers and high-stakes prima donnas blowing through money in the poker world.

Several noted poker pros are personally involved in environmental work.

Full Tilt pro David Singer, a WSOP bracelet winner, had a brief career as a lawyer at a non-profit environmental organization before getting into poker.

“I sometimes joke that I was going to save the world, but now I take people’s money,” said Singer.

Considering the self-serving nature of the game, it’s easy to see why some players are naturally apathetic to causes like the environment. But Singer said the poker world isn’t that different from the general public.

“I think poker players run the gamut of being concerned about global warming to not really caring about it,” he said. “Yesterday I was in Bobby’s Room and I overheard Prahlad Friedman telling Daniel Negreanu that golf courses are generally bad for the environment. At least they were talking about it in a positive way and voicing their concerns.”

But the week before, Singer said there was also a guy in Bobby’s Room who didn’t understand why Al Gore had received the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental work.

However, Singer believes poker players can help the environmental cause.

“Poker players bring a unique perspective because they are good at strategizing and environmental organizations can always use volunteers to help plan campaigns,” he said. “There are also some poker players who are lucky and have a decent amount of money and donating to these organizations is always helpful.”

Singer agreed carbon offsets can be a viable option for the jet set and that volunteering for environmental groups is almost always a good idea.

Fellow Full Tilt pro Amanda Baker is heavily involved with wildlife and environmental conservation while Team PokerStars pro Humberto Brenes works with the PRETOMA Shark Conversation program, an organization dedicated to protecting sharks in their natural habitat.

Singer reiterated the common ecological notion that everything starts with the individual – even in poker.

“What I would say to people is to just start something,” he said. “Even if you think it’s just a drop in the bucket. Personally I think the only way we’re going to get around global warming is if everyone’s attitude changes.

“If we keep going the way we’re going we’re headed for a disaster.”

This is a brief introduction to world of environmentalism, sustainability and the poker industry. For more information please check out the links presented below:

Links:

World Wildlife Foundation

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

David Suzuki Foundation

http://www.davidsuzuki.or

EGM Green

http://www.egmgreen.com/index.html

Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/

Guide to carbon offsets

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/carbon_offsets.asp

Visit PokerListings.com

Vanessa Rousso to Appear On E!’s Bank of Hollywood

This past month, rumors were flying that Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso was going to be the new co-host of the GSN poker show “High Stakes Poker.”  While that TV gig ultimately went to Kara Scott, poker fans and others will be seeing Rousso’s face on their screens in the very near future, as she will be a member of the panel of judge’s on the new E! reality game show “Bank of Hollywood.”

Rousso broke the news of her involvement on her Twitter feed earlier this week and a write-up on the new show in the Hollywood Reporter confirmed that she would be a part of the Ryan Seacrest-produced show.  Joining Rousso on the judging panel are Candy Spelling, Wilhemina Models President Sean Patterson, and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton.

The basic premise of the show rings similar to the NBC vehicle “Shark Tank,” but instead of business proposals, contestants come to the judges with more personal matters.  “Bank of Hollywood” allows contestants to ask the celebrity panel for money for a variety of causes ranging from charity to personal gain.  Participants in the upcoming show will be pleading for money for everything from an engagement ring for their fiancée to funds for charity.  If the judges feel the cause is worthwhile, they will award the contestant with at least $2,000 from their own pockets.

Seacrest elaborated on the show to the Hollywood Reporter: “The idea’s simple. We are giving away tons of money to everyday people to alleviate the stress of today’s climate.”  E! Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Berger elaborated on Seacrest’s thoughts: “We’re giving real people the opportunity to garner life-changing sums of money and, at the same time, fulfilling our judges’ desire to make a difference in the lives of others – one person at a time.”

The eight-episode series will be hosted by comedian Bryan Callen, who has also appeared on shows like “Sex and the City,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Entourage.”  The show is scheduled to premiere at 10:00pm ET on December 14th.

This is just the latest TV appearance for Rousso, who keeps developing an increasingly higher profile both inside and outside of the poker world.  This past spring, she signed on as a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com and appeared in a PokerStars-sponsored spread in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.  Rousso was also heavily featured on NBC’s 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, where she finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.

2009 has been a landmark year for Rousso on the tournament scene as well.  In addition to her showing in the Heads-Up event, she also had a deep run at the Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi in February, a win at the European Poker Tour High Roller event in Monte Carlo in May, and four cashes at this summer’s World Series of Poker.  She married longtime boyfriend Chad Brown this past spring.

“Bank of Hollywood” is the latest E! reality vehicle from Ryan Seacrest Productions. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Denis Richards: It’s Complicated,” and the recent “Leave it to Lamas” are just a few of the E! shows currently on the network’s lineup that are produced under the Seacrest banner.

Mike Sexton Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame

Doyle Brunson kicked off the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony dinner at the Brasilia Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The festivities honoring Mike Sexton occurred during the dinner break of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table at 7:00pm PT.

The guest list read like a “who’s who” of the poker community, including Howard Lederer, Phil Hellmuth, Jack Binion, Ali Nejad, David Singer, and Dewey Tomko. Also in the house was World Poker Tour (WPT) Co-Host Vince Van Patten, who told Poker News Daily, “I couldn’t miss this. Mike is such a great champion and a great friend of mine. What we share together on the WPT is one of the most important parts of my life. So many laughs and Mike is such a great guy. He is the real thing.”

The WPT is currently filming its eighth season. In fact, The Foxwoods World Poker Finals, the November WPT stop, is currently playing out at the Connecticut casino. On Van Patten and Sexton’s chemistry after eight seasons, the Poker Hall of Fame nominee’s co-host told us, “We could go for 25 years. We don’t get bored with it, we love it, and we’re not faking it. We’d probably do it for no money. We love it that much and we enjoy each other’s company. He’s one of a kind, a great family man, and the real thing in poker.”

Those on stage were Brunson, Jack Binion, Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 candidate Tom McEvoy, and T.J. Cloutier. The latter told the assembled crowd of about 175, “We both went broke plenty of times… This man would bet on anything… Mike always thought he was the best split pot player of them all. He could always play those eight or better games.” In fact, Sexton’s lone WSOP bracelet came in 1989 in a Seven Card Stud High-Low Split tournament.

McEvoy then took to the podium and admitted, “This man holds a grudge,” referencing a story from the first WSOP Pot Limit tournament ever held. Binion, a Poker Hall of Fame member who helped popularize the WSOP, commented, “Mike was the one who got PartyPoker started, the one who got the software started. He’s the one who really made poker.” Sexton currently serves as the ambassador for PartyPoker, whose parent company, Party Gaming, recently completed the purchase of the WPT for $12.3 million plus a percent of future gaming revenues.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack formally presented Sexton’s trophy and his speech was preceded by an emotional speech from Tom Sexton. The new Poker Hall of Fame member’s brother stated, “Mike has the gift of vision, where he can see things that others can’t in the poker world.” Sexton’s brother also referenced the WPT host testifying in a poker court case in South Carolina and serving as the spokesperson for approximately 500 players shut out of Day 1D of the 2009 WSOP Main Event when the contest reached capacity.

