Prahlad Friedman Joins Team UB.com

Following last week’s overhaul at Team UB.com that saw Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth depart on the same day, the USA-friendly CEREUS Network site has picked up its newest pro. On Thursday, site officials announced that Prahlad Friedman had joined Team UB.com.

Friedman seemingly hinted at joining an online poker site back in November. The 32 year old California native Tweeted, “I said I would never sign with a poker site. Should I ever reconsider? What y’all think? I would have to get over the fact that I’m ‘selling out.’ I’m the only player in the world that hasn’t wanted a deal that I know of.” UB.com promoted Friedman as “one of the world’s greatest cash game players, online and off, with millions in winnings earned since 1999.”

Friedman’s first major live cash came eight years ago in the Main Event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio, where he booked $101,000 for his runner-up finish to Full Tilt Poker’s Erick Lindgren. One year later, he notched his first (and so far only) World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament and banked $109,000 in the process.

In 2005, Friedman played second fiddle to Chris Ferguson in the WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s Rincon to earn another $363,000. One year later, this author remembers being at the Rio in Las Vegas and following Friedman through the WSOP Main Event. There, he turned in a 20th place finish for nearly a half-million dollars and fell just short of the coveted Main Event bracelet.

He’d make amends in August 2009, when Friedman took down the Legends of Poker, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). His victory in the California poker tournament was worth a colossal $1 million and saw Friedman outlast a final table that included November Niner Kevin Schaffel, Todd Terry, Toto Leonidas, and Sam Stein.

Friedman was a victim of the superuser scandal that rocked UB.com and drew the ire of PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu for signing with the site that had wronged him. “Kid Poker” responded to a variety of Tweets last weekend, among them one sent to fellow poker player Alex Outhred that read, “Like you, I’ve known him for years, which makes it all the more shocking. I’ve defended Prahlad on many occasions. Can’t here.”

Negreanu added to Outhred, “UB will always have to offer more than face value [for a sponsorship] because given a choice that’s close, no one would choose UB. Or shouldn’t… UB has to offer more money obv. He used to say it wasn’t about the money. I don’t believe that anymore… He used to speak out against all corporations, claiming he stood for something. Then, the money was right and his tune changed… I get it happens. I’m disappointed it did happen. I’ve always liked Prahlad and still do despite his decision. Just shocking.”

Nevertheless, Friedman will join UB.com just in time for the sixth UB.com Online Championship, or UBOC, which gets underway on January 16th. The 29-event series will stretch all the way until January 30th, when a $1,050 buy-in Main Event will kick off. The $1 million guaranteed feature tournament will deal No Limit Hold’em and be played as a Monster Stack.

Running alongside the sixth UBOC schedule is a MiniUBOC series, which features the same 29 tournaments, but with buy-ins that are generally one-tenth as large. The MiniUBOC slate ends with a $55 buy-in Monster Stack Championship Event that comes with a $50,000 guaranteed purse.

Following the departures of Hellmuth and Duke, UB.com’s stock of pros now includes Friedman, Joe Sebok, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, and Maria Ho. The site happily accepts players from the United States and joins Absolute Poker on the CEREUS Network.

Play with Prahlad Friedman today only by visiting UB.com.

UBOC6 Satellites up and running

December 23rd – Weekly News Update

Welcome to your weekly fix for this week’s poker news, I’m Sean Gibson and in our PND weekly update, I’ll be recapping the hottest headlines for this week.

We start out with maybe the biggest name in poker… and MORE exposure of UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth is just what the poker world needs. In recent days, Hellmuth potentially dropped a bombshell by Tweeting:

“OMG! Phil Hellmuth (me!) on ‘Dancing with the Stars!’ Outrageous! Might make a fool out of myself on worldwide television one more time.”

ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” is entering its twelfth season, which is set to hit television airwaves in the beginning of Two Thousand Eleven.

Despite multiple media outlets asserting that Hellmuth is a lock for “Dancing with the Stars,” let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. The cast for the new cycle has not yet been announced, but is apparently due out in January.

According to Politco, Senator Jon Kyl is keeping his Two Thousand Twelve reelection plans close to the vest, which is creating uncertainty about the future hierarchy of his party’s leadership. Kyl is the Senate Minority Whip, the second ranking position in the Republican Party.

Poker players know Kyl as Capitol Hill’s current public enemy number one to online poker. He was one of the key players behind the UIGEA four years ago. The bill, which aimed to stop the flow of funds to offshore internet gambling sites, was attached to the must-pass SAFE Port Act in the middle of the night just before Congress adjourned for the year.

Since Two Thousand Six, Kyl has continued to fight against online poker. Earlier this year, he blocked the appointment of several of President Barack Obama‘s nominees to the United States Treasury because he was upset that the UIGEA implementation deadline had been pushed back six months. This month, he was the most vocal opponent of Senator Harry Reid’s failed attempts to legalize and regulate online poker.

The sixth UB.com Online Championship, or UBOC, will kick off on Sunday, January Sixteenth. A record-setting twenty nine events will comprise the new series, culminating in a one thousand fifty dollar buy-in No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack Championship on January Thirtieth. All told, at least five million bucks will be shelled out to UB.com faithful during UBOC Six.

Running concurrently with UBOC Six is Mini UBOC Six, which offers the same slate of events, but with buy-ins that are one-tenth as large. This allows players of all bankrolls to compete in the wide range of tournaments on the docket. In addition, the entire UBOC Six schedule is open to players from UB.com’s CEREUS Network sister site Absolute Poker.

The very first PokerStars SuperStar Showdown took place on Sunday and featured Isaac Haxton squaring off against Isildur1. In the end, Haxton boosted his bankroll by forty-one thousand dollars over the twenty five hundred hand match and was declared the winner. Both Haxton and Isildur1 bought in for one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

According to the PokerStars Blog, the lively rail for the very first SuperStar Showdown match featured high-stakes pros like Kevin [MICK-FEE] MacPhee and Chad Batista. The group watched one of their own battle against an unknown Swedish online pro who many believe to be Viktor Blom. Four No Limit Hold’em tables at fifty/one-hundred blinds served as the battleground for the Showdown.

