Poker News

UBOC 5 – Joshua “PBDRUNKS ”Van Duyn wins and final tables

The first day of the $4m guaranteed UB Online Championship 5 got off to a roaring start, for one player in particular. Joshua “PBDRUNKS” Van Duyn had an awesome day in Event #1 - not only did he make the final table of the $33 event running concurrently but he took down the entire $200,000 guaranteed $322 NL tournament.

UBOC5: Joshua “PBDRUNKS” VanDuyn Wins Event #1 and Final Tables the Mini; Matt Graham Bubbles Final Table and More

The Ultimate Bet Online Poker Championship Series returned Wednesday with its fifth installment and the first two of the tournament schedule’s twenty events, which boasts a combined $4 million in guaranteed prize pools. The Mini-UBOC, which...

UBOC 5 begins at Ultimate Bet and CEREUS poker.

It’s not quite FTOPS or the World Championship of Online Poker but Ultimate Bet began their own tournament series yesterday. The fifth run of the UB Online Championship kicked off yesterday with a $320 NL event ($30 bounty on each player) that guaranteed $200,000 of the total $4,000,000 offered across twenty tournaments.

UBOC 5 Kicks Off Today

The Ultimate Bet Online Poker Championship Series returns today with its fifth installment. UBOC 5 boasts 20 events and $4,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools. The Championship Event is a $1,000+$50 no-limit hold'em affair that will take place on...

UBOC5 Starts Tonight

UBOC5 begins Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. ET with a $300+$20 $200,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Hold 'em Sniper event, including a $30 bounty on all players' heads.

Plus, there's an additional $200 on the heads of UB pros in the field, including tournament host Joe Sebok.

The second of 20 guaranteed events, a $250+$17 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold 'em/Pot-Limit Omaha $100K Guaranteed hosted by Team UB's Bryan Devonshire, will run simultaneously.

UB's Bubble Buster promotion is also on throughout the online tournament series, giving players who cash in more than 2 UBOC events a chance to win freeroll entries, tournament seats, and cash prizes up to a $1 Million.

Find further details on the UBOC5 series at http://www.ub.com/poker-tournaments/uboc or through PokerListings' UB room review.

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UB.com Announces Take Down a H0 Bounty Poker Tournament

On Saturday, the very first installment of the UB.com Take Down a H0 bounty tournament played out on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network site. The unique poker tournament boasts a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and features UB.com pro Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. The buy-in is $320.

Kroon is a founding member of Team UB and even co-hosts the popular “Man Up with Mark and Mike” radio show on 1670 AM in Madison, Wisconsin. His bounty tournament kicks off weekly on Saturday at 3:05pm ET and the person who bumps Kroon from his event claims 300 Tournament Dollars for their troubles. Kroon owns Player’s Bar and Grill in Madison, a college town that’s home to the University of Wisconsin.

The first installment of the No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Take Down a H0 event ran over the weekend on the CEREUS Network, which includes UB.com and its sister site Absolute Poker. A total of 224 players turned out, creating a $67,200 prize pool that easily shattered its guarantee. Kroon was busted from the tournament early, but we’re sure that he merely retreated to his bar for the rest of the day.

In January, Kroon final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $79,000. Three months later, he took second in the Absolute Poker $1K on his home network for another $68,000. Kroon is an original member of the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com.

UB.com is ramping up to host the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC for short. The 20-tournament series kicks off on Wednesday with a $320 Sniper No Limit Hold’em event and a $267 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha contest. The two events on UBOC 5’s first day offer up a combined $300,000 in prize money. All told, UBOC 5 will pony up $4 million in guarantees and offers one tournament with a seven-figure purse.

The UBOC 5 Main Event plays out on August 29th and is a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack tournament. UB.com front man and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will host the tournament, which comes complete with a $1 million guarantee.

Running concurrently with UBOC 5 is the MiniUBOC, which features the same 20 tournaments, but with reduced buy-ins and guarantees. The MiniUBOC Main Event, for example, has a $55 price tag and $50,000 in guaranteed prize money.

No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, HORSE, Limit Omaha Eight or Better, and Eight Game events will play out as part of UBOC 5. Every player who takes down a UBOC or MiniUBOC event will nab a championship watch in addition to the cash.

Besides Hellmuth and Kroon, other members of Team UB include reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke, two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu, and former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle. The site recently parted ways with European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event winner Liv Boeree after the two parties could not come to terms on a new deal.

The CEREUS Network happily accepts players from the United States. Its sites are holding a Bubble Buster promotion during UBOC 5 that pays out up to $1 million in cash. Any player who makes the money in 11 of the 20 UBOC 5 tournaments captures the grand prize. For players who aren’t as fortunate, prizes are available for two in the money finishes or more and include freeroll entries, tournament tickets, and cash.

Visit UB.com and Absolute Poker for more details on the Take Down a H0 bounty tournament. Look for it in the lobby every Saturday at 3:05pm ET.

August 10th – Daily Deal

Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily. Today we’ll discuss online qualifiers for the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge and review the UBOC 5 schedule. Plus “The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson gives us her favorite Las Vegas shows and one World Series of Poker November Niner is headed to Foxwoods.

Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and you’re watching the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.

On August twenty-second at four P-M Eastern Time, the USA-friendly online poker site DoylesRoom will qualify players to the Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge through a $226 Grand Finale. One prize package is guaranteed and DoylesRoom will add another for every ten players in the field. DoylesRoom is holding two more Weekly Semifinals if a $226 price tag is out of your bankroll, and the next one comes your way on Saturday. The Montana Poker Challenge plays out over Labor Day weekend from Big Fork.

The fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC, begins on August eighteenth on the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. UBOC 5, which is the second UBOC to run in 2010, features twenty tournaments culminating in a one-thousand fifty dollar buy-in Championship Event on August 29th. UB pro Phil Hellmuth will host the Championship Event, which features a Monster Stack format. The CEREUS Network is running a variety of UBOC side promotions, including a Bubble Buster that pays out up to one million dollars.

“The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson published her top ten Las Vegas shows on Monday on Poker News Daily. Leading her list was the musical Jersey Boys, which plays out at the Palazzo from Thursday to Tuesday every week. Other Vegas spectaculars singled out were Love, O, Viva Elvis, and Penn and Teller. Check out her full list by clicking on “Guest Columnists” at the top of the screen. While you’re there, you can view exclusive blogs submitted by poker pros like Annie Duke and Mike Sexton.

Finally, Poker News Daily has learned that World Series of Poker November Niner Jonathan Duhamel will be playing in the upcoming Foxwoods August Megastack. He’ll join Chris Moneymaker and Darvin Moon as pro ambassadors. The Megastack series begins on August seventeenth and offers a five-hundred thousand dollar guaranteed prize pool. Moneymaker and Moon made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Duhamel is this year’s chip leader.