One of Tom Sexton’s most memorable quotes came when referencing the “Daddy Hall of Fame,” which he revealed, “If there were a Daddy Hall of Fame, Mike would be in it.” Young Ty Sexton, whose nursery has overrun the Sexton home’s dance floor, is just 15 months; Mike is 62 years-old.

Sexton received a 30 second standing ovation upon being introduced and recognized each of the other eight candidates for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, McEvoy, Dan Harrington, Scotty Nguyen, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein. Ivey, who was one of seven players remaining in the WSOP Main Event at the time, even stopped by, flanked at the door to the Brasilia Room by Layne Flack, Lacey Jones, and Nejad.

Sexton took the time to recognize a bevy of individuals, including Linda Johnson, Steve Lipscomb, and Brunson. He also recalled a phone call received over Christmas in 2000 from Ruth Parisol, co-founder of Party Gaming, who asked him to fly to India to launch the then-nascent online poker site. After eight months, PartyPoker was born, quickly challenging Paradise Poker for tops in the industry.

JAQK Cellars presented the two-hour affair, which wrapped up at 9:00pm PT. The living Hall of Fame members then took to the stage of the Penn and Teller Theater to resume play in the WSOP Main Event final table, with Sexton issuing the evening session’s “Shuffle Up and Deal” command.

2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table Set to Kick Off

It’s 11:08am at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The gates to the spacious Penn and Teller Theater open, admitting a throng of screaming fans. The Rio is bustling, as the nine remaining World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event participants play down to two.

Among the first in the lobby were Steve Begleiter and Jeff Shulman, the latter escorted through the melee by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla. Meanwhile, supporters of Michigan poker player Joe Cada have donned neon yellow shirts and hats, which will surely create a memorable scene for fans and media in the audience alike. Cada’s agent told Poker News Daily that 150 friends and family are expected, while Eric Buchman will see 100 troops rally around him this afternoon.

Rock memorabilia lines the hallway of the Rio from its casino to the theater and, among those chatting with fans is ESPN announcer Lon McEachern, who will flank Norman Chad on an elevated platform set up to the right of the stage. Media inside are seated on couches with tables usually reserved for VIP guests of Penn and Teller and other acts inside the auditorium and two massive television screens relay the action from the green felt. ESPN “Inside Deal” hosts Bernard Lee and Laura Lane are also perusing the crowd, the latter taking a bundle of pictures on her iPhone.

The Poker Players Alliance’s (PPA) Bryan Spadaro is armed with patches for the one million member strong lobbying organization, soliciting each player to wear one during the broadcast, which will officially air on Tuesday night on ESPN. Cada, Kevin Schaffel, and Buchman are confirmed to be wearing them, while James Akenhead, a Brit, also walked away from Spadaro with one in his hand. The PPA is holding a function at 2:00pm down the hallway to spread goodwill about Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) internet gambling legislation.

Upon arrival, Cada had online poker star Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in tow, as ESPN cameras roved the hallway catching any memorable moments, including a group shot of Cada’s supporters. We headed to the front of the general admittance line, which stretches from the Penn and Teller Theater towards the Amazon Room, where Jack Watkins from Bozeman, Montana was the first to be found. He arrived at 6:00am and was quickly approached by Antoine Saout supporters, who offered him guaranteed tickets for the start of play in exchange for wearing shirts and hats touting the French poker player. Watkins and company happily obliged.

In the yellow wristband line, which was for friends and family, was David Prochik, who hails from Orlando, Florida. One of the fans supporting Cada, Prochik told Poker News Daily, “He’s a good online player. He’s good friends with my friend, Brad, and I hope he wins.” Across the hallway, Ylon Schwartz is seated at the Rio’s Starbucks in a scene reminiscent of his experience in 2008 as a member of the November Nine.

Poker pro David Singer will be rooting on Phil Ivey this afternoon. On his show of support, Singer explained, “I’ve been friends with him for a long time and he’s a good guy. I’d like to see him win; he deserves it.” Ivey holds the seventh largest chip stack entering play today and despite being on the short stack, Singer was confident: “If anyone will know what to do in that situation, Ivey will know what to do. He’s the best player at the table and I have a lot of faith in him.” If Ivey failed to emerge victorious on Monday night when play concludes, Singer commented that he’d pull for Jeff Shulman.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table.

Rousso to appear on E! reality show

Bank of Hollywood, set to premier on the E! network this December, will feature a panel of celebrities taking pitches from Americans who are in need of cash.

Every week the show will give money to the contestant they feel is most deserving.

Rousso will appear as a panel member on the show, which is being produced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

Other panel members include Pussy Cat Dolls singer Melody Thornton, author and wife of TV producer aaron Spelling, Candy Spelling and Wilhelmina Models president Sean Patterson. Each panelist will give away their own money with amounts starting at $2,000.

Vanessa Rousso burst onto the poker scene with a deep run in the 2006 World Poker Tour World Championship eventually bubbling the final table for $263,625.

Since then Rousso has become one of the most prominent members of Team PokerStars Pro and has appeared in ads for the site across the globe.

Her largest score to date came after winning the 2009 Monte Carlo High Rollers Event for $749,467.

The eight-episode Bank of Hollywood will debut at 10 p.m. ET on Dec. 14, 2009.

Visit PokerListings.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doyle Brunson inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

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

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

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

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

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

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

PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam for Vladimir Geshkenbein

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

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

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

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

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

Forum tournament winner to play Ziigmund

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

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

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

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

Visit PokerListings.com

Lady Gaga invited to Irish Poker Festival

Lady Gaga is proving to be very much in demand in the poker world. After being invited to Macau to play in the Asian Poker Tour the “Poker Face” singer has been offered a trip to Killarney to try her luck in this week’s Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival.

Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo Event to Air on CBS Sports

For the next two weekends, CBS will air the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa Monte Carlo tournament. The show will air on Saturday, September 19th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm ET and on Saturday, September 26th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm ET.

Both shows will air prior to college football. Vanessa Rousso, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented in a press release distributed by the online poker site on Friday, “Each year at the World Series of Poker, I make it a point to play in Ante Up for Africa. It’s amazing that PokerStars hosted the event in Monte Carlo to help a worthy cause and bring some fun to the table during one of their biggest events of the year.” In this author’s home market, the show does not air on September 19th, but rather only the 26th. Viewers are encouraged to check their local listings for details, as college football dates, times, and channels vary by market.

The tournament took place in April in the storied European principality during the Monte Carlo Grand Final festivities. The casino is the host venue for the end-of-season European Poker Tour (EPT) event and attracted a star-studded lineup of celebrities and poker players for the Ante Up for Africa contest. Among those in attendance were St. Louis rapper Nelly, singer Christina Milian, The Dream, “Heroes” actor James Kyson Lee, “Sex in the City” actor Jason Lewis, Good Charlotte band member Joel Madden, U.K. presenter Kirsty Gallacher, rapper Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, F1 racer Nico Rosberg, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and rugby players Sebastien Chabal and Mike Tindall.

