Poker News

PokerStars Sunday Million: $2m guaranteed

Remember when the Sunday Million was just that? A million dollar guarantee? Those days are long gone as the $1,500,000 guarantee is regularly shattered but now PokerStars are taking another step up, whacking a huge $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool on this Sunday’s edition.

PokerStars Sunday Million: $2m guaranteed

Remember when the Sunday Million was just that? A million dollar guarantee? Those days are long gone as the $1,500,000 guarantee is regularly shattered but now PokerStars are taking another step up, whacking a huge $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool on this Sunday’s edition.

Online Poker Player wins 2nd Sunday Million

Every Sunday evening PokerStars has their big game, the Sunday Million. With a guaranteed prize pool of $1Million, it attracts several thousand players. Most online poker players dream of winning this game.

The Sunday Briefing: UBOC Results and a Two Time Sunday Millions Winner

As the EPT Deauville and Aussie Millions Main Events keep the live poker circuit occupied, the action on the virtual felt may have flown a bit under the radar this weekend. Still, an exciting Sunday of online poker rewarded ten players with...

Antanas “Tony G” Guoga Joins Team PartyPoker

Continuing to add to an already impressive lineup, it was announced early Thursday that top poker professional Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has signed a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.

Guoga, who has been at the forefront of the international poker scene for the past decade, will make his first showing for Team PartyPoker at the Aussie Millions, which began today and is one of the top non-U.S. tournaments on the poker schedule. According to Guoga’s new blog at PartyPoker, he will be participating in the $100,000 Challenge tournament scheduled to start on January 23rd, which draws some of the toughest competition in the game today and features defending champion Howard Lederer. Tony G will also join fellow Team PartyPoker members Bodo Sbrzesny and defending Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott along with 43 qualifiers from PartyPoker for the Aussie Millions Main Event. The AUD $10,000 tournament will feature three starting days that begin on January 24th and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net.

As a part of the new sponsorship deal, Guoga will also be part of one of PartyPoker’s upcoming special events, the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV. This invitation-only tournament is scheduled to take place in February in Las Vegas and includes a formidable lineup. Such players as former World Champion and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, current World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, poker Triple Crown winner Roland De Wolfe, noted poker “bad boy” Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz, and dangerous tournament pro J. C. Tran are scheduled to take to the felt, presenting Tony G with tremendously difficult opposition.

Guoga’s own online poker site, TonyGPoker.com, has been merged into the PartyPoker family. Those players who are a part of TonyGPoker.com will be moved to Noble Poker. Guoga will continue to be an integral part of his online promotions, such as the Sunday Bike Ride (moving to Noble Poker), and will play on PartyPoker under the name “TonyG.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Tony to Team PartyPoker,” a PartyGaming spokesman commented about the newest arrival to the organization. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game and a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players on board.”

Guoga isn’t called “The Mouth From Down Under” for nothing. Known to dismiss his beaten opponents from the table with a curt “On Yer Bike!” Guoga has already issued a challenge for those PartyPoker members playing in the Aussie Millions. “If one of the Party qualifiers knocks me out of the Main Event, I will buy them a bike,” Guoga stated. “First of all, however, I will ride it out myself… I know when it is bike time!”

In his first blog entry on PartyPoker, Guoga also throws down the gauntlet against one of his Premier League IV foes. After speaking glowingly of Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Kara Scott, Tony G dropped the hammer on Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz: “He’s rude, obnoxious and I cannot wait to bust him up. This kid is not the kind of player you feel you can learn from – you just want to bust him.”

Guoga certainly has the ability to bust up many players at the table. His lifetime earnings at the tournament poker tables total nearly $4 million and include the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II championship in 2006. He was also the runner-up in the 2006 PartyPoker Intercontinental Poker Championship in Las Vegas and has cashed 15 times at the WSOP.

Famous for his mouth, it is Guoga’s philanthropic efforts that have earned him a great deal of respect from players and fans. After he won the first ever Asian Poker Tour (APT) event in Singapore in 2006, Tony G donated half the prize money to charity and, after taking down over $200,000 in a Moscow poker tournament in 2007, he turned over the entirety of his winnings to Russian orphanages.

With the addition of Guoga, Team PartyPoker is becoming a formidable challenge in the tournament poker world. After not sponsoring pros for much of its existence, PartyPoker has certainly drawn top talent to its roster. Along with Guoga, Sexton, Sbrzesny, and the two Scotts, other members of Team PartyPoker include France’s Remy Biechel, England’s Ian “The Raiser” Frazer, and Brazil’s Felipe "Mojave" Ramos.

Full Tilt to Double Guaranteed Prizepools

As part of the $25 Million Double Guarantees Week, Full Tilt will double the money offered in each of its guaranteed prizepool tournaments for one week.

The promo includes tournaments like the Sunday Brawl, which will be bumped up to $800,000 guaranteed and the Sunday Mulligan, which will offer $400,000 in guaranteed cash.

Full Tilt’s biggest tournament – the Sunday $750,000 guaranteed – will be upgraded to $1.5 million guaranteed for the promotion.