That does it for this Tuesday edition of the Daily Deal and be sure to check back all day long here at our site for the latest poker stories. You can also add us to your twitter feed at twitter dot com slash poker news daily. I’m Sean Gibson and may the flop be with you!

Absolute Poker $4 Million Guaranteed UBOC 5 in August with Exclusive Club Pokernews Freerolls this Weekend

Absolute Poker are hosting the 5th UBOC Online Championships this month with $4 million in prizes and added value promotions. We are hosting two $1,500 freerolls either side to get you started.

UB Online Championship Ready to Rock

Running Aug. 18-29, the UBOC5 line-up consists of 20 guaranteed online poker events including the massive $1000+$50 buy-in $1 million Guaranteed No-Limit Hold'em Championship scheduled to end the series Aug. 29.

Plus, a Mini-UBOC schedule will mirror all 20 UBOC events with buy-ins at a fraction of the price.

Each event throughout the series will be hosted by a Team UB pro. Tournaments will be held in a variety of games including No-Limit Hold'em, H.O.R.S.E., Pot-Limit Omaha, 8-Game, Six-Max, Heads-Up and more.

"With the WSOP on hiatus until November, poker players don't have to look far to get their big series fix," said Annie Duke, UB's Cardroom Consultant.

"UBOC5 is really shaping up to be UB's best online poker series yet, offering the excitement of a major land-based event no matter what your bankroll is."

The 12-day schedule is expected to attract the best online poker players from across the globe.

Further details on the UB Online Championship series can be found at http://www.ub.com/poker-tournaments/uboc.

 

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UBOC 5 Begins August 18th on UB.com, Absolute Poker

In nine short days, the fifth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) will kick off on the virtual felts of the CEREUS Network sites UB.com and Absolute Poker. This month marks the second UBOC installment of 2010, as the first panned out in January and featured David “DoubleDave22” D’Alesandro taking down the Championship Event.

UBOC 5 will award at least $4 million in prize money across 20 online poker tournaments. The series, which runs concurrently with a MiniUBOC counterpart, culminates in a $1,050 buy-in Championship Event on August 29th. The feature tournament, hosted by 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, will guarantee at least $1 million, ensuring potentially life-changing money for whoever comes out on top of the pack. In January, 1,307 players entered the Championship Event and D’Alesandro banked $279,000.

The CEREUS Network is running several promotions in conjunction with UBOC 5, including a Single Event Satellite Contest that awards Tournament Dollars to the players who rack up the most satellite wins to each UBOC 5 tournament. In addition, the Network is holding three $5,000 freerolls for players who satellite into more than one UBOC 5 event. Anyone who manages to satellite into 17 or more of the 20 UBOC 5 events automatically wins a seat in the $1,050 Championship Event.

Finally, the Bubble Buster promotion rewards players for cashing in UBOC 5 tournaments. Anyone who makes the money in two UBOC tournaments will claim a $10,000 freeroll entry. Prizes escalate all the way up to $1 million, which will go to players who manage to cash in 11 or more UBOC 5 events.

Here is the schedule of events for the fifth UBOC:

Event #1: August 18th at 20:05 ET
$320 Sniper NLHE ($30 bounty)
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #2: August 18th at 20:05 ET
$267 PLHE/PLO Mix
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #3: August 19th at 20:05 ET
$320 NLHE Four-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #4: August 20th at 20:05 ET
$162 Sniper NLHE ($20 bounty)
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #5: August 21st at 14:00 ET
$1,050 NLHE Heads-Up
$128,000 Guaranteed

Event #6: August 21st at 16:00 ET
$215 Pro Bounty ($200) NLHE Turbo 2X Chance Short Stack
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #7: August 22nd at 14:00 ET
$215 PLO Cubed (One Rebuy Plus One Add-On)
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #8: August 22nd at 16:00 ET
$1,050 Deepstack NLHE Six-Max
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #9: August 23rd at 20:05 ET
$215 NLHE ($200 Rock Star Bounty on Scott Ian and Shanna Moaklar)
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #10: August 23rd at 20:05 ET
$320 PLO Eight or Better
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #11: August 24th at 20:05 ET
$215 NLHE Cubed (One Rebuy Plus One Add-On)
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #12: August 24th at 20:05 ET
$215 HORSE
$50,000 Guaranteed

Event #13: August 25th at 20:05 ET
$530 NLHE Deepstack
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #14: August 25th at 20:05 ET
$320 PLO Six-Max 2X Chance
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #15: August 26th at 20:05 ET
$320 Sniper NLHE ($30 bounty)
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #16: August 26th at 20:05 ET
$215 Limit Omaha Eight or Better
$50,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: August 27th at 20:05 ET
$162 Sniper NLHE Six-Max ($20 bounty)
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: August 28th at 14:00 ET
$109 NLHE Turbo with Rebuys
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #19: August 28th at 16:00 ET
$320 Eight Game Mix
$100,000 Guaranteed

UBOC 5 Championship: August 29th at 16:00 ET
$1,050 Monster Stack NLHE
$1 Million Guarantee

Click over to UB or AbsolutePoker for full details on UBOC 5’s tournaments and promotions.

Absolute Poker guarantees $4m in UB Online Championship

While September may mark London as the place to be for big tournament poker action, August will give every player an excuse to stay online as the CEREUS network announced the UBOC will begin on August 18th with $4,000,000 guaranteed over twenty tournaments.

Lauren Kling – Poker Player Profile

Known online as locoenlacabeza on Full Tilt Poker, locaencabeza on PokerStars, and supermodl on Absolute Poker, Lauren Kling is a star in the making. Her biggest online scores include second place in the UBOC 4 Championship in January ’10 for $163K and third in Full Tilt Poker’s $1K Monday for $44K. She also final tabled PokerStars’ $80K Guarantee for $25K, capping off an impressive start to 2010.

Kling’s online prowess hasn’t exactly translated to the live arena yet – her biggest cash so far is $23K – but when it inevitably does, she will be a hot sponsorship commodity. Having recently studied Engineering and Business at Berkley, Kling is smart, beautiful, and deadly at the tables. That combination has proved rare over the last couple of years, so the sky is the limit for Lauren Kling if she plays her cards right.

UB.com Cancels 2010 Aruba Poker Classic

The annual UB.com Aruba Poker Classic will take a leave of absence in 2010, according to officials from the USA-facing online poker site. Instead, UB.com plans to increase its presence at other live events and expand its online tournament offering.

In 2009, Brandon "AreTheseUtz" Hall defeated a field of 475 players in the UB.com Aruba Poker Classic Main Event to collect a $753,000 first place prize. The $5,500 tournament’s prize pool swelled to well over $2 million and a throng of online poker players flocked to the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino to partake in the annual pilgrimage. Now, the tournament will be put on the shelf for 2010.