The next SuperStar Showdown opponent for Isildur1 has not yet been announced and interested players are encouraged to e-mail showdown@pokerstars.com. On its blog, PokerStars claims that a match may take place at the upcoming PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, although whether Isildur1’s true identity would be revealed at that time remains to be seen.

Looking to expand its brand further into the global marketplace, Caesars Interactive Entertainment has entered into a joint venture with one of Italy’s top online poker companies, Microgame.

In an announcement last Friday, Caesars Interactive and Microgame revealed a long-term agreement to co-brand Microgame’s online poker outlet, PeoplesNetwork.it, with the World Series of Poker name and logo. Through the agreement, Caesars Interactive and Microgame will offer online and live events to the Italian market prominently featuring the WSOP brand. Additionally, Microgame will become the official satellite outlet for Italian players entering the WSOP.

The movie that helped spark the poker boom is returning to fire a second barrel. Miramax Films announced this week that it will be teaming up with the Weinstein Company to produce “Rounders Two,” a sequel to the cult favorite that was released more than a decade ago.
According to IMDB, “Rounders Two” is currently in development and scheduled to hit theaters in Two Thousand Twelve. The cast and crew have not been announced, but Matt Damon and Edward Norton have supposedly signed on for the project, as has original director John Dahl. It’s unknown whether John Malkovich or John Turturro will return for the sequel, leaving fans to speculate where the story will take the lead characters this time around. Miramax broke the exciting news in press release late last week.

That does it for this week’s top headlines in the world of poker. We thank you for watching our Weekly News Update and encourage you to visit our site every day for the latest in poker news. I’m Sean Gibson, wishing you a very happy holiday season and of course … for you to crush the games for a late year heater. See you next time!

UBOC6 Set to Rock The New Year

UBOC6 is set to go off Jan. 6-30, 2011 with $5 Million in prize money over 29 online poker events, each hosted by a Team UB Pro.

"Not too long after those New Year's hangovers wear off, get back on UB because it's time for UBOC6," said Team UB's Joe Sebok.

"The UBOC's are my favorite online tournament series because they just keep getting bigger and bigger every time out. Now, if I can just figure out how to win an event, the excitement will be complete."

UBOC6 features a $2,000+$100 buy-in High Roller $750K Guaranteed event Jan. 23, and of course, the UBOC Championship Monster Stack $1,000+$50 buy-in Jan. 30.

Team UB Pro and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and a few rocker buddies will also return to host the Rock Star Bounty event Jan. 17.

Plus, an all-new Centerfold Bounty event with a bevy of bootylicious centerfold models has been added Jan. 27.

Once again, there will also be a Mini-UBOC series mirroring all 29 UBOC events at a fraction of the buy-ins, including a $50 buy-in $50K Guaranteed event.

Online satellites began Dec. 19. Check the "SATELLITES" tab in the UB tournament lobby for the full UBOC Satellite schedule.

Further details on the series and the full schedule can be found here.

Ultimate Bet announces schedule for UBOC 6; $4.6m guaranteed

UB.com Announces UBOC 6 Schedule

The sixth UB.com Online Championship, or UBOC, will kick off on Sunday, January 16th. A record-setting 29 events will comprise the new series, culminating in a $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack Championship Event on January 30th. All told, at least $5 million will be shelled out to UB.com faithful during UBOC 6.

Among those looking forward to watching UBOC 6 play out on the virtual felts of the USA-friendly online poker site was Joe Sebok. The former “Poker2Nite” host and current UB.com pro commented in a press release distributed last week, “Not too long after those New Year’s hangovers wear off, get back on UB.com because it’s time for UBOC 6. The UBOCs are my favorite online tournament series because they just keep getting bigger and bigger every time out. Now, if I can just figure out how to win an event, the excitement will be complete.”

Despite primarily catering to U.S. players, UB.com has added several tournaments to the UBOC 6 slate on Wednesdays that cater to its European clientele. These Euro-facing events kick off at 16:05 ET and include a $162 No Limit Hold’em event (#8) and a $209 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys tournament (#22). Returning in UBOC 6 is the popular Rock Star Bounty event, which is in the books for January 17th and features Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, who is also a UB.com pro.

We’re done keeping you in suspense. Here are the 29 tournaments that comprise the UBOC 6 schedule:

January 16th at 14:00 ET
Event #1: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$500+30 buy-in, $250,000 Guarantee

January 16th at 16:00 ET
Event #2: Sniper No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$300+20 buy-in, $200,000 Guarantee

January 16th at 18:30 ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Ultra Turbo
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 17th at 20:05 ET
Event #4: No Limit Hold’em Four-Max
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 17th at 20:05 ET
Event #5: No Limit Hold’em Rock Star Bounty
$200+15 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 18th at 20:05 ET
Event #6: Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$200+15 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

January 18th at 20:05 ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 19th at 16:05 ET
Event #8: No Limit Hold’em
$150+12 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

January 19th at 20:05 ET
Event #9: Pot Limit Omaha Cubed
$200+15 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 19th at 20:05 ET
Event #10: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Six-Max
$500+30 buy-in, $250,000 Guarantee

January 20th at 20:05 ET
Event #11: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$150+12 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee

January 21st at 20:05 ET
Event #12: Sniper No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$150+12 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee

January 22nd at 15:00 ET
Event #13: No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
$1,000+50 buy-in, $128,000 Guarantee

January 22nd at 16:00 ET
Event #14: No Limit Hold’em Turbo Triple Chance
$200+15 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 23rd at 14:00 ET
Event #15: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$300+20 buy-in, $150,000 Guarantee

January 23rd at 17:00 ET
Event #16: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack High Roller
$2,000+100 buy-in, $750,000 Guarantee

January 23rd at 18:30 ET
Event #17: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Ultra Turbo Six-Max
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 24th at 20:05 ET
Event #18: No Limit Hold’em Cubed
$200+15 buy-in, $150,000 Guarantee