Representing Team PokerStars Pro were Rousso, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, 2005 Champion Joe Hachem, 2008 Champion Peter Eastgate, Italian poker pro Dario Minieri, Victor Ramdin, and Caesars Cup Captain Daniel Negreanu. The €4,000 buy-in tournament generated more than €260,000 for the Ante Up for Africa charity, which raises money and awareness for victims of the crisis in Darfur. A total of €160,000 was raised through tournament buy-ins, while PokerStars generously kicked in an additional €100,000.

Among those prizes awarded were a trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2010. The tournament, which is held annually in the Bahamas, serves as the lone Western Hemisphere stop on the EPT circuit. A tournament summary distributed by the world’s largest online poker site offered the following insight into the ongoing Darfur crisis: “More than 400,000 people have died and more than four million have lost their homes in Darfur since the conflict began. To date, Ante Up For Africa has raised close to $2 million for the cause.”

Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker pro Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein. An annual $5,000 buy-in tournament is held to benefit the charity during the WSOP in Las Vegas. This year, the spectacle came to life on cable station ESPN and featured Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Charles Barkley, and Jason Alexander. Representing the poker world were the likes of Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth, who served as the event’s emcee. This year’s gala raised more than $600,000.

In August, the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) featured a fundraiser for Ante Up for Africa in the form of a $120 buy-in tournament. A total of 2,367 players bought into the event, which was won by “warren_ace1.” Full Tilt donated the entire $20 entry fee to Ante Up for Africa.

Poker Pros Michelle and Ho Confirmed for “The Amazing Race”

After two months of speculation, CBS has finally confirmed what the poker world has suspected all along: poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will be competing together as a team on the upcoming season of the competition reality show “The Amazing Race.”

Photos, bios and video of the two women went up on the show’s official website on Wednesday, along with those of the other eleven teams competing in the latest installment of the race. Ho and Michelle will be facing off against a wide array of people including a married couple who work as yoga instructors, members of the Harlem Globetrotters, a singer/songwriter team and a contestant who has Asperger’s Syndrome.

Rumors first surfaced of the poker playing pair’s involvement with the show when neither woman participated in this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. A series of clues, including Michelle alluding to an upcoming project with one of the show’s producers, Jerry Bruckheimer, a forum thread featuring posts from former “Survivor” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande seeking female poker players for a new reality project and fan photos from the shows launch capturing what looked like Ho, all led to speculation that the two ladies would be the latest poker pros to take a stab at reality television.

In the video of the team posted on the show’s website, the two discussed their chosen profession and talked about how they became friends while travelling the poker tournament circuit. Michelle cited their success in a traditionally male-dominated field as one of their strengths as a team. No all-female team has won the show in its 14-season history and the team of Ho and Michelle believe they have a legitimate shot to win. “We’re used to being the women doing the things that no other women are doing”, Michelle explained.

Ho ran down some of the things the ladies did in order to prepare for the event. In addition to taking extensive notes on previous episodes of the show, Ho and Michelle also learned how to drive a stick shift, as there is typically some sort of vehicle-related challenge that involves just such a skill.  She joked that they may not have practiced eating rare and potentially unappetizing food, another staple challenge of the program, but asserted that she and Michelle were mentally prepared to run the race. Michelle and Ho also cited their knowledge of Mandarin Chinese (Ho is fluent) and sign language as potentially helpful skills, but noted that the last season of the race featured a lengthy leg in China, so Ho’s knowledge may not be put to use after all.

Should the two survive in the race long enough to make it to the finale, rumors indicate the two may have home field advantage working in their favor. The Las Vegas Review Journal recently reported that the production crew of the show pulled permits to film in and around Las Vegas in early August. Some of the stops listed on the permits included McCarren International Airport and the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. While both women hail from Southern California, their poker work requires them to spend several weeks in Vegas each year, so the stop in Vegas would certainly be familiar territory for the duo.

This is not the only exciting news for Michelle. This week it was announced that she will be renewing her sponsorship deal with online poker site Ultimate Bet. Michelle first signed on with the site during her memorable WSOP Main Event run last year. She was the last woman left in the field that year and ultimately finished in 17th place.

“I’m happy to be signing on for another year with UltimateBet and I’m eager to get back to playing in live tournaments and exclusively at their online tables”, Michelle said in regards to her new deal. “The corporate team at UB has been so welcoming and supportive and I’m thrilled to be working with them. I can’t wait for the exciting things in store for us.”

The newest season of “The Amazing Race” begins on Sunday September 27th. The show will air on CBS from 8PM-9PM ET.

Michelle, Ho confirmed for <i>Amazing Race</i>

CBS officially released a list of the cast on Wednesday and both Michelle and Ho were featured prominently on the The Amazing Race website.

"We're excited to go out there and represent for the women," said Michelle in a video available on CBS.com. "No female team has ever won and we're used to doing what no other women are doing."

Also taking part in the season are two members of the Harlem Globetrotters, a former Miss America and her husband, dating aspiring country singers and eight other teams.

In the poker world Michelle and Ho are famous for being the last woman standing in the World Series of Poker Main Event in consecutive years. Ho came in 38th in the 2007 Main Event to score $237,865 while Michelle won $334,534 for coming in 17th in the 2009 Main Event.

This summer Ho narrowly missed out on the final table of the $10,000 WSOP Limit event by coming in 11th for $41,040.

Ho and Michelle are active in the entertainment industry and both have worked as on-camera talent for various poker news outlets.

The announcement isn't all that shocking considering that Michelle and Ho were rumored to be taking part in the show in mid-July and both were notably absent from the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Michelle even mentioned on her Twitter that she would be gone filming a new project for several months in the summer.

Reality TV is nothing new for poker players as Jean-Robert Bellande appeared on Survivor: China in 2007 and Annie Duke was a cast-member of Celebrity Apprentice earlier this year. Bellande was eliminated early in Survivor but Duke made it all the way to the last two players in Apprentice before losing to Joan Rivers.

Season 15 of the The Amazing Race premieres Sept 27 on CBS.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker heats up in Hollywood

A glimpse of the celebs into the game is available every year at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational and various charity tournaments, but many celebrities also scratch their poker itch at home games and online.

Anthrax lead singer Scott Ian has been playing poker for years and has seen several celebrity friends converted into players first hand.

"Keanu Reeves just recently got into Hold'em," Ian told PokerListings. "A few months back he said to me, 'Hey man, I was playing a lot of poker with this director on my last movie and he was just constantly taking my money."

Ian said Reeves is learning more and more about Hold'em and has become a semi-regular at a private game in Santa Monica.

"I know tons of people who play and when I'm home we all try to get together and play as much as we can," Ian added.

Keeping a weekly slot open for a real-life home game is tough for Hollywood types and rock stars on the road - a predicament that led Ian to move his home game online to Ultimate Bet.

"The first one had Kirk Hammett from Metallica, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Slash, Vinnie Paul from Pantera and John Dolmayan from System of a Down," said the Anthrax frontman.

"What it means is just a lot of my friends in bands, these 'rock star' guys, who like to play Hold'em. It is a way for us to get to play together since we don't get to play together physically because of everyone's schedules."

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips has had a semi-regular home game running almost as long as he's been in show business.

Phillips put the skills he learned in that home game to good use this summer finishing 186th out of 6,494 at the WSOP Main Event.