Full Tilt representatives are already speculating it will be the biggest Sunday ever for the site in terms of cash awarded.

Other notable tournaments affected by the $25 Million Double Guarantees Week include the $1k Monday, which will offer $600k guaranteed, the Daily Dollar, which will double to $20k guaranteed and the $200k Double Deuce, which will be boosted up to $400k guaranteed.

For more information check the Full Tilt website.

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The Sunday Briefing: Cunningham and Madsen Go Deep; “JAMA1CA2008″ Wins Big

Six-figure scores were prominent on the virtual felt this weekend as ten players pocketed huge scores for their efforts. The largest went to "JAMA1CA2008", winning the Full Tilt $1 Million Guarantee for $225,368.33. The professionals put up...

AceQuad wins $179,000 for Sunday Million victory

Rolling in like a gigantic freight train, the PokerStars Sunday Million again surpassed expectations this week as 8,885 players came together to create a $1,777,000 prize pool; begging the question – when will it become the Sunday $2,000,000?

The Sunday Briefing: “Isetit” and “imahustla1″ Win Sunday Titles

Although a large part of the online poker community is still on Paradise Island for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that did not stop throngs of entrants across the board on all the sites Sunday. The biggest winner was "Isetit," who took home a...

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 1b: The Ladies Make Waves

The sun has set on Day 1b of the PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure, but not before another record-setting field was assembled. The Imperial Ballroom saw 846 players file in this afternoon, bringing the total for this seventh annual PCA to over...

The Sunday Briefing: “uyra99″ Starts off the New Year With a Six-Figure Win

The first Sunday of 2010 came and went just like any Sunday on the virtual felt: big tournaments were played and big money was made. "Uyra99" battled 8,900 entrants in the PokerStars Sunday Million for a $254,184 score. Over on Full Tilt Poker...

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 2010

Essentially it was pretty quiet in the poker world.

Despite the lack of news there were still a few stories that didn’t make the front page and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we’ve compiled them below.

This week we’ll take a look at a rising online star, UB.com making a deal with an NHL team, a huge payout on the International Poker Network and more.

UB.net Signs Deal With Calgary Flames

UB.net is getting put on ice.

The company announced this week it has inked a deal with the NHL’s Calgary Flames that will see the UB.net logo displayed on Pengrowth Saddledome’s boards throughout the month of January.

A tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 2, 2010, will mark the debut of the advertisement for the free poker site.

To celebrate the Calgary collaboration, UB.net is giving away four pairs of tickets to the Flames and Ottawa Senators’ game on March 11.

To qualify players can participate in one of the eight daily UB.net online satellite tournaments with the top 100 players from each qualifier winning a seat into the Sunday main event scheduled for 15:00 ET.

Each main event will award two tickets to the Flames and Senators and $1,000 cash for travel expenses.

The promotion is open to Canadian and U.S. players. Check the UB.com website for more information.

XBLINK Closes In On $1 Million

In the spirit of Isildur1 and Martonas, UB.com has its own run-up story in the form of online player XBLINK.

According to PokerListings’ Online Poker Stars section XBLINK has made $741,864 playing No-Limit Hold’em in the past two months and consistently ranks in the top 10 biggest pots on UB.com.

What’s even more impressive is that TwoPlusTwo forum member 89blist outed himself as the aforementioned XBLINK and said it all started with an $11 tournament for the last of his bankroll.

XBLINK said he won the tournament and then went on the mother of all heaters, complete with some questionable bankroll decisions. He's no Martonas or Isildur1 but poker fans are starting to take notice.

SC Attorney General Appeals Poker Case

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has launched an appeal against a Judge’s decision to overturn a conviction of five Mount Pleasant poker players.

The incident occurred back in 2006, when the five players were arrested for taking part in a home game.

Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis threw out the case saying that Hold’em in a private residence does not violate the state’s gambling laws. He went on to say that poker was clearly a skill game.

Now McMaster says that it’s irrelevant whether skill or luck is involved and that it was the legislature’s goal to ban all gaming for any amount of money in designated locations.

No timetable has been set for when the case will be heard.

IPN Awards €507,144 Jackpot

The International Poker Network, which is home to BetClic and PokerHeaven, awarded a €507,144 bad beat jackpot this week.

Online player 72osRocks! Saw his quad kings get cracked by Nogis22’s Royal Flush, which was enough to earn the entire table a huge payday.

72osRocks earned €177,500, Nogis22 picked up €88,750 while the other three players at the table each pocketed €29,583.

Despite the recent payout, the bad beat jackpot on BetClic and IPN is already back up to €146,469 as of mid-week. For more information check the BetClic website.

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PokerStars Guinness World Record Attempt Attracts 149,196 Players

On a night when Full Tilt Poker’s software went down much to the dismay of players everywhere, PokerStars set the Guinness World Record for largest online poker tournament ever held. The event weighed in at 149,196 entrants.