January 24th at 20:05 ET
Event #19: Eight-Game Mix
$200+15 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #20: Sniper No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$200+15 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 25th at 20:05 ET
Event #21: No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Mix
$200+15 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

January 26th at 16:05 ET
Event #22: No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys
$200+9 buy-in, $50,000 Guarantee

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #23: Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$200+15 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee

January 26th at 20:05 ET
Event #24: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Ante from Start
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 27th at 20:05 ET
Event #25: No Limit Hold’em Centerfold Bounty
$150+12 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee

January 28th at 20:05 ET
Event #26: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
$150+12 buy-in, $75,000 Guarantee

January 29th at 16:00 ET
Event #27: No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys
$200+9 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

January 30th at 16:00 ET
UBOC Championship: No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack
$1,000+50 buy-in, $1 Million Guarantee

January 30th at 18:30 ET
Event #29: No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Ultra Turbo
$300+20 buy-in, $100,000 Guarantee

Running concurrently with UBOC 6 is Mini UBOC 6, which offers the same slate of events, but with buy-ins that are one-tenth as large. This allows players of all bankrolls to compete in the wide range of tournaments on the docket. In addition, the entire UBOC 6 schedule is open to players from UB.com’s CEREUS Network sister site Absolute Poker.

Visit UB.com for full details.

Annie Duke Breaks Down Bellagio Poker Tournament Structures, UBOC 5

Poker News Daily: What have you been up to poker-wise since the conclusion of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP)?

Annie Duke: Trying to slack off. My goal has to been to shirk all responsibility and I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that. The WSOP is a lot. It’s six weeks of playing every day and I am burned out from it. I still have been doing my part and went to Washington DC to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. I’ve been spending time with my kids before school starts. I was going to hit The Bike, but it conflicted with UBOC, which I wanted to play a lot of.

PND: You told us earlier that you’re not a big fan of the Bellagio’s tournament structures. Can you explain your point of view?

Annie Duke: When you can sign up on Day 2 and it’s not a bad choice, that’s not a good structure. If I show up on time, I’m playing in a structure where the average stack at the end of Day 1 is 10% higher than the starting stack. Overall, it seems like a waste of a day. If you show up on Day 2, you’re going to lose out on people who are willing to explode, so I also feel like you miss out on opportunities if you start late.

You shouldn’t have a good choice to sign up on Day 2. In the WSOP, signing up two hours late is reasonable to me. The third level in should be good relative to the starting stack. At the Bellagio, you’re signing up eight or 10 levels in. You shouldn’t be able to do that and still have a decent starting stack.

You want to have a lot of play, but at some point, you have to think about people’s play and their health. You should be getting into the money early on Day 2. The pendulum has swung so far partly because of events like the Venetian Deep Stack tournaments. Those go fast because they start you with a lot of chips, but the rest of the structure is pretty fast.

PND: The fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, recently played out on UB.com and Absolute Poker. Heading into the series, what were you looking forward to the most?

Annie Duke: I just like the variety. I feel like online it’s always No Limit Hold’em unless it’s one of these big tournament series. To figure out our UBOC schedule, we look at what’s done well in the past. We also want to preserve the integrity of the series itself. It might look like a good strategy to have all No Limit Hold’em events because they’re the most popular, but that hurts your series overall. When the Bellagio went all No Limit Hold’em, their attendance started dropping. People came in for a few tournaments here and there and then left. If you offer a big variety of games, people come in and camp out for a month to play.

It’s all about balancing what does well with what people will sign up for. The pros on UB.com definitely get asked about what they like. They have a good beat on what’s becoming popular. A year or so ago, people started pushing for Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better and that’s a great game.

PND: Tell us about testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee on July 20th in Washington, DC.

Annie Duke: Since the trip, HR 2267 got out of committee, which is amazing. We’re now in a situation that during the lame duck session when the spending bills are being passed, you’ll have people that know they won’t be retuning to Congress in 2011 and may not have a problem backing an online gaming bill. There’s a decent chance of the bill passing this year. I wouldn’t make it a favorite, but we have the best chance we’ve had in the last five years.

The big thing for me is overwhelming disappointment in the Commerce Casino’s position. They’ve taken an anti-competitive stance in regard to online gaming. Unless the Commerce is the only operator, they don’t want to share. That’s ridiculous for poker players. They want the version where they’re the only hub that offers online gaming in California.

If there’s a bill that allows gaming in California, it doesn’t help someone in Iowa or Delaware. Those states would have to pass their own bills, but look at the population difference. At the Commerce, I can gamble with people from all over the world. I feel like the Commerce Casino’s position is anti-competitive and their customer base consists of poker players. In the end, the poker players fund their commercial interests.

Also, I’m concerned by the comparison of the operators of online sites to the drug cartels. We know that’s not true. These sites may not be licensed in the U.S., but foreign governments that are friends of our government license them. France isn’t in the business of licensing drug dealers and terrorists.

PND: Tell us about Liv Boeree and UB.com parting ways.

Annie Duke: The issue was that she had a really good result that increased her value and wanted something we couldn’t come to terms with. It was very amicable.

PND: What are your Labor Day plans?

Annie Duke: I don’t have any plans, but I’ll probably cook out with my kids. We don’t do big Labor Days or Memorial Days. I feel like every day is a party at the Duke household.

World Team Poker Adds New Countries

In preparation for its forthcoming Championship Event, World Team Poker has added 19 countries to its lineup, including Canada, Pakistan, and Spain. World Team Poker will even receive face time on Fox Sports Net when its tournaments begin debuting in January on Sunday nights for 13 weeks.

Team Canada promises to be among the fiercest in the 30-team field. Shawn Buchanan, Kyle Wilson, Eric Cloutier, Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Daniel Idema, and Terrence “Unassigned” Chan will comprise the group, which features two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Greg “FBT” Mueller as its captain. Buchanan finished as the runner-up to new DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dan “djk123” Kelly in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event at the 2010 WSOP, banking $813,000.