"The home game has been crazy," Phillips told PokerListings. "It's been going on for 20 years."

Over two decades his game has seen a rotating group of actors and entertainers.

"George Clooney used to hang back in the day," Phillips recalled fondly. "Brad Pitt before he got Thelma and Louise, all the 90210 kids."

Like a lot of Hollywood home games the stakes are anything but astronomical, and the level of play is anything but professional.

"No, it's a lot of bullshit is what it is," Phillips laughed. "We're drinking a lot of beer and going, 'My two-three offsuit will kick your kings' ass.' "

Low stakes and a casual yet competitive atmosphere seem to be the norm in celebrity home games.

Actor and Simpsons cast member Hank Azaria has a regular game at his Soho, New York, residence where the buy-in is reported to be a modest $500.

Simpsons creator Sam Simon shares a similar attitude, one that he's taking to television this year with Sam's Game on the Playboy Channel.

Juxtaposing his casual home-game style with serious shows like GSN's High Stakes Poker, Simon is recreating the home game experience and expects to tap into viewers' natural love for the format.

While HSP relies on big names and big dollar amounts, Sam's Game uses the same things we all love about home games - Jokes, food, beer and a little bit of poker.

While celebrity home games are mostly about good times, poker's popularity in Hollywood circles could have a real effect on the vitality of the game.

With Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander and Phillips both running deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, much was made about what a celebrity at the final table could mean.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker's victory catapulted poker into the public's consciousness.

Now, with the four month break before the Main Event final table, players are given an even bigger opportunity to take the poker word to the masses.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says having a poker pro like Phil Ivey at the final table this year will surely help grow the game, but the exposure someone like Alexander would garner in mainstream media could be staggering.

"I think anytime a big name makes the final table of the Main Event it's good for poker and good for the WSOP," he said. "At the same time, any personality that can crossover in that setting would also be great.

"Phil Ivey will be great, Jason Alexander would have been great and, last year, Tiffany Michelle would have been great. You have a top poker pro, a big Hollywood celebrity and a compelling newcomer.

"All three are different and all three have the capacity to crossover and that's something that's always attractive to have."

Visit PokerListings.com

APT Invites “Poker Face” Star Lady Gaga

The APT is already a roaring success without using the credibility of other celebrities. Nevertheless, after the APT invited 14-time Olympic Gold Medal winning simmer Michael Phelps to the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival they are now trying to court “Poker Face” singer Lady Gaga.

Liv Boeree Joins Team UB

Liv Boeree, formerly an ambassador of Absolute Poker, has become a card-carrying member of Team Ultimate Bet (Team UB), officials of the Tokwiro-owned online poker rooms announced this week.

In a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she was looking forward to joining “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, among others, on the Team UB roster: “It’s an honor to play with the two people who helped launch my poker career. Annie and Phil are two of my favorite players, so to sit on the same team as them is a bit of a surreal experience, but one I’m definitely proud of.” While on the show “UltimatePoker.com Showdown” in 2005, Boeree received poker coaching from Duke. The same press release explains, “It was [also] on UltimatePoker.com Showdown that Liv also earned the respect of 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.”

Boeree has worked for various media outlets throughout her career, including Gutshot TV, the Daily Express, and Challenge TV. Her reporting career has led her to become successful on the felts of live poker tournaments around the world. In January, she finished seventh in an AUD $1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament held during the Aussie Millions for AUD $19,000. In April, she caught fire at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship, winning a preliminary tournament, taking third in another, and finishing 37th in the $25,000 buy-in televised Main Event for over $80,000 total. In May of 2008, Boeree won the $2,000 buy-in Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship for $42,000. The event drew 52 runners and culminated with Boeree besting Lenna Martyak heads-up.

In an August 8th blog on Ultimate Bet, Boeree noted that she had just returned from Sonisphere, a music festival near London. Among those who took to the stage was the band Anthrax, which features fellow Team UB member Scott Ian. On Anthrax’s set, Boeree recalled, “These guys are as hard and heavy as ever and it was a real treat to watch them play with their old singer, John Bush.”

Besides Ian and Boeree, other members of Team UB include Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who made a deep run in last year’s WSOP Main Event, ultimately finishing 48th for $135,000. He made the final table of the WPT Festa al Lago in October of 2008, banking $266,000 in a tournament won by Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Online, Levy has been a stud. He finished as the runner-up in an event held during the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in February for $387,000. One week later, he took third in the marquee PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for another $53,000. He’s ranked 95th in the world according to PocketFives.com.

Brandon Cantu joined Team UB in June. That month, he won a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split tournament for $228,000 during the 2009 WSOP, besting Lee Watkinson heads-up for his first bracelet. Nine events prior, Cantu was the runner-up to Ray Foley in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, where he cashed for $403,000.

Fellow bracelet winner Matt “mattg1983” Graham also calls Team UB home. Graham won his second piece of hardware in 2009 by taking down the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for a rousing $679,000. He’s defeated two of the game’s best in his bracelet wins, outlasting Vitaly Lunkin in the Pot Limit Omaha event and beating “Survivor: China” castaway and Bodog pro Jean-Robert Bellande in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Shootout last year.

Other members of Team UB include “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Michael Binger, Gary “Debo34” Debernardi, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Shawn “westtexasman” Rice, and Tiffany Michelle, who will compete on the upcoming season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.”

Will Lady GaGa show her “Poker Face” in Macao?

World famous pop star Lady Gaga is the latest celebrity being invited to the Asian Poker Tour.

APT invited 14-time Olympic Gold Medal winning swimmer Michael Phelps to the Asian Poker Tour Macao Festival last week. Now they’re after the pop singer diva, who got famous performing the song “Poker Face”.

An open letter was sent to Lade GaGa: “Imagine the reaction if you showed your poker face at the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival dear Lady Gaga.”

“We have a special Celebrity event featuring Hong Kong and Chinese language stars on Tuesday the 18th which you would be more than welcome to attend.”

Like with Phelps invite, APT is willing to pay all the fees.

“Despite what some poker purists might argue, you have brought the great game to the attention to millions of new people through your worldwide best selling hit,” the letter reads.

“Congratulations on your nine MTV Video Award nominations, but do us and the world a favor, come and see us in Macau and show us your poker face! We would be honored.”

Source: Pokerlistings

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Will Lady GaGa show her “Poker Face” in Macao?

Celebrities Thriving in 2009 WSOP Main Event

It’s not every day that the Average Joe can play a game of poker alongside “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander. However, for eight players on Day 3 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, battling against George Costanza will be a reality.

Alexander will be seated at Table B2 to open play on Friday for Day 3. Joining him will be poker pro Marc Karam, a member of Team Eurolinx who won a $500 buy-in HORSE tournament in 2007 during a WSOP Circuit stop at Harvey’s Tahoe. Karam has final tabled the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) North American Poker Championship twice, once during Season V and once during Season VII. All told, he has nearly $400,000 in lifetime WPT earnings and will duke it out against Alexander for poker immortality. “Seinfeld” ended its run in 1998 and Alexander has since become actively involved in poker.

