Poker News

Maria Ho Video Interview

Maria Ho gained mainstream fame by appearing with her good friend Tiffany Michelle in the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race” last year. Those in the poker world, especially those that frequent the legendary Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, know that Maria Ho is a lot more than just a pretty face. Known for being one of the best high stakes live Limit Hold’em players, she joins us right before the start of her World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1. In this interview she talks about her role on Team China with World Team Poker and growing up in a Chinese household which prepared her for the world of being a poker pro as well as her strategy going into the Main Event.

Liv Boeree and UB.com Renegotiating Contract

Rumblings around the Amazon Room, site of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, have Liv Boeree and UB.com parting ways. However, Poker News Daily can independently confirm that the two sides are actively renegotiating Boeree’s contract.

Boeree made waves in April after taking down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) San Remo Main Event for $1.7 million. She bested the largest European EPT field ever of 1,240 in the process and defeated Sweden’s Jakob Carlsson heads-up. Boeree’s win was the latest in the so-called Year of the Woman, which also included Annie Duke winning the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and Vanessa Selbst taking down the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun Main Event.

Poker News Daily has learned that Boeree’s contract has expired, but the two sides are pursuing a new deal. A UB.com spokesperson explained on Thursday, “Liv’s contract has expired. We are in contract renegotiation discussions now.” The negotiations are expected to come to a head within a week.

Meanwhile, the 2010 WSOP Main Event is playing out at the Rio in Las Vegas. Boeree played on Day 1B on Tuesday, running into a set of kings during the first level to cripple her stack. Then, she was poised for a much-needed double up with pocket jacks, but an opponent with pocket eights found a set. Boeree has never cashed in a WSOP tournament with a buy-in greater than $2,000. This year, she turned in three in the money finishes for $8,000 total.

Boeree, who is dating fellow poker pro Allie Prescott, still appears on UB.com’s website as a sponsored pro. The U.K. native was born in 1984 and, 21 years later, appeared on “Ultimate Poker Showdown.” There, she received instruction from Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, and David “Devilfish” Ulliott and the rest, as they say, is history. Duke and Hellmuth now front Team UB, while Ulliott serves as the namesake behind the Entraction Network site Devilfish Poker.

In May 2008, Boeree took down the Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship for $42,000. Then, she final tabled a preliminary event held during the Aussie Millions in 2009 for another $13,000. The same year, Boeree took 37th in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship at the Bellagio for $40,000, nearly doubling her $25,000 buy-in. Her crowning glory remains her win in San Remo, where she became just the third woman ever to win an EPT title, joining Vicky Coren (EPT London in 2006) and Sandra Naujoks (EPT Dortmund in 2009).

Besides Hellmuth, Duke, and Boeree, UB.com’s roster of sponsored pros also includes former “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu, and Anthrax’s Scott Ian. In early June, Cantu re-signed with UB.com for one year. UB.com pros were spotted at the site’s get-together at the Mandarin Oriental bar at CityCenter in Las Vegas on Monday. The night ended with a shotgun wedding as part of a site-sponsored prop bet contest.

Recent player signings include David Williams and Vanessa Selbst inking agreements with PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site. In addition, PokerStars is sponsoring the stable of pros belonging to Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Eric “sheets” Haber during the Main Event, which includes well-known players like Nick “fu_15” Maimone, and Jamie “TheNew” Robbins. Back in May, Amanda Musumeci joined the ranks of Bodog, which parted ways with Williams, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and Jean-Robert Bellande.

Tale of Two Days for Team UB

Two flights of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1 are in the books, and while there have been plenty of ups and downs for the 2,600 players so far, it has been a story of contrasting days for the members of Team UB.

Day 1A drew 1,125 runners, two of whom were members of Team UB: Tiffany Michelle and Matthew Graham.  Michelle, who has become a crossover celebrity after competing on “The Amazing Race,” was never far from the roaming eyes of the ESPN cameras.  If she was involved in an all-in, particularly if it was all of her chips at stake, chances were that camera crews would rush over to her table.  In fact, at one point she tweeted, “Listen ESPN cameras: Stop hoarding around my table like I’m a lamb being led to the slaughter, not giving you an exciting bust anytime soon!”

Watching her chip stack crumble from the get-go, Michelle did have her chips at risk on more than one occasion, but she managed, as she put it, to “grind grind grind” and keep herself in the competition.  With only around 20 big blinds left, she is going to need to make a move early on Day 2, but she’s still alive, and that’s what matters.  Hopefully for her sake, she’ll have a better run of cards.  On Twitter, she said, “I keep thinking that good cards HAVE 2 come. Playing 10hrs & I’ve had Aces twice, jacks, 8s, AK AQ & AJ once. Not exaggerating. That’s it.”

Also on Day 1A, Team UB member Matthew Graham had a very nice go of it, ending the day with 58,450 chips, just a bit fewer than twice as many as what he started with.  That chip count put him about in the middle of the pack after that first flight.

So, Team UB was 2-for-2 after Day 1A.  Regardless of whether the players had 200,000 chips or 2,000, they were batting 1.000, so that’s something to hang their hats on.

And then the calendar turned to Tuesday.  Four Team UB players took to the felts on Day 1B: Brandon Cantu, Liv Boeree, Joe Sebok, and Mark “P0ker H0″ Kroon.

Kroon was eliminated early on, getting unlucky when his Queens slammed into Kings.  That wasn’t the knock out blow, but it crippled him and shortly thereafter he headed home when he lost a race with A-K against, of course Queens.

Sebok couldn’t gain any traction all day.  During the first level, he had Kings against Eights against A-Q, but the flop came A-8-A, giving him virtually no shot at the pot.  He was smart enough to get out of there, though, so the damage was minimal.  He later lost with two pair against a better two pair and eventually sunk as low as 6,000 chips.  He was able to chip back up to keep hope alive, but slipped back again when he called an all-in with A-Q, losing to Jacks.  At dinner, he had just 3,500 chips, all of which he lost on the first hand back from the break when his Fives lost to A-6.  He just couldn’t win a race.

Philosophical about the whole thing, Sebok Tweeted, “there’s something so brutally final about not doing shit during the wsop and busting out of the main. like, it’s over. see you next year…”

Liv Boeree, winner of the 2010 EPT San Remo Main Event, ran into a set of Kings during Level 1 and was never able to recover after her stack fell to almost 5,000 so early.  She was eliminated when her opponent turned a set of 8′s, sucking out on her pocket Jacks.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Team UB on Day 1B, though.  Brandon Cantu, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, advanced to Day 2 with a healthy 65,000 chip stack.  Always brief, yet prolific, with his Twitter updates during tournaments, Cantu let his followers know that he was down slightly from his starting stack at the first break, but soon climbed to 33,000, then 42,000, and then about 52,000 by dinner.  He peaked at 71,000 going into the last hour, but despite the small drop in chips to close out the night, he called it a “great day.” Cantu admitted that he was getting cards left and right, but at the same time, he was playing his “A game.” Not a bad combination.

All in all, with the amount of luck needed just to get past the first day, a 50 percent success rate for Team UB is pretty solid, even though the first two days had very different feels.  The big stars of Team UB – Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth – will play Wednesday, as will Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Hollywood Dave Stann.  The rest of the team members have not publically announced which of the last two starting days they will play, but no doubt they will be at the Rio, ready to make a run to the November Nine.?

UB.com Sends Team Pros, Online Satellite Winners To WSOP Main Event

The World Series of Poker’s Championship Event is now halfway through its four Day Ones, with UB.com sending its stable of pros from Team UB to battle. Joining the crew from UB.com are a slew of online players who won their way into the event through satellites on the site.

According to a spokesperson for UB.com, 158 players won their way to Las Vegas through the variety of means provided by the site. “Until the final Day One (Day 1D), we won’t have an accurate count of how many have actually made the journey to the WSOP,” the spokesperson stated. To encourage players to make the trek to the Rio, UB.com has created a stake for those players to share, even if they don’t cash in the WSOP Championship Event.

For players who have won their way to Sin City through satellites on UB.com, there is a guaranteed $1000 awaiting them if they wear UB.com apparel. This guaranteed money goes up on a graduated scale to a minimum of $3750 if more than 52 of the qualifiers heads to Vegas to take their shot at the World Championship. If a UB.com branded player makes it to the money, they will earn substantially more, depending on how many of the qualifiers show. If more than 52 UB.com qualifiers show up and no one makes the money, the players will each earn $5000 just for going to the WSOP.

As to Team UB.com, several players have already been in action on the felt at the Rio. On Monday’s Day 1A, two of the top players from the squad, Matt “mattg1983” Graham and Tiffany Michelle stepped up to carry the UB.com banner. Of the 1125 players who took part in action on Monday, only 762 will come back for action on Day 2A, with Matt and Tiffany both still alive; Tiffany is significantly below her starting stack of 30,000 in finishing the day with 12,950 chips, while Matt has been able to add to his starting stack and will enter Day 2A with 58,450.

Tuesday saw a few more of the Team UB.com pros enter the fray at the Rio. WSOP double bracelet holder Brandon Cantu was joined by Mark “PokerH0” Kroon and Joe Sebok for play, with two of them not making the cut. “PokerH0,” according to the UB.com blog from “Mean” Gene Bromberg, was cooled on two occasions, once running pocket Queens into pocket Kings, then being shown the door when his Big Slick couldn’t catch up with the Queens he once held.

Sebok, who had one mini-cash during the run of the 2010 WSOP, was a bit more fortunate than “PokerH0.” Joe made the dinner break and, as accurately stated by Bromberg, “…and one hand beyond.” With a dwindling stack, Sebok made a stand with pocket fives and was looked up by A-6. Once his Presto had been vanquished, Joe headed for the door of the Rio.

Cantu, who has picked up a couple of cashes over the WSOP schedule for just under $10K, has had the best run of Team UB.com members in the Championship Event to this point. Of the 1489 runners who came to the line on Tuesday, Cantu is a part of the of the 1017 who will live to play on Day 2B (Days 1A and 1C take Day 2A, while Days 1B and 1D will take Day 2B). According to WSOP statistics, Cantu finished 189th for the day, with a chip stack of 65,025.

The rest of the Team UB.com stable will be storming the WSOP castle over the next two Day One’s. On Wednesday, Phil Hellmuth will make his usual grandiose WSOP entrance as an MMA fighter, with actual MMA warrior Wanderlei Silva as a part of his entourage. In the past, the eleven-time WSOP bracelet winner has made his entrance as General George Patton and Julius Caesar, just to pick some memorable ones.

Entering the Rio much more subtly will be the remaining members of Team UB.com. Led by Poker News Daily guest columnist Annie Duke, Billy “Patrolman35”  Kopp, defending CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Anthrax guitarist extraordinaire Scott Ian, WSOP Circuit Rincon champion Bryan Devonshire, the always dangerous Michael Binger, Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Gary “Debo34” DeBernardi will all be on the tables on Wednesday afternoon. UB.com has also tapped former Miss USA Shanna Moakler for a seat at the WSOP Championship Event; “Hollywood” Dave Stann will also be a part of the fray, but his decision between Days 1C and 1D isn’t known at this time.?

2010 WSOP Main Event Gets Underway

It seems like every year when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event begins, we and all the other poker news outlets start out our first article about it with something melodramatic, something poetic about the drama and fanfare of the legendary poker tournament. And that introductory paragraph usually ends with something like, “That’s right, the WSOP Main Event is here.”