In lieu of the annual gala in paradise, UB.com will focus its efforts on expanding its live and online tournament schedules. In the virtual world, a monthly $500,000 Guaranteed is in the works. As it stands now, UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker, hold a weekly $200,000 Guaranteed that regularly draws over 1,000 entrants. Last week, 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) winner Carter “ckingusc” King took down the contest and earned $48,000.

The Ultimate Bet Online Championship, or UBOC as it’s commonly referred to, will be expanded to run twice per year. It last appeared in January and featured two $1 million prize pool events, the first of which saw its purse grow to $1.5 million. When a second UBOC would occur is not yet clear. Full Tilt runs its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) four times per year, while PokerStars’ WCOOP and Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) take place in September and May, respectively. The $500,000 guaranteed UB.com tournament may ultimately grow to become a $1 million event.

Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett commented in a press release on Wednesday, "It is with great regret that we are announcing that the Aruba event will not run this year, but 2010 is going to be an exciting year for UB and its players. Over the last year, we've been redefining the UB brand in every way. We love the Aruba Poker Classic event, but we think we can do a lot more for our players by investing in new events and rewards." Tokwiro is the parent company of UB.com and Absolute Poker. Both sites happily accept customers from the United States.

UB.com will also continue to qualify players for land-based tournaments on the World Poker Tour (WPT) as well as the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which kicks off in late May from the Rio in Las Vegas. In addition, “major WSOP incentives and additional loyalty benefits for top players” are being planned, according to the same press statement.

In 2002, Juha Helppi defeated Phil Gordon in the first ever running of the UB.com Aruba Poker Classic, which appeared as part of the WPT schedule during Season 1 in 2002. One year later, Erick Lindgren took down the $500,000 top prize in a final table that also featured Barry Shulman. During Season 3, Eric Brenes tangled with Layne Flack and came out on top for $1 million, with Mike Matusow and John Juanda also reaching the final table. In 2005, Freddy Deeb took down the Aruba Poker Classic title in the tournament’s final year as a stop on the WPT circuit.

The 2006 installment featured Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy battling heads-up against Devon Miller. The pro ultimately fell short and Miller banked $775,000. In 2007, Travis “TravestyFund” Rice emerged victorious, while Matt Brady took down the 2008 UB.com Aruba Poker Classic. Whether the tournament will reappear in 2011 remains to be seen.

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

PokerStars Attracts Largest Sunday Million Field Ever

Over the weekend, the world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars, generated the biggest field ever for its weekly Sunday Million. The $215 buy-in industry staple saw a whopping 19,377 players compete.

Accordingly, the Sunday Million also featured the largest prize pool in its history. A total of nearly $3.9 million was up for grabs in one of the richest online poker tournaments ever held. In the end, “OX45AL” banked a mammoth $550,000 for first place, outlasting fellow online poker player “celofyz33” heads-up. celofyz33 received a $332,000 consolation prize and the top 3,150 players finished in the money.

In the final hand of the super-sized Sunday Million, celofyz33 shoved with A-4 of clubs pre-flop, but OX45AL woke up with pocket queens. The board ran out 3-7-K-4-J and OX45AL boosted his bankroll by over a half-million dollars. Other PokerStars players who reached the final table on the record-setting day included eMarkM (third place for $244,616), OBVAMENTS (fourth place for $166,270), S.Takmaziyan (fifth place for $133,016), Kostya 77777 (sixth place for $99,762), Gmelkonyan (seventh place for $66,508), austinlewis (eighth place for $44,228), and hunter10999 (ninth place for $29,929). All told, a bevy of life-changing money was up for grabs during the Sunday afternoon contest.

To put the number of players in perspective, the 19,377 poker hopefuls who turned out for the Sunday Million represented 15 times the number of entrants in the Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) Main Event on Sunday, 2.5 times the number of runners in the Full Tilt $1.5 Million Guaranteed held as part of that site’s promotional week, and nearly 40 times the size of the field in the weekly Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed. The previous record for a Sunday Million field was 18,283, set in November. The Sunday Million Special Edition offered a $2 million guaranteed purse on January 31st, but that figure was easily shattered. Last November, the guaranteed prize pool was $2.5 million.

All of the traffic on the site meant an influx of players to its cash game tables. According to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, 50,820 real money ring game players logged into PokerStars at its peak on Sunday, only the third time that the site has ever eclipsed 50,000. PokerScout.com added, “This marks the first time any site has ever reached 50,000 real money cash game players outside of a milestone hand promotion.” Year over year, traffic on PokerStars is up by a solid 43%, while rival site Full Tilt Poker has seen its patronage swell by 67% over the same period.

Meanwhile, PokerScout.com noted that the traffic spike on Full Tilt Poker as a result of the introduction of Rush Poker seems to have fizzled. In a graph posted on the site, the percentage of players competing at Rush Poker tables has slumped from a high of 30% on January 22nd to just over 20% on January 31st. Players are allowed to open up to four Rush Poker tables and the high-speed action has resulted in up to 300 hands per hour being recorded.

Also on Sunday, PokerStars dished out four tickets to Super Bowl XLIV, which will unfold on February 7th from Dolphin Stadium in Miami. Two $11 buy-in tournaments were held, with the winners of each taking home two tickets to the big game on top of the standard prize pool payout. Each champ also claimed $1,000 in spending money, although last-minute hotel reservations in South Florida have been hard to come by.

PokerStars happily accepts players from the United States and features an arsenal of pros that includes World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winners Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, and 2009 champ Joe Cada.

DOUBLEDAVE22 Wins UBOC 4 Main Event

A total of 1,307 players took part in the $1,050 buy-in Main Event of the fourth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC). At the end of Sunday’s tournament, Dave "DOUBLEDAVE22" D'Alesandro took down the title and its corresponding $279,000 payday.

D'Alesandro is fresh off a win in the UB.com $150,000 Guaranteed Deep Stack for $46,000 in October and made his mark on the online poker community after registering a third place in a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event back in August 2008. He recorded a fourth place showing during the 2009 running of the UBOC for $72,000 and has proven his prowess in high-dollar tournament series. D'Alesandro is a native of New Jersey and, over the last six weeks, has also recorded wins in the UB.com $50,000 Guaranteed and Full Tilt Poker $40,000 Guaranteed for a combined payday of $31,000.

Heads-up, D’Alesandro bested Lauren “SUPERMODL” Kling. The Las Vegas native finished ninth in August’s FTOPS Main Event for $28,000 and final tabled the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday two weeks ago for $45,000. Last week, Kling was up to her winning ways once again, recording a third place showing in the Full Tilt $100 rebuy for $25,000. Her runner-up effort on Sunday in the UBOC 4 Main Event was worth $163,000.