The mark to beat was 65,000 players, set by PokerStars back in July, meaning that the site trumped the standing record by nearly 85,000. PokerStars was quick to put its record-shattering attendance into perspective, saying, “It would fill the Rose Bowl or Wembley stadiums and still have another 60,000 people with tickets waiting outside in the tailgating parking lot.” In addition, the attendance represented well over 20 times the field of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and 30 times the number of rooms at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The Guinness World Record attempt was a $1 buy-in tournament that guaranteed $300,000 in the prize pool. It played out in less than six hours in a Turbo format and oskar69 earned an amazing $50,000 for first place, or 50,000 times his buy-in. Text found on PokerStars’ website admits, “We're sure oskar69 is happy about the ROI from the win today, as no deal was reached and the entire $50,000.00 was awarded for besting this massive field.” Second place went to Bommel222, who earned a not-so-paltry $30,000. A total of 30,000 players finished in the money.

Others who made the final table in the historic poker tournament included TLWPB (third place for $20,000), willis59 (fourth place for $10,000), kruglay (fifth place for $8,000), madmick62 (sixth place for $6,500), DS1982 (seventh place for $5,250), denmil53 (eighth place for $4,000), and bigsnapper7 (ninth place for $3,000). The top 16 players grabbed at least $1,000 for their 100-penny contribution to the pot.

The PokerStars Sunday Million, the site’s hallmark $215 buy-in weekly high-stakes poker tournament, drew 9,344 entrants yesterday, creating a prize pool of $1.8 million. In the end, PokerStars member coach6999 banked $266,000 for the win, defeating BBOY3110 heads-up. The second place finisher claimed a $196,000 consolation prize and the top 1,350 spots paid out. Others who reached the feature table in the Sunday Million included tsakalias (third place for $139,132), schnaggels19 (fourth place for $93,440), mystinen60 (fifth place for $74,752), OBVAMENTS (sixth place for $56,064), robvleugel (seventh place for $37,376), plusmillion (eighth place for $20,557), and Mr Puckey (ninth place for $13,082).

The Sunday Warm-Up, another $215 buy-in online poker tournament that played out on PokerStars yesterday, generated a field of 4,605 entrants, shattering its $750,000 guaranteed prize pool. In the end, NinjasTyle87 banked $144,000 for first place, while .dmmarquez finished with a $107,000 bankroll boost for second place. The top 675 players finished in the money and others who could be found jumping for joy on Sunday afternoon included JBlaze20 (third place for $75,983), montjeu8 (fourth place for $52,037), Comeback2008 (fifth place for $39,143), Steinapride (sixth place for $29,933), haneferd (seventh place for $20,723), ReadOnYou (eighth place for $11,513), and pokerwille (ninth place for $7,368).

Appropriately, PokerStars is the industry’s largest online poker site, according to PokerScout.com, boasting a seven-day running average of 27,800 real money ring game players. During its peak hours, nearly 50,000 call the site home. PokerScout.com claims that PokerStars’ traffic has grown by 37% year over year and, at the time of writing, which is late morning Eastern Time on Monday, 36,000 cash game players are seated. That figure represents more than double the number of players currently found on Full Tilt Poker, the world’s second largest site.

Full Tilt Poker’s $750,000 Guaranteed, Sunday Mulligan, and Sunday Brawl, among other events, did not play out on Sunday due to a software malfunction. Players were refunded based on their chip counts at the time of the crash.

The Sunday Briefing: PokerStars Breaks New World Record

It was anything but a typical Sunday on the virtual felt as the last weekend of 2009 came to a close in unusual fashion. PokerStars broke the Guinness Book of World Records for holding the biggest online poker tournament in history. To be exact...

TwoPlusTwo Sues Dutch Boyd

World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Russell “Dutch” Boyd may be best known for his career as a professional poker player, but he has also supplemented his income over the years by cyber-speculating, registering a number of poker-related domain names and making money off the traffic that goes to those sites.  Boyd’s side job appears to have gotten him in hot water, as the owners and operators of TwoPlusTwo Publishing have filed a suit over his ownership of the domain name TwoPlusTwoPoker.com.

The Las Vegas Sun broke news of the suit earlier this month.  The Sun story said TwoPlusTwo Publishing accused Boyd of cyber-squatting on the domain and considered it to be an instance of trademark infringement.  Within the article, Boyd commented on the legal action, noting, “It is never fun to be sued, especially by someone you look up to and respect professionally.''  Boyd had choice words for TwoPlusTwo owner Mason Malmouth in particular, whom he accused of bullying.  Boyd was not the only alleged cyber-squatter sued by the publishing company.  A lawsuit was filed against Anthony Scocozza, who purchased a similar domain name at the beginning of the year.  Boyd originally purchased his URL in July of 2004, but has since transferred ownership of the site over to the publishing group.

The article in the Sun proved to just be the beginning of the story though and the drama continued, appropriately enough, on the TwoPlusTwo Poker Forums.  Boyd responded to a thread linked to the article and offered his side of the story, stating that he regretted registering the domain name in the first place, but confirmed that the ownership of the domain name was transferred over to Greenberg Traurig, the law firm representing the interests of TwoPlusTwo.