This year, we’re going to skip all that and just let you know that on Monday, the first of four Day 1′s of the 2010 WSOP Main Event kicked off, beginning an almost two week grind until the new members of the November Nine are determined. Before the action started, the plan was to play four 120-minute levels with a 20-minute break after the first and third and a 90-minute dinner break after level two. There were some complaints, though, that this would make dinner early for even senior citizens, and tournament officials decided to make a change to the schedule. Shortly before play began, it was decided that four and a half levels would be run and the dinner break would come after level three, which makes for both a better dinner time and allows for more players to be eliminated, reducing the risk of overcrowding on Day 2.

The final tally of runners on Day 1A was 1,125, almost exactly the same as last year, when 1,116 people took to the felts in the first flight of the first day of the WSOP. When the dust cleared Monday night, 819 players remained and now have the luxury (and larger hotel bill) of waiting until Friday’s Day 2A to join players from Day 1C. Players from Day 1B and Day 1D will combine in Day 2B on Saturday. This is a change from last year, when Days 1A and 1B players merged and Days 1C and 1D joined up for their Day 2 flights. The adjustment was made because traditionally, the final two Day 1′s get many more players than the first two, creating wildly uneven Day 2′s. That problem should be mitigated further by the WSOP’s new rule that only allowed players to choose a starting day up to a certain point, after which they were automatically assigned a day in order to even things out as much as possible. This rule was applied primarily to avoid the debacle that occurred last year, when Day 1D sold out, causing a couple hundred players to be turned away when they tried to register the morning of the tournament.

Although that controversy looks to be resolved, this is the World Series of Poker, so there needs to be something that rubs players the wrong way. The one thing that came up Monday was that the tables started ten-handed, which makes for some overcrowding around each oval. The odd part was that the Pavilion, which was the “overflow” room, only had 18 tables running, making players wonder why WSOP officials couldn’t have just taken one player away from each table and started more tables in the Pavilion, as there was tons of room. As the day went on, though, tables were reduced to nine-handed, so the grumblings died down.

The 766 players standing have all reported their chip counts, and it seems the chip leader is Corwin Cole with 228,200 chips, almost 200,000 more than his 30,000 chip starting stack. Dwyen Ringbauer follows at a distance with 191,125, while 2010 WSOP Players Champion, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, continues his strong Series, sitting in third place with 142,650 chips. Rounding out the top five are Felix Bleiker (136,300) and Heinz Kamutzki (135,750). Also near the top of the leader board are 2009 WSOP Europe champ Barry Shulman (113,325) and 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker (107,425). It came to our attention that the reported chip leader, James Mitchell, has an inaccurate chip count.

Other notable poker names still alive include Vitaly Lunkin, Maria Ho, Dwyte Pilgrim, Lacey Jones, Scott Seiver, Praz Bansi, David Grey, Vince Van Patten, Peter Feldman, Mel Judah, Dewey Tomko, Thor Hansen, Matt Matros, Mike Gracz, Juha Helppi, and Dutch Boyd, Tiffany Michelle, and Erik Seidel.

2004 WSOP Main Event champ and outspoken poker advocate, Greg Raymer, was eliminated just over an hour after he gave the “Shuffle up and deal” announcement. Also hitting the rail were Chino Rheem, Victor Ramdin, Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, T.J. Cloutier, Billy Baxter, Isaac Haxton, Beth Shak, Mike Caro, Andy Black, and Nick Schulman, to name a few.

A few non-poker celebrities tested their skills as well. Actor/comedian Ray Romano was back for another WSOP, as was fellow actor/comedian David Alan Grier. NBA star Shawn Marion gave it a go, as did music mogul Rene Angelil, who is known to be a pretty good player in his own right. Of those men, only David Alan Grier made it to the second day.

Day 1B will kick off Tuesday at noon as another huge batch of players set off on their dream of poker riches.

History Repeats on Main Event Day 1a

There were 1,125 players, several pros, a handful of celebrities and too many donkeys to count in the field.

In other words, it was almost identical to Day 1a of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which drew 1,116 players.

This year Greg Raymer, Michael Mizrachi, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Greg Mueller, Erik Seidel along with celebrities Ray Romano, David Allen Grier, Shawn Marion and Sara Underwood led the charge on the first day of the 2010 WSOP.

Raymer actually performed the official shuffle up and deal but that didn't keep him from being eliminated in the first two levels.

The Fossilman would eventually be joined by Nick Schulman, Chino Rheem, Mike Caro, Victor Ramdin, Jimmy Fricke and Ray Romano.

Meanwhile Michael Mizrachi, who has been on one of the biggest heaters of his career at the 2010 WSOP, rocketed up to near the top of the chip counts with 142,650.

Barry Schulman, Chris Moneymaker, Corwin Cole, Vitaly Lunkin, Lacey Jones, Dwyte Pilgrim, Scott Seiver, Praz Bansi and Chad Batista all had strong days and will enter Day 1a on Friday with above average stacks.

They're all chasing relatively unknown player Dwyen Ringbauer who finished with 191,125 chips.

After four and a half levels of play only 819 players remained and they will carry the torch into Day 2a on Friday.

Day 1b will begin tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. Last year the event drew the smallest field of all the Day 1s with only 873 players.

Join us for live updates, photos, blogs and videos straight from the floor of the Rio.

Non-Main Event Tournaments

As the Main Event kicked off, it might have been easy to overlook a couple of events that were just finishing up.

Tonight Events 54 and 56 played down to winners.

Event 54 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Event 54 was a $1,000 tournament that started with a massive field of 3,844 players. They battled it out for a first prize of $570,960. When it came down to it, Marcel Vonk from the Netherlands got heads up David Peters of the United States.

Despite Peters holding the lead for much of the heads up battle, Vonk battled back and overcame the deficit to lock up the win, his first bracelet, and a bundle of cash.

Event 56 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em

The next tournament to crown a champion was event 56, a $2,500 No Limit Hold-em that drew 1,941 players.

The large field combined with the medium sized buyin resulted in a massive first prize of $825,976 that went to Tomer Berda.

After slowly grinding down his opponent in a heads up match that lasted almost three hours, he defeated Vladimir Kochelaevskiy.

For more information on how Day 38 of the WSOP played out, including videos, blogs and news stories, click through to PokerListings' dedicated WSOP 2010 section.

WSOP Live!

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

Independence Day Weekend In Las Vegas From Poker In Twitter

Whether it was for the various parties going on, the fireworks or the start of the World Series of Poker Championship Event on Monday, the Independence Day weekend brought all the pros to Las Vegas. The Twitterverse was abuzz with their activities as they worked towards the biggest day of the poker year.

One of the big events over the weekend was the Doyle’s Room party held at the Blush nightclub. UB.com’s Bryan Devonshire had an adventure prior to arriving at the Blush bash, tweeting, “Last night on my way to Doyle’s party I set my phone in a margarita. It doesn’t work anymore.” The Brunson family turned out to be great hosts for the party as Pamela Brunson chirped Sunday morning, “Got in @ 6am from Doyle’s room Blush party and after party @Surrender. I don’t remember WHY I used to enjoy doing that! I’m POOPED!” Even Doyle was stung by the party atmosphere when he recounted his night:  “I’m trying to recover from the Doyle’s Room party at Blush. I’m not going to drink anymore except for an occasional beer until New Years Eve!”

The Fourth of July celebrations saw many of the players hitting various spots around Sin City. “Happy Fourth of July,” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith tweeted on Sunday. “Steak dinner at aria then going to club bank at Bellagio. Should be awesome night…Vegas is packed for the weekend!” Allen Kessler seemingly made a tour of the city when he Tweeted his schedule for the day:  “3 parties tonite. First @fkassela bbq, then @twoplustwoforum forum party at aria, now at bluff party at sapphire.”

Some went for a more low-key Independence Day celebration. Tiffany Michelle included a Twitpic of her activities, adding, “What better way to spend the 4th than in the pool with your girlfriends?” Lacey Jones was reflective when she tweeted her thoughts to her followers, “If there is anything I love w my whole heart it’s our Troops. Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country proud. Happy 4th!” Finally, Kara Scott missed some of the action when she tweeted, “Watching fireworks in a cab. Can juuuuust about see through the gaps in the buildings as we drive past.”

For some over the Independence Day weekend, poker took center stage over the parties and fireworks. The “Ante Up For Africa” charity poker tournament at the WSOP had many on Twitter talking, including eventual champion Phil Gordon. “129,000 in prize money going to a worthy cause,” Phil tweeted after his win and his donation of the first place bounty. “That and a big hug from runner up Shannon Elizabeth made this a great day!” For her part, Shannon Elizabeth was pleased with her performance when she chirped, “So happy! I just got 2nd in Ante Up For Africa! I had lots of lucky hands today-& was so fun!” Annie Duke issued her heartfelt thanks to those who participated when she tweeted, “Great day for @Anteupforafrica. Raised nearly $300K. Thank you so much to everyone who played.”

In one of the more comical exchanges following Gordon’s win in the charity event, fellow Full Tilt Poker members Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch took turns razzing Gordon. After Furst offered his congratulations (“Congrats @PhilNoLimits in your first WSOP tournament win at Ante Up for Africa!”), Bloch jabbed at Gordon’s WSOP record by tweeting, “Does it count as a bracelet?” Furst stuck the knife in a bit deeper when he replied, “I think we should make him an honorary one.”

The WSOP Tournament of Champions wrapped up play on Sunday night and the Twitterscape was buzzing with activity. “Gave it my best in the TOC,” Duke tweeted upon finishing ninth. “Short stacked all day and got my money in as good as I could hope for. Thanks @WSOP for the freeroll.” Jennifer Harman was playful with her exit Tweet, saying, “I’m out 7th. The last hour I feel like I played like a goof ball. Next tourney Main Event.” Daniel Negreanu enjoyed his stay at the TOC final table, although he reported, “Just busted to Hachem. AA vs 55 flop came 652. Oh well, it was a fun tournament but in the end my cards ran out of gas.”

Once Huck Seed and Howard Lederer reached heads up play, Duke began to pay more attention to the play. Although she tried to stick with the action (“Still rooting @HowardHLederer on in TOC. No sleep till he wins!”), Duke eventually gave up, tweeting, “I’m giving up. I need to sleep. Hoping I wake up to find that @HowardHLederer won the TOC. If not Huck is a great back up! Go Bub and Huck!”

Lederer was quite prolific with his tweets as he reported the action. “Just got head up with Huck,” tweeted Howard. “I have 468 to his 342. Given his HU record, I feel like a small dog.” Howard did well for himself, forcing the action for almost two hours before busting out in second place. “Disappointed,” Lederer tweeted at the conclusion. “Huck played great and deserved to win. Thanks much to Harrah’s for the freeroll and the voters for opportunity.”

One of the things that was going on outside of the tables was players noticing the structure of this year’s Championship Event. Andy Bloch was on the case when he chirped, “Warning: when choosing main event starting day, day 1b plays on 2b and day 1c plays on 2a. WSOP has done an appalling job getting word out.” After reviewing the structure of play for the early part of the Main Event, Bloch noted, “Just looked at the main event structure sheet. Playing only 4 levels days 1-5 with a 90 minute dinner break after level 2? Seriously? To the people who decided to have dinner breaks at 4:20: what were you smoking?”

This launched further discussion from Allen Kessler and Pamela Brunson. “Wow I just found out day1a main event players can be in the event 10 days and still not cash,” Kessler tweeted. “Only playing 4 levels/day should be looked at.” Brunson thanked Bloch for his warning, tweeting, “Wow…..that’s stupid! Thanks for tweeting to let us know. I need to recheck my appointments!”