Brett “BS0228” Switzer took third place in the UBOC 4 Main Event and earned $115,000. Switzer won the Full Tilt $100 rebuy back in August for $49,000 and took down the PokerStars $11 rebuy one month prior for $14,000. Earning $83,000 by virtue of his fourth place showing was WAWA711, who also hails from the great state of New Jersey. WAWA711 final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up in October and banked $37,000. He’s also defeated the field of the Full Tilt Poker $24,000 Guaranteed twice.

Rounding out the final nine in the UBOC 4 Main Event were MICHAELBINGER (fifth place for $69,925), MUCKANDLOSE (sixth place for $56,855), DAHJINERAT (seventh place for $43,131), EBSCR00GE (eighth place for $30,715), and GSKI6986 (ninth place for $21,566). The top 135 players finished in the money and the tournament generated a total prize pool of $1.31 million, the second largest of UBOC 4 next to the $1.57 million up for grabs in the $2,600 buy-in $1 Million Guaranteed (Event #8). The latter tournament featured the richest purse in UB.com’s 10-year history.

Here’s how the final table of the UBOC Main Event shook out:

1. DOUBLEDAVE22 - $279,045
2. SUPERMODL - $163,244
3. BS0228 - $115,016
4. WAWA711 - $83,648
5. MICHAELBINGER - $69,925
6. MUCKANDLOSE - $56,855
7. DAHJINERAT - $43,131
8. EBSCR00GE - $30,715
9. GSKI6986 - $21,566

Also playing out over the weekend was a $109 No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys event as part of UBOC 4. The 17th event on the schedule attracted 514 players and, after taking into account buy-ins and rebuys, the prize pool swelled to $160,900. UB.com member I AM CLUTCH defeated one of the top names in the poker world heads-up, Mike “SOWERSS” Sowers, after a three-way deal was struck. Also part of the chop was NIKOBALAKHOF, who earned $23,000. Here’s how the rest of the table panned out:

1. I AM CLUTCH - $30,678
2. SOWERSS - $26,336
3. NIKOBALAKHOF - $23,033
4. MR_BIGQUESO - $11,263
5. GIT PAPER - $9,252
6. ALL_DAY_DHI3 - $7,643
7. KICE32 - $6,034
8. BULLD07 - $4,425
9. AWICE - $3,138

The UBOC tournament series will likely return in early 2011. By all accounts, this year’s running marked one of the most talked-about UBOC series to date. UB.com features a stable of top-tier pros, including Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth, and “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok.

Huge Sunday for Online Poker

Online tournament leader PokerStars led the charge with a massive $2 million-guaranteed Sunday Million Special Edition tournament.

The room smashed its guarantee drawing a record-setting 19,377 players to the $215 buy-in tournament creating a prize pool of $3.8 million.

Surprisingly there was no chop at the final table and online player OX45AL took down the whole $550,011 first place prize.

Meanwhile Full Tilt doubled its $750,000 guaranteed tournament up to $1.5 million yesterday. A total of 7,578 players combined to create a prize pool of $1.51 million.

There were no big-name players at the final table, although Eric Froehlich did come in 22^nd place, just missing out on the serious cash.

In the end Full Tilt player BankofSweden made a heads-up deal with extassyman, which saw both players take home over $200k. BankofSweden went on to win the tournament but that only earned him $2,000 more than extassyman.

Finally UB was buzzing with the main event of UBOC 4. The event, which was hosted by Phil Hellmuth, drew 1,307 to create a prize pool of roughly $1.3 million.

The UB event provided the most star-studded final table of the day with Team UB pro Michael Binger finishing in fifth place and WSOP regular Lauren “SUPERMODL” Kling (pictured above) losing heads-up to DOUBLEDAVE22 thanks to a brutal suckout.

DOUBLEDAVE22 took home $279,044 for first while Kling had to settle for $163,244 in second.

To view the complete Sunday results for PokerStars click here, Full Tilt here and UB here.

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TORREY5 Wins UBOC Pot Limit Hold’em Six-Max Event

Event #16 of the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) played out on Friday, with 206 entrants turning out for a $530 Pot Limit Hold’em Six-Max event. When the smoke cleared, UB.com member TORREY5 banked $27,000 for the win.

The top 24 players finished in the money and the tournament just edged out its $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. Heads-up, TORREY5 defeated top-tier tournament player David “DSANDS25” Sands. The latter is the top player in the world according to the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings. Last May, Sands emerged victorious in a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event for $259,000 and, to open the month of August, won the challenging PokerStars Sunday 500 for $90,000. Two days after Christmas, Sands took down the PokerStars $215 rebuy for $44,000. In Friday’s UBOC event, the blockbuster online poker player boosted his net worth by $16,000.

Also making the final table of the high-stakes tournament was Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall, the reigning champion of the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic. Hall bested Robert Mizrachi in the October tournament and earned $753,000 in a final table that also featured newly-minted UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin. Hall finished sixth in Friday’s UBOC event and earned $5,400. Here’s a look at the final table paydays in Event #16:

1. TORREY5 - $27,810
2. DSANDS25 - $15,862
3. HAMAZRIYA3 - $12,515
4. 150383 - $9,528
5. WINNERFF - $7,468
6. ARE THESE UTZ - $5,408

Taking place on Thursday was Event #15 of UBOC 4. The $320 Omaha High-Low tournament attracted a field of 331 players, which meant that it fell short of its guarantee. However, 36 players still walked away with money, headlined by YOSSARIAN80, who banked an even $25,000. Two UB.com pros also made the final table. Shawn “westtexasman” Rice earned $10,000 for third place, while 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth took seventh place for $4,200. Rice hails from Lubbock, Texas and was the runner-up in a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2004 WSOP for $213,000.

Hellmuth, meanwhile, holds the record for bracelets won and number of “Idiots from Northern Europe” blasts dropped at a poker table. Hellmuth’s last piece of hardware came in 2007, when the UB.com front man took down a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $637,000. Hellmuth owns more than $6 million in career WSOP earnings and is one of the most outspoken players on the tour. Here’s how the final table stacked up in UBOC Event #15:

1. YOSSARIAN80 - $25,000
2. GRAPEAPE177 - $15,150
3. SHAWN RICE - $10,500
4. JHENDERSON16 - $7,750
5. CUSHMASTER - $6,500
6. ANGRIFF - $5,250
7. PHILHELLMUTH - $4,250
8. ROTOJUNKIE - $3,250
9. ILOVETSALAD - $2,250

On Sunday, the $1,050 UBOC 4 Championship Event will play out beginning at 4:00pm ET. The tournament was previously listed as a two-day event, but will actually transpire over the course of a single afternoon. The feature tournament has a $1 million guaranteed purse and Hellmuth will serve as its host. Taking place on Saturday on the virtual felts of UBOC is Event #17, a $109 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys contest. The cards hit the air at 2:00pm ET and at least $100,000 will be up for grabs.

UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker, make up the CEREUS Network. The family of rooms happily accepts players from the United States. Besides Hellmuth, Rice, and Baldwin, other UB.com pros include Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Brandon Cantu, former “Amazing Race” cast member Tiffany Michelle, Liv Boeree, and Matt “mattg1983” Graham.

UBOC 4 Main Event Hits Sunday

Every day from now until Sunday, UB will run a five seat guaranteed tournament at 9:50 p.m. ET for $109.

The top five finishers are guaranteed to win a seat into the $1,000 buy-in UBOC 4 main event.

Arguably the best option for qualifying, however, will be the massive 100 seat guaranteed tournament UB has scheduled for Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET, just a few hours before the main event kicks off. That satellite will also carry a $109 buy-in.

The UBOC 4 main event will be hosted by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner and Team UB member Phil Hellmuth.

"This has got to be not only my favorite UBOC so far, but my favorite online tournament series ever," said Hellmuth.

"There's another $1 million event coming up on Sunday with plenty of satellites to get you into it, and if it's anything like last Sunday's big $1 million Guarantee that ended up having a $1.5 million prize pool, it's going to be huge."

The UBOC 4 main event will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. For more information or to sign up for an account check the UB website.

 

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker in Twitter: Deauville, Football, Kat von D and Victoria Coren’s duck.

Poker News Daily scours the Twitter feeds of hundreds of poker players to bring you the funniest, most interesting, weirdest Tweets of the last few days. This weekend saw many players tweeting about the tournaments they were in, which included the UBOC, the LAPC and the EPT Deauville. Other popular topics this week were football (the poker world seems to support the Saints almost unanimously) and other sports, as well as new houses, tattoos by Kat von D, and a river card made to measure for Eric Mizrachi.
The online cards were good for some and cruel to others: while Dave “Hollywood_Dave” Stann challenged players to face him at Ultimate Bet: “Rockin UBOC on UB right now...come join so I can felt you, too ”, Liv Boeree was not having such a great day: “finished 42nd in UBOC 8 for $6300. Set of 33s get it all in on turn... he rivers 9 for higher set. Laptop across the room time.” Eric Mizrachi could have shared some of his luck with her, as he boasted a screenshot from a spectacular river card in Poker Stars:  “Deliver the nice river, Ty @pokerstars_com http://twitpic.com/zmlrd”

Tournament manager supreme Matt Savage kept the world informed of the progress of the LAPC, starting with a comment on his famously grueling schedules: “We have completed days 1A/1B or .5 of the 51 events at this years @LAPokerClassic! Not sure what I was thinking when I made this schedule?” Apparently Mr. Savage is superstitious, since he made Dave Stann back off from certain comments that might bring the tournament ill luck: “@Hollywood_Dave please do NOT mention LAPC = Going Well and Obama Presidency = F'ing Up Country in same tweet! You may jinx us here in LA.” No jinx was apparent to Rob Perelman, who tweeted in delight: “Heads up pot. Final board A4444. Check check. Then 2nd guy tries to muck. This is why I love the @LAPokerClassic!” Some of poker’s hottest ladies were in attendance after trotting the globe in The Amazing Race last year; Tiffany Michelle posted a picture of her view from the table: “http://twitpic.com/z4bfu - Playin the 1st LAPC event, nice view - this girl follows me everywhere ”

The poker world followed the NFC very closely last weekend, and the general feeling seemed to favor the Saints, although Doyle Brunson voiced his admiration for the Vikings’ legendary quarterback: “Brett Favre has balls the size of basketballs.” Favre was the man of the day, with praise and heckles piled on him via Twitter. Gene Bromberg tried to be fair: “I gleefully join in on Favrebashing, but that should've been a flag. Low, late hit, gotta call that”, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith blamed it on the team: “@shannonelizab The vikings aren't even giving Favre a chance to win”, and Joe Sebok cheered and booed: “yes, saints! boo favre & vikings. city of new orleans deserves this... ” Shannon Elizabeth, who tweeted throughout the game, was a happy fan when the fat lady sang: “Congrats Saints! GREAT GAME!!”

The EPT Deauville had two excellent commentators in Vicky Coren and Isabelle Mercier, both of whom tweeted frequently with updates on their own performance and those of friends and team members. Coren had never been able to survive Deauville’s Day 1, and was hoping this year would be it: “It's Day 1 of the Deauville EPT. I've played this three times before and never survived Day One. Let's see if I can break my duck” (“Breaking one’s duck” is a British expression, originally from cricket, that means doing something for the first time.) Coren tried hard, and kept updating on her status to add to the suspense: “We started with 30k in chips. I went down to 4k, now up to 20k, tiptoeing between the outdraws. Two more levels and the duck gets it...” The duck, however, remains unbroken, as she got busted out in Day 1 once more. Fellow Brit Matthew Grant commiserated with some historic consolation: “@VictoriaCoren Nevermind, the only victory that matters near Deauville happened in 1944 ” Coren marveled at Mercier’s youthful looks when they sat together: “Ex Team Pro Isabelle Mercier is on my table, looking incredible. She just doesn't age, that woman. Is it a French thing?” It may have been Mercier’s joy at playing in Deauville, which she tweeted happily about: “Deauville Deauville! Always loved this French little piece of paradise... Especially when it's GAME DAY !!!! ... http://bit.ly/5V41EV” Mercier’s joie de vivre did not last very long, however, as she tweeted from her Facebook account: “Busted out few hours ago holding pocket 10's against poker Jacks and pocket Aces!!! Turned blue and slowly getting... http://bit.ly/4sN0Rb”

Celebrity tattoo artist Kat von D, from the TV show LA Ink, has been leaving her mark on the poker world. First she tattooed Tiffany Michelle, who shared a photo of her tattoo: “Pics of my tatt that Kat did on her show are on my website www.tiffanymichelle.com under the 'Film, TV, Shows' Gallery ” and more recently on Pearl Aday, as tweeted by heavy metal poker star Scott Ian: “Kat Von D shooting Pearl right now.” If he does not shape up to his crazy prop bet, Joe Sebok could be next.

Sebok got some unflattering tweets regarding his stunning new LA home – @DougLeePoker remarked acidly: “@JoeSebok Wow, sick place! and all you had to do was align yourself with a company that has stolen millions from their customers. Well Done!” Sebok’s affiliation with Ultimate Bet is evidently not well accepted by the poker world.