Hasan Habib and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka will co-captain Team Pakistan. A press release distributed by World Team Poker delicately explains, “Pakistan, which is known more for its cricket than poker players, has formed a formidable team of excellent poker talent.” Jaka is the reigning World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year after recording two final tables and four top 20 finishes last season. Also on Team Pakistan are Ayaz Mahmood, Ozzy Sheikh, Owais Ahmed, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania, and former Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) Main Event winner Hafiz Khan.

Carlos Mortensen, the WPT’s all-time money leader, will captain Team Spain. Mortensen was the only announced player for the Spanish World Team Poker contingent, but the former WSOP Main Event champ has four WPT final tables to his credit along with three titles. Mortensen has $5.7 million in career WPT earnings along with $2.4 million from the WSOP felts, where he’s a two-time bracelet winner.

Team Caribbean Islands is also taking form, with three players having signed up to be part of the fun. Jean-Robert Bellande, a former Bodog pro and “Survivor: China” castaway, will compete for the island nation team alongside Jean “Prince” Gaspard and Amnon Filippi. Among their competition will be Team Germany, which consists of Dan Heimiller, John Galbraith, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, and Cyndy Violette. Liebert is being inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame this evening, while Violette is already a member.

Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari will captain Team Iran. Backing him up is an eclectic group of players that includes Reza Golestani, Mojgan Stringham, Shawn “Sheiky” Sheikhan, and Soheil Shamseddin.

Team USA has largely already been determined, with Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel taking the floor for the North American nation. Three online poker sites – DoylesRoom, UB.com, and Full Tilt Poker – will be represented.

The 30-team Championship Event will likely occur next month from Las Vegas, although the dates, times, and a location have not yet been announced. The inaugural World Team Poker tournament took place at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas earlier this year and was won by Team China, whose impressive roster of pros includes former WPT Championship winner David Chiu, 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan, Winfred Yu, former “Amazing Race” contestant Maria Ho, Chau Giang, Rich Zhu, and Derek Cheung.

Here are the new team captains along with the countries they represent as announced by World Team Poker on Friday:

Greg Mueller: Canada
Hasan Habib and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka: Pakistan
Jean-Robert Bellande: Caribbean Islands
Peter Costa: Cyprus
Max Stern: Costa Rica
Chris Bjorin: Sweden
Martin Pollak: Austria
Dan Heimiller: Germany
Bruno Fitoussi: France
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar: India
Toto Leonidas: Philippines
Antonio Esfandiari: Iran
Kevin Song: Korea
Marco Traniello: Italy
Lenny Martin: Russia
Carlos Mortensen: Spain
Roberto Rominelli: Wales
Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea: Ireland
Vladimir Shchemelev: Ukraine

Visit WorldTeamPoker.com for more details.

August 31st – Daily Deal

On today’s Daily Deal, the Durrrr Challenge resumes, the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship continues airing on GSN, and the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship comes to a close. It’s all ahead… RIGHT NOW!

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

On Monday afternoon, the action in the Durrrr Challenge between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates continued on Full Tilt Poker. Once again, Cates dominated and this time vaulted out to a $692,000 lead over Dwan. A total of 6,820 hands have been played.

It’s hard to believe that Dwan and Cates are nearly fifteen percent of the way through the fifty thousand hands required for completion. With the first incarnation of the Durrrr Challenge being nineteen months old, the second has thankfully seemed to zip by. Mid-afternoon play on Monday was the first between Dwan and Cates since late last week, when Cates jumped out to a five-hundred eighteen thousand dollar lead.

When the action will resume is anyone’s guess. Dwan had expressed interest in finishing the second installment of the Durrrr Challenge prior to the World Series of Poker Europe schedule beginning in two weeks. Meanwhile, he has been dominating the first running against Patrik Antonius, but there has been no play between the two since August third.

On Saturday night, the second round of regular season matches kicked off on the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship, which airs on GSN. Each of the thirty-two players in the field bought in for fifty thousand dollars and had already played out one match. Howard Lederer and Phil Galfond took down the first match shown, while Huck Seed and Annette Obrestad fought their way to a title in the second match. Sixteen of the Doubles Poker Championship’s thirty-two players will move on to the post-season.

Finally, in the grand finale of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, on Sunday, Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes came out on top of the pack following a four-way chop and banked one-hundred thirty-six thousand dollars. A total of one-thousand thirty-two players coughed up the UBOC 5 Championship Event’s four-figure buy-in, or won a satellite to get in with the top 99 players finishing in the money.

Combes hails from the United Kingdom and, on the final hand of the tournament, shoved all-in with Queen-Deuce. UB.com member “TOOCURIOUSSO” made the call for his tournament life with King-Nine and was in prime position to double up. The flop of Three-Jack-Six didn’t change matters, but a queen on the turn paired Combes and held up at the river to seal his UBOC Five title. In March, he won both the Full Tilt Poker One-K Monday for $93,000 and the Titan Poker Two-Hundred Fifty K Guaranteed for another $59,000.

Here were the results from the UBOC Five Championship Event.

1. CHAZ_MAN_C – $136,178
2. TOOCURIOUSSO – $95,000
3. VENUSIGNA – $152,000
4. WALLABAER – $145,000
5. APATHY123 – $56,244
6. WAMMERMOUTH – $45,924
7. MST_MORPHEUS – $35,604
8. 1GENERAL_TAO – $25,284
9. DONRIKY – $17,544

That does it for today’s Daily Deal and if you haven’t added us to your twitter feed, you can do so by going to twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson, thanks for watching and best of luck at the tables tonight!

The Emmys And Tournaments Around The World From Poker In Twitter

For those in the world of poker that weren’t involved in tournaments, the Emmy Awards on Sunday night provided a bit of a respite over Twitter. “Oh Crap! The Emmys,” Joe Reitman Tweeted as the show began. “I totally forgot 2 star on a show, hire a publicist & wear a tux so I could go 2 the awards & b judged on my looks 2nite.” Poker scribe Jess Welman was less than impressed when she chirped after the show’s start, “Not a good sign when we’re ten minutes into the Emmys and I’m already counting the minutes that could easily be shaved off the broadcast.”