Three members of the cast of NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” entered the 2009 WSOP Main Event. In the end, only Lou Diamond Phillips remains to see Day 3. Phillips, who gained a considerable amount of fame after appearing in “La Bamba” and the “Young Guns” franchise, can be found at Table R132, Seat 4. Joining “LDP” will be Team Betfair pro Peter Jepsen, who sits with a stack of 119,500, well below Phillips’ tally of 192,300. Jepsen won the 2007 installment of the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Warsaw stop. The other two cast members of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” to enter the Main Event, Torrie Wilson and John Salley, were each eliminated on Day 1. Phillips won the second season of the hit NBC reality show.

L.A. Lakers Guard Jordan Farmar sits with a stack of 75,500 entering Day 3 on Friday. The Lakers won the NBA title this season after defeating the Orlando Magic in five games, giving Farmar a championship ring. Farmar averaged 6.4 points per game and 2.4 assists per game during the regular season in 65 appearances to go along with 39.1% field goal shooting. Farmar will be seated at Table R105 today and will be flanked by Allen Kessler. The runner-up in a $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better event to Todd Brunson in 2005, Kessler has well over $400,000 to his name from WSOP and Circuit events. He also owns two final table appearances in WPT tournaments, most notably a sixth place effort in the Season V Foxwoods Poker Classic for $136,000.

“The Simspons” Co-Creator Sam Simon, who briefly appeared on the most recent season of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” sits with one of the event’s short stacks at 47,500. Simon finished 20th in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em this year for $24,000. In 2007, ESPN cameras closely followed his deep run in the Main Event, which ended with Simon busting in 329th place. “The Simspons” has been on the air for 20 years and, in 2007, the franchise rolled out a feature-length movie.

Australian cricket star Shane Warne also remains in the hunt for the WSOP Main Event title. He owns a sizable stack of 173,700, but will have his hands full at a talented table that also features recent WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic winner Vadim Trincher. Another non-U.S. celebrity who will take to the felts on Friday is French actor and singer Patrick Bruel. He owns a stack of 64,500 and can be found at Table B16, Seat 8.

A total of 2,044 players remain in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. The world’s most prestigious poker tournament will play down to its final table on July 15th. Then, the action will be paused for four months, with the feature table resuming on November 7th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the Rio.

WSOP 2009 by the numbers

2009 might be forever remembered as the summer of multiple bracelets. Although every year since 2000 has seen one player with two bracelets, there's never been a year quite like this.

First, Brock Parker (infamous on PokerStars under the handle t_soprano) won a pair by taking down bracelets in back-to-back six-handed Hold'em events.

After winning his first bracelet of 2009, Phil Ivey shocked the poker world by claiming he would win a second in under two weeks. He accepted any bet players were willing to throw at him then made good on his claim, winning his second just 10 days after the first.

If you hadn't heard the name Lisandro before the 2009 WSOP, you've heard it now. Not only was Jeffrey "The Stud King" Lisandro the third player to win a second bracelet in 2009, he became the first to win a third. All three of his bracelets have come from 7-Card variations.

Finally, the latest player to double down was Full Tilt Pro Greg "FBT" Mueller. Mueller, whose nickname is an acronym for "Full Blown Tilt," has managed to keep his tilt under control, making 2009 the year he won both his first and second WSOP bracelets.

The Dominance of the U.S and A

When it comes to the race for bracelets by country, the USA has absolutely decimated the rest of the globe. With 33 won so far, the USA has almost double the number of bracelets than the rest of the world combined.

Nation	Bracelets
United States	33
Canada	3
United Kingdom	3
Australia	2
Russian Federation	1
Finland	1
Sweden	1
Mexico	1
Italy	1
Holland	1
Hungary	1
Iran	1
Germany	1

Note: Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans.

Year of the Pro

Most likely due to the increased starting stack sizes and added blind levels, 2009 has seen the poker professionals dominating over the amateurs. Out of the 51 bracelets awarded this year, 37 have been won by professionals and 7 by semi-professionals.

More WSOP 2009 By the Numbers (Note: all following stats exclude event #49):

Most Cashes:

Darryll Fish	7
Fabrice Soulier	6
Jeffrey Lisandro	6
Daniel Negreanu	6
Brock Parker	6
Anthony Cousineau	6
David Fox	6
Barry Greenstein	6
Mitchell Schock	5
John Monnette	5
Ville Wahlbeck	5
Roland DeWolfe	5
Neil Channing	5
Nikolay Evdakov	5
Alexander Kravchenko	5
Phil Ivey	5
Robert Mason	5
Michael Binger	5
Ken Lennaard	5
Clark Hamagami	5

Most Final Table Appearances:

Mark Gregorich	3
John Juanda	3
Jeffrey Lidandro	3
Greg Mueller	3
Phil Ivey	3
Ville Wahlbeck	3

 

Most Events Played:

Nikolay Evdakov	33
Nikolay Isra	32
Jacobo Fernandez	29
Daniel Negreanu	28
Andrew Black	28
Erick Lindgren	28
Amnon Filippi	28
Daniel Heimiller	27
Soheil Shamseddin	27
Andrew Bloch	27
Gavin Smith	27
Tad Jurgens	26
Frank Kassela	26
Marco Traniello	26
Richard Geyer	26
Michael Binger	25
Jason Mercier	25
Chris Bjorin	25
Shannon Shorr	25
David Singer	25
Ryan Hughes	25
Berry Johnston	25
Michael Leah	25

Visit PokerListings.com

Habib leads after Day 1 of $50k H.O.R.S.E.

Though it can't compete with the Main Event in terms of size, the large buy-in and H.O.R.S.E. format ensures it is densely-stocked with the best poker players on the planet.

Though this remained the case today, the smallish turnout of just 95 suggested a drop-off in its popularity with the addition of the 40th anniversary $40k No Limit Hold'em to the schedule, lack of T.V. cameras and sheer number of $10k buy-in events all mooted as possible reasons for the paucity of numbers.

Check out Geoff Fisk's examination of the tournament's low registration here.

Nonetheless the likes of celebrated luminaries such as Doyle Brunson, Andy Bloch and Jennifer Harman amongst many others were never going to miss this one, and a hard day of riveting H.O.R.S.E. action played out at the felt.

The 150k starting stacks ensured the field would suffer few casualties on the first of five scheduled days, but after six levels of play five entrants had been eliminated.

Among the first to bust were David Singer, Dan Shak and Alexander Kostritsyn.

By the time the chips were bagged and tagged, Hasan Habib led the field with a massive 387,000 in chips.

This was particularly impressive given Habib missed the early stages after playing out the final table of the $2.5k Mixed Hold'em event.

For more information about this final table, as well as a round-up of the other action at the WSOP today, read on.

Event 47 - $2.5k Mixed Hold'em

The $2.5k Mixed Hold'em event played out to a finish today with a number of notable players looking to get their hands on the bracelet.

By the finish however, it was lesser-known Canadian Bahador Ahmadi who had snatched the glory ahead of the likes of Barry Greenstein, Ylon Schwartz and the aforementioned Hasan Habib.

Ahmadi took $278,804 for besting the 527 player field.

Event 48 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha-8

87 players resumed the $1.5k PLO-8 with Phil Hellmuth in the mix for his 12th bracelet.