On the lighter side of poker in Twitter, it seems that Joe Reitman might need to start wearing a name tag around the Rio. “Guy on a rascal said ‘Jeff can u sign my hat?,” Reitman tweeted after once again being confused with Jeff Shulman. “Had to tell him ‘I’m not Jeff.’ He was disappointed. Could have lied. But he was on a rascal.” The always endearing Vicky Coren noted upon her arrival in Las Vegas, “Passing the blackjack area, I’d know I was in Vegas with my eyes shut. ‘Please translate for Mr. Wong: the cards must STAY ON THE TABLE.’” Finally, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin reminisced about his Fourth of July memories:  “Next year I want lawn chairs, coolers, and fireworks in the front yard. Some of my best memories are running around trees with sparklers.”

UB.com July Second Sundays to Benefit Crystal King Foundation

This month’s running of the UB.com Second Sundays charity poker tournament will donate its funds to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation. The $10 buy-in tournament will pan out at 14:45 ET on July 11th and former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, a member of Team UB, will host.

UB.com will match all of the proceeds raised from the tournament and then donate the entire prize pool to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation. In addition, those who play will be in the running for over $2,000 in added prizes.

What is the Crystal King Benefit Foundation, you ask? The fund came about when mother Crystal King and her three-year-old twins Camrea-Rose and Caden were involved in a major traffic incident two months ago. Caden died in the wreck with a semi, while Camrea-Rose and Crystal survived, albeit with a multitude of life threatening injuries. UB.com got wind of the family’s plight through PokerRoad.com and PokerPlayersUnite.org and decided to get involved.

Michelle, who has traveled the world as part of her participation in “Amazing Race,” commented in a press release distributed by UB.com on why she chose to host July’s event: “There is a lot of money thrown around in poker on a regular basis and it’s causes like this and the ability to help that make what I do for a living worthwhile. I’ve seen first hand the emotional and financial stress that comes from awful accidents like this one. Being a friend or bystander, it’s hard not to feel completely helpless. This is such a significant way to lend a hand.”

The top 10 on the leaderboard in July 11th’s running of the Second Sundays event will walk away with prizes. In addition to helping out a cause near and dear to Michelle’s heart, participants will also be vying for entries into UB.com’s $200,000 Guaranteed weekly flagship event and a wireless poker controller. The player who eliminates Michelle from the charity event will claim a $66 ticket to the UB.com $7,000 Guaranteed, redeemable at 21:30 ET the same day as the Crystal King Benefit Foundation tournament.

PokerRoad personality and UB.com pro Joe Sebok hosted the June Second Sundays tournament, which resulted in nearly $5,700 being raised for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association. The player who knocked Sebok out, “Bob5Bob,” claimed the $66 bounty and promptly took third in the $7,000 Guaranteed for $800 – not a bad way to spend an evening. A total of 284 players bought in.

For those who don’t have time to partake in a multi-table tournament, but still want to donate to the Crystal King Benefit Foundation, funds are being accepted through the UB.com player account “CHARITIES.” The account has a first name of “Charity.” Members of Absolute Poker, which makes its home on the USA-friendly CEREUS Network alongside UB.com, can also participate in the Second Sundays fundraising efforts.

The inaugural Second Sundays event took place in March and benefited the San Antonio Aids Foundation. UB.com and Absolute Poker happily accept real money action from the United States. Besides Michelle and Sebok, UB.com pros include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann.

June 24th – Daily Deal

A very Happy Thursday to everyone! Today on the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily, we play paparazzi for Tiffany Michelle’s twenty-sixth birthday party and address a rumor that Phil Ivey won’t play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions and bring you the latest news from the Rio.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily. More bracelets were handed out at the Rio in Las Vegas for the 2010 World Series of Poker. In Event number 36 it was former November Niner Scott Montgomery who won the $1,000 buy-in no limit hold’em tournament. He outlasted over 3,000 opponents for his first bracelet and nearly a half million dollars. Event number 39 was the $1,500 no limit holdem shootout which was won by Steve Kelly. The 21 old is an online cash game pro and made almost $400,000 for winning this event. Finally, it was Frank Kassela winning Event Number forty for his second WSOP bracelet this season. This time it came in the $2,500 dollar Razz event with Kassela winning over two hundred and ten thousand dollars.

In a recent installment of the ESPN Poker Edge Podcast, Full Tilt pro Phil Gordon revealed that Phil Ivey may skip this year’s WSOP Tournament of Champions, “I heard that Phil Ivey is not even going to play. I was told that because there is a bracelet event the same day as the TOC, Phil isn’t going to play the TOC… You might be seeing Ivey running back and forth from the TV table.”

According to Pokerati, Ivey has a five million bet with Howard Lederer that he’ll win two bracelets by the conclusion of the two thousand eleven WSOP, so he can ill-afford to miss events. On this week’s ESPN’s Inside Deal, poker pro Barry Greenstein, who was also voted into the Tournament of Champions, weighed in on whether he thought Ivey would play, “I haven’t even talked to Phil about it. I would guess he would play. What he was probably concerned about was the way they had it set up initially, it was going to conflict with him playing in events and he has a bunch of side bets.”

Ivey was the top vote getter for the WSOP Tournament of Champions. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if he’s in attendance.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a poker show without an inside look at Tiffany Michelle’s birthday bash. The poker diva and last woman standing in the two thousand eight World Series of Poker Main Event celebrated in style, hitting up Crystals at CityCenter in Las Vegas. Joining her were “Amazing Race” team member Maria Ho, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and several other pros.

Michele was seen posing on the red carpet at the Eve Nightclub and noshing on a three-tier chocolate cake crafted by the Gimme Some Sugary Bakery. Rather than describe it to you, here’s a picture for you to chew on.

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

Poker Pro Tiffany Michelle Celebrates 26th Birthday at Crystals

UB.com‘s Tiffany Michelle turned the big two-six last week and to celebrate, she had a Friday night of dinner and dancing at Crystals, part of the new CityCenter development in Las Vegas.

Michelle was joined by fellow Team UB pros Liv Boeree and Adam “Roothlus” Levy, sponsored adult film actress Samantha Ryan, Absolute Poker‘s Trishelle Cannatella, “Amazing Race” partner and poker player Maria Ho, and 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Jeff Madsen at actress Eva Longoria Parker’s Beso restaurant to start the evening.  Being from Los Angeles, Michelle was already a fan of the first Beso location in Hollywood and her opinion was no different of its Vegas sibling.  Michelle Tweeted, “Now one of my fav restaurants is in Los Angeles AND Vegas…”

After dining on lobster, the birthday girl moved the party to the Eve nightclub, also at Crystals.  Michelle and her entourage walked the red carpet, posed for pictures, exchanged pleasantries with fans, and then headed inside for drinks and dancing.

No birthday is complete without a cake and Michelle’s was something to see.  Created by Gimme Some Sugar bakery, it was a three-tier chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling and chocolate ganache.  The top and bottom tiers were wrapped in pink fondant, while the middle tier was black.  Pink and black playing card suits wound around the tiers, while a gold chain (edible, we assume) hung from the top.  Attached to the chain were brass knuckles and Michelle’s nickname “HOT CHIPZ.” A gold dollar sign adorned the top of the cake.

Always finding the time to Tweet, even on her special night, Michelle posted, “Off the hook at @Eve_NightclubLV. Best bday ever, not to mention the SICKEST cake.”

Michelle has not had much good fortune in this year’s WSOP and has yet to find herself on the right side of the money bubble.  She has one lifetime cash at the annual tournament series; it was a big one, as she was the last woman standing in the 2008 Main Event, placing 17th for $334,534.  She will get her chance to be the top female in the Main Event once again starting in a couple of weeks, as the big $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship kicks off on July 5th at the Rio.  Last year, she was absent from the Main Event to film the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.”

She has had more success online, however.  Last Thursday night, she Tweeted, “Seriously, 4 as BAD as I’ve been running @ the WSOP/Rio… I’m making up for it on UB.” Michelle proceeded to place second in that night’s $15,000 Guaranteed rebuy on the USA-friendly online poker site.?  Play with Michelle by visiting UB.com.

Celebrating Father’s Day from Poker in Twitter

With Father’s Day on Sunday, many of the pros in the poker world took the time to send their best wishes to their dads. “Happy Father’s Day to all the great Dad’s out there!,” Liz Lieu Tweeted to her followers, while Erica Schoenberg added her tribute: “Dad, thanks 4 being the degen that I know & love. I wouldn’t b where I am w/out you or your love 4 the ponies, blackjack, craps, casino war.”

Joe Sebok had perhaps the best Father’s Day gift in mind when he said to his father Barry Greenstein, “Happy Father’s Day to the big man, @barrygreenstein. a bracelet seems like a good gift to give yourself.”

During the play of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio in Las Vegas, there have been some strange requests from fans to their poker playing idols. A couple of weeks back, Shannon Elizabeth turned down a request to sign a guy’s chest, but the men weren’t quite as shy. “Girl from South America wanted me to sign her boob,” Doyle Brunson Tweeted to his fans. “How could a gentleman refuse?” PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu also got a strange request: “Some woman just asked me to sign her tramp stamp area. She’s going to get a tattoo there to surprise her husband.”

On the calmer side of autographs, Erik Seidel still had an odd request. “Saw the guy who wants me to sign the book he thinks I wrote,” Seidel, who has never authored a book, Tweeted. “Can’t wait to see who he’s mistaken me for. I’m hoping it’s Doyle.”

Prop betting at the tables has once again been a popular pastime at the WSOP. “John Hennigan joined the table and instantly started side bets with @durrrr!,” tournament director Matt Savage reported from the felt as he played the $3,000 HORSE tournament. Negreanu also got in on the action: “I just laid 100-1 with Kathy Liebert that I will make Day 2 of this event. She bet 100 bucks. I’d lose 10k. I know it’s a bad bet. I don’t care!” No word on the action at Savage’s table, but Negreanu will make at least $100 after making it to Day 2 in his event.

DoylesRoom pro Amit “amak316” Makhija also was looking for some action over Twitter. “Open challenge to anyone in the Twitterverse,” Makhija started in the first of two Tweets. “Looking for a 3k most money cashed for bet in the 10kplh today at 5. If I don’t know you well give me 3k at the beginning of the tournament and respond to this before it starts and were booked! Let’s go!” Apparently, Makhija received the action he was looking for, Tweeting soon afterwards, “Booked with @ShannonShorr he’s insta taking all my prop bet offers this summer, good to see someone knows a whale when they see one. Gl!”

During another event at the WSOP, Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck and Maria Ho ended up at the same table, which turned out to be more interesting for its side antics than the action on the felt. “This is the weirdest HORSE table I’ve ever played at,” Mayrinck stated upon arrival. “When I got moved to this table a player & the dealer were yelling at each other about to fight & I’m yelling floor!” Moments later, Mayrinck added another report of a fight through a Tweet: “Fight 3 almost broke out at my table. They are nuts!” Ho added in her two cents: “Add a crazy/smelly/dealer abuser and a douchebag to the lineup.”

Things were better over the weekend for Ho, as she teamed up with her partner in crime from “Amazing Race,” UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. “The girls at Eve nightclub for Tiffany’s bday bash!,” Ho Tweeted along with a picture of the crew. “Great time with great people!” Liv Boeree was part of the revelry and also sent a Twitpic of the gathering of the ladies. Alex Outhred felt a little left out of the festivities, Tweeting, “So mad I missed all the fun! -looks like it was a happy bday! I didn’t wanna hurt anyone on the dance floor.”

To wrap the weekend with the best Tweets, we have to go no further than Seidel, who offered up the gem, “Daily observation: Abuse dealers, and you will be dealt a life that sucks.” New Full Tilt Poker pro Lacey Jones put her own spin on a classic adage: “When life gives you lemons… stuff them in your bra.” Finally, Elizabeth came up with a Tweet that accurately told everyone what she was up to: “Today’s another fun filled day of poker! What? It’s that time of year. What’d you expect me to be doing? Knitting?”