A week later, Malmouth posted a thorough explanation of why the company filed suit, including scans of two cease and desist letters sent to Boyd by Greenberg Traurig on behalf of the company.  Malmouth also offered an explanation as to why TwoPlusTwo did not drop the suit since they now have control over the domain name in question: “Due to the length of time the registration was owned by Mr. Boyd, and his blatant infringement, we informed Boyd that the expiration of the TwoPlusTwoPoker.com would not resolve the dispute. At the very least, we needed to know exactly how much revenue the domain name and website had generated and how much traffic the site received.”

Malmouth went on to report that their representation repeatedly tried to settle out of court with Boyd, but the two parties were unable to come anywhere close to an agreement.  According to Malmouth, a final e-mail from his attorneys to Boyd letting him know they were left with no choice but to file suit was met with a terse response of “F*** Off.”

Under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), registrants cannot register any domain names that infringe upon the rights of a third party.   More specifically, the URL cannot be identical or similar to a pre-existing trademark and the registrant cannot use that domain name in bad faith.  Boyd responded in the thread, posting an excerpt of trademark law that suggests because TwoPlusTwo did not meet the notice requirement necessary in order to obtain profits or damages.  Moreover, Boyd asserted that the site earned no more than $200 in profits during the five years it was under his ownership.

This is not the first time Boyd’s purchase of domain names has landed him in the spotlight.  In October of 2008, Boyd went to arbitration with online poker room PokerHost over his use of the website, PokerHost.net.  Boyd registered that URL in 2004 and PokerHost alleged his usage of the site was in violation of UDRP since the company obtained the URL PokerHost.com two years prior.  However, because the online site did not launch its gaming services until after Boyd registered the domain name, the judge arbitrating the case ruled in favor of Boyd, saying the term was a generic domain name at time of registration and not a pre-existing trademark.

Top 5 of 2009: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top 5 Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we continue today with No. 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko started playing poker online when he was just 15 years old.

With wins in the PokerStars Sunday Million, the daily $100 rebuy and the Sunday $200 rebuy online, plus solid live results in prelims at the Irish Poker Open, Paris Open, the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker Europe, EPT Barcelona and a win in the 2008 APPT Macau main event, he was a poker-made millionaire even before his 21st birthday.

But it’s the feats he accomplished soon after turning 21 that suddenly has the entire world convinced he is one of poker’s brightest new stars.

With the smell of spring in the Las Vegas air, the Ukranian-born and Washington State raised Timoshenko proved he was a force to be reckoned with this past April, winning more than $2.1 million and one of poker’s most prestigious crowns at the Season 7 WPT Championship.

This one win would have been enough to cement his status as one of the game’s young greats, but Timoshenko’s year had just begun.

His summer was spent collecting close to $100k in cashes from the 2009 World Series of Poker, but another massive score was right around the corner.

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event is by far the most coveted online title in the game and this September, Timoshenko booked the win, adding $1.7 million to his online MTT winnings.

PokerListings caught up with the budding superstar just weeks later as he found himself among the leaders in the final 36 of the WSOPE main event.

At the time, he explained how his game was designed for both the virtual felt and the kind you can touch and feel.

"I think my game is very adaptable to both online and live play," he said. "If you are just good at reading people you are not going to have as much success online and if you're only good at the math and playing ABC, you might do well online, but you're probably not going to do well live."

Winning two of poker’s biggest tournaments in a single year has obviously helped Timoshenko earn a few fans, especially among his peers.

“Yevgeniy is one of, if not the best tournament player around,” said EPT San Remo and WSOP Bracelet winner Jason Mercier. “I really like his game. I got the chance to play against him for the first time live deep in a 1k event at Bellagio a few weeks ago. I was pretty much plowing through the entire field until he showed up at my table. We have similar styles, which makes him tough to play against.

“One of the things that makes him so good is that he is almost always one level above everyone else at the table. In my opinion, there is no one better at No-Limit Hold’em tournaments.”

With more than $2.2 million in live tournament earnings this year, and another $2.2 million won online, including two of the most prestigious titles on either stage, Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s year was an easy choice for No. 4 on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

 

PokerListings' Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009:

• No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz
  

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Chris Moorman makes Sunday Million final table

Despite coming to the final table of the Sunday Million with the largest stack – he probably had his opponents ready to just roll over and give up right there – Chris Moorman secured an eighth place finish in the world’s largest regular online tournament.

Bodog Running 12 Days of Poker Promotion

With the Christmas holiday upon us, many poker players have presents lined up under their trees waiting to be opened. In keeping with the holiday spirit, top online poker room Bodog is offering more presents for players as part of the 12 Days of Poker promotion.

Due to end on December 27th, the promotion gives out entries to players who participate in cash games and tournaments on the site through the accumulation of Bodog Poker Points. For every 25 and 75 Bodog Poker Points that a player earns, they will be entered once for prizes being awarded that day.

Some of the prizes that have been dished out so far over the first few days of Bodog’s 12 Days of Poker promotion include a Sony Bravia 52" HDTV, a Sony Home Theater system, a Sony PlayStation 3 (which was won by Bodog player “lionking2x”), and a TomTom GPS system (won by “salsx”). If these prizes aren’t big enough, Bodog has also handed out 25 seats to its weekly $100,000 Guaranteed, which has been dubbed by many as one of the best value buys for online poker players due to its perennial overlay.