From forty players out though, it looked like one man had his name on the title.

Brandon Cantu amassed an incredible mountain of chips, dwarfing his nearest competitors and when they return to play out for the $228,867 first prize tomorrow, he will be the man to beat with almost one third of the chips in play and nine competitors still in the hunt.

Action resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Event 50 - $1.5k Limit Hold'em Shootout

572 players peeled off $1,500 to take their shot at this shootout bracelet.

Just one round of tables was played, but it was enough to see all those fortunate enough to defeat their tables safely into the cash.

Numbered in their midst are serial WSOP casher Humberto Brenes, former EPT winner Andreas Hoivold and double-bracelet winner Brock Parker.

Day 2 will see the final 64 players return to play down to a final table starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Check out the PokerListings 2009 WSOP section for more coverage from the Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Visit PokerListings.com

Stud legend’s win headlines WSOP June 3rd

Ellis, 76, is a legend in the underground stud games on the East Coast, having taken up poker after making his fortune in New York City as a real estate broker.

He'd moved to New York to pursue a career as a singer.

Ellis told PokerListings.com he was very excited to win a bracelet in only his second Seven-Card Stud tournament, but that the joy of victory was tempered by the recent loss of his wife, Barbara.

"She would always go with me whenever I played poker in Atlantic City or Las Vegas," he said. "I didn't know how I could go on without her."

Drache, meanwhile, is the much-respected former card room manager at the Golden Nugget and Mirage Casinos and the inventor of tournament satellites and ante structures, among other things.

He took $231,014 for a gutsy second-place finish.

Here's what else went down at the Rio on Wednesday:

Event 4 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em

Californian pro Steve Sung won his first-ever WSOP bracelet, defeating Pete "The Greek" Vilandos in heads-up play to claim $771,106 in prize money.

Check out our news recap here.

Event 5 - $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha

PokerListings.com blogger Jason Mercier won this event, taking down his first WSOP bracelet and $237,415 in prize money after beating Steven Burkholder heads-up for the title.

Mercier talked to PL.com's Rod Stirzaker shortly after his victory. Click here for the story.

Event 7 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em

The first donkament of the season played down to the final 33 players before action was suspended at 3 a.m. due to Rule 95.

Steven Karp is chipleader with just under $1 million to his name, while EPT5 London champ Michael Martin is the most notable survivor, sitting on 260,000 for just under 20 big blinds.

Among those to falter on Day 2 were Sandra Naujoks, Brandon Cantu, Shaun Deeb and Alex Jacob.

The survivors will return on Thursday and play down to a champion, with action beginning at 1 p.m. Vegas time.

Event 8 - Deuce to Seven Lowball (No Limit)

The first lowball event of the Series played down to its final table on Wednesday, with Phil Ivey headlining a seven-handed contingent that will be led by one John Monnette, who has 259,000.

Ivey is sixth of seven with 106,300 to his name.

Just missing out on the final table were Layne Flack and Tony G, who finished eighth and ninth respectively.

A total of 21 players will be paid for their time in this event, and among the ranks of the already paid-out are Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso and Freddy Deeb.

The final table kicks off at 2 p.m.

Event 9 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed

The six-max event that kicked off on Wednesday attracted 1,459 players, of whom only 105 survived to see Day 2.

All told, 144 players will be paid, with the prize pool amounting to $1,991,535 and first prize totaling $428,259.

Chipleader at the end of the night was forum favorite Doug Lee (200,000), with industry insider Jeremiah Smith fifth in chips with 131,000.

Eliminated on Day 1 were Tim Vance, Chris Moorman and Dario Minieri, among many others.

Day 2 will see the field reduced to the final six and will begin at 2 p.m.

Event 10 - $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha

Four-hundred and fifty-three players bought in for the "HA" spectacular and 104 survived the first eight levels.

Clonie Gowen, Andy Black and Chino Rheem were among the notable eliminations, with Jamie Rosen the presumptive chipleader by day's end.

Forty-five players will partake from the prize pool, with first place worth $244,862.

Action resumes at 2 p.m.

Check out the PokerListings.com WSOP section for full coverage from the Rio.

Visit PokerListings.com

40 years of the WSOP: The new millenium

Back in 1991, Jack Binion was asked to look into the future and see where the WSOP might go.

Jack had no way of knowing how the WSOP would explode in popularity, bringing thousands to his casino in search of fame and fortune and said he expected a slow, steady 10 to 15 percent growth rate.

The last winner of the twentieth century was Jesus himself, Chris Ferguson.

He took home $1.5 million after outlasting 512 other players in the 2000 Main Event.

Poker author and fifth place finisher Jim McManus chronicled the final table in his book Positively Fifth Street.

The final battle between Ferguson and T.J. Cloutier was epic, with T.J. overcoming Ferguson's huge chip lead only to lose when his A-Q was out-flopped by Fergusons' A-9.

In the preliminary events, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer each won their first bracelet and Ferguson won another in 7-card stud.

Carlos Mortenson won the title in 2001 playing at the first final table with nine players, including poker standouts Mike Matusow, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth and Dewey Tomko.

An unknown patent attorney Greg "Fossilman" Raymer came in 12th in the $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo event that year.

2002 saw a whopping 39 preliminary events, three of which were won by Phil Ivey.

Robert Varkonyi was the Main Event champion, besting 631 hopefuls on his way to winning a then-record $2 million in his first ever WSOP event.

"I won my buy-in in my first ever single-table satellite," Varkonyi told PokerListings.

"I was extremely surprised to make the final table, it was completely unexpected. I was totally pumped with adrenaline, not nervous, just totally out of control excited to be there."

The fact that Varkonyi was a recreational - not professional - poker player caused some to doubt his chances, including Phil Hellmuth, who Varkonyi had doubled through earlier with Q-10 against his A-K.

During the televised final table, Hellmuth memorably promised to shave his head if Varkonyi were to pull out a win.

Eventually Hellmuth was forced to get a trim, but the name Robert Varkonyi was really lost in the shuffle with what happened next.

There is no poker aficionado who does not remember every moment of the 2003 Main Event.

The final nine, outlasting the record 839 who started, included Sammy Farha, Dan Harrington, Jason Lester, Amir Vahedi, David Grey, and David Singer.

But in their midst was a mild-mannered accountant who had dreamed of playing the Main Event since he saw the movie Rounders years earlier.

When Chris Moneymaker turned his online-qualifying win into $2.5 million, poker would never be the same.

Somewhat forgotten was the fact that Layne Flack had his second consecutive two-bracelet WSOP that year or that Ferguson, Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Men "the Master" Nguyen and John Juanda each won two bracelets as well.

Women poker players did well in 2004 with Kathy Liebert, Cyndy Violette and Annie Duke each winning bracelets in open-field events.

But the story that year was the phenomenal increase in Main Event participants due in no small part to Moneymaker's historic win.

A total of 2,576 played and of course Greg Raymer won the $5 million dollar prize. Just like Moneymaker, Raymer had won his seat through an online satellite at PokerStars.

The 2005 WSOP was held outside of Binions for the first time, though the final two days of the Main Event took place in the old haunt.