UB.com Offers Two Routes for Players to Get to the WSOP Championship Event

Over the next two weekends, the online poker site UB.com and the free training site UB.net will be giving the opportunity for poker players to earn their way to the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), with one participant earning their seat without spending a dime.

Currently running right now up until June 27th, UB.net is running qualifying freerolls that will lead up to a final event on June 27th. The daily qualifying Round One freerolls are played six times per day – 12:30AM (Eastern Time), 4:30AM, 8:30AM, 12:30PM, 4:30PM, and 8:30PM – with each freeroll qualifying 100 players to participate in a Round Two tournament. These events will take place on the next three Sundays (June 13th, 20th, and 27th) at 2:00PM.

From those three freerolls will come the qualifiers who will move on to the Round Three final tournament. 100 players each from the Round Two qualifiers will move on to the June 27th tournament, which will be played at 8PM. The winner of the Round Three event walks away with the $12,000 prize package that includes the $10,000 WSOP Main Event tournament buy-in and $2,000 for travel and accommodations.

For those that have a bit of a bankroll to attempt to earn their WSOP seat, UB.com is continuously offering opportunities for players to get in on the cheap. Coming up this weekend (June 20th) at 4PM, UB.com will be offering 50 $12,000 packages to the WSOP Main Event, with the buy-in for the tournament being $530. These seats will be in addition to the 100 players who have already earned their seats to the WSOP Main Event through UB.com satellites.

Players have a choice of either buying in directly to the WSOP 50-Package Guaranteed Super Satellite or can move up through a vast array of daily satellite tournaments that start as low as $3. Two other daily satellite tournaments, with buy ins of $55 and $60, will offer multiple seats into Sunday’s big tournament. These daily multi-seat satellites – with seat guarantees of 3, 5, 10, and 25 seats – will put players directly in the Sunday battle for less than the $530 buy-in.

For those who are looking for a last chance to get in on the action, a $60+6 buy-in 100-seat guaranteed satellite at 1PM prior to the start of the big tournament on June 20th will be offered, with those players moving on to play the WSOP 50-Package Guaranteed Super Satellite three hours later.

“I can’t wait for the Main Event this year,” said Team UB pro Phil Hellmuth. “I’m really focused on winning my 12th bracelet and, with over 100 players getting ready to join UB at the series this year – plus another 50 coming through the big guarantee on the 20th – I think there’s going to be a lot more UB players winning this year.”

Hellmuth, who narrowly missed winning his 12th bracelet earlier this month, leads a strong contingent of UB.com pros who have been in action at the WSOP this year. Along with Hellmuth are 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, defending National Heads-Up Poker Champion and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, and 2010 European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo victor Liv Boeree. Other top players from Team UB include WSOP Circuit champion Bryan Devonshire, Tiffany Michelle, and Joe Sebok.

UB.com’s CEREUS Network partner, Absolute Poker, isn’t left out of any of the satellite action. For those who don’t have a UB account, but play on the network through Absolute, they will be eligible to play in any of the satellites. With the 2010 WSOP Main Event on the horizon, there isn’t a better time for players to earn their seats at the tables than now at UB.com

What the Pros Do Away from the WSOP and Jean-Robert Bellande Goes Deep from Poker in Twitter

Tiffany Michelle decided to hit the streets of Las Vegas for some clubbing. “Did anyone catch @TrishelleC and I karaoking @ Ellis Island??? No? Too bad. Good times,” the Team UB pro Tweeted about her duet with Trishelle Cannatella. Apparently, the good times were cut short by one of the nightspots in Sin City when Michelle fired off, “Wow… I wanted to get a table & spend TONS of money at @palazzolasvegas which used to b my fav place of all time & they said no.”

Michelle gave her fans the reason for her barring from the Palazzo moments later, Tweeting, “I had flip flops on. Guess I’ll spend tons somewhere else with all my celeb friends!!! Never going to Palazzo/Venetian again!” After some Twitter exchange with her followers, she Tweeted, “Not tryin 2b a diva. Just saying I run all over Vegas & they wouldn’t let me in cuz of flip flops.”

Maria Ho and Bryan Devonshire stepped out for some dinner and the resulting events left their followers laughing. “I just drank @MariaHo’s boyfriend’s contact lens out of a shot glass for $100 Ho $,” “Devo” Tweeted about the odd prop bet. Ho, for her part, gave the reason for the activity: “Lol drunken shenanigans after Lakers lose.”

Dinner activities seemed to be a big topic of conversation from poker players on Twitter. “Today was great. Coached a student on AM, then gym workout w my dad, pool w @TiffnyMichelle, dinner w @brentsibley and maybe a movie later,” Vanessa Rousso chirped about her activities on Sunday, while new Full Tilt Poker pro Lacey Jones got emotional about her fellow dinner patrons: “Eating solo at my fav Pho restaurant and a little blonde girl asked her mom if I was a princess. Think my heart melted.”

Other activities outside of poker were the latest releases in theaters and a new sporting activity. “Watching the new Karate Kid with mini Will Smith,” Justin Bonomo Tweeted about the revamp of the 80s classic. “A bit sad that Pat Morita won’t be in it. RIP Mr. Miyagi.” UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy passed along some info to other players who might be interested, “For anyone who wants to play trampoline dodgeball… RT @SkyZoneVegas Next Adult Dodgeball Tourney is Friday, June 25th at 7pm.” Carter King responded, “@Roothlus talked to devo about doing this some time, still very much down.”

Of particular interest on Twitter was Joe Reitman’s college reunion over the weekend. “Final reunion party tonight. I am surprisingly comfortable staying in the dorms,” the Full Tilt pro Tweeted on Saturday. “I think I would be happy going back to college.” Apparently the fun lasted well into the evening, as Reitman stated, “Last night of college reunion. They asked me to dance… I have not tried those moves in 10 years. That’s gonna hurt in the morning.” Most hilarious was his Tweet about how he would feel the next day: “Dear body, you will pay a heavy price for dancing tonight like it was 1990 and not 2010. U R 2 old for that s**t. Sincerely, your back.”

Back on the WSOP felt, Jean-Robert Bellande’s run at the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo World Championship caught the attention of many in the poker world. After Bellande Tweeted, “Going into level 11 with 75k,” Matt Savage observed that a good finish would be welcomed by the poker community. “Go Jean Robert, the Big Game Players are all pulling for you!,” Savage Tweeted in reference to Bellande’s efforts in cash games in Bobby’s Room. Greg “FBT” Mueller piped up with a simple, one word reply to Savage and Bellande, “Obviously!” Bellande made it through the Day Two action and will start today in seventh place.

The $1,000 Ladies Championship event, which seemingly has generated more controversy this year than in the past, was Tweeted about extensively. Annie Duke, whose stance on the tournament’s existence is well known, encouraged the discussion: “Whether you agree or not, the debate is really healthy on the issue of the ladies event. Calm, rational debate makes the world go round.” Daniel Negreanu dedicated a blog to the subject and observed on Twitter, “@RealAnnieDuke is making the ladies event about sexism or feminism or some cause.”

Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck agreed with Negreanu: “@RealKidPoker the ladies event is played by women who want to have fun, bond, etc not engage in a CAUSE @RealAnnieDuke should support them.” Negreanu replied to Mayrinck, “Exactly Maridu. It’s about FUN not making a statement. Sheesh what’s the big deal?” Having the final say in the discussion was Mayrinck: “Poker is a job not a higher cause, any female pro who thinks of poker in terms of EV should see the ladies event as xmas, play & have FUN!”

As for the Tweets of the Week, a whole section has to be dedicated to Phil Hellmuth and his play at the Omaha World Championship. “Out Omaha 8/b 36th, 27 paid, another 16 hours in a tourn + no cash,” Hellmuth tweeted after his dismissal from the event. “Thing that sucks about being PH is I am too distraught when I bust!” Immediately following that, he chirped about his plan for recovery: “So distraught and so emotional right now that I am on my way to the gym for my own good health and sanity! Deserved better today.” In typical Hellmuthian fashion, he pulled himself up by Tweeting, “Just remembered who I am… time to cheer up and recognize that I am blessed.”

Annie Duke Kicks off the 2010 WSOP

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Tell us how you’re feeling headed into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas?

Annie Duke: I’m feeling pretty good. I really want another bracelet, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m physically good and mentally ready. I have a big confidence boost from the way my year started and I think I have a really good mindset.

PND: How are you preparing for the tournament series?

Annie Duke: I just go and do it. The way I live my life is a constant preparation for it. A lot of people will go on a health kick during the WSOP, but I’m always working out and eating healthy. It’s such a long haul that being physically healthy is the most important factor of success.

PND: How do you think women will fare in this year’s WSOP?

Annie Duke: The best chance will be in the Champions Invitational. I’ll be in it and Jennifer Harman will probably be in the top 20 too. That’s going to be the best chance for a woman to win. However, the numbers are against it. I’d like to see women win bracelets, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Women are 3% of the field in many events.

PND: You’re an automatic entry into the WSOP Tournament of Champions since you won the event in 2004. Who else would you like to see in the field?

Annie Duke: I definitely want to see my brother (Howard Lederer) and Erik Seidel in it for sure. Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu should be in it. Having a legacy is important to be in that event. Other people might look at it and say that people who are hot right now should be in it, but the title is Tournament of Champions.

PND: You recently anchored a charity poker tournament for After School All-Stars. How did the event go?

Annie Duke: I was really happy with it. Brad Garrett came out for it and so did Ali Nejad. David “Chino” Rheem made the final table and we had some good pros there. One of my students from the WSOP Academy came in second. Matt Savage came out and played and Tiffany Michelle was there too. The charity was over the moon in terms of being happy, so I was excited to support that cause. It’s an awesome foundation. UB.com was incredibly supportive of the event and donated a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat.

PND: Your Twitter feed was filled with comments about the finales of “American Idol” and “Lost.” Give us your thoughts.

Annie Duke: I was definitely disappointed by the “Lost” finale. The ending really made me mad because it didn’t answer any questions. I get it: the island was real. All of those events happened. What is the island, though? You still don’t know. You don’t know what the smoke monster was. It didn’t answer anything about the parallel universe. Why was it about their personal journeys if they were all just there to show Jack the door?

It certainly didn’t explain why the plane crashed there. It didn’t explain why they had to come back to the island. Why did they start time traveling? What they did was wrap up one character’s story.

PND: We’re sure you watched the National Heads-Up Poker Championship play out on NBC. What are your thoughts on how you played now that you’ve seen the hole cards?

Annie Duke: I was very happy with how I played against Dennis Phillips. In the beginning, I made some missteps, but I knew that before I watched. I think I adjusted very well. With Erik Seidel, it’s what I expected. On the whole, I played better than him in the first match, but not as much as he outdid me in the second match. He played amazingly well in the second match.

Given the way he was playing, there was only one way to counter that, which was to let the blinds get high and play some pushy poker. In the third match, my Q-9 push was an auto-push and I got lucky there. In the second and third matches, I really was never connecting with the board. That makes a big difference against someone as good as Erik. If neither of us is connecting with the board, he’s clearly going to win.

PND: What makes Erik Seidel such a top-notch player?

Annie Duke: One of my strengths is playing in position heads-up. He’s so good out of position. He’s so good at taking your position away. I didn’t play anyone before him that took my position away from me. He was doing things like check-calling and leading he river and it’s hard to defend against that.