The duo were able to find something to agree about during the Emmys, with both congratulating particular shows on the cable channel AMC that they enjoyed. “Big congrats to fellow USC Cinema School Class of ’05 alum Erin Levy for winning a frikkin Emmy for Mad Men,” Welman Tweeted in kudos to a friend. Reitman was proud for a former employee: “I am so happy my boy Aaron Paul of @breakingbad just won. I cast him in my short ‘LEO’ 5 years ago. He is the best actor of his generation.” UB.com’s Scott Ian also piped up about the run of the actors from “Breaking Bad,” Tweeting, “Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul both won Emmy’s for Breaking Bad. You need to watch this show.”

Someone who had a memorable night for the Emmy Awards was online superstar Justin “Boosted J” Smith. “At Courtney Cox + David Arquette’s house in Malibu watching the Emmys on TV,” Smith Tweeted on Sunday evening. “Actors and producers here these guys are wild watching it! LOL.” Smith went on to describe the reactions of those in attendance: “It’s like watching European football and when an Emmy is awarded its like a GOALLLLLL!”

As the night wore on, Smith continued to channel his inner Phil Hellmuth with his Tweets. “Gave Jennifer Aniston a 4 hour poker lesson last night,” Smith recounted after the party on Monday. “If she learned a little bit more about who acts first and stuff, she’d be real good!”

There was plenty of action for those who were away from the television and on the felt over the weekend. The World Series of Poker Circuit event in Council Bluffs saw two prolific Tweeters, Bernard Lee and Blair Hinkle, making deep runs. “Money bubble broke – 27 players all in the $ – I have 450k,” reported Lee from the tables yesterday.

Both players continued their assault on the top of the leaderboard as the afternoon moved into the evening. “Unbelievable! After getting down to 275k, I sucked out again,” Lee Tweeted to his followers. “My 10-10 vs AA – 10 on flop – back up to 470k (aver 386k) – 13 players left. Play would be stopped soon after that with Lee reporting his stack as “339k.”

Hinkle had a slightly different adventure than Lee at the Iowa tables. “Ugh super crazy guy squeezes with 88 I shove with AT he calls I flop ace but he flopped 8 turn 8. 70k still,” he Tweeted during play on Monday. Although he didn’t detail how he did it, Hinkle was able to turn things around by the end of the night, Tweeting at the end of play, “Down to 13 players done for the night… 243k blinds starting at 2000ante 5-10000.”

Across the Atlantic, many top players were in the running at the European Poker Tour event in Vilamoura, Portugal, with Brandon Cantu – at first – having the time of his life. “I got 44 and shoved ak calls fours hold to break the bubble. 965k 56 left,” Cantu reported to his followers early Tuesday morning before the game took a fateful turn. “Unbelievable,” he Tweeted soon after the bubble burst. “331k aq with the ace of hearts vs 99 flop q32 all hearts turn 9… That’s the worst beat I have ever taken.” A couple of hours later, Cantu sounded the death knell by Tweeting, “Ak vs 99 ace in the door 9 to follow – out – most frustrating day I have ever had an indescribable feeling actually.”

To soothe his defeat, Cantu may want to head to Cannes for the Partouche Poker Tour’s event starting Thursday. Tweets were flying as many top poker pros announced their plans to head to the Mediterranean coast to play in the event. Eric Mizrachi (“Today is my last day in Israel, have a flight to catch in 8 hours to Romania then off to Cannes, France for main event!”), Mike Matusow (“Cannes is gonna be effing insane. Vitamins to. Lots and lots of vitamins”), Lacey Jones (“Vegas for less than 24hrs. Had the best time celebrating @DanFleyshman’s bday in 3 cities. Next stop… Cannes!”) and Liz Lieu (“Back in London for a couple days before heading to Cannes”) are just a few of the top pros who will be in France for the tournament.

For the best Tweets of the weekend, we have to start with “Hollywood” Dave Stann’s reports from his efforts in the Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC. “I like a challenge,” Stann Tweeted on Sunday. “Immediately out of 200k running my QQ into AA, then in UBOC main ran my QQ into KK for half my stack. Thanks for the memories, #UBOC. Should stand for Ur Bigpair Obv Cracked.”

Two players offered up their thoughts regarding Paris Hilton’s arrest in Las Vegas over the weekend for cocaine possession. “Really?,” Absolute Poker’s Trishelle Cannatella Tweeted. “The only thing that happened while I was away is Paris H is arrested for cocaine? SHOCKER! Drugs are gross. Especially if you’re 30.” Joe Sebok found the potential reason for his youthful indiscretions: “Paris thought the blow was gum. Now I know why I was so damn hyperactive in high school. Teachers, I TRIED to stop talking! I’m sorry!”

Finally, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh decided to step away from the tables, Tweeting, “Laying out for a bit… Cyprus got me addicted to sun! Definitely not going to miss my monitor tan!”

CHAZ_MAN_C Wins UBOC 5 Championship Event

In the grand finale of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) on Sunday, Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes came out on top of the pack following a four-way chop and banked $136,000. A total of 1,032 players coughed up the UBOC 5 Championship Event’s $1,050 buy-in or won a satellite to get in and the top 99 finished in the money.

Combes hails from the United Kingdom and, on the final hand of the tournament, shoved all-in with Q-2. UB.com member “TOOCURIOUSSO” made the call for his tournament life with K-9 and was in prime position to double up. The flop of 3-J-6 didn’t change matters, but a queen on the turn paired Combes and sealed his UBOC 5 title. Combes claimed a championship watch to boot. In March, he won both the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday for $93,000 and the Titan Poker $250,000 Guaranteed for $59,000.

TOOCURIOUSSO finished with the smallest payout of the four dealmakers at $95,000. Pamela “VENUSIGNA” Quesada, who calls the Latin American nation of Costa Rica home, landed in third place and walked away with $152,000, the largest payday of the UBOC 5 Championship. In her final hand, Quesada was all-in before the flop with pocket sixes and up against Combes’ A-K of hearts. The board blanked out until an ace hit on the river, sending Quesada home in devastating fashion.