With about a week to go in the Bodog 12 Days of Poker promotion, there are still plenty of great opportunities to pick up a Christmas gift from the online poker site. Up for grabs on Monday are five seats to the $100,000 Guaranteed and a Sony Vaio laptop. Over the remaining run of the promotion, Bodog will give away two more Sony Bravia HDTVs, a Sony Vaio Desktop Computer, a Samsung 55" LED LCD TV, a Sony HD Camcorder, a Canon PowerShot camera, and more seats into the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed.

Even though there are some highly valuable prizes available, the $100,000 Guaranteed tickets might be one of the most coveted rewards during Bodog’s 12 Days of Poker. In the most recent $100,000 Guaranteed, played on December 20th, 451 players showed up for battle on Bodog’s virtual felts. With the $150 buy-in, this meant that Bodog added over $32,000 from its pockets for the tournament’s guarantee to be met. Of the players who entered in the $100,000 Guaranteed, it was first place finisher “mattlee3” who walked away with the $25,000 grand prize, with runner up “cbo187” ($15,000), and third place finisher “Suraj128” ($9,500), also taking away large chunks of cash.

With the 12 Days of Poker promotion, Bodog is looking to share the holiday spirit with its patrons and spread its own Christmas cheer. For a full list of the prizes being offered each day, visit Bodog and get in on the action.

The Sunday Briefing: Michael “dapalma150” Palma is Sunday’s Biggest Winner

The Holiday season is in full swing and gifts of the six-figure kind were up for grabs this weekend on the virtual felt. The largest score of the day went to Michael “dapalma150” Palma, collecting $206,512.78 for his second-place finish in the...

On the Rail at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

There was certainly a lot of excitement at Saturday’s fast-paced final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but there were plenty of interesting stories taking place on the rail as well.  The stacked table of six had their respective cheering sections in attendance and big-name pros including Daniel Negreanu, Full Tilt Pro Greg “FBT” Mueller, Bodog’s Justin Bonomo, and the tournament’s namesake, Doyle Brunson, were all in attendance.

Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer may not have been the most recognizable face to the casual poker fan, but the longtime online pro had one of the largest cheering sections with Darryll “df1986” Fish, Isaac Haxton, Bonomo, UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Scott “gunning4you” Seiver, and Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar all rooting him on.  This was O’Dwyer’s first career televised final table, so his peers came out in full force to cheer him on.

“Even those he’s had trouble with these big tournaments for the past year, he’s been sticking with it and it’s finally paying off for him.  He’s very driven to do well,” Fish explained to Poker News Daily.  O’Dwyer informed us that this was only his second World Poker Tour (WPT) cash, with the first one coming in the Bahamas in 2007.

Levy delayed his return home to Los Angeles to stick around and cheer on O’Dwyer.  While Levy liked O’Dwyer’s chances, especially if he could get down to shorter-handed play, he predicted early in the final table that Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka and Daniel Alaei would pose the most trouble to everyone else. “Faraz is obviously good.  Alaei is good too.  Shawn Buchanan doesn’t have a huge stack, but he’s still in the mix.”

Jaka also had several friends in attendance who showed their support for their notoriously stylish friend by each donning one of his signature hats.  For those who may not be familiar with the online poker pro known as “The-Toliet,” Jaka has worn everything from a fedora to a toboggan at the poker table and, last night, sported a dapper vest and newsboy hat combo.  One player cheering Jaka on was Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts, who was also in attendance when Jaka made his first WPT final table appearance at the Bellagio Cup back in July.

Poker News Daily asked Roberts if he thought this final table would be more or less interesting than the Bellagio Cup’s.  “That last final table was so long,” he said.  “There were a lot of exciting components, but hopefully this one will be more interesting; there are a lot of good players at the table.”  Roberts also had nothing but kind words about his friend: “[He’s] one of the friendliest people I’ve met in the poker world.  He’s a sicko.”

Nguyen was one of the fan favorites at the table and the room cleared out quite a bit after his elimination in fifth place.  Buchanan’s rail, which included longtime friend and fellow Canadian Mueller, also made their exit following Buchanan’s elimination.  Negreanu arrived to the final table a little later in the action, as did Haralabos Voulgaris and Jeff Madsen.  They stuck around for the heads-up match between Alaei and Josh Arieh, as did Alaei’s father, Eddie.

The elder Alaei stuck around for the duration of the final table watching his son in action, but stepped out for a minute during heads-up play.  While he was away, Arieh and Alaei got it all-in with the title on the line and he almost missed his son’s moment in the sun.  Thankfully, Negreanu apparently tipped him off that a big hand was brewing and Eddie ran back just in time to catch the last of the action.

As Alaei was posing for photos with the winning hand and prize money, Eddie repeatedly thanked Negreanu and told the pro he owed him one.  Then, in one of the more heartwarming moments of the evening, father and son posed together for photos and headed out of the ballroom to celebrate Alaei’s first WPT victory.