I started limping the button more and keeping the pots a lot smaller. I also started making my plays later. I made the play with 8-4 and the re-raise play with A-9. I had to find those spots where I could get the last raise in and didn’t feel like he could bluff me. Had I connected with the board, it would have been a different story.

PND: You’re leading a few classes at the Rio as part of the WSOP Academy. Tell our readers what they can expect.

Annie Duke: I’m doing a ladies’ session and a two-day WSOP primer. We’ll be talking about pre-flop strategies and spending a lot of time on all-in situations, meaning how do you decide whether to push all-in and call all-ins. Those situations come up all the time in tournaments. That’s so important to understanding how to win in tournaments.

UB.com Pros Tweet it Up at the World Series of Poker

UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth earned his second cash of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) this week, but his bid for a 12th bracelet fell short in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event (#17). Hellmuth, in typical fashion, Tweeted throughout the tournament about big laydowns and greats reads he made, but ultimately fell short: “Out 50th in NL Hold’em, was an ugly ugly run of cards… Too bad I played the cards, shoulda played my opponents more and made it happen.”

After busting early from the Pot Limit Omaha event on Thursday, Hellmuth took some down time to have a few drinks and play a round of golf with Roy Winston. Tweeted Hellmuth, “At ‘Deuce’ at Aria drinking with President of Aria Bill McBeth and Liquid girls (just talking honey), now off to ‘Haze’ to dance!” Unfortunately, no video of said dancing has surfaced.

Joe Sebok took his 1.1 million Twitter followers through a tiresome day of Limit Hold’em on Friday. The tournament got underway at 5:00pm PT and Sebok found a familiar face at his table when he arrived: “Sitting down in #wsop23. @PhilIvey is here and I’ve already made two racist jokes at his expense. 7500 starting stack.” He took another playful shot at Ivey a few hours later: “Had @PhilIvey ’s ass all-in twice, but he sucked out both times. Bad players always get it in bad… ”

Sebok, who made a WSOP Limit Hold’em final table in 2005, gradually built his stack during the day, but met the harsh side of variance late in the evening. “Limit is a wicked game,” he Tweeted. “Up to 30k, but lost 4 straight pots where had my opponent dominated. Oh well. Still alive w/a paltry 4300.” Sebok has the second shortest stack entering Day 2 of Event #23, but maintained his upbeat approach to the game: “Putting in serious hours at WSOP w/not much to show for it, but really enjoying playing poker again, so that’s something. ”

Also getting underway Friday was the Ladies Event and, after the dozen or so men were finally eliminated from the tournament, it was all business for the women still standing as the money bubble approached late in the evening. Several of the top women in the game made deep runs, including UB’s Tiffany Michelle, who spent much of the day playing alongside some of her friends: “My table has replaced poker hottie @vanessarousso with poker hottie @saraunderwood. Apparently, it was too much hotness for one table.”

Michelle lasted nine levels, but was sent to the rail in the final hour of the night after working with a short stack following the dinner break. Tweeted Michelle, “Now I remember why I don’t mind busting the 1st level of a tourney… cuz it sucks that much more busting @ the very end of playing all day!” Meanwhile, fellow UB.com pro Liv Boeree enters Day 2 with 57,000 in chips, placing her seventh out of the 138 women remaining.

Speaking of the Ladies Event, the UB.com Tweet of the Week goes to Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who decided on a different mode of transport to the Rio Friday: “Scared to park at WSOP today. Too many women drivers. Took a cab.”

Ladies Night: WSOP Day 15 Recap

More than 1,000 ladies entered the Rio Pavilion Room for the $1k Ladies Championship, with plenty of big names from both the celebrity and poker communities.

November Niner Eric Buchman also broke through with his first bracelet win as did online pro David "Bakes" Baker.

Here's a look around the day:

Event #18 - $2k Limit Hold'em

Eric Buchman added to an already impressive poker resume, taking down the bracelet from a field of 476 players.

The bracelet win is first for Buchman, who impressed many with his run to fourth place in the 2009 WSOP November Nine.

Buchman has expressed disappointment in not finishing higher in the 2009 Main Event, making Friday's bracelet win even more special for the 30-year-old New York pro.

"I made a lot of money, and I had a great experience. So it was bittersweet. But this is total satisfaction. This feels good."

Buchman takes home $203,607 for the win.

Event #19 - $10k 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) Championship

With a small field of 101 elite players beginning this event, we were almost guaranteed to have an electric final table.

The tournament didn't disappoint, with John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel both making in to the final seven.

In the end young online pro David "Bakes" Baker outlasted the formidable field and took the title, WSOP bracelet and $294,314 in cold hard cash for first place.

In winning the event Baker also put himself in contention for WSOP Player of the Year thanks to his sixth place finish in the $50k Player's Championship.

Event #20 - $1.5k Pot-Limit Omaha

We began the day close to the money bubble in the latest PLO event, as 95 players came back Friday to play for 81 money spots.

Nenad Medic and Blair Rodman are two of the notables coming back for Day 3 Saturday, as play resumes at 2:30 p.m. and goes to a winner.

Finishing in the cash on Day 2 was Matt Stout, Ted Lawson and Robert Williamson III.

Event #21 - $1.5k Seven-Card Stud

Sorel Mizzi had a huge day, staying near the top of the chip leaderboard for most of the day.

If he can hang on at Saturday's final table, the first-place prize of $140,467 awaits. He will have to get past pros like Alex Kravchenko and Richard Ashby if he's to win his first WSOP bracelet.

Scott Seiver and Chip Jett were amongst the notables finishing in the cash.

Event #22 - $1k No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Championship

The biggest spectacle at the Rio Convention Center Friday revolved around the $1k Ladies Championship.

Svetlana Gromenkova ended Day 1 with one of the biggest stacks in the room, but she was just one of many notables on hand in the field of 1,054.

Tiffany Michelle, Vanessa Rousso, Shannon Elizabeth, Liv Boeree and Lacey Jones were all in the field, as just about every major female poker personality was on hand.

Also in the field was Victory Poker spokesperson and 2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood and actress/poker superstar Jennifer Tilly.

Play resumes Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Event #23 - $2.5k Limit Hold'em Six-Handed

The $2.5k Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event brought out a bunch of poker's big names on Day 1, with the first-place prize of $234,065 on the mind of the 384 combatants.

Justin Bonomo, JC Tran, Shawn Buchanan and Phil Gordon were amongst the big names near the top of the leaderboard as Day 1 came to a close.

Players reconvene for Day 2 at 3 p.m. Saturday.

For a full account of how day 15 of the WSOP 2010 played out, click through to PokerListings' WSOP coverage.

WSOP Live!

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

Women Take Center Stage at 2010 WSOP

1,054 players came for the start of the Ladies Championship Friday, and although a few males registered for the tournament, the field was an overwhelming female majority, with many big names in the house.

Liv Boeree, Shannon Elizabeth, Sara Underwood and Tiffany Michelle were all in the tournament for Day 1, and the field is a mix of celebrities and some of poker's female finest.

Also in the field were Kathy Liebert, Evelyn Ng, Leo Margets and Vanessa Rousso, with a first-place prize of $192,132 on the line.

"I think for a professional poker player it's a good value, because a lot of the ladies playing aren't experienced players," Michelle said during the first break.

"I like my odds. It's a fun event and fun to sit down with a bunch of women."

Shannon Elizabeth is one of many big names on hand for the $1k Ladies Championship.

 

Michelle, who broke through on the poker scene with her 17th-place finish in the 2008 Main Event, has mixed feelings about the Ladies Championship.

"I think the reason it was created is wonderful, to promote more women getting into poker," Michelle said.

"I'm on the fence about it. I feel like women are always wanting equality. So I know that we'd be pissed if they had a men only event."

"There's kind of a double standard, but I think the purpose of it is to make it a stepping stone for women to be more comfortable playing with men."

The field of the Ladies Event is almost identical to last year with only six less players than in 2009. Last year Hawaiian Lisa Hamilton outlasted a field of 1,060 players to win a $195,390 first place prize.

The event peaked in 2007 with 1,286 players but the drop off hasn't been as steep as many other tournaments that have seen fewer numbers thanks to the economic downturn.

The female-only High Heels Poker Tour is also on hand, with a hospitality suite in the Brasilia Room right across from the Pavilion Room.

The HHPT qualified more than 20 women for the $1k Ladies Championship, with a dozen qualifiers coming from Thrusday's HHPT Sit-n-Go Extravaganza event.

HHPT founder Lauren Failla remains a fervant supporter of the event, despite taking a bad beat to be eliminated from this year's edition.

"It's been amazing," said of the HHPT promotion at the WSOP.

"Everyone embraced it, thought it was a really good idea to offer these women in the poker industry an opportunity to basically show their wares."

The weekend wraps up with the HHPT/Pink Ladies Poker Tour event, taking place Saturday at Hard Rock Hotel.

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

Scott Ian Sending UB.com Poker Players to Sonisphere Festival

Through the UB.com Pro Social Freerolls, the online poker site has offered the chance for its players to skydive with Joe Sebok and head out on a date with Tiffany Michelle. Now, it will give players the chance to hang with sponsored pro Scott Ian as his band Anthrax performs at one of the premier music festivals in England.

Ian will be playing in a special tournament on UB.com on June 30th at 7:00pm ET. The “Scott Ian – Send Me To Sonisphere” tournament will award the winner with a special prize package that includes a trip for two to London, accommodations, VIP passes, and tickets to watch Ian and the reunited lineup of Anthrax play the Sonisphere Festival on Saturday, July 31st. The festival is held in Knebworth, England and is one of the largest in Europe, featuring some of the biggest names in the hard rock/metal field.

The Sonisphere Festival starts on July 30th and features such acts as veteran shock rocker Alice Cooper, 80s techno-pop legend Gary Numan, and 80s hair rockers Europe. The festival schedule continues on Saturday and includes Anthrax, German industrial rockers Rammstein, and American bands Papa Roach and Sick of it All. The festival concludes on August 1st with a stacked lineup including English metal band Iron Maiden, American alternative rockers Alice in Chains, the American metal band Slayer, and legendary rockers Iggy.

For players who want to take part in the freeroll, it is important to follow the UB.com Twitter feed. On June 28th – two days before the freeroll takes place – the password will be released via UB’s Twitter account, @ultimate_bet. Everyone who enters the tournament has a shot at winning the “Send Me To Sonisphere” contest, but for those players who don’t make it to the top rung of the ladder, a $2,000 prize pool will be divvied up between the players who finish in second to, at minimum, 65th place.

The UB Pro Social Freerolls are an attempt by UB.com to find out who is the most popular pro in the stable. Back in February, Sebok was the first to step up with his freeroll, offering a chance for the champion of his tournament to skydive with him over the Nevada desert. Not to be outdone, Michelle stepped up in April offering a date in Hollywood to the champion of her freeroll. Ian’s tournament is the third of six planned tournaments.

At the end of the year, the UB.com pro who brought in the largest field for their freeroll will win the UB.com Pro Freeroll Challenge. The winning Team UB Pro will receive $2,500 from UB for a night on the town in Vegas to spend any way they choose. The Team UB pro who attracts the lowest number of players will be forced to play “concierge,” doing anything the winner asks during their night of enjoyment. Knowing the minds of poker players, the “concierge” could be a very busy person!

Ian, while playing frequently on UB.com, has also been on the road recently with his band The Damned Things doing what he does best – blowing away crowds around the world with his guitar prowess – but his main claim to fame is being the founder of Anthrax back in 1981. The hard rock/thrash metal band is one of the iconic bands in that genre, with such classic metal anthems as “Indians,” “I’m The Man,” and “Belly of the Beast.” Anthrax has been a significant force in the music industry over the past three decades.