“WALLABAER” dropped a sizable pot with A-K against Quesada’s pocket nines to cripple his stack. On the next hand, WALLABAER’s 4-3 could not draw out on Combes’ 7-6 and he was relegated to the rails. Here’s a look at how the final table cashed out in the UBOC 5 Championship Event:

1. CHAZ_MAN_C – $136,178
2. TOOCURIOUSSO – $95,000
3. VENUSIGNA – $152,000
4. WALLABAER – $145,000
5. APATHY123 – $56,244
6. WAMMERMOUTH – $45,924
7. MST_MORPHEUS – $35,604
8. 1GENERAL_TAO – $25,284
9. DONRIKY – $17,544

Like you’d expect in a tournament with a $1,050 buy-in, a variety of brand name pros made deep runs. Joshua “PBDRUNKS” Van Duyn, who won the very first tournament of UBOC 5, took 50th in the Championship Event. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who had been in the running as part of a leaderboard competition to be a sponsored pro of DoylesRoom, hit the rail in 22nd place.

UB.com sponsored pro Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp bubbled the final table and finished in 12th in what likely would have been a coup of sorts for members of Team UB. Players who knocked out members of Team UB throughout UBOC 5 received 200 Tournament Dollars and a swank UBOC shirt. The tournament stretched for 12 hours, ending around 4:30am ET.

In the MiniUBOC Championship Event, “JLC123” banked $17,000 and came away with the win. The field of the $55 buy-in tournament numbered 1,684 and JLC123 bested fellow online poker player “BOOJIW” heads-up; BOOJIW grabbed a $10,000 consolation prize. The MiniUBOC 5 schedule offered the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with more affordable buy-ins.

If you’re itching for more tournament series, don’t fear. The 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP, will begin on Sunday, September 5th. The schedule offers a ridiculous $50 million in guaranteed prize money, including a $10 million guaranteed Main Event on September 26th. Every 2010 WCOOP tournament is open to online poker players from the United States.

Check out UB.com or Absolute Poker for full UBOC 5 results.

UBOC5: Déjà Vu for Billy Kopp in UBOC5 Championship; Charlie “CHAZ_MAN_C” Combes Claims Title

Sunday Scoop: Serock Shines

Serock, who cashed four times in the 2010 WSOP, outlasted 2,578 players and then beat a tough final table that included Tommy "blanks plz" Wesley and John "eliterestla" Russo to take down this week's Brawl title.

The young online pro capped his night off by beating psfishfat heads-up to secure the $105,032 first place prize.

In other Full Tilt Sunday news the $750k Guaranteed once again had a small overlay, which made the tournament even more lucrative to the 3,443 players who entered.

Leopold "pojai" Chow was the ultimate victor taking down $90,811 for his efforts.

Over on PokerStars the Sunday Million was easily the biggest tournament of the day. The event drew 8,190 to create a prizepool of $1.6 million.

Online player Peetoon grabbed the biggest chunk of the prizepool by taking down first place for $232,362.

The PokerStars Sunday 500 was perhaps the most intriguing tournament from a pro's point of view as Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka, David "Cairns1987" Cairns and Jeff "jeff710" Hakim all made the final table.

In the end it was Dylan "Pokerl)evil" Horton who took top honors for $87,400.

Finally over on UB it was the final day of UBOC5, which meant it was time for the $1,050 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed main event.

The event drew 1,032 players and Peter "APATHY123" Jetten was perhaps the most recognizable pro to go deep.

The Canadian made it all the way to the final table before he was finally ousted in fifth place for $56,244.

First place would eventually go to online player CHAZ_MAN_C who took down $230,455 for his efforts in the event.

UBOC5: Brock Parker and Kevin Saul Cash in Event #18, Final Table Event #19

UBOC 5 Championship Kicks off Sunday

On Sunday, the Championship Event of the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, kicks off on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Poker Network. Players on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker will be vying for their share of a $1 million guaranteed UBOC 5 Championship prize pool. The tournament boasts a price tag of $1,050 and begins promptly at 4:00pm ET.

As if the seven-figure purse weren’t enough of a reason to sign up, the UBOC 5 Championship Event features 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth as its host. The tournament comes with a Monster Stack format and a six-figure first place prize, so head to UB.com or Absolute Poker today at 4:00pm ET to get in on the fun. Both sites happily take action from United States online poker players.

The UBOC 5 Championship Event is the culmination of a 20-event tournament series that began back on August 18th. Since then, CEREUS Network pros like Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, and Mark Seif have hosted UBOC 5 tournaments, featuring poker games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and HORSE. This is the second time the UBOC has run in 2010, with the first cycle occurring back in January.

The lone six-figure payday of UBOC 5 so far went to Jeremy “DUHDUHDAISY” Fitzpatrick, who came out on top of the pack in a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Deep Stack event, the eighth on the schedule. A total of 583 players created a $583,000 prize pool, the largest to date heading into the Championship Event. Fitzpatrick owns the eighth spot on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and has also recorded wins in the Full Tilt $1K Monday and Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed.

In Event #8, Fitzpatrick edged out Danny “dannyills” Illingworth, whose second place consolation prize was worth $81,000. Illingworth calls Carlsbad, California home and finished second in the Absolute Poker $200,000 Guaranteed last month for $27,000.

Others at the final table of Event #8 of UBOC 5 included “UPAY4RHINOS” (third place for $54,219), “JOAOMATHIAS” (fourth place for $37,895), “LOCKDOWNTEX” (fifth place for $32,065), “POOLI” (sixth place for $26,235), “CRACKIN_TY” (seventh place for $21,571), “N0VASKY” (eighth place for $15,741), and “GR8PKRPLAYA” (ninth place for $9,911).