There were many random tweets on off topics that seemed too interesting to pass by, so here is a brief overview of the weird and wonderful tweets of this weekend. There is the cheerful but always cryptic Marcel Luske: “Just an other day,,, more news ,, more twitters , more closely 2 Our goalls & destiny,so enjoin the day & feel great & help others . {;”, a very happy tweet from Eric Mizrachi: “Got some GREAT NEWS today, my friend Myrielle "Meeyu" Pierre survived the earthquake. C U tomm Meeyu! http://twitpic.com/y267b”, some naughtiness from Gavin Griffin: “We just backed into someone's driver's side door and left an 8 square inch dent. Gave em 100 bucks. Win”, and a recognition of friendship from Daniel Negreanu: “I just counted. The number of good friends of mine that are unabashed media whores: zero! All my friends are so normal”, while Doyle Brunson experienced new things: “Got back from a recording session. I'm just a West Texas hillbilly, all that chit amazes me.”

The Tweet of the day is a tie between Jeff Madsen and Howard Lederer. Madsen quipped: “Tiger woods supposedly in Mississippi for sex Rehab. I'll b in Biloxi soon, maybe I need to check myself in?”, while Lederer pointed out: “Went to see Nadal tonight at Aussie Open and saw the best homemade fan sign ever at the match. It read "Go Nad." LOL”
If you are as addicted to Twitter as we are, be sure to follow us @PokerNewsDaily so you can stay up to date on all the breaking news in the poker world and be a part of some PND Twitter exclusives in the coming weeks.

UB Poker Event Tops Record Books

The Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament drew 628 players, creating a prize pool of $1.57 million – the richest in UB’s 10-year history.

Online player SEBBAU was the biggest winner taking down the tournament and the $330,900 that came attached to first place.

Celebrated UB player DOOSHDOTCOM1 also made an appearance at the final table but ended up finishing in fifth for $86,350.

"Despite going out just before the money in UBOC 8, the tournament still left me with an incredible feeling as we ended up building the richest prize pool in the history of UB," said Joe Sebok.

"I think it sets the tone for what I think will be the best UBOC ever for our players. 2010 is just the beginning of great things to come for UB and our community."

Team UB was out in full force with Phil Hellmuth, Sebok and Liv Boeree all playing the tournament.

Boeree was the only UB pro to cash, coming in 42^nd place for $6,280.

UBOC 4 continues all week with the $1 million-guaranteed $1,050 buy-in main event scheduled for this Sunday.

Click here to learn more about the UBOC schedule or sign up for an account.

Visit PokerListings.com

UBOC Event #8 Features Largest Prize Pool in UB.com History

The $2,600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament (Event #8) held as part of the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) featured a $1.57 million prize pool, the largest in the 10-year history of UB.com.

Newly minted UB.com pro Joe Sebok gave his take on the record-shattering prize pool in a press release distributed by the USA-friendly online poker site on Tuesday: "Despite going out just before the money in UBOC Event #8, the tournament still left me with an incredible feeling as we ended up building the richest prize pool in the history of UB. I think it sets the tone for what I think will be the best UBOC ever for our players. 2010 is just the beginning of great things to come for UB and our community." A total of 628 players competed in the $2,600 buy-in affair, which easily surpassed its $1 million guaranteed purse.

When the smoke cleared, it was a battle between two Germans heads-up, as SEBBAU bested PHILBORT to scoop a $331,000 first place prize after a heads-up chop. As part of the deal, PHILBORT took home $250,000, more than a traditional chip chop would have given him, and SEBBAU banked $291,000. Then, the duo played on for $40,000 in prize money. In the final hand of UBOC event #8, PHILBORT was all-in with pocket fives against SEBBAU’s A-7. The flop came 2-7-K, giving SEBBAU a pair; he never looked back, earning $331,000.

UB.com pro Liv Boeree bumped Sebok from the $2,600 buy-in Six-Max event to claim Sebok’s $2,500 bounty. Boeree was the only UB.com sponsored pro to make the money. Here’s how the final table shook out in the richest tournament in the history of UB.com:

1st Place: SEBBAU - $330,900
2nd Place: PHILBORT - $250,000
3rd Place: GROENGRAS - $146,010
4th Place: GIT PAPER - $102,050
5th Place: DOOSHDOTCOM1 - $86,350
6th Place: UPAY4RHINOS - $70,650

In UBOC Event $10, a $150,000 Guaranteed Mixed Pot Limit tournament, a total of 422 players threw their hats into the ring. Although the tournament fell short of its guarantee, Jack “011POKERDR” Pan banked a healthy $40,500 for the win. Pan final tabled an event held during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September for $23,000 and finished second in the Full Tilt $200 rebuy last May for $43,000. Heads-up, Pan defeated KANYEKWELI, who earned $23,000.

Other UB.com members who made the final table of Event #10 included ALL_DAY_DHI3 (third place for $16,125), SAILORLOBELL (fourth place for $11,625), Scott “SCOTTYTHEFISH” Sitron (fifth place for $8,625), JOES2828 (sixth place for $6,150), Justin “TRUESYALOSE” Truesdell (seventh place for $4,650), and ROCKRAINES (eighth place for $3,150). Sitron finished 32nd in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $253,000, while Truesell won a Circuit gold ring in Tunica one year ago in a $1,080 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event.

The UBOC and its corresponding MiniUBOC series continue through Sunday, January 31st. On that day, the $1,050 buy-in UBOC Championship Event will kick off. The two-day tournament begins at 4:00pm ET and will likely see some of the top names in poker take to UB.com’s virtual felts.

Two UBOC events will play out today. Event #11 is a $215 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Cubed tournament (one rebuy plus one add-on). At least $100,000 will be up for grabs and accomplished pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham will serve as its host. Event #12 is a $215 buy-in HORSE tournament with at least $50,000 up for grabs. UB.com blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann will host the contest, which kicks off at 8:05pm ET concurrently with Event #11.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UBOC results.

Tiffany Michelle Comments on New Amazing Race Cast

The pairings for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race” were released last week and, this time around, no poker players will make the journey. Competing last season was UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle, who hit the “Amazing Race” circuit with Maria Ho. Michelle sat down with Poker News Daily to preview the new season, which kicks off on February 14th on CBS.

Poker News Daily: This cycle’s cast list includes former housemates on CBS’ “Big Brother,” Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, and a Major League Baseball third base coach. Who’s your horse?

Tiffany Michelle: It’s interesting to see that there are three all-female teams this season. Last year, it was a really young, competitive bunch. The producers have to keep it to where everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities are on par with the others in that season. We thought it was weird that there wasn’t an old couple or a mom and daughter last year. This year, they opened it up again.

I’ve been watching the initial meet the cast videos and I think the cowboys (Jet and Cord) will be a fan favorite. The ones that stood out to me were the detectives (Louie and Michael). That’s an interesting type of person to put on the show.