In that time span, Anthrax ushered in the era of “rap metal” through its collaboration with seminal rappers Public Enemy. Anthrax’s 1991 collaboration on the Public Enemy classic “Bring The Noise” opened the doors for such acts as Limp Bizkit and Biohazard. Joey Belladonna, who was the vocalist during some of Anthrax’s biggest hits in the 1980s and 1990s, will be rejoining the lineup of Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, and Rob Caggiano for the 2010 tour and Sonisphere Festival.

Samantha Ryan Interview with Poker News Daily

Recently, the CEREUS Network online poker room UB.com announced that it had signed adult film star Samantha Ryan to a sponsorship for the ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP). Ryan sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her new gig.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. How did you get started in poker?

Samantha Ryan: I started playing when I was in real estate, which was the last professional job I had before the adult industry. The guys I was in real estate with were also blackjack players and were making excuses to go to Las Vegas every weekend. I was sweating them and that’s when I got the itch. They taught me how to play and I started beating them.

Four years ago, I started playing online. Without playing higher stakes online, I had success here and there and final tabled a few things. I started getting back into it about a year and a half ago and am definitely looking forward to it now.

PND: We’ve noticed that you’re tight with UB.com pros Annie Duke and Tiffany Michelle. How did you come to meet them?

Samantha Ryan: Annie and I have become much better friends over the last few months. We have quite a few mutual friends. I met Annie way back when. I actually dabbled in blackjack a few years ago on a team and one of the guys was playing on the same television show as Annie. Then, I kept running into her. Over the last few months, I started playing in a lot of the charity tournaments around town and she invited me to hers.

I’ve always had great respect for Annie. She’s intelligent and a go-getter. “Celebrity Apprentice” allowed us to see how well she adapts to different situations. I sat down next to [Duke’s boyfriend] Joe Reitman in a charity tournament recently and busted him, but we were chitchatting because he had seen me around a few other events. He introduced me to Bikram, which is the kind of yoga that I do with Annie.

PND: Do you see the partnership with UB.com continuing beyond the WSOP?

Samantha Ryan: It depends on how well I do. If I were to bust out of every tournament and not cash, I don’t think it’d continue. I have to earn my own respect. I haven’t gotten lucky yet and have had a lot of bad beats so far.

PND: Talk about being a woman in a male-dominated sport like poker.

Samantha Ryan: I’ve been playing more live poker recently and have a bigger history online. I’m definitely starting to see the dynamic at the table and it’s almost a challenge to me. Everyone wants to immediately judge me, but I can probably outtalk anyone in about five minutes on any topic. People quietly underestimate me. In cards, there’s always that luck factor.

PND: How has your experience at the WSOP been so far?

Samantha Ryan: It has been a lot of fun. I’ve been around for the past few years and have been itching to play. It’s cool how the Amazon Room is the secondary room now and it’s fun to be back at the WSOP as a player. It’s something I’ve been planning to do for the past few years. I’m glad to get the jitters out of the way.

PND: You’re playing in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies Event. What are you expecting in it?

Samantha Ryan: It’s going to be a lot different and I almost prefer playing with the guys. I’m playing it because it works better with my schedule. I guess at the same time I should because I’m a lady. I don’t know if I’ll like playing with all females, but there won’t be that dynamic of being a target. There won’t be those hands where people play aggressively against me.

Win WSOP Main Event Final Table VIP Trips from UB.com and PND

Last year, the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in November was electric. The finale featured Full Tilt Poker pro and industry icon Phil Ivey along with CardPlayer Magazine’s Jeff Shulman. In the end, Joe Cada became the second champion of the November Nine in dramatic fashion and banked a colossal $8.5 million.

This year promises to be equally electric. Poker News Daily and UB.com are teaming up to dole out three VIP prize packages to the WSOP Main Event final table. All you have to do is sign up for UB.com through PND between June 1st and July 30th, deposit, and generate one UB Point. That’s right, all you need to do is accrue one, single UB Point. When you do so, you’ll automatically be entered into a freeroll on August 15th at 20:00 ET on UB.com. The winner of the freeroll will head to Las Vegas in style to watch the Main Event come to a conclusion. The other members of the final table in the August freeroll will earn a spot in the $200,000 Guaranteed, a $215 value.

The other two VIP prize packages will be given away in two separate points races, one held in June and the other held in July. Whoever amasses the most number of Status Points each month will head to Sin City to soak up the November Nine and witness poker history. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one lucky poker player take down what is expected to be a top prize of between $8 million and $9 million.

What constitutes a VIP prize package to Las Vegas, you ask? We’re all about living the high life here at PND and our promotion with UB.com is no exception. Each package includes a round trip airfare for two people, with a $600 maximum per person. You’ll also get three nights’ accommodation at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, where the final table of the Main Event will play out.

On top of the airfare and accommodation, you’ll also land a dinner with UB.com pros and gain entry into the WSOP Main Event final table at the Rio, which was a tough ticket to open the festivities last year. The finale plays out inside the spacious Penn and Teller Theater, located down the hallway from the Pavilion and Amazon Room.

UB.com is one-half of the CEREUS Network and happily accepts players from the United States. It ranks as the sixth largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game traffic with a seven-day running average of 2,150 players and a 24-hour peak approaching 3,600. Absolute Poker is also on the same network and proudly accepts action from the United States.

Members of Team UB that players could dine with while checking out the finale of the WSOP Main Event include 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu. The Team UB.com cast also includes former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, former “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok, and Anthrax member Scott Ian.

Sign up for UB.com today. We might be seeing you in Las Vegas this November.

Tom “durrrr” Dwan Comes Close to Big Payday, Phil Laak Ends His Marathon, and the NBA Finals from Poker in Twitter

The weekend looked like it would be a calm one from poker players on Twitter… until Tom “durrrr” Dwan made his assault on Event #11, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event, at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). With Dwan making the final table with the chip lead – and with anywhere from $5 to $15 million on the line in prop bets – even the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament took a back seat as players sweated whether “durrrr” would cash in on a big payday.

Prior to the start of the WSOP, Dwan blogged that he would take 3-1 odds on him winning a bracelet during the 57-event schedule. It seems many players took him up on his offer, with PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu noting Sunday night, “The atmosphere in the room is electric. So many of us have bets against Durrr winning. 3 left and we are sweating hard!” Joe Reitman, who arrived to watch the final table play out, noted the same thing when he Tweeted, “This Durrrr thing is the craziest final table I have sweated… So much side action it is crazy!”

After Dwan fell short of his bracelet goal in finishing second to New Zealand’s Simon Watt, UB.com pro Annie Duke Tweeted, “Players in the Stud 8 or better championship breathe a sigh of relief as Tom Dwan finishes second. Never a bigger swing in a $1,500 than 2day.” Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, echoed his sister’s sentiments when he simply Tweeted, “……..exhale,” to his followers. There were many Tweets along that line as the reality of millions of dollars potentially changing hands sunk in.

“Congrats to Tom Dwan! We were all rooting for you… To come second! Wow I escaped. What a sweat that was,” Negreanu Tweeted following the close call. Noted tournament reporter and WSOP photographer B.J. Nemeth passed along a thought from Mike Matusow” “Mike @TheMouthMatusow said there should be a shrine to Simon Watt in Bobby’s Room. He saved the players in the Big Game millions,” while Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel made note of Dwan’s performance in Tweeting, “Durrr was a player away from winning the main event of the WSOP 5 months early.”

Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, who was one of many who seemed to be cheering on “durrrr,” summed up the day’s events by Tweeting, “Very brutal for Tom to get so close, still so many events to go, won’t be the last time everyone has to hold their breath.” Negreanu got the final word on the Dwan run, Tweeting, “Just finished chatting with Durr. That kid is amazing. Rather than jump off a bridge, he is smiling and gearing up for the next one. Cool cat.”

Away from the tense action at the WSOP, Phil Laak continued on his drive at the Bellagio to eclipse the Guinness World Record for consecutive hours playing poker. He stormed by the previous record (78 hours) on Friday, but continued on, playing $10/$20 No Limit Hold’em in an attempt to put the record out of reach. It did seem as though the sleeplessness was beginning to catch up with “The Unabomber,” as he Tweeted Sunday morning, “100 in reach – pacing things – I am having stellar time – wish u were here – decided that no matter how it plays out this is it – no repeats.”

As the marathon session wore on, Laak’s number of Tweets dropped, but top female cash game player Thuy Doan picked up the slack as she sat in for a marathon session of her own. “Phil is about to hit 100 hours of playing. Me, 16 hours,” Doan Tweeted as Laak hit the triple-digit mark. “I’m up bout 12k, Phil is up 9k.” Doan would eventually end her run at 25 hours to head to the Rio to watch Dwan’s final table.

Just before ending his marathon, Laak picked up his messages to his fans on Twitter. “Seratonin levels r crushing!!! So happy – wow.. I manufactured my very own high.. 3 days to make it – don’t want to waste it!,” Laak tweeted at the 108-hour mark. His record attempt came to an end on Monday morning, with “The Unabomber” happily firing off a Twitpic of himself  sleeping with the conclusion: “115 hours later… Bedtime… Ahhhh!”

Basketball once again took center stage as the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics entered Game Two on Sunday night. “At the Staples Center where I belong, rooting for the Lakers in game 2 of the NBA finals,” chirped Maria Ho from the battleground. “Celtics and @GregFBT, you’re going down!” Tiffany Michelle decided to take a break from the activities of the WSOP, Tweeting, “A 3.5hr drive from Vegas to LA ain’t no thang when there’s a Laker game at the end of it!”

Picking up the Celtics as his favorite team – at least for his betting action – was Reitman. “I have the Celtics for $20 at the half and $20 +4 for the game….let’s go green,” he Tweeted prior to the start of the game. “Watching this game, and watching the fans in LA, it’s so hard to not absolutely love the Celts and their spirit,” Haralabos Voulgaris Tweeted as the Celtics moved out to a good lead. Joe Sebok also noted the Celtic run when he Tweeted, “Man, all those Lakers fans that usually send me hate messages are really quiet for some reason. Hmmm.”

For Tweets of the Week, Seidel took center stage as he mixed his poker game with the situation in the Gulf of Mexico: “0 for 7 so far at the WSOP. I’m calling BP in the morning to see if they can cap my gushing pockets.” In another Tweet, Seidel recounted a conversation on his way to the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament: “Rio guard stopped me to ask if I dumped the NBC HU to @realannieduke. Starting off the day on tilt.” Finally, Shannon Elizabeth demonstrated the demands of being a celebrity when she Tweeted, “I pushed with A/J & got called by A/5 & there was the 5 right on the flop-just like that my day is through. Such a bummer. Did I mention the guy that made the bad call had JUST asked me to sign his chest? I said no-was too weird.”

Brandon Cantu Re-Signs with UB.com for One Year

Fresh off the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Brandon Cantu has re-signed with the online poker site UB.com for one year. The Las Vegas resident owns more than $3.6 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Cantu had originally signed with UB.com in May 2009 and appeared at the site’s party at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand last year sporting its gear. Cantu is a two-time bracelet winner. His first accolade came four years ago after taking down a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $757,000. The event, the second on the 2006 WSOP schedule, featured a starting grid of 2,776 players and Cantu defeated a final table that included Brent “Astrolux85” Roberts and Carlos Mortensen, the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) all-time money leader.

Last year, Cantu proved he wasn’t a one-trick pony by taking down a bracelet in a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament at the WSOP for $228,000. The top five in that event featured WPT champion Tommy Vedes and Lee Watkinson, while fellow UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth took 14th. Cantu is also a WPT champion, having taken down the Bay 101 Shooting Star event in 2008.