Aussie Joe Hachem came out on top of the 5,619 person field, taking home $7.5 million.

His supporters' cheers are now legendary as was the final table that had a wide array of talent from the recently paroled Mike Matusow to the loveable everyman Steve Dannenmann.

The final table was also the site of the memorable meltdown from Ireland's Andy Black.

Raymer made a believer of everyone by coming close to repeating, finishing 25th in the big show.

Jennifer Tilly became the first celebrity player to win a bracelet and Doyle and Todd Brunson became the first father/son combo to win bracelets the same year.

If it were not for Jamie Gold, the 2006 WSOP would be remembered for its Player of the Year, Jeff Madsen.

Madsen became the youngest bracelet winner in history taking down the $2,000 NLHE, then won his second bracelet in Short-Handed NLHE six days later.

He also had two third place finishes - one in Omaha 8 and another in Stud Hi/Lo, an astounding feat at any age.

But Gold's $12 million win, outlasting the largest Main Event field ever at 8,773, is the story of 2006 as much for Gold's brash and controversial style as for the legal dustup that his win caused when another player claimed Gold had promised him half.

As if preordained, 2007 Main Event winner Jerry Yang was the anti-Gold. Quiet, pious, unassuming, Yang won $8.25 million with an aggressive, steam-roller approach to the final table that his co-finalists could not match.

With 6,358 players entering, there were 2,415 fewer than the previous year, only the second time in WSOP history that the number of entrants to the Main Event decreased.

Steve Billirakis was crowned the new-youngest bracelet winner in history, breaking Madsen's record from the previous year. Hellmuth won his record 11th bracelet and had a then-record 63 WSOP cashes.

Last year's WSOP set records for attendance (58,720), countries represented (118), and prize pool ($180,676,248).

It also saw the introduction of the November Nine, which ratcheted up the interest in and attention to the final table.

For poker purists who had been decrying the lack of "professional" winners of the Main Event, this final table had many players for whom poker was not just a hobby.

Runner-up Ivan Demidov went on to place third at the WSOP-Europe, David "Chino" Rheem is a respected pro, and eventual $9.1 million winner, the taciturn Dane Peter Eastgate, has proved himself a worthy title-holder.

2008 had a rash of memorable bracelet winners in preliminary events from the brothers Hinkle (Grant and Blair) to first-time bracelet-winners Erick Lindgren, David Singer, Kenny Tran, Nenad Medic, David Benyamine, JC Tran, and John Phan all breaking their "one of the best to never win a bracelet" record - now currently held by Andy Bloch.

So what is in store for 2009?  What records will be set, which will be broken?  Who will be the big story, the one talked about another forty years from now?

Will a big name take the big title, or will another "relative" unknown take poker's biggest prize?

For those answers and a whole lot more, follow PokerListings' Live Reporting from the Rio throughout the 2009 WSOP.

Related Articles:

• 40 years of the WSOP: The beginning
• 40 years of the WSOP: The 70s
• 40 years of the WSOP: The 80s
• 40 years of the WSOP: The 90's

Visit PokerListings.com

Griffin wins $25K Heads-up World Championship

A total of 63 players came in solely focused on the $551,250 first-place prize when play began Saturday.

However, as big names like Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, Andy Bloch and Erick Lindgren all hit the virtual rail, PokerStars LAPT San Jose final tablist Griffin moved his way up the ranks, defeating GrindMode, Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton, David Singer, and Past to push into Sunday's semifinals.

Meeting him there was Blair "yogiblair" Anderson, who had also beaten a stellar crew of rounders, including 2008 WSOP final tablist Scott Montgomery, to book his seat.

Griffin made quick work of Anderson, however, jumping out to an early lead and eventually moving on when his queens bested Anderson's fives.

The other semifinal saw Full Tilt Pro David Benefield taking on Jim "WinnerFish" Kilarjian.

However, it was Benefield making a date with Griffin when he took the lead making trips to beat Kilarjian's flopped pair of aces, then rode an overpair over his top pair.

After both semifinalists were sent packing with $165,375 in prize money, the final began with Griffin taking the lead holding two pair against Benefield's top pair.

A short while later, Benefield turned a pair to go with his open-ender and committed all his chips.

Griffin had trips, they held and the $551,250 first-place prize was his.

Benefield took $315,000 for second.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker Industry Reacts to 2009 Celebrity Apprentice Winner Joan Rivers

On Sunday night, the finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice Season 2 saw comedy icon Joan Rivers defeat World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke in a complex task featuring a silent auction prior to a performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk. On Monday, the poker industry reacted to the decision by real estate mogul and show host Donald Trump.

On the online poker community PocketFives.com, the mood was mixed. Many of poker’s faithful sided with Duke, while others noted that Rivers won the show’s featured task. One PocketFiver noted, “Joan did win the final task. Standard TV entertainment. At least some charities benefit.” In fact, Rivers’ charity (God’s Love We Deliver) and Duke’s charity (Refugees International) earned over $1.2 million combined from the reality series. They will also experience residual exposure from Celebrity Apprentice in the future. On the finale, Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan boasted that his charity, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, was able to construct a $60 million wing at its offices by virtue of the publicity on popular reality program.

Other poker players took exception to the terms used by Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, to describe poker players during the season, which lasted 11 episodes. The Rivers family labeled Duke a “whore,” “pit viper,” and “Nazi” and called poker players “trash.” Duke compared Rivers to a “cancer” in a battle of words. One PocketFives.com poster noted, “Annie deserved to win. And I believe there are a LOT of poker players (who also dabble in the world of business) that may want to b**** slap Joan and Melissa sometime… borderline slanderous statements may come back to bite her.”

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu weighed in on the outcome of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. In a blog posted on Full Contact Poker, Negreanu noted, “Going into the last task, it was pretty clear that Annie was a huge favorite to win. Of the five criteria, she had one of them in the bag- fund raising.” Negreanu revealed that Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, donated $100,000 during the silent auction. Ultimate Bet’s Phil Hellmuth told Poker News Daily that he contributed $80,000. In total, the event raised $460,000, which was triple the take of Rivers’ gala. Negreanu questioned Duke selecting ally and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick with her first pick: “She could have picked Brande last, as Joan did. I was surprised to see this obvious mistake. Seriously, it was a major tactical error. Herschel ended up being a rock star on the challenge.” The elder Rivers selected her daughter with her third and final pick, knowing that Duke would not draft Melissa Rivers to her team.

In the final boardroom, which played out in front of a live studio audience in New York City, the two finalists from Season 1, Morgan and country music star Trace Adkins, were asked for their opinion on who should be the next Celebrity Apprentice. Both favored Rivers, with Morgan claiming that she deserved to win after taking down three of the five criteria on the final task. Adkins’ answer was more cryptic; the singer merely said that Rivers “had that charitable thing.” Negreanu hypothesized, “His vote, and this is all speculation, I think had a little bit to do with the charity chosen. That’s just a total guess on my part, but I think with him being a full-blooded American, he preferred a charity that would benefit people in the U.S.” Duke was playing for Refugees International, an organization that she works closely with as part of Ante Up for Africa.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack extended his congratulations to Duke even though she did not win the reality program’s second celebrity installment. In his Twitter feed, Pollack commented, “Proud of [Duke] 4 an incredible season on C.A. + representing the poker community w/smarts, style + grace! U r our champion + hero!”