PND: Were you surprised to see that no poker players will journey out for this season of “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Doing enough in the entertainment business, I have some insight into how casting works. You can’t exhaust one group of people. You want to keep it new and fresh every year and that’s why we were brought on last year. Each season, they’ll reach out to grab people from all walks of life. As hot of a topic as poker is, each of the poker players who have been on reality shows were there for a reason. I don’t think you’ll see a huge influx of poker players on reality shows.

PND: What about poker players gives them a leg up on the competition in a series like “Amazing Race”?

Tiffany Michelle: Your outlook on life, games, and competition is different than the everyday person’s. Poker encompasses psychology, mathematics, aggression, and observation. Poker is very similar to chess in that it requires a lot of mental stamina and gamesmanship. Poker players are used to approaching games from a different point of view.

PND: There has been a trend on the show to include racers who have already appeared in front of television cameras and in the public eye. Does that give anyone an edge?

Tiffany Michelle: After Phil [Keoghan] says go, you are not even aware of the cameras or audio guys. Within the first day, you’re oblivious to having a camera crew. They’re good at not getting in your way too.

PND: This installment’s cast is rumored to travel to places like Chile, Argentina, Singapore, and Seychelles. If you had the chance to run the “Amazing Race” again, where would you go?

Tiffany Michelle: Warm places like Australia, the Caribbean, and some lovely tropical destinations. This season, it’ll be a little bit colder and you won’t hit a lot of hot spots. A lot of our season’s cast wanted to go to Africa because it’d be an incredible experience. That was one place that I thought would be awesome. From a technical standpoint, it’s hard to pull that off, though. We went to Vietnam, which they said for years they had tried to do.

PND: How’d you fare at the L.A. Poker Classic?

Tiffany Michelle: I only played one event. Maria and I both played and it was nice to be back in the saddle. Now, I am off to Panama and I’ll be back at the Commerce Casino after that. I’m trying to decide between doing the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) or L.A. Poker Classic Main Events. In two weeks, I’m going to Las Vegas to do a show with the Harlem Globetrotters. We’re going to suit up and play against them. I’m pretty sporty, but basketball is my worst sport.

PND: We read on Twitter that you were reviewing movies for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. What’s your involvement with them?

Tiffany Michelle: I’m a member of SAG, which is the union for acting, entertainment, film, and television. Every year, whereas the Emmys and Oscars are voting on by academies, actors vote on the SAG Awards. During awards season, they send you movies to watch and you vote. I always get a slew of current nominees.

I thought “Inglorious Basterds” was incredibly phenomenal. I thought it was an amazing movie. “Up in the Air” was cool too. I’m a girl, so of course I loved “It’s Complicated.” For television shows, I love “Glee” and Kevin McHale is a friend of mine.

PND: How have you been faring in the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC)?

Tiffany Michelle: Sunday was the $2,500 buy-in $1 million guaranteed. I played it even though I don’t play short-handed poker. I can play six-handed, but I know there are a lot of specific strategies with regards to starting hands.

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

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

Kunkles27, Superprop123 Win UBOC Events

The fourth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) rolled on after kicking off on Wednesday. Four online poker tournaments have been played so far, with two more set to pan out on Saturday on the virtual felts of UB.com.

Event #3 of UBOC 4 was a $320 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Four-Max tournament. A field of 476 players turned out, creating a total prize pool of $142,800. The top 52 players finished in the money, led by KUNKLES27, who earned $37,000. KUNKLES27 is a seasoned veteran of the poker scene, having already made two final table appearances in the high-stakes PokerStars Sunday Million. According to PocketFives.com, the Michigan native was a force to be reckoned with on PartyPoker before the popular site departed the U.S. market.

Heads-up in Event #3 of the fourth UBOC series, KUNKLES27 defeated PURPLEPILS99; the runner-up earned $22,000. PURPLEPILS99’s past claims to fame include a fifth place showing in the flagship Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guaranteed for $55,000 and a final table appearance in the PokerStars Super Tuesday in December for $33,000. He also finished 14th in the Two-Day event of November’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). In the final hand, KUNKLES27’s A-7 outlasted PURPLEPILS99’s Q-9 after the two got it in pre-flop. The board ran out 5-J-8-K-2 and that was all she wrote for PURPLEPILS99.

Also appearing at the No Limit Hold’em Four-Max final table were BRBLONDE2020 and DONKMAGNET55, who took third and fourth place, respectively. Here were the final table results:

1. KUNKLES27 - $37,485
2. PURPLEPILS99 - $22,491
3. BRBLONDE2020 - $14,637
4. DONKMAGNET55 - $11,067

The fourth event of the ongoing UBOC was a $130 buy-in Sniper tournament with a $30,000 guaranteed purse. 721 players tossed their hats into the ring, which meant that the actual prize pool of $86,000 nearly tripled the guarantee. When the smoke cleared, the top 72 players finished in the money, led by SUPERPROP123, who scooped a $16,000 first place prize.

Heads-up, he defeated ILUVBECKYARF, who earned a $10,000 consolation prize. On the final hand of the tournament, ILUVBECKYARF committed his chips with K-8 on a board of 3-8-9-3 for two pair, eights and threes. SUPERPROP123 flipped up 8-9 for top two pair, which held for the win. Coming in sixth place for $3,200 was THISTLE66, who in the last three months has won the PokerStars $11 rebuy, Full Tilt Poker $75,000 Super Turbo Guaranteed, and the Full Tilt $34,000 Guaranteed for a combined $42,000. Here is how the final table shook out in UBOC Event #4:

1. SUPERPROP123 - $16,763
2. ILUVBECKYARF - $10,274
3. LOLA2425 - $6,850
4. HOYAZO - $4,759
5. BEATDOWNCOMIN - $3,966
6. THISTLE66 - $3,245
7. JOEUGLY - $2,524
8. DONKIMAN - $1,803
9. J_HASTHENUTS - $1,262

UBOC 4 continues with two more events on Saturday afternoon for players to compete for a combined $228,000 in guaranteed prize money. A $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up tournament kicks off at 1:00pm ET, with $128,000 guaranteed. CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin, a member of Team UB, will serve as the tournament’s host.

One hour later on the felts of the CEREUS Network site is Event #6, a $162 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance tournament with at least $100,000 up for grabs. On January 31st, look for the start of the UBOC 4 Championship Event, which is a $1,050 buy-in tournament with at least $1 million on the line.

Visit UB.com for more details.

The Nightly Turbo: Basebaldy Shows the Light, UBOC Update, and More

Tonight's Nightly Turbo is bringing you the story on Eric Baldwin's charitable contribution to his alma mater, an update on the UBOC, and if you're lucky, maybe a video from down under. Ok, you're lucky.

Ty Reiman Wins UBOC 4 Kickoff Tournament

The kickoff event of the fourth Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) saw recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) runner-up Ty “KEEFKING420” Reiman take down the $320 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Sniper contest for $65,000.