In addition to his prowess at the WSOP, Cantu took down the Main Event of the Wynn Classic for $363,000 in March. Cantu defeated Jared Jaffee heads-up in a final 10 that also featured Thomas “Kingsofcards” Marchese and Erick Lindgren. The Main Event of the Wynn Classic drew a field of 242.

On re-signing with UB.com for another year, Cantu commented in a press release distributed by the USA-friendly online poker site, “I am very pleased to extend my relationship with UB. I have appreciated the commitment UB has shown me over the last year and I look forward to a longstanding relationship with them. I hope to be able to not only play for UB at a high level, but also contribute to making UB an amazing place to play poker for the entire community.” Cantu will continue to sport the UB.com brand at live events around the world.

In other CEREUS Network news, time is running out for players to submit videos as part of the Craziest Last Longer Bet promotion. All players have to do is record a 90-second or less video about – you guessed it – a crazy prop bet. The folks from Team UB.com will then select the top 10 videos and distribute them via a newsletter to the entire community. The makers of the top-voted video will receive a trip to Las Vegas, hotel, and seats in the final open $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP (#54).

Players must be members of UB.com in order to submit videos. All submissions must be given by June 8th, so time is running out to send in the zaniest prop bets you can think of. Just upload the video to YouTube and then fill out an online form found at UB.com’s website. The form includes a place to enter the URL of your masterpiece.

At the time of writing, YouYube videos posted included Bryan Micon against “Hollywood” Dave Stann and Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon against Gary “Debo34” Debernardi.

UB.com pro Joe Sebok has made waves for his prop bets against Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen. He briefly hosted the show “Prop Bets” on RawVegas TV. Other members of Team UB.com include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 2008 WSOP Main Event Last Woman Standing Tiffany Michelle, and 2010 WSOP Rincon Circuit Championship winner Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire.

UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker, happily accept players from the United States.

UB.com Signs Adult Entertainer Samantha Ryan to Sponsorship Deal

Prior to the start of this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), UB.com announced an expansion to its sponsored players roster, signing adult entertainer Samantha Ryan to a limited contract.

While Ryan has no cashes in the tournament poker world, she has been involved with the game for the past couple of years. During the 2008 WSOP, Ryan joined poker professional Maria Ho in cheering on Tiffany Michelle to her 17th place finish in the $10,000 Main Event. Most recently, Ryan has played in many charity events, including current National Heads-Up Poker champion and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke’s recent tournament benefiting the After School All Stars at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Ryan now joins Michelle and Duke on Team UB, which features some of the top players in the game today.

Led by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Team UB also features Duke, recent European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champion Liv Boeree, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, and Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, among others. UB.com has demonstrated that it looks outside the “poker” box with its sponsorships, as Anthrax’s Scott Ian a member of Team UB who frequently participates in tournaments on the site.

Ryan is one of the most decorated adult entertainers in the business. She has won at least one AVN Award – the adult film industry’s version of the Academy Awards – in each of the last four years and has appeared in approximately 140 films. Some of her more innocently titled features include “War of the Girls,” “All By Myself,” and “French Confessions.”

Apparently, the UB.com deal has been in the works for at least the last couple of weeks. Ryan, Ho, and Michelle are close friends who Tweet continuously and the possibility of a sponsorship deal was first discussed by Ryan. Back on May 25th, she responded to a fan’s question of whether she would be in attendance at the WSOP by Tweeting, “I’ll be around 4 sure! Not sure about WSOP events.”

Three days later, Ryan excitedly announced over her Twitter feed, “So it’s official! I WILL be playing in 5-6 WSOP Events sponsored by @ultimate_bet! A million thanks @RealAnnieDuke! C my fans there!” According to Ryan, her first event will be Friday’s $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #11 on the 2010 WSOP schedule.

So far, UB.com sponsored players have joined in every event played at the WSOP. Hellmuth ran deep in the $50,000 Player’s Championship, albeit missing the money. “I’m out,” Hellmuth commented on Twitter after his departure, “I deserved so so so much better. Stunning, & scary how bad I ran! I wanted it so bad & I played so hard. Feeling srry 4 myself.” \Michelle has also been in action in Event #3, a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but was dismissed early on Day 1B.

Joining Michelle in action for Event #3 was UB.com’s Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. The tournament will restart at 3:00pm PT this afternoon with the final 41 players. Baldwin currently sits in eighth place with a chip stack of 479,000 and is looking to earn his second WSOP bracelet in as many years.

Today at the 2010 WSOP: Erik Sagstrom Leads Player’s Championship

Day One of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books, with Saturday’s schedule featuring the continuation of one of its premier events and a second tournament whose field size should challenge one of the WSOP’s all-time records.

On Friday, the prestigious $50,000 Player’s Championship took center stage at the Rio with a pro-laden field of 116 players. The largest buy-in event at the WSOP, the prize pool of $5.6 million will be chopped up among 16 players. The eventual champion takes home $1.5 million, a WSOP bracelet, and the coveted Chip Reese Memorial Trophy

The Player’s Championship – consisting of an Eight Game format featuring Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha – is the replacement for the $50,000 HORSE Championship that has been contested over the past four years. Previous champions include Reese, Freddy Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, and David Bach.

The battle from the start was grueling, with the 3x starting stacks allowing for extremely skillful play. Despite this, there were eliminations over the span of play on Friday that claimed some notable victims. Eleven players from the original starting field were eliminated by the end of action early Saturday morning, with poker pros Dan Shak, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Brian Townsend, and 2009 WSOP double bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller the most notable of the dismissals.

When the chips fly on Day Two of the Players’ Championship at 3:00pm PT, Sweden’s Erik “Erik123” Sagstrom will lead a host of American players with a 329,100 chip stack. Arranged behind him are several strong challengers including the legendary Doyle Brunson (269,200), Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo (257,300), Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis (251,900), “Miami” John Cernuto (251,400), Barry Greenstein (240,100), and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (230,100).

While it didn’t garner the same attention as the Players’ Championship, the traditional starting tournament for the WSOP, the $500 Casino Employees Event, also was in action in the Rio on Friday. 721 players (down from last year’s 866 entrants) from the casino industry around the world started this year’s event, with the Bellagio’s noted tournament director Jack McClelland as one of the featured players and a Day One survivor. By the end of play on Friday, the field was whittled down to 53 competitors, who will be coming back on Saturday to award the first bracelet of the 2010 WSOP.

With these two events continuing play, the Amazon Room and the Pavilion in the Rio will be stretched to their limits as the first $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #3 on the 57-tournament schedule, will take place. When this event was played last year, an astounding 6,012 players came out, making it the largest non-Main Event tournament in WSOP history. As of 10:30am PT on Saturday, over 3,600 poker players had registered for the event.

According to Twitter reports, several players opted to bypass the large buy-in Player’s Championship to conserve bankroll for later events and have decided that the Saturday $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event will be their first action. Such players as 2009 Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, the apparently “unretired” Shaun Deeb, and UB.com’s Tiffany Michelle are slated to be on the felt Saturday. The field size could contest last year’s record, as with the expansion of the playing arena in the Rio, there is ample room for a 6,000-player field to be seated over two starting days.

Keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for all the latest details as the 41st World Series of Poker.

Lacey Jones Leaves Absolute Poker

In a surprising announcement before the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), top female player/model/poker announcer Lacey Jones has revealed that she has parted ways with Absolute Poker.

According to a posting on the Bryan Micon/Todd Witteles owned poker forum Donkdown.com, Micon said that Jones informed him that she had left one-half of the CEREUS Poker Network without providing any information as to the reason. The departure was further discussed on Micon’s radio program, the Cold Call Show, but again no reason for the split was announced. Normally quite prolific on Twitter, Jones has not Tweeted since May 25th and, four days earlier, posted a cryptic comment that stated, “Today is a new chapter of my life and I’ve never been more excited! Get ready for some BIG things everyone!”

A visit to the Absolute Poker home page still shows Jones listed as a member of Team AP. Along with fellow poker pro Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin and recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Invitational final table player Trishelle Cannatella, Jones’ profile is still on the site. Jones was a part of a sponsorship group that, along with sister site and fellow CEREUS Network partner UB.com, included Tiffany Michelle, recent European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champion Liv Boeree, and many other notable players.

A CEREUS spokesperson did not shed any light on the reasons for the split but stressed it had been an amicable one, telling Poker News Daily on Thursday, “We wish Lacey only the best in her future endeavors and know that she will be successful in whatever she chooses.”

Jones is known as much for her poker game as for her hosting abilities and looks. She was named the spokesperson for the Canadian Poker Tour earlier this year, signed a sponsorship deal with KSINO Clothing, and, most recently, was the floor announcer and hostess for the Full Tilt Poker Doubles Poker Championship, which will air on Fox Sports Net sometime in July. Jones’ departure from Absolute Poker makes her a very appealing commodity for another online poker site sponsorship deal.

Jones was dropped from the roster of Absolute Poker after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was enacted in 2006, but the twosome seemed to be on good terms last year. Absolute re-signed Jones to the sponsored players list last year around the end of the WSOP and, along with Jones’ poker skills and hosting abilities, was receiving good exposure from one of the classiest ladies in the game.

Looking forward to the WSOP, 70 Absolute Poker players have qualified into the Main Event so far. These lucky and skillful players will get a $12,000 package from the site which includes their Main Event buy-in as well as travelling and accomodation. On top of this, the site will divvy up an additional $350,000 among them according to the rules of a progressive prize pool. Depending on how many more players qualify, an Absolute Poker qualifier who made it into the final table of the Main Event could get an additional reward of up to $750,000.

CEREUS Rebounds to Sixth Largest Online Poker Network Worldwide

Plagued by encryption issues and major tournament series on other online poker sites, the CEREUS Network dropped from the sixth largest worldwide to ninth according to PokerScout.com. Two weeks later, the network, which consists of UB.com and Absolute Poker, has reclaimed its spot at number six.

The PokerScout.com Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update revealed that CEREUS leapfrogged Everest Poker, Boss Media’s International Poker Network, and the Microgaming Network on its march to the sixth spot in the rankings, which are determined by real money ring game traffic. What caused the spike in traffic remains to be seen.

PokerScout.com staff speculated on what may have spurred players to return to CEREUS after a two-week hiatus: “The reason for the bounce is unknown, but it does not appear to be related to the network’s announcement a week earlier that it had patched all remaining security holes in its client-server communication. A larger than usual bad beat jackpot may have contributed to the late-week climb.” On Monday, May 24th, UB.com member “POKEHER0706” spiked a bad beat payout of nearly $60,000. At the time of writing, the CEREUS Network’s bad beat jackpot stands at nearly $100,000.

In the interim, CEREUS also fully implemented OpenSSL encryption, ensuring that hole cards, passwords, user names, and data are secure. Whether the conversion from XOR to OpenSSL had any bearing on CEREUS’ traffic growth remains to be seen. PokerTableRatings.com, which originally uncovered the security vulnerability, urged players to avoid UB.com and Absolute Poker entirely until the hole was plugged. If players insisted on logging in, they were encouraged to do so by plugging directly into their modems and avoid using wireless networks.

Complicating matters were the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS) and PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), which wrapped up on May 16th.

According to PokerScout.com, the USA-friendly CEREUS Network boasts a seven-day running average of 2,350 real money ring game players with a 24-hour peak of 3,250. Its average daily traffic is on par with that found on the Ongame Network, whose family of sites includes Betsafe, Hollywood Poker, PokerLoco, and RedKings.