The Celebrity Apprentice will return in early 2010 for Season 3, the ninth installment of the show overall.

PokerStars Ante Up for Africa Tournament Raises €260,000

The first ever PokerStars Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament was held last night in Monaco on the eve of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final. The live event raised €260,000 for the Darfur charities.

A total of 40 runners put up €4,000 each to play in the massive fundraiser, creating a €160,000 prize pool that was donated to charity. PokerStars, which sponsored the Monaco tournament, donated another €100,000. In the end, Team PokerStars Pro member Isabelle Mercier emerged as its champion, defeating Teddy Sheringham. However, the grand prize package, a trip to the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, went to Sheringham, a British soccer player who was a member of the Manchester United in the late 1990s.

Rapper Nelly, whose songs “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma,” among others, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, was in attendance in Monaco to raise money for charity. He was flanked by fellow singer Christina Milian, who hit number two on the same chart with “Dip it Low” in 2004. Another musical act to showcase its poker skills was The Dream, who won BET’s Best New Artist in 2008. The band Good Charlotte was represented by its lead singer, Joel Madden, and Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes, a rapper from France, also joined in the festivities. Other celebrity attendees included “Heroes” star James Kyson Lee, “Sex in the City” actor Jason Lewis, U.K. television personality Kirsty Gallacher, Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg, Liverpool goaltender Pepe Reina, and two members of the rugby community, Sebastien Chabal and Mike Tindall.

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu was on-hand for the event in Monaco. He’s fresh off a win in a CAN $2,500 buy-in tournament held during the British Columbia Poker Championships in November for CAN $370,000. “Kid Poker” also took fifth in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for nearly $400,000. That tournament was won by Full Tilt Poker pro John Juanda and represented the first bracelet win for an American in WSOP Europe history. Three former WSOP Main Event champions were on hand in the Principality as well, as Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), and Peter Eastgate (2008) hit the felts for charity. All three are card-carrying members of Team PokerStars Pro. Eastgate holds the record as the youngest Main Event winner ever, taking down last year’s edition at the tender age of 22.

Victor Ramdin, who won the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods Poker Classic in 2006, was also in attendance. His WPT win was worth $1.3 million and saw the Team PokerStars Pro member race through a final table that included Alex Jacob and Edward Jordan. Also in the field on Monday was the runner up in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Vanessa Rousso. One of the top female poker pros in the game, Rousso fell to Huck Seed heads-up. The tournament airs on Sundays on NBC through May 17th and the action starts at Noon ET each week. Dario Minieri, who won his first WSOP bracelet last year in a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, also turned out.

The first day of play in the €10,600 buy-in EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final takes places today with Day 1A. Tomorrow, contestants participating in Day 1B will hit the felts. The survivors will merge together on Thursday for Day 2 and play down to a winner on Sunday. Last year’s champion, Glen Chorny, pocketed €2 million for the win and defeated a record field of 842 players. The final table included Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron, Antonio Esfandiari, and Team PokerStars Pro member Luca Pagano.

Annie Duke, Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein founded Ante Up for Africa three years ago. To date, it has helped raise over $2 million for the cause, including $245,000 generated from NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Scotty Nguyen Among WPT Championship Day 4 Leaders

Sitting with the sixth largest chip stack entering Day 5 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship on Thursday is none other than the winner of the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 HORSE Championship, Scotty Nguyen.

His stack would have been even larger had he not come out on the losing end of a race on one of the last hands of the night holding pocket eights against Andy Miller’s A-Q. The flop came ace-high, sending Miller into the lead in the hand for good and dropping Nguyen to two million chips. He’ll come armed to Thursday’s play with a stack size of 1.8 million. The entire field trails the 4.3 million chips of Eugene Katchalov.

Nguyen was the talk of the town during the day, eliminating crowd favorite Phil Ivey. The Full Tilt Poker pro pushed over the top of a re-raise by Nguyen, who called with A-9. However, he was up against Ivey’s A-K. The reigning HORSE champion told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman, “He seemed like he was weak, so I tried to make a move on him. He happened to have A-K and I had A-9, but I flopped a nine.” Ivey finished in 34th place and took home $40,855 for his efforts; he was among the chip leaders entering the day.

Katchalov took down the 2007 running of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, which was also held at the Bellagio, for $2.5 million. That final table included Devilfish Poker namesake David Ulliott and 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner Ryan Daut. Katchalov finished sixth in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Omaha High-Low Split during the 2008 WSOP for $110,000 in a tournament ultimately won by David Benyamine.

Two players fell by the wayside when there were 52 entrants remaining, abruptly bursting the money bubble. In one hand, Ron Levi found himself all-in holding K-J offsuit against Steven Fung’s pocket eights. The board ran out 5-5-2-7-3 and the pocket eights held. That left 51 players remaining. At the same time, John Martin was eliminated and the final 50 runners at the Bellagio made the money. Traditionally, tables are dealt hand for hand on the money bubble. However, that did not occur on Wednesday.

The top ten in chips entering Day 5 on Thursday are as follows:
1. Eugene Katchalov - 4,294,000
2. Christian Harder - 3,083,000
3. Yevginey "atimos” Timoshenko - 2,613,000
4. Justin Young - 2,553,000
5. Brian Rast - 1,931,000
6. Scotty Nguyen - 1,823,000
7. Andrew Lichtenberger - 1,663,000
8. Freddy Deeb - 1,575,000
9. Ross Boatman - 1,545,000
10. Owen Crowe - 1,500,000

The final elimination of the day occurred when Hyon Kim called an all-in raise from Timoshenko on a board of Q-7-6 with two hearts. Timoshenko, who won last year’s Asian Poker Tour Macau event for a half-million dollars, flipped over 6-7 for bottom two pair. Kim revealed A-9 of hearts for a flush draw. The turn came the eight of diamonds, giving Kim a straight draw, but the river came the nine of clubs, awarding the “W” to Timoshenko and boosting the youngster to the third largest stack overall entering Thursday’s play. All was not lost for Kim, however, who finished in 25th place and earned $49,025 in the $25,000 buy-in tournament, the finale of Season VII of the WPT.

Other notable names that are among the 24 players remaining include:
11. Jeff Madsen - 1,265,000
12. Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier - 1,230,000
18. Eric Liu - 844,000
19. Jennifer Harman - 821,000
20. Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson - 814,000
23. David Grey - 322,000

Besides Ivey, other top pros who saw their chip stacks depleted at the Bellagio on Wednesday included Nenad Medic (27th place for $49,025), Chris Ferguson (28th place for $49,025), Chris Bell (31st place for $40,855), Steve Sung (35th place for $40,855), Liv Boeree (37th place for $40,855), Mark Seif (38th place for $40,855), Boris Becker (40th place for $40,855), David Singer (41st place for $32,685), and David Benynamine (45th place for $32,685).

The final table of the WPT Championship will occur on Saturday. Its lone survivor will pocket $2.1 million.