The Sunday Briefing: Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse Banks Sunday Score

When the dust settled on Sunday's virtual felt, Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse was without a doubt the day’s biggest winner, claiming $245,897.13 in the PokerStars Sunday Million. Making deep runs in simultaneous tournaments (finishing 13th in the...

Rousso Books Bootcamp Dates

"My biggest passion outside of playing poker is in teaching poker strategy,” Rousso said. “I love watching that light bulb go off in my students' minds when they discover something new."

While attending the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Rousso also plans to launch her 2010 Boot Camp schedule with a "Strategy Symposium Under the Sun" set for Jan. 10.

Following the PCA, the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship runner-up will head to Biloxi, Mississippi where she will then host a two-day "Poker Tournament Theory Boot Camp & Tournament" Jan. 22 at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino.

The past 12 months have been huge for the 27-year-old Rousso, as she upped her career earnings to over $4 million, was featured in a two-page spread in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and signed on as the newest spokeswoman for GoDaddy.com.

In addition to her deep run at the NBC Heads-Up Championship, Rousso also booked her biggest career win taking down the PokerStars European Poker Tour High Roller Event in Monte Carlo for $940,000 this past April.

Now she claims to have developed a poker boot camp curriculum allowing participants to learn high-level poker strategy and game theory in an interactive learning environment that incorporates learn-by doing simulations and educational sessions.

Rousso says one of her biggest thrills is watching her teaching techniques put into action.

"It is very exciting when their confidence level improves as a result of implementing what they have learned at my bootcamp,” she said. “One of my students raked in $40,000 at the Main Event during the World Series of Poker!"

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The Sunday Briefing: “ran77″ Banks a Sunday Million Win, Pros Perform Well

It was an exciting Sunday of online poker as well-know players performed well all across the virtual felt. The largest score of the day in the PokerStars Sunday Million was $238,685.72, and in the Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee it was...

Online Poker Tournament Recap for November 30th

Brazilian online poker pro Caio Cesar “caio_pimenta” Pimenta was the big winner on the virtual felts Sunday with his victory in the PokerStars Sunday Million, the site’s weekly flagship event. Pimenta outlasted a field of 9,077 players to claim a prize of $259,243.98, the 19-year-old’s largest online score to date.

PokerStars trumped every other site on Sunday with its $1,815,400 prize pool in the Sunday Million. Joining Pimenta at the final table was Team PokerStars Pro member Johnny Lodden, who ultimately took fifth for $72,616.00 after his A-K couldn’t catch up to the pocket kings of Pimenta. The Brazilian pro began the final table with the chip lead and went wire-to-wire, scooping the final pot of the tournament when he made a full house against runner-up KillerMendez.

Several other online pros had success on PokerStars on Sunday. Anthony “holdplz” Spinella took down the Sunday Second Chance after besting a loaded final table that included Michael “anakinso” Goodman, Bryan “Squirrely1″ Sapp, Adam “akat11″ Katz, and Walter “JLizard” Wright. Spinella earned $49,613.12 for his efforts. Laurence “rivermanl” Houghton headlined the final table of the Sunday Warm-Up and took fourth place for $52,296.40. Joe “floes” Serock also made that final table, collecting $11,570 for his eighth place finish.

On Full Tilt Poker, “WooohSaaah” was the winner of the $750,000 Guaranteed, earning $154,233.71. Michael “Pot Odds 3” McNeil took eighth in the event for $15,721.20. In the Sunday Brawl, mikkelstrack walked away with $96,010.22 after defeating a field of 2,794 players and a final table that included Carder “SpazIsPlusEV” England (fourth place for $40,792.40) and Andy “BKiCe” Seth (sixth place for $18,999.20).

Here’s a look at the results from Sunday’s major online tournaments:

PokerStars Sunday Million
$215 buy-in, 9,077 entrants

1st: Caio Cesar “caio_pimenta” Pimenta – $259,243.98
2nd: KillerMendez – $164,562.50
3rd: floriverboy – $135,156.53
4th: joaoMathias – $90,770.00
5th: Johnny “johnnylodden” Lodden – $72,616.00
6th: buddahead9 – $54,462.00
7th: LAPINKY – $36,308.00
8th: BRzRoll – $19,969.40
9th: bo0ort – $12,707.80

Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed
$216 buy-in, 4,367 entrants

1st: WooohSaaah – $154,233.71
2nd: Hand Banana7 – $93,366.46
3rd: Beat Man – $61,138.00
4th: jesseja77 – $48,037.00
5th: city17 – $36,071.42
6th: sweepybreedy – $26,726.04
7th: based – $20,088.20
8th: Michael “Pot Odds 3” McNeil – $15,721.20
9th: I use 5cards – $11,703.56

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up
$215 buy-in, 4,628 entrants

1st: Mr. Shanish – $116,468.22
2nd: angevert – $106,468.22
3rd: $saxo$ – $106,468.22
4th: Laurence “rivermanl” Houghton – $52,296.40
5th: cspdealer – $39,338.00
6th: CruSader1981 – $30,082.00
7th: Bahneyyy – $20,826.00
8th: Joe “floes” Serock – $11,570.00
9th: melano26 – $7,404.80

Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl
$256 buy-in, 2,794 entrants