CEREUS saw a peak of more than 4,000 cash game players on May 21st and 22nd, a threshold that had previously been crossed just three times in the last two months. Over the first 24 days of May, the CEREUS Network features an average daily maximum of 3,358 real money ring game players. During the same period in April, that number was 3,355, which means that traffic month over month has remained relatively flat.

UB.com offers a roster of pros that includes reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and recent European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champ Liv Boeree. The site happily takes action from the United States and has qualified 70 players for the 2010 WSOP at the time of writing.

On June 6th, UB.com will hold a 25-Seat Guarantee to send even more players to Las Vegas to compete in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Two weeks later, another 50 seats will be up for grabs. Each tournament comes with a $530 price tag and qualifiers begin as low as $0.10.

UB.com is also offering players an extra incentive to show up donning the site’s gear at the WSOP. Up to $5,000 per player will be put into a prize pool that will ultimately be divided among players who show up to and cash in the Main Event. The progressive prize pool currently stands at $350,000.

Brunson Beer Pong Invitational to Be Held Wednesday

Coming up on Wednesday at Hogs and Heifers, located at 201 North Third Street in Las Vegas, is the third annual Brunson Beer Pong Invitational. The event, which is sponsored by Doyle Brunson’s online poker site DoylesRoom, will see some of the top names in our industry try their hand at an old frat party favorite.

Beer pong involves tossing ping pong balls into plastic cups filled partway with the tasty alcoholic brew. For every cup your opponent hits on your side of the table, you have to drink its contents. The first team to land a ping pong ball in every cup wins. The game can be found throughout college campuses in the United States and casinos like O’Sheas on the Las Vegas Strip even offer beer pong to patrons.

UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth and Absolute Poker diva Trishelle Cannatella will serve as the emcees of the Brunson Beer Pong Invitational and use a bullhorn to provide commentary. The staff at Pokerati has been tasked with creating a bracket and the field is invite-only, although anyone interested in watching their favorite poker pros drink beer can come out and watch. Up for grabs are a BBQ and trophies, among other prizes.

Brunson will team with fellow DoylesRoom pro Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, the nephew of the late Chip Reese. Brunson’s son Todd will also be in attendance and pair with one of the online poker world’s legends, Brett “gank” Jungblut. Also representing DoylesRoom is Brunson 10 member Steve “gboro780” Gross, who sits atop the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and will team with Hoyt Corkins on Wednesday in the beer pong extravaganza.

Two of the first couples of poker will compete, Erica Schoenberg and Erick Lindgren as well as Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso. Schoenberg, formerly the better half of David Benyamine, and Rousso are two of only a handful of women that will take part in the Beer Pong Invitational. Other ladies scheduled to toss ping pong balls include Full Tilt Poker pro Mandy Baker, Melanie Weisner, Vanessa Peng, former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and Lisa Parsons.

On the event’s Facebook page, a bevy of poker personalities have indicated they’ll be on-hand, including Nat Arem, Pam Brunson, Lee Watkinson, Poker News Daily’s Brett Collson, GreasieWheels’ Lisa Wheeler, and poker PR guru Lara Miller, who is handling media for the Brunson 10 throughout the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Last year, Dan “Wretchy” Martin and Peter “#1PEN” Neff bested Todd Brunson and Jungblut in the finals. Here’s a look at several of the teams that will take to the beer pong tables on Wednesday, according to the event’s Facebook page:

Doyle Brunson and Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark
Todd Brunson and Brett “gank” Jungblut
Hoyt Corkins and Steve “gboro780” Gross
Erica Schoenberg and Erick Lindgren
Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso
Ty Stewart and partner
Allie Prescott and Shaun Deeb (or Liv Boeree)
Dan “Wretchy” Martin and partner Dan “USCwimmer” White
Melanie Weisner and Vanessa Peng
Drew Crawford and Nick Davies
Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Dan “Kingdan” Smith
Mandy Baker and Shawn Patrick Green
Rick Fuller and Jim Shipley
Jason “JaspudUF” Lee and Dave Walker
Tony “Bond18″ Dunst and Randal “RandALLin” Flowers
Marc Seif and partner
Scott Seiver and Greg Dyer
Dan Michalski and Jon Katkin
Bob Lauria and Dan Suied
Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar and Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dywer
Eric Ramsey and Dave Behr
Matt “All In At 420” Stout and Al Rasah
Tiffany Michelle and Lisa Parsons
Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp and partner

The third annual Brunson Beer Pong Invitational serves as a lead-in to the 2010 WSOP, which kicks off on Friday with the first two of 57 bracelet events. Accordingly, the beer pong festivities will be filmed by ESPN and air as part of the network’s WSOP coverage.

Poker in Twitter: Lost, Basketball, and Annette Obrestad’s Spider

This past weekend in online poker was relatively tame. Sandwiched between the conclusion of PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and the kickoff of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), many players decided to recharge their batteries instead of playing all day. Luckily for them, one of the most anticipated TV episodes in recent memory – ABC’s LOST Season Finale – aired yesterday and made for some interesting banter on the Twittervine.

Prior to the event, there was fervent anticipation about how the show, which has been running for six years, would come to an end. Scott Ian Tweeted, “LOST ends today. Between watching the show and talking about it, [the end is] gonna free up 6 hours a week. Scrap-booking!!”

At the conclusion of the two-part episode, Daniel Negreanu was first to Tweet about it, saying, “Just saw the end of LOST and, um, ya, I’m a bit lost to say the least. Time for bed soon.” Apparently UB.com pros Annie Duke and Tiffany Michelle disagreed, however, as the former complained, “Just finished watching LOST finale. WTF? I feel like I just lost 6 years of my life,” while the latter commented, “Agreed. I’ve just been watching dead people this whole time?!” Michelle needs to re-evaluate the events of the finale, because nobody was dead the whole time.

While he didn’t elaborate, Joe Reitman sided with the ladies, posting, “[Re:LOST] I feel like I was in a relationship for 6 yrs, knew it was ending tonight, & instead of having 1 last great night I was kicked in the balls.” Ian was also disappointed: “Feeling beaten up emotionally from the LOST finale. Did someone slip gay juice in my coffee?”

As a casual fan of the show, I tend to agree with Alex Outhred and Bodog pro Evelyn Ng. Outhred mused, “Sorta surprised at the LOST reactions. It honestly makes perfect sense, and they truly honored the relationships.” Ng gushed, “The LOST finale was fantastic and extremely satisfying – anyone who was ever a fan would have to have loved it <3<3<3.”

In other news, Joe Sebok was all over Matt Savage prior to Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference Finals between the San Jose Sharks and his Chicago Blackhawks: “Big day for your sharkies today, sir. Win or it’s bye bye time. You ain’t the Flyers and we ain’t the Bruins.” Following a 4-2 Sharks loss, Savage conceded, “Yes, I am upset the Sharks got swept, but this way it seems easier to take. Also a week’s worth of golf helps take my mind of it.”

Despite the lack of online poker related chatter, there was some talk about the Saturday night’s launch of the new high-stakes Ivey Room at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. GoDaddy Girl and PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso Tweeted, “Played the Ivey invitational at Aria in Vegas today. Out on first hand to a rivered set w/ AQ on Q high board, sux but least I can enjoy the weekend!”

The event in question was a $1,000,000 Invitation-Only Freeroll, which featured a $100,000 bounty for knocking out Ivey. Shannon Elizabeth let the cat out of the bag when she posted, “Chino can literally be called ‘Money Bags’ right now after picking up Phil’s bounty.”

The Tweet of the weekend goes to Full Tilt Poker’s Annette Obrestad, the millionairess who needs her mother to do her dirty work: “Omg huge spider just scared the shit outta me… mom had to kill it. God those things are creepy!” Obrestad took down the PokerStars Sunday 500 over the weekend for nearly $90,000.

Poker2Nite Season 2 Finale Airs on Versus

The Season 2 finale of the UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” aired on Wednesday. Former “Amazing Race” contestant Maria Ho challenged Absolute Poker pro Trishelle Cannatella for the series’ “On the Clock” trophy.

First up was discussion of the recently completed World Poker Tour (WPT) Grand Prix de Paris, which saw World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe bracelet winner Theo Jorgensen earn €633,902. However, the final table largely featured unknown players, leading “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok to conclude, “I think it’s a bad situation. People tune into televised poker to see the big names.”

Despite Sebok’s criticism, Jorgensen was still elated to win, telling WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque Williams from Paris, “Right now, I’m drinking champagne faster than anyone here in the room. It just feels fantastic.”

Also taking center stage was Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan’s love of poker. Her passion for the game has many online poker players expecting legalization of its internet version in the United States, but not everyone is drinking the Kool-Aid. Sebok noted, “It’s certainly great that more people in Washington play poker, but let’s not lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that she’s somehow going to change all of this legislation and make a bunch of decisions because that’s not going to happen.”

Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett then joined “Poker2Nite” to break down the security flaw that was plugged earlier this week on CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. Leggett told viewers, “Just over a week ago, a security vulnerability was identified that [affected] our client-server communication. We believe it was very unlikely that someone was able to exploit it.”

Leggett added, “We do have additional layers of security that would help us identify if someone was able to exploit something like this.” Sebok referred to “Ultimate Bet” when talking about the vulnerability as opposed to “UB,” the re-branded site that sponsors the show.

Sebok and co-host Scott Huff then reviewed the top non-poker activities in Las Vegas for those players who bust prematurely from events during the upcoming WSOP. Among Sebok’s choices were Rehab at the Hard Rock, boating on Lake Mead, the Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace, Mystere at Treasure Island, and the Sapphire gentlemen’s club.

“P2N Online,” which features the latest buzz from cyberspace, featured a video posted by Jennifer Harman in which the two-time bracelet winner flaunts her chest in hopes of receiving WSOP Tournament of Champions votes. Also shown were images from Viktor Blom’s home, which featured little-to-no furniture and a color scheme reminiscent of an insane asylum.

Ho then took to the studio to challenge Cannatella’s mark of eight correct answers to rapid-fire questions as part of “On the Clock.” However, she could only muster six. Meanwhile, she discussed her experience on “Amazing Race” alongside fellow WSOP Main Event Last Woman Standing Tiffany Michelle: “The ‘Amazing Race’ was the best experience of my life, but it was definitely the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. It feels so great to be able to challenge yourself and push yourself to the limits every day.”

On her upcoming WSOP plans, Ho admitted, “I’m probably trying to play 20 tournaments. I get burnt out really easily, so I want to try to have a schedule where I feel like I’m doing as much as I can.” She’ll also take to the felts in more Mixed Games this year. Ho finished 11th in last year’s World Championship of Limit Hold’em for $41,000.

UB.com officials have not released any information about the fate of “Poker2Nite” for Season 3, although Huff Tweeted that the show had not been renewed. The first season of the series aired on Fox Sports Net before being bumped to Versus. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.

Duke Hosts After-School All-Stars Charity Tournament

The event will go off May 20th at 7:30 p.m. PT inside the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles and a host of celebrities and poker pros expected to attend.

Actors Don Cheadle, David Zayas, Sara Rue and poker pros Adam "Roothlus" Levy and Tiffany Michelle are among those expected to compete for $35,000 in prizes sponsored by Ultimate Bet.

All the proceeds from the $250 event with $100 re-buys will go to After-School All-Stars.

"After-School All-Stars is simply an amazing organization," said Duke. "The children they serve live in some of the most poverty-stricken areas in the country where their other options are gangs, drugs, or worse.

"ASAS not only gives them a safe place to be while their parents work, but also provides them additional support in school work and outlets for expression through extracurricular activities. Poker players can be incredibly generous people, so it was a no-brainer for me that this event should happen."

For more information or check out the event's website.