The opening tournament of UBOC 5 featured a field of 903 players for a $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event. A total of $200,000 was guaranteed, but the 900-plus player field swelled the total prize pool to nearly $250,000. The final table was stacked with brand name pros, including eventual winner Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, who banked $54,000. Rounding out the top three were Felipe “improved” Montenegro and Darren “darrenelias” Elias, who cashed in for $32,000 and $22,000, respectively.

Also taking place today on UB.com and Absolute Poker is the Championship Event of MiniUBOC 5. The smaller version of the grand finale comes with a $55 buy-in and a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. “GUIGUI_88” will serve as its host and the MiniUBOC 5 Championship begins at 4:00pm ET. MiniUBOC 5 has featured the same slate of events as its high-stakes counterpart, but with reduced buy-ins for those players lacking deep pockets.

Blanca Games recently acquired the CEREUS Network, although the terms of the transaction remain a mystery. Tokwiro Enterprises, the former owners of UB.com and Absolute Poker, will likely send out a press release with additional details on the acquisition this week. Stuart Gordon is the main face behind Blanca Games, whose website simply notes that its operations “are conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies.” Blanca Games is based in Antigua and has offices in Costa Rica, where UB.com and Absolute Poker are located.

Visit UB or AbsolutePoker to sign up for the UBOC 5 Championship Event.

Poker News in Brief: Aug. 23-29, 2010

With so many great poker stories it's difficult to make it to the front page of PokerListings.com but fortunately every week we compile a list of lesser-known news in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we'll take a look at bwin preparing the "grandest" series of online poker, Dan Kelly winning a UBOC event and NBA-star Shawn Marion helping to raise over $70,000 for charity in a poker tournament.

Dan Kelly wins UBOC Event 10

Noted online poker player Dan "djk123" Kelly added to his already impressive poker resume this week by winning Event 10 of UBOC5.

Kelly, who plays on UB as JEFFGRESSARD, outlasted a field of 294 players to take down a first place prize of $26,000 in the Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event.

For those keeping track at home, Kelly has now won an FTOPS event, made the final table of a WCOOP main event and most recently won the $25k Six-Max event at the WSOP for $1.3 million.

The 21-year-old has over $4 million in combined live and online winnings.

bwin Readies Grand Series of Poker

bwin Poker's exclusive Grand Series of Poker is set to go off this September.

Now in its fifth year of existence, the GSOP has proven to be one of the most popular online poker series with millions to be won.

This year the schedule has been expanded to include 15 separate events as well as GSOP Mini, which will run parallel to the main GSOP and offer smaller buy-ins for cash-strapped players.

The GSOP and GSOP Mini will take place Sept. 19 to Oct. 10 with the $300k guaranteed Grand Slam scheduled for the final day.

Shawn Marion Charity Tournament a Slam Dunk

The proceeds from the Shawn Marion Celebrity Poker Tournament that was held last week at Choctaw Casino have been tabulated and the event raised nearly $70,000 for the Shawn Marion Foundation.

"We appreciate Choctaw's hospitality and support in our mission," said Shawn Marion. "We had a successful event that will help provide scholarships for kids who may not otherwise get the chance to earn a degree."

In addition to the celebrated NBA star there were numerous poker pros in attendance including Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, T.J. Cloutier and Maria Ho.

First place winner James Dean won a 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event seat courtesy of UB.com.

Titan Poker Stages Big Cash Out

Popular European site Titan Poker is set to run a special promotion in September where Titan points will be worth even more than usual.

The Big Cash Out will give players the ability to get even more cash when they redeem their hard-earned points.

What's more, Silver-level players will have the option of cashing in their points for as little as 1,000.

The promo will run from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30.

PartyPoker Throws a Snowball

It's still summer but there's a lot of cold hard cash to be won in PartyPoker's most recent promotion.

The Snowball will allow players to build momentum as they generate frequent player points in the month of September.

If players are able to generate 5-200 points they will automatically gain entrance into freerolls that range from $5k all the way up to $50k.

Fortunately you don't lose the chance to enter smaller freerolls the higher you go so if you qualify for the $50k freeroll you can enter all four of the smaller freerolls.

Players who earn from 500 points all the way up to 50,000 will earn bonus cash from $20 all the way up to $5,000 as well as entry into all the freerolls.

UBOC5: B AUSTIN B Wins Event #17; “Hollywood Dave” Goes Deep in Mini

UBOC5: Corey Burbick Final Tables Event #15; Event #16 Cancelled

Blanca Games Acquires CEREUS Poker Network

Late Thursday, it was revealed that Blanca Games had purchased the CEREUS Poker Network, which consists of UB.com and Absolute Poker. A press release is due out early next week from former owners Tokwiro Enterprises. The purchasing price and terms were not released.

Stuart Gordon is the Chief Executive Officer of the CEREUS Network’s new parent company and commented in a press release distributed on Thursday evening, “The acquisition of CEREUS is a significant opportunity for us. CEREUS is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like UB.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.” UB.com and Absolute Poker both accept players from the United States.

Gordon added, “From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.” Gordon founded and manages BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International. Like UB.com, both sites feature licenses from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, or KGC, and Stuart also owns licenses from the nation of Antigua.

Poker News Daily has independently confirmed that no staffing or operational changes are expected at UB.com or Absolute Poker with the transition to Blanca Gaming. In addition, Gordon commented that he doesn’t expect any changes to occur in the “playing experience” on either site. Blanca Games is based in Antigua and, according to its website, keeps offices in Costa Rica, where UB.com and Absolute Poker are based.

Gordon alluded to Blanca Games’ focus on security on the CEREUS Network going forward: “We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the CEREUS Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.” Both UB.com and Absolute Poker are fresh off high-profile superuser scandals. On the former site, over $20 million was taken from players in a heist featured on the CBS news program “60 Minutes.”

The CEREUS Network is in the midst of holding its fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC. It’s actually the second time that UBOC has run in 2010 and a $1 million guaranteed Main Event will play out on Sunday. The tournament, hosted by 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, boasts a $1,050 buy-in and kicks off at 16:00 ET. The UBOC 5 Main Event is the culmination of a 20-event tournament series that began back on August 18th.