1st: mikkelstrack – $96,010.22
2nd: YrrsiNN – $72,201.87
3rd: Snusarn1 – $72,630.71
4th: Carder “SpazIsPlusEV” England – $40,792.40
5th: Jotagran49 – $28,498.80
6th: Andy “BKiCe” Seth – $18,999.20
7th: PrishChips31 – $12,852.40
8th: uzzyking – $8,940.80
9th: dadoudinet – $6,705.60

PokerStars Sunday 500
$530 buy-in, 1,033 entrants

1st: liutas.a – $89,147.90
2nd: Blue Knight1 – $64,562.50
3rd: SENORSEXY – $49,067.50
4th: Jeremy “JBurleson” Burleson – $35,948.40
5th: Jason “Taknapotin” Somerville – $25,566.75
6th: Jason “JERRRY” Glass – $20,401.75
7th: aylinka18 – $15,236.75
8th: EMakers9186 – $10,071.75
9th: hitthehole – $5,681.50

Cake Poker $250,000 Guaranteed
$268 buy-in, 1,286 entrants

1st: PIIIGEEEOOON – $63,607
2nd: thepokerkinq – $44,654
3rd: LawyerDad – $29,812
4th: IL LAUREATO – $22,038
5th: paulgees822 – $14,906
6th: xfaithlessx – $11,276
7th: SomeDumGuy – $8,256
8th: Kakakahahaha – $6,168
9th: iamchainsaw – $5,204

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance
$215 buy-in, 1,366 entrants

1st: Anthony “holdplz” Spinella – $49,613.12
2nd: Bryan “Squirrely1” Sapp – $36,062.40
3rd: Adam “akat11” Katz – $27,320.00
4th: parksy1066 – $20,490.00
5th: bbs99 – $14,343.00
6th: Michael “anakinso” Goodman – $11,611.00
7th: The Mooks – $8,879.00
8th: SPOTLIGHT19 – $6,147.00
9th: Walter “JLizard” Wright – $3,824.80

UB.com $200,000 Guaranteed
$215 buy-in, 1,054 entrants

1st: Ben “XTHESTEINX” Zamani – $39,267.00
2nd: 99NVRLOSEZ – $35,945.00
3rd: Adam “AKAT11” Katz – $19,077.40
4th: CHIPMICK09 – $13,596.60
5th: JMEWNIE – $11,488.60
6th: ILIKEPONIES – $9,380.60
7th: BAZOOKA87 – $7,272.60
8th: ANIMAL5050 – $5,164.60
9th: Nick “SHIPKINS” Grippo – $3,583.60

The Sunday Briefing: Caio_Pimenta’s Six-Figure Sunday

The Sunday Majors delivered solid turnouts across the virtual felt this holiday weekend as post — Thanksgiving travel did not slow down online poker action. The PokerStars Sunday Million produced a field of 9,077 hopefuls, with Caio César...

British Columbia Poker Championship Winner Sophon Sek Arrested

Less than a day after winning this year’s British Columbia Poker Championship and earning the first place prize of $364,364, 30 year-old Sophon Sek was arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering.  As a result, his prize money is being held at the casino at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and there is a chance it will be confiscated from Sek altogether.

Sek is the sixth person arrested in connection with the Surrey Six murder case.  In October of 2007, six people were shot in the head and killed in the Surrey area high rise apartment building Balmoral Towers.  The murders are believed to be an act of gang violence, as four of the six victims were known to be part of the British Columbia drug trade.  The men suspected in the murders are members of the Red Scorpions, one of the largest and most influential gangs in British Columbia.  The Surrey Six slayings are considered to be one of the worst instances of gang violence in modern British Columbian history.

The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that Sek is believed to be an associate of the Red Scorpions as well.  Statements from Corporal Dale Carr of the police force gave little insight on why Sek was arrested and faced lesser charges than the other five men previously detained in the killings, but the Sun reported that Sek is not believed to be one of the murderers. According to the paper, the RCMP believe that it was Sek who let the perpetrators into the high rise, though it is still unclear whether or not he was aware of their intentions.

Howard Blank, Vice President of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, reported that the RCMP requested Sek’s winnings from the $2,700 (CDN) buy-in event.  Sek outlasted a field of 679 players including poker pros Gavin Smith, “Yukon” Brad Booth, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who made the final table, finishing in seventh place.

Sek was set to return to River Rock Casino in Vancouver, the site of the event, to pick up his winnings Monday, but his arrest prevented him from doing so.  He is currently being held in custody until his trial date on November 30th.  His lawyer, Alan Ip, spoke to the British Columbia Globe and Mail about the seizure of Sek’s winnings.  According to Ip, unless the money was taken as evidence in the case, it was unjustly seized.  Carr told the Sun he was not aware of the RCMP’s request for the casino to hold the funds and could not provide an explanation as to why the money would be seized in relation to the case.  Ip also emphasized how saddened his client was at the prospect of losing his tournament earnings, as he planned to pursue his love for poker and play in other events in the future.