Reiman has been on a tear in recent months. His second place showing in the 2010 PCA Main Event 10 days ago was worth a colossal $1.75 million and Reiman outlasted all but Harrison Gimbel in the record-setting field of 1,529 players. In December, the Illinois native tasted victory in both the $150,000 Guaranteed on UB.com and the Full Tilt Poker $30K Super Turbo Knockout for a combined $50,000. Reiman’s breakthrough happened last July, when he won the $1K Monday on Full Tilt for $100,000.

Reiman told UB.com officials following the $320 buy-in kickoff event, “It was a great structured tournament and I really enjoyed playing it. I started off going into the final table in second and, with how deep we were, it allowed us a lot of play. I picked up a few hands and we got down to short-handed pretty quickly. Then, it took quite some time before it was over.” Heads-up, Reiman defeated PEENAR7, who banked $38,000.

On the battle against PEENAR7 for the title of UBOC Event #1 Champion, Reiman recalled, “The heads-up was back at forth, but by the end, luck must have been on my side. I really enjoyed UBOC and can't wait to play the rest of the events. I think they have a great structure and are a great series of tournaments.” Reiman and company will have 18 total UBOC events to compete in along with a MiniUBOC tournament series, which offers buy-ins that are one-tenth as large.

Also at the final table of UBOC Event #1 was Scott “stsitron” Siton, who earned $16,000 for his fifth place showing. Sitron has excelled in the live poker world, turning in a 32nd place showing in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $253,000 in a tournament ultimately won by Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Cada. In 2008, he finished in second in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP for $385,000. Sitron has nearly $700,000 in career WSOP and Circuit Event cashes to his name.

So who else made the final table of the UBOC 4 kickoff event? Here were the results; 108 players finished in the money:

1. KEEFKING420 - $65,488
2. PEENAR7 - $38,626
3. SCHUEY995 - $26,654
4. AUTOBOT7 - $19,209
5. SCOTTYTHEFISH - $15,933
6. DOUBLEDAVE22 - $12,955
7. ANTONFS - $9,977
8. COOKIELULU2 - $7,147
9. DEGORD2 - $5,063

Event #2 of UBOC 4, a $162 buy-in Eight Game Mixed tournament, drew a crowd of 386 players. The event surpassed its $50,000 guarantee, with CYBERCOW defeating Justin Scott heads-up to earn $15,000. A total of 40 players walked away with cash, with notable online poker pros Dan “djk123” Kelly and James “croll103” Carroll reaching the talented final table. Both sit in the top 25 of the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and are among the game’s elite. Here’s how the final table shook out:

1. CYBERCOW - $15,633
2. JUSTIN SCOTT - $9,814
3. CHETSTEADMAN - $6,369
4. WORTHLESNUTS - $4,632
5. JEFFGRESSARD - $3,474
6. CROLL103 - $2,461
7. TWOLIP69 - $1,882
8. ZESTFULYCLEAN - $1,303

The Main Event of UBOC 4 kicks off on Sunday, January 31st and is a $1,050 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Two-Day contest. At least $1 million will be on the line. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UBOC 4 coverage.

Over $4 Million Up For Grabs in Ultimate Bet’s UBOC4

This week marks the kickoff of the fourth Ultimate Bet Online Championship, where thousands of tournament enthusiasts will compete alongside UB's roster of pros for over $4 million in guaranteed prize money. This edition of the UBOC features 18...

Additional Haiti Earthquake Relief Online Poker Tournaments Announced

This week, members of the online poker community wishing to donate to victims of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti last week can take advantage of several tournaments being held across cyberspace.

Today, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook Haiti, the strongest aftershock to date according to the Associated Press. Roughly 200,000 people may have died due to the original quake last week and 1.5 million people, or nearly 20% of the country’s population, are now homeless. The Associated Press reported that 40 aftershocks have rumbled through the island nation. On the magnitude 6.1 tremor that hit on Wednesday, a geophysicist told the American news service, "Aftershocks sometimes die out very quickly. In other cases they can go on for weeks, or if we're really unlucky it could go on for months."

On Wednesday, UB.com, which makes its home on the CEREUS Network, will host a $5 rebuy online poker tournament to raise funds for the victims. The event gets underway at 20:30 ET and the field is capped at 750 players. In a generous gesture, UB.com officials will match the entirety of the prize pool and then donate the sum to the Red Cross Haiti Disaster Relief Fund. In addition, $10,000 in prizes will be on the line, consisting of entries to Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) tournaments and satellites. The charity poker tournament is dubbed “Play for Haiti” and can be found in the UB.com lobby. The site happily accepts players from the United States.

Also hosting a charity event on Wednesday night is DoylesRoom, which resides on the USA-facing Cake Poker Network. DoylesRoom is running the “Haiti Relief Celebrity Bounty,” taking the place of its regularly scheduled Bounty tournament. Those in the field will include site namesake Doyle Brunson, “The Wrestler” actor Mickey Rourke, Brunson 10 member Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark, and “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro. The tournament kicks off at 9:30pm ET and DoylesRoom is matching all bounty money won and donating the total to relief efforts. In addition, DoylesRoom will ship any first-time player’s $27.50 buy-in to charity.

Ongame Network site Betsafe is offering a $5 tournament called “Help Haiti” on Wednesday at 20:45 CET. Unlimited rebuys will be permitted during the first hour and Betsafe will donate the funds to charity. A press release distributed by the site explains, “Betsafe will match the fee generated and we guarantee to give a minimum of $1,000. There is no maximum of the amount that we will match, so make sure to register for the tournament and help the victims of Haiti!” To sweeten the pot, Betsafe officials have added three $200 Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) event tickets to the prize pool, or $600 total. Other online poker rooms on the mammoth Ongame Network include Hollywood Poker, PokerLoco, and RedKings.

Finally, the Microgaming Network, which has recently tried to curb datamining by not allowing observed hand histories to be stored on a player’s computer, is holding a €10 + €10 buy-in tournament on Friday, January 22nd. The €10 juice will be donated to the Haitian Health Foundation and players can sign up for the event by visiting any Microgaming Network site like Betway, GNUF, Ladbrokes, Nordic Bet, PokerTime, and Unibet. The event issues its virtual “Shuffle up and deal” command at 6:30pm GMT. A press release distributed by Microgaming notes, “Over 92 percent of funds collected by Haitian Health Foundation go directly towards services for the poor, so players can be assured that donations generated from the tournament will be used to maximum benefit.” Neither the Microgaming nor Ongame Networks accept players from the United States.

These tournaments have complimented efforts at other major online poker sites like Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Cake Poker, each of which has reached into its database of players to give to the cause. Play in the Haiti relief tournaments taking place this week across some of the world’s largest sites.

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