The CEREUS Network’s team of pros includes Hellmuth, Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, Tiffany Michelle, Trishelle Cannatella, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Brandon Cantu. No changes to rakeback, tournament schedules, and software were announced as of press time, but more details on the transaction and what it means for players may be given when Tokwiro issues its press release next week.

The CEREUS Network was officially launched in November 2008 after the player bases of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker were combined. One year later, Ultimate Bet was re-branded as UB.com.

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

UBOC5: Mackey Makes Second Final Table; Joe “ENDER555” Ebanks Takes Down Mini-UBOC Event #14

UBOC5: Chad Batista and Tony Dunst Just Miss Event #11 Final Table; COACHIMNETS Wins Event #12 H.O.R.S.E.

UBOC5: Steven Gonzalez Wins Event #9; Daniel Kelly Dominates Event #10

UBOC5: ALLRGCTONUTS Takes Down Event #7; Tiffany Michelle Makes Deep Run in Event #8

Mark Seif goes deep in UBOC 5 heads-up event

The Sunday Scoop: Lodden Nearly a Lock

The Norwegian made the biggest online final table of them all - the PokerStars Sunday Million.

Lodden, who made a deep run in the WSOP Main Event this year, entered the final table as one of the middle stacks with 10 million but doubled up one of the short stacks in the first hand.

After four eliminations, Lodden would finally succumb to the rail in fifth place when he shoved with A-9 and had the misfortune of getting called by a player with A-T.

Lodden took home $62,384 for his efforts although he's likely still kicking himself for not being able to close the tournament out.

In the end online player pvas2 proved to be the sole survivor out of the 7,798 entrants and secured the $233,943 first-place prize.

The PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up was also buzzing yesterday with 3,984 runners. Chris "Moorman1" Moorman was the biggest pro to go deep and he ended up just missing the final table coming in 12th place.

YugiohPro was the ultimate victor taking home $104,060 after a three-way deal.

Meanwhile over on Full Tilt the $750,000 Guaranteed drew 3,421 players, which provided a small overlay for the field.

UB pro Matt "mattg1983" Graham was the most notable player to make the final table and he ended up coming in fourth place for $41,400. Online player sasodiits won the tournament for $132,787.

The other big Full Tilt tournament - the Sunday Brawl - saw TMoney209 take home $102,677 for coming in first place.

Finally over on UB, UBOC5 was in full swing with Event 7: $100k Guaranteed and Event 8: $500k Guaranteed on the go.

ALLRGCTONUTS outlasted all 246 runners in Event 7 to take home a $30,524 first place prize.

Event 8 drew 583 players including well known online grinders such as Michael Tureniec and Justin Allen. In the end it was Jeremy "daisyxoxo" Fitzpatrick (who plays on UB as DUHDUHDAISY) who took top honors for $116,710.

UBOC5: Kroon and Seif Run Deep in Heads-Up Event; Mackey Final Tables Event #6

UBOC5: Trishelle Cannatella Cashes, DOUGTHEASIAN and YUMI555 Chop Event #4

pbdrunks Wins Kickoff UBOC 5 Online Poker Tournament

If the first tournament is any indication, the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, is shaping up to be one of the largest ever. The kickoff $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper tournament generated a starting grid of 903 entrants, which meant that a $243,000 prize pool was up for grabs.

UB.com, one-half of the USA-friendly CEREUS Network, guaranteed a $200,000 purse for the first event, meaning that the actual prize pool was about 20% larger than its guarantee. In the end, Joshua “pbdrunks” Van Duyn, a longtime member of the online poker community, trumped the pack and banked nearly $55,000. Two years ago, Van Duyn took down the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $71,000, his largest online poker cash to date according to PocketFives.com.

Heads-up, Van Duyn defeated longtime poker pro Felipe “improved” Montenegro, who walked away with $33,000. Montenegro is a three-time Triple Crown winner on PocketFives.com, which entails winning three $10,000 prize pool tournaments across three sites tracked for the site’s Online Poker Rankings in a one-week span. Montenegro owns the 51st spot in the aforementioned Rankings and has banked over $3 million in his online poker career.

Another brand name pro finished third in the $320 No Limit Hold’em Sniper event, the first on the UBOC 5 docket. Darren “darrenelias” Elias cashed for $22,000, adding to a tournament resume that includes a jersey in a $200 Cubed No Limit Hold’em event held during the February 2009 running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS. Here’s a look at how the final table of UBOC 5 Event #1 shook out:

1. PBDRUNKS – $54,760
2. IMPROVED – $32,792
3. DARRENELIAS – $22,309
4. MESCALIN8 – $15,726
5. MURIBE – $13,288
6. POOPLUS – $10,850
7. LUFTMENSCHEN – $8,411
8. 9BARELL – $5,973
9. MARIO_BASLER – $4,145

In January, UB.com member “AnteSvante” took down the PokerStars Sunday 500 to the tune of $90,000. Flash forward to Thursday, when he defeated Jesse “toohottotrot” Haabak heads-up in UBOC 5 Event #3, a $320 No Limit Hold’em Four-Max affair. “AnteSvante” walked away with a $29,000 cash prize, while Haabak boosted his online poker bankroll by $18,000. Others at the final table included “TIGGER2” and “eliasharris,” who took third and fourth, respectively:

1. ANTESVANTE – $29,079
2. TOOHOTTOTROT – $18,309
3. TIGGER2 – $11,847
4. ELIASHARRIS – $8,616

If you missed out on the first three UBOC 5 tournaments, don’t fret. A total of 19 will play out before the series’ $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack Main Event on August 29th at 4:00pm ET. The final event, hosted by UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth, sports a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is MiniUBOC 5, which boasts the same slate of events, but with shrunken buy-ins. UBOC 5 events are open to players from the United States. Visit UB.com or its sister site, Absolute Poker, to enter today.

UBOC5: “ANTESVANTE” & “DIVERTER” Excel in Event #3

UBOC5: Anton “ANTESVANTE” Wigg & “DIVERTER” Excel in Event #3