One of the five other suspects in the case, Dennis Karbonavec, has already pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.  Following his admission of guilt, three others were arrested in relation to the case in April of 2008 and have been in pretrial custody ever since.  The charges against the men include first and second degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and various firearms-related charges.

This is not the first time Sek has had a run in with the police.  He was previously charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in July of 2008.

Report: UIGEA Regulations Postponed Six Months

The regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) have been delayed six months from December 1st, according to Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan.

Neither U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner nor Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had made any official comment regarding a six-month delay at press time. The two government officials received petitions to stay the UIGEA’s regulations by one year in letters filed by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation. Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) asked the two officials to uphold the original December 1st industry compliance deadline in a dissenting opinion.

The news comes one week ahead of a hearing in the House Financial Services Committee regarding two internet gambling bills introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) in May that would alter the landscape of the industry in the United States. The first, HR 2266, would have postponed the regulations of the UIGEA by one year to December 1st, 2010. Its viability given today’s news of a likely six-month postponement is up in the air. The measure had attracted 53 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle.

HR 2267, claiming 63 co-sponsors, creates a full licensing and regulatory framework for the internet gambling industry in the United States. It marks Frank’s latest attempt to undo the UIGEA, which was passed in 2006 after being attached to an unrelated port security measure at the prompting of then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). In the Senate, the SAFE Port Act was passed by unanimous consent.

On the hearing next week, which will be held at 10:00am ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building on Thursday, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman told Poker News Daily, “Chairman Frank is clearly indicating his commitment to switch the government’s position on Internet gambling, replacing attempts to prohibit the activity with a regulatory framework where consumers are protected. Chairman Frank’s commitment is further reinforced by scheduling this hearing and taking up this issue on the heals of the push for financial industry reform, which has been the committee’s exclusive focus the last six months.”

The six-month window will take the internet gambling industry to June 1st, right before election season in the United States in 2010. While issues like health care and a sagging economy have taken center stage since late 2008, internet gambling may finally see its day in the sun. Brennan explained his thoughts on the breaking news: “It’s encouraging that you’ve had this stay on the compliance, but it’s unfortunate that it took this long. We should all hope that in the next six months, a bill that already has 63 co-sponsors can be heard.”

To be clear, no official comment from the Treasury or Federal Reserve was available at the time of writing. With December 1st occurring next Tuesday, a stay likely had to be granted today or Monday, November 30th given the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Word breaking on Black Friday was also a possibility.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on this developing story.

The Sunday Briefing: Jose “papadelpoker” De La Guardia Wins Sunday Million With No Deal

It was business as usual this weekend as the regular docket of Sunday majors took place. The biggest winner of the day was Jose “papadelpoker” De La Guardia, winning the PokerStars Sunday Million for over a quarter million dollars. Meanwhile...

Huge fields, poker pros dominate big online Sunday

The huge fields weren't a problem for noted poker pros Marc Karam, Chris "Genius28" Lee, Gary Jones, Christina Lindley and Adam Junglen, who all booked massive scores.

On Full Tilt there were a total of four FTOPS XIV titles awarded as the series drew to a close. All four events featured a notable pro at the final table.

Poker commentator and Full Tilt Pro Gary Jones made the final table of the two-day $2,500+$120 Hold'em event, but was eventually ousted in fourth for $193,462. Online player obiedman went on to win the tournament for $539,350, the biggest payout of FTOPS XIV.

In the meantime, Lee, or Genius28, outlasted 1,166 players to take down the FTOPS XIV $109 PLO rebuy event for $93,302.

Elsewhere, Lindley was a force to be reckoned with in the $129 NL Hold'em Knockout event. The Maxim model made it all the way to heads-up before she was beaten by little chief17.

Fortunately for Lindley, there was a deal made three-handed that saw her guaranteed at least $100,000 and when all was done and said, Lindley won $106,460 for her second place finish. Little chief17 received $125,959 for winning the event.

The $535 FTOPS XIV main event would draw 5,471 runners, enough to make it the biggest FTOPS final of all time.

Of all the recognizable pros who entered it was Poker VT instructor Junglen who had the most impressive run.

Junglen outlasted 5,469 players before finally busting in third place for $290,418. Online player zhivago2 went on to win the record-setting event for $418,839.

Over on PokerStars, tournament organizers were celebrating having handing out $250 million in prize money over the site's history by upping the usual $1.5 million guarantee for the Sunday Million by $1 million.

The move paid off as a record-breaking 18,283 players bought in to create a prize pool of $3.6 million.

There were no big name pros at the final table as Canadian Zadman5311 took down first place for $282,662 following a six-way deal.

Meanwhile, as the entire poker world was sat railing the massive Sunday Million, EPT3 grand final runner-up Marc Karam, who plays online as mysterio6044, had his way with the PokerStars Sunday 500.

The Canadian pro outlasted all 1,228 entrants to secure the first place prize of $102,568.

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The Sunday Briefing: Huge Paydays on Both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars

Prize pools were bumped up across the virtual felt on Sunday with Full Tilt’s FTOPS XIV coming to a close and PokerStars upping its Sunday Million Guarantee by $1 million. Huge paydays resulted. Pat “obiedman” O’Brien collected the biggest...